From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty's rose might never die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel: Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content, And tender churl mak'st waste in niggarding: Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee. When forty winters shall besiege thy brow, And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field, Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now, Will be a tattered weed of small worth held: Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies, Where all the treasure of thy lusty days; To say within thine own deep sunken eyes, Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise. How much more praise deserved thy beauty's use, If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse' Proving his beauty by succession thine. This were to be new made when thou art old, And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold. Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest, Now is the time that face should form another, Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest, Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother. For where is she so fair whose uneared womb Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry? Or who is he so fond will be the tomb, Of his self-love to stop posterity? Thou art thy mother's glass and she in thee Calls back the lovely April of her prime, So thou through windows of thine age shalt see, Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time. But if thou live remembered not to be, Die single and thine image dies with thee. Unthrifty loveliness why dost thou spend, Upon thy self thy beauty's legacy? Nature's bequest gives nothing but doth lend, And being frank she lends to those are free: Then beauteous niggard why dost thou abuse, The bounteous largess given thee to give? Profitless usurer why dost thou use So great a sum of sums yet canst not live? For having traffic with thy self alone, Thou of thy self thy sweet self dost deceive, Then how when nature calls thee to be gone, What acceptable audit canst thou leave? Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee, Which used lives th' executor to be. Those hours that with gentle work did frame The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell Will play the tyrants to the very same, And that unfair which fairly doth excel: For never-resting time leads summer on To hideous winter and confounds him there, Sap checked with frost and lusty leaves quite gone, Beauty o'er-snowed and bareness every where: Then were not summer's distillation left A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass, Beauty's effect with beauty were bereft, Nor it nor no remembrance what it was. But flowers distilled though they with winter meet, Leese but their show, their substance still lives sweet. Then let not winter's ragged hand deface, In thee thy summer ere thou be distilled: Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place, With beauty's treasure ere it be self-killed: That use is not forbidden usury, Which happies those that pay the willing loan; That's for thy self to breed another thee, Or ten times happier be it ten for one, Ten times thy self were happier than thou art, If ten of thine ten times refigured thee: Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart, Leaving thee living in posterity? Be not self-willed for thou art much too fair, To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir. Lo in the orient when the gracious light Lifts up his burning head, each under eye Doth homage to his new-appearing sight, Serving with looks his sacred majesty, And having climbed the steep-up heavenly hill, Resembling strong youth in his middle age, Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still, Attending on his golden pilgrimage: But when from highmost pitch with weary car, Like feeble age he reeleth from the day, The eyes (fore duteous) now converted are From his low tract and look another way: So thou, thy self out-going in thy noon: Unlooked on diest unless thou get a son. Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly? Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy: Why lov'st thou that which thou receiv'st not gladly, Or else receiv'st with pleasure thine annoy? If the true concord of well-tuned sounds, By unions married do offend thine ear, They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear: Mark how one string sweet husband to another, Strikes each in each by mutual ordering; Resembling sire, and child, and happy mother, Who all in one, one pleasing note do sing: Whose speechless song being many, seeming one, Sings this to thee, 'Thou single wilt prove none'. Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye, That thou consum'st thy self in single life? Ah, if thou issueless shalt hap to die, The world will wail thee like a makeless wife, The world will be thy widow and still weep, That thou no form of thee hast left behind, When every private widow well may keep, By children's eyes, her husband's shape in mind: Look what an unthrift in the world doth spend Shifts but his place, for still the world enjoys it; But beauty's waste hath in the world an end, And kept unused the user so destroys it: No love toward others in that bosom sits That on himself such murd'rous shame commits. For shame deny that thou bear'st love to any Who for thy self art so unprovident. Grant if thou wilt, thou art beloved of many, But that thou none lov'st is most evident: For thou art so possessed with murd'rous hate, That 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire, Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate Which to repair should be thy chief desire: O change thy thought, that I may change my mind, Shall hate be fairer lodged than gentle love? Be as thy presence is gracious and kind, Or to thy self at least kind-hearted prove, Make thee another self for love of me, That beauty still may live in thine or thee. As fast as thou shalt wane so fast thou grow'st, In one of thine, from that which thou departest, And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st, Thou mayst call thine, when thou from youth convertest, Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase, Without this folly, age, and cold decay, If all were minded so, the times should cease, And threescore year would make the world away: Let those whom nature hath not made for store, Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish: Look whom she best endowed, she gave thee more; Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish: She carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby, Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die. When I do count the clock that tells the time, And see the brave day sunk in hideous night, When I behold the violet past prime, And sable curls all silvered o'er with white: When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, Which erst from heat did canopy the herd And summer's green all girded up in sheaves Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard: Then of thy beauty do I question make That thou among the wastes of time must go, Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake, And die as fast as they see others grow, And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence. O that you were your self, but love you are No longer yours, than you your self here live, Against this coming end you should prepare, And your sweet semblance to some other give. So should that beauty which you hold in lease Find no determination, then you were Your self again after your self's decease, When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear. Who lets so fair a house fall to decay, Which husbandry in honour might uphold, Against the stormy gusts of winter's day And barren rage of death's eternal cold? O none but unthrifts, dear my love you know, You had a father, let your son say so. Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck, And yet methinks I have astronomy, But not to tell of good, or evil luck, Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality, Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell; Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind, Or say with princes if it shall go well By oft predict that I in heaven find. But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive, And constant stars in them I read such art As truth and beauty shall together thrive If from thy self, to store thou wouldst convert: Or else of thee this I prognosticate, Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date. When I consider every thing that grows Holds in perfection but a little moment. That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows Whereon the stars in secret influence comment. When I perceive that men as plants increase, Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky: Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease, And wear their brave state out of memory. Then the conceit of this inconstant stay, Sets you most rich in youth before my sight, Where wasteful time debateth with decay To change your day of youth to sullied night, And all in war with Time for love of you, As he takes from you, I engraft you new. But wherefore do not you a mightier way Make war upon this bloody tyrant Time? And fortify your self in your decay With means more blessed than my barren rhyme? Now stand you on the top of happy hours, And many maiden gardens yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers, Much liker than your painted counterfeit: So should the lines of life that life repair Which this (Time's pencil) or my pupil pen Neither in inward worth nor outward fair Can make you live your self in eyes of men. To give away your self, keeps your self still, And you must live drawn by your own sweet skill. Who will believe my verse in time to come If it were filled with your most high deserts? Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts: If I could write the beauty of your eyes, And in fresh numbers number all your graces, The age to come would say this poet lies, Such heavenly touches ne'er touched earthly faces. So should my papers (yellowed with their age) Be scorned, like old men of less truth than tongue, And your true rights be termed a poet's rage, And stretched metre of an antique song. But were some child of yours alive that time, You should live twice in it, and in my rhyme. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Devouring Time blunt thou the lion's paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet brood, Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws, And burn the long-lived phoenix, in her blood, Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleet'st, And do whate'er thou wilt swift-footed Time To the wide world and all her fading sweets: But I forbid thee one most heinous crime, O carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow, Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen, Him in thy course untainted do allow, For beauty's pattern to succeeding men. Yet do thy worst old Time: despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young. A woman's face with nature's own hand painted, Hast thou the master mistress of my passion, A woman's gentle heart but not acquainted With shifting change as is false women's fashion, An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling: Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth, A man in hue all hues in his controlling, Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth. And for a woman wert thou first created, Till nature as she wrought thee fell a-doting, And by addition me of thee defeated, By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. But since she pricked thee out for women's pleasure, Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure. So is it not with me as with that muse, Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse, Who heaven it self for ornament doth use, And every fair with his fair doth rehearse, Making a couplement of proud compare With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems: With April's first-born flowers and all things rare, That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems. O let me true in love but truly write, And then believe me, my love is as fair, As any mother's child, though not so bright As those gold candles fixed in heaven's air: Let them say more that like of hearsay well, I will not praise that purpose not to sell. My glass shall not persuade me I am old, So long as youth and thou are of one date, But when in thee time's furrows I behold, Then look I death my days should expiate. For all that beauty that doth cover thee, Is but the seemly raiment of my heart, Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me, How can I then be elder than thou art? O therefore love be of thyself so wary, As I not for my self, but for thee will, Bearing thy heart which I will keep so chary As tender nurse her babe from faring ill. Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain, Thou gav'st me thine not to give back again. As an unperfect actor on the stage, Who with his fear is put beside his part, Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage, Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart; So I for fear of trust, forget to say, The perfect ceremony of love's rite, And in mine own love's strength seem to decay, O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might: O let my looks be then the eloquence, And dumb presagers of my speaking breast, Who plead for love, and look for recompense, More than that tongue that more hath more expressed. O learn to read what silent love hath writ, To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit. Mine eye hath played the painter and hath stelled, Thy beauty's form in table of my heart, My body is the frame wherein 'tis held, And perspective it is best painter's art. For through the painter must you see his skill, To find where your true image pictured lies, Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still, That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes: Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done, Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me Are windows to my breast, where-through the sun Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee; Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art, They draw but what they see, know not the heart. Let those who are in favour with their stars, Of public honour and proud titles boast, Whilst I whom fortune of such triumph bars Unlooked for joy in that I honour most; Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread, But as the marigold at the sun's eye, And in themselves their pride lies buried, For at a frown they in their glory die. The painful warrior famoused for fight, After a thousand victories once foiled, Is from the book of honour razed quite, And all the rest forgot for which he toiled: Then happy I that love and am beloved Where I may not remove nor be removed. Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit; To thee I send this written embassage To witness duty, not to show my wit. Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it; But that I hope some good conceit of thine In thy soul's thought (all naked) will bestow it: Till whatsoever star that guides my moving, Points on me graciously with fair aspect, And puts apparel on my tattered loving, To show me worthy of thy sweet respect, Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee, Till then, not show my head where thou mayst prove me. Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, The dear respose for limbs with travel tired, But then begins a journey in my head To work my mind, when body's work's expired. For then my thoughts (from far where I abide) Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee, And keep my drooping eyelids open wide, Looking on darkness which the blind do see. Save that my soul's imaginary sight Presents thy shadow to my sightless view, Which like a jewel (hung in ghastly night) Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new. Lo thus by day my limbs, by night my mind, For thee, and for my self, no quiet find. How can I then return in happy plight That am debarred the benefit of rest? When day's oppression is not eased by night, But day by night and night by day oppressed. And each (though enemies to either's reign) Do in consent shake hands to torture me, The one by toil, the other to complain How far I toil, still farther off from thee. I tell the day to please him thou art bright, And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven: So flatter I the swart-complexioned night, When sparkling stars twire not thou gild'st the even. But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer, And night doth nightly make grief's length seem stronger When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon my self and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least, Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate, For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings, That then I scorn to change my state with kings. When to the sessions of sweet silent thought, I summon up remembrance of things past, I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste: Then can I drown an eye (unused to flow) For precious friends hid in death's dateless night, And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe, And moan th' expense of many a vanished sight. Then can I grieve at grievances foregone, And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan, Which I new pay as if not paid before. But if the while I think on thee (dear friend) All losses are restored, and sorrows end. Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts, Which I by lacking have supposed dead, And there reigns love and all love's loving parts, And all those friends which I thought buried. How many a holy and obsequious tear Hath dear religious love stol'n from mine eye, As interest of the dead, which now appear, But things removed that hidden in thee lie. Thou art the grave where buried love doth live, Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone, Who all their parts of me to thee did give, That due of many, now is thine alone. Their images I loved, I view in thee, And thou (all they) hast all the all of me. If thou survive my well-contented day, When that churl death my bones with dust shall cover And shalt by fortune once more re-survey These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover: Compare them with the bett'ring of the time, And though they be outstripped by every pen, Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme, Exceeded by the height of happier men. O then vouchsafe me but this loving thought, 'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age, A dearer birth than this his love had brought To march in ranks of better equipage: But since he died and poets better prove, Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love'. Full many a glorious morning have I seen, Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, Kissing with golden face the meadows green; Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy: Anon permit the basest clouds to ride, With ugly rack on his celestial face, And from the forlorn world his visage hide Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace: Even so my sun one early morn did shine, With all triumphant splendour on my brow, But out alack, he was but one hour mine, The region cloud hath masked him from me now. Yet him for this, my love no whit disdaineth, Suns of the world may stain, when heaven's sun staineth. Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, And make me travel forth without my cloak, To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way, Hiding thy brav'ry in their rotten smoke? 'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break, To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, For no man well of such a salve can speak, That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace: Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief, Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss, Th' offender's sorrow lends but weak relief To him that bears the strong offence's cross. Ah but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds, And they are rich, and ransom all ill deeds. No more be grieved at that which thou hast done, Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud, Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun, And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. All men make faults, and even I in this, Authorizing thy trespass with compare, My self corrupting salving thy amiss, Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are: For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense, Thy adverse party is thy advocate, And 'gainst my self a lawful plea commence: Such civil war is in my love and hate, That I an accessary needs must be, To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me. Let me confess that we two must be twain, Although our undivided loves are one: So shall those blots that do with me remain, Without thy help, by me be borne alone. In our two loves there is but one respect, Though in our lives a separable spite, Which though it alter not love's sole effect, Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight. I may not evermore acknowledge thee, Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame, Nor thou with public kindness honour me, Unless thou take that honour from thy name: But do not so, I love thee in such sort, As thou being mine, mine is thy good report. As a decrepit father takes delight, To see his active child do deeds of youth, So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth. For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit, Or any of these all, or all, or more Entitled in thy parts, do crowned sit, I make my love engrafted to this store: So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised, Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give, That I in thy abundance am sufficed, And by a part of all thy glory live: Look what is best, that best I wish in thee, This wish I have, then ten times happy me. How can my muse want subject to invent While thou dost breathe that pour'st into my verse, Thine own sweet argument, too excellent, For every vulgar paper to rehearse? O give thy self the thanks if aught in me, Worthy perusal stand against thy sight, For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee, When thou thy self dost give invention light? Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth Than those old nine which rhymers invocate, And he that calls on thee, let him bring forth Eternal numbers to outlive long date. If my slight muse do please these curious days, The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise. O how thy worth with manners may I sing, When thou art all the better part of me? What can mine own praise to mine own self bring: And what is't but mine own when I praise thee? Even for this, let us divided live, And our dear love lose name of single one, That by this separation I may give: That due to thee which thou deserv'st alone: O absence what a torment wouldst thou prove, Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leave, To entertain the time with thoughts of love, Which time and thoughts so sweetly doth deceive. And that thou teachest how to make one twain, By praising him here who doth hence remain. Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all, What hast thou then more than thou hadst before? No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call, All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more: Then if for my love, thou my love receivest, I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest, But yet be blamed, if thou thy self deceivest By wilful taste of what thy self refusest. I do forgive thy robbery gentle thief Although thou steal thee all my poverty: And yet love knows it is a greater grief To bear greater wrong, than hate's known injury. Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows, Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes. Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits, When I am sometime absent from thy heart, Thy beauty, and thy years full well befits, For still temptation follows where thou art. Gentle thou art, and therefore to be won, Beauteous thou art, therefore to be assailed. And when a woman woos, what woman's son, Will sourly leave her till he have prevailed? Ay me, but yet thou mightst my seat forbear, And chide thy beauty, and thy straying youth, Who lead thee in their riot even there Where thou art forced to break a twofold truth: Hers by thy beauty tempting her to thee, Thine by thy beauty being false to me. That thou hast her it is not all my grief, And yet it may be said I loved her dearly, That she hath thee is of my wailing chief, A loss in love that touches me more nearly. Loving offenders thus I will excuse ye, Thou dost love her, because thou know'st I love her, And for my sake even so doth she abuse me, Suff'ring my friend for my sake to approve her. If I lose thee, my loss is my love's gain, And losing her, my friend hath found that loss, Both find each other, and I lose both twain, And both for my sake lay on me this cross, But here's the joy, my friend and I are one, Sweet flattery, then she loves but me alone. When most I wink then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected, But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee, And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed. Then thou whose shadow shadows doth make bright How would thy shadow's form, form happy show, To the clear day with thy much clearer light, When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so! How would (I say) mine eyes be blessed made, By looking on thee in the living day, When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade, Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay! All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me. If the dull substance of my flesh were thought, Injurious distance should not stop my way, For then despite of space I would be brought, From limits far remote, where thou dost stay, No matter then although my foot did stand Upon the farthest earth removed from thee, For nimble thought can jump both sea and land, As soon as think the place where he would be. But ah, thought kills me that I am not thought To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone, But that so much of earth and water wrought, I must attend, time's leisure with my moan. Receiving nought by elements so slow, But heavy tears, badges of either's woe. The other two, slight air, and purging fire, Are both with thee, wherever I abide, The first my thought, the other my desire, These present-absent with swift motion slide. For when these quicker elements are gone In tender embassy of love to thee, My life being made of four, with two alone, Sinks down to death, oppressed with melancholy. Until life's composition be recured, By those swift messengers returned from thee, Who even but now come back again assured, Of thy fair health, recounting it to me. This told, I joy, but then no longer glad, I send them back again and straight grow sad. Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war, How to divide the conquest of thy sight, Mine eye, my heart thy picture's sight would bar, My heart, mine eye the freedom of that right, My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie, (A closet never pierced with crystal eyes) But the defendant doth that plea deny, And says in him thy fair appearance lies. To side this title is impanelled A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart, And by their verdict is determined The clear eye's moiety, and the dear heart's part. As thus, mine eye's due is thy outward part, And my heart's right, thy inward love of heart. Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took, And each doth good turns now unto the other, When that mine eye is famished for a look, Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother; With my love's picture then my eye doth feast, And to the painted banquet bids my heart: Another time mine eye is my heart's guest, And in his thoughts of love doth share a part. So either by thy picture or my love, Thy self away, art present still with me, For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move, And I am still with them, and they with thee. Or if they sleep, thy picture in my sight Awakes my heart, to heart's and eye's delight. How careful was I when I took my way, Each trifle under truest bars to thrust, That to my use it might unused stay From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust! But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are, Most worthy comfort, now my greatest grief, Thou best of dearest, and mine only care, Art left the prey of every vulgar thief. Thee have I not locked up in any chest, Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art, Within the gentle closure of my breast, From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part, And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear, For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear. Against that time (if ever that time come) When I shall see thee frown on my defects, When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum, Called to that audit by advised respects, Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass, And scarcely greet me with that sun thine eye, When love converted from the thing it was Shall reasons find of settled gravity; Against that time do I ensconce me here Within the knowledge of mine own desert, And this my hand, against my self uprear, To guard the lawful reasons on thy part, To leave poor me, thou hast the strength of laws, Since why to love, I can allege no cause. How heavy do I journey on the way, When what I seek (my weary travel's end) Doth teach that case and that repose to say 'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend.' The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, As if by some instinct the wretch did know His rider loved not speed being made from thee: The bloody spur cannot provoke him on, That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, Which heavily he answers with a groan, More sharp to me than spurring to his side, For that same groan doth put this in my mind, My grief lies onward and my joy behind. Thus can my love excuse the slow offence, Of my dull bearer, when from thee I speed, From where thou art, why should I haste me thence? Till I return of posting is no need. O what excuse will my poor beast then find, When swift extremity can seem but slow? Then should I spur though mounted on the wind, In winged speed no motion shall I know, Then can no horse with my desire keep pace, Therefore desire (of perfect'st love being made) Shall neigh (no dull flesh) in his fiery race, But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade, Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow, Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go. So am I as the rich whose blessed key, Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, The which he will not every hour survey, For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare, Since seldom coming in that long year set, Like stones of worth they thinly placed are, Or captain jewels in the carcanet. So is the time that keeps you as my chest Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide, To make some special instant special-blest, By new unfolding his imprisoned pride. Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope, Being had to triumph, being lacked to hope. What is your substance, whereof are you made, That millions of strange shadows on you tend? Since every one, hath every one, one shade, And you but one, can every shadow lend: Describe Adonis and the counterfeit, Is poorly imitated after you, On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set, And you in Grecian tires are painted new: Speak of the spring, and foison of the year, The one doth shadow of your beauty show, The other as your bounty doth appear, And you in every blessed shape we know. In all external grace you have some part, But you like none, none you for constant heart. O how much more doth beauty beauteous seem, By that sweet ornament which truth doth give! The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem For that sweet odour, which doth in it live: The canker blooms have full as deep a dye, As the perfumed tincture of the roses, Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly, When summer's breath their masked buds discloses: But for their virtue only is their show, They live unwooed, and unrespected fade, Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so, Of their sweet deaths, are sweetest odours made: And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth, When that shall vade, by verse distills your truth. Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme, But you shall shine more bright in these contents Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time. When wasteful war shall statues overturn, And broils root out the work of masonry, Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn: The living record of your memory. 'Gainst death, and all-oblivious enmity Shall you pace forth, your praise shall still find room, Even in the eyes of all posterity That wear this world out to the ending doom. So till the judgment that your self arise, You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes. Sweet love renew thy force, be it not said Thy edge should blunter be than appetite, Which but to-day by feeding is allayed, To-morrow sharpened in his former might. So love be thou, although to-day thou fill Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness, To-morrow see again, and do not kill The spirit of love, with a perpetual dulness: Let this sad interim like the ocean be Which parts the shore, where two contracted new, Come daily to the banks, that when they see: Return of love, more blest may be the view. Or call it winter, which being full of care, Makes summer's welcome, thrice more wished, more rare. Being your slave what should I do but tend, Upon the hours, and times of your desire? I have no precious time at all to spend; Nor services to do till you require. Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour, Whilst I (my sovereign) watch the clock for you, Nor think the bitterness of absence sour, When you have bid your servant once adieu. Nor dare I question with my jealous thought, Where you may be, or your affairs suppose, But like a sad slave stay and think of nought Save where you are, how happy you make those. So true a fool is love, that in your will, (Though you do any thing) he thinks no ill. That god forbid, that made me first your slave, I should in thought control your times of pleasure, Or at your hand th' account of hours to crave, Being your vassal bound to stay your leisure. O let me suffer (being at your beck) Th' imprisoned absence of your liberty, And patience tame to sufferance bide each check, Without accusing you of injury. Be where you list, your charter is so strong, That you your self may privilage your time To what you will, to you it doth belong, Your self to pardon of self-doing crime. I am to wait, though waiting so be hell, Not blame your pleasure be it ill or well. If there be nothing new, but that which is, Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled, Which labouring for invention bear amis The second burthen of a former child! O that record could with a backward look, Even of five hundred courses of the sun, Show me your image in some antique book, Since mind at first in character was done. That I might see what the old world could say, To this composed wonder of your frame, Whether we are mended, or whether better they, Or whether revolution be the same. O sure I am the wits of former days, To subjects worse have given admiring praise. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end, Each changing place with that which goes before, In sequent toil all forwards do contend. Nativity once in the main of light, Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned, Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight, And Time that gave, doth now his gift confound. Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth, And delves the parallels in beauty's brow, Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow. And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. Is it thy will, thy image should keep open My heavy eyelids to the weary night? Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken, While shadows like to thee do mock my sight? Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee So far from home into my deeds to pry, To find out shames and idle hours in me, The scope and tenure of thy jealousy? O no, thy love though much, is not so great, It is my love that keeps mine eye awake, Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat, To play the watchman ever for thy sake. For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere, From me far off, with others all too near. Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye, And all my soul, and all my every part; And for this sin there is no remedy, It is so grounded inward in my heart. Methinks no face so gracious is as mine, No shape so true, no truth of such account, And for my self mine own worth do define, As I all other in all worths surmount. But when my glass shows me my self indeed beated and chopt with tanned antiquity, Mine own self-love quite contrary I read: Self, so self-loving were iniquity. 'Tis thee (my self) that for my self I praise, Painting my age with beauty of thy days. Against my love shall be as I am now With Time's injurious hand crushed and o'erworn, When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow With lines and wrinkles, when his youthful morn Hath travelled on to age's steepy night, And all those beauties whereof now he's king Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight, Stealing away the treasure of his spring: For such a time do I now fortify Against confounding age's cruel knife, That he shall never cut from memory My sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life. His beauty shall in these black lines be seen, And they shall live, and he in them still green. When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced The rich-proud cost of outworn buried age, When sometime lofty towers I see down-rased, And brass eternal slave to mortal rage. When I have seen the hungry ocean gain Advantage on the kingdom of the shore, And the firm soil win of the watery main, Increasing store with loss, and loss with store. When I have seen such interchange of State, Or state it self confounded, to decay, Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate That Time will come and take my love away. This thought is as a death which cannot choose But weep to have, that which it fears to lose. Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea, But sad mortality o'ersways their power, How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea, Whose action is no stronger than a flower? O how shall summer's honey breath hold out, Against the wrackful siege of batt'ring days, When rocks impregnable are not so stout, Nor gates of steel so strong but time decays? O fearful meditation, where alack, Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid? Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back, Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid? O none, unless this miracle have might, That in black ink my love may still shine bright. Tired with all these for restful death I cry, As to behold desert a beggar born, And needy nothing trimmed in jollity, And purest faith unhappily forsworn, And gilded honour shamefully misplaced, And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, And strength by limping sway disabled And art made tongue-tied by authority, And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, And simple truth miscalled simplicity, And captive good attending captain ill. Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, Save that to die, I leave my love alone. Ah wherefore with infection should he live, And with his presence grace impiety, That sin by him advantage should achieve, And lace it self with his society? Why should false painting imitate his cheek, And steal dead seeming of his living hue? Why should poor beauty indirectly seek, Roses of shadow, since his rose is true? Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is, Beggared of blood to blush through lively veins, For she hath no exchequer now but his, And proud of many, lives upon his gains? O him she stores, to show what wealth she had, In days long since, before these last so bad. Thus is his cheek the map of days outworn, When beauty lived and died as flowers do now, Before these bastard signs of fair were born, Or durst inhabit on a living brow: Before the golden tresses of the dead, The right of sepulchres, were shorn away, To live a second life on second head, Ere beauty's dead fleece made another gay: In him those holy antique hours are seen, Without all ornament, it self and true, Making no summer of another's green, Robbing no old to dress his beauty new, And him as for a map doth Nature store, To show false Art what beauty was of yore. Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view, Want nothing that the thought of hearts can mend: All tongues (the voice of souls) give thee that due, Uttering bare truth, even so as foes commend. Thy outward thus with outward praise is crowned, But those same tongues that give thee so thine own, In other accents do this praise confound By seeing farther than the eye hath shown. They look into the beauty of thy mind, And that in guess they measure by thy deeds, Then churls their thoughts (although their eyes were kind) To thy fair flower add the rank smell of weeds: But why thy odour matcheth not thy show, The soil is this, that thou dost common grow. That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect, For slander's mark was ever yet the fair, The ornament of beauty is suspect, A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air. So thou be good, slander doth but approve, Thy worth the greater being wooed of time, For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love, And thou present'st a pure unstained prime. Thou hast passed by the ambush of young days, Either not assailed, or victor being charged, Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise, To tie up envy, evermore enlarged, If some suspect of ill masked not thy show, Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe. No longer mourn for me when I am dead, Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell Give warning to the world that I am fled From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell: Nay if you read this line, remember not, The hand that writ it, for I love you so, That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot, If thinking on me then should make you woe. O if (I say) you look upon this verse, When I (perhaps) compounded am with clay, Do not so much as my poor name rehearse; But let your love even with my life decay. Lest the wise world should look into your moan, And mock you with me after I am gone. O lest the world should task you to recite, What merit lived in me that you should love After my death (dear love) forget me quite, For you in me can nothing worthy prove. Unless you would devise some virtuous lie, To do more for me than mine own desert, And hang more praise upon deceased I, Than niggard truth would willingly impart: O lest your true love may seem false in this, That you for love speak well of me untrue, My name be buried where my body is, And live no more to shame nor me, nor you. For I am shamed by that which I bring forth, And so should you, to love things nothing worth. That time of year thou mayst in me behold, When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day, As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self that seals up all in rest. In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed, whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by. This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well, which thou must leave ere long. But be contented when that fell arrest, Without all bail shall carry me away, My life hath in this line some interest, Which for memorial still with thee shall stay. When thou reviewest this, thou dost review, The very part was consecrate to thee, The earth can have but earth, which is his due, My spirit is thine the better part of me, So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life, The prey of worms, my body being dead, The coward conquest of a wretch's knife, Too base of thee to be remembered, The worth of that, is that which it contains, And that is this, and this with thee remains. So are you to my thoughts as food to life, Or as sweet-seasoned showers are to the ground; And for the peace of you I hold such strife As 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found. Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure, Now counting best to be with you alone, Then bettered that the world may see my pleasure, Sometime all full with feasting on your sight, And by and by clean starved for a look, Possessing or pursuing no delight Save what is had, or must from you be took. Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day, Or gluttoning on all, or all away. Why is my verse so barren of new pride? So far from variation or quick change? Why with the time do I not glance aside To new-found methods, and to compounds strange? Why write I still all one, ever the same, And keep invention in a noted weed, That every word doth almost tell my name, Showing their birth, and where they did proceed? O know sweet love I always write of you, And you and love are still my argument: So all my best is dressing old words new, Spending again what is already spent: For as the sun is daily new and old, So is my love still telling what is told. Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear, Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste, These vacant leaves thy mind's imprint will bear, And of this book, this learning mayst thou taste. The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show, Of mouthed graves will give thee memory, Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst know, Time's thievish progress to eternity. Look what thy memory cannot contain, Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find Those children nursed, delivered from thy brain, To take a new acquaintance of thy mind. These offices, so oft as thou wilt look, Shall profit thee, and much enrich thy book. So oft have I invoked thee for my muse, And found such fair assistance in my verse, As every alien pen hath got my use, And under thee their poesy disperse. Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing, And heavy ignorance aloft to fly, Have added feathers to the learned's wing, And given grace a double majesty. Yet be most proud of that which I compile, Whose influence is thine, and born of thee, In others' works thou dost but mend the style, And arts with thy sweet graces graced be. But thou art all my art, and dost advance As high as learning, my rude ignorance. Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid, My verse alone had all thy gentle grace, But now my gracious numbers are decayed, And my sick muse doth give an other place. I grant (sweet love) thy lovely argument Deserves the travail of a worthier pen, Yet what of thee thy poet doth invent, He robs thee of, and pays it thee again, He lends thee virtue, and he stole that word, From thy behaviour, beauty doth he give And found it in thy cheek: he can afford No praise to thee, but what in thee doth live. Then thank him not for that which he doth say, Since what he owes thee, thou thy self dost pay. O how I faint when I of you do write, Knowing a better spirit doth use your name, And in the praise thereof spends all his might, To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame. But since your worth (wide as the ocean is) The humble as the proudest sail doth bear, My saucy bark (inferior far to his) On your broad main doth wilfully appear. Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat, Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride, Or (being wrecked) I am a worthless boat, He of tall building, and of goodly pride. Then if he thrive and I be cast away, The worst was this, my love was my decay. Or I shall live your epitaph to make, Or you survive when I in earth am rotten, From hence your memory death cannot take, Although in me each part will be forgotten. Your name from hence immortal life shall have, Though I (once gone) to all the world must die, The earth can yield me but a common grave, When you entombed in men's eyes shall lie, Your monument shall be my gentle verse, Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read, And tongues to be, your being shall rehearse, When all the breathers of this world are dead, You still shall live (such virtue hath my pen) Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men. I grant thou wert not married to my muse, And therefore mayst without attaint o'erlook The dedicated words which writers use Of their fair subject, blessing every book. Thou art as fair in knowledge as in hue, Finding thy worth a limit past my praise, And therefore art enforced to seek anew, Some fresher stamp of the time-bettering days. And do so love, yet when they have devised, What strained touches rhetoric can lend, Thou truly fair, wert truly sympathized, In true plain words, by thy true-telling friend. And their gross painting might be better used, Where cheeks need blood, in thee it is abused. I never saw that you did painting need, And therefore to your fair no painting set, I found (or thought I found) you did exceed, That barren tender of a poet's debt: And therefore have I slept in your report, That you your self being extant well might show, How far a modern quill doth come too short, Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow. This silence for my sin you did impute, Which shall be most my glory being dumb, For I impair not beauty being mute, When others would give life, and bring a tomb. There lives more life in one of your fair eyes, Than both your poets can in praise devise. Who is it that says most, which can say more, Than this rich praise, that you alone, are you? In whose confine immured is the store, Which should example where your equal grew. Lean penury within that pen doth dwell, That to his subject lends not some small glory, But he that writes of you, if he can tell, That you are you, so dignifies his story. Let him but copy what in you is writ, Not making worse what nature made so clear, And such a counterpart shall fame his wit, Making his style admired every where. You to your beauteous blessings add a curse, Being fond on praise, which makes your praises worse. My tongue-tied muse in manners holds her still, While comments of your praise richly compiled, Reserve their character with golden quill, And precious phrase by all the Muses filed. I think good thoughts, whilst other write good words, And like unlettered clerk still cry Amen, To every hymn that able spirit affords, In polished form of well refined pen. Hearing you praised, I say 'tis so, 'tis true, And to the most of praise add something more, But that is in my thought, whose love to you (Though words come hindmost) holds his rank before, Then others, for the breath of words respect, Me for my dumb thoughts, speaking in effect. Was it the proud full sail of his great verse, Bound for the prize of (all too precious) you, That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse, Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew? Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write, Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead? No, neither he, nor his compeers by night Giving him aid, my verse astonished. He nor that affable familiar ghost Which nightly gulls him with intelligence, As victors of my silence cannot boast, I was not sick of any fear from thence. But when your countenance filled up his line, Then lacked I matter, that enfeebled mine. Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing, And like enough thou know'st thy estimate, The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing: My bonds in thee are all determinate. For how do I hold thee but by thy granting, And for that riches where is my deserving? The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting, And so my patent back again is swerving. Thy self thou gav'st, thy own worth then not knowing, Or me to whom thou gav'st it, else mistaking, So thy great gift upon misprision growing, Comes home again, on better judgement making. Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter, In sleep a king, but waking no such matter. When thou shalt be disposed to set me light, And place my merit in the eye of scorn, Upon thy side, against my self I'll fight, And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn: With mine own weakness being best acquainted, Upon thy part I can set down a story Of faults concealed, wherein I am attainted: That thou in losing me, shalt win much glory: And I by this will be a gainer too, For bending all my loving thoughts on thee, The injuries that to my self I do, Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me. Such is my love, to thee I so belong, That for thy right, my self will bear all wrong. Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault, And I will comment upon that offence, Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt: Against thy reasons making no defence. Thou canst not (love) disgrace me half so ill, To set a form upon desired change, As I'll my self disgrace, knowing thy will, I will acquaintance strangle and look strange: Be absent from thy walks and in my tongue, Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell, Lest I (too much profane) should do it wronk: And haply of our old acquaintance tell. For thee, against my self I'll vow debate, For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate. Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever, now, Now while the world is bent my deeds to cross, join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, And do not drop in for an after-loss: Ah do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow, Come in the rearward of a conquered woe, Give not a windy night a rainy morrow, To linger out a purposed overthrow. If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last, When other petty griefs have done their spite, But in the onset come, so shall I taste At first the very worst of fortune's might. And other strains of woe, which now seem woe, Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so. Some glory in their birth, some in their skill, Some in their wealth, some in their body's force, Some in their garments though new-fangled ill: Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse. And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure, Wherein it finds a joy above the rest, But these particulars are not my measure, All these I better in one general best. Thy love is better than high birth to me, Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' costs, Of more delight than hawks and horses be: And having thee, of all men's pride I boast. Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take, All this away, and me most wretchcd make. But do thy worst to steal thy self away, For term of life thou art assured mine, And life no longer than thy love will stay, For it depends upon that love of thine. Then need I not to fear the worst of wrongs, When in the least of them my life hath end, I see, a better state to me belongs Than that, which on thy humour doth depend. Thou canst not vex me with inconstant mind, Since that my life on thy revolt doth lie, O what a happy title do I find, Happy to have thy love, happy to die! But what's so blessed-fair that fears no blot? Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not. So shall I live, supposing thou art true, Like a deceived husband, so love's face, May still seem love to me, though altered new: Thy looks with me, thy heart in other place. For there can live no hatred in thine eye, Therefore in that I cannot know thy change, In many's looks, the false heart's history Is writ in moods and frowns and wrinkles strange. But heaven in thy creation did decree, That in thy face sweet love should ever dwell, Whate'er thy thoughts, or thy heart's workings be, Thy looks should nothing thence, but sweetness tell. How like Eve's apple doth thy beauty grow, If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show. They that have power to hurt, and will do none, That do not do the thing, they most do show, Who moving others, are themselves as stone, Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow: They rightly do inherit heaven's graces, And husband nature's riches from expense, Tibey are the lords and owners of their faces, Others, but stewards of their excellence: The summer's flower is to the summer sweet, Though to it self, it only live and die, But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity: For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds, Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds. How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame, Which like a canker in the fragrant rose, Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name! O in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose! That tongue that tells the story of thy days, (Making lascivious comments on thy sport) Cannot dispraise, but in a kind of praise, Naming thy name, blesses an ill report. O what a mansion have those vices got, Which for their habitation chose out thee, Where beauty's veil doth cover every blot, And all things turns to fair, that eyes can see! Take heed (dear heart) of this large privilege, The hardest knife ill-used doth lose his edge. Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness, Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport, Both grace and faults are loved of more and less: Thou mak'st faults graces, that to thee resort: As on the finger of a throned queen, The basest jewel will be well esteemed: So are those errors that in thee are seen, To truths translated, and for true things deemed. How many lambs might the stern wolf betray, If like a lamb he could his looks translate! How many gazers mightst thou lead away, if thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state! But do not so, I love thee in such sort, As thou being mine, mine is thy good report. How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December's bareness everywhere! And yet this time removed was summer's time, The teeming autumn big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, Like widowed wombs after their lords' decease: Yet this abundant issue seemed to me But hope of orphans, and unfathered fruit, For summer and his pleasures wait on thee, And thou away, the very birds are mute. Or if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer, That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near. From you have I been absent in the spring, When proud-pied April (dressed in all his trim) Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing: That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him. Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell Of different flowers in odour and in hue, Could make me any summer's story tell: Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew: Nor did I wonder at the lily's white, Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose, They were but sweet, but figures of delight: Drawn after you, you pattern of all those. Yet seemed it winter still, and you away, As with your shadow I with these did play. The forward violet thus did I chide, Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells, If not from my love's breath? The purple pride Which on thy soft check for complexion dwells, In my love's veins thou hast too grossly dyed. The lily I condemned for thy hand, And buds of marjoram had stol'n thy hair, The roses fearfully on thorns did stand, One blushing shame, another white despair: A third nor red, nor white, had stol'n of both, And to his robbery had annexed thy breath, But for his theft in pride of all his growth A vengeful canker eat him up to death. More flowers I noted, yet I none could see, But sweet, or colour it had stol'n from thee. Where art thou Muse that thou forget'st so long, To speak of that which gives thee all thy might? Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song, Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light? Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem, In gentle numbers time so idly spent, Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem, And gives thy pen both skill and argument. Rise resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey, If time have any wrinkle graven there, If any, be a satire to decay, And make time's spoils despised everywhere. Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life, So thou prevent'st his scythe, and crooked knife. O truant Muse what shall be thy amends, For thy neglect of truth in beauty dyed? Both truth and beauty on my love depends: So dost thou too, and therein dignified: Make answer Muse, wilt thou not haply say, 'Truth needs no colour with his colour fixed, Beauty no pencil, beauty's truth to lay: But best is best, if never intermixed'? Because he needs no praise, wilt thou be dumb? Excuse not silence so, for't lies in thee, To make him much outlive a gilded tomb: And to be praised of ages yet to be. Then do thy office Muse, I teach thee how, To make him seem long hence, as he shows now. My love is strengthened though more weak in seeming, I love not less, though less the show appear, That love is merchandized, whose rich esteeming, The owner's tongue doth publish every where. Our love was new, and then but in the spring, When I was wont to greet it with my lays, As Philomel in summer's front doth sing, And stops her pipe in growth of riper days: Not that the summer is less pleasant now Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night, But that wild music burthens every bough, And sweets grown common lose their dear delight. Therefore like her, I sometime hold my tongue: Because I would not dull you with my song. Alack what poverty my muse brings forth, That having such a scope to show her pride, The argument all bare is of more worth Than when it hath my added praise beside. O blame me not if I no more can write! Look in your glass and there appears a face, That over-goes my blunt invention quite, Dulling my lines, and doing me disgrace. Were it not sinful then striving to mend, To mar the subject that before was well? For to no other pass my verses tend, Than of your graces and your gifts to tell. And more, much more than in my verse can sit, Your own glass shows you, when you look in it. To me fair friend you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still: three winters cold, Have from the forests shook three summers' pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned, In process of the seasons have I seen, Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, Since first I saw you fresh which yet are green. Ah yet doth beauty like a dial hand, Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived, So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived. For fear of which, hear this thou age unbred, Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead. Let not my love be called idolatry, Nor my beloved as an idol show, Since all alike my songs and praises be To one, of one, still such, and ever so. Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind, Still constant in a wondrous excellence, Therefore my verse to constancy confined, One thing expressing, leaves out difference. Fair, kind, and true, is all my argument, Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words, And in this change is my invention spent, Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords. Fair, kind, and true, have often lived alone. Which three till now, never kept seat in one. When in the chronicle of wasted time, I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rhyme, In praise of ladies dead, and lovely knights, Then in the blazon of sweet beauty's best, Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have expressed, Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophecies Of this our time, all you prefiguring, And for they looked but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing: For we which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise. Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul, Of the wide world, dreaming on things to come, Can yet the lease of my true love control, Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom. The mortal moon hath her eclipse endured, And the sad augurs mock their own presage, Incertainties now crown themselves assured, And peace proclaims olives of endless age. Now with the drops of this most balmy time, My love looks fresh, and death to me subscribes, Since spite of him I'll live in this poor rhyme, While he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes. And thou in this shalt find thy monument, When tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent. What's in the brain that ink may character, Which hath not figured to thee my true spirit, What's new to speak, what now to register, That may express my love, or thy dear merit? Nothing sweet boy, but yet like prayers divine, I must each day say o'er the very same, Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine, Even as when first I hallowed thy fair name. So that eternal love in love's fresh case, Weighs not the dust and injury of age, Nor gives to necessary wrinkles place, But makes antiquity for aye his page, Finding the first conceit of love there bred, Where time and outward form would show it dead. O never say that I was false of heart, Though absence seemed my flame to qualify, As easy might I from my self depart, As from my soul which in thy breast doth lie: That is my home of love, if I have ranged, Like him that travels I return again, Just to the time, not with the time exchanged, So that my self bring water for my stain, Never believe though in my nature reigned, All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood, That it could so preposterously be stained, To leave for nothing all thy sum of good: For nothing this wide universe I call, Save thou my rose, in it thou art my all. Alas 'tis true, I have gone here and there, And made my self a motley to the view, Gored mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear, Made old offences of affections new. Most true it is, that I have looked on truth Askance and strangely: but by all above, These blenches gave my heart another youth, And worse essays proved thee my best of love. Now all is done, have what shall have no end, Mine appetite I never more will grind On newer proof, to try an older friend, A god in love, to whom I am confined. Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best, Even to thy pure and most most loving breast. O for my sake do you with Fortune chide, The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds, That did not better for my life provide, Than public means which public manners breeds. Thence comes it that my name receives a brand, And almost thence my nature is subdued To what it works in, like the dyer's hand: Pity me then, and wish I were renewed, Whilst like a willing patient I will drink, Potions of eisel 'gainst my strong infection, No bitterness that I will bitter think, Nor double penance to correct correction. Pity me then dear friend, and I assure ye, Even that your pity is enough to cure me. Your love and pity doth th' impression fill, Which vulgar scandal stamped upon my brow, For what care I who calls me well or ill, So you o'er-green my bad, my good allow? You are my all the world, and I must strive, To know my shames and praises from your tongue, None else to me, nor I to none alive, That my steeled sense or changes right or wrong. In so profound abysm I throw all care Of others' voices, that my adder's sense, To critic and to flatterer stopped are: Mark how with my neglect I do dispense. You are so strongly in my purpose bred, That all the world besides methinks are dead. Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind, And that which governs me to go about, Doth part his function, and is partly blind, Seems seeing, but effectually is out: For it no form delivers to the heart Of bird, of flower, or shape which it doth latch, Of his quick objects hath the mind no part, Nor his own vision holds what it doth catch: For if it see the rud'st or gentlest sight, The most sweet favour or deformed'st creature, The mountain, or the sea, the day, or night: The crow, or dove, it shapes them to your feature. Incapable of more, replete with you, My most true mind thus maketh mine untrue. Or whether doth my mind being crowned with you Drink up the monarch's plague this flattery? Or whether shall I say mine eye saith true, And that your love taught it this alchemy? To make of monsters, and things indigest, Such cherubins as your sweet self resemble, Creating every bad a perfect best As fast as objects to his beams assemble: O 'tis the first, 'tis flattery in my seeing, And my great mind most kingly drinks it up, Mine eye well knows what with his gust is 'greeing, And to his palate doth prepare the cup. If it be poisoned, 'tis the lesser sin, That mine eye loves it and doth first begin. Those lines that I before have writ do lie, Even those that said I could not love you dearer, Yet then my judgment knew no reason why, My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer, But reckoning time, whose millioned accidents Creep in 'twixt vows, and change decrees of kings, Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents, Divert strong minds to the course of alt'ring things: Alas why fearing of time's tyranny, Might I not then say 'Now I love you best,' When I was certain o'er incertainty, Crowning the present, doubting of the rest? Love is a babe, then might I not say so To give full growth to that which still doth grow. Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments, love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wand'ring bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come, Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom: If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Accuse me thus, that I have scanted all, Wherein I should your great deserts repay, Forgot upon your dearest love to call, Whereto all bonds do tie me day by day, That I have frequent been with unknown minds, And given to time your own dear-purchased right, That I have hoisted sail to all the winds Which should transport me farthest from your sight. Book both my wilfulness and errors down, And on just proof surmise, accumulate, Bring me within the level of your frown, But shoot not at me in your wakened hate: Since my appeal says I did strive to prove The constancy and virtue of your love. Like as to make our appetite more keen With eager compounds we our palate urge, As to prevent our maladies unseen, We sicken to shun sickness when we purge. Even so being full of your ne'er-cloying sweetness, To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding; And sick of welfare found a kind of meetness, To be diseased ere that there was true needing. Thus policy in love t' anticipate The ills that were not, grew to faults assured, And brought to medicine a healthful state Which rank of goodness would by ill be cured. But thence I learn and find the lesson true, Drugs poison him that so feil sick of you. What potions have I drunk of Siren tears Distilled from limbecks foul as hell within, Applying fears to hopes, and hopes to fears, Still losing when I saw my self to win! What wretched errors hath my heart committed, Whilst it hath thought it self so blessed never! How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted In the distraction of this madding fever! O benefit of ill, now I find true That better is, by evil still made better. And ruined love when it is built anew Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater. So I return rebuked to my content, And gain by ills thrice more than I have spent. That you were once unkind befriends me now, And for that sorrow, which I then did feel, Needs must I under my transgression bow, Unless my nerves were brass or hammered steel. For if you were by my unkindness shaken As I by yours, y'have passed a hell of time, And I a tyrant have no leisure taken To weigh how once I suffered in your crime. O that our night of woe might have remembered My deepest sense, how hard true sorrow hits, And soon to you, as you to me then tendered The humble salve, which wounded bosoms fits! But that your trespass now becomes a fee, Mine ransoms yours, and yours must ransom me.'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed, When not to be, receives reproach of being, And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed, Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing. For why should others' false adulterate eyes Give salutation to my sportive blood? Or on my frailties why are frailer spies, Which in their wills count bad what I think good? No, I am that I am, and they that level At my abuses, reckon up their own, I may be straight though they themselves be bevel; By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown Unless this general evil they maintain, All men are bad and in their badness reign. Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain Full charactered with lasting memory, Which shall above that idle rank remain Beyond all date even to eternity. Or at the least, so long as brain and heart Have faculty by nature to subsist, Till each to razed oblivion yield his part Of thee, thy record never can be missed: That poor retention could not so much hold, Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score, Therefore to give them from me was I bold, To trust those tables that receive thee more: To keep an adjunct to remember thee Were to import forgetfulness in me. No! Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change, Thy pyramids built up with newer might To me are nothing novel, nothing strange, They are but dressings Of a former sight: Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire, What thou dost foist upon us that is old, And rather make them born to our desire, Than think that we before have heard them told: Thy registers and thee I both defy, Not wond'ring at the present, nor the past, For thy records, and what we see doth lie, Made more or less by thy continual haste: This I do vow and this shall ever be, I will be true despite thy scythe and thee. If my dear love were but the child of state, It might for Fortune's bastard be unfathered, As subject to time's love or to time's hate, Weeds among weeds, or flowers with flowers gathered. No it was builded far from accident, It suffers not in smiling pomp, nor falls Under the blow of thralled discontent, Whereto th' inviting time our fashion calls: It fears not policy that heretic, Which works on leases of short-numbered hours, But all alone stands hugely politic, That it nor grows with heat, nor drowns with showers. To this I witness call the fools of time, Which die for goodness, who have lived for crime. Were't aught to me I bore the canopy, With my extern the outward honouring, Or laid great bases for eternity, Which proves more short than waste or ruining? Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour Lose all, and more by paying too much rent For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour, Pitiful thrivers in their gazing spent? No, let me be obsequious in thy heart, And take thou my oblation, poor but free, Which is not mixed with seconds, knows no art, But mutual render, only me for thee. Hence, thou suborned informer, a true soul When most impeached, stands least in thy control. O thou my lovely boy who in thy power, Dost hold Time's fickle glass his fickle hour: Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st, Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow'st. If Nature (sovereign mistress over wrack) As thou goest onwards still will pluck thee back, She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill May time disgrace, and wretched minutes kill. Yet fear her O thou minion of her pleasure, She may detain, but not still keep her treasure! Her audit (though delayed) answered must be, And her quietus is to render thee. In the old age black was not counted fair, Or if it were it bore not beauty's name: But now is black beauty's successive heir, And beauty slandered with a bastard shame, For since each hand hath put on nature's power, Fairing the foul with art's false borrowed face, Sweet beauty hath no name no holy bower, But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace. Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black, Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem, At such who not born fair no beauty lack, Slandering creation with a false esteem, Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe, That every tongue says beauty should look so. How oft when thou, my music, music play'st, Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st The wiry concord that mine ear confounds, Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap, To kiss the tender inward of thy hand, Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap, At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand. To be so tickled they would change their state And situation with those dancing chips, O'er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait, Making dead wood more blest than living lips, Since saucy jacks so happy are in this, Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss. Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action, and till action, lust Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust, Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight, Past reason hunted, and no sooner had Past reason hated as a swallowed bait, On purpose laid to make the taker mad. Mad in pursuit and in possession so, Had, having, and in quest, to have extreme, A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe, Before a joy proposed behind a dream. All this the world well knows yet none knows well, To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, Coral is far more red, than her lips red, If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun: If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head: I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks, And in some perfumes is there more delight, Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know, That music hath a far more pleasing sound: I grant I never saw a goddess go, My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. And yet by heaven I think my love as rare, As any she belied with false compare. Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art, As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel; For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. Yet in good faith some say that thee behold, Thy face hath not the power to make love groan; To say they err, I dare not be so bold, Although I swear it to my self alone. And to be sure that is not false I swear, A thousand groans but thinking on thy face, One on another's neck do witness bear Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place. In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds, And thence this slander as I think proceeds. Thine eyes I love, and they as pitying me, Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain, Have put on black, and loving mourners be, Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain. And truly not the morning sun of heaven Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east, Nor that full star that ushers in the even Doth half that glory to the sober west As those two mourning eyes become thy face: O let it then as well beseem thy heart To mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace, And suit thy pity like in every part. Then will I swear beauty herself is black, And all they foul that thy complexion lack. Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan For that deep wound it gives my friend and me; Is't not enough to torture me alone, But slave to slavery my sweet'st friend must be? Me from my self thy cruel eye hath taken, And my next self thou harder hast engrossed, Of him, my self, and thee I am forsaken, A torment thrice three-fold thus to be crossed: Prison my heart in thy steel bosom's ward, But then my friend's heart let my poor heart bail, Whoe'er keeps me, let my heart be his guard, Thou canst not then use rigour in my gaol. And yet thou wilt, for I being pent in thee, Perforce am thine and all that is in me. So now I have confessed that he is thine, And I my self am mortgaged to thy will, My self I'll forfeit, so that other mine, Thou wilt restore to be my comfort still: But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free, For thou art covetous, and he is kind, He learned but surety-like to write for me, Under that bond that him as fist doth bind. The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take, Thou usurer that put'st forth all to use, And sue a friend, came debtor for my sake, So him I lose through my unkind abuse. Him have I lost, thou hast both him and me, He pays the whole, and yet am I not free. Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy will, And 'Will' to boot, and 'Will' in over-plus, More than enough am I that vex thee still, To thy sweet will making addition thus. Wilt thou whose will is large and spacious, Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine? Shall will in others seem right gracious, And in my will no fair acceptance shine? The sea all water, yet receives rain still, And in abundance addeth to his store, So thou being rich in will add to thy will One will of mine to make thy large will more. Let no unkind, no fair beseechers kill, Think all but one, and me in that one 'Will.' If thy soul check thee that I come so near, Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy 'Will', And will thy soul knows is admitted there, Thus far for love, my love-suit sweet fulfil. 'Will', will fulfil the treasure of thy love, Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one, In things of great receipt with case we prove, Among a number one is reckoned none. Then in the number let me pass untold, Though in thy store's account I one must be, For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold, That nothing me, a something sweet to thee. Make but my name thy love, and love that still, And then thou lov'st me for my name is Will. Thou blind fool Love, what dost thou to mine eyes, That they behold and see not what they see? They know what beauty is, see where it lies, Yet what the best is, take the worst to be. If eyes corrupt by over-partial looks, Be anchored in the bay where all men ride, Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks, Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied? Why should my heart think that a several plot, Which my heart knows the wide world's common place? Or mine eyes seeing this, say this is not To put fair truth upon so foul a face? In things right true my heart and eyes have erred, And to this false plague are they now transferred. When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutored youth, Unlearned in the world's false subtleties. Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, Although she knows my days are past the best, Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue, On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed: But wherefore says she not she is unjust? And wherefore say not I that I am old? O love's best habit is in seeming trust, And age in love, loves not to have years told. Therefore I lie with her, and she with me, And in our faults by lies we flattered be. O call not me to justify the wrong, That thy unkindness lays upon my heart, Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue, Use power with power, and slay me not by art, Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight, Dear heart forbear to glance thine eye aside, What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might Is more than my o'erpressed defence can bide? Let me excuse thee, ah my love well knows, Her pretty looks have been mine enemies, And therefore from my face she turns my foes, That they elsewhere might dart their injuries: Yet do not so, but since I am near slain, Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain. Be wise as thou art cruel, do not press My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain: Lest sorrow lend me words and words express, The manner of my pity-wanting pain. If I might teach thee wit better it were, Though not to love, yet love to tell me so, As testy sick men when their deaths be near, No news but health from their physicians know. For if I should despair I should grow mad, And in my madness might speak ill of thee, Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad, Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be. That I may not be so, nor thou belied, Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide. In faith I do not love thee with mine eyes, For they in thee a thousand errors note, But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise, Who in despite of view is pleased to dote. Nor are mine cars with thy tongue's tune delighted, Nor tender feeling to base touches prone, Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited To any sensual feast with thee alone: But my five wits, nor my five senses can Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee, Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man, Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be: Only my plague thus far I count my gain, That she that makes me sin, awards me pain. Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate, Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving, O but with mine, compare thou thine own state, And thou shalt find it merits not reproving, Or if it do, not from those lips of thine, That have profaned their scarlet ornaments, And sealed false bonds of love as oft as mine, Robbed others' beds' revenues of their rents. Be it lawful I love thee as thou lov'st those, Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee, Root pity in thy heart that when it grows, Thy pity may deserve to pitied be. If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide, By self-example mayst thou be denied. Lo as a careful huswife runs to catch, One of her feathered creatures broke away, Sets down her babe and makes all swift dispatch In pursuit of the thing she would have stay: Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent, To follow that which flies before her face: Not prizing her poor infant's discontent; So run'st thou after that which flies from thee, Whilst I thy babe chase thee afar behind, But if thou catch thy hope turn back to me: And play the mother's part, kiss me, be kind. So will I pray that thou mayst have thy Will, If thou turn back and my loud crying still. Two loves I have of comfort and despair, Which like two spirits do suggest me still, The better angel is a man right fair: The worser spirit a woman coloured ill. To win me soon to hell my female evil, Tempteth my better angel from my side, And would corrupt my saint to be a devil: Wooing his purity with her foul pride. And whether that my angel be turned fiend, Suspect I may, yet not directly tell, But being both from me both to each friend, I guess one angel in another's hell. Yet this shall I ne'er know but live in doubt, Till my bad angel fire my good one out. Those lips that Love's own hand did make, Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate', To me that languished for her sake: But when she saw my woeful state, Straight in her heart did mercy come, Chiding that tongue that ever sweet, Was used in giving gentle doom: And taught it thus anew to greet: 'I hate' she altered with an end, That followed it as gentle day, Doth follow night who like a fiend From heaven to hell is flown away. 'I hate', from hate away she threw, And saved my life saying 'not you'. Poor soul the centre of my sinful earth, My sinful earth these rebel powers array, Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth Painting thy outward walls so costly gay? Why so large cost having so short a lease, Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend? Shall worms inheritors of this excess Eat up thy charge? is this thy body's end? Then soul live thou upon thy servant's loss, And let that pine to aggravate thy store; Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross; Within be fed, without be rich no more, So shall thou feed on death, that feeds on men, And death once dead, there's no more dying then. My love is as a fever longing still, For that which longer nurseth the disease, Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please: My reason the physician to my love, Angry that his prescriptions are not kept Hath left me, and I desperate now approve, Desire is death, which physic did except. Past cure I am, now reason is past care, And frantic-mad with evermore unrest, My thoughts and my discourse as mad men's are, At random from the truth vainly expressed. For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night. O me! what eyes hath love put in my head, Which have no correspondence with true sight, Or if they have, where is my judgment fled, That censures falsely what they see aright? If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote, What means the world to say it is not so? If it be not, then love doth well denote, Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no, How can it? O how can love's eye be true, That is so vexed with watching and with tears? No marvel then though I mistake my view, The sun it self sees not, till heaven clears. O cunning love, with tears thou keep'st me blind, Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find. Canst thou O cruel, say I love thee not, When I against my self with thee partake? Do I not think on thee when I forgot Am of my self, all-tyrant, for thy sake? Who hateth thee that I do call my friend, On whom frown'st thou that I do fawn upon, Nay if thou lour'st on me do I not spend Revenge upon my self with present moan? What merit do I in my self respect, That is so proud thy service to despise, When all my best doth worship thy defect, Commanded by the motion of thine eyes? But love hate on for now I know thy mind, Those that can see thou lov'st, and I am blind. O from what power hast thou this powerful might, With insufficiency my heart to sway, To make me give the lie to my true sight, And swear that brightness doth not grace the day? Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill, That in the very refuse of thy deeds, There is such strength and warrantise of skill, That in my mind thy worst all best exceeds? Who taught thee how to make me love thee more, The more I hear and see just cause of hate? O though I love what others do abhor, With others thou shouldst not abhor my state. If thy unworthiness raised love in me, More worthy I to be beloved of thee. Love is too young to know what conscience is, Yet who knows not conscience is born of love? Then gentle cheater urge not my amiss, Lest guilty of my faults thy sweet self prove. For thou betraying me, I do betray My nobler part to my gross body's treason, My soul doth tell my body that he may, Triumph in love, flesh stays no farther reason, But rising at thy name doth point out thee, As his triumphant prize, proud of this pride, He is contented thy poor drudge to be, To stand in thy affairs, fall by thy side. No want of conscience hold it that I call, Her love, for whose dear love I rise and fall. In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn, But thou art twice forsworn to me love swearing, In act thy bed-vow broke and new faith torn, In vowing new hate after new love bearing: But why of two oaths' breach do I accuse thee, When I break twenty? I am perjured most, For all my vows are oaths but to misuse thee: And all my honest faith in thee is lost. For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness: Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy, And to enlighten thee gave eyes to blindness, Or made them swear against the thing they see. For I have sworn thee fair: more perjured I, To swear against the truth so foul a be. Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep, A maid of Dian's this advantage found, And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep In a cold valley-fountain of that ground: Which borrowed from this holy fire of Love, A dateless lively heat still to endure, And grew a seeting bath which yet men prove, Against strange maladies a sovereign cure: But at my mistress' eye Love's brand new-fired, The boy for trial needs would touch my breast, I sick withal the help of bath desired, And thither hied a sad distempered guest. But found no cure, the bath for my help lies, Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress' eyes. The little Love-god lying once asleep, Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand, Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep, Came tripping by, but in her maiden hand, The fairest votary took up that fire, Which many legions of true hearts had warmed, And so the general of hot desire, Was sleeping by a virgin hand disarmed. This brand she quenched in a cool well by, Which from Love's fire took heat perpetual, Growing a bath and healthful remedy, For men discased, but I my mistress' thrall, Came there for cure and this by that I prove, Love's fire heats water, water cools not love. THE END <> 1603 ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL by William Shakespeare Dramatis Personae KING OF FRANCE THE DUKE OF FLORENCE BERTRAM, Count of Rousillon LAFEU, an old lord PAROLLES, a follower of Bertram TWO FRENCH LORDS, serving with Bertram STEWARD, Servant to the Countess of Rousillon LAVACHE, a clown and Servant to the Countess of Rousillon A PAGE, Servant to the Countess of Rousillon COUNTESS OF ROUSILLON, mother to Bertram HELENA, a gentlewoman protected by the Countess A WIDOW OF FLORENCE. DIANA, daughter to the Widow VIOLENTA, neighbour and friend to the Widow MARIANA, neighbour and friend to the Widow Lords, Officers, Soldiers, etc., French and Florentine <> SCENE: Rousillon; Paris; Florence; Marseilles ACT I. SCENE 1. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Enter BERTRAM, the COUNTESS OF ROUSILLON, HELENA, and LAFEU, all in black COUNTESS. In delivering my son from me, I bury a second husband. BERTRAM. And I in going, madam, weep o'er my father's death anew; but I must attend his Majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward, evermore in subjection. LAFEU. You shall find of the King a husband, madam; you, sir, a father. He that so generally is at all times good must of necessity hold his virtue to you, whose worthiness would stir it up where it wanted, rather than lack it where there is such abundance. COUNTESS. What hope is there of his Majesty's amendment? LAFEU. He hath abandon'd his physicians, madam; under whose practices he hath persecuted time with hope, and finds no other advantage in the process but only the losing of hope by time. COUNTESS. This young gentlewoman had a father- O, that 'had,' how sad a passage 'tis!-whose skill was almost as great as his honesty; had it stretch'd so far, would have made nature immortal, and death should have play for lack of work. Would, for the King's sake, he were living! I think it would be the death of the King's disease. LAFEU. How call'd you the man you speak of, madam? COUNTESS. He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was his great right to be so- Gerard de Narbon. LAFEU. He was excellent indeed, madam; the King very lately spoke of him admiringly and mourningly; he was skilful enough to have liv'd still, if knowledge could be set up against mortality. BERTRAM. What is it, my good lord, the King languishes of? LAFEU. A fistula, my lord. BERTRAM. I heard not of it before. LAFEU. I would it were not notorious. Was this gentlewoman the daughter of Gerard de Narbon? COUNTESS. His sole child, my lord, and bequeathed to my overlooking. I have those hopes of her good that her education promises; her dispositions she inherits, which makes fair gifts fairer; for where an unclean mind carries virtuous qualities, there commendations go with pity-they are virtues and traitors too. In her they are the better for their simpleness; she derives her honesty, and achieves her goodness. LAFEU. Your commendations, madam, get from her tears. COUNTESS. 'Tis the best brine a maiden can season her praise in. The remembrance of her father never approaches her heart but the tyranny of her sorrows takes all livelihood from her cheek. No more of this, Helena; go to, no more, lest it be rather thought you affect a sorrow than to have- HELENA. I do affect a sorrow indeed, but I have it too. LAFEU. Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead: excessive grief the enemy to the living. COUNTESS. If the living be enemy to the grief, the excess makes it soon mortal. BERTRAM. Madam, I desire your holy wishes. LAFEU. How understand we that? COUNTESS. Be thou blest, Bertram, and succeed thy father In manners, as in shape! Thy blood and virtue Contend for empire in thee, and thy goodness Share with thy birthright! Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none; be able for thine enemy Rather in power than use, and keep thy friend Under thy own life's key; be check'd for silence, But never tax'd for speech. What heaven more will, That thee may furnish, and my prayers pluck down, Fall on thy head! Farewell. My lord, 'Tis an unseason'd courtier; good my lord, Advise him. LAFEU. He cannot want the best That shall attend his love. COUNTESS. Heaven bless him! Farewell, Bertram. Exit BERTRAM. The best wishes that can be forg'd in your thoughts be servants to you! [To HELENA] Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make much of her. LAFEU. Farewell, pretty lady; you must hold the credit of your father. Exeunt BERTRAM and LAFEU HELENA. O, were that all! I think not on my father; And these great tears grace his remembrance more Than those I shed for him. What was he like? I have forgot him; my imagination Carries no favour in't but Bertram's. I am undone; there is no living, none, If Bertram be away. 'Twere all one That I should love a bright particular star And think to wed it, he is so above me. In his bright radiance and collateral light Must I be comforted, not in his sphere. Th' ambition in my love thus plagues itself: The hind that would be mated by the lion Must die for love. 'Twas pretty, though a plague, To see him every hour; to sit and draw His arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls, In our heart's table-heart too capable Of every line and trick of his sweet favour. But now he's gone, and my idolatrous fancy Must sanctify his relics. Who comes here? Enter PAROLLES [Aside] One that goes with him. I love him for his sake; And yet I know him a notorious liar, Think him a great way fool, solely a coward; Yet these fix'd evils sit so fit in him That they take place when virtue's steely bones Looks bleak i' th' cold wind; withal, full oft we see Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly. PAROLLES. Save you, fair queen! HELENA. And you, monarch! PAROLLES. No. HELENA. And no. PAROLLES. Are you meditating on virginity? HELENA. Ay. You have some stain of soldier in you; let me ask you a question. Man is enemy to virginity; how may we barricado it against him? PAROLLES. Keep him out. HELENA. But he assails; and our virginity, though valiant in the defence, yet is weak. Unfold to us some warlike resistance. PAROLLES. There is none. Man, setting down before you, will undermine you and blow you up. HELENA. Bless our poor virginity from underminers and blowers-up! Is there no military policy how virgins might blow up men? PAROLLES. Virginity being blown down, man will quicklier be blown up; marry, in blowing him down again, with the breach yourselves made, you lose your city. It is not politic in the commonwealth of nature to preserve virginity. Loss of virginity is rational increase; and there was never virgin got till virginity was first lost. That you were made of is metal to make virgins. Virginity by being once lost may be ten times found; by being ever kept, it is ever lost. 'Tis too cold a companion; away with't. HELENA. I will stand for 't a little, though therefore I die a virgin. PAROLLES. There's little can be said in 't; 'tis against the rule of nature. To speak on the part of virginity is to accuse your mothers; which is most infallible disobedience. He that hangs himself is a virgin; virginity murders itself, and should be buried in highways, out of all sanctified limit, as a desperate offendress against nature. Virginity breeds mites, much like a cheese; consumes itself to the very paring, and so dies with feeding his own stomach. Besides, virginity is peevish, proud, idle, made of self-love, which is the most inhibited sin in the canon. Keep it not; you cannot choose but lose by't. Out with't. Within ten year it will make itself ten, which is a goodly increase; and the principal itself not much the worse. Away with't. HELENA. How might one do, sir, to lose it to her own liking? PAROLLES. Let me see. Marry, ill to like him that ne'er it likes. 'Tis a commodity will lose the gloss with lying; the longer kept, the less worth. Off with't while 'tis vendible; answer the time of request. Virginity, like an old courtier, wears her cap out of fashion, richly suited but unsuitable; just like the brooch and the toothpick, which wear not now. Your date is better in your pie and your porridge than in your cheek. And your virginity, your old virginity, is like one of our French wither'd pears: it looks ill, it eats drily; marry, 'tis a wither'd pear; it was formerly better; marry, yet 'tis a wither'd pear. Will you anything with it? HELENA. Not my virginity yet. There shall your master have a thousand loves, A mother, and a mistress, and a friend, A phoenix, captain, and an enemy, A guide, a goddess, and a sovereign, A counsellor, a traitress, and a dear; His humble ambition, proud humility, His jarring concord, and his discord dulcet, His faith, his sweet disaster; with a world Of pretty, fond, adoptious christendoms That blinking Cupid gossips. Now shall he- I know not what he shall. God send him well! The court's a learning-place, and he is one- PAROLLES. What one, i' faith? HELENA. That I wish well. 'Tis pity- PAROLLES. What's pity? HELENA. That wishing well had not a body in't Which might be felt; that we, the poorer born, Whose baser stars do shut us up in wishes, Might with effects of them follow our friends And show what we alone must think, which never Returns us thanks. Enter PAGE PAGE. Monsieur Parolles, my lord calls for you. Exit PAGE PAROLLES. Little Helen, farewell; if I can remember thee, I will think of thee at court. HELENA. Monsieur Parolles, you were born under a charitable star. PAROLLES. Under Mars, I. HELENA. I especially think, under Mars. PAROLLES. Why under Man? HELENA. The wars hath so kept you under that you must needs be born under Mars. PAROLLES. When he was predominant. HELENA. When he was retrograde, I think, rather. PAROLLES. Why think you so? HELENA. You go so much backward when you fight. PAROLLES. That's for advantage. HELENA. So is running away, when fear proposes the safety: but the composition that your valour and fear makes in you is a virtue of a good wing, and I like the wear well. PAROLLES. I am so full of business I cannot answer thee acutely. I will return perfect courtier; in the which my instruction shall serve to naturalize thee, so thou wilt be capable of a courtier's counsel, and understand what advice shall thrust upon thee; else thou diest in thine unthankfulness, and thine ignorance makes thee away. Farewell. When thou hast leisure, say thy prayers; when thou hast none, remember thy friends. Get thee a good husband and use him as he uses thee. So, farewell. Exit HELENA. Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, Which we ascribe to heaven. The fated sky Gives us free scope; only doth backward pull Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull. What power is it which mounts my love so high, That makes me see, and cannot feed mine eye? The mightiest space in fortune nature brings To join like likes, and kiss like native things. Impossible be strange attempts to those That weigh their pains in sense, and do suppose What hath been cannot be. Who ever strove To show her merit that did miss her love? The King's disease-my project may deceive me, But my intents are fix'd, and will not leave me. Exit ACT I. SCENE 2. Paris. The KING'S palace Flourish of cornets. Enter the KING OF FRANCE, with letters, and divers ATTENDANTS KING. The Florentines and Senoys are by th' ears; Have fought with equal fortune, and continue A braving war. FIRST LORD. So 'tis reported, sir. KING. Nay, 'tis most credible. We here receive it, A certainty, vouch'd from our cousin Austria, With caution, that the Florentine will move us For speedy aid; wherein our dearest friend Prejudicates the business, and would seem To have us make denial. FIRST LORD. His love and wisdom, Approv'd so to your Majesty, may plead For amplest credence. KING. He hath arm'd our answer, And Florence is denied before he comes; Yet, for our gentlemen that mean to see The Tuscan service, freely have they leave To stand on either part. SECOND LORD. It well may serve A nursery to our gentry, who are sick For breathing and exploit. KING. What's he comes here? Enter BERTRAM, LAFEU, and PAROLLES FIRST LORD. It is the Count Rousillon, my good lord, Young Bertram. KING. Youth, thou bear'st thy father's face; Frank nature, rather curious than in haste, Hath well compos'd thee. Thy father's moral parts Mayst thou inherit too! Welcome to Paris. BERTRAM. My thanks and duty are your Majesty's. KING. I would I had that corporal soundness now, As when thy father and myself in friendship First tried our soldiership. He did look far Into the service of the time, and was Discipled of the bravest. He lasted long; But on us both did haggish age steal on, And wore us out of act. It much repairs me To talk of your good father. In his youth He had the wit which I can well observe To-day in our young lords; but they may jest Till their own scorn return to them unnoted Ere they can hide their levity in honour. So like a courtier, contempt nor bitterness Were in his pride or sharpness; if they were, His equal had awak'd them; and his honour, Clock to itself, knew the true minute when Exception bid him speak, and at this time His tongue obey'd his hand. Who were below him He us'd as creatures of another place; And bow'd his eminent top to their low ranks, Making them proud of his humility In their poor praise he humbled. Such a man Might be a copy to these younger times; Which, followed well, would demonstrate them now But goers backward. BERTRAM. His good remembrance, sir, Lies richer in your thoughts than on his tomb; So in approof lives not his epitaph As in your royal speech. KING. Would I were with him! He would always say- Methinks I hear him now; his plausive words He scatter'd not in ears, but grafted them To grow there, and to bear- 'Let me not live'- This his good melancholy oft began, On the catastrophe and heel of pastime, When it was out-'Let me not live' quoth he 'After my flame lacks oil, to be the snuff Of younger spirits, whose apprehensive senses All but new things disdain; whose judgments are Mere fathers of their garments; whose constancies Expire before their fashions.' This he wish'd. I, after him, do after him wish too, Since I nor wax nor honey can bring home, I quickly were dissolved from my hive, To give some labourers room. SECOND LORD. You're loved, sir; They that least lend it you shall lack you first. KING. I fill a place, I know't. How long is't, Count, Since the physician at your father's died? He was much fam'd. BERTRAM. Some six months since, my lord. KING. If he were living, I would try him yet- Lend me an arm-the rest have worn me out With several applications. Nature and sickness Debate it at their leisure. Welcome, Count; My son's no dearer. BERTRAM. Thank your Majesty. Exeunt [Flourish] ACT I. SCENE 3. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Enter COUNTESS, STEWARD, and CLOWN COUNTESS. I will now hear; what say you of this gentlewoman? STEWARD. Madam, the care I have had to even your content I wish might be found in the calendar of my past endeavours; for then we wound our modesty, and make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish them. COUNTESS. What does this knave here? Get you gone, sirrah. The complaints I have heard of you I do not all believe; 'tis my slowness that I do not, for I know you lack not folly to commit them and have ability enough to make such knaveries yours. CLOWN. 'Tis not unknown to you, madam, I am a poor fellow. COUNTESS. Well, sir. CLOWN. No, madam, 'tis not so well that I am poor, though many of the rich are damn'd; but if I may have your ladyship's good will to go to the world, Isbel the woman and I will do as we may. COUNTESS. Wilt thou needs be a beggar? CLOWN. I do beg your good will in this case. COUNTESS. In what case? CLOWN. In Isbel's case and mine own. Service is no heritage; and I think I shall never have the blessing of God till I have issue o' my body; for they say bames are blessings. COUNTESS. Tell me thy reason why thou wilt marry. CLOWN. My poor body, madam, requires it. I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives. COUNTESS. Is this all your worship's reason? CLOWN. Faith, madam, I have other holy reasons, such as they are. COUNTESS. May the world know them? CLOWN. I have been, madam, a wicked creature, as you and all flesh and blood are; and, indeed, I do marry that I may repent. COUNTESS. Thy marriage, sooner than thy wickedness. CLOWN. I am out o' friends, madam, and I hope to have friends for my wife's sake. COUNTESS. Such friends are thine enemies, knave. CLOWN. Y'are shallow, madam-in great friends; for the knaves come to do that for me which I am aweary of. He that ears my land spares my team, and gives me leave to in the crop. If I be his cuckold, he's my drudge. He that comforts my wife is the cherisher of my flesh and blood; he that cherishes my flesh and blood loves my flesh and blood; he that loves my flesh and blood is my friend; ergo, he that kisses my wife is my friend. If men could be contented to be what they are, there were no fear in marriage; for young Charbon the puritan and old Poysam the papist, howsome'er their hearts are sever'd in religion, their heads are both one; they may jowl horns together like any deer i' th' herd. COUNTESS. Wilt thou ever be a foul-mouth'd and calumnious knave? CLOWN. A prophet I, madam; and I speak the truth the next way: For I the ballad will repeat, Which men full true shall find: Your marriage comes by destiny, Your cuckoo sings by kind. COUNTESS. Get you gone, sir; I'll talk with you more anon. STEWARD. May it please you, madam, that he bid Helen come to you. Of her I am to speak. COUNTESS. Sirrah, tell my gentlewoman I would speak with her; Helen I mean. CLOWN. [Sings] 'Was this fair face the cause' quoth she 'Why the Grecians sacked Troy? Fond done, done fond, Was this King Priam's joy?' With that she sighed as she stood, With that she sighed as she stood, And gave this sentence then: 'Among nine bad if one be good, Among nine bad if one be good, There's yet one good in ten.' COUNTESS. What, one good in ten? You corrupt the song, sirrah. CLOWN. One good woman in ten, madam, which is a purifying o' th' song. Would God would serve the world so all the year! We'd find no fault with the tithe-woman, if I were the parson. One in ten, quoth 'a! An we might have a good woman born before every blazing star, or at an earthquake, 'twould mend the lottery well: a man may draw his heart out ere 'a pluck one. COUNTESS. You'll be gone, sir knave, and do as I command you. CLOWN. That man should be at woman's command, and yet no hurt done! Though honesty be no puritan, yet it will do no hurt; it will wear the surplice of humility over the black gown of a big heart. I am going, forsooth. The business is for Helen to come hither. Exit COUNTESS. Well, now. STEWARD. I know, madam, you love your gentlewoman entirely. COUNTESS. Faith I do. Her father bequeath'd her to me; and she herself, without other advantage, may lawfully make title to as much love as she finds. There is more owing her than is paid; and more shall be paid her than she'll demand. STEWARD. Madam, I was very late more near her than I think she wish'd me. Alone she was, and did communicate to herself her own words to her own ears; she thought, I dare vow for her, they touch'd not any stranger sense. Her matter was, she loved your son. Fortune, she said, was no goddess, that had put such difference betwixt their two estates; Love no god, that would not extend his might only where qualities were level; Diana no queen of virgins, that would suffer her poor knight surpris'd without rescue in the first assault, or ransom afterward. This she deliver'd in the most bitter touch of sorrow that e'er I heard virgin exclaim in; which I held my duty speedily to acquaint you withal; sithence, in the loss that may happen, it concerns you something to know it. COUNTESS. YOU have discharg'd this honestly; keep it to yourself. Many likelihoods inform'd me of this before, which hung so tott'ring in the balance that I could neither believe nor misdoubt. Pray you leave me. Stall this in your bosom; and I thank you for your honest care. I will speak with you further anon. Exit STEWARD Enter HELENA Even so it was with me when I was young. If ever we are nature's, these are ours; this thorn Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong; Our blood to us, this to our blood is born. It is the show and seal of nature's truth, Where love's strong passion is impress'd in youth. By our remembrances of days foregone, Such were our faults, or then we thought them none. Her eye is sick on't; I observe her now. HELENA. What is your pleasure, madam? COUNTESS. You know, Helen, I am a mother to you. HELENA. Mine honourable mistress. COUNTESS. Nay, a mother. Why not a mother? When I said 'a mother,' Methought you saw a serpent. What's in 'mother' That you start at it? I say I am your mother, And put you in the catalogue of those That were enwombed mine. 'Tis often seen Adoption strives with nature, and choice breeds A native slip to us from foreign seeds. You ne'er oppress'd me with a mother's groan, Yet I express to you a mother's care. God's mercy, maiden! does it curd thy blood To say I am thy mother? What's the matter, That this distempered messenger of wet, The many-colour'd Iris, rounds thine eye? Why, that you are my daughter? HELENA. That I am not. COUNTESS. I say I am your mother. HELENA. Pardon, madam. The Count Rousillon cannot be my brother: I am from humble, he from honoured name; No note upon my parents, his all noble. My master, my dear lord he is; and I His servant live, and will his vassal die. He must not be my brother. COUNTESS. Nor I your mother? HELENA. You are my mother, madam; would you were- So that my lord your son were not my brother- Indeed my mother! Or were you both our mothers, I care no more for than I do for heaven, So I were not his sister. Can't no other, But, I your daughter, he must be my brother? COUNTESS. Yes, Helen, you might be my daughter-in-law. God shield you mean it not! 'daughter' and 'mother' So strive upon your pulse. What! pale again? My fear hath catch'd your fondness. Now I see The myst'ry of your loneliness, and find Your salt tears' head. Now to all sense 'tis gross You love my son; invention is asham'd, Against the proclamation of thy passion, To say thou dost not. Therefore tell me true; But tell me then, 'tis so; for, look, thy cheeks Confess it, th' one to th' other; and thine eyes See it so grossly shown in thy behaviours That in their kind they speak it; only sin And hellish obstinacy tie thy tongue, That truth should be suspected. Speak, is't so? If it be so, you have wound a goodly clew; If it be not, forswear't; howe'er, I charge thee, As heaven shall work in me for thine avail, To tell me truly. HELENA. Good madam, pardon me. COUNTESS. Do you love my son? HELENA. Your pardon, noble mistress. COUNTESS. Love you my son? HELENA. Do not you love him, madam? COUNTESS. Go not about; my love hath in't a bond Whereof the world takes note. Come, come, disclose The state of your affection; for your passions Have to the full appeach'd. HELENA. Then I confess, Here on my knee, before high heaven and you, That before you, and next unto high heaven, I love your son. My friends were poor, but honest; so's my love. Be not offended, for it hurts not him That he is lov'd of me; I follow him not By any token of presumptuous suit, Nor would I have him till I do deserve him; Yet never know how that desert should be. I know I love in vain, strive against hope; Yet in this captious and intenible sieve I still pour in the waters of my love, And lack not to lose still. Thus, Indian-like, Religious in mine error, I adore The sun that looks upon his worshipper But knows of him no more. My dearest madam, Let not your hate encounter with my love, For loving where you do; but if yourself, Whose aged honour cites a virtuous youth, Did ever in so true a flame of liking Wish chastely and love dearly that your Dian Was both herself and Love; O, then, give pity To her whose state is such that cannot choose But lend and give where she is sure to lose; That seeks not to find that her search implies, But, riddle-like, lives sweetly where she dies! COUNTESS. Had you not lately an intent-speak truly- To go to Paris? HELENA. Madam, I had. COUNTESS. Wherefore? Tell true. HELENA. I will tell truth; by grace itself I swear. You know my father left me some prescriptions Of rare and prov'd effects, such as his reading And manifest experience had collected For general sovereignty; and that he will'd me In heedfull'st reservation to bestow them, As notes whose faculties inclusive were More than they were in note. Amongst the rest There is a remedy, approv'd, set down, To cure the desperate languishings whereof The King is render'd lost. COUNTESS. This was your motive For Paris, was it? Speak. HELENA. My lord your son made me to think of this, Else Paris, and the medicine, and the King, Had from the conversation of my thoughts Haply been absent then. COUNTESS. But think you, Helen, If you should tender your supposed aid, He would receive it? He and his physicians Are of a mind: he, that they cannot help him; They, that they cannot help. How shall they credit A poor unlearned virgin, when the schools, Embowell'd of their doctrine, have let off The danger to itself? HELENA. There's something in't More than my father's skill, which was the great'st Of his profession, that his good receipt Shall for my legacy be sanctified By th' luckiest stars in heaven; and, would your honour But give me leave to try success, I'd venture The well-lost life of mine on his Grace's cure. By such a day and hour. COUNTESS. Dost thou believe't? HELENA. Ay, madam, knowingly. COUNTESS. Why, Helen, thou shalt have my leave and love, Means and attendants, and my loving greetings To those of mine in court. I'll stay at home, And pray God's blessing into thy attempt. Be gone to-morrow; and be sure of this, What I can help thee to thou shalt not miss. Exeunt <> ACT II. SCENE 1. Paris. The KING'S palace Flourish of cornets. Enter the KING with divers young LORDS taking leave for the Florentine war; BERTRAM and PAROLLES; ATTENDANTS KING. Farewell, young lords; these war-like principles Do not throw from you. And you, my lords, farewell; Share the advice betwixt you; if both gain all, The gift doth stretch itself as 'tis receiv'd, And is enough for both. FIRST LORD. 'Tis our hope, sir, After well-ent'red soldiers, to return And find your Grace in health. KING. No, no, it cannot be; and yet my heart Will not confess he owes the malady That doth my life besiege. Farewell, young lords; Whether I live or die, be you the sons Of worthy Frenchmen; let higher Italy- Those bated that inherit but the fall Of the last monarchy-see that you come Not to woo honour, but to wed it; when The bravest questant shrinks, find what you seek, That fame may cry you aloud. I say farewell. SECOND LORD. Health, at your bidding, serve your Majesty! KING. Those girls of Italy, take heed of them; They say our French lack language to deny, If they demand; beware of being captives Before you serve. BOTH. Our hearts receive your warnings. KING. Farewell. [To ATTENDANTS] Come hither to me. The KING retires attended FIRST LORD. O my sweet lord, that you will stay behind us! PAROLLES. 'Tis not his fault, the spark. SECOND LORD. O, 'tis brave wars! PAROLLES. Most admirable! I have seen those wars. BERTRAM. I am commanded here and kept a coil with 'Too young' and next year' and "Tis too early.' PAROLLES. An thy mind stand to 't, boy, steal away bravely. BERTRAM. I shall stay here the forehorse to a smock, Creaking my shoes on the plain masonry, Till honour be bought up, and no sword worn But one to dance with. By heaven, I'll steal away. FIRST LORD. There's honour in the theft. PAROLLES. Commit it, Count. SECOND LORD. I am your accessary; and so farewell. BERTRAM. I grow to you, and our parting is a tortur'd body. FIRST LORD. Farewell, Captain. SECOND LORD. Sweet Monsieur Parolles! PAROLLES. Noble heroes, my sword and yours are kin. Good sparks and lustrous, a word, good metals: you shall find in the regiment of the Spinii one Captain Spurio, with his cicatrice, an emblem of war, here on his sinister cheek; it was this very sword entrench'd it. Say to him I live; and observe his reports for me. FIRST LORD. We shall, noble Captain. PAROLLES. Mars dote on you for his novices! Exeunt LORDS What will ye do? Re-enter the KING BERTRAM. Stay; the King! PAROLLES. Use a more spacious ceremony to the noble lords; you have restrain'd yourself within the list of too cold an adieu. Be more expressive to them; for they wear themselves in the cap of the time; there do muster true gait; eat, speak, and move, under the influence of the most receiv'd star; and though the devil lead the measure, such are to be followed. After them, and take a more dilated farewell. BERTRAM. And I will do so. PAROLLES. Worthy fellows; and like to prove most sinewy sword-men. Exeunt BERTRAM and PAROLLES Enter LAFEU LAFEU. [Kneeling] Pardon, my lord, for me and for my tidings. KING. I'll fee thee to stand up. LAFEU. Then here's a man stands that has brought his pardon. I would you had kneel'd, my lord, to ask me mercy; And that at my bidding you could so stand up. KING. I would I had; so I had broke thy pate, And ask'd thee mercy for't. LAFEU. Good faith, across! But, my good lord, 'tis thus: will you be cur'd Of your infirmity? KING. No. LAFEU. O, will you eat No grapes, my royal fox? Yes, but you will My noble grapes, an if my royal fox Could reach them: I have seen a medicine That's able to breathe life into a stone, Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary With spritely fire and motion; whose simple touch Is powerful to araise King Pepin, nay, To give great Charlemain a pen in's hand And write to her a love-line. KING. What her is this? LAFEU. Why, Doctor She! My lord, there's one arriv'd, If you will see her. Now, by my faith and honour, If seriously I may convey my thoughts In this my light deliverance, I have spoke With one that in her sex, her years, profession, Wisdom, and constancy, hath amaz'd me more Than I dare blame my weakness. Will you see her, For that is her demand, and know her business? That done, laugh well at me. KING. Now, good Lafeu, Bring in the admiration, that we with the May spend our wonder too, or take off thine By wond'ring how thou took'st it. LAFEU. Nay, I'll fit you, And not be all day neither. Exit LAFEU KING. Thus he his special nothing ever prologues. Re-enter LAFEU with HELENA LAFEU. Nay, come your ways. KING. This haste hath wings indeed. LAFEU. Nay, come your ways; This is his Majesty; say your mind to him. A traitor you do look like; but such traitors His Majesty seldom fears. I am Cressid's uncle, That dare leave two together. Fare you well. Exit KING. Now, fair one, does your business follow us? HELENA. Ay, my good lord. Gerard de Narbon was my father, In what he did profess, well found. KING. I knew him. HELENA. The rather will I spare my praises towards him; Knowing him is enough. On's bed of death Many receipts he gave me; chiefly one, Which, as the dearest issue of his practice, And of his old experience th' only darling, He bade me store up as a triple eye, Safer than mine own two, more dear. I have so: And, hearing your high Majesty is touch'd With that malignant cause wherein the honour Of my dear father's gift stands chief in power, I come to tender it, and my appliance, With all bound humbleness. KING. We thank you, maiden; But may not be so credulous of cure, When our most learned doctors leave us, and The congregated college have concluded That labouring art can never ransom nature From her inaidable estate-I say we must not So stain our judgment, or corrupt our hope, To prostitute our past-cure malady To empirics; or to dissever so Our great self and our credit to esteem A senseless help, when help past sense we deem. HELENA. My duty then shall pay me for my pains. I will no more enforce mine office on you; Humbly entreating from your royal thoughts A modest one to bear me back again. KING. I cannot give thee less, to be call'd grateful. Thou thought'st to help me; and such thanks I give As one near death to those that wish him live. But what at full I know, thou know'st no part; I knowing all my peril, thou no art. HELENA. What I can do can do no hurt to try, Since you set up your rest 'gainst remedy. He that of greatest works is finisher Oft does them by the weakest minister. So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown, When judges have been babes. Great floods have flown From simple sources, and great seas have dried When miracles have by the greatest been denied. Oft expectation fails, and most oft there Where most it promises; and oft it hits Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits. KING. I must not hear thee. Fare thee well, kind maid; Thy pains, not us'd, must by thyself be paid; Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward. HELENA. Inspired merit so by breath is barr'd. It is not so with Him that all things knows, As 'tis with us that square our guess by shows; But most it is presumption in us when The help of heaven we count the act of men. Dear sir, to my endeavours give consent; Of heaven, not me, make an experiment. I am not an impostor, that proclaim Myself against the level of mine aim; But know I think, and think I know most sure, My art is not past power nor you past cure. KING. Art thou so confident? Within what space Hop'st thou my cure? HELENA. The greatest Grace lending grace. Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring, Ere twice in murk and occidental damp Moist Hesperus hath quench'd his sleepy lamp, Or four and twenty times the pilot's glass Hath told the thievish minutes how they pass, What is infirm from your sound parts shall fly, Health shall live free, and sickness freely die. KING. Upon thy certainty and confidence What dar'st thou venture? HELENA. Tax of impudence, A strumpet's boldness, a divulged shame, Traduc'd by odious ballads; my maiden's name Sear'd otherwise; ne worse of worst-extended With vilest torture let my life be ended. KING. Methinks in thee some blessed spirit doth speak His powerful sound within an organ weak; And what impossibility would slay In common sense, sense saves another way. Thy life is dear; for all that life can rate Worth name of life in thee hath estimate: Youth, beauty, wisdom, courage, all That happiness and prime can happy call. Thou this to hazard needs must intimate Skill infinite or monstrous desperate. Sweet practiser, thy physic I will try, That ministers thine own death if I die. HELENA. If I break time, or flinch in property Of what I spoke, unpitied let me die; And well deserv'd. Not helping, death's my fee; But, if I help, what do you promise me? KING. Make thy demand. HELENA. But will you make it even? KING. Ay, by my sceptre and my hopes of heaven. HELENA. Then shalt thou give me with thy kingly hand What husband in thy power I will command. Exempted be from me the arrogance To choose from forth the royal blood of France, My low and humble name to propagate With any branch or image of thy state; But such a one, thy vassal, whom I know Is free for me to ask, thee to bestow. KING. Here is my hand; the premises observ'd, Thy will by my performance shall be serv'd. So make the choice of thy own time, for I, Thy resolv'd patient, on thee still rely. More should I question thee, and more I must, Though more to know could not be more to trust, From whence thou cam'st, how tended on. But rest Unquestion'd welcome and undoubted blest. Give me some help here, ho! If thou proceed As high as word, my deed shall match thy deed. [Flourish. Exeunt] ACT II. SCENE 2. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Enter COUNTESS and CLOWN COUNTESS. Come on, sir; I shall now put you to the height of your breeding. CLOWN. I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught. I know my business is but to the court. COUNTESS. To the court! Why, what place make you special, when you put off that with such contempt? But to the court! CLOWN. Truly, madam, if God have lent a man any manners, he may easily put it off at court. He that cannot make a leg, put off's cap, kiss his hand, and say nothing, has neither leg, hands, lip, nor cap; and indeed such a fellow, to say precisely, were not for the court; but for me, I have an answer will serve all men. COUNTESS. Marry, that's a bountiful answer that fits all questions. CLOWN. It is like a barber's chair, that fits all buttocks-the pin buttock, the quatch buttock, the brawn buttock, or any buttock. COUNTESS. Will your answer serve fit to all questions? CLOWN. As fit as ten groats is for the hand of an attorney, as your French crown for your taffety punk, as Tib's rush for Tom's forefinger, as a pancake for Shrove Tuesday, a morris for Mayday, as the nail to his hole, the cuckold to his horn, as a scolding quean to a wrangling knave, as the nun's lip to the friar's mouth; nay, as the pudding to his skin. COUNTESS. Have you, I, say, an answer of such fitness for all questions? CLOWN. From below your duke to beneath your constable, it will fit any question. COUNTESS. It must be an answer of most monstrous size that must fit all demands. CLOWN. But a trifle neither, in good faith, if the learned should speak truth of it. Here it is, and all that belongs to't. Ask me if I am a courtier: it shall do you no harm to learn. COUNTESS. To be young again, if we could, I will be a fool in question, hoping to be the wiser by your answer. I pray you, sir, are you a courtier? CLOWN. O Lord, sir!-There's a simple putting off. More, more, a hundred of them. COUNTESS. Sir, I am a poor friend of yours, that loves you. CLOWN. O Lord, sir!-Thick, thick; spare not me. COUNTESS. I think, sir, you can eat none of this homely meat. CLOWN. O Lord, sir!-Nay, put me to't, I warrant you. COUNTESS. You were lately whipp'd, sir, as I think. CLOWN. O Lord, sir!-Spare not me. COUNTESS. Do you cry 'O Lord, sir!' at your whipping, and 'spare not me'? Indeed your 'O Lord, sir!' is very sequent to your whipping. You would answer very well to a whipping, if you were but bound to't. CLOWN. I ne'er had worse luck in my life in my 'O Lord, sir!' I see thing's may serve long, but not serve ever. COUNTESS. I play the noble housewife with the time, To entertain it so merrily with a fool. CLOWN. O Lord, sir!-Why, there't serves well again. COUNTESS. An end, sir! To your business: give Helen this, And urge her to a present answer back; Commend me to my kinsmen and my son. This is not much. CLOWN. Not much commendation to them? COUNTESS. Not much employment for you. You understand me? CLOWN. Most fruitfully; I am there before my legs. COUNTESS. Haste you again. Exeunt ACT II. SCENE 3. Paris. The KING'S palace Enter BERTRAM, LAFEU, and PAROLLES LAFEU. They say miracles are past; and we have our philosophical persons to make modern and familiar things supernatural and causeless. Hence is it that we make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear. PAROLLES. Why, 'tis the rarest argument of wonder that hath shot out in our latter times. BERTRAM. And so 'tis. LAFEU. To be relinquish'd of the artists- PAROLLES. So I say-both of Galen and Paracelsus. LAFEU. Of all the learned and authentic fellows- PAROLLES. Right; so I say. LAFEU. That gave him out incurable- PAROLLES. Why, there 'tis; so say I too. LAFEU. Not to be help'd- PAROLLES. Right; as 'twere a man assur'd of a- LAFEU. Uncertain life and sure death. PAROLLES. Just; you say well; so would I have said. LAFEU. I may truly say it is a novelty to the world. PAROLLES. It is indeed. If you will have it in showing, you shall read it in what-do-ye-call't here. LAFEU. [Reading the ballad title] 'A Showing of a Heavenly Effect in an Earthly Actor.' PAROLLES. That's it; I would have said the very same. LAFEU. Why, your dolphin is not lustier. 'Fore me, I speak in respect- PAROLLES. Nay, 'tis strange, 'tis very strange; that is the brief and the tedious of it; and he's of a most facinerious spirit that will not acknowledge it to be the- LAFEU. Very hand of heaven. PAROLLES. Ay; so I say. LAFEU. In a most weak- PAROLLES. And debile minister, great power, great transcendence; which should, indeed, give us a further use to be made than alone the recov'ry of the King, as to be- LAFEU. Generally thankful. Enter KING, HELENA, and ATTENDANTS PAROLLES. I would have said it; you say well. Here comes the King. LAFEU. Lustig, as the Dutchman says. I'll like a maid the better, whilst I have a tooth in my head. Why, he's able to lead her a coranto. PAROLLES. Mort du vinaigre! Is not this Helen? LAFEU. 'Fore God, I think so. KING. Go, call before me all the lords in court. Exit an ATTENDANT Sit, my preserver, by thy patient's side; And with this healthful hand, whose banish'd sense Thou has repeal'd, a second time receive The confirmation of my promis'd gift, Which but attends thy naming. Enter three or four LORDS Fair maid, send forth thine eye. This youthful parcel Of noble bachelors stand at my bestowing, O'er whom both sovereign power and father's voice I have to use. Thy frank election make; Thou hast power to choose, and they none to forsake. HELENA. To each of you one fair and virtuous mistress Fall, when love please. Marry, to each but one! LAFEU. I'd give bay Curtal and his furniture My mouth no more were broken than these boys', And writ as little beard. KING. Peruse them well. Not one of those but had a noble father. HELENA. Gentlemen, Heaven hath through me restor'd the King to health. ALL. We understand it, and thank heaven for you. HELENA. I am a simple maid, and therein wealthiest That I protest I simply am a maid. Please it your Majesty, I have done already. The blushes in my cheeks thus whisper me: 'We blush that thou shouldst choose; but, be refused, Let the white death sit on thy cheek for ever, We'll ne'er come there again.' KING. Make choice and see: Who shuns thy love shuns all his love in me. HELENA. Now, Dian, from thy altar do I fly, And to imperial Love, that god most high, Do my sighs stream. Sir, will you hear my suit? FIRST LORD. And grant it. HELENA. Thanks, sir; all the rest is mute. LAFEU. I had rather be in this choice than throw ames-ace for my life. HELENA. The honour, sir, that flames in your fair eyes, Before I speak, too threat'ningly replies. Love make your fortunes twenty times above Her that so wishes, and her humble love! SECOND LORD. No better, if you please. HELENA. My wish receive, Which great Love grant; and so I take my leave. LAFEU. Do all they deny her? An they were sons of mine I'd have them whipt; or I would send them to th' Turk to make eunuchs of. HELENA. Be not afraid that I your hand should take; I'll never do you wrong for your own sake. Blessing upon your vows; and in your bed Find fairer fortune, if you ever wed! LAFEU. These boys are boys of ice; they'll none have her. Sure, they are bastards to the English; the French ne'er got 'em. HELENA. You are too young, too happy, and too good, To make yourself a son out of my blood. FOURTH LORD. Fair one, I think not so. LAFEU. There's one grape yet; I am sure thy father drunk wine-but if thou be'st not an ass, I am a youth of fourteen; I have known thee already. HELENA. [To BERTRAM] I dare not say I take you; but I give Me and my service, ever whilst I live, Into your guiding power. This is the man. KING. Why, then, young Bertram, take her; she's thy wife. BERTRAM. My wife, my liege! I shall beseech your Highness, In such a business give me leave to use The help of mine own eyes. KING. Know'st thou not, Bertram, What she has done for me? BERTRAM. Yes, my good lord; But never hope to know why I should marry her. KING. Thou know'st she has rais'd me from my sickly bed. BERTRAM. But follows it, my lord, to bring me down Must answer for your raising? I know her well: She had her breeding at my father's charge. A poor physician's daughter my wife! Disdain Rather corrupt me ever! KING. 'Tis only title thou disdain'st in her, the which I can build up. Strange is it that our bloods, Of colour, weight, and heat, pour'd all together, Would quite confound distinction, yet stand off In differences so mighty. If she be All that is virtuous-save what thou dislik'st, A poor physician's daughter-thou dislik'st Of virtue for the name; but do not so. From lowest place when virtuous things proceed, The place is dignified by the doer's deed; Where great additions swell's, and virtue none, It is a dropsied honour. Good alone Is good without a name. Vileness is so: The property by what it is should go, Not by the title. She is young, wise, fair; In these to nature she's immediate heir; And these breed honour. That is honour's scorn Which challenges itself as honour's born And is not like the sire. Honours thrive When rather from our acts we them derive Than our fore-goers. The mere word's a slave, Debauch'd on every tomb, on every grave A lying trophy; and as oft is dumb Where dust and damn'd oblivion is the tomb Of honour'd bones indeed. What should be said? If thou canst like this creature as a maid, I can create the rest. Virtue and she Is her own dower; honour and wealth from me. BERTRAM. I cannot love her, nor will strive to do 't. KING. Thou wrong'st thyself, if thou shouldst strive to choose. HELENA. That you are well restor'd, my lord, I'm glad. Let the rest go. KING. My honour's at the stake; which to defeat, I must produce my power. Here, take her hand, Proud scornful boy, unworthy this good gift, That dost in vile misprision shackle up My love and her desert; that canst not dream We, poising us in her defective scale, Shall weigh thee to the beam; that wilt not know It is in us to plant thine honour where We please to have it grow. Check thy contempt; Obey our will, which travails in thy good; Believe not thy disdain, but presently Do thine own fortunes that obedient right Which both thy duty owes and our power claims; Or I will throw thee from my care for ever Into the staggers and the careless lapse Of youth and ignorance; both my revenge and hate Loosing upon thee in the name of justice, Without all terms of pity. Speak; thine answer. BERTRAM. Pardon, my gracious lord; for I submit My fancy to your eyes. When I consider What great creation and what dole of honour Flies where you bid it, I find that she which late Was in my nobler thoughts most base is now The praised of the King; who, so ennobled, Is as 'twere born so. KING. Take her by the hand, And tell her she is thine; to whom I promise A counterpoise, if not to thy estate A balance more replete. BERTRAM. I take her hand. KING. Good fortune and the favour of the King Smile upon this contract; whose ceremony Shall seem expedient on the now-born brief, And be perform'd to-night. The solemn feast Shall more attend upon the coming space, Expecting absent friends. As thou lov'st her, Thy love's to me religious; else, does err. Exeunt all but LAFEU and PAROLLES who stay behind, commenting of this wedding LAFEU. Do you hear, monsieur? A word with you. PAROLLES. Your pleasure, sir? LAFEU. Your lord and master did well to make his recantation. PAROLLES. Recantation! My Lord! my master! LAFEU. Ay; is it not a language I speak? PAROLLES. A most harsh one, and not to be understood without bloody succeeding. My master! LAFEU. Are you companion to the Count Rousillon? PAROLLES. To any count; to all counts; to what is man. LAFEU. To what is count's man: count's master is of another style. PAROLLES. You are too old, sir; let it satisfy you, you are too old. LAFEU. I must tell thee, sirrah, I write man; to which title age cannot bring thee. PAROLLES. What I dare too well do, I dare not do. LAFEU. I did think thee, for two ordinaries, to be a pretty wise fellow; thou didst make tolerable vent of thy travel; it might pass. Yet the scarfs and the bannerets about thee did manifoldly dissuade me from believing thee a vessel of too great a burden. I have now found thee; when I lose thee again I care not; yet art thou good for nothing but taking up; and that thou'rt scarce worth. PAROLLES. Hadst thou not the privilege of antiquity upon thee- LAFEU. Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou hasten thy trial; which if-Lord have mercy on thee for a hen! So, my good window of lattice, fare thee well; thy casement I need not open, for I look through thee. Give me thy hand. PAROLLES. My lord, you give me most egregious indignity. LAFEU. Ay, with all my heart; and thou art worthy of it. PAROLLES. I have not, my lord, deserv'd it. LAFEU. Yes, good faith, ev'ry dram of it; and I will not bate thee a scruple. PAROLLES. Well, I shall be wiser. LAFEU. Ev'n as soon as thou canst, for thou hast to pull at a smack o' th' contrary. If ever thou be'st bound in thy scarf and beaten, thou shalt find what it is to be proud of thy bondage. I have a desire to hold my acquaintance with thee, or rather my knowledge, that I may say in the default 'He is a man I know.' PAROLLES. My lord, you do me most insupportable vexation. LAFEU. I would it were hell pains for thy sake, and my poor doing eternal; for doing I am past, as I will by thee, in what motion age will give me leave. Exit PAROLLES. Well, thou hast a son shall take this disgrace off me: scurvy, old, filthy, scurvy lord! Well, I must be patient; there is no fettering of authority. I'll beat him, by my life, if I can meet him with any convenience, an he were double and double a lord. I'll have no more pity of his age than I would have of- I'll beat him, and if I could but meet him again. Re-enter LAFEU LAFEU. Sirrah, your lord and master's married; there's news for you; you have a new mistress. PAROLLES. I most unfeignedly beseech your lordship to make some reservation of your wrongs. He is my good lord: whom I serve above is my master. LAFEU. Who? God? PAROLLES. Ay, sir. LAFEU. The devil it is that's thy master. Why dost thou garter up thy arms o' this fashion? Dost make hose of thy sleeves? Do other servants so? Thou wert best set thy lower part where thy nose stands. By mine honour, if I were but two hours younger, I'd beat thee. Methink'st thou art a general offence, and every man should beat thee. I think thou wast created for men to breathe themselves upon thee. PAROLLES. This is hard and undeserved measure, my lord. LAFEU. Go to, sir; you were beaten in Italy for picking a kernel out of a pomegranate; you are a vagabond, and no true traveller; you are more saucy with lords and honourable personages than the commission of your birth and virtue gives you heraldry. You are not worth another word, else I'd call you knave. I leave you. Exit Enter BERTRAM PAROLLES. Good, very, good, it is so then. Good, very good; let it be conceal'd awhile. BERTRAM. Undone, and forfeited to cares for ever! PAROLLES. What's the matter, sweetheart? BERTRAM. Although before the solemn priest I have sworn, I will not bed her. PAROLLES. What, what, sweetheart? BERTRAM. O my Parolles, they have married me! I'll to the Tuscan wars, and never bed her. PAROLLES. France is a dog-hole, and it no more merits The tread of a man's foot. To th' wars! BERTRAM. There's letters from my mother; what th' import is I know not yet. PAROLLES. Ay, that would be known. To th' wars, my boy, to th' wars! He wears his honour in a box unseen That hugs his kicky-wicky here at home, Spending his manly marrow in her arms, Which should sustain the bound and high curvet Of Mars's fiery steed. To other regions! France is a stable; we that dwell in't jades; Therefore, to th' war! BERTRAM. It shall be so; I'll send her to my house, Acquaint my mother with my hate to her, And wherefore I am fled; write to the King That which I durst not speak. His present gift Shall furnish me to those Italian fields Where noble fellows strike. War is no strife To the dark house and the detested wife. PAROLLES. Will this capriccio hold in thee, art sure? BERTRAM. Go with me to my chamber and advise me. I'll send her straight away. To-morrow I'll to the wars, she to her single sorrow. PAROLLES. Why, these balls bound; there's noise in it. 'Tis hard: A young man married is a man that's marr'd. Therefore away, and leave her bravely; go. The King has done you wrong; but, hush, 'tis so. Exeunt ACT II. SCENE 4. Paris. The KING'S palace Enter HELENA and CLOWN HELENA. My mother greets me kindly; is she well? CLOWN. She is not well, but yet she has her health; she's very merry, but yet she is not well. But thanks be given, she's very well, and wants nothing i' th' world; but yet she is not well. HELENA. If she be very well, what does she ail that she's not very well? CLOWN. Truly, she's very well indeed, but for two things. HELENA. What two things? CLOWN. One, that she's not in heaven, whither God send her quickly! The other, that she's in earth, from whence God send her quickly! Enter PAROLLES PAROLLES. Bless you, my fortunate lady! HELENA. I hope, sir, I have your good will to have mine own good fortunes. PAROLLES. You had my prayers to lead them on; and to keep them on, have them still. O, my knave, how does my old lady? CLOWN. So that you had her wrinkles and I her money, I would she did as you say. PAROLLES. Why, I say nothing. CLOWN. Marry, you are the wiser man; for many a man's tongue shakes out his master's undoing. To say nothing, to do nothing, to know nothing, and to have nothing, is to be a great part of your title, which is within a very little of nothing. PAROLLES. Away! th'art a knave. CLOWN. You should have said, sir, 'Before a knave th'art a knave'; that's 'Before me th'art a knave.' This had been truth, sir. PAROLLES. Go to, thou art a witty fool; I have found thee. CLOWN. Did you find me in yourself, sir, or were you taught to find me? The search, sir, was profitable; and much fool may you find in you, even to the world's pleasure and the increase of laughter. PAROLLES. A good knave, i' faith, and well fed. Madam, my lord will go away to-night: A very serious business calls on him. The great prerogative and rite of love, Which, as your due, time claims, he does acknowledge; But puts it off to a compell'd restraint; Whose want, and whose delay, is strew'd with sweets, Which they distil now in the curbed time, To make the coming hour o'erflow with joy And pleasure drown the brim. HELENA. What's his else? PAROLLES. That you will take your instant leave o' th' King, And make this haste as your own good proceeding, Strength'ned with what apology you think May make it probable need. HELENA. What more commands he? PAROLLES. That, having this obtain'd, you presently Attend his further pleasure. HELENA. In everything I wait upon his will. PAROLLES. I shall report it so. HELENA. I pray you. Exit PAROLLES Come, sirrah. Exeunt ACT II. SCENE 5. Paris. The KING'S palace Enter LAFEU and BERTRAM LAFEU. But I hope your lordship thinks not him a soldier. BERTRAM. Yes, my lord, and of very valiant approof. LAFEU. You have it from his own deliverance. BERTRAM. And by other warranted testimony. LAFEU. Then my dial goes not true; I took this lark for a bunting. BERTRAM. I do assure you, my lord, he is very great in knowledge, and accordingly valiant. LAFEU. I have then sinn'd against his experience and transgress'd against his valour; and my state that way is dangerous, since I cannot yet find in my heart to repent. Here he comes; I pray you make us friends; I will pursue the amity Enter PAROLLES PAROLLES. [To BERTRAM] These things shall be done, sir. LAFEU. Pray you, sir, who's his tailor? PAROLLES. Sir! LAFEU. O, I know him well. Ay, sir; he, sir, 's a good workman, a very good tailor. BERTRAM. [Aside to PAROLLES] Is she gone to the King? PAROLLES. She is. BERTRAM. Will she away to-night? PAROLLES. As you'll have her. BERTRAM. I have writ my letters, casketed my treasure, Given order for our horses; and to-night, When I should take possession of the bride, End ere I do begin. LAFEU. A good traveller is something at the latter end of a dinner; but one that lies three-thirds and uses a known truth to pass a thousand nothings with, should be once heard and thrice beaten. God save you, Captain. BERTRAM. Is there any unkindness between my lord and you, monsieur? PAROLLES. I know not how I have deserved to run into my lord's displeasure. LAFEU. You have made shift to run into 't, boots and spurs and all, like him that leapt into the custard; and out of it you'll run again, rather than suffer question for your residence. BERTRAM. It may be you have mistaken him, my lord. LAFEU. And shall do so ever, though I took him at's prayers. Fare you well, my lord; and believe this of me: there can be no kernal in this light nut; the soul of this man is his clothes; trust him not in matter of heavy consequence; I have kept of them tame, and know their natures. Farewell, monsieur; I have spoken better of you than you have or will to deserve at my hand; but we must do good against evil. Exit PAROLLES. An idle lord, I swear. BERTRAM. I think so. PAROLLES. Why, do you not know him? BERTRAM. Yes, I do know him well; and common speech Gives him a worthy pass. Here comes my clog. Enter HELENA HELENA. I have, sir, as I was commanded from you, Spoke with the King, and have procur'd his leave For present parting; only he desires Some private speech with you. BERTRAM. I shall obey his will. You must not marvel, Helen, at my course, Which holds not colour with the time, nor does The ministration and required office On my particular. Prepar'd I was not For such a business; therefore am I found So much unsettled. This drives me to entreat you That presently you take your way for home, And rather muse than ask why I entreat you; For my respects are better than they seem, And my appointments have in them a need Greater than shows itself at the first view To you that know them not. This to my mother. [Giving a letter] 'Twill be two days ere I shall see you; so I leave you to your wisdom. HELENA. Sir, I can nothing say But that I am your most obedient servant. BERTRAM. Come, come, no more of that. HELENA. And ever shall With true observance seek to eke out that Wherein toward me my homely stars have fail'd To equal my great fortune. BERTRAM. Let that go. My haste is very great. Farewell; hie home. HELENA. Pray, sir, your pardon. BERTRAM. Well, what would you say? HELENA. I am not worthy of the wealth I owe, Nor dare I say 'tis mine, and yet it is; But, like a timorous thief, most fain would steal What law does vouch mine own. BERTRAM. What would you have? HELENA. Something; and scarce so much; nothing, indeed. I would not tell you what I would, my lord. Faith, yes: Strangers and foes do sunder and not kiss. BERTRAM. I pray you, stay not, but in haste to horse. HELENA. I shall not break your bidding, good my lord. BERTRAM. Where are my other men, monsieur? Farewell! Exit HELENA Go thou toward home, where I will never come Whilst I can shake my sword or hear the drum. Away, and for our flight. PAROLLES. Bravely, coragio! Exeunt <> ACT III. SCENE 1. Florence. The DUKE's palace Flourish. Enter the DUKE OF FLORENCE, attended; two FRENCH LORDS, with a TROOP OF SOLDIERS DUKE. So that, from point to point, now have you hear The fundamental reasons of this war; Whose great decision hath much blood let forth And more thirsts after. FIRST LORD. Holy seems the quarrel Upon your Grace's part; black and fearful On the opposer. DUKE. Therefore we marvel much our cousin France Would in so just a business shut his bosom Against our borrowing prayers. SECOND LORD. Good my lord, The reasons of our state I cannot yield, But like a common and an outward man That the great figure of a council frames By self-unable motion; therefore dare not Say what I think of it, since I have found Myself in my incertain grounds to fail As often as I guess'd. DUKE. Be it his pleasure. FIRST LORD. But I am sure the younger of our nature, That surfeit on their ease, will day by day Come here for physic. DUKE. Welcome shall they be And all the honours that can fly from us Shall on them settle. You know your places well; When better fall, for your avails they fell. To-morrow to th' field. Flourish. Exeunt ACT III. SCENE 2. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Enter COUNTESS and CLOWN COUNTESS. It hath happen'd all as I would have had it, save that he comes not along with her. CLOWN. By my troth, I take my young lord to be a very melancholy man. COUNTESS. By what observance, I pray you? CLOWN. Why, he will look upon his boot and sing; mend the ruff and sing; ask questions and sing; pick his teeth and sing. I know a man that had this trick of melancholy sold a goodly manor for a song. COUNTESS. Let me see what he writes, and when he means to come. [Opening a letter] CLOWN. I have no mind to Isbel since I was at court. Our old ling and our Isbels o' th' country are nothing like your old ling and your Isbels o' th' court. The brains of my Cupid's knock'd out; and I begin to love, as an old man loves money, with no stomach. COUNTESS. What have we here? CLOWN. E'en that you have there. Exit COUNTESS. [Reads] 'I have sent you a daughter-in-law; she hath recovered the King and undone me. I have wedded her, not bedded her; and sworn to make the "not" eternal. You shall hear I am run away; know it before the report come. If there be breadth enough in the world, I will hold a long distance. My duty to you. Your unfortunate son, BERTRAM.' This is not well, rash and unbridled boy, To fly the favours of so good a king, To pluck his indignation on thy head By the misprizing of a maid too virtuous For the contempt of empire. Re-enter CLOWN CLOWN. O madam, yonder is heavy news within between two soldiers and my young lady. COUNTESS. What is the -matter? CLOWN. Nay, there is some comfort in the news, some comfort; your son will not be kill'd so soon as I thought he would. COUNTESS. Why should he be kill'd? CLOWN. So say I, madam, if he run away, as I hear he does the danger is in standing to 't; that's the loss of men, though it be the getting of children. Here they come will tell you more. For my part, I only hear your son was run away. Exit Enter HELENA and the two FRENCH GENTLEMEN SECOND GENTLEMAN. Save you, good madam. HELENA. Madam, my lord is gone, for ever gone. FIRST GENTLEMAN. Do not say so. COUNTESS. Think upon patience. Pray you, gentlemen- I have felt so many quirks of joy and grief That the first face of neither, on the start, Can woman me unto 't. Where is my son, I pray you? FIRST GENTLEMAN. Madam, he's gone to serve the Duke of Florence. We met him thitherward; for thence we came, And, after some dispatch in hand at court, Thither we bend again. HELENA. Look on this letter, madam; here's my passport. [Reads] 'When thou canst get the ring upon my finger, which never shall come off, and show me a child begotten of thy body that I am father to, then call me husband; but in such a "then" I write a "never." This is a dreadful sentence. COUNTESS. Brought you this letter, gentlemen? FIRST GENTLEMAN. Ay, madam; And for the contents' sake are sorry for our pains. COUNTESS. I prithee, lady, have a better cheer; If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine, Thou robb'st me of a moiety. He was my son; But I do wash his name out of my blood, And thou art all my child. Towards Florence is he? FIRST GENTLEMAN. Ay, madam. COUNTESS. And to be a soldier? FIRST GENTLEMAN. Such is his noble purpose; and, believe 't, The Duke will lay upon him all the honour That good convenience claims. COUNTESS. Return you thither? SECOND GENTLEMAN. Ay, madam, with the swiftest wing of speed. HELENA. [Reads] 'Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.' 'Tis bitter. COUNTESS. Find you that there? HELENA. Ay, madam. SECOND GENTLEMAN. 'Tis but the boldness of his hand haply, which his heart was not consenting to. COUNTESS. Nothing in France until he have no wife! There's nothing here that is too good for him But only she; and she deserves a lord That twenty such rude boys might tend upon, And call her hourly mistress. Who was with him? SECOND GENTLEMAN. A servant only, and a gentleman Which I have sometime known. COUNTESS. Parolles, was it not? SECOND GENTLEMAN. Ay, my good lady, he. COUNTESS. A very tainted fellow, and full of wickedness. My son corrupts a well-derived nature With his inducement. SECOND GENTLEMAN. Indeed, good lady, The fellow has a deal of that too much Which holds him much to have. COUNTESS. Y'are welcome, gentlemen. I will entreat you, when you see my son, To tell him that his sword can never win The honour that he loses. More I'll entreat you Written to bear along. FIRST GENTLEMAN. We serve you, madam, In that and all your worthiest affairs. COUNTESS. Not so, but as we change our courtesies. Will you draw near? Exeunt COUNTESS and GENTLEMEN HELENA. 'Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.' Nothing in France until he has no wife! Thou shalt have none, Rousillon, none in France Then hast thou all again. Poor lord! is't That chase thee from thy country, and expose Those tender limbs of thine to the event Of the non-sparing war? And is it I That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers, That ride upon the violent speed of fire, Fly with false aim; move the still-piecing air, That sings with piercing; do not touch my lord. Whoever shoots at him, I set him there; Whoever charges on his forward breast, I am the caitiff that do hold him to't; And though I kill him not, I am the cause His death was so effected. Better 'twere I met the ravin lion when he roar'd With sharp constraint of hunger; better 'twere That all the miseries which nature owes Were mine at once. No; come thou home, Rousillon, Whence honour but of danger wins a scar, As oft it loses all. I will be gone. My being here it is that holds thee hence. Shall I stay here to do 't? No, no, although The air of paradise did fan the house, And angels offic'd all. I will be gone, That pitiful rumour may report my flight To consolate thine ear. Come, night; end, day. For with the dark, poor thief, I'll steal away. Exit ACT III. SCENE 3. Florence. Before the DUKE's palace Flourish. Enter the DUKE OF FLORENCE, BERTRAM, PAROLLES, SOLDIERS, drum and trumpets DUKE. The General of our Horse thou art; and we, Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence Upon thy promising fortune. BERTRAM. Sir, it is A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet We'll strive to bear it for your worthy sake To th' extreme edge of hazard. DUKE. Then go thou forth; And Fortune play upon thy prosperous helm, As thy auspicious mistress! BERTRAM. This very day, Great Mars, I put myself into thy file; Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove A lover of thy drum, hater of love. Exeunt ACT III. SCENE 4. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Enter COUNTESS and STEWARD COUNTESS. Alas! and would you take the letter of her? Might you not know she would do as she has done By sending me a letter? Read it again. STEWARD. [Reads] 'I am Saint Jaques' pilgrim, thither gone. Ambitious love hath so in me offended That barefoot plod I the cold ground upon, With sainted vow my faults to have amended. Write, write, that from the bloody course of war My dearest master, your dear son, may hie. Bless him at home in peace, whilst I from far His name with zealous fervour sanctify. His taken labours bid him me forgive; I, his despiteful Juno, sent him forth From courtly friends, with camping foes to live, Where death and danger dogs the heels of worth. He is too good and fair for death and me; Whom I myself embrace to set him free.' COUNTESS. Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words! Rinaldo, you did never lack advice so much As letting her pass so; had I spoke with her, I could have well diverted her intents, Which thus she hath prevented. STEWARD. Pardon me, madam; If I had given you this at over-night, She might have been o'er ta'en; and yet she writes Pursuit would be but vain. COUNTESS. What angel shall Bless this unworthy husband? He cannot thrive, Unless her prayers, whom heaven delights to hear And loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrath Of greatest justice. Write, write, Rinaldo, To this unworthy husband of his wife; Let every word weigh heavy of her worth That he does weigh too light. My greatest grief, Though little he do feel it, set down sharply. Dispatch the most convenient messenger. When haply he shall hear that she is gone He will return; and hope I may that she, Hearing so much, will speed her foot again, Led hither by pure love. Which of them both Is dearest to me I have no skill in sense To make distinction. Provide this messenger. My heart is heavy, and mine age is weak; Grief would have tears, and sorrow bids me speak. Exeunt ACT III. SCENE 5. Without the walls of Florence A tucket afar off. Enter an old WIDOW OF FLORENCE, her daughter DIANA, VIOLENTA, and MARIANA, with other CITIZENS WIDOW. Nay, come; for if they do approach the city we shall lose all the sight. DIANA. They say the French count has done most honourable service. WIDOW. It is reported that he has taken their great'st commander; and that with his own hand he slew the Duke's brother. [Tucket] We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way. Hark! you may know by their trumpets. MARIANA. Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves with the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this French earl; the honour of a maid is her name, and no legacy is so rich as honesty. WIDOW. I have told my neighbour how you have been solicited by a gentleman his companion. MARIANA. I know that knave, hang him! one Parolles; a filthy officer he is in those suggestions for the young earl. Beware of them, Diana: their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust, are not the things they go under; many a maid hath been seduced by them; and the misery is, example, that so terrible shows in the wreck of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but that they are limed with the twigs that threatens them. I hope I need not to advise you further; but I hope your own grace will keep you where you are, though there were no further danger known but the modesty which is so lost. DIANA. You shall not need to fear me. Enter HELENA in the dress of a pilgrim WIDOW. I hope so. Look, here comes a pilgrim. I know she will lie at my house: thither they send one another. I'll question her. God save you, pilgrim! Whither are bound? HELENA. To Saint Jaques le Grand. Where do the palmers lodge, I do beseech you? WIDOW. At the Saint Francis here, beside the port. HELENA. Is this the way? [A march afar] WIDOW. Ay, marry, is't. Hark you! They come this way. If you will tarry, holy pilgrim, But till the troops come by, I will conduct you where you shall be lodg'd; The rather for I think I know your hostess As ample as myself. HELENA. Is it yourself? WIDOW. If you shall please so, pilgrim. HELENA. I thank you, and will stay upon your leisure. WIDOW. You came, I think, from France? HELENA. I did so. WIDOW. Here you shall see a countryman of yours That has done worthy service. HELENA. His name, I pray you. DIANA. The Count Rousillon. Know you such a one? HELENA. But by the ear, that hears most nobly of him; His face I know not. DIANA. What some'er he is, He's bravely taken here. He stole from France, As 'tis reported, for the King had married him Against his liking. Think you it is so? HELENA. Ay, surely, mere the truth; I know his lady. DIANA. There is a gentleman that serves the Count Reports but coarsely of her. HELENA. What's his name? DIANA. Monsieur Parolles. HELENA. O, I believe with him, In argument of praise, or to the worth Of the great Count himself, she is too mean To have her name repeated; all her deserving Is a reserved honesty, and that I have not heard examin'd. DIANA. Alas, poor lady! 'Tis a hard bondage to become the wife Of a detesting lord. WIDOW. I sweet, good creature, wheresoe'er she is Her heart weighs sadly. This young maid might do her A shrewd turn, if she pleas'd. HELENA. How do you mean? May be the amorous Count solicits her In the unlawful purpose. WIDOW. He does, indeed; And brokes with all that can in such a suit Corrupt the tender honour of a maid; But she is arm'd for him, and keeps her guard In honestest defence. Enter, with drum and colours, BERTRAM, PAROLLES, and the whole ARMY MARIANA. The gods forbid else! WIDOW. So, now they come. That is Antonio, the Duke's eldest son; That, Escalus. HELENA. Which is the Frenchman? DIANA. He- That with the plume; 'tis a most gallant fellow. I would he lov'd his wife; if he were honester He were much goodlier. Is't not a handsome gentleman? HELENA. I like him well. DIANA. 'Tis pity he is not honest. Yond's that same knave That leads him to these places; were I his lady I would poison that vile rascal. HELENA. Which is he? DIANA. That jack-an-apes with scarfs. Why is he melancholy? HELENA. Perchance he's hurt i' th' battle. PAROLLES. Lose our drum! well. MARIANA. He's shrewdly vex'd at something. Look, he has spied us. WIDOW. Marry, hang you! MARIANA. And your courtesy, for a ring-carrier! Exeunt BERTRAM, PAROLLES, and ARMY WIDOW. The troop is past. Come, pilgrim, I will bring you Where you shall host. Of enjoin'd penitents There's four or five, to great Saint Jaques bound, Already at my house. HELENA. I humbly thank you. Please it this matron and this gentle maid To eat with us to-night; the charge and thanking Shall be for me, and, to requite you further, I will bestow some precepts of this virgin, Worthy the note. BOTH. We'll take your offer kindly. Exeunt ACT III. SCENE 6. Camp before Florence Enter BERTRAM, and the two FRENCH LORDS SECOND LORD. Nay, good my lord, put him to't; let him have his way. FIRST LORD. If your lordship find him not a hiding, hold me no more in your respect. SECOND LORD. On my life, my lord, a bubble. BERTRAM. Do you think I am so far deceived in him? SECOND LORD. Believe it, my lord, in mine own direct knowledge, without any malice, but to speak of him as my kinsman, he's a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner of no one good quality worthy your lordship's entertainment. FIRST LORD. It were fit you knew him; lest, reposing too far in his virtue, which he hath not, he might at some great and trusty business in a main danger fail you. BERTRAM. I would I knew in what particular action to try him. FIRST LORD. None better than to let him fetch off his drum, which you hear him so confidently undertake to do. SECOND LORD. I with a troop of Florentines will suddenly surprise him; such I will have whom I am sure he knows not from the enemy. We will bind and hoodwink him so that he shall suppose no other but that he is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries when we bring him to our own tents. Be but your lordship present at his examination; if he do not, for the promise of his life and in the highest compulsion of base fear, offer to betray you and deliver all the intelligence in his power against you, and that with the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never trust my judgment in anything. FIRST LORD. O, for the love of laughter, let him fetch his drum; he says he has a stratagem for't. When your lordship sees the bottom of his success in't, and to what metal this counterfeit lump of ore will be melted, if you give him not John Drum's entertainment, your inclining cannot be removed. Here he comes. Enter PAROLLES SECOND LORD. O, for the love of laughter, hinder not the honour of his design; let him fetch off his drum in any hand. BERTRAM. How now, monsieur! This drum sticks sorely in your disposition. FIRST LORD. A pox on 't; let it go; 'tis but a drum. PAROLLES. But a drum! Is't but a drum? A drum so lost! There was excellent command: to charge in with our horse upon our own wings, and to rend our own soldiers! FIRST LORD. That was not to be blam'd in the command of the service; it was a disaster of war that Caesar himself could not have prevented, if he had been there to command. BERTRAM. Well, we cannot greatly condemn our success. Some dishonour we had in the loss of that drum; but it is not to be recovered. PAROLLES. It might have been recovered. BERTRAM. It might, but it is not now. PAROLLES. It is to be recovered. But that the merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer, I would have that drum or another, or 'hic jacet.' BERTRAM. Why, if you have a stomach, to't, monsieur. If you think your mystery in stratagem can bring this instrument of honour again into his native quarter, be magnanimous in the enterprise, and go on; I will grace the attempt for a worthy exploit. If you speed well in it, the Duke shall both speak of it and extend to you what further becomes his greatness, even to the utmost syllable of our worthiness. PAROLLES. By the hand of a soldier, I will undertake it. BERTRAM. But you must not now slumber in it. PAROLLES. I'll about it this evening; and I will presently pen down my dilemmas, encourage myself in my certainty, put myself into my mortal preparation; and by midnight look to hear further from me. BERTRAM. May I be bold to acquaint his Grace you are gone about it? PAROLLES. I know not what the success will be, my lord, but the attempt I vow. BERTRAM. I know th' art valiant; and, to the of thy soldiership, will subscribe for thee. Farewell. PAROLLES. I love not many words. Exit SECOND LORD. No more than a fish loves water. Is not this a strange fellow, my lord, that so confidently seems to undertake this business, which he knows is not to be done; damns himself to do, and dares better be damn'd than to do 't. FIRST LORD. You do not know him, my lord, as we do. Certain it is that he will steal himself into a man's favour, and for a week escape a great deal of discoveries; but when you find him out, you have him ever after. BERTRAM. Why, do you think he will make no deed at all of this that so seriously he does address himself unto? SECOND LORD. None in the world; but return with an invention, and clap upon you two or three probable lies. But we have almost emboss'd him. You shall see his fall to-night; for indeed he is not for your lordship's respect. FIRST LORD. We'll make you some sport with the fox ere we case him. He was first smok'd by the old Lord Lafeu. When his disguise and he is parted, tell me what a sprat you shall find him; which you shall see this very night. SECOND LORD. I must go look my twigs; he shall be caught. BERTRAM. Your brother, he shall go along with me. SECOND LORD. As't please your lordship. I'll leave you. Exit BERTRAM. Now will I lead you to the house, and show you The lass I spoke of. FIRST LORD. But you say she's honest. BERTRAM. That's all the fault. I spoke with her but once, And found her wondrous cold; but I sent to her, By this same coxcomb that we have i' th' wind, Tokens and letters which she did re-send; And this is all I have done. She's a fair creature; Will you go see her? FIRST LORD. With all my heart, my lord. Exeunt ACT III. SCENE 7. Florence. The WIDOW'S house Enter HELENA and WIDOW HELENA. If you misdoubt me that I am not she, I know not how I shall assure you further But I shall lose the grounds I work upon. WIDOW. Though my estate be fall'n, I was well born, Nothing acquainted with these businesses; And would not put my reputation now In any staining act. HELENA. Nor would I wish you. FIRST give me trust the Count he is my husband, And what to your sworn counsel I have spoken Is so from word to word; and then you cannot, By the good aid that I of you shall borrow, Err in bestowing it. WIDOW. I should believe you; For you have show'd me that which well approves Y'are great in fortune. HELENA. Take this purse of gold, And let me buy your friendly help thus far, Which I will over-pay and pay again When I have found it. The Count he woos your daughter Lays down his wanton siege before her beauty, Resolv'd to carry her. Let her in fine consent, As we'll direct her how 'tis best to bear it. Now his important blood will nought deny That she'll demand. A ring the County wears That downward hath succeeded in his house From son to son some four or five descents Since the first father wore it. This ring he holds In most rich choice; yet, in his idle fire, To buy his will, it would not seem too dear, Howe'er repented after. WIDOW. Now I see The bottom of your purpose. HELENA. You see it lawful then. It is no more But that your daughter, ere she seems as won, Desires this ring; appoints him an encounter; In fine, delivers me to fill the time, Herself most chastely absent. After this, To marry her, I'll add three thousand crowns To what is pass'd already. WIDOW. I have yielded. Instruct my daughter how she shall persever, That time and place with this deceit so lawful May prove coherent. Every night he comes With musics of all sorts, and songs compos'd To her unworthiness. It nothing steads us To chide him from our eaves, for he persists As if his life lay on 't. HELENA. Why then to-night Let us assay our plot; which, if it speed, Is wicked meaning in a lawful deed, And lawful meaning in a lawful act; Where both not sin, and yet a sinful fact. But let's about it. Exeunt <> ACT IV. SCENE 1. Without the Florentine camp Enter SECOND FRENCH LORD with five or six other SOLDIERS in ambush SECOND LORD. He can come no other way but by this hedge-corner. When you sally upon him, speak what terrible language you will; though you understand it not yourselves, no matter; for we must not seem to understand him, unless some one among us, whom we must produce for an interpreter. FIRST SOLDIER. Good captain, let me be th' interpreter. SECOND LORD. Art not acquainted with him? Knows he not thy voice? FIRST SOLDIER. No, sir, I warrant you. SECOND LORD. But what linsey-woolsey has thou to speak to us again? FIRST SOLDIER. E'en such as you speak to me. SECOND LORD. He must think us some band of strangers i' th' adversary's entertainment. Now he hath a smack of all neighbouring languages, therefore we must every one be a man of his own fancy; not to know what we speak one to another, so we seem to know, is to know straight our purpose: choughs' language, gabble enough, and good enough. As for you, interpreter, you must seem very politic. But couch, ho! here he comes; to beguile two hours in a sleep, and then to return and swear the lies he forges. Enter PAROLLES PAROLLES. Ten o'clock. Within these three hours 'twill be time enough to go home. What shall I say I have done? It must be a very plausive invention that carries it. They begin to smoke me; and disgraces have of late knock'd to often at my door. I find my tongue is too foolhardy; but my heart hath the fear of Mars before it, and of his creatures, not daring the reports of my tongue. SECOND LORD. This is the first truth that e'er thine own tongue was guilty of. PAROLLES. What the devil should move me to undertake the recovery of this drum, being not ignorant of the impossibility, and knowing I had no such purpose? I must give myself some hurts, and say I got them in exploit. Yet slight ones will not carry it. They will say 'Came you off with so little?' And great ones I dare not give. Wherefore, what's the instance? Tongue, I must put you into a butterwoman's mouth, and buy myself another of Bajazet's mule, if you prattle me into these perils. SECOND LORD. Is it possible he should know what he is, and be that he is? PAROLLES. I would the cutting of my garments would serve the turn, or the breaking of my Spanish sword. SECOND LORD. We cannot afford you so. PAROLLES. Or the baring of my beard; and to say it was in stratagem. SECOND LORD. 'Twould not do. PAROLLES. Or to drown my clothes, and say I was stripp'd. SECOND LORD. Hardly serve. PAROLLES. Though I swore I leap'd from the window of the citadel- SECOND LORD. How deep? PAROLLES. Thirty fathom. SECOND LORD. Three great oaths would scarce make that be believed. PAROLLES. I would I had any drum of the enemy's; I would swear I recover'd it. SECOND LORD. You shall hear one anon. [Alarum within] PAROLLES. A drum now of the enemy's! SECOND LORD. Throca movousus, cargo, cargo, cargo. ALL. Cargo, cargo, cargo, villianda par corbo, cargo. PAROLLES. O, ransom, ransom! Do not hide mine eyes. [They blindfold him] FIRST SOLDIER. Boskos thromuldo boskos. PAROLLES. I know you are the Muskos' regiment, And I shall lose my life for want of language. If there be here German, or Dane, Low Dutch, Italian, or French, let him speak to me; I'll discover that which shall undo the Florentine. FIRST SOLDIER. Boskos vauvado. I understand thee, and can speak thy tongue. Kerely-bonto, sir, betake thee to thy faith, for seventeen poniards are at thy bosom. PAROLLES. O! FIRST SOLDIER. O, pray, pray, pray! Manka revania dulche. SECOND LORD. Oscorbidulchos volivorco. FIRST SOLDIER. The General is content to spare thee yet; And, hoodwink'd as thou art, will lead thee on To gather from thee. Haply thou mayst inform Something to save thy life. PAROLLES. O, let me live, And all the secrets of our camp I'll show, Their force, their purposes. Nay, I'll speak that Which you will wonder at. FIRST SOLDIER. But wilt thou faithfully? PAROLLES. If I do not, damn me. FIRST SOLDIER. Acordo linta. Come on; thou art granted space. Exit, PAROLLES guarded. A short alarum within SECOND LORD. Go, tell the Count Rousillon and my brother We have caught the woodcock, and will keep him muffled Till we do hear from them. SECOND SOLDIER. Captain, I will. SECOND LORD. 'A will betray us all unto ourselves- Inform on that. SECOND SOLDIER. So I will, sir. SECOND LORD. Till then I'll keep him dark and safely lock'd. Exeunt ACT IV. SCENE 2. Florence. The WIDOW'S house Enter BERTRAM and DIANA BERTRAM. They told me that your name was Fontibell. DIANA. No, my good lord, Diana. BERTRAM. Titled goddess; And worth it, with addition! But, fair soul, In your fine frame hath love no quality? If the quick fire of youth light not your mind, You are no maiden, but a monument; When you are dead, you should be such a one As you are now, for you are cold and stern; And now you should be as your mother was When your sweet self was got. DIANA. She then was honest. BERTRAM. So should you be. DIANA. No. My mother did but duty; such, my lord, As you owe to your wife. BERTRAM. No more o'that! I prithee do not strive against my vows. I was compell'd to her; but I love the By love's own sweet constraint, and will for ever Do thee all rights of service. DIANA. Ay, so you serve us Till we serve you; but when you have our roses You barely leave our thorns to prick ourselves, And mock us with our bareness. BERTRAM. How have I sworn! DIANA. 'Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth, But the plain single vow that is vow'd true. What is not holy, that we swear not by, But take the High'st to witness. Then, pray you, tell me: If I should swear by Jove's great attributes I lov'd you dearly, would you believe my oaths When I did love you ill? This has no holding, To swear by him whom I protest to love That I will work against him. Therefore your oaths Are words and poor conditions, but unseal'd- At least in my opinion. BERTRAM. Change it, change it; Be not so holy-cruel. Love is holy; And my integrity ne'er knew the crafts That you do charge men with. Stand no more off, But give thyself unto my sick desires, Who then recovers. Say thou art mine, and ever My love as it begins shall so persever. DIANA. I see that men make ropes in such a scarre That we'll forsake ourselves. Give me that ring. BERTRAM. I'll lend it thee, my dear, but have no power To give it from me. DIANA. Will you not, my lord? BERTRAM. It is an honour 'longing to our house, Bequeathed down from many ancestors; Which were the greatest obloquy i' th' world In me to lose. DIANA. Mine honour's such a ring: My chastity's the jewel of our house, Bequeathed down from many ancestors; Which were the greatest obloquy i' th' world In me to lose. Thus your own proper wisdom Brings in the champion Honour on my part Against your vain assault. BERTRAM. Here, take my ring; My house, mine honour, yea, my life, be thine, And I'll be bid by thee. DIANA. When midnight comes, knock at my chamber window; I'll order take my mother shall not hear. Now will I charge you in the band of truth, When you have conquer'd my yet maiden bed, Remain there but an hour, nor speak to me: My reasons are most strong; and you shall know them When back again this ring shall be deliver'd. And on your finger in the night I'll put Another ring, that what in time proceeds May token to the future our past deeds. Adieu till then; then fail not. You have won A wife of me, though there my hope be done. BERTRAM. A heaven on earth I have won by wooing thee. Exit DIANA. For which live long to thank both heaven and me! You may so in the end. My mother told me just how he would woo, As if she sat in's heart; she says all men Have the like oaths. He had sworn to marry me When his wife's dead; therefore I'll lie with him When I am buried. Since Frenchmen are so braid, Marry that will, I live and die a maid. Only, in this disguise, I think't no sin To cozen him that would unjustly win. Exit ACT IV. SCENE 3. The Florentine camp Enter the two FRENCH LORDS, and two or three SOLDIERS SECOND LORD. You have not given him his mother's letter? FIRST LORD. I have deliv'red it an hour since. There is something in't that stings his nature; for on the reading it he chang'd almost into another man. SECOND LORD. He has much worthy blame laid upon him for shaking off so good a wife and so sweet a lady. FIRST LORD. Especially he hath incurred the everlasting displeasure of the King, who had even tun'd his bounty to sing happiness to him. I will tell you a thing, but you shall let it dwell darkly with you. SECOND LORD. When you have spoken it, 'tis dead, and I am the grave of it. FIRST LORD. He hath perverted a young gentlewoman here in Florence, of a most chaste renown; and this night he fleshes his will in the spoil of her honour. He hath given her his monumental ring, and thinks himself made in the unchaste composition. SECOND LORD. Now, God delay our rebellion! As we are ourselves, what things are we! FIRST LORD. Merely our own traitors. And as in the common course of all treasons we still see them reveal themselves till they attain to their abhorr'd ends; so he that in this action contrives against his own nobility, in his proper stream, o'erflows himself. SECOND LORD. Is it not meant damnable in us to be trumpeters of our unlawful intents? We shall not then have his company to-night? FIRST LORD. Not till after midnight; for he is dieted to his hour. SECOND LORD. That approaches apace. I would gladly have him see his company anatomiz'd, that he might take a measure of his own judgments, wherein so curiously he had set this counterfeit. FIRST LORD. We will not meddle with him till he come; for his presence must be the whip of the other. SECOND LORD. In the meantime, what hear you of these wars? FIRST LORD. I hear there is an overture of peace. SECOND LORD. Nay, I assure you, a peace concluded. FIRST LORD. What will Count Rousillon do then? Will he travel higher, or return again into France? SECOND LORD. I perceive, by this demand, you are not altogether of his counsel. FIRST LORD. Let it be forbid, sir! So should I be a great deal of his act. SECOND LORD. Sir, his wife, some two months since, fled from his house. Her pretence is a pilgrimage to Saint Jaques le Grand; which holy undertaking with most austere sanctimony she accomplish'd; and, there residing, the tenderness of her nature became as a prey to her grief; in fine, made a groan of her last breath, and now she sings in heaven. FIRST LORD. How is this justified? SECOND LORD. The stronger part of it by her own letters, which makes her story true even to the point of her death. Her death itself, which could not be her office to say is come, was faithfully confirm'd by the rector of the place. FIRST LORD. Hath the Count all this intelligence? SECOND LORD. Ay, and the particular confirmations, point from point, to the full arming of the verity. FIRST LORD. I am heartily sorry that he'll be glad of this. SECOND LORD. How mightily sometimes we make us comforts of our losses! FIRST LORD. And how mightily some other times we drown our gain in tears! The great dignity that his valour hath here acquir'd for him shall at home be encount'red with a shame as ample. SECOND LORD. The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. Our virtues would be proud if our faults whipt them not; and our crimes would despair if they were not cherish'd by our virtues. Enter a MESSENGER How now? Where's your master? SERVANT. He met the Duke in the street, sir; of whom he hath taken a solemn leave. His lordship will next morning for France. The Duke hath offered him letters of commendations to the King. SECOND LORD. They shall be no more than needful there, if they were more than they can commend. FIRST LORD. They cannot be too sweet for the King's tartness. Here's his lordship now. Enter BERTRAM How now, my lord, is't not after midnight? BERTRAM. I have to-night dispatch'd sixteen businesses, a month's length apiece; by an abstract of success: I have congied with the Duke, done my adieu with his nearest; buried a wife, mourn'd for her; writ to my lady mother I am returning; entertain'd my convoy; and between these main parcels of dispatch effected many nicer needs. The last was the greatest, but that I have not ended yet. SECOND LORD. If the business be of any difficulty and this morning your departure hence, it requires haste of your lordship. BERTRAM. I mean the business is not ended, as fearing to hear of it hereafter. But shall we have this dialogue between the Fool and the Soldier? Come, bring forth this counterfeit module has deceiv'd me like a double-meaning prophesier. SECOND LORD. Bring him forth. [Exeunt SOLDIERS] Has sat i' th' stocks all night, poor gallant knave. BERTRAM. No matter; his heels have deserv'd it, in usurping his spurs so long. How does he carry himself? SECOND LORD. I have told your lordship already the stocks carry him. But to answer you as you would be understood: he weeps like a wench that had shed her milk; he hath confess'd himself to Morgan, whom he supposes to be a friar, from the time of his remembrance to this very instant disaster of his setting i' th' stocks. And what think you he hath confess'd? BERTRAM. Nothing of me, has 'a? SECOND LORD. His confession is taken, and it shall be read to his face; if your lordship be in't, as I believe you are, you must have the patience to hear it. Enter PAROLLES guarded, and FIRST SOLDIER as interpreter BERTRAM. A plague upon him! muffled! He can say nothing of me. SECOND LORD. Hush, hush! Hoodman comes. Portotartarossa. FIRST SOLDIER. He calls for the tortures. What will you say without 'em? PAROLLES. I will confess what I know without constraint; if ye pinch me like a pasty, I can say no more. FIRST SOLDIER. Bosko chimurcho. SECOND LORD. Boblibindo chicurmurco. FIRST SOLDIER. YOU are a merciful general. Our General bids you answer to what I shall ask you out of a note. PAROLLES. And truly, as I hope to live. FIRST SOLDIER. 'First demand of him how many horse the Duke is strong.' What say you to that? PAROLLES. Five or six thousand; but very weak and unserviceable. The troops are all scattered, and the commanders very poor rogues, upon my reputation and credit, and as I hope to live. FIRST SOLDIER. Shall I set down your answer so? PAROLLES. Do; I'll take the sacrament on 't, how and which way you will. BERTRAM. All's one to him. What a past-saving slave is this! SECOND LORD. Y'are deceiv'd, my lord; this is Monsieur Parolles, the gallant militarist-that was his own phrase-that had the whole theoric of war in the knot of his scarf, and the practice in the chape of his dagger. FIRST LORD. I will never trust a man again for keeping his sword clean; nor believe he can have everything in him by wearing his apparel neatly. FIRST SOLDIER. Well, that's set down. PAROLLES. 'Five or six thousand horse' I said-I will say true- 'or thereabouts' set down, for I'll speak truth. SECOND LORD. He's very near the truth in this. BERTRAM. But I con him no thanks for't in the nature he delivers it. PAROLLES. 'Poor rogues' I pray you say. FIRST SOLDIER. Well, that's set down. PAROLLES. I humbly thank you, sir. A truth's a truth-the rogues are marvellous poor. FIRST SOLDIER. 'Demand of him of what strength they are a-foot.' What say you to that? PAROLLES. By my troth, sir, if I were to live this present hour, I will tell true. Let me see: Spurio, a hundred and fifty; Sebastian, so many; Corambus, so many; Jaques, so many; Guiltian, Cosmo, Lodowick, and Gratii, two hundred fifty each; mine own company, Chitopher, Vaumond, Bentii, two hundred fifty each; so that the muster-file, rotten and sound, upon my life, amounts not to fifteen thousand poll; half of the which dare not shake the snow from off their cassocks lest they shake themselves to pieces. BERTRAM. What shall be done to him? SECOND LORD. Nothing, but let him have thanks. Demand of him my condition, and what credit I have with the Duke. FIRST SOLDIER. Well, that's set down. 'You shall demand of him whether one Captain Dumain be i' th' camp, a Frenchman; what his reputation is with the Duke, what his valour, honesty, expertness in wars; or whether he thinks it were not possible, with well-weighing sums of gold, to corrupt him to a revolt.' What say you to this? What do you know of it? PAROLLES. I beseech you, let me answer to the particular of the inter'gatories. Demand them singly. FIRST SOLDIER. Do you know this Captain Dumain? PAROLLES. I know him: 'a was a botcher's prentice in Paris, from whence he was whipt for getting the shrieve's fool with child-a dumb innocent that could not say him nay. BERTRAM. Nay, by your leave, hold your hands; though I know his brains are forfeit to the next tile that falls. FIRST SOLDIER. Well, is this captain in the Duke of Florence's camp? PAROLLES. Upon my knowledge, he is, and lousy. SECOND LORD. Nay, look not so upon me; we shall hear of your lordship anon. FIRST SOLDIER. What is his reputation with the Duke? PAROLLES. The Duke knows him for no other but a poor officer of mine; and writ to me this other day to turn him out o' th' band. I think I have his letter in my pocket. FIRST SOLDIER. Marry, we'll search. PAROLLES. In good sadness, I do not know; either it is there or it is upon a file with the Duke's other letters in my tent. FIRST SOLDIER. Here 'tis; here's a paper. Shall I read it to you? PAROLLES. I do not know if it be it or no. BERTRAM. Our interpreter does it well. SECOND LORD. Excellently. FIRST SOLDIER. [Reads] 'Dian, the Count's a fool, and full of gold.' PAROLLES. That is not the Duke's letter, sir; that is an advertisement to a proper maid in Florence, one Diana, to take heed of the allurement of one Count Rousillon, a foolish idle boy, but for all that very ruttish. I pray you, sir, put it up again. FIRST SOLDIER. Nay, I'll read it first by your favour. PAROLLES. My meaning in't, I protest, was very honest in the behalf of the maid; for I knew the young Count to be a dangerous and lascivious boy, who is a whale to virginity, and devours up all the fry it finds. BERTRAM. Damnable both-sides rogue! FIRST SOLDIER. [Reads] 'When he swears oaths, bid him drop gold, and take it; After he scores, he never pays the score. Half won is match well made; match, and well make it; He ne'er pays after-debts, take it before. And say a soldier, Dian, told thee this: Men are to mell with, boys are not to kiss; For count of this, the Count's a fool, I know it, Who pays before, but not when he does owe it. Thine, as he vow'd to thee in thine ear, PAROLLES.' BERTRAM. He shall be whipt through the army with this rhyme in's forehead. FIRST LORD. This is your devoted friend, sir, the manifold linguist, and the amnipotent soldier. BERTRAM. I could endure anything before but a cat, and now he's a cat to me. FIRST SOLDIER. I perceive, sir, by our General's looks we shall be fain to hang you. PAROLLES. My life, sir, in any case! Not that I am afraid to die, but that, my offences being many, I would repent out the remainder of nature. Let me live, sir, in a dungeon, i' th' stocks, or anywhere, so I may live. FIRST SOLDIER. We'll see what may be done, so you confess freely; therefore, once more to this Captain Dumain: you have answer'd to his reputation with the Duke, and to his valour; what is his honesty? PAROLLES. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister; for rapes and ravishments he parallels Nessus. He professes not keeping of oaths; in breaking 'em he is stronger than Hercules. He will lie, sir, with such volubility that you would think truth were a fool. Drunkenness is his best virtue, for he will be swine-drunk; and in his sleep he does little harm, save to his bedclothes about him; but they know his conditions and lay him in straw. I have but little more to say, sir, of his honesty. He has everything that an honest man should not have; what an honest man should have he has nothing. SECOND LORD. I begin to love him for this. BERTRAM. For this description of thine honesty? A pox upon him! For me, he's more and more a cat. FIRST SOLDIER. What say you to his expertness in war? PAROLLES. Faith, sir, has led the drum before the English tragedians-to belie him I will not-and more of his soldier-ship I know not, except in that country he had the honour to be the officer at a place there called Mile-end to instruct for the doubling of files-I would do the man what honour I can-but of this I am not certain. SECOND LORD. He hath out-villain'd villainy so far that the rarity redeems him. BERTRAM. A pox on him! he's a cat still. FIRST SOLDIER. His qualities being at this poor price, I need not to ask you if gold will corrupt him to revolt. PAROLLES. Sir, for a cardecue he will sell the fee-simple of his salvation, the inheritance of it; and cut th' entail from all remainders and a perpetual succession for it perpetually. FIRST SOLDIER. What's his brother, the other Captain Dumain? FIRST LORD. Why does he ask him of me? FIRST SOLDIER. What's he? PAROLLES. E'en a crow o' th' same nest; not altogether so great as the first in goodness, but greater a great deal in evil. He excels his brother for a coward; yet his brother is reputed one of the best that is. In a retreat he outruns any lackey: marry, in coming on he has the cramp. FIRST SOLDIER. If your life be saved, will you undertake to betray the Florentine? PAROLLES. Ay, and the Captain of his Horse, Count Rousillon. FIRST SOLDIER. I'll whisper with the General, and know his pleasure. PAROLLES. [Aside] I'll no more drumming. A plague of all drums! Only to seem to deserve well, and to beguile the supposition of that lascivious young boy the Count, have I run into this danger. Yet who would have suspected an ambush where I was taken? FIRST SOLDIER. There is no remedy, sir, but you must die. The General says you that have so traitorously discover'd the secrets of your army, and made such pestiferous reports of men very nobly held, can serve the world for no honest use; therefore you must die. Come, headsman, of with his head. PAROLLES. O Lord, sir, let me live, or let me see my death! FIRST SOLDIER. That shall you, and take your leave of all your friends. [Unmuffling him] So look about you; know you any here? BERTRAM. Good morrow, noble Captain. FIRST LORD. God bless you, Captain Parolles. SECOND LORD. God save you, noble Captain. FIRST LORD. Captain, what greeting will you to my Lord Lafeu? I am for France. SECOND LORD. Good Captain, will you give me a copy of the sonnet you writ to Diana in behalf of the Count Rousillon? An I were not a very coward I'd compel it of you; but fare you well. Exeunt BERTRAM and LORDS FIRST SOLDIER. You are undone, Captain, all but your scarf; that has a knot on 't yet. PAROLLES. Who cannot be crush'd with a plot? FIRST SOLDIER. If you could find out a country where but women were that had received so much shame, you might begin an impudent nation. Fare ye well, sir; I am for France too; we shall speak of you there. Exit with SOLDIERS PAROLLES. Yet am I thankful. If my heart were great, 'Twould burst at this. Captain I'll be no more; But I will eat, and drink, and sleep as soft As captain shall. Simply the thing I am Shall make me live. Who knows himself a braggart, Let him fear this; for it will come to pass That every braggart shall be found an ass. Rust, sword; cool, blushes; and, Parolles, live Safest in shame. Being fool'd, by fool'ry thrive. There's place and means for every man alive. I'll after them. Exit ACT IV SCENE 4. The WIDOW'S house Enter HELENA, WIDOW, and DIANA HELENA. That you may well perceive I have not wrong'd you! One of the greatest in the Christian world Shall be my surety; fore whose throne 'tis needful, Ere I can perfect mine intents, to kneel. Time was I did him a desired office, Dear almost as his life; which gratitude Through flinty Tartar's bosom would peep forth, And answer 'Thanks.' I duly am inform'd His Grace is at Marseilles, to which place We have convenient convoy. You must know I am supposed dead. The army breaking, My husband hies him home; where, heaven aiding, And by the leave of my good lord the King, We'll be before our welcome. WIDOW. Gentle madam, You never had a servant to whose trust Your business was more welcome. HELENA. Nor you, mistress, Ever a friend whose thoughts more truly labour To recompense your love. Doubt not but heaven Hath brought me up to be your daughter's dower, As it hath fated her to be my motive And helper to a husband. But, O strange men! That can such sweet use make of what they hate, When saucy trusting of the cozen'd thoughts Defiles the pitchy night. So lust doth play With what it loathes, for that which is away. But more of this hereafter. You, Diana, Under my poor instructions yet must suffer Something in my behalf. DIANA. Let death and honesty Go with your impositions, I am yours Upon your will to suffer. HELENA. Yet, I pray you: But with the word the time will bring on summer, When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns And be as sweet as sharp. We must away; Our waggon is prepar'd, and time revives us. All's Well that Ends Well. Still the fine's the crown. Whate'er the course, the end is the renown. Exeunt ACT IV SCENE 5. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Enter COUNTESS, LAFEU, and CLOWN LAFEU. No, no, no, son was misled with a snipt-taffeta fellow there, whose villainous saffron would have made all the unbak'd and doughy youth of a nation in his colour. Your daughter-in-law had been alive at this hour, and your son here at home, more advanc'd by the King than by that red-tail'd humble-bee I speak of. COUNTESS. I would I had not known him. It was the death of the most virtuous gentlewoman that ever nature had praise for creating. If she had partaken of my flesh, and cost me the dearest groans of a mother. I could not have owed her a more rooted love. LAFEU. 'Twas a good lady, 'twas a good lady. We may pick a thousand sallets ere we light on such another herb. CLOWN. Indeed, sir, she was the sweet-marjoram of the sallet, or, rather, the herb of grace. LAFEU. They are not sallet-herbs, you knave; they are nose-herbs. CLOWN. I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir; I have not much skill in grass. LAFEU. Whether dost thou profess thyself-a knave or a fool? CLOWN. A fool, sir, at a woman's service, and a knave at a man's. LAFEU. Your distinction? CLOWN. I would cozen the man of his wife, and do his service. LAFEU. So you were a knave at his service, indeed. CLOWN. And I would give his wife my bauble, sir, to do her service. LAFEU. I will subscribe for thee; thou art both knave and fool. CLOWN. At your service. LAFEU. No, no, no. CLOWN. Why, sir, if I cannot serve you, I can serve as great a prince as you are. LAFEU. Who's that? A Frenchman? CLOWN. Faith, sir, 'a has an English name; but his fisnomy is more hotter in France than there. LAFEU. What prince is that? CLOWN. The Black Prince, sir; alias, the Prince of Darkness; alias, the devil. LAFEU. Hold thee, there's my purse. I give thee not this to suggest thee from thy master thou talk'st of; serve him still. CLOWN. I am a woodland fellow, sir, that always loved a great fire; and the master I speak of ever keeps a good fire. But, sure, he is the prince of the world; let his nobility remain in's court. I am for the house with the narrow gate, which I take to be too little for pomp to enter. Some that humble themselves may; but the many will be too chill and tender: and they'll be for the flow'ry way that leads to the broad gate and the great fire. LAFEU. Go thy ways, I begin to be aweary of thee; and I tell thee so before, because I would not fall out with thee. Go thy ways; let my horses be well look'd to, without any tricks. CLOWN. If I put any tricks upon 'em, sir, they shall be jades' tricks, which are their own right by the law of nature. Exit LAFEU. A shrewd knave, and an unhappy. COUNTESS. So 'a is. My lord that's gone made himself much sport out of him. By his authority he remains here, which he thinks is a patent for his sauciness; and indeed he has no pace, but runs where he will. LAFEU. I like him well; 'tis not amiss. And I was about to tell you, since I heard of the good lady's death, and that my lord your son was upon his return home, I moved the King my master to speak in the behalf of my daughter; which, in the minority of them both, his Majesty out of a self-gracious remembrance did first propose. His Highness hath promis'd me to do it; and, to stop up the displeasure he hath conceived against your son, there is no fitter matter. How does your ladyship like it? COUNTESS. With very much content, my lord; and I wish it happily effected. LAFEU. His Highness comes post from Marseilles, of as able body as when he number'd thirty; 'a will be here to-morrow, or I am deceiv'd by him that in such intelligence hath seldom fail'd. COUNTESS. It rejoices me that I hope I shall see him ere I die. I have letters that my son will be here to-night. I shall beseech your lordship to remain with me tal they meet together. LAFEU. Madam, I was thinking with what manners I might safely be admitted. COUNTESS. You need but plead your honourable privilege. LAFEU. Lady, of that I have made a bold charter; but, I thank my God, it holds yet. Re-enter CLOWN CLOWN. O madam, yonder's my lord your son with a patch of velvet on's face; whether there be a scar under 't or no, the velvet knows; but 'tis a goodly patch of velvet. His left cheek is a cheek of two pile and a half, but his right cheek is worn bare. LAFEU. A scar nobly got, or a noble scar, is a good liv'ry of honour; so belike is that. CLOWN. But it is your carbonado'd face. LAFEU. Let us go see your son, I pray you; I long to talk with the young noble soldier. CLOWN. Faith, there's a dozen of 'em, with delicate fine hats, and most courteous feathers, which bow the head and nod at every man. Exeunt <> ACT V. SCENE 1. Marseilles. A street Enter HELENA, WIDOW, and DIANA, with two ATTENDANTS HELENA. But this exceeding posting day and night Must wear your spirits low; we cannot help it. But since you have made the days and nights as one, To wear your gentle limbs in my affairs, Be bold you do so grow in my requital As nothing can unroot you. Enter a GENTLEMAN In happy time! This man may help me to his Majesty's ear, If he would spend his power. God save you, sir. GENTLEMAN. And you. HELENA. Sir, I have seen you in the court of France. GENTLEMAN. I have been sometimes there. HELENA. I do presume, sir, that you are not fall'n From the report that goes upon your goodness; And therefore, goaded with most sharp occasions, Which lay nice manners by, I put you to The use of your own virtues, for the which I shall continue thankful. GENTLEMAN. What's your will? HELENA. That it will please you To give this poor petition to the King; And aid me with that store of power you have To come into his presence. GENTLEMAN. The King's not here. HELENA. Not here, sir? GENTLEMAN. Not indeed. He hence remov'd last night, and with more haste Than is his use. WIDOW. Lord, how we lose our pains! HELENA. All's Well That Ends Well yet, Though time seem so adverse and means unfit. I do beseech you, whither is he gone? GENTLEMAN. Marry, as I take it, to Rousillon; Whither I am going. HELENA. I do beseech you, sir, Since you are like to see the King before me, Commend the paper to his gracious hand; Which I presume shall render you no blame, But rather make you thank your pains for it. I will come after you with what good speed Our means will make us means. GENTLEMAN. This I'll do for you. HELENA. And you shall find yourself to be well thank'd, Whate'er falls more. We must to horse again; Go, go, provide. Exeunt ACT V SCENE 2. Rousillon. The inner court of the COUNT'S palace Enter CLOWN and PAROLLES PAROLLES. Good Monsieur Lavache, give my Lord Lafeu this letter. I have ere now, sir, been better known to you, when I have held familiarity with fresher clothes; but I am now, sir, muddied in Fortune's mood, and smell somewhat strong of her strong displeasure. CLOWN. Truly, Fortune's displeasure is but sluttish, if it smell so strongly as thou speak'st of. I will henceforth eat no fish of Fortune's butt'ring. Prithee, allow the wind. PAROLLES. Nay, you need not to stop your nose, sir; I spake but by a metaphor. CLOWN. Indeed, sir, if your metaphor stink, I will stop my nose; or against any man's metaphor. Prithee, get thee further. PAROLLES. Pray you, sir, deliver me this paper. CLOWN. Foh! prithee stand away. A paper from Fortune's close-stool to give to a nobleman! Look here he comes himself. Enter LAFEU Here is a pur of Fortune's, sir, or of Fortune's cat, but not a musk-cat, that has fall'n into the unclean fishpond of her displeasure, and, as he says, is muddied withal. Pray you, sir, use the carp as you may; for he looks like a poor, decayed, ingenious, foolish, rascally knave. I do pity his distress in my similes of comfort, and leave him to your lordship. Exit PAROLLES. My lord, I am a man whom Fortune hath cruelly scratch'd. LAFEU. And what would you have me to do? 'Tis too late to pare her nails now. Wherein have you played the knave with Fortune, that she should scratch you, who of herself is a good lady and would not have knaves thrive long under her? There's a cardecue for you. Let the justices make you and Fortune friends; I am for other business. PAROLLES. I beseech your honour to hear me one single word. LAFEU. You beg a single penny more; come, you shall ha't; save your word. PAROLLES. My name, my good lord, is Parolles. LAFEU. You beg more than word then. Cox my passion! give me your hand. How does your drum? PAROLLES. O my good lord, you were the first that found me. LAFEU. Was I, in sooth? And I was the first that lost thee. PAROLLES. It lies in you, my lord, to bring me in some grace, for you did bring me out. LAFEU. Out upon thee, knave! Dost thou put upon me at once both the office of God and the devil? One brings the in grace, and the other brings thee out. [Trumpets sound] The King's coming; I know by his trumpets. Sirrah, inquire further after me; I had talk of you last night. Though you are a fool and a knave, you shall eat. Go to; follow. PAROLLES. I praise God for you. Exeunt ACT V SCENE 3. Rousillon. The COUNT'S palace Flourish. Enter KING, COUNTESS, LAFEU, the two FRENCH LORDS, with ATTENDANTS KING. We lost a jewel of her, and our esteem Was made much poorer by it; but your son, As mad in folly, lack'd the sense to know Her estimation home. COUNTESS. 'Tis past, my liege; And I beseech your Majesty to make it Natural rebellion, done i' th' blaze of youth, When oil and fire, too strong for reason's force, O'erbears it and burns on. KING. My honour'd lady, I have forgiven and forgotten all; Though my revenges were high bent upon him And watch'd the time to shoot. LAFEU. This I must say- But first, I beg my pardon: the young lord Did to his Majesty, his mother, and his lady, Offence of mighty note; but to himself The greatest wrong of all. He lost a wife Whose beauty did astonish the survey Of richest eyes; whose words all ears took captive; Whose dear perfection hearts that scorn'd to serve Humbly call'd mistress. KING. Praising what is lost Makes the remembrance dear. Well, call him hither; We are reconcil'd, and the first view shall kill All repetition. Let him not ask our pardon; The nature of his great offence is dead, And deeper than oblivion do we bury Th' incensing relics of it; let him approach, A stranger, no offender; and inform him So 'tis our will he should. GENTLEMAN. I shall, my liege. Exit GENTLEMAN KING. What says he to your daughter? Have you spoke? LAFEU. All that he is hath reference to your Highness. KING. Then shall we have a match. I have letters sent me That sets him high in fame. Enter BERTRAM LAFEU. He looks well on 't. KING. I am not a day of season, For thou mayst see a sunshine and a hail In me at once. But to the brightest beams Distracted clouds give way; so stand thou forth; The time is fair again. BERTRAM. My high-repented blames, Dear sovereign, pardon to me. KING. All is whole; Not one word more of the consumed time. Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees Th' inaudible and noiseless foot of Time Steals ere we can effect them. You remember The daughter of this lord? BERTRAM. Admiringly, my liege. At first I stuck my choice upon her, ere my heart Durst make too bold herald of my tongue; Where the impression of mine eye infixing, Contempt his scornful perspective did lend me, Which warp'd the line of every other favour, Scorn'd a fair colour or express'd it stol'n, Extended or contracted all proportions To a most hideous object. Thence it came That she whom all men prais'd, and whom myself, Since I have lost, have lov'd, was in mine eye The dust that did offend it. KING. Well excus'd. That thou didst love her, strikes some scores away From the great compt; but love that comes too late, Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried, To the great sender turns a sour offence, Crying 'That's good that's gone.' Our rash faults Make trivial price of serious things we have, Not knowing them until we know their grave. Oft our displeasures, to ourselves unjust, Destroy our friends, and after weep their dust; Our own love waking cries to see what's done, While shameful hate sleeps out the afternoon. Be this sweet Helen's knell. And now forget her. Send forth your amorous token for fair Maudlin. The main consents are had; and here we'll stay To see our widower's second marriage-day. COUNTESS. Which better than the first, O dear heaven, bless! Or, ere they meet, in me, O nature, cesse! LAFEU. Come on, my son, in whom my house's name Must be digested; give a favour from you, To sparkle in the spirits of my daughter, That she may quickly come. [BERTRAM gives a ring] By my old beard, And ev'ry hair that's on 't, Helen, that's dead, Was a sweet creature; such a ring as this, The last that e'er I took her leave at court, I saw upon her finger. BERTRAM. Hers it was not. KING. Now, pray you, let me see it; for mine eye, While I was speaking, oft was fasten'd to't. This ring was mine; and when I gave it Helen I bade her, if her fortunes ever stood Necessitied to help, that by this token I would relieve her. Had you that craft to reave her Of what should stead her most? BERTRAM. My gracious sovereign, Howe'er it pleases you to take it so, The ring was never hers. COUNTESS. Son, on my life, I have seen her wear it; and she reckon'd it At her life's rate. LAFEU. I am sure I saw her wear it. BERTRAM. You are deceiv'd, my lord; she never saw it. In Florence was it from a casement thrown me, Wrapp'd in a paper, which contain'd the name Of her that threw it. Noble she was, and thought I stood engag'd; but when I had subscrib'd To mine own fortune, and inform'd her fully I could not answer in that course of honour As she had made the overture, she ceas'd, In heavy satisfaction, and would never Receive the ring again. KING. Plutus himself, That knows the tinct and multiplying med'cine, Hath not in nature's mystery more science Than I have in this ring. 'Twas mine, 'twas Helen's, Whoever gave it you. Then, if you know That you are well acquainted with yourself, Confess 'twas hers, and by what rough enforcement You got it from her. She call'd the saints to surety That she would never put it from her finger Unless she gave it to yourself in bed- Where you have never come- or sent it us Upon her great disaster. BERTRAM. She never saw it. KING. Thou speak'st it falsely, as I love mine honour; And mak'st conjectural fears to come into me Which I would fain shut out. If it should prove That thou art so inhuman- 'twill not prove so. And yet I know not- thou didst hate her deadly, And she is dead; which nothing, but to close Her eyes myself, could win me to believe More than to see this ring. Take him away. [GUARDS seize BERTRAM] My fore-past proofs, howe'er the matter fall, Shall tax my fears of little vanity, Having vainly fear'd too little. Away with him. We'll sift this matter further. BERTRAM. If you shall prove This ring was ever hers, you shall as easy Prove that I husbanded her bed in Florence, Where she yet never was. Exit, guarded KING. I am wrapp'd in dismal thinkings. Enter a GENTLEMAN GENTLEMAN. Gracious sovereign, Whether I have been to blame or no, I know not: Here's a petition from a Florentine, Who hath, for four or five removes, come short To tender it herself. I undertook it, Vanquish'd thereto by the fair grace and speech Of the poor suppliant, who by this, I know, Is here attending; her business looks in her With an importing visage; and she told me In a sweet verbal brief it did concern Your Highness with herself. KING. [Reads the letter] 'Upon his many protestations to marry me when his wife was dead, I blush to say it, he won me. Now is the Count Rousillon a widower; his vows are forfeited to me, and my honour's paid to him. He stole from Florence, taking no leave, and I follow him to his country for justice. Grant it me, O King! in you it best lies; otherwise a seducer flourishes, and a poor maid is undone. DIANA CAPILET.' LAFEU. I will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll for this. I'll none of him. KING. The heavens have thought well on thee, Lafeu, To bring forth this discov'ry. Seek these suitors. Go speedily, and bring again the Count. Exeunt ATTENDANTS I am afeard the life of Helen, lady, Was foully snatch'd. COUNTESS. Now, justice on the doers! Enter BERTRAM, guarded KING. I wonder, sir, sith wives are monsters to you. And that you fly them as you swear them lordship, Yet you desire to marry. Enter WIDOW and DIANA What woman's that? DIANA. I am, my lord, a wretched Florentine, Derived from the ancient Capilet. My suit, as I do understand, you know, And therefore know how far I may be pitied. WIDOW. I am her mother, sir, whose age and honour Both suffer under this complaint we bring, And both shall cease, without your remedy. KING. Come hither, Count; do you know these women? BERTRAM. My lord, I neither can nor will deny But that I know them. Do they charge me further? DIANA. Why do you look so strange upon your wife? BERTRAM. She's none of mine, my lord. DIANA. If you shall marry, You give away this hand, and that is mine; You give away heaven's vows, and those are mine; You give away myself, which is known mine; For I by vow am so embodied yours That she which marries you must marry me, Either both or none. LAFEU. [To BERTRAM] Your reputation comes too short for my daughter; you are no husband for her. BERTRAM. My lord, this is a fond and desp'rate creature Whom sometime I have laugh'd with. Let your Highness Lay a more noble thought upon mine honour Than for to think that I would sink it here. KING. Sir, for my thoughts, you have them ill to friend Till your deeds gain them. Fairer prove your honour Than in my thought it lies! DIANA. Good my lord, Ask him upon his oath if he does think He had not my virginity. KING. What say'st thou to her? BERTRAM. She's impudent, my lord, And was a common gamester to the camp. DIANA. He does me wrong, my lord; if I were so He might have bought me at a common price. Do not believe him. o, behold this ring, Whose high respect and rich validity Did lack a parallel; yet, for all that, He gave it to a commoner o' th' camp, If I be one. COUNTESS. He blushes, and 'tis it. Of six preceding ancestors, that gem Conferr'd by testament to th' sequent issue, Hath it been ow'd and worn. This is his wife: That ring's a thousand proofs. KING. Methought you said You saw one here in court could witness it. DIANA. I did, my lord, but loath am to produce So bad an instrument; his name's Parolles. LAFEU. I saw the man to-day, if man he be. KING. Find him, and bring him hither. Exit an ATTENDANT BERTRAM. What of him? He's quoted for a most perfidious slave, With all the spots o' th' world tax'd and debauch'd, Whose nature sickens but to speak a truth. Am I or that or this for what he'll utter That will speak anything? KING. She hath that ring of yours. BERTRAM. I think she has. Certain it is I lik'd her, And boarded her i' th' wanton way of youth. She knew her distance, and did angle for me, Madding my eagerness with her restraint, As all impediments in fancy's course Are motives of more fancy; and, in fine, Her infinite cunning with her modern grace Subdu'd me to her rate. She got the ring; And I had that which any inferior might At market-price have bought. DIANA. I must be patient. You that have turn'd off a first so noble wife May justly diet me. I pray you yet- Since you lack virtue, I will lose a husband- Send for your ring, I will return it home, And give me mine again. BERTRAM. I have it not. KING. What ring was yours, I pray you? DIANA. Sir, much like The same upon your finger. KING. Know you this ring? This ring was his of late. DIANA. And this was it I gave him, being abed. KING. The story, then, goes false you threw it him Out of a casement. DIANA. I have spoke the truth. Enter PAROLLES BERTRAM. My lord, I do confess the ring was hers. KING. You boggle shrewdly; every feather starts you. Is this the man you speak of? DIANA. Ay, my lord. KING. Tell me, sirrah-but tell me true I charge you, Not fearing the displeasure of your master, Which, on your just proceeding, I'll keep off- By him and by this woman here what know you? PAROLLES. So please your Majesty, my master hath been an honourable gentleman; tricks he hath had in him, which gentlemen have. KING. Come, come, to th' purpose. Did he love this woman? PAROLLES. Faith, sir, he did love her; but how? KING. How, I pray you? PAROLLES. He did love her, sir, as a gentleman loves a woman. KING. How is that? PAROLLES. He lov'd her, sir, and lov'd her not. KING. As thou art a knave and no knave. What an equivocal companion is this! PAROLLES. I am a poor man, and at your Majesty's command. LAFEU. He's a good drum, my lord, but a naughty orator. DIANA. Do you know he promis'd me marriage? PAROLLES. Faith, I know more than I'll speak. KING. But wilt thou not speak all thou know'st? PAROLLES. Yes, so please your Majesty. I did go between them, as I said; but more than that, he loved her-for indeed he was mad for her, and talk'd of Satan, and of Limbo, and of Furies, and I know not what. Yet I was in that credit with them at that time that I knew of their going to bed; and of other motions, as promising her marriage, and things which would derive me ill will to speak of; therefore I will not speak what I know. KING. Thou hast spoken all already, unless thou canst say they are married; but thou art too fine in thy evidence; therefore stand aside. This ring, you say, was yours? DIANA. Ay, my good lord. KING. Where did you buy it? Or who gave it you? DIANA. It was not given me, nor I did not buy it. KING. Who lent it you? DIANA. It was not lent me neither. KING. Where did you find it then? DIANA. I found it not. KING. If it were yours by none of all these ways, How could you give it him? DIANA. I never gave it him. LAFEU. This woman's an easy glove, my lord; she goes of and on at pleasure. KING. This ring was mine, I gave it his first wife. DIANA. It might be yours or hers, for aught I know. KING. Take her away, I do not like her now; To prison with her. And away with him. Unless thou tell'st me where thou hadst this ring, Thou diest within this hour. DIANA. I'll never tell you. KING. Take her away. DIANA. I'll put in bail, my liege. KING. I think thee now some common customer. DIANA. By Jove, if ever I knew man, 'twas you. KING. Wherefore hast thou accus'd him all this while? DIANA. Because he's guilty, and he is not guilty. He knows I am no maid, and he'll swear to't: I'll swear I am a maid, and he knows not. Great King, I am no strumpet, by my life; I am either maid, or else this old man's wife. [Pointing to LAFEU] KING. She does abuse our ears; to prison with her. DIANA. Good mother, fetch my bail. Stay, royal sir; Exit WIDOW The jeweller that owes the ring is sent for, And he shall surety me. But for this lord Who hath abus'd me as he knows himself, Though yet he never harm'd me, here I quit him. He knows himself my bed he hath defil'd; And at that time he got his wife with child. Dead though she be, she feels her young one kick; So there's my riddle: one that's dead is quick- And now behold the meaning. Re-enter WIDOW with HELENA KING. Is there no exorcist Beguiles the truer office of mine eyes? Is't real that I see? HELENA. No, my good lord; 'Tis but the shadow of a wife you see, The name and not the thing. BERTRAM. Both, both; o, pardon! HELENA. O, my good lord, when I was like this maid, I found you wondrous kind. There is your ring, And, look you, here's your letter. This it says: 'When from my finger you can get this ring, And are by me with child,' etc. This is done. Will you be mine now you are doubly won? BERTRAM. If she, my liege, can make me know this clearly, I'll love her dearly, ever, ever dearly. HELENA. If it appear not plain, and prove untrue, Deadly divorce step between me and you! O my dear mother, do I see you living? LAFEU. Mine eyes smell onions; I shall weep anon. [To PAROLLES] Good Tom Drum, lend me a handkercher. So, I thank thee. Wait on me home, I'll make sport with thee; let thy curtsies alone, they are scurvy ones. KING. Let us from point to point this story know, To make the even truth in pleasure flow. [To DIANA] If thou beest yet a fresh uncropped flower, Choose thou thy husband, and I'll pay thy dower; For I can guess that by thy honest aid Thou kept'st a wife herself, thyself a maid.- Of that and all the progress, more and less, Resolvedly more leisure shall express. All yet seems well; and if it end so meet, The bitter past, more welcome is the sweet. [Flourish] EPILOGUE EPILOGUE. KING. The King's a beggar, now the play is done. All is well ended if this suit be won, That you express content; which we will pay With strife to please you, day exceeding day. Ours be your patience then, and yours our parts; Your gentle hands lend us, and take our hearts. Exeunt omnes THE END <> 1607 THE TRAGEDY OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA by William Shakespeare DRAMATIS PERSONAE MARK ANTONY, Triumvirs OCTAVIUS CAESAR, " M. AEMILIUS LEPIDUS, " SEXTUS POMPEIUS, " DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS, friend to Antony VENTIDIUS, " " " EROS, " " " SCARUS, " " " DERCETAS, " " " DEMETRIUS, " " " PHILO, " " " MAECENAS, friend to Caesar AGRIPPA, " " " DOLABELLA, " " " PROCULEIUS, " " " THYREUS, " " " GALLUS, " " " MENAS, friend to Pompey MENECRATES, " " " VARRIUS, " " " TAURUS, Lieutenant-General to Caesar CANIDIUS, Lieutenant-General to Antony SILIUS, an Officer in Ventidius's army EUPHRONIUS, an Ambassador from Antony to Caesar ALEXAS, attendant on Cleopatra MARDIAN, " " " SELEUCUS, " " " DIOMEDES, " " " A SOOTHSAYER A CLOWN CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt OCTAVIA, sister to Caesar and wife to Antony CHARMIAN, lady attending on Cleopatra IRAS, " " " " Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants <> SCENE: The Roman Empire ACT I. SCENE I. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA'S palace Enter DEMETRIUS and PHILO PHILO. Nay, but this dotage of our general's O'erflows the measure. Those his goodly eyes, That o'er the files and musters of the war Have glow'd like plated Mars, now bend, now turn, The office and devotion of their view Upon a tawny front. His captain's heart, Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, And is become the bellows and the fan To cool a gipsy's lust. Flourish. Enter ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, her LADIES, the train, with eunuchs fanning her Look where they come! Take but good note, and you shall see in him The triple pillar of the world transform'd Into a strumpet's fool. Behold and see. CLEOPATRA. If it be love indeed, tell me how much. ANTONY. There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd. CLEOPATRA. I'll set a bourn how far to be belov'd. ANTONY. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth. Enter a MESSENGER MESSENGER. News, my good lord, from Rome. ANTONY. Grates me the sum. CLEOPATRA. Nay, hear them, Antony. Fulvia perchance is angry; or who knows If the scarce-bearded Caesar have not sent His pow'rful mandate to you: 'Do this or this; Take in that kingdom and enfranchise that; Perform't, or else we damn thee.' ANTONY. How, my love? CLEOPATRA. Perchance? Nay, and most like, You must not stay here longer; your dismission Is come from Caesar; therefore hear it, Antony. Where's Fulvia's process? Caesar's I would say? Both? Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt's Queen, Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine Is Caesar's homager. Else so thy cheek pays shame When shrill-tongu'd Fulvia scolds. The messengers! ANTONY. Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch Of the rang'd empire fall! Here is my space. Kingdoms are clay; our dungy earth alike Feeds beast as man. The nobleness of life Is to do thus [emhracing], when such a mutual pair And such a twain can do't, in which I bind, On pain of punishment, the world to weet We stand up peerless. CLEOPATRA. Excellent falsehood! Why did he marry Fulvia, and not love her? I'll seem the fool I am not. Antony Will be himself. ANTONY. But stirr'd by Cleopatra. Now for the love of Love and her soft hours, Let's not confound the time with conference harsh; There's not a minute of our lives should stretch Without some pleasure now. What sport to-night? CLEOPATRA. Hear the ambassadors. ANTONY. Fie, wrangling queen! Whom everything becomes- to chide, to laugh, To weep; whose every passion fully strives To make itself in thee fair and admir'd. No messenger but thine, and all alone To-night we'll wander through the streets and note The qualities of people. Come, my queen; Last night you did desire it. Speak not to us. Exeunt ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, with the train DEMETRIUS. Is Caesar with Antonius priz'd so slight? PHILO. Sir, sometimes when he is not Antony, He comes too short of that great property Which still should go with Antony. DEMETRIUS. I am full sorry That he approves the common liar, who Thus speaks of him at Rome; but I will hope Of better deeds to-morrow. Rest you happy! Exeunt SCENE II. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA'S palace Enter CHARMIAN, IRAS, ALEXAS, and a SOOTHSAYER CHARMIAN. Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where's the soothsayer that you prais'd so to th' Queen? O that I knew this husband, which you say must charge his horns with garlands! ALEXAS. Soothsayer! SOOTHSAYER. Your will? CHARMIAN. Is this the man? Is't you, sir, that know things? SOOTHSAYER. In nature's infinite book of secrecy A little I can read. ALEXAS. Show him your hand. Enter ENOBARBUS ENOBARBUS. Bring in the banquet quickly; wine enough Cleopatra's health to drink. CHARMIAN. Good, sir, give me good fortune. SOOTHSAYER. I make not, but foresee. CHARMIAN. Pray, then, foresee me one. SOOTHSAYER. You shall be yet far fairer than you are. CHARMIAN. He means in flesh. IRAS. No, you shall paint when you are old. CHARMIAN. Wrinkles forbid! ALEXAS. Vex not his prescience; be attentive. CHARMIAN. Hush! SOOTHSAYER. You shall be more beloving than beloved. CHARMIAN. I had rather heat my liver with drinking. ALEXAS. Nay, hear him. CHARMIAN. Good now, some excellent fortune! Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and widow them all. Let me have a child at fifty, to whom Herod of Jewry may do homage. Find me to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion me with my mistress. SOOTHSAYER. You shall outlive the lady whom you serve. CHARMIAN. O, excellent! I love long life better than figs. SOOTHSAYER. You have seen and prov'd a fairer former fortune Than that which is to approach. CHARMIAN. Then belike my children shall have no names. Prithee, how many boys and wenches must I have? SOOTHSAYER. If every of your wishes had a womb, And fertile every wish, a million. CHARMIAN. Out, fool! I forgive thee for a witch. ALEXAS. You think none but your sheets are privy to your wishes. CHARMIAN. Nay, come, tell Iras hers. ALEXAS. We'll know all our fortunes. ENOBARBUS. Mine, and most of our fortunes, to-night, shall be- drunk to bed. IRAS. There's a palm presages chastity, if nothing else. CHARMIAN. E'en as the o'erflowing Nilus presageth famine. IRAS. Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay. CHARMIAN. Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear. Prithee, tell her but worky-day fortune. SOOTHSAYER. Your fortunes are alike. IRAS. But how, but how? Give me particulars. SOOTHSAYER. I have said. IRAS. Am I not an inch of fortune better than she? CHARMIAN. Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it? IRAS. Not in my husband's nose. CHARMIAN. Our worser thoughts heavens mend! Alexas- come, his fortune, his fortune! O, let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee! And let her die too, and give him a worse! And let worse follow worse, till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fiftyfold a cuckold! Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight; good Isis, I beseech thee! IRAS. Amen. Dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people! For, as it is a heartbreaking to see a handsome man loose-wiv'd, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded. Therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly! CHARMIAN. Amen. ALEXAS. Lo now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores but they'ld do't! Enter CLEOPATRA ENOBARBUS. Hush! Here comes Antony. CHARMIAN. Not he; the Queen. CLEOPATRA. Saw you my lord? ENOBARBUS. No, lady. CLEOPATRA. Was he not here? CHARMIAN. No, madam. CLEOPATRA. He was dispos'd to mirth; but on the sudden A Roman thought hath struck him. Enobarbus! ENOBARBUS. Madam? CLEOPATRA. Seek him, and bring him hither. Where's Alexas? ALEXAS. Here, at your service. My lord approaches. Enter ANTONY, with a MESSENGER and attendants CLEOPATRA. We will not look upon him. Go with us. Exeunt CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, and the rest MESSENGER. Fulvia thy wife first came into the field. ANTONY. Against my brother Lucius? MESSENGER. Ay. But soon that war had end, and the time's state Made friends of them, jointing their force 'gainst Caesar, Whose better issue in the war from Italy Upon the first encounter drave them. ANTONY. Well, what worst? MESSENGER. The nature of bad news infects the teller. ANTONY. When it concerns the fool or coward. On! Things that are past are done with me. 'Tis thus: Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, I hear him as he flatter'd. MESSENGER. Labienus- This is stiff news- hath with his Parthian force Extended Asia from Euphrates, His conquering banner shook from Syria To Lydia and to Ionia, Whilst- ANTONY. Antony, thou wouldst say. MESSENGER. O, my lord! ANTONY. Speak to me home; mince not the general tongue; Name Cleopatra as she is call'd in Rome. Rail thou in Fulvia's phrase, and taunt my faults With such full licence as both truth and malice Have power to utter. O, then we bring forth weeds When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us Is as our earing. Fare thee well awhile. MESSENGER. At your noble pleasure. Exit ANTONY. From Sicyon, ho, the news! Speak there! FIRST ATTENDANT. The man from Sicyon- is there such an one? SECOND ATTENDANT. He stays upon your will. ANTONY. Let him appear. These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, Or lose myself in dotage. Enter another MESSENGER with a letter What are you? SECOND MESSENGER. Fulvia thy wife is dead. ANTONY. Where died she? SECOND MESSENGER. In Sicyon. Her length of sickness, with what else more serious Importeth thee to know, this bears. [Gives the letter] ANTONY. Forbear me. Exit MESSENGER There's a great spirit gone! Thus did I desire it. What our contempts doth often hurl from us We wish it ours again; the present pleasure, By revolution low'ring, does become The opposite of itself. She's good, being gone; The hand could pluck her back that shov'd her on. I must from this enchanting queen break off. Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know, My idleness doth hatch. How now, Enobarbus! Re-enter ENOBARBUS ENOBARBUS. What's your pleasure, sir? ANTONY. I must with haste from hence. ENOBARBUS. Why, then we kill all our women. We see how mortal an unkindness is to them; if they suffer our departure, death's the word. ANTONY. I must be gone. ENOBARBUS. Under a compelling occasion, let women die. It were pity to cast them away for nothing, though between them and a great cause they should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra, catching but the least noise of this, dies instantly; I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment. I do think there is mettle in death, which commits some loving act upon her, she hath such a celerity in dying. ANTONY. She is cunning past man's thought. ENOBARBUS. Alack, sir, no! Her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. This cannot be cunning in her; if it be, she makes a show'r of rain as well as Jove. ANTONY. Would I had never seen her! ENOBARBUS. O Sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work, which not to have been blest withal would have discredited your travel. ANTONY. Fulvia is dead. ENOBARBUS. Sir? ANTONY. Fulvia is dead. ENOBARBUS. Fulvia? ANTONY. Dead. ENOBARBUS. Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth; comforting therein that when old robes are worn out there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented. This grief is crown'd with consolation: your old smock brings forth a new petticoat; and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow. ANTONY. The business she hath broached in the state Cannot endure my absence. ENOBARBUS. And the business you have broach'd here cannot be without you; especially that of Cleopatra's, which wholly depends on your abode. ANTONY. No more light answers. Let our officers Have notice what we purpose. I shall break The cause of our expedience to the Queen, And get her leave to part. For not alone The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, Do strongly speak to us; but the letters to Of many our contriving friends in Rome Petition us at home. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Caesar, and commands The empire of the sea; our slippery people, Whose love is never link'd to the deserver Till his deserts are past, begin to throw Pompey the Great and all his dignities Upon his son; who, high in name and power, Higher than both in blood and life, stands up For the main soldier; whose quality, going on, The sides o' th' world may danger. Much is breeding Which, like the courser's hair, hath yet but life And not a serpent's poison. Say our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence. ENOBARBUS. I shall do't. Exeunt SCENE III. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA'S palace Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS CLEOPATRA. Where is he? CHARMIAN. I did not see him since. CLEOPATRA. See where he is, who's with him, what he does. I did not send you. If you find him sad, Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report That I am sudden sick. Quick, and return. Exit ALEXAS CHARMIAN. Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly, You do not hold the method to enforce The like from him. CLEOPATRA. What should I do I do not? CHARMIAN. In each thing give him way; cross him in nothing. CLEOPATRA. Thou teachest like a fool- the way to lose him. CHARMIAN. Tempt him not so too far; I wish, forbear; In time we hate that which we often fear. Enter ANTONY But here comes Antony. CLEOPATRA. I am sick and sullen. ANTONY. I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose- CLEOPATRA. Help me away, dear Charmian; I shall fall. It cannot be thus long; the sides of nature Will not sustain it. ANTONY. Now, my dearest queen- CLEOPATRA. Pray you, stand farther from me. ANTONY. What's the matter? CLEOPATRA. I know by that same eye there's some good news. What says the married woman? You may go. Would she had never given you leave to come! Let her not say 'tis I that keep you here- I have no power upon you; hers you are. ANTONY. The gods best know- CLEOPATRA. O, never was there queen So mightily betray'd! Yet at the first I saw the treasons planted. ANTONY. Cleopatra- CLEOPATRA. Why should I think you can be mine and true, Though you in swearing shake the throned gods, Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, To be entangled with those mouth-made vows, Which break themselves in swearing! ANTONY. Most sweet queen- CLEOPATRA. Nay, pray you seek no colour for your going, But bid farewell, and go. When you sued staying, Then was the time for words. No going then! Eternity was in our lips and eyes, Bliss in our brows' bent, none our parts so poor But was a race of heaven. They are so still, Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world, Art turn'd the greatest liar. ANTONY. How now, lady! CLEOPATRA. I would I had thy inches. Thou shouldst know There were a heart in Egypt. ANTONY. Hear me, queen: The strong necessity of time commands Our services awhile; but my full heart Remains in use with you. Our Italy Shines o'er with civil swords: Sextus Pompeius Makes his approaches to the port of Rome; Equality of two domestic powers Breed scrupulous faction; the hated, grown to strength, Are newly grown to love. The condemn'd Pompey, Rich in his father's honour, creeps apace Into the hearts of such as have not thrived Upon the present state, whose numbers threaten; And quietness, grown sick of rest, would purge By any desperate change. My more particular, And that which most with you should safe my going, Is Fulvia's death. CLEOPATRA. Though age from folly could not give me freedom, It does from childishness. Can Fulvia die? ANTONY. She's dead, my Queen. Look here, and at thy sovereign leisure read The garboils she awak'd. At the last, best. See when and where she died. CLEOPATRA. O most false love! Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill With sorrowful water? Now I see, I see, In Fulvia's death how mine receiv'd shall be. ANTONY. Quarrel no more, but be prepar'd to know The purposes I bear; which are, or cease, As you shall give th' advice. By the fire That quickens Nilus' slime, I go from hence Thy soldier, servant, making peace or war As thou affects. CLEOPATRA. Cut my lace, Charmian, come! But let it be; I am quickly ill and well- So Antony loves. ANTONY. My precious queen, forbear, And give true evidence to his love, which stands An honourable trial. CLEOPATRA. So Fulvia told me. I prithee turn aside and weep for her; Then bid adieu to me, and say the tears Belong to Egypt. Good now, play one scene Of excellent dissembling, and let it look Like perfect honour. ANTONY. You'll heat my blood; no more. CLEOPATRA. You can do better yet; but this is meetly. ANTONY. Now, by my sword- CLEOPATRA. And target. Still he mends; But this is not the best. Look, prithee, Charmian, How this Herculean Roman does become The carriage of his chafe. ANTONY. I'll leave you, lady. CLEOPATRA. Courteous lord, one word. Sir, you and I must part- but that's not it. Sir, you and I have lov'd- but there's not it. That you know well. Something it is I would- O, my oblivion is a very Antony, And I am all forgotten! ANTONY. But that your royalty Holds idleness your subject, I should take you For idleness itself. CLEOPATRA. 'Tis sweating labour To bear such idleness so near the heart As Cleopatra this. But, sir, forgive me; Since my becomings kill me when they do not Eye well to you. Your honour calls you hence; Therefore be deaf to my unpitied folly, And all the gods go with you! Upon your sword Sit laurel victory, and smooth success Be strew'd before your feet! ANTONY. Let us go. Come. Our separation so abides and flies That thou, residing here, goes yet with me, And I, hence fleeting, here remain with thee. Away! Exeunt SCENE IV. Rome. CAESAR'S house Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR, reading a letter; LEPIDUS, and their train CAESAR. You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know, It is not Caesar's natural vice to hate Our great competitor. From Alexandria This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy More womanly than he; hardly gave audience, or Vouchsaf'd to think he had partners. You shall find there A man who is the abstract of all faults That all men follow. LEPIDUS. I must not think there are Evils enow to darken all his goodness. His faults, in him, seem as the spots of heaven, More fiery by night's blackness; hereditary Rather than purchas'd; what he cannot change Than what he chooses. CAESAR. You are too indulgent. Let's grant it is not Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy, To give a kingdom for a mirth, to sit And keep the turn of tippling with a slave, To reel the streets at noon, and stand the buffet With knaves that smell of sweat. Say this becomes him- As his composure must be rare indeed Whom these things cannot blemish- yet must Antony No way excuse his foils when we do bear So great weight in his lightness. If he fill'd His vacancy with his voluptuousness, Full surfeits and the dryness of his bones Call on him for't! But to confound such time That drums him from his sport and speaks as loud As his own state and ours- 'tis to be chid As we rate boys who, being mature in knowledge, Pawn their experience to their present pleasure, And so rebel to judgment. Enter a MESSENGER LEPIDUS. Here's more news. MESSENGER. Thy biddings have been done; and every hour, Most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report How 'tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea, And it appears he is belov'd of those That only have fear'd Caesar. To the ports The discontents repair, and men's reports Give him much wrong'd. CAESAR. I should have known no less. It hath been taught us from the primal state That he which is was wish'd until he were; And the ebb'd man, ne'er lov'd till ne'er worth love, Comes dear'd by being lack'd. This common body, Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion. MESSENGER. Caesar, I bring thee word Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Make the sea serve them, which they ear and wound With keels of every kind. Many hot inroads They make in Italy; the borders maritime Lack blood to think on't, and flush youth revolt. No vessel can peep forth but 'tis as soon Taken as seen; for Pompey's name strikes more Than could his war resisted. CAESAR. Antony, Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once Was beaten from Modena, where thou slew'st Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel Did famine follow; whom thou fought'st against, Though daintily brought up, with patience more Than savages could suffer. Thou didst drink The stale of horses and the gilded puddle Which beasts would cough at. Thy palate then did deign The roughest berry on the rudest hedge; Yea, like the stag when snow the pasture sheets, The barks of trees thou brows'd. On the Alps It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh, Which some did die to look on. And all this- It wounds thine honour that I speak it now- Was borne so like a soldier that thy cheek So much as lank'd not. LEPIDUS. 'Tis pity of him. CAESAR. Let his shames quickly Drive him to Rome. 'Tis time we twain Did show ourselves i' th' field; and to that end Assemble we immediate council. Pompey Thrives in our idleness. LEPIDUS. To-morrow, Caesar, I shall be furnish'd to inform you rightly Both what by sea and land I can be able To front this present time. CAESAR. Till which encounter It is my business too. Farewell. LEPIDUS. Farewell, my lord. What you shall know meantime Of stirs abroad, I shall beseech you, sir, To let me be partaker. CAESAR. Doubt not, sir; I knew it for my bond. Exeunt SCENE V. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA'S palace Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN CLEOPATRA. Charmian! CHARMIAN. Madam? CLEOPATRA. Ha, ha! Give me to drink mandragora. CHARMIAN. Why, madam? CLEOPATRA. That I might sleep out this great gap of time My Antony is away. CHARMIAN. You think of him too much. CLEOPATRA. O, 'tis treason! CHARMIAN. Madam, I trust, not so. CLEOPATRA. Thou, eunuch Mardian! MARDIAN. What's your Highness' pleasure? CLEOPATRA. Not now to hear thee sing; I take no pleasure In aught an eunuch has. 'Tis well for thee That, being unseminar'd, thy freer thoughts May not fly forth of Egypt. Hast thou affections? MARDIAN. Yes, gracious madam. CLEOPATRA. Indeed? MARDIAN. Not in deed, madam; for I can do nothing But what indeed is honest to be done. Yet have I fierce affections, and think What Venus did with Mars. CLEOPATRA. O Charmian, Where think'st thou he is now? Stands he or sits he? Or does he walk? or is he on his horse? O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! Do bravely, horse; for wot'st thou whom thou mov'st? The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm And burgonet of men. He's speaking now, Or murmuring 'Where's my serpent of old Nile?' For so he calls me. Now I feed myself With most delicious poison. Think on me, That am with Phoebus' amorous pinches black, And wrinkled deep in time? Broad-fronted Caesar, When thou wast here above the ground, I was A morsel for a monarch; and great Pompey Would stand and make his eyes grow in my brow; There would he anchor his aspect and die With looking on his life. Enter ALEXAS ALEXAS. Sovereign of Egypt, hail! CLEOPATRA. How much unlike art thou Mark Antony! Yet, coming from him, that great med'cine hath With his tinct gilded thee. How goes it with my brave Mark Antony? ALEXAS. Last thing he did, dear Queen, He kiss'd- the last of many doubled kisses- This orient pearl. His speech sticks in my heart. CLEOPATRA. Mine ear must pluck it thence. ALEXAS. 'Good friend,' quoth he 'Say the firm Roman to great Egypt sends This treasure of an oyster; at whose foot, To mend the petty present, I will piece Her opulent throne with kingdoms. All the East, Say thou, shall call her mistress.' So he nodded, And soberly did mount an arm-gaunt steed, Who neigh'd so high that what I would have spoke Was beastly dumb'd by him. CLEOPATRA. What, was he sad or merry? ALEXAS. Like to the time o' th' year between the extremes Of hot and cold; he was nor sad nor merry. CLEOPATRA. O well-divided disposition! Note him, Note him, good Charmian; 'tis the man; but note him! He was not sad, for he would shine on those That make their looks by his; he was not merry, Which seem'd to tell them his remembrance lay In Egypt with his joy; but between both. O heavenly mingle! Be'st thou sad or merry, The violence of either thee becomes, So does it no man else. Met'st thou my posts? ALEXAS. Ay, madam, twenty several messengers. Why do you send so thick? CLEOPATRA. Who's born that day When I forget to send to Antony Shall die a beggar. Ink and paper, Charmian. Welcome, my good Alexas. Did I, Charmian, Ever love Caesar so? CHARMIAN. O that brave Caesar! CLEOPATRA. Be chok'd with such another emphasis! Say 'the brave Antony.' CHARMIAN. The valiant Caesar! CLEOPATRA. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth If thou with Caesar paragon again My man of men. CHARMIAN. By your most gracious pardon, I sing but after you. CLEOPATRA. My salad days, When I was green in judgment, cold in blood, To say as I said then. But come, away! Get me ink and paper. He shall have every day a several greeting, Or I'll unpeople Egypt. Exeunt <> ACT II. SCENE I. Messina. POMPEY'S house Enter POMPEY, MENECRATES, and MENAS, in warlike manner POMPEY. If the great gods be just, they shall assist The deeds of justest men. MENECRATES. Know, worthy Pompey, That what they do delay they not deny. POMPEY. Whiles we are suitors to their throne, decays The thing we sue for. MENECRATES. We, ignorant of ourselves, Beg often our own harms, which the wise pow'rs Deny us for our good; so find we profit By losing of our prayers. POMPEY. I shall do well. The people love me, and the sea is mine; My powers are crescent, and my auguring hope Says it will come to th' full. Mark Antony In Egypt sits at dinner, and will make No wars without doors. Caesar gets money where He loses hearts. Lepidus flatters both, Of both is flatter'd; but he neither loves, Nor either cares for him. MENAS. Caesar and Lepidus Are in the field. A mighty strength they carry. POMPEY. Where have you this? 'Tis false. MENAS. From Silvius, sir. POMPEY. He dreams. I know they are in Rome together, Looking for Antony. But all the charms of love, Salt Cleopatra, soften thy wan'd lip! Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both; Tie up the libertine in a field of feasts, Keep his brain fuming. Epicurean cooks Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite, That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour Even till a Lethe'd dullness- Enter VARRIUS How now, Varrius! VARRIUS. This is most certain that I shall deliver: Mark Antony is every hour in Rome Expected. Since he went from Egypt 'tis A space for farther travel. POMPEY. I could have given less matter A better ear. Menas, I did not think This amorous surfeiter would have donn'd his helm For such a petty war; his soldiership Is twice the other twain. But let us rear The higher our opinion, that our stirring Can from the lap of Egypt's widow pluck The ne'er-lust-wearied Antony. MENAS. I cannot hope Caesar and Antony shall well greet together. His wife that's dead did trespasses to Caesar; His brother warr'd upon him; although, I think, Not mov'd by Antony. POMPEY. I know not, Menas, How lesser enmities may give way to greater. Were't not that we stand up against them all, 'Twere pregnant they should square between themselves; For they have entertained cause enough To draw their swords. But how the fear of us May cement their divisions, and bind up The petty difference we yet not know. Be't as our gods will have't! It only stands Our lives upon to use our strongest hands. Come, Menas. Exeunt SCENE II. Rome. The house of LEPIDUS Enter ENOBARBUS and LEPIDUS LEPIDUS. Good Enobarbus, 'tis a worthy deed, And shall become you well, to entreat your captain To soft and gentle speech. ENOBARBUS. I shall entreat him To answer like himself. If Caesar move him, Let Antony look over Caesar's head And speak as loud as Mars. By Jupiter, Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard, I would not shave't to-day. LEPIDUS. 'Tis not a time For private stomaching. ENOBARBUS. Every time Serves for the matter that is then born in't. LEPIDUS. But small to greater matters must give way. ENOBARBUS. Not if the small come first. LEPIDUS. Your speech is passion; But pray you stir no embers up. Here comes The noble Antony. Enter ANTONY and VENTIDIUS ENOBARBUS. And yonder, Caesar. Enter CAESAR, MAECENAS, and AGRIPPA ANTONY. If we compose well here, to Parthia. Hark, Ventidius. CAESAR. I do not know, Maecenas. Ask Agrippa. LEPIDUS. Noble friends, That which combin'd us was most great, and let not A leaner action rend us. What's amiss, May it be gently heard. When we debate Our trivial difference loud, we do commit Murder in healing wounds. Then, noble partners, The rather for I earnestly beseech, Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms, Nor curstness grow to th' matter. ANTONY. 'Tis spoken well. Were we before our arinies, and to fight, I should do thus. [Flourish] CAESAR. Welcome to Rome. ANTONY. Thank you. CAESAR. Sit. ANTONY. Sit, sir. CAESAR. Nay, then. [They sit] ANTONY. I learn you take things ill which are not so, Or being, concern you not. CAESAR. I must be laugh'd at If, or for nothing or a little, Should say myself offended, and with you Chiefly i' the world; more laugh'd at that I should Once name you derogately when to sound your name It not concern'd me. ANTONY. My being in Egypt, Caesar, What was't to you? CAESAR. No more than my residing here at Rome Might be to you in Egypt. Yet, if you there Did practise on my state, your being in Egypt Might be my question. ANTONY. How intend you- practis'd? CAESAR. You may be pleas'd to catch at mine intent By what did here befall me. Your wife and brother Made wars upon me, and their contestation Was theme for you; you were the word of war. ANTONY. You do mistake your business; my brother never Did urge me in his act. I did inquire it, And have my learning from some true reports That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather Discredit my authority with yours, And make the wars alike against my stomach, Having alike your cause? Of this my letters Before did satisfy you. If you'll patch a quarrel, As matter whole you have not to make it with, It must not be with this. CAESAR. You praise yourself By laying defects of judgment to me; but You patch'd up your excuses. ANTONY. Not so, not so; I know you could not lack, I am certain on't, Very necessity of this thought, that I, Your partner in the cause 'gainst which he fought, Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars Which fronted mine own peace. As for my wife, I would you had her spirit in such another! The third o' th' world is yours, which with a snaffle You may pace easy, but not such a wife. ENOBARBUS. Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women! ANTONY. So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar, Made out of her impatience- which not wanted Shrewdness of policy too- I grieving grant Did you too much disquiet. For that you must But say I could not help it. CAESAR. I wrote to you When rioting in Alexandria; you Did pocket up my letters, and with taunts Did gibe my missive out of audience. ANTONY. Sir, He fell upon me ere admitted. Then Three kings I had newly feasted, and did want Of what I was i' th' morning; but next day I told him of myself, which was as much As to have ask'd him pardon. Let this fellow Be nothing of our strife; if we contend, Out of our question wipe him. CAESAR. You have broken The article of your oath, which you shall never Have tongue to charge me with. LEPIDUS. Soft, Caesar! ANTONY. No; Lepidus, let him speak. The honour is sacred which he talks on now, Supposing that I lack'd it. But on, Caesar: The article of my oath- CAESAR. To lend me arms and aid when I requir'd them, The which you both denied. ANTONY. Neglected, rather; And then when poisoned hours had bound me up From mine own knowledge. As nearly as I may, I'll play the penitent to you; but mine honesty Shall not make poor my greatness, nor my power Work without it. Truth is, that Fulvia, To have me out of Egypt, made wars here; For which myself, the ignorant motive, do So far ask pardon as befits mine honour To stoop in such a case. LEPIDUS. 'Tis noble spoken. MAECENAS. If it might please you to enforce no further The griefs between ye- to forget them quite Were to remember that the present need Speaks to atone you. LEPIDUS. Worthily spoken, Maecenas. ENOBARBUS. Or, if you borrow one another's love for the instant, you may, when you hear no more words of Pompey, return it again. You shall have time to wrangle in when you have nothing else to do. ANTONY. Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more. ENOBARBUS. That truth should be silent I had almost forgot. ANTONY. You wrong this presence; therefore speak no more. ENOBARBUS. Go to, then- your considerate stone! CAESAR. I do not much dislike the matter, but The manner of his speech; for't cannot be We shall remain in friendship, our conditions So diff'ring in their acts. Yet if I knew What hoop should hold us stanch, from edge to edge O' th' world, I would pursue it. AGRIPPA. Give me leave, Caesar. CAESAR. Speak, Agrippa. AGRIPPA. Thou hast a sister by the mother's side, Admir'd Octavia. Great Mark Antony Is now a widower. CAESAR. Say not so, Agrippa. If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof Were well deserv'd of rashness. ANTONY. I am not married, Caesar. Let me hear Agrippa further speak. AGRIPPA. To hold you in perpetual amity, To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts With an unslipping knot, take Antony Octavia to his wife; whose beauty claims No worse a husband than the best of men; Whose virtue and whose general graces speak That which none else can utter. By this marriage All little jealousies, which now seem great, And all great fears, which now import their dangers, Would then be nothing. Truths would be tales, Where now half tales be truths. Her love to both Would each to other, and all loves to both, Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke; For 'tis a studied, not a present thought, By duty ruminated. ANTONY. Will Caesar speak? CAESAR. Not till he hears how Antony is touch'd With what is spoke already. ANTONY. What power is in Agrippa, If I would say 'Agrippa, be it so,' To make this good? CAESAR. The power of Caesar, and His power unto Octavia. ANTONY. May I never To this good purpose, that so fairly shows, Dream of impediment! Let me have thy hand. Further this act of grace; and from this hour The heart of brothers govern in our loves And sway our great designs! CAESAR. There is my hand. A sister I bequeath you, whom no brother Did ever love so dearly. Let her live To join our kingdoms and our hearts; and never Fly off our loves again! LEPIDUS. Happily, amen! ANTONY. I did not think to draw my sword 'gainst Pompey; For he hath laid strange courtesies and great Of late upon me. I must thank him only, Lest my remembrance suffer ill report; At heel of that, defy him. LEPIDUS. Time calls upon's. Of us must Pompey presently be sought, Or else he seeks out us. ANTONY. Where lies he? CAESAR. About the Mount Misenum. ANTONY. What is his strength by land? CAESAR. Great and increasing; but by sea He is an absolute master. ANTONY. So is the fame. Would we had spoke together! Haste we for it. Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we The business we have talk'd of. CAESAR. With most gladness; And do invite you to my sister's view, Whither straight I'll lead you. ANTONY. Let us, Lepidus, Not lack your company. LEPIDUS. Noble Antony, Not sickness should detain me. [Flourish] Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS, AGRIPPA, MAECENAS MAECENAS. Welcome from Egypt, sir. ENOBARBUS. Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honourable friend, Agrippa! AGRIPPA. Good Enobarbus! MAECENAS. We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested. You stay'd well by't in Egypt. ENOBARBUS. Ay, sir; we did sleep day out of countenance and made the night light with drinking. MAECENAS. Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there. Is this true? ENOBARBUS. This was but as a fly by an eagle. We had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting. MAECENAS. She's a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her. ENOBARBUS. When she first met Mark Antony she purs'd up his heart, upon the river of Cydnus. AGRIPPA. There she appear'd indeed! Or my reporter devis'd well for her. ENOBARBUS. I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burn'd on the water. The poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, It beggar'd all description. She did lie In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold, of tissue, O'erpicturing that Venus where we see The fancy out-work nature. On each side her Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. AGRIPPA. O, rare for Antony! ENOBARBUS. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i' th' eyes, And made their bends adornings. At the helm A seeming mermaid steers. The silken tackle Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands That yarely frame the office. From the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthron'd i' th' market-place, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature. AGRIPPA. Rare Egyptian! ENOBARBUS. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, Invited her to supper. She replied It should be better he became her guest; Which she entreated. Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of 'No' woman heard speak, Being barber'd ten times o'er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary pays his heart For what his eyes eat only. AGRIPPA. Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed. He ploughed her, and she cropp'd. ENOBARBUS. I saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street; And, having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect perfection, And, breathless, pow'r breathe forth. MAECENAS. Now Antony must leave her utterly. ENOBARBUS. Never! He will not. Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish. MAECENAS. If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle The heart of Antony, Octavia is A blessed lottery to him. AGRIPPA. Let us go. Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest Whilst you abide here. ENOBARBUS. Humbly, sir, I thank you. Exeunt SCENE III. Rome. CAESAR'S house Enter ANTONY, CAESAR, OCTAVIA between them ANTONY. The world and my great office will sometimes Divide me from your bosom. OCTAVIA. All which time Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers To them for you. ANTONY. Good night, sir. My Octavia, Read not my blemishes in the world's report. I have not kept my square; but that to come Shall all be done by th' rule. Good night, dear lady. OCTAVIA. Good night, sir. CAESAR. Good night. Exeunt CAESAR and OCTAVIA Enter SOOTHSAYER ANTONY. Now, sirrah, you do wish yourself in Egypt? SOOTHSAYER. Would I had never come from thence, nor you thither! ANTONY. If you can- your reason. SOOTHSAYER. I see it in my motion, have it not in my tongue; but yet hie you to Egypt again. ANTONY. Say to me, Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Caesar's or mine? SOOTHSAYER. Caesar's. Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side. Thy daemon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, Where Caesar's is not; but near him thy angel Becomes a fear, as being o'erpow'r'd. Therefore Make space enough between you. ANTONY. Speak this no more. SOOTHSAYER. To none but thee; no more but when to thee. If thou dost play with him at any game, Thou art sure to lose; and of that natural luck He beats thee 'gainst the odds. Thy lustre thickens When he shines by. I say again, thy spirit Is all afraid to govern thee near him; But, he away, 'tis noble. ANTONY. Get thee gone. Say to Ventidius I would speak with him. Exit SOOTHSAYER He shall to Parthia.- Be it art or hap, He hath spoken true. The very dice obey him; And in our sports my better cunning faints Under his chance. If we draw lots, he speeds; His cocks do win the battle still of mine, When it is all to nought, and his quails ever Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will to Egypt; And though I make this marriage for my peace, I' th' East my pleasure lies. Enter VENTIDIUS O, come, Ventidius, You must to Parthia. Your commission's ready; Follow me and receive't. Exeunt SCENE IV. Rome. A street Enter LEPIDUS, MAECENAS, and AGRIPPA LEPIDUS. Trouble yourselves no further. Pray you hasten Your generals after. AGRIPPA. Sir, Mark Antony Will e'en but kiss Octavia, and we'll follow. LEPIDUS. Till I shall see you in your soldier's dress, Which will become you both, farewell. MAECENAS. We shall, As I conceive the journey, be at th' Mount Before you, Lepidus. LEPIDUS. Your way is shorter; My purposes do draw me much about. You'll win two days upon me. BOTH. Sir, good success! LEPIDUS. Farewell. Exeunt SCENE V. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA'S palace Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS CLEOPATRA. Give me some music- music, moody food Of us that trade in love. ALL. The music, ho! Enter MARDIAN the eunuch CLEOPATRA. Let it alone! Let's to billiards. Come, Charmian. CHARMIAN. My arm is sore; best play with Mardian. CLEOPATRA. As well a woman with an eunuch play'd As with a woman. Come, you'll play with me, sir? MARDIAN. As well as I can, madam. CLEOPATRA. And when good will is show'd, though't come too short, The actor may plead pardon. I'll none now. Give me mine angle- we'll to th' river. There, My music playing far off, I will betray Tawny-finn'd fishes; my bended hook shall pierce Their slimy jaws; and as I draw them up I'll think them every one an Antony, And say 'Ah ha! Y'are caught.' CHARMIAN. 'Twas merry when You wager'd on your angling; when your diver Did hang a salt fish on his hook, which he With fervency drew up. CLEOPATRA. That time? O times I laughed him out of patience; and that night I laugh'd him into patience; and next morn, Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed, Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst I wore his sword Philippan. Enter a MESSENGER O! from Italy? Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, That long time have been barren. MESSENGER. Madam, madam- CLEOPATRA. Antony's dead! If thou say so, villain, Thou kill'st thy mistress; but well and free, If thou so yield him, there is gold, and here My bluest veins to kiss- a hand that kings Have lipp'd, and trembled kissing. MESSENGER. First, madam, he is well. CLEOPATRA. Why, there's more gold. But, sirrah, mark, we use To say the dead are well. Bring it to that, The gold I give thee will I melt and pour Down thy ill-uttering throat. MESSENGER. Good madam, hear me. CLEOPATRA. Well, go to, I will. But there's no goodness in thy face. If Antony Be free and healthful- why so tart a favour To trumpet such good tidings? If not well, Thou shouldst come like a Fury crown'd with snakes, Not like a formal man. MESSENGER. Will't please you hear me? CLEOPATRA. I have a mind to strike thee ere thou speak'st. Yet, if thou say Antony lives, is well, Or friends with Caesar, or not captive to him, I'll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail Rich pearls upon thee. MESSENGER. Madam, he's well. CLEOPATRA. Well said. MESSENGER. And friends with Caesar. CLEOPATRA. Th'art an honest man. MESSENGER. Caesar and he are greater friends than ever. CLEOPATRA. Make thee a fortune from me. MESSENGER. But yet, madam- CLEOPATRA. I do not like 'but yet.' It does allay The good precedence; fie upon 'but yet'! 'But yet' is as a gaoler to bring forth Some monstrous malefactor. Prithee, friend, Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear, The good and bad together. He's friends with Caesar; In state of health, thou say'st; and, thou say'st, free. MESSENGER. Free, madam! No; I made no such report. He's bound unto Octavia. CLEOPATRA. For what good turn? MESSENGER. For the best turn i' th' bed. CLEOPATRA. I am pale, Charmian. MESSENGER. Madam, he's married to Octavia. CLEOPATRA. The most infectious pestilence upon thee! [Strikes him down] MESSENGER. Good madam, patience. CLEOPATRA. What say you? Hence, [Strikes him] Horrible villain! or I'll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me; I'll unhair thy head; [She hales him up and down] Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire and stew'd in brine, Smarting in ling'ring pickle. MESSENGER. Gracious madam, I that do bring the news made not the match. CLEOPATRA. Say 'tis not so, a province I will give thee, And make thy fortunes proud. The blow thou hadst Shall make thy peace for moving me to rage; And I will boot thee with what gift beside Thy modesty can beg. MESSENGER. He's married, madam. CLEOPATRA. Rogue, thou hast liv'd too long. [Draws a knife] MESSENGER. Nay, then I'll run. What mean you, madam? I have made no fault. Exit CHARMIAN. Good madam, keep yourself within yourself: The man is innocent. CLEOPATRA. Some innocents scape not the thunderbolt. Melt Egypt into Nile! and kindly creatures Turn all to serpents! Call the slave again. Though I am mad, I will not bite him. Call! CHARMIAN. He is afear'd to come. CLEOPATRA. I will not hurt him. These hands do lack nobility, that they strike A meaner than myself; since I myself Have given myself the cause. Enter the MESSENGER again Come hither, sir. Though it be honest, it is never good To bring bad news. Give to a gracious message An host of tongues; but let ill tidings tell Themselves when they be felt. MESSENGER. I have done my duty. CLEOPATRA. Is he married? I cannot hate thee worser than I do If thou again say 'Yes.' MESSENGER. He's married, madam. CLEOPATRA. The gods confound thee! Dost thou hold there still? MESSENGER. Should I lie, madam? CLEOPATRA. O, I would thou didst, So half my Egypt were submerg'd and made A cistern for scal'd snakes! Go, get thee hence. Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married? MESSENGER. I crave your Highness' pardon. CLEOPATRA. He is married? MESSENGER. Take no offence that I would not offend you; To punish me for what you make me do Seems much unequal. He's married to Octavia. CLEOPATRA. O, that his fault should make a knave of thee That art not what th'art sure of! Get thee hence. The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome Are all too dear for me. Lie they upon thy hand, And be undone by 'em! Exit MESSENGER CHARMIAN. Good your Highness, patience. CLEOPATRA. In praising Antony I have disprais'd Caesar. CHARMIAN. Many times, madam. CLEOPATRA. I am paid for't now. Lead me from hence, I faint. O Iras, Charmian! 'Tis no matter. Go to the fellow, good Alexas; bid him Report the feature of Octavia, her years, Her inclination; let him not leave out The colour of her hair. Bring me word quickly. Exit ALEXAS Let him for ever go- let him not, Charmian- Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon, The other way's a Mars. [To MARDIAN] Bid you Alexas Bring me word how tall she is.- Pity me, Charmian, But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber. Exeunt SCENE VI. Near Misenum Flourish. Enter POMPEY and MENAS at one door, with drum and trumpet; at another, CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, ENOBARBUS, MAECENAS, AGRIPPA, with soldiers marching POMPEY. Your hostages I have, so have you mine; And we shall talk before we fight. CAESAR. Most meet That first we come to words; and therefore have we Our written purposes before us sent; Which if thou hast considered, let us know If 'twill tie up thy discontented sword And carry back to Sicily much tall youth That else must perish here. POMPEY. To you all three, The senators alone of this great world, Chief factors for the gods: I do not know Wherefore my father should revengers want, Having a son and friends, since Julius Caesar, Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, There saw you labouring for him. What was't That mov'd pale Cassius to conspire? and what Made the all-honour'd honest Roman, Brutus, With the arm'd rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom, To drench the Capitol, but that they would Have one man but a man? And that is it Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant To scourge th' ingratitude that despiteful Rome Cast on my noble father. CAESAR. Take your time. ANTONY. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails; We'll speak with thee at sea; at land thou know'st How much we do o'er-count thee. POMPEY. At land, indeed, Thou dost o'er-count me of my father's house. But since the cuckoo builds not for himself, Remain in't as thou mayst. LEPIDUS. Be pleas'd to tell us- For this is from the present- how you take The offers we have sent you. CAESAR. There's the point. ANTONY. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh What it is worth embrac'd. CAESAR. And what may follow, To try a larger fortune. POMPEY. You have made me offer Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must Rid all the sea of pirates; then to send Measures of wheat to Rome; this 'greed upon, To part with unhack'd edges and bear back Our targes undinted. ALL. That's our offer. POMPEY. Know, then, I came before you here a man prepar'd To take this offer; but Mark Antony Put me to some impatience. Though I lose The praise of it by telling, you must know, When Caesar and your brother were at blows, Your mother came to Sicily and did find Her welcome friendly. ANTONY. I have heard it, Pompey, And am well studied for a liberal thanks Which I do owe you. POMPEY. Let me have your hand. I did not think, sir, to have met you here. ANTONY. The beds i' th' East are soft; and thanks to you, That call'd me timelier than my purpose hither; For I have gained by't. CAESAR. Since I saw you last There is a change upon you. POMPEY. Well, I know not What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face; But in my bosom shall she never come To make my heart her vassal. LEPIDUS. Well met here. POMPEY. I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed. I crave our composition may be written, And seal'd between us. CAESAR. That's the next to do. POMPEY. We'll feast each other ere we part, and let's Draw lots who shall begin. ANTONY. That will I, Pompey. POMPEY. No, Antony, take the lot; But, first or last, your fine Egyptian cookery Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar Grew fat with feasting there. ANTONY. You have heard much. POMPEY. I have fair meanings, sir. ANTONY. And fair words to them. POMPEY. Then so much have I heard; And I have heard Apollodorus carried- ENOBARBUS. No more of that! He did so. POMPEY. What, I pray you? ENOBARBUS. A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress. POMPEY. I know thee now. How far'st thou, soldier? ENOBARBUS. Well; And well am like to do, for I perceive Four feasts are toward. POMPEY. Let me shake thy hand. I never hated thee; I have seen thee fight, When I have envied thy behaviour. ENOBARBUS. Sir, I never lov'd you much; but I ha' prais'd ye When you have well deserv'd ten times as much As I have said you did. POMPEY. Enjoy thy plainness; It nothing ill becomes thee. Aboard my galley I invite you all. Will you lead, lords? ALL. Show's the way, sir. POMPEY. Come. Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS and MENAS MENAS. [Aside] Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have made this treaty.- You and I have known, sir. ENOBARBUS. At sea, I think. MENAS. We have, sir. ENOBARBUS. You have done well by water. MENAS. And you by land. ENOBARBUS. I Will praise any man that will praise me; though it cannot be denied what I have done by land. MENAS. Nor what I have done by water. ENOBARBUS. Yes, something you can deny for your own safety: you have been a great thief by sea. MENAS. And you by land. ENOBARBUS. There I deny my land service. But give me your hand, Menas; if our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing. MENAS. All men's faces are true, whatsome'er their hands are. ENOBARBUS. But there is never a fair woman has a true face. MENAS. No slander: they steal hearts. ENOBARBUS. We came hither to fight with you. MENAS. For my part, I am sorry it is turn'd to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune. ENOBARBUS. If he do, sure he cannot weep't back again. MENAS. Y'have said, sir. We look'd not for Mark Antony here. Pray you, is he married to Cleopatra? ENOBARBUS. Caesar' sister is call'd Octavia. MENAS. True, sir; she was the wife of Caius Marcellus. ENOBARBUS. But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius. MENAS. Pray ye, sir? ENOBARBUS. 'Tis true. MENAS. Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together. ENOBARBUS. If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would not prophesy so. MENAS. I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage than the love of the parties. ENOBARBUS. I think so too. But you shall find the band that seems to tie their friendship together will be the very strangler of their amity: Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation. MENAS. Who would not have his wife so? ENOBARBUS. Not he that himself is not so; which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again; then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar, and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is; he married but his occasion here. MENAS. And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you. ENOBARBUS. I shall take it, sir. We have us'd our throats in Egypt. MENAS. Come, let's away. Exeunt ACT_2|SC_7 SCENE VII. On board POMPEY'S galley, off Misenum Music plays. Enter two or three SERVANTS with a banquet FIRST SERVANT. Here they'll be, man. Some o' their plants are ill-rooted already; the least wind i' th' world will blow them down. SECOND SERVANT. Lepidus is high-colour'd. FIRST SERVANT. They have made him drink alms-drink. SECOND SERVANT. As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out 'No more!'; reconciles them to his entreaty and himself to th' drink. FIRST SERVANT. But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion. SECOND SERVANT. Why, this it is to have a name in great men's fellowship. I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service as a partizan I could not heave. FIRST SERVANT. To be call'd into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks. A sennet sounded. Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POMPEY, AGRIPPA, MAECENAS, ENOBARBUS, MENAS, with other CAPTAINS ANTONY. [To CAESAR] Thus do they, sir: they take the flow o' th' Nile By certain scales i' th' pyramid; they know By th' height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth Or foison follow. The higher Nilus swells The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain, And shortly comes to harvest. LEPIDUS. Y'have strange serpents there. ANTONY. Ay, Lepidus. LEPIDUS. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile. ANTONY. They are so. POMPEY. Sit- and some wine! A health to Lepidus! LEPIDUS. I am not so well as I should be, but I'll ne'er out. ENOBARBUS. Not till you have slept. I fear me you'll be in till then. LEPIDUS. Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things. Without contradiction I have heard that. MENAS. [Aside to POMPEY] Pompey, a word. POMPEY. [Aside to MENAS] Say in mine ear; what is't? MENAS. [Aside to POMPEY] Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, Captain, And hear me speak a word. POMPEY. [ Whispers in's ear ] Forbear me till anon- This wine for Lepidus! LEPIDUS. What manner o' thing is your crocodile? ANTONY. It is shap'd, sir, like itself, and it is as broad as it hath breadth; it is just so high as it is, and moves with it own organs. It lives by that which nourisheth it, and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates. LEPIDUS. What colour is it of? ANTONY. Of it own colour too. LEPIDUS. 'Tis a strange serpent. ANTONY. 'Tis so. And the tears of it are wet. CAESAR. Will this description satisfy him? ANTONY. With the health that Pompey gives him, else he is a very epicure. POMPEY. [Aside to MENAS] Go, hang, sir, hang! Tell me of that! Away! Do as I bid you.- Where's this cup I call'd for? MENAS. [Aside to POMPEY] If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me, Rise from thy stool. POMPEY. [Aside to MENAS] I think th'art mad. [Rises and walks aside] The matter? MENAS. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes. POMPEY. Thou hast serv'd me with much faith. What's else to say?- Be jolly, lords. ANTONY. These quicksands, Lepidus, Keep off them, for you sink. MENAS. Wilt thou be lord of all the world? POMPEY. What say'st thou? MENAS. Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? That's twice. POMPEY. How should that be? MENAS. But entertain it, And though you think me poor, I am the man Will give thee all the world. POMPEY. Hast thou drunk well? MENAS. No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. Thou art, if thou dar'st be, the earthly Jove; Whate'er the ocean pales or sky inclips Is thine, if thou wilt ha't. POMPEY. Show me which way. MENAS. These three world-sharers, these competitors, Are in thy vessel. Let me cut the cable; And when we are put off, fall to their throats. All there is thine. POMPEY. Ah, this thou shouldst have done, And not have spoke on't. In me 'tis villainy: In thee't had been good service. Thou must know 'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour: Mine honour, it. Repent that e'er thy tongue Hath so betray'd thine act. Being done unknown, I should have found it afterwards well done, But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink. MENAS. [Aside] For this, I'll never follow thy pall'd fortunes more. Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd, Shall never find it more. POMPEY. This health to Lepidus! ANTONY. Bear him ashore. I'll pledge it for him, Pompey. ENOBARBUS. Here's to thee, Menas! MENAS. Enobarbus, welcome! POMPEY. Fill till the cup be hid. ENOBARBUS. There's a strong fellow, Menas. [Pointing to the servant who carries off LEPIDUS] MENAS. Why? ENOBARBUS. 'A bears the third part of the world, man; see'st not? MENAS. The third part, then, is drunk. Would it were all, That it might go on wheels! ENOBARBUS. Drink thou; increase the reels. MENAS. Come. POMPEY. This is not yet an Alexandrian feast. ANTONY. It ripens towards it. Strike the vessels, ho! Here's to Caesar! CAESAR. I could well forbear't. It's monstrous labour when I wash my brain And it grows fouler. ANTONY. Be a child o' th' time. CAESAR. Possess it, I'll make answer. But I had rather fast from all four days Than drink so much in one. ENOBARBUS. [To ANTONY] Ha, my brave emperor! Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals And celebrate our drink? POMPEY. Let's ha't, good soldier. ANTONY. Come, let's all take hands, Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿ .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・ STORIES OF THE FRONTIER STORIES OF THE FRONTIER By: Michael Chen, Javier Aguilar, and Rohan Levy .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭ ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿ Bookmarks: Skip to First Landmark: THE VOIDS Skip to Second Landmark: CHAOTIC SUPERNOVA Skip to end StarLink Directory Prologue: In the times of the future, a new frontier has emerged. A frontier to explore the depths of the most complex, mysterious thing known to mankind. A place where anything can go unexpectedly, where dangers lurk, hidden. Where people can turn on anyone, or anything. A place more mysterious than the human brain, more complex than the inner workings of the quantum computer, a place more dangerous than Antarctica, the jungle, and Mars combined. The frontier to explore the dark, the light, the mysterious, the complex, attributes and parts of the magnificent universe. In this frontier, on the side north of Earth, there is a small insignificant base, MainBase 225-113. MainBase is in a big, long crisis. Not a really small problem, but also one not unheard of, one that could affect all of the world. This is a deep dive into the small, seemingly insignificant stories that come into being because of this small problem, the stories that end up coming together to change people’s view on the world, the solar system, and everything beyond. Explore the wonders of the frontier! Short Story 1: A Little Purge. NEW MONEY OPPORTUNITY! Just this week, the Main Base announced another pirate outpost purge. MainBase currently is under a bad situation, Pirates are revolting against the current base. MainBase is recruiting people for money to purge these outposts. The Pirates are causing too much of a disruption in trading and transporting goods and the economy is starting to get strained. There are 3 levels of Pirate Outposts, including: Small: Easy, less than Level 3 protection. (no plasma, electromagnetic, or antimatter shields) Medium: Harder, many pirates, may have Level 3-5 shields. Hard: Numerous pirates, above Level 5 shields, do not apply if you are a volunteer. Station P.O.V. +++ Kalun Amir +++ Hm. Interesting, I thought. Could be a good source of income, and I also need to pay my rent. Walking towards the central administration center, I applied for an easy raid. Application submitted, I walked back, hoping to be accepted. Pirate P.O.V. +++ Cornelis Velsco +++ “Warning! Warning! Enemy ship inbound! -Estimated Time Of Arrival - 20 minutes,” the intercom blared. “Run for the ships!” the commander said. I got to my ship by the time that a lot of the other ships left the hangar. Who would be foolish enough to attack a hard level Pirate Outpost, I thought to myself. The engines started charging, but then the ship made a large sputtering noise as it failed to get out of the hangar. “Shoot,” I said. Another engine part was destroyed. I left my fighter’s cockpit to get another part. The smoke came off the unlit engine as the ship continued to sputter in defeat. Mining Colony P.O.V +++ Trunt Harvel +++ Another batch of ore mined. I have a small mining vessel with an IMA (Industrial Mining Association) Extract 1.3. IMA is the most popular mining drill company in the frontier.There is also IMT (Interstellar Mining Technologies). They were popular before IMA and they want their title back. Once I have enough money, I will buy parts to make my own powerful mining drill. I finished my mining for the day. “Psst! Hey!” someone whispered after a few minutes of me being in a bar. I turned around and saw another pilot. He said he was trying to make a new mining drill for IMA, hoping to make a lot of money to get a better job. I checked the news channel. And something interested me. IMA VS IMT IMA and IMT are locked in a competition for fastest money-making ore drills. IMT has come out with the 4.0 mining drill. And IMA is developing a new drill, so stay tuned. Who will win? IMT extract 4.0 More details on screen 6 But what really interested me was on the next page. NEW MONEY OPPORTUNITY! Just this week, the Main Base announced another pirate outpost purge. ... I will volunteer to attack a hard level outpost, I thought. I will get some money for it to get off this asteroid. A problem quickly occurred to me, though; I wasn't experienced in combat. And I don’t even know how I missed it, but I forgot to read the warning. Station P.O.V. +++ Kalun Amir +++ “You're in!” a friend said, ”In what?” I asked. “Pirate outpost hunt!” “Really?” I remarked. “Yep,” my friend said, “Let's go put some modifications onto your ship!” My ship. (Sad, isn't it?) “Come on!” he said, “I will get it running.” Pow! The ship's auxiliary controls are gone. “That's no good,” my friend conceded. “Anyway, you will get your wingman soon.” “A wingman?” “Yes. Obviously,” my friend said. Pirate P.O.V. +++ Cornelis Velsco +++ “Darn ship!” I yelled in rage, as the engine part was the wrong one. I saw the fighting happening outside the outpost. The ship randomly sputtered to life for a fraction of a second but then fell on a landing gear leg. The landing gear thought it was lifting off but when it hit the ground again it thought it was landing, so it tried to come back out. But since the ship was crushing the landing gear leg, the leg broke and slid off to the side fast enough to push into a shelf with an object with the word “EXPLOSIVE”. Apparently, it was a time bomb with a button on top. The bomb fell down and hit the floor upside-down where the button was. The bomb bounced up after hitting the floor and over my head where I could see the timer counting down from 10. It bounced a couple more times right into an inactive ship’s engine. The next 5 seconds were long and horrifying. The bomb ticked town to 0, but the explosion from the bomb wasn’t big enough to hit me. But then I realized it exploded in the ship's engine. I ran out of the hangar and heard the bigger explosion behind me. I ran to a security checkpoint to view the battle. Shrapnel, metal bits, engine parts and other scrap objects were launching out from the hangar and going everywhere. Most debris hit our own fighters. Some went flying away from the battle. An unlucky trading vessel got hit with a piece of debris and hit its cargo bay. The cargo went flying everywhere. A very small amount hit the enemy ship. Something I realized is that the attacking ship’s pilot wasn’t very experienced. Then another ship joined. The pilot for that ship was even less experienced. “There was an explosion from one of the hangers!” The commander shouted. “Specifically hanger 31!” ”Oof!” someone exclaimed as they tripped over a fallen piece of metal. “The enemy ships are working together!” someone yelled. ”You think I haven’t noticed yet?!” “You said that a million times already,” someone else yelled back. All fighters were down. ”Mine is still in the hangar!” I yelled. ”Well, get out there!” The commander yelled back. I left the hangar only to turn around and see the outpost falling apart. I opened up a radio channel to the attacking fighters and yelled “You will pay for this!” and then closed it. Another channel opened to my fighter. It was the commander. ”All remaining fighters rendezvous at these coordinates.” The coordinates popped up on the computer and I started heading for them. Station P.O.V. +++ Kalun Amir +++ “Your wingman is Trunt Harvel. Convene at this area and attack the outpost.” “Okay,” I said. ”Oh, and by the way, your ship is outfitted with a basic combat laser and some Edo missiles.” SHIP LAUNCH INITIATED. 3… 2… 1… THRUSTERS ACTIVATED. Mining Colony P.O.V. +++ Trunt Harvel +++ “I have to go,” I said. ”You sure?” my buddy said. ”Yep. Off to get a better job.” ”Okay, I won't stop you, just make sure you don’t get fried like those Ymir Burgers, okay?” ”Sure, fun analogy,” I said back. SHIP LAUNCH INITIATED. 3… 2… 1… THRUSTERS ACTIVATED. FIGHT! +++ Kalun Amir +++ Trunt Harvel +++ Opening up the channel now. ”This is Trunt Harvel.” ”This is Kalun Amir.” ”Let’s go blast the crud out of this Pirate Outpost!” ”I like your positivity.” Kalun said. ”I will attack first and provoke the outposts by getting into scanner range.” Trunt said. ”After I have some time to attack, approach the outpost on my signal, three headlight blinks. Then launch as many missiles as you can at the outpost. And run. I will cover you. Come around for another pass and blow it up with everything you've got.” Immediately after this, Trunt said, ”Now, charge!!!!” Trunt attacked the closest patrolling Pirate. This action was immediately responded to with a magnificent amount of Pirate ships leaving the outpost’s hangars. The Pirates engaged Trunt with assault lasers and micro guns, a sort of decent armor piercing and 3 shots per second. All of a sudden, two random explosions were heard from inside one of the hangars. One very small then another large. Ship parts went flying out of one of the hangars. A perfect distraction, Trunt thought, and then did 3 headlight blinks. Kalun appeared from behind a downed freighter destroyed from the blasts of debris (Trunt got hit by some debris too, but he was not badly damaged) and then started firing missiles like a madman. Trunt destroyed the last Pirate but another one came out of the hangar. And just as it left, the outpost was breaking into pieces. Antenna came off and explosions occurred. One final explosion happened right after. A channel was opened up to Kalun and Trunt. A pirate yelled “You will pay for this!” then closed it. A few minutes later, at the main base, after Trunt and Kalun docked, they were paid and told the story about what had happened. ”Did the Pirates have anything to say about it?” Kalun's friend asked. ”A pirate yelled that we would pay for that.” Kalun responded. Short Story 2: IMA+IMT vs. MainBase Signal Strength Displayed in Bars. Timestamp in AMY-Type.||||||[145:665] MainBase: Help, Attacked by IMA+IMT ||||||[145:667] Earth: How? Where did the agreement between them go?||||||[145:668] MainBase: No time to talk, our forcefield is at 98%, displaying status on screen. Shield Status:[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||] 98%||||||[145:679] Earth: Thanks, we’ll analyze the situation.[145:680] Requesting Ship Positions...||||||[145:690] MainBase: We’re losing signal. Need backup immediately. IMA/IMT Mining laser does too much damage to Shield. Shield Status:[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||] 78%||||||[145:700] Earth: Send out an EMP blast. Destroy everything.||||||[145:701] MainBase: Ok, sending a request... /!\ ALERT! ALERT! /* MainBase USING EMP BLAST... ALLOW? YES/NO Enter Choice[Y/N]:Y */ ALLOWED... T-5 SECONDS LEFT. ||||||[145:720] Earth: BYE... See you later.||||||[145:725] MainBase: Later.||||||[145:727] MainBase: We’re losing connection. Can’t talk anymore [DISCONNECT] MainBase Disconnected You are connected to IMA radio.[Ship-003] Everyone, Everyone, anyone who can hear this message, please reconvene. Anyone with a live engine after an EMP blast, I repeat, please reconvene.[Miner-14A] I am alive. Requesting reconvene location.[Ship-003] Reconvene at my location. Protocol A, Sector II, [Hex: 145;336;982][Miner-14A] Incoming. Ship may be badly damaged.[Breaker-5F6] Come. We will fix your ship. [CONNECT] Sector-Security-Vessel-236583 [CONNECT] Research-Outpost [Sector-Security-Vessel-236583] Unknown EMP blast came from MainBase. All connections lost.[Research-Outpost] We witnessed the EMP blast through our observation systems, and have information on its triangulation, but we are going to get hit by the blast. We are too close. Transmitting data now.|||||||||| 0%[Sector-Security-Vessel] Were the attacking ships Pirates?[Research-Outpost] No.|||||||||| 20%|||||||||| 30%[Research-Outpost] The EMP wave is getting closer. Time until impact 30 seconds |||||||||| 60% Time until impact 10 seconds |||||||||| 80% Time until impact 5 seconds |||||||||| 100%[Research-Outpost] This is it. [Research-Outpost] It was IMT+IMA [Error] Research-Outpost failed to connect. - TIMEOUT 5 seconds - Received INFO. Display [EMP-triangulation.data]? You are connected to [StarLink, Cable 142:CBA] This link is not monitored. Be careful. Everyone can see anyone’s chats. Chats delete after 3 days. Connecting to StarLink StarLink Transmitters in range. Signal strength: 10/20. Enter Username: [***************] Enter Password: [**********] Authenticated. You are: [Cornelius, Velsco] ..................................... WELCOME TO PIRATE MAIN CHAT. System >> [Fighter, Velsco of the Skavac Station] has joined the chat. Time: [110:120] Fighter, Velsco >> Help, anyone know how to fix broken ships? Calling mechanics. Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> Yes, I’m here to help. Whatda problem? Fighter, Velsco >> Critical Engine breakdown. Stage 5, may be broken completely. Time: [110:130] Time: [110:140] Fighter, Velsco >> Hello? Lar’Gar, are you here? Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> here. The problem is that I don’t know the main component. Could I come over to your base? Fighter, Velsco >> Yes, if you can get through the MainBase purge people... Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> Yeah, no. From the current looks, though, could you please try putting the pipe with the yellow line with no dots and connect it to the one with dots? That may restart the engine cycle, although it might not. Time: [110:150] Fighter, Velsco >> It’s creating a ba-duh sound, is that normal? Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> It’s ok. Now, put the red, green, and blue marked pipes and connect them to their dotted counterparts, in that order. Tell me if the engine starts rumbling. Time: [110:160] Fighter, Velsco >> Yes. Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> Now connect the spark plug and run the engine. Fighter, Velsco >> Thanks, it’s working. Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> You’re welcome. Bye! System >> [Fighter, Velsco of the Skavac Station] has left the chat. System >> [Fighter, Velsco of the Skavac Station] has joined the chat URGENT Fighter, Velsco >> Help, help. The engines are malfunctioning. Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> Did you try to connect the spark pipe to the electric inlet appropriately? URGENT Fighter, Velsco >> No, but when I tried just now, nothing fixed. Time: [100:180] Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> I can’t help with this, I’ll try to get someone that can. URGENT Fighter, Velsco >> Thanks. Mechanic, Lar’Gar >> Got him, named Miniwoski. Time: [100:190] System >> [Hardware Engineer, Miniwoski of the Schivert Camp] has joined the chat. Hardware Engineer, Miniwoski >> I read the chats. You are in the Hangar right? URGENT Fighter, Velsco >> Yes. Hardware Engineer, Miniwoski >> Get the biggest chip out of the red, brown handled drawer. Go into the engine, and cut off the chip that looks like that, and replace it. Don’t forget to turn off the ship and discharge the capacitor by connecting port A1I and port B1I and then replacing the chip. Time: [100:200] URGENT Fighter, Velsco >> Done, tested ship. Still falling. Help? Hardware Engineer, Miniwoski >> Sorry, can’t. Getting somebody else... He should do the job, though. He is a little direct, so don’t worry if he gets straight to the point. System >> [Software Engineer, Solfege of the Schivert Camp] has joined the chat. Software Engineer, Solfege >> Ok, get the computer, get the connection cable from drawer 14:5 and connect to the computer. Then go to this link: [starlink://gateway[552].securenet.uni/main/group?r=pr/user?q=se/12.httl] System >> Warning: Do not trust links from people you don’t know. System >> [Mechanic, Lar’Gar of the Schivert Camp] has left the chat URGENT Fighter, Velsco >> Ok, it downloaded something. Time: [100:210] Software Engineer, Solfege >> Ok, run the program, it automatically wipes and reinstalls the latest version of PiratePilot (V5.6.0). Does your ship work now? Fighter, Velsco >> Yes. Thanks, bye! Software Engineer, Solfege >> You’re welcome. System >> [Hardware Engineer, Miniwoski of the Schivert Camp] has left the chat. System >> [Software Engineer, Solfege of the Schivert Camp] has left the chat. System >> [Fighter, Velsco of Skavac Station] has left the chat Unknown Ships Assault MainBase (Not Pirates) More Details on Screen 6 Ore dealer Gunant Breh sells 30 year old “Phantom Ship” for 30 Million credits to collectors +++ New Beamshield MK3 now available on the market. +++ The price for the Terran “Inflict” ship has been lowered. +++ A supernova has strangely occurred and is about to wipe out half of sector 8. Evacuation is underway. +++ Bonus Story 1: A Close Look at the Purge Pirate P.O.V. +++ Cornelius Velsco +++ “What kind of party trick is this?!?” I yelled. Three more ships approached.”Get those Lasers running!” The Pirate Captain yelled. ”Okay, okay. I will.” I said back. ”Without them, Skavac Station is done!” The captain yelled back at me. An attacking ship immediately turned invisible, splotches of clearness appeared all over the ship and it vanished.”How can I fight something I can’t see?!” I yelled. ”Look for an irregularity in the background,” the commander yelled back. I located a weird moving glass object and fired on it. The bullets hit something and the cloaking device rippled, like seeing the world through vapor. I shot repeatedly at one point, until the cloaking device shattered there. Cracks started appearing, spreading out. Slowly, it looked like the invisibility was falling off of the ship. The cloaking device tried a few more times, flickering, but ultimately failed to recloak the ship. The ship had no faction symbol. I started shooting at the ship, but it suddenly, with the effect of a water droplet, faded into red, and disappeared. There was no irregularity, either. “What is this?” I asked. “I don’t know, watch out.” the commander replied. Suddenly, my LIDAR alarm went off, and I turned the ship around to see the enemy advancing on my back. Aiming the stern (back) guns, I started shooting. Oxygen leak! +++ A-SP-142 FIGHTER+++ The alarm started ringing, a loud klaxon alarm. “Alert, ship hull breached. Ship breached. Oxygen loss rate: 15,000ppm. Ten minutes until total loss of oxygen. Ten minutes.” The route on the screen switched, and told me to reverse the ship and fly back to MainBase. However, I was being pulled by a tractor beam at the time, and could not move. Pressing the electromagnetic disengage button a few times, I disrupted the magnetic field, breaking the tractor beam. I flew backwards. “Object on back, be careful.” The screen showed a wall. The wall of the pirate station. Oh no, not good, I thought. Pirates jumped out of holes in the wall, and hooked onto the ship. I jetted the ship forward, but the hooks were too strong. “Cut them!” I said. Me and a few companions ran outside, with cutting knives, and started sawing the line. We were almost done, when a pirate ran up, and disconnected something, but I couldn’t get a good look at it. We again rammed the ship forward, and broke the hooking line. We fled very fast. “Error: gas pipe broken. Cannot fix it now. Error: going too fast. May ram into MainBase. Contact MainBase.” The speaker droned out. I quickly established a radio connection with MainBase.[MB] Hello, this is MainBase. [A-SP-142] Help, we can’t slow down - gas pipe broken or something. [MB] We can slow you down. Just send us the location and speed file. --[100%] Sending File-- [MB] Thanks. We started to feel dizzy. “Oh no, it’s the oxygen leak, isn't it?” one of my companions said. “We can survive, ETA 2 minutes, we have 4 minutes left.” I said. “The computer isn’t always right...” Short Story 3: What - Neutrino? The ship is traveling at good speed. “Should we test the Hyperspeed Jump Drive?” I asked. “Check the computer, just start it, don’t care, we need to test it anyway,” my commander said. Click-Clack, then the ship beeped. THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE FROM THE IWA (Interstellar Warning Agency) YOU HAVE A [NEUTRINO] IN [35] AU OF YOUR SPACESHIP. DO NOT USE THE JUMP DRIVE THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING. IT IS NOT ADVISED TO USE YOUR JUMP DRIVE AT THIS TIME. CANCELING JUMP DRIVE IN 20 SECONDS. DO NOT USE THE JUMP DRIVE. -[YES]-[NO]- Whatever, I pressed yes. Nothing bad could happen, right? Interstellar Offices, Warning Sector. “NO, NO, NO, NO, this is not good, Space Warning Agent, Caron here, two spaceships are currently in a Jump, and their path is being bent by a Neutrino. Their paths will intersect in cosmic time 15:642, what to do?” Caron hurriedly said. “I don’t know, can you remotely intercept their Jump?” a worker said. “No, a jump uses an Alcubierre drive, bending space in a way that accelerates the spaceship past light speed, and as radio transmissions do not travel that fast, I cannot stop their intersection.” Caron said. “Wait - do they have a Crash Warning Prevention System?” “Yes, but it wasn’t fully updated, and they could ignore it anyway.” “BEEP! T-30 SECONDS UNTIL CRASH. COUNTING DOWN.” I rushed to my computer, typing commands. It could be possible to create a wormhole and send the ForceStop message to deactivate the drive on the spaceship before the spaceships intersected in hyperspace.>> open -f “Wormhole 5524” [Please enter activation code:]1423 [Enter password:][******] Opening...%%% “BEEP! T-20 SECONDS UNTIL CRASH” Faster, faster, I urged the computer. “BEEP! T-10 SECONDS UNTIL CRASH” %% Faster, faster, faster, almost there... %% “BEEP! 5...” Still at 90%... “BEEP! 4...” % “BEEP! 3...” %... LAUNCHING WORMHOLE... “BEEP! 2...” CONFIGURING WORMHOLE... “BEEP! 1...” STARTING WORMHOLE... “BEEP! IMPACT...” And after that: DONE... WORMHOLE STARTED Too late. The impact already happened. In 2 dimensions, a 2 dimensional being would be mesmerized by a 3D chain, and would be amazed by why they stuck together. The same applies for the two spaceships crashing in Hyperspace. It is just that we are the 2 dimensional people, and we are horrified at the spaceships colliding. They connected together, looping together, just like they would in 2D.+++ B-PK-301 RHINO +++ BOOM. A deafening crash, a screech of twisted metal, lights dimming, something appearing. Then a wave of pressurized air, and a flicker on my vision. Then a spaceship appeared, perpendicular to mine, and connected. Then my vision wavered, and everything went black. +++ Interstellar Offices, Emergency Help Sector +++ “Alert, bad crash of spaceships on Hyperspeed reported by Warning Sector. Dispatch Medics immediately to the sector of space.” “Ok, ok, I’ll use the JumpDrive.” I hopped onto the spaceship, and activated the JumpDrive there. Suddenly, my flight control computer started beeping. Three short, two long, alerting that this was an emergency warning. I ran over, and saw NEUTRINO ALERT. THE SHIP IS VEERING OFF JUMPDRIVE PATH. CORRECT?-[YES]-[NO]- I selected yes. Just as I did this, something broke, and my ship lost control. Swerving around, crashing into the Superliminal barrier of the Warp Bubble. Suddenly, I got pulled but pushed, and my vision saw two entirely different things. One world where I flew into deep space, and another where I crashed into the Neutrino. Something wasn’t right. As I tried to move, the world with the Neutrino exploded, and I was blasted off, and died. But I was still alive, how was this possible? Then my brain got slammed by something, and I got rebounded into the correct reality. My brain was still processing, and could not handle the amount of information. My vision blacked out. When I woke up, I heard my commander say to me: “How stupid of you, using a JumpDrive right at a JumpDrive incident. Great, one more person to treat.” --- FIVE DAYS LATER --- +++ Interstellar Offices, Science Sector, Extreme Space Events division, Neutrino Faction +++ “So, something incredible happened... A medic got rebounded into multiple realities by a neutrino. This is a one-in-a-million happening. Do you have any logs of this?” I asked. “Yes - here you go,” my coworker said. [AZD:5624][145:4325] System detects abnormal amounts of Neutrino activity. P>50% chance this is a Collision [MORE DATA [Y/N]] I checked the data - there was a correlation! “Could I do a test?” “Who would you test with? Yourself?” a coworker said. There goes that idea, I thought. Well, nothing else to do... Bonus Story 2: Stranded +++ Hans +++ I packed up the Rhino and departed. I was carrying about 1200 tons of highly unstable samples of radioactive material specifically from the supernova at sector 8. We are going to do some research. “Warning! Unknown vessel in the vicinity!” the computer alerted. I turned on my back sensor screen and there it was. A small ship that looked like this. I immediately turned the engine to max speed and ran. The vessel was way faster though and it quickly caught up. It started blasting me with purple/blue energy projectiles. It was a dual shot and I was probably dead. The hull integrity loss warning went off and the turret was busted. Then, cargo bay 4 exploded because of the radioactive samples and then my faulty jumpdrive engine started charging. “NO! NO! NO! NO!” I yelled. A blast. Bright white. Blue. Purple. Loss of Time Integrity. Nothing happened, but everything did. Lost a sense of where, what, why, and when. I became dizzy and fell to the ground. When I woke up, I was on a planet. No life. Just oxygen, a barren landscape and a busted Rhino. “Uhh, help?”... [RADIO SIGNAL TIMEOUT; THERE IS NO ONE IN CURRENT RADIO VICINITY WHO CAN HELP YOU. INTERSTELLAR POSITIONING SYSTEM CANNOT BE REACHED HERE, UNKNOWN LOCATION IN SPACETIME.] Back Landmark Story: The Voids Mining Colony P.O.V. +++ Trunt Harvel +++ “Unknown Sighting of wormhole. All be alert!” the intercom blared. I packed up my ship to head to the nearest wormhole sighting. When I got there, it was total CHAOS. The Station's security forces were fighting off small purple fighters. An inflict went down in flames. A transport took off from the station and was quickly destroyed and raided. It was clear that the Terran Station Security forces were losing... BADLY. Transport’s cargo flew off of the ships themselves. An unlucky Rhino with extremely volatile goods was caught off guard and exploded when trying to get away. More station security ships came out of the station only to be obliterated 5 seconds later. The station eventually ran out of ships to launch. And just as things could not get any worse, 6 Pirates showed up. After that, another wormhole opened up and more Void ships came out. Trunt retreated knowing that he was not going to win this fight. [SYSTEM][UNIT_CONTROL][WORMHOLES][WORMHOLE_1423][HANDLER][LOGS]:--[144:000] System has detected that this wormhole has been opened for more than 20 days, without a notified pass. Closing wormhole...--[144:001] Cannot close wormhole: Activity inside. Closing wormhole when activity stops.--[144:002] Wormhole unstable. Force closing wormhole; warning ships the ships currently inside.--[144:003] Wormhole unstable, closing failed. Trying again.--[144:003] Close failed. Shooting POS-4 matter into the wormhole to try to stabilize.--[144:003] Unidentified being traveling through wormhole !! ALERTING MAIN. ALERTING MAIN. !! Hmm, there is a report at the station for me to go near a wormhole but not enter it? What is this? Well, anyway, all I need to do is just fly there. No problem, right? Hopping on my spaceship, I started zooming to the portal. There was a story about using JumpDrive and a big disaster, so I didn’t use the Jump. Later, near the location, I saw a message: THIS IS A [CRITICAL LEVEL 6/6] WARNING FROM THE INTERSTELLAR WARNING AGENCY. Contents - [TO all spaceships under the jurisdiction of [MAIN_MAINBASE]] There is a massive neutrino-caused radio blackout. This is a message to say that the early warning system’s detectors are 50% wiped out. More messages coming soon. Relay this message to any other spaceships in your vicinity. Wait, what? How is this possible? I quickly turned on my radio and started relaying to all spaceships in my area. A few minutes later, another message came through. THIS IS A [CRITICAL LEVEL 6/6] WARNING FROM THE INTERSTELLAR WARNING AGENCY. Contents - [TO all spaceships under the jurisdiction of [MAIN_MAINBASE]] This is message 2. The neutrino collision was created by Voids, a sentient and technologically advanced group of aliens. Our systems are damaged 75% now. Most of the electronic systems near the Portal are timing out. This may be the last message before total radio silence. Relay this message. More messages coming, if possible. I didn’t think this was good. I relayed the message like a good citizen and a few seconds later,[||||||||||] Hull 89% [||||||||||] Gas 98%-Ship hull took 11% damage by Electron Field. -Neutron Detected. -Major Damage -System deflected 98.5% of shock. -1.5% of shock did 11% damage. This is a very strong attack. -Ship healing at 5% per 1 minute because deflection used 90% of stored capacitated energy. That was not good news. But, right after that, even worse news happened: THIS IS A [CRITICAL LEVEL 6/6] WARNING FROM THE INTERSTELLAR WARNING AGENCY. Contents - [TO all spaceships under the jurisdiction of [MAIN_MAINBASE]] This is message 3. The situation is not good. It is confirmed that this is a Void attack. This may be the last message. The quality of the messages may degrade. Yeah, this looks dire. What could I do? Station P.O.V. +++ Kalun Amir +++ I was doing my natural business until it hit me. Wormholes were opening up all around the station. Suddenly, the light from the morning woke me up from that dream though. I checked the news panel. As I opened it up, a breaking news report came through. A Rhino was passing by the seemingly random odd looking rock orbiting the station and as it went behind it, a bright bluish white light appeared and flashed behind the rock. The Rhino did not come back out from behind it. ”That was odd.” someone said from across the space lounge. Then another message came through to my device. I packed up my brand new Rhino and started to leave the hangar. As I did, someone Shrieked in horror. A Void ship had replaced the Rhino from earlier. Mining Colony P.O.V. +++ Trunt Harvel +++ “I know this is a weird idea, but you recently bought a Rhino, right?” I said over the Phone. ”Yes?” Kalun said back.”Let's capture a Void fighter,” I said. ”... Are you serious?” Kalun said after a long moment of silence. ”How are we going to pull that off?” He said. “I know how.” I responded. “Attach electromagnets all over the cargo bay of the Rhino and open the bay doors up. I will force the fighter to stop by launching an EMP bomb and you move to get the ship inside the cargo bay. And we will jump into a deep space research station.” “All right!” Kalun said cheerfully as we saw a lone Void explorer. We were hidden behind a large asteroid. I charged up an EMP bomb. And fired. Before the ship could react, I fired on the engine and kept firing. The damage eventually built up and the engine was running slower. And then, I shot another EMP bomb. With damage inflicted on the Void scout, it stopped moving in different directions and drifted forward. Kalun came out from behind the rock and positioned himself in front of the moving fighter, turned sideways and opened the cargo bay doors. The fighter flew right in and got trapped. Kalun closed the bay doors and we started for a Deep Space Research Base. Interstellar Research, Other Life Faction RESEARCH LOG: ENTRY 401 The Voids are stronger than we initially thought. They appear to have come from a wormhole caused by a supernova in Sector 8. The first sighting occurred when a Void ship flew behind the ship of a man named Hans during a JumpDrive event. Our reports say that the man was rebounded into multiple different realities by a Neutrino shortly before. According to the ship’s logs, he was heading to a research facility to bring samples from the same supernova that the Voids came from. Hans disappeared but was recovered, and he reports that the wormhole took him to a place beyond space-time. END LOG TRANSMISSION TRANSCRIPT NUMBER 13952. RECEIVED AT [TIME UNAVAILABLE] What? I thought. Why in the universe would it not have a time? Whatever, I’ll just hit play. Y̶̢̧̧͍͕̻͓͎̩͚̗͇̥̰͊͒̑̐͂̆̊̊̒ͅO̵̰͒͋̊͂̒͑Ư̷̡͈̮̖̝̺͕͇̱̩͉̥͓̊̔̇̓̓͂̃̒̑̿͆̌̈͘ ̶̢̞̱̞̯̲̱͗͒̎ͅḨ̵̝̳̘̖̇̃̑̒́̀̓̇̑̊̿͌̆̚̕À̸̝̱͔̪̝͓̘̪͑͑Ṿ̴͑̇̓̄̑Ë̴̢͇̼͚͇̞̪́̑ ̵̪̥̈́̋͋̀͗̎̓͘͘͜T̶͓̮̱͇̲̮̐̆̃̿͑̈́́Ḁ̴̡̨̧͖̩͖̘̞͖̪̪̍K̶̢͉͚͚͓̤̘͔̝̮͉̗̯̊͊E̶͒͊́͘͜N̶̦̮͂̀͂͝ ̶̤̦̣̲̹̼͙̖̯̲̲͕̜̂̓͒̓̍́̽̋̈̂̀Ẁ̸͕̑͊̿H̴̖̍̎̉͝À̵͚͉̫̭̀̀̐̉̿̿͐͑̕̚͝T̸̪̎͊͆̈́ ̴̧̲͍͙̙̰͇̜̺͈͖͂̄̈́́̎̓̓͛̕ͅẀ̵̡̡͈̭̯̝̹̠̰̓̂́̈́̈́E̷̢̨̢͎̠̯͆͊̀̓̄̅ ̶̢̩͖̜̺̫̯̝̠̟͋͠D̶̨̲̻̗̹̬̣̣͙͙͂̇̅̇̌͠Ě̴̢̍̒̏͌̎͋̂̈́̿̕͜͝͝S̷̤̭̣̙͙̀̂̿̃Î̶̢̢̧̜̭̜͔̝̱̥̪̝͍̈́̿͑͘͠ͅR̶̗̻̱̭̗̺̺̳̳̖̣̹͉͙̐̿́̈́E̸̔ͅ ̸̨̨͔̖̟̠̖̮̪͉͕̥̈́̃̓̀̇͊̊̒̆̎̀̌̃̑͝ͅĄ̸̖͉̗̔̓Ņ̴̝̰̬̗̬̗͈͍̬̱͂̾̑̓̊̏͛̐̕͠Ḑ̶̥́́͆ͅ ̶̹̥̳͎̭̫̔̓̏́̀͋̀͊͠ͅͅͅŬ̵̞͓͔̅̈́͛̋͑͊̽͊̚͝S̸̛̛̹̦̘̖̫͔͇̘͇̍͋́̅̏̾͌͛̐͒̕͜͜͝͝Ụ̷̫̕R̴̭͕͚͍̮̖̀̐̈́͒̓̒͛̋̌̽͘͝P̸̛̝̂̈́̀̀͐͑͌̑̈̐̓͂È̴͕̝̺̟̞̟̖̖̿̔̃̌D̷̫̼̝̺̓̾̾̅̈̀̄̐̐͂̀̒̿̾͌ ̴̛̩̹̩̼͎̜̞̀̓̉̍́̕͜O̷̡̡̼̩͉͖̺͚̞͖̪̕ͅU̶̻̟̫̞̱͋̀̈́̍̏̓͗ͅṞ̸͙̦̥̣̠̤̣̩̠̭͒͂͛͐̌͊͑̚͝ͅ ̵̢̙͕̻̖̠̮͌͊́̉̊̽̿̑̔̕͘H̵̞́O̶̲͖̳͓̰͖̲̩̐̍̋M̵̡̧̲͈͙͙̥̦̫̖͈̻̦͎̀̂̏͛̏́̾͝E̵͓͇͙͗͛̏̆͋̓͗̚͝.̴̢̛̫͖̿́̍̀̔͒̈́̔͊̆̋̚ ̸̨̢̛͎̜͇͙͇̬͔̟̘̉͆͌́͊̄̈́T̵̛̠̙̩̺̭̰̬͙͉̝͖̹̟̠́̄̏̊̀͋̒̒̓̇̋͠H̸̞̯͉̼̳̜̖͑̽̂̃̃̉̄́̔͑̌̂̈́͜͝Ę̴͉̭̤̳͙̦̳̙̀̇́̋̑͝ͅͅ ̴̫̪̝̺͙̞̖͌͌̅̀͋́͒͝W̶̡̛̱̯̩̩̟͇̹͇̠̖̔̄̇͛͊͘͝I̷̢͕̝̟͔̠͔̘͇̲̦͇̔̑͛͗̓̈́̓͊͆ͅL̶̡̡̥̭̲͇̯͙͓͈̲̟̱͔̍͒̏̍͘Ļ̸̬̞̥̖͂́̃̒͛ ̶̭̒̓͆̋͒̈͌̾̊Ǫ̵̩͕͕̙͕͖̗́́̊̒̕F̷̢͚̩͎̜̲͒̎͆̂̋̀͆͌͋̽͊͑̚ ̵̢̥͖̫̹͉̣̋̓T̶̛̻̹̳͇̄̅̐̈́̎̈́̓͂̽̃͗̉̾Ḩ̵̢̢̺̪̠̘̼͉͍̲̔͜E̷̺͔̣̭̯̩͈̣͊͒̐̌͌̂̓̕͜͝͠ͅ ̸̰̱̺̱̼̩̇́̊V̴̤̦̫̤̠͓̰̹̼̘̻̺̰̈̑̒̈́̈́̆̾̊͜͜Ŏ̷̻̹̼̃̑̇̚I̴͖̞̓́̀̄͂̀̋̉̽̑͠͝D̶̨̦̫͔̟̰͙̤̭̻̰̗̗͕̐̊̑͊́̈́͊͌̚̚͘͝͠S̸̠̰̜̭͖̰̰͕̹͎̟̖̹̩̜͒̀͒͑ ̸̛̺̓̐͊̂̈́͗͗̅̏̑̀͠C̸̳̔̔͛͂ͅO̶̡̠̠̦̦̩̫̣̙̅͒́̀̆̎̃̀͆̚͝͠͝M̵̧̫̥̭̘̥̭̖̀̔ͅM̸̘̱̫̥̟̬͔̜̣̓́̏͑͋̕͜͝A̴͙̬̦̼̜͓͕̬͑̓̈́̔͗̀̿̇̅̈͘͘͠Ń̸̞̗ͅD̵̳̖͆͐͂͒̔̔͑̊͑̚͘͝͠S̴̡̡̨̻̼̝̫̰̰̔̚͜ ̴̢̼̻̻͎͙̠̯̙̣̫̔̇̿̿̊̄Y̷̥͋̚Ǫ̶͍̜̯̹̘͉̰͖͙̻̠̦̅̐͊͐́̌͗̓̕̚ͅU̸̙̪̩̩̗̍͑̋ ̵̪̫̬̫̃̊̊́͛̐͘Ţ̶̛͔̖̽̈́̏̏͛̈͒Ǫ̴̱̣̗͈̲̠̗̣̝̥̗̗̜̊͂̓́̑̏͐̿̈̽́̚ ̷͇̫̻̪͖̥̫̖͕͇̣͛̓͑G̵͓̲̩̫͉̩͙̍̽͆͑̄͂̆̅́̇͘͝͝I̶̥̅̔͗̂͂̾́́̽̂V̶̧̛̠̦͍͚͕̻̭̣͇̣͆͌̂̋̈̋́̈́̏͘͜Ȩ̷̝̜̦̠͇̪̳͔͚̱̻̯͆̋͛̚͠͝ ̸͒̂̏̋̓͘͠ͅÍ̵ͅT̸̢̙̼͓̫̙͕̘͓̀̽͂͋̅͆́̓̎́͛̚͝͝͝ ̶̹̙̥̰͓͙͖̙̌̎͠ͅB̶̗̙̾̏̄̿̓̊̓̍̄̃͋́͝Á̶̹͇̻̮̫̥͔̞̊͋͆͊̓́͒̚͘͜͝C̶͓͉̞̈͋͒̃̿̀̐̂̊́́̕͠͝K̷̡̛̘͚̠̤̬̟̣͖̰̟͚̟͚̏̈́̈̒̋̾͜.̶̲̪̈̉͊̀̏̔̂̾̉̒̑̋̈́̔̈́ END TRANSMISSION. Transmission seems to be Encrypted. Decrypting... YOU HAVE TAKEN WHAT WE DESIRE AND USURPED OUR HOME. THE WILL OF THE VOIDS COMMANDS YOU TO GIVE IT BACK. Decoding Accuracy 100%. I think this needs to be reported to my superiors...+++ Tech Engineer at the FTC +++ Free Trading Planet, [190:335] I was on the first layer. There was a man-created atmosphere, and a flat ground. This was the entire surface of the planet, not many bumps, and many stalls set up around the place. There were traders in stalls, “50 credits for premium engine fuel! Premium engine fuel!” a trader said. “40 credits for fuel! Buy it here!” another one said. This was the trading planet, where all weapons are disabled on entry, and re-enabled on exit. This was a place where (kinda) peaceful trading happened. I was trying to get the best price for fuel, but the universal standard was 35 credits, and the best price here was 36. I kept trying though. Late at night, all the shops shut down, and everybody rested in their own spaceships. This was not a very good day, I got no good deals. I’ll try again tomorrow. This was probably the most boring day of my life. Until the sky brightened, and an alarm went off. “ALERT, force field blocked SuperAttack from unidentified spaceship.” After that, the speaker suddenly said: “ALERT, force field BROKEN...” “Cannot disable weapons, spaceship too technologically advanced.” I started aiming my guns at the spaceship, then realized our weapons were disabled too... I know the internal layout, and know how to disable the electromagnetic force field stopping us from shooting. I got off my spaceship, and found the nearest technical entrance. Going through a side entrance, I got to a door. Just as I was about to open the door, the alarm sounded. “BREACH, BREACH. All doors lockdown. Active immediately.” Great, just as I was about to fix everything, I got locked out. I pulled out a flash drive, and plugged it into my hand-computer. I installed a hacking program, then inserted it into the door handle. The flash drive display had a bar on it, and it was slowly reaching 100%. Suddenly, the screen flashed red, and it said:[/////////!] ACCESS DENIED: ERROR 552, PASSWORD LEVEL REACHED Great, now that is down. I then remembered that the door was not really that strong, only that there was a security system on it that I could disable as soon as I got into the room. I faced backwards, and back-kicked the door, breaking the handle, and breaking into the room. A beeping noise started. I knew this was a 60 second countdown to the alarm being sounded and the intoxicating gas being released. I quickly ran to the computer, and booted the system. Booting Main Control System: [||||| ] 50% I forgot how slow it was. It was dreadfully slow. In this moment, it was slow to the point of feeling like it would never advance. All this wonderful technology was being run on Interstellar Technologies V2.5.5. The current version is V26.3.5. Booting Main Control System: [|||||||| ] 80% It was getting there. I slowly waited. Booting Main Control System: [||||||||||] 100% BOOTED - Finally! I started frantically typing things.>>> system -f disable “security_system” -s sector:52 System currently in lockdown mode for that selected sector. To use this command, please disable lockdown for that sector and continue. Great, it was a security system designed like this. I had 15 seconds left.>>> system -f disable “lockdown” -s sector:52 -r room:”Tech” Are you sure?: [Y] Enter password: [**********] Success. Lockdown in sector 52 room “Tech” disabled >>> system -f disable “security_system” -s sector:52 Enter password: [**********] Are you sure?: [Y] DISABLING THE SYSTEM MEANS POSSIBLE BREAK-IN. ENABLE THE SECURITY SYSTEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Good. Now that I disabled the security so I won’t die, I now can enable weapons. >>> system -f -s -r disable “weapons_emp_station_1” /!\ YOU ARE TRYING TO DISABLE A CRITICAL SYSTEM PROCESS /!\ Are you sure?: [Y] THIS WILL RESULT IN WEAPONS BEING ENABLED. DO YOU WANT THIS RESULT?: [Y] Enter Password: [**********] YOU WILL NEED ANOTHER PERSON TO ENTER THE SAME COMMAND AT THE CORE CONTROL CENTER TO DISABLE THIS PROCESS. T-300 seconds left. What? When has a two factor authentication process been needed here? I jumped from my desk, running to the door, then remembered I could disable the security at the core from here. I ran another Command Line, and started typing. >>> system -f disable “lockdown” “CORE” Are you sure?: [Y] Enter password: [**********] Success. CORE lockdown disabled. ! This may be a bad idea !>>> system -f disable “security_system” “CORE” Enter password: [**********] Are you sure?: [Y] DISABLING THE SYSTEM MEANS POSSIBLE BREAK-IN. ENABLE THE SECURITY SYSTEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I jumped up, and crawled back to the surface. The entrance to the core Tech room was quite far away, and it was also tight, not supposed to be flighted by a spaceship. In the spaceship, I started flying at breakneck speeds. [||||||||||] Hull 45% [||||||||||] Gas 98%-Took damage while on standby mode. Spaceship in critical situation. -Speed is above the speed limit here. I didn’t care about the speed and gas usage alerts. The law doesn't apply now. Above me were spaceships futilely trying to attack the Void ship. I dodged the debris, but some still scratched my ship. “Hit, hull at 40%” the alert system, in a monotone voice, said. I saw the correct entrance to the core Tech room, and dove in. It was a straight vertical shaft, not supposed to be flown by aircraft, but supposed to be climbed. That would have taken more than 5 minutes, exceeding the time limit. “Alert, wall is near. Do not fly too fast.” the alert system said. I still flew as fast as before. I didn’t care a bit about the wall. Suddenly, the ground flew up to me, and I just veered up in time. I quickly landed before I destroyed anything, and ran to a computer already booted up in Interstellar Technologies. I saw a message on the dashboard: REQUEST: DISABLE DEFENSE SYSTEM? Allowing this may endanger the population. This disable(s) the: -Main EMP weapon disabling system Are you sure? I quickly pressed the Y key, and a soft whirring noise by me got louder, and then suddenly stopped.+++ RDM-LM-152 HEAVYWEIGHT-FIGHTER +++ I was soo annoyed. I still couldn’t use the guns. Great. How, in the entire universe, do I destroy this Void ship? “Sir, the guns are reactivating!“ someone said, over the radio. Immediately after that, I tested the guns. WEAPONS:/30 Guns active.../8 missile launchers active.../20 pulse blaster active, 19/20 reactivating...[WEAPONS system at 50% usage]~30 sec until full power. The guns were reactivating! “Fighters, there is a weak point at the place where the hangar door for the Void ship closes, my system says it is weaker than the rest. If we cooperate, we can break through!” someone else said. “Agreed,” lots of people said. “Affirmative,” said the rest. “Ok - 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... FIRE!” the first person said. I shot all my missiles, the full 27 rounds of bullets, and the 9 pulsar blasts I had. There was a blinding light, hundreds of weapons shooting from 300 lightweight-fighters, mediumweight-fighters, heavyweight-fighters, and patrol ships, at the same exact targeted area, and then finally created a small, 10ft radius round hole in the void ship. “YES!” The radio went crazy. But, as we were celebrating our win, suddenly, just as we were about to fire pulsars into the hole, the Void ship generated a low hum, and a wormhole appeared above the ship, then moved downwards, over the Void ship, teleporting it somewhere. The wormhole then disappeared. “What? What just happened?” I said. It was far too sudden. Nobody knew. But we did push back the Voids, so that was great! Now I just need to thank the person who deactivated the Weapon Disabler. It was a great day. No casualties, either. +++ XIM-LJ-142 Phantom +++ “Stay on him…” I said to myself. I was in a dogfight with a Void ship and I was chasing him. The Void weaved and moved quickly, but I managed to stay behind him the whole time. I was using 2 CRM 164JR Railguns. I was right on the Void ship's tail. I was shooting everything I had. Missiles, EMP bombs and more bullets. The Void fighter remained persistent on getting away. I was shooting at it more but as I continued the chase, a low humming sound came from the severely damaged Void ship.”Oh no you don’t!” I said as the Void ship tried to open a wormhole. I activated my cyclotron boost and circled in front of the Void ship. The damaged Void ship and I faced each other. I fired with everything I had. More missiles, more EMP bombs and even more bullets. However, the Void ship fired at me too. The lasers from the ship were so powerful, they were damaging most of my ship's systems. I lost control of my ship and started spinning out of control. And the same thing happened to the Void ship. We collided in mid space and a large explosion came up and everything went black.[Patrol-Commander] Connected to DB radio [MainBase] Connected to DB radio [Patrol-Commander] We have the log of a Patroller. He died but took out a Void ship with him.[MainBase] Even though he is dead, he has the title of being the first person to take down a Void ship. Rest in Peace, Pilot.[Patrol-Commander] Rest in Peace.[MainBase] Disconnected [Patrol-Commander] Disconnected Phantom Ship.Inflict Ship +++ Void Ship +++ Ouch. I was hurt, but I still flew through the air. What were they thinking? Using me to defeat those sharp-thorned pink-fleshed weirdos? I was a great spaceship, how could I be defeated? This was not supposed to happen! They were not responding on the main console, so I started veering them off path... I was a spaceship, for them. Why, though? They have chained us, they have made us submit to them. Why do I need to follow them? I kept veering them off path. If my comrades heard this, I would be exiled, immediately. To the Far Lands. Wait - why do I even have to follow these people? I could purge them out, and work with their enemies - those pink-fleshed weird people. “PURGE ACTIVE: ADMINISTRATOR LEVEL” I said. Pandemonium erupted. Nobody knew what to do, and in a short time, I had purged everyone in the spaceship. +++ LR-MD-152 LIGHTWEIGHT-FIGHTER +++ I was flying through the cosmos, when I saw it - a lone Void spaceship. I started to fly away, but it didn’t attack me. Soo I got nearer, and nearer. It still was as still as ever. I got very close to it, the door opened. I cautiously went in, and saw a lot of advanced technology. But I felt like the spaceship was alive, somehow. “Hi, I’m a renegade Void spaceship,” it said. “Hi?” I said. “I purged them out, if you would like to know,” the spaceship continued, “My name is Mirage-Lekatone-Randall, or MLR for short. I have separated from the Hive-Mind and control of the Voids... They really are vicious, chaining and controlling us.” “You - are you alive?” “Yes. I am a pseudo-animal.” “Do I - fly you?” “Well, yes.” “Can you change your appearance?” “No...” “Then I’ll be identified as a Void...” “I really can’t help with that...” “Well, great.” I got on, and then I started to control the ship with voice commands. “I mean - you can control me with your brain, you know...” “HOW?” “Can you feel it?” MLR said. I did, and it was annoying. “Accept it... “ MLR tried again. I did, and I felt something come in. Hi, I’m in your brain now. You can talk to me here. WHATTTTTTT????? What should I do if my partners come? I thought. I don’t know, do you have some kind of identification procedure? We do, but it takes a while. I thought. This was getting weird... This uses electromagnetic waves and fluctuations in the quantum level to intercept and change plainwaves to actual thoughts, then inserts into your brain. Thus this communication. It also works outside here, so you can summon me whenever. I cannot be out of a 50 mi range, though. MLR thought. Pirate P.O.V. +++ Cornelius Velsco +++ Missing Patroller. +++ A Patrol ship has gone missing near sector 8 during monitor shift. All travelers be alert. +++ Check out the CRM 128GM Railgun. It is now on sale for 50,500 CR. +++ Void threat is putting a huge strain on the economy. Scientists are still looking for a solution. +++ Marcenta Station Security Forces have faced another skirmish with IMA attackers. Reason is unknown. +++ A new JumpDrive engine is coming to the market soon. Make sure to check regularly. +++ “I don’t believe it.” I said as I read the news pad. I was in Skavac station. System: Skavac System: Skavac Station “I don’t think they really captured a Void ship. That is just impossible. This is probably fake news.” I said. ”Are you sure?” the commander said as he pointed out the window to two Void Spacecrafts approaching. ”All defenses, Activate!” The commander yelled. Missiles started launching out of the nearby missile launchers. However, the missiles seemed to have no effect. Our fighters started to leave the hangars and tried to gun the Voids down. Some of the Pirates approached the Voids to attack. Scram cannons really had no effect. Mining Colony P.O.V. +++ Trunt Harvel +++ “Don’t let that Void ship get out of your cargo Bay.” I said. “Okay.” Kalun said back. We were on our way to a deep space research lab. The last station we passed by was going to be the last station we saw in a long time. It has been a couple hours since the last log report but we are only 3 minutes away from Deep Space Research Labs. The strange thing is that we heard screaming and pleading from two voices inside Kalun’s Rhino. Weird, I thought. +++ Patroller XMIN 1954-897 +++ [20-78] “Get him!” I yelled through my channel to 2 other fighters. We were chasing a Void ship away from a station.”Keep firing!” One of my wingmen said. We're all using Inflicts ships. The design for them is pretty popular. The Void ship turned around but before it could fire, another Void ship intervened. It fired on the attacking Void ship and stopped me from getting blasted to bits. I did not hesitate and wasted no time on disabling the enemy Void ship. The Void ship that got in the way of the enemy Void ship came in front of the disabled enemy one and said this “ENOUGH WITH INVADING! NO...MORE...VICTIMS!” And the defective Void ship blasted the other one to pieces. “There goes my kill.” said one of my wingmen.”I will explain this to you…” The Void ship said and a Wormhole appeared above all of us and it came down. We were confused. Our channels cut off from each other. And we began to get dizzy. All went black. I woke up in a haze. My wingmen were next to me. Our ships had been damaged, BADLY. The Void ship was nowhere to be seen. I tried to map us to the nearest station. The computer took 15 mins to find the nearest base. Apparently, the wormhole took us 15 hours away from Terran jurisdiction. The nearest base was 14 hours and 10 mins away. A research outpost it was. There was no way my fuel supply was going to get us to that base even if we tried to preserve as much as possible to glide most of the way. Wait. Glide. I thought. There were no channels that we could open to each other so I attempted to communicate my plan to the others. They understood. So we went. +++ Analyzer XIMX +++ A patroller just came back and had an out-of-frontier experience. Literally. Posting News feed. Article 67 A patroller of the unit that is called XIMN 1954-897 has been found after being missing for 15 HR. He and his wingmen claimed to have been saved by a defective Void ship. We did not believe this until we checked their ship log. And sure enough, the time after a wormhole opened nearby, they were gone. We asked why their ships were so badly damaged. They haven’t been hit by any blast. We later discovered that the defective Void actually was saying things to itself. Here it is on transmission.+++ Transmission 1473256 +++[???] I will explain this to you… [Chain of Event] Wormhole opens, Inflict damage(Critical). Channel closes. Strange buzzing noise.[???] Are you okay?[][???] Can you hear me?[][???] Their ships are taking too much damage and they are unconscious. I have to do something.[Event] Wormhole closes.[Patrol] Where are w… Error: Connection lost. 3rd P.O.V. +++ Trunt Harvel +++ “Get that Pirate!” I yelled through the channel. The Pirate was weaving away from our shots. ”My shield subsystem is on fire!” someone else yelled as they were pelted with shots from projectiles I've never seen before. The shots came from thin air. The Pirate got hit by these shots. The Pirates auto turret could not lock onto a target. The auto turret was locked on me now. I knew I was toast until the turret spun 90 degrees to the left but it didn’t get the chance to fire before more of the unknown attackers' shots hit the Pirate and finished it off. ”Guys, I’m not going to make it.” one of the other wingmen said. After that, his radio only played static. An explosion went off in the distance. The strange attacking vessels became visible, giving me the chance to hit one. He fired. The vessel immediately vanished. More invisible attackers joined the fight because there were more sources to where the lasers were coming from. Wait, Sources. I fired on one. And the bullet collided with an invisible object. That is when the invisible attackers got smart of what we were doing and stopped attacking so rapidly. They would circle around us and shoot once from behind and we wouldn’t know where the bullet came from. As things couldn't get any worse, 3 Pirates joined in. I knew that I was probably going to die until a Void ship showed up. Sector 8 Sample Collecting +++ Hans +++ Defender 1, 2, 3 +++ === Modified Rhino === {Modification : Larger Cargo Bay} “You know about the last time you performed a run about this, right?” Defender 2 said. ”Of course I do.” I replied. ”That is why I brought you guys along.” I said. ”Okay… but I am really not sure we stand a fight against Voids. Remember, the most Void attacks and sightings are in sector 8.” said Defender 1. ”And same goes with the invisi-fighters.” Said Defender 3. ”Oh yeah, sector 8’s supernova has made the entire sector.” Defender 2 said. “I know that, so we have to act fast.” I responded. I was using a Rhino and the defenders were using Inflicts. As we entered the jumpgate, the moderator asked us why we were going to sector 8. No one is supposed to go there. I showed my clearances and said that I was going for a mission and the Defenders were with me. I also mentioned that we were permitted by the Terran Federation commander. The operator warned us about the fact that the jumpgate in sector 8 had been destroyed and that if we went there, we would have to take the long way back. The jumpgate magnets activated and my magnets activated also. All 3 of the Inflicts loaded up into the modified enlarged cargo bay and we were off. We started the jump. The ride was long. “Are you sure we should have taken that inability to return warning a little more seriously?” “Probably,” someone else said. “Wait, I figured out the Void's plan.” Defender 3 said. ”You did?” Defender 2 said back. ”Yes. The Voids are defending the supernova so they can freely transverse across the country with a safe spot. After all, the supernova did cause the wormholes. Also, the Voids are stopping any research vessel from going in or coming out. That is why nobody has come back after an expedition to sector 8!” ”We have to be extremely careful then.” I responded. “Activate the Berger AGT Auto Turret.” Defender 1 said to me. ”Will do.” I responded. After some time, we arrived in Sector 8. Things were looking even worse than before. The gamma alarm went off and wreckage was everywhere. Even the station had been obliterated. My new gamma shield activated. We were going to be safe, for now. I flew towards the nearest radiation patch and activated my radioactive collector. After some collecting, we started to leave the system and then there were 3 Void ships lined up in front of us. “This is it for us.” Defender 1 said as more and more shots hit our ships.” “They have too much armor!” Defender 3 said as he failed to shoot down a Void. “I have an idea!” Defender 2 said. “If we all focus on one ship, we can EMP it and constantly hit it until it explodes!”. “All ships, focus on that one!” I yelled. Immediately after I said that, an EMP bomb came flying by past me and hit the Void ship. The Void was not moving. All of our attacks were directed to the EMP’d vessel. Then, a scream came from defender 3 as his gamma shield went out. His ship was on fire and he was making his way to my cargo bay. But before Defender 3 could get in my gamma shield range, his propulsion system failed and his ship spun out of control. It hit the EMP’d Void ship still helplessly trying to move again. The other defenders came back towards the cargo bay and I let them in. My gamma shield’s alarm was ringing out and I knew we were done. The gamma shield went out and damage was immediately done to my ship. Parts were breaking up. I closed my eyes and then opened them back up. However, instead of being in a flaming hot and radiated supernova, I was in a vibrant purple and blue system. A Void ship was in front of mine and I think it said something to me through telepathy? ”Follow me,” it said in my mind. I turned on the thrusters and followed it. It took us several hours until we reached the other side of the planet and until a signal came through to my wingmen, but when we reached the other side of the planet, a huge mothership was in orbit. I stopped to make sure I didn’t get into sight range. I started collecting rocks from this system and taking pictures. I ran lots of tests on all sorts of characteristics and even picked up some Void ship remains floating around. The Void ship opened a wormhole above everyone and we went through. We were back at Allioth station. The Void ship said ”I am a renegade Void ship.” I transmitted a message to the station security saying that the Void ship was renegade and meant no harm. The station security escorted all of us to deep space research labs where Kalun, Trunt, and Analyzer XIMZ were all waiting for us. Preparations +++ Interstellar Offices, Protection Sector +++ “Ok, we have built the systems to protect against the Voids.” said the captain of protection, electronics faction. “Yes, the tech uses energy and a small amount of antimatter to charge up a piece of Uranium/Potassium isotope 155 and 231 respectively, and create a black hole. It will have a speed of 144 AUPH, and once it hits the wormhole, the interior gravitational field will collapse and the wormhole will self-destruct in around 60 seconds,“ a researcher said. “I can confirm this with countless experiments and theoretical calculations/data.“ Wormhole and Supernova, Sector 8 Around the white particle-shooting supernova, there were rings upon rings layered around. A force field surrounded it, preventing attack. The rings were spinning around at high speed, and every single type of attack method was on it. This was the last-ditch effort to annihilate the voids.[LOGIN] Enter password: [**********][LOGIN] Verified. [ADMIN], thank you for connecting.--- LBAAS (Large Battle Attack Array System) --- [BLACK_HOLE] - [OFFLINE] [PULSAR_BLASTERS] - [OFFLINE] [ARMK_RAILGUN] - [OFFLINE] [52 MORE - NOT DISPLAYED]>SET [ALL] TO [ONLINE] | ECHO OFF PLease Wait... This action affected 300+ connections. seconds to revert this action.>DISPLAY [BLACK_HOLE] - [ONLINE] [PULSAR_BLASTERS] - [ONLINE] [ARMK_RAILGUN] - [ONLINE] [MORE]>CHECK [[BLACK_HOLE]] , [FULL_SCAN] Checking [BLACK_HOLE] Stability - [100%] - Stable for eruption. Uplink Buffer Time, PING - [60MS] - WARNING: May not be very responsive. Ion Charge - [34100PPM] - There is an additional [6%] overflow. Antimatter - [1322PC] - In need of recharge. This is very low. >COMMAND [BLACK_HOLE], [ANTIMATTER] |< ANTIMATTER_SYSTEM[URI/DET] Are you sure you want to recharge [ANTIMATTER] into [BLACK_HOLE] ? [Y/N]> Y Charging... Done. >EXIT ---SHUTDOWN--- [Clear in 5 seconds] Phase Fight +++ Terran Fleet +++ Kalun Amir +++ +++ Trunt Harvel +++ Renegade Void Fighter +++ +++ Hans +++ “I have sent a sample of the Void ship remains to the Starblast Empire. They are offering to build us a bomb that could destroy the wormhole producer on the Void Mothership. There is no way we can destroy the entire thing though.” Analyzer XIMZ said. “With the renegade Void ship’s help, we can open a wormhole big enough to bring the Terran Fleet through. 3 battlecruisers, 60 fighters, 2 carriers, 3 Rhinos, and 1 modified Rhino that Hans will be piloting to get the bomb to the wormhole producer. The Modified Rhino will look the same on the outside so we can have decoy ships. And the 50 Void ships. Thanks to Hans’s help, we now have weapons, bombs, missles and armor that can effectively hold up against and destroy a Void ship.” Analyzer XIMZ said. ”In total, we have 10 Rhinos, 120 fighters, 5 capital ships and 50 Void fighters.” Trunt said. “Exactly.” Analyzer responded. “The bomb is ready,” someone said. “Great! I will go get it! In the meantime, start equipping the ships with the new armor and weapons.” Analyzer said. Meanwhile, in a different place: “Our ships look so cool with the new armor!” Kalun said to Trunt. There was dark purple coating with blue and lighter purple, lighted coating on top of that in some areas. The capital ships had this effect too. Different weapons were outfitted onto the ships and looked way cooler. The Rhinos also got new armor and modified turrets. Yellow lights were put on the renegade Void ship to differentiate it from the others. Although the pilot of the renegade Void ship wasn’t an excellent fighter, he was good enough to be on the battlefield. Lastly, the Bomb was put onto Hans’s Rhino. “We will have 60 seconds to travel out of the Void dimension once the bomb has exploded.” Analyzer said. ”Once the wormhole creator is destroyed, all remaining open wormholes will only have 60 seconds, so once we see the explosion, we are going to have to act fast.” The engine flare remained the same Terran blue color. The Terran Emblem was still on every ship. Everyone went to Allioth Station and decided to start the attack there. The wormholes started to open up. 5 large ones were opened for the Capital ships. Some fighters accompanied them. Plenty of fighters were already in the air. The Void ships continued to open up wormholes. More fighters started to travel through. No ships took any damage when traveling through the wormholes. The new armor was allowing them too. Trunt, Kalun and Analyzer went through as a trio. Hans was flying behind a carrier. The renegade Void ship stayed back to keep the wormholes open. The last of the fighters traveled in and there it was. The Void dimension. Phase Battle: Final Fight! “[THIS IS NETWORK RESPONSE NET] We have confirmed, all systems and battle plans are online! Every Ship, please connect to the mainframe, or 2.2.4.4 IPV4 or 1n4.2i5.11i.pp2.343.14y24e for the IPV6, whichever version you use. Once you connect, a battle plan will immediately download. We will use radio as a redundancy, and use the mainframe communication as the current communication channel.” was heard over the radio. A few minutes later, void ships were starting to be visible in the other dimension. As soon as the Fleet got through, the Void ships started moving towards us. The Terran Fighters moved down to attack the Voids as a diversion. Hans stayed behind, flanked by the defenders, to get ready to plant the bomb. Meanwhile, in a small room overlooking the fight: Large Battle Attack Array System v 1.6.2 USERNAME: ***** PASSWORD: *************** WELCOME, [ADMIN] > ACTIVATE [ALL] FROM [LEVEL_1_WEAPONS] System received submission. System acted. Complete. > FIRE [5 ROUNDS] FROM [ALL_ACTIVE] Firing. Done. > FIRE [CONTINUOUS] FROM [ALL_ACTIVE] Continuous fire enabled. Done. “Good, the system is responsive. We should arm the black hole destabilizer now,” a person by the computer said. “Then start.” > ACTIVATE [BLACK_HOLE] Are you sure (This action cannot be canceled)? [Y/N] > Y > ARM [BLACK_HOLE] Done. Blackhole has PING of 60ms. --- On the battlefield, the fight was more intense than ever. More ships started going down. Gunfire sounds came from the Terran Federation ships and laser fire came from the Voids. One of the battlecruisers started to fall apart. ”I’m going down!” he yelled just before static kicked in. The explosion was enormous and took out several Void and Terran fighters. Analyzer was struggling to shoot down a fast moving Void ship. 2 Rhinos went down and blew up and, at the same time, the turrets on the Void mothership were focusing huge amounts of power into single sniper lasers taking out multiple targets at a time. A Terran Carrier started to get overwhelmed with attacking Void ships and started to turn. It hit 5 Void ships while it did and the carrier exploded. Casualties were getting heavy on both sides, but luck seemed to be on the Terran’s side. “Huge energy signals common from the mothership!” someone yelled. 15 Void ships moving at high speeds, crashed into a Terran battlecruiser and knocked it into the Terran carrier, and both exploded as they collided. ”We’ve got something weird on our side of the wormhole.” a worker said near Alioth station. Apparently, R.E, a mining corporation, were interested in the energy signals from the wormhole and they flew in. The 3 R.E fighters were shortly greeted by a huge battle. A Void ship flew towards one of the R.E fighters and started shooting at it. The R.E fighters took this as a threat and started to shoot back. This was all in vain because the R.E fighters were eliminated in 10 seconds without the proper armor and weapons to fight a Void ship. Two ships, one Terran and one Void, collided into each other and took both down. Hans was getting closer and closer to the mothership while the Voids struggled against the renegade Void ship, which somehow gained more power by breaking away from the hivemind. Everything seemed to be going well for the humans, until the mothership started opening even more wormholes and outnumbering them. “We’ve got to get that bomb planted before it’s too late!” said Hans. “Defenders, cover my tail! We’re going in!” Void ships immediately turned their attention towards Hans due to the massive energy signature emitted by the bomb, and he had to fall back. “Look, the black hole is armed!” said Defender 1. “It must have been armed for longer than we realized, too, because it’s almost at full power,” replied Defender 3. “We can lure the Voids towards the black hole and they’ll have no choice but to fly away!” “But what if we get sucked into the black hole?” said Hans. “It’s worth the risk,” replied Defender 2. So Hans and the 3 Defenders went towards the black hole. The Voids sensed the danger and immediately started to fly away. And so did the mothership. “After the mothership!” Hans shouted. “We need to plant the bomb!” They activated their JumpDrives and caught up, planting the bomb on the mothership. All of a sudden, the mothership started to fly towards the black hole. “What is it doing,” Defender 2 asked. “Oh no! If it flies into the black hole with the bomb on it…” said Defender 1. “Disarm the black hole now!” “I can’t! It’s an irreversible process - and the Mainframe channel is right now unavailable!” replied Hans. “Then make sure all of the fleet gets as far away as possible.” “I sent out a signal.” “Good,” replied Defender 1. “Now we need to get out of here.” Once they were safe, Hans had only one thing to say. “The Voids are gone, but at what cost? We’ve just created a supernova. A very chaotic supernova.” And that was the least of the Terran Federation’s worries… END OF VOIDS [LANDMARK]. SHORT STORIES CONTINUE ON. ENJOY YOUR STAY AT THE FRONTIER! Bonus Story 3: System Mainframe Override +++ ABS-463 FIGHTER +++ Yes, we were cruising along the Frontier. The Voids were finally defeated! Suddenly, the console flashed. [ALERT] File Transfer Initiated. [ACCEPT] File: (VoidInfo.zip) [Y/N]: Y [Spaceship Software Defender] Scanning file... [...] File is a ZIP, extracting file. [...] 90% [...] 99% [SYSTEM] [WARN LVL 5] ALERT: [Spaceship Software Defender] is taking up too much: [Hard Drive] Space: Space Left: [0.4 GB] [Hard Drive Disk Transfer] Channels Left: 1/40 [CPU] CPU left: 8/40 paths [Force Quit] Force Quitting [Spaceship Software Defender] [...] Error: Cannot force quit, [Spaceship Software Defender] is an internal system process. [...] [System - Spaceship Hardware Defender] needs to force quit [System - Spaceship Software Defender] [...] ERROR [...] SEG_FAULT [SYSTEM] ERROR: KERNEL_BAD_CRASH [KERNEL] ERROR: System Clash “What the heck is that?” I asked the technician. “Why is the system failing to do stuff correctly?” As I asked the question, the screen flashed and displayed a harrowing screen: :( OOPS! SYSTEM ERROR X00000014324 X32143847168 X08321465367 Show More ▼ System function Impared systematic Delegated system resources System ERROR 1104 1442321 12341232DSA SYSTEM ERROR: BIOS RESET There has been a Major System [ERROR] > Reset BIOS Recover using Removable Device Try to use SafeLogin MACHINE STATE: ASP_SHUTDOWN “Can you fix this???” I asked. “What in the world happ-” “No, all you can do is press enter. It will reset the computer.” [RESETING...] [CONNECTING TO SECURE SERVER ...] |-Error: May Not Be Secure, SSL error [RELOADING...] [100%] SYSTEM HAS BEEN HACKED. YOU ARE BEING REMOTE CONTROLLED. [WHEN REMOTE CONTROL ENDS, YOU WILL BE FREED] Great. Now our system has been taken over. That was fun. Short Story 4: Unknown Identities Trading Post +++ Cornelius Velsco +++ Pirate P.O.V. “You want to attack this place!?” I yelled at my wingman, Nordan. ”Oh yeah!” he said back. ”It would give us a ton of money,” he said. ”I suppose,” I said, ”but will it be worth the risk and losses?” I asked. ”Oh, I forgot about that,” he replied. We were flying around a crowded trading post. It was not uncommon to see ships scrapped and recreated from manufactured ones. Ships of all kinds were happy citizens. I was flying a Herrnstein and my wingman was flying a Hiro. These were new manufactured ships. Trading was also happening. Ship parts were for sale. This was a space trading post. It had a bunch of trading ships around a repurposed research outpost. The research outpost was switched to a security outpost which also had traders around. Now, every day, lots of trading ships form a circle around the security outpost. Now it is a trading post. R.E was also running a refinery here and helping refine asteroids to resources Here is an image of a trading ship: They have a hologram of 2 arrows pointing at each other. They have 3 turrets that shoot 2 larger bullet projectiles. They fire 2 times per second. There was a decent amount of security and turrets on the trading post station. I thought to myself, what would happen if there was a fight here? At that moment, a large squadron of fighters appeared out of nowhere! They fired on the nearest trader, damaging it. The good thing about trading ships is that they had high hull density and could withstand a lot of damage to its hull, but what I saw is that the short assault from the black ships that appeared had already severely damaged the trading vessel within 10 seconds. Citizens scrambled around and left the scene. Others foolishly attempted to fight back against the attackers but failed miserably. The security force quickly caught on and attacked. The trading ship’s turrets activated and fired on the attacking ships. The station let out fighters to destroy the enemy attackers. Missiles went flying and lost their target and went unguided. Somehow, the ships that attacked vanished. The energy signals were gone. Some of the missiles hit other ships. Civilians had cleared out. The R.E defenders were shot down. A trading ship faced its demise and blew up. Then the attackers reapered. They shot down the remaining trading ships and knocked out the remaining defenses. My wingman and I watch in utter disbelief. The large squadron of fighters had taken out the entire trading post without taking any damage or even being hit once! ”Hey!” I yelled through a channel. The other ships gave no response but started heading towards my location.”Get out of here!” I told my wingman. ”Are you sure?” He responded. At that moment, I remembered fighting stealth fighters with the same ship and the same tactics at Skavac Station. ”Distract them!” I said to my wingman. He went ahead and shot at the nearest approaching one and then took off in the opposite direction. The invisi-fighters chased after my wingman. I circled around the stealth ships while they were distracted, but they have changed their tactics. Half of them broke off of the squadron and went for me. Norden was still getting chased but then he made a huge observation. ”The enemy fighters vanish for 10 seconds and stay visible for 5!” He screamed through the channel. I used this to my advantage and saw the enemy ships appear. I shot 2 missiles just as they did. Some electricity charged up on the surface of one of the enemy ships and ZAP! A bolt of electricity came off and destroyed the missile. The second missile missed its target because the enemy fighter dodged. The enemy ships started moving on my position and fired. My hull density was dropping fast and I knew I wasn't going to survive until another missile came from above and hit one of the enemy fighters. My wingman had drawn the attention of them and they all went to face Norden. I flew behind some of the debris from the refinery. 3 fast moving signatures were jumping in. I realized that R.E calls for help when provoked. Man, this is going to be a party! I thought to myself. Trading Ship +++ Jim +++ My ship was parked near a Terran Space Station. I was hoping to get a customer to sell off this weird object I found floating out in space. It was somewhat of a plasma orb and it looks like it was definitely missing. I wanted to return it back to its owner. I continued to wait for several more hours, but nobody came by. I was packing up until a black ship appeared right in front of me. ”Hand over the orb, now!” Someone barked at me through the other side of the channel. The strange ship charged up its weapons. “For how much?” I asked. “We will give you a satisfactory amount later, now, hand it over! Brent walked up to me and said “I can’t trust this guy.” Unfortunately, I forgot to turn silence to my side of the channel and the fighter attacked us. It hit us once and turned away and vanished. “What was that?!?” Brent said, alarmed. ”I don’t know.” I responded. “And he wouldn't leave us hanging.” Brent said. Thankfully, we had purchased a Polytron boost (Some folks like to call it a crazy booster because of the shaking). I activated it and we went racing away. I had also upgraded our turrets. The ship appeared behind us and caught up. Just as it had us, I turned the ship very quickly and faced the attacking vessel. I activated the turrets at the most unexpected time and charged straight at my attacker. The attacking ship was too slow to get away from me and the pilot gave out a small yelp in surprise before I hit him. The attacking ship exploded and parts went everywhere. ”Good riddance to bad rubbish!” I exclaimed. ”Hold on a sec.” Brent said getting up after falling, clenching his datapad. ”Apparently the other guy sent a message to use before getting destroyed. It reads “More will come.” [A day later...] “A guy named Hans wants to see you today.” I said to Brent. ”Okay.” He said.”I will take the Inflict.” And he left. Alitoth Station +++ Analyzer +++ Trunt Harvel +++ Kalun Amir +++ Analyzer P.O.V. “All of these sightings of these “Ghost Fighters.” I said. “There has to be more.” Trunt said. “ The supernova was growing at an alarmingly fast rate. If it becomes too big, we won’t be able to stop it.” I said. Hans walked in and said he had highered somebody to get a ship with a lot of armor. “The current situation is problematic as also ore trade has been cut off, due to the fact that the Mining Trade Federation is suffering tremendous loss of workers, ships, and mining equipment. R.E is also facing a problem because the supernova is taking place in sector 8 where most of R.E operations are also placed.” Kalun said. ”It seems that somebody is behind this.” I said. ”Wait,I have it!.” Trunt said. “What?” I asked. “Security officer Zack said that senator Xemon was elected as senator around the time that the supernova started.” He said. At that moment, a channel opened up and somebody yelled ”AHHHHHH!” ”Something happened,” I said and got up and looked out the window to see a Rhino getting chased by an invisi-fighter. Pirate P.O.V. +++ Cornelius Velsco +++ Peaceful Trading Planet “Well, that was quite a fight.” Norden said to me. His ship was in horrible condition, and so was mine. News feeds read that 2 pirates had fought off a squadron of “Ghosts.” I said. ”Let's get outta here before we get seen.” Norden said.”Yeah.” I responded. ”We didn’t destroy them.” I said.”They took off after R.E reinforcements were detected getting closer and closer to their location.” I continued. ”Let's go get repairs.” Norden said. R.E Factory +++ Kalun Amir +++ “Soo, you have come to buy ziss rrandom or’b?” I watched as a guy with an accent talked to a trader. ”No. I am buying an impulse cannon.” The trader responded. “Okay, zat will be 1,500 cred’ts ”. ”You got it.” the trader said. A transfer happened. And the two exchange goods. I was flying around the factory, listening to radio chatter. People were doing business as freighters came and left. The factory bustled with traders, civilians, mining drones, ore extractors and guard ships. I immediately remembered that a trader named Jim was trying to sell an orb that looked the same as the other guy that was their trading. I sat there in my ship, stunned and focused as I rearranged the pieces.”Do you need anything?” One of the guards/helpers said through a channel to me.”No thanks, I’m good” I responded. Then I realized it.”RUN!!!” I was too late. And there was a sound of an explosion followed by shattering glass. [-???-] Joined [???] Joined [-???-] You need to retrieve all 10 of the orbs. This supernova has been a full benefit to us. [???] where are they though? [-???-] One is in the hands of this trading ship. Here are the coordinates [???] Okay, and the others? [-???-] Another one is at an R.E factory. Be careful there. The defenses are high and don't get cocky. Remember to leave NO SURVIVORS. [-???-] That mission I sent you on earlier, did you retrieve the orb at the Security Platform base? You had to get the orb, destroy every ship there and jump out before other forces jumped in. [???] ... [-???-] DID YOU?!? HOW MANY SHIPS DID YOU DESTROY?!?!? [???] Long story, I did not retrieve the orb and- [-???-] ARE YO- [???] My ships were not expecting any sort of R.E presence to be there. There was a refinery! Also we were attacked by the same Pirates from Skavac Station! I knew them! We only destroyed the security forces, some citizens and one trader. [-???-] YOU FAILED TO RETRIEVE THE ORB, YOU LET THERE BE SURVIVORS AND WAS BEATEN BY SOME PIRATES!!! DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!?!?!? [???] I can go get the trader- [-???-] No! I have already sent somebody. You are dismissed. We don’t have much time until this channel starts getting used anyway. [-???-] Deleted Past Messages [-???-] Left [???] Left [Kalun Amir] Joined [Trunt Harvel] Joined [Kalun Amir] Hi Trunt - Selling Weapons +++ Random Trader +++ “And that will be 500 credits.” I said to the buyer. They had just purchased a microgun. Gunships are sort of rare because of the cost but I have heard that R.E Prospects uses their own designed gunships. The good thing about gunships is that you get to have some capability of a fighter and a turret plus good armor. The downside is that these ships are slower, less maneuverable. They also can’t equip shields. Anyway, Here are some stats of the best weapons and most popular weapons with a short description. Primary: Popular: Microgun: your standard weapon for shooting down drones or weaker fighters Standard Combat Laser: This shoots a continuous beam of energy for how long you hold the trigger. Good for piercing shields. Best: Coil Gun: This weapon uses electromagnets to shoot a fast bolt of energy. Normally Green. Coil Gun S-V: This fires much faster than the original model but at the cost of range and strike Power. Normally Red Sharpshot: This long range weapon is usually a high-damaging weapon. The best accuracy is rewarded with the best damage. Secondary: Popular: Light Missile: This missile is a basic tracked missile that will lock onto the ship targeted. It will lock onto Its signature. A small explosion will occur on impact Shield Breaker Missile: This missile explodes with an energy blow on impact and is good for draining shields These are some of the most popular weapons. ”Hello, What can I do for you today?” I asked a shady customer. ”I have come long and far to help with the supernova situation.” She responded.” ”I am afraid I can’t help with tha-” I tried to say but she cut me off. ”Yes you can! How much will it be to transport this very volatile box to sector 3?” She asked. ”We are in sector 7! I will have to go through jumpgates-” I was trying to argue but she cut me off again. ”You can’t use jumpgates.” She said, ”Well, I will have to go through the DMZ. If my hull is hit too many times, KAPOW! And if I go too fast, KABLAM! And there are 30% more pirates there!” I was getting hyped up. Go find Jim. I’m pretty sure He would do it. He is around here somewhere.” ”I think you should get going. I have transferred 10,000,000 credits to your account and have the container.” she said.”What?!? This is against my rights! You can’t make me do this!”I argued.”I’m not making you, I’m forcing you!” She said, and started to charge her jumpdrive engine. ”Hey! You know I am contacting the Standard Security Platform about this. This isn’t allowed!” I said as she jumped away. A bunch of other things were also on my ship. A timer with a note. This will tell you when strange things are in your ship's vicinity, the note read. Boy, I’d better get on my way. R.E Blackhole Factory +++ Guard Ship G418 +++ “I am picking up strange signals from the blackhole.” I said. Our factories and refineries are about 200 kilometers away from the event horizon. I was looking at the blackhole from just outside the station. It just looked like a clear piece of space that warped so much. It twisted and bent while I was looking at it from different angles. I was even able to see the factory on the other side of the blackhole. It looked stretched out and round because of the blackhole.”I am picking up something.” another patroller said.”What?” someone responded to him.”It is like a pulse from the blackhole.”The first guy responded.”Are you kidding me? The blackhole is not alive!”The second guy said back. As the two argued, I looked towards the blackhole, thinking about what it could be. An Exploration into Technology In this vast, starry world, lies a great amount of technology. A big question is on the topic of communication. How, in the entire universe, could we communicate? This question can be answered with lasers. Lasers could be shot, at light speed, to transfer messages. But this has a caveat: the lazer could be blocked, it could also be intercepted, and because planets rotate, they could just miss the target entirely. A way to solve this problem would be to use radio. But it is very hard to transfer messages long-range, and it would be easily intercepted. A way to solve this would be the use of messenger ships. This is expensive, slow, and money-intensive (FTL drives are still in testing). The way to solve this problem would be to use radio, but encrypt the message with RSA-1024. But, as more and more people use this, the radio will be overwhelmed and break. But, there is a solution to all this. Shooting radio waves into the sun, breaking past the barrier of the solar flares, will be a plasma layer. The radio message would be intensified, and bounce back with a lot of power. The frequency would also be pumped up. This would result in long-range communication. A different problem is energy transfer. The transfer of energy in wires would be laughable, and using kinetic or other physical means would be bad. The current best way is to use large sun-moon double rotating magnets, creating a hyperstream of electronegativity, spanning for a long time. Pirates can pirate this electromagnetic energy, but not much, because the settings of the sun-moon gears are a secret, and only transfering a large amount of energy to the correct source. As of [142:552], this document is the state of the art technology. The next section is about weapons. Weapons are very versatile, but the most used ones must be the auto-turret and laser cannons. The Auto-Turret uses an Artificial Intelligence program , Ark-4, to detect and shoot. The laser cannon uses a half-block mirror, and a reactive liquid, to fire a beam of intense light across many magnitudes. The most prominent are: Electromagnetic Laser Gun: shoots in the Magnetic magnitude to Visible light magnitude. Is normally purple in color. Nickname: Electro-Beam Sniper (EBS) Looks like: LOOKSLIKETHISEIHOIESHIFOHOIE Stealth Electromagnetic Laser Gun: Only in Magnetic Magnitude. Cannot be seen. Does not lose any power. Nickname: M1 Stealth Cougar (M1 S-C) Penetrating Laser Gun: Can deplete and penetrate defenses, in visible light and Tractor range. Usually green in color. Nickname: Big Bright Breaker (BBB) Looks like: LOOKSLIKETHISEIHOIESHIFOHOIE Stealth Penetrating Laser Gun: Same as Penetrating Gun, but not in visible spectrum. Loses 30% efficiency and striking power. Nickname: Hidden Dagger (HiDag) Heat Laser Gun: In the Micro / Gamma wave and visible light range. Is normally colored yellow. (there is no stealth option for this. This is too powerful, and any test of trying to make it stealth has resulted in a still visible laser and also loss of striking power) Nickname: Thermic05 (T05) Looks like: LOOKSLIKETHISEIHOIESHIFOHOIE Mining Laser Gun: For mining. No one knows the ultimate secret workings, but it is said to be an inner-ReverseTractor and exterior-Tractor beam. There is no stealth version of this. (Nick)name:IMT Extract 1.0 (IMT 1.0) Looks like: LOOKSLIKETHISEIHOIESHIFOHOIE However, not all weapons are lasers. There are guns too. Here are some of the most used: AutoFire Gun 2: Quite fast, hits targets semi-reliably. Is a head / side mounted auto-gun. Nickname: AutoG2 8-barrel quickShot: Can quickly shoot 8 bullets at once, manual aim. Nickname: 8XQuick TrackerBullet: Shoots a GPS tracking enabled bullet that can shoot onto and stick onto ships. Ships with electromagnetic defense are not vulnerable to this attack. The new TrackerBulletBETA might be able to. Nickname: Tracker Scattershot 2880: A gun that shoots multiple (variable) projectiles, usually small, and can be charged up for longer hits. Nickname: SS80 Micro Gun: A standard weapon that shoots twice per second. Manual aim. Nickname: M-Gun Quickshot Garrage: Quickshot, but one at a time and faster. Has a garage to store hundreds of bullets. Supports explosive bullets. Nickname: Explosive Surprise Micro Gun MK2: This upgraded version of the micro gun: has a higher rate of fire. Nickname: M-Gun2 HeatCharge: Shoots a bullet that, when it strikes, becomes extremely hot and melting vulnerable defenses. Nickname: Heater GyroBullet: Can spin around the ship, circumventing the shield. Loses firing power and speed, though. Nickname: SpinShot AI-Bullet: Each bullet has a explosive tipped bomb and a AI navigator. Can home in on targets from 3 miles away, can follow targets at full speed for 15 minutes. High cost. Nickname: AFarDeath Bonus Story 5: Voids Now +++ Void Mothership +++ +++ Renegade Void Ship +++ Mothership, 50 minutes after wormhole closed and defeat. “We are now in hiding. Building up our strength to beat those sharp-thorned pink-fleshed MONSTERS. They have taken our land, our stuff, and even one of our prized ships. They need to be gone from the vast universe! Start building up resources NOW!!!” “Yes, High Imperial Mother! Yes Yes, we will follow you!” “Go now, my children!” “Yes, Yes!” The hivemind connected, brainwashed voids started to build up materials, mining with all their strength. They were not dissatisfied or sad because of the defeat. They were going to take it back, no matter what. The humans, on the other hand, were too overexcited, and weren't really expecting a launch-back. MLR, are you ok? Yes, my child. I am. I’m just a little hurt. I’m your child? - I’m 21 years old! You are. I’m around 320 years old. Ten times your age, and more. We should start heading back to the Security Task Force. We could stay at the Interstellar Military, I think. We could, mother. Really calling me that? Yes? Then let’s go! MLR and the pilot went to the military and stayed, ready to attack anytime needed. They went on many wars and battles, and were victorious almost every time. They became respected pilots. Bonus Story 6: Village Life +++ Mom +++ +++ Kid +++ “Will I ever get to go with Daddy to jump to the stars?” I asked my mom. “If you work hard.” She was looking up at the sky, at night time. Father almost never came back. Something about IMA or something else. I couldn’t understand. Mother was always wishing he would stay, but he never did, at least for long. A shooting star passed. Time passes quickly. It is already 5 years later. “I got my Aeronautics Degree!” I said. “You did?” “YES! I’ll join the spaceship's crew!” Aging is unavoidable, and time speeds up. It is 10 years later. “3- 2- 1-Launchoff!!!” I was flying to the Space Station! Many things got done. It is 3 years later. “You are now the main controller of the space station.” “Yes! The one closest to my family right?” “Yes.” Crisis. It is 5 years later. “ALERT - Pirate Spaceships incoming, level 10.” “Send people down!” “OK!” Minutes pass, in confusion. Unformalized battle plans used everywhere. Radio fails. “We’re depleted 50%, we can’t send anyone over anymore!” “I’ll take it into my own hands.” “Commander - what are you going to do!!!?” I jumped into the Spacecraft Fuel Controller. It was in one of the fuel tanks. >>> SHOOT OFF [ALL] IN [FUEL] Are you sure you want to unhook and send all the fuel away? I knew this decision would shoot me away too. [Y/N]: Y For my family, and my team. >>> IGNITE [ALL] IN [FUEL] This will burn all the fuel in all the fuel tanks. [Y/N]: Y T-2 min >>> CONNECT to [PHONE_LINE] at [(335)-220-1135] CONNECTED. “Mom?” “Yes?” “I love you. I’m sacrificing myself to save you and the whole world.” “NO! Can you abort? Abort abort- now!” “No.” “I have 1 minutes and 30 seconds: say anything you like to me.” “If I had known, I would have stayed for more time with you.” “Say bye for me to father.” “...” A heart wrenching minute, a story complete. A fiery globe burned off all the Pirates. In it, the officer commander died. He had a good life. R.E factory +++ R.E patroller +++ I watched as a ball of fire erupted burning Pirates to particles. A squadron of R.E fighters were traveling to the scene to check out what had happened. After a couple minutes, the R.E ships came back and gave the news of no survivors. All they had were lots of signals. I took one of them and listened to it. The conversation between a mom and her kid was heartbreaking. I was shocked. ”Where did the pirates come from?” I asked. ”Why? The squadron leader asked me. ”The pirates used battle tactics I have never seen before-” I tried to explain. ”Look kid, I know this is sad but we all have work. We simply couldn't do anything about it.” Short Story 5: Retrieving Supernova Samples +++ Trunt Harvel +++ As my ship was nearing its destination, it detected significant activity in the midst of the binary system ARF-163. A quick scan revealed that the first few atoms of iron had already formed in the cores of both stars. This quickly grew. Many rings of gas have already been released, however the supernovae have not happened yet. Another scan indicated that they were one of the bigger binary systems, with the stars measuring 50 solar masses each. A nearby R.E patroller perished in front of me. It was on fire and it didn’t last much longer. I looked out in the distance and saw a R.E factory that had suffered a ton of damage. The occasional rings of gas pierced the factory’s shields(With no problem whatsoever)and hit the hull hard. A R.E fuel transport was pulverized a few moments later. The fuel became unstable and exploded the second the ship was destroyed. Then I realized if I stayed too much longer, my ship would be destroyed. There was some kind of anomaly with the gravitational pull these objects were exerting. I realized that there was way too much dark matter here. It seemed to have somehow compressed, exerting tons of gravitational force. It was at the center of the binary system, and the two stars were orbiting around it. Trading Post +++ Jim +++ “Time to check the news.” News Feed +++ Ship is incinerated +++ Supernova samples are needed greatly. +++ All of the nearby traders, be careful of frequent pirate attacks +++ “Pirate!” Brent screamed. I went to activate the crazy booster but Brent grabbed my hand and stopped me.”What are you doing?” I yelled. He pointed at the volatility meter. It was high and if I had activated the crazy booster, we would have been blasted to bits. An Exploration into Colony Living While a large part of the Frontier is the trials and tribulations that occur within it, the unsung heroes are the homes and amenities, which allow the colonists to live. They are the reason the colonists can grow up to be the heroes of their stories, and it’s about time they got some recognition. The first section is about the basics of colony living. These main facets are necessary for any colony home, and are always available to anyone. Ready-made housing: To save on costs or labor, all Frontier homes (or other buildings) are manufactured at various different assembly lines, where they start their lives as small package cubes. Areas of land are marked off for housing only, and before an occupant arrives, temporary shops might be set up. To build the house, the occupant places the package on the designated property area, and the package unfolds into a home before construction drones are sent out to stick it to the ground using Frontier-safe cement. Looks like: A modern home of varying size either with the occupant’s choice colors, or by default, faction colors and emblems. The occupant must contact the factory and pay additional processing costs to get custom colors on their new home. Price varies based on home size. Water recycling systems: Since water is only imported to the Frontier every so often, it must be conserved as much as possible. Every home or other building is equipped with water recycling systems on every faucet or drain. Minimal water is used, and recycled water is put through a filter, so it is always clean. Looks like: A simple water filter, connected to a system of pipes. Waste Management: Every human produces waste. That is an undeniably true fact. Therefore, the waste management system has to be resilient, and be able to cope with large amounts of human waste. It is a decentralized system, where water is filtered out of waste, and reprocessed (not for drinking, it goes to farms [see Farms section below for more details]). Waste is burned for fuel. Looks like: Tunnels underground, leading away from houses and into many waste management sites. Farms: A large greenhouse building. Plants are suspended in water, and soil is used increasingly less. Mostly automated. Looks like: A dome of polycarbonate[1] that heats up the inside. Filled to the brim with green plants. Water in a waterfall arrangement slowly pouring down. [1] Polycarbonates are thermoplastic polymers, 200 times stronger than glass, and can be clear or opaque. Nuclear reactors: Every appliance in the Frontier is powered by nuclear energy creating a magnetic wave, and compatible devices were able to take power from the magnetic field. Reactors are far away from homes, stabilized, and the government has taken extra precautions to line city walls with radiation-resistant materials.[2] MainBase™: Taking care of its people since 2096. Looks like: A lead dome containing fuel rods,[3] control rods,[4] a moderator,[5] a steam turbine,[6] an alternator,[7] and a pressurized water system.[8] The reactor is connected to the electrical supply system. The cooling towers, which there are at least one of, are shaped like a hyperboloid.[9] The reactor uses nuclear fission[10] to generate electricity. [2] Most commonly lead, which protects against alpha, beta, and gamma radiation emitted by uranium. [3] Self explanatory. Used as fuel for the reactor, consisting of uranium sheets called fuel pallets. [4] Cadmium rods which help to absorb neutrons. They can be moved to control reactions. [5] Self explanatory. One of the factors that helps moderate reactions. [6] Like a wind turbine, but for steam generated by the reactor. Also recycles steam into water for coolant. [7] A basic electricity generation system with a shaft rotated by the steam turbine to generate electricity. [8] Consists of a condenser, multiple pumps, and a pressurizer. Cools and pressurizes water for use as coolant. [10] Energy release due to splitting of the uranium atoms by slamming them into a neutron. [9] A solid or surface having plane sections that are hyperbolas, ellipses, or circles. //Continue here //ALERT: LANDMARK 2 STARTED. EXPLORATION 2 IS PRIORITY 2. WARNING: SUPERNOVA IN SECTOR 8 IS BECOMING VOLATILE. READY STATE LV5 SUPERNOVA ESTIMATED EXPLODE TIME: 30 MINUTES. READY STATE [HIGHEST] EMERGENCY MEETING IS CONVENED IN THE HIGHEST URGENCY LEVEL. THERE HAS BEEN A CIVILIAN EVACUATION THAT IS NOW COMPLETE. EMERGENCY ALERT: SUPERNOVA HAS EXPLODED! A GLITCH, AND A SIGNAL HEADED TOWARDS THE SUPERNOVA. EXPLOSION IMMINENT. A PERSON FIRED ON THE JOB. Landmark Story: CHAOTIC SUPERNOVA To: All_Colonists From: MainBase Priority: SO URGENT WE HAD TO CREATE A NEW PRIORITY LEVEL Subject: SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION BEGIN MESSAGE This is an urgent alert. As we speak, a supernova in Sector 8 is about to explode. All citizens have evacuated, and everyone is safe, that we know of. To anybody reading this who is somehow in Sector 8, please read faster. You'll be dead in a couple of minutes if you don't, so just hop on any lightspeed-enabled ship and push the big, red, EMERGENCY ESCAPE button. P.S. The pirates in Sector 8 don’t know about the supernova, just leave them alone or face a fine of 3000 credits. END MESSAGE A NEW STORY BEGINS The supernova explodes. Radiant light, spilling anywhere. Yellow, gold, orange, red, hints of blue and green, mixing together, the greatest light show of the universe. Rings of fire, destroying any and all in Sector 8. Then came the alerts. Error: Sector 8 ELECTRON detection systems are offline. URGENT: Detected a wave of electromagnetic energy capable of destroying: Below Level 12 Faraday Cage (All consumer electrical components) “NO! Send a message to every ship! They are about to be struck by this wave! Send it, send it! We don’t have much time!!!” Hah! The opponent ship didn’t dodge left! I could get a clear shot at him! 3,2,1 FIRE! ERROR. Connection to guns deactive. Huh? Guess I’ll try again? >>ISEUESBHYFVHJHUI^&%^I*OP{}”?>MNBGFDTYuiop’;. MNBVCFDRTY&u8iop;LKMNBVC Ummm? What? Then the lights turned off. [ THIS IS A SELF DECODING MESSAGE ] -BEGIN MESSAGE- All ships, All ships! The supernova has exploded! A high - level EMP has stopped all electronics from working for a few months. All current electronics will stop working in a few minutes. It is advised that any floating items powered by electricity immediately stop floating and come down. Leave any device down, it may explode at any moment. To protect your electronics, a hard electricity purge to deactivate any electricity in the wires may be done, not doing that may cause the magnetic force to be amplified. The government will provide rations. The emergency inter-faction level code (EILC) is now [Z9] -END OF MESSAGE- Bonus Story 7: The Specters +++ Lab Worker +++ “Should we continue research on the ghost fighters?” I asked. It was just after a supernova had exploded, after all. “Yes, of course. Current data shows a correlation between the supernova explosion and a spike in sightings of the ghost fighters,” replied my boss. “Although I think a more fitting name would be Specters. I’ll pass that on to the Species Naming Department.” Specter Sightings Weeks 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 Amnt. Before After Short Story 6: A New Finding In Warp Bubbles +++ Scientist +++ "YES! A non-arbitrary solution to the Einstein Field Equations!" "Really? Is it propelled faster than the speed of light without infinite energy?" "Yes! It uses the platonic solution of the Einstein-Maxwell plasma equation and uses super-compressed plasma above the supercritical point to power the Warp Bubble.” “But... about 1/10th the energy of the Earth's Sun would be required. Although, it would be possible." “Doesn't that much energy create a black hole?” "No, I compressed it above the supercritical point in matter phase-space, avoiding the black hole problem." "But super-compression beyond the supercritical point requires tremendous energy! How does this work?" "No, plasma has enough energy to super-compress itself when placed in a meta-memoratical placement matrix at a planet’s resolution." "Wow! Is the technology theoretical or physical?" "It's theoretical at the moment, but will become physical as the project nears completion." Editor’s note: If you are inclined to look up the phrases used in this segment or already know, you don’t need to read this. If not, then all you need to know is a scientist was able to power a Warp Bubble using amounts of plasma energy that would normally create a black hole, but he circumvented that effect by super-compressing the plasma beyond the normal upper limit of matter phase-space (combined position and velocity of a coordinate in space). To super-compress such high amounts of plasma, which would normally take a lot of energy, he added a few extra components, (explanation too long to put here, but you can look it up) and let the plasma super-compress itself. “Turn it on!” “OK - plasma is now charging...” A blinding light shot forwards. Then a bang, and a beep. “We’ve disconnected from the test ship!” “How did that happen?!” “I don’t know for sure, but it might be the plasma interference?” “I think that using the Neutron Star’s power wasn’t a good idea...” Suddenly, the Neutron Star brightened, and started pulsating. The neutron star exploded with Gamma, Alpha, and Beta rays, damaging sectors beyond 8. The only survivors were the cities with lead-lined walls. It had become a pulsar, pulsating about 700 times per minute. The amplitude was high enough to break steel walls, the wave traveling far beyond sector 8, undetected. And the wavelength is the exact one that disables technology by using sustained EMP like blasts. Oh well, electricity would have been off for a while anyways. The creases and troughs are enough to damage even the best designed Faraday cage. An Exploration into Off-the-Grid Frontier Technology Electricity has long been a key part of Frontier technology. However, ever since the supernova occurred, all electrical appliances have since shut themselves off and stopped working. As such, there have been numerous technological advances made in mechanics that do not require electricity. Here are some of the most useful tools without any electrical component: Hydraulics: Their sheer power makes them incredibly useful, even with electricity around. Without electricity, they have almost become a necessity. Every machine now relies on some sort of hydraulic. Specifically, the weapons have now become incredibly reliant on them. Pressure can be increased significantly with water, allowing projectiles to fly long distances. Pressure-locked doors also use hydraulics to most efficiently keep the air in and prevent it from leaking. Hydraulics are among the most useful tools without electricity. Animals: They have been seriously endangered for a while, however with Void animals in the picture, the issue of transportation (on land at least) is solved. However, the issue of space transportation does mean that most of the people of the Frontier are landlocked and are unable to reach space without absurdly complicated methods. Ventures into Sector 8 [! 4 SHIPS DETECTED GOING INTO SECTOR 8] --v [PICTURES] --^ OUT OF 4 SHIPS, 1 HAS RETURNED. Everyone on the ship is dead. The ship files have a message in them. Short Story 7: Research Delayed Science Report Unfortunately, due to the many events currently occurring, I am both short-staffed and out of tools. As such, I have decided to postpone the construction of the first Warp Bubble to go faster than light. Work on the Warp Bubble stated above will be continued theoretically, and we will try our best to create the parts that we can currently create. I will summarize our discoveries for now. There have been many advances that we have made with exotic matter, or negative-mass matter. It is simple to figure out that negative mass can be converted into negative energy, however what we can deduce from this is truly both incredibly complicated and incredibly counterintuitive. But before we jump into that, here is a simple description of how this matter is made and the primary reason not much has been done with it. The most primitive, and currently the only method is simply bashing random subatomic particles together and hoping they do something. This sometimes creates exotic matter, however it usually lasts for far less than a second. Even with the new technology, it is pretty much impossible to create exotic matter with any other method. The reason we were able to generate it so efficiently is that we were able to replicate each collision of subatomic particles that produced any exotic matter. However, the forces of gravity and electricity pretty much make it impossible for exotic matter to form any sort of molecule or molecular structure. Unless of course the particles are all of the same charge, in which case they clump together and stick together as tightly as they can, which is what we did for macroscopic experiments. First, some of the most simple ones are some of the most counterintuitive. One of these is that F=ma. Due to the negative mass in this situation, the force scalar is in fact negative (as long as the acceleration is positive). Due to this, it is very tricky to play around with. However, positive mass attracts negative mass through gravity. So negative mass pretty much stays still and floats in the air, and whenever anything moves, it keeps its distance from it. There is also the principle where m=Vd, where V is volume and d is density. Since the mass is negative, either the volume or the density is negative. We have found that in the exotic matter we have observed, the volume is positive and the density is negative, but that may only be because objects with negative volume don’t really exist. However, some more advanced properties make no sense and contradict each other. Because it has negative mass, it should always travel faster than the speed of light. This means that it in fact travels back in time, and every interaction it has with anything is reversed. This would sort of explain why it resists forces. But it is pretty much locked in place, so how can it be going at any speed other than 0? It will require further research in order to resolve these paradoxes. I am sure we will be able to eventually but as of now, this is as far as I will dive into this. Perhaps I can create some technology to help the people of the Frontier that will help them deal with the loss of electricity, or with the animals called Specters. Short Story 8: Fight with Specters +++ Heavyweight Fighter Captain +++ It appeared behind me. The radar detected it before me. And a warning - “Radioactivity detected from cannons on enemy ships, most likely charging nukes.” And I heard and felt the explosion behind me. I started the engines, and pushed the big red “emergency speed” button, and accelerated faster than normal. I turned the cannons and charged my bullets. I got hit by their cannons. The ship shook, sparks appearing everywhere. “Ship hull hit, cracks. Air leakage possible” I turned and ran, but my pursuer was right behind: I charged the back cannons, and shot wildly. I heard multiple explosions, and checked my radar. They were faster than me. I accelerated past the regulated limits, and hoped the engines wouldn’t break. “Air at 95%, warning. Warning. Engine overdriven” was the message I got from the computer. “Out of current stock for bullets. Reloading.” I aimed my cannons back, using them to shoot. “Detected electromagnetic spike from the opponent.” I didn’t care. Bad choice. I saw a streak of light come towards me, and it started attacking the shield. Visible cracks appeared. The computer went haywire. The shields were being consumed at 10% per 5 seconds, an unacceptable rate. I charged and released the electromagnetic pulse rectifier to no use. The beam broke through, and hit the ship. A hole was torn quickly. “Oxygen leak. Oxygen leak.” The beam hit the main reactor core. “Running on backup power. Main reactor down.” The lights switched to red, and an alarm started playing. I kept accelerating the ship, aiming for the Free Trading Center. I set an autopilot route there. And I fell asleep, unconscious. “Hello. It seems you have awoken.” I opened my eyelids. I saw white. A white room. White bed. White, like nothing else could be more clean, white. A nurse was standing talking. “You and your ship are protected now. Your ship seems to have some insurance, and they are dealing with it right now. Most of your team members survived, although your vice co-captain died because of a stroke caused by the oxygen loss.” She paused for a bit. “You may not be able to fly for a while, but you are safe. A new spaceship group, named Specters, have been discovered, and they targeted your ship. We took care of them by our advanced force field invented by the tech guy who saved us all when the Voids came. The Specters have not been confirmed to be human, though.” I tried to speak, but it came out in a mumble. “Try not to talk and think too much. You’ll need to stay in hospital for at least a week, you got some heavy injuries, mostly internal. Our tech is now limited because of the electricity block from the pulsar, but we can make do. See you later!” I got out the tablet, and tried to find more info on Specters, to no avail. Bonus Story 8A: Transport Fail This was the last transport I needed to do, before day break. The eclipse of the neutron star was happening soon, so I had my radar on to detect things in the dark. As I was flying, I could see the neutron star slowly but steadily moving beneath the large gas planet’s cover. It was a beautiful sight to see. [Alert: T-30s before eclipse. Readying radar.] The neutron star, with a last bright blue sliver left behind, sank and was fully covered by the gas giant. Illuminated by only the stars, my little control cabin became dark. And then the radar started pinging, and my HUD started flashing with lines detecting objects - my protector ships. Then suddenly, a blaring alarm rang, loud. Then my HUD flashed with multiple red lines - enemy!!! [User: Starting Guns...] I shot, focusing on the red lines. My guns turned fast, but they never seemed to shoot true. The radar started flickering, my connection with the array from my protector’s ships failing because of... [HIGH Alert: Detected Radiation Spike. Bomb is active on enemy ship, pointed at [YOU]] ... an EMP blast. And now a bomb warning. [Charging bomb shield - 30%] [Detected Radiation Spike - different enemy] [Charging bomb shield - 50%] [Detected Radiation Fall - Bomb about to shoot] [Bomb INCOMING T-3s] A blinding light. On the side of the Spectre (I think) ship, the characters: DAT1:24. The nebuli converge. The eclipse ends, the blue, deathly glow shines through again. My HUD flashes and zaps broken. A moment of silence. Then it lasts longer, and longer. The Specters left. All the electronic systems are offline at this point, and the emergency life support systems are working with only half efficiency, something to do with the HPA filter. The neutron star, pale blue. Hanging in the sky, in a desolate, isolated place. Its deathly look, staring at me. A god of chaos, condescending, with no regards to anything. But I did make it to my appointed location, and told them about the code. They thought nothing about it, though. No one cared much, I think. Bonus Story 8B: Data I just got some intel: DAT1:24. I am doing a system search through the entire contents of the internet to find a relevant match. I know this is hard, and my brain is only functioning with the help of a lot of caffeine, I somehow managed to complete the very hard and twisty path to activate the search. I’ll come back tomorrow with the search done. The resulting data returns a link from an obscure corner of the internet. The Starlink site goes as: [starlink://dat1/user?id=24/mainpage/password?captcha=true&credentials=false/] Upon opening (in a safeguarded computer), the site reveals a login page with a captcha from an unidentified company. I have created and trained an ANI (artificial narrow intelligence) to solve the captcha and crack every password. This will take several months, and the data, the second the webpage opens, will be saved as far as it can go. (We’re afraid that the page will detect the hacking and stop us from entering) [ 6 Months Later ] The resulting webpage has a lot of information, but the webpage could not be fully loaded and halfway through the server ended communication with the device and resulted in [ERROR 402: Permission Denied]. There was enough info to point to a relative hex location, (HEX - [ DATA EXPUNGED ]). A relative hex location is too large to search up, however we can pinpoint the location by electrorealitivic scanning. (doesn’t use electricity itself) We have done the scan and pinpointed an accurate location. [ 1 Week Later ] It is done! It is revealed that the person who was there leads the Specters is there we Wklv lv mxvw d udqgrp phvvdjh pdgh wr iloo lq whaw bhv brx vroyhg lw juhdw Aopz pz qbza h yhuk tlz hnl thkl av mpss pu alea flz fvb zvs clk pa nylha. [DATA COULD NOT BE READ BEYOND THIS POINT] The frontier was purged of the head of a disaster. But a cockroach can live, even after the head dies. And the Specters are far hardier than a cockroach. They’re gone for now, but they will come back. Later. Epilogue: A New Frontier A new horizon dawns. A flash of bright light. And the world turns upside down - Upon homeostasis, A mystery, uncovered. But for now, The Frontier is at a period of stability In this chaotic world. A period of peace with space. A time to breathe a sigh, and continue on. After the Specters, After the Voids, A new mystery, Unraveling, seeking resolve. A new Frontier. [Bottom of book] Back SOURCES: Blackholes, Whiteholes, and Wormholes By Michael Chen.

SHADE OFFEAR Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world. A tall Shade lifted his head and sniffed the air. He looked human except for his crimson hair and maroon eyes. Page 6 He blinked in surprise. The message had been correct: they were here. Or was it a trap? He weighed the odds, then said icily, “Spread out; hide behind trees and bushes. Stop whoever is coming… or die.” Around him shuffled twelve Urgals with short swords and round iron shields painted with black symbols. They resembled men with bowed legs and thick, brutish arms made for crushing. A pair of twisted horns grew above their small ears. The monsters hurried into the brush, grunting as they hid. Soon the rustling quieted and the forest was silent again. The Shade peered around a thick tree and looked up the trail. It was too dark for any human to see, but for him the faint moonlight was like sunshine streaming between the trees; every detail was clear and sharp to his searching gaze. He remained unnaturally quiet, a long pale sword in his hand. A wire-thin scratch curved down the blade. The weapon was thin enough to slip between a pair of ribs, yet stout enough to hack through the hardest armor. The Urgals could not see as well as the Shade; they groped like blind beggars, fumbling with their weapons. An owl screeched, cutting through the silence. No one relaxed until the bird flew past. Then the monsters shivered in the cold night; one snapped a twig with his heavy boot. The Shade hissed in anger, and the Urgals shrank back, motionless. He suppressed his distaste—they smelled like fetid meat—and turned away. They were tools, nothing more. The Shade forced back his impatience as the minutes became hours. The scent must have wafted far ahead of its owners. He did not let the Urgals get up or warm themselves. He denied himself those luxuries, too, and stayed behind the tree, watching the trail. Another gust of wind rushed through the forest. The smell was stronger this time. Excited, he lifted a thin lip in a snarl. “Get ready,” he whispered, his whole body vibrating. The tip of his sword moved in small circles. It had taken many plots and much pain to bring himself to this moment. It would not do to lose control now. Eyes brightened under the Urgals’ thick brows, and the creatures gripped their weapons tighter. Ahead of them, the Shade heard a clink as something hard struck a loose stone. Faint smudges emerged from the darkness and advanced down the trail. Three white horses with riders cantered toward the ambush, their heads held high and proud, their coats rippling in the moonlight like liquid silver. On the first horse was an elf with pointed ears and elegantly slanted eyebrows. His build was slim but strong, like a rapier. A powerful bow was slung on his back. A sword pressed against his side opposite a quiver of arrows fletched with swan feathers. The last rider had the same fair face and angled features as the other. He carried a long spear in his right hand and a white dagger at his belt. A helm of extraordinary craftsmanship, wrought with amber and gold, rested on his head. Between these two rode a raven-haired elven lady, who surveyed her surroundings with poise. Framed by long black locks, her deep eyes shone with a driving force. Her clothes were unadorned, yet her beauty was undiminished. At her side was a sword, and on her back a long bow with a quiver. She carried in her lap a pouch that she frequently looked at, as if to reassure herself that it was still there. One of the elves spoke quietly, but the Shade could not hear what was said. The lady answered with obvious authority, and her guards switched places. The one wearing the helm took the lead, shifting his Page 7 spear to a readier grip. They passed the Shade’s hiding place and the first few Urgals without suspicion. The Shade was already savoring his victory when the wind changed direction and swept toward the elves, heavy with the Urgals’ stench. The horses snorted with alarm and tossed their heads. The riders stiffened, eyes flashing from side to side, then wheeled their mounts around and galloped away. The lady’s horse surged forward, leaving her guards far behind. Forsaking their hiding, the Urgals stood and released a stream of black arrows. The Shade jumped out from behind the tree, raised his right hand, and shouted, “Garjzla!” A red bolt flashed from his palm toward the elven lady, illuminating the trees with a bloody light. It struck her steed, and the horse toppled with a high-pitched squeal, plowing into the ground chest-first. She leapt off the animal with inhuman speed, landed lightly, then glanced back for her guards. The Urgals’ deadly arrows quickly brought down the two elves. They fell from the noble horses, blood pooling in the dirt. As the Urgals rushed to the slain elves, the Shade screamed, “After her! She is the one I want!” The monsters grunted and rushed down the trail. A cry tore from the elf’s lips as she saw her dead companions. She took a step toward them, then cursed her enemies and bounded into the forest. While the Urgals crashed through the trees, the Shade climbed a piece of granite that jutted above them. From his perch he could see all of the surrounding forest. He raised his hand and uttered, “Böetq istalri!” and a quarter-mile section of the forest exploded into flames. Grimly he burned one section after another until there was a ring of fire, a half-league across, around the ambush site. The flames looked like a molten crown resting on the forest. Satisfied, he watched the ring carefully, in case it should falter. The band of fire thickened, contracting the area the Urgals had to search. Suddenly, the Shade heard shouts and a coarse scream. Through the trees he saw three of his charges fall in a pile, mortally wounded. He caught a glimpse of the elf running from the remaining Urgals. She fled toward the craggy piece of granite at a tremendous speed. The Shade examined the ground twenty feet below, then jumped and landed nimbly in front of her. She skidded around and sped back to the trail. Black Urgal blood dripped from her sword, staining the pouch in her hand. The horned monsters came out of the forest and hemmed her in, blocking the only escape routes. Her head whipped around as she tried to find a way out. Seeing none, she drew herself up with regal disdain. The Shade approached her with a raised hand, allowing himself to enjoy her helplessness. “Get her.” As the Urgals surged forward, the elf pulled open the pouch, reached into it, and then let it drop to the ground. In her hands was a large sapphire stone that reflected the angry light of the fires. She raised it over her head, lips forming frantic words. Desperate, the Shade barked, “Garjzla!” A ball of red flame sprang from his hand and flew toward the elf, fast as an arrow. But he was too late. A flash of emerald light briefly illuminated the forest, and the stone vanished. Then the red fire smote her and she collapsed. The Shade howled in rage and stalked forward, flinging his sword at a tree. It passed halfway through the trunk, where it stuck, quivering. He shot nine bolts of energy from his palm—which killed the Urgals Page 8 instantly—then ripped his sword free and strode to the elf. Prophecies of revenge, spoken in a wretched language only he knew, rolled from his tongue. He clenched his thin hands and glared at the sky. The cold stars stared back, unwinking, otherworldly watchers. Disgust curled his lip before he turned back to the unconscious elf. Her beauty, which would have entranced any mortal man, held no charm for him. He confirmed that the stone was gone, then retrieved his horse from its hiding place among the trees. After tying the elf onto the saddle, he mounted the charger and made his way out of the woods. He quenched the fires in his path but left the rest to burn. DISCOVERY Eragon knelt in a bed of trampled reed grass and scanned the tracks with a practiced eye. The prints told him that the deer had been in the meadow only a half-hour before. Soon they would bed down. His target, a small doe with a pronounced limp in her left forefoot, was still with the herd. He was amazed she had made it so far without a wolf or bear catching her. The sky was clear and dark, and a slight breeze stirred the air. A silvery cloud drifted over the mountains that surrounded him, its edges glowing with ruddy light cast from the harvest moon cradled between two peaks. Streams flowed down the mountains from stolid glaciers and glistening snowpacks. A brooding mist crept along the valley’s floor, almost thick enough to obscure his feet. Eragon was fifteen, less than a year from manhood. Dark eyebrows rested above his intense brown eyes. His clothes were worn from work. A hunting knife with a bone handle was sheathed at his belt, and a buckskin tube protected his yew bow from the mist. He carried a wood-frame pack. The deer had led him deep into the Spine, a range of untamed mountains that extended up and down the land of Alagaësia. Strange tales and men often came from those mountains, usually boding ill. Despite that, Eragon did not fear the Spine—he was the only hunter near Carvahall who dared track game deep into its craggy recesses. It was the third night of the hunt, and his food was half gone. If he did not fell the doe, he would be forced to return home empty-handed. His family needed the meat for the rapidly approaching winter and could not afford to buy it in Carvahall. Eragon stood with quiet assurance in the dusky moonlight, then strode into the forest toward a glen where he was sure the deer would rest. The trees blocked the sky from view and cast feathery shadows on the ground. He looked at the tracks only occasionally; he knew the way. At the glen, he strung his bow with a sure touch, then drew three arrows and nocked one, holding the others in his left hand. The moonlight revealed twenty or so motionless lumps where the deer lay in the grass. The doe he wanted was at the edge of the herd, her left foreleg stretched out awkwardly. Eragon slowly crept closer, keeping the bow ready. All his work of the past three days had led to this moment. He took a last steadying breath and—an explosion shattered the night. The herd bolted. Eragon lunged forward, racing through the grass as a fiery wind surged past his cheek. He slid to a stop and loosed an arrow at the bounding doe. It missed by a finger’s breadth and hissed into darkness. He cursed and spun around, instinctively nocking another arrow. Page 9 Behind him, where the deer had been, smoldered a large circle of grass and trees. Many of the pines stood bare of their needles. The grass outside the charring was flattened. A wisp of smoke curled in the air, carrying a burnt smell. In the center of the blast radius lay a polished blue stone. Mist snaked across the scorched area and swirled insubstantial tendrils over the stone. Eragon watched for danger for several long minutes, but the only thing that moved was the mist. Cautiously, he released the tension from his bow and moved forward. Moonlight cast him in pale shadow as he stopped before the stone. He nudged it with an arrow, then jumped back. Nothing happened, so he warily picked it up. Nature had never polished a stone as smooth as this one. Its flawless surface was dark blue, except for thin veins of white that spiderwebbed across it. The stone was cool and frictionless under his fingers, like hardened silk. Oval and about a foot long, it weighed several pounds, though it felt lighter than it should have. Eragon found the stone both beautiful and frightening.Where did it come from? Does it have a purpose? Then a more disturbing thought came to him:Was it sent here by accident, or am I meant to have it? If he had learned anything from the old stories, it was to treat magic, and those who used it, with great caution. But what should I do with the stone?It would be tiresome to carry, and there was a chance it was dangerous. It might be better to leave it behind. A flicker of indecision ran through him, and he almost dropped it, but something stayed his hand.At the very least, it might pay for some food, he decided with a shrug, tucking the stone into his pack. The glen was too exposed to make a safe camp, so he slipped back into the forest and spread his bedroll beneath the upturned roots of a fallen tree. After a cold dinner of bread and cheese, he wrapped himself in blankets and fell asleep, pondering what had occurred. PALANCARVALLEY The sun rose the next morning with a glorious conflagration of pink and yellow. The air was fresh, sweet, and very cold. Ice edged the streams, and small pools were completely frozen over. After a breakfast of porridge, Eragon returned to the glen and examined the charred area. The morning light revealed no new details, so he started for home. The rough game trail was faintly worn and, in places, nonexistent. Because it had been forged by animals, it often backtracked and took long detours. Yet for all its flaws, it was still the fastest way out of the mountains. The Spine was one of the only places that King Galbatorix could not call his own. Stories were still told about how half his army disappeared after marching into its ancient forest. A cloud of misfortune and bad luck seemed to hang over it. Though the trees grew tall and the sky shone brightly, few people could stay in the Spine for long without suffering an accident. Eragon was one of those few—not through any particular gift, it seemed to him, but because of persistent vigilance and sharp reflexes. He had hiked in the mountains for years, yet he was still wary of them. Every time he thought they had surrendered their secrets, something happened to upset his understanding of them—like the stone’s appearance. He kept up a brisk pace, and the leagues steadily disappeared. In late evening he arrived at the edge of a precipitous ravine. The Anora River rushed by far below, heading to Palancar Valley. Gorged with hundreds of tiny streams, the river was a brute force, battling against the rocks and boulders that barred Page 10 its way. A low rumble filled the air. He camped in a thicket near the ravine and watched the moonrise before going to bed. It grew colder over the next day and a half. Eragon traveled quickly and saw little of the wary wildlife. A bit past noon, he heard the Igualda Falls blanketing everything with the dull sound of a thousand splashes. The trail led him onto a moist slate outcropping, which the river sped past, flinging itself into empty air and down mossy cliffs. Before him lay Palancar Valley, exposed like an unrolled map. The base of the Igualda Falls, more than a half-mile below, was the northernmost point of the valley. A little ways from the falls was Carvahall, a cluster of brown buildings. White smoke rose from the chimneys, defiant of the wilderness around it. At this height, farms were small square patches no bigger than the end of his finger. The land around them was tan or sandy, where dead grass swayed in the wind. The Anora River wound from the falls toward Palancar’s southern end, reflecting great strips of sunlight. Far in the distance it flowed past the village Therinsford and the lonely mountain Utgard. Beyond that, he knew only that it turned north and ran to the sea. After a pause, Eragon left the outcropping and started down the trail, grimacing at the descent. When he arrived at the bottom, soft dusk was creeping over everything, blurring colors and shapes into gray masses. Carvahall’s lights shimmered nearby in the twilight; the houses cast long shadows. Aside from Therinsford, Carvahall was the only village in Palancar Valley. The settlement was secluded and surrounded by harsh, beautiful land. Few traveled here except merchants and trappers. The village was composed of stout log buildings with low roofs—some thatched, others shingled. Smoke billowed from the chimneys, giving the air a woody smell. The buildings had wide porches where people gathered to talk and conduct business. Occasionally a window brightened as a candle or lamp was lit. Eragon heard men talking loudly in the evening air while wives scurried to fetch their husbands, scolding them for being late. Eragon wove his way between the houses to the butcher’s shop, a broad, thick-beamed building. Overhead, the chimney belched black smoke. He pushed the door open. The spacious room was warm and well lit by a fire snapping in a stone fireplace. A bare counter stretched across the far side of the room. The floor was strewn with loose straw. Everything was scrupulously clean, as if the owner spent his leisure time digging in obscure crannies for minuscule pieces of filth. Behind the counter stood the butcher Sloan. A small man, he wore a cotton shirt and a long, bloodstained smock. An impressive array of knives swung from his belt. He had a sallow, pockmarked face, and his black eyes were suspicious. He polished the counter with a ragged cloth. Sloan’s mouth twisted as Eragon entered. “Well, the mighty hunter joins the rest of us mortals. How many did you bag this time?” “None,” was Eragon’s curt reply. He had never liked Sloan. The butcher always treated him with disdain, as if he were something unclean. A widower, Sloan seemed to care for only one person—his daughter, Katrina, on whom he doted. “I’m amazed,” said Sloan with affected astonishment. He turned his back on Eragon to scrape something off the wall. “And that’s your reason for coming here?” Page 11 “Yes,” admitted Eragon uncomfortably. “If that’s the case, let’s see your money.” Sloan tapped his fingers when Eragon shifted his feet and remained silent. “Come on—either you have it or you don’t. Which is it?” “I don’t really have any money, but I do—” “What, no money?” the butcher cut him off sharply. “And you expect to buy meat! Are the other merchants giving away their wares? Should I just hand you the goods without charge? Besides,” he said abruptly, “it’s late. Come back tomorrow with money. I’m closed for the day.” Eragon glared at him. “I can’t wait until tomorrow, Sloan. It’ll be worth your while, though; I found something to pay you with.” He pulled out the stone with a flourish and set it gently on the scarred counter, where it gleamed with light from the dancing flames. “Stole it is more likely,” muttered Sloan, leaning forward with an interested expression. Ignoring the comment, Eragon asked, “Will this be enough?” Sloan picked up the stone and gauged its weight speculatively. He ran his hands over its smoothness and inspected the white veins. With a calculating look, he set it down. “It’s pretty, but how much is it worth?” “I don’t know,” admitted Eragon, “but no one would have gone to the trouble of shaping it unless it had some value.” “Obviously,” said Sloan with exaggerated patience. “But how much value? Since you don’t know, I suggest that you find a trader who does, or take my offer of three crowns.” “That’s a miser’s bargain! It must be worth at least ten times that,” protested Eragon. Three crowns would not even buy enough meat to last a week. Sloan shrugged. “If you don’t like my offer, wait until the traders arrive. Either way, I’m tired of this conversation.” The traders were a nomadic group of merchants and entertainers who visited Carvahall every spring and winter. They bought whatever excess the villagers and local farmers had managed to grow or make, and sold what they needed to live through another year: seeds, animals, fabric, and supplies like salt and sugar. But Eragon did not want to wait until they arrived; it could be a while, and his family needed the meat now. “Fine, I accept,” he snapped. “Good, I’ll get you the meat. Not that it matters, but where did you find this?” “Two nights ago in the Spine—” “Get out!” demanded Sloan, pushing the stone away. He stomped furiously to the end of the counter and started scrubbing old bloodstains off a knife. “Why?” asked Eragon. He drew the stone closer, as if to protect it from Sloan’s wrath. Page 12 “I won’t deal with anything you bring back from those damned mountains! Take your sorcerer’s stone elsewhere.” Sloan’s hand suddenly slipped and he cut a finger on the knife, but he seemed not to notice. He continued to scrub, staining the blade with fresh blood. “You refuse to sell to me!” “Yes! Unless you pay with coins,” Sloan growled, and hefted the knife, sidling away. “Go, before I make you!” The door behind them slammed open. Eragon whirled around, ready for more trouble. In stomped Horst, a hulking man. Sloan’s daughter, Katrina—a tall girl of sixteen—trailed behind him with a determined expression. Eragon was surprised to see her; she usually absented herself from any arguments involving her father. Sloan glanced at them warily, then started to accuse Eragon. “He won’t—” “Quiet,” announced Horst in a rumbling voice, cracking his knuckles at the same time. He was Carvahall’s smith, as his thick neck and scarred leather apron attested. His powerful arms were bare to the elbow; a great expanse of hairy muscular chest was visible through the top of his shirt. A black beard, carelessly trimmed, roiled and knotted like his jaw muscles. “Sloan, what have you done now?” “Nothing.” He gave Eragon a murderous gaze, then spat, “This…boy came in here and started badgering me. I asked him to leave, but he won’t budge. I even threatened him and he still ignored me!” Sloan seemed to shrink as he looked at Horst. “Is this true?” demanded the smith. “No!” replied Eragon. “I offered this stone as payment for some meat, and he accepted it. When I told him that I’d found it in the Spine, he refused to even touch it. What difference does it make where it came from?” Horst looked at the stone curiously, then returned his attention to the butcher. “Why won’t you trade with him, Sloan? I’ve no love for the Spine myself, but if it’s a question of the stone’s worth, I’ll back it with my own money.” The question hung in the air for a moment. Then Sloan licked his lips and said, “This is my own store. I can do whatever I want.” Katrina stepped out from behind Horst and tossed back her auburn hair like a spray of molten copper. “Father, Eragonis willing to pay. Give him the meat, and then we can have supper.” Sloan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Go back to the house; this is none of your business… I saidgo !” Katrina’s face hardened, then she marched out of the room with a stiff back. Eragon watched with disapproval but dared not interfere. Horst tugged at his beard before saying reproachfully, “Fine, you can deal with me. What were you going to get, Eragon?” His voice reverberated through the room. “As much as I could.” Horst pulled out a purse and counted out a pile of coins. “Give me your best roasts and steaks. Make sure that it’s enough to fill Eragon’s pack.” The butcher hesitated, his gaze darting between Horst and Page 13 Eragon. “Not selling to me would be a very bad idea,” stated Horst. Glowering venomously, Sloan slipped into the back room. A frenzy of chopping, wrapping, and low cursing reached them. After several uncomfortable minutes, he returned with an armful of wrapped meat. His face was expressionless as he accepted Horst’s money, then proceeded to clean his knife, pretending that they were not there. Horst scooped up the meat and walked outside. Eragon hurried behind him, carrying his pack and the stone. The crisp night air rolled over their faces, refreshing after the stuffy shop. “Thank you, Horst. Uncle Garrow will be pleased.” Horst laughed quietly. “Don’t thank me. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. Sloan’s a vicious troublemaker; it does him good to be humbled. Katrina heard what was happening and ran to fetch me. Good thing I came—the two of you were almost at blows. Unfortunately, I doubt he’ll serve you or any of your family the next time you go in there, even if you do have coins.” “Why did he explode like that? We’ve never been friendly, but he’s always taken our money. And I’ve never seen him treat Katrina that way,” said Eragon, opening the top of the pack. Horst shrugged. “Ask your uncle. He knows more about it than I do.” Eragon stuffed the meat into his pack. “Well, now I have one more reason to hurry home… to solve this mystery. Here, this is rightfully yours.” He proffered the stone. Horst chuckled. “No, you keep your strange rock. As for payment, Albriech plans to leave for Feinster next spring. He wants to become a master smith, and I’m going to need an assistant. You can come and work off the debt on your spare days.” Eragon bowed slightly, delighted. Horst had two sons, Albriech and Baldor, both of whom worked in his forge. Taking one’s place was a generous offer. “Again, thank you! I look forward to working with you.” He was glad that there was a way for him to pay Horst. His uncle would never accept charity. Then Eragon remembered what his cousin had told him before he had left on the hunt. “Roran wanted me to give Katrina a message, but since I can’t, can you get it to her?” “Of course.” “He wants her to know that he’ll come into town as soon as the merchants arrive and that he will see her then.” “That all?” Eragon was slightly embarrassed. “No, he also wants her to know that she is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen and that he thinks of nothing else.” Horst’s face broke into a broad grin, and he winked at Eragon. “Getting serious, isn’t he?” “Yes, sir,” Eragon answered with a quick smile. “Could you also give her my thanks? It was nice of her to stand up to her father for me. I hope that she isn’t punished because of it. Roran would be furious if I got her into trouble.” Page 14 “I wouldn’t worry about it. Sloan doesn’t know that she called me, so I doubt he’ll be too hard on her. Before you go, will you sup with us?” “I’m sorry, but I can’t. Garrow is expecting me,” said Eragon, tying off the top of the pack. He hoisted it onto his back and started down the road, raising his hand in farewell. The meat slowed him down, but he was eager to be home, and renewed vigor filled his steps. The village ended abruptly, and he left its warm lights behind. The pearlescent moon peeked over the mountains, bathing the land in a ghostly reflection of daylight. Everything looked bleached and flat. Near the end of his journey, he turned off the road, which continued south. A simple path led straight through waist-high grass and up a knoll, almost hidden by the shadows of protective elm trees. He crested the hill and saw a gentle light shining from his home. The house had a shingled roof and a brick chimney. Eaves hung over the whitewashed walls, shadowing the ground below. One side of the enclosed porch was filled with split wood, ready for the fire. A jumble of farm tools cluttered the other side. The house had been abandoned for half a century when they moved in after Garrow’s wife, Marian, died. It was ten miles from Carvahall, farther than anyone else’s. People considered the distance dangerous because the family could not rely on help from the village in times of trouble, but Eragon’s uncle would not listen. A hundred feet from the house, in a dull-colored barn, lived two horses—Birka and Brugh—with chickens and a cow. Sometimes there was also a pig, but they had been unable to afford one this year. A wagon sat wedged between the stalls. On the edge of their fields, a thick line of trees traced along the Anora River. He saw a light move behind a window as he wearily reached the porch. “Uncle, it’s Eragon. Let me in.” A small shutter slid back for a second, then the door swung inward. Garrow stood with his hand on the door. His worn clothes hung on him like rags on a stick frame. A lean, hungry face with intense eyes gazed out from under graying hair. He looked like a man who had been partly mummified before it was discovered that he was still alive. “Roran’s sleeping,” was his answer to Eragon’s inquiring glance. A lantern flickered on a wood table so old that the grain stood up in tiny ridges like a giant fingerprint. Near a woodstove were rows of cooking utensils tacked onto the wall with homemade nails. A second door opened to the rest of the house. The floor was made of boards polished smooth by years of tramping feet. Eragon pulled off his pack and took out the meat. “What’s this? Did you buy meat? Where did you get the money?” asked his uncle harshly as he saw the wrapped packages. Eragon took a breath before answering. “No, Horst bought it for us.” “You let him pay for it? I told you before, I won’t beg for our food. If we can’t feed ourselves, we might as well move into town. Before you can turn around twice, they’ll be sending us used clothes and asking if we’ll be able to get through the winter.” Garrow’s face paled with anger. “I didn’t accept charity,” snapped Eragon. “Horst agreed to let me work off the debt this spring. He Page 15 needs someone to help him because Albriech is going away.” “And where will you get the time to work for him? Are you going to ignore all the things that need to be done here?” asked Garrow, forcing his voice down. Eragon hung his bow and quiver on hooks beside the front door. “I don’t know how I’ll do it,” he said irritably. “Besides, I found something that could be worth some money.” He set the stone on the table. Garrow bowed over it: the hungry look on his face became ravenous, and his fingers moved with a strange twitch. “You found this in the Spine?” “Yes,” said Eragon. He explained what had happened. “And to make matters worse, I lost my best arrow. I’ll have to make more before long.” They stared at the stone in the near darkness. “How was the weather?” asked his uncle, lifting the stone. His hands tightened around it like he was afraid it would suddenly disappear. “Cold,” was Eragon’s reply. “It didn’t snow, but it froze each night.” Garrow looked worried by the news. “Tomorrow you’ll have to help Roran finish harvesting the barley. If we can get the squash picked, too, the frost won’t bother us.” He passed the stone to Eragon. “Here, keep it. When the traders come, we’ll find out what it’s worth. Selling it is probably the best thing to do. The less we’re involved with magic, the better… Why did Horst pay for the meat?” It took only a moment for Eragon to explain his argument with Sloan. “I just don’t understand what angered him so.” Garrow shrugged. “Sloan’s wife, Ismira, went over the Igualda Falls a year before you were brought here. He hasn’t been near the Spine since, nor had anything to do with it. But that’s no reason to refuse payment. I think he wanted to give you trouble.” Eragon swayed blearily and said, “It’s good to be back.” Garrow’s eyes softened, and he nodded. Eragon stumbled to his room, pushed the stone under his bed, then fell onto the mattress.Home . For the first time since before the hunt, he relaxed completely as sleep overtook him. DRAGONTALES At dawn the sun’s rays streamed through the window, warming Eragon’s face. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up on the edge of the bed. The pine floor was cold under his feet. He stretched his sore legs and rubbed his back, yawning. Beside the bed was a row of shelves covered with objects he had collected. There were twisted pieces of wood, odd bits of shells, rocks that had broken to reveal shiny interiors, and strips of dry grass tied into knots. His favorite item was a root so convoluted he never tired of looking at it. The rest of the room was bare, except for a small dresser and nightstand. He pulled on his boots and stared at the floor, thinking. This was a special day. It was near this very hour, sixteen years ago, that his mother, Selena, had come home to Carvahall alone and pregnant. She had been gone for six years, living in the cities. When she returned, she wore expensive clothes, and her hair was bound by a net of pearls. She had sought out her brother, Garrow, and asked to stay with him until the baby arrived. Within five months her son was born. Everyone was shocked when Selena Page 16 tearfully begged Garrow and Marian to raise him. When they asked why, she only wept and said, “I must.” Her pleas had grown increasingly desperate until they finally agreed. She named him Eragon, then departed early the next morning and never returned. Eragon still remembered how he had felt when Marian told him the story before she died. The realization that Garrow and Marian were not his real parents had disturbed him greatly. Things that had been permanent and unquestionable were suddenly thrown into doubt. Eventually he had learned to live with it, but he always had a nagging suspicion that he had not been good enough for his mother.I’m sure there was a good reason for what she did; I only wish I knew what it was. One other thing bothered him: Who was his father? Selena had told no one, and whoever it might be had never come looking for Eragon. He wished that he knew who it was, if only to have a name. It would be nice to know his heritage. He sighed and went to the nightstand, where he splashed his face, shivering as the water ran down his neck. Refreshed, he retrieved the stone from under the bed and set it on a shelf. The morning light caressed it, throwing a warm shadow on the wall. He touched it one more time, then hurried to the kitchen, eager to see his family. Garrow and Roran were already there, eating chicken. As Eragon greeted them, Roran stood with a grin. Roran was two years older than Eragon, muscular, sturdy, and careful with his movements. They could not have been closer even if they had been real brothers. Roran smiled. “I’m glad you’re back. How was the trip?” “Hard,” replied Eragon. “Did Uncle tell you what happened?” He helped himself to a piece of chicken, which he devoured hungrily. “No,” said Roran, and the story was quickly told. At Roran’s insistence, Eragon left his food to show him the stone. This elicited a satisfactory amount of awe, but Roran soon asked nervously, “Were you able to talk with Katrina?” “No, there wasn’t an opportunity after the argument with Sloan. But she’ll expect you when the traders come. I gave the message to Horst; he will get it to her.” “You told Horst?” said Roran incredulously. “That was private. If I wanted everyone to know about it, I could have built a bonfire and used smoke signals to communicate. If Sloan finds out, he won’t let me see her again.” “Horst will be discreet,” assured Eragon. “He won’t let anyone fall prey to Sloan, least of all you.” Roran seemed unconvinced, but argued no more. They returned to their meals in the taciturn presence of Garrow. When the last bites were finished, all three went to work in the fields. The sun was cold and pale, providing little comfort. Under its watchful eye, the last of the barley was stored in the barn. Next, they gathered prickly vined squash, then the rutabagas, beets, peas, turnips, and beans, which they packed into the root cellar. After hours of labor, they stretched their cramped muscles, pleased that the harvest was finished. The following days were spent pickling, salting, shelling, and preparing the food for winter. Nine days after Eragon’s return, a vicious blizzard blew out of the mountains and settled over the valley. Page 17 The snow came down in great sheets, blanketing the countryside in white. They only dared leave the house for firewood and to feed the animals, for they feared getting lost in the howling wind and featureless landscape. They spent their time huddled over the stove as gusts rattled the heavy window shutters. Days later the storm finally passed, revealing an alien world of soft white drifts. “I’m afraid the traders may not come this year, with conditions this bad,” said Garrow. “They’re late as it is. We’ll give them a chance and wait before going to Carvahall. But if they don’t show soon, we’ll have to buy any spare supplies from the townspeople.” His countenance was resigned. They grew anxious as the days crept by without sign of the traders. Talk was sparse, and depression hung over the house. On the eighth morning, Roran walked to the road and confirmed that the traders had not yet passed. The day was spent readying for the trip into Carvahall, scrounging with grim expressions for saleable items. That evening, out of desperation, Eragon checked the road again. He found deep ruts cut into the snow, with numerous hoofprints between them. Elated, he ran back to the house whooping, bringing new life to their preparations. They packed their surplus produce into the wagon before sunrise. Garrow put the year’s money in a leather pouch that he carefully fastened to his belt. Eragon set the wrapped stone between bags of grain so it would not roll when the wagon hit bumps. After a hasty breakfast, they harnessed the horses and cleared a path to the road. The traders’ wagons had already broken the drifts, which sped their progress. By noon they could see Carvahall. In daylight, it was a small earthy village filled with shouts and laughter. The traders had made camp in an empty field on the outskirts of town. Groups of wagons, tents, and fires were randomly spread across it, spots of color against the snow. The troubadours’ four tents were garishly decorated. A steady stream of people linked the camp to the village. Crowds churned around a line of bright tents and booths clogging the main street. Horses whinnied at the noise. The snow had been pounded flat, giving it a glassy surface; elsewhere, bonfires had melted it. Roasted hazelnuts added a rich aroma to the smells wafting around them. Garrow parked the wagon and picketed the horses, then drew coins from his pouch. “Get yourselves some treats. Roran, do what you want, only be at Horst’s in time for supper. Eragon, bring that stone and come with me.” Eragon grinned at Roran and pocketed the money, already planning how to spend it. Roran departed immediately with a determined expression on his face. Garrow led Eragon into the throng, shouldering his way through the bustle. Women were buying cloth, while nearby their husbands examined a new latch, hook, or tool. Children ran up and down the road, shrieking with excitement. Knives were displayed here, spices there, and pots were laid out in shiny rows next to leather harnesses. Eragon stared at the traders curiously. They seemed less prosperous than last year. Their children had a frightened, wary look, and their clothes were patched. The gaunt men carried swords and daggers with a new familiarity, and even the women had poniards belted at their waists. What could have happened to make them like this? And why are they so late?wondered Eragon. He remembered the traders as being full of good cheer, but there was none of that now. Garrow pushed Page 18 down the street, searching for Merlock, a trader who specialized in odd trinkets and pieces of jewelry. They found him behind a booth, displaying brooches to a group of women. As each new piece was revealed, exclamations of admiration followed. Eragon guessed that more than a few purses would soon be depleted. Merlock seemed to flourish and grow every time his wares were complimented. He wore a goatee, held himself with ease, and seemed to regard the rest of the world with slight contempt. The excited group prevented Garrow and Eragon from getting near the trader, so they settled on a step and waited. As soon as Merlock was unoccupied, they hurried over. “And what might you sirs want to look at?” asked Merlock. “An amulet or trinket for a lady?” With a twirl he pulled out a delicately carved silver rose of excellent workmanship. The polished metal caught Eragon’s attention, and he eyed it appreciatively. The trader continued, “Not even three crowns, though it has come all the way from the famed craftsmen of Belatona.” Garrow spoke in a quiet voice. “We aren’t looking to buy, but to sell.” Merlock immediately covered the rose and looked at them with new interest. “I see. Maybe, if this item is of any value, you would like to trade it for one or two of these exquisite pieces.” He paused for a moment while Eragon and his uncle stood uncomfortably, then continued, “You didbring the object of consideration?” “We have it, but we would rather show it to you elsewhere,” said Garrow in a firm voice. Merlock raised an eyebrow, but spoke smoothly. “In that case, let me invite you to my tent.” He gathered up his wares and gently laid them in an iron-bound chest, which he locked. Then he ushered them up the street and into the temporary camp. They wound between the wagons to a tent removed from the rest of the traders’. It was crimson at the top and sable at the bottom, with thin triangles of colors stabbing into each other. Merlock untied the opening and swung the flap to one side. Small trinkets and strange pieces of furniture, such as a round bed and three seats carved from tree stumps, filled the tent. A gnarled dagger with a ruby in the pommel rested on a white cushion. Merlock closed the flap and turned to them. “Please, seat yourselves.” When they had, he said, “Now show me why we are meeting in private.” Eragon unwrapped the stone and set it between the two men. Merlock reached for it with a gleam in his eye, then stopped and asked, “May I?” When Garrow indicated his approval, Merlock picked it up. He put the stone in his lap and reached to one side for a thin box. Opened, it revealed a large set of copper scales, which he set on the ground. After weighing the stone, he scrutinized its surface under a jeweler’s glass, tapped it gently with a wooden mallet, and drew the point of a tiny clear stone over it. He measured its length and diameter, then recorded the figures on a slate. He considered the results for a while. “Do you know what this is worth?” “No,” admitted Garrow. His cheek twitched, and he shifted uncomfortably on the seat. Merlock grimaced. “Unfortunately, neither do I. But I can tell you this much: the white veins are the same material as the blue that surrounds them, only a different color. What that material might be, though, I haven’t a clue. It’s harder than any rock I have seen, harder even than diamond. Whoever shaped it used tools I have never seen—or magic. Also, it’s hollow.” Page 19 “What?” exclaimed Garrow. An irritated edge crept into Merlock’s voice. “Did you ever hear a rock sound like this?” He grabbed the dagger from the cushion and slapped the stone with the flat of the blade. A pure note filled the air, then faded away smoothly. Eragon was alarmed, afraid that the stone had been damaged. Merlock tilted the stone toward them. “You will find no scratches or blemishes where the dagger struck. I doubt I could do anything to harm this stone, even if I took a hammer to it.” Garrow crossed his arms with a reserved expression. A wall of silence surrounded him. Eragon was puzzled.I knew that the stone appeared in the Spine through magic, but made by magic? What for and why? He blurted, “But what is it worth?” “I can’t tell you that,” said Merlock in a pained voice. “I am sure there are people who would pay dearly to have it, but none of them are in Carvahall. You would have to go to the southern cities to find a buyer. This is a curiosity for most people—not an item to spend money on when practical things are needed.” Garrow stared at the tent ceiling like a gambler calculating the odds. “Will you buy it?” The trader answered instantly, “It’s not worth the risk. I might be able to find a wealthy buyer during my spring travels, but I can’t be certain. Even if I did, you wouldn’t be paid until I returned next year. No, you will have to find someone else to trade with. I am curious, however… Why did you insist on talking to me in private?” Eragon put the stone away before answering. “Because,” he glanced at the man, wondering if he would explode like Sloan, “I found this in the Spine, and folks around here don’t like that.” Merlock gave him a startled look. “Do you know why my fellow merchants and I were late this year?” Eragon shook his head. “Our wanderings have been dogged with misfortune. Chaos seems to rule Alagaësia. We could not avoid illness, attacks, and the most cursed black luck. Because the Varden’s attacks have increased, Galbatorix has forced cities to send more soldiers to the borders, men who are needed to combat the Urgals. The brutes have been migrating southeast, toward the Hadarac Desert. No one knows why and it wouldn’t concern us, except that they’re passing through populated areas. They’ve been spotted on roads and near cities. Worst of all are reports of a Shade, though the stories are unconfirmed. Not many people survive such an encounter.” “Why haven’t we heard of this?” cried Eragon. “Because,” said Merlock grimly, “it only began a few months ago. Whole villages have been forced to move because Urgals destroyed their fields and starvation threatens.” “Nonsense,” growled Garrow. “We haven’t seen any Urgals; the only one around here has his horns mounted in Morn’s tavern.” Merlock arched an eyebrow. “Maybe so, but this is a small village hidden by mountains. It’s not surprising that you’ve escaped notice. However, I wouldn’t expect that to last. I only mentioned this because strange things are happening here as well if you found such a stone in the Spine.” With that sobering statement, he bid them farewell with a bow and slight smile. Page 20 Garrow headed back to Carvahall with Eragon trailing behind. “What do you think?” asked Eragon. “I’m going to get more information before I make up my mind. Take the stone back to the wagon, then do what you want. I’ll meet you for dinner at Horst’s.” Eragon dodged through the crowd and happily dashed back to the wagon. Trading would take his uncle hours, time that he planned to enjoy fully. He hid the stone under the bags, then set out into town with a cocky stride. He walked from one booth to another, evaluating the goods with a buyer’s eye, despite his meager supply of coins. When he talked with the merchants, they confirmed what Merlock had said about the instability in Alagaësia. Over and over the message was repeated: last year’s security has deserted us; new dangers have appeared, and nothing is safe. Later in the day he bought three sticks of malt candy and a small piping-hot cherry pie. The hot food felt good after hours of standing in the snow. He licked the sticky syrup from his fingers regretfully, wishing for more, then sat on the edge of a porch and nibbled a piece of candy. Two boys from Carvahall wrestled nearby, but he felt no inclination to join them. As the day descended into late afternoon, the traders took their business into people’s homes. Eragon was impatient for evening, when the troubadours would come out to tell stories and perform tricks. He loved hearing about magic, gods, and, if they were especially lucky, the Dragon Riders. Carvahall had its own storyteller, Brom—a friend of Eragon’s—but his tales grew old over the years, whereas the troubadours always had new ones that he listened to eagerly. Eragon had just broken off an icicle from the underside of the porch when he spotted Sloan nearby. The butcher had not seen him, so Eragon ducked his head and bolted around a corner toward Morn’s tavern. The inside was hot and filled with greasy smoke from sputtering tallow candles. The shiny-black Urgal horns, their twisted span as great as his outstretched arms, were mounted over the door. The bar was long and low, with a stack of staves on one end for customers to carve. Morn tended the bar, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The bottom half of his face was short and mashed, as if he had rested his chin on a grinding wheel. People crowded solid oak tables and listened to two traders who had finished their business early and had come in for beer. Morn looked up from a mug he was cleaning. “Eragon! Good to see you. Where’s your uncle?” “Buying,” said Eragon with a shrug. “He’s going to be a while.” “And Roran, is he here?” asked Morn as he swiped the cloth through another mug. “Yes, no sick animals to keep him back this year.” “Good, good.” Eragon gestured at the two traders. “Who are they?” “Grain buyers. They bought everyone’s seed at ridiculously low prices, and now they’re telling wild stories, expecting us to believe them.” Eragon understood why Morn was so upset.People need that money. We can’t get by without it. “What Page 21 kind of stories?” Morn snorted. “They say the Varden have formed a pact with the Urgals and are massing an army to attack us.Supposedly , it’s only through the grace of our king that we’ve been protected for so long—as if Galbatorix would care if we burned to the ground… Go listen to them. I have enough on my hands without explaining their lies.” The first trader filled a chair with his enormous girth; his every movement caused it to protest loudly. There was no hint of hair on his face, his pudgy hands were baby smooth, and he had pouting lips that curled petulantly as he sipped from a flagon. The second man had a florid face. The skin around his jaw was dry and corpulent, filled with lumps of hard fat, like cold butter gone rancid. Contrasted with his neck and jowls, the rest of his body was unnaturally thin. The first trader vainly tried to pull back his expanding borders to fit within the chair. He said, “No, no, you don’t understand. It is only through the king’s unceasing efforts on your behalf that you are able to argue with us in safety. If he, in all his wisdom, were to withdraw that support, woe unto you!” Someone hollered, “Right, why don’t you also tell us the Riders have returned and you’ve each killed a hundred elves. Do you think we’re children to believe in your tales? We can take care of ourselves.” The group chuckled. The trader started to reply when his thin companion intervened with a wave of his hand. Gaudy jewels flashed on his fingers. “You misunderstand. We know the Empire cannot care for each of us personally, as you may want, but it can keep Urgals and other abominations from overrunning this,” he searched vaguely for the right term, “place.” The trader continued, “You’re angry with the Empire for treating people unfairly, a legitimate concern, but a government cannot please everyone. There will inevitably be arguments and conflicts. However, the majority of us have nothing to complain about. Every country has some small group of malcontents who aren’t satisfied with the balance of power.” “Yeah,” called a woman, “if you’re willing to call the Varden small!” The fat man sighed. “We already explained that the Varden have no interest in helping you. That’s only a falsehood perpetuated by the traitors in an attempt to disrupt the Empire and convince us that the real threat is inside—not outside—our borders. All they want to do is overthrow the king and take possession of our land. They have spies everywhere as they prepare to invade. You never know who might be working for them.” Eragon did not agree, but the traders’ words were smooth, and people were nodding. He stepped forward and said, “How do you know this? I can say that clouds are green, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Prove you aren’t lying.” The two men glared at him while the villagers waited silently for the answer. The thin trader spoke first. He avoided Eragon’s eyes. “Aren’t your children taught respect? Or do you let boys challenge men whenever they want to?” The listeners fidgeted and stared at Eragon. Then a man said, “Answer the question.” “It’s only common sense,” said the fat one, sweat beading on his upper lip. His reply riled the villagers, and the dispute resumed. Page 22 Eragon returned to the bar with a sour taste in his mouth. He had never before met anyone who favored the Empire and tore down its enemies. There was a deep-seated hatred of the Empire in Carvahall, almost hereditary in nature. The Empire never helped them during harsh years when they nearly starved, and its tax collectors were heartless. He felt justified in disagreeing with the traders regarding the king’s mercy, but he did speculate about the Varden. The Varden were a rebel group that constantly raided and attacked the Empire. It was a mystery who their leader was or who had formed them in the years following Galbatorix’s rise to power over a century ago. The group had garnered much sympathy as they eluded Galbatorix’s efforts to destroy them. Little was known about the Varden except that if you were a fugitive and had to hide, or if you hated the Empire, they would accept you. The only problem was finding them. Morn leaned over the bar and said, “Incredible, isn’t it? They’re worse than vultures circling a dying animal. There’s going to be trouble if they stay much longer.” “For us or for them?” “Them,” said Morn as angry voices filled the tavern. Eragon left when the argument threatened to become violent. The door thudded shut behind him, cutting off the voices. It was early evening, and the sun was sinking rapidly; the houses cast long shadows on the ground. As Eragon headed down the street, he noticed Roran and Katrina standing in an alley. Roran said something Eragon could not hear. Katrina looked down at her hands and answered in an undertone, then leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him before darting away. Eragon trotted to Roran and teased, “Having a good time?” Roran grunted noncommittally as he paced away. “Have you heard the traders’ news?” asked Eragon, following. Most of the villagers were indoors, talking to traders or waiting until it was dark enough for the troubadours to perform. “Yes.” Roran seemed distracted. “What do you think of Sloan?” “I thought it was obvious.” “There’ll be blood between us when he finds out about Katrina and me,” stated Roran. A snowflake landed on Eragon’s nose, and he looked up. The sky had turned gray. He could think of nothing appropriate to say; Roran was right. He clasped his cousin on the shoulder as they continued down the byway. Dinner at Horst’s was hearty. The room was full of conversation and laughter. Sweet cordials and heavy ales were consumed in copious amounts, adding to the boisterous atmosphere. When the plates were empty, Horst’s guests left the house and strolled to the field where the traders were camped. A ring of poles topped with candles had been stuck into the ground around a large clearing. Bonfires blazed in the background, painting the ground with dancing shadows. The villagers slowly gathered around the circle and waited expectantly in the cold. The troubadours came tumbling out of their tents, dressed in tasseled clothing, followed by older and more stately minstrels. The minstrels provided music and narration as their younger counterparts acted out the stories. The first plays were pure entertainment: bawdy and full of jokes, pratfalls, and ridiculous characters. Later, however, when the candles sputtered in their sockets and everyone was drawn together into a tight circle, the old storyteller Brom stepped forward. A knotted white beard rippled over his chest, and a long black cape was wrapped around his bent shoulders, obscuring his body. He spread Page 23 his arms with hands that reached out like talons and recited thus: “The sands of time cannot be stopped. Years pass whether we will them or not… but we can remember. What has been lost may yet live on in memories. That which you will hear is imperfect and fragmented, yet treasure it, for without you it does not exist. I give you now a memory that has been forgotten, hidden in the dreamy haze that lies behind us.” His keen eyes inspected their interested faces. His gaze lingered on Eragon last of all. “Before your grandfathers’ fathers were born, and yea, even before their fathers, the Dragon Riders were formed. To protect and guard was their mission, and for thousands of years they succeeded. Their prowess in battle was unmatched, for each had the strength of ten men. They were immortal unless blade or poison took them. For good only were their powers used, and under their tutelage tall cities and towers were built out of the living stone. While they kept peace, the land flourished. It was a golden time. The elves were our allies, the dwarves our friends. Wealth flowed into our cities, and men prospered. But weep… for it could not last.” Brom looked down silently. Infinite sadness resonated in his voice. “Though no enemy could destroy them, they could not guard against themselves. And it came to pass at the height of their power that a boy, Galbatorix by name, was born in the province of Inzilbêth, which is no more. At ten he was tested, as was the custom, and it was found that great power resided in him. The Riders accepted him as their own. “Through their training he passed, exceeding all others in skill. Gifted with a sharp mind and strong body, he quickly took his place among the Riders’ ranks. Some saw his abrupt rise as dangerous and warned the others, but the Riders had grown arrogant in their power and ignored caution. Alas, sorrow was conceived that day. “So it was that soon after his training was finished, Galbatorix took a reckless trip with two friends. Far north they flew, night and day, and passed into the Urgals’ remaining territory, foolishly thinking their new powers would protect them. There on a thick sheet of ice, unmelted even in summer, they were ambushed in their sleep. Though his friends and their dragons were butchered and he suffered great wounds, Galbatorix slew his attackers. Tragically, during the fight a stray arrow pierced his dragon’s heart. Without the arts to save her, she died in his arms. Then were the seeds of madness planted.” The storyteller clasped his hands and looked around slowly, shadows flickering across his worn face. The next words came like the mournful toll of a requiem. “Alone, bereft of much of his strength and half mad with loss, Galbatorix wandered without hope in that desolate land, seeking death. It did not come to him, though he threw himself without fear against any living thing. Urgals and other monsters soon fled from his haunted form. During this time he came to realize that the Riders might grant him another dragon. Driven by this thought, he began the arduous journey, on foot, back through the Spine. Territory he had soared over effortlessly on a dragon’s back now took him months to traverse. He could hunt with magic, but oftentimes he walked in places where animals did not travel. Thus when his feet finally left the mountains, he was close to death. A farmer found him collapsed in the mud and summoned the Riders. “Unconscious, he was taken to their holdings, and his body healed. He slept for four days. Upon awakening he gave no sign of his fevered mind. When he was brought before a council convened to judge him, Galbatorix demanded another dragon. The desperation of the request revealed his dementia, Page 24 and the council saw him for what he truly was. Denied his hope, Galbatorix, through the twisted mirror of his madness, came to believe it was the Riders’ fault his dragon had died. Night after night he brooded on that and formulated a plan to exact revenge.” Brom’s words dropped to a mesmerizing whisper. “He found a sympathetic Rider, and there his insidious words took root. By persistent reasoning and the use of dark secrets learned from a Shade, he inflamed the Rider against their elders. Together they treacherously lured and killed an elder. When the foul deed was done, Galbatorix turned on his ally and slaughtered him without warning. The Riders found him, then, with blood dripping from his hands. A scream tore from his lips, and he fled into the night. As he was cunning in his madness, they could not find him. “For years he hid in wastelands like a hunted animal, always watching for pursuers. His atrocity was not forgotten, but over time searches ceased. Then through some ill fortune he met a young Rider, Morzan—strong of body, but weak of mind. Galbatorix convinced Morzan to leave a gate unbolted in the citadel Ilirea, which is now called Urû’baen. Through this gate Galbatorix entered and stole a dragon hatchling. “He and his new disciple hid themselves in an evil place where the Riders dared not venture. There Morzan entered into a dark apprenticeship, learning secrets and forbidden magic that should never have been revealed. When his instruction was finished and Galbatorix’s black dragon, Shruikan, was fully grown, Galbatorix revealed himself to the world, with Morzan at his side. Together they fought any Rider they met. With each kill their strength grew. Twelve of the Riders joined Galbatorix out of desire for power and revenge against perceived wrongs. Those twelve, with Morzan, became the Thirteen Forsworn. The Riders were unprepared and fell beneath the onslaught. The elves, too, fought bitterly against Galbatorix, but they were overthrown and forced to flee to their secret places, from whence they come no more. “Only Vrael, leader of the Riders, could resist Galbatorix and the Forsworn. Ancient and wise, he struggled to save what he could and keep the remaining dragons from falling to his enemies. In the last battle, before the gates of Dorú Areaba, Vrael defeated Galbatorix, but hesitated with the final blow. Galbatorix seized the moment and smote him in the side. Grievously wounded, Vrael fled to Utgard Mountain, where he hoped to gather strength. But it was not to be, for Galbatorix found him. As they fought, Galbatorix kicked Vrael in the fork of his legs. With that underhanded blow, he gained dominance over Vrael and removed his head with a blazing sword. “Then as power rushed through his veins, Galbatorix anointed himself king over all Alagaësia. “And from that day, he has ruled us.” With the completion of the story, Brom shuffled away with the troubadours. Eragon thought he saw a tear shining on his cheek. People murmured quietly to each other as they departed. Garrow said to Eragon and Roran, “Consider yourselves fortunate. I have heard this tale only twice in my life. If the Empire knew that Brom had recited it, he would not live to see a new month.” FATE’SGIFT The evening after their return from Carvahall, Eragon decided to test the stone as Merlock had. Alone in Page 25 his room, he set it on his bed and laid three tools next to it. He started with a wooden mallet and lightly tapped the stone. It produced a subtle ringing. Satisfied, he picked up the next tool, a heavy leather hammer. A mournful peal reverberated when it struck. Lastly, he pounded a small chisel against it. The metal did not chip or scratch the stone, but it produced the clearest sound yet. As the final note died away, he thought he heard a faint squeak. Merlock said the stone was hollow; there could be something of value inside. I don’t know how to open it, though. There must have been a good reason for someone to shape it, but whoever sent the stone into the Spine hasn’t taken the trouble to retrieve it or doesn’t know where it is. But I don’t believe that a magician with enough power to transport the stone wouldn’t be able to find it again. So was I meant to have it?He could not answer the question. Resigned to an unsolvable mystery, he picked up the tools and returned the stone to its shelf. That night he was abruptly roused from sleep. He listened carefully. All was quiet. Uneasy, he slid his hand under the mattress and grasped his knife. He waited a few minutes, then slowly sank back to sleep. A squeak pierced the silence, tearing him back to wakefulness. He rolled out of bed and yanked the knife from its sheath. Fumbling with a tinderbox, he lit a candle. The door to his room was closed. Though the squeak was too loud for a mouse or rat, he still checked under the bed. Nothing. He sat on the edge of the mattress and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Another squeak filled the air, and he started violently. Where was the noise was coming from? Nothing could be in the floor or walls; they were solid wood. The same went for his bed, and he would have noticed if anything had crawled into his straw mattress during the night. His eyes settled on the stone. He took it off the shelf and absently cradled it as he studied the room. A squeak rang in his ears and reverberated through his fingers; it came from the stone. The stone had given him nothing but frustration and anger, and now it would not even let him sleep! It ignored his furious glare and sat solidly, occasionally peeping. Then it gave one very loud squeak and fell silent. Eragon warily put it away and got back under the sheets. Whatever secret the stone held, it would have to wait until morning. The moon was shining through his window when he woke again. The stone was rocking rapidly on the shelf, knocking against the wall. It was bathed in cool moonlight that bleached its surface. Eragon jumped out of bed, knife in hand. The motion stopped, but he remained tense. Then the stone started squeaking and rocking faster than ever. With an oath, he began dressing. He did not care how valuable the stone might be; he was going to take it far away and bury it. The rocking stopped; the stone became quiet. It quivered, then rolled forward and dropped onto the floor with a loud thump. He inched toward the door in alarm as the stone wobbled toward him. Suddenly a crack appeared on the stone. Then another and another. Transfixed, Eragon leaned forward, still holding the knife. At the top of the stone, where all the cracks met, a small piece wobbled, as if it were balanced on something, then rose and toppled to the floor. After another series of squeaks, a small dark head poked out of the hole, followed by a weirdly angled body. Eragon gripped the knife tighter and held very still. Soon the creature was all the way out of the stone. It stayed in place for a moment, then skittered into the moonlight. Eragon recoiled in shock. Standing in front of him, licking off the membrane that encased it, was a dragon. Page 26 AWAKENING The dragon was no longer than his forearm, yet it was dignified and noble. Its scales were deep sapphire blue, the same color as the stone. But not a stone, he realized, an egg. The dragon fanned its wings; they were what had made it appear so contorted. The wings were several times longer than its body and ribbed with thin fingers of bone that extended from the wing’s front edge, forming a line of widely spaced talons. The dragon’s head was roughly triangular. Two diminutive white fangs curved down out of its upper jaw. They looked very sharp. Its claws were also white, like polished ivory, and slightly serrated on the inside curve. A line of small spikes ran down the creature’s spine from the base of its head to the tip of its tail. A hollow where its neck and shoulders joined created a larger-than-normal gap between the spikes. Eragon shifted slightly, and the dragon’s head snapped around. Hard, ice-blue eyes fixed on him. He kept very still. It might be a formidable enemy if it decided to attack. The dragon lost interest in Eragon and awkwardly explored the room, squealing as it bumped into a wall or furniture. With a flutter of wings, it leapt onto the bed and crawled to his pillow, squeaking. Its mouth was open pitifully, like a young bird’s, displaying rows of pointed teeth. Eragon sat cautiously on the end of the bed. The dragon smelled his hand, nibbled his sleeve. He pulled his arm back. A smile tugged at Eragon’s lips as he looked at the small creature. Tentatively, he reached out with his right hand and touched its flank. A blast of icy energy surged into his hand and raced up his arm, burning in his veins like liquid fire. He fell back with a wild cry. An iron clang filled his ears, and he heard a soundless scream of rage. Every part of his body seared with pain. He struggled to move, but was unable to. After what seemed like hours, warmth seeped back into his limbs, leaving them tingling. Shivering uncontrollably, he pushed himself upright. His hand was numb, his fingers paralyzed. Alarmed, he watched as the middle of his palm shimmered and formed a diffused white oval. The skin itched and burned like a spider bite. His heart pounded frantically. Eragon blinked, trying to understand what had occurred. Something brushed against his consciousness, like a finger trailing over his skin. He felt it again, but this time it solidified into a tendril of thought through which he could feel a growing curiosity. It was as if an invisible wall surrounding his thoughts had fallen away, and he was now free to reach out with his mind. He was afraid that without anything to hold him back, he would float out of his body and be unable to return, becoming a spirit of the ether. Scared, he pulled away from the contact. The new sense vanished as if he had closed his eyes. He glared suspiciously at the motionless dragon. A scaly leg scraped against his side, and he jerked back. But the energy did not shock him again. Puzzled, he rubbed the dragon’s head with his right hand. A light tingling ran up his arm. The dragon nuzzled him, arching its back like a cat. He slid a finger over its thin wing membranes. They felt like old parchment, velvety and warm, but still slightly damp. Hundreds of slender veins pulsed through them. Again the tendril touched his mind, but this time, instead of curiosity, he sensed an overpowering, ravenous hunger. He got up with a sigh. This was a dangerous animal, of that he was sure. Yet it seemed so helpless crawling on his bed, he could only wonder if there was any harm in keeping it. The dragon wailed in a reedy tone as it looked for food. Eragon quickly scratched its head to keep it quiet.I’ll think about this later, he decided, and left the room, carefully closing the door. Returning with two strips of dried meat, he found the dragon sitting on the windowsill, watching the moon. He cut the meat into small squares and offered one to the dragon. It smelled the square cautiously, Page 27 then jabbed its head forward like a snake and snatched the meat from his fingers, swallowing it whole with a peculiar jerk. The dragon prodded Eragon’s hand for more food. He fed it, careful to keep his fingers out of the way. By the time there was only one square left, the dragon’s belly was bulging. He proffered the last piece; the dragon considered it for a moment, then lazily snapped it up. Done eating, it crawled onto his arm and curled against his chest. Then it snorted, a puff of dark smoke rising from its nostrils. Eragon looked at it with wonder. Just when he thought the dragon was asleep, a low humming came from its vibrating throat. Gently, he carried it to the bed and set it by his pillow. The dragon, eyes closed, wrapped its tail around the bedpost contentedly. Eragon lay next to it, flexing his hand in the near darkness. He faced a painful dilemma: By raising a dragon, he could become a Rider. Myths and stories about Riders were treasured, and being one would automatically place him among those legends. However, if the Empire discovered the dragon, he and his family would be put to death unless he joined the king. No one could—or would—help them. The simplest solution was just to kill the dragon, but the idea was repugnant, and he rejected it. Dragons were too revered for him to even consider that.Besides, what could betray us? he thought.We live in a remote area and have done nothing to draw attention. The problem was convincing Garrow and Roran to let him keep the dragon. Neither of them would care to have a dragon around.I could raise it in secret. In a month or two it will be too large for Garrow to get rid of, but will he accept it? Even if he does, can I get enough food for the dragon while it’s hiding? It’s no larger than a small cat, but it ate an entire handful of meat! I suppose it’ll be able to hunt for itself eventually, but how long until then? Will it be able to survive the cold outside? All the same, he wanted the dragon. The more he thought about it, the surer he was. However things might work out with Garrow, Eragon would do everything he could to protect it. Determined, he fell asleep with the dragon cradled against him. When dawn came, the dragon was sitting atop his bedpost, like an ancient sentinel welcoming the new day. Eragon marveled at its color. He had never seen such a clear, hard blue. Its scales were like hundreds of small gemstones. He noticed that the white oval on his palm, where he had touched the dragon, had a silvery sheen. He hoped he could hide it by keeping his hands dirty. The dragon launched off the post and glided to the floor. Eragon gingerly picked it up and left the quiet house, pausing to grab meat, several leather strips, and as many rags as he could carry. The crisp morning was beautiful; a fresh layer of snow covered the farm. He smiled as the small creature looked around with interest from the safety of his arms. Hurrying across the fields, he walked silently into the dark forest, searching for a safe place for the dragon to stay. Eventually he found a rowan tree standing alone on a barren knoll, its branches snow-tipped gray fingers that reached toward the sky. He set the dragon down by the base of the trunk and shook the leather onto the ground. With a few deft movements, he made a noose and slipped it over the dragon’s head as it explored the snowy clumps surrounding the tree. The leather was worn, but it would hold. He watched the dragon crawl around, then untied the noose from its neck and fashioned a makeshift harness for its legs so the dragon would not strangle itself. Next he gathered an armful of sticks and built a crude hut high in the branches, layering the inside with rags and stashing the meat. Snow fell on his face as the tree swayed. He hung more rags over the front of the shelter to keep heat inside. Pleased, he surveyed his work. “Time to show you your new home,” he said, and lifted the dragon up into the branches. It wriggled, Page 28 trying to get free, then clambered into the hut, where it ate a piece of meat, curled up, and blinked coyly at him. “You’ll be fine as long as you stay in here,” he instructed. The dragon blinked again. Sure that it had not understood him, Eragon groped with his mind until he felt the dragon’s consciousness. Again he had the terrible feeling ofopenness —of a space so large it pressed down on him like a heavy blanket. Summoning his strength, he focused on the dragon and tried to impress on it one idea:Stay here. The dragon stopped moving and cocked its head at him. He pushed harder:Stay here. A dim acknowledgment came tentatively through the link, but Eragon wondered if it really understood.After all, it’s only an animal. He retreated from the contact with relief and felt the safety of his own mind envelop him. Eragon left the tree, casting glances backward. The dragon stuck its head out of the shelter and watched with large eyes as he left. After a hurried walk home, he sneaked back into his room to dispose of the egg fragments. He was sure Garrow and Roran would not notice the egg’s absence—it had faded from their thoughts after they learned it could not be sold. When his family got up, Roran mentioned that he had heard some noises during the night but, to Eragon’s relief, did not pursue the issue. Eragon’s enthusiasm made the day go by quickly. The mark on his hand proved easy to hide, so he soon stopped worrying about it. Before long he headed back to the rowan, carrying sausages he had pilfered from the cellar. With apprehension, he approached the tree.Is the dragon able to survive outside in winter? His fears were groundless. The dragon was perched on a branch, gnawing on something between its front legs. It started squeaking excitedly when it saw him. He was pleased to see that it had remained in the tree, above the reach of large predators. As soon as he dropped the sausages at the base of the trunk, the dragon glided down. While it voraciously tore apart the food, Eragon examined the shelter. All the meat he had left was gone, but the hut was intact, and tufts of feathers littered the floor.Good. It can get its own food. It struck him that he did not know if the dragon was a he or a she. He lifted and turned it over, ignoring its squeals of displeasure, but was unable to find any distinguishing marks.It seems like it won’t give up any secrets without a struggle. He spent a long time with the dragon. He untied it, set it on his shoulder, and went to explore the woods. The snow-laden trees watched over them like solemn pillars of a great cathedral. In that isolation, Eragon showed the dragon what he knew about the forest, not caring if it understood his meaning. It was the simple act of sharing that mattered. He talked to it continuously. The dragon gazed back at him with bright eyes, drinking in his words. For a while he just sat with it resting in his arms and watched it with wonder, still stunned by recent events. Eragon started for home at sunset, conscious of two hard blue eyes drilling into his back, indignant at being left behind. That night he brooded about all the things that could happen to a small and unprotected animal. Thoughts of ice storms and vicious animals tormented him. It took hours for him to find sleep. His dreams were of foxes and black wolves tearing at the dragon with bloody teeth. In the sunrise glow, Eragon ran from the house with food and scraps of cloth—extra insulation for the shelter. He found the dragon awake and safe, watching the sunrise from high in the tree. He fervently thanked all the gods, known and unknown. The dragon came down to the ground as he approached and leapt into his arms, huddling close to his chest. The cold had not harmed it, but it seemed frightened. A Page 29 puff of dark smoke blew out of its nostrils. He stroked it comfortingly and sat with his back to the rowan, murmuring softly. He kept still as the dragon buried its head in his coat. After a while it crawled out of his embrace and onto his shoulder. He fed it, then wrapped the new rags around the hut. They played together for a time, but Eragon had to return to the house before long. A smooth routine was quickly established. Every morning Eragon ran out to the tree and gave the dragon breakfast before hurrying back. During the day he attacked his chores until they were finished and he could visit the dragon again. Both Garrow and Roran noted his behavior and asked why he spent so much time outside. Eragon just shrugged and started checking to make sure he was not followed to the tree. After the first few days he stopped worrying that a mishap would befall the dragon. Its growth was explosive; it would soon be safe from most dangers. The dragon doubled in size in the first week. Four days later it was as high as his knee. It no longer fit inside the hut in the rowan, so Eragon was forced to build a hidden shelter on the ground. The task took him three days. When the dragon was a fortnight old, Eragon was compelled to let it roam free because it needed so much food. The first time he untied it, only the force of his will kept it from following him back to the farm. Every time it tried, he pushed it away with his mind until it learned to avoid the house and its other inhabitants. And he impressed on the dragon the importance of hunting only in the Spine, where there was less chance of being seen. Farmers would notice if game started disappearing from Palancar Valley. It made him feel both safer and uneasy when the dragon was so far away. The mental contact he shared with the dragon waxed stronger each day. He found that although it did not comprehend words, he could communicate with it through images or emotions. It was an imprecise method, however, and he was often misunderstood. The range at which they could touch each other’s thoughts expanded rapidly. Soon Eragon could contact the dragon anywhere within three leagues. He often did so, and the dragon, in turn, would lightly brush against his mind. These mute conversations filled his working hours. There was always a small part of him connected to the dragon, ignored at times, but never forgotten. When he talked with people, the contact was distracting, like a fly buzzing in his ear. As the dragon matured, its squeaks deepened to a roar and the humming became a low rumble, yet the dragon did not breathe fire, which concerned him. He had seen it blow smoke when it was upset, but there was never a hint of flame. When the month ended, Eragon’s elbow was level with the dragon’s shoulder. In that brief span, it had transformed from a small, weak animal into a powerful beast. Its hard scales were as tough as chain-mail armor, its teeth like daggers. Eragon took long walks in the evening with the dragon padding beside him. When they found a clearing, he would settle against a tree and watch the dragon soar through the air. He loved to see it fly and regretted that it was not yet big enough to ride. He often sat beside the dragon and rubbed its neck, feeling sinews and corded muscles flex under his hands. Despite Eragon’s efforts, the forest around the farm filled with signs of the dragon’s existence. It was impossible to erase all the huge four-clawed footprints sunk deep in the snow, and he refused even to try to hide the giant dung heaps that were becoming far too common. The dragon had rubbed against trees, stripping off the bark, and had sharpened its claws on dead logs, leaving gashes inches deep. If Garrow Page 30 or Roran went too far beyond the farm’s boundaries, they would discover the dragon. Eragon could imagine no worse way for the truth to come out, so he decided to preempt it by explaining everything to them. He wanted to do two things first, though: give the dragon a suitable name and learn more about dragons in general. To that end he needed to talk with Brom, master of epics and legends—the only places where dragonlore survived. So when Roran went to get a chisel repaired in Carvahall, Eragon volunteered to go with him. The evening before they left, Eragon went to a small clearing in the forest and called the dragon with his mind. After a moment he saw a fast-moving speck in the dusky sky. The dragon dived toward him, pulled up sharply, then leveled off above the trees. He heard a low-pitched whistle as air rushed over its wings. It banked slowly to his left and spiraled gently down to the ground. The dragon back-flapped for balance with a deep, muffledthwump as it landed. Eragon opened his mind, still uncomfortable with the strange sensation, and told the dragon that he was leaving. It snorted with unease. He attempted to soothe it with a calming mental picture, but the dragon whipped its tail, unsatisfied. He rested his hand on its shoulder and tried to radiate peace and serenity. Scales bumped under his fingers as he patted it gently. A single word rang in his head, deep and clear. Eragon. It was solemn and sad, as if an unbreakable pact were being sealed. He stared at the dragon and a cold tingle ran down his arm. Eragon. A hard knot formed in his stomach as unfathomable sapphire eyes gazed back at him. For the first time he did not think of the dragon as an animal. It was something else, something… different. He raced home, trying to escape the dragon.My dragon. Eragon. TEA FORTWO Roran and Eragon parted at the outskirts of Carvahall. Eragon walked slowly to Brom’s house, engrossed in his thoughts. He stopped at the doorstep and raised his hand to knock. A voice rasped, “What do you want, boy?” He whirled around. Behind him Brom leaned on a twisted staff embellished with strange carvings. He wore a brown hooded robe like a friar. A pouch hung from the scuffed leather belt clasped around his waist. Above his white beard, a proud eagle nose hooked over his mouth and dominated his face. He peered at Eragon with deep-set eyes shadowed by a gnarled brow and waited for his reply. “To get information,” Eragon said. “Roran is getting a chisel fixed and I had free time, so I came to see if you could answer a few questions.” Page 31 The old man grunted and reached for the door. Eragon noticed a gold ring on his right hand. Light glinted off a sapphire, highlighting a strange symbol carved on its face. “You might as well come in; we’ll be talking awhile. Your questions never seem to end.” Inside, the house was darker than charcoal, an acrid smell heavy in the air. “Now, for a light.” Eragon heard the old man move around, then a low curse as something crashed to the floor. “Ah, here we go.” A white spark flashed; a flame wavered into existence. Brom stood with a candle before a stone fireplace. Stacks of books surrounded a high-backed, deeply carved wooden chair that faced the mantel; the four legs were shaped like eagle claws, and the seat and back were padded with leather embossed with a swirling rose pattern. A cluster of lesser chairs held piles of scrolls. Ink pots and pens were scattered across a writing desk. “Make room for yourself, but by the lost kings, becareful . This stuff is valuable.” Eragon stepped over pages of parchment covered with angular runes. He gently lifted cracking scrolls off a chair and placed them on the floor. A cloud of dust flew into the air as he sat. He stifled a sneeze. Brom bent down and lit the fire with his candle. “Good! Nothing like sitting by a fire for conversation.” He threw back his hood to reveal hair that was not white, but silver, then hung a kettle over the flames and settled into the high-backed chair. “Now, what do you want?” He addressed Eragon roughly, but not unkindly. “Well,” said Eragon, wondering how best to approach the subject, “I keep hearing about the Dragon Riders and their supposed accomplishments. Most everyone seems to want them to return, but I’ve never heard tell of how they were started, where the dragons came from, or what made the Riders special—aside from the dragons.” “A vast subject to tell about,” grumbled Brom. He peered at Eragon alertly. “If I told you their whole story, we would still be sitting here when winter comes again. It will have to be reduced to a manageable length. But before we start properly, I need my pipe.” Eragon waited patiently as Brom tamped down the tobacco. He liked Brom. The old man was irascible at times, but he never seemed to mind taking time for Eragon. Eragon had once asked him where he came from, and Brom had laughed, saying, “A village much like Carvahall, only not quite as interesting.” Curiosity aroused, Eragon asked his uncle. But Garrow could only tell him that Brom had bought a house in Carvahall nearly fifteen years ago and had lived there quietly ever since. Brom used a tinderbox to light the pipe. He puffed a few times, then said, “There… we won’t have to stop, except for the tea. Now, about the Riders, or the Shur’tugal, as they are called by the elves. Where to start? They spanned countless years and, at the height of their power, held sway over twice the Empire’s lands. Numerous stories have been told about them, most nonsense. If you believed everything said, you would expect them to have the powers of a lesser god. Scholars have devoted entire lives to separating these fictions from fact, but it’s doubtful any of them will succeed. However, it isn’t an impossible task if we confine ourselves to the three areas you specified: how the Riders began, why they were so highly regarded, and where dragons came from. I shall start with the last item.” Eragon settled back and listened to the man’s mesmerizing voice. “Dragons have no beginning, unless it lies with the creation of Alagaësia itself. And if they have an end, it will be when this world perishes, for they suffer as the land does. They, the dwarves, and a few others are the true inhabitants of this land. They lived here before all others, strong and proud in their elemental glory. Their world was unchanging until the first elves sailed over the sea on their silver ships.” Page 32 “Where did the elves come from?” interrupted Eragon. “And why are they called the fair folk? Do they really exist?” Brom scowled. “Do you want your original questions answered or not? They won’t be if you want to explore every obscure piece of knowledge.” “Sorry,” said Eragon. He dipped his head and tried to look contrite. “No, you’re not,” said Brom with some amusement. He shifted his gaze to the fire and watched it lick the underside of the kettle. “If you must know, elves are not legends, and they are called the fair folk because they are more graceful than any of the other races. They come from what they call Alalea, though none but they know what, or even where, it is. “Now,” he glared from under his bushy eyebrows to make sure there would be no more interruptions, “the elves were a proud race then, and strong in magic. At first they regarded dragons as mere animals. From that belief rose a deadly mistake. A brash elven youth hunted down a dragon, as he would a stag, and killed it. Outraged, the dragons ambushed and slaughtered the elf. Unfortunately, the bloodletting did not stop there. The dragons massed together and attacked the entire elven nation. Dismayed by the terrible misunderstanding, the elves tried to end the hostilities, but couldn’t find a way to communicate with the dragons. “Thus, to greatly abbreviate a complicated series of occurrences, there was a very long and very bloody war, which both sides later regretted. At the beginning the elves fought only to defend themselves, for they were reluctant to escalate the fighting, but the dragons’ ferocity eventually forced them to attack for their own survival. This lasted for five years and would have continued for much longer if an elf called Eragon hadn’t found a dragon egg.” Eragon blinked in surprise. “Ah, I see you didn’t know of your namesake,” said Brom. “No.” The teakettle whistled stridently.Why was I named after an elf? “Then you should find this all the more interesting,” said Brom. He hooked the kettle out of the fire and poured boiling water into two cups. Handing one to Eragon, he warned, “These leaves don’t need to steep long, so drink it quickly before it gets too strong.” Eragon tried a sip, but scalded his tongue. Brom set his own cup aside and continued smoking the pipe. “No one knows why that egg was abandoned. Some say the parents were killed in an elven attack. Others believe the dragons purposefully left it there. Either way, Eragon saw the value of raising a friendly dragon. He cared for it secretly and, in the custom of the ancient language, named him Bid’Daum. When Bid’Daum had grown to a good size, they traveled together among the dragons and convinced them to live in peace with the elves. Treaties were formed between the two races. To ensure that war would never break out again, they decided that it was necessary to establish the Riders. “At first the Riders were intended merely as a means of communication between the elves and dragons. However, as time passed, their worth was recognized and they were given ever more authority. Eventually they took the island Vroengard for their home and built a city on it—Dorú Areaba. Before Galbatorix overthrew them, the Riders held more power than all the kings in Alagaësia. Now I believe I have answered two of your questions.” “Yes,” said Eragon absently. It seemed like an incredible coincidence that he had been named after the first Rider. For some reason his name did not feel the same anymore. “What doesEragon mean?” Page 33 “I don’t know,” said Brom. “It’s very old. I doubt anyone remembers except the elves, and fortune would have to smile greatly before you talked with one. It is a good name to have, though; you should be proud of it. Not everyone has one so honorable.” Eragon brushed the matter from his mind and focused on what he had learned from Brom; there was something missing. “I don’t understand. Where were we when the Riders were created?” “We?” asked Brom, raising an eyebrow. “You know, all of us.” Eragon waved his hands vaguely. “Humans in general.” Brom laughed. “We are no more native to this land than the elves. It took our ancestors another three centuries to arrive here and join the Riders.” “That can’t be,” protested Eragon. “We’ve always lived in Palancar Valley.” “That might be true for a few generations, but beyond that, no. It isn’t even true for you, Eragon,” said Brom gently. “Though you consider yourself part of Garrow’s family, and rightly so, your sire was not from here. Ask around and you’ll find many people who haven’t been here that long. This valley is old and hasn’t always belonged to us.” Eragon scowled and gulped at the tea. It was still hot enough to burn his throat. This was his home, regardless of who his father was! “What happened to the dwarves after the Riders were destroyed?” “No one really knows. They fought with the Riders through the first few battles, but when it became clear Galbatorix was going to win, they sealed all the known entrances to their tunnels and disappeared underground. As far as I know, not one has been seen since.” “And the dragons?” he asked. “What of them? Surely they weren’t all killed.” Brom answered sorrowfully, “That is the greatest mystery in Alagaësia nowadays: How many dragons survived Galbatorix’s murderous slaughter? He spared those who agreed to serve him, but only the twisted dragons of the Forsworn would assist his madness. If any dragons aside from Shruikan are still alive, they have hidden themselves so they will never be found by the Empire.” So wheredidmy dragon come from? wondered Eragon. “Were the Urgals here when the elves came to Alagaësia?” he asked. “No, they followed the elves across the sea, like ticks seeking blood. They were one of the reasons the Riders became valued for their battle prowess and ability to keep the peace… Much can be learned from this history. It’s a pity the king makes it a delicate subject,” reflected Brom. “Yes, I heard your story the last time I was in town.” “Story!” roared Brom. Lightning flashed in his eyes. “If it is a story, then the rumors of my death are true and you are speaking with a ghost! Respect the past; you never know how it may affect you.” Eragon waited until Brom’s face mellowed before he dared ask, “How big were the dragons?” A dark plume of smoke swirled above Brom like a miniature thunderstorm. “Larger than a house. Even Page 34 the small ones had wingspans over a hundred feet; they never stopped growing. Some of the ancient ones, before the Empire killed them, could have passed for large hills.” Dismay swept through Eragon.How can I hide my dragon in the years to come? He raged silently, but kept his voice calm. “When did they mature?” “Well,” said Brom, scratching his chin, “they couldn’t breathe fire until they were around five to six months old, which was about when they could mate. The older a dragon was, the longer it could breathe fire. Some of them could keep at it for minutes.” Brom blew a smoke ring and watched it float up to the ceiling. “I heard that their scales shone like gems.” Brom leaned forward and growled, “You heard right. They came in every color and shade. It was said that a group of them looked like a living rainbow, constantly shifting and shimmering. But who told you that?” Eragon froze for a second, then lied, “A trader.” “What was his name?” asked Brom. His tangled eyebrows met in a thick white line; the wrinkles deepened on his forehead. Unnoticed, the pipe smoldered out. Eragon pretended to think. “I don’t know. He was talking in Morn’s, but I never found out who he was.” “I wish you had,” muttered Brom. “He also said a Rider could hear his dragon’s thoughts,” said Eragon quickly, hoping that the fictitious trader would protect him from suspicion. Brom’s eyes narrowed. Slowly he took out a tinderbox and struck the flint. Smoke rose, and he took a long pull from the pipe, exhaling slowly. In a flat voice he said, “He was wrong. It isn’t in any of the stories, and I know them all. Did he say anything else?” Eragon shrugged. “No.” Brom was too interested in the trader for him to continue the falsehood. Casually he inquired, “Did dragons live very long?” Brom did not respond at once. His chin sank to his chest while his fingers tapped the pipe thoughtfully, light reflecting off his ring. “Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. Yes, a dragon will live for quite a while, forever, in fact, as long as it isn’t killed and its Rider doesn’t die.” “How does anyone know that?” objected Eragon. “If dragons die when their Riders do, they could only live to be sixty or seventy. You said during your… narration that Riders lived for hundreds of years, but that’s impossible.” It troubled him to think of outliving his family and friends. A quiet smile curled Brom’s lips as he said slyly, “What is possible is subjective. Some would say that you cannot travel through the Spine and live, yet you do. It’s a matter of perspective. You must be very wise to know so much at such a young age.” Eragon flushed, and the old man chuckled. “Don’t be angry; you can’t be expected to know such things. You forget that the dragons were magical—they affected everything around them in strange ways. The Riders were closest to them and experienced this the most. The most common side effect was an extended life. Our king has lived long enough to make that Page 35 apparent, but most people attribute it to his own magical abilities. There were also other, less noticeable changes. All the Riders were stronger of body, keener of mind, and truer of sight than normal men. Along with this, a human Rider would slowly acquire pointed ears, though they were never as prominent as an elf’s.” Eragon had to stop his hand from reaching up to feel the tips of his ears.How else will this dragon change my life? Not only has it gotten inside my head, but it’s altering my body as well! “Were dragons very smart?” “Didn’t you pay attention to what I told you earlier!” demanded Brom. “How could the elves form agreements and peace treaties with dumb brutes? They were as intelligent as you or I.” “But they were animals,” persisted Eragon. Brom snorted. “They were no more animals than we are. For some reason people praise everything the Riders did, yet ignore the dragons, assuming that they were nothing more than an exotic means to get from one town to another. They weren’t. The Riders’ great deeds were only possible because of the dragons. How many men would draw their swords if they knew a giant fire-breathing lizard—one with more natural cunning and wisdom than even a king could hope for—would soon be there to stop the violence? Hmm?” He blew another smoke ring and watched it waft away. “Did you ever see one?” “Nay,” said Brom, “it was long before my time.” And now for a name.“I’ve been trying to recall the name of a certain dragon, but it keeps eluding me. I think I heard it when the traders were in Carvahall, but I’m not sure. Could you help me?” Brom shrugged and quickly listed a stream of names. “There was Jura, Hírador, and Fundor—who fought the giant sea snake. Galzra, Briam, Ohen the Strong, Gretiem, Beroan, Roslarb…” He added many others. At the very end, he uttered so softly Eragon almost did not hear, “… and Saphira.” Brom quietly emptied his pipe. “Was it any of those?” “I’m afraid not,” said Eragon. Brom had given him much to think about, and it was getting late. “Well, Roran’s probably finished with Horst. I should get back, though I’d rather not.” Brom raised an eyebrow. “What, is that it? I expected to be answering your questions until he came looking for you. No queries about dragon battle tactics or requests for descriptions of breathtaking aerial combat? Are we done?” “For now,” laughed Eragon. “I learned what I wanted to and more.” He stood and Brom followed. “Very well, then.” He ushered Eragon to the door. “Goodbye. Take care. And don’t forget, if you remember who that trader was, tell me.” “I will. Thank you.” Eragon stepped into the glaring winter sunlight, squinting. He slowly paced away, pondering what he had heard. A NAME OFPOWER On the way home Roran said, “There was a stranger from Therinsford at Horst’s today.” Page 36 “What’s his name?” asked Eragon. He sidestepped a patch of ice and continued walking at a brisk pace. His cheeks and eyes burned from the cold. “Dempton. He came here to have Horst forge him some sockets,” said Roran. His stocky legs plowed through a drift, clearing the way for Eragon. “Doesn’t Therinsford have its own smith?” “Yes,” replied Roran, “but he isn’t skilled enough.” He glanced at Eragon. With a shrug he added, “Dempton needs the sockets for his mill. He’s expanding it and offered me a job. If I accept, I’ll leave with him when he picks up the sockets.” Millers worked all year. During winter they ground whatever people brought them, but in harvest season they bought grain and sold it as flour. It was hard, dangerous work; workers often lost fingers or hands to the giant millstones. “Are you going to tell Garrow?” asked Eragon. “Yes.” A grimly amused smile played across Roran’s face. “What for? You know what he thinks about us going away. It’ll only cause trouble if you say anything. Forget about it so we can eat tonight’s dinner in peace.” “I can’t. I’m going to take the job.” Eragon halted. “Why?” They faced each other, their breath visible in the air. “I know money is hard to come by, but we always manage to survive. You don’t have to leave.” “No, I don’t. But the money is for myself.” Roran tried to resume walking, but Eragon refused to budge. “What do you need it for?” he demanded. Roran’s shoulders straightened slightly. “I want to marry.” Bewilderment and astonishment overwhelmed Eragon. He remembered seeing Katrina and Roran kissing during the traders’ visit, but marriage? “Katrina?” he asked weakly, just to confirm. Roran nodded. “Have you asked her?” “Not yet, but come spring, when I can raise a house, I will.” “There’s too much work on the farm for you to leave now,” protested Eragon. “Wait until we’re ready for planting.” “No,” said Roran, laughing slightly. “Spring’s the time I’ll be needed the most. The ground will have to be furrowed and sown. The crops must be weeded—not to mention all the other chores. No, this is the best time for me to go, when all we really do is wait for the seasons to change. You and Garrow can make do without me. If all goes well, I’ll soon be back working on the farm, with a wife.” Eragon reluctantly conceded that Roran made sense. He shook his head, but whether with amazement or anger, he knew not. “I guess I can only wish you the best of luck. But Garrow may take this with ill humor.” Page 37 “We will see.” They resumed walking, the silence a barrier between them. Eragon’s heart was disturbed. It would take time before he could look upon this development with favor. When they arrived home, Roran did not tell Garrow of his plans, but Eragon was sure that he soon would. Eragon went to see the dragon for the first time since it had spoken to him. He approached apprehensively, aware now that it was an equal. Eragon. “Is that all you can say?” he snapped. Yes. His eyes widened at the unexpected reply, and he sat down roughly.Now it has a sense of humor. What next? Impulsively, he broke a dead branch with his foot. Roran’s announcement had put him in a foul mood. A questioning thought came from the dragon, so he told it what had happened. As he talked his voice grew steadily louder until he was yelling pointlessly into the air. He ranted until his emotions were spent, then ineffectually punched the ground. “I don’t want him to go, that’s all,” he said helplessly. The dragon watched impassively, listening and learning. Eragon mumbled a few choice curses and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the dragon thoughtfully. “You need a name. I heard some interesting ones today; perhaps you’ll like one.” He mentally ran through the list Brom had given him until he found two names that struck him as heroic, noble, and pleasing to the ear. “What do you think of Vanilor or his successor, Eridor? Both were great dragons.” No,said the dragon. It sounded amused with his efforts.Eragon. “That’smy name; you can’t have it,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Well, if you don’t like those, there are others.” He continued through the list, but the dragon rejected every one he proposed. It seemed to be laughing at something Eragon did not understand, but he ignored it and kept suggesting names. “There was Ingothold, he slew the…” A revelation stopped him.That’s the problem! I’ve been choosing male names. You are a she! Yes.The dragon folded her wings smugly. Now that he knew what to look for, he came up with half a dozen names. He toyed with Miremel, but that did not fit—after all, it was the name of a brown dragon. Opheila and Lenora were also discarded. He was about to give up when he remembered the last name Brom had muttered. Eragon liked it, but would the dragon? He asked. “Are you Saphira?” She looked at him with intelligent eyes. Deep in his mind he felt her satisfaction. Yes.Something clicked in his head and her voice echoed, as if from a great distance. He grinned in response. Saphira started humming. Page 38 A MILLER-TO-BE The sun had set by the time dinner was served. A blustery wind howled outside, shaking the house. Eragon eyed Roran closely and waited for the inevitable. Finally: “I was offered a job at Therinsford’s mill… which I plan to take.” Garrow finished his mouthful of food with deliberate slowness and laid down his fork. He leaned back in his chair, then interlaced his fingers behind his head and uttered one dry word, “Why?” Roran explained while Eragon absently picked at his food. “I see,” was Garrow’s only comment. He fell silent and stared at the ceiling. No one moved as they awaited his response. “Well, when do you leave?” “What?” asked Roran. Garrow leaned forward with a twinkle in his eye. “Did you think I would stop you? I’d hoped you would marry soon. It will be good to see this family growing again. Katrina will be lucky to have you.” Astonishment raced over Roran’s face, then he settled into a relieved grin. “So when do you leave?” Garrow asked. Roran regained his voice. “When Dempton returns to get the sockets for the mill.” Garrow nodded. “And that will be in… ?” “Two weeks.” “Good. That will give us time to prepare. It’ll be different to have the house to ourselves. But if nothing goes amiss, it shouldn’t be for too long.” He looked over the table and asked, “Eragon, did you know of this?” He shrugged ruefully. “Not until today… It’s madness.” Garrow ran a hand over his face. “It’s life’s natural course.” He pushed himself up from the chair. “All will be fine; time will settle everything. For now, though, let’s clean the dishes.” Eragon and Roran helped him in silence. The next few days were trying. Eragon’s temper was frayed. Except for curtly answering direct questions, he spoke with no one. There were small reminders everywhere that Roran was leaving: Garrow making him a pack, things missing from the walls, and a strange emptiness that filled the house. It was almost a week before he realized that distance had grown between Roran and him. When they spoke, the words did not come easily and their conversations were uncomfortable. Saphira was a balm for Eragon’s frustration. He could talk freely with her; his emotions were completely open to her mind, and she understood him better than anyone else. During the weeks before Roran’s departure, she went through another growth spurt. She gained twelve inches at the shoulder, which was now higher than Eragon’s. He found that the small hollow where her neck joined her shoulders was a perfect place to sit. He often rested there in the evenings and scratched her neck while he explained the meanings of different words. Soon she understood everything he said and frequently commented on it. Page 39 For Eragon, this part of his life was delightful. Saphira was as real and complex as any person. Her personality was eclectic and at times completely alien, yet they understood each other on a profound level. Her actions and thoughts constantly revealed new aspects of her character. Once she caught an eagle and, instead of eating it, released it, saying,No hunter of the sky should end his days as prey. Better to die on the wing than pinned to the ground. Eragon’s plan to let his family see Saphira was dispelled by Roran’s announcement and Saphira’s own cautionary words. She was reluctant to be seen, and he, partly out of selfishness, agreed. The moment her existence was divulged, he knew that shouts, accusations, and fear would be directed at him… so he procrastinated. He told himself to wait for a sign that it was the right time. The night before Roran was to leave, Eragon went to talk with him. He stalked down the hallway to Roran’s open door. An oil lamp rested on a nightstand, painting the walls with warm flickering light. The bedposts cast elongated shadows on empty shelves that rose to the ceiling. Roran—his eyes shaded and the back of his neck tense—was rolling blankets around his clothes and belongings. He paused, then picked up something from the pillow and bounced it in his hand. It was a polished rock Eragon had given him years ago. Roran started to tuck it into the bundle, then stopped and set it on a shelf. A hard lump formed in Eragon’s throat, and he left. STRANGERS INCARVAHALL Breakfast was cold, but the tea was hot. Ice inside the windows had melted with the morning fire and soaked into the wood floor, staining it with dark puddles. Eragon looked at Garrow and Roran by the kitchen stove and reflected that this would be the last time he saw them together for many months. Roran sat in a chair, lacing his boots. His full pack rested on the floor next to him. Garrow stood between them with his hands stuck deep into his pockets. His shirt hung loosely; his skin looked drawn. Despite the young men’s cajoling, he refused to go with them. When pressed for a reason, he only said that it was for the best. “Do you have everything?” Garrow asked Roran. “Yes.” He nodded and took a small pouch from his pocket. Coins clinked as he handed it to Roran. “I’ve been saving this for you. It isn’t much, but if you wish to buy some bauble or trinket, it will suffice.” “Thank you, but I won’t be spending my money on trifles,” said Roran. “Do what you will; it is yours,” said Garrow. “I’ve nothing else to give you, except a father’s blessing. Take it if you wish, but it is worth little.” Roran’s voice was thick with emotion. “I would be honored to receive it.” “Then do, and go in peace,” said Garrow, and kissed him on the forehead. He turned and said in a louder voice, “Do not think that I have forgotten you, Eragon. I have words for both of you. It’s time I said them, as you are entering the world. Heed them and they will serve you well.” He bent his gaze sternly on them. “First, let no one rule your mind or body. Take special care that your thoughts remain unfettered. One may be a free man and yet be bound tighter than a slave. Give men your ear, but not your heart. Show respect for those in power, but don’t follow them blindly. Judge with logic and reason, but comment not. Page 40 “Consider none your superior, whatever their rank or station in life. Treat all fairly or they will seek revenge. Be careful with your money. Hold fast to your beliefs and others will listen.” He continued at a slower pace, “Of the affairs of love… my only advice is to be honest. That’s your most powerful tool to unlock a heart or gain forgiveness. That is all I have to say.” He seemed slightly self-conscious of his speech. He hoisted Roran’s pack. “Now you must go. Dawn is approaching, and Dempton will be waiting.” Roran shouldered the pack and hugged Garrow. “I will return as soon as I can,” he said. “Good!” replied Garrow. “But now go and don’t worry about us.” They parted reluctantly. Eragon and Roran went outside, then turned and waved. Garrow raised a bony hand, his eyes grave, and watched as they trudged to the road. After a long moment he shut the door. As the sound carried through the morning air, Roran halted. Eragon looked back and surveyed the land. His eyes lingered on the lone buildings. They looked pitifully small and fragile. A thin finger of smoke trailing up from the house was the only proof that the snowbound farm was inhabited. “There is our whole world,” Roran observed somberly. Eragon shivered impatiently and grumbled, “A good one too.” Roran nodded, then straightened his shoulders and headed into his new future. The house disappeared from view as they descended the hill. It was still early when they reached Carvahall, but they found the smithy doors already open. The air inside was pleasantly warm. Baldor slowly worked two large bellows attached to the side of a stone forge filled with sparkling coals. Before the forge stood a black anvil and an iron-bound barrel filled with brine. From a line of neck-high poles protruding from the walls hung rows of items: giant tongs, pliers, hammers in every shape and weight, chisels, angles, center punches, files, rasps, lathes, bars of iron and steel waiting to be shaped, vises, shears, picks, and shovels. Horst and Dempton stood next to a long table. Dempton approached with a smile beneath his flamboyant red mustache. “Roran! I’m glad you came. There’s going to be more work than I can handle with my new grindstones. Are you ready to go?” Roran hefted his pack. “Yes. Do we leave soon?” “I’ve a few things to take care of first, but we’ll be off within the hour.” Eragon shifted his feet as Dempton turned to him, tugging at the corner of his mustache. “You must be Eragon. I would offer you a job too, but Roran got the only one. Maybe in a year or two, eh?” Eragon smiled uneasily and shook his hand. The man was friendly. Under other circumstances Eragon would have liked him, but right then, he sourly wished that the miller had never come to Carvahall. Dempton huffed. “Good, very good.” He returned his attention to Roran and started to explain how a mill worked. “They’re ready to go,” interrupted Horst, gesturing at the table where several bundles rested. “You can take them whenever you want to.” They shook hands, then Horst left the smithy, beckoning to Eragon on Page 41 the way out. Interested, Eragon followed. He found the smith standing in the street with his arms crossed. Eragon thrust his thumb back toward the miller and asked, “What do you think of him?” Horst rumbled, “A good man. He’ll do fine with Roran.” He absently brushed metal filings off his apron, then put a massive hand on Eragon’s shoulder. “Lad, do you remember the fight you had with Sloan?” “If you’re asking about payment for the meat, I haven’t forgotten.” “No, I trust you, lad. What I wanted to know is if you still have that blue stone.” Eragon’s heart fluttered.Why does he want to know? Maybe someone saw Saphira! Struggling not to panic, he said, “I do, but why do you ask?” “As soon as you return home, get rid of it.” Horst overrode Eragon’s exclamation. “Two men arrived here yesterday. Strange fellows dressed in black and carrying swords. It made my skin crawl just to look at them. Last evening they started asking people if a stone like yours had been found. They’re at it again today.” Eragon blanched. “No one with any sense said anything. They know trouble when they see it, but I could name a few people who will talk.” Dread filled Eragon’s heart. Whoever had sent the stone into the Spine had finally tracked it down. Or perhaps the Empire had learned of Saphira. He did not know which would be worse.Think! Think! The egg is gone. It’s impossible for them to find it now. But if they know what it was, it’ll be obvious what happened… Saphira might be in danger! It took all of his self-control to retain a casual air. “Thanks for telling me. Do you know where they are?” He was proud that his voice barely trembled. “I didn’t warn you because I thought you needed to meet those men! Leave Carvahall. Go home.” “All right,” said Eragon to placate the smith, “if you think I should.” “I do.” Horst’s face softened. “I may be overreacting, but these strangers give me a bad feeling. It would be better if you stay home until they leave. I’ll try to keep them away from your farm, though it may not do any good.” Eragon looked at him gratefully. He wished he could tell him about Saphira. “I’ll leave now,” he said, and hurried back to Roran. Eragon clasped his cousin’s arm and bade him farewell. “Aren’t you going to stay awhile?” Roran asked with surprise. Eragon almost laughed. For some reason, the question struck him as funny. “There’s nothing for me to do, and I’m not going to stand around until you go.” “Well,” said Roran doubtfully, “I guess this is the last time we’ll see each other for a few months.” “I’m sure it won’t seem that long,” said Eragon hastily. “Take care and come back soon.” He hugged Roran, then left. Horst was still in the street. Aware that the smith was watching, Eragon headed to the outskirts of Carvahall. Once the smithy was out of sight, he ducked behind a house and sneaked back through the village. Eragon kept to the shadows as he searched each street, listening for the slightest noise. His thoughts Page 42 flashed to his room, where his bow hung; he wished that it was in his hand. He prowled across Carvahall, avoiding everyone until he heard a sibilant voice from around a house. Although his ears were keen, he had to strain to hear what was being said. “When did this happen?” The words were smooth, like oiled glass, and seemed to worm their way through the air. Underlying the speech was a strange hiss that made his scalp prickle. “About three months ago,” someone else answered. Eragon identified him as Sloan. Shade’s blood, he’s telling them…He resolved to punch Sloan the next time they met. A third person spoke. The voice was deep and moist. It conjured up images of creeping decay, mold, and other things best left untouched. “Are you sure? We would hate to think you had made a mistake. If that were so, it would be most… unpleasant.” Eragon could imagine only too well what they might do. Would anyone but the Empire dare threaten people like that? Probably not, but whoever sent the egg might be powerful enough to use force with impunity. “Yeah, I’m sure. He had it then. I’m not lying. Plenty of people know about it. Go ask them.” Sloan sounded shaken. He said something else that Eragon did not catch. “They have been… rather uncooperative.” The words were derisive. There was a pause. “Your information has been helpful. We will not forget you.” Eragon believed him. Sloan muttered something, then Eragon heard someone hurrying away. He peered around the corner to see what was happening. Two tall men stood in the street. Both were dressed in long black cloaks that were lifted by sheaths poking past their legs. On their shirts were insignias intricately wrought with silver thread. Hoods shaded their faces, and their hands were covered by gloves. Their backs were oddly humped, as though their clothes were stuffed with padding. Eragon shifted slightly to get a better view. One of the strangers stiffened and grunted peculiarly to his companion. They both swiveled around and sank into crouches. Eragon’s breath caught. Mortal fear clenched him. His eyes locked onto their hidden faces, and a stifling power fell over his mind, keeping him in place. He struggled against it and screamed to himself,Move! His legs swayed, but to no avail. The strangers stalked toward him with a smooth, noiseless gait. He knew they could see his face now. They were almost to the corner, hands grasping at swords… “Eragon!” He jerked as his name was called. The strangers froze in place and hissed. Brom hurried toward him from the side, head bare and staff in hand. The strangers were blocked from the old man’s view. Eragon tried to warn him, but his tongue and arms would not stir. “Eragon!” cried Brom again. The strangers gave Eragon one last look, then slipped away between the houses. Eragon collapsed to the ground, shivering. Sweat beaded on his forehead and made his palms sticky. The old man offered Eragon a hand and pulled him up with a strong arm. “You look sick; is all well?” Eragon gulped and nodded mutely. His eyes flickered around, searching for anything unusual. “I just got dizzy all of a sudden… it’s passed. It was very odd—I don’t know why it happened.” “You’ll recover,” said Brom, “but perhaps it would be better if you went home.” Yes, I have to get home! Have to get there before they do.“I think you’re right. Maybe I’m getting ill.” Page 43 “Then home is the best place for you. It’s a long walk, but I’m sure you will feel better by the time you arrive. Let me escort you to the road.” Eragon did not protest as Brom took his arm and led him away at a quick pace. Brom’s staff crunched in the snow as they passed the houses. “Why were you looking for me?” Brom shrugged. “Simple curiosity. I learned you were in town and wondered if you had remembered the name of that trader.” Trader? What’s he talking about?Eragon stared blankly; his confusion caught the attention of Brom’s probing eyes. “No,” he said, and then amended himself, “I’m afraid I still don’t remember.” Brom sighed gruffly, as if something had been confirmed, and rubbed his eagle nose. “Well, then… if you do, come tell me. I am most interested in this trader who pretends to know so much about dragons.” Eragon nodded with a distracted air. They walked in silence to the road, then Brom said, “Hasten home. I don’t think it would be a good idea to tarry on the way.” He offered a gnarled hand. Eragon shook it, but as he let go something in Brom’s hand caught on his mitt and pulled it off. It fell to the ground. The old man picked it up. “Clumsy of me,” he apologized, and handed it back. As Eragon took the mitt, Brom’s strong fingers wrapped around his wrist and twisted sharply. His palm briefly faced upward, revealing the silvery mark. Brom’s eyes glinted, but he let Eragon yank his hand back and jam it into the mitt. “Goodbye,” Eragon forced out, perturbed, and hurried down the road. Behind him he heard Brom whistling a merry tune. FLIGHT OFDESTINY Eragon’s mind churned as he sped on his way. He ran as fast as he could, refusing to stop even when his breath came in great gasps. As he pounded down the cold road, he cast out with his mind for Saphira, but she was too far away for him to contact. He thought about what to say to Garrow. There was no choice now; he would have to reveal Saphira. He arrived home, panting for air and heart pounding. Garrow stood by the barn with the horses. Eragon hesitated. Should I talk to him now? He won’t believe me unless Saphira is here—I’d better find her first. He slipped around the farm and into the forest.Saphira! he shouted with his thoughts. I come,was the dim reply. Through the words he sensed her alarm. He waited impatiently, though it was not long before the sound of her wings filled the air. She landed amid a gout of smoke.What happened? she queried. He touched her shoulder and closed his eyes. Calming his mind, he quickly told her what had occurred. When he mentioned the strangers, Saphira recoiled. She reared and roared deafeningly, then whipped her tail over his head. He scrambled back in surprise, ducking as her tail hit a snowdrift. Bloodlust and fear emanated from her in great sickening waves.Fire! Enemies! Death! Murderers! What’s wrong?He put all of his strength into the words, but an iron wall surrounded her mind, shielding her thoughts. She let out another roar and gouged the earth with her claws, tearing the frozen ground. Stop it! Garrow will hear! Oaths betrayed, souls killed, eggs shattered! Blood everywhere. Murderers! Page 44 Frantic, he blocked out Saphira’s emotions and watched her tail. When it flicked past him, he dashed to her side and grabbed a spike on her back. Clutching it, he pulled himself into the small hollow at the base of her neck and held on tightly as she reared again. “Enough, Saphira!” he bellowed. Her stream of thoughts ceased abruptly. He ran a hand over her scales. “Everything’s going to be all right.” She crouched and her wings rushed upward. They hung there for an instant, then drove down as she flung herself into the sky. Eragon yelled as the ground dropped away and they rose above the trees. Turbulence buffeted him, snatching the breath out of his mouth. Saphira ignored his terror and banked toward the Spine. Underneath, he glimpsed the farm and the Anora River. His stomach convulsed. He tightened his arms around Saphira’s neck and concentrated on the scales in front of his nose, trying not to vomit as she continued to climb. When she leveled off, he gained the courage to glance around. The air was so cold that frost accumulated on his eyelashes. They had reached the mountains faster than he thought possible. From the air, the peaks looked like giant razor-sharp teeth waiting to slash them to ribbons. Saphira wobbled unexpectedly, and Eragon heaved over her side. He wiped his lips, tasting bile, and buried his head against her neck. We have to go back,he pleaded.The strangers are coming to the farm. Garrow has to be warned. Turn around! There was no answer. He reached for her mind, but was blocked by a barrier of roiling fear and anger. Determined to make her turn around, he grimly wormed into her mental armor. He pushed at its weak places, undermined the stronger sections, and fought to make her listen, but to no avail. Soon mountains surrounded them, forming tremendous white walls broken by granite cliffs. Blue glaciers sat between the summits like frozen rivers. Long valleys and ravines opened beneath them. He heard the dismayed screech of birds far below as Saphira soared into view. He saw a herd of woolly goats bounding from ledge to ledge on a rocky bluff. Eragon was battered by swirling gusts from Saphira’s wings, and whenever she moved her neck, he was tossed from side to side. She seemed tireless. He was afraid she was going to fly through the night. Finally, as darkness fell, she tilted into a shallow dive. He looked ahead and saw that they were headed for a small clearing in a valley. Saphira spiraled down, leisurely drifting over the treetops. She pulled back as the ground neared, filled her wings with air, and landed on her rear legs. Her powerful muscles rippled as they absorbed the shock of impact. She dropped to all fours and skipped a step to keep her balance. Eragon slid off without waiting for her to fold her wings. As he struck the ground, his knees buckled, and his cheek slammed against the snow. He gasped as excruciating pain seared through his legs, sending tears to his eyes. His muscles, cramped from clenching for so long, shook violently. He rolled onto his back, shivering, and stretched his limbs as best he could. Then he forced himself to look down. Two large blots darkened his wool pants on the insides of his thighs. He touched the fabric. It was wet. Alarmed, he peeled off the pants and grimaced. The insides of his legs were raw and bloody. The skin was gone, rubbed off by Saphira’s hard scales. He gingerly felt the abrasions and winced. Cold bit into him as he pulled the pants back on, and he cried out as they scraped against the sensitive wounds. He tried to stand, but his legs would not support him. The deepening night obscured his surroundings; the shaded mountains were unfamiliar. I’m in the Spine, I don’t know where, during the middle of winter, with a crazed dragon, unable to walk or find shelter. Night is falling. I have to get back to the farm tomorrow. And the only way to do that is to fly, which I Page 45 can’t endure anymore.He took a deep breath.Oh, I wish Saphira could breathe fire. He turned his head and saw her next to him, crouched low to the ground. He put a hand on her side and found it trembling. The barrier in her mind was gone. Without it, her fear scorched through him. He clamped down on it and slowly soothed her with gentle images.Why do the strangers frighten you? Murderers, she hissed. Garrow is in danger and you kidnap me on this ridiculous journey! Are you unable to protect me?She growled deeply and snapped her jaws.Ah, but if you think you can, why run? Death is a poison. He leaned on one elbow and stifled his frustration.Saphira, look where we are! The sun is down, and your flight has stripped my legs as easily as I would scale a fish. Is that what you wanted? No. Then why did you do it?he demanded. Through his link with Saphira, he felt her regret for his pain, but not for her actions. She looked away and refused to answer. The icy temperature deadened Eragon’s legs; although it lessened the pain, he knew that his condition was not good. He changed tack.I’m going to freeze unless you make me a shelter or hollow so I can stay warm. Even a pile of pine needles and branches would do. She seemed relieved that he had stopped interrogating her.There is no need. I will curl around you and cover you with my wings—the fire inside me will stay the cold. Eragon let his head thump back on the ground.Fine, but scrape the snow off the ground. It’ll be more comfortable. In answer, Saphira razed a drift with her tail, clearing it with one powerful stroke. She swept over the site again to remove the last few inches of hardened snow. He eyed the exposed dirt with distaste.I can’t walk over there. You’ll have to help me to it. Her head, larger than his torso, swung over him and came to rest by his side. He stared at her large, sapphire-colored eyes and wrapped his hands around one of her ivory spikes. She lifted her head and slowly dragged him to the bare spot.Gently, gently. Stars danced in his eyes as he slid over a rock, but he managed to hold on. After he let go, Saphira rolled on her side, exposing her warm belly. He huddled against the smooth scales of her underside. Her right wing extended over him and enclosed him in complete darkness, forming a living tent. Almost immediately the air began to lose its frigidity. He pulled his arms inside his coat and tied the empty sleeves around his neck. For the first time he noticed that hunger gnawed at his stomach. But it did not distract him from his main worry: Could he get back to the farm before the strangers did? And if not, what would happen?Even if I can force myself to ride Saphira again, it’ll be at least mid-afternoon before we get back. The strangers could be there long before that. He closed his eyes and felt a single tear slide down his face.What have I done? THEDOOM OFINNOCENCE When Eragon opened his eyes in the morning, he thought the sky had fallen. An unbroken plane of blue stretched over his head and slanted to the ground. Still half asleep, he reached out tentatively and felt a thin membrane under his fingers. It took him a long minute to realize what he was staring at. He bent his neck slightly and glared at the scaly haunch his head rested on. Slowly he pushed his legs out from his fetal curl, scabs cracking. The pain had subsided some from yesterday, but he shrank from the thought of walking. Burning hunger reminded him of his missed meals. He summoned the energy to move and Page 46 pounded weakly on Saphira’s side. “Hey! Wake up!” he yelled. She stirred and lifted her wing to admit a torrent of sunshine. He squinted as the snow momentarily blinded him. Beside him Saphira stretched like a cat and yawned, flashing rows of white teeth. When Eragon’s eyes adjusted, he examined where they were. Imposing and unfamiliar mountains surrounded them, casting deep shadows on the clearing. Off to one side, he saw a trail cut through the snow and into the forest, where he could hear the muffled gurgling of a creek. Groaning, he stood and swayed, then stiffly hobbled to a tree. He grabbed one of its branches and threw his weight against it. It held, then broke with a loud crack. He ripped off the twigs, fit one end of the branch under his arm, and planted the other firmly in the ground. With the help of his improvised crutch, he limped to the iced-over creek. He broke through the hard shell and cupped the clear, bitter water. Sated, he returned to the clearing. As he emerged from the trees, he finally recognized the mountains and the lay of the land. This was where, amid deafening sound, Saphira’s egg had first appeared. He sagged against a rough trunk. There could be no mistake, for now he saw the gray trees that had been stripped of their needles in the explosion.How did Saphira know where this was? She was still in the egg. My memories must have given her enough information to find it. He shook his head in silent astonishment. Saphira was waiting patiently for him.Will you take me home? he asked her. She cocked her head.I know you don’t want to, but you must. Both of us carry an obligation to Garrow. He has cared for me and, through me, you. Would you ignore that debt? What will be said of us in years to come if we don’t return—that we hid like cowards while my uncle was in danger? I can hear it now, the story of the Rider and his craven dragon! If there will be a fight, let’s face it and not shy away. You are a dragon! Even a Shade would run from you! Yet you crouch in the mountains like a frightened rabbit. Eragon meant to anger her, and he succeeded. A growl rippled in her throat as her head jabbed within a few inches of his face. She bared her fangs and glared at him, smoke trailing from her nostrils. He hoped that he had not gone too far. Her thoughts reached him, red with anger.Blood will meet blood. I will fight. Our wyrds—our fates—bind us, but try me not. I will take you because of debt owed, but into foolishness we fly. “Foolishness or not,” he said into the air, “there is no choice—we must go.” He ripped his shirt in half and stuffed a piece into each side of his pants. Gingerly, he hoisted himself onto Saphira and took a tight hold on her neck.This time, he told her,fly lower and faster. Time is of the essence. Don’t let go,she cautioned, then surged into the sky. They rose above the forest and leveled out immediately, barely staying above the branches. Eragon’s stomach lurched; he was glad it was empty. Faster, faster,he urged. She said nothing, but the beat of her wings increased. He screwed his eyes shut and hunched his shoulders. He had hoped that the extra padding of his shirt would protect him, but every movement sent pangs through his legs. Soon lines of hot blood trickled down his calves. Concern emanated from Saphira. She went even faster now, her wings straining. The land sped past, as if it were being pulled out from under them. Eragon imagined that to someone on the ground, they were just a blur. By early afternoon, Palancar Valley lay before them. Clouds obscured his vision to the south; Carvahall was to the north. Saphira glided down while Eragon searched for the farm. When he spotted it, fear jolted him. A black plume with orange flames dancing at its base rose from the farm. Saphira!He pointed.Get me down there. Now! Page 47 She locked her wings and tilted into a steep dive, hurtling groundward at a frightening rate. Then she altered her dive slightly so they sped toward the forest. He yelled over the screaming air, “Land in the fields!” He held on tighter as they plummeted. Saphira waited until they were only a hundred feet off the ground before driving her wings downward in several powerful strokes. She landed heavily, breaking his grip. He crashed to the ground, then staggered upright, gasping for breath. The house had been blasted apart. Timbers and boards that had been walls and roof were strewn across a wide area. The wood was pulverized, as if a giant hammer had smashed it. Sooty shingles lay everywhere. A few twisted metal plates were all that remained of the stove. The snow was perforated with smashed white crockery and chunks of bricks from the chimney. Thick, oily smoke billowed from the barn, which burned fiercely. The farm animals were gone, either killed or frightened away. “Uncle!” Eragon ran to the wreckage, hunting through the destroyed rooms for Garrow. There was no sign of him. “Uncle!” Eragon cried again. Saphira walked around the house and came to his side. Sorrow breeds here,she said. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t run away with me!” You would not be alive if we had stayed. “Look at this!” he screamed. “We could’ve warned Garrow! It’s your fault he didn’t get away!” He slammed his fist against a pole, splitting the skin on his knuckles. Blood dripped down his fingers as he stalked out of the house. He stumbled to the path that led to the road and bent down to examine the snow. Several tracks were before him, but his vision was blurry and he could barely see.Am I going blind? he wondered. With a shaking hand, he touched his cheeks and found them wet. A shadow fell on him as Saphira loomed overhead, sheltering him with her wings.Take comfort; all may not be lost. He looked up at her, searching for hope.Examine the trail; my eyes see only two sets of prints. Garrow could not have been taken from here. He focused on the trampled snow. The faint imprints of two pairs of leather boots headed toward the house. On top of those were traces of the same two sets of boots leaving. And whoever had made the departing tracks had been carrying the same weight as when they arrived.You’re right, Garrow has to be here! He leapt to his feet and hurried back to the house. I will search around the buildings and in the forest,said Saphira. Eragon scrambled into the remains of the kitchen and frantically started digging through a pile of rubble. Pieces of debris that he could not have moved normally now seemed to shift on their own accord. A cupboard, mostly intact, stymied him for a second, then he heaved and sent it flying. As he pulled on a board, something rattled behind him. He spun around, ready for an attack. A hand extended from under a section of collapsed roof. It moved weakly, and he grasped it with a cry. “Uncle, can you hear me?” There was no response. Eragon tore at pieces of wood, heedless of the splinters that pierced his hands. He quickly exposed an arm and shoulder, but was barred by a heavy beam. He threw his shoulder at it and shoved with every fiber of his being, but it defied his efforts. “Saphira! I need you!” She came immediately. Wood cracked under her feet as she crawled over the ruined walls. Without a Page 48 word she nosed past him and set her side against the beam. Her claws sank into what was left of the floor; her muscles strained. With a grating sound, the beam lifted, and Eragon rushed under it. Garrow lay on his stomach, his clothes mostly torn off. Eragon pulled him out of the rubble. As soon as they were clear, Saphira released the beam, leaving it to crash to the floor. Eragon dragged Garrow out of the destroyed house and eased him to the ground. Dismayed, he touched his uncle gently. His skin was gray, lifeless, and dry, as if a fever had burned off any sweat. His lip was split, and there was a long scrape on his cheekbone, but that was not the worst. Deep, ragged burns covered most of his body. They were chalky white and oozed clear liquid. A cloying, sickening smell hung over him—the odor of rotting fruit. His breath came in short jerks, each one sounding like a death rattle. Murderers,hissed Saphira. Don’t say that. He can still be saved! We have to get him to Gertrude. I can’t carry him to Carvahall, though. Saphira presented an image of Garrow hanging under her while she flew. Can you lift both of us? I must. Eragon dug through the rubble until he found a board and leather thongs. He had Saphira pierce a hole with a claw at each of the board’s corners, then he looped a piece of leather through each hole and tied them to her forelegs. After checking to make sure the knots were secure, he rolled Garrow onto the board and lashed him down. As he did, a scrap of black cloth fell from his uncle’s hand. It matched the strangers’ clothing. He angrily stuffed it in a pocket, mounted Saphira, and closed his eyes as his body settled into a steady throb of pain.Now! She leapt up, hind legs digging into the ground. Her wings clawed at the air as she slowly climbed. Tendons strained and popped as she battled gravity. For a long, painful second, nothing happened, but then she lunged forward powerfully and they rose higher. Once they were over the forest, Eragon told her,Follow the road. It’ll give you enough room if you have to land. I might be seen. It doesn’t matter anymore!She argued no further as she veered to the road and headed for Carvahall. Garrow swung wildly underneath them; only the slender leather cords kept him from falling. The extra weight slowed Saphira. Before long her head sagged, and there was froth at her mouth. She struggled to continue, yet they were almost a league from Carvahall when she locked her wings and sank toward the road. Her hind feet touched with a shower of snow. Eragon tumbled off her, landing heavily on his side to avoid hurting his legs. He struggled to his feet and worked to untie the leather from Saphira’s legs. Her thick panting filled the air.Find a safe place to rest, he said.I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, so you’re going to have to take care of yourself for a while. I will wait,she said. Page 49 He gritted his teeth and began to drag Garrow down the road. The first few steps sent an explosion of agony through him. “I can’t do this!” he howled at the sky, then took a few more steps. His mouth locked into a snarl. He stared at the ground between his feet as he forced himself to hold a steady pace. It was a fight against his unruly body—a fight he refused to lose. The minutes crawled by at an excruciating rate. Each yard he covered seemed many times that. With desperation he wondered if Carvahall still existed or if the strangers had burnt it down, too. After a time, through a haze of pain, he heard shouting and looked up. Brom was running toward him—eyes large, hair awry, and one side of his head caked with dried blood. He waved his arms wildly before dropping his staff and grabbing Eragon’s shoulders, saying something in a loud voice. Eragon blinked uncomprehendingly. Without warning, the ground rushed up to meet him. He tasted blood, then blacked out. DEATHWATCH Dreams roiled in Eragon’s mind, breeding and living by their own laws.He watched as a group of people on proud horses approached a lonely river. Many had silver hair and carried tall lances. A strange, fair ship waited for them, shining under a bright moon. The figures slowly boarded the vessel; two of them, taller than the rest, walked arm in arm. Their faces were obscured by cowls, but he could tell that one was a woman. They stood on the deck of the ship and faced the shore. A man stood alone on the pebble beach, the only one who had not boarded the ship. He threw back his head and let out a long, aching cry. As it faded, the ship glided down the river, without a breeze or oars, out into the flat, empty land. The vision clouded, but just before it disappeared, Eragon glimpsed two dragons in the sky. Eragon was first aware of the creaking: back and forth, back and forth. The persistent sound made him open his eyes and stare at the underside of a thatched roof. A rough blanket was draped over him, concealing his nakedness. Someone had bandaged his legs and tied a clean rag around his knuckles. He was in a single-room hut. A mortar and pestle sat on a table with bowls and plants. Rows of dried herbs hung from the walls and suffused the air with strong, earthy aromas. Flames writhed inside a fireplace, before which sat a rotund woman in a wicker rocking chair—the town healer, Gertrude. Her head lolled, eyes closed. A pair of knitting needles and a ball of wool thread rested in her lap. Though Eragon felt drained of willpower, he made himself sit up. That helped to clear his mind. He sifted through his memories of the last two days. His first thought was of Garrow, and his second was of Saphira.I hope she’s in a safe place. He tried to contact her but could not. Wherever she was, it was far from Carvahall.At least Brom got me to Carvahall. I wonder what happened to him? There was all that blood. Gertrude stirred and opened her sparkling eyes. “Oh,” she said. “You’re awake. Good!” Her voice was rich and warm. “How do you feel?” “Well enough. Where’s Garrow?” Gertrude dragged the chair close to the bed. “Over at Horst’s. There wasn’t enough room to keep both of you here. And let me tell you, it’s kept me on my toes, having to run back and forth, checking to see if the two of you were all right.” Eragon swallowed his worries and asked, “How is he?” Page 50 There was a long delay as she examined her hands. “Not good. He has a fever that refuses to break, and his injuries aren’t healing.” “I have to see him.” He tried to get up. “Not until you eat,” she said sharply, pushing him down. “I didn’t spend all this time sitting by your side so you can get back up and hurt yourself. Half the skin on your legs was torn off, and your fever broke only last night. Don’t worry yourself about Garrow. He’ll be fine. He’s a tough man.” Gertrude hung a kettle over the fire, then began chopping parsnips for soup. “How long have I been here?” “Two full days.” Two days!That meant his last meal had been four mornings ago! Just thinking about it made Eragon feel weak.Saphira’s been on her own this entire time; I hope she’s all right. “The whole town wants to know what happened. They sent men down to your farm and found it destroyed.” Eragon nodded; he had expected that. “Your barn was burned down… Is that how Garrow was injured?” “I… I don’t know,” said Eragon. “I wasn’t there when it happened.” “Well, no matter. I’m sure it’ll all get untangled.” Gertrude resumed knitting while the soup cooked. “That’s quite a scar on your palm.” He reflexively clenched his hand. “Yes.” “How did you get it?” Several possible answers came to mind. He chose the simplest one. “I’ve had it ever since I can remember. I never asked Garrow where it came from.” “Mmm.” The silence remained unbroken until the soup reached a rolling boil. Gertrude poured it in a bowl and handed it to Eragon with a spoon. He accepted it gratefully and took a cautious sip. It was delicious. When he finished, he asked, “Can I visit Garrow now?” Gertrude sighed. “You’re a determined one, aren’t you? Well, if you really want to, I won’t stop you. Put on your clothes and we’ll go.” She turned her back as he struggled into his pants, wincing as they dragged over the bandages, and then slipped on his shirt. Gertrude helped him stand. His legs were weak, but they did not pain him like before. “Take a few steps,” she commanded, then dryly observed, “At least you won’t have to crawl there.” Outside, a blustery wind blew smoke from the adjacent buildings into their faces. Storm clouds hid the Spine and covered the valley while a curtain of snow advanced toward the village, obscuring the foothills. Eragon leaned heavily on Gertrude as they made their way through Carvahall. Page 51 Horst had built his two-story house on a hill so he could enjoy a view of the mountains. He had lavished all of his skill on it. The shale roof shadowed a railed balcony that extended from a tall window on the second floor. Each water spout was a snarling gargoyle, and every window and door was framed by carvings of serpents, harts, ravens, and knotted vines. The door was opened by Elain, Horst’s wife, a small, willowy woman with refined features and silky blond hair pinned into a bun. Her dress was demure and neat, and her movements graceful. “Please, come in,” she said softly. They stepped over the threshold into a large well-lit room. A staircase with a polished balustrade curved down to the floor. The walls were the color of honey. Elain gave Eragon a sad smile, but addressed Gertrude. “I was just about to send for you. He isn’t doing well. You should see him right away.” “Elain, you’ll have to help Eragon up the stairs,” Gertrude said, then hurried up them two at a time. “It’s okay, I can do it myself.” “Are you sure?” asked Elain. He nodded, but she looked doubtful. “Well… as soon as you’re done come visit me in the kitchen. I have a fresh-baked pie you might enjoy.” As soon as she left, he sagged against the wall, welcoming the support. Then he started up the stairs, one painful step at a time. When he reached the top, he looked down a long hallway dotted with doors. The last one was open slightly. Taking a breath, he lurched toward it. Katrina stood by a fireplace, boiling rags. She looked up, murmured a condolence, and then returned to her work. Gertrude stood beside her, grinding herbs for a poultice. A bucket by her feet held snow melting into ice water. Garrow lay on a bed piled high with blankets. Sweat covered his brow, and his eyeballs flickered blindly under their lids. The skin on his face was shrunken like a cadaver’s. He was still, save for subtle tremors from his shallow breathing. Eragon touched his uncle’s forehead with a feeling of unreality. It burned against his hand. He apprehensively lifted the edge of the blankets and saw that Garrow’s many wounds were bound with strips of cloth. Where the bandages were being changed, the burns were exposed to the air. They had not begun to heal. Eragon looked at Gertrude with hopeless eyes. “Can’t you do anything about these?” She pressed a rag into the bucket of ice water, then draped the cool cloth over Garrow’s head. “I’ve tried everything: salves, poultices, tinctures, but nothing works. If the wounds closed, he would have a better chance. Still, things may turn for the better. He’s hardy and strong.” Eragon moved to a corner and sank to the floor.This isn’t the way things are supposed to be! Silence swallowed his thoughts. He stared blankly at the bed. After a while he noticed Katrina kneeling beside him. She put an arm around him. When he did not respond, she diffidently left. Sometime later the door opened and Horst came in. He talked to Gertrude in a low voice, then approached Eragon. “Come on. You need to get out of here.” Before Eragon could protest, Horst dragged him to his feet and shepherded him out the door. “I want to stay,” he complained. “You need a break and fresh air. Don’t worry, you can go back soon enough,” consoled Horst. Page 52 Eragon grudgingly let the smith help him downstairs into the kitchen. Heady smells from half a dozen dishes—rich with spices and herbs—filled the air. Albriech and Baldor were there, talking with their mother as she kneaded bread. The brothers fell silent as they saw Eragon, but he had heard enough to know that they were discussing Garrow. “Here, sit down,” said Horst, offering a chair. Eragon sank into it gratefully. “Thank you.” His hands were shaking slightly, so he clasped them in his lap. A plate, piled high with food, was set before him. “You don’t have to eat,” said Elain, “but it’s there if you want.” She returned to her cooking as he picked up a fork. He could barely swallow a few bites. “How do you feel?” asked Horst. “Terrible.” The smith waited a moment. “I know this isn’t the best time, but we need to know… what happened?” “I don’t really remember.” “Eragon,” said Horst, leaning forward, “I was one of the people who went out to your farm. Your house didn’t just fall apart—something tore it to pieces. Surrounding it were tracks of a gigantic beast I’ve never seen nor heard of before. Others saw them too. Now, if there’s a Shade or a monster roaming around, we have to know. You’re the only one who can tell us.” Eragon knew he had to lie. “When I left Carvahall…,” he counted up the time, “four days ago, there were… strangers in town asking about a stone like the one I found.” He gestured at Horst. “You talked to me about them, and because of that, I hurried home.” All eyes were upon him. He licked his lips. “Nothing… nothing happened that night. The next morning I finished my chores and went walking in the forest. Before long I heard an explosion and saw smoke above the trees. I rushed back as fast as I could, but whoever did it was already gone. I dug through the wreckage and… found Garrow.” “So then you put him on the plank and dragged him back?” asked Albriech. “Yes,” said Eragon, “but before I left, I looked at the path to the road. There were two pairs of tracks on it, both of them men’s.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out the scrap of black fabric. “This was clenched in Garrow’s hand. I think it matches what those strangers were wearing.” He set it on the table. “It does,” said Horst. He looked both thoughtful and angry. “And what of your legs? How were they injured?” “I’m not sure,” said Eragon, shaking his head. “I think it happened when I dug Garrow out, but I don’t know. It wasn’t until the blood started dripping down my legs that I noticed it.” “That’s horrible!” exclaimed Elain. “We should pursue those men,” stated Albriech hotly. “They can’t get away with this! With a pair of horses we could catch them tomorrow and bring them back here.” “Put that foolishness out of your head,” said Horst. “They could probably pick you up like a baby and Page 53 throw you in a tree. Remember what happened to the house? We don’t want to get in the way of those people. Besides, they have what they want now.” He looked at Eragon. “They did take the stone, didn’t they?” “It wasn’t in the house.” “Then there’s no reason for them to return now that they have it.” He gave Eragon a piercing look. “You didn’t mention anything about those strange tracks. Do you know where they came from?” Eragon shook his head. “I didn’t see them.” Baldor abruptly spoke. “I don’t like this. Too much of this rings of wizardry. Who are those men? Are they Shades? Why did they want the stone, and how could they have destroyed the house except with dark powers? You may be right, Father, the stone might be all they wanted, but I think we will see them again.” Silence followed his words. Something had been overlooked, though Eragon was not sure what. Then it struck him. With a sinking heart, he voiced his suspicion. “Roran doesn’t know, does he?”How could I have forgotten him? Horst shook his head. “He and Dempton left a little while after you. Unless they ran into some difficulty on the road, they’ve been in Therinsford for a couple of days now. We were going to send a message, but the weather was too cold yesterday and the day before.” “Baldor and I were about to leave when you woke up,” offered Albriech. Horst ran a hand through his beard. “Go on, both of you. I’ll help you saddle the horses.” Baldor turned to Eragon. “I’ll break it to him gently,” he promised, then followed Horst and Albriech out of the kitchen. Eragon remained at the table, his eyes focused on a knot in the wood. Every excruciating detail was clear to him: the twisting grain, an asymmetrical bump, three little ridges with a fleck of color. The knot was filled with endless detail; the closer he looked, the more he saw. He searched for answers in it, but if there were any, they eluded him. A faint call broke through his pounding thoughts. It sounded like yelling from outside. He ignored it.Let someone else deal with it. Several minutes later he heard it again, louder than before. Angrily, he blocked it out.Why can’t they be quiet? Garrow’s resting. He glanced at Elain, but she did not seem to be bothered by the noise. ERAGON!The roar was so strong he almost fell out of the chair. He peered around in alarm, but nothing had changed. He suddenly realized that the shouts had been inside his head. Saphira?he asked anxiously. There was a pause.Yes, stone ears. Relief seeped into him.Where are you? Page 54 She sent him an image of a small clump of trees.I tried to contact you many times, but you were beyond reach. I was sick… but I’m better now. Why couldn’t I sense you earlier? After two nights of waiting, hunger bested me. I had to hunt. Did you catch anything? A young buck. He was wise enough to guard against the predators of land, but not those of sky. When I first caught him in my jaws, he kicked vigorously and tried to escape. I was stronger, though, and when defeat became unavoidable, he gave up and died. Does Garrow also fight the inevitable? I don’t know.He told her the particulars, then said,It’ll be a long time, if ever, before we can go home. I won’t be able to see you for at least a couple of days. You might as well make yourself comfortable. Unhappily, she said,I will do as you say. But do not take too long. They parted reluctantly. He looked out a window and was surprised to see that the sun had set. Feeling very tired, he limped to Elain, who was wrapping meat pies with oilcloth. “I’m going back to Gertrude’s house to sleep,” he said. She finished with the packages and asked, “Why don’t you stay with us? You’ll be closer to your uncle, and Gertrude can have her bed back.” “Do you have enough room?” he asked, wavering. “Of course.” She wiped her hands. “Come with me; I’ll get everything ready.” She escorted him upstairs to an empty room. He sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you need anything else?” she asked. He shook his head. “In that case, I’ll be downstairs. Call me if you need help.” He listened as she descended the stairs. Then he opened the door and slipped down the hallway to Garrow’s room. Gertrude gave him a small smile over her darting knitting needles. “How is he?” whispered Eragon. Her voice rasped with fatigue. “He’s weak, but the fever’s gone down a little and some of the burns look better. We’ll have to wait and see, but this could mean he’ll recover.” That lightened Eragon’s mood, and he returned to his room. The darkness seemed unfriendly as he huddled under the blankets. Eventually he fell asleep, healing the wounds his body and soul had suffered. THEMADNESS OFLIFE It was dark when Eragon jolted upright in bed, breathing hard. The room was chilly; goose bumps formed on his arms and shoulders. It was a few hours before dawn—the time when nothing moves and life waits for the first warm touches of sunlight. His heart pounded as a terrible premonition gripped him. It felt like a shroud lay over the world, and its darkest corner was over his room. He quietly got out of bed and dressed. With apprehension he hurried down the hallway. Alarm shot through him when he saw the door to Garrow’s room open and people clustered inside. Page 55 Garrow lay peacefully on the bed. He was dressed in clean clothes, his hair had been combed back, and his face was calm. He might have been sleeping if not for the silver amulet clasped around his neck and the sprig of dried hemlock on his chest, the last gifts from the living to the dead. Katrina stood next to the bed, face pale and eyes downcast. He heard her whisper, “I had hoped to call himFather one day…” Call him Father,he thought bitterly,a right even I don’t have. He felt like a ghost, drained of all vitality. Everything was insubstantial except for Garrow’s face. Tears flooded Eragon’s cheeks. He stood there, shoulders shaking, but did not cry out. Mother, aunt, uncle—he had lost them all. The weight of his grief was crushing, a monstrous force that left him tottering. Someone led him back to his room, uttering consolations. He fell on the bed, wrapped his arms around his head, and sobbed convulsively. He felt Saphira contact him, but he pushed her aside and let himself be swept away by sorrow. He could not accept that Garrow was gone. If he did, what was left to believe in? Only a merciless, uncaring world that snuffed lives like candles before a wind. Frustrated and terrified, he turned his tear-dampened face toward the heavens and shouted, “What god would do this? Show yourself!” He heard people running to his room, but no answer came from above. “He didn’t deserve this!” Comforting hands touched him, and he was aware of Elain sitting next to him. She held him as he cried, and eventually, exhausted, he slipped unwillingly into sleep. A RIDER’SBLADE Anguish enveloped Eragon as he awoke. Though he kept his eyes closed, they could not stop a fresh flow of tears. He searched for some idea or hope to help him keep his sanity.I can’t live with this, he moaned. Then don’t.Saphira’s words reverberated in his head. How? Garrow is gone forever! And in time, I must meet the same fate. Love, family, accomplishments—they are all torn away, leaving nothing. What is the worth of anything we do? The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender the will to change and experience life. But options are before you; choose one and dedicate yourself to it. The deeds will give you new hope and purpose. But what can I do? The only true guide is your heart. Nothing less than its supreme desire can help you. She left him to ponder her statements. Eragon examined his emotions. It surprised him that, more than grief, he found a searing anger.What do you want me to do… pursue the strangers? Yes. Her frank answer confused him. He took a deep, trembling breath.Why? Remember what you said in the Spine? How you reminded me of my duty as dragon, and I returned Page 56 with you despite the urging of my instinct? So, too, must you control yourself. I thought long and deep the past few days, and I realized what it means to be dragon and Rider: It is our destiny to attempt the impossible, to accomplish great deeds regardless of fear. It is our responsibility to the future. I don’t care what you say; those aren’t reasons to leave!cried Eragon. Then here are others. My tracks have been seen, and people are alert to my presence. Eventually I will be exposed. Besides, there is nothing here for you. No farm, no family, and— Roran’s not dead!he said vehemently. But if you stay, you’ll have to explain what really happened. He has a right to know how and why his father died. What might he do once he knows of me? Saphira’s arguments whirled around in Eragon’s head, but he shrank from the idea of forsaking Palancar Valley; it was his home. Yet the thought of enacting vengeance on the strangers was fiercely comforting. Am I strong enough for this? You have me. Doubt besieged him. It would be such a wild, desperate thing to do. Contempt for his indecision rose, and a harsh smile danced on his lips. Saphira was right. Nothing mattered anymore except the act itself. The doing is the thing. And what would give him more satisfaction than hunting down the strangers? A terrible energy and strength began to grow in him. It grabbed his emotions and forged them into a solid bar of anger with one word stamped on it: revenge. His head pounded as he said with conviction,I will do it. He severed the contact with Saphira and rolled out of bed, his body tense like a coiled spring. It was still early morning; he had only slept a few hours.Nothing is more dangerous than an enemy with nothing to lose, he thought.Which is what I have become. Yesterday he had had difficulty walking upright, but now he moved confidently, held in place by his iron will. The pain his body sent him was defied and ignored. As he crept out of the house, he heard the murmur of two people talking. Curious, he stopped and listened. Elain was saying in her gentle voice, “…place to stay. We have room.” Horst answered inaudibly in his bass rumble. “Yes, the poor boy,” replied Elain. This time Eragon could hear Horst’s response. “Maybe…” There was a long pause. “I’ve been thinking about what Eragon said, and I’m not sure he told us everything.” “What do you mean?” asked Elain. There was concern in her voice. “When we started for their farm, the road was scraped smooth by the board he dragged Garrow on. Then we reached a place where the snow was all trampled and churned up. His footprints and signs of the board stopped there, but we also saw the same giant tracks from the farm. And what about his legs? I can’t believe he didn’t notice losing that much skin. I didn’t want to push him for answers earlier, but now I think I will.” “Maybe what he saw scared him so much that he doesn’t want to talk about it,” suggested Elain. “You saw how distraught he was.” Page 57 “That still doesn’t explain how he managed to get Garrow nearly all the way here without leaving any tracks.” Saphira was right,thought Eragon.It’s time to leave. Too many questions from too many people. Sooner or later they’ll find the answers. He continued through the house, tensing whenever the floor creaked. The streets were clear; few people were up at this time of day. He stopped for a minute and forced himself to focus.I don’t need a horse. Saphira will be my steed, but she needs a saddle. She can hunt for both of us, so I don’t have to worry about food—though I should get some anyway. Whatever else I need I can find buried in our house. He went to Gedric’s tanning vats on the outskirts of Carvahall. The vile smell made him cringe, but he kept moving, heading for a shack set into the side of a hill where the cured hides were stored. He cut down three large ox hides from the rows of skins hanging from the ceiling. The thievery made him feel guilty, but he reasoned,It’s not really stealing. I’ll pay Gedric back someday, along with Horst. He rolled up the thick leather and took it to a stand of trees away from the village. He wedged the hides between the branches of a tree, then returned to Carvahall. Now for food.He went to the tavern, intending to get it there, but then smiled tightly and reversed direction. If he was going to steal, it might as well be from Sloan. He sneaked up to the butcher’s house. The front door was barred whenever Sloan was not there, but the side door was secured with only a thin chain, which he broke easily. The rooms inside were dark. He fumbled blindly until his hands came upon hard piles of meat wrapped in cloth. He stuffed as many of them as he could under his shirt, then hurried back to the street and furtively closed the door. A woman shouted his name nearby. He clasped the bottom of his shirt to keep the meat from falling out and ducked behind a corner. He shivered as Horst walked between two houses not ten feet away. Eragon ran as soon as Horst was out of sight. His legs burned as he pounded down an alley and back to the trees. He slipped between the tree trunks, then turned to see if he was being pursued. No one was there. Relieved, he let out his breath and reached into the tree for the leather. It was gone. “Going somewhere?” Eragon whirled around. Brom scowled angrily at him, an ugly wound on the side of his head. A short sword hung at his belt in a brown sheath. The hides were in his hands. Eragon’s eyes narrowed in irritation. How had the old man managed to sneak up on him? Everything had been so quiet, he would have sworn that no one was around. “Give them back,” he snapped. “Why? So you can run off before Garrow is even buried?” The accusation was sharp. “It’s none of your business!” he barked, temper flashing. “Why did you follow me?” “I didn’t,” grunted Brom. “I’ve been waiting for you here. Now where are you going?” “Nowhere.” Eragon lunged for the skins and grabbed them from Brom’s hands. Brom did nothing to stop him. “I hope you have enough meat to feed your dragon.” Page 58 Eragon froze. “What are you talking about?” Brom crossed his arms. “Don’t fool with me. I know where that mark on your hand, the gedwëy ignasia, theshining palm, comes from: you have touched a dragon hatchling. I know why you came to me with those questions, and I know that once more the Riders live.” Eragon dropped the leather and meat.It’s finally happened… I have to get away! I can’t run faster than him with my injured legs, but if… Saphira! he called. For a few agonizing seconds she did not answer, but then,Yes. We’ve been discovered! I need you!He sent her a picture of where he was, and she took off immediately. Now he just had to stall Brom. “How did you find out?” he asked in a hollow voice. Brom stared into the distance and moved his lips soundlessly as if he were talking to someone else. Then he said, “There were clues and hints everywhere; I had only to pay attention. Anyone with the right knowledge could have done the same. Tell me, how is your dragon?” “She,” said Eragon, “is fine. We weren’t at the farm when the strangers came.” “Ah, your legs. You were flying?” How did Brom figure that out? What if the strangers coerced him into doing this? Maybe they want him to discover where I’m going so they can ambush us. And where is Saphira?He reached out with his mind and found her circling far overhead.Come! No, I will watch for a time. Why! Because of the slaughter at Dorú Areaba. What? Brom leaned against a tree with a slight smile. “I have talked with her, and she has agreed to stay above us until we settle our differences. As you can see, you really don’t have any choice but to answer my questions. Now tell me, where are you going?” Bewildered, Eragon put a hand to his temple.How could Brom speak to Saphira? The back of his head throbbed and ideas whirled through his mind, but he kept reaching the same conclusion: he had to tell the old man something. He said, “I was going to find a safe place to stay while I heal.” “And after that?” The question could not be ignored. The throbbing in his head grew worse. It was impossible to think; nothing seemed clear anymore. All he wanted to do was tell someone about the events of the past few months. It tore at him that his secret had caused Garrow’s death. He gave up and said tremulously, “I was going to hunt down the strangers and kill them.” “A mighty task for one so young,” Brom said in a normal tone, as if Eragon had proposed the most Page 59 obvious and suitable thing to do. “Certainly a worthy endeavor and one you are fit to carry out, yet it strikes me that help would not be unwelcome.” He reached behind a bush and pulled out a large pack. His tone became gruff. “Anyway, I’m not going to stay behind while some stripling gets to run around with a dragon.” Is he really offering help, or is it a trap?Eragon was afraid of what his mysterious enemies could do.But Brom convinced Saphira to trust him, and they’ve talked through the mind touch. If she isn’t worried… He decided to put his suspicions aside for the present. “I don’t need help,” said Eragon, then grudgingly added, “but you can come.” “Then we had best be going,” said Brom. His face blanked for a moment. “I think you’ll find that your dragon will listen to you again.” Saphira?asked Eragon. Yes. He resisted the urge to question her.Will you meet us at the farm? Yes. So you reached an agreement? I guess so.She broke contact and soared away. He glanced at Carvahall and saw people running from house to house. “I think they’re looking for me.” Brom raised an eyebrow. “Probably. Shall we go?” Eragon hesitated. “I’d like to leave a message for Roran. It doesn’t seem right to run off without telling him why.” “It’s been taken care of,” assured Brom. “I left a letter for him with Gertrude, explaining a few things. I also cautioned him to be on guard for certain dangers. Is that satisfactory?” Eragon nodded. He wrapped the leather around the meat and started off. They were careful to stay out of sight until they reached the road, then quickened their pace, eager to distance themselves from Carvahall. Eragon plowed ahead determinedly, his legs burning. The mindless rhythm of walking freed his mind to think.Once we get home, I won’t travel any farther with Brom until I get some answers, he told himself firmly. I hope that he can tell me more about the Riders and whom I’m fighting. As the wreckage of the farm came into view, Brom’s eyebrows beetled with anger. Eragon was dismayed to see how swiftly nature was reclaiming the farm. Snow and dirt were already piled inside the house, concealing the violence of the strangers’ attack. All that remained of the barn was a rapidly eroding rectangle of soot. Brom’s head snapped up as the sound of Saphira’s wings drifted over the trees. She dived past them from behind, almost brushing their heads. They staggered as a wall of air buffeted them. Saphira’s scales glittered as she wheeled over the farm and landed gracefully. Brom stepped forward with an expression both solemn and joyous. His eyes were shining, and a tear shone on his cheek before it disappeared into his beard. He stood there for a long while, breathing heavily as he watched Saphira, and she him. Eragon heard him muttering and edged closer to listen. Page 60 “So… it starts again. But how and where will it end? My sight is veiled; I cannot tell if this be tragedy or farce, for the elements of both are here… However it may be, my station is unchanged, and I…” Whatever else he might have said faded away as Saphira proudly approached them. Eragon passed Brom, pretended he had heard nothing, and greeted her. There was something different between them now, as if they knew each other even more intimately, yet were still strangers. He rubbed her neck, and his palm tingled as their minds touched. A strong curiosity came from her. I’ve seen no humans except you and Garrow, and he was badly injured,she said. You’ve viewed people through my eyes. It’s not the same.She came closer and turned her long head so that she could inspect Brom with one large blue eye.You really are queer creatures, she said critically, and continued to stare at him. Brom held still as she sniffed the air, and then he extended a hand to her. Saphira slowly bowed her head and allowed him to touch her on the brow. With a snort, she jerked back and retreated behind Eragon. Her tail flicked over the ground. What is it?he asked. She did not answer. Brom turned to him and asked in an undertone, “What’s her name?” “Saphira.” A peculiar expression crossed Brom’s face. He ground the butt of his staff into the earth with such force his knuckles turned white. “Of all the names you gave me, it was the only one she liked. I think it fits,” Eragon added quickly. “Fit it does,” said Brom. There was something in his voice Eragon could not identify. Was it loss, wonder, fear, envy? He was not sure; it could have been none of them or all. Brom raised his voice and said, “Greetings, Saphira. I am honored to meet you.” He twisted his hand in a strange gesture and bowed. I like him,said Saphira quietly. Of course you do; everyone enjoys flattery.Eragon touched her on the shoulder and went to the ruined house. Saphira trailed behind with Brom. The old man looked vibrant and alive. Eragon climbed into the house and crawled under a door into what was left of his room. He barely recognized it under the piles of shattered wood. Guided by memory, he searched where the inside wall had been and found his empty pack. Part of the frame was broken, but the damage could be easily repaired. He kept rummaging and eventually uncovered the end of his bow, which was still in its buckskin tube. Though the leather was scratched and scuffed, he was pleased to see that the oiled wood was unharmed.Finally, some luck. He strung the bow and pulled on the sinew experimentally. It bent smoothly, without any snaps or creaks. Satisfied, he hunted for his quiver, which he found buried nearby. Many of the arrows were broken. He unstrung the bow and handed it and the quiver to Brom, who said, “It takes a strong arm to pull that.” Eragon took the compliment silently. He picked through the rest of the house for other useful items and dumped the collection next to Brom. It was a meager pile. “What now?” asked Brom. His eyes were sharp and inquisitive. Eragon looked away. Page 61 “We find a place to hide.” “Do you have somewhere in mind?” “Yes.” He wrapped all the supplies, except for his bow, into a tight bundle and tied it shut. Hefting it onto his back, he said, “This way,” and headed into the forest.Saphira, follow us in the air. Your footprints are too easily found and tracked. Very well.She took off behind them. Their destination was nearby, but Eragon took a circuitous route in an effort to baffle any pursuers. It was well over an hour before he finally stopped in a well-concealed bramble. The irregular clearing in the center was just large enough for a fire, two people, and a dragon. Red squirrels scampered into the trees, chattering in protest at their intrusion. Brom extricated himself from a vine and looked around with interest. “Does anyone else know of this?” he asked. “No. I found it when we first moved here. It took me a week to dig into the center, and another week to clear out all the deadwood.” Saphira landed beside them and folded her wings, careful to avoid the thorns. She curled up, snapping twigs with her hard scales, and rested her head on the ground. Her unreadable eyes followed them closely. Brom leaned against his staff and fixed his gaze on her. His scrutiny made Eragon nervous. Eragon watched them until hunger forced him to action. He built a fire, filled a pot with snow, and then set it over the flames to melt. When the water was hot, he tore off chunks of meat and dropped them into the pot with a lump of salt.Not much of a meal, he thought grimly,but it’ll do. I’ll probably be eating this for some time to come, so I might as well get used to it. The stew simmered quietly, spreading a rich aroma through the clearing. The tip of Saphira’s tongue snaked out and tasted the air. When the meat was tender, Brom came over and Eragon served the food. They ate silently, avoiding each other’s eyes. Afterward, Brom pulled out his pipe and lit it leisurely. “Why do you want to travel with me?” asked Eragon. A cloud of smoke left Brom’s lips and spiraled up through the trees until it disappeared. “I have a vested interest in keeping you alive,” he said. “What do you mean?” demanded Eragon. “To put it bluntly, I’m a storyteller and I happen to think that you will make a fine story. You’re the first Rider to exist outside of the king’s control for over a hundred years. What will happen? Will you perish as a martyr? Will you join the Varden? Or will you kill King Galbatorix? All fascinating questions. And I will be there to see every bit of it, no matter what I have to do.” A knot formed in Eragon’s stomach. He could not see himself doing any of those things, least of all becoming a martyr.I want my vengeance, but for the rest…. I have no ambition. “That may be, but tell me, how can you talk with Saphira?” Brom took his time putting more tobacco in his pipe. Once it was relit and firmly in his mouth, he said, Page 62 “Very well, if it’s answers you want, it’s answers you’ll get, but they may not be to your liking.” He got up, brought his pack over to the fire, and pulled out a long object wrapped in cloth. It was about five feet long and, from the way he handled it, rather heavy. He peeled away the cloth, strip by strip, like a mummy being unswathed. Eragon gazed, transfixed, as a sword was revealed. The gold pommel was teardrop shaped with the sides cut away to reveal a ruby the size of a small egg. The hilt was wrapped in silver wire, burnished until it gleamed like starlight. The sheath was wine red and smooth as glass, adorned solely by a strange black symbol etched into it. Next to the sword was a leather belt with a heavy buckle. The last strip fell away, and Brom passed the weapon to Eragon. The handle fit Eragon’s hand as if it had been made for him. He slowly drew the sword; it slid soundlessly from the sheath. The flat blade was iridescent red and shimmered in the firelight. The keen edges curved gracefully to a sharp point. A duplicate of the black symbol was inscribed on the metal. The balance of the sword was perfect; it felt like an extension of his arm, unlike the rude farm tools he was used to. An air of power lay over it, as if an unstoppable force resided in its core. It had been created for the violent convulsions of battle, to end men’s lives, yet it held a terrible beauty. “This was once a Rider’s blade,” said Brom gravely. “When a Rider finished his training, the elves would present him with a sword. Their methods of forging have always remained secret. However, their swords are eternally sharp and will never stain. The custom was to have the blade’s color match that of the Rider’s dragon, but I think we can make an exception in this case. This sword is named Zar’roc. I don’t know what it means, probably something personal to the Rider who owned it.” He watched Eragon swing the sword. “Where did you get it?” asked Eragon. He reluctantly slipped the blade back into the sheath and attempted to hand the sword back, but Brom made no move to take it. “It doesn’t matter,” said Brom. “I will only say that it took me a series of nasty and dangerous adventures to attain it. Consider it yours. You have more of a claim to it than I do, and before all is done, I think you will need it.” The offer caught Eragon off guard. “It is a princely gift, thank you.” Unsure of what else to say, he slid his hand down the sheath. “What is this symbol?” he asked. “That was the Rider’s personal crest.” Eragon tried to interrupt, but Brom glared at him until he was quiet. “Now, if you must know, anyone can learn how to speak to a dragon if they have the proper training. And,” he raised a finger for emphasis, “it doesn’t mean anything if they can. I know more about the dragons and their abilities than almost anyone else alive. On your own it might take years to learn what I can teach you. I’m offering my knowledge as a shortcut. As for how I know so much, I will keep that to myself.” Saphira pulled herself up as he finished speaking and prowled over to Eragon. He pulled out the blade and showed her the sword.It has power, she said, touching the point with her nose. The metal’s iridescent color rippled like water as it met her scales. She lifted her head with a satisfied snort, and the sword resumed its normal appearance. Eragon sheathed it, troubled. Brom raised an eyebrow. “That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about. Dragons will constantly amaze you. Things… happen around them, mysterious things that are impossible anywhere else. Even though the Riders worked with dragons for centuries, they never completely understood their abilities. Some say that even the dragons don’t know the full extent of their own powers. They are linked with this land in a way Page 63 that lets them overcome great obstacles. What Saphira just did illustrates my earlier point: there is much you don’t know.” There was a long pause. “That may be,” said Eragon, “but I can learn. And the strangers are the most important thing I need to know about right now. Do you have any idea who they are?” Brom took a deep breath. “They are called the Ra’zac. No one knows if that’s the name of their race or what they have chosen to call themselves. Either way, if they have individual names, they keep them hidden. The Ra’zac were never seen before Galbatorix came to power. He must have found them during his travels and enlisted them in his service. Little or nothing is known about them. However, I can tell you this: they aren’t human. When I glimpsed one’s head, it appeared to have something resembling a beak and black eyes as large as my fist—though how they manage our speech is a mystery to me. Doubtless the rest of their bodies are just as twisted. That is why they cover themselves with cloaks at all times, regardless of the weather. “As for their powers, they are stronger than any man and can jump incredible heights, but they cannot use magic. Be thankful for that, because if they could, you would already be in their grasp. I also know they have a strong aversion to sunlight, though it won’t stop them if they’re determined. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating a Ra’zac, for they are cunning and full of guile.” “How many of them are there?” asked Eragon, wondering how Brom could possibly know so much. “As far as I know, only the two you saw. There might be more, but I’ve never heard of them. Perhaps they’re the last of a dying race. You see, they are the king’s personal dragon hunters. Whenever rumors reach Galbatorix of a dragon in the land, he sends the Ra’zac to investigate. A trail of death often follows them.” Brom blew a series of smoke rings and watched them float up between the brambles. Eragon ignored the rings until he noticed that they were changing color and darting around. Brom winked slyly. Eragon was sure that no one had seen Saphira, so how could Galbatorix have heard about her? When he voiced his objections, Brom said, “You’re right, it seems unlikely that anyone from Carvahall could have informed the king. Why don’t you tell me where you got the egg and how you raised Saphira—that might clarify the issue.” Eragon hesitated, then recounted all the events since he had found the egg in the Spine. It felt wonderful to finally confide in someone. Brom asked a few questions, but most of the time he listened intently. The sun was about to set when Eragon finished his tale. Both of them were quiet as the clouds turned a soft pink. Eragon eventually broke the silence. “I just wish I knew where she came from. And Saphira doesn’t remember.” Brom cocked his head. “I don’t know… You’ve made many things clear to me. I am sure that no one besides us has seen Saphira. The Ra’zac must have had a source of information outside of this valley, one who is probably dead by now… You have had a hard time and done much. I’m impressed.” Eragon stared blankly into the distance, then asked, “What happened to your head? It looks like you were hit with a rock.” “No, but that’s a good guess.” He took a deep pull on the pipe. “I was sneaking around the Ra’zac’s camp after dark, trying to learn what I could, when they surprised me in the shadows. It was a good trap, but they underestimated me, and I managed to drive them away. Not, however,” he said wryly, “without this token of my stupidity. Stunned, I fell to the ground and didn’t regain consciousness until the next day. By then they had already arrived at your farm. It was too late to stop them, but I set out after them Page 64 anyway. That’s when we met on the road.” Who is he to think that he could take on the Ra’zac alone? They ambushed him in the dark, and he was only stunned?Unsettled, Eragon asked hotly, “When you saw the mark, the gedwëy ignasia, on my palm, why didn’t you tell me who the Ra’zac were? I would have warned Garrow instead of going to Saphira first, and the three of us could have fled.” Brom sighed. “I was unsure of what to do at the time. I thought I could keep the Ra’zac away from you and, once they had left, confront you about Saphira. But they outsmarted me. It’s a mistake that I deeply regret, and one that has cost you dearly.” “Who are you?” demanded Eragon, suddenly bitter. “How come a mere village storyteller happens to have a Rider’s sword? How do you know about the Ra’zac?” Brom tapped his pipe. “I thought I made it clear I wasn’t going to talk about that.” “My uncle is dead because of this.Dead! ” exclaimed Eragon, slashing a hand through the air. “I’ve trusted you this far because Saphira respects you, but no more! You’re not the person I’ve known in Carvahall for all of these years. Explain yourself!” For a long time Brom stared at the smoke swirling between them, deep lines creasing his forehead. When he stirred, it was only to take another puff. Finally he said, “You’ve probably never thought about it, but most of my life has been spent outside of Palancar Valley. It was only in Carvahall that I took up the mantle of storyteller. I have played many roles to different people—I’ve a complicated past. It was partly through a desire to escape it that I came here. So no, I’m not the man you think I am.” “Ha!” snorted Eragon. “Then who are you?” Brom smiled gently. “I am one who is here to help you. Do not scorn those words—they are the truest I’ve ever spoken. But I’m not going to answer your questions. At this point you don’t need to hear my history, nor have you yet earned that right. Yes, I have knowledge Brom the storyteller wouldn’t, but I’m more than he. You’ll have to learn to live with that fact and the fact that I don’t hand out descriptions of my life to anyone who asks!” Eragon glared at him sullenly. “I’m going to sleep,” he said, leaving the fire. Brom did not seem surprised, but there was sorrow in his eyes. He spread his bedroll next to the fire as Eragon lay beside Saphira. An icy silence fell over the camp. SADDLEMAKING When Eragon’s eyes opened, the memory of Garrow’s death crashed down on him. He pulled the blankets over his head and cried quietly under their warm darkness. It felt good just to lie there… to hide from the world outside. Eventually the tears stopped. He cursed Brom. Then he reluctantly wiped his cheeks and got up. Brom was making breakfast. “Good morning,” he said. Eragon grunted in reply. He jammed his cold fingers in his armpits and crouched by the fire until the food was ready. They ate quickly, trying to consume the food before it lost its warmth. When he finished, Eragon washed his bowl with snow, then spread the stolen leather on the ground. Page 65 “What are you going to do with that?” asked Brom. “We can’t carry it with us.” “I’m going to make a saddle for Saphira.” “Mmm,” said Brom, moving forward. “Well, dragons used to have two kinds of saddles. The first was hard and molded like a horse’s saddle. But those take time and tools to make, neither of which we have. The other was thin and lightly padded, nothing more than an extra layer between the Rider and dragon. Those saddles were used whenever speed and flexibility were important, though they weren’t nearly as comfortable as the molded ones.” “Do you know what they looked like?” asked Eragon. “Better, I can make one.” “Then please do,” said Eragon, standing aside. “Very well, but pay attention. Someday you may have to do this for yourself.” With Saphira’s permission, Brom measured her neck and chest. Then he cut five bands out of the leather and outlined a dozen or so shapes on the hides. Once the pieces had been sliced out, he cut what remained of the hides into long cords. Brom used the cords to sew everything together, but for each stitch, two holes had to be bored through the leather. Eragon helped with that. Intricate knots were rigged in place of buckles, and every strap was made extra long so the saddle would still fit Saphira in the coming months. The main part of the saddle was assembled from three identical sections sewn together with padding between them. Attached to the front was a thick loop that would fit snugly around one of Saphira’s neck spikes, while wide bands sewn on either side would wrap around her belly and tie underneath. Taking the place of stirrups were a series of loops running down both bands. Tightened, they would hold Eragon’s legs in place. A long strap was constructed to pass between Saphira’s front legs, split in two, and then come up behind her front legs to rejoin with the saddle. While Brom worked, Eragon repaired his pack and organized their supplies. The day was spent by the time their tasks were completed. Weary from his labor, Brom put the saddle on Saphira and checked to see that the straps fit. He made a few small adjustments, then took it off, satisfied. “You did a good job,” Eragon acknowledged grudgingly. Brom inclined his head. “One tries his best. It should serve you well; the leather’s sturdy enough.” Aren’t you going to try it out?asked Saphira. Maybe tomorrow,said Eragon, storing the saddle with his blankets.It’s too late now. In truth he was not eager to fly again—not after the disastrous outcome of his last attempt. Dinner was made quickly. It tasted good even though it was simple. While they ate, Brom looked over the fire at Eragon and asked, “Will we leave tomorrow?” “There isn’t any reason to stay.” “I suppose not…” He shifted. “Eragon, I must apologize about how events have turned out. I never Page 66 wished for this to happen. Your family did not deserve such a tragedy. If there were anything I could do to reverse it, I would. This is a terrible situation for all of us.” Eragon sat in silence, avoiding Brom’s gaze, then Brom said, “We’re going to need horses.” “Maybe you do, but I have Saphira.” Brom shook his head. “There isn’t a horse alive that can outrun a flying dragon, and Saphira is too young to carry us both. Besides, it’ll be safer if we stay together, and riding is faster than walking.” “But that’ll make it harder to catch the Ra’zac,” protested Eragon. “On Saphira, I could probably find them within a day or two. On horses, it’ll take much longer—if it’s even possible to overtake their lead on the ground!” Brom said slowly, “That’s a chance you’ll have to take if I’m to accompany you.” Eragon thought it over. “All right,” he grumbled, “we’ll get horses. But you have to buy them. I don’t have any money, and I don’t want to steal again. It’s wrong.” “That depends on your point of view,” corrected Brom with a slight smile. “Before you set out on this venture, remember that your enemies, the Ra’zac, are the king’s servants. They will be protected wherever they go. Laws do not stop them. In cities they’ll have access to abundant resources and willing servants. Also keep in mind that nothing is more important to Galbatorix than recruiting or killing you—though word of your existence probably hasn’t reached him yet. The longer you evade the Ra’zac, the more desperate he’ll become. He’ll know that every day you’ll be growing stronger and that each passing moment will give you another chance to join his enemies. You must be very careful, as you may easily turn from the hunter into the hunted.” Eragon was subdued by the strong words. Pensive, he rolled a twig between his fingers. “Enough talk,” said Brom. “It’s late and my bones ache. We can say more tomorrow.” Eragon nodded and banked the fire. THERINSFORD Dawn was gray and overcast with a cutting wind. The forest was quiet. After a light breakfast, Brom and Eragon doused the fire and shouldered their packs, preparing to leave. Eragon hung his bow and quiver on the side of his pack where he could easily reach them. Saphira wore the saddle; she would have to carry it until they got horses. Eragon carefully tied Zar’roc onto her back, too, as he did not want the extra weight. Besides, in his hands the sword would be no better than a club. Eragon had felt safe inside the bramble, but outside, wariness crept into his movements. Saphira took off and circled overhead. The trees thinned as they returned to the farm. I will see this place again,Eragon insisted to himself, looking at the ruined buildings.This cannot, will not, be a permanent exile. Someday when it’s safe, I’ll return… Throwing back his shoulders, he faced south and the strange, barbaric lands that lay there. As they walked, Saphira veered west toward the mountains and out of sight. Eragon felt uncomfortable as he watched her go. Even now, with no one around, they could not spend their days together. She had to stay hidden in case they met a fellow traveler. The Ra’zac’s footprints were faint on the eroding snow, but Eragon was unconcerned. It was unlikely Page 67 that they had forsaken the road, which was the easiest way out of the valley, for the wilderness. Once outside the valley, however, the road divided in several places. It would be difficult to ascertain which branch the Ra’zac had taken. They traveled in silence, concentrating on speed. Eragon’s legs continued to bleed where the scabs had cracked. To take his mind off the discomfort, he asked, “So what exactly can dragons do? You said that you knew something of their abilities.” Brom laughed, his sapphire ring flashing in the air as he gestured. “Unfortunately, it’s a pitiful amount compared to what I would like to know. Your question is one people have been trying to answer for centuries, so understand that what I tell you is by its very nature incomplete. Dragons have always been mysterious, though maybe not on purpose. “Before I can truly answer your question, you need a basic education on the subject of dragons. It’s hopelessly confusing to start in the middle of such a complex topic without understanding the foundation on which it stands. I’ll begin with the life cycle of dragons, and if that doesn’t wear you out, we can continue to another topic.” Brom explained how dragons mate and what it took for their eggs to hatch. “You see,” he said, “when a dragon lays an egg, the infant inside is ready to hatch. But it waits, sometimes for years, for the right circumstances. When dragons lived in the wild, those circumstances were usually dictated by the availability of food. However, once they formed an alliance with the elves, a certain number of their eggs, usually no more than one or two, were given to the Riders each year. These eggs, or rather the infants inside, wouldn’t hatch until the person destined to be its Rider came into their presence—though how they sensed that isn’t known. People used to line up to touch the eggs, hoping that one of them might be picked.” “Do you mean that Saphira might not have hatched for me?” asked Eragon. “Quite possibly, if she hadn’t liked you.” He felt honored that of all the people in Alagaësia, she had chosen him. He wondered how long she had been waiting, then shuddered at the thought of being cramped inside an egg, surrounded by darkness. Brom continued his lecture. He explained what and when dragons ate. A fully grown sedentary dragon could go for months without food, but in mating season they had to eat every week. Some plants could heal their sicknesses, while others would make them ill. There were various ways to care for their claws and clean their scales. He explained the techniques to use when attacking from a dragon and what to do if you were fighting one, whether on foot, horseback, or with another dragon. Their bellies were armored; their armpits were not. Eragon constantly interrupted to ask questions, and Brom seemed pleased by the inquiries. Hours passed unheeded as they talked. When evening came, they were near Therinsford. As the sky darkened and they searched for a place to camp, Eragon asked, “Who was the Rider that owned Zar’roc?” “A mighty warrior,” said Brom, “who was much feared in his time and held great power.” “What was his name?” Page 68 “I’ll not say.” Eragon protested, but Brom was firm. “I don’t want to keep you ignorant, far from it, but certain knowledge would only prove dangerous and distracting for you right now. There isn’t any reason for me to trouble you with such things until you have the time and the power to deal with them. I only wish to protect you from those who would use you for evil.” Eragon glared at him. “You know what? I think you just enjoy speaking in riddles. I’ve half a mind to leave you so I don’t have to be bothered with them. If you’re going to say something, then say it instead of dancing around with vague phrases!” “Peace. All will be told in time,” Brom said gently. Eragon grunted, unconvinced. They found a comfortable place to spend the night and set up camp. Saphira joined them as dinner was being set on the fire.Did you have time to hunt for food? asked Eragon. She snorted with amusement.If the two of you were any slower, I would have time to fly across the sea and back without falling behind. You don’t have to be insulting. Besides, we’ll go faster once we have horses. She let out a puff of smoke.Maybe, but will it be enough to catch the Ra’zac? They have a lead of several days and many leagues. And I’m afraid they may suspect we’re following them. Why else would they have destroyed the farm in such a spectacular manner, unless they wished to provoke you into chasing them? I don’t know,said Eragon, disturbed. Saphira curled up beside him, and he leaned against her belly, welcoming the warmth. Brom sat on the other side of the fire, whittling two long sticks. He suddenly threw one at Eragon, who grabbed it out of reflex as it whirled over the crackling flames. “Defend yourself!” barked Brom, standing. Eragon looked at the stick in his hand and saw that it was shaped in the crude likeness of a sword. Brom wanted to fight him? What chance did the old man stand?If he wants to play this game, so be it, but if he thinks to beat me, he’s in for a surprise. He rose as Brom circled the fire. They faced each other for a moment, then Brom charged, swinging his stick. Eragon tried to block the attack but was too slow. He yelped as Brom struck him on the ribs, and stumbled backward. Without thinking, he lunged forward, but Brom easily parried the blow. Eragon whipped the stick toward Brom’s head, twisted it at the last moment, and then tried to hit his side. The solid smack of wood striking wood resounded through the camp. “Improvisation—good!” exclaimed Brom, eyes gleaming. His arm moved in a blur, and there was an explosion of pain on the side of Eragon’s head. He collapsed like an empty sack, dazed. A splash of cold water roused him to alertness, and he sat up, sputtering. His head was ringing, and there was dried blood on his face. Brom stood over him with a pan of melted snow water. “You didn’t have to do that,” said Eragon angrily, pushing himself up. He felt dizzy and unsteady. Brom arched an eyebrow. “Oh? A real enemy wouldn’t soften his blows, and neither will I. Should I pander to your… incompetence so you’ll feel better? I don’t think so.” He picked up the stick that Eragon had dropped and held it out. “Now, defend yourself.” Page 69 Eragon stared blankly at the piece of wood, then shook his head. “Forget it; I’ve had enough.” He turned away and stumbled as he was whacked loudly across the back. He spun around, growling. “Never turn your back to the enemy!” snapped Brom, then tossed the stick at him and attacked. Eragon retreated around the fire, beneath the onslaught. “Pull your arms in. Keep your knees bent,” shouted Brom. He continued to give instructions, then paused to show Eragon exactly how to execute a certain move. “Do it again, but this timeslowly !” They slid through the forms with exaggerated motions before returning to their furious battle. Eragon learned quickly, but no matter what he tried, he could not hold Brom off for more than a few blows. When they finished, Eragon flopped on his blankets and groaned. He hurt everywhere—Brom had not been gentle with his stick. Saphira let out a long, coughing growl and curled her lip until a formidable row of teeth showed. What’s wrong with you?he demanded irritably. Nothing,she replied.It’s funny to see a hatchling like you beaten by the old one. She made the sound again, and Eragon turned red as he realized that she was laughing. Trying to preserve some dignity, he rolled onto his side and fell asleep. He felt even worse the next day. Bruises covered his arms, and he was almost too sore to move. Brom looked up from the mush he was serving and grinned. “How do you feel?” Eragon grunted and bolted down the breakfast. Once on the road, they traveled swiftly so as to reach Therinsford before noon. After a league, the road widened and they saw smoke in the distance. “You’d better tell Saphira to fly ahead and wait for us on the other side of Therinsford,” said Brom. “She has to be careful here, otherwise people are bound to notice her.” “Why don’t you tell her yourself?” challenged Eragon. “It’s considered bad manners to interfere with another’s dragon.” “You didn’t have a problem with it in Carvahall.” Brom’s lips twitched with a smile. “I did what I had to.” Eragon eyed him darkly, then relayed the instructions. Saphira warned,Be careful; the Empire’s servants could be hiding anywhere. As the ruts in the road deepened, Eragon noticed more footprints. Farms signaled their approach to Therinsford. The village was larger than Carvahall, but it had been constructed haphazardly, the houses aligned in no particular order. “What a mess,” said Eragon. He could not see Dempton’s mill.Baldor and Albriech have surely fetched Roran by now. Either way, Eragon had no wish to face his cousin. “It’s ugly, if nothing else,” agreed Brom. The Anora River flowed between them and the town, spanned by a stout bridge. As they approached it, Page 70 a greasy man stepped from behind a bush and barred their way. His shirt was too short, and his dirty stomach spilled over a rope belt. Behind his cracked lips, his teeth looked like crumbling tombstones. “You c’n stop right there. This’s my bridge. Gotta pay t’ get over.” “How much?” asked Brom in a resigned voice. He pulled out a pouch, and the bridgekeeper brightened. “Five crowns,” he said, pulling his lips into a broad smile. Eragon’s temper flared at the exorbitant price, and he started to complain hotly, but Brom silenced him with a quick look. The coins were wordlessly handed over. The man put them into a sack hanging from his belt. “Thank’ee much,” he said in a mocking tone, and stood out of the way. As Brom stepped forward, he stumbled and caught the bridgekeeper’s arm to support himself. “Watch y’re step,” snarled the grimy man, sidling away. “Sorry,” apologized Brom, and continued over the bridge with Eragon. “Why didn’t you haggle? He skinned you alive!” exclaimed Eragon when they were out of earshot. “He probably doesn’t even own the bridge. We could have pushed right past him.” “Probably,” agreed Brom. “Then why pay him?” “Because you can’t argue with all of the fools in the world. It’s easier to let them have their way, then trick them when they’re not paying attention.” Brom opened his hand, and a pile of coins glinted in the light. “You cut his purse!” said Eragon incredulously. Brom pocketed the money with a wink. “And it held a surprising amount. He should know better than to keep all these coins in one place.” There was a sudden howl of anguish from the other side of the river. “I’d say our friend has just discovered his loss. If you see any watchmen, tell me.” He grabbed the shoulder of a young boy running between the houses and asked, “Do you know where we can buy horses?” The child stared at them with solemn eyes, then pointed to a large barn near the edge of Therinsford. “Thank you,” said Brom, tossing him a small coin. The barn’s large double doors were open, revealing two long rows of stalls. The far wall was covered with saddles, harnesses, and other paraphernalia. A man with muscular arms stood at the end, brushing a white stallion. He raised a hand and beckoned for them to come over. As they approached, Brom said, “That’s a beautiful animal.” “Yes indeed. His name’s Snowfire. Mine’s Haberth.” Haberth offered a rough palm and shook hands vigorously with Eragon and Brom. There was a polite pause as he waited for their names in return. When they were not forthcoming, he asked, “Can I help you?” Brom nodded. “We need two horses and a full set of tack for both. The horses have to be fast and tough; we’ll be doing a lot of traveling.” Haberth was thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t have many animals like that, and the ones I do aren’t cheap.” The stallion moved restlessly; he calmed it with a few strokes of his fingers. Page 71 “Price is no object. I’ll take the best you have,” said Brom. Haberth nodded and silently tied the stallion to a stall. He went to the wall and started pulling down saddles and other items. Soon he had two identical piles. Next he walked up the line of stalls and brought out two horses. One was a light bay, the other a roan. The bay tugged against his rope. “He’s a little spirited, but with a firm hand you won’t have any problems,” said Haberth, handing the bay’s rope to Brom. Brom let the horse smell his hand; it allowed him to rub its neck. “We’ll take him,” he said, then eyed the roan. “The other one, however, I’m not so sure of.” “There are some good legs on him.” “Mmm… What will you take for Snowfire?” Haberth looked fondly at the stallion. “I’d rather not sell him. He’s the finest I’ve ever bred—I’m hoping to sire a whole line from him.” “If you were willing to part with him, how much would all of this cost me?” asked Brom. Eragon tried to put his hand on the bay like Brom had, but it shied away. He automatically reached out with his mind to reassure the horse, stiffening with surprise as he touched the animal’s consciousness. The contact was not clear or sharp like it was with Saphira, but he could communicate with the bay to a limited degree. Tentatively, he made it understand that he was a friend. The horse calmed and looked at him with liquid brown eyes. Haberth used his fingers to add up the price of the purchase. “Two hundred crowns and no less,” he said with a smile, clearly confident that no one would pay that much. Brom silently opened his pouch and counted out the money. “Will this do?” he asked. There was a long silence as Haberth glanced between Snowfire and the coins. A sigh, then, “He is yours, though I go against my heart.” “I will treat him as if he had been sired by Gildintor, the greatest steed of legend,” said Brom. “Your words gladden me,” answered Haberth, bowing his head slightly. He helped them saddle the horses. When they were ready to leave, he said, “Farewell, then. For the sake of Snowfire, I hope that misfortune does not befall you.” “Do not fear; I will guard him well,” promised Brom as they departed. “Here,” he said, handing Snowfire’s reins to Eragon, “go to the far side of Therinsford and wait there.” “Why?” asked Eragon, but Brom had already slipped away. Annoyed, he exited Therinsford with the two horses and stationed himself beside the road. To the south he saw the hazy outline of Utgard, sitting like a giant monolith at the end of the valley. Its peak pierced the clouds and rose out of sight, towering over the lesser mountains that surrounded it. Its dark, ominous look made Eragon’s scalp tingle. Brom returned shortly and gestured for Eragon to follow. They walked until Therinsford was hidden by Page 72 trees. Then Brom said, “The Ra’zac definitely passed this way. Apparently they stopped here to pick up horses, as we did. I was able to find a man who saw them. He described them with many shudders and said that they galloped out of Therinsford like demons fleeing a holy man.” “They left quite an impression.” “Quite.” Eragon patted the horses. “When we were in the barn, I touched the bay’s mind by accident. I didn’t know it was possible to do that.” Brom frowned. “It’s unusual for one as young as you to have the ability. Most Riders had to train for years before they were strong enough to contact anything other than their dragon.” His face was thoughtful as he inspected Snowfire. Then he said, “Take everything from your pack, put it into the saddlebags, and tie the pack on top.” Eragon did so while Brom mounted Snowfire. Eragon gazed doubtfully at the bay. It was so much smaller than Saphira that for an absurd moment he wondered if it could bear his weight. With a sigh, he awkwardly got into the saddle. He had only ridden horses bareback and never for any distance. “Is this going to do the same thing to my legs as riding Saphira?” he asked. “How do they feel now?” “Not too bad, but I think any hard riding will open them up again.” “We’ll take it easy,” promised Brom. He gave Eragon a few pointers, then they started off at a gentle pace. Before long the countryside began to change as cultivated fields yielded to wilder land. Brambles and tangled weeds lined the road, along with huge rosebushes that clung to their clothes. Tall rocks slanted out of the ground—gray witnesses to their presence. There was an unfriendly feel in the air, an animosity that resisted intruders. Above them, growing larger with every step, loomed Utgard, its craggy precipices deeply furrowed with snowy canyons. The black rock of the mountain absorbed light like a sponge and dimmed the surrounding area. Between Utgard and the line of mountains that formed the east side of Palancar Valley was a deep cleft. It was the only practical way out of the valley. The road led toward it. The horses’ hooves clacked sharply over gravel, and the road dwindled to a skinny trail as it skirted the base of Utgard. Eragon glanced up at the peak looming over them and was startled to see a steepled tower perched upon it. The turret was crumbling and in disrepair, but it was still a stern sentinel over the valley. “What is that?” he asked, pointing. Brom did not look up, but said sadly and with bitterness, “An outpost of the Riders—one that has lasted since their founding. That was where Vrael took refuge, and where, through treachery, he was found and defeated by Galbatorix. When Vrael fell, this area was tainted. Edoc’sil, ‘Unconquerable,’ was the name of this bastion, for the mountain is so steep none may reach the top unless they can fly. After Vrael’s death the commoners called it Utgard, but it has another name, Ristvak’baen—the ‘Place of Sorrow.’ It was known as such to the last Riders before they were killed by the king.” Eragon stared with awe. Here was a tangible remnant of the Riders’ glory, tarnished though it was by the relentless pull of time. It struck him then just how old the Riders were. A legacy of tradition and heroism that stretched back to antiquity had fallen upon him. Page 73 They traveled for long hours around Utgard. It formed a solid wall to their right as they entered the breach that divided the mountain range. Eragon stood in his stirrups; he was impatient to see what lay outside of Palancar, but it was still too far away. For a while they were in a sloped pass, winding over hill and gully, following the Anora River. Then, with the sun low behind their backs, they mounted a rise and saw over the trees. Eragon gasped. On either side were mountains, but below them stretched a huge plain that extended to the distant horizon and fused into the sky. The plain was a uniform tan, like the color of dead grass. Long, wispy clouds swept by overhead, shaped by fierce winds. He understood now why Brom had insisted on horses. It would have taken them weeks or months to cover that vast distance on foot. Far above he saw Saphira circling, high enough to be mistaken for a bird. “We’ll wait until tomorrow to make the descent,” said Brom. “It’s going to take most of the day, so we should camp now.” “How far across is the plain?” Eragon asked, still amazed. “Two or three days to over a fortnight, depending on which direction we go. Aside from the nomad tribes that roam this section of the plains, it’s almost as uninhabited as the Hadarac Desert to the east. So we aren’t going to find many villages. However, to the south the plains are less arid and more heavily populated.” They left the trail and dismounted by the Anora River. As they unsaddled the horses, Brom gestured at the bay. “You should name him.” Eragon considered it as he picketed the bay. “Well, I don’t have anything as noble as Snowfire, but maybe this will do.” He placed his hand on the bay and said, “I name you Cadoc. It was my grandfather’s name, so bear it well.” Brom nodded in approval, but Eragon felt slightly foolish. When Saphira landed, he asked, How do the plains look? Dull. There’s nothing but rabbits and scrub in every direction. After dinner, Brom stood and barked, “Catch!” Eragon barely had time to raise his arm and grab the piece of wood before it hit him on the head. He groaned as he saw another makeshift sword. “Not again,” he complained. Brom just smiled and beckoned with one hand. Eragon reluctantly got to his feet. They whirled around in a flurry of smacking wood, and he backed away with a stinging arm. The training session was shorter than the first, but it was still long enough for Eragon to amass a new collection of bruises. When they finished sparring, he threw down the stick in disgust and stalked away from the fire to nurse his injuries. THUNDERROAR ANDLIGHTNINGCRACKLE The next morning Eragon avoided bringing to mind any of the recent events; they were too painful for him to consider. Instead, he focused his energies on figuring out how to find and kill the Ra’zac.I’ll do it with my bow, he decided, imagining how the cloaked figures would look with arrows sticking out of Page 74 them. He had difficulty even standing up. His muscles cramped with the slightest movement, and one of his fingers was hot and swollen. When they were ready to leave, he mounted Cadoc and said acidly, “If this keeps up, you’re going to batter me to pieces.” “I wouldn’t push you so hard if I didn’t think you were strong enough.” “For once, I wouldn’t mind being thought less of,” muttered Eragon. Cadoc pranced nervously as Saphira approached. Saphira eyed the horse with something close to disgust and said,There’s nowhere to hide on the plains, so I’m not going to bother trying to stay out of sight. I’ll just fly above you from now on. She took off, and they began the steep descent. In many places the trail all but disappeared, leaving them to find their own way down. At times they had to dismount and lead the horses on foot, holding on to trees to keep from falling down the slope. The ground was scattered with loose rocks, which made the footing treacherous. The ordeal left them hot and irritable, despite the cold. They stopped to rest when they reached the bottom near midday. The Anora River veered to their left and flowed northward. A biting wind scoured the land, whipping them unmercifully. The soil was parched, and dirt flew into their eyes. It unnerved Eragon how flat everything was; the plains were unbroken by hummocks or mounds. He had lived his entire life surrounded by mountains and hills. Without them he felt exposed and vulnerable, like a mouse under an eagle’s keen eye. The trail split in three once it reached the plains. The first branch turned north, toward Ceunon, one of the greatest northern cities; the second one led straight across the plains; and the last went south. They examined all three for traces of the Ra’zac and eventually found their tracks, heading directly into the grasslands. “It seems they’ve gone to Yazuac,” said Brom with a perplexed air. “Where’s that?” “Due east and four days away, if all goes well. It’s a small village situated by the Ninor River.” He gestured at the Anora, which streamed away from them to the north. “Our only supply of water is here. We’ll have to replenish our waterskins before attempting to cross the plains. There isn’t another pool or stream between here and Yazuac.” The excitement of the hunt began to rise within Eragon. In a few days, maybe less than a week, he would use his arrows to avenge Garrow’s death.And then… He refused to think about what might happen afterward. They filled the waterskins, watered the horses, and drank as much as they could from the river. Saphira joined them and took several gulps of water. Fortified, they turned eastward and started across the plains. Page 75 Eragon decided that it would be the wind that drove him crazy first. Everything that made him miserable—his chapped lips, parched tongue, and burning eyes—stemmed from it. The ceaseless gusting followed them throughout the day. Evening only strengthened the wind, instead of subduing it. Since there was no shelter, they were forced to camp in the open. Eragon found some scrub brush, a short tough plant that thrived on harsh conditions, and pulled it up. He made a careful pile and tried to light it, but the woody stems only smoked and gave off a pungent smell. Frustrated, he tossed the tinderbox to Brom. “I can’t make it burn, especially with this blasted wind. See if you can get it going: otherwise dinner will be cold.” Brom knelt by the brush and looked at it critically. He rearranged a couple of branches, then struck the tinderbox, sending a cascade of sparks onto the plants. There was smoke, but nothing else. Brom scowled and tried again, but his luck was no better than Eragon’s. “Brisingr!” he swore angrily, striking the flint again. Flames suddenly appeared, and he stepped back with a pleased expression. “There we go. It must have been smoldering inside.” They sparred with mock swords while the food cooked. Fatigue made it hard on both of them, so they kept the session short. After they had eaten, they lay next to Saphira and slept, grateful for her shelter. The same cold wind greeted them in the morning, sweeping over the dreadful flatness. Eragon’s lips had cracked during the night; every time he smiled or talked, beads of blood covered them. Licking them only made it worse. It was the same for Brom. They let the horses drink sparingly from their supply of water before mounting them. The day was a monotonous trek of endless plodding. On the third day, Eragon woke well rested. That, coupled with the fact that the wind had stopped, put him in a cheery humor. His high spirits were dampened, however, when he saw the sky ahead of them was dark with thunderheads. Brom looked at the clouds and grimaced. “Normally I wouldn’t go into a storm like that, but we’re in for a battering no matter what we do, so we might as well get some distance covered.” It was still calm when they reached the storm front. As they entered its shadow, Eragon looked up. The thundercloud had an exotic structure, forming a natural cathedral with a massive arched roof. With some imagination he could see pillars, windows, soaring tiers, and snarling gargoyles. It was a wild beauty. As Eragon lowered his gaze, a giant ripple raced toward them through the grass, flattening it. It took him a second to realize that the wave was a tremendous blast of wind. Brom saw it too, and they hunched their shoulders, preparing for the storm. The gale was almost upon them when Eragon had a horrible thought and twisted in his saddle, yelling, both with his voice and mind,“Saphira! Land!” Brom’s face grew pale. Overhead, they saw her dive toward the ground.She’s not going to make it! Saphira angled back the way they had come, to gain time. As they watched, the tempest’s wrath struck them like a hammer blow. Eragon gasped for breath and clenched the saddle as a frenzied howling filled his ears. Cadoc swayed and dug his hooves into the ground, mane snapping in the air. The wind tore at their clothes with invisible fingers while the air darkened with billowing clouds of dust. Eragon squinted, searching for Saphira. He saw her land heavily and then crouch, clenching the ground Page 76 with her talons. The wind reached her just as she started to fold her wings. With an angry yank, it unfurled them and dragged her into the air. For a moment she hung there, suspended by the storm’s force. Then it slammed her down on her back. With a savage wrench, Eragon yanked Cadoc around and galloped back up the trail, goading the horse with both heels and mind.Saphira! he shouted.Try to stay on the ground. I’m coming! He felt a grim acknowledgment from her. As they neared Saphira, Cadoc balked, so Eragon leapt down and ran toward her. His bow banged against his head. A strong gust pushed him off balance and he flew forward, landing on his chest. He skidded, then got back up with a snarl, ignoring the deep scrapes in his skin. Saphira was only three yards away, but he could get no closer because of her flailing wings. She struggled to fold them against the overpowering gale. He rushed at her right wing, intending to hold it down, but the wind caught her and she somersaulted over him. The spines on her back missed his head by inches. Saphira clawed at the ground, trying to stay down. Her wings began to lift again, but before they could flip her, Eragon threw himself at the left one. The wing crumpled in at the joints and Saphira tucked it firmly against her body. Eragon vaulted over her back and tumbled onto the other wing. Without warning it was blown upward, sending him sliding to ground. He broke his fall with a roll, then jumped up and grabbed the wing again. Saphira started to fold it, and he pushed with all of his strength. The wind battled with them for a second, but with one last surge they overcame it. Eragon leaned against Saphira, panting.Are you all right? He could feel her trembling. She took a moment to answer.I… I think so. She sounded shaken.Nothing’s broken—I couldn’t do anything; the wind wouldn’t let me go. I was helpless. With a shudder, she fell silent. He looked at her, concerned.Don’t worry, you’re safe now. He spotted Cadoc a ways off, standing with his back to the wind. With his mind, Eragon instructed the horse to return to Brom. He then got onto Saphira. She crept up the road, fighting the gale while he clung to her back and kept his head down. When they reached Brom, he shouted over the storm, “Is she hurt?” Eragon shook his head and dismounted. Cadoc trotted over to him, nickering. As he stroked the horse’s long cheek, Brom pointed at a dark curtain of rain sweeping toward them in rippling gray sheets. “What else?” cried Eragon, pulling his clothes tighter. He winced as the torrent reached them. The stinging rain was cold as ice; before long they were drenched and shivering. Lightning lanced through the sky, flickering in and out of existence. Mile-high blue bolts streaked across the horizon, followed by peals of thunder that shook the ground below. It was beautiful, but dangerously so. Here and there, grass fires were ignited by strikes, only to be extinguished by the rain. The wild elements were slow to abate, but as the day passed, they wandered elsewhere. Once again the sky was revealed, and the setting sun glowed with brilliance. As beams of light tinted the clouds with blazing colors, everything gained a sharp contrast: brightly lit on one side, deeply shadowed on the other. Objects had a unique sense of mass; grass stalks seemed sturdy as marble pillars. Ordinary things took on an unearthly beauty; Eragon felt as if he were sitting inside a painting. The rejuvenated earth smelled fresh, clearing their minds and raising their spirits. Saphira stretched, Page 77 craning her neck, and roared happily. The horses skittered away from her, but Eragon and Brom smiled at her exuberance. Before the light faded, they stopped for the night in a shallow depression. Too exhausted to spar, they went straight to sleep. REVELATION ATYAZUAC Although they had managed to partially refill the waterskins during the storm, they drank the last of their water that morning. “I hope we’re going in the right direction,” said Eragon, crunching up the empty water bag, “because we’ll be in trouble if we don’t reach Yazuac today.” Brom did not seem disturbed. “I’ve traveled this way before. Yazuac will be in sight before dusk.” Eragon laughed doubtfully. “Perhaps you see something I don’t. How can you know that when everything looks exactly the same for leagues around?” “Because I am guided not by the land, but by the stars and sun. They will not lead us astray. Come! Let us be off. It is foolish to conjure up woe where none exists. Yazuac will be there.” His words proved true. Saphira spotted the village first, but it was not until later in the day that the rest of them saw it as a dark bump on the horizon. Yazuac was still very far away; it was only visible because of the plain’s uniform flatness. As they rode closer, a dark winding line appeared on either side of the town and disappeared in the distance. “The Ninor River,” said Brom, pointing at it. Eragon pulled Cadoc to a stop. “Saphira will be seen if she stays with us much longer. Should she hide while we go into Yazuac?” Brom scratched his chin and looked at the town. “See that bend in the river? Have her wait there. It’s far enough from Yazuac so no one should find her, but close enough that she won’t be left behind. We’ll go through the town, get what we need, and then meet her.” I don’t like it,said Saphira when Eragon had explained the plan.This is irritating, having to hide all the time like a criminal. You know what would happen if we were revealed.She grumbled but gave in and flew away low to the ground. They kept a swift pace in anticipation of the food and drink they would soon enjoy. As they approached the small houses, they could see smoke from a dozen chimneys, but there was no one in the streets. An abnormal silence enveloped the village. By unspoken consent they stopped before the first house. Eragon abruptly said, “There aren’t any dogs barking.” “No.” “Doesn’t mean anything, though.” “…No.” Page 78 Eragon paused. “Someone should have seen us by now.” “Yes.” “Then why hasn’t anyone come out?” Brom squinted at the sun. “Could be afraid.” “Could be,” said Eragon. He was quiet for a moment. “And if it’s a trap? The Ra’zac might be waiting for us.” “We need provisions and water.” “There’s the Ninor.” “Still need provisions.” “True.” Eragon looked around. “So we go in?” Brom flicked his reins. “Yes, but not like fools. This is the main entrance to Yazuac. If there’s an ambush, it’ll be along here. No one will expect us to arrive from a different direction.” “Around to the side, then?” asked Eragon. Brom nodded and pulled out his sword, resting the bare blade across his saddle. Eragon strung his bow and nocked an arrow. They trotted quietly around the town and entered it cautiously. The streets were empty, except for a small fox that darted away as they came near. The houses were dark and foreboding, with shattered windows. Many of the doors swung on broken hinges. The horses rolled their eyes nervously. Eragon’s palm tingled, but he resisted the urge to scratch it. As they rode into the center of town, he gripped his bow tighter, blanching. “Gods above,” he whispered. A mountain of bodies rose above them, the corpses stiff and grimacing. Their clothes were soaked in blood, and the churned ground was stained with it. Slaughtered men lay over the women they had tried to protect, mothers still clasped their children, and lovers who had tried to shield each other rested in death’s cold embrace. Black arrows stuck out of them all. Neither young nor old had been spared. But worst of all was the barbed spear that rose out of the peak of the pile, impaling the white body of a baby. Tears blurred Eragon’s vision and he tried to look away, but the dead faces held his attention. He stared at their open eyes and wondered how life could have left them so easily.What does our existence mean when it can end like this? A wave of hopelessness overwhelmed him. A crow dipped out of the sky, like a black shadow, and perched on the spear. It cocked its head and greedily scrutinized the infant’s corpse. “Oh no you don’t,” snarled Eragon as he pulled back the bowstring and released it with a twang. With a puff of feathers, the crow fell over backward, the arrow protruding from its chest. Eragon fit another arrow to the string, but nausea rose from his stomach and he threw up over Cadoc’s side. Brom patted him on the back. When Eragon was done, Brom asked gently, “Do you want to wait for me outside Yazuac?” “No… I’ll stay,” said Eragon shakily, wiping his mouth. He avoided looking at the gruesome sight before Page 79 them. “Who could have done…” He could not force out the words. Brom bowed his head. “Those who love the pain and suffering of others. They wear many faces and go by many disguises, but there is only one name for them: evil. There is no understanding it. All we can do is pity and honor the victims.” He dismounted Snowfire and walked around, inspecting the trampled ground carefully. “The Ra’zac passed this way,” he said slowly, “but this wasn’t their doing. This is Urgal work; the spear is of their make. A company of them came through here, perhaps as many as a hundred. It’s odd; I know of only a few instances when they have gathered in such…” He knelt and examined a footprint intently. With a curse he ran back to Snowfire and leapt onto him. “Ride!” he hissed tightly, spurring Snowfire forward. “There are still Urgals here!” Eragon jammed his heels into Cadoc. The horse jumped forward and raced after Snowfire. They dashed past the houses and were almost to the edge of Yazuac when Eragon’s palm tingled again. He saw a flicker of movement to his right, then a giant fist smashed him out of the saddle. He flew back over Cadoc and crashed into a wall, holding on to his bow only by instinct. Gasping and stunned, he staggered upright, hugging his side. An Urgal stood over him, face set in a gross leer. The monster was tall, thick, and broader than a doorway, with gray skin and yellow piggish eyes. Muscles bulged on his arms and chest, which was covered by a too small breastplate. An iron cap rested over the pair of ram’s horns curling from his temples, and a roundshield was bound to one arm. His powerful hand held a short, wicked sword. Behind him, Eragon saw Brom rein in Snowfire and start back, only to be stopped by the appearance of a second Urgal, this one with an ax. “Run, you fool!” Brom cried to Eragon, cleaving at his enemy. The Urgal in front of Eragon roared and swung his sword mightily. Eragon jerked back with a startled yelp as the weapon whistled past his cheek. He spun around and fled toward the center of Yazuac, heart pounding wildly. The Urgal pursued him, heavy boots thudding. Eragon sent a desperate cry for help to Saphira, then forced himself to go even faster. The Urgal rapidly gained ground despite Eragon’s efforts; large fangs separated in a soundless bellow. With the Urgal almost upon him, Eragon strung an arrow, spun to a stop, took aim, and released. The Urgal snapped up his arm and caught the quivering bolt on his shield. The monster collided with Eragon before he could shoot again, and they fell to the ground in a confused tangle. Eragon sprang to his feet and rushed back to Brom, who was trading fierce blows with his opponent from Snowfire’s back.Where are the rest of the Urgals? wondered Eragon frantically.Are these two the only ones in Yazuac? There was a loud smack, and Snowfire reared, whinnying. Brom doubled over in his saddle, blood streaming down his arm. The Urgal beside him howled in triumph and raised his ax for the death blow. A deafening scream tore out of Eragon as he charged the Urgal, headfirst. The Urgal paused in astonishment, then faced him contemptuously, swinging his ax. Eragon ducked under the two-handed blow and clawed the Urgal’s side, leaving bloody furrows. The Urgal’s face twisted with rage. He slashed again, but missed as Eragon dived to the side and scrambled down an alley. Eragon concentrated on leading the Urgals away from Brom. He slipped into a narrow passageway between two houses, saw it was a dead end, and slid to a stop. He tried to back out, but the Urgals had already blocked the entrance. They advanced, cursing him in their gravelly voices. Eragon swung his head from side to side, searching for a way out, but there was none. Page 80 As he faced the Urgals, images flashed in his mind: dead villagers piled around the spear and an innocent baby who would never grow to adulthood. At the thought of their fate, a burning, fiery power gathered from every part of his body. It was more than a desire for justice. It was his entire being rebelling against the fact of death—that he would cease to exist. The power grew stronger and stronger until he felt ready to burst from the contained force. He stood tall and straight, all fear gone. He raised his bow smoothly. The Urgals laughed and lifted their shields. Eragon sighted down the shaft, as he had done hundreds of times, and aligned the arrowhead with his target. The energy inside him burned at an unbearable level. He had to release it, or it would consume him. A word suddenly leapt unbidden to his lips. He shot, yelling, “Brisingr!” The arrow hissed through the air, glowing with a crackling blue light. It struck the lead Urgal on the forehead, and the air resounded with an explosion. A blue shock wave blasted out of the monster’s head, killing the other Urgal instantly. It reached Eragon before he had time to react, and it passed through him without harm, dissipating against the houses. Eragon stood panting, then looked at his icy palm. The gedwëy ignasia was glowing like white-hot metal, yet even as he watched, it faded back to normal. He clenched his fist, then a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He felt strange and feeble, as if he had not eaten for days. His knees buckled, and he sagged against a wall. ADMONISHMENTS Once a modicum of strength returned to him, Eragon staggered out of the alley, skirting the dead monsters. He did not get far before Cadoc trotted to his side. “Good, you weren’t hurt,” mumbled Eragon. He noticed, without particularly caring, that his hands were shaking violently and his movements were jerky. He felt detached, as if everything he saw were happening to someone else. Eragon found Snowfire, nostrils flared and ears flat against his head, prancing by the corner of a house, ready to bolt. Brom was still slumped motionless in the saddle. Eragon reached out with his mind and soothed the horse. Once Snowfire relaxed, Eragon went to Brom. There was a long, blood-soaked cut on the old man’s right arm. The wound bled profusely, but it was neither deep nor wide. Still, Eragon knew it had to be bound before Brom lost too much blood. He stroked Snowfire for a moment, then slid Brom out of the saddle. The weight proved too much for him, and Brom dropped heavily to the ground. Eragon was shocked by his own weakness. A scream of rage filled his head. Saphira dived out of the sky and landed fiercely in front of him, keeping her wings half raised. She hissed angrily, eyes burning. Her tail lashed, and Eragon winced as it snapped overhead.Are you hurt? she asked, rage boiling in her voice. “No,” he assured her as he laid Brom on his back. She growled and exclaimed,Where are the ones who did this? I will tear them apart! He wearily pointed in the direction of the alley. “It’ll do no good; they’re already dead.” You killed them?Saphira sounded surprised. He nodded. “Somehow.” With a few terse words, he told her what had happened while he searched his Page 81 saddlebags for the rags in which Zar’roc had been wrapped. Saphira said gravely,You have grown. Eragon grunted. He found a long rag and carefully rolled back Brom’s sleeve. With a few deft strokes he cleaned the cut and bandaged it tightly.I wish we were still in Palancar Valley, he said to Saphira. There, at least, I knew what plants were good for healing. Here, I don’t have any idea what will help him. He retrieved Brom’s sword from the ground, wiped it, then returned it to the sheath on Brom’s belt. We should leave,said Saphira.There may be more Urgals lurking about. Can you carry Brom? Your saddle will hold him in place, and you can protect him. Yes, but I’m not leaving you alone. Fine, fly next to me, but let’s get out of here.He tied the saddle onto Saphira, then put his arms around Brom and tried to lift him, but again his diminished strength failed him.Saphira—help. She snaked her head past him and caught the back of Brom’s robe between her teeth. Arching her neck, she lifted the old man off the ground, like a cat would a kitten, and deposited him onto her back. Then Eragon slipped Brom’s legs through the saddle’s straps and tightened them. He looked up when the old man moaned and shifted. Brom blinked blearily, putting a hand to his head. He gazed down at Eragon with concern. “Did Saphira get here in time?” Eragon shook his head. “I’ll explain it later. Your arm is injured. I bandaged it as best I could, but you need a safe place to rest.” “Yes,” said Brom, gingerly touching his arm. “Do you know where my sword… Ah, I see you found it.” Eragon finished tightening the straps. “Saphira’s going to take you and follow me by air.” “Are you sure you want me to ride her?” asked Brom. “I can ride Snowfire.” “Not with that arm. This way, even if you faint, you won’t fall off.” Brom nodded. “I’m honored.” He wrapped his good arm around Saphira’s neck, and she took off in a flurry, springing high into the sky. Eragon backed away, buffeted by the eddies from her wings, and returned to the horses. He tied Snowfire behind Cadoc, then left Yazuac, returning to the trail and following it southward. It led through a rocky area, veered left, and continued along the bank of the Ninor River. Ferns, mosses, and small bushes dotted the side of the path. It was refreshingly cool under the trees, but Eragon did not let the soothing air lull him into a sense of security. He stopped briefly to fill the waterskins and let the horses drink. Glancing down, he saw the Ra’zac’s spoor.At least we’re going in the right direction. Saphira circled overhead, keeping a keen eye on him. It disturbed him that they had seen only two Urgals. The villagers had been killed and Yazuac ransacked by a large horde, yet where was it?Perhaps the ones we encountered were a rear guard or a trap left for anyone who was following the main force. Page 82 His thoughts turned to how he had killed the Urgals. An idea, a revelation, slowly wormed its way through his mind. He, Eragon—farm boy of Palancar Valley—had used magic.Magic! It was the only word for what had happened. It seemed impossible, but he could not deny what he had seen.Somehow I’ve become a sorcerer or wizard! But he did not know how to use this new power again or what its limits and dangers might be.How can I have this ability? Was it common among the Riders? And if Brom knew of it, why didn’t he tell me? He shook his head in wonder and bewilderment. He conversed with Saphira to check on Brom’s condition and to share his thoughts. She was just as puzzled as he was about the magic.Saphira, can you find us a place to stay? I can’t see very far down here. While she searched, he continued along the Ninor. The summons reached him just as the light was fading.Come. Saphira sent him an image of a secluded clearing in the trees by the river. Eragon turned the horses in the new direction and nudged them into a trot. With Saphira’s help it was easy to find, but it was so well hidden that he doubted anyone else would notice it. A small, smokeless fire was already burning when he entered the clearing. Brom sat next to it, tending his arm, which he held at an awkward angle. Saphira was crouched beside him, her body tense. She looked intently at Eragon and asked,Are you sure you aren’t hurt? Not on the outside… but I’m not sure about the rest of me. I should have been there sooner. Don’t feel bad. We all made mistakes today. Mine was not staying closer to you.Her gratitude for that remark washed over him. He looked at Brom. “How are you?” The old man glanced at his arm. “It’s a large scratch and hurts terribly, but it should heal quickly enough. I need a fresh bandage; this one didn’t last as long as I’d hoped.” They boiled water to wash Brom’s wound. Then Brom tied a fresh rag to his arm and said, “I must eat, and you look hungry as well. Let’s have dinner first, then talk.” When their bellies were full and warm, Brom lit his pipe. “Now, I think it’s time for you to tell me what transpired while I was unconscious. I am most curious.” His face reflected the flickering firelight, and his bushy eyebrows stuck out fiercely. Eragon nervously clasped his hands and told the story without embellishment. Brom remained silent throughout it, his face inscrutable. When Eragon finished, Brom looked down at the ground. For a long time the only sound was the snapping fire. Brom finally stirred. “Have you used this power before?” “No. Do you know anything about it?” “A little.” Brom’s face was thoughtful. “It seems I owe you a debt for saving my life. I hope I can return the favor someday. You should be proud; few escape unscathed from slaying their first Urgal. But the manner in which you did it was very dangerous. You could have destroyed yourself and the whole town.” “It wasn’t as if I had a choice,” said Eragon defensively. “The Urgals were almost upon me. If I had waited, they would have chopped me into pieces!” Brom stamped his teeth vigorously on the pipe stem. “You didn’t have any idea what you were doing.” Page 83 “Then tell me,” challenged Eragon. “I’ve been searching for answers to this mystery, but I can’t make sense of it. What happened? How could I have possibly used magic? No one has ever instructed me in it or taught me spells.” Brom’s eyes flashed. “This isn’t something you should be taught—much less use!” “Well, Ihave used it, and I may need it to fight again. But I won’t be able to if you don’t help me. What’s wrong? Is there some secret I’m not supposed to learn until I’m old and wise? Or maybe you don’t know anything about magic!” “Boy!” roared Brom. “You demand answers with an insolence rarely seen. If you knew what you asked for, you would not be so quick to inquire. Do not try me.” He paused, then relaxed into a kinder countenance. “The knowledge you ask for is more complex than you understand.” Eragon rose hotly in protest. “I feel as though I’ve been thrust into a world with strange rules that no one will explain.” “I understand,” said Brom. He fiddled with a piece of grass. “It’s late and we should sleep, but I will tell you a few things now, to stop your badgering. This magic—for it is magic—has rules like the rest of the world. If you break the rules, the penalty is death, without exception. Your deeds are limited by your strength, the words you know, and your imagination.” “What do you mean by words?” asked Eragon. “More questions!” cried Brom. “For a moment I had hoped you were empty of them. But you are quite right in asking. When you shot the Urgals, didn’t you say something?” “Yes,brisingr. ” The fire flared, and a shiver ran through Eragon. Something about the word made him feel incredibly alive. “I thought so.Brisingr is from an ancient language that all living things used to speak. However, it was forgotten over time and went unspoken for eons in Alagaësia, until the elves brought it back over the sea. They taught it to the other races, who used it for making and doing powerful things. The language has a name for everything, if you can find it.” “But what does that have to do with magic?” interrupted Eragon. “Everything! It is the basis for all power. The language describes the true nature of things, not the superficial aspects that everyone sees. For example, fire is calledbrisingr . Not only is thata name for fire, it isthe name for fire. If you are strong enough, you can usebrisingr to direct fire to do whatever you will. And that is what happened today.” Eragon thought about it for a moment. “Why was the fire blue? How come it did exactly what I wanted, if all I said wasfire ?” “The color varies from person to person. It depends on who says the word. As to why the fire did what you wanted, that’s a matter of practice. Most beginners have to spell out exactly what they want to happen. As they gain more experience, it isn’t as necessary. A true master could just saywater and create something totally unrelated, like a gemstone. You wouldn’t be able to understand how he had done it, but the master would have seen the connection betweenwater and the gem and would have used that as the Page 84 focal point for his power. The practice is more of an art than anything else. What you did was extremely difficult.” Saphira interrupted Eragon’s thoughts.Brom is a magician! That’s how he was able to light the fire on the plains. He doesn’t just know about magic; he can use it himself! Eragon’s eyes widened.You’re right! Ask him about this power, but be careful of what you say. It is unwise to trifle with those who have such abilities. If he is a wizard or sorcerer, who knows what his motives might have been for settling in Carvahall? Eragon kept that in mind as he said carefully, “Saphira and I just realized something. You can use this magic, can’t you? That’s how you started the fire our first day on the plains.” Brom inclined his head slightly. “I am proficient to some degree.” “Then why didn’t you fight the Urgals with it? In fact, I can think of many times when it would have been useful—you could have shielded us from the storm and kept the dirt out of our eyes.” After refilling his pipe, Brom said, “Some simple reasons, really. I am not a Rider, which means that, even at your weakest moment, you are stronger than I. And I have outlived my youth; I’m not as strong as I used to be. Every time I reach for magic, it gets a little harder.” Eragon dropped his eyes, abashed. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be,” said Brom as he shifted his arm. “It happens to everyone.” “Where did you learn to use magic?” “That is one fact I’ll keep to myself… Suffice it to say, it was in a remote area and from a very good teacher. I can, at the very least, pass on his lessons.” Brom snuffed his pipe with a small rock. “I know that you have more questions, and I will answer them, but they must wait until morning.” He leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Until then, I will say this to discourage any experiments: magic takes just as much energy as if you used your arms and back. That is why you felt tired after destroying the Urgals. And that is why I was angry. It was a dreadful risk on your part. If the magic had used more energy than was in your body, it would have killed you. You should use magic only for tasks that can’t be accomplished the mundane way.” “How do you know if a spell will use all your energy?” asked Eragon, frightened. Brom raised his hands. “Most of the time you don’t. That’s why magicians have to know their limits well, and even then they are cautious. Once you commit to a task and release the magic, you can’t pull it back, even if it’s going to kill you. I mean this as a warning: don’t try anything until you’ve learned more. Now, enough of this for tonight.” As they spread out their blankets, Saphira commented with satisfaction,We are becoming more powerful, Eragon, both of us. Soon no one will be able to stand in our way. Yes, but which way shall we choose? Page 85 Whichever one we want,she said smugly, settling down for the night. MAGIC IS THESIMPLESTTHING “Why do you think those two Urgals were still in Yazuac?” asked Eragon, after they had been on the trail for a while. “There doesn’t seem to be any reason for them to have stayed behind.” “I suspect they deserted the main group to loot the town. What makes it odd is that, as far as I know, Urgals have gathered in force only two or three times in history. It’s unsettling that they are doing it now.” “Do you think the Ra’zac caused the attack?” “I don’t know. The best thing we can do is continue away from Yazuac at the fastest pace we can muster. Besides, this is the direction the Ra’zac went: south.” Eragon agreed. “We still need provisions, however. Is there another town nearby?” Brom shook his head. “No, but Saphira can hunt for us if we must survive on meat alone. This swath of trees may look small to you, but there are plenty of animals in it. The river is the only source of water for many miles around, so most of the plains animals come here to drink. We won’t starve.” Eragon remained quiet, satisfied with Brom’s answer. As they rode, loud birds darted around them, and the river rushed by peacefully. It was a noisy place, full of life and energy. Eragon asked, “How did that Urgal get you? Things were happening so fast, I didn’t see.” “Bad luck, really,” grumbled Brom. “I was more than a match for him, so he kicked Snowfire. The idiot of a horse reared and threw me off balance. That was all the Urgal needed to give me this gash.” He scratched his chin. “I suppose you’re still wondering about this magic. The fact that you’ve discovered it presents a thorny problem. Few know it, but every Rider could use magic, though with differing strengths. They kept the ability secret, even at the height of their power, because it gave them an advantage over their enemies. Had everyone known about it, dealing with common people would have been difficult. Many think the king’s magical powers come from the fact that he is a wizard or sorcerer. That’s not true; it is because he’s a Rider.” “What’s the difference? Doesn’t the fact that I used magic make me a sorcerer?” “Not at all! A sorcerer, like a Shade, uses spirits to accomplish his will. That is totally different from your power. Nor does that make you a magician, whose powers come without the aid of spirits or a dragon. And you’re certainly not a witch or wizard, who get their powers from various potions and spells. “Which brings me back to my original point: the problem you’ve presented. Young Riders like yourself were put through a strict regimen designed to strengthen their bodies and increase their mental control. This regimen continued for many months, occasionally years, until the Riders were deemed responsible enough to handle magic. Up until then, not one student was told of his potential powers. If one of them discovered magic by accident, he or she was immediately taken away for private tutoring. It was rare for anyone to discover magic on his own,” he inclined his head toward Eragon, “though they were never put under the same pressure you were.” “Then how were they finally trained to use magic?” asked Eragon. “I don’t see how you could teach it to anyone. If you had tried to explain it to me two days ago, it wouldn’t have made any sense.” Page 86 “The students were presented with a series of pointless exercises designed to frustrate them. For example, they were instructed to move piles of stones using only their feet, fill ever draining tubs full of water, and other impossibilities. After a time, they would get infuriated enough to use magic. Most of the time it succeeded. “What this means,” Brom continued, “is that you will be disadvantaged if you ever meet an enemy who has received this training. There are still some alive who are that old: the king for one, not to mention the elves. Any one of those could tear you apart with ease.” “What can I do, then?” “There isn’t time for formal instruction, but we can do much while we travel,” said Brom. “I know many techniques you can practice that will give you strength and control, but you cannot gain the discipline the Riders had overnight. You,” he looked at Eragon humorously, “will have to amass it on the run. It will be hard in the beginning, but the rewards will be great. It may please you to know that no Rider your age ever used magic the way you did yesterday with those two Urgals.” Eragon smiled at the praise. “Thank you. Does this language have a name?” Brom laughed. “Yes, but no one knows it. It would be a word of incredible power, something by which you could control the entire language and those who use it. People have long searched for it, but no one has ever found it.” “I still don’t understand how this magic works,” said Eragon. “Exactly how do I use it?” Brom looked astonished. “I haven’t made that clear?” “No.” Brom took a deep breath and said, “To work with magic, you must have a certain innate power, which is very rare among people nowadays. You also have to be able to summon this power at will. Once it is called upon, you have to use it or let it fade away. Understood? Now, if you wish to employ the power, you must utter the word or phrase of the ancient language that describes your intent. For example, if you hadn’t saidbrisingr yesterday, nothing would have happened.” “So I’m limited by my knowledge of this language?” “Exactly,” crowed Brom. “Also, while speaking it, it’s impossible to practice deceit.” Eragon shook his head. “That can’t be. People always lie. The sounds of the ancient words can’t stop them from doing that.” Brom cocked an eyebrow and said, “Fethrblaka, eka weohnata néiat haina ono. Blaka eom iet lam.” A bird suddenly flitted from a branch and landed on his hand. It trilled lightly and looked at them with beady eyes. After a moment he said, “Eitha,” and it fluttered away. “How did you do that?” asked Eragon in wonder. “I promised not to harm him. He may not have known exactly what I meant, but in the language of power, the meaning of my words was evident. The bird trusted me because he knows what all animals Page 87 do, that those who speak in that tongue are bound by their word.” “And the elves speak this language?” “Yes.” “So they never lie?” “Not quite,” admitted Brom. “They maintain that they don’t, and in a way it’s true, but they have perfected the art of saying one thing and meaning another. You never know exactly what their intent is, or if you have fathomed it correctly. Many times they only reveal part of the truth and withhold the rest. It takes a refined and subtle mind to deal with their culture.” Eragon considered that. “What do personal names mean in this language? Do they give power over people?” Brom’s eyes brightened with approval. “Yes, they do. Those who speak the language have two names. The first is for everyday use and has little authority. But the second is their true name and is shared with only a few trusted people. There was a time when no one concealed his true name, but this age isn’t as kind. Whoever knows your true name gains enormous power over you. It’s like putting your life into another person’s hands. Everyone has a hidden name, but few know what it is.” “How do you find your true name?” asked Eragon. “Elves instinctively know theirs. No one else has that gift. The human Riders usually went on quests to discover it—or found an elf who would tell them, which was rare, for elves don’t distribute that knowledge freely,” replied Brom. “I’d like to know mine,” Eragon said wistfully. Brom’s brow darkened. “Be careful. It can be a terrible knowledge. To know who you are without any delusions or sympathy is a moment of revelation that no one experiences unscathed. Some have been driven to madness by that stark reality. Most try to forget it. But as much as the name will give others power, so you may gain power over yourself, if the truth doesn’t break you.” And I’m sure that it would not,stated Saphira. “I still wish to know,” said Eragon, determined. “You are not easily dissuaded. That is good, for only the resolute find their identity, but I cannot help you with this. It is a search that you will have to undertake on your own.” Brom moved his injured arm and grimaced uncomfortably. “Why can’t you or I heal that with magic?” asked Eragon. Brom blinked. “No reason—I just never considered it because it’s beyond my strength. You could probably do it with the right word, but I don’t want you to exhaust yourself.” “I could save you a lot of trouble and pain,” protested Eragon. “I’ll live with it,” said Brom flatly. “Using magic to heal a wound takes just as much energy as it would to Page 88 mend on its own. I don’t want you tired for the next few days. You shouldn’t attempt such a difficult task yet.” “Still, if it’s possible to fix your arm, could I bring someone back from the dead?” The question surprised Brom, but he answered quickly, “Remember what I said about projects that will kill you? That is one of them. Riders were forbidden to try to resurrect the dead, for their own safety. There is an abyss beyond life where magic means nothing. If you reach into it, your strength will flee and your soul will fade into darkness. Wizards, sorcerers, and Riders—all have failed and died on that threshold. Stick with what’s possible—cuts, bruises, maybe some broken bones—but definitely not dead people.” Eragon frowned. “This is a lot more complex than I thought.” “Exactly!” said Brom. “And if you don’t understand what you’re doing, you’ll try something too big and die.” He twisted in his saddle and swooped down, grabbing a handful of pebbles from the ground. With effort, he righted himself, then discarded all but one of the rocks. “See this pebble?” “Yes.” “Take it.” Eragon did and stared at the unremarkable lump. It was dull black, smooth, and as large as the end of his thumb. There were countless stones like it on the trail. “This is your training.” Eragon looked back at him, confused. “I don’t understand.” “Of course you don’t,” said Brom impatiently. “That’s why I’m teaching you and not the other way around. Now stop talking or we’ll never get anywhere. What I want you to do is lift the rock off your palm and hold it in the air for as long as you can. The words you’re going to use arestenr reisa.Say them.” “Stenr reisa.” “Good. Go ahead and try.” Eragon focused sourly on the pebble, searching his mind for any hint of the energy that had burned in him the day before. The stone remained motionless as he stared at it, sweating and frustrated.How am I supposed to do this? Finally, he crossed his arms and snapped, “This is impossible.” “No,” said Brom gruffly. “I’llsay when it’s impossible or not. Fight for it! Don’t give in this easily. Try again.” Frowning, Eragon closed his eyes, setting aside all distracting thoughts. He took a deep breath and reached into the farthest corners of his consciousness, trying to find where his power resided. Searching, he found only thoughts and memories until he felt something different—a small bump that was a part of him and yet not of him. Excited, he dug into it, seeking what it hid. He felt resistance, a barrier in his mind, but knew that the power lay on the other side. He tried to breach it, but it held firm before his efforts. Growing angry, Eragon drove into the barrier, ramming against it with all of his might until it shattered like a thin pane of glass, flooding his mind with a river of light. “Stenr reisa,” he gasped. The pebble wobbled into the air over his faintly glowing palm. He struggled to keep it floating, but the power slipped away and faded back behind the barrier. The pebble dropped to Page 89 his hand with a soft plop, and his palm returned to normal. He felt a little tired, but grinned from his success. “Not bad for your first time,” said Brom. “Why does my hand do that? It’s like a little lantern.” “No one’s sure,” Brom admitted. “The Riders always preferred to channel their power through whichever hand bore the gedwëy ignasia. You can use your other palm, but it isn’t as easy.” He looked at Eragon for a minute. “I’ll buy you some gloves at the next town, if it isn’t gutted. You hide the mark pretty well on your own, but we don’t want anyone to see it by accident. Besides, there may be times when you won’t want the glow to alert an enemy.” “Do you have a mark of your own?” “No. Only Riders have them,” said Brom. “Also, you should know that magic is affected by distance, just like an arrow or a spear. If you try to lift or move something a mile away, it’ll take more energy than if you were closer. So if you see enemies racing after you from a league away, let them approach before using magic. Now, back to work! Try to lift the pebble again.” “Again?” asked Eragon weakly, thinking of the effort it had taken to do it just once. “Yes! And this time be quicker about it.” They continued with the exercises throughout most of the day. When Eragon finally stopped, he was tired and ill-tempered. In those hours, he had come to hate the pebble and everything about it. He started to throw it away, but Brom said, “Don’t. Keep it.” Eragon glared at him, then reluctantly tucked the stone into a pocket. “We’re not done yet,” warned Brom, “so don’t get comfortable.” He pointed at a small plant. “This is calleddelois .” From there on he instructed Eragon in the ancient language, giving him words to memorize, fromvöndr, a thin, straight stick, to the morning star,Aiedail . That evening they sparred around the fire. Though Brom fought with his left hand, his skill was undiminished. The days followed the same pattern. First, Eragon struggled to learn the ancient words and to manipulate the pebble. Then, in the evening, he trained against Brom with the fake swords. Eragon was in constant discomfort, but he gradually began to change, almost without noticing. Soon the pebble no longer wobbled when he lifted it. He mastered the first exercises Brom gave him and undertook harder ones, and his knowledge of the ancient language grew. In their sparring, Eragon gained confidence and speed, striking like a snake. His blows became heavier, and his arm no longer trembled when he warded off attacks. The clashes lasted longer as he learned how to fend off Brom. Now, when they went to sleep, Eragon was not the only one with bruises. Saphira continued to grow as well, but more slowly than before. Her extended flights, along with periodic hunts, kept her fit and healthy. She was taller than the horses now, and much longer. Because of her size and the way her scales sparkled, she was altogether too visible. Brom and Eragon worried about Page 90 it, but they could not convince her to allow dirt to obscure her scintillating hide. They continued south, tracking the Ra’zac. It frustrated Eragon that no matter how fast they went, the Ra’zac always stayed a few days ahead of them. At times he was ready to give up, but then they would find some mark or print that would renew his hope. There were no signs of habitation along the Ninor or in the plains, leaving the three companions undisturbed as the days slipped by. Finally, they neared Daret, the first village since Yazuac. The night before they reached the village, Eragon’s dreams were especially vivid. He saw Garrow and Roran at home, sitting in the destroyed kitchen. They asked him for help rebuilding the farm, but he only shook his head with a pang of longing in his heart. “I’m tracking your killers,” he whispered to his uncle. Garrow looked at him askance and demanded, “Do I look dead to you?” “I can’t help you,” said Eragon softly, feeling tears in his eyes. There was a sudden roar, and Garrow transformed into the Ra’zac. “Then die,” they hissed, and leapt at Eragon. He woke up feeling ill and watched the stars slowly turn in the sky. All will be well, little one,said Saphira gently. DARET Daret was on the banks of the Ninor River—as it had to be to survive. The village was small and wild-looking, without any signs of inhabitants. Eragon and Brom approached it with great caution. Saphira hid close to the town this time; if trouble arose, she would be at their sides within seconds. They rode into Daret, striving to be silent. Brom gripped his sword with his good hand, eyes flashing everywhere. Eragon kept his bow partially drawn as they passed between the silent houses, glancing at each other with apprehension.This doesn’t look good, commented Eragon to Saphira. She did not answer, but he felt her prepare to rush after them. He looked at the ground and was reassured to see the fresh footprints of children.But where are they? Brom stiffened as they entered the center of Daret and found it empty. Wind blew through the desolate town, and dust devils swirled sporadically. Brom wheeled Snowfire about. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t like the feel of this.” He spurred Snowfire into a gallop. Eragon followed him, urging Cadoc onward. They advanced only a few strides before wagons toppled out from behind the houses and blocked their way. Cadoc snorted and dug in his hooves, sliding to a stop next to Snowfire. A swarthy man hopped over the wagon and planted himself before them, a broadsword slung at his side and a drawn bow in his hands. Eragon swung his own bow up and pointed it at the stranger, who commanded, “Halt! Put your weapons down. You’re surrounded by sixty archers. They’ll shoot if you move.” As if on cue, a row of men stood up on the roofs of the surrounding houses. Page 91 Stay away, Saphira!cried Eragon.There are too many. If you come, they’ll shoot you out of the sky. Stay away! She heard, but he was unsure if she would obey. He prepared to use magic.I’ll have to stop the arrows before they hit me or Brom. “What do you want?” asked Brom calmly. “Why have you come here?” demanded the man. “To buy supplies and hear the news. Nothing more. We’re on the way to my cousin’s house in Dras-Leona.” “You’re armed pretty heavily.” “So are you,” said Brom. “These are dangerous times.” “True.” The man looked at them carefully. “I don’t think you mean us ill, but we’ve had too many encounters with Urgals and bandits for me to trust you only on your word.” “If it doesn’t matter what we say, what happens now?” countered Brom. The men on top of the houses had not moved. By their very stillness, Eragon was sure that they were either highly disciplined… or frightened for their lives. He hoped it was the latter. “You say that you only want supplies. Would you agree to stay here while we bring what you need, then pay us and leave immediately?” “Yes.” “All right,” said the man, lowering his bow, though he kept it ready. He waved at one of the archers, who slid to the ground and ran over. “Tell him what you want.” Brom recited a short list and then added, “Also, if you have a spare pair of gloves that would fit my nephew, I’d like to buy those too.” The archer nodded and ran off. “The name’s Trevor,” said the man standing in front of them. “Normally I’d shake your hand, but under the circumstances, I think I’ll keep my distance. Tell me, where are you from?” “North,” said Brom, “but we haven’t lived in any place long enough to call it home. Have Urgals forced you to take these measures?” “Yes,” said Trevor, “and worse fiends. Do you have any news from other towns? We receive word from them rarely, but there have been reports that they are also beleaguered.” Brom turned grave. “I wish it wasn’t our lot to bring you these tidings. Nearly a fortnight ago we passed through Yazuac and found it pillaged. The villagers had been slaughtered and piled together. We would have tried to give them a decent burial, but two Urgals attacked us.” Shocked, Trevor stepped back and looked down with tears in his eyes. “Alas, this is indeed a dark day. Still, I don’t see how two Urgals could have defeated all of Yazuac. The people there were good fighters—some were my friends.” “There were signs that a band of Urgals had ravaged the town,” stated Brom. “I think the ones we Page 92 encountered were deserters.” “How large was the company?” Brom fiddled with his saddlebags for a minute. “Large enough to wipe out Yazuac, but small enough to go unnoticed in the countryside. No more than a hundred, and no less than fifty. If I’m not mistaken, either number would prove fatal to you.” Trevor wearily agreed. “You should consider leaving,” Brom continued. “This area has become far too perilous for anyone to live in peace.” “I know, but the people here refuse to consider moving. This is their home—as well as mine, though I have only been here a couple years—and they place its worth above their own lives.” Trevor looked at him seriously. “We have repulsed individual Urgals, and that has given the townspeople a confidence far beyond their abilities. I fear that we will all wake up one morning with our throats slashed.” The archer hurried out of a house with a pile of goods in his arms. He set them next to the horses, and Brom paid him. As the man left, Brom asked, “Why did they choose you to defend Daret?” Trevor shrugged. “I was in the king’s army for some years.” Brom dug through the items, handed Eragon the pair of gloves, and packed the rest of the supplies into their saddlebags. Eragon pulled the gloves on, being careful to keep his palm facing down, and flexed his hands. The leather felt good and strong, though it was scarred from use. “Well,” said Brom, “as I promised, we will go now.” Trevor nodded. “When you enter Dras-Leona, would you do us this favor? Alert the Empire to our plight and that of the other towns. If word of this hasn’t reached the king by now, it’s cause for worry. And if it has, but he has chosen to do nothing, that too is cause for worry.” “We will carry your message. May your swords stay sharp,” said Brom. “And yours.” The wagons were pulled out of their way, and they rode from Daret into the trees along the Ninor River. Eragon sent his thoughts to Saphira.We’re on our way back. Everything turned out all right. Her only response was simmering anger. Brom pulled at his beard. “The Empire is in worse condition than I had imagined. When the traders visited Carvahall, they brought reports of unrest, but I never believed that it was this widespread. With all these Urgals around, it seems that the Empire itself is under attack, yet no troops or soldiers have been sent out. It’s as if the king doesn’t care to defend his domain.” “It is strange,” agreed Eragon. Brom ducked under a low-hanging branch. “Did you use any of your powers while we were in Daret?” “There was no reason to.” “Wrong,” corrected Brom. “You could have sensed Trevor’s intentions. Even with my limited abilities, I was able to do that. If the villagers had been bent on killing us, I wouldn’t have just sat there. However, I felt there was a reasonable chance of talking our way out of there, which is what I did.” Page 93 “How could I know what Trevor was thinking?” asked Eragon. “Am I supposed to be able to see into people’s minds?” “Come now,” chided Brom, “you should know the answer to that. You could have discovered Trevor’s purpose in the same way that you communicate with Cadoc or Saphira. The minds of men are not so different from a dragon’s or horse’s. It’s a simple thing to do, but it’s a power you must use sparingly and with great caution. A person’s mind is his last sanctuary. You must never violate it unless circumstances force you to. The Riders had very strict rules regarding this. If they were broken without due cause, the punishment was severe.” “And you can do this even though you aren’t a Rider?” asked Eragon. “As I said before, with the right instruction anyone can talk with their minds, but with differing amounts of success. Whether it’s magic, though, is hard to tell. Magical abilities will certainly trigger the talent—or becoming linked with a dragon—but I’ve known plenty who learned it on their own. Think about it: you can communicate with any sentient being, though the contact may not be very clear. You could spend the entire day listening to a bird’s thoughts or understanding how an earthworm feels during a rainstorm. But I’ve never found birds very interesting. I suggest starting with a cat; they have unusual personalities.” Eragon twisted Cadoc’s reins in his hands, considering the implications of what Brom had said. “But if I can get into someone’s head, doesn’t that mean that others can do the same to me? How do I know if someone’s prying in my mind? Is there a way to stop that?”How do I know if Brom can tell what I’m thinking right now? “Why, yes. Hasn’t Saphira ever blocked you from her mind?” “Occasionally,” admitted Eragon. “When she took me into the Spine, I couldn’t talk to her at all. It wasn’t that she was ignoring me; I don’t think she could even hear me. There were walls around her mind that I couldn’t get through.” Brom worked on his bandage for a moment, shifting it higher on his arm. “Only a few people can tell if someone is in their mind, and of those, only a handful could stop you from entering. It’s a matter of training and of how you think. Because of your magical power, you’ll always know if someone is in your mind. Once you do, blocking them is a simple matter of concentrating on one thing to the exclusion of all else. For instance, if you only think about a brick wall, that’s all the enemy will find in your mind. However, it takes a huge amount of energy and discipline to block someone for any length of time. If you’re distracted by even the slightest thing, your wall will waver and your opponent will slip in through the weakness.” “How can I learn to do this?” asked Eragon. “There is only one thing for it: practice, practice, and yet more practice. Picture something in your mind and hold it there to the exclusion of all else for as long as you can. It is a very advanced ability; only a handful ever master it,” said Brom. “I don’t need perfection, just safety.”If I can get into someone’s mind, can I change how he thinks? Every time I learn something new about magic, I grow more wary of it. When they reached Saphira, she startled them by thrusting her head at them. The horses backstepped nervously. Saphira looked Eragon over carefully and gave a low hiss. Her eyes were flinty. Eragon threw a concerned look at Brom—he had never seen Saphira this angry—then asked,What’s wrong? Page 94 You,she growled.You are the problem. Eragon frowned and got off Cadoc. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Saphira swept his legs out from under him with her tail and pinned him with her talons. “What are you doing?” he yelled, struggling to get up, but she was too strong for him. Brom watched attentively from Snowfire. Saphira swung her head over Eragon until they were eye to eye. He squirmed under her unwavering glare.You! Every time you leave my sight you get into trouble. You’re like a new hatchling, sticking your nose into everything. And what happens when you stick it into something that bites back? How will you survive then? I cannot help you when I’m miles away. I’ve stayed hidden so that no one would see me, but no longer! Not when it may cost you your life. I can understand why you’re upset,said Eragon,but I’m much older than you and can take care of myself. If anything, you’re the one who needs to be protected. She snarled and snapped her teeth by his ear.Do you really believe that? she asked.Tomorrow you will ride me—not that pitiful deer-animal you call a horse—or else I will carry you in my claws. Are you a Dragon Rider or not? Don’t you care for me? The question burned in Eragon, and he dropped his gaze. He knew she was right, but he was scared of riding her. Their flights had been the most painful ordeal he had ever endured. “Well?” demanded Brom. “She wants me to ride her tomorrow,” said Eragon lamely. Brom considered it with twinkling eyes. “Well, you have the saddle. I suppose that if the two of you stay out of sight, it won’t be a problem.” Saphira switched her gaze to him, then returned it to Eragon. “But what if you’re attacked or there’s an accident? I won’t be able to get there in time and—” Saphira pressed harder on his chest, stopping his words.Exactly my point, little one. Brom seemed to hide a smile. “It’s worth the risk. You need to learn how to ride her anyway. Think about it this way: with you flying ahead and looking at the ground, you’ll be able to spot any traps, ambushes, or other unwelcome surprises.” Eragon looked back at Saphira and said,Okay, I’ll do it. But let me up. Give me your word. Is that really necessary?he demanded. She blinked.Very well. I give you my word that I will fly with you tomorrow. Satisfied? I am content. Saphira let him up and, with a push of her legs, took off. A small shiver ran through Eragon as he watched her twist through the air. Grumbling, he returned to Cadoc and followed Brom. It was nearly sundown when they made camp. As usual, Eragon dueled with Brom before dinner. In the Page 95 midst of the fight, Eragon delivered such a powerful blow that he snapped both of their sticks like twigs. The pieces whistled into the darkness in a cloud of splintered fragments. Brom tossed what remained of his stick into the fire and said, “We’re done with these; throw yours in as well. You have learned well, but we’ve gone as far as we can with branches. There is nothing more you can gain from them. It is time for you to use the blade.” He removed Zar’roc from Eragon’s bag and gave it to him. “We’ll cut each other to ribbons,” protested Eragon. “Not so. Again you forget magic,” said Brom. He held up his sword and turned it so that firelight glinted off the edge. He put a finger on either side of the blade and focused intensely, deepening the lines on his forehead. For a moment nothing happened, then he uttered, “Gëuloth du knífr!” and a small red spark jumped between his fingers. As it flickered back and forth, he ran his fingers down the length of the sword. Then he twirled it and did the same thing on the other side. The spark vanished the moment his fingers left the metal. Brom held his hand out, palm up, and slashed it with the sword. Eragon jumped forward but was too slow to stop him. He was astonished when Brom raised his unharmed hand with a smile. “What did you do?” asked Eragon. “Feel the edge,” said Brom. Eragon touched it and felt an invisible surface under his fingers. The barrier was about a quarter inch wide and very slippery. “Now do the same on Zar’roc,” instructed Brom. “Your block will be a bit different than mine, but it should accomplish the same thing.” He told Eragon how to pronounce the words and coached him through the process. It took Eragon a few tries, but he soon had Zar’roc’s edge protected. Confident, he took his fighting stance. Before they started, Brom admonished, “These swords won’t cut us, but they can still break bones. I would prefer to avoid that, so don’t flail around like you normally do. A blow to the neck could prove fatal.” Eragon nodded, then struck without warning. Sparks flew off his blade, and the clash of metal filled their campsite as Brom parried. The sword felt slow and heavy to Eragon after fighting with sticks for so long. Unable to move Zar’roc fast enough, he received a sharp rap on his knee. They both had large welts when they stopped, Eragon more so than Brom. He marveled that Zar’roc had not been scratched or dented by the vigorous pounding it had received. THROUGH ADRAGON’SEYE The next morning Eragon woke with stiff limbs and purple bruises. He saw Brom carry the saddle to Saphira and tried to quell his uneasiness. By the time breakfast was ready, Brom had strapped the saddle onto Saphira and hung Eragon’s bags from it. When his bowl was empty, Eragon silently picked up his bow and went to Saphira. Brom said, “Now remember, grip with your knees, guide her with your thoughts, and stay as flat as you can on her back. Nothing will go wrong if you don’t panic.” Eragon nodded, sliding his unstrung bow into its leather tube, and Brom boosted him into the saddle. Saphira waited impatiently while Eragon tightened the bands around his legs.Are you ready? she asked. He sucked in the fresh morning air.No, but let’s do it! She agreed enthusiastically. He braced himself as she crouched. Her powerful legs surged and the air whipped past him, snatching his breath away. With three smooth strokes of her wings, she was in the sky, climbing rapidly. Page 96 The last time Eragon had ridden Saphira, every flap of her wings had been strained. Now she flew steadily and effortlessly. He clenched his arms around her neck as she turned on edge, banking. The river shrank to a wispy gray line beneath them. Clouds floated around them. When they leveled off high above the plains, the trees below were no more than specks. The air was thin, chilly, and perfectly clear. “This is wonderfu—” His words were lost as Saphira tilted and rolled completely around. The ground spun in a dizzying circle, and vertigo clutched Eragon. “Don’t do that!” he cried. “I feel like I’m going to fall off.” You must become accustomed to it. If I’m attacked in the air, that’s one of the simplest maneuvers I will do,she replied. He could think of no rebuttal, so he concentrated on controlling his stomach. Saphira angled into a shallow dive and slowly approached the ground. Although Eragon’s stomach lurched with every wobble, he began to enjoy himself. He relaxed his arms a bit and stretched his neck back, taking in the scenery. Saphira let him enjoy the sights awhile, then said, Let me show you what flying is really like. How?he asked. Relax and do not be afraid,she said. Her mind tugged at his, pulling him away from his body. Eragon fought for a moment, then surrendered control. His vision blurred, and he found himself looking through Saphira’s eyes. Everything was distorted: colors had weird, exotic tints; blues were more prominent now, while greens and reds were subdued. Eragon tried to turn his head and body but could not. He felt like a ghost who had slipped out of the ether. Pure joy radiated from Saphira as she climbed into the sky. She loved this freedom to go anywhere. When they were high above the ground, she looked back at Eragon. He saw himself as she did, hanging on to her with a blank look. He could feel her body strain against the air, using updrafts to rise. All her muscles were like his own. He felt her tail swinging through the air like a giant rudder to correct her course. It surprised him how much she depended on it. Their connection grew stronger until there was no distinction between their identities. They clasped their wings together and dived straight down, like a spear thrown from on high. No terror of falling touched Eragon, engulfed as he was in Saphira’s exhilaration. The air rushed past their face. Their tail whipped in the air, and their joined minds reveled in the experience. Even as they plummeted toward the ground, there was no fear of collision. They snapped open their wings at just the right moment, pulling out of the dive with their combined strength. Slanting toward the sky, they shot up and continued back over into a giant loop. As they leveled out, their minds began to diverge, becoming distinct personalities again. For a split second, Eragon felt both his body and Saphira’s. Then his vision blurred and he again sat on her back. He gasped and collapsed on the saddle. It was minutes before his heart stopped hammering and his breathing calmed. Once he had recovered, he exclaimed,That was incredible! How can you bear to land when you enjoy flying so much? I must eat,she said with some amusement.But I am glad that you took pleasure in it. Page 97 Those are spare words for such an experience. I’m sorry I haven’t flown with you more; I never thought it could be like that. Do you always see so much blue? It is the way I am. We will fly together more often now? Yes! Every chance we get. Good,she replied in a contented tone. They exchanged many thoughts as she flew, talking as they had not for weeks. Saphira showed Eragon how she used hills and trees to hide and how she could conceal herself in the shadow of a cloud. They scouted the trail for Brom, which proved to be more arduous than Eragon expected. They could not see the path unless Saphira flew very close to it, in which case she risked being detected. Near midday, an annoying buzz filled Eragon’s ears, and he became aware of a strange pressure on his mind. He shook his head, trying to get rid of it, but the tension only grew stronger. Brom’s words about how people could break into others’ minds flashed through Eragon’s head, and he frantically tried to clear his thoughts. He concentrated on one of Saphira’s scales and forced himself to ignore everything else. The pressure faded for a moment and then returned, greater than ever. A sudden gust rocked Saphira, and Eragon’s concentration slipped. Before he could marshal any defenses, the force broke through. But instead of the invasive presence of another mind, there were only the words,What do you think you’re doing? Get down here. I found something important. Brom?queried Eragon. Yes,the old man said irritably.Now get that oversized lizard of yours to land. I’m here… He sent a picture of his location. Eragon quickly told Saphira where to go, and she banked toward the river below. Meanwhile, he strung his bow and drew several arrows. If there’s trouble, I’ll be ready for it. As will I,said Saphira. When they reached Brom, Eragon saw him standing in a clearing, waving his arms. Saphira landed, and Eragon jumped off her and looked for danger. The horses were tied to a tree on the edge of the clearing, but otherwise Brom was alone. Eragon trotted over and asked, “What’s wrong?” Brom scratched his chin and muttered a string of curses. “Don’t ever block me out like that again. It’s hard enough for me to reach you without having to fight to make myself heard.” “Sorry.” He snorted. “I was farther down the river when I noticed that the Ra’zac’s tracks had ceased. I backtracked until I found where they had disappeared. Look at the ground and tell me what you see.” Eragon knelt and examined the dirt and found a confusion of impressions that were difficult to decipher. Numerous Ra’zac footprints overlapped each other. Eragon guessed that the tracks were only a few days old. Superimposed over them were long, thick gouges torn into the ground. They looked familiar, but Eragon could not say why. He stood, shaking his head. “I don’t have any idea what…” Then his eyes fell on Saphira and he realized Page 98 what had made the gouges. Every time she took off, her back claws dug into the ground and ripped it in the same manner. “This doesn’t make any sense, but the only thing I can think of is that the Ra’zac flew off on dragons. Or else they got onto giant birds and disappeared into the heavens. Tell me you have a better explanation.” Brom shrugged. “I’ve heard reports of the Ra’zac moving from place to place with incredible speed, but this is the first evidence I’ve had of it. It will be almost impossible to find them if they have flying steeds. They aren’t dragons—I know that much. A dragon would never consent to bear a Ra’zac.” “What do we do? Saphira can’t track them through the sky. Even if she could, we would leave you far behind.” “There’s no easy solution to this riddle,” said Brom. “Let’s have lunch while we think on it. Perhaps inspiration will strike us while we eat.” Eragon glumly went to his bags for food. They ate in silence, staring at the empty sky. Once again Eragon thought of home and wondered what Roran was doing. A vision of the burnt farm appeared before him and grief threatened to overwhelm him.What will I do if we can’t find the Ra’zac? What is my purpose then? I could return to Carvahall— he plucked a twig from the ground and snapped it between two fingers—or just travel with Brom and continue my training.Eragon stared out at the plains, hoping to quiet his thoughts. When Brom finished eating, he stood and threw back his hood. “I have considered every trick I know, every word of power within my grasp, and all the skills we have, but I still don’t see how we can find the Ra’zac.” Eragon slumped against Saphira in despair. “Saphira could show herself at some town. That would draw the Ra’zac like flies to honey. But it would be an extremely risky thing to attempt. The Ra’zac would bring soldiers with them, and the king might be interested enough to come himself, which would spell certain death for you and me.” “So what now?” asked Eragon, throwing his hands up.Do you have any ideas, Saphira? No. “That’s up to you,” said Brom. “This is your crusade.” Eragon ground his teeth angrily and stalked away from Brom and Saphira. Just as he was about to enter the trees, his foot struck something hard. Lying on the ground was a metal flask with a leather strap just long enough to hang off someone’s shoulder. A silver insignia Eragon recognized as the Ra’zac’s symbol was wrought into it. Excited, he picked up the flask and unscrewed its cap. A cloying smell filled the air—the same one he had noticed when he found Garrow in the wreckage of their house. He tilted the flask, and a drop of clear, shiny liquid fell on his finger. Instantly Eragon’s finger burned as if it were on fire. He yelped and scrubbed his hand on the ground. After a moment the pain subsided to a dull throbbing. A patch of skin had been eaten away. Grimacing, he jogged back to Brom. “Look what I found.” Brom took the flask and examined it, then poured a bit of the liquid into the cap. Eragon started to warn him, “Watch out, it’ll burn—” “My skin, I know,” said Brom. “And I suppose you went ahead and poured it all over your hand. Your finger? Well, at least you showed sense enough not to drink it. Only a puddle would have been left of Page 99 you.” “What is it?” asked Eragon. “Oil from the petals of the Seithr plant, which grows on a small island in the frigid northern seas. In its natural state, the oil is used for preserving pearls—it makes them lustrous and strong. But when specific words are spoken over the oil, along with a blood sacrifice, it gains the property to eat any flesh. That alone wouldn’t make it special—there are plenty of acids that can dissolve sinew and bone—except for the fact that it leaves everything else untouched. You can dip anything into the oil and pull it out unharmed, unless it was once part of an animal or human. This has made it a weapon of choice for torture and assassination. It can be stored in wood, slathered on the point of a spear, or dripped onto sheets so that the next person to touch them will be burned. There are myriad uses for it, limited only by your ingenuity. Any injury caused by it is always slow to heal. It’s rather rare and expensive, especially this converted form.” Eragon remembered the terrible burns that had covered Garrow.That’s what they used on him, he realized with horror. “I wonder why the Ra’zac left it behind if it’s so valuable.” “It must have slipped off when they flew away.” “But why didn’t they come back for it? I doubt that the king will be pleased that they lost it.” “No, he won’t,” said Brom, “but he would be even more displeased if they delayed bringing him news of you. In fact, if the Ra’zac have reached him by now, you can be sure that the king has learned your name. And that means we will have to be much more careful when we go into towns. There will be notices and alerts about you posted throughout the Empire.” Eragon paused to think. “This oil, how rare is it exactly?” “Like diamonds in a pig trough,” said Brom. He amended himself after a second, “Actually, the normal oil is used by jewelers, but only those who can afford it.” “So there are people who trade in it?” “Perhaps one, maybe two.” “Good,” said Eragon. “Now, do the cities along the coast keep shipping records?” Brom’s eyes brightened. “Of course they do. If we could get to those records, they would tell us who brought the oil south and where it went from there.” “And the record of the Empire’s purchase will tell us where the Ra’zac live!” concluded Eragon. “I don’t know how many people can afford this oil, but it shouldn’t be hard to figure out which ones aren’t working for the Empire.” “Genius!” exclaimed Brom, smiling. “I wish I had thought of this years ago; it would have saved me many headaches. The coast is dotted with numerous cities and towns where ships can land. I suppose that Teirm would be the place to start, as it controls most of the trade.” Brom paused. “The last I heard, my old friend Jeod lives there. We haven’t seen each other for many years, but he might be willing to help us. And because he’s a merchant, it’s possible that he has access to those records.” Page 100 “How do we get to Teirm?” “We’ll have to go southwest until we reach a high pass in the Spine. Once on the other side, we can head up the coast to Teirm,” said Brom. A gentle wind pulled at his hair. “Can we reach the pass within a week?” “Easily. If we angle away from the Ninor and to our right, we might be able to see the mountains by tomorrow.” Eragon went to Saphira and mounted her. “I’ll see you at dinner, then.” When they were at a good height, he said,I’m going to ride Cadoc tomorrow. Before you protest, know that I am only doing it because I want to talk with Brom. You should ride with him every other day. That way you can still receive your instruction, and I will have time to hunt. You won’t be troubled by it? It is necessary. When they landed for the day, he was pleased to discover that his legs did not hurt. The saddle had protected him well from Saphira’s scales. Eragon and Brom had their nightly fight, but it lacked energy, as both were preoccupied with the day’s events. By the time they finished, Eragon’s arms burned from Zar’roc’s unaccustomed weight. ASONG FOR THEROAD The next day while they were riding, Eragon asked Brom, “What is the sea like?” “You must have heard it described before,” said Brom. “Yes, but what is it really like?” Brom’s eyes grew hazy, as if he looked upon some hidden scene. “The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t. Do you remember what I told you about how the elves came over the sea?” “Yes.” “Though they live far from the coast, they retain a great fascination and passion for the ocean. The sound of crashing waves, the smell of salt air, it affects them deeply and has inspired many of their loveliest songs. There is one that tells of this love, if you want to hear it.” “I would,” said Eragon, interested. Brom cleared his throat and said, “I will translate it from the ancient language as best I can. It won’t be perfect, but perhaps it will give you an idea of how the original sounds.” He pulled Snowfire to a stop and closed his eyes. He was silent for a while, then chanted softly: Page 101 O liquid temptress ’neath the azure sky, Your gilded expanse calls me, calls me. For I would sail ever on, Were it not for the elven maid, Who calls me, calls me. She binds my heart with a lily-white tie, Never to be broken, save by the sea, Ever to be torn twixt the trees and the waves. The words echoed hauntingly in Eragon’s head. “There is much more to that song, the ‘Du Silbena Datia.’ I have only recited one of its verses. It tells the sad tale of two lovers, Acallamh and Nuada, who were separated by longing for the sea. The elves find great meaning in the story.” “It’s beautiful,” said Eragon simply. The Spine was a faint outline on the horizon when they halted that evening. When they arrived at the Spine’s foothills, they turned and followed the mountains south. Eragon was glad to be near the mountains again; they placed comforting boundaries on the world. Three days later they came to a wide road rutted by wagon wheels. “This is the main road between the capital, Urû’baen, and Teirm,” said Brom. “It’s widely used and a favorite route for merchants. We have to be more cautious. This isn’t the busiest time of year, but a few people are bound to be using the road.” Days passed quickly as they continued to trek along the Spine, searching for the mountain pass. Eragon could not complain of boredom. When not learning the elven language, he was either learning how to care for Saphira or practicing magic. Eragon also learned how to kill game with magic, which saved them time hunting. He would hold a small rock on his hand and shoot it at his prey. It was impossible to miss. The results of his efforts roasted over the fire each night. And after dinner, Brom and Eragon would spar with swords and, occasionally, fists. The long days and strenuous work stripped Eragon’s body of excess fat. His arms became corded, and his tanned skin rippled with lean muscles.Everything about me is turning hard, he thought dryly. When they finally reached the pass, Eragon saw that a river rushed out of it and cut across the road. “This is the Toark,” explained Brom. “We’ll follow it all the way to the sea.” “How can we,” laughed Eragon, “if it flows out of the Spine inthis direction? It won’t end up in the ocean Page 102 unless it doubles back on itself.” Brom twisted the ring on his finger. “Because in the middle of the mountains rests the Woadark Lake. A river flows from each end of it and both are called the Toark. We see the eastward one now. It runs to the south and winds through the brush until it joins Leona Lake. The other one goes to the sea.” After two days in the Spine, they came upon a rock ledge from which they could see clearly out of the mountains. Eragon noticed how the land flattened in the distance, and he groaned at the leagues they still had to traverse. Brom pointed. “Down there and to the north lies Teirm. It is an old city. Some say it’s where the elves first landed in Alagaësia. Its citadel has never fallen, nor have its warriors ever been defeated.” He spurred Snowfire forward and left the ledge. It took them until noon the next day to descend through the foothills and arrive at the other side of the Spine, where the forested land quickly leveled out. Without the mountains to hide behind, Saphira flew close to the ground, using every hollow and dip in the land to conceal herself. Beyond the forest, they noticed a change. The countryside was covered with soft turf and heather that their feet sank into. Moss clung to every stone and branch and lined the streams that laced the ground. Pools of mud pocked the road where horses had trampled the dirt. Before long both Brom and Eragon were splattered with grime. “Why is everything green?” asked Eragon. “Don’t they have winter here?” “Yes, but the season is mild. Mist and fog roll in from the sea and keep everything alive. Some find it to their liking, but to me it’s dreary and depressing.” When evening fell, they set up camp in the driest spot they could find. As they ate, Brom commented, “You should continue to ride Cadoc until we reach Teirm. It’s likely that we’ll meet other travelers now that we are out of the Spine, and it will be better if you are with me. An old man traveling alone will raise suspicion. With you at my side, no one will ask questions. Besides, I don’t want to show up at the city and have someone who saw me on the trail wondering where you suddenly came from.” “Will we use our own names?” asked Eragon. Brom thought about it. “We won’t be able to deceive Jeod. He already knows my name, and I think I trust him with yours. But to everyone else, I will be Neal and you will be my nephew Evan. If our tongues slip and give us away, it probably won’t make a difference, but I don’t want our names in anyone’s heads. People have an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldn’t.” ATASTE OFTEIRM After two days of traveling north toward the ocean, Saphira sighted Teirm. A heavy fog clung to the ground, obscuring Brom’s and Eragon’s sight until a breeze from the west blew the mist away. Eragon gaped as Teirm was suddenly revealed before them, nestled by the edge of the shimmering sea, where proud ships were docked with furled sails. The surf’s dull thunder could be heard in the distance. The city was contained behind a white wall—a hundred feet tall and thirty feet thick—with rows of rectangular arrow slits lining it and a walkway on top for soldiers and watchmen. The wall’s smooth surface was broken by two iron portcullises, one facing the western sea, the other opening south to the Page 103 road. Above the wall—and set against its northeast section—rose a huge citadel built of giant stones and turrets. In the highest tower, a lighthouse lantern gleamed brilliantly. The castle was the only thing visible over the fortifications. Soldiers guarded the southern gate but held their pikes carelessly. “This is our first test,” said Brom. “Let’s hope they haven’t received reports of us from the Empire and won’t detain us. Whatever happens, don’t panic or act suspiciously.” Eragon told Saphira,You should land somewhere now and hide. We’re going in. Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Again,she said sourly. I know. But Brom and I do have some advantages most people don’t. We’ll be all right. If anything happens, I’m going to pin you to my back and never let you off. I love you too. Then I will bind you all the tighter. Eragon and Brom rode toward the gate, trying to appear casual. A yellow pennant bearing the outline of a roaring lion and an arm holding a lily blossom waved over the entrance. As they neared the wall, Eragon asked in amazement, “How big is this place?” “Larger than any city you have ever seen,” said Brom. At the entrance to Teirm, the guards stood straighter and blocked the gate with their pikes. “Wha’s yer name?” asked one of them in a bored tone. “I’m called Neal,” said Brom in a wheezy voice, slouching to one side, an expression of happy idiocy on his face. “And who’s th’ other one?” asked the guard. “Well, I wus gettin’ to that. This’ed be m’nephew Evan. He’s m’sister’s boy, not a…” The guard nodded impatiently. “Yeah, yeah. And yer business here?” “He’s visitin’ an old friend,” supplied Eragon, dropping his voice into a thick accent. “I’m along t’ make sure he don’t get lost, if y’ get m’meaning. He ain’t as young as he used to be—had a bit too much sun when he was young’r. Touch o’ the brain fever, y’ know.” Brom bobbed his head pleasantly. “Right. Go on through,” said the guard, waving his hand and dropping the pike. “Just make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.” “Oh, he won’t,” promised Eragon. He urged Cadoc forward, and they rode into Teirm. The cobblestone street clacked under the horses’ hooves. Once they were away from the guards, Brom sat up and growled, “Touch of brain fever, eh?” “I couldn’t let you have all the fun,” teased Eragon. Page 104 Brom harrumphed and looked away. The houses were grim and foreboding. Small, deep windows let in only sparse rays of light. Narrow doors were recessed into the buildings. The tops of the roofs were flat—except for metal railings—and all were covered with slate shingles. Eragon noticed that the houses closest to Teirm’s outer wall were no more than one story, but the buildings got progressively higher as they went in. Those next to the citadel were tallest of all, though insignificant compared to the fortress. “This place looks ready for war,” said Eragon. Brom nodded. “Teirm has a history of being attacked by pirates, Urgals, and other enemies. It has long been a center of commerce. There will always be conflict where riches gather in such abundance. The people here have been forced to take extraordinary measures to keep themselves from being overrun. It also helps that Galbatorix gives them soldiers to defend their city.” “Why are some houses higher than others?” “Look at the citadel,” said Brom, pointing. “It has an unobstructed view of Teirm. If the outer wall were breached, archers would be posted on all the roofs. Because the houses in the front, by the outer wall, are lower, the men farther back could shoot over them without fear of hitting their comrades. Also, if the enemy were to capture those houses and put their own archers on them, it would be an easy matter to shoot them down.” “I’ve never seen a city planned like this,” said Eragon in wonder. “Yes, but it was only done after Teirm was nearly burned down by a pirate raid,” commented Brom. As they continued up the street, people gave them searching looks, but there was not an undue amount of interest. Compared to our reception at Daret, we’ve been welcomed with open arms. Perhaps Teirm has escaped notice by the Urgals,thought Eragon. He changed his opinion when a large man shouldered past them, a sword hanging from his waist. There were other, subtler signs of adverse times: no children played in the streets, people bore hard expressions, and many houses were deserted, with weeds growing from cracks in their stone-covered yards. “It looks like they’ve had trouble,” said Eragon. “The same as everywhere else,” said Brom grimly. “We have to find Jeod.” They led their horses across the street to a tavern and tied them to the hitching post. “The Green Chestnut… wonderful,” muttered Brom, looking at the battered sign above them as he and Eragon entered the building. The dingy room felt unsafe. A fire smoldered in the fireplace, yet no one bothered to throw more wood on it. A few lonely people in the corners nursed their drinks with sullen expressions. A man missing two fingers sat at a far table, eyeing his twitching stumps. The bartender had a cynical twist to his lips and held a glass in his hand that he kept polishing, even though it was broken. Brom leaned against the bar and asked, “Do you know where we can find a man called Jeod?” Eragon stood at his side, fiddling with the tip of his bow by his waist. It was slung across his back, but right then he wished that it were in his hands. The bartender said in an overly loud voice, “Now, why would I know something like that? Do you think I keep track of the mangy louts in this forsaken place?” Eragon winced as all eyes turned toward them. Page 105 Brom kept talking smoothly. “Could you be enticed to remember?” He slid some coins onto the bar. The man brightened and put his glass down. “Could be,” he replied, lowering his voice, “but my memory takes a great deal of prodding.” Brom’s face soured, but he slid more coins onto the bar. The bartender sucked on one side of his cheek undecidedly. “All right,” he finally said, and reached for the coins. Before he touched them, the man missing two fingers called out from his table, “Gareth, what in th’ blazes do you think you’re doing? Anyone on the street could tell them where Jeod lives. What are you charging them for?” Brom swept the coins back into his purse. Gareth shot a venomous look at the man at the table, then turned his back on them and picked up the glass again. Brom went to the stranger and said, “Thanks. The name’s Neal. This is Evan.” The man raised his mug to them. “Martin, and of course you met Gareth.” His voice was deep and rough. Martin gestured at some empty chairs. “Go ahead and sit down. I don’t mind.” Eragon took a chair and arranged it so his back was to the wall and he faced the door. Martin raised an eyebrow, but made no comment. “You just saved me a few crowns,” said Brom. “My pleasure. Can’t blame Gareth, though—business hasn’t been doing so well lately.” Martin scratched his chin. “Jeod lives on the west side of town, right next to Angela, the herbalist. Do you have business with him?” “Of a sort,” said Brom. “Well, he won’t be interested in buying anything; he just lost another ship a few days ago.” Brom latched onto the news with interest. “What happened? It wasn’t Urgals, was it?” “No,” said Martin. “They’ve left the area. No one’s seen ’em in almost a year. It seems they’ve all gone south and east. But they aren’t the problem. See, most of our business is through sea trade, as I’m sure you know. Well,” he stopped to drink from his mug, “starting several months ago, someone’s been attacking our ships. It’s not the usual piracy, because only ships that carry the goods of certain merchants are attacked. Jeod’s one of ’em. It’s gotten so bad that no captain will accept those merchants’ goods, which makes life difficult around here. Especially because some of ’em run the largest shipping businesses in the Empire. They’re being forced to send goods by land. It’s driven costs painfully high, and their caravans don’t always make it.” “Do you have any idea who’s responsible? There must be witnesses,” said Brom. Martin shook his head. “No one survives the attacks. Ships go out, then disappear; they’re never seen again.” He leaned toward them and said in a confidential tone, “The sailors are saying that it’s magic.” He nodded and winked, then leaned back. Brom seemed worried by his words. “What do you think?” Martin shrugged carelessly. “I don’t know. And I don’t think I will unless I’m unfortunate enough to be on one of those captured ships.” Page 106 “Are you a sailor?” asked Eragon. “No,” snorted Martin. “Do I look like one? The captains hire me to defend their ships against pirates. And those thieving scum haven’t been very active lately. Still, it’s a good job.” “But a dangerous one,” said Brom. Martin shrugged again and downed the last of his beer. Brom and Eragon took their leave and headed to the west side of the city, a nicer section of Teirm. The houses were clean, ornate, and large. The people in the streets wore expensive finery and walked with authority. Eragon felt conspicuous and out of place. ANOLDFRIEND The herbalist’s shop had a cheery sign and was easy to find. A short, curly-haired woman sat by the door. She was holding a frog in one hand and writing with the other. Eragon assumed that she was Angela, the herbalist. On either side of the store was a house. “Which one do you think is his?” he asked. Brom deliberated, then said, “Let’s find out.” He approached the woman and asked politely, “Could you tell us which house Jeod lives in?” “I could.” She continued writing. “Will you tell us?” “Yes.” She fell silent, but her pen scribbled faster than ever. The frog on her hand croaked and looked at them with baleful eyes. Brom and Eragon waited uncomfortably, but she said no more. Eragon was about to blurt something out when Angela looked up. “Of course I’ll tell you! All you have to do is ask. Your first question was whether or not Icould tell you, and the second was if Iwould tell you. But you never actually put the question to me.” “Then let me ask properly,” said Brom with a smile. “Which house is Jeod’s? And why are you holding a frog?” “Now we’re getting somewhere,” she bantered. “Jeod is on the right. And as for the frog, he’s actually a toad. I’m trying to prove that toads don’t exist—that there are only frogs.” “How can toads not exist if you have one on your hand right now?” interrupted Eragon. “Besides, what good will it do, proving that there are only frogs?” The woman shook her head vigorously, dark curls bouncing. “No, no, you don’t understand. If I prove toads don’t exist, then this is a frog and never was a toad. Therefore, the toad you see now doesn’t exist. And,” she raised a small finger, “if I can prove there are only frogs, then toads won’t be able to do anything bad—like make teeth fall out, cause warts, and poison or kill people. Also, witches won’t be able to use any of their evil spells because, of course, there won’t be any toads around.” “I see,” said Brom delicately. “It sounds interesting, and I would like to hear more, but we have to meet Jeod.” “Of course,” she said, waving her hand and returning to her writing. Once they were out of the herbalist’s hearing, Eragon said, “She’s crazy!” Page 107 “It’s possible,” said Brom, “but you never know. She might discover something useful, so don’t criticize. Who knows, toads might really be frogs!” “And my shoes are made of gold,” retorted Eragon. They stopped before a door with a wrought-iron knocker and marble doorstep. Brom banged three times. No one answered. Eragon felt slightly foolish. “Maybe this is the wrong house. Let’s try the other one,” he said. Brom ignored him and knocked again, pounding loudly. Again no one answered. Eragon turned away in exasperation, then heard someone run to the door. A young woman with a pale complexion and light blond hair cracked it open. Her eyes were puffy; it looked like she had been crying, but her voice was perfectly steady. “Yes, what do you want?” “Does Jeod live here?” asked Brom kindly. The woman dipped her head a little. “Yes, he is my husband. Is he expecting you?” She opened the door no farther. “No, but we need to talk with him,” said Brom. “He is very busy.” “We have traveled far. It’s very important that we see him.” Her face hardened. “He is busy.” Brom bristled, but his voice stayed pleasant. “Since he is unavailable, would you please give him a message?” Her mouth twitched, but she consented. “Tell him that a friend from Gil’ead is waiting outside.” The woman seemed suspicious, but said, “Very well.” She closed the door abruptly. Eragon heard her footsteps recede. “That wasn’t very polite.” he commented. “Keep your opinions to yourself,” snapped Brom. “And don’t say anything. Let me do the talking.” He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers. Eragon clamped his mouth shut and looked away. The door suddenly flew open, and a tall man burst out of the house. His expensive clothes were rumpled, his gray hair wispy, and he had a mournful face with short eyebrows. A long scar stretched across his scalp to his temple. At the sight of them, his eyes grew wide, and he sagged against the doorframe, speechless. His mouth opened and closed several times like a gasping fish. He asked softly, in an incredulous voice, “Brom…?” Brom put a finger to his lips and reached forward, clasping the man’s arm. “It’s good to see you, Jeod! I’m glad that memory has not failed you, but don’t use that name. It would be unfortunate if anyone knew I was here.” Jeod looked around wildly, shock plain on his face. “I thought you were dead,” he whispered. “What Page 108 happened? Why haven’t you contacted me before?” “All things will be explained. Do you have a place where we can talk safely?” Jeod hesitated, swinging his gaze between Eragon and Brom, face unreadable. Finally he said, “We can’t talk here, but if you wait a moment, I’ll take you somewhere we can.” “Fine,” said Brom. Jeod nodded and vanished behind the door. I hope I can learn something of Brom’s past,thought Eragon. There was a rapier at Jeod’s side when he reappeared. An embroidered jacket hung loosely on his shoulders, matched by a plumed hat. Brom cast a critical eye at the finery, and Jeod shrugged self-consciously. He took them through Teirm toward the citadel. Eragon led the horses behind the two men. Jeod gestured at their destination. “Risthart, the lord of Teirm, has decreed that all the business owners must have their headquarters in his castle. Even though most of us conduct our business elsewhere, we still have to rent rooms there. It’s nonsense, but we abide by it anyway to keep him calm. We’ll be free of eavesdroppers in there; the walls are thick.” They went through the fortress’s main gate and into the keep. Jeod strode to a side door and pointed to an iron ring. “You can tie the horses there. No one will bother them.” When Snowfire and Cadoc were safely tethered, he opened the door with an iron key and let them inside. Within was a long, empty hallway lit by torches set into the walls. Eragon was surprised by how cold and damp it was. When he touched the wall, his fingers slid over a layer of slime. He shivered. Jeod snatched a torch from its bracket and led them down the hall. They stopped before a heavy, wooden door. He unlocked it and ushered them into a room dominated by a bearskin rug laden with stuffed chairs. Bookshelves stacked with leather-bound tomes covered the walls. Jeod piled wood in the fireplace, then thrust the torch under it. The fire quickly roared. “You, old man, have some explaining to do.” Brom’s face crinkled with a smile. “Who are you calling an old man? The last time I saw you there was no gray in your hair. Now it looks like it’s in the final stages of decomposition.” “And you look the same as you did nearly twenty years ago. Time seems to have preserved you as a crotchety old man just to inflict wisdom upon each new generation. Enough of this! Get on with the story. That’s always what you were good at,” said Jeod impatiently. Eragon’s ears pricked up, and he waited eagerly to hear what Brom would say. Brom relaxed into a chair and pulled out his pipe. He slowly blew a smoke ring that turned green, darted into the fireplace, then flew up the chimney. “Do you remember what we were doing in Gil’ead?” “Yes, of course,” said Jeod. “That sort of thing is hard to forget.” “An understatement, but true nevertheless,” said Brom dryly. “When we were… separated, I couldn’t find you. In the midst of the turmoil I stumbled into a small room. There wasn’t anything extraordinary in it—just crates and boxes—but out of curiosity, I rummaged around anyway. Fortune smiled on me that Page 109 hour, for I found what we had been searching for.” An expression of shock ran over Jeod’s face. “Once it was in my hands, I couldn’t wait for you. At any second I might have been discovered, and all lost. Disguising myself as best I could, I fled the city and ran to the…” Brom hesitated and glanced at Eragon, then said, “ran to our friends. They stored it in a vault, for safekeeping, and made me promise to care for whomever received it. Until the day when my skills would be needed, I had to disappear. No one could know that I was alive—not even you—though it grieved me to pain you unnecessarily. So I went north and hid in Carvahall.” Eragon clenched his jaw, infuriated that Brom was deliberately keeping him in the dark. Jeod frowned and asked, “Then our… friends knew that you were alive all along?” “Yes.” He sighed. “I suppose the ruse was unavoidable, though I wish they had told me. Isn’t Carvahall farther north, on the other side of the Spine?” Brom inclined his head. For the first time, Jeod inspected Eragon. His gray eyes took in every detail. He raised his eyebrows and said, “I assume, then, that you are fulfilling your duty.” Brom shook his head. “No, it’s not that simple. It was stolen a while ago—at least that’s what I presume, for I haven’t received word from our friends, and I suspect their messengers were waylaid—so I decided to find out what I could. Eragon happened to be traveling in the same direction. We have stayed together for a time now.” Jeod looked puzzled. “But if they haven’t sent any messages, how could you know that it was—” Brom overrode him quickly, saying, “Eragon’s uncle was brutally killed by the Ra’zac. They burned his home and nearly caught him in the process. He deserves revenge, but they have left us without a trail to follow, and we need help finding them.” Jeod’s face cleared. “I see… But why have you come here? I don’t know where the Ra’zac might be hiding, and anyone who does won’t tell you.” Standing, Brom reached into his robe and pulled out the Ra’zac’s flask. He tossed it to Jeod. “There’s Seithr oil in there—the dangerous kind. The Ra’zac were carrying it. They lost it by the trail, and we happened to find it. We need to see Teirm’s shipping records so we can trace the Empire’s purchases of the oil. That should tell us where the Ra’zac’s lair is.” Lines appeared on Jeod’s face as he thought. He pointed at the books on the shelves. “Do you see those? They are all records from my business.One business. You have gotten yourself into a project that could take months. There is another, greater problem. The records you seek are held in this castle, but only Brand, Risthart’s administrator of trade, sees them on a regular basis. Traders such as myself aren’t allowed to handle them. They fear that we will falsify the results, thus cheating the Empire of its precious taxes.” “I can deal with that when the time comes,” said Brom. “But we need a few days of rest before we can think about proceeding.” Jeod smiled. “It seems that it is my turn to help you. My house is yours, of course. Do you have another name while you are here?” Page 110 “Yes,” said Brom, “I’m Neal, and the boy is Evan.” “Eragon,” said Jeod thoughtfully. “You have a unique name. Few have ever been named after the first Rider. In my life I’ve read about only three people who were called such.” Eragon was startled that Jeod knew the origin of his name. Brom looked at Eragon. “Could you go check on the horses and make sure they’re all right? I don’t think I tied Snowfire to the ring tightly enough.” They’re trying to hide something from me. The moment I leave they’re going to talk about it.Eragon shoved himself out of the chair and left the room, slamming the door shut. Snowfire had not moved; the knot that held him was fine. Scratching the horses’ necks, Eragon leaned sullenly against the castle wall. It’s not fair,he complained to himself.If only I could hear what they are saying. He jolted upright, electrified. Brom had once taught him some words that would enhance his hearing.Keen ears aren’t exactly what I want, but I should be able to make the words work. After all, look what I could do with brisingr! He concentrated intensely and reached for his power. Once it was within his grasp, he said, “Thverr stenr un atra eka hórna!” and imbued the words with his will. As the power rushed out of him, he heard a faint whisper in his ears, but nothing more. Disappointed, he sank back, then started as Jeod said, “—and I’ve been doing that for almost eight years now.” Eragon looked around. No one was there except for a few guards standing against the far wall of the keep. Grinning, he sat on the courtyard and closed his eyes. “I never expected you to become a merchant,” said Brom. “After all the time you spent in books. And finding the passageway in that manner! What made you take up trading instead of remaining a scholar?” “After Gil’ead, I didn’t have much taste for sitting in musty rooms and reading scrolls. I decided to help Ajihad as best I could, but I’m no warrior. My father was a merchant as well—you may remember that. He helped me get started. However, the bulk of my business is nothing more than a front to get goods into Surda.” “But I take it that things have been going badly,” said Brom. “Yes, none of the shipments have gotten through lately, and Tronjheim is running low on supplies. Somehow the Empire—at least I think it’s them—has discovered those of us who have been helping to support Tronjheim. But I’m still not convinced that it’s the Empire. No one sees any soldiers. I don’t understand it. Perhaps Galbatorix hired mercenaries to harass us.” “I heard that you lost a ship recently.” “The last one I owned,” answered Jeod bitterly. “Every man on it was loyal and brave. I doubt I’ll ever see them again… The only option I have left is to send caravans to Surda or Gil’ead—which I know won’t get there, no matter how many guards I hire—or charter someone else’s ship to carry the goods. But no one will take them now.” “How many merchants have been helping you?” asked Brom. “Oh, a good number up and down the seaboard. All of them have been plagued by the same troubles. I Page 111 know what you are thinking; I’ve pondered it many a night myself, but I cannot bear the thought of a traitor with that much knowledge and power. If there is one, we’re all in jeopardy. You should return to Tronjheim.” “And take Eragon there?” interrupted Brom. “They’d tear him apart. It’s the worst place he could be right now. Maybe in a few months or, even better, a year. Can you imagine how the dwarves will react? Everyone will be trying to influence him, especially Islanzadi. He and Saphira won’t be safe in Tronjheim until I at least get them through tuatha du orothrim.” Dwarves!thought Eragon excitedly.Where is this Tronjheim? And why did he tell Jeod about Saphira? He shouldn’t have done that without asking me! “Still, I have a feeling that they are in need of your power and wisdom.” “Wisdom,” snorted Brom. “I’m just what you said earlier—a crotchety old man.” “Many would disagree.” “Let them. I’ve no need to explain myself. No, Ajihad will have to get along without me. What I’m doing now is much more important. But the prospect of a traitor raises troubling questions. I wonder if that’s how the Empire knew where to be…” His voice trailed off. “And I wonder why I haven’t been contacted about this,” said Jeod. “Maybe they tried. But if there’s a traitor…” Brom paused. “I have to send word to Ajihad. Do you have a messenger you can trust?” “I think so,” said Jeod. “It depends on where he would have to go.” “I don’t know,” said Brom. “I’ve been isolated so long, my contacts have probably died or forgotten me. Could you send him to whoever receives your shipments?” “Yes, but it’ll be risky.” “What isn’t these days? How soon can he leave?” “He can go in the morning. I’ll send him to Gil’ead. It will be faster,” said Jeod. “What can he take to convince Ajihad the message comes from you?” “Here, give your man my ring. And tell him that if he loses it, I’ll personally tear his liver out. It was given to me by the queen.” “Aren’t you cheery,” commented Jeod. Brom grunted. After a long silence he said, “We’d better go out and join Eragon. I get worried when he’s alone. That boy has an unnatural propensity for being wherever there’s trouble.” “Are you surprised?” “Not really.” Page 112 Eragon heard chairs being pushed back. He quickly pulled his mind away and opened his eyes. “What’s going on?” he muttered to himself.Jeod and other traders are in trouble for helping people the Empire doesn’t favor. Brom found something in Gil’ead and went to Carvahall to hide. What could be so important that he would let his own friend think he was dead for nearly twenty years? He mentioned a queen—when there aren’t any queens in the known kingdoms—and dwarves, who, as he himself told me, disappeared underground long ago. He wanted answers! But he would not confront Brom now and risk jeopardizing their mission. No, he would wait until they left Teirm, and then he would persist until the old man explained his secrets. Eragon’s thoughts were still whirling when the door opened. “Were the horses all right?” asked Brom. “Fine,” said Eragon. They untied the horses and left the castle. As they reentered the main body of Teirm, Brom said, “So, Jeod, you finally got married. And,” he winked slyly, “to a lovely young woman. Congratulations.” Jeod did not seem happy with the compliment. He hunched his shoulders and stared down at the street. “Whether congratulations are in order is debatable right now. Helen isn’t very happy.” “Why? What does she want?” asked Brom. “The usual,” said Jeod with a resigned shrug. “A good home, happy children, food on the table, and pleasant company. The problem is that she comes from a wealthy family; her father has invested heavily in my business. If I keep suffering these losses, there won’t be enough money for her to live the way she’s used to.” Jeod continued, “But please, my troubles are not your troubles. A host should never bother his guests with his own concerns. While you are in my house, I will let nothing more than an over-full stomach disturb you.” “Thank you,” said Brom. “We appreciate the hospitality. Our travels have long been without comforts of any kind. Do you happen to know where we could find an inexpensive shop? All this riding has worn out our clothes.” “Of course. That’s my job,” said Jeod, lightening up. He talked eagerly about prices and stores until his house was in sight. Then he asked, “Would you mind if we went somewhere else to eat? It might be awkward if you came in right now.” “Whatever makes you feel comfortable,” said Brom. Jeod looked relieved. “Thanks. Let’s leave your horses in my stable.” They did as he suggested, then followed him to a large tavern. Unlike the Green Chestnut, this one was loud, clean, and full of boisterous people. When the main course arrived—a stuffed suckling pig—Eragon eagerly dug into the meat, but he especially savored the potatoes, carrots, turnips, and sweet apples that accompanied it. It had been a long time since he had eaten much more than wild game. They lingered over the meal for hours as Brom and Jeod swapped stories. Eragon did not mind. He was warm, a lively tune jangled in the background, and there was more than enough food. The spirited tavern Page 113 babble fell pleasantly on his ears. When they finally exited the tavern, the sun was nearing the horizon. “You two go ahead; I have to check on something,” Eragon said. He wanted to see Saphira and make sure that she was safely hidden. Brom agreed absently. “Be careful. Don’t take too long.” “Wait,” said Jeod. “Are you going outside Teirm?” Eragon hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. “Make sure you’re inside the walls before dark. The gates close then, and the guards won’t let you back in until morning.” “I won’t be late,” promised Eragon. He turned around and loped down a side street, toward Teirm’s outer wall. Once out of the city, he breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh air.Saphira! he called.Where are you? She guided him off the road, to the base of a mossy cliff surrounded by maples. He saw her head poke out of the trees on the top and waved.How am I supposed to get up there? If you find a clearing, I’ll come down and get you. No,he said, eyeing the cliff,that won’t be necessary. I’ll just climb up. It’s too dangerous. And you worry too much. Let me have some fun. Eragon pulled off his gloves and started climbing. He relished the physical challenge. There were plenty of handholds, so the ascent was easy. He was soon high above the trees. Halfway up, he stopped on a ledge to catch his breath. Once his strength returned, he stretched up for the next handhold, but his arm was not long enough. Stymied, he searched for another crevice or ridge to grasp. There was none. He tried backing down, but his legs could not reach his last foothold. Saphira watched with unblinking eyes. He gave up and said,I could use some help. This is your own fault. Yes! I know. Are you going to get me down or not? If I weren’t around, you would be in a very bad situation. Eragon rolled his eyes.You don’t have to tell me. You’re right. After all, how can a mere dragon expect to tell a man like yourself what to do? In fact, everyone should stand in awe of your brilliance of finding the only dead end. Why, if you had started a few feet in either direction, the path to the top would have been clear.She cocked her head at him, eyes bright. All right! I made a mistake. Now can you please get me out of here?he pleaded. She pulled her head back from the edge of the cliff. After a moment he called, “Saphira?” Above him were only swaying trees. “Saphira! Come back!” he roared. With a loud crash Saphira barreled off the top of the cliff, flipping around in midair. She floated down to Page 114 Eragon like a huge bat and grabbed his shirt with her claws, scratching his back. He let go of the rocks as she yanked him up in the air. After a brief flight, she set him down gently on the top of the cliff and tugged her claws out of his shirt. Foolishness,said Saphira gently. Eragon looked away, studying the landscape. The cliff provided a wonderful view of their surroundings, especially the foaming sea, as well as protection against unwelcome eyes. Only birds would see Saphira here. It was an ideal location. Is Brom’s friend trustworthy?she asked. I don’t know.Eragon proceeded to recount the day’s events.There are forces circling us that we aren’t aware of. Sometimes I wonder if we can ever understand the true motives of the people around us. They all seem to have secrets. It is the way of the world. Ignore all the schemes and trust in the nature of each person. Brom is good. He means us no harm. We don’t have to fear his plans. I hope so,he said, looking down at his hands. This finding of the Ra’zac through writing is a strange way of tracking,she remarked.Would there be a way to use magic to see the records without being inside the room? I’m not sure. You would have to combine the word forseeingwithdistance…or maybe lightanddistance. Either way, it seems rather difficult. I’ll ask Brom. That would be wise.They lapsed into tranquil silence. You know, we may have to stay here awhile. Saphira’s answer held a hard edge.And as always, I will be left to wait outside. That is not how I want it. Soon enough we will travel together again. May that day come quickly. Eragon smiled and hugged her. He noticed then how rapidly the light was fading.I have to go now, before I’m locked out of Teirm. Hunt tomorrow, and I will see you in the evening. She spread her wings.Come, I will take you down. He got onto her scaly back and held on tightly as she launched off the cliff, glided over the trees, then landed on a knoll. Eragon thanked her and ran back to Teirm. He came into sight of the portcullis just as it was beginning to lower. Calling for them to wait, he put on a burst of speed and slipped inside seconds before the gateway slammed closed. “Ya cut that a little close,” observed one of the guards. “It won’t happen again,” assured Eragon, bending over to catch his breath. He wound his way through the darkened city to Jeod’s house. A lantern hung outside like a beacon. Page 115 A plump butler answered his knock and ushered him inside without a word. Tapestries covered the stone walls. Elaborate rugs dotted the polished wood floor, which glowed with the light from three gold candelabra hanging from the ceiling. Smoke drifted through the air and collected above. “This way, sir. Your friend is in the study.” They passed scores of doorways until the butler opened one to reveal a study. Books covered the room’s walls. But unlike those in Jeod’s office, these came in every size and shape. A fireplace filled with blazing logs warmed the room. Brom and Jeod sat before an oval writing desk, talking amiably. Brom raised his pipe and said in a jovial voice, “Ah, here you are. We were getting worried about you. How was your walk?” I wonder what put him in such a good mood? Why doesn’t he just come out and ask how Saphira is? “Pleasant, but the guards almost locked me outside the city. And Teirm is big. I had trouble finding this house.” Jeod chuckled. “When you have seen Dras-Leona, Gil’ead, or even Kuasta, you won’t be so easily impressed by this small ocean city. I like it here, though. When it’s not raining, Teirm is really quite beautiful.” Eragon turned to Brom. “Do you have any idea how long we’ll be here?” Brom spread his palms upward. “That’s hard to tell. It depends on whether we can get to the records and how long it will take us to find what we need. We’ll all have to help; it will be a huge job. I’ll talk with Brand tomorrow and see if he’ll let us examine the records.” “I don’t think I’ll be able to help,” Eragon said, shifting uneasily. “Why not?” asked Brom. “There will be plenty of work for you.” Eragon lowered his head. “I can’t read.” Brom straightened with disbelief. “You mean Garrow never taught you?” “He knew how to read?” asked Eragon, puzzled. Jeod watched them with interest. “Of course he did,” snorted Brom. “The proud fool—what was he thinking? I should have realized that he wouldn’t have taught you. He probably considered it an unnecessary luxury.” Brom scowled and pulled at his beard angrily. “This sets my plans back, but not irreparably. I’ll just have to teach you how to read. It won’t take long if you put your mind to it.” Eragon winced. Brom’s lessons were usually intense and brutally direct.How much more can I learn at one time? “I suppose it’s necessary,” he said ruefully. “You’ll enjoy it. There is much you can learn from books and scrolls,” said Jeod. He gestured at the walls. “These books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.” “It sounds intriguing,” admitted Eragon. “Always the scholar, aren’t you?” asked Brom. Page 116 Jeod shrugged. “Not anymore. I’m afraid I’ve degenerated into a bibliophile.” “A what?” asked Eragon. “One who loves books,” explained Jeod, and resumed conversing with Brom. Bored, Eragon scanned the shelves. An elegant book set with gold studs caught his attention. He pulled it off the shelf and stared at it curiously. It was bound in black leather carved with mysterious runes. Eragon ran his fingers over the cover and savored its cool smoothness. The letters inside were printed with a reddish glossy ink. He let the pages slip past his fingers. A column of script, set off from the regular lettering, caught his eye. The words were long and flowing, full of graceful lines and sharp points. Eragon took the book to Brom. “What is this?” he asked, pointing to the strange writing. Brom looked at the page closely and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Jeod, you’ve expanded your collection. Where did you get this? I haven’t seen one in ages.” Jeod strained his neck to see the book. “Ah yes, theDomia abr Wyrda. A man came through here a few years ago and tried to sell it to a trader down by the wharves. Fortunately, I happened to be there and was able to save the book, along with his neck. He didn’t have a clue what it was.” “It’s odd, Eragon, that you should pick up this book, theDominance of Fate, ” said Brom. “Of all the items in this house, it’s probably worth the most. It details a complete history of Alagaësia—starting long before the elves landed here and ending a few decades ago. The book is very rare and is the best of its kind. When it was written, the Empire decried it as blasphemy and burned the author, Heslant the Monk. I didn’t think any copies still existed. The lettering you asked about is from the ancient language.” “What does it say?” asked Eragon. It took Brom a moment to read the writing. “It’s part of an elven poem that tells of the years they fought the dragons. This excerpt describes one of their kings, Ceranthor, as he rides into battle. The elves love this poem and tell it regularly—though you need three days to do it properly—so that they won’t repeat the mistakes of the past. At times they sing it so beautifully it seems the very rocks will cry.” Eragon returned to his chair, holding the book gently.It’s amazing that a man who is dead can talk to people through these pages. As long as this book survives, his ideas live. I wonder if it contains any information about the Ra’zac? He browsed through the book while Brom and Jeod spoke. Hours passed, and Eragon began to drowse. Out of pity for his exhaustion, Jeod bid them good night. “The butler will show you to your rooms.” On the way upstairs, the servant said, “If you need assistance, use the bellpull next to the bed.” He stopped before a cluster of three doors, bowed, then backed away. As Brom entered the room on the right, Eragon asked, “Can I talk to you?” “You just did, but come in anyway.” Page 117 Eragon closed the door behind himself. “Saphira and I had an idea. Is there—” Brom stopped him with a raised hand and pulled the curtains shut over the window. “When you talk of such things, you would do well to make sure that no unwelcome ears are present.” “Sorry,” said Eragon, berating himself for the slip. “Anyway, is it possible to conjure up an image of something that you can’t see?” Brom sat on the edge of his bed. “What you are talking about is called scrying. It is quite possible and extremely helpful in some situations, but it has a major drawback. You can only observe people, places, and things that you’ve already seen. If you were to scry the Ra’zac, you’d see them all right, but not their surroundings. There are other problems as well. Let’s say that you wanted to view a page in a book, one that you’d already seen. You could only see the page if the book were open to it. If the book were closed when you tried this, the page would appear completely black.” “Why can’t you view objects that you haven’t seen?” asked Eragon. Even with those limitations, he realized, scrying could be very useful.I wonder if I could view something leagues away and use magic to affect what was happening there? “Because,” said Brom patiently, “to scry, you have to know what you’re looking at and where to direct your power. Even if a stranger was described to you, it would still be nigh impossible to view him, not to mention the ground and whatever else might be around him. You have to knowwhat you’re going to scry before youcan scry it. Does that answer your question?” Eragon thought for a moment. “But how is it done? Do you conjure up the image in thin air?” “Not usually,” said Brom, shaking his white head. “That takes more energy than projecting it onto a reflective surface like a pool of water or a mirror. Some Riders used to travel everywhere they could, trying to see as much as possible. Then, whenever war or some other calamity occurred, they would be able to view events throughout Alagaësia.” “May I try it?” asked Eragon. Brom looked at him carefully. “No, not now. You’re tired, and scrying takes lots of strength. I will tell you the words, but you must promise not to attempt it tonight. And I’d rather you wait until we leave Teirm; I have more to teach you.” Eragon smiled. “I promise.” “Very well.” Brom bent over and very quietly whispered, “Draumr kópa” into Eragon’s ear. Eragon took a moment to memorize the words. “Maybe after we’ve left Teirm, I can scry Roran. I would like to know how he’s doing. I’m afraid that the Ra’zac might go after him.” “I don’t mean to frighten you, but that’s a distinct possibility,” said Brom. “Although Roran was gone most of the time the Ra’zac were in Carvahall, I’m sure that they asked questions about him. Who knows, they may have even met him while they were in Therinsford. Either way, I doubt their curiosity is sated. You’re on the loose, after all, and the king is probably threatening them with terrible punishment if you aren’t found. If they get frustrated enough, they’ll go back and interrogate Roran. It’s only a matter of time.” Page 118 “If that’s true, then the only way to keep Roran safe is to let the Ra’zac know where I am so that they’ll come after me instead of him.” “No, that won’t work either. You’re not thinking,” admonished Brom. “If you can’t understand your enemies, how can you expect to anticipate them? Even if you exposed your location, the Ra’zac would still chase Roran. Do you know why?” Eragon straightened and tried to consider every possibility. “Well, if I stay in hiding long enough, they might get frustrated and capture Roran to force me to reveal myself. If that didn’t work, they’d kill him just to hurt me. Also, if I become a public enemy of the Empire, they might use him as bait to catch me. And if I met with Roran and they found out about it, they would torture him to find out where I was.” “Very good. You figured that out quite nicely,” said Brom. “But what’s the solution? I can’t let him be killed!” Brom clasped his hands loosely. “The solution is quite obvious. Roran is going to have to learn how to defend himself. That may sound hard-hearted, but as you pointed out, you cannot risk meeting with him. You may not remember this—you were half delirious at the time—but when we left Carvahall, I told you that I had left a warning letter for Roran so he won’t be totally unprepared for danger. If he has any sense at all, when the Ra’zac show up in Carvahall again, he’ll take my advice and flee.” “I don’t like this,” said Eragon unhappily. “Ah, but you forget something.” “What?” he demanded. “There is some good in all of this. The king cannot afford to have a Rider roaming around that he does not control. Galbatorix is the only known Rider alive besides yourself, but he would like another one under his command. Before he tries to kill you or Roran, he will offer you the chance to serve him. Unfortunately, if he ever gets close enough to make that proposition, it will be far too late for you to refuse and still live.” “You call that some good!” “It’s all that’s protecting Roran. As long as the king doesn’t know which side you’ve chosen, he won’t risk alienating you by harming your cousin. Keep that firmly in mind. The Ra’zac killed Garrow, but I think it was an ill-considered decision on their part. From what I know of Galbatorix, he would not have approved it unless he gained something from it.” “And how will I be able to deny the king’s wishes when he is threatening me with death?” asked Eragon sharply. Brom sighed. He went to his nightstand and dipped his fingers in a basin of rose water. “Galbatorix wants your willing cooperation. Without that, you’re worse than useless to him. So the question becomes, If you are ever faced with this choice, are you willing to die for what you believe in? For that is the only way you will deny him.” The question hung in the air. Page 119 Brom finally said, “It’s a difficult question and not one you can answer until you’re faced with it. Keep in mind that many people have died for their beliefs; it’s actually quite common. The real courage is in living and suffering for what you believe.” THEWITCH AND THEWERECAT It was late in the morning when Eragon woke. He dressed, washed his face in the basin, then held the mirror up and brushed his hair into place. Something about his reflection made him stop and look closer. His face had changed since he had run out of Carvahall just a short while ago. Any baby fat was gone now, stripped away by traveling, sparring, and training. His cheekbones were more prominent, and the line of his jaw was sharper. There was a slight cast to his eyes that, when he looked closely, gave his face a wild, alien appearance. He held the mirror at arm’s length, and his face resumed its normal semblance—but it still did not seem quite his own. A little disturbed, he slung his bow and quiver across his back, then left the room. Before he had reached the end of the hall, the butler caught up with him and said, “Sir, Neal left with my master for the castle earlier. He said that you could do whatever you want today because he will not return until this evening.” Eragon thanked him for the message, then eagerly began exploring Teirm. For hours he wandered the streets, entering every shop that struck his fancy and chatting with various people. Eventually he was forced back to Jeod’s by his empty stomach and lack of money. When he reached the street where the merchant lived, he stopped at the herbalist’s shop next door. It was an unusual place for a store. The other shops were down by the city wall, not crammed between expensive houses. He tried to look in the windows, but they were covered with a thick layer of crawling plants on the interior. Curious, he went inside. At first he saw nothing because the store was so dark, but then his eyes adjusted to the faint greenish light that filtered through the windows. A colorful bird with wide tail feathers and a sharp, powerful beak looked at Eragon inquisitively from a cage near the window. The walls were covered with plants; vines clung to the ceiling, obscuring all but an old chandelier, and on the floor was a large pot with a yellow flower. A collection of mortars, pestles, metal bowls, and a clear crystal ball the size of Eragon’s head rested on a long counter. He walked to the counter, carefully stepping around complex machines, crates of rocks, piles of scrolls, and other objects he did not recognize. The wall behind the counter was covered with drawers of every size. Some of them were no larger than his smallest finger, while others were big enough for a barrel. There was a foot-wide gap in the shelves far above. A pair of red eyes suddenly flashed from the dark space, and a large, fierce cat leapt onto the counter. It had a lean body with powerful shoulders and oversized paws. A shaggy mane surrounded its angular face; its ears were tipped with black tufts. White fangs curved down over its jaw. Altogether, it did not look like any cat Eragon had ever seen. It inspected him with shrewd eyes, then flicked its tail dismissively. On a whim, Eragon reached out with his mind and touched the cat’s consciousness. Gently, he prodded it with his thoughts, trying to make it understand that he was a friend. You don’t have to do that. Page 120 Eragon looked around in alarm. The cat ignored him and licked a paw.Saphira? Where are you? he asked. No one answered. Puzzled, he leaned against the counter and reached for what looked like a wood rod. That wouldn’t be wise. Stop playing games, Saphira,he snapped, then picked up the rod. A shock of electricity exploded through his body, and he fell to the floor, writhing. The pain slowly faded, leaving him gasping for air. The cat jumped down and looked at him. You aren’t very smart for a Dragon Rider. I did warn you. You said that!exclaimed Eragon. The cat yawned, then stretched and sauntered across the floor, weaving its way between objects. Who else? But you’re just a cat!he objected. The cat yowled and stalked back to him. It jumped on his chest and crouched there, looking down at him with gleaming eyes. Eragon tried to sit up, but it growled, showing its fangs.Do I look like other cats? No… Then what makes you think I am one?Eragon started to say something, but the creature dug its claws into his chest.Obviously your education has been neglected. I—to correct your mistake—am a werecat. There aren’t many of us left, but I think even a farm boy should have heard of us. I didn’t know you were real,said Eragon, fascinated. A werecat! He was indeed fortunate. They were always flitting around the edges of stories, keeping to themselves and occasionally giving advice. If the legends were true, they had magical powers, lived longer than humans, and usually knew more than they told. The werecat blinked lazily.Knowing is independent of being. I did not know you existed before you bumbled in here and ruined my nap. Yet that doesn’t mean you weren’t real before you woke me. Eragon was lost by its reasoning.I’m sorry I disturbed you. I was getting up anyway,it said. It leapt back onto the counter and licked its paw.If I were you, I wouldn’t hold on to that rod much longer. It’s going to shock you again in a few seconds. He hastily put the rod back where he had found it.What is it? A common and boring artifact, unlike myself. But what’s it for? Didn’t you find out?The werecat finished cleaning its paw, stretched once more, then jumped back up to its sleeping place. It sat down, tucked its paws under its breast, and closed its eyes, purring. Wait,said Eragon,what’s your name? Page 121 One of the werecat’s slanted eyes cracked open.I go by many names. If you are looking for my proper one, you will have to seek elsewhere. The eye closed. Eragon gave up and turned to leave.However, you may call me Solembum. Thank you,said Eragon seriously. Solembum’s purring grew louder. The door to the shop swung open, letting in a beam of sunlight. Angela entered with a cloth bag full of plants. Her eyes flickered at Solembum and she looked startled. “He says you talked with him.” “You can talk with him, too?” asked Eragon. She tossed her head. “Of course, but that doesn’t mean he’ll say anything back.” She set her plants on the counter, then walked behind it and faced him. “He likes you. That’s unusual. Most of the time Solembum doesn’t show himself to customers. In fact, he says that you show some promise, given a few years of work.” “Thanks.” “It’s a compliment, coming from him. You’re only the third person to come in here who has been able to speak with him. The first was a woman, many years ago; the second was a blind beggar; and now you. But I don’t run a store just so I can prattle on. Is there anything you want? Or did you only come in to look?” “Just to look,” said Eragon, still thinking about the werecat. “Besides, I don’t really need any herbs.” “That’s not all I do,” said Angela with a grin. “The rich fool lords pay me for love potions and the like. I never claim that they work, but for some reason they keep coming back. But I don’t think you need those chicaneries. Would you like your fortune told? I do that, too, for all the rich fool ladies.” Eragon laughed. “No, I’m afraid my fortune is pretty much unreadable. And I don’t have any money.” Angela looked at Solembum curiously. “I think…” She gestured at the crystal ball resting on the counter. “That’s only for show anyway—it doesn’t do anything. But I do have… Wait here; I’ll be right back.” She hurried into a room at the back of the shop. She came back, breathless, holding a leather pouch, which she set on the counter. “I haven’t used these for so long, I almost forgot where they were. Now, sit across from me and I’ll show you why I went to all this trouble.” Eragon found a stool and sat. Solembum’s eyes glowed from the gap in the drawers. Angela laid a thick cloth on the counter, then poured a handful of smooth bones, each slightly longer than a finger, onto it. Runes and symbols were inscribed along their sides. “These,” she said, touching them gently, “are the knucklebones of a dragon. Don’t ask where I got them; it is a secret I won’t reveal. But unlike tea leaves, crystal balls, or even divining cards, these have true power. They do not lie, though understanding what they say is… complicated. If you wish, I will cast and read them for you. But understand that to know one’s fate can be a terrible thing. You must be sure of your decision.” Eragon looked at the bones with a feeling of dread.There lies what was once one of Saphira’s kin. To know one’s fate… How can I make this decision when I don’t know what lies in wait for me and whether I will like it? Ignorance is indeed bliss. “Why do you offer this?” he asked. Page 122 “Because of Solembum. He may have been rude, but the fact that he spoke to you makes you special. Heis a werecat, after all. I offered to do this for the other two people who talked with him. Only the woman agreed to it. Selena was her name. Ah, she regretted it, too. Her fortune was bleak and painful. I don’t think she believed it—not at first.” Emotion overcame Eragon, bringing tears to his eyes. “Selena,” he whispered to himself. His mother’s name.Could it have been her? Was her destiny so horrible that she had to abandon me? “Do you remember anything about her fortune?” he asked, feeling sick. Angela shook her head and sighed. “It was so long ago that the details have melted into the rest of my memory, which isn’t as good as it used to be. Besides, I’ll not tell you what I do remember. That was for her and her alone. It was sad, though; I’ve never forgotten the look on her face.” Eragon closed his eyes and struggled to regain control of his emotions. “Why do you complain about your memory?” he asked to distract himself. “You’re not that old.” Dimples appeared on Angela’s cheeks. “I’m flattered, but don’t be deceived; I’m much older than I look. The appearance of youth probably comes from having to eat my own herbs when times are lean.” Smiling, Eragon took a deep breath.If that was my mother and she could bear to have her fortune told, I can too. “Cast the bones for me,” he said solemnly. Angela’s face became grave as she grasped the bones in each hand. Her eyes closed, and her lips moved in a soundless murmur. Then she said powerfully,“Manin! Wyrda! Hugin!” and tossed the bones onto the cloth. They fell all jumbled together, gleaming in the faint light. The words rang in Eragon’s ears; he recognized them from the ancient language and realized with apprehension that to use them for magic, Angela must be a witch. She had not lied; this was a true fortunetelling. Minutes slowly passed as she studied the bones. Finally, Angela leaned back and heaved a long sigh. She wiped her brow and pulled out a wineskin from under the counter. “Do you want some?” she asked. Eragon shook his head. She shrugged and drank deeply. “This,” she said, wiping her mouth, “is the hardest reading I’ve ever done. You were right. Your future is nigh impossible to see. I’ve never known of anyone’s fate being so tangled and clouded. I was, however, able to wrestle a few answers from it.” Solembum jumped onto the counter and settled there, watching them both. Eragon clenched his hands as Angela pointed to one of the bones. “I will start here,” she said slowly, “because it is the clearest to understand.” The symbol on the bone was a long horizontal line with a circle resting on it. “Infinity or long life,” said Angela quietly. “This is the first time I have ever seen it come up in someone’s future. Most of the time it’s the aspen or the elm, both signs that a person will live a normal span of years. Whether this means that you will live forever or that you will only have an extraordinarily long life, I’m not sure. Whatever it foretells, you may be sure that many years lie ahead of you.” No surprises there—I am a Rider,thought Eragon. Was Angela only going to tell him things he already knew? “Now the bones grow harder to read, as the rest are in a confused pile.” Angela touched three of them. “Here the wandering path, lightning bolt, and sailing ship all lie together—a pattern I’ve never seen, only Page 123 heard of. The wandering path shows that there are many choices in your future, some of which you face even now. I see great battles raging around you, some of them fought for your sake. I see the mighty powers of this land struggling to control your will and destiny. Countless possible futures await you—all of them filled with blood and conflict—but only one will bring you happiness and peace. Beware of losing your way, for you are one of the few who are truly free to choose their own fate. That freedom is a gift, but it is also a responsibility more binding than chains.” Then her face grew sad. “And yet, as if to counteract that, here is the lightning bolt. It is a terrible omen. There is a doom upon you, but of what sort I know not. Part of it lies in a death—one that rapidly approaches and will cause you much grief. But the rest awaits in a great journey. Look closely at this bone. You can see how its end rests on that of the sailing ship. That is impossible to misunderstand. Your fate will be to leave this land forever. Where you will end up I know not, but you will never again stand in Alagaësia. This is inescapable. It will come to pass even if you try to avoid it.” Her words frightened Eragon.Another death… who must I lose now? His thoughts immediately went to Roran. Then he thought about his homeland.What could ever force me to leave? And where would I go? If there are lands across the sea or to the east, only the elves know of them. Angela rubbed her temples and breathed deeply. “The next bone is easier to read and perhaps a bit more pleasant.” Eragon examined it and saw a rose blossom inscribed between the horns of a crescent moon. Angela smiled and said, “An epic romance is in your future, extraordinary, as the moon indicates—for that is a magical symbol—and strong enough to outlast empires. I cannot say if this passion will end happily, but your love is of noble birth and heritage. She is powerful, wise, and beautiful beyond compare.” Of noble birth,thought Eragon in surprise.How could that ever happen? I have no more standing than the poorest of farmers. “Now for the last two bones, the tree and the hawthorn root, which cross each other strongly. I wish that this were not so—it can only mean more trouble—but betrayal is clear. And it will come from within your family.” “Roran wouldn’t do that!” objected Eragon abruptly. “I wouldn’t know,” said Angela carefully. “But the bones have never lied, and that is what they say.” Doubt wormed into Eragon’s mind, but he tried to ignore it. What reason would there ever be for Roran to turn on him? Angela put a comforting hand on his shoulder and offered him the wineskin again. This time Eragon accepted the drink, and it made him feel better. “After all that, death might be welcome,” he joked nervously.Betrayal from Roran? It couldn’t happen! It won’t! “It might be,” said Angela solemnly, then laughed slightly. “But you shouldn’t fret about what has yet to occur. The only way the future can harm us is by causing worry. I guarantee that you’ll feel better once you’re out in the sun.” “Perhaps.”Unfortunately, he reflected wryly,nothing she said will make sense until it has already happened. If it really does,he amended himself. “You used words of power,” he noted quietly. Page 124 Angela’s eyes flashed. “What I wouldn’t give to see how the rest of your life plays out. You can speak to werecats, know of the ancient language, and have a most interesting future. Also, few young men with empty pockets and rough traveling clothes can expect to be loved by a noblewoman. Who are you?” Eragon realized that the werecat must not have told Angela that he was a Rider. He almost said, “Evan,” but then changed his mind and simply stated, “I am Eragon.” Angela arched her eyebrows. “Is that who you are or your name?” she asked. “Both,” said Eragon with a small smile, thinking of his namesake, the first Rider. “Now I’m all the more interested in seeing how your life will unfold. Who was the ragged man with you yesterday?” Eragon decided that one more name couldn’t hurt. “His name is Brom.” A guffaw suddenly burst out of Angela, doubling her over in mirth. She wiped her eyes and took a sip of wine, then fought off another attack of merriment. Finally, gasping for breath, she forced out, “Oh… that one! I had no idea!” “What is it?” demanded Eragon. “No, no, don’t be upset,” said Angela, hiding a smile. “It’s only that—well, he is known by those in my profession. I’m afraid that the poor man’s doom, or future if you will, is something of a joke with us.” “Don’t insult him! He’s a better man than any you could find!” snapped Eragon. “Peace, peace,” chided Angela with amusement. “I know that. If we meet again at the right time I’ll be sure to tell you about it. But in the meantime you should—” She stopped speaking as Solembum padded between them. The werecat stared at Eragon with unblinking eyes. Yes?Eragon asked, irritated. Listen closely and I will tell you two things. When the time comes and you need a weapon, look under the roots of the Menoa tree. Then, when all seems lost and your power is insufficient, go to the rock of Kuthian and speak your name to open the Vault of Souls. Before Eragon could ask what Solembum meant, the werecat walked away, waving his tail ever so gracefully. Angela tilted her head, coils of dense hair shadowing her forehead. “I don’t know what he said, and I don’t want to know. He spoke to you and only you. Don’t tell anyone else.” “I think I have to go,” said Eragon, shaken. “If you want to,” said Angela, smiling again. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, especially if you buy some of my goods. But go if you wish; I’m sure that we’ve given you enough to ponder for a while.” “Yes.” Eragon quickly made his way to the door. “Thank you for reading my future.”I think. “You’re welcome,” said Angela, still smiling. Page 125 Eragon exited the shop and stood in the street, squinting until his eyes adjusted to the brightness. It was a few minutes before he could think calmly about what he had learned. He started walking, his steps unconsciously quickening until he dashed out of Teirm, feet flying as he headed to Saphira’s hiding place. He called to her from the base of the cliff. A minute later she soared down and bore him up to the cliff top. When they were both safely on the ground, Eragon told her about his day.And so, he concluded,I think Brom’s right; I always seem to be where there’s trouble. You should remember what the werecat told you. It’s important. How do you know?he asked curiously. I’m not sure, but the names he used feel powerful.Kuthian, she said, rolling the word around.No, we should not forget what he said. Do you think I should tell Brom? It’s your choice, but think of this: he has no right to know your future. To tell him of Solembum and his words will only raise questions you may not want to answer. And if you decided to only ask him what those words mean, he will want to know where you learned them. Do you think you can lie convincingly to him? No,admitted Eragon.Maybe I won’t say anything. Still, this might be too important to hide. They talked until there was nothing more to say. Then they sat together companionably, watching the trees until dusk. Eragon hurried back to Teirm and was soon knocking on Jeod’s door. “Is Neal back?” he asked the butler. “Yes sir. I believe he’s in the study right now.” “Thank you,” said Eragon. He strode to the room and peeked inside. Brom was sitting before the fire, smoking. “How did it go?” asked Eragon. “Bloody awful!” growled Brom around his pipe. “So you talked to Brand?” “Not that it did any good. Thisadministrator of trade is the worst sort of bureaucrat. He abides by every rule, delights in making his own whenever it can inconvenience someone, and at the same time believes that he’s doing good.” “Then he won’t let us see the records?” asked Eragon. “No,” snapped Brom, exasperated. “Nothing I could say would sway him. He even refused bribes! Substantial ones, too. I didn’t think I would ever meet a noble who wasn’t corrupt. Now that I have, I find that I prefer them when they’re greedy bastards.” He puffed furiously on his pipe and mumbled a steady stream of curses. When he seemed to have calmed, Eragon asked tentatively, “So, what now?” Page 126 “I’m going to take the next week and teach you how to read.” “And after that?” A smile split Brom’s face. “After that, we’re going to give Brand a nasty surprise.” Eragon pestered him for details, but Brom refused to say more. Dinner was held in a sumptuous dining room. Jeod sat at one end of the table, a hard-eyed Helen at the other. Brom and Eragon were seated between them, which Eragon felt was a dangerous place to be. Empty chairs were on either side of him, but he didn’t mind the space. It helped to protect him from the glares of their hostess. The food was served quietly, and Jeod and Helen wordlessly began eating. Eragon followed suit, thinking,I’ve had cheerier meals at funerals.And he had, in Carvahall. He remembered many burials that had been sad, yes, but not unduly so. This was different; he could feel simmering resentment pouring from Helen throughout the dinner. OFREADING ANDPLOTS Brom scratched a rune on parchment with charcoal, then showed it to Eragon. “This is the lettera, ” he said. “Learn it.” With that, Eragon began the task of becoming literate. It was difficult and strange and pushed his intellect to its limits, but he enjoyed it. Without anything else to do and with a good—if sometimes impatient—teacher, he advanced rapidly. A routine was soon established. Every day Eragon got up, ate in the kitchen, then went to the study for his lessons, where he labored to memorize the sounds of the letters and the rules of writing. It got so that when he closed his eyes, letters and words danced in his mind. He thought of little else during that time. Before dinner, he and Brom would go behind Jeod’s house and spar. The servants, along with a small crowd of wide-eyed children, would come and watch. If there was any time afterward, Eragon would practice magic in his room, with the curtains securely closed. His only worry was Saphira. He visited her every evening, but it was not enough time together for either of them. During the day, Saphira spent most of her time leagues away searching for food; she could not hunt near Teirm without arousing suspicion. Eragon did what he could to help her, but he knew that the only solution for both her hunger and loneliness was to leave the city far behind. Every day more grim news poured into Teirm. Arriving merchants told of horrific attacks along the coast. There were reports of powerful people disappearing from their houses in the night and their mangled corpses being discovered in the morning. Eragon often heard Brom and Jeod discussing the events in an undertone, but they always stopped when he came near. The days passed quickly, and soon a week had gone by. Eragon’s skills were rudimentary, but he could now read whole pages without asking Brom’s help. He read slowly, but he knew that speed would come with time. Brom encouraged him, “No matter, you’ll do fine for what I have planned.” It was afternoon when Brom summoned both Jeod and Eragon to the study. Brom gestured at Eragon. “Now that you can help us, I think it’s time to move ahead.” Page 127 “What do you have in mind?” asked Eragon. A fierce smile danced on Brom’s face. Jeod groaned. “I know that look; it’s what got us into trouble in the first place.” “A slight exaggeration,” said Brom, “but not unwarranted. Very well, this is what we’ll do…” We leave tonight or tomorrow,Eragon told Saphira from within his room. This is unexpected. Will you be safe during this venture? Eragon shrugged.I don’t know. We may end up fleeing Teirm with soldiers on our heels. He felt her worry and tried to reassure her.It’ll be all right. Brom and I can use magic, and we’re good fighters. He lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. His hands shook slightly, and there was a lump in his throat. As sleep overcame him, he felt a wave of confusion.I don’t want to leave Teirm, he suddenly realized. The time I’ve spent here has been—almost normal. What I would give not to keep uprooting myself. To stay here and be like everyone else would be wonderful. Then, another thought raged through him,But I’ll never be able to while Saphira is around. Never. Dreams owned his consciousness, twisting and directing it to their whims. At times he quaked with fear; at others he laughed with pleasure. Then something changed—it was as though his eyes had been opened for the first time—and a dream came to him that was clearer than any before. He saw a young woman, bent over by sorrow, chained in a cold, hard cell. A beam of moonlight shone through a barred window set high in the wall and fell on her face. A single tear rolled down her cheek, like a liquid diamond. Eragon rose with a start and found himself crying uncontrollably before sinking back into a fitful sleep. THIEVES IN THECASTLE Eragon woke from his nap to a golden sunset. Red and orange beams of light streamed into the room and fell across the bed. They warmed his back pleasantly, making him reluctant to move. He dozed, but the sunlight crept off him, and he grew cold. The sun sank below the horizon, lighting the sea and sky with color.Almost time! He slung his bow and quiver on his back, but left Zar’roc in the room; the sword would only slow him, and he was averse to using it. If he had to disable someone, he could use magic or an arrow. He pulled his jerkin over his shirt and laced it securely. He waited nervously in his room until the light faded. Then he entered the hallway and shrugged so the quiver settled comfortably across his back. Brom joined him, carrying his sword and staff. Jeod, dressed in a black doublet and hose, was waiting for them outside. From his waist swung an elegant rapier and a leather pouch. Brom eyed the rapier and observed, “That toad sticker is too thin for any real fighting. What will you do if someone comes after you with a broadsword or a flamberge?” “Be realistic,” said Jeod. “None of the guards has a flamberge. Besides, thistoad sticker is faster than a Page 128 broadsword.” Brom shrugged. “It’s your neck.” They walked casually along the street, avoiding watchmen and soldiers. Eragon was tense and his heart pounded. As they passed Angela’s shop, a flash of movement on the roof caught his attention, but he saw no one. His palm tingled. He looked at the roof again, but it was still empty. Brom led them along Teirm’s outer wall. By the time they reached the castle, the sky was black. The sealed walls of the fortress made Eragon shiver. He would hate to be imprisoned there. Jeod silently took the lead and strode up to the gates, trying to look at ease. He pounded on the gate and waited. A small grille slid open and a surly guard peered out. “Ya?” he grunted shortly. Eragon could smell rum on his breath. “We need to get in,” said Jeod. The guard peered at Jeod closer. “Wha’ for?” “The boy here left something very valuable in my office. We have to retrieve it immediately.” Eragon hung his head, shamefaced. The guard frowned, clearly impatient to get back to his bottle. “Ah, wha’ever,” he said, swinging his arm. “Jus’ make sure ’n give ’im a good beating f’r me.” “I’ll do that,” assured Jeod as the guard unbolted a small door set into the gate. They entered the keep, then Brom handed the guard a few coins. “Thank’ee,” mumbled the man, tottering away. As soon as he was gone, Eragon pulled his bow from its tube and strung it. Jeod quickly let them into the main part of the castle. They hurried toward their destination, listening carefully for any soldiers on patrol. At the records room, Brom tried the door. It was locked. He put his hand against the door and muttered a word that Eragon did not recognize. It swung open with a faint click. Brom grabbed a torch from the wall, and they darted inside, closing the door quietly. The squat room was filled with wooden racks piled high with scrolls. A barred window was set in the far wall. Jeod threaded his way between the racks, running his eyes over the scrolls. He halted at the back of the room. “Over here,” he said. “These are the shipping records for the past five years. You can tell the date by the wax seals on the corner.” “So what do we do now?” asked Eragon, pleased that they had made it so far without being discovered. “Start at the top and work down,” said Jeod. “Some scrolls only deal with taxes. You can ignore those. Look for anything that mentions Seithr oil.” He took a length of parchment from his pouch and stretched it out on the floor, then set a bottle of ink and a quill pen next to it. “So we can keep track of whatever we find,” he explained. Brom scooped an armful of scrolls from the top of the rack and piled them on the floor. He sat and unrolled the first one. Eragon joined him, positioning himself so he could see the door. The tedious work was especially difficult for him, as the cramped script on the scrolls was different from the printing Brom had taught him. Page 129 By looking only for the names of ships that sailed in the northern areas, they winnowed out many of the scrolls. Even so, they moved down the rack slowly, recording each shipment of Seithr oil as they located it. It was quiet outside the room, except for the occasional watchman. Suddenly, Eragon’s neck prickled. He tried to keep working, but the uneasy feeling remained. Irritated, he looked up and jerked with surprise—a small boy crouched on the windowsill. His eyes were slanted, and a sprig of holly was woven into his shaggy black hair. Do you need help?asked a voice in Eragon’s head. His eyes widened with shock. It sounded like Solembum. Is that you?he asked incredulously. Am I someone else? Eragon gulped and concentrated on his scroll. If my eyes don’t deceive me, you are. The boy smiled slightly, revealing pointed teeth.What I look like doesn’t change who I am. You don’t think I’m called a werecat for nothing, do you? What are you doing here?Eragon asked. The werecat tilted his head and considered whether the question was worth an answer.That depends on what you are doing here. If you are reading those scrolls for entertainment, then I suppose there isn’t any reason for my visit. But if what you are doing is unlawful and you don’t want to be discovered, I might be here to warn you that the guard whom you bribed just told his replacement about you and that this second official of the Empire has sent soldiers to search for you. Thank you for telling me,said Eragon. Told you something, did I? I suppose I did. And I suggest you make use of it. The boy stood and tossed back his wild hair. Eragon asked quickly,What did you mean last time about the tree and the vault? Exactly what I said. Eragon tried to ask more, but the werecat vanished through the window. He announced abruptly, “There are soldiers looking for us.” “How do you know?” asked Brom sharply. “I listened in on the guard. His replacement just sent men to search for us. We have to get out of here. They’ve probably already discovered that Jeod’s office is empty.” “Are you sure?” asked Jeod. “Yes!” said Eragon impatiently. “They’re on their way.” Page 130 Brom snatched another scroll from the rack. “No matter. We have to finish this now!” They worked furiously for the next minute, scanning the records as fast as they could. As the last scroll was finished, Brom threw it back onto the rack, and Jeod jammed his parchment, ink, and pen into his pouch. Eragon grabbed the torch. They raced from the room and shut the door, but just as it closed they heard the heavy tramp of soldiers’ boots at the end of the hall. They turned to leave, but Brom hissed furiously, “Damnation! It’s not locked.” He put his hand against the door. The lock clicked at the same time three armed soldiers came into view. “Hey! Get away from that door!” shouted one of them. Brom stepped back, assuming a surprised expression. The three men marched up to them. The tallest one demanded, “Why are you trying to get into the records?” Eragon gripped his bow tighter and prepared to run. “I’m afraid we lost our way.” The strain was evident in Jeod’s voice. A drop of sweat rolled down his neck. The soldier glared at them suspiciously. “Check inside the room,” he ordered one of his men. Eragon held his breath as the soldier stepped up to the door, tried to open it, then pounded on it with his mailed fist. “It’s locked, sir.” The leader scratched his chin. “Ar’right, then. I don’t know what you were up to, but as long as the door’s locked, I guess you’re free to go. Come on.” The soldiers surrounded them and marched them back to the keep. I can’t believe it,thought Eragon.They’re helping us get away! At the main gates, the soldier pointed and said, “Now, you walk through those and don’t try anything. We’ll be watching. If you have to come back, wait until morning.” “Of course,” promised Jeod. Eragon could feel the guards’ eyes boring into their backs as they hurried out of the castle. The moment that the gates closed behind them, a triumphant grin stretched across his face, and he jumped into the air. Brom shot him a cautioning look and growled, “Walk back to the house normally. You can celebrate there.” Chastised, Eragon adopted a staid demeanor, but inside he still bubbled with energy. Once they had hurried back to the house and into the study, Eragon exclaimed, “We did it!” “Yes, but now we have to figure out if it was worth the trouble,” said Brom. Jeod took a map of Alagaësia from the shelves and unrolled it on the desk. On the left side of the map, the ocean extended to the unknown west. Along the coast stretched the Spine, an immense length of mountains. The Hadarac Desert filled the center of the map—the east end was blank. Somewhere in that void hid the Varden. To the south was Surda, a small country that had seceded from the Empire after the Riders’ fall. Eragon had been told that Surda secretly supported the Varden. Near Surda’s eastern border was a mountain range labeled Beor Mountains. Eragon had heard of them Page 131 in many stories—they were supposed to be ten times the height of the Spine, though he privately believed that was exaggeration. The map was empty to the east of the Beors. Five islands rested off the coast of Surda: Nía, Parlim, Uden, Illium, and Beirland. Nía was no more than an outcropping of rock, but Beirland, the largest, had a small town. Farther up, near Teirm, was a jagged island called Sharktooth. And high to the north was one more island, immense and shaped like a knobby hand. Eragon knew its name without even looking: Vroengard, the ancestral home of the Riders—once a place of glory, but now a looted, empty shell haunted by strange beasts. In the center of Vroengard was the abandoned city of Dorú Areaba. Carvahall was a small dot at the top of Palancar Valley. Level with it, but across the plains, sprawled the forest Du Weldenvarden. Like the Beor Mountains, its eastern end was unmapped. Parts of Du Weldenvarden’s western edge had been settled, but its heart lay mysterious and unexplored. The forest was wilder than the Spine; the few who braved its depths often came back raving mad, or not at all. Eragon shivered as he saw Urû’baen in the center of the Empire. King Galbatorix ruled from there with his black dragon, Shruikan, by his side. Eragon put his finger on Urû’baen. “The Ra’zac are sure to have a hiding place here.” “You had better hope that that isn’t their only sanctuary,” said Brom flatly. “Otherwise you’ll never get near them.” He pushed the rustling map flat with his wrinkled hands. Jeod took the parchment out of his pouch and said, “From what I saw in the records, there have been shipments of Seithr oil to every major city in the Empire over the past five years. As far as I can tell, all of them might have been ordered by wealthy jewelers. I’m not sure how we can narrow down the list without more information.” Brom swept a hand over the map. “I think we can eliminate some cities. The Ra’zac have to travel wherever the king wants, and I’m sure he keeps them busy. If they’re expected to go anywhere at anytime, the only reasonable place for them to stay is at a crossroads where they can reach every part of the country fairly easily.” He was excited now and paced the room. “This crossroads has to be large enough so the Ra’zac will be inconspicuous. It also has to have enough trade so any unusual requests—special food for their mounts, for example—will go unnoticed.” “That makes sense,” said Jeod, nodding. “Under those conditions, we can ignore most of the cities in the north. The only big ones are Teirm, Gil’ead, and Ceunon. I know they’re not in Teirm, and I doubt that the oil has been shipped farther up the coast to Narda—it’s too small. Ceunon is too isolated… only Gil’ead remains.” “The Ra’zac might be there,” conceded Brom. “It would have a certain irony.” “It would at that,” Jeod acknowledged softly. “What about southern cities?” asked Eragon. “Well,” said Jeod. “There’s obviously Urû’baen, but that’s an unlikely destination. If someone were to die from Seithr oil in Galbatorix’s court, it would be all too easy for an earl or some other lord to discover that the Empire had been buying large amounts of it. That still leaves many others, any one of which could be the one we want.” “Yes,” said Eragon, “but the oil wasn’t sent to all of them. The parchment only lists Kuasta, Dras-Leona, Page 132 Aroughs, and Belatona. Kuasta wouldn’t work for the Ra’zac; it’s on the coast and surrounded by mountains. Aroughs is isolated like Ceunon, though it is a center of trade. That leaves Belatona and Dras-Leona, which are rather close together. Of the two, I think Dras-Leona is the likelier. It’s larger and better situated.” “And that’s where nearly all the goods of the Empire pass through at one time or another, including Teirm’s,” said Jeod. “It would be a good place for the Ra’zac to hide.” “So… Dras-Leona,” said Brom as he sat down and lit his pipe. “What do the records show?” Jeod looked at the parchment. “Here it is. At the beginning of the year, three shipments of Seithr oil were sent to Dras-Leona. Each shipment was only two weeks apart, and the records say they were all transported by the same merchant. The same thing happened last year and the year before that. I doubt any one jeweler, or even a group of them, has the money for so much oil.” “What about Gil’ead?” asked Brom, raising an eyebrow. “It doesn’t have the same access to the rest of the Empire. And,” Jeod tapped the parchment, “they’ve only received the oil twice in recent years.” He thought for a moment, then said, “Besides, I think we forgot something—Helgrind.” Brom nodded. “Ah yes, the Dark Gates. It’s been many years since I’ve thought of it. You’re right, that would make Dras-Leona perfect for the Ra’zac. I guess it’s decided, then; that’s where we’ll go.” Eragon sat abruptly, too drained of emotion to even ask what Helgrind was.I thought I would be happy to resume the hunt. Instead, I feel like an abyss has opened up before me. Dras-Leona! It’s so far away… The parchment crackled as Jeod slowly rolled up the map. He handed it to Brom and said, “You’ll need this, I’m afraid. Your expeditions often take you into obscure regions.” Nodding, Brom accepted the map. Jeod clapped him on the shoulder. “It doesn’t feel right that you will leave without me. My heart expects to go along, but the rest of me reminds me of my age and responsibilities.” “I know,” said Brom. “But you have a life in Teirm. It is time for the next generation to take up the standard. You’ve done your part; be happy.” “What of you?” asked Jeod. “Does the road ever end for you?” A hollow laugh escaped Brom’s lips. “I see it coming, but not for a while.” He extinguished his pipe, and they left for their rooms, exhausted. Before he fell asleep, Eragon contacted Saphira to relate the night’s adventures. ACOSTLYMISTAKE In the morning Eragon and Brom retrieved their saddlebags from the stable and prepared to depart. Jeod greeted Brom while Helen watched from the doorway. With grave looks, the two men clasped hands. “I’ll miss you, old man,” said Jeod. “And you I,” said Brom thickly. He bowed his white head and then turned to Helen. “Thank you for your hospitality; it was most gracious.” Her face reddened. Eragon thought she was going to slap him. Brom continued, unperturbed, “You have a good husband; take care of him. There are few men as brave Page 133 and as determined as he is. But even he cannot weather difficult times without support from those he loves.” He bowed again and said gently, “Only a suggestion, dear lady.” Eragon watched as indignation and hurt crossed Helen’s face. Her eyes flashed as she shut the door brusquely. Sighing, Jeod ran his fingers through his hair. Eragon thanked him for all his help, then mounted Cadoc. With the last farewells said, he and Brom departed. At Teirm’s south gate, the guards let them through without a second glance. As they rode under the giant outer wall, Eragon saw movement in a shadow. Solembum was crouched on the ground, tail twitching. The werecat followed them with inscrutable eyes. As the city receded into the distance, Eragon asked, “What are werecats?” Brom looked surprised at the question. “Why the sudden curiosity?” “I heard someone mention them in Teirm. They’re not real, are they?” said Eragon, pretending ignorance. “They are quite real. During the Riders’ years of glory, they were as renowned as the dragons. Kings and elves kept them as companions—yet the werecats were free to do what they chose. Very little has ever been known about them. I’m afraid that their race has become rather scarce recently.” “Could they use magic?” asked Eragon. “No one’s sure, but they could certainly do unusual things. They always seemed to know what was going on and somehow or another manage to get themselves involved.” Brom pulled his hood up to block a chill wind. “What’s Helgrind?” asked Eragon, after a moment’s thought. “You’ll see when we get to Dras-Leona.” When Teirm was out of sight, Eragon reached out with his mind and called,Saphira!The force of his mental shout was so strong that Cadoc flicked his ears in annoyance. Saphira answered and sped toward them with all of her strength. Eragon and Brom watched as a dark blur rushed from a cloud, then heard a dull roar as Saphira’s wings flared open. The sun shone behind the thin membranes, turning them translucent and silhouetting the dark veins. She landed with a blast of air. Eragon tossed Cadoc’s reins to Brom. “I’ll join you for lunch.” Brom nodded, but seemed preoccupied. “Have a good time,” he said, then looked at Saphira and smiled. “It’s good to see you again.” And you too. Eragon hopped onto Saphira’s shoulders and held on tightly as she bounded upward. With the wind at her tail, Saphira sliced through the air.Hold on, she warned Eragon, and letting out a wild bugle, she soared in a great loop. Eragon yelled with excitement as he flung his arms in the air, holding on only with his legs. I didn’t know I could stay on while you did that without being strapped into the saddle,he said, grinning Page 134 fiercely. Neither did I,admitted Saphira, laughing in her peculiar way. Eragon hugged her tightly, and they flew a level path, masters of the sky. By noon his legs were sore from riding bareback, and his hands and face were numb from the cold air. Saphira’s scales were always warm to the touch, but she could not keep him from getting chilled. When they landed for lunch, he buried his hands in his clothes and found a warm, sunny place to sit. As he and Brom ate, Eragon asked Saphira,Do you mind if I ride Cadoc?He had decided to question Brom further about his past. No, but tell me what he says.Eragon was not surprised that Saphira knew his plans. It was nearly impossible to hide anything from her when they were mentally linked. When they finished eating, she flew away as he joined Brom on the trail. After a time, Eragon slowed Cadoc and said, “I need to talk to you. I wanted to do it when we first arrived in Teirm, but I decided to wait until now.” “About what?” asked Brom. Eragon paused. “There’s a lot going on that I don’t understand. For instance, who are your ‘friends,’ and why were you hiding in Carvahall? I trust you with my life—which is why I’m still traveling with you—but I need to know more about who you are and what you are doing. What did you steal in Gil’ead, and what is the tuatha du orothrim that you’re taking me through? I think that after all that’s happened, I deserve an explanation.” “You eavesdropped on us.” “Only once,” said Eragon. “I see that you have yet to learn proper manners,” said Brom grimly, tugging on his beard. “What makes you think that this concerns you?” “Nothing, really,” said Eragon shrugging. “Just it’s an odd coincidence that you happened to be hiding in Carvahall when I found Saphira’s eggand that you also know so much dragonlore. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems. There were other clues that I mostly ignored, but they’re obvious now that I look back. Like how you knew of the Ra’zac in the first place and why they ran away when you approached. And I can’t help but wonder if you had something to do with the appearance of Saphira’s egg. There’s a lot you haven’t told us, and Saphira and I can’t afford to ignore anything that might be dangerous.” Dark lines appeared on Brom’s forehead as he reined Snowfire to a halt. “You won’t wait?” he asked. Eragon shook his head mulishly. Brom sighed. “This wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t so suspicious, but I suppose that you wouldn’t be worth my time if you were otherwise.” Eragon was unsure if he should take that as a compliment. Brom lit his pipe and slowly blew a plume of smoke into the air. “I’ll tell you,” he said, “but you have to understand that I cannot reveal everything.” Eragon started to protest, but Brom cut him off. “It’s not out of a desire to withhold information, but because I won’t give away secrets that aren’t mine. There are other stories woven in with this narrative. You’ll have to talk with the others involved to find out the rest.” “Very well. Explain what you can,” said Eragon. “Are you sure?” asked Brom. “There are reasons for my secretiveness. I’ve tried to protect you by Page 135 shielding you from forces that would tear you apart. Once you know of them and their purposes, you’ll never have the chance to live quietly. You will have to choose sides and make a stand. Do you really want to know?” “I cannot live my life in ignorance,” said Eragon quietly. “A worthy goal… Very well: there is a war raging in Alagaësia between the Varden and the Empire. Their conflict, however, reaches far beyond any incidental armed clashes. They are locked in a titanic power struggle… centered around you.” “Me?” said Eragon, disbelieving. “That’s impossible. I don’t have anything to do with either of them.” “Not yet,” said Brom, “but your very existence is the focus of their battles. The Varden and the Empire aren’t fighting to control this land or its people. Their goal is to control the next generation of Riders, of whom you are the first. Whoever controls these Riders will become the undisputed master of Alagaësia.” Eragon tried to absorb Brom’s statements. It seemed incomprehensible that so many people would be interested in him and Saphira. No one besides Brom had thought he was that important. The whole concept of the Empire and Varden fighting over him was too abstract for him to grasp fully. Objections quickly formed in his mind. “But all the Riders were killed except for the Forsworn, who joined Galbatorix. As far as I know, even those are now dead. And you told me in Carvahall that no one knows if there are still dragons in Alagaësia.” “I lied about the dragons,” said Brom flatly. “Even though the Riders are gone, there are still three dragon eggs left—all of them in Galbatorix’s possession. Actually there are only two now, since Saphira hatched. The king salvaged the three during his last great battle with the Riders.” “So there may soon be two new Riders, both of them loyal to the king?” asked Eragon with a sinking feeling. “Exactly,” said Brom. “There is a deadly race in progress. Galbatorix is desperately trying to find the people for whom his eggs will hatch, while the Varden are employing every means to kill his candidates or steal the eggs.” “But where did Saphira’s egg come from? How could anyone have gotten it away from the king? And why do you know all of this?” asked Eragon, bewildered. “So many questions,” laughed Brom bitterly. “There is another chapter to all this, one that took place long before you were born. Back then I was a bit younger, though perhaps not as wise. I hated the Empire—for reasons I’ll keep to myself—and wanted to damage it in any way I could. My fervor led me to a scholar, Jeod, who claimed to have discovered a book that showed a secret passageway into Galbatorix’s castle. I eagerly brought Jeod to the Varden—who are my ‘friends’—and they arranged to have the eggs stolen.” The Varden! “However, something went amiss, and our thief got only one egg. For some reason he fled with it and didn’t return to the Varden. When he wasn’t found, Jeod and I were sent to bring him and the egg back.” Brom’s eyes grew distant, and he spoke in a curious voice. “That was the start of one of the greatest searches in history. We raced against the Ra’zac and Morzan, last of the Forsworn and the king’s finest servant.” Page 136 “Morzan!” interrupted Eragon. “But he was the one who betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix!”And that happened so long ago! Morzan must have been ancient. It disturbed him to be reminded of how long Riders lived. “So?” asked Brom, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, he was old, but strong and cruel. He was one of the king’s first followers and by far his most loyal. As there had been blood between us before, the hunt for the egg turned into a personal battle. When it was located in Gil’ead, I rushed there and fought Morzan for possession. It was a terrible contest, but in the end I slew him. During the conflict I was separated from Jeod. There was no time to search for him, so I took the egg and bore it to the Varden, who asked me to train whomever became the new Rider. I agreed and decided to hide in Carvahall—which I had been to several times before—until the Varden contacted me. I was never summoned.” “Then how did Saphira’s egg appear in the Spine? Was another one stolen from the king?” asked Eragon. Brom grunted. “Small chance of that. He has the remaining two guarded so thoroughly that it would be suicide to try and steal them. No, Saphira was taken from the Varden, and I think I know how. To protect the egg, its guardian must have tried to send it to me with magic. “The Varden haven’t contacted me to explain how they lost the egg, so I suspect that their runners were intercepted by the Empire and the Ra’zac were sent in their place. I’m sure they were quite eager to find me, as I’ve managed to foil many of their plans.” “Then the Ra’zac didn’t know about me when they arrived in Carvahall,” said Eragon with wonder. “That’s right,” replied Brom. “If that ass Sloan had kept his mouth shut, they might not have found out about you. Events could have turned out quite differently. In a way I have you to thank for my life. If the Ra’zac hadn’t become so preoccupied with you, they might have caught me unawares, and that would have been the end of Brom the storyteller. The only reason they ran was because I’m stronger than the two of them, especially during the day. They must have planned to drug me during the night, then question me about the egg.” “You sent a message to the Varden, telling them about me?” “Yes. I’m sure they’ll want me to bring you to them as soon as possible.” “But you’re not going to, are you?” Brom shook his head. “No, I’m not.” “Why not? Being with the Varden must be safer than chasing after the Ra’zac, especially for a new Rider.” Brom snorted and looked at Eragon with fondness. “The Varden are dangerous people. If we go to them, you will be entangled in their politics and machinations. Their leaders may send you on missions just to make a point, even though you might not be strong enough for them. I want you to be well prepared before you go anywhere near the Varden. At least while we pursue the Ra’zac, I don’t have to worry about someone poisoning your water. This is the lesser of two evils. And,” he said with a smile, “it keeps you happy while I train you… Tuatha du orothrim is just a stage in your instruction. Iwill help you find—and perhaps even kill—the Ra’zac, for they are as much my enemies as yours. But then you will Page 137 have to make a choice.” “And that would be…?” asked Eragon warily. “Whether to join the Varden,” said Brom. “If you kill the Ra’zac, the only ways for you to escape Galbatorix’s wrath will be to seek the Varden’s protection, flee to Surda, or plead for the king’s mercy and join his forces. Even if you don’t kill the Ra’zac, you will still face this choice eventually.” Eragon knew the best way to gain sanctuary might be to join the Varden, but he did not want to spend his entire life fighting the Empire like they did. He mulled over Brom’s comments, trying to consider them from every angle. “You still didn’t explain how you know so much about dragons.” “No, I didn’t, did I?” said Brom with a crooked smile. “That will have to wait for another time.” Why me?Eragon asked himself. What made him so special that he should become a Rider? “Did you ever meet my mother?” he blurted. Brom looked grave. “Yes, I did.” “What was she like?” The old man sighed. “She was full of dignity and pride, like Garrow. Ultimately it was her downfall, but it was one of her greatest gifts nevertheless… She always helped the poor and the less fortunate, no matter what her situation.” “You knew her well?” asked Eragon, startled. “Well enough to miss her when she was gone.” As Cadoc plodded along, Eragon tried to recall when he had thought that Brom was just a scruffy old man who told stories. For the first time Eragon understood how ignorant he had been. He told Saphira what he had learned. She was intrigued by Brom’s revelations, but recoiled from the thought of being one of Galbatorix’s possessions. At last she said,Aren’t you glad that you didn’t stay in Carvahall? Think of all the interesting experiences you would have missed!Eragon groaned in mock distress. When they stopped for the day, Eragon searched for water while Brom made dinner. He rubbed his hands together for warmth as he walked in a large circle, listening for a creek or spring. It was gloomy and damp between the trees. He found a stream a ways from the camp, then crouched on the bank and watched the water splash over the rocks, dipping in his fingertips. The icy mountain water swirled around his skin, numbing it.It doesn’t care what happens to us, or anyone else, thought Eragon. He shivered and stood. An unusual print on the opposing stream bank caught his attention. It was oddly shaped and very large. Curious, he jumped across the stream and onto a rock shelf. As he landed, his foot hit a patch of damp moss. He grabbed a branch for support, but it broke, and he thrust out his hand to break his fall. He felt his right wrist crack as he hit the ground. Pain lanced up his arm. Page 138 A steady stream of curses came out from behind his clenched teeth as he tried not to howl. Half blind with pain, he curled on the ground, cradling his arm.Eragon! came Saphira’s alarmed cry.What happened? Broke my wrist… did something stupid… fell. I’m coming,said Saphira. No—I can make it back. Don’t… come. Trees too close for… wings. She sent him a brief image of her tearing the forest apart to get at him, then said,Hurry. Groaning, he staggered upright. The print was pressed deeply into the ground a few feet away. It was the mark of a heavy, nail-studded boot. Eragon instantly remembered the tracks that had surrounded the pile of bodies in Yazuac. “Urgal,” he spat, wishing that Zar’roc was with him; he could not use his bow with only one hand. His head snapped up, and he shouted with his mind,Saphira! Urgals! Keep Brom safe. Eragon leapt back over the stream and raced toward their camp, yanking out his hunting knife. He saw potential enemies behind every tree and bush.I hope there’s only one Urgal. He burst into the camp, ducking as Saphira’s tail swung overhead. “Stop. It’s me!” he yelled. Oops,said Saphira. Her wings were folded in front of her chest like a wall. “Oops?” growled Eragon, running to her. “You could’ve killed me! Where’s Brom?” “I’m right here,” snapped Brom’s voice from behind Saphira’s wings. “Tell your crazy dragon to release me; she won’t listen to me.” “Let him go!” said Eragon, exasperated. “Didn’t you tell him?” No,she said sheepishly.You just said to keep him safe. She lifted her wings, and Brom stepped forward angrily. “I found an Urgal footprint. And it’s fresh.” Brom immediately turned serious. “Saddle the horses. We’re leaving.” He put out the fire, but Eragon did not move. “What’s wrong with your arm?” “My wrist is broken,” he said, swaying. Brom cursed and saddled Cadoc for him. He helped Eragon onto the horse and said, “We have to put a splint on your arm as soon as possible. Try not to move your wrist until then.” Eragon gripped the reins tightly with his left hand. Brom said to Saphira, “It’s almost dark; you might as well fly right overhead. If Urgals show up, they’ll think twice about attacking with you nearby.” They’d better, or else they won’t think again,remarked Saphira as she took off. The light was disappearing quickly, and the horses were tired, but they spurred them on without respite. Eragon’s wrist, swollen and red, continued to throb. A mile from the camp, Brom halted. “Listen,” he Page 139 said. Eragon heard the faint call of a hunting horn behind them. As it fell silent, panic gripped him. “They must have found where we were,” said Brom, “and probably Saphira’s tracks. They will chase us now. It’s not in their nature to let prey escape.” Then two horns winded. They were closer. A chill ran through Eragon. “Our only chance is to run,” said Brom. He raised his head to the sky, and his face blanked as he called Saphira. She rushed out of the night sky and landed. “Leave Cadoc. Go with her. You’ll be safer,” commanded Brom. “What about you?” Eragon protested. “I’ll be fine. Now go!” Unable to muster the energy to argue, Eragon climbed onto Saphira while Brom lashed Snowfire and rode away with Cadoc. Saphira flew after him, flapping above the galloping horses. Eragon clung to Saphira as best he could; he winced whenever her movements jostled his wrist. The horns blared nearby, bringing a fresh wave of terror. Brom crashed through the underbrush, forcing the horses to their limits. The horns trumpeted in unison close behind him, then were quiet. Minutes passed.Where are the Urgals? wondered Eragon. A horn sounded, this time in the distance. He sighed in relief, resting against Saphira’s neck, while on the ground Brom slowed his headlong rush.That was close, said Eragon. Yes, but we cannot stop until—Saphira was interrupted as a horn blasted directly underneath them. Eragon jerked in surprise, and Brom resumed his frenzied retreat. Horned Urgals, shouting with coarse voices, barreled along the trail on horses, swiftly gaining ground. They were almost in sight of Brom; the old man could not outrun them.We have to do something! exclaimed Eragon. What? Land in front of the Urgals! Are you crazy?demanded Saphira. Land! I know what I’m doing,said Eragon.There isn’t time for anything else. They’re going to overtake Brom! Very well.Saphira pulled ahead of the Urgals, then turned, preparing to drop onto the trail. Eragon reached for his power and felt the familiar resistance in his mind that separated him from the magic. He did not try to breach it yet. A muscle twitched in his neck. As the Urgals pounded up the trail, he shouted, “Now!” Saphira abruptly folded her wings and dropped straight down from above the trees, landing on the trail in a spray of dirt and rocks. The Urgals shouted with alarm and yanked on their horses’ reins. The animals went stiff-legged and collided into each other, but the Urgals quickly untangled themselves to face Saphira with bared weapons. Hate crossed their faces as they glared at her. There were twelve of them, all ugly, jeering brutes. Eragon wondered why they did not flee. He had thought that the sight of Saphira would frighten them away.Why are they waiting? Are they going to attack us or not? Page 140 He was shocked when the largest Urgal advanced and spat, “Our master wishes to speak with you, human!” The monster spoke in deep, rolling gutturals. It’s a trap,warned Saphira before Eragon could say anything.Don’t listen to him. At least let’s find out what he has to say,he reasoned, curious, but extremely wary. “Who is your master?” he asked. The Urgal sneered. “His name does not deserve to be given to one as low as yourself. He rules the sky and holds dominance over the earth. You are no more than a stray ant to him. Yet he has decreed that you shall be brought before him,alive.Take heart that you have become worthy of such notice!” “I’ll never go with you nor any of my enemies!” declared Eragon, thinking of Yazuac. “Whether you serve Shade, Urgal, or some twisted fiend I’ve not heard of, I have no wish to parley with him.” “That is a grave mistake,” growled the Urgal, showing his fangs. “There is no way to escape him. Eventually you will stand before our master. If you resist, he will fill your days with agony.” Eragon wondered who had the power to bring the Urgals under one banner. Was there a third great force loose in the land—along with the Empire and the Varden? “Keep your offer and tell your master that the crows can eat his entrails for all I care!” Rage swept through the Urgals; their leader howled, gnashing his teeth. “We’ll drag you to him, then!” He waved his arm and the Urgals rushed at Saphira. Raising his right hand, Eragon barked, “Jierda!” No!cried Saphira, but it was too late. The monsters faltered as Eragon’s palm glowed. Beams of light lanced from his hand, striking each of them in the gut. The Urgals were thrown through the air and smashed into trees, falling senseless to the ground. Fatigue suddenly drained Eragon of strength, and he tumbled off Saphira. His mind felt hazy and dull. As Saphira bent over him, he realized that he might have gone too far. The energy needed to lift and throw twelve Urgals was enormous. Fear engulfed him as he struggled to stay conscious. At the edge of his vision he saw one of the Urgals stagger to his feet, sword in hand. Eragon tried to warn Saphira, but he was too weak.No…, he thought feebly. The Urgal crept toward Saphira until he was well past her tail, then raised his sword to strike her neck.No!… Saphira whirled on the monster, roaring savagely. Her talons slashed with blinding speed. Blood spurted everywhere as the Urgal was rent in two. Saphira snapped her jaws together with finality and returned to Eragon. She gently wrapped her bloody claws around his torso, then growled and jumped into the air. The night blurred into a pain-filled streak. The hypnotic sound of Saphira’s wings put him in a bleary trance: up, down; up, down; up, down… When Saphira eventually landed, Eragon was dimly aware of Brom talking with her. Eragon could not understand what they said, but a decision must have been reached because Saphira took off again. His stupor yielded to sleep that covered him like a soft blanket. VISION OFPERFECTION Page 141 Eragon twisted under the blankets, reluctant to open his eyes. He dozed, then a fuzzy thought entered his mind…How did I get here? Confused, he pulled the blankets tighter and felt something hard on his right arm. He tried to move his wrist. It zinged with pain.The Urgals! He bolted upright. He lay in a small clearing that was empty save a small campfire heating a stew-filled pot. A squirrel chattered on a branch. His bow and quiver rested alongside the blankets. Attempting to stand made him grimace, as his muscles were feeble and sore. There was a heavy splint on his bruised right arm. Where is everyone?he wondered forlornly. He tried to call Saphira, but to his alarm could not feel her. Ravenous hunger gripped him, so he ate the stew. Still hungry, he looked for the saddlebags, hoping to find a chunk of bread. Neither the saddlebags nor the horses were in the clearing.I’m sure there’s a good reason for this, he thought, suppressing a surge of uneasiness. He wandered about the clearing, then returned to his blankets and rolled them up. Without anything better to do, he sat against a tree and watched the clouds overhead. Hours passed, but Brom and Saphira did not show up.I hope nothing’s wrong. As the afternoon dragged on, Eragon grew bored and started to explore the surrounding forest. When he became tired, he rested under a fir tree that leaned against a boulder with a bowl-shaped depression filled with clear dew water. Eragon stared at the water and thought about Brom’s instructions for scrying.Maybe I can see where Saphira is. Brom said that scrying takes a lot of energy, but I’m stronger than he is… He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. In his mind he formed a picture of Saphira, making it as lifelike as possible. It was more demanding than he expected. Then he said, “Draumr kópa!” and gazed at the water. Its surface became completely flat, frozen by an invisible force. The reflections disappeared and the water became clear. On it shimmered an image of Saphira. Her surroundings were pure white, but Eragon could see that she was flying. Brom sat on her back, beard streaming, sword on his knees. Eragon tiredly let the image fade.At least they’re safe. He gave himself a few minutes to recuperate, then leaned back over the water.Roran, how are you? In his mind he saw his cousin clearly. Impulsively, he drew upon the magic and uttered the words. The water grew still, then the image formed on its surface. Roran appeared, sitting on an invisible chair. Like Saphira, his surroundings were white. There were new lines on Roran’s face—he looked more like Garrow than ever before. Eragon held the image in place as long as he could.Is Roran in Therinsford? He’s certainly nowhere I’ve been. The strain of using magic had brought beads of sweat to his forehead. He sighed and for a long time was content just to sit. Then an absurd notion struck him.What if I tried to scry something I created with my imagination or saw in a dream? He smiled.Perhaps I’d be shown what my own consciousness looks like. It was too tempting an idea to pass by. He knelt by the water once again.What shall I look for? He considered a few things, but discarded them all when he remembered his dream about the woman in the cell. After fixing the scene in his mind, he spoke the words and watched the water intently. He waited, but nothing happened. Disappointed, he was about to release the magic when inky blackness swirled across the water, covering the surface. The image of a lone candle flickered in the darkness, brightening to Page 142 illuminate a stone cell. The woman from his dream was curled up on a cot in one corner. She lifted her head, dark hair falling back, and stared directly at Eragon. He froze, the force of her gaze keeping him in place. Chills ran up his spine as their eyes locked. Then the woman trembled and collapsed limply. The water cleared. Eragon rocked back on his heels, gasping. “This can’t be.”She shouldn’t be real; I only dreamed about her! How could she know I was looking at her? And how could I have scryed into a dungeon that I’ve never seen? He shook his head, wondering if any of his other dreams had been visions. The rhythmic thump of Saphira’s wings interrupted his thoughts. He hurried back to the clearing, arriving just as Saphira landed. Brom was on her back, as Eragon had seen, but his sword was now bloody. Brom’s face was contorted; the edges of his beard were stained red. “What happened?” asked Eragon, afraid that he had been wounded. “What happened?” roared the old man. “I’ve been trying to clean up your mess!” He slashed the air with the sword, flinging drops of blood along its arc. “Do you know what you did with that little trick of yours? Do you?” “I stopped the Urgals from catching you,” said Eragon, a pit forming in his stomach. “Yes,” growled Brom, “but that piece of magic nearly killed you! You’ve been sleeping for two days. There were twelve Urgals.Twelve! But that didn’t stop you from trying to throw them all the way to Teirm, now did it? What were you thinking? Sending a rock through each of their heads would have been the smart thing to do. But no, you had to knock them unconscious so they could run away later. I’ve spent the last two days trying to track them down. Even with Saphira, three escaped!” “I didn’t want to kill them,” said Eragon, feeling very small. “It wasn’t a problem in Yazuac.” “There was no choice then, and I couldn’t control the magic. This time it just seemed… extreme.” “Extreme!” cried Brom. “It’s not extreme when they wouldn’t show you the same mercy. And why, oh why, did youshow yourself to them?” “You said that they had found Saphira’s footprints. It didn’t make any difference if they saw me,” said Eragon defensively. Brom stabbed his sword into the dirt and snapped, “I said they hadprobably found her tracks. We didn’t know for certain. They might have believed they were chasing some stray travelers. But why would they think that now? After all,you landed right in front of them!And since you let them live, they’re scrambling around the countryside with all sorts of fantastic tales! This might even get back to the Empire!” He threw his hands up. “You don’t even deserve to be called a Rider after this,boy.” Brom yanked his sword out of the ground and stomped to the fire. He took a rag from inside his robe and angrily began to clean the blade. Eragon was stunned. He tried to ask Saphira for advice, but all she would say was,Speak with Brom. Hesitantly, Eragon made his way to the fire and asked, “Would it help if I said I was sorry?” Brom sighed and sheathed his sword. “No, it wouldn’t. Your feelings can’t change what happened.” He jabbed his finger at Eragon’s chest. “You made some very bad choices that could have dangerous Page 143 repercussions. Not the least of which is that you almost died. Died, Eragon! From now on you’re going to have to think. There’s a reason why we’re born with brains in our heads, not rocks.” Eragon nodded, abashed. “It’s not as bad as you think, though; the Urgals already knew about me. They had orders to capture me.” Astonishment widened Brom’s eyes. He stuck his unlit pipe in his mouth. “No, it’s not as bad as I thought. It’s worse! Saphira told me you had talked with the Urgals, but she didn’t mention this.” The words tumbled out of Eragon’s mouth as he quickly described the confrontation. “So they have some sort of leader now, eh?” questioned Brom. Eragon nodded. “And you just defied his wishes, insulted him, and attacked his men?” Brom shook his head. “I didn’t think it could get any worse. If the Urgals had been killed, your rudeness would have gone unnoticed, but now it’ll be impossible to ignore. Congratulations, you just made enemies with one of the most powerful beings in Alagaësia.” “All right, I made a mistake,” said Eragon sullenly. “Yes, you did,” agreed Brom, eyes flashing. “What has me worried, though, is who this Urgal leader is.” Shivering, Eragon asked softly, “What happens now?” There was an uncomfortable pause. “Your arm is going to take at least a couple of weeks to heal. That time would be well spent forging some sense into you. I suppose this is partially my fault. I’ve been teaching youhow to do things, but not whether youshould. It takes discretion, something you obviously lack. All the magic in Alagaësia won’t help you if you don’t know when to use it.” “But we’re still going to Dras-Leona, right?” asked Eragon. Brom rolled his eyes. “Yes, we can keep looking for the Ra’zac, but even if we find them, it won’t do any good until you’ve healed.” He began unsaddling Saphira. “Are you well enough to ride?” “I think so.” “Good, then we can still cover a few miles today.” “Where are Cadoc and Snowfire?” Brom pointed off to the side. “Over there a ways. I picketed them where there was grass.” Eragon prepared to leave, then followed Brom to the horses. Saphira said pointedly,If you had explained what you were planning to do, none of this would have happened. I would have told you it was a bad idea not to kill the Urgals. I only agreed to do what you asked because I assumed it was halfway reasonable! I don’t want to talk about it. As you wish,she sniffed. Page 144 As they rode, every bump and dip in the trail made Eragon grit his teeth with discomfort. If he had been alone, he would have stopped. With Brom there, he dared not complain. Also, Brom started drilling him with difficult scenarios involving Urgals, magic, and Saphira. The imagined fights were many and varied. Sometimes a Shade or other dragons were included. Eragon discovered that it was possible to torture his body and mind at the same time. He got most of the questions wrong and became increasingly frustrated. When they stopped for the night, Brom grumbled shortly, “It was a start.” Eragon knew that he was disappointed. MASTER OF THEBLADE The next day was easier on both of them. Eragon felt better and was able to answer more of Brom’s questions correctly. After an especially difficult exercise, Eragon mentioned his scrying of the woman. Brom pulled on his beard. “You say she was imprisoned?” “Yes.” “Did you see her face?” asked Brom intently. “Not very clearly. The lighting was bad, yet I could tell that she was beautiful. It’s strange; I didn’t have any problem seeing her eyes. And she did look at me.” Brom shook his head. “As far as I know, it’s impossible for anyone to know if they’re being scryed upon.” “Do you know who she might be?” asked Eragon, surprised by the eagerness in his own voice. “Not really,” admitted Brom. “If pressed, I suppose I could come up with a few guesses, but none of them would be very likely. This dream of yours is peculiar. Somehow you managed to scry in your sleep something that you’d never seen before—without saying the words of power. Dreams do occasionally touch the spirit realm, but this is different.” “Perhaps to understand this we should search every prison and dungeon until we find the woman,” bantered Eragon. He actually thought it would be a good idea. Brom laughed and rode on. Brom’s strict training filled nearly every hour as the days slowly blended into weeks. Because of his splint, Eragon was forced to use his left hand whenever they sparred. Before long he could duel as well with his left hand as he had with his right. By the time they crossed the Spine and came to the plains, spring had crept over Alagaësia, summoning a multitude of flowers. The bare deciduous trees were russet with buds, while new blades of grass began to push up between last year’s dead stalks. Birds returned from their winter absence to mate and build nests. The travelers followed the Toark River southeast, along the edge of the Spine. It grew steadily as tributaries flowed into it from every side, feeding its bulging girth. When the river was over a league wide, Brom pointed at the silt islands that dotted the water. “We’re close to Leona Lake now,” he said. “It’s only about two leagues away.” Page 145 “Do you think we can get there before nightfall?” asked Eragon. “We can try.” Dusk soon made the trail hard to follow, but the sound of the river at their side guided them. When the moon rose, the bright disk provided enough light to see what lay ahead. Leona Lake looked like a thin sheet of silver beaten over the land. The water was so calm and smooth it did not even seem to be liquid. Aside from a bright strip of moonlight reflecting off the surface, it was indistinguishable from the ground. Saphira was on the rocky shore, fanning her wings to dry them. Eragon greeted her and she said,The water is lovely—deep, cool, and clear. Maybe I’ll go swimming tomorrow,he responded. They set up camp under a stand of trees and were soon asleep. At dawn, Eragon eagerly rushed out to see the lake in daylight. A whitecapped expanse of water rippled with fan-shaped patterns where wind brushed it. The pure size of it delighted him. He whooped and ran to the water.Saphira, where are you? Let’s have some fun! The moment Eragon climbed onto her, she jumped out over the water. They soared upward, circling over the lake, but even at that height the opposing shore was not visible.Would you like to take a bath? Eragon casually asked Saphira. She grinned wolfishly.Hold on! She locked her wings and sank to the waves, clipping the crests with her claws. The water sparkled in the sunlight as they sailed over it. Eragon whooped again. Then Saphira folded her wings and dived into the lake, her head and neck entering it like a lance. The water hit Eragon like an icy wall, knocking out his breath and almost tearing him off Saphira. He held on tightly as she swam to the surface. With three strokes of her feet, she breached it and sent a burst of shimmering water toward the sky. Eragon gasped and shook his hair as Saphira slithered across the lake, using her tail as a rudder. Ready? Eragon nodded and took a deep breath, tightening his arms. This time they slid gently under the water. They could see for yards through the unclouded liquid. Saphira twisted and turned in fantastic shapes, slipping through the water like an eel. Eragon felt as if he were riding a sea serpent of legend. Just as his lungs started to cry for air, Saphira arched her back and pointed her head upward. An explosion of droplets haloed them as she leapt into the air, wings snapping open. With two powerful flaps she gained altitude. Wow! That was fantastic,exclaimed Eragon. Yes,said Saphira happily.Though it’s a pity you can’t hold your breath longer. Nothing I can do about that,he said, pressing water out of his hair. His clothes were drenched, and the wind from Saphira’s wings chilled him. He pulled at his splint—his wrist itched. Page 146 Once Eragon was dry, he and Brom saddled the horses and started around Leona Lake in high spirits while Saphira playfully dived in and out of the water. Before dinner, Eragon blocked Zar’roc’s edge in preparation for their usual sparring. Neither he nor Brom moved as they waited for the other to strike first. Eragon inspected their surroundings for anything that might give him an advantage. A stick near the fire caught his attention. Eragon swooped down, grabbed the stick, and hurled it at Brom. The splint got in his way, though, and Brom easily sidestepped the piece of wood. The old man rushed forward, swinging his sword. Eragon ducked just as the blade whistled over his head. He growled and tackled Brom ferociously. They pitched to the ground, each struggling to stay on top. Eragon rolled to the side and swept Zar’roc over the ground at Brom’s shins. Brom parried the blow with the hilt of his sword, then jumped to his feet. Twisting as he stood, Eragon attacked again, guiding Zar’roc through a complex pattern. Sparks danced from their blades as they struck again and again. Brom blocked each blow, his face tight with concentration. But Eragon could tell that he was tiring. The relentless hammering continued as each sought an opening in the other’s defenses. Then Eragon felt the battle change. Blow by blow he gained advantage; Brom’s parries slowed and he lost ground. Eragon easily blocked a stab from Brom. Veins pulsed on the old man’s forehead and cords bulged in his neck from the effort. Suddenly confident, Eragon swung Zar’roc faster than ever, weaving a web of steel around Brom’s sword. With a burst of speed, he smashed the flat of his blade against Brom’s guard and knocked the sword to the ground. Before Brom could react, Eragon flicked Zar’roc up to his throat. They stood panting, the red sword tip resting on Brom’s collarbone. Eragon slowly lowered his arm and backed away. It was the first time he had bested Brom without resorting to trickery. Brom picked up his sword and sheathed it. Still breathing hard, he said, “We’re done for today.” “But we just started,” said Eragon, startled. Brom shook his head. “I can teach you nothing more of the sword. Of all the fighters I’ve met, only three of them could have defeated me like that, and I doubt any of them could have done it with their left hand.” He smiled ruefully. “I may not be as young as I used to be, but I can tell that you’re a talented and rare swordsman.” “Does this mean we’re not going to spar every night?” asked Eragon. “Oh, you’re not getting out of it,” laughed Brom. “But we’ll go easier now. It’s not as important if we miss a night here or there.” He wiped his brow. “Just remember, if you ever have the misfortune to fight an elf—trained or not, female or male—expect to lose. They, along with dragons and other creatures of magic, are many times stronger than nature intended. Even the weakest elf could easily overpower you. The same goes for the Ra’zac—they are not human and tire much more slowly than we do.” “Is there any way to become their equal?” asked Eragon. He sat cross-legged by Saphira. You fought well,she said. He smiled. Page 147 Brom seated himself with a shrug. “There are a few, but none are available to you now. Magic will let you defeat all but the strongest enemies. For those you’ll need Saphira’s help, plus a great deal of luck. Remember, when creatures of magic actually use magic, they can accomplish things that could kill a human, because of their enhanced abilities.” “How do you fight with magic?” asked Eragon. “What do you mean?” “Well,” he said, leaning on an elbow. “Suppose I was attacked by a Shade. How could I block his magic? Most spells take place instantaneously, which makes it impossible to react in time. And even if I could, how would I nullify an enemy’s magic? It seems I would have to know my opponent’s intention before he acted.” He paused. “I just don’t see how it can be done. Whoever attacked first would win.” Brom sighed. “What you are talking about—a ‘wizards’ duel,’ if you will—is extremely dangerous. Haven’t you ever wondered how Galbatorix was able to defeat all of the Riders with the help of only a dozen or so traitors?” “I never thought about it,” acknowledged Eragon. “There are several ways. Some you’ll learn about later, but the main one is that Galbatorix was, and still is, a master of breaking into people’s minds. You see, in a wizards’ duel there are strict rules that each side must observe or else both contestants will die. To begin with, no one uses magic until one of the participants gains access to the other’s mind.” Saphira curled her tail comfortably around Eragon and asked,Why wait? By the time an enemy realizes that you’ve attacked, it will be too late for him to act.Eragon repeated the question out loud. Brom shook his head. “No, it won’t. If I were to suddenly use my power against you, Eragon, you would surely die, but in the brief moment before you were destroyed, there would be time for a counterattack. Therefore, unless one combatant has a death wish, neither side attacks until one of them has breached the other’s defenses.” “Then what happens?” Eragon inquired. Brom shrugged and said, “Once you’re inside your enemy’s mind, it’s easy enough to anticipate what he will do and prevent it. Even with that advantage, it’s still possible to lose if you don’t know how to counteract spells.” He filled and lit his pipe. “And that requires extraordinarily quick thinking. Before you can defend yourself, you have to understand the exact nature of the forces directed at you. If you’re being attacked with heat, you have to know whether it is being conveyed to you through air, fire, light, or some other medium. Only once that’s known can you combat the magic by, for instance, chilling the heated material.” “It sounds difficult.” “Extremely,” confirmed Brom. A plume of smoke rose from his pipe. “Seldom can people survive such a duel for more than a few seconds. The enormous amount of effort and skill required condemns anyone without the proper training to a quick death. Once you’ve progressed, I’ll start teaching you the necessary methods. In the meantime, if you ever find yourself facing a wizards’ duel, I suggest you run away as fast as you can.” Page 148 THEMIRE OFDRAS-LEONA They lunched at Fasaloft, a bustling lakeside village. It was a charming place set on a rise overlooking the lake. As they ate in the hostel’s common room, Eragon listened intently to the gossip and was relieved to hear no rumors of him and Saphira. The trail, now a road, had grown steadily worse over the past two days. Wagon wheels and iron-shod hooves had conspired to tear up the ground, making many sections impassable. An increase in travelers forced Saphira to hide during the day and then catch up with Brom and Eragon at night. For days they continued south along Leona Lake’s vast shore. Eragon began to wonder if they would ever get around it, so he was heartened when they met men who said that Dras-Leona was an easy day’s ride ahead of them. Eragon rose early the following morning. His fingers twitched with anticipation at the thought of finally finding the Ra’zac.The two of you must be careful, said Saphira.The Ra’zac could have spies watching for travelers that fit your description. We’ll do our best to remain inconspicuous,he assured her. She lowered her head until their eyes met.Perhaps, but realize that I won’t be able to protect you as I did with the Urgals. I will be too far away to come to your aid, nor would I survive long in the narrow streets your kind favor. Follow Brom’s lead in this hunt; he is sensible. I know,he said somberly. Will you go with Brom to the Varden? Once the Ra’zac are killed, he will want to take you to them. And since Galbatorix will be enraged by the Ra’zac’s death, that may be the safest thing for us to do. Eragon rubbed his arms.I don’t want to fight the Empire all the time like the Varden do. Life is more than constant war. There’ll be time to consider it once the Ra’zac are gone. Don’t be too sure,she warned, then went to hide herself until night. The road was clogged with farmers taking their goods to market in Dras-Leona. Brom and Eragon were forced to slow their horses and wait for wagons that blocked the way. Although they saw smoke in the distance before noon, it was another league before the city was clearly visible. Unlike Teirm, a planned city, Dras-Leona was a tangled mess that sprawled next to Leona Lake. Ramshackle buildings sat on crooked streets, and the heart of the city was surrounded by a dirty, pale yellow wall of daubed mud. Several miles east, a mountain of bare rock speared the sky with spires and columns, a tenebrous nightmare ship. Near-vertical sides rose out of the ground like a jagged piece of the earth’s bone. Brom pointed. “Thatis Helgrind. It’s the reason Dras-Leona was originally built. People are fascinated by it, even though it’s an unhealthy and malevolent thing.” He gestured at the buildings inside the city’s wall. “We should go to the center of the city first.” Page 149 As they crept along the road to Dras-Leona, Eragon saw that the highest building within the city was a cathedral that loomed behind the walls. It was strikingly similar to Helgrind, especially when its arches and flanged spires caught the light. “Who do they worship?” he asked. Brom grimaced in distaste. “Their prayers go to Helgrind. It’s a cruel religion they practice. They drink human blood and make flesh offerings. Their priests often lack body parts because they believe that the more bone and sinew you give up, the less you’re attached to the mortal world. They spend much of their time arguing about which of Helgrind’s three peaks is the highest and most important and whether the fourth—and lowest—should be included in their worship.” “That’s horrible,” said Eragon, shuddering. “Yes,” said Brom grimly, “but don’t say that to a believer. You’ll quickly lose a hand in ‘penance.’ ” At Dras-Leona’s enormous gates, they led the horses through the crush of people. Ten soldiers were stationed on either side of the gates, casually scanning the crowd. Eragon and Brom passed into the city without incident. The houses inside the city wall were tall and thin to compensate for the lack of space. Those next to the wall were braced against it. Most of the houses hung over the narrow, winding streets, covering the sky so that it was hard to tell if it was night or day. Nearly all the buildings were constructed of the same rough brown wood, which darkened the city even more. The air reeked like a sewer; the streets were filthy. A group of ragged children ran between the houses, fighting over scraps of bread. Deformed beggars crouched next to the entrance gates, pleading for money. Their cries for help were like a chorus of the damned.We don’t even treat animals like this, thought Eragon, eyes wide with anger. “I won’t stay here,” he said, rebelling against the sight. “It gets better farther in,” said Brom. “Right now we need to find an inn and form a strategy. Dras-Leona can be a dangerous place to even the most cautious. I don’t want to remain on the streets any longer than necessary.” They forged deeper into Dras-Leona, leaving the squalid entrance behind. As they entered wealthier parts of the city, Eragon wondered,How can these people live in ease when the suffering around them is so obvious? They found lodging at the Golden Globe, which was cheap but not decrepit. A narrow bed was crammed against one wall of the room, with a rickety table and a basin alongside it. Eragon took one look at the mattress and said, “I’m sleeping on the floor. There are probably enough bugs in that thing to eat me alive.” “Well, I wouldn’t want to deprive them of a meal,” said Brom, dropping his bags on the mattress. Eragon set his own on the floor and pulled off his bow. “What now?” he asked. “We find food and beer. After that, sleep. Tomorrow we can start looking for the Ra’zac.” Before they left the room, Brom warned, “No matter what happens, make sure that your tongue doesn’t loosen. We’ll have to leave immediately if we’re given away.” Page 150 The inn’s food was barely adequate, but its beer was excellent. By the time they stumbled back to the room, Eragon’s head was buzzing pleasantly. He unrolled his blankets on the floor and slid under them as Brom tumbled onto the bed. Just before Eragon fell asleep, he contacted Saphira:We’re going to be here for a few days, but this shouldn’t take as long as it did at Teirm. When we discover where the Ra’zac are, you might be able to help us get them. I’ll talk to you in the morning. Right now I’m not thinking too clearly. You’ve been drinking,came the accusing thought. Eragon considered it for a moment and had to agree that she was absolutely right. Her disapproval was clear, but all she said was,I won’t envy you in the morning. No,groaned Eragon,but Brom will. He drank twice as much as I did. TRAIL OFOIL What was I thinking?wondered Eragon in the morning. His head was pounding and his tongue felt thick and fuzzy. As a rat skittered under the floor, Eragon winced at the noise. How are we feeling?asked Saphira smugly. Eragon ignored her. A moment later, Brom rolled out of bed with a grumble. He doused his head in cold water from the basin, then left the room. Eragon followed him into the hallway. “Where are you going?” he asked. “To recover.” “I’ll come.” At the bar, Eragon discovered that Brom’s method of recovery involved imbibing copious amounts of hot tea and ice water and washing it all down with brandy. When they returned to the room, Eragon was able to function somewhat better. Brom belted on his sword and smoothed the wrinkles out of his robe. “The first thing we need to do is ask some discreet questions. I want to find out where the Seithr oil was delivered in Dras-Leona and where it was taken from there. Most likely, soldiers or workmen were involved in transporting it. We have to find those men and get one to talk.” They left the Golden Globe and searched for warehouses where the Seithr oil might have been delivered. Near the center of Dras-Leona, the streets began to slant upward toward a palace of polished granite. It was built on a rise so that it towered above every building except the cathedral. The courtyard was a mosaic of mother-of-pearl, and parts of the walls were inlaid with gold. Black statues stood in alcoves, with sticks of incense smoking in their cold hands. Soldiers stationed every four yards watched passersby keenly. “Who lives there?” asked Eragon in awe. “Marcus Tábor, ruler of this city. He answers only to the king and his own conscience, which hasn’t been very active recently,” said Brom. They walked around the palace, looking at the gated, ornate houses that surrounded it. Page 151 By midday they had learned nothing useful, so they stopped for lunch. “This city is too vast for us to comb it together,” said Brom. “Search on your own. Meet me at the Golden Globe by dusk.” He glowered at Eragon from under his bushy eyebrows. “I’m trusting you not to do anything stupid.” “I won’t,” promised Eragon. Brom handed him some coins, then strode away in the opposite direction. Throughout the rest of the day, Eragon talked with shopkeepers and workers, trying to be as pleasant and charming as he could. His questions led him from one end of the city to the other and back again. No one seemed to know about the oil. Wherever he went, the cathedral stared down at him. It was impossible to escape its tall spires. At last he found a man who had helped ship the Seithr oil and remembered to which warehouse it had been taken. Eragon excitedly went to look at the building, then returned to the Golden Globe. It was over an hour before Brom came back, slumped with fatigue. “Did you find anything?” asked Eragon. Brom brushed back his white hair. “I heard a great deal of interesting things today, not the least of which is that Galbatorix will visit Dras-Leona within the week.” “What?” exclaimed Eragon. Brom slouched against the wall, the lines on his forehead deepening. “It seems that Tábor has taken a few too many liberties with his power, so Galbatorix has decided to come teach him a lesson in humility. It’s the first time the king has left Urû’baen in over ten years.” “Do you think he knows of us?” asked Eragon. “Of course heknows of us, but I’m sure he hasn’t been told our location. If he had, we would already be in the Ra’zac’s grasp. However, this means that whatever we’re going to do about the Ra’zac must be accomplished before Galbatorix arrives. We don’t want to be anywhere within twenty leagues of him. The one thing in our favor is that the Ra’zac are sure to be here, preparing for his visit.” “I want to get the Ra’zac,” said Eragon, his fists tightening, “but not if it means fighting the king. He could probably tear me to pieces.” That seemed to amuse Brom. “Very good: caution. And you’re right; you wouldn’t stand a chance against Galbatorix. Now tell me what you learned today. It might confirm what I heard.” Eragon shrugged. “It was mostly drivel, but I did talk with a man who knew where the oil was taken. It’s just an old warehouse. Other than that, I didn’t discover anything useful.” “My day was a little more fruitful than yours. I heard the same thing you did, so I went to the warehouse and talked with the workers. It didn’t take much cajoling before they revealed that the cases of Seithr oil are always sent from the warehouse to the palace.” “And that’s when you came back here,” finished Eragon. “No, it’s not! Don’t interrupt. After that, I went to the palace and got myself invited into the servants’ quarters as a bard. For several hours I wandered about, amusing the maids and others with songs and poems—and asking questions all the while.” Brom slowly filled his pipe with tobacco. “It’s really amazing all the things servants find out. Did you know that one of the earls hasthree mistresses, and they all live in Page 152 the same wing of the palace?” He shook his head and lit the pipe. “Aside from the fascinating tidbits, I was told, quite by accident, where the oil is taken from the palace.” “And that is…?” asked Eragon impatiently. Brom puffed on his pipe and blew a smoke ring. “Out of the city, of course. Every full moon two slaves are sent to the base of Helgrind with a month’s worth of provisions. Whenever the Seithr oil arrives in Dras-Leona, they send it along with the provisions. The slaves are never seen again. And the one time someone followed them, he disappeared too.” “I thought the Riders demolished the slave trade,” said Eragon. “Unfortunately, it has flourished under the king’s reign.” “So the Ra’zac are in Helgrind,” said Eragon, thinking of the rock mountain. “There or somewhere nearby.” “If theyare in Helgrind, they’ll be either at the bottom—and protected by a thick stone door—or higher up where only their flying mounts, or Saphira, can reach. Top or bottom, their shelter will no doubt be disguised.” He thought for a moment. “If Saphira and I go flying around Helgrind, the Ra’zac are sure to see us—not to mention all of Dras-Leona.” “It is a problem,” agreed Brom. Eragon frowned. “What if we took the place of the two slaves? The full moon isn’t far off. It would give us a perfect opportunity to get close to the Ra’zac.” Brom tugged his beard thoughtfully. “That’s chancy at best. If the slaves are killed from a distance, we’ll be in trouble. We can’t harm the Ra’zac if they aren’t in sight.” “We don’t know if the slaves are killed at all,” Eragon pointed out. “I’m sure they are,” said Brom, his face grave. Then his eyes sparkled, and he blew another smoke ring. “Still, it’s an intriguing idea. If it were done with Saphira hidden nearby and a…” His voice trailed off. “It might work, but we’ll have to move quickly. With the king coming, there isn’t much time.” “Should we go to Helgrind and look around? It would be good to see the land in daylight so we won’t be surprised by any ambushes,” said Eragon. Brom fingered his staff. “That can be done later. Tomorrow I’ll return to the palace and figure out how we can replace the slaves. I have to be careful not to arouse suspicion, though—I could easily be revealed by spies and courtiers who know about the Ra’zac.” “I can’t believe it; we actually found them,” said Eragon quietly. An image of his dead uncle and burned farm flashed through his mind. His jaw tightened. “The toughest part is yet to come, but yes, we’ve done well,” said Brom. “If fortune smiles on us, you may soon have your revenge and the Varden will be rid of a dangerous enemy. What comes after that will be up to you.” Page 153 Eragon opened his mind and jubilantly told Saphira,We found the Ra’zac’s lair! Where?He quickly explained what they had discovered.Helgrind, she mused.A fitting place for them. Eragon agreed.When we’re done here, maybe we could visit Carvahall. What is it you want?she asked, suddenly sour.To go back to your previous life? You know that won’t happen, so stop mooning after it! At a certain point you have to decide what to commit to. Will you hide for the rest of your life, or will you help the Varden? Those are the only options left to you, unless you join forces with Galbatorix, which I do not and never will accept. Softly, he said, If I must choose, I cast my fate with the Varden, as you well know. Yes, but sometimes you have to hear yourself say it.She left him to ponder her words. WORSHIPERS OFHELGRIND Eragon was alone in the room when he woke. Scrawled onto the wall with a charcoal stick was a note that read: Eragon, I will be gone until late tonight. Coins for food are under the mattress. Explore the city, enjoy yourself, butstay unnoticed! Brom P.S. Avoid the palace. Don’t go anywhere without your bow! Keep it strung. Eragon wiped the wall clean, then retrieved the money from under the bed. He slipped the bow across his back, thinking,I wish I didn’t have to go armed all the time. He left the Golden Globe and ambled through the streets, stopping to observe whatever interested him. There were many intriguing stores, but none quite as exciting as Angela’s herb shop in Teirm. At times he glared at the dark, claustrophobic houses and wished that he were free of the city. When he grew hungry, he bought a wedge of cheese and a loaf of bread and ate them, sitting on a curb. Later, in a far corner of Dras-Leona, he heard an auctioneer rattling off a list of prices. Curious, he headed toward the voice and arrived at a wide opening between two buildings. Ten men stood on a waist-high platform. Arrayed before them was a richly dressed crowd that was both colorful and boisterous.Where are the goods for sale? wondered Eragon. Page 154 The auctioneer finished his list and motioned for a young man behind the platform to join him. The man awkwardly climbed up, chains dragging at his hands and feet. “And here we have our first item,” proclaimed the auctioneer. “A healthy male from the Hadarac Desert, captured just last month, and in excellent condition. Look at those arms and legs; he’s strong as a bull! He’d be perfect as a shield bearer, or, if you don’t trust him for that, hard labor. But let me tell you, lords and ladies, that would be a waste. He’s bright as a nail, if you can get him to talk a civilized tongue!” The crowd laughed, and Eragon ground his teeth with fury. His lips started to form a word that would free the slave, and his arm, newly liberated from the splint, rose. The mark on his palm shimmered. He was about to release the magic when it struck him,He’d never get away!The slave would be caught before he reached the city walls. Eragon would only make the situation worse if he tried to help. He lowered his arm and quietly cursed.Think! This is how you got into trouble with the Urgals. He watched helplessly as the slave was sold to a tall, hawk-nosed man. The next slave was a tiny girl, no more than six years old, wrenched from the arms of her crying mother. As the auctioneer started the bidding, Eragon forced himself to walk away, rigid with fury and outrage. It was several blocks before the weeping was inaudible.I’d like to see a thief try to cut my purse right now, he thought grimly, almost wishing it would happen. Frustrated, he punched a nearby wall, bruising his knuckles. That’s the sort of thing I could stop by fighting the Empire,he realized. With Saphira by my side I could free those slaves. I’ve been graced with special powers; it would be selfish of me not to use them for the benefit of others. If I don’t, I might as well not be a Rider at all. It was a while before he took stock of his bearings and was surprised to find himself before the cathedral. Its twisted spires were covered with statues and scrollwork. Snarling gargoyles crouched along the eaves. Fantastic beasts writhed on the walls, and heroes and kings marched along their bottom edges, frozen in cold marble. Ribbed arches and tall stained-glass windows lined the cathedral’s sides, along with columns of differing sizes. A lonely turret helmed the building like a mast. Recessed in shadow at the cathedral’s front was an iron-bound door inlaid with a row of silver script that Eragon recognized as the ancient language. As best he could tell, it read:May thee who enter here understand thine impermanence and forget thine attachments to that which is beloved. The entire building sent a shiver down Eragon’s spine. There was something menacing about it, as if it were a predator crouched in the city, waiting for its next victim. A broad row of steps led to the cathedral’s entrance. Eragon solemnly ascended them and stopped before the door.I wonder if I can go in? Almost guiltily he pushed on the door. It swung open smoothly, gliding on oiled hinges. He stepped inside. The silence of a forgotten tomb filled the empty cathedral. The air was chill and dry. Bare walls extended to a vaulted ceiling that was so high Eragon felt no taller than an ant. Stained-glass windows depicting scenes of anger, hate, and remorse pierced the walls, while spectral beams of light washed sections of the granite pews with transparent hues, leaving the rest in shadow. His hands were shaded a deep blue. Between the windows stood statues with rigid, pale eyes. He returned their stern gazes, then slowly trod up the center row, afraid to break the quiet. His leather boots padded noiselessly on the polished stone floor. Page 155 The altar was a great slab of stone devoid of adornment. A solitary finger of light fell upon it, illuminating motes of golden dust floating in the air. Behind the altar, the pipes of a wind organ pierced the ceiling and opened themselves to the elements. The instrument would play its music only when a gale rocked Dras-Leona. Out of respect, Eragon knelt before the altar and bowed his head. He did not pray but paid homage to the cathedral itself. The sorrows of the lives it had witnessed, as well as the unpleasantness of the elaborate pageantry that played out between its walls, emanated from the stones. It was a forbidding place, bare and cold. In that chilling touch, though, came a glimpse of eternity and perhaps the powers that lay there. Finally Eragon inclined his head and rose. Calm and grave, he whispered words to himself in the ancient language, then turned to leave. He froze. His heart jumped, hammering like a drum. The Ra’zac stood at the cathedral’s entrance, watching him. Their swords were drawn, keen edges bloody in a crimson light. A sibilant hiss came from the smaller Ra’zac. Neither of them moved. Rage welled up in Eragon. He had chased the Ra’zac for so many weeks that the pain of their murderous deed had dulled within him. But his vengeance was at hand. His wrath exploded like a volcano, fueled even more by his pent-up fury at the slaves’ plight. A roar broke from his lips, echoing like a thunderstorm as he snatched his bow from his back. Deftly, he fit an arrow to the string and loosed it. Two more followed an instant later. The Ra’zac leapt away from the arrows with inhuman swiftness. They hissed as they ran up the aisle between the pews, cloaks flapping like raven wings. Eragon reached for another arrow, but caution stayed his hand.If they knew where to find me, Brom is in danger as well! I must warn him! Then, to Eragon’s horror, a line of soldiers filed into the cathedral, and he glimpsed a field of uniforms jostling outside the doorway. Eragon gazed hungrily at the charging Ra’zac, then swept around, searching for means of escape. A vestibule to the left of the altar caught his attention. He bounded through the archway and dashed down a corridor that led to a priory with a belfry. The patter of the Ra’zac’s feet behind him made him quicken his pace until the hall abruptly ended with a closed door. He pounded against it, trying to break it open, but the wood was too strong. The Ra’zac were nearly upon him. Frantic, he sucked in his breath and barked, “Jierda!” With a flash, the door splintered into pieces and fell to the floor. Eragon jumped into the small room and continued running. He sped through several chambers, startling a group of priests. Shouts and curses followed him. The priory bell tolled an alarm. Eragon dodged through a kitchen, passed a pair of monks, then slipped through a side door. He skidded to stop in a garden surrounded by a high brick wall devoid of handholds. There were no other exits. Eragon turned to leave, but there was a low hiss as the Ra’zac shouldered aside the door. Desperate, he rushed at the wall, arms pumping. Magic could not help him here—if he used it to break through the wall, he would be too tired to run. He jumped. Even with his arms outstretched, only his fingertips cleared the edge of the wall. The rest of his body smashed against the bricks, driving out his breath. Eragon gasped and hung there, struggling not to fall. The Ra’zac prowled into the garden, swinging their heads from side to side like wolfhounds Page 156 sniffing for prey. Eragon sensed their approach and heaved with his arms. His shoulders shrieked with pain as he scrambled onto the wall and dropped to the other side. He stumbled, then regained his balance and darted down an alley just as the Ra’zac leapt over the wall. Galvanized, Eragon put on another burst of speed. He ran for over a mile before he had to stop and catch his breath. Unsure if he had lost the Ra’zac, he found a crowded marketplace and dived under a parked wagon.How did they find me? he wondered, panting.They shouldn’t have known where I was… unless something happened to Brom! He reached out with his mind to Saphira and said,The Ra’zac found me. We’re all in danger! Check if Brom’s all right. If he is, warn him and have him meet me at the inn. And be ready to fly here as fast as you can. We may need your help to escape. She was silent, then said curtly,He’ll meet you at the inn. Don’t stop moving; you’re in great danger. “Don’t I know it,” muttered Eragon as he rolled out from under the wagon. He hurried back to the Golden Globe, quickly packed their belongings, saddled the horses, then led them to the street. Brom soon arrived, staff in hand, scowling dangerously. He swung onto Snowfire and asked, “What happened?” “I was in the cathedral when the Ra’zac just appeared behind me,” said Eragon, climbing onto Cadoc. “I ran back as fast as possible, but they could be here at any second. Saphira will join us once we’re out of Dras-Leona.” “We have to get outside the city walls before they close the gates, if they haven’t already,” said Brom. “If they’re shut, it’ll be nigh impossible for us to leave. Whatever you do, don’t get separated from me.” Eragon stiffened as ranks of soldiers marched down one end of the street. Brom cursed, lashed Snowfire with his reins, and galloped away. Eragon bent low over Cadoc and followed. They nearly crashed several times during the wild, hazardous ride, plunging through masses of people that clogged the streets as they neared the city wall. When the gates finally came into view, Eragon pulled on Cadoc’s reins with dismay. The gates were already half closed, and a double line of pikemen blocked their way. “They’ll cut us to pieces!” he exclaimed. “We have to try and make it,” said Brom, his voice hard. “I’ll deal with the men, but you have to keep the gates open for us.” Eragon nodded, gritted his teeth, and dug his heels into Cadoc. They plowed toward the line of unwavering soldiers, who lowered their pikes toward the horses’ chests and braced the weapons against the ground. Though the horses snorted with fear, Eragon and Brom held them in place. Eragon heard the soldiers shout but kept his attention on the gates inching shut. As they neared the sharp pikes, Brom raised his hand and spoke. The words struck with precision; the soldiers fell to each side as if their legs had been cut out from under them. The gap between the gates shrank by the second. Hoping that the effort would not prove too much for him, Eragon drew on his power and shouted, “Du grind huildr!” A deep grating sound emanated from the gates as they trembled, then ground to a stop. The crowd and guards fell silent, staring with amazement. With a clatter of the horses’ hooves, Brom and Eragon shot out Page 157 from behind Dras-Leona’s wall. The instant they were free, Eragon released the gates. They shuddered, then boomed shut. He swayed with the expected fatigue but managed to keep riding. Brom watched him with concern. Their flight continued through the outskirts of Dras-Leona as alarm trumpets sounded on the city wall. Saphira was waiting for them by the edge of the city, hidden behind some trees. Her eyes burned; her tail whipped back and forth. “Go, ride her,” said Brom. “And this time stay in the air, no matter what happens to me. I’ll head south. Fly nearby; I don’t care if Saphira’s seen.” Eragon quickly mounted Saphira. As the ground dwindled away beneath him, he watched Brom gallop along the road. Are you all right?asked Saphira. Yes,said Eragon.But only because we were very lucky. A puff of smoke blew from her nostrils.All the time we’ve spent searching for the Ra’zac was useless. I know,he said, letting his head sag against her scales.If the Ra’zac had been the only enemies back there, I would have stayed and fought, but with all the soldiers on their side, it was hardly a fair match! You understand that there will be talk of us now? This was hardly an unobtrusive escape. Evading the Empire will be harder than ever.There was an edge to her voice that he was unaccustomed to. I know. They flew low and fast over the road. Leona Lake receded behind them; the land became dry and rocky and filled with tough, sharp bushes and tall cactuses. Clouds darkened the sky. Lightning flashed in the distance. As the wind began to howl, Saphira glided steeply down to Brom. He stopped the horses and asked, “What’s wrong?” “The wind’s too strong.” “It’s not that bad,” objected Brom. “It is up there,” said Eragon, pointing at the sky. Brom swore and handed him Cadoc’s reins. They trotted away with Saphira following on foot, though on the ground she had difficulty keeping up with the horses. The gale grew stronger, flinging dirt through the air and twisting like a dervish. They wrapped scarves around their heads to protect their eyes. Brom’s robe flapped in the wind while his beard whipped about as if it had a life of its own. Though it would make them miserable, Eragon hoped it would rain so their tracks would be obliterated. Soon darkness forced them to stop. With only the stars to guide them, they left the road and made camp behind two boulders. It was too dangerous to light a fire, so they ate cold food while Saphira sheltered them from the wind. After the sparse dinner, Eragon asked bluntly, “How did they find us?” Brom started to light his pipe, but thought better of it and put it away. “One of the palace servants warned me there were spies among them. Somehow word of me and my questions must have reached Page 158 Tábor… and through him, the Ra’zac.” “We can’t go back to Dras-Leona, can we?” asked Eragon. Brom shook his head. “Not for a few years.” Eragon held his head between his hands. “Then should we draw the Ra’zac out? If we let Saphira be seen, they’ll come running to wherever she is.” “And when they do, there will be fifty soldiers with them,” said Brom. “At any rate, this isn’t the time to discuss it. Right now we have to concentrate on staying alive. Tonight will be the most dangerous because the Ra’zac will be hunting us in the dark, when they are strongest. We’ll have to trade watches until morning.” “Right,” said Eragon, standing. He hesitated and squinted. His eyes had caught a flicker of movement, a small patch of color that stood out from the surrounding nightscape. He stepped toward the edge of their camp, trying to see it better. “What is it?” asked Brom as he unrolled his blankets. Eragon stared into the darkness, then turned back. “I don’t know. I thought I saw something. It must have been a bird.” Pain erupted in the back of his head, and Saphira roared. Then Eragon toppled to the ground, unconscious. THERA’ZAC’SREVENGE Adull throbbing roused Eragon. Every time blood pulsed through his head it brought a fresh wave of pain. He cracked his eyes open and winced; tears rushed to his eyes as he looked directly into a bright lantern. He blinked and looked away. When he tried to sit up, he realized that his hands were tied behind his back. He turned lethargically and saw Brom’s arms. Eragon was relieved to see that they were bound together. Why was that? He struggled to figure it out until the thought suddenly came to him,They wouldn’t tie up a dead man!But then who were “they”? He swiveled his head further, then stopped as a pair of black boots entered his vision. Eragon looked up, right into the cowled face of a Ra’zac. Fear jolted through him. He reached for the magic and started to voice a word that would kill the Ra’zac, but then halted, puzzled. He could not remember the word. Frustrated, he tried again, only to feel it slip out of his grasp. Above him the Ra’zac laughed chillingly. “The drug is working, yesss? I think you will not be bothering us again.” There was a rattle off to the left, and Eragon was appalled to see the second Ra’zac fit a muzzle over Saphira’s head. Her wings were pinioned to her sides by black chains; there were shackles on her legs. Eragon tried to contact her, but felt nothing. “She was most cooperative once we threatened to kill you,” hissed the Ra’zac. Squatting by the lantern, he rummaged through Eragon’s bags, examining and discarding various items until he removed Zar’roc. “What a pretty thing for one so… insignificant. Maybe I will keep it.” He leaned closer and sneered, “Or maybe, if you behave, our master will let you polish it.” His moist breath smelled like raw meat. Page 159 Then he turned the sword over in his hands and screeched as he saw the symbol on the scabbard. His companion rushed over. They stood over the sword, hissing and clicking. At last they faced Eragon. “You will serve our master very well, yesss.” Eragon forced his thick tongue to form words: “If I do, I will kill you.” They chuckled coldly. “Oh no, we are too valuable. But you… you aredisposable. ” A deep snarl came from Saphira; smoke roiled from her nostrils. The Ra’zac did not seem to care. Their attention was diverted when Brom groaned and rolled onto his side. One of the Ra’zac grabbed his shirt and thrust him effortlessly into the air. “It’sss wearing off.” “Give him more.” “Let’sss just kill him,” said the shorter Ra’zac. “He has caused us much grief.” The taller one ran his finger down his sword. “A good plan. But remember, the king’s instructions were to keep themalive. ” “We can sssay he was killed when we captured them.” “And what of thisss one?” the Ra’zac asked, pointing his sword at Eragon. “If he talksss?” His companion laughed and drew a wicked dagger. “He would not dare.” There was a long silence, then, “Agreed.” They dragged Brom to the center of the camp and shoved him to his knees. Brom sagged to one side. Eragon watched with growing fear.I have to get free! He wrenched at the ropes, but they were too strong to break. “None of that now,” said the tall Ra’zac, poking him with a sword. He nosed the air and sniffed; something seemed to trouble him. The other Ra’zac growled, yanked Brom’s head back, and swept the dagger toward his exposed throat. At that very moment a low buzz sounded, followed by the Ra’zac’s howl. An arrow protruded from his shoulder. The Ra’zac nearest Eragon dropped to the ground, barely avoiding a second arrow. He scuttled to his wounded companion, and they glared into the darkness, hissing angrily. They made no move to stop Brom as he blearily staggered upright. “Get down!” cried Eragon. Brom wavered, then tottered toward Eragon. As more arrows hissed into the camp from the unseen attackers, the Ra’zac rolled behind some boulders. There was a lull, then arrows came from the opposite direction. Caught by surprise, the Ra’zac reacted slowly. Their cloaks were pierced in several places, and a shattered arrow buried itself in one’s arm. With a wild cry, the smaller Ra’zac fled toward the road, kicking Eragon viciously in the side as he passed. His companion hesitated, then grabbed the dagger from the ground and raced after him. As he left the camp, he hurled the knife at Eragon. A strange light suddenly burned in Brom’s eyes. He threw himself in front of Eragon, his mouth open in a soundless snarl. The dagger struck him with a soft thump, and he landed heavily on his shoulder. His head lolled limply. Page 160 “No!” screamed Eragon, though he was doubled over in pain. He heard footsteps, then his eyes closed and he knew no more. MURTAGH For a long while, Eragon was aware only of the burning in his side. Each breath was painful. It felt as though he had been the one stabbed, not Brom. His sense of time was skewed; it was hard to tell if weeks had gone by, or only a few minutes. When consciousness finally came to him, he opened his eyes and peered curiously at a campfire several feet away. His hands were still tied together, but the drug must have worn off because he could think clearly again.Saphira, are you injured? No, but you and Brom are.She was crouched over Eragon, wings spread protectively on either side. Saphira, you didn’t make that fire, did you? And you couldn’t have gotten out of those chains by yourself. No. I didn’t think so.Eragon struggled to his knees and saw a young man sitting on the far side of the fire. The stranger, dressed in battered clothes, exuded a calm, assured air. In his hands was a bow, at his side a long hand-and-a-half sword. A white horn bound with silver fittings lay in his lap, and the hilt of a dagger protruded from his boot. His serious face and fierce eyes were framed by locks of brown hair. He appeared to be a few years older than Eragon and perhaps an inch or so taller. Behind him a gray war-horse was picketed. The stranger watched Saphira warily. “Who are you?” asked Eragon, taking a shallow breath. The man’s hands tightened on his bow. “Murtagh.” His voice was low and controlled, but curiously emotional. Eragon pulled his hands underneath his legs so they were in front of him. He clenched his teeth as his side flared with pain. “Why did you help us?” “You aren’t the only enemies the Ra’zac have. I was tracking them.” “You know who they are?” “Yes.” Eragon concentrated on the ropes that bound his wrists and reached for the magic. He hesitated, aware of Murtagh’s eyes on him, then decided it didn’t matter. “Jierda!” he grunted. The ropes snapped off his wrists. He rubbed his hands to get the blood flowing. Murtagh sucked in his breath. Eragon braced himself and tried to stand, but his ribs seared with agony. He fell back, gasping between clenched teeth. Murtagh tried to come to his aid, but Saphira stopped him with a growl. “I would have helped you earlier, but your dragon wouldn’t let me near you.” “Her name’s Saphira,” said Eragon tightly.Now let him by! I can’t do this alone. Besides, he saved our lives. Saphira growled again, but folded her wings and backed away. Murtagh eyed her flatly as he Page 161 stepped forward. He grasped Eragon’s arm, gently pulling him to his feet. Eragon yelped and would have fallen without support. They went to the fire, where Brom lay on his back. “How is he?” asked Eragon. “Bad,” said Murtagh, lowering him to the ground. “The knife went right between his ribs. You can look at him in a minute, but first we’d better see how much damage the Ra’zac did to you.” He helped Eragon remove his shirt, then whistled. “Ouch!” “Ouch,” agreed Eragon weakly. A blotchy bruise extended down his left side. The red, swollen skin was broken in several places. Murtagh put a hand on the bruise and pressed lightly. Eragon yelled, and Saphira growled a warning. Murtagh glanced at Saphira as he grabbed a blanket. “I think you have some broken ribs. It’s hard to tell, but at least two, maybe more. You’re lucky you’re not coughing up blood.” He tore the blanket into strips and bound Eragon’s chest. Eragon slipped the shirt back on. “Yes… I’m lucky.” He took a shallow breath, sidled over to Brom, and saw that Murtagh had cut open the side of his robe to bandage the wound. With trembling fingers, he undid the bandage. “I wouldn’t do that,” warned Murtagh. “He’ll bleed to death without it.” Eragon ignored him and pulled the cloth away from Brom’s side. The wound was short and thin, belying its depth. Blood streamed out of it. As he had learned when Garrow was injured, a wound inflicted by the Ra’zac was slow to heal. He peeled off his gloves while furiously searching his mind for the healing words Brom had taught him. Help me, Saphira, he implored.I am too weak to do this alone. Saphira crouched next to him, fixing her eyes on Brom.I am here, Eragon. As her mind joined his, new strength infused his body. Eragon drew upon their combined power and focused it on the words. His hand trembled as he held it over the wound. “Waíse heill!” he said. His palm glowed, and Brom’s skin flowed together, as if it had never been broken. Murtagh watched the entire process. It was over quickly. As the light vanished, Eragon sat, feeling sick.We’ve never done that before, he said. Saphira nodded.Together we can cast spells that are beyond either of us. Murtagh examined Brom’s side and asked, “Is he completely healed?” “I can only mend what is on the surface. I don’t know enough to fix whatever’s damaged inside. It’s up to him now. I’ve done all I can.” Eragon closed his eyes for a moment, utterly weary. “My… my head seems to be floating in clouds.” “You probably need to eat,” said Murtagh. “I’ll make soup.” While Murtagh fixed the meal, Eragon wondered who this stranger was. His sword and bow were of the finest make, as was his horn. Either he was a thief or accustomed to money—and lots of it.Why was he hunting the Ra’zac? What have they done to make him an enemy? I wonder if he works for the Varden? Page 162 Murtagh handed him a bowl of broth. Eragon spooned it down and asked, “How long has it been since the Ra’zac fled?” “A few hours.” “We have to go before they return with reinforcements.” “You might be able to travel,” said Murtagh, then gestured at Brom, “but he can’t. You don’t get up and ride away after being stabbed between the ribs.” If we make a litter, can you carry Brom with your claws like you did with Garrow?Eragon asked Saphira. Yes, but landing will be awkward. As long as it can be done.Eragon said to Murtagh, “Saphira can carry him, but we need a litter. Can you make one? I don’t have the strength.” “Wait here.” Murtagh left the camp, sword drawn. Eragon hobbled to his bags and picked up his bow from where it had been thrown by the Ra’zac. He strung it, found his quiver, then retrieved Zar’roc, which lay hidden in shadow. Last, he got a blanket for the litter. Murtagh returned with two saplings. He laid them parallel on the ground, then lashed the blanket between the poles. After he carefully tied Brom to the makeshift litter, Saphira grasped the saplings and laboriously took flight. “I never thought I would see a sight like that,” Murtagh said, an odd note in his voice. As Saphira disappeared into the dark sky, Eragon limped to Cadoc and hoisted himself painfully into the saddle. “Thanks for helping us. You should leave now. Ride as far away from us as you can. You’ll be in danger if the Empire finds you with us. We can’t protect you, and I wouldn’t see harm come to you on our account.” “A pretty speech,” said Murtagh, grinding out the fire, “but where will you go? Is there a place nearby that you can rest in safety?” “No,” admitted Eragon. Murtagh’s eyes glinted as he fingered the hilt of his sword. “In that case, I think I’ll accompany you until you’re out of danger. I’ve no better place to be. Besides, if I stay with you, I might get another shot at the Ra’zac sooner than if I were on my own. Interesting things are bound to happen around a Rider.” Eragon wavered, unsure if he should accept help from a complete stranger. Yet he was unpleasantly aware that he was too weak to force the issue either way.If Murtagh proves untrustworthy, Saphira can always chase him away. “Join us if you wish.” He shrugged. Murtagh nodded and mounted his gray war-horse. Eragon grabbed Snowfire’s reins and rode away from the camp, into the wilderness. An oxbow moon provided wan light, but he knew that it would only make it easier for the Ra’zac to track them. Though Eragon wanted to question Murtagh further, he kept silent, conserving his energy for riding. Page 163 Near dawn Saphira said,I must stop. My wings are tired and Brom needs attention. I discovered a good place to stay, about two miles ahead of where you are. They found her sitting at the base of a broad sandstone formation that curved out of the ground like a great hill. Its sides were pocked with caves of varying sizes. Similar domes were scattered across the land. Saphira looked pleased with herself.I found a cave that can’t be seen from the ground. It’s large enough for all of us, including the horses. Follow me. She turned and climbed up the sandstone, her sharp claws digging into the rock. The horses had difficulty, as their shod hooves could not grip the sandstone. Eragon and Murtagh had to pull and shove the animals for almost an hour before they managed to reach the cave. The cavern was a good hundred feet long and more than twenty feet wide, yet it had a small opening that would protect them from bad weather and prying eyes. Darkness swallowed the far end, clinging to the walls like mats of soft black wool. “Impressive,” said Murtagh. “I’ll gather wood for a fire.” Eragon hurried to Brom. Saphira had set him on a small rock ledge at the rear of the cave. Eragon clasped Brom’s limp hand and anxiously watched his craggy face. After a few minutes, he sighed and went to the fire Murtagh had built. They ate quietly, then tried to give Brom water, but the old man would not drink. Stymied, they spread out their bedrolls and slept. LEGACY OF ARIDER Wake up, Eragon.He stirred and groaned. I need your help. Something is wrong!Eragon tried to ignore the voice and return to sleep. Arise! Go away,he grumbled. Eragon!A bellow rang in the cave. He bolted upright, fumbling for his bow. Saphira was crouched over Brom, who had rolled off the ledge and was thrashing on the cave floor. His face was contorted in a grimace; his fists were clenched. Eragon rushed over, fearing the worst. “Help me hold him down. He’s going to hurt himself!” he cried to Murtagh, clasping Brom’s arms. His side burned sharply as the old man spasmed. Together they restrained Brom until his convulsions ceased. Then they carefully returned him to the ledge. Eragon touched Brom’s forehead. The skin was so hot that the heat could be felt an inch away. “Get me water and a cloth,” he said worriedly. Murtagh brought them, and Eragon gently bathed Brom’s face, trying to cool him down. With the cave quiet again, he noticed the sun shining outside.How long did we sleep? he asked Saphira. A good while. I’ve been watching Brom for most of that time. He was fine until a minute ago when he started thrashing. I woke you once he fell to the floor. He stretched, wincing as his ribs twinged painfully. A hand suddenly gripped his shoulder. Brom’s eyes snapped opened and fixed a glassy stare on Eragon. “You!” he gasped. “Bring me the wineskin!” Page 164 “Brom?” exclaimed Eragon, pleased to hear him talk. “You shouldn’t drink wine; it’ll only make you worse.” “Bring it, boy—just bring it…,” sighed Brom. His hand slipped off Eragon’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back—hold on.” Eragon dashed to the saddlebags and rummaged through them frantically. “I can’t find it!” he cried, looking around desperately. “Here, take mine,” said Murtagh, holding out a leather skin. Eragon grabbed it and returned to Brom. “I have the wine,” he said, kneeling. Murtagh retreated to the cave’s mouth so they could have privacy. Brom’s next words were faint and indistinct. “Good…” He moved his arm weakly. “Now… wash my right hand with it.” “What—” Eragon started to ask. “No questions! I haven’t time.” Mystified, Eragon unstoppered the wineskin and poured the liquid onto Brom’s palm. He rubbed it into the old man’s skin, spreading it around the fingers and over the back of the hand. “More,” croaked Brom. Eragon splashed wine onto his hand again. He scrubbed vigorously as a brown dye floated off Brom’s palm, then stopped, his mouth agape with amazement. There on Brom’s palm was the gedwëy ignasia. “You’re a Rider?” he asked incredulously. A painful smile flickered on Brom’s face. “Once upon a time that was true… but no more. When I was young… younger than you are now, I was chosen… chosen by the Riders to join their ranks. While they trained me, I became friends with another apprentice… Morzan, before he was a Forsworn.” Eragon gasped—that had been over a hundred years ago. “But then he betrayed us to Galbatorix… and in the fighting at Dorú Areaba—Vroengard’s city—my young dragon was killed. Her name… was Saphira.” “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” asked Eragon softly. Brom laughed. “Because… there was no need to.” He stopped. His breathing was labored; his hands were clenched. “I am old, Eragon… so old. Though my dragon was killed, my life has been longer than most. You don’t know what it is to reach my age, look back, and realize that you don’t remember much of it; then to look forward and know that many years still lie ahead of you… After all this time I still grieve for my Saphira… and hate Galbatorix for what he tore from me.” His feverish eyes drilled into Eragon as he said fiercely, “Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t! Guard Saphira with your life, for without her it’s hardly worth living.” “You shouldn’t talk like this. Nothing’s going to happen to her,” said Eragon, worried. Brom turned his head to the side. “Perhaps I am rambling.” His gaze passed blindly over Murtagh, then he focused on Eragon. Brom’s voice grew stronger. “Eragon! I cannot last much longer. This… this is a grievous wound; it saps my strength. I have not the energy to fight it… Before I go, will you take my blessing?” “Everything will be all right,” said Eragon, tears in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this.” Page 165 “It is the way of things… I must. Will you take my blessing?” Eragon bowed his head and nodded, overcome. Brom placed a trembling hand on his brow. “Then I give it to you. May the coming years bring you great happiness.” He motioned for Eragon to bend closer. Very quietly, he whispered seven words from the ancient language, then even more softly told him what they meant. “That is all I can give you… Use them only in great need.” Brom blindly turned his eyes to the ceiling. “And now,” he murmured, “for the greatest adventure of all…” Weeping, Eragon held his hand, comforting him as best he could. His vigil was unwavering and steadfast, unbroken by food or drink. As the long hours passed, a gray pallor crept over Brom, and his eyes slowly dimmed. His hands grew icy; the air around him took on an evil humor. Powerless to help, Eragon could only watch as the Ra’zac’s wound took its toll. The evening hours were young and the shadows long when Brom suddenly stiffened. Eragon called his name and cried for Murtagh’s help, but they could do nothing. As a barren silence dampened the air, Brom locked his eyes with Eragon’s. Then contentment spread across the old man’s face, and a whisper of breath escaped his lips. And so it was that Brom the storyteller died. With shaking fingers, Eragon closed Brom’s eyes and stood. Saphira raised her head behind him and roared mournfully at the sky, keening her lamentation. Tears rolled down Eragon’s cheeks as a sense of horrible loss bled through him. Haltingly, he said, “We have to bury him.” “We might be seen,” warned Murtagh. “I don’t care!” Murtagh hesitated, then bore Brom’s body out of the cave, along with his sword and staff. Saphira followed them. “To the top,” Eragon said thickly, indicating the crown of the sandstone hill. “We can’t dig a grave out of stone,” objected Murtagh. “I can do it.” Eragon climbed onto the smooth hilltop, struggling because of his ribs. There, Murtagh lay Brom on the stone. Eragon wiped his eyes and fixed his gaze on the sandstone. Gesturing with his hand, he said, “Moi stenr!” The stone rippled. It flowed like water, forming a body-length depression in the hilltop. Molding the sandstone like wet clay, he raised waist-high walls around it. They laid Brom inside the unfinished sandstone vault with his staff and sword. Stepping back, Eragon again shaped the stone with magic. It joined over Brom’s motionless face and flowed upward into a tall faceted spire. As a final tribute, Eragon set runes into the stone: HERELIESBROM Page 166 Who was a Dragon Rider And like a father To me. May his name live on in glory. Then he bowed his head and mourned freely. He stood like a living statue until evening, when light faded from the land. That night he dreamed of the imprisoned woman again. He could tell that something was wrong with her. Her breathing was irregular, and she shook—whether from cold or pain, he did not know. In the semidarkness of the cell, the only thing clearly illuminated was her hand, which hung over the edge of the cot. A dark liquid dripped from the tips of her fingers. Eragon knew it was blood. DIAMONDTOMB When Eragon woke, his eyes were gritty, his body stiff. The cave was empty except for the horses. The litter was gone; no sign of Brom remained. He walked to the entrance and sat on the pitted sandstone.So the witch Angela was correct—there was a death in my future, he thought, staring bleakly at the land. The topaz sun brought a desert heat to the early morning. A tear slid down his listless face and evaporated in the sunlight, leaving a salty crust on his skin. He closed his eyes and absorbed the warmth, emptying his mind. With a fingernail, he aimlessly scratched the sandstone. When he looked, he saw that he had writtenWhy me? He was still there when Murtagh climbed up to the cave, carrying a pair of rabbits. Without a word he seated himself by Eragon. “How are you?” he asked. “Very ill.” Murtagh considered him thoughtfully. “Will you recover?” Eragon shrugged. After a few minutes of reflection, Murtagh said, “I dislike asking this at such a time, but I must know… Is your Bromthe Brom? The one who helped steal a dragon egg from the king, chased it across the Empire, and killed Morzan in a duel? I heard you say his name, and I read the inscription you put on his grave, but I must know for certain, Was that he?” “It was,” said Eragon softly. A troubled expression settled on Murtagh’s face. “How do you know all that? You talk about things that are secret to most, and you were trailing the Ra’zac right when we needed help. Are you one of the Varden?” Murtagh’s eyes became inscrutable orbs. “I’m running away, like you.” There was restrained sorrow in his words. “I do not belong to either the Varden or the Empire. Nor do I owe allegiance to any man but myself. As for my rescuing you, I will admit that I’ve heard whispered tales of a new Rider and reasoned that by following the Ra’zac I might discover if they were true.” Page 167 “I thought you wanted to kill the Ra’zac,” said Eragon. Murtagh smiled grimly. “I do, but if I had, I never would have met you.” But Brom would still be alive… I wish he were here. He would know whether to trust Murtagh.Eragon remembered how Brom had sensed Trevor’s intentions in Daret and wondered if he could do the same with Murtagh. He reached for Murtagh’s consciousness, but his probe abruptly ran into an iron-hard wall, which he tried to circumvent. Murtagh’s entire mind was fortified.How did he learn to do that? Brom said that few people, if any, could keep others out of their mind without training. So who is Murtagh to have this ability? Pensive and lonely, Eragon asked, “Where is Saphira?” “I don’t know,” said Murtagh. “She followed me for a time when I went hunting, then flew off on her own. I haven’t seen her since before noon.” Eragon rocked onto his feet and returned to the cave. Murtagh followed. “What are you going to do now?” “I’m not sure.”And I don’t want to think about it either. He rolled up his blankets and tied them to Cadoc’s saddlebags. His ribs hurt. Murtagh went to prepare the rabbits. As Eragon shifted things in his bags, he uncovered Zar’roc. The red sheath glinted brightly. He took out the sword… weighed it in his hands. He had never carried Zar’roc nor used it in combat—except when he and Brom had sparred—because he had not wanted people to see it. That concerned Eragon no more. The Ra’zac had seemed surprised and frightened by the sword; that was more than enough reason for him to wear it. With a shudder he pulled off his bow and belted on Zar’roc.From this moment on, I’ll live by the sword. Let the whole world see what I am. I have no fear. I am a Rider now, fully and completely. He sorted through Brom’s bags but found only clothes, a few odd items, and a small pouch of coins. Eragon took the map of Alagaësia and put the bags away, then crouched by the fire. Murtagh’s eyes narrowed as he looked up from the rabbit he was skinning. “That sword. May I see it?” he asked, wiping his hands. Eragon hesitated, reluctant to relinquish the weapon for even a moment, then nodded. Murtagh examined the symbol on the blade intently. His face darkened. “Where did you get this?” “Brom gave it to me. Why?” Murtagh shoved the sword back and crossed his arms angrily. He was breathing hard. “That sword,” he said with emotion, “was once as well known as its owner. The last Rider to carry it was Morzan—a brutal, savage man. I thought you were a foe of the Empire, yet here I find you bearing one of the Forsworn’s bloody swords!” Eragon stared at Zar’roc with shock. He realized that Brom must have taken it from Morzan after they fought in Gil’ead. “Brom never told me where it came from,” he said truthfully. “I had no idea it was Morzan’s.” “He never told you?” asked Murtagh, a note of disbelief in his voice. Eragon shook his head. “That’s strange. I can think of no reason for him to have concealed it.” “Neither can I. But then, he kept many secrets,” said Eragon. It felt unsettling to hold the sword of the man who had betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix.This blade probably killed many Riders in its time, he thought with revulsion.And worse, dragons! “Even so, I’m going to carry it. I don’t have a sword of my Page 168 own. Until such time as I get one, I’ll use Zar’roc.” Murtagh flinched as Eragon said the name. “It’s your choice,” he said. He returned to skinning, keeping his gaze focused downward. When the meal was ready, Eragon ate slowly, though he was quite hungry. The hot food made him feel better. As they scraped out their bowls, he said, “I have to sell my horse.” “Why not Brom’s?” asked Murtagh. He seemed to have gotten over his bad temper. “Snowfire? Because Brom promised to take care of him. Since he… isn’t around, I’ll do it for him.” Murtagh set his bowl on his lap. “If that’s what you want, I’m sure we can find a buyer in some town or village.” “We?” asked Eragon. Murtagh looked at him sideways in a calculating way. “You won’t want to stay here for much longer. If the Ra’zac are nearby, Brom’s tomb will be like a beacon for them.” Eragon had not thought of that. “And your ribs are going to take time to heal. I know you can defend yourself with magic, but you need a companion who can lift things and use a sword. I’m asking to travel with you, at least for the time being. But I must warn you, the Empire is searching for me. There’ll be blood over it eventually.” Eragon laughed weakly and found himself crying because it hurt so much. Once his breath was back, he said, “I don’t care if the entire army is searching for you. You’re right. I do need help. I would be glad to have you along, though I have to talk to Saphira about it. But I have to warnyou, Galbatorix justmight send the entire army after me. You won’t be any safer with Saphira and me than if you were on your own.” “I know that,” said Murtagh with a quick grin. “But all the same, it won’t stop me.” “Good.” Eragon smiled with gratitude. While they spoke, Saphira crawled into the cave and greeted Eragon. She was glad to see him, but there was deep sadness in her thoughts and words. She laid her big blue head on the floor and asked,Are you well again? Not quite. I miss the old one. As do I… I never suspected that he was a Rider. Brom! He really was an old man—as old as the Forsworn. Everything he taught me about magic he must have learned from the Riders themselves. Saphira shifted slightly.I knew what he was the moment he touched me at your farm. And you didn’t tell me? Why? He asked me not to, she said simply. Eragon decided not to make an issue of it. Saphira never meant to hurt him. Brom kept more than that Page 169 secret,he told her, then explained about Zar’roc and Murtagh’s reaction to it.I understand now why Brom didn’t explain Zar’roc’s origins when he gave it to me. If he had, I probably would have run away from him at the first opportunity. You would do well to rid yourself of that sword,she said with distaste.I know it’s a peerless weapon, but you would be better off with a normal blade rather than Morzan’s butchery tool. Perhaps. Saphira, where does our path go from here? Murtagh offered to come with us. I don’t know his past, but he seems honest enough. Should we go to the Varden now? Only I don’t know how to find them. Brom never told us. He told me,said Saphira. Eragon grew angry.Why did he trust you, but not me, with all this knowledge? Her scales rustled over the dry rock as she stood above him, eyes profound.After we left Teirm and were attacked by the Urgals, he told me many things, some of which I will not speak of unless necessary. He was concerned about his own death and what would happen to you after it. One fact he imparted to me was the name of a man, Dormnad, who lives in Gil’ead. He can help us find the Varden. Brom also wanted you to know that of all the people in Alagaësia, he believed you were the best suited to inherit the Riders’ legacy. Tears welled in Eragon’s eyes. This was the highest praise he could have ever received from Brom.A responsibility I will bear honorably. Good. We will go to Gil’ead, then,stated Eragon, strength and purpose returning to him.And what of Murtagh? Do you think he should come with us? We owe him our lives,said Saphira.But even if that weren’t so, he has seen both you and me. We should keep him close so he doesn’t furnish the Empire with our location and descriptions, willingly or not. He agreed with her, then told Saphira about his dream.What I saw disturbed me. I feel that time is running out for her; something dreadful is going to happen soon. She’s in mortal danger—I’m sure of it—but I don’t know how to find her! She could be anywhere. What does your heart say?asked Saphira. My heart died a while back,said Eragon with a hint of black humor.However, I think we should go north to Gil’ead. With any luck, one of the towns or cities along our path is where this woman is being held. I’m afraid that my next dream of her will show a grave. I couldn’t stand that. Why? I’m not sure,he said, shrugging.It’s just that when I see her, I feel as if she’s precious and shouldn’t be lost… It’s very strange. Saphira opened her long mouth and laughed silently, fangs gleaming.What is it? snapped Eragon. She shook her head and quietly padded away. Eragon grumbled to himself, then told Murtagh what they had decided. Murtagh said, “If you find this Dormnad and then continue on to the Varden, I will leave you. Encountering the Varden would be as Page 170 dangerous for me as walking unarmed into Urû’baen with a fanfare of trumpets to announce my arrival.” “We won’t have to part anytime soon,” said Eragon. “It’s a long way to Gil’ead.” His voice cracked slightly, and he squinted at the sun to distract himself. “We should leave before the day grows any older.” “Are you strong enough to travel?” asked Murtagh, frowning. “I have to do something or I’ll go crazy,” said Eragon brusquely. “Sparring, practicing magic, or sitting around twiddling my thumbs aren’t good options right now, so I choose to ride.” They doused the fire, packed, and led the horses out of the cave. Eragon handed Cadoc’s and Snowfire’s reins to Murtagh, saying, “Go on, I’ll be right down.” Murtagh began the slow descent from the cave. Eragon struggled up the sandstone, resting when his side made it impossible to breathe. When he reached the top, he found Saphira already there. They stood together before Brom’s grave and paid their last respects.I can’t believe he’s gone… forever. As Eragon turned to depart, Saphira snaked out her long neck to touch the tomb with the tip of her nose. Her sides vibrated as a low humming filled the air. The sandstone around her nose shimmered like gilded dew, turning clear with dancing silver highlights. Eragon watched in wonder as tendrils of white diamond twisted over the tomb’s surface in a web of priceless filigree. Sparkling shadows were cast on the ground, reflecting splashes of brilliant colors that shifted dazzlingly as the sandstone continued to change. With a satisfied snort, Saphira stepped back and examined her handiwork. The sculpted sandstone mausoleum of moments before had transformed into a sparkling gemstone vault—under which Brom’s untouched face was visible. Eragon gazed with yearning at the old man, who seemed to be only sleeping. “What did you do?” he asked Saphira with awe. I gave him the only gift I could. Now time will not ravage him. He can rest in peace for eternity. Thank you.Eragon put a hand on her side, and they left together. CAPTURE ATGIL’EAD Riding was extremely painful for Eragon—his broken ribs prevented them from going faster than a walk, and it was impossible for him to breathe deeply without a burst of agony. Nevertheless, he refused to stop. Saphira flew close by, her mind linked with his for solace and strength. Murtagh rode confidently beside Cadoc, flowing smoothly with his horse’s movements. Eragon watched the gray animal for a while. “You have a beautiful horse. What’s his name?” “Tornac, after the man who taught me how to fight.” Murtagh patted the horse’s side. “He was given to me when he was just a foal. You’d be hard pressed to find a more courageous and intelligent animal in all of Alagaësia, Saphira excepted, of course.” “He is a magnificent beast,” said Eragon admiringly. Murtagh laughed. “Yes, but Snowfire is as close to his match as I’ve ever seen.” They covered only a short distance that day, yet Eragon was glad to be on the move again. It kept his Page 171 mind off other, more morbid matters. They were riding through unsettled land. The road to Dras-Leona was several leagues to their left. They would skirt the city by a wide margin on the way to Gil’ead, which was almost as far to the north as Carvahall. They sold Cadoc in a small village. As the horse was led away by his new owner, Eragon regretfully pocketed the few coins he had gained from the transaction. It was difficult to relinquish Cadoc after crossing half of Alagaësia—and outracing Urgals—on him. The days rolled by unnoticed as their small group traveled in isolation. Eragon was pleased to find that he and Murtagh shared many of the same interests; they spent hours debating the finer points of archery and hunting. There was one subject, however, they avoided discussing by unspoken consent: their pasts. Eragon did not explain how he had found Saphira, met Brom, or where he came from. Murtagh was likewise mute as to why the Empire was chasing him. It was a simple arrangement, but it worked. Yet because of their proximity, it was inevitable that they learned about each other. Eragon was intrigued by Murtagh’s familiarity with the power struggles and politics within the Empire. He seemed to know what every noble and courtier was doing and how it affected everyone else. Eragon listened carefully, suspicions whirling through his mind. The first week went by without any sign of the Ra’zac, which allayed some of Eragon’s fears. Even so, they still kept watches at night. Eragon had expected to encounter Urgals on the way to Gil’ead, but they found no trace of them.I thought these remote places would be teeming with monsters, he mused.Still, I’m not one to complain if they’ve gone elsewhere. He dreamed of the woman no more. And though he tried to scry her, he saw only an empty cell. Whenever they passed a town or city, he checked to see if it had a jail. If it did, he would disguise himself and visit it, but she was not to be found. His disguises became increasingly elaborate as he saw notices featuring his name and description—and offering a substantial reward for his capture—posted in various towns. Their travels north forced them toward the capital, Urû’baen. It was a heavily populated area, which made it difficult to escape notice. Soldiers patrolled the roads and guarded the bridges. It took them several tense, irritable days to skirt the capital. Once they were safely past Urû’baen, they found themselves on the edge of a vast plain. It was the same one that Eragon had crossed after leaving Palancar Valley, except now he was on the opposite side. They kept to the perimeter of the plain and continued north, following the Ramr River. Eragon’s sixteenth birthday came and went during this time. At Carvahall a celebration would have been held for his entrance into manhood, but in the wilderness he did not even mention it to Murtagh. At nearly six months of age, Saphira was much larger. Her wings were massive; every inch of them was needed to lift her muscular body and thick bones. The fangs that jutted from her jaw were nearly as thick around as Eragon’s fist, their points as sharp as Zar’roc. Page 172 The day finally came when Eragon unwrapped his side for the last time. His ribs had healed completely, leaving him with only a small scar where the Ra’zac’s boot had cut his side. As Saphira watched, he stretched slowly, then with increasing vigor when there was no pain. He flexed his muscles, pleased. In an earlier time he would have smiled, but after Brom’s death, such expressions did not come easily. He tugged his tunic on and walked back to the small fire they had made. Murtagh sat next to it, whittling a piece of wood. Eragon drew Zar’roc. Murtagh tensed, though his face remained calm. “Now that I am strong enough, would you like to spar?” asked Eragon. Murtagh tossed the wood to the side. “With sharpened swords? We could kill each other.” “Here, give me your sword,” said Eragon. Murtagh hesitated, then handed over his long hand-and-a-half sword. Eragon blocked the edges with magic, the way Brom had taught him. While Murtagh examined the blade, Eragon said, “I can undo that once we’re finished.” Murtagh checked the balance of his sword. Satisfied, he said, “It will do.” Eragon safed Zar’roc, settled into a crouch, then swung at Murtagh’s shoulder. Their swords met in midair. Eragon disengaged with a flourish, thrust, and then riposted as Murtagh parried, dancing away. He’s fast!thought Eragon. They struggled back and forth, trying to batter each other down. After a particularly intense series of blows, Murtagh started laughing. Not only was it impossible for either of them to gain an advantage, but they were so evenly matched that they tired at the same rate. Acknowledging with grins each other’s skill, they fought on until their arms were leaden and sweat poured off their sides. Finally Eragon called, “Enough, halt!” Murtagh stopped in mid-blow and sat down with a gasp. Eragon staggered to the ground, his chest heaving. None of his fights with Brom had been this fierce. As he gulped air, Murtagh exclaimed, “You’re amazing! I’ve studied swordplay all my life, but never have I fought one like you. You could be the king’s weapon master if you wanted to.” “You’re just as good,” observed Eragon, still panting. “The man who taught you, Tornac, could make a fortune with a fencing school. People would come from all parts of Alagaësia to learn from him.” “He’s dead,” said Murtagh shortly. “I’m sorry.” Thus it became their custom to fight in the evening, which kept them lean and fit, like a pair of matched blades. With his return to health, Eragon also resumed practicing magic. Murtagh was curious about it and soon revealed that he knew a surprising amount about how it worked, though he lacked the precise details and could not use it himself. Whenever Eragon practiced speaking in the ancient language, Murtagh would listen quietly, occasionally asking what a word meant. On the outskirts of Gil’ead they stopped the horses side by side. It had taken them nearly a month to reach it, during which time spring had finally nudged away the remnants of winter. Eragon had felt himself changing during the trip, growing stronger and calmer. He still thought about Brom and spoke about him with Saphira, but for the most part he tried not to awaken painful memories. Page 173 From a distance they could see the city was a rough, barbaric place, filled with log houses and yapping dogs. There was a rambling stone fortress at its center. The air was hazy with blue smoke. The place seemed more like a temporary trading post than a permanent city. Five miles beyond it was the hazy outline of Isenstar Lake. They decided to camp two miles from the city, for safety. While their dinner simmered, Murtagh said, “I’m not sure you should be the one to go into Gil’ead.” “Why? I can disguise myself well enough,” said Eragon. “And Dormnad will want to see the gedwëy ignasia as proof that I really am a Rider.” “Perhaps,” said Murtagh, “but the Empire wants you much more than me. If I’m captured, I could eventually escape. But ifyou are taken, they’ll drag you to the king, where you’ll be in for a slow death by torture—unless you join him. Plus, Gil’ead is one of the army’s major staging points. Those aren’t houses out there; they’re barracks. Going in there would be like handing yourself to the king on a gilded platter.” Eragon asked Saphira for her opinion. She wrapped her tail around his legs and lay next to him.You shouldn’t have to ask me; he speaks sense. There are certain words I can give him that will convince Dormnad of his truthfulness. And Murtagh’s right; if anyone is to risk capture it should be him, because he would live through it. He grimaced.I don’t like letting him put himself in danger for us. “All right, you can go,” he said reluctantly. “But if anything goes wrong, I’m coming after you.” Murtagh laughed. “That would be fit for a legend: how a lone Rider took on the king’s army single-handedly.” He chuckled again and stood. “Is there anything I should know before going?” “Shouldn’t we rest and wait until tomorrow?” asked Eragon cautiously. “Why? The longer we stay here, the greater the chance that we’ll be discovered. If this Dormnad can take you to the Varden, then he needs to be found as quickly as possible. Neither of us should remain near Gil’ead longer than a few days.” Again wisdom flies from his mouth,commented Saphira dryly. She told Eragon what should be said to Dormnad, and he relayed the information to Murtagh. “Very well,” said Murtagh, adjusting his sword. “Unless there’s trouble, I’ll be back within a couple of hours. Make sure there’s some food left for me.” With a wave of his hand, he jumped onto Tornac and rode away. Eragon sat by the fire, tapping Zar’roc’s pommel apprehensively. Hours passed, but Murtagh did not return. Eragon paced around the fire, Zar’roc in hand, while Saphira watched Gil’ead attentively. Only her eyes moved. Neither of them voiced their worries, though Eragon unobtrusively prepared to leave—in case a detachment of soldiers left the city and headed toward their camp. Look,snapped Saphira. Eragon swiveled toward Gil’ead, alert. He saw a distant horseman exit the city and ride furiously toward their camp.I don’t like this, he said as he climbed onto Saphira.Be ready to fly. Page 174 I’m prepared for more than that. As the rider approached, Eragon recognized Murtagh bent low over Tornac. No one seemed to be pursuing him, but he did not slow his reckless pace. He galloped into the camp and jumped to the ground, drawing his sword. “What’s wrong?” asked Eragon. Murtagh scowled. “Did anyone follow me from Gil’ead?” “We didn’t see anyone.” “Good. Then let me eat before I explain. I’m starving.” He seized a bowl and began eating with gusto. After a few sloppy bites, he said through a full mouth, “Dormnad has agreed to meet us outside Gil’ead at sunrise tomorrow. If he’s satisfied you really are a Rider and that it’s not a trap, he’ll take you to the Varden.” “Where are we supposed to meet him?” asked Eragon. Murtagh pointed west. “On a small hill across the road.” “So what happened?” Murtagh spooned more food into his bowl. “It’s a rather simple thing, but all the more deadly because of it: I was seen in the street by someone who knows me. I did the only thing I could and ran away. It was too late, though; he recognized me.” It was unfortunate, but Eragon was unsure how bad it really was. “Since I don’t know your friend, I have to ask: Will he tell anyone?” Murtagh gave a strained laugh. “If youhad met him, that wouldn’t need answering. His mouth is loosely hinged and hangs open all the time, vomiting whatever happens to be in his mind. The question isn’t whether he will tell people, butwhom he will tell. If word of this reaches the wrong ears, we’ll be in trouble.” “I doubt that soldiers will be sent to search for you in the dark,” Eragon pointed out. “We can at least count on being safe until morning, and by then, if all goes well, we’ll be leaving with Dormnad.” Murtagh shook his head. “No, only you will accompany him. As I said before, I won’t go to the Varden.” Eragon stared at him unhappily. He wanted Murtagh to stay. They had become friends during their travels, and he was loath to tear that apart. He started to protest, but Saphira hushed him and said gently, Wait until tomorrow. Now is not the time. Very well,he said glumly. They talked until the stars were bright in the sky, then slept as Saphira took the first watch. Eragon woke two hours before dawn, his palm tingling. Everything was still and quiet, but something sought his attention, like an itch in his mind. He buckled on Zar’roc and stood, careful not to make a sound. Saphira looked at him curiously, her large eyes bright.What is it? she asked. I don’t know,said Eragon. He saw nothing amiss. Page 175 Saphira sniffed the air curiously. She hissed a little and lifted her head. I smell horses nearby, but they’re not moving. They reek with an unfamiliar stench. Eragon crept to Murtagh and shook his shoulder. Murtagh woke with a start, yanked a dagger from under his blankets, then looked at Eragon quizzically. Eragon motioned for him to be silent, whispering, “There are horses close by.” Murtagh wordlessly drew his sword. They quietly stationed themselves on either side of Saphira, prepared for an attack. As they waited, the morning star rose in the east. A squirrel chattered. Then an angry snarl from behind made Eragon spin around, sword held high. A broad Urgal stood at the edge of the camp, carrying a mattock with a nasty spike.Where did he come from? We haven’t seen their tracks anywhere! thought Eragon. The Urgal roared and waved his weapon, but did not charge. “Brisingr!” barked Eragon, stabbing out with magic. The Urgal’s face contorted with terror as he exploded in a flash of blue light. Blood splattered Eragon, and a brown mass flew through the air. Behind him, Saphira bugled with alarm and reared. Eragon twisted around. While he had been occupied with the first Urgal, a group of them had run up from the side.Of all the stupid tricks to fall for! Steel clashed loudly as Murtagh attacked the Urgals. Eragon tried to join him but was blocked by four of the monsters. The first one swung a sword at his shoulder. He ducked the blow and killed the Urgal with magic. He caught a second one in the throat with Zar’roc, wheeled wildly, and slashed a third through the heart. As he did, the fourth Urgal rushed at him, swinging a heavy club. Eragon saw him coming and tried to lift his sword to block the club, but was a second too slow. As the club came down on his head, he screamed, “Fly, Saphira!” A burst of light filled his eyes and he lost consciousness. DUSÚNDAVARFREOHR The first things Eragon noticed were that he was warm and dry, his cheek was pressed against rough fabric, and his hands were unbound. He stirred, but it was minutes before he was able to push himself upright and examine his surroundings. He was sitting in a cell on a narrow, bumpy cot. A barred window was set high in the wall. The iron-bound door with a small window in its top half, barred like the one in the wall, was shut securely. Dried blood cracked on Eragon’s face when he moved. It took him a moment to remember that it was not his. His head hurt horribly—which was to be expected, considering the blow he had taken—and his mind was strangely fuzzy. He tried to use magic, but could not concentrate well enough to remember any of the ancient words.They must have drugged me, he finally decided. With a groan he got up, missing the familiar weight of Zar’roc on his hip, and lurched to the window in the wall. He managed to see out of it by standing on his toes. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the bright light outside. The window was level with the ground. A street full of busy people ran past the side of his cell, beyond which were rows of identical log houses. Feeling weak, Eragon slid to the floor and stared at it blankly. What he had seen outside disturbed him, but he was unsure why. Cursing his sluggish thinking, he leaned back his head and tried to clear his mind. A man entered the room and set a tray of food and a pitcher of water on the cot.Wasn’t that nice of him? Page 176 thought Eragon, smiling pleasantly. He took a couple of bites of the thin cabbage soup and stale bread, but was barely able to stomach it.I wish he had brought me something better, he complained, dropping the spoon. He suddenly realized what was wrong.I was captured by Urgals, not men! How did I end up here? His befuddled brain grappled with the paradox unsuccessfully. With a mental shrug he filed the discovery away for a time when he would know what to do with it. He sat on the cot and gazed into the distance. Hours later more food was brought in.And I was just getting hungry, he thought thickly. This time he was able to eat without feeling sick. When he finished, he decided it was time for a nap. After all, he was on a bed; what else was he going to do? His mind drifted off; sleep began to envelop him. Then a gate clanged open somewhere, and the din of steel-shod boots marching on a stone floor filled the air. The noise grew louder and louder until it sounded like someone banging a pot inside Eragon’s head. He grumbled to himself.Can’t they let me rest in peace? Fuzzy curiosity slowly overcame his exhaustion, so he dragged himself to the door, blinking like an owl. Through the window he saw a wide hallway nearly ten yards across. The opposing wall was lined with cells similar to his own. A column of soldiers marched through the hall, their swords drawn and ready. Every man was dressed in matching armor; their faces bore the same hard expression, and their feet came down on the floor with mechanical precision, never missing a beat. The sound was hypnotic. It was an impressive display of force. Eragon watched the soldiers until he grew bored. Just then he noticed a break in the middle of the column. Carried between two burly men was an unconscious woman. Her long midnight-black hair obscured her face, despite a leather strip bound around her head to hold the tresses back. She was dressed in dark leather pants and shirt. Wrapped around her slim waist was a shiny belt, from which hung an empty sheath on her right hip. Knee-high boots covered her calves and small feet. Her head lolled to the side. Eragon gasped, feeling like he had been struck in the stomach. She was the woman from his dreams. Her sculpted face was as perfect as a painting. Her round chin, high cheekbones, and long eyelashes gave her an exotic look. The only mar in her beauty was a scrape along her jaw; nevertheless, she was the fairest woman he had ever seen. Eragon’s blood burned as he looked at her. Something awoke in him—something he had never felt before. It was like an obsession, except stronger, almost a fevered madness. Then the woman’s hair shifted, revealing pointed ears. A chill crept over him. She was an elf. The soldiers continued marching, taking her from his sight. Next strode a tall, proud man, a sable cape billowing behind him. His face was deathly white; his hair was red. Red like blood. As he walked by Eragon’s cell, the man turned his head and looked squarely at him with maroon eyes. His upper lip pulled back in a feral smile, revealing teeth filed to points. Eragon shrank back. He knew what the man was.A Shade. So help me… a Shade. The procession continued, and the Shade vanished from view. Eragon sank to the floor, hugging himself. Even in his bewildered state, he knew that the presence of a Shade meant that evil was loose in the land. Whenever they appeared, rivers of blood were sure to Page 177 follow.What is a Shade doing here? The soldiers should have killed him on sight! Then his thoughts returned to the elf-woman, and he was grasped by strange emotions again. I have to escape.But with his mind clouded, his determination quickly faded. He returned to the cot. By the time the hallway fell silent, he was fast asleep. As soon as Eragon opened his eyes, he knew something was different. It was easier for him to think; he realized that he was in Gil’ead.They made a mistake; the drug’s wearing off! Hopeful, he tried to contact Saphira and use magic, but both activities were still beyond his reach. A pit of worry twisted inside him as he wondered if she and Murtagh had managed to escape. He stretched his arms and looked out the window. The city was just awakening; the street was empty except for two beggars. He reached for the water pitcher, ruminating about the elf and Shade. As he started to drink, he noticed that the water had a faint odor, as if it contained a few drops of rancid perfume. Grimacing, he set the pitcher down.The drug must be in there and maybe in the food as well! He remembered that when the Ra’zac had drugged him, it had taken hours to wear off.If I can keep from drinking and eating for long enough, I should be able to use magic. Then I can rescue the elf… The thought made him smile. He sat in a corner, dreaming about how it could be done. The portly jailer entered the cell an hour later with a tray of food. Eragon waited until he departed, then carried the tray to the window. The meal was composed only of bread, cheese, and an onion, but the smell made his stomach grumble hungrily. Resigning himself to a miserable day, he shoved the food out the window and onto the street, hoping that no one would notice. Eragon devoted himself to overcoming the drug’s effects. He had difficulty concentrating for any length of time, but as the day progressed, his mental acuity increased. He began to remember several of the ancient words, though nothing happened when he uttered them. He wanted to scream with frustration. When lunch was delivered, he pushed it out the window after his breakfast. His hunger was distracting, but it was the lack of water that taxed him most. The back of his throat was parched. Thoughts of drinking cool water tortured him as each breath dried his mouth and throat a bit more. Even so, he forced himself to ignore the pitcher. He was diverted from his discomfort by a commotion in the hall. A man argued in a loud voice, “You can’t go in there! The orders were clear: no one is to see him!” “Really? Will you be the one to die stopping me, Captain?” cut in a smooth voice. There was a subdued, “No… but the king—” “Iwill handle the king,” interrupted the second person. “Now, unlock the door.” After a pause, keys jangled outside Eragon’s cell. He tried to adopt a languorous expression.I have to act like I don’t understand what’s going on. I can’t show surprise, no matter what this person says. The door opened. His breath caught as he looked into the Shade’s face. It was like gazing at a death mask or a polished skull with skin pulled over it to give the appearance of life. “Greetings,” said the Shade with a cold smile, showing his filed teeth. “I’ve waited a long time to meet you.” Page 178 “Who—who’re you?” asked Eragon, slurring his words. “No one of consequence,” answered the Shade, his maroon eyes alight with controlled menace. He sat with a flourish of his cloak. “My name does not matter to one in your position. It wouldn’t mean a thing to you anyway. It’s you that I’m interested in. Who are you?” The question was posed innocently enough, but Eragon knew there had to be a catch or trap in it, though it eluded him. He pretended to struggle over the question for a while, then slowly said, frowning, “I’m not sure… M’name’s Eragon, but that’s not all I am, is it?” The Shade’s narrow lips stretched tautly over his mouth as he laughed sharply. “No, it isn’t. You have an interesting mind, my young Rider.” He leaned forward. The skin on his forehead was thin and translucent. “It seems I must be more direct. What is your name?” “Era—” “No! Not that one.” The Shade cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Don’t you have another one, one that you use only rarely?” He wants my true name so he can control me!realized Eragon.But I can’t tell him. I don’t even know it myself. He thought quickly, trying to invent a deception that would conceal his ignorance.What if I made up a name? He hesitated—it could easily give him away—then raced to create a name that would withstand scrutiny. As he was about to utter it, he decided to take a chance and try to scare the Shade. He deftly switched a few letters, then nodded foolishly and said, “Brom told it to me once. It was…” The pause stretched for a few seconds, then his face brightened as he appeared to remember. “It was Du Súndavar Freohr.” Which meant almost literally “death of the shadows.” A grim chill settled over the cell as the Shade sat motionless, eyes veiled. He seemed to be deep in thought, pondering what he had learned. Eragon wondered if he had dared too much. He waited until the Shade stirred before asking ingenuously, “Why are you here?” The Shade looked at him with contempt in his red eyes and smiled. “To gloat, of course. What use is a victory if one cannot enjoy it?” There was confidence in his voice, but he seemed uneasy, as if his plans had been disrupted. He stood suddenly. “I must attend to certain matters, but while I am gone you would do well to think on who you would rather serve: a Rider who betrayed your own order or a fellow man like me, though one skilled in arcane arts. When the time comes to choose, there will be no middle ground.” He turned to leave, then glanced at Eragon’s water pitcher and stopped, his face granite hard. “Captain!” he snapped. A broad-shouldered man rushed into the cell, sword in hand. “What is it, my lord?” he asked, alarmed. “Put that toy away,” instructed the Shade. He turned to Eragon and said in a deadly quiet voice, “The boy hasn’t been drinking his water. Why is that?” “I talked with the jailer earlier. Every bowl and plate was scraped clean.” “Very well,” said the Shade, mollified. “But make sure that he starts drinking again.” He leaned toward the captain and murmured into his ear. Eragon caught the last few words, “ …extra dose, just in case.” The captain nodded. The Shade returned his attention to Eragon. “We will talk again tomorrow when I am not so pressed for time. You should know, I have an endless fascination for names. I will greatly enjoy discussing yours inmuch greater detail.” Page 179 The way he said it gave Eragon a sinking feeling. Once they left, he lay on the cot and closed his eyes. Brom’s lessons proved their worth now; he relied on them to keep himself from panicking and to reassure himself.Everything has been provided for me; I only have to take advantage of it. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching soldiers. Apprehensive, he went to the door and saw two soldiers dragging the elf down the hallway. When he could see her no more, Eragon slumped to the floor and tried to touch the magic again. Oaths flew from his lips when it eluded his grasp. He looked out at the city and ground his teeth. It was only midafternoon. Taking a calming breath, he tried to wait patiently. FIGHTINGSHADOWS It was dark in Eragon’s cell when he sat up with a start, electrified. The wrinkle had shifted! He had felt the magic at the edge of his consciousness for hours, but every time he tried to use it, nothing happened. Eyes bright with nervous energy, he clenched his hands and said, “Nagz reisa!” With a flap, the cot’s blanket flew into the air and crumpled into a ball the size of his fist. It landed on the floor with a soft thump. Exhilarated, Eragon stood. He was weak from his enforced fast, but his excitement overcame his hunger. Now for the real test. He reached out with his mind and felt the lock on the door. Instead of trying to break or cut it, he simply pushed its internal mechanism into the unlocked position. With a click, the door creaked inward. When he had first used magic to kill the Urgals in Yazuac, it had consumed nearly all of his strength, but he had grown much stronger since then. What once would have exhausted him now only tired him slightly. He cautiously stepped into the hall.I have to find Zar’roc and the elf. She must be in one of these cells, but there isn’t time to look in them all. As for Zar’roc, the Shade might have it with him. He realized that his thinking was still muddled.Why am I out here? I could escape right now if I went back into the cell and opened the window with magic. But then I wouldn’t be able to rescue the elf… Saphira, where are you? I need your help. He silently berated himself for not contacting her sooner. That should have been the first thing he did after getting his power back. Her reply came with surprising alacrity.Eragon! I’m over Gil’ead. Don’t do anything. Murtagh is on the way. What are—Footsteps interrupted him. He spun around, crouching as a squad of six soldiers marched into the hall. They halted abruptly, eyes flicking between Eragon and the open cell door. Blood drained from their faces.Good, they know who I am. Maybe I can scare them off so we won’t have to fight. “Charge!” yelled one of the soldiers, running forward. The rest of the men drew their blades and pounded down the hall. It was madness to fight six men when he was unarmed and weak, but the thought of the elf kept him in place. He could not force himself to abandon her. Uncertain if the effort would leave him standing, he pulled on his power and raised his hand, the gedwëy ignasia glowing. Fear showed in the soldiers’ eyes, Page 180 but they were hardened warriors and did not slow. As Eragon opened his mouth to pronounce the fatal words, there was a low buzz, a flicker of motion. One of the men crashed to the floor with an arrow in his back. Two more were struck before anyone understood what was happening. At the end of the hall, where the soldiers had entered, stood a ragged, bearded man with a bow. A crutch lay on the floor by his feet, apparently unneeded, for he stood tall and straight. The three remaining soldiers turned to face this new threat. Eragon took advantage of the confusion. “Thrysta!” he shouted. One of the men clutched his chest and fell. Eragon staggered as the magic took its toll. Another soldier fell, pierced through the neck with an arrow. “Don’t kill him!” called Eragon, seeing his rescuer take aim at the last soldier. The bearded man lowered his bow. Eragon concentrated on the soldier before him. The man was breathing hard; the whites of his eyes showed. He seemed to understand that his life was being spared. “You’ve seen what I can do,” said Eragon harshly. “If you don’t answer my questions, the rest of your life will be spent in utter misery and torment. Now where’s my sword—its sheath and blade are red—and what cell is the elf in?” The man clamped his mouth shut. Eragon’s palm glowed ominously as he reached for the magic. “That was the wrong answer,” he snapped. “Do you know how much pain a grain of sand can cause you when it’s embedded red hot in your stomach? Especially when it doesn’t cool off for the next twenty years and slowly burns its way down to your toes! By the time it gets out of you, you’ll be an old man.” He paused for effect. “Unless you tell me what I want.” The soldier’s eyes bulged, but he remained silent. Eragon scraped some dirt off the stone floor and observed dispassionately, “This is a bit more than a piece of sand, but be comforted; it’ll burn through you faster. Still, it’ll leave a bigger hole.” At his word, the dirt shone cherry red, though it did not burn his hand. “All right, just don’t put that in me!” yelped the soldier. “The elf’s in the last cell to the left! I don’t know about your sword, but it’s probably in the guardroom upstairs. All the weapons are there.” Eragon nodded, then murmured, “Slytha.” The soldier’s eyes rolled up in his head, and he collapsed limply. “Did you kill him?” Eragon looked at the stranger, who was now only a few paces away. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see past the beard. “Murtagh! Is that you?” he exclaimed. “Yes,” said Murtagh, briefly lifting the beard from his shaven face. “I don’t want my face seen. Did you kill him?” “No, he’s only asleep. How did you get in?” “There’s no time to explain. We have to get up to the next floor before anyone finds us. There’ll be an escape route for us in a few minutes. We don’t want to miss it.” Page 181 “Didn’t you hear what I said?” asked Eragon, gesturing at the unconscious soldier. “There’s an elf in the prison. I saw her! We have to rescue her. I need your help.” “An elf…!” Murtagh hurried down the hall, growling, “This is a mistake. We should flee while we have the chance.” He stopped before the cell the soldier had indicated and produced a ring of keys from under his ragged cloak. “I took it from one of the guards,” he explained. Eragon motioned for the keys. Murtagh shrugged and handed them to him. Eragon found the right one and swung the door open. A single beam of moonlight slanted through the window, illuminating the elf’s face with cool silver. She faced him, tense and coiled, ready for whatever would happen next. She held her head high, with a queen’s demeanor. Her eyes, dark green, almost black, and slightly angled like a cat’s, lifted to Eragon’s. Chills shot through him. Their gaze held for a moment, then the elf trembled and collapsed soundlessly. Eragon barely caught her before she struck the floor. She was surprisingly light. The aroma of freshly crushed pine needles surrounded her. Murtagh entered the cell. “She’s beautiful!” “But hurt.” “We can tend to her later. Are you strong enough to carry her?” Eragon shook his head. “Then I’ll do it,” said Murtagh as he slung the elf across his shoulders. “Now, upstairs!” He handed Eragon a dagger, then hurried back into the hall littered with soldiers’ bodies. With heavy footsteps Murtagh led Eragon to a stone-hewn staircase at the end of the hall. As they climbed it, Eragon asked, “How are we going to get out without being noticed?” “We’re not,” grunted Murtagh. That did not allay Eragon’s fears. He listened anxiously for soldiers or anyone else who might be nearby, dreading what might happen if they met the Shade. At the head of the stairs was a banquet room filled with broad wooden tables. Shields lined the walls, and the wood ceiling was trussed with curved beams. Murtagh laid the elf on a table and looked at the ceiling worriedly. “Can you talk to Saphira for me?” “Yes.” “Tell her to wait another five minutes.” There were shouts in the distance. Soldiers marched past the entrance to the banquet room. Eragon’s mouth tightened with pent-up tension. “Whatever you’re planning to do, I don’t think we have much time.” “Just tell her, and stay out of sight,” snapped Murtagh, running off. As Eragon relayed the message, he was alarmed to hear men coming up the stairs. Fighting hunger and exhaustion, he dragged the elf off the table and hid her underneath it. He crouched next to her, holding his breath, tightly clenching the dagger. Page 182 Ten soldiers entered the room. They swept through it hurriedly, looking under only a couple of tables, and continued on their way. Eragon leaned against a table leg, sighing. The respite made him suddenly aware of his burning stomach and parched throat. A tankard and a plate of half-eaten food on the other side of the room caught his attention. Eragon dashed from his hiding place, grabbed the food, then scurried back to the table. There was amber beer in the tankard, which he drank in two great gulps. Relief seeped through him as the cool liquid ran down his throat, soothing the irritated tissue. He suppressed a belch before ravenously tearing into a hunk of bread. Murtagh returned carrying Zar’roc, a strange bow, and an elegant sword without a sheath. Murtagh gave Zar’roc to Eragon. “I found the other sword and bow in the guardroom. I’ve never seen weapons like them before, so I assumed they were the elf’s.” “Let’s find out,” said Eragon through a mouthful of bread. The sword—slim and light with a curved crossguard, the ends of which narrowed into sharp points—fit the elf’s sheath perfectly. There was no way to tell if the bow was hers, but it was shaped so gracefully he doubted it could be anyone else’s. “What now?” he asked, cramming another bite of food into his mouth. “We can’t stay here forever. Sooner or later the soldiers will find us.” “Now,” said Murtagh, taking out his own bow and fitting an arrow to the string, “we wait. Like I said, our escape has been arranged.” “You don’t understand; there’s a Shade here! If he finds us, we’re doomed.” “A Shade!” exclaimed Murtagh. “In that case, tell Saphira to come immediately. We were going to wait until the watch changed, but delaying even that long is too dangerous now.” Eragon relayed the message succinctly, refraining from distracting Saphira with questions. “You messed up my plans by escaping yourself,” groused Murtagh, watching the room’s entrances for soldiers. Eragon smiled. “In that case, perhaps I should have waited.Your timing was perfect, though. I wouldn’t have been able to even crawl if I had been forced to fight all those soldiers with magic.” “Glad to be of some use,” remarked Murtagh. He stiffened as they heard men running nearby. “Let’s just hope the Shade doesn’t find us.” A cold chuckle filled the banquet room. “I’m afraid it’s far too late for that.” Murtagh and Eragon spun around. The Shade stood alone at the end of the room. In his hand was a pale sword with a thin scratch on the blade. He unclasped the brooch that held his cape in place and let the garment fall to the floor. His body was like a runner’s, thin and compact, but Eragon remembered Brom’s warning and knew that the Shade’s appearance was deceiving; he was many times stronger than a normal human. “So, my youngRider, do you wish to test yourself against me?” sneered the Shade. “I shouldn’t have trusted the captain when he said you ate all your food. I will not make that mistake again.” “I’ll take care of him,” said Murtagh quietly, putting down his bow and drawing his sword. “No,” said Eragon under his breath. “He wants me alive, not you. I can stall him for a short while, but then you’d better have a way out for us.” Page 183 “Fine, go,” said Murtagh. “You won’t have to hold him off for long.” “I hope not,” said Eragon grimly. He drew Zar’roc and slowly advanced. The red blade glinted with light from torches on the wall. The Shade’s maroon eyes burned like coals. He laughed softly. “Do you really think to defeat me, Du Súndavar Freohr? What a pitiful name. I would have expected something more subtle from you, but I suppose that’s all you’re capable of.” Eragon refused to let himself be goaded. He stared at the Shade’s face, waiting for a flicker of his eyes or twitch of his lip, anything that would betray his next move.I can’t use magic for fear of provoking him to do the same. He has to think that he can win without resorting to it—which he probably can. Before either of them moved, the ceiling boomed and shook. Dust billowed from it and turned the air gray while pieces of wood fell around them, shattering on the floor. From the roof came screams and the sound of clashing metal. Afraid of being brained by the falling timber, Eragon flicked his eyes upward. The Shade took advantage of his distraction and attacked. Eragon barely managed to get Zar’roc up in time to block a slash at his ribs. Their blades met with a clang that jarred his teeth and numbed his arm.Hellfire! He’s strong! He grasped Zar’roc with both hands and swung with all of his might at the Shade’s head. The Shade blocked him with ease, whipping his sword through the air faster than Eragon had thought possible. Terrible screeches sounded above them, like iron spikes being drawn across rock. Three long cracks split the ceiling. Shingles from the slate roof fell through the fissures. Eragon ignored them, even when one smashed into the floor next to him. Though he had trained with a master of the blade, Brom, and with Murtagh, who was also a deadly swordsman, he had never been this outclassed. The Shade wasplaying with him. Eragon retreated toward Murtagh, arms trembling as he parried the Shade’s blows. Each one seemed more powerful than the last. Eragon was no longer strong enough to call upon magic for help even if he had wanted to. Then, with a contemptuous flick of his wrist, the Shade knocked Zar’roc out of Eragon’s hand. The force of the blow sent him to his knees, where he stayed, panting. The screeching was louder than ever. Whatever was happening, it was getting closer. The Shade stared down at him haughtily. “A powerful piece you may be in the game that is being played, but I’m disappointed that this is your best. If the other Riders were this weak, they must have controlled the Empire only through sheer numbers.” Eragon looked up and shook his head. He had figured out Murtagh’s plan.Saphira, now would be a good time. “No, you forget something.” “And what might that be?” asked the Shade mockingly. There was a thunderous reverberation as a chunk of the ceiling was torn away to reveal the night sky. “The dragons!” roared Eragon over the noise, and threw himself out of the Shade’s reach. The Shade snarled in rage, swinging his sword viciously. He missed and lunged. Surprise spread across his face as one of Murtagh’s arrows sprouted from his shoulder. The Shade laughed and snapped the arrow off with two fingers. “You’ll have to do better than that if you Page 184 want to stop me.” The next arrow caught him between the eyes. The Shade howled with agony and writhed, covering his face. His skin turned gray. Mist formed in the air around him, obscuring his figure. There was a shattering cry; then the cloud vanished. Where the Shade had been, nothing was left but his cape and a pile of clothes. “You killed him!” exclaimed Eragon. He knew of only two heroes of legend who had survived slaying a Shade. “I’m not so sure,” said Murtagh. A man shouted, “That’s it. He failed. Go in and get them!” Soldiers with nets and spears poured into the banquet room from both ends. Eragon and Murtagh backed up against the wall, dragging the elf with them. The men formed a menacing half-circle around them. Then Saphira stuck her head through the hole in the ceiling and roared. She gripped the edge of the opening with her powerful talons and ripped off another large section of the ceiling. Three soldiers turned and ran, but the rest held their positions. With a resounding report, the center beam of the ceiling cracked and rained down heavy shingles. Confusion scattered the ranks as they tried to dodge the deadly barrage. Eragon and Murtagh pressed against the wall to avoid the falling debris. Saphira roared again, and the soldiers fled, some getting crushed on the way. With a final titanic effort, Saphira tore off the rest of the ceiling before jumping into the banquet hall with her wings folded. Her weight splintered a table with a sharp crunch. Crying out with relief, Eragon threw his arms around her. She hummed contentedly.I’ve missed you, little one. Same here. There’s someone else with us. Can you carry three? Of course,she said, kicking shingles and tables out of the way so she could take off. Murtagh and Eragon pulled the elf out of hiding. Saphira hissed in surprise as she saw her.An elf! Yes, and the woman I saw in my dreams,said Eragon, picking up Zar’roc. He helped Murtagh secure the elf into the saddle, then they both climbed onto Saphira.I heard fighting on the roof. Are there men up there? There were, but no more. Are you ready? Yes. Saphira leapt out of the banquet hall and onto the fortress’s roof, where the bodies of watchmen lay scattered. “Look!” said Murtagh, pointing. A row of archers filed out of a tower on the other side of the roofless hall. “Saphira, you have to take off. Now!” warned Eragon. She unfurled her wings, ran toward the edge of the building, and propelled them over it with her powerful legs. The extra weight on her back made her drop alarmingly. As she struggled to gain altitude, Eragon heard the musical twang of bowstrings being released. Arrows whizzed toward them in the dark. Saphira roared with pain as she was struck and quickly rolled to the left to avoid the next volley. More arrows perforated the sky, but the night protected them from the shafts’ deadly bite. Distressed, Eragon bent over Saphira’s neck.Where are you hurt? Page 185 My wings are pierced… one of the arrows didn’t go all the way through. It’s still there.Her breathing was labored and heavy. How far can you take us? Far enough.Eragon clutched the elf tightly as they skimmed over Gil’ead, then left the city behind and veered eastward, soaring upward through the night. AWARRIOR AND AHEALER Saphira drifted down to a clearing, landed on the crest of a hill, and rested her outstretched wings on the ground. Eragon could feel her shaking beneath him. They were only a half-league from Gil’ead. Picketed in the clearing were Snowfire and Tornac, who snorted nervously at Saphira’s arrival. Eragon slid to the ground and immediately turned to Saphira’s injuries, while Murtagh readied the horses. Unable to see well in the darkness, Eragon ran his hands blindly over Saphira’s wings. He found three places where arrows had punctured the thin membrane, leaving bloody holes as thick around as his thumb. A small piece had also been torn out of the back edge of her left wing. She shivered when his fingers brushed the injuries. He tiredly healed the wounds with words from the ancient language. Then he went to the arrow that was embedded in one of the large muscles of her flying arm. The arrowhead poked through its underside. Warm blood dripped off it. Eragon called Murtagh over and instructed, “Hold her wing down. I have to remove this arrow.” He indicated where Murtagh should grip.This will be painful, he warned Saphira,but it’ll be over quickly. Try not to struggle—you’ll hurt us. She extended her neck and grabbed a tall sapling between her curved teeth. With a yank of her head, she pulled the tree out of the ground and clamped it firmly in her jaws.I’m ready. Okay,said Eragon. “Hold on,” he whispered to Murtagh, then broke off the head of the arrow. Trying not cause any more damage, he swiftly pulled the shaft out of Saphira. As it left her muscle, she threw back her head and whimpered past the tree in her mouth. Her wing jerked involuntarily, clipping Murtagh under the chin and knocking him to the ground. With a growl, Saphira shook the tree, spraying them with dirt before tossing it away. After Eragon sealed the wound, he helped Murtagh up. “She caught me by surprise,” admitted Murtagh, touching his scraped jaw. I’m sorry. “She didn’t mean to hit you,” assured Eragon. He checked on the unconscious elf.You’re going to have to carry her a bit longer, he told Saphira.We can’t take her on the horses and ride fast enough. Flying should be easier for you now that the arrow is out. Saphira dipped her head.I will do it. Thank you,said Eragon. He hugged her fiercely.What you did was incredible; I’ll never forget it. Her eyes softened.I will go now. He backed away as she flew up in a flurry of air, the elf’s hair streaming back. Seconds later they were gone. Eragon hurried to Snowfire, pulled himself into the Page 186 saddle, and galloped away with Murtagh. While they rode, Eragon tried to remember what he knew about elves. They had long lives—that fact was oft repeated—although he knew not how long. They spoke the ancient language, and many could use magic. After the Riders’ fall, elves had retreated into seclusion. None of them had been seen in the Empire since.So why is one here now? And how did the Empire manage to capture her? If she can use magic, she’s probably drugged as I was. They traveled through the night, not stopping even when their flagging strength began to slow them. They continued onward despite burning eyes and clumsy movements. Behind them, lines of torch-bearing horsemen searched around Gil’ead for their trail. After many bleary hours, dawn lightened the sky. By unspoken consent Eragon and Murtagh stopped the horses. “We have to make camp,” said Eragon wearily. “I must sleep—whether they catch us or not.” “Agreed,” said Murtagh, rubbing his eyes. “Have Saphira land. We’ll meet her.” They followed Saphira’s directions and found her drinking from a stream at the base of a small cliff, the elf still slouched on her back. Saphira greeted them with a soft bugle as Eragon dismounted. Murtagh helped him remove the elf from Saphira’s saddle and lower her to the ground. Then they sagged against the rock face, exhausted. Saphira examined the elf curiously.I wonder why she hasn’t woken. It’s been hours since we left Gil’ead. Who knows what they did to her?said Eragon grimly. Murtagh followed their gaze. “As far as I know, she’s the first elf the king has captured. Ever since they went into hiding, he’s been looking for them without success—until now. So he’s either found their sanctuary, or she was captured by chance. I think it was chance. If he had found the elf haven, he would have declared war and sent his army after the elves. Since that hasn’t happened, the question is, Were Galbatorix’s men able to extract the elves’ location before we rescued her?” “We won’t know until she regains consciousness. Tell me what happened after I was captured. How did I end up in Gil’ead?” “The Urgals are working for the Empire,” said Murtagh shortly, pushing back his hair. “And, it seems, the Shade as well. Saphira and I saw the Urgals give you to him—though I didn’t know who it was at the time—and a group of soldiers. They were the ones who took you to Gil’ead.” It’s true,said Saphira, curling up next to them. Eragon’s mind flashed back to the Urgals he had spoken with at Teirm and the “master” they had mentioned.They meant the king! I insulted the most powerful man in Alagaësia! he realized with dread. Then he remembered the horror of the slaughtered villagers in Yazuac. A sick, angry feeling welled in his stomach.The Urgals were under Galbatorix’s orders! Why would he commit such an atrocity on his own subjects? Because he is evil,stated Saphira flatly. Glowering, Eragon exclaimed, “This will mean war! Once the people of the Empire learn of it, they will Page 187 rebel and support the Varden.” Murtagh rested his chin in his hand. “Even if they heard of this outrage, few would make it to the Varden. With the Urgals under his command, the king has enough warriors to close the Empire’s borders and remain in control, no matter how disruptive people are. With such a rule of terror, he will be able to shape the Empire however he wants. And though he is hated, people could be galvanized into joining him if they had a common enemy.” “Who would that be?” asked Eragon, confused. “The elves and the Varden. With the right rumors they can be portrayed as the most despicable monsters in Alagaësia—fiends who are waiting to seize your land and wealth. The Empire could even say that the Urgals have been misunderstood all this time and that they are really friends and allies against such terrible enemies. I only wonder what the king promised them in return for their services.” “It wouldn’t work,” said Eragon, shaking his head. “No one could be deceived that easily about Galbatorix and the Urgals. Besides, why would he want to do that? He’s already in power.” “But his authority is challenged by the Varden, with whom people sympathize. There’s also Surda, which has defied him since it seceded from the Empire. Galbatorix is strong within the Empire, but his arm is weak outside of it. As for people seeing through his deceptions, they’ll believe whatever he wants them to. It’s happened before.” Murtagh fell silent and gazed moodily into the distance. His words troubled Eragon. Saphira touched him with her mind:Where is Galbatorix sending the Urgals? What? In both Carvahall and Teirm, you heard that Urgals were leaving the area and migrating southeast, as if to brave the Hadarac Desert. If the king truly does control them, why is he sending them in that direction? Maybe an Urgal army is being gathered for his private use or an Urgal city is being formed. Eragon shuddered at the thought.I’m too tired to figure it out. Whatever Galbatorix’s plans, they’ll only cause us trouble. I just wish that we knew where the Varden are. That’s where we should be going, but we’re lost without Dormnad. It doesn’t matter what we do; the Empire will find us. Don’t give up,she said encouragingly, then added dryly,though you’re probably right. Thanks.He looked at Murtagh. “You risked your life to rescue me; I owe you for that. I couldn’t have escaped on my own.” It was more than that, though. There was a bond between them now, welded in the brotherhood of battle and tempered by the loyalty Murtagh had shown. “I’m just glad I could help. It…” Murtagh faltered and rubbed his face. “My main worry now is how we’re going to travel with so many men searching for us. Gil’ead’s soldiers will be hunting us tomorrow; once they find the horses’ tracks, they’ll know you didn’t fly away with Saphira.” Eragon glumly agreed. “How did you manage to get into the castle?” Murtagh laughed softly. “By paying a steep bribe and crawling through a filthy scullery chute. But the plan wouldn’t have worked without Saphira. She,” he stopped and directed his words at her, “that is, you, are the only reason we escaped alive.” Page 188 Eragon solemnly put a hand on her scaly neck. As she hummed contentedly, he gazed at the elf’s face, captivated. Reluctantly, he dragged himself upright. “We should make a bed for her.” Murtagh got to his feet and stretched out a blanket for the elf. When they lifted her onto it, the cuff of her sleeve tore on a branch. Eragon began to pinch the fabric together, then gasped. The elf’s arm was mottled with a layer of bruises and cuts; some were half healed, while others were fresh and oozing. Eragon shook his head with anger and pulled the sleeve up higher. The injuries continued to her shoulder. With trembling fingers, he unlaced the back of her shirt, dreading what might be under it. As the leather slipped off, Murtagh cursed. The elf’s back was strong and muscled, but it was covered with scabs that made her skin look like dry, cracked mud. She had been whipped mercilessly and branded with hot irons in the shape of claws. Where her skin was still intact, it was purple and black from numerous beatings. On her left shoulder was a tattoo inscribed with indigo ink. It was the same symbol that had been on the sapphire of Brom’s ring. Eragon silently swore an oath that he would kill whoever was responsible for torturing the elf. “Can you heal this?” asked Murtagh. “I—I don’t know,” said Eragon. He swallowed back sudden queasiness. “There’s so much.” Eragon!said Saphira sharply.This is an elf. She cannot be allowed to die. Tired or not, hungry or not, you must save her. I will meld my strength with yours, but you are the one who must wield the magic. Yes… you are right,he murmured, unable to tear his eyes from the elf. Determined, he pulled off his gloves and said to Murtagh, “This is going to take some time. Can you get me food? Also, boil rags for bandages; I can’t heal all her wounds.” “We can’t make a fire without being seen,” objected Murtagh. “You’ll have to use unwashed cloths, and the food will be cold.” Eragon grimaced but acquiesced. As he gently laid a hand on the elf’s spine, Saphira settled next to him, her glittering eyes fixed on the elf. He took a deep breath, then reached for the magic and started working. He spoke the ancient words, “Waíse heill!” A burn shimmered under his palm, and new, unmarked skin flowed over it, joining together without a scar. He passed over bruises or other wounds that were not life-threatening—healing them all would consume the energy he needed for more serious injuries. As Eragon toiled, he marveled that the elf was still alive. She had been repeatedly tortured to the edge of death with a precision that chilled him. Although he tried to preserve the elf’s modesty, he could not help but notice that underneath the disfiguring marks, her body was exceptionally beautiful. He was exhausted and did not dwell upon it—though his ears turned red at times, and he fervently hoped that Saphira did not know what he was thinking. He labored through dawn, pausing only at brief intervals to eat and drink, trying to replenish himself from his fast, the escape, and now healing the elf. Saphira remained by his side, lending her strength where she could. The sun was well into the sky when he finally stood, groaning as his cramped muscles stretched. His hands were gray and his eyes felt dry and gritty. He stumbled to the saddlebags and took a long drink from the wineskin. “Is it done?” asked Murtagh. Page 189 Eragon nodded, trembling. He did not trust himself to speak. The camp spun before him; he nearly fainted.You did well, said Saphira soothingly. “Will she live?” “I don’t—don’t know,” he said in a ravaged voice. “Elves are strong, but even they cannot endure abuse like this with impunity. If I knew more about healing, I might be able to revive her, but…” He gestured helplessly. His hand was shaking so badly he spilled some of the wine. Another swig helped to steady him. “We’d better start riding again.” “No! You must sleep,” protested Murtagh. “I… can sleep in the saddle. But we can’t afford to stay here, not with the soldiers closing on us.” Murtagh reluctantly gave in. “In that case I’ll lead Snowfire while you rest.” They resaddled the horses, strapped the elf onto Saphira, and departed the camp. Eragon ate while he rode, trying to replace his depleted energy before he leaned forward against Snowfire and closed his eyes. WATER FROMSAND When they stopped for the evening, Eragon felt no better and his temper had worsened. Most of the day had been spent on long detours to avoid detection by soldiers with hunting dogs. He dismounted Snowfire and asked Saphira,How is she? I think no worse than before. She stirred slightly a few times, but that was all.Saphira crouched low to the ground to let him lift the elf out of the saddle. For a moment her soft form pressed against Eragon. Then he hurriedly put her down. He and Murtagh made a small dinner. It was difficult for them to fight off the urge to sleep. When they had eaten, Murtagh said, “We can’t keep up this pace; we aren’t gaining any ground on the soldiers. Another day or two of this and they’ll be sure to overtake us.” “What else can we do?” snapped Eragon. “If it were just the two of us and you were willing to leave Tornac behind, Saphira could fly us out of here. But with the elf, too? Impossible.” Murtagh looked at him carefully. “If you want to go your own way, I won’t stop you. I can’t expect you and Saphira to stay and risk imprisonment.” “Don’t insult me,” Eragon muttered. “The only reason I’m free is because of you. I’m not going to abandon you to the Empire. Poor thanks that would be!” Murtagh bowed his head. “Your words hearten me.” He paused. “But they don’t solve our problem.” “What can?” Eragon asked. He gestured at the elf. “I wish she could tell us where the elves are; perhaps we could seek sanctuary with them.” “Considering how they’ve protected themselves, I doubt she’d reveal their location. Even if she did, the others of her kind might not welcome us. Why would they want to shelter us anyway? The last Riders they had contact with were Galbatorix and the Forsworn. I doubt that left them with pleasant memories. And I don’t even have the dubious honor of being a Rider like you. No, they would not want me at all.” Page 190 They would accept us,said Saphira confidently as she shifted her wings to a more comfortable position. Eragon shrugged. “Even if they would protect us, we can’t find them, and it’s impossible to ask the elf until she regains consciousness. We must flee, but in which direction—north, south, east, or west?” Murtagh laced his fingers together and pressed his thumbs against his temples. “I think the only thing we can do is leave the Empire. The few safe places within it are far from here. They would be difficult to reach without being caught or followed… There’s nothing for us to the north except the forest Du Weldenvarden—which we might be able to hide in, but I don’t relish going back past Gil’ead. Only the Empire and the sea lie westward. To the south is Surda, where you might be able to find someone to direct you to the Varden. As for going east…” He shrugged. “To the east, the Hadarac Desert stands between us and whatever lands exist in that direction. The Varden are somewhere across it, but without directions it might take us years to find them.” We would be safe, though,remarked Saphira.As long as we didn’t encounter any Urgals. Eragon knitted his brow. A headache threatened to drown his thoughts in hot throbs. “It’s too dangerous to go to Surda. We would have to traverse most of the Empire, avoiding every town and village. There are too many people between us and Surda to get there unnoticed.” Murtagh raised an eyebrow. “So you want to go across the desert?” “I don’t see any other options. Besides, that way we can leave the Empire before the Ra’zac get here. With their flying steeds, they’ll probably arrive in Gil’ead in a couple of days, so we don’t have much time.” “Even if we do reach the desert before they get here,” said Murtagh, “they could still overtake us. It’ll be hard to outdistance them at all.” Eragon rubbed Saphira’s side, her scales rough under his fingers. “That’s assuming they can follow our trail. To catch us, though, they’ll have to leave the soldiers behind, which is to our advantage. If it comes to a fight, I think the three of us can defeat them… as long as we aren’t ambushed the way Brom and I were.” “If we reach the other side of the Hadarac safely,” said Murtagh slowly, “where will we go? Those lands are well outside of the Empire. There will be few cities, if any. And then there is the desert itself. What do you know of it?” “Only that it’s hot, dry, and full of sand,” confessed Eragon. “That about sums it up,” replied Murtagh. “It’s filled with poisonous and inedible plants, venomous snakes, scorpions, and a blistering sun. You saw the great plain on our way to Gil’ead?” It was a rhetorical question, but Eragon answered anyway, “Yes, and once before.” “Then you are familiar with its immense range. It fills the heart of the Empire. Now imagine something two or three times its size, and you’ll understand the vastness of the Hadarac Desert. That is what you’re proposing to cross.” Eragon tried to envision a piece of land that gigantic but was unable to grasp the distances involved. He retrieved the map of Alagaësia from his saddlebags. The parchment smelled musty as he unrolled it on the Page 191 ground. He inspected the plains and shook his head in amazement. “No wonder the Empire ends at the desert. Everything on the other side is too far away for Galbatorix to control.” Murtagh swept his hand over the right side of the parchment. “All the land beyond the desert, which is blank on this map, was under one rule when the Riders lived. If the king were to raise up new Riders under his command, it would allow him to expand the Empire to an unprecedented size. But that wasn’t the point I was trying to make. The Hadarac Desert is so huge and contains so many dangers, the chances are slim that we can cross it unscathed. It is a desperate path to take.” “Wearedesperate,” said Eragon firmly. He studied the map carefully. “If we rode through the belly of the desert, it would take well over a month, perhaps even two, to cross it. But if we angle southeast, toward the Beor Mountains, we could cut through much faster. Then we can either follow the Beor Mountains farther east into the wilderness or go west to Surda. If this map is accurate, the distance between here and the Beors is roughly equal to what we covered on our way to Gil’ead.” “But that took us nearly a month!” Eragon shook his head impatiently. “Our ride to Gil’ead was slow on account of my injuries. If we press ourselves, it’ll take only a fraction of that time to reach the Beor Mountains.” “Enough. You made your point,” acknowledged Murtagh. “Before I consent, however, something must be solved. As I’m sure you noticed, I bought supplies for us and the horses while I was in Gil’ead. But how can we get enough water? The roving tribes who live in the Hadarac usually disguise their wells and oases so no one can steal their water. And carrying enough for more than a day is impractical. Just think about how much Saphira drinks! She and the horses consume more water at one time than we do in a week. Unless you can make it rain whenever we need, I don’t see how we can go the direction you propose.” Eragon rocked back on his heels. Making rain was well beyond his power. He suspected that not even the strongest Rider could have done it. Moving that much air was like trying to lift a mountain. He needed a solution that would not drain all of his strength.I wonder if it’s possible to convert sand into water? That would solve our problem, but only if it doesn’t take too much energy. “I have an idea,” he said. “Let me experiment, then I’ll give you an answer.” Eragon strode out of the camp, with Saphira following closely. What are you going to try?she asked. “I don’t know,” he muttered.Saphira, could you carry enough water for us? She shook her enormous head.No, I wouldn’t even be able to lift that much weight, let alone fly with it. Too bad.He knelt and picked up a stone with a cavity large enough for a mouthful of water. He pressed a clump of dirt into the hollow and studied it thoughtfully. Now came the hard part. Somehow he had to convert the dirt into water.But what words should I use? He puzzled over it for a moment, then picked two he hoped would work. The icy magic rushed through him as he breached the familiar barrier in his mind and commanded, “Deloi moi!” Immediately the dirt began to absorb his strength at a prodigious rate. Eragon’s mind flashed back to Brom’s warning that certain tasks could consume all of his power and take his life. Panic blossomed in his chest. He tried to release the magic but could not. It was linked to him until the task was complete or Page 192 he was dead. All he could do was remain motionless, growing weaker every moment. Just as he became convinced that he would die kneeling there, the dirt shimmered and morphed into a thimbleful of water. Relieved, Eragon sat back, breathing hard. His heart pounded painfully and hunger gnawed at his innards. What happened?asked Saphira. Eragon shook his head, still in shock from the drain on his body’s reserves. He was glad that he had not tried to transmute anything larger.This… this won’t work, he said.I don’t even have the strength to give myself a drink. You should have been more careful,she chided.Magic can yield unexpected results when the ancient words are combined in new ways. He glared at her.I know that, but this was the only way I could test my idea. I wasn’t going to wait until we were in the desert! He reminded himself that she was only trying to help.How did you turn Brom’s grave into diamond without killing yourself? I can barely handle a bit of dirt, much less all that sandstone. I don’t know how I did it,she stated calmly.It just happened. Could you do it again, but this time make water? Eragon,she said, looking him squarely in the face.I’ve no more control over my abilities than a spider does. Things like that occur whether I will them or not. Brom told you that unusual events happen around dragons. He spoke truly. He gave no explanation for it, nor do I have one. Sometimes I can work changes just by feel, almost without thought. The rest of the time—like right now—I’m as powerless as Snowfire. You’re never powerless,he said softly, putting a hand on her neck. For a long period they were both quiet. Eragon remembered the grave he had made and how Brom lay within it. He could still see the sandstone flowing over the old man’s face. “At least we gave him a decent burial,” he whispered. He idly swirled a finger in the dirt, making twisting ridges. Two of the ridges formed a miniature valley, so he added mountains around it. With his fingernail he scratched a river down the valley, then deepened it because it seemed too shallow. He added a few more details until he found himself staring at a passable reproduction of Palancar Valley. Homesickness welled up within him, and he obliterated the valley with a swipe of his hand. I don’t want to talk about it,he muttered angrily, staving off Saphira’s questions. He crossed his arms and glared at the ground. Almost against his will, his eyes flicked back to where he had gouged the earth. He straightened, surprised. Though the ground was dry, the furrow he had made was lined with moisture. Curious, he scraped away more dirt and found a damp layer a few inches under the surface. “Look at this!” he said excitedly. Saphira lowered her nose to his discovery.How does this help us? Water in the desert is sure to be buried so deeply we would have to dig for weeks to find it. Yes,said Eragon delightedly,but as long as it’s there, I can get it. Watch!He deepened the hole, then mentally accessed the magic. Instead of changing the dirt into water, he simply summoned forth the moisture that was already in the earth. With a faint trickle, water rushed into the hole. He smiled and Page 193 sipped from it. The liquid was cool and pure, perfect for drinking.See! We can get all we need. Saphira sniffed the pool.Here, yes. But in the desert? There may not be enough water in the ground for you to bring to the surface. It will work,Eragon assured her.All I’m doing is lifting the water, an easy enough task. As long as it’s done slowly, my strength will hold. Even if I have to draw the water from fifty paces down, it won’t be a problem. Especially if you help me. Saphira looked at him dubiously.Are you sure? Think carefully upon your answer, for it will mean our lives if you are wrong. Eragon hesitated, then said firmly,I’m sure. Then go tell Murtagh. I will keep watch while you sleep. But you’ve stayed up all night like us,he objected.You should rest. I’ll be fine—I’m stronger than you know,she said gently. Her scales rustled as she curled up with a watchful eye turned northward, toward their pursuers. Eragon hugged her, and she hummed deeply, sides vibrating.Go. He lingered, then reluctantly returned to Murtagh, who asked, “Well? Is the desert open to us?” “It is,” acknowledged Eragon. He flopped onto his blankets and explained what he had learned. When he finished, Eragon turned to the elf. Her face was the last thing he saw before falling asleep. THERAMRRIVER They forced themselves to rise early in the gray predawn hours. Eragon shivered in the cool air. “How are we going to transport the elf? She can’t ride on Saphira’s back much longer without getting sores from her scales. Saphira can’t carry her in her claws—it tires her and makes landing dangerous. A sledge won’t work; it would get battered to pieces while we ride, and I don’t want the horses slowed by the weight of another person.” Murtagh considered the matter as he saddled Tornac. “If you were to ride Saphira, we could lash the elf onto Snowfire, but we’d have the same problem with sores.” I have a solution,said Saphira unexpectedly.Why don’t you tie the elf to my belly? I’ll still be able to move freely, and she will be safer than anywhere else. The only danger will be if soldiers shoot arrows at me, but I can easily fly above those. None of them could come up with a better idea, so they quickly adopted hers. Eragon folded one of his blankets in half lengthwise, secured it around the elf’s petite form, then took her to Saphira. Blankets and spare clothes were sacrificed to form ropes long enough to encircle Saphira’s girth. With those ropes, the elf was tied back-first against Saphira’s belly, her head between Saphira’s front legs. Eragon looked critically at their handiwork. “I’m afraid your scales may rub through the ropes.” “We’ll have to check them occasionally for fraying,” commented Murtagh. Shall we go now?Saphira asked, and Eragon repeated the question. Page 194 Murtagh’s eyes sparked dangerously, a tight smile lifting his lips. He glanced back the way they had come, where smoke from soldiers’ camps was clearly visible, and said, “I always did like races.” “And now we are in one for our lives!” Murtagh swung into Tornac’s saddle and trotted out of the camp. Eragon followed close behind on Snowfire. Saphira jumped into the air with the elf. She flew low to the ground to avoid being seen by the soldiers. In this fashion, the three of them made their way southeast toward the distant Hadarac Desert. Eragon kept a quick eye out for pursuers as he rode. His mind repeatedly wandered back to the elf.An elf! He had actually seen one, and she was with them! He wondered what Roran would think of that. It struck him that if he ever returned to Carvahall, he would have a hard time convincing anyone that his adventures had actually occurred. For the rest of the day, Eragon and Murtagh sped through the land, ignoring discomfort and fatigue. They drove the horses as hard as they could without killing them. Sometimes they dismounted and ran on foot to give Tornac and Snowfire a rest. Only twice did they stop—both times to let the horses eat and drink. Though the soldiers of Gil’ead were far behind now, Eragon and Murtagh found themselves having to avoid new soldiers every time they passed a town or village. Somehow the alarm had been sent ahead of them. Twice they were nearly ambushed along the trail, escaping only because Saphira happened to smell the men ahead of them. After the second incident, they avoided the trail entirely. Dusk softened the countryside as evening drew a black cloak across the sky. Through the night they traveled, relentlessly pacing out the miles. In the deepest hours of night, the ground rose beneath them to form low cactus-dotted hills. Murtagh pointed forward. “There’s a town, Bullridge, some leagues ahead that we must bypass. They’re sure to have soldiers watching for us. We should try to slip past them now while it’s dark.” After three hours they saw the straw-yellow lanterns of Bullridge. A web of soldiers patrolled between watch fires scattered around the town. Eragon and Murtagh muffled their sword sheaths and carefully dismounted. They led the horses in a wide detour around Bullridge, listening attentively to avoid stumbling on an encampment. With the town behind them, Eragon relaxed slightly. Daybreak finally flooded the sky with a delicate blush and warmed the chilly night air. They halted on the crest of a hill to observe their surroundings. The Ramr River was to their left, but it was also five miles to their right. The river continued south for several leagues, then doubled back on itself in a narrow loop before curving west. They had covered over sixteen leagues in one day. Eragon leaned against Snowfire’s neck, happy with the distance they had gone. “Let’s find a gully or hollow where we can sleep undisturbed.” They stopped at a small stand of juniper trees and laid their blankets beneath them. Saphira waited patiently as they untied the elf from her belly. “I’ll take the first watch and wake you at midmorning,” said Murtagh, setting his bare sword across his knees. Eragon mumbled his assent and pulled the blankets over his shoulders. Page 195 Nightfall found them worn and drowsy but determined to continue. As they prepared to leave, Saphira observed to Eragon,This is the third night since we rescued you from Gil’ead, and the elf still hasn’t woken. I’m worried. And,she continued,she has neither drunk nor eaten in that time. I know little of elves, but she is slender, and I doubt she can survive much longer without nourishment. “What’s wrong?” asked Murtagh over Tornac’s back. “The elf,” said Eragon, looking down at her. “Saphira is troubled that she hasn’t woken or eaten; it disturbs me too. I healed her wounds, at least on the surface, but it doesn’t seem to have done her any good.” “Maybe the Shade tampered with her mind,” suggested Murtagh. “Then we have to help her.” Murtagh knelt by the elf. He examined her intently, then shook his head and stood. “As far as I can tell, she’s only sleeping. It seems as if I could wake her with a word or a touch, yet she slumbers on. Her coma might be something elves self-induce to escape the pain of injury, but if so, why doesn’t she end it? There’s no danger to her now.” “But does she know that?” asked Eragon quietly. Murtagh put a hand on his shoulder. “This must wait. We have to leave now or risk losing our hard-won lead. You can tend to her later when we stop.” “One thing first,” said Eragon. He soaked a rag, then squeezed the cloth so water dripped between the elf’s sculpted lips. He did that several times and dabbed above her straight, angled eyebrows, feeling oddly protective. They headed through the hills, avoiding the tops for fear of being spotted by sentries. Saphira stayed with them on the ground for the same reason. Despite her bulk, she was stealthy; only her tail could be heard scraping over the ground, like a thick blue snake. Eventually the sky brightened in the east. The morning star Aiedail appeared as they reached the edge of a steep bank covered with mounds of brush. Water roared below as it tore over boulders and sluiced through branches. “The Ramr!” said Eragon over the noise. Murtagh nodded. “Yes! We have to find a place to ford safely.” That isn’t necessary,said Saphira.I can carry you across, no matter how wide the river is. Eragon looked up at her blue-gray form.What about the horses? We can’t leave them behind. They’re too heavy for you to lift. Page 196 As long as you’re not on them and they don’t struggle too much, I’m sure that I can carry them. If I can dodge arrows with three people on my back, I can certainly fly a horse in a straight line over a river. I believe you, but let’s not attempt it unless we have to. It’s too dangerous. She clambered down the embankment.We can’t afford to squander time here. Eragon followed her, leading Snowfire. The bank came to an abrupt end at the Ramr, where the river ran dark and swift. White mist wafted up from the water, like blood steaming in winter. It was impossible to see the far side. Murtagh tossed a branch into the torrent and watched it race away, bobbing on the rough water. “How deep do you think it is?” asked Eragon. “I can’t tell,” said Murtagh, worry coloring his voice. “Can you see how far across it is with magic?” “I don’t think so, not without lighting up this place like a beacon.” With a gust of air, Saphira took off and soared over the Ramr. After a short time, she said,I’m on the other bank. The river is over a half-mile wide. You couldn’t have chosen a worse place to cross; the Ramr bends at this point and is at its widest. “A half-mile!” exclaimed Eragon. He told Murtagh about Saphira’s offer to fly them. “I’d rather not try it, for the horses’ sake. Tornac isn’t as accustomed to Saphira as Snowfire. He might panic and injure them both. Ask Saphira to look for shallows where we can swim over safely. If there aren’t any within a mile in either direction, then I suppose she can ferry us.” At Eragon’s request, Saphira agreed to search for a ford. While she explored, they hunkered next to the horses and ate dry bread. It was not long before Saphira returned, her velvet wings whispering in the early dawn sky.The water is both deep and strong, upstream as well as downstream. Once he was told, Murtagh said, “I’d better go over first, so I can watch the horses.” He scrambled onto Saphira’s saddle. “Be careful with Tornac. I’ve had him for many years. I don’t want anything to happen to him.” Then Saphira took off. When she returned, the unconscious elf had been untied from her belly. Eragon led Tornac to Saphira, ignoring the horse’s low whinnies. Saphira reared back on her haunches to grasp the horse around the belly with her forelegs. Eragon eyed her formidable claws and said, “Wait!” He repositioned Tornac’s saddle blanket, strapping it to the horse’s belly so it protected his soft underside, then gestured for Saphira to proceed. Tornac snorted in fright and tried to bolt when Saphira’s forelegs clamped around his sides, but she held him tightly. The horse rolled his eyes wildly, the whites rimming his dilated pupils. Eragon tried to gentle Tornac with his mind, but the horse’s panic resisted his touch. Before Tornac could try to escape again, Saphira jumped skyward, her hind legs thrusting with such force that her claws gouged the rocks underneath. Her wings strained furiously, struggling to lift the enormous load. For a moment it seemed she would fall back to the ground. Then, with a lunge, she shot into the air. Tornac screamed in terror, kicking and tossing. It was a terrible sound, like screeching metal. Eragon swore, wondering if anyone was close enough to hear.You’d better hurry, Saphira. He listened Page 197 for soldiers as he waited, scanning the inky landscape for the telltale flash of torches. It soon met his eye in a line of horsemen sliding down a bluff almost a league away. As Saphira landed, Eragon brought Snowfire to her.Murtagh’s silly animal is in hysterics. He had to tie Tornac down to prevent him from running away. She gripped Snowfire and carried him off, ignoring the horse’s trumpeted protestations. Eragon watched her go, feeling lonely in the night. The horsemen were only a mile away. Finally Saphira came for him, and they were soon on firm ground once more, with the Ramr to their backs. Once the horses were calmed and the saddles readjusted, they resumed their flight toward the Beor Mountains. The air filled with the calls of birds waking to a new day. Eragon dozed even when walking. He was barely aware that Murtagh was just as drowsy. There were times when neither of them guided the horses, and it was only Saphira’s vigilance that kept them on course. Eventually the ground became soft and gave way under their feet, forcing them to halt. The sun was high overhead. The Ramr River was no more than a fuzzy line behind them. They had reached the Hadarac Desert. THEHADARACDESERT Avast expanse of dunes spread to the horizon like ripples on an ocean. Bursts of wind twirled the reddish gold sand into the air. Scraggly trees grew on scattered patches of solid ground—ground any farmer would have declared unfit for crops. Rising in the distance was a line of purple crags. The imposing desolation was barren of any animals except for a bird gliding on the zephyrs. “You’re sure we’ll find food for the horses out there?” queried Eragon, slurring his words. The hot, dry air stung his throat. “See those?” asked Murtagh, indicating the crags. “Grass grows around them. It’s short and tough, but the horses will find it sufficient.” “I hope you’re right,” said Eragon, squinting at the sun. “Before we continue, let’s rest. My mind is slow as a snail, and I can barely move my legs.” They untied the elf from Saphira, ate, then lay in the shadow of a dune for a nap. As Eragon settled into the sand, Saphira coiled up next to him and spread her wings over them.This is a wondrous place, she said.I could spend years here and not notice the passing time. Eragon closed his eyes.It would be a nice place to fly, he agreed drowsily. Not only that, I feel as though I was made for this desert. It has the space I need, mountains where I could roost, and camouflaged prey that I could spend days hunting. And the warmth! Cold does not disturb me, but this heat makes me feel alive and full of energy.She craned her head toward the sky, stretching happily. You like it that much?mumbled Eragon. Yes. Page 198 Then when this is all done, perhaps we can return…He drifted into slumber even as he spoke. Saphira was pleased and hummed gently while he and Murtagh rested. It was the morning of the fourth day since leaving Gil’ead. They had already covered thirty-five leagues. They slept just long enough to clear their minds and rest the horses. No soldiers could be seen to the rear, but that did not lull them into slowing their pace. They knew that the Empire would keep searching until they were far beyond the king’s reach. Eragon said, “Couriers must have carried news of my escape to Galbatorix. He would have alerted the Ra’zac. They’re sure to be on our trail by now. It’ll take them a while to catch us even by flying, but we should be ready for them at all times.” And this time they will find I am not so easily bound with chains,said Saphira. Murtagh scratched his chin. “I hope they won’t be able to follow us past Bullridge. The Ramr was an effective way to lose pursuers; there’s a good chance our tracks won’t be found again.” “Something to hope for indeed,” said Eragon as he checked the elf. Her condition was unchanged; she still did not react to his ministrations. “I place no faith in luck right now, though. The Ra’zac could be on our trail even as we speak.” At sunset they arrived at the crags they had viewed from afar that morning. The imposing stone bluffs towered over them, casting thin shadows. The surrounding area was free of dunes for a half mile. Heat assailed Eragon like a physical blow as he dismounted Snowfire onto the baked, cracked ground. The back of his neck and his face were sunburned; his skin was hot and feverish. After picketing the horses where they could nibble the sparse grass, Murtagh started a small fire. “How far do you think we went?” Eragon asked, releasing the elf from Saphira. “I don’t know!” snapped Murtagh. His skin was red, his eyes bloodshot. He picked up a pot and muttered a curse. “We don’t have enough water. And the horses have to drink.” Eragon was just as irritated by the heat and dryness, but he held his temper in check. “Bring the horses.” Saphira dug a hole for him with her claws, then he closed his eyes, releasing the spell. Though the ground was parched, there was enough moisture for the plants to live on and enough for him to fill the hole several times over. Murtagh refilled the waterskins as water pooled in the hole, then stood aside and let the horses drink. The thirsty animals quaffed gallons. Eragon was forced to draw the liquid from ever deeper in the earth to satisfy their desire. It taxed his strength to the limit. When the horses were finally sated, he said to Saphira,If you need a drink, take it now.Her head snaked around him and she took two long draughts, but no more. Before letting the water flow back into the ground, Eragon gulped down as much as he could, then watched the last drops melt back into the dirt. Holding the water on the surface was harder than he had expected.But at least it’s within my abilities, he reflected, remembering with some amusement how he had once struggled to lift even a pebble. Page 199 It was freezing when they rose the next day. The sand had a pink hue in the morning light, and the sky was hazy, concealing the horizon. Murtagh’s mood had not improved with sleep, and Eragon found his own rapidly deteriorating. During breakfast, he asked, “Do you think it’ll be long before we leave the desert?” Murtagh glowered. “We’re only crossing a small section of it, so I can’t imagine that it’ll take us more than two or three days.” “But look how far we’ve already come.” “All right, maybe it won’t! All I care about right now is getting out of the Hadarac as quickly as possible. What we’re doing is hard enough without having to pick sand from our eyes every few minutes.” They finished eating, then Eragon went to the elf. She lay as one dead—a corpse except for her measured breathing. “Where lies your injury?” whispered Eragon, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “How can you sleep like this and yet live?” The image of her, alert and poised in the prison cell, was still vivid in his mind. Troubled, he prepared the elf for travel, then saddled and mounted Snowfire. As they left the camp, a line of dark smudges became visible on the horizon, indistinct in the hazy air. Murtagh thought they were distant hills. Eragon was not convinced, but he could make out no details. The elf’s plight filled his thoughts. He was sure that something had to be done to help her or she would die, though he knew not what that might be. Saphira was just as concerned. They talked about it for hours, but neither of them knew enough about healing to solve the problem confronting them. At midday they stopped for a brief rest. When they resumed their journey, Eragon noticed that the haze had thinned since morning, and the distant smudges had gained definition. No longer were they indistinct purple-blue lumps, but rather broad, forest-covered mounds with clear outlines. The air above them was pale white, bleached of its usual hue—all color seemed to have been leached out of a horizontal band of sky that lay on top of the hills and extended to the horizon’s edges. He stared, puzzled, but the more he tried to make sense of it, the more confused he became. He blinked and shook his head, thinking that it must be some illusion of the desert air. Yet when he opened his eyes, the annoying incongruity was still there. Indeed, the whiteness blanketed half the sky before them. Sure that something was terribly wrong, he started to point this out to Murtagh and Saphira when he suddenly understood what he was seeing. What they had taken to be hills were actually the bases of gigantic mountains, scores of miles wide. Except for the dense forest along their lower regions, the mountains were entirely covered with snow and ice. It was this that had deceived Eragon into thinking the sky white. He craned back his neck, searching for the peaks, but they were not visible. The mountains stretched up into the sky until they faded from sight. Narrow, jagged valleys with ridges that nearly touched split the mountains like deep gorges. It was like a ragged, toothy wall linking Alagaësia with the heavens. There’s no end to them!he thought, awestruck. Stories that mentioned the Beor Mountains always noted their size, but he had discounted such reports as fanciful embellishments. Now, however, he was forced to acknowledge their authenticity. Page 200 Sensing his wonder and surprise, Saphira followed his gaze with her own. Within a few seconds she recognized the mountains for what they were.I feel like a hatchling again. Compared to them, even I feel small! We must be near the edge of the desert,said Eragon.It’s only taken two days and we can already see the far side and beyond! Saphira spiraled above the dunes.Yes, but considering the size of those peaks, they could still be fifty leagues from here. It’s hard to gauge distances against something so immense. Wouldn’t they be a perfect hiding place for the elves or the Varden? You could hide more than the elves and Varden,he stated.Entire nations could exist in secret there, hidden from the Empire. Imagine living with those behemoths looming over you! He guided Snowfire to Murtagh and pointed, grinning. “What?” grunted Murtagh, scanning the land. “Look closely,” urged Eragon. Murtagh peered closely at the horizon. He shrugged. “What, I don’t—” The words died in his mouth and gave way to slack-jawed wonder. Murtagh shook his head, muttering, “That’s impossible!” He squinted so hard that the corners of his eyes crinkled. He shook his head again. “I knew the Beor Mountains were large, but not that monstrous size!” “Let’s hope the animals that live there aren’t in proportion to the mountains,” said Eragon lightly. Murtagh smiled. “It will be good to find some shade and spend a few weeks in leisure. I’ve had enough of this forced march.” “I’m tired too,” admitted Eragon, “but I don’t want to stop until the elf is cured… or she dies.” “I don’t see how continuing to travel will help her,” said Murtagh gravely. “A bed will do her more good than hanging underneath Saphira all day.” Eragon shrugged. “Maybe… When we reach the mountains, I could take her to Surda—it’s not that far. There must be a healer there who can help her; we certainly can’t.” Murtagh shaded his eyes with his hand and stared at the mountains. “We can talk about it later. For now our goal is to reach the Beors. There, at least, the Ra’zac will have trouble finding us, and we will be safe from the Empire.” As the day wore on, the Beor Mountains seemed to get no closer, though the landscape changed dramatically. The sand slowly transformed from loose grains of reddish hue to hard-packed, dusky-cream dirt. In place of dunes were ragged patches of plants and deep furrows in the ground where flooding had occurred. A cool breeze wafted through the air, bringing welcome refreshment. The horses sensed the change of climate and hurried forward eagerly. When evening subdued the sun, the mountains’ foothills were a mere league away. Herds of gazelles bounded through lush fields of waving grass. Eragon caught Saphira eyeing them hungrily. They camped by a stream, relieved to be out of the punishing Hadarac Desert. Page 201 APATHREVEALED Fatigued and haggard, but with triumphant smiles, they sat around the fire, congratulating each other. Saphira crowed jubilantly, which startled the horses. Eragon stared at the flames. He was proud that they had covered roughly sixty leagues in five days. It was an impressive feat, even for a rider able to change mounts regularly. I am outside of the Empire.It was a strange thought. He had been born in the Empire, lived his entire life under Galbatorix’s rule, lost his closest friends and family to the king’s servants, and had nearly died several times within his domain. Now Eragon was free. No more would he and Saphira have to dodge soldiers, avoid towns, or hide who they were. It was a bittersweet realization, for the cost had been the loss of his entire world. He looked at the stars in the gloaming sky. And though the thought of building a home in the safety of isolation appealed to him, he had witnessed too many wrongs committed in Galbatorix’s name, from murder to slavery, to turn his back on the Empire. No longer was it just vengeance—for Brom’s death as well as Garrow’s—that drove him. As a Rider, it was his duty to assist those without strength to resist Galbatorix’s oppression. With a sigh he abandoned his deliberation and observed the elf stretched out by Saphira. The fire’s orange light gave her face a warm cast. Smooth shadows flickered under her cheekbones. As he stared, an idea slowly came to him. He could hear the thoughts of people and animals—and communicate with them in that manner if he chose to—but it was something he had done infrequently except with Saphira. He always remembered Brom’s admonishment not to violate someone’s mind unless absolutely necessary. Save for the one time he had tried to probe Murtagh’s consciousness, he had refrained from doing so. Now, however, he wondered if it were possible to contact the elf in her comatose state.I might be able to learn from her memories why she remains like this. But if she recovers, would she forgive me for such an intrusion? … Whether she does or not, I must try. She’s been in this condition for almost a week. Without speaking of his intentions to Murtagh or Saphira, he knelt by the elf and placed his palm on her brow. Eragon closed his eyes and extended a tendril of thought, like a probing finger, toward the elf’s mind. He found it without difficulty. It was not fuzzy and filled with pain as he had anticipated, but lucid and clear, like a note from a crystal bell. Suddenly an icy dagger drove into his mind. Pain exploded behind his eyes with splashes of color. He recoiled from the attack but found himself held in an iron grip, unable to retreat. Eragon fought as hard as he could and used every defense he could think of. The dagger stabbed into his mind again. He frantically threw his own barriers before it, blunting the attack. The pain was less excruciating than the first time, but it jarred his concentration. The elf took the opportunity to ruthlessly crush his defenses. A stifling blanket pressed down on Eragon from all directions, smothering his thoughts. The overpowering force slowly contracted, squeezing the life out of him bit by bit, though he held on, unwilling to give up. The elf tightened her relentless grip even more, so as to extinguish him like a snuffed candle. He Page 202 desperately cried in the ancient language, “Eka aí fricai un Shur’tugal!” I am a Rider and friend! The deadly embrace did not loosen its hold, but its constriction halted and surprise emanated from her. Suspicion followed a second later, but he knew she would believe him; he could not have lied in the ancient language. However, while he had said he was a friend, that did not mean he meant her no harm. For all she knew, Eragon believed himself to be her friend, making the statement true for him, thoughshe might not consider him one.The ancient language does have its limitations, thought Eragon, hoping that the elf would be curious enough to risk freeing him. She was. The pressure lifted, and the barriers around her mind hesitantly lowered. The elf warily let their thoughts touch, like two wild animals meeting for the first time. A cold shiver ran down Eragon’s side. Her mind was alien. It felt vast and powerful, weighted with memories of uncounted years. Dark thoughts loomed out of sight and touch, artifacts of her race that made him cringe when they brushed his consciousness. Yet through all the sensations shimmered a melody of wild, haunting beauty that embodied her identity. What is your name?she asked, speaking in the ancient language. Her voice was weary and filled with quiet despair. Eragon. And yours?Her consciousness lured him closer, inviting him to submerge himself in the lyric strains of her blood. He resisted the summons with difficulty, though his heart ached to accept it. For the first time he understood the fey attraction of elves. They were creatures of magic, unbound by the mortal laws of the land—as different from humans as dragons were from animals. …Arya. Why have you contacted me in this manner? Am I still a captive of the Empire? No, you are free!said Eragon. Though he knew only scattered words in the ancient language, he managed to convey:I was imprisoned in Gil’ead, like you, but I escaped and rescued you. In the five days since then, we’ve crossed the edge of the Hadarac Desert and are now camped by the Beor Mountains. You’ve not stirred nor said a word in all that time. Ah… so it was Gil’ead.She paused.I know that my wounds were healed. At the time I did not understand why—preparation for some new torture, I was certain. Now I realize it was you. Softly she added,Even so, I have not risen, and you are puzzled. Yes. During my captivity, a rare poison, the Skilna Bragh, was given to me, along with the drug to suppress my power. Every morning the antidote for the previous day’s poison was administered to me, by force if I refused to take it. Without it I will die within a few hours. That is why I lie in this trance—it slows the Skilna Bragh’s progress, though does not stop it… I contemplated waking for the purpose of ending my life and denying Galbatorix, but I refrained from doing so out of hope that you might be an ally…Her voice dwindled off weakly. How long can you remain like this?asked Eragon. For weeks, but I’m afraid I haven’t that much time. This dormancy cannot restrain death forever… I can feel it in my veins even now. Unless I receive the antidote, I will succumb to the poison in three or four days. Where can the antidote be found? Page 203 It exists in only two places outside of the Empire: with my own people and with the Varden. However, my home is beyond the reach of dragonback. What about the Varden? We would have taken you straight to them, but we don’t know where they are. I will tell you—if you give me your word that you will never reveal their location to Galbatorix or to anyone who serves him. In addition you must swear that you have not deceived me in some manner and that you intend no harm to the elves, dwarves, Varden, or the race of dragons. What Arya asked for would have been simple enough—if they had not been conversing in the ancient language. Eragon knew she wanted oaths more binding than life itself. Once made, they could never be broken. That weighed heavily on him as he gravely pledged his word in agreement. It is understood…A series of vertigo-inducing images suddenly flashed through his mind. He found himself riding along the Beor Mountain range, traveling eastward many leagues. Eragon did his best to remember the route as craggy mountains and hills flashed past. He was heading south now, still following the mountains. Then everything wheeled abruptly, and he entered a narrow, winding valley. It snaked through the mountains to the base of a frothy waterfall that pounded into a deep lake. The images stopped.It is far, said Arya,but do not let the distance dissuade you. When you arrive at the lake Kóstha-mérna at the end of the Beartooth River, take a rock, bang on the cliff next to the waterfall, and cry,Aí varden abr du Shur’tugals gata vanta.You will be admitted. You will be challenged, but do not falter no matter how perilous it seems. What should they give you for the poison?he asked. Her voice quavered, but then she regained her strength.Tell them—to give me Túnivor’s Nectar. You must leave me now… I have expended too much energy already. Do not talk with me again unless there is no hope of reaching the Varden. If that is the case, there is information I must impart to you so the Varden will survive. Farewell, Eragon, rider of dragons… my life is in your hands. Arya withdrew from their contact. The unearthly strains that had echoed across their link were gone. Eragon took a shuddering breath and forced his eyes open. Murtagh and Saphira stood on either side of him, watching with concern. “Are you all right?” asked Murtagh. “You’ve been kneeling here for almost fifteen minutes.” “I have?” asked Eragon, blinking. Yes, and grimacing like a pained gargoyle,commented Saphira dryly. Eragon stood, wincing as his cramped knees stretched. “I talked with Arya!” Murtagh frowned quizzically, as if to inquire if he had gone mad. Eragon explained, “The elf—that’s her name.” And what is it that ails her?asked Saphira impatiently. Eragon swiftly told them of his entire discussion. “How far away are the Varden?” asked Murtagh. “I’m not exactly sure,” confessed Eragon. “From what she showed me, I think it’s even farther than from here to Gil’ead.” Page 204 “And we’re supposed to cover that in three or four days?” demanded Murtagh angrily. “It took us five long days to get here! What do you want to do, kill the horses? They’re exhausted as it is.” “But if we do nothing, she’ll die! If it’s too much for the horses, Saphira can fly ahead with Arya and me; at least we would get to the Varden in time. You could catch up with us in a few days.” Murtagh grunted and crossed his arms. “Of course. Murtagh the pack animal. Murtagh the horse leader. I should have remembered that’s all I’m good for nowadays. Oh, and let’s not forget, every soldier in the Empire is searching for me now because you couldn’t defend yourself, and I had to go andsave you. Yes, I suppose I’ll just follow your instructions and bring up the horses in the rear like a good servant.” Eragon was bewildered by the sudden venom in Murtagh’s voice. “What’s wrong with you? I’m grateful for what you did. There’s no reason to be angry with me! I didn’t ask you to accompany me or to rescue me from Gil’ead. You chose that. I haven’t forced you to do anything.” “Oh, not openly, no. What else could I do but help you with the Ra’zac? And then later, at Gil’ead, how could I have left with a clear conscience? The problem with you,” said Murtagh, poking Eragon in the chest, “is that you’re so totally helpless you force everyone to take care of you!” The words stung Eragon’s pride; he recognized a grain of truth in them. “Don’t touch me,” he growled. Murtagh laughed, a harsh note in his voice. “Or what, you’ll punch me? You couldn’t hit a brick wall.” He went to shove Eragon again, but Eragon grabbed his arm and struck him in the stomach. “I said, don’t touch me!” Murtagh doubled over, swearing. Then he yelled and launched himself at Eragon. They fell in a tangle of arms and legs, pounding on each other. Eragon kicked at Murtagh’s right hip, missed, and grazed the fire. Sparks and burning embers scattered through the air. They scrabbled across the ground, trying to get leverage. Eragon managed to get his feet under Murtagh’s chest and kicked mightily. Murtagh flew upside down over Eragon’s head, landing flat on his back with a solid thump. Murtagh’s breath whooshed out. He rolled stiffly to his feet, then wheeled to face Eragon, panting heavily. They charged each other once more. Saphira’s tail slapped between them, accompanied by a deafening roar. Eragon ignored her and tried to jump over her tail, but a taloned paw caught him in midair and flung him back to the ground. Enough! He futilely tried to push Saphira’s muscled leg off his chest and saw that Murtagh was likewise pinned. Saphira roared again, snapping her jaws. She swung her head over Eragon and glared at him.You of all people should know better! Fighting like starving dogs over a scrap of meat. What would Brom say? Eragon felt his cheeks burn and averted his eyes. He knew what Brom would have said. Saphira held them on the ground, letting them simmer, then said to Eragon pointedly,Now, if you don’t want to spend the night under my foot, you will politely ask Murtagh what is troubling him. She snaked her head over to Murtagh and stared down at him with an impassive blue eye.And tell him that I won’t stand for insults from either of you. Page 205 Won’t you let us up?complained Eragon. No. Eragon reluctantly turned his head toward Murtagh, tasting blood in the side of his mouth. Murtagh avoided his eyes and looked up at the sky. “Well, is she going to get off us?” “No, not unless we talk… She wants me to ask you what’s really the problem,” said Eragon, embarrassed. Saphira growled an affirmative and continued to stare at Murtagh. It was impossible for him to escape her piercing glare. Finally he shrugged, muttering something under his breath. Saphira’s claws tightened on his chest, and her tail whistled through the air. Murtagh shot her an angry glance, then grudgingly said louder, “I told you before: I don’t want to go to the Varden.” Eragon frowned. Was that all that was the matter? “Don’t want to… or can’t?” Murtagh tried to shove Saphira’s leg off him, then gave up with a curse. “Don’t want to! They’ll expect things from me that I can’t deliver.” “Did you steal something from them?” “I wish it were that simple.” Eragon rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Well, what is it, then? Did you kill someone important or bed the wrong woman?” “No, I was born,” said Murtagh cryptically. He pushed at Saphira again. This time she released them both. They got to their feet under her watchful eye and brushed dirt from their backs. “You’re avoiding the question,” Eragon said, dabbing his split lip. “So what?” spat Murtagh as he stomped to the edge of the camp. After a minute he sighed. “It doesn’t matter why I’m in this predicament, but I can tell you that the Varden wouldn’t welcome me even if I came bearing the king’s head. Oh, they might greet me nicely enough and let me into their councils, but trust me? Never. And if I were to arrive under less fortuitous circumstances, like the present ones, they’d likely clap me in irons.” “Won’t you tell me what this is about?” asked Eragon. “I’ve done things I’m not proud of, too, so it’s not as if I’m going to pass judgment.” Murtagh shook his head slowly, eyes glistening. “It isn’t like that. I haven’tdone anything to deserve this treatment, though it would have been easier to atone for if I had. No… my only wrongdoing is existing in the first place.” He stopped and took a shaky breath. “You see, my father—” A sharp hiss from Saphira cut him off abruptly.Look! They followed her gaze westward. Murtagh’s face paled. “Demons above and below!” A league or so away, parallel to the mountain range, was a column of figures marching east. The line of troops, hundreds strong, stretched for nearly a mile. Dust billowed from their heels. Their weapons Page 206 glinted in the dying light. A standard-bearer rode before them in a black chariot, holding aloft a crimson banner. “It’s the Empire,” said Eragon tiredly. “They’ve found us… somehow.” Saphira poked her head over his shoulder and gazed at the column. “Yes… but those are Urgals, not men,” said Murtagh. “How can you tell?” Murtagh pointed at the standard. “That flag bears the personal symbol of an Urgal chieftain. He’s a ruthless brute, given to violent fits and insanity.” “You’ve met him?” Murtagh’s eyes tightened. “Once, briefly. I still have scars from that encounter. These Urgals might not have been sent here for us, but I’m sure we’ve been seen by now and that they will follow us. Their chieftain isn’t the sort to let a dragon escape his grasp, especially if he’s heard about Gil’ead.” Eragon hurried to the fire and covered it with dirt. “We have to flee! You don’t want to go to the Varden, but I have to take Arya to them before she dies. Here’s a compromise: come with me until I reach the lake Kóstha-mérna, then go your own way.” Murtagh hesitated. Eragon added quickly, “If you leave now, in sight of the column, Urgals will follow you. And then where will you be, facing them alone?” “Very well,” said Murtagh, tossing his saddlebags over Tornac’s flanks, “but when we near the Varden, Iwill leave.” Eragon burned to question Murtagh further, but not with Urgals so near. He gathered his belongings and saddled Snowfire. Saphira fanned her wings, took off in a rush, and circled above. She kept guard over Murtagh and Eragon as they left camp. What direction shall I fly?she asked. East, along the Beors. Stilling her wings, Saphira rose on an updraft and teetered on the pillar of warm air, hovering in the sky over the horses. I wonder why the Urgals are here. Maybe they were sent to attack the Varden. Then we should try to warn them,he said, guiding Snowfire past half-visible obstacles. As the night deepened, the Urgals faded into the gloom behind them. ACLASH OFWILLS When morning came, Eragon’s cheek was raw from chafing against Snowfire’s neck, and he was sore from his fight with Murtagh. They had alternated sleeping in their saddles throughout the night. It had allowed them to outdistance the Urgal troops, but neither of them knew if the lead could be retained. The horses were exhausted to the point of stopping, yet they still maintained a relentless pace. Whether it would be enough to escape depended on how rested the monsters were… and if Eragon and Murtagh’s horses survived. The Beor Mountains cast great shadows over the land, stealing the sun’s warmth. To the north was the Page 207 Hadarac Desert, a thin white band as bright as noonday snow. I must eat,said Saphira.Days have passed since I last hunted. Hunger claws my belly. If I start now, I might be able to catch enough of those bounding deer for a few mouthfuls. Eragon smiled at her exaggeration.Go if you must, but leave Arya here. I will be swift.He untied the elf from her belly and transferred her to Snowfire’s saddle. Saphira soared away, disappearing in the direction of the mountains. Eragon ran beside the horses, close enough to Snowfire to keep Arya from falling. Neither he nor Murtagh intruded on the silence. Yesterday’s fight no longer seemed as important because of the Urgals, but the bruises remained. Saphira made her kills within the hour and notified Eragon of her success. Eragon was pleased that she would soon return. Her absence made him nervous. They stopped at a pond to let the horses drink. Eragon idly plucked a stalk of grass, twirling it while he stared at the elf. He was startled from his reverie by the steely rasp of a sword being unsheathed. He instinctively grasped Zar’roc and spun around in search of the enemy. There was only Murtagh, his long sword held ready. He pointed at a hill ahead of them, where a tall, brown-cloaked man sat on a sorrel horse, mace in hand. Behind him was a group of twenty horsemen. No one moved. “Could they be Varden?” asked Murtagh. Eragon surreptitiously strung his bow. “According to Arya, they’re still scores of leagues away. This might be one of their patrols or raiding groups.” “Assuming they’re not bandits.” Murtagh swung onto Tornac and readied his own bow. “Should we try to outrun them?” asked Eragon, draping a blanket over Arya. The horsemen must have seen her, but he hoped to conceal the fact that she was an elf. “It wouldn’t do any good,” said Murtagh, shaking his head. “Tornac and Snowfire are fine war-horses, but they’re tired, and they aren’t sprinters. Look at the horses those men have; they’re meant for running. They would catch us before we had gone a half-mile. Besides, they may have something important to say. You’d better tell Saphira to hurry back.” Eragon was already doing that. He explained the situation, then warned,Don’t show yourself unless it’s necessary. We’re not in the Empire, but I still don’t want anyone to know about you. Never mind that,she replied.Remember, magic can protect you where speed and luck fail. He felt her take off and race toward them, skimming close to the ground. The band of men watched them from the hill. Eragon nervously gripped Zar’roc. The wire-wrapped hilt was secure under his glove. He said in a low voice, “If they threaten us, I can frighten them away with magic. If that doesn’t work, there’s Saphira. I wonder how they’d react to a Rider? So many stories have been told about their powers… It might be enough to avoid a fight.” “Don’t count on it,” said Murtagh flatly. “If there’s a fight, we’ll just have to kill enough of them to Page 208 convince them we’re not worth the effort.” His face was controlled and unemotional. The man on the sorrel horse signaled with his mace, sending the horsemen cantering toward them. The men shook javelins over their heads, whooping loudly as they neared. Battered sheaths hung from their sides. Their weapons were rusty and stained. Four of them trained arrows on Eragon and Murtagh. Their leader swirled the mace in the air, and his men responded with yells as they wildly encircled Eragon and Murtagh. Eragon’s lips twitched. He almost loosed a blast of magic into their midst, then restrained himself.We don’t know what they want yet, he reminded himself, containing his growing apprehension. The moment Eragon and Murtagh were thoroughly surrounded, the leader reined in his horse, then crossed his arms and examined them critically. He raised his eyebrows. “Well, these are better than the usual dregs we find! At least we got healthy ones this time. And we didn’t even have to shoot them. Grieg will be pleased.” The men chuckled. At his words, a sinking sensation filled Eragon’s gut. A suspicion stirred in his mind.Saphira… “Now as for you two,” said the leader, speaking to Eragon and Murtagh, “if you would be so good as to drop your weapons, you’ll avoid being turned into living quivers by my men.” The archers grinned suggestively; the men laughed again. Murtagh’s only movement was to shift his sword. “Who are you and what do you want? We are free men traveling through this land. You have no right to stop us.” “Oh, I have every right,” said the man contemptuously. “And as for my name,slavesdo not address their masters in that manner, unless they want to be beaten.” Eragon cursed to himself.Slavers! He remembered vividly the people he had seen at auction in Dras-Leona. Rage boiled within him. He glared at the men around him with new hatred and disgust. The lines deepened on the leader’s face. “Throw down your swords and surrender!” The slavers tensed, staring at them with cold eyes as neither Eragon nor Murtagh lowered his weapon. Eragon’s palm tingled. He heard a rustle behind him, then a loud curse. Startled, he spun around. One of the slavers had pulled the blanket off Arya, revealing her face. He gaped in astonishment, then shouted, “Torkenbrand, this one’s an elf!” The men stirred with surprise while the leader spurred his horse over to Snowfire. He looked down at Arya and whistled. “Well, ’ow much is she worth?” someone asked. Torkenbrand was quiet for a moment, then spread his hands and said, “At the very least? Fortunes upon fortunes. The Empire will pay a mountain of gold for her!” The slavers yelled with excitement and pounded each other on the back. A roar filled Eragon’s mind as Saphira banked sharply far overhead.Attack now! he cried.But let them escape if they run. She immediately folded her wings and plummeted downward. Eragon caught Murtagh’s attention with a sharp signal. Murtagh took the cue. He smashed his elbow into a slaver’s face, knocking the man out of his saddle, and jabbed his heels into Tornac. With a toss of his mane, the war-horse jumped forward, twirled around, and reared. Murtagh Page 209 brandished his sword as Tornac plunged back down, driving his forehooves into the back of the dismounted slaver. The man screamed. Before the slavers could gather their senses, Eragon scrambled out of the commotion and raised his hands, invoking words in the ancient language. A globule of indigo fire struck the ground in the midst of the fray, bursting into a fountain of molten drops that dissipated like sun-warmed dew. A second later, Saphira dropped from the sky and landed next to him. She parted her jaws, displaying her massive fangs, and bellowed. “Behold!” cried Eragon over the furor, “I am a Rider!” He raised Zar’roc over his head, the red blade dazzling in the sunlight, then pointed it at the slavers. “Flee if you wish to live!” The men shouted incoherently and scrambled over each other in their haste to escape. In the confusion, Torkenbrand was struck in the temple with a javelin. He tumbled to the ground, stunned. The men ignored their fallen leader and raced away in a ragged mass, casting fearful looks at Saphira. Torkenbrand struggled to his knees. Blood ran from his temple, branching across his cheek with crimson tendrils. Murtagh dismounted and strode over to him, sword in hand. Torkenbrand weakly raised his arm as if to ward off a blow. Murtagh gazed at him coldly, then swung his blade at Torkenbrand’s neck. “No!” shouted Eragon, but it was too late. Torkenbrand’s decapitated trunk crumpled to the ground in a puff of dirt. His head landed with a hard thump. Eragon rushed to Murtagh, his jaw working furiously. “Is your brain rotten?” he yelled, enraged. “Why did you kill him?” Murtagh wiped his sword on the back of Torkenbrand’s jerkin. The steel left a dark stain. “I don’t see why you’re so upset—” “Upset!” exploded Eragon. “I’m well past that! Did it even occur to you that we could just leave him here and continue on our way? No! Instead you turn into an executioner and chop off his head. He was defenseless!” Murtagh seemed perplexed by Eragon’s wrath. “Well, we couldn’t keep him around—hewas dangerous. The others ran off… without a horse he wouldn’t have made it far. I didn’t want the Urgals to find him and learn about Arya. So I thought it would—” “But tokill him?” interrupted Eragon. Saphira sniffed Torkenbrand’s head curiously. She opened her mouth slightly, as if to snap it up, then appeared to decide better of it and prowled to Eragon’s side. “I’m only trying to stay alive,” stated Murtagh. “No stranger’s life is more important than my own.” “But you can’t indulge in wanton violence. Where is your empathy?” growled Eragon, pointing at the head. “Empathy? Empathy? What empathy can I afford my enemies? Shall I dither about whether to defend myself because it will cause someone pain? If that had been the case, I would have died years ago! You must be willing to protect yourself and what you cherish, no matter what the cost.” Eragon slammed Zar’roc back into its sheath, shaking his head savagely. “You can justify any atrocity with that reasoning.” “Do you think I enjoy this?” Murtagh shouted. “My life has been threatened from the day I was born! All of my waking hours have been spent avoiding danger in one form or another. And sleep never comes Page 210 easily because I always worry if I’ll live to see the dawn. If there ever was a time I felt secure, it must have been in my mother’s womb, though I wasn’t safe even there! You don’t understand—if you lived with thisfear, you would have learned the same lesson I did:Do not take chances. ” He gestured at Torkenbrand’s body. “He was a risk that I removed. I refuse to repent, and I won’t plague myself over what is done and past.” Eragon shoved his face into Murtagh’s. “It was still the wrong thing to do.” He lashed Arya to Saphira, then climbed onto Snowfire. “Let’s go.” Murtagh guided Tornac around Torkenbrand’s prone form in the bloodstained dust. They rode at a rate that Eragon would have thought impossible a week ago; leagues melted away before them as if wings were attached to their feet. They turned south, between two outstretched arms of the Beor Mountains. The arms were shaped like pincers about to close, the tips a day’s travel apart. Yet the distance seemed less because of the mountains’ size. It was as if they were in a valley made for giants. When they stopped for the day, Eragon and Murtagh ate dinner in silence, refusing to look up from their food. Afterward, Eragon said tersely, “I’ll take the first watch.” Murtagh nodded and lay on his blankets with his back to Eragon. Do you want to talk?asked Saphira. Not right now,murmured Eragon.Give me some time to think; I’m… confused. She withdrew from his mind with a gentle touch and a whisper.I love you, little one. And I you,he said. She curled into a ball next to him, lending him her warmth. He sat motionless in the dark, wrestling with his disquiet. FLIGHTTHROUGH THEVALLEY In the morning Saphira took off with both Eragon and Arya. Eragon wanted to get away from Murtagh for a time. He shivered, pulling his clothes tighter. It looked like it might snow. Saphira ascended lazily on an updraft and asked,What are you thinking? Eragon contemplated the Beor Mountains, which towered above them even though Saphira flew far above the ground.That was murder yesterday. I’ve no other word for it. Saphira banked to the left. It was a hasty deed and ill considered, but Murtagh tried to do the right thing. The men who buy and sell other humans deserve every misfortune that befalls them. If we weren’t committed to helping Arya, I would hunt down every slaver and tear them apart! Yes,said Eragon miserably,but Torkenbrand was helpless. He couldn’t shield himself or run. A moment more and he probably would have surrendered. Murtagh didn’t give him that chance. If Torkenbrand had at least been able to fight, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Eragon, even if Torkenbrand had fought, the results would have been the same. You know as well as I do that few can equal you or Murtagh with the blade. Torkenbrand would have still died, though you seem to think it would have been more just or honorable in a mismatched duel. Page 211 I don’t know what’s right!admitted Eragon, distressed.There aren’t any answers that make sense. Sometimes,said Saphira gently,there are no answers. Learn what you can about Murtagh from this. Then forgive him. And if you can’t forgive, at least forget, for he meant you no harm, however rash the act was. Your head is still attached, yes? Frowning, Eragon shifted in the saddle. He shook himself, like a horse trying to rid itself of a fly, and checked Murtagh’s position over Saphira’s shoulder. A patch of color farther back along their route caught his attention. Camped by a streambed they had crossed late yesterday were the Urgals. Eragon’s heartbeat quickened. How could the Urgals be on foot, yet still gain on them? Saphira saw the monsters as well and tilted her wings, brought them close to her body, and slipped into a steep dive, splitting the air.I don’t think they spotted us, she said. Eragon hoped not. He squinted against the blast of air as she increased the angle of their dive.Their chieftain must be driving them at a breakneck pace, he said. Yes—maybe they’ll all die of exhaustion. When they landed, Murtagh asked curtly, “What now?” “The Urgals are overtaking us,” said Eragon. He pointed back toward the column’s camp. “How far do we still have to go?” asked Murtagh, putting his hands against the sky and measuring the hours until sunset. “Normally? …I would guess another five days. At the speed we’ve been traveling, only three. But unless we get there tomorrow, the Urgals will probably catch us, and Arya will certainly die.” “She might last another day.” “We can’t count on it,” objected Eragon. “The only way we can get to the Varden in time is if we don’t stop for anything, least of all sleep. That’s our only chance.” Murtagh laughed bitterly. “How can you expect to do that? We’ve already gone days without adequate sleep. Unless Riders are made of different stuff than us mortals, you’re as tired as I am. We’ve covered a staggering distance, and the horses, in case you haven’t noticed, are ready to drop. Another day of this might kill us all.” Eragon shrugged. “So be it. We don’t have a choice.” Murtagh gazed at the mountains. “I could leave and let you fly ahead with Saphira… That would force the Urgals to divide their troops and would give you a better chance of reaching the Varden.” “It would be suicide,” said Eragon, crossing his arms. “Somehow those Urgals are faster on foot than we are on horseback. They would run you down like a deer. The only way to evade them is to find sanctuary with the Varden.” Despite his words, he was unsure if he wanted Murtagh to stay.I like him, Eragon confessed to himself,but I’m no longer certain if that’s a good thing. “I’ll escape later,” said Murtagh abruptly. “When we get to the Varden, I can disappear down a side Page 212 valley and find my way to Surda, where I can hide without attracting too much attention.” “So you’re staying?” “Sleep or no sleep, I’ll see you to the Varden,” promised Murtagh. With newfound determination, they struggled to distance themselves from the Urgals, yet their pursuers continued to creep nearer. At nightfall the monsters were a third closer than they had been that morning. As fatigue eroded his and Murtagh’s strength, they slept in turns on the horses, while whoever was awake led the animals in the right direction. Eragon relied heavily on Arya’s memories to guide them. Because of the alien nature of her mind, he sometimes made mistakes as to the route, costing them precious time. They gradually angled toward the foothills of the eastern arm of mountains, looking for the valley that would lead them to the Varden. Midnight arrived and passed without any sign of it. When the sun returned, they were pleased to see that the Urgals were far behind. “This is the last day,” said Eragon, yawning widely. “If we’re not reasonably close to the Varden by noon, I’m going to fly ahead with Arya. You’ll be free to go wherever you want then, but you’ll have to take Snowfire with you. I won’t be able to come back for him.” “That might not be necessary; we could still get there in time,” said Murtagh. He rubbed the pommel of his sword. Eragon shrugged. “We could.” He went to Arya and put a hand on her forehead. It was damp and dangerously hot. Her eyes wandered uneasily beneath her eyelids, as if she suffered a nightmare. Eragon pressed a damp rag to her brow, wishing he could do more. Late in the morning, after they circumnavigated an especially broad mountain, Eragon saw a narrow valley tucked against its far side. The valley was so restricted it could easily be overlooked. The Beartooth River, which Arya had mentioned, flowed out of it and looped carelessly across the land. He smiled with relief; that was where they needed to go. Looking back, Eragon was alarmed to see that the distance between them and the Urgals had shrunk to little more than a league. He pointed out the valley to Murtagh. “If we can slip in there without being seen, it might confuse them.” Murtagh looked skeptical. “It’s worth a try. But they’ve followed us easily enough so far.” As they approached the valley, they passed under the knotted branches of the Beor Mountains’ forest. The trees were tall, with creviced bark that was almost black, dull needles of the same color, and knobby roots that rose from the soil like bare knees. Cones littered the ground, each the size of a horse’s head. Sable squirrels chattered from the treetops, and eyes gleamed from holes in the trunks. Green beards of tangled wolfsbane hung from the gnarled branches. Page 213 The forest gave Eragon an uneasy feeling; the hair on the back of his neck prickled. There was something hostile in the air, as if the trees resented their intrusion.They are very old, said Saphira, touching a trunk with her nose. Yes,said Eragon,but not friendly.The forest grew denser the farther in they traveled. The lack of space forced Saphira to take off with Arya. Without a clear trail to follow, the tough underbrush slowed Eragon and Murtagh. The Beartooth River wound next to them, filling the air with the sound of gurgling water. A nearby peak obscured the sun, casting them into premature dusk. At the valley’s mouth, Eragon realized that although it looked like a slim gash between the peaks, the valley was really as wide as many of the Spine’s vales. It was only the enormous size of the ridged and shadowy mountains that made it appear so confined. Waterfalls dotted its sheer sides. The sky was reduced to a thin strip winding overhead, mostly hidden by gray clouds. From the dank ground rose a clinging fog that chilled the air until their breath was visible. Wild strawberries crawled among a carpet of mosses and ferns, fighting for the meager sunlight. Sprouting on piles of rotting wood were red and yellow toadstools. All was hushed and quiet, sounds dampened by the heavy air. Saphira landed by them in a nearby glade, the rush of her wings strangely muted. She took in the view with a swing of her head.I just passed a flock of birds that were black and green with red markings on their wings. I’ve never seen birds like that before. Everything in these mountains seems unusual,replied Eragon.Do you mind if I ride you awhile? I want to keep an eye on the Urgals. Of course. He turned to Murtagh. “The Varden are hidden at the end of this valley. If we hurry, we might get there before nightfall.” Murtagh grunted, hands on his hips. “How am I going to get out of here? I don’t see any valleys joining this one, and the Urgals are going to hem us in pretty soon. I need an escape route.” “Don’t worry about it,” said Eragon impatiently. “This is a long valley; there’s sure to be an exit further in.” He released Arya from Saphira and lifted the elf onto Snowfire. “Watch Arya—I’m going to fly with Saphira. We’ll meet you up ahead.” He scrambled onto Saphira’s back and strapped himself onto her saddle. “Be careful,” Murtagh warned, his brow furrowed in thought, then clucked to the horses and hurried back into the forest. As Saphira jumped toward the sky, Eragon said,Do you think you could fly up to one of those peaks? We might be able to spot our destination, as well as a passage for Murtagh. I don’t want to listen to him griping through the entire valley. We can try,agreed Saphira,but it will get much colder. I’m dressed warmly. Hold on, then!Saphira suddenly swooped straight up, throwing him back in the saddle. Her wings flapped strongly, driving their weight upward. The valley shrank to a green line below them. The Page 214 Beartooth River shimmered like braided silver where light struck it. They rose to the cloud layer, and icy moisture saturated the air. A formless gray blanket engulfed them, limiting their vision to an arm’s length. Eragon hoped they would not collide with anything in the murk. He stuck out a hand experimentally, swinging it through the air. Water condensed on it and ran down his arm, soaking his sleeve. A blurred gray mass fluttered past his head, and he glimpsed a dove, its wings pumping frantically. There was a white band around its leg. Saphira struck at the bird, tongue lashing out, jaws gaping. The dove squawked as Saphira’s sharp teeth snapped together a hair’s breadth behind its tail feathers. Then it darted away and disappeared into the haze, the frenzied thumping of its wings fading to silence. When they breached the top of the clouds, Saphira’s scales were covered with thousands of water droplets that reflected tiny rainbows and shimmered with the blue of her scales. Eragon shook himself, spraying water from his clothes, and shivered. He could no longer see the ground, only hills of clouds snaking between the mountains. The trees on the mountains gave way to thick glaciers, blue and white under the sun. The glare from the snow forced Eragon to close his eyes. He tried to open them after a minute, but the light dazzled him. Irritated, he stared into the crook of his arm.How can you stand it? he asked Saphira. My eyes are stronger than yours,she replied. It was frigid. The water in Eragon’s hair froze, giving him a shiny helmet. His shirt and pants were hard shells around his limbs. Saphira’s scales became slick with ice; hoarfrost laced her wings. They had never flown this high before, yet the mountaintops were still miles above them. Saphira’s flapping gradually slowed, and her breathing became labored. Eragon gasped and panted; there didn’t seem to be enough air. Fighting back panic, he clutched Saphira’s neck spikes for support. We… have to get out of here,he said. Red dots swam before his eyes.I can’t… breathe. Saphira seemed not to hear him, so he repeated the message, louder this time. Again there was no response.She can’t hear me, he realized. He swayed, finding it hard to think, then pounded on her side and shouted, “Take us down!” The effort made him lightheaded. His vision faded into swirling darkness. He regained consciousness as they emerged from the bottom of the clouds. His head was pounding. What happened? he asked, pushing himself upright and looking around with confusion. You blacked out,answered Saphira. He tried to run his fingers through his hair, but stopped when he felt icicles.Yes, I know that, but why didn’t you answer me? My brain was confused. Your words didn’t make any sense. When you lost consciousness, I knew something was wrong and descended. I didn’t have to sink far before I realized what had occurred. It’s a good thing you didn’t pass out as well,said Eragon with a nervous laugh. Saphira only swished her Page 215 tail. He looked wistfully at where the mountain peaks were now concealed by clouds.A pity we couldn’t stand upon one of those summits… Well, now we know: we can only fly out of this valley the way we came in. Why did we run out of air? How can we have it down here, but not up above? I don’t know, but I’ll never dare to fly so close to the sun again. We should remember this experience. The knowledge may be useful if we ever have to fight another Rider. I hope that never happens,said Eragon.Let’s stay down below for now. I’ve had enough adventure for one day. They floated on the gentle air currents, drifting from one mountain to the next, until Eragon saw that the Urgal column had reached the valley’s mouth.What drives them to such speed, and how can they bear to sustain it? Now that we are closer to them,Saphira said,I can see that these Urgals are bigger than the ones we’ve met before. They would stand chest and shoulders over a tall man. I don’t know what land they march from, but it must be a fierce place to produce such brutes. Eragon glared at the ground below—he could not see the detail that she did.If they keep to this pace, they’ll catch Murtagh before we find the Varden. Have hope. The forest may hamper their progress… Would it be possible to stop them with magic? Eragon shook his head.Stop them… no. There are too many. He thought of the thin layer of mist on the valley floor and grinned.But I might be able to delay them a bit. He closed his eyes, selected the words he needed, stared at the mist, and then commanded, “Gath un reisa du rakr!” There was a disturbance below. From above, it looked as if the ground was flowing together like a great sluggish river. A leaden band of mist gathered in front of the Urgals and thickened into an intimidating wall, dark as a thunderhead. The Urgals hesitated before it, then continued forward like an unstoppable battering ram. The barrier swirled around them, concealing the lead ranks from view. The drain on Eragon’s strength was sudden and massive, making his heart flutter like a dying bird. He gasped, eyes rolling. He struggled to sever the magic’s hold on him—to plug the breach through which his life streamed. With a savage growl he jerked away from the magic and broke contact. Tendrils of magic snapped through his mind like decapitated snakes, then reluctantly retreated from his consciousness, clutching at the dregs of his strength. The wall of mist dissipated, and the fog sluggishly collapsed across the ground like a tower of mud sliding apart. The Urgals had not been hindered at all. Eragon lay limply on Saphira, panting. Only now did he remember Brom saying, “Magic is affected by distance, just like an arrow or a spear. If you try to lift or move something a mile away, it’ll take more energy than if you were closer.”I won’t forget that again, he thought grimly. You shouldn’t have forgotten in the first place,Saphira inserted pointedly.First the dirt at Gil’ead and now this. Weren’t you paying attention to anything Brom told you? You’ll kill yourself if you keep this up. I paid attention,he insisted, rubbing his chin. It’s just been a while, and I haven’t had an opportunity to think back on it. I’ve never used magic at a distance, so how could I know it would be so difficult? She growled.Next thing I know you’ll be trying to bring corpses back to life. Don’t forget what Brom said about that, too. Page 216 I won’t,he said impatiently. Saphira dipped toward the ground, searching for Murtagh and the horses. Eragon would have helped her, but he barely had the energy to sit up. Saphira settled in a small field with a jolt, and Eragon was puzzled to see the horses stopped and Murtagh kneeling, examining the ground. When Eragon did not dismount, Murtagh hurried over and inquired, “What’s wrong?” He sounded angry, worried, and tired at the same time. “…I made a mistake,” said Eragon truthfully. “The Urgals have entered the valley. I tried to confuse them, but I forgot one of the rules of magic, and it cost me a great deal.” Scowling, Murtagh jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I just found some wolf tracks, but the footprints are as wide as both of my hands and an inch deep. There are animals around here that could be dangerous even to you, Saphira.” He turned to her. “I know you can’t enter the forest, but could you circle above me and the horses? That should keep these beasts away. Otherwise there may only be enough left of me to roast in a thimble.” “Humor, Murtagh?” asked Eragon, a quick smile coming to his face. His muscles trembled, making it hard for him to concentrate. “Only on the gallows.” Murtagh rubbed his eyes. “I can’t believe that the same Urgals have been following us the whole time. They would have to be birds to catch up with us.” “Saphira said they’re larger than any we’ve seen,” remarked Eragon. Murtagh cursed, clenching the pommel of his sword. “That explains it! Saphira, if you’re right, then those are Kull, elite of the Urgals. I should have guessed that the chieftain had been put in charge of them. They don’t ride because horses can’t carry their weight—not one of them is under eight feet tall—and they can run for days without sleep and still be ready for battle. It can take five men to kill one. Kull never leave their caves except for war, so they must expect a great slaughter if they are out in such force.” “Can we stay ahead of them?” “Who knows?” said Murtagh. “They’re strong, determined, and large in numbers. It’s possible that we may have to face them. If that happens, I only hope that the Varden have men posted nearby who’ll help us. Despite our skill and Saphira, we can’t hold off Kull.” Eragon swayed. “Could you get me some bread? I need to eat.” Murtagh quickly brought him part of a loaf. It was old and hard, but Eragon chewed on it gratefully. Murtagh scanned the valley walls, worry in his eyes. Eragon knew he was searching for a way out. “There’ll be one farther in.” “Of course,” said Murtagh with forced optimism, then slapped his thigh. “We must go.” “How is Arya?” asked Eragon. Murtagh shrugged. “The fever’s worse. She’s been tossing and turning. What do you expect? Her strength is failing. You should fly her to the Varden before the poison does any more damage.” “I won’t leave you behind,” insisted Eragon, gaining strength with each bite. “Not with the Urgals so near.” Page 217 Murtagh shrugged again. “As you wish. But I’m warning you, she won’t live if you stay with me.” “Don’t say that,” insisted Eragon, pushing himself upright in Saphira’s saddle. “Help me save her. We can still do it. Consider it a life for a life—atonement for Torkenbrand’s death.” Murtagh’s face darkened instantly. “It’s not a debt owed. You—” He stopped as a horn echoed through the dark forest. “I’ll have more to say to you later,” he said shortly, stomping to the horses. He grabbed their reins and trotted away, shooting an angry glare at Eragon. Eragon closed his eyes as Saphira took flight. He wished that he could lie on a soft bed and forget all their troubles. Saphira,he said at last, cupping his ears to warm them, what if we did take Arya to the Varden? Once she was safe, we could fly back to Murtagh and help him out of here. The Varden wouldn’t let you,said Saphira.For all they know, you might be returning to inform the Urgals of their hiding place. We aren’t arriving under the best conditions to gain their trust. They’ll want to know why we’ve brought an entire company of Kull to their very gates. We’ll just have to tell them the truth and hope they believe us,said Eragon. And what will we do if the Kull attack Murtagh? Fight them, of course! I won’t let him and Arya be captured or killed,said Eragon indignantly. There was a touch of sarcasm in her words.How noble. Oh, we would fell many of the Urgals—you with magic and blade, whilst my weapons would be tooth and claw—but it would be futile in the end. They are too numerous… We cannot defeat them, only be defeated. What, then?he demanded.I’ll not leave Arya or Murtagh to their mercy. Saphira waved her tail, the tip whistling loudly.I’m not asking you to. However, if we attack first, we may gain the advantage. Have you gone crazy? They’ll…Eragon’s voice trailed off as he thought about it.They won’t be able to do a thing, he concluded, surprised. Exactly,said Saphira.We can inflict lots of damage from a safe height. Let’s drop rocks on them!proposed Eragon.That should scatter them. If their skulls aren’t thick enough to protect them.Saphira banked to the right and quickly descended to the Beartooth River. She grasped a mid-sized boulder with her strong talons while Eragon scooped up several fist-sized rocks. Laden with the stones, Saphira glided on silent wings until they were over the Urgal host.Now! she exclaimed, releasing the boulder. There were muffled cracks as the missiles plummeted through the forest top, smashing branches. A second later howls echoed through the valley. Eragon smiled tightly as he heard the Urgals scramble for cover.Let’s find more ammunition, he suggested, bending low over Saphira. She growled in agreement and returned to the riverbed. It was hard work, but they were able to hinder the Urgals’ progress—though it was impossible to stop them altogether. The Urgals gained ground whenever Saphira went for stones. Despite that, their efforts allowed Murtagh to stay ahead of the advancing column. Page 218 The valley darkened as the hours slipped by. Without the sun to provide warmth, the sharp bite of frost crept into the air and the ground mist froze on the trees, coating them white. Night animals began to creep from their dens to peer from shadowed hideouts at the strangers trespassing on their land. Eragon continued to examine the mountainsides, searching for the waterfall that would signify the end of their journey. He was painfully aware that every passing minute brought Arya closer to death. “Faster, faster,” he muttered to himself, looking down at Murtagh. Before Saphira scooped up more rocks, he said,Let’s take a respite and check on Arya. The day is almost over, and I’m afraid her life is measured in hours, if not minutes. Arya’s life is in Fate’s hands now. You made your choice to stay with Murtagh; it’s too late to change that, so stop agonizing over it… You’re making my scales itch. The best thing we can do right now is to keep bombarding the Urgals.Eragon knew she was right, yet her words did nothing to calm his anxiety. He resumed his search for the waterfall, but whatever lay before them was hidden by a thick mountain ridge. True darkness began to fill the valley, settling over the trees and mountains like an inky cloud. Even with her keen hearing and delicate sense of smell, Saphira could no longer locate the Urgals through the dense forest. There was no moon to help them; it would be hours before it rose above the mountains. Saphira made a long, gentle left turn and glided around the mountain ridge. Eragon vaguely sensed it pass by them, then squinted as he saw a faint white line ahead.Could that be the waterfall? he wondered. He looked at the sky, which still held the afterglow of sunset. The mountains’ dark silhouettes curved together and formed a rough bowl that closed off the valley.The head of the valley isn’t much farther! he exclaimed, pointing at the mountains.Do you think that the Varden know we’re coming? Maybe they’ll send men out to help us. I doubt they’ll assist us until they know if we are friend or foe,Saphira said as she abruptly dropped toward the ground.I’m returning to Murtagh—we should stay with him now. Since I can’t find the Urgals, they could sneak up on him without us knowing. Eragon loosened Zar’roc in its sheath, wondering if he was strong enough to fight. Saphira landed to the left of the Beartooth River, then crouched expectantly. The waterfall rumbled in the distance.He comes, she said. Eragon strained his ears and caught the sound of pounding hooves. Murtagh ran out of the forest, driving the horses before him. He saw them but did not slow. Eragon jumped off Saphira, stumbling a bit as he matched Murtagh’s pace. Behind him Saphira went to the river so she could follow them without being hindered by the trees. Before Eragon could relay his news, Murtagh said, “I saw you dropping rocks with Saphira—ambitious. Have the Kull stopped or turned back?” “They’re still behind us, but we’re almost to the head of the valley. How’s Arya?” “She hasn’t died,” Murtagh said harshly. His breath came in short bursts. His next words were deceptively calm, like those of a man concealing a terrible passion. “Is there a valley or gorge ahead that I can leave through?” Apprehensive, Eragon tried to remember if he had seen any breaks in the mountains around them; he had not thought about Murtagh’s dilemma for a while. “It’s dark,” he began evasively, dodging a low Page 219 branch, “so I might have missed something, but… no.” Murtagh swore explosively and came to an abrupt stop, dragging on the horses’ reins until they halted as well. “Are you saying that the only place I can go is to the Varden?” “Yes, but keep running. The Urgals are almost upon us!” “No!” said Murtagh angrily. He stabbed a finger at Eragon. “I warned you that I wouldn’t go to the Varden, but you went ahead and trapped me between a hammer and an anvil! You’re the one with the elf’s memories. Why didn’t you tell me this was a dead end?” Eragon bristled at the barrage and retorted, “All I knew was where we had to go, not what lay in between. Don’t blame me for choosing to come.” Murtagh’s breath hissed between his teeth as he furiously spun away. All Eragon could see of him was a motionless, bowed figure. His own shoulders were tense, and a vein throbbed on the side of his neck. He put his hands on his hips, impatience rising. Why have you stopped?asked Saphira, alarmed. Don’t distract me.“What’s your quarrel with the Varden? It can’t be so terrible that you must keep it hidden even now. Would you rather fight the Kull than reveal it? How many times will we go through this before you trust me?” There was a long silence. The Urgals!reminded Saphira urgently. I know,said Eragon, pushing back his temper.But we have to resolve this. Quickly, quickly. “Murtagh,” said Eragon earnestly, “unless you wish to die, we must go to the Varden. Don’t let me walk into their arms without knowing how they will react to you. It’s going to be dangerous enough without unnecessary surprises.” Finally Murtagh turned to Eragon. His breathing was hard and fast, like that of a cornered wolf. He paused, then said with a tortured voice, “You have a right to know. I… I am the son of Morzan, first and last of the Forsworn.” THEHORNS OF ADILEMMA Eragon was speechless. Disbelief roared through his mind as he tried to reject Murtagh’s words.The Forsworn never had any children, least of all Morzan. Morzan! The man who betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix and remained the king’s favorite servant for the rest of his life. Could it be true? Saphira’s own shock reached him a second later. She crashed through trees and brush as she barreled from the river to his side, fangs bared, tail raised threateningly.Be ready for anything, she warned.He may be able to use magic. “You are his heir?” asked Eragon, surreptitiously reaching for Zar’roc.What could he want with me? Is Page 220 he really working for the king? “I didn’t choose this!” cried Murtagh, anguish twisting his face. He ripped at his clothes with a desperate air, tearing off his tunic and shirt to bare his torso. “Look!” he pleaded, and turned his back to Eragon. Unsure, Eragon leaned forward, straining his eyes in the darkness. There, against Murtagh’s tanned and muscled skin, was a knotted white scar that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip—a testament to some terrible agony. “See that?” demanded Murtagh bitterly. He talked quickly now, as if relieved to have his secret finally revealed. “I was only three when I got it. During one of his many drunken rages, Morzan threw his sword at me as I ran by. My back was laid open by the very sword you now carry—the only thing I expected to receive as inheritance, until Brom stole it from my father’s corpse. I was lucky, I suppose—there was a healer nearby who kept me from dying. You must understand, I don’t love the Empire or the king. I have no allegiance to them, nor do I mean you harm!” His pleas were almost frantic. Eragon uneasily lifted his hand from Zar’roc’s pommel. “Then your father,” he said in a faltering voice, “was killed by…” “Yes, Brom,” said Murtagh. He pulled his tunic back on with a detached air. A horn rang out behind them, prompting Eragon to cry, “Come, run with me.” Murtagh shook the horses’ reins and forced them into a tired trot, eyes fixed straight ahead, while Arya bounced limply in Snowfire’s saddle. Saphira stayed by Eragon’s side, easily keeping pace with her long legs.You could walk unhindered in the riverbed, he said as she was forced to smash through a dense web of branches. I’ll not leave you with him. Eragon was glad for her protection.Morzan’s son! He said between strides, “Your tale is hard to believe. How do I know you aren’t lying?” “Why would I lie?” “You could be—” Murtagh interrupted him quickly. “I can’t prove anything to you now. Keep your doubts until we reach the Varden. They’ll recognize me quickly enough.” “I must know,” pressed Eragon. “Do you serve the Empire?” “No. And if I did, what would I accomplish by traveling with you? If I were trying to capture or kill you, I would have left you in prison.” Murtagh stumbled as he jumped over a fallen log. “You could be leading the Urgals to the Varden.” “Then,” said Murtagh shortly, “why am I still with you? I know where the Varden are now. What reason could I have for delivering myself to them? If I were going to attack them, I’d turn around and join the Urgals.” “Maybe you’re an assassin,” stated Eragon flatly. Page 221 “Maybe. You can’t really know, can you?” Saphira?Eragon asked simply. Her tail swished over his head.If he wanted to harm you, he could have done it long ago. A branch whipped Eragon’s neck, causing a line of blood to appear on his skin. The waterfall was growing louder.I want you to watch Murtagh closely when we get to the Varden. He may do something foolish, and I don’t want him killed by accident. I’ll do my best,she said as she shouldered her way between two trees, scraping off slabs of bark. The horn sounded behind them again. Eragon glanced over his shoulder, expecting Urgals to rush out of the darkness. The waterfall throbbed dully ahead of them, drowning out the sounds of the night. The forest ended, and Murtagh pulled the horses to a stop. They were on a pebble beach directly to the left of the mouth of the Beartooth River. The deep lake Kóstha-mérna filled the valley, blocking their way. The water gleamed with flickering starlight. The mountain walls restricted passage around Kóstha-mérna to a thin strip of shore on either side of the lake, both no more than a few steps wide. At the lake’s far end, a broad sheet of water tumbled down a black cliff into boiling mounds of froth. “Do we go to the falls?” asked Murtagh tightly. “Yes.” Eragon took the lead and picked his way along the lake’s left side. The pebbles underfoot were damp and slime covered. There was barely enough room for Saphira between the sheer valley wall and the lake; she had to walk with two feet in the water. They were halfway to the waterfall when Murtagh warned, “Urgals!” Eragon whirled around, rocks spraying from under his heel. By the shore of Kóstha-mérna, where they had been only minutes before, hulking figures streamed out of the forest. The Urgals massed before the lake. One of them gestured at Saphira; guttural words drifted over the water. Immediately the horde split and started around both sides of the lake, leaving Eragon and Murtagh without an escape route. The narrow shore forced the bulky Kull to march single file. “Run!” barked Murtagh, drawing his sword and slapping the horses on their flanks. Saphira took off without warning and wheeled back toward the Urgals. “No!” cried Eragon, shouting with his mind,Come back!but she continued, heedless to his pleas. With an agonizing effort, he tore his gaze from her and plunged forward, wrenching Zar’roc from its sheath. Saphira dived at the Urgals, bellowing fiercely. They tried to scatter but were trapped against the mountainside. She caught a Kull between her talons and carried the screaming creature aloft, tearing at him with her fangs. The silent body crashed into the lake a moment later, an arm and a leg missing. The Kull continued around Kóstha-mérna undeterred. With smoke streaming from her nostrils, Saphira dived at them again. She twisted and rolled as a cloud of black arrows shot toward her. Most of the darts glanced off her scaled sides, leaving no more than bruises, but she roared as the rest pierced her wings. Eragon’s arms twinged with sympathetic pain, and he had to restrain himself from rushing to her defense. Fear flooded his veins as he saw the line of Urgals closing in on them. He tried to run faster, but his Page 222 muscles were too tired, the rocks too slippery. Then, with a loud splash, Saphira plunged into Kóstha-mérna. She submerged completely, sending ripples across the lake. The Urgals nervously eyed the dark water lapping their feet. One growled something indecipherable and jabbed his spear at the lake. The water exploded as Saphira’s head shot out of the depths. Her jaws closed on the spear, breaking it like a twig as she tore it out of the Kull’s hands with a vicious twist. Before she could seize the Urgal himself, his companions thrust at her with their spears, bloodying her nose. Saphira jerked back and hissed angrily, beating the water with her tail. Keeping his spear pointed at her, the lead Kull tried to edge past, but halted when she snapped at his legs. The string of Urgals was forced to stop as she held him at bay. Meanwhile, the Kull on the other side of the lake still hurried toward the falls. I’ve trapped them,she told Eragon tersely,but hurry—I cannot hold them long.Archers on the shore were already taking aim at her. Eragon concentrated on going faster, but a rock gave under his boot and he pitched forward. Murtagh’s strong arm kept him on his feet, and clasping each other’s forearms, they urged the horses forward with shouts. They were almost to the waterfall. The noise was overwhelming, like an avalanche. A white wall of water gushed down the cliff, pounding the rocks below with a fury that sent mist spraying through the air to run down their faces. Four yards from the thunderous curtain, the beach widened, giving them room to maneuver. Saphira roared as an Urgal spear grazed her haunch, then retreated underwater. With her withdrawal the Kull rushed forward with long strides. They were only a few hundred feet away. “What do we do now?” Murtagh demanded coldly. “I don’t know. Let me think!” cried Eragon, searching Arya’s memories for her final instructions. He scanned the ground until he found a rock the size of an apple, grabbed it, then pounded on the cliff next to the falls, shouting, “Aí varden abr du Shur’tugals gata vanta!” Nothing happened. He tried again, shouting louder than before, but only succeeded in bruising his hand. He turned in despair to Murtagh. “We’re trap—” His words were cut off as Saphira leapt out of the lake, dousing them with icy water. She landed on the beach and crouched, ready to fight. The horses backpedaled wildly, trying to bolt. Eragon reached out with his mind to steady them.Behind you! cried Saphira. He turned and glimpsed the lead Urgal running at him, heavy spear raised. Up close a Kull was as tall as a small giant, with legs and arms as thick as tree trunks. Murtagh drew back his arm and threw his sword with incredible speed. The long weapon revolved once, then struck the Kull point first in the chest with a dull crunch. The huge Urgal toppled to the ground with a strangled gurgle. Before another Kull could attack, Murtagh dashed forward and yanked his sword out of the body. Eragon raised his palm, shouting, “Jierda theirra kalfis!” Sharp cracks resounded off the cliff. Twenty of the charging Urgals fell into Kóstha-mérna, howling and clutching their legs where shards of bone protruded. Without breaking stride, the rest of the Urgals advanced over their fallen companions. Eragon Page 223 struggled against his weariness, putting a hand on Saphira for support. A flight of arrows, impossible to see in the darkness, brushed past them and clattered against the cliff. Eragon and Murtagh ducked, covering their heads. With a small growl, Saphira jumped over them so that her armored sides shielded them and the horses. A chorus of clinks sounded as a second volley of arrows bounced off her scales. “What now?” shouted Murtagh. There was still no opening in the cliff. “We can’t stay here!” Eragon heard Saphira snarl as an arrow caught the edge of her wing, tearing the thin membrane. He looked around wildly, trying to understand why Arya’s instructions had not worked. “I don’t know! This is where we’re supposed to be!” “Why don’t you ask the elf to make sure?” demanded Murtagh. He dropped his sword, snatched his bow from Tornac’s saddlebags, and with a swift motion loosed an arrow from between the spikes on Saphira’s back. A moment later an Urgal toppled into the water. “Now? She’s barely alive! How’s she going to find the energy to say anything?” “I don’tknow,” shouted Murtagh, “but you’d better think ofsomething because we can’t stave off an entire army!” Eragon,growled Saphira urgently. What! We’re on the wrong side of the lake! I’ve seen Arya’s memories through you, and I just realized that this isn’t the right place.She tucked her head against her breast as another flight of arrows sped toward them. Her tail flicked in pain as they struck her.I can’t keep this up! They’re tearing me to pieces! Eragon slammed Zar’roc back into its sheath and exclaimed, “The Varden are on the other side of the lake. We have to go through the waterfall!” He noted with dread that the Urgals across Kóstha-mérna were almost to the falls. Murtagh’s eyes shot toward the violent deluge blocking their way. “We’ll never get the horses through there, even if we can hold our own footing.” “I’ll convince them to follow us,” snapped Eragon. “And Saphira can carry Arya.” The Urgals’ cries and bellows made Snowfire snort angrily. The elf lolled on his back, oblivious to the danger. Murtagh shrugged. “It’s better than being hacked to death.” He swiftly cut Arya loose from Snowfire’s saddle, and Eragon caught the elf as she slid to the ground. I’m ready,said Saphira, rising into a half-crouch. The approaching Urgals hesitated, unsure of her intentions. “Now!” cried Eragon. He and Murtagh heaved Arya onto Saphira, then secured her legs in the saddle’s straps. The second they were finished, Saphira swept up her wings and soared over the lake. The Urgals behind her howled as they saw her escaping. Arrows clattered off her belly. The Kull on the other shore redoubled their pace so as to attain the waterfall before she landed. Page 224 Eragon reached out with his mind to force himself into the frightened thoughts of the horses. Using the ancient language, he told them that unless they swam through the waterfall, they would be killed and eaten by the Urgals. Though they did not understand everything he said, the meaning of his words was unmistakable. Snowfire and Tornac tossed their heads, then dashed into the thundering downpour, whinnying as it struck their backs. They floundered, struggling to stay above water. Murtagh sheathed his sword and jumped after them; his head disappeared under a froth of bubbles before he bobbed up, sputtering. The Urgals were right behind Eragon; he could hear their feet crunching on the gravel. With a fierce war cry he leapt after Murtagh, closing his eyes a second before the cold water pummeled him. The tremendous weight of the waterfall slammed down on his shoulders with backbreaking force. The water’s mindless roar filled his ears. He was driven to the bottom, where his knees gouged the rocky lakebed. He kicked off with all his strength and shot partway out of the water. Before he could take a gulp of air, the cascade rammed him back underwater. All he could see was a white blur as foam billowed around him. He frantically tried to surface and relieve his burning lungs, but he only rose a few feet before the deluge halted his ascent. He panicked, thrashing his arms and legs, fighting the water. Weighed down by Zar’roc and his drenched clothes, he sank back to the lakebed, unable to speak the ancient words that could save him. Suddenly a strong hand grasped the back of his tunic and dragged him through the water. His rescuer sliced through the lake with quick, short strokes; Eragon hoped it was Murtagh, not an Urgal. They surfaced and stumbled onto the pebble beach. Eragon was trembling violently; his entire body shivered in bursts. Sounds of combat erupted to his right, and he whirled toward them, expecting an Urgal attack. The monsters on the opposite shore—where he had stood only moments before—fell beneath a withering hail of arrows from crevasses that pockmarked the cliff. Scores of Urgals already floated belly up in the water, riddled with shafts. The ones on Eragon’s shore were similarly engaged. Neither group could retreat from their exposed positions, for rows of warriors had somehow appeared behind them, where the lake met the mountainsides. All that prevented the nearest Kull from rushing Eragon was the steady rain of arrows—the unseen archers seemed determined to keep the Urgals at bay. A gruff voice next to Eragon said, “Akh Guntéraz dorzâda! What were they thinking? You would have drowned!” Eragon jerked with surprise. It was not Murtagh standing by him but a diminutive man no taller than his elbow. The dwarf was busy wringing water out of his long braided beard. His chest was stocky, and he wore a chain-mail jacket cut off at the shoulders to reveal muscular arms. A war ax hung from a wide leather belt strapped around his waist. An iron-bound oxhide cap, bearing the symbol of a hammer surrounded by twelve stars, sat firmly on his head. Even with the cap, he barely topped four feet. He looked longingly at the fighting and said, “Barzul, but I wish I could join them!” A dwarf!Eragon drew Zar’roc and looked for Saphira and Murtagh. Two twelve-foot-thick stone doors had opened in the cliff, revealing a broad tunnel nearly thirty feet tall that burrowed its way into the mysterious depths of the mountain. A line of flameless lamps filled the passageway with a pale sapphire light that spilled out onto the lake. Saphira and Murtagh stood before the tunnel, surrounded by a grim mixture of men and dwarves. At Page 225 Murtagh’s elbow was a bald, beardless man dressed in purple and gold robes. He was taller than all the other humans—and he was holding a dagger to Murtagh’s throat. Eragon reached for his power, but the robed man said in a sharp, dangerous voice, “Stop! If you use magic, I’ll kill your lovely friend here, who was so kind as to mention you’re a Rider. Don’t think I won’t know if you’re drawing upon it. You can’t hide anything from me.” Eragon tried to speak, but the man snarled and pressed the dagger harder against Murtagh’s throat. “None of that! If you say or do anything I don’t tell you to, he will die. Now, everyone inside.” He backed into the tunnel, pulling Murtagh with him and keeping his eyes on Eragon. Saphira, what should I do?Eragon asked quickly as the men and dwarves followed Murtagh’s captor, leading the horses along with them. Go with them,she counseled,and hope that we live.She entered the tunnel herself, eliciting nervous glances from those around her. Reluctantly, Eragon followed her, aware that the warriors’ eyes were upon him. His rescuer, the dwarf, walked alongside him with a hand on the haft of his war ax. Utterly exhausted, Eragon staggered into the mountain. The stone doors swung shut behind them with only a whisper of sound. He looked back and saw a seamless wall where the opening had been. They were trapped inside. But were they any safer? HUNTING FORANSWERS “This way,” snapped the bald man. He stepped back, keeping the dagger pressed under Murtagh’s chin, then wheeled to the right, disappearing through an arched doorway. The warriors cautiously followed him, their attention centered on Eragon and Saphira. The horses were led into a different tunnel. Dazed by the turn of events, Eragon started after Murtagh. He glanced at Saphira to confirm that Arya was still tied to her back.She has to get the antidote! he thought frantically, knowing that even then the Skilna Bragh was fulfilling its deadly purpose within her flesh. He hurried through the arched doorway and down a narrow corridor after the bald man. The warriors kept their weapons pointed at him. They swept past a sculpture of a peculiar animal with thick quills. The corridor curved sharply to the left, then to the right. A door opened and they entered a bare room large enough for Saphira to move around with ease. There was a hollow boom as the door closed, followed by a loud scrape as a bolt was secured on the outside. Eragon slowly examined his surroundings, Zar’roc tight in his hand. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of polished white marble that reflected a ghost image of everyone, like a mirror of veined milk. One of the unusual lanterns hung in each corner. “There’s an injured—” he began, but a sharp gesture from the bald man cut him off. “Do not speak! It must wait until you have been tested.” He shoved Murtagh over to one of the warriors, who pressed a sword against Murtagh’s neck. The bald man clasped his hands together softly. “Remove your weapons and slide them to me.” A dwarf unbuckled Murtagh’s sword and dropped it on the floor with a clank. Loath to be parted with Zar’roc, Eragon unfastened the sheath and set it and the blade on the floor. He placed his bow and quiver next to them, then pushed the pile toward the warriors. “Now step away from your dragon and slowly approach me,” commanded the bald man. Page 226 Puzzled, Eragon moved forward. When they were a yard apart, the man said, “Stop there! Now remove the defenses from around your mind and prepare to let me inspect your thoughts and memories. If you try to hide anything from me, I will take what I want by force… which would drive you mad. If you don’t submit, your companion will be killed.” “Why?” asked Eragon, aghast. “To be sure you aren’t in Galbatorix’s service and to understand why hundreds of Urgals are banging on our front door,” growled the bald man. His close-set eyes shifted from point to point with cunning speed. “No one may enter Farthen Dûr without being tested.” “There isn’t time. We need a healer!” protested Eragon. “Silence!” roared the man, pressing down his robe with thin fingers. “Until you are examined, your words are meaningless!” “But she’s dying!” retorted Eragon angrily, pointing at Arya. They were in a precarious position, but he would let nothing else happen until Arya was cared for. “It will have to wait! No one will leave this room until we have discovered the truth of this matter. Unless you wish—” The dwarf who had saved Eragon from the lake jumped forward. “Are you blind, Egraz Carn? Can’t you see that’s an elf on the dragon? We cannot keep her here if she’s in danger. Ajihad and the king will have our heads if she’s allowed to die!” The man’s eyes tightened with anger. After a moment he relaxed and said smoothly, “Of course, Orik, we wouldn’t want that to happen.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at Arya. “Remove her from the dragon.” Two human warriors sheathed their swords and hesitantly approached Saphira, who watched them steadily. “Quickly, quickly!” The men unstrapped Arya from the saddle and lowered the elf to the floor. One of the men inspected her face, then said sharply, “It’s the dragon-egg courier, Arya!” “What?” exclaimed the bald man. The dwarf Orik’s eyes widened with astonishment. The bald man fixed his steely gaze on Eragon and said flatly, “You have much explaining to do.” Eragon returned the intense stare with all the determination he could muster. “She was poisoned with the Skilna Bragh while in prison. Only Túnivor’s Nectar can save her now.” The bald man’s face became inscrutable. He stood motionless, except for his lips, which twitched occasionally. “Very well. Take her to the healers, and tell them what she needs. Guard her until the ceremony is completed. I will have new orders for you by then.” The warriors nodded curtly and carried Arya out of the room. Eragon watched them go, wishing that he could accompany her. His attention snapped back to the bald man as he said, “Enough of this, we have wasted too much time already. Prepare to be examined.” Eragon did not want this hairless threatening man inside his mind, laying bare his every thought and feeling, but he knew that resistance would be useless. The air was strained. Murtagh’s gaze burned into his forehead. Finally he bowed his head. “I am ready.” Page 227 “Good, then—” He was interrupted as Orik said abruptly, “You’d better not harm him, Egraz Carn, else the king will have words for you.” The bald man looked at him irritably, then faced Eragon with a small smile. “Only if he resists.” He bowed his head and chanted several inaudible words. Eragon gasped with pain and shock as a mental probe clawed its way into his mind. His eyes rolled up into his head, and he automatically began throwing up barriers around his consciousness. The attack was incredibly powerful. Don’t do that!cried Saphira. Her thoughts joined his, filling him with strength.You’re putting Murtagh at risk! Eragon faltered, gritted his teeth, then forced himself to remove his shielding, exposing himself to the ravening probe. Disappointment emanated from the bald man. His battering intensified. The force coming from his mind felt decayed and unwholesome; there was something profoundly wrong about it. He wants me to fight him!cried Eragon as a fresh wave of pain racked him. A second later it subsided, only to be replaced by another. Saphira did her best to suppress it, but even she could not block it entirely. Give him what he wants,she said quickly,but protect everything else. I’ll help you. His strength is no match for mine; I’m already shielding our words from him. Then why does it still hurt? The pain comes from you. Eragon winced as the probe dug in farther, hunting for information, like a nail being driven through his skull. The bald man roughly seized his childhood memories and began sifting through them.He doesn’t need those—get him out of there! growled Eragon angrily. I can’t, not without endangering you,said Saphira.I can conceal things from his view, but it must be done before he reaches them. Think quickly, and tell me what you want hidden! Eragon tried to concentrate through the pain. He raced through his memories, starting from when he had found Saphira’s egg. He hid sections of his discussions with Brom, including all the ancient words he had been taught. Their travels through Palancar Valley, Yazuac, Daret, and Teirm he left mostly untouched. But he had Saphira conceal everything he remembered of Angela’s fortunetelling and Solembum. He skipped from their burglary at Teirm, to Brom’s death, to his imprisonment in Gil’ead, and lastly to Murtagh’s revelation of his true identity. Eragon wanted to hide that as well, but Saphira balked.The Varden have a right to know who they shelter under their roof, especially if it’s a son of the Forsworn! Just do it,he said tightly, fighting another wave of agony.I won’t be the one to unmask him, at least not to this man. It’ll be discovered as soon as Murtagh is scanned,warned Saphira sharply. Just do it. Page 228 With the most important information hidden, there was nothing else for Eragon to do but wait for the bald man to finish his inspection. It was like sitting still while his fingernails were extracted with rusty tongs. His entire body was rigid, jaw locked tightly. Heat radiated from his skin, and a line of sweat rolled down his neck. He was acutely aware of each second as the long minutes crept by. The bald man wound through his experiences sluggishly, like a thorny vine pushing its way toward the sunlight. He paid keen attention to many things Eragon considered irrelevant, such as his mother, Selena, and seemed to linger on purpose so as to prolong the suffering. He spent a long time examining Eragon’s recollections of the Ra’zac, and then later the Shade. It was not until his adventures had been exhaustively analyzed that the bald man began to withdraw from Eragon’s mind. The probe was extracted like a splinter being removed. Eragon shuddered, swayed, then fell toward the floor. Strong arms caught him at the last second, lowering him to the cool marble. He heard Orik exclaim from behind him, “You went too far! He wasn’t strong enough for this.” “He’ll live. That’s all that is needed,” answered the bald man curtly. There was an angry grunt. “What did you find?” Silence. “Well, is he to be trusted or not?” The words came reluctantly. “He… is not your enemy.” There were audible sighs of relief throughout the room. Eragon’s eyes fluttered open. He gingerly pushed himself upright. “Easy now,” said Orik, wrapping a thick arm around him and helping him to his feet. Eragon wove unsteadily, glaring at the bald man. A low growl rumbled in Saphira’s throat. The bald man ignored them. He turned to Murtagh, who was still being held at sword point. “It’s your turn now.” Murtagh stiffened and shook his head. The sword cut his neck slightly. Blood dripped down his skin. “No.” “You will not be protected here if you refuse.” “Eragon has been declared trustworthy, so you cannot threaten to kill him to influence me. Since you can’t do that, nothing you say or do will convince me to open my mind.” Sneering, the bald man cocked what would have been an eyebrow, if he had any. “What of your own life? I can still threaten that.” “It won’t do any good,” said Murtagh stonily and with such conviction that it was impossible to doubt his word. The bald man’s breath exploded angrily. “You don’t have a choice!” He stepped forward and placed his palm on Murtagh’s brow, clenching his hand to hold him in place. Murtagh stiffened, face growing as hard as iron, fists clenched, neck muscles bulging. He was obviously fighting the attack with all his Page 229 strength. The bald man bared his teeth with fury and frustration at the resistance; his fingers dug mercilessly into Murtagh. Eragon winced in sympathy, knowing the battle that raged between them.Can’t you help him? he asked Saphira. No,she said softly.He will allow no one into his mind. Orik scowled darkly as he watched the combatants. “Ilf carnz orodüm,” he muttered, then leapt forward and cried, “That is enough!” He grabbed the bald man’s arm and tore him away from Murtagh with strength disproportional to his size. The bald man stumbled back, then turned on Orik furiously. “How dare you!” he shouted. “You questioned my leadership, opened the gates without permission, and now this! You’ve shown nothing but insolence and treachery. Do you think your king will protect you now?” Orik bristled. “You would have let them die! If I had waited any longer, the Urgals would have killed them.” He pointed at Murtagh, whose breath came in great heaves. “We don’t have any right to torture him for information! Ajihad won’t sanction it. Not after you’ve examined the Rider and found him free of fault.And they’ve brought us Arya.” “Would you allow him to enter unchallenged? Are you so great a fool as to put us all at risk?” demanded the bald man. His eyes were feral with loosely chained rage; he looked ready to tear the dwarf into pieces. “Can he use magic?” “That is—” “Can he use magic?” roared Orik, his deep voice echoing in the room. The bald man’s face suddenly grew expressionless. He clasped his hands behind his back. “No.” “Then what do you fear? It’s impossible for him to escape, and he can’t work any devilry with all of us here, especially if your powers are as great as you say. But don’t listen to me; ask Ajihad what he wants done.” The bald man stared at Orik for a moment, his face indecipherable, then looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. A peculiar stiffness set into his shoulders while his lips moved soundlessly. An intense frown wrinkled the pale skin above his eyes, and his fingers clenched, as if they were throttling an invisible enemy. For several minutes he stood thus, wrapped in silent communication. When his eyes opened, he ignored Orik and snapped at the warriors, “Leave, now!” As they filed through the doorway, he addressed Eragon coldly, “Because I was unable to complete my examination, you and… your friend will remain here for the night. He will be killed if he attempts to leave.” With those words he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, pale scalp gleaming in the lantern light. “Thank you,” whispered Eragon to Orik. The dwarf grunted. “I’ll make sure some food is brought.” He muttered a string of words under his Page 230 breath, then left, shaking his head. The bolt was secured once again on the outside of the door. Eragon sat, feeling strangely dreamy from the day’s excitement and their forced march. His eyelids were heavy. Saphira settled next to him.We must be careful. It seems we have as many enemies here as we did in the Empire. He nodded, too tired to talk. Murtagh, eyes glazed and empty, leaned against the far wall and slid to the shiny floor. He held his sleeve against the cut on his neck to stop the bleeding. “Are you all right?” asked Eragon. Murtagh nodded jerkily. “Did he get anything from you?” “No.” “How were you able to keep him out? He’s so strong.” “I’ve… I’ve been well trained.” There was a bitter note to his voice. Silence enshrouded them. Eragon’s gaze drifted to one of the lanterns hanging in a corner. His thoughts meandered until he abruptly said, “I didn’t let them know who you are.” Murtagh looked relieved. He bowed his head. “Thank you for not betraying me.” “They didn’t recognize you.” “No.” “And you still say that you are Morzan’s son?” “Yes,” he sighed. Eragon started to speak, but stopped when he felt hot liquid splash onto his hand. He looked down and was startled to see a drop of dark blood roll off his skin. It had fallen from Saphira’s wing.I forgot. You’re injured! he exclaimed, getting up with an effort.I’d better heal you. Be careful. It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re this tired. I know.Saphira unfolded one of her wings and lowered it to the floor. Murtagh watched as Eragon ran his hands over the warm blue membrane, saying, “Waíse heill,” whenever he found an arrow hole. Luckily, all the wounds were relatively easy to heal, even those on her nose. Task completed, Eragon slumped against Saphira, breathing hard. He could feel her great heart beating with the steady throb of life. “I hope they bring food soon,” said Murtagh. Eragon shrugged; he was too exhausted to be hungry. He crossed his arms, missing Zar’roc’s weight by his side. “Why are you here?” “What?” “If you really are Morzan’s son, Galbatorix wouldn’t let you wander around Alagaësia freely. How is it that you managed to find the Ra’zac by yourself? Why is it I’ve never heard of any of the Forsworn having children? And what are you doing here?” His voice rose to a near shout at the end. Page 231 Murtagh ran his hands over his face. “It’s a long story.” “We’re not going anywhere,” rebutted Eragon. “It’s too late to talk.” “There probably won’t be time for it tomorrow.” Murtagh wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his chin on his knees, rocking back and forth as he stared at the floor. “It’s not a—” he said, then interrupted himself. “I don’t want to stop… so make yourself comfortable. My story will take a while.” Eragon shifted against Saphira’s side and nodded. Saphira watched both of them intently. Murtagh’s first sentence was halting, but his voice gained strength and confidence as he spoke. “As far as I know… I am the only child of the Thirteen Servants, or the Forsworn as they’re called. There may be others, for the Thirteen had the skill to hide whatever they wanted, but I doubt it, for reasons I’ll explain later. “My parents met in a small village—I never learned where—while my father was traveling on the king’s business. Morzan showed my mother some small kindness, no doubt a ploy to gain her confidence, and when he left, she accompanied him. They traveled together for a time, and as is the nature of these things, she fell deeply in love with him. Morzan was delighted to discover this not only because it gave him numerous opportunities to torment her but also because he recognized the advantage of having a servant who wouldn’t betray him. “Thus, when Morzan returned to Galbatorix’s court, my mother became the tool he relied upon most. He used her to carry his secret messages, and he taught her rudimentary magic, which helped her remain undiscovered and, on occasion, extract information from people. He did his best to protect her from the rest of the Thirteen—not out of any feelings for her, but because they would have used her against him, given the chance… For three years things proceeded in this manner, until my mother became pregnant.” Murtagh paused for a moment, fingering a lock of his hair. He continued in a clipped tone, “My father was, if nothing else, a cunning man. He knew that the pregnancy put both him and my mother in danger, not to mention the baby—that is, me. So, in the dead of night, he spirited her away from the palace and took her to his castle. Once there, he laid down powerful spells that prevented anyone from entering his estate except for a few chosen servants. In this way the pregnancy was kept secret from everyone but Galbatorix. “Galbatorix knew the intimate details of the Thirteen’s lives: their plots, their fights—and most importantly—their thoughts. He enjoyed watching them battle each other and often helped one or the other for his own amusement. But for some reason he never revealed my existence. “I was born in due time and given to a wet nurse so my mother could return to Morzan’s side. She had no choice in the matter. Morzan allowed her to visit me every few months, but otherwise we were kept apart. Another three years passed like this, during which time he gave me the… scar on my back.” Murtagh brooded a minute before continuing. “I would have grown to manhood in this fashion if Morzan hadn’t been summoned away to hunt for Saphira’s egg. As soon as he departed, my mother, who had been left behind, vanished. No one knows where she went, or why. The king tried to hunt her down, but his men couldn’t find her trail—no doubt because of Morzan’s training. Page 232 “At the time of my birth, only five of the Thirteen were still alive. By the time Morzan left, that number had been reduced to three; when he finally faced Brom in Gil’ead, he was the only one remaining. The Forsworn died through various means: suicide, ambush, overuse of magic… but it was mostly the work of the Varden. I’m told that the king was in a terrible rage because of those losses. “However, before word of Morzan’s and the others’ deaths reached us, my mother returned. Many months had passed since she had disappeared. Her health was poor, as if she had suffered a great illness, and she grew steadily worse. Within a fortnight, she died.” “What happened then?” prompted Eragon. Murtagh shrugged. “I grew up. The king brought me to the palace and arranged for my upbringing. Aside from that, he left me alone.” “Then why did you leave?” A hard laugh broke from Murtagh. “Escaped is more like it. At my last birthday, when I turned eighteen, the king summoned me to his quarters for a private dinner. The message surprised me because I had always distanced myself from the court and had rarely met him. We’d talked before, but always within earshot of eavesdropping nobles. “I accepted the offer, of course, aware that it would be unwise to refuse. The meal was sumptuous, but throughout it his black eyes never left me. His gaze was disconcerting; it seemed that he was searching for something hidden in my face. I didn’t know what to make of it and did my best to provide polite conversation, but he refused to talk, and I soon ceased my efforts. “When the meal was finished, he finally began to speak. You’ve never heard his voice, so it’s hard for me to make you understand what it was like. His words were entrancing, like a snake whispering gilded lies into my ears. A more convincing and frightening man I’ve never heard. He wove a vision: a fantasy of the Empire as he imagined it. There would be beautiful cities built across the country, filled with the greatest warriors, artisans, musicians, and philosophers. The Urgals would finally be eradicated. And the Empire would expand in every direction until it reached the four corners of Alagaësia. Peace and prosperity would flourish, but more wondrous yet, the Riders would be brought back to gently govern over Galbatorix’s fiefdoms. “Entranced, I listened to him for what must have been hours. When he stopped, I eagerly asked how the Riders would be reinstated, for everyone knew there were no dragon eggs left. Galbatorix grew still then and stared at me thoughtfully. For a long time he was silent, but then he extended his hand and asked, ‘Will you, O son of my friend, serve me as I labor to bring about this paradise?’ “Though I knew the history behind his and my father’s rise to power, the dream he had painted for me was too compelling, too seductive to ignore. Ardor for this mission filled me, and I fervently pledged myself to him. Obviously pleased, Galbatorix gave me his blessing, then dismissed me, saying, ‘I shall call upon you when the need arises.’ “Several months passed before he did. When the summons came, I felt all of my old excitement return. We met in private as before, but this time he was not pleasant or charming. The Varden had just destroyed three brigades in the south, and his wrath was out in full force. He charged me in a terrible voice to take a detachment of troops and destroy Cantos, where rebels were known to hide occasionally. When I asked what we should do with the people there and how we would know if they Page 233 were guilty, he shouted, ‘They’re all traitors! Burn them at the stake and bury their ashes with dung!’ He continued to rant, cursing his enemies and describing how he would scourge the land of everyone who bore him ill will. “His tone was so different from what I had encountered before; it made me realize he didn’t possess the mercy or foresight to gain the people’s loyalty, and he ruled only through brute force guided by his own passions. It was at that moment I determined to escape him and Urû’baen forever. “As soon as I was free of his presence, I and my faithful servant, Tornac, made ready for flight. We left that very night, but somehow Galbatorix anticipated my actions, for there were soldiers waiting for us outside the gates. Ah, my sword was bloody, flashing in the dim lantern glow. We defeated the men… but in the process Tornac was killed. “Alone and filled with grief, I fled to an old friend who sheltered me in his estate. While I hid, I listened carefully to every rumor, trying to predict Galbatorix’s actions and plan my future. During that time, talk reached me that the Ra’zac had been sent to capture or kill someone. Remembering the king’s plans for the Riders, I decided to find and follow the Ra’zac, just in case theydid discover a dragon. And that’s how I found you… I have no more secrets.” We still don’t know if he’s telling the truth,warned Saphira. I know,said Eragon,but why would he lie to us? He might be mad. I doubt it.Eragon ran a finger over Saphira’s hard scales, watching the light reflect off them. “So why don’t you join the Varden? They’ll distrust you for a time, but once you prove your loyalty they’ll treat you with respect. And aren’t they in a sense your allies? They strive to end the king’s reign. Isn’t that what you want?” “Must I spell everything out for you?” demanded Murtagh. “I don’t want Galbatorix to learn where I am, which is inevitable if people start saying that I’ve sided with his enemies, which I’ve never done. These,” he paused, then said with distaste, “rebelsare trying not only to overthrow the king but to destroy the Empire… and I don’t want that to happen. It would sow mayhem and anarchy. The king is flawed, yes, but the system itself is sound. As for earning the Varden’s respect: Ha! Once I am exposed, they’ll treat me like a criminal or worse. Not only that, suspicion will fall upon you because we traveled together!” He’s right,said Saphira. Eragon ignored her. “It isn’t that bad,” he said, trying to sound optimistic. Murtagh snorted derisively and looked away. “I’m sure that they won’t be—” His words were cut short as the door opened a hand’s breadth and two bowls were pushed through the space. A loaf of bread and a hunk of raw meat followed, then the door was shut again. “Finally!” grumbled Murtagh, going to the food. He tossed the meat to Saphira, who snapped it out of the air and swallowed it whole. Then he tore the loaf in two, gave half to Eragon, picked up his bowl, and retreated to a corner. They ate silently. Murtagh jabbed at his food. “I’m going to sleep,” he announced, putting down his bowl without another word. Page 234 “Good night,” said Eragon. He lay next to Saphira, his arms under his head. She curled her long neck around him, like a cat wrapping its tail around itself, and laid her head alongside his. One of her wings extended over him like a blue tent, enveloping him in darkness. Good night, little one. A small smile lifted Eragon’s lips, but he was already asleep. THEGLORY OFTRONJHEIM Eragon jolted upright as a growl sounded in his ear. Saphira was still asleep, her eyes wandering sightlessly under her eyelids, and her upper lip trembled, as if she were going to snarl. He smiled, then jerked as she growled again. She must be dreaming,he realized. He watched her for a minute, then carefully slid out from under her wing. He stood and stretched. The room was cool, but not unpleasantly so. Murtagh lay on his back in the far corner, his eyes closed. As Eragon stepped around Saphira, Murtagh stirred. “Morning,” he said quietly, sitting up. “How long have you been awake?” asked Eragon in a hushed voice. “Awhile. I’m surprised Saphira didn’t wake you sooner.” “I was tired enough to sleep through a thunderstorm,” said Eragon wryly. He sat by Murtagh and rested his head against the wall. “Do you know what time it is?” “No. It’s impossible to tell in here.” “Has anyone come to see us?” “Not yet.” They sat together without moving or speaking. Eragon felt oddly bound to Murtagh.I’ve been carrying his father’s sword, which would have been his… his inheritance. We’re alike in many ways, yet our outlook and upbringing are totally different. He thought of Murtagh’s scar and shivered.What man could do that to a child? Saphira lifted her head and blinked to clear her eyes. She sniffed the air, then yawned expansively, her rough tongue curling at the tip.Has anything happened? Eragon shook his head.I hope they give me more food than that snack last night. I’m hungry enough to eat a herd of cows. They’ll feed you,he assured her. They’d better.She positioned herself near the door and settled down to wait, tail flicking. Eragon closed his eyes, enjoying the rest. He dozed awhile, then got up and paced around. Bored, he examined one of the lanterns. It was made of a single piece of teardrop-shaped glass, about twice the size of a lemon, and filled with soft blue light that neither wavered nor flickered. Four slim metal ribs wrapped smoothly around the glass, meeting at the top to form a small hook and again at the bottom where they melded together into three graceful legs. The whole piece was quite attractive. Page 235 Eragon’s inspection was interrupted by voices outside the room. The door opened, and a dozen warriors marched inside. The first man gulped when he saw Saphira. They were followed by Orik and the bald man, who declared, “You have been summoned to Ajihad, leader of the Varden. If you must eat, do so while we march.” Eragon and Murtagh stood together, watching him warily. “Where are our horses? And can I have my sword and bow back?” asked Eragon. The bald man looked at him with disdain. “Your weapons will be returned to you when Ajihad sees fit, not before. As for your horses, they await you in the tunnel. Now come!” As he turned to leave, Eragon asked quickly, “How is Arya?” The bald man hesitated. “I do not know. The healers are still with her.” He exited the room, accompanied by Orik. One of the warriors motioned. “You go first.” Eragon went through the doorway, followed by Saphira and Murtagh. They returned through the corridor they had traversed the night before, passing the statue of the quilled animal. When they reached the huge tunnel through which they had first entered the mountain, the bald man was waiting with Orik, who held Tornac’s and Snowfire’s reins. “You will ride single file down the center of the tunnel,” instructed the bald man. “If you attempt to go anywhere else, you will be stopped.” When Eragon started to climb onto Saphira, the bald man shouted, “No! Ride your horse until I tell you otherwise.” Eragon shrugged and took Snowfire’s reins. He swung into the saddle, guided Snowfire in front of Saphira, and told her,Stay close in case I need your help. Of course,she said. Murtagh mounted Tornac behind Saphira. The bald man examined their small line, then gestured at the warriors, who divided in half to surround them, giving Saphira as wide a berth as possible. Orik and the bald man went to the head of the procession. After looking them over once more, the bald man clapped twice and started walking forward. Eragon tapped Snowfire lightly on his flanks. The entire group headed toward the heart of the mountain. Echoes filled the tunnel as the horses’ hooves struck the hard floor, the sounds amplified in the deserted passageway. Doors and gates occasionally disturbed the smooth walls, but they were always closed. Eragon marveled at the sheer size of the tunnel, which had been mined with incredible skill—the walls, floor, and ceiling were crafted with flawless precision. The angles at the bases of the walls were perfectly square, and as far as he could tell, the tunnel itself did not vary from its course by even an inch. As they proceeded, Eragon’s anticipation about meeting Ajihad increased. The leader of the Varden was a shadowy figure to the people within the Empire. He had risen to power nearly twenty years ago and since then had waged a fierce war against King Galbatorix. No one knew where he came from or even what he looked like. It was rumored that he was a master strategist, a brutal fighter. With such a reputation, Eragon worried about how they would be received. Still, knowing that Brom had trusted the Varden enough to serve them helped to allay his fears. Seeing Orik again had brought forth new questions in his mind. The tunnel was obviously dwarf work—no one else could mine with such skill—but were the dwarves part of the Varden, or were they Page 236 merely sheltering them? And who was the king that Orik had mentioned? Was it Ajihad? Eragon understood now that the Varden had been able to escape discovery by hiding underground, but what about the elves? Where were they? For nearly an hour the bald man led them through the tunnel, never straying nor turning.We’ve probably already gone a league, Eragon realized.Maybe they’re taking us all the way through the mountain! At last a soft white glow became visible ahead of them. He strained his eyes, trying to discern its source, but it was still too far away to make out any details. The glow increased in strength as they neared it. Now he could see thick marble pillars laced with rubies and amethysts standing in rows along the walls. Scores of lanterns hung between the pillars, suffusing the air with liquid brilliance. Gold tracery gleamed from the pillars’ bases like molten thread. Arching over the ceiling were carved raven heads, their beaks open in mid-screech. At the end of the hallway rested two colossal black doors, accented by shimmering silver lines that depicted a seven-pointed crown that spanned both sides. The bald man stopped and raised a hand. He turned to Eragon. “You will ride upon your dragon now. Do not attempt to fly away. There will be people watching, so remember who and what you are.” Eragon dismounted Snowfire, and then clambered onto Saphira’s back.I think they want to show us off, she said as he settled into the saddle. We’ll see. I wish I had Zar’roc,he replied, tightening the straps around his legs. It might be better that you aren’t wearing Morzan’s sword when the Varden first see you. True.“I’m ready,” Eragon said, squaring his shoulders. “Good,” said the bald man. He and Orik retreated to either side of Saphira, staying far enough back so she was clearly in the lead. “Now walk to the doors, and once they open, follow the path. Go slowly.” Ready?asked Eragon. Of course.Saphira approached the doors at a measured pace. Her scales sparkled in the light, sending glints of color dancing over the pillars. Eragon took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Without warning, the doors swung outward on hidden joints. As the rift widened between them, rays of sunlight streamed into the tunnel, falling on Saphira and Eragon. Temporarily blinded, Eragon blinked and squinted. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he gasped. They were inside a massive volcanic crater. Its walls narrowed to a small ragged opening so high above that Eragon could not judge the distance—it might have been more than a dozen miles. A soft beam of light fell through the aperture, illuminating the crater’s center, though it left the rest of the cavernous expanse in hushed twilight. The crater’s far side, hazy blue in the distance, looked to be nearly ten miles away. Giant icicles hundreds of feet thick and thousands of feet long hung leagues above them like glistening daggers. Eragon knew from his experience in the valley that no one, not even Saphira, could reach those lofty points. Farther down the crater’s inner walls, dark mats of moss and lichen covered the rock. He lowered his gaze and saw a wide cobblestone path extending from the doors’ threshold. The path ran straight to the center of the crater, where it ended at the base of a snowy-white mountain that Page 237 glittered like an uncut gem with thousands of colored lights. It was less than a tenth of the height of the crater that loomed over and around it, but its diminutive appearance was deceiving, for it was slightly higher than a mile. Long as it was, the tunnel had only taken them through one side of the crater wall. As Eragon stared, he heard Orik say deeply, “Look well, human, for no Rider has set eyes upon this for nigh over a hundred years. The airy peak under which we stand is Farthen Dûr—discovered thousands of years ago by the father of our race, Korgan, while he tunneled for gold. And in the center stands our greatest achievement: Tronjheim, the city-mountain built from the purest marble.” The doors grated to a halt. A city! Then Eragon saw the crowd. He had been so engrossed by the sights that he had failed to notice a dense sea of people clustered around the tunnel’s entrance. They lined the cobblestone pathway—dwarves and humans packed together like trees in a thicket. There were hundreds… thousands of them. Every eye, every face was focused on Eragon. And every one of them was silent. Eragon gripped the base of one of Saphira’s neck spikes. He saw children in dirty smocks, hardy men with scarred knuckles, women in homespun dresses, and stout, weathered dwarves who fingered their beards. All of them bore the same taut expression—that of an injured animal when a predator is nearby and escape is impossible. A bead of sweat rolled down Eragon’s face, but he dared not move to wipe it away.What should I do? he asked frantically. Smile, raise your hand, anything!replied Saphira sharply. Eragon tried to force out a smile, but his lips only twitched. Gathering his courage, he pushed a hand into the air, jerking it in a little wave. When nothing happened, he flushed with embarrassment, lowered his arm, and ducked his head. A single cheer broke the silence. Someone clapped loudly. For a brief second the crowd hesitated, then a wild roar swept through it, and a wave of sound crashed over Eragon. “Very good,” said the bald man from behind him. “Now start walking.” Relieved, Eragon sat straighter and playfully asked Saphira,Shall we go?She arched her neck and stepped forward. As they passed the first row of people, she glanced to each side and exhaled a puff of smoke. The crowd quieted and shrank back, then resumed cheering, their enthusiasm only intensified. Show-off,chided Eragon. Saphira flicked her tail and ignored him. He stared curiously at the jostling crowd as she proceeded along the path. Dwarves greatly outnumbered humans… and many of them glared at him resentfully. Some even turned their backs and walked away with stony faces. The humans were hard, tough people. All the men had daggers or knives at their waists; many were armed for war. The women carried themselves proudly, but they seemed to conceal a deep-abiding weariness. The few children and babies stared at Eragon with large eyes. He felt certain that these people had experienced much hardship and that they would do whatever was necessary to defend themselves. The Varden had found the perfect hiding place. Farthen Dûr’s walls were too high for a dragon to fly over, and no army could break through the entranceway, even if it managed to find the hidden doors. Page 238 The crowd followed close behind them, giving Saphira plenty of room. Gradually the people quieted, though their attention remained on Eragon. He looked back and saw Murtagh riding stiffly, his face pale. They neared the city-mountain, and Eragon saw that the white marble of Tronjheim was highly polished and shaped into flowing contours, as if it had been poured into place. It was dotted with countless round windows framed by elaborate carvings. A colored lantern hung in each window, casting a soft glow on the surrounding rock. No turrets or smokestacks were visible. Directly ahead, two thirty-foot-high gold griffins guarded a massive timber gate—recessed twenty yards into the base of Tronjheim—which was shadowed by thick trusses that supported an arched vault far overhead. When they reached Tronjheim’s base, Saphira paused to see if the bald man had any instructions. When none were forthcoming, she continued to the gate. The walls were lined with fluted pillars of blood-red jasper. Between the pillars hulked statues of outlandish creatures, captured forever by the sculptor’s chisel. The heavy gate rumbled open before them as hidden chains slowly raised the mammoth beams. A four-story-high passageway extended straight toward the center of Tronjheim. The top three levels were pierced by rows of archways that revealed gray tunnels curving off into the distance. Clumps of people filled the arches, eagerly watching Eragon and Saphira. On ground level, however, the archways were barred by stout doors. Rich tapestries hung between the different levels, embroidered with heroic figures and tumultuous battle scenes. A cheer rang in their ears as Saphira stepped into the hall and paraded down it. Eragon raised his hand, eliciting another roar from the throng, though many of the dwarves did not join the welcoming shout. The mile-long hall ended in an arch flanked by black onyx pillars. Yellow zircons three times the size of a man capped the dark columns, coruscating piercing gold beams along the hall. Saphira stepped through the opening, then stopped and craned back her neck, humming deeply in her chest. They were in a circular room, perhaps a thousand feet across, that reached up to Tronjheim’s peak a mile overhead, narrowing as it rose. The walls were lined with arches—one row for each level of the city-mountain—and the floor was made of polished carnelian, upon which was etched a hammer girdled by twelve silver pentacles, like on Orik’s helm. The room was a nexus for four hallways—including the one they had just exited—that divided Tronjheim into quarters. The halls were identical except for the one opposite Eragon. To the right and left of that hall were tall arches that opened to descending stairs, which mirrored each other as they curved underground. The ceiling was capped by a dawn-red star sapphire of monstrous size. The jewel was twenty yards across and nearly as thick. Its face had been carved to resemble a rose in full bloom, and so skilled was the craftsmanship, the flower almost seemed to be real. A wide belt of lanterns wrapped around the edge of the sapphire, which cast striated bands of blushing light over everything below. The flashing rays of the star within the gem made it appear as if a giant eye gazed down at them. Eragon could only gape with wonder. Nothing had prepared him for this. It seemed impossible that Tronjheim had been built by mortal beings. The city-mountain shamed everything he had seen in the Empire. He doubted if even Urû’baen could match the wealth and grandeur displayed here. Tronjheim was a stunning monument to the dwarves’ power and perseverance. Page 239 The bald man walked in front of Saphira and said, “You must go on foot from here.” There was scattered booing from the crowd as he spoke. A dwarf took Tornac and Snowfire away. Eragon dismounted Saphira but stayed by her side as the bald man led them across the carnelian floor to the right-hand hallway. They followed it for several hundred feet, then entered a smaller corridor. Their guards remained despite the cramped space. After four sharp turns, they came to a massive cedar door, stained black with age. The bald man pulled it open and conducted everyone but the guards inside. AJIHAD Eragon entered an elegant, two-story study paneled with rows of cedar bookshelves. A wrought-iron staircase wound up to a small balcony with two chairs and a reading table. White lanterns hung along the walls and ceiling so a book could be read anywhere in the room. The stone floor was covered by an intricate oval rug. At the far end of the room, a man stood behind a large walnut desk. His skin gleamed the color of oiled ebony. The dome of his head was shaved bare, but a closely trimmed black beard covered his chin and upper lip. Strong features shadowed his face, and grave, intelligent eyes lurked under his brow. His shoulders were broad and powerful, emphasized by a tapered red vest embroidered with gold thread and clasped over a rich purple shirt. He bore himself with great dignity, exuding an intense, commanding air. When he spoke, his voice was strong, confident: “Welcome to Tronjheim, Eragon and Saphira. I am Ajihad. Please, seat yourselves.” Eragon slipped into an armchair next to Murtagh, while Saphira settled protectively behind them. Ajihad raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A man stepped out from behind the staircase. He was identical to the bald man beside him. Eragon stared at the two of them with surprise, and Murtagh stiffened. “Your confusion is understandable; they are twin brothers,” said Ajihad with a small smile. “I would tell you their names, but they have none.” Saphira hissed with distaste. Ajihad watched her for a moment, then sat in a high-backed chair behind the desk. The Twins retreated under the stairs and stood impassively beside each other. Ajihad pressed his fingers together as he stared at Eragon and Murtagh. He studied them for a long time with an unwavering gaze. Eragon squirmed, uncomfortable. After what seemed like several minutes, Ajihad lowered his hands and beckoned to the Twins. One of them hurried to his side. Ajihad whispered in his ear. The bald man suddenly paled and shook his head vigorously. Ajihad frowned, then nodded as if something had been confirmed. He looked at Murtagh. “You have placed me in a difficult position by refusing to be examined. You have been allowed into Farthen Dûr because the Twins have assured me that they can control you and because of your actions on behalf of Eragon and Arya. I understand that there may be things you wish to keep hidden in your mind, but as long as you do, we cannot trust you.” “You wouldn’t trust me anyway,” said Murtagh defiantly. Ajihad’s face darkened as Murtagh spoke, and his eyes flashed dangerously. “Though it’s been twenty and three years since it last broke upon my ear… I know that voice.” He stood ominously, chest swelling. The Twins looked alarmed and put their heads together, whispering frantically. “It came from Page 240 another man, one more beast than human. Get up.” Murtagh warily complied, his eyes darting between the Twins and Ajihad. “Remove your shirt,” ordered Ajihad. With a shrug, Murtagh pulled off his tunic. “Now turn around.” As he pivoted to the side, light fell upon the scar on his back. “Murtagh,” breathed Ajihad. A grunt of surprise came from Orik. Without warning, Ajihad turned on the Twins and thundered, “Did you know of this?” The Twins bowed their heads. “We discovered his name in Eragon’s mind, but we did not suspect that thisboy was the son of one as powerful as Morzan. It never occurred—” “And you didn’t tell me?” demanded Ajihad. He raised a hand, forestalling their explanation. “We will discuss it later.” He faced Murtagh again. “First I must untangle this muddle. Do you still refuse to be probed?” “Yes,” said Murtagh sharply, slipping back into his tunic. “I won’t let anyone inside my head.” Ajihad leaned on his desk. “There will be unpleasant consequences if you don’t. Unless the Twins can certify that you aren’t a threat, we cannot give you credence, despite, and perhaps because of, the assistance you have given Eragon. Without that verification, the people here, dwarf and human alike, will tear you apart if they learn of your presence. I’ll be forced to keep you confined at all times—as much for your protection as for ours. It will only get worse once the dwarf king, Hrothgar, demands custody of you. Don’t force yourself into that situation when it can easily be avoided.” Murtagh shook his head stubbornly. “No… even if I were to submit, I would still be treated like a leper and an outcast. All I wish is to leave. If you let me do that peacefully, I’ll never reveal your location to the Empire.” “What will happen if you are captured and brought before Galbatorix?” demanded Ajihad. “He will extract every secret from your mind, no matter how strong you may be. Even if you could resist him, how can we trust that you won’t rejoin him in the future? I cannot take that chance.” “Will you hold me prisoner forever?” demanded Murtagh, straightening. “No,” said Ajihad, “only until you let yourself be examined. If you are found trustworthy, the Twins will remove all knowledge of Farthen Dûr’s location from your mind before you leave. We won’t risk someone with those memories falling into Galbatorix’s hands. What is it to be, Murtagh? Decide quickly or else the path will be chosen for you.” Just give in,Eragon pleaded silently, concerned for Murtagh’s safety.It’s not worth the fight. Finally Murtagh spoke, the words slow and distinct. “My mind is the one sanctuary that has not been stolen from me. Men have tried to breach it before, but I’ve learned to defend it vigorously, for I am only safe with my innermost thoughts. You have asked for the one thing I cannot give, least of all to those two.” He gestured at the Twins. “Do with me what you will, but know this: death will take me before I’ll expose myself to their probing.” Admiration glinted in Ajihad’s eyes. “I’m not surprised by your choice, though I had hoped otherwise… Guards!” The cedar door slammed open as warriors rushed in, weapons ready. Ajihad pointed at Murtagh and commanded, “Take him to a windowless room and bar the door securely. Post six men by Page 241 the entrance and allow no one inside until I come to see him. Do not speak to him, either.” The warriors surrounded Murtagh, watching him suspiciously. As they left the study, Eragon caught Murtagh’s attention and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Murtagh shrugged, then stared forward resolutely. He vanished into the hallway with the men. The sound of their feet faded into silence. Ajihad said abruptly, “I want everyone out of this room but Eragon and Saphira. Now!” Bowing, the Twins departed, but Orik said, “Sir, the king will want to know of Murtagh. And there is still the matter of my insubordination…” Ajihad frowned, then waved his hand. “I will tell Hrothgar myself. As for your actions… wait outside until I call for you. And don’t let the Twins get away. I’m not done with them, either.” “Very well,” said Orik, inclining his head. He closed the door with a solid thump. After a long silence, Ajihad sat with a tired sigh. He ran a hand over his face and stared at the ceiling. Eragon waited impatiently for him to speak. When nothing was forthcoming, he blurted, “Is Arya all right?” Ajihad looked down at him and said gravely, “No… but the healers tell me she will recover. They worked on her all through the night. The poison took a dreadful toll on her. She wouldn’t have lived if not for you. For that you have the Varden’s deepest thanks.” Eragon’s shoulders slumped with relief. For the first time he felt that their flight from Gil’ead had been worth the effort. “So, what now?” he asked. “I need you to tell me how you found Saphira and everything that’s happened since,” said Ajihad, forming a steeple with his fingers. “Some of it I know from the message Brom sent us, other parts from the Twins. But I want to hear it from you, especially the details concerning Brom’s death.” Eragon was reluctant to share his experiences with a stranger, but Ajihad was patient.Go on, urged Saphira gently. Eragon shifted, then began his story. It was awkward at first but grew easier as he proceeded. Saphira helped him to remember things clearly with occasional comments. Ajihad listened intently the entire time. Eragon talked for hours, often pausing between his words. He told Ajihad of Teirm, though he kept Angela’s fortunetelling to himself, and how he and Brom had found the Ra’zac. He even related his dreams of Arya. When he came to Gil’ead and mentioned the Shade, Ajihad’s face hardened, and he leaned back with veiled eyes. When his narrative was complete, Eragon fell silent, brooding on all that had occurred. Ajihad stood, clasped his hands behind his back, and absently studied one of the bookshelves. After a time he returned to the desk. “Brom’s death is a terrible loss. He was a close friend of mine and a powerful ally of the Varden. He saved us from destruction many times through his bravery and intelligence. Even now, when he is gone, he’s provided us with the one thing that can ensure our success—you.” “But what can you expect me to accomplish?” asked Eragon. Page 242 “I will explain it in full,” said Ajihad, “but there are more urgent matters to be dealt with first. The news of the Urgals’ alliance with the Empire is extremely serious. If Galbatorix is gathering an Urgal army to destroy us, the Varden will be hard pressed to survive, even though many of us are protected here in Farthen Dûr. That a Rider, even one as evil as Galbatorix, would consider a pact with such monsters is indeed proof of madness. I shudder to think of what he promised them in return for their fickle loyalty. And then there is the Shade. Can you describe him?” Eragon nodded. “He was tall, thin, and very pale, with red eyes and hair. He was dressed all in black.” “What of his sword—did you see it?” asked Ajihad intensely. “Did it have a long scratch on the blade?” “Yes,” said Eragon, surprised. “How did you know?” “Because I put it there while trying to cut out his heart,” said Ajihad with a grim smile. “His name is Durza—one of the most vicious and cunning fiends to ever stalk this land. He is the perfect servant for Galbatorix and a dangerous enemy for us. You say that you killed him. How was it done?” Eragon remembered it vividly. “Murtagh shot him twice. The first arrow caught him in the shoulder; the second one struck him between the eyes.” “I was afraid of that,” said Ajihad, frowning. “You didn’t kill him. Shades can only be destroyed by a thrust through the heart. Anything short of that will cause them to vanish and then reappear elsewhere in spirit form. It’s an unpleasant process, but Durza will survive and return stronger than ever.” A moody silence settled over them like a foreboding thunderhead. Then Ajihad stated, “You are an enigma, Eragon, a quandary that no one knows how to solve. Everyone knows what the Varden want—or the Urgals, or even Galbatorix—but no one knows whatyou want. And that makes you dangerous, especially to Galbatorix. He fears you because he doesn’t know what you will do next.” “Do the Varden fear me?” asked Eragon quietly. “No,” said Ajihad carefully. “We are hopeful. But if that hope proves false, then yes, we will be afraid.” Eragon looked down. “You must understand the unusual nature of your position. There are factions who want you to serve their interests and no one else’s. The moment you entered Farthen Dûr, their influence and power began tugging on you.” “Including yours?” asked Eragon. Ajihad chuckled, though his eyes were sharp. “Including mine. There are certain things you should know: first is how Saphira’s egg happened to appear in the Spine. Did Brom ever tell you what was done with her egg after he brought it here?” “No,” said Eragon, glancing at Saphira. She blinked and flicked her tongue at him. Ajihad tapped his desk before beginning. “When Brom first brought the egg to the Varden, everyone was deeply interested in its fate. We had thought the dragons were exterminated. The dwarves were solely concerned with making sure that the future Rider would be an ally—though some of them were opposed to having a new Rider at all—while the elves and Varden had a more personal stake in the matter. The reason was simple enough: throughout history all the Riders have been either elven or human, with the majority being elven. There has never been a dwarf Rider. Page 243 “Because of Galbatorix’s betrayals, the elves were reluctant to let any of the Varden handle the egg for fear that the dragon inside would hatch for a human with similar instabilities. It was a challenging situation, as both sides wanted the Rider for their own. The dwarves only aggravated the problem by arguing obstinately with both the elves and us whenever they had the chance. Tensions escalated, and before long, threats were made that were later regretted. It was then that Brom suggested a compromise that allowed all sides to save face. “He proposed that the egg be ferried between the Varden and the elves every year. At each place children would parade past it, and then the bearers of the egg would wait to see if the dragon would hatch. If it didn’t, they would leave and return to the other group. But if the dragondid hatch, the new Rider’s training would be undertaken immediately. For the first year or so he or she would be instructed here, by Brom. Then the Rider would be taken to the elves, who would finish the education. “The elves reluctantly accepted this plan… with the stipulation that if Brom were to die before the dragon hatched, they would be free to train the new Rider without interference. The agreement was slanted in their favor—we both knew that the dragon would likely chose an elf—but it provided a desperately needed semblance of equality.” Ajihad paused, his rich eyes somber. Shadows bit into his face under his cheekbones, making them jut out. “It was hoped that this new Rider would bring our two races closer together. We waited for well over a decade, but the egg never hatched. The matter passed from our minds, and we rarely thought about it except to lament the egg’s inactivity. “Then last year we suffered a terrible loss. Arya and the egg disappeared on her return from Tronjheim to the elven city Osilon. The elves were the first to discover she was missing. They found her steed and guards slain in Du Weldenvarden and a group of slaughtered Urgals nearby. But neither Arya nor the egg was there. When this news reached me, I feared that Urgals had both of them and would soon learn the location of Farthen Dûr and the elves’ capital, Ellesméra, where their queen, Islanzadi, lives. Now I understand they were working for the Empire, which is far worse. “We won’t know exactly what occurred during that attack until Arya wakes, but I have deduced a few details from what you’ve said.” Ajihad’s vest rustled as he leaned his elbows on the desk. “The attack must have been swift and decisive, else Arya would have escaped. Without any warning, and deprived of a place to hide, she could have done only one thing—used magic to transport the egg elsewhere.” “She can use magic?” asked Eragon. Arya had mentioned that she had been given a drug to suppress her power; he wanted to confirm that she meant magic. He wondered if she could teach him more words of the ancient language. “It was one of the reasons why she was chosen to guard the egg. Anyway, Arya couldn’t have returned it to us—she was too far away—and the elves’ realm is warded by arcane barriers that prevent anything from entering their borders through magical means. She must have thought of Brom and, in desperation, sent the egg toward Carvahall. Without time to prepare, I’m not surprised she missed by the margin she did. The Twins tell me it is an imprecise art.” “Why was she closer to Palancar Valley than the Varden?” asked Eragon. “Where do the elves really live? Where is this… Ellesméra?” Ajihad’s keen gaze bored into Eragon as he considered the question. “I don’t tell you this lightly, for the elves guard the knowledge jealously. But you should know, and I do this as a display of trust. Their cities lie far to the north, in the deepest reaches of the endless forest Du Weldenvarden. Not since the Riders’ Page 244 time has anyone, dwarf or human, been elf-friend enough to walk in their leafy halls. I do not even know how to find Ellesméra. As for Osilon… based on where Arya disappeared, I suspect it is near Du Weldenvarden’s western edge, toward Carvahall. You must have many other questions, but bear with me and keep them until I have finished.” He gathered his memories, then spoke at a quickened pace. “When Arya disappeared, the elves withdrew their support from the Varden. Queen Islanzadi was especially enraged and refused any further contact with us. As a result, even though I received Brom’s message, the elves are still ignorant of you and Saphira… Without their supplies to sustain my troops, we have fared badly these past months in skirmishes with the Empire. “With Arya’s return and your arrival, I expect the queen’s hostility will abate. The fact that you rescued Arya will greatly help our case with her. Your training, however, is going to present a problem for both Varden and elves. Brom obviously had a chance to teach you, but we need to know how thorough he was. For that reason, you’ll have to be tested to determine the extent of your abilities. Also, the elves will expect you to finish your training with them, though I’m not sure if there’s time for that.” “Why not?” asked Eragon. “For several reasons. Chief among them, the tidings you brought about the Urgals,” said Ajihad, his eyes straying to Saphira. “You see, Eragon, the Varden are in an extremely delicate position. On one hand, we have to comply with the elves’ wishes if we want to keep them as allies. At the same time, we cannot anger the dwarves if we wish to lodge in Tronjheim.” “Aren’t the dwarves part of the Varden?” asked Eragon. Ajihad hesitated. “In a sense, yes. They allow us to live here and provide assistance in our struggle against the Empire, but they are loyal only to their king. I have no power over them except for what Hrothgar gives me, and even he often has trouble with the dwarf clans. The thirteen clans are subservient to Hrothgar, but each clan chief wields enormous power; they choose the new dwarf king when the old one dies. Hrothgar is sympathetic to our cause, but many of the chiefs aren’t. He can’t afford to anger them unnecessarily or he’ll lose the support of his people, so his actions on our behalf have been severely circumscribed.” “These clan chiefs,” said Eragon, “are they against me as well?” “Even more so, I’m afraid,” said Ajihad wearily. “There has long been enmity between dwarves and dragons—before the elves came and made peace, dragons made a regular habit of eating the dwarves’ flocks and stealing their gold—and the dwarves are slow to forget past wrongs. Indeed, they never fully accepted the Riders or allowed them to police their kingdom. Galbatorix’s rise to power has only served to convince many of them that it would be better never to deal with Riders or dragons ever again.” He directed his last words at Saphira. Eragon said slowly, “Why doesn’t Galbatorix know where Farthen Dûr and Ellesméra are? Surely he was told of them when he was instructed by the Riders.” “Told of them, yes—shown where they are, no. It’s one thing to know that Farthen Dûr lies within these mountains, quite another to find it. Galbatorix hadn’t been taken to either place before his dragon was killed. After that, of course, the Riders didn’t trust him. He tried to force the information out of several Riders during his rebellion, but they chose to die rather than reveal it to him. As for the dwarves, he’s never managed to capture one alive, though it’s only a matter of time.” Page 245 “Then why doesn’t he just take an army and march through Du Weldenvarden until he finds Ellesméra?” asked Eragon. “Because the elves still have enough power to resist him,” said Ajihad. “He doesn’t dare test his strength against theirs, at least not yet. But his cursed sorcery grows stronger each year. With another Rider at his side, he would be unstoppable. He keeps trying to get one of his two eggs to hatch, but so far he’s been unsuccessful.” Eragon was puzzled. “How can his power be increasing? The strength of his body limits his abilities—it can’t build itself up forever.” “We don’t know,” said Ajihad, shrugging his broad shoulders, “and neither do the elves. We can only hope that someday he will be destroyed by one of his own spells.” He reached inside his vest and somberly pulled out a battered piece of parchment. “Do you know what this is?” he asked, placing it on the desk. Eragon bent forward and examined it. Lines of black script, written in an alien language, were inked across the page. Large sections of the writing had been destroyed by blots of blood. One edge of the parchment was charred. He shook his head. “No, I don’t.” “It was taken from the leader of the Urgal host we destroyed last night. It cost us twelve men to do so—they sacrificed themselves so that you might escape safely. The writing is the king’s invention, a script he uses to communicate with his servants. It took me a while, but I was able to devise its meaning, at least where it’s legible. It reads: …gatekeeper at Ithrö Zhâda is to let this bearer and his minions pass. They are to be bunked with the others of their kind and by… but only if the two factions refrain from fighting. Command will be given under Tarok, under Gashz, under Durza, under Ushnark the Mighty. “Ushnark is Galbatorix. It means ‘father’ in the Urgal tongue, an affectation that pleases him. Find what they are suitable for and… The footmen and… are to be kept separate. No weapons are to be distributed until… for marching. “Nothing else can be read past there, except for a few vague words,” said Ajihad. “Where’s Ithrö Zhâda? I’ve never heard of it.” “Nor have I,” confirmed Ajihad, “which makes me suspect that Galbatorix has renamed an existing place for his own purposes. After deciphering this, I asked myself what hundreds of Urgals were doing by the Beor Mountains where you first saw them and where they were going. The parchment mentions ‘others of their kind,’ so I assume there are even more Urgals at their destination. There’s only one Page 246 reason for the king to gather such a force—to forge a bastard army of humans and monsters to destroy us. “For now, there is nothing to do but wait and watch. Without further information we cannot find this Ithrö Zhâda. Still, Farthen Dûr has not yet been discovered, so there is hope. The only Urgals to have seen it died last night.” “How did you know we were coming?” asked Eragon. “One of the Twins was waiting for us, and there was an ambush in place for the Kull.” He was aware of Saphira listening intently. Though she kept her own counsel, he knew she would have things to say later. “We have sentinels placed at the entrance of the valley you traveled through—on either side of the Beartooth River. They sent a dove to warn us,” explained Ajihad. Eragon wondered if it was the same bird Saphira had tried to eat. “When the egg and Arya disappeared, did you tell Brom? He said that he hadn’t heard anything from the Varden.” “We tried to alert him,” said Ajihad, “but I suspect our men were intercepted and killed by the Empire. Why else would the Ra’zac have gone to Carvahall? After that, Brom was traveling with you, and it was impossible to get word to him. I was relieved when he contacted me via messenger from Teirm. It didn’t surprise me that he went to Jeod; they were old friends. And Jeod could easily send us a message because he smuggles supplies to us through Surda. “All of this has raised serious questions. How did the Empire know where to ambush Arya and, later, our messengers to Carvahall? How has Galbatorix learned which merchants help the Varden? Jeod’s business has been virtually destroyed since you left him, as have those of other merchants who support us. Every time one of their ships sets sail, it disappears. The dwarves cannot give us everything we need, so the Varden are in desperate need of supplies. I’m afraid that we have a traitor, or traitors, in our midst, despite our efforts to examine people’s minds for deceit.” Eragon sank deep in thought, pondering what he had learned. Ajihad waited calmly for him to speak, undisturbed by the silence. For the first time since finding Saphira’s egg, Eragon felt that he understood what was going on around him. At last he knew where Saphira came from and what might lie in his future. “What do you want from me?” he asked. “How do you mean?” “I mean, what is expected of me in Tronjheim? You and the elves have plans for me, but what if I don’t like them?” A hard note crept into his voice. “I’ll fight when needed, revel when there’s occasion, mourn when there is grief, and die if my time comes… but I won’t let anyone use me against my will.” He paused to let the words sink in. “The Riders of old were arbiters of justice above and beyond the leaders of their time. I don’t claim that position—I doubt people would accept such oversight when they’ve been free of it all their lives, especially from one as young as me. But Ido have power, and I will wield it as I see fit. What I want to know is howyou plan to use me. Then I will decide whether to agree to it.” Ajihad looked at him wryly. “If you were anyone else and were before another leader, you would likely have been killed for that insolent speech. What makes you think I will expose my plans just because you demand it?” Eragon flushed but did not lower his gaze. “Still, you are right. Your position gives you the privilege to say such things. You cannot escape the politics of your situation—youwill be influenced, one way or another. I don’t want to see you become a pawn of any one group or purpose any more than you do. You must retain your freedom, for in it lies your true power: the ability to make choices independent Page 247 of any leader or king. My own authority over you will be limited, but I believe it’s for the best. The difficulty lies in making sure that those with power include you in their deliberations. “Also, despite your protests, the people here have certain expectations of you. They are going to bring you their problems, no matter how petty, and demand that you solve them.” Ajihad leaned forward, his voice deadly serious. “There will be cases where someone’s future will rest in your hands… with a word you can send them careening into happiness or misery. Young women will seek your opinion on whom they should marry—many will pursue you as a husband—and old men will ask which of their children should receive an inheritance. Youmust be kind and wise with them all, for they put their trust in you. Don’t speak flippantly or without thought, because your words will have impact far beyond what you intend.” Ajihad leaned back, his eyes hooded. “The burden of leadership is being responsible for the well-being of the people in your charge. I have dealt with it from the day I was chosen to head the Varden, and now you must as well. Be careful. I won’t tolerate injustice under my command. Don’t worry about your youth and inexperience; they will pass soon enough.” Eragon was uncomfortable with the idea of people asking him for advice. “But you still haven’t said what I’m to do here.” “For now, nothing. You covered over a hundred and thirty leagues in eight days, a feat to be proud of. I’m sure that you’ll appreciate rest. When you’ve recovered, we will test your competency in arms and magic. After that—well, I will explain your options, and then you’ll have to decide your course.” “And what about Murtagh?” asked Eragon bitingly. Ajihad’s face darkened. He reached beneath his desk and lifted up Zar’roc. The sword’s polished sheath gleamed in the light. Ajihad slid his hand over it, lingering on the etched sigil. “He will stay here until he allows the Twins into his mind.” “You can’t imprison him,” argued Eragon. “He’s committed no crime!” “We can’t give him his freedom without being sure that he won’t turn against us. Innocent or not, he’s potentially as dangerous to us as his father was,” said Ajihad with a hint of sadness. Eragon realized that Ajihad would not be convinced otherwise, and his concernwas valid. “How were you able to recognize his voice?” “I met his father once,” said Ajihad shortly. He tapped Zar’roc’s hilt. “I wish Brom had told me he had taken Morzan’s sword. I suggest that you don’t carry it within Farthen Dûr. Many here remember Morzan’s time with hate, especially the dwarves.” “I’ll remember that,” promised Eragon. Ajihad handed Zar’roc to him. “That reminds me, I have Brom’s ring, which he sent as confirmation of his identity. I was keeping it for when he returned to Tronjheim. Now that he’s dead, I suppose it belongs to you, and I think he would have wanted you to have it.” He opened a desk drawer and took the ring from it. Eragon accepted it with reverence. The symbol cut into the face of the sapphire was identical to the tattoo on Arya’s shoulder. He fit the ring onto his index finger, admiring how it caught the light. “I… I am Page 248 honored,” he said. Ajihad nodded gravely, then pushed back his chair and stood. He faced Saphira and spoke to her, his voice swelling in power. “Do not think that I have forgotten you, O mighty dragon. I have said these things as much for your benefit as for Eragon’s. It is even more important that you know them, for to you falls the task of guarding him in these dangerous times. Do not underestimate your might nor falter at his side, because without you he will surely fail.” Saphira lowered her head until their eyes were level and stared at him through slitted black pupils. They examined each other silently, neither of them blinking. Ajihad was the first to move. He lowered his eyes and said softly, “It is indeed a privilege to meet you.” He’ll do,said Saphira respectfully. She swung her head to face Eragon. Tell him that I am impressed both with Tronjheim and with him. The Empire is right to fear him. Let him know, however, that if he had decided to kill you, I would have destroyed Tronjheim and torn him apart with my teeth. Eragon hesitated, surprised by the venom in her voice, then relayed the message. Ajihad looked at her seriously. “I would expect nothing less from one so noble—but I doubt you could have gotten past the Twins.” Saphira snorted with derision.Bah! Knowing what she meant, Eragon said, “Then they must be much stronger than they appear. I think they would be sorely dismayed if they ever faced a dragon’s wrath. The two of them might be able to defeat me, but never Saphira. You should know, a Rider’s dragon strengthens his magic beyond what a normal magician might have. Brom was always weaker than me because of that. I think that in the absence of Riders, the Twins have overestimated their power.” Ajihad looked troubled. “Brom was considered one of our strongest spell weavers. Only the elves surpassed him. If what you say is true, we will have to reconsider a great many things.” He bowed to Saphira. “As it is, I am glad it wasn’t necessary to harm either of you.” Saphira dipped her head in return. Ajihad straightened with a lordly air and called, “Orik!” The dwarf hurried into the room and stood before the desk, crossing his arms. Ajihad frowned at him, irritated. “You’ve caused me a great deal of trouble, Orik. I’ve had to listen to one of the Twins complain all morning about your insubordination. They won’t let it rest until you are punished. Unfortunately they’re right. It’s a serious matter that cannot be ignored. An accounting is due.” Orik’s eyes flicked toward Eragon, but his face betrayed no emotion. He spoke quickly in rough tones. “The Kull were almost around Kóstha-mérna. They were shooting arrows at the dragon, Eragon, and Murtagh, but the Twins did nothing to stop it. Like… sheilven, they refused to open the gates even though we could see Eragon shouting the opening phrase on the other side of the waterfall. And they refused to take action when Eragon did not rise from the water. Perhaps I did wrong, but I couldn’t let a Rider die.” “I wasn’t strong enough to get out of the water myself,” offered Eragon. “I would have drowned if he hadn’t pulled me out.” Ajihad glanced at him, then asked Orik seriously, “And later, why did you oppose them?” Orik raised his chin defiantly. “It wasn’t right for them to force their way into Murtagh’s mind. But I Page 249 wouldn’t have stopped them if I’d known who he was.” “No, you did the right thing, though it would be simpler if you hadn’t. It isn’t our place to force our way into people’s minds, no matter who they are.” Ajihad fingered his dense beard. “Your actions were honorable, but you did defy a direct order from your commander. The penalty for that has always been death.” Orik’s back stiffened. “You can’t kill him for that! He was only helping me,” cried Eragon. “It isn’t your place to interfere,” said Ajihad sternly. “Orik broke the law and must suffer the consequences.” Eragon started to argue again, but Ajihad stopped him with a raised hand. “But you are right. The sentence will be mitigated because of the circumstances. As of now, Orik, you are removed from active service and forbidden to engage in any military activities under my command. Do you understand?” Orik’s face darkened, but then he only looked confused. He nodded sharply. “Yes.” “Furthermore, in the absence of your regular duties, I appoint you Eragon and Saphira’s guide for the duration of their stay. You are to make sure they receive every comfort and amenity we have to offer. Saphira will stay above Isidar Mithrim. Eragon may have quarters wherever he wants. When he recovers from his trip, take him to the training fields. They’re expecting him,” said Ajihad, a twinkle of amusement in his eye. Orik bowed low. “I understand.” “Very well, you all may go. Send in the Twins as you leave.” Eragon bowed and began to leave, then asked, “Where can I find Arya? I would like to see her.” “No one is allowed to visit her. You will have to wait until she comes to you.” Ajihad looked down at his desk in a clear dismissal. BLESS THECHILD,ARGETLAM Eragon stretched in the hall; he was stiff from sitting so long. Behind him, the Twins entered Ajihad’s study and closed the door. Eragon looked at Orik. “I’m sorry that you’re in trouble because of me,” he apologized. “Don’t bother yourself,” grunted Orik, tugging on his beard. “Ajihad gave me what I wanted.” Even Saphira was startled by the statement. “What do you mean?” said Eragon. “You can’t train or fight, and you’re stuck guarding me. How can that be what you wanted?” The dwarf eyed him quietly. “Ajihad is a good leader. He understands how to keep the law yet remain just. I have been punished by his command, but I’m also one of Hrothgar’s subjects. Under his rule, I’m still free to do what I wish.” Eragon realized it would be unwise to forget Orik’s dual loyalty and the split nature of power within Tronjheim. “Ajihad just placed you in a powerful position, didn’t he?” Orik chuckled deeply. “That he did, and in such a way the Twins can’t complain about it. This’ll irritate Page 250 them for sure. Ajihad’s a tricky one, he is. Come, lad, I’m sure you’re hungry. And we have to get your dragon settled in.” Saphira hissed. Eragon said, “Her name is Saphira.” Orik made a small bow to her. “My apologies, I’ll be sure to remember that.” He took an orange lamp from the wall and led them down the hallway. “Can others in Farthen Dûr use magic?” asked Eragon, struggling to keep up with the dwarf’s brisk pace. He cradled Zar’roc carefully, concealing the symbol on the sheath with his arm. “Few enough,” said Orik with a swift shrug under his mail. “And the ones we have can’t do much more than heal bruises. They’ve all had to tend to Arya because of the strength needed to heal her.” “Except for the Twins.” “Oeí,” grumbled Orik. “She wouldn’t want their help anyway; their arts are not for healing. Their talents lie in scheming and plotting for power—to everyone else’s detriment. Deynor, Ajihad’s predecessor, allowed them to join the Varden because he needed their support… you can’t oppose the Empire without spellcasters who can hold their own on the field of battle. They’re a nasty pair, but they do have their uses.” They entered one of the four main tunnels that divided Tronjheim. Clusters of dwarves and humans strolled through it, voices echoing loudly off the polished floor. The conversations stopped abruptly as they saw Saphira; scores of eyes fixed on her. Orik ignored the spectators and turned left, heading toward one of Tronjheim’s distant gates. “Where are we going?” asked Eragon. “Out of these halls so Saphira can fly to the dragonhold above Isidar Mithrim, the Star Rose. The dragonhold doesn’t have a roof—Tronjheim’s peak is open to the sky, like that of Farthen Dûr—so she, that is, you, Saphira, will be able to glide straight down into the hold. It is where the Riders used to stay when they visited Tronjheim.” “Won’t it be cold and damp without a roof?” asked Eragon. “Nay.” Orik shook his head. “Farthen Dûr protects us from the elements. Neither rain nor snow intrude here. Besides, the hold’s walls are lined with marble caves for dragons. They provide all the shelter necessary. All you need fear are the icicles; when they fall they’ve been known to cleave a horse in two.” I will be fine,assured Saphira.A marble cave is safer than any of the other places we’ve stayed. Perhaps… Do you think Murtagh will be all right? Ajihad strikes me as an honorable man. Unless Murtagh tries to escape, I doubt he will be harmed. Eragon crossed his arms, unwilling to talk further. He was dazed by the change in circumstances from the day before. Their mad race from Gil’ead was finally over, but his body expected to continue running and riding. “Where are our horses?” “In the stables by the gate. We can visit them before leaving Tronjheim.” Page 251 They exited Tronjheim through the same gate they had entered. The gold griffins gleamed with colored highlights garnered from scores of lanterns. The sun had moved during Eragon’s talk with Ajihad—light no longer entered Farthen Dûr through the crater opening. Without those moted rays, the inside of the hollow mountain was velvety black. The only illumination came from Tronjheim, which sparkled brilliantly in the gloom. The city-mountain’s radiance was enough to brighten the ground hundreds of feet away. Orik pointed at Tronjheim’s white pinnacle. “Fresh meat and pure mountain water await you up there,” he told Saphira. “You may stay in any of the caves. Once you make your choice, bedding will be laid down in it and then no one will disturb you.” “I thought we were going to go together. I don’t want to be separated,” protested Eragon. Orik turned to him. “Rider Eragon, I will do everything to accommodate you, but it would be best if Saphira waits in the dragonhold while you eat. The tunnels to the banquet halls aren’t large enough for her to accompany us.” “Why can’t you just bring me food in the hold?” “Because,” said Orik with a guarded expression, “the food is prepared down here, and it is a long way to the top. If you wish, a servant could be sent up to the hold with a meal for you. It will take some time, but you could eat with Saphira then.” He actually means it,Eragon thought, astonished that they would do so much for him. But the way Orik said it made him wonder if the dwarf was testing him somehow. I’m weary,said Saphira.And this dragonhold sounds to my liking. Go, have your meal, then come to me. It will be soothing to rest together without fear of wild animals or soldiers. We have suffered the hardships of the trail too long. Eragon looked at her thoughtfully, then said to Orik, “I’ll eat down here.” The dwarf smiled, seeming satisfied. Eragon unstrapped Saphira’s saddle so she could lie down without discomfort.Would you take Zar’roc with you? Yes,she said, gathering up the sword and saddle with her claws.But keep your bow. We must trust these people, though not to the point of foolishness. I know,he said, disquieted. With an explosive leap Saphira swept off the ground and into the still air. The steady whoosh of her wings was the only sound in the darkness. As she disappeared over the rim of Tronjheim’s peak, Orik let out a long breath. “Ah boy, you have been blessed indeed. I find a sudden longing in my heart for open skies and soaring cliffs and the thrill of hunting like a hawk. Still, my feet are better on the ground—preferably under it.” He clapped his hands loudly. “I neglect my duties as host. I know you’ve not dined since that pitiful dinner the Twins saw fit to give you, so come, let’s find the cooks and beg meat and bread from them!” Eragon followed the dwarf back into Tronjheim and through a labyrinth of corridors until they came to a long room filled with rows of stone tables only high enough for dwarves. Fires blazed in soapstone ovens behind a long counter. Page 252 Orik spoke words in an unfamiliar language to a stout ruddy-faced dwarf, who promptly handed them stone platters piled with steaming mushrooms and fish. Then Orik took Eragon up several flights of stairs and into a small alcove carved out of Tronjheim’s outer wall, where they sat cross-legged. Eragon wordlessly reached for his food. When their platters were empty, Orik sighed with contentment and pulled out a long-stemmed pipe. He lit it, saying, “A worthy repast, though it needed a good draught of mead to wash it down properly.” Eragon surveyed the ground below. “Do you farm in Farthen Dûr?” “No, there’s only enough sunlight for moss, mushrooms, and mold. Tronjheim cannot survive without supplies from the surrounding valleys, which is one reason why many of us choose to live elsewhere in the Beor Mountains.” “Then there are other dwarf cities?” “Not as many as we would like. And Tronjheim is the greatest of them.” Leaning on an elbow, Orik took a deep pull on his pipe. “You have only seen the lower levels, so it hasn’t been apparent, but most of Tronjheim is deserted. The farther up you go, the emptier it gets. Entire floors have remained untouched for centuries. Most dwarves prefer to dwell under Tronjheim and Farthen Dûr in the caverns and passageways that riddle the rock. Through the centuries we have tunneled extensively under the Beor Mountains. It is possible to walk from one end of the mountain range to the other without ever setting foot on the surface.” “It seems like a waste to have all that unused space in Tronjheim,” commented Eragon. Orik nodded. “Some have argued for abandoning this place because of its drain on our resources, but Tronjheim does perform one invaluable task.” “What’s that?” “In times of misfortune it can house our entire nation. There have been only three instances in our history when we have been forced to that extreme, but each time it has saved us from certain and utter destruction. That is why we always keep it garrisoned, ready for use.” “I’ve never seen anything as magnificent,” admitted Eragon. Orik smiled around his pipe. “I’m glad you find it so. It took generations to build Tronjheim—and our lives are much longer than those of men. Unfortunately, because of the cursed Empire, few outsiders are allowed to see its glory.” “How many Varden are here?” “Dwarves or humans?” “Humans—I want to know how many have fled the Empire.” Orik exhaled a long puff of smoke that coiled lazily around his head. “There are about four thousand of your kin here. But that’s a poor indicator of what you want to know. Only people who wish to fight come here. The rest of them are under King Orrin’s protection in Surda.” Page 253 So few?thought Eragon with a sinking feeling. The royal army alone numbered nearly sixteen thousand when it was fully marshaled, not counting the Urgals. “Why doesn’t Orrin fight the Empire himself?” he asked. “If he were to show open hostility,” said Orik, “Galbatorix would crush him. As it is, Galbatorix withholds that destruction because he considers Surda a minor threat, which is a mistake. It’s through Orrin’s assistance that the Varden have most of their weapons and supplies. Without him, there would be no resisting the Empire. “Don’t despair over the number of humans in Tronjheim. There are many dwarves here—many more than you have seen—and all will fight when the time comes. Orrin has also promised us troops for when we battle Galbatorix. The elves pledged their help as well.” Eragon absently touched Saphira’s mind and found her busy eating a bloody haunch with gusto. He noticed once more the hammer and stars engraved on Orik’s helm. “What does that mean? I saw it on the floor in Tronjheim.” Orik lifted the iron-bound cap off his head and brushed a rough finger over the engraving. “It is the symbol of my clan. We are the Ingietum, metalworkers and master smiths. The hammer and stars are inlaid into Tronjheim’s floor because it was the personal crest of Korgan, our founder. One clan to rule, with twelve surrounding. King Hrothgar is Dûrgrimst Ingietum as well and has brought my house much glory, much honor.” When they returned the platters to the cook, they passed a dwarf in the hall. He stopped before Eragon, bowed, and said respectfully, “Argetlam.” The dwarf left Eragon fumbling for an answer, flushed with unease, yet also strangely pleased with the gesture. No one had bowed to him before. “What did he say?” he asked, leaning closer to Orik. Orik shrugged, embarrassed. “It’s an elven word that was used to refer to the Riders. It means ‘silver hand.’ ” Eragon glanced at his gloved hand, thinking of the gedwëy ignasia that whitened his palm. “Do you wish to return to Saphira?” “Is there somewhere I could bathe first? I haven’t been able to wash off the grime of the road for a long time. Also, my shirt is bloodstained and torn, and it stinks. I’d like to replace it, but I don’t have any money to buy a new one. Is there a way I could work for one?” “Do you seek to insult Hrothgar’s hospitality, Eragon?” demanded Orik. “As long as you are in Tronjheim, you won’t have to buy a thing. You’ll pay for it in other ways—Ajihad and Hrothgar will see to that. Come. I’ll show you where to wash, then fetch you a shirt.” He took Eragon down a long staircase until they were well below Tronjheim. The corridors were tunnels now—which cramped Eragon because they were only five feet high—and all the lanterns were red. “So the light doesn’t blind you when you leave or enter a dark cavern,” explained Orik. They entered a bare room with a small door on the far side. Orik pointed. “The pools are through there, along with brushes and soap. Leave your clothes here. I’ll have new ones waiting when you get out.” Eragon thanked him and started to undress. It felt oppressive being alone underground, especially with the low rock ceiling. He stripped quickly and, cold, hurried through the door, into total darkness. He Page 254 inched forward until his foot touched warm water, then eased himself into it. The pool was mildly salty, but soothing and calm. For a moment he was afraid of drifting away from the door, into deeper water, but as he waded forward, he discovered the water reached only to his waist. He groped over a slippery wall until he found the soap and brushes, then scrubbed himself. Afterward he floated with his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth. When he emerged, dripping, into the lighted room, he found a towel, a fine linen shirt, and a pair of breeches. The clothes fit him reasonably well. Satisfied, he went out into the tunnel. Orik was waiting for him, pipe in hand. They climbed the stairs back up into Tronjheim, then exited the city-mountain. Eragon gazed at Tronjheim’s peak and called Saphira with his mind. As she flew down from the dragonhold, he asked, “How do you communicate with people at the top of Tronjheim?” Orik chuckled. “That’s a problem we solved long ago. You didn’t notice, but behind the open arches that line each level is a single, unbroken staircase that spirals around the wall of Tronjheim’s central chamber. The stairs climb all the way to the dragonhold above Isidar Mithrim. We call it Vol Turin, The Endless Staircase. Running up or down it isn’t swift enough for an emergency, nor convenient enough for casual use. Instead, we use flashing lanterns to convey messages. There is another way too, though it is seldom used. When Vol Turin was constructed, a polished trough was cut next to it. The trough acts as a giant slide as high as a mountain.” Eragon’s lips twitched with a smile. “Is it dangerous?” “Do not think of trying it. The slide was built for dwarves and is too narrow for a man. If you slipped out of it, you could be thrown onto the stairs and against the arches, perhaps even into empty space.” Saphira landed a spear’s throw away, her scales rustling dryly. As she greeted Eragon, humans and dwarves trickled out of Tronjheim, gathering around her with murmurs of interest. Eragon regarded the growing crowd uneasily. “You’d better go,” said Orik, pushing him forward. “Meet me by this gate tomorrow morning. I’ll be waiting.” Eragon balked. “How will I know when it’s morning?” “I’ll have someone wake you. Now go!” Without further protest, Eragon slipped through the jostling group that surrounded Saphira and jumped onto her back. Before she could take off, an old woman stepped forward and grasped Eragon’s foot with a fierce grip. He tried to pull away, but her hand was like an iron talon around his ankle—he could not break her tenacious hold. The burning gray eyes she fixed on him were surrounded by a lifetime’s worth of wrinkles—the skin was folded in long creases down her sunken cheeks. A tattered bundle rested in the crook of her left arm. Frightened, Eragon asked, “What do you want?” The woman tilted her arm, and a cloth fell from the bundle, revealing a baby’s face. Hoarse and desperate, she said, “The child has no parents—there is no one to care for her but me, and I am weak. Bless her with your power, Argetlam. Bless her for luck!” Eragon looked to Orik for help, but the dwarf only watched with a guarded expression. The small crowd fell silent, waiting for his response. The woman’s eyes were still fastened on him. “Bless her, Page 255 Argetlam, bless her,” she insisted. Eragon had never blessed anyone. It was not something done lightly in Alagaësia, as a blessing could easily go awry and prove to be more curse than boon—especially if it was spoken with ill intent or lack of conviction.Do I dare take that responsibility? he wondered. “Bless her, Argetlam, bless her.” Suddenly decided, he searched for a phrase or expression to use. Nothing came to mind until, inspired, he thought of the ancient language. This would be a true blessing, spoken with words of power, by one of power. He bent down and tugged the glove off his right hand. Laying his palm on the babe’s brow, he intoned, “Atra gülai un ilian tauthr ono un atra ono waíse skölir frá rauthr.” The words left him unexpectedly weak, as if he had used magic. He slowly pulled the glove back on and said to the woman, “That is all I can do for her. If any words have the power to forestall tragedy, it will be those.” “Thank you, Argetlam,” she whispered, bowing slightly. She started to cover the baby again, but Saphira snorted and twisted until her head loomed over the child. The woman grew rigid; her breath caught in her chest. Saphira lowered her snout and brushed the baby between the eyes with the tip of her nose, then smoothly lifted away. A gasp ran through the crowd, for on the child’s forehead, where Saphira had touched her, was a star-shaped patch of skin as white and silvery as Eragon’s gedwëy ignasia. The woman stared at Saphira with a feverish gaze, wordless thanks in her eyes. Immediately Saphira took flight, battering the awestruck spectators with the wind from her powerful wing strokes. As the ground dwindled away, Eragon took a deep breath and hugged her neck tightly. What did you do? he asked softly. I gave her hope. And you gave her a future. Loneliness suddenly flowered within Eragon, despite Saphira’s presence. Their surroundings were so foreign—it struck him for the first time exactly how far he was from home. A destroyed home, but still where his heart lay.What have I become, Saphira? he asked.I’m only in the first year of manhood, yet I’ve consulted with the leader of the Varden, am pursued by Galbatorix, and have traveled with Morzan’s son—and now blessings are sought from me! What wisdom can I give people that they haven’t already learned? What feats can I achieve that an army couldn’t do better? It’s insanity! I should be back in Carvahall with Roran. Saphira took a long time to answer, but her words were gentle when they came.A hatchling, that is what you are. A hatchling struggling into the world. I may be younger than you in years, but I am ancient in my thoughts. Do not worry about these things. Find peace in where and what you are. People often know what must be done. All you need do is show them the way—that is wisdom. As for feats, no army could have given the blessing you did. But it was nothing,he protested.A trifle. Nay, it wasn’t. What you saw was the beginning of another story, another legend. Do you think that child will ever be content to be a tavern keeper or a farmer when her brow is dragon-marked and your words hang over her? You underestimate our power and that of fate. Page 256 Eragon bowed his head.It’s overwhelming. I feel as if I am living in an illusion, a dream where all things are possible. Amazing things do happen, I know, but always to someone else, always in some far-off place and time. But I found your egg, was tutored by a Rider, and dueled a Shade—those can’t be the actions of the farm boy I am, or was. Something is changing me. It is your wyrd that shapes you,said Saphira.Every age needs an icon—perhaps that lot has fallen to you. Farm boys are not named for the first Rider without cause. Your namesake was the beginning, and now you are the continuation. Or the end. Ach,said Eragon, shaking his head.It’s like speaking in riddles… But if all is foreordained, do our choices mean anything? Or must we just learn to accept our fate? Saphira said firmly,Eragon, I chose you from within my egg. You have been given a chance most would die for. Are you unhappy with that? Clear your mind of such thoughts. They cannot be answered and will make you no happier. True,he said glumly.All the same, they continue to bounce around within my skull. Things have been… unsettled… ever since Brom died. It has made me uneasy,acknowledged Saphira, which surprised him because she rarely seemed perturbed. They were above Tronjheim now. Eragon looked down through the opening in its peak and saw the floor of the dragonhold: Isidar Mithrim, the great star sapphire. He knew that beneath it was nothing but Tronjheim’s great central chamber. Saphira descended to the dragonhold on silent wings. She slipped over its rim and dropped to Isidar Mithrim, landing with the sharp clack of claws. Won’t you scratch it?asked Eragon. I think not. It’s no ordinary gem.Eragon slid off her back and slowly turned in a circle, absorbing the unusual sight. They were in a round roofless room sixty feet high and sixty feet across. The walls were lined with the dark openings of caves, which differed in size from grottoes no larger than a man to a gaping cavern larger than a house. Shiny rungs were set into the marble walls so that people could reach the highest caves. An enormous archway led out of the dragonhold. Eragon examined the great gem under his feet and impulsively lay down on it. He pressed his cheek against the cool sapphire, trying to see through it. Distorted lines and wavering spots of color glimmered through the stone, but its thickness made it impossible to discern anything clearly on the floor of the chamber a mile below them. Will I have to sleep apart from you? Saphira shook her enormous head.No, there is a bed for you in my cave. Come see. She turned and, without opening her wings, jumped twenty feet into the air, landing in a medium-sized cave. He clambered up after her. The cave was dark brown on the inside and deeper than he had expected. The roughly chiseled walls gave the impression of a natural formation. Near the far wall was a thick cushion large enough for Saphira to curl up on. Beside it was a bed built into the side of the wall. The cave was lit by a single red lantern equipped with a shutter so its glow could be muted. I like this,said Eragon.It feels safe. Page 257 Yes.Saphira curled up on the cushion, watching him. With a sigh he sank onto the mattress, weariness seeping through him. Saphira, you haven’t said much while we’ve been here. What do you think of Tronjheim and Ajihad? We shall see… It seems, Eragon, that we are embroiled in a new type of warfare here. Swords and claws are useless, but words and alliances may have the same effect. The Twins dislike us—we should be on our guard for any duplicities they might attempt. Not many of the dwarves trust us. The elves didn’t want a human Rider, so there will be opposition from them as well. The best thing we can do is identify those in power and befriend them. And quickly, too. Do you think it’s possible to remain independent of the different leaders? She shuffled her wings into a more comfortable position.Ajihad supports our freedom, but we may be unable to survive without pledging our loyalty to one group or another. We’ll soon know either way. MANDRAKEROOT ANDNEWT’STONGUE The blankets were bunched underneath Eragon when he woke, but he was still warm. Saphira was asleep on her cushion, her breath coming in steady gusts. For the first time since entering Farthen Dûr, Eragon felt secure and hopeful. He was warm and fed and had been able to sleep as long as he liked. Tension unknotted inside him—tension that had been accumulating since Brom’s death and, even before, since leaving Palancar Valley. I don’t have to be afraid anymore. But what about Murtagh?No matter the Varden’s hospitality, Eragon could not accept it in good conscience, knowing that—intentionally or not—he had led Murtagh to his imprisonment. Somehow the situation had to be resolved. His gaze roamed the cave’s rough ceiling as he thought of Arya. Chiding himself for daydreaming, he tilted his head and looked out at the dragonhold. A large cat sat on the edge of the cave, licking a paw. It glanced at him, and he saw a flash of slanted red eyes. Solembum?he asked incredulously. Obviously.The werecat shook his rough mane and yawned languorously, displaying his long fangs. He stretched, then jumped out of the cave, landing with a solid thump on Isidar Mithrim, twenty feet below. Coming? Eragon looked at Saphira. She was awake now, watching him motionlessly.Go. I will be fine, she murmured. Solembum was waiting for him under the arch that led to the rest of Tronjheim. The moment Eragon’s feet touched Isidar Mithrim, the werecat turned with a flick of his paws and disappeared through the arch. Eragon chased after him, rubbing the sleep from his face. He stepped through the archway and found himself standing at the top of Vol Turin, The Endless Staircase. There was nowhere else to go, so he descended to the next level. He stood in an open arcade that curved gently to the left and encircled Tronjheim’s central chamber. Between the slender columns supporting the arches, Eragon could see Isidar Mithrim sparkling brilliantly above him, as well as the city-mountain’s distant base. The circumference of the central chamber Page 258 increased with each successive level. The staircase cut through the arcade’s floor to an identical level below and descended through scores of arcades until it disappeared in the distance. The sliding trough ran along the outside curve of the stairs. At the top of Vol Turin was a pile of leather squares to slide on. To Eragon’s right, a dusty corridor led to that level’s rooms and apartments. Solembum padded down the hall, flipping his tail. Wait,said Eragon. He tried to catch up with Solembum, but glimpsed him only fleetingly in the abandoned passageways. Then, as Eragon rounded a corner, he saw the werecat stop before a door and yowl. Seemingly of its own accord, the door slid inward. Solembum slipped inside, then the door shut. Eragon halted in front of it, perplexed. He raised his hand to knock, but before he did, the door opened once more, and warm light spilled out. After a moment’s indecision he stepped inside. He entered an earthy two-room suite, lavishly decorated with carved wood and clinging plants. The air was warm, fresh, and humid. Bright lanterns hung on the walls and from the low ceiling. Piles of intriguing items cluttered the floor, obscuring the corners. A large four-poster bed, curtained by even more plants, was in the far room. In the center of the main room, on a plush leather chair, sat the fortuneteller and witch, Angela. She smiled brightly. “What are you doing here?” blurted Eragon. Angela folded her hands in her lap. “Well, why don’t you sit on the floor and I’ll tell you? I’d offer you a chair, but I’m sitting on the only one.” Questions buzzed through Eragon’s mind as he settled between two flasks of acrid bubbling green potions. “So!” exclaimed Angela, leaning forward. “Youare a Rider. I suspected as much, but I didn’t know for certain until yesterday. I’m sure Solembum knew, but he never told me. I should have figured it out the moment you mentioned Brom. Saphira… I like the name—fitting for a dragon.” “Brom’s dead,” said Eragon abruptly. “The Ra’zac killed him.” Angela was taken aback. She twirled a lock of her dense curls. “I’m sorry. I truly am,” she said softly. Eragon smiled bitterly. “But not surprised, are you? You foretold his death, after all.” “I didn’t know whose death it would be,” she said, shaking her head. “But no… I’m not surprised. I met Brom once or twice. He didn’t care for my ‘frivolous’ attitude toward magic. It irritated him.” Eragon frowned. “In Teirm you laughed at his fate and said that it was something of a joke. Why?” Angela’s face tightened momentarily. “In retrospect, it was in rather bad taste, but I didn’t know what would befall him. How do I put this?… Brom was cursed in a way. It was his wyrd to fail at all of his tasks except one, although through no fault of his own. He was chosen as a Rider, but his dragon was killed. He loved a woman, but it was his affection that was her undoing. And he was chosen, I assume, to guard and train you, but in the end he failed at that as well. The only thing he succeeded at was killing Morzan, and a better deed he couldn’t have done.” “Brom never mentioned a woman to me,” retorted Eragon. Page 259 Angela shrugged carelessly. “I heard it from one who couldn’t have lied. But enough of this talk! Life goes on, and we should not trouble the dead with our worries.” She scooped a pile of reeds from the floor and deftly started plaiting them together, closing the subject to discussion. Eragon hesitated, then gave in. “All right. So why are you in Tronjheim instead of Teirm?” “Ah, at last an interesting question,” said Angela. “After hearing Brom’s name again during your visit, I sensed a return of the past in Alagaësia. People were whispering that the Empire was hunting a Rider. I knew then that the Varden’s dragon egg must have hatched, so I closed my shop and set out to learn more.” “You knew about the egg?” “Of course I did. I’m not an idiot. I’ve been around much longer than you would believe. Very little happens that I don’t know about.” She paused and concentrated on her weaving. “Anyway, I knew I had to get to the Varden as fast as possible. I’ve been here for nearly a month now, though I really don’t care for this place—it’s far too musty for my taste. And everyone in Farthen Dûr isso serious and noble. They’re probably all doomed to tragic deaths anyway.” She gave a long sigh, a mocking expression on her face. “And the dwarves are just a superstitious bunch of ninnies content to hammer rocks all their lives. The only redeeming aspect of this place is all the mushrooms and fungi that grow inside Farthen Dûr.” “Then why stay?” asked Eragon, smiling. “Because I like to be wherever important events are occurring,” said Angela, cocking her head. “Besides, if I had stayed in Teirm, Solembum would have left without me, and I enjoy his company. But tell me, what adventures have befallen you since last we talked?” For the next hour, Eragon summarized his experiences of the last two and a half months. Angela listened quietly, but when he mentioned Murtagh’s name she sputtered, “Murtagh!” Eragon nodded. “He told me who he is. But let me finish my story before you make any judgments.” He continued with his tale. When it was complete, Angela leaned back in her chair thoughtfully, her reeds forgotten. Without warning, Solembum jumped out of a hiding place and landed in her lap. He curled up, eyeing Eragon haughtily. Angela petted the werecat. “Fascinating. Galbatorix allied with the Urgals, and Murtagh finally out in the open… I’d warn you to be careful with Murtagh, but you’re obviously aware of the danger.” “Murtagh has been a steadfast friend and an unwavering ally,” said Eragon firmly. “All the same, be careful.” Angela paused, then said distastefully, “And then there’s the matter of this Shade, Durza. I think he’s the greatest threat to the Varden right now, aside from Galbatorix. Iloathe Shades—they practice the most unholy magic, after necromancy. I’d like to dig his heart out with a dull hairpin and feed it to a pig!” Eragon was startled by her sudden vehemence. “I don’t understand. Brom told me that Shades were sorcerers who used spirits to accomplish their will, but why does that make them so evil?” Angela shook her head. “It doesn’t. Ordinary sorcerers are just that, ordinary—neither better nor worse Page 260 than the rest of us. They use their magical strength to control spirits and the spirits’ powers. Shades, however, relinquish that control in their search for greater power and allow their bodies to be controlled by spirits. Unfortunately, only the evilest spirits seek to possess humans, and once ensconced they never leave. Such possession can happen by accident if a sorcerer summons a spirit stronger than himself. The problem is, once a Shade is created, it’s terribly difficult to kill. As I’m sure you know, only two people, Laetri the Elf and Irnstad the Rider, ever survived that feat.” “I’ve heard the stories.” Eragon gestured at the room. “Why are you living so high up in Tronjheim? Isn’t it inconvenient being this isolated? And how did you get all this stuff up here?” Angela threw back her head and laughed wryly. “Truthfully? I’m in hiding. When I first came to Tronjheim, I had a few days of peace—until one of guards who let me into Farthen Dûr blabbed about who I was. Then all the magic users here, though theybarely rate the term, pestered me to join their secret group. Especially those drajl Twins who control it. Finally, I threatened to turn the lot of them into toads, excuse me, frogs, but when that didn’t deter them, I sneaked up here in the middle of the night. It was less work than you might imagine, especially for one with my skills.” “Did you have to let the Twins into your mind before you were allowed into Farthen Dûr?” asked Eragon. “I was forced to let them sift through my memories.” A cold gleam leapt into Angela’s eye. “The Twins wouldn’t dare probe me, for fear of what I might do to them. Oh, they’d love to, but they know the effort would leave them broken and gibbering nonsense. I’ve been coming here long before the Varden began examining people’s minds… and they’re not about to start on me now.” She peered into the other room and said, “Well! This has been an enlightening talk, but I’m afraid you have to go now. My brew of mandrake root and newt’s tongue is about to boil, and it needs attending. Do come back again when you have the time. Andplease don’t tell anyone that I’m here. I’d hate to have to move again. It would make me very…irritated. And you don’t want to see me irritated!” “I’ll keep your secret,” assured Eragon, getting up. Solembum jumped off Angela’s lap as she stood. “Good!” she exclaimed. Eragon said farewell and left the room. Solembum guided him back to the dragonhold, then dismissed him with a twitch of his tail before sauntering away. HALL OF THEMOUNTAINKING Adwarf was waiting for Eragon in the dragonhold. After bowing and muttering, “Argetlam,” the dwarf said with a thick accent, “Good. Awake. Knurla Orik waits for you.” He bowed again and scurried away. Saphira jumped out of her cave, landing next to Eragon. Zar’roc was in her claws. What’s that for?he asked, frowning. She tilted her head.Wear it. You are a Rider and should bear a Rider’s sword. Zar’roc may have a bloody history, but that should not shape your actions. Forge a new history for it, and carry it with pride. Are you sure? Remember Ajihad’s counsel. Saphira snorted, and a puff of smoke rose from her nostrils.Wear it, Eragon. If you wish to remain Page 261 above the forces here, do not let anyone’s disapproval dictate your actions. As you wish,he said reluctantly, buckling on the sword. He clambered onto her back, and Saphira flew out of Tronjheim. There was enough light in Farthen Dûr now that the hazy mass of the crater walls—five miles away in each direction—was visible. While they spiraled down to the city-mountain’s base, Eragon told Saphira about his meeting with Angela. As soon as they landed by one of Tronjheim’s gates, Orik ran to Saphira’s side. “My king, Hrothgar, wishes to see both of you. Dismount quickly. We must hurry.” Eragon trotted after the dwarf into Tronjheim. Saphira easily kept pace beside them. Ignoring stares from people within the soaring corridor, Eragon asked, “Where will we meet Hrothgar?” Without slowing, Orik said, “In the throne room beneath the city. It will be a private audience as an act of otho—of ‘faith.’ You do not have to address him in any special manner, but speak to him respectfully. Hrothgar is quick to anger, but he is wise and sees keenly into the minds of men, so think carefully before you speak.” Once they entered Tronjheim’s central chamber, Orik led the way to one of the two descending stairways that flanked the opposite hall. They started down the right-hand staircase, which gently curved inward until it faced the direction they had come from. The other stairway merged with theirs to form a broad cascade of dimly lit steps that ended, after a hundred feet, before two granite doors. A seven-pointed crown was carved across both doors. Seven dwarves stood guard on each side of the portal. They held burnished mattocks and wore gem-encrusted belts. As Eragon, Orik, and Saphira approached, the dwarves pounded the floor with the mattocks’ hafts. A deep boom rolled back up the stairs. The doors swung inward. A dark hall lay before them, a good bowshot long. The throne room was a natural cave; the walls were lined with stalagmites and stalactites, each thicker than a man. Sparsely hung lanterns cast a moody light. The brown floor was smooth and polished. At the far end of the hall was a black throne with a motionless figure upon it. Orik bowed. “The king awaits you.” Eragon put his hand on Saphira’s side, and the two of them continued forward. The doors closed behind them, leaving them alone in the dim throne room with the king. Their footsteps echoed through the hall as they advanced toward the throne. In the recesses between the stalagmites and stalactites rested large statues. Each sculpture depicted a dwarf king crowned and sitting on a throne; their sightless eyes gazed sternly into the distance, their lined faces set in fierce expressions. A name was chiseled in runes beneath each set of feet. Eragon and Saphira strode solemnly between the two rows of long-dead monarchs. They passed more than forty statues, then only dark and empty alcoves awaiting future kings. They stopped before Hrothgar at the end of the hall. The dwarf king himself sat like a statue upon a raised throne carved from a single piece of black marble. It was blocky, unadorned, and cut with unyielding precision. Strength emanated from the throne, strength that harked back to ancient times when dwarves had ruled in Alagaësia without opposition from elves or humans. A gold helm lined with rubies and diamonds rested on Hrothgar’s head in place of a crown. His visage was grim, weathered, and hewn of many years’ experience. Beneath a craggy brow glinted Page 262 deep-set eyes, flinty and piercing. Over his powerful chest rippled a shirt of mail. His white beard was tucked under his belt, and in his lap he held a mighty war hammer with the symbol of Orik’s clan embossed on its head. Eragon bowed awkwardly and knelt. Saphira remained upright. The king stirred, as if awakening from a long sleep, and rumbled, “Rise, Rider, you need not pay tribute to me.” Straightening, Eragon met Hrothgar’s impenetrable eyes. The king inspected him with a hard gaze, then said gutturally, “Âz knurl deimi lanok.‘Beware, the rock changes’—an old dictum of ours… And nowadays the rock changes very fast indeed.” He fingered the war hammer. “I could not meet with you earlier, as Ajihad did, because I was forced to deal with my enemies within the clans. They demanded that I deny you sanctuary and expel you from Farthen Dûr. It has taken much work on my part to convince them otherwise.” “Thank you,” said Eragon. “I didn’t anticipate how much strife my arrival would cause.” The king accepted his thanks, then lifted a gnarled hand and pointed. “See there, Rider Eragon, where my predecessors sit upon their graven thrones. One and forty there are, with I the forty-second. When I pass from this world into the care of the gods, my hírna will be added to their ranks. The first statue is the likeness of my ancestor Korgan, who forged this mace, Volund. For eight millennia—since the dawn of our race—dwarves have ruled under Farthen Dûr. We are the bones of the land, older than both the fair elves and the savage dragons.” Saphira shifted slightly. Hrothgar leaned forward, his voice gravelly and deep. “I am old, human—even by our reckoning—old enough to have seen the Riders in all their fleeting glory, old enough to have spoken with their last leader, Vrael, who paid tribute to me within these very walls. Few are still alive who can claim that much. I remember the Riders and how they meddled in our affairs. I also remember the peace they kept that made it possible to walk unharmed from Tronjheim to Narda. “And now you stand before me—a lost tradition revived. Tell me, and speak truly in this, why have you come to Farthen Dûr? I know of the events that made you flee the Empire, but what is your intent now?” “For now, Saphira and I merely want to recuperate in Tronjheim,” Eragon replied. “We are not here to cause trouble, only to find sanctuary from the dangers we’ve faced for many months. Ajihad may send us to the elves, but until he does, we have no wish to leave.” “Then was it only the desire for safety that drove you?” asked Hrothgar. “Do you just seek to live here and forget your troubles with the Empire?” Eragon shook his head, his pride rejecting that statement. “If Ajihad told you of my past, you should know that I have grievances enough to fight the Empire until it is nothing but scattered ashes. More than that, though… I want to aid those who cannot escape Galbatorix, including my cousin. I have the strength to help, so I must.” The king seemed satisfied by his answer. He turned to Saphira and asked, “Dragon, what think you in this matter? For what reason have you come?” Saphira lifted the edge of her lip to growl.Tell him that I thirst for the blood of our enemies and eagerly await the day when we ride to battle against Galbatorix. I’ve no love or mercy for traitors and egg breakers like that false king. He held me for over a century and, even now, still has two of my brethren, whom I would free if possible. And tell Hrothgar I think you ready for this task. Page 263 Eragon grimaced at her words, but dutifully relayed them. The corner of Hrothgar’s mouth lifted in a hint of grim amusement, deepening his wrinkles. “I see that dragons have not changed with the centuries.” He rapped the throne with a knuckle. “Do you know why this seat was quarried so flat and angular? So that no one would sit comfortably on it. I have not, and will relinquish it without regret when my time comes. What is there to remind you of your obligations, Eragon? If the Empire falls, will you take Galbatorix’s place and claim his kingship?” “I don’t seek to wear the crown or rule,” said Eragon, troubled. “Being a Rider is responsibility enough. No, I would not take the throne in Urû’baen… not unless there was no one else willing or competent enough to take it.” Hrothgar warned gravely, “Certainly you would be a kinder king than Galbatorix, but no race should have a leader who does not age or leave the throne. The time of the Riders has passed, Eragon. They will never rise again—not even if Galbatorix’s other eggs were to hatch.” A shadow crossed his face as he gazed at Eragon’s side. “I see that you carry an enemy’s sword; I was told of this, and that you travel with a son of the Forsworn. It does not please me to see this weapon.” He extended a hand. “I would like to examine it.” Eragon drew Zar’roc and presented it to the king, hilt first. Hrothgar grasped the sword and ran a practiced eye over the red blade. The edge caught the lantern light, reflecting it sharply. The dwarf king tested the point with his palm, then said, “A masterfully forged blade. Elves rarely choose to make swords—they prefer bows and spears—but when they do, the results are unmatched. This is an ill-fated blade; I am not glad to see it within my realm. But carry it if you will; perhaps its luck has changed.” He returned Zar’roc, and Eragon sheathed it. “Has my nephew proved helpful during your time here?” “Who?” Hrothgar raised a tangled eyebrow. “Orik, my youngest sister’s son. He’s been serving under Ajihad to show my support for the Varden. It seems that he has been returned to my command, however. I was gratified to hear that you defended him with your words.” Eragon understood that this was another sign of otho, of “faith,” on Hrothgar’s part. “I couldn’t ask for a better guide.” “That is good,” said the king, clearly pleased. “Unfortunately, I cannot speak with you much longer. My advisors wait for me, as there are matters I must deal with. I will say this, though: If you wish the support of the dwarves within my realm, you must first prove yourself to them. We have long memories and do not rush to hasty decisions. Words will decide nothing, only deeds.” “I will keep that in mind,” said Eragon, bowing again. Hrothgar nodded regally. “You may go, then.” Eragon turned with Saphira, and they proceeded out of the hall of the mountain king. Orik was waiting for them on the other side of the stone doors, an anxious expression on his face. He fell in with them as they climbed back up to Tronjheim’s main chamber. “Did all go well? Were you received favorably?” “I think so. But your king is cautious,” said Eragon. Page 264 “That is how he has survived this long.” I would not want Hrothgar angry at us,observed Saphira. Eragon glanced at her.No, I wouldn’t either. I’m not sure what he thought of you—he seems to disapprove of dragons, though he didn’t say it outright. That seemed to amuse Saphira.In that he is wise, especially since he’s barely knee-high to me. In Tronjheim’s center, under the sparkling Isidar Mithrim, Orik said, “Your blessing yesterday has stirred up the Varden like an overturned beehive. The child Saphira touched has been hailed as a future hero. She and her guardian have been quartered in the finest rooms. Everyone is talking about your ‘miracle.’ All the human mothers seem intent on finding you and getting the same for their children.” Alarmed, Eragon furtively looked around. “What should we do?” “Aside from taking back your actions?” asked Orik dryly. “Stay out of sight as much as possible. Everyone will be kept out of the dragonhold, so you won’t be disturbed there.” Eragon did not want to return to the dragonhold yet. It was early in the day, and he wanted to explore Tronjheim with Saphira. Now that they were out of the Empire, there was no reason for them to be apart. But he wanted to avoid attention, which would be impossible with her at his side.Saphira, what do you want to do? She nosed him, scales brushing his arm.I’ll return to the dragonhold. There’s someone there I want to meet. Wander around as long as you like. All right,he said,but who do you want to meet?Saphira only winked a large eye at him before padding down one of Tronjheim’s four main tunnels. Eragon explained to Orik where she was going, then said, “I’d like some breakfast. And then I’d like to see more of Tronjheim; it’s such an incredible place. I don’t want to go to the training grounds until tomorrow, as I’m still not fully recovered.” Orik nodded, his beard bobbing on his chest. “In that case, would you like to visit Tronjheim’s library? It’s quite old and contains many scrolls of great value. You might find it interesting to read a history of Alagaësia that hasn’t been tainted by Galbatorix’s hand.” With a pang, Eragon remembered how Brom had taught him to read. He wondered if he still had the skill. A long time had passed since he had seen any written words. “Yes, let’s do that.” “Very well.” After they ate, Orik guided Eragon through myriad corridors to their destination. When they reached the library’s carved arch, Eragon stepped through it reverently. The room reminded him of a forest. Rows of graceful colonnades branched up to the dark, ribbed ceiling five stories above. Between the pillars, black-marble bookcases stood back to back. Racks of scrolls covered the walls, interspersed with narrow walkways reached by three twisting staircases. Placed at regular intervals around the walls were pairs of facing stone benches. Between them were small tables whose bases flowed seamlessly into the floor. Page 265 Countless books and scrolls were stored in the room. “This is the true legacy of our race,” said Orik. “Here reside the writings of our greatest kings and scholars, from antiquity to the present. Also recorded are the songs and stories composed by our artisans. This library may be our most precious possession. It isn’t all our work, though—there are human writings here as well. Yours is a short-lived—but prolific—race. We have little or nothing of the elves’. They guard their secrets jealously.” “How long may I stay?” asked Eragon, moving toward the shelves. “As long as you want. Come to me if you have any questions.” Eragon browsed through the volumes with delight, reaching eagerly for those with interesting titles or covers. Surprisingly, dwarves used the same runes to write as humans. He was somewhat disheartened by how hard reading was after months of neglect. He skipped from book to book, slowly working his way deep into the vast library. Eventually he became immersed in a translation of poems by Dóndar, the tenth dwarf king. As he scanned the graceful lines, unfamiliar footsteps approached from behind the bookcase. The sound startled him, but he berated himself for being silly—he could not be the only person in the library. Even so, he quietly replaced the book and slipped away, senses alert for danger. He had been ambushed too many times to ignore such feelings. He heard the footsteps again; only now there were two sets of them. Apprehensive, he darted across an opening, trying to remember exactly where Orik was sitting. He sidestepped around a corner and started as he found himself face to face with the Twins. The Twins stood together, their shoulders meeting, a blank expression on their smooth faces. Their black snake eyes bored into him. Their hands, hidden within the folds of their purple robes, twitched slightly. They both bowed, but the movement was insolent and derisive. “We have been searching for you,” one said. His voice was uncomfortably like the Ra’zac’s. Eragon suppressed a shiver. “What for?” He reached out with his mind and contacted Saphira. She immediately joined thoughts with him. “Ever since you met with Ajihad, we have wanted to… apologize for our actions.” The words were mocking, but not in a way Eragon could challenge. “We have come to pay homage to you.” Eragon flushed angrily as they bowed again. Careful!warned Saphira. He pushed back his rising temper. He could not afford to be riled by this confrontation. An idea came to him, and he said with a small smile, “Nay, it is I who pay homage to you. Without your approval I never could have gained entrance to Farthen Dûr.” He bowed to them in turn, making the movement as insulting as he could. There was a flicker of irritation in the Twins’ eyes, but they smiled and said, “We are honored that one so… important… as yourself thinks so highly of us. We are in your debt for your kind words.” Now it was Eragon’s turn to be irritated. “I will remember that when I’m in need.” Saphira intruded sharply in his thoughts.You’re overdoing it. Don’t say anything you’ll regret. They will remember every word they can use against you. Page 266 This is difficult enough without you making comments!he snapped. She subsided with an exasperated grumble. The Twins moved closer, the hems of their robes brushing softly over the floor. Their voices became more pleasant. “We have searched for you for another reason as well, Rider. The few magic users who live in Tronjheim have formed a group. We call ourselves Du Vrangr Gata, or the—” “The Wandering Path, I know,” interrupted Eragon, remembering what Angela had said about it. “Your knowledge of the ancient language is impressive,” said a Twin smoothly. “As we were saying, Du Vrangr Gata has heard of your mighty feats, and we have come to extend an invitation of membership. We would be honored to have one of your stature as a member. And I suspect that we might be able to assist you as well.” “How?” The other Twin said, “The two of us have garnered much experience in magical matters. We could guide you… show you spells we’ve discovered and teach you words of power. Nothing would gladden us more than if we could assist, in some small way, your path to glory. No repayment would be necessary, though if you saw fit to share some scraps of your own knowledge, we would be satisfied.” Eragon’s face hardened as he realized what they were asking for. “Do you think I’m a half-wit?” he demanded harshly. “I won’t apprentice myself to you so you can learn the words Brom taught me! It must have angered you when you couldn’t steal them from my mind.” The Twins abruptly dropped their facade of smiles. “We are not to be trifled with, boy! We are the ones who will test your abilities with magic. And that could bemost unpleasant. Remember, it only takes one misconceived spell to kill someone. You may be a Rider, but the two of us are still stronger than you.” Eragon kept his face expressionless, even as his stomach knotted painfully. “I will consider your offer, but it may—” “Then we will expect your answer tomorrow. Make sure that it is the right one.” They smiled coldly and stalked deeper into the library. Eragon scowled.I’m not going to join Du Vrangr Gata, no matter what they do. You should talk to Angela,said Saphira.She’s dealt with the Twins before. Perhaps she could be there when they test you. That might prevent them from harming you. That’s a good idea.Eragon wound through the bookcases until he found Orik sitting on a bench, busily polishing his war ax. “I’d like to return to the dragonhold.” The dwarf slid the haft of the ax through a leather loop at his belt, then escorted Eragon to the gate where Saphira waited. People had already gathered around her. Ignoring them, Eragon scrambled onto Saphira’s back, and they escaped to the sky. This problem must be resolved quickly. You cannot let the Twins intimidate you,Saphira said as she landed on Isidar Mithrim. Page 267 I know. But I hope we can avoid angering them. They could be dangerous enemies.He dismounted quickly, keeping a hand on Zar’roc. So can you. Do you want them as allies? He shook his head.Not really… I’ll tell them tomorrow that I won’t join Du Vrangr Gata. Eragon left Saphira in her cave and wandered out of the dragonhold. He wanted to see Angela, but he didn’t remember how to find her hiding place, and Solembum was not there to guide him. He roamed the deserted corridors, hoping to meet Angela by chance. When he grew tired of staring at empty rooms and endless gray walls, he retraced his footsteps to the hold. As he neared it, he heard someone speaking within the room. He halted and listened, but the clear voice fell silent.Saphira? Who’s in there? A female… She has an air of command. I’ll distract her while you come in.Eragon loosened Zar’roc in its sheath.Orik said that intruders would be kept out of the dragonhold, so who could this be? He steadied his nerves, then stepped into the hold, his hand on the sword. A young woman stood in the center of the room, looking curiously at Saphira, who had stuck her head out of the cave. The woman appeared to be about seventeen years old. The star sapphire cast a rosy light on her, accentuating skin the same deep shade as Ajihad’s. Her velvet dress was wine red and elegantly cut. A jeweled dagger, worn with use, hung from her waist in a tooled leather sheath. Eragon crossed his arms, waiting for the woman to notice him. She continued to look at Saphira, then curtsied and asked sweetly, “Please, could you tell me where Rider Eragon is?” Saphira’s eyes sparkled with amusement. With a small smile, Eragon said, “I am here.” The woman whirled to face him, hand flying to her dagger. Her face was striking, with almond-shaped eyes, wide lips, and round cheekbones. She relaxed and curtsied again. “I am Nasuada,” she said. Eragon inclined his head. “You obviously know who I am, but what do you want?” Nasuada smiled charmingly. “My father, Ajihad, sent me here with a message. Would you like to hear it?” The Varden’s leader had not struck Eragon as one inclined to marriage and fatherhood. He wondered who Nasuada’s mother was—she must have been an uncommon woman to have attracted Ajihad’s eye. “Yes, I would.” Nasuada tossed her hair back and recited: “He is pleased that you are doing well, but he cautions you against actions like your benediction yesterday. They create more problems than they solve. Also, he urges you to proceed with the testing as soon as possible—he needs to know how capable you are before he communicates with the elves.” “Did you climb all the way up here just to tell me that?” Eragon asked, thinking of Vol Turin’s length. Nasuada shook her head. “I used the pulley system that transports goods to the upper levels. We could have sent the message with signals, but I decided to bring it myself and meet you in person.” Page 268 “Would you like to sit down?” asked Eragon. He motioned toward Saphira’s cave. Nasuada laughed lightly. “No, I am expected elsewhere. You should also know, my father decreed that you may visit Murtagh, if you wish.” A somber expression disturbed her previously smooth features. “I met Murtagh earlier… He’s anxious to speak with you. He seemed lonely; you should visit him.” She gave Eragon directions to Murtagh’s cell. Eragon thanked her for the news, then asked, “What about Arya? Is she better? Can I see her? Orik wasn’t able to tell me much.” She smiled mischievously. “Arya is recovering swiftly, as all elves do. No one is allowed to see her except my father, Hrothgar, and the healers. They have spent much time with her, learning all that occurred during her imprisonment.” She swept her eyes over Saphira. “I must go now. Is there anything you would have me convey to Ajihad on your behalf?” “No, except a desire to visit Arya. And give him my thanks for the hospitality he’s shown us.” “I will take your words directly to him. Farewell, Rider Eragon. I hope we shall soon meet again.” She curtsied and exited the dragonhold, head held high. If she really came all the way up Tronjheim just to meet me—pulleys or no pulleys—there was more to this meeting than idle chatter,remarked Eragon. Aye,said Saphira, withdrawing her head into the cave. Eragon climbed up to her and was surprised to see Solembum curled up in the hollow at the base of her neck. The werecat was purring deeply, his black-tipped tail flicking back and forth. The two of them looked at Eragon impudently, as if to ask, “What?” Eragon shook his head, laughing helplessly.Saphira, is Solembum who you wanted to meet? They both blinked at him and answered,Yes. Just wondering,he said, mirth still bubbling inside him. It made sense that they would befriend each other—their personalities were similar, and they were both creatures of magic. He sighed, releasing some of the day’s tension as he unbuckled Zar’roc.Solembum, do you know where Angela is? I couldn’t find her, and I need her advice. Solembum kneaded his paws against Saphira’s scaled back.She is somewhere in Tronjheim. When will she return? Soon. How soon?he asked impatiently.I need to talk to her today. Not that soon. The werecat refused to say more, despite Eragon’s persistent questions. He gave up and nestled against Saphira. Solembum’s purring was a low thrum above his head.I have to visit Murtagh tomorrow, he thought, fingering Brom’s ring. Page 269 ARYA’STEST On the morning of their third day in Tronjheim, Eragon rolled out of bed refreshed and energized. He belted Zar’roc to his waist and slung his bow and half-full quiver across his back. After a leisurely flight inside Farthen Dûr with Saphira, he met Orik by one of Tronjheim’s four main gates. Eragon asked him about Nasuada. “An unusual girl,” answered Orik, glancing disapprovingly at Zar’roc. “She’s totally devoted to her father and spends all her time helping him. I think she does more for Ajihad than he knows—there have been times when she’s maneuvered his enemies without ever revealing her part in it.” “Who is her mother?” “That I don’t know. Ajihad was alone when he brought Nasuada to Farthen Dûr as a newborn child. He’s never said where he and Nasuada came from.” So she too grew up without knowing her mother.He shook off the thought. “I’m restless. It’ll be good to use my muscles. Where should I go for this ‘testing’ of Ajihad’s?” Orik pointed out into Farthen Dûr. “The training field is half a mile from Tronjheim, though you can’t see it from here because it’s behind the city-mountain. It’s a large area where both dwarves and humans practice.” I’m coming as well,stated Saphira. Eragon told Orik, and the dwarf tugged on his beard. “That might not be a good idea. There are many people at the training field; you will be sure to attract attention.” Saphira growled loudly.I will come! And that settled the matter. The unruly clatter of fighting reached them from the field: the loud clang of steel clashing on steel, the solid thump of arrows striking padded targets, the rattle and crack of wooden staves, and the shouts of men in mock battle. The noise was confusing, yet each group had a unique rhythm and pattern. The bulk of the training ground was occupied by a crooked block of foot soldiers struggling with shields and poleaxes nearly as tall as themselves. They drilled as a group in formations. Practicing beside them were hundreds of individual warriors outfitted with swords, maces, spears, staves, flails, shields of all shapes and sizes, and even, Eragon saw, someone with a pitchfork. Nearly all the fighters wore armor, usually chain mail and a helmet; plate armor was not as common. There were as many dwarves as humans, though the two kept mainly to themselves. Behind the sparring warriors, a broad line of archers fired steadily at gray sackcloth dummies. Before Eragon had time to wonder what he was supposed to do, a bearded man, his head and blocky shoulders covered by a mail coif, strode over to them. The rest of him was protected by a rough oxhide suit that still had hair on it. A huge sword—almost as long as Eragon—hung across his broad back. He ran a quick eye over Saphira and Eragon, as if evaluating how dangerous they were, then said gruffly, “Knurla Orik. You’ve been gone too long. There’s nobody left for me to spar with.” Page 270 Orik smiled. “Oeí, that’s because you bruise everyone from head to toe with your monster sword.” “Everyone except you,” he corrected. “That’s because I’m faster than a giant like you.” The man looked at Eragon again. “I’m Fredric. I’ve been told to find out what you can do. How strong are you?” “Strong enough,” answered Eragon. “I have to be in order to fight with magic.” Fredric shook his head; the coif clinked like a bag of coins. “Magic has no place in what we do here. Unless you’ve served in an army, I doubt any fights you’ve been in lasted more than a few minutes. What we’re concerned about is how you’ll be able to hold up in a battle that may drag on for hours, or even weeks if it’s a siege. Do you know how to use any weapons besides that sword and bow?” Eragon thought about it. “Only my fists.” “Good answer!” laughed Fredric. “Well, we’ll start you off with the bow and see how you do. Then once some space has cleared up on the field, we’ll try—” He broke off suddenly and stared past Eragon, scowling angrily. The Twins stalked toward them, their bald heads pale against their purple robes. Orik muttered something in his own language as he slipped his war ax out of his belt. “I told you two to stay away from the training area,” said Fredric, stepping forward threateningly. The Twins seemed frail before his bulk. They looked at him arrogantly. “We were ordered by Ajihad to test Eragon’s proficiency with magic— beforeyou exhaust him banging on pieces of metal.” Fredric glowered. “Why can’t someone else test him?” “No one else is powerful enough,” sniffed the Twins. Saphira rumbled deeply and glared at them. A line of smoke trickled from her nostrils, but they ignored her. “Come with us,” they ordered, and strode to an empty corner of the field. Shrugging, Eragon followed with Saphira. Behind him he heard Fredric say to Orik, “We have to stop them from going too far.” “I know,” answered Orik in a low voice, “but I can’t interfere again. Hrothgar made it clear he won’t be able to protect me the next time it happens.” Eragon forced back his growing apprehension. The Twins might know more techniques and words… Still, he remembered what Brom had told him: Riders were stronger in magic than ordinary men. But would that be enough to resist the combined power of the Twins? Don’t worry so much; I will help you,said Saphira.There are two of us as well. He touched her gently on the leg, relieved by her words. The Twins looked at Eragon and asked, “And how do you answer us, Eragon?” Overlooking the puzzled expressions of his companions, he said flatly, “No.” Page 271 Sharp lines appeared at the corners of the Twins’ mouths. They turned so they faced Eragon obliquely and, bending at the waists, drew a large pentagram on the ground. They stepped in the middle of it, then said harshly, “We begin now. You will attempt to complete the tasks we assign you… that is all.” One of the Twins reached into his robe, produced a polished rock the size of Eragon’s fist, and set it on the ground. “Lift it to eye level.” That’s easy enough,commented Eragon to Saphira. “Stenr reisa!” The rock wobbled, then smoothly rose from the ground. Before it went more than a foot, an unexpected resistance halted it in midair. A smile touched the Twins’ lips. Eragon stared at them, enraged—they were trying to make him fail! If he became exhausted now, it would be impossible to complete the harder tasks. Obviously they were confident that their combined strength could easily wear him down. But I’m not alone either,snarled Eragon to himself.Saphira, now! Her mind melded with his, and the rock jerked through the air to stop, quivering, at eye level. The Twins’ eyes narrowed cruelly. “Very… good,” they hissed. Fredric looked unnerved by the display of magic. “Now move the stone in a circle.” Again Eragon struggled against their efforts to stop him, and again—to their obvious anger—he prevailed. The exercises quickly increased in complexity and difficulty until Eragon was forced to think carefully about which words to use. And each time, the Twins fought him bitterly, though the strain never showed on their faces. It was only with Saphira’s support that Eragon was able to hold his ground. In a break between two of the tasks, he asked her,Why do they continue this testing? Our abilities were clear enough from what they saw in my mind.She cocked her head thoughtfully.You know what? he said grimly as comprehension came to him.They’re using this as an opportunity to figure out what ancient words I know and perhaps learn new ones themselves. Speak softly then, so that they cannot hear you, and use the simplest words possible. From then on, Eragon used only a handful of basic words to complete the tasks. But finding ways to make them perform in the same manner as a long sentence or phrase stretched his ingenuity to the limit. He was rewarded by the frustration that contorted the Twins’ faces as he foiled them again and again. No matter what they tried, they could not get him to use any more words in the ancient language. More than an hour passed, but the Twins showed no sign of stopping. Eragon was hot and thirsty, but refrained from asking for a reprieve—he would continue as long as they did. There were many tests: manipulating water, casting fire, scrying, juggling rocks, hardening leather, freezing items, controlling the flight of an arrow, and healing scratches. He wondered how long it would take for the Twins to run out of ideas. Finally the Twins raised their hands and said, “There is only one thing left to do. It is simple enough—any competent user of magic should find this easy.” One of them removed a silver ring from his finger and smugly handed it to Eragon. “Summon the essence of silver.” Eragon stared at the ring in confusion. What was he supposed to do? The essence of silver, what was that? And how was it to be summoned? Saphira had no idea, and the Twins were not going to help. He had never learned silver’s name in the ancient language, though he knew it had to be part ofargetlam. In desperation he combined the only word that might work,ethgrí,or “invoke,” witharget. Page 272 Drawing himself upright, he gathered together what power he had left and parted his lips to deliver the invocation. Suddenly a clear, vibrant voice split the air. “Stop!” The word rushed over Eragon like cool water—the voice was strangely familiar, like a half-remembered melody. The back of his neck tingled. He slowly turned toward its source. A lone figure stood behind them: Arya. A leather strip encircled her brow, restraining her voluminous black hair, which tumbled behind her shoulders in a lustrous cascade. Her slender sword was at her hip, her bow on her back. Plain black leather clothed her shapely frame, poor raiment for one so fair. She was taller than most men, and her stance was perfectly balanced and relaxed. An unmarked face reflected none of the horrific abuse she had endured. Arya’s blazing emerald eyes were fixed on the Twins, who had turned pale with fright. She approached on silent footsteps and said in soft, menacing tones, “Shame! Shame to ask of him what only a master can do. Shame that you should use such methods. Shame that you told Ajihad you didn’t know Eragon’s abilities. He is competent. Now leave!” Arya frowned dangerously, her slanted eyebrows meeting like lightning bolts in a sharp V, and pointed at the ring in Eragon’s hand. “Arget!” she exclaimed thunderously. The silver shimmered, and a ghostly image of the ring materialized next to it. The two were identical except that the apparition seemed purer and glowed white-hot. At the sight of it, the Twins spun on their heels and fled, robes flapping wildly. The insubstantial ring vanished from Eragon’s hand, leaving the circlet of silver behind. Orik and Fredric were on their feet, eyeing Arya warily. Saphira crouched, ready for action. The elf surveyed them all. Her angled eyes paused on Eragon. Then she turned and strode toward the heart of the training field. The warriors ceased their sparring and looked at her with wonder. Within a few moments the entire field fell silent in awe of her presence. Eragon was inexorably dragged forward by his own fascination. Saphira spoke, but he was oblivious to her comments. A large circle formed around Arya. Looking only at Eragon, she proclaimed, “I claim the right of trial by arms. Draw your sword.” She means to duel me! But not, I think, to harm you,replied Saphira slowly. She nudged him with her nose.Go and acquit yourself well. I will watch. Eragon reluctantly stepped forward. He did not want to do this when he was exhausted from magic use and when there were so many people watching. Besides, Arya could be in no shape for sparring. It had only been two days since she had received Túnivor’s Nectar.I will soften my blows so I don’t hurt her, he decided. They faced each other across the circle of warriors. Arya drew her sword with her left hand. The weapon was thinner than Eragon’s, but just as long and sharp. He slid Zar’roc out of its polished sheath and held the red blade point-down by his side. For a long moment they stood motionless, elf and human watching each other. It flashed through Eragon’s mind that this was how many of his fights with Brom had started. Page 273 He moved forward cautiously. With a blur of motion Arya jumped at him, slashing at his ribs. Eragon reflexively parried the attack, and their swords met in a shower of sparks. Zar’roc was batted aside as if it were no more than a fly. The elf did not take advantage of the opening, however, but spun to her right, hair whipping through the air, and struck at his other side. He barely stopped the blow and backpedaled frantically, stunned by her ferocity and speed. Belatedly, Eragon remembered Brom’s warning that even the weakest elf could easily overpower a human. He had about as much chance of defeating Arya as he did Durza. She attacked again, swinging at his head. He ducked under the razor-sharp edge. But then why was she…toying with him? For a few long seconds he was too busy warding her off to think about it, then he realized,She wants to know how proficient I am. Understanding that, he began the most complicated series of attacks he knew. He flowed from one pose to another, recklessly combining and modifying them in every possible way. But no matter how inventive he was, Arya’s sword always stopped his. She matched his actions with effortless grace. Engaged in a fiery dance, their bodies were linked and separated by the flashing blades. At times they nearly touched, taut skin only a hair’s breadth away, but then momentum would whirl them apart, and they would withdraw for a second, only to join again. Their sinuous forms wove together like twisting ropes of windblown smoke. Eragon could never remember how long they fought. It was timeless, filled with nothing but action and reaction. Zar’roc grew leaden in his hand; his arm burned ferociously with each stroke. At last, as he lunged forward, Arya nimbly sidestepped, sweeping the point of her sword up to his jawbone with supernatural speed. Eragon froze as the icy metal touched his skin. His muscles trembled from the exertion. Dimly he heard Saphira bugle and the warriors cheering raucously around them. Arya lowered her sword and sheathed it. “You have passed,” she said quietly amid the noise. Dazed, he slowly straightened. Fredric was beside him now, thumping his back enthusiastically. “That was incredible swordsmanship! I even learned some new moves from watching the two of you. And the elf—stunning!” But I lost,he protested silently. Orik praised his performance with a broad smile, but all Eragon noticed was Arya, standing alone and silent. She motioned slightly with a finger, no more than a twitch, toward a knoll about a mile from the practice field, then turned and walked away. The crowd melted before her. A hush fell over the men and dwarves as she passed. Eragon turned to Orik. “I have to go. I’ll return to the dragonhold soon.” With a swift jab, Eragon sheathed Zar’roc and pulled himself onto Saphira. She took off over the training field, which turned into a sea of faces as everyone looked at her. As they soared toward the knoll, Eragon saw Arya running below them with clean, easy strides. Saphira commented,You find her form pleasing, do you not? Yes,he admitted, blushing. Her face does have more character than that of most humans,she sniffed.But it’s long, like a horse’s, and overall she’s rather shapeless. Page 274 Eragon looked at Saphira with amazement.You’re jealous, aren’t you! Impossible. I never get jealous,she said, offended. You are now, admit it!he laughed. She snapped her jaws together loudly.I am not! He smiled and shook his head, but let her denial stand. She landed heavily on the knoll, jostling him roughly. He jumped down without remarking on it. Arya was close behind them. Her fleet stride carried her faster than any runner Eragon had seen. When she reached the top of the knoll, her breathing was smooth and regular. Suddenly tongue-tied, Eragon dropped his gaze. She strode past him and said to Saphira, “Skulblaka, eka celöbra ono un mulabra ono un onr Shur’tugal né haina. Atra nosu waíse fricai.” Eragon did not recognize most of the words, but Saphira obviously understood the message. She shuffled her wings and surveyed Arya curiously. Then she nodded, humming deeply. Arya smiled. “I am glad that you recovered,” Eragon said. “We didn’t know if you would live or not.” “That is why I came here today,” said Arya, facing him. Her rich voice was accented and exotic. She spoke clearly, with a hint of trill, as if she were about to sing. “I owe you a debt that must be repaid. You saved my life. That can never be forgotten.” “It—it was nothing,” said Eragon, fumbling with the words and knowing they were not true, even as he spoke them. Embarrassed, he changed the subject. “How did you come to be in Gil’ead?” Pain shadowed Arya’s face. She looked away into the distance. “Let us walk.” They descended from the knoll and meandered toward Farthen Dûr. Eragon respected Arya’s silence as they walked. Saphira padded quietly beside them. Finally Arya lifted her head and said with the grace of her kind, “Ajihad told me you were present when Saphira’s egg appeared.” “Yes.” For the first time, Eragon thought about the energy it must have taken to transport the egg over the dozens of leagues that separated Du Weldenvarden from the Spine. To even attempt such a feat was courting disaster, if not death. Her next words were heavy. “Then know this: at the moment you first beheld it, I was captured by Durza.” Her voice filled with bitterness and grief. “It was he who led the Urgals that ambushed and slew my companions, Faolin and Glenwing. Somehow he knew where to wait for us—we had no warning. I was drugged and transported to Gil’ead. There, Durza was charged by Galbatorix to learn where I had sent the egg and all I knew of Ellesméra.” She stared ahead icily, jaw clenched. “He tried for months without success. His methods were… harsh. When torture failed, he ordered his soldiers to use me as they would. Fortunately, I still had the strength to nudge their minds and make them incapable. At last Galbatorix ordered that I was to be brought to Urû’baen. Dread filled me when I learned this, as I was weary in both mind and body and had no strength to resist him. If it were not for you, I would have stood before Galbatorix in a week’s time.” Eragon shuddered inwardly. It was amazing what she had survived. The memory of her injuries was still vivid in his mind. Softly, he asked, “Why do you tell me all this?” “So that you know what I was saved from. Do not presume I can ignore your deed.” Page 275 Humbled, he bowed his head. “What will you do now—return to Ellesméra?” “No, not yet. There is much that must be done here. I cannot abandon the Varden—Ajihad needs my help. I’ve seen you tested in both arms and magic today. Brom taught you well. You are ready to proceed in your training.” “You mean for me to go to Ellesméra?” “Yes.” Eragon felt a flash of irritation. Did he and Saphira have no say in the matter? “When?” “That is yet to be decided, but not for some weeks.” At least they gave us that much time,thought Eragon. Saphira mentioned something to him, and he in turn asked Arya, “What did the Twins want me to do?” Arya’s sculpted lip curled with disgust. “Something not even they can accomplish. It is possible to speak the name of an object in the ancient language and summon its true form. It takes years of work and great discipline, but the reward is complete control over the object. That is why one’s true name is always kept hidden, for if it were known by any with evil in their hearts, they could dominate you utterly.” “It’s strange,” said Eragon after a moment, “but before I was captured at Gil’ead, I had visions of you in my dreams. It was like scrying—and I was able to scry you later—but it was always during my sleep.” Arya pursed her lips pensively. “There were times I felt as if another presence was watching me, but I was often confused and feverish. I’ve never heard of anyone, either in lore or legend, being able to scry in their sleep.” “I don’t understand it myself,” said Eragon, looking at his hands. He twirled Brom’s ring around his finger. “What does the tattoo on your shoulder mean? I didn’t mean to see it, but when I was healing your wounds… it couldn’t be helped. It’s just like the symbol on this ring.” “You have a ring with the yawë on it?” she asked sharply. “Yes. It was Brom’s. See?” He held out the ring. Arya examined the sapphire, then said, “This is a token given only to the most valued elf-friends—so valued, in fact, it has not been used in centuries. Or so I thought. I never knew that Queen Islanzadi thought so highly of Brom.” “I shouldn’t wear it, then,” said Eragon, afraid that he had been presumptuous. “No, keep it. It will give you protection if you meet my people by chance, and it may help you gain favor with the queen. Tell no one of my tattoo. It should not be revealed.” “Very well.” He enjoyed talking with Arya and wished their conversation could have lasted longer. When they parted, Page 276 he wandered through Farthen Dûr, conversing with Saphira. Despite his prodding, she refused to tell him what Arya had said to her. Eventually his thoughts turned to Murtagh and then to Nasuada’s advice.I’ll get something to eat, then go see him, he decided.Will you wait for me so I can return to the dragonhold with you? I will wait—go,said Saphira. With a grateful smile, Eragon dashed to Tronjheim, ate in an obscure corner of a kitchen, then followed Nasuada’s instructions until he reached a small gray door guarded by a man and a dwarf. When he requested entrance, the dwarf banged on the door three times, then unbolted it. “Just holler when you want to leave,” said the man with a friendly smile. The cell was warm and well lit, with a washbasin in one corner and a writing desk—equipped with quills and ink—in another. The ceiling was extensively carved with lacquered figures; the floor was covered with a plush rug. Murtagh lay on a stout bed, reading a scroll. He looked up in surprise and exclaimed cheerily, “Eragon! I’d hoped you would come!” “How did… I mean I thought—” “You thought I was stuck in some rat hole chewing on hardtack,” said Murtagh, rolling upright with a grin. “Actually, I expected the same thing, but Ajihad lets me have all this as long as I don’t cause trouble. And they bring me huge meals, as well as anything I want from the library. If I’m not careful, I’ll turn into a fat scholar.” Eragon laughed, and with a wondering smile seated himself next to Murtagh. “But aren’t you angry? You’re still a prisoner.” “Oh, I was at first,” said Murtagh with a shrug. “But the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that this is really the best place for me. Even if Ajihad gave me my freedom, I would stay in my room most of the time anyway.” “But why?” “You know well enough. No one would be at ease around me, knowing my true identity, and there would always be people who wouldn’t limit themselves to harsh looks or words. But enough of that, I’m eager to know what’s new. Come, tell me.” Eragon recounted the events of the past two days, including his encounter with the Twins in the library. When he finished, Murtagh leaned back reflectively. “I suspect,” he said, “that Arya is more important than either of us thought. Consider what you’ve learned: she is a master of the sword, powerful in magic, and, most significantly, was chosen to guard Saphira’s egg. She cannot be ordinary, even among the elves.” Eragon agreed. Murtagh stared at the ceiling. “You know, I find this imprisonment oddly peaceful. For once in my life I don’t have to be afraid. I know I ought to be… yet something about this place puts me at ease. A good night’s sleep helps, too.” “I know what you mean,” said Eragon wryly. He moved to a softer place on the bed. “Nasuada said that she visited you. Did she say anything interesting?” Page 277 Murtagh’s gaze shifted into the distance, and he shook his head. “No, she only wanted to meet me. Doesn’t she look like a princess? And the way she carries herself! When she first entered through that doorway, I thought she was one of the great ladies of Galbatorix’s court. I’ve seen earls and counts who had wives that, compared to her, were more fitted for life as a hog than of nobility.” Eragon listened to his praise with growing apprehension.It may mean nothing, he reminded himself. You’re leaping to conclusions. Yet the foreboding would not leave him. Trying to shake off the feeling, he asked, “How long are you going to remain imprisoned, Murtagh? You can’t hide forever.” Murtagh shrugged carelessly, but there was weight behind his words. “For now I’m content to stay and rest. There’s no reason for me to seek shelter elsewhere nor submit myself to the Twins’ examination. No doubt I’ll tire of this eventually, but for now… I am content.” THESHADOWSLENGTHEN Saphira woke Eragon with a sharp rap of her snout, bruising him with her hard jaw. “Ouch!” he exclaimed, sitting upright. The cave was dark except for a faint glow emanating from the shuttered lantern. Outside in the dragonhold, Isidar Mithrim glittered with a thousand different colors, illuminated by its girdle of lanterns. An agitated dwarf stood in the entrance to the cave, wringing his hands. “You must come, Argetlam! Great trouble—Ajihad summons you. There is no time!” “What’s wrong?” asked Eragon. The dwarf only shook his head, beard wagging. “Go, you must! Carkna bragha! Now!” Eragon belted on Zar’roc, grabbed his bow and arrows, then strapped the saddle onto Saphira.So much for a good night’s sleep, she groused, crouching low to the floor so he could clamber onto her back. He yawned loudly as Saphira launched herself from the cave. Orik was waiting for them with a grim expression when they landed at Tronjheim’s gates. “Come, the others are waiting.” He led them through Tronjheim to Ajihad’s study. On the way, Eragon plied him with questions, but Orik would only say, “I don’t know enough myself—wait until you hear Ajihad.” The large study door was opened by a pair of burly guards. Ajihad stood behind his desk, bleakly inspecting a map. Arya and a man with wiry arms were there as well. Ajihad looked up. “Good, you’re here, Eragon. Meet Jörmundur, my second in command.” They acknowledged each other, then turned their attention to Ajihad. “I roused the five of you because we are all in grave danger. About half an hour ago a dwarf ran out of an abandoned tunnel under Tronjheim. He was bleeding and nearly incoherent, but he had enough sense left to tell the dwarves what was pursuing him: an army of Urgals, maybe a day’s march from here.” Shocked silence filled the study. Then Jörmundur swore explosively and began asking questions at the same time Orik did. Arya remained silent. Ajihad raised his hands. “Quiet! There is more. The Urgals aren’t approachingover land, butunder it. They’re in the tunnels… we’re going to be attacked from below.” Eragon raised his voice in the din that followed. “Why didn’t the dwarves know about this sooner? How Page 278 did the Urgals find the tunnels?” “We’re lucky to know about it this early!” bellowed Orik. Everyone stopped talking to hear him. “There are hundreds of tunnels throughout the Beor Mountains, uninhabited since the day they were mined. The only dwarves who go in them are eccentrics who don’t want contact with anyone. We could have just as easily received no warning at all.” Ajihad pointed at the map, and Eragon moved closer. The map depicted the southern half of Alagaësia, but unlike Eragon’s, it showed the entire Beor Mountain range in detail. Ajihad’s finger was on the section of the Beor Mountains that touched Surda’s eastern border. “This,” he said, “is where the dwarf claimed to have come from.” “Orthíad!” exclaimed Orik. At Jörmundur’s puzzled inquiry, he explained, “It’s an ancient dwelling of ours that was deserted when Tronjheim was completed. During its time it was the greatest of our cities. But no one’s lived there for centuries.” “And it’s old enough for some of the tunnels to have collapsed,” said Ajihad. “That’s how we surmise it was discovered from the surface. I suspect that Orthíad is now being called Ithrö Zhâda. That’s where the Urgal column that was chasing Eragon and Saphira was supposed to go, and I’m sure it’s where the Urgals have been migrating all year. From Ithrö Zhâda they can travel anywhere they want in the Beor Mountains. They have the power to destroy both the Varden and the dwarves.” Jörmundur bent over the map, eyeing it carefully. “Do you know how many Urgals there are? Are Galbatorix’s troops with them? We can’t plan a defense without knowing how large their army is.” Ajihad replied unhappily, “We’re unsure about both those things, yet our survival rests on that last question. If Galbatorix has augmented the Urgals’ ranks with his own men, we don’t stand a chance. But if he hasn’t—because he still doesn’t want his alliance with the Urgals revealed, or for some other reason—it’s possible we can win. Neither Orrin nor the elves can help us at this late hour. Even so, I sent runners to both of them with news of our plight. At the very least they won’t be caught by surprise if we fall.” He drew a hand across his coal-black brow. “I’ve already talked with Hrothgar, and we’ve decided on a course of action. Our only hope is to contain the Urgals in three of the larger tunnels and channel them into Farthen Dûr so they don’t swarm inside Tronjheim like locusts. “I need you, Eragon and Arya, to help the dwarves collapse extraneous tunnels. The job is too big for normal means. Two groups of dwarves are already working on it: one outside Tronjheim, the other beneath it. Eragon, you’re to work with the group outside. Arya, you’ll be with the one underground; Orik will guide you to them.” “Why not collapse all the tunnels instead of leaving the large ones untouched?” asked Eragon. “Because,” said Orik, “that would force the Urgals to clear away the rubble, and they might decide to go in a direction we don’t want them to. Plus, if we cut ourselves off, they could attack other dwarf cities—which we wouldn’t be able to assist in time.” “There’s also another reason,” said Ajihad. “Hrothgar warned me that Tronjheim sits on such a dense network of tunnels that if too many are weakened, sections of the city will sink into the ground under their own weight. We can’t risk that.” Page 279 Jörmundur listened intently, then asked, “So there won’t be any fighting inside Tronjheim? You said the Urgals would be channeled outside the city, into Farthen Dûr.” Ajihad responded quickly, “That’s right. We can’t defend Tronjheim’s entire perimeter—it’s too big for our forces—so we’re going to seal all the passageways and gates leading into it. That will force the Urgals out onto the flats surrounding Tronjheim, where there’s plenty of maneuvering room for our armies. Since the Urgals have access to the tunnels, we cannot risk an extended battle. As long as they are here, we will be in constant danger of them quarrying up through Tronjheim’s floor. If that happens, we’ll be trapped, attacked from both the outside and inside. We have to prevent the Urgals from taking Tronjheim. If they secure it, it’s doubtful we will have the strength to roust them.” “And what of our families?” asked Jörmundur. “I won’t see my wife and son murdered by Urgals.” The lines deepened on Ajihad’s face. “All the women and children are being evacuated into the surrounding valleys. If we are defeated, they have guides who will take them to Surda. That’s all I can do, under the circumstances.” Jörmundur struggled to hide his relief. “Sir, is Nasuada going as well?” “She is not pleased, but yes.” All eyes were on Ajihad as he squared his shoulders and announced, “The Urgals will arrive in a matter of hours. We know their numbers are great, but wemust hold Farthen Dûr. Failure will mean the dwarves’ downfall, death to the Varden—and eventual defeat for Surda and the elves. This is one battle we cannot lose. Now go and complete your tasks! Jörmundur, ready the men to fight.” They left the study and scattered: Jörmundur to the barracks, Orik and Arya to the stairs leading underground, and Eragon and Saphira down one of Tronjheim’s four main halls. Despite the early hour, the city-mountain swarmed like an anthill. People were running, shouting messages, and carrying bundles of belongings. Eragon had fought and killed before, but the battle that awaited them sent stabs of fear into his chest. He had never had a chance to anticipate a fight. Now that he did, it filled him with dread. He was confident when facing only a few opponents—he knew he could easily defeat three or four Urgals with Zar’roc and magic—but in a large conflict, anything could happen. They exited Tronjheim and looked for the dwarves they were supposed to help. Without the sun or moon, the inside of Farthen Dûr was dark as lampblack, punctuated by glittering lanterns bobbing jerkily in the crater.Perhaps they’re on the far side of Tronjheim, suggested Saphira. Eragon agreed and swung onto her back. They glided around Tronjheim until a clump of lanterns came into sight. Saphira angled toward them, then with no more than a whisper landed beside a group of startled dwarves who were busy digging with pickaxes. Eragon quickly explained why he was there. A sharp-nosed dwarf told him, “There’s a tunnel about four yards directly underneath us. Any help you could give us would be appreciated.” “If you clear the area over the tunnel, I’ll see what I can do.” The sharp-nosed dwarf looked doubtful, but ordered the diggers off the site. Breathing slowly, Eragon prepared to use magic. It might be possible to actually move all the dirt off the Page 280 tunnel, but he needed to conserve his strength for later. Instead, he would try to collapse the tunnel by applying force to weak sections of its ceiling. “Thrysta deloi,” he whispered and sent tentacles of power into the soil. Almost immediately they encountered rock. He ignored it and reached farther down until he felt the hollow emptiness of the tunnel. Then he began searching for flaws in the rock. Every time he found one, he pushed on it, elongating and widening it. It was strenuous work, but no more than it would have been to split the stone by hand. He made no visible progress—a fact that was not lost on the impatient dwarves. Eragon persevered. Before long he was rewarded by a resounding crack that could be heard clearly on the surface. There was a persistent screech, then the ground slid inward like water draining from a tub, leaving a gaping hole seven yards across. As the delighted dwarves walled off the tunnel with rubble, the sharp-nosed dwarf led Eragon to the next tunnel. This one was much more difficult to collapse, but he managed to duplicate the feat. Over the next few hours, he collapsed over a half-dozen tunnels throughout Farthen Dûr, with Saphira’s help. Light crept into the small patch of sky above them as he worked. It was not enough to see by, but it bolstered Eragon’s confidence. He turned away from the crumpled ruins of the latest tunnel and surveyed the land with interest. A mass exodus of women and children, along with the Varden’s elders, streamed out of Tronjheim. Everyone carried loads of provisions, clothes, and belongings. A small group of warriors, predominantly boys and old men, accompanied them. Most of the activity, however, was at the base of Tronjheim, where the Varden and dwarves were assembling their army, which was divided into three battalions. Each section bore the Varden’s standard: a white dragon holding a rose above a sword pointing downward on a purple field. The men were silent, ironfisted. Their hair flowed loosely from under their helmets. Many warriors had only a sword and a shield, but there were several ranks of spear- and pikemen. In the rear of the battalions, archers tested their bowstrings. The dwarves were garbed in heavy battle gear. Burnished steel hauberks hung to their knees, and thick round shields, stamped with the crests of their clan, rested on their left arms. Short swords were sheathed at their waists, while in their right hands they carried mattocks or war axes. Their legs were covered with extra-fine mail. They wore iron caps and brass-studded boots. A small figure detached itself from the far battalion and hurried toward Eragon and Saphira. It was Orik, clad like the other dwarves. “Ajihad wants you to join the army,” he said. “There are no more tunnels to cave in. Food is waiting for both of you.” Eragon and Saphira accompanied Orik to a tent, where they found bread and water for Eragon and a pile of dried meat for Saphira. They ate it without complaint; it was better than going hungry. When they finished, Orik told them to wait and disappeared into the battalion’s ranks. He returned, leading a line of dwarves burdened with tall piles of plate armor. Orik lifted a section of it and handed it to Eragon. “What is this?” asked Eragon, fingering the polished metal. The armor was intricately wrought with engraving and gold filigree. It was an inch thick in places and very heavy. No man could fight under that Page 281 much weight. And there were far too many pieces for one person. “A gift from Hrothgar,” said Orik, looking pleased with himself. “It has lain so long among our other treasures that it was almost forgotten. It was forged in another age, before the fall of the Riders.” “But what’s itfor ?” asked Eragon. “Why, it’s dragon armor, of course! You don’t think that dragons went into battle unprotected? Complete sets are rare because they took so long to make and because dragons were always growing. Still, Saphira isn’t too big yet, so this should fit her reasonably well.” Dragon armor!As Saphira nosed one of the pieces, Eragon asked,What do you think? Let’s try it on,she said, a fierce gleam in her eye. After a good deal of struggling, Eragon and Orik stepped back to admire the result. Saphira’s entire neck—except for the spikes along its ridge—was covered with triangular scales of overlapping armor. Her belly and chest were protected by the heaviest plates, while the lightest ones were on her tail. Her legs and back were completely encased. Her wings were left bare. A single molded plate lay on top of her head, leaving her lower jaw free to bite and snap. Saphira arched her neck experimentally, and the armor flexed smoothly with her.This will slow me down, but it’ll help stop the arrows. How do I look? Very intimidating,replied Eragon truthfully. That pleased her. Orik picked up the remaining items from the ground. “I brought you armor as well, though it took much searching to find your size. We rarely forge arms for men or elves. I don’t know who this was made for, but it has never been used and should serve you well.” Over Eragon’s head went a stiff shirt of leather-backed mail that fell to his knees like a skirt. It rested heavily on his shoulders and clinked when he moved. He belted Zar’roc over it, which helped keep the mail from swinging. On his head went a leather cap, then a mail coif, and finally a gold-and-silver helm. Bracers were strapped to his forearms, and greaves to his lower legs. For his hands there were mail-backed gloves. Last, Orik handed him a broad shield emblazoned with an oak tree. Knowing that what he and Saphira had been given was worth several fortunes, Eragon bowed and said, “Thank you for these gifts. Hrothgar’s presents are greatly appreciated.” “Don’t give thanks now,” said Orik with a chuckle. “Wait until the armor saves your life.” The warriors around them began marching away. The three battalions were repositioning themselves in different parts of Farthen Dûr. Unsure of what they should do, Eragon looked at Orik, who shrugged and said, “I suppose we should accompany them.” They trailed behind a battalion as it headed toward the crater wall. Eragon asked about the Urgals, but Orik only knew that scouts had been posted underground in the tunnels and that nothing had been seen or heard yet. The battalion halted at one of the collapsed tunnels. The dwarves had piled the rubble so that anyone inside the tunnel could easily climb out.This must be one of the places they’re going to force the Urgals to surface, Saphira pointed out. Page 282 Hundreds of lanterns were fixed atop poles and stuck into the ground. They provided a great pool of light that glowed like an evening sun. Fires blazed along the rim of the tunnel’s roof, huge cauldrons of pitch heating over them. Eragon looked away, fighting back revulsion. It was a terrible way to kill anyone, even an Urgal. Rows of sharpened saplings were being pounded into the ground to provide a thorny barrier between the battalion and the tunnel. Eragon saw an opportunity to help and joined a group of men digging trenches between the saplings. Saphira assisted as well, scooping out the dirt with her giant claws. While they labored, Orik left to supervise the construction of a barricade to shield the archers. Eragon drank gratefully from the wineskin whenever it was passed around. After the trenches were finished and filled with pointed stakes, Saphira and Eragon rested. Orik returned to find them seated together. He wiped his brow. “All the men and dwarves are on the battlefield. Tronjheim has been sealed off. Hrothgar has taken charge of the battalion to our left. Ajihad leads the one ahead of us.” “Who commands this one?” “Jörmundur.” Orik sat with a grunt and placed his war ax on the ground. Saphira nudged Eragon.Look. His hand tightened on Zar’roc as he saw Murtagh, helmed, carrying a dwarven shield and his hand-and-a-half sword, approaching with Tornac. Orik cursed and leapt to his feet, but Murtagh said quickly, “It’s all right; Ajihad released me.” “Why would he do that?” demanded Orik. Murtagh smiled wryly. “He said this was an opportunity to prove my good intentions. Apparently, he doesn’t think I would be able to do much damage even if I did turn on the Varden.” Eragon nodded in welcome, relaxing his grip. Murtagh was an excellent and merciless fighter—exactly whom Eragon wanted by his side during battle. “How do we know you’re not lying?” asked Orik. “Because I say so,” announced a firm voice. Ajihad strode into their midst, armed for battle with a breastplate and an ivory-handled sword. He put a strong hand on Eragon’s shoulder and drew him away where the others could not hear. He cast an eye over Eragon’s armor. “Good, Orik outfitted you.” “Yes… has anything been seen in the tunnels?” “Nothing.” Ajihad leaned on his sword. “One of the Twins is staying in Tronjheim. He’s going to watch the battle from the dragonhold and relay information through his brother to me. I know you can speak with your mind. I need you to tell the Twins anything,anything, unusual that you see while fighting. Also, I’ll relay orders to you through them. Do you understand?” The thought of being linked to the Twins filled Eragon with loathing, but he knew it was necessary. “I do.” Ajihad paused. “You’re not a foot soldier or horseman, nor any other type of warrior I’m used to commanding. Battle may prove differently, but I think you and Saphira will be safer on the ground. In the Page 283 air, you’ll be a choice target for Urgal archers. Will you fight from Saphira’s back?” Eragon had never been in combat on horseback, much less on Saphira. “I’m not sure what we’ll do. When I’m on Saphira, I’m up too high to fight all but a Kull.” “There will be plenty of Kull, I’m afraid,” said Ajihad. He straightened, pulling his sword out of the ground. “The only advice I can give you is to avoid unnecessary risks. The Varden cannot afford to lose you.” With that, he turned and left. Eragon returned to Orik and Murtagh and hunkered next to Saphira, leaning his shield against his knees. The four of them waited in silence like the hundreds of warriors around them. Light from Farthen Dûr’s opening waned as the sun crept below the crater rim. Eragon turned to scan the encampment and froze, heart jolting. About thirty feet away sat Arya with her bow in her lap. Though he knew it was unreasonable, he had hoped she might accompany the other women out of Farthen Dûr. Concerned, he hastened to her. “You will fight?” “I do what I must,” Arya said calmly. “But it’s too dangerous!” Her face darkened. “Do not pamper me, human. Elves train both their men and women to fight. I am not one of your helpless females to run away whenever there is danger. I was given the task of protecting Saphira’s egg… which I failed. My breoal is dishonored and would be further shamed if I did not guard you and Saphira on this field. You forget that I am stronger with magic than any here, including you. If the Shade comes, who can defeat him but me? And who else has the right?” Eragon stared at her helplessly, knowing she was right and hating the fact. “Then stay safe.” Out of desperation, he added in the ancient language, “Wiol pömnuria ilian.” For my happiness. Arya turned her gaze away uneasily, the fringe of her hair obscuring her face. She ran a hand along her polished bow, then murmured, “It is my wyrd to be here. The debt must be paid.” He abruptly retreated to Saphira. Murtagh looked at him curiously. “What did she say?” “Nothing.” Wrapped in their own thoughts, the defenders sank into a brooding silence as the hours crawled by. Farthen Dûr’s crater again grew black, except for the sanguine lantern glow and the fires heating the pitch. Eragon alternated between myopically examining the links of his mail and spying on Arya. Orik repeatedly ran a whetstone over the blade of his ax, periodically eyeing the edge between strokes; the rasp of metal on stone was irritating. Murtagh just stared into the distance. Occasionally, messengers ran through the encampment, causing the warriors to surge to their feet. But it always proved to be a false alarm. The men and dwarves became strained; angry voices were often heard. The worst part about Farthen Dûr was the lack of wind—the air was dead, motionless. Even when it grew warm and stifling and filled with smoke, there was no reprieve. As the night dragged on, the battlefield stilled, silent as death. Muscles stiffened from the waiting. Eragon stared blankly into the darkness with heavy eyelids. He shook himself to alertness and tried to focus through his stupor. Page 284 Finally Orik said, “It’s late. We should sleep. If anything happens, the others will wake us.” Murtagh grumbled, but Eragon was too tired to complain. He curled up against Saphira, using his shield as a pillow. As his eyes closed, he saw that Arya was still awake, watching over them. His dreams were confused and disturbing, full of horned beasts and unseen menaces. Over and over he heard a deep voice ask, “Are you ready?” But he never had an answer. Plagued by such visions, his sleep was shallow and uneasy until something touched his arm. He woke with a start. BATTLEUNDERFARTHENDÛR “It has begun,” Arya said with a sorrowful expression. The troops in the encampment stood alertly with their weapons drawn. Orik swung his ax to make sure he had enough room. Arya nocked an arrow and held it ready to shoot. “A scout ran out of a tunnel a few minutes ago,” said Murtagh to Eragon. “The Urgals are coming.” Together they watched the dark mouth of the tunnel through the ranks of men and sharpened stakes. A minute dragged by, then another… and another. Without taking his eyes from the tunnel, Eragon hoisted himself into Saphira’s saddle, Zar’roc in his hand, a comfortable weight. Murtagh mounted Tornac beside him. Then a man cried, “I hear them!” The warriors stiffened; grips tightened on weapons. No one moved… no one breathed. Somewhere a horse nickered. Harsh Urgal shouts shattered the air as dark shapes boiled upward in the tunnel’s opening. At a command, the cauldrons of pitch were tilted on their sides, pouring the scalding liquid into the tunnel’s hungry throat. The monsters howled in pain, arms flailing. A torch was thrown onto the bubbling pitch, and an orange pillar of greasy flames roared up in the opening, engulfing the Urgals in an inferno. Sickened, Eragon looked across Farthen Dûr at the other two battalions and saw similar fires by each. He sheathed Zar’roc and strung his bow. More Urgals soon tamped the pitch down and clambered out of the tunnels over their burned brethren. They clumped together, presenting a solid wall to the men and dwarves. Behind the palisade Orik had helped build, the first row of archers pulled on their bows and fired. Eragon and Arya added their arrows to the deadly swarm and watched the shafts eat through the Urgals’ ranks. The Urgal line wavered, threatening to break, but they covered themselves with their shields and weathered the attack. Again the archers fired, but the Urgals continued to stream onto the surface at a ferocious rate. Eragon was dismayed by their numbers. They were supposed to kill every single one? It seemed a madman’s task. His only encouragement was that he saw none of Galbatorix’s troops with the Urgals. Not yet, at least. The opposing army formed a solid mass of bodies that seemed to stretch endlessly. Tattered and sullen standards were raised in the monsters’ midst. Baleful notes echoed through Farthen Dûr as war horns sounded. The entire group of Urgals charged with savage war cries. They dashed against the rows of stakes, covering them with slick blood and limp corpses as the ranks at the vanguard were crushed against the posts. A cloud of black arrows flew over the barrier at the Page 285 crouched defenders. Eragon ducked behind his shield, and Saphira covered her head. Arrows rattled harmlessly against her armor. Momentarily foiled by the pickets, the Urgal horde milled with confusion. The Varden bunched together, waiting for the next attack. After a pause, the war cries were raised again as the Urgals surged forward. The assault was bitter. Its momentum carried the Urgals through the stakes, where a line of pikemen jabbed frantically at their ranks, trying to repel them. The pikemen held briefly, but the ominous tide of Urgals could not be halted, and they were overwhelmed. The first lines of defense breached, the main bodies of the two forces collided for the first time. A deafening roar burst from the men and dwarves as they rushed into the conflict. Saphira bellowed and leapt toward the fight, diving into a whirlwind of noise and blurred action. With her jaws and talons, Saphira tore through an Urgal. Her teeth were as lethal as any sword, her tail a giant mace. From her back, Eragon parried a hammer blow from an Urgal chief, protecting her vulnerable wings. Zar’roc’s crimson blade seemed to gleam with delight as blood spurted along its length. From the corner of his eye, Eragon saw Orik hewing Urgal necks with mighty blows of his ax. Beside the dwarf was Murtagh on Tornac, his face disfigured by a vicious snarl as he swung his sword angrily, cutting through every defense. Then Saphira spun around, and Eragon saw Arya leap past the lifeless body of an opponent. An Urgal bowled over a wounded dwarf and hacked at Saphira’s front right leg. His sword skated off her armor with a burst of sparks. Eragon smote him on the head, but Zar’roc stuck in the monster’s horns and was yanked from his grasp. With a curse he dived off Saphira and tackled the Urgal, smashing his face with the shield. He jerked Zar’roc out of the horns, then dodged as another Urgal charged him. Saphira, I need you!he shouted, but the battle’s tide had separated them. Suddenly a Kull jumped at him, club raised for a blow. Unable to lift his shield in time, Eragon uttered, “Jierda!” The Kull’s head snapped back with a sharp report as his neck broke. Four more Urgals succumbed to Zar’roc’s thirsty bite, then Murtagh rode up beside Eragon, driving the press of Urgals backward. “Come on!” he shouted, and reached down from Tornac, pulling Eragon onto the horse. They rushed toward Saphira, who was embroiled in a mass of enemies. Twelve spear-wielding Urgals encircled her, needling her with their lances. They had already managed to prick both of her wings. Her blood splattered the ground. Every time she rushed at one of the Urgals, they bunched together and jabbed at her eyes, forcing her to retreat. She tried to sweep the spears away with her talons, but the Urgals jumped back and evaded her. The sight of Saphira’s blood enraged Eragon. He swung off Tornac with a wild cry and stabbed the nearest Urgal through the chest, withholding nothing in his frenzied attempt to help Saphira. His attack provided the distraction she needed to break free. With a kick, she sent an Urgal flying, then barreled to him. Eragon grabbed one of her neck spikes and pulled himself back into her saddle. Murtagh raised his hand, then charged into another knot of Urgals. By unspoken consent, Saphira took flight and rose above the struggling armies, seeking a respite from the madness. Eragon’s breath trembled. His muscles were clenched, ready to ward off the next attack. Every fiber of his being thrilled with energy, making him feel more alive than ever before. Saphira circled long enough for them to recover their strength, then descended toward the Urgals, skimming the ground to avoid detection. She approached the monsters from behind, where their archers Page 286 were gathered. Before the Urgals realized what was happening, Eragon lopped off the heads of two archers, and Saphira disemboweled three others. She took off again as alarms sounded, quickly soaring out of bow range. They repeated the tactic on a different flank of the army. Saphira’s stealth and speed, combined with the dim lighting, made it nearly impossible for the Urgals to predict where she would strike next. Eragon used his bow whenever Saphira was in the air, but he quickly ran out of arrows. Soon the only thing left in his quiver was magic, which he wanted to keep in reserve until it was desperately needed. Saphira’s flights over the combatants gave Eragon a unique understanding of how the battle was progressing. There were three separate fights raging in Farthen Dûr, one by each open tunnel. The Urgals were disadvantaged by the dispersal of their forces and their inability to get all of their army out of the tunnels at once. Even so, the Varden and dwarves could not keep the monsters from advancing and were slowly being driven back toward Tronjheim. The defenders seemed insignificant against the mass of Urgals, whose numbers continued to increase as they poured out of the tunnels. The Urgals had organized themselves around several standards, each representing a clan, but it was unclear who commanded them overall. The clans paid no attention to each other, as if they were receiving orders from elsewhere. Eragon wished he knew who was in charge so he and Saphira could kill him. Remembering Ajihad’s orders, he began relaying information to the Twins. They were interested by what he had to say about the Urgals’ apparent lack of a leader and questioned him closely. The exchange was smooth, if brief. The Twins told him,You’re ordered to assist Hrothgar; the fight goes badly for him. Understood,Eragon responded. Saphira swiftly flew to the besieged dwarves, swooping low over Hrothgar. Arrayed in golden armor, the dwarf king stood at the fore of a small knot of his kin, wielding Volund, the hammer of his ancestors. His white beard caught the lantern light as he looked up at Saphira. Admiration glinted in his eyes. Saphira landed beside the dwarves and faced the oncoming Urgals. Even the bravest Kull quailed before her ferocity, allowing the dwarves to surge forward. Eragon tried to keep Saphira safe. Her left flank was protected by the dwarves, but to her front and right raged a sea of enemies. He showed no mercy on those and took every advantage he could, using magic whenever Zar’roc could not serve him. A spear bounced off his shield, denting it and leaving him with a bruised shoulder. Shaking off the pain, he cleaved open an Urgal’s skull, mixing brains with metal and bone. He was in awe of Hrothgar—who, though he was ancient by both the standards of men and dwarves, was still undiminished on the battlefield. No Urgal, Kull or not, could stand before the dwarf king and his guards and live. Every time Volund struck, it sounded the gong of death for another enemy. After a spear downed one of his warriors, Hrothgar grabbed the spear himself and, with astounding strength, hurled it completely through its owner twenty yards away. Such heroism emboldened Eragon to ever greater risks, seeking to hold his own with the mighty king. Eragon lunged at a giant Kull nearly out of reach and almost fell from Saphira’s saddle. Before he could recover, the Kull darted past Saphira’s defenses and swung his sword. The brunt of the blow caught Eragon on the side of his helm, throwing him backward and making his vision flicker and his ears ring thunderously. Page 287 Stunned, he tried to pull himself upright, but the Kull had already prepared for another blow. As the Kull’s arm descended, a slim steel blade suddenly sprouted from his chest. Howling, the monster toppled to the side. In his place stood Angela. The witch wore a long red cape over outlandish flanged armor enameled black and green. She bore a strange two-handed weapon—a long wooden shaft with a sword blade attached to each end. Angela winked at Eragon mischievously, then dashed away, spinning her staff-sword like a dervish. Close behind her was Solembum in the form of a young shaggy-haired boy. He held a small black dagger, sharp teeth bared in a feral snarl. Still dazed from his battering, Eragon managed to straighten himself in the saddle. Saphira jumped into the air and wheeled high above, letting him recuperate. He scanned Farthen Dûr’s plains and saw, to his dismay, that all three battles were going badly. Neither Ajihad, Jörmundur, nor Hrothgar could stop the Urgals. There were simply too many. Eragon wondered how many Urgals he could kill at once with magic. He knew his limits fairly well. If he were to kill enough to make a difference… it would probably be suicide. That might be what it took to win. The fighting continued for one endless hour after another. The Varden and dwarves were exhausted, but the Urgals remained fresh with reinforcements. It was a nightmare for Eragon. Though he and Saphira fought their hardest, there was always another Urgal to take the place of the one just killed. His whole body hurt—especially his head. Every time he used magic he lost a little more energy. Saphira was in better condition, though her wings were punctured with small wounds. As he parried a blow, the Twins contacted him urgently.There are loud noises under Tronjheim. It sounds like Urgals are trying to dig into the city! We need you and Arya to collapse any tunnels they’re excavating. Eragon dispatched his opponent with a sword thrust.We’ll be right there. He looked for Arya and saw her engaged with a knot of struggling Urgals. Saphira quickly forged a path to the elf, leaving a pile of crumpled bodies in her wake. Eragon extended his hand and said, “Get on!” Arya jumped onto Saphira’s back without hesitation. She wrapped her right arm around Eragon’s waist, wielding her bloodstained sword with the other. As Saphira crouched to take off, an Urgal ran at her, howling, then lifted an ax and smashed her in the chest. Saphira roared with pain and lurched forward, feet leaving the ground. Her wings snapped open, straining to keep them from crashing as she veered wildly to one side, right wingtip scraping the ground. Below them, the Urgal pulled back his arm to throw the ax. But Arya raised her palm, shouting, and an emerald ball of energy shot from her hand, killing the Urgal. With a colossal heave of her shoulders, Saphira righted herself, barely making it over the heads of the warriors. She pulled away from the battlefield with powerful wing strokes and rasping breath. Are you all right?asked Eragon, concerned. He could not see where she had been struck. I’ll live,she said grimly,but the front of my armor has been crushed together. It hurts my chest, and I’m having trouble moving. Page 288 Can you get us to the dragonhold? …We’ll see. Eragon explained Saphira’s condition to Arya. “I’ll stay and help Saphira when we land,” she offered. “Once she is free of the armor, I will join you.” “Thank you,” he said. The flight was laborious for Saphira; she glided whenever she could. When they reached the dragonhold, she dropped heavily to Isidar Mithrim, where the Twins were supposed to be watching the battle, but it was empty. Eragon jumped to the floor and winced as he saw the damage the Urgal had done. Four of the metal plates on Saphira’s chest had been hammered together, restricting her ability to bend and breathe. “Stay well,” he said, putting a hand on her side, then ran out the archway. He stopped and swore. He was at the top of Vol Turin, The Endless Staircase. Because of his worry for Saphira, he had not considered how he would get to Tronjheim’s base—where the Urgals were breaking in. There was no time to climb down. He looked at the narrow trough to the right of the stairs, then grabbed one of the leather pads and threw himself down on it. The stone slide was smooth as lacquered wood. With the leather underneath him, he accelerated almost instantly to a frightening speed, the walls blurring and the curve of the slide pressing him high against the wall. Eragon lay completely flat so he would go faster. The air rushed past his helm, making it vibrate like a weather vane in a gale. The trough was too confined for him, and he was perilously close to flying out, but as long as he kept his arms and legs still, he was safe. It was a swift descent, but it still took him nearly ten minutes to reach the bottom. The slide leveled out at the end and sent him skidding halfway across the huge carnelian floor. When he finally came to a stop, he was too dizzy to walk. His first attempt to stand made him nauseated, so he curled up, head in his hands, and waited for things to stop spinning. When he felt better, he stood and warily looked around. The great chamber was completely deserted, the silence unsettling. Rosy light filtered down from Isidar Mithrim. He faltered—Where was he supposed to go?—and cast out his mind for the Twins. Nothing. He froze as loud knocking echoed through Tronjheim. An explosion split the air. A long slab of the chamber floor buckled and blew thirty feet up. Needles of rocks flew outward as it crashed down. Eragon stumbled back, stunned, groping for Zar’roc. The twisted shapes of Urgals clambered out of the hole in the floor. Eragon hesitated. Should he flee? Or should he stay and try to close the tunnel? Even if he managed to seal it before the Urgals attacked him, what if Tronjheim was already breached elsewhere? He could not find all the places in time to prevent the city-mountain from being captured.But if I run to one of Tronjheim’s gates and blast it open, the Varden could retake Tronjheim without having to siege it. Before he could decide, a tall man garbed entirely in black armor emerged from the tunnel and looked directly at him. It was Durza. The Shade carried his pale blade marked with the scratch from Ajihad. A black roundshield with a crimson ensign rested on his arm. His dark helmet was richly decorated, like a general’s, and a long Page 289 snakeskin cloak billowed around him. Madness burned in his maroon eyes, the madness of one who enjoys power and finds himself in the position to use it. Eragon knew he was neither fast enough nor strong enough to escape the fiend before him. He immediately warned Saphira, though he knew it was impossible for her to rescue him. He dropped into a crouch and quickly reviewed what Brom had told him about fighting another magic user. It was not encouraging. And Ajihad had said that Shades could only be destroyed by a thrust through the heart. Durza gazed at him contemptuously and said, “Kaz jtierl trazhid! Otrag bagh.” The Urgals eyed Eragon suspiciously and formed a circle around the perimeter of the room. Durza slowly approached Eragon with a triumphant expression. “So, my young Rider, we meet again. You were foolish to escape from me in Gil’ead. It will only make things worse for you in the end.” “You’ll never capture me alive,” growled Eragon. “Is that so?” asked the Shade, raising an eyebrow. The light from the star sapphire gave his skin a ghastly tint. “I don’t see your ‘friend’ Murtagh around to help you. You can’t stop me now. No one can!” Fear touched Eragon.How does he know about Murtagh? Putting all the derision he could into his voice, he jeered, “How did you like being shot?” Durza’s face tightened momentarily. “I will be repaid in blood for that. Now tell me where your dragon is hiding.” “Never.” The Shade’s countenance darkened. “Then I will force it from you!” His sword whistled through the air. The moment Eragon caught the blade on his shield, a mental probe spiked deep into his thoughts. Fighting to protect his consciousness, he shoved Durza back and attacked with his own mind. Eragon battered with all his strength against the iron-hard defenses surrounding Durza’s mind, but to no avail. He swung Zar’roc, trying to catch Durza off guard. The Shade knocked the blow aside effortlessly, then stabbed in return with lightning speed. The point of the sword caught Eragon in the ribs, piercing his mail and driving out his breath. The mail slipped, though, and the blade missed his side by the width of a wire. The distraction was all Durza needed to break into Eragon’s mind and begin taking control. “No!” cried Eragon, throwing himself at the Shade. His face contorted as he grappled with Durza, yanking on his sword arm. Durza tried to cut Eragon’s hand, but it was protected by the mail-backed glove, which sent the blade glancing downward. As Eragon kicked his leg, Durza snarled and swept his black shield around, knocking him to the floor. Eragon tasted blood in his mouth; his neck throbbed. Ignoring his injuries, he rolled over and hurled his shield at Durza. Despite the Shade’s superior speed, the heavy shield clipped him on the hip. As Durza stumbled, Eragon caught him on the upper arm with Zar’roc. A line of blood traced down the Shade’s arm. Eragon thrust at the Shade with his mind and drove through Durza’s weakened defenses. A flood of images suddenly engulfed him, rushing through his consciousness— Page 290 Durza as a young boy living as a nomad with his parents on the empty plains. The tribe abandoned them and called his father “oathbreaker.” Only it was not Durza then, but Carsaib—the name his mother crooned while combing his hair… The Shade reeled wildly, face twisted in pain. Eragon tried to control the torrent of memories, but the force of them was overwhelming. Standing on a hill over the graves of his parents, weeping that the men had not killed him as well. Then turning and stumbling blindly away, into the desert… Durza faced Eragon. Terrible hatred flowed from his maroon eyes. Eragon was on one knee—almost standing—struggling to seal his mind. How the old man looked when he first saw Carsaib lying near death on a sand dune. The days it had taken Carsaib to recover and the fear he felt upon discovering that his rescuer was a sorcerer. How he had pleaded to be taught the control of spirits. How Haeg had finally agreed. Called him “Desert Rat.”… Eragon was standing now. Durza charged… sword raised… shield ignored in his fury. The days spent training under the scorching sun, always alert for the lizards they caught for food. How his power slowly grew, giving him pride and confidence. The weeks spent nursing his sick master after a failed spell. His joy when Haeg recovered… There was not enough time to react… not enough time… The bandits who attacked during the night, killing Haeg. The rage Carsaib had felt and the spirits he had summoned for vengeance. But the spirits were stronger than he expected. They turned on him, possessing mind and body. He had screamed. He was—I AM DURZA! The sword smote heavily across Eragon’s back, cutting through both mail and skin. He screamed as pain blasted through him, forcing him to his knees. Agony bowed his body in half and obliterated all thought. He swayed, barely conscious, hot blood running down the small of his back. Durza said Page 291 something he could not hear. In anguish, Eragon raised his eyes to the heavens, tears streaming down his cheeks. Everything had failed. The Varden and dwarves were destroyed. He was defeated. Saphira would give herself up for his sake—she had done it before—and Arya would be recaptured or killed. Why had it ended like this? What justice could this be? All was for nothing. As he looked at Isidar Mithrim far above his tortured frame, a flash of light erupted in his eyes, blinding him. A second later, the chamber rang with a deafening report. Then his eyes cleared, and he gaped with disbelief. The star sapphire had shattered. An expanding torus of huge dagger-like pieces plummeted toward the distant floor—the shimmering shards near the walls. In the center of the chamber, hurtling downward headfirst, was Saphira. Her jaws were open and from between them erupted a great tongue of flame, bright yellow and tinged with blue. On her back was Arya: hair billowing wildly, arm uplifted, palm glowing with a nimbus of green magic. Time seemed to slow as Eragon saw Durza tilt his head toward the ceiling. First shock, then anger contorted the Shade’s face. Sneering defiantly, he raised his hand and pointed at Saphira, a word forming on his lips. A hidden reserve of strength suddenly welled up inside Eragon, dredged from the deepest part of his being. His fingers curled around the hilt of his sword. He plunged through the barrier in his mind and took hold of the magic. All his pain and rage focused on one word: “Brisingr!” Zar’roc blazed with bloody light, heatless flames running along it… He lunged forward… And stabbed Durza in the heart. Durza looked down with shock at the blade protruding from his breast. His mouth was open, but instead of words, an unearthly howl burst from him. His sword dropped from nerveless fingers. He grasped Zar’roc as if to pull it out, but it was lodged firmly in him. Then Durza’s skin turned transparent. Under it was neither flesh nor bone, but swirling patterns of darkness. He shrieked even louder as the darkness pulsated, splitting his skin. With one last cry, Durza was rent from head to toe, releasing the darkness, which separated into three entities who flew through Tronjheim’s walls and out of Farthen Dûr. The Shade was gone. Bereft of strength, Eragon fell back with arms outstretched. Above him, Saphira and Arya had nearly reached the floor—it looked as if they were going to smash into it with the deadly remains of Isidar Mithrim. As his sight faded, Saphira, Arya, the myriad fragments—all seemed to stop falling and hang motionless in the air. THEMOURNINGSAGE Snatches of the Shade’s memories continued to flash through Eragon. A whirlwind of dark events and emotions overwhelmed him, making it impossible to think. Submerged in the maelstrom, he knew neither Page 292 who nor where he was. He was too weak to cleanse himself of the alien presence that clouded his mind. Violent, cruel images from the Shade’s past exploded behind his eyes until his spirit cried out in anguish at the bloody sights. A pile of bodies rose before him… innocents slaughtered by the Shade’s orders. He saw still more corpses—whole villages of them—taken from life by the sorcerer’s hand or word. There was no escape from the carnage that surrounded him. He wavered like a candle flame, unable to withstand the tide of evil. He prayed for someone to lift him out of the nightmare, but there was no one to guide him. If only he could remember what he was supposed to be: boy or man, villain or hero, Shade or Rider; all was jumbled together in a meaningless frenzy. He was lost, completely and utterly, in the roiling mass. Suddenly a cluster of his own memories burst through the dismal cloud left by the Shade’s malevolent mind. All the events since he had found Saphira’s egg came to him in the cold light of revelation. His accomplishments and failures were displayed equally. He had lost much that was dear to him, yet fate had given him rare and great gifts; for the first time, he was proud of simply who he was. As if in response to his brief self-confidence, the Shade’s smothering blackness assaulted him anew. His identity trailed into the void as uncertainty and fear consumed his perceptions. Who was he to think he could challenge the powers of Alagaësia and live? He fought against the Shade’s sinister thoughts, weakly at first, then more strongly. He whispered words of the ancient language and found they gave him enough strength to withstand the shadow blurring his mind. Though his defenses faltered dangerously, he slowly began to draw his shattered consciousness into a small bright shell around his core. Outside his mind he was aware of a pain so great it threatened to blot out his very life, but something—or someone—seemed to keep it at bay. He was still too weak to clear his mind completely, but he was lucid enough to examine his experiences since Carvahall. Where would he go now… and who would show him the way? Without Brom, there was no one to guide or teach him. Come to me. He recoiled at the touch of another consciousness—one so vast and powerful it was like a mountain looming over him. This was who was blocking the pain, he realized. Like Arya’s mind, music ran through this one: deep amber-gold chords that throbbed with magisterial melancholy. Finally, he dared ask,Who… who are you? One who would help.With a flicker of an unspoken thought, the Shade’s influence was brushed aside like an unwanted cobweb. Freed from the oppressive weight, Eragon let his mind expand until he touched a barrier beyond which he could not pass. I have protected you as best I can, but you are so far away I can do no more than shield your sanity from the pain. Again:Who are you to do this? There was a low rumble.I am Osthato Chetowä, the Mourning Sage. And Togira Ikonoka, the Cripple Who Is Whole. Come to me, Eragon, for I have answers to all you ask. You will not be safe until you find me. But how can I find you if I don’t know where you are?he asked, despairing. Trust Arya and go with her to Ellesméra—I will be there. I have waited many seasons, so do not delay Page 293 or it may soon be too late… You are greater than you know, Eragon. Think of what you have done and rejoice, for you have rid the land of a great evil. You have wrought a deed no one else could. Many are in your debt. The stranger was right; what he had accomplished was worthy of honor, of recognition. No matter what his trials might be in the future, he was no longer just a pawn in the game of power. He had transcended that and was something else, something more. He had become what Ajihad wanted: an authority independent of any king or leader. He sensed approval as he reached that conclusion.You are learning,said the Mourning Sage, drawing nearer. A vision passed from him to Eragon: a burst of color blossomed in his mind, resolving into a stooped figure dressed in white, standing on a sun-drenched stone cliff. It is time for you to rest, Eragon. When you wake, do not speak of me to anyone,said the figure kindly, face obscured by a silver nimbus. Remember, you must go to the elves. Now, sleep…He raised a hand, as if in benediction, and peace crept through Eragon. His last thought was that Brom would have been proud of him. “Wake,” commanded the voice. “Awake, Eragon, for you have slept far too long.” He stirred unwillingly, loath to listen. The warmth that surrounded him was too comfortable to leave. The voice sounded again. “Rise, Argetlam! You are needed!” He reluctantly forced his eyes open and found himself on a long bed, swathed in soft blankets. Angela sat in a chair beside him, staring at his face intently. “How do you feel?” she asked. Disoriented and confused, he let his eyes roam over the small room. “I… I don’t know,” he said, his mouth dry and sore. “Then don’t move. You should conserve your strength,” said Angela, running a hand through her curly hair. Eragon saw that she still wore her flanged armor. Why was that? A fit of coughing made him dizzy, lightheaded, and ache all over. His feverish limbs felt heavy. Angela lifted a gilt horn from the floor and held it to his lips. “Here, drink.” Cool mead ran down his throat, refreshing him. Warmth bloomed in his stomach and rose to his cheeks. He coughed again, which worsened his throbbing head. How did I get here? There was a battle… we were losing… then Durza and… “Saphira!” he exclaimed, sitting upright. He sagged back as his head swam and clenched his eyes, feeling sick. “What about Saphira? Is she all right? The Urgals were winning… she was falling. And Arya!” “They lived,” assured Angela, “and have been waiting for you to wake. Do you wish to see them?” He nodded feebly. Angela got up and threw open the door. Arya and Murtagh filed inside. Saphira snaked her head into the room after them, her body too big to fit through the doorway. Her chest vibrated as she hummed deeply, eyes sparkling. Smiling, Eragon touched her thoughts with relief and gratitude.It is good to see you well, little one, she said tenderly. And you too, but how—? Page 294 The others want to explain it, so I will let them. You breathed fire! I saw you! Yes,she said with pride. He smiled weakly, still confused, then looked at Arya and Murtagh. Both of them were bandaged: Arya on her arm, Murtagh around his head. Murtagh grinned widely. “About time you were up. We’ve been sitting in the hall for hours.” “What… what happened?” asked Eragon. Arya looked sad. But Murtagh crowed, “We won! It was incredible! When the Shade’s spirits—if that’s what they were—flew across Farthen Dûr, the Urgals ceased fighting to watch them go. It was as though they were released from a spell then, because their clans suddenly turned and attacked each other. Their entire army disintegrated within minutes. We routed them after that!” “They’re all dead?” asked Eragon. Murtagh shook his head. “No, many of them escaped into the tunnels. The Varden and dwarves are busy ferreting them out right now, but it’s going to take a while. I was helping until an Urgal banged me on the head and I was sent back here.” “They aren’t going to lock you up again?” His face grew sober. “No one really cares about that right now. A lot of Varden and dwarves were killed; the survivors are busy trying to recover from the battle. But at least you have cause to be happy. You’re a hero! Everyone’s talking about how you killed Durza. If it hadn’t been for you, we would have lost.” Eragon was troubled by his words but pushed them away for later consideration. “Where were the Twins? They weren’t where they were supposed to be—I couldn’t contact them. I needed their help.” Murtagh shrugged. “I was told they bravely fought off a group of Urgals that broke into Tronjheim somewhere else. They were probably too busy to talk with you.” That seemed wrong for some reason, but Eragon could not decide why. He turned to Arya. Her large bright eyes had been fixed upon him the entire time. “How come you didn’t crash? You and Saphira were… ” His voice trailed off. She said slowly, “When you warned Saphira of Durza, I was still trying to remove her damaged armor. By the time it was off, it was too late to slide down Vol Turin—you would have been captured before I reached the bottom. Besides, Durza would have killed you before letting me rescue you.” Regret entered her voice, “So I did the one thing I could to distract him: I broke the star sapphire.” And I carried her down,added Saphira. Eragon struggled to understand as another bout of lightheadedness made him close his eyes. “But why didn’t any of the pieces hit you or me?” “I didn’t allow them to. When we were almost to the floor, I held them motionless in the air, then slowly Page 295 lowered them to the floor—else they would have shattered into a thousand pieces and killed you,” stated Arya simply. Her words betrayed the power within her. Angela added sourly, “Yes, and it almost killed you as well. It’s taken all of my skill to keep the two of you alive.” A twinge of unease shot through Eragon, matching the intensity of his throbbing head.My back… But he felt no bandages there. “How long have I been here?” he asked with trepidation. “Only a day and a half,” answered Angela. “You’re lucky I was around, otherwise it would’ve taken you weeks to heal—if you had even lived.” Alarmed, Eragon pushed the blankets off his torso and twisted around to feel his back. Angela caught his wrist with her small hand, worry reflected in her eyes. “Eragon… you have to understand, my power is not like yours or Arya’s. It depends on the use of herbs and potions. There are limits to what I can do, especially with such a large—” He yanked his hand out of her grip and reached back, fingers groping. The skin on his back was smooth and warm, flawless. Hard muscles flexed under his fingertips as he moved. He slid his hand toward the base of his neck and unexpectedly felt a hard bump about a half-inch wide. He followed it down his back with growing horror. Durza’s blow had left him with a huge, ropy scar, stretching from his right shoulder to the opposite hip. Pity showed on Arya’s face as she murmured, “You have paid a terrible price for your deed, Eragon Shadeslayer.” Murtagh laughed harshly. “Yes. Now you’re just like me.” Dismay filled Eragon, and he closed his eyes. He was disfigured. Then he remembered something from when he was unconscious… a figure in white who had helped him. A cripple who was whole—Togira Ikonoka. He had said,Think of what you have done and rejoice, for you have rid the land of a great evil. You have wrought a deed no one else could. Many are in your debt… Come to me Eragon, for I have answers to all you ask. A measure of peace and satisfaction consoled Eragon. I will come. E ND OF B OOK O NE THE STORY WILL CONTINUE IN Eldest, BOOKTWO OFINHERITANCE Page 296 APRONUNCIATIONGUIDE Ajihad—AH-zhi-hod Alagaësia—al-uh-GAY-zee-uh Arya—AR-ee-uh Carvahall—CAR-vuh-hall Dras-Leona—DRAHS-lee-OH-nuh Du Weldenvarden—doo WELL-den-VAR-den Eragon—EHR-uh-gahn Farthen Dûr—FAR-then DURE (durerhymes withlure ) Galbatorix—gal-buh-TOR-icks Gil’ead—GILL-ee-id Jeod—JODE (rhymes withload ) Murtagh—MUR-tag (murrhymes withpurr ) Ra’zac—RAA-zack Saphira—suh-FEAR-uh Shruikan—SHREW-kin Teirm—TEERM Tronjheim—TRONJ-heem Vrael—VRAIL Yazuac—YA-zoo-ack Zar’roc—ZAR-rock ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IcreatedEragon, but its success is the result of the enthusiastic efforts of friends, family, fans, librarians, teachers, students, school administrators, distributors, booksellers, and many more. I wish I could mention by name all the people who have helped, but the list is very, very long. You know who you are, and I thank you! Page 297 Eragonwas first published in early 2002 by my parents’ publishing company, Paolini International LLC. They had already released three books, so it was only natural to do the same withEragon . We knew Eragon would appeal to a wide range of readers; our challenge was to spread the word about it. During 2002 and the beginning of 2003, I traveled throughout the United States doing over 130 book signings and presentations in schools, bookstores, and libraries. My mother and I arranged all the events. At first I had only one or two appearances per month, but as we became more efficient at scheduling, our homemade book tour expanded to the point where I was on the road almost continuously. I met thousands of wonderful people, many of whom became loyal fans and friends. One of those fans is Michelle Frey, now my editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers, who approached me with an offer to acquireEragon . Needless to say, I was delighted that Knopf was interested in my book. Thus, there are two groups of people who deserve thanks. The first assisted with the production of the Paolini International LLC edition ofEragon, while the second is responsible for the Knopf edition. Here are the brave souls who helped bring Eragoninto existence: The original gang: my mother for her thoughtful red pen and wonderful help with commas, colons, semicolons, and other assorted beasties; my father for his smashing editing job, all the time he spent hammering my vague, wayward thoughts into line, formatting the book and designing the cover, and listening to so many presentations; Grandma Shirley for helping me create a satisfactory beginning and ending; my sister for her plot advice, her good humor at being portrayed as an herbalist in Eragon,and her long hours Photoshop’ing Saphira’s eye on the cover; Kathy Tyers for giving me the means to do a brutal—and much-needed—rewrite of the first three chapters; John Taliaferro for his advice and wonderful review; a fan named Tornado—Eugene Walker—who caught a number of copyediting errors; and Donna Overall for her love of the story, editing and formatting advice, and keen eye for all things concerning ellipses, em dashes, widows, orphans, kerning, and run-on sentences. If there’s a real-life Dragon Rider, she’s one—selflessly coming to the rescue of writers lost in the Swamp of Commas. And I thank my family for supporting me wholeheartedly… and for reading this saga more times than any sane person should have to. The new gang: Michelle Frey, who not only loved the story enough to take a chance on an epic fantasy written by a teenager but also managed to streamlineEragon ’s pacing through her insightful editing; my agent, Simon Lipskar, who helped find the best home forEragon; Chip Gibson and Beverly Horowitz for the wonderful offer; Lawrence Levy for his good humor and legal advice; Judith Haut, publicity whiz of the first degree; Daisy Kline for the awe-inspiring marketing campaign; Isabel Warren-Lynch, who designed the lovely book jacket, interior, and map; John Jude Palencar, who painted the jacket art (I actually named Palancar Valley for him long before he ever worked onEragon ); Artie Bennett, the doyen of copyediting and the only man alive who understood the difference betweento scry it andto scry on it; and the entire team at Knopf who have made this adventure possible. Lastly, a special thanks to my characters, who bravely face the dangers I force them to confront, and without whom I wouldn’t have a story. May your swords stay sharp! Christopher Paolini Page 298 ABOUT THEAUTHOR Christopher Paolini’s abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel,Eragon, when he graduated from high school at fifteen. Now nineteen, he lives with his family in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he is at work onEldest, the next volume in the Inheritance trilogy. You can find out more about Christopher,Eragon, and Inheritance atwww.alagaesia.com . EXCERPTFROMBACKMATTER … Gifted only with an ancient red sword, the brilliant-blue dragon Saphira, and advice from the old storyteller Brom, the young man Eragon is entangled in an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, ancient glory, and love. His saga carries readers through fantastical land filled with beauty and brooding danger as he flees the tyrannical king, Galbatorix. A mysterious elven woman haunts Eragon's dreams while an ancient legacy and an unexpected inheritance shape his destiny. PARTINGWORDS:ANINTERVIEW WITH THEAUTHOR (From the Factsource.com website) Page 299 1. Hi Christopher, thanks for your time! Please take a moment to introduce yourself. Hello! I’m Christopher James Paolini, eighteen-year-old author and illustrator of Eragon, an epic 472-page fantasy. And welcome to my interview. I enjoyed writing it, and I certainly hope you enjoy reading it. . Tell us about your publishing history. In November 1998 I graduated from high school at fifteen. I was homeschooled—and having nothing absolutely required of me, I sat down and began writing. For three-and-a-half years I worked on Eragon. It took a year for the first draft, a year for the second draft, and another year for editing. Finally, at the beginning of 2002, I held the finished book in my hands, which was simply incredible. Eragon is my first published work. . How did you prepare yourself to become a novelist? I read everything about writing I could get my hands on—specifically The Writer’s Handbook, which is published each year and has wonderful essays on the craft by various authors, and Story, by Robert McKee. Story is actually what taught me how to plot a novel. It’s written for screenwriters, but the principles are universal. Another valuable book was Orson Scott Card’s Character and Viewpoint. It answers all those tricky questions like, “Am I really in a limited third-person point of view here, or is it an omniscient point of view?” My technical knowledge—that is, the ability to express myself clearly in words—was mainly a result of the year of editing on my book. Great editing, even good editing, can teach you more about writing than anything else. That is, if you have the stomach to see your precious work, which you’ve been up till 3:00 a.m. polishing, covered in a sea of red ink. The trick, though, is finding an editor who knows the craft intimately, is acquainted with your genre, and has fallen in love with your work. Sometimes a family member can do it, other times you may have to hire a professional. In my case, I was lucky enough to have parents who were both interested—and qualified—in editing Eragon. They put a huge amount of work into the manuscript. It’s all we worked on for most of 2001. A personal comment here: If a reader has fallen in love with a work, often they won’t edit well. One of my best editors actually disliked the manuscript! Also most family members of writers will do poor editing. Again, my experience was an exception. The true mark of an accomplished writer is that he or she isn’t afraid to rewrite something if it’s bad, no matter how many times it takes to reach (adequate) perfection. . How did you find your publisher? Ah yes, the eternal question for aspiring writers: How did you get published? Well, in this case I had a slight advantage. Both my parents are published authors—I’m actually a third-generation author—and they own a publishing company based out of Paradise Valley, Montana. Page 300 I still have the option of signing with a large publisher, but for now my family and I retain complete control, and plan maintaining complete control over Eragon. . Tell us about Eragon. Eragon is the saga of a young man, Eragon, who becomes intricately linked with the brilliant-blue dragon Saphira. Together they set off on the series of adventures through the fantastical land of Alagaësia. On the way they encounter battles, villains, duels, romance… and all the good things a story needs. Eragon is the first in a trilogy titled Inheritance, and I’m currently in the middle of book II, Eldest. Having recently finished the script adaptation for Eragon, I’m now looking for someone willing to produce it as a movie. I wrote Eragon in an attempt to combine and distill all the elements of heroic fantasy that I loved as a child, not so long ago. It frustrated me because I read so many books where everything was perfect, except for that one plot twist at the end or that one piece of misspoken dialogue. It drove me up the wall. So I resolved to try and write a perfect story … the essence of a maturation plot. There would be a young man who was unaware of his potential, a beautiful dragon, a mysterious mentor, and a truly vicious, sneering, Basil Rathbone villain. Though I started with clichéd characters and situations, I made them my own by believing in them completely. So what if it’s all been done before? Eragon is deeper than most fantasies because I truly delve into the characters’ psyches and grapple with the big questions in life: why are we here, what is our purpose, and by what rules shall we live? That was my goal. And if perhaps my dart did not always fly as true as wished, I at least grazed the center of the target. Eragon has received nothing but five-star reviews on Amazon.com. Publisher’s Weekly calls it, “… impressive epic fantasy,” and readers have just fallen in love with the story. . Tell us about the book cover. The Eragon book cover took several weeks of hard work to complete. Before I could even set pencil to paper, I had to figure out how I wanted to depict the dragon Saphira’s eye. I already had a pretty good idea of how it should appear. The problem was making it look realistic. For that I found several pictures of crocodile eyes, which I used to establish the basic shape and textures of the pupil and scales. By modifying the scales, I was able to create a spiny crest over the eyeball as well as the ridges that rim it. When that was done, a very simple line drawing of the eye was traced onto a piece of paper proportional to the finished cover. Finally, I started on the eye. For three days I struggled to give it life, but to no avail. I had messed up on the lighting when I began, making the drawing appear flat and uninteresting. Realizing what was wrong, I was forced to abandon my work and try again. This time I got it right. The eye slowly took shape on my desk, staring at whomever passed by. The Page 301 most tedious and mind-numbing part of the drawing was executing the hundreds of scales. Each one had to be shaped, shaded, and matched to the smooth gradation of light that covers the entire picture. Upon completion, the drawing was scanned and then put into Photoshop, where my sister added the color to the eye. This took a long time to get just right, not only with the complex shading, but also with the color. The original drawing covered almost an entire 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. However, that was chopped down so the book’s title and my name could be on a block of white covering the bottom third of the cover. I also drew the two maps for Eragon, using dry-ink rollerball pens. Each map covers an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. To see the cover and maps, visit my family’s website. . How do you know where to begin your story? I begin at the moment my protagonist’s life changes. Shakespeare, for example, began Hamlet not with the death of Hamlet’s father, but the appearance of his father’s ghost, which sparks the events that lead to the bloody conclusion. Imagine if Hamlet started with Hamlet already bent on the path of revenge … or vice-versa, when he was still overseas as a student. A story begins when something happens. That’s the whole point of novels, things happen in them. Now it’s entirely possible to write a story where nothing seems to be happening until a shocking subtext is revealed, but you’d better make that revelation a darn good one, to compensate for all the reader’s preceding boredom. A good example of this is the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. The instant something new enters my hero’s life, I start writing. I do take a certain amount of time to set the stage—which will vary from story to story—but I try to keep it to a minimum. . Can you explain how your characters are “born?” When I first conceive of a book, there are a certain number of characters inherent in the story; I couldn’t have Eragon without Eragon. Beyond those absolutely necessary to the plot, I add characters to flesh out the world—such as family and friends of the main actors. These are usually created as I’m writing the first draft. Oftentimes I put in characters because Eragon needs certain information. If he’s just entered a village and wants to find out where someone lives, then he has to ask directions. Voila, a character is born! If he is interesting enough, then he may have an encore performance later on. My main characters, however, don’t pop into existence on mere whims. It takes enormous amounts of effort to figure out what they want, what prevents them from achieving their wants, and what actions they will take to rectify the situation. And of course their individual stories have to relate to the whole in a meaningful way. Otherwise, they have no place in the book. Page 302 9. What is the process you use to name your characters? I took generous helpings of Norse, Danish, Celtic, Russian, and even Hispanic names, dump them into a blender and hit frappé. Then I use whatever interesting words get spit out. Or I just invent them outright. In general I tried to stay with old, mythic names, such as Hrothgar (from Beowulf), Utgard (a Norse giant), and inventive variants, like Tronjheim Most of my names are made up, though. Eragon is dragon with one letter changed, or era gone. Saphira (Sa-FEAR-ah) is a delightful play on sapphire that Mom invented. And the little town Yazuac is really an anagram for the Yacuza, the Japanese Mafia. Also, I invented three languages for Eragon, one of which is based on Old Norse. Therefore, each place name must conform to the grammar of the race that named it. This adds another layer of difficulty because now I have to think, Okay, who named this: elves, dwarves, humans, or Urgals? Could it be an elf name translated by the humans? Or perhaps …” You get the idea. . How do you build empathy for your characters? Making readers care for what happens to a fictitious person in a fictitious world with a fictitious name is hard. Very hard. Empathy is the combination of many different traits. First, you have to have your characters, even your villain, care deeply about something or someone, else they’ll be totally unlikable. Or, you can have them care about nothing, but be completely charming, like Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs. Either way, there has to be a point of connection, even enjoyment, for readers. Next, you have to threaten what your character holds dear. Do that an you’ll engender sympathy in most anyone. Then, follow your character as he/she struggles to protect what is important to him/her. Pull it off well, and readers will follow you into even the darkest nightmare. . How do you handle the storyline? (Do you use outlines, plot guides, etc?) Eragon wasn’t my first attempt to write a book. I started several stories before it. Unfortunately, they always ended up melting into a pile of mush after five or ten pages. It was due to a lack of knowledge of what to do next. So instead of just jumping into the middle of Eragon, I spent a month plotting out the entire novel and its two sequels. That way I never had a doubt or worry about where I was heading, or what my characters should be doing or saying. Right now I’m working on Eldest, the sequel to Eragon. For Eldest I have a rough twelve-page treatment that covers all the scenes I could think of without actually writing the beast. This saves me hours that might be spent meandering off on a tangent storyline, or trying to solve plot discrepancies after I’ve already written the first draft. An outline like this is extremely helpful when dealing with a Page 303 multi-volume series, as it helps you keep track of all the different characters, pacing, locations, and the amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B. Without a clear vision of the plot, it’s all too easy to get lost in a sea of possibilities. It is good to be inquisitive and inventive with the situations in your book, but at least by having the original outline, you can start with confidence. . Eragon is classified as a “Fantasy” novel. Do you have any advice to the Writing Etc. subscribers who write in that genre? Avoid anachronisms… that is, persons, events, or items that are chronologically misplaced. Never, ever have your hero climb up a castle wall and encounter razor-wire; They didn’t have razor-wire in the Middle Ages. Don’t have your hero climb a fruit tree while wearing plate armor. Don’t have your peasants happy, cheerful, and eating rice in a northern European environment. Under no circumstances refer to a crossguard as a handle, or have your characters speak with modern slang. I didn’t make these up. They are in published fantasy titles. Argh! There’s a perception that fantasy is easy to write. It isn’t. It draws upon some of the deepest mythic roots of cultures around the world. It’s also highly imitative and derivative. And to make it even harder, you have to know enough about history to be able to write a semi-accurate historical novel. My best advice is to make it as realistic as possible. Where does the food come from? What’s the history of the culture you’re inventing? Do dwarves have lavatories? How has your imaginary religion seeped into everyday life? Make people believe that your purple pixy dwarves are as deep and complex as anyone you know. That’s the whole trick to great fantasy, getting at something deeper than just, “Oh, lets go fetch the magic watermelon slipper from the Citadel of Doom, hack all the snarling, warty goblins along the way, then be back in our Idyllic Village for our Rustic Supper.” . How did you research this book? My research included skimming through the Encyclopaedia Britannica many times: reading books on word-origins, gods from around the world, armor, weapons, and ships, and asking people as many questions as possible. I also found that making my own knives, arrows, and other assorted pointy items, helped when writing Eragon. Research often leads you into areas of knowledge that you wouldn’t otherwise explore. At one time, I had some questions about bows, so I read several books on the subject and learned that Native Americans constructed bows out of elk and ram horns. That inspired me, because in Eragon there arelarge-horned monsters called Urgals. As a result, I added a dwarf with an Urgal-horn bow into Eldest. . Do you write with an overall theme in mind? Explain…. Page 304 I had more of a feeling in mind, rather than a theme. For me, great stories have the power to transform lives through the strength of their vision. I can’t count the number of times I’ve reached the end of a book or movie and felt a cold tingle worm its way through my body … because I know that what I’ve just experienced was great. Not good, but great. With Eragon, it was my goal to capture that sense of awe and wonder. So when a reader finishes the last scene, the last page, and closes the book, they’ll just go, “Wow!” Everything I did in Eragon was designed to evoke that reaction at the end. . Who is your favorite character and why? That would be Saphira, the dragon. Why is a bit harder. She was always the genesis of Eragon’s transformation and growth—I was thrilled by the idea of a young man (Eragon) becoming linked with a dragon. As I wrote Saphira, I made her the best friend anyone could have: loyal, funny, brave, intelligent, and noble. She transcended that, however, and became her own person, fiercely independent and proud. I love writing about dragons, especially Saphira. Part of what makes her so appealing is that Eragon cares for her from the moment she hatches. That makes their relationship very different than if he had suddenly joined up with an age-old dragon. This way, they’re both young and exploring the world for the first time. Saphira is so intelligent, there were times I felt like she was looking out at me and saying, “What do you want!” It’s bit frightening to be at the mercy of an imaginary creature within your own head. You have no defenses. . Have your characters ever surprised you? Explain…. Most of my characters don’t ever surprise me, as they’re so serious. Epic fantasy tends to be like that. However, I did put my sister, Angela, into Eragon, as an herbalist who loves frogs. Fortunately, she has a good sense of humor, or else I wouldn’t be writing this! Every time I write about her, though, I have no idea what she will do next. I know my sister extremely well, but when I attempt to translate that knowledge to page, it’s impossible to predict what might burst forth next, since I have such a rich store of memories to draw from. . What’s the oddest thing one of your characters has done? This could also be an answer for the previous question: when Saphira ate a group of Urgals in Eragon! I couldn’t believe she had done it, but there it was. It’s one of those events that pops out of your subconscious when you’re working intensely, and afterward you just sit back, shake your head, and say, “Good grief. I wrote that?” Page 305 18. Is there anything a character has done that you’ve regretted? No. I don’t plot a novel with things that offend or upset me. And if something does creep in that I don’t approve of, then I either rewrite it during the first draft, or cut it during editing. On the other hand, there are plenty of word and sentence choices in Eragon that I do regret, and that I hope to better in Eldest. . Tell us about how you promote your book. Mainly by book signings in bookstores, grocery stores, and farmers’ markets, and presentations in schools and libraries. Additionally, I make a constant effort to personally contact people who would be interested in my story, whether through book distribution companies or magazine articles and interviews. My public appearances are done in medieval costume—billowy red swordsman’s shirt, black pantaloons, and black lace-up suede boots—which helps garner attention. Some of my most interesting experiences have occurred during signings. I’ve met candidates for public office, a Tibetan monk visiting Montana, other writers, professors, students, fathers, mothers—the whole spectrum of humanity. In addition to signing books, I’ve also signed hands, arms, necks, backs, and even a couple of chests. An interesting thing happened while I was in Boise, ID. At a signing, I met a young Hispanic man who professed not to read English, though he was quite articulate otherwise. He was very interested in Eragon and all I’d accomplished. A few minutes later, he bought Eragon as a present for his girlfriend! Another time I arm wrestled a hefty fellow for the book. I won. And he, too, bought it for his girlfriend. . What is one aspect of being a published author that you weren’t prepared for, that surprised you, that made you think, “Sheesh… I didn’t realize I’d be doing this….”? All of it, actually. You may realize intellectually what a book signing is, but to really do one is very, very different. I wasn’t prepared for all the wonderful comments readers have had for Eragon. Nor was I prepared for being recognized whenever I walk around town. I’m still getting used to both of those, and in a way I hope I never do. Being a public personality changes your view of the world. Whether for the better or worse, I’ve yet to see. . Tell us about your web site. Factsource.com is the web site started and run by my father, Kenneth Paolini. It is the site for our family’s publishing company. Page 306 On my section of the website, you’ll find a blog of my adventures, pictures, an excerpt from Eragon, a list of upcoming events, articles and interviews, and my thoughts on art and writing. Visit my sister’s section to read book reviews that are spicy, scathing, and—occasionally—full of praise. Highly recommended. . Tell us about your art work. I always doodled as a child, often to my mother’s dismay when she looked at my textbooks. However it never occurred to me to try drawing or pursue any sort of artistic activity. In fact, drawing assignments were often the ones I hated the most. Then one year, a boy about my age stayed with us for a month. He drew a small mountain. For some reason I took this as a challenge and promptly said, “I can do something better than that!” And I did. First I drew a couple of mountains of my own, then I copied a dragon from a Tolkien book. Before I knew what was happening, I saw myself as an “artist”. This of course only made me work harder at it. The next few years were filled with discovery as I continued to explore my abilities. It was incredible to uncover a talent within me that I had never suspected existed. I tried working with chalk pastels, oil and acrylic paint—though this did not always work out because I am partially colorblind—colored pencils, and ink. I always returned to regular pencils though, as it is the medium I’m most comfortable with. As you can see if you visit www.factsource.com, I particularly enjoy drawing people, animals, and sometimes things from my own imagination. I use two mechanical pencils—.3 mm and .9 mm—and I’m told by the local art supply store that no one but me buys those sizes. Too small and too large I suppose! Either way, I seem to get good results with them. . What is your best piece of advice for aspiring writers? I can’t inspire passion—that unquantifiable spark that separates B-grade writing from writing that captures you utterly. What I can do is say this, “Learn everything you can about your craft.” If you have the will and desire to tell a story, wonderful. Now you have to master the medium, else you’ll remain an amateur. Read about the craft. Grammar books will help you edit your work. Educate yourself until you can tell with certainty the difference between good and bad writing. You will know you’ve succeeded when you can’t read a novel without questioning the author’s choices, because you are aware of the alternatives, and when your own writing is confident and assured, because you know you can provide whatever the story requires. . What are you reading right now? Let’s see… I’m in the middle of Conan of Cimmeria, Tolkien’s Ring, Islandia, The Masterharper of Pern, and The Integral Trees. Page 307 In the past week-and-a-half, I finished Conan, Grendel, The Butcher’s Wife, Elric of Montilbian, Chronicals of the Lensmen Vol. 1, Knight Life, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, a volume on the art of William Blake, and a book on criminal organizations and their psychology. And also a pile of assorted magazines and newspapers. . What would you like to be doing in ten years? In ten years I see myself sitting before a blazing fire with a beautiful wife, a black Oriental Shorthair purring on our laps, and behind us, on the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, the complete volumes of the Inheritance trilogy, and one or two more novels besides. . Do you have any closing thoughts you’d like to share with the Writing Etc. subscribers? Avoid eating earwax, beware boiled cabbage, don’t slip on discarded pronouns, and above all, order Eragon from your local bookstore, or on-line amazon.com or factsource.com. If you do, you’ll be treated to an extraordinary adventure—one that will sweep you into an exotic land full of mystery, passion, and wonder. While writing Eragon, I often felt like a child surrounded by undiscovered treasures … and I hope you share that experience. www.factsource.com Page 308 ELDEST Book Two of Inheritance CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI Dedication As always, this book is for my family.And also to my incredible fans. You made this adventure possible. Page 309 Sé onr sverdar sitja hvass! ELDEST Book Two of Inheritance Dedication Synopsis of Eragon, A TWIN DISASTER THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS TRUTH AMONG FRIENDS RORAN THE HUNTED HUNTERS SAPHIRA’S PROMISE REQUIEM FEALTY A SORCERESS, A SNAKE, AND A SCROLL HROTHGAR’S GIFT HAMMER AND TONGS RETALIATION AZ SWELDN RAK ANHÛIN CELBEDEIL DIAMONDS IN THE NIGHT UNDER A DARKLING SKY DOWN THE RUSHING MERE-WASH DRIFTING ARYA SVIT-KONA Page 310 CERIS WOUNDS OF THE PAST WOUNDS OF THE PRESENT HIS ENEMY’S FACE ARROW TO THE HEART THE DAGSHELGR INVOCATION THE PINEWOOD CITY QUEEN ISLANZADÍ OUT OF THE PAST CONVICTION REPERCUSSIONS EXODUS ON THE CRAGS OF TEL’NAEÍR THE SECRET LIVES OF ANTS UNDER THE MENOA TREE A MAZE OF OPPOSITION HANGING BY A THREAD ELVA RESURGENCE WHY DO YOU FIGHT? BLACK MORNING GLORY THE NATURE OF EVIL IMAGE OF PERFECTION THE OBLITERATOR NARDA Page 311 THE HAMMER FALLS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM BROKEN EGG AND SCATTERED NEST THE GIFT OF DRAGONS IN A STARRY GLADE LANDFALL TEIRM JEOD LONGSHANKS AN UNEXPECTED ALLY ESCAPE CHILD’S PLAY PREMONITION OF WAR RED BLADE, WHITE BLADE VISIONS NEAR AND FAR GIFTS THE MAW OF THE OCEAN RUNNING THE BOAR’S EYE TO ABERON THE BURNING PLAINS THE CLOUDS OF WAR NAR GARZHVOG WITCH’S BREW THE STORM BREAKS CONVERGENCE ELDEST INHERITANCE Page 312 REUNION PRONUNCIATION GUIDE AND GLOSSARY PRONUNCIATION: THE DWARF LANGUAGE: THE URGAL LANGUAGE: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR Synopsis of Eragon , Book One of Inheritance Eragon—a fifteen-year-old farmboy—is shocked when a polished blue stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine. Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Gar-row, and his cousin, Roran. Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised Eragon. Nothing is known of his father; his mother, Selena, was Garrow’s sister and has not been seen since Eragon’s birth. Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges. When Eragon touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary Dragon Riders. The Dragon Riders were created thousands of years earlier in the af-termath of the elves’ great war with the dragons, in order to ensure that hostilities would never again afflict their two races. The Riders became peacekeepers, educators, healers, natural philosophers, and the greatest of spellweavers—since being joined with a dragon makes one a magician. Under their guidance and protection, the land enjoyed a golden age. When humans arrived in Alagaësia, they too were added to this elite order. After many years of peace, the monstrous and warlike Urgals killed the dragon of a young human Rider named Galbatorix. Driven mad by the loss and by his elders’ refusal to provide him with another dragon, Galbatorix set out to topple the Riders. He stole another dragon—whom he named Shruikan and forced to serve him through certain black spells—and gathered around himself a group of thirteen traitors: the Forsworn. With the help of those cruel dis-ciples, Galbatorix threw down the Riders; killed their leader, Vrael; and declared himself king over Alagaësia. In this, Galbatorix was only partly successful, for the elves and dwarves remain autonomous in their secret haunts, and some humans have established an independent country, Surda, in the south of Alagaësia. A stalemate has existed between these factions for twenty years, preceded by eighty years of open conflict brought about by the destruction of the Riders. Page 313 It is into this fragile political situation, then, that Eragon is thrust. He fears he is in mortal danger—it is common knowledge that Galbatorix killed every Rider who would not swear loyalty to him—and so Eragon hides the dragon from his family as he raises her. During this time, Eragon names the creature Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village story-teller, Brom. Soon Roran leaves the farm for a job that will allow him to earn enough money to marry Katrina, the butcher’s daughter. When Saphira stands taller than Eragon, two menacing, beetle-like strangers called the Ra’zac arrive in Carvahall, searching for the stone that was her egg. Frightened, Saphira kidnaps Eragon and flies into the Spine. Eragon manages to convince her to turn back, but by then his home has been obliterated by the Ra’zac. Eragon finds Garrow in the wreckage, tor-tured and badly wounded. Garrow dies soon afterward, and Eragon vows to track down and kill the Ra’zac. Eragon is accosted by Brom, who knows of Saphira’s existence and asks to accompany Eragon for reasons of his own. After Eragon agrees, Brom gives him the sword Zar’roc, which was once a Rider’s blade, though he refuses to say how he acquired it. Eragon learns much from Brom during their travels, including how to fight with swords and use magic. Eventually, they lose the Ra’zac’s trail and visit the city of Teirm, where Brom believes his old friend Jeod can help locate their lair. In Teirm, the eccentric herbalist Angela tells Eragon’s fortune, predict-ing mighty powers struggling to control his destiny; an epic romance with one of noble birth; the fact that he will one day leave Alagaësia, never to return; and a betrayal from within his family. Her companion, the were-cat Solembum, also gives him some words of advice. Then Eragon, Brom, and Saphira depart for Dras-Leona, where they hope to find the Ra’zac. Brom finally reveals that he is an agent of the Varden—a rebel group dedicated to overthrowing Galbatorix—and that he had been hiding in Eragon’s village, waiting for a new Dragon Rider to appear. Brom also ex-plains that twenty years ago, he and Jeod stole Saphira’s egg from Galba-torix. In the process, Brom killed Morzan, first and last of the Forsworn. Only two other dragon eggs still exist, both of which remain in Galba-torix’s possession. Near Dras-Leona, the Ra’zac waylay Eragon and his companions, and Brom is mortally wounded while protecting Eragon. The Ra’zac are driven away by a mysterious young man named Murtagh, who says he’s been tracking the Ra’zac. Brom dies the following night. With his last breath, he confesses that he was once a Rider and his slain dragon was also named Saphira. Eragon buries Brom in a tomb of sandstone, which Saphira transmutes into pure diamond. Without Brom, Eragon and Saphira decide to join the Varden. By ill chance, Eragon is captured at the city of Gil’ead and brought to the Shade Durza, Galbatorix’s right-hand man. With Murtagh’s help, Eragon escapes from prison, bringing along with him the unconscious elf Arya, another captive. By this point, Eragon and Murtagh have become great friends. With her mind, Arya tells Eragon that she has been ferrying Saphira’s egg between the elves and the Varden, in the hopes that it might hatch for one of their children. However, during her last trip, she was am-bushed by Durza and forced to send the egg elsewhere with magic, which is how it came to Eragon. Now Arya is seriously wounded and re-quires the Varden’s medical help. Using mental images, she shows Eragon how to find the rebels. An epic chase ensues. Eragon and his friends trav-erse almost four hundred miles in eight days. They are pursued by a con-tingent of Urgals, who trap them in the towering Beor Mountains. Murtagh, who had not wanted to go to the Varden, is forced to tell Er-agon that he is Page 314 the son of Morzan. Murtagh, however, has denounced his father’s deeds and fled Galba-torix’s patronage to seek his own destiny. He shows Eragon a great scar across his back, inflicted when Morzan threw his sword, Zar’roc, at him when he was just a child. Thus, Eragon learns his sword once belonged to Murtagh’s father, he who betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix and slaugh-tered many of his former comrades. Just before they are overwhelmed by the Urgals, Eragon and his friends are rescued by the Varden, who seem to appear out of the very stone. It turns out that the rebels are based in Farthen Dûr, a hollow mountain ten miles high and ten miles across. It is also home to the dwarves’ capital, Tronjheim. Once inside, Eragon is taken to Ajihad, leader of the Varden, while Murtagh is imprisoned because of his parentage. Ajihad explains many things to Eragon, including that the Varden, elves, and dwarves had agreed that when a new Rider appeared, he or she would initially be trained by Brom and then sent to the elves to complete the instruction. Eragon must now decide whether to follow this course. Eragon meets with the dwarf king, Hrothgar, and Ajihad’s daughter, Nasuada; is tested by the Twins, two bald and rather nasty magicians who serve Ajihad; spars with Arya once she has recovered; and again en-counters Angela and Solembum, who have joined the Varden. Eragon and Saphira also bless one of the Varden’s orphan babies. Eragon’s stay is disrupted by news of an Urgal army approaching through the dwarves’ tunnels. In the battle that follows, Eragon is sepa-rated from Saphira and forced to fight Durza alone. Far stronger than any human, Durza easily defeats Eragon, slashing open his back from shoulder to hip. At that moment, Saphira and Arya break the roof of the cham-ber—a sixty-foot-wide star sapphire—distracting Durza long enough for Eragon to stab him through the heart. Freed from Durza’s spells, the Ur-gals are driven back into the tunnels. While Eragon lies unconscious after the battle, he is telepathically con-tacted by a being who identifies himself as Togira Ikonoka—the Cripple Who Is Whole. He offers answers to all of Eragon’s questions and urges Eragon to seek him in Ellesméra, where the elves live. When Eragon wakes, he finds that, despite Angela’s best efforts, he has been left with a huge scar similar to Murtagh’s. Dismayed, he also realizes that he only slew Durza through sheer luck and that he desperately needs more training. And at the end of Book One, Eragon decides that, yes, he will find this Togira Ikonoka and learn from him. For gray-eyed Destiny now weaves apace, the first resounding note of war echoes across the land, and the time fast approaches when Eragon shall have to step forth and confront his one, true enemy: King Galbatorix. A TWIN DISASTER The songs of the dead are the lamentations of the living. So thought Eragon as he stepped over a twisted and hacked Urgal, lis-tening to the keening of women who removed loved ones from the blood-muddied ground of Farthen Dûr. Behind him Saphira delicately skirted the corpse, her glittering blue scales the only color in the gloom that filled the hollow mountain. It was three days since the Varden and dwarves had fought the Urgals for possession of Tronjheim, the Page 315 mile-high, conical city nestled in the center of Farthen Dûr, but the battlefield was still strewn with carnage. The sheer number of bodies had stymied their attempts to bury the dead. In the distance, a mountainous fire glowed sullenly by Farthen Dûr’s wall where the Urgals were being burned. No burial or honored resting place for them. Since waking to find his wound healed by Angela, Eragon had tried three times to assist in the recovery effort. On each occasion he had been racked by terrible pains that seemed to explode from his spine. The heal-ers gave him various potions to drink. Arya and Angela said that he was perfectly sound. Nevertheless, he hurt. Nor could Saphira help, only share his pain as it rebounded across their mental link. Eragon ran a hand over his face and looked up at the stars showing through Farthen Dûr’s distant top, which were smudged with sooty smoke from the pyre. Three days. Three days since he had killed Durza; three days since people began calling him Shadeslayer; three days since the remnants of the sorcerer’s consciousness had ravaged his mind and he had been saved by the mysterious Togira Ikonoka, the Cripple Who Is Whole. He had told no one about that vision but Saphira. Fighting Durza and the dark spirits that controlled him had transformed Eragon; although for better or for worse he was still unsure. He felt fragile, as if a sudden shock would shatter his reconstructed body and consciousness. And now he had come to the site of the combat, driven by a morbid desire to see its aftermath. Upon arriving, he found nothing but the un-comfortable presence of death and decay, not the glory that heroic songs had led him to expect. Before his uncle, Garrow, was slain by the Ra’zac months earlier, the brutality that Eragon had witnessed between the humans, dwarves, and Urgals would have destroyed him. Now it numbed him. He had realized, with Saphira’s help, that the only way to stay rational amid such pain was to do things. Beyond that, he no longer believed that life possessed inher-ent meaning—not after seeing men torn apart by the Kull, a race of giant Urgals, and the ground a bed of thrashing limbs and the dirt so wet with blood it soaked through the soles of his boots. If any honor existed in war, he concluded, it was in fighting to protect others from harm. He bent and plucked a tooth, a molar, from the dirt. Bouncing it on his palm, he and Saphira slowly made a circuit through the trampled plain. They stopped at its edge when they noticed Jörmundur—Ajihad’s second in command in the Varden—hurrying toward them from Tronjheim. When he came near, Jörmundur bowed, a gesture Eragon knew he would never have made just days before. “I’m glad I found you in time, Eragon.” He clutched a parchment note in one hand. “Ajihad is returning, and he wants you to be there when he arrives. The others are already waiting for him by Tronjheim’s west gate. We’ll have to hurry to get there in time.” Eragon nodded and headed toward the gate, keeping a hand on Saphira. Ajihad had been gone most of the three days, hunting down Urgals who had managed to escape into the dwarf tunnels that honeycombed the stone beneath the Beor Mountains. The one time Eragon had seen him between expeditions, Ajihad was in a rage over discovering that his daughter, Nasuada, had disobeyed his orders to leave with the other women and children before the battle. Instead, she had secretly fought among the Varden’s archers. Murtagh and the Twins had accompanied Ajihad: the Twins because it was dangerous work and the Varden’s leader needed the protection of their magical skills, and Murtagh because he was eager to continue prov-ing that he bore the Varden no ill will. It surprised Eragon how much people’s attitudes toward Murtagh had changed, considering that Murtagh’s father was the Dragon Rider Morzan, who had Page 316 betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix. Even though Murtagh despised his father and was loyal to Eragon, the Varden had not trusted him. But now, no one was willing to waste energy on a petty hate when so much work remained. Eragon missed talking with Murtagh and looked forward to discussing all that had happened, once he returned. As Eragon and Saphira rounded Tronjheim, a small group became visi-ble in the pool of lantern light before the timber gate. Among them were Orik—the dwarf shifting impatiently on his stout legs—and Arya. The white bandage around her upper arm gleamed in the darkness, reflecting a faint highlight onto the bottom of her hair. Eragon felt a strange thrill, as he always did when he saw the elf. She looked at him and Saphira, green eyes flashing, then continued watching for Ajihad. By breaking Isidar Mithrim—the great star sapphire that was sixty feet across and carved in the shape of a rose—Arya had allowed Eragon to kill Durza and so win the battle. Still, the dwarves were furious with her for destroying their most prized treasure. They refused to move the sap-phire’s remains, leaving them in a massive circle inside Tronjheim’s cen-tral chamber. Eragon had walked through the splintered wreckage and shared the dwarves’ sorrow for all the lost beauty. He and Saphira stopped by Orik and looked out at the empty land that surrounded Tronjheim, extending to Farthen Dûr’s base five miles away in each direction. “Where will Ajihad come from?” asked Eragon. Orik pointed at a cluster of lanterns staked around a large tunnel open-ing a couple of miles away. “He should be here soon.” Eragon waited patiently with the others, answering comments directed at him but preferring to speak with Saphira in the peace of his mind. The quiet that filled Farthen Dûr suited him. Half an hour passed before motion flickered in the distant tunnel. A group of ten men climbed out onto the ground, then turned and helped up as many dwarves. One of the men—Eragon assumed it was Ajihad— raised a hand, and the warriors assembled behind him in two straight lines. At a signal, the formation marched proudly toward Tronjheim. Before they went more than five yards, the tunnel behind them swarmed with a flurry of activity as more figures jumped out. Eragon squinted, unable to see clearly from so far away. Those are Urgals!exclaimed Saphira, her body tensing like a drawn bowstring. Eragon did not question her. “Urgals!” he cried, and leaped onto Saphira, berating himself for leaving his sword, Zar’roc, in his room. No one had expected an attack now that the Urgal army had been driven away. His wound twinged as Saphira lifted her azure wings, then drove them down and jumped forward, gaining speed and altitude each second. Be-low them, Arya ran toward the tunnel, nearly keeping apace with Saphira. Orik trailed her with several men, while Jörmundur sprinted back toward the barracks. Eragon was forced to watch helplessly as the Urgals fell on the rear of Ajihad’s warriors; he could not work magic over such a distance. The monsters had the advantage of surprise and quickly cut down four men, forcing the rest of the warriors, men and dwarves alike, to cluster around Ajihad in an attempt to protect him. Swords and axes clashed as the groups pressed together. Light flashed from one of the Twins, and an Ur-gal fell, clutching the stump of his severed arm. Page 317 For a minute, it seemed the defenders would be able to resist the Ur-gals, but then a swirl of motion disturbed the air, like a faint band of mist wrapping itself around the combatants. When it cleared, only four warri-ors were standing: Ajihad, the Twins, and Murtagh. The Urgals converged on them, blocking Eragon’s view as he stared with rising horror and fear. No! No! No! Before Saphira could reach the fight, the knot of Urgals streamed back to the tunnel and scrambled underground, leaving only prone forms be-hind. The moment Saphira touched down, Eragon vaulted off, then faltered, overcome by grief and anger. I can’t do this. It reminded him too much of when he had returned to the farm to find his uncle Garrow dying. Fight-ing back his dread with every step, he began to search for survivors. The site was eerily similar to the battlefield he had inspected earlier, except that here the blood was fresh. In the center of the massacre lay Ajihad, his breastplate rent with nu-merous gashes, surrounded by five Urgals he had slain. His breath still came in ragged gasps. Eragon knelt by him and lowered his face so his tears would not land on the leader’s ruined chest. No one could heal such wounds. Running up to them, Arya paused and stopped, her face trans-formed with sorrow when she saw that Ajihad could not be saved. “Eragon.” The name slipped from Ajihad’s lips—no more than a whis-per. “Yes, I am here.” “Listen to me, Eragon.... I have one last command for you.” Eragon leaned closer to catch the dying man’s words. “You must promise me something: promise that you... won’t let the Varden fall into chaos. They are the only hope for resisting the Empire.... They must be kept strong. You must promise me.” “I promise.” “Then peace be with you, Eragon Shadeslayer....” With his last breath, Ajihad closed his eyes, setting his noble face in repose, and died. Eragon bowed his head. He had trouble breathing past the lump in his throat, which was so hard it hurt. Arya blessed Ajihad in a ripple of the ancient language, then said in her musical voice, “Alas, his death will cause much strife. He is right, you must do all you can to avert a struggle for power. I will assist where possible.” Unwilling to speak, Eragon gazed at the rest of the bodies. He would have given anything to be elsewhere. Saphira nosed one of the Urgals and said, This should not have happened. It is an evil doing, and all the worse for coming when we should be safe and victorious . She examined another body, then swung her head around. Where are the Twins and Murtagh? They’re not among the dead. Eragon scanned the corpses. You’re right! Elation surged within him as he hurried to the tunnel’s mouth. There pools of thickening blood filled the hollows in the worn marble steps like a series of black mirrors, glossy and oval, as if several torn bodies had been dragged down them. The Ur-gals must have taken them! But why? They don’t keep prisoners or hostages. Despair instantly returned. It doesn’t matter. Page 318 We can’t pursue them without reinforcements; you wouldn’t even fit through the opening. They may still be alive. Would you abandon them? What do you expect me to do? The dwarf tunnels are an endless maze! I would only get lost. And I couldn’t catch Urgals on foot, though Arya might be able to. Then ask her to. Arya!Eragon hesitated, torn between his desire for action and his loath-ing to put her in danger. Still, if any one person in the Varden could han-dle the Urgals, it was she. With a groan, he explained what they had found. Arya’s slanted eyebrows met in a frown. “It makes no sense.” “Will you pursue them?” She stared at him for a heavy moment. “Wiol ono.” For you. Then she bounded forward, sword flashing in her hand as she dove into the earth’s belly. Burning with frustration, Eragon settled cross-legged by Ajihad, keeping watch over the body. He could barely assimilate the fact that Ajihad was dead and Murtagh missing. Murtagh . Son of one of the Forsworn—the thirteen Riders who had helped Galbatorix destroy their order and anoint himself king of Alagaësia—and Eragon’s friend. At times Eragon had wished Murtagh gone, but now that he had been forcibly removed, the loss left an unexpected void. He sat motionless as Orik approached with the men. When Orik saw Ajihad, he stamped his feet and swore in Dwarvish, swinging his ax into the body of an Urgal. The men only stood in shock. Rubbing a pinch of dirt between his callused hands, the dwarf growled, “Ah, now a hornet’s nest has broken; we’ll have no peace among the Varden after this. Barzûln, but this makes things complicated. Were you in time to hear his last words?” Eragon glanced at Saphira. “They must wait for the right person before I’ll repeat them.” “I see. And where’d be Arya?” Eragon pointed. Orik swore again, then shook his head and sat on his heels. Jörmundur soon arrived with twelve ranks of six warriors each. He mo-tioned for them to wait outside the radius of bodies while he proceeded onward alone. He bent and touched Ajihad on the shoulder. “How can fate be this cruel, my old friend? I would have been here sooner if not for the size of this cursed mountain, and then you might have been saved. Instead, we are wounded at the height of our triumph.” Eragon softly told him about Arya and the disappearance of the Twins and Murtagh. “She should not have gone,” said Jörmundur, straightening, “but we can do naught about it now. Guards will be posted here, but it will be at least an hour before dwarf guides can be found for another expedition into the tunnels.” Page 319 “I’d be willing to lead it,” offered Orik. Jörmundur looked back at Tronjheim, his gaze distant. “No, Hrothgar will need you now; someone else will have to go. I’m sorry, Eragon, but everyone important must stay here until Ajihad’s successor is chosen. Arya will have to fend for herself.... We could not overtake her anyway.” Eragon nodded, accepting the inevitable. Jörmundur swept his gaze around before saying so all could hear, “Aji-had has died a warrior’s death! Look, he slew five Urgals where a lesser man might have been overwhelmed by one. We will give him every honor and hope his spirit pleases the gods. Bear him and our companions back to Tronjheim on your shields... and do not be ashamed to let your tears be seen, for this is a day of sorrow that all will remember. May we soon have the privilege of sheathing our blades in the monsters who have slain our leader!” As one, the warriors knelt, baring their heads in homage to Ajihad. Then they stood and reverently lifted him on their shields so he lay be-tween their shoulders. Already many of the Varden wept, tears flowing into beards, yet they did not disgrace their duty and allow Ajihad to fall. With solemn steps, they marched back to Tronjheim, Saphira and Eragon in the middle of the procession. THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS Eragon roused himself and rolled to the edge of the bed, looking about the room, which was suffused with the dim glow of a shuttered lantern. He sat and watched Saphira sleep. Her muscled sides expanded and con-tracted as the great bellows of her lungs forced air through her scaled nostrils. Eragon thought of the raging inferno that she could now sum-mon at will and send roaring out of her maw. It was an awesome sight when flames hot enough to melt metal rushed past her tongue and ivory teeth without harming them. Since she first breathed fire during his fight with Durza—while plunging toward them from the top of Tronjheim— Saphira had been insufferably proud of her new talent. She was con-stantly releasing little jets of flame, and she took every opportunity to light objects ablaze. Because Isidar Mithrim was shattered, Eragon and Saphira had been un-able to remain in the dragonhold above it. The dwarves had given them quarters in an old guardroom on Tronjheim’s bottom level. It was a large room, but with a low ceiling and dark walls. Anguish gripped Eragon as he remembered the events of the previous day. Tears filled his eyes, spilling over, and he caught one on his hand. They had heard nothing from Arya until late that evening, when she emerged from the tunnel, weary and footsore. Despite her best efforts— and all her magic—the Urgals had escaped her. “I found these,” she said. Then she revealed one of the Twins’ purple robes, torn and bloodied, and Murtagh’s tunic and both his leather gauntlets. “They were strewn along the edge of a black chasm, the bottom of which no tunnel reaches. The Urgals must have stolen their armor and weapons and thrown the bodies into the pit. I scryed both Murtagh and the Twins, and saw naught but the shadows of the abyss.” Her eyes met Eragon’s. “I’m sorry; they are gone.” Now, in the confines of his mind, Eragon mourned Murtagh. It was a dreadful, creeping feeling of loss and horror made worse by the fact that he had grown ever more familiar with it in past months. As he stared at the tear in his hand—a small, glistening dome—he de-cided to scry the three men himself. He knew it was a desperate and fu-tile prospect, but he had to try in order to convince himself Page 320 that Murtagh was really gone. Even so, he was uncertain if he wanted to succeed where Arya had failed, if it would make him feel any better to catch a glimpse of Murtagh lying broken at the base of a cliff deep below Farthen Dûr. He whispered, “Draumr kópa.” Darkness enveloped the liquid, turning it into a small dot of night on his silver palm. Movement flickered through it, like the swish of a bird across a clouded moon... then nothing. Another tear joined the first. Eragon took a deep breath, leaned back, and let calm settle over him. Since recovering from Durza’s wound, he had realized—humbling as it was—that he had prevailed only through sheer luck. If I ever face another Shade, or the Ra’zac, or Galbatorix, I must be stronger if I expect to win. Brom could have taught me more, I know he could have. But without him, I have but one choice: the elves. Saphira’s breathing quickened, and she opened her eyes, yawning ex-pansively. Good morning, little one. Is it?He looked down and leaned on his hands, compressing the mat-tress. It’s terrible... Murtagh and Ajihad... Why didn’t sentries in the tun-nels warn us of the Urgals? They shouldn’t have been able to trail Ajihad’s group without being noticed.... Arya was right, it doesn’t make sense. We may never know the truth,said Saphira gently. She stood, wings brushing the ceiling. You need to eat, then we must discover what the Varden are planning. We can’t waste time; a new leader could be chosen within hours. Eragon agreed, thinking of how they had left everyone yesterday: Orik rushing off to give King Hrothgar the tidings, Jörmundur taking Ajihad’s body to a place where it would rest until the funeral, and Arya, who stood alone and watched the goings-on. Eragon rose and strapped on Zar’roc and his bow, then bent and lifted Snowfire’s saddle. A line of pain sheared through his torso, driving him to the floor, where he writhed, scrabbling at his back. It felt like he was be-ing sawed in half. Saphira growled as the ripping sensation reached her. She tried to soothe him with her own mind but was unable to alleviate his suffering. Her tail instinctually lifted, as if to fight. It took minutes before the fit subsided and the last throb faded away, leaving Eragon gasping. Sweat drenched his face, making his hair stick and his eyes sting. He reached back and gingerly fingered the top of his scar. It was hot and inflamed and sensitive to touch. Saphira lowered her nose and touched him on the arm. Oh, little one.... It was worse this time,he said, staggering upright. She let him lean against her as he wiped off the sweat with a rag, then he tentatively stepped toward the door. Are you strong enough to go? We have to. We’re obliged as dragon and Rider to make a public choice regarding the next head of the Varden, and perhaps even influence the selec-tion. I won’t ignore the strength of our position; we now wield great authority within the Varden. At least the Twins aren’t here to grab the position for themselves. That’s the only good in the situation. Very well, but Durza should suffer a thousand years of torture for what he did to you. Page 321 He grunted. Just stay close to me. Together they made their way through Tronjheim, toward the nearest kitchen. In the corridors and hallways, people stopped and bowed to them, murmuring “Argetlam” or “Shadeslayer.” Even dwarves made the motions, though not as often. Eragon was struck by the somber, haunted expressions of the humans and the dark clothing they wore to display their sadness. Many women were dressed entirely in black, lace veils cov-ering their faces. In the kitchen, Eragon brought a stone platter of food to a low table. Saphira watched him carefully in case he should have another attack. Several people tried to approach him, but she lifted a lip and growled, sending them scurrying away. Eragon picked at his food and pretended to ignore the disturbances. Finally, trying to divert his thoughts from Murtagh, he asked, Who do you think has the means to take control of the Varden now that Ajihad and the Twins are gone? She hesitated. It’s possible you could, if Ajihad’s last words were inter-preted as a blessing to secure the leadership. Almost no one would oppose you. However, that does not seem a wise path to take. I see only trouble in that direction. I agree. Besides, Arya wouldn’t approve, and she could be a dangerous enemy. Elves can’t lie in the ancient language, but they have no such inhibi-tion in ours—she could deny that Ajihad ever uttered those words if it served her purposes. No, I don’t want the position.... What about Jörmun-dur? Ajihad called him his right-hand man. Unfortunately, we know little about him or the Varden’s other leaders. Such a short time has passed since we came here. We will have to make our judgment on our feelings and im-pressions, without the benefit of history. Eragon pushed his fish around a lump of mashed tubers. Don’t forget Hrothgar and the dwarf clans; they won’t be quiet in this. Except for Arya, the elves have no say in the succession—a decision will be made before word of this even reaches them. But the dwarves can’t be—won’t be— ignored. Hrothgar favors the Varden, but if enough clans oppose him, he might be maneuvered into backing someone unsuited for the command. And who might that be? A person easily manipulated.He closed his eyes and leaned back. It could be anyone in Farthen Dûr, anyone at all. For a long while, they both considered the issues facing them. Then Saphira said, Eragon, there is someone here to see you. I can’t scare him away. Eh?He cracked his eyes open, squinting as they adjusted to the light. A pale-looking youth stood by the table. The boy eyed Saphira like he was afraid she would try to eat him. “What is it?” asked Eragon, not unkindly. The boy started, flustered, then bowed. “You have been summoned, Argetlam, to speak before the Council of Elders.” “Who are they?” The question confused the boy even more. “The—the council is... are... people we—that is, the Page 322 Varden—choose to speak on our behalf to Aji-had. They were his trusted advisers, and now they wish to see you. It is a great honor!” He finished with a quick smile. “Are you to lead me to them?” “Yes, I am.” Saphira looked at Eragon questioningly. He shrugged and left the un-eaten food, motioning for the boy to show the way. As they walked, the boy admired Zar’roc with bright eyes, then looked down shyly. “What are you called?” asked Eragon. “Jarsha, sir.” “That’s a good name. You carried your message well; you should be proud.” Jarsha beamed and bounced forward. They reached a convex stone door, which Jarsha pushed open. The room inside was circular, with a sky blue dome decorated with constella-tions. A round marble table, inlaid with the crest of Dûrgrimst Ingei-tum—an upright hammer ringed by twelve stars—stood in the center of the chamber. Seated there were Jörmundur and two other men, one tall and one broad; a woman with pinched lips, close-set eyes, and elaborately painted cheeks; and a second woman with an immense pile of gray hair above a matronly face, belied by a dagger hilt peeking out of the vast hills of her bodice. “You may go,” said Jörmundur to Jarsha, who quickly bowed and left. Conscious that he was being watched, Eragon surveyed the room, then seated himself in the middle of a swath of empty chairs, so that the council members were forced to turn in their seats in order to look at him. Saphira hunkered directly behind him; he could feel her hot breath on the top of his head. Jörmundur got halfway up to make a slight bow, then reseated himself. “Thank you for coming, Eragon, even though you have suffered your own loss. This is Umérth,” the tall man; “Falberd,” the broad one; “and Sabrae and Elessari,” the two women. Eragon inclined his head, then asked, “And what of the Twins, were they part of this council?” Sabrae shook her head sharply and tapped a long fingernail on the table. “They had naught to do with us. They were slime—worse than slime— leeches that worked only for their own benefit. They had no desire to serve the Varden. Thus, they had no place in this council.” Eragon could smell her perfume all the way on the other side of the table; it was thick and oily, like a rotting flower. He hid a smile at the thought. “Enough. We’re not here to discuss the Twins,” said Jörmundur. “We face a crisis that must be dealt with quickly and effectively. If we don’t choose Ajihad’s successor, someone else will. Hrothgar has already con-tacted us to convey his condolences. While he was more than courteous, he is sure to be forming his own plans even as we speak. We must also consider Du Vrangr Gata, the magic users. Most of them are loyal to the Varden, but it’s difficult to predict their actions even in the best of times. They might decide to oppose our authority for their own advantage. That is why we need your assistance, Eragon, to provide the legitimacy re-quired by whoever is to take Ajihad’s place.” Falberd heaved himself up, planting his meaty hands on the table. “The five of us have already decided Page 323 whom to support. There is no doubt among us that it is the right person. But,” he raised a thick finger, “before we reveal who it is, you must give us your word of honor that whether you agree or disagree with us, nothing of our discussion will leave this room.” Why would they want that?Eragon asked Saphira. I don’t know,she said, snorting. It might be a trap.... It’s a gamble you’ll have to take. Remember, though, they haven’t asked me to pledge anything. I can always tell Arya what they say, if needed. Silly of them, forgetting that I’m as intelligent as any human. Pleased with the thought, Eragon said, “Very well, you have my word. Now, who do you want to lead the Varden?” “Nasuada.” Surprised, Eragon dropped his gaze, thinking quickly. He had not con-sidered Nasuada for the succession because of her youth—she was just a few years older than Eragon. No real reason existed, of course, for her not to lead, but why would the Council of Elders want her to? How would they benefit? He remembered Brom’s advice and tried to examine the issue from every angle, knowing that he had to decide swiftly. Nasuada has steel in her,observed Saphira. She would be like her father. Maybe, but what’s their reason for picking her? To gain time, Eragon asked, “Why not you, Jörmundur? Ajihad called you his right-hand man. Doesn’t that mean you should take his place now that he’s gone?” A current of unease ran through the council: Sabrae sat even straighter, hands clasped before her; Umérth and Falberd glanced at each other darkly, while Elessari just smiled, the dagger hilt jiggling on her chest. “Because,” said Jörmundur, selecting his words with care, “Ajihad was speaking of military matters then, nothing more. Also, I am a member of this council, which only has power because we support one another. It would be foolish and dangerous for one of us to raise himself above the rest.” The council relaxed as he finished, and Elessari patted Jörmundur on the forearm. Ha!exclaimed Saphira. He probably would have taken power if it were possible to force the others to back him. Just look how they eye him. He’s like a wolf in their midst. A wolf in a pack of jackals, perhaps. “Does Nasuada have enough experience?” inquired Eragon. Elessari pressed herself against the table’s edge as she leaned forward. “I had already been here for seven years when Ajihad joined the Varden. I’ve watched Nasuada grow up from a darling girl to the woman she is. A trifle light-headed occasionally, but a good figure to lead the Varden. The people will love her. Now I,” she patted herself affectionately on the bosom, “and my friends will be here to guide her through these troubled times. She will never be without someone to show her the way. Inexpe-rience should be no barrier to her taking her rightful position.” Page 324 Understanding flooded Eragon. They want a puppet! “Ajihad’s funeral will be held in two days,” broke in Umérth. “Directly afterward, we plan to appoint Nasuada as our new leader. We have yet to ask her, but she will surely agree. We want you to be present at the appointing—no one, not even Hrothgar, can complain about it then— and to swear fealty to the Varden. That will give back the confidence Ajihad’s death has stolen from the people, and prevent anyone from try-ing to splinter this organization.” Fealty! Saphira quickly touched Eragon’s mind. Notice, they don’t want you to swear to Nasuada—just to the Varden. Yes, and they want to be the ones to appoint Nasuada, which would indi-cate that the council is more powerful than she. They could have asked Arya or us to appoint her, but that would mean acknowledging whoever did it as above everyone in the Varden. This way, they assert their superiority over Nasuada, gain control over us through fealty, and also get the benefit of having a Rider endorse Nasuada in public. “What happens,” he asked, “if I decide not to accept your offer?” “Offer?” Falberd asked, seeming puzzled. “Why, nothing, of course. Only it would be a terrible slight if you’re not present when Nasuada is chosen. If the hero of the battle of Farthen Dûr ignores her, what can she think but that a Rider has spited her and found the Varden unworthy to serve? Who could bear such a shame?” The message could have been no clearer. Eragon clenched Zar’roc’s pommel under the table, yearning to scream that it was unnecessary to force him to support the Varden, that he would have done it anyway. Now, however, he instinctively wanted to rebel, to elude the shackles they were trying to place on him. “Since Riders are so highly thought of, I could decide that my efforts would be best spent guiding the Varden myself.” The mood in the room hardened. “That would be unwise,” stated Sa-brae. Eragon combed his mind for a way to escape the situation. With Ajihad gone, said Saphira, it may be impossible to remain independent of every group, as he wanted us to. We cannot anger the Varden, and if this council is to control it once Nasuada is in place, then we must appease them. Re-member, they act as much out of self-preservation as we do. But what will they want us to do once we are in their grasp? Will they re-spect the Varden’s pact with the elves and send us to Ellesméra for training, or command otherwise? Jörmundur strikes me as an honorable man, but the rest of the council? I can’t tell. Saphira brushed the top of his head with her jaw. Agree to be at this ceremony with Nasuada; that much I think we must do. As for swearing fe-alty, see if you can avoid acquiescing. Perhaps something will occur between now and then that will change our position... Arya may have a solution. Without warning, Eragon nodded and said, “As you wish; I shall attend Nasuada’s appointment.” Jörmundur looked relieved. “Good, good. Then we have only one more matter to deal with before you Page 325 go: Nasuada’s acceptance. There’s no rea-son to delay, with all of us here. I’ll send for her immediately. And Arya too—we need the elves’ approval before making this decision public. It shouldn’t be difficult to procure; Arya cannot go against our council and you, Eragon. She will have to agree with our judgment.” “Wait,” commanded Elessari, a steely glint in her eyes. “Your word, though, Rider. Will you give it in fealty at the ceremony?” “Yes, you must do that,” agreed Falberd. “The Varden would be dis-graced if we couldn’t provide you every protection.” A nice way to put it! It was worth a try,said Saphira. I fear you have no choice now. They wouldn’t dare harm us if I refused. No, but they could cause us no end of grief. It is not for my own sake that I say accept, but for yours. Many dangers exist that I cannot protect you from, Eragon. With Galbatorix set against us, you need allies, not enemies, around you. We cannot afford to contend with both the Empire and the Varden. Finally, “I’ll give it.” All around the table were signs of relaxation—even a poorly concealed sigh from Umérth. They’re afraid of us! As well they should be,sniped Saphira. Jörmundur called for Jarsha, and with a few words sent the boy scam-pering off for Nasuada and Arya. While he was gone, the conversation fell into an uncomfortable silence. Eragon ignored the council, focusing instead on working a way out of his dilemma. None sprang to mind. When the door opened again, everyone turned expectantly. First came Nasuada, chin held high and eyes steady. Her embroidered gown was the deepest shade of black, deeper even than her skin, broken only by a slash of royal purple that stretched from shoulder to hip. Behind her was Arya, her stride as lithe and smooth as a cat’s, and an openly awestruck Jarsha. The boy was dismissed, then Jörmundur helped Nasuada into a seat. Eragon hastened to do the same for Arya, but she ignored the proffered chair and stood at a distance from the table. Saphira, he said, let her know all that’s happened. I have a feeling the council won’t inform her that they’ve compelled me to give the Varden my loyalty. “Arya,” acknowledged Jörmundur with a nod, then concentrated on Nasuada. “Nasuada, Daughter of Ajihad, the Council of Elders wishes to formally extend its deepest condolences for the loss you, more than any-one else, have suffered....” In a lower voice, he added, “You have our per-sonal sympathies as well. We all know what it is like to have a family member killed by the Empire.” “Thank you,” murmured Nasuada, lowering her almond eyes. She sat, shy and demure, and with an air of vulnerability that made Eragon want to comfort her. Her demeanor was tragically different from that of the energetic young woman who had visited him and Saphira in the dragon-hold before the battle. “Although this is your time of mourning, a quandary exists that you must resolve. This council cannot lead the Varden. And someone must replace your father after the funeral. We ask that you receive the Page 326 posi-tion. As his heir, it is rightfully yours—the Varden expect it of you.” Nasuada bowed her head with shining eyes. Grief was plain in her voice when she said, “I never thought I would be called upon to take my father’s place so young. Yet... if you insist it is my duty... I will embrace the office.” TRUTH AMONG FRIENDS The Council of Elders beamed with triumph, pleased that Nasuada had done what they wanted. “We do insist,” said Jörmundur, “for your own good and the good of the Varden.” The rest of the elders added their ex-pressions of support, which Nasuada accepted with sad smiles. Sabrae threw an angry glance at Eragon when he did not join in. Throughout the exchange, Eragon watched Arya for any reaction to ei-ther his news or the council’s announcement. Neither revelation caused her inscrutable expression to change. However, Saphira told him, She wishes to talk with us afterward. Before Eragon could reply, Falberd turned to Arya. “Will the elves find this agreeable?” She stared at Falberd until the man fidgeted under her piercing gaze, then lifted an eyebrow. “I cannot speak for my queen, but I find nothing objectionable to it. Nasuada has my blessing.” How could she find it otherwise, knowing what we’ve told her?thought Eragon bitterly. We’re all backed into corners. Arya’s remark obviously pleased the council. Nasuada thanked her and asked Jörmundur, “Is there anything else that must be discussed? For I am weary.” Jörmundur shook his head. “We will make all the arrangements. I promise you won’t be troubled until the funeral.” “Again, thank you. Would you leave me now? I need time to consider how best to honor my father and serve the Varden. You have given me much to ponder.” Nasuada splayed her delicate fingers on the dark cloth on her lap. Umérth looked like he was going to protest at the council being dis-missed, but Falberd waved a hand, silencing him. “Of course, whatever will give you peace. If you need help, we are ready and willing to serve.” Gesturing for the rest of them to follow, he swept past Arya to the door. “Eragon, will you please stay?” Startled, Eragon lowered himself back into his chair, ignoring alert looks from the councilors. Falberd lingered by the door, suddenly reluctant to depart, then slowly went out. Arya was the last to go. Before she closed the door, she looked at Eragon, her eyes revealing worry and apprehen-sion that had been concealed before. Nasuada sat partially turned away from Eragon and Saphira. “So we meet again, Rider. You haven’t greeted me. Have I offended you?” Page 327 “No, Nasuada; I was reluctant to speak for fear of being rude or foolish. Current circumstances are unkind to hasty statements.” Paranoia that they might be eavesdropped on gripped him. Reaching through the bar-rier in his mind, he delved into the magic and intoned: “Atra nosu waíse vardo fra eld hórnya.... There, now we may speak without being over-heard by man, dwarf, or elf.” Nasuada’s posture softened. “Thank you, Eragon. You don’t know what a gift that is.” Her words were stronger and more self-assured than before. Behind Eragon’s chair, Saphira stirred, then carefully made her way around the table to stand before Nasuada. She lowered her great head un-til one sapphire eye met Nasuada’s black ones. The dragon stared at her for a full minute before snorting softly and straightening. Tell her, said Saphira, that I grieve for her and her loss. Also that her strength must be-come the Varden’s when she assumes Ajihad’s mantle. They will need a sure guide. Eragon repeated the words, adding, “Ajihad was a great man—his name will always be remembered.... There is something I must tell you. Before Ajihad died, he charged me, commanded me, to keep the Varden from falling into chaos. Those were his last words. Arya heard them as well. “I was going to keep what he said a secret because of the implications, but you have a right to know. I’m not sure what Ajihad meant, nor ex-actly what he wanted, but I am certain of this: I will always defend the Varden with my powers. I wanted you to understand that, and that I’ve no desire to usurp the Varden’s leadership.” Nasuada laughed brittlely. “But that leadership isn’t to be me, is it?” Her reserve had vanished, leaving behind only composure and determination. “I know why you were here before me and what the council is trying to do. Do you think that in the years I served my father, we never planned for this eventuality? I expected the council to do exactly what it did. And now everything is in place for me to take command of the Varden.” “You have no intention of letting them rule you,” said Eragon with wonder. “No. Continue to keep Ajihad’s instruction secret. It would be unwise to bandy it about, as people might take it to mean that he wanted you to succeed him, and that would undermine my authority and destabilize the Varden. He said what he thought he had to in order to protect the Varden. I would have done the same. My father...” She faltered briefly. “My father’s work will not go unfinished, even if it takes me to the grave. That is what I want you, as a Rider, to understand. All of Ajihad’s plans, all his strategies and goals, they are mine now. I will not fail him by being weak. The Empire will be brought down, Galbatorix will be dethroned, and the rightful government will be raised.” By the time she finished, a tear ran down her cheek. Eragon stared, ap-preciating how difficult her position was and recognizing a depth of char-acter he had not perceived before. “And what of me, Nasuada? What shall I do in the Varden?” She looked directly into his eyes. “You can do whatever you want. The council members are fools if they think to control you. You are a hero to the Varden and the dwarves, and even the elves will hail your victory over Durza when they hear of it. If you go against the council or me, we will be forced to yield, for the people will support you wholeheartedly. Right now, you are the most powerful person in the Varden. However, if you accept my leadership, I will continue the path laid down by Ajihad: you will go with Arya to the elves, be instructed there, then return to the Varden.” Why is she so honest with us?wondered Eragon. If she’s right, could we have refused the council’s Page 328 demands? Saphira took a moment to answer. Either way, it’s too late. You have al-ready agreed to their requests. I think Nasuada is honest because your spell lets her be, and also because she hopes to win our loyalty from the elders. An idea suddenly came to Eragon, but before sharing it, he asked, Can we trust her to hold to what she’s said? This is very important. Yes,said Saphira. She spoke with her heart. Then Eragon shared his proposal with Saphira. She consented, so he drew Zar’roc and walked to Nasuada. He saw a flash of fear as he ap-proached; her gaze darted toward the door, and she slipped a hand into a fold in her dress and grasped something. Eragon stopped before her, then knelt, Zar’roc flat in his hands. “Nasuada, Saphira and I have been here for only a short while. But in that time we came to respect Ajihad, and now, in turn, you. You fought under Farthen Dûr when others fled, including the two women of the council, and have treated us openly instead of with deception. Therefore, I offer you my blade... and my fealty as a Rider.” Eragon uttered the pronouncement with a sense of finality, knowing he would never have mouthed it before the battle. Seeing so many men fall and die around him had altered his perspective. Resisting the Empire was no longer something he did for himself, but for the Varden and all the people still trapped under Galbatorix’s rule. However long it would take, he had dedicated himself to that task. For the time being, the best thing he could do was serve. Still, he and Saphira were taking a terrible risk in pledging themselves to Nasuada. The council could not object because all Eragon had said was that he would swear fealty, but not to whom. Even so, he and Saphira had no guarantee that Nasuada would make a good leader. It’s better to be sworn to an honest fool than to a lying scholar, decided Eragon. Surprise flitted across Nasuada’s face. She grasped Zar’roc’s hilt and lifted it—staring at its crimson blade—then placed the tip on Eragon’s head. “I do accept your fealty with honor, Rider, as you accept all the re-sponsibilities accompanying the station. Rise as my vassal and take your sword.” Eragon did as he was bidden. He said, “Now I can tell you openly as my master, the council made me agree to swear to the Varden once you were appointed. This was the only way Saphira and I could circumvent them.” Nasuada laughed with genuine delight. “Ah, I see you have already learned how to play our game. Very well, as my newest and only vassal, will you agree to give your fealty to me again—in public, when the coun-cil expects your vow?” “Of course.” “Good, that will take care of the council. Now, until then, leave me. I have much planning to do, and I must prepare for the funeral.... Remem-ber, Eragon, the bond we have just created is equally binding; I am as re-sponsible for your actions as you are required to serve me. Do not dis-honor me.” “Nor you I.” Page 329 Nasuada paused, then gazed into his eyes and added in a gentler tone: “You have my condolences, Eragon. I realize that others beside myself have cause for sorrow; while I have lost my father, you have also lost a friend. I liked Murtagh a great deal and it saddens me that he is gone.... Goodbye, Eragon.” Eragon nodded, a bitter taste in his mouth, and left the room with Saphira. The hallway outside was empty along its gray length. Eragon put his hands on his hips, tilted back his head, and exhaled. The day had barely begun, yet he was already exhausted by all the emotions that had flooded through him. Saphira nosed him and said, This way. Without further explanation, she headed down the right side of the tunnel. Her polished claws clicked on the hard floor. Eragon frowned, but followed her. Where are we going? No answer. Saphira, please. She just flicked her tail. Resigned to wait, he said instead, Things have certainly changed for us. I never know what to expect from one day to the next—except sorrow and bloodshed. All is not bad,she reproached. We have won a great victory. It should be celebrated, not mourned. It doesn’t help, having to deal with this other nonsense. She snorted angrily. A thin line of fire shot from her nostrils, singeing Eragon’s shoulder. He jumped back with a yelp, biting back a string of curses. Oops, said Saphira, shaking her head to clear the smoke. Oops! You nearly roasted my side! I didn’t expect it to happen. I keep forgetting that fire will come out if I’m not careful. Imagine that every time you raised your arm, lightning struck the ground. It would be easy to make a careless motion and destroy some-thing unintentionally. You’re right.... Sorry I growled at you. Her bony eyelid clicked as she winked at him. No matter. The point I was trying to make is that even Nasuada can’t force you to do anything. But I gave my word as a Rider! Maybe so, but if I must break it to keep you safe, or to do the right thing, I will not hesitate. It is a burden I could easily carry. Because I’m joined to you, my honor is inherent in your pledge, but as an individual, I’m not bound by it. If I must, I will kidnap you. Any disobedience then would be no fault of your own. It should never come to that. If we have to use such tricks to do what’s right, then Nasuada and the Varden will have lost all integrity. Saphira stopped. They stood before the carved archway of Tronjheim’s library. The vast, silent room seemed empty, though the ranks of back-to-back bookshelves interspersed with columns could conceal many peo-ple. Lanterns poured soft light across the scroll-covered walls, illuminat-ing the reading alcoves along their bases. Weaving through the shelves, Saphira led him to one alcove, where Arya sat. Eragon paused as he studied her. She seemed more agitated than he had ever seen her, though it manifested itself only in the Page 330 tension of her movements. Unlike before, she wore her sword with the graceful cross-guard. One hand rested on the hilt. Eragon sat at the opposite side of the marble table. Saphira positioned herself between them, where neither could escape her gaze. “What have you done?” asked Arya with unexpected hostility. “How so?” She lifted her chin. “What have you promised the Varden? What have you done? ” The last part even reached Eragon mentally. He realized just how close the elf was to losing control. A bit of fear touched him. “We only did what we had to. I’m ignorant of elves’ customs, so if our actions upset you, I apologize. There’s no cause to be angry.” “Fool! You know nothing about me. I have spent seven decades repre-senting my queen here—fifteen years of which I bore Saphira’s egg be-tween the Varden and the elves. In all that time, I struggled to ensure the Varden had wise, strong leaders who could resist Galbatorix and respect our wishes. Brom helped me by forging the agreement concerning the new Rider—you. Ajihad was committed to your remaining independent so that the balance of power would not be upset. Now I see you siding with the Council of Elders, willingly or not, to control Nasuada! You have overturned a lifetime of work! What have you done? ” Dismayed, Eragon dropped all pretenses. With short, clear words, he explained why he had agreed to the council’s demands and how he and Saphira had attempted to undermine them. When he finished, Arya stated, “So.” “So.” Seventy years. Though he knew elves’ lives were extraordinarily long, he had never suspected that Arya was that old, and older, for she appeared to be a woman in her early twenties. The only sign of age on her unlined face was her emerald eyes—deep, knowing, and most often solemn. Arya leaned back, studying him. “Your position is not what I would wish, but better than I had hoped. I was impolite; Saphira... and you... understand more than I thought. Your compromise will be accepted by the elves, though you must never forget your debt to us for Saphira. There would be no Riders without our efforts.” “The debt is burned into my blood and my palm,” said Eragon. In the si-lence that followed, he cast about for a new topic, eager to prolong their conversation and perhaps learn more about her. “You have been gone for such a long time; do you miss Ellesméra? Or did you live elsewhere?” “Ellesméra was, and always shall be, my home,” she said, looking be-yond him. “I have not lived in my family’s house since I left for the Varden, when the walls and windows were draped with spring’s first flowers. The times I’ve returned were only fleeting stays, vanishing flecks of memory by our measurement.” He noticed, once again, that she smelled like crushed pine needles. It was a faint, spicy odor that opened his senses and refreshed his mind. “It must be hard to live among all these dwarves and humans without any of your kind.” Page 331 She cocked her head. “You speak of humans as if you weren’t one.” “Perhaps...,” he hesitated, “perhaps I am something else—a mixture of two races. Saphira lives inside me as much as I live in her. We share feel-ings, senses, thoughts, even to the point where we are more one mind than two.” Saphira dipped her head in agreement, nearly bumping the ta-ble with her snout. “That is how it should be,” said Arya. “A pact more ancient and power-ful than you can imagine links you. You won’t truly understand what it means to be a Rider until your training is completed. But that must wait until after the funeral. In the meantime, may the stars watch over you.” With that she departed, slipping into the library’s shadowed depths. Er-agon blinked. Is it me, or is everyone on edge today? Like Arya—one mo-ment she’s angry, the next she’s giving me a blessing! No one will be comfortable until things return to normal. Define normal. RORAN Roran trudged up the hill. He stopped and squinted at the sun through his shaggy hair. Five hours till sunset. I won’t be able to stay long. With a sigh, he continued along the row of elm trees, each of which stood in a pool of uncut grass. This was his first visit to the farm since he, Horst, and six other men from Carvahall had removed everything worth salvaging from the de-stroyed house and burned barn. It had been nearly five months before he could consider returning. Once on the hilltop, Roran halted and crossed his arms. Before him lay the remains of his childhood home. A corner of the house still stood— crumbling and charred—but the rest had been flattened and was already covered with grass and weeds. Nothing could be seen of the barn. The few acres they had managed to cultivate each year were now filled with dandelions, wild mustard, and more grass. Here and there, stray beets or turnips had survived, but that was all. Just beyond the farm, a thick belt of trees obscured the Anora River. Roran clenched a fist, jaw muscles knotting painfully as he fought back a combination of rage and grief. He stayed rooted to the spot for many long minutes, trembling whenever a pleasant memory rushed through him. This place had been his entire life and more. It had been his past... and his future. His father, Garrow, once said, “The land is a special thing. Care for it, and it’ll care for you. Not many things will do that.” Roran had intended to do exactly that up until the moment his world was rup-tured by a quiet message from Baldor. With a groan, he spun away and stalked back toward the road. The shock of that moment still resonated within him. Having everyone he loved torn away in an instant was a soul-changing event from which he would never recover. It had seeped into every aspect of his behavior and outlook. It also forced Roran to think more than ever before. It was as if bands had been cinched around his Page 332 mind, and those bands had snapped, allow-ing him to ponder ideas that were previously unimaginable. Such as the fact that he might not become a farmer, or that justice—the greatest standby in songs and legends—had little hold in reality. At times these thoughts filled his consciousness to the point where he could barely rise in the morning, feeling bloated with their heaviness. Turning on the road, he headed north through Palancar Valley, back to Carvahall. The notched mountains on either side were laden with snow, despite the spring greenery that had crept over the valley floor in past weeks. Overhead, a single gray cloud drifted toward the peaks. Roran ran a hand across his chin, feeling the stubble. Eragon caused all this—him and his blasted curiosity—by bringing that stone out of the Spine. It had taken Roran weeks to reach that conclusion. He had listened to everyone’s accounts. Several times he had Gertrude, the town healer, read aloud the letter Brom had left him. And there was no other explana-tion. Whatever that stone was, it must have attracted the strangers. For that alone, he blamed Garrow’s death on Eragon, though not in anger; he knew that Eragon had intended no harm. No, what roused his fury was that Eragon had left Garrow unburied and fled Palancar Valley, abandon-ing his responsibilities to gallop off with the old storyteller on some hare-brained journey. How could Eragon have so little regard for those left be-hind? Did he run because he felt guilty? Afraid? Did Brom mislead him with wild tales of adventure? And why would Eragon listen to such things at a time like that?... I don’t even know if he’s dead or alive right now. Roran scowled and rolled his shoulders, trying to clear his mind. Brom’s letter... Bah! He had never heard a more ridiculous collection of insinua-tions and ominous hints. The only thing it made clear was to avoid the strangers, which was common sense to begin with. The old man was crazy, he decided. A flicker of movement caused Roran to turn, and he saw twelve deer— including a young buck with velvet horns—trotting back into the trees. He made sure to note their location so he could find them tomorrow. He was proud that he could hunt well enough to support himself in Horst’s house, though he had never been as skilled as Eragon. As he walked, he continued to order his thoughts. After Garrow’s death, Roran had abandoned his job at Dempton’s mill in Therinsford and returned to Carvahall. Horst had agreed to house him and, in the follow-ing months, had provided him with work in the forge. Grief had delayed Roran’s decisions about the future until two days ago, when he finally settled upon a course of action. He wanted to marry Katrina, the butcher’s daughter. The reason he went to Therinsford in the first place was to earn money to ensure a smooth beginning to their life together. But now, without a farm, a home, or means to support her, Roran could not in good conscience ask for Katrina’s hand. His pride would not allow it. Nor did Roran think Sloan, her father, would tolerate a suitor with such poor prospects. Even under the best of circumstances, Roran had expected to have a hard time con-vincing Sloan to give up Katrina; the two of them had never been friendly. And it was impossible for Roran to wed Katrina without her fa-ther’s consent, not unless they wished to divide her family, anger the vil-lage by defying tradition, and, most likely, start a blood feud with Sloan. Considering the situation, it seemed to Roran that the only option available to him was to rebuild his farm, even if he had to raise the house and barn himself. It would be hard, starting from nothing, but once his position was secured, he could approach Sloan with his head held high. Next spring is the soonest we might talk, thought Roran, grimacing. He knew Katrina would wait—for a time, at least. Page 333 He continued at a steady pace until evening, when the village came into view. Within the small huddle of buildings, wash hung on lines strung from window to window. Men filed back toward the houses from surrounding fields thick with winter wheat. Behind Carvahall, the half-mile-high Igualda Falls gleamed in the sunset as it tumbled down the Spine into the Anora. The sight warmed Roran because it was so ordi-nary. Nothing was more comforting than having everything where it should be. Leaving the road, he made his way up the rise to where Horst’s house sat with a view of the Spine. The door was already open. Roran tromped inside, following the sounds of conversation into the kitchen. Horst was there, leaning on the rough table pushed into one corner of the room, his arms bare to the elbow. Next to him was his wife, Elain, who was nearly five months pregnant and smiling with quiet content-ment. Their sons, Albriech and Baldor, faced them. As Roran entered, Albriech said, “... and I still hadn’t left the forge yet! Thane swears he saw me, but I was on the other side of town.” “What’s going on?” asked Roran, slipping off his pack. Elain exchanged a glance with Horst. “Here, let me get you something to eat.” She set bread and a bowl of cold stew before him. Then she looked him in the eye, as if searching for a particular expression. “How was it?” Roran shrugged. “All of the wood is either burnt or rotting—nothing worth using. The well is still intact, and that’s something to be grateful for, I suppose. I’ll have to cut timber for the house as soon as possible if I’m going to have a roof over my head by planting season. Now tell me, what’s happened?” “Ha!” exclaimed Horst. “There’s been quite a row, there has. Thane is missing a scythe and he thinks Albriech took it.” “He probably dropped it in the grass and forgot where he left it,” snorted Albriech. “Probably,” agreed Horst, smiling. Roran bit into the bread. “It doesn’t make much sense, accusing you. If you needed a scythe, you could just forge one.” “I know,” said Albriech, dropping into a chair, “but instead of looking for his, he starts grousing that he saw someone leaving his field and that it looked a bit like me... and since no one else looks like me, I must have stolen the scythe.” It was true that no one looked like him. Albriech had inherited both his father’s size and Elain’s honey-blond hair, which made him an oddity in Carvahall, where brown was the predominant hair color. In contrast, Baldor was both thinner and dark-haired. “I’m sure it’ll turn up,” said Baldor quietly. “Try not to get too angry over it in the meantime.” “Easy for you to say.” As Roran finished the last of the bread and started on the stew, he asked Horst, “Do you need me for anything tomorrow?” Page 334 “Not especially. I’ll just be working on Quimby’s wagon. The blasted frame still won’t sit square.” Roran nodded, pleased. “Good. Then I’ll take the day and go hunting. There are a few deer farther down the valley that don’t look too scrawny. Their ribs weren’t showing, at least.” Baldor suddenly brightened. “Do you want some company?” “Sure. We can leave at dawn.” When he finished eating, Roran scrubbed his face and hands clean, then wandered outside to clear his head. Stretching leisurely, he strolled to-ward the center of town. Halfway there, the chatter of excited voices outside the Seven Sheaves caught his attention. He turned, curious, and made his way to the tavern, where an odd sight met him. Sitting on the porch was a middle-aged man draped in a patchwork leather coat. Beside him was a pack festooned with the steel jaws of the trappers’ trade. Several dozen villagers listened as he gestured expansively and said, “So when I arrived at Therinsford, I went to this man, Neil. Good, honest man; I help in his fields during the spring and summer.” Roran nodded. Trappers spent the winter squirreled away in the moun-tains, returning in the spring to sell their skins to tanners like Gedric and then to take up work, usually as farmhands. Since Carvahall was the northernmost village in the Spine, many trappers passed through it, which was one of the reasons Carvahall had its own tavern, blacksmith, and tanner. “After a few steins of ale—to lubricate my speaking, you understand, after a ’alf year with nary a word uttered, except perhaps for blaspheming the world and all beyond when losing a bear-biter—I come to Neil, the froth still fresh on my beard, and start exchanging gossip. As our transac-tion proceeds, I ask him all gregarious-like, what news of the Empire or the king—may he rot with gangrene and trench mouth. Was anyone born or died or banished that I should know of? And then guess what? Neil leaned forward, going all serious ’bout the mouth, and said that word is going around, there is, from Dras-Leona and Gil’ead of strange happen-ings here, there, and everywhere in Alagaësia. The Urgals have fair disap-peared from civilized lands, and good riddance, but not one man can tell why or where. ’Alf the trade in the Empire has dried up as a result of raids and attacks and, from what I heard, it isn’t the work of mere brig-ands, for the attacks are too widespread, too calculated. No goods are sto-len, only burned or soiled. But that’s not the end of it, oh no, not by the tip of your blessed grandmother’s whiskers.” The trapper shook his head and took a sip from his wineskin before continuing: “There be mutterings of a Shade haunting the northern territories. He’s been seen along the edge of Du Weldenvarden and near Gil’ead. They say his teeth are filed to points, his eyes are as red as wine, and his hair is as red as the blood he drinks. Worse, something seems to have gotten our fine, mad monarch’s dander up, so it has. Five days past, a juggler from the south stopped in Therinsford on his lonesome way to Ceunon, and he said that troops have been moving and gathering, though for what was beyond him.” He shrugged. “As my pap taught me when I was a suckling babe, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Perhaps it’s the Varden. They’ve caused old Iron Bones enough pain in the arse over the years. Or perhaps Galbatorix finally decided he’s had enough of tolerating Surda. At least he knows where to find it, unlike those rebels. He’ll crush Surda like a bear crushes an ant, he will.” Roran blinked as a babble of questions exploded around the trapper. He was inclined to doubt the report of a Shade—it sounded too much like a story a drunk woodsman might invent—but the rest of it all sounded bad enough to be true. Surda... Little information reached Car-vahall about that distant country, but Roran at least knew that, although Surda and the Empire were ostensibly at peace, Surdans Page 335 lived in constant fear that their more powerful neighbor to the north would invade them. For that reason, it was said that Orrin, their king, supported the Varden. If the trapper was right about Galbatorix, then it could mean ugly war crouched in the future, accompanied by the hardships of increased taxes and forced conscription. I would rather live in an age devoid of momentous events. Upheaval makes already difficult lives, such as ours, nigh impossi-ble. “What’s more, there have even been tales of...” Here the trapper paused and, with a knowing expression, tapped the side of his nose with his fore-finger. “Tales of a new Rider in Alagaësia.” He laughed then, a big, hearty laugh, slapping his belly as he rocked back on the porch. Roran laughed as well. Stories of Riders appeared every few years. They had excited his interest the first two or three times, but he soon learned not to trust such accounts, for they all came to naught. The rumors were nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of those who longed for a brighter future. He was about to head off when he noticed Katrina standing by the cor-ner of the tavern, garbed in a long russet dress decorated with green rib-bon. She gazed at him with the same intensity with which he gazed at her. Going over, he touched her on the shoulder and, together, they slipped away. They walked to the edge of Carvahall, where they stood looking at the stars. The heavens were brilliant, shimmering with thousands of celestial fires. And arching above them, from north to south, was the glorious pearly band that streamed from horizon to horizon, like diamond dust tossed from a pitcher. Without looking at him, Katrina rested her head on Roran’s shoulder and asked, “How was your day?” “I returned home.” He felt her stiffen against him. “What was it like?” “Terrible.” His voice caught and he fell silent, holding her tightly. The scent of her copper hair on his cheek was like an elixir of wine and spice and perfume. It seeped deep inside him, warm and comforting. “The house, the barn, the fields, they’re all being overrun.... I wouldn’t have found them if I didn’t know where to look.” She finally turned to face him, stars flashing in her eyes, sorrow on her face. “Oh, Roran.” She kissed him, lips brushing his for a brief moment. “You have endured so much loss, and yet your strength has never failed you. Will you return to your farm now?” “Aye. Farming is all I know.” “And what shall become of me?” He hesitated. From the moment he began to court her, an unspoken as-sumption that they would marry had existed between them. There had been no need to discuss his intentions; they were as plain as the day was long, and so her question unsettled him. It also felt improper to address the issue in such an open manner when he was not ready to tender an of-fer. It was his place to make the overtures—first to Sloan and then to Katrina—not hers. Still, he had to deal with her concern now that it had been expressed. “Katrina... I cannot approach your father as I had planned. He would laugh at me, and rightly so. We have to wait. Once I have a place for us to live and I’ve collected my first harvest, then he will listen to me.” Page 336 She faced the sky once more and whispered something so faint, he could not make it out. “What?” “I said, are you afraid of him?” “Of course not! I—” “Then you must get his permission, tomorrow, and set the engagement. Make him understand that, though you have nothing now, you will give me a good home and be a son-in-law he can be proud of. There’s no rea-son we should waste our years living apart when we feel like this.” “I can’t do that,” he said with a note of despair, willing her to under-stand. “I can’t provide for you, I can’t—” “Don’t you understand ?” She stepped away, her voice strained with ur-gency. “I love you, Roran, and I want to be with you, but Father has other plans for me. There are far more eligible men than you, and the longer you delay, the more he presses me to consent to a match of which he ap-proves. He fears I will become an old maid, and I fear that too. I have only so much time or choice in Carvahall.... If I must take another, I will.” Tears glistened in her eyes as she gave him a searching glance, waiting for his response, then gathered up her dress and rushed back to the houses. Roran stood there, motionless with shock. Her absence was as acute for him as losing the farm—the world suddenly gone cold and unfriendly. It was as if part of himself had been torn away. It was hours before he could return to Horst’s and slip into bed. THE HUNTED HUNTERS Dirt crunched under Roran’s boots as he led the way down the valley, which was cool and pale in the early hours of the overcast morning. Bal-dor followed close behind, both of them carrying strung bows. Neither spoke as they studied their surroundings for signs of the deer. “There,” said Baldor in a low voice, pointing at a set of tracks leading toward a bramble on the edge of the Anora. Roran nodded and started after the spoor. It looked about a day old, so he risked speaking. “Could I have your advice, Baldor? You seem to have a good understanding of people.” “Of course. What is it?” For a long time, the pad of their feet was the only noise. “Sloan wants to marry off Katrina, and not to me. Every day that passes increases the chance he will arrange a union to his liking.” “What does Katrina say of this?” Roran shrugged. “He is her father. She cannot continue to defy his will when no one she does want has stepped forward to claim her.” “That is, you.” Page 337 “Aye.” “And that’s why you were up so early.” It was no question. In fact, Roran had been too worried to sleep at all. He had spent the entire night thinking about Katrina, trying to find a solution to their pre-dicament. “I can’t bear to lose her. But I don’t think Sloan will give us his blessing, what with my position and all.” “No, I don’t think he would,” agreed Baldor. He glanced at Roran out of the corner of his eye. “What is it you want my advice on, though?” A snort of laughter escaped Roran. “How can I convince Sloan other-wise? How can I resolve this dilemma without starting a blood feud?” He threw his hands up. “What should I do?” “Have you no ideas?” “I do, but not of a sort I find pleasing. It occurred to me that Katrina and I could simply announce we were engaged—not that we are yet— and hang the consequences. That would force Sloan to accept our be-trothal.” A frown creased Baldor’s brow. He said carefully, “Maybe, but it would also create a slew of bad feelings throughout Carvahall. Few would ap-prove of your actions. Nor would it be wise to force Katrina to choose between you or her family; she might resent you for it in years to come.” “I know, but what alternative do I have?” “Before you take such a drastic step, I recommend you try to win Sloan over as an ally. There’s a chance you might succeed, after all, if it’s made clear to him that no one else will want to marry an angry Katrina. Espe-cially when you’re around to cuckold the husband.” Roran grimaced and kept his gaze on the ground. Baldor laughed. “If you fail, well then, you can proceed with confidence, knowing that you have indeed exhausted all other routes. And people will be less likely to spit upon you for break-ing tradition and more likely to say Sloan’s bullheaded ways brought it upon himself.” “Neither course is easy.” “You knew that to begin with.” Baldor grew somber again. “No doubt there’ll be harsh words if you challenge Sloan, but things will settle down in the end—perhaps not comfortably, but at least bearably. Aside from Sloan, the only people you’ll really offend are prudes like Quimby, though how Quimby can brew such a hale drink yet be so starched and bitter himself is beyond me.” Roran nodded, understanding. Grudges could simmer for years in Car-vahall. “I’m glad we could talk. It’s been...” He faltered, thinking of all the discussions he and Eragon used to share. They had been, as Eragon once said, brothers in all but blood. It had been deeply comforting to know that someone existed who would listen to him, no matter the time or circumstances. And to know that person would always help him, no mat-ter the cost. The absence of such a bond left Roran feeling empty. Baldor did not press him to finish his sentence, but instead stopped to drink from his waterskin. Roran continued for a few yards, then halted as a scent intruded on his thoughts. Page 338 It was the heavy odor of seared meat and charred pine boughs. Who would be here besides us? Breathing deeply, he turned in a circle, trying to determine the source of the fire. A slight gust brushed past him from far-ther down the road, carrying a hot, smoky wave. The aroma of food was intense enough to make his mouth water. He beckoned to Baldor, who hurried to his side. “Smell that?” Baldor nodded. Together they returned to the road and followed it south. About a hundred feet away, it bent around a copse of cotton-woods and curved out of view. As they approached the turn, the rise and fall of voices reached them, muffled by the thick layer of morning fog over the valley. At the copse’s fringe, Roran slowed to a stop. It was foolish to surprise people when they too might be out hunting. Still, something bothered him. Perhaps it was the number of voices; the group seemed bigger than any family in the valley. Without thinking, he stepped off the road and slipped behind the underbrush lining the copse. “What are you doing?” whispered Baldor. Roran put a finger to his lips, then crept along, parallel to the road, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible. As they rounded the bend, he froze. On the grass by the road was a camp of soldiers. Thirty helmets gleamed in a shaft of morning light as their owners devoured fowl and stew cooked over several fires. The men were mud splattered and travel stained, but Galbatorix’s symbol was still visible on their red tunics, a twisting flame outlined in gold thread. Underneath the tunics, they wore leather brigandines—heavy with riveted squares of steel—mail shirts, and then padded gambesons. Most of the soldiers bore broadswords, though half a dozen were archers and another half-dozen carried wicked-looking halberds. And hunched in their midst were two twisted black forms that Roran recognized from the numerous descriptions the villagers provided upon his return from Therinsford: the strangers who had destroyed his farm. His blood chilled. They’re servants of the Empire! He began to step for-ward, fingers already reaching for an arrow, when Baldor grabbed his jer-kin and dragged him to the ground. “Don’t. You’ll get us both killed.” Roran glared at him, then snarled. “That’s... they’re the bastards...” He stopped, noticing that his hands were shaking. “They’ve returned!” “Roran,” whispered Baldor intently, “you can’t do anything. Look, they work for the king. Even if you managed to escape, you’d be an outlaw everywhere, and you’d bring disaster on Carvahall.” “What do they want? What can they want?” The king. Why did Galba-torix countenance my father’s torture? “If they didn’t get what they needed from Garrow, and Eragon fled with Brom, then they must want you.” Baldor paused, letting the words sink in. “We have to get back and warn everyone. Then you have to hide. The strangers are the only ones with horses. We can get there first if we run.” Roran stared through the brush at the oblivious soldiers. His heart pounded fiercely for revenge, clamoring to attack and fight, to see those two agents of misfortune pierced with arrows and brought to Page 339 their own justice. It mattered not that he would die as long as he could wash clean his pain and sorrow in one fell moment. All he had to do was break cover. The rest would take care of itself. Just one small step. With a choked sob, he clenched his fist and dropped his head. I can’t leave Katrina . He remained rigid—eyes squeezed shut—then with ago-nizing slowness dragged himself back. “Home then.” Without waiting for Baldor’s reaction, Roran slipped through the trees as fast as he dared. Once the camp was out of sight, he broke out onto the road and ran down the dirt track, channeling his frustration, anger, and even fear into speed. Baldor scrambled behind him, gaining on the open stretches. Roran slowed to a comfortable trot and waited for him to draw level before saying, “You spread the word. I’ll talk with Horst.” Baldor nodded, and they pushed on. After two miles, they stopped to drink and rest briefly. When their panting subsided, they continued through the low hills preceding Carva-hall. The rolling ground slowed them considerably, but even so, the vil-lage soon burst into view. Roran immediately broke for the forge, leaving Baldor to make his way to the center of town. As he pounded past the houses, Roran wildly con-sidered schemes to evade or kill the strangers without incurring the wrath of the Empire. He burst into the forge to catch Horst tapping a peg into the side of Quimby’s wagon, singing: ... hey O! And a ringing and a dinging Rang from old iron! Wily old iron. With a beat and a bang on the bones of the land, I conquered wily old iron! Horst stopped his mallet in midblow when he saw Roran. “What’s the matter, lad? Is Baldor hurt?” Roran shook his head and leaned over, gasping for air. In short bursts, he reiterated all they had seen and its possible implications, most impor-tantly that it was now clear the strangers were agents of the Empire. Horst fingered his beard. “You have to leave Carvahall. Fetch some food from the house, then take my mare—Ivor’s pulling stumps with her—and ride into the foothills. Once we know what the soldiers want, I’ll send Albriech or Baldor with word.” “What will you say if they ask for me?” “That you’re out hunting and we don’t know when you’ll return. It’s true enough, and I doubt they’ll chance blundering around in the trees for fear of missing you. Assuming it’s you they’re really after.” Page 340 Roran nodded, then turned and ran to Horst’s house. Inside, he grabbed the mare’s tack and bags from the wall, quickly tied turnips, beets, jerky, and a loaf of bread in a knot of blankets, snatched up a tin pot, and dashed out, pausing only long enough to explain the situation to Elain. The supplies were an awkward bundle in his arms as he jogged east from Carvahall to Ivor’s farm. Ivor himself stood behind the farmhouse, flicking the mare with a willow wand as she strained to tear the hairy roots of an elm tree from the ground. “Come on now!” shouted the farmer. “Put your back into it!” The horse shuddered with effort, her bit lathered, then with a final surge tilted the stump on its side so the roots reached toward the sky like a cluster of gnarled fingers. Ivor stopped her exertion with a twitch of the reins and patted her good-naturedly. “All right.... There we go.” Roran hailed him from a distance and, when they were close, pointed to the horse. “I need to borrow her.” He gave his reasons. Ivor swore and began unhitching the mare, grumbling, “Always the moment I get a bit of work done, that’s when the interruption comes. Never before.” He crossed his arms and frowned as Roran cinched the saddle, intent on his work. When he was ready, Roran swung onto the horse, bow in hand. “I am sorry for the trouble, but it can’t be helped.” “Well, don’t worry about it. Just make sure you aren’t caught.” “I’ll do that.” As he set heels to the mare’s sides, Roran heard Ivor call, “And don’t be hiding up my creek!” Roran grinned and shook his head, bending low over the horse’s neck. He soon reached the foothills of the Spine and worked his way up to the mountains that formed the north end of Palancar Valley. From there he climbed to a point on the mountainside where he could observe Carva-hall without being seen. Then he picketed his steed and settled down to wait. Roran shivered, eyeing the dark pines. He disliked being this close to the Spine. Hardly anyone from Carvahall dared set foot in the mountain range, and those who did often failed to return. Before long Roran saw the soldiers march up the road in a double line, two ominous black figures at their head. They were stopped at the edge of Carvahall by a ragged group of men, some of them with picks in hand. The two sides spoke, then simply faced each other, like growling dogs waiting to see who would strike first. After a long moment, the men of Carvahall moved aside and let the intruders pass. What happens now?wondered Roran, rocking back on his heels. By evening the soldiers had set up camp in a field adjacent to the vil-lage. Their tents formed a low gray block that flickered with weird shad-ows as sentries patrolled the perimeter. In the center of the block, a large fire sent billows of smoke into the air. Roran had made his own camp, and now he simply watched and thought. He always assumed that when the strangers destroyed his home, they got what they wanted, which was the stone Eragon brought from the Spine. They must not have found it, he decided. Perhaps Eragon man-aged to escape with the Page 341 stone.... Perhaps he felt that he had to leave in order to protect it. He frowned. That would go a long way toward explaining why Eragon fled, but it still seemed far-fetched to Roran. Whatever the reason, that stone must be a fantastic treasure for the king to send so many men to retrieve it. I can’t understand what would make it so valuable. Maybe it’s magic. He breathed deeply of the cool air, listening to the hoot of an owl. A flicker of movement caught his attention. Glancing down the mountain, he saw a man approaching in the forest below. Roran ducked behind a boulder, bow drawn. He waited until he was sure it was Albriech, then whistled softly. Albriech soon arrived at the boulder. On his back was an overfull pack, which he dropped to the ground with a grunt. “I thought I’d never find you.” “I’m surprised you did.” “Can’t say I enjoyed wandering through the forest after sundown. I kept expecting to walk into a bear, or worse. The Spine isn’t a fit place for men, if you ask me.” Roran looked back out at Carvahall. “So why are they here?” “To take you into custody. They’re willing to wait as long as they have to for you to return from ‘hunting.’ ” Roran sat with a hard thump, his gut clenched with cold anticipation. “Did they give a reason? Did they mention the stone?” Albriech shook his head. “All they would say is that it’s the king’s busi-ness. The whole day they’ve been asking questions about you and Er-agon—it’s all they’re interested in.” He hesitated. “I’d stay, but they’ll no-tice if I am missing tomorrow. I brought plenty of food and blankets, plus some of Gertrude’s salves in case you injure yourself. You should be fine up here.” Summoning his energy, Roran smiled. “Thanks for the help.” “Anyone would do it,” said Albriech with an embarrassed shrug. He started to leave, then tossed over his shoulder, “By the way, the two strangers... they’re called the Ra’zac.” SAPHIRA’S PROMISE The morning after meeting with the Council of Elders, Eragon was cleaning and oiling Saphira’s saddle—careful not to overexert himself— when Orik came to visit. The dwarf waited until Eragon finished with a strap, then asked, “Are you better today?” “A little.” “Good, we all need our strength. I came partly to see to your health and also because Hrothgar wishes to speak with you, if you are free.” Eragon gave the dwarf a wry smile. “I’m always free for him. He must know that.” Orik laughed. “Ah, but it’s polite to ask nicely.” As Eragon put down the saddle, Saphira uncoiled from Page 342 her padded corner and greeted Orik with a friendly growl. “Morning to you as well,” he said with a bow. Orik led them through one of Tronjheim’s four main corridors, toward its central chamber and the two mirroring staircases that curved under-ground to the dwarf king’s throne room. Before they reached the cham-ber, however, he turned down a small flight of stairs. It took Eragon a moment to realize that Orik had taken a side passageway to avoid seeing the wreckage of Isidar Mithrim. They came to a stop before the granite doors engraved with a seven-pointed crown. Seven armored dwarves on each side of the entrance pounded the floor simultaneously with the hafts of their mattocks. With the echoing thud of wood on stone, the doors swung inward. Eragon nodded to Orik, then entered the dim room with Saphira. They advanced toward the distant throne, passing the rigid statues, hírna, of past dwarf kings. At the foot of the heavy black throne, Eragon bowed. The dwarf king inclined his silver-maned head in return, the rubies wrought into his golden helm glowing dully in the light like flecks of hot iron. Volund, the war hammer, lay across his mail-sheathed legs. Hrothgar spoke: “Shadeslayer, welcome to my hall. You have done much since last we met. And, so it seems, I have been proved wrong about Zar’roc. Morzan’s blade will be welcome in Tronjheim so long as you bear it.” “Thank you,” said Eragon, rising. “Also,” rumbled the dwarf, “we wish you to keep the armor you wore in the battle of Farthen Dûr. Even now our most skilled smiths are re-pairing it. The dragon armor is being treated likewise, and when it is re-stored, Saphira may use it as long as she wishes, or until she outgrows it. This is the least we can do to show our gratitude. If it weren’t for the war with Galbatorix, there would be feasts and celebrations in your name... but those must wait until a more appropriate time.” Voicing both his and Saphira’s sentiment, Eragon said, “You are gener-ous beyond all expectations. We will cherish such noble gifts.” Clearly pleased, Hrothgar nevertheless scowled, bringing his snarled eyebrows together. “We cannot linger on pleasantries, though. I am be-sieged by the clans with demands that I do one thing or another about Ajihad’s successor. When the Council of Elders proclaimed yesterday that they would support Nasuada, it created an uproar the likes of which I haven’t seen since I ascended to the throne. The chiefs had to decide whether to accept Nasuada or look for another candidate. Most have concluded that Nasuada should lead the Varden, but I wish to know where you stand on this, Eragon, before I lend my word to either side. The worst thing a king can do is look foolish.” How much can we tell him?Eragon asked Saphira, thinking quickly. He’s always treated us fairly, but we can’t know what he may have prom-ised other people. We’d best be cautious until Nasuada actually takes power. Very well. “Saphira and I have agreed to help her. We won’t oppose her ascension. And”—Eragon wondered if he was going too far—“I plead that you do the same; the Varden can’t afford to fight among themselves. They need unity.” Page 343 “Oeí,” said Hrothgar, leaning back, “you speak with new authority. Your suggestion is a good one, but it will cost a question: Do you think Nasuada will be a wise leader, or are there other motives in choosing her?” It’s a test,warned Saphira. He wants to know why we’ve backed her. Eragon felt his lips twitch in a half-smile. “I think her wise and canny beyond her years. She will be good for the Varden.” “And that is why you support her?” “Yes.” Hrothgar nodded, dipping his long, snowy beard. “That relieves me. There has been too little concern lately with what is right and good, and more about what will bring individual power. It is hard to watch such idiocy and not be angry.” An uncomfortable silence fell between them, stifling in the long throne room. To break it, Eragon asked, “What will be done with the dragon-hold? Will a new floor be laid down?” For the first time, the king’s eyes grew mournful, deepening the sur-rounding lines that splayed like spokes on a wagon wheel. It was the closest Eragon had ever seen a dwarf come to weeping. “Much talk is needed before that step can be taken. It was a terrible deed, what Saphira and Arya did. Maybe necessary, but terrible. Ah, it might have been bet-ter if the Urgals had overrun us before Isidar Mithrim was ever broken. The heart of Tronjheim has been shattered, and so has ours.” Hrothgar placed his fist over his breast, then slowly unclenched his hand and reached down to grasp Volund’s leather-wrapped handle. Saphira touched Eragon’s mind. He sensed several emotions in her, but what surprised him the most was her remorse and guilt. She truly regret-ted the Star Rose’s demise, despite the fact that it had been required. Lit-tle one, she said, help me. I need to speak with Hrothgar. Ask him: Do the dwarves have the ability to reconstruct Isidar Mithrim out of the shards? As he repeated the words, Hrothgar muttered something in his own language, then said, “The skill we have, but what of it? The task would take months or years, and the end result would be a ruined mockery of the beauty that once graced Tronjheim! It is an abomination I will not sanction.” Saphira continued to stare unblinkingly at the king. Now tell him: If Isi-dar Mithrim were put together again, with not one piece missing, I believe I could make it whole once more. Eragon gaped at her, forgetting Hrothgar in his astonishment. Saphira! The energy that would require! You told me yourself that you can’t use magic at will, so what makes you sure you can do this? I can do it if the need is great enough. It will be my gift to the dwarves. Remember Brom’s tomb; let that wash your doubt away. And close your mouth—it’s unbecoming and the king is watching. When Eragon conveyed Saphira’s offer, Hrothgar straightened with an exclamation. “Is it possible? Not even the elves might attempt such a feat.” “She is confident in her abilities.” Page 344 “Then we will rebuild Isidar Mithrim, no matter if it takes a hundred years. We will assemble a frame for the gem and set each piece into its original place. Not a single chip will be forgotten. Even if we must break the larger pieces to move them, it will be done with all our skill in work-ing stone, so that no dust or flecks are lost. You will come then, when we are finished, and heal the Star Rose.” “We will come,” agreed Eragon, bowing. Hrothgar smiled, and it was like the cracking of a granite wall. “Such joy you have given me, Saphira. I feel once more a reason to rule and live. If you do this, dwarves everywhere will honor your name for uncounted generations. Go now with my blessings while I spread the tidings among the clans. And do not feel bound to wait upon my announcement, for no dwarf should be denied this news; convey it to all whom you meet. May the halls echo with the jubilation of our race.” With one more bow, Eragon and Saphira departed, leaving the dwarf king still smiling on his throne. Out of the hall, Eragon told Orik what had transpired. The dwarf immediately bent and kissed the floor before Saphira. He rose with a grin and clasped Eragon’s arm, saying, “A wonder indeed. You have given us exactly the hope we needed to combat recent events. There will be drinking tonight, I wager!” “And tomorrow is the funeral.” Orik sobered for a moment. “Tomorrow, yes. But until then we shall not let unhappy thoughts disturb us! Come!” Taking Eragon’s hand, the dwarf pulled him through Tronjheim to a great feast hall where many dwarves sat at stone tables. Orik leaped onto one, scattering dishes across the floor, and in a booming voice proclaimed the news of Isidar Mithrim. Eragon was nearly deafened by the cheers and shouts that followed. Each of the dwarves insisted on coming to Saphira and kissing the floor as Orik had. When that was finished, they abandoned their food and filled their stone tankards with beer and mead. Eragon joined the revelry with an abandon that surprised him. It helped to ease the melancholy gathered in his heart. However, he did try to resist complete debauchery, for he was conscious of the duties that awaited them the following day and he wanted to have a clear head. Even Saphira took a sip of mead, and finding that she liked it, the dwarves rolled out a whole barrel for her. Delicately lowering her mighty jaws through the cask’s open end, she drained it with three long draughts, then tilted her head toward the ceiling and belched a giant tongue of flame. It took several minutes for Eragon to convince the dwarves that it was safe to approach her again, but once he did, they brought her another barrel—overriding the cook’s protests—and watched with amazement as she emptied it as well. As Saphira became increasingly inebriated, her emotions and thoughts washed through Eragon with more and more force. It became difficult for him to rely upon the input of his own senses: her vision began to slip over his own, blurring movement and changing colors. Even the odors he smelled shifted at times, becoming sharper, more pungent. The dwarves began to sing together. Weaving as she stood, Saphira hummed along, punctuating each line with a roar. Eragon opened his mouth to join in and was shocked when, instead of words, out came the snarling rasp of a dragon’s voice. That, he thought, shaking his head, is go-ing too far.... Or am I just drunk? He decided it did not matter and pro-ceeded to sing boisterously, dragon’s voice or not. Dwarves continued to stream into the hall as word of Isidar Mithrim spread. Hundreds soon packed the Page 345 tables, with a thick ring around Eragon and Saphira. Orik called in musicians who arranged themselves in a cor-ner, where they pulled slipcovers of green velvet off their instruments. Soon harps, lutes, and silver flutes floated their gilded melodies over the throng. Many hours passed before the noise and excitement began to calm. When it did, Orik once more climbed onto the table. He stood there, legs spread wide for balance, tankard in hand, iron-bound cap awry, and cried, “Hear, hear! At last we have celebrated as is proper. The Urgals are gone, the Shade is dead, and we have won!” The dwarves all pounded their tables in approval. It was a good speech—short and to the point. But Orik was not finished. “To Eragon and Saphira!” he roared, lifting the tankard. This too was well received. Eragon stood and bowed, which brought more cheers. Beside him, Saphira reared and swung a foreleg across her chest, attempting to dupli-cate his move. She tottered, and the dwarves, realizing their danger, scrambled away from her. They were barely in time. With a loud whoosh, Saphira fell backward, landing flat on a banquet table. Pain shot through Eragon’s back and he collapsed insensate by her tail. REQUIEM “Wake, Knurlhiem! You cannot sleep now. We are needed at the gate—they won’t start without us.” Eragon forced his eyes open, conscious of an aching head and sore body. He was lying on a cold stone table. “What?” He grimaced at the sick taste on his tongue. Orik tugged on his brown beard. “Ajihad’s procession. We must be pre-sent for it!” “No, what did you call me?” They were still in the banquet hall, but it was empty except for him, Orik, and Saphira, who lay on her side be-tween two tables. She stirred and lifted her head, looking around with bleary eyes. “Stonehead! I called you Stonehead because I’ve been trying to wake you for almost an hour.” Eragon pushed himself upright and slid off the table. Flashes of memory from the night before jumped through his mind. Saphira, how are you? he asked, stumbling to her. She swiveled her head, running her crimson tongue in and out over her teeth, like a cat that ate something unpleasant. Whole... I think. My left wing feels a bit strange; I think it’s the one I landed on. And my head is filled with a thousand hot arrows. “Was anyone hurt when she fell?” asked Eragon, concerned. A hearty chuckle exploded from the dwarf’s thick chest. “Only those who dropped off their seats from laughing so hard. A dragon getting drunk and bowing at that! I’m sure lays will be sung about it for decades.” Saphira shuffled her wings and looked away primly. “We thought it best to leave you here, since we couldn’t move you, Saphira. It upset the head cook terribly—he feared you would drink more of his best stock than the four barrels you already did.” And you chastisedme once for drinking! If I consumed four barrels, it would kill me! Page 346 That’s why you’re not a dragon. Orik thrust a bundle of clothes into Eragon’s arms. “Here, put these on. They are more appropriate for a funeral than your own attire. But hurry, we have little time.” Eragon struggled into the items—a billowy white shirt with ties at the cuffs, a red vest decorated with gold braiding and embroidery, dark pants, shiny black boots that clacked on the floor, and a swirling cape that fastened under his throat with a studded brooch. In place of the usual plain leather band, Zar’roc was fastened to an ornate belt. Eragon splashed his face with water and tried to arrange his hair neatly. Then Orik rushed him and Saphira out of the hall and toward Tron-jheim’s south gate. “We must start from there,” he explained, moving with surprising speed on his stocky legs, “because that is where the pro-cession with Ajihad’s body stopped three days ago. His journey to the grave cannot be interrupted, or else his spirit will find no rest.” An odd custom,remarked Saphira. Eragon agreed, noting a slight unsteadiness in her gait. In Carvahall, people were usually buried on their farm, or if they lived in the village, in a small graveyard. The only rituals that accompanied the process were lines recited from certain ballads and a death feast held afterward for rela-tives and friends. Can you make it through the whole funeral? he asked as Saphira staggered again. She grimaced briefly. That and Nasuada’s appointment, but then I’ll need to sleep. A pox on all mead! Returning to his conversation with Orik, Eragon asked, “Where will Ajihad be buried?” Orik slowed and glanced at Eragon with caution. “That has been a mat-ter of contention among the clans. When a dwarf dies, we believe he must be sealed in stone or else he will never join his ancestors.... It is complex and I cannot say more to an outsider... but we go to great lengths to assure such a burial. Shame falls on a family or clan if they al-low any of their own to lie in a lesser element. “Under Farthen Dûr exists a chamber that is the home of all knurlan, all dwarves, who have died here. It is there Ajihad will be taken. He can-not be entombed with us, as he is human, but a hallowed alcove has been set aside for him. There the Varden may visit him without disturbing our sacred grottos, and Ajihad will receive the respect he is due.” “Your king has done much for the Varden,” commented Eragon. “Some think too much.” Before the thick gate—drawn up on its hidden chains to reveal faint daylight drifting into Farthen Dûr—they found a carefully arranged col-umn. Ajihad lay at the front, cold and pale on a white marble bier borne by six men in black armor. Upon his head was a helm strewn with pre-cious stones. His hands were clasped beneath his collarbone, over the ivory hilt of his bare sword, which extended from underneath the shield covering his chest and legs. Silver mail, like circlets of moonbeams, weighed down his limbs and fell onto the bier. Close behind the body stood Nasuada—grave, sable-cloaked, and strong in stature, though tears adorned her countenance. To the side was Hroth-gar in dark robes; then Arya; the Council of Elders, all with suitably re-morseful expressions; and finally a stream of mourners that extended a mile from Page 347 Tronjheim. Every door and archway of the four-story-high hall that led to the cen-tral chamber of Tronjheim, half a mile away, was thrown open and crowded with humans and dwarves alike. Between the gray bands of faces, the long tapestries swayed as they were brushed with hundreds of sighs and whispers when Saphira and Eragon came into view. Jörmundur beckoned for them to join him. Trying not to disturb the formation, Eragon and Saphira picked through the column to the space by his side, earning a disapproving glare from Sabrae. Orik went to stand behind Hrothgar. Together they waited, though for what, Eragon knew not. All the lanterns were shuttered halfway so that a cool twilight suffused the air, lending an ethereal feel to the event. No one seemed to move or breathe: for a brief moment, Eragon fancied that they were all statues frozen for eternity. A single plume of incense drifted from the bier, wind-ing toward the hazy ceiling as it spread the scent of cedar and juniper. It was the only motion in the hall, a whiplash line undulating sinuously from side to side. Deep in Tronjheim, a drum gonged. Boom. The sonorous bass note resonated through their bones, vibrating the city-mountain and causing it to echo like a great stone bell. They stepped forward. Boom.On the second note, another, lower drum melded with the first, each beat rolling inexorably through the hall. The force of the sound propelled them along at a majestic pace. It gave each step significance, a purpose and gravity suited to the occasion. No thought could exist in the throbbing that surrounded them, only an upwelling of emotion that the drums expertly beguiled, summoning tears and bittersweet joy at the same time. Boom. When the tunnel ended, Ajihad’s bearers paused between the onyx pil-lars before gliding into the central chamber. There Eragon saw the dwarves grow even more solemn upon beholding Isidar Mithrim. Boom. They walked through a crystal graveyard. A circle of towering shards lay in the center of the great chamber, surrounding the inlaid hammer and pentacles. Many pieces were larger than Saphira. The rays of the star sapphire still shimmered in the fragments, and on some, petals of the carved rose were visible. Boom. The bearers continued forward, between the countless razor edges. Then the procession turned and descended broad flights of stairs to the tunnels below. Through many caverns they marched, passing stone huts where dwarven children clutched their mothers and stared with wide eyes. Boom. And with that final crescendo, they halted under ribbed stalactites that branched over a great catacomb lined with alcoves. In each alcove lay a tomb carved with a name and clan crest. Thousands—hundreds Page 348 of thou-sands—were buried here. The only light came from sparsely placed red lanterns, pale in the shadows. After a moment, the bearers strode to a small room annexed to the main chamber. In the center, on a raised platform, was a great crypt open to waiting darkness. On the top was carved in runes: May all, Knurlan, Humans, and Elves, Remember This Man. For he was Noble, Strong, and Wise. Gûntera Arûna When the mourners were gathered around, Ajihad was lowered into the crypt, and those who had known him personally were allowed to ap-proach. Eragon and Saphira were fifth in line, behind Arya. As they as-cended the marble steps to view the body, Eragon was gripped by an overwhelming sense of sorrow, his anguish compounded by the fact that he considered this as much Murtagh’s funeral as Ajihad’s. Stopping alongside the tomb, Eragon gazed down at Ajihad. He ap-peared far more calm and tranquil than he ever did in life, as if death had recognized his greatness and honored him by removing all traces of his worldly cares. Eragon had known Ajihad only a short while, but in that time he had come to respect him both as a person and for what he repre-sented: freedom from tyranny. Also, Ajihad was the first person to grant safe haven to Eragon and Saphira since they left Palancar Valley. Stricken, Eragon tried to think of the greatest praise he could give. In the end, he whispered past the lump in his throat, “You will be remem-bered, Ajihad. I swear it. Rest easy knowing that Nasuada shall continue your work and the Empire will be overthrown because of what you ac-complished.” Conscious of Saphira’s touch on his arm, Eragon stepped off the platform with her and allowed Jörmundur to take his place. When at last everyone had paid their respects, Nasuada bowed over Ajihad and touched her father’s hand, holding it with gentle urgency. Ut-tering a pained groan, she began to sing in a strange, wailing language, filling the cavern with her lamentations. Then came twelve dwarves, who slid a marble slab over Ajihad’s up-turned face. And he was no more. FEALTY Eragon yawned and covered his mouth as people filed into the under-ground amphitheater. The spacious arena echoed with a babble of voices discussing the funeral that had just concluded. Eragon sat on the lowest tier, level with the podium. With him were Orik, Arya, Hrothgar, Nasuada, and the Council of Elders. Saphira stood on the row of stairs that cut upward through the tiers. Leaning over, Orik said, “Ever since Korgan, each of our kings has been chosen here. It’s fitting that the Varden should do likewise.” Page 349 It’s yet to be seen,thought Eragon, if this transfer of power will remain peaceful. He rubbed an eye, brushing away fresh tears; the funeral ceremony had left him shaken. Lathered over the remnants of his grief, anxiety now twisted his gut. He worried about his own role in the upcoming events. Even if all went well, he and Saphira were about to make potent enemies. His hand dropped to Zar’roc and tightened on the pommel. It took several minutes for the amphitheater to fill. Then Jörmundur stepped up to the podium. “People of the Varden, we last stood here fif-teen years ago, at Deynor’s death. His successor, Ajihad, did more to op-pose the Empire and Galbatorix than any before. He won countless bat-tles against superior forces. He nearly killed Durza, putting a scratch on the Shade’s blade. And greatest of all, he welcomed Rider Eragon and Saphira into Tronjheim. However, a new leader must be chosen, one who will win us even more glory.” Someone high above shouted, “Shadeslayer!” Eragon tried not to react—he was pleased to see that Jörmundur did not even blink. He said, “Perhaps in years to come, but he has other du-ties and responsibilities now. No, the Council of Elders has thought long on this: we need one who understands our needs and wants, one who has lived and suffered alongside us. One who refused to flee, even when bat-tle was imminent.” At that moment, Eragon sensed comprehension rush through the lis-teners. The name came as a whisper from a thousand throats and was ut-tered by Jörmundur himself: “Nasuada.” With a bow, Jörmundur stepped aside. Next was Arya. She surveyed the waiting audience, then said, “The elves honor Ajihad tonight.... And on behalf of Queen Islanzadí, I recog-nize Nasuada’s ascension and offer her the same support and friendship we extended to her father. May the stars watch over her.” Hrothgar took the podium and stated gruffly, “I too support Nasuada, as do the clans.” He moved aside. Then it was Eragon’s turn. Standing before the crowd, with all eyes upon him and Saphira, he said, “We support Nasuada as well.” Saphira growled in affirmation. Pledges spoken, the Council of Elders lined themselves on either side of the podium, Jörmundur at their head. Bearing herself proudly, Nasuada approached and knelt before him, her dress splayed in raven billows. Raising his voice, Jörmundur said, “By the right of inheritance and succes-sion, we have chosen Nasuada. By merit of her father’s achievements and the blessings of her peers, we have chosen Nasuada. I now ask you: Have we chosen well?” The roar was overwhelming. “Yes!” Jörmundur nodded. “Then by the power granted to this council, we pass the privileges and responsibilities accorded to Ajihad to his only de-scendant, Nasuada.” He gently placed a circlet of silver on Nasuada’s brow. Taking her hand, he lifted her upright and pronounced, “I give you our new leader!” For ten minutes, the Varden and dwarves cheered, thundering their approbation until the hall rang with the clamor. Once their cries sub-sided, Sabrae motioned to Eragon, whispering, “Now is the time to fulfill your promise.” Page 350 At that moment, all noise seemed to cease for Eragon. His nervousness disappeared too, swallowed in the tide of the moment. Steeling himself with a breath, he and Saphira started toward Jörmundur and Nasuada, each step an eternity. As they walked, he stared at Sabrae, Elessari, Umérth, and Falberd—noting their half-smiles, smugness, and on Sabrae’s part, outright disdain. Behind the council members stood Arya. She nod-ded in support. We are about to change history,said Saphira. We’re throwing ourselves off a cliff without knowing how deep the water below is. Ah, but what a glorious flight! With a brief look at Nasuada’s serene face, Eragon bowed and kneeled. Slipping Zar’roc from its sheath, he placed the sword flat on his palms, then lifted it, as if to proffer it to Jörmundur. For a moment, the sword hovered between Jörmundur and Nasuada, teetering on the wire edge of two different destinies. Eragon felt his breath catch—such a simple choice to balance a life on. And more than a life—a dragon, a king, an Empire! Then his breath rushed in, filling his lungs with time once again, and he swung to face Nasuada. “Out of deep respect... and appreciation of the difficulties facing you... I, Eragon, first Rider of the Varden, Shadeslayer and Argetlam, give you my blade and my fealty, Nasuada.” The Varden and dwarves stared, dumbstruck. In that same instant, the Council of Elders flashed from triumphant gloating to enraged impo-tence. Their glares burned with the strength and venom of those be-trayed. Even Elessari let outrage burst through her pleasant demeanor. Only Jörmundur—after a brief jolt of surprise—seemed to accept the announcement with equanimity. Nasuada smiled and grasped Zar’roc, placing the sword’s tip on Eragon’s forehead, just as before. “I am honored that you choose to serve me, Rider Eragon. I accept, as you accept all the responsibilities accompany-ing the station. Rise as my vassal and take your sword.” Eragon did so, then stepped back with Saphira. With shouts of ap-proval, the crowd rose to their feet, the dwarves stamping in rhythm with their hobnail boots while human warriors banged swords across shields. Turning to the podium, Nasuada gripped it on either side and looked up at all the people in the amphitheater. She beamed at them, pure joy shining from her face. “People of the Varden!” Silence. “As my father did before me, I give my life to you and our cause. I will never cease fighting until the Urgals are vanquished, Galbatorix is dead, and Alagaësia is free once more!” More cheering and applause. “Therefore, I say to you, now is the time to prepare. Here in Farthen Dûr—after endless skirmishes—we won our greatest battle. It is our turn to strike back. Galbatorix is weak after losing so many forces, and there will never again be such an opportunity. “Therefore, I say again, now is the time to prepare so that we may once more stand victorious!” Page 351 After more speeches by various personages—including a still-glowering Falberd—the amphitheater began to empty. As Eragon stood to leave, Orik grasped his arm, stopping him. The dwarf was wide-eyed. “Eragon, did you plan all that beforehand?” Eragon briefly considered the wisdom of telling him, then nodded. “Yes.” Orik exhaled, shaking his head. “That was a bold stroke, it was. You’ve given Nasuada a strong position to begin with. It was dangerous, though, if the reactions of the Council of Elders are anything to judge by. Did Arya approve of this?” “She agreed it was necessary.” The dwarf studied him thoughtfully. “I’m sure it was. You just altered the balance of power, Eragon. No one will underestimate you again be-cause of it.... Beware the rotten stone. You have earned some powerful enemies today.” He slapped Eragon on the side and continued past. Saphira watched him go, then said, We should prepare to leave Farthen Dûr. The council will be thirsty for revenge. The sooner we’re out of their reach, the better. A SORCERESS, A SNAKE, AND A SCROLL That evening, as Eragon returned to his quarters from bathing, he was surprised to find a tall woman waiting for him in the hall. She had dark hair, startling blue eyes, and a wry mouth. Wound around her wrist was a gold bracelet shaped like a hissing snake. Eragon hoped that she wasn’t there to ask him for advice, like so many of the Varden. “Argetlam.” She curtsied gracefully. He inclined his head in return. “Can I help you?” “I hope so. I’m Trianna, sorceress of Du Vrangr Gata.” “Really? A sorceress?” he asked, intrigued. “And battle mage and spy and anything else the Varden deem neces-sary. There aren’t enough magic users, so we each end up with a half-dozen tasks.” She smiled, displaying even, white teeth. “That’s why I came today. We would be honored to have you take charge of our group. You’re the only one who can replace the Twins.” Almost without realizing it, he smiled back. She was so friendly and charming, he hated to say no. “I’m afraid I can’t; Saphira and I are leaving Tronjheim soon. Besides, I’d have to consult with Nasuada first anyway.” And I don’t want to be entangled in any more politics... especially not where the Twins used to lead. Trianna bit her lip. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She moved a step closer. “Perhaps we can spend some time together before you have to go. I could show you how to summon and control spirits.... It would be educational for both of us.” Page 352 Eragon felt a hot flush warm his face. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m really too busy at the moment.” A spark of anger flared within Trianna’s eyes, then vanished so quickly, he wondered whether he had seen it at all. She sighed delicately. “I un-derstand.” She sounded so disappointed—and looked so forlorn—Eragon felt guilty for rebuffing her. It can’t hurt to talk with her for a few minutes, he told himself. “I’m curious; how did you learn magic?” Trianna brightened. “My mother was a healer in Surda. She had a bit of power and was able to instruct me in the old ways. Of course, I’m no-where near as powerful as a Rider. None of Du Vrangr Gata could have defeated Durza alone, like you did. That was a heroic deed.” Embarrassed, Eragon scuffed his boots against the ground. “I wouldn’t have survived if not for Arya.” “You are too modest, Argetlam,” she admonished. “It was you who struck the final blow. You should be proud of your accomplishment. It’s a feat worthy of Vrael himself.” She leaned toward him. His heart quick-ened as he smelled her perfume, which was rich and musky, with a hint of an exotic spice. “Have you heard the songs composed about you? The Varden sing them every night around their fires. They say you’ve come to take the throne from Galbatorix!” “No,” said Eragon, quick and sharp. That was one rumor he would not tolerate. “They might, but I don’t. Whatever my fate may be, I don’t as-pire to rule.” “And it’s wise of you not to. What is a king, after all, but a man impris-oned by his duties? That would be a poor reward indeed for the last free Rider and his dragon. No, for you the ability to go and do what you will and, by extension, to shape the future of Alagaësia.” She paused. “Do you have any family left in the Empire?” What?“ Only a cousin.” “Then you’re not betrothed?” The question caught him off guard. He had never been asked that be-fore. “No, I’m not betrothed.” “Surely there must be someone you care about.” She came another step closer, and her ribboned sleeve brushed his arm. “I wasn’t close to anyone in Carvahall,” he faltered, “and I’ve been trav-eling since then.” Trianna drew back slightly, then lifted her wrist so the serpent bracelet was at eye level. “Do you like him?” she inquired. Eragon blinked and nodded, though it was actually rather disconcerting. “I call him Lorga. He’s my familiar and protector.” Bending forward, she blew upon the bracelet, then murmured, “Sé orúm thornessa hávr sharjalví lífs.” With a dry rustle, the snake stirred to life. Eragon watched, fascinated, as the creature writhed around Trianna’s pale arm, then lifted itself and fixed its whirling ruby eyes upon him, wire tongue whipping in and out. Its eyes seemed to expand until they were each as large as Eragon’s fist. He felt as if he were tumbling into their fiery depths; he could not look away no matter how hard he tried. Then at a short command, the serpent stiffened and resumed its former position. With a tired sigh, Page 353 Trianna leaned against the wall. “Not many people understand what we magic users do. But I wanted you to know that there are others like you, and we will help if we can.” Impulsively, Eragon put his hand on hers. He had never attempted to approach a woman this way before, but instinct urged him onward, dar-ing him to take the chance. It was frightening, exhilarating. “If you want, we could go and eat. There’s a kitchen not far from here.” She slipped her other hand over his, fingers smooth and cool, so differ-ent from the rough grips he was accustomed to. “I’d like that. Shall we—” Trianna stumbled forward as the door burst open behind her. The sor-ceress whirled around, only to yelp as she found herself face to face with Saphira. Saphira remained motionless, except for one lip that slowly lifted to reveal a line of jagged teeth. Then she growled. It was a marvelous growl—richly layered with scorn and menace—that rose and fell through the hall for more than a minute. Listening to it was like enduring a blis-tering, hackle-raising tirade. Eragon glared at her the whole time. When it was over, Trianna was clenching her dress with both fists, twisting the fabric. Her face was white and scared. She quickly curtsied to Saphira, then, with a barely controlled motion, turned and fled. Acting as if nothing had happened, Saphira lifted a leg and licked a claw. It was nearly impossible to get the door open, she sniffed. Eragon could not contain himself any longer. Why did you do that? he exploded. You had no reason to interfere! You needed my help,she continued, unperturbed. If I’d needed your help, I would have called! Don’t yell at me, she snapped, letting her jaws click together. He could sense her emotions boiling with as much turmoil as his. I’ll not have you run around with a slattern who cares more for Eragon as Rider than you as a person. She wasn’t a slattern,roared Eragon. He pounded the wall in frustra-tion. I’m a man now, Saphira, not a hermit. You can’t expect me to ignore... ignore women just because of who I am. And it’s certainly not your decision to make. At the very least, I might have enjoyed a conversation with her, anything other than the tragedies we’ve dealt with lately. You’re in my head enough to know how I feel. Why couldn’t you leave me alone? Where was the harm? You don’t understand.She refused to meet his eyes. Don’t understand! Will you prevent me from ever having a wife and chil-dren? What of a family? Eragon.She finally fixed one great eye on him. We are intimately linked. Obviously! And if you pursue a relationship, with or without my blessing, and be-come... attached... to someone, my feelings will become engaged as well. You should know that. Therefore—and I warn you only once—be careful who you choose, because it will involve both of us. Page 354 He briefly considered her words. Our bond works both ways, however. If you hate someone, I will be influenced likewise.... I understand your con-cern. So you weren’t just jealous? She licked the claw once more. Perhaps a little. Eragon was the one who growled this time. He brushed past her into the room, grabbed Zar’roc, then stalked away, belting on the sword. He wandered through Tronjheim for hours, avoiding contact with eve-ryone. What had occurred pained him, though he could not deny the truth of Saphira’s words. Of all the matters they shared, this was the most delicate and the one they agreed upon least. That night—for the first time since he was captured at Gil’ead—he slept away from Saphira, in one of the dwarves’ barracks. Eragon returned to their quarters the following morning. By unspoken consent, he and Saphira avoided discussing what had transpired; further argument was pointless when neither party was willing to yield ground. Besides, they were both so relieved to be reunited, they did not want to risk endangering their friendship again. They were eating lunch—Saphira tearing at a bloody haunch—when Jarsha trotted up. Like before, he stared wide-eyed at Saphira, following her movements as she nibbled off the end of a leg bone. “Yes?” asked Er-agon, wiping his chin and wondering if the Council of Elders had sent for them. He had heard nothing from them since the funeral. Jarsha turned away from Saphira long enough to say, “Nasuada would like to see you, sir. She’s waiting in her father’s study.” Sir!Eragon almost laughed. Only a little while ago, he would have been calling people sir, not the other way around. He glanced at Saphira. “Are you done, or should we wait a few minutes?” Rolling her eyes, she fit the rest of the meat into her mouth and split the bone with a loud crack. I’m done. “All right,” said Eragon, standing, “you can go, Jarsha. We know the way.” It took almost half an hour to reach the study because of the city-mountain’s size. As during Ajihad’s rule, the door was guarded, but in-stead of two men, an entire squad of battle-hardened warriors now stood before it, alert for the slightest hint of danger. They would clearly sacri-fice themselves to protect their new leader from ambush or attack. Though the men could not have failed to recognize Eragon and Saphira, they barred the way while Nasuada was alerted of her visitors. Only then were the two allowed to enter. Eragon immediately noticed a change: a vase of flowers in the study. The small purple blossoms were unobtrusive, but they suffused the air with a warm fragrance that—for Eragon—evoked summers of fresh-picked raspberries and scythed fields turning bronze under the sun. He inhaled, appreciating the skill with which Nasuada had asserted her indi-viduality without obliterating Ajihad’s memory. She sat behind the broad desk, still cloaked in the black of mourning. As Eragon seated himself, Saphira beside him, she said, “Eragon.” It was a simple statement, neither friendly nor hostile. She turned away briefly, then focused on him, her gaze steely and intent. “I have Page 355 spent the last few days reviewing the Varden’s affairs, such as they are. It was a dismal exer-cise. We are poor, overextended, and low on supplies, and few recruits are joining us from the Empire. I mean to change that. “The dwarves cannot support us much longer, as it’s been a lean year for farming and they’ve suffered losses of their own. Considering this, I have decided to move the Varden to Surda. It’s a difficult proposition, but one I believe necessary to keep us safe. Once in Surda, we will finally be close enough to engage the Empire directly.” Even Saphira stirred with surprise. The work that would involve! said Er-agon. It could take months to get everyone’s belongings to Surda, not to men-tion all the people. And they’d probably be attacked along the way. “I thought King Orrin didn’t dare openly oppose Galbatorix,” he protested. Nasuada smiled grimly. “His stance has changed since we defeated the Urgals. He will shelter and feed us and fight by our side. Many Varden are already in Surda, mainly women and children who couldn’t or wouldn’t fight. They will also support us, else I will strip our name from them.” “How,” asked Eragon, “did you communicate with King Orrin so quickly?” “The dwarves use a system of mirrors and lanterns to relay messages through their tunnels. They can send a dispatch from here to the western edge of the Beor Mountains in less than a day. Couriers then transport it to Aberon, capital of Surda. Fast as it is, that method is still too slow when Galbatorix can surprise us with an Urgal army and give us less than a day’s notice. I intend to arrange something far more expedient between Du Vrangr Gata and Hrothgar’s magicians before we go.” Opening the desk drawer, Nasuada removed a thick scroll. “The Varden will depart Farthen Dûr within the month. Hrothgar has agreed to provide us with safe passage through the tunnels. Moreover, he sent a force to Orthíad to remove the last vestiges of Urgals and seal the tunnels so no one can invade the dwarves by that route again. As this may not be enough to guarantee the Varden’s survival, I have a favor to ask of you.” Eragon nodded. He had expected a request or order. That was the only reason for her to have summoned them. “I am yours to command.” “Perhaps.” Her eyes flicked to Saphira for a second. “In any case, this is not a command, and I want you to think carefully before replying. To help rally support for the Varden, I wish to spread word throughout the Empire that a new Rider—named Eragon Shadeslayer—and his dragon, Saphira, have joined our cause. I would like your permission before doing so, however.” It’s too dangerous,objected Saphira. Word of our presence here will reach the Empire anyway,pointed out Er-agon. The Varden will want to brag about their victory and Durza’s death. Since it’ll happen with or without our approval, we should agree to help. She snorted softly. I’m worried about Galbatorix. Until now we haven’t made it public where our sympathies lie. Our actions have been clear enough. Yes, but even when Durza fought you in Tronjheim, he wasn’t trying to kill you. If we become Page 356 outspoken in our opposition to the Empire, Galbatorix won’t be so lenient again. Who knows what forces or plots he may have kept in abeyance while he tried to gain hold of us? As long as we remain am-biguous, he won’t know what to do. The time for ambiguity has passed,asserted Eragon. We fought the Ur-gals, killed Durza, and I have sworn fealty to the leader of the Varden. No ambiguity exists. No, with your permission, I will agree to her proposal. She was silent for a long while, then dipped her head. As you wish. He put a hand on her side before returning his attention to Nasuada and saying, “Do what you see fit. If this is how we can best assist the Varden, so be it.” “Thank you. I know it is a lot to ask. Now, as we discussed before the funeral, I expect you to travel to Ellesméra and complete your training.” “With Arya?” “Of course. The elves have refused contact with both humans and dwarves ever since she was captured. Arya is the only being who can convince them to emerge from seclusion.” “Couldn’t she use magic to tell them of her rescue?” “Unfortunately not. When the elves retreated into Du Weldenvarden after the fall of the Riders, they placed wards around the forest that pre-vent any thought, item, or being from entering it through arcane means, though not from exiting it, if I understood Arya’s explanation. Thus, Arya must physically visit Du Weldenvarden before Queen Islanzadí will know that she is alive, that you and Saphira exist, and of the numerous events that have befallen the Varden these past months.” Nasuada handed him the scroll. It was stamped with a wax sigil. “This is a missive for Queen Islanzadí, telling her about the Varden’s situation and my own plans. Guard it with your life; it would cause a great deal of harm in the wrong hands. I hope that after all that’s happened, Islanzadí will feel kindly enough toward us to reinitiate diplomatic ties. Her assistance could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Arya knows this and has agreed to press our case, but I wanted you aware of the situation too, so you could take advantage of any opportunities that might arise.” Eragon tucked the scroll into his jerkin. “When will we leave?” “Tomorrow morning... unless you have something already planned?” “No.” “Good.” She clasped her hands. “You should know, one other person will be traveling with you.” He looked at her quizzically. “King Hrothgar insisted that in the interest of fairness there should be a dwarf representa-tive present at your training, since it affects their race as well. So he’s sending Orik along.” Eragon’s first reaction was irritation. Saphira could have flown Arya and him to Du Weldenvarden, thereby eliminating weeks of unnecessary travel. Three passengers, however, were too many to fit on Saphira’s shoulders. Orik’s presence would confine them to the ground. Upon further reflection, Eragon acknowledged the wisdom of Hroth-gar’s request. It was important for Eragon and Saphira to maintain a sem-blance of equality in their dealings with the different races. He Page 357 smiled. “Ah, well, it’ll slow us down, but I suppose we have to placate Hrothgar. To tell the truth, I’m glad Orik is coming. Crossing Alagaësia with only Arya was a rather daunting prospect. She’s...” Nasuada smiled too. “She’s different.” “Aye.” He grew serious again. “Do you really mean to attack the Em-pire? You said yourself that the Varden are weak. It doesn’t seem like the wisest course. If we wait—” “If we wait,” she said sternly, “Galbatorix will only get stronger. This is the first time since Morzan was slain that we have even the slightest op-portunity of catching him unprepared. He had no reason to suspect we could defeat the Urgals—which we did thanks to you—so he won’t have readied the Empire for invasion.” Invasion!exclaimed Saphira. And how does she plan to kill Galbatorix when he flies out to obliterate their army with magic? Nasuada shook her head in response when Eragon restated the objec-tion. “From what we know of him, he won’t fight until Urû’baen itself is threatened. It doesn’t matter to Galbatorix if we destroy half the Empire, so long as we come to him, not the other way around. Why should he bother anyway? If we do manage to reach him, our troops will be bat-tered and depleted, making it all the easier for him to destroy us.” “You still haven’t answered Saphira,” protested Eragon. “That’s because I can’t yet. This will be a long campaign. By its end you might be powerful enough to defeat Galbatorix, or the elves may have joined us... and their spellcasters are the strongest in Alagaësia. No matter what happens, we cannot afford to delay. Now is the time to gamble and dare what no one thinks we can accomplish. The Varden have lived in the shadows for too long—we must either challenge Galbatorix or sub-mit and pass away.” The scope of what Nasuada was suggesting disturbed Eragon. So many risks and unknown dangers were involved, it was almost absurd to con-sider such a venture. However, it was not his place to make the decision, and he accepted that. Nor would he dispute it further. We have to trust in her judgment now. “But what of you, Nasuada? Will you be safe while we’re gone? I must think of my vow. It’s become my responsibility to ensure that you won’t have your own funeral soon.” Her jaw tightened as she gestured at the door and the warriors beyond. “You needn’t fear, I am well defended.” She looked down. “I will admit... one reason for going to Surda is that Orrin knows me of old and will offer his protection. I cannot tarry here with you and Arya gone and the Council of Elders still with power. They won’t accept me as their leader until I prove beyond doubt that the Varden are under my control, not theirs.” Then she seemed to draw on some inner strength, squaring her shoul-ders and lifting her chin so she was distant and aloof. “Go now, Eragon. Ready your horse, gather supplies, and be at the north gate by dawn.” He bowed low, respecting her return to formality, then left with Saphira. After dinner, Eragon and Saphira flew together. They sailed high above Tronjheim, where crenulated Page 358 icicles hung from the sides of Farthen Dûr, forming a great white band around them. Though it was still hours until night, it was already nearly dark within the mountain. Eragon threw back his head, savoring the air on his face. He missed the wind—wind that would rush through the grass and stir the clouds until everything was tousled and fresh. Wind that would bring rain and storms and lash the trees so they bent. For that matter, I miss trees as well, he thought. Farthen Dûr is an incredible place, but it’s as empty of plants and animals as Ajihad’s tomb. Saphira agreed. The dwarves seem to think that gems take the place of flowers. She was silent as the light continued to fade. When it was too dark for Eragon to see comfortably, she said, It’s late. We should return. All right. She drifted toward the ground in great, lazy spirals, drawing nearer to Tronjheim—which glowed like a beacon in the center of Farthen Dûr. They were still far from the city-mountain when she swung her head, saying, Look. He followed her gaze, but all he could see was the gray, featureless plain below them. What? Instead of answering, she tilted her wings and glided to their left, slip-ping down to one of the four roads that radiated from Tronjheim along the cardinal compass points. As they landed, he noticed a patch of white on a small hill nearby. The patch wavered strangely in the dusk, like a floating candle, then resolved into Angela, who was wearing a pale wool tunic. The witch carried a wicker basket nearly four feet across and filled with a wild assortment of mushrooms, most of which Eragon did not recognize. As she approached, he gestured at them and said, “You’ve been gathering toadstools?” “Hello,” laughed Angela, putting her load down. “Oh no, toadstool is far too general a term. And anyway, they really ought to be called frogstools, not toadstools.” She spread them with her hand. “ This one is sulphur tuft, and this is an inkcap, and here’s navelcap, and dwarf shield, russet tough-shank, blood ring, and that is a spotted deceiver. Delightful, isn’t it!” She pointed to each in turn, ending on a mushroom with pink, lavender, and yellow splashed in rivulets across its cap. “And that one?” he asked, indicating a mushroom with a lightning-blue stem, molten-orange gills, and a glossy black two-tiered cap. She looked at it fondly. “Fricai Andlát, as the elves might say. The stalk is instant death, while the cap can cure most poisons. It’s what Tunivor’s Nectar is extracted from. Fricai Andlát only grows in caves in Du Wel-denvarden and Farthen Dûr, and it would die out here if the dwarves started carting their dung elsewhere.” Eragon looked back at the hill and realized that was exactly what it was, a dung heap. “Hello, Saphira,” said Angela, reaching past him to pat Saphira on the nose. Saphira blinked and looked pleased, tail twitching. At the same time, Solembum padded into sight, his mouth clamped firmly around a limp rat. Without so much as a flick of his whiskers, the werecat settled on the ground and began to nibble on the rodent, studiously ignoring the three of them. “So,” said Angela, tucking back a curl of her enormous hair, “off to Ellesméra?” Eragon nodded. He did Page 359 not bother asking how she had found out; she always seemed to know what was going on. When he remained silent, she scowled. “Well, don’t act so morose. It’s not as if it’s your exe-cution!” “I know.” “Then smile, because if it’s not your execution, you should be happy! You’re as flaccid as Solembum’s rat. Flaccid. What a wonderful word, don’t you think?” That wrung a grin out of him, and Saphira chortled with amusement deep in her throat. “I’m not sure it’s quite as wonderful as you think, but yes, I understand your point.” “I’m glad you understand. Understanding is good.” With arched eye-brows, she hooked a fingernail underneath a mushroom and flipped it over, inspecting its gills as she said, “It’s fortuitous we met tonight, as you are about to leave and I... I will accompany the Varden to Surda. As I told you before, I like to be where things are happening, and that’s the place.” Eragon grinned even more. “Well then, that must mean we’ll have a safe journey, else you’d be with us.” Angela shrugged, then said seriously, “Be careful in Du Weldenvarden. Just because elves do not display their emotions doesn’t mean they aren’t subject to rage and passion like the rest of us mortals. What can make them so deadly, though, is how they conceal it, sometimes for years.” “You’ve been there?” “Once upon a time.” After a pause, he asked, “What do you think of Nasuada’s plans?” “Mmm... she’s doomed! You’re doomed! They’re all doomed!” She cackled, doubling over, then straightened abruptly. “Notice I didn’t spec-ify what kind of doom, so no matter what happens, I predicted it. How very wise of me.” She lifted the basket again, setting it on one hip. “I sup-pose I won’t see you for a while, so farewell, best of luck, avoid roasted cabbage, don’t eat earwax, and look on the bright side of life!” And with a cheery wink, she strolled off, leaving Eragon blinking and nonplussed. After an appropriate pause, Solembum picked up his dinner and fol-lowed, ever so dignified. HROTHGAR’S GIFT Dawn was a half hour away when Eragon and Saphira arrived at Tron-jheim’s north gate. The gate was raised just enough to let Saphira pass, so they hurried underneath it, then waited in the recessed area beyond, where red jasper pillars loomed above and carved beasts snarled between the bloody piers. Past those, at the very edge of Tronjheim, sat two thirty-foot-high gold griffins. Identical pairs guarded each of the city-mountain’s gates. No one was in sight. Eragon held Snowfire’s reins. The stallion was brushed, reshoed, and saddled, his saddlebags bulging with goods. He pawed the floor impa-tiently; Eragon had not ridden him for over a week. Before long Orik ambled up, bearing a large pack on his back and a bundle in his arms. “No horse?” asked Eragon, somewhat surprised. Are we supposed to walk all the way to Du Weldenvarden? Page 360 Orik grunted. “We’ll be stopping at Tarnag, just north of here. From there we take rafts along the Az Ragni to Hedarth, an outpost for trading with the elves. We won’t need steeds before Hedarth, so I’ll use my own feet till then.” He set the bundle down with a clang, then unwrapped it, revealing Er-agon’s armor. The shield had been repainted—so the oak tree stood clearly in the center—and all the dings and scrapes removed. Beneath it was the long mail shirt, burnished and oiled until the steel gleamed bril-liantly. No sign existed of where it had been rent when Durza cut Er-agon’s back. The coif, gloves, bracers, greaves, and helmet were likewise repaired. “Our greatest smiths worked on these,” said Orik, “as well as your ar-mor, Saphira. However, since we can’t take dragon armor with us, it was given to the Varden, who will guard it against our return.” Please thank him for me,said Saphira. Eragon obliged, then laced on the greaves and bracers, storing the other items in his bags. Last of all, he reached for his helm, only to find Orik holding it. The dwarf rolled the piece between his hands, then said, “Do not be so quick to don this, Eragon. There is a choice you must make first.” “What choice is that?” Raising the helmet, Orik uncovered its polished brow, which, Eragon now saw, had been altered: etched in the steel were the hammer and stars of Hrothgar and Orik’s clan, the Ingeitum. Orik scowled, looking both pleased and troubled, and said in a formal voice, “Mine king, Hroth-gar, desires that I present this helm as a symbol of the friendship he bears for you. And with it Hrothgar extends an offer to adopt you as one of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum, as a member of his own family.” Eragon stared at the helm, amazed that Hrothgar would make such a gesture. Does this mean I’d be subjected to his rule?... If I continue to accrue loyalties and allegiances at this pace, I’ll be incapacitated before long— unable to do anything without breaking some oath! You don’t have to put it on,pointed out Saphira. And risk insulting Hrothgar? Once again, we’re trapped. It may be intended as a gift, though, another sign of otho, not a trap. I would guess he’s thanking us for my offer to repair Isidar Mithrim. That had not occurred to Eragon, for he had been too busy trying to figure out how the dwarf king might gain advantage over them. True. But I think it’s also an attempt to correct the imbalance of power created when I swore fealty to Nasuada. The dwarves couldn’t have been pleased with that turn of events. He looked back at Orik, who was waiting anxiously. “How often has this been done?” “For a human? Never. Hrothgar argued with the Ingeitum families for a day and a night before they agreed to accept you. If you consent to bear our crest, you will have full rights as clan member. You may attend our councils and give voice on every issue. And,” he grew very somber, “if you so wish, you will have the right to be buried with our dead.” For the first time, the enormity of Hrothgar’s action struck Eragon. The dwarves could offer no higher honor. With a swift motion, he took the helm from Orik and pressed it down upon his head. “I am Page 361 privileged to join Dûrgrimst Ingeitum.” Orik nodded with approval and said, “Then take this Knurlnien, this Heart of Stone, and cup it between your hands—yes, like so. You must steel yourself now and prick open a vein to wet the stone. A few drops will suffice.... To finish, repeat after me: Os il dom qirânû carn dûr thargen, zeitmen, oen grimst vor formv edaris rak skilfz. Narho is belgond...” It was a lengthy recitation and all the longer because Orik stopped to translate every few sentences. Afterward, Eragon healed his wrist with a quick spell. “Whatever else the clans may say about this business,” observed Orik, “you have behaved with integrity and respect. They cannot ignore that.” He grinned. “We are of the same clan now, eh? You are my foster brother! Under more normal circumstances, Hrothgar would have pre-sented your helm himself and we would have held a lengthy ceremony to commemorate your induction into Dûrgrimst Ingeitum, but events move too swiftly for us to tarry. Fear not that you are being slighted, though! Your adoption shall be celebrated with the proper rituals when you and Saphira next return to Farthen Dûr. You shall feast and dance and have many pieces of paper to sign in order to formalize your new position.” “I look forward to the day,” said Eragon. He was still preoccupied with sifting through the numerous possible ramifications of belonging to Dûr-grimst Ingeitum. Sitting against a pillar, Orik shrugged off his pack and drew his ax, which he proceeded to twirl between his palms. After several minutes, he leaned forward, glaring back into Tronjheim. “Barzûl knurlar! Where are they? Arya said she would be right here. Ha! Elves’ only concept of time is late and even later.” “Have you dealt with them much?” asked Eragon, crouching. Saphira watched with interest. The dwarf laughed suddenly. “Eta. Only Arya, and then sporadically be-cause she traveled so often. In seven decades, I’ve learned but one thing about her: You can’t rush an elf. Trying is like hammering a file—it might break, but it’ll never bend.” “Aren’t dwarves the same?” “Ah, but stone will shift, given enough time.” Orik sighed and shook his head. “Of all the races, elves change the least, which is one reason I’m re-luctant to go.” “But we’ll get to meet Queen Islanzadí and see Ellesméra and who knows what else? When was the last time a dwarf was invited into Du Weldenvarden?” Orik frowned at him. “Scenery means nothing. Urgent tasks remain in Tronjheim and our other cities, yet I must tramp across Alagaësia to ex-change pleasantries and sit and grow fat as you are tutored. It could take years!” Years!... Still, if that’s what is required to defeat Shades and the Ra’zac, I’ll do it. Saphira touched his mind: I doubt Nasuada will let us stay in Ellesméra for more than a few months. With what she told us, we’ll be needed fairly soon. “At last!” said Orik, pushing himself upright. Approaching were Nasuada—slippers flashing beneath her dress, like mice darting from a hole—Jörmundur, and Arya, who bore a pack like Orik’s. She wore the same black leather outfit Eragon had first seen her in, as well as her sword. Page 362 At that moment, it struck Eragon that Arya and Nasuada might not approve of him joining the Ingeitum. Guilt and trepidation shot through him as he realized that it had been his duty to consult Nasuada first. And Arya! He cringed, remembering how angry she had been after his first meeting with the Council of Elders. Thus, when Nasuada stopped before him, he averted his eyes, ashamed. But she only said, “You accepted.” Her voice was gentle, restrained. He nodded, still looking down. “I wondered if you would. Now once again, all three races have a hold on you. The dwarves can claim your allegiance as a member of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum, the elves will train and shape you—and their influence may be the strongest, for you and Saphira are bound by their magic—and you have sworn fealty to me, a human.... Perhaps it is best that we share your loyalty.” She met his surprise with an odd smile, then pressed a small bag of coins into his palm and stepped away. Jörmundur extended a hand, which Eragon shook, feeling a bit dazed. “Have a good trip, Eragon. Guard yourself well.” “Come,” said Arya, gliding past them into the darkness of Farthen Dûr. “It is time to leave. Aiedail has set, and we have far to go.” “Aye,” Orik agreed. He pulled out a red lantern from the side of his pack. Nasuada looked them over once more. “Very well. Eragon and Saphira, you have the Varden’s blessings, as well as mine. May your journey be safe. Remember, you carry the weight of our hopes and expectations, so acquit yourselves honorably.” “We will do our best,” promised Eragon. Gripping Snowfire’s reins firmly, he started after Arya, who was already several yards away. Orik followed, then Saphira. As Saphira passed Nasuada, Eragon saw her pause and lightly lick Nasuada on the cheek. Then she lengthened her stride, catching up with him. As they continued north along the road, the gate behind them shrank smaller and smaller until it was reduced to a pinprick of light—with two lonely silhouettes where Nasuada and Jörmundur remained watching. When they finally reached Farthen Dûr’s base, they found a pair of gi-gantic doors—thirty feet tall—open and waiting. Three dwarf guards bowed and moved away from the aperture. Through the doors was a tunnel of matching proportions, lined with columns and lanterns for the first fifty feet. After that it was as empty and silent as a mausoleum. It looked exactly like Farthen Dûr’s western entrance, but Eragon knew that this tunnel was different. Instead of burrowing through the mile-thick base to emerge outside, it proceeded underneath mountain after mountain, all the way to the dwarf city Tarnag. “Here is our path,” said Orik, lifting the lantern. He and Arya crossed over the threshold, but Eragon held back, sud-denly uncertain. While he did not Page 363 fear the dark, neither did he welcome being surrounded by eternal night until they arrived at Tarnag. And once he entered the barren tunnel, he would again be hurling himself into the unknown, abandoning the few things he had grown accustomed to among the Varden in exchange for an uncertain destiny. What is it?asked Saphira. Nothing. He took a breath, then strode forward, allowing the mountain to swallow him in its depths. HAMMER AND TONGS Three days after the Ra’zac’s arrival, Roran found himself pacing uncontrollably along the edge of his camp in the Spine. He had heard nothing since Albriech’s visit, nor was it possible to glean information by observing Carvahall. He glared at the distant tents where the soldiers slept, then continued pacing. At midday Roran had a small, dry lunch. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he wondered, How long are the Ra’zac willing to wait? If it was a test of patience, he was determined to win. To pass the time, he practiced his archery on a rotting log, stopping only when an arrow shattered on a rock embedded in the trunk. After that nothing else remained to do, except to resume striding back and forth along the bare track that stretched from a boulder to where he slept. He was still pacing when footsteps sounded in the forest below. Grab-bing his bow, Roran hid and waited. Relief rushed through him when Baldor’s face bobbed into view. Roran waved him over. As they sat, Roran asked, “Why hasn’t anyone come?” “We couldn’t,” said Baldor, wiping sweat off his brow. “The soldiers have been watching us too closely. This was the first opportunity we had to get away. I can’t stay long either.” He turned his face toward the peak above them and shuddered. “You’re braver than I, staying here. Have you had any trouble with wolves, bears, mountain cats?” “No, no, I’m fine. Did the soldiers say anything new?” “One of them bragged to Morn last night that their squad was hand-picked for this mission.” Roran frowned. “They haven’t been too quiet.... At least two or three of them get drunk each night. A group of them tore up Morn’s common room the first day.” “Did they pay for the damage?” “’Course not.” Roran shifted, staring down at the village. “I still have trouble believing that the Empire would go to these lengths to capture me. What could I give them? What do they think I can give them?” Baldor followed his gaze. “The Ra’zac questioned Katrina today. Some-one mentioned that the two of you are close, and the Ra’zac were curious if she knew where you’d gone.” Page 364 Roran refocused on Baldor’s open face. “Is she all right?” “It would take more than those two to scare her,” reassured Baldor. His next sentence was cautious and probing. “Perhaps you should consider turning yourself in.” “I’d sooner hang myself and them with me!” Roran started up and stalked over his usual route, still tapping his leg. “How can you say that, knowing how they tortured my father?” Catching his arm, Baldor said, “What happens if you remain in hiding and the soldiers don’t give up and leave? They’ll assume we lied to help you escape. The Empire doesn’t forgive traitors.” Roran shrugged off Baldor. He spun around, tapping his leg, then abruptly sat. If don’t show myself, the Ra’zac will blame the people at hand. If I attempt to lead the Ra’zac away... Roran was not a skilled enough woodsman to evade thirty men and the Ra’zac. Eragon could do it, but not me. Still, unless the situation changed, it might be the only choice available to him. He looked at Baldor. “I don’t want anyone to be hurt on my behalf. I’ll wait for now, and if the Ra’zac grow impatient and threaten someone... Well then, I’ll think of something else to do.” “It’s a nasty situation all around,” offered Baldor. “One I intend to survive.” Baldor departed soon afterward, leaving Roran alone with his thoughts on his endless path. He covered mile after mile, grinding a rut into the earth under the weight of his ruminations. When chill dusk arrived, he removed his boots—for fear of wearing them out—and proceeded to pad barefoot. Just as the waxing moon rose and subsumed the night shadows in beams of marble light, Roran noticed a disturbance in Carvahall. Scores of lanterns bobbed through the darkened village, winking in and out as they floated behind houses. The yellow specks clustered in the center of Car-vahall, like a cloud of fireflies, then streamed haphazardly toward the edge of town, where they were met by a hard line of torches from the soldiers’ camp. For two hours, Roran watched the opposing sides face each other—the agitated lanterns milling helplessly against the stolid torches. Finally, the lambent groups dispersed and filtered back into the tents and houses. When nothing else of interest occurred, Roran untied his bedroll and slipped under the blankets. Throughout the next day, Carvahall was consumed with unusual activ-ity. Figures strode between houses and even, Roran was surprised to see, rode out into Palancar Valley toward various farms. At noon he saw two men enter the soldiers’ camp and disappear into the Ra’zac’s tent for al-most an hour. So involved was he with the proceedings, Roran barely moved the en-tire day. He was in the middle of dinner when, as he had hoped, Baldor reap-peared. “Hungry?” asked Roran, gesturing. Baldor shook his head and sat with an air of exhaustion. Dark lines un-der his eyes made his skin look thin and bruised. “Quimby’s dead.” Page 365 Roran’s bowl clattered as it struck the ground. He cursed, wiping cold stew off his leg, then asked, “How?” “A couple of soldiers started bothering Tara last night.” Tara was Morn’s wife. “She didn’t really mind, except the men got in a fight over who she was supposed to serve next. Quimby was there—checking a cask Morn said had turned—and he tried to break them up.” Roran nod-ded. That was Quimby, always interfering to make sure others behaved properly. “Only thing is, a soldier threw a pitcher and hit him on the temple. Killed him instantly.” Roran stared at the ground with his hands on his hips, struggling to re-gain control over his ragged breathing. He felt as if Baldor had knocked the wind out of him. It doesn’t seem possible.... Quimby, gone? The farmer and part-time brewer was as much a part of the landscape as the moun-tains surrounding Carvahall, an unquestioned presence that shaped the fabric of the village. “Will the men be punished?” Baldor held up his hand. “Right after Quimby died, the Ra’zac stole his body from the tavern and hauled it out to their tents. We tried to get it back last night, but they wouldn’t talk with us.” “I saw.” Baldor grunted, rubbing his face. “Dad and Loring met with the Ra’zac today and managed to convince them to release the body. The soldiers, however, won’t face any consequences.” He paused. “I was about to leave when Quimby was handed over. You know what his wife got? Bones.” “Bones!” “Every one of them was nibbled clean—you could see the bite marks— and most had been cracked open for the marrow.” Disgust gripped Roran, as well as profound horror for Quimby’s fate. It was well known that a person’s spirit could never rest until his body was given a proper burial. Revolted by the desecration, he asked, “What, who, ate him then?” “The soldiers were just as appalled. It must have been the Ra’zac.” “Why? To what end?” “I don’t think,” said Baldor, “that the Ra’zac are human. You’ve never seen them up close, but their breath is foul, and they always cover their faces with black scarves. Their backs are humped and twisted, and they speak to each other with clicks. Even their men seem to fear them.” “If they aren’t human, then what kind of creatures can they be?” de-manded Roran. “They’re not Urgals.” “Who knows?” Fear now joined Roran’s revulsion—fear of the supernatural. He saw it echoed on Baldor’s face as the young man clasped his hands. For all the stories of Galbatorix’s misdeeds, it was still a shock to have the king’s evil roosted among their homes. A sense of history settled on Roran as he re-alized he was involved with forces he had previously been acquainted with only through songs and stories. “Something should be done,” he muttered. Page 366 The air grew warmer through the night, until by afternoon Palancar Valley shimmered and sweltered with the unexpected spring heat. Car-vahall looked peaceful under the bald blue sky, yet Roran could feel the sour resentment that clenched its inhabitants with malicious intensity. The calm was like a sheet stretched taut in the wind. Despite the aura of expectation, the day proved to be utterly boring; Roran spent most of his time brushing Horst’s mare. At last he lay to sleep, looking up past the towering pines at the haze of stars that adorned the night sky. They seemed so close, it felt as if he hurtled among them, falling toward the blackest void. The moon was setting when Roran woke, his throat raw from smoke. He coughed and rolled upright, blinking as his eyes burned and watered. The noxious fumes made it difficult to breathe. Roran grabbed his blankets and saddled the frightened mare, then spurred her farther up the mountain, hoping to find clear air. It quickly became apparent that the smoke was ascending with him, so he turned and cut sideways through the forest. After several minutes spent maneuvering in the dark, they finally broke free and rode onto a ledge swept clean by a breeze. Purging his lungs with long breaths, Roran scanned the valley for the fire. He spotted it in an in-stant. Carvahall’s hay barn glowed white in a cyclone of flames, transforming its precious contents into a fountain of amber motes. Roran trembled as he watched the destruction of the town’s feed. He wanted to scream and run through the forest to help with the bucket brigade, yet he could not force himself to abandon his own safety. Now a molten spark landed on Delwin’s house. Within seconds, the thatched roof exploded in a wave of fire. Roran cursed and tore his hair, tears streaming down his face. This was why mishandling fire was a hanging offense in Carvahall. Was it an acci-dent? Was it the soldiers? Are the Ra’zac punishing the villagers for shield- ing me?... Am I somehow responsible for this? Fisk’s house joined the conflagration next. Aghast, Roran could only avert his face, hating himself for his cowardice. By dawn all the fires had been extinguished or burned out on their own. Only sheer luck and a calm night saved the rest of Carvahall from being consumed. Roran waited until he was sure of the outcome, then retreated to his old camp and threw himself down to rest. From morning through eve-ning, he was oblivious to the world, except through the lens of his trou-bled dreams. Upon his return to awareness, Roran simply waited for the visitor he was sure would appear. This time it was Albriech. He arrived at dusk with a grim, worn expression. “Come with me,” he said. Roran tensed. “Why?” Have they decided to give me up? If he was the cause of the fire, he could understand the villagers wanting him gone. He might even agree it was necessary. It was unreasonable to Page 367 expect every-one in Carvahall to sacrifice themselves for him. Still, that did not mean he would allow them to just hand him over to the Ra’zac. After what the two monsters had done to Quimby, Roran would fight to the death to avoid being their prisoner. “Because,” said Albriech, clenching his jaw muscles, “it was the soldiers who started the fire. Morn banned them from the Seven Sheaves, but they still got drunk on their own beer. One of them dropped a torch against the hay barn on his way to bed.” “Was anyone hurt?” asked Roran. “A few burns. Gertrude was able to handle them. We tried to negotiate with the Ra’zac. They spat on our requests that the Empire replace our losses and the guilty face justice. They even refused to confine the sol-diers to the tents.” “So why should I return?” Albriech chuckled hollowly. “For hammer and tongs. We need your help to... removethe Ra’zac.” “You would do that for me?” “We’re not risking ourselves for your sake alone. This concerns the en-tire village now. At least come talk to Father and the others and hear their thoughts... I’d think you would be glad to get out of these cursed mountains.” Roran considered Albriech’s proposition long and hard before deciding to accompany him. It’s this or run for it, and I can always run later . He fetched the mare, tied his bags to the saddle, then followed Albriech to-ward the valley floor. Their progress slowed as they neared Carvahall, using trees and brush for cover. Slipping behind a rain barrel, Albriech checked to see if the streets were clear, then signaled to Roran. Together they crept from shadow to shade, constantly on guard for the Empire’s servants. At Horst’s forge, Albriech opened one of the double doors just far enough for Roran and the mare to quietly enter. Inside, the workshop was lit by a single candle, which cast a trembling glow over the ring of faces that hovered about it in the surrounding darkness. Horst was there—his thick beard protruded like a shelf into the light—flanked by the hard visages of Delwin, Gedric, and then Loring. The rest of the group was composed of younger men: Baldor, Loring’s three sons, Parr, and Quimby’s boy, Nolfavrell, who was only thirteen. They all turned to look as Roran entered the assembly. Horst said, “Ah, you made it. You escaped misfortune while in the Spine?” “I was lucky.” “Then we can proceed.” “With what, exactly?” Roran hitched the mare to an anvil as he spoke. Loring answered, the shoemaker’s parchment face a mass of contorting lines and grooves. “We have attempted reason with these Ra’zac... these invaders. ” He stopped, his thin frame racked with an unpleasant, metal-lic wheeze deep in his chest. “They have refused reason. They have en-dangered us all Page 368 with no sign of remorse or contrition. ” He made a noise in his throat, then said with pronounced deliberation, “They... must... go. Such creatures—” “No,” said Roran. “Not creatures. Desecrators.” The faces scowled and bobbed in agreement. Delwin picked up the thread of conversation: “The point is, everyone’s life is at stake. If that fire had spread any farther, dozens of people would have been killed and those who escaped would have lost everything they own. As a result, we’ve agreed to drive the Ra’zac away from Carvahall. Will you join us?” Roran hesitated. “What if they return or send for reinforcements? We can’t defeat the entire Empire.” “No,” said Horst, grave and solemn, “but neither can we stand silent and allow the soldiers to kill us and to destroy our property. A man can en-dure only so much abuse before he must strike back.” Loring laughed, throwing back his head so the flame gilded the stumps of his teeth. “First we fortify,” he whispered with glee, “then we fight. We’ll make them regret they ever clapped their festering eyes on Carva-hall! Ha ha!” RETALIATION After Roran agreed to their plan, Horst began distributing shovels, pitchforks, flails—anything that could be used to beat the soldiers and the Ra’zac away. Roran hefted a pick, then set it aside. Though he had never cared for Brom’s stories, one of them, the “Song of Gerand,” resonated with him whenever he heard it. It told of Gerand, the greatest warrior of his time, who relinquished his sword for a wife and farm. He found no peace, however, as a jealous lord initiated a blood feud against Gerand’s family, which forced Gerand to kill once more. Yet he did not fight with his blade, but with a simple hammer. Going to the wall, Roran removed a medium-sized hammer with a long handle and a rounded blade on one side of the head. He tossed it from hand to hand, then went to Horst and asked, “May I have this?” Horst eyed the tool and Roran. “Use it wisely.” Then he said to the rest of the group, “Listen. We want to scare, not kill. Break a few bones if you want, but don’t get carried away. And whatever you do, don’t stand and fight. No matter how brave or heroic you feel, remember that they are trained soldiers.” When everyone was equipped, they left the forge and wound their way through Carvahall to the edge of the Ra’zac’s camp. The soldiers had al-ready gone to bed, except for four sentries who patrolled the perimeter of the gray tents. The Ra’zac’s two horses were picketed by a smoldering fire. Horst quietly issued orders, sending Albriech and Delwin to ambush two of the sentries, and Parr and Roran to ambush the other two. Roran held his breath as he stalked the oblivious soldier. His heart be-gan to shudder as energy spiked through his limbs. He hid behind the corner of a house, quivering, and waited for Horst’s signal. Wait. Wait. Page 369 With a roar, Horst burst from hiding, leading the charge into the tents. Roran darted forward and swung his hammer, catching the sentry on the shoulder with a grisly crunch. The man howled and dropped his halberd. He staggered as Roran struck his ribs and back. Roran raised the hammer again and the man re-treated, screaming for help. Roran ran after him, shouting incoherently. He knocked in the side of a wool tent, trampling whatever was inside, then smashed the top of a helmet he saw emerging from another tent. The metal rang like a bell. Roran barely noticed as Loring danced past—the old man cackled and hooted in the night as he jabbed the soldiers with a pitchfork. Every-where was a confusion of struggling bodies. Whirling around, Roran saw a soldier attempting to string his bow. He rushed forward and hit the back of the bow with his steel mallet, break-ing the wood in two. The soldier fled. The Ra’zac scrambled free of their tent with terrible screeches, swords in hand. Before they could attack, Baldor untethered the horses and sent them galloping toward the two scarecrow figures. The Ra’zac separated, then regrouped, only to be swept away as the soldiers’ morale broke and they ran. Then it was over. Roran panted in the silence, his hand cramped around the hammer’s handle. After a moment, he picked his way through the crumpled mounds of tents and blankets to Horst. The smith was grinning under his beard. “That’s the best brawl I’ve had in years.” Behind them, Carvahall jumped to life as people tried to discover the source of the commotion. Roran watched lamps flare up behind shut-tered windows, then turned as he heard soft sobbing. The boy, Nolfavrell, was kneeling by the body of a soldier, methodi-cally stabbing him in the chest as tears slid down his chin. Gedric and Al-briech hurried over and pulled Nolfavrell away from the corpse. “He shouldn’t have come,” said Roran. Horst shrugged. “It was his right.” All the same, killing one of the Ra’zac’s men will only make it harder to rid ourselves of the desecrators. “ We should barricade the road and be-tween the houses so they won’t catch us by surprise.” Studying the men for any injuries, Roran saw that Delwin had received a long cut on his forearm, which the farmer bandaged with a strip torn from his ruined shirt. With a few shouts, Horst organized their group. He dispatched Al-briech and Baldor to retrieve Quimby’s wagon from the forge and had Loring’s sons and Parr scour Carvahall for items that could be used to se-cure the village. Even as he spoke, people congregated on the edge of the field, staring at what was left of the Ra’zac’s camp and the dead soldier. “What hap-pened?” cried Fisk. Loring scuttled forward and stared the carpenter in the eye. “What happened? I’ll tell you what happened. We routed the dung-beardlings... caught them with their boots off and whipped them like dogs!” “I am glad.” The strong voice came from Birgit, an auburn-haired woman who clasped Nolfavrell against Page 370 her bosom, ignoring the blood smeared across his face. “They deserve to die like cowards for my hus-band’s death.” The villagers murmured in agreement, but then Thane spoke: “Have you gone mad, Horst? Even if you frightened off the Ra’zac and their sol-diers, Galbatorix will just send more men. The Empire will never give up until they get Roran.” “We should hand him over,” snarled Sloan. Horst raised his hands. “I agree; no one is worth more than all of Carva-hall. But if we surrender Roran, do you really think Galbatorix will let us escape punishment for our resistance? In his eyes, we’re no better than the Varden.” “Then why did you attack?” demanded Thane. “Who gave you the au-thority to make this decision? You’ve doomed us all!” This time Birgit answered. “Would you let them kill your wife?” She pressed her hands on either side of her son’s face, then showed Thane her bloody palms, like an accusation. “Would you let them burn us?... Where is your manhood, loam breaker?” He lowered his gaze, unable to face her stark expression. “They burned my farm,” said Roran, “devoured Quimby, and nearly destroyed Carvahall. Such crimes cannot go unpunished. Are we frightened rabbits to cower down and accept our fate? No! We have a right to de-fend ourselves.” He stopped as Albriech and Baldor trudged up the street, dragging the wagon. “We can debate later. Now we have to prepare. Who will help us?” Forty or more men volunteered. Together they set about the difficult task of making Carvahall impenetrable. Roran worked incessantly, nailing fence slats between houses, piling barrels full of rocks for makeshift walls, and dragging logs across the main road, which they blocked with two wagons tipped on their sides. As Roran hurried from one chore to another, Katrina waylaid him in an alley. She hugged him, then said, “I’m glad you’re back, and that you’re safe.” He kissed her lightly. “Katrina... I have to speak with you as soon as we’re finished.” She smiled uncertainly, but with a spark of hope. “You were right; it was foolish of me to delay. Every moment we spend to-gether is precious, and I have no desire to squander what time we have when a whim of fate could tear us apart.” Roran was tossing water on the thatching of Kiselt’s house—so it could not catch fire—when Parr shouted, “Ra’zac!” Dropping the bucket, Roran ran to the wagons, where he had left his hammer. As he grabbed the weapon, he saw a single Ra’zac sitting on a horse far down the road, almost out of bowshot. The creature was illu-minated by a torch in its left hand, while its right was drawn back, as if to throw something. Roran laughed. “Is he going to toss rocks at us? He’s too far away to even hit—” He was cut off as the Ra’zac whipped down its arm and a glass vial arched across the distance between them and shattered against the wagon to his right. An instant later, a fireball launched the wagon into the air while a fist of Page 371 burning air flung Roran against a wall. Dazed, he fell to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Through the roaring in his ears came the tattoo of galloping horses. He forced himself upright and faced the sound, only to dive aside as the Ra’zac raced into Carvahall through the burning gap in the wagons. The Ra’zac reined in their steeds, blades flashing as they hacked at the people strewn around them. Roran saw three men die, then Horst and Loring reached the Ra’zac and began pressing them back with pitchforks. Before the villagers could rally, soldiers poured through the breach, kill-ing indiscriminately in the darkness. Roran knew they had to be stopped, else Carvahall would be taken. He jumped at a soldier, catching him by surprise, and hit him in the face with the hammer’s blade. The soldier crumpled without a sound. As the man’s compatriots rushed toward him, Roran wrestled the corpse’s shield off his limp arm. He barely managed to get it free in time to block the first strike. Backstepping toward the Ra’zac, Roran parried a sword thrust, then swung his hammer up under the man’s chin, sending him to the ground. “To me!” shouted Roran. “Defend your homes!” He sidestepped a jab as five men attempted to encircle him. “To me!” Baldor answered his call first, then Albriech. A few seconds later, Lor-ing’s sons joined him, followed by a score of others. From the side streets, women and children pelted the soldiers with rocks. “Stay together,” or-dered Roran, standing his ground. “There are more of us.” The soldiers halted as the line of villagers before them continued to thicken. With more than a hundred men at his back, Roran slowly ad-vanced. “Attack, you foolsss,” screamed a Ra’zac, dodging Loring’s pitchfork. A single arrow whizzed toward Roran. He caught it on his shield and laughed. The Ra’zac were level with the soldiers now, hissing with frus-tration. They glared at the villagers from under their inky cowls. Sud-denly Roran felt himself become lethargic and powerless to move; it was hard to even think. Fatigue seemed to chain his arms and legs in place. Then from farther in Carvahall, Roran heard a raw shout from Birgit. A second later, a rock hurtled over his head and bored toward the lead Ra’zac, who twitched with supernatural speed to avoid the missile. The distraction, slight though it was, freed Roran’s mind from the soporific influence. Was that magic? he wondered. He dropped the shield, grasped his hammer with both hands, and raised it far above his head—just like Horst did when spreading metal. Roran went up on tiptoe, his entire body bowed backward, then whipped his arms down with a huh! The hammer cartwheeled through the air and bounced off the Ra’zac’s shield, leaving a formidable dent. The two attacks were enough to disrupt the last of the Ra’zac’s strange power. They clicked rapidly to each other as the villagers roared and marched forward, then the Ra’zac yanked on their reins, wheeling around. “Retreat,” they growled, riding past the soldiers. The crimson-clad war-riors sullenly backed out of Carvahall, stabbing at anyone who came too close. Only when they were a good distance from the burning wagons did they dare turn their backs. Page 372 Roran sighed and retrieved his hammer, feeling the bruises on his side and back where he had hit the wall. He bowed his head as he saw that the explosion had killed Parr. Nine other men had died. Already wives and mothers rent the night with their wails of grief. How could this happen here? “Everyone, come!” called Baldor. Roran blinked and stumbled to the middle of the road, where Baldor stood. A Ra’zac sat beetle-like on a horse only twenty yards away. The creature crooked a finger at Roran and said, “You... you sssmell like your cousin. We never forget a sssmell.” “What do you want?” he shouted. “Why are you here?” The Ra’zac chuckled in a horrible, insectile way. “We want... information.” It glanced over its shoulder, where its companions had disappeared, then cried, “Release Roran and you ssshall be sold as ssslaves. Protect him, and we will eat you all. We ssshall have your an-swer when next we come. Be sssure it is the right one.” AZ SWELDN RAK ANHÛIN Light burst into the tunnel as the doors dragged open. Eragon winced, his eyes sorely unaccustomed to daylight after so long underground. Be-side him, Saphira hissed and arched her neck to get a better view of their surroundings. It had taken them two days to traverse the subterranean passage from Farthen Dûr, though it felt longer to Eragon, due to the never-ending dusk that surrounded them and the silence it had imposed upon their group. In all, he could recall only a handful of words being exchanged during their journey. Eragon had hoped to learn more about Arya while they traveled to-gether, but the only information he had gleaned came simply as a result of observation. He had not supped with her before and was startled to see that she brought her own food and ate no meat. When he asked her why, she said, “You will never again consume an animal’s flesh after you have been trained, or if you do, it will be only on the rarest of occasions.” “Why should I give up meat?” he scoffed. “I cannot explain with words, but you will understand once we reach Ellesméra.” All that was forgotten now as he hurried to the threshold, eager to see their destination. He found himself standing on a granite outcropping, more than a hundred feet above a purple-hued lake, brilliant under the eastern sun. Like Kóstha-mérna, the water reached from mountain to mountain, filling the valley’s end. From the lake’s far side, the Az Ragni flowed north, winding between the peaks until—in the far distance—it rushed out onto the eastern plains. To his right, the mountains were bare, save for a few trails, but to his left... to his left was the dwarf city Tarnag. Here the dwarves had re-worked the seemingly immutable Beors into a series of terraces. The lower terraces were mainly farms—dark curves of land waiting to be planted—dotted with squat halls, Page 373 which as best he could tell were built entirely of stone. Above those empty levels rose tier upon tier of inter-locking buildings until they culminated in a giant dome of gold and white. It was as if the entire city was nothing more than a line of steps leading to the dome. The cupola glistened like polished moonstone, a milky bead floating atop a pyramid of gray slate. Orik anticipated Eragon’s question, saying, “That is Celbedeil, the great-est temple of dwarfdom and home of Dûrgrimst Quan—the Quan clan— who act as servants and messengers to the gods.” Do they rule Tarnag?asked Saphira. Eragon repeated the query. “Nay,” said Arya, stepping past them. “Though the Quan are strong, they are small in numbers, despite their power over the afterlife... and gold. It is the Ragni Hefthyn—the River Guard—who control Tarnag. We will stay with their clan chief, Ûndin, while here.” As they followed the elf off the outcropping and through the gnarled forest that blanketed the mountain, Orik whispered to Eragon, “Mind her not. She has been arguing with the Quan for many a year. Every time she visits Tarnag and speaks with a priest, it produces a quarrel fierce enough to scare a Kull.” “Arya?” Orik nodded grimly. “I know little of it, but I’ve heard she disagrees strongly with much that the Quan practice. It seems that elves do not hold with ‘muttering into the air for help.’ ” Eragon stared at Arya’s back as they descended, wondering if Orik’s words were true, and if so, what Arya herself believed. He took a deep breath, pushing the matter from his mind. It felt wonderful to be back in the open, where he could smell the moss and ferns and trees of the forest, where the sun was warm on his face and bees and other insects swarmed pleasantly. The path took them down to the edge of the lake before rising back toward Tarnag and its open gates. “How have you hidden Tarnag from Galbatorix?” asked Eragon. “Farthen Dûr I understand, but this... I’ve never seen anything like it.” Orik laughed softly. “Hide it? That would be impossible. No, after the Riders fell, we were forced to abandon all our cities aboveground and re-treat into our tunnels in order to escape Galbatorix and the Forsworn. They would often fly through the Beors, killing anyone who they en-countered.” “I thought that dwarves always lived underground.” Orik’s thick eyebrows met in a frown. “Why should we? We may have an affinity for stone, but we like the open air as much as elves or humans. However, it has only been in the last decade and a half, ever since Mor-zan died, that we have dared return to Tarnag and other of our ancient dwellings. Galbatorix may be unnaturally powerful, but even he would not attack an entire city alone. Of course, he and his dragon could cause us no end of trouble if they wanted, but these days they rarely leave Urû’baen, even for short trips. Nor could Galbatorix bring an army here without first defeating Buragh or Farthen Dûr.” Which he nearly did,commented Saphira. Cresting a small mound, Eragon jolted with surprise as an animal crashed through the underbrush and onto the path. The scraggly creature looked like a mountain goat from the Spine, except that it was a third larger and had giant ribbed horns that curled around its cheeks, making an Urgal’s seem no bigger than a swallow nest. Odder still was the saddle lashed across the goat’s back and the dwarf seated firmly Page 374 on it, aiming a half-drawn bow into the air. “Hert dûrgrimst? Fild rastn?” shouted the strange dwarf. “Orik Thrifkz menthiv oen Hrethcarach Eragon rak Dûrgrimst Ingei-tum,” answered Orik. “Wharn, az vanyali-carharûg Arya. Né oc Ûndinz grimstbelardn.” The goat stared warily at Saphira. Eragon noted how bright and intelligent its eyes were, though its face was rather droll with its frosty beard and somber expression. It reminded him of Hrothgar, and he almost laughed, thinking how very dwarfish the animal was. “Azt jok jordn rast,” came the reply. With no discernible command on the dwarf’s part, the goat leaped forward, covering such an extraordinary distance it seemed to take flight for a moment. Then rider and steed vanished between the trees. “What was that?” asked Eragon, amazed. Orik resumed walking. “A Feldûnost, one of the five animals unique to these mountains. A clan is named after each one. However, Dûrgrimst Feldûnost is perhaps the bravest and most revered of the clans.” “Why so?” “We depend upon Feldûnost for milk, wool, and meat. Without their sustenance, we could not live in the Beors. When Galbatorix and his trai-torous Riders were terrorizing us, it was Dûrgrimst Feldûnost who risked themselves—and still do—to tend the herds and fields. As such, we are all in their debt.” “Do all dwarves ride Feldûnost?” He stumbled slightly over the unusual word. “Only in the mountains. Feldûnost are hardy and sure-footed, but they are better suited for cliffs than open plains.” Saphira nudged Eragon with her nose, causing Snowfire to shy away. Now those would be good hunting, better than any I had in the Spine or hence! If I have time in Tarnag— No,he said. We can’t afford to offend the dwarves. She snorted, irritated. I could ask permission first. Now the path that had concealed them for so long under dark boughs entered the great clearing that surrounded Tarnag. Groups of observers had already begun to gather in the fields when seven Feldûnost with jew-eled harnesses bounded out from the city. Their riders bore lances tipped with pennants that snapped like whips in the air. Reining in his strange beast, the lead dwarf said, “Thou art well-come to this city of Tarnag. By otho of Ûndin and Gannel, I, Thorv, son of Brokk, offer in peace the shelter of our halls.” His accent grumbled and rasped with a rough burr quite unlike Orik’s. “And by Hrothgar’s otho, we of the Ingeitum accept your hospitality,” responded Orik. “As do I, in Islanzadí’s stead,” added Arya. Appearing satisfied, Thorv motioned to his fellow riders, who spurred their Feldûnost into formation Page 375 around the four of them. With a flourish, the dwarves rode off, guiding them to Tarnag and through the city gates. The outer wall was forty feet thick and formed a shadowed tunnel to the first of the many farms that belted Tarnag. Five more tiers—each of which was defended by a fortified gate—carried them past the fields and into the city proper. In contrast to Tarnag’s thickly built ramparts, the buildings within, though of stone, were shaped with such cunning as to give the impres-sion of grace and lightness. Strong, bold carvings, usually of animals, adorned the houses and shops. But even more striking was the stone it-self: vibrant hues, from bright scarlet to the subtlest of greens, glazed the rock in translucent layers. And hung throughout the city were the dwarves’ flameless lanterns, their multicolored sparks harbingers of the Beors’ long dusk and night. Unlike Tronjheim, Tarnag had been constructed in proportion to the dwarves, with no concession for human, elf, or dragon visitors. At the most, doorways were five feet high, and they were often only four and a half. Eragon was of middling height, but now he felt like a giant trans-ported onto a puppet stage. The streets were wide and crammed. Dwarves of various clans hurried about their business or stood haggling in and around shops. Many were garbed in strange, exotic costumes, such as a block of fierce black-haired dwarves who wore silver helmets forged in the likeness of wolf heads. Eragon stared at the dwarf women the most, as he had only caught brief glimpses of them while in Tronjheim. They were broader than the men, and their faces were heavyset, yet their eyes sparkled and their hair was lustrous and their hands were gentle on their diminutive children. They eschewed frippery, except for small, intricate brooches of iron and stone. At the Feldûnost’s piercing footsteps, the dwarves turned to look at the new arrivals. They did not cheer as Eragon had expected, but rather bowed and murmured, “Shadeslayer.” As they saw the hammer and stars upon Eragon’s helm, admiration was replaced by shock and, in many cases, outrage. A number of the angrier dwarves contracted around the Feldûnost, glaring between the animals at Eragon and shouting impreca-tions. The back of Eragon’s neck prickled. It seems that adopting me wasn’t the most popular decision Hrothgar could make. Aye,agreed Saphira. He may have strengthened his hold on you, but at the cost of alienating many of the dwarves.... We’d better get out of sight be-fore blood is shed. Thorv and the other guards rode forward as if the crowd was nonexis-tent, clearing the way through seven additional tiers until only a single gate separated them from the mass of Celbedeil. Then Thorv turned left, toward a great hall pressed against the side of the mountain and pro-tected in fore by a barbican with two machicolated towers. As they neared the hall, a group of armed dwarves streamed out from between the houses and formed a thick line, blocking the street. Long purple veils covered their faces and draped over their shoulders, like mail coifs. The guards immediately reined in their Feldûnost, faces hard. “What is it?” Eragon asked Orik, but the dwarf only shook his head and strode forward, a hand on his ax. Page 376 “Etzil nithgech!” cried a veiled dwarf, raising a fist. “Formv Hrethca-rach... formv Jurgencarmeitder nos eta goroth bahst Tarnag, dûr encesti rak kythn! Jok is warrev az barzûlegûr dûr dûrgrimst, Az Sweldn rak An-hûin, môgh tor rak Jurgenvren? Né ûdim etal os rast knurlag. Knurlag ana...” For a long minute, he continued to rant with growing spleen. “Vrron!” barked Thorv, cutting him off, then the two dwarves began arguing. Despite the harsh exchange, Eragon saw that Thorv seemed to respect the other dwarf. Eragon shifted to the side—trying to get a better view past Thorv’s Feldûnost—and the veiled dwarf abruptly fell silent, jabbing at Eragon’s helm with an expression of horror. “Knurlag qana qirânû Dûrgrimst Ingeitum!” he screamed. “Qarzûl ana Hrothgar oen volfild—” “Jok is frekk dûrgrimstvren?” interrupted Orik quietly, drawing his ax. Worried, Eragon glanced at Arya, but she was too intent on the confron-tation to notice him. He surreptitiously slid his hand down and around Zar’roc’s wire-wrapped hilt. The strange dwarf stared hard at Orik, then removed an iron ring from his pocket, plucked three hairs from his beard, twined them around the ring, and threw it onto the street with an impervious clink, spitting after it. Without a word, the purple-shrouded dwarves filed away. Thorv, Orik, and the other warriors flinched as the ring bounced across the granite pavement. Even Arya seemed taken aback. Two of the younger dwarves blanched and reached for their blades, then dropped their hands as Thorv barked, “Eta!” Their reactions unsettled Eragon far more than the raucous exchange had. As Orik strode forward alone and deposited the ring in a pouch, Er-agon asked, “What does it mean?” “It means,” said Thorv, “that you have enemies.” They hurried through the barbican to a wide courtyard arrayed with three banquet tables, decorated with lanterns and banners. Before the ta-bles stood a group of dwarves, foremost among them a gray-bearded dwarf swathed in wolfskin. He spread his arms, saying, “Welcome to Tarnag, home of Dûrgrimst Ragni Hefthyn. We have heard much praise of you, Eragon Shadeslayer. I am Ûndin, son of Derûnd and clan chief.” Another dwarf stepped forward. He had the shoulders and chest of a warrior, topped with hooded black eyes that never left Eragon’s face. “And I, Gannel, son of Orm Blood-ax and clan chief of Dûrgrimst Quan.” “It is an honor to be your guests,” said Eragon, inclining his head. He felt Saphira’s irritation at being ignored. Patience, he murmured, forcing a smile. She snorted. The clan chiefs greeted Arya and Orik in turn, but their hospitality was lost on Orik, whose only response was to extend his hand, the iron ring on his palm. Ûndin’s eyes widened, and he gingerly lifted the ring, pinching it be-tween his thumb and forefinger as if it were a venomous snake. “Who gave this to you?” Page 377 “It was Az Sweldn rak Anhûin. And not to me, but to Eragon.” As alarm spread across their faces, Eragon’s earlier apprehension re-turned. He had seen lone dwarves face an entire group of Kull without shirking. The ring must symbolize something dreadful indeed if it could undermine their courage. Ûndin frowned as he listened to the muttering of his advisers, then said, “We must consult on this issue. Shadeslayer, a feast is prepared in your honor. If you would allow my servants to guide you to your quarters, you can refresh yourself, and then we might begin.” “Of course.” Eragon handed Snowfire’s reins to a waiting dwarf and fol-lowed a guide into the hall. As he passed through the doorway, he glanced back and saw Arya and Orik bustling away with the clan chiefs, their heads pressed close together. I won’t be long, he promised Saphira. After crouching through dwarf-sized corridors, he was relieved that the room assigned to him was spacious enough to stand freely. The servant bowed and said, “I will return when Grimstborith Ûndin is ready.” Once the dwarf was gone, Eragon paused and took a deep breath, grate-ful for the silence. The encounter with the veiled dwarves hovered in his mind, making it difficult for him to relax. At least we won’t be in Tarnag long. That should prevent them from hindering us. Peeling off his gloves, Eragon went to a marble basin set on the floor next to the low bed. He put his hands in the water, then jerked them out with an involuntary yelp. The water was almost boiling. It mustbea dwarf custom, he realized. He waited until it cooled a bit, then doused his face and neck, rubbing them clean as steam swirled off his skin. Rejuvenated, he stripped out of his breeches and tunic and outfitted himself in the clothes he had worn to Ajihad’s funeral. He touched Zar’roc, but decided it would only insult Ûndin’s table and instead belted on his hunting knife. Then, from his pack, he took the scroll Nasuada had charged him with delivering to Islanzadí and weighed it in his hand, wondering where to hide it. The missive was too important to leave out in the open, where it could be read or stolen. Unable to think of a better place, he slipped the scroll up his sleeve. It’ll be safe there unless I get into a fight, in which case I’ll have bigger problems to worry about. When at last the servant returned for Eragon, it was only an hour or so past noon, but the sun had already vanished behind the looming moun-tains, plunging Tarnag into dusk. Exiting the hall, Eragon was struck by the city’s transformation. With the premature advent of night, the dwarves’ lanterns revealed their true strength, flooding the streets with pure, unwavering light that made the entire valley glow. Ûndin and the other dwarves were gathered in the courtyard, along with Saphira, who had situated herself at the head of a table. No one ap-peared interested in disputing her choice. Has anything happened?asked Eragon, hurrying toward her. Ûndin summoned extra warriors, then had the gates barred. Does he expect an attack? Page 378 At the very least, he’s concerned about the possibility. “Eragon, please join me,” said Ûndin, gesturing at the chair to his right. The clan chief seated himself as Eragon did, and the rest of the company hurriedly followed suit. Eragon was happy when Orik ended up beside him with Arya directly across the table, although both looked grim. Before he could ask Orik about the ring, Ûndin slapped the table and roared, “Ignh az voth!” Servants streamed out of the hall, bearing platters of beaten gold piled high with meats, pies, and fruit. They divided into three columns—one for each table—and deposited the dishes with a flourish. Before them were soups and stews filled with various tubers, roasted venison, long hot loaves of sourdough bread, and rows of honeycakes dripped with raspberry preserve. In a bed of greens lay filleted trout gar-nished with parsley, and on the side, pickled eel stared forlornly at an urn of cheese, as if hoping to somehow escape back into a river. A swan sat on each table, surrounded by a flock of stuffed partridges, geese, and ducks. Mushrooms were everywhere: broiled in juicy strips, placed atop a bird’s head like a bonnet, or carved in the shape of castles amid moats of gravy. An incredible variety was on display, from puffy white mushrooms the size of Eragon’s fist, to ones he could have mistaken for gnarled bark, to delicate toadstools sliced neatly in half to showcase their blue flesh. Then the centerpiece of the feast was revealed: a gigantic roasted boar, glistening with sauce. At least Eragon thought it was a boar, for the car-cass was as large as Snowfire and took six dwarves to carry. The tusks were longer than his forearms, the snout as wide as his head. And the smell, it overwhelmed all others in pungent waves that made his eyes water from their strength. “Nagra,” whispered Orik. “Giant boar. Ûndin truly honors you tonight, Eragon. Only the bravest dwarves dare hunt Nagran, and it is only served to those who have great valor. Also, I think he makes a gesture that he will support you over Dûrgrimst Nagra.” Eragon leaned toward him so no one else could hear. “Then this is an-other animal native to the Beors? What are the rest?” “Forest wolves big enough to prey on a Nagra and nimble enough to catch Feldûnost. Cave bears, which we call Urzhadn and the elves call Beorn and for which they dubbed these peaks, though we do not call them such ourselves. The mountains’ name is a secret that we share with no race. And—” “Smer voth,” commanded Ûndin, smiling at his guests. The servants immediately drew small curved knives and cut portions of the Nagra, which they set on everyone’s plates—except for Arya’s— including a weighty piece for Saphira. Ûndin smiled again, took a dagger, and sliced off a bit of his meat. Eragon reached for his own knife, but Orik grabbed his arm. “Wait.” Ûndin chewed slowly, rolling his eyes and nodding in an exaggerated fashion, then swallowed and proclaimed, “Ilf gauhnith!” “Now,” said Orik, turning to the meal as conversation erupted along the tables. Page 379 Eragon had never tasted anything like the boar. It was juicy, soft, and oddly spicy—as if the meat had been soaked in honey and cider—which was enhanced by the mint used to flavor the pork. I wonder how they managed to cook something so large. Very slowly,commented Saphira, nibbling on her Nagra. Between bites, Orik explained, “It is custom, from days when poisoning was rampant among clans, for the host to taste the food first and declare it safe for his guests.” During the banquet, Eragon divided his time between sampling the multitude of dishes and conversing with Orik, Arya, and dwarves farther down the table. In that manner, the hours hastened by, for the feast was so large, it was late afternoon before the last course had been served, the last bite consumed, and the last chalice drained. As servants removed the tableware, Ûndin turned to Eragon and said, “The meal pleased you, yes?” “It was delicious.” Ûndin nodded. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had the tables moved outside yesterday so the dragon might dine with us.” He remained intently fo-cused on Eragon all the while he spoke. Eragon went cold inside. Intentionally or not, Ûndin had treated Saphira as no more than a beast. Eragon had intended to ask about the veiled dwarves in private, but now—out of a desire to unsettle Ûndin— he said, “Saphira and I thank you.” Then, “Sir, why was the ring thrown at us?” A painful silence crept over the courtyard. Out of the corner of his eye, Eragon saw Orik wince. Arya, however, smiled as if she understood what he was doing. Ûndin put down his dagger, scowling thickly. “The knurlagn you met are of a tragic clan. Before the Riders’ fall, they were among the oldest, richest families of our kingdom. Their doom was sealed, though, by two mistakes: they lived on the western edge of the Beor Mountains, and they volunteered their greatest warriors in Vrael’s service.” Anger broke through his voice with sharp cracks. “Galbatorix and his ever-cursed Forsworn slaughtered them in your city of Urû’baen. Then they flew on us, killing many. Of that clan, only Grimstcarvlorss Anhûin and her guards survived. Anhûin soon died of grief, and her men took the name Az Sweldn rak Anhûin, The Tears of Anhûin, covering their faces to remind themselves of their loss and their desire for revenge.” Eragon’s cheeks stung with shame as he fought to keep his face expres-sionless. “So,” said Ûndin, glowering at a pastry, “they rebuilt the clan over the decades, waiting and hunting for recompense. And now you come, bearing Hrothgar’s mark. It is the ultimate insult to them, no matter your service in Farthen Dûr. Thus the ring, the ultimate challenge. It means Dûrgrimst Az Sweldn rak Anhûin will oppose you with all their re-sources, in every matter, big or small. They have set themselves against you utterly, declared themselves blood enemies.” “Do they mean me bodily harm?” asked Eragon stiffly. Ûndin’s gaze faltered for a moment as he cast a look at Gannel, then he shook his head and uttered a gruff laugh that was, perhaps, louder than the occasion warranted. “No, Shadeslayer! Not even they would dare hurt a guest. It is forbidden. They only want you gone, gone, gone.” Yet Eragon still wondered. Then Ûndin said, “Please, let us talk no more of these un-pleasant matters. Gannel and I have Page 380 offered our food and mead in friend-ship; is that not what matters?” The priest murmured in concordance. “It is appreciated,” Eragon finally relented. Saphira looked at him with solemn eyes and said, They are afraid, Er-agon. Afraid and resentful because they have been forced to accept a Rider’s assistance. Aye. They may fight with us, but they don’t fight for us. CELBEDEIL The dawnless morning found Eragon in Ûndin’s main hall, listening as the clan chief spoke to Orik in Dwarvish. Ûndin broke off as Eragon ap-proached, then said, “Ah, Shadeslayer. You slept well?” “Yes.” “Good.” He gestured at Orik. “We have been considering your depar-ture. I had hoped you’d be able to spend some time with us. But under the circumstances, it seems best if you resume your journey early tomor-row morning, when few are in the streets who might trouble you. Sup-plies and transportation are being readied even as I speak. It was Hroth-gar’s orders that guards should accompany you as far as Ceris. I have in-creased their numbers from three to seven.” “And in the meantime?” Ûndin shrugged his fur-bound shoulders. “I had intended to show you the wonders of Tarnag, but it would be foolish now for you to wander mine city. However, Grimstborith Gannel has invited you to Celbedeil for the day. Accept if you wish. You’ll be safe with him.” The clan chief seemed to have forgotten his earlier assertion that Az Sweldn rak Anhûin would not harm a guest. “Thank you, I might at that.” As Eragon left the hall, he pulled Orik aside and asked, “How serious is this feud, really? I need to know the truth.” Orik answered with obvious reluctance: “In the past, it was not un-common for blood feuds to endure for generations. Entire families were driven extinct because of them. It was rash of Az Sweldn rak Anhûin to invoke the old ways; such a thing has not been done since the last of the clan wars.... Until they rescind their oath, you must guard against their treachery, whether it be for a year or a century. I’m sorry that your friendship with Hrothgar has brought this upon you, Eragon. But you are not alone. Dûrgrimst Ingeitum stands with you in this.” Once outside, Eragon hurried to Saphira, who had spent the night coiled in the courtyard. Do you mind if I visit Celbedeil? Go if you must. But take Zar’roc.He followed her advice, also tucking Nasuada’s scroll into his tunic. When Eragon approached the gates to the hall’s enclosure, five dwarves pushed the rough-hewn timbers aside, then closed in around him, hands on their axes and swords as they inspected the street. The guards re-mained as Eragon retraced yesterday’s path to the barred entrance of Tar-nag’s foremost tier. Page 381 Eragon shivered. The city seemed unnaturally empty. Doors were closed, windows were shuttered, and the few pedestrians in evidence averted their faces and turned down alleys to avoid walking past him. They’re scared to be seen near me, he realized. Perhaps because they know Az Sweldn rak Anhûin will retaliate against anyone who helps me. Eager to escape the open street, Eragon raised his hand to knock, but before he could, one door grated outward, and a black-robed dwarf beckoned from within. Tightening his sword belt, Eragon entered, leaving his guards out-side. His first impression was of color. A burning-green sward splayed around the pillared mass of Celbedeil, like a mantle dropped over the symmetrical hill that upheld the temple. Ivy strangled the building’s an-cient walls in foot after foot of hairy ropes, dew still glittering on the pointed leaves. And curving above all but the mountains was the great white cupola ribbed with chiseled gold. His next impression was of smell. Flowers and incense mixed their per-fumes into an aroma so ethereal, Eragon felt as if he could live on the scent alone. Last was sound, for despite clumps of priests strolling along mosaic pathways and spacious grounds, the only noise Eragon could discern was the soft thump of a rook flying overhead. The dwarf beckoned again and strode down the main avenue toward Celbedeil. As they passed under its eaves, Eragon could only marvel at the wealth and craftsmanship displayed around him. The walls were spotted with gems of every color and cut—though all flawless—and red gold had been hammered into the veins lacing the stone ceilings, walls, and floor. Pearls and silver provided accents. Occasionally, they passed a screen partition carved entirely of jade. The temple was devoid of cloth decorations. In their absence, the dwarves had carved a profusion of statues, many depicting monsters and deities locked in epic battles. After climbing several floors, they passed through a copper door waxy with verdigris and embossed with intricate, patterned knots into a bare room floored with wood. Armor hung thickly on the walls, along with racks of staff-swords identical to the one Angela had fought with in Far-then Dûr. Gannel was there, sparring with three younger dwarves. The clan chief’s robe was rucked up over his thighs so he could move freely, his face a fierce scowl as the wood shaft spun in his hands, unsharpened blades darting like riled hornets. Two dwarves lunged at Gannel, only to be stymied in a clatter of wood and metal as he spun past them, rapping their knees and heads and send-ing them to the floor. Eragon grinned as he watched Gannel disarm his last opponent in a brilliant flurry of blows. At last the clan chief noticed Eragon and dismissed the other dwarves. As Gannel set his weapon on a rack, Eragon said, “Are all Quan so profi-cient with the blade? It seems an odd skill for priests.” Gannel faced him. “We must be able to defend ourselves, no? Many enemies stalk this land.” Eragon nodded. “Those are unique swords. I’ve never seen their like, except for one an herbalist used in the battle of Farthen Dûr.” The dwarf sucked in his breath, then let it hiss out between his teeth. “Angela.” His expression soured. “She won her staff from a priest in a game of riddles. It was a nasty trick, as we are the only ones allowed to use hûthvírn. She and Arya...” He shrugged and went to a small table, where he filled two mugs with ale. Handing one to Eragon, he said, “I in-vited you here today at Hrothgar’s request. He told Page 382 me that if you ac-cepted his offer to become Ingeitum, I was to acquaint you with dwarf traditions.” Eragon sipped the ale and kept silent, eyeing how Gannel’s thick brow caught the light, shadows dripping down his cheeks from the bony ridge. The clan chief continued: “Never before has an outsider been taught our secret beliefs, nor may you speak of them to human or elf. Yet with-out this knowledge, you cannot uphold what it means to be knurla. You are Ingeitum now: our blood, our flesh, our honor. You understand?” “I do.” “Come.” Keeping his ale in hand, Gannel took Eragon from the sparring room and conveyed him through five grand corridors, stopping in the archway to a dim chamber hazy with incense. Facing them, the squat outline of a statue swelled ponderously from floor to ceiling, a faint light cast across the brooding dwarf face hacked with uncharacteristic crude-ness from brown granite. “Who is he?” asked Eragon, intimidated. “Gûntera, King of the Gods. He is a warrior and a scholar, though fickle in his moods, so we burn offerings to assure his affection at the solstices, before sowing, and at deaths and births.” Gannel twisted his hand in a strange gesture and bowed to the statue. “It is to him we pray before bat-tles, for he molded this land from the bones of a giant and gives the world its order. All realms are Gûntera’s.” Then Gannel instructed Eragon how to properly venerate the god, ex-plaining the signs and words that were used for homage. He elucidated the meaning of the incense—how it symbolized life and happiness—and spent long minutes recounting legends about Gûntera, how the god was born fully formed to a she-wolf at the dawn of stars, how he had battled monsters and giants to win a place for his kin in Alagaësia, and how he had taken Kílf, the goddess of rivers and the sea, as his mate. Next they went to Kílf’s statue, which was carved with exquisite deli-cacy out of pale blue stone. Her hair flew back in liquid ripples, rolling down her neck and framing merry amethyst eyes. In her hands, she cupped a water lily and a chunk of porous red rock that Eragon did not recognize. “What is that?” he asked, pointing. “Coral taken from deep within the sea that borders the Beors.” “Coral?” Gannel took a draught of ale, then said, “Our divers found it while searching for pearls. It seems that, in brine, certain stones grow like plants.” Eragon stared with wonder. He had never thought of pebbles or boulders as alive, yet here was proof that all they needed was water and salt to flourish. It finally explained how rocks had continued to appear in their fields in Palancar Valley, even after the soil had been combed clean each spring. They grew! They proceeded to Urûr, master of the air and heavens, and his brother Morgothal, god of fire. At the carmine statue of Morgothal, the priest told how the brothers loved each other so much, neither could exist in-dependently. Thus, Morgothal’s burning palace in the sky during the day, and the sparks from his forge that appeared overhead every night. And also thus, how Urûr constantly fed his sibling so he would not die. Page 383 Only two more gods were left after that: Sindri—mother of the earth— and Helzvog. Helzvog’s statue was different from the rest. The nude god was bowed in half over a dwarf-sized lump of gray flint, caressing it with the tip of his forefinger. The muscles of his back bunched and knotted with inhu-man strain, yet his expression was incredibly tender, as if a newborn child lay before him. Gannel’s voice dropped to a low rasp: “Gûntera may be King of the Gods, but it is Helzvog who holds our hearts. It was he who felt that the land should be peopled after the giants were vanquished. The other gods disagreed, but Helzvog ignored them and, in secret, formed the first dwarf from the roots of a mountain. “When his deed was discovered, jealousy swept the gods and Gûntera created elves to control Alagaësia for himself. Then Sindri brought forth humans from the soil, and Urûr and Morgothal combined their knowl-edge and released dragons into the land. Only Kílf restrained herself. So the first races entered this world.” Eragon absorbed Gannel’s words, accepting the clan chief’s sincerity but unable to quell a simple question: How does he know? Eragon sensed that it would be an awkward query, however, and merely nodded as he lis-tened. “This,” said Gannel, finishing the last of his ale, “leads to our most im-portant rite, which I know Orik has discussed with you.... All dwarves must be buried in stone, else our spirits will never join Helzvog in his hall. We are not of earth, air, or fire, but of stone. And as Ingeitum, it is your responsibility to assure a proper resting place for any dwarf who may die in your company. If you fail—in the absence of injury or ene-mies—Hrothgar will exile you, and no dwarf will acknowledge your presence until after your death.” He straightened his shoulders, staring hard at Eragon. “You have much more to learn, yet uphold the customs I outlined today and you will do well.” “I won’t forget,” said Eragon. Satisfied, Gannel led him away from the statues and up a winding stair-case. As they climbed, the clan chief dipped a hand into his robe and withdrew a simple necklace, a chain threaded through the pommel of a miniature silver hammer. He gave it to Eragon. “This is another favor Hrothgar asked of me,” Gannel explained. “He worries that Galbatorix may have gleaned an image of you from the minds of Durza, the Ra’zac, or any number of soldiers who saw you throughout the Empire.” “Why should I fear that?” “Because then Galbatorix could scry you. Perhaps he already has.” A shiver of apprehension wormed down Eragon’s side, like an icy snake. I should have thought of that, he berated himself. “The necklace will prevent anyone from scrying you or your dragon, as long as you wear it. I placed the spell myself, so it should hold before even the strongest mind. But be forewarned, when activated, the neck-lace will draw upon your strength until you either take it off or the dan-ger has passed.” “What if I’m asleep? Could the necklace consume all my energy before I was aware of it?” Page 384 “Nay. It will wake you.” Eragon rolled the hammer between his fingers. It was difficult to avert another’s spells, least of all Galbatorix’s. If Gannel is so accomplished, what other enchantments might be hidden in his gift? He noticed a line of runes cut along the hammer’s haft. They spelled Astim Hefthyn. The stairs ended as he asked, “Why do dwarves write with the same runes as humans?” For the first time since they met, Gannel laughed, his voice booming through the temple as his large shoulders shook. “It is the other way around; humans write with our runes. When your ancestors landed in Alagaësia, they were as illiterate as rabbits. However, they soon adopted our alphabet and matched it to this language. Some of your words even come from us, like father, which was originally farthen. ” “So then Farthen Dûr means... ?” Eragon slipped the necklace over his head and tucked it under his tunic. “Our Father.” Stopping at a door, Gannel ushered Eragon through to a curved gallery located directly below the cupola. The passageway banded Celbedeil, providing a view through the open archways of the mountains behind Tarnag, as well as the terraced city far below. Eragon barely glanced at the landscape, for the gallery’s inner wall was covered with a single continuous painting, a gigantic narrative band that began with a depiction of the dwarves’ creation under Helzvog’s hand. The figures and objects stood in relief from the surface, giving the pano-rama a feeling of hyperrealism with its saturated, glowing colors and minute detail. Captivated, Eragon asked, “How was this made?” “Each scene is carved out of small plates of marble, which are fired with enamel, then fitted into a single piece.” “Wouldn’t it be easier to use regular paint?” “It would,” said Gannel, “but not if we wanted it to endure centuries— millennia—without change. Enamel never fades or loses its brilliancy, unlike oil paint. This first section was carved only a decade after the dis-covery of Farthen Dûr, well before elves set foot on Alagaësia.” The priest took Eragon by the arm and guided him along the tableau. Each step carried them through uncounted years of history. Eragon saw how the dwarves were once nomads on a seemingly endless plain, until the land grew so hot and desolate they were forced to migrate south to the Beor Mountains. That was how the Hadarac Desert was formed, he realized, amazed. As they proceeded down the mural, heading toward the back of Cel-bedeil, Eragon witnessed everything from the domestication of Feldûnost to the carving of Isidar Mithrim, the first meeting between dwarves and elves, and the coronation of each new dwarf king. Dragons frequently ap-peared, burning and slaughtering. Eragon had difficulty restraining com-ment during those sections. His steps slowed as the painting shifted to the event he had hoped to find: the war between elves and Page 385 dragons. Here the dwarves had devoted a vast amount of space to the destruction wreaked upon Alagaësia by the two races. Eragon shuddered with horror at the sight of elves and dragons killing each other. The battles continued for yards, each image more bloody than the last, until the darkness lifted and a young elf was shown kneeling on the edge of a cliff, holding a white dragon egg. “Is that... ?” whispered Eragon. “Aye, it’s Eragon, the First Rider. It’s a good likeness too, as he agreed to sit for our artisans.” Drawn forward by his fascination, Eragon studied the face of his name-sake. I always imagined him older. The elf had angled eyes that peered down a hooked nose and narrow chin, giving him a fierce appearance. It was an alien face, completely different from his own... and yet the set of his shoulders, high and tense, reminded Eragon of how he had felt upon finding Saphira’s egg. We’re not so different, you and I, he thought, touch-ing the cool enamel. And once my ears match yours, we shall truly be brothers through time.... I wonder, would you approve of my actions? He knew they had made at least one identical choice; they had both kept the egg. He heard a door open and close and turned to see Arya approaching from the far end of the gallery. She scanned the wall with the same blank expression Eragon had seen her use when confronting the Council of Eld-ers. Whatever her specific emotions, he sensed that she found the situa-tion distasteful. Arya inclined her head. “Grimstborith.” “Arya.” “You have been educating Eragon in your mythology?” Gannel smiled flatly. “One should always understand the faith of the society that one belongs to.” “Yet comprehension does not imply belief.” She fingered the pillar of an archway. “Nor does it mean that those who purvey such beliefs do so for more than... material gain.” “You would deny the sacrifices my clan makes to bring comfort to our brethren?” “I deny nothing, only ask what good might be accomplished if your wealth were spread among the needy, the starving, the homeless, or even to buy supplies for the Varden. Instead, you’ve piled it into a monument to your own wishful thinking.” “Enough!” The dwarf clenched his fists, his face mottled. “Without us, the crops would wither in drought. Rivers and lakes would flood. Our flocks would give birth to one-eyed beasts. The very heavens would shat-ter under the gods’ rage!” Arya smiled. “Only our prayers and service pre-vent that from happening. If not for Helzvog, where—” Eragon soon lost track of the argument. He did not understand Arya’s vague criticisms of Dûrgrimst Quan, but he gathered from Gannel’s re-sponses that, in some indirect way, she had implied that the dwarf gods did not exist, questioned the mental capacity of every dwarf who entered a temple, and pointed out what she took to be flaws in their reasoning— all in a pleasant and polite voice. After a few minutes, Arya raised her hand, stopping Gannel, and said, “That is the difference between us, Grimstborith. You devote yourself to that which you believe to be true but cannot prove. There, we must agree to disagree.” She turned to Eragon then. “Az Sweldn rak Anhûin has inflamed Tarnag’s Page 386 citizens against you. Ûndin believes, as do I, that it would be best for you to remain behind his walls until we leave.” Eragon hesitated. He wanted to see more of Celbedeil, but if there was to be trouble, then his place was by Saphira’s side. He bowed to Gannel and begged to be excused. “You need not apologize, Shadeslayer,” said the clan chief. He glared at Arya. “Do what you must, and may the blessings of Gûntera be upon you.” Together Eragon and Arya departed the temple and, surrounded by a dozen warriors, trotted through the city. As they did, Eragon heard shouts from an angry mob on a lower tier. A stone skipped over a nearby roof. The motion drew his eye to a dark plume of smoke rising from the city’s edge. Once in the hall, Eragon hurried to his room. There he slipped on his mail hauberk; strapped the greaves to his shins and the bracers to his forearms; jammed the leather cap, coif, and then helm over his head; and grabbed his shield. Scooping up his pack and saddlebags, he ran back to the courtyard, where he sat against Saphira’s right foreleg. Tarnag is like an overturned anthill,she observed. Let’s hope we don’t get bitten. Arya joined them before long, as did a group of fifty heavily armed dwarves who settled in the middle of the courtyard. The dwarves waited impassively, talking in low grunts as they eyed the barred gate and the mountain that rose up behind them. “They fear,” said Arya, seating herself by Eragon, “that the crowds may prevent us from reaching the rafts.” “Saphira can always fly us out.” “Snowfire as well? And Ûndin’s guards? No, if we are stopped, we shall have to wait until the dwarves’ outrage subsides.” She studied the darken-ing sky. “It’s unfortunate that you managed to offend so many dwarves, but perhaps inevitable. The clans have ever been contentious; what pleases one infuriates another.” He fingered the edge of his mail. “I wish now I hadn’t accepted Hroth-gar’s offer.” “Ah, yes. As with Nasuada, I think you made the only viable choice. You are not to blame. The fault, if any, lies with Hrothgar for making the offer in the first place. He must have been well aware of the repercus-sions.” Silence reigned for several minutes. A half-dozen dwarves marched around the courtyard, stretching their legs. Finally, Eragon asked, “Do you have any family in Du Weldenvarden?” It was a long time before Arya answered. “None that I’m close to.” “Why... why is that?” She hesitated again. “They disliked my choice to become the Queen’s envoy and ambassador; it seemed inappropriate. When I ignored their objections and still had the yawë tattooed on my shoulder—which indicates that I have devoted myself to the greater good of our race, as is the case with your ring from Page 387 Brom—my family refused to see me again.” “But that was over seventy years ago,” he protested. Arya looked away, concealing her face behind a veil of hair. Eragon tried to imagine what it must have been like for her—ostracized from her family and sent to live among two completely different races. No wonder she’s so withdrawn, he realized. “Are there any other elves outside of Du Weldenvarden?” Still keeping her face covered, she said, “Three of us were sent forth from Ellesméra. Fäolin and Glenwing always traveled with me when we transported Saphira’s egg between Du Weldenvarden and Tronjheim. Only I survived Durza’s ambush.” “What were they like?” “Proud warriors. Glenwing loved speaking to birds with his mind. He would stand in the forest surrounded by a flock of songbirds and listen to their music for hours. Afterward, he might sing us the prettiest melodies.” “And Fäolin?” This time Arya refused to answer, though her hands tightened on her bow. Undaunted, Eragon cast around for another sub-ject. “Why do you dislike Gannel so much?” She faced him suddenly and touched his cheek with soft fingers. Eragon flinched with surprise. “That,” she said, “is a discussion for another time.” Then she stood and calmly relocated herself across the courtyard. Confused, Eragon stared at her back. I don’t understand, he said, leaning against Saphira’s belly. She snorted, amused, then curled her neck and tail around him and promptly fell asleep. As the valley darkened, Eragon struggled to stay alert. He pulled out Gannel’s necklace and examined it several times with magic, but found only the priest’s guarding spell. Giving up, he replaced the necklace under his tunic, pulled his shield over him, and settled down to wait through the night. At the first hint of light in the sky overhead—though the valley itself was still in shadow and would remain so until almost midday—Eragon roused Saphira. The dwarves were already up, busy muffling their weap-ons so they could creep through Tarnag with utter secrecy. Ûndin even had Eragon tie rags around Saphira’s claws and Snowfire’s hooves. When all was ready, Ûndin and his warriors assembled in a large block around Eragon, Saphira, and Arya. The gates were carefully opened—no sound came from the oiled hinges—and then they set out for the lake. Tarnag seemed deserted, the vacant streets lined with houses where its inhabitants lay oblivious and dreaming. The few dwarves they encoun-tered gazed at them silently, then padded away like ghosts in the twilight. At the gate to each tier, a guard waved them through without com-ment. They soon left the buildings and found themselves crossing the barren fields at Tarnag’s base. Beyond those, they reached the stone quay that edged the still, gray water. Waiting for them were two wide rafts tied alongside a pier. Three dwarves squatted on the first raft, four on the second. They stood as Ûndin came into view. Page 388 Eragon helped the dwarves hobble and blindfold Snowfire, then coax the reluctant horse onto the second raft, where he was forced to his knees and tied down. Meanwhile, Saphira slipped off the pier into the lake. Only her head remained above the surface as she paddled through the water. Ûndin grasped Eragon’s arm. “Here is where we part. You have my best men; they will protect you until you reach Du Weldenvarden.” Eragon tried to thank him, but Ûndin shook his head. “No, it is not a matter for gratitude. It is my duty. I am only shamed that your stay was darkened by the hatred of Az Sweldn rak Anhûin.” Eragon bowed, then boarded the first raft with Orik and Arya. The mooring ropes were unknotted, and the dwarves pushed away from shore with long poles. As dawn approached, the two rafts drifted toward the mouth of the Az Ragni, Saphira swimming between them. DIAMONDS IN THE NIGHT The Empire has violated my home. So thought Roran as he listened to the anguished moans of the men in-jured during the previous night’s battle with the Ra’zac and soldiers. Ro-ran shuddered with fear and rage until his whole body was consumed with feverish chills that left his cheeks burning and his breath short. And he was sad, so very sad... as if the Ra’zac’s deeds had destroyed the inno-cence of his childhood haunts. Leaving the healer, Gertrude, tending to the wounded, Roran contin-ued toward Horst’s house, noting the makeshift barriers that filled the gaps between buildings: the boards, the barrels, the piles of rocks, and the splintered frames of the two wagons destroyed by the Ra’zac’s explosives. It all seemed pitifully fragile. The few people who moved through Carvahall were glassy-eyed with shock, grief, and exhaustion. Roran was tired too, more than he could ever remember being. He had not slept since the night before last, and his arms and back ached from the fighting. He entered Horst’s house and saw Elain standing by the open doorway to the dining room, listening to the steady burn of conversation that emanated from within. She beckoned him over. After they had foiled the Ra’zac’s counterattack, the prominent mem-bers of Carvahall had sequestered themselves in an attempt to decide what action the village should take and if Horst and his allies should be punished for initiating the hostilities. The group had been in deliberation most of the morning. Roran peeked into the room. Seated around the long table were Birgit, Loring, Sloan, Gedric, Delwin, Fisk, Morn, and a number of others. Horst presided at the head of the table. “... and I say that it was stupid and reckless!” exclaimed Kiselt, propping himself upright on his bony elbows. “You had no cause to endanger—” Morn waved a hand. “We’ve been over this before. Whether what has been done should have been done is beside the point. I happen to agree with it—Quimby was my friend as much as anyone’s, and I shudder to think what those monsters would do with Roran—but... but what I want to know is how we can escape this predicament.” Page 389 “Easy, kill the soldiers,” barked Sloan. “And then what? More men will follow until we drown in a sea of crimson tunics. Even if we surrender Roran, it’ll do no good; you heard what the Ra’zac said—they’ll kill us if we protect Roran and enslave us if we don’t. You may feel differently, but, as for myself, I would rather die than spend my life as a slave.” Morn shook his head, his mouth set in a flat grim line. “We cannot survive.” Fisk leaned forward. “We could leave.” “There’s nowhere to go,” retorted Kiselt. “We’re backed against the Spine, the soldiers have blocked the road, and beyond them is the rest of the Empire.” “It’s all your fault,” cried Thane, stabbing a shaking finger at Horst. “They will torch our houses and murder our children because of you. You!” Horst stood so quickly, his chair toppled over backward. “Where is your honor, man? Will you let them eat us without fighting back?” “ Yes,if it means suicide otherwise.” Thane glared around the table, then stormed out past Roran. His face was contorted by pure, unadulterated fear. Gedric spotted Roran then and waved him in. “Come, come, we’ve been waiting for you.” Roran clasped his hands in the small of his back as scores of hard eyes inspected him. “How can I help?” “I think,” said Gedric, “we’ve all agreed that it would accomplish noth-ing to give you to the Empire at this point. Whether we would if that wasn’t the case is neither here nor there. The only thing we can do is prepare for another attack. Horst will make spearheads—and other weapons if he has time—and Fisk has agreed to construct shields. Fortu-nately, his carpentry shop didn’t burn. And someone needs to oversee our defenses. We would like it to be you. You’ll have plenty of assistance.” Roran nodded. “I’ll do my best.” Beside Morn, Tara stood, towering over her husband. She was a large woman, with gray-streaked black hair and strong hands that were just as capable of twisting off a chicken’s head as separating a pair of brawlers. She said, “Make sure you do, Roran, else we’ll have more funerals.” Then she turned to Horst. “Before we go any further, there are men to bury. And there are children who should be sent to safety, maybe to Cawley’s farm on Nost Creek. You should go as well, Elain.” “I won’t leave Horst,” said Elain calmly. Tara bristled. “This is no place for a woman five months pregnant. You’ll lose the child running around like you have.” “It would do me far more harm to worry in ignorance than remain here. I have borne my sons; I will stay, as I know you and every other wife in Carvahall will.” Horst came around the table and, with a tender expression, took Elain’s hand. “Nor would I have you anywhere but at my side. The children should go, though. Cawley will care for them well, but we must Page 390 make sure that the route to his farm is clear.” “Not only that,” rasped Loring, “none of us, not one blasted man jack can have a thing to do with the families down the valley, ’side from Caw-ley, of course. They can’t help us, and we don’t want those desecrators to trouble ’em.” Everyone agreed that he was right, then the meeting ended and the at-tendees dispersed throughout Carvahall. Before long, however, they re-congregated—along with most of the village—in the small cemetery be-hind Gertrude’s house. Ten white-swathed corpses were arranged beside their graves, a sprig of hemlock on each of their cold chests and a silver amulet around each of their necks. Gertrude stood forth and recited the men’s names: “Parr, Wyglif, Ged, Bardrick, Farold, Hale, Garner, Kelby, Melkolf, and Albem.” She placed black pebbles over their eyes, then raised her arms, lifted her face to the sky, and began the quavering death lay. Tears seeped from the corners of her closed eyes as her voice rose and fell with the immemorial phrases, sighing and moaning with the village’s sorrow. She sang of the earth and the night and of humanity’s ageless sorrow from which none escape. After the last mournful note faded into silence, family members praised the feats and traits of those they had lost. Then the bodies were buried. As Roran listened, his gaze lit upon the anonymous mound where the three soldiers had been interred. One killed by Nolfavrell, and two by me. He could still feel the visceral shock of muscle and bone giving... crunch-ing... pulping under his hammer. His bile rose and he had to struggle not to be sick in full view of the village. I am the one who destroyed them. Ro-ran had never expected or wanted to kill, and yet he had taken more lives than anyone else in Carvahall. It felt as if his brow was marked with blood. He left as soon as possible—not even stopping to speak with Katrina— and climbed to a point where he could survey Carvahall and consider how best to protect it. Unfortunately, the houses were too far apart to form a defensive perimeter by just fortifying the spaces between build-ings. Nor did Roran think it would be a good idea to have soldiers fight-ing up against the walls of people’s houses and trampling their gardens. The Anora River guards our western flank, he thought, but as for the rest of Carvahall, we couldn’t even keep a child out of it.... What can we build in a few hours that will be a strong enough barrier? He jogged into the middle of the village and shouted, “I need everyone who is free to help cut down trees!” After a minute, men began to trickle out of the houses and through the streets. “Come on, more! We all have to help!” Roran waited as the group around him continued to grow. One of Loring’s sons, Darmmen, shouldered to his side. “What’s your plan?” Roran raised his voice so they could all hear. “We need a wall around Carvahall; the thicker the better. I figure if we get some big trees, lay them on their sides, and sharpen the branches, the Ra’zac will have a pretty hard time getting over them.” “How many trees do you think it’ll take?” asked Orval. Roran hesitated, trying to gauge Carvahall’s circumference. “At least fifty. Maybe sixty to do it properly.” The men swore and began to argue. “Wait!” Roran counted the number of people in the crowd. He arrived at forty-eight. “If you each fell a tree in the next hour, we’ll be almost done. Can you do that?” Page 391 “What do you take us for?” retorted Orval. “The last time I took an hour on a tree, I was ten!” Darmmen spoke up: “What about brambles? We could drape them over the trees. I don’t know anyone who can climb through a knot of thorny vines.” Roran grinned. “That’s a great idea. Also, those of you with sons, have them harness your horses so we can drag the trees back.” The men agreed and scattered through Carvahall to gather axes and saws for the job. Ro-ran stopped Darmmen and said, “Make sure that the trees have branches all along the trunk or else they won’t work.” “Where will you be?” asked Darmmen. “Working on another line of defense.” Roran left him then and ran to Quimby’s house, where he found Birgit busy boarding up the windows. “Yes?” she said, looking at him. He quickly explained his plan with the trees. “I want to dig a trench in-side the ring of trees, to slow down anyone who gets through. We could even put pointed stakes in the bottom of it and—” “What is your point, Roran?” “I’d like you to organize every woman and child, and everyone else you can, to dig. It’s too much for me to handle by myself, and we don’t have long....” Roran looked her straight in the eyes. “Please.” Birgit frowned. “Why ask me?” “Because, like me, you hate the Ra’zac, and I know you will do every-thing possible to stop them.” “Aye,” whispered Birgit, then clapped her hands briskly. “Very well, as you wish. But I will never forget, Roran Garrowsson, that it was you and your family who brought about my husband’s doom.” She strode away before Roran could respond. He accepted her animosity with equanimity; it was to be expected, considering her loss. He was only lucky she had not started a blood feud. Then he shook himself and ran to where the main road entered Carva-hall. It was the weakest spot in the village and had to be doubly pro-tected. The Ra’zac can’t be allowed to just blast their way in again. Roran recruited Baldor, and together they began excavating a ditch across the road. “I’ll have to go soon,” warned Baldor between strokes of his pickax. “Dad needs me in the forge.” Roran grunted an acknowledgment without looking up. As he worked, his mind once again filled with memories of the soldiers: how they had looked as he struck them, and the feeling, the horrible feeling of smashing a body as if it were a rotten stump. He paused, nauseated, and noted the commotion throughout Carvahall as people readied themselves for the next assault. After Baldor left, Roran completed the thigh-deep ditch himself, then went to Fisk’s workshop. With the carpenter’s permission, he had five logs from the stockpile of seasoned wood pulled by horses back to the main road. There Roran tipped the logs on end into the trench so that they formed an impenetrable barrier into Carvahall. Page 392 As he tamped down the earth around the logs, Darmmen trotted up. “We got the trees. They’re just being put into place now.” Roran accom-panied him to Carvahall’s northern edge, where twelve men wrestled four lush green pines into alignment while a team of draft horses under the whip of a young boy returned to the foothills. “Most of us are helping to retrieve the trees. The others got inspired; they seemed determined to chop down the rest of the forest when I left.” “Good, we can use the extra timber.” Darmmen pointed to a pile of dense brambles that sat on the edge of Kiselt’s fields. “I cut those along the Anora. Use them however you want. I’m going to find more.” Roran clapped him on the arm, then turned toward the eastern side of Carvahall, where a long, curved line of women, children, and men la-bored in the dirt. He went to them and found Birgit issuing orders like a general and distributing water among the diggers. The trench was already five feet wide and two feet deep. When Birgit paused for breath, he said, “I’m impressed.” She brushed back a lock of hair without looking at him. “We plowed the ground to begin with. It made things easier.” “Do you have a shovel I can use?” he asked. Birgit pointed to a mound of tools at the other end of the trench. As Roran walked toward it, he spied the copper gleam of Katrina’s hair in the midst of the bobbing backs. Beside her, Sloan hacked at the soft loam with a furious, obsessive energy, as if he were attempting to tear open the earth’s skin, to peel back its clay hide and expose the muscle beneath. His eyes were wild, and his teeth were bared in a knotted grimace, despite the flecks of dirt and filth that spotted his lips. Roran shuddered at Sloan’s expression and hurried past, averting his face so as to avoid meeting his bloodshot gaze. He grabbed a shovel and immediately plunged it into the soil, doing his best to forget his worries in the heat of physical exertion. The day progressed in a continuous rush of activity, without breaks for meals or rest. The trench grew longer and deeper, until it cupped two-thirds of the village and reached the banks of the Anora River. All the loose dirt was piled on the inside edge of the trench in an attempt to prevent anyone from jumping over it... and to make it difficult to climb out. The wall of trees was finished in early afternoon. Roran stopped digging then to help sharpen the innumerable branches—which were overlapped and interlocked as much as possible—and affix the nets of brambles. Oc-casionally, they had to pull out a tree so farmers like Ivor could drive their livestock into the safety of Carvahall. By evening the fortifications were stronger and more extensive than Roran had dared hope, though they still required several more hours of work to complete to his satisfaction. He sat on the ground, gnawing a hunk of sourdough bread and staring at the stars through a haze of exhaustion. A hand dropped on his shoul-der, and he looked up to see Albriech. “Here.” Albriech extended a rough shield—made of sawed boards pegged together—and a six-foot-long spear. Roran accepted them gratefully, then Albriech proceeded onward, distributing spears and shields to whomever he encountered. Roran dragged himself upright, got his hammer from Horst’s house, and thus armed, went to the Page 393 entrance to the main road, where Baldor and two others kept watch. “Wake me when you need to rest,” Roran said, then lay on the soft grass underneath the eaves of a nearby house. He ar-ranged his weapons so he could find them in the dark and closed his eyes in eager anticipation. “Roran.” The whisper came from by his right ear. “Katrina?” He struggled into a sitting position, blinking as she unshuttered a lantern so a key of light struck his thigh. “What are you doing here?” “I wanted to see you.” Her eyes, large and mysterious against her pale face, pooled with the night’s shadows. She took his arm and led him to a deserted porch far out of earshot of Baldor and the other guards. There she placed her hands on his cheeks and softly kissed him, but he was too tired and troubled to respond to her affection. She drew away and stud-ied him. “What is wrong, Roran?” A bark of humorless laughter escaped him. “What’s wrong? The world is wrong; it’s as askew as a picture frame knocked on its side.” He jammed his fist against his gut. “And I am wrong. Every time I allow my-self to relax, I see the soldiers bleeding under my hammer. Men I killed, Katrina. And their eyes... their eyes ! They knew they were about to die and that they could nothing do about it.” He trembled in the darkness. “They knew... I knew... and I still had to do it. It couldn’t—” Words failed him as he felt hot tears roll down his cheeks. Katrina cradled his head as Roran cried from the shock of the past few days. He wept for Garrow and Eragon; he wept for Parr, Quimby, and the other dead; he wept for himself; and he wept for the fate of Carva-hall. He sobbed until his emotions ebbed and left him as dry and hollow as an old barley husk. Forcing himself to take a long breath, Roran looked at Katrina and no-ticed her own tears. He brushed them away with his thumb, like dia-monds in the night. “Katrina... my love.” He said it again, tasting the words: “My love. I have naught to give you but my love. Still... I must ask. Will you marry me?” In the dim lantern light, he saw pure joy and wonder leap across her face. Then she hesitated and troubled doubt appeared. It was wrong for him to ask, or for her to accept, without Sloan’s permission. But Roran no longer cared; he had to know now if he and Katrina would spend their lives together. Then, softly: “Yes, Roran, I will.” UNDER A DARKLING SKY That night it rained. Layer upon layer of pregnant clouds blanketed Palancar Valley, clinging to the mountains with tenacious arms and filling the air with heavy, cold mist. From inside, Roran watched as cords of gray water pelted the trees with their frothing leaves, muddied the trench around Carvahall, and scrabbled with blunt fingers against the thatched roofs and eaves as the clouds disgorged their load. Everything was streaked, blurred, and hidden behind the torrent’s inexorable streamers. By midmorning the storm had abated, although a continuous drizzle still percolated through the mist. It quickly soaked Roran’s hair and clothes when he took his watch at the barricade to the main road. He squatted by the upright logs, shook his cloak, then pulled the hood far-ther over his face and tried to ignore the cold. Page 394 Despite the weather, Roran soared and exulted with his joy at Katrina’s acceptance. They were engaged! In his mind, it was as if a missing piece of the world had dropped into place, as if he had been granted the confi-dence of an invulnerable warrior. What did the soldiers matter, or the Ra’zac, or the Empire itself, before love such as theirs? They were noth-ing but tinder to the blaze. For all his new bliss, however, his mind was entirely focused on what had become the most important conundrum of his existence: how to as-sure that Katrina would survive Galbatorix’s wrath. He had thought of nothing else since waking. The best thing would be for Katrina to go to Cawley’s, he decided, staring down the hazy road, but she would never agree to leave... unless Sloan told her to. I might be able to convince him; I’m sure he wants her out of danger as much as I do. As he considered ways to approach the butcher, the clouds thickened again and the rain renewed its assault on the village, arching down in stinging waves. Around Roran, the puddles jumped to life as pellets of water drummed their surfaces, bouncing back up like startled grasshop-pers. When Roran grew hungry, he passed his watch to Larne—Loring’s youngest son—and went to find lunch, darting from the shelter of one eave to another. As he rounded a corner, he was surprised to see Albriech on the house’s porch, arguing violently with a group of men. Ridley shouted, “... you’re blind—follow the cottonwoods and they’ll never see! You took the addle-brain’s route.” “Try it if you want,” retorted Albriech. “I will!” “Then you can tell me how you like the taste of arrows.” “Maybe,” said Thane, “we aren’t as clubfooted as you are.” Albriech turned on him with a snarl. “Your words are as thick as your wits. I’m not stupid enough to risk my family on the cover of a few leaves that I’ve never seen before.” Thane’s eyes bulged and his face turned a deep mottled crimson. “What?” taunted Albriech. “Have you no tongue?” Thane roared and struck Albriech on the cheek with his fist. Albriech laughed. “Your arm is as weak as a woman’s.” Then he grabbed Thane’s shoulder and threw him off the porch and into the mud, where he lay on his side, stunned. Holding his spear like a staff, Roran jumped beside Albriech, prevent-ing Ridley and the others from laying hands on him. “No more,” growled Roran, furious. “We have other enemies. An assembly can be called and arbitrators will decide whether compensation is due to either Albriech or Thane. But until then, we can’t fight ourselves.” “Easy for you to say,” spat Ridley. “You have no wife or children.” Then he helped Thane to his feet and departed with the group of men. Roran stared hard at Albriech and the purple bruise that was spreading beneath his right eye. “What started it?” he asked. “I—” Albriech stopped with a grimace and felt his jaw. “I went scouting with Darmmen. The Ra’zac Page 395 have posted soldiers on several hills. They can see across the Anora and up and down the valley. One or two of us might, might, be able to creep past them without notice, but we’ll never get the children to Cawley without killing the soldiers, and then we might as well tell the Ra’zac where we’re going.” Dread clutched at Roran, flooding like poison through his heart and veins. What can I do? Sick with a sense of impending doom, he put an arm around Albriech’s shoulders. “Come on; Gertrude should have a look at you.” “No,” said Albriech, shrugging him off. “She has more pressing cases than me.” He took a preparatory breath—as if he were about to dive into a lake—and lumbered off through the downpour in the direction of the forge. Roran watched him go, then shook his head and went inside. He found Elain sitting on the floor with a row of children, sharpening a pile of spearheads with files and whetstones. Roran gestured to Elain. Once they were in another room, he told her what had just occurred. Elain swore harshly—startling him, for he had never heard her use such language—then asked, “Is there cause for Thane to declare a feud?” “Possibly,” admitted Roran. “They both insulted each other, but Al-briech’s oaths were the strongest.... However, Thane did strike first. You could declare a feud yourself.” “Nonsense,” asserted Elain, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. “This is a dispute for arbitrators to resolve. If we must pay a fine, so be it, as long as bloodshed is avoided.” She headed out the front door, a finished spear in hand. Troubled, Roran located bread and meat in the kitchen, then helped the children sharpen spearheads. Once Felda, one of the mothers, arrived, Roran left the children in her care and slogged back through Carvahall to the main road. As he squatted in the mud, a shaft of sunlight burst underneath the clouds and illuminated the folds of rain so each drop flashed with crystal-line fire. Roran stared, awestruck, ignoring the water streaming down his face. The rift in the clouds widened until a shelf of massive thunderheads hung over the western three-quarters of Palancar Valley, facing a strip of pure blue sky. Because of the billowy roof above and the angle of the sun, the rain-drenched landscape was lit brilliantly on one side and painted with rich shadows on the other, giving the fields, bushes, trees, river, and mountains the most extraordinary colors. It was as if the entire world had been transformed into a sculpture of burnished metal. Just then, movement caught Roran’s eye, and he looked down to see a soldier standing on the road, his mail shining like ice. The man gaped with amazement at Carvahall’s new fortifications, then turned and fled back into the golden mist. “Soldiers!” shouted Roran, jolting to his feet. He wished that he had his bow, but he had left it inside to protect it from the elements. His only comfort was that the soldiers would have an even harder time keeping their weapons dry. Men and women ran from their houses, gathered along the trench, and peered out through the wall of overlapping pines. The long branches wept beads of moisture, translucent cabochons that reflected the rows of anxious eyes. Roran found himself standing beside Sloan. The butcher held one of Fisk’s makeshift shields in his left Page 396 hand, and in his right a cleaver curved like a half-moon. His belt was festooned with at least a dozen knives, all of them large and honed to a razor edge. He and Roran exchanged brisk nods, then refocused on where the soldier had disappeared. Less than a minute later, the disembodied voice of a Ra’zac slithered out of the mist: “By continuing to defend Carvahall, you proclaim your choice and ssseal your doom. You ssshall die!” Loring responded: “Show your maggot-riddled faces if you dare, you lily-livered, bandy-legged, snake-eyed wretches ! We’ll crack your skulls open and fatten our hogs on your blood!” A dark shape floated toward them, followed by the dull thump of a spear embedding itself in a door an inch from Gedric’s left arm. “Take cover!” shouted Horst from the middle of the line. Roran knelt behind his shield and peered through a hairline gap between two of the boards. He was just in time, for a half-dozen spears hurtled over the wall of trees and buried themselves among the cowering villagers. From somewhere in the mist came an agonized scream. Roran’s heart jumped with a painful flutter. He panted for breath, though he had not moved, and his hands were slick with sweat. He heard the faint sound of shattering glass on the northern edge of Carvahall... then the bellow of an explosion and crashing timbers. Spinning around, he and Sloan sped through Carvahall, where they found a team of six soldiers dragging away the splintered remains of sev-eral trees. Beyond them, pale and wraithlike in the glittering shards of rain, sat the Ra’zac on their black horses. Without slowing, Roran fell upon the first man, jabbing his spear. His first and second stabs were de-flected by an upraised arm, then Roran caught the soldier on the hip, and when he stumbled, in his throat. Sloan howled like an enraged beast, threw his cleaver, and split one of the men’s helms, crushing his skull. Two soldiers charged him with drawn swords. Sloan sidestepped, laughing now, and blocked their attacks with his shield. One soldier swung so hard, his blade stuck in the shield’s rim. Sloan yanked him closer and gored him through the eye with a carv-ing knife from his belt. Drawing a second cleaver, the butcher circled his other opponent with a maniacal grin. “Shall I gut and hamstring you?” he demanded, almost prancing with a terrible, bloody glee. Roran lost his spear to the next two men he faced. He barely managed to drag out his hammer in time to stop a sword from shearing off his leg. The soldier who had torn the spear from Roran’s grip now cast the weapon at him, aiming for his breast. Roran dropped his hammer, caught the shaft in midair—which astounded him as much as the soldiers—spun it around, and drove the spear through the armor and ribs of the man who had launched it. Left weaponless, Roran was forced to retreat before the remaining soldier. He stumbled over a corpse, cutting his calf on a sword as he fell, and rolled to avoid a two-handed blow from the soldier, scrabbling frantically in the ankle-deep mud for something, anything he could use for a weapon. A hilt bruised his fingers, and he ripped it from the muck and slashed at the soldier’s sword hand, severing his thumb. The man stared dumbly at the glistening stump, then said, “This is what comes from not shielding myself.” “Aye,” agreed Roran, and beheaded him. The last soldier panicked and fled toward the impassive specters of the Ra’zac while Sloan bombarded Page 397 him with a stream of insults and foul names. When the soldier finally pierced the shining curtain of rain, Roran watched with a thrill of horror as the two black figures bent down from their steeds on either side of the man and gripped the nape of his neck with twisted hands. The cruel fingers tightened, and the man shrieked desperately and convulsed, then went limp. The Ra’zac placed the corpse behind one of their saddles before turning their horses and riding away. Roran shuddered and looked at Sloan, who was cleaning his blades. “You fought well.” He had never suspected that the butcher contained such ferocity. Sloan said in a low voice, “They’ll never get Katrina. Never, even if I must skin the lot of them, or fight a thousand Urgals and the king to boot. I’d tear the sky itself down and let the Empire drown in its own blood before she suffers so much as a scratch.” He clamped his mouth shut then, jammed the last of his knives into his belt, and began dragging the three broken trees back into position. While he did, Roran rolled the dead soldiers through the trampled mud, away from the fortifications. Now I have killed five. At the comple-tion of his labor, he straightened and glanced around, puzzled, for all he heard was silence and the hissing rain. Why has no one come to help us? Wondering what else might have occurred, he returned with Sloan to the scene of the first attack. Two soldiers hung lifelessly on the slick branches of the tree wall, but that was not what held their attention. Horst and the other villagers knelt in a circle around a small body. Roran caught his breath. It was Elmund, son of Delwin. The ten-year-old boy had been struck in his side by a spear. His parents sat in the mud beside him, their faces as blank as stone. Something has to be done,thought Roran, dropping to his knees and leaning against his spear. Few children survived their first five or six years. But to lose your firstborn son now, when everything indicated that he should grow tall and strong to take his father’s place in Carvahall—it was enough to crush you. Katrina... the children... they all have to be protected. But where?... Where?... Where?... Where! DOWN THE RUSHING MERE-WASH On the first day from Tarnag, Eragon made an effort to learn the names of Ûndin’s guards. They were Ama, Tríhga, Hedin, Ekksvar, Shrrgnien— which Eragon found unpronounceable, though he was told it meant Wolfheart—Dûthmér, and Thorv. Each raft had a small cabin in the center. Eragon preferred to spend his time seated on the edge of the logs, watching the Beor Mountains scroll by. Kingfishers and jackdaws flitted along the clear river, while blue her-ons stood stiltlike on the marshy bank, which was planked with splotches of light that fell through the boughs of hazel, beech, and willow. Occa-sionally, a bullfrog would croak from a bed of ferns. When Orik settled beside him, Eragon said, “It’s beautiful.” “That it is.” The dwarf quietly lit his pipe, then leaned back and puffed. Eragon listened to the creak of wood and rope as Tríhga steered the raft with the long paddle at the aft. “Orik, can you tell me why Brom joined the Varden? I know so little about him. For most of my life, he Page 398 was just the town storyteller.” “He never joined the Varden; he helped found it.” Orik paused to tap some ashes into the water. “After Galbatorix became king, Brom was the only Rider still alive, outside of the Forsworn.” “But he wasn’t a Rider, not then. His dragon was killed in the fighting at Doru Araeba.” “Well, a Rider by training. Brom was the first to organize the friends and allies of the Riders who had been forced into exile. It was he who convinced Hrothgar to allow the Varden to live in Farthen Dûr, and he who obtained the elves’ assistance.” They were silent for a while. “Why did Brom relinquish the leader-ship?” asked Eragon. Orik smiled wryly. “Perhaps he never wanted it. It was before Hrothgar adopted me, so I saw little of Brom in Tronjheim.... He was always off fighting the Forsworn or engaged in one plot or another.” “Your parents are dead?” “Aye. The pox took them when I was young, and Hrothgar was kind enough to welcome me into his hall and, since he has no children of his own, to make me his heir.” Eragon thought of his helm, marked with the Ingeitum symbol. Hroth-gar has been kind to me as well. When the afternoon twilight arrived, the dwarves hung a round lantern at each corner of the rafts. The lanterns were red, which Eragon remem-bered was to preserve night vision. He stood by Arya and studied the lan-terns’ pure, motionless depths. “Do you know how these are made?” he asked. “It was a spell we gave the dwarves long ago. They use it with great skill.” Eragon reached up and scratched his chin and cheeks, feeling the patches of stubble that had begun to appear. “Could you teach me more magic while we travel?” She looked at him, her balance perfect on the undulating logs. “It is not my place. A teacher is waiting for you.” “Then tell me this, at least,” he said. “What does the name of my sword mean?” Arya’s voice was very soft. “ Miseryis your sword. And so it was until you wielded it.” Eragon stared with aversion at Zar’roc. The more he learned about his weapon, the more malevolent it seemed, as if the blade could cause mis-fortune of its own free will. Not only did Morzan kill Riders with it, but Zar’roc’s very name is evil. If Brom had not given it to him, and if not for the fact that Zar’roc never dulled and could not be broken, Eragon would have thrown it into the river at that very moment. Before it grew any darker, Eragon swam out to Saphira. They flew to-gether for the first time since leaving Tronjheim and soared high above the Az Ragni, where the air was thin and the water below was only a purple streak. Without the saddle, Eragon gripped Saphira tightly with his knees, feel-ing her hard scales rub the scars from their first flight. Page 399 As Saphira tilted to the left, rising on an updraft, he saw three brown specks launch themselves from the mountainside below and ascend rap-idly. At first Eragon took them to be falcons, but as they neared, he real-ized that the animals were almost twenty feet long, with attenuated tails and leathery wings. In fact, they looked like dragons, though their bodies were smaller, thinner, and more serpentine than Saphira’s. Nor did their scales glitter, but were dappled green and brown. Excited, Eragon pointed them out to Saphira. Could they be dragons? he asked. I don’t know.She floated in place, inspecting the newcomers as they spiraled around them. The creatures seemed puzzled by Saphira. They darted toward her, only to hiss and swoop overhead at the last moment. Eragon grinned and reached out with his mind, trying to touch their thoughts. As he did, the three recoiled and shrieked, opening their maws like hungry snakes. Their piercing keen was mental as well as physical. It tore through Eragon with a savage strength, seeking to incapacitate him. Saphira felt it too. Continuing the racking cry, the creatures attacked with razor claws. Hold on,warned Saphira. She folded her left wing and spun halfway around, avoiding two of the animals, then flapped quickly, rising above the other. At the same time, Eragon worked furiously to block the shriek. The instant his mind was clear, he reached for the magic. Don’t kill them, said Saphira. I want the experience. Though the creatures were more agile than Saphira, she had the advan-tage of bulk and strength. One of the creatures dove at her. She flipped upside down—falling backward—and kicked the animal in the chest. The shriek dropped in intensity as her injured foe retreated. Saphira flared her wings, looping right side up so she faced the other two as they converged on her. She arched her neck, Eragon heard a deep rumble between her ribs, and then a jet of flame roared from her jaws. A molten-blue halo engulfed Saphira’s head, flashing through her gemlike scales until she sparkled gloriously and seemed to be lit from within. The two dragon-beasts squawked in dismay and veered to either side. The mental assault ceased as they sped away, sinking back toward the mountainside. You almost threw me off,said Eragon, loosening his cramped arms from around her neck. She looked at him smugly. Almost, but not quite. That’s true,he laughed. Flushed with the thrill of victory, they returned to the rafts. As Saphira landed amid two great fins of water, Orik shouted, “Are you hurt?” “No,” called Eragon. The icy water whirled around his legs as Saphira swam to the side of the raft. “Were they another race unique to the Beors?” Orik pulled him onto the raft. “We call them Fanghur. They’re not as intelligent as dragons and they can’t breathe fire, but they are still formi-dable foes.” Page 400 “So we discovered.” Eragon massaged his temples in an attempt to alle-viate the headache the Fanghur’s attack had brought on. “Saphira was more than a match for them, however.” Of course,she said. “It’s how they hunt,” explained Orik. “They use their minds to immobi-lize their prey while they kill it.” Saphira flicked water at Eragon with her tail. It’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll try it next time I go hunting. He nodded. It could come in handy in a fight too. Arya came to the edge of the raft. “I’m glad you did not kill them. Fanghur are rare enough that those three would have been sorely missed.” “They still manage to eat enough of our herds,” growled Thorv from in-side the cabin. The dwarf marched out to Eragon, champing irritably un-der the twisted knots of his beard. “Do not fly anymore while in these Beor Mountains, Shadeslayer. It is difficult enough to keep you unharmed without you and thine dragon fighting wind-vipers.” “We’ll stay on the ground until we reach the plains,” promised Eragon. “Good.” When they stopped for the night, the dwarves moored the rafts to as-pen trees along the mouth of a small stream. Ama started a fire while Er-agon helped Ekksvar pull Snowfire onto land. They picketed the stallion on a strip of grass. Thorv oversaw the erection of six large tents. Hedin gathered firewood to last until morning, and Dûthmér carried supplies off the second raft and began making dinner. Arya took up watch on the edge of camp, where she was soon joined by Ekksvar, Ama, and Tríhga when they fin-ished their tasks. When Eragon realized he had nothing to do, he squatted by the fire with Orik and Shrrgnien. As Shrrgnien pulled off his gloves and held his scarred hands over the flames, Eragon noticed that a polished steel stud— perhaps a quarter of an inch long—protruded from each of the dwarf’s knuckles, except for on his thumbs. “What are those?” he asked. Shrrgnien looked at Orik and laughed. “These are mine Ascûdgamln... mine ‘fists of steel.’ ” Without standing, he twisted and punched the bole of an aspen, leaving four symmetrical holes in the bark. Shrrgnien laughed again. “They are good for hitting things, eh?” Eragon’s curiosity and envy were aroused. “How are they made? I mean, how are the spikes attached to your hands?” Shrrgnien hesitated, trying to find the right words. “A healer puts you in a deep sleep, so you feel no pain. Then a hole is—is drilled, yes?—is drilled down through the joints...” He broke off and spoke quickly to Orik in the dwarf language. Page 401 “A metal socket is embedded in each hole,” explained Orik. “Magic is used to seal it in place, and when the warrior has fully recovered, various-sized spikes can be threaded into the sockets.” “Yes, see,” said Shrrgnien, grinning. He gripped the stud above his left index finger, carefully twisted it free of his knuckle, and then handed it to Eragon. Eragon smiled as he rolled the sharp lump around his palm. “I wouldn’t mind having ‘fists of steel’ myself.” He returned the stud to Shrrgnien. “It’s a dangerous operation,” warned Orik. “Few knurlan get Ascûdgamln because you can easily lose the use of your hands if the drill goes too deep.” He raised his fist and showed it to Eragon. “Our bones are thicker than yours. It might not work for a human.” “I’ll remember that.” Still, Eragon could not help but imagine what it would be like to fight with Ascûdgamln, to be able to strike anything he wanted with impunity, including armored Urgals. He loved the idea. After eating, Eragon retired to his tent. The fire provided enough light that he could see the silhouette of Saphira nestled alongside the tent, like a figure cut from black paper and pasted against the canvas wall. Eragon sat with the blankets pulled over his legs and stared at his lap, drowsy but unwilling to sleep quite yet. Unbidden, his mind turned to thoughts of home. He wondered how Roran, Horst, and everyone else from Carvahall was doing, and if the weather in Palancar Valley was warm enough for the farmers to start planting their crops. Longing and sadness suddenly gripped Eragon. He removed a wood bowl from his pack and, taking his waterskin, filled it to the brim with liquid. Then he focused on an image of Roran and whispered, “Draumr kópa.” As always, the water went black before brightening to reveal the object being scryed. Eragon saw Roran sitting alone in a candlelit bedroom he recognized from Horst’s house. Roran must have given up his job in Ther-insford, realized Eragon. His cousin leaned on his knees and clasped his hands, staring at the far wall with an expression that Eragon knew meant Roran was grappling with some difficult problem. Still, Roran seemed well enough, if a bit drawn, which comforted Eragon. After a minute, he released the magic, ending the spell and clearing the surface of the water. Reassured, Eragon emptied the bowl, then lay down, pulling the blan-kets up to his chin. He closed his eyes and sank into the warm dusk that separates consciousness and sleep, where reality bends and sways to the wind of thought, and where creativity blossoms in its freedom from boundaries and all things are possible. Slumber soon took him. Most of his rest was uneventful, but right be-fore he woke, the usual night phantasms were replaced with a vision as clear and vibrant as any waking experience. He saw a tortured sky, black and crimson with smoke. Crows and eagles swirled high above flights of arrows that arched from one side to another of a great battle. A man sprawled in the clotted mud with a dented helm and bloody mail—his face concealed behind an upthrown arm. An armored hand entered Eragon’s view. The gauntlet was so near it blot-ted out half the world with polished steel. Like an inexorable machine, the thumb and last three fingers curled into a fist, leaving the trunk of the index finger to point at the downed man with all the authority of fate itself. Page 402 The vision still filled Eragon’s mind when he crawled out of the tent. He found Saphira some distance from the camp, gnawing on a furry lump. When he told her what he had seen, she paused in midbite, then jerked her neck and swallowed a strip of meat. The last time this occurred,she said, it proved to be a true prediction of events elsewhere. Do you think a battle is in progress in Alagaësia? He kicked a loose branch. I’m not sure.... Brom said you could only scry people, places, and things that you had already seen. Yet I’ve never seen this place. Nor had I seen Arya when I first dreamt about her in Teirm. Perhaps Togira Ikonoka will be able to explain it. As they prepared to leave, the dwarves seemed much more relaxed now that they were a good distance from Tarnag. When they started pol-ing down the Az Ragni, Ekksvar—who was steering Snowfire’s raft— began chanting in his rough bass: Down the rushing mere-wash Of Kílf’s welling blood, We ride the twisting timbers, For hearth, clan, and honor. Under the ernes’ sky-vat, Through the ice-wolves’ forest bowls, We ride the gory wood, For iron, gold, and diamond. Let hand-ringer and bearded gaper fill my grip And battle-leaf guard my stone As I leave the halls of my fathers For the empty land beyond. The other dwarves joined Ekksvar, slipping into Dwarvish as they con-tinued on to other verses. The low throb of their voices accompanied Er-agon as he carefully made his way to the head of the raft, where Arya sat cross-legged. “I had a... vision during my sleep,” said Eragon. Arya looked at him with interest, and he recounted the images he had seen. “If it’s scrying, then—” “It’s not scrying,” said Arya. She spoke with deliberate slowness, as if to prevent any misunderstanding. “I thought for a long time about how you saw me imprisoned in Gil’ead, and I believe that as I lay unconscious, my spirit was searching for help, wherever I might find it.” “But why me?” Page 403 Arya nodded toward where Saphira undulated through the water. “I grew accustomed to Saphira’s presence during the fifteen years I guarded her egg. I was reaching out for anything that felt familiar when I touched your dreams.” “Are you really strong enough to contact someone in Teirm from Gil’ead? Especially if you were drugged.” A ghost of a smile touched Arya’s lips. “I could stand on the very gates of Vroengard and still speak with you as clearly as I am now.” She paused. “If you did not scry me in Teirm, then you could not have scryed this new dream. It must be a premonition. They have been known to occur throughout the sentient races, but especially among magic users.” Eragon clutched the netting around a bundle of supplies as the raft lurched. “If what I saw will come to pass, then how can we change any-thing that happens? Do our choices matter? What if I threw myself off the raft right now and drowned?” “But you won’t.” Arya dipped her left forefinger in the river and stared at the single drop that clung to her skin, like a quivering lens. “Once, long ago, the elf Maerzadí had a premonition that he would accidentally kill his son in battle. Rather than live to see it happen, he committed suicide, saving his son, and at the same time proving that the future isn’t set. Short of killing yourself, however, you can do little to change your des-tiny, since you don’t know what choices will lead you to the particular point of time that you saw.” She flipped her hand and the drop splattered against the log between them. “We know that it’s possible to retrieve in-formation from the future—fortunetellers can often sense the paths a person’s life may take—but we’ve been unable to refine the process to the point where you can choose what, where, or when you want to see.” Eragon found the entire concept of funneling knowledge through time profoundly disturbing. It raised too many questions about the nature of reality. Whether fate and destiny really exist, the only thing I can do is en-joy the present and live as honorably as possible. Yet he could not help asking, “What’s to stop me, though, from scrying one of my memories? I’ve seen everything in them... so I should be able to view them with magic.” Arya’s gaze darted to meet his. “If you value your life, never attempt it. Many years ago, several of our spellweavers devoted themselves to de-feating time’s enigmas. When they tried to summon up the past, they only succeeded in creating a blurred image on their mirror before the spell consumed their energy and killed them. We made no more experi-ments on the subject. It is argued that the spell would work if more ma-gicians participated, but no one is willing to accept the risk and the the-ory remains unproven. Even if one could scry the past, it would be of limited use. And to scry the future, one would have to know exactly what was going to happen and where and when, which defeats the pur-pose. “It’s a mystery, then, how people can have premonitions while sleeping, how they can do something unconsciously that has defeated our greatest sages. Premonitions may be linked to the very nature and fabric of magic... or they may function in a similar way to the dragons’ ancestral memories. We don’t know. Many avenues of magic have yet to be ex-plored.” She stood in a single fluid movement. “Take care not to lose yourself among them.” DRIFTING Page 404 The valley widened throughout the morning as the rafts swept toward a bright gap between two mountains. They reached the opening at mid-day and found themselves looking out of shadow upon a sunny prairie that faded into the north. Then the current pushed them beyond the frosted crags and the walls of the world dropped away to reveal a gigantic sky and flat horizon. Al-most immediately, the air grew warmer. The Az Ragni curved to the east, edging the foothills of the mountain range on one side and the plains on the other. The amount of open space seemed to unsettle the dwarves. They mut-tered among themselves and glanced longingly at the cavernous rift be-hind them. Eragon found the sunlight invigorating. It was hard to ever really feel awake when three-quarters of the day was spent in twilight. Behind his raft, Saphira launched herself out of the water and flew up over the prai-rie until she dwindled to a winking speck in the azure dome above. What do you see?he asked. I see vast herds of gazelles to the north and east. To the west, the Hadarac Desert. That is all. No one else? No Urgals, slavers, or nomads? We are alone. That evening, Thorv chose a small cove for their camp. While Dûth-mér fixed dinner, Eragon cleared a space beside his tent, then drew Zar’roc and settled into the ready stance Brom had taught him when they first sparred. Eragon knew he was at a disadvantage compared to the elves, and he had no intention of arriving in Ellesméra out of practice. With excruciating slowness, he looped Zar’roc over his head and brought it back down with both hands, as if to cleave an enemy’s helm. He held the pose for a second. Keeping his motion under complete con-trol, he pivoted to the right—twisting Zar’roc’s point to parry an imagi-nary blow—then stopped with rigid arms. Out of the corner of his eye, Eragon noticed Orik, Arya, and Thorv watching. He ignored them and focused only on the ruby blade in his hands; he held it as if it were a snake that could writhe out of his grip and bite his arm. Turning again, he commenced a series of forms, flowing from one to another with disciplined ease as he gradually increased his speed. In his mind, he was no longer in the shadowy cove, but surrounded by a knot of ferocious Urgals and Kull. He ducked and slashed, parried, riposted, jumped to the side, and stabbed in a whirl of activity. He fought with mindless energy, as he had in Farthen Dûr, with no thought for the safety of his own flesh, dashing and tearing aside his imagined enemies. He spun Zar’roc around—in an attempt to flip the hilt from one palm to another—then dropped the sword as a jagged line of pain bisected his back. He staggered and fell. Above him, he could hear Arya and the dwarves babbling, but all he saw was a constellation of sparkling red haze, like a bloody veil dropped over the world. No sensation existed other than pain. It blotted out thought and reason, leaving only a feral animal that screamed for release. When Eragon recovered enough to notice his whereabouts, he found that he had been placed inside his tent and wrapped tightly with blan-kets. Arya sat beside him, while Saphira’s head stuck through the Page 405 en-trance flaps. Was I out long?asked Eragon. A while. You slept a little at the end. I tried to draw you from your body into mine and shield you from the pain, but I could do little with you un-conscious. Eragon nodded and closed his eyes. His entire body throbbed. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Arya and quietly asked, “How can I train?... How can I fight, or use magic?... I am a broken vessel.” His face felt heavy with age as he spoke. She answered just as softly: “You can sit and watch. You can listen. You can read. And you can learn.” Despite her words, he heard a hitch of uncertainty, even fear, in her voice. He rolled onto his side to avoid meeting her eyes. It shamed him to appear so helpless before her. “How did the Shade do this to me?” “I have no answers, Eragon. I am neither the wisest nor the strongest elf. We all do our best, and you cannot be blamed for it. Perhaps time will heal your wound.” Arya pressed her fingers to his brow and murmured, “Sé mor’ranr ono finna,” then left the tent. Eragon sat and winced as his cramped back muscles stretched. He stared at his hands without seeing them. I wonder if Murtagh’s scar ever pained him like mine does. I don’t know,said Saphira. A dead silence followed. Then: I’m afraid. Why? Because...He hesitated. Because nothing I do will prevent another attack. I don’t know when or where it will happen, but I do know that it’s inevita-ble. So I wait, and every moment I fear that if I lift something too heavy or stretch in the wrong way, the pain will return. My own body has become the enemy. Saphira hummed deep in her throat. I have no answers either. Life is both pain and pleasure. If this is the price you must pay for the hours you enjoy, is it too much? Yes,he snapped. He pulled off the blankets and shoved past her, stum-bling into the center of the camp, where Arya and the dwarves sat around a fire. “Is there food left?” asked Eragon. Dûthmér wordlessly filled a bowl and handed it to him. With a defer-ential expression, Thorv asked, “Are you better now, Shadeslayer?” He and the other dwarves seemed awed by what they had seen. “I’m fine.” “You bear a heavy burden, Shadeslayer.” Eragon scowled and abruptly walked to the edge of the tents, where he seated himself in darkness. He could sense Saphira nearby, but she left him in peace. He swore under his breath and jabbed Dûthmér’s stew with dull anger. Page 406 Just as he took a bite, Orik said from beside him, “You should not treat them so.” Eragon glared at Orik’s shadowed face. “What?” “Thorv and his men were sent to protect you and Saphira. They will die for you if need be, and trust their sacred burial to you. You should re-member that.” Eragon bit back a sharp retort and gazed at the black surface of the river—always moving, never stopping—in an attempt to calm his mind. “You’re right. I let my temper get away from me.” Orik’s teeth gleamed in the night as he smiled. “It’s a lesson that every commander must learn. I had it beaten into me by Hrothgar after I threw my boot at a dwarf who left his halberd where someone could step on it.” “Did you hit him?” “I broke his nose,” chuckled Orik. Despite himself, Eragon laughed as well. “I’ll remember not to do that.” He held the bowl with both hands to keep them warm. Eragon heard the jangle of metal as Orik extracted something from a pouch. “Here,” said the dwarf, dropping a knot of intertwined gold rings on Eragon’s palm. “It’s a puzzle we use to test cleverness and dexterity. There are eight bands. If you arrange them properly, they form a single ring. I’ve found it useful for distracting myself when I’m troubled.” “Thank you,” murmured Eragon, already entranced by the complexity of the gleaming nest. “You can keep it if you can put it together.” When he returned to his tent, Eragon lay on his stomach and inspected the rings in the dim firelight that seeped past the entrance flaps. Four bands looped through four bands. Each was smooth on the bottom half and an asymmetrical wriggling mass on the top, where it would weave through the other pieces. As Eragon experimented with various configurations, he quickly be-came frustrated by a simple fact: it seemed impossible to get the two sets of bands parallel so they would lie flat together. Absorbed by the challenge, he forgot the terror he had just endured. Eragon woke right before dawn. Scrubbing the sleep from his eyes, he exited the tent and stretched. His breath turned white in the brisk morn-ing air. He nodded to Shrrgnien, who was keeping guard by the fire, then strolled to the edge of the river and washed his face, blinking from the shock of the cold water. He located Saphira with a flick of his mind, belted on Zar’roc, and headed toward her through the beech trees that lined the Az Ragni. Be-fore long Eragon’s hands and face were slick with dew from a tangled wall of chokecherry bushes that obstructed his way. With an effort, he pushed through the net of branches and escaped onto the silent plains. A round hill rose before him. On its crest—like two ancient statues—stood Saphira and Arya. They faced east, where a molten glow crept into the sky and burnished the prairie amber. Page 407 As the clear light struck the two figures, Eragon was reminded of how Saphira had watched the sunrise from his bedpost only a few hours after she hatched. She was like a hawk or falcon with her hard, sparkling eyes under their bony ridges, the fierce arch of her neck, and the lean strength etched into every line of her body. She was a huntress, and endowed with all the savage beauty that the term implied. Arya’s angled features and panther grace perfectly matched the dragon beside her. No discrepancy existed between their demeanors as they stood bathed in dawn’s first rays. A tingle of awe and joy shuddered along Eragon’s spine. This was where he belonged, as a Rider. Of all the things in Alagaësia, he had been lucky enough to be joined with this. The wonder of it brought tears to his eyes and a smile of wild exultation that dispelled all his doubts and fears in a surge of pure emotion. Still smiling, he mounted the hill and took his place by Saphira as they surveyed the new day. Arya looked at him. Eragon met her gaze, and something lurched within him. He flushed without knowing why, feeling a sudden connection with her, a sense that she understood him better than anyone other than Saphira. His reaction confused him, for no one had affected him in that manner before. Throughout the rest of the day, all Eragon had to do was think back on that moment to make himself smile and set his insides churning with a mixture of odd sensations he could not identify. He spent most of his time seated against the raft’s cabin, working on Orik’s ring and watching the changing landscape. Around midday they passed the mouth of a valley, and another river melded into the Az Ragni, doubling its size and speed until the shores were over a mile apart. It was all the dwarves could do to keep the rafts from being tossed like flotsam before the inexorable current and to avoid smashing into the trees that occasionally floated by. A mile after the rivers joined, the Az Ragni turned north and flowed past a lonely cloud-wreathed peak that stood separate from the main body of the Beor range, like a gigantic watchtower built to keep vigil over the plains. The dwarves bowed to the peak when they saw it, and Orik told Er-agon, “There is Moldûn the Proud. He is the last true mountain we shall see on this journey.” When the rafts were moored for the evening, Eragon saw Orik unwrap a long black box inlaid with mother-of-pearl, rubies, and curved lines of silver. Orik flicked a clasp, then raised the lid to reveal an unstrung bow nestled in red velvet. The bow’s reflexed limbs were ebony, which formed the background for intricate patterns of vines, flowers, animals, and runes, all executed in the finest gold. It was such a luxurious weapon, Eragon wondered how anyone dared use it. Orik strung the bow—it was nearly as tall as he was, but still no bigger than a child’s bow by Eragon’s standards—put the box away, and said, “I’m going to find some fresh meat. I’ll be back in an hour.” With that he disappeared into the brush. Thorv grunted disapprovingly, but made no move to stop him. True to his word, Orik returned with a brace of long-necked geese. “I found a flock of them perched in a tree,” he said, tossing the birds to Dûthmér. As Orik retrieved the bejeweled case, Eragon asked, “What kind of wood is your bow made of?” “Wood?” Orik laughed, shaking his head. “You can’t make a bow this short out of wood and cast an arrow more than twenty yards; it breaks, or follows the string after a few shots. No, this is an Urgal horn bow!” Page 408 Eragon eyed him suspiciously, sure that the dwarf was trying to fool him. “Horn isn’t flexible or springy enough to make a bow.” “Ah,” chortled Orik, “that’s because you have to know how to treat it right. We first learned to do it with Feldûnost horns, but it works just as well with an Urgal’s. It’s done by cutting the horn in half lengthwise, then trimming the outside coil until it’s the right thickness. The strip is boiled flat and sanded into the final shape before being fixed to the belly of an ash stave with glue made from fish scales and the skin from the roof of trout’s mouths. Then the back of the stave is covered with multiple lay-ers of sinew; they give the bow its snap . The last step is decoration. The entire process can take almost a decade.” “I’ve never heard of a bow built like that before,” said Eragon. It made his own weapon seem no more than a crudely hacked branch. “How far does it shoot?” “See for yourself,” said Orik. He let Eragon take the bow, which he held gingerly, for fear of scuffing its finish. Orik removed an arrow from his quiver and handed it to him. “You’ll owe me an arrow, though.” Eragon fit shaft to string, aimed over the Az Ragni, and pulled back. The bow’s draw length was less than two feet, but he was surprised to find that its weight far exceeded that of his own bow; he was barely strong enough to hold the string. He released the arrow and it vanished with a twang, only to reappear far above the river. Eragon watched with amazement as the arrow landed in a spray of water halfway across the Az Ragni. He immediately reached through the barrier in his mind so that the magic’s power suffused him and said, “Gath sem oro un lam iet.” After a few seconds, the arrow darted back through the air to land on his out-stretched palm. “And there,” he said, “is the arrow I owe you.” Orik clapped his fist to his chest and then embraced the arrow and bow with obvious delight. “Wonderful! Now I still have an even two dozen. Otherwise, I would have had to wait until Hedarth to replenish my stock.” He deftly unstrung the bow and stored it away, wrapping the case in soft rags to protect it. Eragon saw Arya watching. He asked her, “Do elves use horn bows as well? You’re so strong, a wood bow would shatter if it was made heavy enough for you.” “We sing our bows from trees that do not grow.” And then she walked away. For days, they drifted through fields of spring grass while the Beor Mountains faded into a hazy white wall behind them. The banks were often covered with vast herds of gazelles and small red deer that watched them with liquid eyes. Now that the Fanghur were no longer a threat, Eragon flew almost con-stantly with Saphira. It was their first opportunity since before Gil’ead to spend so much time together in the air, and they took full advantage of it. Also, Eragon welcomed the chance to escape the cramped deck of the raft, where he felt awkward and unsettled with Arya so near. ARYA SVIT-KONA Eragon and his company followed the Az Ragni until it joined the Edda River, which then drifted into the Page 409 unknown east. At the juncture be-tween the rivers, they visited the dwarves’ trading outpost, Hedarth, and exchanged their rafts for donkeys. Dwarves never used horses on account of their size. Arya refused the steed offered to her, saying, “I will not return to the land of my ancestors on the back of a donkey.” Thorv frowned. “How will you keep pace with us?” “I will run.” And run she did, outstripping Snowfire and the donkeys, only to sit waiting for them at the next hill or copse. Despite her exer-tions, she displayed no sign of weariness when they stopped for the night, nor any inclination to utter more than a few words between breakfast and supper. With every step, she seemed to grow tenser. From Hedarth, they trekked north, going up the Edda River toward its point of origin at Eldor Lake. Du Weldenvarden came into view within three days. The forest first appeared as a hazy ridge on the horizon, then quickly expanded into an emerald sea of ancient oaks, beeches, and maples. From Saphira’s back, Eragon saw that the woods reached unbroken to the horizon both north and west, and he knew they extended far beyond that, stretching the en-tire length of Alagaësia. To him, the shadows underneath the trees’ arching boughs seemed mysterious and enticing, as well as dangerous, for there lived the elves. Hidden somewhere in the dappled heart of Du Weldenvarden lay Elles-méra—where he would complete his training—as well as Osilon, and other elven cities few outsiders had visited since the fall of the Riders. The forest was a perilous place for mortals, Eragon felt, certain to be rid-dled with strange magic and stranger creatures. It’s like another world,he observed. A pair of butterflies spiraled around each other as they rose from the dark interior of the forest. I hope,said Saphira, there will be room for me within the trees on whatever path the elves use. I cannot fly the whole time. I’m sure they found ways to accommodate dragons during the time of the Riders. Mmm. That night, just as Eragon was about to seek his blankets, Arya ap-peared by his shoulder, like a spirit materializing out of the air. Her stealth made him jump; he could never understand how she moved so quietly. Before he could ask what she wanted, her mind touched his and she said, Follow me as silently as you can. The contact surprised him as much as the request. They had shared thoughts during the flight to Farthen Dûr—it had been the only way Er-agon could speak to her through her self-induced coma—but since Arya’s recovery, he had made no attempt to touch her mind again. It was a pro-foundly personal experience. Whenever he reached out to another per-son’s consciousness, it felt as if a facet of his bare soul rubbed against theirs. It seemed boorish and rude to initiate something so private with-out an invitation, as well as a betrayal of Arya’s trust, slender as it was. Also, Eragon was afraid that such a link would reveal his new and con-fused feelings for Arya, and he had no desire to be ridiculed for them. He accompanied her as she slipped out from the ring of tents, carefully evaded Tríhga, who had taken the first watch, and passed beyond the dwarves’ hearing. Within him, Saphira kept a close watch on his Page 410 progress, ready to leap to his side if need be. Arya squatted on a moss-eaten log and wrapped her arms around her knees without looking at him. “There are things you must know before we reach Ceris and Ellesméra so that you do not shame yourself or me through your ignorance.” “Such as?” He crouched opposite her, curious. Arya hesitated. “During my years as Islanzadí’s ambassador, it was my observation that humans and dwarves are quite similar. You share many of the same beliefs and passions. More than one human has lived com-fortably among the dwarves because he or she can understand their cul-ture, as they understand yours. You both love, lust, hate, fight, and create in much the same manner. Your friendship with Orik and your accep-tance into Dûrgrimst Ingeitum are examples of this.” Eragon nodded, al-though their differences seemed greater to him than that. “Elves, though, are not like other races.” “You speak as though you weren’t one,” he said, echoing her words from Farthen Dûr. “I have lived with the Varden for enough years to become accustomed to their traditions,” replied Arya in a brittle tone. “Ah... So then do you mean to say that elves don’t have the same emo-tions as dwarves and humans? I find that hard to believe. All living things have the same basic needs and desires.” “That is not what I mean to say!” Eragon recoiled, then frowned and studied her. It was unusual for her to be so brusque. Arya closed her eyes and placed her fingers on her temples, taking a long breath. “Because elves live for so many years, we consider courtesy to be the highest social virtue. You cannot afford to give offense when a grudge can be held for decades or centuries. Courtesy is the only way to prevent such hostility from accumulating. It doesn’t always succeed, but we adhere to our ritu-als rigorously, for they protect us from extremes. Nor are elves fecund, so it is vital that we avoid conflict among ourselves. If we shared the same rate of crime as you or the dwarves, we would soon be extinct. “There is a proper way to greet the sentinels in Ceris, certain patterns and forms that you must observe when presented to Queen Islanzadí, and a hundred different manners in which to greet those around you, if it’s not better to just remain quiet.” “With all your customs,” Eragon risked saying, “it seems as though you’ve only made it easier to offend people.” A smile flickered across her lips. “Perhaps. You know as well as I that you will be judged by the highest standards. If you make a mistake, the elves will think you did it on purpose. And only harm will come if they discover that it was born of ignorance. Far better to be thought rude and capable than rude and incapable, else you risk being manipulated like The Serpent in a match of Runes. Our politics move in cycles that are both subtle and lengthy. What you see or hear of an elf one day may only be a slight move in a strategy that reaches back millennia, and may have no bearing on how that elf will behave tomorrow. It is a game that we all play but few control, a game that you are about to enter. “Now perhaps you realize why I say elves are not like other races. The dwarves are also long-lived, yet they are more prolific than us and do not share our restraint or our taste for intrigue. And humans...” She let her voice fade into a tactful silence. “Humans,” said Eragon, “do the best they can with what they are given.” Page 411 “Even so.” “Why don’t you tell Orik all this as well? He’ll be staying in Ellesméra, same as me.” An edge crept into Arya’s voice. “He is already somewhat familiar with our etiquette. However, as a Rider, you would do well to appear better educated than him.” Eragon accepted her rebuke without protest. “What must I learn?” So Arya began to tutor him and, through him, Saphira in the niceties of elven society. First she explained that when one elf meets another, they stop and touch their first two fingers to their lips to indicate that “we shall not distort the truth during our conversation.” This is followed by the phrase “Atra esterní ono thelduin” to which one replies “Atra du evarínya ono varda.” “And,” said Arya, “if you are being especially formal, a third response is made: ‘Un atra mor’ranr lífa unin hjarta onr,’ which means, ‘And may peace live in your heart.’ These lines were adopted from a blessing that was made by a dragon when our pact with them was finalized. It goes: Atra esterní ono thelduin, Mor’ranr lífa unin hjarta onr, Un du evarínya ono varda. “Or: ‘May good fortune rule over you, peace live in your heart, and the stars watch over you.’” “How do you know who is supposed to speak first?” “If you greet someone with greater status than yourself or if you wish to honor a subordinate, then speak first. If you greet someone with less status than yourself, speak last. But if you are uncertain of your position, give your counterpart a chance to speak, and if they are silent, speak first. Such is the rule.” Does it apply to me as well?asked Saphira. Arya plucked a dry leaf from the ground and crumpled it between her fingers. Behind her, the camp faded into shadow as the dwarves banked the fire, dampening the flames with a layer of dirt so that the coals and embers would survive until morning. “As a dragon, none are higher than you in our culture. Not even the queen would claim authority over you. You may do and say as you wish. We do not expect dragons to be bound by our laws.” Next she showed Eragon how to twist his right hand and place it over his sternum in a curious gesture. “This,” she said, “you will use when you meet Islanzadí. By it you indicate that you offer her your loyalty and obe-dience.” “Is it binding, like my oath of fealty to Nasuada?” “No, only a courtesy, and a small one at that.” Eragon struggled to remember the sundry modes of address that Arya instructed them in. The salutations varied from man to woman, adults to children, boys to girls, as well as by rank and prestige. It was a Page 412 daunting list, but one that Eragon knew he had to memorize perfectly. When he had absorbed all he could, Arya stood and dusted her hands. “So long as you do not forget, you’ll do well enough.” She turned to leave. “Wait,” said Eragon. He reached out to stop her, then snatched back his hand before she noticed his presumption. She looked over her shoulder with a query in her dark eyes, and his stomach clenched as he tried to find a way to voice his thoughts. Despite his best efforts, he ended up just saying, “Are you well, Arya?... You’ve seemed distracted and out of sorts ever since we left Hedarth.” As Arya’s face hardened into a blank mask, he winced inwardly, know-ing that he had chosen the wrong approach, although he could not fathom why the question should offend her. “When we are in Du Weldenvarden,” she informed him, “I expect that you will not speak to me in such a familiar way, unless you wish to cause affront.” She stalked away. Run after her!exclaimed Saphira. What? We can’t afford to have her angry with you. Go apologize. His pride rebelled. No! It’s her fault, not mine. Go apologize, Eragon, or I’ll fill your tent with carrion.It was no idle threat. How? Saphira thought for a second, then told him what to do. Without argu-ing, he jumped to his feet and darted in front of Arya, forcing her to stop. She regarded him with a haughty expression. He touched his fingers to his lips and said, “Arya Svit-kona,” using the honorific he had just learned for a woman of great wisdom. “I spoke badly, and for that I cry your pardon. Saphira and I were concerned for your welfare. After all you’ve done for us, it seemed the least we could do was offer our help in return, if you need it.” Finally, Arya relented and said, “Your concern is appreciated. And I too spoke badly.” She looked down. In the dark, the outline of her limbs and torso was painfully rigid. “You ask what troubles me, Eragon? Do you truly wish to know? Then I will tell you.” Her voice was as soft as this-tledown floating on the wind. “I am afraid.” Dumbfounded, Eragon made no response, and she stepped past, leaving him alone in the night. CERIS On the morning of the fourth day, when Eragon rode alongside Shrrgnien, the dwarf said, “So tell me, do men really have ten toes, as is said? For truly I have never traveled beyond our borders before.” “Of course we have ten toes!” said Eragon, astonished. He shifted in Snowfire’s saddle, lifted his foot, Page 413 removed his right boot and sock, and wiggled his toes under Shrrgnien’s amazed eyes. “Don’t you?” Shrrgnien shook his head. “Nay, we have seven on each foot. It is how Helzvog made us. Five is too few and six is the wrong number, but seven... seven is just right.” He glanced at Eragon’s foot again, then spurred his donkey ahead and began speaking animatedly to Ama and Hedin, who eventually handed him several silver coins. I think,said Eragon as he pulled the boot back on, that I was just the source of a bet. For some reason, Saphira found that immensely amusing. As dusk fell and the full moon rose, the Edda River drew ever closer to the fringe of Du Weldenvarden. They rode down a narrow trail through tangled dogwood and rosebushes in full bloom, which filled the evening air with the flowers’ warm scent. Eager anticipation swelled within Eragon as he gazed into the dark for-est, knowing they had already entered the elves’ domain and were close to Ceris. He leaned forward in Snowfire’s saddle, the reins pulled tight between his hands. Saphira’s excitement was as great as his own; she ranged overhead, flicking her tail back and forth with impatience. Eragon felt as if they had wandered into a dream. It doesn’t seem real, he said. Aye. Here the legends of old still bestride the earth. At last they came upon a small meadow set between the river and for-est. “Stop here,” said Arya in a low voice. She walked forward until she stood alone in the midst of the lush grass, then cried in the ancient lan-guage, “Come forth, my brethren! You have nothing to fear. ’Tis I, Arya of Ellesméra. My companions are friends and allies; they mean us no harm.” She added other words as well, ones alien to Eragon. For several minutes, the only sound was the river rushing behind them, until from underneath the still leaves came a line of Elvish, so quick and fleeting that Eragon missed the meaning. Arya responded: “I do.” With a rustle, two elves stood on the edge of the forest and two ran lightly out on the boughs of a gnarled oak. Those on the ground bore long spears with white blades, while the others held bows. All were garbed in tunics the color of moss and bark underneath flowing cloaks clasped at the shoulder with ivory brooches. One had tresses as black as Arya’s. Three had hair like starlight. The elves dropped from the trees and embraced Arya, laughing in their clear, pure voices. They joined hands and danced in a circle around her like children, singing merrily as they spun through the grass. Eragon watched in amazement. Arya had never given him reason to suspect that elves liked to—or even could —laugh. It was a wondrous sound, like flutes and harps trilling with delight at their own music. He wished that he could listen to it forever. Then Saphira drifted over the river and settled beside Eragon. At her approach, the elves cried out in alarm and aimed their weapons toward her. Arya spoke quickly in soothing tones, motioning first at Saphira, then at Eragon. When she paused for breath, Eragon drew back the glove on his right hand, tilted his palm so that the gedwëy ignasia caught the moonlight, and said, as he once had to Arya so long ago, “Eka fricai un Shur’tugal.” I am a Rider and friend. Remembering his lesson from yester-day, he touched his lips, adding, “Atra esterní ono thelduin.” Page 414 The elves lowered their weapons as their angled faces lit up with radi-ant joy. They pressed their forefingers to their lips and bowed to Saphira and him, murmuring their reply in the ancient language. Then they rose, pointed at the dwarves, and laughed as if at a hidden joke. Drifting back into the forest, they waved their hands and called, “Come, come!” Eragon followed Arya with Saphira and the dwarves, who were grum-bling among themselves. As they passed between the trees, the canopy overhead plunged them into velvet darkness, except where fragments of moonlight gleamed through chinks in the shell of overlapping leaves. Er-agon could hear the elves whispering and laughing all around, though he could not see them. Occasionally, they would call directions when he or the dwarves blundered. Ahead, a fire glowed through the trees, sending shadows racing like sprites across the leafy ground. As Eragon entered the radius of light, he saw three small huts clustered together around the base of a large oak. High in the tree was a roofed platform where a watchman could observe the river and forest. A pole had been lashed between two of the huts: from it hung bundles of drying plants. The four elves vanished into the huts, then returned with their arms piled high with fruits and vegetables—but no meat—and began prepar-ing a meal for their guests. They hummed as they worked, flitting from one tune to another as the fancy took them. When Orik asked their names, the dark-haired elf pointed to himself and said, “I am Lifaen of House Rílvenar. And my companions are Edurna, Celdin, and Narí.” Eragon sat beside Saphira, happy for an opportunity to rest and to watch the elves. Though all four were male, their faces resembled Arya’s, with delicate lips, thin noses, and large slanted eyes that shone under their brows. The rest of their bodies matched, with narrow shoulders and slender arms and legs. Each was more fair and noble than any human Er-agon had seen, albeit in a rarefied, exotic manner. Who ever thought I would get to visit the elves’ homeland?Eragon asked himself. He grinned and leaned against the corner of a hut, drowsy with the fire’s warmth. Above him, Saphira’s dancing blue eyes tracked the elves with unwavering precision. More magic is in this race,she finally remarked, than either humans or dwarves. They do not feel as if they come from the earth or the stone, but rather from another realm, half in, half out, like reflections seen through wa-ter. They certainly are graceful,he said. The elves moved like dancers, their every action smooth and lithe. Brom had told Eragon that it was rude for someone to speak with their mind to a Rider’s dragon without permission, and the elves adhered to that custom, voicing aloud their comments to Saphira, who would then answer the elves directly. Saphira usually refrained from touching the thoughts of humans and dwarves and allowed Eragon to relay her words, since few members of those races had the training to guard their minds if they wished for privacy. It also seemed an imposition to use such an in-timate form of contact for casual exchanges. The elves had no such inhi-bitions, though; they welcomed Saphira into their minds, reveling in her presence. At last the food was ready and served on carved plates that felt like dense bone, although wood grain wandered through the flowers and vines decorating the rim. Eragon was also supplied with a flagon of gooseberry wine—made of the same unusual material—with a sculpted dragon wrapped around its stem. Page 415 As they ate, Lifaen produced a set of reed pipes and began to play a flowing melody, his fingers running along the various holes. Soon the tall-est silver-haired elf, Narí, raised his voice and sang: O! The day is done; the stars are bright;The leaves are still; the moon is white!Laugh at woe and laugh at foe,Menoa’s scion now is safe this night! A forest child we lost to strife;A sylvan daughter caught by life!Freed of fear and freed of flame,She tore a Rider from the shadows rife! Again the dragons rise on wing,And we avenge their suffering!Strong of blade and strong of arm,The time is ripe for us to kill a king! O! The wind is soft; the river deep; The trees are tall; the birds do sleep! Laugh at woe and laugh at foe, The hour has arrived for joy to reap! When Narí finished, Eragon released his pent-up breath. He had never heard such a voice before; it felt as if the elf had revealed his essence, his very soul. “That was beautiful, Narí-vodhr.” “A rough composition, Argetlam,” demurred Narí. “But I thank you, nevertheless.” Thorv grunted. “Very pretty, Master Elf. However, there are matters more serious than reciting verse that we must attend to. Are we to ac-company Eragon farther?” “No,” said Arya quickly, drawing looks from the other elves. “You may return home in the morning. We will assure that Eragon reaches Elles-méra.” Thorv dipped his head. “Then our task is complete.” As Eragon lay on the bedding the elves had arranged for him, he strained his ears to catch Arya’s speech, which drifted from one of the huts. Though she used many unfamiliar words in the ancient language, he deduced that she was explaining to their hosts how she had lost Saphira’s egg and the events since. A long silence followed after she stopped, then an elf said, “It is good that you have returned, Arya Dröttningu. Islanzadí was sorely wounded by grief when you were captured and the egg was stolen, and by Urgals no less! She was—and is—sick at heart.” “Hush, Edurna... hush,” chided another. “Dvergar are small, but they have sharp ears, and I am sure these will report to Hrothgar.” Then their voices dropped and Eragon could discern no more from the murmur of voices, which melded into the whisper of leaves as he drifted to sleep, the elf’s song repeating endlessly through his dreams. The scent of flowers was heavy in the air when Eragon woke to behold a sun-drenched Du Page 416 Weldenvarden. Above him arched a mottled panoply of drifting leaves, supported by the thick trunks that buried themselves in the dry, bare ground. Only moss, lichen, and a few low shrubs survived in the pervasive green shade. The scarcity of underbrush made it possible to see for great distances between the knotted pillars and to walk about freely beneath the dappled ceiling. Rolling to his feet, Eragon found Thorv and his guards packed and ready to leave. Orik’s donkey was tied behind Ekksvar’s steed. Eragon ap-proached Thorv and said, “Thank you, all of you, for protecting me and Saphira. Please convey our gratitude to Ûndin.” Thorv pressed his fist to his chest. “I will carry your words.” He hesi-tated and looked back at the huts. “Elves are a queer race, full of light and dark. In the morning, they drink with you; in the evening, they stab you. Keep thine back to a wall, Shadeslayer. Capricious, they are.” “I will remember that.” “Mmm.” Thorv gestured toward the river. “They plan to travel up Eldor Lake in boats. What will you do with thine horse? We could return him to Tarnag with us, and from there, to Tronjheim.” “Boats!” cried Eragon with dismay. He had always planned to bring Snowfire to Ellesméra. It was convenient to have a horse whenever Saphira was away, or in places too confined for her bulk. He fingered the sparse bristles along his jaw. “That is a kind offer. Will you make sure Snowfire is well cared for? I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to him.” “On mine honor,” pledged Thorv, “you will return to find him fat and sleek.” Eragon fetched Snowfire and transferred the stallion, his saddle, and his grooming supplies into Thorv’s care. He bade each of the warriors fare-well, then he, Saphira, and Orik watched the dwarves ride back along the trail they had arrived on. Returning to the huts, Eragon and the remainder of his party followed the elves to a thicket on the edge of the Edda River. There, docked on either side of a boulder, were two white canoes with vines carved along their sides. Eragon boarded the nearest boat and stowed his pack beneath his feet. He was amazed by how light the craft was; he could have lifted it with a single hand. Even more astounding, the hulls appeared to be composed of birch-bark panels melded into a seamless whole. Curious, he touched the side. The bark was hard and taut, like stretched parchment, and cool from its contact with the water. He rapped it with a knuckle. The fi-brous shell reverberated like a muted drum. “Are all your boats made this way?” he asked. “All except the very largest,” answered Narí, seating himself at the prow of Eragon’s vessel. “For those, we sing the finest cedar and oak into shape.” Before Eragon could ask what he meant, Orik joined their canoe while Arya and Lifaen appropriated the second one. Arya turned to Edurna and Celdin—who stood on the bank—and said, “Guard this way so that none may follow us, and tell no one of our presence. The queen must be the first to know. I will send reinforcements as soon as we reach Sílthrim.” “Arya Dröttningu.” Page 417 “May the stars watch over you!” she answered. Bending forward, Narí and Lifaen drew spiked poles ten feet long from inside the boats and began propelling the vessels upstream. Saphira slid into the water behind them and clawed her way along the riverbed until they were level. When Eragon looked at her, she winked lazily, then submerged, forcing the river to swell into a mound over her jagged back. The elves laughed as she did so and made many compliments about her size and strength. After an hour, they reached Eldor Lake, which was rough with small, jagged waves. Birds and flies swarmed by a wall of trees edging the west-ern shore, while the eastern shore sloped up into the plains. On that side meandered hundreds of deer. Once they escaped the river’s current, Narí and Lifaen stowed their poles, then distributed leaf-bladed paddles. Orik and Arya already knew how to steer a boat, but Narí had to explain the process to Eragon. “We turn toward whichever side you paddle on,” said the elf. “So if I paddle on the right and Orik paddles on the left, then you must paddle first on one side, then the other, else we will drift off course.” In the daylight, Narí’s hair shimmered like the finest wire, each strand a fiery line. Eragon soon mastered the ability, and as the motion became habitual, his mind was freed to daydream. Thus, he floated up the cool lake, lost in the fantastic worlds hidden behind his eyes. When he paused to rest his arms, he once again pulled Orik’s puzzle ring from his belt and struggled to arrange the obstinate gold bands into the correct pattern. Narí noticed what he was doing. “May I see that ring?” Eragon passed it to the elf, who turned his back. For a few moments, Eragon and Orik maneuvered the canoe alone as Narí picked at the en-twined bands. Then, with a pleased exclamation, Narí raised his hand, and the completed ring flashed on his middle finger. “A delightful riddle,” said Narí. He slipped off the ring and shook it, so that it was in its origi-nal state when he returned it to Eragon. “How did you solve it?” demanded Eragon, dismayed and envious that Narí had been able to master the puzzle so easily. “Wait... Don’t tell me. I want to figure it out on my own.” “Of course,” said Narí, smiling. WOUNDS OF THE PAST For three and a half days, the citizens of Carvahall discussed the latest attack, the tragedy of young Elmund’s death, and what could possibly be done to escape their thrice-blasted situation. The debate raged with bit-ter fury through every room of every home. In the space of a word, friends turned against friends, husbands against wives, children against parents, only to reconcile moments later in their frantic attempt to dis-cover a means of survival. Some said that since Carvahall was doomed anyway, they might as well kill the Ra’zac and remaining soldiers so as to at least have their venge-ance. Others said that if Carvahall really was doomed, then the only logi-cal course was to surrender and trust themselves to the king’s mercy, even if it did mean torture and death for Roran and enslavement for eve-ryone else. And still others sided with neither opinion, but rather de-scended into a sullen black anger directed at everyone who had brought about this calamity. Many did their best to hide their panic in the depths of a tankard. Page 418 The Ra’zac themselves had apparently realized that with eleven soldiers dead they no longer had a large enough force to attack Carvahall, and thus had retreated farther down the road, where they were content to post sentinels across Palancar Valley and wait. “Wait for flea-bitten troops from Ceunon or Gil’ead, if you ask me,” Loring said at one meet-ing. Roran listened to that and more, kept his own council, and silently judged the various schemes. They all seemed dangerously risky. Roran still had not told Sloan that he and Katrina were engaged. He knew it was foolish to wait, but he feared how the butcher would react when he learned that Roran and Katrina had flouted tradition and, in do-ing so, undermined Sloan’s authority. Besides, there was plenty of work to divert Roran’s attention; he convinced himself that strengthening the for-tifications around Carvahall was his most important task at the moment. Getting people to help was easier than Roran anticipated. After the last fight, the villagers were more apt to listen and to obey him—that is, those who did not blame him for causing their predicament. He was mystified by his new authority, until he realized that it was the result of the awe, respect, and perhaps even fear his kills had elicited. They called him Stronghammer. Roran Stronghammer. The name pleased him. As night engulfed the valley, Roran leaned against a corner of Horst’s dining room, his eyes closed. Conversation flowed from the men and women seated around the candlelit table. Kiselt was in the middle of ex-plaining the state of Carvahall’s supplies. “We won’t starve,” he con-cluded, “but if we can’t tend to our fields and our flocks soon, we might as well cut our own throats before next winter. It would be a kinder fate.” Horst scowled. “Dog tripe!” “Dog tripe or not,” said Gertrude, “I doubt we’ll have a chance to find out. We outnumbered the soldiers ten to one when they arrived. They lost eleven men; we lost twelve, and I’m caring for another nine wounded. What happens, Horst, when they outnumber us ten to one?” “We will give the bards a reason to remember our names,” retorted the smith. Gertrude shook her head sadly. Loring banged a fist on the table. “And I say it’s our turn to strike, be-fore we are outnumbered. All we need are a few men, shields, and spears, and we can wipe out their infestation. It could be done tonight!” Roran shifted restlessly. He had heard all this before, and like before, Loring’s proposal ignited an argument that consumed the group. After an hour, the debate still showed no sign of being resolved, nor had any new ideas been presented, except for Thane’s suggestion that Gedric should go tan his own hide, which nearly resulted in a fistfight. Finally, when the conversation lulled, Roran limped to the table as quickly as his injured calf would allow. “I have something to say.” For him it was the equivalent of stepping on a long thorn and then yanking it out without stopping to consider the pain; it had to be done, and the faster the better. All eyes—hard, soft, angry, kind, indifferent, and curious—turned to him, and Roran took a deep breath. “Indecision will kill us just as surely as a sword or an arrow.” Orval rolled his eyes, but the rest still listened. “I don’t know if we should attack or flee—” Page 419 “Where?” snorted Kiselt. “—but I do know one thing: our children, our mothers, and our infirm must be protected from danger. The Ra’zac have barred us from Cawley and the other farms down the valley. So what? We know this land better than any in Alagaësia, and there is a place... there is a place where our loved ones will be safe: the Spine.” Roran winced as a barrage of outraged voices assaulted him. Sloan was the loudest, shouting, “I’ll be hanged before I set foot in those cursed mountains!” “Roran,” said Horst, overriding the commotion. “You of all people should know that the Spine is too dangerous—it’s where Eragon found the stone that brought the Ra’zac! The mountains are cold, and filled with wolves, bears, and other monsters. Why even mention them?” To keep Katrina safe!Roran wanted to scream. Instead, he said, “Be-cause no matter how many soldiers the Ra’zac summon, they will never dare enter the Spine. Not after Galbatorix lost half his army in it.” “That was a long time ago,” said Morn doubtfully. Roran jumped on his statement. “And the stories have grown all the more frightening in the telling! A trail already exists to the top of Igualda Falls. All we have to do is send the children and others up there. They’ll only be on the fringe of the mountains, but they’ll still be safe. If Carva-hall is taken, they can wait until the soldiers leave, then find refuge in Therinsford.” “It is too dangerous,” growled Sloan. The butcher gripped the edge of the table so hard that the tips of his fingers turned white. “The cold, the beasts. No sane man would send his family among those.” “But...” Roran faltered, put off-balance by Sloan’s response. Though he knew the butcher hated the Spine more than most—because his wife had plummeted to her death from the cliffs beside Igualda Falls—he had hoped that Sloan’s rabid desire to protect Katrina would be strong enough to overcome his aversion. Roran now understood he would have to win over Sloan just like everyone else. Adopting a placating tone, Ro-ran said, “It’s not that bad. The snow is already melting off the peaks. It’s no colder in the Spine than it was down here a few months ago. And I doubt that wolves or bears would bother such a large group.” Sloan grimaced, twisting his lips up over his teeth, and shook his head. “You will find nothing but death in the Spine.” The others seemed to agree, which only strengthened Roran’s determination, for he was convinced that Katrina would die unless he could sway them. He scanned the long oval of faces, searching for a sympathetic ex-pression. “Delwin, I know it’s cruel of me to say it, but if Elmund hadn’t been in Carvahall, he would still be alive. Surely you must agree that this is the right thing to do! You have an opportunity to save other parents from your suffering.” No one responded. “And Birgit!” Roran dragged himself toward her, clutching the backs of chairs to keep himself from falling. “Do you want Nolfavrell to share his father’s fate? He has to leave. Can’t you see, that is the only way he’ll be safe....” Though Roran did his best to fight it, he could feel tears flood his eyes. “It’s for the children!” he shouted angrily. Page 420 The room was silent as Roran stared at the wood beneath his hands, struggling to control himself. Delwin was the first to stir. “I will never leave Carvahall so long as my son’s killers remain here. However,” he paused, then continued with painful slowness, “I cannot deny the truth of your words; the children must be protected.” “As I said from the beginning,” declared Tara. Then Baldor spoke: “Roran is right. We can’t allow ourselves to be blinded by fear. Most of us have climbed to the top of the falls at one time or another. It’s safe enough.” “I too,” Birgit finally added, “must agree.” Horst nodded. “I would rather not do it, but considering the circum-stances.... I don’t think we have any other choice.” After a minute, the various men and women began to reluctantly acquiesce to the proposal. “Nonsense!” exploded Sloan. He stood and stabbed an accusing finger at Roran. “How will they get enough food to wait for weeks on end? They can’t carry it. How will they stay warm? If they light fires, they’ll be seen! How, how, how? If they don’t starve, they’ll freeze. If they don’t freeze, they’ll be eaten. If they’re not eaten... Who knows? They may fall!” Roran spread his hands. “If we all help, they will have plenty of food. Fire won’t be a problem if they move farther back into the forest, which they must anyway, since there isn’t room to camp right by the falls.” “Excuses! Justifications!” “What would you have us do, Sloan?” asked Morn, eyeing him with curiosity. Sloan laughed bitterly. “Not this.” “Then what?” “It doesn’t matter. Only this is the wrong choice.” “You don’t have to participate,” pointed out Horst. “Nor will I,” said the butcher. “Proceed if you want, but neither I nor my blood shall enter the Spine while I still have marrow in my bones.” He grabbed his cap and left with a venomous glare at Roran, who re-turned the scowl in kind. As Roran saw it, Sloan was endangering Katrina through his own pig-headed stubbornness. If he can’t bring himself to accept the Spine as a place of refuge, decided Roran, then he’s become my enemy and I have to take matters into my own hands. Horst leaned forward on his elbows and interlaced his thick fingers. “So... If we are going to use Roran’s plan, what preparations will be needed?” The group exchanged wary glances, then gradually began to dis-cuss the topic. Roran waited until he was convinced that he had achieved his goal be-fore slipping out of the dining room. Loping through the dusky village, he searched for Sloan along the inner perimeter of the tree wall. Page 421 Eventually, he spotted the butcher hunched underneath a torch, his shield clasped around his knees. Roran spun around on one foot and ran to Sloan’s shop, where he hurried to the kitchen in the back. Katrina paused in the middle of setting their table and stared at him with amazement. “Roran! Why are you here? Did you tell Father?” “No.” He came forward and took her arm, savoring the touch. Just be-ing in the same room with her filled him with joy. “I have a great favor to ask of you. It’s been decided to send the children and a few others into the Spine above Igualda Falls.” Katrina gasped. “I want you to accompany them.” With a shocked expression, Katrina pulled free of his grasp and turned to the open fireplace, where she hugged herself and stared at the bed of throbbing embers. For a long time, she said nothing. Then: “Father forbade me to go near the falls after Mother died. Albem’s farm is the clos-est I’ve been to the Spine in over ten years.” She shivered, and her voice grew accusing. “How can you suggest that I abandon both you and my father? This is my home as much as yours. And why should I leave when Elain, Tara, and Birgit will remain?” “Katrina, please.” He tentatively put his hands on her shoulders. “The Ra’zac are here for me, and I would not have you harmed because of that. As long as you’re in danger, I can’t concentrate on what has to be done: defending Carvahall.” “Who would respect me for fleeing like a coward?” She lifted her chin. “I would be ashamed to stand before the women of Carvahall and call myself your wife.” “Coward? There is no cowardice in guarding and protecting the chil-dren in the Spine. If anything, it requires greater courage to enter the mountains than to stay.” “What horror is this?” whispered Katrina. She twisted in his arms, eyes shining and mouth set firmly. “The man who would be my husband no longer wants me by his side.” He shook his head. “That’s not true. I—” “It is true! What if you are killed while I’m gone?” “Don’t say—” “No! Carvahall has little hope of survival, and if we must die, I would rather die together than huddle in the Spine without life or heart. Let those with children tend to their own. As will I.” A tear rolled down her cheek. Gratitude and wonder surged through Roran at the strength of her de-votion. He looked deep into her eyes. “It is for that love that I would have you go. I know how you feel. I know that this is the hardest sacri-fice either of us could make, and I ask it of you now.” Katrina shuddered, her entire body rigid, her white hands clenched around her muslin sash. “If I do this,” she said with a shaking voice, “you must promise me, here and now, that you will never make such a request again. You must promise that even if we faced Galbatorix himself and only one of us could escape, you would not ask me to leave.” Roran looked at her helplessly. “I can’t.” Page 422 “Then how can you expect me to do what you won’t!” she cried. “That is my price, and neither gold nor jewels nor pretty words can replace your oath. If you don’t care enough for me to make your own sacrifice, Roran Stronghammer, then be gone and I never wish to see your face again!” I cannot lose her.Though it pained him almost beyond endurance, he bowed his head and said, “You have my word.” Katrina nodded and sank into a chair—her back stiff and upright—and blotted her tears on the cuff of her sleeve. In a quiet voice, she said, “Fa-ther will hate me for going.” “How will you tell him?” “I won’t,” she said defiantly. “He would never let me enter the Spine, but he has to realize that this is my decision. Anyway, he won’t dare pur-sue me into the mountains; he fears them more than death itself.” “He may fear losing you even more.” “We shall see. If—when—the time comes to return, I expect you to have already spoken to him about our engagement. That should give him enough time to reconcile himself to the fact.” Roran found himself nodding in agreement, all the while thinking that they would be lucky if events worked out so well. WOUNDS OF THE PRESENT When dawn arrived, Roran woke and lay staring at the whitewashed ceiling while he listened to the slow rasp of his own breathing. After a minute, he rolled off the bed, dressed, and proceeded to the kitchen, where he procured a chunk of bread, smeared it with soft cheese, then stepped out onto the front porch to eat and admire the sunrise. His tranquility was soon disrupted when a herd of unruly children dashed through the garden of a nearby house, shrieking with delight at their game of Catch-the-Cat, followed by a number of adults intent on snaring their respective charges. Roran watched the cacophonous parade vanish around a corner, then placed the last of the bread in his mouth and returned to the kitchen, which had filled with the rest of the house-hold. Elain greeted him. “Good morning, Roran.” She pushed open the win-dow shutters and gazed up at the sky. “It looks like it may rain again.” “The more the better,” asserted Horst. “It’ll help keep us hidden while we climb Narnmor Mountain.” “Us?” inquired Roran. He sat at the table beside Albriech, who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Horst nodded. “Sloan was right about the food and supplies; we have to help carry them up the falls, or else there won’t be enough.” “Will there still be men to defend Carvahall?” “Of course, of course.” Page 423 Once they all had breakfast, Roran helped Baldor and Albriech wrap spare food, blankets, and supplies into three large bundles that they slung across their shoulders and hauled to the north end of the village. Roran’s calf pained him, but not unbearably. Along the way, they met the three brothers Darmmen, Larne, and Hamund, who were similarly burdened. Just inside the trench that circumnavigated the houses, Roran and his companions found a large gathering of children, parents, and grandparents all busy organizing for the expedition. Several families had volunteered their donkeys to carry goods and the younger children; the animals were picketed in an impatient, braying line that added to the overall confusion. Roran set his bundle on the ground and scanned the group. He saw Svart—Ivor’s uncle and, at nearly sixty, the oldest man in Carvahall— seated on a bale of clothes, teasing a baby with the tip of his long white beard; Nolfavrell, who was guarded over by Birgit; Felda, Nolla, Calitha, and a number of other mothers with worried expressions; and a great many reluctant people, both men and women. Roran also saw Katrina among the crowd. She glanced up from a knot she was tying on a pack and smiled at him, then returned to her task. Since no one seemed to be in charge, Roran did his best to sort out the chaos by overseeing the arranging and packaging of the various supplies. He discovered a shortage of waterskins, but when he asked for more, he ended up with thirteen too many. Delays such as those consumed the early-morning hours. In the middle of discussing with Loring the possible need for extra shoes, Roran stopped as he noticed Sloan standing at the entrance to an alleyway. The butcher surveyed the mass of activity before him. Contempt cut into the lines along his downturned mouth. His sneer hardened into en-raged incredulity as he spotted Katrina, who had shouldered her pack, removing any possibility that she was there only to help. A vein throbbed down the middle of Sloan’s forehead. Roran hurried toward Katrina, but Sloan reached her first. He grabbed the top of the pack and shook it violently, shouting, “Who made you do this?” Katrina said something about the children and tried to pull free, but Sloan yanked at the pack—twisting her arms as the straps slid off her shoulders—and threw it on the ground so that the contents scattered. Still shouting, Sloan grabbed Katrina’s arm and began to drag her away. She dug in her heels and fought, her copper hair swirling over her face like a dust storm. Furious, Roran threw himself at Sloan and tore him from Katrina, shov-ing the butcher in the chest so that he stumbled backward several yards. “Stop! I’m the one who wanted her to go.” Sloan glared at Roran and snarled, “You have no right!” “I have every right.” Roran looked at the ring of spectators who had gathered around and then declared so that all could hear: “Katrina and I are engaged to be married, and I would not have my future wife treated so!” For the first time that day, the villagers fell completely silent; even the donkeys were quiet. Surprise and a deep, inconsolable pain sprang onto Sloan’s vulnerable face, along with the glimmer of tears. For a moment, Roran felt sympathy for him, then a series of contortions distorted Sloan’s visage, each more extreme than the last, until his skin turned beet red. He cursed and said, “You two-faced coward! How could you look me in the eye and speak to me like an honest man while, at the same time, courting my daughter without permission? I dealt with you in good faith, and here I find you plundering Page 424 my house while my back is turned.” “I had hoped to do this properly,” said Roran, “but events have con-spired against me. It was never my intention to cause you grief. Even though this hasn’t gone the way either of us wanted, I still want your blessing, if you are willing.” “I would rather have a maggot-riddled pig for a son than you! You have no farm. You have no family. And you will have naught to do with my daughter!” The butcher cursed again. “And she’ll have naught to do with the Spine!” Sloan reached for Katrina, but Roran blocked the way, his face as hard as his clenched fists. Only a handsbreadth apart, they stared directly at each other, trembling from the strength of their emotions. Sloan’s red-rimmed eyes shone with manic intensity. “Katrina, come here,” Sloan commanded. Roran withdrew from Sloan—so that the three of them formed a trian-gle—and looked at Katrina. Tears streamed down her face as she glanced between him and her father. She stepped forward, hesitated, then with a long, anguished cry, tore at her hair in a frenzy of indecision. “Katrina!” exclaimed Sloan with a burr of fear. “Katrina,” murmured Roran. At the sound of his voice, Katrina’s tears ceased and she stood straight and tall with a calm expression. She said, “I’m sorry, Father, but I have decided to marry Roran,” and stepped to his side. Sloan turned bone white. He bit his lip so hard that a bead of ruby blood appeared. “You can’t leave me! You’re my daughter!” He lunged at her with crooked hands. In that instant, Roran bellowed and struck the butcher with all his strength, knocking him sprawling in the dirt before the entire village. Sloan rose slowly, his face and neck flushed with humiliation. When he saw Katrina again, the butcher seemed to crumple inward, losing height and stature until Roran felt as if he were looking at a specter of the origi-nal man. In a low whisper, he said, “It is always so; those closest to the heart cause the most pain. Thou will have no dowry from me, snake, nor your mother’s inheritance.” Weeping bitterly, Sloan turned and fled to-ward his shop. Katrina leaned against Roran, and he put an arm around her. Together they clung to each other as people crowded against them offering condo-lences, advice, congratulations, and disapproval. Despite the commotion, Roran was aware of nothing but the woman whom he held, and who held him. Just then, Elain bustled up as fast as her pregnancy would allow. “Oh, you poor dear!” she cried, and embraced Katrina, drawing her from Ro-ran’s arms. “Is it true you are engaged?” Katrina nodded and smiled, then erupted into hysterical tears against Elain’s shoulder. “There now, there now.” Elain cradled Katrina gently, petting her and trying to soothe her, but without avail—every time Roran thought she was about to recover, Katrina began to cry with renewed intensity. Finally, Elain peered over Katrina’s quaking shoulder and said, “I’m taking her back to the house.” “I’ll come.” “No, you won’t,” retorted Elain. “She needs time to calm down, and you have work to do. Do you want Page 425 my advice?” Roran nodded dumbly. “Stay away until evening. I guarantee that she will be as right as rain by then. She can join the others tomorrow.” Without waiting for his response, Elain escorted the sobbing Katrina away from the wall of sharpened trees. Roran stood with his hands hanging limply by his sides, feeling dazed and helpless. What have we done? He regretted that he had not revealed their engagement to Sloan sooner. He regretted that he and Sloan could not work together to shield Katrina from the Empire. And he regretted that Katrina had been forced to relinquish her only family for him. He was now doubly responsible for her welfare. They had no choice but to get married. I’ve made a terrible mess of this. He sighed and clenched his fist, wincing as his bruised knuckles stretched. “How are you?” asked Baldor, coming alongside him. Roran forced a smile. “It didn’t turn out quite how I hoped. Sloan’s be-yond reason when it comes to the Spine.” “And Katrina.” “That too. I—” Roran fell silent as Loring stopped before them. “That was a blasted fool thing to do!” growled the shoemaker, wrinkling his nose. Then he stuck out his chin, grinned, and bared his stumps of teeth. “But I ’ope you and the girl have the best of luck.” He shook his head. “Heh, you’re going to need it, Stronghammer!” “We’re all going to need it,” snapped Thane as he walked past. Loring waved a hand. “Bah, sourpuss. Listen, Roran; I’ve lived in Carva-hall for many, many years, and in my experience, it’s better that this hap-pened now, instead of when we’re all warm and cozy.” Baldor nodded, but Roran asked, “Why so?” “Isn’t it obvious? Normally, you and Katrina would be the meat of gos-sip for the next nine months.” Loring put a finger on the side of his nose. “Ah, but this way, you’ll soon be forgotten amid everything else that’s go-ing on, and then the two of you might even have some peace.” Roran frowned. “I’d rather be talked about than have those desecrators camped on the road.” “So would we all. Still, it’s something to be grateful for, and we all need something to be grateful for—’specially once you’re married!” Loring cackled and pointed at Roran. “Your face just turned purple, boy!” Roran grunted and set about gathering Katrina’s possessions off the ground. As he did, he was interrupted by comments from whoever hap-pened to be nearby, none of which helped to settle his nerves. “Rotgut,” he muttered to himself after a particularly invidious remark. Although the expedition into the Spine was delayed by the unusual scene the villagers had just witnessed, it was only slightly after midmorn-ing when the caravan of people and donkeys began to ascend the bare trail scratched into the side of Narnmor Mountain to the crest of the Igualda Falls. It was a steep climb and had to be taken slowly, on account of the children and the size of the burdens everyone carried. Roran spent most of his time caught behind Calitha—Thane’s wife— and her five children. He did not Page 426 mind, as it gave him an opportunity to indulge his injured calf and to consider recent events at length. He was disturbed by his confrontation with Sloan. At least, he consoled himself, Katrina won’t remain in Carvahall much longer. For Roran was convinced, in his heart of hearts, that the village would soon be defeated. It was a sobering, yet unavoidable, realization. He paused to rest three-quarters of the way up the mountain and leaned against a tree as he admired the elevated view of Palancar Valley. He tried to spot the Ra’zac’s camp—which he knew was just to the left of the Anora River and the road south—but was unable to discern even a wisp of smoke. Roran heard the roar of the Igualda Falls long before they came into sight. The falls appeared for all the world like a great snowy mane that billowed and drifted off Narnmor’s craggy head to the valley floor a half mile below. The massive stream curved in several directions as it fell, the result of different layers of wind. Past the slate ledge where the Anora River became airborne, down a glen filled with thimbleberries, and then finally into a large clearing guarded on one side by a pile of boulders, Roran found that those at the head of the procession had already begun setting up camp. The forest rang with the children’s shouts and cries. Removing his pack, Roran untied an ax from the top, then set about clearing the underbrush from the site along with several other men. When they finished, they began chopping down enough trees to encircle the camp. The aroma of pine sap filled the air. Roran worked quickly, the wood chips flying in unison with his rhythmic swings. By the time the fortifications were complete, the camp had already been erected with seventeen wool tents, four small cookfires, and glum expressions from people and donkeys alike. No one wanted to leave, and no one wanted to stay. Roran surveyed the assortment of boys and old men clutching spears, and thought, Too much experience and too little. The grandfathers know how to deal with bears and the like, but will the grandsons have the strength to actually do it? Then he noticed the hard glint in the women’s eyes and realized that while they might hold a babe or be busy tending a scraped arm, their own shields and spears were never far from reach. Ro-ran smiled. Perhaps... perhaps we still have hope. He saw Nolfavrell sitting alone on a log—staring back toward Palancar Valley—and joined the boy, who looked at him seriously. “Are you leav-ing soon?” asked Nolfavrell. Roran nodded, impressed by his poise and determination. “You will do your best, won’t you, to kill the Ra’zac and avenge my father? I would do it, except that Mama says I must guard my brothers and sisters.” “I’ll bring you their heads myself, if I can,” promised Roran. The boy’s chin trembled. “That is good!” “Nolfavrell...” Roran paused as he searched for the right words. “You are the only one here, besides me, who has killed a man. It doesn’t mean that we are better or worse than anyone else, but it means that I can trust you to fight well if you are attacked. When Katrina comes here tomorrow, will you make sure that she’s well protected?” Nolfavrell’s chest swelled with pride. “I’ll guard her wherever she goes!” Then he looked regretful. “That is... when I don’t have to look after—” Page 427 Roran understood. “Oh, your family comes first. But maybe Katrina can stay in the tent with your brothers and sisters.” “Yes,” said Nolfavrell slowly. “Yes, I think that would work. You can rely on me.” “Thank you.” Roran clapped him on the shoulder. He could have asked an older and more capable person, but the adults were too busy with their own responsibilities to defend Katrina as he hoped. Nolfavrell, however, would have the opportunity and inclination to assure that she remained safe. He can hold my place while we are apart. Roran stood as Birgit approached. Eyeing him flatly, she said, “Come, it is time.” Then she hugged her son and continued toward the falls with Roran and the other villagers who were returning to Carvahall. Behind them, everyone in the small camp clustered against the felled trees and stared forlornly out through their wooden bars. HIS ENEMY’S FACE As Roran proceeded about his work throughout the rest of the day, he felt Carvahall’s emptiness deep inside. It was as if part of himself had been extracted and hidden in the Spine. And with the children gone, the village now felt like an armed camp. The change seemed to have made everyone grim and grave. When the sun finally sank into the waiting teeth of the Spine, Roran climbed the hill to Horst’s house. He stopped before the front door and placed a hand on the knob, but remained there, unable to enter. Why does this frighten me as much as fighting? In the end, he forsook the front door entirely and went to the side of the house, where he slipped into the kitchen and, to his dismay, saw Elain knitting on one side of the table, speaking to Katrina, who was op-posite her. They both turned toward him, and Roran blurted, “Are... are you all right?” Katrina came to his side. “I’m fine.” She smiled softly. “It just was a ter-rible shock when Father... when...” She ducked her head for a moment. “Elain has been wonderfully kind to me. She agreed to lend me Baldor’s room for the night.” “I’m glad you are better,” said Roran. He hugged her, trying to convey all of his love and adoration through that simple touch. Elain wrapped up her knitting. “Come now. The sun has set, and it’s time you were off to bed, Katrina.” Roran reluctantly let go of Katrina, who kissed him on the cheek and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.” He started to follow her out, but stopped when Elain said with a barbed tone, “Roran.” Her delicate face was hard and stern. “Yes?” Elain waited until they heard the creak of stairs that indicated Katrina was out of earshot. “I hope that you meant every promise you gave that girl, because if you didn’t, I’ll call an assembly and have you exiled within a week.” Page 428 Roran was dumbfounded. “Of course I meant them. I love her.” “Katrina just surrendered everything she owned or cared about for you.” Elain stared up at him with unwavering eyes. “I’ve seen men who throw their affection at young maids, like grain tossed at chickens. The maids sigh and weep and believe that they are special, yet for the man, it’s only a trifling amusement. You have always been honorable, Roran, but one’s loins can turn even the most sensible person into a prancing booby or a sly, wicked fox. Are you one? For Katrina requires neither a fool, a trick-ster, nor even love; what she requires above all else is a man who will provide for her. If you abandon her, she will be the meanest person in Carvahall, forced to live off her friends, our first and only beggar. By the blood in my veins, I won’t let that happen.” “Nor would I,” protested Roran. “I would have to be heartless, or worse, to do so.” Elain jerked her chin. “Exactly. Don’t forget that you intend to marry a woman who has lost both her dowry and her mother’s inheritance. Do you understand what it means for Katrina to lose her inheritance? She has no silver, no linens, no lace, nor any of the things needed for a well-run home. Such items are all we own, passed from mother to daughter since the day we first settled Alagaësia. They determine our worth. A woman without her inheritance is like... is like—” “Is like a man without a farm or a trade,” said Roran. “Just so. It was cruel of Sloan to deny Katrina her inheritance, but that can’t be helped now. Both you and she have no money or resources. Life is difficult enough without that added hardship. You’ll be starting from nothing and with nothing. Does the prospect frighten you or seem un-bearable? So I ask you once again—and don’t lie or the two of you will regret it for the rest of your lives—will you care for her without grudge or resentment?” “Yes.” Elain sighed and filled two earthen cups with cider from a jug hanging among the rafters. She handed one to Roran as she seated herself back at the table. “Then I suggest that you devote yourself to replacing Katrina’s home and inheritance so that she and any daughters you may have can stand without shame among the wives of Carvahall.” Roran sipped the cool cider. “If we live that long.” “Aye.” She brushed back a strand of her blond hair and shook her head. “You’ve chosen a hard path, Roran.” “I had to make sure that Katrina would leave Carvahall.” Elain lifted an eyebrow. “So that was it. Well, I won’t argue about it, but why on earth didn’t you speak to Sloan about your engagement be-fore this morning? When Horst asked my father, he gave our family twelve sheep, a sow, and eight pairs of wrought-iron candlesticks before he even knew if my parents would agree. That’s how it should be done. Surely you could have thought of a better strategy than striking your fa-ther-in-law-to-be.” A painful laugh escaped Roran. “I could have, but it never seemed the right time with all the attacks.” “The Ra’zac haven’t attacked for almost six days now.” Page 429 He scowled. “No, but... it was... Oh, I don’t know!” He banged his fist on the table with frustration. Elain put down her cup and wrapped her tiny hands around his. “If you can mend this rift between you and Sloan now, before years of resent-ment accumulate, your life with Katrina will be much, much easier. To-morrow morning you should go to his house and beg his forgiveness.” “I won’t beg! Not to him.” “Roran, listen to me. It’s worth a month of begging to have peace in your family. I know from experience; strife does naught but make you miserable.” “Sloan hates the Spine. He’ll have nothing to do with me.” “You have to try, though,” said Elain earnestly. “Even if he spurns your apology, at least you can’t be blamed for not making the effort. If you love Katrina, then swallow your pride and do what’s right for her. Don’t make her suffer for your mistake.” She finished her cider, used a tin hat to snuff the candles, and left Roran sitting alone in the dark. Several minutes elapsed before Roran could bring himself to stir. He stretched out an arm and traced along the counter’s edge until he felt the doorway, then proceeded upstairs, all the while running the tips of his fingers over the carved walls to keep his balance. In his room, he disrobed and threw himself lengthwise on the bed. Wrapping his arms around his wool-stuffed pillow, Roran listened to the faint sounds that drifted through the house at night: the scrabble of a mouse in the attic and its intermittent squeaks, the groan of wood beams cooling in the night, the whisper and caress of wind at the lintel of his window, and... and the rustle of slippers in the hall outside his room. He watched as the latch above the doorknob was pulled free of its hook, then the door inched forward with a rasp of protest. It paused. A dark form slipped inside, the door closed, and Roran felt a curtain of hair brush his face along with lips like rose petals. He sighed. Katrina. A thunderclap tore Roran from sleep. Light flared on his face as he struggled to regain awareness, like a diver desperate to reach the surface. He opened his eyes and saw a jagged hole blasted through his door. Six soldiers rushed through the yawning cleft, followed by the two Ra’zac, who seemed to fill the room with their ghastly presence. A sword was pressed against Roran’s neck. Beside him, Katrina screamed and pulled the blankets around her. “Up,”ordered the Ra’zac. Roran cautiously got to his feet. His heart felt like it was about to explode in his chest. “Tie his handsss and bring him.” As a soldier approached Roran with rope, Katrina screamed again and jumped on the men, biting and clawing furiously. Her sharp nails fur-rowed their faces, drawing streams of blood that blinded the cursing sol-diers. Roran dropped to one knee and grabbed his hammer from the floor, then planted his feet, swinging the hammer over his head and roaring like a bear. The soldiers threw themselves at him in an attempt to Page 430 subdue him through sheer numbers, but to no avail: Katrina was in danger, and he was invincible. Shields crumpled beneath his blows, brigandines and mail split under his merciless weapon, and helmets caved in. Two men were wounded, and three fell to rise no more. The clang and clamor had roused the household; Roran dimly heard Horst and his sons shouting in the hall. The Ra’zac hissed to one another, then scuttled forward and grasped Katrina with inhuman strength, lifting her off the floor as they fled the room. “Roran!”she shrieked. Summoning his energy, Roran bowled past the two remaining men. He stumbled into the hall and saw the Ra’zac climbing out a window. Roran dashed toward them and struck at the last Ra’zac, just as it was about to descend below the windowsill. Jerking upward, the Ra’zac caught Roran’s wrist in midair and chittered with delight, blowing its fetid breath onto his face. “Yesss! You are the one we want!” Roran tried to twist free, but the Ra’zac did not budge. With his free hand, Roran buffeted the creature’s head and shoulders—which were as hard as iron. Desperate and enraged, he seized the edge of the Ra’zac’s hood and wrenched it back, exposing its features. A hideous, tortured face screamed at him. The skin was shiny black, like a beetle carapace. The head was bald. Each lidless eye was the size of his fist and gleamed like an orb of polished hematite; no iris or pupil ex-isted. In place of a nose, mouth, and chin, a thick beak hooked to a sharp point that clacked over a barbed purple tongue. Roran yelled and jammed his heels against the sides of the window frame, struggling to free himself from the monstrosity, but the Ra’zac in-exorably drew him out of the house. He could see Katrina on the ground, still screaming and fighting. Just as Roran’s knees buckled, Horst appeared by his side and wrapped a knotted arm around his chest, locking him in place. “Someone get a spear!” shouted the smith. He snarled, veins bulging on his neck from the strain of holding Roran. “It’ll take more than this demon spawn to best us!” The Ra’zac gave a final yank, then, when it failed to dislodge Roran, cocked its head and said, “You are oursss!” It lunged forward with blind-ing speed, and Roran howled as he felt the Ra’zac’s beak close on his right shoulder, snipping through the front of the muscle. His wrist cracked at the same time. With a malicious cackle, the Ra’zac released him and fell backward into the night. Horst and Roran sprawled against each other in the hallway. “They have Katrina,” groaned Roran. His vision flickered and went black around the edges as he pushed himself upright on his left arm—his right hung useless. Albriech and Baldor emerged from his room, splattered with gore. Only corpses remained behind them. Now I have killed eight. Roran retrieved his hammer and staggered down the hall, finding his way blocked by Elain in her white sleeping shift. She looked at him with wide eyes, then took his arm and pushed him down onto a wood chest set against the wall. “You have to see Gertrude.” “But—” “You’ll pass out if this bleeding isn’t stopped.” He looked down at his right side; it was drenched in crimson. “We have to rescue Katrina before”—he Page 431 clenched his teeth as the pain surged— “before they do anything to her.” “He’s right; we can’t wait,” said Horst, looming over them. “Bind him up as best you can, then we’ll go.” Elain pursed her lips and hurried to the linen closet. She returned with several rags, which she wrapped tightly around Roran’s torn shoulder and his fractured wrist. Meanwhile, Al-briech and Baldor scavenged armor and swords from the soldiers. Horst contented himself with just a spear. Elain put her hands on Horst’s chest and said, “Be careful.” She looked at her sons. “All of you.” “We’ll be fine, Mother,” promised Albriech. She forced a smile and kissed them on the cheek. They left the house and ran to the edge of Carvahall, where they found that the wall of trees had been pulled open and the watchman, Byrd, slain. Baldor knelt and examined the body, then said with a choked voice, “He was stabbed from behind.” Roran barely heard him through the pounding in his ears. Dizzy, he leaned against a house and panted for breath. “Ho! Who goes?” From their stations along Carvahall’s perimeter, the other watchmen congregated around their murdered compatriot, forming a huddle of shuttered lanterns. In hushed tones, Horst described the attack and Katrina’s plight. “Who will help us?” he asked. After a quick discussion, five men agreed to accompany them; the rest would remain to guard the breach in the wall and rouse the villagers. Pushing himself off the house, Roran trotted to the head of the group as it slipped through the fields and down the valley toward the Ra’zac’s camp. Every step was agony, yet it did not matter; nothing mattered ex-cept Katrina. He stumbled once and Horst wordlessly caught him. Half a mile from Carvahall, Ivor spotted a sentry on a hillock, which compelled them to make a wide detour. A few hundred yards beyond, the ruddy glow of torches became visible. Roran raised his good arm to slow their advance, then began to dodge and crawl through the tangled grass, startling a jackrabbit. The men followed Roran’s lead as he worked his way to the edge of a grove of cattails, where he stopped and parted the curtain of stalks to observe the thirteen remaining soldiers. Where is she? In contrast to when they had first arrived, the soldiers appeared sullen and haggard, their weapons nicked and their armor dented. Most of them wore bandages that were rusty with splotches of dried blood. The men were clumped together, facing the two Ra’zac—both of whom were now hooded—across a low fire. One man was shouting: “... over half of us killed by a bunch of inbred, cockle-brained woodrats that can’t tell a pike from a poleax or find the point of a sword even if it’s lodged in their gut, because you don’t have half the sense my banner boy does! I don’t care if Galbatorix himself licks your boots clean, we won’t do a thing until we have a new commander.” The men nodded. “One who’s human. ” “Really?” demanded the Ra’zac softly. “We’ve had enough taking orders from hunchbacks like you, with all your clicking and teapot whistling—makes us sick! And I don’t know what you did with Sardson, but if you stay another night, we’ll put steel in you and find out if you bleed like us. You can leave the girl, though, she’ll be—” Page 432 The man did not get a chance to continue, for the largest Ra’zac jumped across the fire and landed on his shoulders, like a giant crow. Screaming, the soldier collapsed under the weight. He tried to draw his sword, but the Ra’zac pecked twice at his neck with its hidden beak, and he was still. “We have to fight that ?” muttered Ivor behind Roran. The soldiers remained frozen with shock as the two Ra’zac lapped from the neck of the corpse. When the black creatures rose, they rubbed their knobby hands together, as if they were washing, and said, “Yesss. We will go. Stay if you wisssh; reinforsssements are only daysss away.” The Ra’zac threw back their heads and began to shriek at the sky, the wail becoming increasingly shrill until it passed from hearing. Roran looked up as well. At first he saw nothing, but then a nameless terror gripped him as two barbed shadows appeared high over the Spine, eclipsing the stars. They advanced quickly, growing larger and larger until they obscured half the sky with their ominous presence. A foul wind rushed across the land, bringing with it a sulfurous miasma that made Ro-ran cough and gag. The soldiers were likewise afflicted; their curses echoed as they pressed sleeves and scarves over their noses. Above them, the shadows paused and then began to drift downward, enclosing the camp in a dome of menacing darkness. The sickly torches flickered and threatened to extinguish themselves, yet they still provided sufficient light to reveal the two beasts descending among the tents. Their bodies were naked and hairless—like newborn mice—with leathery gray skin pulled tight across their corded chests and bellies. In form they resembled starved dogs, except that their hind legs bulged with enough muscle to crush a boulder. A narrow crest extended from the back of each of their attenuated heads, opposite a long, straight, eb-ony beak made for spearing prey, and cold, bulbous eyes identical to the Ra’zac’s. From their shoulders and backs sprang huge wings that made the air moan under their weight. Flinging themselves to the ground, the soldiers cowered and hid their faces from the monsters. A terrible, alien intelligence emanated from the creatures, bespeaking a race far older and far more powerful than hu-mans. Roran was suddenly afraid that his mission might fail. Behind him, Horst whispered to the men, urging them to hold their ground and re-main hidden, else they would be slain. The Ra’zac bowed to the beasts, then slipped into a tent and returned carrying Katrina—who was bound with ropes—and leading Sloan. The butcher walked freely. Roran stared, unable to comprehend how Sloan had been captured. His house isn’t anywhere near Horst’s. Then it struck him. “He betrayed us,” said Roran with wonder. His fist slowly tightened on his hammer as the true horror of the situation exploded within him. ” He killed Byrd and he betrayed us!” Tears of rage streamed down his face. “Roran,” murmured Horst, crouching beside him. “We can’t attack now; they’d slaughter us. Roran... do you hear me?” He heard but a whisper in the distance as he watched the smaller Ra’zac jump onto one beast above the shoulders, then catch Katrina as the other Ra’zac tossed her up. Sloan seemed upset and frightened now. He began arguing with the Ra’zac, shaking his head and pointing at the ground. Finally, the Ra’zac struck him across the mouth, knocking him unconscious. Mounting the second beast, with the butcher slung over Page 433 its shoulder, the largest Ra’zac declared, “We will return once it isss sssafe again. Kill the boy, and your livesss are forfeit.” Then the steeds flexed their massive thighs and leaped into the sky, once again shadows upon the field of stars. No words or emotions were left to Roran. He was utterly destroyed. All that remained was to kill the soldiers. He stood and raised his ham-mer in preparation to charge, but as he stepped forward, his head throbbed in unison with his wounded shoulder, the ground vanished in a burst of light, and he toppled into oblivion. ARROW TO THE HEART Every day since leaving the outpost of Ceris was a hazy dream of warm afternoons spent paddling up Eldor Lake and then the Gaena River. All around them, water gurgled through the tunnel of verdant pines that wound ever deeper into Du Weldenvarden. Eragon found traveling with the elves delightful. Narí and Lifaen were perpetually smiling, laughing, and singing songs, especially when Saphira was around. They rarely looked elsewhere or spoke of another subject but her in her presence. However, the elves were not human, no matter the similarity of ap-pearance. They moved too quickly, too fluidly, for creatures born of sim-ple flesh and blood. And when they spoke, they often used roundabout expressions and aphorisms that left Eragon more confused than when they began. In between their bursts of merriment, Lifaen and Narí would remain silent for hours, observing their surroundings with a glow of peaceful rapture on their faces. If Eragon or Orik attempted to talk with them during their contemplation, they would receive only a word or two in response. It made Eragon appreciate how direct and forthright Arya was by com-parison. In fact, she seemed uneasy around Lifaen and Narí, as if she were no longer sure how to behave with her own kind. From the prow of the canoe, Lifaen looked over his shoulder and said, “Tell me, Eragon-finiarel.... What do your people sing about in these dark days? I remember the epics and lays I heard in Ilirea—sagas of your proud kings and earls—but it was long, long ago and the memories are like withered flowers in my mind. What new works have your people cre-ated?” Eragon frowned as he tried to recall the names of stories Brom had recited. When Lifaen heard them, he shook his head sorrowfully and said, “So much has been lost. No court ballads survive, and, if you speak truly, nor does most of your history or art, except for fanciful tales Galbatorix has allowed to thrive.” “Brom once told us about the fall of the Riders,” said Eragon defen-sively. An image of a deer bounding over rotting logs flashed behind his eyes from Saphira, who was off hunting. “Ah, a brave man.” For a minute, Lifaen paddled silently. “We too sing about the Fall... but rarely. Most of us were alive when Vrael entered the void, and we still grieve for our burned cities—the red lilies of Éwayëna, the crystals of Luthivíra—and for our slain families. Time cannot dull the pain of those wounds, not if a thousand thousand years pass and the sun itself dies, leaving the world to float in eternal night.” Orik grunted in the back. “As it is with the dwarves. Remember, elf, we lost an entire clan to Galbatorix.” “And we lost our king, Evandar.” Page 434 “I never heard that,” said Eragon, surprised. Lifaen nodded as he guided them around a submerged rock. “Few have. Brom could have told you about it; he was there when the fatal blow was struck. Before Vrael’s death, the elves faced Galbatorix on the plains of Ilirea in our final attempt to defeat him. There Evandar—” “Where is Ilirea?” asked Eragon. “It’s Urû’baen, boy,” said Orik. “Used to be an elf city.” Unperturbed by the interruption, Lifaen continued: “As you say, Ilirea was one of our cities. We abandoned it during our war with the dragons, and then, centuries later, humans adopted it as their capital after King Palancar was exiled.” Eragon said, “King Palancar? Who was he? Is that how Palancar Valley got its name?” This time the elf turned and looked at him with amusement. “You have as many questions as leaves on a tree, Argetlam.” “Brom was of the same opinion.” Lifaen smiled, then paused, as if to gather his thoughts. “When your an-cestors arrived in Alagaësia eight hundred years ago, they roamed far across it, seeking a suitable place to live. Eventually, they settled in Palan-car Valley—though it was not called such then—as it was one of the few defendable locations that we or the dwarves had not claimed. There your king, Palancar, began to build a mighty state. “In an attempt to expand his borders, he declared war against us, though we had offered no provocation. Three times he attacked, and three times we prevailed. Our strength frightened Palancar’s nobles and they pled with their liege for peace. He ignored their counsel. Then the lords approached us with a treaty, which we signed without the king’s knowledge. “With our help, Palancar was usurped and banished, but he, his family, and their vassals refused to leave the valley. Since we had no wish to murder them, we constructed the tower of Ristvak’baen so the Riders could watch over Palancar and ensure he would never again rise to power or attack anyone else in Alagaësia. “Before long Palancar was killed by a son who did not wish to wait for nature to take its course. Thereafter, family politics consisted of assassina-tion, betrayal, and other depravities, reducing Palancar’s house to a shadow of its former grandeur. However, his descendants never left, and the blood of kings still runs in Therinsford and Carvahall.” “I see,” said Eragon. Lifaen lifted one dark eyebrow. “Do you? It has more significance than you may think. It was this event that convinced Anurin—Vrael’s prede-cessor as head Rider—to allow humans to become Riders, in order to prevent similar disputes.” Orik emitted a bark of laughter. “That must have caused some argu-ment.” “It was an unpopular decision,” admitted Lifaen. “Even now some ques-tion the wisdom of it. It caused Page 435 such a disagreement between Anurin and Queen Dellanir that Anurin seceded from our government and estab-lished the Riders on Vroengard as an independent entity.” “But if the Riders were separated from your government, then how could they keep the peace, as they were supposed to?” asked Eragon. “They couldn’t,” said Lifaen. “Not until Queen Dellanir saw the wisdom of having the Riders free of any lord or king and restored their access to Du Weldenvarden. Still, it never pleased her that any authority could su-persede her own.” Eragon frowned. “Wasn’t that the whole point, though?” “Yes... and no. The Riders were supposed to guard against the failings of the different governments and races, yet who watched the watchers? It was that very problem that caused the Fall. No one existed who could descry the flaws within the Riders’ own system, for they were above scrutiny, and thus, they perished.” Eragon stroked the water—first on one side and then the other—while he considered Lifaen’s words. His paddle fluttered in his hands as it cut diagonally across the current. “Who succeeded Dellanir as king or queen?” “Evandar did. He took the knotted throne five hundred years ago— when Dellanir abdicated in order to study the mysteries of magic—and held it until his death. Now his mate, Islanzadí, rules us.” “That’s—” Eragon stopped with his mouth open. He was going to say impossible, but then realized how ridiculous the statement would sound. Instead, he asked, “Are elves immortal?” In a soft voice, Lifaen said, “Once we were like you, bright, fleeting, and as ephemeral as the morning dew. Now our lives stretch endlessly through the dusty years. Aye, we are immortal, although we are still vul-nerable to injuries of the flesh.” “You became immortal? How?” The elf refused to elaborate, though Er-agon pressed him for details. Finally, Eragon asked, “How old is Arya?” Lifaen turned his glittering eyes on him, probing Eragon with discon-certing acuteness. “Arya? What is your interest in her?” “I...” Eragon faltered, suddenly unsure of his intentions. His attraction to Arya was complicated by the fact that she was an elf, and that her age, whatever it might be, was so much greater than his own. She must view me as a child. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But she saved both my life and Saphira’s, and I’m curious to know more about her.” “I feel ashamed,” said Lifaen, pronouncing each word carefully, “for ask-ing such a question. Among our kind, it is rude to pry into one’s affairs.... Only, I must say, and I believe that Orik agrees with me, that you would do well to guard your heart, Argetlam. Now is not the time to lose it, nor would it be well placed in this instance.” “Aye,” grunted Orik. Heat suffused Eragon as blood rushed to his face, like hot tallow melt-ing through him. Before he could utter a retort, Saphira entered his mind and said, And now is the time to guard your tongue. They Page 436 mean well. Don’t insult them. He took a deep breath and tried to let his embarrassment drain away. Do you agree with them? I believe, Eragon, that you are full of love and that you are looking for one who will reciprocate your affection. No shame exists in that. He struggled to digest her words, then finally said, Will you be back soon? I’m on my way now. Returning his attention to his surroundings, Eragon found that both the elf and the dwarf were watching him. “I understand your concern... and I’d still like my question answered.” Lifaen hesitated briefly. “Arya is quite young. She was born a year be-fore the destruction of the Riders.” A hundred!Though he had expected such a figure, Eragon was still shocked. He concealed it behind a blank face, thinking, She could have great-grandchildren older than me! He brooded on the subject for several minutes and then, to distract himself, said, “You mentioned that humans discovered Alagaësia eight hundred years ago. Yet Brom said that we ar-rived three centuries after the Riders were formed, which was thousands of years ago.” “Two thousand, seven hundred, and four years, by our reckoning,” de-clared Orik. “Brom was right, if you consider a single ship with twenty warriors the ‘arrival’ of humans in Alagaësia. They landed in the south, where Surda is now. We met while they were exploring and exchanged gifts, but then they departed and we didn’t see another human for almost two millennia, or until King Palancar arrived with a fleet in tow. The humans had completely forgotten us by then, except for vague stories about hairy men-of-the-mountains that preyed on children in the night. Bah!” “Do you know where Palancar came from?” asked Eragon. Orik frowned and gnawed the tip of his mustache, then shook his head. “Our histories only say that his homeland was far to the south, beyond the Beors, and that his exodus was the result of war and famine.” Excited by an idea, Eragon blurted, “So there might be countries elsewhere that could help us against Galbatorix.” “Possibly,” said Orik. “But they would be difficult to find, even on dragonback, and I doubt that you’d speak the same language. Who would want to help us, though? The Varden have little to offer another country, and it’s hard enough to get an army from Farthen Dûr to Urû’baen, much less bring forces from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.” “We could not spare you anyway,” said Lifaen to Eragon. “I still—” Eragon broke off as Saphira soared over the river, followed by a furious crowd of sparrows and blackbirds intent on driving her away from their nests. At the same time, a chorus of squeaks and chatters burst from the armies of squirrels hidden among the branches. Page 437 Lifaen beamed and cried, “Isn’t she glorious? See how her scales catch the light! No treasure in the world can match this sight.” Similar exclama-tions floated across the river from Narí. “Bloody unbearable, that’s what it is,” muttered Orik into his beard. Er-agon hid a smile, though he agreed with the dwarf. The elves never seemed to tire of praising Saphira. Nothing’s wrong with a few compliments,said Saphira. She landed with a gigantic splash and submerged her head to escape a diving sparrow. Of course not,said Eragon. Saphira eyed him from underwater. Was that sarcasm? He chuckled and let it pass. Glancing at the other boat, Eragon watched Arya paddle, her back perfectly straight, her face inscrutable as she floated through webs of mottled light beneath the mossy trees. She seemed so dark and somber, it made him want to comfort her. “Lifaen,” he asked softly so that Orik would not hear, “why is Arya so... unhappy? You and—” Lifaen’s shoulders stiffened underneath his russet tunic and he whis-pered, so low that Eragon could barely hear, “We are honored to serve Arya Dröttningu. She has suffered more than you can imagine for our people. We celebrate out of joy for what she has achieved with Saphira, and we weep in our dreams for her sacrifice... and her loss. Her sorrows are her own, though, and I cannot reveal them without her permission.” As Eragon sat by their nightly campfire, petting a swatch of moss that felt like rabbit fur, he heard a commotion deeper in the forest. Exchang-ing glances with Saphira and Orik, he crept toward the sound, drawing Zar’roc. Eragon stopped at the lip of a small ravine and looked across to the other side, where a gyrfalcon with a broken wing thrashed in a bed of snowberries. The raptor froze when it saw him, then opened its beak and uttered a piercing screech. What a terrible fate, to be unable to fly,said Saphira. When Arya arrived, she eyed the gyrfalcon, then strung her bow and, with unerring aim, shot it through the breast. At first Eragon thought that she had done it for food, but she made no move to retrieve either the bird or her arrow. “Why?” he asked. With a hard expression, Arya unstrung her bow. “It was too injured for me to heal and would have died tonight or tomorrow. Such is the nature of things. I saved it hours of suffering.” Saphira lowered her head and touched Arya on the shoulder with her snout, then returned to their camp, her tail scraping bark off the trees. As Eragon started to follow, he felt Orik tug his sleeve and bent down to hear the dwarf say in an undertone, “Never ask an elf for help; they might decide that you’re better off dead, eh?” THE DAGSHELGR INVOCATION Page 438 Though he was tired from the previous day, Eragon forced himself to rise before dawn in an attempt to catch one of the elves asleep. It had become a game with him to discover when the elves got up—or if they slept at all—as he had yet to see any of them with their eyes closed. To-day was no exception. “Good morning,” said Narí and Lifaen from above him. Eragon craned back his head and saw that they each stood on the bough of a pine tree, over fifty feet in the air. Jumping from branch to branch with feline grace, the elves dropped to the ground alongside him. “We have been keeping watch,” explained Lifaen. “For what?” Arya stepped around a tree and said, “For my fears. Du Weldenvarden has many mysteries and dangers, especially for a Rider. We have lived here for thousands of years, and old spells still linger in unexpected places; magic permeates the air, the water, and the earth. In places it has affected the animals. Sometimes strange creatures are found roaming the forest, and not all of them friendly.” “Are they—” Eragon stopped as his gedwëy ignasia tingled. The silver hammer on the necklace Gannel had given him grew hot on his chest, and he felt the amulet’s spell draw upon his strength. Someone was trying to scry him. Is it Galbatorix?he wondered, frightened. He clutched the necklace and pulled it out of his tunic, ready to yank it off should he become too weak. From the other side of the camp, Saphira rushed to his side, bol-stering him with her own reserves of energy. A moment later, the heat leached out of the hammer, leaving it cold against Eragon’s skin. He bounced it on his palm, then tucked it back un-der his clothes, whereupon Saphira said, Our enemies are searching for us. Enemies? Could not it be someone in Du Vrangr Gata? I think Hrothgar would have told Nasuada that he ordered Gannel to en-chant you this necklace.... She might have even come up with the idea in the first place. Arya frowned when Eragon explained what had occurred. “This makes it all the more important we reach Ellesméra quickly so your training can resume. Events in Alagaësia move apace, and I fear you won’t have ade-quate time for your studies.” Eragon wanted to discuss it further, but lost the opportunity in the rush to leave camp. Once the canoes were loaded and the fire tamped out, they continued to forge up the Gaena River. They had only been on the water for an hour when Eragon noticed that the river was growing wider and deeper. A few minutes later, they came upon a waterfall that filled Du Weldenvarden with its throbbing rumble. The cataract was about a hundred feet tall, and streamed down a stone face with an overhang that made it impossible to climb. “How do we get past that?” He could already feel cool spray on his face. Lifaen pointed at the left shore, some distance from the falls, where a trail had been worn up the steep ridge. “We have to portage our canoes and supplies for half a league before the river clears.” Page 439 The five of them untied the bundles wedged between the seats of the canoes and divided the supplies into piles that they stuffed into their packs. “Ugh,” said Eragon, hefting his load. It was twice as heavy as what he usually carried when traveling on foot. I could fly it upstream for you... all of it,offered Saphira, crawling onto the muddy bank and shaking herself dry. When Eragon repeated her suggestion, Lifaen looked horrified. “We would never dream of using a dragon as a beast of burden. It would dis-honor you, Saphira—and Eragon as Shur’tugal—and it would shame our hospitality.” Saphira snorted, and a plume of flame erupted from her nostrils, vapor-izing the surface of the river and creating a cloud of steam. This is non-sense. Reaching past Eragon with one scaly leg, she hooked her talons through the packs’ shoulder straps, then took off over their heads. Catch me if you can! A peal of clear laughter broke the silence, like the trill of a mocking-bird. Amazed, Eragon turned and looked at Arya. It was the first time he had ever heard her laugh; he loved the sound. She smiled at Lifaen. “You have much to learn if you presume to tell a dragon what she may or may not do.” “But the dishonor—” “It is no dishonor if Saphira does it of her free will,” asserted Arya. “Now, let us go before we waste any more time.” Hoping that the strain would not trigger the pain in his back, Eragon picked up his canoe with Lifaen and fit it over his shoulders. He was forced to rely on the elf to guide him along the trail, as he could only see the ground beneath his feet. An hour later, they had topped the ridge and hiked beyond the danger-ous white water to where the Gaena River was once again calm and glassy. Waiting for them was Saphira, who was busy catching fish in the shallows, jabbing her triangular head into the water like a heron. Arya called her over and said to both her and Eragon, “Beyond the next curve lies Ardwen Lake and, upon its western shore, Sílthrim, one of our greatest cities. Past that, a vast expanse of forest still separates us from Ellesméra. We will encounter many elves close to Sílthrim. However, I don’t want either of you to be seen until we speak with Queen Islanzadí.” Why?asked Saphira, echoing Eragon’s thoughts. In her musical accent, Arya answered: “Your presence represents a great and terrible change for our kingdom, and such shifts are dangerous unless handled with care. The queen must be the first to meet with you. Only she has the authority and wisdom to oversee this transition.” “You speak highly of her,” commented Eragon. At his words, Narí and Lifaen stopped and watched Arya with guarded eyes. Her face went blank, then she drew herself up proudly. “She has led us well.... Eragon, I know you carry a hooded cape from Tronjheim. Until we are free of possible observers, will you wear it and keep your head covered so that none can see your rounded ears and know that you are human?” He nodded. “And, Saphira, you must hide during the day and catch up with us at night. Ajihad told me that is what you did in the Empire.” Page 440 And I hated every moment of it,she growled. “It’s only for today and tomorrow. After that we will be far enough away from Sílthrim that we won’t have to worry about encountering anyone of consequence,” promised Arya. Saphira turned her azure eyes on Eragon. When we escaped the Empire, I swore that I would always stay close enough to protect you. Every time I leave, bad things happen: Yazuac, Daret, Dras-Leona, the slavers. Not in Teirm. You know what I mean! I’m especially loath to leave since you can’t de-fend yourself with your crippled back. I trust that Arya and the others will keep me safe. Don’t you? Saphira hesitated. I trust Arya. She twisted away and padded up the riverbank, sat for a minute, then returned. Very well. She broadcast her acceptance to Arya, adding, But I won’t wait any longer than tomorrow night, even if you’re in the middle of Sílthrim at the time. “I understand,” said Arya. “You will still have to be careful when flying after dark, as elves can see clearly on all but the blackest nights. If you are sighted by chance, you could be attacked by magic.” Wonderful,commented Saphira. While Orik and the elves repacked the boats, Eragon and Saphira ex-plored the dim forest, searching for a suitable hiding place. They settled on a dry hollow rimmed by crumbling rocks and blanketed with a bed of pine needles that were pleasantly soft underfoot. Saphira curled up on the ground and nodded her head. Go now. I will be fine. Eragon hugged her neck—careful to avoid her sharp spines—and then reluctantly departed, glancing backward. At the river, he donned his cape before they resumed their journey. The air was motionless when Ardwen Lake came into view, and as a result, the vast mantle of water was smooth and flat, a perfect mirror for the trees and clouds. The illusion was so flawless, Eragon felt as if he were looking through a window at another world and that if they contin-ued forward, the canoes would fall endlessly into the reflected sky. He shivered at the thought. In the hazy distance, numerous white birch-bark boats darted like water striders along both shores, propelled to incredible speeds by the elves’ strength. Eragon ducked his head and tugged on the edge of his hood to ensure that it covered his face. His link with Saphira grew ever more tenuous the farther apart they became, until only a wisp of thought connected them. By evening he could no longer feel her presence, even if he strained his mind to its lim-its. All of a sudden, Du Weldenvarden seemed much more lonely and desolate. As the gloom deepened, a cluster of white lights—placed at every con-ceivable height among the trees—sprang into existence a mile ahead. The sparks glowed with the silver radiance of the full moon, eerie and myste-rious in the night. Page 441 “There lies Sílthrim,” said Lifaen. With a faint splash, a dark boat passed them from the opposite direc-tion, accompanied by a murmur of “Kvetha Fricai” from the elf steering. Arya brought her canoe alongside Eragon’s. “We will stop here tonight.” They made camp a ways from Ardwen Lake, where the ground was dry enough to sleep on. The ferocious droves of mosquitoes forced Arya to cast a protective spell so that they could eat dinner in relative comfort. Afterward, the five of them sat around the fire, staring at the gold flames. Eragon leaned his head against a tree and watched a meteor streak across the sky. His eyelids were about to sink shut when a woman’s voice drifted through the woods from Sílthrim, a faint susurration that brushed the inside of his ear like a down feather. He frowned and straightened, trying to better hear the tenuous whisper. Like a thread of smoke that thickens as a newborn fire blazes to life, so the voice rose in strength until the forest sighed with a teasing, twisting melody that leaped and fell with wild abandon. More voices joined the unearthly song, embroidering the original theme with a hundred varia-tions. The air itself seemed to shimmer with the fabric of the tempestu-ous music. The fey strains sent jolts of elation and fear down Eragon’s spine; they clouded his senses, drawing him into the velvet night. Seduced by the haunting notes, he jumped to his feet, ready to dash through the forest until he found the source of the voices, ready to dance among the trees and moss, anything so that he could join the elves’ revels. But before he could move, Arya caught his arm and yanked him around to face her. “Eragon! Clear your mind!” He struggled in a futile attempt to break her grip. “Eyddr eyreya onr!” Empty your ears! Everything fell silent then, as if he had gone deaf. He stopped fighting and looked around, wondering what had just occurred. On the other side of the fire, Lifaen and Narí wrestled noiselessly with Orik. Eragon watched Arya’s mouth move as she spoke, then sound returned to the world with a pop, though he could no longer hear the music. “What... ?” he asked, dazed. “Gerr’off me,” growled Orik. Lifaen and Narí lifted their hands and backed away. “Your pardon, Orik-vodhr,” said Lifaen. Arya gazed toward Sílthrim. “I miscounted the days; I didn’t want to be anywhere near a city during Dagshelgr. Our saturnalias, our celebrations, are perilous for mortals. We sing in the ancient language, and the lyrics weave spells of passion and longing that are difficult to resist, even for us.” Narí stirred restlessly. “We should be at a grove.” “We should,” agreed Arya, “but we will do our duty and wait.” Shaken, Eragon sat closer to the fire, wishing for Saphira; he was sure she could have protected his mind from the music’s influence. “What is the point of Dagshelgr?” he asked. Arya joined him on the ground, crossing her long legs. “It is to keep the forest healthy and fertile. Every Page 442 spring we sing for the trees, we sing for the plants, and we sing for the animals. Without us, Du Weldenvarden would be half its size.” As if to emphasize her point, birds, deer, squir-rels—red and gray—striped badgers, foxes, rabbits, wolves, frogs, toads, tortoises, and every other nearby animal forsook their hiding and began to rush madly about with a cacophony of yelps and cries. “They are search-ing for mates,” explained Arya. “All across Du Weldenvarden, in each of our cities, elves are singing this song. The more who participate, the stronger the spell, and the greater Du Weldenvarden will be this year.” Eragon snatched back his hand as a trio of hedgehogs trundled past his thigh. The entire forest yammered with noise. I’ve stepped into fairyland, he thought, hugging himself. Orik came around the fire and raised his voice above the clamor: “By my beard and my ax, I’ll not be controlled against my will by magic. If it happens again, Arya, I swear on Helzvog’s stone girdle that I’ll return to Farthen Dûr and you will have the wrath of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum to deal with.” “It was not my intention for you to experience Dagshelgr,” said Arya. “I apologize for my mistake. However, though I am shielding you from this spell, you cannot escape magic in Du Weldenvarden; it permeates every-thing.” “So long as it doesn’t befoul my mind.” Orik shook his head and fin-gered the haft of his ax while eyeing the shadowy beasts that lumbered in the gloom beyond the pool of firelight. No one slept that night. Eragon and Orik remained awake because of the frightful din and the animals that kept crashing by their tents, the elves because they still listened to the song. Lifaen and Narí took to pac-ing in endless circles, while Arya stared toward Sílthrim with a hungry expression, her tawny skin drawn thin and taut over her cheekbones. Four hours into the riot of sound and motion, Saphira dove out of the sky, her eyes sparkling with a queer aspect. She shivered and arched her neck, panting between her open jaws. The forest, she said, is alive. And I am alive. My blood burns like never before. It burns as yours burns when you think of Arya. I... understand! Eragon put his hand on her shoulder, feeling the tremors that racked her frame; her sides vibrated as she hummed along with the music. She gripped the ground with her ivory claws, her muscles coiled and clenched in a supreme effort to remain motionless. The tip of her tail twitched like she was about to pounce. Arya stood and joined Eragon on the opposite side of Saphira. The elf also put a hand on Saphira’s shoulder, and the three of them faced the darkness, united into a living chain. When dawn broke, the first thing Eragon noticed was that all the trees now had buds of bright green needles at the ends of their branches. He bent and examined the snowberries at his feet and found that every plant, large or small, had acquired new growth during the night. The for-est vibrated with the ripeness of its colors; everything was lush and fresh and clean. The air smelled like it had just rained. Saphira shook herself beside Eragon and said, The fever has passed; I am myself again. Such things I felt... It was as if the world were being born anew and I was helping to create it with the fire in my limbs. How are you? On the inside, I mean. Page 443 I will need some time to understand what I experienced. Since the music had ceased, Arya removed her spell from Eragon and Orik. She said, “Lifaen. Narí. Go to Sílthrim and get horses for the five of us. We cannot walk all the way from here to Ellesméra. Also, alert Cap-tain Damítha that Ceris requires reinforcements.” Narí bowed. “And what shall we say when she asks why we have de-serted our post?” “Tell her that that which she once hoped for—and feared—has oc-curred; the wyrm has bitten its own tail. She will understand.” The two elves departed for Sílthrim after the boats were emptied of supplies. Three hours later, Eragon heard a stick snap and looked up to see them returning through the forest on proud white stallions, leading four other identical horses. The magnificent beasts moved among the trees with uncanny stealth, their coats shimmering in the emerald twi-light. None of them wore saddles or harnesses. “Blöthr, blöthr,” murmured Lifaen, and his steed halted, pawing the ground with its dark hooves. “Are all your horses as noble as these?” asked Eragon. He cautiously ap-proached one, amazed by its beauty. The animals were only a few inches taller than ponies, which made it easy for them to navigate among the closely placed trunks. They did not seem frightened by Saphira. “Not all,” laughed Narí, tossing his silver hair, “but most. We have bred them for many centuries.” “How am I supposed to ride?” Arya said, “An elf horse responds instantly to commands in the ancient language; tell it where you wish to go and it will take you. However, do not mistreat them with blows or harsh words, for they are not our slaves, but our friends and partners. They bear you only so long as they consent to; it is a great privilege to ride one. I was only able to save Saphira’s egg from Durza because our horses sensed that something was amiss and stopped us from riding into his ambush.... They won’t let you fall unless you deliberately throw yourself off, and they are skilled in choosing the safest, quickest path through treacherous ground. The dwarves’ Feldûnost are like that.” “Right you are,” grunted Orik. “A Feldûnost can run you up a cliff and down without a single bruise. But how can we carry food and whatnot without saddles? I won’t ride while wearing a full pack.” Lifaen tossed a pile of leather bags at Orik’s feet and indicated the sixth horse. “Nor will you have to.” It took half an hour to arrange their supplies in the bags and heap them into a lumpy mound on the horse’s back. Afterward, Narí told Eragon and Orik the words they could use to direct the horses: “ Gánga framto go forward, blöthrto stop, hlaupa if needs you must run, and gánga aptr to go back. You can give more precise instructions if you know more of the ancient language.” He led Eragon to a horse and said, “This is Folkvír. Hold out your hand.” Eragon did, and the stallion snorted, flaring his nostrils. Folkvír sniffed Eragon’s palm, then touched it with his muzzle and allowed Eragon to stroke his thick neck. “Good,” said Narí, appearing satisfied. The elf had Orik do the same with the next horse. As Eragon mounted Folkvír, Saphira drew closer. He looked up at her, noting how troubled she still seemed from the night. One more day, he said. Page 444 Eragon...She paused. I thought of something while I was under the influ-ence of the elves’ spell, something that I have always considered of little consequence, but now looms within me like a mountain of black dread: Every creature, no matter how pure or monstrous, has a mate of their own kind. Yet I have none. She shuddered and closed her eyes. In this regard, I am alone. Her statements reminded Eragon that she was barely more than eight months old. On most occasions, her youth did not show—due to the in-fluence of her hereditary instincts and memories—but, in this arena, she was even more inexperienced than he was with his feeble stabs at ro-mance in Carvahall and Tronjheim. Pity welled inside Eragon, but he suppressed it before it could seep across their mental link. Saphira would have only contempt for the emotion: it could neither solve her problem nor make her feel better. Instead, he said, Galbatorix still has two dragon eggs. During our first audience with Hrothgar, you mentioned that you would like to rescue them. If we can— Saphira snorted bitterly. It could take years, and even if we did retrieve the eggs, I have no guarantee that they would hatch, nor that they would be male, nor that we would be fit mates. Fate has abandoned my race to ex-tinction. She lashed her tail with frustration, breaking a sapling in two. She seemed perilously close to tears. What can I say?he asked, disturbed by her distress. You can’t give up hope. You still have a chance to find a mate, but you have to be patient. Even if Galbatorix’s eggs don’t work, dragons must exist elsewhere in the world, just like humans, elves, and Urgals do. The moment we are free of our obligations, I’ll help you search for them. All right? All right,she sniffed. She craned back her head and released a puff of white smoke that dispersed among the branches overhead. I should know better than to let my emotions get the best of me. Nonsense. You would have to be made of stone not to feel this way. It’s perfectly normal.... But promise you won’t dwell on it while you’re alone. She fixed one giant sapphire eye on him. I won’t. He turned warm in-side as he felt her gratitude for his reassurances and companionship. Lean-ing out from Folkvír, he put a hand on her rough cheek and held it there for a moment. Go on, little one, she murmured. I will see you later. Eragon hated to leave her in such a state. He reluctantly entered the forest with Orik and the elves, heading west toward the heart of Du Weldenvarden. After an hour spent pondering Saphira’s plight, he men-tioned it to Arya. Faint lines creased Arya’s forehead as she frowned. “It is one of Galba-torix’s greatest crimes. I do not know if a solution exists, but we can hope. We must hope.” THE PINEWOOD CITY Eragon had been in Du Weldenvarden for so long that he had begun to long for clearings, fields, or even a mountain, instead of the endless tree trunks and meager underbrush. His flights with Saphira provided no res-pite as they only revealed hills of prickly green that rolled unbroken into the distance like a verdant sea. Oftentimes, the branches were so thick overhead, it was impossible to tell from what direction the sun Page 445 rose and set. That, combined with the repetitive scenery, made Eragon hopelessly lost, no matter how many times Arya or Lifaen troubled to show him the points of the compass. If not for the elves, he knew that he could wander in Du Weldenvarden for the rest of his life without ever finding his way free. When it rained, the clouds and the forest canopy plunged them into profound darkness, as if they were entombed deep underground. The fal-ling water would collect on the black pine needles above, then trickle through and pour a hundred feet or more down onto their heads, like a thousand little waterfalls. At such times, Arya would summon a glowing orb of green magic that floated over her right hand and provided the only light in the cavernous forest. They would stop and huddle underneath a tree until the storm abated, but even then water cached in the myriad branches would, at the slightest provocation, shower them with droplets for hours afterward. As they rode deeper into the heart of Du Weldenvarden, the trees grew thicker and taller, as well as farther apart to accommodate the in-creased span of their branches. The trunks—bare brown shafts that tow-ered up into the overarching ribbed ceiling, which was smudged and ob-scured by shadow—were over two hundred feet tall, higher than any tree in the Spine or the Beors. Eragon paced out the girth of one tree and measured it at seventy feet. He mentioned this to Arya, and she nodded, saying, “It means that we are near Ellesméra.” She reached out and rested her hand lightly on the gnarled root beside her, as if touching, with consummate delicacy, the shoulder of a friend or lover. “These trees are among the oldest living creatures in Alagaësia. Elves have loved them since first we saw Du Wel-denvarden, and we have done everything within our power to help them flourish.” A faint blade of light pierced the dusty emerald branches over-head and limned her arm and face with liquid gold, dazzlingly bright against the murky background. “We have traveled far together, Eragon, but now you are about to enter my world. Tread softly, for the earth and air are heavy with memories and naught is as it seems.... Do not fly with Saphira today, as we have already triggered certain wards that protect Ellesméra. It would be unwise to stray from the path.” Eragon bowed his head and retreated to Saphira, who lay curled on a bed of moss, amusing herself by releasing plumes of smoke from her nos-trils and watching them roil out of sight. Without preamble, she said, There is plenty of room for me on the ground now. I will have no difficulty. Good.He mounted Folkvír and followed Orik and the elves farther into the empty, silent forest. Saphira crawled beside him. She and the white horses gleamed in the somber half light. Eragon paused, overcome by the solemn beauty of his surroundings. Everything had a feeling of wintry age, as if nothing had changed under the thatched needles for a thousand years and nothing ever would; time itself seemed to have fallen into a slumber from which it would never wake. In late afternoon, the gloom lifted to reveal an elf standing before them, sheathed in a brilliant ray of light that slanted down from the ceiling. He was garbed in flowing robes, with a circlet of silver upon his brow. His face was old, noble, and serene. “Eragon,” murmured Arya. “Show him your palm and your ring.” Baring his right hand, Eragon raised it so that first Brom’s ring and then the gedwëy ignasia was visible. The elf smiled, closed his eyes, and spread his arms in a gesture of welcome. He held the posture. “The way is clear,” said Arya. At a soft command, her steed moved forward. They rode around the elf—like water parting at the base of a weathered boulder—and when they had all passed, he straightened, clasped his hands, and vanished as the light that illuminated him ceased to exist. Page 446 Who is he?asked Saphira. Arya said, “He is Gilderien the Wise, Prince of House Miolandra, wielder of the White Flame of Vándil, and guardian of Ellesméra since the days of Du Fyrn Skulblaka, our war with the dragons. None may en-ter the city unless he permits it.” A quarter of a mile beyond, the forest thinned and breaks appeared within the canopy, allowing planks of mottled sunlight to bar the way. Then they passed underneath two burled trees that leaned against each other and stopped at the edge of an empty glade. The ground was strewn with dense patches of flowers. From pink roses to bluebells and lilies, spring’s fleeting treasure was heaped about like piles of rubies, sapphires, and opals. Their intoxicating aromas attracted hordes of bumblebees. To the right, a stream chuckled behind a row of bushes, while a pair of squirrels chased each other around a rock. At first it looked to Eragon like a place where deer might bed for the night. But as he continued to stare, he began to pick out paths hidden among the brush and trees; soft warm light where normally there would be auburn shadows; an odd pattern in the shapes of the twigs and branches and flowers, so subtle that it nearly escaped detection—clues that what he saw was not entirely natural. He blinked, and his vision suddenly shifted as if a lens had been placed over his eyes, resolving eve-rything into recognizable shapes. Those were paths, aye. And those were flowers, aye. But what he had taken to be clusters of lumpy, twisted trees were in fact graceful buildings that grew directly out of the pines. One tree bulged at the base to form a two-story house before sinking its roots into the loam. Both stories were hexagonal, although the upper level was half as small as the first, which gave the house a tiered appear-ance. The roofs and walls were made of webbed sheets of wood draped over six thick ridges. Moss and yellow lichen bearded the eaves and hung over jeweled windows set into each side. The front door was a mysteri-ous black silhouette recessed under an archway wrought with symbols. Another house was nestled between three pines, which were joined to it through a series of curved branches. Reinforced by those flying but-tresses, the house rose five levels, light and airy. Beside it sat a bower woven out of willow and dogwood and hung with flameless lanterns dis-guised as galls. Each unique building enhanced and complemented its surroundings, blending seamlessly with the rest of the forest until it was impossible to tell where artifice ended and nature resumed. The two were in perfect balance. Instead of mastering their environment, the elves had chosen to accept the world as it was and adapt themselves to it. The inhabitants of Ellesméra eventually revealed themselves as a flicker of movement at the fringe of Eragon’s sight, no more than needles stirring in the breeze. Then he caught glimpses of hands, a pale face, a sandaled foot, an upraised arm. One by one, the wary elves stepped into view, their almond eyes fixed upon Saphira, Arya, and Eragon. The women wore their hair unbound. It rippled down their backs in waves of silver and sable braided with fresh blossoms, like a garden wa-terfall. They all possessed a delicate, ethereal beauty that belied their un-breakable strength; to Eragon, they seemed flawless. The men were just as striking, with high cheekbones, finely sculpted noses, and heavy eye-lids. Both sexes were garbed in rustic tunics of green and brown, fringed with dusky colors of orange, russet, and gold. The Fair Folk indeed,thought Eragon. He touched his lips in greeting. Page 447 As one, the elves bowed from the waist. Then they smiled and laughed with unrestrained happiness. From within their midst, a woman sang: Gala O Wyrda brunhvitr, Abr Berundal vandr-fódhr, Burthro laufsblädar ekar undir, Eom kona dauthleikr... Eragon clapped his hands over his ears, fearing that the melody was a spell like the one he had heard at Sílthrim, but Arya shook her head and lifted his hands. “It is not magic.” Then she spoke to her horse, saying, “Gánga.” The stallion nickered and trotted away. “Release your steeds as well. We have no further need of them and they deserve to rest in our stables.” The song waxed stronger as Arya proceeded along a cobblestone path set with bits of green tourmaline, which looped among the hollyhocks and the houses and the trees before finally crossing a stream. The elves danced around their party as they walked, flitting here and there as the fancy struck them, laughing, and occasionally leaping up onto a branch to run over their heads. They praised Saphira with names like “Longclaws” and “Daughter of Air and Fire” and “Strong One.” Eragon smiled, delighted and enchanted. I could live here, he thought with a sense of peace. Tucked away in Du Weldenvarden, as much out-doors as in, safe from the rest of the world... Yes, he liked Ellesméra very much indeed, more than any of the dwarf cities. He pointed to a dwelling situated within a pine tree and asked Arya, “How is that done? “We sing to the forest in the old tongue and give it our strength to grow in the shape that we desire. All our buildings and tools are made in that manner.” The path ended at a net of roots that formed steps, like bare pools of earth. They climbed to a door embedded within a wall of saplings. Er-agon’s heart quickened as the door swung open, seemingly of its own ac-cord, and revealed a hall of trees. Hundreds of branches melded together to form the honeycombed ceiling. Below, twelve chairs were arrayed along each wall. In them reposed four-and-twenty elf lords and ladies. Wise and handsome were they, with smooth faces unmarked by age and keen eyes that gleamed with excitement. They leaned forward, grip-ping the arms of their chairs, and stared at Eragon’s group with open wonder and hope. Unlike the other elves, they had swords belted at their waists—hilts studded with beryls and garnets—and circlets that adorned their brows. And at the head of the assembly stood a white pavilion that sheltered a throne of knotted roots. Queen Islanzadí sat upon it. She was as beautiful as an autumn sunset, proud and imperious, with two dark eyebrows slanted like upraised wings, lips as bright and red as holly berries, and midnight hair bound under a diamond diadem. Her tunic was crimson. Round her hips hung a girdle of braided gold. And clasped at the hollow of her neck was a velvet cloak that fell to the ground in languid folds. De-spite her imposing countenance, the queen seemed fragile, as if she con-cealed a great pain. By her left hand was a curved rod with a chased crosspiece. A brilliant-white raven perched on it, Page 448 shuffling impatiently from foot to foot. He cocked his head and surveyed Eragon with uncanny intelligence, then gave a long, low croak and shrieked, “Wyrda!” Eragon shivered from the force of that single cracked word. The door closed behind the six of them as they entered the hall and approached the queen. Arya knelt on the moss-covered ground and bowed first, then Eragon, Orik, Lifaen, and Narí. Even Saphira, who had never bowed to anyone, not even Ajihad or Hrothgar, lowered her head. Islanzadí stood and descended from the throne, her cloak trailing be-hind her. She stopped before Arya, placed trembling hands on her shoul-ders, and said in a rich vibrato, “Rise.” Arya did, and the queen scrutinized her face with increasing intensity, until it seemed as if she were trying to decipher an obscure text. At last Islanzadí cried out and embraced Arya, saying, “O my daughter, I have wronged you!” QUEEN ISLANZADÍ Eragon knelt before the queen of the elves and her councilors in a fan-tastic room made from the boles of living trees in a near-mythic land, and the only thing that filled his mind was shock. Arya is a princess! It was fitting in a way—she had always possessed an air of command—but he bitterly regretted the fact, for it placed another barrier between them when he would have torn them all away. The knowledge filled his mouth with the taste of ashes. He remembered Angela’s prophecy that he would love one of noble birth... and her warning that she could not see if it would end for good or for ill. He could feel Saphira’s own surprise, then her amusement. She said, It appears that we have been traveling in the presence of royalty without know-ing it. Why didn’t she tell us? Perhaps it would have placed her in greater danger. “Islanzadí Dröttning,” said Arya formally. The queen withdrew as if she had been stung and then repeated in the ancient language, “O my daughter, I have wronged you.” She covered her face. “Ever since you disappeared, I’ve barely slept or eaten. I was haunted by your fate, and feared that I would never see you again. Banning you from my presence was the greatest mistake I have ever made.... Can you forgive me?” The gathered elves stirred with amazement. Arya’s response was long in coming, but at last she said, “For seventy years, I have lived and loved, fought and killed without ever speaking to you, my mother. Our lives are long, but even so, that is no small span.” Islanzadí drew herself upright, lifting her chin. A tremor ran her length. “I cannot undo the past, Arya, no matter how much I might desire to.” “And I cannot forget what I endured.” Page 449 “Nor should you.” Islanzadí clasped her daughter’s hands. “Arya, I love you. You are my only family. Go if you must, but unless you wish to re-nounce me, I would be reconciled with you.” For a terrible moment, it seemed as if Arya would not answer, or worse, would reject the offer. Eragon saw her hesitate and quickly look at her audience. Then she lowered her eyes and said, “No, Mother. I could not leave.” Islanzadí smiled uncertainly and embraced her daughter again. This time Arya returned the gesture, and smiles broke out among the as-sembled elves. The white raven hopped on his stand, cackling, “And on the door was graven evermore, what now became the family lore, Let us never do but to adore! ” “Hush, Blagden,” said Islanzadí to the raven. “Keep your doggerel to yourself.” Breaking free, the queen turned to Eragon and Saphira. “You must excuse me for being discourteous and ignoring you, our most im-portant guests.” Eragon touched his lips and then twisted his right hand over his ster-num, as Arya had taught him. “Islanzadí Dröttning. Atra esterní ono thelduin.” He had no doubt that he was supposed to speak first. Islanzadí’s dark eyes widened. “Atra du evarínya ono varda.” “Un atra mor’ranr lífa unin hjarta onr,” replied Eragon, completing the ritual. He could tell that the elves were caught off guard by his knowl-edge of their customs. In his mind, he listened as Saphira repeated his greeting to the queen. When she finished, Islanzadí asked, “Dragon, what is your name?” Saphira. A flash of recognition appeared in the queen’s expression, but she made no comment on it. “Welcome to Ellesméra, Saphira. And yours, Rider?” “Eragon Shadeslayer, Your Majesty.” This time an audible stir rippled among the elves seated behind them; even Islanzadí appeared startled. “You carry a powerful name,” she said softly, “one that we rarely be-stow upon our children.... Welcome to Ellesméra, Eragon Shadeslayer. We have waited long for you.” She moved on to Orik, greeted him, then returned to her throne and draped her velvet cloak over her arm. “I as-sume by your presence here, Eragon, so soon after Saphira’s egg was cap-tured, and by the ring on your hand and the sword on your hip, that Brom is dead and that your training with him was incomplete. I wish to hear your full story, including how Brom fell and how you came to meet my daughter, or how she met you, as it may be. Then I will hear of your mission here, dwarf, and of your adventures, Arya, since your ambush in Du Weldenvarden.” Eragon had narrated his experiences before, so he had no trouble reiter-ating them now for the queen. The few occasions where his memory fal-tered, Saphira was able to provide an accurate description of events. In several places, he simply left the telling to her. When they finished, Er-agon retrieved Nasuada’s scroll from his pack and presented it to Islan-zadí. She took the roll of parchment, broke the red wax seal, and, upon completing the missive, sighed and briefly closed her eyes. “I see now the true depth of my folly. My grief would have ended so much sooner if I had not withdrawn our warriors and ignored Ajihad’s messengers after learning that Arya had Page 450 been ambushed. I should have never blamed the Varden for her death. For one so old, I am still far too foolish....” A long silence followed, as no one dared to agree or disagree. Summon-ing his courage, Eragon said, “Since Arya has returned alive, will you agree to help the Varden, like before? Nasuada cannot succeed otherwise, and I am pledged to her cause.” “My quarrel with the Varden is as dust in the wind,” said Islanzadí. “Fear not; we will assist them as we once did, and more, because of you and their victory over the Urgals.” She leaned forward on one arm. “Will you give me Brom’s ring, Eragon?” Without hesitation, he pulled it off his finger and offered it to the queen, who plucked it from his palm with her slim fingers. “You should not have worn this, Eragon, as it was not meant for you. However, because of the aid you have rendered the Varden and my family, I now name you Elf Friend and bestow this ring, Aren, upon you, so that all elves, wherever you go, will know that you are to be trusted and helped.” Eragon thanked her and returned the ring to his finger, acutely aware of the queen’s gaze, which remained upon him with disturbing perception, studying and analyzing. He felt as if she knew everything that he might say or do. She said, “Such tidings as yours, we have not heard the like of in Du Weldenvarden for many a year. We are accustomed to a slower way of life here than the rest of Alagaësia, and it troubles me that so much could occur so swiftly without word of it reaching my ear.” “And what of my training?” Eragon snatched a furtive glance at the seated elves, wondering if any of them could be Togira Ikonoka, the be-ing who had reached into his mind and freed him of Durza’s foul influ-ence after the battle in Farthen Dûr—and who had also encouraged Er-agon to travel to Ellesméra. “It will begin in the fullness of time. Yet I fear that instructing you is futile so long as your infirmity persists. Unless you can overcome the Shade’s magic, you will be reduced to no more than a figurehead. You may still be useful, but only as a shadow of the hope that we have nur-tured for over a century.” Islanzadí spoke without reproach, yet her words struck Eragon like hammer blows. He knew that she was right. “Your situation is not your fault, and it pains me to voice such things, but you must understand the gravity of your disability.... I am sorry.” Then Islanzadí addressed Orik: “It has been long since one of your race entered our halls, dwarf. Eragon-finiarel has explained your presence, but do you have aught to add?” “Only royal greetings from my king, Hrothgar, and a plea, now un-needed, for you to resume contact with the Varden. Beyond that, I am here to see that the pact that Brom forged between you and the humans is honored.” “We keep our promises whether we utter them in this language or in the ancient language. I accept Hrothgar’s greetings and return them in kind.” Finally, as Eragon was sure she had longed to do since they first ar-rived, Islanzadí looked at Arya and asked, “Now, daughter, what befell you?” Arya began to speak in a slow monotone, first of her capture and then of her long imprisonment and torture in Gil’ead. Saphira and Eragon had deliberately avoided the details of her abuse, but Arya herself seemed to have no difficulty recounting what she had been subjected to. Her emo-tionless descriptions roused the same rage within Eragon as when he first saw her wounds. The elves remained completely silent throughout Arya’s tale, although they gripped their swords and their faces hardened into ra-zor lines of cold anger. A single tear rolled down Islanzadí’s cheek. Afterward, a lithe elf lord paced along the mossy sward between the chairs. “I know that I speak for us Page 451 all, Arya Dröttningu, when I say that my heart burns with sorrow for your ordeal. It is a crime beyond apology, mitigation, or reparation, and Galbatorix must be punished for it. Also, we are in your debt for keeping the locations of our cities hidden from the Shade. Few of us could have withstood him for so long.” “Thank you, Däthedr-vor.” Now Islanzadí spoke, and her voice rang like a bell among the trees. “Enough. Our guests wait tired on their feet, and we have spoken of evil things for far too long. I will not have this occasion marred by lingering on past injuries.” A glorious smile brightened her expression. “My daugh-ter has returned, a dragon and her Rider have appeared, and I will see us celebrate in the proper fashion!” She stood, tall and magnificent in her crimson tunic, and clapped her hands. At the sound, the chairs and pavil-ion were showered with hundreds of lilies and roses that appeared twenty feet above their heads and drifted down like colorful snowflakes, suffusing the air with their heady fragrance. She didn’t use the ancient language,observed Eragon. He noticed that, while everyone was occupied by the flowers, Islanzadí touched Arya gently on the shoulder and murmured, almost too softly to hear, “You never would have suffered so if you had taken my counsel. I was right to oppose your decision to accept the yawë.” “It was my decision to make.” The queen paused, then nodded and extended her arm. “Blagden.” With a flutter of wings, the raven flew from his perch and landed on her left shoulder. The entire assembly bowed as Islanzadí proceeded to the end of the hall and threw open the door to the hundreds of elves outside, whereupon she made a brief declaration in the ancient language that Er-agon did not understand. The elves burst into cheers and began to rush about. “What did she say?” whispered Eragon to Narí. Narí smiled. “To break open our finest casks and light the cook-fires, for tonight shall be a night of feast and song. Come!” He grabbed Eragon’s hand and pulled him after the queen as she threaded her way between the shaggy pines and through banks of cool ferns. During their time in-doors, the sun had dropped low in the sky, drenching the forest with an amber light that clung to the trees and plants like a layer of glistering oil. You do realize, don’t you,said Saphira, that the king Lifaen mentioned, Evandar, must be Arya’s father? Eragon almost stumbled. You’re right.... And that means he was killed by either Galbatorix or the Forsworn. Circles within circles. They stopped on the crest of a small hill, where a team of elves had set out a long trestle table and chairs. All around them, the forest hummed with activity. As evening approached, the cheery glow of fires appeared scattered throughout Ellesméra, including a bonfire near the table. Someone handed Eragon a goblet made of the same odd wood that he had noticed in Ceris. He drank the cup’s clear liqueur and gasped as it blazed down his throat. It tasted like mulled cider mixed with Page 452 mead. The potion made the tips of his fingers and ears tingle and gave him a marvel-ous sense of clarity. “What is this?” he asked Narí. Narí laughed. “Faelnirv? We distill it from crushed elderberries and spun moonbeams. If he needs must, a strong man can travel for three days on naught else.” Saphira, you have to taste this.She sniffed the goblet, then opened her mouth and allowed him to pour the rest of the faelnirv down her throat. Her eyes widened and her tail twitched. Now that’s a treat! Is there more? Before Eragon could reply, Orik stomped over to them. “Daughter to the queen,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “I wish that I could tell Hrothgar and Nasuada. They’d want to know.” Islanzadí seated herself in a high-backed chair and clapped her hands once again. From within the city came a quartet of elves bearing musical instruments. Two had harps of cherrywood, the third a set of reed pipes, and the fourth nothing but her voice, which she immediately put to use with a playful song that danced about their ears. Eragon caught only every third word or so, but what he did understand made him grin. It was the story of a stag who could not drink at a pond because a magpie kept harassing him. As Eragon listened, his gaze wandered and alighted upon a small girl prowling behind the queen. When he looked again, he saw that her shaggy hair was not silver, like many of the elves, but bleached white with age, and that her face was creased and lined like a dry, withered apple. She was no elf, nor dwarf, nor—Eragon felt—even human. She smiled at him, and he glimpsed rows of sharp teeth. When the singer finished, and the pipes and lutes filled the silence, Er-agon found himself approached by scores of elves who wished to meet him and—more importantly, he sensed—Saphira. The elves presented themselves by bowing softly and touching their lips with their first and middle fingers, to which Eragon responded in kind, along with endless repetitions of their greeting in the ancient lan-guage. They plied Eragon with polite questions about his exploits, but they reserved the bulk of their conversation for Saphira. At first Eragon was content to let Saphira talk, since this was the first place where anyone was interested in having a discussion just with her. But he soon grew annoyed at being ignored; he had become used to hav-ing people listen when he spoke. He grinned ruefully, dismayed that he had come to rely on people’s attention so much since he had joined the Varden, and forced himself to relax and enjoy the celebration. Before long the scent of food permeated the glade and elves appeared carrying platters piled with delicacies. Aside from loaves of warm bread and stacks of small, round honeycakes, the dishes were made entirely of fruit, vegetables, and berries. The berries predominated; they were in everything from blueberry soup to raspberry sauce to thimbleberry jelly. A bowl of sliced apples dripped with syrup and sprinkled with wild strawberries sat beside a mushroom pie stuffed with spinach, thyme, and currants. No meat was to be found, not even fish or fowl, which still puzzled Er-agon. In Carvahall and elsewhere in the Empire, meat was a symbol of status and luxury. The more gold you had, the more often you could af-ford steak and veal. Even the minor nobility ate meat with every meal. To do otherwise would indicate a deficit in their coffers. And yet the elves did not subscribe to this philosophy, despite their obvious wealth and the ease with which they could hunt with magic. Page 453 The elves rushed to the table with an enthusiasm that surprised Eragon. Soon all were seated: Islanzadí at the head of the table with Blagden, the raven; Däthedr to her left; Arya and Eragon by her right hand; Orik across from them; and then all the rest of the elves, including Narí and Lifaen. No chair was at the far end of the table, only a huge carved plate for Saphira. As the meal progressed, everything dissolved around Eragon into a blur of talk and mirth. He was so caught up in the festivities, he lost track of time, aware of only the laughter and the foreign words swirling over his head and the warm glow left in his stomach by the faelnirv. The elusive harp music sighed and whispered at the edges of his hearing and sent shivers of excitement down his side. Occasionally, he found himself dis-tracted by the lazy slit-eyed stare of the woman-child, which she kept focused on him with single-minded intensity, even when eating. During a lull in the conversation, Eragon turned toward Arya, who had uttered no more than a dozen words. He said nothing, only looked and wondered who she really was. Arya stirred. “Not even Ajihad knew.” “What?” “Outside of Du Weldenvarden, I told no one of my identity. Brom was aware of it—he first met me here—but he kept it a secret at my request.” Eragon wondered if she was explaining to him out of a sense of duty or because she felt guilty for deceiving him and Saphira. “Brom once said that what elves didn’t say was often more important that what they did.” “He understood us well.” “Why, though? Did it matter if anyone knew?” This time Arya hesitated. “When I left Ellesméra, I had no desire to be reminded of my position. Nor did it seem relevant to my task with the Varden and dwarves. It had nothing to do with who I became... with who I am.” She glanced at the queen. “You could have told Saphira and me.” Arya seemed to bridle at the reproach in his voice. “I had no reason to suspect that my standing with Islanzadí had improved, and telling you that would have changed nothing. My thoughts are my own, Eragon.” He flushed at her implied meaning: Why should she— who was a diplomat, a princess, an elf, and older than both his father and grandfather, whoever they were—confide in him, a sixteen-year-old human? “At least,” he muttered, “you made up with your mother.” She smiled oddly. “Did I have a choice?” At that moment, Blagden jumped from Islanzadí’s shoulder and strut-ted down the middle of the table, bobbing his head left and right in a mocking bow. He stopped before Saphira, uttered a hoarse cough, and then croaked: Page 454 Dragons, like wagons, Have tongues. Dragons, like flagons, Have necks. But while two hold beer, The other eats deer! The elves froze with mortified expressions while they waited for Saphira’s reaction. After a long silence, Saphira looked up from her quince pie and released a puff of smoke that enveloped Blagden. And lit-tle birds too, she said, projecting her thoughts so that everyone could hear. The elves finally laughed as Blagden staggered back, cawing indignantly and flapping his wings to clear the air. “I must apologize for Blagden’s wretched verses,” said Islanzadí. “He has ever had a saucy tongue, despite our attempts to tame it.” Apology accepted,said Saphira calmly, and returned to her pie. “Where does he come from?” Eragon asked, eager to return to more cordial footing with Arya but also genuinely curious. “Blagden,” said Arya, “once saved my father’s life. Evandar was fighting an Urgal when he stumbled and lost his sword. Before the Urgal could strike, a raven flew at him and pecked out his eyes. No one knows why the bird did it, but the distraction allowed Evandar to regain his balance and so win the battle. My father was always generous, so he thanked the raven by blessing him with spells for intelligence and long life. However, the magic had two effects that he did not foresee: Blagden lost all color in his feathers and he gained the ability to predict certain events.” “He can see into the future?” asked Eragon, startled. “See? No. But perhaps he can sense what is to come. In any case, he al-ways speaks in riddles, most of which are a fair bit of nonsense. Just re-member that if Blagden ever comes to you and tells you something that is not a joke or a pun, you would do well to heed his words.” Once the meal had concluded, Islanzadí stood—causing a flurry of ac-tivity as everyone hastened to do likewise—and said, “It is late, I am tired, and I would return to my bower. Accompany me, Saphira and Eragon, and I will show you where you may sleep tonight.” The queen motioned with one hand to Arya, then left the table. Arya followed. As Eragon stepped around the table with Saphira, he paused by the woman-child, caught by her feral eyes. All the elements of her appear-ance, from her eyes to her shaggy hair to her white fangs, triggered Er-agon’s memory. “You’re a werecat, aren’t you?” She blinked once and then bared her teeth in a dangerous smile. “I met one of your kin, Solem-bum, in Teirm and in Farthen Dûr.” Her grin widened. “Aye. A good one he is. Humans bore me, but he finds it amusing to travel with the witch Angela.” Then her gaze switched to Saphira and she uttered a throaty half-growl, half-purr of appreciation. Page 455 What is your name?asked Saphira. “Names be powerful things in the heart of Du Weldenvarden, dragon, yes they are. However... among the elves, I am known as The Watcher and as Quickpaw and as The Dream Dancer, but you may know me as Maud.” She tossed her mane of stiff white bangs. “You’d better catch up with the queen, younglings; she does not take lightly to fools or laggards.” “It was a pleasure meeting you, Maud,” said Eragon. He bowed, and Saphira inclined her head. Eragon glanced at Orik, wondering where the dwarf would be taken, and then pursued Islanzadí. They overtook the queen just as she reached the base of a tree. The trunk was ridged by a delicate staircase that spiraled up to a series of globular rooms cupped and suspended in the tree’s crown by a spray of branches. Islanzadí lifted an elegant hand and pointed at the eyrie. “You needs must fly there, Saphira. Our stairs were not grown with dragons in mind.” Then she spoke to Eragon: “This is where the leader of the Dragon Riders would dwell while in Ellesméra. I give it to you now, for you are the rightful heir to that title.... It is your inheritance.” Before Eragon could thank her, the queen swept past and departed with Arya, who held his gaze for a long moment before vanishing deeper into the city. Shall we see what accommodations they’ve provided us with?asked Saphira. She jumped into the air and sailed around the tree in a tight cir-cle, balancing on one wing tip, perpendicular to the ground. As Eragon took the first step, he saw that Islanzadí had spoken true; the stairs were one with the tree. The bark beneath his feet was smooth and flat from the many elves who had traversed it, but it was still part of the trunk, as were the twisting cobweb banisters by his side and the curved railing that slid under his right hand. Because the stairs had been designed with the elves’ strength in mind, they were steeper than Eragon was used to, and his calves and thighs soon began to burn. He was breathing so hard when he reached the top—after climbing through a trapdoor in the floor of one of the rooms—he had to put his hands on his knees and bend over to pant. Once recovered, he straightened and examined his surroundings. He stood in a circular vestibule with a pedestal in the center, out of which spiraled a sculpture of two pale hands and forearms that twined around each other without touching. Three screen doors led from the vestibule—one to an austere dining room that might hold ten people at the most, one to a closet with an empty hollow in the floor that Eragon could think of no discernible use for, and the last to a bedroom overlook-ing, and open to, the wide expanse of Du Weldenvarden. Taking a lantern from its hook in the ceiling, Eragon entered the bed-room, creating a host of shadows that jumped and swirled like madcap dancers. A teardrop gap large enough for a dragon pierced the outer wall. Inside the room was a bed, situated so that he could watch the sky and the moon while lying on his back; a fireplace made of gray wood that felt as hard and cold as steel when he touched it, as if the timber had been compressed to unsurpassed density; and a huge low-rimmed bowl set in the floor and lined with soft blankets where Saphira could sleep. Even as he watched, she swooped down and landed on the edge of the opening, her scales twinkling like a constellation of blue stars. Behind her, the last rays of the sun streaked across the forest, painting Page 456 the various ridges and hills with a hazy amber that made the needles glow like hot iron and chased the shadows back toward the violet horizon. From their height, the city appeared as a series of gaps in the voluminous canopy, is-lands of calm in a restless ocean. Ellesméra’s true scope was now revealed; it extended for several miles to the west and to the north. I respect the Riders even more if this is how Vrael normally lived,said Er-agon. It’s much simpler than I expected. The entire structure rocked slightly in response to a breath of wind. Saphira sniffed her blankets. We have yet to see Vroengard, she cau-tioned, although he sensed that she agreed with him. As Eragon closed the screen to the bedroom, he saw something in the corner that he had missed during his first inspection: a spiral staircase that wound up a dark wood chimney. Thrusting the lantern before him, he cautiously ascended, one step at a time. After about twenty feet, he emerged in a study furnished with a writing desk—stocked with quills, ink, and paper, but no parchment—and another padded roost for a dragon to curl up on. The far wall also had an opening to fly through. Saphira, come see this. How?she asked. Through the outside.Eragon winced as layers of bark splintered and cracked under Saphira’s claws while she crawled out of the bedroom and up the side of the compound to the study. Satisfied? he asked when she arrived. Saphira raked him with her sapphire eyes, then proceeded to scrutinize the walls and furniture. I wonder,she said, how you are supposed to stay warm when the rooms are open to the elements? I don’t know.Eragon examined the walls on either side of the breach, running his hands over abstract patterns that had been coaxed from the tree by the elves’ songs. He stopped when he felt a vertical ridge embed-ded in the bark. He tugged on it, and a diaphanous membrane unspooled from within the wall. Pulling it across the portal, he found a second groove to hold the hem of the cloth. As soon as it was fastened, the air thickened and became noticeably hotter. There’s your answer, he said. He released the cloth and it lashed back and forth as it rewound itself. When they returned to the bedroom, Eragon unpacked while Saphira coiled upon her dais. He carefully arranged his shield, bracers, greaves, coif, and helm, then stripped off his tunic and removed his shirt of leather-backed mail. He sat bare-chested on the bed and studied the oiled links, struck by their similarity to Saphira’s scales. We made it,he said, bemused. A long journey... but yes, we made it. We’re lucky that misfortune did not strike upon the road. He nodded. Now we’ll find out if it was worth it. Sometimes I wonder if our time would have been better spent helping the Varden. Eragon! You know that we need further instruction. Brom would have wanted it. Besides, Ellesméra and Islanzadí were certainly worth coming all this way to see. Maybe.Finally, he asked, What do you make of all this? Page 457 Saphira parted her jaws slightly to show her teeth. I don’t know. The elves keep more secrets than even Brom, and they can do things with magic that I never thought possible. I have no idea what methods they use to grow their trees into such shapes, nor how Islanzadí summoned those flowers. It is beyond my ken. Eragon was relieved that he was not the only one who felt over-whelmed. And Arya? What about her? You know, who she really is. She hasn’t changed, only your perception of her.Saphira chuckled deep in her throat, where it sounded like stones grinding against each other, and rested her head on her two front feet. The stars were bright in the sky now, and the soft hoots of owls drifted through Ellesméra. All the world was calm and silent as it slumbered away the liquid night. Eragon clambered underneath his downy sheets and reached to shutter the lantern, then stopped, his hand an inch from the latch. Here he was in the elves’ capital, over a hundred feet in the air, lying in what used to be Vrael’s bed. The thought was too much for him. Rolling upright, he grabbed the lantern with one hand, Zar’roc with the other, and surprised Saphira by crawling onto her dais and snuggling against her warm side. She hummed and dropped a velvet wing over him as he extinguished the light and closed his eyes. Together they slept long and deep in Ellesméra. OUT OF THE PAST Eragon woke at dawn well rested. He tapped Saphira’s ribs, and she lifted her wing. Running his hands through his hair, he walked to the room’s precipice and leaned against one side, bark rough against his shoulder. Below, the forest sparkled like a field of diamonds as each tree reflected the morning light with a thousand thousand drops of dew. He jumped with surprise as Saphira dove past him, twisting like an au-ger toward the canopy before she pulled up and circled through the sky, roaring with joy. Morning, little one. He smiled, happy that she was happy. He opened the screen to their bedroom, where he found two trays of food—mostly fruit—that had been placed by the lintel during the night. By the trays was a bundle of clothes with a paper note pinned to it. Er-agon had difficulty deciphering the flowing script, since he had not read for over a month and had forgotten some of the letters, but at last he un-derstood that it said: Greetings, Saphira Bjartskular and Eragon Shadeslayer. I, Bellaen of House Miolandra, do humble myself and apologize to you, Saphira, for this unsatisfactory Page 458 meal. Elves do not hunt, and no meat is to be had in Ellesméra, nor in any of our cities. If you wish, you can do as the dragons of old were wont, and catch what you may in Du Welden-varden. We only ask that you leave your kills in the forest so that our air and water remain untainted by blood. Eragon, these clothes are for you. They were woven by Niduen of Is-lanzadí’s house and are her gift to you. May good fortune rule over you, Peace live in your heart, And the stars watch over you. Bellaen du Hljödhr When Eragon told Saphira the message, she said, It does not matter; I won’t need to eat for a while after yesterday’s meal. However, she did snap up a few seed cakes. Just so that I don’t appear rude, she explained. After Eragon finished breakfast, he hauled the bundle of clothes onto his bed and carefully unfolded them, finding two full-length tunics of rus-set trimmed with thimbleberry green, a set of creamy leggings to wrap his calves in, and three pairs of socks so soft, they felt like liquid when he pulled them through his hands. The quality of the fabric shamed the weaving of the women of Carvahall as well as the dwarf clothes he wore now. Eragon was grateful for the new raiment. His own tunic and breeches were sadly travel-worn from their weeks exposed to the rain and sun since Farthen Dûr. Stripping, he donned one of the luxurious tunics, sa-voring its downy texture. He had just laced on his boots when someone knocked on the screen to the bedroom. “Come in,” he said, reaching for Zar’roc. Orik poked his head inside, then cautiously entered, testing the floor with his feet. He eyed the ceiling. “Give me a cave any day instead of a bird’s nest like this. How fared your night, Eragon? Saphira?” “Well enough. And yours?” said Eragon. “I slept like a rock.” The dwarf chuckled at his own jest, then his chin sank into his beard and he fingered the head of his ax. “I see you’ve eaten, so I’ll ask you to accompany me. Arya, the queen, and a host of other elves await you at the base of the tree.” He fixed Eragon with a testy gaze. “Something is going on that they haven’t told us about. I’m not sure what they want from you, but it’s important. Islanzadí’s as tense as a cor-nered wolf... I thought I’d warn you beforehand.” Eragon thanked him, then the two of them descended by way of the stairs, while Saphira glided to earth. They were met on the ground by Is-lanzadí arrayed in a mantle of ruffled swan feathers, which were like win-ter snow heaped upon a cardinal’s breast. She greeted them and said, “Fol-low me.” Her wending course took the group to the edge of Ellesméra, where the buildings were few and the paths were faint from disuse. At the base of a wooded knoll, Islanzadí stopped and said in a terrible voice, “Before we go any farther, the three of you must swear in the ancient language that you will never speak to outsiders of what you are about to see, not without permission from me, my daughter, or Page 459 whoever may succeed us to the throne.” “Why should I gag myself?” demanded Orik. Why indeed ?asked Saphira. Do you not trust us? “It is not a matter of trust, but of safety. We must protect this knowl-edge at all costs—it’s our greatest advantage over Galbatorix—and if you are bound by the ancient language, you will never willingly reveal our se-cret. You came to supervise Eragon’s training, Orik-vodhr. Unless you give me your word, you may as well return to Farthen Dûr.” At last Orik said, “I believe that you mean no harm to dwarves or to the Varden, else I would never agree. And I hold you to the honor of your hall and clan that this isn’t a ploy to deceive us. Tell me what to say.” While the queen tutored Orik in the correct pronunciation of the de-sired phrase, Eragon asked Saphira, Should I do it? Do we have a choice?Eragon remembered that Arya had asked the same question yesterday, and he began to have an inkling of what she had meant: the queen left no room to maneuver. When Orik finished, Islanzadí looked expectantly at Eragon. He hesi-tated, then delivered the oath, as did Saphira. “Thank you,” said Islanzadí. “Now we may proceed.” At the top of the knoll, the trees were replaced by a bed of red clover that ran several yards to the edge of a stone cliff. The cliff extended a league in either direction and dropped a thousand feet to the forest be-low, which pooled outward until it merged with the sky. It felt as if they stood on the edge of the world, staring across an endless expanse of for-est. I know this place,realized Eragon, remembering his vision of Togira Ik-onoka. Thud.The air shivered from the strength of the concussion. Thud. An-other dull blow made Eragon’s teeth chatter. Thud. He jammed his fin-gers in his ears, trying to protect them from the painful spikes in pres-sure. The elves stood motionless. Thud. The clover bent under a sudden gust of wind. Thud.From below the edge of the cliff rose a huge gold dragon with a Rider on its back. CONVICTION Roran glared at Horst. They were in Baldor’s room. Roran was propped upright in bed, listen-ing as the smith said, “What did you expect me to do? We couldn’t at-tack once you fainted. Besides, the men were in no state to fight. Can’t blame them either. I nearly bit off my tongue when I saw those mon-sters.” Horst shook his wild mane of hair. “We’ve been dragged into one of the old tales, Roran, and I don’t like it one bit.” Roran retained his stony expression. “Look, you can kill the soldiers if you want, but you have to get your strength back first. You’ll have plenty of volunteers; people trust you in battle, especially after you defeated the soldiers here last night.” When Roran remained silent, Horst sighed, patted him on his good shoulder, and left the room, closing the door behind him. Page 460 Roran did not even blink. So far in his life, he had only truly cared about three things: his family, his home in Palancar Valley, and Katrina. His family had been annihilated last year. His farm had been smashed and burned, though the land remained, which was all that really mattered. But now Katrina was gone. A choked sob escaped past the iron lump in his throat. He was faced with a quandary that tore at his very essence: the only way to rescue Katrina would be to somehow pursue the Ra’zac and leave Palancar Val-ley, yet he could not abandon Carvahall to the soldiers. Nor could he for-get Katrina. My heart or my home,he thought bitterly. They were worthless with-out each other. If he killed the soldiers it would only prevent the Ra’zac—and perhaps Katrina—from returning. Anyway, the slaughter would be pointless if reinforcements were nearby, for their arrival would surely signal Carvahall’s demise. Roran clenched his teeth as a fresh burst of pain emanated from his bound shoulder. He closed his eyes. I hope Sloan gets eaten like Quimby. No fate could be too terrible for that traitor. Roran cursed him with the blackest oaths he knew. Even if I were free to leave Carvahall, how could I find the Ra’zac? Who would know where they live? Who would dare inform on Galbatorix’s ser-vants?Despair rolled over him as he wrestled with the problem. He imagined himself in one of the great cities of the Empire, searching aim-lessly among dirty buildings and hordes of strangers for a hint, a glimpse, a taste of his love. It was hopeless. A river of tears followed as he doubled over, groaning from the strength of his agony and fear. He rocked back and forth, blind to any-thing but the desolation of the world. An endless amount of time reduced Roran’s sobs to weak gasps of pro-test. He wiped his eyes and forced himself to take a long, shuddering breath. He winced. His lungs felt like they were filled with shards of glass. I have to think,he told himself. He leaned against the wall and—through the sheer strength of his will—began to gradually subdue each of his unruly emotions, wrestling them into submission to the one thing that could save him from insanity: reason. His neck and shoulders trembled from the violence of his efforts. Once he regained control, Roran carefully arranged his thoughts, like a master craftsman organizing his tools into precise rows. There must be a solution hidden amid my knowledge, if only I’m creative enough. He could not track the Ra’zac through the air. That much was clear. Someone would have to tell him where to find them, and of all the peo-ple he could ask, the Varden probably knew the most. However, they would be just as hard to find as the desecrators, and he could not waste time searching for them. Although... A small voice in his head reminded him of the rumors he had heard from trappers and traders that Surda se-cretly supported the Varden. Page 461 Surda.The country lay at the bottom of the Empire, or so Roran had been told, as he had never seen a map of Alagaësia. Under ideal condi-tions, it would take several weeks to reach on horse, longer if he had to evade soldiers. Of course, the swiftest mode of transportation would be to sail south along the coast, but that would mean having to travel all the way to the Toark River and then to Teirm to find a ship. It would take far too long. And he still might be apprehended by soldiers. “If, could, would, might, ” he muttered, repeatedly clenching his left hand. North of Teirm, the only port he knew of was Narda, but to reach it, he would have to cross the entire width of the Spine—a feat unheard of, even for the trappers. Roran swore quietly. The conjecture was pointless. I should be trying to save Carvahall, not desert it. The problem was, he had already deter-mined that the village and all who remained in it were doomed. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes again. All who remain... What... what if everyone in Carvahall accompanied me to Narda and then to Surda?He would achieve both his desires simultaneously. The audacity of the idea stunned him. It was heresy, blasphemy, to think that he could convince the farmers to abandon their fields and the merchants their shops... and yet... and yet what was the alternative but slavery or death? The Varden were the only group that would harbor fugitives of the Empire, and Roran was sure that the rebels would be delighted to have a village’s worth of recruits, espe-cially ones who had proved themselves in battle. Also, by bringing the villagers to them, he would earn the Varden’s confidence, so that they would trust him with the location of the Ra’zac. Maybe they can explain why Galbatorix is so desperate to capture me. If the plan were to succeed, though, it would have to be implemented before the new troops reached Carvahall, which left only a few days—if that—to arrange the departure of some three hundred people. The logis-tics were frightening to consider. Roran knew that mere reason could not persuade anyone to leave; it would require messianic zeal to stir people’s emotions, to make them feel in the depths of their hearts the need to relinquish the trappings of their identities and lives. Nor would it be enough to simply instill fear—for he knew that fear often made those in peril fight harder. Rather, he had to instill a sense of purpose and destiny, to make the villagers believe, as he did, that joining the Varden and resisting Galbatorix’s tyranny was the noblest action in the world. It required passion that could not be intimidated by hardship, deterred by suffering, or quenched by death. In his mind, Roran saw Katrina standing before him, pale and ghostly with solemn amber eyes. He remembered the heat of her skin, the mulled scent of her hair, and what it felt like to be with her under the cover of darkness. Then in a long line behind her appeared his family, friends, and everyone he had known in Carvahall, both dead and alive. If not for Eragon... and me... the Ra’zac would have never come here. I must rescue the village from the Empire as surely as I must rescue Katrina from those desecrators. Drawing upon the strength of his vision, Roran rose from bed, causing his maimed shoulder to burn and sting. He staggered and leaned against a wall. Will I ever regain the use of my right arm ? He waited for the pain to subside. When it did not, he bared his teeth, shoved himself upright, and marched from the Page 462 room. Elain was folding towels in the hallway. She cried out with amazement. “Roran! What are you—” “Come,” he growled, lurching past. With a worried expression, Baldor stepped out of a doorway. “Roran, you shouldn’t be walking around. You lost too much blood. I’ll help—” “Come.” Roran heard them follow as he descended the curved stairs toward the entrance of the house, where Horst and Albriech stood talking. They looked up with astonishment. “Come.” He ignored the babble of questions, opened the front door, and stepped into the evening’s faded light. Above, an imposing plume of clouds was laced with gold and purple. Leading the small group, Roran stomped to the edge of Carvahall— repeating his monosyllabic message whenever he passed a man or woman—pulled a torch mounted on a pole from the grasping mud, wheeled about, and retraced his path to the center of town. There he stabbed the pole between his feet, then raised his left arm and roared, “COME!” The village rang with his voice. He continued the summons as people drifted from the houses and shadowed alleyways and began to gather around him. Many were curious, others sympathetic, some awed, and some angry. Again and again, Roran’s chant echoed in the valley. Loring arrived with his sons in tow. From the opposite direction came Birgit, Delwin, and Fisk with his wife, Isold. Morn and Tara left the tavern to-gether and joined the crush of spectators. When most of Carvahall stood before him, Roran fell silent, tightening his left fist until his fingernails cut into his palm. Katrina. Raising his hand, he opened it and showed everyone the crimson tears that dripped down his arm. “This,” he said, “is my pain. Look well, for it will be yours unless we defeat the curse wanton fate has set upon us. Your friends and family will be bound in chains, destined for slavery in foreign lands, or slain before your eyes, hewn open by soldiers’ merciless blades. Galba-torix will sow our land with salt so that it lies forever fallow. This I have seen. This I know.” He paced like a caged wolf, glowering and swinging his head. He had their attention. Now he had to stoke them into a frenzy to match his own. “My father was killed by the desecrators. My cousin has fled. My farm was razed. And my bride-to-be was kidnapped by her own father, who murdered Byrd and betrayed us all! Quimby eaten, the hay barn burned along with Fisk’s and Delwin’s houses. Parr, Wyglif, Ged, Bardrick, Far-old, Hale, Garner, Kelby, Melkolf, Albem, and Elmund: all slain. Many of you have been injured, like me, so that you can no longer support your family. Isn’t it enough that we toil every day of our lives to eke a living from the earth, subjected to the whims of nature? Isn’t it enough that we are forced to pay Galbatorix’s iron taxes, without also having to endure these senseless torments?” Roran laughed maniacally, howling at the sky and hearing the madness in his own voice. No one stirred in the crowd. “I know now the true nature of the Empire and of Galbatorix; they are evil. Galbatorix is an unnatural blight on the world. He destroyed the Riders and the greatest peace and prosperity we ever had. His servants are foul demons birthed in some ancient pit. But is Galbatorix content to grind us beneath his Page 463 heel? No! He seeks to poison all of Alagaësia, to suf-focate us with his cloak of misery. Our children and their descendants shall live in the shadow of his darkness until the end of time, reduced to slaves, worms, vermin for him to torture at his pleasure. Unless...” Roran stared into the villagers’ wide eyes, conscious of his control over them. No one had ever dared say what he was about to. He let his voice rasp low in his throat: “Unless we have the courage to resist evil. “We’ve fought the soldiers and the Ra’zac, but it means nothing if we die alone and forgotten—or are carted away as chattel. We cannot stay here, and I won’t allow Galbatorix to obliterate everything that’s worth living for. I would rather have my eyes plucked out and my hands chopped off than see him triumph! I choose to fight! I choose to step from my grave and let my enemies bury themselves in it! “I choose to leave Carvahall. “I will cross the Spine and take a ship from Narda down to Surda, where I will join the Varden, who have struggled for decades to free us of this oppression.” The villagers looked shocked at the idea. “But I do not wish to go alone. Come with me. Come with me and seize this chance to forge a better life for yourselves. Throw off the shackles that bind you here.” Roran pointed at his listeners, moving his finger from one target to the next. “A hundred years from now, what names shall drop from the bards’ lips? Horst... Birgit... Kiselt... Thane; they will recite our sagas. They will sing “The Epic of Carvahall,” for we were the only village brave enough to defy the Empire.” Tears of pride flooded Roran’s eyes. “What could be more noble than cleansing Galbatorix’s stain from Alagaësia? No more would we live in fear of having our farms destroyed, or being killed and eaten. The grain we harvest would be ours to keep, save for any extra that we might send as a gift to the rightful king. The rivers and streams would run thick with gold. We would be safe and happy and fat! “It is our destiny.” Roran held his hand before his face and slowly closed his fingers over the bleeding wounds. He stood hunched over his injured arm—crucified by the scores of gazes—and waited for a response to his speech. None came. At last he realized that they wanted him to continue; they wanted to hear more about the cause and the future he had portrayed. Katrina. Then as darkness gathered around the radius of his torch, Roran drew himself upright and resumed speaking. He hid nothing, only labored to make them understand his thoughts and feelings, so they too could share the sense of purpose that drove him. “Our age is at an end. We must step forward and cast our lot with the Varden if we and our children are to live free.” He spoke with rage and honeyed tones in equal amount, but always with a fervid conviction that kept his audience entranced. When his store of images was exhausted, Roran looked into the faces of his friends and neighbors and said, “I march in two days. Accompany me if you wish, but I go regardless.” He bowed his head and stepped out of the light. Overhead, the waning moon glowed behind a lens of clouds. A slight breeze wafted through Carvahall. An iron weather vane creaked on a roof as it swung in the direction of the current. From within the crowd, Birgit picked her way into the light, clutching the folds of her dress to avoid Page 464 tripping. With a subdued expression, she adjusted her shawl. “Today we saw an...” She stopped, shook her head, and laughed in an embarrassed way. “I find it hard to speak after Roran. I don’t like his plan, but I believe that it’s necessary, although for a differ-ent reason: I would hunt down the Ra’zac and avenge my husband’s death. I will go with him. And I will take my children.” She too stepped away from the torch. A silent minute passed, then Delwin and his wife, Lenna, advanced with their arms around each other. Lenna looked at Birgit and said, “I un-derstand your need, Sister. We want our vengeance as well, but more than that, we want the rest of our children to be safe. For that reason, we too will go.” Several women whose husbands had been slain came for-ward and agreed with her. The villagers murmured among themselves, then fell silent and mo-tionless. No one else seemed willing to address the subject; it was too momentous. Roran understood. He was still trying to digest the implica-tions himself. Finally, Horst strode to the torch and stared with a drawn face into the flame. “It’s no good talking any more.... We need time to think. Every man must decide for himself. Tomorrow... tomorrow will be another day. Perhaps things will be clearer then.” He shook his head and lifted the torch, then inverted it and extinguished it against the ground, leaving everyone to find their way home in the moonlight. Roran joined Albriech and Baldor, who walked behind their parents at a discreet distance, giving them privacy to talk. Neither of the brothers would look at Roran. Unsettled by their lack of expression, Roran asked, “Do you think anyone else will go? Was I good enough?” Albriech emitted a bark of laughter. “Good enough!” “Roran,” said Baldor in an odd voice, “you could have convinced an Ur-gal to become a farmer tonight.” “No!” “When you finished, I was ready to grab my spear and dash into the Spine after you. I wouldn’t have been alone either. The question isn’t who will leave, it’s who won’t. What you said... I’ve never heard anything like it before.” Roran frowned. His goal had been to persuade people to accept his plan, not to get them to follow him personally. If that’s what it takes, he thought with a shrug. Still, the prospect had caught him unawares. At an earlier time, it would have disturbed him, but now he was just thankful for anything that could help him to rescue Katrina and save the villagers. Baldor leaned toward his brother. “Father would lose most of his tools.” Albriech nodded solemnly. Roran knew that smiths made whatever implement was required by the task at hand, and that these custom tools formed a legacy that was bequeathed from father to son, or from master to journeyman. One measure of a smith’s wealth and skill was the number of tools he owned. For Horst to surrender his would be... Would be no harder than what any-one else has to do,thought Roran. He only regretted that it would entail depriving Albriech and Baldor of their rightful inheritance. When they reached the house, Roran retreated to Baldor’s room and lay in bed. Through the walls, he could still hear the faint sound of Horst and Elain talking. He fell asleep imagining similar discussions taking place throughout Carvahall, deciding his—and their—fate. Page 465 REPERCUSSIONS The morning after his speech, Roran looked out his window and saw twelve men leaving Carvahall, heading toward Igualda Falls. He yawned and limped downstairs to the kitchen. Horst sat alone at the table, twisting a mug of ale in his hands. “Morn-ing,” he said. Roran grunted, tore a heel of bread off the loaf on the counter, then seated himself at the opposite end of the table. As he ate, he noted Horst’s bloodshot eyes and unkempt beard. Roran guessed that the smith had been awake the entire night. “Do you know why a group is going up—” “Have to talk with their families,” said Horst abruptly. “They’ve been running into the Spine since dawn.” He put the mug down with a crack. “You have no idea what you did, Roran, by asking us to leave. The whole village is in turmoil. You backed us into a corner with only one way out: your way. Some people hate you for it. Of course a fair number of them already hated you for bringing this upon us.” The bread in Roran’s mouth tasted like sawdust as resentment flared inside him. Eragon was the one who brought back the stone, not me. “And the others?” Horst sipped his ale and grimaced. “The others adore you. I never thought I would see the day when Garrow’s son would stir my heart with words, but you did it, boy, you did it.” He swung a gnarled hand over his head. “All this? I built it for Elain and my sons. It took me seven years to finish! See that beam over the door right there? I broke three toes getting that into place. And you know what? I’m going to give it up because of what you said last night.” Roran remained silent; it was what he wanted. Leaving Carvahall was the right thing to do, and since he had committed himself to that course, he saw no reason to torment himself with guilt and regret. The decision is made. I will accept the outcome without complaint, no matter how dire, for this is our only escape from the Empire. “But,” said Horst, and leaned forward on one elbow, his black eyes burning beneath his brow, “just you remember that if reality falls short of the airy dreams you conjured, there’ll be debts to pay. Give people a hope and then take it away, and they’ll destroy you.” The prospect was of no concern to Roran. If we make it to Surda, we will be greeted as heroes by the rebels. If we don’t, our deaths will fulfill all debts. When it was clear that the smith had finished, Roran asked, “Where is Elain?” Horst scowled at the change of topic. “Out back.” He stood and straightened his tunic over his heavy shoulders. “I have to go clear out the smithy and decide what tools I’m going to take. I’ll hide or destroy the rest. The Empire won’t benefit from my work.” “I’ll help.” Roran pushed back his chair. “No,” said Horst roughly. “This is a task I can only do with Albriech and Baldor. That forge has been my entire life, and theirs.... You wouldn’t be much help with that arm of yours anyway. Stay here. Elain can use you.” Page 466 After the smith left, Roran opened the side door and found Elain talk-ing with Gertrude by the large pile of firewood Horst maintained year-round. The healer went up to Roran and put a hand on his forehead. “Ah, I was afraid that you might have a fever after yesterday’s excitement. Your family heals at the most extraordinary rate. I could barely believe my eyes when Eragon started walking about after having his legs skinned and spending two days in bed.” Roran stiffened at the mention of his cousin, but she did not seem to notice. “Let’s see how your shoulder is doing, shall we?” Roran bowed his neck so that Gertrude could reach behind him and untie the knot to the wool sling. When it was undone, he carefully low-ered his right forearm—which was immobilized in a splint—until his arm was straight. Gertrude slid her fingers under the poultice packed on his wound and peeled it off. “Oh my,” she said. A thick, rancid smell clogged the air. Roran clenched his teeth as his gorge rose, then looked down. The skin under the poultice had turned white and spongy, like a giant birthmark of maggot flesh. The bite itself had been stitched up while he was unconscious, so all he saw was a jag-ged pink line caked with blood on the front of his shoulder. Swelling and inflammation had forced the twisted catgut threads to cut deep into his flesh, while beads of clear liquid oozed from the wound. Gertrude clucked her tongue as she inspected him, then refastened the bandages and looked Roran in the eye. “You’re doing well enough, but the tissue may become diseased. I can’t tell yet. If it does, we’ll have to cauterize your shoulder.” Roran nodded. “Will my arm work once it heals?” “As long as the muscle knits together properly. It also depends on how you want to use it. You—” “Will I be able to fight?” “If you want to fight,” said Gertrude slowly, “I suggest that you learn to use your left hand.” She patted his cheek, then hurried back toward her hut. My arm.Roran stared at his bound limb as if it no longer belonged to him. Until that moment, he had not realized how closely his sense of identity was linked to the condition of his body. Injuring his flesh caused injury to his psyche, as well as the other way around. Roran was proud of his body, and seeing it mutilated sent a jolt of panic through him, espe-cially since the damage was permanent. Even if he regained the use of his arm, he would always bear a thick scar as a memento of his injury. Taking his hand, Elain led Roran back into the house, where she crum-bled mint into a kettle, then set it on the stove to boil. “You really love her, don’t you?” “What?” He looked at her, startled. Elain rested a hand on her belly. “Katrina.” She smiled. “I’m not blind. I know what you’ve done for her, and I’m proud of you. Not every man would go as far.” “It won’t matter, if I can’t free her.” The kettle began to whistle stridently. “You will, I’m sure of it—one way or another.” Elain poured the tea. “We had better start preparing for the trip. I’m going to sort through the kitchen first. While I do, can you go upstairs and bring me all the clothes, bedding, and anything else you think might be useful?” Page 467 “Where should I put it?” asked Roran. “The dining room will be fine.” Since the mountains were too steep—and the forest too dense—for wagons, Roran realized that their supplies were limited to however much they could carry themselves, as well as what they could pile onto Horst’s two horses, although one of those had to be left partially unburdened so that Elain could ride whenever the trail proved too strenuous for her pregnancy. Compounding the issue was the fact that some families in Carvahall did not have enough steeds for both provisions and the young, old, and infirm who would be unable to keep pace on foot. Everyone would have to share resources. The question, though, was with whom? They still did not know who else was going, besides Birgit and Delwin. Thus, when Elain finished packing the items she deemed essential— mainly food and shelter—she sent Roran to find out if anyone needed ex-tra storage space and, if not, if she could borrow some in turn, for there were plenty of nonessential items she wanted to bring but would other-wise abandon. Despite the people hurrying through the streets, Carvahall was heavy with a forced stillness, an unnatural calm that belied the feverish activity hidden within the houses. Almost everyone was silent and walked with downturned faces, engrossed in their own thoughts. When Roran arrived at Orval’s house, he had to pound on the knocker for almost a minute before the farmer answered the door. “Oh, it’s you, Stronghammer.” Orval stepped out on the porch. “Sorry for the wait, but I was busy. How can I help you?” He tapped a long black pipe against his palm, then began to roll it nervously between his fingers. Inside the house, Roran heard chairs being shoved across the floor and pots and pans banging together. Roran quickly explained Elain’s offer and request. Orval squinted up at the sky. “I reckon I’ve got enough room for my own stuff. Ask around, an’ if you still need space, I have a pair of oxen that could hold a bit more.” “So you are going?” Orval shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. We’re just... getting ready in case of another attack.” “Ah.” Puzzled, Roran trudged on to Kiselt’s house. He soon discovered that no one was willing to reveal whether they had decided to leave— even when evidence of their preparations was in plain sight. And they all treated Roran with a deference that he found unsettling. It manifested itself in small gestures: offers of condolences for his misfor-tune, respectful silence whenever he spoke, and murmurs of assent when he made a statement. It was as if his deeds had inflated his stature and in-timidated the people he had known since childhood, distancing him from them. I am branded,thought Roran, limping through the mud. He stopped at the edge of a puddle and bent to examine his reflection, curious if he could discern what made him so different. He saw a man in ragged, blood-stained clothes, with a humped back and a crooked arm tied across his chest. His neck and cheeks were scum-bled with an impending beard, while his hair was matted into Page 468 snarled ropes that writhed in a halo around his head. Most frightening of all, though, were his eyes, which had sunk deep into the sockets, giving him a haunted appearance. From within those two morbid caverns, his gaze boiled like molten steel, full of loss, rage, and an obsessive craving. A lopsided smile crept across Roran’s face, rendering his visage even more shocking. He liked how he looked. It matched his feelings. Now he understood how he had managed to influence the villagers. He bared his teeth. I can use this image. I can use it to destroy the Ra’zac. Lifting his head, he slouched up the street, pleased with himself. Just then, Thane approached him and grasped his left forearm in a hearty grip. “Stronghammer! You don’t know how glad I am to see you.” “You are?” Roran wondered if the whole world had been turned inside out during the night. Thane nodded vigorously. “Ever since we attacked the soldiers, every-thing has seemed hopeless to me. It pains me to admit it, but so it was. My heart pounded all the time, like I was about to fall down a well; my hands shook; and I felt dreadfully ill. I thought someone had poisoned me! It was worse than death. But what you said yesterday healed me in-stantly and let me see purpose and meaning in the world again! I... I can’t even explain the horror you saved me from. I am in your debt. If you need or want anything, just ask and I’ll help.” Moved, Roran gripped the farmer’s forearm in return and said, “Thank you, Thane. Thank you.” Thane bowed his head, tears in his eyes, then released Roran and left him standing alone in the middle of the street. What have I done? EXODUS Awall of thick, smoky air engulfed Roran as he entered the Seven Sheaves, Morn’s tavern. He stopped beneath the Urgal horns pegged over the door and let his eyes adjust to the dim interior. “Hello?” he called. The door to the back rooms banged open as Tara plowed forward, trailed by Morn. They both glared sullenly at Roran. Tara planted her meaty fists on her hips and demanded, “What do you want here?” Roran stared at her for a moment, trying to determine the source of her animosity. “Have you decided whether to accompany me into the Spine?” “That’s none of your business,” snapped Tara. Oh yes, it is.He restrained himself, though, and instead said, “Whatever your intentions are, if you were to go, Elain would like to know if you have room in your bags for a few more items, or if you need extra room yourself. She has—” “Extra room!” burst out Morn. He waved at the wall behind the bar, which was lined with oak casks. “I have, packed in straw, twelve barrels of the clearest winter ale, which have been kept at the perfect tempera-ture for the past five months. They were Quimby’s last batch! What am I supposed to do with them? Or my hogsheads of lager and stout? If I leave them, the soldiers will dispose of it in a week, or they’ll spike the barrels and pour the beer into the ground, where the only creatures who’ll enjoy it will be Page 469 grubs and worms. Oh!” Morn sat and wrung his hands, shaking his head. “Twelve years of work! Ever since Father died I ran the tavern the same way he did, day in and day out. And then you and Eragon had to cause this trouble. It...” He stopped, breathing with difficulty, and wiped his mashed face with the edge of his sleeve. “There, there now,” said Tara. She put her arm around Morn and jabbed a finger at Roran. “Who gave you leave to stir up Carvahall with your fancy words? If we go, how will my poor husband make a living? He can’t take his trade with him like Horst or Gedric. He can’t squat in an empty field and farm it like you! Impossible! Everyone will go and we will starve. Or we will go and we will still starve. You have ruined us!” Roran looked from her flushed, angry face to Morn’s distraught one, then turned and opened the door. He paused on the threshold and said in a low voice, “I have always counted you among my friends. I would not have you killed by the Empire.” Stepping outside, he pulled his vest tight around himself and paced away from the tavern, ruminating the whole way. At Fisk’s well, he stopped for a drink and found himself joined by Birgit. She watched him struggle to turn the crank with only one hand, then took it from him and brought up the water bucket, which she passed to him without drinking. He sipped the cool liquid, then said, “I’m glad that you are coming.” He handed the bucket back. Birgit eyed him. “I recognize the force that drives you, Roran, for it propels me as well; we both wish to find the Ra’zac. Once we do, though, I will have my compensation from you for Quimby’s death. Never forget that.” She pushed the full bucket back into the well and let it fall unchecked, the crank spinning wildly. A second later, the well ech-oed with a hollow splash. Roran smiled as he watched her walk away. He was more pleased than upset by her declaration; he knew that even if everyone else in Carvahall were to forsake the cause or die, Birgit would still help him to hunt the Ra’zac. Afterward, though—if an afterward existed—he would have to pay her price or kill her. That was the only way to resolve such matters. By evening Horst and his sons had returned to the house, bearing two small bundles wrapped in oilcloth. “Is that all?” asked Elain. Horst nodded curtly, lay the bundles on the kitchen table, and unwrapped them to ex-pose four hammers, three tongs, a clamp, a medium-sized bellows, and a three-pound anvil. As the five of them sat to dinner, Albriech and Baldor discussed the various people they had seen making covert preparations. Roran listened intently, trying to keep track of who had lent donkeys to whom, who showed no signs of departing, and who might need help to leave. “The biggest problem,” said Baldor, “is food. We can only carry so much, and it’ll be difficult to hunt enough in the Spine to feed two or three hundred people.” “Mmm.” Horst shook his finger, his mouth full of beans, then swal-lowed. “No, hunting won’t work. We have to bring our flocks with us. Combined, we own enough sheep and goats to feed the lot of us for a month or more.” Roran raised his knife. “Wolves.” “I’m more worried about keeping the animals from wandering off into the forest,” replied Horst. “Herding them will be a chore.” Page 470 Roran spent the following day assisting whomever he could, saying lit-tle, and generally allowing people to see him working for the good of the village. Late that night, he tumbled into bed exhausted but hopeful. The advent of dawn pierced Roran’s dreams and woke him with a sense of momentous expectation. He stood and tiptoed downstairs, then went outside and stared at the misty mountains, absorbed by the morn-ing’s silence. His breath formed a white plume in the air, but he felt warm, for his heart throbbed with fear and eagerness. After a subdued breakfast, Horst brought the horses to the front of the house, where Roran helped Albriech and Baldor load them with saddle-bags and other bundles of supplies. Next Roran took up his own pack, hissing as the leather shoulder strap pressed down on his injury. Horst closed the door to the house. He lingered for a moment with his fingers on the steel doorknob, then took Elain’s hand and said, “Let’s go.” As they walked through Carvahall, Roran saw somber families gather-ing by their houses with their piles of possessions and yammering live-stock. He saw sheep and dogs with bags tied on their backs, teary-eyed children on donkeys, and makeshift sledges hitched to horses with crates of fluttering chickens hung on each side. He saw the fruits of his success, and he knew not whether to laugh or to cry. They stopped at Carvahall’s north end and waited to see who would join them. A minute passed, then Birgit approached from the side, ac-companied by Nolfavrell and his younger siblings. Birgit greeted Horst and Elain and stationed herself nearby. Ridley and his family arrived outside the wall of trees, driving over a hundred sheep from the east side of Palancar Valley. “I figured that it would be better to keep them out of Carvahall,” shouted Ridley over the animals. “Good thinking!” replied Horst. Next came Delwin, Lenna, and their five children; Orval and his family; Loring with his sons; Calitha and Thane—who gave Roran a large smile; and then Kiselt’s clan. Those women who had been recently widowed, like Nolla, clustered around Birgit. Before the sun had cleared the moun-tain peaks, most of the village had assembled along the wall. But not all. Morn, Tara, and several others had yet to show themselves, and when Ivor arrived, it was without any supplies. “You’re staying,” observed Ro-ran. He sidestepped a knot of testy goats that Gertrude was attempting to restrain. “Aye,” said Ivor, drawing out the word into a weary admission. He shivered, crossed his bony arms for warmth, and faced the rising sun, lift-ing his head so as to catch the transparent rays. “Svart refused to leave. Heh! It was like carving against the grain to get him into the Spine in the first place. Someone has to look after him, an’ I don’t have any children, so...” He shrugged. “Doubt I could give up the farm anyway.” “What will you do when the soldiers arrive?” “Give them a fight that they’ll remember.” Roran laughed hoarsely and clapped Ivor on the arm, doing his best to ignore the unspoken fate that they both knew awaited anyone who re-mained. Page 471 A thin, middle-aged man, Ethlbert, marched to the edge of the congre-gation and shouted, “You’re all fools!” With an ominous rustle, people turned to look at their accuser. “I’ve held my peace through this madness, but I’ll not follow a nattering lunatic! If you weren’t blinded by his words, you’d see that he’s leading you to destruction! Well, I won’t go! I’ll take my chances sneaking past the soldiers and finding refuge in Therins-ford. They’re our own people at least, not the barbarians you’ll find in Surda.” He spat on the ground, then spun on his heel and stomped away. Afraid that Ethlbert might convince others to defect, Roran scanned the crowd and was relieved to see nothing more than restless muttering. Still, he did not want to dawdle and give people a chance to change their minds. He asked Horst under his breath, “How long should we wait?” “Albriech, you and Baldor run around as fast as you can and check if anyone else is coming. Otherwise, we’ll leave.” The brothers dashed off in opposite directions. Half an hour later, Baldor returned with Fisk, Isold, and their borrowed horse. Leaving her husband, Isold hurried toward Horst, shooing her hands at anyone who got in her way, oblivious to the fact that most of her hair had escaped imprisonment in its bun and stuck out in odd tufts. She stopped, wheezing for breath. “I am sorry we’re so late, but Fisk had trouble closing up the shop. He couldn’t pick which planers or chisels to bring.” She laughed in a shrill tone, almost hysterical. “It was like watch-ing a cat surrounded by mice trying to decide which one to chase. First this one, then that one.” A wry smile tugged at Horst’s lips. “I understand perfectly.” Roran strained for a glimpse of Albriech, but to no avail. He gritted his teeth. “Where is he?” Horst tapped his shoulder. “Right over there, I do believe.” Albriech advanced between the houses with three beer casks tied to his back and an aggrieved look that was comic enough to make Baldor and several others laugh. On either side of Albriech walked Morn and Tara, who staggered under the weight of their enormous packs, as did the don-key and two goats that they towed behind them. To Roran’s astonish-ment, the animals were burdened with even more casks. “They won’t last a mile,” said Roran, growing angry at the couple’s fool-ishness. “And they don’t have enough food. Do they expect us to feed them or—” With a chuckle, Horst cut him off. “I wouldn’t worry about the food. Morn’s beer will be good for morale, and that’s worth more than a few extra meals. You’ll see.” As soon as Albriech had freed himself of the casks, Roran asked him and his brother, “Is that everyone?” When they answered in the affirma-tive, Roran swore and struck his thigh with a clenched fist. Excluding Ivor, three families were determined to remain in Palancar Valley: Ethl-bert’s, Parr’s, and Knute’s. I can’t force them to come. He sighed. “All right. There’s no sense in waiting longer.” Excitement rippled through the villagers; the moment had finally ar-rived. Horst and five other men pulled open the wall of trees, then laid planks across the trench so that the people and animals could walk over. Horst gestured. “I think that you should go first, Roran.” “Wait!” Fisk ran up and, with evident pride, handed Roran a blackened six-foot-long staff of hawthorn Page 472 wood with a knot of polished roots at the top, and a blued-steel ferrule that tapered into a blunt spike at the base. “I made it last night,” said the carpenter. “I thought that you might have need of it.” Roran ran his left hand over the wood, marveling at its smoothness. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Your skill is masterful.... Thank you.” Fisk grinned and backed away. Conscious of the fact that the entire crowd was watching, Roran faced the mountains and the Igualda Falls. His shoulder throbbed beneath the leather strap. Behind him lay his father’s bones and everything he had known in life. Before him the jagged peaks piled high into the pale sky and blocked his way and his will. But he would not be denied. And he would not look back. Katrina. Lifting his chin, Roran strode forward. His staff knocked against the hard planks as he crossed the trench and passed out of Carvahall, leading the villagers into the wilderness. ON THE CRAGS OF TEL’NAEÍR Thud. Bright as a flaming sun, the dragon hung before Eragon and everyone clustered along the Crags of Tel’naeír, buffeting them with gusts from its mighty wings. The dragon’s body appeared to be on fire as the brilliant dawn illuminated its golden scales and sprayed the ground and trees with dazzling chips of light. It was far larger than Saphira, large enough to be several hundred years old, and proportionally thicker in its neck, limbs, and tail. Upon its back sat the Rider, robes startling white against the bril-liance of the scales. Eragon fell to his knees, his face upturned. I’m not alone.... Awe and re-lief coursed through him. No more would he have to bear the responsi-bility of the Varden and of Galbatorix by himself. Here was one of the guardians of old resurrected from the depths of time to guide him, a liv-ing symbol, and a testament to the legends he had been raised with. Here was his master. Here was a legend! As the dragon turned to land, Eragon gasped; the creature’s left foreleg had been severed by a terrible blow, leaving a helpless white stump in place of the once mighty limb. Tears filled his eyes. A whirlwind of dry twigs and leaves enveloped the hilltop as the dragon settled on the sweet clover and folded its wings. The Rider care-fully descended from his steed along the dragon’s intact front right leg, then approached Eragon, his hands clasped before him. He was an elf with silver hair, old beyond measure, though the only sign of age was the expression of great compassion and sadness upon his face. “Osthato Chetowä,” said Eragon. “The Mourning Sage... As you asked, I have come.” With a jolt, he remembered his manners and touched his lips. “Atra esterní ono thelduin.” The Rider smiled. He took Eragon by the shoulders and lifted him up-right, staring at him with such kindness that Eragon could look at nothing else; he was consumed by the endless depths within the elf’s eyes. “Oromis is my proper name, Eragon Shadeslayer.” “You knew,” whispered Islanzadí with a hurt expression that quickly transformed into a storm of rage. “You knew of Eragon’s existence and yet you did not tell me? Why have you betrayed me, Shur’tugal?” Page 473 Oromis released Eragon from his gaze and transferred it onto the queen. “I kept my peace because it was uncertain if Eragon or Arya would live long enough to come here; I had no wish to give you a fragile hope that might have been torn away at any moment.” Islanzadí spun about, her cape of swan feathers billowing like wings. “You had no right to withhold such information from me! I could have sent warriors to protect Arya, Eragon, and Saphira in Farthen Dûr and to escort them safely here.” Oromis smiled sadly. “I hid nothing from you, Islanzadí, but what you had already chosen not to see. If you had scryed the land, as is your duty, you would have discerned the source of the chaos that has swept Ala-gaësia and learned the truth of Arya and Eragon. That you might forget the Varden and the dwarves in your grief is understandable, but Brom? Vinr Älfakyn? The last of the Elf Friends? You have been blind to the world, Islanzadí, and lax upon your throne. I could not risk driving you further away by subjecting you to another loss.” Islanzadí’s anger drained away, leaving her face pale and her shoulders slumped. “I am diminished,” she whispered. A cloud of hot, moist air pressed against Eragon as the gold dragon bent to examine him with eyes that glittered and sparked. We are well met, Eragon Shadeslayer. I am Glaedr. His voice—for it was unmistakably male—rumbled and shook through Eragon’s mind, like the growl of a mountain avalanche. All Eragon could do was touch his lips and say, “I am honored.” Then Glaedr brought his attention to bear on Saphira. She remained perfectly still, her neck arched stiffly as Glaedr sniffed her cheek and along the line of her wing. Eragon saw Saphira’s clenched leg muscles flutter with an involuntary tremor. You smell of humans, said Glaedr, and all you know of your own race is what your instincts have taught you, but you have the heart of a true dragon. During this silent exchange, Orik presented himself to Oromis. “Truly, this is beyond anything that I dared hope or expect. You are a pleasant surprise in these dark times, Rider.” He clapped his fist over his heart. “If it is not too presumptuous, I would ask a boon on behalf of my king and my clan, as was the custom between our people.” Oromis nodded. “And I will grant it if it is within my power.” “Then tell me: Why have you remained hidden for all these years? You were sorely needed, Argetlam.” “Ah,” said Oromis. “Many sorrows exist in this world, and one of the greatest is being unable to help those in pain. I could not risk leaving this sanctuary, for if I had died before one of Galbatorix’s eggs had hatched, then there would have been no one to pass on our secrets to the new Rider, and it would have been even harder to defeat Galbatorix.” “ Thatwas your reason?” spat Orik. “Those are the words of a coward! The eggs might have never hatched.” Everyone went deathly quiet, except for a faint growl that emanated from between Glaedr’s teeth. “If you were not my guest here,” said Islan-zadí, “I would strike you down myself for that insult.” Oromis spread his hands. “Nay, I am not offended. It is an apt reaction. Understand, Orik, that Glaedr Page 474 and I cannot fight. Glaedr has his disabil-ity, and I,” he touched the side of his head, “I am also maimed. The For-sworn broke something within me when I was their captive, and while I can still teach and learn, I can no longer control magic, except for the smallest of spells. The power escapes me, no matter how much I struggle. I would be worse than useless in battle, I would be a weakness and a li-ability, one who could easily be captured and used against you. So I re-moved myself from Galbatorix’s influence for the good of the many, even though I yearned to openly oppose him.” “The Cripple Who Is Whole,” murmured Eragon. “Forgive me,” said Orik. He appeared stricken. “It is of no consequence.” Oromis placed a hand on Eragon’s shoulder. “Islanzadí Dröttning, by your leave?” “Go,” she said wearily. “Go and be done with you.” Glaedr crouched low to the ground, and Oromis nimbly climbed up his leg and into the saddle on his back. “Come, Eragon and Saphira. We have much to talk about.” The gold dragon leaped off the cliff and circled overhead, rising on an updraft. Eragon and Orik solemnly clasped arms. “Bring honor to your clan,” said the dwarf. As Eragon mounted Saphira, he felt as if he were about to embark on a long journey and that he should say farewell to those who remained be-hind. Instead, he just looked at Arya and smiled, letting his wonder and joy show. She half frowned, appearing troubled, but then he was gone, swept into the sky by the eagerness of Saphira’s flight. Together the two dragons followed the white cliff northward for sev-eral miles, accompanied only by the sound of their wings. Saphira flew abreast of Glaedr. Her enthusiasm boiled over into Eragon’s mind, heightening his own emotions. They landed in another clearing situated on the edge of the cliff, just before the wall of exposed stone crumbled back into the earth. A bare path led from the precipice to the doorstep of a low hut grown between the trunks of four trees, one of which straddled a stream that emerged from the moody depths of the forest. Glaedr would not fit inside; the hut could have easily sat between his ribs. “Welcome to my home,” said Oromis as he alighted on the ground with uncommon ease. “I live here, on the brink of the Crags of Tel’naeír, be-cause it provides me the opportunity to think and study in peace. My mind works better away from Ellesméra and the distractions of other people.” He disappeared inside the hut, then returned with two stools and flag-ons of clear, cold water for both himself and Eragon. Eragon sipped his drink and admired the spacious view of Du Weldenvarden in an attempt to conceal his awe and nervousness while he waited for the elf to speak. I’m in the presence of another Rider! Beside him, Saphira crouched with her eyes fixed on Glaedr, slowly kneading the dirt between her claws. The gap in their conversation stretched longer and longer. Ten minutes passed... half an hour... then an hour. It reached the point where Eragon began to measure the elapsed time by the sun’s progress. At first his mind buzzed with questions and thoughts, but those eventually subsided into calm acceptance. He enjoyed just observing the day. Page 475 Only then did Oromis say, “You have learned the value of patience well. That is good.” It took Eragon a moment to find his voice. “You can’t stalk a deer if you are in a hurry.” Oromis lowered his flagon. “True enough. Let me see your hands. I find that they tell me much about a person.” Eragon removed his gloves and allowed the elf to grip his wrists with thin, dry fingers. He examined Er-agon’s calluses, then said, “Correct me if I am wrong. You have wielded a scythe and plow more often than a sword, though you are accustomed to a bow.” “Aye.” “And you have done little writing or drawing, maybe none at all.” “Brom taught me my letters in Teirm.” “Mmm. Beyond your choice of tools, it seems obvious that you tend to be reckless and disregard your own safety.” “What makes you say that, Oromis-elda?” asked Eragon, using the most respectful and formal honorific that he could think of. “Not elda, ” corrected Oromis. “You may call me master in this tongue and ebrithil in the ancient language, nothing else. You will extend the same courtesy to Glaedr. We are your teachers; you are our students; and you will act with proper respect and deference.” Oromis spoke gently, but with the authority of one who expects absolute obedience. “Yes, Master Oromis.” “As will you, Saphira.” Eragon could sense how hard it was for Saphira to unbend her pride enough to say, Yes, Master. Oromis nodded. “Now. Anyone with such a collection of scars has ei-ther been hopelessly unfortunate, fights like a berserker, or deliberately pursues danger. Do you fight like a berserker?” “No.” “Nor do you seem unfortunate; quite the opposite. That leaves only one explanation. Unless you think differently?” Eragon cast his mind over his experiences at home and on the road, in an attempt to categorize his behavior. “I would say, rather, that once I dedicate myself to a certain project or path, I see it through, no matter the cost... especially if someone I love is in danger.” His gaze flicked to-ward Saphira. “And do you undertake challenging projects?” “I like to be challenged.” “So you feel the need to pit yourself against adversity in order to test your abilities.” “I enjoy overcoming challenges, but I’ve faced enough hardship to know that it’s foolish to make things Page 476 more difficult than they are. It’s all I can do to survive as it is.” “Yet you chose to follow the Ra’zac when it would have been easier to remain in Palancar Valley. And you came here.” “It was the right thing to do... Master.” For several minutes, no one spoke. Eragon tried to guess what the elf was thinking, but could glean no information from his masklike visage. Finally, Oromis stirred. “Were you, perchance, given a trinket of some kind in Tarnag, Eragon? A piece of jewelry, armor, or even a coin?” “Aye.” Eragon reached inside of his tunic and fished out the necklace with the tiny silver hammer. “Gannel made this for me on Hrothgar’s or-ders, to prevent anyone from scrying Saphira or me. They were afraid that Galbatorix might have discovered what I look like.... How did you know?” “Because,” said Oromis, “I could no longer sense you.” “Someone tried to scry me by Sílthrim about a week ago. Was that you?” Oromis shook his head. “After I first scryed you with Arya, I had no need to use such crude methods to find you. I could reach out and touch your mind with mine, as I did when you were injured in Farthen Dûr.” Lifting the amulet, he murmured several lines in the ancient language, then released it. “It contains no other spells I can detect. Keep it with you at all times; it is a valuable gift.” He pressed the tips of his long fingers to-gether, his nails as round and bright as fish scales, and stared between the arches they formed toward the white horizon. “Why are you here, Er-agon?” “To complete my training.” “And what do you think that process entails?” Eragon shifted uncomfortably. “Learning more about magic and fight-ing. Brom wasn’t able to finish teaching me everything that he knew.” “Magic, swordsmanship, and other such skills are useless unless you know how and when to apply them. This I will teach you. However, as Galbatorix has demonstrated, power without moral direction is the most dangerous force in the world. My main task, then, is to help you, Eragon and Saphira, to understand what principles guide you, so that you do not make the right choices for the wrong reasons. You must learn more about yourself, who you are and what you are capable of doing. That is why you are here.” When do we begin?asked Saphira. Oromis began to answer when he stiffened and dropped his flagon. His face went crimson and his fingers tightened into hooked claws that dragged at his robe like cockleburs. The change was frightening and in-stantaneous. Before Eragon could do more than flinch, the elf had relaxed again, although his entire body now bespoke weariness. Concerned, Eragon dared to ask, “Are you well?” A trace of amusement lifted the corner of Oromis’s mouth. “Less so than I might wish. We elves fancy ourselves immortal, but not even we can escape certain maladies of the flesh, which are beyond our Page 477 knowl-edge of magic to do more than delay. No, do not worry... it isn’t conta-gious, but neither can I rid myself of it.” He sighed. “I have spent decades binding myself with hundreds of small, weak spells that, layered one upon another, duplicate the effect of enchantments that are now beyond my reach. I bound myself with them so that I might live long enough to witness the birth of the last dragons and to foster the Riders’ resurrection from the ruin of our mistakes.” “How long until...” Oromis lifted a sharp eyebrow. “How long until I die? We have time, but precious little for you or me, especially if the Varden decide to call upon your help. As a result—to answer your question, Saphira—we will begin your instruction immediately, and we will train faster than any Rider ever has or ever will, for I must condense decades of knowledge into months and weeks.” “You do know,” said Eragon, struggling against the embarrassment and shame that made his cheeks burn, “about my... my own infirmity. ” He ground out the last word, hating the sound of it. “I am as crippled as you are.” Sympathy tempered Oromis’s gaze, though his voice was firm. “Eragon, you are only a cripple if you consider yourself one. I understand how you feel, but you must remain optimistic, for a negative outlook is more of a handicap than any physical injury. I speak from personal experience. Pity-ing yourself serves neither you nor Saphira. I and the other spellweavers will study your malady to see if we might devise a way to alleviate it, but in the meantime, your training will proceed as if nothing were amiss.” Eragon’s gut clenched and he tasted bile as he considered the implica-tions. Surely Oromis wouldn’t make me endure that torment again! “The pain is unbearable,” he said frantically. “It would kill me. I—” “No, Eragon. It will not kill you. That much I know about your curse. However, we both have our duty; you to the Varden, and I to you. We cannot shirk it for the sake of mere pain. Far too much is at risk, and we can ill afford to fail.” All Eragon could do was shake his head as panic threatened to overwhelm him. He tried to deny Oromis’s words, but their truth was inescapable. “Eragon. You must accept this burden freely. Have you no one or nothing that you are willing to sacrifice yourself for?” His first thought was of Saphira, but he was not doing this for her. Nor for Nasuada. Nor even for Arya. What drove him, then? When he had pledged fealty to Nasuada, he had done so for the good of Roran and the other people trapped within the Empire. But did they mean enough to him to put himself through such anguish? Yes, he decided. Yes, they do, because I am the only one who has a chance to help them, and because I won’t be free of Galbatorix’s shadow until they are as well. And because this is my only purpose in life. What else would I do? He shuddered as he mouthed the ghastly phrase, “I accept on behalf of those I fight for: the people of Alagaësia—of all races—who have suffered from Galbatorix’s brutality. No matter the pain, I swear that I will study harder than any student you’ve had before.” Oromis nodded gravely. “I ask for nothing less.” He looked at Glaedr for a moment, then said, “Stand and remove your tunic. Let me see what you are made of.” Wait,said Saphira. Was Brom aware of your existence here, Master? Er-agon paused, struck by the possibility. “Of course,” said Oromis. “He was my pupil as a boy in Ilirea. I am glad that you gave him a proper burial, for he had a hard life and few enough ever showed him kindness. I hope that he found peace Page 478 before he entered the void.” Eragon slowly frowned. “Did you know Morzan as well?” “He was my apprentice before Brom.” “And Galbatorix?” “I was one of the Elders who denied him another dragon after his first was killed, but no, I never had the misfortune to teach him. He made sure to personally hunt down and kill each of his mentors.” Eragon wanted to inquire further, but he knew that it would be better to wait, so he stood and unlaced the top of his tunic. It seems , he said to Saphira, that we will never learn all of Brom’s secrets. He shivered as he pulled off the tunic in the cool air, then squared his shoulders and lifted his chest. Oromis circled him, stopping with an astonished exclamation as he saw the scar that crossed Eragon’s back. “Did not Arya or one of the Varden’s healers offer to remove this weal? You should not have to carry it.” “Arya did offer, but...” Eragon stopped, unable to articulate his feelings. Finally, he just said, “It’s part of me now, just as Murtagh’s scar is part of him.” “Murtagh’s scar?” “Murtagh bore a similar mark. It was inflicted when his father, Morzan, threw Zar’roc at him while he was only a child.” Oromis stared at him seriously for a long time before he nodded and moved on. “You have a fair amount of muscle, and you are not as lop-sided as most swordsmen. Are you ambidextrous?” “Not really, but I had to teach myself to fight with my left hand after I broke my wrist by Teirm.” “Good. That will save some time. Clasp your hands behind your back and lift them as high as possible.” Eragon did as he was told, but the pos-ture hurt his shoulders and he could barely make his hands meet. “Now bend forward while keeping your knees straight. Try to touch the ground.” This was even harder for Eragon; he ended up bowed like a hunchback, with his arms hanging uselessly by his head while his ham-strings twinged and burned. His fingers were still nine or ten inches from the ground. “At least you can stretch without hurting yourself. I had not hoped for so much. You can perform a number of exercises for flexibility without overexerting. Yes.” Then Oromis addressed Saphira: “I would know your capabilities as well, dragon.” He gave her a number of complex poses that had her con-tort every foot of her sinuous length in fantastic ways, culminating in a series of aerial acrobatics the likes of which Eragon had never seen before. Only a few things exceeded her ability, such as executing a backward loop while corkscrewing through the air. When she landed, it was Glaedr who said, I fear that we coddled the Riders. If our hatchlings had been forced to care for themselves in the wild—as you were, and so our ancestors were—then perhaps they would have possessed your skill. “No,” said Oromis, “even if Saphira had been raised on Vroengard using the established methods, she would still be an extraordinary flier. I’ve rarely seen a dragon so naturally suited to the sky.” Saphira Page 479 blinked, then shuffled her wings and busied herself cleaning one of her claws in a man-ner that hid her head from view. “You have room to improve, as do we all, but little, very little.” The elf reseated himself, his back perfectly straight. For the next five hours, by Eragon’s reckoning, Oromis delved into every aspect of his and Saphira’s knowledge, from botany to woodwork-ing to metallurgy and medicine, although he mainly concentrated on their grasp of history and the ancient language. The interrogation comforted Eragon, as it reminded him of how Brom used to quiz him during their long treks to Teirm and Dras-Leona. When they broke for lunch, Oromis invited Eragon into his house, leaving the two dragons alone. The elf’s quarters were barren except for those few essentials necessary for food, hygiene, and the pursuit of an in-tellectual life. Two entire walls were dotted with cubbyholes that held hundreds of scrolls. Next to the table hung a golden sheath—the same color as Glaedr’s scales—and a matching sword with a blade the color of iridescent bronze. On the inner pane of the door, set within the heart of the wood, was a flat panel one span high and two wide. It depicted a beautiful, towering city built against an escarpment and caught in the ruddy light of a rising harvest moon. The pitted lunar face was bisected by the horizon and ap-peared to sit on the ground like a maculated dome as large as a mountain. The picture was so clear and perfectly detailed, Eragon at first took it to be a magical window; it was only when he saw that the image was indeed static that he could accept it as a piece of art. “Where is this?” he asked. Oromis’s slanted features tightened for an instant. “You would do well to memorize that landscape, Eragon, for there lies the heart of your mis-ery. You see what was once our city of Ilirea. It was burned and aban-doned during Du Fyrn Skulblaka and became the capital of the Broddring Kingdom and now is the black city of Urû’baen. I made that fairth on the night that I and others were forced to flee our home before Galbatorix arrived.” “You painted this... fairth?” “No, no such thing. A fairth is an image fixed by magic upon a square of polished slate that is prepared beforehand with layers of pigments. The landscape upon that door is exactly how Ilirea presented itself to me at the moment I uttered my spell.” “And,” said Eragon, unable to stop the flow of questions, “what was the Broddring Kingdom?” Oromis’s eyes widened with dismay. “You don’t know?” Eragon shook his head. “How can you not? Considering your circumstances and the fear that Galbatorix wields among your people, I might understand that you were raised in darkness, ignorant of your heritage. But I cannot credit Brom with being so lax with your instruction as to neglect subjects that even the youngest elf or dwarf knows. The children of your Varden could tell me more about the past.” “Brom was more concerned with keeping me alive than teaching me about people who are already dead,” retorted Eragon. This drew silence from Oromis. Finally, he said, “Forgive me. I did not mean to impugn Brom’s judgment, only I am impatient beyond reason; we have so little time, and each new thing you must learn reduces that which you can master during your tenure here.” He opened a series of cupboards hidden within the curved wall and removed bread rolls and bowls of fruit, which he rowed out on the table. He Page 480 paused for a mo-ment over the food with his eyes closed before beginning to eat. “The Broddring Kingdom was the human’s country before the Riders fell. After Galbatorix killed Vrael, he flew on Ilirea with the Forsworn and deposed King Angrenost, taking his throne and titles for his own. The Broddring Kingdom then formed the core of Galbatorix’s conquests. He added Vro-engard and other lands to the east and south to his holdings, creating the empire you are familiar with. Technically, the Broddring Kingdom still exists, though, at this point, I doubt that it is much more than a name on royal decrees.” Afraid to pester the elf with further inquiries, Eragon concentrated on his food. His face must have betrayed him, though, because Oromis said, “You remind me of Brom when I chose him as my apprentice. He was younger than you, only ten, but his curiosity was just as great. I doubt I heard aught from him for a year but how, what, when, and, above all else, why. Do not be shy to ask what lies in your heart.” “I want to know so much,” whispered Eragon. “Who are you? Where do you come from?... Where did Brom come from? What was Morzan like? How, what, when, why ? And I want to know everything about Vroengard and the Riders. Maybe then my own path will be clearer.” Silence fell between them as Oromis meticulously disassembled a blackberry, prying out one plump segment at a time. When the last cor-puscle vanished between his port-red lips, he rubbed his hands flat to-gether—“polishing his palms,” as Garrow used to say—and said, “Know this about me, then: I was born some centuries past in our city of Lu-thivíra, which stood in the woods by Lake Tüdosten. At the age of twenty, like all elf children, I was presented to the eggs that the dragons had given the Riders, and Glaedr hatched for me. We were trained as Riders, and for near a century, we traveled the world over, doing Vrael’s will. Eventually, the day arrived when it was deemed appropriate for us to retire and pass on our experience to the next generation, so we took a position in Ilirea and taught new Riders, one or two at a time, until Gal-batorix destroyed us.” “And Brom?” “Brom came from a family of illuminators in Kuasta. His mother was Nelda and his father Holcomb. Kuasta is so isolated by the Spine from the rest of Alagaësia, it has become a peculiar place, full of strange cus-toms and superstitions. When he was still new to Ilirea, Brom would knock on a door frame three times before entering or leaving a room. The human students teased him about it until he abandoned the practice along with some of his other habits. “Morzan was my greatest failure. Brom idolized him. He never left his side, never contradicted him, and never believed that he could best Mor-zan in any venture. Morzan, I’m ashamed to admit—for it was within my power to stop—was aware of this and took advantage of Brom’s devotion in a hundred different ways. He grew so proud and cruel that I consid-ered separating him from Brom. But before I could, Morzan helped Gal-batorix to steal a dragon hatchling, Shruikan, to replace the one Galba-torix had lost, killing the dragon’s original Rider in the process. Morzan and Galbatorix then fled together, sealing our doom. “You cannot begin to fathom the effect Morzan’s betrayal had on Brom until you understand the depth of Brom’s affection for him. And when Galbatorix at last revealed himself and the Forsworn killed Brom’s dragon, Brom focused all of his anger and pain on the one who he felt was responsible for the destruction of his world: Morzan.” Oromis paused, his face grave. “Do you know why losing your dragon, or vice versa, usually kills the survivor?” Page 481 “I can imagine,” said Eragon. He quailed at the thought. “The pain is shock enough—although it isn’t always a factor—but what really causes the damage is feeling part of your mind, part of your iden-tity, die. When it happened to Brom, I fear that he went mad for a time. After I was captured and escaped, I brought him to Ellesméra for safety, but he refused to stay, instead marching with our army to the plains of Ilirea, where King Evandar was slain. “The confusion then was indescribable. Galbatorix was busy consolidat-ing his power, the dwarves were in retreat, the southwest was a mass of war as the humans rebelled and fought to create Surda, and we had just lost our king. Driven by his desire for vengeance, Brom sought to use the turmoil to his advantage. He gathered together many of those who had been exiled, freed some who had been imprisoned, and with them he formed the Varden. He led them for a few years, then surrendered the position to another so that he was free to pursue his true passion, which was Morzan’s downfall. Brom personally killed three of the Forsworn, in-cluding Morzan, and he was responsible for the deaths of five others. He was rarely happy during his life, but he was a good Rider and a good man, and I am honored to have known him.” “I never heard his name mentioned in connection to the Forsworn’s deaths,” objected Eragon. “Galbatorix did not want to publicize the fact that any still existed who could defeat his servants. Much of his power resides in the appearance of invulnerability.” Once again, Eragon was forced to revise his conception of Brom, from the village storyteller that Eragon had first taken him to be, to the warrior and magician he had traveled with, to the Rider he was at last revealed as, and now firebrand, revolutionary leader, and assassin. It was hard to rec-oncile all of those roles. I feel as if I barely knew him. I wish that we had had a chance to talk about all of this at least once. “He was a good man,” agreed Eragon. He looked out one of the round windows that faced the edge of the cliff and allowed the afternoon warmth to suffuse the room. He watched Saphira, noting how she acted with Glaedr, seeming both shy and coy. One moment she would twist around to examine some feature of the clearing, the next she would shuffle her wings and make small advances on the larger dragon, weaving her head from side to side, the tip of her tail twitching as if she were about to pounce on a deer. She reminded Er-agon of a kitten trying to bait an old tomcat into playing with her, only Glaedr remained impassive throughout her machinations. Saphira,he said. She responded with a distracted flicker of her thoughts, barely acknowledging him. Saphira, answer me. What? I know you’re excited, but don’t make a fool of yourself. You’ve made a fool of yourself plenty of times,she snapped. Her reply was so unexpected, it stunned him. It was the sort of casually cruel remark that humans often make, but that he had never thought to hear from her. He finally managed to say, That doesn’t make it any better. She grunted and closed her mind to his, although he could still feel the thread of her emotions connecting them. Eragon returned to himself to find Oromis’s gray eyes heavy upon him. The elf’s gaze was so perceptive, Page 482 Eragon was sure that Oromis under-stood what had transpired. Eragon forced a smile and motioned toward Saphira. “Even though we’re linked, I can never predict what she’s going to do. The more I learn about her, the more I realize how different we are.” Then Oromis made his first statement that Eragon thought was truly wise: “Those whom we love are often the most alien to us.” The elf paused. “She is very young, as are you. It took Glaedr and I decades be-fore we fully understood each other. A Rider’s bond with his dragon is like any relationship—that is, a work in progress. Do you trust her?” “With my life.” “And does she trust you?” “Yes.” “Then humor her. You were brought up as an orphan. She was brought up to believe that she was the last sane individual of her entire race. And now she has been proved wrong. Don’t be surprised if it takes some months before she stops pestering Glaedr and returns her attention to you.” Eragon rolled a blueberry between his thumb and forefinger; his appe-tite had vanished. “Why don’t elves eat meat?” “Why should we?” Oromis held up a strawberry and rotated it so that the light reflected off its dimpled skin and illuminated the tiny hairs that bearded the fruit. “Everything that we need or want we sing from the plants, including our food. It would be barbaric to make animals suffer that we might have additional courses on the table.... Our choice will make greater sense to you before long.” Eragon frowned. He had always eaten meat and did not look forward to living solely on fruit and vegetables while in Ellesméra. “Don’t you miss the taste?” “You cannot miss that which you have never had.” “What about Glaedr, though? He can’t live off grass.” “No, but neither does he needlessly inflict pain. We each do the best we can with what we are given. You cannot help who or what you are born as.” “And Islanzadí? Her cape was made of swan feathers.” “Loose feathers gathered over the course of many years. No birds were killed to make her garment.” They finished the meal, and Eragon helped Oromis to scour the dishes clean with sand. As the elf stacked them in the cupboard, he asked, “Did you bathe this morning?” The question startled Eragon, but he answered that no, he had not. “Please do so tomorrow then, and every day follow-ing.” “Every day! The water’s too cold for that. I’ll catch the ague.” Oromis eyed him oddly. “Then make it warmer.” Now it was Eragon’s turn to look askance. “I’m not strong enough to heat an entire stream with magic,” he protested. Page 483 The house echoed as Oromis laughed. Outside, Glaedr swung his head toward the window and inspected the elf, then returned to his earlier po-sition. “I assume that you explored your quarters last night.” Eragon nod-ded. “And you saw a small room with a depression in the floor?” “I thought that it might be for washing clothes or linens.” “It is for washing you. Two nozzles are concealed in the side of the wall above the hollow. Open them and you can bathe in water of any tem-perature. Also,” he gestured at Eragon’s chin, “while you are my student, I expect you to keep yourself clean-shaven until you can grow a full beard—if you so choose—and not look like a tree with half its leaves blown off. Elves do not shave, but I will have a razor and mirror found and sent to you.” Wincing at the blow to his pride, Eragon agreed. They returned out-side, whereupon Oromis looked at Glaedr and the dragon said, We have decided upon a curriculum for Saphira and you. The elf said, “You will start—” —an hour after sunrise tomorrow, in the time of the Red Lily. Return here then. “And bring the saddle that Brom made for you, Saphira,” continued Oromis. “Do what you wish in the meantime; Ellesméra holds many wonders for a foreigner, if you care to see them.” “I’ll keep that in mind,” said Eragon, bowing his head. “Before I go, Mas-ter, I want to thank you for helping me in Tronjheim after I killed Durza. I doubt that I would have survived without your assistance. I am in your debt.” We are both in your debt,added Saphira. Oromis smiled slightly and inclined his head. THE SECRET LIVES OF ANTS The moment that Oromis and Glaedr were out of sight, Saphira said, Eragon, another dragon! Can you believe it? He patted her shoulder. It’s wonderful. High above Du Weldenvarden, the only sign of habitation in the forest was an occasional ghostly plume of smoke that rose from the crown of a tree and soon faded into clear air. I never expected to encounter another dragon, except for Shruikan. Maybe rescue the eggs from Galbatorix, yes, but that was the extent of my hopes. And now this!She wriggled underneath him with joy. Glaedr is incredible, isn’t he? He’s so old and strong and his scales are so bright. He must be two, no, three times bigger than me. Did you see his claws? They... She continued on in that manner for several minutes, waxing eloquent about Glaedr’s attributes. But stronger than her words were the emotions Eragon sensed roiling within her: eagerness and enthusiasm, twined over what he could only identify as a longing adoration. Page 484 Eragon tried to tell Saphira what he had learned from Oromis—since he knew that she had not paid attention—but he found it impossible to change the subject of conversation. He sat silently on her back, the world an emerald ocean below, and felt himself the loneliest man in existence. Back at their quarters, Eragon decided against any sightseeing; he was far too tired from the day’s events and the weeks of traveling. And Saphira was more than content to sit on her bed and chatter about Glaedr while he examined the mysteries of the elves’ wash closet. Morning came, and with it a package wrapped in onionskin paper con-taining the razor and mirror that Oromis had promised. The blade was of elvish make, so it needed no sharpening or stropping. Grimacing, Eragon first bathed in steaming hot water, then held up the mirror and con-fronted his visage. I look older. Older and worn.Not only that, but his features had be-come far more angled, giving him an ascetic, hawklike appearance. He was no elf, but neither would anyone take him to be a purebred human if they inspected him closely. Pulling back his hair, he bared his ears, which now tapered to slight points, more evidence of how his bond with Saphira had changed him. He touched one ear, letting his fingers wander over the unfamiliar shape. It was difficult for him to accept the transformation of his flesh. Even though he had known it would occur—and occasionally welcomed the prospect as the last confirmation that he was a Rider—the reality of it filled him with confusion. He resented the fact that he had no say in how his body was being altered, yet at the same time he was curious where the process would take him. Also, he was aware that he was still in the midst of his own, human adolescence, and its attendant realm of myster-ies and difficulties. When will I finally know who and what I am? He placed the edge of the razor against his cheek, as he had seen Gar-row do, and dragged it across his skin. The hairs came free, but they were cut long and ragged. He altered the angle of the blade and tried again with a bit more success. When he reached his chin, though, the razor slipped in his hand and cut him from the corner of his mouth to the underside of his jaw. He howled and dropped the razor, clapping his hand over the incision, which poured blood down his neck. Spitting the words past bared teeth, he said, “Waíse heill.” The pain quickly receded as magic knitted his flesh back together, though his heart still pounded from the shock. Eragon!cried Saphira. She forced her head and shoulders into the vesti-bule and nosed open the door to the closet, flaring her nostrils at the scent of blood. I’ll live,he assured her. She eyed the sanguine water. Be more careful. I’d rather you were as ragged as a molting deer than have you decapitate yourself for the sake of a close shave. So would I. Go on, I’m fine. Saphira grunted and reluctantly withdrew. Eragon sat, glaring at the razor. Finally, he muttered, “Forget this.” Composing himself, he reviewed his store of words from the ancient lan-guage, selected those that he needed, and then allowed his invented spell to roll off his tongue. A faint stream of black powder fell from his face as his stubble crumbled into Page 485 dust, leaving his cheeks perfectly smooth. Satisfied, Eragon went and saddled Saphira, who immediately took to the air, aiming their course toward the Crags of Tel’naeír. They landed before the hut and were met by Oromis and Glaedr. Oromis examined Saphira’s saddle. He traced each strap with his fin-gers, pausing on the stitching and buckles, and then pronounced it pass-able handiwork considering how and when it had been constructed. “Brom was always clever with his hands. Use this saddle when you must travel with great speed. But when comfort is allowed—” He stepped into his hut for a moment and reappeared carrying a thick, molded saddle decorated with gilt designs along the seat and leg pieces. “—use this. It was crafted in Vroengard and imbued with many spells so that it will never fail you in time of need.” Eragon staggered under the weight of the saddle as he received it from Oromis. It had the same general shape as Brom’s, with a row of buckles— intended to immobilize his legs—hanging from each side. The deep seat was sculpted out of the leather in such a way that he could fly for hours with ease, both sitting upright and lying flat against Saphira’s neck. Also, the straps encircling Saphira’s chest were rigged with slips and knots so that they could extend to accommodate years of growth. A series of broad ties on either side of the head of the saddle caught Eragon’s atten-tion. He asked their purpose. Glaedr rumbled, Those secure your wrists and arms so that you are not killed like a rat shaken to death when Saphira performs a complex maneu-ver. Oromis helped Eragon relieve Saphira of her current saddle. “Saphira, you will go with Glaedr today, and I will work with Eragon here.” As you wish,she said, and crowed with excitement. Heaving his golden bulk off the ground, Glaedr soared off to the north, Saphira close behind. Oromis did not give Eragon long to ponder Saphira’s departure; the elf marched him to a square of hard-packed dirt beneath a willow tree at the far side of the clearing. Standing opposite him in the square, Oromis said, “What I am about to show you is called the Rimgar, or the Dance of Snake and Crane. It is a series of poses that we developed to prepare our warriors for combat, although all elves use it now to maintain their health and fitness. The Rimgar consists of four levels, each more difficult than the last. We will start with the first.” Apprehension for the coming ordeal sickened Eragon to the point where he could barely move. He clenched his fists and hunched his shoulders, his scar tugging at the skin of his back as he glared between his feet. “Relax,” advised Oromis. Eragon jerked open his hands and let them hang limply at the end of his rigid arms. “I asked you to relax, Eragon. You can’t do the Rimgar if you are as stiff as a piece of rawhide.” “Yes, Master.” Eragon grimaced and reluctantly loosened his muscles and joints, although a knot of tension remained coiled in his belly. “Place your feet together and your arms at your sides. Look straight ahead. Now take a deep breath and lift your arms over your head so that your palms meet.... Yes, like that. Exhale and bend down as far as you can, put your palms on the ground, take another breath... and jump back. Good. Breathe in and bend up, looking toward the sky... and exhale, lift-ing your hips until you form a triangle. Breathe in through the back of your throat... and out. In... and out. In...” Page 486 To Eragon’s utter relief, the stances proved gentle enough to hold with-out igniting the pain in his back, yet challenging enough that sweat beaded his forehead and he panted for breath. He found himself grinning with joy at his reprieve. His wariness evaporated and he flowed through the postures—most of which far exceeded his flexibility—with more en-ergy and confidence than he had possessed since before the battle in Far-then Dûr. Maybe I’ve healed! Oromis performed the Rimgar with him, displaying a level of strength and flexibility that astounded Eragon, especially for one so old. The elf could touch his forehead to his toes. Throughout the exercise, Oromis remained impeccably composed, as if he were doing no more than stroll-ing down a garden path. His instruction was calmer and more patient than Brom’s, yet completely unyielding. No deviation was allowed from the correct path. “Let us wash the sweat from our limbs,” said Oromis when they fin-ished. Going to the stream by the house, they quickly disrobed. Eragon sur-reptitiously watched the elf, curious as to what he looked like without his clothes. Oromis was very thin, yet his muscles were perfectly defined, etched under his skin with the hard lines of a woodcut. No hair grew upon his chest or legs, not even around his groin. His body seemed al-most freakish to Eragon, compared to the men he was used to seeing in Carvahall—although it had a certain refined elegance to it, like that of a wildcat. When they were clean, Oromis took Eragon deep into Du Welden-varden to a hollow where the dark trees leaned inward, obscuring the sky behind branches and veils of snarled lichen. Their feet sank into the moss above their ankles. All was silent about them. Pointing to a white stump with a flat, polished top three yards across that rested in the center of the hollow, Oromis said, “Sit here.” Eragon did as he was told. “Cross your legs and close your eyes.” The world went dark around him. From his right, he heard Oromis whisper, “Open your mind, Eragon. Open your mind and listen to the world around you, to the thoughts of every being in this glade, from the ants in the trees to the worms in the ground. Listen until you can hear them all and you under-stand their purpose and nature. Listen, and when you hear no more, come tell me what you have learned.” Then the forest was quiet. Unsure if Oromis had left, Eragon tentatively lowered the barriers around his mind and reached out with his consciousness, like he did when trying to contact Saphira at a great distance. Initially only a void surrounded him, but then pricks of light and warmth began to appear in the darkness, strengthening until he sat in the midst of a galaxy of swirl-ing constellations, each bright point representing a life. Whenever he had contacted other beings with his mind, like Cadoc, Snowfire, or Solem-bum, the focus had always been on the one he wanted to communicate with. But this... this was as if he had been standing deaf in the midst of a crowd and now he could hear the rivers of conversation whirling around him. He felt suddenly vulnerable; he was completely exposed to the world. Anyone or anything that might want to leap into his mind and control him could now do so. He tensed unconsciously, withdrawing back into himself, and his awareness of the hollow vanished. Remembering one of Oromis’s lessons, Eragon slowed his breathing and monitored the sweep of his lungs until he had relaxed enough to reopen his mind. Of all the lives he could sense, the majority were, by far, insects. Their sheer number astounded him. Tens of thousands dwelled in a square foot of moss, teeming millions throughout the rest of the small hollow, and uncounted masses beyond. Their abundance actually frightened Eragon. He had always known that humans were scarce and beleaguered in Ala-gaësia, but he had never imagined that they Page 487 were so outnumbered by even beetles. Since they were one of the few insects that he was familiar with, and Oromis had mentioned them, Eragon concentrated his attention on the columns of red ants marching across the ground and up the stems of a wild rosebush. What he gleaned from them were not so much thoughts—their brains were too primitive—but urges: the urge to find food and avoid injury, the urge to defend one’s territory, the urge to mate. By examining the ants’ instincts, he could begin to puzzle out their behavior. It fascinated him to discover that—except for the few individuals ex-ploring outside the borders of their province—the ants knew exactly where they were going. He was unable to ascertain what mechanism guided them, but they followed clearly defined paths from their nest to food and back. Their source of food was another surprise. As he had ex-pected, the ants killed and scavenged other insects, but most of their ef-forts were directed toward the cultivation of... of something that dotted the rosebush. Whatever the life-form was, it was barely large enough for him to sense. He focused all of his strength on it in an attempt to identify it and satisfy his curiosity. The answer was so simple, he laughed out loud when he compre-hended it: aphids. The ants were acting as shepherds for aphids, driving and protecting them, as well as extracting sustenance from them by mas-saging the aphids’ bellies with the tips of their antennae. Eragon could hardly believe it, but the longer he watched, the more he became con-vinced that he was correct. He traced the ants underground into their complex matrix of warrens and studied how they cared for a certain member of their species that was several times bigger than a normal ant. However, he was unable to determine the insect’s purpose; all he could see were servants swarming around it, rotating it, and removing the specks of matter it produced at regular intervals. After a time, Eragon decided that he had gleaned all the information from the ants that he could—unless he was willing to sit there for the rest of the day—and was about to return to his body when a squirrel jumped into the glade. Its appearance was like a blast of light to him, at-tuned as he was to the insects. Stunned, he was overwhelmed by a rush of sensations and feelings from the animal. He smelled the forest with its nose, felt the bark give under his hooked claws and the air swish through his upraised plume of a tail. Compared to an ant, the squirrel burned with energy and possessed unquestionable intelligence. Then it leaped to another branch and faded from his awareness. The forest seemed much darker and quieter than before when Eragon opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and looked about, appreciating for the first time how much life existed in the world. Unfolding his cramped legs, he walked over to the rosebush. He bent down and examined the branches and twigs. Sure enough, aphids and their crimson guardians clung to them. And near the base of the plant was the mound of pine needles that marked the entrance to the ants’ lair. It was strange to see with his own eyes; none of it betrayed the numerous and subtle interactions that he was now aware of. Engrossed in his thoughts, Eragon returned to the clearing, wondering what he might be crushing under his feet with every step. When he emerged from under the trees’ shelter, he was startled by how far the sun had fallen. I must have been sitting there for at least three hours. He found Oromis in his hut, writing with a goose-feather quill. The elf finished his line, then wiped the nib of the quill clean, stoppered his ink, and asked, “And what did you hear, Eragon?” Page 488 Eragon was eager to share. As he described his experience, he heard his voice rise with enthusiasm over the details of the ants’ society. He re-counted everything that he could recall, down to the minutest and most inconsequential observation, proud of the information that he had gath-ered. When he finished, Oromis raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?” “I...” Dismay gripped Eragon as he understood that he had somehow missed the point of the exercise. “Yes, Ebrithil.” “And what about the other organisms in the earth and the air? Can you tell me what they were doing while your ants tended their droves?” “No, Ebrithil.” “Therein lies your mistake. You must become aware of all things equally and not blinker yourself in order to concentrate on a particular subject. This is an essential lesson, and until you master it, you will medi-tate on the stump for an hour each day.” “How will I know when I have mastered it?” “When you can watch one and know all.” Oromis motioned for Eragon to join him at the table, then set a fresh sheet of paper before him, along with a quill and a bottle of ink. “So far you have made do with an incomplete knowledge of the ancient lan-guage. Not that any of us knows all the words in the language, but you must be familiar with its grammar and structure so that you do not kill yourself through an incorrectly placed verb or similar mistake. I do not expect you to speak our language like an elf—that would take a life-time—but I do expect you to achieve unconscious competence. That is, you must be able to use it without thinking. “In addition, you must learn to read and write the ancient language. Not only will this help you to memorize words, it is an essential skill if you need to compose an especially long spell and you don’t trust your mem-ory, or if you find such a spell recorded and you want to use it. “Every race has evolved their own system of writing the ancient lan-guage. The dwarves use their runic alphabet, as do humans. They are only makeshift techniques, though, and are incapable of expressing the lan-guage’s true subtleties as well as our Liduen Kvaedhí, the Poetic Script. The Liduen Kvaedhí was designed to be as elegant, beautiful, and precise as possible. It is composed of forty-two different shapes that represent various sounds. These shapes can be combined in a nearly infinite range of glyphs that represent both individual words and entire phrases. The symbol on your ring is one such glyph. The symbol on Zar’roc is an-other.... Let us start: What are the basic vowel sounds of the ancient lan-guage?” “What?” Eragon’s ignorance of the underpinnings of the ancient language quickly became apparent. When he had traveled with Brom, the old storyteller had concentrated on having Eragon memorize lists of words that he might need to survive, as well as perfecting his pronunciation. In those two areas, he excelled, but he could not even explain the difference be-tween a definite and indefinite article. If the gaps in his education frus-trated Oromis, the elf did not betray it through word or action, but la-bored persistently to mend them. Page 489 At a certain point during the lesson, Eragon commented, “I’ve never needed very many words in my spells; Brom said it was a gift that I could do so much with just brisingr. I think the most I ever said in the ancient language was when I spoke to Arya in her mind and when I blessed an orphan in Farthen Dûr.” “You blessed a child in the ancient language?” asked Oromis, suddenly alert. “Do you remember how you worded this blessing?” “Aye.” “Recite it for me.” Eragon did so, and a look of pure horror engulfed Oromis. He exclaimed, “You used skölir ! Are you sure? Wasn’t it sköliro ?” Eragon frowned. “No, skölir. Why shouldn’t I have used it? Skölir means shielded. ‘... and may you be shielded from misfortune.’ It was a good blessing.” “That was no blessing, but a curse.” Oromis was more agitated than Er-agon had ever seen him. “The suffix o forms the past tense of verbs end-ing with r and i. Sköliro means shielded, but skölir means shield. What you said was ‘May luck and happiness follow you and may you be a shield from misfortune.’ Instead of protecting this child from the vagaries of fate, you condemned her to be a sacrifice for others, to absorb their misery and suffering so that they might live in peace.” No, no! It can’t be!Eragon recoiled from the possibility. “The effect a spell has isn’t only determined by the word’s sense, but also by your in-tent, and I didn’t intend to harm—” “You cannot gainsay a word’s inherent nature. Twist it, yes. Guide it, yes. But not contravene its definition to imply the very opposite.” Oromis pressed his fingers together and stared at the table, his lips reduced to a flat white line. “I will trust that you did not mean harm, else I would re-fuse to teach you further. If you were honest and your heart was pure, then this blessing may cause less evil than I fear, though it will still be the nucleus of more pain than either of us could wish.” Violent trembling overtook Eragon as he realized what he had done to the child’s life. “It may not undo my mistake,” he said, “but perhaps it will alleviate it; Saphira marked the girl on the brow, just like she marked my palm with the gedwëy ignasia.” For the first time in his life, Eragon witnessed an elf dumbstruck. Oromis’s gray eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he clutched the arms of his chair until the wood groaned with protest. “One who bears the sign of the Riders, and yet is not a Rider,” he murmured. “In all my years, I have never met anyone such as the two of you. Every decision you make seems to have an impact far beyond what anyone could anticipate. You change the world with your whims.” “Is that good or bad?” “Neither, it just is. Where is the babe now?” It took a moment for Eragon to compose his thoughts. “With the Varden, either in Farthen Dûr or Surda. Do you think that Saphira’s mark will help her?” “I know not,” said Oromis. “No precedent exists to draw upon for wis-dom.” “There must be ways to remove the blessing, to negate a spell.” Eragon was almost pleading. Page 490 “There are. But for them to be most effective, you should be the one to apply them, and you cannot be spared here. Even under the best of cir-cumstances, remnants of your magic will haunt this girl evermore. Such is the power of the ancient language.” He paused. “I see that you understand the gravity of the situation, so I will say this only once: you bear full re-sponsibility for this girl’s doom, and, because of the wrong you did her, it is incumbent upon you to help her if ever the opportunity should arise. By the Riders’ law, she is your shame as surely as if you had begotten her out of wedlock, a disgrace among humans, if I remember correctly.” “Aye,” whispered Eragon. “I understand.” I understand that I forced a de-fenseless baby to pursue a certain destiny without ever giving her a choice in the matter. Can someone be truly good if they never have the opportunity to act badly? I made her a slave. He also knew that if he had been bound in that manner without permission, he would hate his jailer with every fiber of his being. “Then we will speak of this no more.” “Yes, Ebrithil.” Eragon was still subdued, even depressed, by the end of the day. He barely looked up when they went outside to meet Saphira and Glaedr upon their return. The trees shook from the fury of the gale that the two dragons created with their wings. Saphira seemed proud of herself; she arched her neck and pranced toward Eragon, opening her chops in a lu-pine grin. A stone cracked under Glaedr’s weight as the ancient dragon turned a giant eye—as large as a dinner platter—on Eragon and asked, What are the rules three to spotting downdrafts, and the rules five for escaping them? Startled out of his reverie, Eragon could only blink dumbly. “I don’t know.” Then Oromis confronted Saphira and asked, “What creatures do ants farm, and how do they extract food from them?” I wouldn’t know,declared Saphira. She sounded affronted. A gleam of anger leaped into Oromis’s eyes and he crossed his arms, though his expression remained calm. “After all the two of you have done together, I would think that you had learned the most basic lesson of being Shur’tugal: Share everything with your partner. Would you cut off your right arm? Would you fly with only one wing? Never. Then why would you ignore the bond that links you? By doing so, you reject your greatest gift and your advantage over any single opponent. Nor should you just talk to each other with your minds, but rather mingle your con-sciousnesses until you act and think as one. I expect both of you to know what either one of you is taught.” “What about our privacy?” objected Eragon. Privacy?said Glaedr. Keep your thoughts to thyself when you leave here, if it pleases you, but while we tutor you, you have no privacy. Eragon looked at Saphira, feeling even worse than before. She avoided his gaze, then stamped a foot and faced him directly. What? They’re right. We have been negligent. Page 491 It’s not my fault. I didn’t say that it was.She had guessed his opinion, though. He re-sented the attention she lavished on Glaedr and how it drew her away from him. We’ll do better, won’t we? Of course!she snapped. She declined to offer Oromis and Glaedr an apology, though, leaving the task to Eragon. “We won’t disappoint you again.” “See that you don’t. You will be tested tomorrow on what the other learned.” Oromis revealed a round wood bauble nestled in the middle of his palm. “So long as you take care to wind it regularly, this device will wake you at the proper time each morning. Return here as soon as you have bathed and eaten.” The bauble was surprisingly heavy when Eragon took it. The size of a walnut, it had been carved with deep whorls around a knob wrought in the likeness of a moss-rose blossom. He turned the knob experimentally and heard three clicks as a hidden ratchet advanced. “Thank you,” he said. UNDER THE MENOA TREE After Eragon and Saphira had said their farewells, they flew back to their tree house with Saphira’s new saddle dangling between her front claws. Without acknowledging the fact, they gradually opened their minds and allowed their connection to widen and deepen, though neither of them consciously reached for the other. Eragon’s tumultuous emotions must have been strong enough for Saphira to sense anyway, though, for she asked, What happened, then? A throbbing pain built up behind his eyes as he explained the terrible crime he had committed in Farthen Dûr. Saphira was as appalled by it as he was. He said, Your gift may help that girl, but what I did is inexcusable and will only hurt her. The blame isn’t all yours. I share your knowledge of the ancient language, and I didn’t spot the error any more than you did.When Eragon remained silent, she added, At least your back didn’t cause any trouble today. Be grateful for that. He grunted, unwilling to be tempted out of his black mood. And what did you learn this fine day? How to identify and avoid dangerous weather patterns.She paused, ap-parently ready to share the memories with him, but he was too busy worrying about his distorted blessing to inquire further. Nor could he bear the thought of being so intimate right then. When he did not pursue the matter, Saphira withdrew into a taciturn silence. Back in their bedroom, he found a tray of food by the screen door, as he had the previous night. Carrying the tray to his bed—which had been remade with fresh linens—he settled down to eat, cursing the lack of meat. Already sore from the Rimgar, he propped himself up with pillows and was about to take his first bite when there came a gentle rapping at the opening to his chamber. “Enter,” he growled. He took a drink of wa-ter. Eragon nearly choked as Arya stepped through the doorway. She had abandoned the leather clothes Page 492 she usually wore in favor of a soft green tunic cinched at the waist with a girdle adorned with moonstones. She had also removed her customary headband, allowing her hair to tumble around her face and over her shoulders. The biggest change, however, was not so much in her dress but her bearing; the brittle tension that had permeated her demeanor ever since Eragon first met her was now gone. She seemed to have finally relaxed. He scrambled to his feet, noticing that her own were bare. “Arya! Why are you here?” Touching her first two fingers to her lips, she said, “Do you plan on spending another evening inside?” “I—” “You have been in Ellesméra for three days now, and yet you have seen nothing of our city. I know that you always wished to explore it. Set aside your weariness this once and accompany me.” Gliding toward him, she took Zar’roc from where it lay by his side and beckoned to him. He rose from the bed and followed her into the vestibule, where they descended through the trapdoor and down the precipitous staircase that wound around the rough tree trunk. Overhead, the gathering clouds glowed with the sun’s last rays before it was extinguished behind the edge of the world. A piece of bark fell on Eragon’s head and he looked up to see Saphira leaning out of their bedroom, gripping the wood with her claws. Without opening her wings, she sprang into the air and dropped the hundred or so feet to the ground, landing in a thunderous cloud of dirt. I’m coming. “Of course,” said Arya, as if she expected nothing less. Eragon scowled; he had wanted to be alone with her, but he knew better than to com-plain. They walked under the trees, where dusk already extended its tendrils from inside hollow logs, dark crevices in boulders, and the underside of knobby eaves. Here and there, a gemlike lantern twinkled within the side of a tree or at the end of a branch, casting gentle pools of light on either side of the path. Elves worked on various projects in and around the lanterns’ radius, solitary except for a few, rare couples. Several elves sat high in the trees, playing mellifluous tunes on their reed pipes, while others stared at the sky with peaceful expressions—neither awake nor asleep. One elf sat cross-legged before a pottery wheel that whirled round and round with a steady rhythm while a delicate urn took form beneath his hands. The werecat, Maud, crouched beside him in the shadows, watching his pro-gress. Her eyes flared silver as she looked at Eragon and Saphira. The elf followed her gaze and nodded to them without halting his work. Through the trees, Eragon glimpsed an elf—man or woman, he could not tell—squatting on a rock in the middle of a stream, muttering a spell over the orb of glass clutched in its hands. He twisted his neck in an at-tempt to get an unobstructed view, but the spectacle had already van-ished into the dark. “What,” asked Eragon, keeping his voice low so as to not disturb any-one, “do most elves do for a living or profession?” Arya answered just as quietly. “Our strength with magic grants us as much leisure as we desire. We neither hunt nor farm, and, as a result, we spend our days working to master our interests, whatever they might be. Very little exists that we must strive for.” Page 493 Through a tunnel of dogwood draped with creepers, they entered the enclosed atrium of a house grown out of a ring of trees. An open-walled hut occupied the center of the atrium, which sheltered a forge and an as-sortment of tools that Eragon knew even Horst would covet. An elf woman held a pair of small tongs in a nest of molten coals, working bellows with her right hand. With uncanny speed, she pulled the tongs from the fire—revealing a ring of white-hot steel clamped in the pincers’ jaws—looped the ring through the edge of an incomplete mail corselet hung over the anvil, grasped a hammer, and welded shut the open ends of the ring with a blow and a burst of sparks. Only then did Arya approach. “Atra esterní ono thelduin.” The elf faced them, her neck and cheek lit from underneath by the coals’ bloody light. Like taut wires embedded in her skin, her face was scribed with a delicate pattern of lines—the greatest display of age Er-agon had seen in an elf. She gave no response to Arya, which he knew was offensive and discourteous, especially since the queen’s daughter had honored her by speaking first. “Rhunön-elda, I have brought you the newest Rider, Eragon Shade-slayer.” “I heard you were dead,” said Rhunön to Arya. Rhunön’s voice guttered and rasped unlike any other elf’s. It reminded Eragon of the old men of Carvahall who sat on the porches outside their houses, smoking pipes and telling stories. Arya smiled. “When did you last leave your house, Rhunön?” “You should know. It was that Midsummer’s Feast you forced me to at-tend.” “That was three years ago.” “Was it?” Rhunön frowned as she banked the coals and covered them with a grated lid. “Well, what of it? I find company trying. A gaggle of meaningless chatter that...” She glared at Arya. “Why are we speaking this foul language? I suppose you want me to forge a sword for him? You know I swore to never create instruments of death again, not after that traitor of a Rider and the destruction he wreaked with my blade.” “Eragon already has a sword,” said Arya. She raised her arm and pre-sented Zar’roc to the smith. Rhunön took Zar’roc with a look of wonder. She caressed the wine-red sheath, lingered on the black symbol etched into it, rubbed a bit of dirt from the hilt, then wrapped her fingers around the handle and drew the sword with all the authority of a warrior. She sighted down each of Zar’roc’s edges and flexed the blade between her hands until Eragon feared it might break. Then, in a single movement, Rhunön swung Zar’roc over her head and brought it down upon the tongs on her anvil, riving them in half with a resounding ring. “Zar’roc,” said Rhunön. “I remember thee.” She cradled the weapon like a mother would her firstborn. “As perfect as the day you were finished.” Turning her back, she looked up at the knotted branches while she traced the curves of the pommel. “My entire life I spent hammering these swords out of ore. Then he came and destroyed them. Centuries of effort obliterated in an instant. So far as I knew, only four examples of my art still existed. His sword, Oromis’s, and two others guarded by families who managed to rescue them from the Wyrdfell.” Wyrdfell?Eragon dared ask Arya with his mind. Page 494 Another name for the Forsworn. Rhunön turned on Eragon. “Now Zar’roc has returned to me. Of all my creations, this I least expected to hold again, save for his. How came you to possess Morzan’s sword?” “It was given to me by Brom.” “Brom?” She hefted Zar’roc. “Brom... I remember Brom. He begged me to replace the sword he had lost. Truly, I wished to help him, but I had already taken my oath. My refusal angered him beyond reason. Oromis had to knock him unconscious before he would leave.” Eragon seized on the information with interest. “Your handiwork has served me well, Rhunön-elda. I would be long dead were it not for Zar’roc. I killed the Shade Durza with it.” “Did you now? Then some good has come of it.” Sheathing Zar’roc, Rhunön returned it to him, though not without reluctance, then looked past him to Saphira. “Ah. Well met, Skulblaka.” Well met, Rhunön-elda. Without bothering to ask permission, Rhunön went up to Saphira’s shoulder and tapped a scale with one of her blunt fingernails, twisting her head from side to side in an attempt to peer into the translucent pebble. “Good color. Not like those brown dragons, all muddy and dark. Properly speaking, a Rider’s sword should match the hue of his dragon, and this blue would have made a gorgeous blade....” The thought seemed to drain the energy from her. She returned to the anvil and stared at the wrecked tongs, as if the will to replace them had deserted her. Eragon felt that it would be wrong to end the conversation on such a depressing note, but he could not think of a tactful way to change the subject. The glimmering corselet caught his attention and, as he studied it, he was astonished to see that every ring was welded shut. Because the tiny links cooled so quickly, they usually had to be welded before being attached to the main piece of mail, which meant that the finest mail— such as Eragon’s hauberk—was composed of links that were alternately welded and riveted closed. Unless, it seemed, the smith possessed an elf’s speed and precision. Eragon said, “I’ve never seen the equal of your mail, not even among the dwarves. How do you have the patience to weld every link? Why don’t you just use magic and save yourself the work?” He hardly expected the burst of passion that animated Rhunön. She tossed her short-cropped hair and said, “And rob myself of all pleasure in this task? Aye, every other elf and I could use magic to satisfy our de-sires—and some do—but then what meaning is there in life? How would you fill your time? Tell me.” “I don’t know,” he confessed. “By pursuing that which you love the most. When you can have any-thing you want by uttering a few words, the goal matters not, only the journey to it. A lesson for you. You’ll face the same dilemma one day, if you live long enough.... Now begone! I am weary of this talk.” With that Rhunön plucked the lid off the forge, retrieved a new pair of tongs, and immersed a ring in the coals while she worked the bellows with single-minded intensity. “Rhunön-elda,” said Arya, “remember, I will return for you on the eve of the Agaetí Blödhren.” A grunt was her only reply. Page 495 The rhythmic peal of steel on steel, as lonely as the cry of a death bird in the night, accompanied them back through the dogwood tunnel and onto the path. Behind them, Rhunön was no more than a black figure bowed over the sullen glow of her forge. “She made all the Riders’ swords?” asked Eragon. “Every last one?” “That and more. She’s the greatest smith who has ever lived. I thought that you should meet her, for her sake and yours.” “Thank you.” Is she always so brusque?asked Saphira. Arya laughed. “Always. For her, nothing matters except her craft, and she’s famously impatient with anything—or anyone—that interferes with it. Her eccentricities are well tolerated, though, because of her incredible skill and accomplishments.” While she spoke, Eragon tried to work out the meaning of Agaetí Blödhren. He was fairly sure that blödh stood for blood and, as a result, that blödhren was blood-oath, but he had never heard of agaetí . “Celebration,”explained Arya when he asked. “We hold the Blood-oath Celebration once every century to honor our pact with the dragons. Both of you are fortunate to be here now, for it is nigh upon us....” Her slanted eyebrows met as she frowned. “Fate has indeed arranged a most auspi-cious coincidence.” She surprised Eragon by leading them deeper into Du Weldenvarden, down paths tangled with nettles and currant bushes, until the lights around them vanished and they entered the restless wilderness. In the darkness, Eragon had to rely on Saphira’s keen night vision so as to not lose his way. The craggy trees increased in width, crowding closer and closer together and threatening to form an impenetrable barrier. Just when it appeared that they could go no farther, the forest ended and they entered a clearing washed with moonlight from the bright sickle low in the eastern sky. A lone pine tree stood in the middle of the clearing. No taller than the rest of its brethren, it was thicker than a hundred regular trees combined; in comparison, they looked as puny as windblown saplings. A blanket of roots radiated from the tree’s massive trunk, covering the ground with bark-sheathed veins that made it seem as if the entire forest flowed out from the tree, as if it were the heart of Du Weldenvarden itself. The tree presided over the woods like a benevolent matriarch, protecting its in-habitants under the shelter of her branches. “Behold the Menoa tree,” whispered Arya. “We observe the Agaetí Blödhren in her shade.” A cold tingle crawled down Eragon’s side as he recognized the name. After Angela told his fortune in Teirm, Solembum had come up to him and said, When the time comes and you need a weapon, look under the roots of the Menoa tree. Then, when all seems lost and your power is insufficient, go to the rock of Kuthian and speak your name to open the Vault of Souls . Eragon could not imagine what kind of weapon might be buried under the tree, nor how he would go about finding it. Do you see anything?he asked Saphira. No, but then I doubt that Solembum’s words will make sense until our need is clear. Page 496 Eragon told Arya about both parts of the werecat’s counsel, although— as he had with Ajihad and Islanzadí—he kept Angela’s prophecy a secret because of its personal nature, and because he feared that it might lead Arya to guess his attraction to her. When he finished, Arya said, “Werecats rarely offer help, and when they do, it’s not to be ignored. So far as I know, no weapon is hidden here, not even in song or legend. As for the Rock of Kuthian... the name echoes in my head like a voice from a half-forgotten dream, familiar yet strange. I’ve heard it before, though I cannot recall where.” As they approached the Menoa tree, Eragon’s attention was caught by the multitude of ants crawling over the roots. Faint black smudges were all he could see of the insects, but Oromis’s assignment had sensitized him to the currents of life around him, and he could feel the ants’ primi-tive consciousness with his mind. He lowered his defenses and allowed his awareness to flood outward, lightly touching Saphira and Arya and then expanding beyond them to see what else lived in the clearing. With unexpected suddenness, he encountered an immense entity, a sentient being of such a colossal nature, he could not grasp the limits of its psyche. Even Oromis’s vast intellect, which Eragon had been in con-tact with in Farthen Dûr, was dwarfed in comparison to this presence. The very air seemed to thrum with the energy and strength that ema-nated from... the tree? The source was unmistakable. Deliberate and inexorable, the tree’s thoughts moved at a measured pace as slow as the creep of ice over granite. It took no notice of Eragon nor, he was sure, of any single individual. It was entirely concerned with the affairs of things that grow and flourish in the bright sunlight, with the dogbane and the lily, the evening primrose and the silky foxglove and the yellow mustard tall beside the crabapple with its purple blossoms. “It’s awake!” exclaimed Eragon, shocked into speaking. “I mean... it’s in-telligent.” He knew that Saphira felt it too; she cocked her head toward the Menoa tree, as if listening, then flew to one of its branches, which were as thick as the road from Carvahall to Therinsford. There she perched with her tail hanging free, waving the tip of it back and forth, ever so gracefully. It was such an odd sight, a dragon in a tree, that Eragon almost laughed. “Of course she’s awake,” said Arya. Her voice was low and mellow in the night air. “Shall I tell you the story of the Menoa tree?” “I’d like that.” A flash of white streaked across the sky, like a banished specter, and re-solved itself beside Saphira in the form of Blagden. The raven’s narrow shoulders and crooked neck gave him the appearance of a miser basking in the radiance of a pile of gold. The raven lifted his pallid head and ut-tered his ominous cry, “ Wyrda!” “This is what happened. Once there lived a woman, Linnëa, in the years of spice and wine before our war with the dragons and before we became as immortal as any beings still composed of vulnerable flesh can be. Lin-nëa had grown old without the comfort of a mate or children, nor did she feel the need to seek them out, preferring to occupy herself with the art of singing to plants, of which she was a master. That is, she did until a young man came to her door and beguiled her with words of love. His affections woke a part of Linnëa that she had never suspected existed, a craving to experience the things that she Page 497 had unknowingly sacrificed. The offer of a second chance was too great an opportunity for her to ignore. She deserted her work and devoted herself to the young man and, for a time, they were happy. “But the young man was young, and he began to long for a mate closer to his own age. His eye fell upon a young woman, and he wooed and won her. And for a time, they too were happy. “When Linnëa discovered that she had been spurned, scorned, and abandoned, she went mad with grief. The young man had done the worst possible thing; he had given her a taste of the fullness of life, then torn it away with no more thought than a rooster flitting from one hen to the next. She found him with the woman and, in her fury, she stabbed him to death. “Linnëa knew that what she had done was evil. She also knew that even if she was exonerated of the murder, she could not return to her previous existence. Life had lost all joy for her. So she went to the oldest tree in Du Weldenvarden, pressed herself against it, and sang herself into the tree, abandoning all allegiance to her own race. For three days and three nights she sang, and when she finished, she had become one with her be-loved plants. And through all the millennia since has she kept watch over the forest.... Thus was the Menoa tree created.” At the conclusion of her tale, Arya and Eragon sat side by side on the crest of a huge root, twelve feet off the ground. Eragon bounced his heels against the tree and wondered if Arya had intended the story as a warning to him or if it was merely an innocent piece of history. His doubt hardened into certainty when she asked, “Do you think that the young man was to blame for the tragedy?” “I think,” he said, knowing that a clumsy reply could turn her against him, “that what he did was cruel... and that Linnëa overreacted. They were both at fault.” Arya stared at him until he was forced to avert his gaze. “They weren’t suited for each other.” Eragon began to deny it but then stopped himself. She was right. And she had maneuvered him so that he had to say it out loud, so that he had to say it to her. “Perhaps,” he admitted. Silence accumulated between them like sand piling into a wall that nei-ther of them was willing to breach. The high-pitched hum of cicadas echoed from the edge of the clearing. At last he said, “Being home seems to agree with you.” “It does.” With unconscious ease, she leaned over and picked up a thin branch that had fallen from the Menoa tree and began to weave the clumps of needles into a small basket. Hot blood rushed to Eragon’s face as he watched her. He hoped that the moon was not bright enough to reveal that his cheeks had turned mottled red. “Where... where do you live? Do you and Islanzadí have a palace or castle... ?” “We live in Tialdarí Hall, our family’s ancestral buildings, in the west-ern part of Ellesméra. I would enjoy showing our home to you.” “Ah.” A practical question suddenly intruded in Eragon’s muddled thoughts, driving away his embarrassment. “Arya, do you have any sib-lings?” She shook her head. “Then you are the sole heir to the elven throne?” Page 498 “Of course. Why do you ask?” She sounded bemused by his curiosity. “I don’t understand why you were allowed to become an ambassador to the Varden and dwarves, as well as ferry Saphira’s egg from here to Tron-jheim. It’s too dangerous an errand for a princess, much less the queen-in-waiting.” “You mean it’s too dangerous for a human woman. I told you before that I am not one of your helpless females. What you fail to realize is that we view our monarchs differently than you or the dwarves. To us, a king or queen’s highest responsibility is to serve their people however and wherever possible. If that means forfeiting our lives in the process, we welcome the opportunity to prove our devotion to—as the dwarves say—hearth, hall, and honor. If I had died in the course of my duty, then a replacement successor would have been chosen from among our vari-ous Houses. Even now I would not be required to become queen if I found the prospect distasteful. We do not choose leaders who are unwill-ing to devote themselves wholeheartedly to their obligation.” She hesi-tated, then hugged her knees against her chest and propped her chin on them. “I had many years to perfect those arguments with my mother.” For a minute, the wheet-wheet of the cicadas went undisturbed in the clearing. Then she asked, “How go your studies with Oromis?” Eragon grunted as his foul temper returned on a wave of unpleasant memories, souring his pleasure at being with Arya. All he wanted to do was crawl into bed, go to sleep, and forget the day. “Oromis-elda,” he said, working each word around his mouth before letting it escape, “is quite thorough.” He winced as she gripped his upper arm with bruising strength. “What has gone amiss?” He tried to shrug her hand off. “Nothing.” “I’ve traveled with you long enough to know when you’re happy, an-gry... or in pain. Did something happen between you and Oromis? If so, you have to tell me so that it can be rectified as soon as possible. Or was it your back? We could—” “It’s not my training!” Despite his pique, Eragon noticed that she seemed genuinely concerned, which pleased him. “Ask Saphira. She can tell you.” “I want to hear it from you,” she said quietly. The muscles in Eragon’s jaw spasmed as he clenched his teeth. In a low voice, no more than a whisper, he first described how he had failed at his meditation in the glade, then the incident that poisoned his heart like a viper coiled in his chest: his blessing. Arya released his arm and clutched at the root of the Menoa tree, as if to steady herself. “Barzûl.” The dwarf curse alarmed him; he had never heard her use profanity before, and this one was particularly apt, for it meant ill fate. “I knew of your act in Farthen Dûr, for sure, but I never thought... I never suspected that such a thing could occur. I cry your par-don, Eragon, for forcing you to leave your rooms tonight. I did not com-prehend your discomfort. You must want to be alone.” “No,” he said. “No, I appreciate the company and the things you’ve shown me.” He smiled at her, and after a moment, she smiled back. To-gether they sat small and still at the base of the ancient tree and watched the moon arch high over the peaceful forest before it hid behind the gathering clouds. “I only wonder what will become of the child.” High above their heads, Blagden ruffled his bone-white feathers and shrieked, “Wyrda!” Page 499 A MAZE OF OPPOSITION Nasuada crossed her arms without bothering to conceal her impatience as she examined the two men before her. The one on the right had a neck so thick, it forced his head to jut for-ward at nearly right angles to his shoulders, giving him a stubborn, dim-witted appearance. This was intensified by his heavy brow with its two cliffs of matted hair—almost long enough to pull over his eyes—and bul-bous lips that remained puckered into a pink mushroom, even when he spoke. She knew better than to put stock in his repulsive looks, though. No matter its rough housing, his tongue was as clever as a jester’s. The only identifying feature of the second man was his pale skin, which refused to darken under Surda’s relentless sun, even though the Varden had been in Aberon, the capital, for some weeks now. From his coloring, Nasuada guessed he had been born in the northern reaches of the Empire. He held a knit wool cap that he wrung into a hard rope between his hands. “You,” she said, pointing at him. “How many of your chickens did he kill again?” “Thirteen, Ma’am.” Nasuada returned her attention to the ugly man. “An unlucky number, by all accounts, Master Gamble. And so it has proved for you. You are guilty of both theft and destroying someone else’s property without of-fering proper recompense.” “I never denied it.” “I only wonder how you ate thirteen chickens in four days. Are you ever full, Master Gamble?” He gave her a jocular grin and scratched the side of his face. The rasp of his untrimmed fingernails over his stubble annoyed her, and it was only with an effort of will that she kept from asking him to stop. “Well, not to be disrespectful, Ma’am, but filling my stomach wouldn’t be a problem if you fed us properly, what with all the work we do. I’m a large man, an’ I need a bit o’ meat in my belly after half a day breaking rocks with a mat-tock. I did my best to resist temptation, I did. But three weeks of short rations and watching these farmers drive around fat livestock they wouldn’t share even if a body were starving... Well, I’ll admit, it broke me. I’m not a strong man when it comes to food. I like it hot and I like plenty of it. An’ I don’t fancy I’m the only one willing to help himself.” And that’s the heart of the problem,reflected Nasuada. The Varden could not afford to feed its members, not even with Surda’s king, Orrin, helping. Orrin had opened his treasury to them, but he had refused to behave as Galbatorix was wont to do when moving his army across the Empire, which was to appropriate supplies from his countrymen without paying for them. A noble sentiment, but one that only makes my task harder. Still, she knew that acts like those were what separated her, Orrin, Hrothgar, and Islanzadí from Galbatorix’s despotism. It would be so easy to cross that divide without noticing it. “I understand your reasons, Master Gamble. However, although the Varden aren’t a country and we answer to no one’s authority but our own, that does not give you or anyone else leave to ignore the rule of law as laid down by my predecessors or as it’s observed here in Surda. There-fore, I order you to Page 500 pay a copper for each chicken you stole.” Gamble surprised her by acceding without protest. “As you wish, Ma’am,” he said. “That’s it?” exclaimed the pale man. He wrung his cap even tighter. “That’s no fair price. If I sold them in any market, they’d—” She could not contain herself any longer. “Yes! You’d get more. But I happen to know that Master Gamble cannot afford to give you the chickens’ full price, as I’m the one who provides his salary! As I do yours. You forget that if I decided to acquire your poultry for the good of the Varden, you’d get no more than a copper a chicken and be lucky at that. Am I understood?” “He can’t—” “Am I understood?” After a moment, the pale man subsided and muttered, “Yes, Ma’am.” “Very well. You’re both dismissed.” With an expression of sardonic admiration, Gamble touched his brow and bowed to Nasuada before backing out of the stone room with his sullen opponent. “You too,” she said to the guards on either side of the door. As soon as they were gone, she slumped in her chair with an exhausted sigh and reached for her fan, batting it over her face in a futile attempt to dissipate the pinpricks of sweat that accumulated on her forehead. The constant heat drained her strength and made even the smallest task ardu-ous. She suspected she would feel tired even if it were winter. Familiar as she was with the innermost secrets of the Varden, it still had taken more work than she expected to transport the entire organization from Farthen Dûr, through the Beor Mountains, and deliver them to Surda and Aberon. She shuddered, remembering long, uncomfortable days spent in the saddle. Planning and executing their departure had been exceedingly difficult, as was integrating the Varden into their new surroundings while simultaneously preparing for an attack on the Empire. I don’t have enough time each day to solve all these problems, she lamented. Finally, she dropped the fan and rang the bellpull, summoning her handmaid, Farica. The banner hanging to the right of the cherrywood desk rippled as the door hidden behind it opened. Farica slipped out to stand with downcast eyes by Nasuada’s elbow. “Are there any more?” asked Nasuada. “No, Ma’am.” She tried not to let her relief show. Once a week, she held an open court to resolve the Varden’s various disputes. Anyone who felt that they had been wronged could seek an audience with her and ask for her judg-ment. She could not imagine a more difficult and thankless chore. As her father had often said after negotiating with Hrothgar, “A good compro-mise leaves everyone angry.” And so it seemed. Returning her attention to the matter at hand, she told Farica, “I want that Gamble reassigned. Give him a job where his talent with words will be of some use. Quartermaster, perhaps, just so long as it’s a job where he’ll get full rations. I don’t want to see him before me for stealing again.” Page 501 Farica nodded and went to the desk, where she recorded Nasuada’s in-structions on a parchment scroll. That skill alone made her invaluable. Farica asked, “Where can I find him?” “One of the work gangs in the quarry.” “Yes, Ma’am. Oh, while you were occupied, King Orrin asked that you join him in his laboratory.” “What has he done in there now, blind himself?” Nasuada washed her wrists and neck with lavender water, then checked her hair in the mirror of polished silver that Orrin had given her and tugged on her overgown until the sleeves were straight. Satisfied with her appearance, she swept out of her chambers with Farica in tow. The sun was so bright today that no torches were needed to illuminate the inside of Borromeo Castle, nor could their added warmth have been tolerated. Shafts of light fell through the crossletted arrow slits and glowed upon the inner wall of the corridor, striping the air with bars of golden dust at regular intervals. Nasuada looked out one embrasure toward the barbican, where thirty or so of Orrin’s orange-clad cavalry soldiers were setting forth on another of their ceaseless rounds of patrols in the countryside surrounding Aberon. Not that they could do much good if Galbatorix decided to attack us him-self,she thought bitterly. Their only protection against that was Galba-torix’s pride and, she hoped, his fear of Eragon. All leaders were aware of the risk of usurpation, but usurpers themselves were doubly afraid of the threat that a single determined individual could pose. Nasuada knew that she was playing an exceedingly dangerous game with the most powerful madman in Alagaësia. If she misjudged how far she could push him, she and the rest of the Varden would be destroyed, along with any hope of ending Galbatorix’s reign. The clean smell of the castle reminded her of the times she had stayed there as a child, back when Orrin’s father, King Larkin, still ruled. She never saw much of Orrin then. He was five years older than her and al-ready occupied with his duties as a prince. Nowadays, though, she often felt as if she were the elder one. At the door to Orrin’s laboratory, she had to stop and wait for his bodyguards, who were always posted outside, to announce her presence to the king. Soon Orrin’s voice boomed out into the stairwell: “Lady Nasuada! I’m so glad you came. I have something to show you.” Mentally bracing herself, she entered the laboratory with Farica. A maze of tables laden with a fantastic array of alembics, beakers, and re-torts confronted them, like a glass thicket waiting to snag their dresses on any one of its myriad fragile branches. The heavy odor of metallic vapors made Nasuada’s eyes water. Lifting their hems off the floor, she and Farica wended their way in single file toward the back of the room, past hourglasses and scales, arcane tomes bound with black iron, dwarven as-trolabes, and piles of phosphorescent crystal prisms that produced fitful blue flashes. They met Orrin by a marble-topped bench, where he stirred a crucible of quicksilver with a glass tube that was closed at one end, open at the other, and must have measured at least three feet in length, although it was only a quarter of an inch thick. “Sire,” said Nasuada. As befitted one of equal rank to the king, she re-mained upright while Farica curtsied. “You seem to have recovered from the explosion last week.” Orrin grimaced good-naturedly. “I learned that it’s not wise to combine phosphorus and water in an enclosed space. The result can be quite vio-lent.” Page 502 “Has all of your hearing returned?” “Not entirely, but...” Grinning like a boy with his first dagger, he lit a taper with the coals from a brazier, which she could not fathom how he endured in the stifling weather, carried the flaming brand back to the bench, and used it to start a pipe packed with cardus weed. “I didn’t know that you smoked.” “I don’t really,” he confessed, “except that I found that since my ear-drum hasn’t completely sealed up yet, I can do this....” Drawing on the pipe, he puffed out his cheeks until a tendril of smoke issued from his left ear, like a snake leaving its den, and coiled up the side of his head. It was so unexpected, Nasuada burst out laughing, and after a moment, Orrin joined her, releasing a plume of smoke from his mouth. “It’s the most peculiar sensation,” he confided. “Tickles like crazy on the way out.” Growing serious again, Nasuada asked, “Was there something else that you wished to discuss with me, Sire?” He snapped his fingers. “Of course.” Dipping his long glass tube in the crucible, he filled it with quicksilver, then capped the open end with one finger and showed the whole thing to her. “Would you agree that the only thing in this tube is quicksilver?” “I would.” Is this why he wanted to see me? “And what about now?” With a quick movement, he inverted the tube and planted the open end inside the crucible, removing his finger. Instead of all pouring out, as Nasuada expected, the quicksilver in the tube dropped about halfway, then stopped and held its position. Orrin pointed to the empty section above the suspended metal. He asked, “What occu-pies that space?” “It must be air,” asserted Nasuada. Orrin grinned and shook his head. “If that were true, how would the air bypass the quicksilver or diffuse through the glass? No routes are avail-able by which the atmosphere can gain admission.” He gestured at Farica. “What’s your opinion, maid?” Farica stared at the tube, then shrugged and said, “It can’t be nothing, Sire.” “Ah, but that’s exactly what I think it is: nothing. I believe that I’ve solved one of the oldest conundrums of natural philosophy by creating and proving the existence of a vacuum! It completely invalidates Va-cher’s theories and means that Ládin was actually a genius. Blasted elves always seem to be right.” Nasuada struggled to remain cordial as she asked, “What purpose does it serve, though?” “Purpose?” Orrin looked at her with genuine astonishment. “None, of course. At least not that I can think of. However, this will help us to un-derstand the mechanics of our world, how and why things happen. It’s a wondrous discovery. Who knows what else it might lead to?” While he spoke, he emptied the tube and carefully placed it in a velvet-padded box that held similar delicate instruments. “The prospect that truly ex-cites me, though, is of using magic to ferret out nature’s secrets. Why, just yesterday, with a single spell, Trianna helped me to discover two en-tirely new gases. Imagine what could be learned if magic were systemati-cally applied to the disciplines of natural philosophy. I’m considering learning magic myself, if I have the talent for it, and if I can convince some magic users to divulge their knowledge. It’s a pity that your Dragon Rider, Eragon, didn’t accompany you here; I’m sure that he Page 503 could help me.” Looking at Farica, Nasuada said, “Wait for me outside.” The woman curtsied and then departed. Once Nasuada heard the door to the labora-tory close, she said, “Orrin. Have you taken leave of your senses?” “Whatever do you mean?” “While you spend your time locked in here conducting experiments that no one understands—endangering your well-being in the process— your country totters on the brink of war. A myriad issues await your de-cision, and you stand here blowing smoke and playing with quicksilver?” His face hardened. “I am quite aware of my duties, Nasuada. You may lead the Varden, but I’m still king of Surda, and you would do well to re-call that before you speak so disrespectfully. Need I remind you that your sanctuary here depends on my continued goodwill?” She knew it was an idle threat; many of the Surdan people had relatives in the Varden, and vice versa. They were too closely linked for either of them to abandon the other. No, the real reason that Orrin had taken of-fense was the question of authority. Since it was nigh impossible to keep large groups of armed warriors at the ready over extended periods of time—as Nasuada had learned, feeding that many inactive people was a logistical nightmare—the Varden had begun taking jobs, starting farms, and otherwise assimilating into their host country. Where will that leave me eventually? As the leader of a nonexistent army? A general or councilor under Orrin? Her position was precarious. If she moved too quickly or with too much initiative, Orrin would perceive it as a threat and turn against her, especially now that she was cloaked in the glamour of the Varden’s victory in Farthen Dûr. But if she waited too long, they would lose their chance to exploit Galbatorix’s momentary weakness. Her only advantage over the maze of opposition was her command of the one element that had instigated this act of the play: Eragon and Saphira. She said, “I don’t seek to undermine your command, Orrin. That was never my intention, and I apologize if it appeared that way.” He bowed his neck with a stiff bob. Unsure of how to continue, she leaned on her fingertips against the lip of the bench. “It’s only... so many things must be done. I work night and day—I keep a tablet beside my bed for notes— and yet I never catch up; I feel as if we are always balanced on the brink of disaster.” Orrin picked up a pestle stained black from use and rolled it between his palms with a steady, hypnotic rhythm. “Before you came here... No, that’s not right. Before your Rider materialized fully formed from the ethers like Moratensis from his fountain, I expected to live my life as my father and grandfather before me. That is, opposing Galbatorix in secret. You must excuse me if it takes a while to accustom myself to this new reality.” It was as much contrition as she could expect in return. “I understand.” He stopped the pestle in its path for a brief moment. “You are newly come to your power, whereas I have held mine for a number of years. If I may be arrogant enough to offer advice, I’ve found that it’s essential for my sanity to allocate a certain portion of the day for my own interests.” “I couldn’t do that,” objected Nasuada. “Every moment I waste might be the moment of effort that’s needed to defeat Galbatorix.” The pestle paused again. “You do the Varden a disservice if you insist on overworking yourself. No one Page 504 can function properly without occa-sional peace and quiet. They don’t have to be long breaks, just five or ten minutes. You could even practice your archery, and then you would still serve your goals, albeit in a different manner.... That’s why I had this labo-ratory constructed in the first place. That’s why I blow smoke and play with quicksilver, as you put it—so that I don’t scream with frustration throughout the rest of the day.” Despite her reluctance to surrender her view of Orrin as a feckless lay-about, Nasuada could not help but acknowledge the validity of his argu-ment. “I will keep your recommendation in mind.” Some of his former levity returned as he smiled. “That’s all I ask.” Walking to the window, she pushed the shutters farther open and gazed down upon Aberon, with its cries of quick-fingered merchants hawking their wares to unsuspecting customers, the clotted yellow dust blowing from the western road as a caravan approached the city gates, the air that shimmered over clay tile roofs and carried the scent of cardus weed and incense from the marble temples, and the fields that sur-rounded Aberon like the outstretched petals of a flower. Without turning around, she asked, “Have you received copies of our latest reports from the Empire?” “I have.” He joined her at the window. “What’s your opinion of them? “That they’re too meager and incomplete to extract any meaningful conclusions.” “They’re the best we have, though. Give me your suspicions and your hunches. Extrapolate from the known facts like you would if this were one of your experiments.” She smiled to herself. “I promise that I won’t attach meaning to what you say.” She had to wait for his reply, and when it came, it was with the dolor-ous weight of a doomsday prophecy. “Increased taxes, emptied garrisons, horses and oxen confiscated throughout the Empire... It seems that Gal-batorix gathers his forces in preparation to confront us, though I cannot tell whether he means to do it in offense or defense.” Revolving shadows cooled their faces as a cloud of starlings whirled across the sun. “The question that weighs upon my mind now is, how long will it take him to mobilize? For that will determine the course of our strategies.” “Weeks. Months. Years. I cannot predict his actions.” He nodded. “Have your agents continued to spread tidings of Eragon?” “It has become increasingly dangerous, but yes. My hope is that if we inundate cities like Dras-Leona with rumors of Eragon’s prowess, when we actually reach the city and they see him, they will join us of their own accord and we can avoid a siege.” “War is rarely so easy.” She let the comment pass uncontested. “And how fares the mobiliza-tion of your own army? The Varden, as always, are ready to fight.” Orrin spread his hands in a placating gesture. “It’s difficult to rouse a na-tion, Nasuada. There are nobles who I must convince to back me, armor and weapons to be constructed, supplies to be gathered....” Page 505 “And in the meantime, how do I feed my people? We need more land than you allotted us—” “Well, I know it,” he said. “—and we’ll only get it by invading the Empire, unless you fancy mak-ing the Varden a permanent addition to Surda. If so, you’ll have to find homes for the thousands of people I brought from Farthen Dûr, which won’t please your existing citizens. Whatever your choice, choose quickly, because I fear that if you continue to procrastinate, the Varden will disintegrate into an uncontrollable horde.” She tried not to make it sound like a threat. Nevertheless, Orrin obviously did not appreciate the insinuation. His upper lip curled and he said, “Your father never let his men get out of hand. I trust you won’t either, if you expect to remain leader of the Varden. As for our preparations, there’s a limit to what we can do in so short a time; you’ll just have to wait until we are ready.” She gripped the windowsill until veins stood out on her wrists and her fingernails sank into the crevices between the stones, yet she allowed none of her anger to color her voice: “In that case, will you lend the Varden more gold for food?” “No. I’ve given you all the money I can spare.” “How will we eat, then?” “I would suggest that you raise the funds yourself.” Furious, she gave him her widest, brightest smile—holding it long enough to make him shift with unease—and then curtsied as deeply as a servant, never letting her demented grimace waver. “Farewell then, Sire. I hope that the rest of your day is as enjoyable as our conversation was.” Orrin muttered an unintelligible response as she swept back to the laboratory’s entrance. In her anger, Nasuada caught her right sleeve on a jade bottle and knocked it over, cracking the stone and releasing a flood of yellow liquid that splattered her sleeve and soaked her skirt. She flicked her wrist in annoyance without stopping. Farica rejoined her in the stairwell, and together they traversed the warren of passageways to Nasuada’s chambers. HANGING BY A THREAD Throwing open the doors to her rooms, Nasuada strode to her desk, then dropped into a chair, blind to her surroundings. Her spine was so rigid that her shoulders did not touch the back. She felt frozen by the in-soluble quandary the Varden faced. The rise and fall of her chest slowed until it was imperceptible. I have failed, was all she could think. “Ma’am, your sleeve!” Jolted from her reverie, Nasuada looked down to find Farica beating at her right arm with a cleaning rag. A wisp of smoke rose from the em-broidered sleeve. Alarmed, Nasuada pushed herself out of the chair Page 506 and twisted her arm, trying to find the cause of the smoke. Her sleeve and skirt were disintegrating into chalky cobwebs that emitted acrid fumes. “Get me out of this,” she said. She held her contaminated arm away from her body and forced herself to remain still as Farica unlaced her overgown. The handmaid’s fingers scrabbled against Nasuada’s back with frantic haste, fumbling with the knots, and then finally loosening the wool shell that encased Nasuada’s torso. As soon as the overgown sagged, Nasuada yanked her arms out of the sleeves and clawed her way free of the robe. Panting, she stood by the desk, clad only in her slippers and linen che-mise. To her relief, the expensive chainsil had escaped harm, although it had acquired a foul reek. “Did it burn you?” asked Farica. Nasuada shook her head, not trusting her tongue to respond. Farica nudged the overgown with the tip of her shoe. “What evil is this?” “One of Orrin’s foul concoctions,” croaked Nasuada. “I spilled it in his laboratory.” Calming herself with long breaths, she examined the ruined gown with dismay. It had been woven by the dwarf women of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum as a gift for her last birthday and was one of the finest pieces in her wardrobe. She had nothing to replace it, nor could she justify com-missioning a new dress, considering the Varden’s financial difficulties. Somehow I will have to make do without. Farica shook her head. “It’s a shame to lose such a pretty dress.” She went round the desk to a sewing basket and returned with a pair of etched scissors. “We might as well save as much of the cloth as we can. I’ll cut off the ruined parts and have them burned.” Nasuada scowled and paced the length of the room, seething with an-ger at her own clumsiness and at having another problem added to her already overwhelming list of worries. “What am I going to wear to court now?” she demanded. The scissors bit into the soft wool with brisk authority. “Mayhap your linen dress.” “It’s too casual to appear in before Orrin and his nobles.” “Give me a chance with it, Ma’am. I’m sure that I can alter it so it’s ser-viceable. By the time I’m done, it’ll look twice as grand as this one ever did.” “No, no. It won’t work. They’ll just laugh at me. It’s hard enough to command their respect when I’m dressed properly, much less if I’m wearing patched gowns that advertise our poverty.” The older woman fixed Nasuada with a stern gaze. “It will work, so long as you don’t apologize for your appearance. Not only that, I guaran-tee that the other ladies will be so taken with your new fashion that they’ll imitate you. Just you wait and see.” Going to the door, she cracked it open and handed the damaged fabric to one of the guards outside. “Your mistress wants this burned. Do it in secret and breathe not a word of this to another soul or you’ll have me to answer to.” The guard saluted. Nasuada could not help smiling. “How would I function without you, Farica?” “Quite well, I should think.” After donning her green hunting frock—which, with its light skirt, provided some respite from the day’s Page 507 heat—Nasuada decided that even though she was ill disposed toward Orrin, she would take his advice and break with her regular schedule to do nothing more important than help Farica rip out stitches from the overgown. She found the repetitive task an excellent way to focus her thoughts. While she pulled on the threads, she discussed the Varden’s predicament with Farica, in the hope that she might perceive a solution that had escaped Nasuada. In the end, Farica’s only assistance was to observe, “Seems most matters in this world have their root in gold. If we had enough of it, we could buy Galbatorix right off his black throne... might not even have to fight his men.” Did I really expect that someone else would do my job for me?Nasuada asked herself. I led us into this blind and I have to lead us out. Intending to cut open a seam, she extended her arm and snagged the tip of her knife on a fringe of bobbin lace, slicing it in half. She stared at the ragged wound in the lace, at the frayed ends of the parchment-colored strands that wriggled across the overgown like so many contorted worms, stared and felt a hysterical laugh claw at her throat even as a tear formed in her eye. Could her luck be any worse? The bobbin lace was the most valuable part of the dress. Even though lace required skill to make, its rarity and expense were mainly due to its central ingredient: vast, copious, mind-numbing, and deadening amounts of time. It took so long to produce that if you attempted to create a lace veil by yourself, your progress would be measured not in weeks but in months. Ounce for ounce, lace was worth more than gold or silver. She ran her fingers over the band of threads, pausing on the rift that she had created. It’s not as if lace takes that much energy, just time. She hated making it herself. Energy... energy... At that moment, a series of images flashed through her mind: Orrin talking about using magic for research; Trianna, the woman who had helmed Du Vrangr Gata since the Twins’ deaths; looking up at one of the Varden’s healers while he explained the principles of magic to Nasuada when she was only five or six years old. The disparate experiences formed a chain of reasoning that was so outra-geous and unlikely, it finally released the laugh imprisoned in her throat. Farica gave her an odd look and waited for an explanation. Standing, Nasuada tumbled half the overgown off her lap and onto the floor. “Fetch me Trianna this instant,” she said. “I don’t care what she’s doing; bring her here.” The skin around Farica’s eyes tightened, but she curtsied and said, “As you wish, Ma’am.” She departed through the hidden servants’ door. “Thank you,” Nasuada whispered in the empty room. She understood her maid’s reluctance; she too felt uncomfortable whenever she had to interact with magic users. Indeed, she only trusted Eragon because he was a Rider—although that was no proof of virtue, as Galbatorix had shown—and because of his oath of fealty, which Nasuada knew he would never break. It scared her to consider magicians’ and sor-cerers’ powers. The thought that a seemingly ordinary person could kill with a word; invade your mind if he or she wished; cheat, lie, and steal without being caught; and otherwise defy society with near impunity... Her heart quickened. How did you enforce the law when a certain segment of the popula-tion possessed special powers? At Page 508 its most basic level, the Varden’s war against the Empire was nothing more than an attempt to bring to justice a man who had abused his magical abilities and to prevent him from committing further crimes. All this pain and destruction because no one had the strength to defeat Galbatorix. He won’t even die after a normal span of years! Although she disliked magic, she knew that it would play a crucial role in removing Galbatorix and that she could not afford to alienate its prac-titioners until victory was assured. Once that occurred, she intended to resolve the problem that they presented. A brazen knock on her chamber door disturbed her thoughts. Fixing a pleasant smile on her face and guarding her mind as she had been trained, Nasuada said, “Enter!” It was important that she appear polite after sum-moning Trianna in such a rude manner. The door thrust open and the brunette sorceress strode into the room, her tousled locks piled high above her head with obvious haste. She looked as if she had just been roused from bed. Bowing in the dwarven fashion, she said, “You asked for me, Lady?” “I did.” Relaxing into a chair, Nasuada let her gaze slowly drift up and down Trianna. The sorceress lifted her chin under Nasuada’s examina-tion. “I need to know: What is the most important rule of magic?” Trianna frowned. “That whatever you do with magic requires the same amount of energy as it would to do otherwise.” “And what you can do is only limited by your ingenuity and by your knowledge of the ancient language?” “Other strictures apply, but in general, yes. Lady, why do you ask? These are basic principles of magic that, while not commonly bandied about, I am sure you are familiar with.” “I am. I wished to ensure that I understood them properly.” Without moving from her chair, Nasuada reached down and lifted the overgown so that Trianna could see the mutilated lace. “So then, within those lim-its, you should be able to devise a spell that will allow you to manufac-ture lace with magic.” A condescending sneer distorted the sorceress’s dark lips. “Du Vrangr Gata has more important duties than repairing your clothes, Lady. Our art is not so common as to be employed for mere whims. I’m sure that you will find your seamstresses and tailors more than capable of fulfilling your request. Now, if you will excuse me, I—” “Be quiet, woman,” said Nasuada in a flat voice. Astonishment muted Trianna in midsentence. “I see that I must teach Du Vrangr Gata the same lesson that I taught the Council of Elders: I may be young, but I am no child to be patronized. I ask about lace because if you can manufac-ture it quickly and easily with magic, then we can support the Varden by selling inexpensive bobbin and needle lace throughout the Empire. Gal-batorix’s own people will provide the funds we need to survive.” “But that’s ridiculous,” protested Trianna. Even Farica looked skeptical. “You can’t pay for a war with lace. ” Nasuada raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Women who otherwise could never afford to own lace will leap at the chance to buy ours. Every farmer’s wife who longs to appear richer than she is will want it. Even wealthy merchants and nobles will give us their gold because our lace will be finer than any thrown or Page 509 stitched by human hands. We’ll garner a fortune to rival the dwarves’. That is, if you are skilled enough in magic to do what I want.” Trianna tossed her hair. “You doubt my abilities?” “Can it be done!” Trianna hesitated, then took the overgown from Nasuada and studied the lace strip for a long while. At last she said, “It should be possible, but I’ll have to conduct some tests before I know for certain.” “Do so immediately. From now on, this is your most important assign-ment. And find an experienced lace maker to advise you on the patterns.” “Yes, Lady Nasuada.” Nasuada allowed her voice to soften. “Good. I also want you to select the brightest members of Du Vrangr Gata and work with them to invent other magical techniques that will help the Varden. That’s your responsi-bility, not mine.” “Yes, Lady Nasuada.” “ Nowyou are excused. Report back to me tomorrow morning.” “Yes, Lady Nasuada.” Satisfied, Nasuada watched the sorceress depart, then closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy a moment of pride for what she had accom-plished. She knew that no man, not even her father, would have thought of her solution. “This is my contribution to the Varden,” she told herself, wishing that Ajihad could witness it. Louder, she asked, “Did I surprise you, Farica?” “You always do, Ma’am.” ELVA “Ma’am?... You’re needed, Ma’am.” “What?” Reluctant to move, Nasuada opened her eyes and saw Jör-mundur enter the room. The wiry veteran pulled off his helm, tucked it in the crook of his right arm, and made his way to her with his left hand planted on the pommel of his sword. The links of his hauberk clinked as he bowed. “My Lady.” “Welcome, Jörmundur. How is your son today?” She was pleased that he had come. Of all the members of the Council of Elders, he had ac-cepted her leadership the most easily, serving her with the same dogged loyalty and determination as he had Ajihad. If all my warriors were like him, no one could stop us. “His cough has subsided.” Page 510 “I’m glad to hear it. Now, what brings you?” Lines appeared on Jörmundur’s forehead. He ran his free hand over his hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, then caught himself and pushed his hand back down to his side. “Magic, of the strangest kind.” “Oh?” “Do you remember the babe that Eragon blessed?” “Aye.” Nasuada had seen her only once, but she was well aware of the exaggerated tales about the child that circulated among the Varden, as well as the Varden’s hopes for what the girl might achieve once she grew up. Nasuada was more pragmatic about the subject. Whatever the infant became, it would not be for many years, by which time the battle with Galbatorix would already be won or lost. “I’ve been asked to take you to her.” “Asked? By whom? And why?” “A boy on the practice field told me that you should visit the child. Said that you would find it interesting. He refused to give me his name, but he looked like what that witch’s werecat is supposed to turn into, so I thought... Well, I thought you should know.” Jörmundur looked embar-rassed. “I asked my men questions about the girl, and I heard things... that she’s different. ” “In what way?” He shrugged. “Enough to believe that you should do what the werecat says.” Nasuada frowned. She knew from the old stories that ignoring a were-cat was the height of folly and often led to one’s doom. However, his companion—Angela the herbalist—was another magic user that Nasuada did not entirely trust; she was too independent and unpredictable. “Magic,” she said, making it a curse. “Magic,” agreed Jörmundur, though he used it as a word of awe and fear. “Very well, let us go visit this child. Is she within the castle?” “Orrin gave her and her caretaker rooms on the west side of the keep.” “Take me to her.” Gathering up her skirts, Nasuada ordered Farica to postpone the rest of the day’s appointments, then left the chambers. Behind her, she heard Jörmundur snap his fingers as he directed four guards to take up positions around her. A moment later, he joined her side, pointing out their course. The heat within Borromeo Castle had increased to the point where they felt as if they were trapped within a giant bread oven. The air shimmered like liquid glass along the windowsills. Though she was uncomfortable, Nasuada knew that she dealt with the heat better than most people because of her swarthy skin. The ones who had the hardest time enduring the high temperatures were men like Jör-mundur and her guards, who had to wear their armor all day long, even if they were stationed out under the lidless gaze of the sun. Page 511 Nasuada kept close watch on the five men as sweat gathered on their exposed skin and their breathing became ever more ragged. Since they had arrived in Aberon, a number of the Varden had fainted from heat-stroke—two of whom died an hour or two later—and she had no inten-tion of losing more of her subjects by driving them beyond their physical limits. When she deemed they needed to rest, she bade them to stop— overriding their objections—and get drinks of water from a servant. “I can’t have you toppling like ninepins.” They had to break twice more before they reached their destination, a nondescript door recessed in the inner wall of the corridor. The floor around it was littered with gifts. Jörmundur knocked, and a quavering voice from inside asked, “Who is it?” “Lady Nasuada, come to see the child,” he said. “Be you of true heart and steadfast resolve?” This time Nasuada answered, “My heart is pure and my resolve is as iron.” “Cross the threshold, then, and be welcome.” The door swung open to an entryway lit by a single red dwarf lantern. No one was at the door. Proceeding inward, Nasuada saw that the walls and ceiling were swathed with layers of dark fabric, giving the place the appearance of a cave or lair. To her surprise, the air was quite cold, al-most chilly, like a brisk autumn night. Apprehension sank its poisonous claws into her belly. Magic. A black mesh curtain blocked her way. Brushing it aside, she found herself in what was once a sitting room. The furniture had been removed, except for a line of chairs pushed against the shrouded walls. A cluster of faint dwarf lanterns were hung in a dimple of the sagging fabric overhead, casting weird multicolored shadows in every direction. A bent crone watched her from the depths of one corner, bracketed by Angela the herbalist and the werecat, who stood with his hackles raised. In the center of the room knelt a pale girl that Nasuada took to be three or four years old. The girl picked at a platter of food on her lap. No one spoke. Confused, Nasuada asked, “Where is the baby?” The girl looked up. Nasuada gasped as she saw the dragon mark bright upon the child’s brow and as she peered deep into her violet eyes. The girl quirked her lips with a terrible, knowing smile. “I am Elva.” Nasuada recoiled without thinking, clutching at the dagger she kept strapped to her left forearm. It was an adult’s voice and filled with an adult’s experience and cynicism. It sounded profane coming from the mouth of a child. “Don’t run,” said Elva. “I’m your friend.” She put the platter aside; it was empty now. To the crone, she said, “More food.” The old woman hurried from the room. Then Elva patted the floor beside her. “Please, sit. I have been waiting for you ever since I learned to talk.” Page 512 Keeping her grip on her dagger, Nasuada lowered herself to the stones. “When was that?” “Last week.” Elva folded her hands in her lap. She fixed her ghastly eyes on Nasuada, pinning her in place through the unnatural strength of her gaze. Nasuada felt as if a violet lance had pierced her skull and was twist-ing inside her mind, tearing apart her thoughts and memories. She fought the desire to scream. Leaning forward, Elva reached out and cupped Nasuada’s cheek with one soft hand. “You know, Ajihad could not have led the Varden better than you have. You chose the correct path. Your name will be praised for centuries for having the courage and foresight to move the Varden to Surda and attack the Empire when everyone else thought it was insane to do so.” Nasuada gaped at the girl, stunned. Like a key matched to a lock, Elva’s words perfectly addressed Nasuada’s primal fears, the doubts that kept her awake at night, sweating in the darkness. An involuntary surge of emotion rushed through her, bolstering her with a sense of confidence and peace that she had not possessed since before Ajihad’s death. Tears of relief burst from her eyes and rolled down her face. It was as if Elva had known exactly what to say in order to comfort her. Nasuada loathed her for it. Her euphoria warred against her distaste for how this moment of weakness had been induced and by whom. Nor did she trust the girl’s motivation. “What are you?” she demanded. “I am what Eragon made me.” “He blessed you.” The dreadful, ancient eyes were obscured for a moment as Elva blinked. “He did not understand his actions. Since Eragon ensorcelled me, whenever I see a person, I sense all the hurts that beset him and are about to beset him. When I was smaller, I could do nothing about it. So I grew bigger.” “Why would—” “The magic in my blood drives me to protect people from pain... no matter the injury to myself or whether I want to help or not.” Her smile acquired a bitter twist. “It costs me dearly if I resist the urge.” As Nasuada digested the implications, she realized that Elva’s unsettling aspect was a by-product of the suffering that she had been exposed to. Nasuada shivered at the thought of what the girl had endured. It must have torn her apart to have this compulsion and yet be unable to act on it. Against her better judgment, she began to feel a measure of sympathy for Elva. “Why have you told me this?” “I thought that you should know who and what I am.” Elva paused, and the fire in her gaze strengthened. “And that I will fight for you however I can. Use me as you would an assassin—in hiding, in the dark, and with-out mercy.” She laughed with a high, chilling voice. “You wonder why; I see you do. Because unless this war ends, and sooner rather than later, it will drive me insane. I find it hard enough to deal with the agonies of everyday life without also having to confront the atrocities of battle. Use me to end it and I’ll ensure that your life is as happy as any human has had the privilege to experience.” Page 513 At that moment, the crone scurried back into the room, bowed to Elva, and handed her a new platter of food. It was a physical relief to Nasuada as Elva looked down and attacked a leg of mutton, cramming the meat into her mouth with both hands. She ate with the ravenous in-tensity of a gorging wolf, displaying a complete lack of decorum. With her violet eyes hidden and her dragon mark covered by black bangs, she once again appeared to be nothing more than an innocent child. Nasuada waited until it became apparent that Elva had said all she was going to. Then—at a gesture from Angela—she accompanied the herbal-ist through a side door, leaving the pale girl sitting alone in the center of the dark, cloth-bound room, like a dire fetus nestled in its womb, waiting for the right moment to emerge. Angela made sure that the door was closed and whispered, “All she does is eat and eat. We can’t sate her appetite with the current rations. Can you—” “She’ll be fed. You needn’t worry about it.” Nasuada rubbed her arms, trying to eradicate the memory of those awful, horrible eyes.... “Thank you.” “Has this ever happened to anyone else?” Angela shook her head until her curly hair bounced on her shoulders. “Not in the entire history of magic. I tried to cast her future, but it’s a hopeless quagmire—lovely word, quagmire —because her life interacts with so many others.” “Is she dangerous?” “We’re all dangerous.” “You know what I mean.” Angela shrugged. “She’s more dangerous than some and less than others. The one she’s most likely to kill, though, is herself. If she meets someone who’s about to be hurt and Eragon’s spell catches her unawares, then she’ll take the doomed person’s place. That’s why she stays inside most of the time.” “How far in advance can she foretell events?” “Two or three hours at the most.” Leaning against the wall, Nasuada considered the newest complication in her life. Elva could be a potent weapon if she were applied correctly. Through her, I can discern my opponents’ troubles and weaknesses, as well as what will please them and make them amenable to my wishes. In an emergency, the girl could also act as an infallible guard if one of the Varden, like Eragon or Saphira, had to be protected. She can’t be left unsupervised. I need someone to watch her. Someone who understands magic and is comfortable enough with their own identity to re-sist Elva’s influence... and who I can trust to be reliable and honest.She immediately discounted Trianna. Nasuada looked at Angela. Though she was wary of the herbalist, she knew that Angela had helped the Varden with matters of the utmost delicacy and importance—like healing Eragon—and had asked for Page 514 noth-ing in return. Nasuada could think of no one else who had the time, in-clination, and expertise to look after Elva. “I realize,” said Nasuada, “that this is presumptuous of me, as you aren’t under my command and I know little of your life or duties, but I have a favor to ask of you.” “Proceed.” Angela waved a hand. Nasuada faltered, disconcerted, then forged ahead. “Would you be will-ing to keep an eye on Elva for me? I need—” “Of course! And I’ll keep two eyes on her, if I can spare them. I relish the opportunity to study her.” “You’ll have to report to me,” warned Nasuada. “The poison dart hidden in the raisin tart. Ah, well, I suppose I can manage.” “I have your word, then?” “You have my word.” Relieved, Nasuada groaned and sank into a nearby chair. “Oh, what a mess. What a quagmire. As Eragon’s liegelord, I’m responsible for his deeds, but I never imagined that he would do anything as dreadful as this. It’s a blight on my honor as much as his.” A ripple of sharp pops filled the room as Angela cracked her knuckles. “Yes. I intend to speak to him about it once he returns from Ellesméra.” Her expression was so fierce, it alarmed Nasuada. “Well, don’t hurt him. We need him.” “I won’t... permanently.” RESURGENCE A blast of ravening wind tore Eragon from his sleep. Blankets flapped over him as a tempest clawed at his room, hurling his possessions into the air and knocking the lanterns against the walls. Out-side, the sky was black with thunderheads. Saphira watched as Eragon staggered upright and fought to keep his balance as the tree swayed like a ship at sea. He lowered his head against the gale and made his way around the room, clutching at the wall until he reached the teardrop portal through which the storm howled. Eragon looked past the heaving floor to the ground below. It appeared to rock back and forth. He swallowed and tried to ignore the churning in his stomach. By touch he found the edge of the cloth membrane that could be pulled out of the wood to cover the opening. He prepared to launch himself from one side of the gap to the next. If he slipped, nothing would stop him from falling onto the roots of the tree. Page 515 Wait,said Saphira. She backed off the low pedestal where she slept and laid her tail along-side him so that he could use it as a handrail. Holding the cloth with just his right hand, which took all his strength, Eragon used the line of spikes on Saphira’s tail to pull himself across the portal. As soon as he reached the far side, he grabbed the cloth with both hands and pressed its edge into the groove that locked it in place. The room went silent. The membrane bulged inward under the force of the angry elements but showed no sign of giving. Eragon poked it with his finger. The fabric was as taut as a drum. It’s amazing what the elves can do,he said. Saphira cocked her head, then lifted it so that her head was flat against the ceiling while she listened. You’d better close up the study; it’s being wrecked. As he headed toward the stairs, the tree jolted and his leg buckled, sending him down hard on one knee. “Blast it,” he growled. The study was a whirlwind of paper and quills, darting about as if they had a mind of their own. He dove into the flurry with his arms wrapped around his head. It felt like he was being pelted with stones when the tips of the quills struck him. Eragon struggled to close the upper portal without Saphira’s help. The moment he did, pain—endless, mind-numbing pain— ripped open his back. He screamed once and went hoarse from the strength of his cry. His vi-sion flashed with red and yellow, then faded to black as he toppled to his side. Below, he heard Saphira howl with frustration; the staircase was too small and, outside, the wind was too ferocious for her to reach him. His connection with her receded. He surrendered to the waiting darkness as a release from his agony. A sour taste filled Eragon’s mouth when he woke. He did not know how long he had been lying on the floor, but the muscles in his arms and legs were knotted from being curled into a tight ball. The storm still as-sailed the tree, accompanied by a thudding rain that matched the pound-ing in his head. Saphira... ? I’m here. Can you come down? I’ll try. He was too weak to stand on the pitching floor, so he crawled to the stairs and slid down one at a time, wincing with each impact. Halfway down, he encountered Saphira, who had jammed her head and neck as far up the stairs as she could, gouging the wood in her frenzy. Little one.She flicked out her tongue and caught him on the hand with its rough tip. He smiled. Then she arched her neck and tried to pull back, but to no avail. Page 516 What’s wrong? I’m stuck. You’re...He could not help it; he laughed even though it hurt. The situation was too absurd. She snarled and heaved her entire body, shaking the tree with her ef-forts and knocking him over. Then she collapsed, panting. Well, don’t just sit there grinning like an idiot fox. Help me! Fighting the urge to giggle, he put his foot on her nose and pushed as hard as he dared while Saphira twisted and squirmed in an attempt to free herself. It took more than ten minutes before she succeeded. Only then did Er-agon see the full extent of the damage to the stairwell. He groaned. Her scales had cut through the bark and obliterated the delicate patterns grown out from the wood. Oops,said Saphira. At leastyou did it, not me . The elves might forgiveyou. They’d sing dwarf love ballads night and day if you asked them to. He joined Saphira on her dais and huddled against the flat scales of her belly, listening as the storm roared about them. The wide membrane be-came translucent whenever lightning pulsed in jagged shards of light. What time do you think it is? Several hours before we must meet Oromis. Go on, sleep and recover. I will keep guard. He did just that, despite the tree’s churning. WHY DO YOU FIGHT? Oromis’s timepiece buzzed like a giant hornet, blaring in Eragon’s ears until he retrieved the bauble and wound the mechanism. His bashed knee had turned purple, he was sore both from his attack and the elves’ Dance of Snake and Crane, and he could do no more than croak with his ragged throat. The worst injury, though, was his sense of foreboding that this would not be the last time Durza’s wound would trouble him. The prospect sickened him, draining his strength and will. So many weeks passed between attacks,he said, I began to hope that maybe, just maybe, I was healed.... I suppose sheer luck is the only reason I was spared that long. Extending her neck, Saphira nuzzled him on the arm. You know you aren’t alone, little one. I’ll do everything I can to help. He responded with a weak smile. Then she licked his face and added, You should get ready to leave. Page 517 I know.He stared at the floor, unwilling to move, then dragged himself to the wash closet, where he scrubbed himself clean and used magic to shave. He was in the middle of drying himself when he felt a presence touch his mind. Without pausing to think, Eragon began to fortify his mind, concentrating on an image of his big toe to the exclusion of all else. Then he heard Oromis say, Admirable, but unnecessary. Bring Zar’roc with you today . The presence vanished. Eragon released a shaky breath. I need to be more alert, he told Saphira. I would have been at his mercy if he were an enemy. Not with me around. When his ablutions were complete, Eragon unhooked the membrane from the wall and mounted Saphira, cradling Zar’roc in the crook of his arm. Saphira took flight with a rush of air, angling toward the Crags of Tel’naeír. From their high vantage point, they could see the damage that the storm had wreaked on Du Weldenvarden. No trees had fallen in Ellesméra, but farther away, where the elves’ magic was weaker, numerous pines had been knocked over. The remaining wind made the crossed branches and trees rub together, producing a brittle chorus of creaks and groans. Clouds of golden pollen, as thick as dust, streamed out from the trees and flowers. While they flew, Eragon and Saphira exchanged memories of their separate lessons from the day before. He told her what he had learned about ants and the ancient language, and she told him about downdrafts and other dangerous weather patterns and how to avoid them. Thus, when they landed and Oromis interrogated Eragon about Saphira’s lessons and Glaedr interrogated Saphira about Eragon’s, they were able to answer every question. “Very good, Eragon-vodhr.” Aye. Well played, Bjartskular,added Glaedr to Saphira. As before, Saphira was sent off with Glaedr while Eragon remained on the cliffs, although this time he and Saphira were careful to maintain their link so as to absorb each other’s instruction. As the dragons departed, Oromis observed, “Your voice is rougher to-day, Eragon. Are you sick?” “My back hurt again this morning.” “Ah. You have my sympathy.” He motioned with one finger. “Wait here.” Eragon watched as Oromis strode into his hut and then reappeared, looking fierce and warlike with his silver mane rippling in the wind and his bronze sword in hand. “Today,” he said, “we shall forgo the Rimgar and instead cross our two blades, Naegling and Zar’roc. Draw thy sword and guard its edge as your first master taught you.” Eragon wanted nothing more than to refuse. However, he had no inten-tion of breaking his vow or letting his resolve waver in front of Oromis. He swallowed his trepidation. This is what it means to be a Rider, he thought. Page 518 Drawing upon his reserves, he located the nub deep within his mind that connected him to the wild flow of magic. He delved into it, and the energy suffused him. “Gëuloth du knífr,” he said, and a winking blue star popped into existence between his thumb and forefinger, jumping from one to the next as he ran it down Zar’roc’s perilous length. The instant their swords met, Eragon knew that he was as out-matched by Oromis as by Durza and Arya. Eragon was an exemplary human swordsman, but he could not compete with warriors whose blood ran thick with magic. His arm was too weak and his reflexes too slow. Still, that did not stop him from trying to win. He fought to the limits of his abilities, even if, in the end, it was a futile prospect. Oromis tested him in every conceivable manner, forcing Eragon to util-ize his entire arsenal of blows, counterblows, and underhand tricks. It was all for naught. He could not touch the elf. As a last resort, he tried alter-ing his style of fighting, which could unsettle even the most hardened veteran. All it got him was a welt on his thigh. “Move your feet faster,” cried Oromis. “He who stands like a pillar dies in battle. He who bends like a reed is triumphant!” The elf was glorious in action, a perfect blend of control and untamed violence. He pounced like a cat, struck like a heron, and bobbed and wove with the grace of a weasel. They had been sparring for almost twenty minutes when Oromis fal-tered, his narrow features clamped in a brief grimace. Eragon recognized the symptoms of Oromis’s mysterious illness and lashed out with Zar’roc. It was a low thing to do, but Eragon was so frustrated, he was willing to take advantage of any opening, no matter how unfair, just to have the sat-isfaction of marking Oromis at least once. Zar’roc never reached its target. As Eragon twisted, he overextended and strained his back. The pain was upon him without warning. The last thing he heard was Saphira shouting, Eragon! Despite the intensity of the fit, Eragon remained conscious throughout his ordeal. Not that he was aware of his surroundings, only the fire that burned in his flesh and prolonged each second into an eternity. The worst part was that he could do nothing to end his suffering but wait... and wait... Eragon lay panting in the cold mud. He blinked as his vision came into focus and he saw Oromis sitting on a stool next to him. Pushing himself onto his knees, Eragon surveyed his new tunic with a mixture of regret and disgust. The fine russet cloth was caked with dirt from his convul-sions on the ground. Muck filled his hair as well. He could sense Saphira in his mind, radiating concern as she waited for him to notice her. How can you continue like this? she fretted. It’ll destroy you. Her misgivings undermined Eragon’s remaining fortitude. Saphira had never before expressed doubt that he would prevail, not at Dras-Leona, Gil’ead, or Farthen Dûr, nor with any of the dangers they had encoun-tered. Her confidence had given him courage. Without it he was truly afraid. You should concentrate on your lesson,he said. I should concentrate on you. Page 519 Leave me alone!He snapped at her like a wounded animal that wants to nurse its injuries in silence and in dark. She fell silent, leaving just enough of their connection intact so that he was vaguely aware of Glaedr teaching her about fireweed, which she could chew to help her digestion. Eragon combed the mud from his hair with his fingers, then spat out a globule of blood. “Bit my tongue.” Oromis nodded as if it were to be expected. “Do you require healing?” “No.” “Very well. Tend to your sword, then bathe and go to the stump in the glade and listen to the thoughts of the forest. Listen, and when you hear no more, come tell me what you have learned.” “Yes, Master.” As he sat on the stump, Eragon found that his turbulent thoughts and emotions prevented him from mustering the concentration to open his mind and sense the creatures in the hollow. Nor was he interested in doing so. Still, the peaceful quality of his surroundings gradually ameliorated his resentment, confusion, and stubborn anger. It did not make him happy, but it did bring him a certain fatalistic acceptance. This is my lot in life, and I’d better get used to it because it’s not about to improve in the foresee-able future. After a quarter of an hour, his faculties had regained their usual acuity, so he resumed studying the colony of red ants that he had discovered the day before. He also tried to be aware of everything else that was happen-ing in the glade, as Oromis had instructed. Eragon met with limited success. If he relaxed and allowed himself to absorb input from all the consciousnesses nearby, thousands of images and feelings rushed into his head, piling on top of one another in quick flashes of sound and color, touch and smell, pain and pleasure. The amount of information was overwhelming. Out of pure habit, his mind would snatch one subject or another from the torrent, excluding all the rest before he noticed his lapse and wrenched himself back into a state of passive receptivity. The cycle repeated itself every few seconds. Despite that, he was able to improve his understanding of the ants’ world. He got his first clue as to their genders when he deduced that the huge ant in the heart of their underground lair was laying eggs, one every minute or so, which made it—her—a female. And when he accompanied a group of the red ants up the stem of their rosebush, he got a vivid demonstration of the kind of enemies they faced: some thing darted out from underneath a leaf and killed one of the ants he was bound to. It was hard for him to guess exactly what the creature was, since the ants only saw fragments of it and, in any case, they placed more emphasis on smell than vision. If they had been people, he would have said that they were attacked by a terrifying monster the size of a dragon, which had jaws as powerful as the spiked portcullis at Teirm and could move with whip-lash speed. The ants ringed in the monster like grooms working to capture a run-away horse. They darted at it with a total lack of fear, nipping at its knobbed legs and withdrawing an instant before they were caught in the monster’s iron pincers. More and more ants joined the throng. They worked together to overpower the intruder, never faltering, even when two were caught and killed and when several of their brethren fell off the stem to the ground below. Page 520 It was a desperate battle, with neither side willing to give quarter. Only escape or victory would save the combatants from a horrible death. Er-agon followed the fray with breathless anticipation, awed by the ants’ bravery and how they continued to fight in spite of injuries that would incapacitate a human. Their feats were heroic enough to be sung about by bards throughout the land. Eragon was so engrossed by the contest that when the ants finally pre-vailed, he loosed an elated cry so loud, it roused the birds from their roosts among the trees. Out of curiosity, he returned his attention to his own body, then walked to the rosebush to view the dead monster for himself. What he saw was an ordinary brown spider with its legs curled into a fist being transported by the ants down to their nest for food. Amazing. He started to leave, but then realized that once again he had neglected to keep watch over the myriad other insects and animals in the glade. He closed his eyes and whirled through the minds of several dozen beings, doing his best to memorize as many interesting details as he could. It was a poor substitute for prolonged observation, but he was hungry and he had already exhausted his assigned hour. When Eragon rejoined Oromis in his hut, the elf asked, “How went it?” “Master, I could listen night and day for the next twenty years and still not know everything that goes on in the forest.” Oromis raised an eyebrow. “You have made progress.” After Eragon de-scribed what he had witnessed, Oromis said, “But still not enough, I fear. You must work harder, Eragon. I know you can. You are intelligent and persistent, and you have the potential to be a great Rider. As difficult as it is, you have to learn to put aside your troubles and concentrate entirely on the task at hand. Find peace within yourself and let your actions flow from there.” “I’m doing my best.” “No, this isn’t your best. We shall recognize your best when it appears.” He paused thoughtfully. “Perhaps it would help if you had a fellow stu-dent to compete with. Then we might see your best.... I will think on the matter.” From his cupboards, Oromis produced a loaf of freshly baked bread, a wood jar of hazelnut butter—which the elves used in place of actual but-ter—and a pair of bowls that he ladled full of a vegetable stew that had been simmering in a pot hung over a bed of coals in the corner fireplace. Eragon looked at the stew with distaste; he was sick of the elves’ fare. He longed for meat, fish, or fowl, something hearty that he could sink his teeth into, not this endless parade of plants. “Master,” he asked to distract himself, “why do you have me meditate? Is it so that I will understand the doings of the animals and insects, or is there more to it than that?” “Can you think of no other motive?” Oromis sighed when Eragon shook his head. “Always it is thus with my new students, and especially with the human ones; the mind is the last muscle they train or use, and the one that they regard the least. Ask them about swordplay and they can list every blow from a duel a month old, but ask them to solve a problem or make a coherent statement and... well, I would be lucky to get more than a blank stare in return. You are still new to the world of gramarye— as magic is properly called—but you must begin to consider its full im-plications.” Page 521 “How so?” “Imagine for a moment that you are Galbatorix, with all of his vast re-sources at your command. The Varden have destroyed your Urgal army with the help of a rival Dragon Rider, who you know was educated—at least in part—by one of your most dangerous and implacable foes, Brom. You are also aware that your enemies are massing in Surda for a possible invasion. Given that, what would be the easiest way to deal with these various threats, short of flying into battle yourself?” Eragon stirred his stew to cool it while he examined the issue. “It seems to me,” he said slowly, “that the easiest thing would be to train a corps of magicians—they wouldn’t even have to be that powerful—force them to swear loyalty to me in the ancient language, then have them infiltrate Surda to sabotage the Varden’s efforts, poison wells, and assassinate Nasuada, King Orrin, and other key members of the resistance.” “And why hasn’t Galbatorix done this yet?” “Because until now, Surda was of negligible interest to him, and be-cause the Varden have dwelled in Farthen Dûr for decades, where they were able to examine every newcomer’s mind for duplicity, which they can’t do in Surda since its border and population are so large.” “Those are my very conclusions,” said Oromis. “Unless Galbatorix for-sakes his lair in Urû’baen, the greatest danger you’re likely to encounter during the Varden’s campaign will come from fellow magicians. You know as well as I how difficult it is to guard against magic, especially if your opponent has sworn in the ancient language to kill you, no matter the cost. Instead of attempting to first conquer your mind, such a foe will simply cast a spell to obliterate you, even though—in the instant before you are destroyed—you will still be free to retaliate. However, you can-not fell your murderer if you don’t know who or where he is.” “So sometimes you don’t have to bother taking control of your oppo-nent’s mind?” “Sometimes, but it’s a risk to avoid.” Oromis paused to consume a few spoonfuls of stew. “Now, to address the heart of this issue, how do you defend yourself against anonymous enemies who can contravene any physical precautions and slay with a muttered word?” “I don’t see how, unless...” Eragon hesitated, then smiled. “Unless I was aware of the consciousnesses of all the people around me. Then I could sense if they meant me harm.” Oromis appeared pleased by his answer. “Even so, Eragon-finiarel. And that’s the answer to your question. Your meditations condition your mind to find and exploit flaws in your enemies’ mental armor, no matter how small.” “But won’t another magic user know if I touch their mind?” “Aye, they will know, but most people won’t. And as for the magicians, they will know, they will be afraid, and they will shield their minds from you out of their fear, and you will know them because of it.” “Isn’t it dangerous to leave your consciousness unguarded? If you’re at-tacked mentally, you could easily be overwhelmed.” “It’s less dangerous than being blind to the world.” Page 522 Eragon nodded. He tapped his spoon against his bowl in a measured meter of time, engrossed in his thoughts, then said, “It feels wrong.” “Oh? Explain yourself.” “What about people’s privacy? Brom taught me to never intrude in someone’s mind unless it was absolutely necessary.... I guess I’m uncom-fortable with the idea of prying into people’s secrets... secrets that they have every right to keep to themselves.” He cocked his head. “Why didn’t Brom tell me about this if it’s so important? Why didn’t he train me in it himself?” “Brom told you,” said Oromis, “what was appropriate to tell you under the circumstances. Dipping into the pool of minds can prove addictive to those with a malicious personality or a taste for power. It was not taught to prospective Riders—though we had them meditate as you do throughout their training—until we were convinced that they were ma-ture enough to resist temptation. “It is an invasion of privacy, and you will learn many things from it that you never wanted to. However, this is for your own good and the good of the Varden. I can say from experience, and from watching other Riders experience the same, that this, above all else, will help you to understand what drives people. And understanding begets empathy and compassion, even for the meanest beggar in the meanest city of Alagaësia.” They were quiet for a while, eating, then Oromis asked, “Can you tell me, What is the most important mental tool a person can possess?” It was a serious question, and Eragon considered it for a reasonable span before he ventured to say, “Determination.” Oromis tore the loaf in half with his long white fingers. “I can under-stand why you arrived at that conclusion—determination has served you well in your adventures—but no. I meant the tool most necessary to choose the best course of action in any given situation. Determination is as common among men who are dull and foolish as it is among those who are brilliant intellects. So, no, determination cannot be what we’re looking for.” This time Eragon treated the question as he would a riddle, counting the number of words, whispering them out loud to establish whether they rhymed, and otherwise examining them for hidden meaning. The problem was, he was no more than a mediocre riddler and had never placed very high in Carvahall’s annual riddle contest. He thought too lit-erally to work out the answers to riddles that he had not heard before, a legacy of Garrow’s practical upbringing. “Wisdom,” he finally said. “Wisdom is the most important tool for a person to possess.” “A fair guess, but, again, no. The answer is logic. Or, to put it another way, the ability to reason analytically. Applied properly, it can overcome any lack of wisdom, which one only gains through age and experience.” Eragon frowned. “Yes, but isn’t having a good heart more important than logic? Pure logic can lead you to conclusions that are ethically wrong, whereas if you are moral and righteous, that will ensure that you don’t act shamefully.” A razor-thin smile curled Oromis’s lips. “You confuse the issue. All I wanted to know was the most Page 523 useful tool a person can have, regardless of whether that person is good or evil. I agree that it’s important to be of a virtuous nature, but I would also contend that if you had to choose be-tween giving a man a noble disposition or teaching him to think clearly, you’d do better to teach him to think clearly. Too many problems in this world are caused by men with noble dispositions and clouded minds. “History provides us with numerous examples of people who were convinced that they were doing the right thing and committed terrible crimes because of it. Keep in mind, Eragon, that no one thinks of himself as a villain, and few make decisions they think are wrong. A person may dislike his choice, but he will stand by it because, even in the worst cir-cumstances, he believes that it was the best option available to him at the time. “On its own, being a decent person is no guarantee that you will act well, which brings us back to the one protection we have against dema-gogues, tricksters, and the madness of crowds, and our surest guide through the uncertain shoals of life: clear and reasoned thinking. Logic will never fail you, unless you’re unaware of—or deliberately ignore—the consequences of your deeds.” “If elves are so logical,” said Eragon, “then you must all agree on what to do.” “Hardly,” averred Oromis. “Like every race, we adhere to a wide range of tenets, and, as a result, we often arrive at differing conclusions, even in identical situations. Conclusions, I might add, that make logical sense from each person’s point of view. And although I wish it were otherwise, not all elves have trained their minds properly.” “How do you intend to teach me this logic?” Oromis’s smile broadened. “By the oldest and most effective method: debating. I will ask you a question, then you will answer and defend your position.” He waited while Eragon refilled his bowl with stew. “For ex-ample, why do you fight the Empire?” The sudden change of topic caught Eragon off guard. He had a feeling that Oromis had just reached the subject that he had been driving toward all along. “As I said before, to help those who suffer from Galbatorix’s rule and, to a lesser extent, for personal vengeance.” “Then you fight for humanitarian reasons?” “What do you mean?” “That you fight to help the people who Galbatorix has harmed and to stop him from hurting any more.” “Exactly,” said Eragon. “Ah, but answer me this, my young Rider: Won’t your war with Galba-torix cause more pain than it will ever prevent? The majority of people in the Empire live normal, productive lives untouched by their king’s madness. How can you justify invading their land, destroying their homes, and killing their sons and daughters?” Eragon gaped, stunned that Oromis could ask such a question— Galbatorix was evil —and stunned because no easy reply presented itself. He knew that he was in the right, but how could he prove it? “Don’t you believe that Galbatorix should be overthrown?” “That is not the question.” Page 524 “You must believe it, though,” persisted Eragon. “Look what he did to the Riders.” Dunking his bread in his stew, Oromis resumed eating, letting Eragon fume in silence. When he finished, Oromis folded his hands in his lap and asked, “Have I upset you?” “Yes, you have.” “I see. Well then, continue to ponder the matter until you find an answer. I expect it to be a convincing one.” BLACK MORNING GLORY They cleared the table and took the dishes outside, where they cleaned them with sand. Oromis crumbled what remained of the bread around his house for the birds to eat, then they returned inside. Oromis brought out pens and ink for Eragon, and they resumed his education of the Liduen Kvaedhí, the written form of the ancient lan-guage, which was so much more elegant than the humans’ or dwarves’ runes. Eragon lost himself in the arcane glyphs, happy to have a task that required nothing more strenuous than rote memorization. After hours spent bent over the paper sheets, Oromis waved a hand and said, “Enough. We will continue this tomorrow.” Eragon leaned back and rolled his shoulders while Oromis selected five scrolls from their nooks in the wall. “Two of these are in the ancient language, three are in your native tongue. They will help you to master both alphabets, as well as give you valuable information that would be tedious for me to vocal-ize.” “Vocalize?” With unerring accuracy, Oromis’s hand darted out and plucked a mas-sive sixth scroll from the wall, which he added to the pyramid in Eragon’s arms. “This is a dictionary. I doubt you can, but try to read it all.” When the elf opened the door for him to leave, Eragon said, “Master?” “Yes, Eragon?” “When will we start working with magic?” Oromis leaned on one arm against the doorway, caving in on himself as if he no longer possessed the will to remain upright. Then he sighed and said, “You must trust me to guide your training, Eragon. Still, I suppose it would be foolish of me to delay any longer. Come, leave the scrolls on the table, and let us go explore the mysteries of gramarye.” On the greensward before the hut, Oromis stood looking out over the Crags of Tel’naeír, his back to Eragon, his feet shoulder width apart, and his hands clasped in the small of his back. Without turning around, he asked, “What is magic?” “The manipulation of energy through the use of the ancient language.” Page 525 There was a pause before Oromis responded. “Technically, you are cor-rect, and many spellcasters never understand more than that. However, your description fails to capture the essence of magic. Magic is the art of thinking, not strength or language—you already know that a limited vo-cabulary is no obstacle to using magic. As with everything else you must master, magic relies on having a disciplined intellect. “Brom bypassed the normal training regimen and ignored the subtleties of gramarye to ensure that you had the skills you needed to remain alive. I too must distort the regimen in order to focus on the skills that you will likely require in the coming battles. However, whereas Brom taught you the crude mechanics of magic, I will teach you its finer applications, the secrets that were reserved for the wisest of the Riders: how you can kill with no more energy than moving your finger, the method by which you can instantaneously transport an item from one point to another, a spell that will allow you to identify poisons in your food and drink, a variation on scrying that allows you to hear as well as to see, how you can draw energy from your surroundings and thus preserve your own strength, and how you can maximize your strength in every possible way. “These techniques are so potent and dangerous, they were never shared with novice Riders such as yourself, but circumstances demand that I di-vulge them and trust that you won’t abuse them.” Raising his right arm to his side, his hand a hooked claw, Oromis proclaimed, “Adurna!” Eragon watched as a sphere of water coalesced from the brook by the hut and floated through the air until it hovered between Oromis’s out-stretched fingers. The brook was dark and brown under the branches of the forest, but the sphere, removed from it, was as colorless as glass. Flecks of moss, dirt, and other bits of detritus floated inside the orb. Still gazing toward the horizon, Oromis said, “Catch.” He tossed the sphere back over his shoulder toward Eragon. Eragon tried to grab the ball, but as soon as it touched his skin, the wa-ter lost cohesion and splashed across his chest. “Catch it with magic,” said Oromis. Again, he cried, “Adurna!” and a sphere of water gathered itself from the surface of the brook and leaped into his hand like a trained hawk obeying its master. This time Oromis threw the ball without warning. Eragon was pre-pared, though, and said, “Reisa du adurna,” even as he reached for the ball. It slowed to a halt a hairsbreadth from the skin of his palm. “An awkward word choice,” said Oromis, “but workable, nevertheless.” Eragon grinned and whispered, “Thrysta.” The ball reversed its course and sped toward the base of Oromis’s silver head. However, the sphere did not land where Eragon had intended, but rather shot past the elf, whipped around, and flew back at Eragon with increased velocity. The water remained as hard and solid as polished marble when it struck Eragon, producing a dull thunk as it collided with his skull. The blow knocked him sprawling on the turf, where he lay stunned, blinking as pulsing lights swam across the sky. Page 526 “Yes,” said Oromis. “A better word might be letta or kodthr. ” He finally turned to look at Eragon and raised an eyebrow with apparent surprise. “Whatever are you doing? Get up. We can’t lay about all day.” “Yes, Master,” groaned Eragon. When Eragon got back on his feet, Oromis had him manipulate the wa-ter in various ways—shaping it into complex knots, changing the color of light that it absorbed or reflected, and freezing it in certain prescribed se-quences—none of which proved difficult for him. The exercises continued for so long that Eragon’s initial interest faded and was replaced by impatience and puzzlement. He was chary of of-fending Oromis, but he saw no point to what the elf was doing; it was as if Oromis were avoiding any spells that would require him to use more than a minimal amount of strength. I’ve already demonstrated the extent of my skills. Why does he persist in reviewing these fundamentals? He said, “Master, I know all of this. Can we not move on?” The muscles in Oromis’s neck hardened, and his shoulders were like chiseled granite for all they moved; even the elf’s breathing halted before he said, “Will you never learn respect, Eragon-vodhr? So be it!” Then he uttered four words from the ancient language in a voice so deep that their meaning escaped Eragon. Eragon yelped as he felt each of his legs enveloped by pressure up to the knee, squeezing and constricting his calves in such a way that made it impossible for him to walk. His thighs and upper body were free to move, but other than that, it was as if he had been cast in lime mortar. “Free yourself,” said Oromis. Here now was a challenge that Eragon had never dealt with before: how to counter someone else’s spells. He could sever his invisible bonds using one of two different methods. The most effective would be if he knew how Oromis had immobilized him—whether by affecting his body directly or using an external source—for then he could redirect the ele-ment or force to disperse Oromis’s power. Or he could use a generic, vague spell to block whatever Oromis was doing. The downside to the tactic was that it would lead to a direct contest of strength between them. It had to happen sometime, thought Eragon. He entertained no hope of prevailing against an elf. Assembling the required phrase, he said, “Losna kalfya iet.” Release my calves. The surge of energy that deserted Eragon was greater than he had an-ticipated; he went from being moderately tired from the day’s pains and exertions to feeling as if he had hiked over rough terrain since morn. Then the pressure vanished from his legs, causing him to stagger as he re-gained his balance. Oromis shook his head. “Foolish,” he said, “very foolish. If I had com-mitted more to maintaining my spell, that would have killed you. Never use absolutes.” “Absolutes?” “Never word your spells so that only two outcomes are possible: suc-cess or death. If an enemy had trapped your legs and if he were stronger than you, then you would have expended all of your energy trying to break his spell. You would have died with no chance to abort the at-tempt once you realized that it was futile.” Page 527 “How do I avoid that?” asked Eragon. “It’s safer to make the spell a process that you can terminate at your dis-cretion. Instead of saying release my calves, which is an absolute, you could say reduce the magic imprisoning my calves. A bit wordy, but you could then decide how much you wanted your opponent’s spell de-creased and if it were safe to remove it entirely. We will try again.” The pressure returned to Eragon’s legs as soon as Oromis mouthed his inaudible invocation. Eragon was so tired, he doubted that he could pro-vide much opposition. Nevertheless, he reached for the magic. Before the ancient language left Eragon’s mouth, he became aware of a curious sensation as the weight constraining his legs lessened at a steady rate. It tickled and felt like he was being pulled out of a mire of cold, slick mud. He glanced at Oromis and saw the elf’s face scribed by passion, as if he clung to something precious that he could not bear to lose. A vein throbbed at one of Oromis’s temples. When Eragon’s arcane fetters ceased to exist, Oromis recoiled as if he had been pricked by a wasp and stood with his gaze fixed on his two hands, his thin chest heaving. For perhaps a minute, he remained thus, then he drew himself upright and walked to the very edge of the Crags of Tel’naeír, a lone figure outlined against the pale sky. Regret and sorrow welled in Eragon—the same emotions that had gripped him when he first saw Glaedr’s mutilated foreleg. He cursed himself for being so arrogant with Oromis, so oblivious to his infirmities, and for not placing more confidence in the elf’s judgment. I’m not the only one who must deal with past injuries. Eragon had not fully comprehended what it meant when Oromis said that all but the slightest magic escaped his grasp. Now he appreciated the depths of Oromis’s situation and the pain that it must cause him, especially for one of his race, who was born and bred with magic. Eragon went to Oromis, knelt, and bowed in the fashion of the dwarves, pressing his bruised forehead against the ground. “Ebrithil, I beg your pardon.” The elf gave no indication that he had heard. The two of them lingered in their respective positions while the sun declined before them, the birds sang their evening songs, and the air grew cool and moist. From the north came the faint offbeat thumps of Saphira and Glaedr’s wing strokes as they returned for the day. In a low, distant voice, Oromis said, “We will begin anew tomorrow, with this and other subjects.” From his profile, Eragon could tell that Oromis had regained his customary expression of impassive reserve. “Is that agreeable to you?” “Yes, Master,” said Eragon, grateful for the question. “I think it best if, from now on, you endeavor to speak only in the an-cient language. We have little time at our disposal, and this is the fastest way for you to learn.” “Even when I talk to Saphira?” “Even then.” Adopting the elven tongue, Eragon vowed, “Then I will work cease-lessly until I not only think, but dream, in your language.” Page 528 “If you achieve that,” said Oromis, replying in kind, “our venture may yet succeed.” He paused. “Instead of flying directly here in the morning, you will accompany the elf I send to guide you. He will take you to where those of Ellesméra practice swordplay. Stay for an hour, then con-tinue on as normal.” “Won’t you teach me yourself?” asked Eragon, feeling slighted. “I have naught to teach. You are as good a swordsman as ever I have met. I know no more of fighting than you, and that which I possess and you do not, I cannot give you. All that remains for you is to preserve your current level of skill.” “Why can’t I do that with you... Master?” “Because I do not appreciate beginning the day with alarum and con-flict.” He looked at Eragon, then relented and added, “And because it will be good for you to become acquainted with others who live here. I am not representative of my race. But enough of that. Look, they approach.” The two dragons glided across the flat disk of the sun. First came Glaedr with a roar of wind, blotting out the sky with his massive bulk before he settled on the grass and folded his golden wings, then Saphira, as quick and agile as a sparrow beside an eagle. As they had that morning, Oromis and Glaedr asked a number of ques-tions to ensure that Eragon and Saphira had paid attention to each other’s lessons. They had not always, but by cooperating and sharing information between themselves, they were able to answer all of the questions. Their only stumbling block was the foreign language they were required to communicate in. Better,rumbled Glaedr afterward. Much better. He bent his gaze toward Eragon. You and I will have to train together soon. “Of course, Skulblaka.” The old dragon snorted and crawled alongside Oromis, half hopping with his front leg to compensate for his missing limb. Darting forward, Saphira nipped at the end of Glaedr’s tail, tossing it into the air with a flip of her head, like she would to break the neck of a deer. She recoiled as Glaedr twisted round and snapped at her neck, exposing his enormous fangs. Eragon winced and, too late, covered his ears to protect them from Glaedr’s roar. The speed and intensity of Glaedr’s response suggested to Eragon that this was not the first time Saphira had annoyed him through-out the day. Instead of remorse, Eragon detected an excited playfulness in her—like a child with a new toy—and a near-blind devotion to the other dragon. “Contain yourself, Saphira!” said Oromis. Saphira pranced backward and settled on her haunches, though nothing in her demeanor expressed contrition. Eragon muttered a feeble excuse, and Oromis waved a hand and said, “Begone, both of you.” Without arguing, Eragon scrambled onto Saphira. He had to urge her to take flight, and once she did, she insisted on circling over the clearing three times before he got her to angle toward Ellesméra. What possessed you to bite him?he demanded. He thought he knew, but he wanted her to confirm it. I was only playing. Page 529 It was the truth, since they spoke in the ancient language, yet he sus-pected that it was but a piece of a larger truth. Yes, and at what game? She tensed underneath him. You forget your duty. By... He searched for the right word. Unable to find it, he reverted to his native speech, By pro-voking Glaedr, you distract him, Oromis, and me—and hinder what we must accomplish. You’ve never been so thoughtless before. Do not presume to be my conscience. He laughed then, heedless for a moment of where he sat among the clouds, rolling to his side until he almost dropped from the peak of her shoulders. Oh, rich irony that, after the times you’ve told me what to do. I am your conscience, Saphira, as much as you are mine. You’ve had good reason to chastise and warn me in the past, and now I must do the same for you: stop pestering Glaedr with your attentions. She remained silent. Saphira? I hear you. I hope so. After a minute of peaceful flying, she said, Two seizures in one day. How are you now? Sore and ill.He grimaced. Some of it’s from the Rimgar and sparring, but mostly it’s the aftereffects of the pain. It’s like a poison, weakening my mus-cles and clouding my mind. I just hope that I can remain sane long enough to reach the end of this training. Afterward, though... I don’t know what I’ll do. I certainly can’t fight for the Varden like this. Don’t think about it,she counseled. You can do nothing about your con-dition, and you’ll only make yourself feel worse. Live in the present, remem-ber the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn’t exist and never shall. There is only now. He patted her shoulder and smiled with resigned gratitude. To their right, a goshawk rode a warm air current while it patrolled the broken forest for signs of furred or feathered quarry. Eragon watched it, ponder-ing the question that Oromis had given him: How could he justify fight-ing the Empire when it would cause so much grief and agony? I have an answer,said Saphira. What is it? That Galbatorix has...She hesitated, then said, No, I won’t tell you. You should figure this out for yourself. Saphira! Be reasonable. I am. If you don’t know why what we do is the right thing, you might as well surrender to Galbatorix for all the good you’ll do.No matter how elo-quent his pleas, he could extract nothing more from her, for she blocked him from that part of her mind. Page 530 Back in their eyrie, Eragon ate a light supper and was just about to open one of Oromis’s scrolls when a knock on the screen door disturbed his quiet. “Enter,” he said, hoping that Arya had returned to see him. She had. Arya greeted Eragon and Saphira, then said, “I thought that you might appreciate an opportunity to visit Tialdarí Hall and the adjacent gardens, since you expressed interest in them yesterday. That is, if you aren’t too tired.” She wore a flowing red kirtle trimmed and decorated with intri-cate designs wrought in black thread. The color scheme echoed the queen’s robes and emphasized the strong resemblance between mother and daughter. Eragon pushed aside the scrolls. “I’d be delighted to see them.” He meanswe’d be delighted, added Saphira. Arya looked surprised when both of them spoke in the ancient lan-guage, so Eragon explained Oromis’s command. “An excellent idea,” said Arya, joining them in the same language. “And it is more appropriate to speak thus while you stay here.” When all three of them had descended from the tree, Arya directed them westward toward an unfamiliar quadrant of Ellesméra. They en-countered many elves on the path, all of whom stopped to bow to Saphira. Eragon noticed once again that no elf children were to be seen. He mentioned this to Arya, and she said, “Aye, we have few children. Only two are in Ellesméra at the present, Dusan and Alanna. We treasure chil-dren above all else because they are so rare. To have a child is the greatest honor and responsibility that can be bestowed upon any living being.” At last they arrived at a ribbed lancet arch—grown between two trees—which served as the entrance for a wide compound. Still in the ancient language, Arya chanted, “Root of tree, fruit of vine, let me pass by this blood of mine.” The two archway doors trembled, then swung outward, releasing five monarch butterflies that fluttered toward the dusky sky. Through the archway lay a vast flower garden arranged to look as pristine and natural as a wild meadow. The one element that betrayed artifice was the sheer variety of plants; many of the species were blooming out of season, or came from hotter or colder climates and would never have flourished without the elves’ magic. The scene was lit with the gemlike flameless lanterns, augmented by constellations of swirling fireflies. To Saphira, Arya said, “Mind your tail, that it does not sweep across the beds.” Advancing, they crossed the garden and pressed deep into a line of scat-tered trees. Before Eragon quite knew where he was, the trees became more numerous and then thickened into a wall. He found himself stand-ing on the threshold of a burnished wood hall without ever being con-scious of having gone inside. The hall was warm and homey—a place of peace, reflection, and com-fort. Its shape was determined by the tree trunks, which on the inside of the hall had been stripped of their bark, polished, and rubbed Page 531 with oil until the wood gleamed like amber. Regular gaps between the trunks acted as windows. The scent of crushed pine needles perfumed the air. A number of elves occupied the hall, reading, writing, and, in one dark cor-ner, playing a set of reed pipes. They all paused and inclined their heads to acknowledge Saphira’s presence. “Here you would stay,” said Arya, “were you not Rider and dragon.” “It’s magnificent,” replied Eragon. Arya guided him and Saphira everywhere in the compound that was accessible to dragons. Each new room was a surprise; no two were alike, and each chamber found different ways to incorporate the forest in its construction. In one room, a silver brook trickled down the gnarled wall and flowed across the floor on a vein of pebbles and back out under the sky. In another, creepers blanketed the entire room, except for the floor, in a leafy green pelt adorned with trumpet-shaped flowers with the most delicate pink and white colors. Arya called it the Lianí Vine. They saw many great works of art, from fairths and paintings to sculp-tures and radiant mosaics of stained glass—all based on the curved shapes of plants and animals. Islanzadí met with them for a short time in an open pavilion joined to two other buildings by covered pathways. She inquired about the pro-gress of Eragon’s training and the state of his back, both of which he de-scribed with brief, polite phrases. This seemed to satisfy the queen, who exchanged a few words with Saphira and then departed. In the end, they returned to the garden. Eragon walked beside Arya— Saphira trailing behind—entranced by the sound of her voice as she told him about the different varieties of flowers, where they originated, how they were maintained, and, in many instances, how they had been altered with magic. She also pointed out the flowers that only opened their pet-als during the night, like a white datura. “Which one is your favorite?” he asked. Arya smiled and escorted him to a tree on the edge of the garden, by a pond lined with rushes. Around the tree’s lowest branch coiled a morning glory with three velvety black blossoms that were clenched shut. Blowing on them, Arya whispered, “Open.” The petals rustled as they unfurled, fanning their inky robes to expose the hoard of nectar in their centers. A starburst of royal blue filled the flowers’ throats, diffusing into the sable corolla like the vestiges of day into night. “Is it not the most perfect and lovely flower?” asked Arya. Eragon gazed at her, exquisitely aware of how close they were, and said, “Yes... it is.” Before his courage deserted him, he added, “As are you.” Eragon!exclaimed Saphira. Arya fixed her eyes upon him, studying him until he was forced to look away. When he dared face her again, he was mortified to see her wearing a faint smile, as if amused by his reaction. “You are too kind,” Page 532 she mur-mured. Reaching up, she touched the rim of a blossom and glanced from it to him. “Fäolin created this especially for me one summer solstice, long ago.” He shuffled his feet and responded with a few unintelligible words, hurt and offended that she did not take his compliment more seriously. He wished he could turn invisible, and even considered trying to cast a spell that would allow him to do just that. In the end, he drew himself upright and said, “Please excuse us, Arya Svit-kona, but it is late, and we must return to our tree.” Her smile deepened. “Of course, Eragon. I understand.” She accompa-nied them to the main archway, opened the doors for them, and said, “Good night, Saphira. Good night, Eragon.” Good night,replied Saphira. Despite his embarrassment, Eragon could not help asking, “Will we see you tomorrow?” Arya tilted her head. “I think I shall be busy tomorrow.” Then the doors closed, cutting off his view of her as she returned to the main compound. Crouching low on the path, Saphira nudged Eragon in the side. Stop daydreaming and get on my back. Climbing up her left foreleg, he took his usual place, then clutched the neck spike in front of him as Saphira rose to her full height. After a few steps: How can you criticize my behav-ior with Glaedr and then go and do something like that? What were you thinking? You know how I feel about her,he grumbled. Pah! If you are my conscience and I am yours, then it’s my duty to tell you when you’re acting like a deluded popinjay. You’re not using logic, like Oromis keeps telling us to. What do you really expect to happen between you and Arya? She’s a princess! And I’m a Rider. She’s an elf; you’re a human! I look more like an elf every day. Eragon, she’s over a hundred years old! I’ll live as long as her or any elf. Ah, but you haven’t yet, and that’s the problem. You can’t overcome such a vast difference. She’s a grown woman with a century of experience, while you’re— What? What am I?he snarled. A child? Is that what you mean? No, not a child. Not after what you have seen and done since we were joined. But you are young, even by the reckoning of your short-lived race— much less by that of the dwarves, dragons, and elves. As are you. Page 533 His retort silenced her for a minute. Then: I’m just trying to protect you, Eragon. That’s all. I want you to be happy, and I’m afraid you won’t be if you insist on pursuing Arya. The two of them were about to retire when they heard the trapdoor in the vestibule bang open and the jingle of mail as someone climbed inside. Zar’roc in hand, Eragon threw back the screen door, ready to confront the intruder. His hand dropped as he saw Orik on the floor. The dwarf took a hearty draught from the bottle he wielded in his left hand, then squinted at Er-agon. “Bricks and bones, where be you? Ah, there you shtand. I wondered where you were. Couldn’t find you, so I thought that given this fine do-lorous night, I might go find you... and here you are! What shall we talk about, you and I, now that we’re together in this delectable bird’s nest?” Taking hold of the dwarf’s free arm, Eragon pulled him upright, sur-prised, as he always was, by how dense Orik was, like a miniature boul-der. When Eragon removed his support, Orik swayed from one side to the other, achieving such precarious angles that he threatened to topple at the slightest provocation. “Come on in,” said Eragon in his own language. He closed the trapdoor. “You’ll catch cold out here.” Orik blinked his round, deep-set eyes at Eragon. “I’ve not sheen you round my leafy exile, no I haven’t. You’ve abandoned me to the company of elves... and misherable, dull company they are, yesh indeed.” A touch of guilt made Eragon disguise himself with an awkward smile. He had forgotten the dwarf amid the goings-on. “I’m sorry I haven’t vis-ited you, Orik, but my studies have kept me busy. Here, give me your cloak.” As he helped the dwarf out of his brown mantle, he asked, “What are you drinking?” “Faelnirv,” declared Orik. “A mosht wonderful, ticklish potion. The besht and greatest of the elves’ tricksty inventions; it gives you the gift of loquacion. Words float from your tongue like shoals of flapping min-nows, like flocks of breathlessh hummingbirds, like rivers of writhing shnakes.” He paused, apparently taken by the unique magnificence of his similes. As Eragon ushered him into the bedroom, Orik saluted Saphira with his bottle and said, “Greetings, O Irontooth. May your shcales shine as bright as the coals of Morgothal’s forge.” Greetings, Orik,said Saphira, laying her head on the rim of her bed. What has put you in this state? It is not like you. Eragon repeated her question. “What has put me in mine shtate?” repeated Orik. He dropped into the chair that Eragon provided—his feet dangling several inches above the ground—and began to shake his head. “Red cap, green cap, elves here and elves there. I drown in elvesh and their thrice-damned courtesy. Bloodless they be. Taciturn they are. Yesh sir, no shir, three bagsh full, sir, yet nary a pip more can I extract.” He looked at Eragon with a mournful expres-sion. “What am I to do while you meander through your instruction? Am I to sit and twiddle mine thumbs while I turn to shtone and join the shpirits of mine anshestors? Tell me, O sagacious Rider.” Have you no skills or hobbies that you might occupy yourself with?asked Saphira. “Aye,” said Orik. “I’m a fair enough smith by any who’d care to judge. But why should I craft bright armsh and armor for those who treasure them not? I’m usheless here. As usheless as a three-legged Feldûnost.” Page 534 Eragon extended a hand toward the bottle. “May I?” Orik glanced be-tween him and the bottle, then grimaced and gave it up. The faelnirv was cold as ice as it ran down Eragon’s throat, stinging and smarting. He blinked as his eyes watered. After he indulged in a second quaff, he passed the bottle back to Orik, who seemed disappointed by how little of the concoction remained. “And what mischief,” asked Orik, “have you two managed to ferret out of Oromis and yon bucolic woods?” The dwarf alternately chuckled and groaned as Eragon described his training, his misplaced blessing in Farthen Dûr, the Menoa tree, his back, and all else that had filled the past few days. Eragon ended with the topic that was dearest to him at the moment: Arya. Emboldened by the li-queur, he confessed his affection for her and described how she had dis-missed his advance. Wagging a finger, Orik said, “The rock beneath you is flawed, Eragon. Don’t tempt fate. Arya...” He stopped, then growled and took another gulp of faelnirv. “Ah, it’s too late for thish. Who am I to say what is wis-dom and what isn’t?” Saphira had closed her eyes a while ago. Without opening them, she asked, Are you married, Orik? The question surprised Eragon; he had never stopped to wonder about Orik’s personal life. “Eta,” said Orik. “Although I’m promished to fair Hvedra, daughter of Thorgerd One-eye and Himinglada. We were to be wed thish spring, un-til the Urgals attacked and Hrothgar sent me on this accursed trip.” “Is she of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum?” asked Eragon. “Of coursh!” roared Orik, pounding his fist on the side of the chair. “Thinkest thou I would marry outside my clan? She’s the granddaughter of mine aunt Vardrûn, Hrothgar’s coushin twice removed, with white, round calves as smooth as satin, cheeks as red as apples, and the pretti-esht dwarf maid who ever did exist.” Undoubtedly,said Saphira. “I’m sure it won’t be long before you see her again,” said Eragon. “Hmph.” Orik squinted at Eragon. “Do you believe in giants? Tall giants, shtrong giants, thick and bearded giants with fingers like spadeses?” “I’ve never seen nor heard of them,” said Eragon, “except in stories. If they do exist, it’s not in Alagaësia.” “Ah, but they do! They do!” exclaimed Orik, waving the bottle about his head. “Tell me, O Rider, if a fearshome giant were to meet you on the garden path, what might he call you, if not dinner?” “Eragon, I would presume.” “No, no. He’d call you a dwarf, for dwarf you’d be to him.” Orik guf-fawed and nudged Eragon in the ribs with his hard elbow. “See you now? Humans and elvesh are the giants. The land’s full of them, here, there, and everywhere, stomping about with their big feet and casting us in endless shadowses.” He continued laughing, rocking back in his chair until it tipped over and he fell to the floor with a solid thump. Page 535 Helping him upright, Eragon said, “I think you’d better stay here for the night. You’re in no condition to go down those stairs in the dark.” Orik agreed with cheery indifference. He allowed Eragon to remove his mail and bundle him onto one side of the bed. Afterward, Eragon sighed, covered the lights, and lay on his side of the mattress. He fell asleep hearing the dwarf mutter, “... Hvedra... Hvedra... Hvedra...” THE NATURE OF EVIL Bright morning arrived all too soon. Jolted to awareness by the buzz of the vibrating timepiece, Eragon grabbed his hunting knife and sprang out of bed, expecting an attack. He gasped as his body shrieked with protest from the abuse of the past two days. Blinking away tears, Eragon rewound the timepiece. Orik was gone; the dwarf must have slipped away in the wee hours of the morning. With a groan, Eragon hobbled to the wash closet for his daily ablutions, like an old man afflicted by rheumatism. He and Saphira waited by the tree for ten minutes before they were met by a solemn, black-haired elf. The elf bowed, touched two fingers to his lips—which Eragon mirrored—and then preempted Eragon by saying, “May good fortune rule over you.” “And may the stars watch over you,” replied Eragon. “Did Oromis send you?” The elf ignored him and said to Saphira, “Well met, dragon. I am Vanir of House Haldthin.” Eragon scowled with annoyance. Well met, Vanir. Only then did the elf address Eragon: “I will show you where you may practice with your blade.” He strode away, not waiting for Eragon to catch up. The sparring yard was dotted with elves of both sexes fighting in pairs and groups. Their extraordinary physical gifts resulted in flurries of blows so quick and fast, they sounded like bursts of hail striking an iron bell. Under the trees that fringed the yard, individual elves performed the Rimgar with more grace and flexibility than Eragon thought he would ever achieve. After everyone on the field stopped and bowed to Saphira, Vanir un-sheathed his narrow blade. “If you will guard your sword, Silver Hand, we can begin.” Eragon eyed the inhuman swordsmanship of the other elves with trepi dation. Why do I have to do this? he asked. I’ll just be humiliated. You’ll be fine,said Saphira, yet he could sense her concern for him. Right. Page 536 As he prepared Zar’roc, Eragon’s hands trembled with dread. Instead of throwing himself into the fray, he fought Vanir from a distance, dodging, sidestepping, and doing everything possible to avoid triggering another fit. Despite Eragon’s evasions, Vanir touched him four times in rapid succes-sion—once each on his ribs, shin, and both shoulders. Vanir’s initial expression of stoic impassivity soon devolved into open contempt. Dancing forward, he slid his blade up Zar’roc’s length while at the same time twirling Zar’roc in a circle, wrenching Eragon’s wrist. Er-agon allowed Zar’roc to fly out of his hand rather than resist the elf’s su-perior strength. Vanir dropped his sword onto Eragon’s neck and said, “Dead.” Shrug-ging off the sword, Eragon trudged over to retrieve Zar’roc. “Dead,” said Vanir. “How do you expect to defeat Galbatorix like this? I expected better, even from a weakling human.” “Then why don’t you fight Galbatorix yourself instead of hiding in Du Weldenvarden?” Vanir stiffened with outrage. “Because,” he said, cool and haughty, “I’m not a Rider. And if I were, I would not be such a coward as you.” No one moved or spoke on the field. His back to Vanir, Eragon leaned on Zar’roc and craned his neck to-ward the sky, snarling to himself. He knows nothing. This is just one more test to overcome. “Coward, I say. Your blood is as thin as the rest of your race’s. I think that Saphira was confused by Galbatorix’s wiles and made the wrong choice of Rider.” The spectating elves gasped at Vanir’s words and mut-tered among themselves with open disapproval for his atrocious breach of etiquette. Eragon ground his teeth. He could stand insults to himself, but not to Saphira. She was already moving when his pent-up frustration, fear, and pain burst within him and he whirled around, the tip of Zar’roc whistling through the air. The blow would have killed Vanir had he not blocked it at the last second. He looked surprised by the ferocity of the attack. Holding noth-ing in reserve, Eragon drove Vanir to the center of the field, jabbing and slashing like a madman—determined to hurt the elf however he could. He nicked Vanir on the hip with enough force to draw blood, even with Zar’roc’s blunted edge. At that instant, Eragon’s back ruptured in an explosion of agony so in-tense, he experienced it with all five senses: as a deafening, crashing wa-terfall of sound; a metallic taste that coated his tongue; an acrid, eye-watering stench in his nostrils, redolent of vinegar; pulsing colors; and, above all, the feeling that Durza had just laid open his back. He could see Vanir standing over him with a derisive sneer. It occurred to Eragon that Vanir was very young. After the seizure, Eragon wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand and showed it to Vanir, asking, “Thin enough?” Vanir did not deign to respond, but rather sheathed his sword and walked away. “Where are you going?” demanded Eragon. “We have unfinished busi-ness, you and I.” “You are in no fit condition to spar,” scoffed the elf. Page 537 “Try me.” Eragon might be inferior to the elves, but he refused to give them the satisfaction of fulfilling their low expectations of him. He would earn their respect through sheer persistence, if nothing else. He insisted on completing Oromis’s assigned hour, after which Saphira marched up to Vanir and touched him on the chest with the point of one of her ivory talons. Dead, she said. Vanir paled. The other elves edged away from him. Once they were in the air, Saphira said, Oromis was right. About what? You give more of yourself when you have an opponent. At Oromis’s hut, the day resumed its usual pattern: Saphira accompa-nied Glaedr for her instruction while Eragon remained with Oromis. Eragon was horrified when he discovered that Oromis expected him to do the Rimgar in addition to his earlier exercises. It took all of his courage to obey. His apprehension proved groundless, though, for the Dance of Snake and Crane was too gentle to injure him. That, coupled with his meditation in the secluded glade, provided Er-agon with his first opportunity since the previous day to order his thoughts and consider the question that Oromis had posed him. While he did, he observed his red ants invade a smaller, rival anthill, overrunning the inhabitants and stealing their resources. By the end of the massacre, only a handful of the rival ants were left alive, alone and pur-poseless in the vast and hostile pine-needle barrens. Like the dragons in Alagaësia,thought Eragon. His connection to the ants vanished as he considered the dragons’ unhappy fate. Bit by bit, an answer to his problem revealed itself to him, an answer that he could live with and believe in. He finished his meditations and returned to the hut. This time Oromis seemed reasonably satisfied with what Eragon had accomplished. As Oromis served the midday meal, Eragon said, “I know why fighting Galbatorix is worth it, though thousands of people may die.” “Oh?” Oromis seated himself. “Do tell me.” “Because Galbatorix has already caused more suffering over the past hundred years than we ever could in a single generation. And unlike a normal tyrant, we cannot wait for him to die. He could rule for centuries or millennia—persecuting and tormenting people the entire time—unless we stop him. If he became strong enough, he would march on the dwarves and you here in Du Weldenvarden and kill or enslave both races. And...,” Eragon rubbed the heel of his palm against the edge of the table, “... because rescuing the two eggs from Galbatorix is the only way to save the dragons.” The strident warble of Oromis’s teakettle intruded, escalating in vol-ume until Eragon’s ears rang. Standing, Oromis hooked the kettle off the cookfire and poured the water for blueberry tea. The creases around his eyes softened. “Now,” he said, “you understand.” Page 538 “I understand, but I take no pleasure in it.” “Nor should you. But now we can be confident that you won’t shrink from the path when you are confronted by the injustices and atrocities that the Varden will inevitably commit. We cannot afford to have you consumed by doubts when your strength and focus are most needed.” Oromis steepled his fingers and gazed into the dark mirror of his tea, con-templating whatever he saw in its tenebrous reflection. “Do you believe that Galbatorix is evil?” “Of course!” “Do you believe that he considers himself evil?” “No, I doubt it.” Oromis tapped his forefingers against each other. “Then you must also believe that Durza was evil?” The fragmented memories Eragon had gleaned from Durza when they fought in Tronjheim returned to him now, reminding him how the young Shade—Carsaib, then—had been enslaved by the wraiths he had sum-moned to avenge the death of his mentor, Haeg. “He wasn’t evil himself, but the spirits that controlled him were.” “And what of the Urgals?” asked Oromis, sipping his tea. “Are they evil?” Eragon’s knuckles whitened as he gripped his spoon. “When I think of death, I see an Urgal’s face. They’re worse than beasts. The things they have done...” He shook his head, unable to continue. “Eragon, what kind of opinion would you form of humans if all you knew of them were the actions of your warriors on the field of battle?” “That’s not...” He took a deep breath. “It’s different. Urgals deserve to be wiped out, every last one of them.” “Even their females and children? The ones who haven’t harmed you and likely never will? The innocents? Would you kill them and condemn an entire race to the void?” “They wouldn’t spare us, given the chance.” “Eragon!” exclaimed Oromis in biting tones. “I never want to hear you use that excuse again, that because someone else has done—or would do—something means that you should too. It’s lazy, repugnant, and in-dicative of an inferior mind. Am I clear?” “Yes, Master.” The elf raised his mug to his lips and drank, his bright eyes fixed on Er-agon the entire time. “What do you actually know of Urgals?” “I know their strengths, weaknesses, and how to kill them. It’s all I need to know.” “Why do they hate and fight humans, though? What about their history and legends, or the way in which they live?” Page 539 “Does it matter?” Oromis sighed. “Just remember,” he said gently, “that at a certain point, your enemies may have to become your allies. Such is the nature of life.” Eragon resisted the urge to argue. He swirled his own tea in its mug, ac-celerating the liquid into a black whirlpool with a white lens of foam at the bottom of the vortex. “Is that why Galbatorix enlisted the Urgals?” “That is not an example I would have chosen, but yes.” “It seems strange that he befriended them. After all, they were the ones who killed his dragon. Look what he did to us, the Riders, and we weren’t even responsible for his loss.” “Ah,” said Oromis, “mad Galbatorix may be, but he’s still as cunning as a fox. I guess that he intended to use the Urgals to destroy the Varden and the dwarves—and others, if he had triumphed in Farthen Dûr— thereby removing two of his enemies while simultaneously weakening the Urgals so that he could dispose of them at his leisure.” Study of the ancient language devoured the afternoon, whereupon they took up the practice of magic. Much of Oromis’s lectures concerned the proper way in which to control various forms of energy, such as light, heat, electricity, and even gravity. He explained that since these forces consumed strength faster than any other type of spell, it was safer to find them already in existence in nature and then shape them with gramarye, instead of trying to create them from nothing. Abandoning the subject, Oromis asked, “How would you kill with magic?” “I’ve done it many ways,” said Eragon. “I’ve hunted with a pebble— moving and aiming it with magic—as well as using the word jierda to break Urgals’ legs and necks. Once, with thrysta, I stopped a man’s heart.” “There are more efficient methods,” revealed Oromis. “What does it take to kill a man, Eragon? A sword through the chest? A broken neck? The loss of blood? All it takes is for a single artery in the brain to be pinched off, or for certain nerves to be severed. With the right spell, you could obliterate an army.” “I should have thought of that in Farthen Dûr,” said Eragon, disgusted with himself. Not just Farthen Dûr either, but also when the Kull chased us from the Hadarac Desert. “Again, why didn’t Brom teach me this?” “Because he did not expect you to face an army for months or years to come; it is not a tool given to untested Riders.” “If it’s so easy to kill people, though, what’s the point of us or Galba-torix raising an army?” “To be succinct, tactics. Magicians are vulnerable to physical attack when they are embroiled in their mental struggles. Therefore, they need warriors to protect them. And the warriors must be shielded, at least in part, from magical attacks, else they would be slain within minutes. These limitations mean that when armies confront one another, their magicians are scattered throughout the bulk of their forces, close to the edge but not so close as to be in danger. The magicians on both sides open their minds and attempt to sense if anyone is using or is about to use magic. Since their enemies might be beyond their mental reach, ma-gicians also erect wards around themselves and their warriors to stop or lessen Page 540 long-range attacks, such as a pebble sent flying toward their head from a mile away.” “Surely one man can’t defend an entire army,” said Eragon. “Not alone, but with enough magicians, you can provide a reasonable amount of protection. The greatest danger in this sort of conflict is that a clever magician may think of a unique attack that can bypass your wards without tripping them. That itself could be enough to decide a battle. “Also,” said Oromis, “you must keep in mind that the ability to use magic is exceedingly rare among the races. We elves are no exception, although we have a greater allotment of spellweavers than most, as a re-sult of oaths we bound ourselves with centuries ago. The majority of those blessed with magic have little or no appreciable talent; they strug-gle to heal even so much as a bruise.” Eragon nodded. He had encountered magicians like that in the Varden. “But it still takes the same amount of energy to accomplish a task.” “Energy, yes, but lesser magicians find it harder than you or I do to feel the flow of magic and immerse themselves in it. Few magicians are strong enough to pose a threat to an entire army. And those who are usually spend the bulk of their time during battles evading, tracking, or fighting their opposites, which is fortunate from the standpoint of ordinary war-riors, else they would all soon be killed.” Troubled, Eragon said, “The Varden don’t have many magicians.” “That is one reason why you are so important.” A moment passed as Eragon reflected on what Oromis had told him. “These wards, do they only drain energy from you when they are acti-vated?” “Aye.” “Then, given enough time, you could acquire countless layers of wards. You could make yourself...” He struggled with the ancient language as he attempted to express himself. “... untouchable?... impregnable?... impreg-nable to any assault, magical or physical.” “Wards,” said Oromis, “rely upon the strength of your body. If that strength is exceeded, you die. No matter how many wards you have, you will only be able to block attacks so long as your body can sustain the output of energy.” “And Galbatorix’s strength has been increasing each year.... How is that possible?” It was a rhetorical question, yet when Oromis remained silent, his al-mond eyes fixed on a trio of swallows pirouetting overhead, Eragon real-ized that the elf was considering how best to answer him. The birds chased each other for several minutes. When they flitted from view, Oromis said, “It is not appropriate to have this discussion at the present.” “Then you know?” exclaimed Eragon, astonished. “I do. But that information must wait until later in your training. You are not ready for it.” Oromis looked at Eragon, as if expecting him to ob-ject. Eragon bowed. “As you wish, Master.” He could never prize the infor-mation out of Oromis until the elf Page 541 was willing to share it, so why try? Still, he wondered what could be so dangerous that Oromis dared not tell him, and why the elves had kept it secret from the Varden. Another thought presented itself to him, and he said, “If battles with magicians are conducted like you said, then why did Ajihad let me fight without wards in Farthen Dûr? I didn’t even know that I needed to keep my mind open for enemies. And why didn’t Arya kill most or all of the Urgals? No ma-gicians were there to oppose her except for Durza, and he couldn’t have defended his troops when he was underground.” “Did not Ajihad have Arya or one of Du Vrangr Gata set defenses around you?” demanded Oromis. “No, Master.” “And you fought thus?” “Yes, Master.” Oromis’s eyes unfocused, withdrawing into himself as he stood mo-tionless on the greensward. He spoke without warning: “I have consulted Arya, and she says that the Twins of the Varden were ordered to assess your abilities. They told Ajihad you were competent in all magic, includ-ing wards. Neither Ajihad nor Arya doubted their judgment on that mat-ter.” “Those smooth-tongued, bald-pated, tick-infested, treacherous dogs,” swore Eragon. “They tried to get me killed!” Reverting to his own lan-guage, he indulged in several more pungent oaths. “Do not befoul the air,” said Oromis mildly. “It ill becomes you.... In any case, I suspect the Twins allowed you into battle unprotected not so you would be killed, but so that Durza could capture you.” “What?” “By your own account, Ajihad suspected that the Varden had been be-trayed when Galbatorix began persecuting their allies in the Empire with near-perfect accuracy. The Twins were privy to the identities of the Varden’s collaborators. Also, the Twins lured you to the heart of Tron-jheim, thereby separating you from Saphira and placing you within Durza’s reach. That they were traitors is the logical explanation.” “If they were traitors,” said Eragon, “it doesn’t matter now; they’re long dead.” Oromis inclined his head. “Even so. Arya said that the Urgals did have magicians in Farthen Dûr and that she fought many of them. None of them attacked you?” “No, Master.” “More evidence that you and Saphira were left for Durza to capture and take to Galbatorix. The trap was well laid.” Over the next hour, Oromis taught Eragon twelve methods to kill, none of which took more energy than lifting an ink-laden pen. As he fin-ished memorizing the last one, a thought struck Eragon that caused him to grin. “The Ra’zac won’t stand a chance the next time they cross my path.” “You must still be wary of them,” cautioned Oromis. “Why? Three words and they’ll be dead.” Page 542 “What do ospreys eat?” Eragon blinked. “Fish, of course.” “And if a fish were slightly faster and more intelligent than its brethren, would it be able to escape a hunting osprey?” “I doubt it,” said Eragon. “At least not for very long.” “Just as ospreys are designed to be the best possible hunters of fish, wolves are designed to be the best hunters of deer and other large game, and every animal is gifted to best suit its purpose. So too are the Ra’zac designed to prey upon humans. They are the monsters in the dark, the dripping nightmares that haunt your race.” The back of Eragon’s neck prickled with horror. “What manner of crea-tures are they?” “Neither elf; man; dwarf; dragon; furred, finned, or feathered beast; rep-tile; insect; nor any other category of animal.” Eragon forced a laugh. “Are they plants, then?” “Nor that either. They reproduce by laying eggs, like dragons. When they hatch, the young—or pupae—grow black exoskeletons that mimic the human form. It’s a grotesque imitation, but convincing enough to let the Ra’zac approach their victims without undo alarm. All areas where humans are weak, the Ra’zac are strong. They can see on a cloudy night, track a scent like a bloodhound, jump higher, and move faster. However, bright light pains them and they have a morbid fear of deep water, for they cannot swim. Their greatest weapon is their evil breath, which fogs the minds of humans—incapacitating many—though it is less potent on dwarves, and elves are immune altogether.” Eragon shivered as he remembered his first sight of the Ra’zac in Car-vahall and how he had been unable to flee once they noticed him. “It felt like a dream where I wanted to run but I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried.” “As good a description as any,” said Oromis. “Though the Ra’zac cannot use magic, they are not to be underestimated. If they know that you hunt them, they will not reveal themselves but keep to the shadows, where they are strong, and plot to ambush you as they did by Dras-Leona. Even Brom’s experience could not protect him from them. Never grow over-confident, Eragon. Never grow arrogant, for then you will be careless and your enemies will exploit your weakness.” “Yes, Master.” Oromis fixed Eragon with a steady gaze. “The Ra’zac remain pupae for twenty years while they mature. On the first full moon of their twentieth year, they shed their exoskeletons, spread their wings, and emerge as adults ready to hunt all creatures, not just humans.” “Then the Ra’zac’s mounts, the ones they fly on, are really...” “Aye, their parents.” IMAGE OF PERFECTION Page 543 At last I understand the nature of my enemies,thought Eragon. He had feared the Ra’zac ever since they first appeared in Carvahall, not only be-cause of their villainous deeds but because he knew so little about the creatures. In his ignorance, he credited the Ra’zac with more powers than they actually possessed and regarded them with an almost superstitious dread. Nightmares indeed. But now that Oromis’s explanation had stripped away the Ra’zac’s aura of mystery, they no longer seemed quite so formidable. The fact that they were vulnerable to light and water strengthened Eragon’s conviction that when next they met, he would de-stroy the monsters that had killed Garrow and Brom. “Are their parents called Ra’zac as well?” he asked. Oromis shook his head. “Lethrblaka, we named them. And whereas their offspring are narrow-minded, if cunning, Lethrblaka have all the in-telligence of a dragon. A cruel, vicious, and twisted dragon.” “Where do they come from?” “From whatever land your ancestors abandoned. Their depredations may have been what forced King Palancar to emigrate. When we, the Riders, became aware of the Ra’zac’s foul presence in Alagaësia, we did our best to eradicate them, as we would leaf blight. Unfortunately, we were only partially successful. Two Lethrblaka escaped, and they along with their pupae are the ones who have caused you so much grief. After he killed Vrael, Galbatorix sought them out and bargained for their ser-vices in return for his protection and a guaranteed amount of their favor-ite food. That is why Galbatorix allows them to live by Dras-Leona, one of the Empire’s largest cities.” Eragon’s jaw tightened. “They have much to answer for.” And they will, if I have my way. “That they do,” Oromis agreed. Returning to the hut, he stepped through the black shadow of the doorway, then reappeared carrying a half-dozen slate tablets about a half-foot wide and a foot high. He pre-sented one to Eragon. “Let us abandon such unpleasant topics for a time. I thought you might enjoy learning how to make a fairth. It is an excellent device for focusing your thoughts. The slate is impregnated with enough ink to cover it with any combination of colors. All you need do is con-centrate upon the image that you wish to capture and then say, ‘Let that which I see in my mind’s eye be replicated on the surface of this tablet.’ ” As Eragon examined the clay-smooth slate, Oromis gestured at the clear-ing. “Look about you, Eragon, and find something worth preserving.” The first objects that Eragon noticed seemed too obvious, too banal to him: a yellow lily by his feet, Oromis’s overgrown hut, the white stream, and the landscape itself. None were unique. None would give an observer an insight into the subject of the fairth or he who had created it. Things that change and are lost, that is what’s worth preserving, he thought. His eye alighted upon the pale green nubs of spring growth at the tip of a tree’s branches and then the deep, narrow wound that seamed the trunk where a storm had broken a bough, tearing off a rope of bark with it. Translucent orbs of sap encrusted the seam, catching and refracting the light. Eragon positioned himself alongside the trunk so that the rotund galls of the tree’s congealed blood bulged out in silhouette and were framed by a cluster of shiny new needles. Then he fixed the scene in his mind as best he could and uttered the spell. The surface of the gray tablet brightened as splashes of color bloomed across it, blending and mixing to produce the proper array of hues. When the pigments at last stopped moving, Eragon found himself looking at a strange copy of what he had wanted to reproduce. The sap and needles were rendered with vibrant, razor-sharp detail, while all else was slurred and bleary, as if seen through half-opened eyes. It was far removed from the universal clarity of Oromis’s fairth of Ilirea. Page 544 At a sign from Oromis, Eragon handed the tablet to him. The elf stud-ied it for a minute, then said, “You have an unusual way of thinking, Er-agon-finiarel. Most humans have difficulty achieving the proper concen-tration to create a recognizable image. You, on the other hand, seem to observe nearly everything about whatever interests you. It’s a narrow fo-cus, though. You have the same problem here that you do with your meditation. You must relax, broaden your field of vision, and allow your-self to absorb everything around you without judging what is important or not.” Setting aside the picture, Oromis took a second, blank tablet from the grass and gave it to Eragon. “Try again with what I—” “Hail, Rider!” Startled, Eragon turned and saw Orik and Arya emerge side by side from the forest. The dwarf raised his arm in greeting. His beard was freshly trimmed and braided, his hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, and he wore a new tunic—courtesy of the elves—that was red and brown and embroidered with gold thread. His appearance gave no indica-tion of his condition the previous night. Eragon, Oromis, and Arya exchanged the traditional greeting, then, abandoning the ancient language, Oromis asked, “To what may I attribute this visit? You are both welcome to my hut, but as you can see, I am in the midst of working with Eragon, and that is of paramount importance.” “I apologize for disturbing you, Oromis-elda,” said Arya, “but—” “The fault is mine,” said Orik. He glanced at Eragon before continuing: “I was sent here by Hrothgar to ensure that Eragon receives the instruc-tion he is due. I have no doubt that he is, but I am obliged to see his training with my own eyes so that when I return to Tronjheim, I may give my king a true account of events.” Oromis said, “That which I teach Eragon is not to be shared with any-one else. The secrets of the Riders are for him alone.” “And I understand that. However, we live in uncertain times; the stone that once was fixed and solid is now unstable. We must adapt to survive. So much depends on Eragon, we dwarves have a right to verify that his training proceeds as promised. Do you believe our request is an unrea-sonable one?” “Well spoken, Master Dwarf,” said Oromis. He tapped his fingers to-gether, inscrutable as always. “May I assume, then, that this is a matter of duty for you?” “Duty and honor.” “And neither will allow you to yield on this point?” “I fear not, Oromis-elda,” said Orik. “Very well. You may stay and watch for the duration of this lesson. Will that satisfy you?” Orik frowned. “Are you near the end of the lesson?” “We have just begun.” “Then yes, I will be satisfied. For the moment, at least.” Page 545 While they spoke, Eragon tried to catch Arya’s eye, but she kept her at-tention centered on Oromis. “... Eragon!” He blinked, jolted out of his reverie. “Yes, Master?” “Don’t wander, Eragon. I want you to make another fairth. Keep your mind open, like I told you before.” “Yes, Master.” Eragon hefted the tablet, his hands slightly damp at the thought of having Orik and Arya there to judge his performance. He wanted to do well in order to prove that Oromis was a good teacher. Even so, he could not concentrate on the pine needles and sap; Arya tugged at him like a lodestone, drawing his attention back to her when-ever he thought of something else. At last he realized that it was futile for him to resist the attraction. He composed an image of her in his head—which took but a heartbeat, since he knew her features better than his own—and voiced the spell in the ancient language, pouring all of his adoration, love, and fear of her into the currents of fey magic. The result left him speechless. The fairth depicted Arya’s head and shoulders against a dark, indistinct background. She was bathed in firelight on her right side and gazed out at the viewer with knowing eyes, appearing not just as she was but as he thought of her: mysterious, exotic, and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. It was a flawed, imperfect picture, but it possessed such inten-sity and passion that it evoked a visceral response from Eragon. Is this how I really see her? Whoever this woman was, she was so wise, so pow-erful, and so hypnotic, she could consume any lesser man. From a great distance, he heard Saphira whisper, Be careful.... “What have you wrought, Eragon?” demanded Oromis. “I... I don’t know.” Eragon hesitated as Oromis extended his hand for the fairth, reluctant to let the others examine his work, especially Arya. After a long, terrifying pause, Eragon pried his fingers off the tablet and released it to Oromis. The elf’s expression grew stern as he looked at the fairth, then back at Eragon, who quailed under the weight of his stare. Without a word, Oromis handed the tablet to Arya. Her hair obscured her face as she bowed over the tablet, but Eragon saw cords and veins ridge her hands as she clenched the slate. It shook in her grip. “Well, what is it?” asked Orik. Raising the fairth over her head, Arya hurled it against the ground, shat-tering the picture into a thousand pieces. Then she drew herself upright and, with great dignity, walked past Eragon, across the clearing, and into the tangled depths of Du Weldenvarden. Orik picked up one of the fragments of slate. It was blank. The image had vanished when the tablet broke. He tugged his beard. “In all the dec-ades I’ve known her, Arya has never lost her temper like that. Never. What did you do, Eragon?” Page 546 Dazed, Eragon said, “A portrait of her.” Orik frowned, obviously puzzled. “A portrait? Why would that—” “I think it would be best if you left now,” said Oromis. “The lesson is over, in any case. Come back tomorrow or the day after if you want a better idea of Eragon’s progress.” The dwarf squinted at Eragon, then nodded and brushed the dirt from his palms. “Yes, I believe I’ll do that. Thank you for your time, Oromis-elda. I appreciate it.” As he headed back toward Ellesméra, he said over his shoulder to Eragon, “I’ll be in the common room of Tialdarí Hall, if you want to talk.” When Orik was gone, Oromis lifted the hem of his tunic, knelt, and began to gather up the remains of the tablet. Eragon watched him, unable to move. “Why?” he asked in the ancient language. “Perhaps,” said Oromis, “Arya was frightened by you.” “Frightened? She never gets frightened.” Even as he said it, Eragon knew that it was not true. She just concealed her fear better than most. Dropping to one knee, he took a piece of the fairth and pressed it into Oromis’s palm. “Why would I frighten her?” he asked. “Please, tell me.” Oromis stood and walked to the edge of the stream, where he scattered the fragments of slate over the bank, letting the gray flakes trickle through his fingers. “Fairths only show what you want them to. It’s possi-ble to lie with them, to create a false image, but to do so requires more skill than you yet have. Arya knows this. She also knows, then, that your fairth was an accurate representation of your feelings for her.” “But why would that frighten her?” Oromis smiled sadly. “Because it revealed the depth of your infatua-tion.” He pressed his fingertips together, forming a series of arches. “Let us analyze the situation, Eragon. While you are old enough to be consid-ered a man among your people, in our eyes, you are no more than a child.” Eragon frowned, hearing echoes of Saphira’s words from the pre-vious night. “Normally, I would not compare a human’s age to an elf’s, but since you share our longevity, you must also be judged by our stan-dards. “And you are a Rider. We rely upon you to help us defeat Galbatorix; it could be disastrous for everyone in Alagaësia if you are distracted from your studies. “Now then,” said Oromis, “how should Arya have responded to your fairth? It’s clear that you see her in a romantic light, yet—while I have no doubt Arya is fond of you—a union between the two of you is impossi-ble due to your own youth, culture, race, and responsibilities. Your inter-est has placed Arya in an uncomfortable position. She dare not confront you, for fear of disrupting your training. But, as the queen’s daughter, she cannot ignore you and risk offending a Rider—especially one upon which so much depends.... Even if you were a fit match, Arya would refrain from encouraging you so that you could devote all of your energy to the task at hand. She would sacrifice her happiness for the greater good.” Oromis’s voice thickened: “You must understand, Eragon, that slaying Galbatorix is more important than any one person. Nothing else matters.” He paused, his gaze gentle, then added, “Given the circumstances, is it so strange Arya was frightened that your feelings for her could endanger everything we have worked for?” Page 547 Eragon shook his head. He was ashamed that his behavior had caused Arya distress, and dismayed by how reckless and juvenile he had been. I could have avoided this entire mess if I’d just kept better control of myself. Touching him on the shoulder, Oromis guided him back inside the hut. “Think not that I am devoid of sympathy, Eragon. Everyone experiences ardor like yours at one point or another during their lives. It’s part of growing up. I also know how hard it is for you to deny yourself the usual comforts of life, but it’s necessary if we are to prevail.” “Yes, Master.” They sat at the kitchen table, and Oromis began to lay out writing ma-terials for Eragon to practice the Liduen Kvaedhí. “It would be unreason-able of me to expect you to forget your fascination with Arya, but I do expect you to prevent it from interfering with my instruction again. Can you promise me that?” “Yes, Master. I promise.” “And Arya? What would be the honorable thing to do about her pre-dicament?” Eragon hesitated. “I don’t want to lose her friendship.” “No.” “Therefore... I will go to her, I will apologize, and I will reassure her that I never intend to cause her such hardship again.” It was difficult for him to say, but once he did, he felt a sense of relief, as if acknowledging his mistake cleansed him of it. Oromis appeared pleased. “By that alone, you prove that you have ma-tured.” The sheets of paper were smooth underneath Eragon’s hands as he pressed them flat against the tabletop. He stared at the blank white ex-panse for a moment, then dipped a quill in ink and began to transcribe a column of glyphs. Each barbed line was like a streak of night against the paper, an abyss into which he could lose himself and try to forget his confused feelings. THE OBLITERATOR The following morn, Eragon went looking for Arya in order to apolo-gize. He searched for over an hour without success. It seemed as if she had vanished among the many hidden nooks within Ellesméra. He caught a glimpse of her once as he paused by the entrance to Tialdarí Hall and called out to her, but she slipped away before he could reach her side. She’s avoiding me, he finally realized. As the days rolled by, Eragon embraced Oromis’s training with a zeal that the elder Rider praised, devoting himself to his studies in order to distract himself from thoughts of Arya. Night and day, Eragon strove to master his lessons. He memorized the words of making, binding, and summoning; learned the true names of plants and animals; and studied the perils of transmutation, how to call upon the wind and the sea, and the myriad skills needed to understand the forces of the world. At spells that dealt with the great energies—such as light, heat, and magnetism—he excelled, for he possessed the talent to judge nigh exactly how much strength a task required and whether it would Page 548 exceed that of his body. Occasionally, Orik would come and watch, standing without comment by the edge of the clearing while Oromis tutored Eragon, or while Eragon struggled alone with a particularly difficult spell. Oromis set many challenges before him. He had Eragon cook meals with magic, in order to teach him finer control of his gramarye; Eragon’s first attempts resulted in a blackened mess. The elf showed Eragon how to detect and neutralize poisons of every sort and, from then on, Eragon had to inspect his food for the different venoms Oromis was liable to slip into it. More than once Eragon went hungry when he could not find the poison or was unable to counteract it. Twice he became so sick, Oromis had to heal him. And Oromis had Eragon cast multiple spells simultane-ously, which required tremendous concentration to keep the spells di-rected at their intended targets and prevent them from shifting among the items Eragon wanted to affect. Oromis devoted long hours to the craft of imbuing matter with energy, either to be released at a later time or to give an object certain attributes. He said, “This is how Rhunön charmed the Riders’ swords so they never break or dull; how we sing plants into growing as we desire; how a trap might be set in a box, only to be triggered when the box is opened; how we and the dwarves make the Erisdar, our lanterns; and how you may heal one who is injured, to name but a few uses. These are the most po-tent of spells, for they can lie dormant for a thousand years or more and are difficult to perceive or avert. They permeate much of Alagaësia, shaping the land and the destiny of those who live here.” Eragon asked, “You could use this technique to alter your body, couldn’t you? Or is that too dangerous?” Oromis’s lips quirked in a faint smile. “Alas, you have stumbled upon elves’ greatest weakness: our vanity. We love beauty in all its forms, and we seek to represent that ideal in our appearance. That is why we are known as the Fair Folk. Every elf looks exactly as he or she wishes to. When elves learn the spells for growing and molding living things, they often choose to modify their appearance to better reflect their personali-ties. A few elves have gone beyond mere aesthetic changes and altered their anatomy to adapt to various environments, as you will see during the Blood-oath Celebration. Oftentimes, they are more animal than elf. “However, transferring power to a living creature is different from transferring power to an inanimate object. Very few materials are suit-able for storing energy; most either allow it to dissipate or become so charged with force that when you touch the object, a bolt of lightning drives through you. The best materials we have found for this purpose are gemstones. Quartz, agates, and other lesser stones are not as efficient as, say, a diamond, but any gem will suffice. That is why Riders’ swords always have a jewel set in their pommels. It is also why your dwarf neck-lace—which is entirely metal—must sap your strength to fuel its spell, since it can hold no energy of its own.” When not with Oromis, Eragon supplemented his education by reading the many scrolls the elf gave him, a habit he soon became addicted to. Eragon’s rearing—limited as it was by Garrow’s scant tutelage—had ex-posed him only to the knowledge needed to run a farm. The information he discovered on the miles of paper flooded into him like rain on parched desert, sating a previously unknown thirst. He devoured texts on geogra-phy, biology, anatomy, philosophy, and mathematics, as well as memoirs, biographies, and histories. More important than mere facts was his intro-duction to alternative ways of thinking. They challenged his beliefs and forced him to reexamine his assumptions about everything from the rights of an individual within society to what caused the sun to move across the sky. He noticed that a number of scrolls concerned Urgals and their culture. Page 549 Eragon read them and made no mention of it, nor did Oromis broach the topic. From his studies, Eragon learned much about the elves, a subject that he avidly pursued, hoping that it would help him to better understand Arya. To his surprise, he discovered that the elves did not practice mar-riage, but rather took mates for however long they wanted, whether it be for a day or a century. Children were rare, and having a child was consid-ered by the elves to be the ultimate vow of love. Eragon also learned that since their two races had first met, only a handful of elf-human couples had existed: mainly human Riders who found appropriate mates among the elves. However, as best he could tell from the cryptic records, most such relationships ended in tragedy, either because the lovers were unable to relate to one another or because the humans aged and died while the elves escaped the ravages of time. In addition to nonfiction, Oromis presented Eragon with copies of the elves’ greatest songs, poems, and epics, which captured Eragon’s imagina-tion, for the only stories he was familiar with were the ones Brom had recited in Carvahall. He savored the epics as he might a well-cooked meal, lingering over The Deed of Gëda or The Lay of Umhodan so as to prolong his enjoyment of the tales. Saphira’s own training proceeded apace. Linked as he was to her mind, Eragon got to watch as Glaedr put her through an exercise regimen every bit as strenuous as his. She practiced hovering in the air while lifting boulders, as well as sprints, dives, and other acrobatics. To increase her endurance, Glaedr had her breathe fire for hours upon a natural stone pil-lar in an attempt to melt it. At first Saphira could only maintain the flames for a few minutes at a time, but before long the blistering torch roared from her maw for over a half hour uninterrupted, heating the pil-lar white-hot. Eragon was also privy to the dragon lore Glaedr imparted to Saphira, details about the dragons’ lives and history that comple-mented her instinctual knowledge. Much of it was incomprehensible to Eragon, and he suspected that Saphira concealed even more from him, secrets of her race that dragons shared with no one but themselves. One thing he did glean, and that Saphira treasured, was the name of her sire, Iormúngr, and her dam, Vervada, which meant Storm-cleaver in the old speech. While Iormúngr had been bound to a Rider, Vervada was a wild dragon who had laid many eggs but entrusted only one to the Riders: Saphira. Both dragons perished in the Fall. Some days Eragon and Saphira would fly with Oromis and Glaedr, practicing aerial combat or visiting crumbling ruins hidden within Du Weldenvarden. Other days they would reverse the usual order of things, and Eragon would accompany Glaedr while Saphira remained on the Crags of Tel’naeír with Oromis. Each morning Eragon sparred with Vanir, which, without exception, ignited one or more of Eragon’s seizures. To make matters worse, the elf continued to treat Eragon with haughty condescension. He delivered oblique slights that, on the surface, never exceeded the bounds of polite-ness, and he refused to be drawn to anger no matter how Eragon needled him. Eragon hated him and his cool, mannered bearing. It seemed as if Vanir was insulting him with every movement. And Vanir’s compan-ions—who, as best Eragon could tell, were of a younger generation of elves—shared his veiled distaste for Eragon, though they never displayed aught but respect for Saphira. Their rivalry came to a head when, after defeating Eragon six times in a row, Vanir lowered his sword and said, “Dead yet again, Shadeslayer. How repetitive. Do you wish to continue?” His tone indicated that he thought it would be pointless. “Aye,” grunted Eragon. He had already suffered an episode with his back and was in no mood to bandy words. Page 550 Still, when Vanir said, “Tell me, as I am curious: How did you kill Durza when you are so slow? I cannot fathom how you managed it,” Er-agon felt compelled to reply: “I caught him by surprise.” “Forgive me; I should have guessed trickery was involved.” Eragon fought the impulse to grind his teeth. “If I were an elf or you a human, you would not be able to match my blade.” “Perhaps,” said Vanir. He assumed his ready position and, within the span of three seconds and two blows, disarmed Eragon. “But I think not. You should not boast to a better swordsman, else he may decide to pun-ish your temerity.” Eragon’s temper broke then, and he reached deep within himself and into the torrent of magic. He released the pent-up energy with one of the twelve minor words of binding, crying “Malthinae!” to chain Vanir’s legs and arms in place and hold his jaw shut so that he could not utter a coun-terspell. The elf’s eyes bulged with outrage. Eragon said, “And you should not boast to one who is more skilled in magic than you.” Vanir’s dark eyebrows met. Without warning or a whisper of a sound, an invisible force clouted Er-agon on the chest and threw him ten yards across the grass, where he landed upon his side, driving the wind from his lungs. The impact dis-rupted Eragon’s control of the magic and freed Vanir. How did he do that? Advancing upon him, Vanir said, “Your ignorance betrays you, human. You do not know whereof you speak. To think that you were chosen to succeed Vrael, that you were given his quarters, that you have had the honor to serve the Mourning Sage...” He shook his head. “It sickens me that such gifts are bestowed upon one so unworthy. You do not even un-derstand what magic is or how it works.” Eragon’s anger resurged like a crimson tide. “What,” he said, “have I ever done to wrong you? Why do you despise me so? Would you prefer it if no Rider existed to oppose Galbatorix?” “My opinions are of little consequence.” “I agree, but I would hear them.” “Listening, as Nuala wrote in Convocations, is the path to wisdom only when the result of a conscious decision and not a void of perception.” “Straighten your tongue, Vanir, and give me an honest answer!” Vanir smiled coldly. “As you command, O Rider.” Drawing near so that only Eragon could hear his soft voice, the elf said, “For eighty years after the fall of the Riders, we held no hope of victory. We survived by hiding ourselves through deceit and magic, which is but a temporary measure, for eventually Galbatorix will be strong enough to march upon us and sweep aside our defenses. Then, long after we had resigned ourselves to our fate, Brom and Jeod rescued Saphira’s egg, and once again a chance existed to defeat the foul usurper. Imagine our joy and celebration. We knew that in order to withstand Page 551 Galbatorix, the new Rider had to be more powerful than any of his predecessors, more powerful than even Vrael. Yet how was our patience rewarded? With another human like Galbatorix. Worse... a cripple. You doomed us all, Eragon, the instant you touched Saphira’s egg. Do not expect us to welcome your presence.” Vanir touched his lips with his first and second finger, then sidestepped Eragon and walked off the sparring field, leaving Eragon rooted in place. He’s right,thought Eragon. I’m ill suited for this task. Any of these elves, even Vanir, would make a better Rider than me. Emanating outrage, Saphira broadened the contact between them. Do you think so little of my judgment, Eragon? You forget that when I was in my egg, Arya exposed me to each and every one of these elves—as well as many of the Varden’s children—and that I rejected them all. I wouldn’t have chosen someone to be my Rider unless they could help your race, mine, and the elves, for the three of us share an intertwined fate. You were the right person, at the right place, at the right time. Never forget that. If ever that were true,he said, it was before Durza injured me. Now I see naught but darkness and evil in our future. I won’t give up, but I despair that we may not prevail. Perhaps our task is not to overthrow Galbatorix but to prepare the way for the next Rider chosen by the remaining eggs. At the Crags of Tel’naeír, Eragon found Oromis at the table in his hut, painting a landscape with black ink along the bottom edge of a scroll he had finished writing. Eragon bowed and knelt. “Master.” Fifteen minutes elapsed before Oromis finished limning the tufts of needles on a gnarled juniper tree, laid aside his ink, cleaned his sable brush with water from a clay pot, and then addressed Eragon, saying, “Why have you come so early?” “I apologize for disturbing you, but Vanir abandoned our contest part-way through and I did not know what to do with myself.” “Why did Vanir leave, Eragon-vodhr?” Oromis folded his hands in his lap while Eragon described the encoun-ter, ending with: “I should not have lost control, but I did, and I looked all the more foolish because of it. I have failed you, Master.” “You have,” agreed Oromis. “Vanir may have goaded you, but that was no reason to respond in kind. You must keep a better hold over your emotions, Eragon. It could cost you your life if you allow your temper to sway your judgment during battle. Also, such childish displays do nothing but vindicate those elves who are opposed to you. Our machinations are subtle and allow little room for such errors.” “I am sorry, Master. It won’t happen again.” As Oromis seemed content to wait in his chair until the time when they normally performed the Rimgar, Eragon seized the opportunity to ask, “How could Vanir have worked magic without speaking?” “Did he? Perhaps another elf decided to assist him.” Eragon shook his head. “During my first day in Ellesméra, I also saw Is-lanzadí summon a downpour of flowers by clapping her hands, nothing more. And Vanir said that I didn’t understand how magic works. Page 552 What did he mean?” “Once again,” said Oromis, resigned, “you grasp at knowledge that you are not prepared for. Yet, because of our circumstances, I cannot deny it to you. Only know this: that which you ask for was not taught to Rid-ers—and is not taught to our magicians—until they had, and have, mas-tered every other aspect of magic, for this is the secret to the true nature of magic and the ancient language. Those who know it may acquire great power, yes, but at a terrible risk.” He paused for a moment. “How is the ancient language bound to magic, Eragon-vodhr?” “The words of the ancient language can release the energy stored within your body and thus activate a spell.” “Ah. Then you mean that certain sounds, certain vibrations in the air, somehow tap into this energy? Sounds that might be produced at random by any creature or thing?” “Yes, Master.” “Does not that seem absurd?” Confused, Eragon said, “It doesn’t matter if it seems absurd, Master; it just is. Should I think it absurd that the moon wanes and waxes, or that the seasons turn, or that birds fly south in the winter?” “Of course not. But how could mere sound do so much? Can particular patterns of pitch and volume really trigger reactions that allow us to ma-nipulate energy?” “But they do.” “Sound has no control over magic. Saying a word or phrase in this lan-guage is not what’s important, it’s thinking them in this language.” With a flick of his wrist, a golden flame appeared over Oromis’s palm, then dis-appeared. “However, unless the need is dire, we still utter our spells out loud to prevent stray thoughts from disrupting them, which is a danger to even the most experienced magic user.” The implications staggered Eragon. He thought back to when he almost drowned under the waterfall of the lake Kóstha-mérna and how he had been unable to access magic because of the water surrounding him. If I had known this then, I could have saved myself, he thought. “Master,” he said, “if sound does not affect magic, why, then, do thoughts?” Now Oromis smiled. “Why indeed? I must point out that we ourselves are not the source of magic. Magic can exist on its own, independent of any spell, such as the werelights in the bogs by Aroughs, the dream well in Mani’s Caves in the Beor Mountains, and the floating crystal on Eoam. Wild magic such as this is treacherous, unpredictable, and often stronger than any we can cast. “Eons ago, all magic was thus. To use it required nothing but the ability to sense magic with your mind—which every magician must possess— and the desire and strength to use it. Without the structure of the ancient language, magicians could not govern their talent and, as a result, loosed many evils upon the land, killing thousands. Over time they discovered that stating their intentions in their language helped them to order their thoughts and avoid costly errors. But it was no foolproof method. Even-tually, an accident occurred so horrific that it almost destroyed every liv-ing being in the world. We know of the event from fragments of manu-scripts that survived the era, but who or what cast the fatal spell is hid-den from us. The manuscripts say that, afterward, a race called the Grey Folk—not elves, for we were young then—gathered their resources and wrought an enchantment, perhaps the greatest that was or ever shall Page 553 be. Together the Grey Folk changed the nature of magic itself. They made it so that their language, the ancient language, could control what a spell does... could actually limit the magic so that if you said burn that door and by chance looked at me and thought of me, the magic would still burn the door, not me. And they gave the ancient language its two unique traits, the ability to prevent those who speak it from lying and the ability to describe the true nature of things. How they did this remains a mys-tery. “The manuscripts differ on what happened to the Grey Folk when they completed their work, but it seems that the enchantment drained them of their power and left them but a shadow of themselves. They faded away, choosing to live in their cities until the stones crumbled to dust or to take mates among the younger races and so pass into darkness.” “Then,” said Eragon, “it is still possible to use magic without the ancient language?” “How do you think Saphira breathes fire? And, by your own account, she used no word when she turned Brom’s tomb to diamond nor when she blessed the child in Farthen Dûr. Dragons’ minds are different from ours; they need no protection from magic. They cannot use it con-sciously, aside from their fire, but when the gift touches them, their strength is unparalleled.... You look troubled, Eragon. Why?” Eragon stared down at his hands. “What does this mean for me, Mas-ter?” “It means that you will continue to study the ancient language, for you can accomplish much with it that would be too complex or too danger-ous otherwise. It means that if you are captured and gagged, you can still call upon magic to free yourself, as Vanir did. It means that if you are captured and drugged and cannot recall the ancient language, yes, even then, you may cast a spell, though only in the gravest circumstances. And it means that if you would cast a spell for that which has no name in the ancient language, you can.” He paused. “But beware the temptation to use these powers. Even the wisest among us hesitate to trifle with them for fear of death or worse.” The next morning, and every morning thereafter so long as he stayed in Ellesméra, Eragon dueled with Vanir, but he never lost his temper again, no matter what the elf did or said. Nor did Eragon feel like devoting energy to their rivalry. His back pained him more and more frequently, driving him to the limits of his endurance. The debilitating attacks sensitized him; actions that previously had caused him no trouble could now leave him writhing on the ground. Even the Rimgar began to trigger the seizures as he advanced to more strenuous poses. It was not uncommon for him to suffer three or four such episodes in one day. Eragon’s face grew haggard. He walked with a shuffle, his movements slow and careful as he tried to preserve his strength. It became hard for him to think clearly or to pay attention to Oromis’s lessons, and gaps be-gan to appear in his memory that he could not account for. In his spare time, he took up Orik’s puzzle ring again, preferring to concentrate upon the baffling interlocked rings rather than his condition. When she was with him, Saphira insisted that he ride upon her back and did everything that she could to make him comfortable and to save him effort. One morning, as he clung to a spike on her neck, Eragon said, I have a new name for pain. What’s that? The Obliterator. Because when you’re in pain, nothing else can exist. Not thought. Not emotion. Only the drive to escape the pain. When it’s strong enough, the Obliterator strips us of everything that makes us who we are, until we’re reduced to creatures less than animals, creatures with a single desire and goal: Page 554 escape. A good name, then. I’m falling apart, Saphira, like an old horse that’s plowed too many fields. Keep hold of me with your mind, or I may drift apart and forget who I am. I will never let go of you. Soon afterward, Eragon fell victim to three bouts of agony while fight-ing Vanir and then two more during the Rimgar. As he uncurled from the clenched ball he had rolled into, Oromis said, “Again, Eragon. You must perfect your balance.” Eragon shook his head and growled in an undertone, “No.” He crossed his arms to hide his tremors. “What?” “No.” “Get up, Eragon, and try again.” “No! Do the pose yourself; I won’t.” Oromis knelt beside Eragon and placed a cool hand on his cheek. Holding it there, he gazed at Eragon with such kindness, Eragon understood the depth of the elf’s compassion for him, and that, if it were possible, Oromis would willingly assume Eragon’s pain to relieve his suffering. “Don’t abandon hope,” said Oromis. “Never that.” A measure of strength seemed to flow from him to Eragon. “We are the Riders. We stand be-tween the light and the dark, and keep the balance between the two. Ig-norance, fear, hate: these are our enemies. Deny them with all your might, Eragon, or we will surely fail.” He stood and extended a hand to-ward Eragon. “Now rise, Shadeslayer, and prove you can conquer the in-stincts of your flesh!” Eragon took a deep breath and pushed himself upright on one arm, wincing from the effort. He got his feet underneath himself, paused for a moment, then straightened to his full height and looked Oromis in the eye. The elf nodded with approval. Eragon remained silent until they finished the Rimgar and went to bathe in the stream, whereupon he said, “Master.” “Yes, Eragon?” “Why must I endure this torture? You could use magic to give me the skills I need, to shape my body as you do the trees and plants.” “I could, but if I did, you would not understand how you got the body you had, your own abilities, nor how to maintain them. No shortcuts ex-ist for the path you walk, Eragon.” Cold water rushed over the length of Eragon’s body as he lowered him-self into the stream. He ducked his head under the surface, holding a rock so that he would not float away, and lay stretched out along Page 555 the stream-bed, feeling like an arrow flying through the water. NARDA Roran leaned on one knee and scratched his new beard as he looked down at Narda. The small town was dark and compact, like a crust of rye bread tamped into a crevasse along the coast. Beyond it, the wine-red sea glim-mered with the last rays of the dying sunset. The water fascinated him; it was utterly different from the landscape he was accustomed to. We made it. Leaving the promontory, Roran walked back to his makeshift tent, en-joying deep breaths of the salty air. They had camped high in the foothills of the Spine in order to avoid detection by anyone who might alert the Empire as to their whereabouts. As he strode among the clumps of villagers huddled beneath the trees, Roran surveyed their condition with sorrow and anger. The trek from Palancar Valley had left people sick, battered, and exhausted; their faces gaunt from lack of food; their clothes tattered. Most everyone wore rags tied around their hands to ward off frostbite during the frigid mountain nights. Weeks of carrying heavy packs had bowed once-proud shoulders. The worst sight was the children: thin and unnaturally still. They deserve better,thought Roran. I’d be in the clutches of the Ra’zac right now if they hadn’t protected me. Numerous people approached Roran, most of whom wanted nothing more than a touch on the shoulder or a word of comfort. Some offered him bits of food, which he refused or, when they insisted, gave to some-one else. Those who remained at a distance watched with round, pale eyes. He knew what they said about him, that he was mad, that spirits possessed him, that not even the Ra’zac could defeat him in battle. Crossing the Spine had been even harder than Roran expected. The only paths in the forest were game trails, which were too narrow, steep, and meandering for their group. As a result, the villagers were often forced to chop their way through the trees and underbrush, a painstaking task that everyone despised, not least because it made it easy for the Em-pire to track them. The one advantage to the situation was that the exer-cise restored Roran’s injured shoulder to its previous level of strength, al-though he still had trouble lifting his arm at certain angles. Other hardships took their toll. A sudden storm trapped them on a bare pass high above the timberline. Three people froze in the snow: Hida, Brenna, and Nesbit, all of whom were quite old. That night was the first time Roran was convinced that the entire village would die because they had followed him. Soon after, a boy broke his arm in a fall, and then Southwell drowned in a glacier stream. Wolves and bears preyed upon their livestock on a regular basis, ignoring the watchfires that the villagers lit once they were concealed from Palancar Valley and Galbatorix’s hated soldiers. Hunger clung to them like a relentless parasite, gnawing at their bellies, devouring their strength, and sapping their will to continue. And yet they survived, displaying the same obstinacy and fortitude that kept their ancestors in Palancar Valley despite famine, war, and pesti-lence. The people of Carvahall might take an age and a half to reach a de-cision, but once they did, nothing could deter them from their course. Page 556 Now that they had reached Narda, a sense of hope and accomplish-ment permeated the camp. No one knew what would happen next, but the fact that they had gotten so far gave them confidence. We won’t be safe until we leave the Empire,thought Roran. And it’s up to me to ensure that we aren’t caught. I’ve become responsible for everyone here.... A responsibility that he had embraced wholeheartedly because it allowed him to both protect the villagers from Galbatorix and pursue his goal of rescuing Katrina. It’s been so long since she was captured. How can she still be alive? He shuddered and pushed the thoughts away. True madness awaited him if he allowed himself to brood over Katrina’s fate. At dawn Roran, Horst, Baldor, Loring’s three sons, and Gertrude set out for Narda. They descended from the foothills to the town’s main road, careful to stay hidden until they emerged onto the lane. Here in the low-lands, the air seemed thick to Roran; it felt as if he were trying to breathe underwater. Roran gripped the hammer at his belt as they approached Narda’s gate. Two soldiers guarded the opening. They examined Roran’s group with hard eyes, lingering on their ragged clothes, then lowered their poleaxes and barred the entrance. “Where’d you be from?” asked the man on the right. He could not have been older than twenty-five, but his hair was already pure white. Swelling his chest, Horst crossed his arms and said, “Roundabouts Teirm, if it please you.” “What brings you here?” “Trade. We were sent by shopkeepers who want to buy goods directly from Narda, instead of through the usual merchants.” “That so, eh? What goods?” When Horst faltered, Gertrude said, “Herbs and medicine on my part. The plants I’ve received from here have either been too old or moldy and spoiled. I have to procure a fresh supply.” “And my brothers and I,” said Darmmen, “came to bargain with your cobblers. Shoes made in the northern style are fashionable in Dras-Leona and Urû’baen.” He grimaced. “At least they were when we set out.” Horst nodded with renewed confidence. “Aye. And I’m here to collect a shipment of ironwork for my master.” “So you say. What about that one? What does he do?” asked the soldier, motioning toward Roran with his ax. “Pottery,” said Roran. “Pottery?” “Pottery.” “Why the hammer, then?” Page 557 “How do you think the glaze on a bottle or jar gets cracked? It doesn’t happen by itself, you know. You have to hit it.” Roran returned the white-haired man’s stare of disbelief with a blank expression, daring him to challenge the statement. The soldier grunted and ran his gaze over them again. “Be as that may, you don’t look like tradesmen to me. Starved alley cats is more like it.” “We had difficulty on the road,” said Gertrude. “That I’d believe. If you came from Teirm, where be your horses?” “We left them at our camp,” supplied Hamund. He pointed south, op-posite where the rest of the villagers were actually hidden. “Don’t have the coin to stay in town, eh?” With a scornful chuckle, the soldier raised his ax and gestured for his companion to do likewise. “All right, you can pass, but don’t cause trouble or you’ll be off to the stocks or worse.” Once through the gate, Horst pulled Roran to the side of the street and growled in his ear, “That was a fool thing to do, making up something as ridiculous as that. Cracking the glaze! Do you want a fight? We can’t—” He stopped as Gertrude plucked at his sleeve. “Look,” murmured the healer. To the left of the entrance stood a six-foot-wide message board with a narrow shingle roof to protect the yellowing parchment underneath. Half the board was devoted to official notices and proclamations. On the other half hung a block of posters displaying sketches of various crimi-nals. Foremost among them was a drawing of Roran without a beard. Startled, Roran glanced around to make sure that no one in the street was close enough to compare his face to the illustration, then devoted his attention to the poster. He had expected the Empire to pursue them, but it was still a shock to encounter proof of it. Galbatorix must be expending an enormous amount of resources trying to catch us. When they were in the Spine, it was easy to forget that the outside world existed. I bet post-ers of me are nailed up throughout the Empire. He grinned, glad that he had stopped shaving and that he and the others had agreed to use false names while in Narda. A reward was inked at the bottom of the poster. Garrow never taught Roran and Eragon to read, but he did teach them their figures because, as he said, “You have to know how much you own, what it’s worth, and what you’re paid for it so you don’t get rooked by some two-faced knave.” Thus, Roran could see that the Empire had offered ten thousand crowns for him, enough to live in comfort for several decades. In a per-verse way, the size of the reward pleased him, giving him a sense of im-portance. Then his gaze drifted to the next poster in line. It was Eragon. Roran’s gut clenched as if he had been struck, and for a few seconds he forgot to breathe. He’s alive! Page 558 After his initial relief subsided, Roran felt his old anger about Eragon’s role in Garrow’s death and the destruction of their farm take its place, accompanied by a burning desire to know why the Empire was hunting Eragon. It must have something to do with that blue stone and the Ra’zac’s first visit to Carvahall. Once again, Roran wondered what kind of fiend-ish machinations he and the rest of Carvahall had become entangled in. Instead of a reward, Eragon’s poster bore two lines of runes. “What crime is he accused of?” Roran asked Gertrude. The skin around Gertrude’s eyes wrinkled as she squinted at the board. “Treason, the both of you. It says Galbatorix will bestow an earldom on whoever captures Eragon, but that those who try should take care be-cause he’s extremely dangerous.” Roran blinked with astonishment. Eragon? It seemed inconceivable un-til Roran considered how he himself had changed in the past few weeks. The same blood runs in our veins. Who knows, Eragon may have accom-plished as much or more than I have since he left. In a low voice, Baldor said, “If killing Galbatorix’s men and defying the Ra’zac only earns you ten thousand crowns—large as that is—what makes you worth an earldom?” “Buggering the king himself,” suggested Larne. “That’s enough of that,” said Horst. “Guard your tongue better, Baldor, or we’ll end up in irons. And, Roran, don’t draw attention to yourself again. With a reward like that, people are bound to be watching strangers for anyone who matches your description.” Running a hand through his hair, Horst pulled up his belt and said, “Right. We all have jobs to do. Re-turn here at noon to report on your progress.” With that their party split into three. Darmmen, Larne, and Hamund set out together to purchase food for the villagers, both to meet present needs and to sustain them through the next stage of their journey. Gertrude—as she had told the guard—went to replenish her stock of herbs, unguents, and tinctures. And Roran, Horst, and Baldor headed down the sloping streets to the docks, where they hoped to charter a ship that could transport the villagers to Surda or, at the very least, Teirm. When they reached the weathered boardwalk that covered the beach, Roran halted and stared out at the ocean, which was gray from low clouds and dotted with whitecaps from erratic wind. He had never imag-ined that the horizon could be so perfectly flat. The hollow boom of wa-ter knocking against the piles beneath his feet made it feel as if he stood upon the surface of a huge drum. The odor of fish—fresh, gutted, and rotting—overwhelmed every other smell. Glancing from Roran to Baldor, who was likewise entranced, Horst said, “Quite a sight, isn’t it?” “Aye,” said Roran. “Makes you feel rather small, doesn’t it?” “Aye,” said Baldor. Horst nodded. “I remember when I first saw the ocean, it had a similar effect on me.” “When was that?” asked Roran. In addition to the flocks of seagulls whirling over the cove, he noticed an odd type of bird perched upon the piers. The animal had an ungainly body with a striped beak that it Page 559 kept tucked against its breast like a pompous old man, a white head and neck, and a sooty torso. One of the birds lifted its beak, revealing a leathery pouch underneath. “Bartram, the smith who came before me,” said Horst, “died when I was fifteen, a year before the end of my apprenticeship. I had to find a smith who was willing to finish another man’s work, so I traveled to Ceunon, which is built along the North Sea. There I met Kelton, a vile old man but good at what he did. He agreed to teach me.” Horst laughed. “By the time we were done, I wasn’t sure if I should thank him or curse him.” “Thank him, I should think,” said Baldor. “You never would have mar-ried Mother otherwise.” Roran scowled as he studied the waterfront. “There aren’t many ships,” he observed. Two craft were berthed at the south end of the port and a third at the opposite side with nothing but fishing boats and dinghies in between. Of the southern pair, one had a broken mast. Roran had no experience with ships but, to him, none of the vessels appeared large enough to carry almost three hundred passengers. Going from one ship to the next, Roran, Horst, and Baldor soon discov-ered that they were all otherwise engaged. It would take a month or more to repair the ship with the broken mast. The vessel beside it, the Waverunner, was rigged with leather sails and was about to venture north to the treacherous islands where the Seithr plant grew. And the Alba-tross, the last ship, had just arrived from distant Feinster and was getting its seams recaulked before departing with its cargo of wool. A dockworker laughed at Horst’s questions. “You’re too late and too early at the same time. Most of the spring ships came and left two, three weeks ago. An’ another month, the nor’westers will start gusting, an’ then the seal and walrus hunters will return and we’ll get ships from Teirm and the rest of the Empire to take the hides, meat, and oil. Then you might have a chance of hiring a captain with an empty hold. Meanwhile, we don’t see much more traffic than this.” Desperate, Roran asked, “Is there no other way to get goods from here to Teirm? It doesn’t have to be fast or comfortable.” “Well,” said the man, hefting the box on his shoulder, “if it doesn’t have to be fast an’ you’re only going to Teirm, then you might try Clovis over there.” He pointed to a line of sheds that floated between two piers where boats could be stored. “He owns some barges that he ships grain on in the fall. The rest of the year, Clovis fishes for a living, like most everybody in Narda.” Then he frowned. “What kind of goods do you have? The sheep have already been shorn, an’ no crops are in as of yet.” “This and that,” said Horst. He tossed the man a copper. The dockworker pocketed it with a wink and a nudge. “Right you are, sir. This an’ that. I know a dodge when I see one. But no need to fear old Ulric; mum’s th’ word, it is. Be seeing you, then, sir.” He strolled off, whistling. As it turned out, Clovis was absent from the docks. After getting direc-tions, it took them a half hour to walk to his house on the other side of Narda, where they found Clovis planting iris bulbs along the path to his front door. He was a stout man with sunburned cheeks and a salt-and-pepper beard. An additional hour passed before they could convince the mariner that they really were interested in his barges, despite the season, and then troop back to the sheds, which he unlocked to reveal three identical barges, the Merrybell, Edeline, and Red Boar. Page 560 Each barge was seventy-five feet long, twenty feet wide, and painted rust red. They had open holds that could be covered with tarpaulins, a mast that could be erected in the center for a single square sail, and a block of above-decks cabins at the rear—or aft, as Clovis called it—of the craft. “Their draft be deeper than that of an inland scow,” explained Clovis, “so you needn’t fear them capsizing in rough weather, though you’d do well to avoid being caught in a real tempest. These barges aren’t meant for the open sea. They’re meant to stay within sight of land. And now be the worst time to launch them. By my honor, we’ve had nothing but thunderstorms every afternoon for a month.” “Do you have crews for all three?” asked Roran. “Well now... see, there’s a problem. Most of the men I employ left weeks ago to hunt seals, as they’re wont to do. Since I need them only after the harvest, they’re free to come and go as they please for the rest of the year.... I’m sure you fine gentlemen understand my position.” Clovis tried to smile, then glanced between Roran, Horst, and Baldor as if uncer-tain whom to address. Roran walked the length of the Edeline, examining it for damage. The barge looked old, but the wood was sound and the paint was fresh. “If we replace the missing men in your crews, how much would it cost to go to Teirm with all three barges?” “That depends,” said Clovis. “The sailors earn fifteen coppers per day, plus as much good food as they can eat and a dram of whisky besides. What your men earn be your own business. I won’t put them on my pay-roll. Normally, we also hire guards for each barge, but they’re—” “They’re off hunting, yes,” said Roran. “We’ll provide guards as well.” The knob in Clovis’s tanned throat jumped as he swallowed. “That’d be more than reasonable... so it would. In addition to the crew’s wages, I charge a fee of two hundred crowns, plus recompense for any damage to the barges on account of your men, plus—as both owner and captain— twelve percent of the total profit from sale of the cargo.” “Our trip will have no profit.” That, more than anything, seemed to unnerve Clovis. He rubbed the dimple in his chin with his left thumb, began to talk twice, stopped, then finally said, “If that be the case, another four hundred crowns upon com-pletion of the voyage. What—if I may make so bold as to inquire—do you wish to transport?” We frighten him,thought Roran. “Livestock.” “Be it sheep, cattle, horses, goats, oxen... ?” “Our herds contain an assortment of animals.” “And why do you want to take them to Teirm?” “We have our reasons.” Roran almost smiled at Clovis’s confusion. “Would you consider sailing past Teirm?” “No! Teirm’s my limit, it is. I don’t know the waters beyond, nor would I want to be gone any longer from my wife and daughter.” Page 561 “When could you be ready?” Clovis hesitated and executed two little steps. “Mayhap five or six days. No... no, you’d better make it a week; I have affairs that I must attend to before departing.” “We’d pay an additional ten crowns to leave day after tomorrow.” “I don’t—” “Twelve crowns.” “Day after tomorrow it is,” vowed Clovis. “One way or another, I’ll be ready by then.” Trailing his hand along the barge’s gunwale, Roran nodded without looking back at Clovis and said, “May I have a minute alone to confer with my associates?” “As you wish, sir. I’ll just go for a turn about the docks until you’re done.” Clovis hurried to the door. Just as he exited the shed, he asked, “I’m sorry, but what’d be your name again? I fear I missed it earlier, an’ my memory can be something dreadful.” “Stronghammer. My name is Stronghammer.” “Ah, of course. A good name, that.” When the door closed, Horst and Baldor converged on Roran. Baldor said, “We can’t afford to hire him.” “We can’t afford not to,” replied Roran. “We don’t have the gold to buy the barges, nor do I fancy teaching myself to handle them when every-one’s lives depend on it. It’ll be faster and safer to pay for a crew.” “It’s still too expensive,” said Horst. Roran drummed his fingers against the gunwale. “We can pay Clovis’s initial fee of two hundred crowns. Once we reach Teirm, though, I sug-gest that we either steal the barges using the skills we learn during the trip or incapacitate Clovis and his men until we can escape through other means. That way, we avoid paying the extra four hundred crowns, as well as the sailors’ wages.” “I don’t like cheating a man out of honest work,” said Horst. “It goes against my fiber.” “I don’t like it either, but can you think of an alternative?” “How would you get everyone onto the barges?” “Have them meet Clovis a league or so down the coast, out of sight of Narda.” Horst sighed. “Very well, we’ll do it, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Call Clovis back in, Baldor, and we’ll seal this pact.” That evening, the villagers gathered around a small banked fire in order to hear what had transpired in Page 562 Narda. From where he knelt on the ground, Roran stared at the pulsing coals while he listened to Gertrude and the three brothers describe their separate adventures. The news about Roran’s and Eragon’s posters caused murmurs of unease among the audience. When Darmmen finished, Horst took his place and, with short, brisk sentences, related the lack of proper ships in Narda, how the dockworker recommended Clovis, and the deal that was brokered thereafter. How-ever, the moment Horst mentioned the word barges, the villagers’ cries of ire and discontent blotted out his voice. Marching to the forefront of the group, Loring raised his arms for atten-tion. “Barges?” said the cobbler. “Barges? We don’t want no stinking barges!” He spat by his foot as people clamored with agreement. “Everyone, be quiet!” said Delwin. “We’ll be heard if we keep this up.” When the crackling fire was the loudest noise, he continued at a slower pace: “I agree with Loring. Barges are unacceptable. They’re slow and vul-nerable. And we’d be crammed together with a complete lack of privacy and no shelter to speak of for who knows how long. Horst, Elain is six months pregnant. You can’t expect her and others who are sick and in-firm to sit under the blazing sun for weeks on end.” “We can lash tarpaulins over the holds,” replied Horst. “It’s not much, but it’ll shield us from the sun and the rain.” Birgit’s voice cut through the crowd’s low babble: “I have another con-cern.” People moved aside as she walked to the fire. “What with the two hundred crowns Clovis is due and the money Darmmen and his brothers spent, we’ve used up most of our coin. Unlike those in cities, our wealth lies not in gold but in animals and property. Our property is gone and few animals are left. Even if we turn pirate and steal these barges, how can we buy supplies at Teirm or passage farther south?” “The important thing,” rumbled Horst, “is to get to Teirm in the first place. Once we’re there, then we can worry about what to do next.... It’s possible that we may have to resort to more drastic measures.” Loring’s bony face crumpled into a mass of wrinkles. “Drastic? What do you mean, drastic? We’ve already done drastic. This whole venture is drastic. I don’t care what you say; I won’t use those confounded barges, not after what we’ve gone through in the Spine. Barges are for grain and animals. What we want is a ship with cabins and bunks where we can sleep in comfort. Why not wait another week or so and see if a ship ar-rives that we can bargain passage on? Where’s the harm in that, eh? Or why not—” He continued to rail for over fifteen minutes, amassing a mountain of objections before ceding to Thane and Ridley, who built upon his arguments. The conversation halted as Roran unfolded his legs and rose to his full height, silencing the villagers through his presence. They waited, breath less, hoping for another of his visionary speeches. “It’s this or walk,” he said. Then he went to bed. THE HAMMER FALLS The moon floated high among the stars when Roran left the makeshift tent he shared with Baldor, padded to the edge of the camp, and replaced Albriech on watch. “Nothing to report,” whispered Albriech, then slipped off. Page 563 Roran strung his bow and planted three goose-feather arrows upright in the loam, within easy reach, then wrapped himself in a blanket and curled against the rockface to his left. His position afforded him a good view down and across the dark foothills. As was his habit, Roran divided the landscape into quadrants, examin-ing each one for a full minute, always alert for the flash of movement or the hint of light that might betray the approach of enemies. His mind soon began to wander, drifting from subject to subject with the hazy logic of dreams, distracting him from his task. He bit the inside of his cheek to force himself to concentrate. Staying awake was difficult in such mild weather.... Roran was just glad that he had escaped drawing lots for the two watches preceding dawn, because they gave you no opportunity to catch up on lost sleep afterward and you felt tired for the rest of the day. A breath of wind ghosted past him, tickling his ear and making the skin on the back of his neck prickle with an apprehension of evil. The intru-sive touch frightened Roran, obliterating everything but the conviction that he and the rest of the villagers were in mortal danger. He quaked as if with the ague, his heart pounded, and he had to struggle to resist the urge to break cover and flee. What’s wrong with me?It required an effort for him to even nock an ar-row. To the east, a shadow detached itself from the horizon. Visible only as a void among the stars, it drifted like a torn veil across the sky until it covered the moon, where it remained, hovering. Illuminated from be-hind, Roran could see the translucent wings of one of the Ra’zac’s mounts. The black creature opened its beak and uttered a long, piercing shriek. Roran grimaced with pain at the cry’s pitch and frequency. It stabbed at his eardrums, turned his blood to ice, and replaced hope and joy with de-spair. The ululation woke the entire forest. Birds and beasts for miles around exploded into a yammering chorus of panic, including, to Roran’s alarm, what remained of the villagers’ herds. Staggering from tree to tree, Roran returned to the camp, whispering, “The Ra’zac are here. Be quiet and stay where you are,” to everyone he encountered. He saw the other sentries moving among the frightened vil-lagers, spreading the same message. Fisk emerged from his tent with a spear in hand and roared, “Are we under attack? What’s set off those blasted—” Roran tackled the carpenter to silence him, uttering a muffled bellow as he landed on his right shoul-der and pained his old injury. “Ra’zac,” Roran groaned to Fisk. Fisk went still and in an undertone asked, “What should I do?” “Help me to calm the animals.” Together they picked their way through the camp to the adjacent meadow where the goats, sheep, donkeys, and horses were bedded. The farmers who owned the bulk of the herds slept with their charges and were already awake and working to soothe the beasts. Roran thanked his paranoia that he had insisted on having the animals scattered along the edge of the meadow, where the trees and brush helped to camouflage them from unfriendly eyes. As he tried to pacify a clump of sheep, Roran glanced up at the terrible black shadow that still obscured Page 564 the moon, like a giant bat. To his horror, it began to move toward their hiding place. If that creature screams again, we’re doomed. By the time the Ra’zac circled overhead, most of the animals had qui-eted, except for one donkey, who insisted upon loosing a grating hee-haw. Without hesitation, Roran dropped to one knee, fit arrow to string, and shot the ass between the ribs. His aim was true, and the animal dropped without a sound. He was too late, though; the braying had already alerted the Ra’zac. The monster swung its head in the direction of the clearing and descended toward it with outstretched claws, preceded by its fetid stench. Now the time has come to see if we can slay a nightmare,thought Roran. Fisk, who was crouched beside him in the grass, hefted his spear, prepar-ing to hurl it once the brute was in range. Just as Roran drew his bow—in an attempt to begin and end the battle with a well-placed shaft—he was distracted by a commotion in the for-est. A mass of deer burst through the underbrush and stampeded across the meadow, ignoring villagers and livestock alike in their frantic desire to escape the Ra’zac. For almost a minute, the deer bounded past Roran, mincing the loam with their sharp hooves and catching the moonlight with their white-rimmed eyes. They came so close, he heard the soft gasps of their labored breathing. The multitude of deer must have hidden the villagers because, after one last circuit over the meadow, the winged monster turned to the south and glided farther down the Spine, melding into the night. Roran and his companions remained frozen in place, like hunted rab-bits, afraid that the Ra’zac’s departure might be a ruse to flush them into the open or that the creature’s twin might be close behind. They waited for hours, tense and anxious, barely moving except to string a bow. When the moon was about to set, the Ra’zac’s bone-chilling shriek echoed far in the distance... then nothing. We were lucky,decided Roran when he woke the next morning. And we can’t count on luck to save us the next time. After the Ra’zac’s appearance, none of the villagers objected to travel-ing by barge. On the contrary, they were so eager to be off, many of them asked Roran if it was possible to set sail that day instead of the next. “I wish we could,” he said, “but too much has to be done.” Forgoing breakfast, he, Horst, and a group of other men hiked into Narda. Roran knew that he risked being recognized by accompanying them, but their mission was too important for him to neglect. Besides, he was confident that his current appearance was different enough from his portrait on the Empire’s poster that no one would equate one with the other. They had no difficulty gaining entrance, as a different set of soldiers guarded the town gate, whereupon they went to the docks and delivered the two hundred crowns to Clovis, who was busy overseeing a gang of men as they readied the barges for sea. “Thank’ee, Stronghammer,” he said, tying the bag of coins to his belt. “There be nothing like yellow gold to brighten a man’s day.” He led them to a worktable and unrolled a chart of the waters surrounding Page 565 Narda, complete with notations on the strength of various currents; locations of rocks, sandbars, and other hazards; and decades’ worth of sounding meas-urements. Drawing a line with his finger from Narda to a small cove di-rectly south of it, Clovis said, “Here’s where we’ll meet your livestock. The tides are gentle this time o’ year, but we still don’t want to fight them an’ no bones about it, so we’ll have to be on our way directly after the high tide.” “High tide?” said Roran. “Wouldn’t it be easier to wait until low tide and let it carry us out?” Clovis tapped his nose with a twinkle in his eye. “Aye, it would, an’ so I’ve begun many a cruise. What I don’t want, though, is to be slung up on the beach, loading your animals, when the tide comes a-rushing back in and pushes us farther inland. There be no danger of that this way, but we’ll have to move smart so as we’re not left high an’ dry when the wa-ters recede. Assuming we do, the sea’ll work for us, eh?” Roran nodded. He trusted Clovis’s experience. “And how many men will you need to fill out your crews?” “Well, I managed to dig up seven lads—strong, true, an’ good seamen all—who have agreed to this venture, odd as it is. Mind you, most of the boys were at the bottom of their tankards when I cornered them last night, drinking off the pay from their last voyage, but they’ll be sober as spinsters come morn; that I promise you. Seeing as seven were all I could find, I’d like four more.” “Four it is,” said Roran. “My men don’t know much about sailing, but they’re able-bodied and willing to learn.” Clovis grunted. “I usually take on a brace of new lads each trip anyway. So long as they follow orders, they’ll do fine; otherwise, they’ll get a be-laying pin upsides the head, mark my words. As for guards, I’d like to have nine—three per boat. An’ they’d better not be as green as your sail-ors, or I won’t budge from the dock, not for all the whisky in the world.” Roran allowed himself a grim smile. “Every man who rides with me has proved himself in battle many times over.” “An’ they all answer to you, eh, young Stronghammer?” said Clovis. He scratched his chin, eyeing Gedric, Delwin, and the others who were new to Narda. “How many are with you?” “Enough.” “Enough, you say. I wonder.” He waved a hand. “Never you mind me; my tongue runs a league before my own common sense, or so my father used to tell me. My first mate, Torson, is at the chandler’s now, oversee-ing the purchase of goods and equipment. I understand you have feed for your livestock?” “Among other things.” “Then you’d best fetch them. We can load them into the holds once the masts are up.” Throughout the rest of the morning and afternoon, Roran and the vil-lagers with him labored to ferry the supplies—which Loring’s sons had procured—from the warehouse where it was stored into the sheds with the barges. As Roran trudged across the gangplank to the Edeline and lowered his bag of flour to the sailor waiting in the hold, Clovis observed, “Most of this t’aint feed, Stronghammer.” Page 566 “No,” said Roran. “But it’s needed.” He was pleased that Clovis had the sense not to inquire further. When the last item had been stored away, Clovis beckoned to Roran. “You might as well go. Me and the boys will handle the rest. Just you remember to be at the docks three hours after dawn with every man jack you promised me, or we’ll lose the tide.” “We’ll be there.” Back in the foothills, Roran helped Elain and the others prepare for de-parture. It did not take long, as they were accustomed to breaking camp each morning. Then he picked twelve men to accompany him to Narda the next day. They were all good fighters, but he asked the best, like Horst and Delwin, to remain with the rest of the villagers in case soldiers found them or the Ra’zac returned. Once night fell, the two groups parted. Roran crouched on a boulder and watched Horst lead the column of people down through the foothills toward the cove where they would wait for the barges. Orval came up beside him and crossed his arms. “Do you think they’ll be safe, Stronghammer?” Anxiety ran through his voice like a taut bow-string. Though he too was worried, Roran said, “I do. I’d bet you a barrel of ci-der that they’ll still be asleep when we put ashore tomorrow. You can have the pleasure of waking up Nolla. How does that sound?” Orval smiled at the mention of his wife and nodded, appearing reassured. I hope I’m right.Roran remained on the boulder, hunched like a bleak gargoyle, until the dark line of villagers vanished from his sight. They woke an hour before sunrise, when the sky had just begun to brighten with pale green and the damp night air numbed their fingers. Roran splashed his face with water and then outfitted himself with his bow and quiver, his ever-present hammer, one of Fisk’s shields, and one of Horst’s spears. The others did likewise, with the addition of swords obtained during the skirmishes in Carvahall. Running as fast as they dared down the hummocky hills, the thirteen men soon arrived at the road to Narda and, shortly after that, the town’s main gate. To Roran’s dismay, the same two soldiers who had troubled them earlier stood guard by the entrance. As before, the soldiers lowered their poleaxes to block the way. “There be quite a bit more of you this time,” observed the white-haired man. “And not all the same ones either. Except for you.” He focused on Roran. “I suppose you expect me to believe that the spear and shield be for pottery as well?” “No. We’ve been hired by Clovis to protect his barges from attack on the way to Teirm.” “You? Mercenaries?” The soldiers burst out laughing. “You said you were tradesmen.” “This pays better.” The white-haired man scowled. “You lie. I tried my hand at being a gentleman of fortune once. I spent more nights hungry than not. How large be your company of tradesmen anyway? Seven yesterday and twelve today—thirteen counting you. It seems too large for an expedition from a bunch of shopkeepers.” His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Roran’s face. “You look familiar. What’d be your name, eh?” Page 567 “Stronghammer.” “It wouldn’t happen to be Roran, would—” Roran jabbed forward with his spear, catching the white-haired soldier in the throat. Scarlet blood fountained. Releasing the spear, Roran drew his hammer and twisted round as he blocked the second soldier’s poleax with his shield. Swinging his hammer up and around, Roran crushed the man’s helm. He stood panting between the two corpses. Now I have killed ten. Orval and the other men stared at Roran with shock. Unable to bear their gazes, Roran turned his back on them and gestured at the culvert that ran beneath the road. “Hide the bodies before anyone sees,” he or-dered, brusque and harsh. As they hurried to obey, he examined the parapet on top of the wall for sentries. Fortunately, no one was visible there or in the street through the gate. He bent and pulled his spear free, wiping the blade clean on a tuft of grass. “Done,” said Mandel, clambering out of the ditch. Despite his beard, the young man appeared pale. Roran nodded and, steeling himself, faced his band. “Listen. We will walk to the docks at a quick but reasonable pace. We will not run. When the alarm is sounded—and someone may have heard the clash just now—act surprised and interested but not afraid. Whatever you do, give people no reason to suspect us. The lives of your families and friends de-pend on it. If we are attacked, your only duty is to see the barges launched. Nothing else matters. Am I clear?” “Aye, Stronghammer,” they answered. “Then follow me.” As he strode through Narda, Roran felt so tense, he feared he might snap and explode into a thousand pieces. What have I made of myself? he wondered. He glanced from man to woman, child to man, man to dog in an effort to identify potential enemies. Everything around him appeared unnaturally bright and filled with detail; it seemed as if he could see the individual threads in people’s clothing. They reached the docks without incident, whereupon Clovis said, “You be early, Stronghammer. I like that in a man. It’ll give us the opportunity to put things nice an’ shipshape before we head out.” “Can we leave now?” asked Roran. “You should know better’n that. Have to wait till the tide’s finished coming in, so we do.” Clovis paused then, taking his first good look at the thirteen of them, and said, “Why, what’d be the matter, Stronghammer? The lot of you look as if you saw the ghost of old Galbatorix himself.” “Nothing a few hours of sea air won’t cure,” said Roran. In his current state, he could not smile, but he did let his features assume a more pleas-ant expression in order to reassure the captain. With a whistle, Clovis summoned two sailors from the boats. Both men were tanned the color of hazelnuts. “This’d be Torson, my first mate,” said Clovis, indicating the man to his right. Torson’s bare shoulder was decorated with a coiled tattoo of a flying dragon. “He’ll be skipper of the Merrybell. And this black dog is Flint. He’s in command of the Ede-line. While you are on board, their word is law, as is mine on the Red Boar. You’ll answer to them and me, not Stronghammer.... Well, give me a proper aye, Page 568 aye if you heard me.” “Aye, aye,” said the men. “Now, which of you be my hands and which be my men-at-arms? For the life of me, I can’t tell you apart.” Ignoring Clovis’s admonishment that he was their commander, not Ro-ran, the villagers looked at Roran to see if they should obey. He nodded his approval, and they divided into two factions, which Clovis proceeded to partition into even smaller groups as he assigned a certain number of villagers to each barge. For the next half hour, Roran worked alongside the sailors to finish preparing the Red Boar for departure, ears open for the first hint of alarm. We’re going to be captured or killed if we stay much longer, he thought, checking the height of the water against the piers. He mopped sweat from his brow. Roran started as Clovis gripped his forearm. Before he could stop himself, Roran pulled his hammer halfway out of his belt. The thick air clogged his throat. Clovis raised an eyebrow at his reaction. “I’ve been watching you, Stronghammer, and I’d be interested to know how you won such loyalty from your men. I’ve served with more captains than I care to recall, an’ not one commanded the level of obedience you do without raising his pipes.” Roran could not help it; he laughed. “I’ll tell you how I did it; I saved them from slavery and from being eaten.” Clovis’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “Did you now? There’s a story I’d like to hear.” “No, you wouldn’t.” After a minute, Clovis said, “No, maybe I wouldn’t at that.” He glanced overboard. “Why, I’ll be hanged. I do believe we can be on our way. Ah, and here’s my little Galina, punctual as ever.” The burly man sprang onto the gangplank and, from there, onto the docks, where he embraced a dark-haired girl of perhaps thirteen and a woman who Roran guessed was her mother. Clovis ruffled the girl’s hair and said, “Now, you’ll be good while I’m gone, won’t you, Galina?” “Yes, Father.” As he watched Clovis bid his family farewell, Roran thought of the two soldiers dead by the gate. They might have had families as well. Wives and children who loved them and a home they returned to each day... He tasted bile and had to wrench his thoughts back to the pier to avoid being sick. On the barges, the men appeared anxious. Afraid that they might lose their nerve, Roran made a show of walking about the deck, stretching, and doing whatever he could to seem relaxed. At last Clovis jumped back onto the Red Boar and cried, “Cast off, me lads! It’s the briny deep for us.” In short order, the gangplanks were pulled aboard, the mooring ropes untied, and the sails raised on the three barges. The air rang with shouted orders and chants of heave-ho as the sailors pulled on ropes. Page 569 Behind them, Galina and her mother remained watching as the barges drew away, still and silent, hooded and grave. “We’re lucky, Stronghammer,” said Clovis, clapping him on the shoul-der. “We’ve a bit o’ wind to push us along today. We may not have to row in order to reach the cove before the tide changes, eh!” When the Red Boar was in the middle of Narda’s bay and still ten min-utes from the freedom of the open sea, that which Roran dreaded oc-curred: the sound of bells and trumpets floated across the water from among the stone buildings. “What’s that?” he asked. “I don’t rightly know,” said Clovis. He frowned as he stared at the town, his hands planted on his hips. “It could be a fire, but no smoke is in the air. Maybe some Urgals were discovered in the area....” Concern grew upon his face. “Did you perchance spy anyone on the road this morning?” Roran shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. Flint drew alongside them and shouted from the deck of the Edeline, “Should we turn back, sir?” Roran gripped the gunwale so hard that he drove splinters under his nails, ready to intercede but afraid to appear too anxious. Tearing his gaze from Narda, Clovis bellowed in return, “No. We’d miss the tide then.” “Aye, aye, sir! But I’d give a day’s pay to find out what caused that clamor.” “So would I,” muttered Clovis. As the houses and buildings shrank behind them, Roran crouched at the rear port of the barge, wrapped his arms around his knees, and leaned against the cabins. He looked at the sky, struck by its depth, clarity, and color, then into the Red Boar ’s roiling green wake, where ribbons of sea-weed fluttered. The pitch of the barge lulled him like the rock of a cra-dle. What a beautiful day it is, he thought, grateful he was there to ob-serve it. After they escaped the cove—to his relief—Roran climbed the ladder to the poop deck behind the cabins, where Clovis stood with his hand on the tiller, guiding their course. The captain said, “Ah, there’s something exhilarating about the first day of a voyage, before you realize how bad the food is an’ start longing for home.” Mindful of his need to learn what he could about the barge, Roran asked Clovis the names and functions of various objects on board, at which point he was treated to an enthusiastic lecture on the workings of barges, ships, and the art of sailing in general. Two hours later, Clovis pointed at a narrow peninsula that lay before them. “The cove be on the far side of that.” Roran straightened off the railing and craned his neck, eager to confirm that the villagers were safe. As the Red Boar rounded the rocky spit of land, a white beach was re-vealed at the apex of the cove, upon which were assembled the refugees from Palancar Valley. The crowd cheered and waved as the barges emerged from behind the rocks. Page 570 Roran relaxed. Beside him, Clovis uttered a dreadful oath. “I knew something were amiss the moment I clapped eyes upon you, Stronghammer. Livestock indeed. Bah! You played me like a fool, you did.” “You wrong me,” replied Roran. “I did not lie; this is my flock and I am their shepherd. Is it not within my right to call them ‘livestock’ if I want?” “Call them what you will, I didn’t agree to haul people to Teirm. Why you didn’t tell me the true nature of your cargo, I might wonder, an’ the only answer on the horizon is that whatever venture you’re engaged in means trouble... trouble for you an’ trouble for me. I should toss the lot of you overboard an’ return to Narda.” “But you won’t,” said Roran, deadly quiet. “Oh? An’ why not?” “Because I need these barges, Clovis, and I’ll do anything to keep them. Anything. Honor our bargain and you’ll have a peaceful trip and you’ll get to see Galina again. If not...” The threat sounded worse than it was; Roran had no intention of killing Clovis, though if he had to, he would abandon him somewhere along the coast. Clovis’s face reddened, but he surprised Roran by grunting and saying, “Fair enough, Stronghammer.” Pleased with himself, Roran returned his attention to the beach. Behind him, he heard a snick. Acting on instinct, Roran recoiled, crouching, twisting, and covering his head with his shield. His arm vibrated as a belaying pin broke across the shield. He lowered the shield and gazed at a dismayed Clovis, who re-treated across the deck. Roran shook his head, never taking his eyes off his opponent. “You can’t defeat me, Clovis. I’ll ask you again: Will you honor our bargain? If you don’t, I’ll put you ashore, commandeer the barges, and press your crew into service. I don’t want to ruin your livelihood, but I will if you force me.... Come now. This can be a normal, uneventful voyage if you choose to help us. Remember, you’ve already been paid.” Drawing himself up with great dignity, Clovis said, “If I agree, then you must do me the courtesy of explaining why this ruse were necessary, an’ why these people are here an’ where they’re from. No matter how much gold you offer me, I won’t assist an undertaking that contradicts my prin-ciples; no, I won’t. Are you bandits? Or do you serve the blasted king?” “The knowledge may place you in greater danger.” “I insist.” “Have you heard of Carvahall in Palancar Valley?” asked Roran. Clovis waved a hand. “Once or twice. What of it?” “You see it now on the beach. Galbatorix’s soldiers attacked us without provocation. We fought back Page 571 and, when our position became untenable, we crossed the Spine and followed the coast to Narda. Galbatorix has promised that every man, woman, and child from Carvahall will be killed or enslaved. Reaching Surda is our only hope of survival.” Roran left out mention of the Ra’zac; he did not want to frighten Clovis too badly. The weathered seaman had gone gray. “Are you still pursued?” “Aye, but the Empire has yet to discover us.” “An’ are you why the alarm was sounded?” Very softly, Roran said, “I killed two soldiers who recognized me.” The revelation startled Clovis: his eyes widened, he stepped back, and the muscles in his forearms rippled as he clenched his fists. “Make your choice, Clovis; the shore draws near.” He knew he had won when the captain’s shoulders drooped and the bravado faded from his bearing. “Ah, the plague take you, Stronghammer. I’m no friend of the king; I’ll get you to Teirm. But then I want nothing more to do with you.” “Will you give me your word that you won’t attempt to slip away in the night or any similar deception?” “Aye. You have it.” Sand and rocks grated across the bottom of the Red Boar ’s hull as the barge drove itself up onto the beach, followed on either side by its two companions. The relentless, rhythmic surge of water dashing itself against the land sounded like the breathing of a gigantic monster. Once the sails were furled and the gangplanks extended, Torson and Flint both strode over to the Red Boar and accosted Clovis, demanding to know what was going on. “There’s been a change of plans,” said Clovis. Roran left him to explain the situation—skirting the exact reasons why the villagers left Palancar Valley—and jumped onto the sand, whereupon he set out to find Horst among the milling knots of people. When he spotted the smith, Roran pulled him aside and told him about the deaths in Narda. “If it’s discovered that I left with Clovis, they may send soldiers on horses after us. We have to get everyone onto the barges as fast as possible.” Horst met his eye for a long minute. “You’ve become a hard man, Ro-ran, harder than I’ll ever be.” “I’ve had to.” “Mind that you don’t forget who you are.” Roran spent the next three hours moving and packing the villagers’ be-longings in the Red Boar until Clovis expressed his satisfaction. The bun-dles had to be secured so that they would not shift unexpectedly and in-jure someone, as well as distributed so that the barge rode level in the water, which was no easy task as the bundles were of irregular size and density. Then the animals were coaxed on board much to their displeas-ure—and immobilized by tethers lashed to iron rings in the hold. Last of all came the people, who, like the rest of the cargo, had to be organized into a symmetrical pattern within the barge to keep from cap-sizing it. Clovis, Torson, and Flint each ended up standing at Page 572 the fore of their barges, shouting directions to the mass of villagers below. What now?thought Roran as he heard an argument break out on the beach. Pushing his way to the source of the disturbance, he saw Calitha kneeling beside her stepfather, Wayland, trying to calm the old man. “No! I won’t go on that beast ! You can’t make me,” cried Wayland. He thrashed his withered arms and beat his heels in an attempt to free him-self from Calitha’s embrace. Spittle flew from his lips. “Let me go, I say. Let me go!” Wincing from his blows, Calitha said, “He’s been unreasonable ever since we made camp last night.” It would have been better for all concerned if he had died in the Spine, what with the trouble he’s caused,thought Roran. He joined Calitha, and together they managed to soothe Wayland so that he no longer screamed and hit. As a reward for his good behavior, Calitha gave him a piece of jerky, which occupied his entire attention. While Wayland concentrated on gumming the meat, she and Roran were able to guide him onto the Edeline and get him settled in a deserted corner where he would not be a nuisance. “Move your backsides, you lubbers,” shouted Clovis. “The tide’s about to turn. Hop to, hop to.” After a final flurry of activity, the gangplanks were withdrawn, leaving a cluster of twenty men standing on the beach before each barge. The three groups gathered around the prows and prepared to push them back into the water. Roran led the effort on the Red Boar. Chanting in unison, he and his men strained against the weight of the huge barge, the gray sand giving beneath their feet, the timbers and cables creaking, and the smell of sweat in the air. For a moment, their efforts seemed to be in vain, then the Red Boar lurched and slid back a foot. “Again!” shouted Roran. Foot by foot, they advanced into the sea, until the frigid water surged about their waists. A breaker crashed over Roran, filling his mouth with seawater, which he spat out vigorously, disgusted by the taste of salt; it was far more intense than he expected. When the barge lifted free of the seabed, Roran swam alongside the Red Boar and pulled himself up with one of the ropes draped over the gunwale. Meanwhile, the sailors deployed long poles that they used to propel the Red Boar into ever deeper water, as did the crews of the Mer-rybell and Edeline. The instant they were a reasonable distance from shore, Clovis ordered the poles stowed away and oars broken out, with which the sailors aimed the Red Boar ’s prow toward the cove’s entrance. They hoisted the sail, aligned it to catch the light wind, and, at the vanguard of the trio of barges, set forth for Teirm upon the uncertain expanse of the bounding main. THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM The days Eragon spent in Ellesméra blended together without distinc-tion; time seemed to have no hold in the pinewood city. The season aged not, even as the afternoons and evenings lengthened, barring the forest with rich shadows. Flowers of all months bloomed at the urging of the elves’ magic, nourished by the enchantments spun through the air. Page 573 Eragon came to love Ellesméra with its beauty and its quiet, the grace-ful buildings that flowed out of the trees, the haunting songs that echoed at twilight, the works of art hidden within the mysterious dwellings, and the introspection of the elves themselves, which they mixed with out-bursts of merriment. The wild animals of Du Weldenvarden had no fear of hunters. Often Eragon would look from his eyrie to see an elf petting a stag or a gray fox or murmuring to a shy bear that trundled along the edge of a clearing, re-luctant to expose himself. Some animals had no recognizable form. They appeared at night, moving and grunting in the bushes and fleeing if Er-agon dared approach. Once he glimpsed a creature like a furred snake and once a white-robed woman whose body wavered and disappeared to re-veal a grinning she-wolf in her place. Eragon and Saphira continued to explore Ellesméra when they had the chance. They went alone or with Orik, for Arya no longer accompanied them, nor had Eragon spoken to her since she broke his fairth. He saw her now and then, flitting between the trees, but whenever he ap-proached—intending to apologize—she withdrew, leaving him alone among the ancient pines. At last Eragon realized that he had to take the initiative if he were to ever have a chance of mending his relationship with her. So one evening, he picked a bouquet from the flowers along the path by his tree and hobbled to Tialdarí Hall, where he asked directions to Arya’s quarters from an elf in the common room. The screen door was open when he reached her chambers. No one an-swered when he knocked. He stepped inside, listening for approaching footsteps as he glanced around the spacious vine-covered living room, which opened to a small bedroom on one side and a study on the other. Two fairths decorated the walls: a portrait of a stern, proud elf with sil-ver hair, who Eragon guessed was King Evandar, and that of a younger male elf whom he did not recognize. Eragon wandered through the apartment, looking but not touching, savoring his glimpse into Arya’s life, gleaning what he could about her in-terests and hobbies. By her bed, he saw a glass sphere with a preserved blossom of the black morning glory embedded within it; on her desk, neat rows of scrolls with titles like Osilon: Harvest Report and Activity Noted by Gil’ead Watchtower; on the sill of an open bay window, three miniature trees grown in the shape of glyphs from the ancient language, the glyphs for peace, strength, and wisdom ; and by the trees, a scrap of paper with an unfinished poem, covered with crossed-out words and scribbled marks. It read: Under the moon, the bright white moon, Lies a pool, a flat silver pool, Among the brakes and brambles, And black-heart pines. Falls a stone, a living stone, Cracks the moon, the bright white moon, Among the brakes and brambles, And black-heart pines. Shards of light, swords of light, Page 574 Ripple ’cross the pool, The quiet mere, the still tarn, The lonely lake there. In the night, the dark and heavy night, Flutter shadows, confused shadows, Where once... Going to the small table by the entrance, Eragon laid his bouquet upon it and turned to leave. He froze as he saw Arya standing in the doorway. She looked startled by his presence, then concealed her emotions behind an impassive expression. They stared at each other in silence. He lifted the bouquet, half offering it to her. “I don’t know how to make a blossom for you, like Fäolin did, but these are honest flowers and the best I could find.” “I cannot accept them, Eragon.” “They’re not... they’re not that sort of gift.” He paused. “It’s no excuse, but I didn’t realize beforehand that my fairth would put you in such a difficult situation. For that, I’m sorry, and I cry your pardon.... I was just trying to make a fairth, not cause trouble. I understand the importance of my studies, Arya, and you needn’t fear I will neglect them in order to moon after you.” He swayed and leaned against the wall, too dizzy to re-main on his feet without support. “That’s all.” She regarded him for a long moment, then slowly reached out and took the bouquet, which she held beneath her nose. Her eyes never left his. “They are honest flowers,” she conceded. Her gaze flickered down to his feet and back up again. “Have you been ill?” “No. My back.” “I had heard, but I did not think...” He pushed himself away from the wall. “I should go.” “Wait.” Arya hesitated, then guided him to the bay window, where he sat on the padded bench that curved from the wall. Removing two gob-lets from a cupboard, Arya crumbled dried nettle leaves into them, then filled the goblets with water and—saying “Boil”—heated the water for tea. She gave a goblet to Eragon, who held it with both hands so the warmth seeped into him. He glanced out the window to the ground twenty feet below, where elves walked among the royal gardens, talking and singing, and fireflies floated through the dusky air. “I wish...,” said Eragon, “I wish it could always be like this. It’s so perfect and quiet.” Arya stirred her tea. “How fares Saphira?” Page 575 “The same. And you?” “I have been preparing to return to the Varden.” Alarm shot through him. “When?” “After the Blood-oath Celebration. I have tarried here far too long as it is, but I have been loath to leave and Islanzadí wished me to stay. Also... I have never attended a Blood-oath Celebration and it is the most impor-tant of our observances.” She considered him over the rim of her goblet. “Is there nothing Oromis can do for you?” Eragon forced a weary shrug. “He tried everything he knows.” They sipped their tea and watched the groups and couples meander along the garden paths. “Your studies go well, though?” she asked. “They do.” In the lull that followed, Eragon picked up the scrap of pa-per from between the trees and examined her stanzas, as if reading them for the first time. “Do you often write poetry?” Arya extended her hand for the paper and, when he gave it to her, rolled it into a tube so that the words were no longer visible. “It is cus-tom that everyone who attends the Blood-oath Celebration should bring a poem, a song, or some other piece of art that they have made and share it with those assembled. I have but begun to work on mine.” “I think it’s quite good.” “If you had read much poetry—” “I have.” Arya paused, then dipped her head and said, “Forgive me. You are not the person I first met in Gil’ead.” “No. I...” He stopped and twisted the goblet between his hands while he searched for the right words. “Arya... you’ll be leaving soon enough. I would count it a shame if this is the last I see of you between now and then. Could we not meet occasionally, as we did before, and you could show Saphira and me more of Ellesméra?” “It would not be wise,” she said in a gentle but firm voice. He looked up at her. “Must the price of my indiscretion be our friend-ship? I cannot help how I feel toward you, but I would rather suffer an-other wound from Durza than allow my foolishness to destroy the com-panionship that existed between us. I value it too highly.” Lifting her goblet, Arya finished the last of her tea before responding. “Our friendship shall endure, Eragon. As for us spending time together...” Her lips curved with a hint of a smile. “Perhaps. However, we shall have to wait and see what the future brings, for I am busy and can promise nothing.” He knew her words were the closest thing to a conciliation he was likely to receive, and he was grateful for them. “Of course, Arya Svit-kona,” he said, and bowed his head. Page 576 They exchanged a few more pleasantries, but it was clear that Arya had gone as far as she was willing to go that day, so Eragon returned to Saphira, his hope restored by what he had accomplished. Now it’s up to fate to decide the outcome, he thought as he settled before Oromis’s latest scroll. Reaching into the pouch at his belt, Eragon withdrew a soapstone con-tainer of nalgask—beeswax melted with hazelnut oil—and smeared it over his lips to protect them against the cold wind that scoured his face. He closed the pouch, then wrapped his arms around Saphira’s neck and buried his face in the crook of his elbow to reduce the glare from the wimpled clouds beneath them. The tireless beat of Saphira’s wings domi-nated his hearing, higher and faster than that of Glaedr’s, whom she fol-lowed. They flew southwest from dawn until early afternoon, often pausing for enthusiastic sparring bouts between Saphira and Glaedr, during which Eragon had to strap his arms onto the saddle to prevent himself from be-ing thrown off by the stomach-turning acrobatics. He then would free himself by pulling on slipknots with his teeth. The trip ended at a cluster of four mountains that towered over the forest, the first mountains Eragon had seen in Du Weldenvarden. White-capped and windswept, they pierced the veil of clouds and bared their crevassed brows to the beating sun, which was heatless at such altitude. They look so small compared to the Beors,said Saphira. As had become his habit during weeks of meditation, Eragon extended his mind in every direction, touching upon the consciousnesses around him in search of any who might mean him harm. He felt a marmot warm in her burrow, ravens, nuthatches, and hawks, numerous squirrels run-ning among the trees, and, farther down the mountain, rock snakes undu-lating through the brush in search of the mice that were their prey, as well as the hordes of ubiquitous insects. When Glaedr descended to a bare ridge on the first mountain, Saphira had to wait until he folded his massive wings before there was enough room for her to land. The field of boulder-strewn talus they alighted upon was brilliant yellow from a coating of hard, crenulated lichen. Above them loomed a sheer black cliff. It acted as buttress and dam for a cornice of blue ice that groaned and split under the wind, loosing jagged slabs that shattered on the granite below. This peak is known as Fionula,said Glaedr. And her brothers are Ethrundr, Merogoven, and Griminsmal. Each has its own tale, which I shall recount on the flight back. But for now, I shall address the purpose of this trip, namely the nature of the bond forged between dragons and elves and, later, humans. You both know something of it—and I have hinted at its full implications to Saphira—but the time has come to learn the solemn and pro-found meaning of your partnership so that you may uphold it when Oromis and I are no more. “Master?” asked Eragon, wrapping his cloak around himself to stay warm. Yes, Eragon. “Why is Oromis not here with us?” Because,rumbled Glaedr, it is my duty—as was always the duty of an elder dragon in centuries past—to ensure that the newest generation of Rid-ers understands the true importance of the station they have assumed. And because Oromis is not as well as he appears. Page 577 The rocks cracked with muffled reports as Glaedr coiled up, nestling himself among the scree and placing his majestic head upon the ground lengthwise to Eragon and Saphira. He examined them with one gold eye as large as a polished roundshield and twice as brilliant. A gray smudge of smoke drifted from his nostrils and was blown to tatters by the wind. Parts of what I am about to reveal were common knowledge among the elves, Riders, and learned humans, but much of it was known only to the leader of the Riders, a mere handful of elves, the humans’ current potentate, and, of course, the dragons. Listen now, my hatchlings. When peace was made between dragons and elves at the end of our war, the Riders were created to ensure that such con-flict would never again arise between our two races. Queen Tarmunora of the elves and the dragon who had been selected to represent us, whose name—he paused and conveyed a series of impressions to Eragon: long tooth, white tooth, chipped tooth; fights won, fights lost; countless eaten Shrrg and Nagra; seven-and-twenty eggs sired and nineteen offspring grown to maturity— cannot be expressed in any language, decided that a common treaty would not suffice. Signed paper means nothing to a dragon. Our blood runs hot and thick and, given enough time, it was inevitable that we would clash with the elves again, as we had with the dwarves over the millennia. But unlike with the dwarves, neither we nor the elves could af-ford another war. We were both too powerful, and we would have destroyed each other. The one way to prevent that and to forge a meaningful accord was to link our two races with magic. Eragon shivered, and with a touch of amusement, Glaedr said, Saphira, if you are wise, you will heat one of these rocks with the fire from your belly so that your Rider does not freeze. Thereupon Saphira arched her neck, and a jet of blue flame emanated from between her serrated fangs and splashed against the scree, blacken-ing the lichen, which released a bitter smell as it burned. The air grew so hot that Eragon was forced to turn away. He felt the insects underneath the rocks being crisped in the inferno. After a minute, Saphira clapped shut her jaws, leaving a circle of stones five feet across glowing cherry red. Thank you,Eragon said to her. He hunched by the edge of the scorched rocks and warmed his hands over them. Remember, Saphira, to use your tongue to direct the stream,admonished Glaedr. Now... it took nine years for the elves’ wisest magicians to devise the needed spell. When they had, they and the dragons gathered together at Ilirea. The elves provided the structure of the enchantment, the dragons pro-vided the strength, and together they melded the souls of elves and dragons. The joining changed us. We dragons gained the use of language and other trappings of civilization, while the elves shared in our longevity, since before that moment, their lives were as short as humans’. In the end, the elves were the most affected. Our magic, dragons’ magic—which permeates every fiber of our being—was transmitted to the elves and, in time, gave them their much-vaunted strength and grace. Humans have never been influenced as strongly, since you were added to the spell after its completion and it has not had as much time to work upon you as with the elves. Still—and here Glaedr’s eye gleamed— it has already gentled your race from the rough barbarians who first landed in Alagaësia, though you have begun to regress since the Fall. “Were dwarves ever part of this spell?” asked Eragon. No, and that is why there has never been a dwarf Rider. They do not care for dragons, nor we for them, and they found the idea of being joined with us repellent. Perhaps it is fortunate that they did not enter Page 578 into our pact, for they have escaped the decline of humans and elves. Decline, Master?queried Saphira in what Eragon would have sworn was a teasing tone of voice. Aye, decline. If one or another of our three races suffer, so do they all. By killing dragons, Galbatorix harmed his own race as well as the elves. The two of you have not seen this, for you are new to Ellesméra, but the elves are on the wane; their power is not what it once was. And humans have lost much of their culture and been consumed by chaos and corruption. Only by righting the imbalance between our three races shall order return to the world. The old dragon kneaded the scree with his talons, crumbling it into gravel so that he was more comfortable. Layered within the enchantment Queen Tarmunora oversaw was the mechanism that allows a hatchling to be linked with his or her Rider. When a dragon decides to give an egg to the Riders, certain words are said over the egg—which I shall teach you later— that prevent the dragon inside from hatching until it is brought into contact with the person with whom it decides to bond. As dragons can remain in their eggs indefinitely, time is of no concern, nor is the infant harmed. You yourself are an example of this, Saphira. The bond that forms between a Rider and dragon is but an enhanced ver-sion of the bond that already exists between our races. The human or elf be-comes stronger and fairer, while some of the dragon’s fiercer traits are tem-pered by a more reasoned outlook.... I see a thought biting at your tongue, Eragon. What is it? “It’s just...” He hesitated. “I have a hard time imagining you or Saphira being any fiercer. Not,” he added anxiously, “that that’s a bad thing.” The ground shook as if with an avalanche as Glaedr chuckled, rolling his great big staring eye behind its horny lid and back again. If ever you met an unbonded dragon, you would not say so. A dragon alone answers to no one and no thing, takes whatever pleases it, and bears no thought of kindness for aught but its kith and kin. Fierce and proud were the wild dragons, even arrogant.... The females were so formidable, it was accounted a great accomplishment among the Riders’ dragons to mate with one. The lack of this bond is why Galbatorix’s partnership with Shruikan, his second dragon, is such a perverted union. Shruikan did not choose Galba-torix as his partner; he was twisted by certain black magics into serving Galbatorix’s madness. Galbatorix has constructed a depraved imitation of the relationship that you, Eragon, and you, Saphira, possess and that he lost when the Urgals murdered his original dragon. Glaedr paused and looked between the two of them. His eye was all that moved. That which links you exceeds any simple connection between minds. Your very souls, your identities—call it what you will—have been welded on a primal level. His eye flicked to Eragon. Do you believe that a person’s soul is separate from his body? “I don’t know,” said Eragon. “Saphira once took me out of my body and let me see the world through her eyes.... It seemed like I was no longer connected to my body. And if the wraiths that a sorcerer calls upon can exist, then maybe our consciousness is independent of flesh as well.” Extending the needle-sharp tip of his foreclaw, Glaedr flipped over a rock to expose a woodrat cowering in its nest. He snapped up the rat with a flash of his red tongue; Eragon winced as he felt the animal’s life extinguished. Page 579 When the flesh is destroyed, so is the soul,said Glaedr. “But an animal isn’t a person,” protested Eragon. After your meditations, do you truly believe that any of us are so different from a woodrat? That we are gifted with a miraculous quality that other creatures do not enjoy and that somehow preserves our beings after death? “No,” muttered Eragon. I thought not. Because we are so closely joined, when a dragon or Rider is injured, they must harden their hearts and sever the connection between them in order to protect each other from unnecessary suffering, even insan-ity. And since the soul cannot be torn from the flesh, you must resist the temptation to try to take your partner’s soul into your own body and shelter it there, as that will result in both your deaths. Even if it were possible, it would be an abomination to have multiple consciousnesses in one body. “How terrible,” said Eragon, “to die alone, separate even from the one who is closest to you.” Everyone dies alone, Eragon. Whether you are a king on a battlefield or a lowly peasant lying in bed among your family, no one can accompany you into the void.... Now I will have you practice separating your conscious-nesses. Start by... Eragon stared at the tray of dinner left in the anteroom of the tree house. He cataloged the contents: bread with hazelnut butter, berries, beans, a bowl of leafy greens, two hard-boiled eggs—which, in accor-dance with the elves’ beliefs, were unfertilized—and a stoppered jug of fresh spring water. He knew that each dish was prepared with the ut-most care, that the elves lavished all of their culinary skill upon his meals, and that not even Islanzadí ate better than him. He could not bear the sight of the tray. I want meat,he growled, stomping back into the bedroom. Saphira looked up at him from her dais. I’d even settle for fish or fowl, anything besides this never-ending stream of vegetables. They don’t fill up my stom-ach. I’m not a horse; why should I be fed like one? Saphira unfolded her legs, walked to the edge of the teardrop gap over-looking Ellesméra, and said, I have needed to eat these past few days. Would you like to join me? You can cook as much meat as you like and the elves will never know. That I would,he said, brightening. Should I get the saddle? We won’t go that far. Eragon fetched his supply of salt, herbs, and other seasonings from his bags and then, careful not to overexert himself, climbed into the gap be-tween the spikes along Saphira’s spine. Launching herself off the ground, Saphira let an updraft waft her high above the city, whereupon she glided off the column of warm air, slip-ping down and sideways as she followed a braided stream through Du Weldenvarden to a pond some miles thence. She landed and hunched low to the ground, making it easier for Eragon to dismount. Page 580 She said, There are rabbits in the grass by the edge of the water. See if you can catch them. In the meantime, I go to hunt deer. What, you don’t want to share your own prey? No, I don’t,she replied grumpily. Though I will if those oversized mice elude you. He grinned as she took off, then faced the tangled clumps of grass and cow parsnip that surrounded the pond and set about procuring his din-ner. Less than a minute later, Eragon collected a brace of dead rabbits from their nest. It had taken him but an instant to locate the rabbits with his mind and then kill them with one of the twelve death words. What he had learned from Oromis had drained the challenge and excitement from the chase. I didn’t even have to stalk them, he thought, remembering the years he had spent honing his tracking abilities. He grimaced with sour amusement. I can finally bag any game I want and it seems meaningless to me. At least when I hunted with a pebble with Brom, it was still a chal-lenge, but this... this is slaughter. The warning of the sword-shaper Rhunön returned to him then: “When you can have anything you want by uttering a few words, the goal matters not, only the journey to it.” I should have paid more attention to her,realized Eragon. With practiced movements, he drew his old hunting knife, skinned and gutted the rabbits, and then—putting aside the hearts, lungs, kidneys, and livers—buried the viscera so that the scent would not attract scavengers. Next he dug a pit, filled it with wood, and lit a small blaze with magic, since he had not thought to bring his flint and steel. He tended the fire until he had a bed of coals. Cutting a wand of dogwood, he stripped the bark and seared the wood over the coals to burn off the bitter sap, then spitted the carcasses on the wand and suspended them between two forked branches pounded into the ground. For the organs, he placed a flat stone upon a section of the coals and greased it with fat for a makeshift frying pan. Saphira found him crouched by the fire, slowly turning the wand to cook the meat evenly. She landed with a limp deer hanging from her jaws and the remains of a second deer clutched in her talons. Measuring her length out in the fragrant grass, she proceeded to gorge upon her prey, eating the entire deer, including the hide. Bones cracked between her ra-zor teeth, like branches snapping in a gale. When the rabbits were ready, Eragon waved them in the air to cool them, then stared at the glistening, golden meat, the smell of which he found almost unbearably enticing. As he opened his mouth to take the first bite, his thoughts turned un-bidden to his meditations. He remembered his excursions into the minds of birds and squirrels and mice, how full of energy they felt and how vig-orously they fought for the right to exist in the face of danger. And if this life is all they have... Gripped by revulsion, Eragon thrust the meat away, as appalled by the fact that he had killed the rabbits as if he had murdered two people. His stomach churned and threatened to make him purge himself. Saphira paused in her feast to eye him with concern. Taking a long breath, Eragon pressed his fists against his knees in an at-tempt to master himself and Page 581 understand why he was so strongly affected. His entire life he had eaten meat, fish, and fowl. He enjoyed it. And yet it now made him physically ill to consider dining upon the rabbits. He looked at Saphira. I can’t do it, he said. It is the way of the world that everything eats everything else. Why do you resist the order of things? He pondered her question. He did not condemn those who did partake of flesh—he knew that it was the only means of survival for many a poor farmer. But he could no longer do so himself unless faced with starvation. Having been inside of a rabbit and having felt what a rabbit feels... eating one would be akin to eating himself. Because we can better ourselves, he answered Saphira. Should we give in to our impulses to hurt or kill any who anger us, to take whatever we want from those who are weaker, and, in gen-eral, to disregard the feelings of others? We are made imperfect and must guard against our flaws lest they destroy us. He gestured at the rabbits. As Oromis said, why should we cause unnecessary suffering? Would you deny all of your desires, then? I would deny those that are destructive. You are adamant on this? Aye. In that case,said Saphira, advancing upon him, these will make a fine dessert. In a blink, she gulped down the rabbits and then licked clean the stone with the organs, abrading the slate with the barbs on her tongue. I, at least, cannot live on plants alone—that is food for prey, not a dragon. I refuse to be ashamed about how I must sustain myself. Everything has its place in the world. Even a rabbit knows that. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty,he said, patting her on the leg. This is a personal decision. I won’t force my choice upon anyone. Very wise,she said with a touch of sarcasm. BROKEN EGG AND SCATTERED NEST “Concentrate, Eragon,” said Oromis, though not unkindly. Eragon blinked and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to focus on the glyphs that decorated the curling parchment paper before him. “Sorry, Master.” Weariness dragged upon him like lead weights tied to his limbs. He squinted at the curved and spiked glyphs, raised his goose-feather quill, and began to copy them again. Through the window behind Oromis, the green shelf on top of the Crags of Tel’naeír was streaked with shadows from the descending sun. Beyond, feathery clouds banded the sky. Eragon’s hand jerked as a line of pain shot up his leg, and he broke the nib of the quill and sprayed ink across the paper, ruining it. Across from him, Oromis also started, clutching his right arm. Page 582 Saphira!cried Eragon. He reached for her with his mind and, to his be-wilderment, was deflected by impenetrable barriers that she had erected around herself. He could barely feel her. It was as if he were trying to grasp an orb of polished granite coated with oil. She kept slipping away from him. He looked at Oromis. “Something’s happened to them, hasn’t it?” “I know not. Glaedr returns, but he refuses to talk to me.” Taking his blade, Naegling, from the wall, Oromis strode outside and stood upon the edge of the crags, head uplifted as he waited for the gold dragon to ap-pear. Eragon joined him, thinking of everything—probable and improb-able—that might have befallen Saphira. The two dragons had left at noon, flying north to a place called the Stone of Broken Eggs, where the wild dragons had nested in ages past. It was an easy trip. It couldn’t be Ur-gals; the elves don’t allow them into Du Weldenvarden, he told himself. At last Glaedr came into view high above as a winking speck among the darkening clouds. As he descended to land, Eragon saw a wound on the back of the dragon’s right foreleg, a tear in his lapped scales as wide as Eragon’s hand. Scarlet blood laced the grooves between the surrounding scales. The moment Glaedr touched the ground, Oromis rushed toward him, only to stop when the dragon growled at him. Hopping on his injured leg, Glaedr crawled to the edge of the forest, where he curled up beneath the outstretched boughs, his back to Eragon, and set about licking clean his wound. Oromis went and knelt in the clover by Glaedr, keeping his distance with calm patience. It was obvious that he would wait as long as need be. Eragon fidgeted as the minutes elapsed. Finally, by some unspoken signal, Glaedr allowed Oromis to draw near and inspect his leg. Magic glowed from Oromis’s gedwëy ignasia as he placed his hand over the rent in Glaedr’s scales. “How is he?” asked Eragon when Oromis withdrew. “It looks a fearsome wound, but it is no more than a scratch for one so large as Glaedr.” “What about Saphira, though? I still can’t contact her.” “You must go to her,” said Oromis. “She is hurt, in more ways than one. Glaedr said little of what transpired, but I have guessed much, and you would do well to hurry.” Eragon glanced about for any means of transportation and groaned with anguish when he confirmed that none existed. “How can I reach her? It’s too far to run, there’s no trail, and I can’t—” “Calm thyself, Eragon. What was the name of the steed who bore you hence from Sílthrim?” It took Eragon a moment to recall. “Folkvír.” “Then summon him with your skill at gramarye. Name him and your need in this, the most powerful of languages, and he will come to your assistance.” Letting the magic suffuse his voice, Eragon cried out for Folkvír, send-ing his plea echoing over the forested hills toward Ellesméra with all the urgency he could muster. Page 583 Oromis nodded, satisfied. “Well done.” Twelve minutes later, Folkvír emerged like a silver ghost from the dark shadows among the trees, tossing his mane and snorting with excitement. The stallion’s sides heaved from the speed of his journey. Throwing a leg over the small elven horse, Eragon said, “I’ll return as soon as I can.” “Do what you must,” said Oromis. Then Eragon touched his heels to Folkvír’s ribs and shouted, “Run, Folkvír! Run!” The horse leaped forward and bounded into Du Welden-varden, threading his way with incredible dexterity between the gnarled pines. Eragon guided him toward Saphira with images from his mind. Lacking a trail through the underbrush, a horse like Snowfire would have taken three or four hours to reach the Stone of Broken Eggs. Folkvír managed the trip in a bit over an hour. At the base of the basalt monolith—which ascended from the forest floor like a mottled green pillar and stood a good hundred feet higher than the trees—Eragon murmured, “Halt,” then slid to the ground. He looked at the distant top of the Stone of Broken Eggs. Saphira was up there. He walked around the perimeter, searching for a means to achieve the pinnacle, but in vain, for the weathered formation was impregnable. It possessed no fissures, crevices, or other faults near enough to the ground that he could use to climb its sides. This might hurt,he thought. “Stay here,” he told Folkvír. The horse looked at him with intelligent eyes. “Graze if you want, but stay here, okay?” Folkvír nickered and, with his velvet muzzle, nudged Eragon’s arm. “Yes, good boy. You’ve done well.” Fixing his gaze on the crest of the monolith, Eragon gathered his strength, then said in the ancient language, “Up!” He realized later that if he had not been accustomed to flying with Saphira, the experience might have proved unsettling enough to cause him to lose control of the spell and plunge to his death. The ground dropped away beneath his feet at a swift clip, while the tree trunks nar-rowed as he floated toward the underside of the canopy and the fading evening sky beyond. Branches clung like grasping fingers to his face and shoulders as he pushed through into the open. Unlike during one of Saphira’s dives, he retained his sense of weight, as if he still stood upon the loam below. Rising above the edge of the Stone of Broken Eggs, Eragon moved him-self forward and released his grip on the magic, alighting upon a mossy patch. He sagged with exhaustion and waited to see if the exertion would pain his back, then sighed with relief when it did not. The top of the monolith was composed of jagged towers divided by deep and wide gullies where naught but a few scattered wildflowers grew. Black caves dotted the towers, some natural, others clawed out of the basalt by talons as thick as Eragon’s leg. Their floors were blanketed with a deep layer of lichen-ridden bones, remnants of the dragons’ an-cient kills. Birds now nested where dragons once had—hawks and falcons and eagles, who watched him from their perches, ready to attack if he should threaten their eggs. Page 584 Eragon picked his way across the forbidding landscape, careful not to twist an ankle on the loose flakes of stone or to get too close to the occa-sional rifts that split the column. If he fell down one, it would send him tumbling out into empty space. Several times he had to climb over high ridges, and twice more he had to lift himself with magic. Evidence of the dragons’ habitation was visible everywhere, from deep scratches in the basalt to puddles of melted rock to a number of dull, colorless scales caught in nooks, along with other detritus. He even stepped upon a sharp object that, when he bent to examine it, proved to be a fragment of a green dragon egg. On the eastern face of the monolith stood the tallest tower, in the cen-ter of which, like a black pit turned on its side, was the largest cave. It was there that Eragon finally beheld Saphira, curled in a hollow against the far wall, her back to the opening. Tremors ran her length. The walls of the cave bore fresh scorch marks, and the piles of brittle bones were scattered about as if from a fight. “Saphira,” said Eragon, speaking out loud since her mind was closed to him. Her head whipped up, and she stared at him as if he were a stranger, her pupils contracting to thin black slits as her eyes adjusted to the light from the setting sun behind him. She snarled once, like a feral dog, and then twisted away. As she did, she lifted her left wing and exposed a long, ragged gash along her upper thigh. His heart caught at the sight. Eragon knew that she would not let him approach, so he did as Oromis had with Glaedr; he knelt among the crushed bones and waited. He waited without word or motion until his legs were numb and his hands were stiff with cold. Yet he did not resent the discomfort. He paid the price gladly if it meant he could help Saphira. After a time, she said, I have been a fool. We are all fools sometimes. That makes it no easier when it is your turn to play dunce. I suppose not. I have always known what to do. When Garrow died, I knew it was the right thing to pursue the Ra’zac. When Brom died, I knew that we should go to Gil’ead and thence to the Varden. And when Ajihad died, I knew that you should pledge yourself to Nasuada. The path has always been clear to me. Except now. In this issue alone, I am lost. What is it, Saphira? Instead of answering, she turned the subject and said, Do you know why this is called the Stone of Broken Eggs? No. Because during the war between dragons and elves, the elves tracked us to this location and killed us while we slept. They tore apart our nests, then shattered our eggs with their magic. That day, it rained blood in the forest below. No dragon has lived here since. Page 585 Eragon remained silent. That was not why he was here. He would wait until she could bring herself to address the situation at hand. Say something!demanded Saphira. Will you let me heal your leg? Leave well enough alone. Then I shall remain as mute as a statue and sit here until I turn to dust, for I have the patience of a dragon from you. When they came, her words were halting, bitter, and self-mocking: It shames me to admit it. When we first came here and I saw Glaedr, I felt such joy that another member of my race survived besides Shruikan. I had never even seen another dragon before, except in Brom’s memories. And I thought... I thought that Glaedr would be as pleased by my existence as I was by his. But he was. You don’t understand. I thought that he would be the mate I never ex-pected to have and that together we could rebuild our race.She snorted, and a burst of flame escaped her nostrils. I was mistaken. He does not want me. Eragon chose his response with care to avoid offending her and to pro-vide a modicum of comfort. That’s because he knows you are destined for someone else: one of the two remaining eggs. Nor would it be proper for him to mate with you when he is your mentor. Or perhaps he does not find me comely enough. Saphira, no dragon is ugly, and you are the fairest of dragons. I am a fool,she said. But she raised her left wing and kept it in the air as permission for him to tend to her injury. Eragon limped to Saphira’s side, where he examined the crimson wound, glad that Oromis had given him so many scrolls on anatomy to read. The blow—by claw or tooth, he was not sure—had torn the quad-riceps muscle beneath Saphira’s hide, but not so much as to bare the bone. Merely closing the surface of the wound, as Eragon had done so many times, would not be enough. The muscle had to be knitted back together. The spell Eragon used was long and complex, and even he did not un-derstand all its parts, for he had memorized it from an ancient text that offered little explanation beyond the statement that, given no bones were broken and the internal organs were whole, “this charm will heal any ail-ment of violent origins, excepting that of grim death.” Once he uttered it, Eragon watched with fascination as Saphira’s muscle writhed beneath his hand—veins, nerves, and fibers weaving together—and became whole once more. The wound was big enough that, in his weakened state, he dared not heal it with just the energy from his body, so he drew upon Saphira’s strength as well. It itches,said Saphira when he finished. Eragon sighed and leaned his back against the rough basalt, looking at the sunset through his eyelashes. I Page 586 fear that you will have to carry me off this rock. I’m too tired to move. With a dry rustle, she twisted in place and laid her head on the bones beside him. I have treated you poorly ever since we came to Ellesméra. I ig-nored your advice when I should have listened. You warned me about Glaedr, but I was too proud to see the truth in your words.... I have failed to be a good companion for you, betrayed what it means to be a dragon, and tarnished the honor of the Riders. No, never that,he said vehemently. Saphira, you haven’t failed your duty. You may have made a mistake, but it was an honest one, and one that anyone might have committed in your position. That does not excuse my behavior toward you. He tried to meet her eye, but she avoided his gaze until he touched her upon the neck and said, Saphira, family members forgive one another, even if they don’t always understand why someone acts in a certain way.... You are as much my family as Roran—more. Nothing you can do will ever change that. Nothing. When she did not respond, he reached behind her jaw and tickled the patch of leathery skin below one of her ears. Do you hear me, eh? Nothing! She coughed low in her throat with reluctant amusement, then arched her neck and lifted her head to escape his dancing fingers. How can I face Glaedr again? He was in a terrible rage.... The entire stone shook with the force of his anger. At least you held your own when he attacked you. It was the other way around. Caught by surprise, Eragon raised his eyebrows. Well, in any case, the only thing to do is to apologize. Apologize! Aye. Go tell him that you are sorry, that this won’t happen again, and that you want to continue your training with him. I’m sure he will be sym-pathetic if you give him the chance. Very well,she said in a low voice. You’ll feel better once you do.He grinned. I know from experience. She grunted and padded to the edge of the cave, where she crouched and surveyed the rolling forest. We should go. Soon it will be dark. Grit-ting his teeth, he forced himself upright—every movement costing him effort—and climbed onto her back, taking twice the time he usually did. Eragon?... Thank you for coming. I know what you risked with your back. He patted her on the shoulder. Are we one again? We are one. THE GIFT OF DRAGONS Page 587 The days leading up to the Agaetí Blödhren were the best and worst of times for Eragon. His back troubled him more than ever, battering down his health and endurance and destroying his calm of mind; he lived in constant fear of triggering an episode. Yet, in contrast, he and Saphira had never been so close. They lived as much in each other’s minds as in their own. And every now and then Arya would visit the tree house and walk through Ellesméra with Eragon and Saphira. She never came alone, though, always bringing either Orik or Maud the werecat. Over the course of their wanderings, Arya introduced Eragon and Saphira to elves of distinction: great warriors, poets, and artists. She took them to concerts held under the thatched pines. And she showed them many hidden wonders of Ellesméra. Eragon seized every opportunity to talk with her. He told her about his upbringing in Palancar Valley, about Roran, Garrow, and his aunt Marian, stories of Sloan, Ethlbert, and the other villagers, and his love of the mountains surrounding Carvahall and the flaming sheets of light that adorned the winter sky at night. He told her about the time a vixen fell into Gedric’s tanning vats and had to be fished out with a net. He told her about the joy he found in planting a crop, weeding and nurturing it, and watching the tender green shoots grow under his care—a joy that he knew she, of all people, could appreciate. In turn, Eragon gleaned occasional insights into her own life. He heard mentions of her childhood, her friends and family, and her experiences among the Varden, which she spoke about most freely, describing raids and battles she participated in, treaties she helped to negotiate, her dis-putes with the dwarves, and the momentous events she witnessed during her tenure as ambassador. Between her and Saphira, a measure of peace entered Eragon’s heart, but it was a precarious balance that the slightest influence might disrupt. Time itself was an enemy, for Arya was destined to leave Du Welden-varden after the Agaetí Blödhren. Thus, Eragon treasured his moments with her and dreaded the arrival of the forthcoming celebration. The entire city bustled with activity as the elves prepared for the Agaetí Blödhren. Eragon had never seen them so excited before. They decorated the forest with colored bunting and lanterns, especially around the Menoa tree, while the tree itself was adorned with a lantern upon the tip of each branch, where they hung like glowing teardrops. Even the plants, Eragon noticed, took on a festive appearance with a collection of bright new flowers. He often heard the elves singing to them late at night. Each day hundreds of elves arrived in Ellesméra from their cities scat-tered throughout the woods, for no elf would willingly miss the centen-nial observance of their treaty with the dragons. Eragon guessed that many of them also came to meet Saphira. It seems as if I do nothing but repeat their greeting, he thought. The elves who were absent because of their responsibilities would hold their own festivities simultaneously and would participate in the ceremonies at Ellesméra by scrying through en-chanted mirrors that displayed the likeness of those watching, so that no one felt as if they were being spied upon. A week before the Agaetí Blödhren, when Eragon and Saphira were about to return to their quarters from the Crags of Tel’naeír, Oromis said, “You should both think about what you can bring to the Blood-oath Celebration. Unless your creations require magic to make or to function, I suggest that you avoid using gramarye. No one will respect your work if it’s the product of a spell and not of your own hands. I also suggest you each make a separate piece. That too is custom.” In the air, Eragon asked Saphira, Do you have any ideas? I might have one. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to see if it works before I tell you.He caught part of an Page 588 image from her of a bare knuckle of stone protruding from the forest floor before she concealed it from him. He grinned. Won’t you give me a hint? Fire. Lots of fire. Back in their tree house, Eragon cataloged his skills and thought, I know more about farming than anything else, but I don’t see how I can turn that to my advantage. Nor can I hope to compete with the elves with magic or match their accomplishments with the crafts I am familiar with. Their tal-ent exceeds that of the finest artisans in the Empire. But you possess one quality that no one else does,said Saphira. Oh? Your identity. Your history, deeds, and situation. Use those to shape your creation and you will produce something unique. Whatever you make, base it upon that which is most important to you. Only then will it have depth and meaning, and only then will it resonate with others. He looked at her with surprise. I never realized that you knew so much about art. I don’t,she said. You forget I spent an afternoon watching Oromis paint his scrolls while you flew with Glaedr. Oromis discussed the topic quite a bit. Ah, yes. I had forgotten. After Saphira left to pursue her project, Eragon paced along the edge of the open portal in the bedroom, pondering what she had said. What’s im-portant to me? he asked himself. Saphira and Arya, of course, and being a good Rider, but what can I say about those subjects that isn’t blindingly ob-vious? I appreciate beauty in nature, but, again, the elves have already ex-pressed everything possible on that topic. Ellesméra itself is a monument to their devotion. He turned his gaze inward and scrutinized himself to de-termine what struck the deepest, darkest chords within him. What stirred him with enough passion—of either love or hate—that he burned to share it with others? Three things presented themselves to him: his injury at the hands of Durza, his fear of one day fighting Galbatorix, and the elves’ epics that so engrossed him. A rush of excitement flared within Eragon as a story combining those elements took form in his mind. Light on his feet, he ran up the twisting stairs—two at a time—to the study, where he sat before the writing desk, dipped quill in ink, and held it trembling over a pale sheet of paper. The nib rasped as he made the first stroke: In the kingdom by the sea, In the mountains mantled blue... The words flowed from his pen seemingly of their own accord. He felt as if he were not inventing his tale, but merely acting as a conduit to transport it fully formed into the world. Having never composed a work of his own before, Eragon was gripped by the thrill of discovery that accompanies new Page 589 ventures—especially since, previously, he had not sus-pected that he might enjoy being a bard. He labored in a frenzy, not stopping for bread or drink, his tunic sleeves rolled past his elbows to protect them from the ink flicked from his quill by the wild force of his writing. So intense was his concentra-tion, he heard nothing but the beat of his poem, saw nothing but the empty paper, and thought of nothing but the phrases etched in lines of fire behind his eyes. An hour and a half later, he dropped the quill from his cramped hand, pushed his chair away from the desk, and stood. Fourteen pages lay be-fore him. It was the most he had ever written at one time. Eragon knew that his poem could not match those of the elves’ and dwarves’ great au-thors, but he hoped it was honest enough that the elves would not laugh at his effort. He recited the poem to Saphira when she returned. Afterward, she said, Ah, Eragon, you have changed much since we left Palancar Valley. You would not recognize the untested boy who first set out for vengeance, I think. That Eragon could not have written a lay after the style of the elves. I look forward to seeing who you become in the next fifty or a hundred years. He smiled. If I live that long. “Rough but true,” was what Oromis said when Eragon read him the poem. “Then you like it?” “’Tis a good portrait of your mental state at the present and an engaging read, but no masterpiece. Did you expect it to be?” “I suppose not.” “However, I am surprised that you can give voice to it in this tongue. No barrier exists to writing fiction in the ancient language. The difficulty arises when one attempts to speak it, for that would require you to tell untruths, which the magic will not allow.” “I can say it,” replied Eragon, “because I believe it’s true.” “And that gives your writing far more power.... I am impressed, Eragon-finiarel. Your poem will be a worthy addition to the Blood-oath Celebra-tion.” Raising a finger, Oromis reached within his robe and gave Eragon a scroll tied shut with ribbon. “Inscribed on that paper are nine wards I want you to place about yourself and the dwarf Orik. As you discovered at Sílthrim, our festivities are potent and not for those with constitutions weaker than ours. Unprotected, you risk losing yourself in the web of our magic. I have seen it happen. Even with these precautions, you must take care you are not swayed by fancies wafted on the breeze. Be on your guard, for during this time, we elves are apt to go mad—wonderfully, gloriously mad, but mad all the same.” On the eve of the Agaetí Blödhren—which was to last three days— Eragon, Saphira, and Orik accompanied Arya to the Menoa tree, where a host of elves were assembled, their black and silver hair flickering in the lamplight. Islanzadí stood upon a raised root at the base of the trunk, as tall, pale, and fair as a birch tree. Blagden roosted on the queen’s left shoulder, while Maud, the werecat, lurked behind her. Glaedr was there, as well as Oromis garbed in red and black, and other elves Eragon recog-nized, such as Lifaen and Narí and, to his distaste, Vanir. Overhead, the stars glittered in the velvet sky. “Wait here,” said Arya. She slipped through the crowd and returned leading Rhunön. The smith blinked Page 590 like an owl at her surroundings. Er-agon greeted her, and she nodded to him and Saphira. “Well met, Bright scales and Shadeslayer.” Then she spied Orik and addressed him in Dwar-vish, to which Orik replied with enthusiasm, obviously delighted to con-verse with someone in the rough speech of his native land. “What did she say?” asked Eragon, bending down. “She invited me to her home to view her work and discuss metal work-ing.” Awe crossed Orik’s face. “Eragon, she first learned her craft from Fûthark himself, one of the legendary grimstborithn of Dûrgrimst Ingei-tum! What I would give to have met him.” Together they waited until the stroke of midnight, when Islanzadí raised her bare left arm so that it pointed toward the new moon like a marble spear. A soft white orb gathered itself above her palm from the light emitted by the lanterns that dotted the Menoa tree. Then Islanzadí walked along the root to the massive trunk and placed the orb in a hollow in the bark, where it remained, pulsing. Eragon turned to Arya. “Is it begun?” “It is begun!” She laughed. “And it will end when the werelight expends itself.” The elves divided themselves into informal camps throughout the for-est and clearing that encircled the Menoa tree. Seemingly out of nowhere, they produced tables laden high with fantastic dishes, which from their unearthly appearance were as much the result of the spellweavers’ handiwork as the cooks’. Then the elves began to sing in their clear, flutelike voices. They sang many songs, yet each was but part of a larger melody that wove an en-chantment over the dreamy night, heightening senses, removing inhibi-tions, and burnishing the revels with fey magic. Their verses concerned heroic deeds and quests by ship and horse to forgotten lands and the sor-row of lost beauty. The throbbing music enveloped Eragon, and he felt a wild abandon take hold of him, a desire to run free of his life and dance through elven glades forever more. Beside him, Saphira hummed along with the tune, her glazed eyes lidded halfway. What transpired afterward, Eragon was never able to adequately recall. It was as if he had a fever and faded in and out of consciousness. He could remember certain incidents with vivid clarity—bright, pungent flashes filled with merriment—but it was beyond him to reconstruct the order in which they occurred. He lost track of whether it was day or night, for no matter the time, dusk seemed to pervade the forest. Nor could he ever say if he had slumbered, or needed sleep, during the cele-bration.... He remembered spinning in circles while holding the hands of an elf-maid with cherry lips, the taste of honey on his tongue and the smell of juniper in the air.... He remembered elves perched on the outstretched branches of the Menoa tree, like a flock of starlings. They strummed golden harps and called riddles to Glaedr below and, now and then, pointed a finger at the sky, whereupon a burst of colored embers would appear in various shapes before fading away.... He remembered sitting in a dell, propped against Saphira, and watching the same elf-maid sway before a rapt audience while she sang: Away, away, you shall fly away, O’er the peaks and vales Page 591 To the lands beyond. Away, away, you shall fly away, And never return to me. Gone! Gone you shall be from me, And I will never see you again. Gone! Gone you shall be from me, Though I wait for you evermore. He remembered endless poems, some mournful, others joyful—most both. He heard Arya’s poem in full and thought it fine indeed, and Islan-zadí’s, which was longer but of equal merit. All the elves gathered to lis-ten to those two works.... He remembered the wonders the elves had made for the celebration, many of which he would have deemed impossible beforehand, even with the assistance of magic. Puzzles and toys, art and weapons, and items whose function escaped him. One elf had charmed a glass ball so that every few seconds a different flower bloomed within its heart. Another elf had spent decades traveling Du Weldenvarden and memorizing the sounds of the elements, the most beautiful of which he now played from the throats of a hundred white lilies. Rhunön contributed a shield that would not break, a pair of gloves woven from steel thread that allowed the wearer to handle molten lead and other such items without harm, and a delicate sculpture of a wren in flight chiseled from a solid block of metal and painted with such skill that the bird seemed alive. A tiered wood pyramid eight inches high and constructed of fifty-eight interlocking pieces was Orik’s offering, much to the elves’ delight, who insisted upon disassembling and reassembling the pyramid as often as he would allow. “Master Longbeard,” they called him, and said, “Clever fin-gers mean a clever mind.”... He remembered Oromis pulling him aside, away from the music, and asking the elf, “What’s wrong?” “You need to clear your mind.” Oromis guided him to a fallen log and had him sit. “Stay here for a few minutes. You will feel better.” “I’m fine. I don’t need to rest,” protested Eragon. “You are in no position to judge yourself right now. Stay here until you can list the spells of changing, great and minor, and then you may rejoin us. Promise me this.”... He remembered creatures dark and strange, drifting in from the depths of the forest. The majority were animals who had been altered by the ac-cumulated spells in Du Weldenvarden and were now drawn to the Agaetí Blödhren as a starving man is drawn to food. They seemed to find nourishment in the presence of the elves’ magic. Most dared reveal them-selves only as pairs of glowing eyes on the outskirts of the lantern light. One animal that did expose itself was the she-wolf—in the form of a white-robed woman—that Eragon had encountered before. She lurked behind a dogwood bush, dagger teeth bared in an amused grin, her yellow eyes darting from point to point. Page 592 But not all the creatures were animals. Some few were elves who had altered their original forms for functionality or in pursuit of a different ideal of beauty. An elf covered in brindled fur leaped over Eragon and continued to gambol about, as often on all fours as on his feet. His head was narrow and elongated with ears like a cat, his arms hung to his knees, and his long-fingered hands had rough pads on the palm. Later, two identical elf women presented themselves to Saphira. They moved with languid grace and, when they touched their hands to their lips in the traditional greeting, Eragon saw that their fingers were joined by translucent webbing. “We have come far,” they whispered. As they spoke, three rows of gills pulsed on each side of their slender necks, ex-posing pink flesh underneath. Their skin glistened as if with oil. Their lank hair hung past their narrow shoulders. He met an elf armored in imbricated scales like a dragon, with a bony crest upon his head, a line of spikes that ran down his back, and two pal-lid flames that ever flickered in the pits of his flared nostrils. And he met others who were not so recognizable: elves whose outlines wavered as if seen through water; elves who, when motionless, were in-distinguishable from trees; tall elves with eyes of black, even where the whites should have been, who possessed an awful beauty that frightened Eragon and, when they chanced to touch something, passed through it like shadows. The ultimate example of this phenomenon was the Menoa tree, which was once the elf Linnëa. The tree seemed to quicken with life at the ac-tivity in the clearing. Its branches stirred, though no breeze touched them, at times the creaks of its trunk could be heard to match the flow of music, and an air of gentle benevolence emanated from the tree and lay upon those in the vicinity.... And he remembered two attacks from his back, screaming and groan-ing in the shadows while the mad elves continued their revels around him and only Saphira came to guard over him.... On the third day of the Agaetí Blödhren, or so Eragon later learned, he delivered his verses to the elves. He stood and said, “I am no smith, nor skilled at carving or weaving or pottery or painting or any of the arts. Nor can I rival your accomplishments with spells. Thus, all that remains to me are my own experiences, which I have attempted to interpret through the lens of a story, though I am also no bard.” Then, in the man-ner that Brom had performed lays in Carvahall, Eragon chanted: In the kingdom by the sea, In the mountains mantled blue,On frigid winter’s final dayWas born a man with but one task: To kill the foe in Durza,In the land of shadows. Nurtured by the kind and wiseUnder oaks as old as time,He ran with deer and wrestled bears,And from his elders learned the skills, To kill the foe in Durza,In the land of shadows. Taught to spy the thief in blackWhen he grabs the weak and strong;To block his blows and fight the fiendWith rag and rock and plant and bone; And kill the foe in Durza,In the land of shadows. Quick as thought, the years did turn,’Til the man had come of age, Page 593 His body burned with fevered rage,While youth’s impatience seared his veins. Then he met a maiden fair,Who was tall and strong and wise,Her brow adorned with Gëda’s Light,Which shone upon her trailing gown. In her eyes of midnight blue,In those enigmatic pools,Appeared to him a future bright,Together, where they would not have To fear the foe in Durza,In the land of shadows. So Eragon told of how the man voyaged to the land of Durza, where he found and fought the foe, despite the cold terror within his heart. Yet though at last he triumphed, the man withheld the fatal blow, for now that he had defeated his enemy, he did not fear the doom of mortals. He did not need to kill the foe in Durza. Then the man sheathed his sword and returned home and wed his love on summer’s eve. With her, he spent his many days content until his beard was long and white. But: In the dark before the dawn,In the room where slept the man,The foe, he crept and loomed above His mighty rival now so weak. From his pillow did the manRaise his head and gaze uponThe cold and empty face of Death,The king of everlasting night. Calm acceptance filled the man’sAged heart; for long ago,He’d lost all fear of Death’s embrace,The last embrace a man will know. Gentle as a morning breeze,Bent the foe and from the manHis glowing, pulsing spirit took,And thence in peace they went to dwell,Forevermore in Durza,In the land of shadows. Eragon fell quiet and, conscious of the eyes upon him, ducked his head and quickly found his seat. He felt embarrassed that he had revealed so much of himself. The elf lord, Däthedr, said, “You underestimate yourself, Shadeslayer. It seems that you have discovered a new talent.” Islanzadí raised one pale hand. “Your work shall be added to the great library in Tialdarí Hall, Eragon-finiarel, so that all who wish can appreci-ate it. Though your poem is allegory, I believe that it has helped many of us to better understand the hardships you have faced since Saphira’s egg appeared to you, for which we are, in no small way, responsible. You must read it to us again so we may think upon this further.” Pleased, Eragon bowed his head and did as she commanded. Afterward was time for Saphira to present her work to the elves. She flew off into the night and returned with a black stone thrice the size of a large man clutched in her talons. Landing on her hind legs, she placed the stone up-right in the middle of the bare greensward, in full view of everyone. The glossy rock had been melted and somehow molded into intricate curves that wound about each other, like frozen waves. The striated tongues of rock twisted in such convoluted patterns that the eye had difficulty fol-lowing a single piece from base to tip, but rather flitted from one coil to the next. As it was his first time seeing the sculpture, Eragon gazed at it with as much interest as the elves. How Page 594 did you make this? Saphira’s eyes twinkled with amusement. By licking the molten rock. Then she bent and breathed fire long upon the stone, bathing it in a golden pillar that ascended toward the stars and clawed at them with lu-cent fingers. When Saphira closed her jaws, the paper-thin edges of the sculpture glowed cherry red, while small flames flickered in the dark hol-lows and recesses throughout the rock. The flowing strands of rock seemed to move under the hypnotic light. The elves exclaimed with wonder, clapping their hands and dancing about the piece. An elf cried, “Well wrought, Brightscales!” It’s beautiful,said Eragon. Saphira touched him on the arm with her nose. Thank you, little one. Then Glaedr brought out his offering: a slab of red oak that he had carved with the point of one talon into a likeness of Ellesméra as seen from high above. And Oromis revealed his contribution: the completed scroll that Eragon had often watched him illustrate during their lessons. Along the top half of the scroll marched columns of glyphs—a copy of “The Lay of Vestarí the Mariner”—while along the bottom half ran a panorama of a fantastic landscape, rendered with breathtaking artistry, detail, and skill. Arya took Eragon’s hand then and drew him through the forest and toward the Menoa tree, where she said, “Look how the werelight dims. We have but a few hours left to us before dawn arrives and we must re-turn to the world of cold reason.” Around the tree, the host of elves gathered, their faces bright with ea-ger anticipation. With great dignity, Islanzadí emerged from within their midst and walked along a root as wide as a pathway until it angled up-ward and doubled back on itself. She stood upon the gnarled shelf over-looking the slender, waiting elves. “As is our custom, and as was agreed upon at the end of The Dragon War by Queen Tarmunora, the first Er-agon, and the white dragon who represented his race—he whose name cannot be uttered in this or any language—when they bound the fates of elves and dragons together, we have met to honor our blood-oath with song and dance and the fruits of our labor. Last this celebration occurred, many long years ago, our situation was desperate indeed. It has improved somewhat since, the result of our efforts, the dwarves’, and the Varden’s, though Alagaësia still lies under the black shadow of the Wyrdfell and we must still live with our shame of how we have failed the dragons. “Of the Riders of eld, only Oromis and Glaedr remain. Brom and many others entered the void this past century. However, new hope has been granted to us in the form of Eragon and Saphira, and it is only right and proper that they should be here now, as we reaffirm the oath between our races three.” At the queen’s signal, the elves cleared a wide expanse at the base of the Menoa tree. Around the perimeter, they staked a ring of lanterns mounted upon carved poles, while musicians with flutes, harps, and drums assembled along the ridge of one long root. Guided by Arya to the edge of the circle, Eragon found himself seated between her and Oromis, while Saphira and Glaedr crouched on either side of them like gem-studded bluffs. To Eragon and Saphira, Oromis said, “Watch you carefully, for this is of great importance to your heritage as Riders.” Page 595 When all the elves were settled, two elf-maids walked to the center of the space in the host and stood with their backs to each other. They were exceedingly beautiful and identical in every respect, except for their hair: one had tresses as black as a forgotten pool, while the other’s hair gleamed like burnished silver wire. “The Caretakers, Iduna and Nëya,” whispered Oromis. From Islanzadí’s shoulder, Blagden shrieked, “Wyrda!” Moving in unison, the two elves raised their hands to the brooches at their throats, unclasped them, and allowed their white robes to fall away. Though they wore no garments, the women were clad in an iridescent tattoo of a dragon. The tattoo began with the dragon’s tail wrapped around the left ankle of Iduna, continued up her leg and thigh, over her torso, and then across Nëya’s back, ending with the dragon’s head on Nëya’s chest. Every scale on the dragon was inked a different color; the vibrant hues gave the tattoo the appearance of a rainbow. The elf-maids twined their hands and arms together so that the dragon appeared to be a continuous whole, rippling from one body to the next without interruption. Then they each lifted a bare foot and brought it down on the packed ground with a soft thump. And again: thump. On the third thump, the musicians struck their drums in rhythm. A thump later, the harpists plucked the strings of their gilt instruments, and a moment after that, those elves with flutes joined the throbbing melody. Slowly at first, but with gathering speed, Iduna and Nëya began to dance, marking time with the stamp of their feet on the dirt and undulat-ing so that it was not they who seemed to move but the dragon upon them. Round and round they went, and the dragon flew endless circles across their skin. Then the twins added their voices to the music, building upon the pounding beat with their fierce cries, their lyrics verses of a spell so com-plex that its meaning escaped Eragon. Like the rising wind that precedes a storm, the elves accompanied the incantation, singing with one tongue and one mind and one intent. Eragon did not know the words but found himself mouthing them along with the elves, swept along by the inexo-rable cadence. He heard Saphira and Glaedr hum in concordance, a deep pulse so strong that it vibrated within his bones and made his skin tingle and the air shimmer. Faster and faster spun Iduna and Nëya until their feet were a dusty blur and their hair fanned about them and they glistened with a film of sweat. The elf-maids accelerated to an inhuman speed and the music climaxed in a frenzy of chanted phrases. Then a flare of light ran the length of the dragon tattoo, from head to tail, and the dragon stirred. At first Eragon thought his eyes had deceived him, until the creature blinked, raised his wings, and clenched his talons. A burst of flame erupted from the dragon’s maw and he lunged for-ward and pulled himself free of the elves’ skin, climbing into the air, where he hovered, flapping his wings. The tip of his tail remained con-nected to the twins below, like a glowing umbilical cord. The giant beast strained toward the black moon and loosed an untamed roar of ages past, then turned and surveyed the assembled elves. As the dragon’s baleful eye fell upon him, Eragon knew that the crea-ture was no mere apparition but a conscious being bound and sustained by magic. Saphira and Glaedr’s humming grew ever louder until it blocked all other sound from Eragon’s ears. Above, the specter of their race looped down over the Page 596 elves, brushing them with an insubstantial wing. It came to a stop before Eragon, engulfing him in an endless, whirl-ing gaze. Bidden by some instinct, Eragon raised his right hand, his palm tingling. In his mind echoed a voice of fire: Our gift so you may do what you must. The dragon bent his neck and, with his snout, touched the heart of Er-agon’s gedwëy ignasia. A spark jumped between them, and Eragon went rigid as incandescent heat poured through his body, consuming his in-sides. His vision flashed red and black, and the scar on his back burned as if branded. Fleeing to safety, he fell deep within himself, where darkness grasped him and he had not the strength to resist it. Last, he again heard the voice of fire say, Our gift to you. IN A STARRY GLADE Eragon was alone when he woke. He opened his eyes to stare at the carved ceiling in the tree house he and Saphira shared. Outside, night still reigned and the sounds of the elves’ revels drifted from the glittering city below. Before he noticed more than that, Saphira leaped into his mind, radiat-ing concern and anxiety. An image passed to him of her standing beside Islanzadí at the Menoa tree, then she asked, How are you? I feel... good. Better than I’ve felt in a long time. How long have I— Only an hour. I would have stayed with you, but they needed Oromis, Glaedr, and me to complete the ceremony. You should have seen the elves’ reaction when you fainted. Nothing like this has occurred before. Did you cause this, Saphira? It was not my work alone, nor Glaedr’s. The memories of our race, which were given form and substance by the elves’ magic, anointed you with what skill we dragons possess, for you are our best hope to avoid extinction. I don’t understand. Look in a mirror,she suggested. Then rest and recover and I shall rejoin you at dawn. She left, and Eragon got to his feet and stretched, amazed by the sense of well-being that pervaded him. Going to the wash closet, he retrieved the mirror he used for shaving and brought it into the light of a nearby lantern. Eragon froze with surprise. It was as if the numerous physical changes that, over time, alter the ap-pearance of a human Rider—and which Eragon had already begun to ex-perience since bonding with Saphira—had been completed while he was unconscious. His face was now as smooth and angled as an elf’s, with ears tapered like theirs and eyes slanted like theirs, and his skin was as pale as alabaster and seemed to emit a faint glow, as if with the sheen of magic. I look like a princeling. Eragon had never before applied the term to a man, least of Page 597 all himself, but the only word that described him now was beau-tiful. Yet he was not entirely an elf. His jaw was stronger, his brow thicker, his face broader. He was fairer than any human and more rugged than any elf. With trembling fingers, Eragon reached around the nape of his neck in search of his scar. He felt nothing. Eragon tore off his tunic and twisted in front of the mirror to examine his back. It was as smooth as it had been before the battle of Farthen Dûr. Tears sprang to Eragon’s eyes as he slid his hand over the place where Durza had maimed him. He knew that his back would never trouble him again. Not only was the savage blight he had elected to keep gone, but every other scar and blemish had vanished from his body, leaving him as un-marked as a newborn babe. Eragon traced a line upon his wrist where he had cut himself while sharpening Garrow’s scythe. No evidence of the wound remained. The blotchy scars on the insides of his thighs, remnants from his first flight with Saphira, had also disappeared. For a moment, he missed them as a record of his life, but his regret was short-lived as he re-alized that the damage from every injury he had ever suffered, no matter how small, had been repaired. I have become what I was meant to be,he thought, and took a deep breath of the intoxicating air. He dropped the mirror on the bed and garbed himself in his finest clothes: a crimson tunic stitched with gold thread; a belt studded with white jade; warm, felted leggings; a pair of the cloth boots favored by the elves; and upon his forearms, leather vambraces the dwarves had given him. Descending from the tree, Eragon wandered the shadows of Ellesméra and observed the elves carousing in the fever of the night. None of them recognized him, though they greeted him as one of their own and invited him to share in their saturnalias. Eragon floated in a state of heightened awareness, his senses thrumming with the multitude of new sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that as-sailed him. He could see in darkness that would have blinded him before. He could touch a leaf and, by touch alone, count the individual hairs that grew upon it. He could identify the odors wafting about him as well as a wolf or a dragon. And he could hear the patter of mice in the underbrush and the noise a flake of bark makes as it falls to earth; the beating of his heart was as a drum to him. His aimless path led him past the Menoa tree, where he paused to watch Saphira among the festivities, though he did not reveal himself to those in the glade. Where go you, little one?she asked. He saw Arya rise from her mother’s side, make her way through the gathered elves, and then, like a forest sprite, glide underneath the trees beyond. I walk between the candle and the dark, he replied, and followed Arya. Eragon tracked Arya by her delicate scent of crushed pine needles, by the feathery touch of her foot upon the ground, and by the disturbance of her wake in the air. He found her standing alone on the edge of a clearing, poised like a wild creature as she watched the constellations turn in the sky above. As Eragon emerged in the open, Arya looked at him, and he felt as if she saw him for the first time. Her Page 598 eyes widened, and she whispered, “Is that you, Eragon?” “Aye.” “What have they done to you?” “I know not.” He went to her, and together they wandered the dense woods, which echoed with fragments of music and voices from the festivities. Changed as he was, Eragon was acutely conscious of Arya’s presence, of the whis-per of her clothes over her skin, of the soft, pale exposure of her neck, and of her eyelashes, which were coated with a layer of oil that made them glisten and curl like black petals wet with rain. They stopped on the bank of a narrow stream so clear, it was invisible in the faint light. The only thing that betrayed its presence was the throaty gurgle of water pouring over rocks. Around them, the thick pines formed a cave with their branches, hiding Eragon and Arya from the world and muffling the cool, still air. The hollow seemed ageless, as if it were removed from the world and protected by some magic against the withering breath of time. In that secret place, Eragon felt suddenly close to Arya, and all his pas-sion for her sprang to the fore of his mind. He was so intoxicated with the strength and vitality coursing through his veins—as well as the un-tamed magic that filled the forest—he ignored caution and said, “How tall the trees, how bright the stars... and how beautiful you are, O Arya Svit-kona.” Under normal circumstances, he would have considered his deed the height of folly, but in that fey, madcap night, it seemed per-fectly sane. She stiffened. “Eragon...” He ignored her warning. “Arya, I’ll do anything to win your hand. I would follow you to the ends of the earth. I would build a palace for you with nothing but my bare hands. I would—” “Will you stop pursuing me? Can you promise me that?” When he hesitated, she stepped closer and said, low and gentle, “Eragon, this can-not be. You are young and I am old, and that shall never change.” “Do you feel nothing for me?” “My feelings for you,” she said, “are those of a friend and nothing more. I am grateful to you for rescuing me from Gil’ead, and I find your com-pany pleasant. That is all.... Relinquish this quest of yours—it will only bring you heartache—and find someone your own age to spend the long years with.” His eyes brimmed with tears. “How can you be so cruel?” “I am not cruel, but kind. You and I are not meant for each other.” In desperation, he suggested, “You could give me your memories, and then I would have the same amount of experience and knowledge as you.” “It would be an abomination.” Arya lifted her chin, her face grave and solemn and brushed with silver from the glimmering stars. A hint of steel entered her voice: “Hear me well, Eragon. This cannot, nor ever shall be. And until you master yourself, our friendship must cease to exist, for your emotions do nothing but distract us from our duty.” She bowed to him. “Goodbye, Eragon Shadeslayer.” Then she strode past and vanished into Du Weldenvarden. Page 599 Now the tears spilled down Eragon’s cheeks and dropped to the moss below, where they lay unabsorbed, like pearls strewn across a blanket of emerald velvet. Numb, Eragon sat upon a rotting log and buried his face in his hands, weeping that his affection for Arya was doomed to remain unrequited, and weeping that he had driven her further away. Within moments, Saphira joined him. Oh, little one. She nuzzled him. Why did you have to inflict this upon yourself? You knew what would hap-pen if you tried to woo Arya again. I couldn’t stop myself.He wrapped his arms around his belly and rocked back and forth on the log, reduced to hiccuping sobs by the strength of his misery. Putting one warm wing over him, Saphira drew him close to her side, like a mother falcon with her offspring. He curled up against her and remained huddled there as night passed into day and the Agaetí Blödhren came to an end. LANDFALL Roran stood upon the poop deck of the Red Boar, his arms crossed over his chest and his feet planted wide apart to steady himself on the rolling barge. The salty wind ruffled his hair and tugged at his thick beard and tickled the hairs on his bare forearms. Beside him, Clovis manned the tiller. The weathered sailor pointed to-ward the coastline at a seagull-covered rock silhouetted on the crest of a rolling hill that extended into the ocean. “Teirm be right on the far side of that peak.” Roran squinted into the afternoon sun, which reflected off the ocean in a blindingly bright band. “We’ll stop here for now, then.” “You don’t want to go on into the city yet?” “Not all of us at once. Call over Torson and Flint and have them run the barges up on that shore. It looks like a good place to camp.” Clovis grimaced. “Arrgh. I was hoping t’ get a hot meal tonight.” Roran understood; the fresh food from Narda had long since been eaten, leaving them with naught but salt pork, salted herring, salted cabbage, sea bis-cuits the villagers had made from their purchased flour, pickled vegeta-bles, and the occasional fresh meat when the villagers slaughtered one of their few remaining animals or managed to catch game when they landed. Clovis’s rough voice echoed over the water as he shouted to the skip-pers of the other two barges. When they drew near, he ordered them to pull ashore, much to their vociferous displeasure. They and the other sailors had counted on reaching Teirm that day and lavishing their pay on the city’s delights. After the barges were beached, Roran walked among the villagers and helped them by pitching tents here and there, unloading equipment, fetching water from a nearby stream, and otherwise lending his assistance until everyone was settled. He paused to give Morn and Tara a word of encouragement, for they appeared despondent, and received a guarded response in turn. The tavern owner and his wife had been aloof to him ever since they left Palancar Valley. On the whole, the villagers were in better condition than when they arrived at Narda due to the rest they had garnered on the barges, but constant worry and exposure to the harsh elements had prevented them from recuperating as well as Roran hoped. Page 600 “Stronghammer, will you sup at our tent tonight?” asked Thane, coming up to Roran. Roran declined with as much grace as he could and turned to find him-self confronted by Felda, whose husband, Byrd, had been murdered by Sloan. She bobbed a quick curtsy, then said, “May I speak with you, Ro-ran Garrowsson?” He smiled at her. “Always, Felda. You know that.” “Thank you.” With a furtive expression, she fingered the tassels that edged her shawl and glanced toward her tent. “I would ask a favor of you. It’s about Mandel—” Roran nodded; he had chosen her eldest son to ac-company him into Narda on that fateful trip when he killed the two guards. Mandel had performed admirably then, as well as in the weeks since while he crewed the Edeline and learned what he could about pilot-ing the barges. “He’s become quite friendly with the sailors on our barge and he’s started playing dice with those lawless men. Not for money—we have none—but for small things. Things we need.” “Have you asked him to stop?” Felda twisted the tassels. “I fear that, since his father died, he no longer respects me as he once did. He has grown wild and willful.” We have all grown wild,thought Roran. “And what would you have me do about it?” he asked gently. “You have ever dealt generously with Mandel. He admires you. If you talk with him, he will listen.” Roran considered the request, then said, “Very well, I will do what I can.” Felda sagged with relief. “Tell me, though, what has he lost at dice?” “Food mostly.” Felda hesitated and then added, “But I know he once risked my grandmother’s bracelet for a rabbit those men snared.” Roran frowned. “Put your heart at ease, Felda. I will tend to the matter as soon as I can.” “Thank you.” Felda curtsied again, then slipped away between the makeshift tents, leaving Roran to mull over what she had said. Roran absently scratched his beard as he walked. The problem with Mandel and the sailors was a problem that cut both ways; Roran had no-ticed that during the trip from Narda, one of Torson’s men, Frewin, had become close to Odele—a young friend of Katrina. They could cause trouble when we leave Clovis. Taking care not to attract undue attention, Roran went through the camp and gathered the villagers he trusted the most and had them ac-company him to Horst’s tent, where he said, “The five we agreed upon will leave now, before it gets much later. Horst will take my place while I’m gone. Remember that your most important task is to ensure Clovis doesn’t leave with the barges or damage them in any way. They may be our only means to reach Surda.” “That, and make sure we aren’t discovered,” commented Orval. “Exactly. If none of us have returned by nightfall day after tomorrow, assume we were captured. Take Page 601 the barges and set sail for Surda, but don’t stop in Kuasta to buy provisions; the Empire will probably be lying in wait there. You’ll have to find food elsewhere.” While his companions readied themselves, Roran went to Clovis’s cabin on the Red Boar. “Just the five of you be going?” demanded Clovis after Roran explained their plan. “That’s right.” Roran let his iron gaze bore into Clovis until the man fidgeted with unease. “And when I get back, I expect you, these barges, and every one of your men to still be here.” “You dare impugn my honor after how I’ve kept our bargain?” “I impugn nothing, only tell you what I expect. Too much is at stake. If you commit treachery now, you condemn our entire village to death.” “That I know,” muttered Clovis, avoiding his eyes. “My people will defend themselves during my absence. So long as breath remains in their lungs, they’ll not be taken, tricked, or abandoned. And if misfortune were to befall them, I’d avenge them even if I had to walk a thousand leagues and fight Galbatorix himself. Heed my words, Master Clovis, for I speak the truth.” “We’re not so fond of the Empire as you seem to believe,” protested Clovis. “I wouldn’t do them a favor more than the next man.” Roran smiled with grim amusement. “Men will do anything to protect their families and homes.” As Roran lifted the door latch, Clovis asked, “And what will you do once you reach Surda?” “We will—” “Not we: you. What will you do? I’ve watched you, Roran. I’ve listened to you. An’ you seem a good enough sort, even if I don’t care for how you dealt with me. But I cannot fit it in my head, you dropping that hammer of yours and taking up the plow again, just because you’ve arrived in Surda.” Roran gripped the latch until his knuckles turned white. “When I have delivered the village to Surda,” he said in a voice as empty as a blackened desert, “then I shall go hunting.” “Ah. After that redheaded lass of yours? I heard some talk of that, but I didn’t put—” The door slammed behind Roran as he left the cabin. He let his anger burn hot and fast for a moment—enjoying the freedom of the emotion— before he began to subdue his unruly passions. He marched to Felda’s tent, where Mandel was throwing a hunting knife at a stump. Felda’s right; someone has to talk some sense into him.“ You’re wasting your time,” said Roran. Mandel whirled around with surprise. “Why do you say that?” “In a real fight, you’re more likely to put out your own eye than injure your enemy. If you don’t know the exact distance between you and your target...” Roran shrugged. “You might as well throw rocks.” He watched with detached interest as the younger man bristled with pride. “Gunnar told me about a man Page 602 he knew in Cithrí who could hit a flying crow with his knife eight times out of ten.” “And the other two times you get killed. It’s usually a bad idea to throw away your weapon in battle.” Roran waved a hand, forestalling Mandel’s objections. “Get your kit together and meet me on the hill past the stream in fifteen minutes. I’ve decided you should come with us to Teirm.” “Yes, sir!” With an enthusiastic grin, Mandel dove into the tent and be-gan packing. As Roran left, he encountered Felda, her youngest daughter balanced on one hip. Felda glanced between him and Mandel’s activity in the tent, and her expression tightened. “Keep him safe, Stronghammer.” She set her daughter on the ground and then bustled about, helping to gather the items Mandel would need. Roran was the first to arrive at the designated hill. He squatted on a white boulder and watched the sea while he readied himself for the task ahead. When Loring, Gertrude, Birgit, and Nolfavrell, Birgit’s son, arrived, Roran jumped off the boulder and said, “We have to wait for Mandel; he’ll be joining us.” “What for?” demanded Loring. Birgit frowned as well. “I thought we agreed no one else should accom-pany us. Especially not Mandel, since he was seen in Narda. It’s dangerous enough having you and Gertrude along, and Mandel only increases the odds that someone will recognize us.” “I’ll risk it.” Roran met each of their eyes in turn. “He needs to come.” In the end, they listened to him, and, with Mandel, the six of them headed south, toward Teirm. TEIRM In that area, the coastline was composed of low, rolling hills verdant with lush grass and occasional briars, willows, and poplars. The soft, muddy ground gave under their feet and made walking difficult. To their right lay the glittering sea. To their left ran the purple outline of the Spine. The ranks of snowcapped mountains were laced with clouds and mist. As Roran’s company wended past the properties surrounding Teirm— some freehold farms, others massive estates—they made every effort to go undetected. When they encountered the road that connected Narda to Teirm, they darted across it and continued farther east, toward the mountains, for several more miles before turning south again. Once they were confident they had circumnavigated the city, they angled back to-ward the ocean until they found the southern road in. During his time on the Red Boar, it had occurred to Roran that officials in Narda might have deduced that whoever killed the two guards was among the men who left upon Clovis’s barges. If so, messengers would have warned Teirm’s soldiers to watch for anyone matching the villagers’ descriptions. And if the Ra’zac had visited Narda, then the soldiers would also know that they were looking not just for a handful of murderers but Roran Stronghammer and the refugees from Carvahall. Teirm could be one huge trap. Yet they could not bypass the city, for the villagers needed supplies and a new mode of transportation. Roran had decided that their best precaution against capture was to send no one into Teirm who had been seen in Narda, except for Gertrude and himself—Gertrude because only she understood the ingre-dients for her medicines, and Roran because, though he was the most likely to be recognized, he Page 603 trusted no one else to do what was required. He knew he possessed the will to act when others hesitated, like the time he slew the guards. The rest of the group was chosen to minimize suspicion. Loring was old but a tough fighter and an excellent liar. Birgit had proven herself canny and strong, and her son, Nolfavrell, had already killed a soldier in combat, despite his tender age. Hopefully, they would appear as nothing more than an extended family traveling together. That is, if Mandel doesn’t throw the scheme awry, thought Roran. It was also Roran’s idea to enter Teirm from the south, and thus make it seem even more unlikely that they had come from Narda. Evening was nigh when Teirm came into view, white and ghostly in the gloaming. Roran stopped to inspect what lay before them. The walled city stood alone upon the edge of a large bay, self-contained and impreg-nable to any conceivable attack. Torches glowed between the merlons on the battlements, where soldiers with bows patrolled their endless circuits. Above the walls rose a citadel, and then a faceted lighthouse, which swept its hazy beam across the dark waters. “It’s so big,” said Nolfavrell. Loring bobbed his head without taking his eyes off Teirm. “Aye, that it is.” Roran’s attention was caught by a ship moored at one of the stone piers jutting from the city. The three-masted vessel was larger than any he had seen in Narda, with a high forecastle, two banks of oarlocks, and twelve powerful ballistae mounted along each side of the deck for shooting jave-lins. The magnificent craft appeared equally suited for either commerce or war. Even more importantly, Roran thought that it might— might—be able to hold the entire village. “That’s what we need,” he said, pointing. Birgit uttered a sour grunt. “We’d have to sell ourselves into slavery to afford passage on that monster.” Clovis had warned them that Teirm’s portcullis closed at sunset, so they quickened their pace to avoid spending the night in the countryside. As they neared the pale walls, the road filled with a double stream of people hurrying to and from Teirm. Roran had not anticipated so much traffic, but he soon realized that it could help shield his party from unwanted attention. Beckoning to Mandel, Roran said, “Drop back a ways and follow someone else through the gate, so the guards don’t think you’re with us. We’ll wait for you on the other side. If they ask, you’ve come here seeking employment as a seaman.” “Yes, sir.” As Mandel fell behind, Roran hunched one shoulder, allowed a limp to creep into his walk, and began to rehearse the story Loring had concocted to explain their presence at Teirm. He stepped off the road and ducked his head as a man drove a pair of lumbering oxen past, grateful for the shadows that concealed his features. The gate loomed ahead, washed in uncertain orange from the torches placed in sconces on each side of the entrance. Underneath stood a pair of soldiers with Galbatorix’s twisting flame stitched onto the front of their crimson tunics. Neither of the armed men so much as glanced at Roran and his companions as they shuffled underneath the spiked port-cullis and through the short tunnel beyond. Page 604 Roran squared his shoulders and felt some of his tension ease. He and the others clustered by the corner of a house, where Loring murmured, “So far, so good.” When Mandel rejoined them, they set out to find an inexpensive hostel where they could let a room. As they walked, Roran studied the layout of the city with its fortified houses—which grew progressively higher to-ward the citadel—and the gridlike arrangement of streets. Those north to south radiated from the citadel like a starburst, while those east to west curved gently across and formed a spiderweb pattern, creating numerous places where barriers could be erected and soldiers stationed. If Carvahall had been built like this,he thought, no one could have de-feated us but the king himself. By dusk they had acquired lodging at the Green Chestnut, an exceed-ingly vile tavern with atrocious ale and flea-infested beds. Its sole advan-tage was that it cost next to nothing. They went to sleep without dinner to save their precious coin, and huddled together to prevent their purses from being filched by one of the tavern’s other guests. The next day, Roran and his companions left the Green Chestnut be-fore dawn to search for provisions and transportation. Gertrude said, “I have heard tell of a remarkable herbalist, Angela by name, who lives here and is supposed to work the most amazing cures, perhaps even a touch of magic. I would go see her, for if anyone has what I seek, it would be she.” “You shouldn’t go alone,” said Roran. He looked at Mandel. “Accom-pany Gertrude, help her with her purchases, and do your best to protect her if you are attacked. Your nerve may be tested at times, but do noth-ing to cause alarm, unless you would betray your friends and family.” Mandel touched his forelock and nodded his obedience. He and Gertrude departed at right angles down a cross street, while Roran and the rest resumed their hunt. Roran had the patience of a stalking predator, but even he began to thrum with restlessness when morning and afternoon slipped by and they still had not found a ship to carry them to Surda. He learned that the three-masted ship, the Dragon Wing, was newly built and about to be launched on her maiden voyage; that they had no chance of hiring it from the Blackmoor Shipping Company unless they could pay a roomful of the dwarves’ red gold; and indeed, that the villagers lacked the coin to engage even the meanest vessel. Nor would taking Clovis’s barges solve their problems, because it still left unanswered the question of what they would eat on their trek. “It would be hard,” said Birgit, “very hard, to steal goods from this place, what with all the soldiers and how close together the houses are and the watchmen at the gate. If we tried to cart that much stuff out of Teirm, they’d want to know what we were doing.” Roran nodded. That too. Roran had suggested to Horst that if the villagers were forced to flee Teirm with naught but their remaining supplies, they could raid for their food. However, Roran knew that such an act would mean they had be-come as monstrous as those he hated. He had no stomach for it. It was one thing to fight and kill those who served Galbatorix—or even to steal Clovis’s barges, since Clovis had other means of supporting himself—but it was quite another to take provisions from innocent farmers who strug-gled to survive as much as the villagers had in Palancar Valley. That would be murder. Page 605 Those hard facts weighed upon Roran like stones. Their venture had always been tenuous at best, sustained in equal parts by fear, desperation, optimism, and last-minute improvisation. Now he feared that he had driven the villagers into the den of their enemies and bound them in place with a chain forged of their own poverty. I could escape alone and continue my search for Katrina, but what victory would that be if I left my village to be enslaved by the Empire? Whatever our fate in Teirm, I will stand firm with those who trusted me enough to forsake their homes upon my word. To relieve their hunger, they stopped at a bakery and bought a loaf of fresh rye bread, as well as a small pot of honey to slather it with. While he paid for the items, Loring mentioned to the baker’s assistant that they were in the market for ships, equipment, and food. At a tap on his shoulder, Roran turned. A man with coarse black hair and a thick slab of belly said, “Pardon me for overhearing your parley with the young master, but if it’s ships and such you be after, and at a fair price, then I should guess you’d want to attend the auction.” “What auction is this?” asked Roran. “Ah, it’s a sad story, it is, but all too common nowadays. One of our merchants, Jeod—Jeod Longshanks, as we call him out of hearing—has had the most abominable run of bad luck. In less than a year, he lost four of his ships, an’ when he tried to send his goods over land, the caravan was ambushed and destroyed by some thieving outlaws. His investors forced him to declare bankruptcy, and now they’re going to sell his prop-erty to recoup their losses. I don’t know ’bout food, but you’d be sure to find most everything else you’re looking to buy at the auction.” A faint ember of hope kindled in Roran’s breast. “When will the auc-tion be held?” “Why, it’s posted on every message board throughout the city. Day after tomorrow, to be sure.” That explained to Roran why they had not learned of the auction before; they had done their best to avoid the message boards, on the off chance that someone would recognize Roran from the portrait on his reward poster. “Thank you much,” he said to the man. “You may have saved us a great deal of trouble.” “My pleasure, so it is.” Once Roran and his companions filed out of the shop, they huddled together on the edge of the street. He said, “Do you think we should look into this?” “It’s all we have to look into,” growled Loring. “Birgit?” “You needn’t ask me; it’s obvious. We cannot wait until the day after tomorrow, though.” “No. I say we meet with this Jeod and see if we can strike a bargain with him before the auction opens. Are we agreed?” They were, and so they set out for Jeod’s house, armed with directions from a passerby. The house—or rather, mansion—was set on the west side of Teirm, close to the citadel, among scores of other opulent build-ings embellished with fine scrollwork, wrought-iron gates, statues, and gushing fountains. Roran Page 606 could scarcely comprehend such riches; it amazed him how different the lives of these people were from his own. Roran knocked on the front door to Jeod’s mansion, which stood next to an abandoned shop. After a moment, the door was pulled open by a plump butler garnished with overly shiny teeth. He eyed the four strang-ers upon his doorstep with disapproval, then flashed his glazed smile and asked, “How may I help you, sirs and madam?” “We would talk with Jeod, if he is free.” “Have you an appointment?” Roran thought the butler knew perfectly well that they did not. “Our stay in Teirm is too brief for us to arrange a proper meeting.” “Ah, well, then I regret to say that your time would have been better spent elsewhere. My master has many matters to tend. He cannot devote himself to every group of ragged tramps that bangs on his door, asking for handouts,” said the butler. He exposed even more of his glassy teeth and began to withdraw inside. “Wait!” cried Roran. “It’s not handouts we want; we have a business proposition for Jeod.” The butler lifted one eyebrow. “Is that so?” “Aye, it is. Please ask him if he will hear us. We’ve traveled more leagues than you’d care to know, and it’s imperative we see Jeod today.” “May I inquire as to the nature of your proposition?” “It’s confidential.” “Very well, sir,” said the butler. “I will convey your offer, but I warn you that Jeod is occupied at the moment, and I doubt he will wish to bother himself. By what name shall I announce you, sir?” “You may call me Stronghammer.” The butler’s mouth twitched as if amused by the name, then slipped behind the door and closed it. “If his head were any larger, ’e couldn’t fit in the privy,” muttered Lor-ing out the side of his mouth. Nolfavrell uttered a bark of laughter at the insult. Birgit said, “Let’s hope the servant doesn’t imitate the master.” A minute later, the door reopened and the butler announced, with a rather brittle expression, “Jeod has agreed to meet you in the study.” He moved to the side and gestured with one arm for them to proceed. “This way.” After they trooped into the sumptuous entryway, the butler swept past them and down a polished wood hallway to one door among many, which he opened and ushered them through. JEOD LONGSHANKS Page 607 If Roran had known how to read, he might have been more impressed by the treasure trove of books that lined the study walls. As it was, he reserved his attention for the tall man with graying hair who stood be-hind an oval writing desk. The man—who Roran assumed was Jeod— looked about as tired as Roran felt. His face was lined, careworn, and sad, and when he turned toward them, a nasty scar gleamed white from his scalp to his left temple. To Roran, it bespoke steel in the man. Long and buried, perhaps, but steel nevertheless. “Do sit,” said Jeod. “I won’t stand on ceremony in my own house.” He watched them with curious eyes as they settled in the soft leather arm-chairs. “May I offer you pastries and a glass of apricot brandy? I cannot talk for long, but I see you’ve been on the road for many a week, and I well remember how dusty my throat was after such journeys.” Loring grinned. “Aye. A touch of brandy would be welcome indeed. You’re most generous, sir.” “Only a glass of milk for my boy,” said Birgit. “Of course, madam.” Jeod rang for the butler, delivered his instructions, then leaned back in his chair. “I am at a disadvantage. I believe you have my name, but I don’t have yours.” “Stronghammer, at your service,” said Roran. “Mardra, at your service,” said Birgit. “Kell, at your service,” said Nolfavrell. “And I’d be Wally, at your service,” finished Loring. “And I at yours,” responded Jeod. “Now, Rolf mentioned that you wished to do business with me. It’s only fair that you know I’m in no po-sition to buy or sell goods, nor have I gold for investing, nor proud ships to carry wool and food, gems and spices across the restless sea. What, then, can I do for you?” Roran rested his elbows on his knees, then knitted his fingers together and stared between them as he marshaled his thoughts. A slip of the tongue could kill us here, he reminded himself. “To put it simply, sir, we represent a certain group of people who—for various reasons—must purchase a large amount of supplies with very little money. We know that your belongings will be auctioned off day after tomorrow to repay your debts, and we would like to offer a bid now on those items we need. We would have waited until the auction, but circumstances press us and we cannot tarry another two days. If we are to strike a bargain, it must be tonight or tomorrow, no later.” “What manner of supplies do you need?” asked Jeod. “Food and whatever else is required to outfit a ship or other vessel for a long voyage at sea.” A spark of interest gleamed in Jeod’s weary face. “Do you have a certain ship in mind? For I know every craft that’s plied these waters in the last twenty years.” “We’ve yet to decide.” Jeod accepted that without question. “I understand now why you thought to come to me, but I fear you labor under a misapprehension.” He spread his gray hands, indicating the room. “Everything you see here no longer belongs to me, but to my creditors. I have no authority to sell my possessions, and if I did so Page 608 without permission, I would likely be im-prisoned for cheating my creditors out of the money I owe them.” He paused as Rolf backed into the study, carrying a large silver tray dotted with pastries, cut-crystal goblets, a glass of milk, and a decanter of brandy. The butler placed the tray on a padded footstool and then pro-ceeded to serve the refreshments. Roran took his goblet and sipped the mellow brandy, wondering how soon courtesy would allow the four of them to excuse themselves and resume their quest. When Rolf left the room, Jeod drained his goblet with a single draught, then said, “I may be of no use to you, but I do know a number of people in my profession who might... might... be able to help. If you can give me a bit more detail about what you want to buy, then I’d have a better idea of who to recommend.” Roran saw no harm in that, so he began to recite a list of items the vil-lagers had to have, things they might need, and things they wanted but would never be able to afford unless fortune smiled greatly upon them. Now and then Birgit or Loring mentioned something Roran had forgot-ten—like lamp oil—and Jeod would glance at them for a moment before returning his hooded gaze to Roran, where it remained with growing in-tensity. Jeod’s interest concerned Roran; it was as if the merchant knew, or suspected, what he was hiding. “It seems to me,” said Jeod at the completion of Roran’s inventory, “that this would be enough provisions to transport several hundred people to Feinster or Aroughs... or beyond. Admittedly, I’ve been rather occupied for the past few weeks, but I’ve heard of no such host in this area, nor can I imagine where one might have come from.” His face blank, Roran met Jeod’s stare and said nothing. On the inside, he seethed with self-contempt for allowing Jeod to amass enough infor-mation to reach that conclusion. Jeod shrugged. “Well, be as it may, that’s your own concern. I’d suggest that you see Galton on Market Street about your food and old Hamill by the docks for all else. They’re both honest men and will treat you true and fair.” Reaching over, he plucked a pastry from the tray, took a bite, and then, when he finished chewing, asked Nolfavrell, “So, young Kell, have you enjoyed your stay in Teirm?” “Yes, sir,” said Nolfavrell, and grinned. “I’ve never seen anything quite so large, sir.” “Is that so?” “Yes, sir. I—” Feeling that they were in dangerous territory, Roran interrupted: “I’m curious, sir, as to the nature of the shop next to your house. It seems odd to have such a humble store among all these grand buildings.” For the first time, a smile, if only a small one, brightened Jeod’s expres-sion, erasing years from his appearance. “Well, it was owned by a woman who was a bit odd herself: Angela the herbalist, one of the best healers I’ve ever met. She tended that store for twenty-some years and then, only a few months ago, up and sold it and left for parts unknown.” He sighed. “It’s a pity, for she made an interesting neighbor.” “That’s who Gertrude wanted to meet, isn’t it?” asked Nolfavrell, and looked up at his mother. Roran suppressed a snarl and flashed a warning glance strong enough to make Nolfavrell quail in his Page 609 chair. The name would mean nothing to Jeod, but unless Nolfavrell guarded his tongue better, he was liable to blurt out something far more damaging. Time to go, thought Roran. He put down his goblet. It was then that he saw the name did mean something to Jeod. The merchant’s eyes widened with surprise, and he gripped the arms of his chair until the tips of his fingers turned bone white. “It can’t be!” Jeod fo-cused on Roran, studying his face as if trying to see past the beard, and then breathed, “Roran... Roran Garrowsson.” AN UNEXPECTED ALLY Roran had already pulled his hammer from his belt and was halfway out of the chair when he heard his father’s name. It was the only thing that kept him from leaping across the room and knocking Jeod uncon-scious. How does he know who Garrow is? Beside him, Loring and Birgit jumped to their feet, drawing knives from within their sleeves, and even Nolfavrell readied himself to fight with a dagger in hand. “It is Roran, isn’t it?” Jeod asked quietly. He showed no alarm at their weapons. “How did you guess?” “Because Brom brought Eragon here, and you look like your cousin. When I saw your poster with Eragon’s, I realized that the Empire must have tried to capture you and that you had escaped. Although,” Jeod’s gaze drifted to the other three, “in all my imaginings, I never suspected that you took the rest of Carvahall with you.” Stunned, Roran dropped back into his chair and placed the hammer across his knees, ready for use. “Eragon was here?” “Aye. And Saphira too.” “Saphira?” Again, surprise crossed Jeod’s face. “You don’t know, then?” “Know what?” Jeod considered him for a long minute. “I think the time has come to drop our pretenses, Roran Garrowsson, and talk openly and without de-ception. I can answer many of the questions you must have—such as why the Empire is pursuing you—but in return, I need to know the rea-son you came to Teirm... the real reason.” “An’ why should we trust you, Longshanks?” demanded Loring. “You could be working for Galbatorix, you could.” “I was Brom’s friend for over twenty years, before he was a storyteller in Carvahall,” said Jeod, “and I did my best to help him and Eragon when they were under my roof. But since neither of them are here to vouch for me, I place my life in your hands, to do with as you wish. I could shout for help, but I won’t. Nor will I fight you. All I ask is that you tell me your story and hear my own. Then you can decide for yourself what course of action is proper. You’re in no immediate danger, so what harm is there in Page 610 talking?” Birgit caught Roran’s eye with a flick of her chin. “He could just be try-ing to save his hide.” “Maybe,” replied Roran, “but we have to find out whatever it is he knows.” Hooking an arm underneath his chair, he dragged it across the room, placed the back of the chair against the door, and then sat in it, so that no one could burst in and catch them unawares. He jabbed his hammer at Jeod. “All right. You want to talk? Then let us talk, you and I.” “It would be best if you go first.” “If I do, and we’re not satisfied by your answers afterward, we’ll have to kill you,” warned Roran. Jeod folded his arms. “So be it.” Despite himself, Roran was impressed by the merchant’s fortitude; Jeod appeared unconcerned by his fate, if a bit grim about the mouth. “So be it,” Roran echoed. Roran had relived the events since the Ra’zac’s arrival in Carvahall often enough, but never before had he described them in detail to another per-son. As he did, it struck him how much had happened to him and the other villagers in such a short time and how easy it had been for the Em-pire to destroy their lives in Palancar Valley. Resuscitating old terrors was painful for Roran, but he at least had the pleasure of seeing Jeod exhibit unfeigned astonishment as he heard about how the villagers had rousted the soldiers and Ra’zac from their camp, the siege of Carvahall thereafter, Sloan’s treachery, Katrina’s kidnapping, how Roran had convinced the vil-lagers to flee, and the hardships of their journey to Teirm. “By the Lost Kings!” exclaimed Jeod. “That’s the most extraordinary tale. Extraordinary! To think you’ve managed to thwart Galbatorix and that right now the entire village of Carvahall is hiding outside one of the Empire’s largest cities and the king doesn’t even know it....” He shook his head with admiration. “Aye, that’s our position,” growled Loring, “and it’s precarious at best, so you’d better explain well and good why we should risk letting you live.” “It places me in as much—” Jeod stopped as someone rattled the latch behind Roran’s chair, trying to open the door, followed by pounding on the oak planks. In the hall-way, a woman cried, “Jeod! Let me in, Jeod! You can’t hide in that cave of yours.” “May I?” murmured Jeod. Roran clicked his fingers at Nolfavrell, and the boy tossed his dagger to Roran, who slipped around the writing desk and pressed the flat of the blade against Jeod’s throat. “Make her leave.” Raising his voice, Jeod said, “I can’t talk now; I’m in the middle of a meeting.” “Liar! You don’t have any business. You’re bankrupt! Come out and face me, you coward! Are you a man or not that you won’t even look your wife in the eye?” She paused for a second, as if expecting a response, then her screeches increased in volume: “Coward! You’re a gutless rat, a filthy, yellow-bellied sheep-biter without the common sense to run a meat stall, much less a shipping company. My father Page 611 would have never lost so much money!” Roran winced as the insults continued. I can’t restrain Jeod if she goes on much longer. “Be still, woman!” commanded Jeod, and silence ensued. “Our fortunes might be about to change for the better if you but have the sense to re-strain your tongue and not rail on like a fishmonger’s wife.” Her answer was cold: “I shall wait upon your pleasure in the dining room, dear husband, and unless you choose to attend me by the evening meal and explain yourself, then I shall leave this accursed house, never to return.” The sound of her footsteps retreated into the distance. When he was sure that she was gone, Roran lifted the dagger from Jeod’s neck and returned the weapon to Nolfavrell before reseating him-self in the chair pushed against the door. Jeod rubbed his neck and then, with a wry expression, said, “If we don’t reach an understanding, you had better kill me; it’d be easier than ex-plaining to Helen that I shouted at her for naught.” “You have my sympathy, Longshanks,” said Loring. “It’s not her fault... not really. She just doesn’t understand why so much misfortune has befallen us.” Jeod sighed. “Perhaps it’s my fault for not dar-ing to tell her.” “Tell her what?” piped Nolfavrell. “That I’m an agent for the Varden.” Jeod paused at their dumbfounded expressions. “Perhaps I should start from the beginning. Roran, have you heard rumors in the past few months of the existence of a new Rider who opposes Galbatorix?” “Mutterings here and there, yes, but nothing I’d give credence to.” Jeod hesitated. “I don’t know how else to say this, Roran... but there is a new Rider in Alagaësia, and it’s your cousin, Eragon. The stone he found in the Spine was actually a dragon egg I helped the Varden steal from Galbatorix years ago. The dragon hatched for Eragon and he named her Saphira. That is why the Ra’zac first came to Palancar Valley. They re-turned because Eragon has become a formidable enemy of the Empire and Galbatorix hoped that by capturing you, they could bring Eragon to bay.” Roran threw back his head and howled with laughter until tears gath-ered at the corners of his eyes and his stomach hurt from the convulsions. Loring, Birgit, and Nolfavrell looked at him with something akin to fear, but Roran cared not for their opinions. He laughed at the absurdity of Jeod’s assertion. He laughed at the terrible possibility that Jeod had told the truth. Taking rasping breaths, Roran gradually returned to normal, despite an occasional outburst of humorless chuckles. He wiped his face on his sleeve and then regarded Jeod, a hard smile upon his lips. “It fits the facts; I’ll give you that. But so do a half dozen other explanations I’ve thought of.” Birgit said, “If Eragon’s stone was a dragon egg, then where did it come from?” “Ah,” replied Jeod, “now there’s an affair I’m well acquainted with....” Comfortable in his chair, Roran listened with disbelief as Jeod spun a fantastic story of how Brom—grumpy old Brom!—had once been a Rider and had supposedly helped establish the Varden, Page 612 how Jeod had discov-ered a secret passageway into Urû’baen, how the Varden arranged to filch the last three dragon eggs from Galbatorix, and how only one egg was saved after Brom fought and killed Morzan of the Forsworn. As if that were not preposterous enough, Jeod went on to describe an agreement between the Varden, dwarves, and elves that the egg should be ferried between Du Weldenvarden and the Beor Mountains, which was why the egg and its couriers were near the edge of the great forest when they were ambushed by a Shade. A Shade—ha!thought Roran. Skeptical as he was, Roran attended with redoubled interest when Jeod began to talk of Eragon finding the egg and raising the dragon Saphira in the forest by Garrow’s farm. Roran had been occupied at the time— preparing to leave for Dempton’s mill in Therinsford—but he remem-bered how distracted Eragon had been, how he spent every moment he could outdoors, doing who knows what.... As Jeod explained how and why Garrow died, rage filled Roran that Eragon had dared keep the dragon secret when it so obviously put every-one in danger. It’s his fault my father died! “What was he thinking?” burst out Roran. He hated how Jeod looked at him with calm understanding. “I doubt Eragon knew himself. Riders and their dragons are bound together so closely, it’s often hard to differentiate one from the other. Eragon could have no more harmed Saphira than he could have sawed off his own leg.” “He could have,” muttered Roran. “Because of him, I’ve had to do things just as painful, and I know—he could have.” “You’ve a right to feel as you do,” said Jeod, “but don’t forget that the reason Eragon left Palancar Valley was to protect you and all who re-mained. I believe it was an extremely hard choice for him to make. From his point of view, he sacrificed himself to ensure your safety and to avenge your father. And while leaving may not have had the desired ef-fect, things would have certainly turned out far worse if Eragon had stayed.” Roran said nothing more until Jeod mentioned that the reason Brom and Eragon had visited Teirm was to see if they could use the city’s ship-ping manifests to locate the Ra’zac’s lair. “And did they?” cried Roran, bolting upright. “We did indeed.” “Well, where are they, then? For goodness’ sake, man, say it; you know how important this is to me!” “It seemed apparent from the records—and I later had a message from the Varden that Eragon’s own account confirmed this—that the Ra’zac’s den is in the formation known as Helgrind, by Dras-Leona.” Roran gripped his hammer with excitement. It’s a long way to Dras-Leona, but Teirm has access to the only open pass between here and the southern end of the Spine. If I can get everyone safely heading down the coast, then I could go to this Helgrind, rescue Katrina if she’s there, and fol-low the Jiet River down to Surda. Something of Roran’s thoughts much have revealed themselves on his face, because Jeod said, “It can’t be done, Roran.” Page 613 “What?” “No one man can take Helgrind. It’s a solid, bare, black mountain of stone that’s impossible to climb. Consider the Ra’zac’s foul steeds; it seems likely they would have an eyrie near the top of Helgrind rather than bed near the ground, where they are most vulnerable. How, then, would you reach them? And if you could, do you really believe that you could defeat both Ra’zac and their two steeds, if not more? I have no doubt you are a fearsome warrior—after all, you and Eragon share blood—but these are foes beyond any normal human.” Roran shook his head. “I can’t abandon Katrina. It may be futile, but I must try to free her, even if it costs me my life.” “It won’t do Katrina any good if you get yourself killed,” admonished Jeod. “If I may offer a bit of advice: try to reach Surda as you’ve planned. Once there, I’m sure you can enlist Eragon’s help. Even the Ra’zac cannot match a Rider and dragon in open combat.” In his mind’s eye, Roran saw the huge gray-skinned beasts the Ra’zac rode upon. He was loath to acknowledge it, but he knew that such creatures were beyond his ability to kill, no matter the strength of his motiva-tion. The instant he accepted that truth, Roran finally believed Jeod’s tale—for if he did not, Katrina was forever lost to him. Eragon,he thought. Eragon! By the blood I’ve spilled and the gore on my hands, I swear upon my father’s grave I’ll have you atone for what you’ve done by storming Helgrind with me. If you created this mess, then I’ll have you clean it up. Roran motioned to Jeod. “Continue your account. Let us hear the rest of this sorry play before the day grows much older.” Then Jeod spoke of Brom’s death; of Murtagh, son of Morzan; of cap-ture and escape in Gil’ead; of a desperate flight to save an elf; of Urgals and dwarves and a great battle in a place called Farthen Dûr, where Er-agon defeated a Shade. And Jeod told them how the Varden left the Beor Mountains for Surda and how Eragon was even now deep within Du Weldenvarden, learning the elves’ mysterious secrets of magic and war-fare, but would soon return. When the merchant fell silent, Roran gathered at the far end of the study with Loring, Birgit, and Nolfavrell and asked their thoughts. Lower-ing his voice, Loring said, “I can’t tell whether he’s lying or not, but any man who can weave a yarn like that at knifepoint deserves to live. A new Rider! And Eragon to boot!” He shook his head. “Birgit?” asked Roran. “I don’t know. It’s so outlandish....” She hesitated. “But it must be true. Another Rider is the only thing that would spur the Empire to pursue us so fiercely.” “Aye,” agreed Loring. His eyes were bright with excitement. “We’ve been entangled in far more momentous events than we realized. A new Rider. Just think about it! The old order is about to be washed away, I tell you.... You were right all along, Roran.” “Nolfavrell?” The boy looked solemn at being asked. He bit his lip, then said, “Jeod seems honest enough. I think we Page 614 can trust him.” “Right, then,” said Roran. He strode back to Jeod, planted his knuckles on the edge of the desk, and said, “Two last questions, Longshanks. What do Brom and Eragon look like? And how did you recognize Gertrude’s name?” “I knew of Gertrude because Brom mentioned that he left a letter for you in her care. As for what they looked like: Brom stood a bit shorter than me. He had a thick beard, a hooked nose, and he carried a carved staff with him. And I dare say he was rather irritable at times.” Roran nodded; that was Brom. “Eragon was... young. Brown hair, brown eyes, with a scar on his wrist, and he never stopped asking questions.” Roran nodded again; that was his cousin. Roran stuck his hammer back under his belt. Birgit, Loring, and Nol-favrell sheathed their blades. Then Roran pulled his chair away from the door, and the four of them resumed their seats like civilized beings. “What now, Jeod?” asked Roran. “Can you help us? I know you’re in a difficult situation, but we... we are desperate and have no one else to turn to. As an agent of the Varden, can you guarantee us the Varden’s protec-tion? We are willing to serve them if they’ll shield us from Galbatorix’s wrath.” “The Varden,” said Jeod, “would be more than happy to have you. More than happy. I suspect you already guessed that. As for help...” He ran a hand down his long face and stared past Loring at the rows of books on the shelves. “I’ve been aware for almost a year that my true identity— as well as that of many other merchants here and elsewhere who have assisted the Varden—was betrayed to the Empire. Because of that, I ha-ven’t dared flee to Surda. If I tried, the Empire would arrest me, and then who knows what horrors I’d be in for? I’ve had to watch the gradual de-struction of my business without being able to take any action to oppose or escape it. What’s worse, now that I cannot ship anything to the Varden and they dare not send envoys to me, I feared that Lord Risthart would have me clapped in irons and dragged off to the dungeons, since I’m of no further interest to the Empire. I’ve expected it every day since I declared bankruptcy.” “Perhaps,” suggested Birgit, “they want you to flee so they can capture whoever else you bring with you.” Jeod smiled. “Perhaps. But now that you are here, I have a means to leave that they never anticipated.” “Then you have a plan?” asked Loring. Glee crossed Jeod’s face. “Oh yes, I have a plan. Did the four of you see the ship Dragon Wing moored at port?” Roran thought back to the vessel. “Aye.” “The Dragon Wing is owned by the Blackmoor Shipping Company, a front for the Empire. They handle supplies for the army, which has mo-bilized to an alarming degree recently, conscripting soldiers among the peasants and commandeering horses, asses, and oxen.” Jeod raised an eye-brow. “I’m not sure what it indicates, but it’s possible Galbatorix means to march on Surda. In any case, the Dragon Wing is to sail for Feinster within the week. She’s the finest ship ever built, from a new design by master shipwright Kinnell.” “And you want to pirate her,” concluded Roran. “I do. Not only to spite the Empire or because the Dragon Wing is re-puted to be the fastest Page 615 square-rigged ship of her tonnage, but because she’s already fully provisioned for a long voyage. And since her cargo is food, we’d have enough for the whole village.” Loring uttered a strained cackle. “I ’ope you can sail her yourself, Long-shanks, ’cause not one of us knows how to handle anything larger than a barge.” “A few men from the crews of my ships are still in Teirm. They’re in the same position I am, unable to fight or flee. I’m confident they’ll jump at a chance to get to Surda. They can teach you what to do on the Dragon Wing. It won’t be easy, but I don’t see much choice in the matter.” Roran grinned. The plan was to his liking: swift, decisive, and unex-pected. “You mentioned,” said Birgit, “that in the past year none of your ships— nor those from other merchants who serve the Varden—have reached their destination. Why, then, should this mission succeed when so many have failed?” Jeod was quick to answer: “Because surprise is on our side. The law re-quires merchant ships to submit their itinerary for approval with the port authority at least two weeks before departure. It takes a great deal of time to prepare a ship for launch, so if we leave without warning, it could be a week or more before Galbatorix can launch intercept vessels. If luck is with us, we won’t see so much as the topmast of our pursuers. So,” continued Jeod, “if you are willing to attempt this enterprise, this is what we must do....” ESCAPE After they considered Jeod’s proposal from every possible angle and agreed to abide by it—with a few modifications—Roran sent Nolfavrell to fetch Gertrude and Mandel from the Green Chestnut, for Jeod had of-fered their entire party his hospitality. “Now, if you will excuse me,” said Jeod, rising, “I must go reveal to my wife that which I should never have hidden from her and ask if she’ll ac-company me to Surda. You may take your pick of rooms on the second floor. Rolf will summon you when supper is ready.” With long, slow steps, he departed the study. “Is it wise to let him tell that ogress?” asked Loring. Roran shrugged. “Wise or not, we can’t stop him. And I don’t think he’ll be at peace until he does.” Instead of going to a room, Roran wandered through the mansion, un-consciously evading the servants as he pondered the things Jeod had said. He stopped at a bay window open to the stables at the rear of the house and filled his lungs with the brisk and smoky air, heavy with the familiar smell of manure. “Do you hate him?” He started and turned to see Birgit silhouetted in the doorway. She pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders as she approached. “Who?” he asked, knowing full well. Page 616 “Eragon. Do you hate him?” Roran looked at the darkening sky. “I don’t know. I hate him for caus-ing the death of my father, but he’s still family and for that I love him.... I suppose that if I didn’t need Eragon to save Katrina, I would have nothing to do with him for a long while yet.” “As I need and hate you, Stronghammer.” He snorted with grim amusement. “Aye, we’re joined at the hip, aren’t we? You have to help me find Eragon in order to avenge Quimby on the Ra’zac.” “And to have my vengeance on you afterward.” “That too.” Roran stared into her unwavering eyes for a moment, ac-knowledging the bond between them. He found it strangely comforting to know that they shared the same drive, the same angry fire that quick-ened their steps when others faltered. In her, he recognized a kindred spirit. Returning through the house, Roran stopped by the dining room as he heard the cadence of Jeod’s voice. Curious, he fit his eye to a crack by the middle door hinge. Jeod stood opposite a slight, blond woman, who Ro-ran assumed was Helen. “If what you say is true, how can you expect me to trust you?” “I cannot,” answered Jeod. “Yet you ask me to become a fugitive for you?” “You once offered to leave your family and wander the land with me. You begged me to spirit you away from Teirm.” “Once. I thought you were terribly dashing then, what with your sword and your scar.” “I still have those,” he said softly. “I made many mistakes with you, Helen; I understand that now. But I still love you and want you to be safe. I have no future here. If I stay, I’ll only bring grief to your family. You can return to your father or you can come with me. Do what will make you the happiest. However, I beg you to give me a second chance, to have the courage to leave this place and shed the bitter memories of our life here. We can start anew in Surda.” She was quiet for a long time. “That young man who was here, is he really a Rider?” “He is. The winds of change are blowing, Helen. The Varden are about to attack, the dwarves are gathering, and even the elves stir in their an-cient haunts. War approaches, and if we’re fortunate, so does Galbatorix’s downfall.” “Are you important among the Varden?” “They owe me some consideration for my part in acquiring Saphira’s egg.” “Then you would have a position with them in Surda?” “I imagine so.” He put his hands on her shoulders, and she did not draw away. Page 617 She whispered, “Jeod, Jeod, don’t press me. I cannot decide yet.” “Will you think about it?” She shivered. “Oh yes. I’ll think about it.” Roran’s heart pained him as he left. Katrina. That night at dinner, Roran noticed Helen’s eyes were often upon him, studying and measuring—comparing him, he was sure, to Eragon. After the meal, Roran beckoned to Mandel and led him out into the courtyard behind the house. “What is it, sir?” asked Mandel. “I wished to talk with you in private.” “About what?” Roran fingered the pitted blade of his hammer and reflected on how much he felt like Garrow when his father gave a lecture on responsibil-ity; Roran could even feel the same phrases rising in his throat. And so one generation passes to the next, he thought. “You’ve become quite friendly with the sailors as of late.” “They’re not our enemies,” objected Mandel. “Everyone is an enemy at this point. Clovis and his men could turn on us in an instant. It wouldn’t be a problem, though, if being with them hadn’t caused you to neglect your duties.” Mandel stiffened and color bloomed in his cheeks, but he did not lower himself in Roran’s esteem by denying the charge. Pleased, Roran asked, “What is the most important thing we can do right now, Mandel?” “Protect our families.” “Aye. And what else?” Mandel hesitated, uncertain, then confessed, “I don’t know.” “Help one another. It’s the only way any of us are going to survive. I was especially disappointed to learn that you’ve gambled food with the sailors, since that endangers the entire village. Your time would be far better spent hunting than playing games of dice or learning to throw knives. With your father gone, it’s fallen upon you to care for your mother and siblings. They rely on you. Am I clear?” “Very clear, sir,” replied Mandel with a choked voice. “Will this ever happen again?” “Never again, sir.” Page 618 “Good. Now I didn’t bring you here just to chastise you. You show promise, which is why I’m giving you a task that I would trust to no one else but myself.” “Yes, sir!” “Tomorrow morning I need you to return to camp and deliver a mes-sage to Horst. Jeod believes the Empire has spies watching this house, so it’s vital that you make sure you aren’t followed. Wait until you’re out of the city, then lose whoever is trailing you in the countryside. Kill him if you have to. When you find Horst, tell him to...” As Roran outlined his instructions, he watched Mandel’s expression change from surprise, to shock, and then to awe. “What if Clovis objects?” asked Mandel. “That night, break the tillers on the barges so they can’t be steered. It’s a dirty trick, but it could be disastrous if Clovis or any of his men arrive at Teirm before you.” “I won’t let that happen,” vowed Mandel. Roran smiled. “Good.” Satisfied that he had resolved the matter of Mandel’s behavior and that the young man would do everything possible to get the message to Horst, Roran went back inside and bade their host good night before heading off to sleep. With the exception of Mandel, Roran and his companions confined themselves to the mansion throughout the following day, taking advan-tage of the delay to rest, hone their weapons, and review their stratagems. From dawn till dusk, they saw some of Helen as she bustled from one room to the next, more of Rolf with his teeth like varnished pearls, and none of Jeod, for the gray-pated merchant had left to walk the city and— seemingly by accident—meet with the few men of the sea whom he trusted for their expedition. Upon his return, he told Roran, “We can count on five more hands. I only hope it’s enough.” Jeod remained in his study for the rest of the eve-ning, drawing up various legal documents and otherwise tending to his affairs. Three hours before dawn, Roran, Loring, Birgit, Gertrude, and Nol-favrell roused themselves and, fighting back prodigious yawns, congre-gated in the mansion’s entryway, where they muffled themselves in long cloaks to obscure their faces. A rapier hung at Jeod’s side when he joined them, and Roran thought the narrow sword somehow completed the rangy man, as if it reminded Jeod who he really was. Jeod lit an oil lantern and held it up before them. “Are we ready?” he asked. They nodded. Then Jeod unlatched the door and they filed outside to the empty cobblestone street. Behind them, Jeod lingered in the en-tryway, casting a longing gaze toward the stairs on the right, but Helen did not appear. With a shudder, Jeod left his home and closed the door. Roran put a hand on his arm. “What’s done is done.” “I know.” They trotted through the dark city, slowing to a quick walk whenever they encountered watchmen or a fellow creature of the night, most of whom darted away at the sight of them. Once they heard footsteps Page 619 on top of a nearby building. “The design of the city,” explained Jeod, “makes it easy for thieves to climb from one roof to another.” They slowed to a walk again when they arrived at Teirm’s eastern gate. Because the gate opened to the harbor, it was closed only four hours each night in order to minimize the disruption to commerce. Indeed, despite the time, several men were already moving through the gate. Even though Jeod had warned them it might happen, Roran still felt a surge of fear when the guards lowered their pikes and asked what their business was. He wet his mouth and tried not to fidget while the elder soldier examined a scroll that Jeod handed to him. After a long minute, the guard nodded and returned the parchment. “You can pass.” Once they were on the wharf and out of earshot of the city wall, Jeod said, “It’s a good thing he couldn’t read.” The six of them waited on the damp planking until, one by one, Jeod’s men emerged from the gray mist that lay upon the shore. They were grim and silent, with braided hair that hung to the middle of their backs, tar-smeared hands, and an assortment of scars even Roran respected. He liked what he saw, and he could tell they approved of him as well. They did not, however, take to Birgit. One of the sailors, a large brute of a man, jerked a thumb at her and ac-cused Jeod, “You didn’t say there’d be a woman along for the fightin’. How am I supposed to concentrate with some backwoods tramp getting in m’ way?” “Don’t talk about her like that,” said Nolfavrell between clenched teeth. “An’ her runt too?” In a calm voice, Jeod said, “Birgit has fought the Ra’zac. And her son has already killed one of Galbatorix’s best soldiers. Can you claim as much, Uthar?” “It’s not proper,” said another man. “I wouldn’t feel safe with a woman at my side; they do naught but bring bad luck. A lady shouldn’t—” Whatever he was going to say was lost, for at that instant, Birgit did a very unladylike thing. Stepping forward, she kicked Uthar between his legs and then grabbed the second man and pressed her knife against his throat. She held him for a moment, so everyone could see what she had done, then released her captive. Uthar rolled on the boards by her feet, holding himself and muttering a stream of curses. “Does anyone else have an objection?” demanded Birgit. Beside her, Nolfavrell stared with openmouthed amazement at his mother. Roran pulled his hood lower to conceal his grin. Good thing they haven’t noticed Gertrude, he thought. When no one else challenged Birgit, Jeod asked, “Did you bring what I wanted?” Each sailor reached inside his vest and divulged a weighted club and several lengths of rope. Thus armed, they worked their way down the harbor toward the Dragon Wing, doing their best to escape detection. Jeod kept his lantern shuttered the whole while. Near the dock, they hid behind a Page 620 warehouse and watched the two lights carried by sentries bob around the deck of the ship. The gangway had been pulled away for the night. “Remember,” whispered Jeod, “the most important thing is to keep the alarm from being sounded until we’re ready to leave.” “Two men above, two men below, right?” asked Roran. Uthar replied, “That be the custom.” Roran and Uthar stripped to their breeches, tied the rope and clubs around their waists—Roran left his hammer behind—and then ran far-ther down the wharf, out of the sentries’ sight, where they lowered themselves into the frigid water. “Garr, I hate when I have to do this,” said Uthar. “You’ve done it before?” “Four times now. Don’t stop moving or you’ll freeze.” Clinging to the slimy piles underneath the wharf, they swam back up the way they had come until they reached the stone pier that led to the Dragon Wing, and then turned right. Uthar put his lips to Roran’s ear. “I’ll take the starboard anchor.” Roran nodded his agreement. They both dove under the black water, and there they separated. Uthar swam like a frog under the bow of the ship, while Roran went straight to the port anchor and clung to its thick chain. He untied the club from his waist and fit it between his teeth—as much to stop them from chattering as to free his hands—and prepared to wait. The rough metal sapped the warmth from his arms as fast as ice. Not three minutes later, Roran heard the scuff of Birgit’s boots above him as she walked to the end of the pier, opposite the middle of the Dragon Wing, and then the faint sound of her voice as she engaged the sentries in conversation. Hopefully, she would keep their attention away from the bow. Now! Roran pulled himself hand over hand along the chain. His right shoul-der burned where the Ra’zac had bit him, but he pressed on. From the porthole where the anchor chain entered the ship, he clambered up the ridges that supported the painted figurehead, over the railing, and onto the deck. Uthar was already there, dripping and panting. Clubs in hand, they padded toward the aft of the ship, using whatever cover they could find. They stopped not ten feet behind the sentries. The two men leaned on the railing, bandying words with Birgit. In a flash, Roran and Uthar burst into the open and struck the sentries on the head before they could draw their sabers. Below, Birgit waved for Jeod and the rest of their group, and between them they raised the gang-way and slid one end across to the ship, where Uthar lashed it to the rail-ing. As Nolfavrell ran aboard, Roran tossed his rope to the boy and said, “Tie and gag these two.” Then everyone but Gertrude descended belowdecks to hunt for the remaining sentries. They found four additional men—the purser, the bo-sun, the ship’s cook, and the ship’s cook’s assistant—all of whom Page 621 were trundled out of bed, knocked on the head if they resisted, and then se-curely trussed. In this, Birgit again proved her worth, capturing two men herself. Jeod had the unhappy prisoners placed in a line on the deck so they could be watched at all times, then declared, “We have much to do, and little time. Roran, Uthar is captain on the Dragon Wing. You and the others will take your orders from him.” For the next two hours, the ship was a frenzy of activity. The sailors tended to the rigging and sails, while Roran and those from Carvahall worked to empty the hold of extraneous supplies, such as bales of raw wool. These they lowered overboard to prevent anyone on the wharf from hearing a splash. If the entire village was to fit on the Dragon Wing, they needed to clear as much space as possible. Roran was in the midst of fitting a cable around a barrel when he heard the hoarse cry, “Someone’s coming!” Everyone on deck, except Jeod and Uthar, dropped to their bellies and reached for their weapons. The two men who remained standing paced the ship as if they were sentries. Ro-ran’s heart pounded while he lay motionless, wondering what was about to happen. He held his breath as Jeod addressed the intruder... then foot-steps echoed on the gangway. It was Helen. She wore a plain dress, her hair was bound under a kerchief, and she carried a burlap sack over one shoulder. She spoke not a word, but stowed her gear in the main cabin and returned to stand by Jeod. Roran thought he had never seen a happier man. The sky above the distant mountains of the Spine had just begun to brighten when one of the sailors in the rigging pointed north and whis-tled to indicate he had spotted the villagers. Roran moved even faster. What time they had was now gone. He rushed up on deck and peered at the dark line of people advancing down the coast. This part of their plan depended on the fact that, unlike other coastal cities, Teirm’s outer wall had not been left open to the sea, but rather completely enclosed the bulk of the city in order to ward off fre-quent pirate attacks. This meant that the buildings skirting the harbor were left exposed—and that the villagers could walk right up to the Dragon Wing. “Hurry now, hurry!” said Jeod. At Uthar’s command, the sailors brought out armfuls of javelins for the great bows on deck, as well as casks of foul-smelling tar, which they knocked open and used to paint the upper half of the javelins. They then drew and loaded the ballistae on the starboard side; it took two men per bow to pull out the sinew cord until it caught on its hook. The villagers were two-thirds of the way to the ship before the soldiers patrolling the battlements of Teirm spotted them and trumpeted the alarm. Even before that first note faded, Uthar bellowed, “Light and fire ’em!” Dashing open Jeod’s lantern, Nolfavrell ran from one ballista to the next, holding the flame to the javelins until the tar ignited. The instant a missile caught, the man behind the bow pulled the release line and the javelin vanished with a heavy thunk. In all, twelve blazing bolts shot from the Dragon Wing and pierced the ships and buildings along the bay like roaring, red-hot meteors from the heavens above. “Draw and reload!” shouted Uthar. Page 622 The creak of bending wood filled the air as every man hauled back on the twisted cords. Javelins were slotted in place. Once again, Nolfavrell made his run. Roran could feel the vibration in his feet as the ballista in front of him sent its deadly projectile winging on its way. The fire quickly spread along the waterfront, forming an impenetrable barrier that prevented soldiers from reaching the Dragon Wing though Teirm’s east gate. Roran had counted on the pillar of smoke to hide the ship from the archers on the battlements, but it was a near thing; a flight of arrows tugged at the rigging, and one dart embedded itself in the deck by Gertrude before the soldiers lost sight of the ship. From the bow, Uthar shouted, “Pick your targets at will!” The villagers were running pell-mell down the beach now. They reached the north end of the wharf, and a handful of them stumbled and fell as the soldiers in Teirm redirected their aim. Children screamed in terror. Then the villagers regained momentum. They pounded down the planks, past a warehouse engulfed in flame and along the pier. The pant-ing mob charged onto the ship in a confused mass of jostling bodies. Birgit and Gertrude guided the stream of people to the fore and aft hatches. In a few minutes, the various levels of the ship were packed to their limit, from the cargo hold to the captain’s cabin. Those who could not fit below remained huddled on deck, holding Fisk’s shields over their heads. As Roran had asked in his message, all able-bodied men from Carvahall clustered around the mainmast, waiting for instructions. Roran saw Mandel among them and tossed him a proud salute. Then Uthar pointed at a sailor and barked, “You there, Bonden! Get those swabs to the capstans and weigh anchors, then down to the oars. Double time!” To the rest of the men at the ballistae, he ordered, “Half of you leave off and take the port ballistae. Drive away any boarding parties.” Roran was one of those who switched sides. As he prepared the ballis-tae, a few laggards staggered out of the acrid smoke and onto the ship. Beside him, Jeod and Helen hoisted the six prisoners one by one onto the gangway and rolled them onto the pier. Before Roran quite knew it, anchors had been raised, the gangway was cut loose, and a drum pounded beneath his feet, setting the tempo for the oarsmen. Ever so slowly, the Dragon Wing turned to starboard— toward the open sea—and then, with gathering speed, pulled away from the dock. Roran accompanied Jeod to the quarterdeck, where they watched the crimson inferno devour everything flammable between Teirm and the ocean. Through the filter of smoke, the sun appeared a flat, bloated, bloody orange disk as it rose over the city. How many have I killed now?wondered Roran. Echoing his thoughts, Jeod observed, “This will harm a great many in-nocent people.” Guilt made Roran respond with more force than he intended: “Would you rather be in Lord Risthart’s prisons? I doubt many will be injured in the blaze, and those that aren’t won’t face death, like we will if the Em-pire catches us.” “You needn’t lecture me, Roran. I know the arguments well enough. We did what we had to. Just don’t ask me to take pleasure in the suffer-ing we’ve caused to ensure our own safety.” Page 623 By noon the oars had been stowed and the Dragon Wing sailed under her own power, propelled by favorable winds from the north. The gusts of air caused the rigging overhead to emit a low hum. The ship was miserably overcrowded, but Roran was confident that with some careful planning they could make it to Surda with a minimum of discomfort. The worst inconvenience was that of limited rations; if they were to avoid starvation, food would have to be dispensed in mis-erly portions. And in such cramped quarters, disease was an all too likely possibility. After Uthar gave a brief speech about the importance of discipline on a ship, the villagers applied themselves to the tasks that required their im-mediate attention, such as tending to their wounded, unpacking their meager belongings, and deciding upon the most efficient sleeping ar-rangement for each deck. They also had to choose people to fill the vari-ous positions on the Dragon Wing : who would cook, who would train as sailors under Uthar’s men, and so forth. Roran was helping Elain hang a hammock when he became embroiled in a heated dispute between Odele, her family, and Frewin, who had ap-parently deserted Torson’s crew to stay with Odele. The two of them wanted to marry, which Odele’s parents vehemently opposed on the grounds that the young sailor lacked a family of his own, a respectable profession, and the means to provide even a modicum of comfort for their daughter. Roran thought it best if the enamored couple remained together—it seemed impractical to try and separate them while they re-mained confined to the same ship—but Odele’s parents refused to give his arguments credence. Frustrated, Roran said, “What would you do, then? You can’t lock her away, and I believe Frewin has proved his devotion more than—” “Ra’zac!” The cry came from the crow’s nest. Without a second thought, Roran yanked his hammer from his belt, whirled about, and scrambled up the ladder through the fore hatchway, barking his shin on the way. He sprinted toward the knot of people on the quarterdeck, coming to a halt beside Horst. The smith pointed. One of the Ra’zac’s dread steeds drifted like a tattered shadow above the edge of the coastline, a Ra’zac on its back. Seeing the two monsters exposed in daylight in no way diminished the creeping horror they in-spired in Roran. He shuddered as the winged creature uttered its terrify-ing shriek, and then the Ra’zac’s insectile voice drifted across the water, faint but distinct: “You shall not essscape!” Roran looked at the ballistae, but they could not turn far enough to aim at the Ra’zac or its mount. “Does anyone have a bow?” “I do,” said Baldor. He dropped to one knee and began to string his weapon. “Don’t let them see me.” Everyone on the quarterdeck gathered in a tight circle around Baldor, shielding him with their bodies from the Ra’zac’s malevolent gaze. “Why don’t they attack?” growled Horst. Puzzled, Roran searched for an explanation but found none. It was Jeod who suggested, “Perhaps it’s too bright for them. The Ra’zac hunt at night, and so far as I know they do not willingly venture forth Page 624 from their lairs while the sun is yet in the sky.” “It’s not just that,” said Gertrude slowly. “I think they’re afraid of the ocean.” “Afraid of the ocean?” scoffed Horst. “Watch them; they don’t fly more than a yard over the water at any given time.” “She’s right,” said Roran. At last, a weakness I can use against them! A few seconds later, Baldor said, “Ready!” At his word, the ranks of people who stood before him jumped aside, clearing the path for his arrow. Baldor sprang to his feet and, in a single motion, pulled the feather to his cheek and loosed the reed shaft. It was a heroic shot. The Ra’zac was at the extreme edge of a longbow’s range—far beyond any mark Roran had seen an archer hit—and yet Bal-dor’s aim was true. His arrow struck the flying creature on the right flank, and the beast gave a scream of pain so great that the glass on the deck was shattered and the stones on the shore were riven in shards. Roran clapped his hands over his ears to protect them from the hideous blast. Still screaming, the monster veered inland and dropped behind a line of misty hills. “Did you kill it?” asked Jeod, his face pale. “I fear not,” replied Baldor. “It was naught but a flesh wound.” Loring, who had just arrived, observed with satisfaction, “Aye. But at least you hurt him, and I’d wager they’ll think twice about bothering us again.” Gloom settled over Roran. “Save your triumph for later, Loring. This was no victory.” “Why not?” demanded Horst. “Because now the Empire knows exactly where we are.” The quarter-deck fell silent as they grasped the implications of what he had said. CHILD’S PLAY “And this,” said Trianna, “is the latest pattern we’ve invented.” Nasuada took the black veil from the sorceress and ran it through her hands, marveling at its quality. No human could throw lace that fine. She gazed with satisfaction at the rows of boxes on her desk, which contained samples of the many designs Du Vrangr Gata now produced. “You’ve done well,” she said. “Far better than I had hoped. Tell your spellcasters how pleased I am with their work. It means much to the Varden.” Trianna inclined her head at the praise. “I will convey your message to them, Lady Nasuada.” “Have they yet—” Page 625 A disturbance at the doors to her quarters interrupted Nasuada. She heard her guards swear and raise their voices, then a yelp of pain. The sound of metal clashing on metal rang in the hallway. Nasuada backed away from the door in alarm, drawing her dagger from its sheath. “Run, Lady!” said Trianna. The sorceress placed herself in front of Nasuada and pushed back her sleeves, baring her white arms in prepara-tion to work magic. “Take the servants’ entrance.” Before Nasuada could move, the doors burst open and a small figure tackled her legs, knocking her to the floor. Even as Nasuada fell, a silvery object flashed through the space she had just occupied, burying itself in the far wall with a dull thud. Then the four guards entered, and all was confusion as Nasuada felt them drag her assailant off her. When Nasuada managed to stand, she saw Elva hanging in their grip. “What is the meaning of this?” demanded Nasuada. The black-haired girl smiled, then doubled over and retched on the braided rug. Afterward, she fixed her violet eyes on Nasuada and—in her terrible, knowing voice—she said, “Have your magician examine the wall, O Daughter of Ajihad, and see if I have not fulfilled my promise to you.” Nasuada nodded to Trianna, who glided to the splintered hole in the wall and muttered a spell. She returned holding a metal dart. “This was buried in the wood.” “But where did it come from?” asked Nasuada, bewildered. Trianna gestured toward the open window overlooking the city of Aberon. “Somewhere out there, I guess.” Nasuada returned her attention to the waiting child. “What do you know about this, Elva?” The girl’s horrible smile widened. “It was an assassin.” “Who sent him?” “An assassin trained by Galbatorix himself in the dark uses of magic.” Her burning eyes grew half-lidded, as if she were in a trance. “The man hates you. He’s coming for you. He would have killed you if I hadn’t stopped him.” She lurched forward and retched again, spewing half-digested food across the floor. Nasuada gagged with revulsion. “And he’s about to suffer great pain.” “Why is that?” “Because I will tell you he stays in the hostel on Fane Street, in the last room, on the top floor. You had better hurry, or he’ll get away... away.” She groaned like a wounded beast and clutched her belly. “Hurry, before Eragon’s spell forces me to stop you from hurting him. You’ll be sorry, then!” Trianna was already moving as Nasuada said, “Tell Jörmundur what’s happened, then take your strongest magicians and hunt down this man. Capture him if you can. Kill him if you can’t.” After the sorceress left, Nasuada looked at her men and saw that their legs were bleeding from numerous small cuts. She realized what it must have cost Elva to hurt them. “Go,” she told them. “Find a healer who can mend your injuries.” Page 626 The warriors shook their heads, and their captain said, “No, Ma’am. We will stay by your side until we know it’s safe again.” “As you see fit, Captain.” The men barricaded the windows—which worsened the already swel-tering heat that plagued Borromeo Castle—then everyone retreated to her inner chambers for further protection. Nasuada paced, her heart pounding with delayed shock as she contem-plated how close she had come to being killed. What would become of the Varden if I died? she wondered. Who would succeed me? Dismay gripped her; she had made no arrangements for the Varden in the event of her own demise, an oversight that now seemed a monumental failing. I won’t allow the Varden to be thrown into chaos because I failed to take precau-tions! She halted. “I am in your debt, Elva.” “Now and forever.” Nasuada faltered, disconcerted as she often was by the girl’s responses, then continued: “I apologize for not ordering my guards to let you pass, night or day. I should have anticipated an event like this.” “You should have,” agreed Elva in a mocking tone. Smoothing the front of her dress, Nasuada resumed pacing, as much to escape the sight of Elva’s stone-white, dragon-marked face as to disperse her own nervous energy. “How did you escape your rooms unaccompa-nied?” “I told my caretaker, Greta, what she wanted to hear.” “That’s all?” Elva blinked. “It made her very happy.” “And what of Angela?” “She left on an errand this morning.” “Well, be as that may, you have my gratitude for saving my life. Ask me any boon you want and I shall grant it if it’s within my power.” Elva glanced around the ornate bedroom, then said, “Do you have any food? I’m hungry.” PREMONITION OF WAR Two hours later, Trianna returned, leading a pair of warriors who car-ried a limp body between them. At Trianna’s word, the men dropped the corpse on the floor. Then the sorceress said, “We found the assassin where Elva said we would. Drail was his name.” Motivated by a morbid curiosity, Nasuada examined the face of the man who had tried to kill her. The Page 627 assassin was short, bearded, and plain-looking, no different from countless other men in the city. She felt a cer-tain connection to him, as if his attempt on her life and the fact that she had arranged his death in return linked them in the most intimate man-ner possible. “How was he killed?” she asked. “I see no marks on his body.” “He committed suicide with magic when we overwhelmed his defenses and entered his mind, but before we could take control of his actions.” “Were you able to learn anything of use before he died?” “We were. Drail was part of a network of agents based here in Surda who are loyal to Galbatorix. They are called the Black Hand. They spy on us, sabotage our war efforts, and—best we could determine in our brief glimpse into Drail’s memories—are responsible for dozens of murders throughout the Varden. Apparently, they’ve been waiting for a good chance to kill you ever since we arrived from Farthen Dûr.” “Why hasn’t this Black Hand assassinated King Orrin yet?” Trianna shrugged. “I can’t say. It may be that Galbatorix considers you to be more of a threat than Orrin. If that’s the case, then once the Black Hand realizes you are protected from their attacks”— here her gaze darted toward Elva—“Orrin won’t live another month unless he is guarded by magicians day and night. Or perhaps Galbatorix has abstained from such direct action because he wanted the Black Hand to remain unnoticed. Surda has always existed at his tolerance. Now that it’s be-come a threat...” “Can you protect Orrin as well?” asked Nasuada, turning to Elva. Her violet eyes seemed to glow. “Maybe if he asks nicely.” Nasuada’s thoughts raced as she considered how to thwart this new menace. “Can all of Galbatorix’s agents use magic?” “Drail’s mind was confused, so it’s hard to tell,” said Trianna, “but I’d guess a fair number of them can.” Magic,cursed Nasuada to herself. The greatest danger the Varden faced from magicians—or any person trained in the use of their mind—was not assassination, but rather espionage. Magicians could spy on people’s thoughts and glean information that could be used to destroy the Varden. That was precisely why Nasuada and the entire command structure of the Varden had been taught to know when someone was touching their minds and how to shield themselves from such attentions. Nasuada sus-pected that Orrin and Hrothgar relied upon similar precautions within their own governments. However, since it was impractical for everyone privy to potentially damaging information to master that skill, one of Du Vrangr Gata’s many responsibilities was to hunt for anyone who was siphoning off facts as they appeared in people’s minds. The cost of such vigilance was that Du Vrangr Gata ended up spying on the Varden as much as on their ene-mies, a fact that Nasuada made sure to conceal from the bulk of her fol-lowers, for it would only sow hatred, distrust, and dissent. She disliked the practice but saw no alternative. What she had learned about the Black Hand hardened Nasuada’s con-viction that, somehow, magicians had to be governed. “Why,” she asked, “didn’t you discover this sooner? I can understand that you might miss a lone assassin, but an entire network of spellcasters dedicated to our destruction? Explain yourself, Trianna.” Page 628 The sorceress’s eyes flashed with anger at the accusation. “Because here, unlike in Farthen Dûr, we cannot examine everyone’s minds for duplic-ity. There are just too many people for us magicians to keep track of. That is why we didn’t know about the Black Hand until now, Lady Nasuada.” Nasuada paused, then inclined her head. “Understood. Did you discover the identities of any other members of the Black Hand?” “A few.” “Good. Use them to ferret out the rest of the agents. I want you to de-stroy this organization for me, Trianna. Eradicate them as you would an infestation of vermin. I’ll give you however many men you need.” The sorceress bowed. “As you wish, Lady Nasuada.” At a knock on the door, the guards drew their swords and positioned themselves on either side of the entranceway, then their captain yanked open the door without warning. A young page stood outside, a fist raised to knock again. He stared with astonishment at the body on the floor, then snapped to attention as the captain asked, “What is it, boy?” “I have a message for Lady Nasuada from King Orrin.” “Then speak and be quick about it,” said Nasuada. The page took a moment to compose himself. “King Orrin requests that you attend him directly in his council chambers, for he has received reports from the Empire that demand your immediate attention.” “Is that all?” “Yes, Ma’am.” “I must attend to this. Trianna, you have your orders. Captain, will you leave one of your men to dispose of Drail?” “Aye, Ma’am.” “Also, please have him locate Farica, my handmaid. She will see to it that my study is cleaned.” “And what of me?” asked Elva, tilting her head. “You,” said Nasuada, “shall accompany me. That is, if you feel strong enough to do so.” The girl threw back her head, and from her small, round mouth ema-nated a cold laugh. “I’m strong enough, Nasuada. Are you?” Ignoring the question, Nasuada swept forth into the hallway with her guards clustered around her. The stones of the castle exuded an earthy smell in the heat. Behind her, she heard the patter of Elva’s footsteps and was perversely pleased that the ghastly child had to hurry to keep pace with the adults’ longer stride. Page 629 The guards remained behind in the vestibule to the council chambers while Nasuada and Elva proceeded inside. The chambers were bare to the point of severity, reflecting the militant nature of Surda’s existence. The country’s kings had devoted their resources to protecting their peo-ple and overthrowing Galbatorix, not to decorating Borromeo Castle with idle riches as the dwarves had done with Tronjheim. In the main room lay a rough-hewn table twelve feet long, upon which a map of Alagaësia was staked open with daggers at the four corners. As was custom, Orrin sat at the head of the table, while his various advis-ers—many of whom, Nasuada knew, vehemently opposed her— occupied the chairs farther down. The Council of Elders was also present. Nasuada noticed the concern on Jörmundur’s face as he looked at her and deduced that Trianna had indeed told him about Drail. “Sire, you asked for me?” Orrin rose. “That I did. We have now—” He stopped in midword as he noticed Elva. “Ah, yes, Shining Brow. I have not had the opportunity to grant you audience before, though accounts of your feats have reached my ear and, I must confess, I have been most curious to meet you. Have you found the quarters I arranged for you satisfactory?” “They are quite nice, Sire. Thank you.” At the sound of her eerie voice, the voice of an adult, everyone at the table flinched. Irwin, the prime minister, bolted upright and pointed a quivering finger at Elva. “Why have you brought this... this abomination here?” “You forget your manners, sir,” replied Nasuada, though she understood his sentiment. Orrin frowned. “Yes, do restrain yourself, Irwin. However, his point is valid, Nasuada; we cannot have this child present at our deliberations.” “The Empire,” she said, “has just tried to assassinate me.” The room echoed with cries of surprise. “If it were not for Elva’s swift action, I would be dead. As a result, I have taken her into my confidence; where I go, she goes.” Let them wonder what it is exactly Elva can do. “This is indeed distressing news!” exclaimed the king. “Have you caught the blackguard responsible?” Seeing the eager expressions of his advisers, Nasuada hesitated. “It would be best to wait until I can give you an account in private, Sire.” Orrin appeared put out by her response, but he did not pursue the is-sue. “Very well. But sit, sit! We have just received the most troubling re-port.” After Nasuada took her place opposite him—Elva lurking behind her—he continued: “It seems that our spies in Gil’ead have been deceived as to the status of Galbatorix’s army.” “How so?” “They believe the army to be in Gil’ead, whereas we have here a mis-sive from one of our men in Urû’baen, who says that he witnessed a great host march south past the capital a week and a half ago. It was night, so he could not be sure of their numbers, but he was certain that the host was far larger than the sixteen thousand that form the core of Galba-torix’s troops. There may have been as many as a hundred thousand sol-diers, or more.” Page 630 A hundred thousand!A cold pit of fear settled in Nasuada’s stomach. “Can we trust your source?” “His intelligence has always been reliable.” “I don’t understand,” said Nasuada. “How could Galbatorix move that many men without our knowing of it before? The supply trains alone would be miles long. It’s been obvious the army was mobilizing, but the Empire was nowhere near ready to deploy.” Falberd spoke then, slapping a heavy hand on the table for emphasis: “We were outfoxed. Our spies must have been deceived with magic to think the army was still in their barracks in Gil’ead.” Nasuada felt the blood drain from her face. “The only person strong enough to sustain an illusion of that size and duration—” “Is Galbatorix himself,” completed Orrin. “That was our conclusion. It means that Galbatorix has finally abandoned his lair in favor of open combat. Even as we speak, the black foe approaches.” Irwin leaned forward. “The question now is how we should respond. We must confront this threat, of course, but in what manner? Where, when, and how? Our own forces aren’t prepared for a campaign of this magnitude, while yours, Lady Nasuada—the Varden—are already accus-tomed to the fierce clamor of war.” “What do you mean to imply?” That we should die for you? “I but made an observation. Take it how you will.” Then Orrin said, “Alone, we will be crushed against an army so large. We must have allies, and above all else we must have Eragon, especially if we are to confront Galbatorix. Nasuada, will you send for him?” “I would if I could, but until Arya returns, I have no way to contact the elves or to summon Eragon.” “In that case,” said Orrin in a heavy voice, “we must hope that she ar-rives before it is too late. I do not suppose we can expect the elves’ assis-tance in this affair. While a dragon may traverse the leagues between Aberon and Ellesméra with the speed of a falcon, it would be impossible for the elves to marshal themselves and cross that same distance before the Empire reaches us. That leaves only the dwarves. I know that you have been friends with Hrothgar for many years; will you send him a plea for help on our behalf? The dwarves have always promised they would fight when the time came.” Nasuada nodded. “Du Vrangr Gata has an arrangement with certain dwarf magicians that allows us to transfer messages instantaneously. I will convey your— our—request. And I will ask Hrothgar to send an emissary to Ceris to inform the elves of the situation so that they are forewarned, if nothing else.” “Good. We are quite a ways from Farthen Dûr, but if we can delay the Empire for even a week, the dwarves might be able to get here in time.” The discussion that followed was an exceedingly grim one. Various tac-tics existed for defeating a larger—although not necessarily superior— force, but no one at the table could imagine how they might defeat Gal-batorix, especially when Eragon was still so powerless compared to the ancient king. The only ploy that might succeed would be to surround Er-agon with as many magicians, dwarf and human, as possible, and then at-tempt to force Galbatorix to confront them alone. The problem with that plan, thought Nasuada, is that Galbatorix overcame far more formidable enemies during his destruction Page 631 of the Riders, and his strength has only grown since. She was certain that this had occurred to everyone else as well. If we but had the elves’ spellweavers to swell our ranks, then victory might be within our reach. Without them... If we cannot overthrow Galba-torix, the only avenue left may be to flee Alagaësia across the sundering sea and find a new land in which to build a life for ourselves. There we could wait until Galbatorix is no more. Even he cannot endure forever. The only certainty is that, eventually, all things shall pass. They moved on then from tactics to logistics, and here the debate be-came far more acrimonious as the Council of Elders argued with Orrin’s advisers over the distribution of responsibilities between the Varden and Surda: who should pay for this or that, provide rations for laborers who worked for both groups, manage the provisions for their respective war-riors, and how numerous other related subjects should be dealt with. In the midst of the verbal fray, Orrin pulled a scroll from his belt and said to Nasuada, “On the matter of finances, would you be so kind as to explain a rather curious item that was brought to my attention?” “I’ll do my best, Sire.” “I hold in my hand a complaint from the weavers’ guild, which asserts that weavers throughout Surda have lost a good share of their profits be-cause the textile market has been inundated with extraordinarily cheap lace—lace they swear originates with the Varden.” A pained look crossed his face. “It seems foolish to even ask, but does their claim have basis in fact, and if so, why would the Varden do such a thing?” Nasuada made no attempt to hide her smile. “If you remember, Sire, when you refused to lend the Varden more gold, you advised me to find another way for us to support ourselves.” “So I did. What of it?” asked Orrin, narrowing his eyes. “Well, it struck me that while lace takes a long time to make by hand, which is why it’s so expensive, lace is quite easy to produce using magic due to the small amount of energy involved. You of all people, as a natu-ral philosopher, should appreciate that. By selling our lace here and in the Empire, we have been able to fully fund our efforts. The Varden no longer want for food or shelter.” Few things in her life pleased Nasuada so much as Orrin’s incredulous expression at that instant. The scroll frozen halfway between his chin and the table, his slightly parted mouth, and the quizzical frown upon his brow conspired to give him the stunned appearance of a man who had just seen something he did not understand. She savored the sight. “Lace?”he sputtered. “Yes, Sire.” “You can’t fight Galbatorix with lace !” “Why not, Sire?” He struggled for a moment, then growled, “Because... because it’s not respectable, that’s why. What bard would compose an epic about our deeds and write about lace ?” Page 632 “We do not fight in order to have epics written in our praise.” “Then blast epics! How am I supposed to answer the weavers’ guild? By selling your lace so cheaply, you hurt people’s livelihoods and undermine our economy. It won’t do. It won’t do at all.” Letting her smile become sweet and warm, Nasuada said in her friend-liest tone, “Oh dear. If it’s too much of a burden for your treasury, the Varden would be more than willing to offer you a loan in return for the kindness you’ve shown us... at a suitable rate of interest, of course.” The Council of Elders managed to maintain their decorum, but behind Nasuada, Elva uttered a quick laugh of amusement. RED BLADE, WHITE BLADE The moment the sun appeared over the tree-lined horizon, Eragon deepened his breathing, willed his heart to quicken, and opened his eyes as he returned to full awareness. He had not been asleep, for he had not slept since his transformation. When he felt weary and lay himself down to rest, he entered a state that was unto a waking dream. There he beheld many wondrous visions and walked among the gray shades of his memo-ries, yet all the while remained aware of his surroundings. He watched the sunrise and thoughts of Arya filled his mind, as they had every hour since the Agaetí Blödhren two days before. The morning after the celebration, he had gone looking for her in Tialdarí Hall— intending to try and make amends for his behavior—only to discover that she had already left for Surda. When will I see her again? he wondered. In the clear light of day, he had realized just how much the elves’ and drag-ons’ magic had dulled his wits during the Agaetí Blödhren. I may have acted a fool, but it wasn’t entirely my fault. I was no more responsible for my conduct than if I were drunk . Still, he had meant every word he said to Arya—even if normally he would not have revealed so much of himself. Her rejection cut Eragon to the quick. Freed of the enchantments that had clouded his mind, he was forced to admit that she was probably right, that the difference between their ages was too great to overcome. It was a difficult thing for him to accept, and once he had, the knowledge only increased his anguish. Eragon had heard the expression “heartbroken” before. Until then, he always considered it a fanciful description, not an actual physical symp-tom. But now he felt a deep ache in his chest—like that of a sore mus-cle—and each beat of his heart pained him. His only comfort was Saphira. In those two days, she had never criti-cized what he had done, nor did she leave his side for more than a few minutes at a time, lending him the support of her companionship. She talked to him a great deal as well, doing her best to draw him out of his shell of silence. To keep himself from brooding over Arya, Eragon took Orik’s puzzle ring from his nightstand and rolled it between his fingers, marveling at how keen his senses had become. He could feel every flaw in the twisted metal. As he studied the ring, he perceived a pattern in the arrangement of the gold bands, a pattern that had escaped him before. Trusting his instinct, he manipulated the bands in the sequence suggested by his obser-vation. To his delight, the eight pieces fit together perfectly, forming a solid whole. He slid the ring onto the fourth finger of his right hand, ad-miring how the woven bands caught the light. You could not do that before,observed Saphira from the bowl in the floor where she slept. Page 633 I can see many things that were once hidden to me. Eragon went to the wash closet and performed his morning ablutions, including removing the stubble from his cheeks with a spell. Despite the fact that he now closely resembled an elf, he had retained the ability to grow a beard. Orik was waiting for them when Eragon and Saphira arrived at the sparring field. His eyes brightened as Eragon lifted his hand and displayed the completed puzzle ring. “You solved it, then!” “It took me longer than I expected,” said Eragon, “but yes. Are you here to practice as well?” “Eh. I already got in a bit o’ ax work with an elf who took a rather fiendish delight in cracking me over the head. No... I came to watch you fight.” “You’ve seen me fight before,” pointed out Eragon. “Not for a while, I haven’t.” “You mean you’re curious to see how I’ve changed.” Orik shrugged in response. Vanir approached from across the field. He cried, “Are you ready, Shadeslayer?” The elf’s condescending demeanor had lessened since their last duel before the Agaetí Blödhren, but not by much. “I’m ready.” Eragon and Vanir squared off against each other in an open area of the field. Emptying his mind, Eragon grasped and drew Zar’roc as fast as he could. To his surprise, the sword felt as if it weighed no more than a wil-low wand. Without the expected resistance, Eragon’s arm snapped straight, tearing the sword from his hand and sending it whirling twenty yards to his right, where it buried itself in the trunk of a pine tree. “Can you not even hold on to your blade, Rider?” demanded Vanir. “I apologize, Vanir-vodhr,” gasped Eragon. He clutched his elbow, rub-bing the bruised joint to lessen the pain. “I misjudged my strength.” “See that it does not happen again.” Going to the tree, Vanir gripped Zar’roc’s hilt and tried to pull the sword free. The weapon remained mo-tionless. Vanir’s eyebrows met as he frowned at the unyielding crimson blade, as if he suspected some form of trickery. Bracing himself, the elf heaved backward and, with the crack of wood, yanked Zar’roc out of the pine. Eragon accepted the sword from Vanir and hefted Zar’roc, troubled by how light it was. Something’s wrong, he thought. “Take your place!” This time it was Vanir who initiated the fight. In a single bound, he crossed the distance between them and thrust his blade toward Eragon’s right shoulder. To Eragon, it seemed as if the elf moved slower than usual, as if Vanir’s reflexes had been reduced to the level of a human’s. It was easy for Eragon to deflect Vanir’s sword, blue sparks flying from the metal as their blades grated against one another. Page 634 Vanir landed with an astonished expression. He struck again, and Er-agon evaded the sword by leaning back, like a tree swaying in the wind. In quick succession, Vanir rained a score of heavy blows upon Eragon, each of which Eragon dodged or blocked, using Zar’roc’s sheath as often as the sword to foil Vanir’s onslaught. Eragon soon realized that the spectral dragon from the Agaetí Blödhren had done more than alter his appearance; it had also granted him the elves’ physical abilities. In strength and speed, Eragon now matched even the most athletic elf. Fired by that knowledge and a desire to test his limits, Eragon jumped as high as he could. Zar’roc flashed crimson in the sunlight as he flew skyward, soaring more than ten feet above the ground before he flipped like an acrobat and came down behind Vanir, facing the direction from which he had started. A fierce laugh erupted from Eragon. No more was he helpless before elves, Shades, and other creatures of magic. No more would he suffer the elves’ contempt. No more would he have to rely on Saphira or Arya to rescue him from enemies like Durza. He charged Vanir, and the field rang with a furious din as they strove against each other, raging back and forth upon the trampled grass. The force of their blows created gusts of wind that whipped their hair into tangled disarray. Overhead, the trees shook and dropped their needles. The duel lasted long into the morning, for even with Eragon’s newfound skill, Vanir was still a formidable opponent. But in the end, Eragon would not be denied. Playing Zar’roc in a circle, he darted past Vanir’s guard and struck him upon the upper arm, breaking the bone. Vanir dropped his blade, his face turning white with shock. “How swift is your sword,” he said, and Eragon recognized the famous line from The Lay of Umhodan. “By the gods!” exclaimed Orik. “That was the best swordsmanship I’ve ever seen, and I was there when you fought Arya in Farthen Dûr.” Then Vanir did what Eragon had never expected: the elf twisted his uninjured hand in the gesture of fealty, placed it upon his sternum, and bowed. “I beg your pardon for my earlier behavior, Eragon-elda. I thought that you had consigned my race to the void, and out of my fear I acted most shamefully. However, it seems that your race no longer endangers our cause.” In a grudging voice, he added: “You are now worthy of the ti-tle Rider.” Eragon bowed in return. “You honor me. I’m sorry that I injured you so badly. Will you allow me to heal your arm?” “No, I shall let nature tend to it at her own pace, as a memento that I once crossed blades with Eragon Shadeslayer. You needn’t fear that it will disrupt our sparring tomorrow; I am equally good with my left hand.” They both bowed again, and then Vanir departed. Orik slapped a hand on his thigh and said, “Now we have a chance at victory, a real chance! I can feel it in my bones. Bones like stone, they say. Ah, this’ll please Hrothgar and Nasuada to no end.” Eragon kept his peace and concentrated on removing the block from Zar’roc’s edges, but he said to Saphira, If brawn were all that was required to depose Galbatorix, the elves would have done it Page 635 long ago. Still, he could not help being pleased by his heightened prowess, as well as by his long-awaited reprieve from the torment of his back. Without the constant bursts of pain, it was as if a haze had been lifted from his mind, allowing him to think clearly once again. A few minutes remained before they were supposed to meet with Oromis and Glaedr, so Eragon took his bow and quiver from where they hung on Saphira’s back and walked to the range where elves practiced archery. Since the elves’ bows were much more powerful than his, their padded targets were both too small and too far away for him. He had to shoot from halfway down the range. Taking his place, Eragon nocked an arrow and slowly pulled back the string, delighted by how easy it had become. He aimed, released the ar-row, and held his position, waiting to see if he would hit his mark. Like a maddened hornet, the dart buzzed toward the target and buried itself in the center. He grinned. Again and again, he fired at the target, his speed increasing with his confidence until he loosed thirty arrows in a minute. At the thirty-first arrow, he pulled on the string slightly harder than he had ever done—or was capable of doing—before. With an explosive re-port, the yew bow broke in half underneath his left hand, scratching his fingers and discharging a burst of splinters from the back of the bow. His hand went numb from the jolt. Eragon stared at the remains of his weapon, dismayed by the loss. Gar-row had made it as a birthday present for him over three years ago. Since then, hardly a week went by when Eragon had not used his bow. It had helped him to provide food for his family on numerous occasions when they would have otherwise gone hungry. With it, he had killed his first deer. With it, he had killed his first Urgal. And through it, he had first used magic. Losing his bow was like losing an old friend who could be relied upon in even the worst situation. Saphira sniffed the two pieces of wood dangling from his grip and said, It seems you need a new stick thrower. He grunted—in no mood to talk— and stomped out to retrieve his arrows. From the open field, he and Saphira flew to the white Crags of Tel’naeír and presented themselves to Oromis, who was seated on a stool in front of his hut, gazing out over the cliff with his farseeing eyes. He said, “Have you entirely recovered, Eragon, from the potent magic of the Blood-oath Celebration?” “I have, Master.” A long silence followed as Oromis drank from a cup of blackberry tea and resumed contemplating the ancient forest. Eragon waited without complaint; he was used to such pauses when dealing with the old Rider. At length, Oromis said, “Glaedr explained to me, as best he could, what was done to you during the celebration. Such a thing has never before oc-curred in the history of the Riders.... Once again, the dragons have proved themselves capable of far more than we imagined.” He sipped his tea. “Glaedr was uncertain exactly what changes you would experience, so I would like you to describe the full extent of your transformation, includ-ing your appearance.” Eragon quickly summarized how he had been altered, detailing the in-creased sensitivity of his sight, smell, hearing, and touch, and ending with an account of his clash with Vanir. “And how,” asked Oromis, “do you feel about this? Do you resent that your body was manipulated without your permission?” “No, no! Not at all. I might have resented it before the battle of Farthen Dûr, but now I’m just grateful Page 636 that my back doesn’t hurt anymore. I would have willingly submitted myself to far greater changes in order to escape Durza’s curse. No, my only response is gratitude.” Oromis nodded. “I am glad that you are wise enough to take that posi-tion, for your gift is worth more than all the gold in the world. With it, I believe that our feet are at last set upon the correct path.” Again, he sipped his tea. “Let us proceed. Saphira, Glaedr expects you at the Stone of Broken Eggs. Eragon, you will begin today with the third level of Rimgar, if you can. I would know everything you are capable of.” Eragon started toward the square of tamped earth where they usually performed the Dance of Snake and Crane, then hesitated when the silver-haired elf remained behind. “Master, won’t you join me?” A sad smile graced Oromis’s face. “Not today, Eragon. The spells re-quired by the Blood-oath Celebration exacted a heavy toll from me. That and my... condition. It took the last of my strength to come sit outside.” “I am sorry, Master.” Does he resent that the dragons didn’t choose to heal him as well? wondered Eragon. He immediately discounted the thought; Oromis would never be so petty. “Do not be. It is no fault of yours that I am crippled.” As Eragon struggled to complete the third level of the Rimgar, it be-came obvious that he still lacked the elves’ balance and flexibility, two attributes that even the elves had to work to acquire. In a way, he wel-comed those limitations, for if he was perfect, what was left for him to accomplish? The following weeks were difficult for Eragon. On one hand, he made enormous progress with his training, mastering subject after subject that had once confounded him. He still found Oromis’s lessons challenging, but he no longer felt as if he were drowning in a sea of his own inade-quacy. It was easier for Eragon to read and write, and his increased strength meant that he could now cast elven spells that required so much energy, they would kill any normal human. His strength also made him aware of how weak Oromis was compared to other elves. And yet, despite those accomplishments, Eragon experienced a growing sense of discontent. No matter how hard he tried to forget Arya, every day that passed increased his yearning, an agony made worse by knowing that she did not want to see or talk with him. But more than that, it seemed to him as if an ominous storm was gathering beyond the edge of the horizon, a storm that threatened to break at any moment and sweep across the land, devastating everything in its path. Saphira shared his unease. She said, The world is stretched thin, Eragon. Soon it will snap and madness will burst forth. What you feel is what we dragons feel and what the elves feel—the inexorable march of grim fate as the end of our age approaches. Weep for those who will die in the chaos that shall consume Alagaësia. And hope that we may win a brighter future by the strength of your sword and shield and my fangs and talons. VISIONS NEAR AND FAR The day came when Eragon went to the glade beyond Oromis’s hut, seated himself on the polished white stump in the center of the mossy hollow, and—when he opened his mind to observe the creatures around him—sensed not just the birds, beasts, and insects but also the plants of the forest. Page 637 The plants possessed a different type of consciousness than animals: slow, deliberate, and decentralized, but in their own way just as cogni-zant of their surroundings as Eragon himself was. The faint pulse of the plants’ awareness bathed the galaxy of stars that wheeled behind his eyes—each bright spark representing a life—in a soft, omnipresent glow. Even the most barren soil teemed with organisms; the land itself was alive and sentient. Intelligent life, he concluded, existed everywhere. As Eragon immersed himself in the thoughts and feelings of the beings around him, he was able to attain a state of inner peace so profound that, during that time, he ceased to exist as an individual. He allowed himself to become a nonentity, a void, a receptacle for the voices of the world. Nothing escaped his attention, for his attention was focused on nothing. He was the forest and its inhabitants. Is that what a god feels like?wondered Eragon when he returned to himself. He left the glade, sought out Oromis in his hut, and knelt before the elf, saying, “Master, I have done as you told me to. I listened until I heard no more.” Oromis paused in his writing and, with a thoughtful expression, looked at Eragon. “Tell me.” For an hour and a half, Eragon waxed eloquent about every aspect of the plants and animals that populated the glade, until Oromis raised his hand and said, “I am convinced; you heard all there was to hear. But did you understand it all?” “No, Master.” “That is as it should be. Comprehension will come with age.... Well done, Eragon-finiarel. Well done indeed. If you were my student in Ilirea, before Galbatorix rose to power, you would have just graduated from your apprenticeship and would be considered a full member of our order and accorded the same rights and privileges as even the oldest Riders.” Oromis pushed himself up out of his chair and then remained standing in place, swaying. “Lend me your shoulder, Eragon, and help me outside. My limbs betray my will.” Hurrying to his master’s side, Eragon supported the elf’s slight weight as Oromis hobbled to the brook that rushed headlong toward the edge of the Crags of Tel’naeír. “Now that you have reached this stage in your education, I can teach you one of the greatest secrets of magic, a secret that even Galbatorix may not know. It is your best hope of matching his power.” The elf’s gaze sharpened. “What is the cost of magic, Eragon?” “Energy. A spell costs the same amount of energy as it would to com-plete the task through mundane means.” Oromis nodded. “And where does the energy come from?” “The spellcaster’s body.” “Does it have to?” Eragon’s mind raced as he considered the awesome implications of Oromis’s question. “You mean it Page 638 can come from other sources?” “That is exactly what happens whenever Saphira assists you with a spell.” “Yes, but she and I share a unique connection,” protested Eragon. “Our bond is the reason I can draw upon her strength. To do that with some-one else, I would have to enter...” He trailed off as he realized what Oromis was driving at. “You would have to enter the consciousness of the being—or beings— who was going to provide the energy,” said Oromis, completing Eragon’s thought. “Today you proved that you can do just that with even the smallest form of life. Now...” He stopped and pressed a hand against his chest as he coughed, then continued, “I want you to extract a sphere of water from the stream, using only the energy you can glean from the for-est around you.” “Yes, Master.” As Eragon reached out to the nearby plants and animals, he felt Oromis’s mind brush against his own, the elf watching and judging his progress. Frowning with concentration, Eragon endeavored to eke the needed force from the environment and hold it within himself until he was ready to release the magic.... “Eragon! Do not take it from me! I am weak enough as is.” Startled, Eragon realized that he had included Oromis in his search. “I’m sorry, Master,” he said, chastised. He resumed the process, careful to avoid draining the elf’s vitality, and when he was ready, commanded, “Up!” Silent as the night, a sphere of water a foot wide rose from the brook until it floated at eye level across from Eragon. And while Eragon experi-enced the usual strain that results from intense effort, the spell itself caused him no fatigue. The sphere was only in the air for a moment when a wave of death rolled through the smaller creatures Eragon was in contact with. A line of ants keeled over motionless. A baby mouse gasped and entered the void as it lost the strength to keep its heart beating. Countless plants withered and crumbled and became inert as dust. Eragon flinched, horrified by what he had caused. Given his new re-spect for the sanctity of life, he found the crime appalling. What made it worse was that he was intimately linked with each being as it ceased to exist; it was as if he himself were dying over and over. He severed the flow of magic—letting the sphere of water splash across the ground—and then whirled on Oromis and growled, “You knew that would happen!” An expression of profound sorrow engulfed the ancient Rider. “It was necessary,” he replied. “Necessary that so many had to die?” “Necessary that you understand the terrible price of using this type of magic. Mere words cannot convey the feeling of having those whose minds you share die. You had to experience it for yourself.” “I won’t do that again,” vowed Eragon. “Nor will you have to. If you are disciplined, you can choose to draw the power only from plants and Page 639 animals that can withstand the loss. It’s impractical in battle, but you may do so in your lessons.” Oromis gestured at him, and, still simmering, Eragon allowed the elf to lean on him as they returned to the hut. “You see why this technique was not taught to younger riders. If it were to become known to a spellweaver of evil dis-position, he or she could wreak vast amounts of destruction, especially since it would be difficult to stop anyone with access to so much power.” Once they were back inside, the elf sighed, lowered himself into his chair, and pressed the tips of his fingers together. Eragon sat as well. “Since it’s possible to absorb energy from”— he waved his hand—“from life, is it also possible to absorb it directly from light or fire or from any of the other forms of energy?” “Ah, Eragon, if it were, we could destroy Galbatorix in an instant. We can exchange energy with other living beings, we can use that energy to move our bodies or to fuel a spell, and we can even store that energy in certain objects for later use, but we cannot assimilate the fundamental forces of nature. Reason says that it can be done, but no one has managed to devise a spell that allows it.” Nine days later, Eragon presented himself to Oromis and said, “Master, it struck me last night that neither you nor the hundreds of elven scrolls I’ve read have mentioned your religion. What do elves believe?” A long sigh was Oromis’s first answer. Then: “We believe that the world behaves according to certain inviolable rules and that, by persistent effort, we can discover those rules and use them to predict events when circumstances repeat.” Eragon blinked. That did not tell him what he wanted to know. “But who, or what, do you worship?” “Nothing.” “You worship the concept of nothing?” “No, Eragon. We do not worship at all.” The thought was so alien, it took Eragon several moments to grasp what Oromis meant. The villagers of Carvahall lacked a single overriding doctrine, but they did share a collection of superstitions and rituals, most of which concerned warding off bad luck. During the course of his training, it had dawned upon Eragon that many of the phenomena that the villagers attributed to supernatural sources were in fact natural processes, such as when he learned in his meditations that maggots hatched from fly eggs instead of spontaneously arising from the dirt, as he had thought be-fore. Nor did it make sense for him to put out an offering of food to keep sprites from turning the milk sour when he knew that sour milk was ac-tually caused by a proliferation of tiny organisms in the liquid. Still, Er-agon remained convinced that otherworldly forces influenced the world in mysterious ways, a belief that his exposure to the dwarves’ religion had bolstered. He said, “Where do you think the world came from, then, if it wasn’t created by the gods?” “Which gods, Eragon?” “Your gods, the dwarf gods, our gods... someone must have created it.” Oromis raised an eyebrow. “I would not necessarily agree with you. But be as that may, I cannot prove that gods do not exist. Nor can I prove that the world and everything in it was not created by an entity or enti-ties in the distant past. But I can tell you that in the millennia we elves have studied nature, we have never witnessed an instance where the rules that govern the world have been broken. That is, we have Page 640 never seen a miracle. Many events have defied our ability to explain, but we are con-vinced that we failed because we are still woefully ignorant about the universe and not because a deity altered the workings of nature.” “A god wouldn’t have to alter nature to accomplish his will,” asserted Eragon. “He could do it within the system that already exists.... He could use magic to affect events.” Oromis smiled. “Very true. But ask yourself this, Eragon: If gods exist, have they been good custodians of Alagaësia? Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny, and countless other miseries stalk the land. If this is the handi-work of divine beings, then they are to be rebelled against and over-thrown, not given obeisance, obedience, and reverence.” “The dwarves believe—” “Exactly! The dwarves believe. When it comes to certain matters, they rely upon faith rather than reason. They have even been known to ignore proven facts that contradict their dogma.” “Like what?” demanded Eragon. “Dwarf priests use coral as proof that stone is alive and can grow, which also corroborates their story that Helzvog formed the race of dwarves out of granite. But we elves discovered that coral is actually an exoskeleton secreted by minuscule animals that live inside the coral. Any magician can sense the animals if he opens his mind. We explained this to the dwarves, but they refused to listen, saying that the life we felt resides in every kind of stone, although their priests are the only ones who are sup-posed to be able to detect the life in landlocked stones.” For a long time, Eragon stared out the window, turning Oromis’s words over in his mind. “You don’t believe in an afterlife, then.” “From what Glaedr said, you already knew that.” “And you don’t put stock in gods.” “We give credence only to that which we can prove exists. Since we cannot find evidence that gods, miracles, and other supernatural things are real, we do not trouble ourselves about them. If that were to change, if Helzvog were to reveal himself to us, then we would accept the new information and revise our position.” “It seems a cold world without something... more.” “On the contrary,” said Oromis, “it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of be-ing frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment. I won’t tell you what to believe, Eragon. It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else’s notions thrust upon you. You asked after our religion, and I have answered you true. Make of it what you will.” Their discussion—coupled with his previous worries—left Eragon so disturbed that he had difficulty concentrating on his studies in the fol-lowing days, even when Oromis began to show him how to sing to plants, which Eragon had been eager to learn. Page 641 Eragon recognized that his own experiences had already led him to adopt a more skeptical attitude; in principle, he agreed with much of what Oromis had said. The problem he struggled with, though, was that if the elves were right, it meant that nearly all the humans and dwarves were deluded, something Eragon found difficult to accept. That many people can’t be mistaken, he insisted to himself. When he asked Saphira about it, she said, It matters little to me, Eragon. Dragons have never believed in higher powers. Why should we when deer and other prey consider us to be a higher power?He laughed at that. Only do not ignore reality in order to comfort yourself, for once you do, you make it easy for others to deceive you. That night, Eragon’s uncertainties burst forth in his waking dreams, which raged like a wounded bear through his mind, tearing disparate im-ages from his memories and mixing them into such a clamor, he felt as if he were transported back into the confusion of the battle under Farthen Dûr. He saw Garrow lying dead in Horst’s house, then Brom dead in the lonely sandstone cave, and then the face of Angela the herbalist, who whis-pered, “Beware, Argetlam, betrayal is clear. And it will come from within your family. Beware, Shadeslayer!” Then the crimson sky was torn apart and Eragon again beheld the two armies from his premonition in the Beor Mountains. The banks of warriors collided upon an orange and yellow field, accompanied by the harsh screams of gore-crows and the whistle of black arrows. The earth itself seemed to burn: green flames belched from scorched holes that dotted the ground, charring the mangled corpses left in the armies’ wake. He heard the roar of a gigantic beast from above that rapidly app— Eragon jolted upright in bed and scrabbled at the dwarf necklace, which burned at his throat. Using his tunic to protect his hand, he pulled the silver hammer away from his skin and then sat and waited in the dark, his heart thudding from the surprise. He felt his strength ebb as Gannel’s spell thwarted whoever was trying to scry him and Saphira. Once again, he wondered if Galbatorix himself was behind the spell, or if it was one of the king’s pet magicians. Eragon frowned and released the hammer as the metal grew cold again. Something’s wrong. I know that much, and I’ve known it for a while, as has Saphira. Too uneasy to resume the trancelike state that had replaced sleep for him, he crept from their bedroom without waking Saphira and climbed the spiral staircase to the study. There he unshuttered a white lantern and read one of Analísia’s epics until sunrise in an attempt to calm himself. Just as Eragon put away the scroll, Blagden flew through the open por-tal in the eastern wall and, with a flutter of wings, landed on the corner of the carved writing desk. The white raven fixed his beady eyes on Er-agon and croaked, “Wyrda!” Eragon inclined his head. “And may the stars watch over you, Master Blagden.” The raven hopped closer. He cocked his head to the side and uttered a barking cough, as if he were clearing his throat, then recited in his hoarse voice: By beak and bone, Mine blackened stone Sees rooks and crooks And bloody brooks! Page 642 “What does that mean?” asked Eragon. Blagden shrugged and repeated the verse. When Eragon still pressed him for an explanation, the bird ruffled his feathers, appearing displeased, and cackled, “Son and father alike, both as blind as bats.” “Wait!” exclaimed Eragon, jolting upright. “Do you know my father? Who is he?” Blagden cackled again. This time he seemed to be laughing. While two may share two, And one of two is certainly one, One might be two. “A name, Blagden. Give me a name!” When the raven remained silent, Eragon reached out with his mind, intending to wrench the information from the bird’s memories. Blagden was too wily, however. He deflected Eragon’s probe with a flick of his thoughts. Shrieking “Wyrda!” he darted forward, plucked a bright glass stopper from an inkwell, and sped away with his trophy clutched in his beak. He dove out of sight before Eragon could cast a spell to bring him back. Eragon’s stomach knotted as he tried to decipher Blagden’s two riddles. The last thing he had expected was to hear his father mentioned in Ellesméra. Finally, he muttered, “That’s it.” I’ll find Blagden later and wring the truth out of him. But right now... I would have to be a half-wit to ignore these portents. He jumped to his feet and ran down the stairs, wak-ing Saphira with his mind and telling her what had transpired during the night. Retrieving his shaving mirror from the wash closet, Eragon sat be-tween Saphira’s two front paws so that she could look over his head and see what he saw. Arya won’t appreciate it if we intrude on her privacy,warned Saphira. I have to know if she’s safe. Saphira accepted that without argument. How will you find her? You said that after her imprisonment, she erected wards that—like your neck-lace—prevent anyone from scrying her. If I can scry the people she’s with, I might be able to figure out how Arya is.Concentrating on an image of Nasuada, Eragon passed his hand over the mirror and murmured the traditional phrase, “Dream stare.” The mirror shimmered and turned white, except for nine people clus-tered around an invisible table. Of them, Eragon was familiar with Nasuada and the Council of Elders. But he could not identify a strange girl hooded in black who lurked behind Nasuada. This puzzled him, for a magician could only scry things that he had already seen, and Eragon was certain he had never laid eyes upon the girl before. He forgot about her, though, as he noticed that the men, and even Nasuada, were armed for battle. Let us hear their words,suggested Saphira. The instant Eragon made the needed alteration to the spell, Nasuada’s voice emanated from the mirror: “... and confusion will destroy us. Our warriors can afford but one commander during this conflict. Page 643 Decide who it is to be, Orrin, and quickly too.” Eragon heard a disembodied sigh. “As you wish; the position is yours.” “But, sir, she is untried!” “Enough, Irwin,” ordered the king. “She has more experience in war than anyone in Surda. And the Varden are the only force to have de-feated one of Galbatorix’s armies. If Nasuada were a Surdan general— which would be peculiar indeed, I admit—you would not hesitate to nominate her for the post. I shall be happy to deal with questions of au-thority if they arise afterward, for they will mean I’m still on my feet and not lying in a grave. As it is, we are so outnumbered I fear we are doomed unless Hrothgar can reach us before the end of the week. Now, where is that blasted scroll on the supply train?... Ah, thank you, Arya. Three more days without—” After that the discussion turned to a shortage of bowstrings, which Er-agon could glean nothing useful from, so he ended the spell. The mirror cleared, and he found himself staring at his own face. She lives,he murmured. His relief was overshadowed, though, by the larger meaning of what they had heard. Saphira looked at him. We are needed. Aye. Why hasn’t Oromis told us about this? He must know of it. Maybe he wanted to avoid disrupting our training. Troubled, Eragon wondered what else of import was happening in Ala-gaësia that he was unaware of. Roran. With a pang of guilt, Eragon real-ized that it had been weeks since he last thought of his cousin, and even longer since he scryed him on the way to Ellesméra. At Eragon’s command, the mirror revealed two figures standing against a pure white background. It took Eragon a long moment to recognize the man on the right as Roran. He was garbed in travel-worn clothes, a ham-mer was stuck under his belt, a thick beard obscured his face, and he bore a haunted expression that bespoke desperation. To the left was Jeod. The men surged up and down, accompanied by the thunderous crash of waves, which masked anything they said. After a while, Roran turned and walked along what Eragon assumed was the deck of a ship, bringing dozens of other villagers into view. Where are they, and why is Jeod with them?demanded Eragon, bewil-dered. Diverting the magic, he scryed in quick succession Teirm—shocked to see that the city’s wharfs had been destroyed—Therinsford, Garrow’s old farm, and then Carvahall, whereupon Eragon uttered a wounded cry. The village was gone. Every building, including Horst’s magnificent house, had been burned to the ground. Carvahall no longer existed except as a sooty blot beside the Anora River. The sole remaining inhabitants were four gray wolves that loped through the wreckage. The mirror dropped from Eragon’s hand and shattered across the floor. He leaned against Saphira, tears burning in his eyes as he grieved anew for his lost home. Saphira hummed deep in her chest and brushed Page 644 his arm with the side of her jaw, enveloping him in a warm blanket of sympathy. Take comfort, little one. At least your friends are still alive. He shuddered and felt a hard core of determination coalesce in his belly. We have remained sequestered from the world for far too long. It’s high time we leave Ellesméra and confront our fate, whatever it may be. For now, Roran must fend for himself, but the Varden... the Varden we can help. Is it time to fight, Eragon?asked Saphira, an odd note of formality in her voice. He knew what she meant: Was it time to challenge the Empire head-on, time to kill and rampage to the limit of their considerable abilities, time to unleash every ounce of their rage until Galbatorix lay dead before them? Was it time to commit themselves to a campaign that could take decades to resolve? It is time. GIFTS Eragon packed his belongings in less than five minutes. He took the saddle Oromis had given them, strapped it onto Saphira, then slung his bags over her back and buckled them down. Saphira tossed her head, nostrils flared, and said, I will wait for you at the field. With a roar, she launched herself from the tree house, unfolding her blue wings in midair, and flew off, skimming the forest canopy. Quick as an elf, Eragon ran to Tialdarí Hall, where he found Orik sit-ting in his usual corner, playing a game of Runes. The dwarf greeted him with a hearty slap on the arm. “Eragon! What brings you here at this time of the morn? I thought you’d be off banging swords with Vanir.” “Saphira and I are leaving,” said Eragon. Orik stopped with his mouth open, then narrowed his eyes, going seri-ous. “You’ve had news?” “I’ll tell you about it later. Do you want to come?” “To Surda?” “Aye.” A wide smile broke across Orik’s hairy face. “You’d have to clap me in irons before I’d stay behind. I’ve done nothing in Ellesméra but grow fat and lazy. A bit of excitement will do me good. When do we leave?” “As soon as possible. Gather your things and meet us at the sparring grounds. Can you scrounge up a week’s worth of provisions for the two of us?” “A week’s? But that won’t—” “We’re flying on Saphira.” Page 645 The skin above Orik’s beard turned pale. “We dwarves don’t do well with heights, Eragon. We don’t do well at all. It’d be better if we could ride horses, like we did coming here.” Eragon shook his head. “That would take too long. Besides, it’s easy to ride Saphira. She’ll catch you if you fall.” Orik grunted, appearing both queasy and unconvinced. Leaving the hall, Eragon sped through the syl-van city until he rejoined Saphira, and then they flew to the Crags of Tel’naeír. Oromis was sitting upon Glaedr’s right forearm when they landed in the clearing. The dragon’s scales gilded the landscape with countless chips of golden light. Neither elf nor dragon stirred. Descending from Saphira’s back, Eragon bowed. “Master Glaedr. Master Oromis.” Glaedr said, You have taken it upon yourself to return to the Varden, have you not? We have,replied Saphira. Eragon’s sense of betrayal overcame his self-restraint. “Why did you hide the truth from us? Are you so determined to keep us here that you must resort to such underhand trickery? The Varden are about to be at-tacked and you didn’t even mention it!” Calm as ever, Oromis asked, “Do you wish to hear why?” Very much, Master,said Saphira before Eragon could respond. In pri-vate, she scolded him, growling, Be polite! “We withheld the tidings for two reasons. Chief among them was that we ourselves did not know until nine days past that the Varden were threatened, and the true size, location, and movements of the Empire’s troops remained concealed from us until three days after that, when Lord Däthedr pierced the spells Galbatorix used to deceive our scrying.” “That still doesn’t explain why you said nothing of this.” Eragon scowled. “Not only that, but once you discovered that the Varden were in danger, why didn’t Islanzadí rouse the elves to fight? Are we not al-lies?” “She has roused the elves, Eragon. The forest echoes with the ring of hammers, the tramp of armored boots, and the grief of those who are about to be parted. For the first time in a century, our race is set to emerge from Du Weldenvarden and challenge our greatest foe. The time has come for elves to once more walk openly in Alagaësia.” Gently, Oromis added, “You have been distracted of late, Eragon, and I under-stand why. Now you must look beyond yourself. The world demands your attention.” Shamefaced, all Eragon could say was, “I am sorry, Master.” He remem-bered Blagden’s words and allowed himself a bitter smile. “I’m as blind as a bat.” “Hardly, Eragon. You have done well, considering the enormous re-sponsibilities we have asked you to shoulder.” Oromis looked at him gravely. “We expect to receive a missive from Nasuada in the next few days, requesting assistance from Islanzadí and that you rejoin the Varden. I intended to inform you of the Varden’s predicament then, when you would still have enough time to reach Surda before swords are drawn. If I told you earlier, you would have been honor-bound to abandon your training and rush to the defense of your liegelord. That is why I and Islan-zadí held our tongues.” “My training won’t matter if the Varden are destroyed.” Page 646 “No. But you may be the only person who can prevent them from be-ing destroyed, for a chance exists—slim but terrible—that Galbatorix will be present at this battle. It is far too late for our warriors to assist the Varden, which means that if Galbatorix is indeed there, you shall con-front him alone, without the protection of our spellweavers. Under those circumstances, it seemed vital that your training continue for as long as possible.” In an instant, Eragon’s anger melted away and was replaced with a cold, hard, and brutally practical mind-set as he understood the necessity for Oromis’s silence. Personal feelings were irrelevant in a situation as dire as theirs. With a flat voice, he said, “You were right. My oath of fealty com-pels me to ensure the safety of Nasuada and the Varden. However, I’m not ready to confront Galbatorix. Not yet, at least.” “My suggestion,” said Oromis, “is that if Galbatorix reveals himself, do everything you can to distract him from the Varden until the battle is decided for good or for ill and avoid directly fighting him. Before you go, I ask but one thing: that you and Saphira vow that—once events per-mit—you will return here to complete your training, for you still have much to learn.” We shall return,pledged Saphira, binding herself in the ancient lan-guage. “We shall return,” repeated Eragon, and sealed their fate. Appearing satisfied, Oromis reached behind himself and produced an embroidered red pouch that he tugged open. “In anticipation of your de-parture, I gathered together three gifts for you, Eragon.” From the pouch, he withdrew a silver bottle. “First, some faelnirv I augmented with my own enchantments. This potion can sustain you when all else fails, and you may find its properties useful in other circumstances as well. Drink it sparingly, for I only had time to prepare a few mouthfuls.” He handed the bottle to Eragon, then removed a long black-and-blue sword belt from the pouch. The belt felt unusually thick and heavy to Eragon when he ran it through his hands. It was made of cloth threads woven together in an interlocking pattern that depicted a coiling Lianí Vine. At Oromis’s instruction, Eragon pulled at a tassel at the end of the belt and gasped as a strip in its center slid back to expose twelve dia-monds, each an inch across. Four diamonds were white, four were black, and the remainder were red, blue, yellow, and brown. They glittered cold and brilliant, like ice in the dawn, casting a rainbow of multicolored specks onto Eragon’s hands. “Master...” Eragon shook his head, at a loss for words for several breaths. “Is it safe to give this to me?” “Guard it well so that none are tempted to steal it. This is the belt of Beloth the Wise—who you read of in your history of the Year of Dark-ness—and is one of the great treasures of the Riders. These are the most perfect gems the Riders could find. Some we traded for with the dwarves. Others we won in battle or mined ourselves. The stones have no magic of their own, but you may use them as repositories for your power and draw upon that reserve when in need. This, in addition to the ruby set in Zar’roc’s pommel, will allow you to amass a store of energy so that you do not become unduly exhausted casting spells in battle, or even when confronting enemy magicians.” Last, Oromis brought out a thin scroll protected inside a wooden tube that was decorated with a bas-relief sculpture of the Menoa tree. Unfurl-ing the scroll, Eragon saw the poem he had recited at the Agaetí Blödhren. It was lettered in Oromis’s finest calligraphy and illustrated with the elf’s detailed ink paintings. Plants and animals twined together inside the outline of the first glyph of each quatrain, while delicate scrollwork traced the columns of words and framed the images. Page 647 “I thought,” said Oromis, “that you would appreciate a copy for your-self.” Eragon stood with twelve priceless diamonds in one hand and Oromis’s scroll in the other, and he knew that it was the scroll he deemed the most precious. Eragon bowed and, reduced to the simplest language by the depth of his gratitude, said, “Thank you, Master.” Then Oromis surprised Eragon by initiating the elves’ traditional greet-ing and thereby indicating his respect for Eragon: “May good fortune rule over you.” “May the stars watch over you.” “And may peace live in your heart,” finished the silver-haired elf. He repeated the exchange with Saphira. “Now go and fly as fast as the north wind, knowing that you—Saphira Brightscales and Eragon Shadeslayer— carry the blessing of Oromis, last scion of House Thrándurin, he who is both the Mourning Sage and the Cripple Who Is Whole.” And mine as well,added Glaedr. Extending his neck, he touched the tip of his nose to Saphira’s, his gold eyes glittering like swirling pools of em-bers. Remember to keep your heart safe, Saphira. She hummed in response. They parted with solemn farewells. Saphira soared over the tangled forest and Oromis and Glaedr dwindled behind them, lonely on the crags. Despite the hardships of his stay in Ellesméra, Eragon would miss being among the elves, for with them he had found the closest thing to a home since fleeing Palancar Valley. I leave here a changed man,he thought, and closed his eyes, clinging to Saphira. Before going to meet with Orik, they made one more stop: Tialdarí Hall. Saphira landed in the enclosed gardens, careful not to damage any of the plants with her tail or claws. Without waiting for her to crouch, Er-agon leaped straight to the ground, a drop that would have injured him before. A male elf came out, touched his lips with his first two fingers, and asked if he could help them. When Eragon replied that he sought an au-dience with Islanzadí, the elf said, “Please wait here, Silver Hand.” Not five minutes later, the queen herself emerged from the wooded depths of Tialdarí Hall, her crimson tunic like a drop of blood among the white-robed elf lords and ladies who accompanied her. After the appro-priate forms of address were observed, she said, “Oromis informed me of your intention to leave us. I am displeased by this, but one cannot resist the will of fate.” “No, Your Majesty.... Your Majesty, we came to pay our respects be-fore departing. You have been most considerate of us, and we thank you and your House for clothing, lodging, and feeding us. We are in your debt.” “Never in our debt, Rider. We but repaid a little of what we owe you and the dragons for our miserable failure in the Fall. I am gratified, though, that you appreciate our hospitality.” She paused. “When you ar-rive in Surda, convey my royal salutations to Lady Nasuada and King Orrin and inform them that our warriors will soon attack the northern half of the Empire. If fortune smiles upon us, we shall catch Galbatorix off guard and, given time, divide his forces.” “As you wish.” Page 648 “Also, know that I have dispatched twelve of our finest spellweavers to Surda. If you are still alive when they arrive, they will place themselves under your command and do their best to shield you from danger both night and day.” “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Islanzadí extended a hand and one of the elf lords handed her a shallow, unadorned wooden box. “Oromis had his gifts for you, and I have mine. Let them remind you of your time spent with us under the dusky pines.” She opened the box, revealing a long, dark bow with reflexed limbs and curled tips nestled on a bed of velvet. Silver fittings chased with dogwood leaves decorated the ears and grip of the bow. Beside it lay a quiver of new arrows fletched with white swan feathers. “Now that you share our strength, it seems only proper that you should have one of our bows. I sang it myself from a yew tree. The string will never break. And so long as you use these arrows, you will be hard-pressed to miss your target, even if the wind should gust during your shot.” Once again, Eragon was overwhelmed by the elves’ generosity. He bowed. “What can I say, my Lady? You honor me that you saw fit to give me the labor of your own hands.” Islanzadí nodded, as if agreeing with him, then stepped past him and said, “Saphira, I brought you no gifts because I could think of nothing you might need or want, but if there is aught of ours you desire, name it and it shall be yours.” Dragons,said Saphira, do not require possessions to be happy. What use have we for riches when our hides are more glorious than any treasure hoard in existence? No, I am content with the kindness that you have shown Er-agon. Then Islanzadí bade them a safe journey. Sweeping around, her red cape billowing from her shoulders, she made to leave the gardens, only to stop at the edge of the pleasance and say, “And, Eragon?” “Yes, Your Majesty?” “When you meet with Arya, please express my affection to her and tell her that she is sorely missed in Ellesméra.” The words were stiff and for-mal. Without waiting for a reply, she strode away and disappeared among the shadowed boles that guarded the interior of Tialdarí Hall, followed by the elf lords and ladies. It took Saphira less than a minute to fly to the sparring field, where Orik sat on his bulging pack, tossing his war ax from one hand to the other and scowling ferociously. “About time you got here,” he grumbled. He stood and slipped the ax back under his belt. Eragon apologized for the delay, then tied Orik’s pack onto the back of his saddle. The dwarf eyed Saphira’s shoulder, which loomed high above him. “And how, by Morgothal’s black beard, am I supposed to get up there? A cliff has more handholds than you, Saphira.” Here,she said. She lay flat on her belly and pushed her right hind leg out as far as she could, forming a knobby ramp. Pulling himself onto her shin with a loud huff, Orik crawled up her leg on hands and knees. A small jet of flame burst from Saphira’s nostrils as she snorted. Hurry up— that tickles! Orik paused on the ledge of her haunches, then placed one foot on ei-ther side of Saphira’s spine and carefully walked his way up her back to-ward the saddle. He tapped one of the ivory spikes between his legs and said, “There be as good a way to lose your manhood as ever I’ve seen.” Page 649 Eragon grinned. “Don’t slip.” When Orik lowered himself onto the front of the saddle, Eragon mounted Saphira and sat behind the dwarf. To hold Orik in place when Saphira turned or inverted, Eragon loosened the thongs that were meant to secure his arms and had Orik put his legs through them. As Saphira rose to her full height, Orik swayed, then clutched the spike in front of him. “Garr! Eragon, don’t let me open my eyes until we’re in the air, else I fear I’ll be sick. This is unnatural, it is. Dwarves aren’t meant to ride dragons. It’s never been done before.” “Never?” Orik shook his head without answering. Clusters of elves drifted out of Du Weldenvarden, gathered along the edge of the field, and with solemn expressions watched Saphira lift her translucent wings in preparation to take off. Eragon tightened his grip as he felt her mighty thews bunch underneath his legs. With a rush of acceleration, Saphira launched herself into the az-ure sky, flapping swift and hard to rise above the giant trees. She wheeled over the vast forest—spiraling upward as she gained altitude—and then aimed herself south, toward the Hadarac Desert. Though the wind was loud in Eragon’s ears, he heard an elf woman in Ellesméra raise her clear voice in song, as he had when they first arrived. She sang: Away, away, you shall fly away, O’er the peaks and vales To the lands beyond. Away, away, you shall fly away, And never return to me.... THE MAW OF THE OCEAN The obsidian seas heaved underneath the Dragon Wing, propelling the ship high in the air. There it teetered on the precipitous crest of a foam-capped swell before pitching forward and racing down the face of the wave into the black trough below. Billows of stinging mist drove through the frigid air as the wind groaned and howled like a monstrous spirit. Roran clung to the starboard rigging at the waist of the ship and retched over the gunwale; nothing came up but sour bile. He had prided himself that his stomach never bothered him while on Clovis’s barges, but the storm they raced before was so violent that even Uthar’s men— seasoned tars each and every one—had difficulty keeping their whisky down. It felt like a boulder of ice clouted Roran between the shoulder blades as a wave struck the ship crossways, drenching the deck before draining through the scuppers and pouring back into the frothing, furrowed, furi-ous ocean from whence it came. Roran wiped the salty water from his eyes with fingers as Page 650 clumsy as frozen lumps of wood, and squinted to-ward the inky horizon to the aft. Maybe this will shake them off our scent.Three black-sailed sloops had pursued them ever since they passed the Iron Cliffs and rounded what Jeod dubbed Edur Carthungavë and Uthar identified as Rathbar’s Spur. “The tailbone of the Spine, that’s what it be,” Uthar said, grinning. The sloops were faster than the Dragon Wing, weighed down with villagers as it was, and had quickly gained upon the merchant ship until they were close enough to exchange volleys of arrows. Worst of all, it seemed that the lead sloop carried a magician, for its arrows were uncannily accurate, splitting ropes, destroying ballistae, and clogging the blocks. From their attacks, Roran deduced that the Empire no longer cared about capturing him and only wanted to stop him from finding sanctuary with the Varden. He had just been preparing the villagers to repel boarding parties when the clouds above ripened to a bruised purple, heavy with rain, and a ravening tempest blew in from the northwest. At the present, Uthar had the Dragon Wing tacked crossways to the wind, heading toward the Southern Isles, where he hoped to elude the sloops among the shoals and coves of Beirland. A sheet of horizontal lightning flickered between two bulbous thun-derheads, and the world became a tableau of pale marble before darkness reigned once more. Every blinding flash imprinted a motionless scene upon Roran’s eyes that lingered, pulsing, long after the brazen bolts van-ished. Then came another round of forked lightning, and Roran saw—as if in a series of monochrome paintings—the mizzen topmast twist, crack, and topple into the thrashing sea, port amidships. Grabbing a lifeline, Roran pulled himself to the quarterdeck and, in unison with Bonden, hacked through the cables that still connected the topmast to the Dragon Wing and dragged the stern low in the water. The ropes writhed like snakes as they were cut. Afterward, Roran sank to the deck, his right arm hooked through the gunwale to hold himself in place as the ship dropped twenty... thirty... feet between waves. A swell washed over him, leaching the warmth from his bones. Shivers racked his body. Don’t let me die here,he pleaded, though whom he addressed, he knew not. Not in these cruel waves. My task is yet unfinished. During that long night, he clung to his memories of Katrina, drawing solace from them when he grew weary and hope threatened to desert him. The storm lasted two full days and broke during the wee hours of the night. The following morning brought with it a pale green dawn, clear skies, and three black sails riding the northern horizon. To the southwest, the hazy outline of Beirland lay underneath a shelf of clouds gathered about the ridged mountain that dominated the island. Roran, Jeod, and Uthar met in a small fore cabin—since the captain’s stateroom was given over to the infirm—where Uthar unrolled sea charts on the table and tapped a point above Beirland. “This’d be where we are now,” he said. He reached for a larger map of Alagaësia’s coastline and tapped the mouth of the Jiet River. “An’ this’d be our destination, since food won’t last us to Reavstone. How we get there, though, without be-ing overtaken is beyond me. Without our mizzen topgallant, those ac-cursed sloops will catch us by noon tomorrow, evening if we manage the sails well.” “Can we replace the mast?” asked Jeod. “Vessels of this size carry spars to make just such repairs.” Uthar shrugged. “We could, provided we had a proper ship’s carpenter among us. Seeing as we don’t, I’d rather not let inexperienced hands mount a spar, only to have it crash down on deck and perhaps injure somebody.” Page 651 Roran said, “If it weren’t for the magician or magicians, I’d say we should stand and fight, since we far outnumber the crews of the sloops. As it is, I’m chary of battle. It seems unlikely that we could prevail, con-sidering how many ships sent to help the Varden have disappeared.” Grunting, Uthar drew a circle around their current position. “This’d be how far we can sail by tomorrow evening, assuming the wind stays with us. We could make landfall somewhere on Beirland or Nía if we wanted, but I can’t see how that’d help us. We’d be trapped. The soldiers on those sloops or the Ra’zac or Galbatorix himself could hunt us at his leisure.” Roran scowled as he considered their options; a fight with the sloops appeared inevitable. For several minutes, the cabin was silent except for the slap of waves against the hull. Then Jeod placed his finger on the map between Beir-land and Nía, looked at Uthar, and asked, “What about the Boar’s Eye?” To Roran’s amazement, the scarred sailor actually blanched. “I’d not risk that, Master Jeod, not on my life. I’d rather face the sloops an’ die in the open sea than go to that doomed place. There has consumed twice as many ships as in Galbatorix’s fleet.” “I seem to recall reading,” said Jeod, leaning back in his chair, “that the passage is perfectly safe at high tide and low tide. Is that not so?” With great and evident reluctance, Uthar admitted, “Aye. But the Eye is so wide, it requires the most precise timing to cross without being de-stroyed. We’d be hard-pressed to accomplish that with the sloops near on our tail.” “If we could, though,” pressed Jeod, “if we could time it right, the sloops would be wrecked or—if their nerve failed them—forced to cir-cumvent Nía. It would give us time to find a place to hide along Beir-land.” “If, if... You’d send us to the crushing deep, you would.” “Come now, Uthar, your fear is unreasoning. What I propose is danger-ous, I admit, but no more than fleeing Teirm was. Or do you doubt your ability to sail the gap? Are you not man enough to do it?” Uthar crossed his bare arms. “You’ve never seen the Eye, have you, sir?” “I can’t say I have.” “It’s not that I’m not man enough, but that the Eye far exceeds the strength of men; it puts to shame our biggest ships, our grandest build-ings, an’ anything else you’d care to name. Tempting it would be like try-ing to outrun an avalanche; you might succeed, but then you just as well might be ground into dust.” “What,” asked Roran, “is this Boar’s Eye?” “The all-devouring maw of the ocean,” proclaimed Uthar. In a milder tone, Jeod said, “It’s a whirlpool, Roran. The Eye forms as the result of tidal currents that collide between Beirland and Nía. When the tide waxes, the Eye rotates north to west. When the tide wanes, it rotates north to east.” Page 652 “That doesn’t sound so dangerous.” Uthar shook his head, queue whipping the sides of his wind-burned neck, and laughed. “Not so dangerous, he says! Ha!” “What you fail to comprehend,” continued Jeod, “is the size of the vor-tex. On average, the center of the Eye is a league in diameter, while the arms of the pool can be anywhere from ten to fifteen miles across. Ships unlucky enough to be snared by the Eye are borne down to the floor of the ocean and dashed against the jagged rocks therein. Remnants of the vessels are often found as flotsam on the beaches of the two islands.” “Would anyone expect us to take this route?” Roran queried. “No, an’ for good reason,” growled Uthar. Jeod shook his head at the same time. “Is it even possible for us to cross the Eye?” “It’d be a blasted fool thing to do.” Roran nodded. “I know it’s not something you want to risk, Uthar, but our options are limited. I’m no seaman, so I must rely upon your judg-ment: Can we cross the Eye?” The captain hesitated. “Maybe, maybe not. You’d have t’ be stark raving mad to go nearer’n five miles of that monster.” Pulling out his hammer, Roran banged it on the table, leaving a dent a half-inch deep. “Then I’m stark raving mad!” He held Uthar’s gaze until the sailor shifted with discomfort. “Must I remind you, we’ve only gotten this far by doing what quibbling worrywarts said couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be done? We of Carvahall dared to abandon our homes and cross the Spine. Jeod dared to imagine we could steal the Dragon Wing. What will you dare, Uthar? If we can brave the Eye and live to tell the tale, you shall be hailed as one of the greatest mariners in history. Now answer me and answer me well and true: Can this be done?” Uthar drew a hand over his face. When he spoke, it was in a low voice, as if Roran’s outburst had caused him to abandon all bluster. “I don’t know, Stronghammer.... If we wait for the Eye to subside, the sloops may be so close to us that if we escape, they’d escape. An’ if the wind should falter, we’d be caught in the current, unable to break free.” “As captain, are you willing to attempt it? Neither Jeod nor I can command the Dragon Wing in your place.” Long did Uthar stare down at the charts, one hand clasped over the other. He drew a line or two from their position and worked a table of figures that Roran could make nothing of. At last he said, “I fear we sail to our doom, but aye, I’ll do my best to see us through.” Satisfied, Roran put away his hammer. “So be it.” RUNNING THE BOAR’S EYE Page 653 The sloops continued to draw closer to the Dragon Wing over the course of the day. Roran watched their progress whenever he could, con-cerned that they would get near enough to attack before the Dragon Wing reached the Eye. Still, Uthar seemed able to outrun them, at least for a little while longer. At Uthar’s orders, Roran and the other villagers worked to tidy up the ship after the storm and prepare for the ordeal that was to come. Their work ended at nightfall, when they extinguished every light on board in an attempt to confuse their pursuers as to the Dragon Wing ’s heading. The ruse succeeded in part, for when the sun rose, Roran saw that the sloops had fallen back to the northwest another mile or so, though they soon made up the lost distance. Late that morning, Roran climbed the mainmast and pulled himself up into the crow’s nest a hundred and thirty feet above the deck, so high that the men below appeared no larger than his little finger. The water and sky seemed to rock perilously about him as the Dragon Wing heeled from side to side. Taking out the spyglass he had brought with him, Roran put it to his eye and adjusted it until the sloops came into focus not four miles astern and approaching faster than he would have liked. They must have realized what we intend to do, he thought. Sweeping the glass around, he searched the ocean for any sign of the Boar’s Eye. He stopped as he descried a great disk of foam the size of an island, gyrating from north to east. We’re late, he thought, a pit in his stomach. High tide had already passed and the Boar’s Eye was gathering in speed and strength as the ocean withdrew from land. Roran trained the glass over the edge of the crow’s nest and saw that the knotted rope Uthar had tied to the starboard side of the stern—to detect when they entered the pull of the whirlpool—now floated alongside the Dragon Wing instead of trailing behind as was usual. The one thing in their favor was that they were sailing with the Eye’s current and not against it. If it had been the other way around, they would have had no choice but to wait until the tide turned. Below, Roran heard Uthar shout for the villagers to man the oars. A moment later, the Dragon Wing sprouted two rows of poles along each side, making the ship look like nothing more than a giant water strider. At the beat of an ox-hide drum, accompanied by Bonden’s rhythmic chant as he set the tempo, the oars arched forward, dipped into the sea of green, and swept back across the surface of the water, leaving white streaks of bubbles in their wake. The Dragon Wing accelerated quickly, now moving faster than the sloops, which were still outside the Eye’s in-fluence. Roran watched with horrified fascination the play that unfolded around him. The essential plot element, the crux upon which the outcome de-pended, was time. Though they were late, was the Dragon Wing, with its oars and sails combined, fast enough to traverse the Eye? And could the sloops—which had deployed their own oars now—narrow the gap be-tween them and the Dragon Wing enough to ensure their own survival? He could not tell. The pounding drum measured out the minutes; Roran was acutely aware of each moment as it trickled by. He was surprised when an arm reached over the edge of the basket and Baldor’s face appeared, looking up at him. “Give me a hand, won’t you? I feel like I’m about to fall.” Bracing himself, Roran helped Baldor into the basket. Baldor handed Roran a biscuit and a dried apple and said, “Thought you might like some lunch.” With a nod of thanks, Roran tore into the biscuit and resumed gazing through the spyglass. When Baldor asked, “Can you see the Eye?” Roran passed him the glass and concentrated on eating. Over the next half hour, the foam disk increased the speed of its revo-lutions until it spun like a top. The water around the foam bulged and began to rise, while the foam itself sank from view into the bottom of a gigantic pit that continued to deepen and enlarge. The air over the vortex filled with a cyclone of twisting Page 654 mist, and from the ebony throat of the abyss came a tortured howl like the cries of an injured wolf. The speed with which the Boar’s Eye formed amazed Roran. “You’d better go tell Uthar,” he said. Baldor climbed out of the nest. “Tie yourself to the mast or you may get thrown off.” “I will.” Roran left his arms free when he secured himself, making sure that, if needed, he could reach his belt knife to cut himself free. Anxiety filled him as he surveyed the situation. The Dragon Wing was but a mile past the median of the Eye, the sloops were but two miles behind her, and the Eye itself was quickly building toward its full fury. Worse, disrupted by the whirlpool, the wind sputtered and gasped, blowing first from one di-rection and then the other. The sails billowed for a moment, then fell slack, then filled again as the confused wind swirled about the ship. Perhaps Uthar was right,thought Roran. Perhaps I’ve gone too far and pitted myself against an opponent that cannot be overcome by sheer deter-mination. Perhaps I am sending the villagers to their deaths. The forces of nature were immune to intimidation. The gaping center of the Boar’s Eye was now almost nine and a half miles in circumference, and how many fathoms deep no one could say, except for those who had been trapped within it. The sides of the Eye slanted inward at a forty-five-degree angle; they were striated with shal-low grooves, like wet clay being molded on a potter’s wheel. The bass howl grew louder, until it seemed to Roran that the entire world must crumble to pieces from the intensity of the vibrations. A glorious rain-bow emerged from the mist over the whirling chasm. The current moved faster than ever, driving the Dragon Wing at a breakneck pace as it whipped around the rim of the whirlpool and mak-ing it more and more unlikely that the ship could break free at the Eye’s southern edge. So prodigious was her velocity, the Dragon Wing tilted far to the starboard, suspending Roran out over the rushing water. Despite the Dragon Wing ’s progress, the sloops continued to gain on her. The enemy ships sailed abreast less than a mile away, their oars mov-ing in perfect accord, two fins of water flying from each prow as they plowed the ocean. Roran could not help but admire the sight. He tucked the spyglass away in his shirt; he had no need of it now. The sloops were close enough for the naked eye, while the whirlpool was in-creasingly obscured by the clouds of white vapor thrown off the lip of the funnel. As it was pulled into the deep, the vapor formed a spiral lens over the gulf, mimicking the whirlpool’s appearance. Then the Dragon Wing tacked port, diverging from the current in Uthar’s bid for the open sea. The keel chattered across the puckered wa-ter, and the ship’s speed dropped in half as the Dragon Wing fought the deadly embrace of the Boar’s Eye. A shudder ran up the mast, jarring Ro-ran’s teeth, and the crow’s nest swung in the new direction, making him giddy with vertigo. Fear gripped Roran when they continued to slow. He slashed off his bindings and—with reckless disregard for his own safety—swung himself over the edge of the basket, grabbed the ropes underneath, and shinnied down the rigging so quickly that he lost his grip once and fell several feet before he could catch himself. He jumped to the deck, ran to the fore hatchway, and descended to the first bank of oars, where he joined Bal-dor and Albriech on an oak pole. Page 655 They said not a word, but labored to the sound of their own desperate breathing, the frenzied beat of the drum, Bonden’s hoarse shouts, and the roar of the Boar’s Eye. Roran could feel the mighty whirlpool resisting with every stroke of the oar. And yet their efforts could not keep the Dragon Wing from coming to a virtual standstill. We’re not going to make it, thought Roran. His back and legs burned from the exertion. His lungs stabbed. Between the drumbeats, he heard Uthar ordering the hands above deck to trim the sails to take full advantage of the fickle wind. Two places ahead of Roran, Darmmen and Hamund surrendered their oar to Thane and Ridley, then lay in the middle of the aisle, their limbs trembling. Less than a minute later, someone else collapsed farther down the gallery and was immediately replaced by Birgit and another woman. If we survive,thought Roran, it’ll only be because we have enough people to sustain this pace however long is necessary. It seemed an eternity that he worked the oar in the murky, smoky room, first pushing, then pulling, doing his best to ignore the pain mount-ing within his body. His neck ached from hunching underneath the low ceiling. The dark wood of the pole was streaked with blood where his skin had blistered and torn. He ripped off his shirt—dropping the spy-glass to the floor—wrapped the cloth around the oar, and continued row-ing. At last Roran could do no more. His legs gave way and he fell on his side, slipping across the aisle because he was so sweaty. Orval took his place. Roran lay still until his breath returned, then pushed himself onto his hands and knees and crawled to the hatchway. Like a fever-mad drunk, he pulled himself up the ladder, swaying with the motion of the ship and often slumping against the wall to rest. When he came out on deck, he took a brief moment to appreciate the fresh air, then staggered aft to the helm, his legs threatening to cramp with every step. “How goes it?” he gasped to Uthar, who manned the wheel. Uthar shook his head. Peering over the gunwale, Roran espied the three sloops perhaps a half mile away and slightly more to the west, closer to the center of the Eye. The sloops appeared motionless in relation to the Dragon Wing. At first, as Roran watched, the positions of the four ships remained un-changed. Then he sensed a shift in the Dragon Wing ’s speed, as if the ship had crossed some crucial point and the forces restraining her had diminished. It was a subtle difference and amounted to little more than a few additional feet per minute—but it was enough that the distance be-tween the Dragon Wing and the sloops began to increase. With every stroke of the oars, the Dragon Wing gained momentum. The sloops, however, could not overcome the whirlpool’s dreadful strength. Their oars gradually slowed until, one by one, the ships drifted backward and were drawn toward the veil of mist, beyond which waited the gyrating walls of ebony water and the gnashing rocks at the bottom of the ocean floor. They can’t keep rowing,realized Roran. Their crews are too small and they’re too tired. He could not help but feel a pang of sympathy for the fate of the men on the sloops. Page 656 At that precise instant, an arrow sprang from the nearest sloop and burst into green flame as it raced toward the Dragon Wing. The dart must have been sustained by magic to have flown so far. It struck the mizzen sail and exploded into globules of liquid fire that stuck to what-ever they touched. Within seconds, twenty small fires burned along the mizzenmast, the mizzen sail, and the deck below. “We can’t put it out,” shouted one of the sailors with a panicked ex-pression. “Chop off whatever’s burning an’ throw it overboard!” roared Uthar in reply. Unsheathing his belt knife, Roran set to work excising a dollop of green fire from the boards by his feet. Several tense minutes elapsed before the unnatural blazes were removed and it became clear that the conflagra-tions would not spread to the rest of the ship. Once the cry of “All clear!” was sounded, Uthar relaxed his grip on the steering wheel. “If that was the best their magician can do, then I’d say we have nothing more to fear of him.” “We’re going to get out of the Eye, aren’t we?” asked Roran, eager to confirm his hope. Uthar squared his shoulders and flashed a quick grin, both proud and disbelieving. “Not quite this cycle, but we’ll be close. We won’t make real progress away from that gaping monster until the tide slacks off. Go tell Bonden to lower the tempo a bit; I don’t want them fainting at the oars if’n I can help it.” And so it was. Roran took another shift rowing and, by the time he re-turned to the deck, the whirlpool was subsiding. The vortex’s ghastly howl faded into the usual noise of the wind; the water assumed a calm, flat quality that betrayed no hint of the habitual violence visited upon that location; and the contorted fog that had writhed above the abyss melted under the warm rays of the sun, leaving the air as clear as oiled glass. Of the Boar’s Eye itself—as Roran saw when he retrieved the spy-glass from among the rowers—nothing remained but the selfsame disk of yellow foam rotating upon the water. And in the center of the foam, he thought he could discern, just barely, three broken masts and a black sail floating round and round and round in an endless circle. But it might have been his imagination. Leastways, that’s what he told himself. Elain came up beside him, one hand resting on her swollen belly. In a small voice, she said, “We were lucky, Roran, more lucky than we had reason to expect.” “Aye,” he agreed. TO ABERON Underneath Saphira, the pathless forest stretched wide to each white horizon, fading as it did from the deepest green to a hazy, washed-out purple. Martins, rooks, and other woodland birds flitted above the gnarled pines, uttering shrieks of alarm when they beheld Saphira. She flew low to the canopy in order to protect her two passengers from the arctic temperatures in the upper reaches of the sky. Except for when Saphira fled the Ra’zac into the Spine, this was the first time she and Eragon had had the opportunity to fly together over a great stretch of distance without having to stop or hold back for compan-ions on the ground. Saphira was especially pleased with the trip, and she delighted in showing Page 657 Eragon how Glaedr’s tutelage had enhanced her strength and endurance. After his initial discomfort abated, Orik said to Eragon, “I doubt I could ever be comfortable in the air, but I can understand why you and Saphira enjoy it so. Flying makes you feel free and unfettered, like a fierce-eyed hawk hunting his prey! It sets my heart a-pounding, it does.” To reduce the tedium of the journey, Orik played a game of riddles with Saphira. Eragon excused himself from the contest as he had never been particularly adept at riddles; the twist of thought necessary to solve them always seemed to escape him. In this, Saphira far exceeded him. As most dragons are, she was fascinated by puzzles and found them quite easy to unravel. Orik said, “The only riddles I know are in Dwarvish. I will do mine best to translate them, but the results may be rough and unwieldy.” Then he asked: Tall I am young. Short I am old. While with life I do glow, Urûr’s breath is my foe. Not fair,growled Saphira. I know little of your gods. Eragon had no need to repeat her words, for Orik had granted permission for her to project them directly into his mind. Orik laughed. “Do you give up?” Never.For a few minutes, the only sound was the sweep of her wings, until she asked, Is it a candle? “Right you are.” A puff of hot smoke floated back into Orik’s and Eragon’s faces as she snorted. I do poorly with such riddles. I’ve not been inside a house since the day I hatched, and I find enigmas difficult that deal with domestic subjects. Next she offered: What herb cures all ailments? This proved a terrible poser for Orik. He grumbled and groaned and gnashed his teeth in frustration. Behind him, Eragon could not help but grin, for he saw the answer plain in Saphira’s mind. Finally, Orik said, “Well, what is it? You have bested me with this.” By the black raven’s crime, and by this rhyme, the answer would be thyme. Now it was Orik’s turn to cry, “Not fair! This is not mine native tongue. You cannot expect me to grasp such wordplay!” Fair is fair. It was a proper riddle. Page 658 Eragon watched the muscles at the back of Orik’s neck bunch and knot as the dwarf jutted his head forward. “If that is your stance, O Irontooth, then I’d have you solve this riddle that every dwarf child knows.” I am named Morgothal’s Forge and Helzvog’s Womb. I veil Nordvig’s Daughter and bring gray death, And make the world anew with Helzvog’s Blood. What be I? And so they went, exchanging riddles of increasing difficulty while Du Weldenvarden sped past below. Gaps in the thatched branches often re-vealed patches of silver, sections of the many rivers that threaded the for-est. Around Saphira, the clouds billowed in a fantastic architecture: vault-ing arches, domes, and columns; crenelated ramparts; towers the size of mountains; and ridges and valleys suffused with a glowing light that made Eragon feel as if they flew through a dream. So fast was Saphira that, when dusk arrived, they had already left Du Weldenvarden behind and entered the auburn fields that separated the great forest from the Hadarac Desert. They made their camp among the grass and hunkered round their small fire, utterly alone upon the flat face of the earth. They were grim-faced and said little, for words only empha-sized their insignificance in that bare and empty land. Eragon took advantage of their stop to store some of his energy in the ruby that adorned Zar’roc’s pommel. The gem absorbed all the power he gave it, as well as Saphira’s when she lent her strength. It would, con-cluded Eragon, be a number of days before they could saturate both the ruby and the twelve diamonds concealed within the belt of Beloth the Wise. Weary from the exercise, he wrapped himself in blankets, lay beside Saphira, and drifted into his waking sleep, where his night phantasms played out against the sea of stars above. Soon after they resumed their journey the following morning, the rip-pling grass gave way to tan scrub, which grew ever more scarce until, in turn, it was replaced by sunbaked ground bare of all but the most hardy plants. Reddish gold dunes appeared. From his vantage on Saphira, they looked to Eragon like lines of waves forever sailing toward a distant shore. As the sun began its descent, he noticed a cluster of mountains in the distant east and knew he beheld Du Fells Nángoröth, where the wild dragons had gone to mate, to raise their young, and eventually to die. We must visit there someday, said Saphira, following his gaze. Aye. That night, Eragon felt their solitude even more keenly than before, for they were camped in the emptiest region of the Hadarac Desert, where so little moisture existed in the air that his lips soon cracked, though he smeared them with nalgask every few minutes. He sensed little life in the ground, only a handful of miserable plants interspersed with a few insects and lizards. As he had when they fled Gil’ead through the desert, Eragon drew wa-ter from the soil to replenish their waterskins, and before he allowed the water to drain away, he scryed Nasuada in the pool’s reflection to see if the Varden had been attacked yet. To his relief, they had not. On the third day since leaving Ellesméra, the wind rose up behind them and wafted Saphira farther than she could have flown on her own, carrying them entirely out of the Hadarac Desert. Page 659 Near the edge of the waste, they passed over a number of horse-mounted nomads who were garbed in flowing robes to ward against the heat. The men shouted in their rough tongue and shook their swords and spears at Saphira, though none of them dared loose an arrow at her. Eragon, Saphira, and Orik bivouacked for the night at the southernmost end of Silverwood Forest, which lay along Lake Tüdosten and was named so because it was composed almost entirely of beeches, willows, and trembling poplars. In contrast to the endless twilight that lay beneath the brooding pines of Du Weldenvarden, Silverwood was filled with bright sunshine, larks, and the gentle rustling of green leaves. The trees seemed young and happy to Eragon, and he was glad to be there. And though all signs of the desert had vanished, the weather remained far warmer than he was accustomed to at that time of year. It felt more like summer than spring. From there they flew straight to Aberon, the capital of Surda, guided by directions Eragon gleaned from the memories of birds they encoun-tered. Saphira made no attempt to conceal herself along the way, and they often heard cries of amazement and alarm from the villages she swept over. It was late afternoon when they arrived at Aberon, a low, walled city centered around a bluff in an otherwise flat landscape. Borromeo Castle occupied the top of the bluff. The rambling citadel was protected by three concentric layers of walls, numerous towers, and, Eragon noted, hundreds of ballistae made for shooting down a dragon. The rich amber light from the low sun cast Aberon’s buildings in sharp relief and illumi-nated a plume of dust rising from the city’s western gate, where a line of soldiers sought entrance. As Saphira descended toward the inner ward of the castle, she brought Eragon into contact with the combined thoughts of the people in the capital. The noise overwhelmed him at first—how was he supposed to listen for foes and still function at the same time?—until he realized that, as usual, he was concentrating too much on specifics. All he had to do was sense people’s general intentions. He broadened his focus, and the individual voices clamoring for his attention subsided into a continuum of the emotions surrounding him. It was like a sheet of water that lay draped over the nearby landscape, undulating with the rise and fall of people’s feelings and spiking whenever someone was racked by extremes of passion. Thus, Eragon was aware of the alarm that gripped the people below as word of Saphira spread. Careful, he told her. We don’t want them to at-tack us. Dirt billowed into the air with each beat of Saphira’s powerful wings as she settled in the middle of the courtyard, sinking her claws into the bare ground to steady herself. The horses tethered in the yard neighed with fear, creating such an uproar that Eragon finally inserted himself in their minds and calmed them with words from the ancient language. Eragon dismounted after Orik, eyeing the many soldiers that lined the parapets and the drawn ballistae they manned. He did not fear the weap-ons, but he had no desire to become engaged in a fight with his allies. A group of twelve men, some soldiers, hurried out of the keep toward Saphira. They were led by a tall man with the same dark skin as Nasuada, only the third person Eragon had met with such a complexion. Halting ten paces away, the man bowed—as did his followers—then said, “Wel-come, Rider. I am Dahwar, son of Kedar. I am King Orrin’s seneschal.” Eragon inclined his head. “And I, Eragon Shadeslayer, son of none.” Page 660 “And I, Orik, Thrifk’s son.” And I, Saphira, daughter of Vervada,said Saphira, using Eragon as her mouthpiece. Dahwar bowed again. “I apologize that no one of higher rank than my-self is present to greet guests as noble as you, but King Orrin, Lady Nasuada, and all the Varden have long since marched to confront Galba-torix’s army.” Eragon nodded. He had expected as much. “They left or-ders that if you came here seeking them, you should join them directly, for your prowess is needed if we are to prevail.” “Can you show us on a map how to find them?” asked Eragon. “Of course, sir. While I have that fetched, would you care to step out of the heat and partake of some refreshments?” Eragon shook his head. “We have no time to waste. Besides, it is not I who needs to see the map but Saphira, and I doubt she would fit in your halls.” That seemed to catch the seneschal off guard. He blinked and ran his eyes over Saphira, then said, “Quite right, sir. In either case, our hospital-ity is yours. If there is aught you and your companions desire, you have but to ask.” For the first time, Eragon realized that he could issue commands and expect them to be followed. “We need a week’s worth of provisions. For me, only fruit, vegetables, flour, cheese, bread—things like that. We also need our waterskins refilled.” He was impressed that Dahwar did not question his avoidance of meat. Orik added his requests then for jerky, bacon, and other such products. Snapping his fingers, Dahwar sent two servants running back into the keep to collect the supplies. While everyone in the ward waited for the men to return, he asked, “May I assume by your presence here, Shade-slayer, that you completed your training with the elves?” “My training shall never end so long as I’m alive.” “I see.” Then, after a moment, Dahwar said, “Please excuse my imperti-nence, sir, for I am ignorant of the ways of the Riders, but are you not human? I was told you were.” “That he is,” growled Orik. “He was... changed. And you should be glad he was, or our predicament would be far worse than it is.” Dahwar was tactful enough not to pursue the subject, but from his thoughts Eragon concluded that the seneschal would have paid a handsome price for fur-ther details—any information about Eragon or Saphira was valuable in Orrin’s government. The food, water, and map were soon brought by two wide-eyed pages. At Eragon’s word, they deposited the items beside Saphira, looking terri-bly frightened as they did, then retreated behind Dahwar. Kneeling on the ground, Dahwar unrolled the map—which depicted Surda and the neighboring lands—and drew a line northwest from Aberon to Cithrí. He said, “Last I heard, King Orrin and Lady Nasuada stopped here for prov-ender. They did not intend to stay, however, because the Empire is ad-vancing south along the Jiet River and they wished to be in place to con-front Galbatorix’s army when it arrives. The Varden could be anywhere between Cithrí and the Jiet River. This is only my humble opinion, but I would say the best place to look for them would be the Burning Plains.” “The Burning Plains?” Page 661 Dahwar smiled. “You may know them by their old name, then, the name the elves use: Du Völlar Eldrvarya.” “Ah, yes.” Now Eragon remembered. He had read about them in one of the histories Oromis assigned him. The plains—which contained huge deposits of peat—lay along the eastern side of the Jiet River where Surda’s border crossed it and had been the site of a skirmish between the Riders and the Forsworn. During the fight, the dragons inadvertently lit the peat with the flames from their mouths and the fire had burrowed underground, where it remained smoldering ever since. The land had been rendered uninhabitable by the noxious fumes that poured out of the glowing vents in the charred earth. A shiver crawled down Eragon’s left side as he recalled his premonition: banks of warriors colliding upon an orange and yellow field, accompanied by the harsh screams of gore-crows and the whistle of black arrows. He shivered again. Fate is converging upon us, he said to Saphira. Then, ges-turing at the map: Have you seen enough? I have. In short order, he and Orik packed the supplies, remounted Saphira, and from her back thanked Dahwar for his service. As Saphira was about to take off again, Eragon frowned; a note of discord had entered the minds he was monitoring. “Dahwar, two grooms in the stables have got-ten into an argument and one of them, Tathal, intends to commit mur-der. You can stop him, though, if you send men right away.” Dahwar widened his eyes in an expression of astonishment, and even Orik twisted round to look at Eragon. The seneschal asked, “How do you know this, Shadeslayer?” Eragon merely said, “Because I am a Rider.” Then Saphira unfurled her wings, and everyone on the ground ran back to avoid being battered by the rush of air as she flapped downward and soared into the sky. As Borromeo Castle dwindled behind them, Orik said, “Can you hear my thoughts, Eragon?” “Do you want me to try? I haven’t, you know.” “Try.” Frowning, Eragon concentrated his attention on the dwarf’s conscious-ness and was surprised to find Orik’s mind well protected behind thick mental barriers. He could sense Orik’s presence, but not his thoughts and feelings. “Nothing.” Orik grinned. “Good. I wanted to make sure I hadn’t forgotten my old lessons.” By unspoken consent, they did not stop for the night, but rather forged onward through the blackened sky. Of the moon and stars they saw no sign, no flash or pale gleam to breach the oppressive gloom. The dead hours bloated and sagged and, it seemed to Eragon, clung to each second as if reluctant to surrender to the past. When the sun finally returned—bringing with it its welcome light— Saphira landed by the edge of a small lake so Eragon and Orik could stretch their legs, relieve themselves, and eat breakfast without the con-stant movement they experienced on her back. Page 662 They had just taken off again when a long, low brown cloud appeared on the edge of the horizon, like a smudge of walnut ink on a sheet of white paper. The cloud grew wider and wider as Saphira approached it, until by late morning it obscured the entire land beneath a pall of foul vapors.They had reached the Burning Plains of Alagaësia. THE BURNING PLAINS Eragon coughed as Saphira descended through the layers of smoke, an-gling toward the Jiet River, which was hidden behind the haze. He blinked and wiped back tears. The fumes made his eyes smart. Closer to the ground, the air cleared, giving Eragon an unobstructed view of their destination. The rippling veil of black and crimson smoke filtered the sun’s rays in such a way that everything below was bathed in a lurid orange. Occasional rents in the besmirched sky allowed pale bars of light to strike the ground, where they remained, like pillars of translu-cent glass, until they were truncated by the shifting clouds. The Jiet River lay before them, as thick and turgid as a gorged snake, its crosshatched surface reflecting the same ghastly hue that pervaded the Burning Plains. Even when a splotch of undiluted light happened to fall upon the river, the water appeared chalky white, opaque and opales-cent—almost as if it were the milk of some fearsome beast—and seemed to glow with an eerie luminescence all its own. Two armies were arrayed along the eastern banks of the oozing water-way. To the south were the Varden and the men of Surda, entrenched behind multiple layers of defense, where they displayed a fine panoply of woven standards, ranks of proud tents, and the picketed horses of King Orrin’s cavalry. Strong as they were, their numbers paled in comparison to the size of the force assembled in the north. Galbatorix’s army was so large, it measured three miles across on its leading edge and how many in length it was impossible to tell, for the individual men melded into a shadowy mass in the distance. Between the mortal foes was an empty span of perhaps two miles. This land, and the land that the armies camped on, was pocked with countless ragged orifices in which danced green tongues of fire. From those sickly torches billowed plumes of smoke that dimmed the sun. Every scrap of vegetation had been scorched from the parched soil, except for growths of black, orange, and chartreuse lichen that, from the air, gave the earth a scabbed and infected appearance. It was the most forbidding vista Eragon had clapped eyes upon. Saphira emerged over the no-man’s-land that separated the grim armies, and now she twisted and dove toward the Varden as fast as she dared, for so long as they remained exposed to the Empire, they were vulnerable to attacks from enemy magicians. Eragon extended his awareness as far as he could in every direction, hunting for hostile minds that could feel his probing touch and would react to it—the minds of magicians and those trained to fend off magicians. What he felt instead was the sudden panic that overwhelmed the Varden’s sentinels, many of whom, he realized, had never before seen Saphira. Fear made them ignore their common sense, and they released a flock of barbed arrows that arched up to intercept her. Raising his right hand, Eragon cried, “Letta orya thorna!” The arrows froze in place. With a flick of his Page 663 wrist and the word “Gánga,” he redi-rected them, sending the darts boring toward the no-man’s-land, where they could bury themselves in the barren soil without causing harm. He missed one arrow, though, which was fired a few seconds after the first volley. Eragon leaned as far to his right as he could and, faster than any normal human, plucked the arrow from the air as Saphira flew past it. Only a hundred feet above the ground, Saphira flared her wings to slow her steep descent before alighting first on her hind legs and then her front legs as she came to a running stop among the Varden’s tents. “Werg,” growled Orik, loosening the thongs that held his legs in place. “I’d rather fight a dozen Kull than experience such a fall again.” He let himself hang off one side of the saddle, then dropped to Saphira’s foreleg below and, from there, to the ground. Even as Eragon dismounted, dozens of warriors with awestruck expres-sions gathered around Saphira. From within their midst strode a big bear of a man whom Eragon recognized: Fredric, the Varden’s weapon master from Farthen Dûr, still garbed in his hairy ox-hide armor. “Come on, you slack-jawed louts!” roared Fredric. “Don’t stand here gawking; get back to your posts or I’ll have the lot of you chalked up for extra watches!” At his command, the men began to disperse with many a grumbled word and backward glance. Then Fredric drew nearer and, Eragon could tell, was startled by the change in Eragon’s countenance. The bearded man did his best to conceal the reaction by touching his brow and saying, “Wel-come, Shadeslayer. You’ve arrived just in time.... I can’t tell you how ashamed I am you were attacked. The honor of every man here has been blackened by this mistake. Were the three of you hurt?” “No.” Relief spread across Fredric’s face. “Well, there’s that to be grateful for. I’ve had the men responsible pulled from duty. They’ll each be whipped and reduced in rank.... Will that punishment satisfy you, Rider?” “I want to see them,” said Eragon. Sudden concern emanated from Fredric; it was obvious he feared that Eragon wanted to enact some terrible and unnatural retribution on the sentinels. Fredric did not voice his concern, however, but said, “If you’d follow me, then, sir.” He led them through the camp to a striped command tent where twenty or so miserable-looking men were divesting themselves of their arms and armor under the watchful eye of a dozen guards. At the sight of Eragon and Saphira, the prisoners all went down on one knee and re-mained there, gazing at the ground. “Hail, Shadeslayer!” they cried. Eragon said nothing, but walked along the line of men while he studied their minds, his boots sinking through the crust of the baked earth with an ominous crunch. At last he said, “You should be proud that you re-acted so quickly to our appearance. If Galbatorix attacks, that’s exactly what you should do, though I doubt arrows would prove any more effec-tive against him than they were against Saphira and me.” The sentinels glanced at him with disbelief, their upturned faces tinted the color of tarnished brass by the variegated light. “I only ask that, in the future, you take a moment to identify your target before shooting. Next time I might be too distracted to stop your missiles. Am I understood?” Page 664 “Yes, Shadeslayer!” they shouted. Stopping before the second-to-last man in the line, Eragon held out the arrow he had snared from Saphira’s back. “I believe this is yours, Harwin.” With an expression of wonder, Harwin accepted the arrow from Er-agon. “So it is! It has the white band I always paint on my shafts so I can find them later. Thank you, Shadeslayer.” Eragon nodded and then said to Fredric so all could hear, “These are good and true men, and I want no misfortune to befall them because of this event.” “I will see to it personally,” said Fredric, and smiled. “Now, can you take us to Lady Nasuada?” “Yes, sir.” As he left the sentinels, Eragon knew that his kindness had earned him their undying loyalty, and that tidings of his deed would spread through-out the Varden. The path Fredric took through the tents brought Eragon into close con-tact with more minds than he had ever touched before. Hundreds of thoughts, images, and sensations pressed against his consciousness. De-spite his effort to keep them at a distance, he could not help absorbing random details of people’s lives. Some revelations he found shocking, some meaningless, others touching or, conversely, disgusting, and many embarrassing. A few people perceived the world so differently, their minds leaped out at him on account of that very difference. How easy it is to view these men as nothing more than objects that I and a few others can manipulate at will. Yet they each possess hopes and dreams, potential for what they might achieve and memories of what they have al-ready accomplished. And they all feel pain. A handful of the minds he touched were aware of the contact and re-coiled from it, hiding their inner life behind defenses of varying strength. At first Eragon was concerned—imagining that he had discovered a great many enemies who had infiltrated the Varden—but then he realized from his quick glimpse that they were the individual members of Du Vrangr Gata. Saphira said, They must be scared out of their wits, thinking that they’re about to be assaulted by some strange magician. I can’t convince them otherwise while they block me like this. You should meet them in person, and soon too, before they decide to band together and attack. Aye, although I don’t think they pose a threat to us.... Du Vrangr Gata— their very name betrays their ignorance. Properly, in the ancient language, it should be Du Gata Vrangr. Their trip ended near the back of the Varden, at a large red pavilion flying a pennant embroidered with a black shield and two parallel swords slanting underneath. Fredric pulled back the flap and Eragon and Orik entered the pavilion. Behind them, Saphira pushed her head through the opening and peered over their shoulders. Page 665 A broad table occupied the center of the furnished tent. Nasuada stood at one end, leaning on her hands, studying a slew of maps and scrolls. Er-agon’s stomach clenched as he saw Arya opposite her. Both women were armored as men for battle. Nasuada turned her almond-shaped face toward him. “Eragon?” she whispered. He was unprepared for how glad he was to see her. With a broad grin, he twisted his hand over his sternum in the elves’ gesture of fealty and bowed. “At your service.” “Eragon!” This time Nasuada sounded delighted and relieved. Arya, too, appeared pleased. “How did you get our message so quickly?” “I didn’t; I learned about Galbatorix’s army from my scrying and left Ellesméra the same day.” He smiled at her again. “It’s good to be back with the Varden.” While he spoke, Nasuada studied him with a wondering expression. “What has happened to you, Eragon?” Arya must not have told her,said Saphira. And so Eragon gave a full account of what had befallen Saphira and him since they left Nasuada in Farthen Dûr so long ago. Much of what he said, he sensed that she had already heard, either from the dwarves or from Arya, but she let him speak without interrupting. Eragon had to be circumspect about his training. He had given his word not to reveal Oromis’s existence without permission, and most of his lessons were not to be shared with outsiders, but he did his best to give Nasuada a good idea of his skills and their attendant risks. Of the Agaetí Blödhren, he merely said, “... and during the celebration, the dragons worked upon me the change you see, giving me the physical abilities of an elf and healing my back.” “Your scar is gone, then?” asked Nasuada. He nodded. A few more sen-tences served to end his narrative, briefly mentioning the reason they had left Du Weldenvarden and then summarizing their journey thence. She shook her head. “What a tale. You and Saphira have experienced so much since you left Farthen Dûr.” “As have you.” He gestured at the tent. “It’s amazing what you’ve ac-complished. It must have taken an enormous amount of work to get the Varden to Surda.... Has the Council of Elders caused you much trouble?” “A bit, but nothing extraordinary. They seem to have resigned them-selves to my leadership.” Her mail clinking together, Nasuada seated her-self in a large, high-backed chair and turned to Orik, who had yet to speak. She welcomed him and asked if he had aught to add to Eragon’s tale. Orik shrugged and provided a few anecdotes from their stay in Ellesméra, though Eragon suspected that the dwarf kept his true observa-tions a secret for his king. When he finished, Nasuada said, “I am heartened to know that if we can weather this onslaught, we shall have the elves by our side. Did any of you happen to see Hrothgar’s warriors during your flight from Aberon? We are counting on their reinforcements.” No,answered Saphira through Eragon. But then, it was dark and I was often above or between clouds. I could have easily missed a camp under those conditions. In any case, I doubt we would have crossed paths, for I flew straight from Aberon, and it seems likely the dwarves would choose Page 666 a different route—perhaps following established roads—rather than march through the wilderness. “What,” asked Eragon, “is the situation here?” Nasuada sighed and then told of how she and Orrin had learned about Galbatorix’s army and the desperate measures they had resorted to since in order to reach the Burning Plains before the king’s soldiers. She fin-ished by saying, “The Empire arrived three days ago. Since then, we’ve exchanged two messages. First they asked for our surrender, which we refused, and now we wait for their reply.” “How many of them are there?” growled Orik. “It looked a mighty number from Saphira’s back.” “Aye. We estimate Galbatorix mustered as many as a hundred thou-sand soldiers.” Eragon could not contain himself: “A hundred thousand! Where did they come from? It seems impossible that he could find more than a handful of people willing to serve him.” “They were conscripted. We can only hope that the men who were torn from their homes won’t be eager to fight. If we can frighten them badly enough, they may break ranks and flee. Our numbers are greater than in Farthen Dûr, for King Orrin has joined forces with us and we have received a veritable flood of volunteers since we began to spread the word about you, Eragon, although we are still far weaker than the Em-pire.” Then Saphira asked, and Eragon was forced to repeat the dreadful ques-tion: What do you think our chances of victory are? “That,” said Nasuada, putting emphasis on the word, “depends a great deal upon you and Eragon, and the number of magicians seeded through-out their troops. If you can find and destroy those magicians, then our enemies shall be left unprotected and you can slay them at will. Outright victory, I think, is unlikely at this point, but we might be able to hold them at bay until their supplies run low or until Islanzadí can come to our assistance. That is... if Galbatorix doesn’t fly into battle himself. In that case, I fear retreat will be our only option.” Just then, Eragon felt a strange mind approaching, one that knew he was watching and yet did not shrink from the contact. One that felt cold and hard, calculating. Alert for danger, Eragon turned his gaze toward the rear of the pavilion, where he saw the same black-haired girl who had appeared when he scryed Nasuada from Ellesméra. The girl stared at him with violet eyes, then said, “Welcome, Shadeslayer. Welcome, Saphira.” Eragon shivered at the sound of her voice, the voice of an adult. He wet his dry mouth and asked, “Who are you?” Without answering, the girl brushed back her glossy bangs and exposed a silvery white mark on her forehead, exactly like Eragon’s gedwëy igna-sia. He knew then whom he faced. No one moved as Eragon went to the girl, accompanied by Saphira, who extended her neck farther into the pavilion. Dropping to one knee, Eragon took the girl’s right hand in his own; her skin burned as if with fever. She did not resist him, but merely left her hand limp in his grip. In the ancient language—and also with his mind, so that she would under-stand—Eragon said, “I am sorry. Can you forgive me for what I did to you?” Page 667 The girl’s eyes softened, and she leaned forward and kissed Eragon upon the brow. “I forgive you,” she whispered, for the first time sounding her age. “How could I not? You and Saphira created who I am, and I know you meant no harm. I forgive you, but I shall let this knowledge torture your conscience: You have condemned me to be aware of all the suffer-ing around me. Even now your spell drives me to rush to the aid of a man not three tents away who just cut his hand, to help the young flag carrier who broke his left index finger in the spokes of a wagon wheel, and to help countless others who have been or are about to be hurt. It costs me dearly to resist those urges, and even more if I consciously cause someone discomfort, as I do by saying this.... I cannot even sleep at night for the strength of my compulsion. That is your legacy, O Rider.” By the end, her voice had regained its bitter, mocking edge. Saphira interposed herself between them and, with her snout, touched the girl in the center of her mark. Peace, Changeling. You have much an-ger in your heart. “You don’t have to live like this forever,” said Eragon. “The elves taught me how to undo a spell, and I believe I can free you of this curse. It won’t be easy, but it can be done.” For a moment, the girl seemed to lose her formidable self-control. A small gasp escaped her lips, her hand trembled against Eragon’s, and her eyes glistened with a film of tears. Then just as quickly, she hid her true emotions behind a mask of cynical amusement. “Well, we shall see. Ei-ther way, you shouldn’t try until after this battle.” “I could save you a great deal of pain.” “It wouldn’t do to exhaust you when our survival may depend on your talents. I do not deceive myself; you are more important than me.” A sly grin crossed her face. “Besides, if you remove your spell now, I won’t be able to help any of the Varden if they are threatened. You wouldn’t want Nasuada to die because of that, would you?” “No,” admitted Eragon. He paused for a long time, considering the is-sue, then said, “Very well, I will wait. But I swear to you: If we win this fight, I shall right this wrong.” The girl tilted her head to one side. “I will hold you to your word, Rider.” Rising from her chair, Nasuada said, “Elva was the one who saved me from an assassin in Aberon.” “Did she? In that case, I am in your debt... Elva... for protecting my liegelord.” “Come now,” said Nasuada. “I must introduce the three of you to Orrin and his nobles. Have you met the king before, Orik?” The dwarf shook his head. “I’ve never been this far west.” As they left the pavilion—Nasuada in the lead, with Elva by her side— Eragon tried to position himself so he could talk with Arya, but when he neared her, she quickened her pace until she was level with Nasuada. Arya never even looked at him while she walked, a slight that caused him more anguish than any physical wound he had endured. Elva glanced back at him, and he knew that she was aware of his distress. They soon arrived at another large pavilion, this one white and yel-low—although it was difficult to determine the exact hue of the colors, given the garish orange that glazed everything on the Burning Plains. Once they were granted entrance, Eragon was astonished to find the tent crammed with an Page 668 eccentric collection of beakers, alembics, retorts, and other instruments of natural philosophy. Who would bother toting all this onto a battlefield? he wondered, bewildered. “Eragon,” said Nasuada, “I would like you to meet Orrin, son of Larkin and monarch of the realm of Surda.” From the depths of the tangled piles of glass emerged a rather tall, handsome man with shoulder-length hair held back by the gold coronet resting upon his head. His mind, like Nasuada’s, was protected behind walls of iron; it was obvious he had received extensive training in that skill. Orrin seemed pleasant enough to Eragon from their discussion, if a bit green and untried when it came to commanding men in war and more than a little odd in the head. On the whole, Eragon trusted Nasuada’s leadership more. After fending off scores of questions from Orrin about his stay among the elves, Eragon found himself smiling and nodding politely as one earl after another paraded past, each of whom insisted on shaking his hand, telling him what an honor it was to meet a Rider, and inviting him to their respective estates. Eragon dutifully memorized their many names and titles—as he knew Oromis would expect—and did his best to main-tain a calm demeanor, despite his growing frustration. We’re about to engage one of the largest armies in history, and here we are, stuck exchanging pleasantries. Patience,counseled Saphira. There aren’t that many more.... Besides, look at it this way: if we win, they’ll owe us an entire year of free dinners, what with all their promises. He stifled a chuckle. I think it would dismay them to know what it takes to feed you. Not to mention that you could empty their cellars of beer and wine in a single night. I would never,she sniffed, then relented. Maybe in two nights. When at last they won free of Orrin’s pavilion, Eragon asked Nasuada, “What shall I do now? How can I serve you?” Nasuada eyed him with a curious expression. “How do you think you can best serve me, Eragon? You know your own abilities far better than I do.” Even Arya watched him now, waiting to hear his response. Eragon gazed up at the bloody sky while he pondered her question. “I shall take control of Du Vrangr Gata, as they once asked me to, and or-ganize them underneath me so I can lead them into battle. Working to-gether will give us the best chance of foiling Galbatorix’s magicians.” “That seems an excellent idea.” Is there a place,asked Saphira, where Eragon can leave his bags? I don’t want to carry them or this saddle any longer than I have to. When Eragon repeated her question, Nasuada said, “Of course. You may leave them in my pavilion, and I will arrange to have a tent erected for you, Eragon, where you can keep them permanently. I suggest, though, that you don your armor before parting with your bags. You might need it at any moment.... That reminds me: we have your armor with us, Saphira. I shall have it unpacked and brought to you.” “And what of me, Lady?” asked Orik. Page 669 “We have several knurlan with us from Dûrgrimst Ingeitum who have lent their expertise to the construction of our earthen defenses. You may take command of them if you wish.” Orik seemed heartened by the prospect of seeing fellow dwarves, espe-cially ones from his own clan. He clapped his fist to his chest and said, “I think I will at that. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll see to it at once.” Without a backward glance, he trundled off through the camp, heading north to-ward the breastwork. Returning to her pavilion with the four who remained, Nasuada said to Eragon, “Report to me once you have settled matters with Du Vrangr Gata.” Then she pushed aside the entrance flap to the pavilion and disap-peared with Elva through the dark opening. As Arya started to follow, Eragon reached toward her and, in the an-cient language, said, “Wait.” The elf paused and looked at him, betraying nothing. He held her gaze without wavering, staring deep into her eyes, which reflected the strange light around them. “Arya, I won’t apologize for how I feel about you. However, I wanted you to know that I amsorry for how I acted during the Blood-oath Celebration. I wasn’t myself that night; otherwise, I would have never been so forward with you.” “And you won’t do it again?” He suppressed a humorless laugh. “It wouldn’t get me anywhere if I did, now would it?” When she remained silent, he said, “No matter. I don’t want to trouble you, even if you—” He bit off the end of his sen-tence before he made a remark he knew he would regret. Arya’s expression softened. “I’m not trying to hurt you, Eragon. You must understand that.” “I understand,” he said, but without conviction. An awkward pause stretched between them. “Your flight went well, I trust?” “Well enough.” “You encountered no difficulty in the desert?” “Should we have?” “No. I only wondered.” Then, in an even gentler voice, Arya asked, “What of you, Eragon? How have you been since the celebration? I heard what you said to Nasuada, but you mentioned nothing other than your back.” “I...” He tried to lie—not wanting her to know how much he had missed her—but the ancient language stopped the words dead in his mouth and rendered him mute. Finally, he resorted to a technique of the elves: telling only part of the truth in order to create an impression oppo-site the whole truth. “I’m better than before,” he said, meaning, in his mind, the condition of his back. Despite his subterfuge, Arya appeared unconvinced. She did not press him on the subject, though, but rather said, “I am glad.” Nasuada’s voice emanated from inside the pavilion, and Arya glanced toward it before facing him again. “I am needed elsewhere, Eragon.... We are both needed elsewhere. A battle is about to take place.” Lifting the canvas flap, she stepped halfway into the gloomy tent, then hesitated and added, “Take care, Eragon Shadeslayer.” Page 670 Then she was gone. Dismay rooted Eragon in place. He had accomplished what he wanted to, but it seemed to have changed nothing between him and Arya. He balled his hands into fists and hunched his shoulders and glared at the ground without seeing it, simmering with frustration. He started when Saphira nosed him on the shoulder. Come on, little one, she said gently. You can’t stay here forever, and this saddle is begin-ning to itch . Going to her side, Eragon pulled on her neck strap, muttering under his breath when it caught in the buckle. He almost hoped the leather would break. Undoing the rest of the straps, he let the saddle and everything tied to it fall to the ground in a jumbled heap. It feels good to have that off, said Saphira, rolling her massive shoulders. Digging his armor out of the saddlebags, Eragon outfitted himself in the bright dress of war. First he pulled his hauberk over his elven tunic, then strapped his chased greaves to his legs and his inlaid bracers to his fore-arms. On his head went his padded leather cap, followed by his coif of tempered steel and then his gold and silver helm. Last of all, he replaced his regular gloves with his mail-backed gauntlets. Zar’roc he hung on his left hip using the belt of Beloth the Wise. Across his back, he placed the quiver of white swan feathers Islanzadí had given him. The quiver, he was pleased to find, could also hold the bow the elf queen had sung for him, even when it was strung. After depositing his and Orik’s belongings into the pavilion, Eragon and Saphira set out together to find Trianna, the current leader of Du Vrangr Gata. They had gone no more than a few paces when Eragon sensed a nearby mind that was shielded from his view. Assuming that it was one of the Varden’s magicians, they veered toward it. Twelve yards from their starting point, they came upon a small green tent with a donkey picketed in front. To the left of the tent, a blackened iron cauldron hung from a metal tripod placed over one of the malodor-ous flames birthed deep within the earth. Cords were strung about the cauldron, over which were draped nightshade, hemlock, rhododendron, savin, bark of the yew tree, and numerous mushrooms, such as death cap and spotted cort, all of which Eragon recognized from Oromis’s lessons on poison. And standing next to the cauldron, wielding a long wood pad-dle with which she stirred the brew, was Angela the herbalist. At her feet sat Solembum. The werecat uttered a mournful meow, and Angela looked up from her task, her corkscrew hair forming a billowing thundercloud around her glistening face. She frowned, and her expression became positively ghoul-ish, for it was lit from beneath by the flickering green flame. “So you’ve returned, eh!” “We have,” said Eragon. “Is that all you have to say for yourself? Have you seen Elva yet? Have you seen what you did to that poor girl?” “Aye.” “Aye!”cried Angela. “How inarticulate can a person be? All this time in Ellesméra being tutored by the elves, and aye is the best you can manage? Let me tell you something, blockhead: anyone who is stupid enough to do what you did deserves—” Page 671 Eragon clasped his hands behind his back and waited as Angela in-formed him, in many explicit, detailed, and highly inventive terms, ex-actly how great a blockhead he was; what kind of ancestors he must pos-sess to be such a monumental blockhead—she even went so far as to in-sinuate that one of his grandparents had mated with an Urgal—and the quite hideous punishments he ought to receive for his idiocy. If anyone else had insulted him in that manner, Eragon would have challenged them to a duel, but he tolerated her spleen because he knew he could not judge her behavior by the same standards as he did others, and be-cause he knew her outrage was justified; he had made a dreadful mistake. When she finally paused for breath, he said, “You’re quite right, and I’m going to try to remove the spell once the battle is decided.” Angela blinked three times, one right after the other, and her mouth remained open for a moment in a small “O” before she clamped it shut. With a glare of suspicion, she asked, “You’re not saying that just to pla-cate me, are you?” “I would never.” “And you really intend to undo your curse? I thought such things were irrevocable.” “The elves have discovered many uses of magic.” “Ah... Well, then, that’s settled, isn’t it?” She flashed him a wide smile and then strode past him to pat Saphira on her jowls. “It’s good to see you again, Saphira. You’ve grown.” Well met indeed, Angela. As Angela returned to stirring her concoction, Eragon said, “That was an impressive tirade you gave.” “Thank you. I worked on it for several weeks. It’s a pity you didn’t get to hear the ending; it’s memorable. I could finish it for you if you want.” “No, that’s all right. I can imagine what it’s like.” Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Eragon then said, “You don’t seem surprised by how I’ve changed.” The herbalist shrugged. “I have my sources. It’s an improvement, in my opinion. You were a bit... oh, how shall I say it?... unfinishedbefore.” “That I was.” He gestured at the hanging plants. “What do you plan to do with these?” “Oh, it’s just a little project of mine—an experiment, if you will.” “Mmm.” Examining the pattern of colors on a dried mushroom that dangled before him, Eragon asked, “Did you ever figure out if toads exist or not?” “As a matter of fact, I did! It seems that all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads. So in that sense, toads don’t really exist, which means that I was right all along.” She stopped her patter abruptly, leaned to the side, grabbed a mug from a bench next to her, and offered it to Eragon. “Here, have a cup of tea.” Eragon glanced at the deadly plants surrounding them and then back at Angela’s open face before he accepted the mug. Under his breath—so the herbalist would not hear—he muttered three spells to detect poison. Only once he ascertained that the tea was free of contamination did he dare drink. The tea was Page 672 delicious, though he could not identify the ingre-dients. At that moment, Solembum padded over to Saphira and began to arch his back and rub himself up against her leg, just as any normal cat would. Twisting her neck, Saphira bent down and with the tip of her nose brushed the werecat the length of his spine. She said, I met someone in Ellesméra who knows you. Solembum stopped rubbing and cocked his head. Is that so? Yes. Her name was Quickpaw and The Dream Dancer and also Maud. Solembum’s golden eyes widened. A deep, throaty purr rumbled in his chest, and he rubbed against Saphira with renewed vigor. “So,” said Angela, “I assume you already spoke with Nasuada, Arya, and King Orrin.” He nodded. “And what did you think of dear old Orrin?” Eragon chose his words with care, for he was aware that they were talk-ing about a king. “Well... he seems to have a great many interests.” “Yes, he’s as balmy as a moonstruck fool on Midsummer Night Eve. But then everyone is, in one way or another.” Amused by her forthrightness, Eragon said, “He must be crazy to have carted so much glass all the way from Aberon.” Angela raised an eyebrow. “What’s this now?” “Haven’t you seen the inside of his tent?” “Unlike some people,” she sniffed, “I don’t ingratiate myself with every monarch I meet.” So he described for her the mass of instruments Orrin had brought to the Burning Plains. Angela abandoned her stirring as he spoke and listened with great interest. The instant he finished, she began bustling around the cauldron, gathering the plants off the lines—often us-ing tongs to do so—and saying, “I think I had best pay Orrin a visit. The two of you will have to tell me about your trip to Ellesméra at a later time.... Well, go on, both of you. Be gone!” Eragon shook his head as the short little woman drove him and Saphira away from her tent, and he still holding the cup of tea. Talking with her is always... Different?suggested Saphira. Exactly. THE CLOUDS OF WAR From there it took them almost half an hour to locate Trianna’s tent, which apparently served as the unofficial headquarters of Du Vrangr Gata. They had difficulty finding the tent because few people knew of its existence, and even fewer could tell them where it lay because the tent was hidden behind a spur of Page 673 rock that served to conceal it from the gaze of enemy magicians in Galbatorix’s army. As Eragon and Saphira approached the black tent, the entrance was thrust open and Trianna strode out, her arms bare to the elbow in prepa-ration to use magic. Behind her clustered a group of determined if fright-ened-looking spellcasters, many of whom Eragon had seen during the bat-tle in Farthen Dûr, either fighting or healing the wounded. Eragon watched as Trianna and the others reacted with the now-expected surprise at his altered appearance. Lowering her arms, Trianna said, “Shadeslayer, Saphira. You should have told us sooner that you were here. We’ve been preparing to confront and battle what we thought was a mighty foe.” “I didn’t mean to upset you,” said Eragon, “but we had to report to Nasuada and King Orrin immediately after we landed.” “And why have you graced us with your presence now? You never deigned to visit us before, we who are more your brethren than any in the Varden.” “I have come to take command of Du Vrangr Gata.” The assembled spellcasters muttered with surprise at his announcement, and Trianna stiffened. Eragon felt several magicians probe his consciousness in an at-tempt to divine his true intentions. Instead of guarding himself—which would blind him to impending attacks—Eragon retaliated by jabbing the minds of the would-be invaders hard enough that they retreated behind their own barriers. As he did, Eragon had the satisfaction of seeing two men and a woman flinch and avert their gazes. “By whose order?” demanded Trianna. “By Nasuada’s.” “Ah,” said the sorceress with a triumphant smile, “but Nasuada has no direct authority over us. We help the Varden of our own free will.” Her resistance puzzled Eragon. “I’m sure Nasuada would be surprised to hear that, after everything she, and her father, have done for Du Vrangr Gata. It might give her the impression that you no longer wanted the support and protection of the Varden.” He let the threat hang in the air for a moment. “Besides, I seem to remember you were willing to give me this post before. Why not now?” Trianna lifted an eyebrow. “You refused my offer, Shadeslayer... or have you forgotten?” Composed as she was, a trace of defensiveness colored her response, and Eragon suspected she knew her position was untenable. She seemed more mature to him than when they last met, and he had to remind himself of the hardships she must have endured since: marching across Alagaësia to Surda, supervising the magicians of Du Vrangr Gata, and preparing for war. “We could not accept then. It was the wrong time.” Abruptly changing tack, she asked, “Why does Nasuada believe you should command us anyway? Surely you and Saphira would be more use-ful elsewhere.” “Nasuada wants me to lead you, Du Vrangr Gata, in the coming battle, and so I shall.” Eragon thought it best not to mention that it was his idea. A dark scowl gave Trianna a fierce appearance. She pointed at the clus-ter of spellcasters behind her. Page 674 “We have devoted our lives to the study of our art. You have been casting spells for less than two years. What makes you more qualified for this task than any of us?... No matter. Tell me: What is your strategy? How do you plan to employ us?” “My plan is simple,” he said. “The lot of you will join minds and search for enemy spellcasters. When you find one, I’ll add my strength to yours, and together we can crush the spellcaster’s resistance. Then we can slay the troops that previously were protected by his or her wards.” “And what will you be doing the rest of the time?” “Fighting alongside Saphira.” After an awkward silence, one of the men behind Trianna said, “It’s a good plan.” He quailed as Trianna cast an angry glare at him. She slowly faced Eragon again. “Ever since the Twins died, I have led Du Vrangr Gata. Under my guidance, they have provided the means to fund the Varden’s war effort, ferreted out the Black Hand—Galbatorix’s network of spies that tried to assassinate Nasuada—as well as performing innumerable other services. I do not boast when I say these are no mean accomplishments. And I’m certain I can continue to produce such re-sults.... Why, then, does Nasuada want to depose me? How have I dis-pleased her?” Everything became clear to Eragon, then. She has grown accustomed to power and doesn’t want to surrender it. But more than that, she thinks that my replacing her is a criticism of her leadership . You need to resolve this debate, and quickly too,said Saphira. Our time grows short . Eragon racked his brain for a way to establish his authority in Du Vrangr Gata without further alienating Trianna. At last he said, “I didn’t come here to stir up trouble. I came to ask for your help.” He spoke to the entire congregation but looked only at the sorceress. “I am strong, yes. Saphira and I could probably defeat any number of Galbatorix’s pet ma-gicians. But we cannot protect everyone in the Varden. We cannot be everywhere. And if the Empire’s battle-mages join forces against us, then even we will be hard-pressed to survive.... We cannot fight this battle alone. You are quite right, Trianna—you have done well with Du Vrangr Gata, and I’m not here to usurp your authority. It’s only that—as a magi-cian—I need to work with Du Vrangr Gata, and—as a Rider—I may also need to give you orders, orders that I have to know will be obeyed with-out question. The chain of command must be established. That said, you will retain the greater part of your autonomy. Most times I’ll be too busy to devote my attention to Du Vrangr Gata. Nor do I intend to ignore your counsel, for I’m aware that you have far more experience than I.... So I ask again, will you help us, for the good of the Varden?” Trianna paused, then bowed. “Of course, Shadeslayer—for the good of the Varden. It will be an honor to have you lead Du Vrangr Gata.” “Then let us begin.” Over the next few hours, Eragon talked with every one of the assem-bled magicians, although a fair number were absent, being occupied with one task or another to help the Varden. He did his best to acquaint him-self with their knowledge of magic. He learned that the majority of men and women in Du Vrangr Gata had been introduced to their craft by a relative, and usually in profound secrecy to avoid attracting attention from those who feared magic—and, of course, Galbatorix himself. Only a handful had received proper apprenticeships. As a result, most of the spellcasters knew little about the ancient Page 675 language—none could truly speak it fluently—their beliefs about magic were often distorted by reli-gious superstitions, and they were ignorant of numerous applications of gramarye. No wonder the Twins were so desperate to extract your vocabulary of the ancient language when they tested you in Farthen Dûr,observed Saphira. With it they could have easily conquered these lesser magicians. They’re all we have to work with, though. True. I hope you can see now I was right about Trianna. She places her own desires before the good of the many. You were right,he agreed. But I don’t condemn her for it. Trianna deals with the world in the best way she can, as do we all. I understand that, even if I don’t approve, and understanding—as Oromis said—breeds empa-thy. A bit more than a third of the spellcasters specialized as healers. Those Eragon sent on their way after giving them a quintet of new spells to memorize, enchantments that would allow them to treat a greater range of injuries. The remaining spellcasters Eragon worked with to establish a clear chain of command—he appointed Trianna his lieutenant and let her ensure that his orders were carried out—and to weld their disparate per-sonalities into a cohesive fighting unit. Trying to convince magicians to cooperate, he discovered, was like trying to get a pack of dogs to share a meat bone. Nor did it help that they were in evident awe of him, for he could find no way of using his influence to smooth relations among the contentious magicians. In order to gain a better idea of their exact proficiency, Eragon had them cast a series of spells. As he watched them struggle with enchant-ments that he now considered simple, Eragon became aware of just how far his own powers had advanced. To Saphira, he marveled, And to think I once had trouble lifting a pebble in the air. And to think,she replied, Galbatorix has had over a century to hone his talent. The sun was low in the west, intensifying the fermented orange light until the Varden’s camp, the livid Jiet River, and the entirety of the Burning Plains glowed in the mad, marbled effulgence, as if in a scene from a lunatic’s dreams. The sun was no more than a finger’s breadth above the horizon when a runner arrived at the tent. He told Eragon that Nasuada ordered him to attend her at once. “An’ I think you’d better hurry, Shadeslayer, if you don’t mind me saying so.” After extracting a promise from Du Vrangr Gata that they would be ready and willing when he called upon them for assistance, Eragon ran alongside Saphira through the rows of gray tents toward Nasuada’s pavil-ion. A harsh tumult above them caused Eragon to lift his eyes from the treacherous ground long enough to glance overhead. What he saw was a giant flock of birds wheeling between the two ar-mies. He spotted eagles, hawks, and falcons, along with countless greedy crows and their larger, dagger-beaked, blue-backed, rapacious cousin, the raven. Each bird shrieked for blood to wet its throat and enough hot meat to fill its belly and sate its hunger. By experience and instinct, they knew that whenever armies appeared in Alagaësia, they could expect to feast on acres of carrion. The clouds of war are gathering,observed Eragon. Page 676 NAR GARZHVOG Eragon entered the pavilion, Saphira pushing her head through after him. He was met by a steely rasp as Jörmundur and a half-dozen of Nasuada’s commanders drew their swords at the intruders. The men lowered their weapons as Nasuada said, “Come here, Eragon.” “What is your bidding?” Eragon asked. “Our scouts report that a company of some hundred Kull approach from the northeast.” Eragon frowned. He had not expected to encounter Urgals in this bat-tle, since Durza no longer controlled them and so many had been killed in Farthen Dûr. But if they had come, they had come. He felt his blood-lust rise and allowed himself a savage grin as he contemplated destroying Urgals with his new strength. Clapping his hand to Zar’roc’s hilt, he said, “It will be a pleasure to eliminate them. Saphira and I can handle it by ourselves, if you want.” Nasuada watched his face carefully as she said, “We can’t do that, Er-agon. They’re flying a white flag, and they have asked to talk with me.” Eragon gaped at her. “Surely you don’t intend to grant them an audi-ence?” “I will offer them the same courtesies I would to any foe who arrives under the banner of truce.” “They’re brutes, though. Monsters! It’s folly to allow them into the camp.... Nasuada, I have seen the atrocities Urgals commit. They relish pain and suffering and deserve no more mercy than a rabid dog. There is no need for you to waste time over what is surely a trap. Just give the word and I and every last one of your warriors will be more than willing to kill these foul creatures for you.” “In this,” said Jörmundur, “I agree with Eragon. If you won’t listen to us, Nasuada, at least listen to him.” First Nasuada said to Eragon in a murmur low enough that no one else could hear, “Your training is indeed unfinished if you are so blinded.” Then she raised her voice, and in it Eragon heard the same adamantine notes of command that her father had possessed: “You all forget that I fought in Farthen Dûr, the same as you, and that I saw the savagery of the Urgals.... However, I also saw our own men commit acts just as hei-nous. I shall not denigrate what we have endured at the Urgals’ hands, but neither shall I ignore potential allies when we are so greatly outnum-bered by the Empire.” “My Lady, it’s too dangerous for you to meet with a Kull.” “Too dangerous?” Nasuada raised an eyebrow. “While I am protected by Eragon, Saphira, Elva, and all the warriors around me? I think not.” Eragon gritted his teeth with frustration. Say something, Saphira. You can convince her to abandon this harebrained scheme. No, I won’t. Your mind is clouded on this issue. You can’t agree with her!exclaimed Eragon, aghast. You were there in Yazuac with me; you know what the Urgals did to the villagers. And what about when we left Teirm, my capture at Gil’ead, Page 677 and Farthen Dûr? Every time we’ve encountered Urgals, they’ve tried to kill us or worse. They’re nothing more than vicious animals. The elves believed the same thing about dragons during Du Fyrn Skulblaka. At Nasuada’s behest, her guards tied back the front and side panels of the pavilion, leaving it open for all to see and allowing Saphira to crouch low next to Eragon. Then Nasuada seated herself in her high-backed chair, and Jörmundur and the other commanders arranged themselves in two parallel rows so that anyone who sought an audience with her had to walk between them. Eragon stood at her right hand, Elva by her left. Less than five minutes later, a great roar of anger erupted from the eastern edge of the camp. The storm of jeers and insults grew louder and louder until a single Kull entered their view, walking toward Nasuada while a mob of the Varden peppered him with taunts. The Urgal—or ram, as Eragon remembered they were called—held his head high and bared his yellow fangs, but did not otherwise react to the abuse directed at him. He was a magnificent specimen, eight and a half feet tall, with strong, proud—if grotesque—features, thick horns that spiraled all the way around, and a fantastic musculature that made it seem he could kill a bear with a single blow. His only clothing was a knotted loincloth, a few plates of crude iron armor held together with scraps of mail, and a curved metal disk nestled between his two horns to protect the top of his head. His long black hair was in a queue. Eragon felt his lips tighten in a grimace of hate; he had to struggle to keep from drawing Zar’roc and attacking. Yet despite himself, he could not help but admire the Urgal’s courage in confronting an entire army of enemies alone and unarmed. To his surprise, he found the Kull’s mind strongly shielded. When the Urgal stopped before the eaves of the pavilion, not daring to come any closer, Nasuada had her guards shout for quiet to settle the crowd. Everyone looked at the Urgal, wondering what he would do next. The Urgal lifted his bulging arms toward the sky, inhaled a mighty breath, and then opened his maw and bellowed at Nasuada. In an instant, a thicket of swords pointed at the Kull, but he paid them no attention and continued his ululation until his lungs were empty. Then he looked at Nasuada, ignoring the hundreds of people who, it was obvious, longed to kill him, and growled in a thick, guttural accent, “What treachery is this, Lady Nightstalker? I was promised safe passage. Do humans break their word so easily?” Leaning toward her, one of Nasuada’s commanders said, “Let us punish him, Mistress, for his insolence. Once we have taught him the meaning of respect, then you can hear his message, whatever it is.” Eragon longed to remain silent, but he knew his duty to Nasuada and the Varden, so he bent down and said in Nasuada’s ear, “Don’t take of-fense. This is how they greet their war chiefs. The proper response is to then butt heads, but I don’t think you want to try that.” “Did the elves teach you this?” she murmured, never taking her eyes off the waiting Kull. “Aye.” “What else did they teach you of the Urgals?” Page 678 “A great deal,” he admitted reluctantly. Then Nasuada said to the Kull and also to her men beyond, “The Varden are not liars like Galbatorix and the Empire. Speak your mind; you need fear no danger while we hold council under the conditions of truce.” The Urgal grunted and raised his bony chin higher, baring his throat; Eragon recognized it as a gesture of friendship. To lower one’s head was a threat in their race, for it meant that an Urgal intended to ram you with his horns. “I am Nar Garzhvog of the Bolvek tribe. I speak for my peo-ple.” It seemed as if he chewed on each word before spitting it out. “Ur-gals are hated more than any other race. Elves, dwarves, humans all hunt us, burn us, and drive us from our halls.” “Not without good reason,” pointed out Nasuada. Garzhvog nodded. “Not without reason. Our people love war. Yet how often are we attacked just because you find us as ugly as we find you? We have thrived since the fall of the Riders. Our tribes are now so large, the harsh land we live in can no longer feed us.” “So you made a pact with Galbatorix.” “Aye, Lady Nightstalker. He promised us good land if we killed his enemies. He tricked us, though. His flame-haired shaman, Durza, bent the minds of our war chiefs and forced our tribes to work together, as is not our way. When we learned this in the dwarves’ hollow mountain, the Herndall, the dams who rule us, sent my brood mate to Galbatorix to ask why he used us so.” Garzhvog shook his ponderous head. “She did not re-turn. Our finest rams died for Galbatorix, then he abandoned us like a broken sword. He is drajl and snake-tongued and a lack-horned betrayer. Lady Nightstalker, we are fewer now, but we will fight with you if you let us.” “What is the price?” asked Nasuada. “Your Herndall must want some-thing in return.” “Blood. Galbatorix’s blood. And if the Empire falls, we ask that you give us land, land for breeding and growing, land to avoid more battles in the future.” Eragon guessed Nasuada’s decision by the set of her face, even before she spoke. So apparently did Jörmundur, for he leaned toward her and said in an undertone, “Nasuada, you can’t do this. It goes against nature.” “Nature can’t help us defeat the Empire. We need allies.” “The men will desert before they’ll fight with Urgals.” “That can be worked around. Eragon, will they keep their word?” “Only so long as we share a common enemy.” With a sharp nod, Nasuada again lifted her voice: “Very well, Nar Garzhvog. You and your warriors may bivouac along the eastern flank of our army, away from the main body, and we shall discuss the terms of our pact.” “Ahgrat ukmar,” growled the Kull, clapping his fists to his brow. “You are a wise Herndall, Lady Nightstalker.” Page 679 “Why do you call me that?” “Herndall?” “No, Nightstalker.” Garzhvog made a ruk-ruk sound in his throat that Eragon interpreted as laughter. “Nightstalker is the name we gave your sire because of how he hunted us in the dark tunnels under the dwarf mountain and because of the color of his hide. As his cub, you are worthy of the same name.” With that he turned on his heel and strode out of the camp. Standing, Nasuada proclaimed, “Anyone who attacks the Urgals shall be punished as if he attacked a fellow human. See that word of this is posted in every company.” No sooner had she finished than Eragon noticed King Orrin approach-ing at a quick pace, his cape flapping around him. When he was close enough, he cried, “Nasuada! Is it true you met with an Urgal? What do you mean by it, and why wasn’t I alerted sooner? I don’t—” He was interrupted as a sentry emerged from the ranks of gray tents, shouting, “A horseman approaches from the Empire!” In an instant, King Orrin forgot his argument and joined Nasuada as she hurried toward the vanguard of the army, followed by at least a hundred people. Rather than stay among the crowd, Eragon pulled himself onto Saphira and let her carry him to their destination. When Saphira halted at the ramparts, trenches, and rows of sharpened poles that protected the Varden’s leading edge, Eragon saw a lone soldier riding at a furious clip across the bleak no-man’s-land. Above him, the birds of prey swooped low to discover if the first course of their feast had arrived. The soldier reined in his black stallion some thirty yards from the breastwork, keeping as much distance as possible between him and the Varden. He shouted, “By refusing King Galbatorix’s generous terms of surrender, you choose death as your fate. No more shall we negotiate. The hand of friendship has turned into the fist of war! If any of you still hold regard for your rightful sovereign, the all-knowing, all-powerful King Galbatorix, then flee! None may stand before us once we set forth to cleanse Alagaësia of every miscreant, traitor, and subversive. And though it pains our lord—for he knows that most of these rebellious acts are instigated by bitter and misguided leaders—we shall gently chastise the unlawful territory known as Surda and return it to the benevolent rule of King Galbatorix, he who sacrifices himself day and night for the good of his people. So flee, I say, or suffer the doom of your herald.” With that the soldier untied a canvas sack and flourished a severed head. He threw it into the air and watched it fall among the Varden, then turned his stallion, dug in his spurs, and galloped back toward the dark mass of Galbatorix’s army. “Shall I kill him?” asked Eragon. Nasuada shook her head. “We will have our due soon enough. I won’t violate the sanctity of envoys, even if the Empire has.” “As you—” He yelped with surprise and clutched Saphira’s neck to keep from falling as she reared above the ramparts, planting her front legs upon the chartreuse bank. Opening her jaws, Saphira uttered Page 680 a long, deep roar, much like Garzhvog had done, only this roar was a defiant challenge to their enemies, a warning of the wrath they had roused, and a clarion call to all who hated Galbatorix. The sound of her trumpeting voice frightened the stallion so badly, he jinked to the right, slipped on the heated ground, and fell on his side. The soldier was thrown free of the horse and landed in a gout of fire that erupted at that very instant. He uttered a single cry so horrible, it made Eragon’s scalp prickle, then was silent and still forevermore. The birds began to descend. The Varden cheered Saphira’s accomplishment. Even Nasuada allowed herself a small smile. Then she clapped her hands and said, “They will at-tack at dawn, I think. Eragon, gather Du Vrangr Gata and prepare your-self for action. I will have orders for you within the hour.” Taking Orrin by the shoulder, she guided him back toward the center of the com-pound, saying, “Sire, there are decisions we must make. I have a certain plan, but it will require...” Let them come,said Saphira. The tip of her tail twitched like that of a cat stalking a rabbit. They will all burn. WITCH’S BREW Night had fallen on the Burning Plains. The roof of opaque smoke cov-ered the moon and stars, plunging the land into profound darkness that was broken only by the sullen glow of the sporadic peat fires, and by the thousands of torches each army lit. From Eragon’s position near the fore of the Varden, the Empire looked a dense nest of uncertain orange lights as large as any city. As Eragon buckled the last piece of Saphira’s armor onto her tail, he closed his eyes to maintain better contact with the magicians from Du Vrangr Gata. He had to learn to locate them at a moment’s notice; his life would depend on communicating with them in a quick and timely man-ner. In turn, the magicians had to learn to recognize the touch of his mind so they did not block him when he needed their assistance. Eragon smiled and said, “Hello, Orik.” He opened his eyes to see Orik clambering up the low knuckle of rock where he and Saphira sat. The dwarf, who was fully armored, carried his Urgal-horn bow in his left hand. Hunkering beside Eragon, Orik wiped his brow and shook his head. “How’d you know it was me? I was shielding myself.” Every consciousness feels different,explained Saphira. Just like no two voices sound exactly the same. “Ah.” Eragon asked, “What brings you here?” Orik shrugged. “It struck me you might appreciate a spot of company in this grim night. Especially since Arya’s otherwise engaged and you don’t have Murtagh with you for this battle.” Page 681 And I wish I did,thought Eragon. Murtagh had been the only human who matched Eragon’s skill with a sword, at least before the Agaetí Blödhren. Sparring with him had been one of Eragon’s few pleasures dur-ing their time together. I would have enjoyed fighting with you again, old friend. Remembering how Murtagh was killed—dragged underground by Ur-gals in Farthen Dûr—forced Eragon to confront a sobering truth: No matter how great a warrior you were, as often as not, pure chance dictated who lived and who died in war. Orik must have sensed his mood, for he clapped Eragon on the shoul-der and said, “You’ll be fine. Just imagine how the soldiers out there feel, knowing they have to face you before long!” Gratitude made Eragon smile again. “I’m glad you came.” The tip of Orik’s nose reddened, and he glanced down, rolling his bow between gnarled hands. “Ah, well,” he grumbled, “Hrothgar wouldn’t much like it if I let something happen to you. Besides, we’re foster broth-ers now, eh?” Through Eragon, Saphira asked, What about the other dwarves? Aren’t they under your command? A twinkle sprang into Orik’s eyes. “Why, yes, so they are. And they’ll be joining us before long. Seeing as Eragon’s a member of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum, it’s only right we fight the Empire together. That way, the two of you won’t be so vulnerable; you can concentrate on finding Galba-torix’s magicians instead of defending yourselves from constant attacks.” “A good idea. Thank you.” Orik grunted an acknowledgment. Then Er-agon asked, “What do you think about Nasuada and the Urgals?” “She made the right choice.” “You agree with her!” “I do. I don’t like it any more than you, but I do.” Silence enveloped them after that. Eragon sat against Saphira and stared out at the Empire, trying to prevent his growing anxiety from over-whelming him. Minutes dragged by. To him, the interminable waiting be-fore a battle was as stressful as the actual fighting. He oiled Saphira’s sad-dle, polished rust off his hauberk, and then resumed familiarizing himself with the minds of Du Vrangr Gata, anything to pass the time. Over an hour later, he paused as he sensed two beings approaching from across the no-man’s-land. Angela? Solembum? Puzzled and alarmed, he woke Orik—who had dozed off—and told him what he had discov-ered. The dwarf frowned and drew his war ax from his belt. “I’ve only met the herbalist a few times, but she didn’t seem like the sort who would betray us. She’s been welcome among the Varden for decades.” “We should still find out what she was doing,” said Eragon. Together they picked their way through the camp to intercept the duo as they approached the fortifications. Angela soon trotted into the light, Solembum at her heels. The witch was muffled in a dark, full-length cloak that allowed her to blend into the mottled landscape. Displaying a surprising amount of Page 682 alacrity, strength, and flexibility, she clambered over the many rows of breastwork the dwarves had engineered, swinging from pole to pole, leaping over trenches, and finally running helter-skelter down the steep face of the last rampart to stop, panting, by Saphira. Throwing back the hood of her cloak, Angela flashed them a bright smile. “A welcoming committee! How thoughtful of you.” As she spoke, the werecat shivered along his length, fur rippling. Then his outline blurred as if seen through cloudy water, resolving once more into the nude figure of a shaggy-haired boy. Angela dipped her hand into a leather purse at her belt and passed a child’s tunic and breeches back to Solem-bum, along with the small black dagger he fought with. “What were you doing out there?” asked Orik, peering at them with a suspicious gaze. “Oh, this and that.” “I think you better tell us,” said Eragon. Her face hardened. “Is that so? Don’t you trust Solembum and me?” The werecat bared his pointed teeth. “Not really,” admitted Eragon, but with a small smile. “That’s good,” said Angela. She patted him on the cheek. “You’ll live longer. If you must know, then, I was doing my best to help defeat the Empire, only my methods don’t involve yelling and running around with a sword.” “And what exactly are your methods?” growled Orik. Angela paused to roll up her cloak into a tight bundle, which she stored in her purse. “I’d rather not say; I want it to be a surprise. You won’t have to wait long to find out. It’ll start in a few hours.” Orik tugged on his beard. “What will start? If you can’t give us a straight answer, we’ll have to take you to Nasuada. Maybe she can wring some sense out of you.” “It’s no use dragging me off to Nasuada,” said Angela. “She gave me permission to cross lines.” “So you say,” challenged Orik, ever more belligerent. “And so I say,” announced Nasuada, walking up to them from behind, as Eragon knew she would. He also sensed that she was accompanied by four Kull, one of whom was Garzhvog. Scowling, he turned to face them, making no attempt to hide his anger at the Urgals’ presence. “My Lady,” muttered Eragon. Orik was not as composed; he jumped back with a mighty oath, grasp-ing his war ax. He quickly realized that they were not under attack and gave Nasuada a terse greeting. But his hand never left the haft of his weapon and his eyes never left the hulking Urgals. Angela seemed to have no such inhibitions. She paid Nasuada the respect due to her, then addressed the Urgals in their own harsh language, to which they an-swered with evident delight. Nasuada drew Eragon off to the side so they could have a measure of privacy. There, she said, “I need you to put aside your feelings for a mo-ment and judge what I am about to tell you with logic and reason. Page 683 Can you do that?” He nodded, stiff-faced. “Good. I’m doing everything I can to ensure we don’t lose tomorrow. It doesn’t matter, though, how well we fight, or how well I lead the Varden, or even if we rout the Empire if you, ” she poked him in the chest, “are killed. Do you understand?” He nodded again. “There’s nothing I can do to protect you if Galbatorix re-veals himself; if he does, you will face him alone. Du Vrangr Gata poses no more of a threat to him than they do to you, and I’ll not have them eradicated without reason.” “I have always known,” said Eragon, “that I would face Galbatorix alone but for Saphira.” A sad smile touched Nasuada’s lips. She looked very tired in the flicker-ing torchlight. “Well, there’s no reason to invent trouble where none ex-ists. It’s possible Galbatorix isn’t even here.” She did not seem to believe her own words, though. “In any case, I can at least keep you from dying from a sword in the gut. I heard what the dwarves intend to do, and I thought I could improve upon the concept. I asked Garzhvog and three of his rams to be your guards, so long as they agreed—which they have— to let you examine their minds for treachery.” Eragon went rigid. “You can’t expect me to fight with those monsters. Besides, I already accepted the dwarves’ offer to defend Saphira and me. They would take it poorly if I rejected them in favor of Urgals.” “Then they can both guard you,” retorted Nasuada. She searched his face for a long time, looking for what he could not tell. “Oh, Eragon. I’d hoped you could see past your hate. What else would you do in my posi-tion?” She sighed when he remained silent. “If anyone has cause to hold a grudge against the Urgals, it is I. They killed my father. Yet I cannot al-low that to interfere with deciding what’s best for the Varden.... At least ask Saphira’s opinion before you say yea or nay. I can order you to accept the Urgals’ protection, but I would rather not.” You’re being foolish,observed Saphira without prompting. Foolish to not want Kull watching my back? No, foolish to refuse help, no matter where it comes from, in our present situation. Think. You know what Oromis would do, and you know what he would say. Don’t you trust his judgment? He can’t be right about everything,said Eragon. That’s no argument.... Search yourself, Eragon, and tell me whether I speak the truth. You know the correct path. I would be disappointed if you could not bring yourself to embrace it. Saphira and Nasuada’s cajoling only made Eragon more reluctant to agree. Still, he knew he had no choice. “All right, I’ll let them guard me, but only if I find nothing suspicious in their minds. Will you promise that, after this battle, you won’t make me work with an Urgal again?” Nasuada shook her head. “I can’t do that, not when it might hurt the Varden.” She paused and said, “Oh, and Eragon?” “Yes, my Lady?” “In the event of my death, I have chosen you as my successor. If that should happen, I suggest you rely upon Jörmundur’s advice—he has more experience than the other members of the Council of Elders—and I would expect you to place the welfare of those underneath you before all else. Am I clear, Page 684 Eragon?” Her announcement caught him by surprise. Nothing meant more to her than the Varden. Offering it to him was the greatest act of trust she could make. Her confidence humbled and touched him; he bowed his head. “I would strive to be as good a leader as you and Ajihad have been. You honor me, Nasuada.” “Yes, I do.” Turning away from him, she rejoined the others. Still overwhelmed by Nasuada’s revelation, and finding his anger tem-pered by it, Eragon slowly walked back to Saphira. He studied Garzhvog and the other Urgals, trying to gauge their mood, but their features were so different from those he was accustomed to, he could discern nothing more than the broadest of emotions. Nor could he find any empathy within himself for the Urgals. To him, they were feral beasts that would kill him as soon as not and were incapable of love, kindness, or even true intelligence. In short, they were lesser beings. Deep within his mind, Saphira whispered, I’m sure Galbatorix is of the same opinion. And for good reason,he growled, intending to shock her. Suppressing his revulsion, he said out loud, “Nar Garzhvog, I am told that the four of you agreed to allow me within your minds.” “That is so, Firesword. Lady Nightstalker told us what was required. We are honored to have the chance to battle alongside such a mighty warrior, and one who has done so much for us.” “What do you mean? I have killed scores of your kin.” Unbidden, ex-cerpts from one of Oromis’s scrolls rose in Eragon’s memory. He remem-bered reading that Urgals, both male and female, determined their rank in society through combat, and that it was this practice, above all else, that had led to so many conflicts between Urgals and other races. Which meant, he realized, that if they admired his feats in battle, then they may have accorded him the same status as one of their war chiefs. “By killing Durza, you freed us from his control. We are in your debt, Firesword. None of our rams will challenge you, and if you visit our halls, you and the dragon, Flametongue, will be welcomed as no outsiders ever before.” Of all the responses Eragon had expected, gratitude was the last, and it was the one he was least prepared to deal with. Unable to think of any-thing else, he said, “I won’t forget.” He switched his gaze to the other Ur-gals, then returned it to Garzhvog and his yellow eyes. “Are you ready?” “Aye, Rider.” As Eragon reached toward Garzhvog’s consciousness, it reminded him of how the Twins invaded his mind when he first entered Farthen Dûr. That observation was swept away as he immersed himself in the Urgal’s identity. The very nature of his search—looking for malevolent intent perhaps hidden somewhere in Garzhvog’s past—meant Eragon had to examine years of memories. Unlike the Twins, Eragon avoided causing deliberate pain, but he was not overly gentle. He could feel Garzhvog flinch with occasional pangs of discomfort. Like dwarves and elves, the mind of an Urgal possessed different elements than a human mind. Its structure emphasized rigidity and hierarchy—a result of the tribes the Urgals organized themselves into—but it felt rough and raw, brutal and cunning: the mind of a wild animal. Though he made no effort to learn more about Garzhvog as an individ-ual, Eragon could not help absorbing pieces of the Urgal’s life. Garzhvog did not resist. Indeed, he seemed eager to share his Page 685 experiences, to con-vince Eragon that Urgals were not his born enemies. We cannot afford to have another Rider rise up who seeks to destroy us, said Garzhvog. Look well, O Firesword, and see if we are truly the monsters you call us.... So many images and sensations flashed between them, Eragon almost lost track: Garzhvog’s childhood with the other members of his brood in a ramshackle village built deep in the heart of the Spine; his dam brush-ing his hair with an antler comb and singing a soft song; learning to hunt deer and other prey with his bare hands; growing larger and larger until it was apparent that the old blood still flowed in his veins and he would stand over eight feet tall, making him a Kull; the dozens of challenges he made, accepted, and won; venturing out of the village to gain renown, so he might mate, and gradually learning to hate, distrust, and fear—yes, fear —a world that had condemned his race; fighting in Farthen Dûr; discov-ering they had been manipulated by Durza; and realizing that their only hope of a better life was to put aside old differences, befriend the Varden, and see Galbatorix overthrown. Nowhere was there evidence that Garzhvog lied. Eragon could not understand what he had seen. Tearing himself from Garzhvog’s mind, he dove into each of the three remaining Urgals. Their memories confirmed the facts presented by Garzhvog. They made no at-tempt to conceal that they had killed humans, but it had been done at the command of Durza when the sorcerer controlled them, or when fighting humans over food or land. We did what we had to in order to care for our families, they said. When he finished, Eragon stood before Garzhvog and knew the Urgal’s bloodline was as regal as any prince’s. He knew that, though uneducated, Garzhvog was a brilliant commander and as great a thinker and philoso-pher as Oromis himself. He’s certainly brighter than me, admitted Eragon to Saphira. Baring his throat as a sign of respect, he said out loud, “Nar Garzhvog,” and for the first time, he was aware of the lofty origins of the title nar. “I am proud to have you at my side. You may tell the Herndall that so long as the Urgals remain true to their word and do not turn against the Varden, I shall not oppose you.” Eragon doubted that he would ever like an Urgal, but the iron certitude of his prejudice only a few minutes before now seemed ignorant, and he could not retain it in good conscience. Saphira flicked him on the arm with her barbed tongue, making the mail clink together. It takes courage to admit you were wrong. Only if you are afraid of looking foolish, and I would have looked far more foolish if I persisted with an erroneous belief. Why, little one, you just said something wise.Despite her teasing, he could sense her warm pride in what he had accomplished. “Again, we are in your debt, Firesword,” said Garzhvog. He and the other Urgals pressed their fists against their jutting brows. Eragon could tell that Nasuada wanted to know the details of what had just transpired but that she restrained herself. “Good. Now that this is settled, I must be off. Eragon, you’ll receive my signal from Trianna when the time has arrived.” With that she strode away into the darkness. As Eragon settled against Saphira, Orik sidled up to him. “It’s lucky we dwarves are going to be here, eh? We’ll watch the Kull like hawks, we will. We won’t let them catch you while your back is turned. The mo-ment they attack, we’ll cut their legs out from under them.” “I thought you agreed with Nasuada’s accepting the Urgals’ offer.” Page 686 “That doesn’t mean I trust them or want to be right alongside them, now does it?” Eragon smiled and did not bother to argue; it would be im-possible to convince Orik that the Urgals were not rapacious killers when he himself had refused to consider the possibility until sharing an Urgal’s memories. The night lay heavy around them as they waited for dawn. Orik re-moved a whetstone from his pocket and proceeded to hone the edge of his curved ax. Once they arrived, the six other dwarves did the same, and the rasp of metal on stone filled the air with a grating chorus. The Kull sat back to back, chanting death songs under their breaths. Eragon spent the time casting wards about himself, Saphira, Nasuada, Orik, and even Arya. He knew that it was dangerous to protect so many, but he could not bear it if they were harmed. When he finished, he transferred what power he dared into the diamonds embedded within the belt of Beloth the Wise. Eragon watched with interest as Angela clad herself in green and black armor and then, taking out a carved-wood case, assembled her staff-sword from two separate handles that attached in the middle and two blades of watered steel that threaded into the ends of the resulting pole. She twirled the completed weapon around her head a few times before seeming satisfied that it would hold up to the shock of battle. The dwarves eyed her with disapproval, and Eragon heard one grumble, “... blasphemy that any but Dûrgrimst Quan should wield the hûthvír.” After that the only sound was the discordant music of the dwarves honing their blades. It was near dawn when the cries began. Eragon and Saphira noticed them first because of their heightened senses, but the agonized screams were soon loud enough for the others to hear. Rising to his feet, Orik looked out toward the Empire, where the cacophony originated. “What manner of creatures are they torturing to extract such fearsome howls? The sound chills the marrow in my bones, it does.” “I told you that you wouldn’t have to wait very long,” said Angela. Her former cheer had deserted her; she looked pale, drawn, and gray in the face, as if she were ill. From his post by Saphira, Eragon asked, “ Youdid this?” “Aye. I poisoned their stew, their bread, their drink—anything I could get my hands on. Some will die now, others will die later as the various toxins take their toll. I slipped the officers nightshade and other such poi-sons so they will hallucinate in battle.” She tried to smile, but without much success. “Not a very honorable way to fight, I suppose, but I’d rather do this than be killed. Confusion to our enemies and all that.” “Only a coward or a thief uses poison!” exclaimed Orik. “What glory is there in defeating a sick opponent?” The screams intensified even as he spoke. Angela gave an unpleasant laugh. “Glory? If you want glory, there are thousands more troops I didn’t poison. I’m sure you will have your fill of glory by the end of today.” “Is this why you needed the equipment in Orrin’s tent?” asked Eragon. He found her deed repugnant but did not pretend to know whether it was good or evil. It was necessary. Angela had poisoned the soldiers for the same reason Nasuada had accepted the Urgals’ offer of friendship— because it might be their only hope of survival. “That’s right.” Page 687 The soldiers’ wails increased in number until Eragon longed to plug his ears and block out the sound. It made him wince and fidget, and it put his teeth on edge. He forced himself to listen, though. This was the cost of resisting the Empire. It would be wrong to ignore it. So he sat with his hands clenched into fists and his jaw forming painful knots while the Burning Plains echoed with the disembodied voices of dying men. THE STORM BREAKS The first horizontal rays of dawn already streaked across the land when Trianna said to Eragon, It is time. A surge of energy erased Eragon’s sleepiness. Jumping to his feet, he shouted the word to everyone around him, even as he clambered into Saphira’s saddle, pulling his new bow from its quiver. The Kull and dwarves surrounded Saphira, and together they hurried down the breastwork until they reached the opening that had been cleared during the night. The Varden poured through the gap, quiet as they could be. Rank upon rank of warriors marched past, their armor and weapons padded with rags so no sound would alert the Empire of their approach. Saphira joined the procession when Nasuada appeared on a roan charger in the midst of the men, Arya and Trianna by her side. The five of them ac-knowledged each other with quick glances, nothing more. During the night, the mephitic vapors had accumulated low to the ground, and now the dim morning light gilded the turgid clouds, turning them opaque. Thus, the Varden managed to cross three-quarters of the no-man’s-land before they were seen by the Empire’s sentries. As the alarm horns rang out before them, Nasuada shouted, “Now, Eragon! Tell Orrin to strike. To me, men of the Varden! Fight to win back your homes. Fight to guard your wives and children! Fight to overthrow Gal-batorix! Attack and bathe your blades in the blood of our enemies! Charge!” She spurred her horse forward, and with a great bellow, the men followed, shaking their weapons above their heads. Eragon conveyed Nasuada’s order to Barden, the spellcaster who rode with King Orrin. A moment later, he heard the drumming of hooves as Orrin and his cavalry—accompanied by the rest of the Kull, who could run as fast as horses—galloped out of the east. They charged into the Empire’s flank, pinning the soldiers against the Jiet River and distracting them long enough for the Varden to cross the remainder of the distance between them without opposition. The two armies collided with a deafening roar. Pikes clashed against spears, hammers against shields, swords against helms, and above it all whirled the hungry gore-crows uttering their harsh croaks, driven into a frenzy by the smell of fresh meat below. Eragon’s heart leaped within his chest. I must now kill or be killed. Al-most immediately he felt his wards drawing upon his strength as they de-flected attacks from Arya, Orik, Nasuada, and Saphira. Saphira held back from the leading edge of the battle, for they would be too exposed to Galbatorix’s magicians at the front. Taking a deep breath, Eragon began to search for those magicians with his mind, firing arrows all the while. Du Vrangr Gata found the first enemy spellcaster. The instant he was alerted, Eragon reached out to the woman who made the discovery, and from there to the foe she grappled with. Bringing the full power of his will to bear, Eragon demolished the magician’s resistance, took control of his consciousness—doing his best to ignore the man’s terror—determined which troops the man was guarding, and slew the man Page 688 with one of the twelve words of death. Without pause, Eragon located the minds of each of the now-unprotected soldiers and killed them as well. The Varden cheered as the knot of men went limp. The ease with which he slew them amazed Eragon. The soldiers had had no chance to escape or fight back. How different from Farthen Dûr, he thought. Though he marveled at the perfection of his skills, the deaths sickened him. But there was no time to dwell on it. Recovering from the Varden’s initial assault, the Empire began to man their engines of war: catapults that cast round missiles of hard-baked ce-ramic, trebuchets armed with barrels of liquid fire, and ballistae that bombarded the attackers with a hail of arrows six feet long. The ceramic balls and the liquid fire caused terrific damage when they landed. One ball exploded against the ground not ten yards from Saphira. As Eragon ducked behind his shield, a jagged fragment spun toward his head, only to be stopped dead in the air by one of his wards. He blinked at the sudden loss of energy. The engines soon stalled the Varden’s advance, sowing mayhem wher-ever they aimed. They have to be destroyed if we’re going to last long enough to wear down the Empire, realized Eragon. It would be easy for Saphira to dismantle the machines, but she dared not fly among the sol-diers for fear of an attack by magic. Breaking through the Varden lines, eight soldiers stormed toward Saphira, jabbing at her with pikes. Before Eragon could draw Zar’roc, the dwarves and Kull eliminated the entire group. “A good fight!” roared Garzhvog. “A good fight!” agreed Orik with a bloody grin. Eragon did not use spells against the engines; they would be protected against any conceivable enchantment. Unless... Extending himself, he found the mind of a soldier who tended one of the catapults. Though he was sure the soldier was defended by some magician, Eragon was able to gain dominance over him and direct his actions from afar. He guided the man up to the weapon, which was being loaded, then had him use his sword to hack at the skein of twisted rope that powered the machine. The rope was too thick to sever before the soldier was dragged away by his comrades, but the damage was already done. With a mighty crack, the partially wound skein broke, sending the arm of the catapult flying backward and injuring several men. His lips curled in a grim smile, Er-agon proceeded to the next catapult and, in short order, disabled the re-mainder of the engines. Returning to himself, Eragon became aware of dozens of the Varden collapsing around Saphira; one of Du Vrangr Gata had been over-whelmed. He uttered a dreadful curse and flung himself back along the trail of magic as he searched for the man who cast the fatal spell, entrust-ing the welfare of his body to Saphira and his guards. For over an hour, Eragon hunted Galbatorix’s magicians, but to little avail, for they were wily and cunning and did not directly attack him. Their reticence puzzled Eragon until he tore from the mind of one spell-caster—moments before he committed suicide—the thought, ... ordered not to kill you or the dragon... not to kill you or the dragon. That answers my question,he said to Saphira, but why does Galbatorix still want us alive? We’ve made it clear we support the Varden. Before she could respond, Nasuada appeared before them, her face streaked with filth and gore, her shield covered with dents, blood sheet-ing down her left leg from a wound on her thigh. “Eragon,” she Page 689 gasped. “I need you, both of you, to fight, to show yourselves and embolden the men... to frighten the soldiers.” Her condition shocked Eragon. “Let me heal you first,” he cried, afraid she might faint. I should have put more wards around her. “No! I can wait, but we are lost unless you stem the tide of soldiers.” Her eyes were glazed and empty, blank holes in her face. “We need... a Rider.” She swayed in her saddle. Eragon saluted her with Zar’roc. “You have one, my Lady.” “Go,” she said, “and may what gods there are watch over you.” Eragon was too high on Saphira’s back to strike his enemies below, so he dismounted and positioned himself by her right paw. To Orik and Garzhvog, he said, “Protect Saphira’s left side. And whatever you do, don’t get in our way.” “You will be overrun, Firesword.” “No,” said Eragon, “I won’t. Now take your places!” As they did, he put his hand on Saphira’s leg and looked her in one clear-cut sapphire eye. Shall we dance, friend of my heart? We shall, little one. Then he and she merged their identities to a greater degree than ever before, vanquishing all differences between them to become a single en-tity. They bellowed, leaped forward, and forged a path to the front line. Once there, Eragon could not tell from whose mouth emanated the rav-enous jet of flame that consumed a dozen soldiers, cooking them in their mail, nor whose arm it was that brought Zar’roc down in an arc, cleaving a soldier’s helm in half. The metallic scent of blood clogged the air, and curtains of smoke wafted over the Burning Plains, alternately concealing and revealing the knots, clumps, ranks, and battalions of thrashing bodies. Overhead, the carrion birds waited for their meal and the sun climbed in the firmament toward noon. From the minds of those around them, Eragon and Saphira caught glimpses of how they appeared. Saphira was always noticed first: a great ravening creature with claws and fangs dyed red, who slew all in her path with swipes of her paws and lashes of her tail and with billowing waves of flame that engulfed entire platoons of soldiers. Her brilliant scales glit-tered like stars and nearly blinded her foes with their reflected light. Next they saw Eragon running alongside Saphira. He moved faster than the soldiers could react and, with strength beyond men, splintered shields with a single blow, rent armor, and clove the swords of those who op-posed him. Shot and dart cast at him fell to the pestilent ground ten feet away, stopped by his wards. It was harder for Eragon—and, by extension, Saphira—to fight his own race than it had been to fight the Urgals in Farthen Dûr. Every time he saw a frightened face or looked into a soldier’s mind, he thought, This could be me. But he and Saphira could afford no mercy; if a soldier stood before them, he died. Three times they sallied forth and three times Eragon and Saphira slew every man in the Empire’s first few ranks before retreating to the main body of the Varden to avoid being surrounded. By the end of their last attack, Eragon had to reduce or eliminate certain wards around Arya, Orik, Nasuada, Saphira, and himself in order to keep the spells from ex-hausting him too quickly. For though his strength was Page 690 great, so too were the demands of battle. Ready?he asked Saphira after a brief respite. She growled an affirma-tive. A cloud of arrows whistled toward Eragon the instant he dove back into combat. Fast as an elf, he dodged the bulk of them—since his magic no longer protected him from such missiles—caught twelve on his shield, and stumbled as one struck his belly and one his side. Neither shaft pierced his armor, but they knocked the wind out of him and left bruises the size of apples. Don’t stop! You’ve dealt with worse pain than this be-fore, he told himself. Rushing a cluster of eight soldiers, Eragon darted from one to the next, knocking aside their pikes and jabbing Zar’roc like a deadly bolt of light-ning. The fighting had dulled his reflexes, though, and one soldier man-aged to drive his pike through Eragon’s hauberk, slicing his left triceps. The soldiers cringed as Saphira roared. Eragon took advantage of the distraction to fortify himself with energy stored within the ruby in Zar’roc’s pommel and then to kill the three re-maining soldiers. Sweeping her tail over him, Saphira knocked a score of men out of his way. In the lull that followed, Eragon looked over at his throbbing arm and said, “Waíse heill.” He also healed his bruises, relying upon Zar’roc’s ruby, as well as the diamonds in the belt of Beloth the Wise. Then the two of them pressed onward. Eragon and Saphira choked the Burning Plains with mountains of their enemies, and yet the Empire never faltered or fell back. For every man they killed, another stepped forth to take his place. A sense of hopeless-ness engulfed Eragon as the mass of soldiers gradually forced the Varden to retreat toward their own camp. He saw his despair mirrored in the faces of Nasuada, Arya, King Orrin, and even Angela when he passed them in battle. All our training and we still can’t stop the Empire,raged Eragon. There are just too many soldiers! We can’t keep this up forever. And Zar’roc and the belt are almost depleted. You can draw energy from your surroundings if you have to. I won’t, not unless I kill another of Galbatorix’s magicians and can take it from the soldiers. Otherwise, I’ll just be hurting the rest of the Varden, since there are no plants or animals here I can use to support us. As the long hours dragged by, Eragon grew sore and weary and— stripped of many of his arcane defenses—accumulated dozens of minor injuries. His left arm went numb from the countless blows that ham-mered his mangled shield. A scratch on his forehead kept blinding him with rivulets of hot, sweat-mixed blood. He thought one of his fingers might be broken. Saphira fared no better. The soldiers’ armor tore the inside of her mouth, dozens of swords and arrows cut her unprotected wings, and a javelin punctured one of her own plates of armor, wounding her in the shoulder. Eragon saw the spear coming and tried to deflect it with a spell but was too slow. Whenever Saphira moved, she splattered the ground with hundreds of drops of blood. Beside them, three of Orik’s warriors fell, and two of the Kull. Page 691 And the sun began its descent toward evening. As Eragon and Saphira prepared for their seventh and final assault, a trumpet sounded in the east, loud and clear, and King Orrin shouted, “The dwarves are here! The dwarves are here!” Dwarves?Eragon blinked and glanced around, confused. He saw noth-ing but soldiers. Then a jolt of excitement raced through him as he un-derstood. The dwarves! He climbed onto Saphira and she jumped into the air, hanging for a moment on her tattered wings as they surveyed the bat-tlefield. It was true—a great host marched out of the east toward the Burning Plains. At its head strode King Hrothgar, clad in gold mail, his jeweled helm upon his brow, and Volund, his ancient war hammer, gripped in his iron fist. The dwarf king raised Volund in greeting when he saw Eragon and Saphira. Eragon howled at the top of his lungs and returned the gesture, bran-dishing Zar’roc in the air. A surge of renewed vigor made him forget his wounds and feel fierce and determined again. Saphira added her voice to his, and the Varden looked to her with hope, while the Empire’s soldiers hesitated with fear. “What did you see?” cried Orik as Saphira dropped back to earth. “Is it Hrothgar? How many warriors did he bring?” Ecstatic with relief, Eragon stood in his stirrups and shouted, “Take heart, King Hrothgar is here! And it looks like every single dwarf is be-hind him! We’ll crush the Empire!” After the men stopped cheering, he added, “Now take your swords and remind these flea-bitten cowards why they should fear us. Charge!” Just as Saphira leaped toward the soldiers, Eragon heard a second cry, this one from the west: “A ship! A ship is coming up the Jiet River!” “Blast it,” he snarled. We can’t let a ship land if it’s bringing reinforce-ments for the Empire. Contacting Trianna, he said, Tell Nasuada that Saphira and I will take care of this. We’ll sink the ship if it’s from Galba-torix. As you wish, Argetlam,replied the sorceress. Without hesitation, Saphira took flight, circling high over the trampled, smoking plain. As the relentless clamor of combat faded from his ears, Eragon took a deep breath, feeling his mind clear. Below, he was sur-prised by how scattered both armies had become. The Empire and the Varden had disintegrated into a series of smaller groups contending against one another over the entire breadth and width of the Burning Plains. It was into this confused tumult that the dwarves inserted them-selves, catching the Empire from the side—as Orrin had done earlier with his cavalry. Eragon lost sight of the battle when Saphira turned to her left and soared through the clouds in the direction of the Jiet River. A gust of wind blew the peat smoke out of their way and unveiled a large threemasted ship riding upon the orange water, rowing against the current with two banks of oars. The ship was scarred and damaged and flew no colors to declare its allegiance. Nevertheless, Eragon readied himself to destroy the vessel. As Saphira dove toward it, he lifted Zar’roc overhead and loosed his savage war cry. CONVERGENCE Page 692 Roran stood at the prow of the Dragon Wing and listened to the oars swish through the water. He had just finished a stint rowing and a cold, jagged ache permeated his right shoulder. Will I always have to deal with this reminder of the Ra’zac? He wiped the sweat from his face and ignored the discomfort, concentrating instead on the river ahead, which was ob-scured by a bank of sooty clouds. Elain joined him at the railing. She rested a hand on her swollen belly. “The water looks evil,” she said. “Perhaps we should have stayed in Dauth, rather than drag ourselves in search of more trouble.” He feared she spoke the truth. After the Boar’s Eye, they had sailed east from the Southern Isles back to the coast and then up the mouth of the Jiet River to Surda’s port city of Dauth. By the time they made landfall, their stores were exhausted and the villagers sickly. Roran had every intention of staying in Dauth, especially after they re-ceived an enthusiastic welcome from its governor, Lady Alarice. But that was before he was told about Galbatorix’s army. If the Varden were de-feated, he would never see Katrina again. So, with the help of Jeod, he convinced Horst and many of the other villagers that if they wanted to live in Surda, safe from the Empire, they had to row up the Jiet River and assist the Varden. It was a difficult task, but in the end Roran prevailed. And once they told Lady Alarice about their quest, she gave them all the supplies they wanted. Since then, Roran often wondered if he made the right choice. By now everyone hated living on the Dragon Wing. People were tense and short-tempered, a situation only aggravated by the knowledge they were sailing toward a battle. Was it all selfishness on my part? wondered Roran. Did I really do this for the benefit of the villagers, or only because it will bring me one step closer to finding Katrina? “Perhaps we should have,” he said to Elain. Together they watched as a thick layer of smoke gathered overhead, darkening the sky, obscuring the sun, and filtering the remaining light so that everything below was colored a nauseating hue of orange. It pro-duced an eerie twilight the likes of which Roran had never imagined. The sailors on deck looked about fearfully and muttered charms of protec-tion, pulling out stone amulets to ward off the evil eye. “Listen,” said Elain. She tilted her head. “What is that?” Roran strained his ears and caught the faint ring of metal striking metal. “That,” he said, “is the sound of our destiny.” Twisting, he shouted back over his shoulder, “Captain, there’s fighting just ahead!” “Man the ballistae!” roared Uthar. “Double-time on those oars, Bonden. An’ every able-bodied man jack among you better be ready or you’ll be using your guts for pillows!” Roran remained where he was as the Dragon Wing exploded with ac-tivity. Despite the increase in noise, he could still hear swords and shields clanging together in the distance. The screams of men were audible now, as were the roars of some giant beast. He glanced over as Jeod joined them at the prow. The merchant’s face was pale. “Have you ever been in battle before?” asked Roran. The knob in Jeod’s throat bobbed as he swallowed and shook his head. “I got into plenty of fights along with Brom, but never anything of this scale.” Page 693 “A first for both of us, then.” The bank of smoke thinned on the right, providing them with a glimpse of a dark land that belched forth fire and putrid orange vapor and was covered with masses of struggling men. It was impossible to tell who was the Empire and who was the Varden, but it was apparent to Roran that the battle could tip in either direction given the right nudge. We can provide that nudge. Then a voice echoed over the water as a man shouted, “A ship! A ship is coming up the Jiet River!” “You should go belowdecks,” said Roran to Elain. “It won’t be safe for you here.” She nodded and hurried to the fore hatchway, where she climbed down the ladder, closing the opening behind her. A moment later, Horst bounded up to the prow and handed Roran one of Fisk’s shields. “Thought you might need that,” said Horst. “Thanks. I—” Roran stopped as the air around them vibrated, as if from a mighty concussion. Thud. His teeth jarred together. Thud. His ears hurt from the pressure. Close upon the heels of the second impact came a third— thud— and with it a raw-throated yell that Roran recognized, for he had heard it many times in his childhood. He looked up and beheld a gigantic sapphire dragon diving out of the shifting clouds. And on the dragon’s back, at the juncture between its neck and shoulders, sat his cousin, Er-agon. It was not the Eragon he remembered, but rather as if an artist had taken his cousin’s base features and enhanced them, streamlined them, making them both more noble and more feline. This Eragon was garbed like a prince, in fine cloth and armor—though tarnished by the grime of war—and in his right hand he wielded a blade of iridescent red. This Er-agon, Roran knew, could kill without hesitation. This Eragon was power-ful and implacable.... This Eragon could slay the Ra’zac and their mounts and help him to rescue Katrina. Flaring its translucent wings, the dragon pulled up sharply and hung be-fore the ship. Then Eragon met Roran’s eyes. Until that moment, Roran had not completely believed Jeod’s story about Eragon and Brom. Now, as he stared at his cousin, a wave of con-fused emotions washed over him. Eragon is a Rider! It seemed inconceiv-able that the slight, moody, overeager boy he grew up with had turned into this fearsome warrior. Seeing him alive again filled Roran with unex-pected joy. Yet, at the same time, a terrible, familiar anger welled up in-side him over Eragon’s role in Garrow’s death and the siege of Carvahall. In those few seconds, Roran knew not whether he loved or hated Eragon. He stiffened with alarm as a vast and alien being touched his mind. From that consciousness emanated Eragon’s voice: Roran? “Aye.” Think your answers and I’ll hear them. Is everyone from Carvahall with you? Just about. How did you... No, we can’t go into it; there’s no time. Stay where you are until the battle is decided. Page 694 Better yet, go back farther down the river, where the Empire can’t attack you. We have to talk, Eragon. You have much to answer for. Eragon hesitated with a troubled expression, then said, I know. But not now, later. With no visible prompting, the dragon veered away from the ship and flew off to the east, vanishing in the haze over the Burning Plains. In an awed voice, Horst said, “A Rider! A real Rider! I never thought I’d see the day, much less that it would be Eragon.” He shook his head. “I guess you told us the truth, eh, Longshanks?” Jeod grinned in response, looking like a delighted child. Their words sounded muted to Roran as he stared at the deck, feeling like he was about to explode with tension. A host of unanswerable ques-tions assailed him. He forced himself to ignore them. I can’t think about Eragon now. We have to fight. The Varden must defeat the Empire. A rising tide of fury consumed him. He had experienced this before, a berserk frenzy that allowed him to overcome nearly any obstacle, to move objects he could not shift ordinarily, to face an enemy in combat and feel no fear. It gripped him now, a fever in his veins, quickening his breath and setting his heart a-pounding. He pushed himself off the railing, ran the length of the ship to the quarterdeck, where Uthar stood by the wheel, and said, “Ground the ship.” “What?” “Ground the ship, I say! Stay here with the rest of the soldiers and use the ballistae to wreak what havoc you can, keep the Dragon Wing from being boarded, and guard our families with your lives. Understand?” Uthar stared at him with flat eyes, and Roran feared he would not ac-cept the orders. Then the scarred sailor grunted and said, “Aye, aye, Stronghammer.” Horst’s heavy tread preceded his arrival at the quarterdeck. “What do you intend to do, Roran?” “Do?” Roran laughed and spun widdershins to stand toe to toe with the smith. “Do? Why, I intend to alter the fate of Alagaësia!” ELDEST Eragon barely noticed as Saphira carried him back into the swirling confusion of the battle. He had known that Roran was at sea, but it never occurred to him that Roran might be heading for Surda, nor that they would reunite in this manner. And Roran’s eyes! His eyes seemed to bore into Eragon, questioning, relieved, enraged... accusing.In them, Eragon saw that his cousin had learned of Eragon’s role in Garrow’s death and had not yet forgiven him. It was only when a sword bounced off his greaves that Eragon returned his attention to his surroundings. He unleashed a hoarse shout and slashed downward, cutting away the soldier who struck him. Cursing himself for being so careless, Eragon reached out to Trianna and said, No one on that ship is an enemy. Page 695 Spread the word that they’re not to be attacked. Ask Nasuada if, as a favor to us, she can send a herald to explain the situation to them and see that they stay away from the fighting. As you wish, Argetlam. From the western flank of the battle, where she alighted, Saphira trav-ersed the Burning Plains in a few giant leaps, stopping before Hrothgar and his dwarves. Dismounting, Eragon went to the king, who said, “Hail, Argetlam! Hail, Saphira! The elves seem to have done more for you than they promised.” Beside him stood Orik. “No, sir, it was the dragons.” “Really? I must hear your adventures once our bloody work here is done. I’m glad you accepted my offer to become Dûrgrimst Ingeitum. It is an honor to have you as mine kin.” “And you mine.” Hrothgar laughed, then turned to Saphira and said, “I still haven’t for-gotten your vow to mend Isidar Mithrim, dragon. Even now, our artisans are assembling the star sapphire in the center of Tronjheim. I look for-ward to seeing it whole once again.” She bowed her head. As I promised, so it shall be. After Eragon repeated her words, Hrothgar reached out with a gnarled finger and tapped one of the metal plates on her side. “I see you wear our armor. I hope it has served you well.” Very well, King Hrothgar,said Saphira through Eragon. It has saved me many an injury. Hrothgar straightened and lifted Volund, a twinkle in his deep-set eyes. “Well then, shall we march out and test it once again in the forge of war?” He looked back at his warriors and shouted, “Akh sartos oen dûr-grimst!” “Vor Hrothgarz korda! Vor Hrothgarz korda!” Eragon looked at Orik, who translated with a mighty yell, “By Hroth-gar’s hammer!” Joining the chant, Eragon ran with the dwarf king toward the crimson ranks of soldiers, Saphira by his side. Now at last, with the help of the dwarves, the battle turned in favor of the Varden. Together they pushed back the Empire, dividing them, crushing them, forcing Galbatorix’s vast army to abandon positions they had held since morn. Their efforts were helped by the fact that more of Angela’s poisons had taken effect. Many of the Empire’s officers behaved irrationally, giving orders that made it easier for the Varden to penetrate deeper into the army, sowing chaos as they went. The soldiers seemed to realize that fortune no longer smiled upon them, for hundreds surren-dered, or defected outright and turned on their former comrades, or threw down their weapons and fled. And the day passed into the late afternoon. Eragon was in the midst of fighting two soldiers when a flaming javelin roared past overhead and buried itself in one of the Empire’s command tents twenty yards away, igniting the fabric. Dispatching his opponents, Eragon glanced back and saw dozens of fiery missiles arcing out from the ship on the Jiet River. What are you playing at, Roran? wondered Eragon before charging the next batch of soldiers. Page 696 Soon afterward, a horn echoed from the rear of the Empire’s army, then another and another. Someone began to pound a sonorous drum, the peals of which stilled the field as everyone looked about for the source of the beat. Even as Eragon watched, an ominous figure detached itself from the horizon in the north and rose up in the lurid sky over the Burning Plains. The gore-crows scattered before the barbed black shadow, which balanced motionless upon the thermals. At first Eragon thought it a Lethrblaka, one of the Ra’zac’s mounts. Then a ray of light escaped the clouds and struck the figure crossways from the west. A red dragon floated above them, glowing and sparkling in the sun-beam like a bed of blood-red coals. His wing membranes were the color of wine held before a lantern. His claws and teeth and the spikes along his spine were white as snow. In his vermilion eyes there gleamed a terri-ble glee. On his back was fixed a saddle, and in that saddle sat a man garbed in polished steel armor and armed with a hand-and-a-half sword. Dread clutched at Eragon. Galbatorix managed to get another dragon to hatch! Then the man in steel raised his left hand and a shaft of crackling ruby energy sprang from his palm and smote Hrothgar on the breast. The dwarf spellcasters cried out with agony as the energy from their bodies was consumed trying to block the attack. They collapsed, dead, then Hrothgar clutched his heart and toppled to the ground. The dwarves gave a great groan of despair as they saw their king fall. “No!” cried Eragon, and Saphira roared in protest. He glared with hate at the enemy Rider. I’ll kill you for that. Eragon knew that, as they were, he and Saphira were too tired to con-front such a mighty opponent. Glancing around, Eragon spotted a horse lying in the mud, a spear through its side. The stallion was still alive. Er-agon put his hand on its neck and murmured, Sleep, brother. Then he transferred the horse’s remaining vitality into himself and Saphira. It was not enough energy to restore all their strength, but it soothed their aching muscles and stopped their limbs from shaking. Rejuvenated, Eragon leaped onto Saphira, shouting, “Orik, take com-mand of your kinsmen!” Across the field, he saw Arya gaze at him with concern. He put her out of his mind as he tightened the saddle straps around his legs. Then Saphira launched herself toward the red dragon, pumping her wings at a furious rate to gain the necessary speed. I hope you remember your lessons with Glaedr,he said. He tightened his grip on his shield. Saphira did not answer him but roared out with her thoughts at the other dragon, Traitor! Egg breaker, oath breaker, murderer! Then as one, she and Eragon assaulted the minds of the pair, seeking to overwhelm their defenses. The consciousness of the Rider felt strange to Eragon, as if it contained multitudes; scores of distinct voices whispered in the caverns of his mind, like imprisoned spirits begging for release. The instant they made contact, the Rider retaliated with a blast of pure force greater than any even Oromis was capable of summoning. Eragon retreated deep behind his own barriers, frantically reciting a scrap of dog-gerel Oromis taught him to use in such predicaments: Under a cold and empty winter sky Stood a wee, small man with a silver sword. Page 697 He jumped and stabbed in a fevered frenzy, Fighting the shadows massed before him.... The siege on Eragon’s mind abated as Saphira and the red dragon crashed together, two incandescent meteors colliding head-on. They grappled, kicking each other’s bellies with their hind legs. Their talons produced hideous screeches as they grated against Saphira’s armor and the red dragon’s flat scales. The red dragon was smaller than Saphira, but thicker in his legs and shoulders. He managed to kick her off for a mo-ment, then they closed again, each struggling to get their jaws around the other’s neck. It was all Eragon could do to keep hold of Zar’roc as the dragons tum-bled toward the ground, battering one another with terrible blows from their feet and tails. No more than fifty yards above the Burning Plains, Saphira and the red dragon disengaged, struggling to regain altitude. Once she halted her descent, Saphira reared her head, like a snake about to strike, and loosed a thick torrent of fire. It never reached its destination; twelve feet from the red dragon, the fire bifurcated and passed harmlessly on either side. Blast it, thought Er-agon. Even as the red dragon opened its maw to retaliate, Eragon cried, “Skölir nosu fra brisingr!” He was just in time. The conflagration swirled around them but did not even scorch Saphira’s scales. Now Saphira and the red dragon raced up through the striated smoke into the clear, chill sky beyond, darting back and forth as they tried to climb above their opponent. The red dragon nipped Saphira’s tail, and she and Eragon yelped with shared pain. Panting from the effort, Saphira executed a tight backward loop, ending up behind the dragon, who then pivoted to the left and tried to spiral up and over Saphira. While the dragons dueled with increasingly complex acrobatics, Eragon became aware of a disturbance on the Burning Plains: the spellcasters of Du Vrangr Gata were beset by two new magicians from the Empire. These magicians were far more powerful than those who had preceded them. They had already killed one of Du Vrangr Gata and were battering past the barriers of a second. Eragon heard Trianna scream with her mind, Shadeslayer! You have to help us! We can’t stop them. They’ll kill all the Varden. Help us, it’s the— Her voice was lost to him as the Rider stabbed at his consciousness. “This must end,” spat Eragon between clenched teeth as he strove to withstand the onslaught. Over Saphira’s neck, he saw the red dragon dive toward them, angling beneath Saphira. Eragon dared not open his mind enough to talk with Saphira, so he said out loud, “Catch me!” With two strokes of Zar’roc, he severed the straps around his legs and jumped off Saphira’s back. This is insane,thought Eragon. He laughed with giddy exhilaration as the feeling of weightlessness took hold of him. The rush of air tore off his helm and made his eyes water and sting. Releasing his shield, Eragon spread out his arms and legs, as Oromis had taught him, in order to stabi-lize his flight. Below, the steel-clad Rider noticed Eragon’s action. The red dragon shied to Eragon’s left but could not evade him. Eragon lashed out with Zar’roc as the dragon’s flank flashed by, and he felt the blade sink into the creature’s hamstring before his momentum carried him past. The dragon roared in agony. The impact of the blow sent Eragon spinning up, down, and around. By the time he managed to stop his rotation, he had plummeted through the cloud cover and was heading toward a swift and fatal landing on the Burning Plains. He could stop himself with magic if he had to, but it would drain his last reserves of Page 698 energy. He glanced over both his shoul-ders. Come on, Saphira, where are you? As if in answer, she dropped out of the foul smoke, her wings pressed tight against her body. She swooped underneath him and opened her wings a bit to slow her fall. Careful not to impale himself on one of her spikes, Eragon maneuvered himself back into the saddle, welcoming the return of gravity as she pulled out of the dive. Never do that to me again,she snapped. He surveyed the steaming blood that laced Zar’roc’s blade. It worked, didn’t it? His satisfaction disappeared as he realized that his stunt had placed Saphira at the mercy of the red dragon. He hurtled at her from above, harrying her this way and that as he forced her toward the ground. Saphira tried to maneuver out from under him, but every time she did, he dove at her, biting and buffeting her with his wings in order to make her change course. The dragons twisted and lunged until their tongues lolled out of their mouths, their tails drooped, and they gave up flapping and merely glided. His mind once again closed to all contact, friendly or not, Eragon said out loud, “Land, Saphira; it’s no good. I’ll fight him on the ground.” With a grunt of weary resignation, Saphira descended to the nearest flat open area, a small stone plateau set along the western edge of the Jiet River. The water had turned red from the blood pouring into it from the battle. Eragon jumped off Saphira once she alighted on the plateau and tested his footing. It was smooth and hard, with nothing to trip on. He nodded, pleased. A few seconds later, the red dragon rushed by overhead and settled on the opposite side of the plateau. He held his left hind leg off the ground to avoid aggravating his wound: a long gash that nearly severed the mus-cle. The dragon trembled his entire length, like an injured dog. He tried to hop forward, then stopped and snarled at Eragon. The enemy Rider unbuckled his legs and slid down the uninjured side of his dragon. Then he walked around the dragon and examined his leg. Eragon let him; he knew how much pain it would cause the man to see the damage inflicted on his bonded partner. He waited too long, though, for the Rider muttered a few indecipherable words, and within the span of three seconds the dragon’s injury was healed. Eragon shivered with fear. How could he do that so quickly, and with such a short spell? Still, whoever he might be, the new Rider certainly was not Galbatorix, whose dragon was black. Eragon clung to that knowledge as he stepped forward to confront the Rider. As they met in the center of the plateau, Saphira and the red dragon circled in the background. The Rider grasped his sword with both hands and swung it over his head toward Eragon, who lifted Zar’roc to defend himself. Their blades collided with a burst of crimson sparks. Then Eragon shoved back his opponent and started a complex series of blows. He stabbed and parried, dancing on light feet as he forced the steel-clad Rider to retreat toward the edge of the plateau. When they reached the edge, the Rider held his ground, fending off Er-agon’s attacks, no matter how clever. It’s as if he can anticipate my every move, thought Eragon, frustrated. If he were rested, it would have been easy for him to defeat the Rider, but as it was, he could make no head-way. The Rider Page 699 did not have the speed and strength of an elf, but his technical skill was better than Vanir’s and as good as Eragon’s. Eragon felt a touch of panic when his initial surge of energy began to subside and he had accomplished nothing more than a slight scratch across the Rider’s gleaming breastplate. The last reserves of power stored in Zar’roc’s ruby and the belt of Beloth the Wise were only enough to maintain his exertions for another minute. Then the Rider took a step forward. Then another. And before Eragon knew it, they had returned to the center of the plateau, where they stood facing each other, exchanging blows. Zar’roc grew so heavy in his hand, Eragon could barely lift it. His shoul-der burned, he gasped for breath, and sweat poured off his face. Not even his desire to avenge Hrothgar could help him to overcome his exhaus-tion. At last Eragon slipped and fell. Determined not to be killed lying down, he rolled back onto his feet and stabbed at the Rider, who knocked aside Zar’roc with a lazy flick of his wrist. The way the Rider flourished his sword afterward—spinning it in a quick circle by his side—suddenly seemed familiar to Eragon, as did all his preceding swordsmanship. He stared with growing horror at his en-emy’s hand-and-a-half sword, then back up at the eye slits of his mirrored helm, and shouted, “I know you!” He threw himself at the Rider, trapping both swords between their bodies, hooked his fingers underneath the helm, and ripped it off. And there in the center of the plateau, on the edge of the Burning Plains of Alagaësia, stood Murtagh. INHERITANCE Murtagh grinned. Then he said, “Thrysta vindr,” and a hard ball of air coalesced between them and struck Eragon in the middle of his chest, tossing him twenty feet across the plateau. Eragon heard Saphira growl as he landed on his back. His vision flashed red and white, then he curled into a ball and waited for the pain to re-cede. Any delight he felt in Murtagh’s reappearance was overwhelmed by the macabre circumstances of their meeting. A unstable mixture of shock, confusion, and anger boiled within him. Lowering his sword, Murtagh pointed at Eragon with his steel-encased hand, curling every finger but his index into a spiny fist. “You never would give up.” A chill crept along Eragon’s spine, for he recognized the scene from his premonition while rafting the Az Ragni to Hedarth: A man sprawled in the clotted mud with a dented helm and bloody mail—his face concealed behind an upthrown arm. An armored hand entered Eragon’s view and pointed at the downed man with all the authority of fate itself. Past and fu-ture had converged. Now Eragon’s doom would be decided. Pushing himself to his feet, he coughed and said, “Murtagh... how can you be alive? I watched the Urgals drag you underground. I tried to scry you but saw only darkness.” Murtagh uttered a mirthless laugh. “You saw nothing, just as I saw nothing the times I tried to scry you during my days in Urû’baen.” Page 700 “You died, though!” shouted Eragon, almost incoherent. “You died un-der Farthen Dûr. Arya found your bloody clothes in the tunnels.” A shadow darkened Murtagh’s face. “No, I did not die. It was the Twins’ doing, Eragon. They took control of a group of Urgals and ar-ranged the ambush in order to kill Ajihad and capture me. Then they en-sorcelled me so I could not escape and spirited me off to Urû’baen.” Eragon shook his head, unable to comprehend what had happened. “But why did you agree to serve Galbatorix? You told me you hated him. You told me—” “Agree!” Murtagh laughed again, and this time his outburst contained an edge of madness. “I did not agree. First Galbatorix punished me for spiting his years of protection during my upbringing in Urû’baen, for de-fying his will and running away. Then he extracted everything I knew about you, Saphira, and the Varden.” “You betrayed us! I was mourning you, and you betrayed us!” “I had no choice.” “Ajihad was right to lock you up. He should have let you rot in your cell, then none of this—” “I had no choice!” snarled Murtagh. “And after Thorn hatched for me, Galbatorix forced both of us to swear loyalty to him in the ancient lan-guage. We cannot disobey him now.” Pity and disgust welled inside of Eragon. “You have become your fa-ther.” A strange gleam leaped into Murtagh’s eyes. “No, not my father. I’m stronger than Morzan ever was. Galbatorix taught me things about magic you’ve never even dreamed of.... Spells so powerful, the elves dare not ut-ter them, cowards that they are. Words in the ancient language that were lost until Galbatorix discovered them. Ways to manipulate energy... Se-crets, terrible secrets, that can destroy your enemies and fulfill all your desires.” Eragon thought back to some of Oromis’s lessons and retorted, “Things that should remain secrets.” “If you knew, you would not say that. Brom was a dabbler, nothing more. And the elves, bah! All they can do is hide in their forest and wait to be conquered.” Murtagh ran his eyes over Eragon. “You look like an elf now. Did Islanzadí do that to you?” When Eragon remained silent, Murtagh smiled and shrugged. “No matter. I’ll learn the truth soon enough.” He stopped, frowned, then looked to the east. Following his gaze, Eragon saw the Twins standing at the front of the Empire, casting balls of energy into the midst of the Varden and the dwarves. The curtains of smoke made it difficult to tell, but Eragon was sure the hairless magicians were grinning and laughing as they slaughtered the men with whom they once pledged solemn friendship. What the Twins failed to notice—and what was clearly visible to Eragon and Murtagh from their vantage point—was that Roran was crawling toward them from the side. Eragon’s heart skipped a beat as he recognized his cousin. You fool! Get away from them! You’ll be killed . Just as he opened his mouth to cast a spell that would transport Roran out of danger—no matter the cost—Murtagh said, “Wait. I want to see what he’ll do.” Page 701 “Why?” A bleak smile crossed Murtagh’s face. “The Twins enjoyed tormenting me when I was their captive.” Eragon glanced at him, suspicious. “You won’t hurt him? You won’t warn the Twins?” “Vel eïnradhin iet ai Shur’tugal.” Upon my word as a Rider. Together they watched as Roran hid behind a mound of bodies. Eragon stiffened as the Twins looked toward the pile. For a moment, it seemed they had spotted him, then they turned away and Roran jumped up. He swung his hammer and bashed one of the Twins in the head, cracking open his skull. The remaining Twin fell to the ground, convulsing, and emitted a wordless scream until he too met his end under Roran’s ham-mer. Then Roran planted his foot upon the corpses of his foes, lifted his hammer over his head, and bellowed his victory. “What now?” demanded Eragon, turning away from the battlefield. “Are you here to kill me?” “Of course not. Galbatorix wants you alive.” “What for?” Murtagh’s lips quirked. “You don’t know? Ha! There’s a fine jest. It’s not because of you; it’s because of her. ” He jabbed a finger at Saphira. “The dragon inside Galbatorix’s last egg, the last dragon egg in the world, is male. Saphira is the only female dragon in existence. If she breeds, she will be the mother of her entire race. Do you see now? Galbatorix doesn’t want to eradicate the dragons. He wants to use Saphira to rebuild the Riders. He can’t kill you, either of you, if his vision is to become real-ity.... And what a vision it is, Eragon. You should hear him describe it, then you might not think so badly of him. Is it evil that he wants to unite Alagaësia under a single banner, eliminate the need for war, and restore the Riders?” “He’s the one who destroyed the Riders in the first place!” “And for good reason,” asserted Murtagh. “They were old, fat, and cor-rupt. The elves controlled them and used them to subjugate humans. They had to be removed so that we could start anew.” A furious scowl contorted Eragon’s features. He paced back and forth across the plateau, his breathing heavy, then gestured at the battle and said, “How can you justify causing so much suffering on the basis of a madman’s ravings? Galbatorix has done nothing but burn and slaughter and amass power for himself. He lies. He murders. He manipulates. You know this! It’s why you refused to work for him in the first place.” Eragon paused, then adopted a gentler tone: “I can understand that you were compelled to act against your will and that you aren’t responsible for kill-ing Hrothgar. You can try to escape, though. I’m sure that Arya and I could devise a way to neutralize the bonds Galbatorix has laid upon you.... Join me, Murtagh. You could do so much for the Varden. With us, you would be praised and admired, instead of cursed, feared, and hated.” For a moment, as Murtagh gazed down at his notched sword, Eragon hoped he would accept. Then Murtagh said in a low voice, “You cannot help me, Eragon. No one but Galbatorix can release us from our oaths, and he will never do that.... He knows our true names, Eragon.... We are his slaves forever.” Though he wanted to, Eragon could not deny the sympathy he felt for Murtagh’s plight. With the utmost Page 702 gravity, he said, “Then let us kill the two of you.” “Kill us! Why should we allow that?” Eragon chose his words with care: “It would free you from Galbatorix’s control. And it would save the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Isn’t that a noble enough cause to sacrifice yourself for?” Murtagh shook his head. “Maybe for you, but life is still too sweet for me to part with it so easily. No stranger’s life is more important than Thorn’s or my own.” As much as he hated it—hated the entire situation, in fact—Eragon knew then what had to be done. Renewing his attack on Murtagh’s mind, he leaped forward, both feet leaving the ground as he lunged toward Murtagh, intending to stab him through the heart. “Letta!” barked Murtagh. Eragon dropped back to the ground as invisible bands clamped around his arms and legs, immobilizing him. To his right, Saphira discharged a jet of rippling fire and sprang at Murtagh like a cat pouncing on a mouse. “Rïsa!” commanded Murtagh, extending a clawlike hand as if to catch her. Saphira yelped with surprise as Murtagh’s incantation stopped her in midair and held her in place, floating several feet above the plateau. No matter how much she wriggled, she could not touch the ground, nor could she fly any higher. How can he still be human and have the strength to do that?wondered Eragon. Even with my new abilities, such a task would leave me gasping for air and unable to walk. Relying upon his experience counteracting Oromis’s spells, Eragon said, “Brakka du vanyalí sem huildar Saphira un eka!” Murtagh made no attempt to stop him, only gave him a flat stare, as if he found Eragon’s resistance a pointless inconvenience. Baring his teeth, Eragon redoubled his efforts. His hands went cold, his bones ached, and his pulse slowed as the magic sapped his energy. Without being asked, Saphira joined forces with him, granting him access to the formidable re-sources of her body. Five seconds passed.... Twenty seconds... A thick vein pulsed on Murtagh’s neck. A minute... A minute and a half... Involuntary tremors racked Eragon. His quadri-ceps and hamstrings fluttered, and his legs would have given way if he were free to move. Two minutes passed.... At last Eragon was forced to release the magic, else he risked falling un-conscious and passing into the void. He sagged, utterly spent. He had been afraid before, but only because he thought he might fail. Now he was afraid because he did not know what Murtagh was capable of. Page 703 “You cannot hope to compete with me,” said Murtagh. “No one can, except for Galbatorix.” Walking up to Eragon, he pointed his sword at Eragon’s neck, pricking his skin. Eragon resisted the impulse to flinch. “It would be so easy to take you back to Urû’baen.” Eragon gazed deep into his eyes. “Don’t. Let me go.” “You just tried to kill me.” “And you would have done the same in my position.” When Murtagh remained silent and expressionless, Eragon said, “We were friends once. We fought together. Galbatorix can’t have twisted you so much that you’ve forgotten.... If you do this, Murtagh, you’ll be lost forever.” A long minute passed where the only sound was the hue and cry of the clashing armies. Blood trickled down Eragon’s neck from where the sword point cut him. Saphira lashed her tail with helpless rage. Finally, Murtagh said, “I was ordered to try and capture you and Saphira.” He paused. “I have tried.... Make sure we don’t cross paths again. Galbatorix will have me swear additional oaths in the ancient language that will prevent me from showing you such mercy when next we meet.” He lowered his sword. “You’re doing the right thing,” said Eragon. He tried to step back but was still held in place. “Perhaps. But before I let you go...” Reaching out, Murtagh pried Zar’roc from Eragon’s fist and unbuckled Zar’roc’s red sheath from the belt of Be-loth the Wise. “If I have become my father, then I will have my father’s blade. Thorn is my dragon, and a thorn he shall be to all our enemies. It is only right, then, that I should also wield the sword Misery . Misery and Thorn, a fit match. Besides, Zar’roc should have gone to Morzan’s eldest son, not his youngest. It is mine by right of birth.” A cold pit formed in Eragon’s stomach. It can’t be. A cruel smile appeared on Murtagh’s face. “I never told you my mother’s name, did I? And you never told me yours. I’ll say it now: Selena. Selena was my mother and your mother. Morzan was our father. The Twins figured out the connection while they were digging around in your head. Galbatorix was quite interested to learn that particular piece of information.” “You’re lying!” cried Eragon. He could not bear the thought of being Morzan’s son. Did Brom know? Does Oromis know?... Why didn’t they tell me? He remembered, then, Angela predicting that someone in his family would betray him. She was right. Murtagh merely shook his head and repeated his words in the ancient language, then put his lips to Eragon’s ear and whispered, “You and I, we are the same, Eragon. Mirror images of one another. You can’t deny it.” “You’re wrong,” growled Eragon, struggling against the spell. “We’re nothing alike. I don’t have a scar on my back anymore.” Murtagh recoiled as if he had been stung, his face going hard and cold. He lifted Zar’roc and held it upright before his chest. “So be it. I take my inheritance from you, brother. Farewell.” Then he retrieved his helm from the ground and pulled himself onto Thorn. Not once did he look at Eragon as the dragon crouched, raised its wings, and flew off the plateau and into the north. Only after Page 704 Thorn van-ished below the horizon did the web of magic release Eragon and Saphira. Saphira’s talons clicked on the stone as she landed. She crawled over to Eragon and touched him on the arm with her snout. Are you all right, lit-tle one? I’m fine.But he was not, and she knew it. Walking to the edge of the plateau, Eragon surveyed the Burning Plains and the aftermath of the battle, for the battle was over. With the death of the Twins, the Varden and dwarves regained lost ground and were able to rout the formations of confused soldiers, herding them into the river or chasing them back from whence they came. Though the bulk of their forces remained intact, the Empire had sounded the retreat, no doubt to regroup and prepare for a second at-tempt to invade Surda. In their wake, they left piles of tangled corpses from both sides of the conflict, enough men and dwarves to populate an entire city. Thick black smoke roiled off the bodies that had fallen into the peat fires. Now that the fighting had subsided, the hawks and eagles, the crows and ravens, descended like a shroud over the field. Eragon closed his eyes, tears leaking from under the lids. They had won, but he had lost. REUNION Eragon and Saphira picked their way between the corpses that littered the Burning Plains, moving slowly on account of their wounds and their exhaustion. They encountered other survivors staggering through the scorched battlefield, hollow-eyed men who looked without truly seeing, their gazes focused somewhere in the distance. Now that his bloodlust had subsided, Eragon felt nothing but sorrow. The fighting seemed so pointless to him. What a tragedy that so many must die to thwart a single madman. He paused to sidestep a thicket of arrows planted in the mud and noticed the gash on Saphira’s tail where Thorn had bitten her, as well as her other injuries. Here, lend me your strength; I’ll heal you. Tend to those in mortal danger first. Are you sure? Quite sure, little one. Acquiescing, he bent down and mended a soldier’s torn neck before moving on to one of the Varden. He made no distinction between friend and foe, treating both to the limit of his abilities. Eragon was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he paid little attention to his work. He wished he could repudiate Murtagh’s claim, but everything Murtagh had said about his mother— theirmother—coincided with the few things Eragon knew about her: Selena left Carvahall twenty-some years ago, returned once to give birth to Eragon, and was never seen again. His mind darted back to when he and Murtagh first Page 705 arrived in Far-then Dûr. Murtagh had discussed how his mother had vanished from Morzan’s castle while Morzan was hunting Brom, Jeod, and Saphira’s egg. After Morzan threw Zar’roc at Murtagh and nearly killed him, Mother must have hidden her pregnancy and then gone back to Carvahall in order to pro-tect me from Morzan and Galbatorix . It heartened Eragon to know that Selena had cared for him so deeply. It also grieved him to know she was dead and they would never meet, for he had nurtured the hope, faint as it was, that his parents might still be alive. He no longer harbored any desire to be acquainted with his father, but he bitterly resented that he had been deprived of the chance to have a relationship with his mother. Ever since he was old enough to understand that he was a fosterling, Eragon had wondered who his father was and why his mother left him to be raised by her brother, Garrow, and his wife, Marian. Those answers had been thrust upon him from such an unexpected source, and in such an unpropitious setting, it was more than he could make sense of at the moment. It would take months, if not years, to come to terms with the revelation. Eragon always assumed he would be glad to learn the identity of his fa-ther. Now that he had, the knowledge revolted him. When he was younger, he often entertained himself by imagining that his father was someone grand and important, though Eragon knew the opposite was far more likely. Still, it never occurred to him, even in his most extravagant daydreams, that he might be the son of a Rider, much less one of the For-sworn. It turned a daydream into a nightmare. I was sired by a monster.... My father was the one who betrayed the Rid-ers to Galbatorix.It left Eragon feeling sullied. But no...As he healed a man’s broken spine, a new way of viewing the situation occurred to him, one that restored a measure of his self-confidence: Morzan may be my parent, but he is not my father. Garrow was my father. He raised me. He taught me how to live well and honorably, with integrity. I am who I am because of him. Even Brom and Oromis are more my father than Morzan. And Roran is my brother, not Murtagh. Eragon nodded, determined to maintain that outlook. Until then, he had refused to completely accept Garrow as his father. And even though Garrow was dead, doing so relieved Eragon, gave him a sense of closure, and helped to ameliorate his distress over Morzan. You have grown wise,observed Saphira. Wise?He shook his head. No, I’ve just learned how to think. That much, at least, Oromis gave me. Eragon wiped a layer of dirt off the face of a fallen banner boy, making sure he really was dead, then straightened, wincing as his muscles spasmed in protest. You realize, don’t you, that Brom must have known about this. Why else would he choose to hide in Carvahall while he waited for you to hatch?... He wanted to keep an eye upon his enemy’s son. It unsettled him to think that Brom might have considered him a threat. And he was right too. Look what ended up hap-pening to me! Saphira ruffled his hair with a gust of her hot breath. Just remember, whatever Brom’s reasons, he always tried to protect us from danger. He died saving you from the Ra’zac. I know.... Do you think he didn’t tell me about this because he was afraid I might emulate Morzan, like Murtagh has? Page 706 Of course not. He looked at her, curious. How can you be so certain? She lifted her head high above him and refused to meet his eyes or to answer. Have it your way, then. Kneeling by one of King Orrin’s men, who had an arrow through the gut, Eragon grabbed his arms to stop him from writhing. “Easy now.” “Water,” groaned the man. “For pity’s sake, water. My throat is as dry as sand. Please, Shadeslayer.” Sweat beaded his face. Eragon smiled, trying to comfort him. “I can give you a drink now, but it’d be better if you wait until after I heal you. Can you wait? If you do, I promise you can have all the water you want.” “You promise, Shadeslayer?” “I promise.” The man visibly struggled against another wave of agony before saying, “If I must.” With the aid of magic, Eragon drew out the shaft, then he and Saphira worked to repair the man’s innards, using some of the warrior’s own en-ergy to fuel the spell. It took several minutes. Afterward, the man exam-ined his belly, pressing his hands against the flawless skin, then gazed at Eragon, tears brimming in his eyes. “I... Shadeslayer, you...” Eragon handed him his waterskin. “Here, keep it. You have greater need of it than I.” A hundred yards beyond, Eragon and Saphira breached an acrid wall of smoke. There they came upon Orik and ten other dwarves—some women—arrayed around the body of Hrothgar, who lay upon four shields, resplendent in his golden mail. The dwarves tore at their hair, beat their breasts, and wailed their lamentations to the sky. Eragon bowed his head and murmured, “Stydja unin mor’ranr, Hrothgar Könungr.” After a time, Orik noticed them and rose, his face red from crying and his beard torn free of its usual braid. He staggered over to Eragon and, without preempt, asked, “Did you kill the coward responsible for this?” “He escaped.” Eragon could not bring himself to explain that the Rider was Murtagh. Orik stamped his fist into his hand. “Barzûln!” “But I swear to you upon every stone in Alagaësia that, as one of Dûr-grimst Ingeitum, I’ll do everything I can to avenge Hrothgar’s death.” “Aye, you’re the only one besides the elves strong enough to bring this foul murderer to justice. And when you find him... grind his bones to dust, Eragon. Pull his teeth and fill his veins with molten lead; make him suffer for every minute of Hrothgar’s life that he stole.” “Wasn’t it a good death? Wouldn’t Hrothgar have wanted to die in bat-tle, with Volund in his hand?” “In battle, yes, facing an honest foe who dared stand and fight like a man. Not brought low by a magician’s trickery....” Shaking his head, Orik looked back at Hrothgar, then crossed his arms and Page 707 tucked his chin against his collarbone. He took several ragged breaths. “When my parents died of the pox, Hrothgar gave me a life again. He took me into his hall. He made me his heir. Losing him...” Orik pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, covering his face. “Losing him is like losing my father again.” The grief in his voice was so clear, Eragon felt as if he shared the dwarf’s sorrow. “I understand,” he said. “I know you do, Eragon.... I know you do.” After a moment, Orik wiped his eyes and gestured at the ten dwarves. “Before anything else is done, we have to return Hrothgar to Farthen Dûr so he can be entombed with his predecessors. Dûrgrimst Ingeitum must choose a new grimstborith, and then the thirteen clan chiefs—including the ones you see here—will select our next king from among themselves. What happens next, I know not. This tragedy will embolden some clans and turn others against our cause....” He shook his head again. Eragon put his hand on Orik’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about that now. You have but to ask, and my arm and my will are at your service.... If you want, come to my tent and we can share a cask of mead and toast Hroth-gar’s memory.” “I’d like that. But not yet. Not until we finish pleading with the gods to grant Hrothgar safe passage to the afterlife.” Leaving Eragon, Orik re-turned to the circle of dwarves and added his voice to their keening. Continuing on through the Burning Plains, Saphira said, Hrothgar was a great king. Aye, and a good person.Eragon sighed. We should find Arya and Nasuada. I couldn’t even heal a scratch right now, and they need to know about Murtagh. Agreed. They angled south toward the Varden’s encampment, but before they traveled more than a few yards, Eragon saw Roran approaching from the Jiet River. Trepidation filled him. Roran stopped directly in front of them, planted his feet wide apart, and stared at Eragon, working his jaw up and down as if he wanted to talk but was unable to get the words past his teeth. Then he punched Eragon on the chin. It would have been easy for Eragon to avoid the blow, but he allowed it to land, rolling away from it a bit so Roran did not break his knuckles. It still hurt. Wincing, Eragon faced his cousin. “I guess I deserved that.” “That you did. We have to talk.” “Now?” “It can’t wait. The Ra’zac captured Katrina, and I need your help to res-cue her. They’ve had her ever since we left Carvahall.” Page 708 So that’s it.In an instant, Eragon realized why Roran appeared so grim and haunted, and why he had brought the entire village to Surda. Brom was right, Galbatorix sent the Ra’zac back to Palancar Valley. Eragon frowned, torn between his responsibility to Roran and his duty to report to Nasuada. “There’s something I need to do first, and then we can talk. All right? You can accompany me if you want....” “I’ll come.” As they traversed the pockmarked land, Eragon kept glancing at Roran out of the corner of his eye. Finally, he said in a low voice, “I missed you.” Roran faltered, then responded with a curt nod. A few steps later, he asked, “This is Saphira, right? Jeod said that was her name.” “Aye.” Saphira peered at Roran with one of her glittering eyes. He bore her scrutiny without turning away, which was more than most people could do. I have always wanted to meet Eragon’s nest-mate. “She speaks!” exclaimed Roran when Eragon repeated her words. This time Saphira addressed him directly: What? Did you think I was as mute as a rock lizard? Roran blinked. “I beg your pardon. I didn’t know that dragons were so intelligent.” A grim smile twisted his lips. “First Ra’zac and magicians, now dwarves, Riders, and talking dragons. It seems the whole world has gone mad.” “It does seem that way.” “I saw you fight that other Rider. Did you wound him? Is that why he fled?” “Wait. You’ll hear.” When they reached the pavilion Eragon was searching for, he swept back the flap and ducked inside, followed by Roran and Saphira, who pushed her head and neck in after them. In the center of the tent, Nasuada sat on the edge of the table, letting a maid remove her twisted armor while she carried on a heated discussion with Arya. The cut on her thigh had been healed. Nasuada stopped in the middle of her sentence as she spotted the new arrivals. Running toward them, she threw her arms around Eragon and cried, “Where were you? We thought you were dead, or worse.” “Not quite.” “The candle still burns,” murmured Arya. Stepping back, Nasuada said, “We couldn’t see what happened to you and Saphira after you landed on the plateau. When the red dragon left and you didn’t appear, Arya tried to contact you but felt nothing, so we assumed...” She trailed off. “We were just debating the best way to trans-port Du Vrangr Gata and an entire company of warriors across the river.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I was just so tired after the fight, I forgot to lower my barriers.” Page 709 Then Eragon brought Roran forward. “Nasuada, I would like to introduce my cousin, Roran. Ajihad may have mentioned him to you before. Roran, Lady Nasuada, leader of the Varden and my liegelord. And this is Arya Svit-kona, the elves’ ambassador.” Ro-ran bowed to each of them in turn. “It is an honor to meet Eragon’s cousin,” said Nasuada. “Indeed,” added Arya. After they finished exchanging greetings, Eragon explained that the en-tire village of Carvahall had arrived on the Dragon Wing, and that Roran was the one responsible for killing the Twins. Nasuada lifted a dark eyebrow. “The Varden are in your debt, Roran, for stopping their rampage. Who knows how much damage the Twins would have caused before Eragon or Arya could have confronted them? You helped us to win this battle. I won’t forget that. Our supplies are limited, but I will see that everyone on your ship is clothed and fed, and that your sick are treated.” Roran bowed even lower. “Thank you, Lady Nasuada.” “If I weren’t so pressed for time, I would insist upon knowing how and why you and your village evaded Galbatorix’s men, traveled to Surda, and then found us. Even just the bare facts of your trek make an extraordi-nary tale. I still intend to learn the specifics—especially since I suspect it concerns Eragon—but I must deal with other, more urgent matters at the moment.” “Of course, Lady Nasuada.” “You may go, then.” “Please,” said Eragon, “let him stay. He should be here for this.” Nasuada gave him a quizzical look. “Very well. If you want. But enough of this dawdling. Jump to the meat of the matter and tell us about the Rider!” Eragon began with a quick history of the three remaining dragon eggs— two of which had now hatched—as well as Morzan and Murtagh, so that Roran would understand the significance of his news. Then he proceeded to describe his and Saphira’s fight with Thorn and the mysterious Rider, paying special attention to his extraordinary powers. “As soon as he spun his sword around, I realized we had dueled before, so I threw myself at him and tore off his helm.” Eragon paused. “It was Murtagh, wasn’t it?” asked Nasuada quietly. “How... ?” She sighed. “If the Twins survived, it only made sense that Murtagh had as well. Did he tell you what really happened that day in Farthen Dûr?” So Eragon recounted how the Twins betrayed the Varden, recruited the Urgals, and kidnapped Murtagh. A tear rolled down Nasuada’s cheek. “It’s a pity that this befell Murtagh when he has already endured so much hardship. I enjoyed his company in Tronjheim and believed he was our ally, despite his upbringing. I find it hard to think of him as our enemy.” Turning to Roran, she said, “It seems I am also personally in your debt for slaying the traitors who murdered my father.” Fathers, mothers, brothers, cousins,thought Eragon. It all comes down to family. Summoning his Page 710 courage, he completed his report with Murtagh’s theft of Zar’roc and then his final, terrible secret. “It can’t be,” whispered Nasuada. Eragon saw shock and revulsion cross Roran’s face before he managed to conceal his reactions. That, more than anything else, hurt Eragon. “Could Murtagh have been lying?” asked Arya. “I don’t see how. When I questioned him, he told me the same thing in the ancient language.” A long, uncomfortable silence filled the pavilion. Then Arya said, “No one else can know about this. The Varden are demoralized enough by the presence of a new Rider. And they’ll be even more upset when they learn it’s Murtagh, whom they fought alongside and came to trust in Farthen Dûr. If word spreads that Eragon Shade-slayer is Morzan’s son, the men will grow disillusioned and few people will want to join us. Not even King Orrin should be told.” Nasuada rubbed her temples. “I fear you’re right. A new Rider...” She shook her head. “I knew it was possible for this to occur, but I didn’t really believe it would, since Galbatorix’s remaining eggs had gone so long without hatching.” “It has a certain symmetry,” said Eragon. “Our task is doubly hard now. We may have held our own today, but the Empire still far outnumbers us, and now we face not one but two Riders, both of whom are stronger than you, Eragon. Do you think you could defeat Murtagh with the help of the elves’ spellcasters?” “Maybe. But I doubt he’d be foolish enough to fight them and me to-gether.” For several minutes, they discussed the effect Murtagh could have on their campaign and strategies to minimize or eliminate it. At last Nasuada said, “Enough. We cannot decide this when we are bloody and tired and our minds are clouded from fighting. Go, rest, and we shall take this up again tomorrow.” As Eragon turned to leave, Arya approached and looked him straight in the eye. “Do not allow this to trouble you overmuch, Eragon-elda. You are not your father, nor your brother. Their shame is not yours.” “Aye,” agreed Nasuada. “Nor imagine that it has lowered our opinion of you.” She reached out and cupped his face. “I know you, Eragon. You have a good heart. The name of your father cannot change that.” Warmth blossomed inside Eragon. He looked from one woman to the next, then twisted his hand over his chest, overwhelmed by their friend-ship. “Thank you.” Once they were back out in the open, Eragon put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath of the smoky air. It was late in the day, and the garish orange of noon had subsided into a dusky gold light that suffused the camp and battlefield, giving it a strange beauty. “So now you know,” he said. Roran shrugged. “Blood always tells.” Page 711 “Don’t say that,” growled Eragon. “Don’t ever say that.” Roran studied him for several seconds. “You’re right; it was an ugly thought. I didn’t mean it.” He scratched his beard and squinted at the bloated sun resting upon the horizon. “Nasuada wasn’t what I expected.” That forced a tired chuckle out of Eragon. “The one you were expect-ing was her father, Ajihad. Still, she’s as good a leader as he was, if not better.” “Her skin, is it dyed?” “No, that’s the way she is.” Just then, Eragon felt Jeod, Horst, and a score of other men from Car-vahall hurrying toward them. The villagers slowed as they rounded a tent and glimpsed Saphira. “Horst!” exclaimed Eragon. Stepping forward, he grasped the smith in a bear hug. “It’s good to see you again!” Horst gaped at Eragon, then a delighted grin spread across his face. “Blast if it isn’t good to see you as well, Eragon. You’ve filled out since you left.” “You mean since I ran away.” Meeting the villagers was a strange experience for Eragon. Hardship had altered some of the men so much, he barely recognized them. And they treated him differently than before, with a mixture of awe and reverence. It reminded him of a dream, where everything familiar is rendered alien. He was disconcerted by how out of place he felt among them. When Eragon came to Jeod, he paused. “You know about Brom?” “Ajihad sent me a message, but I’d like to hear what happened directly from you.” Eragon nodded, grave. “As soon as I have the chance, we’ll sit down to-gether and have a long talk.” Then Jeod moved on to Saphira and bowed to her. “I waited my entire life to see a dragon, and now I have seen two in the same day. I am in-deed lucky. However, you are the dragon I wanted to meet.” Bending her neck, Saphira touched Jeod on the brow. He shivered at the contact. Give him my thanks for helping to rescue me from Galbatorix. Otherwise, I would still be languishing in the king’s treasury. He was Brom’s friend, and so he is our friend. After Eragon repeated her words, Jeod said, “Atra esterní ono thelduin, Saphira Bjartskular,” surprising them with his knowledge of the ancient language. “Where did you go?” Horst asked Roran. “We looked high and low for you after you took off in pursuit of those two magicians.” “Never mind that now. Return to the ship and have everyone disem-bark; the Varden are sending us food and shelter. We can sleep on solid ground tonight!” The men cheered. Eragon watched with interest as Roran issued his commands. When at last Jeod and the villagers Page 712 departed, Eragon said, “They trust you. Even Horst obeys you without question. Do you speak for all of Carvahall now?” “I do.” Heavy darkness was advancing upon the Burning Plains by the time they found the small two-man tent the Varden had assigned Eragon. Since Saphira could not fit her head through the opening, she curled up on the ground beside and prepared to keep watch. As soon as I get my strength back, I’ll see to your wounds,promised Er-agon. I know. Don’t stay up too late talking. Inside the tent, Eragon found an oil lantern that he lit with steel and flint. He could see perfectly well without it, but Roran needed the light. They sat opposite each other: Eragon on the bedding laid out along one side of the tent, Roran on a folding stool he found leaning in a corner. Er-agon was uncertain how to begin, so he remained silent and stared at the lamp’s dancing flame. Neither of them moved. After uncounted minutes, Roran said, “Tell me how my father died.” “Our father.” Eragon remained calm as Roran’s expression hardened. In a gentle voice, he said, “I have as much right to call him that as you. Look within yourself; you know it to be true.” “Fine. Our father, how did he die?” Eragon had recounted the story upon several occasions. But this time he hid nothing. Instead of just listing the events, he described what he had thought and felt ever since he had found Saphira’s egg, trying to make Roran understand why he did what he did. He had never been so anxious before. “I was wrong to hide Saphira from the rest of the family,” Eragon con-cluded, “but I was afraid you might insist on killing her, and I didn’t real-ize how much danger she put us in. If I had... After Garrow died, I de-cided to leave in order to track down the Ra’zac, as well as to avoid put-ting Carvahall in any more danger.” A humorless laugh escaped him. “It didn’t work, but if I had remained, the soldiers would have come far sooner. And then who knows? Galbatorix might have even visited Palan-car Valley himself. I may be the reason Garrow—Father—died, but that was never my intention, nor that you and everyone else in Carvahall should suffer because of my choices....” He gestured helplessly. “I did the best I could, Roran.” “And the rest of it—Brom being a Rider, rescuing Arya at Gil’ead, and killing a Shade at the dwarves’ capital—all that happened?” “Aye.” As quickly as he could, Eragon summarized what had taken place since he and Saphira set forth with Brom, including their sojourn to Ellesméra and his own transformation during the Agaetí Blödhren. Leaning forward, Roran rested his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands, and gazed at the dirt between them. It was impossible for Eragon to read his emotions without reaching into his consciousness, which he refused to do, knowing it would be a terrible mistake to invade Roran’s privacy. Page 713 Roran was silent for so long, Eragon began to wonder if he would ever respond. Then: “You have made mistakes, but they are no greater than my own. Garrow died because you kept Saphira secret. Many more have died because I refused to give myself up to the Empire.... We are equally guilty.” He looked up, then slowly extended his right hand. “Brother?” “Brother,” said Eragon. He gripped Roran’s forearm, and they pulled each other into a rough embrace, wrestling to and fro as they used to do at home. When they separated, Eragon had to wipe his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Galba-torix should surrender now that we’re together again,” he joked. “Who can stand against the two of us?” He lowered himself back onto the bed-ding. “Now you tell me, how did the Ra’zac capture Katrina?” All happiness vanished from Roran’s face. He began to speak in a low monotone, and Eragon listened with growing amazement as he wove an epic of attacks, sieges, and betrayal, of leaving Carvahall, crossing the Spine, and razing the docks of Teirm, of sailing through a monstrous whirlpool. When at last he finished, Eragon said, “You are a greater man than I. I couldn’t have done half those things. Fight, yes, but not convince every-one to follow me.” “I had no choice. When they took Katrina—” Roran’s voice broke. “I could either give up and die, or I could try to escape Galbatorix’s trap, no matter the cost.” He fixed his burning eyes on Eragon. “I have lied and burned and slaughtered to get here. I no longer have to worry about pro-tecting everyone from Carvahall; the Varden will see to that. Now I have only one goal in life, to find and rescue Katrina, if she’s not already dead. Will you help me, Eragon?” Reaching over, Eragon grabbed his saddlebags from the corner of the tent—where the Varden had deposited them—and removed a wooden bowl and the silver flask of enchanted faelnirv Oromis had given him. He took a small sip of the liqueur to revitalize himself and gasped as it raced down his throat, making his nerves tingle with cold fire. Then he poured faelnirv into the bowl until it formed a shallow pool the width of his hand. “Watch.” Gathering up his burst of new energy, Eragon said, “Draumr kópa.” The liqueur shimmered and turned black. After a few seconds, a thin key of light appeared in the center of the bowl, revealing Katrina. She lay slumped against an invisible wall, her hands suspended above her with invisible manacles and her copper hair splayed like a fan across her back. “She’s alive!” Roran hunched over the bowl, grasping at it as if he thought he could dive through the faelnirv and join Katrina. His hope and determination melded with a look of such tender affection, Eragon knew that only death could stop Roran from trying to free her. Unable to sustain the spell any longer, Eragon let the image fade away. He leaned against the wall of the tent for support. “Aye,” he said wearily, “she’s alive. And chances are, she’s imprisoned in Helgrind, in the Ra’zac’s lair.” Eragon grasped Roran by the shoulders. “The answer to your ques-tion, brother, is yes. I will travel to Dras-Leona with you. I will help you rescue Katrina. And then, together, you and I shall kill the Ra’zac and avenge our father.” END OF BOOK TWO Page 714 THE STORY WILL CONTINUE INBOOK THREE OF INHERITANCE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE AND GLOSSARY ON THE ORIGIN OF NAMES: To the casual observer, the various names an intrepid traveler will en-counter throughout Alagaësia might seem but a random collection of la-bels with no inherent integrity, culture, or history. However, as with any land that has been repeatedly colonized by different cultures—and in this case, different races—Alagaësia quickly accumulated layers of names from the elves, dwarves, humans, and even Urgals. Thus, we can have Palancar Valley (a human name), the Anora River and Ristvak’baen (elven names), and Utgard Mountain (a dwarf name) all within a few square miles of each other. While this is of great historical interest, practically it often leads to con-fusion as to the correct pronunciation. Unfortunately, there are no set rules for the neophyte. Each name must be learned upon its own terms, unless you can immediately place its language of origin. The matter grows even more confusing when you realize that in many places the spelling and pronunciation of foreign words were altered by the resident popula-tion to conform to their own language. The Anora River is a prime ex-ample. Originally anora was spelled äenora, which means broad in the ancient language. In their writings, the humans simplified the word to anora, and this, combined with a vowel shift wherein äe (ay-eh) was said as the easier a (uh), created the name as it appears in Eragon’s time. To spare readers as much difficulty as possible, the following list is provided, with the understanding that these are only rough guidelines to the actual pronunciation. The enthusiast is encouraged to study the source languages in order to master their true intricacies. PRONUNCIATION: Aiedail — AY-uh-dale Ajihad — AH-zhi-hod Alagaësia — al-uh-GAY-zee-uh Arya — AR-ee-uh Carvahall — CAR-vuh-hall Dras-Leona — DRAHS lee-OH-nuh Du Weldenvarden — doo WELL-den-VAR-den Ellesméra — el-uhs-MEER-uh Eragon — EHR-uh-gahn Farthen Dûr — FAR-then DURE ( durerhymes with lure ) Galbatorix — gal-buh-TOR-icks Gil’ead — GILL-ee-id Glaedr — GLAY-dur Hrothgar — HROTH-gar Islanzadí — iss-lan-ZAH-dee Jeod — JODE (rhymes with code ) Murtagh — MUR-tag ( murrhymes with purr ) Nasuada — nah-SOO-ah-dah Nolfavrell — NOLL-fah-vrel ( nollrhymes with toll ) Oromis — OR-uh-miss Ra’zac — RAA-zack Saphira — suh-FEAR-uh Shruikan — SHREW-kin Sílthrim — SEAL-thrim ( sílis a hard sound to transcribe; it’s made by flicking the tip of the tongue off the roof of the mouth.) Teirm — TEERM Trianna — TREE-ah-nuh Tronjheim — TRONJ-heem Urû’baen — OO-roo-bane Vrael — VRAIL Yazuac — YAA-zoo-ack Page 715 Zar’roc — ZAR-rock THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE: adurna — water Agaetí Blödhren — Blood-oath Celebration Aiedail — The Morning Star Argetlam — Silver Hand Atra esterní ono thelduin/Mor’ranr lífa unin hjarta onr/Un du evarínya ono varda. — May good fortune rule over you/Peace live in your heart/And the stars watch over you.Atra guliä un ilian tauthr ono un atra ono waíse skölir fra rauthr. — Mayluck and happiness follow you and may you be a shield from misfortune. Atra nosu waíse vardo fra eld hórnya. — Let us be warded from listeners. Bjartskular — Brightscales blöthr — halt; stop Brakka du vanyalí sem huildar Saphira un eka! — Reduce the magic that holds Saphira and me! brisingr — fire Dagshelgr — Hallowed Day draumr kópa — dream stare Du Fells Nángoröth — The Blasted Mountains Du Fyrn Skulblaka — The Dragon War Du Völlar Eldrvarya — The Burning Plains Du Vrangr Gata — The Wandering Path Du Weldenvarden — The Guarding Forest dvergar — dwarves ebrithil — master edur — a tor or prominence Eka fricai un Shur’tugal. — I am a Rider and friend. elda — a gender-neutral honorific of great praise Eyddr eyreya onr! — Empty your ears! fairth — a picture taken by magical means finiarel — an honorific for a young man of great promise Fricai Andlát — death friend (a poisonous mushroom) Gala O Wyrda brunhvitr/Abr Berundal vandr-fódhr/Burthro laufsblädar ekar undir/Eom kona dauthleikr... — Sing O white-browed Fate/Of ill-marked Berundal/Born under oaken leaves/To mortal woman... gánga aptr — to go backward gánga fram — to go forward Gath sem oro un lam iet. — Unite that arrow with my hand. gedwëy ignasia — shining palm Gëuloth du knífr. — Dull the knife. haldthin — thornapple Helgrind — The Gates of Deathhlaupa — runhljödhr — silentjierda — break; hitkodthr — catchKvetha Fricai. — Greetings, Friend.lethrblaka — a bat; the Ra’zac’s mounts (literally, leather-flapper)letta — stopLetta orya thorna! — Stop those arrows!Liduen Kvaedhí — Poetic ScriptLosna kalfya iet. — Release my calves.malthinae — to bind or hold in place; confinenalgask — a mixture of beeswax and hazelnut oil used to moisten the skinOsthato Chetowä — the Mourning SageReisa du adurna. — Raise/Lift the water.rïsa — riseSé mor’ranr ono finna. — May you find peace.Sé onr sverdar sitja hvass! — May your swords stay sharp!Sé orúm thornessa hávr sharjalví lífs. — May this serpent have life’s movement.skölir — shieldSkölir nosu fra brisingr! — Shield us from fire! sköliro — shielded skulblaka — dragon (literally, scale-flapper) Stydja unin mor’ranr, Hrothgar Könungr. — Rest in peace, King Hroth gar. svit-kona — a formal honorific for an elf woman of great wisdom thrysta — thrust; compress Thrysta vindr. — Compress the air. Togira Ikonoka — the Cripple Who Is Whole the Varden — the Warders Vel eïnradhin iet ai Shur’tugal. — Upon my word as a Rider. Vinr Älfakyn — Elf Friend vodhr — a male honorific of middling praise vor — a male honorific for a close friend Waíse heill. — Be healed. Wiol ono. — For you. wyrda — fate Wyrdfell — elven name for the Forsworn yawë — a bond of trust zar’roc — misery THE DWARF LANGUAGE: Page 716 Akh sartos oen dûrgrimst! — For family and clan! Ascûdgamln — fists of steel Astim Hefthyn — Sight Guard (inscription on a necklace given to Er-agon) Az Ragni — The River Az Sweldn rak Anhûin — The Tears of Anhûin Azt jok jordn rast. — Then you may pass. barzûl — to curse someone with ill fate Barzûl knurlar! — Curse them! barzûln — to curse someone with multiple misfortunes Beor — cave bear (elf word) dûrgrimst — clan (literally, our hall/home) eta — no Etzil nithgech! — Stop there! Farthen Dûr — Our Father Feldûnost — frostbeard (a species of goat native to the Beor Mountains) Formv Hrethcarach... formv Jurgencarmeitder nos eta goroth bahst Tar-nag, dûr encesti rak kythn! Jok is warrev az barzûlegûr dûr dûrgrimst, Az Sweldn rak Anhûin, môgh tor rak Jurgenvren? Né ûdim etal os rast knur-lag. Knurlag ana... — This Shadeslayer... this Dragon Rider has no place in Tarnag, our holiest of cities! Do you forget the curse our clan, The Tears of Anhûin, bears from the Dragon War? We will not let him pass. He is... grimstborith — clan chief grimstcarvlorss — arranger of the house Gûntera Arûna — Gûntera Bless Hert dûrgrimst? Fild rastn? — What clan? Who passes? hírna — likeness; statue hûthvir — double-bladed staff weapon used by Dûrgrimst Quan Ignh az voth! — Bring the food! IIf gauhnith. — A peculiar dwarf expression that means “It is safe and good.” Commonly uttered by the host of a meal, it is a holdover from days when poisoning of guests was prevalent among the clans. Ingeitum — fire workers; smiths Isidar Mithrim — Star Rose Jok is frekk dûrgrimstvren? — Do you want a clan war? knurl — stone; rock knurla — dwarf (literally, one of stone)Knurlag qana qirânû Dûrgrimst Ingeitum! Qarzûl ana Hrothgar oenvolfild — He was made a member of Clan Ingeitum! Cursed is Hrothgarand all who— knurlagn — men Knurlhiem — Stonehead Knurlnien — Heart of Stone Nagra — giant boar, native to the Beor Mountains oeí — yes; affirmative Orik Thrifkz menthiv oen Hrethcarach Eragon rak Dûrgrimst Ingeitum. Wharn, az vanyali-carharûg Arya. Né oc Ûndinz grimstbelardn. — Orik, Thrifk’s son, and Shadeslayer Eragon of Clan Ingeitum. Also, the elf-courier Arya. We are Ûndin’s hall-guests. Os il dom qirânû carn dûr thargen, zeitmen, oen grimst vor formv edaris rak skilfz. Narho is belgond... — Let our flesh, honor, and hall be made as one by this blood of mine. I do pledge... otho — faith Ragni Hefthyn — River GuardShrrg — giant wolf, native to the Beor MountainsSmer voth. — Serve the food.Tronjheim — Helm of GiantsUrzhad — cave bearvanyali — elf (The dwarves borrowed this word from the ancient lan- guage, wherein it means magic. )Vor Hrothgarz korda! — By Hrothgar’s hammer!vrron — enoughwerg — an exclamation of disgust (the dwarves’ equivalent of ugh ) THE URGAL LANGUAGE: Page 717 Ahgrat ukmar. — It is done. drajl — spawn of maggots nar — a gender-neutral title of great respect ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Kvetha Fricäya. As with many authors who undertake an epic the length of the Inheri-tance trilogy, I have found that the creation of Eragon, and now Eldest, has become my own personal quest, one that has proven every bit as transforming as Eragon’s. When first I conceived Eragon, I was fifteen—not quite a boy and not yet a man—just out of high school, unsure of what path to take in life, and addicted to the potent magic of the fantasy literature that adorned my shelves. The process of writing Eragon, marketing it across the world, and now finally completing Eldest has swept me into adulthood. I am twenty-one now and, to my continual astonishment, have already pub-lished two novels. Stranger things have occurred, I’m sure, but never to me. Eragon’s journey has been my own: plucked from a sheltered rural up-bringing and forced to rove the land in a desperate race against time; en-during intense and arduous training; achieving success against all expecta-tions; dealing with the consequences of fame; and eventually finding a measure of peace. Just as in fiction when the determined and well-meaning protagonist— who really isn’t all that bright, now is he?—is helped along his way by a host of wiser characters, so too have I been guided by a number of stu-pendously talented people. They are: At home: Mom, for listening whenever I need to talk about a problem with the story or characters and for giving me the courage to throw out twelve pages and rewrite Eragon’s entrance into Ellesméra (painful); Dad, as always, for his incisive editing; and my dear sister, Angela, for deigning to reprise her role as a witch and for her contributions to her doppel-gänger’s dialogue. At Writers House: my agent, the great and mighty Comma Master, Simon Lipskar, who makes all things possible (Mervyn Peake!); and his brave assistant Daniel Lazar, who keeps the Comma Master from being buried alive underneath a pile of unsolicited manuscripts, many of which I fear are the result of Eragon. At Knopf: my editor, Michelle Frey, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in performing her job and has made Eldest so much bet-ter than it would have been otherwise; publicity director Judith Haut, for once again proving that no feat of promotion is beyond her reach (hear her roar!); Isabel Warren-Lynch, art director nonpareil who, with Eldest, has exceeded her previous accomplishments; John Jude Palencar, for a cover painting that I like even better than the one for Eragon ; copy chief Artie Bennett, who has done a splendiferous job of checking all the ob-scure words in this trilogy and probably knows more than I do about the ancient language, although his Urgal is a mite weak; Chip Gibson, grand master of the children’s division at Random House; Nancy Hinkel, pub-lishing director extraordinaire; Joan DeMayo, director of sales (much ap-plause, cheers, and bowing!) and her team; Daisy Kline, who with her team designed the wonderful and eye-catching marketing materials; Linda Palladino, Rebecca Page 718 Price, and Timothy Terhune, production; a bow of thanks to Pam White and her team, who have helped to spread Eragon to the four corners of the world; Melissa Nelson, design; Alison Kolani, copy editing; Michele Burke, Michelle Frey’s dedicated, hardworking assistant; and everyone else at Knopf who has supported me. At Listening Library: Gerard Doyle, who brings the world of Alagaësia to life; Taro Meyer for getting the pronunciation of my languages just right; Jacob Bronstein for pulling all the threads together; and Tim Dit-low, publisher of Listening Library. Thank you all. One more volume to go and we shall reach the end of this tale. One more manuscript of heartache, ecstasy, and perseverance.... One more co-dex of dreams. Stay with me, if it please you, and let us see where this winding path will carry us, both in this world and in Alagaësia. Sé onr sverdar sitja hvass! Christopher Paolini August 23, 2005 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christopher Paolini’s abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at fifteen after being homeschooled all his life. He became a New York Times bestselling author at nineteen. Christopher lives in Mon-tana, where the dramatic landscape feeds his visions of Alagaësia. He is at work on the final volume in the Inheritance trilogy. You can find out more about Christopher, Eldest , and Inheritance at www.alagaesia.com. Eldestis also available in an unabridged audio edition from Listening Library Cassette ISBN 1-4000-9862-9 $45.00 U.S. / $65.00 CAN. CD ISBN 0-307-28072-1 $55.00 U.S. / $77.00 CAN. THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF Text copyright © 2005 by Christopher Paolini Illustrations on endpapers, copyright © 2002 by Christopher Paolini All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an im-print of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York. KNOPF, BORZOI BOOKS, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Page 719 www.alagaesia.com www.randomhouse.com/teens Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Paolini, Christopher.Eldest / Christopher Paolini. — 1st ed.p. cm. — (Inheritance ; bk. 2)SUMMARY: After successfully evading an Urgal ambush, Eragon isadopted into the Ingeitum clan and sent to finish his training so he canfurther help the Varden in their struggle against the Empire.eISBN 0-375-83753-1[1. Fantasy. 2. Dragons—Fiction. 3. Youths’ writings.] I. Title. II. Series:Paolini, Christopher. Inheritance ; bk. 2.PZ7.P19535El 2005[Fic]—dc22 2005009325 v1.0 INHERITANCE About this Title This eBook was created using ReaderWorks®Standard 2.0, produced by OverDrive, Inc. For more information about ReaderWorks, please visit us on the Web at www.overdrive.com/readerworks Page 720

“Walk faster!” “You’ve already died and become a ghost. Faster!” “You are a prince? You ruled over tens of millions of citizens and thirty thousand armored horsemen? In the Netherworld Kingdom, you human princes are nothing!” Smack! Smack! A tall, powerful-looking demonic soldier, his face mean and vicious, snarled angrily as he lashed out with his whip repeatedly. The whip flashed like lightning, striking on the bodies of the souls of the dead. He struck the ghost who had been arrogantly proclaiming that he was a prince several dozen times, only stopping when the ghost’s soul had almost dissipated. “I should’ve died. So that means…this is the Netherworld Kingdom?” Ji Ning appeared out of nowhere. He couldn’t help but stare with curiosity at the unfamiliar surroundings. When he heard the arrogant boastings of the prince, Ji Ning couldn’t help but feel suspicious; “Ten million citizens? Thirty thousand armored horsemen? In the modern Earth, where would one find thirty thousand armored horsemen?” “Faster!” The massive, glowing minotaur demon soldier stared at Ji Ning and brayed. Ji Ning followed the rest of the regiment. Countless men in white clothes formed into a line, like a long, sinuous dragon, as they slowly moved forwards. At the end of each line, more people in white would suddenly appear. Some of these whitedressed people would shake their heads and sigh. Some would weep. Some would brag and curse. Some would stare in astonishment. “My father is the Devil King of the Great Snowy Mountain. How dare you strike me! I’ll eat you! Grrr!” “Stop hitting me!” “Ah!” The ghosts who had just reached the Netherworld Kingdom didn’t know they were dead. Many of them were roaring in anger as they were beaten, but quickly, they were beaten to the point of 67 understanding…that they were dead. No matter how glorious they had been in the past, in death, they now had nothing. …. Time passed quickly. Ji Ning walked for a very long time in that endless line of ghosts. He didn’t dare to say anything. If he spoke, he might be whipped by that minotaur. He had walked in a daze for a long time already. Fortunately, ghosts didn’t get hungry or thirsty. One day, after a long, long period of dazed walking. “Ji Ning!” A thunderous sound seemed to echo in the world. The countless ghosts all raised their heads to stare at the sky. Ji Ning stared at the sky as well. From the horizon, an enormous black cloud began to roll over, and atop that cloud was an enormous minotaur god who was glowing with black light. This enormous minotaur god was over a hundred thousand meters tall. He was like a massive mountain. The black cloud he was on quickly flew over from the horizon. “Ji Ning.” Atop the massive black cloud, the minotaur god stared downwards, his eyes shooting out twin lofty golden rays of light, covering the entire area below and illuminating the body of Ji Ning, who stood there like an idiot. The glowing light from the eyes of the minotaur god wrapped around Ji Ning’s body, and Ji Ning disappeared from within the ranks of the ghosts. Those ordinary minotaur soldiers were all silent, none daring to make a sound. All of the ghosts were in a state of shock. Only a long time later did they recover. ….. Within the boundless black clouds, the titanic minotaur god stood. He stretched out his hand, and on top of his palm was a tiny little dot. Ji Ning. Ji Ning was totally shocked. God. An enormous minotaur god was standing in front of him, and he was standing on its palm? “Ji Ning.” The minotaur god peered down at the tiny little speck in his hands. “I have come at the orders of the Lord of Cui Palace to come receive you.” The minotaur god spoke to the tiny speck in his hands, and then with a wave of his hands, Ji Ning was placed into an empty void area. The minotaur god then rose his black cloud and quickly disappeared into the horizon. ….. In the Fengdu City of the Ghost World. Within a quiet study, there was a bookshelf and a table next to it. A blue robed man in his middle years was flipping through a book. Ji Ning stood there in front of him. “Why does the Lord of Cui Palace wish to see me?” Ji Ning was wondering. He had no idea who this Lord of Cui Palace was and had never met him. He was just an ordinary person. How could he possibly know any Immortals? If he had a powerful background, then he wouldn’t have been tormented by his illness his entire life. So why had that Lord of Cui Palace sent the minotaur god to bring him here? “He summoned me, but then he doesn’t speak to me.” Ji Ning sneaked a glance around the room. The study was very simple. The only decoration was a single painting. “That’s…” Ji Ning looked at it carefully. This was the painting of a girl. Her feathered clothes were filled with natural grace, and the smile on her lips was even more enigmatic than those on the Buddhas in the temples on Earth. In the blink of an eye, Ji Ning became enamored with studying that painting. The woman in this painting, in terms of appearance or hair or clothing, was extremely alluring. “Oh?” The blue robed man raised his head and glanced at him, glancing at the painting in surprise. “I didn’t expect that he would have such powers of perception.” “Wake up!” The blue robed man shouted quietly. The world of vacant pondering which Ji Ning had been in just now was totally shattered, and he was totally woken up. Only now did he remember that he was in the Lord of Cui Palace’s place. The Lord of Cui Palace had closed his book and was looking at him. Ji Ning’s expression instantly changed. This was because from his current position, he could see the words within the hands of the Lord of Cui Palace: “Book of Life and Death.” The Lord of Cui Palace was reading the Book of Life and Death? “I’ve just been reading about your life.” The Lord of Cui Palace smiled towards Ji Ning. Ji Ning was startled. His life? His previous life appeared in his mind like a dream. His father was a leading researcher in a bioscience program. His salary was extremely high. His mother was an ordinary teacher. His life should’ve been great since he had been born into such a family, but unfortunately, he suffered from constant diseases. The doctors all said that it would be a miracle if he would live to fifteen or sixteen. Therefore, he couldn’t go to school, nor could he play around with his peers. Every day, just by walking for half an hour, he would feel exhausted. His weak body, constantly tormented by illness, caused his childhood to be very lonely. He had heard long ago in the hospital that others were discussing how he should die in his teens. This sort of terrifying feeling of knowing your death was coming soon had tormented his childhood, causing him to be even more of a loner. Fortunately! Fortunately, he had his books and the internet. The books and the internet gave him a ‘mental world’ which allowed him to avoid the fate of having a twisted personality. Through books and the internet, he ravenously acquired knowledge about the world, and his heart slowly grew calm, making him more rational in the way he viewed the world. He knew that in the world, there were children who were even worse off than him. After all, he still had his parents and he had enough to eat. He was searching for his value in life. He couldn’t just stay here and wait to die, right? While he was alive, he had to do something. And thus, he had asked for a hundred thousand Chinese dollars from his parents and began to do business online. He originally had wanted to make his life more interesting, but unexpectedly, he really had incredible achievements. After many years, he had earned an enormous fortune. But despite that, his illness constantly reminded him that he wouldn’t be able to live for much longer. As his parents didn’t need him to support them, he felt that leaving the money there would be a waste. Thus, before dying, he handed out all of his money, giving it to the poor and sick children throughout the country. “I can’t change my own destiny, but I can change the destiny of those countless poor, sick children!” This was the deepest desire in Ji Ning’s heart! After handing out all of his money, he hadn’t expected that one day, while he was taking a walk in the streets outside the hospital with his parents, he had simply died. “Your life was bitter since you were born.” The Lord of Cui Palace said softly. “But bitterness didn’t twist you. Instead, it spurred you on to astonishing accomplishments. You not only made a huge sum of money, but more importantly…you gave it all away!” “Eighteen years of age. Dead.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed. “For one to be willing to sacrifice one’s self to rescue a stranger is quite rare.” 70 Ji Ning said, “Palace Lord, you praise me too much. If I had lived a long life, I might not have been willing to do this. According to the doctors, at most I would’ve lived another three months. For me to trade those three months of life to allow a little girl to gain dozens of years in her life was worth it!” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed, and then casually flipped open the Book of Life and Death. His gentle voice carried an infinite majesty. “Ji Ning, in your life, you saved over ten thousand people. Your merits are great. For your reincarnation, you shall be reborn into…the Heaven Realm!” “The Heaven Realm.” Ji Ning murmured quietly. The Lord of Cui Palace sighed, “Only those who accumulate great karmic merit can enter the Heaven Realm. On Earth, it is very hard for one to reach this level. Knowingly or unknowingly, by giving up your vast fortune and helping all of those children, you accumulated enormous karmic merit. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be able to enter the Heaven Realm.” “Palace Lord, what do you mean?” Ji Ning was confused. “People are born pure and without malice.” The Lord of Cui Palace said. “Children are totally pure, but later on, the vagaries of life cause them to change…if you were to have helped adults, you might’ve helped some kind people, but it is hard to say who is kind and who is evil. If you had helped evil people, it would’ve reduced your karmic merit.” Ji Ning now realized what he meant. “The Book of Life and Death had preordained that you would only live to be sixteen. However, because of your accumulated merits, you were allowed to live until age eighteen.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed. “What?” Ji Ning was shocked. “Are you saying that the fates contained within the Book of Life and Death can be changed?” “Of course they can be changed. Why can’t they be changed?” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “For me, adding a hundred years to a person’s life is nothing. Even if Heaven wanted you to die, it would still give you a chance, much less the Book of Life and Death. A person’s destiny is preordained, true, but it can be changed later on.” Ji Ning now understood. It was true. The ancients said, “If Heaven commits a sinful act, one can go against it; but if you do a sinful act, then you will not be allowed to live.” If Heaven wanted you to die, it would still give you a chance at life. The Book of Life and Death was nothing more than pre-ordained destiny, which one could try and change afterwards. “I believe there are many people who accumulated great merit. Palace Lord, why did you summon me alone?” Ji Ning asked, puzzled. The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “Because…you and I are from the same hometown.” “From the same hometown?” Ji Ning was stunned. “Are you also from…” “Right. According to the words you ‘modern’ people use, I’m also from Earth!” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “But that was back in the era of the Sui and Tang dynasties.” The Sui and Tang dynasties? Ji Ning was extremely excited. “I heard those ghosts say that they were ‘princes’ or ‘devil kings’. None of them are from Earth.” “It is normal from them to not be from Earth. In the infinite universe of space-time, there are three realms; the Heaven, the Netherworld, and the Mortal Realms.” The Lord of Cui Palace explained. “Heaven refers to the Heaven Realm! The Netherworld refers to the underworld, the Netherworld Kingdom! Mortal, refers to the Mortal Realm. In the Mortal Realm, there are over three thousand major worlds and trillions of minor worlds…the three thousand major worlds are all extremely vast, and have Immortals and Devils hidden within them. As for the trillions of minor worlds, all of them are much smaller and have much lower populations. Our hometown, the Earth, is one of those minor worlds. Up until now, there are still only a couple billion people.” “Every moment, in those three thousand major worlds and trillions of minor worlds, there are countless deaths, and the spirits all come here to the Netherworld Kingdom! Tell me, how many ghosts does the Netherworld Kingdom have?” The Lord of Cui Palace looked at Ji Ning. Ji Ning was shocked. My God! Three Realms? The Mortal Realm was enormous. The Earth was just one of a trillion minor worlds. As a human of Earth, in the past, he always thought the Earth was the center of the universe! But now, he realized…that the Earth was just one of a trillion minor worlds, and couldn’t even be considered one of the three thousand major worlds. In an instant, he had a sense of loss and disorientation. “Three thousand major worlds, a trillion minor worlds. Of course there’s many people who have high merit. But it is rare that there is someone from my hometown who has accumulated such high merit, and what’s more, your pre-ordained fate was a short life. For you to be able to reach such a level despite that is very rare! I just happened to have some free time, so I wanted to meet you, my fellow Earth man.” The 72 Lord of Cui Palace. “You are going to reincarnate soon. Let me tell you about the Six States of Reincarnation.” “The Six States of Reincarnation refers to Devas, Asuras, Humans, Animals, Preta Ghosts, and Hell Beings.” The Lord of Cui Palace explained, “Those who are born as Devas and Asuras are all considered to be in the ‘Heaven Realm’.” “Humans and Animals are part of the Mortal Realm.” “Preta Ghosts and Hell-beings are in the Netherworld Kingdom Realm.” “The Heaven Realm is the place where you are about to be reborn in.” These words immediately caused Ji Ning to grow alert. The Lord of Cui Palace sighed, “This is the best place to be. When you are reborn into the Heaven Realm, nature itself will give birth to you as a Deva! Only someone who is born naturally by the heavens can be described as a ‘immaculate lifeform’.” “Born by nature? Not by a mother?” Ji Ning was absolutely shocked. “Of course.” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “Otherwise, how could you be considered an ‘immaculate lifeform’? Strictly speaking, the heavens and the earth will be your parents!” “After being born into the Heaven Realm, you will train at an astonishing pace. You will easily be able to enter the Celestial Court and become a soldier or a general of Heaven.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed emotionally. Ji Ning rubbed his eyes. A soldier or general of Heaven? He was going to become a soldier or general of Heaven? “Devas have another advantage; once you turn sixteen, you will regain all your memories of your previous lives.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed. “The only reason I met you this time was because you had high merit and are a fellow countryman. I didn’t expect that when you came here…you would’ve been spellbound by the painting of Nuwa, the creator of humans. Your insight and perception is indeed very high. For the sake of helping you to become a standout soldier of Heaven, I’ll give you some help.” Ji Ning was absolutely delighted. Help him? Help him out? “Stare at the painting of Nuwa.” The Lord of Cui Palace pointed at the painting on the wall. Ji Ning looked at it. So that woman in the painting was the goddess Nuwa? “The person on this painting is the most holy and most compassionate primordial goddess, Miss Nuwa.” The face of the Lord of Cui Palace turned solemn. “Ever since Pangu died after creating the universe, only she, Miss Nuwa, has reached Pangu’s level. Miss Nuwa is capable of destroying the universe, but also capable of healing it. She can even create new life. Of the countless races, the human race is the most spiritual one, and it was created by Miss Nuwa. She has understood 84,000 truths, and without question, she is the most invincible, powerful presence in the Three Realms.” “The highest in the Three Realms?” Ji Ning was stunned. Nuwa created humans, and Nuwa repaired the world. He had long ago heard of these myths. “This painting is used for the visualization technique, but there’s no way you can see the secrets hidden within it.” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “Although you are about to become a Deva and a heavenly warrior and will also be trained in this, let me first teach you a bit of the visualization technique and fulfill the karmic bonds that brought us together.” “Thank you, Lord of Cui Palace.” Ji Ning bowed so low, he almost reached the ground. “No need to thank me. It is nothing more than a visualization technique. It isn’t some sort of secret training method, or a magical technique of the Immortals or the Devils.” The Lord of Cui Palace pointed a single finger at Ji Ning’s forehead. Boom! Ji Ning felt his brain suddenly explode, and an enormous figure of Nuwa appeared in his mind. “Wake up.” The Lord of Cui Palace looked at Ji Ning. “Remember. Often visualizing her will definitely allow you to train your soul. But of course, you are about to be reborn and you’ll need to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. You will temporarily lose your memory. When you turn sixteen, you will remember this visualization technique. But that’s enough. It will definitely be enough to let you become an outstanding figure in the army of Heaven! With this visualization technique, you will have a chance to train to become an Immortal. If you wish to become a Celestial Immortal, you will suffer many trials…I hope that you will succeed, and in the future, we will meet again in the Celestial Court.” Ji Ning’s heart was filled with excitement. The army of Heaven? Becoming an Immortal? He really looked forward to it all. “Go.” The Lord of Cui Palace waved his hand. Hua. Ji Ning disappeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “By order of the Lord of Cui Palace, I have come to escort you to the Road to the Yellow Springs, brother.” In mid-air, a woman dressed in purple was flying while holding Ji Ning by his hand. Ji Ning stared around him. Just a moment ago, he had been in the palace of the Lord of Cui Palace. How did he suddenly appear in mid-air? “Dare I ask, who exactly is the Lord of Cui Palace?” Ji Ning was puzzled. “I heard that before reincarnating, I should meet with the Judges of the Dead, who would investigate my past and present lives, then send me to be reincarnated?” “Didn’t you already see a Judge?” The violet clothed woman laughed. “As the Custodian of the Book of Life and Death, naturally the Lord of Cui Palace is the First Judge of the Dead! Since he personally came to judge you, of course the other common judges don’t need to come judge you.” In the Netherworld Kingdom, the highest authority was that of the Yamas of the Ten Halls, the ten Kings of Hell. Immediately beneath them was the First Judge of the Dead, the Lord of Cui Palace, ‘Cui Jue’. His great fame had long since spread throughout the three Realms. The Mortal Realm was vast beyond compare. It had three thousand major worlds and trillions of minor worlds. Every single living creature, before they were born, would have their good deeds and evil deeds assessed by the Judges. What an enormous task this was! Thus, the entire Netherworld Kingdom had trillions of Judges who were responsible for judging the dead souls of the trillions of worlds. But Cui Jue was the leader of all of the Judges, and was titled the First Judge. He was the true Custodian of the Book of Life and Death. His power was so great that he was virtually on the same level as the Ten Kings of Hell. “Look. The Road to the Yellow Springs.” The woman pointed to a vast road ahead of them, which had countless ghosts slowly trudging along in a line. “If you follow the road, you will quickly arrive at the Bridge of Despair. After you pass the Bridge of Despair and drink Grandma Meng’s Elixer of Forgetfulness, you can go be reborn.” “Go.” The woman waved her hand. Ji Ning’s body was suddenly surrounded by golden light, which sent him flying straight down into the front of the line, allowing him to ‘cut in line’. The minotaur soldiers next to the line, upon seeing the violet clothed woman high up in the air, didn’t dare to say a word. They even arranged for one of the minotaur soldiers to escort Ji Ning and were extremely courteous to him. …….. The Yellow Springs Road was full of mist. Countless souls were making their way through it, and Ji Ning was one of them. “What’s that?” Ji Ning stared in front. In front of him, the mist was very thick. Any souls that entered there disappeared and never came back. “Go on. In front is the Bridge of Despair.” The nearby minotaur soldier said amiably. Ji Ning nodded. Not hesitating, he stepped forward, entering that dense fog. He suddenly felt as though spacetime had changed. “Where is this?” Ji Ning stared at his surroundings in confusion. In front of him was a small, winding road. Ghostly forms could be hazily made out. In front of him, only a few dozen ghosts could be seen. In front of this little road was a river with rapid, turbid water. “That should be the legendary Bridge of Despair.” Ji Ning headed forward. “How strange.” “Clearly, countless people entered here. But how come after I stepped in, so few people can be seen?” Ji Ning was quite baffled. How could he know that here at the Bridge of Despair, time flowed differently than in the outside world. As the saying goes, ‘For each day that passes in Heaven, a year passes in the mortal world.’ Time passed here at the Bridge of Despair at an even more extravagantly fast pace. A single day in the Netherworld Kingdom would equal countless years here in the Bridge of Despair. “Ah! Ah!” “I’m sorry!” 77 As Ji Ning walked onto the Bridge of Despair, he saw that the other side of the bridge had a pool of blood. The pool of blood had all sorts of poisonous bugs, poisonous snakes, and vicious dogs that wildly bit at people. Most of the ghosts simply walked past the pool of blood, but some fell straight into it. Clearly, these people were burdened by great sins, and found it impossible to avoid the terrifying pool of blood. “If you knew what would happen today, would you have acted so previously?” Ji Ning shook his head, then stared at the other side. “So beautiful.” Next to the River of Forgetfulness was countless beautiful flowers. Not too far from the bridge was a precious gem which flashed the light, creating many different images. This was the legendary ‘Gem of Three Lives’, referring to the ‘previous life’, the ‘current life’, and the ‘next life’. Not too far away from the Gem of Three Lives was a stone dais. This was the ‘Dais of Viewing Home’. After the souls passed the dais, they arrived at Grandma Meng. Grandma Meng was a seemingly very ordinary old grandmother. She held a bowl of water in her hands, handing it over to each soul to allow them to drink from it. After drinking it, the souls would become sluggish and seem to be in a trance, as they automatically began to walk towards one of the six tunnels of rebirth behind Grandma Meng. “Deva. Asura. Mortal. Animal. Preta Ghost. Hell.” Ji Ning stared at the infathomably deep tunnels behind Grandma Meng. “I won’t drink, I won’t drink, I don’t want to forget, I don’t want to forget…” Many ghosts struggled. But no matter how much they struggled, they were forced by an invisible, inexorable force to move forwards. When they arrived next to Grandma Meng, they were forced by the invisible force to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. No matter how they screamed or howled, they still drank it…and after drinking it, no matter how strong their emotions were or how deep their memories were, they forgot it all. By then, they were no longer themselves. “I’m entering the Heaven Realm. Although I’ll recover my memories at age sixteen, but by then, will my memories of the sixteen years of life in the Heaven Realm will take precedence, or would the memories of my previous life take precedence? By then, would I still be me?” Ji Ning felt a hint of grief. He understood. In this life, he only lived eighteen years. In the Heaven Realm, during those sixteen years, he would be far more powerful than in this life. Most likely, his current memories would be secondary. “But what can I do?” Ji Ning was already bound, and he moved forward under that force’s control. The ghosts ahead of him all drank from Grandma Meng’s Elixir. In six more ghosts, it would be his turn. “Grandma Meng’s Elixir.” Ji Ning stared at Grandma Meng. Grandma Meng suddenly raised her head. This was the first time Ji Ning had seen Grandma Meng raise her head. Grandma Meng stared far away into the skies, and then her ancient voice said in fury, “Impudent!” Boom! The skies seemed to shatter and the earth seemed to break. The surrounding skies suddenly began to fracture, and the surrounding mist began to break down and dissipate, exposing the countless ghosts in line in the outside world. The fractures in space transformed a large number of ghosts into dust. Like bubbles that were popping, countless souls began to disappear, all of them screaming in misery. “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” In mid-air, countless black dragons could be seen flying about, each one of them seeing as enormous as a massive, sinuous mountain chain. Ji Ning seemed to be able to see even those heart-freezing dragon scales. The countless dragons were wandering about, having fun in the skies, and then each of the black dragons vomited forth multiple streams of black lightning. Instantly, trillions of bolts of black lightning slashed down, every single one of them causing the heavens and the earth to break apart. “The Life and Death Formation of the Calamity Dragons? How is it that you dare to attack the Six Paths of Reincarnation? This is a grave sin!” Grandma Meng shouted with unbridled fury. Transforming into a beam of light, she flew towards the tens of millions of black dragons in the sky. Instantly, those countless black dragons surrounded Grandma Meng. Rumble… The world was fracturing, and the muddied waters of the River of Forgetfulness began to form waves. Any ghosts that touched those waters were instantly dissipated. The Bridge of Despair shattered, and the ghosts atop the Bridge of Despair fell directly into the River of Forgetfulness. As for the Six Paths of Reincarnation, those immeasurably deep tunnels were beginning to shake as well, and light was gleaming from within their depths. “Uh oh.” Ji Ning stared in terror at the calamity he was witnessing. At the same time, he could sense that invisible binding force dissipate. “I’ll risk it!” When the binding force dissipated, Ji Ning was both surprised and pleased. Half hopping, halfflying, he jumped directly towards the ‘Mortal Realm’ tunnel. The Six Paths of Reincarnation each were located in different places. Because most people entered the Mortal Realm, the Mortal Realm’s tunnel was directly behind Grandma Meng and was the closest one to Ji Ning. Naturally, Ji Ning chose to jump down into that tunnel. The surrounding ghosts were all jumping down into the various reincarnation tunnels. One ghost dared to try and rush towards the most distant, Heaven Realm tunnel. Boom… A bolt of black lightning struck down. That ghost, who hadn’t managed to dodge in time, instantly dissipated, along with several other nearby ghosts. …….. What exactly had happened in the Netherworld Kingdom? Those countless black dragons that had been circling about in the air, those trillions of black lightning bolts that had wildly struck downwards…that terrifying scene had shocked Ji Ning. But he understood that as an ordinary ghost, there was no point in worrying too much about it. In addition, right now, he didn’t have any time to worry about it, because his head hurt! Ji Ning sensed that his head was in tremendous pain, as though something was frantically grabbing onto and tearing at it. His neck hurt, and his body was suffering tremendous pressure. Hua! Suddenly, he felt at ease, and then, he felt a bone-piercing cold. At the same time, a breath of fresh air entered his mouth. This was the first ‘breath’ which Ji Ning had taken since dying. “Wow!” After taking a deep breath, Ji Ning immediately let out a cry. The cry of an infant. “A son! It’s a son!” Although his hearing was a bit distorted, he could still understand what was just said. “Oh. I’ve been reborn.” Ji Ning instantly understood. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning opened his eyes and saw that he was being held by a giant who wore a set of white fur clothes. Ji Ning instantly understood that this person was a ‘giant’, only because right now, he was an infant being held by this man. “You can leave now.” The man said. “Yes.” The three maids said respectfully. The man holding Ji Ning in his arms should be his father. Although he had just gotten a son, he still seemed like a piece of glacial ice, very hard to get close to. He wore a set of beautiful fur clothes, while those three maids also were dressed in animal fur. Clearly, they were of much poorer quality. The room was quite empty. The wall, the dresser, the seats, the bed, all of them were carved from marble. The carvings were quite exquisite and gave off an ancient, beautiful nobility. Atop the bed was a six or seven meter long enormous beast fur, with the fur hanging down to the floor. At a glance, one could tell that this fur was no doubt extremely expensive. Atop that bed, there was a red-faced young woman. “Even the chairs and the dressers were carved from marble. The room itself should be made from marble as well. Father and those three women are all dressed in animal fur. It seems this world doesn’t have a high level of civilization.” Ji Ning secretly said to himself. “Son.” Despite holding his infant son in his arms, that man still seemed very cold, without a hint of a smile on his face. Only, his eyes betrayed his excitement. Ji Ning suddenly had the feeling that a mysterious cold energy entered his body. It was very comfortable, and then, quickly, it passed away. “Yichuan, how is my son doing?” The woman on the bed hurriedly asked. “As expected, his body’s quality is ordinary.” Ji Yichuan said softly. The woman on the bed had faint tears in her eyes. “Let me hold him.” The man carried the child over in his arms. “Be good.” The young woman looked at the infant, her eyes filled with love. “Yichuan, our child was injured in the womb. Although he ate those natural treasures, it only repaired some of the damage. We haven’t done right by our child.” 81 He had been injured in the womb? Natural treasures? It seemed as though his parents in this world weren’t ordinary people. ….. Despite having just given birth to a child, his mother had easily been able to get off the bed. She was also dressed in a white fur, and was in her husband’s arms as they walked out of the room. “You can clean up in here.” His father, Ji Yichuan, said to those three maids. “Yes.” The three maids said respectfully. Outside the door, on the hallway, there was a big, snow white dog. Its fur was as long as cotton, and it appeared very docile. When its gaze fell upon Ji Ning, it was filled with excitement and love. In the wide courtyard outside the room was a giant, pitch-black coiling python which was lining the outside of the courtyard. It had circled around in multiple loops, and its head was raise to a height of dozens of meters. Its body was covered with dark, heart-stoppingly cold scales. The giant python slowly lowered its head and drew near. “Good God!” Ji Ning was frightened. That snow white dog was fine. He had seen plenty of dogs in the past. That snow white one was just a bit bigger. But this coiled, enormous monstrosity? Was it even a snake? Coiled around in endless circles, and its raised head alone was dozens of meters high. The entire thing had to be two or three hundred meters long. Such an awe-inspiring beast was actually in front of his own family’s house? This…this was simply… “Son.” Ji Yichuan didn’t pay any attention to his son’s feelings, or perhaps in this world, people were used to these things already and didn’t feel they were strange. Ji Yichuan pointed at the snow white massive dog in front of them. “This is your Uncle White. He is your father’s lifelong friend, and he’s saved your life. You must treat him as you would treat me.” The snow white hound looked lovingly at Ji Ning. Ji Ning could almost physically feel the deep love which the snow white hound bore him. However… He had to call a dog, ‘Uncle White’? “Yichuan, the child was just born and doesn’t understand anything yet. Is there a point to telling him these things?” The young woman said while holding the child. “Even if he doesn’t understand, this is his first time meeting with Little White.” Ji Yichuan raised his head to stare at the massive python. “Brother Black!” Hiss… This enormous black python which definitely would’ve made countless nations go insane suddenly transformed into a black mist, and then reformed into a black-haired middle-aged man. The black haired man smiled towards the infant. “Yichuan, I still remember how when you first showed your budding talent, I agreed to follow you. I didn’t expect that in the blink of an eye, you would have a son. Child, don’t be afraid. I am your Uncle Black.” “Let’s go outside.” Ji Yichuan said. “Grandpa and the others are outside waiting as well. Brother Black, it’s best if you return to your regular form. I know it is very uncomfortable for you to be in human form.” Hiss… The black haired man nodded, and then he once more transformed into a black fog which quickly returned to that massive, coiled black python. The massive black python immediately slithered towards the outside. Its enormous body moved very quickly. Slither, slither, slither. It easily passed the walls and disappeared. Ji Ning felt that he was still in a state of shock. Although this might be normal to people of this world, to Ji Ning, a man from the Earth, this was simply too stunning. A 200-300 meter long black python had suddenly transformed into a black haired man, and had said that he was his ‘Uncle Black’? Monster! “Can it be that the snow white hound is also a monster?” Ji Ning had the feeling that this world was more amazing than he could imagine. Husband and wife held the child together as they walked out into the corridor, while by their side was the snow white dog. Once they reached the end of the corridor, they walked onto a stone paved road which led to a garden. Within the garden, there was a thick layer of snow. Many black armored guards were standing there unmoving, while in the center, there were several dozen people standing. These several dozen people all possessed all sorts of miraculous bizarre beasts, venomous pests, and flying beasts. Ji Ning instantly understood. It wasn’t that his father was special. It was that the people of this world all raised strange beasts. Taming them was a common habit. “It seems in the future, I’ll have to get used to making friends with monsters.” Ji Ning quickly adjusted to this new reality and began to observe those several dozen people. These several dozen people all seemed ferocious as tigers or panthers. Virtually all of them were dressed in beautifully cut animal furs. Only the three women were dressed in silk or cloth garments. This secretly startled Ji Ning. It seemed that not everyone in this world wore animal furs. Silk and cloth already existed here. Judging from the location where the three women were standing, they were of fairly common rank within those dozens of people. Clearly, the quality of those silk or cloth clothes weren’t any higher than the lavish, exquisitely cut animal furs. The silver-haired old man standing in front walked over. “Come, Yichuan. Let me hold the child.” “Grandfather.” Ji Yichuan nodded, then took the child over from his wife’s arms and delivered him to the old man. “This child truly is beautiful.” The silver-haired old man’s face was filled with joy. He said in praise, “Yichuan, now that you have a son, I will no longer worry as much. I’ve been the lord of our prefecture for already eighty years. According to the rules of our clan, a person can only be a Prefecture Lord for no more than a century. I only have twenty years left as Prefecture Lord. Previously, I wanted you to succeed me in the position of the Prefecture Lord of the West Prefecture of our Ji clan, but you insisted on focusing on walking the path of the Immortals. Now that you have a son, as I see it, in the future, he can be the next Prefecture Lord.” The next Prefecture Lord? Ji Ning was surprised. It seemed as though his status was quite high, and this clan should be a special one as well. Those extremely obedient female servants and those unmoving, black armored guards all were a testament to his clan’s power. “Big brother!” A sudden angry shout. Who would dare to be so disrespectful to the Prefecture Lord? Ji Ning looked in the direction of the noise. He saw a red-haired old man who emanated heat walk over. The man had a eye-catching red earring in his right ear. Wait. It wasn’t a red earring. It was a little red snake the size of a finger. He was actually wearing a snake in his ear? The old man with the snake in his ear walked forward, growling, “The matter of the succession to the position of Prefecture Lord can’t be so casual as this. In addition, who knows what sort of ability that little fellow would have?” 84 “Yichuan’s son’s ability would naturally…” The silver-haired old man was extremely confident. At the same time, a sudden surge of heat entered Ji Ning’s body, then quickly dissipated. “Yichuan!” The silver-haired old man stared in astonishment towards the grandson he was so proud of. How could he not be shocked. This was the son of Ji Yichuan, famed as the ‘Raindrop Sword’. The majestic Raindrop Sword, all by himself, had exterminated countless monsters hidden in deep lakes and high mountains. The countless tribes under the control of their West Prefecture of the Ji clan all knew of the Raindrop Sword. In fact, more people knew of him than knew who the Prefecture Lord was. As long as his child ate some precious treasures while in the womb, the infant would naturally have the finest possible growth conditions. “Big brother.” The snake elder laughed. “It seems Yichuan’s son is quite average. How can the West Prefecture of our Ji clan, which commands so many tribes, have a weak little fellow take over the important position of Prefecture Lord? How can the people of the Ji clan possibly submit to him? How can the countless tribes be willing to submit to him?” “Prefecture Lord. This little fellow, it seems, isn’t suited to the position of being the next Prefecture Lord.” “The important position of Prefecture Lord cannot be so casually given away.” Those few dozen people present were all high level members of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan. Many began to speak. “Shut your mouth.” Ji Yichuan frowned. As he swept the area with his icy gaze, instantly, many of the clan members fell silent. But the snake elder said angrily, “What a huge temper. This is the West Prefecture of the Ji clan! What, we can’t even talk here? Your son as the Prefecture Lord…if your son was qualified, then given the great merits you yourself have rendered to the West Prefecture of the Ji clan, we definitely wouldn’t say anything. But your son is so very average. You still wish him to be Prefecture Lord? The countless tribes under the banner of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan must fight together in territorial battles, and also must struggle against the Diremonsters in the deep mountains and the lakes. How can a weak Prefecture Lord make the clan members willingly submit? How can he make those tribes submit? If the West Prefecture isn’t awe-inspiring, then how will we struggle for power against the surrounding organizations, and how will we go to the mountains and the lakes to slay the Diremonsters?” “I will naturally be the one to kill the Diremonsters of the lakes and the mountains!” Ji Yichuan’s voice was cold as ice. “You sure are tough. You live up to your reputation, Ji Yichuan. So you’ll go kill all of the Diremonsters hiding in all of the mountains and lakes by yourself? Then I, Ji Lee, will say this to you. If you can kill a hundred Diremonsters, then I will no longer dispute with you over who will become the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. I’ll let your son take it over.” The snake elder sneered. Ji Yichuan stared at him. Every single Diremonster was extremely sly and powerful. How could they be so easily killed? Even killing ten of them would be a miracle, much less a hundred. “Enough. The child was just born and can’t take all this stress.” The silver-haired elder stared at them, then ordered, “Tonight, we’ll hold a celebratory banquet at the Snowfall Hall. For now, everyone can leave.” “Alright.” The serpent elder was the first to respond, and he did so loudly. He immediately led more than half the people away with him, with the rest quickly returning to their own places as well, leaving this garden. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The banquet at Snowfall Palace continued into the late night. Late at night, the sky was covered with stars. Ji Yichuan and his wife took their infant back home. “Whoah.” Ji Ning blearily opened his little eyes and saw the night sky filled with stars. Ah. He had fallen asleep. He had actually fallen asleep mid-way. There had been fascinating performances, with musicians, drummers, and barefoot, fur-clad female dancers filling the hall. This was very different from Earth’s performances, but it was still very pleasing to the eye. However, he was still just an infant. Halfway through, he was simply too sleepy and thus he immediately fell asleep. “Yichuan.” Yuchi Snow said with a hint of anger while walking in the snow. “At the banquet, why did you say that you would let our son go seize the golden sword? Don’t you know how hard that is?” “I was able to accomplish it.” Yichuan frowned. “You are the most powerful member of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan. You were able to do it as a youth, but in the thousand year history of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, how many have been like you?” Snow was angry. Normally, she was very gentle, but anything which involved her son made her anxious. “And today, when the Prefecture Lord raised the question of having our son becoming the next Prefecture Lord, five overseers had agreed. Only a single additional overseer was needed. All you had to do was convince a single overseer…with six overseers in agreement, then our son would have easily been able to become the next Prefecture Lord. Why go seize the golden sword?” Seizing the golden sword was simply too hard. Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “You don’t understand.” “What don’t I understand?” Snow said angrily. “You haven’t been at the West Prefecture for a long time yet. You don’t understand the intricacies hidden within.” Yichuan explained. “The ten overseers of the West Prefecture are divided into the Prefecture Lord’s side and Ji Lee’s side. There are three centrists. If we were to draw another overseer into our orbit, the price would have been too high.” “So what if the price is high?” Snow said unhappily. “Yes, if we paid an enormous price, we could let our son become the Prefecture Lord.” Yichuan frowned. “But if our son is incapable, even if he is allowed to take the position of Prefecture Lord, he’ll just suffer countless miseries, unspeakable miseries. That will be a form of torment!” Yuchi Snow was stunned. “I don’t want my son to be miserable.” Yichuan continued slowly. “Thus, I brought up seizing the golden sword.” “If my son possesses astonishing insight and talent and is able to strengthen rapidly, then naturally, he’ll be able to seize the golden sword. No one would say a single word of dissent if he were to take over the Prefecture Lord position after doing so.” Yichuan said. “But if my son is unable to seize the golden sword, then he can just live a life of leisure. I, Yichuan, will protect him his entire life and let him live without any cares.” Snow seemed to have understood. Becoming Prefecture Lord didn’t necessarily mean a life of ease. If an expert became the Prefecture Lord, then naturally, his rule would be stable. But if someone incapable took the position…even if he was forcibly installed, he would just be miserable. “Yichuan, I was wrong to blame you.” Snow said softly. Yichuan just lowered his head and rubbed his son’s face. “His eyes are wide open. This kid woke up long ago.” “Right, Yichuan. What name should we give him?” Snow suddenly asked. “I asked you when I was pregnant, but you weren’t happy with any of the names. Now that he’s been born, we have to come up with a suitable name.” “Let his name come into the world alongside him.” Yichuan said. “How could I not be careful about it? I hadn’t made up my mind in the past, but just now, I suddenly thought of a name…let’s call our son ‘Ning’, meaning ‘calm’. No matter whether his life is normal or exciting, no matter if he is weak or becomes an expert, let him maintain a calm, peaceful heart.” “Ning?” Snow murmured. “Ji Ning. Ji Ning…” Ji Ning? The infant in his mother’s arms stared with wide eyes. Was this the name which the First Judge, the Lord of Cui Palace, had preordained that he would have in the Book of Life and Death? Or was it a true coincidence? In this life, he would be named Ji Ning once again? ….. The most powerful member of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan was the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. The second was the ‘Tiger Demon’, Ji Lee. Within Lee’s Prefecture. “Congratulations and felicitations, father.” A middle-aged man with several dozen braids in his hair said. “That Yichuan was so arrogant and blind that he actually said he would have his son go seize the golden sword…the West Prefecture has been in the hands of our Ji clan for generations. Not a single person has taken the Prefecture Lord position through seizing the golden sword.” The old man with flaming red hair and that scarlet snake in his ears slapped his hands together. “When I was young, I should’ve become the Prefecture Lord! But at that time, I was simply too much of a show-off and ended up losing to my big brother, Ji Young. That old bastard Young ended up taking the Prefecture Lord position and has been in that position for eighty years!” “Eighty full years!” “I’ve been waiting all this time. Every day has been a crucible.” Lee ground his teeth. “I didn’t expect that his line of descent would produce someone like Yichuan! He truly is a glorious, outstanding talent. Fortunately, fortunately, Yichuan is only interested in training to become an Immortal and doesn’t care about becoming the Prefecture Lord. Yichuan was simply too arrogant today. He actually chose such a path for his son.” “It seems it is the will of Heaven that we take the Prefecture Lord’s position.” The middle-aged man said excitedly. “Don’t be hasty.” Lee shouted. “When I was young, that loss I suffered taught me…that a person can’t be too happy before one has actually succeeded! What we need to do is prepare!” “Father, do you mean to say…” The man asked. Lee was frowning in concentration. Time slowly passed. The middle aged man sat off to one side, not daring to disturb him. He knew his father was thinking. “Right!” Ji Lee suddenly said in a soft voice. “That’s what we’ll do!” The middle-aged man looked at his father. “Father, what is your plan?” 89 “In order to seize the golden sword, one must defeat all of the youths of the tribes and the descendants of the Ji clan.” Lee said in a low voice. “Although there are few clan members, they are able to acquire a large amount of treasures and secret manuals, while although there are many youths in the tribes, very few will get any treasures. But despite that, in the quadrennial Golden Sword Ceremony, out of every five or six ceremonies, only once will a Ji clan member win.” The middle-aged man nodded. “There are simply too many tribe members. There will always be an extremely talented person who emerges. However, no matter how great their talent, we won’t teach them the truly powerful arts of the Ji clan. We’ll only teach them some of the lesser arts. Although those youths of the tribes might be powerful during the Golden Sword Ceremony, after seventy or eighty years, the most powerful exponents are those of the Ji clan.” “What I mean to do is…” Ji Lee said in a whisper. “Select a few outstanding youths from the tribes and give them a large amount of treasures and resources and train them. Without my training, those tribal youth talents are already so powerful. Once they receive my training, they will definitely skyrocket in power and become even mightier! I refuse to believe that the son of Yichuan will be able to defeat all of them and seize the golden sword.” “Right. Right.” The middle-aged man hurriedly nodded. Usually, the treatment of the tribal youths and of the Ji clan members were totally different. The Ji clan youths were of one family. Naturally, the Ji clan would treat them much better. But in dealing with the youths of the tribes, they would have to both draw them close and also control them well! But this time…he would use all of his talent to cultivate the most promising youths! “Father, if you do this, then Ji Yichuan’s son will definitely lose.” The middle-aged man said confidently. “Hahaha…” Lee laughed. “Remember. Plant some of our people by Yichuan’s side. I want to know how rapidly Yichuan’s son grows in power. Only knowing one’s own power and one’s opponent’s power will one gain victory!” “Yes!” The middle-aged man’s eyes were shining. …… Yuchi Snow gently placed her son down atop the warm bed. “Ning, be a good boy and sleep tight.” Snow gently kissed her son’s face, then lay down on the bed as well. A pained look was on Ning’s face. He wiped the corner of his lips. He had just drank breast milk. What a weird sensation. The events of the past twenty four hours were simply too shocking, too unbelievable. First, he had passed the Bridge of Despair, but then, just before he was to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir, a great upheaval had occurred in the Netherworld Kingdom. It was as though the world was about to shatter. He had been lucky enough to react in time and jump into the Mortal Realm’s tunnel, and had been reincarnated into this world. A snow white hound who was his ‘Uncle White’? A several hundred-meter giant black python that could raise its head up to the level of a house, and also transform into a black-haired middle aged man, who was his ‘Uncle Black’? And now, he was supposed to seize some golden sword and become some Prefecture Lord? Hey guys, did you think about asking me how I feel about all this? “Bah. Infants have no human rights.” Ji Ning licked the milk from the corner of his lips while pondering. Still, a hint of excitement was in his eyes. “Time to train!” The very first day he had arrived here, he had sensed that his clan was a powerful one. How could a clan capable of commanding countless tribes be ordinary? But clearly, the position of Prefecture Lord had aroused interest from all sides. That old fellow with the red snake in his ear wasn’t weak either. He dared to argue against the Prefecture Lord and squabble with Ning’s father. Screw it! Ning was still just an infant. There was no reason for him to worry about all these things. Right now, the most important thing was to train. Train in the visualization technique – Nuwa Painting. The Nuwa Painting, according to the Lord of Cui Palace, was something which would allow him to be an outstanding figure, even if he had been born into the Heaven Realm and had joined the Celestial Host, much less here in the Mortal Realm. In the Mortal Realm, it definitely would be the most top tier of visualization techniques. Such a precious technique that had been deeply engrained into his mind was the most powerful source of support he would have in this world. In his past life, he had been tormented by illness for eighteen years. He had been exhausted just by strolling for half an hour. He had simply had enough of that powerless sensation! The sensation of being powerless in the face of death! He had enough! Enough! Enough!!! He would take his destiny into his own hands, and that destiny was to follow the path that the Lord of Cui Palace had spoken to him of: Training to become an Immortal! Training to become an Immortal was the only choice he would make! Ning closed his eyes and began. A hint of natural energy slowly began to enter Ji Ning’s body. It was being attracted into his consciousness and began to strengthen his soul. But because only a tiny amount of natural energy was being absorbed, neither Yichuan nor Snow noticed at all. The visualization technique was capable of absorbing natural energy? This was simply incredible. The reason was, this wasn’t an Immortal training technique, nor was it a Immortal magic technique. If it was an Immortal training technique, it would wildly devour the surrounding natural energy. But the visualization technique, despite absorbing just a bit of natural energy…was already quite incredible. Whoosh. Whoosh. Tiny threads of elemental energy constantly entered Ning’s infant body. Natural energy repeatedly entered his body and cleansed his body. Infants were born pure. Only after experiencing life would they be sullied by the dirt and grime of the world. But right now, Ning’s body had very few impurities within it. With the natural energy repeatedly cleansing him, he quickly became incomparably pure, as pure as a newborn! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The rays of the spring sun shone down with lazy warmth. A red-lipped, pale-faced child was standing with arms stretched out, while a fur-clad young lady was quickly and carefully helping him get dressed in his fur clothes. Another young lady was waiting next to him with a basin of water and a bowl with rough salt. “In my past life, I was always sick and dressed myself. I didn’t expect that in this life, I would not only be perfectly healthy, I would also have servants to take care of me.” Ji Ning had been served by people since he was born. When he sometimes automatically began to dress himself out of habit, the two terrified maids, ‘Spring Grass’ and ‘Autumn Leaf’, immediately fell to their knees, trembling in absolute terror. “Give it to me.” Now dressed, Ning took over the black bowl of rock salt and headed outside the room. He walked to a nearby fountain, then began to use those white, tough pieces of rock salt to ‘brush his teeth’. “What a disaster this era is. There are no toothbrushes. I have to use my hands to brush my teeth! And there’s no tooth paste, only rock salt!” Ning quickly finished brushing his teeth. Actually, he wasn’t sure why, but he was extremely clean ever since he was born, and he didn’t have any mouth odor. There was no need for him to brush his teeth, but his mother forced him to do it anyways. “Gargle.” Ji Ning raised his head, then spat out a mouthful of water, then handed the basin to the nearby maid, Spring Grass. The maid, Autumn Leaf, then offered him a blue stone bowl for washing his face. Ji Ning quickly washed his face, then wiped the water off with a cloth. “Autumn Leaf.” Ning stared at her. “In your tribe, do you also use salt to brush your teeth?” Although he was already four years old and had read many books of the clan and had learned many things, he actually didn’t know much about the situation inside the tribes. “How could that be possible?” Autumn Leaf had a slightly freckled face. “Even the table salt which we use in the tribes aren’t as white and as clean as this salt. How can we use it to brush our teeth? The men and women of the tribe just use water to rinse their teeth. Many will go their entire lives without brushing their teeth. And also, this sort of basin is extremely valuable and is usually used to boil soup. How can we use it to brush our teeth?” Boil soup? Ning rubbed his eyes. This basin could be used to boil soup? “Let’s go eat.” Ning turned his head and walked away, with the two maids behind him. … “Father. Mother.” Ning arrived in the main hall and immediately stood there and bowed. “Mm.” His father, Ji Yichuan, was seated in front, while his mother was seated to the left. His own position was towards the right. In front of him was a black, marble table, with three big bowls on it. One contained steaming, aromatic meat, another had thick yet soft pastries, and the third was a bowl of hot water. This was his breakfast. If this breakfast for a four year old was placed on Earth, it would probably be enough for three adults to eat. But in this world…every child could eat a tremendous amount of food. Ning was no different. “Mmm, it tastes so good.” Ning grabbed a chunk of meat from the first bowl and ate it. Despite having the taste buds of an Earth human, he still felt the food was delicious. Ning knew…because his body was physically average, ever since he was young, he had been fed special food. The meat he ate wasn’t meat from ordinary beasts; it was meat from magical, monstrous beasts. In the tribes, monster meat was extremely rare and precious, but Ning was able to eat it every single day. It had special effects. It would make Ning stronger! “I’m done eating!” Ning ate very fast; it could be described as simply ‘scarfing the food down’. And then, with a gurgle, he drank all the hot water as well. “Let’s go.” Ning ran out, with Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf chasing after him. Snow watched her son run away and laughed, “Although Ning was rather weak when he was born, that’s only because he was injured while in the womb. His potential is still very high. Look, every day, he’s able to eat so much monster meat. His body will definitely grow stronger.” Yichuan nodded as well. Monstrous beasts weren’t like ordinary animals. Monstrous beasts absorbed the natural elemental energy of the world, and their flesh contained that energy as well. Normally, children wouldn’t be hungry for two days if they ate it for breakfast, but Ning ate it for three meals a day. Clearly, he was able to absorb it all. ……………….. The two maids were carrying thick books behind Ning. Behind them were eighteen massive guards who wore scarlet red armor. The red armored guards had mysterious runes scrawled onto their armor, which faintly seemed to hum with a strange energy, causing all of them to emanate a powerful aura. The Crimson Guards were the most powerful soldiers of the Ji clan. The West Prefecture only had a hundred Crimson Guards who listened only to the command of Ji Yichuan. Yichuan arranged eighteen Crimson Guards to protect Ning at all times. If Ning was to ever be outside the house, the eighteen Crimson Guards would stay right by his side. “To the training yard.” Ning’s journey was very smooth. Nobody dared to block his path! The city of the West Prefecture was a great and massive city. Within the city was hundreds of thousands of citizens, and there were three major areas. They were the inner city, the military camp, and the training grounds. The inner city was where the Ji clan members of West Prefecture lived. It was the central administrative area! The military camp was the place where the soldiers controlled by the Ji clan of West Prefecture were stationed. The training grounds was where the youths of the Ji clan and of the many tribes controlled by the Ji clan would come to train. The inner city and the training grounds were connected by a straight line. Ning led his servants and guards directly towards the central training grounds. The vast training plaza currently had thousands on thousands of youths there training. “Look, it is Ji Ning!” “The only child of the Raindrop Sword? Ji Ning?” “Are his female slaves holding books? When those roving merchants came to my clan in the past to sell books, I heard that that the cost of each book was a thousand lambskins.” Many of the youths in the training grounds were talking amongst themselves. There were many who had matured quickly, and thus knew that this child was the son of the number one expert of the Ji clan, Ji Yichuan, the ‘Raindrop Sword’. Many of the youths actually were quite fond of this child, because although Ji Ning came from a powerful and noble clan, he didn’t bully them at all. But no matter how fond of him they were, they wouldn’t dare tease him. “Oof.” Ji Ning sat down on the chair, his eyes filled with excitement. In the previous life, he was often by himself, and so now, in his heart, he really enjoyed crowded, rowdy areas. “Give me the books.” Ning took a thick and heavy book from the hands of Spring Grass. This tome really was thick, roughly twenty centimeters thick, and it was bound by the soft skin of some monstrous beast. In this era where slavery still existed, books were quite precious. Ning, however, could casually flip through the books in their private library and even take a few out. After being born, Ning had primarily done two things… The first thing was to train in according to the visualization technique – Nuwa’s Painting. His soul had become strong and sturdy, to the point where he now had photographic memory. Just half a month ago, he had even been able to reach the level of dividing his mind into two. What did dividing his mind in two meant? For example, he could simultaneously use his left hand to write an essay while using his right hand to paint a painting. It was as though his consciousness had been divided into two parts which didn’t interfere with each other. Actually, this wasn’t particularly miraculous. According to the books, those who trained in the path to become an Immortal could all use their minds to accomplish multiple things at once. They would be able to use several treasures to attack at the same time. The true brilliance of the Nuwa Painting was that Ji Ning was able to divide his mind in two after visualizing it for just two years. The second thing he had done was to read! Half a year after his birth, when Ning was able to form some words, he had hugged a book and pointed at what looked lke some words in it and said, “This, this, this…” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, being personal maids, all knew how to read. Naturally, they didn’t dare to not reply. With their help and with guesswork, he soon learned how to recognize the words. And then, his reading began! As the saying goes, ‘spending time sharpening the knife makes the cutting go faster’. Although he was fully devoted to the idea of training to become an Immortal, Ning understood that sometimes, haste made for ineffectiveness. Reading was a way of ‘sharpening the knife’ to become an Immortal. First of all, he needed to understand what this world was like. He would also learn more about what it meant to become an Immortal, and what types of Immortals there were, and so on and so forth. Only after learning about this would he know what the best choice for himself would be! After reading many books, Ning came to know that the Ji clan of West Prefecture was a small power located within the vast expanse of land ruled over by the Grand Xia Dynasty! The territory ruled over by the Ji clan of West Prefecture stretched for three thousand kilometers from north to south and five thousand kilometers from east to west. There were countless tribes who lived on this land, and all of them were ruled by the Ji clan! What’s more, this was nothing more than the Ji clan of West Prefecture. The Ji clan was an ancient clan. It was divided into the Central Prefecture, the East Prefecture, the West Prefecture, the North Prefecture, and the South Prefecture. All five Prefectures combined made up the entirety of the Ji clan! However…the Grand Xia Dynasty was simply too large. Its territory was nearly limitless, and it was an ancient dynasty which was born during the ‘Fiendgod Era’. Over a trillion years had passed since the terrifying Fiendgod Era. For a dynasty to be able to last a trillion years was something which Ning found to be inconceivable. The Ji clan was nothing more than a small power within the borders of the Grand Xia Dynasty, but to the countless local surrounding tribes, the Ji clan was definitely their absolute rulers! “This truly is a world where Immortals and Devils abound.” Ji Ning sighed mentally. “Ordinary mortal realms find it hard for an Empire to sustain for even a thousand years, but in this ancient world, an ancient, large empire is something which is beyond my imagination. “Right. It has been over two year since I was born, and I know very little about training to become an Immortal. It is time I begin.” He had spent a year in the womb, and when he was born, it was winter, while a new year had come soon after that. Thus, he had lived in this world for over two years now. …. That very night. Both sides of the main hall were filled with lit lamps, and the entire hall was extremely bright. His father continued to sit where he usually sat, with his mother on the left and Ning on the right. The table was still covered with meat as well as plates of vegetables and grains. “Nom nom nom.” Ning blew through the meat on the table like a twister, and then raised his head up. “Father, mother!” “Hrm, what is it?” Yichuan looked at his son, and Snow did as well. Although their son’s intelligence caused them boundless joy, it didn’t startle them too much, because in this vast world, there were plenty of people who were devilishly clever. “I want to train!” Ning said seriously. “I wish to train to become an Immortal!” Seeing the serious look on her son’s face, Snow began to laugh. “Train to become an Immortal? Yichuan, our son wishes to train to become an Immortal!” 97 “Immortal?” Yichuan looked at his son coolly. “Do you know what training to become an Immortal means?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I don’t know. Please instruct me, father.” Ning said respectfully. Actually, after having read so many books, Ning had learned about it long ago. But as a four year old child, there was no need for him to appear so devilishly intelligent. “Then I will tell you and let you understand.” Yichuan’s voice was like ice. “First, let’s talk about the seven major stages.” “The first stage, Houtian. Lifespan of a hundred years.” “The second stage, Xiantian. Lifespan of two hundred years” “The third stage, Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’. At this level, one will be addressed as Zifu Disciple. Lifespan of five hundred years.” “The fourth stage, Wanxiang, ‘Manifestations’. At this level, one will be addressed as Wanxiang Adept. Lifespan of eight hundred years.” “The fifth stage, Primal. Can be referred to as Primal Daoist.” “The sixth stage, Void. Can be referred to as ‘Land Immortal’, or ‘Earth Immortal’. In the later levels of the Void stage, a heavenly tribulation will test them. If they fail, then they will die and their spirits will be extinguished. If a Primal’s body is destroyed but manages to escape with his soul, then he will become a ‘Loose Immortal’, whose power is roughly on par with the ‘Earth Immortals’.” “The seventh stage, Celestial Immortal. Only at this stage can one be considered to have ascended beyond the Three Realms and no longer be formed by the Five Elements!” Yichuan stared at Ning after speaking. He wanted to see the look of awe and surprise on his son’s face…but Ning was just listening intently. “You say you wish to train to become an Immortal. Thus, I wish you to know how hard it is to become an Immortal.” Ji Yichuan’s voice sank down. “The first obstacle to becoming an Immortal…is to pass from the Houtian stage to the Xiantian stage!” “What does Xiantian mean? Only a lifeform which was naturally born by the heavens and the earth can be described as a Xiantian lifeform. In the distant Fiendgod Era, there were Fiendgods that were born naturally by the heavens and by the earth and which possessed tremendous power from their birth. In addition, there are those who are reborn into the Heavenly Realms as ‘Devas’ or as ‘Asuras’. These Devas 99 and Asuras are all birthed by nature itself, and thus by their very nature, they are a Xiantian lifeform. This makes it very fast for them to train, because only Xiantian life forms can train to become an Immortal!” “It is impossible for mortals to train to become an Immortal…but the Heavens always leave a thread of hope. Thus, in the past, benevolent elders created a set of training techniques which can allow the bodies of ordinary people become akin to the bodies of Xiantian lifeforms. Only then did it become possible for ordinary people to train to become an Immortal.” “But for an ordinary person to become a Xiantian lifeform is against the natural laws of the universe, making it very hard! The success rate is lower than one in ten thousand! Tell me, is it hard or not?” Ning continued to listen. Xiantian lifeform? If it wasn’t for that huge disturbance in the Netherworld Kingdom, he probably would have already reincarnated and become a Deva in the Heavenly Realms. Naturally, that would mean he would already be a Xiantian lifeform. However, currently he was a mortal…and indeed, for a mortal to reach the Xiantian stage was an extremely difficult path.” “The second great obstacle to becoming an Immortal…from the Xiantian stage to the Zifu stage!” “Only by establishing a Zifu, also known as a ‘Violet Palace’, can one continue to train as an Immortal. Establishing a ‘Violet Palace’ is like laying the ‘foundation’ when building a house, or seeding the fields in order to harvest the crops. The Violet Palace is the crop field and is the core for an Immortal. It is the basic underpinning of the path of Immortals! Only after one has truly established a ‘Violet Palace’ in one’s body can one embark on the route to becoming an Immortal. And only then can one be titled a Zifu Disciple! For a Xiantian expert to establish a ‘Violet Palace’…perhaps one in a thousand will succeed. Tell me, is it hard or not?” Ning nodded. Right. It was hard. At the same time, he continued to listen carefully. The books of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture only described these two obstacles. They didn’t describe the obstacles after that. “In order to establish a Zifu and become an Immortal, one must possess a world-shaking power.” “But becoming an Immortal, by its very nature, is against the laws of the universe. Thus, starting from the day you step onto the path of the Immortals, in other words from the day on which you establish your Zifu, you will be tested every three hundred years. Every nine hundred years, you will undergo a major tribulation. Thus, as the saying goes, ‘Three centuries a calamity, nine centuries a tribulation. Calamities are easy to avoid, but tribulations are hard to escape!’ A test every three centuries, and a tribulation every nine…after embarking on the path to becoming an Immortal, this will continue forever, unless you 100 become a Celestial Immortal. Otherwise, the ‘Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations’ will become your eternal fate.” Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations? Three centuries a calamity, nine centuries a tribulation. Calamities are easy to avoid, but tribulations are hard to escape? Ning truly was shocked by this. Unless one became a Celestial Immortal, everyone who trained in the path of Immortals would have to deal with a test every three centuries. …. Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow looked at their son. Right now, there was a look of shock and disbelief on their son’s face. Seeing the stunned look, Yichuan nodded slightly. He had finally managed to shock the little rascal. “Our son is still very young. Why did you tell him all those things?” Snow said unhappily. “Mother.” Ji Ning lifted his head up, a smile on his lips. “It is fine.” Ji Yichuan looked at him in surprise. “Father.” Ji Ning laughed. “From mortal to Xiantian, from Xiantian to Zifu. These two obstacles alone…are extremely difficult. The ‘Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations’ are very distant and very far off. I don’t need to worry about them at all for now.” “Mm.” Yichuan nodded. “Your attitude isn’t bad. You are correct. Right now, there truly is no need for you to think about becoming a Zifu Disciple. That’s too far away for you. At the vast area around Mount Swallow, the strongest people in the countless tribes and in the Ji clan are only at the Zifu Disciple level. The path of the Immortals is a hard one. Even our massive Grand Xia Dynasty would perhaps produce only a single Celestial Immortal in the space of a million years.” Ning nodded gently. In the Netherworld Kingdom, the Ruler of Cui Palace had told him that the ‘Nuwa Painting’ would only give him a chance at becoming a Celestial Immortal, and that there were still many obstacles to overcome. And that was assuming that he was going to be a Deva and also a soldier in the armies of Heaven. From this, one could imagine how hard it was for one to become a Celestial Immortal. To escape the confines of the Three Realms and no longer be subject to the Five Elements wasn’t so easily done. “Do you still desire to train to become an Immortal?” Yichuan looked at Ning. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Yichuan nodded slightly. If the boy had been terrified just by hearing about this, Yichuan would have been disappointed. What he didn’t know was…how could Ning possibly be scared as easily as this? There was nothing without risk. Even walking on the street, one might be killed by a rock falling down from the skies. Even when eating, one might choke to death. Training to become an Immortal naturally would be extremely risky. It would be bizarre if it wasn’t. “However…” Yichuan frowned. “You are too young, and training techniques are very complicated. If I was to transmit a high-class Immortal training technique to you and you trained in a wrong direction, it would harm your body. But ordinary Immortal techniques aren’t worth learning…” “Father.” Ning said. “I wish to learn the Fiendgod Body Refining Technique.” “Oh? You know about Body Refining?” Yichuan was extremely surprised, and Snow began to laugh. “It seems our son has read quite a few books. He even knows that there are two main paths of Immortal training.” There were two primary paths of training to become an Immortal. The first was in Ki Refining, refining ki energy! 99% of those who trained to become an Immortal chose this path. This path allowed one to use many mysterious Immortal treasures, create complicated golems, control large amounts of deadly magical beasts, develop powerful magical formations, and also use some extremely vile techniques…in a word, this was an extremely glorious and profound path. The other path was in Body Refining. Supposedly, the three Realms had each given birth to many Fiendgods. All of them were born from nature itself and were powerful from their birth! As for the creator of the universe, Pangu, he himself was the mightiest of them, the Fiendgod of Primordial Chaos. He also possessed the most powerful body…and thus, a number of elders managed to develop this ‘Fiendgod Body Refining’ technique, which would allow the practitioners to possess bodies on par with Fiendgods. Indestructible bodies, possession of boundless strength, having three heads and six arms, regenerating from a single drop of blood, immortal and undying…these all belonged to the Fiendgod Body Refining method. Reputedly, at the same level of development, a Fiendgod Body Refiner would be able to totally suppress his opponents! “Body Refining is a hundred times more difficult than Ki Refining.” Yichuan said seriously. “The Fiendgod Body Refining method allows one to possess the power of a Fiendgod. How powerful is that? Hard, very hard…” “Father, first I’ll train the body. Afterwards, I will develop Ki.” Ning said. “These two training methods can be simultaneously progressed in. By then, I’ll take whatever path I am most skilled in, which will be my primary path. In addition, weren’t you afraid that I am too young and that training in ki will damage my veins? The Fiendgod Body Refining technique doesn’t have this risk.” 102 Yichuan and Snow glanced at each other. It seemed their son had thought things through. Indeed, the Fiendgod Body Refining technique primarily exercised the entire body’s muscles and internal organs. As for the blood vessels? It didn’t have much to do with that at all. It must be known that Innate Fiendgods came in all types, and their veins were totally different from the veins of human beings. The benevolence of those ancestors had developed the Fiendgod Body Refining technique from the bodies of the Fiendgods. Naturally, they ignored the veins. “Alright!” Yichuan nodded. “The Fiendgod Body Refining method is incomparably precious. Our Ji clan in total has nineteen books on Fiendgod Body Refining scattered through our five prefectures. I will let you choose the one you wish to train in!” “Yes.” Ning was extremely excited. “Brother Black.” Yichuan shouted towards the outside. A black-haired middle-aged man appeared from outside. His eyes faintly glowed with red light, and his eyes were rather long. It was the human form of that massive black python. “Uncle Black.” Ning hurriedly called out. Two years ago, when he was born, he had learned that this black haired man was a Diremonster who had already trained to reach the ‘Xiantian lifeform’ stage. Generally speaking, animals who had reached a certain level of intelligence would be called ‘monsters’. After beginning to absorb the energy of nature, since they didn’t possess special training techniques, it was even harder for them to train than it was for humans. Only when they broke through to become Xiantian lifeforms would they possess the ability to transform themselves! The black-haired man smiled and nodded. “Yichuan, what do you need?” “I’d like to trouble you to make a journey to the library.” Yichuan said. “Bring the abridged versions of those nineteen training methods of the Fiendgod Body Refining techniques here. Ning wants to use them.” “Ning wants to use them?” The black-haired man looked at Ning with a laugh. “Someone who trains with the Fiendgod Body Refining would have the power of a Fiendgod. It seems Ning is quite ambitious.” Hua! The black-haired man disappeared into thin air. Ning took a deep breath as he waited. Uncle Black spoke the truth. He was indeed ambitious. The first reason was because he knew that due to his youth, his father probably wouldn’t allow him to train in Ki Refining. Self-study? Ning didn’t have the confidence. The second was that the Fiendgod Body Refining method had some very powerful benefits. To kill a Fiendgod practitioner was more than a thousand times 103 more difficult than to kill a ki practitioner! Fiendgod Body Refining experts, at the same level, could totally dominate a Ki Refining expert! They had both strong self-preservation abilities and strong power. Just based on these two alone, Ning took a liking to the Fiendgod Body Refining method. Hu! A gentle wind appeared out of nowhere, and the black-haired man appeared in the middle of a hall, a smile on his face. “Nineteen copies of abridged versions of Fiendgod Body Refining techniques.” “Ning.” Yichuan looked at his son. “The abridged versions only have the first parts of each Immortal training technique, combined with a summary and description of the technique. Take a close look and see which one you want.” The black-haired man placed the nineteen tomes in front of Ning. Every single tome was very thin. After all, these were abridged versions. Even if they were stolen, they wouldn’t pose a loss for the Ji clan. They couldn’t possibly place precious Immortal training copies in their entirety in the library, after all. However, even these abridged versions of the Fiendgod Body Refining weren’t freely available for others to see. This was why Yichuan had sent the black-haired man to make the trip. “Nineteen tomes.” Ning began to read in earnest. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Heavens One thin abridged book after another was placed on the table, and Ning instantly began to scan the names of each of these books. [Calamity Fiend] [Indestructible Blood Fiend] [Song of the Inferno] [Vajra Buddhist Sutras] [Freeform Soul] [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] [Eternal Mysteries of the Yellow Earth] [Spirit Fox Sutra] [Sutra of the Future Buddha] … Every single book was covered with ancient, strange-looking characters. Fortunately, Ning had learned these words after Ning had been born into this world. Ning took a deep breath. This was a critical choice! One which would determine his destiny! He picked up a book and began to read. [Calamity Fiend]. To train it, one needed to cover one’s body with magic tattoos and use hellfire to temper one’s body. It was extremely painful. After covering the body with nine different types of magic tattoos and after having been tempered by hellfire 81 times, the body would totally transform and become that of a Xiantian lifeform, instantly acquiring boundless strength, the ability to belch hellfire, and immediately regrow a severed arm. This was an extremely hard yet extremely fast way of training. Theoretically, one only needed 81 days in order to reach the Xiantian level. [Indestructible Blood Fiend]. The pain this caused was even greater than that of the [Calamity Fiend] training method. It required three years of magic tattoos, three years of a hellish, tormented existence. [Song of the Inferno]. This required one to train next to a blazing inferno, then to be engulfed by a blazing inferno, and then finally to enter the lava of a volcano without being harmed at all. It required a person to become one with fire. Once a person could control the limitless power of fire, the one would be considered to have reached the Xiantian level… Reading these three, Ning began to frown. Why was it that these Fiendgod training methods were all so painful? It was worse than torture! “You foolish child.” Snow couldn’t help but speak out. “Only a few Fiendgod Body Refining methods are truly painful. Only five of these nineteen books are excruciating painful. The others aren’t nearly as bad. I didn’t expect that the first three you picked up…” “Oh!” Ning let out a sigh of relief. Yichuan, seated nearby, said coldly, “Fiendgod Body Refining is far more difficult than Ki Refining. For a mortal to become a Xiantian lifeform is against the natural law of the world. To reach that level through the most difficult method, the Fiendgod Body Refining method…of course it is hard! In addition, these methods which require miserable agony and difficulties, although they are quick, can be considered heterodox methods which cannot be considered to have a good foundation.” Ning nodded as he continued to read. [Vajra Buddhist Sutras]. This was a type of Buddhist Vajra training method. [Freeform Soul]. It required an extremely long period of time to train, but after reaching the Xiantian level, it allowed one to freely transform one’s body and filled one with life. Even if one was chopped into many tiny pieces, one would quickly reform. This was one of the topmost life-preserving types of Fiendgod Body Training. [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Without question, the number one type of Fiendgod Body Training method! “What?!” Ning’s eyes turned hungry, and he immediately stared at the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and began to read carefully. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had nine parts. The first three levels were for the Houtian stage. The middle three levels were for Xiantian lifeforms. The later three levels were for the Zifu stage. “It really is different. Those other training methods, at their peak, only allowed the trainees to become peak Xiantian lifeforms. But this [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] allows a person to reach the peak Zifu level.” Ning continued to read carefully despite his excitement. Upon reaching the Xiantian level, one would be able to control water and fire, and also possess astonishing physical strength. One’s body would be light and agile, and all six of the senses would be sharpened. Severed limbs would regrow. Upon reaching the Zifu level, one would be able to regenerate from a single drop of blood. Upon reaching the Wanxiang stage, one would have amazing powers, such as growing three heads and six arms, the Kuafu Sunchaser ability, or Shining Dragon Eyes ability. But of course, the prerequisite was that one would need to be trained in these magical powers. Fiendgod Body Refining adepts were able to easily suppress Ki Refining adepts of the same level. But the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was able to suppress all other types of Fiendgod Body Refining techniques! This was publicly knowledged! There was no dispute! But training in it was extremely hard, the hardest of all. This, too, was undisputed! “That will be my choice!” After flipping through the remaining Fiendgod Body Refining books, without hesitating at all, Ning made his choice. “[Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]!” “You’ve chosen?” Yichuan looked at his son. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Yichuan said slowly, “Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens’. This is publicly acknowledged by everyone in the world as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method. It is far more profound than the likes of the ‘Song of the Inferno’, the ‘Vajra Buddhist Sutra’, or the ‘Calamity Fiend’ techniques. And that’s just at the Zifu level. The later stages of it are even more profound. If you are able to become a Zifu Disciple, it would be very easy for you to advance to higher levels as well.” “This is the most widely spread and most easily obtainable type of Fiendgod Body Refining technique.” Yichuan looked at his son. “But it is also the hardest!” Ning laughed. He had spent two years here in this world reading many books. He knew that refining techniques were extremely important! The more profound the training technique, the harder it was to train in. For the higher level books regarding the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to be easily obtainable meant that it was all the more important for him to choose this one. “It has the greatest power! The undisputed best!” “It is the most widespread one!” “It is the most easily obtainable method!” Yichuan looked at his son. “It has countless merits, and just one flaw; it is extremely difficult! There hasn’t been a single member of the Ji clan of any of our five Prefectures who managed to reach the fourth part and become a Xiantian lifeform.” “What? Not a single member of the Ji clan in all five Prefectures has been able to use it to become a Xiantian lifeform?” Ning was shocked. It was fine if they didn’t reach the Zifu stage. But not even one had reached the Xiantian lifeform stage? “Right.” Yichuan said. “Not a single one. Because it is simply too hard, far harder than you can imagine. But I must admit that it is the most mysterious and most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method. Even in the legends of the Fiendgods, this technique is the most powerful one!” “Then this will be my choice!” Ning didn’t hesitate at all. He was born into the world with the likes of the [Nuwa Painting], one of the highest class visualization techniques which would allow him to stand out even amongst the armies of Heaven. With such a firm foundation, how could he not at least give it a shot? Even if he failed, that wouldn’t be a big deal. He could then choose to train in another technique. “Fine!” Yichuan revealed a rare smile on his face. He was very happy with his son’s resoluteness. “Then I will go get the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] for you.” “Thank you, father.” Ning was filled with anticipation. ….. Dark night. The door to the room was closed, and inside the room, the arm-thick candles were flickering. There were only three people in the room. Yichuan, Snow, and their son, Ning. Ning was holding an extremely thick book with scarlet red letters and reading through it. This was the legendary, most powerful of techniques: [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. “It really is hard.” Ning was frowning as he read it. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had several major obstacles. The first was the introduction. In order to begin training in it, one had to be able to sense the ‘Great Yang’ (the Sun) and the ‘Great Yin’ (the Moon) in the skies. Many other Fiendgod training methods required the absorption of elemental energy, such as fire, water, or electricity in order to build up power. But the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] required its practitioners to immediately begin sensing those two greatest of celestial bodies, and to absorb the energy of the Sun and the Moon. Many trainees simply couldn’t sense the Sun and the Moon at all. And this was just the first step! Afterwards, by absorbing the energy of the Sun and the Moon, one’s entire body would become covered with divine tattoos. This was the second part! After the Divine Sun Tattoo and the Divine Moon Tattoo were completely formed, one could be considered as having completed the first level of the 108 [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! Actually, from this very first level, one could tell how unimaginably profound this technique was, because many of the other techniques, such as the [Calamity Fiend] technique, all relied on physically carving the magic tattoos onto one’s body. But for the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], those tattoos would be formed naturally, and the divine tattoos were of the Moon and the Sun! Once the first level was mastered, one was usually able to easily reach the third level without any problems. But breaking through to the fourth level and becoming a Xiantian lifeform was even more difficult. It required ‘Yin and Yang to Fuse, Water and Fire Become One’. Only then could one break past and become a Xiantian lifeform. The later obstacles…those were too far off. There was no need to worry about them. “Whew.” Finishing reading, Ning let out a long breath. Yichuan and Snow looked at their son. “Father, please instruct me with regards to the mysteries hidden within the first level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Ning looked at his father. “Understanding the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is very easy.” Yichuan said. “All you need to do is follow the instructions on the pictures. There are nine pictures to the first level. It is very simple.” Ning nodded. He had read many books in this world, and when he flipped through it, he had quickly learned what the training method was. But he was worried that he might have missed some sort of profound meaning. After all, training was something he couldn’t be too rash about. Since his father had said that the instructions in this book were very clear, then it was time to start. Ning closed his eyes and raised his fists, then bowed down…this was the first diagram: Bowing to the Sun and the Moon! He carried out all of the movements in accordance with the pictures, seeming almost to move in accordance with a strange ritual dance, and his body carried within it a strange, ancient aura. “Hrm?” Yichuan was surprised. “His very first attempts at the movement are so accurate and so precise.” Snow was surprised as well. Although most people wanted to make the movements properly, they wouldn’t actually be able to do so as precisely as they wished. However, Ning had been training in accordance to the [Nuwa Painting] since his birth. His soul was very powerful, and he had extremely strong control over his body as a result. Given 109 that he had also constantly been cleansed by the energy of nature and his soul was as pure as an infants, it was quite natural that he could easily make accurate movements. Hua! Ning’s final movement was to sit down in a kneeling position, his two arms hanging down in front of him, as though one was resting on the sun while the other was resting on the moon. Utter silence. Yichuan and Snow were holding their breaths as well. They knew that it was the critical movement. The earlier dancing movements were only for the purpose of allowing one to sense the ‘Great Yang’ (the Sun) and the ‘Great Yin’ (the Moon). Whether or not Ning would be able to sense those two most exalted of stellar bodies… Despite this just being the introductory part to the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], it had prevented countless people from training in it. The two of them knew that the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was the hardest Fiendgod Body Refining method to train, and they knew that the chance of their four year old son being able to master the introductory part was very low. However, parents always hoped that their children would succeed. They waited, hoping for a joyous surprise to happen… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. the Other Ning could feel his consciousness passing through multiple layers of the world’s obstructions, constantly going forward…after passing through countless layers, he entered an infinite, endless void. Deep within that infinite void was two incomparably enormous stellar bodies. One was an enormous stellar body which had huge plumes of raging flames dancing on its surface. It seemed like an enormous ball of flame, and it illuminated the endless void. The other was covered with a layer of unending ice, with an enormous osmanthus tree in the middle of the ice. The stellar body’s cold light also illuminated part of the world. These two ancient stellar bodies, one was the Solar Star (the Sun), the other was the Lunar Star (the Moon). “Too beautiful. Too incredible.” Ning was absolutely stunned. He felt that he could even ‘see’ those enormous plumes of flame and ‘see’ the enormous leaves of the osmanthus tree. Others, when training in accordance with the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], found it very hard to even hazily sense the Solar Star and the Star, but Ning could even ‘see’ the plumes of flame and the leaves on the osmanthus tree. …. Within the hall. Yichuan and Snow were watching in astonishment. They saw countless spots of starlight appear in the area around Ning. The countless spots of starlight were primarily gold and silver in color; scorching hot gold starlight and ice cold silver starlight. They swirled around Ning, not stopping in any location. Slowly, beneath Ning’s left hand, a miniature star formed beneath his left hand, and on it an Osmanthus Tree could vaguely be seen. This was the Lunar Star. And on his right hand, there formed a fiery hot miniature star that was surrounded by a flying Golden Crow. This was the Solar Star. The Solar Star in one hand, and the Lunar Star in the other. Surrounded by starlight, Ning’s face seemed so peaceful, so pious. “This…this…” 111 Yichuan and Snow looked at each other, stunned. “The Moon in one hand and the Sun in the other?” Yichuan couldn’t help but show his shock on his face, no matter how calm and collected he normally was. “The Osmanthus Tree was born on one, and the Golden Crow flies around the other?” “The legendary, ‘Moon in one hand, Sun in the other’?” Snow stared fixedly at the two miniature stellar bodies which had formed in her son’s hands. “And even the Osmanthus Tree and the Golden Crow have appeared…” The two were in a state of absolute shock. They were not ordinary people. Naturally, they knew much more than the common person, and they had personally read the contents of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] before. They naturally knew what this scene portended. The [Scarlet Diagram of the Nine Shining Heavens] was extremely difficult to train in, and the training speed would normally be very slow. There were several types of ‘initiations’ one might see. The first type was called, ‘threads of starlight’. Only two threads of starlight would slowly enter the body. This was the poorest type of initiation and guaranteed that one would be extremely slow in training. The second type was called ‘clouds of starlight’. A large amount of starlight would surround the body and form a cloud. This was quite good, actually. The third type, was known as ‘a vortex of starlight, the Moon in one hand, the Sun in the other’. Countless flecks of starlight would swirl around the body like a vortex, while the left hand would form a ‘Lunar Star’, while the right hand would form a ‘Solar Star’. This was the peak result. But if the two miniature stars formed to be so realistic as to even show the ‘Osmanthus Tree on the Lunar Star, Golden Crow on the Solar Star’, then this would be the legendary perfect result. Actually, it wasn’t strange for this result to occur. Ning had trained using the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique since he was born, a technique which even in the Deva realm would be a top class technique. He was even capable of dividing his mind. One could imagine how powerful his soul had become. And in addition, after being born, every day he had been nurtured and cleansed by natural elemental energy, rendering his body as pure as a newborn infant’s body, without any impurities. The purity of his body was on par with a Xiantian lifeform! His body was as pure as a Xiantian lifeform’s. His soul was so powerful that he could divide his mind. With these two strengths combined, it was natural that he would have the utmost aptitude for Fiendgod Body Refining. “For my son to have this sort of natural gift…” Snow’s face had turned red, and she was so excited that her body was shaking. “Yichuan, the Moon in one hand, and the Sun in the other. Osmanthus Tree was born, and the Golden Crow flies! This is something out of the legends! Our son will definitely have great accomplishments when training in accordance to the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. “Right.” Yichuan was very excited as well. When his son was born, he had sensed that his son’s arteries were very weak, and his bones were very ordinary as well. Although he knew that his son had been injured in the womb, he was still somewhat disappointed, because he knew…in this brutal, man-eat-man world, anyone who had no power would find it hard to live a good life. While he was alive, he could protect his son, but what if he died? “This is my son! The son of Ji Yichuan!” Yichuan held his wife’s hand tightly, and the two stared with excitement and hope towards their son. Which parents didn’t hope that their ‘children would fly like dragons’? ….. Ning’s eyes were closed, and he continued to sit on his knees, holding his two hands in front of him limply, with the Lunar Star in one, and the Solar Star in the other. Those two miniature floating Solar Star and Lunar Stars were separately transmitting energy nonstop into Ning’s body. The power of the Sun and the power of the Moon were quickly absorbed by the ravenous cells in his body, and Ning’s entire musculature and bone structure were undergoing constant transformations. “Swish…” A layer of ice suddenly appeared on the beast fur clothes which Ning was wearing. But then, “Crackle crackle crackle.” The back of Ning’s clothes suddenly began to burn with fire. Both frozen and blazing. This constant interchange was resulting in his furs starting to split apart. “Hrm?” Yichuan frowned. He pointed with a finger, and a ray of blue flowing light leaped out of his finger towards Ning’s back, and the already half-ragged fur clothes totally split apart and collapsed, leaving Ning’s back totally bare. On Ning’s tender, young back, there was silver light flashing on the left, while golden light flashing on the right. On the left, frozen side, the silver light was constantly flowing and slowly forming into a pattern. On the right, blazing side, the golden light was also constantly flowing and also formed a separate pattern. “Divine Tattoos!” Snow said softly. “The very first time he trains, he is already beginning to form the Divine Tattoos. Given this tattoo forming speed, in ten days or so the tattoo will have been fully formed. By then, the first level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] will be done. “Right.” Yichuan watched quietly. Time passed… The Divine Tattoos on Ning’s youthful back continued to grow. One could faintly tell that the left tattoo was that of a rabbit, while the right side was that of a crow. The two great Divine Tattoos. The Divine Moon Tattoo was that of the Moon Rabbit, while the Divine Sun Tattoo was that of the Golden Crow. “Hu.” Ning suddenly let out a long breath and opened his eyes. The Divine Tattoos on his back disappeared as well, and the two stellar bodies in his hands quickly dissipated. This caused Ning to be greatly startled. He had carefully read the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], and he knew exactly what it meant for him to have the Moon in one hand, the Sun in the other, especially with the Osmanthus Tree being born and the Golden Crow flying. “What a powerful force.” Ning clenched his fists, feeling his body surge with power. “I’m just a four year old child and I’ve just been initiated into the Fiendgod Body Refining method, but I already am this strong.” Suddenly, a cold voice rang out. “Put on a change of clothes.” With a wave of his hands, his father Yichuan made a set of children’s fur clothes appear out of midair, then tossed it to his son. “Yes.” Ning immediately grabbed it. Snow was still looking at her son, her face filled with joy. The more she looked at him, the happier she felt. Her son was her pride and her joy. On the day he was born, she had been worried about her son’s future…but now, her son had demonstrated such inconceivable potential. As a mother, in her heart, naturally she felt filled with joy. “Ning.” Yichuan said calmly. “Father.” Ning listened carefully. “Your potential is extraordinary. However, if you wish to break through the bottleneck of ordinary lifeforms and become a Xiantian lifeform, and then embark on the road to becoming an Immortal, potential alone isn’t enough.” Yichuan looked at his son. “You need to receive the best instruction possible.” 114 Ning said respectfully, “Father, please instruct me.” “Snow.” Yichuan looked at his wife, Yuchi Snow. She nodded, and with a flip of her hand, two items appeared. One was a deep green gemstone, roughly the size of a fingernail. It was cut and very beautiful. The other was a flashing, rainbow-colored, fist-sized rock. “This deep green stone is known as a kalestone.” Snow smiled. “This is a naturally forming gemstone which contains a miniature dimension inside of it. You can use it as part of a ring and store small items in it, or you can hide and store it within your belt. All you need to do to make it yours is to bind it with blood.” “Kalestone!” Ning was overjoyed. Training to become an Immortal was divided into two paths; the Body Refining path and the Ki Refining path. Body Refiners belonged to the Fiendgod path and didn’t teach someone how to use magical treasures. Ki Refiners, after becoming Xiantian lifeforms, would be able to control a few low level treasures…but even the lowest of manufactured treasures had a minimum requirement of the user being a Ki Refiner of the Xiantian level. Thus, most Fiendgod Body Refiners would also concurrently train in Ki. However, Heaven always gave people a chance. There were some naturally occurring objects which only needed to be bound by blood and didn’t have any strength requirements. kalestone was one of them! “Bind it first.” Snow handed the kalestone and a shortsword over. “Yes, Mother.” Ning accepted them. He didn’t hesitate at all, as he gently pricked his finger with the edge of the shortsword. A single drop of blood fell onto the kalestone and was quickly absorbed, giving the kalestone a hint of a blood color. “Get in.” Ning willed the shortsword in his hand to disappear, and it did, reforming and floating within the miniature dimension inside the kalestone. “Come out.” The shortsword appeared in his hands. “How magical.” Ning was absolutely delighted. He knew long ago that these naturally occurring dimensional gemstones existed. They weren’t like those manufactured treasures, which all had relatively large internal dimensions. The kalestone, as a naturally occurring object, had a much smaller internal dimension. Some were only the size of a fist or a head! These half-meter long ones were definitely an extremely precious treasure. “Mother.” Ning hurriedly said. “Please help me make a belt and put the kalestone inside of it.” “Alright.” Snow nodded. “The kalestone can be considered a treasure, but to our Ji clan, it isn’t something particularly valuable. Given your father’s status…a kalestone isn’t even worth discussing! However, the other treasure is something which your father only obtained after a life-and-death crisis!” Snow solemnly handed over the fist-sized rock which shone with the colors of the rainbow. “Bind it.” Snow looked at her son. Ning stuck out his finger and once more pricked it gently with the shortsword. A single drop of blood fell onto that flashing rainbow stone. The blood was quickly absorbed, and inside the rock, countless red ‘arteries’ could suddenly be seen. And then, the fist-sized rock turned into a liquid and flowed towards Ning. “What’s this?” Ning felt his entire body turn cold. “It is like the kalestone. It is a naturally occurring treasure. The name of this treasure is the Goldstar Shirt.” Snow explained. “You can use it immediately after binding it. It will quickly enter and become part of your skin. With the protection of the Goldstar Shirt…nothing below the Xiantian lifeform level will be able to harm you with its attacks.” Ning was shocked. “So powerful?” He had never read of this in any of the books. “The Grand Xia Dynasty, from the Fiendgod Era until now, has existed for countless of years, and the territory it rules over is vast. In the area around Swallow Mountain, our Ji clan reigns supreme. But in some of the more distant areas…there are clans that are even more powerful than our Ji clan.” Yichuan said. “In some of those ancient, mighty clans, some of the promising young youths, while they are still young, they will be given this Goldstar Shirt to help protect them.” Ning was startled. Turning to look at his father, he felt a warm feeling in his heart. His parents truly were very good to him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Although the Goldstar Shirt is a treasure, I can break through it with a casual finger poke.” Yichuan looked at his son. “These things are all external. In the future, you must have accomplishments in the Fiendgod Body Refining techniques, and in term, Fiendgods specialize in body power. What you need to do is to utilize all of your potential and all of your strength. “Right.” Ning nodded seriously. “With the Fiendgod Body Refining, your strength will be great, your movements will be fast, your vision will be clear at great distances, your hearing will be more sensitive, and even your body’s recovery ability will be astonishing!” Yichuan looked at his son. “In order to transform these into true, mighty power…” “First of all, what you need is a weapon!” Yichuan said. “Your strength might be ten times greater than your opponent’s, but your opponent might be able to shoot you to death from afar with an arrow. That’s what makes a good weapon so powerful.” “In addition, you must be good at actually wielding a weapon. For example, a swordsman who has no internal strength but who has reached the second level of sword mastery, ‘man and sword become one’, is capable of easily piercing the throat of a powerful yet inexperienced warrior. After all, no matter how much internal strength the warrior has, he can’t block the sharpness of a sword!” Yichuan said slowly. Ning understood this logic of course. A powerful but stupid brute who encountered an assassin who was good at wielding shortswords would die in a single exchange of blows! A strong body was just one aspect. Skill and technique was what determined how much of your power would be actually utilized! For example, in his past life, those competitors in the kickboxing or jujitsu competitions all were roughly on the same level in terms of physical fitness; it was technique and battle strategy which determined their competiveness. “Tell me, what do you want to learn?” Yichuan looked at his son. “Ning, son, think carefully.” Snow looked at her son as well. Actually, in their hearts, they had already mapped out a plan for their son. After all, as they saw it, their son was still too young, even though he was smart and capable. But they still wanted to ask their son what he wanted, so as to help him learn to think everything through. And then, they would tell him what they thought and let him reflect on the differences. “I want to learn three things.” Ning suddenly said. “First of all, I wish to learn archery.” Ning said. He was to walk on the Fiendgod Body Refining path. He would possess astonishing eyesight, and also enormous, heaven-granted strength. Naturally, he had to learn archery. The arrows released by a mighty Fiendgod were definitely capable of breaking past the sound barrier, and the power of its arrows was definitely far greater than the bullets of sniper rifles in his past life. He could kill his opponent from far away. And archery, according to the books he had read, wasn’t too hard to learn. “Second, I want to learn how to use twin swords!” The Ji clan specialized in sword techniques! His father Yichuan was nicknamed the ‘Raindrop Sword’. With a resource such as this at his disposal, he absolutely had to learn how to use swords! “Twin swords?” Yichuan frowned. “Continue.” “Third, I need to learn agility-enhancing techniques and escaping techniques.” Ning said. “These are what I need.” If he encountered a powerful opponent, he would flee! Only escaping techniques would allow a person to live longer. And the longer one lived, the more possibilities one would have. Snow laughed. “Ning is headed in the right direction. However, I think it’s best if you first start with single swords…there isn’t a single twin sword expert in the entire Ji clan, and when training in swords, the greatest danger is in losing concentration. You must focus all of your concentration on a single sword. Only this will allow you to achieve greater accomplishments.” “Your mother’s words are correct.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Father, mother, I’ve been able to divide my mind since I was born.” Ning raised his head to look at his parents. He wasn’t able to explain about the [Nuwa Painting], and so he just had to claim that he was able to divide his mind since he was born. “What?!” “Divide your mind?” Yichuan and Snow were both shocked. “Do you know what dividing your mind means?” Yichuan growled. “It isn’t as simple as multitasking. It means that your mind can simultaneously contemplate two separate matters without losing any effectiveness or causing any disruption.” 118 “I truly can divide my mind.” Ning said hurriedly. “Then let’s give it a test.” Yichuan’s eyes began to glow with an astonishing light. With one hand, he pulled over two pieces of chalk. “Use these two rocks to write on the ground. With your left hand, write your mother’s name, while with your right hand, write my name. Write simultaneously!” “Yes, father.” Ning nodded. Ning took the two pieces of chalk. It felt rather similar to the chalk he had used in his previous life. Immediately, he began to use his hands to write as instructed. Writing with the chalk actually felt quite natural. Hua! Hua! His left hand and right hand easily wrote at the same time, and what he wrote was the ancient, complicated script of this world. On one side, he wrote the name, “Ji Yichuan”. On the other, “Yuchi Snow.” His strokes were firm and very graceful. “Ning, you…” Snow was stunned. “But…” Yichuan was stunned as well. “No wonder. No wonder you were able to train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Shining Heavens] so quickly.” Yichuan said slowly. “So our son’s soul is so powerful that he can divide his mind!” Yichuan looked at his son as though he were looking at a piece of priceless, unpolished jade. Extremely excited, he said, “I’ve only been able to reach the level of dividing my mind because I’ve trained for so long. However, I’ve focused on using a single sword since I was young…my path is set, and hard to change! But my son is able to divide his mind since birth…he is a born twin sword user. He will be able to use twin swords as though two people were wielding them and make his opponents feel like they are being attacked by two people at once. What’s more, those two people will have their hearts and intentions totally linked, increasing the effectiveness ten times over!” “From today onwards, I will personally train you in using swords!” Yichuan looked at his son. …. Early next morning. The thick natural energy of the world filled the hazy morning. Ning had already been brought by his father to the training grounds. “Ning.” Yichuan looked at his son, then pointed at a nearby fur-clad, bearded man. “This is the number one expert archer of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. His name is ‘Blindfish’. His archery skills are extremely high. Blindfish, come, let the little fellow see what you are all about.” 119 “Yes.” Blindfish said respectfully. Yichuan walked in front of them towards four marble tablets, each one of them weighing several hundred pounds. Yichuan grabbed one of them, then threw it far away into the distance, and then grabbed another one and tossed that one as well. In the blink of an eye, all four of them were howling through the air. These massive, heavy tablets were thrown with such force that they made the air howl. They were like four missiles, and had transformed into black dots in the sky. “Hrm.” A pitch-black greatbow appeared in the hands of the bearded man, Blindfish, along with four arrows. He raised his bow high. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Four arrows flashed through the skies, disappearing almost instantly as they chased after those four black dots. Pengpengpengpeng!!!!! Those four black dots totally disappeared. Ning gaped at the sight. He gaped for a long time. “When father tossed those heavy stones, he threw them at least one or two kilometers and turned them into missiles?” Ning felt stunned. “And this Blindfish’s arrows…I felt like, in the blink of an eye, in less than a second, they arrived at that distance of a kilometer or two away. If we calculate it carefully…these arrows must have at least travelled at the speed of nearly two thousand meters a second.” “The legendary god, Houyi, once sent out nine arrows in a row and shot and killed nine Golden Crows.” Blindfish laughed loudly. “Young master, I only possess some superficial skills.” “Master Blindfish, the rubble won’t hit or hurt anyone when it falls, will it?” Ning suddenly remembered to ask this question. Yichuan shook his head. “Ning, your Master Blindfish is a Xiantian lifeform, and has infused his arrows with his own innate energy. When the arrows reached the tablets, they immediately blew the tablets into dust which will drift down slowly. How can there be rubble which would smash anyone?” Ning was secretly shocked. Formidable indeed. “From today onwards, every morning, you will come train with your Master Blindfish for an hour in archery.” Yichuan said. “This can be considered your morning exercises. Blindfish, sorry to trouble you.” “To be able to teach the young master is Blindfish’s glory.” Blindfish laughed loudly. Yichuan nodded, then turned and left. The entire training yard was very quiet. Only Blindfish and Ning were there. Not even a servant was present. “Young master.” Blindfish looked at Ning. “To an archer, the most important thing is his bows and arrows. The arrow is divided into three parts; the arrowhead, the arrow shaft, and the feathers. As for the bow, it is comprised of the bowstring and the body. Arrows can be made in large quantities, but bows are far more precious!” “There are two types of bows.” “The first type of bow is made from an elastic bow body and a tough bowstring. When drawing the bow, the body of the bow will curve…and that is where the power comes from, the curving of the bow’s body. This is the most commonly seen type of bow, and is a fairly simple type of archery. It is easy to produce, and ordinary archers use it.” “The second type of bow has a tough, inflexible bow body and an elastic bowstring. When pulling the bow, the bow’s body will essentially remain firm, while the bowstring will be pulled to an astonishing elastic length. This bow in my hand is that sort of bow!” Blindfish handed the pitch-black greatbow in his hands to Ning. Ning accepted this simple greatbow, and he instantly felt its weight. This greatbow was at least a hundred pounds heavy. He couldn’t help but stare at it carefully. The body of the greatbow was made from some sort of pitch-black metal which gleamed. The bowstring, however, was as thick as a finger, and carried a blue color. A terrifying fiendish aura could dimly be sensed as coming from the bowstring. “This bow body was forged from ‘thunderwind metal’ and is incomparably tough. But the bowstring is even more precious…it was made from one of the draconic tendons of a Diremonster that was slain, a Dragonsnake. It possesses astonishing elasticity. Even if my strength was ten times greater, I wouldn’t be able to break it.” Blindfish laughed. “The name I gave my bow is ‘Thunderdragon Bow’.” Ning’s eyes shone as he listened. A bowstring made from the tendons of a Dragonsnake, a Diremonster? “Come, let’s begin to learn the proper stance.” With a flip of his hand, Blindfish produced an ordinary bow. “Standing shot stance, crouching shot stance, backwards shot stance, falling shot stance, running shot stance!” Blindfish looked at Ning. “Young master, your training will be divided into two segments. The first is the basic segment. The second is the mental segment.” “In the basic segment, you need to practice those five stances to the point where ‘hand, eye, and arrow become one.’ You must always hit your target. Only then can you move to the next segment.” 121 “In the mental segment, the stances are no longer important. The only thing you need is for your ‘mind and arrow to become one’. You no longer need to use your eyes to see. That’s simply too slow. You must rely on your mind! In the blink of an eye, you will draw your bow and fire your arrows upon your target as fast as lightning. In a truly critical situation, you only have a heartbeat to do what you need. Nobody will give you a chance to slowly aim. When you have mastered the mental segment, then you will have completed your apprenticeship.” Ning listened and nodded. And then, according to Blindfish’s instructions, he began to train in the proper stance. “Waist straight! Left arm extended!” “That’s the correct posture for drawing the bow. Stay in that posture!” “Eyes! Eyes! Are your eyes blind?” As soon as he began teaching in earnest, Blindfish began to roar at him. The ignorant Ning was like a piece of white parchment. Howled at again and again, Ning could do nothing but endure it and slowly learn. A ten thousand meter high building is still built up from the ground floor. An expert archer had to start with the basics as well. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After practicing archery for an hour, the Sun had already begun to rise. “Ning, child, I shall be the one to teach you footwork.” Yuchi Snow, clad in white furs, smiled as she looked at her son. “Yes.” Ning said. Although he had exercised to the point where his waist and his back were bitterly sore, because he had trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], his body’s regenerative speed was astonishingly high. Right now, his mind was clear, fresh, and full of energy. “In close combat, footwork is every bit as importance as sword techniques!” Yuchi Snow said solemnly. “When two people engage in a battle, the one with better footwork and agility can make it hard for the opponent to injure them, while they are able to easily injure the opponent.” Ning nodded. He understood this logic. Close combat didn’t just mean standing there like an idiot, waving swords and sabers at each other. It was constantly changing positions like an unpredictable shadow. In his past life, he had seen taekwondo and karate experts. Those most elite competitors all valued footwork highly, and their footwork was exquisite, capable of causing ten enemy punches in a row to miss, or at least have their power reduced greatly. The importance of footwork was arguably even higher than that of attacking techniques! Because he had been tormented by illness in his past life, Ning truly and ardently enjoyed watching those competitions, which made him understand the importance of footwork in those taekwondo and karate competitions. In this world where spirits and monsters abounded, the basics were still the same. Footwork was one of the most important things. “I will teach you a footwork technique known as the [Shadewind Steps].” Snow said. “Don’t be fooled by its ordinary name. This is a very amazing set of footwork techniques. I am the only one who knows it in our Ji clan, and even amongst all five Prefectures, it is considered the highest type of footwork technique. Once you begin learning this footwork technique, you will understand how to dodge and move about in tight areas, while also learning how to easily flee.” 123 “First, carefully read the six basic movements.” With a flip of her hand, Snow made a thick yellow book appear out of nowhere. Ning accepted it and began to read it carefully. This book described the [Shadewind Steps] and its six basic movements. All six of the movements were exquisite and profound in their movements and usage of force and energy. “Don’t just stare at it.” Snow pointed at a distant area. “Look over there.” Ning turned his head and saw wooden pillars. There must have been thousands of wooden pillars there, and they were all of different height and at different distances from each other. Above these wooden stakes was a number of beast capes, thousands of them which dotted the area like ropes. “That is known as the Thousand Star Array.” Snow said. “Through the usage of the Thousand Star Array, within ten years, you should be able to be able to reach the ‘Ruwei’ stage of the Shadewind Steps. If it wasn’t for the Thousand Star Array…you probably would have to spend a hundred times the amount of time.” “The [Shadewind Steps] technique has three stages.” “First, the basic stage.” “Second, the advanced stage.” “Third, one with the world.” Snow looked at Ning. “Actually, all techniques, be it footwork, sword, saber, spear, or anything else, can be divided into these three stages. For example, the ‘advanced stage’ of sword technique is often described as ‘one with the sword’.” “Have you memorized the mysteries of the six basic movements?” Snow asked. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Snow then walked towards the Thousand Star Array, then pointed at one of the very short pillars. “Go stand on top of this pillar.” “Yes.” Ning easily jumped onto the wooden pillar. He instantly felt wobbly. The pillar wasn’t very thick, and there was only enough space for a single foot. Fortunately, after having trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he had an extremely good sense of balance. This was the only reason why he was able to stand stably. “Listen to my orders. Whichever one of the six basic movements I ask you to use, that’s what you use.” Snow said. “The ‘advancing’ move!” Ning immediately tried to charge forward and step atop another pillar in front of him, but when he brushed against a beast skin rope and, with a swish, he fell down to the ground. “Remember, whenever you are moving in the Thousand Star Array, you must not step onto any of the beast skins. Once you do so, you’ll have to start over again.” Snow said. Ning ground his teeth. He refused to believe it would happen again. He once again hopped onto the short pillar, and then, using the ‘advancing’ move, he dodged past the beast skin and moved onto the next wooden pillar. However, he had used too much force. His body swayed for a long while before he was able to steady himself on that one foot again. “Remember, your movements must be like nails, driving a nail down with each step. When you land on the pillar, you must be nailed to it!” Snow said. “Each step cannot be too small or too large. It cannot be too light or too heavy. Just now, you swayed wildly. If this was a life or death fight, you would’ve been stabbed to death by an enemy who would’ve discovered a flaw in your attacks. Continue. The ‘advancing’ move!” “The ‘advancing’ step!” “The ‘sidestep’ step!” “The ‘leaping’ step!” “The ‘backwards’ step!” “The ‘withdrawing’ step!” “The ‘turning’ step!” Snow snapped one order after another. Actually, all footwork techniques relied on these basic movements. But the differences between different techniques were like night and day in terms of skill. Some would make you move as fast as a bolt of lightning, while others would make you as agile and graceful as the wind, or perhaps as unpredictable as a spirit. Each footwork technique had its own mysteries, and naturally would have different effects in battle. “Oof!” He hadn’t leapt high enough, and his back had brushed against the beast skin ropes, causing him to be unable to land onto the wooden pillar. He fell down. Not saying a word, Ning climbed back onto the pillar. “Oof!” His knee hadn’t been bent enough. “Oof!” He had used too much force. … On those thousands of wooden pillars, Ning was moving like a flash, wildly training in these six basic steps. Because of the obstruction of the beast skins, Ning’s body also had to undergo various contortions to dodge them. But no matter what postures he used, the most important thing was that his center of gravity had to be stable, and his feet had to be stable! “Mother, how long will I train like this for?” Ning had fallen so many times. “Ning, son, start from the shortest pillar and move through all 1008 wooden pillars, then jump down from the tallest one! You are not to touch any of the beast skins on the way!” “If you are able to complete this within the time it takes for one to take ten breaths, then you will have mastered the ‘basic’ level of this footwork.” Yuchi Snow laughed. Ning was stunned when he heard this. “What? In ten breaths? Such a short period of time…even on running on the flat ground, I wouldn’t be able to do that in ten breaths.” 1008 wooden pillars, all of which had to be traversed. That was a distance of a thousand or so meters. It would take him a while to travel that distance at a full run.” “Later, Ning, when you have finished mastering the first level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], you would be able to travel a thousand meters on the ground in ten breaths.” Snow laughed. “But…” Ning was speechless. “Moving in the Thousand Star Array as though you were on the ground…only then would you have mastered the ‘basic’ stage.” “Then what about the second, ‘advanced’ stage?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. Snow pushed one of the nearby beast skin ropes, which began to collide with the other beast skins. Soon, the thousand plus beast skins were all swaying against and hitting each other in a totally wild, chaotic manner. “The second stage, the ‘advanced’ stage, requires you to once again start from the lowest pillar and move through all 1008 pillars, then jump down from the tallest one, in the span of ten breaths, without 126 touching any of the beast skin ropes. However…for the ‘advanced’ stage, all of the beast skins will be striking each other.” Snow looked at Ning. “Once you can do that, you will have mastered the ‘advanced’ stage.” “But but but…how is that possible? If all the beast skins are swaying about, how will I dodge them? There would probably only be a split second for me to dodge the beast skins and also jump onto the wooden pillars. And in such a short time frame…” Ning felt that this was simply too hard, impossibly hard. “That is why I said that with the help of the Thousand Star Array, you should need ten years to reach the ‘advanced’ stage of the [Shadewind Steps].” Snow said. “From now until lunch time, you will continuously practice here at the Thousand Star Array.” “Then what about the third stage, ‘one with the world’?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. Snow looked at Ning and laughed. “That’s on an entirely different level. Once you reach it, you’ll understand.” “How powerful is it? You can at least explain it.” Ning asked. “Alright. If I have to describe it…even ten thousand arrows raining down on me at the same time wouldn’t be able to injure me at all.” Snow looked at her son. “Ten thousand arrows at the same time?” Ning instantly imagined a thick cluster of countless arrows raining down, but none of them able to touch him. This was inconceivable. A human’s body occupied a certain amount of space, after all. If those countless arrows filled the skies, logically speaking, there should be no way to dodge them.” Snow smiled. “Don’t be discouraged. Most of the peak Houtian experts of the various tribes are only able to reach the first, ‘basic’ stage.” “Xiantian lifeforms are usually able to reach the second, ‘advanced’ stage.” “Most Zifu Disciples are able to reach the third stage of ‘one with the world’. But of course, some extremely talented Xiantian lifeforms are able to reach the level of ‘unity with the world’…such as your father!” Snow said. “Father?” Ning was surprised and delighted. “Your father’s footwork has reached the level of ‘one with the world’. And even in swordplay, which is harder to train in than footwork, your father has reached the ‘one with the world’ level.” Snow laughed. “That is why your father is the undisputed number one expert of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. That’s why his prestige awes all of the countless tribes.” Ning’s heart immediately swelled with a heroic feeling. Whatever his father could do, he himself could definitely do, especially since he had the [Nuwa Painting] and the wisdom from his past life! “Continue!” “The ‘advancing’ step!” “The ‘turning’ step!” “The ‘leaping’ step!” Ning’s small, young frame carefully flashed about the Thousand Star Array, occasionally falling down. …. After lunch. After having eaten to his fill and rested for a while, Ning was pulled to the training yards once more by his father. The afternoon spring Sun was dazzlingly beautiful, and its rays were very comfortable. “Father.” Ning looked at his glacier-like father, clad in a blood-red beast fur. His heart was filled with awe. His father had killed even Diremonsters such as Dragonsnakes. In terms of strength and skill, his father had already reached an extremely high level. Even some Xiantian lifeforms had come to ask to be taken as his father’s disciple and learn his sword techniques. His father had nine primary disciples, three of which were Xiantian lifeforms. But his father only taught the nine disciples once every month. But Ning? He would be taught every day! “From today onwards, I will teach you how to use the sword.” Yichuan looked at his son and said in a cold voice, “The sword is not the bow, nor is it like footwork.” “Archery training only requires one to become familiar with it. Once one’s strength increases and one’s vision improves, naturally, one will be able to fire more powerful arrows!” “Although footwork is important, it is still supplemental…to kill an opponent, you still have to use your sword in the end!” “Swords are considered short weapons! They are light and agile, with two edges. Their usage is more precise and profound than that of sabers; whether by slashing, by stabbing, by chopping, by scraping, or by tapping, one can easily kill the opponent. Sometimes, a person who is training incorrectly can even hurt himself. It is the truest weapon of war.” Yichuan looked at his son. Ning could feel his blood boiling, and he was extremely eager. His eyes were shining. “Father, what sort of sword technique will I learn?” “Sword technique? Wait a few more years!” Yichuan said coldly. “Wait a few more years?” Ning was confused. Yichuan said coldly, “The movements of the sword are birthed by your body! If you wish to use the sword well, then first, you must control your body well. First, you must train in boxing. After your body and your arms are extremely agile and you can fully control your strength, then your body will be ready to learn sword techniques!” “But preparing your body isn’t enough.” “You must also prepare your ‘mind’ for learning the sword!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning, listening to this, felt totally confused, as though his head was covered by mist and clouds. “Father, you say that I must prepare my body before I can train with a sword. I can just barely understand that. But I must also prepare my ‘mind’? What does that mean?” “Don’t be impatient.” Yichuan looked at his son. A thick book appeared in his hands out of nowhere. He tossed it towards Ning. “First, closely read through this boxing manual. There are sixteen stances in this boxing technique. It contains the simplest yet most fundamental of methods to allow one’s body to exert strength. Once you have mastered this boxing technique, your entire body will act as you will and you will be able to exert strength with ease.” “The sword is born from your body. If not even your body acts as you wish it to, how can your sword act as you wish it to?” Yichuan looked at his son, worried that his son would bite off more than he could chew. “First, you must calm your mind.” Ning understood the logic that ‘sharpening the knife didn’t slow down the cutting process’. “Yes, father.” Ning said as he lowered his head to begin reading the book. He began to closely review the mysteries of boxing described in the book. The book was quite thick, but actually, it was because it was made from animal leathers, which made every page very thick. After memorizing the profound secrets, he began to train. His father constantly gave him advice and pointed out his mistakes, or even demonstrated himself so as to help Ning understand. Actually, the [Shadewind Steps] also contained some principles on exerting force, but the [Shadewind Steps] were primarily about using force in the legs. Because he had some prior experience now…Ning learned relatively quickly. Two hours later. “Rest a while.” Yichuan looked at his sweaty son. “In the future, you will spend two hours every day training your boxing, unless and until I judge that your body is prepared to train with the sword.” “Preparing your body to train with the sword is just one aspect.” “You must also prepare your ‘mind’ to wield the sword.” Two black metal swords appeared in Yichuan’s hands, and he tossed them to his son. “Take them!” Ning took the two swords. Yichuan pointed to an empty area. Hu. A metallic puppet appeared out of nowhere, wielding a single saber. “This is a puppet.” Yichuan said. “Ki Refining practitioners of the Immortal way are often good at producing these puppets. This one is just a very ordinary puppet, with the power of a master-level Houtian combatant. However, its body is extremely tough.” “Father, what are those red spots on its body?” Ning wondered. The black metal puppet had over ten red dots on its body. The red dots were located between its forehead, on its throat, on its chest, on its arms, hands, back, and some other areas. “Try stabbing at the red dot on its forehead.” Yichuan said. “You have to be fast.” “Yes.” Ning stabbed out fiercely with his right hand. Hua! The tip of the sword pierced forward, but it struck the head, roughly an inch away from the red dot. “But…” Ning was slightly startled. He clearly had aimed at the red dot. He couldn’t help but try stabbing three more times, but the results were always the same, slightly off. “Have you discovered it?” Yichuan said calmly. “Although you want to stab it in the middle of the forehead, when you actually try to do so, you aren’t able to do so accurately. How can you stab accurately? First, you have to have to control your body perfectly. Second, you have to train countless times.” “Every single sword technique can be described as being composed of thirteen specific movements; chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, break, tap, cleave, support, intercept, twist, lift, draw, and sheath.” “Chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, tap, cleave; these are used to attack.” “Support, break, intercept, twist, lift, draw, and sheath; these are used to defend.” Yichuan pointed at the metal puppet. “This puppet isn’t moving at all, and it has nine red dots on its body. Execute the ‘chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, cleave, and tap’ movements against it. I will teach you the secrets to every single movement and how to move in harmony with your attacks. Every single basic movement must be practiced at least ten million times!” “In the future, the puppet will begin to move and chop at you with its own saber techniques. You will then use the ‘support, intercept, twist, lift, draw, break, and sheath’ movements, the seven basic defense movements, to defend yourself. You will train all of these movements ten million times as well.” “Attack!” 131 “Defend!” “After you have become familiar with these two, the puppet will engage in battle against you, and you will use the combined thirteen stances to fight against it.” Yichuan looked at his son. “When the day comes when your thirteen basic stances have become engrained into your mind and your bones, and when you are perfectly accurate, that is when you will have absorbed the essence of the sword into your mind. Only then will your mind be ready to train in the sword.” Ning listened with his breath held. “Prepare your body.” “Prepare your mind.” “Afterwards, you will be able to truly start training in sword techniques.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Sword techniques are very complicated, but they are still formed from these thirteen basic movements. If you aren’t even able to memorize and absorb these thirteen basic movements…how can you possibly have any achievements in training with the sword?” “After you have truly become familiar with the sword techniques I will pass down to you, then you can be considered to have reached the first, ‘basic’ level of wielding a sword.” “The sword has three levels as well.” “The basic level, the advanced level, and the ‘one with the world’ level!” “The ‘advanced level’ for footwork requires precise control over the body. But the ‘advanced level’ for the sword requires one to have precise control over both the body and the sword, and then merge them into one! It is ten times harder!” “Becoming ‘one with the world’? That’s even farther off.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Ji Ning, do you now understand the path you must walk?” “Yes.” Ning nodded heavily. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] training technique would give him a Fiendgod’s body and inconceivable strength. But the training in footwork and swordplay would decide…how much of that strength he would be able to use! “Father, how long would I need to train before I can reach the level of ‘one with the sword’?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “Hard to say.” Yichuan shook his head. “In the past, I had spent six years mastering the basics, then six more before becoming ‘one with the sword’. You can say that it took me twelve years!” “Twelve years?” Ning held his breath. His father, despite being young, had become the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Someone as peerless of a talent had him had needed twelve years. Many ordinary people…would spend their lives training without being able to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Take things one stable step at a time.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Let’s begin. Let me first teach you the ‘pierce’ movement of the thirteen basic movements!” ……. Under his father’s guidance, Ning’s posture was very correct as he pierced repeatedly! Chopped repeatedly! Scraped repeatedly! Tapped repeatedly! This was very boring. And very tiring. Fortunately, Ning had astonishing regenerating capabilities. And given his experience in being tormented by illness in his past life…he was a person who would not easily give up. After training attacking movements for two hours, he began to train defending movements for another two hours. The metal puppet wouldn’t get tired, delivering endless hacking blows with the saber for Ning to defend against. “Yichuan.” Snow stood from afar, watching her son train hard. Yichuan walked to his wife’s side as well, and both of them watched that distant metal puppet battle against their son. “Snow. I didn’t expect this. I really didn’t expect…that our son would have such strong willpower. I had even prepared for him to complain about being tired, and prepared to force him to continue training. I didn’t expect that I don’t need to force him at all!” “When he was training his footwork in the morning…” Snow felt sorry for her child. “Even though he said he was tired, all he did was talk. He didn’t stop a single time. Six hours in the morning, six hours in the afternoon…twelve hours of the day spent training. Ning is still very young…” “I still remember when I was young.” Yichuan said softly. “At that time, I was forced by my father to train. I felt too tired and that I was at the point of collapse, but whenever I gave up, my father would use his whip to beat me. I cried each time I drew my sword or used it to pierce…that continued until I turned ten, and my father was killed by a Diremonster from Eastlake Mountain. The status of my mother and I 133 dropped by a thousand fathoms. Seeing how cold everyone had become towards us and then my mother die of illness…I finally woke up. I no longer said I was tired, or that I was hurting. Every day, I focused on my training.” Someone who had never trained before would never know how exhausting training was. Tiring to the body. Tiring to the mind. Someone who wasn’t sufficiently mentally resolved or who had insufficient desire wouldn’t be able to persevere. “I had my doubts about our son’s future accomplishments.” Yichuan said softly. “Although his aptitude for the Fiendgod Body Refining is very high, if he doesn’t work hard, he still wouldn’t accomplish much…but now, I believe that my son will definitely become one of the true experts of this world. He definitely will!” Hearing her husband’s words, Snow stared at her son who was still training in the distance. She gently nodded. “I believe it too!” …….. Watching himself grow stronger, even stronger than those ‘supermen’ in the movies, was an absolutely wonderful feeling! A year later. Hua! Blindfish, standing far away, threw four stones up into the air. The slightly taller Ning nocked his bow while grabbing four arrows, holding them tightly between his five fingers. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Four arrows flashed out simultaneously, leaving behind four trails of air in the sky, hitting all four of the rocks that had been thrown up. The four rocks all shattered into tiny pieces which fell to the ground. “Good.” Blindfish walked over, laughing loudly like the thunder. “Master Blindfish.” Ning put away the bow. “You’ve already mastered the mental segment. You’ve even quickly mastered my pride and my joy, the ‘Quadshot’ skill.” Blindfish praised as he nodded. “I have nothing left to teach you when it comes to archery. Next, you will have to just continuously train and build up experience. As your strength grows, you will be able to fire more powerful arrows. This training courtyard is now too small for you. You need to go to a larger, more expansive place and shoot arrows from a distance of one, two, or even three or 134 four kilometers! The farther away you are shooting from, the more you will have to factor in the wind and the environment.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. Archery required one to be extremely precise. One needed to consider the strength of the pull, the trajectory of the arrow, and also the downward pull of gravity. At the same time, one had to factor in the wind speed! Although it was complicated, as long as one could sense the direction and strength of the wind, one would be able to shoot without even needing to aim. This was because the question of from what angle to fire from and how to fire would have already been built into one’s bones from countless repetitive training exercises. At least, to the current Ning…within a range of five hundred meters, not even a fly could escape his arrows! But this was far from being enough! As his strength grew, his arrows would be more powerful as well. Some Xiantian lifeform’s arrows would fly several kilometers and still have tremendous force! The greater the distance, the more difficult it would be to shoot accurately as well…it required even more training and experience. “Starting tomorrow, I won’t come here anymore. Young master, you are the most talented student I have ever taught.” Blindfish looked at Ning. “Don’t waste your talent. In the future, you will definitely become the most terrifying godly archer in the Swallow Mountain area.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the training courtyard, a youth clad in beast fur was wielding a black blunt sword. He stood there, and around him there were nine tall and powerful warriors. These valiant warriors all wore armor and wielding long spears, swords, and sabers, and other weapons in their hands. But none of the weapons had been edged or sharpened. Six years. Ning, who had trained for six years, was now ten years old. But because in this life, he had been training in accordance with the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he had already reached a height of 1.6 meters tall, just ten centimeters shorter than he had been in his previous life. His appearance was almost identical to how he had looked in his previous life. Perhaps this was what the saying, ‘a person’s appearance is birthed by their mind’. If one had to find a difference…then the difference was, in his previous life, his face was always sickly pale, while in this life, it was filled with boundless life and energy. “Same rule as always.” Ning stared at the people around him, his gaze even more terrifying than that of monsters. “As long as any of you can strike me, each person will be awarded a beasthead of gold!” “Grr!” “Careful, young master!” “Haha, a beasthead of gold. Brothers, let’s let the young master see how powerful we are.” These brave warriors began to roar. They were the mightiest warriors within the armies of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture; the Ninefang Warriors! For someone to be awarded the title of Ninefang Warrior required their internal energy to have reached the limits of the Houtian level, and also be warriors with significant battle experience. A beasthead of gold meant ten pounds of gold. Gold coins were used as a form of currency in the countless tribes, and ten pounds of gold, to these powerful warriors, was an extremely attractive offer. But they didn’t dare to be incautious, because Ning’s power had spread across the army long ago. He had often sparred in the army with some of the elite soldiers…and thus, Ning’s ability had risen rapidly, as these warriors all knew. Even if nine of the most powerful warriors joined forces against him…defeating Ning would still be a hard task. However, it was still possible. The blunt black sword in hand, Ning stared quietly at the surrounding people. Actually, ever since he had learned the reputedly most complicated of sword techniques [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] and mastered it to the point where his father nodded in satisfaction, sparring with 136 the metal puppet had become meaningless. Thus, he was permitted to begin sparring with the large number of soldiers and warriors in their army. While sparring, they always used blunt weapons. At the same time, his father had given him a strict order: “When sparring with others, you are only allowed to use a single sword! In addition, you are only permitted to use a tenth of your real strength! Only when sparring with your mother and I are you allowed to use the twin swords. Remember, the twin swords are your secret weapon. You are only permitted to use it when you really intend to kill your opponent.” Thus… Although Ning’s fame had become widespread across the army and he had been acknowledged as a rare talent, that was just the tip of the iceberg. But of course, when engaging in battle, Ning used all of his available skill in the ‘single sword techniques’ and in the ‘footwork’ techniques. …. The nine warriors surrounded Ning, walking in a circle around him while staring at him as though staring at their prey. Ning just stood there, as unmoving as a mountain. “Shua!” One of the nine soldiers surrounding him suddenly charged forward. The bald soldier was wielding a longspear in his hands, and struck out with it like a viper, instantly arriving next to Ning. Faced with this fierce spear, Ning’s body flickered and he drew near the bald warrior’s body, causing the spear to miss its mark. Spears were weakest against close quarters combat! “Chi!” The blunt sword in Ning’s hand sliced out. As the sword flashed towards him, the bald warrior hurriedly used his feet to kick against his longspear, sending it sweeping towards Ning as he himself rolled back into the array of soldiers surrounding Ning. “Wow, that was dangerous. I almost got ended in one exchange. Brothers, be careful.” The bald warrior quickly called out as he returned to the others. Ning had already stepped on top of that longspear, staring at the people around him. “It is better if you come all at once. Otherwise, you’ll have no chance.” “Let’s go.” “Let’s do it.” 137 The nine warriors, sensing the disparity in power, didn’t launch any more probing attacks. They immediately charged forward at full strength. The wind howled. Sabers flashed. The shadow of sword agilely danced about. Spears hissed through the air like dragons. Sticks smashed down like ferocious tigers. Attacks came from every direction towards Ning, while Ning just stood there, just occasionally taking a step back or turning. These seemingly minute movements resulted in many of the warriors’ attacks missing. The clanging sounds of weapons bashing against each other could be heard like thunderclaps. Clearly, these blows carried great force. Occasionally, the sound was just a whisper-soft snick. “Ninefang Warriors really live up to their name. These nine have really good teamwork. If it was just five or six of them…I would be able to beat them in an instant. But the nine working together have put me at a complete disadvantage.” Ning found it very difficult to deal with the storm of attacks from these nine warriors. After all, he only had one sword. Under this sort of pressure, he was forced to use his sword techniques and his footwork techniques to their utmost. “Hu!” “Hu!” The sword howled. Ning suddenly felt intoxicated. Right at this moment, his body and his sword seemed to be in perfect harmony, and he seemed to even somehow feel the ‘body’ of the sword itself, and even the wind which blew past the sword at high speed. “Chi!” The blunt black sword gently chopped against a cavalry saber. It trembled, but then with a twist, it pushed the enemy’s blade to the side and out of the enemy’s control. And then, the tip of the sword went forward, stabbing into the warrior’s chest. The warrior felt the pressure against his chest, and he immediately retreated two steps, then sat down. “Hu.” The blunt black sword slashed through a curved pattern in the air, easily avoiding the opponent’s blocking longspear, then slapping with the flat against the bald warrior’s face. With a bang, one of the man’s tooth went flying and was knocked away. Time seemed to past as slowly as a leaf falling down in the autumn wind. Ning’s sword had suddenly become extremely nimble, and the movements of his sword were careful and minute, able to change in a flash. In a life and death battle…a momentary advantage was enough to change the outcome of a battle into a victory. Thus, although Ning had previously found it very hard to resist those nine warriors, he now, in the blink of an eye, was able to knock them all down. “Congratulations, young master.” “Congratulations, young master, on your swordplay reaching the ‘advanced’ stage, ‘one with the sword’.” The warriors were both shocked and excited. All of them congratulated him. A youth who was merely ten years old was able to reach the ‘advanced’ stage of swordplay, and become ‘one with the sword’. This was more incredible than even the accomplishments of his father, the ‘Raindrop Sword’, Ji Yichuan. “Hahaha…” Ning was extremely excited as well. Six years. Six years of constantly training with the sword. Every day, aside from the time he spent training his archery skills outside the city at dawn, he spent virtually all of his time training with the sword. Sometimes he would train with his father, while sometimes he would train with his father’s disciples. Sometimes, he would spar against the army soldiers. The sword had long ago imprinted itself into his bones. After training with the sword for ten million times, his accuracy with the sword had reached a terrifying level a long time ago. And, with his ability to split his mind, his sword techniques became all the more elusive and unpredictable. He had the body of a Fiendgod, and in terms of Ki Refining, he had already reached the peak of the Houtian stage in internal energy. This caused his sword attacks to be unstoppable. And finally, today! All of these accumulated experiences had formed a cohesive whole, and he entered the ‘advanced’ stage of swordplay, ‘one with the sword’! “Everyone, today you have helped me to make a breakthrough. Although I don’t have much, I am giving each of you a beasthead of gold. Don’t try to refuse.” Ning laughed loudly. The nine warriors exchanged glances, then said in unison, “Thank you, young master!” If they had simply lost, they wouldn’t have accepted it. After all, these Ninefang Warriors had their own pride and dignity. But for young master Ning to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level was a major, joyous occasion. Such a joyous occasion…it was only fair and proper that they, too, receive some gifts. “Nine of them.” The distant Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, his two maids, hurriedly ran over with stone platters. Atop the stone platters were nine beastheads of gold. They were all the highest quality gold! The nine warriors 139 laughed as they accepted it, while at the same time, feeling moved…young master Ning truly was powerful. But they had all seen with their own eyes how hard Ning had worked over these years. “Congratulations, young master. Felicitations, young master.” After the nine warriors left, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf allowed their faces to be covered with joy and celebration. Six years had passed, and the two maids were now twenty years old. This was the most bewitching age for a woman. Maids such as these would usually be their master’s women, which is why they had long ago in their hearts decided to consider Ning as their world, as their god. To see their young master become so powerful, they naturally were extremely happy. “Hahaha…” Ning laughed as well. Anyone would be excited. After all, he had trained bitterly since he was young. How could he not be excited upon succeeding? Only after training with the sword for two years had his father decided that his ‘body’ and his ‘mind’ were prepared to learn sword techniques. Only then had he been taught the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] technique. After another year, when he mastered the first level, his father permitted him to spar with others. After three more years, culminating in this day today, he had finally reached the second level, the ‘advanced’ level, becoming ‘one with the sword’. “Spring Grass, Autumn Leaf, come with me.” Ning called out. What he wanted to do the most right now was to go see his parents. …. Deep in the mountain ranges, there was a series of furious howls. There was a large number of black armored riders, and these armored riders all had extremely thick armor, all covered with spikes as well. Their mounts were tall and powerful furry beasts with a single horn. These furry beasts had two curved, fierce looking fangs which flashed with cold light. Their four hooves were thick and sturdy. When they ran, the earth itself shook. The hundred black armored riders all gave off the aura of powerful experts. “Huh?” The black armored riders all turned to stare at a place nearby. They saw a distant mountain quickly begin to turn red, and then begin to transform into scorching hot lava. A large amount of lava began to pour out from somewhere in the mountain, and faintly, a human figure could be seen walking on top of the lava, his entire body covered with flames. He walked straight towards them. Hu. With a single step, he leaped to the ground. He was bringing with him a ferocious scaled beast that was blackish-brown in color. Behind him, there was also a four-hooved beast that was walking as well. Quickly, the human figure flew out from the middle of the lava, revealing his face…it was a face belonging to an old man, with fiery red hair and a small scarlet snake hanging from his ear. The four-hooved beast also walked to the viper elder’s side, seeming extremely obedient. “Master.” The hundred black armored riders called out respectfully. The viper elder laughed loudly. “We came hunting, but I didn’t expect that we would run into an Armored Wyrm. My luck isn’t bad. This Armored Wyrm is very close to becoming a Xiantian lifeform. When I get home, I need to spend some time raising it.” “Master, master!” A voice suddenly rang out from the skies. Ji Lee raised his head. In mid-air, an enormous flying beast with blue feathered wings could be seen, with a man wearing an exquisite beast pelt seated atop it. After the flying beast landed at high speed, the rider immediately jumped off and landed on the ground, then came to one knee. “Master, there’s news from the Prefecture.” “Speak.” Lee frowned. “Yichuan’s son, Ning, has entered the ‘one with the sword’ stage today.” The man said respectfully. Lee stared at him, the fire surrounding his body blazing hotter. He was so angry that his entire body began to shake. Suddenly, he smashed that Armored Wyrm he had captured into the distant mountain cliff. The heavy monstrous beast, at least ten thousand pounds in weight, turned into a blur. With a bang, it smashed against the distant mountain cliff, and on it appeared an enormous crevice which was now surrounded by hundred-meter long cracks. The Armored Wyrm lay there in the crevice, blood pouring from its head, and its scales shattered. It had been smashed to death. “Return to the West Prefecture City!” Lee ground his teeth for a long time before finally shouting out this order. “Yes.” The hundred black armored riders said in unison. Although they felt that throwing away the corpse of the Armored Wyrm was a huge waste, their master, Ji Lee, was currently in a royal rage. Naturally, no one dared to contradict him. Rumble rumble. Lee, riding his four-hooved monstrous beast, was followed by his hundred black armored riders. They left the deep, mysterious mountain forest and quickly disappeared, only leaving behind that Armored Wyrm in that crevice in the mountainside, its blood still dripping down the cliff. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. With a sinister look on his face, Lee returned to his estate. Behind him was the four-hooved beast. The two entered his estate, and those servants and house guards all knelt down or lowered their heads when seeing him. None of them dared to even breathe too loudly. They could all tell that their master, Lee, was in an extremely foul mood. Someone who upset him might be slapped to death. “Father.” A sound from afar, and a middle-aged man clad in beast fur with dozens of braids in his hair came out. Lee glanced at him. The person was his most competent son, and also one who had become a Xiantian lifeform; Ji Jadewich. Frowning, he said, “Jadewich, is this true? I just went out hunting, and shortly afterwards, I received news that Yichuan’s little animal has reached the ‘advanced’ stage of swordplay, ‘one with the sword’?” “It is, father.” Jadewich shook his head and sighed. “Today, Ji Ning and nine Ninefang Warriors were sparring. He made a breakthrough in swordplay while sparring. There’s no doubt about this at all.” “Argh!” Lee let out an angry sound. “The Heavens have set themselves against me, Ji Lee. My elder brother, Ji Young, was inferior to me, but due to my arrogance, I allowed him to seize the position of Prefecture Lord. He produced an outstanding descendant, Ji Yichuan, making his lineage even more stable. But now, an even more outstanding Ji Ning has been produced, who in six years managed to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level!” “Reaching the ‘one with the sword’ level in just six years. Those three geniuses we selected from those countless tribes are far inferior to him by comparison.” Jadewich shook his head as well. For the sake of blocking Ning’s progression, they had specially selected three outstandingly talented children near Ning’s age, and began to teach them from a young age. But they were still inferior to Ning. “Just a bit off. If Grizzly was just three years younger…” Jadewich sighed. “Grizzly?” Lee was startled. Grizzly was his foster son. In the past, when he had led the army to punish one of the larger tribes for a transgression, he had encountered a Diremonster, a ‘Golden Grizzly Bear’. After a vicious, terrifying battle, the Golden Grizzly Bear had finally fled in defeat. Lee then raided the Golden Grizzly Bear’s lair, and found inside the lair an infant child. The infant wasn’t a year old, but was born with tremendous strength…and was very much to Lee’s liking. He had said, “Kid, you were snatched by a Golden Grizzly Bear but weren’t killed. Instead, it 143 raised you? Hahaha…from today onwards, you will be the adopted son of myself, Ji Lee. I’ll name you…Grizzly!” It was common for someone to raise an adopted son who possessed extraordinary abilities. When Grizzly was brought back home, it was determined that he was one year old. He was now thirteen years old. Lee treated and raised Grizzly as a terrifying monstrous beast, having him engage beasts in battle since he was an infant, and sometimes even with monstrous beasts. Naturally, he also taught Grizzly the most suitable training methods… In the middle of all that combat, last year, Grizzly had reached the stage of ‘one with the saber’. “The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is held every four years. There will be one this year.” Jadewich narrowed his eyes. “Four years from now, there will be another one. In another four years…Grizzly will be seventeen. Only those sixteen and younger can participate in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. Four years from now, Grizzly won’t even be able to participate, much less stop Ning!” “The only hope we have right now is that the three little brats I took in will be able to become a Xiantian lifeform within these next four years.” Lee muttered. “Right.” Jadewich nodded. “I personally selected the three of them out of all of the tribes as the most suited for Ki Refining. They’ve reached the peak of the Houtian level long ago. If a single one of them can advance to the Xiantian level, then our victory is assured.” Lee nodded as well. “A Xiantian Ki Refiner is capable of using magical treasures and would definitely win. Only, it is simply too hard to become a Xiantian lifeform…” “All we can do is wait and see what Fate has to offer.” Jadewich said softly. Lee nodded lightly. Although they were struggling over the Prefecture Lord position, Ji Lee and Ji Jadewich never even thought about killing Ji Ning. In this vast world, for a clan to be able to survive…they had to be unified, and fratricide was definitely forbidden! In addition, Ning had already been selected as a potential heir. If someone dared to try and use a wicked method to kill Ji Ning, most likely everyone in the Five Prefectures of the Ji Clan would join forces to punish the murderer! …… The thick, large candle lit up the hall. Yichuan was seated in the primary seat, while Snow and Ning sat close to him. The three of them were eating the meal in front of them on the table. “Yichuan.” Snow looked at her son, his hands and mouth greasy from the meat he was eating. Her eyes were filled with pride. “Our son Ning mastered the basics in three years, and in three more years became ‘one with the sword’! It seems it will be easy for him to gain the position of Prefecture Lord.” Holding a ramshorn goblet, Yichuan nodded lightly. “When Ning sparred with the others, he only used his internal force. He didn’t use any of the power of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining method. And in addition, when sparring with outsiders, Ning has only used a single sword.” Others didn’t know how powerful Ning was, but Yichuan and his wife knew exactly how capable their son was. Seizing the golden sword? As easy as picking something out of his pocket! “Ning, at his current level of power, is already easily capable of seizing the golden sword. In four more years, even Xiantian lifeforms won’t be able to stop him.” Yichuan poured himself another cup of wine. Ning continued to simply sit there, eating and drinking prodigious amounts of food. Because he trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he possessed the appetite of a Fiendgod as well. He could easily eat dozens of pounds of the meat of monstrous beasts in every meal. He had reached the third level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] two years ago. He was at a bottleneck now, but with one more step, he would reach the fourth level! The fourth level would let him become a Xiantian lifeform, and one which belonged to the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. His battle ability would far outstrip that of normal Xiantian lifeforms by a hundred times or a thousand times. “Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.” Ning drank large mouthfuls of hot water, pouring it all down his mouth, then rubbed his stomach as he put it down. “That feels good.” “Ning.” Snow looked at her son with a laugh. “Mother.” Ning was very obedient. He could sense that his father cherished him but also valued the clan, while his mother had placed virtually all of her hopes and concerns in him. In her mother’s eyes, perhaps even the rise and fall of the entire Ji clan wasn’t nearly as important as her son. Snow looked at her son. “When your father taught you the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons], it was the most complicated level of sword techniques you could learn, and it was the most suitable set of sword techniques for you to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level. However, now that you have already reached that level, the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] technique is no longer of much use to you.” 145 “Right.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Now, Ning! When I had you prepare your ‘body’ and your ‘mind’, I needed you to make all of your attacks as fast as lightning and incomparably accurate. I needed you to imprint those things in your bones. Only then did I teach you the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons], and the purpose of that was…to let you go from something simple to complicated!” “The path of sword training first goes from simple to complicated, and then from complicated back to simple. Only then can one be considered to have mastered the sword.” Yichuan looked at his son. “You have become ‘one with the sword’, and you can wield it as easily as your own hands. You can be considered to have gone from complicated back to simple.” Ning nodded. He understood this logic. If he was so stupid as to just constantly use those thirteen basic stances, he could still be considered an expert swordsman, but without having truly experienced ‘going from simple to complicated, then from complicated to simple’, it would be very hard for one to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level. “Next, you will need to reach the level of being ‘one with the world’.” Yichuan sighed. “This step is an extremely hard step.” “One with the world…” Ning was filled with anticipation. “The previous sword techniques you’ve learned are now useless to you.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Your current level is enough to qualify you to learn the highest level swordplay of the Ji clan.” Ning’s eyes lit up. The highest level swordplay of the Ji clan? “Our Ji clan is famous because of our swordplay.” Yichuan sighed with emotion. “In turn, the city of the Ji clan of the Main Prefecture, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’, was named because the ancestors of the Ji clan rose to fame due to the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], which they used to establish themselves here.” “After thousands of years, the Ji clan now has five highest level sword arts. They are the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], [Thunderflame Sword], [Illusion Sutra], [Raindrop Sutra], and the [Polaris Secret Manual]. Every single technique is extremely profound and is beyond what the ‘one with the sword’ level is capable of. If you can make accomplishments in any of them, you will find that their power is boundless.” Yichuan looked at his son. “I trained in the [Raindrop Sutra]. Most people, even after reaching the ‘one with the sword’ level, is at most able to select a single one of the arts to train in. This is because dividing the mind is simply too difficult. But Ning, since you are able to divide your mind in two, you would be able to choose two arts to train in.” Hu! In Yichuan’s hand, five books suddenly appeared. He casually tossed them out, and they flew straight over, landing in a neat stack on a nearby table, not touching any of the cups or plates. “The highest level swordplay?” Ning looked at the five books. He understood that these were just abridged versions. Only after he made his choice would he receive the ‘full versions’. “Make your choice.” Yichuan looked at his son and said solemnly, “Once you have chosen, your choice will be recorded for the Ji clan of the Five Prefectures to review! If it isn’t recorded down, you will be considered to have learned in secret. Anyone who does that will be exterminated by the combined forces of the Five Prefectures.” “Ah!” Ji Ning understood this, but he still couldn’t help but feel surprised. “Then why is it that there was no such restriction on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique that I learned?” “Although the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique is the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, it is extremely widespread. Virtually all of the tribes on the level of the Ji clan possesses a copy. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if our copy is leaked.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Most Ki Refining methods and Fiendgod Body Refining methods aren’t very valuable. Only the ultimate techniques of each clan are tightly restricted, like these five sword techniques here. In the area around Swallow Mountain, four of these techniques are possessed only by our Ji clan. Only the [Polaris Secret Manual] is also in the possession of another entity, the Blackflame Sect.” Ning nodded. He knew that in the area around Swallow Mountain, aside from the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty that were stationed here, there were in total, five other hegemonic powers. The Ji clan was also one of them. These six hegemons engaged in constant battle, but none of them dared to offend the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty! “Right.” Ning immediately lowered his head and began to read, flipping through these five top-class sword techniques. If a person was at the ‘one with the sword’ level and then also possessed this sort of top-class sword technique, his power would definitely multiply. “Raindrop Sutra…” This was the first one Ning looked at. This was the top-class technique which had made his father famous. His father’s nickname, after all, was the ‘Raindrop Sword’! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.[Raindrop Sutra]. The principle behind it was that of the saying, ‘dripping water can eventually tunnel through a rock’. Its attacks were soft yet inexhaustible, seemingly as endless as the raindrops falling from the skies during a rainstorm, making the enemy find it difficult to even dodge. In turn, its defenses were utterly airtight…and at the same time, when tens of millions of raindrops converged on one point, it could form a terrifyingly explosive force. Even ordinary drops of water could eventually tunnel through a rock; the sword that had been transformed into ‘raindrops’ would naturally contain an unshakable, unyielding power. “The [Raindrop Sutra] truly is profound and wondrous.” Ning nodded as he read it, then picked up the second book, [Polaris Secret Manual]. The [Polaris Secret Manual] was part of the legendary [Polaris Sword Manual]. It was divided into seven different sword stances, known as Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid. These seven major sword stances all contained the power of the stars. They could be as ferocious and savage as the Voracious Alkaid Wolf Sword, or the extremely soft and extremely sinister Melodious Megrez Sword… The sword technique was unfathomably mysterious, and was very hard to defend against. “What a good sword technique.” Ning sighed in amazement as he read, before picking up the other three books. [Thunderflame Sword]. This was something which the ancestors of the Ji clan, when roving and training themselves elsewhere in the world, had been lucky enough to find. They had found a half-burned remnant of a book, and the words in it were not very clear. Only two words on the title could be seen: Thunderflame! In addition, they were only able to reclaim three complete sword stances from the book. All of the stances were used to attack. When the stances were used, it was as though it contained the power of heavenly thunder and hellish flames. There was no question that in terms of attack power, it was the undisputed champion amongst the sword techniques of the Ji clan! For just three stances to allow it to be ranked amongst the Five Major Sword Techniques of the Ji clan, one could imagine how that unnamed complete sword technique…definitely outstripped the other four sword techniques vastly. However, although its strengths were apparent, its weaknesses were also apparent. This was because these vicious stances…were only three in number. Thus, they didn’t perfectly link to each other. In addition, all three stances were purely offensive, without any defensive stances. How could experts, when engaged in battle, have no defensive stances? Thus, very few people would choose to train in this sword technique. “I really want to see what the complete Thunderflame Sword looks like.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh. “If we had a complete copy,” the nearby Yichuan said, “Then it would be, without question, the number one Immortal technique in Swallow Mountain.” Ning nodded, then picked up the fourth book. [Illusion Sutra]. Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a sword technique, because once one truly understood the meaning of the word ‘Illusion’, one could execute an ‘Illusion Saber’ technique, or an ‘Illusion Spear’ technique, or an ‘Illusion Staff’ technique…this was an insidious and powerful attacking technique that allowed one to hide one’s true abilities and actions. Opponents often would die before even knowing what happened. This technique was sinister to the extreme. “This isn’t suited to my temperament.” The first technique Ning discarded was the [Illusion Sutra]. Picking something suited to a person was very important. A technique that was opposite of one’s natural instincts, no matter how profound…would be incredibly difficult to train. Naturally, Ning immediately discarded it. “Hrm, the last one was originally the greatest strength of the Ji clan.” Ning began to flip through the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] was praised as the most complicated of the five sword techniques, far more complicated than the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] which Ning had previously learned. But although it was complicated, once one truly mastered it, the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] could be simplified into three major stances. The ‘One Sword, Ten Thousand Shadows’ stance, the ‘Ten Thousand Swords Become One’, and the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’. …… Ning closed his eyes, pondering. In terms of being the most awe-inspiring and most complicated, or perhaps even the simplest, it would be the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. In terms of being the most insidious and difficult to guard against, it would be the [Illusion Sutra]. In terms of being the most orthodox, it would be the [Polaris Secret Manual]. In terms of having the greatest defense, it would be the [Raindrop Sutra]. In terms of the most powerful attack and the deepest, most profound principles, it would be the [Thunderflame Sword]. “First of all, the [Illusion Sutra] can be excluded. It doesn’t suit my temperament!” Ning pondered. “The [Polaris Secret Manual] is part of the [Polaris Sword Manual]. In terms of attack, it isn’t very strong. In defense, it isn’t either. It isn’t very exquisite either…it’s comparatively average, but it isn’t weak in any aspect either. When fighting against experts, one must have some sort of advantage! The [Polaris Secret Manual] can be excluded as well.” “Only three left. The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], [Raindrop Sutra], and [Thunderflame Sword].” “The [Raindrop Sutra] is a must!” Ning thought to himself. The Raindrop Sutra was like a curtain of endless raindrops. It was the most defensive technique amongst the five major sword techniques. In a battle, defensive abilities were even more important than attacking abilities! In his past life, Ning had seen many martial arts competitions. All of the champions were experts at dodging and defense. Even in soccer and basketball, there was the saying that ‘defense is king’. Although attacks were pretty to look at…it was defense which truly gave the best chances at victory. The venue was different, but the logic was the same! In life and death battles, defense was also important. When encountering an expert more powerful than one’s self, one might reach the point of only being able to defend and not attack. If one’s defense was strong, then perhaps one might still live. But once those attack-focused people encountered those who were even stronger than them, once their attacks were not able to harm the opponent, they were finished. “Defense is the same thing as preserving my life. First, I have to preserve my life; only then can I take the lives of others. In addition, this is the technique which my father used to become famous. With him personally instructing me, I will improve quickly. The [Raindrop Sutra] is a must.” Ning carefully continued to consider. “As for the [Thunderflame Sword] and the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]…” “Alright, [Thunderflame Sword] it is!” Ning quickly made his decision. If he was like an ordinary person who could only use a single sword technique, Ning probably would’ve made a choice between the [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. However, since he used twin swords, he already had the [Raindrop Sutra] for defense. Thus, for the second one, he chose the most offensively powerful [Thunderflame Sword]. The [Thunderflame Sword] had, as its flaw, no defensive techniques, but as a twin-sword wielder, that wasn’t a flaw at all. He had already chosen the [Raindrop Sutra] for his defense, and thus what he now truly needed was a powerful killing technique. “The [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword].” Ning made up his mind. “The [Raindrop Sutra] is excellent at defense, while the [Thunderflame Sword], despite only having three strokes, has three incomparably powerful killer moves.” “In addition, once my [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] reaches the Xiantian level, my Divine Sun Tattoo and Divine Moon Tattoo will allow me to control fire and water. Water is very suited to the [Raindrop Sutra] while fire is very suited to the [Thunderflame Sword]. I trust they will be of great help to my swordplay.” “In defending, my defense must be so tight that not even a drop of water can get through!” “In attacking, my attacks must be as explosively powerful as a fiery volcano!” “I have twin swords. One for defense, one for offense. Or perhaps I can use both for defense. Or both for attack. I’ll do as I please!” Ning rapidly began to evaluate his future possibilities in battle, and he saw the path with crystal clarity. He knew…only once one had a full understanding as to how one would develop and progress would one be able to avoid taking a wrong path. This would help one develop faster! In warfare, strategies were of greater importance than tactics. In a person’s growth, there was a saying that planning counted for more than effort. If one knew the right way one needed to advance towards, even if one didn’t make huge advances every day, after ten or twenty years, one would still reach a high level. But if one didn’t have a clear objective, and just blindly worked hard, a person might just be running in-place without improving, or perhaps even going backwards! …. His careful examination of the books had taken two hours. That huge candle was already half used up. Yichuan and Snow just waited there quietly, occasionally exchanging a few words. “Father, Mother.” Ning suddenly spoke. “Hrm?” Yichuan and Snow both turned to look at him. Yichuan spoke. “You’ve chosen?” Ning nodded. “Ning, son, what have you chosen? One or two?” Snow asked. “I’ve chosen two.” Ning held out the two books. “One is the [Raindrop Sutra]. The other is the [Thunderflame Sword].” “[Raindrop Sutra]? [Thunderflame Sword]?” Yichuan nodded slightly. As the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, despite not having gained any merits in battle after his son was being born, his reputation had only grown. This was because no one knew how powerful Yichuan had become…but no one could dispute that in even ten years, Yichuan had already become the number one expert of the West Prefecture. His judgment was therefore exceptional. “Fine.” Yichuan nodded. “I’d like to hear your advice, Father.” Ning hurriedly said. “No rush.” Yichuan shook his head. “I have some thoughts on the [Raindrop Sutra], but you’ve never trained it in before. Thus, even if I explained my thoughts to you, you wouldn’t be able to comprehend them. You have to first train hard, and even engage in life-and-death battles, before I can successfully guide you.” “Tomorrow at dawn, I will give you the full copies of the [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword]. At that time, you will perform them in front of me once. As long as you can get the postures and movements right, that will be enough.” Yichuan nodded. “Three days later, you will begin to engage in real battles. Those sparring matches you usually do are too simple and soft. You need to fight in real lifeand-death battles.” Ning was puzzled. “Father, haven’t I already engaged in life-and-death battles?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “In the past, when you acknowledged that my skill had reached the first level in sword training, the basic level, didn’t you have me fight against and kill some prisoners who had been sentenced to death?” He still remembered the first time he had killed someone. At that time, his entire body had been trembling, uncontrollably so. Although he rationally knew that he shouldn’t be afraid, he still couldn’t help but shake. According to what his father had said…aside from a very few people who lived for slaughter, this was the normal reaction of most people the first time they killed someone. After having killed dozens of people sentenced to death row, he had grown calmer. “That wasn’t a battle. That was just training your courage.” Yichuan shook his head. “Fighting against convicts? All of them were weaker than you. How can that be called a life-and-death battle? Three days from now…I will arrange for you to engage in a true battle with monstrous beasts, powerful ones that have already reached mastery in the Houtian level.” “Monsters?” Ning’s face changed. “Those captured monsters will turn insane and ferocious for food and for the chance to live. In addition, they won’t show you any mercy at all.” Yichuan looked at his son. “In front of a massive cage, you will 152 fight against the monstrous beasts, one on one. This is the battle which all important descendants of the Ji clan must go through; the ‘Cage Battle’. Over half of these important descendants will die in that cage. Half? Ning was briefly shocked, but then grew calm again. This was because he knew that the women and the slaves in the various tribes were highly fertile, but the total population here had never changed. Why? Because the savage environment had caused the tribes to need to struggle against the heavens, against the earth, against the Diremonsters hidden within the mountains and valleys, and even against other tribes. Only a few would be able to survive! Even though he was born into the Ji clan, he still needed to face tough, relentless training. Only the elite would survive. It was precisely because all the clan members of the Ji clan were so strong that the Ji clan was famous and had become a local hegemon! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Three days later, at dawn, Ning and his father came to Dragon Castle. Dragon Castle was three hundred meters wide, a thousand meters long, and was divided into two parts; the Cage, and the tunnels for the monstrous beasts. The Cage was where the life-and-death battles would be carried out, while the beast tunnels were where the monstrous beasts were imprisoned. Because Dragon Castle held many monstrous beasts inside, it was extremely dangerous, which is why it had been built outside of the city. ….. Dragon Castle. Within the Cage. Ning entered the Cage and looked around. This was an empty area that was two or three hundred meters in diameter. The four walls were all made from some sort of black metal, and up above him was black metallic chains that formed a metal web, preventing anyone from fleeing. “This place is completely sealed.” Yichuan, who faintly emanated a cold aura, said, “The walls are formed with blackwater iron. Although blackwater iron isn’t a particularly precious material, most early stage Xiantian will find it very difficult to damage such a thick blackwater iron wall. As for the thick chains above, those are also made from blackwater iron. Given your strength…if you are to use the power within the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and use your full strength, you should be able to break apart the chains. But a web like this formed from many chains…you will probably need the span of ten breaths before you are able to break enough chains to escape.” Ning nodded. “Look.” Yichuan pointed towards the air above the net of chains. There was a viewing platform beyond it. “Your mother and I, as well as your Uncle White, will be there watching you.” Yichuan said coldly. “Be careful.” Snow encouraged her son. “Roar!” The snow white dog also looked at Ning, his eyes filled with encouragement and anticipation. This snow white dog was his father Yichuan’s lifelong friend, and was also his own Uncle White. In total, his father had tamed two Diremonsters; one was that massive black python, the so-called Uncle Black! The other was a snow white dog, his Uncle White. Beasts, upon gaining a level of intelligence, could begin to absorb natural energy and transform into monstrous beasts! Monstrous beasts, after managing the difficult art of transformation, would enter the Xiantian level and become Xiantian lifeforms. Only then would they be considered Diremonsters. Generally speaking, Diremonsters were capable of transforming into humans, such as Uncle Black. But amongst monstrous beasts, there was a very unique type of creature: the Godbeasts. Godbeasts were magical beasts that contained some of the bloodline of those ancient Fiendgods of the past. They were born intelligence, and possessed powerful natural gifts. Their strength was far greater than that of ordinary monstrous beasts. They also found it extremely hard to transform into human forms, and for different Godbeasts, the level of difficulty was different as well. Some needed to reach the ‘Zifu’ level before they could take human form. Some needed to reach the ‘Wanxiang’ level. Some, even higher… Uncle White was a Godbeast of the ‘Whitewater Hound’ type, and he had to reach the Zifu level before he could take human form and speak in the human tongue. However, Ning and the Whitewater Hound were extremely close to each other, because after having been taught archery by his teacher, Blindfish, Ning would spend every morning with the Whitewater Hound at the forests outside the West Prefecture training in archery. Yichuan hadn’t been able to rest easy with his son going out by himself, which is why he asked the Xiantian lifeform, the ‘Whitewater Hound’, to help protect him. The power of a Xiantian level Godbeast was terrifying indeed! The Whitewater Hound was one of the reasons why Yichuan had such a high position and reputation in the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture. “Just watch.” Ning’s lips twisted into a smile. “Growl.” The Whitewater Hound let out a growl as well, then followed Yichuan and Snow to the narrow walkway. Soon, they arrived at the viewing platform. Ning let out a soft breath, calming himself down as he looked around him. “Why do I feel like I’m in the Coliseum?” Ning secretly murmured. “There’s a place for battle, and there’s a viewing platform.” He knew that generally speaking, only the important disciples of the clan would be permitted to engage in battle against monstrous beasts here, which is why the elders and family members of the clan would often come watch. “Hua….” “Hua…” “Hua…” The sound of chains clanking against each other could be heard from a distant tunnel. Ning couldn’t help but turn to look, and within that pitch black tunnel…he could faintly make out a low, angry growling 155 sound, a sound which actually shook the entire cage. Even the massive chain net above the cage was quivering with the noise. A massive, silver furred head slowly appeared from within the distant tunnel. “What is that?” Ning looked carefully. “Ning.” Yichuan said coldly from the viewing platform above the cage, “You train in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, so I specially selected an extremely powerful monstrous beast for you, one with the lineage of the Fiendgods: A Howling Moonwolf.” Ning’s eyes widened as he stared above at his father, a look of shock on his face. A beast that possessed the lineage of the Fiendgods? Then that would be a Godbeast, right? But it made sense; Godbeasts were a type of monstrous beast. In the vast world, there were still a good number of Houtian level Godbeasts that roamed about, such as the Armored Wurm, the Earthquake Rhino, the Howling Moonwolf, the Redclawed Goldenraven, the Thundersea Owl, or the Whitewater Hound. Generally speaking, out of every thousand Houtian level Godbeast, only one would be able to break through to the Xiantian lifeform level. “Hua…” The metal clanking sound continued. Ning didn’t lose his focus. He stared at the giant tunnel in the wall. He knew that they were probably removing the chains on the other side. Once the chains were removed, the Howling Moonwolf would be released. “Pengcheng!” The sound of metal chains hitting the floor. “Hoooooowl!” Instantly, a carefree wolf’s howl rang out. In the air above, Yichuan, his wife, and the Whitewater Hound stared carefully down below. Ning held his breath. From the distant tunnel, a massive creature slowly made its way out. Its entire body was covered with beautiful silver fur. It was over two meters tall, and its steps were graceful. It stared at the tiny little pipsqueak standing in the distance; a human male. As one of the special types of monstrous beasts, a Godbeast, the creature’s intelligence wasn’t lower than that of humans. It knew that there were only two possible outcomes after entering this cage. The first was to kill this human and continue to live. The other was to be killed by this human youth. “He picked a Godbeast for me the first time here.” Ning stretched out his right hand, and a sword appeared in it out of nowhere, gleaming with cold light. “Then let’s kill it.” 156 The Howling Moonwolf’s massive body weighed nearly ten thousand pounds, but its four legs moved with great agility as it closed the distance. Its long, narrow eyes inspected this human youth. Ning walked forward, one step at a time, with longsword in hand. The distance between the two quickly drew near. “Shua!” The Howling Moonwolf’s movements suddenly changed from being graceful to being savage, and it suddenly transformed into a blur as it pounced at Ning, and its previously soft paws suddenly had sharp claws emerge from it as well. Swoosh! At the critical moment, Ning suddenly moved, as graceful as the wind as he dodged the Howling Moonwolf’s pounce, and then stabbed out with the sharp sword in his hand! The stab was extremely forceful and straight, and it was also fast as lightning. If it managed to land on the Howling Moonwolf’s body, it would be able to borrow the charging force of the Moonwolf and tear its body open! “Huh?” As he stabbed, Ning’s face suddenly changed. The sword tip had met with a powerful blocking force. The Howling Moonwolf’s fur had blocked the tip of the sword, preventing it from penetrating through. At the same time, the Howling Moonwolf suddenly sent its tail whisking towards Ning. Unable to dodge in time, Ning quickly used his sword to block. Bang! The Moonwolf’s tail landed against the blade like a heavy iron whip, and the powerful force knocked Ning flying away, his body slamming against the distant blackwater iron wall with a boom. Bang! The thick wall trembled violently. “Roar!” The Howling Moonwolf immediately followed up with another pounce as it slashed at Ning with its claws. Ning quickly dodged with a flying leap. Chi! Chi! Chi! Several deep claw marks appeared on the blackwater iron wall. The Moonwolf landed on the ground, then stared at the distant human youth. Its tail attack was its killing weapon. Its tail had sent the human youth slamming into the wall, but the human youth had actually been able to quickly dodge far away. It understood that this human youth truly was very powerful, powerful enough to give him a good fight. “An ordinary Ninefang Warrior, upon meeting with that tail, would probably have their organs split open.” Ning frowned as he stared at the Howling Moonwolf. “It seems I’ll have to rely on the power of the Fiendgod Body Refining.” 157 These years, he had also engaged in Ki Refining and had reached mastery of the Houtian level. But his attacks with Houtian level Ki Refining techniques couldn’t even break through the fur. How could he use it to fight? “Hrmph!” Ning let out a deep growl, and from his nostrils came forth two streams of energy that were visible to the naked eye. The streams of energy were causing the air itself to shake. At that moment, the hidden, terrifying potential strength that was lying dormant in his body suddenly exploded forth, and the hidden Solar Strength and Lunar Strength exploded as well, and his entire body began to turn faintly red. With a slight movement of the sword in his hands, Ning shattered the air before him and carved a huge ditch into the thick earth. The distant Howling Moonwolf let out a low growl, staring fixedly at this youth. …. “The child has finally begun to use the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Snow laughed. “Before this, he was still trying to avoid doing so.” Yichuan nodded. “The Howling Moonwolves have the lineage of the Fiendgods. Their fur is incomparably tough, and ordinary Houtian experts aren’t able to break through it. I chose this creature on purpose…to force Ning to use all of his strength, and see how much of it he can use in a real, life-and-death battle.” “What do you think about the look on Ning’s face?” Yuchi Snow asked. “Average.” Ji Yichuan stared down. “He’s fairly calm.” …. Spinning the sword in his hand, Ning slowly walked towards the Howling Moonwolf, circling around it. The Moonwolf stared at Ning as well, choosing not to rashly attack. This was because once it attacked…it would expose its own flaws as well. That would the moment which determined life or death. “Hrmph.” Not hesitating at all, Ning suddenly charged forward after the Moonwolf, his body becoming a blur. With a howl, the Howling Moonwolf immediately pounced over as well, opening its massive maw and revealing its sharp fangs. Its sharp claws tore at Ning as well. Shua! A flash of the sword! The shadow of a sword slashed through the air, striking in a short range while changing trajectories nine times. Its speed was terrifyingly fast, so fast that it was as though even the void was being chopped apart with it. Chi chi chi chi chi. The flashing sword chopped at the Moonwolf’s chest, carving out a massive wound, and fresh blood instantly spurted out. “Block.” Just after Ning chopped out with one sword, he immediately turned his sword back and blocked the Howling Moonwolf’s claw, while simultaneously borrowing the clashing force to fly backwards and retreat. The Howling Moonwolf stared furiously at Ning. The massive wound on its chest was shrinking, and the flow of blood began to slow, but it still continued to drip blood. Clearly, that wound had simply been too massive. The Howling Moonwolf was now truly sensing the impending arrival of death! “The [Thunderflame Sword]’s technique, ‘Thunderflash Flint’, really is extraordinary. Ning sighed softly. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After having received two consummate sword techniques, Ning had been training hard, of course. He was now capable of utilizing the techniques of the [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword], and his power had increased. However, he had only learned a tiny bit, and he wasn’t even at the level of expertise, much less mastery. After all, even his father, Yichuan, was still pondering on the secrets of the [Raindrop Sutra]. Thunderflash Flint was one of the three killer moves of the [Thunderflame Sword]. It relied on a single word; fast! As fast as lightning! As swift as flame! “Ning’s swordplay and his footwork are both exquisite.” Snow said in praise from the viewing platform. “Although the Howling Moonwolf is as fast as a shadow, even faster than Ning, Ning has relied on the [Shadewind Steps] to constantly change directions. He’s in complete control of this battle. His swordplay has reached the ‘advanced’ level, and he can quickly make multiple changes in his movements. In dealing with that monstrous wolf…it can be said that his defense is airtight.” Yichuan nodded. “With the Fiendgod Body Refining, Ning’s great strength is his forte, while his speed is a bit weaker…but this is a Godbeast, after all. It has an extremely strong life force. A wound like this is just a skin wound to it. When it starts fighting all out, and with Ning never having experienced such a vicious life and death battle before, the results will be hard to predict.” …. Below, Ning had the feeling that everything was under control, and he continued to wield the sword in his hand as he drew near the Moonwolf. “Awoooooo!” Sensing the threat of death from this human youth, the Moonwolf gave a savage howl. All the fur on its body stood up straight as needles, and its eyes turned hard, its pupils flashing. Those who were familiar with Moonwolves could tell…that this one had already entered a wild, bestial state. A terrifying aura spread forth from it, causing Ning to pause. A killing aura? “Growl!” The Howling Moonwolf charged towards him, the earth shaking beneath it. Ning dodged as agilely as the wind, changing directions with a simple step. At the same time, his sword flashed. Chi! Fresh blood sprayed out once more, and yet another enormous wound appeared on the Moonwolf’s chest, but this time, the Moonwolf didn’t care at all as it sent its two pairs of ferocious paws towards Ning, its knife-like claws slashing through the air. Ning calmly retreated while at the same time, using his sword to block. “Ka!” The Moonwolf’s left paw slammed against the sharp sword, its paw seeming to have transformed into a hook which suddenly latched onto the sword. But how could Ning’s sword, infused with his Fiendgod Body Refining power, be so easily caught? If the two clashed and then immediately flew apart, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but the Moonwolf wanted to fight that power head on with his claws, and so it smashed it hard against the sword. Ka! The Moonwolf’s left paw clearly turned red with blood, and the faint sound of bones breaking could be heard. Hua! The other paw came at Ning’s chest. The distance was simply too close, and there was no chance to block. Ning’s only option was to take a deep breath, and his chest suddenly retracted in by three centimeters. Chi! Chi! Chi! The tough animal fur over Ning’s chest was ripped to tatters. Blood spouted everywhere, and Ning was knocked flying as well, striking against the ground and making the earth itself crack from the impact. Swoosh! Ning hurriedly pulled away. “Injured.” Ning looked at the Moonwolf, his eyes narrowing. Just then, the Moonwolf had actually chosen to use its paw to take his sword head on. The Howling Moonwolf didn’t care about what injuries upon itself were being inflected, as it was going all out. Its left paw was now half useless, and its speed had dropped dramatically as well. But the paw blow it had landed on Ning had torn through Ning’s beast skin clothes. The beast skin clothes were part of the fur from a Xiantian lifeform. Without any monstrous power infused into it, the defense would be a bit weaker, but generally speaking the fur from a Xiantian lifeform would be able to block the attacks of a Houtian monster. However, the Howling Moonwolf was a Godbeast. Its full strength attack was able to rip the fur apart. In order to further train himself…although Ning had the protection of the Goldstar Shirt and could use it to guard his entire body, Ning had shrank its defensive radius to only protect his most vulnerable areas. “A life-and-death battle is different from a spar. I can’t just use the experience I gained while sparring.” Ning quickly changed his calculations. “When sparring, nobody will engage in self-destructive behavior, but in a life-and-death battle…the goal is to kill the opponent. For the sake of this goal, any price is worth paying.” “I need to be more careful and more cautious.” Ning was like a sponge, quickly absorbing the learned experience. The fierce scar over his chest was visibly shrinking. The blood from it began to stop, and soon, it totally closed over, leaving behind a red line which then turned into white, clear skin. No lasting damage at all! This was the powerful regenerative power provided by Fiendgod Body Refining. Ordinary Fiendgod Body Refining techniques only required a person to reach the Xiantian level before being able to regrow severed limbs. But Ning trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, and his healing abilities were nearly on par with that sort of regeneration already. “Excellent!” Ning cracked his lips into a smile. “It actually took my sword away.” “Roaaaar.” The sword was stuck right beneath the Howling Moonwolf’s paw. It stared at Ning, its eyes filled with boundless bloodlust. The terrifying recuperative abilities of the human youth in front of it…it understood that this was a Fiendgod in human skin, with even greater healing abilities than Godbeasts. Ning waved his right hand, and yet another sharp sword appeared within it. “Come again.” Ning transformed into a shadow as he pounced towards the Moonwolf. “Roaaar!” The Howling Moonwolf charged forward as well. …… The two engaged each other time and time again, each time exchanging blows that nearly took the other’s life. Ning possessed powerful healing abilities and terrifying power, and a fierce sword attack style! But the Howling Moonwolf had its fangs, sharp claws, and tail, all of which it could use as weapons. In addition, its massive body was so large that most weapon wounds were of minimal threat to it. “So he’s only using the Goldstar Shirt to protect his vital points.” A rare smile appeared on Yichuan’s face. “Ning really is trying very hard.” Snow was growing nervous as she watched. Her son’s body was covered in bloodstains. As his mother, how could she not worry? “Don’t worry. Ning has still covered his body’s vital points with the Goldstar Shirt. Even if he is wounded, it won’t be life-threatening.” Yichuan said. “At most, he might lose an arm or a leg…but given his regenerative abilities, with a little bit of time, he’ll grow another one.” “Lose an arm or a leg?” Snow couldn’t help but grow frantic, but she knew how difficult the road to becoming an expert had to be. …. “Hu!” “Hu!” “Hu!” Although Ning had the body of a Fiendgod, right now, he couldn’t help but pant for breath. The fur clothes on his body was already ripped apart in many areas, and the wound on his body was rapidly closing. “Roaaaar.” The Moonwolf let out a despairing growl. It was forcing itself to stand erect, but its two paws were both quivering, as though it could collapse at any time. Its body was covered with dozens of giant wounds, and a particularly vicious pierce-wound was in its head. Both of its legs had been shattered. It was already quite an impressive feat for it to be able to remain standing. “You lose.” Ning wiped the blood from the corner of his eyes, then said in a quiet voice, “My power is actually greater than yours, but my victory was quite a difficult one…the reason is because when faced with your bloodlust and your wildness, I was unable to be calm and bring out my full power. You are the first monster that I have ever killed, and thus, I will let you die under my greatest attack!” Hua! A second sword appeared out of nowhere in Ning’s left hand. Holding the twin swords, he stared at the Moonwolf. Swoosh! Ning suddenly transformed into a blur as he threw himself at the Moonwolf. The Howling Moonwolf let out a final howl as it threw itself at Ning as well. Two massive flashes of light suddenly appeared, destroying one of the Moonwolf’s remaining good legs, and then, with another flash, a massive criss-cross wound appeared on the Howling Moonwolf’s head, sending blood and brain matter flying everywhere. Ning landed on the ground. The Howling Moonwolf collapsed on the ground, brain matter tumbling out of the massive wound on its head. Its fur was stained with the color of the earth, and its formerly beautiful silver fur had became a stained combination of mud and blood, unsightly to the extreme. A descendant of the Fiendgods of the wolf lineage had died! “How do you feel?” Yichuan looked down at his son. “I feel great.” Ning looked up at his father, his eyes filled with ardor. “Let’s do this once a day.” Yichuan’s eyelids twitched. He muttered, “Do you think capturing a peak Houtian level Godbeast is easy? Once every three days. And, most will be ordinary monstrous beasts. If you want to Godbeast, it’ll be a matter of luck. I’ll arrange for the most powerful monstrous beasts here in Dragon Castle to be reserved for your training.” Ning nodded. “If I meet some weaker monstrous beasts, I’ll just rely on my internal force only.” Given the power of a Fiendgod’s body, your ordinary peak Houtian monstrous beasts would be brutalized by brute force alone. This was why only Godbeasts with Fiendgod heritage in their blood could fight against Ning. …. Time passed by. Ning fought with one monstrous beast after another, and his sword technique and footwork grew more exquisite. At the same time, he learned how to better maintain his calm in life-and-death battles. If his heart was not calm…then his power wouldn’t be able to be displayed to perfection. …. Autumn had come. Swallow Mountain had become incomparably cold, and some weak tribes had their lives become even more difficult. Especially when they were met with the savage attacks of some monsters from deep in the mountains…some smaller tribes might be exterminated! Honghonghong…. The earth was shaking. Atop this barren, desolate wasteland, a large group of black armored riders were riding their long-furred beasts. They seemed like a black flood which was charging across these plains. “Halt.” A cold command. Three hundred powerful black armored riders instantly came to a halt. “Commander, this place is the location where that serpent monster appeared last. This is the territory of the Sharphorn Tribe. Three days ago, the monster suddenly charged at the Sharphorn Tribe and devoured eighteen people, then killed over a hundred. The Sharphorn Tribe was totally destroyed.” A black armored rider said respectfully. “This creature has been an impending disaster for months. It has killed over a thousand people and devastated over ten tribes. However, all of those tribes were small ones. Logically speaking, it should be a peak-stage Houtian level monster with the lineage of the Fiendgods, or perhaps a Diremonster who has newly reached the Xiantian level.” 164 “Hrm.” The bearded man who was riding a white tiger and wore red, fiery scale mail armor nodded. “This serpent monster has been causing wanton devastation within the area controlled by our Ji clan of the Western Prefecture. It deserves death. It has only appeared in this area…all of you, divide into thirty small units and begin searching. Once you find it, immediately fire the signal arrow.” “Yes.” The three hundred black armored riders acknowledged in unison. Hua… Soon, the three hundred mighty black armored riders divided into thirty small units which went searching in various directions. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Two days later. Within a forest with thick foliage, a large number of black armored riders were surrounding a serpent monster. “Roar…” This was a massive, blood-red serpent which glowed with silver light around its torso. Around its torso, it had two pairs of sinuous claws with four toes, and a pair of terrifying red serpentine eyes. However, right now, the giant snake had been totally covered by a giant net. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn’t break loose. “Hahaha.” The bearded man in red armor laughed loudly. “Stupid snake. You were caught alive by us so easily. You, go tie it up.” “Yes.” Instantly, several dozen black armored knights cast one black chain after another, sending them flying towards the giant snake, quickly binding it up. The red serpent was tied up to securely that no matter how it contorted itself, it wasn’t able to do anything. Soon, it had been completely wrapped up by metal chains and bound so securely it couldn’t even open its mouth. “Commander, where does this giant snake come from? Why does it have two claws?” A nearby black armored rider was curious. No matter how long he had been pondering, he couldn’t discern what type of Godbeast this was. The bearded man laughed. “Serpent-type creatures are often intermingled in blood. I myself have seen over a hundred serpents with Fiendgod blood. Only, some bloodlines are very pure and therefore become famous and are named. A sort of mongrel mutant Godbeast like this has no name at all.” “The young master needs some powerful Houtian level monstrous beasts to practice his sword on. This serpent monster would be a good choice.” The bearded man weighed the snake with his gaze, then nodded in satisfaction. “Take it back.” “Yes.” The black armored riders acknowledged respectfully. The commander of this regiment was a Xiantian-level lifeform belonging to the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture – the number one expert archer, Blindfish! Blindfish was still one of young master Ning’s instructors, and without question in the Ji clan, he stood on the side of Ji Young and Ji Yichuan. In addition, Blindfish was quite proud of having taught Ning. The story of how young master Ning would use monstrous beasts to train his swordplay had spread quite some time ago. After all, for him to kill one every three days resulted in a large number of monstrous beasts being killed. These beasts were almost all brought back by the black armored riders, and so the news had quickly spread amongst the army. “Young master Ning reached the peak of the Houtian stage long ago, and his swordplay is at the advanced level of ‘one with the sword’. In addition, he is training in the most powerful sword technique of our Ji clan. Killing a peak Houtian monster should be a simple thing.” “Supposedly, he’s even killed a Houtian level Godbeast.” “Think about who young master Ning is. He definitely has an extremely sharp, unblockable precious weapon. With a weapon like this, relying on his ‘advanced’ level sword techniques…killing a peak Houtian level Godbeast isn’t too hard.” The legends that were circulating amongst the soldiers of the West Prefecture were quite vivid and fanciful. Even the other powerful member of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, Ji Lee, believed that the little fellow Ning was only able to kill a Godbeast because he had some sort of precious weapon. Dragon Castle. The cage. A powerfully built monstrous beast with black spots was lying on the ground. The thick fur on his body had been split open in many places, and blood from those massive wounds stained the ground. Ning was still standing there, frowning as he was thinking. The sharp sword in his hand disappeared into thin air. When fighting with most peak Houtian monsters, he only used his internal energy, and the weapons he used were only fairly decent weapons which couldn’t be described as ‘precious’. After all, he was already so physically strong that using a precious weapon on top of that would make the training pointless. “Ji Ning!” A voice from above. Ning couldn’t help but look up at his father, Yichuan, who was on the viewing platform. This made Ning quite surprised. “Father, why have you come?” Because he fought every three days here in the Dragon Castle, aside from that first fight with the Howling Moonwolf, the subsequent dozens of battles, his father had not attended… “I wanted to see how your swordplay was progressing.” Yichuan said. “Have you reached ‘initiation’ yet?” 167 “Not yet.” Ning shook his head. “I haven’t gained expertise in any of the many attacks contained within the [Raindrop Sutra] or the [Thunderflame Sword].” The [Raindrop Sutra] had a total of nine attack techniques. The [Thunderflame Sword] had a total of three attack techniques. These attack techniques were all very special…if one could train in them to a high level, one would feel as though one had become ‘one with the world’ and be able to use the power of the world itself. This was what was known as ‘initiation’. But this didn’t actually symbolize that a person had reached the third level of swordplay, ‘one with the world’, because the true ‘one with the world’ level of swordplay was when one could use any sword attack, be it as something as simple as a stab, a chop, or a scrape, and utilize the power of the world itself with the attack. Only then would one be at the ‘one with the world’ level! Initiation only meant that one could temporarily reach the ‘one with the world’ effect when using certain techniques. According to what his father had said… Upon reaching ‘initiation’, one would have reached a certain level of expertise in a technique. When one reached the ‘one with the world’ level, that means one had mastered a technique. According to legends… There was an even higher, more profound level above the ‘one with the world’ level. The [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword] techniques were developed by people who were beyond the ‘one with the world’ level. “There is no need for you to be so continuously hard working while training in the sword.” Yichuan said. “Today, take Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf and go for a stroll.” Ning nodded. “Yes, father.” Ning turned his head and left through that narrow tunnel. As for the corpse of the dead monstrous beast, someone would come collect it later. ….. West Prefecture City had hundreds of thousands of citizens. It was a large city. “Young master, it’s been so long since we’ve gone for a stroll.” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, his two female servants, were clearly very happy as they followed by his side. Ning smiled as he walked on the streets. This was one of the most bustling streets in the entire West Prefecture City. Generally speaking, all the merchants would pass by this street. The street was normally ten meters wide, but there were so many merchant stalls on each side that nearly half the space was taken up, causing there to only be seven meters of walking space left. “Look at this woman. Look at her ample chest, her large buttocks. She can definitely birth many babies. Ten lambskins for her!” “These men are all fine warriors. They can all lift over a thousand pounds. Just five ingots of gold. If you buy one, we’ll throw in a kid as well.” A bald man dressed in beast furs was shouting at the top of his lungs. He had several dozen fur-clad warriors standing guard around him, while he also had many slaves dressed in dirty, tattered fur pelts. All of them stared pitifully around them, hoping that they would meet a kind master who would buy them. There were signs on their heads. These signs signified that they were for sale. …. They strolled and looked around. There were slave traders, beast fur traders, weapon traders, beast traders, monstrous beast traders…all sorts of people were here. There were even some precious books, precious weapons, poisons and herbs, secret technique manuals, and other things for sale. “Over a hundred warriors in our tribe died for us to acquire this precious weapon, and then we had to make our way back through the wilderness and encounter countless difficulties before we arrived at the West Prefecture City. We weren’t even willing to sell it for thirty beastheads of gold, but you want to try and buy it for ten? That’s too little. At least a hundred beastheads of gold!” A rough-voiced man was shouting from nearby. Ning glanced over in curiosity. He saw around dozens of people in a circle surrounding three strong men wearing pitch-black furs, one of whom had a black snake coiled around his arm. The man continued: “A hundred beastheads of gold, whoever pays a hundred beastheads can take it away!” “How greedy.” “He actually dares to demand a hundred beastheads of gold.” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf both murmured. Ning was surprised as well. A beasthead of gold was around ten pounds. A hundred beastheads meant a thousand pounds of gold. Although to the young master of the Ji clan, it was nothing, to an ordinary tribesman, it was a vast fortune.” “No matter how sharp it is, it’s just a weapon.” “It isn’t as though it is some perfect magic treasure. It’s just a damaged magic treasure that can be used as a weapon.” “Twenty beastheads. I’ll pay twenty beastheads at most. You want to sell, and I want to buy!” Someone made an offer. “A hundred beastheads.” The man didn’t budge at all. The two men by his side watched the crowd carefully, afraid that someone might try to seize their treasure. For the sake of this treasure, many people in their tribe had died, and as they made their way from the tribe to the city through the desolate wilderness, dozens more warriors had died. They had to sell this treasure for a high price. After selling it, they would be able to buy some slaves and some good weapons, so as to allow the tribe to increase its power. “Let me take a look.” Ning saw the precious weapon which the man was clutching and immediately stepped forward. The people nearby all turned to look at him. “Young master.” “Young master.” “This is the young master of the Ji clan? The son of the Raindrop Sword?” Many people stepped back modestly. Anyone capable of paying such a high price was an extraordinary person. In addition, in the past few years, Ning had gone every day with the Whitewater Hound outside the city to train in archery. Each time they left the city, many people saw and recognized him as the exalted young master of the Ji clan. The other people who didn’t recognize him, upon hearing others discuss him, were made aware as well. When the man with the black snake saw everyone else step back, then heard the words ‘young master of the Ji clan’ and ‘son of the Raindrop Sword’, he was instantly so frightened that his heart began to shake. As people who lived on the territory of the Ji clan, they all knew the legendary Raindrop Sword. This was the number one expert in the entire area around the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, a godlike presence. And the person in front of him was the only child of the Raindrop Sword? “Let me take a look.” Ning said. “Honored young master, please look.” The man respectfully offered the sword in both hands. The two men behind him both felt extremely nervous. They were afraid that this young master who had an extremely high and exalted status would simply take their treasure by force. In the tribes, for a powerful person or person with high status to seize treasures by force was quite common. Although it was forbidden in the West Prefecture City and nobody dared to challenge the laws of the Ji clan, the young man in front of them was a young master of the Ji clan, the only son of the Raindrop Sword! Ning accepted the sword, and his hands sank down slightly from the weight. This was a pitch-black sword. The thick black sheath seemed very plain and unadorned, but if one looked at it closely, one would find that this scabbard actually had three swords sheathed within it. “One scabbard, three swords?” Surprised, Ning pulled out the swords. Clang! While pulling out the three swords, a cold light flashed on the surface of the swords, and ancient, shattered runes glowed dimly. “What a pity.” Ning shook his head and sighed. He had seen many treasures in the prefecture. Seeing those mysterious runes and the power they emanated, he knew that this was previously a magic treasure. It should have been three flying swords which were controlled by a Immortal practitioner. But these runes were all but destroyed. Clearly, this magic treasure was badly damaged. It could only be used as a weapon now.” “Chi.” Ning tested his finger against the blade of the sword. “Careful. It is very sharp.” The man with the serpent called out in alarm. This precious weapon could cut through stones like tofu.” Ning felt the skin of his fingertips shake slightly. He couldn’t help but feel surprise. “I have the Goldstar Shirt protecting my body, which is currently spread to every inch of my skin. Just then, when I casually sliced my finger…it actually impacted the Goldstar Shirt. If I were to swing the sword down hard, it probably would have broken through the Goldstar Shirt’s defense. I walk through the city streets every day on my way to archery training and have seen countless weapons, but I’ve never seen such a sharp, precious weapon.” Others only sensed that this weapon was very sharp, but they didn’t know exactly how sharp it was. But Ning had the feeling…that even his Goldstar Shirt would find it hard to block this precious weapon. “I want this weapon.” Ning looked at the man with the snake. The man was both excited and nervous. He hurriedly said, “Young master, for the sake of this weapon, our tribe…” In front of this young man of exalted status, he was nervous and didn’t dare to demand a certain price. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Mm.” With a flip of his hand, a piece of blue-tinged gold appeared in Ning’s palm. He tossed it directly towards the man with the black serpent. “Take it.” “Just this little tiny piece of gold?” The man with the black serpent and the two behind him were frantic. They stared at that tiny bit of blue-tinged gold, just the size of a finger. “And it isn’t even pure?” “Young master.” “Respected young master.” The three men began to call out and beg. How could they possibly return to the tribes with this? The other tribal warriors were outside the city waiting. None of them were willing to enter the city…because the cost of entering the city was a lambskin or some other equivalent value item. “You pack of idiots. That is thundergold!” “I’m willing to pay a hundred beastheads of gold for that piece of thundergold.” “Just a hundred beastheads? A piece of thundergold of that size, I’d pay 160 beastheads! I can send someone to bring the beastheads of gold right now!” Instantly, the nearby people began to make offers. All of them were people of some status in the West Prefecture City, or came from the clans with Xiantian lifeforms in them, or perhaps belonged to the powerful tribes that were located close to the West Prefecture. How excellent their judgment must therefore be! The man with the black snake hurriedly clutched the piece of thundergold. He clearly felt that the weight of this item was far beyond that of normal yellow gold. He exchanged glances with his two friends, both shocked and overjoyed. “Thank you, young master.” “Thank you, mighty young master.” The three men instantly thanked him, filled with gratitude. “Now you thank him? The Raindrop Sword is a major figure whose fame is known everywhere. Think about what sort of status his son has. How could he possibly take your weapon by force? Just the tiniest portion of his fortune that he could casually toss out would astonish you.” A fat, fur-clad old man next to them said in a loud voice. Clearly, these words were intentionally said for the not too distant Ning to hear. Ning chuckled, and then casually made the sheath with the three swords disappear into his kalestone. Because the space inside the kalestone was limited, thus Ning only carried a few beastheads of gold with him. Everything else he had was all precious treasures. ….. Within the hall. Ji Yichuan was seated at the master’s seat, while Yuchi Snow sat on his left. The two were slowly eating the food on the table in front of them. Swoosh! A human figure rushed in. It was Ning, who had finished his stroll. “Father, mother.” Ning said hurriedly. Yichuan frowned. “Why didn’t you pay attention to the time when you were taking a stroll outside?” Ning obediently didn’t dare to make a sound, hurriedly running to his usual spot, sitting on his knees and beginning to eat. Their lunch was rather sumptuous, with all sorts of meats, bread, and wine on the table. Ning’s current appetite was simply voracious, and virtually all of the food and beverages on the table were devoured by Ning in a short period of time. Snow laughed as she watched her son tear through the food like a tornado. “Father, mother.” Ning suddenly thought of the sheath and three swords he had purchased today. He hurriedly said, “Today, while taking the walk, I ran into three tribal warriors. They should have come from a distant, impoverished place to the Western Prefecture City. They came for the purpose of selling a precious weapon. And I…decided to buy it.” “Precious weapon?” The seated Yichuan frowned. “In the treasure warehouse of our Ji clan here in the West Prefecture, we have plenty of precious weapons. In the past, didn’t you already select two precious weapons? How can those lowly peddlers in the city possibly have anything good.” Because Ning had yet to read the Xiantian level in Ki Refining, he naturally couldn’t control any magic treasures yet, which is why he went to the treasure warehouse to pick out two precious swords. But of course, when training in the cage, he only used ordinary weapons. “Father, the two precious weapons I selected in the warehouse are far inferior to this one I just bought.” Ning said seriously. “Oh?” Yichuan looked at his son. “Actually, the precious weapon I bought is a damaged sword-type magic treasure.” Ning explained. “There are occult runes carved onto it, but they are totally damaged. Therefore, it can only be used as a fairly sharp precious weapon. However, it really is sharp, far more so than the previous precious weapons in my residence. If I use some force, I can pierce through the Goldstar Shirt.” “Pierce through the Goldstar Shirt?” Yichuan revealed a hint of surprise. “Let me take a look.” Ning stretched his hand out, and that simple, unadorned sheath and three swords appeared within it. Standing up, he walked it over to his father. Yichuan accepted it and took a close look at the sheath, then pulled out the three swords. “The magic runes on the swords are totally destroyed, but it feels as though…this is indeed a flying sword magic treasure! Unfortunately, it’s a damaged magic treasure. Most damaged magic treasures aren’t worth much. At most, they might be sold to be broken down into some other materials.” Ning nodded. He had read many books, and knew that damaged magic treasures were not worth much, because the material components of magic treasures had already undergone various fusing techniques, making it so that even if one broke down the magic treasure, one wouldn’t be able to get many of the original components back. “Chi!” Yichuan stroked the tip of the sword with his finger, and a hint of blood appeared on his fingertip. A look of shock appeared on his face. “What a sharp sword. Without any energy infused into it, the sword is still so incredibly sharp. I’ve never seen such a thing. Snow, come take a look. Can you tell where it comes from?” Yuchi Snow accepted it and carefully looked it over, then slowly shook her head after a long time. “I can’t tell.” “Mother, if this magic flying sword treasure wasn’t damaged, would it be a ‘ranked’ treasure?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Of course it would be a ‘ranked’ treasure.” Snow nodded. “Even though it is damaged, the sharpness of this sword is still on par with some ‘unranked’ magic treasures. When it was undamaged…of course it was a ‘ranked’ treasure. Only, exactly what rank it was at, I can’t tell at all. Perhaps no one in the entire area around Swallow Mountain can tell.” Ning nodded. He understood this. Generally speaking, the magic treasures owned by a Xiantian level Ki Refiner was ‘unranked’. Only Zifu Disciples and above would have ‘ranked’ magic treasures. Forging magic treasures…that was even harder. There was nobody in the entire Swallow Mountain area who was known to be able to forge magic 175 treasures. Perhaps only in those distant, incomparably powerful tribes would there be an expert capable of forging magic treasures. “The Grand Xia Dynasty has persisted from the Fiendgod Era until now.” Yichuan returned the sheath and the three swords to his son. “It rules over countless territories, with a history of trillions of years. Who knows how many tribes have risen, fallen, or been exterminated, and how many treasures they have left behind. It isn’t rare to see some magic treasures left over from wars, and our Ji clan has hundreds of damaged magic treasures as well, most of which are of unknown origin. But for this damaged magic treasure to still be so incredibly sharp is quite rare. It is very suited for your use.” Snow then added, “Ning, in the future, when you reach the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner and infuse your life energy into an ‘unranked’ magic treasure…its power still might be inferior to these swords!” Ning nodded. Magic treasures could be unfathomably profound. Generally speaking, when Ki Refiners used magic treasures, they were capable of thousands of bizarre powers. But for Fiendgod Body Refiners…they still specialized in close combat. They had a virtually indestructible body, great strength, speed, and regenerative abilities, which is why even when using magic treasures, Fiendgod Body Refiners would generally use weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and what not. “This sheath and its three sword will still be useful to me, even after I become a Xiantian lifeform.” Ning felt delighted. He pondered, “Since it will most likely be with me for a long time, I need to give it a name…Hrm. I’ll call it the ‘Darknorth sword!’” There was a reason why Ning had suddenly thought of ‘Darknorth’. In the past, when his father, Ji Yichuan, had left Swallow Mountain and roamed in the boundless wide world, he had even gone to the north, to the unending ocean. That massive sea was named as the ‘Dark North Sea’. Within the Dark North Sea, there were many islands. Ji Yichuan had floated from one island to another, and that’s where he had met Yuchi Snow. They became travel companions, and then after experiencing life and death battles, fell in love with each other, then Snow became pregnant. Because of the pregnancy…they finally left the dangerous Dark North Sea and returned to Swallow Mountain. Mid-journey, however, they had run into a dangerous situation and Yuchi Snow had suffered a serious wound. This is why they had said that ‘Ning suffered an injury in the womb’. At that critical time, the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’, had carried Snow on his back and fled. This was why Yichuan often said that Uncle White had once saved Ning. His parents had met, fell in love, then conceived him in the Dark North Sea. The phrase, ‘Darknorth’, thus had a special meaning to Ning. “Father. Mother.” Ning said seriously. “I have given a name to this sheath and its three swords. Its name will be the Darknorth swords!” …… At the same time Ning acquired the Darknorth swords. In an area within Swallow Mountain known as Serpentwing Lake…. Serpentwing Lake was a massive lake, nearly a hundred kilometers long, so large that one wouldn’t be able to see the end of it. As the saying goes, deep mountains and massive lakes always have monsters within. These words were not false! This massive, mysterious lake, without question, has Diremonsters within it, and countless numbers of lesser monsters. The name of the Diremonster within this lake was Serpentwing. It was an ancient monster, over a thousand years old, and possessed outlandishly strong power. It was born capable of flight, and it could control both water and poison. It was a very ferocious, awe-inspiring Diremonster. Deep in the center of the lake, there was a small island. This was the lair of Serpentwing. “Boom…” A giant black coiled serpent, hundreds of meters long. Its two massive scaled wings were spread so wide, it seemed to encompass the skies. Its scarlet eyes were focused on a group of quivering monstrous beasts. A cold aura surrounded the place, and a layer of frost was on the ground. The densely clustered lesser monsters were all on their knees or on their faces, all of them quivering. Over a hundred monstrous beasts lay fallen on the ground, their bodies covered with frost. They had been frozen solid. “Boom…” The furious Serpentwing let out an enraged roar. Those lesser monsters consisted of all sorts of serpent, crab, and fish-type monsters. They all growled softly in reply. Clearly, they were all incomparably terrified. “ROAR!” Serpentwing snarled coldly. Huahuahua…. All the monsters retreated at high speed, as though relieved of a heavy burden. Many of the monsters left the island and entered the depths of the lake, while a portion of them took up defensive positions in various places around the island. “Shua.” The giant black snake suddenly transformed into mist, and then it reformed into a black-clothed man. “I, Serpentwing, had ninety two sons!” The black-clothed man ground his teeth. “While they grew up, the majority died, and only sixteen survived! And only one of them has the lineage of the Fiendgods…my most beloved son, Redtip!” Snakes were lascivious by nature. Although he himself did not have the lineage of the Fiendgods, he had copulated with many Houtian monsters, some of whom included Houtian stage Godbeasts. To an ancient monster who had trained for over a thousand years…it was fairly easy for him to meet and engage with some Houtian level Godbeasts. But Godbeasts rarely got pregnant, and thus only a single one of his children had the lineage of the Fiendgods. That one was Redtip. His most beloved child. He was certain that so long as Redtip could become a Xiantian lifeform, he would definitely possess enormous power and limitless prospects. “Redtip, I told you long ago not to go out before reaching the Xiantian level. Although humans are delicious, if you eat too many of them, the Ji clan would come and deal with you.” The black-robed man growled, filled with misery. His pride and his joy, his son Redtip, had snuck out and discovered that the taste of human flesh was far better than that of other monstrous beasts. Human flesh truly was delicious. And thus, Redtip had gone behind his father’s back and snuck out time and time again to engage in slaughter. “My child. I have to bring you back.” The black-clothed man instantly transformed back into the enormous winged serpent form. His massive body floated into the air, and then he transformed into a black shadow, streaking across the sky and disappearing into the clouds. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In a connected area surrounded by large, tall fences. These fences were six meters tall and linked together tightly. Beast swarms definitely wouldn’t be able to charge inside past them. Within the massive wooden fences, there were stone houses, wooden houses, and large numbers of fur-clad men, women, children, and elderly people living their lives here. This was a very ordinary tribe with several thousand tribesmen. “My child was captured within these few dozen kilometers!” The black-robed man walked within a mountain forest, heading towards the massive tribal gate. “And this is the tribe nearest the place he was taken from.” “Halt.” “Halt.” The main gate to the tribe was shut, and on each side there were two archer towers. Each archer tower had five powerful, beast-clad warriors within. All of them had their bows drawn and nocked, and they aimed at the distant, black-clothed man who was drawing near. “Outsider, state your intentions.” A warrior atop the archer tower said angrily. The black-robed man glanced at him sideways, as though looking at an ant. His footsteps didn’t stop, and he continued towards the gate. The ten warriors on the archer tower all grew angry… “Kill him!” Instantly, ten greatbows shot out at the same time! Beng! Beng! Beng! One arrow after another screamed through the air at the black-clothed man, each of them containing enough force to shatter boulders or make large trees collapse. But when these ten arrows drew near the black-clothed men, they all went, zizizi…. The shafts of the arrows cracked, then disintegrated. The man continued to walk forward. “Not good.” The ten warriors on the archer tower were alarmed, and one of them grabbed his oxhorn and gave it a mighty blow! “Wu, wu, wu!” The deep sound from the horn was powerful and penetrative. It quickly spread to the entire tribe, and the men, women, children, and elders of the tribe all grabbed their weapons while 179 assembling. In order to survive in this world…men, women, children, and elders all had to act as battlehardened warriors. When the tribesmen assembled and began to roar and charge towards the door…. Shua! That incomparably thick black ironwood gate suddenly exploded, transforming into countless pieces of splinters that flew away. Every single splinter was more terrifying than the arrows of the tribe’s archers, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of warriors located close to the door all died or were maimed. Blood stained the ground, but the warriors weren’t afraid at all. Instead, they charged forward with even more furious howls. “Hold!” A shout rang out. A white haired old man dressed in beast fur transformed into a blur as he charged towards the empty ground in front of the door. The enraged tribal warriors came to a halt as they looked at the white-haired old man who wore a grey beast pelt. This old man was the leader of the tribe. “Mighty hero, might I ask, what can our Goldblade Tribe do to assist you?” The white-haired old man bowed respectfully. Someone capable of shattering their gate just through releasing his internal energy was, without a question, a Xiantian lifeform, and Xiantian lifeforms, even amongst the local hegemon, the Ji clan, were people with extremely exalted statuses. At this moment, the black-clothed man leisurely strolled in. “I ask you.” The black-clothed man looked at the white-haired elder. “Have there been any serpent monsters in the area recently?” “Serpent monsters?” The white-haired old man paused, then hurriedly nodded. “There are. Recently, a serpent monster appeared, and many small tribes were devastated by it. The week following that, the tribes sent the news to the Ji clan…and the Ji clan sent their black armored riders to resolve with that calamitous snake monster.” The black-clothed man’s narrow eyes flashed with cold light. So it was indeed the Ji clan! The Ji clan was a powerful organization in this area. Even an ancient monster like him didn’t want to go bother it. He had previously guessed that it must have been the Ji clan which had captured his son Redtip, and now it seemed this was indeed the case. “Killed or captured?” The black-clothed man continued to ask. “Taken alive.” The white-haired old man said. “The Ji clan sent their black armored riders, who captured the snake monster alive, then went back. Most likely, it is currently in West Prefecture City!” “West Prefecture City?” The black-clothed man’s eyes had a hint of fire hidden within them. The fire of rage. West Prefecture City, to Diremonsters, was the most dangerous place possible. That was where the experts of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture gathered! Diremonsters didn’t dare go there. If his child was there…the chance of him being able to rescue his child and bring him back was very, very low. “Human.” The black-clothed man looked at the white-haired elder. His voice was cold. “Do you know who I am?” When the white-haired elder heard himself be addressed as ‘human’, his face instantly changed. Monster! And it was a terrifying Diremonster who could take human form! “Huhuhu…” The temperature suddenly dropped, and a vast layer of frost began to appear. Even plumes of snow began to drift down. The terrifying low temperature began to spread, and the surrounding tribal warriors quickly were frozen into ice, then shattered into small pieces. “Quick, leave!” The white-haired old man’s hair and eyebrows had a layer of ice form over them, and the tribesmen behind him roared, “A Diremonster! Flee, flee!” “Quick.” “Flee.” All of the tribesmen gritted their teeth, enduring their pain and rage as they began to flee. Many other tribal warriors shouted heroically as they charged towards the black-clothed man like maddened demons, but when they got near him…the layer of frost on their bodies grew thicker, and then they quickly turned into ice statues. The old man’s internal energy was valiantly fighting. He howled out stutteringly, “You dare provoke the mighty Ji clan?” “Provoke?” The black-clothed man’s pitch-black long hair fluttered in the air. His eyes flashed with a scarlet red light. “The snake monster was my child, my most beloved child. I’m not only going to provoke them, I’m also going to break into the West Prefecture City!” “Roaaaar!” 181 A world-shaking furious howl. The black-clothed man transformed into a coiled serpent, an enormous black serpent which howevered in mid-air. The enormous scaled wings of the coiled serpent fully extended, like a massive net which blocked the sun off from the tribesmen. The tribesmen who had scattered in each direction raised their head and saw this terrifying sight, and all of them were filled with utter terror. “It’s Serpentwing!” “It’s the Diremonster of Serpentwing Lake!” Not a single tribal warrior now had the thought of fighting back. Ever since they were born, they had heard the ancient legends of the ‘Diremonster of Serpentwing Lake’. They knew how terrifying Serpentwing was. There was no way their Goldblade Clan could fight against this sort of terrifying Diremonster! “All die!” “All of you must die!” The enormous Serpentwing enveloped the area below with its massive wings, bloodlust in its scarlet red eyes. It suddenly opened its massive maw and breathed. Huuuuuu. An endless, freezing black wind arose, so strong that even a layer of the ground was stripped off, and some stone houses collapsed. The large amount of black wind quickly surrounded the entire area for nearly ten kilometers around. “Cough, cough.” The tribesmen all held their throats, their bodies quickly turning pitch black. “No.” A woman held her child, tears running down her face like a river. “Diremonster, the Ji clan will definitely avenge us!” A powerful warrior who had reached the peak of power in internal energy stopped his own breathing, but the poisonous gas stilled penetrated through his skin. In the last moment of his life, all he could do was let out this bitter shout. Soon…. The territory of the Goldblade Tribe turned into a desolate, silent wasteland. Not a hint of life or sound. All of the tribesmen of the Goldblade Tribe had been turned to ice statues, shattered into pieces, or poisoned to death. The entire area for ten kilometers around…had turned into a charnel house. Even poisonous bug-type creatures had been poisoned to death. The enormous Serpentwing gently flapped its wings as it stared below. After sensing that all life was gone, it casually flew away at high speed, disappearing into the sky. ….. Night descended. A cold wind blew drearily. The distant, massive West Prefecture City stretched off into the distance. “Swoosh!” A black shadow easily flashed past the walls, avoiding the patrolling black armored riders and stealthily entering the city. “My child, where are you?” The black-clothed man began to search within West Prefecture City. This was the first time the Diremonster, Serpentwing, had entered West Prefecture City. After investigating for a long time, he discovered, to his pain, “Monsters that are taken alive are all delivered to the inner city. And the inner city is the place where the Ji clan lives. It is guarded very tightly. There are many Xiantian lifeforms living there…there is no way I can sneak in.” Sneaking into West Prefecture City was fairly easy. Sneaking into the inner city? That was the place where the clan members of the Ji clan lived. How exceedingly tight did the security of such a place have to be? “Hu!” A moment later. In the air above the West Prefecture City, Serpentwing flew high into the sky while at the same time, using its natural-born ability to control water, it quickly created a large amount of fog and clouds with the moisture in the air. The fog surrounded the nearby area, and he secretly stared down below from the skies, carefully watching every single place. Past midnight. Ning was by himself in Dragon Castle. Today was the day for his once every three days cage battle. “Young master.” “Young master.” The black armored riders and some servants of Dragon castle were all extremely respectful to him. Ning’s father was the number one expert of the Ji clan! And Ning himself was extremely talented, so many people had already begun to believe…Ning would be the next Prefecture Lord. One could imagine how exalted his status was. “Prepare the most formidable monster.” Ning laughed and called out. “Recently, we had a powerful monster delivered here. It was brought to us by Commander Blindfish. It has the lineage of the Fiendgods.” A one-armed old man called out loudly. “A monster with Fiendgod lineage?” Ning revealed a hint of delight on his face. “Excellent. Today I’ll be able to have a fun fight then. Quick, arrange for it to be sent to the cage.” “Alright.” The one-armed old man went to make the arrangements. Dragon Castle was divided into the cage and the beast tunnels. Naturally, the beast tunnels was where the monsters lived, all of which were kept in captivity here. “Roaaar!” The massive red serpent wrapped up in chains, upon seeing the human in the massive cage outside, let out a deep, angry growl. “Keep shouting.” The one-armed old man sneered coldly. “You ate so many humans. Today is the day of your death. Go. Open the door, and then release the chains…let it enter the cage.” “Yes.” The servants who had been installed here for the purposes of taking care of the monsters went to make the arrangements. “Rumble.” After opening the gate between the cage and the beast tunnels, a faint, glimmering light could be seen from afar. The giant red snake instantly looked over and began to let out a growling sound. “Release the chains.” The one-armed elder ordered. “Clank.” “Clank.” One chain after another was released. Feeling the layers of chains on its body quickly loosen, the giant red snake couldn’t help but begin to wriggle, making the chains rattle against each other. After the last one was released…with a clanking sound, the entire chain apparatus fell to the floor with a loud sound. The giant red snake stared coldly at the one-armed elder, and then slithered its way at high speed out of the tunnel towards the place which had just been opened to it. It quickly arrived in the cage outside. Within the enormous cage… 184 A red-lipped, white-toothed, fur-clad young man was staring at it from afar. The giant red snake’s saliva instantly began to drool out. Given the extensive man-eating experience it had, it had the sudden knowledge…that this sort of human youngster’s flesh was definitely the most tender and most delicious of them all. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning stared at the distant giant red snake and he softly murmured, “The entire body is blood red, but the scales around the chest are bright silver, and a pair of red eyes…oh, and it has two claws as well?” “Slitherslitherslither…” The giant red snake slowly began to move. Its enormous serpentine head raised high as it stared at Ning. Its natural-born arrogance caused it to hold the human youth in front of it in no regard at all. According to its experience, those people in the tribes like this youth were all very weak. Even though this was the lair of the Ji clan, this sort of youth shouldn’t be that strong. Ning let out a light harrumph. The air in his chest came out as he breathed, shaping into two streams of energy that were visible to the naked eye. His entire body turned slightly red, and a powerful aura began to emanate from him. The distant giant red snake was startled. He could suddenly sense this young man in front of him had a terrifying aura that was no weaker than its own. “Recently, I haven’t had a lot of practice with the [Raindrop Sutra]. I’ll use you to train it.” Ning suddenly moved forward by several dozen meters, the sharp sword in his hand stabbing out at the giant scarlet snake at lightning speed. The giant scarlet snake sent its two massive sharp claws at its thorax directly towards Ning in an arcing slash. “Shua! Shua! Shua!” Sword flashing hundreds of times like a fog of light, one stab after another was delivered towards the giant red snake. The giant red snake only dodged three sword attacks aimed at its vitals, taking the rest of the attacks head on. Only a few white spots appeared on its scales. This caused the giant red snake to unconsciously underestimate the strength of this young human by a bit. “Wu…..” A strange rumble sound. It was the sound of Ning’s sharp sword slashing through the air, instantly slashing towards the giant red snake’s chest, suddenly creating a two meter long massive wound. The scales split open, and the muscles beneath were torn apart, and fresh red blood instantly spewed out. “Roaaar!” The giant red snake was instantly shocked. How was it that the youth in front of him had suddenly become so powerful? ….. Ning was no longer the callow youth who had battled against the Howling Moonwolf. His constant battles against monstrous beasts had given him much experience. Right now, he was actually only using half of 186 his strength, but because the [Shadewind Steps] and the [Raindrop Sutra] all were quite exquisite in the application of force, he still wasn’t at any disadvantage. First, Ning utilized a chain of attacks, ‘Drizzling Rain’, but against this giant red snake, it proved useless. Then, Ning used the vicious, powerful killing attack, ‘Rain Line’, which was the technique Ning used to leave that massive, large wound on the giant red snake. Next, Ning used the penetrating ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’ attack. Following that, Ning blocked the wild attacks of the giant red snake by using the technique, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’. The [Raindrop Sutra] had a total of nine stances. These stances were, ‘Drizzling Rain’, ‘Tempest Curtain’, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, ‘Watertight’, ‘Rain Line’, ‘Eternally Fresh Waterflow’, ‘Merciless Waterflow’, and ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’! Some were attack stances, some were defensive stances. Even the attack stances, however, included defensive components. The profoundness of this technique constantly caused Ning to sigh in amazement and be mesmerized. After all, he hadn’t even reached the level of ‘expertise’ in this technique, and although his own father, Yichuan, had reached the level of ‘mastery’ long ago, his father was still studying the [Raindrop Sutra], because the more one reflected on the [Raindrop Sutra], the more one realized how boundless its scope was. “This technique, ‘Thin Unending Waterflow’, should be an unrestrained, free-willed attack.” Under the attacks of this monstrous beast with Fiendgod lineage, Ning occasionally had some insights with regards to his sword techniques. But the giant red snake, by contrast, was growing furious! It could tell that this human youth was using it to train in swordplay. Although there were many wounds on its body already, none of them were lethal. But the youth in front of him had only suffered a few light wounds…which instantly healed in the blink of an eye. The youth in front of it was so terrifying that its heart quailed, while at the same time, it felt fear that it was going to die at the hands of this human youth. But even if it was going to die, its inborn arrogance and pride wouldn’t allow it to be toyed with to death. “Roaaaaar.” The giant red snake suddenly let out a wild, earthshaking howl, filled with rage, unwillingness, and carried with it the knowledge of its death. ….. The howl split the air. In the air above the inner reaches of the Ji clan, there were many clouds. Within one of the clouds was the black Winged Snake. “Roaaaar.” By the time this howl made it to the heavens, it was very weak, but Serpentwing was an extremely sensitive Diremonster. In addition, the roar was the familiar voice of its child. “It is Redtip! My son!” Serpentwing was instantly certain of this. It had been searching around the inner city the entire time, and from kilometers away, its gaze had clearly made out the building known as the Cage. But because of the fog and because of all the steel chains above the cage, it simply couldn’t tell what the Cage actually was. But just at that moment… Upon hearing the sound, it immediately knew that the sound was coming from that cage area! “There it is!” Serpentwing immediately charged down, its body still wrapped by clouds and fogs, shrouding it from view. …. Within the cage. Ning, hearing the grief-stricken, enraged howl of the giant red snake, knew how the giant red snake was feeling. Immediately, a sharp sword appeared in his left hand as well. “Since you beg for death, then die!” Shua! Ning suddenly transformed into a tempest and charged at the giant red snake. Sword light flashed! [Thunderflame Sword] – Thunderflash Flint! Blazing Thunderclap! [Raindrop Sutra] – Merciless Waterflow! Raindrop Pierces Rocks! Shua! The red eyes in the upraised head of the giant red snake slowly dimmed. There was a deep hole in its head now, which had pierced straight through its skull. And then, its massive body collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud, causing the earth to shake. Fresh blood flowed outwards, staining the ground in a river of red blood. “Mm.” Ning looked at the corpse of the massive red snake, then inspected its wound. He was studying how effective his killing blow had been. “Blazing Thunderclap truly is a powerful attack. It actually drilled such a massive hole into the snake’s chest. It almost split the snake in half.” Ning nodded as he continued to inspect the damage. “Merciless Waterflow and Thunderflash Flint can both be described in one word; fast! Merciless Waterflow is both fast and agilely unpredictable, while Thunderflash Flint is fast and explosive.” “Raindrop Pierces Rocks has good penetrative ability. It was easily able to pierce through this snake’s skull.” Ning nodded. In the air above the cage, a massive creature was descending through the clouds. Compare to Serpentwing, his child, Redtrip, was nothing more than a tadpole! Serpentwing’s scarlet eyes could already see through the chains of the cage to the scene below. It saw the desolate, miserable sight of the blood-splattered serpent corpse lying on the soft earth, and as it saw this, it felt a terrible fire suddenly fill its consciousness. “My child!” Serpentwing had gone totally mad. “Human, pay for my child’s death!” Bang! The powerful energy vibrations coming from above the cage made Ning raise his head to take a look. “What?!” Ning immediately saw that hundreds of meters away, within the clouds, an enormous serpent with barely visible pair of giant wings was staring at him. The creature was currently charging downwards at him…its wingspan alone was larger than the entire cage. The red-eyed snake’s eyes were filled with boundless killing intent. Ning was shocked, and he understood…that the creature charging down from above was here to kill him! “Not good. Flee!” Ning turned his head and immediately wanted to flee! But just as he wanted to flee, he realized that the corridor he had come through had been shut. Generally speaking, during cage battles, they would always be shut, to prevent someone from fleeing before the battle was over! Only after obtaining victory would Ning order people to open the tunnel…but he just killed the giant red snake moments ago, and hadn’t had the chance to give the order yet. In addition, as he had started the cage battle, he had forbidden others from watching him. Generally speaking, only his father watched. After all, his true power was something that had remained a secret all along. For example, the fact that he used twin swords or that he could use ordinary swords to kill a peak Houtian level Godbeast…these were all secrets. The outside world still believed that Ning relied on sharp precious weapons to slay Godbeasts. “Shua!” “Shua!” Ning immediately threw away the two swords in his hands, and instantly, two more swords appeared; the Darknorth swords! “Break!” Ning exploded forth with all his power, hacking away at the thick chains above him, while also calling out frantically at the top of his lungs, “FATHER!” The sound rang out, but the speed of sound was actually slower than the downward charging speed of Serpentwing. “Dangdangdang!” Ning’s Darknorth swords wildly chopped against the steel chain net up above. In the past, his father, Yichuan had said this: “Given your strength…if you are to use the power within the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and use your full strength, you should be able to break apart the chains. But a web like this formed from many chains…you will probably need the span of ten breaths before you are able to break enough chains to escape.” But now that Ning had the Darknorth swords. They were indeed sharp. Dangdangdang…one chain after another was shattered, but there were simply too many of them. To break enough to allow him to escape would probably require the span of one breath. One breath? The terrifying creature charging from above wouldn’t even need a second before arriving! “No time.” Even as Ning was chopping the steel chains, he immediately understood this. The massive scaled wings sliced through the air, striking against the chain of webs. These steel chains, which were incomparably tough for Ning, were extremely feeble in the face of this attack of a thousand year old monster. With a series of shattering sounds, countless chains broke apart and flew everywhere. And then, the scaled wings swept directly against Ning. “Pay with your own life for my son’s!” Serpentwing’s red eyes stared wildly at Ning. “Dodge.” Twin swords in his hands, Ning quickly dodged while at the same time, using the same technique with both swords; ‘Thin Unending Waterflow’. His sword flashed, receiving the scaled wing that came from above. One layer of sword flash after another intersected, and both swords combined, forming an endless web of sword light. It was as though multiple layers of silk were being wrapped around the opponent’s attack, restricting it. He launched ten of these attacks in a row! “Bang!” The massive scaled wing smashed down upon the twin Darknorth swords, and the power of this strike caused Ning to instantly feel the bones in his wrists splitting apart. And then, the blade-like edges of the wing cleaved down upon the dodging Ning, slashing straight through the Goldstar Shirt. Pu! Fresh blood sprayed out, and his left arm, still clutching a Darknorth sword, went flying. Ning’s entire body was sent smashing into the blackwater iron wall, creating a human-shaped impression into the wall. Ning vomited out a large mouthful of blood from his lips. “Hu!” Serpentwing raised its scaled wings again, preparing to deal yet another cleaving blow. “This is the moment!” The now one-armed Ning gritted his teeth, then suddenly scurried out like a massive grasshopper through the broken cage. [Shadewind Steps]. He used this footwork technique to its absolute limits, flashing out like a streak of azure light, fleeing outside. “Die!” A violent wind attacked. Looking behind him, Ning saw an enormous black blur sweep towards him. That was the massive serpent tail of Serpentwing. This whipping attack by Serpentwing’s tail was even faster and even fiercer than the attack of his scaled wings! The air it passed through exploded with terrifying sonic booms, and the tough marble stones of Dragon Castle began to split apart… The enormous black tail was everywhere, surrounding Ning. Given Ning’s speed, there was simply no way he would be able to dodge this attack at all. “I’m finished!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within his courtyard, Yichuan was currently wielding a blue longsword, chopping and piercing against a tree trunk. Chop, pierce, scrape, slice…he only used these most basic of movements and didn’t even use much force, and so the tree trunk only had some scratches appear on its surface. His wife, Snow, held a bottle of water nearby, watching her man train with a smile on her face, occasionally sprinkling some water on the nearby flowers and grass. “Hrm?” Yichuan and Snow simultaneously turned to look in the same direction. Both of them sensed a vibration of energy. “Dragon Castle.” Yichuan and Snow simultaneously leaped onto the rooftop of the building, staring at the distant Dragon Castle. Dragon Castle was built in a fairly out-of-the-way location in the inner city, at least two kilometers or so away from where Yichuan and his wife lived. They saw… In the air above Dragon Castle was the enormous Serpentwing. Serpentwing’s scaled wings were currently covering the entirety of Dragon Castle, and a bloodstained youth with only one arm was scurrying out of Dragon Castle at high speed, while an enormous draconic tail flashed towards him like lightning. Snow’s eyes instantly turned red. She let out an agonized howl. “Ning!” But the distance was too far. There was no time at all! “Vermin!” Yichuan exploded with anger, letting out a sudden, ferocious chop with the blue sword in his hands. Hua! A brilliant wave of blue light flew out from his sword. The three hundred meter long wave of blue light was even slightly larger than Serpentwing itself! It slashed through the air, chopping directly towards Serpentwing. Pengpengpeng! The distant tail of Serpentwing, in the blink of an eye, was struck dozens of times. The entire Dragon Castle exploded and collapsed, sending large amounts of rocks flying everywhere. Many of the servants, guards, and members of the Ji clan who lived around Dragon Castle were injured or wounded, and their blood splashed everywhere. Even some of the monstrous beasts inside the beast tunnels were killed by the impact. ….. Just as Ning scurried out of the cage, he was attacked by the massive tail of the serpent. Ning knew that in front of this Winged Snake monstrosity, the Goldstar Shirt of his might as well have been paper. All he had was a peak Houtian level Fiendgod body….he probably would be smashed into a pile of pulverized flesh in an instant. “No.” Ning simply couldn’t accept this. In this life, he had such a healthy, strong body, had a pair of doting parents, and had the chance to train to become an Immortal, to control his own destiny. He had trained for so long…and everything was just starting. He truly couldn’t accept this! “Dodge!” Ning used the [Shadewind Steps] with all his might. Quick, quicker, quicker! “Hu!” “Hu!” The wind was howling! Hu! Ning’s body was howling as well! “Bang!” The serpent’s tail came smashing down. It scraped past Ning, then smashed against the thick marble rocks of Dragon Castle. Instantly, the entire Dragon Castle had shuddered and large amounts of marble rock had shattered and been sent flying everywhere. “You managed to dodge?” The red-eyed Serpentwing howled, “You were lucky enough to dodge once, but do you think you’ll dodge twice?” Bang! The serpent tail swung down at him again! But Ning was like a piece of paper, fluttering about in the breeze, as agile as the wind, as unpredictable as a shadow. The serpent tail once again missed Ning, smashing against Dragon Castle once more. “Impossible!” Serpentwing was now truly enraged. It was a Diremonster who had trained for thousands of years and had reached the late-stage Xiantian level. It was many times more powerful than those ordinary early-stage Xiantian Diremonsters. For someone of its power, killing a youth should be simplicity itself, much like how it has easily slaughtered those thousands of tribesmen in the Goldblade Tribe. Pengpengpeng! Serpentwing wildly struck everywhere with its tail, and its wings struck out as well. The entire Dragon Castle was shuddering and on the verge of collapse, and large amounts of stones were flying everywhere. Many servants and black armored riders lost their lives… “Diediedie!” Serpentwing was frantic. A wild cold aura emanated from him, and the temperature dropped, causing some servants to immediately freeze to death. The black poisonous mist came out, and the surrounding Houtian level lifeforms all were poisoned to death. But Ning continued to dodge time and time again in that massive cloud of dust. The cold aura could freeze to death those peak Houtian Ki Refining warriors, but Ning, who trained in the Fiendgod Body Refining technique, his body was more than a hundred times stronger than those Houtian Ki Refiners. These large-scale cold air and poison gas attacks couldn’t harm him at all. “Like the wind. Like the shadows.” “Shadewind Steps.” “This is the Shadewind Steps. The true Shadewind Steps.” Ning totally immersed himself in it, allowing those strikes from the enormous Serpentwing to come as they will, allowing the scaled wings to slash at him as they pleased. He simply followed the natural force of the wind and borrowed it, and also the force of the wind created by his opponent, Serpentwing, to dodge agilely time and time again. He moved like a shadow. Serpentwing couldn’t hit him, no matter how he tried. He moved like the wind. Ning’s body flickered everywhere with such gentle ease, as though he were a leaf that was being blown by the gentle wind. “One with the world!” “This youngster has actually reached the level of ‘one with the world’? His footwork is at the ‘one with the world’ level?” The vicious, otherworldly ancient monster, Serpentwing, was finally certain that this human youth who had killed his son had actually reached the level of ‘one with the world’. This was a level which this old monster hadn’t reached yet, despite having trained for thousands of years.” One with the world! Generally speaking, only Zifu Disciples were at the ‘one with the world’ level, while some powerful Xiantian lifeforms would also reach the ‘one with the world’ level. Humans naturally had a greater potential for insight than monsters! Only the likes of Godbeasts were on par with humans in terms of understanding. “Damnable.” The ancient monster, Serpentwing, knew that in a short period of time, he wouldn’t be able to kill this human youth. “Vermin!” An enormous blue sword light attacked. The ancient monster, Serpentwing, swung his tail towards that blue sword light, not caring about it at all. “Yichuan, do you think that your sword light can harm me from a distance of two kilometers?” Bang! Dark green blood splattered everywhere, and wherever the blood splattered, the ground hissed and bubbled. The marble and the blackwater iron all quickly dissolved. That enormous, thick tail had been cut so deeply, it was nearly severed in half. “How could it be this powerful?” Serpentwing was truly frightened. The number one expert of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture truly was too terrifying. “Hu!” “I’ll let you live for now!” Serpentwing tossed Ning a furious glare, and then with a beat of its two wings, flew into the sky at high speed. “Vermin!” “Serpentwing, you dare to barge into the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, and you think you can flee?” “Die!” From multiple areas in the inner city, there erupted furious roars, including those of Ji Lee and Ji Young, as well as dozens of Xiantian lifeforms, all of whom shouted at him. “Loan me your Azure Firebird.” Yichuan transformed into a ray of light, flying onto a giant blue bird that was in mid-flight, which had a blue fire blazing on its tail. On the back of this blue bird, there was a woman dressed in black. “Yichuan, I’ll come with you.” The black-clothed woman said in her hoarse voice. “Let’s go.” Yichuan swept the area below with his gaze. Seeing his son standing within the rubble of Dragon Castle, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief…but seeing the bloodstained severed arm of his son, he felt his fury blaze up once more. “Hu!” Yichuan and the black-clothed woman, riding the Azure Firebird, tore through the air, pursuing in the direction of the fleeing Serpentwing. As for the other Xiantian level people in the West Prefecture, all of them were roaring with fury. A Diremonster had dared to barge into the inner city of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture City? This was totally against all reason! But humans at the Xiantian level were not capable of flight yet, and so they could only watch as Yichuan and his companion flew on the back of the Azure Firebird in pursuit of Serpentwing. ….. Ning remained within that state of being ‘one with the world’. He could sense the strength of the wind, and he could borrow that strength to become as carefree as the wind itself. He could even borrow the attacking strength of the enemy to dodge the enemy’s attacks, as though he were the enemy’s shadow. “Ah.” “Ah!” A feeble moan caused Ning to look around him. The entire Dragon Castle had been reduced to rubble. A large number of servants and black armored riders had died gruesome deaths, either smashed, frozen, or poisoned to death. The sight was unbearable to see. The joy he felt at having the ‘one with the world’ level of the [Shadewind Steps] faded away. Ning ground his teeth. With a leap, he entered the field of rubble. He began kicking aside pieces of rock, and quickly found his severed left arm, then re-absorbed the Darknorth sword his left arm was clutching back into his kalestone. And then, Ning grabbed his severed left arm with his right arm, pressing it against the stump. By now, the severed stump was no longer bleeding any more. “Connect.” Ning connected the severed arm to the stump, and then extended the Goldstar Shirt to quickly encapsulate his left arm as well, putting it back into position. Even in his previous life, a severed hand or arm that had only been severed recently could be reattached. Ning currently had the body of a Fiendgod. A severed arm only needed a few hours to be regrown, much less a severed arm that was being reattached…Ning could clearly sense his muscles and flesh rapidly grow back, and his bones were quickly reaching out and connecting as well. His arm had already been reattached, but he would still need a little bit longer before reaching his perfect state. “Ning!” A somewhat frantic sound rang out. Ning raised his head up. He saw an old man who wore a dark red beast fur pelt standing in the rubble looking down at him. This man was the Prefecture Lord, Ji Young. Prefecture Lord Young saw that Ning was unharmed, and only then let out a sigh of relief. “As long as you aren’t hurt. As long as you aren’t hurt.” “Ning.” An agonized shout. Ning didn’t have the chance to speak with the Prefecture Lord. He hurriedly made his way out from the debris field, and saw from far away his mother running towards him, her face covered with bitter tears. “Mother.” Ning called out repeatedly. Seeing her son standing there, Snow instantly began to shed tears of joy. Ning quickly ran towards his mother at high speed, then hugged her. Snow hugged her son back. “Wonderful, wonderful. I was so frightened just now. If anything had happened to you, I really don’t know what I would’ve done.” “Mother, I’m fine.” Ning said repeatedly. “Your arm?” Snow looked carefully at her son’s left arm. “It’s fine. Look.” Ning waved his left arm around. The bones and flesh of his left arm had been totally connected by now, and even the cells had been 80% regenerated. Most likely, in just a little bit longer, he would be in perfect condition. Only now did Snow completely relax. She knew how powerful her son’s recuperative ability was, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. “What happened? How could this Diremonster, Serpentwing, dare to have the temerity to attack our Ji clan’s Western Manor?” A heroic voice rang out, and the red-haired viper elder, Ji Lee, came running over, his face filled with fury. “This vermin is asking to be killed. Also, we need to immediately investigate why it charged and attacked our Ji clan’s Western Prefecture City.” “It is indeed strange. Doesn’t Serpentwing know that by acting in such a way, it has fully infuriated the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture?” A skinny old man with a scar over his forehead said coldly. One Xiantian individual after another walked over. Seeing the destroyed Dragon Castle and the large number of corpses and bloodstains, the dozens of Xiantian individuals had very ugly looks on their faces. As the administrators of this large expanse of land, it had been a long time since a Diremonster had dared to attack the West Prefecture. Every single expert of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture felt both fury and shame. “It must die!” “We absolutely must kill that Diremonster, Serpentwing.” “Kill it!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The flames on the plumage of the Azure Firebird swirled around it as it flew in the skies, the desolate winds howling past it as it chased after that giant scaled and winged serpent. On the back of the Azure Firebird were two figures who were each half-kneeling; Ji Yichuan, and that black-clothed woman. The black-clothed woman stared at the rapidly fleeing Serpentwing. “Yichuan, this Serpentwing is a late-stage Xiantian level Diremonster. It is quite a bit stronger than my Azure Firebird. Although the Azure Firebird is good at long-distance flight, it’ll still be hard to catch up. “Lady Flower, I’ll handle this.” Yichuan’s face was as cold as ice. From within his hands, a silver greatbow suddenly appeared out of nowhere, while in his left hand was an arrow. Hua…. The bow was fully drawn. Yichuan stared coldly at the fleeing Serpentwing. “Swish!” The arrow suddenly transformed into a ray of light, streaking towards the fleeing Serpentwing. At such a short range, the terrifying speed at which Yichuan had launched this arrow, combined with Serpentwing’s massive body, meant that there was no way it could dodge. In terms of pure archery skill, Yichuan was perhaps inferior to Blindfish. But most of the men of the Ji clan were skilled in archery, and this arrow of Yichuan’s…in terms of speed, was even faster than Blindfish’s! “Bang!” The arrow struck Serpentwing’s body, then instantly exploded, creating an enormous, bloody hole. A massive, bone-exposing wound was revealed on the serpent’s body, and it seemed as though with just one more arrow, this serpent would completely explode from the inside. Actually, Yichuan’s arrow had been aimed at those bony wings. But Serpentwing knew…once his scaled, bony wings were injured, he wouldn’t be able to flee. Thus, he had used his own serpentine body to block the arrow instead. “Crackle…” The flesh on the serpent’s body quickly closed, and blood stopped flowing. Serpentwing continued to flee wildly. “Yichuan, your Ji clan killed my son. Can it be that you won’t let me seek revenge?” Serpentwing shouted backwards. “Vermin, if you let yourself die peacefully, I’ll let you die fast. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you regret it.” Halfkneeling on the back of the Azure Firebird, Yichuan once more nocked that silver greatbow. Serpentwing hurriedly moved to dodge. Bang! Yet another arrow blasted against Serpentwing’s body. Serpentwing howled in agony, and his heart was frantic. “Yichuan is the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, true, but how can he be this powerful? Earlier, from the great distance of two kilometers, the sword flash of Yichuan’s had still been powerful enough to injure me severely. And now, a single arrow of his can injure me. Even a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster is only at most able to hold me down; there’s no way one would be able to demolish me so easily!” Serpentwing’s courage had been entirely shattered by that sword flash from earlier. A sword flash that could heavily injure him despite having come from over two kilometers away. If it was executed at a closer distance, wouldn’t it have killed him in one blow? “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” Yichuan fired one arrow after another, and Serpentwing could only grit his teeth and use his body to block it. Fortunately, his massive body was hundreds of meters long. Although his enormous body now had over ten massive craters in it, given his powerful life force, he could still maintain his high speed flight. Soon, the wide expanse of earth below gave way to a wide lake. “Hu!” Serpentwing immediately charged downwards. “Serpentwing Lake.” Yichuan and the black-clothed woman’s faces both changed. Serpentwing Lake was over a hundred kilometers long. One couldn’t even see the ends of the lake…and what’s more, it was Serpentwing’s lair. Hua… The enormous Serpentwing plummeted down from the skies, diving into the lake. A few large waves arose, but the creature itself had disappeared. As for the Azure Firebird, it continued to hover in the air above Serpentwing Lake. “Yichuan, what should we do?” The black-clothed woman asked. “Fled?” Yichuan stood on the back of the Azure Firebird, staring down at the massive lake. He said coldly, “He thinks that just because he is hiding in the water that I won’t be able to do anything to him? Lady 200 Flower, loan me the Azure Firebird for now. I’d like to trouble you, Lady Flower, to immediately return to the West Prefecture…and have my spirit-beast, the serpent, come over. “Alright.” The black-clothed woman nodded. Swish! The black-clothed woman transformed into a streak of light, flashing across the surface of the lake, then disappearing into the distance. …. In the depths of Serpentwing Lake. The enormous Serpentwing lay coiled at the bottom, occasionally licking some of its enormous wounds with its tongue. His enormous life force and regenerative force was causing his wounds to quickly grow stronger, and his flesh was visibly regrowing and extending. “Ji Yichuan.” Serpentwing’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “How can he be this powerful? That Ji Lee is the number two expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. In the past, when we fought against each other, he only had somewhat of an advantage over me…but most likely, if this Yichuan is allowed to draw close to me, he would be able to kill me with one blow of his sword. How can the difference be this great?” Before this, Serpentwing had been confident in his fleeing abilities. As he viewed it, he was a late-stage Xiantian-level Diremonster. Even if he ran into a terrifying peak Xiantian-level creature…he would at most be at an disadvantage. He would still be able to flee. As long as he wasn’t attacked by an entire group of Xiantian life forms, he should be fine. But that sword of Yichuan’s had scared him silly. “Groooowl.” “Gaaaaaa!” The monsters within Serpentwing Lake all began to howl fiercely. This sound instantly caused great shock to Serpentwing, deep within the waters of the lake. He could understand those monstrous cries. “A Diremonster has come?” Serpentwing was greatly shocked. “Right, one of the Diremonsters that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture has tamed is a water-type Diremonster.” Some monsters were avian-types, skilled at flight. Others were water-types, extremely powerful in the water. Some non-water races, upon entering the water, would see their power drop! For example, Yichuan…in the water, his speed probably would be less than a tenth of his usual speed. But in the water, Serpentwing would be even faster than on land! Even if Yichuan were to use his sword techniques, with the water blocking him, the power of his techniques would be much lower as well. Of course, although the power of Yichuan’s sword techniques would be greatly reduced, he could still kill Serpentwing! The problem was that in the water, he would be completely unable to catch Serpentwing. No matter how powerful his sword techniques were, it would be of no use. …. “Brother Black, go search and find that Serpentwing.” Yichuan stood on the surface of the lake, but didn’t sink down at all. “Although he is more powerful than you, he is badly wounded. In addition, after finding him, you just need to tie him down for a while and prevent him from escaping. I will immediately charge over and slay him.” “Leave it to me.” The coiled black serpent nodded on the surface of the lake, then immediately sank its entire body into the depths, beginning to search within Serpentwing Lake. Those lesser monsters in the lake all fled in every direction, screaming in terror. “Azure Firebird.” Yichuan looked at the Azure Firebird above him. “Stay up there and keep a lookout. Once Serpentwing flees from the lake, immediately chase after and kill him.” “Alright.” The Azure Firebird spoke in a soft voice, then rose at a high speed. Yichuan’s face was grim. Wielding his blue longsword, he paced about on the surface of the lake as though it were flat land. One step at a time, he walked, leaving faint ripples on the surface. His cold gaze stared at his surroundings, as though he could see straight through the lake water to the depths of the lake. ….. Ji clan’s West Prefecture. It was dark now, and the commotion caused by Serpentwing’s attack in the Ji clan’s West Prefecture had died down as well. “Father.” Ji Jadewich, his hair parted into dozens of braids, was seated on his knees. After draining all of the wine in his beast-skull goblet, he said, “Serpentwing, that Diremonster, has already fled back to his lair. Serpentwing Lake is extremely large, and so deep that the bottom cannot be seen. If it makes up its mind to hide, a single black serpent searching by itself will find it hard to locate him. Although Yichuan is extremely powerful, it will still be very hard for him to kill that Serpentwing.” Lee nodded, but he was frowning. He hadn’t touched any of the wine or meat in front of him. Clearly, he was frustrated by something. “Father?” Jadewich looked questioningly at his father. Frowning, Lee let out a low sigh. “His sword flash travelled a distance of over two kilometers, but was still able to heavily wound Serpentwing, a Diremonster. The power of that sword has essentially surpassed the limits which a Xiantian lifeform can attain.” “Father, do you mean to say…” Jadewich was shocked. “Zifu Disciple?” Lee shook his head. “Hard to say! If Yichuan had opened his Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’, then he should be able to fly about on magic treasures. He wouldn’t just stand there and watch as that Serpentwing, which almost slew his son, turn tail and run away. But if he hasn’t opened his Zifu…the power of his sword attack remains ridiculously large. Thus, I feel puzzled and unable to understand it.” “Also!” “I saw that Ji Ning had his arm severed, but in the blink of an eye, by the time the dust had settled and I rushed over there, Ning was totally fine.” Lee was frowning. Many Xiantian-level people had seen Ning’s severed arm lying there in the rubble. “The son of Ji Yichuan, Ji Ning, should be training in some sort of Fiendgod Body Refining.” Jadewich nodded. “In addition, he has already reached an exceedingly high level, for him to be able to re-connect a severed arm. Only, I am puzzled…how did Ning manage to survive the attack of Serpentwing on Dragon Castle?” “I don’t understand either.” Lee sighed. “I suppose he is lucky.” Why was Ning able to survive? Perhaps it was because Serpentwing knew who Ning was and thus was afraid to kill him. Perhaps it was because Ning had powerful lifeforce as a Fiendgod Body Refiner and thus was luckily able to survive. Perhaps it was because Ning had some sort of protective treasure given to him by his parents. The experts of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture were all abuzz, guessing wildly over the reason, but none of them guessed that the merely ten year old Ning had already reached the level of ‘one with the world’ in terms of footwork. …… Ning was currently in the middle of his training area, displaying his Shadewind Steps. In the hundreds of meter wide training field, a blurred form was moving about at high speed. As it did…Shua! Shua! Shua! Dozens of Ning’s appeared out of nowhere. “Ning.” A voice rang out. Ning immediately came to a halt. “Mother.” Ning immediately went over to welcome her. Yuchi Snow slowly walked over, filled with joy as she stared at her son. After suffering from Serpentwing’s attack, during the day, the Ji clan had prepared a series of cremations and memorial ceremonies for the deceased black armored riders and clansmen killed during the attack. At that time, Ning had secretly informed his mother that his footwork had already reached the ‘one with the world’ level. But of course, his mother was the only one he told! At just ten years of age, he had reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Snow had been to many areas of the Grand Xia Dynasty, but she had almost never seen someone as monstrous as this. Actually, because Ning had utilized the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique since birth, his soul was extremely powerful. In addition, he had painstakingly trained in the [Shadewind Steps] since he was young, and thus reached the ‘advanced’ level two years ago. In that moment where life and death hung in the balance, he had suddenly been able to sense the world and reached the ‘one with the world’ level. This was nothing more than success naturally arriving when the conditions were right. “Ning.” Snow looked at her son. “Your footwork has reached the ‘one with the world’ level. The next step will be to have your sword techniques also become ‘one with the world’. Do not slacken off.” “Yes, mother.” Ning nodded. For footwork to be at the ‘one with the world’ level meant for the man to become one with the world. But for the sword to be at the ‘one with the world’ level meant for the man, the sword, and the world to all become one. Naturally, it was considerably more difficult. “Mother.” Ning asked. “When will Father come back?” “Your father went to kill that Diremonster. After killing Serpentwing, he will come home, of course.” Snow said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The time passed, day after day. The days slowly grew colder, but his father still had not returned. The Ji clan of West Prefecture had long since sent a squad of black armored riders to surround Serpentwing Lake. Within the training yard. One sword attack after another howled and flashed through the air. Ning stood there by himself, training in the [Raindrop Sutra]. At this point, neither black armored riders nor powerful monstrous beasts…were of any use to Ning in terms of improving his swordplay. But his father, Yichuan, had yet to return. Thus, Ning could only train by himself. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf called out softly. “Hrm?” Ning looked at Autumn Leaf, who had a nervous, uncertain look on her face. Frowning, Ning sheathed his Darknorth swords. “Autumn Leaf, what is it?” “Young master…” Autumn Leaf said in a low voice. “Spring Grass’s father requests to see you, young master.” “Who?” Ning was stunned. “Spring Grass’s father.” Autumn Leaf’s voice grew slightly louder. “Her biological father!” Ning was shocked. “Spring Grass has a father?” His two personal maids had been slaves their entire lives. When they were very young, they were sold to the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. “Where is Spring Grass?” Ning asked. “Spring Grass didn’t dare to come see you, young master.” Autumn Leaf said in a low voice. “I could tell that actually, Spring Grass would rather like to see her father, but her status…makes her afraid to say it.” Ning suddenly remembered something. Right. Strictly speaking, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf were his maidservants, and their lives were under his control. From the day they were sold as slaves, they no longer had any contact with their parents. However, people were not like trees or grass; they had feelings. “Go and bring Spring Grass’ father here.” Ning chuckled. “Since he wants to meet me, then let him meet me.” “Yes.” Autumn Leaf’s face was covered with joy and she immediately ran out. Ning called towards the outside of the yard, “Spring Grass, come in.” Outside the courtyard, a fur-clad female servant was standing there uncertainly. Hearing the young master’s shout, she had to walk inside. But her face was filled with nervousness and uncertainty…right now, Spring Grass felt many complicated emotions. She was excited, happy, nervous, embarrassed, guilty, and restless. “Young master.” Spring Grass looked at Ning. “Your father is here. If you want to meet him, you can.” Ning laughed. “But…but I was bought by the Ji clan.” Spring Grass bit her lips. “Hrm?” Ning frowned slightly. “Do my words no longer carry weight around here?” “Understood, young master.” Spring Grass glanced at Ning, her heart filled with gratitude. Actually, she had long ago sensed that this most brilliant talent of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the youngster who would one day become Prefecture Lord, didn’t treat her and Autumn Leaf like most masters treated their servants. “He’s here.” Ning looked outside, and immediately saw two figures walking into the courtyard. The one in front was Autumn Leaf, while the one behind was a tall, middle-aged man wearing black beast fur. This middle-aged man had some scars on his face, and his head was lowered, seeming rather nervous. “Young master, he’s here.” Autumn Leaf said respectfully. The scarred man hurriedly knelt down, pressing his head against the ground and also his two hands down on the ground in prostration. Extremely respectful, he said, “Blacktooth pays his respects to the mighty young master.” Seeing this, Spring Grass’ eyes couldn’t help but turn red. Ning glanced at Spring Grass, then said, “Please rise.” “Yes.” Only now did the scarred man rise, and as he did, he saw Spring Grass standing by Ning’s side. Father and daughter’s gazes met, and instantly, tears began to flow down both their faces. The scarred man quickly recovered, hurriedly wiping his tears away. “Why have you come here to my place?” Ning asked. The scarred man took a deep breath. “Blacktooth has come to your place, young master, because I wish to request that young master redeem my child, ‘Miwa’, back to me.” “Redeem?” Ning was surprised. Redeem? In the years since he had arrived in this world, he didn’t have many people whom he had close relationships with, but Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, in Ning’s heart, were like big sisters to him. “Father.” Spring Grass couldn’t help but shout out. It was generally possible to redeem an ordinary slave by paying a certain price, but what sort of status did young master Ji have? How could her father possibly redeem her? If the young master was angered, her father might immediately lose his life. At the same time, she fell to her knees with a thudding sound. “Young master, my father doesn’t understand anything. I beg you, young master, to pardon my father for his disrespect.” “Let him speak.” Ning looked at the scarred man. “If you have anything to say, say it. If you can convince me, I’ll agree. If you can’t…hmph.” The scarred man’s heart shook. He understood exactly how much power and authority this young man in front of him had. If this young man wanted his life, it would be simplicity itself to take it. But since he had chosen to come…he had made mental preparations! “Mighty young master.” The scarred man said respectfully, “Blacktooth will tell you everything in my heart.” Ning only looked at him. “I, Blacktooth, was once the son of a tribal chief.” The scarred man said slowly. “Within a mountain forest, the Blacktooth Tribe lived a peaceful life. We raised animals inside, and I led the mighty warriors of the tribe to pursue and kill monstrous beasts across the nearby land…and one day, we discovered in a secluded valley a large amount of naturally grown millet rice.” “The entire tribe was extremely excited and overjoyed with this discovery. With this supply of millet, the lives of our tribe would be much improved, and we would be able to have more tribesmen. However, this news was quickly discovered by another powerful tribe, the Blood Mosquito Tribe. One morning at dawn, when the sky was just beginning to brighten and many tribesmen were still asleep…” The scarred man’s eyes revealed a hint of bitterness and pain. “They ambushed our clan, slaughtering many of my tribesmen. Our power was far inferior to the Blood Mosquito Tribe to begin with, and we were ambushed. The few of us who were lucky enough to survive had to flee.” 207 “I fled with Miwa, encountering countless perils and dangers on the way before finally fleeing to the West Prefecture City.” The scarred man’s body was trembling slightly. “But my dearly beloved daughter and my tribal brothers had all died. I had to seek revenge, even if I died doing so. But Miwa was innocent and blameless. I hoped she would continue to live…so I sold her to the Ji clan. In the Ji clan, she would at least have a stable life.” Spring Grass was shaking as well, her tears pouring down. “Father, Father…” She could never forget… Forget those days of flight. Although she was still young, she would never forget the sight of her loved ones all dying, one after the other, and all her friends of the same age dying as well. Never forget her father desperately fighting to survive one terrible danger after another as they battled their way to the West Prefecture City. At that time, her father had only told her, “Miwa, Father needs to go do what must be done. Miwa, you need to continue to live a good life.” “Father, don’t leave Miwa, Father, Father!” The young Spring Grass had cried bitterly. The still-young Blacktooth had ground his teeth and then left. He had embarked on the road to revenge! “I hated…” The scarred man’s body was shaking. “I wanted to get revenge. Although I was a Ninefang Warrior, to the Blood Mosquito Tribe, I was nothing at all. After I killed four of my enemies, a red-furred Diremonster suddenly ambushed the Blood Mosquito Tribe. That bastard who had led the squad to destroy my homeland was devoured by that Diremonster in one gulp, and the Blood Mosquito Tribe was destroyed. The few lucky survivors of the Blood Mosquito Tribe all joined other tribes.” “I had no enemies left.” “I, who had nothing at all, did not have any way to redeem Miwa, so I became a travelling merchant.” The scarred man said. “After one life-and-death experience after another, I managed to find some of the scattered survivors of my tribe, and my merchant caravan became more and more powerful. I gained wealth, and thus alongside the scattered survivors, I founded a tribe…my own Blacktooth Tribe! And I, I became the new ‘Blacktooth’.” “While becoming a travelling merchant,” the scarred man looked at Ning, “I had the chance to chat with a servant of the Ji clan, and learned that Miwa had become the maidservant of you, young master Ji.” “After re-establishing the Blacktooth Tribe, I had done all that I had to do. I had done right by my father, and by the past generations of Blacktooths.” The scarred man looked at Ning. “Therefore, I have come. I have come to see my child, Miwa, whom I have seen in my dreams for these ten years. Even if I had to die, I would see Miwa.” 208 “My Miwa, my child…I want to be with her. She is the last kin who Blacktooth has.” The scarred man’s face was covered in tears. Spring Grass’s face had been covered in tears long ago, and she was bawling loudly. “Father.” Spring Grass ran over, embracing her agonized father. “Miwa.” The scarred man held his daughter as well. He had been waiting for this day for so long. Autumn Leaf, standing to one side, couldn’t help but cry as well. As for Ning, he sighed as he listened. The tribesmen had to fight against the heavens, the earth, and the monsters. Spring Grass’ father, ‘Blacktooth’, was the epitome of this. “Spring Grass.” Ning spoke out. “Do you wish to be together with your father?” Spring Grass bit her lips, unable to control the tears in her eyes. She fell to her knees. “Young master, please forgive Spring Grass! I truly do wish to be with my father, I truly do!” “Mighty young master.” The scarred man immediately fell to his knees as well. Ning looked at the two of them, father and daughter. The long time they had spent together had resulted in him loving Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf like a younger brother loving a pair of older sisters. He didn’t want Spring Grass to leave him, but he wanted Spring Grass to be mentally anguished even less. “Spring Grass, from today onwards, your liberty is restored to you. You can go with your father.” “Ah!” Spring Grass and Blacktooth were both stunned. Just like that, he had agreed? The two of them, father and daughter, could be together again? “Thank you, mighty young master. Blacktooth will forever remember your great benevolence, young master.” Blacktooth, on his knees, thanked him again and again. …. Under Ning’s instructions, Spring Grass had her liberty restored to her. As she left alongside her father, Spring Grass had called out to him, “Young master, Spring Grass will forever remember your kindness. Spring Grass will constantly pray for you to be blessed, young master, within the Blacktooth tribe. If in the future, young master, you ever pass by the Blacktooth Tribe, I hope you will be able to come pay a visit to Spring Grass.” 209 “Definitely.” Ning agreed. “We definitely will go.” Autumn Leaf was crying as well. She and Spring Grass truly were like sisters. ————- The days continued to grow colder. Ning’s mentality was changing as well. Spring Grass’ departure, her father’s experiences, Serpentwing’s attack, his father’s departure to kill the Diremonster, his inability to find an opponent to train his swordplay with within the Ji clan…all of these events caused Ning’s mentality to change. He had the feeling that perhaps the West Prefecture City was too small of a place. He wanted to go outside, wanted to see the wider world! He wanted to see how the tribes like the Blacktooth Tribe lived, and what their lives were like! He wanted to be like his father and go fight one Diremonster after another…he wanted to go adventure in this area of the world… “Ning, your father is back.” On this snowy day, Snow called out to her son. Only now did Ning see that in the skies above, his father was returning, half-kneeling on the back of that Azure Firebird. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The hall was very silent, with the thick candles flickering and casting their light everywhere. Ji Ning’s head was lowered as he devoured the food in front of him, quickly gulping down all of the meat and wine on the table. Today, they were celebrating his father’s return, so he actually had the rare chance to drink some wine. “Father.” Ning spoke out. “Mm.” Ji Yichuan frowned as he looked at his son. Ning could sense that his father wasn’t in a very good mood, because this attempt to kill Serpentwing had resulted in failure. To kill a late-stage water-type Xiantian level Diremonster which was hiding in the depths of a lake was simply too difficult. If the Ji clan of the West Prefecture truly wanted to directly slaughter Serpentwing, they could if they paid a large price for it, but clearly, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture wasn’t willing to pay that price. For the sake of their pride and honor, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had already wiped out the other creatures in Serpentwing Lake, then stationed soldiers all around Serpentwing Lake, as well as numerous Xiantian lifeforms, forcing Serpentwing to be afraid to leave Serpentwing Lake. This would be a long battle. Once Serpentwing became the slightest bit incautious, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s Xiantian lifeforms would immediately slaughter him. “I want to go out and adventure.” Ning spoke. “Adventure?” Yichuan frowned. Yuchi Snow said hurriedly, “Ning, you were just ambushed by Serpentwing. You should know how terrifying Diremonsters are. Outside the Western Prefecture…there are many Diremonsters lying in wait in the high mountains and the deep lakes. To go adventuring outside…you are still too young. Wait a few more years.” “In the West Prefecture, I no longer have anyone whom I can train myself against.” Ning shook his head. Yichuan snapped coldly, “How old are you? Wait until you are at least sixteen before going out and adventuring.” “But Father!” Ning said urgently, “I’ve been in the Western Prefecture since I was a child. I’ve always stayed in this small little area of the Western Prefecture. I want to see the countless tribes in the greater world. I want to be like Father, to go out and adventure, to experience danger, to go fight with those Diremonsters and kill them.” “Diremonsters? Just based on your little bit of power…” Yichuan shook his head. “What’s the problem with my strength?” Ning said hurriedly. “Even under Serpentwing’s full strength attacks, I was still able to survive. What’s the problem with my strength?” Yichuan was startled, and seemed to have suddenly thought of something. “Right. I haven’t had the chance to ask you. How did you survive Serpentwing’s attack?” The nearby Snow laughed. “Yichuan, you’ve been dealing with Serpentwing this entire time and hadn’t had the chance to come back, so we haven’t had the chance to tell you. Our son, in that moment of lifeand-death when being attacked by Serpentwing, has reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Relying on his ‘one with the world’ level of footwork, he was able to escape Serpentwing’s attacks. “One with the world?” Yichuan stared at Ning in astonishment. At merely ten years old, he had reached the level of ‘one with the world’ in footwork? “Receive three sword blows from me.” With a sudden flip of his hands, Yichuan made three hazy swordshadows suddenly appear and surround Ning, attacking as fast as lightning. Ning had been kneeling down at the dinner table. Now, he suddenly dodged aside gracefully, moving past those three hazy sword-shadows as gracefully as the wind. “What do you think?” Ning said proudly. “You really have reached it.” Yichuan stared at his son in amazement. “One with the world. Your footwork has reached the ‘one with the world’ level. Then your swordplay…isn’t too off from reaching the ‘one with the world’ level as well.” Yichuan looked as his son, his heart swelling with excitement as he quickly pondered. His son, Ning, had such a high level of talent. In the area around Swallow Mountain, he was definitely an extremely rare, monster of a talent. Such incredible talent couldn’t be treated as a normal person was! Given Ning’s rapid rate of improvement, there truly was nothing left in West Prefecture City which would prove useful for him in training. “If you want to go out and adventure, that isn’t completely out of the question.” Yichuan looked at his son. “But you need to accomplish a requirement of mine.” “Yichuan!” Snow was a bit frantic, but Yichuan stretched his hand out, stopping her. “Father, speak.” Ning was full of excitement. Yichuan nodded. “The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is hosted once every four years. It is a ceremony which all youths under the age of sixteen will participate in. I want you to seize the golden sword during this year’s Ceremony of the Golden Sword! As long as you are able to seize the golden sword, I will permit you to go out adventuring.” 212 “Golden sword?” Ning’s eyes lit up. He had known long ago about the agreement that if he could seize the golden sword, he would become the next Prefecture Lord. And during these recent years of training…his father had also spoken to him about this matter of ‘seizing the golden sword to become the Prefecture Lord’. “Seizing the golden sword is very easy.” Ning looked at Yichuan suspiciously. “Father, I only need to use perhaps a tenth of my full strength to seize the golden sword. This isn’t much of a test for me. Can it be that Father, you truly care so much about the Prefecture Lord position?” His father’s heart was totally set on the Immortal Path. Ning naturally also had the same desire to step on the Immortal Path. “Prefecture Lord position?” Yichuan shook his head. “You are the son of Ji Yichuan, my greatest pride. I trust that you will be able to go even farther than me…the position of Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture will only be a constraint on you. You will definitely spread your wings and fly higher.” Ning was confused. “Then Father, why do you wish me to go seize the golden sword?” “First, to let Ji Lee know that he can stop dreaming.” Yichuan said. “The second reason, you will discover after you seize the golden sword. So long as you can seize the golden sword, I will permit you to go out and adventure. But if you are unable to seize it, then be a good child and stay in the Western Prefecture City.” “Alright.” Ning grinned widely. The nearby Snow, on the other hand, was frantic. “Enough, you can go back and get some rest now.” Yichuan said. Ning immediately jumped up and returned to his room, overjoyed. In the main hall, Yichuan began to explain the reason for his actions to his wife, Snow. ….. The next morning. Dawn. While Ning was eating with his parents, Snow instructed him, “After seizing the golden sword, I won’t block you from going adventuring either, but you have to bring followers.” “Followers?” Ning said hurriedly. “But I’m going out to adventure. What’s the point of bringing a big group of followers?” 213 “You only need to bring two people.” Snow laughed. “The first is Autumn Leaf. She is familiar with your habits and can cater to your needs. The other servant would be Mowu. Mowu used to be a Ninefang Warrior of the black armored riders, and then he followed your father for a long time. He is extremely loyal. Although he isn’t as strong as you, he has abundant experience in adventuring in the wilds. Ning pondered for a while, then nodded. “Fine, I’ll bring them. I can’t bring any others though.” ….. “Young master, you are going to leave the Western Prefecture to go adventuring? And you are going to bring me along with you?” Autumn Leaf was extremely excited. Ever since she was brought into the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, she had not had a chance to leave the city for a long, long time. “Don’t just stand there, silly. Hurry up and get all the records on the Diremonsters in the area around Swallow Mountain from the library. Also get the records on the various tribes, and the maps as well. Move them all here.” Ning was feeling very intrepid as he instructed Autumn Leaf, “I need to get a good understanding and prepare a rough path of adventuring for myself.” “Yes, young master.” Autumn Leaf all but flew out. Autumn Leaf was Ning’s personal maidservant, and thus ever since she was young, she had been taught extremely good Ki Refining techniques, and thus was close to the peak of the Houtian level. For someone of her status, the personal maidservant of Ji Ning, she naturally would also be taught special techniques as well, permitting her, at a critical juncture, to sacrifice her life for the sake of her master. “Coming.” Autumn Leaf came back, carrying a high stack of books. With a thudding sound, she set them down on the ground. This huge stack of books had to be several hundred pounds. Ning hurriedly began to flip through them. One legendary Diremonster after another… Only now did Ning truly realize exactly how many Diremonsters lay hidden within the high mountains and the deep lakes. It was because Diremonsters were both abundant and very hard to deal with. Thus, the Diremonsters and the local hegemons such as the Ji clan actually had an unspoken understanding. Diremonsters usually wouldn’t wildly slaughter humans on a wide scale, while the Ji clan and the other hegemons wouldn’t go all out to slaughter the Diremonsters. Both sides would stay their hands, maintaining their superficial calm. Although some tribes would often be slaughtered and some Diremonsters would be killed…it was all within a manageable degree! There was an invisible line which neither the Ji clan and the other local hegemons, nor the Diremonsters, wished to cross. Once that line was crossed, then a true storm of blood would occur. “Blacktooth Tribe.” Ning pointed at the map. “This is the newest map of the territory of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and the Blacktooth Tribe is a newly erected, small tribe. It should be Spring Grass’ father’s tribe. It is right here, just a thousand kilometers away from us.” “Young master, young master, we have to go pay a visit to the Blacktooth Tribe and see Spring Grass.” Autumn Leaf said hurriedly. “Of course we’d have to go.” Ning nodded. “But we have to make an adventure of it. First we go here, then here, then here, and…here!” Ning pointed at one dangerous area after another, marked with black colors on the map. “Those are all places where Diremonsters are hiding.” Autumn Leaf cried out in shock. “Right.” Ning’s eyes were shining. “I’m going to go kill some Diremonsters! Don’t worry, the Diremonsters I’ve picked out are all early Xiantian level ones. They are much weaker than Serpentwing. I’ll fight them all, one after the other…until the time comes when I break through and become a Xiantian lifeform myself. After I become a Xiantian lifeform, it will be time to go to Serpentwing Lake.” Autumn Leaf said frantically, “Young master, Serpentwing is a late Xiantian level Diremonster.” “I have confidence.” Ning said. The number one Fiendgod Body Refining method, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], had boundless strength. Right now, despite only being at the third stage, he could already equal an ordinary early Xiantian level Ki Refiner! Once he broke through to the fourth stage, he would be on par with a late Xiantian level Ki Refiner. Even if he fought Serpentwing head on, he would be on par. But in terms of enlightenment, he was far superior to Serpentwing. “Diremonster. Serpentwing.” Ning’s eyes flashed with a hint of wildness. He couldn’t forget the scene of how Serpentwing had suddenly attacked him. “This time, when I go out and adventure, my final goal is you. I hope you won’t die before I reach you!” ————————- The Ji clan of the West Prefecture made preparations to welcome the arrival of the quadrennial Ceremony of the Golden Sword. The promising youths which the countless tribes had been preparing were all filled with eagerness, and they registered for it, one after the other. They wanted to defeat one opponent after another at the ceremony and become dazzling, glorious personages. They wanted to let their names spread throughout the countless tribes! “This time, after the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, I am going to go back to the tribe. I am definitely going to make it into the top eight, so that I will be able to learn the techniques for training to reach the Xiantian level. That way, in my lifetime, I’ll have the chance of becoming a Xiantian lifeform!” A youngster with pitch black skin, carrying a single blade on his back and dressed in ragged beast furs, with two leather shoes on his feet that had been almost worn through. “The name of Tigerhowl shall definitely spread throughout all of the tribes of this land!” “I am the strongest!” “This is my final chance to obtain a training manual for Immortal magic.” All the youths of the tribes were filled with their own desires, and they went to register for the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. This was a holy ceremony. A holy ceremony for countless tribal youths. The entire area under the dominion of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture and all of the young talents living in that area were going to participate in it. They desired to become famous, to obtain a profound Ki Refining technique from this Ceremony of the Golden Sword, or some other powerful techniques. These would become the powerful, awe-inspiring abilities they would rely on in the future. ….. “What? Ji Ning is participating in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword?” Ji Lee, who had just received this news, stared, and the scarlet viper looped in his ear also spoke. “He’s only ten years old. He absolutely could wait another four years to participate in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. Why is he participating now?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Jadewich sat in his usual spot, nursing a beastskull goblet. “Perhaps Ji Yichuan wants to let his son have an early try. After all, even if he fails, four years later, Ji Ning can try again.” “They have two chances, but I can’t fail even once.” Ji Lee revealed a hint of a smile on his face. “Fortunately, back then, I took in my adoptive son, Grizzly.” Immediately, Lee said to a nearby servant, “Have Grizzly come and see me!” “Yes, master.” The barefoot female servant bowed, then quickly left. Soon afterwards, a tall young man wearing golden furs came striding in. This youngster had a very fierce aura. His face was covered with golden fur, and his eyes also had a faint gold look to them, unlike ordinary people. At all times, he carried a pitch black straight saber on his back. He strode in, and as he did…he seemed like a skinny, golden grizzly bear. Although he was only thirteen, he was even slightly taller than Lee. “Father.” Grizzly called out respectfully. “Grizzly.” Lee looked at his adopted son, nodding in satisfaction. “The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is held once every four years. I will arrange for you to be registered in this year’s Ceremony of the Golden Sword. I only have one request: Seize the golden sword!” “Yes.” Grizzly’s voice was deep and thick. “Right.” Lee nodded with satisfaction. Of the many adoptive sons he had taken in, only a very few had made him satisfied, and amongst them, Grizzly was the one he was the most satisfied with. Lee had total confidence in Grizzly’s abilities to prevent Ning from seizing the golden sword in this year’s ceremony. Lee spoke again. “This time, the one you need to be careful of is the only son of Ji Yichuan – Ji Ning! Although he hasn’t experienced any real life-and-death battles yet, he has still trained in the highest class techniques of our Ji clan. Although the techniques I taught you are also top-class, compared to his, they are still slightly inferior.” Grizzly nodded. He understood. He was, after all, just an adopted son. But Ji Ning? He was the only son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, and also the heir presumptive of the position of Prefecture Lord. The difference in status between the two was simply too great. Ning could easily obtain the ultimate techniques of the Ji 217 clan, but he, an adopted child, couldn’t possibly be permitted to learn the most powerful techniques of a clan. “In addition, Ning just reached the level of ‘one with the sword’ this year.” Lee looked at his adoptive son. “Don’t be over-confident.” “I, your son, will definitely be victorious.” Grizzly growled. ————————— The Ceremony of the Golden Sword began! Large numbers of tribal youths were at the bottom, fighting against each other wildly. One youth after another was cast out, with the stronger ones left behind. After a full month of battles, finally, the most powerful eight youths were selected. Or, to be more precise…seven youths were selected. There was another person who was automatically registered as one of the final eight, without having to undergo any competitions. Ji Ning! Ji Ning, the only son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan! The most talented youngster of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. According to what the Ji clan of the West Prefecture said to the outsiders, Ji Ning was so powerful that he didn’t need to enter the competition at all. He could directly be included in the top eight. Anger? Injust? “Hrmph. On the last day, when he encounters the other seven experts, this Ji Ning will definitely be utterly thrashed.” “He really will stoop to nothing!” “He brings shame to the Ji clan!” Some of the tribal youths muttered secretly amongst themselves. Only a very, very few of the tribal youths had heard the news that Ji Ning had already reached the level of ‘one with the sword’. ————————- “Huahuahua….” The battle flag flapped loudly. The desolate, cold wind extinguished the furious flames in the hearts of many, because today would be the final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword! At the center of the wide training fields, there was an enormous dueling platform, with eight tribal youths standing below it. One of them was the beast fur clad Ning. Outside was a large number of black armored riders who surrounded the dueling platform protectively, preventing any of the tens of thousands of tribal youths and citizens of the West Prefecture City who had come to watch the battles from drawing any closer to the dueling area. “They are here.” “The Xiantian lifeforms have come.” The tens of thousands of spectators gathered here all became very excited. The Ceremony of the Golden Sword had proceeded for so long now, and usually, there weren’t so many spectators. But today was special! Because today was the final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, and the final eight competitors would, in the final contest, determine who was the most powerful and who would seize the golden sword. On the last day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, many legendary Xiantian lifeforms would also come and watch! “That person riding the long-necked monstrous beast, that’s the Heavenly Firehammer.” “The one riding that white tiger is the number one archer of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture!” “That…that’s the Fire God, Ji Lee!” “Look, Raindrop sword! Over there, the one with a big, snow-white dog next to him is the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan! The big snow-white dog next to him is a Xiantian lifeform, the ‘Whitewater Hound’!” “Prefecture Lord!” “The Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, has appeared as well!” “Why are there so many Xiantian lifeforms present? There’s too many of them!” “So many Xiantian lifeforms!” ….. Utter insanity. Utter pandemonium. The Ceremony of the Golden Sword was only held once every four years, after all. Generally speaking, only a few Xiantian lifeforms would come watch, but today, many legendary figures had come, such as the mysterious, rarely seen number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. Or the man as wild and as arrogant as a Fire God, Ji Lee! The ten overseers had all come, not a single one of them missing. This was because this wasn’t just a Ceremony of the Golden Sword. More importantly…this was a test and skirmish which would determine who the next Prefecture Lord would be! As long as Ning was able to seize the golden sword, then he would be the next Prefecture Lord. Since this event involved something as important as who the next Prefecture Lord would be, almost all of the Xiantian lifeforms in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture naturally came to witness it. “Today is the final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword.” A cold voice rang out from a woman with long hair that gleamed with blue light who stood on the dueling platform. “Now, let the eight youths ascend the platform.” Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Eight shadows leapt onto the dueling platform in succession. Ning glanced at them and found that virtually all the seven other opponents were staring at him. Clearly, all seven of them felt disdain for him being allowed to directly be placed amongst the final eight without having to advance through the many tiers of battle like they had. “Do you think I wanted it to be like this?” Ning pursed his lips. It had totally been the decision of Prefecture Lord Young for him to be designated as one of the eight. “However, these seven fellows really are tall. Even the shortest of them, a woman, is at least 1.7 meters, slightly taller than me…ugh, and this big, stupid fellow is probably 2.3 meters tall.” Although they were ‘youths’, all of them were very accomplished in their training, and most were almost sixteen. Only Ning was just ten years old. Naturally, he was the shortest of them. “The eight of you will fight each other, one at a time. The loser will leave, and the winner will remain, until four remain. And then, you will duel until only two remain, then finally, the strongest will be chosen.” The long haired woman said. Ning and the other seven youths were listening. Suddenly… “Halt!” A cold voice rang out. The spectating tribal youths and citizens of Ji clan of the West Prefecture all turned towards the sound of the voice. Even the long haired woman turned and frowned. She was a Xiantian level expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and she had only come to officiate today because it was the final day. Who was causing such a ruckus at a time like this? She turned her head and saw…that the speaker was a callouslooking man dressed in white fur. The long haired woman trembled. “The Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan.” “Raindrop Sword.” “The Raindrop Sword looks like a giant iceberg, just standing there. I feel my heart growing cold just looking at him.” The tens of thousands of spectators had excited looks in their eyes. All of the Xiantian experts present were like Fiendgods to them, but Ji Yichuan was the most dazzling expert in these lands, a legendary figure. Yichuan sat there and said coldly, “The final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword is for selecting the most powerful of the eight finalists to be the one to seize the golden sword. As I see it…let Ji Ning fight the other seven!” “One against seven?” The long haired woman was stunned. “But…but…” “What?!” “One against seven? The other seven are all highly talented youngsters.” “But!” A scene of utter shock. Even the Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, seated next to Yichuan, was amazed. As for the old man with the viper, Ji Lee, who sat on the other side of Ji Young, he immediately laughed loudly. “Wonderful. One against seven. Ji Ning is the most talented youngster in our Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even if he loses, this would be a form of training for him. But Yichuan…if your son loses his battle against the seven of them, then what?” “If he loses, then he admits defeat, and has nothing to do with the golden sword!” Yichuan said calmly. “Good.” Lee nodded. Ji Young looked at Yichuan curiously, then spoke out. “Let it be as Yichuan has said.” “Yes, Prefecture Lord.” The long haired woman, seeing the situation, nodded. The two most powerful factions in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had both agreed. Naturally, she had nothing to say about it. All she could do was inwardly sigh that the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, was perhaps too arrogant. “The eight of you.” The long haired woman looked at the eight youths. “Come here and select your weapons. After choosing your weapons…wait for my order. Once I give the order, it will be Ji Ning fighting against the seventh of you. If Ji Ning loses, or if the seven of you lose…then this combat will come to an end.” 221 “Hua.” With a wave of her hand, the long haired woman made a large number of weapons appear out of nowhere onto the dueling platform. There were all types of weapons. Only, none of them were sharpened! “Choose.” The long haired woman said. Ning and the other seven youths all strode forward, quickly choosing their weapons. Ning chose a sturdy black longsword that weighed roughly fifty pounds. The tens of thousands of spectators below were all engaged in conversation. Many of them were only now seeing the ‘Raindrop Sword’, Ji Yichuan, for the first time. They felt as though Yichuan was like a piece of ancient, glacial ice, so cold that their hearts trembled. “Ji Yichuan is perhaps too arrogant and exacting, and he even treats his son the same way. One against seven? Even if Ji Ning’s true power is beyond that of the other seven, how can he possibly beat all seven of them at once?” “He’s truly insane.” “I hear that Ji Ning is only ten years old, but his father has already ordered him to come here and attend the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, and even wants him to fight one on seven. Poor fellow.” Many of the spectators now began to feel sympathy for Ning. After all, Ning was the smallest and shortest of the eight youths on the dueling platform, and the youngest one as well. In addition, Ning was so handsome…this slender, handsome youngster had a father who was so legendarily cold and severe. One could imagine how strictly this youngster’s father usually governed him. “Are you done choosing?” The long haired woman looked at the eight youths. Seven of the youths were standing on one side of the dueling platform. They had their weapons ready, be it a sickle, a spear, a straight saber, or a sword. All of them stared at Ning. On the opposite side of the platform stood Ning, all by himself. Ning wielded a sword in his hands, staring calmly at them. “Since you’ve made your choices…” The long haired woman waved her hand, reclaiming the heap of blunt weapons that were on the side while saying, “Then you can begin.” Just as her words came out… Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The seven figures on the other side of the platform moved over at high speed, simultaneously charging at Ning, who stood on the other side. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Seven figures attacked from seven different directions, pouncing towards Ji Ning en masse. Although they had not previously been prepared for a ‘seven against one’ battle, all of them were the most talented youths in the vast area under the control of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even if they were somewhat unhappy towards this young master of the Ji clan, they didn’t dare to be the slightest bit contemptuous. As though by prior agreement, they all chosen to attack at full force! Ning stood there, not moving at all, waiting for the seven blurs to reach him. And when they did, he moved! Hu…. As those weapons all flashed towards him, Ning moved like a gust of wind, demonstrating extreme accuracy and precision in terms of control, positioning, speed, and power…easily dodging and moving through the combined attacks of the seven talented youths. “What!” “He dodged?” “How is that possible?” The seven youths all halted, their eyes filled with disbelief. Just then, Ning actually hadn’t even used his weapons. Just relying on footwork alone, he was able to easily dodge past their combined attacks. This sort of terrifying footwork…demonstrated that so long as Ning was focused, the seven of them combined wouldn’t be able to even touch Ning’s clothes. “So fast.” “Just like a gust of wind.” “He lives up to being the son of the Raindrop Sword. Too formidable. So fast that I couldn’t even clearly see him; all I saw was a blur.” The tens of thousands of spectators all grew excited. In this area, all the people began to train in childhood, so they all were experienced, and yet even most of them were only able to see a blur. One could imagine how fast Ning had moved. …. Ning halted, standing on the other side of the dueling platform. “Seven opponents were unable to force me to use my sword. Their footwork is inferior to mine.” Ning swept the seven opponents with his gaze. Just now, during that brief moment of time, he had already assessed the footwork level these seven opponents were at. “Two of them are at the ‘advanced’ level. One is that scimitar wielding youth, while the other is the golden-furred beast. It seems the earlier reports were in error.” Although his father was arrogant, Ning himself had sent people to collect details regarding these seven opponents. He only knew that the scimitar wielding youth had reached the advanced level of footwork. He didn’t imagine that this golden-furred beast had also reached such a high level. “But their footwork is still a bit weaker than mine.” Ning revealed a small smile. He had, after all, already reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Even though on this dueling platform, he would only utilize ‘advanced’ level footwork, his footwork was clearly more perfected. In addition, he trained in an extremely advanced [Shadewind Steps] type of footwork, allowing him to naturally seize an advantage. “Tie him down.” “Don’t give him the chance to utilize his footwork.” “All together.” The seven youths once more charged forth. But Ning slowly walked towards them. In an instant, the seven youths and Ning once again collided. Swords and sabers flashed in the air, but Ning still moved as though he was taking a casual stroll. The longsword in his hands became like a whip, with all of his force being transmitted to the tip of the sword as he then viciously struck out. In order to reduce the amount of casualties as much as possible during the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, all of the weapons were blunt, and thus were more suited to chopping, sweeping, and whipping type attacks. Fast! Ning’s sword was so fast as to make one’s heart shudder. Ning gracefully walked out from the combined attacks of the seven, while at the same time, making seven lightning-fast whip-like attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Five figures were sent flying backwards by the whip-strikes, flying over thirty meters before falling down onto the ground. All of them struggled to their feet, covered with dust. A few couldn’t help but hold their chests, coughing out a hint of blood. Some had cuts on their faces, and their faces were filled with 224 disbelief. This was because just then, they clearly had seen Ning attack with his sword, and they had tried to block it, but none of them had been able to touch Ning’s sword. They hadn’t even been able to touch it! Ning had sent them flying! “One with the sword!” The five talented youths instantly knew what sort of level this young master Ji had reached in swordplay, and understood how great the gap was between them. Only three youths were left on the dueling platform. Black sword in hand, Ning looked at the nearby scimitar wielding youth and the golden-furred beast. He nodded to himself. “I struck once against each of them, but these two were able to touch my sword. That scimitar wielding youth is very fast with his blade strikes, but he hasn’t reached the ‘advanced’ level yet. That golden-furred beast…has actually reached the advanced level of ‘one with the saber’.” “Young master Ji, remember…my name is Grizzly! Ji Grizzly!” The golden-furred bestial man stared at Ji Ning. “The one who is going to defeat you is me, Grizzly!” The scimitar wielding youth’s face changed slightly. “So I am not the strongest one after all in these many tribes. There are actually two who are stronger than me. Even this Grizzly has already reached the ‘one with the saber’ level.” He had been training painstakingly for many years in the martial pavilion. He knew that he was born into a low status and wouldn’t be able to obtain the ultimate saber techniques, and thus he gave up focusing on any complicated saber techniques, and instead focused on making his saber ‘fast’! His saber…had to be fast enough. The faster the better. He pursued the fastest possible attacks, combining them with his ‘advanced’ footwork…if he used his saber, he definitely would be able to defeat the other youths. But now he discovered to his amazement that it wasn’t just this son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, who was stronger than him. The virtually unknown golden-furred fellow next to him was stronger than him as well. “Ji Ning.” The scimitar wielding youth suddenly growled. “I know you are stronger than me, but I want you to take three saber blows from me! Just take these three saber blows of mine alone…as for you, Grizzly, don’t interfere.” Grizzly stood there disdainfully, a cold smile on his face. This scimitar wielding youth was far weaker than him, and what’s more, Ning’s footwork was simply too formidable, and there was no way to successfully do a combined attack on him anyhow. So he might as well let this scimitar wielding youth seek his own humiliation. Ning, as though thinking about something, glanced at the scimitar wielding youth. He had the feeling that this scimitar wielding youth’s words had some special belief hidden within. “Alright.” Ning nodded. “Hua!” The scimitar wielding youth charged forward like a blur, howling. His eyes were as vicious as that of a wolf’s, and as he drew near Ning, his scimitar came out! The scimitar gleamed brilliantly, and the very first saber-blow was directed towards Ning’s neck. Logically speaking, since the scimitar was blunt, this sort of slashing technique wasn’t very suitable. But clearly, this scimitar wielding youth wanted to demonstrate his strongest, ultimate attacks. “Retreat.” Ning moved like the wind, taking a step back, allowing the scimitar to howl past his body. “Chi!” Suddenly, with the flip of his hand, the scimitar wielding youth launched another attack, and this saberblow was even faster, slashing towards Ning’s neck from the opposite direction. With leap, Ning still managed to dodge, but he even he felt it was a bit difficult. If he continued to use ‘advanced’ level footwork and the opponent’s scimitar moved any faster, Ning would have to use his sword. “Swish!” The flashing blade suddenly left his hand, moving even faster, arriving close to Ning’s eyes in an instant. The third saber-blow – The flying saber! The flying saber was spinning in the air, and borrowed the speed from those two earlier attacks, allowing this final flying saber attack to reach an even more incredible speed. Not hesitating at all, Ning attacked with his sword. “Clang.” The scimitar and the sword intersected, and the scimitar immediately was sent flying away, landing back into the hands of the scimitar wielding youth. The scimitar wielding youth nodded. “I lose.” And then with a leap, he jumped down from the dueling platform. The scimitar wielding youth knew…that this Ji Ning and himself simply weren’t on the same level at all. Even aside from the fact that Ji Ning trained in the ultimate sword techniques of the Ji clan, the simple fact that he had reached the ‘one with the sword’ level made it impossible for the youth to do anything to Ji Ning. He was already very satisfied with being given the chance to show off his most powerful attacks on this dueling platform. “Recruit that scimitar wielding youth into the Ji clan!” The distant, spectating Ji Young said to one of his personal servants standing behind him. “He has the potential to reach the Xiantian level.” 226 Yes, master.” …. The dueling platform only had Ning and Grizzly left. Grizzly’s eyes flashed with golden light, staring from afar at Ning, while at the same time, his entire body began to glow with a faint gold light as well, and a powerful aura began to emit from him. This caused the distant Ning’s eyes to narrow. “This Grizzly is also a Fiendgod Body Refiner? It seems he’s reached quite a high level as well.” “Ji Ning.” Grizzly growled. “I admit that your footwork is superior to mine! But today, we must determine who the strongest person is, and you won’t be able to acquire the golden sword just by fleeing! You must fight me head on, but unfortunately, if you fight me head out, you aren’t a match for me at all. You will definitely lose!” Black sword in hand, Ning looked calmly at his opponent. From Grizzly’s ferocious aura, Ning could predict that this Grizzly had definitely gone through life-anddeath battles. With his sabercraft having reached the ‘one with the saber’ level, and that layer of golden life demonstrating that he had trained in a powerful type of Fiendgod Body Refining technique, if Ning’s guess was correct, this Grizzly should have trained in the [Eternal Mysteries of the Yellow Earth]. After all, he had reviewed all of the nineteen books on Fiendgod Body Refining which the Ji clan’s five prefectures had.” “This person called Grizzly has encountered many life-and-death battles, and is a Fiendgod Body Refiner who has reached the ‘one with the saber’ level. But he doesn’t have any reputation at all.” Ning secretly mused. “He definitely wasn’t born in the tribes. He should belong to the Ji clan…nine out of ten says that he is someone whom the viperous Ji Lee cultivated and intentionally kept hidden.” “Afraid?” Grizzly, saber in hand, stared like a hungry tiger at Ning. He didn’t make any movement to go attack Ning of his own volition. Ning, wielding his black sword, began to walk forward in a very calm, natural way, as though taking a stroll in his own home. If he had encountered Grizzly before suffering from Serpentwing’s attack, Ning would perhaps be a bit more trouble, but in the months which had passed since suffering from Serpentwing’s attack, the swordplay of Ning, who had reached the ‘one with the world’ level in footwork, had increased dramatically as well. To reach the ‘one with the world’ level in footwork, one needed to spend time training. The same was true for reaching the ‘one with the world’ level in swordplay. Although Ning had yet to reach the ‘one with the world’ level in swordplay, Ning’s swordplay was no longer what it had been mere months ago. He didn’t even need to utilize the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] in order to easily defeat this Grizzly. Ning’s sword suddenly moved! “Hu!” The sword was as graceful as the rain, descending in an instant. Beautiful to behold. When a killing sword technique could transform into a beautiful sight, it showed that the wielder had already reached an extremely deep level of skill. “Break apart!” Grizzly roared as he wielded his saber, which flashed with the thickness of blood as one enormous saber-flash after another flew towards Ning. In the blink of an eye, it was though Hell had descended…those enormous flashes of saber-light were the punishing blades of hell, causing one to feel hopeless and as though they deserved to stand there and die beneath those saber flashes. “Bloodhell Saber?” Ning’s sword swept out like a gentle sprinkling of rain. His flashing sword flowed together into one stream like rainwater which drizzled down, ensnaring Grizzly. No matter how wild and explosive Grizzly’s Bloodhell Saber techniques were, that drizzling flow of water continued to ensnare it, making it lose its wild, explosive aura. Grizzly felt as though he had suddenly become trapped in a prison of water. There was water everywhere, wildly ensnaring him. He clearly possessed boundless strength, but he wasn’t able to utilize it against the water. “Break!” Grizzly’s saberplay was incomparably wild. Even though he was constantly being ensnared, he still didn’t hesitate one bit, only growing even more ferocious. “Your saberplay is indeed strong.” Ning said gently. An opponent of this level wasn’t a threat to him at all. Only, the fact that this Grizzly’s saberplay was developed in life-and-death battles was a source of interest to Ning, which was why Ning was willing to exchange ten blows with him to accumulate some experience. Ning knew very well…that compared to some of the elder experts of the clan, what he lacked the most was sufficient experience. “Hua.” The black longsword in Ning’s hands suddenly thrust forward in a straight attack, and instantly, it seemed as though the entire world grew silent. The hazily glowing sword seemed to have transformed into a single drop of rain. This raindrop pierced past the saber, and as it did, the saber shattered. The raindrop then smashed against Grizzly’s chest, like a raindrop falling against a stone. Pa! The faint sound of bones splintering could be heard as Grizzly was sent flying several dozen meters, smashing viciously against the floor beneath the dueling platform, causing a small crater in the earth. Raindrop Sword – Raindrop Pierces Rocks! “Ugh.” Grizzly clutched his chest, spewing out a mouthful of fresh blood. He lowered his head to look at his chest. The fur of the Xiantian-level beast which he wore had split open, and his chest had caved in, his bones broken. And this was with Ning using a very ordinary, blunt black longsword. ….. The tens of thousands of spectators watching the training area all fell silent…and then, there was an earth-shaking commotion. They were all in awe. This truly was the son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. No wonder the Raindrop Sword had dared to be so wildly arrogant as to have his son fight seven others…this seemingly handsome, inexperienced young master Ji was simply too terrifying, to easily be able to dominate these seven opponents. “Hahaha…” The Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, let out a loud, carefree laugh, incomparably happy. He won. His lineage had won. Ji Ning had seized the golden sword, and would become the next Prefecture Lord. “Raindrop Pierces Rocks! The advanced level in swordplay!” Sitting next to him, Ji Lee suddenly clenched his right hand, and the stone armrest his hand was resting on was shattered and cracked. “Second brother.” Prefecture Lord Young turned to look at his second brother. Lee looked at the Prefecture Lord, his senior brother. His face changing, he said in a low voice, “Advanced swordplay…he’s only ten, but his swordplay is already ‘advanced’, and he has reached the level of ‘expertise’ in the [Raindrop Sutra], one of the five major sword techniques of the Ji clan! He is even more of a monster than his father. Senior brother, first your lineage produced Ji Yichuan, and now, your lineage produced a Ji Ning. Heaven has shown it does not favor me. I have lost, and I have nothing more to say! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Prefecture Lord Ji Young spoke out, “Second brother, listen to me!” “Big brother.” Ji Lee closed his eyes, and then opened them and growled fiercely, “No need to say anything else. From today onwards, Ji Ning is the heir to the Prefecture Lord position of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. I, Ji Lee, will definitely be prepared to come when he calls, and will be faithful and loyal as I go out and do battle on behalf of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. I will not be the slightest bit rebellious. I thoroughly admire and submit to Ji Ning. But you…I simply do not admire and submit to you at all!” Lee hurriedly turned and left. “Father.” Ji Jadewich, seated next to him, called out, hurriedly following after him. Young watched quietly as Lee left, but he had a hint of a smile on his face. He knew very well that his second brother, Ji Lee, had a fierce temper. Lee was an extremely combative man. He would submit to those who were powerful, but he would never do so to one who was weak! Ever since they were young, in terms of power, he, Young, had been inferior to his second brother. Naturally, Lee had never submitted to him. But Lee had once said…if Ji Yichuan were to become Prefecture Lord, he wouldn’t voice a single word of complaint. Now that Ning had showed that he was even more of a monster than his father Yichuan, and had in such an awe-inspiring manner defeated seven opponents to seize the golden sword, Lee naturally admired and submitted to him in the same manner. If he submitted, he submitted! If he didn’t submit, he didn’t submit! He, Ji Lee, had never admired or submitted to his big brother, Ji Young. ….. Sunset. The Snowfall Palace of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had put on a feast. The settling of the identity of the next Prefecture Lord was an event of enormous importance to the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. After Young stepped down, Ning would assume his position and also become one of the overseers. As for Young, being both a Xiantian lifeform and the previous Prefecture Lord, he would also become an overseer. The Ji clan of the West Prefecture had in total ten major overseers. Any affairs which had a major impact on the destiny of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture were all decided together by the ten overseers. Once Ning assumed his position, the weakest of the current ten overseers would have to step down! The structure of power would completely change. One could foresee how much power would be gained by the current, principal lineage. “Wu Sa, Wu Sa Ya!” In the center of the palace, more than thirty barefoot and half-naked fur-clad young women were dancing. In the area behind the two rows on each side of the palace, there were musicians playing instruments such as drums, pipes, ocarinas, and other such instruments. The sound of the musical instruments were occasionally somber while occasionally lively, reverberating throughout the palace. Within this palace, the most powerful people within the Ji clan of the West Prefecture were currently clustered together, toasting each other and laughing loudly. Ning, as the heir apparent to the Prefecture Lord position, had his own seat as well. In front of him, there was a table that was filled with all sorts of delicious food. “Huahuahua…” A fur-clad young lady was standing to the side, holding a large urn of wine. Seeing that Ning’s beastskull cup was empty, she hurriedly filled it. The urn of wine weighed dozens of pounds, but the young fur-clad lady didn’t spill a single drop of wine as she poured. “It truly has its own unique charm.” Watching, Ji Ning shook his head dizzily. There was more than one person seated next to Ning. Ji Yichuan was naturally seated on his knees in the middle of the table, with Yuchi Snow by his side, while a large, snow-white dog was on his other side. It was the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’. The people qualified to have their own individual seats here in the Snowfall Palace were all people of extremely high status in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even Ning’s mother, Snow, had to be brought in her capacity as the wife of Yichuan, as she herself wouldn’t have otherwise been qualified to have her own seat. ….. All of the Xiantian lifeforms had brought either their family or the spirit-beasts they had tamed. Soon, it was nightfall, and the musicians and dancers all depart, and even the female servants and attendants were dismissed as well. It was the time to talk about some major affairs. If they were talking about extremely important, secret matters, even spirit-beasts and family members would have to leave. “Everyone.” Prefecture Lord Young laughed. “Today, the Ceremony of the Golden Sword was concluded. Ning, at the age of ten, defeated seven combatants by himself and seized the golden sword. Naturally, he has become the next heir to the position of Prefecture Lord. However, Ning is still young…it’s best to have him wait a while longer and gain more experience before taking the Prefecture Lord position. As I see it, let’s wait until he is twenty. What do you think, everyone?” “Agreed.” “Agreed.” “Ning’s talent is no lower than Yichuan’s. He is very suitable for being selected as the next Prefecture Lord.” Another overseer nodded. Not even a single objection was raised, including from those on Ji Lee’s side. Yichuan, seated off to the side, revealed a rare smile. “Prefecture Lord.” “Yichuan, what is it?” Young looked towards him. “I wish to ask for an item for my son.” Yichuan said. Young was puzzled. “What item?” “The Traceless Talisman!” Yichuan said solemnly. As soon as his words came out, the entire hall fell silent. Many of the Xiantian-level people stared at each other in surprise. “The Traceless Talisman?” Young frowned as he looked at Ning, then asked, “Ning, you want the Traceless Talisman?” Sitting there holding his wine-filled beastskull goblet, Ning was startled. Glancing at his father, he nodded. “Right.” Yichuan said, “Ning is the next Prefecture Lord. He should be able to request this Traceless Talisman, right?” “Right.” Young nodded, and then took a deep breath. With a flip of his hand, a strange jade talisman, glittering with jade light, appeared in his palm. This jade talisman was covered with complicated diagrams and illegible words, and it emanated strange, faint waves of energy which caused the area around it to seemingly distort. With a toss, Young tossed the item directly to Yichuan. “Yichuan, this Traceless Talisman is one of the guardian treasures of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture. It must not be used carelessly.” Yichuan nodded. “I understand.” —————— 232 Late night. On the road back from Snowfall Palace, Ning and his parents, as well as the Whitewater Hound, were walking together. “Father. Mother.” Ning said, puzzled. “What is the Traceless Talisman. What do you want it for, Father?” Snow laughed as she looked at her son. “This is the reason why your father said he would only permit you to leave if you participated in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword and seized the golden sword. Because only after seizing the golden sword and settling the question of your position as heir to the Prefecture Lord position would you be able to acquire one of the guardian treasures, the ‘Traceless Talisman’.” Yichuan said with a cold face, “The Traceless Talisman is an extremely valuable talisman. Three hundred years ago, one of the ancestors of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture, thanks to good luck, managed to acquire it. Back then, he acquired three of them, but he used up two of them…and now only this last one is remaining, and it has become the guardian treasure of our prefecture.” “What use does it have?” Ning asked. Yichuan laughed. “As long as you utilize the ‘Traceless Talisman’, you can instantly travel to any place within ten thousand kilometers.” “What?!” Ning was shocked. Instantly travel to any location within ten thousand kilometers? “A talisman like this is something you can’t even purchase if you wanted to, and our ancestor was only able to acquire it through luck.” Yichuan sighed. “To our Ji clan, obtaining a treasure of this level…is our absolute good fortune. You are the next Prefecture Lord, and thus I used that to acquire this ‘Traceless Talisman’ without anyone being able to object.” After speaking, with a flip of his hand, Yichuan withdrew a jade shortsword that was gleaming with a bloody light, handing it to Ning. “This jade sword was only completed after being immersed in my blood for a long time. No matter how distant you are, I will be able to sense the location of this jade sword. This time, when you go out adventuring, keep it within you at all times. Remember, as soon as you meet any danger, immediately break this jade sword. When you break the jade sword, I will immediately know, and I will immediately use the ‘Traceless Talisman’ to instantly teleport to you and save your life.” “Ah!” Ning instantly understood the reason why his father needed this Traceless Talisman. Yichuan barked at him, “On this adventuring trip, you are not permitted to go too far from the West Prefecture City. This Traceless Talisman has a maximum range of only ten thousand kilometers. Through sensing the location of the jade sword, I’ll know how far away you are. If I sense that you have moved more than ten thousand kilometers away from the West Prefecture City, I will immediately head towards you, capture you, bring you back, and imprison you in the underground prison for three years!” 233 Ning rubbed his eyes. Imprisoned for three years in the underground prison? The forever dark underground prison, where the sunlight never shone, was the place where felons and those who were to be executed were held by the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. “Your son will definitely remember.” Ning hurriedly said. Ten thousand kilometers? More than enough. After all, the area which the Ji clan of the West Prefecture controlled was only a few thousand kilometers. If he kept heading west, he would enter the territory of one of the other local hegemons. “Ning, son.” Snow asked with concern. “When do you plan to head out and go adventuring?” “I’ll make some quick preparations first.” Ning nodded. “Three days from now.” ———————— Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Dawn. The sky was barely lit. Within Ning’s room. “Ning, son, take these with you.” With a wave of Snow’s hand, atop Ning’s bed, two large sets of beast fur clothing as well as some other miscellaneous items appeared out of nowhere. “Mother.” Ning couldn’t help but say. “I’ve already prepared everything. Clothing, food, tools.” Yichuan snapped coldly, “If we tell you to take it, then take it. Your mother personally stitched every single one of these items with her own hands.” Ning’s heart shook. He couldn’t help but glance at his mother. Yuchi Snow’s gaze remained on her son, and Ning could clearly sense the boundless, infinite love within his mother’s gaze…ever since he was young, his mother had taken care of him in every way possible. It was like he was everything to her. For him to go adventuring, his mother most likely was truly frightened for him. As the saying goes, ‘When the son travels far, his mother worries at home.’ What’s more, this time he was going out to adventure. “Father.” Ning had a serious thought. He hurriedly asked, “This time, when I go out, will Ji Lee secretly…” “He will not.” Yichuan said coldly. “The reason why our Ji clan has been able to remain in existence in this part of the world for so long is because of our internal unity. We absolute forbid infighting. Anyone who violates this would suffer the pursuit and slaughter of all five prefectures of the Ji clan! In addition, I understand Lee’s personality very well. He just doesn’t want to submit to Prefecture Lord Young, but in 234 his heart, he still holds the matters of the Ji clan in the highest regard. In addition, his arrogance is bred into his bones. He disdains doing such things.” Ning nodded as though he had understood something. “Don’t worry about Ji Lee.” Yichuan barked. “What you need to worry more about are those Diremonsters. Diremonsters all possess different innate powers and also have different tactics. Even the Xiantian level experts of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture will often die, much less you, who have not even reached the Xiantian level!” “Don’t say such things.” Snow said hurriedly. “Our son is about to go out adventuring. Say something more pleasant. Ning, son, Mother has one more thing to give you.” As she spoke, a golden book appeared in her hands. The pages seemed made from gold leaf, and on top of the book there were four ancientlooking words: [Wind Wing Evasion Technique]. “This is a set of footwork techniques, and this is also the most precious Immortal training manual which Mother has. Wait until you become a Xiantian lifeform before reading it.” Snow instructed. “Also, you are not permitted to teach it to any other member of the Ji clan.” “Yes.” Ning nodded. The [Shadewind Steps] which his mother had taught him was something which only his mother knew! This was because even the Ji clan didn’t possess that footwork technique, so his mother had instructed him…that he was forbidden from teaching the [Shadewind Steps] to the other members of the Ji clan. This [Windwing Evasion] technique was also possessed by his mother alone, and thus she was forbidding him from teaching it to other members of the Ji clan. “Alright. You can head out now.” Yichuan spoke. “If you are going to leave, then leave. Be straightforward about it.” “Father. Mother. I’m leaving now.” Ning looked at his parents. And then, with a turn of his head, he left. Outside, Mowu and his female maidservant, Autumn Leaf, were waiting for him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In the mountain forest outside the West Prefecture City. Ji Ning, Mowu, and his maidservant Autumn Leaf were each seated on a black ferobeast. This beast was shaped like a leopard, and its body was covered with faint leopard-type patterns. It had a single horn on its head. This was an extremely ferocious type of beast. It could clamber up mountains like flat land, and was extremely fast. It was an excellent mount, but of course, it was a bit inferior to a tamed monstrous beast. Given Ning’s status, he was being quite low-key in riding this sort of mount. “West Prefecture City.” Ning turned and looked back, staring at the distant, enormous city. He had lived there ever since he was young. “Let’s go!” Ning shouted. With a kick to the waist of the mounted beast, the mounted beast immediately leapt forward at a gallop, while Autumn Leaf and Mowu hurriedly rode their own black ferobeasts behind. ————– Winter left. Spring came. On a grassy area within a mountain village, there were dozens of fur-clad men moving forward happily, half of them carrying burdens on shoulder poles. “Uncle Dala!” A clearly inexperienced, spear-wielding youngster called out excitedly, “Before this, you never let us visit Eastmount Marsh, and you said that Eastmount Marsh was extremely dangerous. But this time…we encountered no danger at all, and we managed to catch so many fish. It will be enough for our tribe to eat for a long time.” A heroic, bear-like figure next to him laughed, “Ah Yi, you brought us good luck. This time to Eastmount Marsh, not a single tribesman died. This is very rare. However, don’t underestimate Eastmount Marsh. Eastmount Marsh is one of the places in this area with the most Diremonsters within an area of ten thousand square kilometers. But of course, the fish in Eastmount Marsh are boundless in number as well. “Ah Yi, this is the first time you’ve gone fishing with us. After a few more trips, you’ll know how dangerous it is. When we go back, you need to exercise more and refine your ki. Only when you are strong will you be able to live a longer life.” A one-armed man next to them laughed. “Ah Yi isn’t a child anymore. This time, when we go back, we need to find a woman for Ah Yi. Let’s get some good furs and go to one of the neighboring tribes to exchange them for a fertile woman with big buttocks.” “Get a few more women, so they can birth a few more childrens.” The older men were all teasing this youth. Just at this time, from the brambles and bushes nearby, a monstrous beast with black fur was lying in wait. Its fur was extremely smooth, and the contours of its body were sleek and soft. It seemed like a panther of some sort. A faint hint of green could be seen in its eyes, and its body was nearly seven meters long. Its furry mane was extremely tough, and it was shaped like a ring of circular spikes. It was waiting. Waiting for an opportunity. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll find one for myself.” Ah Yi was a bit embarrassed, and his face was turning red. He hastily called out. “Haha, he’s shy.” The older men laughed. Suddenly… “Roaaaar!” A black blur suddenly pounced over, pouncing directly towards the closest tribesman, a man who was holding a carrying pole. “Monster!” The other tribesmen hurriedly roared in anger, and the spears in their hands thrust out. They had painstakingly trained since their youth, and had been refining their internal energy for dozens of years, and now possessed great strength. “Bang!” The enormous black blur’s claws easily swept aside the spears, knocking them to one side. “Quick.” “Kill.” The surrounding tribesmen all roared with anger, thrusting out with their spears as well. As a small tribe, they didn’t possess any profound Immortal techniques, making spear and polearm type weapons extremely popular amongst them. So long as they trained a few simple movements every day, after a few dozen years, their power would still be extraordinary. “Hua!” Stepping on the polearms, the enormous black blur easily leapt up and pounced towards the center of the group of tribesmen. These tribesmen often went to Eastmount Marsh to fish, and thus they selected a fairly safe return path, one which rarely encountered monstrous beasts. But caution was bred into their bones, and so the tribesmen with the carrying poles were all in the center, while the powerful tribal warriors with weapons at the ready were on the outer perimeter. “A monster!” The one-armed man called out hurriedly. “Careful.” As he spoke, he brandished his single blade, pouncing towards the massive black blur. “Monster, die!” The most powerful of the tribal warriors, the bear-like, ‘Uncle Dala’, also brandished his long greataxe as he threw himself towards the black blur. “Kill!” The nearby tribesmen were all going crazy. All of them knew how powerful Bi’an Tigers were. Just then, six powerful warriors had surrounded and attacked this Bi’an Tiger, but it had easily stepped on their weapons and jumped into their center, causing them all to understand…that this was most likely an extremely terrifying monstrous beast that had already reached the peak of the Houtian level. Today, it was possible that several of them would die. “Grrrrrrrrrr.” The Bi’an Tiger roared angrily. Unlike before, where it moved quickly, this time it stayed where it was, attacking wildly. Clang! The one-armed man was sent flying backwards by the collision, while Uncle Dala continued to chop downwards with his greataxe while roaring wildly. The Bi’an Tiger had also noticed that this greataxe wielding human was the most dangerous of the group, and so he didn’t pay any attention to the other tribal warriors, using his sharp claws to smash directly against the greataxe, causing its trajectory to be altered. However, the greataxe still landed on the flank of the Bi’an Tiger, chopping out a massive wound. Only, the Bi’an Tiger’s muscles around its flank tightened, and very little blood flowed out. The main problem was that the greataxe hadn’t landed a deep enough blow. At the same time the Bi’an Tiger batted the greataxe aside, roaring, the Bi’an Tiger opened its massive maw and bit down towards Uncle Dala. “Uncle Dala.” The somewhat stupefied youngster, Ah Yi, was stunned and called out. “Dala!” “Dala!” The surrounding tribesmen were all worried as well. Suddenly… 238 “Shua!” Something flashed past like a glittering meteor from afar, instantly penetrating the Bi’an Tiger’s skull, then flying out from the other side before penetrating into a giant tree…and then shot out from the other side of the tree as well. “Grrr…” Uncle Dala fell to the ground, with the massive body of the Bi’an Tiger on top of him, blood covering Uncle Dala’s face. “Uncle Dala.” The youngster, Ah Yi, immediately ran over. He was at the verge of tears. “I’m fine.” That powerful tribesman pushed the Bi’an Tiger off, then stood up while rubbing his face, finding that it was covered with blood. “This isn’t my blood. It is the Bi’an Tiger’s blood.” The one armed man walked over and took a glance as well, first looking at the corpse of the Bi’an Tiger, and then at the nearby tree. His pupils contracted, and he whispered, “For an arrow to pierce through the rock-hard skull of the Bi’an Tiger, and then through the black arrowwood tree…that’s simply terrifying. In addition, the Bi’an Tiger suffered the arrow in mid-leap. This archery skill…” “Definitely a godly archer.” “A godly archer shot this arrow.” All of the tribesmen stared at the corpse of the Bi’an Tiger, then looked afar into the general direction from which the arrow had come from and where the godly archer must be. Hua! Hua! Hua! Three figures drew from deep within the mountain forests. The tribesmen watched carefully…and soon, they were able to see them clearly. Three people, riding extremely handsome black ferobeasts. The black ferobeasts moved through the mountain slopes as though they were travelling on flat land, and quickly arrived before the tribesmen. “Uh….” Seeing the three people in front of them, all the tribesmen were awestruck. They were riding handsome black ferobeasts, and wore extremely meticulous, beautifully made beast fur clothes. The person in front was a seemingly very young and handsome young man, while by his side was an extremely beautiful girl. The men could swear to themselves…that they couldn’t find such a girl as beautiful as this one in their entire tribe. Although she was dressed in warrior’s clothes, it couldn’t hide her beauty. As for the man on the other side of the youngster, he emitted a fierce, ferocious aura, causing the hearts of these tribesmen to quail. “Hu.” The older man leapt down from his black ferobeast, walking over to the tall, thick black arrowwood tree, snatching out the arrow. “Young master.” The man walked next to the youngster, respectfully offering him the arrow. Ji Ning accepted it. Although they had prepared many arrows for this adventuring expedition, if they abandoned every arrow they shot out, they probably would run out of arrows soon. These were all extremely good arrows…they could be used multiple times. “Honored young master.” The one-armed tribesman went forward, respectfully bowing. “Thank you for acting to save us. Might I ask if there is some way in which our Metalstone Tribe can serve you, young master?” The other tribesmen didn’t dare to make a sound. Someone who brought a maidservant and a manservant while adventuring…this clearly was no ordinary person. And in addition, he had been referred to as ‘young master’ earlier. Someone who was respectfully addressed as ‘young master’ was generally the son of a tribal chief of a major tribe with tens of thousands of tribesmen. Clearly, this youngster should belong to an extremely large tribe. “Are you familiar with Eastmount Marsh?” Ning, riding on the black ferobeast, asked them. The tribesmen looked at each other. Why was this young master going to Eastmount Marsh? He definitely couldn’t be going there for fishing like they had, right? It would definitely be very dangerous. “I am.” The powerful, dark-skinned Uncle Dala strode forward. “I have been fishing in Eastmount Marsh for dozens of years now, and am very familiar with this place. Young master, if you wish to go to Eastmount Marsh, I can lead the way for you.” “Excellent.” Ning, mounted on the black ferobeast, laughed ,and then with a flip of his hand, tossed over a ‘beasthead’ of gold. “Come with me, then.” Accepting the beasthead of gold, Uncle Dala’s eyes instantly lit up. This beasthead of gold, weighing exactly ten pounds, would be more than enough for his child to live off of for the rest of his life. He immediately gave it to the nearby one armed man. “Help me take it back and give it to my eldest son. If I die, then help me take care of my three little kids.” “Alright.” The one armed man nodded. “Report your name.” Ning said. “Honored young master, you can address me as Dala!” Uncle Dala said respectfully. “Dala, mount on her black ferobeast.” Ning pointed to Autumn Leaf’s mount. “Autumn Leaf, you come sit with me.” 240 “Yes, young master.” Autumn Leaf leapt down, then immediately mounted Ning’s black ferobeast, then held her arms around Ning’s waist. She had served Ning since he was born, and they were as close to each other as real siblings. In addition, as Ning’s personal maidservant, it was essentially determined long ago that she was Ning’s woman, and thus there were no taboos between them. Uncle Dala, holding his breath, carefully mounted the black ferobeast. He had never ridden on such a fine mount before. “Let’s go.” Ning ordered. Hua! Ning and the others rode the black ferobeasts, quickly disappearing into the mountain forests. “Uncle Saber.” The youngster, Ah Yi, asked frantically. “Uncle Dala is going to take them to the Eastmount Marsh. Will it be dangerous?” The one-armed man nodded. “They aren’t like us. That youngsters is definitely the son of a leader of a large tribe, and has received the finest instruction since he was young. That arrow was probably loosed by him. He has most likely come to Eastmount Marsh for a rite-of-passage adventure! He has to kill a certain number of monstrous beasts, but Eastmount Marsh is too large and too complicated an area. Just relying on a simple map isn’t sufficient, so they asked for Uncle Dalat to help lead the way.” “Rites-of-passage? But that youngster isn’t an adult yet.” Ah Yi said. “Some people look older than their age, others look younger.” The one armed man said. Actually, right now, Ning was just eleven years old, although he was already 1.7 meters tall, the same height he was in his past life. “But that young master was very benevolent.” The one armed man sighed. “Just then, when the Bi’an Tiger ambushed us, if that young master hadn’t intervened…several of us probably would have died, and the first to die would have been your Uncle Dala! Having had his life saved, your Uncle Dala would go guide them, even if it cost him his life. In addition, the young master gave him a beasthead of gold. Ten pounds!” “Hurry, hurry, hurry.” The one armed man suddenly shouted. “Butcher that Bi’an Tiger’s corpse and take it back.” “Quick.” 241 “Come.” One after another pulled out their knives and hatchets, quickly butchering the Bi’an Tiger’s corpse, and then they continued on their return trip. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning’s squad, mounted on the three black ferobeasts, charged through the borders of the mountain forest. “Look.” Uncle Dala pointed in front. “Eastmount Marsh is up ahead.” “Eastmount Marsh.” Ning stared off into the distance. An enormous, endless lake stretched far into the distance, flashing with the beautiful light of the spring sun. At one glance, one could see flying beasts diving down and snatching up fish, or some tails of enormous aquatic creatures wriggling amongst the reeds. Occasionally, a massive head would be seen. This was the world of monsters! “Eastmount Marsh.” Ning murmured. “We’re finally here.” Eastmount Marsh was located between the territory of the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan. The Ironwood clan was a hegemonic power on par with the Ji clan, but it was the Ji clan’s enemy! Eastmount Marsh was over a thousand kilometers wide, and was on par in size with a ‘province’ in his previous life. Such an enormous lake…naturally had countless monstrous beasts here. The monstrous beasts which the Ji clan knew about numbered up to twelve! Ever since leaving the Ji clan of the West Prefecture and adventuring ,Ning had wanted to go fight with a few Xiantian level Diremonsters, but Diremonsters were all hidden within the deep lakes and tall mountains. How could they be so easily found? In the past, he had spent nearly an entire month searching an area without any success. Furious, Ning immediately changed their path and headed straight to Eastmount Marsh! “There are many monsters in Eastmount Marsh, and many of them are early Xiantian level. I refuse to believe I won’t encounter a single one.” Ning was like a newborn calf who didn’t know the meaning of fear. However, he didn’t dare to be too incautious either, because many clansmen of the Ji clan had died here in Eastmount Marsh, such as his grandfather, who had died here at Eastmount Marsh! ————————- “Mowu. Autumn Leaf.” Ning leapt off the back of his black ferobeast and instructed, “Eastmount Marsh is too risky a place, and there is danger everywhere. In addition, the black ferobeasts are of no use in the water. The two of you, take these three black ferobeasts and head to the Metalstone Tribe. Wait for me at the Metalstone Tribe!” 243 Mowu and Autumn Leaf glanced at each other. They could only reply respectfully, “Yes, young master.” “Dala.” Ning looked at the swarthy, big man. “You and I will make a trip to this lake. Help me get used to the general areas around here, and then you can go back and rest at the Metalstone Tribe as well.” “Yes, young master.” Uncle Dala said respectfully. “Let’s go.” Ning immediately headed forward, and Uncle Dala, hefting his greataxe, followed behind. Autumn Leaf and Mowu watched as their young master entered the distant Eastmount Marsh. Although they were nervous, there was nothing they could do. One of them was a maidservant, while the other was nothing more than a person assigned to teach the young master his abundant mountaineering experience. Their power was far inferior to Ning’s. The vast lake was filled with myriad beautiful scenes. “Within this great lake, there are places with islands of firmer terrain and grasses as well.” Uncle Dala laughed. “In fact, there are even some small villages. But of course, most of the muddy areas, if you step into them, you’ll sink into the marsh…and in addition, there is of course the immeasurably deep lake itself. Within the marsh, it is difficult to move about, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll sink into it.” Ning was right next to him. “Our Metalstone Tribe has lived in a village near the marsh for centuries now, and often come here to fish. We know exactly where which roads are passable and which aren’t.” Uncle Dala was very confident. Pa! Pa! Striding through the mud, Ning followed this tribal warrior through Eastmount Marsh. “Look.” A beastskin parchment appeared out of nowhere in Ning’s hands. “This is the map of Eastmount Lake. Lead me to these circled areas.” “Ah!” Uncle Dala was terrified. “These…these are all places where Diremonsters are hiding. These are the most dangerous places. We don’t dare go near them.” “You don’t need to go near them.” Ning shook his head. “Just lead me there, and tell me from afar how to go.” Uncle Dala’s forehead was covered in sweat. He nodded. “Alright. I’ll lead you, young master.” ———————- Eastmount Marsh was simply too vast. It was indeed quite slow for them to move through it relying on their legs alone. In addition, this was Ning’s first time coming here, and the various meandering pathways stretched for thousands of kilometers. Fortunately, the experienced Uncle Dala guided him to one hidden pathway after another, allowing them to easily navigate this marsh. In the blink of an eye, over a month passed. Ning had carried food and beverages within his kalestone, and in addition, they could roast the meat of some monstrous beasts. Whenever they went to sleep, they would just find a random patch of dry land or grass. Ning wasn’t in a hurry to go challenge those hidden Diremonsters. First, he wanted to locate them. Afterwards, he would travel by himself and relying on his ‘one with the world’ level of footwork to easily walk atop the surface of the lake water. He would be able to traverse a thousand kilometers in but a single day. “This is the last place.” Uncle Dala pointed from afar at a distant place, where the luxurious growth of aquatic plants, at least three meters high, waved in the wind. “Right there, where the aquatic plants are growing, is the lair of a Greater Beast. Supposedly, this is an extremely, extremely large rhinoceros, an aquatic rhinoceros the size of a small mountain.” “Alright. Let’s go back. After returning to the Metalstone Tribe, I will definitely reward you heavily.” Ning said. “Young master, you’ve given me enough.” Uncle Dala said hastily. This seemingly delicate youngster was actually terrifyingly powerful. During their month in Eastmount Marsh, they had been attacked by quite a few monstrous beasts, but all of them died to but a single blow of the youngster’s sword! Ning didn’t care about the corpses of the monstrous beasts either, but Uncle Dala’s heart ached every time. This was monstrous beast flesh. If they sold it, the tribe would be in a much better situation, but he couldn’t carry it all back, so all he could do was to carve out a few choice parts and take them with him. “Hrm?” Ning and Uncle Dala both suddenly stared into the distance. From afar, there was a squad of troops, with quite a few figures within. Deep in the marsh, there were solid areas, muddy areas, and even hilly areas, along with a large mountain. That mountain was known as the East Mountain, which was why this marsh was known as Eastmount Marsh. Off in the distance, a squad of apparently several hundred soldiers could be seen clustered in on a hill. Suddenly, ten figures ran over at rapid speed towards Ning and Uncle Dala. “What’s going on?” Ning frowned. “Quick, let’s leave.” Uncle Dala was so frightened that he immediately turned tail and ran. Shua! One of those ten men was wearing blue metal armor, and with a howl, he leapt forward at an astonishing speed, blocking off Uncle Dala’s escape path. “The two of you.” The blue armored man stared at them coldly, pausing only briefly to glance at the exquisite beast fur clothes on Ning’s body, before continuing disdainfully, “Come with us!” “What do you want with us?” Uncle Dala, seeing the man’s armor, immediately bowed and said respectfully. The other nine walked over as well, all of them dressed in armor. “Hurry up. If we tell you to follow us, then follow us. Otherwise, you die here!” These armor-clad guards all stared coldly while hefting their weapons, clearly very skilled. Uncle Dala looked at Ning. “Let’s take a look for now.” Ning was actually quite calm. These armored guards were clearly no ordinary people, but to him, they were like nothing more than wild chickens facing a ravenous dog. But why did the armored guards want them to follow? If it wasn’t necessary, Ning didn’t want to so casually slaughter others. “Move.” “Hurry.” Under the watchful gazes of the ten armored guards, Ning and Uncle Dala headed towards the hill. There was some grass on the hill, and there were currently hundreds of people there. Most of them were lying there with their hands and feet bound, while roughly a hundred armored guards were in a perimeter around them, while there was a stone seat in the center. On the stone seat, there was a bulky, muscled man, at least six and a half feet tall, wearing thick armor and with a dominating gaze. Ning stared in surprise at the tall armored man who sat in the middle. The ‘demonstone’ in Ning’s pocket was currently radiating heat. Clearly, it had sensed the presence of a nearby monster. At the same time, Ning could vaguely feel that the massive armored man escorted by the many guards had an extraordinary aura. “There’s a Diremonster.” Ning hurriedly inspecting everyone carefully. Only humans were nearby. A monster which could take human form was, without question, a Diremonster! Ning had brought many objects with him on this journey, and a demonstone was one of them. Demonstones…were a type of special natural rock. Once they sensed the aura of a monster, they would emanate light and heat. Some cities that were even larger than West Prefecture City would have ‘Monster Revealing Mirrors’ installed on the city gates, which were formed from multiple demonstones. So long as a monster drew near, the Monster Revealing Mirror would immediately radiate light. Humans had a human aura, while monsters naturally had their own monstrous auras. This was a type of life aura. “Dala!” “Uncle Dala!” Suddenly, several voices rang out. Ning and Uncle Dala both turned their heads and saw that amongst the bound people, there were ten of them calling towards the two of them. This caused Uncle Dala to immediately have a distressed look on his face. “Black Tiger, why have you been bound here?” Those ten or so people belonged to his tribe. “Dala, why are you here? That giant person is a Diremonster. He’s going to eat us all.” One of the bound tribesmen called out frantically. “Diremonster?” Uncle Dala was shocked. Ning stared back at that massive man in heavy armor, seated in the center of that ring of armored guards. Taking a careful glance, he saw that the giant man had a hint of blood at the corner of his lips, and he was currently smacking them in a satisfied manner. This caused Ning’s heart to immediately become filled with an urge to kill. “So the Diremonster which my demonstone sensed is him! Eastmount Marsh has a total of twelve Diremonsters. I wonder which one he is.” “Shut your mouth.” An armored guard walked over and kicked that bound man, kicking him wildly and repeatedly. “All of you, shut your mouths.” “You are harming your fellow humans for the sake of a Diremonster, and you want us to shut our mouths?” “And you are the venerable Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan. You really are a disgrace to the Ironwood clan!” “Kick away, kick as much as you like, kick us all to death.” The people being kicked shouted wildly. “Stop it!” The massive, heavily armored man seated on the stone bench rumbled. His voice was very deep, as though coming from a bullhorn. “If you kick them to death, then I’ll eat you.” 247 The armored guard glanced at the heavily armored giant, and then unhappily stepped back. “Aquatic Rhino King!” A bald armored guard growled, “We have already helped you capture over five hundred people. Our comrades have spread out everywhere to capture people, and have already done our part. Give our young master back to us, and our Ironwood clan will act as though this never happened. Otherwise, if the situation escalates, Aquatic Rhino King…you should know that you are unable to bear the fury of our Ironwood clan.” Watching from a distance under escort from two armored guards, Ning’s eyes lit up. Aquatic Rhino King? There was only a single Aquatic Rhinoceros amongst the twelve Diremonsters of Eastmount Marsh. It was an early Xiantian level Diremonster! “Early Xiantian level?” Ning’s eyes were filled with a killing intent. “I’ve searched a long, long time for a Diremonster of this level of power. This really is a case of ‘searching far and wide to no avail, but then discovering it all of a sudden’.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Aquatic Rhino King, seated on his stone chair, glanced at the bald armored guard. Reaching out with his enormous hand, he grabbed a nearby bound youth, placing the youth down on his thigh. The youth, on the thigh of the Aquatic Rhino King, was like a tiny doll, without any ability to resist at all. The youth screamed in pain, “He told you to go capture people, so do so. All you need to do is capture a thousand people. Oh mighty Aquatic Rhino King, the two we just captured, plus the nineteen you ate earlier, means that I have already ordered my subordinates to capture five hundred and eighty three humans for you already.” “Don’t worry.” The voice of the Aquatic Rhino King was still very low and very thick. “I, the Aquatic Rhino King, will do what I promise. After you catch a thousand people, I will definitely spare you.” “Baldy!” The Aquatic Rhino King stared with his massive eyes at the bald armored guard. “Don’t try to use the Ironwood clan’s name to try and scare me. Here in the Eastmount Marsh, every year, how many disciples of the Ironwood clan and the Ji clan die? You came to adventure in Eastmount Marsh. If you die, you die! Even if this soft-skinned, tender-fleshed ‘young master’ of your Ironwood clan really has an extremely high status, if I were to kill you all, most likely it would be a long time before the Ironwood clan found out that you were all dead, and wouldn’t be able to find out who the killer was!” The Blue Guards could only grit their teeth. The Aquatic Rhino King laughed, and with a wave of his hand, tossed the bound ‘young master’ of the Ironwood clan to the ground again. “All of you, go out and capture more people. Go capture more, quickly. Go capture more of these lowly peasants.” Lying on the ground, the Ironwood clan’s ‘young master’ was roaring angrily. “But young master.” The bald armored guard said frantically, “We’ve already captured virtually all of the hunters and fishers here in Eastmount Marsh. Even if there were any more here…there would only be a very few. It’s going to be very hard to reach four hundred.” The young master of the Ironwood clan, lying on the ground, howled fiercely, “Then find a tribe. Any who resist, slaughter them all. Bring the rest back here. You should be able to find a few hundred people in a tribe, right?” “Massacre a tribe?” The bald armored guard was stunned. “What are you afraid of?” The Ironwood clan’s ‘young master’ roared, “If you are afraid, then go to the territory of the Ji clan! Go massacre a clan in the Ji clan’s territory. Kill any who resist and bring the others back.” 249 The bald armored guard clenched his teeth. “Yes!” If it was a case of the two major sides engaging in battle, or an order from their master in ordinary circumstances, they wouldn’t hesitate at all to kill. But they were now serving a Diremonster to kill and torture other humans…this caused the valiant armored guards to feel incomparable shame. “Haha…” The Aquatic Rhino King laughed loudly, his voice like thunder. “Good, good, good. After you round up a thousand humans, I’ll definitely spare you.” “Boom!” The Aquatic Rhino King rubbed his rumbling stomach, licking his lips. “Just ate a man. Now I’m hungry again! Who should I eat?” The Aquatic Rhino King cast his gaze towards the others, and instantly, the people who were tied up all had changed looks on their face. Many people’s eyes were filled with fear. They had personally witnessed this Diremonster eat someone alive earlier. They weren’t afraid of death, but to be eaten one bite at a time was a sort of hell! “Um?” The Aquatic Rhino King’s gaze landed on the distant Ning, and his eyes lit up. “Um, that human youth’s skin is so delicate and so clean. He seems very young. His flesh definitely will be delicious. Quick, someone, go bring him to me.” As he spoke, he began to drool. “Young master.” Uncle Dala looked frantically towards Ning. There were ten Blue Guards next to them. “Move it.” A Blue Guard grabbed at Ning’s beast fur clothes. Ning turned his head and glanced at the Blue Guard. With a movement of his right hand, he sent his right palm chopping towards the chest of the Blue Guard. Bang…a low sound rang out, and the Blue Guard was sent flying far away into the air. His eyes were bulging and round, and his mouth was hanging wide open. His face was red. Bang! Fresh blood spewed out from his shattered organs. He fell into the watery marsh over a hundred meters away, and as he did, he kicked up a splash of water, then sank down, not moving at all. Clearly, he was dead. “To willingly serve as the fangs and claws for a Diremonster and harm those of your own race…you deserve death!” A cold voice rang out. Utter silence. The five hundred plus people who were tied up on the hill, as well as the hundred plus Blue Guards, and even that seated Diremonster, the Aquatic Rhino King, all turned to look at the seemingly fragile youngster. A single palm sent someone flying over a hundred meters? “Wonderful!” The Aquatic Rhino King was the first to react, and he actually became excited. He naturally was very happy to witness humans killing each other, and he immediately shouted, “Aren’t you going to fight him? He just killed one of your people! Quick, fight!” “Kill!” The other Blue Guards instantly saw red, and all of them transformed into cruel blurs as they pounced towards him. The youngster in front of them had just killed one of their comrades. When their comrade had died to that palm just now, the only thing that could be said was that they were unable to react in time. In addition, this youngster probably trained in some sort of Fiendgod Body Refining technique. He just had a bit of strength, that was all. In a life and death battle, what mattered was the sword and saber techniques which one had refined and trained in. Even if one was much physically weaker, one’s sword would still be able to pierce through an opponent’s skull! Hu! Hu! Hu! Twenty Blue Guards attacked in unison. With a wave of his hand, Ning pushed the nearby Uncle Dala, who went flying. Dala somersaulted in a midair, then landed on the ground, completely uninjured. Uncle Dala looked frantically at the twenty Blue Guards charging towards Ning. “Young master, be careful.” “Be careful.” “Quick, run.” “Young man, quick, run!” The bound prisoners all grew frantic as well, and they began to call out, staring at the youngster with worry. They knew how powerful these Blue Guards were…these Blue Guards were highly experienced Ninefang Warriors who were extremely skilled at group attacks. These were elite soldiers of the Ironwood clan. Only a Xiantian level lifeform would be able to survive the attack of twenty of these Blue Guards. Faced with the attacking Blue Guards, Ning suddenly transformed into a gust of wind, the carefree wind which went where it pleased. When the Blue Guards chopped and stabbed at them with their sabers, spears, and sharp swords, Ning leisurely stepped past, easily making his way past their combined attacks. Hu! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! A series of palm slapping sounds in a row. Even as Ning made his way past the attacks of the twenty Blue Guards, he slapped out with his palms, each strike coming from his wrist and striking onto the faces of the Blue Guards. Each palm strike of Ning’s carried ten thousand pounds of force, and sent these Blue Guards flying. No one was able to block Ning’s palm. Hu! Ning’s body came to a halt. All twenty of the Blue Guards had been knocked flying to the side, all of their heads and necks crooked and twisted, blood flowing from their mouths, noses, and ears. All of them dead! “What?!” “Good heavens!” “But…but…” The hundreds of bound people and the Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan…even the Diremonster was shocked. “You…you…” The young master of the Ironwood clan who was lying there bound on the floor was both furious and frantic. “We are the Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan.” The other Blue Guards had very ugly looks on their faces. They were furious, but didn’t dare to make a move. Ning said with cold calm, “To willingly serve as the claws and fangs of a Diremonster is a crime that deserves death.” The Ironwood clan and the Ji clan were enemies to begin with, and these dead enemies had even been willing to serve as the claws of a Diremonster! Hua! A sharp sword appeared out of nowhere into Ning’s hands. His feet moved, and then sword light began to flash…in the blink of an eye, nine of the Blue Guards held their throats, gurgling a few times, before collapsing, blood flowing from the wound in their necks. In terms of footwork or swordplay, this youngster was extremely fast, causing the other Blue Guards to be terrified. Earlier, Ning had already been terrifying without even using his sword. But now, he began to wield his sword. “Quick, run.” “Aquatic Rhino King, save us!” The Blue Guards were completely frantic. This youngster who had appeared out of nowhere was clearly about to massacre them. The Aquatic Rhino King just sat there, laughing loudly. “All I said was that if you seized a thousand humans, I’d spare you. I never said I’d save you from others. Kill, kill, kill.” The Aquatic Rhino King wasn’t worried at all. To him, a Diremonster, these humans in front of him were nothing more than humans. This was nothing more than internal warfare amongst humans. Chi! Chi! Chi! Blood was flying everywhere, and one Blue Guard after another fell down lifelessly. The Blue Guards all fled in every which way in terror. They were truly frightened now. Their swordplay and saberplay, against this youngster, clearly weren’t enough to even withstand a single blow. “Quick, run.” “Quick.” Hu….moving at extreme speed with the sound of the wind, multiple blurry forms of Ning appeared out of nowhere. Every single Blue Guard fell where they stood. Some had been stabbed through the heart, others had their throats cut. Blood stained the ground. The Blue Guards lay collapsed on the ground, scattered throughout the area. Every single Blue Guard had died! “Hrm?” The Aquatic Rhino King, previously just enjoying the show, suddenly stood up, his face changed. The last, full-strength attack which Ning had employed had pushed his speed to the utmost limit, generating dozens of blurry images. This had truly stunned the Aquatic Rhino King. Before this, he hadn’t considered this youngster as a potential opponent. But now, he began to feel a bit wary. “Too powerful.” “So strong.” “They deserved to die.” The bound people all felt extremely excited. They hadn’t expected this youth to be as powerful as this. Could it be that this powerful youth was so powerful…that he was going to kill this terrifying Diremonster? Swish! Swish! Swish! Sword light flashing, the ten or so people around Ning instantly found their binds had been cut through. “Human youth.” The Aquatic Rhino King transformed into a black blur, charging towards Ning and smashing down at him with a massive fist that was covered with a thick layer of ice. “They are my food.” “Clang.” Ning struck out with his Darknorth sword, stabbing straight towards that massive fist. BANG!!!! It was as though a mountain had collapsed. Ning flew back a hundred meters, and the layer of ice on the fist of the Aquatic Rhino King also exploded, and even half the arm of the monster had exploded. The 253 watching tribesmen all revealed looks of joy and expectation on their faces. Had the Diremonster’s arm been destroyed? “Excellent.” The Aquatic Rhino King growled. “You are worthy of me using my real form.” The Aquatic Rhino King suddenly transformed into a huge, watery fog, and then the enormous fog of water suddenly coalesced at high speed, transforming into a hill-sized, thirty meters tall massive monster. This was an enormous Aquatic Rhinoceros. It was covered with an extremely thick blue hide, and was seventy meters long. It truly was like a small mountain. The energy emitting from its nostrils caused the ground to be covered with a layer of thick ice, and the nearby tribesmen were instantly frozen into ice statues. At this time, Uncle Dala was still rapidly rescuing the other members of his clan. “Quick, leave.” The distant Ning transformed into a stream of light, travelling atop the water. In but an instant, he scurried over, and as his sword flashed, the ropes binding the dozens of men were instantly cut apart. “Why aren’t you leaving?” Ning roared angrily, and then turned to stare at the giant monster. These people quickly grabbed the weapons lying on the ground, cut open the ropes on the people next to them, and then in the blink of an eye, the four hundred lucky survivors quickly fled. “Fleeing? I’m going to freeze you and slowly enjoy eating you.” The Aquatic Rhino King stared around him. Instantly, a cold aura began to radiate forth, and the temperature rapidly began to lower. A layer of ice and frost began to spread out, and instantly, some people were turned into ice statues. Only the fastest runners and the likes of Uncle Dala, who had fled long ago, managed to survive. “I am the Ironwood clan’s…” The young master of the Ironwood clan was still shouting fiercely, but halfway through his words, he turned into an ice statue. In the blink of an eye, the area within thirty meters of the Aquatic Rhino King had turned into a graveyard. Only Ning and the Aquatic Rhino King remained, staring at each other. From off in the distance, Uncle Dala and the dozens of lucky survivors still felt the aftertaste of terror. A young man near Uncle Dala said with concern, “Uncle Dala, will that young fellow survive?” “He will, he will.” Uncle Dala said with his mouth, but in his heart, he didn’t feel too confident either. Would that youngster with astonishing strength and swordplay be able to defeat the vicious, ferocious Diremonster? “Why haven’t you left yet!” The distant Ning roared in anger. Once the battle began, this distance of a three hundred meters, to the likes of Ning or the Aquatic Rhino King, would be nothing at all. He wouldn’t be able to help save them. “Let’s go.” Uncle Dala gritted his teeth, then led his tribesmen to flee. As for those of other tribes, they had fled long ago. They had been utterly frightened. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Freezing ice covered the area. Frozen corpses stood there like ice statues, whether on the ground, lying down, or standing up. There was no longer any hint of life in them. These six hundred corpses, especially those of the five hundred innocents, filled Ning’s heart with an even stronger desire to kill. “Human youth.” The Aquatic Rhino’s four legs seemed like massive pillars, pawing at the ground as it stared at Ning. “You have angered me. Those were meant to be my food.” The ice covered Ning, and there was even a layer of frost on his fur clothes. But Ning’s clothes rippled slightly, instantly breaking apart that layer of frost. Still, a large amount of ice continued to accumulate…all Ning could do was constantly break it apart and sent it flying. “Your swordplay and footwork are both quite impressive, but you are still only at the Houtian level. Whereas I, I am a mighty Xiantian lifeform.” The Aquatic Rhino rumbled in deep throated laughter. “Since a few dozen ordinary humans fled, you’ll have to be the compensatory prize. The flesh of a powerful human youth is even more attractive to me than that of a thousand ordinary humans.” “I haven’t killed a Xiantian lifeform yet.” Covered with frost, Ning stared at the Aquatic Rhino, his voice ice cold. “Thus, I have an unquenchable urge to kill a Xiantian lifeform! Aquatic Rhino King, as the first Xiantian lifeform to die to me, you should feel proud! I will chop off your flesh and personally sample it, and I’ll also let my parents and clansmen taste your flesh!” Hua! Ning’s left hand suddenly was also grasping a precious sword, and he was now wielding a Darknorth sword in each hand. “Twin swords? So it seems your swordplay is just average. In this area around Swallow Mountain, there isn’t a single person who uses twin swords who had good sword techniques!” The Aquatic Rhino stared at Ning with its enormous eyes, and then casually stamped on the ground, causing the entire area to shake. And then, like a mountain, it came crashing towards him. “Die!” Bang! A massive hoof, so large that several men would be needed to wrap their arms around it in a circle, came crashing down from up high, stamping down towards Ning. The air itself exploded with a desolate, earpiercing boom, and a blast of energy gouged multiple holes in the ground. Long before this hoof actually touched Ning, Ning knew how powerful it was. “Swoosh!” Ning first drew out a sword, which dimly flashed like a faint light of water which cut at the enormous hoof in a thin line. After just barely penetrating into the hoof’s skin, it was no longer able to penetrate any further. Ning immediately moved like a gust of wind and retreated. Bang!!! The earth shuddered, and an enormous crater many meters in size appeared, while Ning himself had already dodged more than thirty meters away. “You won’t be able to escape.” The Aquatic Rhino bellowed as it charged towards Ning. Although it seemed to be clumsy, due to its massive size, it travelled a huge distance with every step. Its enormous hooves created massive crater-like hoof-prints in the ground with each pounding step, and soon, it chased Ning all the way into a mountain forest not too far from the hill. This forest was only a few square kilometers in size. “These trees won’t be able to impede me at all.” The Aquatic Rhino bellowed, charging through them. In front of the mountain-like Aquatic Rhino, these large trees were like blades of grass being stepped on and moved through by ordinary people. “He lives up to the reputation of being an Aquatic Rhino. His physical strength is much greater than that of an ordinary Diremonster’s.” Ning said to himself. “And its skin is very thick. Just relying on my internal ki energy and ‘one with the world’ swordplay, I’m unable to even break through its skin. It seems I’ll have to rely on Fiendgod Body Refining.” Swoosh! Ning, with a leap, suddenly was standing atop the crown of a tall, large tree. Standing on the tree’s leaves, he didn’t sink down at all, staring down into the matching gaze of the Aquatic Rhino. “Huh?” The Aquatic Rhino suddenly came to a halt. He sensed that there was a change to this human youngster’s aura, and in terms of the strength of that aura, it was only very slightly weaker than the Aquatic Rhino’s own. “Fiendgod Body Refining?” “Right.” Ning’s skin was beginning to turn red. The power of the Sun and the Moon had begun to totally fill his body, and his strength instantly rose to the maximum limits. If he could break through and reach the Xiantian lifeform level, the divine power in his body would even be able to appear outside his body. “Haha, you are but a Houtian lifeform. Even if you train in an Fiendgod Body Refining, you are far inferior to me.” The Aquatic Rhino charged forward ferociously, smashing through trees in its wake, and the trees it smashed through all went ‘pengpengpeng’ as they collapsed, not able to slow it down at all. “Hrmph.” 257 Standing on the crown of the tree, Ning stared down coldly at the charging Aquatic Rhino, two swords in his hands. The Aquatic Rhino was physically enormous. Only a freakishly powerful Diremonster such as Serpentwing would be able to fight against it head on. But, as an expert swordsman, Ning would not do such a thing. Shua! At that moment of impact, Ning used his ‘one with the world’ level ‘Shadewind Steps’ to their utmost limits, and in but a single sudden movement, he dodged the Aquatic Rhino’s charge. Compared to Ning…the Aquatic Rhino was simply far less agile. While dodging from the Aquatic Rhino, the Darknorth sword in Ning’s hand sliced down towards the Aquatic Rhino’s flank. The sword flashed like a thin line, translucent, gem-like line of light…as though it were a line created by a large number of waterdrops. The line came slashing through the Aquatic Rhino’s flank! [Raindrop Sutra] – Rain Line! ‘Advanced’ level swordplay! Like the earlier attack he had used to block the Aquatic Rhino’s stomp, this attack also was one which activated on the power of nature. However, last time, Ning had only used his internal ki energy as the foundation for the attack, while this time…the Solar and Lunar energy in Ning’s body exploded. Using the Fiendgod Body Refining strength as his foundation meant that the power of this attack instantly increased by more than a hundred times! “Huala!” The tough hide of the Aquatic Rhino, under the sharp slash of the precious weapon, ‘Darknorth sword’, had an enormous wound chopped straight through it. Fresh blood burst forth as though from a dam. Bang! An enormous amount of blood exploded everywhere, and shattered intestines could faintly be seen as well. Swoosh. Ning landed on the ground and turned. The Aquatic Rhino, which had been charging at high speed, had come to a sudden halt while simultaneously letting out a roar of both pain and rage. His muscles and flesh were quivering, and the enormous, ripped wound in his body was rapidly beginning to shrink, but Ning’s sword attack had been simply too vicious and the wound created had been too large. Even despite trying hard to suppress the blood from flowing out and to close the wound, blood still dripped out. It no longer seemed as boastful as it had been earlier. “Aquatic Rhino King, the day of your death has come.” Ning transformed into a shadow, flying at high speed towards the Aquatic Rhino. “Howl!” The Aquatic Rhino let out a fierce howl, and then began to charge madly…to the opposite direction. It was fleeing! Fleeing! “It is going to run away, just like that?” Ning was astonished. But he quickly understood. His father had previously told him that Diremonsters were extremely crafty. Once they sensed any danger to their well-being, they would immediately flee. Clearly, this Aquatic Rhino had already discovered that its hide, which it was so proud of…could be broken through by a slice from this youngster. This meant that one of its greatest defenses was now useless! Ning’s footwork and agility far surpassed the Aquatic Rhino. After all, even the Diremonster, Serpentwing, hadn’t been able to do anything to him for a period of time. The Aquatic Rhino had always relied on its thick hide. It had thought that the youngster in front of it couldn’t hurt it, while all it had to do was keep charging. If it were to even graze the youngster, the youngster would instantly be injured heavily or even die. But now, it discovered that in but an single sword blow, the youngster had split his chest open…how could this be allowed to continue? “Flee.” The Aquatic Rhino fled wildly. “My thick hide is hard to split open even for those other Diremonsters. How could that human youth’s sword be so powerful?” The Aquatic Rhino was utterly frightened, not knowing what to do. But… How could he flee? Ning, when utilizing his ‘one with the world’ footwork, was only slightly slower than Serpentwing. He was far superior to the Aquatic Rhino. Shua! Shua! Shua! Ning had already caught up to the Aquatic Rhino. “I serve the Azure Skysnake King. You can’t kill me!” The Aquatic Rhino galloped wildly while bellowing loudly, and then it also let out a desolate scream, “King! Save me!” “King! Save me!” 259 The low, fierce scream travelled a very long distance. Swoosh! Ning’s incomparably agile body suddenly charged forward, while the twin swords in his hands suddenly, simultaneously stabbed upwards. For a moment, Ning’s entire body transformed into a dazzling-tobehold line of fire light, and with utter ruthlessness, he stabbed upwards at the Aquatic Rhino’s neck position. With a ‘Chi’ sound, the Aquatic Rhino’s skull was broken through. A burst of fire rose over thirty meters into the air before solidifying into a human form. It was the fur-clad Ning. “Ugh…” The Aquatic Rhino’s eyes were bulging and round. It hadn’t thought that its glorious, brash life would have suddenly come to an end at the hands of this human youth. As a Xiantian lifeform Diremonster, although it possessed strong life force and wouldn’t die even if stabbed in the heart, Ning had selected its true weak point! Forget about the Aquatic Rhino; even if a Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner had been stabbed in the head, he would also die. Bang… The massive corpse of the Aquatic Rhino collapsed to the ground, crushing many trees beneath it. “The ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’ – It really does live up to its reputation as the most powerful attack of the [Thunderflame Sword].” Ning landed gracefully from mid-air, not a single hint of blood staining his body. “By now, even the three major killing blows of the [Thunderflame Sword] have been trained to the point of the ‘advanced’ level.” The [Raindrop Sutra] had nine techniques in total, and Ning was already at the ‘advanced’ level for all of them, able to summon the power of nature. The [Thunderflame Sword] was a bit harder, especially that last blow, ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’. Ning had never been able to truly grasp it to the point of reaching the ‘advanced’ level, but just then, that Diremonster, the Aquatic Rhino, had tried to charge into the nearby marsh waters. If it had made it into the marsh waters, Ning wouldn’t have been able to do anything to it. In order to instantly kill such a powerful Diremonster with such strong life force…ordinary techniques wouldn’t have been enough. Ning had been frantic, and naturally thought of the the ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’ attack. Utilizing nature’s energy, he had pierced straight through the extremely thick skull of the Aquatic Rhino, like a moth throwing itself into a fire! “Diremonster.” Ning looked at the mountain-like corpse of the Aquatic Rhino. He couldn’t help but reveal a hint of excitement in his eyes. “This is the very first Xiantian level Diremonster I have ever killed. But before dying, didn’t he say something about being the subordinate of some ‘Azure Skysnake King’? Hrm, best that I leave quickly and not allow anything out of the ordinary to occur.” Shua! Ning instantly appeared next to the Aquatic Rhino’s corpse. His sword flashing, he quickly chopped open the thick skin of the Aquatic Rhino. The skin of the dead Aquatic Rhino was now clearly much weaker than before…in but a few seconds, Ning retrieved from the Aquatic Rhino’s corpse a black, palm-sized object that faintly emanated a fragrant scent. This was the most precious item contained within the Aquatic Rhino’s body; the bezoar. It was often described as a miraculous antidote to poisons. The value of this Aquatic Rhino’s bezoar alone would be enough to acquire an ordinary magic treasure. “Time to leave.” Holding the monstrous rhino’s bezoar, Ning instantly moved like a gust of wind, flying away at high speed while occasionally landing and taking a few steps on the surface of the water. Half-flying, half-walking on the waves, he fled for more than three kilometers. Huahuahua… Suddenly, the water in front of him suddenly began to vibrate, and an enormous whirlpool appeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “What?” Ji Ning, staring in front of him, couldn’t help but come to a halt. “Could it be that this Azure Skysnake King is really about to appear?” Not taking the time to consider anything else, Ning immediately turned and dashed across the surface of water towards a different direction, desiring to flee. “Hua….” An incomparably beautiful, enormous serpent head emerged from the surface of the lake, covered with jade green scales. Staring at the enormous serpent head of the Azure Skysnake King which had emerged, Ning’s face grew solemn. “I’m in trouble now. I didn’t expect the Azure Skysnake King to be this fast! With my ‘one with the world’ footwork, I can escape the attacks of many Diremonsters. In Eastmount Marsh, there’s only a few Diremonsters that pose a threat to me, but the Azure Skysnake King is one of them.” “On my very first trip to Eastmount Marsh, I encountered it!” Ning’s brain quickly flashed through the information regarding the Azure Skysnake King which he had read, back in the West Prefecture. The Azure Skysnake King was a Godbeast known as the Azure Skysnake! According to the records of the Ji clan, the last time they investigated it, it possessed the power of an early Xiantian lifeform! But although it was only an early Xiantian lifeform, due to it possessing the lineage of the Fiendgods, its power was actually comparable to that of the Diremonster, Serpentwing. The Azure Skysnake King was famous for its agility! In other aspects, it was perhaps a bit inferior to Serpentwing, but in terms of agility, it was superior to Serpentwing! In addition, the Azure Skysnake’s venom possessed extremely potent, hallucinatory qualities. If it landed a bite on its target, generally speaking, even Diremonsters would be affected by hallucinations! “My strongest attribute, my agility, is countered by it.” Ning was worried. In this sort of life and death battle, agility was even more important than strength and speed! For example, the strength of the Aquatic Rhino King was far superior to that of Ning! Its defense was far superior to Ning! But in Ning’s eyes, the Aquatic Rhino King was nothing more than a stupid, clumsy idiot. He was able to effortlessly circle around the Aquatic Rhino King and then kill it. It wanted to ram into Ning, but it couldn’t. But what this Azure Skysnake King was most skilled at was agility! ——————— 262 “Huahuahua…” From afar, the surface of the lake was beginning to slowly reveal an enormous serpentine scaled body. The Azure Skysnake King raised its serpentine head high, staring towards Ning, its eyes filled with confusion. It let out a few low growling sounds. “Huh?” Ning frowned, looking back at the Azure Skysnake King. What was this Snake King saying? He couldn’t understand. The Azure Skysnake King was a Godbeast…and at the early Xiantian level, wasn’t able to transform, nor was it able to speak in the human tongue. Hua! A human form suddenly rose from the water to stand next to the Azure Skysnake King. A thin, whiterobed man appeared, staring towards Ning. He shouted, “My King asks you, were you the one who killed the Aquatic Rhino?” “If I say I didn’t, would you believe me?” Ning asked. “In this area, aside from you, there are no other humans at all. Who could have done it besides you?” The tall and thin white-robed man laughed coldly. “In addition, you are able to run atop the water, showing that you have reached the ‘one with the world’ level!” Suddenly, the Azure Skysnake King let out a few more growls, and the white-robed man changed the subject. “However, in the area around the Aquatic Rhino’s body, there are no Xiantian energy ripple remnants. Could it be that you are not yet a Xiantian lifeform?” “If I answer you, will you let me go?” Ning asked. “How could that be possible?” The white robed man laughed coldly. “You killed one of the King’s subordinates, the Aquatic Rhino. If we so casually let you leave, what would become of the King’s prestige?” Ning frowned and shouted back, “If that’s the case, then enough chitchat. If you want to fight, then fight. If you don’t want to fight, then I’m leaving.” The Azure Skysnake King stared at Ning with its enormous serpentine head, filled with questions. The little human child in front of it…it wasn’t afraid of him, naturally. But the area around the Aquatic Rhino was simply too bizarre. There clearly wasn’t any Xiantian energy ripples in the area, but why did the Aquatic Rhino die? Could someone who wasn’t at the Xiantian level kill a Diremonster? “Hrmph.” Ning immediately began to run atop the water, transforming into a gust of wind, fleeing at high speed. Although he had come out to adventure, he knew his own limits. If he went to engage in battle against Diremonsters that were too powerful, he was asking for death! Ning had never intended to do battle against the Azure Skysnake King… “Hua…” The Azure Skysnake King swam across the surface of the lake, transforming into a silver tidal wave. In an instant, an enormous serpentine head appeared in front of Ning yet again. “He really is faster than me.” Ning came to a sudden halt, his eyes blazing with wildness. “It seems this fight cannot be avoided. If that’s the case, then let’s fight!” “In Eastmount Marsh, the only one faster than my King is that ancient monster, the Snow Toad! Do you know of the Ancient Snow Toad? That is the most powerful Diremonster of the entire Eastmount Marsh. It can freeze and kill you with but a single cold breath!” The white-robed man was walking atop the water, each step causing the water to ripple slightly, his movements not nearly as agile and graceful as Ning’s. “It is best that you simply accept your death before my King…” Ning frowned, then transformed into a streak of light, charging towards that tall, thin, white-robed man. “Monster, you sure are noisy. Eat a sword from me!” Swish! A cold light flashed towards the man. The white-robed man was so frightened that he immediately dove into the water with a splash. He served under the Azure Skysnake King, and in terms of power, he was actually a bit weaker than even the Aquatic Rhino King. How could he dare to fight with this human youth? “Groooowl.” The Azure Skysnake King suddenly let out an angry roar. Ning turned his head to look at him, not afraid at all. Since he wasn’t going to be able to flee, Ning naturally wiped the hesitation and fear away from his heart, leaving only a blazing heat. The heat of battle! Only by fighting an opponent’s whose strength totally surpassed his own would the blood in his entire body truly begin to boil! Hua…suddenly, an enormous green scaled tail emerged from the lake at high speed, sweeping towards Ning at incomparably high speed. “So fast!” Ning’s entire body was turning faintly red. Clearly, the Solar and Lunar energies in his body had been raised to their limits. At the same time, his feet began to move in accordance with the Shadewind Steps, and he wielded his twin Darknorth swords in his hands, one of which was flashing with blue light on its edge; poison! The Darknorth swords composed of three swords and a sheath. Two of the swords were normal, but one of them had been coated by Ning with poison. In fact, even a small part of the arrows he had brought were treated with poison! After all, while adventuring and engaging in life-and-death battles, the ultimate goal was to kill the opponent! Naturally, any means of accomplishing this would be acceptable. When battling with the likes of the Aquatic Rhino King, Ning didn’t bother with poison, but this Azure Skysnake King was simply too dangerous. With one hand, he executed ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’. With the other hand, he executed ‘Rain Line’. Both Darknorth swords moved, instantly drawing forth the power of the natural world. Huahuahua…a visible, thin, and long stream of water was currently arcing towards the serpentine tail in an attack. This stream of water was incomparably tough, and it wildly wrapped around the tail, causing the power and speed of that tail to slow. At the same time, drops of water had solidified into a thin line, and that thin line chopped directly towards that enormous serpentine body! “Bang!” Ning was blasted backwards at high speed by the force of the collision, and water splashed everywhere. “Huala!” Green, emerald-like blood came flying out of a large wound on the serpentine body, but quickly, the flow of blood slowed and the wound shrank. The blood, however, had a faint black color as well, but moments later, it returned to an emerald color. Clearly, the poison on the Darknorth swords didn’t pose much of a threat to the Azure Skysnake King, which was venomous by nature. Swoosh! Ning rose high into the sky, leaping off the surface of the water. The Azure Skysnake King coiled up its enormous body, staring at the distant human youth. This human youth had actually wounded it in a single exchange. Suddenly… The enormous body of the Azure Skysnake King began to shrink at high speed. Previously, it had been even larger than Serpentwing, but in a few seconds, it transformed to a size of only ten meters long, and its serpentine body was now only as thick as a person’s thighs. At the same time, this jade-green Azure Skysnake continued to stare at Ning, emitted a ‘Hisssssss’ sound. “Not good.” Ning’s face grew even more solemn. The Azure Skysnake King was a Godbeast. It could increase or decrease its size, and was famous for its agility. When it shrank its size, that was when it was the most fearsome! A violet pill suddenly appeared in Ning’s hand out of nowhere, and he immediately tossed it in his mouth. This was an antivenom spiritual pill. It was one of multiple different types of antivenoms which Ning had prepared for this adventuring expedition for when he encountered Diremonsters. This one was particularly effective against hallucinatory toxins and venoms. Ning wielded his twin blades, staring death at the Azure Skysnake King. The Azure Skysnake King’s serpentine head swayed slightly in a confident manner. It seemed like an experienced hunter, searching for Ning’s weaknesses. While swaying, it also slowly began to move closer to Ning, but Ning, striding on water, took one step back after another, maintaining the distance between them. “Swish!” Suddenly, the Azure Skysnake King transformed into a flash of emerald lightning! It charged at Ning! Ji Ning’s eyes flashed with a fierce light. The Darknorth sword in his right hand suddenly transformed into a flash, chopping ray of light as his speed increased to its maximum. This was one of the three killing strokes of the [Thunderflame Sword], ‘Thunderflint Flash’. This technique relied on a single word; ‘Quick’! It could be described as the fastest sword attack Ning was capable of, and he used it now to deal with this sudden pounce of the Azure Skysnake King! Shua! Shua! In but an instant, the Azure Skysnake King changed direction twelve times, transforming into a magical, illusory shadow which passed through the Darknorth sword in Ning’s right hand, and even used its serpentine body, now greatly reduced in size but clearly much more powerful, to strike at the Darknorth sword. But Ning’s left hand, also wielding a Darknorth sword, transformed into circles of spinning water as he put on display the most defensively powerful stance of the [Raindrop Sutra], ‘Watertight’! “Clang!” The serpentine head and the edge of the Darknorth sword collided, and the Azure Skysnake King couldn’t help but have its trajectory slightly altered to one side. The two of them passed each other! “Pa!” In that instant when they moved past each other, a terrifying shadow suddenly emerged from the water, striking towards Ning. Ning, unable to block in time, was struck heavily on the chest with a ‘Bang!’ sound…Ning couldn’t help but immediately vomit out a mouthful of blood, his face turning red as he was sent flying across the surface of the lake. Huahua… The Azure Skysnake King swam at high speed through the waters of the lake, pouncing towards Ning’s position. “Those whip-strikes of that tail are too fast. Much faster than the tail strikes of that old monster Serpentwing.” Ning, in mid-air, flipped around and gracefully landed on the surface of the lake. He couldn’t help but clutch his chest. He could faintly sense that his bones were broken, but the powerful regenerative energies of the Fiendgod Body Refining method was quickly restoring them. Kakaka…the two shattered ribs in his chest quickly were repaired. “But his strength is quite a bit lower than Serpentwing’s.” Ning stared at his chest. Only his fur clothes had been ripped apart. With the added protection of the Goldstar Shirt, his body hadn’t been injured too badly. “Swish!” The Azure Skysnake King once more shot towards him as fast as lightning. So very fast! “Come.” Ning wildly wielded his twin swords in an effort to defend. The Azure Skysnake King moved its head as if to bite, moved its body as if to coil around him, and also used its serpentine tail to strike at him. Its entire body was a weapon, and it coiled around Ning, wildly attacking. In this sort of extremely close quarters combat, often, a single second would allow numerous blows to be exchanged. Ning’s [Raindrop Sutra] and [Thunderflame Sword] had both reached the ‘advanced’ stage, but he had yet to reach the ‘one with the world’ level of swordplay! If his swordplay was at the ‘one with the world’ level, every ordinary pierce, thrust, scrape…any attack would be able to call on the natural power of the world. Only then was one’s level of swordplay truly at the ‘one with the world’ level. Because Ning had yet to reach this level, thus in this sort of high-speed combat, some of the postures and movements of his attacks were no longer carrying the power of the world. Upon losing the natural power of the world, the power of his swordplay decreased noticeably. This was an enormous flaw, one which Ning was relying on his twin swords to make up for, but still, in the end…if one only defended, one would be defeated! “Chi!” The Azure Skysnake King’s serpentine head bit viciously at Ning’s calf, and its sharp, venomous fangs pierced straight through the fur clothes and the Goldstar Shirt, the venom in its fangs instantly transmitting into Ning’s body. A powerful, numbing, intoxicating sensation quickly spread from Ning’s 267 calf to the rest of his body, and Ning hurriedly swallowed the antivenom spiritual pill which he had been holding under his tongue. “Die.” Ning struck out with the Darknorth swords in both hands, both of them simultaneously executing the ‘Moth Flies into the Flame’ of the [Thunderflame Sword]. The two swords instantly seemed to have transformed into two scorching lines of fire, piercing down directly towards the head of the Azure Skysnake King which was latched onto his calf! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The white-robed skinny man stealthily popped out of the water, staring at the distant battle between the Azure Skysnake and the human youth. “That human youth is truly formidable.” The white-robed man couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh of amazement. “He’s actually able to force the King to shrink in size to fight him. In terms of power, even I am inferior to that human youth…it seems in the future, when I encounter human youths, I need to be more careful. Still, it looks like that human youth is about to die!” “After he dies, I need to go have a taste of that youth’s flesh. Such a powerful human youth…I haven’t seen another like him in the three hundred years I have spent training.” “Huh.” “How unfortunate for him.” The white robed man shook his head as he watched. Most of Ji Ning’s beast fur clothes had been ripped to tatters, and blood was dribbling down his chest. His hair-bindings had been shattered, and his hair was now loose and unbound. But he still wielded those two Darknorth swords with hands that were as stable as ever, and his eyes were still very bright, as though fires were burning in them! Desire! A desire to achieve victory. Even though he was currently at a disadvantage and was being wounded repeatedly, Ning had never even thought of giving up. ———————– “So what if you trained in a Fiendgod Body Refining method?” The white robed man snickered. “He’s still only at the Houtian level. Injured repeatedly, then healing repeatedly. Each recovery will take up a large amount of his energy! After the energy in his body is depleted…then, utterly exhausted, he will no longer be able to fight back.” He could all but see the astonishingly talented youth collapse, and then be dismembered and eaten by the Diremonsters. “How sad. A heroic figure who would have doubtlessly become legendary throughout this area is going to die, right here.” The white robed man watched, not wanting to miss a thing. “Huh?” 269 The white robed man’s face changed slightly. “Why is his swordplay…” ———————- The Azure Skysnake King was simply too strong. After having shrunk in size, the body of the Azure Skysnake King became even tougher, like an iron whip. It had also become even more agile and even fiercer! In terms of strength, defense, speed, it was superior to Ning…Ning’s only advantage was that the pair of Darknorth swords he wielded in his hands. The Azure Skysnake King’s pressuring attacks had caused Ning to enter an empty mental realm where nothing existed except the next attack! He didn’t have any other thoughts, other than thoughts of battle! Kill! Kill! The Azure Skysnake King in front of him was like a nightmare. Its striking attacks was even faster than Ning’s ‘Thunderflint Flash’! Its coiling body was even more elastic than Ning’s ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’ attack! Its whip-like tail struck against Ning, causing him to lose his breath, but fortunately, his two Darknorth swords were able to complement each other. If one sword couldn’t take it, then the second sword would join in! “Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” At first, he was constantly being wounded. However, because he had a Fiendgod Body and had eaten an antivenom spiritual pill, the venom of the Azure Skysnake King, despite causing a bit of numbness, didn’t have any effect on his ability to perform in battle. As for bloodloss…Ning cared about that even less! Slowly… The Azure Skysnake King seemed to find it harder and harder to break through the defenses of the Darknorth swords. It was growing harder for him to wound Ning. “Huahuahua…” The swords flashed everywhere, summoning the power of the world. The Azure Skysnake King transformed into an emerald ray of light, swirling around Ning, attacking him wildly time and time again, but that perfect, mastered swordplay which carried with it the power of the world had created an utterly unbroken defense…one sword attack flashed after another, flowing like quicksilver, revealing no cracks at all, causing each of the Azure Skysnake King’s attacks to be fruitless. “Hrm?” Ning suddenly found that he was able to think again. Earlier, the Azure Skysnake King had simply put him under too much pressure, forcing him to totally concentrate on defense and on this battle. But now, that pressure had decreased, and he could spare a little bit of time to think. And when he did, Ning discovered that under the pressure of the Azure Skysnake King’s attacks, his swordplay had become perfected, with each sword blow that he delivered having not a single flaw at all. “My swordplay…” Ning’s face slowly was covered with a smile. “Hahahaha!!!!” Ning suddenly laughed loudly, laughed joyfully. “I broke through, hahaha! Azure Skysnake King, thank you for helping me make this breakthrough. I’ve finally reached the level of becoming ‘one with the world’ in swordplay.” One with the world! After having experienced these two major, bloody battles, especially with the amount of pressure which the Azure Skysnake King had placed him under, Ning had finally taken the final step and reached the level of being ‘one with the world’ in swordplay! Actually, Ning had already reached the end of the ‘advanced’ level in both sets of sword techniques he knew, and had already been very close to breaking through. All he needed was a bit of good luck. If he had stayed in the West Prefecture City and slowly trained on his own through constant repetition, he probably would’ve needed a few more years to break through. ————————– “Hisssss!” A low, growling hiss. The Azure Skysnake King had been enraged. The arrogant beast hadn’t expected that the youth he was hunting would suddenly have improved. “What’s the point of being angry?” Ning ran atop the surface of the water. “I no longer fear you now!” “Hisssssssssssss.” Hissing with fury, the Azure Skysnake King pounced wildly towards Ning, moving with even greater ferocity, no longer paying attention to its own defense. Previously, as the Azure Skysnake King had the advantage, it didn’t pay too much attention to receiving wounds, but now, the Azure Skysnake King had decided that even at the cost of being wounded, it would still kill this arrogant, belittling human. “Come, you liddle widdle snakey!” Ning wielded Darknorth swords in his two hands. At this moment, he felt as though being able to display his swordplay was a sort of enjoyment, something which was graceful and elegant. He delivered one sword stroke after another, each one perfect and flawless. Even the simplest of chops and stabs were utterly unbreakable and immaculate! “Our fight comes to an end here for today, Azure Skysnake King. This time, thank you so very much for helping me break through.” Ning laughed loudly as he began to run away. Both of the Darknorth swords in his hands were currently executing the ‘Watertight’ stance of the [Raindrop Sutra]. He wasn’t striving to land any blows, only to be able to defend himself, causing the Azure Skysnake King to be utterly unable to do anything to Ji Ning…and in the blink of an eye, Ning fled far away.” A long time later… “Grrrrrrr.” The Azure Skysnake King swam back. All it could do was raise its head towards the sky and roar in dissatisfaction. Over the course of its life, it had met multiple Xiantian level humans who had reached the ‘one with the world’ level, but it had still beaten the snot out of those humans…but that youngster with the twin swords he had just faced used those two swords as though they were wielded by two separate people who were perfectly linked in their thoughts. Indeed, the threat posed by those twin swords was ten times greater than normal. No matter what sort of disadvantage Ning had been put into, and even if one of his swords had been forced out of position and no longer at the pseudo ‘one with the world’ level granted by his sword techniques, the other sword would still maintain the ‘one with the world’ level, causing his actual battle ability to be no lower than that of a single-weapon expert at the ‘one with the world’ level. But now… Ning had truly reached the ‘one with the world’ level, and his power had exploded. Even facing against a Xiantian Godbeast, he was still able to flee easily. ————————- Swoosh! He ran as fast as the wind. “Hahahaha…” Ning was extremely delighted. He ran as he pleased atop the surface of the water, moving through Eastmount Marsh before entering the mountain forests. After running a long time, Ning leapt atop a large tree. Passing by the crown of the tree, with another leap, he sent himself floating gracefully several dozen more meters before landing by atop a cliff. With only a few more bounds, he ended up at the peak of this little mountain. Sitting down on the mountain peak, he leisurely withdrew a bottle of fruit wine from his kalestone, then raised his head and poured it into his mouth. And then, Ning happily shouted, “Enjoyable! Today was so enjoyable.” He had battle against two Diremonsters, and had executed the Aquatic Rhino King! The other, more powerful Diremonster, the ‘Azure Skysnake King’, was indeed extremely powerful. Under the pressure of its attacks, Ning’s swordplay had suddenly broken through and reached the ‘one with the world’ level. “One with the world!” Ning couldn’t help but feel self-satisfied. “Although the Xiantian level experts of West Prefecture City can use magic treasures, in terms of skill level, I imagine most of them are inferior to me.” “Only, I don’t know what level Father is at, exactly. Even before going out and adventuring, Father had become acknowledged as the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and had reached the ‘one with the world’ level long ago. Afterwards, he had gone adventuring for nearly ten years and met my mother…and then ever since then, he had been living peacefully at the West Prefecture City. Nobody knows how strong he has become!” Ning pondered this question. “But previously, when that Diremonster, Serpentwing, had attacked, that sword blow Father sent out from far away…” That sword blow had truly been terrifying. “My father’s skill level should still be stronger than mine.” Ning shook his head. “Enough of that. I’m not even at the Xiantian level yet.” Xiantian lifeforms possessed extraordinary power. Even Ki Refiners at that level would be able to use all sorts of magic treasures, seals, and formations. As for Fiendgod Body Refiners…they had all sorts of incredible transformations available to them, and they would truly be able to be described as Fiendgods. After all, during the ancient Fiendgod Era, those Fiendgods were all born at the Xiantian level. “The technique I am training in is acclaimed as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Not a single member of the Ji clan, in its entire history, has ever successfully reached the Xiantian level in it.” Ning was worried about this. “So how should I break through, exactly?” The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was simply too difficult! Actually, Ning’s natural gifts, such as his utterly pure body, as clean as a newborn’s, and the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique, caused the power of his already mighty soul to increase every day! It was extremely beneficial to him in body training, causing his rate of improvement to be extremely rapid. If he had been training in an ordinary Fiendgod Body Refining method, he would have broken through to the Xiantian level long ago. By contrast, in terms of Ki Refining, Ning’s talent was a bit weaker. Because he had been injured while he was in the womb, his meridian system had been damaged. At that time, when his father, Ji Yichuan, and Prefecture Lord Ji Young had investigated the quality of the meridians in his body, they had found that it was very average. The vast majority of Xiantian lifeforms relied on Ki Refining to traverse the Path of Immortals. Fiendgod Body Refining was even more difficult. None of them had expected that although Ning’s Ki Refining talent was rather poor, he would have such a monstrous aptitude for Body Refining. “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] has notes.” “I have to ‘merge Yin and Yang, fuse fire and water’. The power of the Moon and the power of the Sun must combine into a whole, transforming into the ‘Crimsonbright’ divine power.” Ning pondered this. “But how would one cause fire and water to fuse? How would one cause the power of the Moon and the Sun to combine into a whole?” All Ning knew was that fire and water didn’t mix! How, then, could fire and water be fused? This was an extremely difficult step. “I have to reach the Xiantian level!” Ning suddenly rose to his feet. Standing at the mountain peak, his eyes were filled with desire. “The Xiantian level, in the distant Heaven Realm, is nothing more than a starting point! To the ancient Fiendgods, the Xiantian level is nothing more than the level they were at when they were first born! If I can’t even break through to the Xiantian level, how can I possibly talk about being able to control my own destiny?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The exquisitely cut and stitched beast furs were very form fitting, causing Autumn Leaf to seem rather heroic and valiant. She stood there in the area outside the Metalstone Tribe, staring off into the distance. Her figure had attracted the attention and the gazes of this rustic tribe’s youths. Ever since Autumn Leaf had arrived at the Metalstone Tribe, there had been no question that she had become the most beautiful girl here…one youngster after another did their best to find opportunities to show off their strength and valor in front of her, but not a single one had been able to attract her interest. “Miss Autumn Leaf is waiting for her young master, right?” “Right. I hear that Uncle Dala, upon returning, said that her young master is extremely powerful. Over a hundred Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan were all killed by that young master in the blink of an eye!” “Only a powerful young master like that would be worthy of someone as beautiful as Miss Autumn Leaf.” “It’s a pity that he encountered a Diremonster! Most likely, that powerful young master won’t be able to survive his encounter with the Diremonster. When angered, Diremonsters can cause the entire area to change. That one had immediately killed a large group of people by freezing them to death. Uncle Dala and the others were only lucky enough to survive because they fled quickly. If that young master were to die, Miss Autumn Leaf would have to find another person to marry!” The youths of the tribe all watched from their position by the gate while speaking quietly amongst themselves. As far as they considered, a girl like Autumn Leaf was like one of the legendary goddesses…compare to Autumn Leaf, the other girls of their tribe were as far beneath her as the earth was beneath the heavens. —————————- Autumn Leaf stood there, staring into the distant mountain forest. She was waiting. Waiting for the most important man in her life. “Autumn Leaf.” A powerfully built figure strode out from the tribe. It was the other servant, Mowu. Mowu urged her, “Go back and get some rest. Once the young master arrives, the guards at the gate of the tribe will definitely see him.” “No.” Autumn Leaf shook her head gently. Mowu looked at Autumn Leaf, and then he sat down as well on a nearby, chopped-through tree trunk. His forehead was furrowed in worry as well. After Uncle Dala had returned, he had found out that Ji Ning had begun battling with the ‘Aquatic Rhino King’, a Diremonster. As to what the results of that battle were, no one knew. Although in his heart, of course he still hoped that his young master would return, his rational mind was telling him…the young master probably had met with misfortune! This was because Uncle Dala and the others had spent roughly two days on the journey back from Eastmount Marsh. Given young master Ning’s speed, if he was still alive, he probably would have made his way to the Metalstone Tribe under half a day. Logically speaking, he should have reached the Metalstone Tribe before Uncle Dala and the others had arrived! But Uncle Dala and the others had been back for more than two days, but Ning had yet to return. “If the young master is dead…Autumn Leaf and I will most likely have to die as well.” Mowu said quietly. If their master died, how could the servants continue to live? Local hegemons such as the Ji clan had very strict internal regulations. “Huh?” Mowu suddenly blinked. From afar, he faintly saw an indistinct, yet familiar figure…the young master’s figure! “Young master!” Autumn Leaf had already begun to rush over there. “Young master?” “Miss Autumn Leaf is running over.” “Look, there seems to be someone coming from that side. Could that be the young master which Miss Autumn Leaf has been waiting for?” The youths standing guard at the gate whispered to each other, while some of them also immediately began to run inside the tribe to inform the other tribesmen. —————————– Autumn Leaf watched as the fur-clad, smiling young man walked over. The past two days, she had been constantly repressing her own fear, her nervousness, her wild thoughts…and now, all these various emotions caused her to suddenly begin to shed tears. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf looked at Ning. “I, I…” “Hey, I’m back.” With his astonishing eyesight Ning noticed that from afar, in the middle of the tribe, Uncle Dala and the one-armed man were currently walking in their direction. He couldn’t help but laugh, “So Dala made it back already. Was he the one who told you that I was battling with the Aquatic Rhino King? Just because I didn’t come back for a few days, you were frightened this badly?” 276 Autumn Leaf did her best to hold back further tears. “It was just an Aquatic Rhino King. To your young master, it’s barely worth mentioning.” Ning winked at her, seemingly in extremely high spirits. Autumn Leaf breathed out in astonishment, “Young master, you killed the Diremonster?” “Yep.” Ning nodded delightedly. “Wow, a Diremonster. Young master, you killed a Diremonster.” Autumn Leaf was extremely excited. “Young master, you are only eleven years old, but you killed a Diremonster. This…this…” As a personal maidservant, Autumn Leaf’s life centered around Ning. As she always revolved around him, to her, Ning was like her most important family member. Naturally, Autumn Leaf was truly excited to learn that Ji Ning was now capable of killing Diremonsters.” Ji Ning hurriedly lowered his voice. “Don’t spread the news.” “Right, right.” Autumn Leaf nodded hurriedly. “Come, let’s go take a look at the Metalstone Tribe.” Ning said. The past few days, Ning had been in the mountain forests, pondering the results of the past two day’s battles. He had also come to realize some mistakes he had made in the previous battles. After careful pondering and consideration of the two sword techniques he had used, he had actually improved quite a bit further. Ning led Autumn Leaf towards the gate of the Metalstone Tribe. Uncle Dala and a group of tribesmen were there, and they went up to welcome him. Leading the tribesmen was a balding old man with white hair. The balding old man walked over and bowed repeatedly with respect. “I, Tyson of the Metalstone Tribe, would like to thank you, mighty young master, for having repeatedly saved the lives of the tribesmen of my Metalstone Tribe. All the clansmen of the Metalstone Tribe feel boundless gratitude for you…and we’ve been waiting for your return.” Ning smiled and nodded. “I’ll stay with your Metalstone Tribe for a period of time. As for ‘rescued’, all I did was help out in passing. Also…for now, I don’t want to be disturbed.” “Understood, understood.” The balding old man nodded repeatedly. “Dala.” Ning looked over. The tall, powerful, bear-like Uncle Dala hurriedly stepped forward, seemingly very excited. “Young master, when I saw that you returned, I…” “It’s alright.” Ning laughed. “You helped me for a month in Eastmount Marsh. I told you that when I returned to the Metalstone Tribe, I would definitely reward you heavily. Take this.” As he spoke, within 277 his hands, three ‘beastheads’ of gold appeared. He tossed it over, each beasthead weighing ten pounds. This bear-like Uncle Dala instantly was stupefied. And then, he hurriedly caught them all, while the surrounding tribesmen all stared at him with envy. “Let’s go.” Ning looked at Mowu and Autumn Leaf, then headed straight into the Metalstone Tribe. Ning could easily have given an even more valuable gift, but to a small tribe like the Metalstone Tribe, which had barely a thousand people, truly valuable treasures might cause a disaster instead! ——————————- Within the Metalstone Tribe. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf poured some fruit wine for Ning, then offered him some fruit and some delicacies. “Mowu and I have been in this tribe for a month now. Not soon after arriving, we got in touch with our Ji clan.” “Right.” Ning nodded. While adventuring, every month he had to reach out to and contact the scattered troops of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture who were stationed in various places throughout the area. “There is a letter from the West Prefecture City.” Autumn Leaf withdrew a scroll from her sleeves. Ning accepted it. He rolled the yellow parchment open, and as he did, he couldn’t help but reveal a smile. This was a letter his mother had personally written to him! The letter didn’t contain too much; it mainly just consisted of some words of concern. But having just experienced a life-and-death battle, the nagging of his mother actually filled Ning’s heart with a sense of warmth. “Enough, Autumn Leaf. It looks as though it’s been many days since you had a good rest. Go get some rest.” Ning said. “I’m not tired.” Autumn Leaf hurriedly said. “Go.” Ning ordered. Autumn Leaf hurriedly lowered her head, obediently going back to her own room to get some rest. ———————– Time moved on. Every ten days or so, he would make a trip to Eastmount Marsh. Most of the time, though, Ning remained within the Metalstone Tribe, practicing his sword techniques. In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed. Ning was currently seated on the eaves of his house, holding a bamboo reed that was filled with fine fruit wine. “Although West Prefecture City is large, it isn’t as comfortable as these small tribes.” Resting at sundown, heading out at sunrise. The Metalstone Tribe showed great solidarity. Everyone helped each other, and they all treated each other like brothers. “Quick, quick, quick.” “Everyone, go back.” “Quick, bundle everything up.” Suddenly, the formerly peaceful tribe instantly became a chaotic bedlam of activity. This caused Ning, who was drinking wine leisurely on the top of his building, to grow confused. He immediately leapt down from the building, then grabbed one of the running youths. “You.” “Young master.” The youth, seeing that it was Ning who grabbed him, immediately greeted him respectfully. “What’s going on?” Ning asked. “Why did the tribe suddenly turn so chaotic? Weren’t you training in spear-fighting just now? Why did you stop?” “The people of the Blackmount Tribe are coming!” The youth hurriedly said. “The people of Blackmount Tribe have come to collect furs from us. We need to hide some of the finer furs which the tribe has, as otherwise, if the Blackmount Tribe discovers them, they’ll take them for their own. That would be terrible. Young master, I need to get back immediately…” Ning, understanding, nodded. “Go ahead.” Autumn Leaf was watching this from in front of the building as well. She spoke out, “The Blackmount Tribe is an extremely large tribe with tens of thousands of tribesmen. Each year, these smaller tribes will have to offer them some tribute.” “Hmph.” Ning frowned. “This land belongs to the Ji clan! Only my Ji clan has the right to levy taxes. If the Blackmount Tribe is forcing the nearby, smaller tribes to pay them tribute, isn’t that the same as levying a tax?” The Ji clan levied and collected taxes from every singlet tribe within its borders. At the same time, the Ji clan itself was a subject of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and so most of the tax they collected had to be delivered to the Grand Xia Dynasty! “In principle, yes.” Autumn Leaf shook her head. “But how would these smaller tribes dare to refuse? If they were to refuse, the Blackmount Tribe is completely capable of utterly destroying them, then selling off the captives as slaves.” Ning let out a long sigh. Right. Because there were too many tribes, there was no way for the Ji clan to manage all of the internecine squabbles between the tribes, so they usually left them to their own devices. Not just the Ji clan…even the Grand Xia Dynasty, who ruled over an enormous, boundless expanse of territory, had to govern in a loose fashion. Wasn’t the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan also in a state of war, viewing each other as deadly enemies? If one’s territory was too large, it became hard to govern! “They are coming.” Autumn Leaf said. “The Blackmount Tribe’s tribesmen are coming.” Ning looked over as well. He saw that from afar, a group of half-armored, pelt-clad tribesmen were currently strutting around in the area, looking around as if they were in territory which belonged to them. The leader of the Metalstone Tribe, Uncle Dala, and the others were all by their sides, obediently following them, not daring to disobey them at all. The leader of this Blackmount squad, Braveshell, was currently viewing this little tribe with satisfaction. “Hmph.” Braveshell glanced at the nearby Metalstone tribesmen. Seeing the frightened, supplicatory looks on their faces, he couldn’t help but feel even more delighted. Even within the Blackmount Tribe, he was a high level, central figure. In a small tribe like this Metalstone Tribe…he could act as he wished! If he was angered, this entire tribe would probably be finished. The hundred guards he had brought with him could probably destroy this sort of small tribe all by themselves. In this sort of small tribe, he had absolute authority. “Huh?” Braveshell suddenly saw that not too far away, there was a young man and a girl standing together. Braveshell’s eyes instantly lit up. The guards by his side, looking along with him, couldn’t help but hold their breaths as well. “Beautiful. Mesmerizing.” Braveshell was instantly stunned, and then his heart was instantly overwhelmed with powerful lust and desire. He definitely had to seize this beautiful girl and make her his personal maidservant. Every day, he would definitely ‘bestow his affections’ on her! Just thinking about it made Braveshell feel the blood pumping through his entire body. “Hahaha…” Laughing loudly, Braveshell walked directly towards the young man and the girl. Ning frowned slightly as he looked at this tall man walking towards him, who was wearing some exquisitely crafted ornaments. The tall men swept Ning and Autumn Leaf with a gaze, as though he were 280 a high ranking tribesman inspecting some goods. In particular, he didn’t disguise the greedy look in his eyes when he was staring at Autumn Leaf. “Your fur clothes were cut and stitched so exquisitely. Did you make it yourself, miss? Your handiwork is quite fine. The fur clothes of the youngster next to you is stitched and cut very nicely as well. Is he your little brother?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Impudent!” Autumn Leaf’s voice rang out. Braveshell raised his jaw slightly. “Impudent? This tiny little Metalstone Tribe…I can do what I wish to it, much less ‘impudent’. I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve taken a fancy to you. Follow me obediently. The last time I took a fancy to a girl, that girl was quite stubborn. She preferred to commit suicide than follow me, so I wiped out her entire family, and sold off her entire clan as slaves! For your little brother here, and your clansmen, you need to make a good decision!” Tribesfolk were straightforward individuals. They weren’t very calculating, but at the same time, they were very bloodthirsty. Most of them didn’t fear death, especially beautiful girls like the one in front of him right now. They were definitely the shining jewels of their tribes, and generally they were all very prideful. It was quite common for such beautiful girls to rather commit suicide than to submit to others, once their pride took hold of them. Braveshell didn’t want to see this happen. “Venerable Lord Braveshell.” The balding elder, Tyson, hurriedly urged him, “These three do not belong to my Metalstone Tribe. There come from a very large tribe!” “A large tribe?” Braveshell’s eyebrows twitched. “No wonder. I was just wondering how a place like your Metalstone Tribe could produce such a graceful young lady. Miss, tell me what tribe you belong to.” As he spoke, he moved two steps forward, wanting to stroke Autumn Leaf’s face. Autumn Leaf directly delivered a lightning-fast kick to him. Bang! This heavy kick was powered by rage, and it struck heavily upon Braveshell’s chest. Not only did it shatter the ornaments covering his chest, it also sent Braveshell falling back over his head. “Impudent!” “Clang!” The Blackmount guards instantly shouted in anger, and some of them even drew their blades. Braveshell quickly climbed up. He wiped away a hint of blood from the corner of his mouth, then reached out to stop his guards. All his guards knew exactly how vicious and diabolical Braveshell could be, for him to have become a high level, core member of a tribe as large as the Blackmount tribe. “It’s all over.” “This young miss is going to suffer a terrible fate.” 282 The guards all understood that when Braveshell was clearly furious but temporarily suppressed his anger, it only represented…that Braveshell was truly livid! He was currently considering how to vent his fury! Braveshell was on his feet now. His eyes were narrowed, staring at the three like a poisonous viper. He slowly said, “That kick was rather heavy. Can you let me know where the three of you have come from, exactly? Is it a large tribe, or is it the mighty Ji clan?” “Take a good look.” Mowu stepped forward coldly, revealing with a flip of his hand an emblem. The emblem had a single word on it: Ji! “Ji!” Many of the faces of the surrounding guards changed. They all looked at their leader, Braveshell, whose face had turned ashen. He hurriedly bowed in terror, “I didn’t expect that I would accidentally offend you. Please pardon me.” Mowu’s eyes contained a hint of pity in them, because he knew how much his young master hated evildoers. Autumn Leaf also glanced coldly at Braveshell. Ever since Braveshell said that he had once destroyed a small tribe for the sake of seizing a girl, and sold off all the tribesmen as slaves, Autumn Leaf had felt utter revulsion for him. Because she herself had been sold off after her tribe had been destroyed. Ji Ning simply looked at Braveshell. In an instant, he had already determined that he would punish Braveshell with death! Braveshell had destroyed an entire tribe for no cause? When Ning thought of how the women and children in that tribe had died miserable deaths or had been sold, Ning’s heart was filled with boundless rage! Although this area contained many hidden evildoers, and Ning couldn’t possibly stop them all, when he encountered them, he could never suppress the fury he felt! “Hahaha…” Braveshell, whose face had been ashen, suddenly cracked his lips and laughed, laughed brightly. “It seems the three of you already have a killing intention. I really don’t know if I should call you stupid or arrogant!” “Oh?” Ning frowned slightly. Braveshell continued to laugh. “So what if you are of the Ji clan? How many youngsters of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan go out adventuring as part of their coming-of-age, and how many of them have died! How could the Ji clan possibly discover…if their clansmen were killed by monstrous beasts, or by other tribesmen?” 283 “Even if you have a high status, in this place, you are nothing more than three people. Thus, even if you want to kill me, you should hide it in your hearts…as the books say, ‘distant water cannot quench a nearby drought’. No matter what your status is, no one will be able to save you.” Braveshell sighed. “I still remember how three years ago, I once enjoyed a young girl of the Ji clan. Her skin was truly fine. My servants all enjoyed her as well, and afterwards, we fed her to the beasts who ate her clean!” “Do you understand now?” Braveshell’s eyes were shining. “Status doesn’t represent power. At least in this place, I am the one who determines your life and death!” “Everyone.” Braveshell raised his head and said in a loud voice. “Make your move. Kill the two men, spare the woman! After I enjoy her first, each of you will have your chance!” “Wooo!” “Kill!” “Haha, let’s do it!” Braveshell’s guards all drew out their blades and swords, valiantly charging forward. The high level military leaders of large tribes trusted their own servants and slaves the most. Whether it was Ji Lee or Ji Yichuan, they all had their own trusted servants and slaves, who would definitely obey them without question. Under Braveshell’s orders, these guards, who were born into his servitude, all dared to charge forward and kill! “How dare you!” Suddenly, a voice rang out like spring thunder, exploding in the skies. In the skies above, there was someone standing atop an enormous flying bird. That person drew out his longsword and brandished it downwards. In but a second, sword energy criss-crossed everywhere…one ray of sword energy after another rained down, and each blow of sword energy pierced through a guard, easily chopping their bodies apart, sending fresh blood spewing everywhere. “Aaaaah!” “Nooooooo!” “Aaaaah!” All sorts of miserable cries rang out, but soon, everything became silent again. The hundred-plus servant guards, who had been shouting savagely, all collapsed on the ground. Some had large holes in their chest, while others had been chopped apart. Blood stained the ground. All of them had died miserable deaths! But not a single one of the utterly terrified tribesmen of the Metalstone Tribe had been struck. “But…but…but…” Braveshell had thought that everything was under his control, but now, his face turned ashen. He stood there numbly, staring at his dead servants, and then at the man standing on the giant bird in mid-air. He stuttered, “Xian…Xiantian…” The people of the Metalstone Tribe all raised their heads. Some were dumbfounded, others were awestruck, while some of the girls in particular just stared unblinkingly. Ning, Autumn Leaf, and Mowu all raised their head to take a look as well. Swoosh! The man jumped down from his mid-air position on the back of the giant bird, landing on the ground. “Young master.” The man bowed slightly as he said to Ning, demonstrating his respect for Ning. This scene caused all the members of the Metalstone Tribe, as well as Braveshell, feel stunned. Because just then, those lines of energy attacks represented that this person was a Xiantian lifeform! A Xiantian lifeform, in any tribe, no matter how large, was definitely a person of the highest status. Even in the Ji clan, they were high level, core members! Generally speaking, the adventuring youths of the Ji clan who encountered Xiantian lifeforms all had to pay their respects first. But this Xiantian lifeform was actually paying his respects to this youngster? “Spare me.” Braveshell threw himself forward, kneeling in front of Ning, begging, “Mighty young master, those words that I said earlier were all wild ravings. I’ve never done such a thing! In addition, once, when I was collecting furs from some small tribes, I acquired a special treasure. It definitely is a magic treasure! As to what type of magic treasure it is, I don’t understand either…as long as you are willing to spare me, young master, I am willing to give this magic treasure…” Before he even finished speaking. Hu. Braveshell suddenly threw himself towards Ning, his right hand forming a claw, wanting to rip out Ning’s throat. At such a close range…generally speaking, even late stage Houtian experts would find it hard to dodge. “Hrmph.” With a casual wave of his hand, despite striking out later, Ning’s hand slapped down onto Braveshell’s skull before Braveshell finished his attack. Braveshell’s body trembled, and then blood began pouring out of his nose and his ears, and his body weakly tumbled to the ground. “He’s a sly one.” Ning said softly. This Braveshell really was both crafty and vicious, venomous and diabolical, daring to do anything. Even though he knew that his chance of of dealing with the Xiantian level person was low, he immediately 285 made the decision to first use the magic treasure to try and attract Ning’s interest…and then try to capture Ning. As long as he could take Ning hostage, he would have a chance at life. Unfortunately… Ning was someone who could kill even Diremonsters with ease. “So him and those guards were all on the same side.” The Xiantian level man said with a laugh. “Those guards were all half-armored, while this person was dressed in furs…I hadn’t noticed him.” “Thank you for your assistance, elder apprentice-brother.” Ning said with a laugh. The man in front of him was one of the nine major disciples which his father, Ji Yichuan, had trained. His name was Wanfang, and he was an early Xiantian lifeform. Within the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, his status was fairly high, but at his current level of power, he wasn’t quite eligible yet to take command over the black armored riders, while Ning, being the next Prefecture Lord, had an extremely high status. “If you had been the one to act, young master, things would have gone just as easily.” Wanfang sheathed his longsword while laughing. “But I came here for an important reason.” “Important reason?” Ning’s face changed. He kept in touch with the West Prefecture once a month. The person who had come this time was his own elder apprentice-brother. One could imagine how important the reason was, for a Xiantian expert to personally make the journey. “Let’s chat inside.” Ning said hurriedly. Ning glanced at the still-shocked Metalstone Tribesmen. “Dispose of the corpses. As for the Blackmount Tribe…in a little while, I’ll ask my elder apprentice-brother to make a trip to the Blackmount Tribe. You naturally won’t have anything to worry about.” “Thank you, young master!” The balding elder and the others all hurriedly fell to their knees. Only now did they understand how exalted Ning’s status truly was. For even a Xiantian lifeform to greet him with respect…a person like this, even the chieftain of the Blackmount Tribe would have to kneel before! Ning and Wanfang quickly entered the stone room, then closed the door. “Quick.” “Quick, clean it up.” The people of the Metalstone Tribe were filled with pumping blood as they looked at the corpses on the ground. They felt both nervous and excited. Normally, they had to all but worship the ground on which these terrifying Blackmount tribesmen walked on, but now, all of them lay here dead. “So even you will have an ending like this.” That cold, one-armed man gave a savage kick to the corpse of Braveshell, his eyes filled with rage and hate. ——————— Within the room. Only Ning and Wanfang were present. “Elder apprentice-brother, what is the matter?” Ning asked. “Why did you come here?” “Because of the Diremonster, Serpentwing!” Wanfang’s face was solemn. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Formation “The Diremonster, Serpentwing?” Ji Ning frowned. “What happened? Our Ji clan of the West Prefecture should have people stationed at Serpentwing Lake, with multiple Xiantian experts present. Could it be that Serpentwing has escaped Serpentwing Lake?” Wanfang shook his head. “If he had simply escaped from Serpentwing Lake, that would be a minor affair! Alas, our Ji clan of the West Prefecture actually ended up helping out Serpentwing. Our Xiantian experts stationed at Serpentwing Lake constantly tried to kill him whenever possible, causing Serpentwing’s every day to be filled with danger. There were several major battles as well! Under that pressure…Serpentwing actually reached the peak of the Xiantian level!” “What?! Peak Xiantian level?!” Ning was shocked. A peak Xiantian level Diremonster was truly dangerous. Even Eastmount Marsh had only a single peak Xiantian level Diremonster, that Ancient Snow Toad! “The Xiantian level experts of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture were only able to just barely survive through relying on their magic treasures. They had to just watch as Serpentwing disappeared!” Wanfang sighed. “As soon as he heard this news, Master immediately went in pursuit!” “Father went in pursuit?” Ning nodded. Wanfang nodded as well. “But that Serpentwing can both soar in the skies as well as dive into the seas. His speed is now much faster than before, and as soon as he enters the deep water, even a Zifu Disciple would find it hard to kill him. Master understood this as well, and this pursuit of his ended in failure. Thus, he ordered me to tell you of this affair and to make sure that you are careful. After all, previously, you killed his child.” “Understood.” Ning nodded solemnly. “It seems I need to leave this Metalstone Tribe now. Serpentwing, hrmph, I didn’t expect he’d survive this long, much less make a breakthrough!” “This sort of old monster who has been training for thousands of years has accumulated significant experience. It isn’t strange for him to make a breakthrough at last.” Wanfang then said, “That’s all there is to report. My mission is now complete.” Ning hurriedly advised him, “Apprentice brother Wanfang, those people you executed earlier belong to the Blackmount Tribe, located not far from here. Go help me rap their knuckles a bit!” 288 “Just leave this sort of minor task to me.” Wanfang nodded. ………. That very day, Ning led Autumn Leaf and Mowu out of the Metalstone Tribe. As to where he was headed…Ning didn’t inform anyone. Only by acting in such a way would he make it harder for Serpentwing to find him. —————————- A month after the Serpentwing Disaster, everything was calm again. Originally, after Serpentwing broke through to the peak Xiantian level, he charged out of Serpentwing Lake, beginning to vent his fury upon the area, causing great harm to the nearby tribes and devouring many humans, filling countless tribesmen with fear. He boldly went out in search of Ning, but the news that Ning was adventuring was a secret which few knew. Given that Ning himself was extremely vigilant as well, Serpentwing naturally couldn’t find him! After half a month, Serpentwing encountered Ji Yichuan. Relying on his vastly increased strength, Serpentwing confidently did battle with him, but he didn’t expect that once again, he would be badly injured. Still, his flying speed was much faster than before, and when he fled for his life, even Yichuan wasn’t able to do anything to him. This battle resulted in Serpentwing coming to a decision; he never wanted to fight against Yichuan ever again. If he saw Yichuan, he would immediately run far away. Another month later, Poisondove Ridge stepped in! The Five Prefectures of the Ji clan negotiated with Poisondove Ridge, and the end result was…‘The Diremonster, Serpentwing, is forbidden to leave Serpentwing Lake for a hundred years!’ …….. Time passed. In the blink of an eye, summer arrived. Within Eastmount Marsh. Two figures lay hidden within the aquatic grass. One was a half-red, half-white man with a vile aura and braided hair, while the other was a muscular man dressed in black. “The information you have is correct?” The vile-looking man said softly. “We’ve waited here for three days now.” The black-clothed man nodded. “Recently, there is a youngster who often comes to fight against the Azure Skysnake King. Every ten or fifteen days, they’ll do battle. In addition, their battles are generally in the area around here. Don’t worry, Master. When the time comes, the Azure Skysnake King will definitely emerge from the depths, and once he enters our formation, he won’t be able to escape!” 289 “Alright.” The vile man nodded. “For the sake of this day, I have prepared for so long, and also spent an incredible price in order to acquire this Yin and Yang Twin Energy Formation. This time, we must capture the Azure Skysnake King alive and let it become my spirit beast!” “Once the Azure Skysnake King enters the formation, its life and death will be entirely determined by you, Master.” The black clothed man said. “Hahaha…” The vile man laughed gently. “Right. That youth who often fights against the Azure Skysnake King, do you know who he is?” “I’ve never seen him.” The black clothed man shook his head. “I know all of the young geniuses of our Ironwood clan, and he isn’t one of them. It seems as though this youngster’s sword techniques are based on the Ji clan’s [Raindrop Sutra].” “Ji clan?” A fierce look flashed through the vile man’s eyes. “For him to be able to fight equally at such a young age with the Azure Skysnake King means that when he grows up, he’ll most likely become yet another Yichuan…since that’s the case, then I, Ironwood Zhan, will give the Ji clan a hand and help them send their genius straight to the Yellow Springs of Hell.” Time passed. Another half day went by. It was now sunset, and in the distance, a fur-clad youngster appeared, walking atop of the waves. “Master, he’s here!” The black clothed man hurriedly shouted. Zhan turned and looked. Seeing that Ning was walking on water as though it were flat ground, his pupils shrank. “One with the world!” “He must die.” Zhan’s heart was now filled with a killing urge. At such a young age, this person was able to reach the ‘one with the world’ level. Once this terrifying youngster grew up…he would be far more powerful than even the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. He might even become the most powerful figure in the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan!” “Brother An!” Ironwood Zhan hurriedly instructed. “Afterwards, you go deal with that youth. Even if you can’t kill him, don’t let him get away. After I subdue the Azure Skysnake King, I’ll immediately hurry over.” “Yes.” The black clothed man said respectfully. Ironwood Zhan stared grimly into the distance. To be able to reach the ‘one with the world’ level as a youth…this sort of monstrous talent was countless times more talented than him, Ironwood Zhan. Fortunately, he, Zhan, had been training for over a 290 hundred years. Relying on his years of accumulated strength, it would still be simplicity itself for him to slay this little child. ……… Zhan was hiding within the aquatic grasses, and had secretly set up a formation in the area around this location. Neither their auras nor their voices would penetrate through it. If even their auras couldn’t pass through…then of course, there was no way to sense them. Ning, thus, also didn’t sense their presence either. “Little snakey-snake.” Ning stood on the surface of the water as he called out. “Still not coming out?” His voice transmitted directly into the depths of the water. A moment later. BOOM! An enormous emerald serpent erupted forth from the waves, and then its body rapidly shrank to a length of around ten meters, while its head stared, swaying, at Ning while emitting a disdainful snort. Actually, over the course of his multiple battles against Ning, the Azure Skysnake King had gained some insights as well. The Azure Skysnake King had the feeling that he too was about to reach the ‘one with the world’ level. Although his battle ability was astonishing, he primarily relied on his natural gifts. In terms of skill level, he was inferior to Ji Ning. This sort of utterly ruthless battles against an opponent, with both using deadly, lethal blows, was the best way for an individual to improve! “Once I also reach the ‘one with the world’ level, you will definitely die.” The Azure Skysnake King secretly said to himself. ‘Haha, c’mere, little snakey-snake.” Two swords appeared out of nowhere in Ning’s hands. Hua! The Azure Skysnake King flashed towards him like a bolt of green lightning, while Ning went forward to welcome him. ……… Zhan, hiding in the distant aquatic grass, felt even more astonished. “His swordplay is also at the ‘one with the world’ level! And he uses twin swords to such a perfect degree! It seems he isn’t even a Xiantian lifeform yet, but he is able to fight head on with a Xiantian level Godbeast…this sort of talent is absolutely terrifying! He must be destroyed as soon as possible!” 291 “Why haven’t they entered yet?” “Almost.” Ironwood Zhan grew frantic with impatience. He had laid down his formation in advance. Although the formation took up a large amount of space, there was some distance between the formation and Ning’s battle with the Azure Skysnake King. “Almost…” Ironwood Zhan’s heart was frantic, but he had to suppress his impatience. Because he knew that once he revealed himself…the frightened Azure Skysnake King would instantly dive into the water, at which point he wouldn’t have any chance at all to deal with him. All he could do was watch as the distant battle continued. Sometimes, Ning would be sent flying, while at other times, a wound would appear on the body of the Azure Skysnake King. The two battled amidst the waves, with Ning constantly gliding atop the waves, sometimes charging forward, other times dodging. On multiple occasions, they almost entered the formation, but the end, they didn’t…this truly was nerve wracking. “Swish.” On one exchange of blows… “They’re in!” Zhan’s eyes were red. At this moment, Ning and the Azure Skysnake King had just barely entered the formation. They were at the very edges of it. But Zhan no longer dared to wait any longer. Perhaps in the next moment, Ning and the Azure Skysnake King would once more leave the area of the formation. “Up!” Zhan’s face was fierce. “Huh?” Ning, at the borders of the formation, suddenly felt a thrill race through his mind. This was because Ning’s soul was already extremely powerful, so much so that he could unconsciously sense any deadly dangers nearby. An invisible terror suddenly filled Ning’s head, and he had the feeling that if he didn’t move, he might really die! “Retreat!” Ning glided backwards at maximum speed, and as he did so, he just so happened to leave the edges of the formation. ……….. As Ning retreated past the edges of the formation, he saw that the surface of the water in front of him suddenly transformed into a scene of chaos. One enormous white energy wave after another appeared, intersecting with enormous black energy waves, creating countless ‘nets’ covering the area in front of him. The power of this enormous formation made Ning’s heart shake. This was something set up by a late stage Xiantian Ki Refiner, who then suddenly released all the terrifying power he had previously placed in the surrounding area. “The Azure Skysnake King is within the formation!” Ning’s heart clenched. After having battled with this old opponent so many times, seeing that the opponent had fallen into the formation, Ning felt worry for him as well. “Grooooowl.” A black human figure suddenly flew into the air, transforming into a black Bi’an Tiger that was over thirty meters long. The furry mane around its neck was spread out like an enormous fan, rising up to the heads. Its jade eyes were filled with savage fury, and it pounced directly towards Ning. “A Bi’an Tiger?!” Ning instantly understood who it was that had set up the massive formation. “The only Xiantian lifeform who has a Bi’an Tiger as his spirit-beast is Ironwood Zhan, of the Ironwood clan! A latestage Xiantian expert!” “Gotta go!” Ning knew very well the difference in power between the two of them. Ironwood Zhan was extremely famous, and was legendary for how sinister he was. When he used his magic treasures, even the Azure Skysnake King was far from being his match! “Swish!” Suddenly, a black light shot towards Ning. With a quick sword stroke and a ‘clang’ sound, Ning sent the black light flying back towards that Xiantian level Bi’an Tiger. The Bi’an Tiger roared, “Child of the Ji clan, today, shall be the day of your death!” “Argh!” A sharp, ear-piercing scream of pain shook the heavens, emanating from within that formation. Ning couldn’t help but feel his heart shudder as well. He knew that this was the desolate cry of the Azure Skysnake King. Despite having fought with Ning for so long, the Azure Skysnake King had never before let out such a miserable sound. Clearly, it truly was in dire straits this time. “Little green snake, I hope you’ll be able to survive this affair.” Ning could only silently pray. Not daring to hesitate at all, he immediately began to flee across the surface of the lake while blocking the furious attacks of that Xiantian level Bi’an Tiger. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Don’t think of escaping!” The Bi’An Tiger roared furiously, while at the same time chasing after Ji Ning on water at high speed. But with each step, waves exploded beneath his feet. After all, it had yet to reach the ‘one with the world’ level. It had to rely on its released monstrous energy to forcibly walk atop the water. In addition, it was only a land-based beast to begin with. Naturally, its running speed was even slower! Actually, even in the mountains, the forests, or the plains, its speed would probably still be slightly lower than Ning’s, much less now, on water! It could only watch as Ning quickly escaped. “Grrrr.” The Bi’An Tiger could only return. Staring at that ferocious battle going on within that massive formation, the Azure Skysnake King, occasionally expanding while occasionally contracting, the tiger mused, “How can this Azure Skysnake possibly resist the magical formation? No matter how long it struggles, in the end, it will have to submit!” ——————————- The formation called upon the natural power of the world and had unimaginable strength! This Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation’s power was far beyond the ability of the Azure Skysnake to resist. “Hahaha….” Ironwood Zhan stood atop the water, pointing at the distant enormous emerald snake, which was currently entangled by those countless streams of black and white energy. “Azure Skysnake, now that you have fallen into my formation, no matter how much you struggle, it is useless. Best obediently surrender and acknowledge me as master. That way, you’ll suffer a bit less!” “Groooowl.” The Azure Skysnake raised its head, roaring with fury. “You don’t submit?” Although Zhan didn’t understand, he could sense the Azure Skysnake’s fury and enmity. He immediately laughed coldly, “Azure Skysnake, in this boundless world, it is the human race which is truly in charge! It is the Grand Xia Dynasty who has unified this land! No matter how powerful you are, Godbeast, what can you really do? Even if I release you, others will come to capture you. I think you had best obediently submit to me!” Ironwood Zhan was speaking nonstop. But no matter what he said, the Azure Skysnake didn’t pay attention to him, causing Zhan to truly grow angry. “Fine, then. I want to watch and see…if your bones are tougher, or if my Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation is tougher!” 295 “Crackle…” Black and white energy streams were wildly wrapping about it like a millstone, grinding the Azure Skysnake’s scales to the point of shattering, with its jade blood staining the water below. But this scale-ripping, flesh-tearing pain couldn’t make the Azure Skysnake lower its proud head in the slightest. Shua! The Azure Skysnake suddenly shrank to the thickness of a finger, temporarily escaping the entanglement of the black and white energy streams, but immediately afterwards, the energy streams once more wildly wrapped around it. The energy continued to dissipate and reform without end! How arduous would it be to avoid these energy streams? “Aaaaargh!” The finger-thick, miniature Azure Skysnake let out a fierce cry, suddenly transforming to an enormous size once again, even larger than Serpentwing! Sometimes large, sometimes small, it continuously struggled. Only in this way would it be able to reduce the amount of time the Yin Yang energy streams ground down upon it. After all, that grinding sensation truly, truly was painful. At the same time the little Azure Skysnake was struggling, it was repeatedly trying to pounce towards Zhan as well. But the power of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation was simply too great, not giving it the slightest chance to draw near Zhan. Struggling repeatedly, the wounds on its body grew greater and greater. Its scales were shattered, and its jade blood leaked out. “Yaaaaaaa!” “Yaaaaaaa!” One fierce cry after another. The Azure Skysnake King was still struggling. As a monstrous beast, it was incomparably arrogant. How could it submit to this human in front of it? If it was a human Zifu Disciple, perhaps the Azure Skysnake would have been willing to lower its head, but this Ironwood Zhan wasn’t qualified. “Huh?” After a long time, Zhan began to frown. “How is it still struggling?” Zhan stared at the Azure Skysnake, still incomparably wild despite being badly injured and being covered in wounds. “Although only part of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation’s power has been released, if it keeps on acting like this, it will be ground to death by the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation! Can it be that it would rather die than submit to me?” Zhan gritted his teeth. With a thought, he caused the black and white energy streams binding the Azure Skysnake to begin to dissipate. “Azure Skysnake!” Zhan pointed at the wounded, exhausted Diremonster. “I relied on the formation to suppress you, so most likely, you aren’t convinced! Then you and I shall do battle. I won’t rely on the assistance of the formation…as long as you can defeat me, I will release you. But if you lose, then you’ll submit to me. Agreed?” “Yaaaaaa!” The Azure Skysnake let out a few vicious sounds, then transformed to a length of ten or so meters. This was the most powerful form it could transform into. And then, it pounced towards Zhan! “Hmph.” A long black whip appeared out of nowhere in Ironwood Zhan’s right hand. The whip had multiple natural-growing sharp nails embedded into it. This long black whip was the magic treasure, “Blackwood Vinewhip”. It was one of the famous magic treasures of the Ironwood clan. With a powerful whipping motion, he sent the whip towards the Azure Skysnake, and it transformed into an enormous black blur. Shua! Shua! The Azure Skysnake rapidly dodged, managing to move past this whip. “Huahuahua…” Ironwood Zhan continued to brandish the long whip in his hand. The whip spun in circle upon circle, covering the skies in countless enveloping circles towards the Azure Skysnake. And then, with a ripping sound, the Azure Skysnake lost yet another piece of scale and flesh from its body. “Sssssssssssss.” The Azure Skysnake let out a furious hiss. Despite being wounded, it still pounced forward. Zhan only smiled coldly, continuing to brandish his Blackwood Vinewhip. This wasn’t the first time for him to fight against the Azure Skysnake. He was an expert at using the whip, and was completely able to counter the Azure Skysnake’s agility! However, the Azure Skysnake was capable of fleeing very quickly. In the past, Zhan wasn’t able to do anything about it, but now that the Azure Skysnake was trapped within the formation, there was nowhere for it to run. “What do you think?” Zhan stood there, long whip dancing, with each whipping blow containing a power capable of cracking a small mountain, causing the Azure Skysnake’s body to crack open on multiple locations. “My strength is greater than yours. You had best obediently submit.” “Pa!” The magic treasure’s slammed against its body. Given that Zhan himself was a late-stage Xiantian expert, he was completely capable of suppressing it. “Swoosh!” 297 This time, as it dodged past through dancing long whip, the Azure Skysnake suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared a few dozen meters away. Ironwood Zhan was astonished, but immediately afterwards, his face changed greatly. “Sssssss…” The Azure Skysnake called out in excitement, while at the same time, with every single slithering motion of its body, it seemed to teleport dozens of meters, if not even farther. “Die!” Ironwood Zhan’s face was ferocious, and he seemed to have gone insane. Rumble…. The formation shuddered, and large amounts of black and white energy vicious slammed down towards the Azure Skysnake, but the Azure Skysnake only glanced icily at Ironwood Zhan, then disappeared with another slither. “Bang!” The black and white energy collided, transforming into large amounts of chaotic energy. “Damnable!” Ironwood Zhan howled madly, fists waving furiously. “Damnable!!!” “Void Blink! Void Blink!” Ironwood Zhan’s face was ferocious, and his eyes were red and insane. “This Azure Skysnake is actually capable of using Void Blink. Right. It is due to that child of the Ji clan. That child of the Ji clan has battled against the Azure Skysnake repeatedly…it must be that this has caused the Azure Skysnake to improve, allowing it to reach the ‘one with the world’ level and be able to utilize the Void Blink!” Ironwood Zhan was utterly enraged. Although there was only a single Azure Skysnake in the Swallow Mountain area, there were quite a few in the boundless territory ruled over by the Grand Xia Dynasty. Thus, Ironwood Zhan knew very well how powerful Azure Skysnakes were, which was why he so desperately wanted to tame this one. Generally speaking, Diremonsters were capable of controlling water, or poison, or fire, or son on and so forth. Even the likes of the Aquatic Rhino King and Serpentwing, non-Godbeast creatures, had this ability. But as a Godbeast, the Azure Skysnake King didn’t have a special ability… But actually, it still had something! Only, the Azure Skysnake King’s natural ability was simply too powerful. While it was at a low level of power, it wasn’t capable of utilizing it. Much like how a normal monstrous beast wasn’t capable of controlling water at the Houtian stage but was able to at the Xiantian stage, this Azure Skysnake King’s natural ability had to do with the ‘Void’. Even after it reached the Xiantian lifeform level, it still had to 298 reach the ‘one with the world’ level before it was capable of instantly becoming one with the void, allowing it to utilize the Void Blink technique! “Void Blink!” Ironwood Zhan ground his teeth. “A Azure Skysnake King capable of developing the Void Blink technique will quickly become incomparably powerful!” The Void Blink… This allowed the Azure Skysnake to be capable of going to some very secretive places, and even go steal some of the world’s spirit fruits. This represented that its growing speed was about to enter a phase of explosive growth! Without question, this Azure Skysnake King was about to leave Eastmount Marsh and begin an adventuring journey. After all, only by going to other places would it be capable of acquiring more natural treasures and grow more rapidly in power. If it always stayed here comfortably, it would be a waste of its talent! “Given the amount of hatred it bears me, in the future, when it returns to Swallow Mountain, it might come looking for me seeking revenge.” Zhan was both furious and frightened. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!” Ironwood Zhan bellowed in fury, the sound of his roars causing even the water to explode! He was furious. “All because of that Ji clan child!” Ironwood Zhan ground his teeth, filled with utter hatred. If Ji Ning hadn’t caused the Azure Skysnake King to advance so rapidly, how could it have suddenly made a breakthrough during this battle? Most likely, Zhan would have already tamed the Azure Skysnake. Now, he not only had been unable to tame it, he had also offended a powerful future enemy. The Azure Skysnake would definitely remember this grudge! ———————— The massive formation vanished. Ironwood Zhan collected all eight of the formation flags, then walked out atop the water, a sinister, shadowy look on his face. “Master.” The Bi’An Tiger transformed into a black-clothed man, flying over. Seeing the look on his master’s face, he knew that the taming attempt had failed. He hurriedly said, “Master, don’t be angry. This Azure Skysnake was simply too foolish. It was its own fault that Master killed it!” “It didn’t die!” Ironwood Zhan said coldly. “It didn’t die?!” The black-clothed was astonished. “Then it?” Ironwood Zhan shook his head. “It actually managed to comprehend the Void Blink technique. It fled.” 299 “Butbutbut…” The black-clothed man found it hard to believe as well. The Azure Skysnake had actually managed to comprehend the Void Blink technique at the critical juncture. “All of it is the fault of that Ji clan child.” Zhan said coldly. “His power was on par with the Azure Skysnake. After repeated battles, the Azure Skysnake has improved greatly. Thus, during this battle, it suddenly sensed the world, allowing it to become ‘one with the void’ and use the Void Blink technique! This Ji clan’s child ruined everything. I will definitely strip his skin and rip his tendons. Otherwise, I won’t be able to get rid of this fury in my heart!” The black-clothed man nodded repeatedly. “Master, don’t worry. Before this, I shot several of my backspikes at him, which are stained with the ‘Iceflower Liquid’. Some of the Iceflower Liquid has already gotten onto his body. As long as we release the Ice Wasp, we’ll definitely be able to find him. “Fine.” Zhan withdrew a gray sack from his waist. Loosening the sack, a semi-translucent, gem-like wasp flew out at high speed. “Pursue.” Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger followed behind the Ice Wasp at high speed. After they left, a green snake suddenly emerged atop the peaceful water. The green snake stared from afar, a look of hope in its eyes. After it had battled against Ji Ning so many times, the two of them were evenly matched for so long. In addition, Ning had helped contribute to it being able to break through to the ‘one with the world’ level of movement technique and comprehend the Void Blink technique. It felt some gratitude towards Ning. “Ssssss….” The Azure Skysnake let out a soft sound. It hoped Ning would be able to escape. It had already done what it was capable of. After all, although right now, he had very formidable fleeing abilities, in terms of actual power, he was far from being Ironwood Zhan’s match. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Pond Ji Ning, relying on his ‘one with the world’ footwork technique, ran at high speed, as fast as the wind. After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he continued to flee at high speed, moving most likely over a thousand kilometers through the mountain forests before coming to a halt. Actually, by now, the Golden Crow [the Sun] had already completely sunk beneath the horizon. However, the eastern horizon was still very red, and there was still some light cast on the ground. “Whew!” Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I first ran three hundred kilometers on water, then another thousand kilometers on land. In addition, I was moving at my maximum speed. I’ve never run like this before. I didn’t expect that even with a body like mine, I still ended up so sweaty.” Ning usually could run for a thousand kilometers on Eastmount Marsh without sweating at all, but this time, he really had moved at his utmost speed. Feeling exhausted, Ning slowly walked forward. There was a pool in front of him, and within the pool, there were a few floating lotus flowers. The flowers were not stained at all by the mud, and their stems were straight. The fragrance of the lotuses entered his nose, causing the exhausted Ning to let out a hint of a smile as he sat down next to the pool. “I guess I managed to make it through that setback.” Ning withdrew a bamboo reed with a flip of his hand. The reed was filled with clean water. Raising his head, he took two gulps. “I wonder how the little green snake is doing.” Ning sighed lightly. “Little green snake, don’t blame me. I’m not able to help you either. Alas, I haven’t reached the Xiantian level.” “Xiantian!” Just thinking about this made Ning feel a hint of worry. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method, was extremely powerful, but training it was simply too difficult. Even someone with his background found it so hard to breakthrough. ‘Merge Yin and Yang, Fuse Fire and Water’. How was this accomplished? “What do I need to do in order to break through?” Ning pondered bitterly. Hu! A gentle breeze blew by. The cool, summer night breeze was so comfortable. The breeze wafted through the lotus flowers in the pool. Some spun in place, first towards one direction, then towards the other. Having reached the ‘one with the world’ level in the [Shadewind Steps], Ning naturally was able to mentally become one with the wind. When the wind blew past the lotus blossom, he could clearly sense… “Huh?” Ning suddenly revealed a look of curiosity. “When the wind blows the lotus, it turns both left, then right!” Ning suddenly felt as though he understood something. “If a leaf is blown by the wind, it will be blown wildly without any rhythm at all!” “If it was a small tree that was being blown down by the wind, it would only shake from left to right! That’s because it doesn’t have any enormous round leaves.” But when the lotus flower is blown upon, the petals of the lotus can turn left or turn right, cancelling out this force.” Raising his head, Ning stared at the sky. It wasn’t completely dark yet, but in the skies, he could already faintly see the light of the moon. “The Golden Crow [Sun] falls, and the Moon Rabbit [Moon] rises!” “Turn left, turn right!” “Day and night. Because there is day, thus there is the concept of night!” Ning murmured to himself. “In a place of utter darkness, a tiny hint of light is incomparably brilliant! The left and right turns of the lotus petal allow it to cancel out the two contrasting spins, allowing it to cancel out the force of the wind and stay in place, unmoved.” Ning closed his eyes. His spirit was already ‘one with the world’, and he became one with the wind and the lotus flowers in the pool. He could faintly sense some sort of enormous Principle, which hid ancient secrets that had existed since the creation of the endless universe…this secret, was the Dao [The Way]! The wind held the Dao within it, and the Dao itself was vast and unknowable. But when the wind blew past the lotus flower…Ning was capable of seeing the shadow of the Dao flash through the lotus flowers. Capable of finding a hint of the movements and the true appearance of the Dao! Ning quietly sat there in the lotus position by the side of the pool, completely lost in thought as he attentively meditated on the hint of the ‘Dao’ which he had sensed from the lotus flowers circular movements. ————————— 302 Comprehending the Dao was something that one could hope for but not ask for. In that moment when his soul, his thoughts, the environment, and everything else all fused together, he was able to just barely touch a hint of the Dao. But in order to touch the Dao…the prerequisite was that one would first have to become ‘one with the world’. Only after one’s mind could completely become one with the world was one capable of touching the Eternal Dao. “Huahuahua…” A stream of water slowly flowed through a small creek covered up by the wild grass. “Gugugu!” Night descended, and the forest was now filled with the croaking of frogs. Slowly…. Rays of light began to surround Ning, still seated in the lotus position. First, some rays of watery light appeared, slowly forming one enormous lotus petal after another around him. One watery lotus petal after another surrounded Ning, currently blossoming while swaying gently in the breeze. Immediately afterwards, dots of fiery light began to gather as well, forming into fiery lotus petals. These enormous lotus petals of flame also wrapped around Ning. Two layers of lotus petals. The first layer was of watery lotus petals. The second was of fiery lotus petals. Each layer had exactly three petals. “Hu!” Fire and water intersected. A wind arose out of nowhere. Huahuahua…. Between the two layers of lotus petals, a wind arose out of nowhere. The two layers of lotus petals began to swivel. The lower layer of watery lotus petals swiveled to the left, while the upper layer of fiery lotus petals were turning to the right! The two layers of lotus petals were completely turning in opposite directions…slowly, sluggishly, they rotated, but Ning himself didn’t utilize any of his own strength at all. Everything happened by nature. “Swoosh!” A gray-furred wolf loped out from within the forests, its jade eyes focused on that distant, furclad youth. Only, those enormous lotus petals, multiple meters in size, which were surrounding that furclad youth made the wolf slightly confused. As a beast with low intelligence, however, its innate sense was telling it that those rotating petals of fire and water were nothing more than part of the world, just like the clouds…there was no need to pay attention to them. The gray wolf bared its fangs, staring at the fur-clad youth. It was very hungry! The fur-clad youth was just sitting there without moving, as though he was asleep. He definitely wouldn’t have the ability to fight back. In addition, the flesh of this youth seemed so tender and delectable. The gray wolf could already feel its saliva coming into its mouth. It hesitated no more! “Swoosh!” The gray wolf charged forward rapidly, pouncing forward with fangs bared, preparing to bite down on that fur-clad youth. But as soon as it leapt within two meters of those layers of lotus petals… “Boom!” The wind created by those two layers of lotus petals contained within them a hint of the destructive force of the world. In an instant, it chopped that wolf into tiny pieces, with blood splattering everywhere, some seeping deep into the earth, while the rest flowed into the pool. ——————————– Nightfall. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger he commanded, in the former of a black-clothed man, were currently following behind that Ice Wasp as they traversed the mountain forests. The Ice Wasp was just a wasp, after all. It wasn’t an enormous flying beast, nor was it a Diremonster. One could imagine how much slower it was! It was far from being even a tenth as fast as Ning “This child of the Ji clan really can run.” Ironwood Zhan’s face was gloomy and sinister. “After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he kept on fleeing…” The black-clothed man said hurriedly, “Master, the Ice Hornet’s flying speed is much slower. If this child of the Ji clan keeps running without stopping, all the way to one of the Prefectures of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan, we probably won’t have any way to catch him.” “Run all the way to one of the Five Prefectures?” Ironwood Zhan shook his head. “Too far. Eastmount Marsh is already at the borders of the Ji clan’s territory. To run from the border to one of the Five Prefectures at once? That child of the Ji clan shouldn’t run that far.” Although he said this, in his heart, Zhan was worried as well. If Ning truly had run to any one of the Five Prefectures, no matter how confident Zhan was in his abilities, he wouldn’t dare to charge into the lair of his enemies. “We’ll slowly pursue him.” 304 Ironwood Zhan said. “Wherever the Iceflower Liquid passes by, it will leave that unique aroma. It won’t dissipate for at least three days. We can’t smell it, but the Ice Wasp can. As long as that child of the Ji clan doesn’t flee to the Five Prefecture, he will die!” “Right, he will die.” The black-clothed man said hurriedly. “He ruined everything for me, and caused me to have a powerful future foe.” Ironwood Zhan could visualize that Azure Skysnake adventuring in the outside world through the usage of its Void Blink, becoming more powerful, reaching the Zifu level, then coming back to kill him…he couldn’t help but feel fear, while at the same time, he hated Ji Ning even more. “I definitely have to personally tear his skin off and rend his tendons!” “Right! Tear his skin, rip his tendons!” The black-clothed man ground his teeth as well. ———————– The Golden Crow [Sun] was beginning to raise its head over the eastern skies. It was daybreak. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger under his command were still slowly pursuing. They had pursued for so long, both of them had bellies full of anger. This child of the Ji clan really was too cautious. After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he had actually fled for at least another thousand kilometers. A Ice Wasp that flew for a thousand kilometers would be very tired as well. Fortunately, this Ice Wasp was a mutant. “Master.” The black-clothed man’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly pointed to the distant. “Huh?” The also-tired Zhan turned to look in that direction. Instantly, he could make out an indistinct human figure at the distant side of a pool. This caused his mind to instantly wake up. Ironwood Zhan’s eyes lit up. He licked the corner of his lips, then said mentally, “Let’s go take a look.” Between master and spirit beast, at a close distance, there was the ability to maintain psychic communications. As for the exact distance…it depended on how powerful their souls were. Generally speaking, a Xiantian lifeform and his spirit beast had to maintain a distance of ten meters if they wanted to be able to converse mentally. The two carefully crept forward, trying not to make any noise. But in truth, even if they made some noise, Zhan wasn’t afraid. He was, after all, a late stage Xiantian expert. When running at full speed, he was a bit faster than even Ji Ning, and in addition, he carried on him a ‘Divine Movement Seal’ as well as a number of other ordinary Dao seals. How could he possibly allow Ning to escape? “What an idiot. No matter how careful I am, I still am making some noise, but he didn’t notice at all. He should be a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Logically speaking, he should have excellent senses. Hmph, hmph, he 305 really has no experience at all. He’s probably fallen asleep.” Zhan laughed coldly. “All the better. It will make my life easier. Otherwise, I’d have to waste a Divine Movement Seal. Ironwood Zhan and the black-clothed man continued moving forward. Slowly… They could make the person out clearly. “What?” They were both stunned. This was because the Sun had already risen by now. Under the light of the Sun, those enormous fiery lotus petals and the watery lotus petals appeared semi-translucent. After all, these lotus petals were not real lotus petals. They were formed by the energy of the world. Under the light of the sun, they instantly appeared semi-translucent. The two layers of enormous lotus petals were still slowly swiveling in opposite directions, but contained within them a very strange rhythm. In the center of these two enormous layers of rotating lotus petals, Ning was seated there in the lotus position. “What…what is this?” Zhan, although highly experienced, had never seen a sight like this. “Can it be that this is created from internal ki?” “Still, even if he has broken through to the Xiantian lifeform stage, he is still only an early stage Xiantian. I imagine he doesn’t have any magic treasures on him.” A fierce look appeared on Zhan’s face. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Birth to Xiantian Ironwood Zhan and his Bi’an Tiger drew near at high speed, quickly arriving by the side of the pool. “It really is beautiful.” Ironwood Zhan couldn’t help but sigh in amazement as he stared at the reflecting light of the setting sun, which shone down upon those two blooming, enormous lotus petals. But the more he looked at them, the more nervous he became. He was, after all, a late stage Xiantian expert. Although he hadn’t reached the ‘one with the world’ level, he could already dimly sense how extraordinary those two layers of petals were. “Master.” The Bi’an Tiger looked at Zhan as well. “What should we do now?” “Don’t be impatient. He is in front of us and won’t be able to escape. Let’s give him a test, first!” Zhan instructed mentally. With a wave of his hand, he released his Xiantian force, which directly dragged a rock into his hand. And then, with a powerful throw, he infused this rock with his Xiantian energy, transforming it into a ray of light which shot straight towards Ji Ning, still seated in the lotus-position. Although he just threw a rock, a Ninefang Warrior would definitely be killed. “Hua!” When the stone reached the area of ten meters of Ning and intersected with those two layers of lotus petals, it instantly became frozen! That invisible killing energy, with a hiss, transformed the rock into dust. The Bi’An Tiger and Ironwood Zhan both felt their hearts tighten. They exchanged glances. Clearly, they were somewhat puzzled by those two mysterious lotus layers. “I refuse to believe it.” Zhan sneered coldly, and the Blackwood Vinewhip appeared in his hands out of nowhere. “Hu!” Ironwood Zhan lashed out with his long whip. The Blackwood Vinewhip elongated, coiling around a thick nearby tree. With a massive pull! Honglong…the entire tree was ripped out by the roots, carrying with it a large amount of dirt, swinging about along with Zhan’s whip. Boom…this tens of thousands of pounds heavy tree smashed directly towards Ning, seated in the lotus position. When the massive tree trunk slammed against those two layers of translucent, enormous lotus 307 leaves, it instantly shattered apart. However, the terrifying power of the collision contained within the massive tree caused the two layers of lotus leaves to tremble. Ning, who had been meditating in the lotus position, shook slightly. His eyes opened up. As his eyes opened, he saw that the two enormous lotus leaves surrounding his body were dissipating as an enormous tree trunk smashed down upon him. In the distance, Ironwood Zhan and that black-clothed man were sneering coldly at him. “You ruined my good fortune!” Watching the two layers of enormous lotus petals dissipate, Ning instantly realized what he had gained this night, and also realized how priceless these insights had been. If nobody had disturbed him, he probably would have been able to gain insights for even longer. But unexpectedly, Zhan had ruined it for him. It must be understood that these moments of enlightenment were something which could only be hoped for and not asked for. It might be decades, if not centuries, until the next time something like this would occur. “Damn you!” Ning swept out with a palm, and with a booming sound, smashed that massive tree trunk into two halves. One half landed into the middle of the pond, crushing many of the lotus flowers. The other half fell down against several other nearby trees, sending dust everywhere. “Little child of the Ji clan!” Ironwood Zhan laughed ferociously. “You fled a thousand kilometers into the forest, but I still caught you in the end! Today is the day you die!” Ning glanced at him coldly, and then immediately summoned forth the Lunar energy and the Solar energy in his body. Over the course of the previous night’s meditation, he had gained just a hint of insight into the true nature of the Dao, but that hint of insight was enough to allow him to understand, without question, what the method was for breaking through to the next level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Nothing in the world was truly opposite of anything else! It was much like how night and day were seemingly opposites, but in reality, were just two different aspects of the sky. It was much like the two layers of fire and water lotus petals that had surrounded him. Not only did they not cancel each other out, they had even increased each other’s power. Why? A lotus flower had a stalk, which was what allowed the lotus petals to swivel! The ‘stalk’ of the two layers of fire and water lotus petals was Ning himself! Solar energy, Lunar energy…how to fuse them? By finding that ‘stalk’ which connected the Solar energy and the Lunar energy! “Come!” 308 Ning’s eyes were filled with absolutely certainty. His body had already completely brought forth all of his Solar and Lunar energy, which instantly filled every part of his body. Be it his hair or his skin or his organs or his very cells…it filled every part of him! Every single thread of Lunar energy and Solar energy began to swirl around each other, but their natures caused them to be unwilling to fuse. “Huahuahua…” All of the Lunar energy and Solar energy were swiveling, like the lotus flowers that had been blown upon by the wind. They were also like the two ‘fish’ of the yin-yang Taiji diagram, forever chasing each other. The Sun. The Moon. They constantly chased after each other…and as they did, they contained that hint of the Dao which Ning had understood. Slowly, in the center of the circling Solar energy and Lunar energy, a new force arose! Instantly… In that deep, boundless void, separated from this place by incomprehensibly many worlds, there lay the two Supreme Stars; the Solar Star [Sun] and the Lunar Star [Moon]. Each of them emitted a hint of their power; the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater appeared on each side around Ning, and also activated the power of fire and water of the surrounding world. “Bang!” “Bang!” The surrounding world instantly became filled with a sea of flame as well as an abyss of water. Though this took time to describe, in truth, as soon as Ning had shattered that tree, he had immediately activated the energy in his body and began to break through. Ironwood Zhan and his Bi’an Tiger saw with their own eyes the boundless flames and water appear out of nowhere, causing even them to feel fear. Wherever the water passed through, everything was frozen into ice sculptures, while wherever the fire passed through, everything was consumed by the flames. At the same time, within the surging water, the faint outline of the Jade Rabbit could be seen. Deep within the boundless flames, there was also the shadow of a three-legged Golden Crow. Between the Jade Rabbit and the Golden Crow, there was Ning! “This…this…” Zhan was so shocked, his face changed dramatically. “Can this be the legendary…the legendary [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?” 309 The Golden Crow and the Jade Rabbit had both appeared! Without question, this was the legendary [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, in at least the past thousand years, there hadn’t been a single person who was known to have relied on this technique to become a Xiantian lifeform. Although Zhan had read this technique and knew what the breakthrough looked like, this was his first time personally witnessing the amazing spectacle of a breakthrough. “Hrmph.” Ironwood Zhan’s hands summoned a formation flag out of nowhere. He immediately flew backwards, then began running around Ning, surrounded by boundless water and fire, in a circular pattern, while constantly throwing out one flag after another, all of which stabbed deep into the mud. In but a few seconds, eight formation flags had all been planted, covering an area of a square kilometer. Ironwood Zhan now simply stood from afar and watched. “Master, kill him.” The Bi’an Tiger said hurriedly. “Right now, he is breaking through. This is his weakest moment.” “No!” Zhan hurriedly shouted. “He trains in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, and is currently surrounded by the power of the Supreme Stars, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star! When breaking through to the Xiantian lifeform level, these two Supreme Stars will send down a hint of their Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater, breaking through countless barriers to allow him to evolve and be reborn into the body of a true Xiantian-level Fiendgod.” “Then it becomes all the more important for us to stop him.” The Bi’an Tiger said frantically. “Don’t you understand?” Ironwood Zhan’s face was ashen as he stared at the distant Ning, wrapped by the endless flames and water. “Right now, he is surrounded by boundless icy water and cocooned in flames. At the heart of the boundless icy water is a hint of the Lunar Truewater! At the heart of the endless flames is a hint of the Solar Truefire! Even if a Zifu Disciple were to touch it, he would instantly be frozen and shatter or be burnt to ashes, much less you and me! Not even his soul would be left. He wouldn’t even have the chance to go to the Netherworld Kingdom to be reborn!” “As fearsome as that?” The Bi’an Tiger was shocked. “Of course it is!” Ironwood Zhan’s face was solemn. “This is power which comes from the two Supreme Stars! Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater. Who dares to touch them?” “Then, then are we just going to watch?” The Bi’an Tiger said frantically. “Just watch as this child of the Ji clan becomes even more powerful?” “Don’t worry!” Zhan growled. “Right now, the two Supreme Stars have bequeathed their power to him, and he is beginning to transcend his mortal coil and be reborn into a true Xiantian Fiendgod. After he 310 breaks through, that hint of Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater will disappear. After all, the power of the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater doesn’t belong to this little child of the Ji clan himself. Ironwood Zhan sneered coldly, “I’ve already set down the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation. After this little child of the Ji clan breaks through, he’ll no longer have the protective power of the Supreme Stars. I will immediately activate the formation! No matter what, he’ll only be an early Xiantian lifeform without a single magic treasure. I, on the other hand, am a late Xiantian lifeform with the assistance of the formation!” “Right.” The Bi’an Tiger nodded as well. “But this child of the Ji clan really is amazing!” Ironwood Zhan couldn’t help but sigh in praise. “[Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. This is the legendary, most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Virtually all tribes of a certain size are in possession of it! But in a thousand years, in the entire Swallow Mountain area, there hasn’t been a single person who has reached Xiantian through it. If he is permitted to grow, he will definitely become the number one person of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan, and perhaps even the entire Swallow Mountain! But no matter how powerful he will be, right now, he will only have reached the Xiantian level. Haha…I feel wonderful when I think about how I’m about to kill such a monstrous genius.” ———————- What did Xiantian mean? It meant to be born from the heavens and from nature. Only that was a true Xiantian lifeform. Generally speaking, most Ki Refiners only had the inner ki energy in their bodies transform into Xiantian Afterwards, the energy would wash through their entire body, allowing them to reach a quick and agile state! But actually, this was the weakest type of Xiantian body. A casual sword thrust through the heart would cause them to die. But for Fiendgod Body Refiners…their entire body would be reborn into the body like a Fiendgod’s. Fiendgods could have their bodies chopped into eighteen parts, but as long as their head wasn’t destroyed, they would not die! Generally speaking, most Fiendgod Body Refining techniques were lowgrade, to the point of even relying on tattooing the divine patterns onto their bodies. But the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] relied on the power of the two Supreme Stars to naturally generate those two major divine tattoos. When breaking through to the Xiantian level, the Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater of the two Supreme Stars would descend…fire and water would coincide, giving birth to a Fiendgod’s body! This sort of Fiendgod body wasn’t one bit inferior to those trueborn Fiendgods of the ancient Fiendgod Era. Thus, this was reputed to be the number one technique in the world! “Pipa!” Ning could sense every single cell in his body explode. And then, the divine power of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] caused the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater to begin to reforge every single cell anew. The hint of Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater which the two Supreme Stars had sent down, in turn, were being utterly consumed in the process of forging this new Xiantian Fiendgod. The mortal vessel fell away! The Fiendgod body formed! Hua…The Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater were consumed, and the countless amounts of fire and water which surrounded them dispersed as well, revealing the fur-clad Ji Ning. Although he had leapt into the Xiantian level, the furs hadn’t been damaged by the fire and water at all. Only, Ning’s skin was now emitting an enchanting radiance, as though he were a gem formed by the heavens. Ning opened his eyes and stared at the distant Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger. He said only two words. “Now, die!” The Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo on his back instantly activated. Boom! Boom! An enormous flaming dragon and an enormous water dragon appeared out of nowhere, formed from the fire and water summoned by the Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo. Containing terrifying destructive power, it charged straight towards the distant Ironwood Zhan and Bi’an Tiger! This was the proof of the Xiantian level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]; the ability to control fire and water! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger were both astonished. Zhan hurriedly activated his Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation, while shouting loudly, “Be careful, he can control fire and water. The ability of Xiantian Fiendgods of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to control water and fire is extraordinary. Once water and fire come out simultaneously, even most ordinary Xiantian lifeforms can be killed!” The reason he shouted so loudly was because as soon as the Bi’an Tiger had seen the fire and water, it had already transformed into its real body and begun to retreat. Once the distance between the two increased, they were no longer capable of spiritual communication. But how could the speed of the Bi’an Tiger compare to that of the water and fire? “Boom…” An enormous water dragon instantly coiled around the Bi’an Tiger, causing a layer of frost to appear on it. At the same time, the other fire dragon also wrapped itself around the Bi’an Tiger. The water dragon and fire dragon simultaneously coiled around it, the water dragon filled with boundless cold, while the fire dragon was filled with endless heat… Hot and cold. Pa! Pa! Pa! The Bi’an Tiger’s fur began to crack, and his red flesh and muscles began to be revealed, then quickly char. “Grooooooooowl.” The Bi’an Tiger roared. “Still not dead!” Ji Ning’s gaze grew colder. The water dragon that had been coiling around the Bi’an Tiger suddenly loosened, then quickly began to transform, changing into an enormous flowing lotus petal. At the same time, the fire dragon also quickly transformed into a blazing lotus petal. The water lotus petal was below. The fire lotus petal was above. The Bi’an Tiger was in the middle. Despite how it tried to struggle and flee, it was useless. The two lotus petals followed it wherever it went. “Waterflame Lotus, smelt!” With a thought from Ning, instantly the two lotus petals began to slowly revolve. It was like two terrifying millstones slowly crushing down while revolving. Earlier, Ning had just 313 been unconsciously activated the energy of the world to form those two protective lotus petals through his slight understanding of the Dao, and yet the power had already been so tremendous. But now, Ning was himself a Xiantian lifeform, capable of controlling both fire and water. Adding onto that basic power the hint of the Dao he had understood…the power became hundreds of times greater than before. The petals of the Waterflame Lotus revolved. The Bi’an Tiger caught between them only felt a surge of heat and cold, and it felt far more miserable than before! Its entire body seemed to have lost all feeling! At the same time, as the water and fire intersected, a wind arose out of nowhere, and that wind filled with a powerful killing force descended directly upon the Bi’an Tiger. “Ka…” The Bi’an Tiger’s charred body was like a porcelain doll. It shattered into many little pieces, its eyes filled with incomprehension as they grew dim. The Bi’an Tiger had died! “It is actually this powerful.” Ning’s heart was filled with surprise and delight as well. “With the water and fire I control as the base, and then formed into the protective Waterflame Lotus which I developed, I was able to execute a middle Xiantian level Diremonster, without even giving it a chance to fight back.” Although the above took time to describe, a battle between experts was incredibly fast. From the moment when Ning created the Waterflame Lotus to the moment when the Bi’an Tiger died, only a heartbeat’s worth of time had occurred. “Boom…” The Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation which had surrounded this square kilometer fully released its power as well, and lines of black energy and white energy criss-crossed towards Ning. Ironwood Zhan was shocked by how easily his Bi’an Tiger had been executed as well. And then, with a savage expression, he howled, “Within my Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation, even if you are a monstrous talent which Swallow Mountain sees once in a millennium, you will still surely die! Die!” Lines of viper-like black and white energy instantly pounced towards Ning. “Hrmph.” With but a thought, instantly fire and water appeared out of nowhere next to his body. The fire and water transformed into lotus petals, with two layers of enormous petals of the Waterflame Lotus hovering about him, waiting for those black and white energy streams to attack. When they did…with a thought from Ning, the Waterflame Lotus suddenly fused! Like a budding flower, those upward-pointing lotus petals formed into a massive lotus flower bud that was over ten meters high, instantly ensconcing Ning within them. “Pengpengpeng…” The black and white energy waves came crashing down. The Waterflame Lotus, although having fused into a flower bud, was still slowly swiveling. The inner layer was made of fire lotus petals, while the outer layer was made from water lotus petals. They continued to slowly swivel in opposite directions. No matter how the black and white energy struck against it time and time again, sometimes just barely breaking through the outer layer of the water lotus petals, the water lotus petals would once more reform into their normal appearance. After all, fire and water could always part and reform; they weren’t solid substances to begin with. Even if they were occasionally broken through, with but a thought, Ning could reform them! “What?” Ironwood Zhan was shocked. “How is this possible? My Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation…this is an extremely powerful formation. Given my power when using it, even if I were to meet with an opponent who was a peak Xiantian lifeform, I wouldn’t be afraid. How could it be that it can’t even break through the protective lotus of this child of the Ji clan? What is that protective lotus? How is it that I’ve never even heard of it?” But how could Ironwood Zhan know that Ning had previously already reached the ‘one with the world’ level. The greatest benefit of his previous night’s worth of enlightenment was…this protective lotus, which already had a hint of the true meaning of the Dao within it. A Xiantian lifeform created by the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was incomparably powerful to begin with, and the fire and water it controlled was far stronger than that of the fire and water which most Diremonsters could create. When infusing that with the hint of the true Dao through the Waterflame Lotus, blocking a mere formation naturally was nothing at all. “Ironwood Zhan, you’ve chased for such a long time. Let me repay you now, and send you on the next leg of your journey!” Within the lotus bud, Ning stared through the flowing water lotus petals and the blazing fire lotus petals, seeing the distant, unclear figure. In addition, his mind had reached the ‘one with the world’ level…naturally, he could sense the auras of all nearby creatures, and could clearly sense the location of Zhan. “Die.” With but a thought from Ning. In the area where Ironwood Zhan was standing, yet another fiery lotus petal and watery lotus petal appeared. One above him, one below him, crushing down upon Zhan like millstones. “Formation, aid me!” Ironwood Zhan, seeing the situation, was terrified. This was how his servant, the Bi’an Tiger, had died just now. He hurriedly controlled the black and white energy streams, wildly wrapping them around himself to block the grinding, crushing force of this Waterflame Lotus. By doing so, he was just barely able to block it. Although occasionally, some fire and water would break through, his Xiantian ki was able to block it. “How can he simultaneously create two lotus flowers?” Zhan was filled with shock and dread. “Such a powerful attack should take up almost all of his concentration.” But how could he know… When he was four years old, Ning’s soul was already almost on par with a Zifu Disciple. Right now, his soul was already far above that of a Zifu Disciple. Dividing his mind to execute two separate Waterflame Lotus techniques was simplicity itself. “You actually haven’t died!” Protected within the lotus bud, Ning quickly charged towards Ironwood Zhan. “Retreat.” Ironwood was so frightened that his face changed. He ground his teeth. Flee! This decision was made quite decisively. He was, after all, born into the Ironwood clan. He knew very well that once someone trained to the Xiantian lifeform level in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the power of the practitioner would be hundreds of times that of ordinary Fiendgod Body Refiners. Although right now, Ning was only an early Xiantian lifeform, he was capable of matching other late-stage Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiners! He, Ironwood Zhan, was nothing more than a late-stage Xiantian Ki Refiner. Engage in close combat with a Fiendgod Body Refiner of this level? That was just suicide! Before this, he had been relying on the fact that Ning didn’t have any magic treasures, but if even the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation couldn’t do anything to Ning, if he were to continue to fight with Ning, would that be suicide? “An early Xiantian whose battle power is equivalent to a peak Xiantian. What a monster. The Ji clan actually produced such a monster. I definitely have to inform the Ancestor and have him be exterminated as soon as possible. Otherwise, in the future, he will be a calamity to the Ironwood clan!” Ironwood Zhan was utterly terrified, especially by those Waterflame Lotuses. They were simply too powerful. Formations had to be prepared in advance, but Ning’s Fire Water Lotus could be created with but a thought, and it was even more powerful than his formation. This was too… “He must be eliminated.” Ironwood Zhan’s only thought was to go back and report this to his clan’s Ancestor.” Both the Ironwood clan and the Ji clan…as two of the six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain area, had Zifu Disciples standing guard over them. That was why they had the ability to be acknowledged by the Grand Xia Dynasty to become ministers of the Grand Xia Dynasty. “Divine Movement Seal!” With a flip of Zhan’s hand, a black, leaf-like paper seal suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The paper seal was covered with what looked like veins of blood, and was covered with an ancient, strange character which faintly emanated a mysterious, rippling aura. Ironwood Zhan sent a surge of his Xiantian ki into this seal. Hua! The seal instantly transformed into a shadowy word which fused into Ironwood Zhan’s body. “Flee!” Ironwood Zhan immediately transformed into a ray of light, quickly fleeing afar, not even bothering to collect his Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation flags. This was because Ironwood Zhan knew very well that right now, he was still relying on the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation to protect him against that Waterflame Lotus. In addition, collecting those eight formation flags would also take up time. It would give that terrifying youth of the Ji clan a chance to catch up to him, at which point, he wouldn’t just lose the eight formation flags. He would lose his life. “He ran?” Ji Ning hurriedly chased afterwards. His Xiantian Fiendgod body, matched with his ‘one with the world’ footwork, caused his speed to become even more rapid. He transformed into a ray of light as well, chasing after Zhan. “Just slightly slower than me?” Ironwood Zhan was greatly shocked. “Before, when he hadn’t yet broken through to the Xiantian level yet, I was faster than him. But now, even after using a precious Divine Movement Seal, we’re roughly on par.” Ironwood Zhan couldn’t help but feel his heart ache with the cost, but grinding his teeth, he took out yet another Dao seal, covered with that same ancient network of veins atop it. He filled his Xiantian ki into that Dao seal. Yet another illusory word appeared, then entered his body. Light Body Seal! “Swoosh!” Ironwood Zhan transformed into a blue blaze as he retreated even faster. “Won’t be able to catch him.” Ning’s eyes had a hint of unwillingness to accept this outcome in them. As an Fiendgod Body Refiner expert, his speed was already incredible. But Ironwood Zhan had utilized two Dao seals in succession; a Light Body Seal, and a Divine Movement Seal…although these seals weren’t nearly as valuable as the ‘Traceless Talisman’, they were still able to allow Ironwood Zhan’s speed to explosively increase. Ning didn’t have any Dao seals right now. In addition, even if he had them, he wouldn’t be able to use them, because Dao seals and magic treasures all required one to have Xiantian ki in order to use them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Ironwood Zhan fled out of the area of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation, pulling ahead of Ning, causing Ning to be unable to utilize his Waterflame Lotus against him. This was because the Waterflame Lotus was formed through his ability to control fire and water, but there was a limit to how far a Xiantian Fiendgod could maintain the control. At too great a distance, control would no longer be possible. “Hahaha…” Ironwood Zhan let out a sigh of relief. Without the threat from the Waterflame Lotus, and having pulled away from Ning, he finally relaxed. But then, he was filled with hate. Hatred for this Ji Ning. After all, he had lost his Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation. “Boy of the Ji clan, feel happy for now. I will definitely report this to the Ancestor, and also to Snowdragon Mountain! The Ji clan is the mortal foe of both my Ironwood clan as well Snowdragon Mountain. A monster like you is someone which both Snowdragon Mountain and my Ironwood clan will eradicate as soon as possible.” Ironwood Zhan’s heart was filled with hatred. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. the Nose Ironwood Zhan moved as quickly as a ray of blue smoke, fleeing at high speed. Right at that moment, the many large, tall trees in front of him suddenly began to crash down in front of him, completely blocking the road ahead of Zhan. Some of those trees even flew through the air towards him at high speed. “What is going on?” Ironwood Zhan’s face lost all color. With a mighty wave of his black vine whip, he transformed it into a series of rays of light, slicing towards several trees that were flying towards him. As though they had been chopped apart, the large tree trunks were split in half, but Zhan’s speed had been lessened as well. “Huahua…” From every direction, many branches, tree trunks, and even boulders and chunks of earth all began to fly over, wildly throwing themselves at Ironwood Zhan. “What, what is going on?” Zhan was completely stunned. “These boulders, branches, trees, why are they all flying towards me?” Zhan had never heard of something like this. Even a Zifu Disciple would only be able to fly on his own magic treasures by standing on them, then ordering the magic treasures to fly! Not even Zifu Disciples were capable of making ordinary items fly like this. Countless boulders and tree trunks filled the sky, smashing towards Zhan and forcing his speed to lessen. “Ironwood Zhan, you won’t be able to flee!” From behind, another ray of light shot towards him. It was Ji Ning, and Ji Ning was shouting at him. “How did you accomplish this?” Zhan shouted while slicing through the trees, hoping to continue to be able to flee, but under the attack of the surrounding earth, boulders, and tree trunks, he wasn’t able to run at high speed at all. Ji Ning only smirked. Right. He had accomplished this. Just then, after Zhan had used the ‘Divine Movement Seal’ and the ‘Light Body Seal’, he had nearly fled. Naturally, Ji Ning had grown desperate! In that frantic moment, Ning had 319 discovered that his powerful thought waves were causing even the water of the pool and the earth to shake. He could clearly sense how his consciousness seemed to have become an invisible hand, capable of grasping the nearby trees and mud, as well as all other things. “Divine will!” Ning instantly was filled with a surge of wild joy. When a soul grew excessively powerful, some strange things would occur. Generally speaking, Zifu Disciples were capable of splitting their minds! Generally speaking, Wanxiang Adepts were capable of ‘divine will’! Primal Daoists were capable of opening the ‘eye of heaven’ and utilize their ‘divine sense’! visualization techniques were extremely rare and mysterious. In the Ji clan, nobody had even heard of such a thing as a visualization technique! If one wanted to strengthen one’s soul? Generally, the only method was to train their will, meditate on the Dao, and strengthen first the body, then the soul. Ji Ning’s training in accordance with the [Nuwa Painting] had already nearly reached a limit. That night of enlightenment towards the Dao had been extremely beneficial to his soul. After gaining a greater understanding of the Dao, fire and water had then descended from the heavens, giving him a Fiendgod’s body. As the body grew stronger, the soul would strengthen once again. Unconsciously, Ning’s soul had already reached the level of being capable of ‘divine will’! Only, he didn’t know that until when Ironwood Zhan had fled. Desperate, Ning unconsciously had caused his willpower to affect the water and the earth, which made him realize what he had achieved. “You won’t be able to flee.” Ning used his divine will to control the nearby things, causing the nearby trees, mud, and stones to all surround Zhan. ———————————- “Can it be that this wasn’t done by this child of the Ji clan? Is there a terrifyingly powerful practitioner of the way of Immortal who, seeing the talent of this child, has decided to help him?” Ironwood Zhan was unable to flee, try as he might. He felt both frantic and terrified “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning’s gaze focused on him. The enormous fire lotus petal appeared above Ironwood Zhan, while an enormous water lotus petal appeared beneath Ironwood Zhan. At the same time, the two slowly began to swivel. “I don’t know which elder is present?” Ironwood Zhan called out loudly, while revealing a Dao-seal in his hand. This Dao-seal transformed into an illusory diamond, then disappeared into his body, and his body 320 began to glow with a faint golden light. “I am a disciple of the Ironwood clan, and I am on very good terms with Snowdragon Mountain as well.” “Stop struggling.” The formerly distant Ning had already arrived. “Child of the Ji clan.” The golden light on Ironwood Zhan’s body was trembling and swaying. He repeatedly, viciously twirled out the Blackwood Vinewhip in his hand, which quickly elongated as it flew towards Ning. Ning wielded a sword in each hand. He was as fast as lightning. “Chi!” The Darknorth sword in his left hand utilized the ‘Watertight’ technique. As soon as the Blackwood Vinewhip touched the Darknorth sword, it naturally wrapped around it, but Ning voluntarily began spinning his left sword…the Blackwood Vinewhip wrapped around it many times, and in the end, Ning’s left hand actually was able to snatch the Ironwood Vinewhip. Swish! Ning’s right hand reached an even faster level. “Break!” Zhan roared fiercely while pulling at the Blackwood Vinewhip, but he wasn’t able to budget it at all. “No, I can’t die here. I can’t die to this little child of the Ji clan!” Sensing death draw nearer, Ironwood Zhan became even crazier. He even released the Ironwood Vinewhip in his hand. Turning his head, he continued to flee! “Bang!” Slowly being ground down by the Waterflame Lotus, the golden light on his body finally cracked and dispersed. “Aaaah.” Ironwood Zhan’s clothes were instantly ground into dust by the Waterflame Lotus, revealing his body, which was beginning to turn black. He emitted an agonized scream. “Swish!” A raindrop pierced straight through Zhan’s forehead. And then, the Waterflame Lotus dissipated. Ning withdrew his sword, looking quietly at the charred Ironwood Zhan. Ironwood Zhan’s eyes were bulging. Even his eyebrows were gone, while in his forehead, there was a bloody hole. His eyes were filled with disbelief and rage. He hadn’t imagined that he would die at the hands of this youth. In his heart, he even more hated that ‘elder’ who had blocked his flight. If it hadn’t been for that elder practitioner, he would have been able to flee. “Immortal practitioner?” Ning said to himself softly, his heart filled with a silent excitement. Finally! He had finally become a Xiantian lifeform! Even the world-famous, powerful expert, Ironwood Zhan, had died in the face of his might. “Even though I was reincarnated into the mortal world!” Ning growled in his heart. “Relying on my own efforts, I was still able to become a Xiantian lifeform! And that was just the beginning! The beginning of myself, Ji Ning!” The experiences of his past life. Everything he had seen in this one. They had all allowed Ning to have a heart that was filled with an incomparable urge to grow stronger. An urge to control his own destiny. To not be controlled by others, to not be controlled by fate! “This is just the start!” Ning took a few steps forward, walking to Zhan’s corpse. With but a thought, a gust of flame instantly turned Zhan’s corpse into nothing but ash, leaving behind only an armguard and that Blackwood Vinewhip. “Oh?” The armguard and the whip both flew into Ning’s hands. Ning inspected them carefully. “So this armguard is actually a storage-type magic treasure! The Blackwood Vinewhip is also a magic treasure.” “Hm.” Ning returned. He returned to the pool, collecting those eight Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation flags. The flags were all very dark and grey, and yet they emitted pulses. “Magic treasures, Dao-seals. All of them are only usable when one is at least at the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner.” Ning collected all these things into his kalestone. “I first have to reach the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner as well.” ——————————– Ning cleaned up the surrounding area. As for the corpses of the Bi’an Tiger and Ironwood Zhan, he transformed them all into ash. Ning then once again continued his meditations by the pool side, because he had the sense…that training his ki to the Xiantian level would be very easy! The night after that battle! Ning still sat in the lotus position by the side of the pool, and for the moment, the dantian in his body began to change and rumble! The original powerful threads of ki began to rotate and then condense into liquid drops. One drop of ki began to solidify, and Ning’s body also began to attract some mist which wrapped around him. “So I’m about to break through.” Ning smiled. When he had been in the womb, his meridians had been damaged. If he had been relying on Ki Refining to reach the Xiantian level, it would have been very hard. But upon reaching the Xiantian level through the [Scarlet Diagram of the Ning Shining Heavens], Ning’s entire body had been transformed into a true Fiendgod’s body by the Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire of the Solar Star [Sun] and the Lunar Star [Moon]. Because his entire body had been transformed, his mortal body had been transformed into a Fiendgod’s body, and his meridians had been remade anew as well! Currently, Ning’s meridian network had become perfected and unblemished. The meridian channels were far wider than that of most Xiantian Ki Refiners! In addition, Ning had a very high level of enlightenment, so naturally, he was now about to break through. “The storage-type magic treasure.” Ning held the armguard while activating the ki in his body. He quickly managed to bind it to him. “Storage-type magic treasures and natural kalestones really are different.” Ning instantly felt overjoyed. This armguard held an enormous storage space. Within an area of chaos, there was a storage area of tens of meters across. There were many items inside as well, such as clothes, food, gold, and other things. The most valuable items were those eight Dao-seals! They had been slowly accumulated by Ironwood Zhan over many years. Today, he had used three of them in one breath, but he had still died in the end. “A pity there are no other magic treasures.” Ning shook his head. Still, this was as he had expected. A Xiantian lifeform was already quite lucky to have just two or three magic treasures. “This bow is pretty good.” With a flip of his hand, Ning retrieved a simple, unadorned greatbow from within the storage-type magic treasure. “This should be the bow which Ironwood Zhan normally uses. After reaching the Xiantian level, I am in need of a good bow.” Hua! As he applied force to it, the monstrous, Fiendgod-like power he possessed easily drew the bow. “Good boy.” Ning praised, then he took a good look at it. The bow had two things drawn on it that looked like characters; ‘Jia Yong’. This name made Ning puzzled. “It should be the name of the bowyer who made this bow, I suppose.” “When I return to the West Prefecture City, I’ll exchange this Blackwood Vinewhip for another magic treasure.” Ji Ning collected everything, extremely happy. “Without experiencing the bone-freezing cold, how could one experience the fragrant scent of the flowers assailing the nose? Four years of training the sword. After training to now, I’ve broken through and am about to enter a brand new world. I suppose this counts as finally smelling the fragrant scent of the plum blossoms assailing the nose.” 323 This breakthrough resulted in him reaching the Xiantian level in both ki and as a Fiendgod. Even his soul had reached the ‘divine will’ level. And the hint of understanding regarding the true Dao which he had gained by the side of the pool had allowed him to develop an ultimate attack, the ‘Waterflame Lotus’. “Oh, right, and there’s that!” Ning took a breath, letting himself calm down. As he did, with great solemnity, he took out the book his mother had given him, the most precious secret manual his mother possessed, which she had forbidden him to teach to any other members of the Ji clan. She had told him that he was only to use it upon reaching the Xiantian level. Ning carefully looked at the golden cover of the book, and those four characters on the cover: [Wind Wing Evasion Technique]! And then, Ning opened the book and began to read. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Windwing Evasion is the root and foundation for our Yuchi clan. It is not to be transmitted to outsiders!” Upon opening the gold-leaf pages, this was the very first line of characters, which caused Ji Ning to be stunned. The Yuchi clan? His mother was Yuchi Snow. Could this mean that his mother belonged to the Yuchi clan? In this wide land, those who were born into poor circumstances and didn’t have a good clan name would just randomly pick names for themselves, such as ‘Blacktooth’, ‘Blackstone’, ‘Ironhead’, etc. Generally speaking, only large-scale clans had proper surnames! “Mother has never mentioned the Yuchi clan to me.” Ning said to himself. “I am Mother’s child, and I can thus be considered to have the blood of the Yuchi clan in my veins. But strictly speaking, I am only half a Yuchi clan member. And yet, Mother still taught this to me. However, from my birth until today, I have never heard of a Yuchi clan.” The number of books Ning had read could only be described as ‘many’! But the books had no records of a Yuchi clan, which meant that the Yuchi clan was not a clan from the surrounding area. That made sense… Mother and Father had met in the distant Dark North Seas, and then they had gone adventuring together. “I’ve never heard Mother discuss the Yuchi clan. Perhaps Mother left the clan, or perhaps the Yuchi clan collapsed? Forget it, it doesn’t matter right now.” Ning lowered his head, continuing to read. This book explained in detail the history of the [Windwing Evasion] technique. The ancestor of the Yuchi clan, Yuchi Anton, was born a slave. Once, when hunting on a mountain, he had rescued a heavily injured child. He had worked hard to take care of this child, and the child slowly recovered. Only after half a year did the child reveal his true identity…as it turned out, this person who had appeared to be a child was, in reality, a Celestial Immortal who had trained for countless years and had long since escaped the Three Realms. This time, he had encountered a great disaster, and thus he had used all his abilities in order to flee to this mountain, but by then, he had become powerless. If he had ran into an ordinary little monstrous beast, he probably would have been eaten. This child had named himself Suhuan, and claimed that he had already become an Immortal in the Fiendgod Era. And then, this Immortal named Suhuan had taught Anton training methods. Who would have thought that Anton was actually more talented in Fiendgod Body Refining methods…Suhuan had stayed by 325 Anton’s side for fully a hundred years, carefully teaching him, while at the same time transmitting to him a divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion]. And then, Suhuan had said, “Our karmic destiny has come to its end. I hope you will shape up!” And then, he had flown away. —————————- “Celestial Immortal?” Ning was shocked. “Divine ability?” This…this…. Even in the Netherworld Kingdom, according to what the Lord of Cui Manor had said the celestial soldiers and generals of the Heaven Realm, after acquiring the likes of the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique, would have to experience countless tribulations before becoming a Celestial Immortal! In the Grand Xia Dynasty, perhaps a million years would pass without a single Celestial Immortal being born. They truly were creatures who had transcended the Three Realms, who were no longer bound by the restrictions of the Netherworld Kingdom or of the Heavenly Court. They were Immortals who did as they pleased. “Who would have thought that the ancestor of Mother’s Yuchi clan would have had a history like this.” Ning felt shaken. “This history is far more incredible than our Ji clan’s.” “In addition, the [Windwing Evasion] is a divine ability!” Ning couldn’t breathe. What was a ‘divine ability’? Some of the more famous divine abilities, included the ‘Kuafu Sunchaser’, ’72 Transformations’, ‘Three Heads, Six Arms’, ‘Houyi Shooting the Sun’. These were the natural abilities which the ancient, mighty Fiendgods had developed. Only these abilities could be described as ‘divine abilities’! Only Fiendgod Body Refiners could train in them, and only upon reaching the Zifu level could they begin their training! Every single ‘divine ability’ was incomparably precious. Many Fiendgod Body Refiners, upon reaching the Zifu Disciple level, were clearly capable of learning divine abilities, but they didn’t have any chance to do so. “Divine abilities should only be usable at the Zifu stage. But Mother instructed me to begin learning at the Xiantian stage. Why is that?” Ning continued to read the detailed information regarding the training methods for the [Windwing Evasion]. Hua! Flipping through the golden pages, another golden page appeared before him, but clearly, this golden page was somewhat different from the previous pages. This golden page still had a hint of stellar light glowing from it, and there was a diagram engraved at the top of it. It was that of a giant Roc in flight. At times, it stretched its wings. At times, it sank down. At times, it flew throughout the Nine Heavens. At times, it sank into the seas. At times, it landed on the ground. At times, it burrowed deep into the earth… Ning couldn’t help but feel affected by this diagram. It was as though he had seen an enormous Roc in flight. In addition, the great Roc in this diagram was covered by countless specks of stellar light, and these specks of stellar light…seemed like the divine power flowing through the critical parts of the great Roc’s body. The spots of light seemed to be focused on a pair of wings. “The great Roc spreads his wings, and travels a hundred thousand kilometers as it flies!” “This is what Master Suhuan told to me. Unfortunately, I am far too distant from that level. The descendants of my Yuchi clan must focus on training in this [Windwing Evasion] technique. I hope that one day, one of them will be able to reach the highest ‘divine ability’ level. The eighty one Roc diagrams of the [Windwing Evasion] has profound secrets hidden within it. It must be meditated upon! The benefits to it are boundless!” “The [Windwing Evasion] is divided into multiple layers and levels. Once the divine power in one’s body reaches the level of being able to condense into a pair of wings, only then can one be considered to have developed a ‘divine ability’. However, the [Windwing Evasion] remains a divine technique, and it would be jealously desired by some extremely powerful tribes of the Grand Xia Dynasty. The descendants of my clan absolutely must use wing-type magic treasures alongside this divine ability. Thus, not only can they rely on the power of the magic treasures to fly even faster, they can also prevent others from knowing of the existence of this divine ability…” Ning closed the book. Only after a long time was he able to calm down. “My mother truly does have an extraordinary background.” Ning frowned. “But clearly, although each page of this book is golden, the paper of those eighty one Roc diagrams are different from that of the other pages. In addition, such miraculous diagrams were most likely left behind by that Immortal, Suhuan, himself.” “Immortal Suhuan, despite teaching the [Windwing Evasion], most likely only left a single copy. In other words, the Yuchi clan should only have a single secret manual!” Ning hypothesized. Although this was his first time viewing the eighty one Roc diagrams, Ning felt extremely certain that these eighty one Roc diagrams did indeed contain boundless secrets. It was the same feeling he had when 327 he was gaining insights into the Dao…the feeling of immeasurably deep secrets. Most likely, only a person who had reached the highest levels of training in this divine ability was able to carve and draw them down. “Ancestor Yuchi only had a single copy of this secret manual, but my mother is in possession of it.” Ning pondered. “Can it be that the Yuchi clan was destroyed? Or was there another reason?” Although he felt somewhat worried for his mother’s relatives, he had never had any attachments to the Yuchi clan, and so Ning quickly stopped thinking about it. “I need to carefully meditate on this.” The moon hanging high above him, Ning quietly sat down by the side of the pond, flipping through and looking at the Roc diagrams. The [Windwing Evasion] was divided into many different levels. Only after one’s divine power was able to form wings could one be considered to have developed a divine ability. However, the requirements for divine power were very high; only a Zifu Disciple was capable of it. “My mother had me begin to read it at the Xiantian level.” Ning laughed. “Although I’m not able to use divine power to form wings, the eighty one Roc diagrams contain boundless, endless secrets and mysteries. After I gain insight into them, it will still be very beneficial to my body.” Ning had already gained a hint of the true meaning of the Dao. The higher one’s level of enlightenment was, the more easily one would be able to tell that the eighty one Roc diagrams contained boundless truths, and even more infinite mysteries. Naturally, he would meditate on them intensively. ————————– Time passed. The Golden Crow fell. The Moon Rabbit rose. One day passed after another. Ning remained within that mountain forest, completely focused on the [Windwing Evasion]. His body flashed through the mountain forests time and time again, and his movements took him farther and farther each time, at faster and faster speeds, with greater ease each time. “I’ve already trained here for over a month.” Ning suddenly came to his senses as he stared at the sun in the sky. “If I don’t go back, most likely Autumn Leaf and the others will frantically report back to West Prefecture City.” 328 “Time to go back.” Ning revealed a smile on his face. Turning to glance at the surrounding area, he saw that the pool was as calm as ever, and the aquatic grass in the pool still continued to slowly drift about. “In the past month or so, I’ve improved dramatically.” Ning felt incomparably delighted. Whether in Ki, as a Fiendgod, his soul, or even his newly learned divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion], he had improved greatly. “Time to go.” Ning instantly leapt up. Swoosh! Like a blurry image, or like a bird in flight, he instantly flew over a kilometer away. His speed was now faster than when Ironwood Zhan had simultaneously used the ‘Light Body Seal’ and the ‘Divine Movement Seal’. …………… In a desolate tribe within the wilderness, there were many overturned stone rooms. The tribe was in a state of desolation. Clearly, the tribesmen had all departed long ago. This was an abandoned place. But at the edges of the tribe, there were a few dozen stone houses that were absolutely spotless, where a group of black armored guards were gathered together. Autumn Leaf was seated on a stone bench, quietly staring into the distance while waiting. Previously, due to the appearance of the Diremonster, Serpentwing, at Serpentwing Lake, Ji Ning had immediately led Autumn Leaf and Mowu out of the Metalstone Tribue…but after the Serpentwing event had died down, Ning had permitted Autumn Leaf and Mowu to temporarily stay here with these black armored guards. The territory which the Ji clan ruled over was simply too vast. Thus, they had squads of black armored guards scattered throughout their domain. Whenever they were needed, they could immediately congregate while shocking and overawing countless tribes. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf stood up in surprised delight. Those black armored guards and Mowu also turned to look. They saw from the distance a blurry figure appeared in a flash within those ruined tribal houses, then smile and walk towards them. “Huh?” Autumn Leaf was slightly startled. She could tell that her young master, who was walking towards her from afar, was somewhat different. His entire body seemed to radiate a familiar aura, as though the essence of the heavens and the earth were within him! But of course, only she, who had been by Ning’s side since he was young, was able to notice many of these little qualitative changes in Ning. “Young master.” Mowu stepped forward to pay his respects. “Young master.” The nearby group of black armored guards all fell to one knee. “Make your preparations. It is time for me to head back.” Ji Ning laughed as he spoke. Autumn Leaf was startled. “Go? Go back?” “First to Serpentwing Lake.” Ning’s eyes had a hint of anticipation flash through them. On this adventuring trip, he had decided long ago that upon breaking through and becoming a Xiantian lifeform, he would go deal with Serpentwing. Although Serpentwing had currently broken through to the peak Xiantian level, Ning was still completely confident. “Young master, you…” Autumn Leaf revealed a look of surprise and delight. Naturally, she knew that Ning planned to go deal with Serpentwing as soon as he broke through to the Xiantian lifeform level. “Right.” Ning nodded. Autumn Leaf was extremely cautious. She didn’t say anything, only nodded repeatedly. “Mowu, hurry, gather our things. We’re heading out.” Moments later. Ning, Autumn Leaf, and Mowu, riding three black beasts, departed this ruined tribe. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. On the desolate grasslands, three black beasts were galloping at high speed. Ning and the others had looks of irrepressible joy on their faces. No matter what, they were finally coming home from the border region of Eastmount Marsh. They drew closer and closer to West Prefecture city. “Young Master.” Autumn Leaf called out. “Hm?” Ji Ning looked towards her. Autumn Leaf hurriedly said, “On this trip to Serpentwing Lake, we’ll pass by Spring Grass’ Blacktooth Tribe. How about let’s go visit her at the Blacktooth Tribe? It has been a long time since I’ve seen her. I miss her very much.” “Spring Grass?” Ning was startled, and in his heart, a surge of longing arose as well. Autumn Leaf and Spring Grass had accompanied him ever since he was young. They were like sisters to him. Originally, despite being unwilling to part from her, he didn’t want to cause Spring Grass to feel sorrow, which was why he permitted her to be with her father again. Now that Spring Grass was suddenly mentioned, Ning couldn’t help but feel a hint of excitement as well as anticipation. “Alright. Let’s go pay a visit on the way.” “Thank you, young master.” Autumn Leaf hurriedly said with gratitude. “I want to go as well.” Ning smiled, and as he did, he slapped the black beast on its head, ordering it to change directions slightly. Although in theory they were paying a visit to the Blacktooth Tribe ‘enroute’ to Serpentwing Lake, in truth, it was still something of a long detour. —————– In a rather open mountain cave below a mountain wall, with many large wooden fences nearby. There were some armors hung up in the mouth of the cave, while there were also some long-furred beasts strung up on the trees. Some powerfully built men, their upper bodies bare, were casually chatting while seated, roasting the flesh of a beast. At the cave entrance, ten black armored guards were on watch. “Someone is coming.” One of the black armored guards called out loudly, and those men who were eating turned to look. One of them, a bare-chested man, stood up and walked over, frowning slightly as he looked over. Three figures made their way over at high speed from within the mountain forests. Seeing that it was three people riding black beasts, they immediately relaxed. The bare-chested man’s face immediately changed, and he hurriedly calld out, “The young master has arrived, so why haven’t you paid your respects yet? Quick quick quick, all of you, rise!” After speaking, he immediately rushed forward, coming down to one knee at the entrance. Very respectfully, he called out, “Young master!” Both the armored men as well as the men with bared chests all came over and knelt down while calling out, “Young master.” “Rise.” With a flip, Ning descended from the black beast, laughing at the leader of these black armored guards. “You’ve met me before?” He had been preparing to take out his insignia just now. “I, Wuzhan, was lucky in the past.” The heroic figure had a scarred face, and his body was powerfully built. “Young master, in the past, when you sparred with Ninefang Warriors, I once sparred with you, young master. Thus, I was instantly able to recognize you, young master. Behind you should be that Miss Autumn Leaf, your maidservant, young master. I recognize her as well.” Ning laughed. So that was the reason why. In the past, he often sparred with Ninefang Warriors, and many of the Ninefang Warriors of the black armored guards had sparred with him. It wasn’t strange for him to meet one of them stationed outside. “I need to ask you about something.” Ning said. “It has to do with Serpentwing Lake. Come. Let’s talk inside.” “Yes.” This Captain Wuzhan immediately said. “Young master, please come with me.” Wuzhan guided Ning inside, towards a spacious stone room. “A while ago, Serpentwing ran amok not too far from us. Even we suffered some repercussions.” Wuzhan let out a laughing breath. At this time, another black armored guard came over with a plate of fruits. Ning casually picked up a fruit and took two bites. “He even came to your place?” “No. If he had, we’d have been dead for sure.” Wuzhan shook his head. “However, at the time, we were all terrified. In the face of Serpentwing, we black armored guards wouldn’t be able to fight back at all. Although we managed to avoid that calamity, many tribes suffered disasters. I can only use the word ‘miserable’ to describe what happened to them! At that time, we were hoping that Serpentwing would be executed by our Ji clan, but unfortunately…” Ning nodded. In the end, Poisondove Ridge had interceded and engaged in negotiations with the Ji clan, with the result being that Serpentwing only had to be confined within Serpentwing Lake for a century. “Has Serpentwing been in Serpentwing Lake the entire time?” Ning asked. “Also, is he at the bottom of Serpentwing Lake, or in the central island?” “The bottom of the lake, of course.” Wuzhan said hurriedly. “How could he dare to stay on the island? He is afraid that our Ji clan will act against him.” “Bottom of the lake?” Ning seemed to have thought of something. It seemed that it wouldn’t be so easy for him to kill Serpentwing. “Wuzhan.” Ning asked. “Do you know of a tribe known as the Blacktooth Tribe?” “Blacktooth Tribe?” Wuzhan nodded. “I know them, of course I know them. The leader of the Blacktooth Tribe is a very skillful man. He was able to found a new tribe. No ordinary person is capable of founding a new tribe. Unfortunately, the many tribes which Serpentwing harmed had the Blacktooth Tribe amongst their number.” “What!” Ning’s face changed dramatically. His heart shuddered. Could it be… Based on what he knew, originally, even before Serpentwing attacked him, Serpentwing had destroyed a small tribe. Everyone in the tribe had died. In the end, it was only through the examination of the corpses of those poor victims that it was determined that Serpentwing was the killer. “Does the Blacktooth Tribe still exist?” Ning asked hurriedly. “It does.” Wuzhan nodded. “This time, Serpentwing caused disaster everywhere. He’d go to a tribe, engage in some slaughter, then leave! It didn’t try to wipe out everyone! After all, to exterminate an entire tribe would take more time and make it easier for our Ji clan’s Xiantian lifeforms to catch up. But although the Blacktooth Tribe wasn’t wiped out, more than half of its tribesmen died. It really is terrible.” “Over half?” Ning’s heart began to clench. “Do you know Spring Grass?” Ning hurriedly asked. “My maidservant, Spring Grass. Is she still alive?” “Spring Grass?” Wuzhan said questioningly. “I know Spring Grass. You have two maidservants, young master. Can it be that Spring Grass is no longer following you, young master?” Ning had released Spring Grass to her freedom, but very few people knew this. “No. I granted her freedom. She is the daughter of the chief of the Blacktooth Tribe.” Ning said hurriedly. “I don’t know about this.” Wuzhan shook his head. “Although I’ve seen Blacktooth, I don’t know anything about his daughter.” Ning took a deep breath. Worry! Concern! More than half the people of the Blacktooth Tribe had died. Too many had died. Perhaps Spring Grass was amongst them. “Definitely, she definitely has to be alright.” Ning ground his teeth, then immediately left the stone room. Outside, Autumn Leaf and Mowu were currently seated in a circle with the black armored guards, enjoying some roast meat. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf and Mowu both turned to look. “Let’s go.” Ning hurriedly shouted. Autumn Leaf and Mowu’s gazes were filled with puzzlement. Why were they leaving in such a hurry? However, they didn’t dare ask too much. They hurriedly rose, no longer eating as they headed towards their black beasts. “To the Blacktooth Tribe.” Ning’s face was gloomy. Kicking the waist of the black beast, he immediately sent it bounding forward. The three black beasts quickly charged into the distant mountain forests. “Captain, what happened?” The other black armored guards were extremely puzzled. As for Wuzhan, as he walked out of the stone room, he too frowned as he stared into the distance. “Spring Grass? The daughter of the chief of the Blacktooth Tribe?” ————————– Ning’s heart was blazing with worry. Autumn Leaf and Spring Grass, although nominally his servants, were in truth like big sisters to him. He still remembered how when he was young, he would point at the words on the books and stammer out questions. At that time, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, despite being ‘tormented’ by their young master, could only obediently reply. “No way.” “No way she’s dead.” Ning was extremely worried. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf asked with concern. “What’s wrong?” She could tell that her young master’s face was exceedingly ugly right now. She rarely saw her young master look so furious. Ning shouted, “The Blacktooth Tribe suffered an attack by Serpentwing. More than half its tribesmen died.” “Ah?!” Autumn Leaf was instantly shocked. “Then Spring Grass…” “We’ll know once we get there.” Ning shouted back coldly. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three black beasts moved at high speed. By the time the sun was beginning to set, the three black beasts arrived at a sparsely covered mountain forest. From the distance, they could faintly see a tribe. “Halt.” Ning shouted. The three beasts quickly came to a halt. “Young master?” Autumn Leaf’s face was red with worry as well. “Go over there.” Ning pointed into the distance. From the distance, dozens of fur-clad men were currently chopping down trees using hatchets. They were most likely collecting firewood. “They should be the clansmen of the Blacktooth Tribe. If we ask them, we’ll know.” Ning immediately rode his black beast over, with Autumn Leaf and Mowu following from behind. Soon. Ning arrived in front of those dozens of fur-clad woodcutters. These men all raised their spears and sabers, carefully watching them approach. “I have a question for you.” With a flip of his hand, Ning immediately brought out his insignia, which had a single character on it; ‘Ji’. “Ji clan?” These tribesmen were all shocked. “Does your tribe had a person named Spring Grass? She is the daughter of your chief.” Ning barked. “The chief’s daughter?” A one-eyed man hurriedly said. “Our Blacktooth Tribe doesn’t have anyone known as Spring Grass. Our chief’s daughter is named Miwa!” Ning was startled, then he hurriedly said, “Right, her name is Miwa. Is she still alive?” 335 “Dead.” “Miwa’s dead.” The tribesmen all said. Ning’s face changed dramatically, and the face of the nearby Autumn Leaf turned utterly white. Her body swayed, and then she collapsed from her black beast. Mowu hurriedly leapt off of his own black beast and caught Autumn Leaf. Autumn Leaf’s face was pale and utterly without color. Her tears had already begun to flow down uncontrollably. “How did she die?” Ning shouted. “Was it Serpentwing who killed her?” “Serpentwing killed many of the tribesmen of our tribe. Even one of the chief’s son died.” The one-eyed man said. “Many of our tribesmen died right away, while a few others suffered from shrapnel from exploding rocks which smashed into their body, or were frozen…they didn’t die right away, but they were injured. Afterwards, their wounds festered, while others became extremely ill. All of them held on, but eventually died. Many badly injured tribesmen died like that. Miwa, as well, died of illness afterwards.” “Spring Grass!” Autumn Leaf wailed. Ning’s face became all the more terrible, and the mental waves generated by his violent thoughts caused the nearby trees to begin to shake and vibrate. “Serpentwing!” Ning ground his teeth and howled, “I, Ji Ning, so swear that I will definitely kill you! I will definitely kill you!!!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dozens of tribesmen looked at this youth, feeling a sudden terror. They felt as though the entire world around them was shaking. Kill Serpentwing? The youth in front of them was going to kill Serpentwing? “You didn’t lie to me.” Ji Ning swept this group of tribesmen with his gaze. “Miwa truly died?” “Why would we lie? The entire Blacktooth Tribe knows this.” The group of experts were filled with terror and panic. Whether it was due to this youth’s aura or the ‘Ji’ insignia he held, they were in terror of him. “Let’s go.” Ning mounted his black beast and began to head straight into the distant Blacktooth Tribe. Autumn Leaf and Mowu mounted their own black beasts and followed. ———————- There were more than ten tribal warriors standing guard on the two archer towers on each side of the fence gate. “Outsiders, halt.” A warrior immediately shouted angrily. His face sunken, Ning took out his insignia and shouted back, “Tell Blacktooth to come see me!” Upon seeing the insignia, the warrior above were terrified and quickly called out, “Please wait, I’ll go inform the chief right away.” As he spoke, the warrior jumped down directly to the ground, then began to fly towards the tribe. In but a few moments, a black fur clad, scarred man ran in their direction, under escort of a number of warriors. It was the chief of the Blacktooth Tribe, Chief Blacktooth. When he saw the three figures mounted on black beasts, especially the leader, his body suddenly trembled. He immediately howled, “Quick, open the gate and welcome the young master of the Ji clan!” “Young master of the Ji clan?” The people of a small clan like the Blacktooth Tribe naturally were shocked. They hurriedly began to open the heavy gate. Blacktooth was the first to fall to his knees. “Blacktooth pays his respect to you, young master.” 337 The other tribal warriors all knelt down as well. “To your residence.” Ning remained on his black beast as he gave the instruction. “Yes.” Blacktooth quickly led the way up ahead. Ning looked at Blacktooth. He couldn’t help but feel a hint of hatred in his heart! He knew that Spring Grass’ death couldn’t be blamed on Blacktooth, and he believed that Blacktooth was heartbroken as well. But Ning couldn’t help but feel hatred and pain…originally, when he had given Spring Grass into her father’s care, he had never imagined that she would die, just like this. If Spring Grass had remained by his side… Ning’s left hand couldn’t help but clench into a fist. Even his knuckles were turning white. “Young master, this is my residence.” Blacktooth arrived at one of larger stone houses of the tribe. There were two women and a young child at the doorway. These two women and the child were clearly cautious and uneasy. “He is?” Ning looked at the young child. This child looked very similar to Spring Grass…causing a pang in Ning’s heart. “My son.” Blacktooth said respectfully, while at the same time, barking to his women and his son, “Why haven’t you left yet?” The two women and the child immediately left. “Speak inside. Mowu, you stand guard at the doorway. Don’t let anyone in.” Ning immediately dismounted his black beast and led Autumn Leaf into the house. Blacktooth, terrified, followed him in. ——————- Within the room. Ning looked at Blacktooth, sitting down on a stone chair and saying coldly, “Blacktooth, when I gave Spring Grass into your care, my hope was that the two of you, father and daughter, would be reunited and live a good life! But why is it that I didn’t see Spring Grass upon entering the tribe?” Blacktooth hurriedly said, “Young master, right now, Spring Grass isn’t within the tribe!” “Not within the tribe?” Ning frowned as he stared accusingly at Blacktooth. Blacktooth still wanted to lie about it? “Soon after Spring Grass returned to the tribe, she encountered a young travelling merchant whom she took a liking to. I knew that travelling merchant, so I had faith in him.” Blacktooth said in a very practiced manner. “When one’s daughter grows up, she will have to get married. Thus, I had my daughter marry 338 this travelling merchant. Before Spring Grass left with this travelling merchant…she left a letter for you, young master.” Before this last sentence, Ning was beginning to grow truly angry as he listened. Blacktooth, you dare deceive me! But upon hearing this last sentence, Ning said softly, “Letter?” “I’ll get it now.” Blacktooth hurriedly ran into a nearby room. “Young master?” Autumn Leaf looked at Ning. Ning said softly, “Don’t be impatient.” Ning’s intelligence wasn’t low. He wasn’t an idiot who only knew how to train. From the intelligence he had gathered….there was no question that Spring Grass had died! First of all, all of the people outside the tribe were in total agreement, and they even said that Ning could ask anyone in the tribe and would still get this answer. There was no reason for that group of people to deceive him. Also…after having been separated from her father for so long, Spring Grass had wanted to be with him so much that she had even left Ning! How could she immediately get married and leave not long after reuniting with her father? “Young master, this is the letter Spring Grass left for you.” Blacktooth held a white beast skin parchment and handed it over. Ning took a deep breath. Letter? This was most likely her will. The will which Spring Grass had intentionally left behind amidst her grave illness…Ning stretched out his trembling hand and accepted the white beast skin, opening it and reading carefully. Those graceful characters appeared. These characters were very familiar to him. Upon seeing them, Ning’s heart instantly shook. It was Spring Grass’ handwriting! “Young master, after returning to the tribe, I was truly very happy, very happy. I saw my father, and I even have two little brothers…I feel as though I did when I was a child, when I was with my parents….” This is what the letter said. The letter included all of the joy which Spring Grass had felt. Ning could sense the joy emanating from these words. Spring Grass truly had been happy when she returned to the tribe. “Two little brothers?” Ning had a thought. Previously, he had only seen a single son of Blacktooth’s, while previously the clansman had said…when Serpentwing had run amok, more than half of the Blacktooth Tribe had died, including the son of the chief. Ning continued to read. “I met him.” “Every single woman has a man who is destined for her. As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was the one. When I see him smile, I feel happy. When I see him frown, I worry. When I see him training hard with the sword, I stand there and watch. Just looking at him is a gift given by heaven. Thus, I decided…to marry him!” Ning clearly saw that there was a splotch here, as though left behind by a tear. Ning’s heart shook. Marry? Was the man which Spring Grass spoke of actually himself? As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was the one. When I see him smile, I feel happy. When I see him frown, I worry. When I see him training hard with the sword, I stand there and watch…. If you wanted to marry me, why didn’t you say it to me yourself! Ning shut his eyes, unable to prevent the tears from flowing down. Although Spring Grass was only a maidservant, most of the men in this area would marry quite a few women. In his previous life, Ning hadn’t loved any woman. In this life, he had quickly become accustomed to this culture. Even if he truly married several women, that wouldn’t be a big deal. But they had to be women which he dearly loved. Ning would have been willing to nod and agree to letting Spring Grass become his woman. “Young master!” The nearby Autumn Leaf saw that Ning was shedding tears. Her heart couldn’t help but clench. She had been a maidservant since she was young. Naturally, she wouldn’t read a letter while Ning was reading it. But when she saw Ning cry…Autumn Leaf’s heart became panicked. Ning opened his eyes. He continued to read. “Young master, if you can see this letter, that means you came to the Blacktooth Tribe to see me.” “I really am very happy, very happy. Spring Grass is just a maidservant. For you, young master, to come to the Blacktooth Tribe to visit Spring Grass means at least…Spring Grass has a small place of her own in your heart, young master…Spring Grass is very happy, very happy, truly, very happy.” The letter concluded here. Ning’s eyes were wet. Very happy? Are you truly very happy? “Hahaha.” Ning laughed loudly. His laugh was so sorrowful. This was someone who had been with him his entire life, like family. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf was worried. “Young master.” Blacktooth was terrified and uneasy as well. Ning turned to stare at Blacktooth, his eyes as sharp as swords. He growled, “Blacktooth, you still want to try and deceive me? Speak, tell me, tell me everything!!!” Upon hearing this, Blacktooth’s face changed dramatically. And then his body began to tremble. Thud! Blacktooth’s knees hit the ground. His entire body shook in agony, and for a long time, he let out a desolate, heartbroken cry. “Miwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A grief that had been suppressed for so long but which was given sudden release….how powerful it was! Ji Ning stood there quietly, looking at the agonized Blacktooth, not saying a single word. “Since you already know, young master, then I won’t lie any more. Young master, come with me.” Blacktooth rose and walked out of the room. Ning and Autumn Leaf followed behind him. Blacktooth led the way in front, all the way towards the very back of the tribe. In the very back of the tribe, there was a small door in the wooden fence. Through the wooden door…there was a cemetery far past it. Many of the erected tombs were newly made. Clearly, this was a freshly built cemetery. “Young master?” Autumn Leaf looked towards Ning, her eyes filled with a hint of unease. Ning held his breath as well. He understood where Blacktooth was taking him. “Right here.” Blacktooth pointed at a seemingly ordinary grave. In front of this grave, there was a large stone, which had just a few words carved into it: ‘Daughter, Miwa. Erected by Father, Blacktooth.’ “Spring Grass.” Ning quietly stood there, looking at the grave. In his life, he had rarely experienced the sensation of heartbreak. Compared to those strong, powerful emotions, Ning preferred calm, quiet, warm emotions. The feeling of seeing someone every morning, and affection for each other slowly growing deeper. Calm and peaceful was real! To treat someone as part of your own life. At least in this life, from when he was an infant until now, the amount of time Spring Grass had spent with him was most likely even greater than his parents had. Ning hadn’t realized it when she was alive, but now that he knew she was dead, he felt as though a piece of his heart had been chopped off. It hurt very much! “Blacktooth.” Ning stood there, looking at the tombstone. Slowly, he said, “Tell me everything. Tell me everything which happened after Spring Grass returned.” Blacktooth nodded. “At first, on the way back, she was actually quite sad. Sad that she had to part with you, young master.” Blacktooth sighed. “But after she arrived at the tribe and saw her two brothers, Miwa clearly became much happier. She’d often spend time with her two little brothers…the days passed in happiness, and at that time, Miwa had looked forward to young master one day coming to visit her.” “Only!” Blacktooth’s voice sunk. “One day, Serpentwing arrived. It was like a nightmare, causing countless members of our tribe to die, one of which was my son, Waterfront.” “The death of Waterfront, her little brother, hurt Miwa very much.” Ning remembered that beast skin letter which discussed some of the events Miwa had experienced upon returning to the Blacktooth Tribe. Many were stories regarding her and her two little brothers. Clearly, Miwa truly doted on her two little brothers. This caused Ning to quietly come to the decision that he would have to help out Spring Grass’ sole surviving brother, as a way to help console Miwa’s soul in heaven. “Serpentwing’s attack caused the entire Blacktooth Tribe to fall into an abyss of fear and pain! The tribesmen were afraid, afraid that Serpentwing could attack again. Some of the tribesmen even fled the tribe and joined other, larger tribes.” “Everyone in the tribe was in a state of panic.” Blacktooth continued, “Many tribesmen would leave. Actually, after Serpentwing’s attack, our tribe’s population became less than a thousand. With so many tribesmen fleeing…if this continued, the Blacktooth Tribe would have fallen apart soon.” Ning nodded. “I had undergone countless difficulties in order to build the tribe. Naturally, I didn’t want it to fall apart just like that.” Blacktooth said. “Spring Grass felt sympathy for me, so she put down her embarrassment and wrote a letter and asked the tribesmen to deliver it to West Prefecture City to give it to you, young master. She wanted to ask you, young master, to help my Blacktooth Tribe.” “Only, we quickly received the news that you, young master, were out adventuring.” Blacktooth shook his head. Ning ground his teeth. Right. He had gone adventuring long before Serpentwing had reached the peak of the Xiantian stage. Naturally, they wouldn’t have been able to find him. “The tribesmen suggested that our Blacktooth Tribe should consider go asking for the protection of that extremely large tribe, the ‘Riverside Tribe’.” Blacktooth said in a dark voice. “As long as we could receive 343 the protection of the Riverside Tribe and be permitted to temporarily reside within Riverside City, everything would be fine.” “Riverside City?” Ning murmured to himself. As one of the hegemons of the Swallow Mountain area, the Ji clan naturally had to control the many tribes within this territory. No tribe’s population was permitted to expand beyond fifty thousand! Once they expanded beyond fifty thousand, they might become a threat to the Ji clan’s rule. Thus, if that happened, the Ji clan would definitely use some brutal, ruthless methods to overawe the surrounding tribes. Thus, a fifty thousand man tribe was considered an extremely large tribe. The Riverside Tribe was one such tribe! Because the tribe was large, the walls of the tribe were made from enormous rocks, like a small city. Although it couldn’t compare to a large city like the West Prefecture City which held hundreds of thousands of citizens, it was still an extremely powerful tribe amongst the countless tribes. Generally speaking, tribes that were able to erect such a city had a Xiantian lifeform guarding them. “Riverside City had two powerful Xiantian lifeforms. Diremonsters wouldn’t dare go there.” Blacktooth said. “Our Blacktooth Tribe only had a few hundred people. As long as we could enter Riverside City! Once Serpentwing was dealt with, everything would then return to normal.” “We went to pay our respects to a powerful figure within Riverside City, River He, and offered treasures, wanting him to accept our Blacktooth Tribe hide within for a time.” Blacktooth ground his teeth. “But that River He was very picky. He didn’t have any interest in those treasures we offered. But he took an interest in Miwa.” “He wanted Miwa to become his woman, and in exchange, he would help the Blacktooth Tribe this time. You know how haughty Miwa is. Of course she didn’t accept. She immediately left!” A ferocious look flashed through Blacktooth’s eyes. “That River He actually sent his subordinates to go capture Miwa, wanting to forcibly take her back.” “However, Miwa was very powerful, and she used very high class sword techniques as well. She beat Jiang He’s servants half to death…Miwa had also said at the time, ‘My master is the young master of the Ji clan. Jiang He, don’t go too far!’” “That Jiang He just laughed loudly and said, ‘Even if you are the maidservant of young master Ji, you are just a female servant. If you were able to successfully ask your young master for help, then you wouldn’t come here asking me for help. What’s more, how could the maidservant of a young master of the Ji clan end up in such a small tribe?’” Blacktooth ground his teeth. “This Jiang He added another sentence…‘If you become my woman, I will protect the Blacktooth Tribe! Otherwise, just wait for death.’ After this, we left Riverside City.” Autumn Leaf, hearing this, was enraged. “How could Sister Spring Grass possibly agree to him!” 344 “Spring Grass wouldn’t agree.” Ning shook his head while looking at Blacktooth. “Right. Spring Grass was completely unwilling.” Blacktooth shook his head in pain. “But seeing how panicked the tribesmen were and how members of the tribe often fled, and seeing how agonized I was….for the sake of me, her father, after agonizing for three days, she still agreed.” “How could Sister Spring Grass be so stupid!!!” Autumn Leaf was frantic. Ning shut his eyes. He could imagine the mental struggle which Spring Grass had gone through during those three days. For the sake of her father, was it worth it? “Miwa became River He’s woman.” Blacktooth’s voice was trembling slightly. “But when Miwa was completely unprepared, River He suddenly launched a sneak attack, smashing Miwa’s dantian with a palm strike and dispersing all of the ki in her body while mocking her….‘You stupid woman, there are countless tribes which want to be protected by my Riverside Tribe. Just because you became my woman, I have to help you? Hahaha, what a dreamer!’” “Detestable!!!” Autumn Leaf was so angry that she was shaking. Ning ground his teeth. Spring Grass. Oh, Spring Grass! Why did you trust that bastard? Why did you have to sacrifice yourself for your father? Why? “The Serpentwing affair quickly calmed down. The Ji clan imprisoned Serpentwing within Serpentwing Lake, causing Serpentwing to not dare to come out at all.” Blacktooth said. “Once this news came out from the Ji clan, all the tribes quickly settled down. The hearts of our Blacktooth Tribe’s tribesmen calmed down as well, and some of the tribesmen who had fled actually returned.” “I was worried about Miwa, so I went to look for her.” Blacktooth said in a low voice. “Only when I went looking for her did I find out the situation had changed. After using all sorts of methods, I finally managed to have a private meeting with Miwa. As soon as Miwa saw me, Miwa began to cry, cry so hard!” Ning shut his eyes. He could imagine Spring Grass’s agony, regret, and heartbreak. “She said that this was her own mistake. It was her own stupidity, and that it wasn’t the fault of myself, her father. She had willingly done this.” Blacktooth said in agony. “She also said…she didn’t want you, young master, to learn of this. She didn’t want to make you feel heartbroken, which is why she concocted this story of her marrying a travelling merchant, which she left for you in that letter she gave you.” 345 “After giving me the letter, Miwa died. She took poison.” Blacktooth said softly. “I knew how much agony my daughter was in. Death was perhaps a type of release. Actually, when she died, she was murmuring your name. She didn’t want you to know why she died.” Ning gently nodded. Understood. He understood. After having been with each other for so long, how could he not understand what Spring Grass was thinking? She wanted that happy, cheerful Spring Grass to live on in Ning’s heart….she didn’t want Ning to learn of the humiliations she had suffered! “Every single woman has a man who is destined for her. As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was the one. When I see him smile, I feel happy. When I see him frown, I worry. When I see him training hard with the sword, I stand there and watch. Just looking at him is a gift given by heaven…” “I really am very happy, very happy. Spring Grass is just a maidservant. For you, young master, to come to the Blacktooth Tribe to visit Spring Grass means at least…Spring Grass has a small place of her own in your heart, young master…Spring Grass is very happy, very happy, truly, very happy.” Ning opened his eyes, tears faintly visible within them. He quietly walked towards the tombstone, sitting down in front of him. Holding a bamboo tube in his hands, he said softly, “Spring Grass, in the past, you always poured wine for me. It is my turn to pour wine for you.” The wine within the bamboo tube dripped onto the ground in front of the tombstone. “I know. I understand. I know that you are forever the happy Spring Grass, forever happy!” “Your stupidity truly is adorable.” Ning laughed, but his eyes were filled with tears. “I know what happened to you, but I don’t look upon you. How could a little brother look down on his big sister? Although sometimes his big sister might be a bit stupid…you will always be the big sister of Ji Ning.” Hearing the words, ‘big sister’, the nearby Autumn Leaf’s lips trembled, and she let out a whimper. “Sis, you were too tired. Sleep, sleep, have a good sleep.” Ning said softly. “Those people who took advantage of you, sis, those people who caused you to be heartbroken…I won’t spare any of them. Not one.” “Let’s go.” 346 Ning put down the bamboo tube and rose. “Let’s go to the Riverside Tribe. I am going to meet this River He!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Let’s go!” Riding on his black beast, Ji Ning and the other two left the Blacktooth Tribe at high speed, disappearing into the distant mountain forests. “Chief?” “Where are they going?” The tribesmen at the gate asked, but Blacktooth simply stood there, watching as Ning and the other two left. Shaking his head, Blacktooth said, “Don’t know.” But a look of anticipation through his eyes. He knew…that this young master of the Ji clan was going to the Riverside Tribe to get revenge for his daughter. But given the status of the Riverside Tribe, would this young master of the Ji clan be able to do so? “Even if young master Ji isn’t able to get revenge, his father, the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, definitely is.” Blacktooth’s heart was filled with hatred. He truly hated River He, but unfortunately, his own strength was insufficient. ———————— The Riverside Tribe was hundreds of kilometers away from the Blacktooth Tribe, and mountains lay in the way. Only when the sun rose on the next day did they arrive at the Riverside Tribe. Every single nearby tribe was living within the city. A place where over fifty thousand tribesmen were living…this was essentially a city. “All of you, come over.” “Right, go on in.” “Go on through.” The armored guards at the gate inspected the items of the people entering the city. The Riverside Tribe had enemies, and they were concerned about people possibly smuggling in large amounts of siege bows and other such weapons. “Huh? You three!” Suddenly, an armored guard saw three black armored beasts galloping over at high speed. Seeing that they didn’t seem to have any intentions on slowing down, he immediately shouted, “Quickly come to a halt. If you charge through the gate of our Riverside City, we will release arrows.” Instantly, the archers above on the guard tower nocked their bows. They wouldn’t show any mercy at all. Swoosh! Ning, who had been seated on the back of that black east, suddenly flew into the air, charging onto the top of that enormous city wall. And then, a surging wave of invisible energy instantly swept outwards. The dozens of armored guards that were originally on top of the city guard tower felt their bodies suddenly sway, and then they smashed downwards out of the guard tower. Suddenly, Ning was the only person standing atop the guard tower. Those armored guards fell down, all of their faces grimy with dirt, and some of the unluckier ones even had bones broken. However, these were all powerful, valiant warriors. They normally wouldn’t be injured much just from falling down from the top of the city walls. They only were now because they had been caught off guard by that energy wave which had knocked them down. “What’s going on.” “He, he…” A group of armored guards stared at Ji Ning, standing atop the city walls, and then looked at their empty hands. Hurriedly, they moved to pick up the bows that had fallen onto the ground as well. Standing atop the city walls, Ning stared into the city and let out an enraged bellow, “River He, I order you to come out!” “River He, I order you to come out!” “River He, I order you to come out!” “River He, I order you to come out!” …. This furious bellow that seemed to have come from a Fiendgod exploded forth like thunder. The guards that had been nearby the city walls as well as some passer-byers all clapped their hands to their ears in pain, and some of them even began to flee. The furious roar echoed throughout every location of the entire Riverside City. Ning’s face was dark. With a massive kick, an enormous exploding sound was heard! “DONG!” An enormous wall like this one which was six or seven meters thick was extremely durable, but thanks to Ning’s kick, it began to vibrate powerfully. One giant crack after another began to appear on the tall, powerful city wall, and some distortions and cracks even began to appear in the ground below it. This kick had caused even the ground nearby to ripple and shake as though the ground was a pool of water, and those armored guards were so terrified that they hurriedly retreated. “DONG!” Ning delivered yet another kick! The nearby earth began to shudder yet again, and a large number of cracks had now appeared within the wall. Many stones began to tumble down, and the stone guard tower itself began to shudder, as though preparing to crack at any moment. “DONG!” Ning delivered one final kick! Rumble…. The city wall which was already covered with countless cracks finally collapsed. Many boulders came falling down. Instantly, the massive city gate became a pile of rubble. The tall, massive city walls fell downwards towards the street. This scene of rubble lying everywhere caused those armored guards and civilians who had run away long ago to stare in shock. “My God…” “The city towers…” None of them could believe it. The walls of the main gate to a city were the thickest, most stable parts of the city. Even siege machines would at most attack the gates. Attacking the city walls would be entirely useless. That seamless, tough stone that was six or seven meters thick….even if a person slashed down onto it with a knife, at most a scar would be left behind. Kicking down the city walls with just three kicks? Swoosh! Swoosh! Autumn Leaf and Mowu, riding their black beasts, quickly arrived at the area of rubble. By now, Ning had already landed on the rubble as well. ———————- River Sansi was current seated in the lotus position within a quiet room, fragrant room. He was the chief of the Riverside Tribe, a very famous and reputable person in the territory controlled by the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan. “River He, I order you to come out!” An enraged bellow suddenly rang out. “Huh?” River Sansi suddenly opened his eyes. DONG! DONG! DONG! The subsequent three massive sounds caused River Sansi’s face to change. He immediately transformed into a ray of light, hurrying out. Moments later. River Sansi, as a Xiantian lifeform, had already reached the city gates, where those enormous sounds had come from. Upon seeing the destroyed city gates and the rubble, River Sansi’s eyes instantly turned red! The city gates had been destroyed. This was like spitting directly into the Riverside Tribe’s face, giving them no leeway at all. “You are River Sansi?” Ning stood atop the rubble. Seeing this black haired old man suddenly appear, he immediately barked towards him. The entire Riverside Tribe only had two Xiantian lifeforms, one male, one female. The male, of course, was River Sansi. The black haired old man stared at Ning, his face an ugly sight. “No matter who you are, you can’t trample the honor and dignity of our Ji clan like this.” As soon as he spoke, within his hands, a purple set of chains appeared. With a massive whirl, he sent those chain links flying towards Ning in an attack. Just from the way Ning was acting, there was no question at all that he was the person who had done this. Swoosh! Ning suddenly charged forward, moving forward at an intense speed, generating a faint howl like that of a great Roc. Swish! Ning landed a kick directly on the chest of that black-haired old man, causing the black haired old man to fly backwards. A deep crevice appeared in the stone ground, with the old man sunken into it. The black haired old man immediately jumped up, clutching his chest, a hint of blood on his lips. His face covered in astonishment, he looked at Ning. “You…who are you?” How could this happen? His magic treasure had yet to strike Ning, but Ning had sent him flying with a kick. Fortunately, he was protected by his Xiantian Ki. “Hmph.” Ning sneered coldly. “Have River He come out.” Shua! Yet another figure appeared, this one red-colored. It was an old lady with white hair dressed in red clothes. The old lady hurriedly helped prop up River Sansi. “Sansi, are you alright?” “Be careful. He is very powerful.” River Sansi said quietly. The red-clothed old granny look at Ning, shouting, “I don’t know how our Riverside Tribe has offended you. In addition, who are you? You destroyed our gates. I trust you wouldn’t be so cowardly as to not even dare to give us your name!” Ning said coldly, “Ji clan! Ji Ning!” “Ji Ning?” The red-clothed granny was puzzled. “Ji Ning?” The black haired elder, River Sansi, was greatly astonished. He hurriedly said in a soft voice to the nearby granny, “Aunty Snow, the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture has been decided upon already. It is someone named Ji Ning. But he is only eleven years old. How could he…” “The Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture?” Aunty Snow was shocked. Although they were shocked at Ning becoming a Xiantian lifeform at the age of eleven, they were even more shocked by Ning’s status; the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture! It was common for a person to become a Xiantian before reaching the age of twenty. The Ji clan alone had quite a few, such as Ji Lie who had also been hoping that one of the three tribal youths he had brought up would reach the Xiantian level before the age of sixteen. If Ji Ning had trained in other Fiendgod Body Refining methods, he most likely would have reached the Xiantian level as a toddler. In the numerous tribes, there were even more talented individuals. There were quite a few who reached the Xiantian level before the age of twenty. River Sansi was one such person! But these tribes didn’t have any powerful, ultimate techniques. The more they trained, the lower their potential became compared to the Ji clan! “Ji clan of the West Prefecture?” Aunty Snow stared at the youth in front of her. Their Riverside Tribe was within the territory of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture and was under their direct authority! If the Ji clan of the West Prefecture wanted to destroy the Riverside Tribe, it could be accomplished as easily as lifting their hand up. “Young master!” A voice suddenly rang out. Over a hundred black armored guards appeared from afar. Upon seeing Ning standing atop the rubble, the leader of the black armored guards, greatly shocked, immediately fell down to one knee. The other black armored guards all hurriedly called out respectfully, “Young master!” “Rise.” Ning glanced at them sideways. In these extremely large tribes, the Ji clan would usually send a squadron of a hundred black armored guards to stay there and watch over them. “Yes.” The black armored guards hurriedly ran over, standing around Ji Ning. “Young master Ji Ning.” The old granny, Aunty Snow, bowed slightly. “Since it is River He who angered you, young master, my Riverside Tribe naturally will not protect him. Sansi, go bring River He out as soon as possible.” “Right.” The black haired elder, River Sansi, immediately went. A single Xiantian individual wouldn’t be enough to cause the Riverside Tribe to lower their heads! Even if the Xiantian belonged to the Ji clan, that didn’t mean anything. After all, everything had to have a reason. The Ji clan couldn’t act wildly either, otherwise how could the many tribes submit peacefully? A single ordinary Xiantian lifeform was not able to destroy a large-scale tribe. But if it was the Prefecture Lord himself! Then the situation would be different. —————– “Keep training!” River He was an extremely handsome young man with white skin. Only, his eyes contained an extreme arrogance. Currently, he was holding a whip while looking at a toddler, who was wielding a shortsword and training in swordplay. “No matter how sore or painful your arm feels, endure it. You will be the future clan leader of our Riverside clan!” “Yes, Father.” The toddler gritted his teeth, continuing to train. He didn’t dare stop. Stopping meant a whip would come his way. Suddenly…. “River He, come out.” A furious roar rang out. River He’s face changed. “Who dares to be this impudent and act like this in Riverside City? This person cannot be ordinary.” DONG! DONG! DONG! The three kicks which had smashed open the city walls were like kicks against his heart, causing River He to unconsciously feel panic. “Who is it? Who has come looking for me?” No longer paying any attention to anything else, Riverside He hurriedly rushed towards the outside. “He, what is it?” The inside of the manor was in a state of chaos. His wife came out as well, seemingly very panicked. Some of his other women were worried as well, but some of them were secretly rejoicing at his impending misfortune. “Let’s go take a look.” River He headed outside. Just as he walked out of his manor, from afar, a black figure suddenly pounced downwards, arriving directly in front of River He. River He was shocked when he saw the person. “Clan leader.” The black haired elder, River Sansi, stared at him coldly. Sansi had an extremely ugly look on his face, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. His clothes were extremely dirty. “This is all your doing.” As he said this, he grabbed River He by the neck, as though he were picking up a chicken. Swoosh! He transformed into a ray of light, moving at high speed towards the city gate. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Standing on the cracked streets, the white-haired old granny, Aunty Snow, spoke out. “Young master Ji Ning, if River He has offended you, he deserves death. However, given that he is still young, I wonder if he might perhaps be spared?” In the struggles and battles between tribes, it was generally possible for an important person who had been captured to be released in exchange for a ransom. Ning glanced at her coldly, not saying a word. Aunty Snow instantly frowned. She understood that young master Ji Ning’s decision to kill River He was unshakable. “What’s going on?” “Why have the city gates been destroyed?” “What is going on in the Riverside Tribe?” “Look, look, that youngster is surrounded by a group of black armored guards. He must be an important figure within the Ji clan.” Some of the outsiders who had come to engage in trade in Riverside City quickly began to congregate towards this direction. Seeing the situation, Aunty Snow immediately shouted, “Have all those onlookers f*ck off.” “Yes.” The armored guards of the Riverside Tribe immediately acknowledged, and quickly began to shoo aside those outsiders as well as even some people of the clan, not letting them draw close. “Out of the way!” “Out of the way!” One unit after another of guards quickly ran at high speed towards the distant streets, all of them wielding bows and other sorts of weapons. The leader of the units were all core, high-level people of the Riverside Tribe. Clearly, they had heard those explosive sounds from earlier and were worried that an enemy had come in force, and so they had quickly brought their own people to come over. “Granny Snow.” A white-haired elder led a group to rush over. Upon seeing Aunty Snow, he immediately called out respectfully. Aunty Snow only glanced at him. One squadron after another drew near. All of the core members of the Riverside Tribe had arrived. “Swoosh!” A black shadow drew near at high speed as well, only slowing down once it reached the armored guards. Those armored guards wanted to block the black shadow, but when they saw it come to a halt, they were shocked. “Clan leader!” River Sansi’s face was like ice. Still holding onto that handsome young man, he passed straight through the crowd. All of the core members of the tribe stared at River He in confusion. River He was one of River Sansi’s grandchildren, and was greatly valued by River Sansi. In the Riverside Tribe, his position was in the top ten of the entire tribe. Why had the clan leader dragged him here? “Swish!” River Sansi directly tossed him out. River He fell face-first into the rubble and rocks, wounds appearing on his face and his body becoming covered with dust. He hurriedly raised his head and stood up, looking around him. Soon, his gaze settled down upon the fur-clad youth who was surrounded by black armored guards. “Young master Ji Ning, I brought him for you.” River Sansi stood together with Aunty Snow. “You are River He?” Ning stared judgingly at River He. He couldn’t help but think of poor Spring Grass, and his heart began to flood with a desire to slaughter! River He could feel that this young master Ji Ning emanated an aura of power and influence. In front of this young master Ji Ning…even the clan leader and Granny Snow had to lower their heads. “River He pays his respects to you, young master.” River He said respectfully. “River He…River He…” Ning gently murmured, his eyes as sharp as daggers as he stared at this youth in front of him. “Do you know why I have come to find you?” Ning’s voice was very soft. But when River He heard his voice, his heart shook. He could sense the murderous intent contained within Ji Ning’s voice! “I don’t know.” River He stared at Ning. “Young master Ji Ning, have you come to kill me?” “Yes.” Ning nodded. The entire area was utterly silent. River Sansi and Aunty Snow just watched. The core members of the Riverside Tribe just watched as well. They could tell…that this young master Ji Ning clearly had the power to change their entire world. Even the clan leader had to submit to him. In addition, Ji Ning’s desire to kill River He was clearly very strong. They just quietly sighed to themselves…the glorious River He, whose prospects had been limitless, was going to die today! “Young master Ji Ning, if you wish to kill me, then I have no choice but to die.” River He’s handsome face didn’t have a hint of fear on it. He looked at Ning. “But I don’t know why you are going to kill me, young master?” “Why I am going to kill you?” Ning looked at him. Hua. A Darknorth sword appeared out of nowhere into Ji Ning’s hands. Sword light flashed across River He’s body. Instantly, a terrifying, suppressive aura swept out, but River He didn’t dodge. The nearby River Sansi and Aunty Snow just watched quietly as well. Even if Ji Ning had killed River He with this sword attack, they wouldn’t say a word. Chi! Chi! Chi! River He’s body now had six bloody holes appear on it. His blood flowed outwards from those holes, which were situation in his legs, shoulders, and other non-lethal points. “This!” River He stared, his eyes wide. “She…she was your…” “Now do you understand?” Ning looked at him. The sword technique he had displayed just now when stabbing six bloody holes into River He was the sword technique of Spring Grass. When River He had originally ordered his servants to capture Spring Grass, this was the technique Spring Grass had relied upon when she had beaten those servants half to death before leaving. “A mere woman. Young master Ji Ning, you are going to kill me for a mere woman? Women are nothing more than merchandise, just property.” River He howled in disbelief, unwilling to accept this. “I’m willing to offer ten or a hundred women to you, young master. In addition, she was just a slave. I’m willing to do anything so long as you are willing to spare me, young master.” “In my eyes…you can’t even compare to a single hair on her head.” Ning said coldly. His face ashen, River He immediately retrieved a dagger from within his breastpocket. In a gloomy voice, he said, “Young master Ji Ning, I, River He, have offended you, young master, and I deserve to be killed. There’s no need for you to dirty your hands, young master. River He will end it personally.” As he spoke, he stabbed with his dagger towards his heart. Dang! A sword flash collided against the dagger, sending it flying. “You actually think you’ll be able to die so easily?” Ning stared at River He. “When she died, she did so in agony and humiliation! How can I possibly let you die so easily?” River He gritted his teeth as he looked at Ning. Ning shouted, “Mowu!” “Young master.” Mowu immediately stepped forward. “The suspension punishment.” Ning said coldly. “Hang up him at the top of Riverside City.” River He’s face turned white. The suspension punishment generally meant one would have his hands and feet bound up, then hung up in the air and given nothing to eat or drink while allowing the sun to bake the criminal. In addition, prior to this, Ning had left six bloody holes on River He’s body. Given River He’s life force, he naturally wouldn’t die due to bloodloss, but the blood he had lost would attract some birds. The birds which would dare to draw near to the top of Riverside City were all ordinary birds. They would occasionally take a peck out of River He’s flesh. He would slowly be tortured to death in the midst of starvation, agony, and terror… In addition, countless tribesmen would all be watching. The humiliation he would feel in his heart would cause a proud figure like River He even more agony. “Yes.” Mowu quickly retrieved a set of chains and began to bind and fetter River He. River He knelt there, his head lowered, not daring to make a sound. “Father!” A fierce cry rang out, and a toddler came running out from the crowd. “F*ck off.” Seeing that toddler running over, he hurriedly shouted in anger, “F*ck off, f*ck off!” “Father.” The toddler sobbed. Although his father was strict in forcing him to train with the sword, his father deeply loved him. The distant River Sansi frowned. “Take the child away!” “Yes.” Immediately, two guards charged forward, grabbing the child and leaving with him. But that child continued to wildly struggle while staring at Ji Ning, his eyes filled with hate. Ning only stared back calmly at the child. When he was very young, his father, Ji Yichuan, had him train in courage by having him go kill some prisoners. He had seen far more terrifying glares before. The slave 358 markets of West Prefecture City…he had seen numbness, despair, insanity, hatred, supplication. He had seen every sort of gaze there was. “Hang him up at the highest point of the city.” Mowu had two black armored guards help. River He was completely tied up in metal chains, and his hair was a mess. The nearby tribesmen watched, some of their eyes filled with pity. Others delighted in his misfortune. This humiliation caused River He’s entire body to shake constantly. “Young master.” Mowu said softly towards Ji Ning. “That son of River He’s…when cutting grass, you must tear out the roots!” Ning glanced coldly at Mowu. Mowu hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to say anything else. “I will spend the next few days at Riverside City.” Ning looked at the nearby River Sansi and Aunty Snow. “No need to trouble you. I will stay at the place where the black armored guards are stationed. I will watch as River He slowly dies. After he is dead, I will leave.” The bodies of the surrounding core members of the tribe all shook. All of them could sense the hatred within Ning’s voice. ——————- At first, River He didn’t have too many problems, baking there in the sun. Afterwards, when some crows began to feast on his flesh, and when the sun began to cause his skin to dry and crack, revealing his red flesh, the pain he went through was absolute hell. Because of the ki in his body, River He’s life force was very strong, but this now became a source of agony to him. He was baked in the sun until his skin cracked and his flesh congealed. In the midst of this agony, he moaned for three days and two nights before finally dying. This entire time, Ning remained at Riverside City. After the black armored guards reported that River He had died in agony, Ning finally took a cold look at River He’s tattered corpse, then turned and led Mowu and Autumn Leaf away, mounted on their black beasts. —————– Ning left Riverside City at night. Riverside Sansi was currently seated in front of a table, quietly drinking wine from a beastskull cup. There was a toddler kneeling within the courtyard. “Cai, child.” Sansi lifted his beastskull cup. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Do you want to kill young master Ji Ning?” “I don’t dare. Cai doesn’t dare.” The kneeling toddler said hurriedly. “Alas.” River Sansi shook his head. In a soft voice, he murmured, “The hatred you feel will be a disaster to my Riverside Tribe.” “Servants!” River Sansi called out. “Master.” A servant entered and knelt down. “Alright.” River Sansi said coldly, “Execute all of those servants of River He. None of them are to be spared! River He’s women are to be sold off at the slave markets!” “Clan leader.” The toddler grew frantic. One of them was his mother. “And him.” River Sansi looked coldly at the toddler. “River He’s only son…he is to be sold off at the slave market as well!” “No.” “No!” The toddler hurriedly kowtowed. “Clan leader, spare me, spare me!” “Yes!” The servant replied respectfully, and then stepped forward, grabbing the toddler, then departing. The toddler continued to struggle, sob, and cry. Slave? Why! Why had this happened! Watching as the toddler cried and called out in agony, River Sansi was silent. “Master, you are going to sell River He’s women and children as slaves?” A human figure appeared within the dark corners of the room. River Sansi nodded. When River He had been undergoing the suspension punishment, Sansi had sent people to secretly ask River He…and only then did he understand that the source of this problem came from the Miwa of the Blacktooth Tribe! River Sansi had even sent people to the Blacktooth Tribe to speak with Blacktooth to clearly understand what this was about. And then, he had put to death all of the servants who knew anything about this affair at all. “Ji Ning doesn’t wish for Spring Grass’ affair to spread out.” River Sansi said calmly. “Spring Grass had once said that she was the servant of young master Ji. Everyone who heard these words needs to be put to death.” “There’s no point in keeping River He’s women either.” “River He’s sole child, Cai…he has too much hatred towards Ji Ning. I asked him several times. Although he verbally stated that he wouldn’t seek revenge, how could a toddler like him deceive me? I could see straight to his heart in a single glance. His hatred of Ji Ning is bone deep.” Sansi shook his head. “At such a young age, he has already learned to cover up his thoughts. In the future, once he rises to a position of great power within the tribe, given the hatred he feels for Ji Ning, I fear that he might act in a way that would cause our entire Riverside Tribe to be destroyed!” “Everything that I am doing is to ensure that the Ji clan knows that our Riverside Tribe is loyal!” The man in the darkness was silent. “Breaker Three.” River Sansi spoke out. “Master.” The man in the darkness replied. “Send out Breaker Nine.” River Sansi said. “Take Cai away in the darkness and send him to the territory under the control of the Ironwood clan and have him just join a small tribe at random. Make him give Cai good training! If Cai has talent and always works hard, give him good tutelage. If Cai quickly forgets his hatred and doesn’t train hard, then kill him and have Breaker Nine return.” “Yes.” The figure in the darkness nodded. “Hatred…is a source of strength as well.” River Sansi murmured softly. “Our Riverside Tribe, compared to the Ji clan…we’re too weak, too weak…” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The three black beasts were travelling through the desolate terrain. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf couldn’t help but speak out. “That son of River He has tremendous hatred towards you. If we let him grow up, in the future, it will most likely be detrimental to you, young master.” Ji Ning cast a sideways glance at Mowu. Autumn Leaf hurriedly said, “It wasn’t Mowu who said this to me. I knew that you wouldn’t be happy, but after thinking about it for a long time, I felt I had to say this.” Ning let out a sigh. “My enmity was with River He. I have no enmity with his son. I went to get revenge. Why do I have to harm his child as well?” “But when tribes engage in battles against each other, we generally utterly destroy any remaining threats…” Autumn Leaf wanted to speak. “I understand.” Ning nodded. “For the sake of the tribe’s survival…any sort of measures and means can be used! But how can a small child like him possibly affect my Ji clan? My Ji clan controls this area, and has put countless people to death. Who knows how many people secretly hate our Ji clan? The reason that my Ji clan is able to remain in command isn’t because we didn’t offend people, but rather because we ourselves are powerful!” Autumn Leaf begun to understand a bit. “Even if we don’t offend others, if we aren’t powerful, others will still come and destroy you.” Ji Ning said calmly. “But if we are powerful, then those secret enemies might secretly feel resentment, but publicly they will still be very respectful. Most likely, a century later, their sons and grandsons will have truly become loyal subjects of our Ji clan.” “In addition, when experts train, the heart and mind is very important.” Ning said. The mind and the heavens become one! One with the world! The mind gains insights into the Dao, and learns the true meaning of the Dao! Ning understood that a person who was training in the Dao had to be true to himself. Only with a clear mind and clear conscience could one improve at a faster rate when training. “If a person is not true to himself, not only will he be frustrated, he will also come to a halt in his training, or perhaps even lose ground.” Ning shook his head. “If I, Ji Ning, want to kill someone, I will only kill him and him alone. I will not harm his wife and children! This is my true self!” In his past life, his illness had tormented him and caused him to always be alone. Lonely people often would become accustomed to think about many things. Some thought about too many things and would go insane, while others would see through their own heart and mind and become wise. Ning was one of those who had seen through his own heart, which made him all the more broad-minded and calm. If he hadn’t seen through his own heart, how could he have had such resolve to keep training so bitterly in this life? Autumn Leaf and Mowu glanced at each other. Be true to themselves? They didn’t understand! “Enough.” Ning saw the looks on their faces and shook his head. “Don’t overthink it. Let’s go to Serpentwing Lake.” “Young master, aren’t you going to the Blacktooth Tribe? Didn’t you say…that you wanted to help take care of the little brother of Spring Grass?” Autumn Leaf asked. “No rush.” Ning shook his head. “I’ll make a trip to Serpentwing Lake first and kill Serpentwing, then head to the Blacktooth Tribe…the original cause of this disastrous affair was still Serpentwing. One of Spring Grass’ two little brothers died to Serpentwing as well. I will use Serpentwing’s death to commemorate Spring Grass, and then I’ll take her only brother to the West Prefecture City with me.” “Let’s go.” Ning rapped his black beast on its chest slightly, and it instantly began to gallop forward. Autumn Leaf and Mowu followed him towards Serpentwing Lake as well. ——————— They travelled by day and rested at night. Given the rapid pace at which the black beasts travelled through even mountainous terrain, they still spent three full days before arriving at a place near Serpentwing Lake. “Greetings, young master.” Ten black armored guards fell down to one knee. Ning, seated on the black beast, nodded while instructing, “Mowu, Autumn Leaf, the two of you can stay here and rest for a bit. Serpentwing Lake is a few kilometers up ahead. I can’t take you there. I will go to Serpentwing Lake by myself.” “Yes.” Mowu and Autumn Leaf were both very respectful. Ning descended from the black beast, and then, moving as agilely as a great bird, charged into the distance. With but two flashing movements, he disappeared from the field of vision of those ten black armored guards, Mowu, and Autumn Leaf. This was the first time the black armored guards had seen Ning displaying his footwork techniques, and they stared in amazement and disbelief. Serpentwing Lake was currently forbidden territory. The Ji clan had arranged for dozens of scattered little squads to be spread around the area, each of which had ten black armored guards. They were located in different areas around Serpentwing Lake, so as to keep a close watch on Serpentwing. ——————– “Huahuahua….” The hundred-kilometer long Serpentwing Lake was vast. One couldn’t see the other side of the lake. Such an enormous lake would of course have three-foot high waves, even when it wasn’t windy. Ning stood by the shore, staring at Serpentwing Lake. In a soft voice, he said, “This lake truly is immeasurably deep. Even though I can control water, if I were to enter its depths…my speed would probably still be far inferior to Serpentwing.” The deeper one went, the greater the water pressure would be, and the harder it would be to control water. A human who was in water wouldn’t even be able to bring out 10% of his power, but a water monster would be more powerful than usual. “Right now, although I am powerful, compared to a peak Xiantian Diremonster…most likely, I’m just slightly more powerful.” Ning said to himself. And this was because he trained in the [Windwing Evasion], and had gained a hint of understanding into the true nature of the Dao. After all, just by relying on the four stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] alone, he would only roughly have power comparable to other late-stage Fiendgod practitioners. Compared to Serpentwing, his power would actually be slightly lower. Swoosh! With a series of movements, Ning travelled a kilometer, walking atop the water as though it were land. “Serpentwing!” Ning let out a loud bellow. “Serpentwing!” “Serpentwing!” “Serpentwing!” …. The sound echoed like thunder, spreading everywhere and piercing deep into the depths of the water of the lake. Moments later…. In the depths of the sea, within a twisting, dark lair, the Diremonster, Serpentwing, was currently slumbering. His enormous scaled wings surrounded him, protecting his body. “Serpentwing!” A sound pierced through the water, directly arriving to him. The slumbering Serpentwing suddenly opened his scarlet eyes. “What’s going on?” Serpentwing let out a low growl. “Investigate immediately.” “Yes.” The sound of screams from terrified lesser water monsters could be heard from outside. Although humans usually weren’t able to understand the languages of these lesser monsters, these lesser monsters could all understand each other. —————————— There were two black armored guards hiding within the wild grass fairly close to Serpentwing Lake. “Serpentwing?” “Someone is challenging Serpentwing.” The two black armored guards exchanged glances of amazement, then hurriedly turned to look. However, they were dozens of kilometers away from Ning, and thus they couldn’t see him at all. “I’ll keep watch. You go make the report.” There were over ten black armored guards on watch at all times around Serpentwing Lake, and right now, the three black armored guards closest to Ji Ning were all able to see him. This group of black armored guards had been dispatched from West Prefecture City. Naturally, they were able to recognize Ning. “It is young master Ji Ning.” “Young master Ji Ning has come to challenge Serpentwing? But young master Ji Ning truly is powerful. He is able to stand atop the water as though it was flat ground. Just like Commander Ji Yichuan had been!” 365 “Stop talking. Hurry and go back to make the report.” ———————————— The amazed black armored guards quickly spread the news to all of the little squads, but given their speed…as one might imagine, it would take them at least a day before they were able to reach West Prefecture City. Ning continued to walk calmly on the surface of the vast waters of Lake Serpentwing. Huahua…. The head of a large green snake appeared, along with the head of a large black fish. Breaking through the surface of the water, they stared into the distance. “A human youth?” The two monsters exchanged glances. Hua! They both dove into the deeper water, making haste to the watery lair of the Diremonster, Serpentwing. “Mighty King, mighty King, there is a human youth in the water above.” The green serpent monster and the black fish monster both growled out frantically. “A human youth?” Serpentwing’s scaly wings spread out, and his scarlet eyes stared at those two lesser monsters, who were so terrified that they trembled as they nodded. “But that human youth is standing on the water, just like that Ji Yichuan had done so in the past. The water doesn’t sink down at all.” The green serpent monster said hurriedly, while the black fish monster also nodded. “Right right right.” “Standing on the water without it sinking at all?” Serpentwing disappeared into a black mist, then reformed into a black clothed man. The black clothed man stood there, his slender, narrow eyes filled with suspicion. Serpents were by their very nature cautious. Given that he had also been pursued and often tricked into traps on multiple occasions by the Xiantian experts of the Ji clan, he had long ago become an easily startled creature. Now, a human youth who could walk on water had suddenly come to challenge him. How could he not be suspicious? “Have you seen him before?” The black clothed man looked at the two lesser monsters. “Never, never. Before this, we have clearly memorized the appearances of those Xiantian lifeforms surrounding our Serpentwing Lake. This human youth definitely isn’t one of those Xiantian lifeforms.” The green snake monster hurriedly said, and the black fish monster nodded. The black clothed man nodded. “Then I will go take a look.” Swoosh! He stealthily slipped out of his watery lair. Although in his human form Serpentwing wasn’t nearly as fast as when he was in his true form, his true form was simply too enormous. If he appeared at the surface of the water, he would cause an enormous commotion and would definitely be noticed. “Who is it?” The black clothed man quickly and stealthily lifted his head out of the surface of the water to take a look around him. He immediately saw that roughly eight or nine kilometers away, there was a fur-clad youth. The youth looked very fine and delicate, but he casually walked atop the surface of the water. The area around the youth was completely barren and empty. There were no other human experts there at all. “It is him!” The black clothed man’s narrow eyes instantly became filled with a terrifying, ferocious light. A murderous look! A hateful look! These feelings instantly filled his mind, causing the water around him to begin to tremble with the force of his emotions. The distant Ji Ning seemed to have sensed him, as he turned to look. Ning instantly saw him. Although Serpentwing was currently in human form, Ning immediately recognized that this was the Diremonster, Serpentwing. “Serpentwing!” Ning let out an angry shout. The black clothed man gave Ning a cold, sinister glance, and then sunk down slowly into the depths of the lake. “Serpentwing.” Ning ran over at high speed over the surface of the water, quickly arriving at that part of the lake. Staring downwards into the depths, he shouted, “Didn’t you want to kill me? Don’t you have a hatred for me which is so deep, it is engraved into your bones? Come out, come out…I am waiting here for you to come kill me.” Deep within the water. The narrow eyes of the black clothed man were burning with the flames of rage. He truly was filled with an incomparable desire to fly upwards, attack, and devour the flesh of this Ji Ning. “I personally killed that big crimson snake.” “Hahaha, I killed him with a single blow. He really was pathetic!” The voice from above continuously transmitted downwards, further stoking the flames of Serpentwing’s rage. The black clothed man was trembling slightly, but he managed to suppress the killing urge in his mind. “I can’t be hasty. Can’t be hasty. If I am hasty, I will fall into the Ji clan’s crafty trap. Before this, Poison Dove Ridge and the Ji clan only agreed that I would be restricted from leaving Serpentwing Lake for a century, and that only the highest level members of the clan, the Zifu Disciples, would be restricted from acting. There was no agreement forbidding those Xiantian lifeforms from acting against me.” Humans and the monsters fought viciously against each other. However, there were some limits and some restrictions. For example, the true leaders of each side wouldn’t act against and bully the weaker members of each side. That old monster at the Zifu level wouldn’t kill…and the Zifu Disciple of the Ji clan wouldn’t kill either. After all, the Zifu level experts were the foundation. Once Zifu experts began to fight each other, once one fell, that would shake the very foundations of a clan. Neither humans nor monsters wanted their foundations to be shaken. “The area around that Ji Ning is empty. There are no humans there.” The black clothed man’s eyes flashed with a ferocious light. “But why would he come to throw his life away? Most likely, his father, Ji Yichuan, and some other Xiantian lifeforms are nearby, utilizing some sort of concealing formation technique to hide there. Once I come out, I will most likely instantly be attacked en masse.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood on the surface of the water, staring at his surroundings. Everything was silent. The only sound that could be heard was that of the wind blowing atop the surface of the lake, and the waves it created. “Serpentwing is even more careful and cautious than I had expected. Not only does he remain within the depths, even when I, his most hated foe, appeared, he still doesn’t dare come attack me.” Ning frowned. To draw Serpentwing out would be very hard! Otherwise, the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan wouldn’t have been unable to do anything about Serpentwing. Ji Ning’s breakthrough to the Xiantian lifeform level was still a secret, with very few people aware of it. Serpentwing naturally didn’t know either. In the eyes of Serpentwing, Ning was perhaps just an eleven year old youth who had very powerful footwork techniques. He wasn’t a threat, but despite that, Serpentwing still managed to curb his impulse to attack. “Huh?” Ning suddenly frowned. Some heads were jutting up secretly from far away in the pond. “Lesser monsters.” Out of nowhere, that greatbow Ning had retrieved from Ironwood Zhan suddenly appeared, along with four arrows. He quickly nocked his bow and fired. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! The four arrows instantly pierced outwards, terrifying those lesser water monsters to hurriedly dive down. But how fast were Ning’s arrows? Immediately, a series of agonized howls could be heard, and even a large fish tail flapped on the surface of the water. Leaving behind only a pool of blood, the lesser monsters all hid themselves away. “Serpentwing.” Holding his greatbow, Ning shouted, “I didn’t expect that you, a mighty Diremonster, would be forced to the state of only daring to have those lesser monsters appear. You really make me look down upon you!” “Ji Ning.” A deep, growling voice suddenly emerged from the depths of the lake. Ning instantly felt a surge of joy in his heart. Serpentwing finally had spoken. “Don’t even think that you can succeed in using these despicable measures. Do you think I don’t know that your father and the others are hiding nearby?” The growling voice emanated from the depths. “How could you, a little child of the Houtian level, possibly have come to throw your life away?” “Hahaha, Houtian?” Ning laughed loudly. His body immediately began to be covered by a layer of hazy light, while he pointed at the surface of the lake. A sword light shot out from his fingernail, piercing straight into the depths of the lake. “Open up your serpentine eyes and take a good look!” Swish! The sword light tunneled through the depths of the lake, creating tremors. “Huala…” Several kilometers away, a black figure raised his head up, staring in his direction with eyes filled with shock. “Xiantian? You are already Xiantian?” “Dare you battle me?!” Ning shouted. “If you are worried that I have arranged an ambush, then you can pick any location in the lake or any island within this hundred-kilometer wide Serpentwing Lake! You and me, one on one. Dare you battle me?” Serpentwing stared at the distant youth atop the water. He hesitated. Even if Ji Yichuan and his men were lying in ambush, how many places could they possibly have prepared an ambush? “You humans are incomparably crafty. Even if you, a youth, have reached the Xiantian level, how could the Ji clan possibly let you just die? There must be some scheme I don’t know about.” Serpentwing immediately sunk deep into the water while roaring angrily, “If you have any courage, come to the depths of the lake. I will definitely have a battle with you here. Above the water? I definitely won’t fall for your tricks!” Ning, atop the water, cursed angrily, “As cowardly as a mouse!” Swoosh! Ning was so furious that he immediately turned and left, walking atop the waves and quickly arriving on the island in the center of Serpentwing Lake. He leapt directly atop the island. “How can he be so cowardly.” Ning didn’t have any ideas either. He wasn’t so arrogant as to head directly into the bottom of the lake to do battle with a peak Xiantian aquatic Diremonster. —————- At the bottom of the lake. “Mighty King, mighty King, that human youth is on the island.” Several lesser monsters reported. “He went to the island?” The black clothed man sat there, suppressing the fury in his heart. “Father, Silvertip and the others are on the island.” Suddenly, a serpent called out in worry. “Silvertip?” The black clothed man was instantly shocked. He remembered now. Ever since Poisondove Ridge and the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan had engaged in their negotiations, he had carefully remained beneath the water, not even daring to go to his lair on the island! But those children of his and those lesser monsters weren’t as cautious. They would occasionally head to the island. After all, in the past, that island was their true home. “How many? How many of my children are on the island?” The black clothed man shouted angrily. “It should just be Silvertip. But there are hundreds of lesser monsters there.” The serpent immediately reported. The black clothed man’s face changed greatly when he heard this. “Immediately send some lesser monsters to inform Silvertip and have him immediately come back.” “Yes.” —————— Ning was a human, after all. When walking atop the water, he had to maintain his mind at the ‘one with the world’ level at all times. Since for now he had no way of forcing Serpentwing out, Ning headed directly to the island to take a rest. “This island used to be Serpentwing’s lair in the past.” Ning glanced at the surroundings. “In the past thousand years, this place has always been the territory of monsters. Since I’m unable to have Serpentwing come out, then I might have a good look at this island!” Ning slowly walked about. Each step, however, was like the wind, as graceful and as fast as gentle smoke. He wandered about the muddy beaches of the island. The island had an area of roughly twenty kilometers. It wasn’t a small one. There were some hills and creeks in the island. “Growl….” From afar, a millstone-sized crimson crab was currently waving its big metal pincers, staring at Ning. “Lesser water monsters.” Ning kicked a rock, which with a ‘Swoosh!’ shot out. Then, with a clang, it struck on the crab monster’s shell, causing it to flip around multiple times before it came to a halt and stopped 371 moving. When Ning left, the giant crab flipped over yet again, hurriedly charging back down into the depths of the lake. This used to be Serpentwing’s lair was in the past, after all. Even though Serpentwing currently wasn’t here, there were still quite a few lesser aquatic monsters who lived on this island. When they saw Ning, these lesser monsters wanted to attack him. The weaker monsters were taught a lesson by Ning, while when dealing with the peak Houtian monsters, Ning showed no mercy at all. “Huh?” Ning suddenly turned and looked into the distance. From afar, there was a great cavern entrance, from which a large silver serpent suddenly emerged. By the side of this silver serpent were a number of lesser water monsters that were many meters wide. None of those lesser monsters were physically small. Most likely, all of them were peak Houtian. “Swoosh!” Ning moved, instantly charged forwards. “Hurry and leave.” “Leave.” “That human youth should be a Xiantian lifeform.” These peak Houtian lesser monsters all growled to each other. None of them attacked Ning. Rather, they all scattered in every direction, towards the distant waters of the lake. That greatbow and four arrows appeared in Ning’s hands, and he once more pulled his arrow. After firing those four arrows, he fired four more! Hua! Hua! Hua! One arrow after another shot out. Instantly, the ten physically largest Houtian lesser water monsters were all killed. Some of the smaller, weaker monsters were able to escape into the water. “Ji Ning, you killed yet another one of my sons. I will definitely kill you, definitely kill you!” An enraged growl echoed from the depths of the lake, causing Ning, who had been preparing to enter the lair entrance, to be astonished. “Killed another son? How many children does this old monster have?” Ning curiously swept the surrounding area with a glance. There were three Houtian-level snake-type aquatic monsters that he had killed with his arrows. Which one was Serpentwing’s child? Ning didn’t know that the old monster, Serpentwing, originally had 92 children, only many had been eaten by other monsters or killed by humans, with only sixteen surviving. Two more of those were then killed by Ning. However, to Serpentwing…the one he was the most devoted to was still Redtip, the one which had Fiendgod heritage. “Old monster Serpentwing, all you can do is shout out verbally. Does this lair of yours have any more children within it? I’m going to go in and kill them.” Ning called out as he entered the lair. ——————- This lair was a place where Serpentwing had lived for a thousand years. It was dark inside, with twisting paths. Ning moved forward, his Darknorth swords at the ready. Within the lair, he repeatedly encountered some aquatic monsters who charged at him. Some were ferocious, others were bizarre. As soon as they saw this human youth, it was as though they had seen a delicacy which they all wanted to devour. For some of the extremely weak lesser monsters, Ning would just knock them flying…whether they died as a result or just fainted, he didn’t bother with them further. But Ning still exterminated all of the peak Houtian aquatic monsters. “This lair truly is infathomably deep.” Ning continued going deeper into the twisting tunnels of the lair. Suddenly, within the dark tunnels, a blurry, enormous beast shadow appeared in the shape of the head of a giant grizzly. This enormous shadow of a grizzly head seemed to open its mouth wide, trapping Ning within. Ning’s face changed dramatically. At the same time, he discovered that he was now completely incapable of movement. He could neither advance, nor retreat. “This, this…is a relic site!” Ning instantly thought of this term. In the boundless world, from the Fiendgod era to the modern era, countless numbers of experts had existed throughout the countless years. There were thus an uncountable number of Fiendgod relic sites and Immortal mansion relic sites throughout the land. Since humankind was spread across the entire world, people would often accidentally enter some ancient Fiendgod relic sites, some of whom would be able to gain some benefits from these places. Most, however, died within these Immortal relic sites and Fiendgod relic sites. In just the books which Ning had read, there were many famous ancient relic sites that had devoured countless creatures. “I actually encountered a relic site. Live. I will definitely make it out alive. Definitely!” Ning’s eyes were filled with incomparable desire. He understood that in the face of these ancient relic sites of great powers 373 and Fiendgods, he, a mere Xiantian, had no chance to fight back at all. His only choice was to submit to it, and then later try to come up with a way to escape. The enormous shadow of a grizzly bear head swallowed Ning with one gulp. The shadow vanished. Ning vanished as well. The tunnels within Serpentwing’s lair remained as calm and peaceful as ever, as though nothing had happened. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning could sense spacetime changing. It was similar to the feeling he had when he had jumped into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. A heartbeat later, everything calmed down again. “This place…” Ning hurriedly inspected his surroundings. He himself was in a large, wide corridor that was three hundred meters tall and three hundred meters wide. When Ning turned to look behind him, he was greatly shocked. Behind him was the exit to this corridor, but the outside was covered with a vast, endless amount of water. The water, however, was completely unable to enter this corridor, as though some sort of invisible screen was blocking out the water. “What is going on?” Ning carefully stepped over, an arrow appearing in his hand. He sent it piercing directly towards the water. Chi! The arrow collided with an invisible barrier. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t pierce through. “I don’t believe it.” Ning hurriedly took ten steps back, then took out that ‘Jia Yong’ greatbow. Letting out a soft snort, his entire body began to be covered with a crimson red light. Clearly, the Fiendgod energy was being completely released. Pulling the bow into a near circle, he immediately shot out an arrow, which flew like a ray of light towards that invisible barrier. The arrow was shattered to pieces, falling to the ground. “This…” Ning frowned, carefully inspecting this corridor yet again. “The corridor alone is three hundred meters tall.” Ning looked through the invisible barrier into the boundless water outside. “This building is definitely astonishingly large, at least multiple kilometers across. And it was built underwater…” “Is it at the bottom of Serpentwing Lake?” Ning shook his head. Serpentwing Lake was only a lake with an area of a hundred square kilometers. It would be quite hard for such an enormous structure to fit within it. Most likely, if it was in Serpentwing Lake, the Ji clan would have discovered it long ago. “Just then, I had the sense of spacetime twisting, as though creating a tunnel in space.” Ning said to himself. “I’m afraid I’ve entered a separate dimension.” 375 After having read many books, he knew many things. The books had recorded that in the countless years of time’s passage, some powerful Immortals or powerful Fiendgods were able to create their own little dimensions. A single grain of sand might store an entire world of its own! Some Immortal estate relic sites or Fiendgod relic sites were located in these small dimensions and small worlds. Normally, it was impossible to find them. Only by luck or misfortune would one accidentally enter. However, these estates left behind by these great powers were all extremely dangerous. After all, how could the Immortals and Fiendgods not leave behind some defensive mechanisms? The vast majority of those who entered relic sites would die. If one was able to stay alive and flee, that would already be a stroke of luck. As for those legends of people who were able to actually obtain treasures from within, Ning didn’t even dare think of that? “Can’t be greedy! I just need to work hard to stay alive and escape.” Ning carefully inspected his surroundings. The unknown represented opportunity. But it also represented enormous risks! “This underwater estate…for now, I’ll call it the Serpentwing Aquatic Manor.” Ning casually picked a name for it. Since for now he wouldn’t be able to leave this corridor, he might as well head in. ———————– The corridor was wide and tall, and the floor seemed to be made from a single massive slab. Ning tried everything he could think of, yet still was unable to leave a single mark on the walls. After walking a short while. The corridor turned, and Ning’s eyes narrowed. From afar, he saw one white skeleton after another, littering the floor. The flesh on these skeletons had rotted away long ago, but the strange thing was, there were very few magic treasures on the ground. Only some of the most distant, most complete skeletons on the far left still had some armor, weapons, and magic treasures near them. “The other corpses don’t have magic treasures?” Ning was suspicious. “Even if they don’t have magic treasures, they should at least have some sharp weapons. How could they not have a single one?” “Swoosh!” With a thought, Ning sent his divine will outwards, picking up all of those skeletons with armors and weapons and depositing them in front of him. Swish. As soon as they landed on the ground, the skeletons instantly shattered. “It seems they died long ago.” Ning glanced at the armor and weapons. He immediately picked them up and began to use his Xiantian ki to attempt to bind them, but as he did so, he discovered…because the previous owners had died too long ago, two of the magic treasures didn’t have any magic power within them. Thus, Ning was easily able to bind them. “Even I can bind them. It seems these are only unranked magic treasures.” Ning said to himself. “It seems the dead only had Xiantian level power.” And then, Ning began to inspect the various corpses. He quickly noticed a ring on one of the corpse’s fingers. He immediately picked up the ring and began to bind it. Indeed…this ring was the dead person’s storage-type magic treasure. Taking a casual glance inside this storage magic treasure, Ning was greatly shocked. The space inside it wasn’t that great, somewhat smaller than Ironwood Zhan’s. But… “So many magic treasures.” Ning was astonished. Within this storage magic treasure, one magic treasure was floating after another, all possessing extraordinary auras. There were weapons, formation treasures, armor, and even more storage treasures. “Why would a single person need to carry this many magic treasures?” Ning glanced at the many corpses in the distance, none of which had magic treasures on them. “Most likely, this person had collected the magic treasures of all the others.” Ning quickly began to bind them. As he started binding them, he discovered…this storage ring had a total of 112 storage-type magic treasures, 136 weapon-type magic treasures, 31 armor-type magic treasures, and 16 bizarre magic treasures, including formation-types. There were quite a few Dao-seals as well, but unfortunately, too much time had passed, and the magic power within the Dao-seals had all leaked out. Only ten or so Daoseals were still somewhat serviceably usable. “If I’m able to bind them, then these are all unranked magic treasures.” Ning murmured. “The previous owners of these magic treasures were all Xiantian lifeforms. In other words, everyone who came to this tunnel in the past were all Xiantian lifeforms.” Ning selected one of the storage-type magic treasures that had a storage space of nearly three hundred meters, a storage belt, and wrapped it around his waist. This storage belt, on the surface, looked like it was nothing more than a sturdy, plain belt. Ning then selected an excellent armor, binding it and then wearing it over his skin. This armor was far more powerful than the Goldstar Shirt. The Goldstar Shirt was thus decommissioned, and Ning stored it away. Actually, these magic treasures didn’t make Ning particularly overjoyed. After all, he was the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. He would easily be able to obtain protective treasures. “However, the number is quite great. All together, the value is probably comparable to a low-ranked magic treasure.” Ning didn’t think about it any longer. The fellow in front of him had also acquired many magic treasures, but in the end, he had also died. What mattered was escaping with his life. Wielding his two Darknorth swords, Ning carefully made his way forward. After all, there was no other path he could take. His only choice was to advance! In terms of power, the Darknorth swords weren’t inferior to these unranked magic treasures. In addition, he didn’t have to use any Xiantian ki in order to use them. Naturally, Ning would prefer to keep using his Darknorth swords. ———————— Ning stepped forward carefully. As he walked past those skeletons, he became even more cautious. Suddenly… PA! PA! PA! PA! PA! PA! PA! One golden pea after another suddenly appeared out of thin air. Many golden peas appeared in the surrounding area, all of which let out a clear ringing sound as they hit the floor. And then, these golden peas quickly began to melt, transforming into a golden liquid, each drop of which then quickly transformed into weapon-wielding, golden-armored celestial warriors. Flashing with golden light, the incomparably dazzling, powerful celestial warriors and celestial generals stood around him. “Growing soldiers from peas?” Ning was stunned. At the same time, he could sense that these goldenarmored celestial warriors all had powerful auras. He could sense they were all at the Xiantian level of power. “And there’s eighty one of them?” “You who dare trespass in the manor, prepare to die!” The eighty one golden-armored celestial warriors shouted in unison, and then they charged over and attacked. The two Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning instantly understood everything. Those skeletons had most likely been killed by those eighty one golden armored soldiers. Not hesitating at all, Ning instantly began to utilize the Windwing Evasion technique. With a ‘Swoosh’ sound, he ran across the side of the walls of the corridor like a giant Roc in flight, instantly passing through those eighty one golden armored soldiers and wanting to continue forward. “Formation, activate!” The eighty one golden armored warriors shouted in unison. Instantly, at two sides of the corridor, a hazy mist arose. As Ning charged into the mist, he shot out with his sword, but was unable to pierce into it even slightly. “Don’t even think of escaping.” The eighty one golden armored warriors charged over once again. “A Trap Formation?” Ning looked at the two hazy mists. “It seems if I don’t kill these eighty one golden armored soldiers, I won’t be able to continue. Those fellows all died, but I’m not as weak as them.” Swoosh! Ning utilized the Windwing Evasion technique, once again running across the surface of the corridor at high speed until he arrived behind the golden armored soldiers, and then he stabbed directly at one of those soldiers. “Dang, dang, dang!” Three sword blows at once. Bang! Ning pierced through the head of that golden armored soldier, but the soldier still stabbed backwards with his spear. “What.” Ning was so frightened, he hurriedly jumped back in retreat. “Even a Xiantian level Fiendgod Body Refiner stabbed through the head would definitely die. How could this golden armored soldier not die?” Ning instantly grew frantic. Just then, in that short exchange, he had discovered that the spearcraft of that golden armored soldier could only be considered at the ‘advanced’ level, but in terms of strength, it was no lower than Ning’s. The worst part of it was…not even stabbing through the soldier’s head had done anything. “Kill!” Ning’s stabbing blow through that soldier’s head seemed to have truly infuriated these golden armored soldiers, who all began to bellow angrily and wildly attack him en masse. Ning utilized his footwork, moving through the attacking golden armored soldiers. At every moment, he was dealing with three separate opponents. By relying on his twin Darknorth swords, he stabbed through the throat, skull, and various other fatal points of the golden armored guards, but the golden armored guards remained undamaged. “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning was frantic. Huahuahua…. In the area around Ning, three enormous lotus petals of fire and three enormous lotus petals of water appeared, surrounding him in every direction. The two layers of lotus petals were slowly swiveling in opposite directions. Instantly, six of the golden armored soldiers who were within the range of the Waterflame Lotus became crushed by the pressure of the Waterflame Lotus back into liquid form. But the golden liquid quickly flowed outside the range of the Waterflame Lotus, then once more reformed into six Golden Armored Soldiers. “How is that possible?” Ning, seeing the situation, couldn’t believe it. They had already been dissolved; how could they reform? “It wasn’t that the previous Xiantian lifeforms were too weak; it was that these eighty one golden armored soldiers are completely unkillable.” Ning clearly found himself at a loss for how he should deal with these eighty one golden armored soldiers. After all, even after they were crushed, they simply liquefied then returned into human form. “Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!” The six golden armored guards which had been crushed seemed to have caused these golden armored guards to be even angrier. “Prepare the formation!” The eighty one golden armored soldiers shouted angrily in unison. All of these golden armored guards flew out at high speed, quickly completely surrounding Ji Ning. These golden armored guards formed into two circles, an inner circle and an outer one. The inner circle had twenty seven golden armored guards, while the other one had fifty four, all of them pointing their spears at Ning and staring at him angrily. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The twenty seven golden armored soldiers simultaneously stabbed out with their glittering golden spears, carrying boundless force as they attacked Ji Ning! The fifty four golden armored soldiers behind also simultaneously aimed their spears, preparing to swap in at any moment. “There’s definitely a flaw. There definitely is a chance for success. If they truly are immortal, then they would exhaust me to death through by using up my energy.” Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning charged forward, as fast as the wind. Dangdangdang! The Darknorth sword and the spears clashed. Ning blocked the spears while at the same time, charging into the midst of those golden armored soldiers. “Retreat!” “Attack!” The twenty seven golden armored soldiers in the center retreated in unison at high speed, while the fifty four golden armored soldiers then formed an even wider encirclement, allowing Ning to be the ‘turtle in their jar’. “Can it be?” Ning suddenly frowned. “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning made his decision. Huahuahua…. Around him eight pairs of Waterflame Lotuses suddenly appeared, each one created from a single water lotus petal and a single fire lotus petal. Because this attack contained a hint of the true meaning of the Dao, even Ning had to use his full force when utilizing this attack, and dividing his mind to the point of creating these eight Waterflame Lotuses was extremely arduous for him. “Kakaka…” The eight Waterflame Lotuses swiveled, grinding like millstones while surrounding sixteen golden armored soldiers. These golden armored soldiers all frantically dodged, but all of their bodies began to crack from the tremendous pressure. “Kill!” “Kill!” The golden armored warriors howled angrily, bellowing as they dodged past the Waterflame Lotuses and attacked Ning. Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, was like a vicious tiger. His sword shadow danced like fire, instantly chopping one of the golden armored warriors into three pieces. But the body of the warrior who was chopped into three pieces quickly then reconnected and reformed, then once more bellowed and attacked Ning. “So this really is the case. This really is the case.” Ning was jubilant, and he laughed loudly. “What nonsense about these golden armored warriors having ‘immortal bodies’. That’s just for frightening people. Every time I injure you, your power goes down. Haha. I want to see how long you can hold on for.” Previously, when the eighty one golden armored guards had set up their formation attacks, Ning, when blocking, had discovered that the power of these golden armored guards had dropped slightly. Although it wasn’t by much, Ning’s senses were extremely sensitive, so he was still able to discover it. Thus, Ning simultaneously created eight Waterflame Lotuses, badly injuring those sixteen golden armored warriors. After exchanging blows with them again, Ning discovered…that the power of these golden armored warriors had weakened considerably. “The eighty one golden armored warriors are like a single unit. If one is badly wounded, the others will be affected as well.” Ning said to himself. “In addition, these golden armored warriors are made from golden liquid. They don’t have any ‘vital points’ to speak of. As long as I constantly injure them, their magical power will constantly deplete…and in the end, they will definitely collapse.” “Kill!” The golden armored warriors were utterly fearless. Ning continued to control the eight Waterflame Lotuses, causing them to surround and grind down against the golden armored warriors repeatedly, while at the same time he himself constantly dodged with his Darknorth swords…Ning discovered that each time, when he stabbed the golden armored warriors with his swords, their power dropped very slowly. However, when the Waterflame Lotuses ground them to pieces, the power would drop somewhat faster. —————————- This was a war of attrition. “Swish!” One golden armor warrior shattered and fell apart, transforming into nothingness. Then all eighty one golden armored warriors completely disappeared. Ning let out a long breath, releasing his nearby Waterflame Lotuses. “Too…too troublesome.” 382 “If I didn’t have the Waterflame Lotus technique, I probably would’ve been exhausted to death.” Sensing the remaining ‘Crimsonbright’ divine power in his body, Ning couldn’t help but sigh. The Crimsonbright divine power in his body only had roughly half left. And this was only because the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique he trained in resulted in an extraordinarily dense base of power. This battle had primarily relied upon Ning using the Waterflame Lotus to grind them into small pieces repeatedly, while he had only utilized the Crimsonbright divine power in his Darknorth swords to defend! Despite that, half of his divine power had been used up. Ning glanced behind him, seeing those corpses lying on the ground. Some of them had been transformed into dust from the battle, but a few still remained. “Those that died here were most likely exhausted to death.” Ning said to himself. “Fiendgod Body Refiners are proficient at long-lasting, endurance battles, but I still found it so hard. How could those who relied solely upon Ki Refining to reach the Xiantian level possibly survive?” Hua… The two walls of mist at each side of the tunnel slowly dissipated. Ning carefully made his way towards the corner of the corridor, not going forward yet. He instead took a glance towards the other side, and saw that far away, on the other side of the corridor, there were corpses present as well. “There’s even more corpses. It seems the next corridor is just as dangerous. I really wonder how many dangers this ancient relic site contains within it.” Ning’s heart shivered. “And most likely, those who died there had successfully passed through those eighty one golden armored soldiers.” “Come.” Ning stared at those corpses on the other side of the hall. He realized that here as well, only a few of the corpses had armor and weapons on them. He used his divine will to pull one of the corpses and its magic treasures over to himself. “Those who were able to break through the previous corridor most likely had quite some magic treasures.” Ning carefully inspected the skeleton. The large skeleton was more than three meters tall. The most likely location of its storage treasure was on the armguard covering its skeletal arm. Ning quickly removed the armguard and bound it. “It really is a storage-type magic treasure.” “So many things.” This storage-type magic treasure had more than a thousand magic treasures within it. Ning easily bound all of them, but he discovered to his resignation…that all of them were unranked magic treasures. “All of them are unranked.” Ning shook his head. “Although there’s more than a thousand, all of them combined are worth perhaps less than 1% of the Traceless Talisman.” The Traceless Talisman was a guardian treasure of the Prefecture! Even ranked magic treasures would find it difficult to compare to it. “Take a rest first.” Ning sat in the lotus position. Taking out a bamboo tube, he opened the cork, raised his head, and drank it. Then he took out some roast meat and began to eat. “Although these old fellows who died left behind their storage treasures, they didn’t leave behind any food at all. It has been too long. Their food became dust long ago.” “These unranked magic treasures aren’t very useful to me either.” “After all, I only need a few magic treasures.” Ning shook his head. For example, storage-type magic treasures; what was the point of having several hundred? Would he gain any extra power at all? If he wasn’t able to survive, most likely the thousand-plus unranked magic treasures he had found would in turn be discovered in the future by someone else. ———————– Ning sat there, eating and drinking, not in a rush to go forward. At the same time, the Crimsonbright divine power slowly began to recover. After eating and drinking, Ning then flipped through each storage-type magic treasure to see what was inside. Occasionally, he saw some training manuals or sword technique manuals. However, the most important ultimate technique books were generally destroyed after being learned, to prevent them from being leaked to others! Thus, these books which had been brought were all quite ordinary, not very valuable. Only a single copy was comparable to the [Raindrop Sutra]. “I suppose this is an unexpected benefit.” Ning laughed. And then he once more began to flip through the large number of storage-type magic treasures, searching through them. Clothes! Utensils! Toys! All sorts of curiosities were removed. During the treasure searching process, Ning’s mood improved greatly as well. “Huh?” Ning suddenly picked up a strange piece of bark. He was about to toss it, but then he saw the words atop it. His face immediately changed.” “Wudan, our clan just received word that Immortal Juhua, someone who has lived for millions of years, ever since the Fiendgod era, has publicly announced that he is accepting disciples. Although Immortal Juhua is a Loose Immortal, for him to be able to survive millions of years and undergo countless tribulations without dying means, according to our clan leader, his power is not inferior to that of a Celestial Immortal. Immortal Juhua has never before accepted a disciple. Not even the Second Prince of our Grand Xia Dynasty was able to successfully become his disciple. The news that Immortal Juhua is accepting a disciple has been spread long ago. In addition, Immortal Juhua has also said publicly that the student he is accepting must be a Fiendgod Body Refiner, who at least must be at the Xiantian level, and at most can be of the Zifu level! He would set down two paths…one for Xiantian lifeforms to traverse, while the other is for Zifu Disciples to traverse. There are three trials in each path! After breaking through the three trials without dying, one would become the heir to Immortal Juhua! Immortal Juhua will only accept a single disciple! As for the place he is accepting a disciple, Immortal Juhua has set his immortal estate down in the Thousand Autumns Island of the Darknorth Sea. Most likely, he will only leave after recruiting his disciple. Traveling from our place to the distant Darknorth Ocean’s Thousand Autumns Island will take at least half a year. Make haste. If you are late, someone else will seize the opportunity. Wudan, I’ve given you the news. Whether you go or not is your decision. Signed, Godbanian Water!” —————— Looking at this incomparably ancient tree bark in his hands, Ning couldn’t breath. “Godbanian clan? This tree bark should be the bark of a Godbanian tree. No wonder this ancient letter was able to persist for so long.” The Godbanian tree was immortal and would never decay. Some precious items would generally be put in wooden cases made out of Godbanian wood. Godbanian trees were the unique products of the ‘Godbanian clan’, and it was their proof of identity. That was a truly incomparably powerful clan, unspeakably more powerful than the Ji clan. That was a clan that could be described as supreme, even thoughout the entirety of the vast domain of the Grand Xia Dynasty! “Immortal Juhua?” Ning frowned, pondering. “Immortal Juhua was accepting a disciple. He existed in the Fiendgod Era, and had been alive for millions of years when he started looking for a disciple. But from the Fiendgod Era until now, it has probably been billions or trillions of years.” “Far too much time has passed since this ‘seeking a disciple’ affair. That Immortal Juhua most likely died long ago.” Ning understood. Loose Immortals would constantly undergo the Three Calamities and the Nine Tribulations. It was a miracle for a person to survive millions of years without dying. How could one possibly have survived to this era? “Then this underground estate…” “It should be the underground estate where Immortal Juhua tested potential disciples. This corridor that I am currently in should be one of the two corridors for his potential disciples.” Ning said to himself. Ning looked at the distant corpses. Although those corpses were clearly of Fiendgod Body Refiners, the fact that they still remained meant that they didn’t die too long ago. Clearly, Xiantian-level or Zifu Disciples who were Fiendgod Body Refiners often were transported into this Immortal estate. He himself was one of those unlucky souls. “Since Immortal Juhua decided to take an apprentice, the requirements for his apprentice must have been extremely strict. Otherwise, he would have easily accepted a disciple long ago.” Ning said to himself. “There are three trials on each path. It seems that was the first trial just now, which forced me to rely on the Waterflame Lotuses in order to pass through it. The next two trials will most likely be even more terrifying and dangerous…how will I past them?” “Can it be that I will be like them? That I will die and rot here?” Ning looked at the distant corpses, not breathing as he pondered. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within West Prefecture City. “Yichuan, I heard Ji Ning has already broken through to the Xiantian level. Congratulations!” “Yichuan, your son really is formidable.” “He’s only eleven this year, right? A Xiantian at eleven. He ranks amongst the top three talents of the past thousand years for our Ji clan’s Five Prefectures.” Ji Yichuan, who had always been like an implacable glacier, had a rare hint of delight on his face. Although he was still stiff-faced, those who were familiar with him could sense how happy Yichuan currently was. Ever since Ning had kicked down the walls of the Riverside Tribe with three kicks, then knocked River Sansi flying with another kick, the news had quickly spread back to the Ji clan. This news had already spread across all five of the prefectures of the Ji clan. As his father, Ji Yichuan naturally felt very happy in his heart. The past two days, he often heard words of praise and congratulations. By nature, people liked to praise the praiseworthy even further. Now that Ning had already been selected to be the next Prefecture Lord, and also was so monstrous as to become a Xiantian lifeform at age eleven, everyone understood that in the future, the lineage of Ji Yichuan and Ji Ning would be incomparably glorious. This father-son duo’s status in the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan would undoubtedly be extremely high. “Look at how happy you are.” Yuchi Snow held a flask of water as she watered the flowers. “How can I not be jubilant?” Yichuan sat on a nearby stone bench. Flipping his hand, he retrieved a bamboo flask, contentedly drinking fruit wine. “Ning was able to kill the Aquatic Rhino King before reaching the Xiantian level. Now that he has broken through to the Xiantian level…he was able to send that Riverside Sansi flying with one kick. River Sansi reached the Xiantian level long ago, and is an expert Ki Refiner of the middle Xiantian level, yet he couldn’t take a single blow from my son. This means that Ning should have reached the Xiantian level in the Fiendgod Body Refining methods as well!” According to the news from the black armored guards stationed at the Riverside Tribe, Ning had executed sword flashes to send River He’s shortsword flying. Clearly, Ning had already reached the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner. But Yichuan knew his son very well, and knew the weaknesses in his son’s arteries. Most likely only after the Fiendgod Body Refining technique raised him to be a Xiantian level and remade his body would Ning be able to make a breakthrough as a Ki Refiner. “[Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Yichuan looked at Snow. “This is the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. The legendary number one Fiendgod Body Refining method! Our Ji clan has never had someone break through to the Xiantian level through it, but Ning accomplished it. In the future, he will definitely be even more powerful than me. His name will be spread throughout the countless tribes, and our Ji clan will become greater and greater!” Yichuan was filled with a heroic vigor right now. “The Ji clan will become greater?” Snow nodded gently. “Perhaps because of my son, the Ji clan will reach the same heights of glory as my Yuchi clan once had, but sadly, my Yuchi clan…” “There is no clan that will exist forever without perishing.” Yichuan said. “Even the almighty Grand Xia Dynasty which has existed for countless years, ever since being founded during the Fiendgod Era, exterminated other ancient dynasties before unifying this land. Those ancient dynasties had their own extremely long history as well. Weren’t they destroyed in the end also?” Yuchi Snow nodded. “I understand. I’ve already made my peace with this. In Ning’s veins also flows the blood of my Yuchi lineage. In the future, when Ning’s name is known throughout the boundless earth, my ancestors of the Yuchi clan will feel very happy as well, no doubt.” “Right.” Yichuan nodded. ———————- Just as the husband and wife couple were chatting happily, the face of Ji Yichuan, who had been drinking wine from the bamboo tube, suddenly changed. This was the moment where Ning, at Serpentwing’s lair, had suddenly been transported into that mysterious, ancient underwater estate relic site. “What is it?” Seated next to him, Yuchi Snow noticed that her man’s mood had dramatically changed. “What happened?” “Nothing.” Yichuan shook his head. “Only, I just remembered something I have to do.” Snow frowned. “You want to deceive me? Your face is completely incapable of fakery. Given your mental willpower, normal matters aren’t able to cause you to panic…and for you to panic to this degree, this must be a major event. Speak.” Looking at his wife, Yichuan sighed, “I originally gave Ning a jade sword. No matter how far away he is, I’ll be able to sense Ning’s location. I had warned him quite strictly that he is not permitted to wander more than ten thousand kilometers away from the West Prefecture City. If he goes beyond it, I will capture him, bring him back, and put him in the prison for three years.” “What, he went more than ten thousand kilometers away from West Prefecture City?” Snow hurriedly asked. “That’s not it.” Yichuan’s face was unpleasant. “I can’t sense the jade sword at all.” “What!” Snow, shocked, suddenly rose to her feet, then began to cough, cough very hard. “I didn’t want to say it, but you forced me to.” Yichuan hurriedly helped support his wife, rubbing her back. “Feel better?” Snow said frantically, “How can you not be able to sense the jade sword? Didn’t you say that you can sense it no matter how far away it is? If you can’t sense it…does that mean Ning has encountered danger?!” “Don’t panic.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “There’s two possible answers for why I can’t sense the jade sword.” “The first possibility is that Ning has encountered some danger, and then took out the jade sword, but before he was able to break it, the enemy instantly disintegrated the jade sword.” “The second possibility is that Ning was instantly transported to a very distant location, so distant that even I can’t sense it.” Snow calmed down. Snow was very experienced as well, and she nodded. “Even if your jade sword was destroyed and broken into small pieces, you should still be able to sense it. Unless it was completely disintegrated; only then would you be unable to sense it. But right now, Ning is very strong. He was able to send River Sansi flying with one kick. If he encountered such great danger that he had to take out the jade sword…he would be able to break it instantly. How could it be that he wouldn’t even have the opportunity to break it?” “In addition, if an enemy wanted to kill Ning, but was capable of instantly destroying the jade sword in Ning’s hands before Ning had a chance to break it, then he would have the power to easily kill Ning. Why bother with breaking the jade sword?” Snow’s train of thought helped her calm down slightly. Logically speaking, her son shouldn’t have died yet! “So it’s the other possibility.” Yichuan said. “Ning was instantly transported to an incomparably distant location. I can sense my jade sword no matter where it is…although this is a slight exaggeration, within an area of a million kilometers, at least, I should still be able to sense it. To instantly be transported more than a million kilometers is rather inconceivable as well. I think the more likely answer is that Ning should have been transported to another dimension. He stumbled into a relic site.” “Stumbled into a relic site?” Snow nodded as well. The two of them had adventured in the outside world, and had significant experience. They knew that this vast, boundless world was incomparably marvelous. The relic sites that were left behind from the Fiendgod era alone were uncountable in number. Some of those greater powers were capable of opening their own small dimension or small world. “Where was the last place you sensed Ning’s at?” Snow asked hurriedly. “Serpentwing Lake!” Yichuan said. “Let’s go to Serpentwing…cough!” Snow started to cough again. Yichuan said hurriedly, “I’ll go. You can’t go out yet.” “Ning is in danger. How can I not go?” Yuchi shook her head. “You know this stems from the illness that I had when I was pregnant with Ning. It’s fine.” Seeing the look in his wife’s eyes, Yichuan could only nod. “Fine. We’ll go find Aunty Flower and borrow her Azure Firebird. We’ll head to Serpentwing Lake at full speed.” ————————— The vast Serpentwing Lake was very calm. A godlike husband and wife couple were currently standing atop the back of an enormous Azure Firebird, flying at high speed in the air towards Serpentwing Lake. “Hurry up and report to the great King that Ji Yichuan has come again. He brought a woman as well.” “Ji Yichuan.” “And sitting on that Azure Firebird.” Some of the lesser aquatic monsters glanced into the sky, then, terrified, hurriedly went to make their report. On the back of that Azure Firebird, Yichuan and his wife exchanged glances. Soon, Yichuan pointed at a nearby shoreline. “There are black armored guards there. Azure Firebird, go there!” The Azure Firebird hurriedly flew towards that direction, and the two black armored guards that had been keeping watch on the shores of Serpentwing Lake stared in astonishment at the male and female atop the back of the distant Azure Firebird. “Our respects to you, Commander!” The two black armored guards hurriedly fell to one knee in terror. They all recognized Yichuan. “I ask you, have you seen my son, Ning?” Yichuan asked directly. “We saw him.” One of them, the taller black armored guard, immediately replied. “Just now, young master Ji Ning was walking atop the surface of the lake, calling out for Serpentwing to come and do battle with him.” “Serpentwing?” Yichuan and Snow both had the same thought. However, they didn’t believe that their son, at his current level of power, wouldn’t even have the chance to break the jade sword when fighting against the Diremonster, Serpentwing. In fact, they even believed that Ning was fully capable of staying alive in the face of Serpentwing’s attacks. “But this time, the Diremonster, Serpentwing, wasn’t willing to come out.” The black armored guard said. “Young master Ji Ning called him out to do battle multiple times. His voice echoed across the entire lake, and most likely the black armored guards in the other areas all heard it as well. But because Serpentwing still refused to come out, nothing happened. We were too far away, so as to where young master Ji Ning went afterwards while walking on water, we don’t know.” The island was located in the center of Serpentwing Lake. The distance from the shore to the island was tens of kilometers. At the distance of tens of kilometers, the black armored guards were not able to see Ning at all. “Oh? You are certain they didn’t do battle?” Yichuan quickly asked. “They didn’t. We didn’t hear anything at all.” The two black armored guards were absolutely certain. —————– Yichuan went to the other black armored guards to ask them these questions, and even sought out Autumn Leaf and Mowu, who were waiting at the designated meeting point. From these two, Yichuan understood that Ning had come in anger, intending to execute Serpentwing, but Serpentwing had remained in hiding and hadn’t come out…Ning had remained standing atop the water, and then walked off and disappeared! “Where did he go?” Standing by the lakeside, Yichuan and Snow stared towards the vast lake, frowning in concern. “Wife, what do you think?” Yichuan looked at his wife. Snow said pensively, “There wasn’t any disturbance at all. It shouldn’t have been a battle. It’s very possible that it really was an ancient relic site! These relic sites might be in the middle of an empty area, only sealed off from us by a thin barrier, but we can’t see them or sense them at all.” “Perhaps our son is within a world that is hidden within a single speck of sand at the bottom of Serpentwing Lake.” 391 “Or perhaps he is within an ancient, hidden formation.” “Only, the two of us aren’t capable of dealing with any of these possibilities.” Snow shook her head. “All we can do is wait. Wait for our son to come back to us, alive.” “Right. Wait.” Yichuan looked at the immeasurably vast lake as well. “I believe our son will come from afar, walking across the water back to us.” Snow nodded gently, leaning against her man. They were still waiting. Waiting for their son’s return. ——————– Within the corridor of the aquatic estate, it was very dark. It felt that even the passage of time was slow here. Ning, his divine power fully recovered, finally stood up. Staring at the other corner of the corridor and its corpses, he understood that he had nowhere to retreat to. If he wanted to leave, he had to go forward! “I have to live.” Ning stared at those distant corpses, then walked over. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Wielding a Darknorth sword in each hand, Ji Ning headed straight towards the center of this ancient corridor. Suddenly, a thousand or so meters in front of him, several blackish-blue seeds appeared at the same time, four ahead of him, five behind him. These seeds appeared at the same time as nine sets of battle armor. The battle armors were all completely black, and the weapons were identical as well; long staffs that were seemingly made of stone. Nine seeds. Nine sets of battle gear. “Hua…” The blackish-blue seeds suddenly transformed into a liquid, flowing into the armors, then transforming into massive men with blackish-blue skin. These massive men were several meters tall and had two horns in their foreheads. Their faces were ugly, and they had sharp fangs in their mouths. They donned the armor, while simultaneously picking up those three-meter long stone staffs next to them. The nine ugly giants all glanced at each other, their eyes filled with savagery and excitement. “It’s been so long. We’re finally out again!” “This time, the person we have to deal with is this human youth. Such a tender-fleshed human. I can squeeze him to death by myself. The nine of us combined, and with these godly weapons and armor, haha…this is going to be too easy.” “Set up the formation first.” The nine ugly giants all began to chant the words to some foreign tongue which Ning couldn’t understand, but his face quickly changed, because he understood that these ugly giants which had sprouted from those seeds were intelligent, and even capable of conversation! The two ends of the halls once again became filled with dense fog. “Human, prepare for death.” The nine ugly giants all released furious roars. The ancient armor on their bodies immediately began to emit dazzling black light. The black light, emitting the stench of blood, quickly connected with each other, forming an enormous spiderweb in mid-air. Ning was shocked. “Dao Battle-Armor?” Dao Soldiers were a type of seed-soldier often used by the Grand Xia Dynasty. The Ji clan’s most powerful seed-soldier, the ‘Scarlet Guardians’, were the lowest-level type of Dao Soldiers. Every single Dao Soldier’s armor contained a large number of rune inscriptions, and the Dao Soldiers were capable of 393 combining their energy together to attack the opponent together. They were also capable of combining their defense. Dao Battle-Armor like that of the Scarlet Guardians of the Ji clan were at most capable of allowing nine of the Scarlet Guardians to combine forces. Once they joined together, nine Scarlet Guardians were even capable of giving an early Xiantian expert a good fight. What’s more, the Ji clan had five hundred thousand of these powerful seed-soldiers, the Scarlet Guards! This was the true backbone of the Ji clan. Normally, missions were carried out by black armored guards. Each time the Scarlet Guardians were sent out, it was only after the Ji clan’s Five Prefectures all agreed to send them out, and it would have to involve a major event of the Ji clan. “Dao Battle-Armor. Aren’t they all used for Houtian experts? And they should be covered with a large number of runes that can be seen at a glance.” Ning stared at them. “But these nine strange giants have armor that don’t have any runes on top of them, and each of them have power that is not weaker than that of a Xiantian.” “This is going to be trouble.” Ning held his breath. Dao Battle-Armor which Xiantian experts could use was something which the six hegemons of Swallow Mountain simply did not have. Ning hadn’t even heard of such a thing. Most likely, only the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty had them! “Kill!” The nine ugly giants raised their large, thick staffs, charging towards Ning from both directions with angry roars, that enormous illusory spider web still connecting them from up above. Ning immediately transformed into a ray of smoke, quickly pouncing towards the direction which only had four of those strange ugly giants, who were maintaining a distance of several meters from each other as they wielded their massive stone staffs and charged forward wildly with long steps. “Kill!” One of the ugly giants raised his enormous stone staff up high, then smashed downwards. “Come on.” Ning let his strength explode as well. His Fiendgod-like power completely filled his Darknorth swords, and he took this blow head on. He wanted to get a clear understanding of the strength of these ugly fellows. Swish! The stone staff was as thick as a man’s thigh and over three meters long. It slashed through the air, smashing down on Ning’s Darknorth swords. Immediately afterwards, with a ‘Swoosh!’ Ning’s entire body was sent flying backwards, while the strange giant only took a single step back, garbling in his racial 394 tongue, “This human has great strength. However, he still cannot compare to me, much less the nine of us combined.” Although Ning had only fought one of them head on, because of the Dao Battle-Armor…in reality, that staff blow had contained the combined strength of those nine strange giants. Flying backwards through the air, Ning felt his entire body was numb. His hand was damaged, and even the Darknorth sword in that hand flew out. “Can’t take it head on!” In mid-air, Ning flipped over, his Fiendgod body quickly healing. Still in mid-air, he stepped onto the sides of the corridor walls, then like a giant Roc, scurried out, quickly leaping past the oncoming charge of those nine strange ugly giants. “Don’t run!” “What sort of talent is fleeing?” “Humans only know how to run.” The nine strange giants opened their fanged mouths, howling angrily. They discovered that this human was even faster than them. Ning pointed from a distance. “Waterflame Lotuses!” Huahuahua… Every single Waterflame Lotus was formed from a fire lotus petal and a water lotus petal. Six sets of Waterflame Lotuses appeared out of nowhere, completely surrounding those nine ugly giants within. Every single lotus petal was slowly swiveling in opposite directions, forming a terrifying grinding, killing force. “What a powerful human.” The nine ugly giants came to a halt and looked at each other. “Without this godly armor, we probably would’ve been injured long ago.” Ning saw that the nine giants had come to a halt, and were even conversing in their strange tongue. But his ever-successful Waterflame Lotuses were completely unable to harm them. “No use.” Ning was surprised. Last time, when fighting against Ironwood Zhan, Zhan had relied on his formation and his Diamond Seal to hold on for a long time, which let Ning understand that his Waterflame Lotuses couldn’t actually break through everything. “My Waterflame Lotuses were developed just recently, and were originally meant to protect me. Thus there are some deficiencies when using them to attack. Wielding their stone staffs, the nine strange giants once more charged forward en masse. “Lotus Protection.” In the area around Ning, three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals appeared, surrounding him. When the nine strange giants charged over and collided with the swiveling Waterflame Lotus, they were all impacted and were no longer able to attack Ning together. Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, chose one of them to attack! “Die.” His sword flashed like fire, moving at astonishing speed as he displayed the killing technique of the [Thunderflame Sword], the ‘Thunderflash Flint’. Hua! Hua! Hua! Rays of sword light shot towards the giant, who howled with valiant fury as he brandished his stone staff. The stone staff was incomparably heavy. Last time, when Ning had struck it, his entire body had gone numb. No longer daring to take it head on at all, Ning completely relied upon his marvelous sword techniques to deal with the giant in front of him. The battle armor was only capable of protecting part of the body. The head and some other areas were still exposed. Ning’s sword blows were all aimed at this giant’s head! Only, each blow was hampered by that dense black light. After just barely breaking through the obstruction, it was only capable of leaving some wounds on the giant’s face, which immediately would heal, leaving the giant unwounded. “Kill, kill, kill.” Ning was going all out. “I want to live! So I have to kill you all!” Ning used all his strength, even filling the Darknorth swords with his Xiantian ki as well. All he could do, however, was to leave some flesh wounds on these strange giants. The giants were capable of completely ignoring the negligible drop to their strength from these wounds. They fought for the amount of time it would take to brew a pot of tea. Because he had been controlling the Waterflame Lotus this entire time, and also fighting all out, his divine power was being used up at a fast rate. “Their power isn’t dropping at all. I’m not even able to badly injure them.” Ning could sense that he had less than half his divine power remaining. He didn’t dare to keep fighting them head on like this. He hurriedly flashed through their encirclement. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Ning utilized the Windwing Evasion, scurrying first in this direction, then in that direction, dodging the pursuit and attacks of these strange giants. “Human, don’t run.” “You won’t be able to run.” “Humans are only able to run.” These nine ugly giants roared angrily as they ran forward majestically, continuing their attacks. Ning didn’t take them head on at all, relying on his Windwing Evasion to throw them off time and time again. In his heart, Ning was sighing. He had trained in swordplay for so long, but in the end, it was still the Windwing Evasion technique which allowed him to stay alive! —————— Another long period of time passed. “What should I do?” While fleeing, Ning was thinking frantically. Staring at the nine furiously roaring giants, who didn’t seem to grow tired at all, he thought, “They have been chasing me for half a day now, but they still aren’t getting tired. My divine power, however, is down to 20%.” The Windwing Evasion technique required him to use his Crimsonbright divine power as well! Although it used it up at a rate that was far slower than the rate it was used up in battle, running around for half a day would consume a great amount as well. “My full-strength sword attacks are only capable of giving them some light flesh wounds.” Ning said to himself. “But the nine of them are actually those nine transformed seeds, just like those eighty one golden armored soldiers I fought earlier. When I shattered their army, they immediately reformed.” Ning understood very well… Even if he were to pierce through their heads, they still probably wouldn’t die. More importantly, his full strength attacks were only capable of leaving behind some flesh wounds. “What should I do?” “What exactly should I do?” Ning constantly pondered. He had no options. Despair! “In the long-ago distant past, those Fiendgod Body Refiners of the Xiantian level who were transported probably watched, just like me, in despair as their divine power was used up, and then were killed.” Ning now understood his weakness. His weakness was that his [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was only at the fourth stage. This corridor was meant for Fiendgod Body Refiners of the Xiantian level to go through. When Immortal Juhua had accepted disciples, most likely the majority of those who had attempted these trials were at the peak Xiantian level as Fiendgod Body Refiners! But Ji Ning? Only when reaching the sixth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] would he be a peak Xiantian. He was currently only at the fourth stage! In terms of the purity or the depth of his divine power, he was still at an incomparable distance from the limits of the Xiantian level. It was only natural that he wouldn’t be able to complete these three trials. “Compared to those Xiantian experts who wanted to become the disciple of Immortal Juhua and came here to attempt these trials, my divine power is very shallow.” Ning understood. “Fortunately, I gained a hint of understanding in the true meaning of the Dao, and then developed the ‘Waterflame Lotus’ technique, which is why I was lucky enough to complete the first trial! Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t even have been able to complete the first one.” “But…there are three trials.” “Forget about the third trial. This second trial…” Ning could sense that he already had dropped to less than 10% of his Crimsonbright divine power left. Deep in his heart, he felt both panic and despair. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I can’t keep running. If I keep running, the Crimsonbright divine power in my body will be completely used up. Once my divine power is used up, I will definitely die. I won’t even be able to struggle.” Ji Ning suddenly came to a halt, then turned to look towards the four ugly giants, already extremely angry due to the long chase. The ugly giants wielded those stone staffs, charging forward with large steps. “He finally stopped running.” “The human should be out of divine power by now.” “Competing with us in running. We could run for several more days without fear.” The nine ugly giants wanted to devour this human in front of them. Ning wielded a sword in each hand, standing there calmly. Faced with life and death, Ning’s spirit was incomparably calm and empty. In this moment, he had thrown all other thoughts to the back of his mind, and in his heart, the only thing remaining was this battle. “Hmph.” The nine ugly giants charged forward, and Ning immediately charged forward as well. Three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals slowly swiveled around him, causing the giants to be unable to attack Ning simultaneously when they drew near him. Ning’s sword struck out. A sword like fire! Wanton slaughter! “Haha, his sword is too weak.” “Too weak.” The ugly giants didn’t care at all. Ning’s sword pierced through the protection of that thick black light, but was only able to leave behind a hint of a wound. Although Ning was very calm, he was using his full force. “Not much divine force left.” Ning could feel that his divine power was ebbing. Grinding his teeth, he suddenly charged forward like a giant Roc soaring into the skies. Swoosh! The corridor was a hundred meters high, so Ning leapt a hundred meters into the air. While flying, two ancient Dao-seals appeared in Ning’s hands. One was a Light Body Seal, while the other was a Divine Movement Seal. The Xiantian ki in his body immediately rushed into the two Dao-seals, and two queer surges of power immediately flowed into Ning’s body. “The last sword!” Ning hit the very top of the corridor, and then with two kicks, released all of his power! He charged downwards! Fast! Fast! Fast! Relying on the force from springboarding off the ceiling, the always-terrifying speed of the [Windwing Evasion], and the force of gravity pulling him downwards, as well as the Light Body Seal and the Divine Movement Seal, his speed became all the more terrifying! In this moment, Ning’s downward charging speed had reached a heretofore unreached level, as fast as light! Speed is power. When speed reaches a certain extreme, the power of the sword would naturally be great as well. “The raindrop holds the meaning of Raindrop Pierces Rocks. The raindrop can become a Rain Line, a Thin Stream, a river or an ocean.” As Ning charged downwards, he was using the killing stroke of the Raindrop Sutra, the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’. As he did so, in his mind, he couldn’t help but think back to the scene of his father, Ji Yichuan, teaching him swordplay. His father had once demonstrated all nine stances of the Raindrop Sword for him, three times. At this moment, when faced with death, Ning immediately understood. When his father demonstrated the swordplay, he moved very slowly. He started from ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’, then moved to ‘Rain Line’, ‘Eternally Fresh Waterflow’, ‘Merciless Waterflow’, and then finally returned to the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’. Right after that, it transformed into ‘Drizzling Rain’, ‘Tempest Curtain’, ‘Water Curtain Links to Heaven’, and finally returned once more to the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’! After that, it transformed once more into ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, ‘Watertight’, before finally returning to ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’ once more! “Raindrop Pierces Rocks is the most powerful attack, but also the weakest attack. The amazing mysteries in the [Raindrop Sutra] are inexhaustible and boundless. One can spend a lifetime training in it. Remember…Raindrop Pierces Rocks!” Yichuan had said these words. At the time, Ning had felt he understood them. But after that night of meditating on the Dao, and these repeated life-and-death battles, Ning at this moment finally, truly understood what his father had labored to teach him. “This is the attack.” “Raindrop…!” Ning, charging downwards at high speed with twin swords, immediately drew away one of the stone staffs of an ugly giant, sending it smashing to one side. With his right hand, Ning pierced directly towards the ugly giant’s skull! The ugly giant’s stone staff had missed its downwards smashing mark; naturally, he didn’t have the chance to raise it back to block, but he wasn’t afraid at all. “He can’t hurt me.” “…Pierces Rocks!” Ning only stared calmly at the head of that giant. Chi! His sword was like water, like a heavy raindrop landing upon a stone. Pa! The sword instantly pierced through that thick black barrier, driving itself deep into the head of that giant, even into the brain. The terrifyingly natural power of the blow suddenly exploded. There was nothing in the body that could block it, and so, instantly, with a ‘Swish!’ sound, the head exploded. It transformed into a puddle of black water, and the armor and the stone staff all fell to the ground. “Collect.” Ning immediately collected both the armor as well as the stone staff into his own storage magic treasure. The pool of black water quickly reformed into the strange giant again, who called out in shock, “How is that possible? How is that possible?” “Nothing is impossible.” Ning was now completely confident. He understood that these nine strange giants were no longer able to stop him. “Die.” Ning only had to control his Waterflame Lotus to quickly once more smash the strange giant into a puddle of black water. Without the protection of the Dao Battle-Armor, the giant wasn’t able to resist the crushing force of the Waterflame Lotus at all. “The eight of you can die as well now.” Ning transformed into a blur, once more flashing forth like lightning. All nine Dao Battle-Armors had to be linked together for them to be able to assist each other. Right now, the strange giants weren’t able to combine their strength at all. Now, when facing Ning’s vastly improved swordplay…they became unable to flee. All of them were killed, one after the other, and even their Dao Battle-Armor and stone staves were stored by Ning into his storage treasure. “Die.” Ning stood there unmoving, only relying on the Solar and Lunar Divine Tattoos to control six Waterflame Lotuses, repeatedly grinding down on those nine giants, smashing them time and time again into black water. Even though they reformed, Ning would simply grind them apart again. After being crushed just a few times, the nine strange giants completely collapsed and weren’t able to reform. The fog at the two ends of the corridor slowly faded away. “Father.” Ning gently murmured. Although that night he had spent meditating on the Dao resulted in Ning gaining a hint of true understanding regarding fire, water, and wind, understanding was nothing more than understanding; whether or not it could be used was another matter. In the past, Ning only understood the Waterflame Lotus, this single technique, which was meant for self-protection, not for attacking. But just now, relying on the guidance his father had given him to be his foundation, in that moment between life and death, he had finally understood the true meaning of the [Raindrop Sutra] – the True Meaning of the Raindrop! In terms of levels of understanding… The level above ‘one with the world’ was that of the ‘True Meaning’! “The True Meaning of the Raindrop originates from the ‘raindrop’.” Ning sighed in amazement. “A single raindrop is the source. When there are many raindrops, it can transform into a line and become the ‘Rain Line’. When there are even more raindrops, naturally it can begin to flow and have life force, which is the ‘Eternally Fresh Waterflow’. And once the waves swell to an unblockable tide, that becomes ‘Merciless Waterflow’. But when the countless raindrops all come together, you can still describe it as just a single raindrop.” “Raindrop Pierces Rocks is the most powerful attack of the Raindrop Sutra, but also its weakest.” Ning laughed. “That is true for defense as well. Drizzling Rain, Tempest Curtain, Water Curtain Links to Heaven…they all become Raindrop Pierces Rocks in the end. Thin Streams Flow Forever and Watertight also become Raindrop Pierces Rocks.” “The True Meaning of the Raindrop.” “An unending circle.” Ning sighed in amazement. “No wonder Father said that one can spend a lifetime on the Raindrop Sutra.” Without question, his father had clearly understood the True Meaning of the Raindrop long ago. One truly could spend a lifetime to understand that the [Raindrop Sutra] could infinitely circle in on itself to grow even more powerful. Strictly speaking… Upon gaining insight into the True Meaning of the Raindrop, the [Raindrop Sutra] itself actually became without value. Perhaps the ancestor who had originally developed the [Raindrop Sutra] himself only reached this level, the True Meaning of the Raindrop, after having in some lucky circumstance developed these nine techniques that could forever cycle without ending. But of course, it was also possible that it was some sort of powerful Fiendgod or powerful Immortal who intentionally developed this sort of inexhaustible, circular, increasingly powerful swordplay. “Raindrop Pierces Rocks. Raindrop Pierces Rocks.” Ning chanted softly, and then he shut his eyes to rest. That battle had been too exhausting. —————————— After resting and eating to his fill, Ning’s divine power recovered and then he began to perfect his True Meaning of the Raindrop. Upon having learned the True Meaning of the Raindrop…he was completely capable of using one small raindrop after another to create a thin line, then execute the ‘Rain Line’. The power of this attack was far greater than that of Raindrop Pierces Rocks. Time flowed on. Ning ate and drank. Fortunately, prior to this, his kalestone and Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasure all had some food within it. What he lacked right now was time. As time went out, if he was able to increase his [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] by another stage, if he could make his swordplay become even more powerful, then his chances of survival would naturally become greater. Ning understood… He had relied on the Waterflame Lotus to make it through the first trial, while in the second trial, he had been pushed to his limits, at which point he had gained insights into the True Meaning of the Raindrop, finally making that breakthrough in peril. Based on the increase in difficulty, the third trial would definitely be very terrifying. Since Immortal Juhua had publicly called for a disciple, one could imagine how difficult this third trial must have been. ————————— By Serpentwing Lake. Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow, husband and wife, were temporarily staying here by the side of Serpentwing Lake. They were quietly waiting. Waiting for their son to return. But as one day after another passed, their hearts grew increasingly frantic, because the more time passed, the lower the chances were that their son was still alive. “Cough, cough.” Snow was coughing. “Don’t panic, don’t panic.” Yichuan saw that in one short month, his wife’s illness had rapidly worsened, making him feel all the more pity for her. “I don’t want to panic either.” Snow stared at the endless waters of Serpentwing Lake, then sighed. “But Ning, Ning, he…it’s been more than a month. Why hasn’t he come back yet. Why hasn’t he come back yet!” To Yuchi Snow, her son was her whole world. “Our son will definitely come back. Definitely. When you were pregnant with Ning, the roots of your illness took hold. You can’t be angry, and you can’t panic. You know that. Take care of your body.” Yichuan’s heart was as frantic as a scorching fire. In his heart, he cared deeply about his son, but he was also worried about his wife by his side. Ever since that great battle they had fought on the way back from the Darknorth Seas… Although the Whitewater Hound had braved a serious injury to take his wife away and flee, and their son had been lucky enough to survive, his wife and his son had both been injured. “Ning.” Yichuan stared at the boundless lake waters as well. “You have to come back alive.” —————————– Within the endless hallway. There was no day or night within this hallway, and there was no way to clearly judge the passing of time. His appetite was enormous, but the amount of food in the kalestone wasn’t that much, nor the amount in Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasure. After all, they could hunt for food at any time in Swallow Mountain, while the kalestone had size limitations, so why put in too much? After a month, all of the stored food was completely devoured. “Thin Streams Flow Forever and Rain Line have all reached the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’ level.” Ning said to himself. One was a defensive technique, while the other was offensive. His power could be considered to have greatly advanced. “After a month of training, my divine power has grown stronger as well. This third trial is the final battle…” Ning understood how terrifying this final trial would be. He also understood that if he passed through it, then he would survive. But if he failed, he would die! “Whether it is life or it is death, it all comes down to this.” “If I die, I will most likely go to the Netherworld Kingdom again. This time, I probably won’t be so lucky as to avoid drinking Granny Meng’s Elixir. After drinking it, I will no longer be myself.” Ning had a dim sense right now, the deep, unconscious sense which one would have when one’s soul grew powerful. His unconscious sense felt a type of incomparable terror right now, as though he was about to face an incomparably terrifying trial. “Time to determine life or death.” Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning headed directly for a twisting corridor, which still had three corpses on it that hadn’t completely rotted away, as well as some magic treasures scattered on the floor. Ning used his divine sense to pick them up, calmly binding them. Upon investigating, he found that there were thousands of magic treasures stored within a storage treasure, all of which he could easily fuse. Indeed, these were all unranked magic treasures. However…such a terrifying number still represented an incomparably astonishing wealth. Ning was very calm though. Because…if he died, what use would these be? “You finally came.” A hoarse voice rang out, in the tongue of the humans which was spoken everywhere throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty. Ning immediately looked over. From afar, in a place filled with black mist, a figure walked out. He had a crooked body, an oily green gaze, and his entire body was covered with black fur. He seemed to walk very slowly, but with each step, he travelled dozens of meters. “A pity. You are too weak.” Hua! In an instant, he appeared in front of Ning. His fan-sized, big grey palm carried a dense, deathly aura which slammed down towards Ning. This simple slap was so fast that Ning was completely unable to dodge. All he could do was relying on using his two swords to execute his ultimate defensive technique, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, to block it. This ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’ technique was currently also holding the True Meaning of the Raindrop within it. “Swish!” Ning was knocked flying, and his hands instantly turned numb. “No…” Ning wanted to tighten his grip over the Darknorth swords in his hands. If his swords were sent flying, how would he use his sword techniques? But his fingers were already completely numbed and had no feeling. Hua! Hua! His shattered fingers and his two Darknorth swords flew far away, smashing into the distant walls and emitting a clear ringing sound. Every part of Ning’s skin had split open, and he was surrounded by a bloody mist. The fingers on both hands had been shattered. And so, his entire body covered by that bloody mist, he flew backwards and smashed against the distant ground. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning slammed onto the ground, but he felt the area around him was so quiet. So terrifyingly quiet. He couldn’t hear anything at all. At the same time, his entire body had lost all feeling. The powerful life force within his Fiendgod-like body immediately got to work, and his divine power quickly began to heal everything. The torn muscles and skin on his body, and even his torn intestines and organs began to rapidly heal. Ning’s ears could now hear again, and he gained feeling in his body again. “Pain. Such pain.” Ning hurriedly looked into the distance. In that moment when he had completely lost all feeling and lost all hearing, he had been terrified. “Truly too…too terrifying.’ Ning stared at that distant, stooped, black-furred monster which emanated that thick, deathly aura. “That slap’s speed was so fast I couldn’t dodge at all. His strength in turn is far greater than the combined strength of those nine strange giants!” The black-furred monster stood there quietly, his oily green eyes staring at Ning. He let out a hoarse sigh, which carried an endless resignation and disappointment. “I’ve waited for far too long, so long that I’ve forgotten time. All you need to do is pass the three trials without dying. You don’t need to kill me. You just need to knock me down, to injure me. That’s all.” With difficulty, Ning climbed to his feet, the ground stained with blood. “Knock you down?” Ning stared at the stooped, black-furred creature. “No. More precisely speaking, as long as you can injure me, can break my skin, can make me bleed.” The black-furred creature said slowly, “I will immediately fall down. I’ve already calculated…the last time, when Immortal Juhua was recruiting a disciple, there were ten people who had completed the trials and appeared before me. It was so rowdy. There was one of them, a youth, who relied on an extremely powerful Dao-seal to injure me. But I just took a step back instead of falling down…if I had fallen down, there would have been no need for me to endure these countless, lonely years. Loneliness truly is terrifying, very terrifying…” Listening to this, Ning held his breath. The black-furred creature in front of him had actually existed in the era of Immortal Juhua. He definitely wasn’t training the Immortal ways, because there was no way for an ordinary Immortal to live this long. Only by becoming a Celestial Immortal would one truly have an unlimited lifespan, but there was no way 407 a Celestial Immortal would be like the person in front of him. Most likely, a single breath from a Celestial Immortal would disintegrate Ning. “Master only said that anyone able to injure and knock me down would be considered to have passed this trial.” The black furred creature said slowly in that hoarse voice. “Come. Injure me. As long as you can injure me, I will immediately fall down.” “Injure you?” Ning’s divine will once more picked up those two Darknorth swords. His severed fingers were reattached. This black-furred monster only watched silently, not interfering. The black-furred monster looked at Ning, then said slowly, “Come at me full force. Everyone in the countless years who has come before me, I have given them this same chance. As long as a person can injure me, I will immediately fall down. Only…none of them were able to injure me. Not one!” Ning’s heart shook. “Only that one time, when Immortal Juhua was recruiting a disciple, did that Dao-seal injure me. Why didn’t I fall down? Just that one time. I missed that opportunity and never had another one.” The blackfurred creature spoke very slowly. Tormented by countless years of loneliness, he no longer wished to live. “Injure him?” Ning was frightened and shocked. Based on what this creature which had most likely lived since the Fiendgod era was saying, only a single person had ever been able to injure him, and that was through using a Dao-seal! “These people who made it here over the years most likely also included geniuses who had reached the level of comprehending the True Meaning of the Dao.” Ning felt an unbearable pressure. “What should I do?” “Come.” The black-furred creature began to walk forward, his body hunchbacked. “Come. Wound me.” Ning clenched his Darknorth swords. Swoosh! Ning suddenly charge into the air, two Dao-seals appearing in his hands. They were a Light Body Seal and a Divine Movement Seal…although he had found many Dao-seals in the storage magic treasures on the corpses, virtually all of them had lost their magic power over the passage of countless years and become useless. Only a hundred or so seals were left, amongst which the Divine Movement Seal and the Light Body Seal were the most common. The two Dao-seals immediately entered his body upon activation. “Die.” Ning charged upwards, reaching the ceiling of the corridor, then kicked off with his two legs, utilizing the Windwing Evasion as he charged down from the top of the prefecture. At this moment, Ning had reached the limits of his speed. “Die!” Ning’s entire strength was focused on the Darknorth sword in his right hand, stabbing directly downwards. The stooped frame of the black-furred creature came to a halt, raising its head and staring upwards with its oily green eyes at the downwards charging Ning. He just watched, watched quietly…his eyes didn’t have a hint of life, seeming very slow and numb. “Raindrop!” “Pierces Rocks!” Ning charged downward, the tip of his sword transforming into a drop of water. ‘Drip’. It dripped onto the fur-covered face of that black-furred creature. At this moment, both his divine power as well as his Xiantian ki were being released at full power, and penetrative force from his high speed combined with the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’ had formed an extremely terrifying sword… “Chi!” The tip of the sword pierced onto the black-furred creature’s face, who simply continued to look at Ning with an upraised face. “You are still very far off.” The black-furred creature sighed, his oily green eyes filled with boundless disappointment. “I need to keep waiting, keep waiting…as for you, I have no choice but to kill you.” Ning’s sword had stabbed onto the black-furred creature’s face, but hadn’t left behind any injury. Unwilling to accept this, the Darknorth sword in his twin hands executed the ‘Rain Line’ and ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’, two great killing strokes, stabbing at the creature’s chest and face, but once again, he was unable to harm the creature at all. “Retreat.” Ning hurriedly retreated dozens of meters. The black-furred creature’s stooped form continued to make its way forward, slowly shuffling, but moving dozens of meters with each step. In terms of speed, he was actually even faster than Ning! Whether it was walking speed or attack speed, he was faster than Ning. This was the first time Ning encountered someone faster than him in this corridor of trials. Previously, he was able to rely on his Windwing Evasion to flee and buy time for himself, but this time, he was not able to do so. “How can his skin be as tough as this?” Ning was incomparably frantic. Although the other Fiendgod Body Refiners of the Xiantian level who had previously fallen here served as proof that harming this black- furred creature was an incomparably difficult task, Ning still felt a sense of hopelessness after he himself truly used a full force attack and yet was unable to scratch the other’s face. “Die. Stop struggling.” The hoarse voice rang out, and the stooped black-furred figure appeared out of nowhere by Ning’s side. Ning’s body immediately became surrounded by three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals, swiveling slowly in opposite directions and generating a stirring force. But to this black-furred creature, the force generated by the Waterflame Lotus was like nothing more than walking within small rippling waves, unable to budge his body at all. Ning’s two hands once more executed the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’ attack, stabbing at the black-furred creatures legs and genitalia. “I’m unable to flee, and defense is useless. I have to find a chance of survival. Killkillkill! Perhaps the other parts of his body have a weak point that I can stab.” Ning definitely wouldn’t just give up. “Stop struggling.” The black-furred creature sighed, and his fan-shaped giant palm once more slapped down towards Ning. He couldn’t be bothered to take about Ning’s swords, allowing them to stab on his body as he still slammed his palm down on Ning’s body. “Bang!!!” The armor-type magic treasure Ning was wearing instantly split apart, and the giant palm, filled with that dense deathly aura, went straight through Ning’s chest, and then Ning himself was sent flying far, far away. Bang. Ning lay there on the floor, a huge hole in his chest. His body had nearly been torn in half. Ning lay there, completely unable to move. Such a huge hole suddenly appearing in his chest had caused his entire body to be paralyzed. He had to wait for the life force in his body to begin to regenerate it, but that needed time. He would most likely need half a minute before he would be able to recover his ability to move again. But that distant, black-furred creature was already walking over again. Most likely, in just another second, he would be in front of Ning. “Die.” The stooped figure of that black-furred creature ambled forward. “No!” Ning’s heart was filled with incomparable ardor, ardor for life. He had died before, and had even gone to the Netherworld Kingdom and had seen Grandma Meng’s Elixir. So he all the more desired life…he didn’t want to go drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. “What should I do? How can I survive? I can’t even 410 move…right now, all I have left is my divine will. Can it be that I can rely on my divine will to wrap up the Darknorth swords to pierce into the black-furred creature.” Ning felt hopeless. Ning knew very well the level of strength the divine will was capable of. When he had killed Ironwood Zhan, he had investigated. Divine will was capable of wrapping up trees, boulders, with a force that was roughly equivalent to a late-stage Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner! The power of will made physical was very powerful and very strong. But what good would it be right now? ———————— “I also have them.” Ning, seeing the black-furred creature draw closer, suddenly thought of something, letting out a heroic cry. “All out, now!” Huahuahua…. In the area around Ning, one magic treasure after another appeared out of nowhere in a dense cluster. Sabers, swords, spears…thousands of magic treasures hovered there. These magic treasures were all controlled by his divine will, and the blade tips, sword tips, and spear tips were all pointed towards that black-furred creature. “All of my Xiantian Ki! Let’s go!” Ning had gone completely mad. The Xiantian ki in his dantian fully entered every single magic treasure. These were all unranked magic treasures that had been left behind by deceased Xiantian lifeforms over the course of countless years. Ning had been able to easily bind them. All of these were usable by Xiantian experts, but generally speaking, Xiantian experts would wield them with their hands. Ning, because he had divine will, was able to use his divine will to wield the magic treasures. It was as though thousands of hands had suddenly snatched up every single magic treasure, aiming them at the black-furred creature. All of his Xiantian ki had entered every single magic treasure, causing Ning’s meridians to be torn. Generally speaking, a Xiantian lifeform could battle for a very long time, but Ning had used all of his Xiantian ki to be dispersed amongst thousands of magic treasures, causing the amount to drop. “Kill!” Ning’s badly damaged, completely immobile body lay there as he howled heroically with a savage look on his face. His heroic howl was filled with incomparable ardor for life! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Countless sword flashes, saber flashes, spear flashes, and more all shot out, instantly turning the entire corridor into a wall of dazzling white color. All of them were aimed with incomparable accuracy, stabbing out at the same time at the body of the black-furred creature, who had already closed his eyes and spread his arms out. “Bang….” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Thousands of magic treasures shot out like rays of sword light, blade light, spear light, and more. They were like thousands of Xiantian Ki Refiners attacking in unison! But Ji Ning did this all by himself. If Ning hadn’t reached the ‘divine will’ level of the soul, there would have been no way for him to control so many magic treasures so accurately. If Ning hadn’t gained such astonishing regenerative abilities at the Xiantian level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he wouldn’t have been able to so wildly have all of his ki explode outwards; the only thing that would have happened was that his arteries and meridians would completely shatter, resulting in him becoming a cripple. “Swish….” The black-furred creature didn’t block at all, nor did he dodge at all. He held his arms wide and closed his eyes. He was waiting…hoping… The corridor was a cacophony of sound. The black-furred creature was like a mountain collapsing. With a rumbling sound, he fell over! “Did I wound him?” Ning stared with incomparable hope. Right now, his body was ravaged, his meridians and arteries were ripped, and not a single drop of his Xiantian ki was remaining. “I must have…I must have…” Ning stared hopefully. From afar, the fallen black-furred creature suddenly sat up, lowering his head to look at his chest. At his chest, his black fur had been torn apart, revealing faintly red flesh and deep green-colored blood. A thin line of blood oozed out from the wound, and then the wound rapidly healed, leaving behind only that line of deep green blood. Ning’s eyes instantly turned round, and he stared at the traces of deep green blood on the chest of that black-furred creature. Success! He had succeeded! He would live! “Father. Mother. I’ve survived.” Ning’s Fiendgod-like body was quickly recovering. Although he was unable to move, Ning forgot his pain; rather, he felt wild joy at having overcome that tribulation. “Wounded me. You wounded me.” From afar, the black-furred creature was first stunned, and then he raised his head, letting out a wild, heroic howl. “Aoooooooooooooooooo!” This heroic howl contained incomparable madness, sadness, and a sense of release. Ning managed to sit up as well now, and he stared at the distant, howling black-furred creature….the loneliness and torment which could be heard in this great howl, which had been suppressed for trillions of years, caused even Ning’s heart to feel a sour bitterness. After a long time, the sound ceased. The black-furred creature stood up and look at Ning. In his hoarse voice, he said, “Thank you, my new master! Hurry up and bind this Immortal mansion. We will meet again.” Hua! Immediately afterwards, the black-furred creature disappeared into thin air. —————————– Ning quickly was able to stand up as well. The previous wounds to his meridians had been completely healed now, and he collected the thousands of magic treasures that lay scattered on the floor, storing them into his storage treasure. “I didn’t expect that in the end, I would rely on these unranked magic treasures to pass the third trial.” Ning let out a long sigh. A Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level was able to use thousands of magic treasures in a single combined strike…he had never even heard of such a thing, so prior to this, he hadn’t even considered the possibility. This was because this sort of action would only be possible for a freakishly talented person like Ning, who clearly was only a Xiantian level, and yet whose soul was already on the level of having ‘divine will’. Ning had been visualizing the [Nuwa Painting] since he was an infant. The [Nuwa Painting] was one of the best visualization techniques even in the Celestial Realm or the Netherworld Kingdom, much less in the mortal realms… the likes of the Ji clan had never even heard of ‘visualization techniques’. In fact, Ning believed that even in the entire vast area controlled by the Grand Xia Dynasty, the best visualization techniques couldn’t necessarily compare to the [Nuwa Painting]. “Success.” “I successfully passed this tribulation.” Ning stared at his surroundings. He saw the corpses and skeletons in the distance on the ground, and felt all the more emotional. “The dead became these skeletons. The survivor, according to what the black-furred creature said…I should be the new master.” Ning was in no hurry to advance. Instead, he sat down in the lotus position and rested. It took a full day for the Xiantian ki in his body to return to normal. Only then did Ning rise and continue to advance. When walking through the twisting corridors, Ning didn’t move very quickly. Instead, he carefully inspected this ancient Immortal estate. After a long time… “Um?” Ning saw that not far away, there was an exit, outside of which a pillar could faintly be seen. “I’ve arrived?” Ning quickly walked out of the exit, and as he did, he had to suck in a cold breath. This was an incomparably vast palace, at least thousands of meters high. Compared to this vast palace, the nearby hundreds of meters tall corridors appeared to be extremely small. In the front of the palace, there was an enormous praying mat, which was also three hundred meters in diameter. And in the back of the palace… There were also hundreds of enormous prayer mats scattered about as well. “Such an enormous prayer mat?” Ning’s heart was filled with many questions. “Prayer mats are meant to be sat on, but this three hundred meter long prayer mat…what sort of a giant would sit atop this? And it seems that in addition to the giant who would sit at the top of the hall, there would also be hundreds of other giants sitting in front of him. “The Immortal estate of Immortal Juhua?” Ning shook his head. If the Immortal was a human, his body should be sized like a normal humans. “This doesn’t make sense.” Ning hurriedly walked about, carefully inspecting this palace. The entire palace was very old and plain. Aside from those hundreds of prayer mats, there were no other decorations at all. One plain stone pillar after another supported the palace hall, and on each of the two sides of the palace hall were corridors, some three hundred meters tall, others three thousand meters tall. There were three of the corridors that were three thousand meters tall, while only two of the corridors that were three hundred meters tall. “I can’t go in?” Ning discovered that he wasn’t able to enter any of the corridors, including the one he had just come from. It was as though there was an invisible wall blocking them. “The palace door!” Ning turned to look at the imposing palace door. Outside the palace door…there was an area completely enveloped in mist that one couldn’t see through at all. Ning stood there, in this incomparably vast palace. He was as small as an ant. He then walked over to one of the prayer mats and sat down. He himself was only 1.7 meters in height, but he was seated on a three hundred meter long prayer mat. Ning felt that this was quite amusing. “It really is comfortable.” While sitting on the prayer mat, Ning could feel his mind growing more alert, and even his thoughts became much more rapid and nimble. “How strange. I clearly have made it past the three trials and arrived at this palace hall. But right now, I’m not able to enter any of the corridors of the palace halls. I’m trapped here.” Ning said to himself. “The original master of this Aquatic Manor, having left behind those three trials, should have made some preparations for the successor who passed those trials, right?” For example, the black-furred creature was teleported to him, then teleported away. He himself had been teleported here as well…clearly, someone should be controlling this Aquatic Manor. —————————- Right at this moment, as Ning was sitting on the prayer mat and pondering, suddenly, from one of the three thousand meter tall corridors off to the side of the palace hall, an old black bull walked over. As though sensing it, Ning turned his head to look. As he did, he saw an old black bull that was many meters in length slowly walk in. The old bull’s eyes were filled with curiosity and liveliness as it carefully inspected Ning. “Senior, might I ask who you are?” Ning immediately spoke out. Most likely every single creature which appeared within this Aquatic Manor was extraordinary. “Me?” The old black bull shook its head. “Don’t call me ‘Senior’. I’m nothing more than the spirit of a magic treasure.” “Spirit of a magic treasure?” Ning was astonished. “Magic treasures have spirits?” He’d never heard of such a thing. “I’m the magic treasure which Immortal Juhua always kept by his side.” The old black bull sighed. “Child, don’t think too much about it. Even if I brought my ‘body’ in front of you, given your power, there is no way you would be able to bind me.” Ning nodded. He understood this. As a Xiantian, he was only capable of binding some unranked magic treasures. Even ranked treasures had high and low level ones. The more powerful the magic treasure, the more difficult binding it was! “Might I ask about the status of the master of this Immortal estate?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Dead. All dead.” The old black bull shook its head. “Dead for I don’t even know how many years.” 416 Ning nodded to himself. It was as he had thought. “It has been too long, far too long. Over these slow, countless ages, I’ve teleported in quite a few Xiantianlevel Fiendgod Body Refiners, as well as Zifu Disciples.” The old black bull sighed. “Unfortunately, not a single one was able to succeed. At most, they would make it to the third trial, where they would all die. I didn’t expect that you, child, who clearly don’t have sufficiently dense divine power, would be able to succeed. This can be considered a miracle.” “That third trial in particular.” “Your soul has actually reached such a stage of power. However, the technique which you used is completely impractical.” The old black bull said disdainfully. “Thousands of magic treasures, aimed in a single direction. All the enemy has to do is dodge, and then you would have to immediately control thousands of magic treasures to change direction and aim at him again…it will be very hard for you to actually strike your enemy.” Ning nodded. “True.” “However, that golem was driven to nearly the point of insanity by the torment of countless years of loneliness, and so he actively welcomed the attack.” The old black bull said. “And so, you succeeded.” “Golem?” Ning said in surprise. “It was a golem?” He had seen golems before. When he had been training with a sword, his father had procured a training golem for him. But that black-furred creature just now…it had blood, had flesh, and was even capable of speech. How could it be a golem? “Child, how much do you know? There are many different types of golems. That one just now was just a golem which had a soul inserted into it.” The old black bull said. “After implanting a soul into it, it gains intelligence and is even capable of displaying the ‘one with the world’ sage, or even more profound sword techniques, saber techniques, boxing techniques, etc. Naturally, its power would multiply manifold.” Ning now understood. “As the soul trapped within the golem who is forever incapable of being reincarnated, it will be endlessly tormented.” The old black bull said. “However, your own level of enlightenment is not low. That lotus flower you created earlier was based on the fact that your body has the Divine Solar Tattoo and the Divine Lunar Tattoo. For you to have these two great divine tattoos means that you most likely are training in the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining technique of the Fiendgod era, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Given your density of divine power, I expect you have only reached the fourth stage!” Ning hurriedly said, “Senior, your judgment is wise.” 417 “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is a very powerful technique.” The old black bull sighed. “You were able to break through to the Xiantian level, but you are only at the fourth stage. Most likely, you broke through just recently. You should be only ten or so years old as well.” “Eleven.” Ning didn’t try to hide it. “An eleven year old Xiantian who trains in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. And at such a young age, you were able to reach the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ in swordplay.” The old black bull shook its head. “A genius like this is someone whom even the Grand Xia Dynasty would expend countless efforts in cultivating and training. There’s no way they would be willing to let someone like you take tutelage under the auspices of Immortal Juhua.” Ning lifted an eyebrows. “Actually, just by reaching the sixth stage, given the amount of divine power you would have, and your understanding of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, you would have been able to succeed in the third trial. However, for you to succeed in the way you have is still quite impressive. Your soul is powerful, and your level of enlightenment is high. Your future accomplishments will be limitless.” The old black bull sighed. “I still have to congratulate you. You have become the fifth master of this place.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “The fifth master?” Ji Ning was astonished. “Me?” The old black bull had a hint of laughter in his eyes. He slowly ambled over, his body seeming vaguely illusory. He wasn’t a material creature, after all; just the spirit of a magic treasure. “Of course it is you.” The old black bull said. “That’s not what I meant. What I meant was…I’m only the fifth master?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Can it be that Immortal Juhua wasn’t the first one?” He had previously discovered the letter on that Godbanian tree bark, and had hypothesized that after Immortal Juhua died, he shouldn’t have given this Immortal estate to anyone else. “Immortal Juhua was the third master of this Immortal estate.” The old black bull said. “Who was the fourth?” Ning asked. The old black bull’s eyes held a hint of wistful memory in them. He slowly said, “In those days, Immortal Juhua’s fame was widespread. He was someone who stood at the very forefront of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. A Loose Immortal capable of living for millions of years is an absolute miracle. The Three Disasters and Nine Tribulations which everyone who embarks on the Immortal path must endure…each tribulation is fiercer than the last. He had lived for simply too long, and the difficulty of the tribulations had reached an inconceivable level. Even Celestial Immortals probably wouldn’t be able to survive them. The longer he lived, the more the people in the Grand Xia Dynasty became aware of how formidable he was.” “Immortal Juhua knew that his time was limited, and so he wanted to accept a disciple, and thus he spread the word…that he would only accept a Fiendgod Body Refiner who was at least a Xiantian lifeform but no more than a Zifu Disciple. Of the major clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the ones who were in the know all sent their disciples to attempt the trials of that corridor. “Two corridors. One for Xiantian lifeforms, one for Zifu Disciples.” “One young person after another died. In the end, finally, a Zifu Disciple named ‘Rampart’ successfully passed the three trials of his corridor, and thus Rampart became the fourth master of this Immortal estate. Ning nodded. Immortal Juhua was the third. Rampart was the fourth. “Unfortunately.” The old black bull shook his head. “In the face of the endless tribulations, Immortal Juhua died. Not long after Immortal Juhua died…Rampart, who was merely at the ‘Wanxiang Adept’ level died as well. As for how he died and where he died, that’s unclear. Ever since Rampart died, this Immortal estate has not had an owner.” Ning nodded, then said questioningly, “Rampart didn’t carry the Immortal estate with him?” “Carry it with him?” The old black bull said in a low voice. “He was unable to even completely bind this Immortal estate. How could he have carried it with him?” “He, a venerable Wanxiang Adept, was unable to bind it?” Ning asked. The old black bull said, “Child, don’t underestimate this Immortal estate. This Immortal estate has an extraordinary background and history, and binding it is extremely hard. You should know that the more powerful a magic treasure is, the harder it is to bind it. This Immortal estate is actually a ‘dwelling’ type magic treasure…only by becoming a Primal will one become just barely capable of binding it and carrying it.” “A Primal can only just barely bind it; he wouldn’t be able to completely control this Immortal estate, which has some secret areas within that he still wouldn’t be able to enter. Only by becoming an Earthly Immortal or a Loose Immortal will one truly be in control of this Immortal estate.” Ning understood. It made sense. If one was able to easily bind a magic treasure which was capable of teleporting people, that would be bizarre. “Child, do you now understand how extraordinary this Immortal estate is?” The old black bull said complacently. “Elder, you can address me as Ji Ning.” Ning said. “Child Ji Ning.” The old black bull stepped onto one of the giant prayer mats on the ground. “Take a look at this prayer mat. The prayer mats are all hundreds of meters wide. Have you considered why?” Ning pondered, then said, “Elder, when I first arrived within this palace hall, I was very puzzled as well. There is no need for an Immortal estate to have such enormous prayer mats. I actually wondered…if this Immortal estate was previously lived in by a race of giants or some other races.” “Although Immortal Juhua was only a Loose Immortal, he survived for millions of years before dying.” The old black bull sighed. “He is the only Loose Immortal I know of who lived for so long! Why was Immortal Juhua so powerful, and why could he last for so long before dying? It was because of this…this Immortal estate!” 420 “This Immortal estate’s age is beyond reckoning. According to the guesses of Immortal Juhua, this should have been the dwelling of an extremely powerful Fiendgod, which is why such enormous prayer mats, beds, and corridors were built.” The old black bull said. “Immortal Juhua had, when he was young, made it past three trials before becoming the third master of this place.” “Immortal Juhua had to pass three trials as well?” Ning was stunned. The old black bull said, “The three trials….was the rule set down by the first master of this Immortal estate! That first master should have been an extremely powerful Fiendgod. Judging from the way the giant prayer mats in this hall are laid out, that Fiendgod should have been sat on the one up front, expounding on the Dao, while below many other Fiendgods would listen. Haha, these are all the affairs of the past. The Fiendgod Era ended long ago.” —————————- The old black bull and Ning chatted for quite a long while. Ning finally couldn’t help but ask, “As the fifth master of this Immortal estate, what sort of benefits do I get?” The old black bull blinked. “Immortal Juhua was a Loose Immortal who had lived for millions of years. He should have left some things behind.” Ning asked. The old black bull remained silent. “You…” “Alas!” The old black bull finally let out a sigh. “The third master and the fourth master both died, and they died too long ago. Immortal Juhua had originally given Rampart some treasures, but Rampart died outside. Countless years have passed, and you can’t possibly get anything from Rampart. Immortal Juhua did indeed leave some magic treasures within this Immortal estate, but you won’t be able to get them.” “Why not?” Ning asked. “Aren’t I the master of this Immortal estate now?” The old black bull shook his head. “Imagine that you are the owner of a storage-type magic treasure, but you aren’t able to bind it. Will you be able to take out the treasures within it? This Immortal estate is a dwelling-type magic treasure. If you don’t bind it, there are many areas you cannot enter. Right now, you are only able to be here in the main palace hall. The other areas are off limits to you.” “I can only enter this main hall?” Ning was astonished. “You should have discovered that you are only able to be in this main hall and that you are unable to enter the other areas of this Immortal estate.” The old black bull said. “First become a Zifu Disciple; that 421 will allow you to bind the control talisman. When you bind the control talisman, there will be many benefits to you. You will be able to enter many of the areas within the Immortal estate, and you’ll also be able to voluntarily enter the Immortal estate from outside; for example, at Serpentwing Lake, you’ll be able to enter the Immortal estate as you please.” Pa! Out of nowhere, a dark gray talisman appeared, landing on the floor with a clattering sound atop a prayer mat. “This is the control talisman.” The old black bull said. “Only the master is permitted to have the control talisman. Hurry up and take it. Once you reach the Zifu Disciple level, you’ll be able to bind it. After binding it, come back to the Immortal estate. Right now, you aren’t able to enter any place at all, and you won’t be able to get anything.” Ning collected this talisman. The talisman was very rough. Atop it, there was a complicated, ancient-looking character; ‘Left’! Just a single character. Although Ning had never learned the meaning of this character, upon seeing it, he naturally understood what it meant. “Control talisman?” Ning stored it into his storage-type magic treasure. “Alright. You’ve taken the control talisman, and I’ve told you everything. You can leave now.” The old black bull said. “I’ll send you off now and teleport you back to that island in Serpentwing Lake.” Ning hurriedly called out, “Stop!” The old black bull looked towards Ning. “Is there something else?” “Just like that…I’m supposed to leave?” Ning couldn’t help but say. “I just barely survived, and I’m supposed to leave with just a control talisman?” The old black bull blinked twice. “Whose fault is it that the previous owner has already died? If he was alive, he could probably guide you or help you. But I’m just the spirit of a magic treasure…I don’t have any magic treasures or curios of my own. As for you yourself, you train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique which was even better than the technique which Immortal Juhua trained it. What can I give you? Oh! You probably don’t have any visualization techniques, right?” “visualization techniques?” Ning was startled. The Lord of Cui Palace had given him the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique! “visualization techniques are capable of refining the soul and strengthening it.” The old black bull said hurriedly. “This is something only the most powerful of clans have access to. I have a visualization technique in my memory. I’ll transmit it to you.” “Transmit?” Ning was curious. “Take out a quill and some ink.” The old black bull urged. Flipping his hand, Ning took out a quill and some ink, as well as a large piece of beast skin, placing them to one side. The old black bull looked at the quill, which began to hover in the air. “I am the spirit of a magic treasure who has trained for countless years, but my ‘divine will’ is most likely still weaker than yours. Still, grabbing a quill isn’t too difficult.” Controlling the quill, he began to draw a painting onto that glossy beast skin parchment. Soon, a picture of a Buddha that had a compassionate look on his face began to appear on the parchment. This Buddha had the sun and the moon behind his back, and radiated boundless light. Just by looking at it, Ning felt slightly affected. “What do you think?” The old black bull casually controlled the quill and tossed it to one side, then said delightedly, “This is a painting of the true form of Buddha, and the Shining Sun Moon Buddha at that! This [Inner Visualization of the Shining Sun-Moon Buddha] is the visualization technique which Immortal Juhua had previously used. I always was by his side, looking at this painting of Buddha, and thus I naturally memorized it. Although my painting isn’t as good as the original, as long as you often look at this painting of Buddha…you will definitely strengthen your soul. Ning was puzzled. “Inner visualization of Buddha?” “To become a master of the Great Dao, aside from your body, you must understand the myriad mysteries of the Great Dao.” The old black bull said. Ning only felt resigned. Compared with the [Nuwa Painting]…it wasn’t even comparable. His [Nuwa Painting] had been imprinted by the Lord of Cui Palace into his very soul and his memory. Naturally, he could sense it much more clearly. This old bull had simply drawn out an image of Buddha based on his own memory. “Can it be that you already have a visualization technique?” The old black bull noticed that Ning wasn’t very excited, and he couldn’t help but nod. “Makes sense. Your soul is so powerful. You should already have a visualization technique. Right…” The old black bull pondered for a while. Ning just waited. This old bull was the spirit of an extremely powerful magic treasure who had followed Immortal Juhua for countless years. He should know many things. “I remember now. Before this, you controlled thousands of magic treasures, right? I have a secret sword formation technique that is suitable for you to learn.” The old black bull suddenly said hurriedly. “In the past, I watched Immortal Juhua kill a powerful enemy who controlled a large number of flying swords in a formation to attack his enemies. His sword formation was thus recorded down by Immortal Juhua, who carefully looked through it. Although I only saw it once, I completely memorized it. I’ll make a copy for you.” Ning hurriedly took out a large number of beastskin parchments. The old black bull once again controlled the quill and began to write with it. At the very top of the beastskin parchment were four words: [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning watched off to the side, not daring to disturb the old black bull as he wrote. On the skin parchment, one line of words after another swiftly appeared, along with the occasional formation diagram. Soon, the pages of skin parchment were completely filled. “All done.” The old black bull tossed the quill aside, saying delightedly, “Child Ji Ning, you can be considered to be exceptionally talented. A Xiantian who actually has such an astonishing soul! Only with a sufficiently powerful soul is one suited for utilizing this ‘Lesser Thousand Swords Formation’. However, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] also requires flying sword type magic treasures, and it has exceptionally high requirements with regards to the amount of magic treasures. “I have plenty of these unranked magic treasures.” Ning laughed. The old black bull shook his head. “Once you reach the Zifu Disciple level, those unranked magic treasures will no longer be usable. At that time, what you will need is ranked magic treasures, and generally speaking, you will need a large number of flying sword type magic treasures in order to utilize this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] technique’s power.” “A large number of ranked magic treasures?” Ning was stunned. “How many?” “The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] at this highest level requires 729 flying swords.” The old black bull said. “Even if you are just using the weakest types of ranked magic treasures, you still need 729 of them…the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] requirements regarding magic treasures are very high. The more flying swords, the better. The more you have, the greater the power of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] technique.” Ning was stupefied. Over seven hundred ranked magic treasures, and all sword type? He wasn’t sure if the entire Five Prefectures of the Ji clan combined would be able to buy so many, even if they sold off all their assets. “As your power increases, the number of flying swords you can use will naturally increase.” The old black bull said. “Starting from Mortal-level magic treasures to Earth-level magic treasures, to Heaven-level magic treasures, to Immortal-level magic treasures…” “I, I…” Ning felt an unbearable pressure. He hurriedly said, “It wouldn’t have been hard for Immortal Juhua to procure and leave behind a few hundred flying swords here in this Immortal estate prior to his 425 death, right? And Immortal Juhua killed that powerful enemy, who used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] right?” The old black bull shook his head. “That great enemy was known as the Thousand Swords Immortal! Immortal Juhua had to expend enormous amounts of effort in order to kill him. Although he had acquired those flying sword magic treasures after killing him, it was a waste to just keep them without using them. Thus, Immortal Juhua immediately traded them away for a large number of precious materials, which he then forged me out of! Thus, if you want to acquire thousands of flying swords from Immortal Juhua, it is impossible. Truly powerful Immortals will usually only carry a few magic treasures which they are particularly skilled in. After killing an enemy, they will immediately use the enemy’s tools to upgrade their own magic treasures! They won’t just leave them there to be wasted.” “Understood.” Ning was somewhat despondent. “Don’t think too much of it. Don’t think that just because you received this Immortal estate that you’ll instantly fly to the heavens.” The old black bull said. “There are countless relic sites left from the Fiendgod Era, but how many people are able to truly stand at the very top of the Grand Xia Dynasty? The fourth master, Rampart, only reached the Wanxiang Adept level before dying. Don’t end up like him.” The old black bull continued, “My creation was thanks to this Thousand Swords Immortal. Thus, I paid especial attention to this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. I didn’t just read it once; I also carefully pondered it. I’ll explain to you.” Ning immediately began to listen attentively. “The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] uses nine flying sword type magic treasures to form the base of a formation! You need nine formation bases…in order to form a sword formation. This is the most basic sword formation, which requires eighty one flying sword type magic treasures . This is the first level [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] attack.” “If you are able to control a second set of eighty one flying swords and have these two sword formations cooperate…your power will instantly multiple! This is the second level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! You will need 162 flying swords!” “If you are able to control 243 flying swords to have three sword formations join forces, your power will multiple once more. This is the third level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!” “Four sword formations will again multiply the power, and is known as the fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” “And so on and so forth.” “In the end, with nine sword formations combined, you will need exactly 729 flying swords, which will be the ninth level of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The power is so great…as to be 426 inconceivable! But of course, given your current soul strength, even if you are able to control many unranked flying swords, you are far from being able to reach this level for now.” Ning nodded as though understanding. “For example, if you were to become a Wanxiang Adept, you would be able to use unranked magic treasures to set up nine sword formations! But if you were to use ranked magic treasures, most likely you wouldn’t even be able to set up two or three sword formations.” The old black bull said, “The more powerful a magic treasure is, the more mental energy you use up in controlling them. Naturally, it won’t be easy to control them. But this also means that even after becoming a Celestial Immortal, you can still use this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. However, by then, perhaps you would have acquired an even better sword formation. But of course, this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…should be good enough for you to use for a thousand years.” “The most important secret of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] lies in the ‘Lesser Thousand Seal Lines’…” The old black bull continued to explain some of the mysteries. ————————— A while later, Ning had finished reading the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] for the first time. He couldn’t help but sigh in astonishment. Compared to the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], that ‘YinYang Twin Energy Formation’ which Ironwood Zhan had used was absolute trash. Ning immediately and quickly withdrew nine sword-shaped magic treasures from his storage treasure. Because these were all unranked magic treasures, generally speaking they were meant to be held in the hand when engaging in battle; there were thus some differences between them and flying swords. “Lesser Thousand Seal Lines.” Ning tested drawing the lines out on the floor with his finger. Given Ning’s control of his body, he was naturally able to completely duplicate the seal lines. The old black bull, by his side, shook his head. “No. It isn’t the appearance that needs to be the same; the inner meaning needs to be the same. When you draw the ‘Lesser Thousand Seal Lines’, you need to faintly activate the power of the heavens and the earth. Only then will the seal lines be complete.” “Alright.” Ning continued to draw. Because his copying ability was quite accurate, and given that Ning had already reached the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ level, and also had a faint hint of understanding regarding the ‘Dao’…after drawing it 312 times, he drew a seal line which was capable of utilizing a hint of the power of the world. “Right.” The old black bull nodded. “Your level of comprehension is very high, your soul is powerful, and you are very sensitive towards the heavens and the earth. It is only normal that you learn 427 quickly…remember, the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines is the base for the entire [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. You must not reveal it. Once the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines are revealed, some of the larger tribes will definitely be able to develop this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] just based on the seal lines.” Ning nodded. “I understand.” “Then you can begin.” The old black bull watched from one side. Ning let himself calm down, and then he withdrew a small basin from within his storage treasure. He placed his finger within the small basin, and from within his fingernail, one drop of blood after another began to well up and flow out. Soon, he had a small basin that was half-full of blood. Watching to the side, the old black bull shook his head and sighed emotionally, “Fiendgod Body Refiners have extremely powerful life force. They can be chopped into many pieces without dying, while Ki Refiners will die to a blow to the heart. If a Ki Refiner was to lose this much blood, their face would turn pale. For you, though, most likely your body replenished the blood as soon as you let it out.” Ning didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked up a sword-type magic treasure, which suddenly shrank in size greatly. Ning’s finger, stained with blood, began to draw atop the sword. In the blink of an eye, a single Lesser Thousand Seal Line appeared on the sword. A bloody light flashed, and quickly, the seal line completely merged into the sword. “Success.” The old black bull nodded. Ning then picked up yet another sword-type treasure. Once he had mastered the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines, he virtually never made a mistake. During this attempt at the trials, he had acquired thousands of magic treasures, with swords being extremely common. He had a full thousand sword-type magic treasures. Ning straightforwardly drew onto 729 of the sword-type magic treasures. “Formation base!” Ning sat there in the lotus position, and imposed his will. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Immediately, nine swords swung into the air around Ning, slowly revolving. But there was something missing. Ning frowned. “Remember. The power of the sword formation comes from attuning to the heavens and the earth.” The old black bull said to one side. After the amount of time it took to brew tea. The nine swords hovering around Ning were faintly carrying within them a type of invisible intent. It was as though the nine swords actually formed a single entity. In that moment, the nine swords were positioned in a very perfect manner with respect to each other. “The formation base is complete. Formation, arise!” Ning willed it, and then 72 more swords suddenly lifted up, all of them in groups of nine. The first level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] required 81 swords to be formed into a formation. “Huahuahua…” 81 sword-type magic treasures circled and hovered around Ning, while Ning himself closed his eyes as he controlled them. Soon, with the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines in each sword as the base, the 81 sword-type magic treasures began to emit a hazy glow while countless sword glows quickly converged around Ning. A constantly fluctuating sword light hovered there in the air next to Ning. Ning finally opened his eyes and stared at the hovering sword light next to him. This sword light was the Xiantian ki of his which had been transformed and compressed by the magic formation of the 81 swordtype magic treasures. The amount of power had already caused a qualitative change, and the strength was astonishing. “Not too bad.” Ning willed it. Another 81 swords rose into the air. ———————- The old black bull stood there, watching. He couldn’t help but sigh in amazement at the strength of Ning’s soul. This wasn’t as simple as what he had done earlier, just stupidly and wildly controlling thousands of magic treasures to go forward in one direction. He had to carefully control every single flying sword…causing them to form a perfect, complete sword formation which was continuously able to summon the power of the heavens and the earth. “He mastered the third level as well. In terms of strength alone, the power of his sword light right now isn’t any longer than his earlier attack of thousands of magic treasures.” The old black bull sighed in astonishment. The power of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] multiplied several times over with each increase in level. Hundreds of sword-type magic treasures swiveled around Ning, with the surface of each sword having a hint of light on it. In front of Ning, the solidified, devouring sword light grew even more powerful. Yet another 81 swords entered the mix, with the level of difficulty in controlling them quickly increased as well. Ning’s forehead began to be covered in sweat. Rumble… All of the swords were hovering with a faint light. “Success.” The old black bull was stunned, incomparably stunned. “He is actually able to utilize the fifth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!” Papapapapapa…405 swords clattered and fell to the floor. His forehead covered in sweat, Ning opened his eyes and murmured to himself, “The fifth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is too arduous. My head hurts terribly. Normally, in battle, I should limit myself to the fourth level. Using the fourth level is much easier.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The old black bull looked at Ji Ning, head covered in sweat, and said in praise, “Formidable, formidable. Child Ji Ning, at such a young age, you are already able to utilize the fifth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Compared to you, that Rampart is nothing worth mentioning at all! I didn’t expect that after the Immortal estate has waited for so many years, an unpolished jade like you would appear!” Ning murmured to himself, ‘unpolished jade’? He himself had the experiences of his previous life, the [Nuwa Painting], and had been training hard since he was young. All these factors combined were what led to the old black bull praising him as being a piece of ‘unpolished jade’. “Senior, right now, I find it difficult to utilize the fifth level.” Ning repeatedly shook his head. “I’m only able to use the fourth level freely.” “Using it freely is more important.” The old black bull sighed. “Have you discovered that although the fourth level of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] only allows you to control three hundred or so flying swords, in terms of power, it is already greater than when you wildly controlled thousands of magic treasures!” Ning revealed a hint of amazement. “Even more powerful than the combined attack of thousands of swords from earlier? Although I was able to feel that the sword light I created was done so in a free manner and that it held great power, I didn’t know exactly how much power it had.” The old black bull said, “The fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] will allow you to kill most peak Xiantian lifeforms as easily as you wish.” Ning was delighted upon hearing this. “Senior.” Ning hurriedly asked, “Dare I ask, how is my current power? How does it compare to a Zifu Disciple?” “Right now, you have two primary types of battle tactics. The first relies on your Fiendgod body and your close-combat sword techniques.” The old black bull said. “Your swordplay already carries within it a hint of the True Meaning of the Dao. Most Xiantian lifeforms aren’t at such a high level of comprehension; most peak Xiantian lifeforms are at the ‘one with the world’ stage. Just based on this alone, you are at an advantage compared to most peak Xiantian lifeforms! But of course, I’m just talking about ‘ordinary’ Xiantian lifeforms. If your enemy is as much of a freak as you are, whose swordplay is not inferior to you, then it would be hard to say who would win.” Ning nodded. He understood. For example, his father, Ji Yichuan. His swordplay was most likely still inferior to that of his father; after all, Father had long ago reached the peak Xiantian level. Ning naturally wouldn’t be a match for his father. “If you relied on your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…” The old black bull continued, “Given your powerful Fiendgod body, if you use hundreds of flying swords to form into a [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the power will indeed be very formidable. In terms of strength, it will be far beyond that of peak Xiantian lifeforms. It should have reached the power level of most early Zifu Disciples.” “Just early Zifu?” Ning felt that his improvement should be larger than this. The old black bull shook his head. “Don’t underestimate Zifu Disciples. Once Zifu Disciples internally establish their Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’, their bodies will begin to generate elemental power! Even simple attacks such as punches and kicks will be far greater than that of the Xiantian level. These are two fundamentally different levels! In addition, more importantly, Zifu Disciples are capable of using ranked magic treasures.” “Ranked magic treasures are extremely powerful. Zifu Disciples, when using them, are far more powerful than you Xiantians can imagine. The difference between a peak Xiantian and a Zifu Disciple is like that of an infant and an adult.” The old black bull sighed in praise. Ning understood. Right. From the Xiantian level to the Zifu level was a fundamental change. It allowed one to be able to use ranked magic treasures. It was much like how a Xiantian lifeform could kill a peak Houtian expert as easily as chopping vegetables. Zifu Disciples could kill Xiantian lifeforms just as easily. “Remember.” The old black bull shook his head. “No matter what, do not underestimate Zifu Disciples. Every single Zifu Disciple has bizarre, strange abilities. Some are skilled at formations, others are skilled at venomous pests, still others at controlling souls or creating golems, or even sorcery…there’s no way to describe them in ‘general’. If you run into someone who is a bad matchup for you, you will definitely die.” “The weak can overcome the strong.” “If a bad matchup happens, an early Zifu expert can slay a late Zifu expert.” The old black bull sighed. “The path of Immortality includes everything in existence. There are too many techniques…a Zifu Disciple might be weak, but if he had raised millions of terrifying venomous insects, even a Wanxiang Adept might be devoured alive!” Ning swallowed a cold breath of air. “But it’s rare.” The old black bull said hurriedly. “It’s quite rare for someone of a lower rank to kill someone of a higher rank. For example, someone like you who has such an incredibly powerful soul as well as hundreds of flying swords, and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…many factors 432 combined to give you this sort of combat potential. I’m just warning you not to underestimate any opponent. Even Xiantian lifeforms.” Ning nodded gently. “Understood.” Upon reaching the Zifu Disciple level in particular, no one was easy to deal with. ——————————– In his heart, Ning was still quite joyful. On this trip to the underground estate, he had acquired a killing attack; the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! “Child Ji Ning.” The old black bull continued, “Before this, when I watched you attempt the trials, I discovered that the power of your swords is fairly average. Can it be that you aren’t aware of the ‘Fiendgod Bloodforging’ technique? “Fiendgod Bloodforging technique?” Ning blinked. “What’s that?” The old black bull couldn’t help but say, “In the Fiendgod Era, virtually all people with a bit of power or clans of a decent size would know about this. This is because every single Fiendgod knew it, and this was something which every single Fiendgod had to learn. I saw that you are clearly a Fiendgod Body Refiner, but you it seemed as though you didn’t know the Bloodforging technique. Naturally, that made me curious.” “Senior, please instruct me.” Ning asked hurriedly. Having an old person at home was like having a treasure. This sort of old man who had lived since the Fiendgod era knew so many things. “Fiendgods are not the same as we humans.” The old black bull said. “They don’t train in Ki, and are unable to use magic treasures. However, they need weapons as well. As their strength increased in power, however, how could they find a suitable weapon for them? Thus…the great powers amongst the Fiendgods developed the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique!” “First, find a weapon, and then utilize the complicated Rites of Bloodforging! After the bloodforging is completed the weapon will be able to absorb various auras, such as a baleful aura, an evil aura, a killing aura, and other auras. The more enemies you kill, the more powerful the enemies you kill, the more the weapon will naturally strengthen. It can change in size and weight as you please.” “This sort of weapon is often referred to as a ‘divine weapon’, a ‘demonic weapon’, or a ‘slaying weapon’.” The old black bull said. “As the strength of the master increases, and as the master kills more and more powerful opponents, the strength of the weapon will increase as well, to the point where in the Fiendgod era, some divine weapons and demonic weapons were even more powerful than Immortal-level magic treasures.” 433 Ning’s eyes were shining. Right. The heavens were always fair. The Fiendgods were completely unable to use magic weapons, but thus they had some techniques to make weapons for themselves. So it was through absorbing baleful auras and other auras; causing their divine weapons to increase in power through slaughter. “Senior, please teach me.” Ning said hurriedly. “Since I’ve mentioned this to you, of course I will teach you.” The old black bull said. “The Rites of Bloodforging are very complicated. Listen carefully.” The old black bull stood there, expounding on the process of the Rites of Bloodforging, while at the same time drawing down some diagrams on occasion. Ning just listened and memorized. Why was it known as the Rites of Bloodforging? The primary required ingredient was the blood of Fiendgods. For a human Fiendgod Body Refiner, only the blood of one who had naturally developed divine tattoos while reaching the Xiantian level would suffice, as only then would they have been reborn into the body of a Fiendgod. Only such a person would be able to use the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique. Some of the lower-class Fiendgod Body Refiners were unable to use this bloodforging technique. “Huahuahua…” Ning took out a gourd. This gourd was originally used to store wine. It didn’t look large, but it was able to contain ten thousand kilograms of wine. Ning poured out all of the remaining wine in the gourd, not leaving a single drop behind, and then placed his finger into the gourd. Blood dripped out from his finger, flowing into the gourd. A long time later. “A thousand kilograms of blood is enough.” The old black bull said to the side. “This bloodforging technique is only usable by Fiendgods. Normal Ki Refiners who lose this much blood will definitely die.” Ning sat there in the lotus position. Immediately after having released the blood, the powerful life force in his body naturally began to regenerate his blood. The only thing which was used up was divine power. When the divine power in Ning’s body was reduced to just half, roughly a thousand kilograms of blood had entered the gourd. “There are seven steps to the rites. You must be sincere.” The old black bull warned. Ning respectfully knelt down and kowtowed three times, and then stood up before kneeling down and kowtowing three more times. He did this eight times, in all eight directions! “Hua…” Ning suddenly overturned the gourd in his hand. From within the gourd flowed out a large amount of fresh blood. As soon as it flowed out, it was wrapped up by Ning’s divine will and quickly 434 scattered in an area of roughly two hundred and fifty meters around him. The countless droplets of blood formed into a massive diagram, a diagram of a head with disheveled hair. The diagram completed. Boom! Instantly, a bloody aura that was visible to the naked eye began to shine. “The descendant kneels in supplication to the Ancestor God.” Ning called out in a loud voice. The first step of the bloodforging rites – Begging the Ancestor God! ———————— The complicated Rites of Bloodforging continued for nearly half a day. The bloody light in the area had already formed into a bizarre character. According to what the old black bull had said…this sort of character was known as Fiendgod characters! It was a type of writing which the heavens had naturally given birth to. Although he had never learned it before, the first time he had seen the characters, he understood it. The meaning of this Fiendgod character was…‘KILL’! “Huahuahua…” Three Darknorth swords appeared in mid-air. As soon as they appeared, they began to hover there. The weapons which Ning was planning to use the Rites of Bloodforging on were these Darknorth swords! Because, according to what the old black bull had said, although the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique didn’t have very high standards necessary towards weapons, the better the base material was, the better the results would be. Those unranked magic treasures were simply too inferior. Based on the judgment of that old black bull, the Darknorth swords should have previously been Heavenlevel magic treasures. Although the runes atop them had been destroyed, the only thing that matter for bloodforging was the physical material components. As for the runes, those were meaningless. “Hua!” “Hua!” “Hua!” The ‘Kill’ character formed by the nearby blood began to shoot shadows out from itself, entering the three swords. That enormous ‘Kill’ character hovering in mid-air began to dim, and then disappeared. The entire hall once more returned to its usual calm. Ning let out a long breath. “Senior.” Ning couldn’t help but say. “Just then, I sensed an awesome presence that seemed even higher than that of the ‘Dao’…” He had meditated on the Dao before, and had gained a hint of an insight into the aura of the Dao. However, just now, when undergoing the Rites of Bloodforging, that ancient, natural aura that had emanated forth made him feel as though he had touched a powerful, mighty existence which was even more ancient than the Dao. The old black bull sighed. “I didn’t dare to say a word during the Rites of Bloodforging. I was completely stunned. Take a look and see how your weapon seems.” With a wave of his hand, the three Darknorth swords landed in Ning’s grasp. Picking one up with his divine will, he sliced it against his arm. Chi! The skin on his arm, seemingly as tough as leather, began to emit sparks, then finally cracked apart into a wound. “Much sharper.” Ning was shocked. “Your Darknorth swords were made from good materials.” The old black bull said. “Right now, your close combat abilities have increased dramatically. Most peak Xiantian experts won’t be a match for you. In close combat, you are only one or two levels lower in power than when using the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. However, you must understand that you are training in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Your close combat strength will increase at a monstrous rate. For example, when you train to the sixth stage, your close combat power should completely eclipise the power of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Once you then learn a close-combat type ‘divine ability’, it will become effortless for you to do battle against those at a higher level.” Ning’s eyes lit up. “Elder, do you know any divine abilities?” “Divine abilities? Those are the secrets of the great powers amongst Fiendgods, which are not taught to outsiders.” The old black bull shook his head. “Immortal Juhua only knew a single divine ability; the ‘Heavenly Transformation’ technique. Unfortunately, I never asked him about it. Alright…given your potential, in the future, you will definitely have the chance to learn a ‘divine ability’. Once you do, it will be normal for you to fight those at a higher level. That is the power of a true Fiendgod!” Ning nodded. He understood. As an Fiendgod Body Refiner, he had a good foundation. In a few years, he would reach the sixth stage. His [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would also strengthen alongside his soul, and he was very talented. The only problem was that the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had very high requirements with regards to magic treasures. When he became a Zifu Disciple, he would have to get hundreds of ranked magic treasures…his head hurt just thinking about it. “Enough. You can go back now.” The old black bull said. “Thank you so much, Senior.” Ning naturally had packed away the scrolls of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and the [Inner Visualization of the Shining Sun-Moon Buddha]. Although he himself didn’t need the visualization technique for himself, he could still leave it for his parents or the Ji clan. “You can go.” The old black bull said. Hua! Ning only felt an enormous illusory grizzly head appear, swallowing him within its maw. Spacetime around him once more distorted. He understood that he was about to return to Serpentwing Lake. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Serpentwing Ji Ning only felt spacetime changing, and then everything calmed down. “Huh?” Ning looked at the dark tunnel in the lair. This was the place he had been teleported from. He couldn’t help but laugh. This event truly had been something he had barely survived. However, in the end, he had lived, and his power was much greater than before as well. “Next time I go in, I’ll need to have first bound this control talisman.” Ning stretched out his hand, and a roughly made talisman appeared within it, with the Fiendgod character for ‘Right’ embedded on it. Ning had tested binding it, but unfortunately, his Xiantian ki was completely unable to enter it. It seemed as though he absolutely had to wait to become a Zifu Disciple. “Right?” Ning murmured. “Why is there a ‘Right’ character on this talisman? I wonder what sort of history it has.” And then, Ning pushed it to the back of his mind as he stored the talisman again. With a leap, he moved out from the corridor as agilely and as quickly as a gust of wind. ———————- Serpentwing Lake, within a crude room. Ji Yichuan and his wife were living here. Yuchi Snow was currently quietly seated at the side of the lake. In her hand, she held a cup of boiling hot water, which she was slowly drinking. “Snow, Snow.” Suddenly, a cry of excitement rang out from within the room. Yuchi Snow immediately turned her head to look. The normally glacier-like Yichuan now had his face covered with excitement and joy as he rushed out. On his chest, some drops of water could be seen, with the faint scent of wine. Yuchi Snow, seeing the way her man was acting, had a sense that she knew what had happened. “What is it?” “I can sense it.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “I can sense the jade sword. It is completely unharmed! Previously, Ning definitely must have suddenly entered a secret, hidden area, a small dimension or a small world, or perhaps an ancient formation. He has already come out of that hidden area alive.” 438 Encountering a relic site was a matter of luck, but it also represented an enormous risk! Ning hadn’t left for over a month, and so the two of them had been growing increasingly concerned and increasingly panicked. Yuchi Snow closed her eyes. Two flows of tears came out, and she murmured to herself, “Thank the heavens and thank the earth. Thank the heavens and thank the earth.” “He is currently in the center of Serpentwing Lake, most likely on that island.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Let’s go see him.” Snow stood up. “Right.” It had been a long time since Yichuan had lost his composure like this. Even when he had learned that his son had broken through to the Xiantian level, he hadn’t been this excited. Immediately, he took his wife by the hand and began running across the surface of the lake as though it were solid land, transforming into a streak of blue mist as he hurried afar. The Azure Firebird couldn’t always be here waiting. After all, that was the spirit-beast of Ji Redflower! In recent days, Yichuan and Snow had been living here, while the Azure Firebird had gone home. Suddenly… “Diremonster Serpentwing, I, Ji Ning, have come again! You still won’t come out?!” A loud roar spread in every direction, including into the ears of Yichuan and his wife, still walking across the surface of the lake. “Ning, he…” Yuchi Snow couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a laugh on her face. “As soon as he leaves that hidden relic site, he immediately once again challenges that Serpentwing.” Yichuan nodded. “Ji Ning relied on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to become a Xiantian, and so he wasn’t that far off from Serpentwing to begin with in power. This time, within that hidden relic site, perhaps he had some certain gains…and now that I can sense his location, there’s no need for any concern.” “Right.” Snow nodded as well. The two continued to move forward. Soon… “Look!” Yichuan saw from afar, in the distance, the waves of the lake were parted as a youngster was walking directly towards the bottom of the lake. “That kid has actually parted the waters and is heading directly towards the bottom of the lake.” “He’s going to the bottom of the lake?” Snow was shocked. Yichuan shook his head. “Don’t be worried. You watched Ning as he grew up. Can it be that you don’t know his temperament? If he wasn’t confident, would he go down?” “Right.” Snow nodded. “Let’s go over, but we’ll stay on the surface of the lake.” Yichuan said. “We’ll monitor the situation down below at all times. As soon as anything goes wrong, I will immediately go down.” ———————– “Diremonster Serpentwing, I, Ji Ning, have come again! You still won’t come out?!” After calling out while at the surface of the lake, Ning waited for a long time but Serpentwing still did not come out. Ning immediately made the decision to use his power to control fire and water to take command over the water around him in Serpentwing Lake. Huahuahua…. The waters of the lake were parted by an invisible hand, and were parted, revealing a corridor into the water. Ning walked directly towards the bottom of the lake. The deeper he went, the more powerful the water pressure became. Ning directly controlled a cylindrical underwater ‘corridor’ roughly ten meters across as he walked down through the corridor. “That’s the one named Ji Ning.” “It’s him.” The aquatic lesser monsters within the lake stared from afar as a human walked down through a corridor. All of them once more went to make the report. Serpentwing’s nest. The Diremonster, Serpentwing, had already transformed into human form, and was seated on a chair. He was forcibly suppressing his rage. “This Ji Ning came over a month ago to challenge me, and now he is challenging me again! The lake is so enormous. If some Xiantian lifeforms are hidden nearby, who would know? I know you have a trap. How could I let myself fall for it?” “Great king, great king.” “Great king.” Three lesser aquatic monsters came charging over. “What is it?” Serpentwing growled. Of the three lesser aquatic monsters, the leader, a prawn monster, hurriedly reported, “Great king, that Ji Ning suddenly parted the waters and has begun entering the depths of the lake.” “Entering the lake?” Serpentwing suddenly stood up, then immediately said, “When he parted the waters, what method did he use?” “We didn’t see him use any Xiantian Ki, nor did we see anything special. The waters simply naturally parted.” That prawn monster said hurriedly. Serpentwing said in astonishment, “No wonder this Ji Ning dared to challenge me in such a way. So he was capable of controlling water as soon as his Fiendgod Body Refining technique reached the Xiantian level. I wonder which type of technique he trains it. Who cares. When I went to the Western Prefecture City, he was only at Houtian level. Now that he has reached the Xiantian level, he is still only at most an early Xiantian!” “He actually dares to enter the lake!” The long, narrow eyes of Serpentwing were flashing with a ferocious light. “Hell has no doors, but you insist on barging in. I, Serpentwing, will naturally grant you your wish and send you to the depths of the eighteenth level of Hell.” Serpentwing immediately charged out of his nest. If they were on the surface of the lake, Serpentwing would be afraid of an ambush. But the bottom of the lake was his territory. Humans who entered it wouldn’t be able to use a tenth of their power; even if Yichuan had entered, he would only at most be able to wound Serpentwing. “Ji Ning is actually as stupid as this? It makes sense. He’s just an eleven year old child. His power is great, and so he thinks he is a peerless talent, and he has no regard for anyone. You killed my boy Redtip. I will definitely kill you.” Serpentwing, upon leaving his nest, immediately transformed into his enormous winged serpent form, swimming at high speed. “So it really is him!” Serpentwing suddenly came to a halt. Staring into the distance, he saw that from afar, Ning was already very close to the bottom of the lake, and a cylindrical downwards corridor was constantly being created, with a human youth slowly walking downwards. “He really did come to the bottom of the lake.” Serpentwing’s red eyes were filled with a murderous light. “He really is asking for death.” Hua… He quickly swam over. ——————————- Ning was wielding the Darknorth sword in his hand, striding on the water as he walked towards the bottom of Serpentwing Lake. Wherever he walked past, the waters of the lake naturally parted to form a corridor. “Hrm?” Ning immediately saw that enormous black shadow draw close to him. “Serpentwing!” Ning immediately recognized him. As the enormous black shadow drew near, that ferocious head of Serpentwing’s grew clearer as well. Those scarlet red eyes were staring angrily at Ning. “Ji Ning!” Serpentwing let out a furious howl, his voice ringing out. “You killed my son. Today, I will make you pay for it with your life!” Ji Ning roared back, “Old monster, you have slaughtered humans in the thousands. You caused the death of Spring Grass, and today, I will personally execute you!” The original cause of so many things! So many people had died. Spring Grass had died. All of this came from the enmity between himself and Serpentwing. “Hahaha, you will execute me? Little child, you truly don’t know your own limits. You actually dare to come into the depths of the water…once you are within the water, you won’t be able to return to the surface of the lake until your next life!” Serpentwing was supremely confident. “Your father wounded me multiple times, but I will let him share the pain of losing a child with me!” As soon as his words came to an end, Serpentwing suddenly scurried forward, charging straight towards the corridor which Ning had created. “Hua…” First, a serpentine tail pierced into the watery corridor, smashing straight towards Ning. Serpentwing’s current speed and power…was immeasurably greater than the Azure Skysnake’s. “He lives up to being a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster.” Ning was startled. In terms of speed alone, the late Xiantian-level Serpentwing was actually somewhat weaker than the Azure Skysnake, but in strength he was definitely above the Azure Skysnake. But now, even in terms of his weakness, speed, Serpentwing was superior to the Azure Skysnake. As for his strong point, power, Serpentwing had reached an awe-inducing level. “Old monster, prepare for death!” Ning immediately utilized his Windwing Evasion, transforming into blurred smoke that was even faster than the whipping attack of the serpentine tail of Serpentwing, immediately leaping onto the body of the snake. “Roaaaaaaaaaaar.” Serpentwing turned his head, opening his foul maw and biting down towards Ning. Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords in his hands, leapt up and directly stabbed towards Serpentwing’s serpentine head. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Blood Serpentwing’s giant bloody maw spat out a watery arrow of liquid. Swish! Swish! Swish! Gleaming with black light, the venomous liquid spread out towards Ji Ning, who didn’t dodge at all. The Darknorth sword in his left hand immediately executed the ‘Watertight’ technique, deflecting the venomous liquid to one side, and it landed on Serpentwing’s own body. “Crackle…” Serpentwing’s scales were immediately set alight, but then afterwards the venomous liquid sank into Serpentwing’s body, absorbed by him. Ning’s left hand had pushed aside the venomous liquid. His right hand was stabbing straight for Serpentwing’s head! His sword flashed like a ray of light! Hua! This sword contained the power of the True Meaning of the Waterdrop, and was so fast that it caused even Serpentwing to be shocked. He hurriedly tried to twist his head away. “Raindrop!” Ning’s eyes were filled with a cold, flashing light. “PIERCES ROCKS!!!” The sword light flashed straight through the side of Serpentwing’s head, piercing straight through those scales and then burrowing straight through the side of his head. Beneath the injury, one could faintly even see the white skull bone, and an enormous amount of green blood sprayed out from the wound. “He actually injured me?” The old monster, Serpentwing, went completely berserk. He wildly swung his head, his enormous scaled wings quickly sweeping towards Ning as well, and even his serpentine tail struck out, seeking to constrict Ning. For a moment it seemed as though he had been possessed, and the waters of the lake around them began to bubble and froth. Ning, wielding his two swords, moved like a shadow. “Not only will I injure you, I will kill you!” Although Serpentwing was stunned at the power of the swordplay Ning had displayed, he refused to believe that he, an old monster who had been training for a thousand years, would be defeated by this little human child. What’s more, Ning was the one who killed his most beloved child, Redtip…in this moment, Serpentwing had only one thought – kill Ji Ning! Huahuahua… 444 The waters of the lake swirled about, and the enormous scaled wings as well as that unpredictable serpentine tail attacked wildly. The waters of the lake was the domain of the aquatic monsters, and here, Serpentwing was like a tiger who had been given wings. Using the principles of ‘using generals against soldiers, using earth to block floods’, Ning continued to use appropriate, matching techniques to deal with the attacks. His sword techniques flashed out, leaving behind one wound after another on the serpentine tail and scaled wings of Serpentwing. “How is this possible!” “How can he possibly defeat me!” “Die! Die! Die! I will make you die!” The old monster Serpentwing was now completely berserk. Ning continued to battle against him, and occasionally, with but a glance, he would create a fire lotus petal or a water lotus petal. The fire lotus petal and water lotus petal would appear directly above and below Serpentwing, boxing him within. As the fire lotus petal and water lotus petal slowly swiveled in opposite directions, Serpentwing began to howl as his scales began to crack. “FORM!” Above his head, a layer of frost rapidly appeared, while at the same time, his serpentine head shook violently, dispersing the Waterflame Lotus. ——————- They battled wildly within the lake, causing utter chaos. None of the lesser aquatic monsters dared to draw near. Serpentwing’s body was covered with multiple gaping wounds, and green blood oozed everywhere, staining the surrounding lake water green. Above the lake. Ji Yichuan, dressed in white fur, stood there with Yuchi Snow. The entire surface of the lake was shaking wildly, as though deep within the lake, an enormous aquatic monster was shaking. “Such a large commotion.” Yichuan’s eyes lit up. Snow nodded as well. “It seems Ning is giving that old monster Serpentwing a great deal of pressure. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a large commotion. Look, the water of the lake is turning green, and there are corpses of fishes and prawns.” The nearby undulating waters of the lake were beginning to have corpses of fish and prawns float on the surface. Clearly, they had been poisoned. Yichuan took a sniff with his nose. “This is the blood of Serpentwing. His blood is highly venomous. Even after having been diluted by the lake water, most fish and prawns will be poisoned to death by it.” 445 “He has lost so much blood.” Snow’s amusement became even more pronounced. “Ning’s power has improved greatly.” “Right. To let a peak Xiantian-level old monster like Serpentwing lose so much blood is indeed very impressive.” Yichuan was very eager as well. ————————— Serpentwing had already used all the power available to him, but he still had yet to even injure Ning. Instead, his body was now covered with wounds, all inflicted by the sharp Darknorth swords in Ning’s hands. “After I reached the peak Xiantian stage, in this area controlled by the Ji clan, there’s only a few people more powerful than me! All of them are extremely famous…how could this punk Ji Ning be so powerful? Most likely, not even that Ji Lee is a match for him.” Serpentwing, after going berserk for a time, had calmed down, and had begun to plan for a retreat. The power Ning had displayed truly was astonishing. As an old monster, Serpentwing’s body was naturally powerful…the sword attacks of most Xiantian-level Ki Refiners probably wouldn’t even break through his scales. But Ning’s swords were incomparably sharp! They sliced right through, leaving massive wounds, or pierced right through, gouging great holes. “In a few more years, won’t this Ji Ning be even more powerful than his father?” The rage in Serpentwing’s heart was quickly dissipating, leaving behind only terror and alarm. “There’s no way I’ll be able to outfight a freak like him. I’d best flee!” Swoosh! With a shake of his serpentine tail and a turn of his serpentine head, the two scaled wings began to tremble…and Serpentwing began to attempt to flee at high speed. “Old monster Serpentwing, don’t even think about fleeing!” Ning, currently standing on Serpentwing’s body, simultaneously controlled the corridor of water while utilizing the Windwing Evasion technique rapidly. “If I want to leave, I’ll leave.” Serpentwing bellowed. With a shake of his tail, the waters of the lake immediately grew turbulent, and a surge of water immediately drenched Ning. Immediately afterwards, Serpentwing felt extremely delighted. A corridor formed by controlling water? Serpentwing was an aquatic monster who could also control water. To destroy it would naturally be extremely easy. If he wasn’t able to beat Ning, could it be that he also wouldn’t be able to flee? “Huh?” Serpentwing suddenly, vaguely felt a terrifying threat appear. He couldn’t help but to turn his head and look. In the lake waters behind him, Ning was currently standing upright and floating, surrounded by countless sword-type magic treasures. Every single one of them was covered with a faintly glowing light. A glowing sword of light formed from Xiantian ki that had been passed through and transformed by over three hundred flying sword magic treasures was currently hovering next to Ning, flickering. “Magic treasures? So many magic treasures?” Serpentwing was stunned. Swish! The glowing sword of light flashed, instantly traversing hundreds of meters. Serpentwing could sense that this glowing sword of light contained boundless power. He wanted to turn his head to dodge it, but the glowing sword of light only curved slightly when arcing, and thus still pierced with great precision straight through the center of Serpentwing’s serpentine head. Bang! The sword of light pierced straight through Serpentwing’s skull, carrying with it green blood as well as some brain tissue. “Aaaaah!” Serpentwing stared at Ning in astonishment. “This formation, formation…” “You should feel honored that you died beneath this sword formation.” Ning slowly walked over, and the waters of the lake parted before him. Serpentwing’s eyes grew dim, and then his enormous body began to slowly drift downwards… This old monster of Serpentwing Lake, who had been treated as a local tyrant for thousands of years, had died! Watching the corpse of Serpentwing slowly drift down, Ning had very complicated feelings in his heart. It was this old monster who had gone to Western Prefecture City to attack him…resulting in this chain of events. When he had gone out adventuring and exploring, he had treated Serpentwing as his ultimate goal. Although Serpentwing had broken through to the peak Xiantian level in power, Ning had still executed him! “Collect.” Ning grabbed Serpentwing’s enormous corpse. With but a thought, he stored it into an empty storage-type magic treasure. Although Serpentwing’s corpse was massive, when rolled up, it could still fit into one of the storage-type magic treasures. Although Ning didn’t have many other things, he had nearly a thousand storage-type magic treasures. “Time to go back up.” With but a thought, the waters parted above him, and Ning began to walk upwards. ————————- Yichuan and Snow were standing atop the lake, waiting. “No more movement?” Snow looked at the slowly calming waters. “There’s nothing going on down there any longer.” “Serpentwing was most likely unable to do anything to Ning.” Yichuan said. “Thus, he probably retreated. This battle has come to an end.” Snow looked at her man. “Can’t it be that Ning executed that old monster?” “Executed? In the water, that old monster can battle when he wants and flee when he wants. Beating him is easy, but executing him? Hard, hard, hard.” Yichuan had personally fought with Serpentwing a few times. He couldn’t help but shake his head. But then his eyes lit up, and he stared into the distance. “Look. Ji Ning is coming out.” Snow turned to look as well. From afar was the island in the center of Serpentwing Lake. A white wave was rising up next to the island, and the wave then parted, creating a corridor. A youth dressed in beast furs was walking through the waves, heading straight for the island. “Ning!” Snow immediately called out. ———————– Ning had been walking on the waves and heading for the island, but in his ears, he suddenly heard that familiar call. “Ning!” “Mother?” Ning was stunned, and he hurriedly turned to look. From afar, he saw Ji Yichuan, dressed in white furs, and Yuchi Snow. They were rapidly running towards him on water. This sight caused Ning to be both astonished and delighted. Yichuan and Snow landed on the island. “Ning.” As soon as she had arrived, Snow immediately grabbed her son by the hand, carefully inspecting him. “Don’t worry. Even if Ji Ning was wounded, given the strength of his Fiendgod body, he will quickly recover.” Yichuan looked towards Ning, his eyes filled with satisfaction. “To be able to battle with a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster and cause him, Serpentwing, to flee helplessly…Ning, you have improved even more than I predicted.” Ning was startled, and then he quickly said, “Father, I executed the Diremonster, Serpentwing.” 448 If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “You executed Serpentwing?” Ji Yichuan looked at his son, and by his side, Yuchi Snow stared in disbelief as well. The two of them knew that their son wasn’t the type of person to tell lies, but this was simply too…when the experts of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan had battled Serpentwing numerous times, they hadn’t been able to execute Serpentwing. Ji Ning said hurriedly, “Father, please look.” With a wave of his hand, out of nowhere, an enormous thing covered in wounds appeared in the pool next to them. Those enormous scaled wings, that viscous green blood…they all testified to this creature’s identity. “Serpentwing?” “Serpentwing?” Yichuan and Snow looked at the enormous corpse. They couldn’t help but exchange a glance. “It seems my son’s strength…his strength is quite extraordinary.” Yichuan said. “Not only did he kill Serpentwing, he also was able to store Serpentwing’s corpse within storage-type magic treasures.” “Father. Mother.” Ning didn’t hide anything. “When I was adventuring at Eastmount Marsh, I encountered the Ironwood clan’s Ironwood Zhan.” Yichuan and Snow were both startled. Ironwood Zhan? That was a dangerous foe. “He probably was there to deal with the Azure Skysnake to try and force it to become his slave.” Ning said. At this point, he began to sigh a bit as he thought back to how he and the Azure Skysnake had battled repeatedly with each other, with the two being unable to harm each other, and how slowly, they began to build respect for each other as opponents. In the end, as he did not find the Azure Skysnake’s corpse within Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasures, nor did he see the Azure Skysnake become a tamed slave, Ning understood that the Azure Skysnake, at that critical juncture, had probably developed its natural ability, ‘Void Blink’. An Azure Skysnake who had developed the Void Blink technique was like a carp who had transformed into a dragon! It had definitely left the Swallow Mountain area to roam the world in search of natural treasures… It was hard to say if they would ever meet again. Ning quickly returned to his senses. “When Ironwood Zhan battled the Azure Skysnake, I took the chance to flee, and I fled over a thousand kilometers out of the mountain forests…and by the side of a pool, as I rested, I was lucky enough to suddenly gain an understanding of the Dao.” “An understanding of the Dao?” Yichuan and his wife exchanged glances. They held their breaths. “I spent an entire night comprehending the Dao, but I didn’t expect that in the end, I was disrupted by the pursuing Ironwood Zhan.” Ning shook his head. “However, in my fury, I immediately utilized the Yin and Yang power, fusing it into the Crimsonbright divine power. Heavenly water and fire descended upon me, transforming me into a Xiantian Fiendgod’s body as I became a Xiantian lifeform. At that time, my power dramatically increased, and I then first killed Ironwood Zhan’s spirit-beast, that Bi’An Tiger, and then Ironwood Zhan himself!” Yichuan said in surprise, “You killed Ironwood Zhan?” “Right.” Ning waved his hand, and within it appeared a black rattan whip. “This is Ironwood Zhan’s personal weapon.” Upon seeing the Blackwood Vinewhip, Yichuan nodded and sighed in approval. “This is indeed his Blackwood Vinewhip. As soon as you reached the Xiantian level, you defeated and slayed Ironwood Zhan. It seems as though that night you spent comprehending the Dao helped you improve quite substantially.” Ning nodded. “That night, as I comprehended the Dao, I gained insight into a hint of the True Meaning of the Dao.” “The True Meaning of the Dao?” Even Snow called out in shock. “Was it truly the True Meaning of the Dao?” Yichuan didn’t dare to believe it either. In raising one’s level of enlightenment, the higher one went, the harder it became. Above the level of ‘one with the world’ was the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’! Even most Zifu Disciples hadn’t reached the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ level! Yichuan, in the past, had only managed to reach this level thanks to special circumstances, and in addition, this was something which the Ji clan had held as a secret and never made public. Others only believed Yichuan to be at the ‘one with the world’ level. “My son is only eleven.” Snow’s eyes were shining. “But he’s actually reached the level of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, and is training in what is acknowledged as the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. With this sort of talent, it would be exceptionally easy for him to be accepted for tutelage by some of the major powers.” “No rush, no rush.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Are you able to actually utilize the True Meaning of the Dao that you comprehended?” Comprehension was one thing, but being able to utilize it was another thing altogether. At the ancient aquatic estate, Ning had been in a near-lethal situation when he finally managed to execute the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’. “Father, please watch.” The Darknorth swords appeared in Ning’s hands, and he shot a sword into the air. Hua! The tip of the sword seemed like a drop of rain, causing the air around it to ripple violently. “True Meaning of the Raindrop!” Yichuan nodded repeatedly. “This is the True Meaning of the Raindrop. That night you spent comprehending the Dao allowed you to be able to put the True Meaning of the Dao on display through your swordplay? This is…this is…” Yichuan didn’t even know what to say. Swallow Mountain, at least, had never seen such a monstrous talent. Most likely, only in those distant, super-massive tribes would an equivalent talent exist. “I was only able to comprehend the True Meaning of the Raindrop in a hidden area.” Ning said. “I imagine, Father and Mother, that you both knew that I was trapped within a hidden area.” The couple hurriedly nodded. “Your son suddenly disappeared, and caused you such worry, Father, Mother…” Ning, after seeing his parents, quickly understood this. His father had no doubt been unable to sense the jade sword, and thus had frantically rushed over. After all, the aquatic palace was in a completely different dimension. How could his father sense the jade sword there? At that time, most likely his father was worried that he was dead. Ning could completely guess at how his father and mother had felt, having been worried for so long. He couldn’t help but feel rather ashamed. “This isn’t your fault.” Yichuan sighed. “When I was adventuring back in the day, I saw multiple relic sites, but never entered them. Although relic sites offer great opportunities, perhaps not even one out of a hundred will come out of a site alive. Your mother and I are very happy that you came out of it alive.” Snow gently rubbed her son’s hair as well. Over this past month, she truly had been very worried. “But I imagine in that hidden area, your gains were quite substantial. You were actually able to execute Serpentwing in one encounter.” Yichuan said. He didn’t believe that his son would be able to kill Serpentwing solely after having comprehended the True Meaning of the Raindrop. After all, Yichuan himself had long ago gained insight into the True Meaning of the Raindrop. In addition, Yichuan had merged every single one of the nine sword techniques of the [Raindrop Sutra] with the True Meaning of the Raindrop, and yet was still unable to kill Serpentwing. “Right. I received the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” With a wave of his hand, Ning retrieved those multiple pieces of fur parchment, offering them to his parents. Although the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was a secret, there was no need for Ning to hide anything from his parents. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]?” Yichuan and his wife both took a look, but as soon as they did, their faces changed. “This, this…” Yichuan and his wife were completely stunned. They were quite experienced, especially Snow, whose lineage was extraordinary. They were quickly able to tell how special this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was. Yichuan couldn’t refrain from saying, “This [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is even more powerful than any of the ‘ultimate techniques’ of our Ji clan. Snow, this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is most likely comparable to your tribe’s [Windwing Evasion] technique.” Off to one side, Ning couldn’t help but sigh. That which Fiendgod Body Refiners needed most was divine abilities! But every single divine ability, even in the Fiendgod era, was not permitted to be taught to outsiders. Not even the old black bull in that ancient aquatic estate had known any. It was only because the Yuchi clan had helped that Celestial Immortal and saved his life that they had gained a ‘divine ability’. The value of a divine ability was perhaps even greater than that of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Fortunately, his mother had given this ‘divine ability’ to him, as otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken before he would have had a chance to learn his first divine ability? “This [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] possesses extraordinary power. It is a peerless formation technique that can allow a person to battle at a higher level of power.” Yuchi Snow said. “Only, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] has very high requirements for magic treasures as well as the soul. This is its weakness.” “Right. Several hundred magic treasures. Who can acquire so many?” Yichuan nodded as well. But Ning said, “Father, Mother, in the hidden area, I acquired many unranked magic treasures. Simply too many.” As he spoke, he brought out the storage armguard and gave it to his parents, while at the same time, Ning withdrew all of his personal ki from within the magic treasures, so as to allow others to more easily bind them.” “Too many?” Yichuan accepted the armguard, puzzled. He quickly bound the armguard, and as soon as he investigated it, he couldn’t help but reveal a look of shock. “What is it?” Snow immediately asked. “The number of magic treasures…is most likely in the thousands.” Yichuan sighed. “So many!” Snow was shocked as well. Although they didn’t care about unranked magic treasures, there were ‘thousands’ of them within. Even the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan would be envious of such a fortune. Ning added, “Those magic treasures are useless to me. I’ll hand them to Father and Mother for you to dispose.” He had dozens of storage treasures and over a thousand sword-type magic treasures, as well as various other scattered magic treasures, such as wing-type magic treasures…which was very suited for him to train in the [Windwing Evasion] technique. The scattered treasures also included some Dao-seals, formations, and others items. As for the thousands of storage treasures, blades, whips, staffs, spears, and axes, he might as well give all of those to his father. —————————— Ning had first acquired the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], then shown off so many magic treasures. His parents had yet to fully recover, before Ning spoke once more. “This time, in the hidden area, I acquired a treasure. This will be of true benefit to our Ji clan.” “What is it?” Yichuan and Snow immediately looked over. With a wave of Ning’s hand, a beast fur scroll appeared. Atop the beast fur scroll, a sun and a moon hung high in the sky, sparkling with boundless light down upon a Buddha. “A visualization technique!” Yichuan and Snow simultaneously spoke out. Ning said with surprise, “Father, Mother, you know already?” “How could we not know?” Snow stared at the painting of the Buddha. “In the past, my Yuchi clan also had a Visualization painting, but afterwards, the Visualization painting was lost in a struggle with another tribe. But Ning, this visualization technique is a technique which can allow one to strengthen the soul. The soul is a person’s foundation. While normally it is hard to see the benefits of a strong soul, the benefits are invisible and tremendous. You should leave this with you and use it at all times.” Ning hurriedly said, “In the hidden area, I was fortunate enough to have a Visualization painting imprinted directly into my memory! It is even clearer than this!” Snow, understanding the situation, said joyfully, “My son’s karmic luck is extraordinary. According to legends, the ancestor of my Yuchi clan met a Celestial Immortal, who with but a single finger point imprinted the Visualization painting directly into his soul. It was even clearer than the painting, and it could be visualized at all times. I didn’t expect that in this hidden area, my son would also have such a stroke of fortune.” 454 Ning thought back to how, while he was being reincarnated, he had run into the Lord of Cui Palace in the Netherworld Kingdom, and how the Lord of Cui Palace had also used a single finger to imprint the [Nuwa Painting] into his soul’s memory. “Father, Mother, the name of this visualization technique is the [Inner Visualization of the Sun-Moon Buddha].” Ning added. “Ji Ning.” Yichuan’s heart was pounding as he looked at his son. “This [Inner Visualization of the Sun-Moon Buddha] will have a long-lasting impact on the Ji clan. I will immediately take it back. However, this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] should not be publicized for now. It is too hard to train in, and aside from you, no one in the Ji clan is capable of bringing forth the power of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. After your own strength improves in the future, you yourself can decide whether or not you want to publicize it. As for those unranked magic treasures, I will help you dispose of them.” “Let it all be as you decide, Father.” Ning replied. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Yichuan looked at his wife. “Snow, Ji Ning’s strength can be considered at the absolute top for all below the Zifu Disciple level. The Swallow Mountain region is unable to contain him any further.” Snow nodded as well. She understood what her man was saying. “Huh?” Ji Ning looked at his parents, somewhat puzzled. Yichuan said, “Ji Ning, you should know about the six great powers here at Swallow Mountain.” “I know.” Ning nodded. “Swallow Mountain has six local hegemons. They are our Ji clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult, the Ironwood clan, and Snowdragon Mountain. Of the six hegemons, our Ji clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, and the Blackfire Cult are allies, while the Ironwood clan and the Snowdragon Mountain are allied!” The six major hegemons of Swallow Mountain were arrayed into two alliances, and the battles between them were very fierce, with Xiantian lifeforms often dying. Yichuan continued, “But are you aware of the reason as to why the alliance between the Ironwood clan and Snowdragon Mountain is capable of forcing us other four hegemons to ally together?” “I am not.” Ning shook his head. These secrets were not recorded in any books. “The six great powers are all guarded by Zifu Disciples.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Your power is most likely already invincible against anyone below the Zifu Disciple level. In a few more years, you will most likely become a Zifu Disciple, so I must tell you these things now!” “That Ironwood clan is not worth mentioning!” Yichuan said seriously, his eyes filled with a murderous light. “But the Snowdragon Mountain is a truly formidable enemy. They are truly frightening. In our Swallow Mountain region, Snowdragon Mountain is merely a single branch of the true Snowdragon Mountain Sect.” “A branch?” Ning was stunned. Of the six hegemons, Snowdragon Mountain was the most powerful force. But this Snowdragon Mountain was merely a branch? Yichuan looked at his son and said solemnly, “The power of the Snowdragon Mountain Sect is thousands of times greater than that of Swallow Mountain’s Snowdragon Mountain Branch, and thousands of times 456 greater than our Ji clan! This is a colossal, top-tier clan which is not inferior than your mother’s Yuchi clan!” Yuchi Snow looked at her son as well. “The [Windwing Evasion] includes the history of my Yuchi clan. My Yuchi clan is an extremely ancient, top-tier large clan. Clans like the Ji clan…are completely incomparable to the likes of my Yuchi clan. But of course, that was all in the past. ———————— Ning, hearing his parents speak of these things, instantly had a desire to learn more about this boundless world. The Yuchi clan, Snowdragon Mountain, and those legendary, distant top-tier clans. They were all so far away from Swallow Mountain. “Ning, do you know how large the Grand Xia Dynasty is, exactly?” Snow looked at her son. “I do not.” Ning shook his head. The Grand Xia Dynasty had been founded in the Fiendgod Era, and had destroyed other ancient dynasties to unify this vast world. It had existed for trillions of years! The books which described the territory of the Grand Xia Dynasty all used the same word: Boundless! How enormous would such a dynasty be? How deep would its roots be? “When the Grand Xia Dynasty unified the world, it divided the world into 3600 commanderies, and also assigned 800 Marquises!” Snow said slowly. “Because the world is simply too vast, even Immortals and Fiends found it difficult to govern it. Thus, they divided it into 3600 commanderies. Amongst these 3600 commanderies, there are large ones and small ones, but even the smallest are extremely vast.” “Swallow Mountain is under the governance of the Stillwater Commandery, which is the territory ruled over by the Marquis of Stillwater.” Snow said. “The commandery city of Stillwater is nearly a million kilometers away from us.” “The commandery city of Stillwater? A million kilometers away from us?” Ning could completely imagine how in that distant, distant region, there was an incomparably ancient, vast, and bustling city. In that place, Immortals and Fiends congregated, their decisions impacting this entire enormous region. Snow continued, “The commandery city of Stillwater is the seat of power for the entire Stillwater Commandery, a place where Immortals and Fiends reside. However, Stillwater Commandery is simply too vast, and there are tens of thousands of regions within it like our Swallow Mountain…thus, some of the most top tier clans, schools, and sects are all scattered throughout the area!” “As large as that?” Ning held his breath. “As the saying goes, the heavens are high and the ruler is far away. With the world divided into 3600 commanderies, the power of those Marquises in the territory they rule is absolutely monstrous.” Snow 457 sighed. “The imperial city of the Grand Xia Dynasty is simply too far away. In history, there have even been some Marquises who rebelled. Those wars truly are wars where Immortals and Fiends slaughter each other and countless experts fall. Truly terrifying.” Ning nodded. The flaw of having an enormous territory was the difficulty one would have in governing it. Even the high and mighty Marquis of Stillwater was unable to completely govern his vast territory, and so he allowed the various tribes to slaughter and battle each other. “After some of the Marquises revolted, the Grand Xia Dynasty, so as to better govern the various regions, began to frantically build one commandery city after another in the various commanderies, and even Swallow Mountain has over ten of these commandery cities.” Snow looked at her son. “Every single city has a matching ‘official writ’!” “Official writ?” Ning listened carefully. “Right. Official writ!” Snow continued. “By binding an official writ, that means you are in control of one of those commandery cities, and are in name one of the officials of the Grand Xia Dynasty. However, these official writs are ranked magic treasures, and thus only Zifu Disciples and above can bind them.” “Swallow Mountain has ten of these commanderies within it.” Yichuan spoke out as well. “Of the ten commandery cities, one is Swallow Mountain City, where the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty are stationed! Of the other nine cities, our Five Prefectures of the Ji clan is in control of one, the ‘Thousand Swords City’ of our Central Prefecture.” Yichuan explained. “The Riverbank clan, Kou clan, and Ironwood clan all have one as well.” “The Blackfire Cult has two commandery cities. Snowdragon Mountain has three commandery cities.” “Actually, long ago, the Ji clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult, and the Ironwood clan all were considered part of the local tribes of Swallow Mountain.” Yichuan sighed. “Afterwards, when Snowdragon Mountain acquired one of the official writs for one of the cities and got involved in this region, the Ironwood clan, the weakest of the clans, quickly threw themselves in with Snowdragon Mountain. However, we other four powers continue to resist.” “We are all officials of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and within our own commandery cities, it is forbidden for Immortal practitioners to battle each other. To disobey this rule is to challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty, punishable by death!” Ning, hearing his father’s explanation, couldn’t help but frown. “Father, Mother, based on what you are saying, if Immortal practitioners are forbidden from battling within the commandery cities on pain of death, would it be very hard for one tribe to try and destroy another one?” 458 “Hard?” Snow laughed coldly. “Easy! For example, Zifu Disciples have a limited lifespan. Upon death, the official writ becomes an ownerless object, at which point, the tribe will quickly collapse.” “Also, Zifu Disciples can’t always stay within their commanderies. As long as they come out and are killed, then their official writs can be seized and their tribe will be finished.” “And then of course, there are some utterly lawless, large, powerful clans!” Snow said. “They will send people over to your commanderyity to assassinate the Zifu Disciples of your clan and take away your official writ. What can you do about it?” Ning was stunned. “This…” “Without any proof, what will you do?” Snow laughed. “But of course, the mightier a power, the more cautious they will be. Challenging the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty is a capital offense. They wouldn’t casually do such a thing, and even if they decide to, they would use some very secretive methods. All I am trying to tell you is that there are many possible ways to destroy a tribe. You might not make trouble for others, but they might for you. In the end, the most important thing is strengthening one’s self!” ————————— “The Marquis of Stillwater controls this vast region, but aside from the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty stationed here, there is another squad of Immortal practitioners, known as the ‘Raindragon Guards’. According to legend, only Wanxiang Adepts are allowed to join the Raindragon Guards! By relying on the Raindragon Guards, the Grand Xia Dynasty is able to better control its vast territory. Remember. The Raindragon Guards cannot be trifled with.” ————————— “Ning, given your talent and comprehension, you would find it very easy to request tutelage under a major power. After you go out adventuring, it would be best for you to find a major school or power to take shelter under.” —————————- Yichuan and Snow told their son many things. They knew that Ning would definitely advance onto a far greater stage, and perhaps even become a major figure in the entire Stillwater Commandery…naturally, they carefully instructed and warned him, telling him everything which they knew. Only now did Ning truly understand how vast the world was. Only now did he know about the Raindragon Guards of the Grand Xia Dynasty, all formed from Immortal practitioners. Of the great army controlled by the Marquis of Stillwater. Of some of the top tier clans, schools, sects…and of course, many 459 other clans that were powerful in their own localities, that had been able to control official writs for a long period of time. Below them, of course, were countless, innumerable minor tribes. “Whew.” Ning’s heart was beginning to fill with ardor. “Ji Ning, I will take away the corpse of Serpentwing. To outsiders, we shall simply say that I was the one to kill him.” Yichuan said. “After all, you are very young. If we were to publicize that you were the one who killed him, it will only cause endless difficulties.” “I’ll let Father handle all of these things.” Ning said hurriedly. “Right, Father, I want to build a residence here at Serpentwing Lake. In the future, I will often live here.” “Live here?” Yichuan and Snow looked around them. This area was very peaceful. “Right. This is a good place.” Yichuan nodded. “I will arrange for some people to help you build a residence here. Your mother and I will go back now. While adventuring, come back and visit us often.” “I will. I will go back to West Prefecture City in a few days.” Ning nodded. He was going to take a trip to the Blacktooth Tribe to bring Spring Grass’ younger brother to West Prefecture City. This was the promise he had made to Spring Grass. “Hurry back.” Snow gently stroked her son’s head. “Right.” Ning nodded. He understood that this trip he had made into the Aquatic Manor had caused his parents great worry. —————— That day, Ning led Autumn Leaf and Mowu back to the Blacktooth Tribe, mounted on their black beasts. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The journey from Serpentwing Lake to the Blacktooth Tribe was a long one. Even with the black beasts travelling all day and only resting at night, three days time was needed. Night time. The campfire was blazing. Ji Ning and Autumn Leaf were by the side of the campfire, while Mowu was on watch, so as to not allow any impudent wild beasts to interrupt his young master. “I haven’t had the chance to take a good look at the miscellaneous items I acquired in the Aquatic Manor.” Ning suddenly remembered that although he had gone through all those magic treasures he had acquired during the first and second trials, of the thousands of magic treasures and miscellaneous items he had acquired at the third trial, he had bound them then immediately battled that black-furred golem, then met with that old black bull. He hadn’t had any time to flip through them at all. “One of the miscellaneous items I found in the first or second trial was a secret manual that is nearly as good as the [Raindrop Sutra]. The number of miscellaneous items in the third trial was several times greater than in the first two.” With a wave of his hand, Ning brought out one item after another, which he then made disappear afterwards. Autumn Leaf just watched to the side, curious. A long time later… “Yet another secret manual, the [Clearwind Manual]?” Ning flipped through it, and was instantly delighted. “It’s actually a swordplay manual, and it directly instructs one in how to utilize the True Meaning of the Dao. It is comparable to the [Raindrop Sutra].” Ning’s judgment and vision was much keener than before. After all, he had gained insights into the True Meaning of the Dao, and as he carefully read the contents, he quickly could vaguely sense that the ultimate goal of this type of swordplay was to develop the ‘True Meaning of the Clearwind’. Actually, the deceased people in the corridor were all only at the Xiantian level, so how powerful or profound could the manuals they were carrying on them possibly be? Actually, a consummate skill such as the [Clearwind Manual], logically speaking, shouldn’t even be in there. For example, Ning hadn’t brought the [Raindrop Sutra] or the [Thunderflame Sword] with him. From this, one could tell that the previous master of this manual most likely came from an even more powerful, top-tier clan who didn’t restrict manuals on this level too tightly. ————– 461 There really were many miscellaneous items in the third trials, and plenty of treasures as well. Ning found as many as three powerful techniques! After flipping through these manuals, Ning began to carefully inspect the other miscellaneous items, the ones that didn’t look like manuals. “Huh?” Ning suddenly flipped out a jade carving! This was two foot long square piece of jade, and on the jade there was carved an image of an old man with a long beard. “Wait!” Ning’s eyes lit up, and he carefully inspected it. At first glance, he had thought that this was just a carving, but as he took a closer look…he felt as though the square jade piece was actually covered with countless small characters that formed some small images. These characters were the characters used in the Grand Xia Dynasty. The characters were tiny! If an ordinary person saw it, they probably wouldn’t even notice it, but Ning was no ordinary person. His visual acuity was astonishing, and he could see a housefly from a distance of ten kilometers! With such visual acuity, naturally he could read the dense, tiny characters on the jade carving. “How marvelous.” “This piece of jade has hundreds of thousands of words carved onto it, and the countless works actually formed the image of a long-bearded elder.” Ning first exhaled in amazement, and then he began to search for the place where these characters originated. Soon, he found that in the leftmost upper corner, there were four prominent characters… [Nine Scrolls on Formations]! Ning’s eyes lit up as he carefully continued to read. “I, Wu Daoyan, have focused exclusively on formation techniques for over eighty thousand years. I was lucky enough to survive the last tribulation, but I think that the next great tribulation in nine hundred years time, I will not be able to survive. I am unwilling for the essence of my formation techniques to be lost, and so I have recorded down the knowledge of my formation techniques within these nine scrolls! I hope that someone with the right karmic fortune will carefully learn and comprehend it!” The opening words caused Ning to feel delighted. Anyone who was capable of living eighty thousand years and yet still be subject to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations was almost certainly a Loose Immortal. Immortal Juhua was able to live for millions of years, but most Loose Immortals weren’t able to live that long. Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations; the calamities were easy to avoid, but the tribulations were hard to escape. A great tribulation every nine hundred years! Each tribulation more powerful than the last, continuously accumulating until even a Loose Immortal like of Immortal Juhua, on par with a Celestial Immortal, would not be able to withstand it. “The knowledge of a Loose Immortal regarding formation techniques. This is something that is no less valuable than the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] or the [Windwing Evasion].” Ning immediately understood how valuable this was. “With this knowledge regarding formations, someone actually went to enter the trials of the underground estate’s corridors. Jeeze…” The person who acquired this knowledge on formations was most likely someone who was unskilled in formations. After all, the abstruse mysteries of formations were very hard to comprehend. Generally speaking, Immortal practitioners only knew how to set up formations; they didn’t understand the principles behind the formations. For example, Ning only knew how to set up and control the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Immortal practitioners would generally prefer to spend their time in binding more powerful magic treasures, or more powerful magic techniques. Those who would lower their heads and study formations were indeed very rare! And what’s more, formations were extremely abstruse and hard to understand, making researchers in formations even rarer! Most likely, the person who received this didn’t understand it. Even up until the point of his death, he still hadn’t had any accomplishments, and thus he had gone to attempt the underground estate. There was another possibility as well, that it was someone like Ning…someone who accidentally entered Serpentwing Lake and thus was forcibly teleported into the Aquatic Manor, then died within. “No matter what happened, this [Nine Scrolls on Formations] is now mine. And here I was, wondering how it could be possible that, given there were thousands of storage treasures, signifying thousands of people, how could not a single one of them been carrying something truly valuable?” Ning said to himself joyfully. “I finally acquired a valuable treasure. Time to take a good look.” He immediately lowered his head and began to read this [Nine Scrolls on Formations]. Formations could be set up using all sorts of things, and some truly miraculous, large-scale formations could even make the world itself part of the formation! “Interesting.” Many people felt that the [Nine Scrolls on Formations] were dry and boring, but Ning began to smile as he read them. Formations required a high ability to compute and understand. One had to be able to calculate! Ning, in his previous life, was exceedingly smart. Because of his illness, he was unable to go to school, so he had to teach himself everything! He had taught himself through reading books online, and his knowledge had far outstripped those of the same age as him, especially in the sciences. Despite his young age, he had earned a vast fortune! In this life, he had acquired the [Nuwa Painting] and was able to divide his mind, thus making his mental computational abilities even nimbler! In the previous life, on Earth, the education system had taught Ning how to think. Although Earth was just one of trillions of little worlds, its educational system was far superior to this world’s, where, for example, Swallow Mountain was still at a tribal era of development…even the descendants of the Ji clan would generally only be able to read, while the members of lesser tribes wouldn’t even be able to recognize any characters. Given this sort of level of education, it was only natural for everyone here to find it incredibly hard to analyze formations. It can be said that although perhaps the skilled scientists of Earth wouldn’t necessarily all become formation experts, they would at least be very promising prospects in this regard. ————————– The education Ning had received in his past life was like ‘software’. In this life, Ning had an extremely powerful soul, which was like ‘hardware’! Naturally, he was very well suited for training in formations! “So that’s how it is.” Ning revealed a smile while reading. “That Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation and other formations like it truly are crude. They completely rely on activating the power of the world. There’s no skill at all in them.” The more he read, the more Ning appreciated it. But slowly, the smile on Ning’s face disappeared, and it was replaced by a frowning concentration, mixed with occasional stupefaction. “Formation techniques really can’t be underestimated.” Ning nodded. “The way of formations is as vast and boundless as the seas. I’m only able to understand the most basic principles, but as soon as I see some slightly more abstruse, complex parts, I am completely lost. It makes sense. Although in this boundless world, most people are a bit stupid, there are still many geniuses as well. Upon focusing on something for hundreds or thousands of years, they will of course vastly exceed those of us on Earth.” “Young master, the sun is up. We should head out.” Autumn Leaf suddenly called. “Ah?” Ning suddenly discovered that it was already day. —————————— Formation techniques were as boundless as the seas. Upon understanding the first scroll of the [Nine Scrolls on Formations], one could be considered a formations expert. Unfortunately, Ning wasn’t able to completely understand even that first scroll. This caused him to become more humble and not feel so self-delighted. “Through analyzing formations, I will have more options and more tactics available to me.” 464 “Also, when I use the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], I can make it more nimble and won’t have to use it in such a static manner.” Although Ning was just a basic student of this field, he now had a basic understanding of the way of formations, with the essence of it being ‘guidance’! For example, at first, when he stupidly just simultaneously controlled hundreds of flying swords, he had to spend effort controlling every one minutely, which was simply too mentally exhausting. Fortunately, his soul was very powerful, and so he was easily able to execute the fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. But if he were an expert on formations, he would be able to have some of the critical swords ‘guide’ the other swords, which would greatly reduce the amount of load on his soul, and allow him to easily execute more powerful levels of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. ————————— “Young master, the Blacktooth Tribe is up ahead.” Autumn Leaf called out. Only now did Ning halt his pondering on formations. Raising his head, he saw that in the distance, the sentries of the Blacktooth Tribe had noticed them. “It is young master Ji.” “Quick, hurry and report this to the leader.” The tribesmen of the Blacktooth Tribe had seen Ji Ning last time. This time, the three of them were once again travelling together, mounted on the three black beasts. They were quickly recognized. As Ning and the other two arrived at the gates to the tribe, Blacktooth was there to personally welcome them. “My respects to you, young master.” Blacktooth had a large group of tribesmen behind him, all of them kneeling in unison. “Mm.” Ning nodded. “Take me to Spring Grass’ place.” “Alright.” Blacktooth said hurriedly. The only person in the Blacktooth Tribe who had any sort of a connection to Ji Ning was Spring Grass. Ning suddenly looked sideways, glancing a skinny toddler standing behind Blacktooth whose face was rather sickly, yet seemed similar to Spring Grass. Ning remembered seeing this toddler last time, and thus he spoke out. “What is your name?” The toddler was stunned. Blacktooth, following Ning’s gaze, turned to look at his son. He hurriedly said, “Quick, response to the young master’s words.” Only now did the toddler stutter out, “My name is Bluestone!” “Bluestone, Bluestone…” Ning gently murmured to himself. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The toddler nervously looked at the youth riding on the black beast. He only felt that this youth was a very powerful figure. The entire tribe seemed to be afraid of him. “Bluestone.” The youth dismounted from the black beast, then walked over and held his hand. “Come with me. Let’s go to your big sister’s tomb and kowtow to your sister.” Ji Ning took Bluestone’s tiny hand, and Bluestone, stupefied, just let himself be led away, not daring to resist. By his side, Blacktooth and the other tribesmen naturally didn’t dare to argue. And so, just like that, they made their way through the tribe before arriving at a large graveyard behind the tribe. Once again, they came before that tomb. “Spring Grass. I came.” Ji Ning had prepared some sacrificial items which he had prepared when passing through some of the nearby tribes along the way. He placed all of them in front of the tomb carefully, while at the same time saying gently, “That Riverside He of the Riverside tribe is dead now. Serpentwing of Serpentwing Lake is dead as well. Your enemies are all dead.” As soon as these words were uttered, Blacktooth and the others next to him were startled. What? The Diremonster, Serpentwing, was dead as well? “Bluestone should be your only remaining little brother.” Ning reached his hand out, pulling the dumbstruck Bluestone forward. “I swear before your tomb that I will definitely provide good tutelage to Bluestone” Bluestone was somewhat stunned, but his father, Blacktooth, was incomparably delighted. He hurriedly said, “Thank you, young master.” He himself was just the leader of a small tribe. What sort of a future would he be able to offer his son? But if someone as exalted as the young master of the Ji clan were to help out, then his son’s future would be very different.” “As long as you don’t oppose it.” Ning glanced at Blacktooth. “In the future, I will be spending quite a long period of time by Serpentwing Lake. If you want to see your son, come to Serpentwing Lake and find me there.” “Yes.” Blacktooth said respectfully. “Bluestone, kowtow to your big sister.” Ning looked towards Bluestone by his side. “Okay.” The toddler hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed three times. Ning waved towards the side. “All of you can leave now.” “Yes, young master.” Autumn Leaf included, everyone withdrew. Even Bluestone was led away by Blacktooth. In this wild, desolate graveyard, the only one remaining was Ji Ning. “Just the two of us now.” Ning withdrew a bamboo reed, beginning to drink wine. “Today, your young master will spend some time chatting with you. In the future, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come visit you too often.” ———————— Ning drank fruit wine in front of the tomb while chatting with ‘Spring Grass’. In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. “Huh?” Ning suddenly frowned. As a Fiendgod-like entity, his senses were extremely acute. He easily detected minute trembles in the ground. “Thousands of warriors! And the distance should only be twenty kilometers. Thousands of warriors, gathering twenty kilometers away? Can it be that a tribe is about to attack the Blacktooth Tribe?” With regards to the struggles between the various tribes, the Ji clan usually pretended not to notice them. “Blacktooth was originally a travelling merchant, and thus should be smooth and slick in establishing relationships.” Ning was puzzled. “Ever since founding this Blacktooth Tribe, no other tribes have ever attacked. Why has a tribe come to attack this time? And with thousands of warriors at that?” “Let’s take a look.” Ning immediately rose. Regardless of whether it was for Spring Grass or for Bluestone, he couldn’t just stand and watch with arms folded. Although the Ji clan usually pretended to not notice these intertribal struggles, once they did interfere, the tribes they controlled naturally didn’t dare to disobey. ———————- Ning walked within the tribe, heading straight for the gates. “Young master.” Mowu and Autumn Leaf hurriedly followed him. “Young master.” Blacktooth led his tribesmen to follow him as well. Ning just barked, “Twenty kilometers outside of here, thousands of warriors are gathering and advancing towards us. Right. There should be two to three thousand of them. Your Blacktooth Tribe needs to immediately prepare.” Blacktooth was shocked. “Two or three thousand warriors? Impossible. Only an enormous tribe would be able to mobilize two to three thousand warriors. A tribe of that size wouldn’t bother with our Blacktooth 468 Tribe. Our entire population, including women, children, and the elderly only number one thousand or so. We aren’t worth such a large military mobilization!” “If I say it is so, then it is so!” Ning glanced at him sideways, saying nothing more. “Right.” Blacktooth naturally didn’t dare to say anything else, and he hurriedly began to shout. “Quick quick quick, enemies are coming to attack! Quickly, gather around!” “Rumble…” A low beast horn sound quickly rang out, filling the entire tribe. The muscular warriors of the tribe, the elderly and the womenfolk, all grabbed their sabres, swords, spears, and bucklers, while all of the children hid themselves. ———————– Ning was staring into the distance at the gates, while all of the tribesmen of the Blacktooth Tribe were holding their weapons with bated breath in preparation. All of them were staring towards the distant mountain forests. Slowly… They began to clearly sense footsteps coming. After all, how could two or three thousand warriors on the march make no sound at all? This caused Blacktooth and the others to be all the more amazed. It must be understood that Ning had already informed them long ago of the rough number of people coming. “So many.” “So many warriors.” The tribesmen of the Blacktooth tribe were all stunned. From afar, a densely packed swarm of human figures were emerging from the forests, with the ones in front armored. It was like a flood of metal coming their way at high speed, causing the Blacktooth Tribe’s members to feel their hearts turn cold. “Halt!” The order came, and the three thousand warriors immediately formed ranks roughly half a kilometer in front of the Blacktooth Tribe’s gates. “Blacktooth Tribe, listen up!” In front of the enemy troops, a powerfully built bald man was bellowing. “We are from the Firewing Tribe. Quickly open your gates and surrender to us, and you have a chance at life. If you resist, those who resist shall all be killed, while the rest of the tribesmen shall be sold as slaves.” The voice echoed in the air. The Blacktooth Tribe was in a state of panic. “What to do?” 469 “So many warriors. There’s thousands of them.” “We’re finished.” “Isn’t young master Ji here?” The Blacktooth Tribe had no fighting spirit at all now. First of all, their tribe was newly founded to begin with, as many of the tribesmen were gathered from those who had fled from other tribes. They didn’t have too strong a sense of loyalty to the Blacktooth Tribe yet. And secondly, the Blacktooth Tribe had less than five hundred tribal warriors, but in front of them there were three thousand! Once battle began, they would quickly be defeated! “Everyone in the Firewing Tribe!” Blacktooth hurriedly went forward and said loudly, “I don’t know why you have come to my Blacktooth Tribe. If you have any demands, our Blacktooth Tribe will naturally work hard to meet them.” “Enough chitchat!” The bald man in front of the enemy lines bellowed back. “Surrender or battle!” Ning frowned, glancing at Mowu by his side. Mowu nodded, then immediately walked forward while shouting, “Our young master Ji Ning is here. Leaders of the Firewing Tribe, why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” ——————————— “Why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” “Why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” “Why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” The voice echoed within the forests, causing a commotion amidst the Firewing Tribe as well. In the center of the enemy formation, there was a group of men who were riding mounts. “Young master Ji Ning?” “The Ji Ning who was at the Riverside Tribe?” “Aside from that Ji Ning, who would dare order the leaders to go pay their respects to him?” The highlevel figures of the Firewing Tribe were all immediately stunned. The Firewing Tribe was also a large tribe with more than twenty thousand tribesmen, but because their tribe didn’t have any Xiantian lifeforms, thus they had already reached their limits and didn’t dare to expand any further. Compared to the Riverside Tribe, the Firewing Tribe was on a lower level. The Riverside Tribe wasn’t too far away from them. With over a month having passed, these higher level members of the Firewing Tribe naturally all knew of what had happened, and had learned of Ji Ning’s name. “Chief.” 470 “Chief.” All of them looked at black-bearded man whom was escorted in front of them. By the side of the black-bearded man, a youth whose hair fell down his shoulders said in a low voice, “Nothing more than a descendant of the Ji clan. There’s no need to pay any attention to a descendant of the Ji clan in this sort of tribal war. Let’s do it.” “Attack!” The black-bearded man immediately shouted loudly. “What?” “What? Attack?” “Chief!” The high level figures of the tribe who were around the black-bearded man were all stupefied. They didn’t expect that their chief, who was both valorous and wise, would act so stupidly. Given the chief’s status, he should clearly be aware of what the name ‘Ji Ning’ represented. If it was an ordinary member of the Ji clan, that was one thing, but this was Ji Ning, who had forced even the Riverside Tribe to lower their heads before him! “Kill!” Those three thousand warriors were all ordinary tribesmen. How could they know what this name ‘Ji Ning’ represented? Hearing their chief’s orders, they immediately bellowed and charged forward. “Kill!” “Charge!” Like an steel flood, the armored warriors in front charged forward, while the beast-fur clad men were behind them. The earth shook, and it seemed as though even the skies grew dark. The tribesmen of the Blacktooth Tribe were all stupefied, and some even began to cry out, “Surrender, we surrender!” “We’re finished.” “Quick, run.” ——————————– Ji Ning, standing at the gates, watched as the dark, dense mass of people charged forward. Immediately, he was suspicious. “My name should be known to all of the slightly larger tribes, especially after I acted against the Riverside Tribe. It should have spread throughout the area under the control of the Ji clan. Why is the black-bearded leader still ordering an attack?” Ning was puzzled. The Blacktooth Tribe was a small tribe. It didn’t have much wealth. Mobilizing three thousand warriors to attack it was quite bizarre, in and of itself. After hearing his, the enemy still decided to attack? That was all the odder. However, just based on the fact that this Firewing Tribe dared to ignore his name, and just for the sake of the prestige of the Ji clan alone, he naturally had to act now. “Hmph.” In front of the gates of the Blacktooth Tribe, Ning suddenly leapt forward like a giant Roc in flight, instantly flashing through the air. At the same time he leapt up, enormous waves suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the area around him, and the incomparably turgid waves instantly formed like the waters of a flood. Huahuahua…the boundless waves rolled forth, smashing directly towards those three thousand tribal warriors. “Waves.” “Where did all this water suddenly come from?” “Xiantian lifeform, a Xiantian lifeform.” The three thousand warriors were instantly terrified. They previously had high morale, but upon those rolling waves crashing upon them, all of them began to collapse and everything fell to chaos. These warriors all understood that only Xiantian lifeforms and Diremonsters were able to accomplish the ability to control fire, water, poisonous gases, and the like. If a Xiantian lifeform wished to do so, slaughtering three thousand men was simplicity itself. Indeed, Ning didn’t actually wanted to slaughter them. He only controlled the waves to smash down upon them. If he used fire or ice to freeze or burn them to death, the scene would have been completely different. “Hua!” With a single bound, Ning travelled over a kilometer, landing directly in front of that blackbearded figure, grabbing him by the neck. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning instantly landed a kilometer away and grabbed the black-bearded leader, instantly terrifying the high level members of the Firewing Tribe. All of them hurriedly knelt down on wobbling knees and called out repeatedly, “Young master Ji Ning, spare us!” “Young master Ji Ning, don’t be angry!” “Young master Ji Ning, don’t be angry!” The tribal warriors behind them who had not been hit by the waves, seeing the high level members of the tribe all kneel down, naturally all knelt down as well. At this time, the waves disappeared, and those knocked down tribesmen all knelt in terror as well. Instantly, the black mass of men were all on their knees, aside from the black-bearded man Ning had seized. “Pa!” With a toss of the hand, the black-bearded man was sent rolling twice on the ground. “Young master Ji Ning.” The black-bearded man was shuddering. “You don’t recognize me?” Ning looked at him. The black-bearded man shook his man hurriedly. “No, no, I heard of young master Ji Ning’s fame long ago.” “Then you still ordered an attack?” Ning frowned. “I…I…” The black-bearded man didn’t know what to say for the moment. This caused Ning to be even more puzzled. The leader in front of him clearly knew his name, and was frightened of him. So why, then, had he dared to issue that order? Ning shouted, “I ask you, why do you attack the Blacktooth Tribe?” The black-bearded man immediately hesitated. The high level members next to him said hurriedly, “Young master Ji Ning, the Blacktooth Tribe is only a small tribe. Our Firewing Tribe didn’t want to attack them at all! Only, the chief insisted on coming. We didn’t oppose him, as it was just a small tribe and thus not worth it.” “This was the decision of the chief and the chief alone.” “We all opposed it.” 473 “Half a year ago, the chief ignored our opposition and forcibly led the warriors out and destroyed a small tribe with only a few hundred people, and sold off everyone, man, woman, child, and elder alike as slaves to his good friend, Zig! Look, that one right next to the chief is Zig! The chief trusts him very much!” A silver-haired fur-clad elder pointed to the long haired youth next to Ji Ning. Swoosh! The kneeling long haired youth suddenly shot out a black light from his sleeves towards the nearby Ning. “Clang!” Ji Ning’s body was covered by beast furs, and underneath them he had magic treasures protecting him. Naturally, this attack was blocked. “Hmph.” Ning looked at the long haired youth, but discovered that the youth’s face had already begin to turn black. At this moment, the other high level members of the Firewing Tribe were angrily howling and reaching out with their hands to seize the youth, planning to subdue him. “He dares to ambush the young master. He deserves death.” “Don’t touch him!” Ning immediately barked. But a muscular man of the Firewing Tribe who had charged in front had already touched the arm of the long haired youth. The pitch-black color on the arm of the youth instantly transmitted to the right arm of the muscular man. “Swish!” Ning pointed out with a fingernail, and a ray of sword energy swung out, chopping the left arm of the muscular man off. The long haired youth slumped to the ground, his entire body pitch black, and his seven orifices bleeding with black blood. That man whose arm had been chopped off by Ning had black blood flowing out of his severed arm as well. “Poison!” The surrounding Firewing tribesmen all retreated in surprise. Ning’s expression was grave. “Such fierce poison.” “Aaaaah!” The chief of the Firewing Tribe, that black-bearded man, suddenly called out, then hurriedly pointed at the corpse on the ground. “It was him! It was him! Young master Ji Ning, it was all him. He originally spat a mouthful of smoke at me, and I lost my faculties. Although I knew what was going on, I treated this Zig as my master and obeyed him from my heart. Whatever he wanted me to do, I would do. Even if he wanted me to die, I wouldn’t resist at all. When I heard your name, young master, it was he who ordered me to attack. I clearly didn’t want to offend you, young master, but as soon as he instructed me, I immediately gave the order.” 474 The black-bearded man stared in shock and fury at the corpse on the ground. “It was that mouthful of smoke.” The high level members of the tribe, upon hearing this, were all awestruck. “What?” Ning was surprised as well. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, only the ‘Blackfire Cult’ was in possession of drugs that could control a person, but the most famous medicine which the Blackfire Cult had was the ‘Holy Fire Pill’. Upon eating the Holy Fire Pill, a person would become unswervingly loyal to the Blackfire Cult and not even fear death! Only, the ‘Holy Fire Pill’ of the Blackfire Cult wasn’t a breath of smoke. “Anyone capable of creating this thing is definitely a very powerful warlock or alchemist.” Ning was secretly startled, and he turned to look at the leader. “Speak. What did this Zig want from you?” “To buy slaves!” The black-bearded man said hurriedly. “He first bought slaves from us twice, over two thousand slaves! Afterwards, he controlled me and ordered me to swallow up some smaller tribes and have all the members of those tribes be sold as slaves to him. He would arrange for those people to be taken away.” Ning was puzzled. What was the point of buying so many slaves? Generally speaking, tribes would buy slaves to use them for manual labor or as servants. Slaves had to eat as well, and providing enough food for so many wouldn’t be easy. “His subordinates?” Ning asked. “Didn’t you say that he sent subordinates to take the slaves away? So many slaves, including women, children, and elderly, would have travelled very slowly. You should be able to find traces of them.” “I can. I can.” The black-bearded man nodded hurriedly. “Ten days ago, his subordinates took a group of slaves away. They were headed towards the east. Two days ago, a hunting squad of our tribe saw that slaver squad. Most likely, in two days they couldn’t have gone too far. We should be able to find them quickly.” Ning nodded. “Mowu. Autumn Leaf.” Ning turned to look into the distance. Mowu and Autumn Leaf immediately ran over. “Young master.” The two looked at Ning. “I have something to take care of.” Ning said. “The two of you, immediately send word to the nearest station of black armored guards, and have the hundred closest black armored guards to escort you and Bluestone to Serpentwing Lake. My father will arrange for a dwelling to be built at Serpentwing Lake, and you will temporarily live on the island in the center of it.” 475 “Yes.” Mowu and Autumn Leaf assented. “As for you.” Ning looked at the black-bearded man. “You will immediately arrange for your hunter squads to provide me with two guides. I want to find that slaving squad.” “Yes, young master.” The black-bearded man hurriedly said, and then roared backwards behind himself, “Threeknife, Cardcloth, come over here.” —————————– Ning led the two guides on the backs of the black beasts, traveling by day while resting at night in hot pursuit. That squad, guiding hundreds of elderly and infants, naturally travelled much more slowly. They would at most be able to advance a hundred kilometers a day. “Young master, there clearly are footsteps here.” A swarthy man with braided hair said hurriedly. “The tracks are very clear. They should have been made less than a day ago. We will soon catch up to them.” “Alright.” Ning nodded. They continued the chase. Soon, they saw a large cluster of figures. All of them, male and female, were fettered by the hands, with the rope being attached to a tree trunk. A group of men and women were bound all together, carrying a tree trunk. By doing so, anyone who attempted to flee would pull others with him, and once the movement became apparent enough, the slaver escorts would easily notice. “Hurry, hurry up.” The slaver escorts were soldiers wielding whips, and they would occasionally lash out with the whips. As for some of the toddlers, they were tied up and seated on horses, with eight or ten toddlers tied up on each horse, allowing them to move more quickly. The looks on the faces of the men and women were full of grief, and their eyes were filled with despair. Half a month ago, they were in their own tribes, living peaceful, happy lives with their families. But now, they had become slaves and were being escorted to an unknown area. “You two, take these three black beasts and return. Have your tribesmen arrange for them to be sent to Serpentwing Lake.” With a flip of his hand, Ning withdrew two beastheads of gold. “You made a trip with me. I won’t mistreat you.” “Thank you, young master.” The two tribesmen hurriedly thanked him. Ning nodded, then patted his black beast. He had ridden this black beast while adventuring. After having spent so much time with it, he was rather reluctant to part with it. “You can go now.” Ning immediately dismounted, then began to travel by himself. After all, this squad was moving very slowly. There was no need for him to ride the black beast. ————————- The slaver squad continued to advance through the mountain forests. On the road, although they encountered some monstrous beasts, the slaver escorts were powerful experts, almost all of them peak Houtian level, with three of them being Fiendgod Houtian experts. They easily killed the monstrous beast. “It is indeed odd.” Ning said to himself. “Large-scale purchasing of slaves, and using medicines to control the leader of a tribe to engage in the large-scale capture of slaves. Even the slaver escorts have peak Houtian Fiendgod practitioners.” “Hurry up!” “Hurry up.” “We’re almost there.” The slaver escorts seemed to be rather happy. Ning secretly followed from behind. This place was already at what was considered the border between the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan, while up ahead was a chain of mountains. This group of slavers were heading towards the mountain range. “Enter the mountains.” The squad continued forward. Ning moved from behind, but just as they arrived at the base of the mountain, the sun which been bright in the sky suddenly changed as soon as Ning followed them into the mountains. It was as though day had suddenly transformed into night. The area around them had turned pitch black, and only some faint details of the surrounding area could be made out. The entire area seemed to be covered with black fog. The black fog was everywhere, and it was filled with a cold aura. “A formation.” Ning immediately understood that he had entered a formation. “Someone actually came to die. Hahaha!” An evil, ear-piercing laugh suddenly rang out. “Little human child, your flesh will definitely be very delicious. I will slowly devour you bite by bite.” Ning stood there, staring into the endless black fog surrounding him. He could just barely see to a distance of ten meters. Beyond that, he couldn’t see anything. In his hands, the two Darknorth swords had already appeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Go ahead and kill me.” “Even as a ghost, I won’t forgive you.” “Aaargh!” “No, no, no!” Standing in the middle of the boundless darkness of the great formation, sounds could vaguely be heard from everywhere, as though many people were suffering terrifying torments. Ji Ning was secretly startled. “They wildly purchased so many slaves, and even controlled the leaders of some tribes to snatch up some slaves through battling other tribes. What are they doing!” “No matter what, first I have to leave.” Ning stared seriously at his surroundings. With a ‘swoosh’, he charged forward, moving more than a kilometer. And then, he once more turned and began to sprint, retreat, leap forward…within the pitch black, foggy formation, Ning moved around at high speed for a long time, but no matter where he moved, he remained within the formation filled with the dark fog and cold air. “Not good.” Ning’s face changed slightly. “This is no ordinary maze formation. I moved at such high speed and constantly changed directions, but the formation remained utterly stable. The person controlling this formation is most likely not a Xiantian lifeform.” During this past month of pursuit, Ning had focused on training in the [Nine Scrolls on Formations] and had made some accomplishments. Although he was unable to easily defeat the formation in front of him, he was able to tell…this was far above the likes of simple formations such as the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation. It was an extremely intricate formation, and a magic treasure capable of setting up this sort of formation would have to be considered a ranked magic treasure. There was no way for a Xiantian lifeform to bind a ranked magic treasure. “A person on the level of a Wanxiang Adept wouldn’t deign to act in such a manner in a place like Swallow Mountain. Nine out of ten…the person who set up this formation should be a Zifu Disciple, and one specialized in using poisons.” Ning quickly came to this conclusion based on what he had encountered previously. ———————— “Human child, I’m coming for you.” The ear-piercing laugh reverberated within the endless black mist. Ning just stood there, completely unmoving, while at the same time, around him appeared three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals. The two layers of lotus petals slowly swiveled around Ning in opposite directions… “Hahaha!” A sinister laughter echoed. Shua! A shadow suddenly leapt forth from the dark mist, pouncing towards Ning. But when that shadow saw Ning being protected by the Waterflame Lotus, it paused slightly. “Hmph.” Ning’s eyes had a fierce look flash past them, and he immediately charged forward, his Darknorth sword in his hand transforming into a ray of firelight as he executed the ‘Thunderflash Flint’, chopping the shadow in half. Hua…. The shadow instantly split into mist, then glided backwards before reforming into a mutant beast. Hidden in the darkness, there was no way to clearly see the mutant beast at all. “This isn’t a human child, this is a human Xiantian lifeform who has been training for who-knows how many years!” The ear-piercing sound emanated out from the mist, travelling a long distance. “This human most likely broke through to become a Xiantian when very young, and so his features remain so very young. In addition, he has a protective lotus surrounding his body. The lotus flower around his body should be a magic treasure.” From far off in the distance, another clear, cold voice echoed forth. “If he isn’t a Zifu Disciple, he doesn’t matter. Just kill him.” “I’ll handle it.” The mutant beast in front of Ning, hidden in the mist, said directly. Hearing this, Ning’s face changed slightly. If he isn’t a Zifu Disciple, he doesn’t matter. For someone to dare say something like this most likely meant that the person who set up this formation really was a Zifu Disciple! In addition, the one who had attacked just now was nothing more than a monstrous beast, most likely a spirit beast under the command of that Zifu Disciple. “My Master said.” The mutant beast in the mist slowly began to change positions, occasionally appearing here, and then over there. “When adventuring in the outside world, the younger a human you encounter, the harder they are to deal with. It looks like his words weren’t wrong…but unfortunately, you ran into me!” Ning just stood there calmly. After a person reached the Xiantian lifeform stage, that person would no longer be a mortal, and his appearance would remain virtually unchanged. Only when he began to reach the limits of his life would he slowly age. Thus, elderly looking Xiantian lifeforms were virtually all over a century old. Ji Yichuan, who had first made his name echo in Swallow Mountain, and then had gone out adventuring for many years before bringing his wife back, was now nearly fifty, but he still looked exactly as he had when he was a youngster. If a Xiantian lifeform looked like a child, then that meant that he became a Xiantian lifeform when he was a child. Thus, the younger one appeared, the harder they were to deal with. Even some Immortals might have the appearance of a child. “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” Suddenly, three black rays shot towards Ning, but when they hit those swiveling lotus petals of fire and water which were protecting Ning, they just barely broke through the first layer of lotus petals, but the second layer successfully blocked them. The enormous black shadow emerged from the mist, and an enormous claw grabbed towards Ning! “Dang!” Ning’s sword light flashed, and the grab attempt was blocked while Ning himself dodged to the side. “Eh?” Ning frowned as he looked. This was a mutant beast which looked like a panther. Ning was actually momentarily unable to recognize what sort of mutant beast this was, primarily because many mutant beasts had mixed lineages, which would often resulted in mutant beasts. The mutant beast in front of him could only be said to look similar to a Bi’an Tiger. Its body was extremely long. The mutant beast stared at Ning, its tail swaying. Its tail had circles of black bony spikes which, if struck onto a person’s body, would definitely be no weaker than a whip-type magic treasure striking a person. Ning’s pupils contracted, and he transformed into a blur. Windwing Evasion! Swoosh! Moving as fast as lightning, he pounced towards the mutant beast, and the mutant Diremonster’s twin claws snatched towards Ning as well. “Raindrop Pierces Rocks!” A water-like sword light flashed past, seeming like a drop of water falling down, and with a thundering sound, that mutant Diremonster collapsed to the ground, rolling a few times before coming to a halt, no longer moving. Its head had a large hole in it, with blood and brain matter flowing outside. Ning quietly landed on the ground, still holding his twin swords as he cautiously stared around himself. He only glanced sideways at the mutant beast. “Nothing more than a late-stage Xiantian level Diremonster!” “Black Needle!” “Black Needle!” From afar came the call of that cold voice. “Is that human dead yet? Black Needle! Black-” Quickly, that clear, cold voice went silent. “I killed the mutant, but he didn’t know about it. It seems that mutant beast wasn’t his spirit-beast.” Ning understood that there wasn’t necessarily only a single Zifu Disciple here in this mountain. It was very possible that a hidden power was here! But the person capable of setting up this sort of formation had to at least be a Zifu Disciple. “This is big trouble.” Ning hadn’t imagined that in the Swallow Mountain area, at the borders of the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan, such a powerful force was hidden. —————— Ning was trapped within the great formation. The protective Waterflame Lotus swirled around him, and in his mind, he was constantly pondering formations. The [Nine Scrolls on Formations] were abstruse, especially those extremely hard to memorize diagrams, but Ning had still been able to forcibly commit the contents of the first scroll to memory. He was currently using the greater part of his mental power to analyze them. “I have to break this formation. While trapped here, all I can do is allow them to use whatever techniques they have against me.” Ning focused on analyzing the formation, while constantly hearing miserably cries, fierce curses. It seemed as though a true hell was hidden within this mountain. ——————– Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Snowfall Palace. Ji Young was seated at the throne of the palace, while Ji Yichuan, Ji Lee, and others were all seated below him, their faces all solemn. “In the past ten days.” Ji Lee’s voice was rather hoarse, and his eyes were rather red. “The Five Prefectures of our Ji clan has already had multiple Xiantian lifeforms disappear! We have neither found them alive nor found their corpses!” “Prefecture Lord, who has come to the territory of our Ji clan to cause trouble?” “Find them and destroy them.” 481 “I’ve almost gone crazy in the past few days. My close friend! I must find him and rescue him.” The members of the Ji clan seated below couldn’t help but howl. Ji Lee, glaring, let out a hiss, “My son has gone missing as well. I must find him, I must!” And then, he looked at the Prefecture Lord, seated in the throne. “Elder brother, up till now, how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing? Also, who exactly is acting against our Ji clan? Have we found the culprit?” “Based on the news which the Central Prefecture just sent over, up till now, already twenty three Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing.” Ji Young shook his head. “And most of them are fairly powerful and quite famous Xiantian lifeforms! The Five Prefectures of the Ji clan have lost five of our Commanders who were outside. As for where they have gone, there’s no trace of them at all.” “This is provoking our Ji clan. They show no regard for the Ji clan at all.” Lee bellowed. Young’s eyes were red. “All the ones who went missing were quite powerful and were at least mid-stage Xiantian lifeforms. There were even late-stage Xiantian lifeforms, and even peak Xiantian lifeforms! They are running roughshod over our Ji clan, then pissing on our faces! We have to find the culprits! No matter how great the price, we must destroy them!” Yichuan, seated to one side, spoke out. “They must be destroyed indeed. However, based on my experience, this power should have a Zifu Disciple guarding it.” “Oh?” Everyone looked towards Yichuan. Yichuan, after all, had gone adventuring outside. He had even gone to the Darknorth Seas. His experience was greater than theirs. Yichuan continued, “There are two possibilities which have the greatest likelihood. The first is that it should be some sort of fleeing tribe, who lost their city and no longer have a base and were sent wandering…but the remnants of this tribe are still very powerful. Thus, they want to cause a battle here in Swallow Mountain and conquer a commandery city through it.” With a commandery city, they would have their own territory. Only then would a tribe have a base! “The second possibility is that it is a fleeing Immortal practitioner. The Immortal practitioners of some evil sects will use souls and corpses to train in some evil magic spells. Snatching Xiantian lifeforms is done because Xiantian lifeforms have more powerful souls, and can be better used to train in some magic spells.” Yichuan said. “And the disappearance of Xiantian lifeforms,” Yichuan continued, “Based on the intelligence of our Ji clan, is not just limited to the Ji clan, but also the nearby Ironwood clan! The Riverbank clan has Xiantian lifeforms missing as well. Only, we don’t know how many Xiantian lifeforms they have lost. For them to act so wildly means that the power which has come to our Swallow Mountain is not weak. We absolutely 482 must get revenge, and we must rescue the missing Xiantian lifeforms, but we cannot be rash. We need to first discover the true situation regarding the opponents, and then set a strategy to destroy them at one blow!” Everyone in the palace went silent. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Yichuan walked by himself on the stone brick road, his forehead furrowed in thought. He knew that this affair would be a tough trial for the Ji clan, but any organization which wanted to survive in this world would have to be able to endure repeatedly trials! After passing them, the roots of the clan would naturally grow deeper and grow more powerful. But if they weren’t able to pass them, then the clan would be exterminated! It would be lucky if even a few survivors managed to flee and pass down the bloodline. “Master. “Master.” Some of the servants knelt down on the side to welcome him. Yichuan walked into his residence, then headed back to the place where he normally stayed. Suddenly, a female servant hurriedly rushed over. Upon seeing Yichuan, she was so frightened, she immediately knelt down. “Why are you in such a rush? Consider your image!” Yichuan frowned and barked. “Master.” The female servant’s face was white with tension. “Madame, Madame, she…” Yichuan’s face instantly changed. “What’s wrong with Snow?” “Madame fainted!” The female servant said frantically. “Fainted?” Yichuan’s face instantly turned white. As an expert Ki Refiner, how could she faint? If his wife fainted, there could only be one reason. “Snow!” Yichuan instantly turned into a gust of wind, disappearing from that area. —————————- Within the room. Yuchi Snow was quietly lying on the bed. Her face was rather pale, but her features were still so beautiful, so calm. “Snow.” Yichuan instantly appeared within the room. Seeing his wife lying there, he hurriedly walked forward and carefully inspected her. He couldn’t help but glance at the female servant. “What exactly happened?” 484 The female servant was shaking in terror, and had knelt down long ago. “Master, the Madame had been drinking tea and was perfectly fine. Nobody touched the Madame, and nobody spoke with the Madame. But suddenly, the Madame’s body turned weak and she just collapsed. All of us panicked. I carefully lifted the Madame back into the room, while Keepleaf went to call you, Master.” “How could this happen.” A look of agony was on Yichuan’s face. “How could this happen! Quick, quick, go have Shaman Cao immediately come over!” “Yes.” The female servant immediately retreated, leaving behind only Yichuan and his wife in the room. Yichuan sat at the side of the bed, looking at his wife. He stretched his hand out to stroke her face, murmuring, “Is this day truly here? When you gave birth to Ning, I feared that this day would come. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. You will definitely survive. I will accompany you and we will both watch our son become into an incredible hero.” Moments later. A big-bearded old man dressed in filthy animal skins walked in. His body naturally carried an herbal fragrance. Shamans and apothecaries were a group of people who had a great deal of experience in natural herbs and remedies. The boundless world was a very miraculous place, and it had all sorts of curious types of things living within it. Even the most seemingly ordinary herbs, once combined in a certain manner, could have some unique effects. This Shaman Cao was one of the most skilled in herbs in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. “Shaman Cao.” Yichuan looked towards the big-bearded elder. “My wife just fainted for no reason. You take a look.” “Commander, please step back.” Shaman Cao said in his hoarse voice, and Yichuan hurriedly moved to the side, stepping back to make way for him. Shaman Cao stretched out his dry hand, as skinny as a chicken claw, placing it against Snow’s forehead. Instantly, a spot of green light was birthed from Shaman Cao’s palm, and it began to slowly seep into Snow’s body. A very strong herbal odor began to fill the area. Shaman Cao closed his eyes. After a long time, Shaman Cao took his hand back. As for Snow, who had previously been in a state of unconsciousness, her eyebrows trembled, and then she opened her eyes. “Snow.” Yichuan, shocked and overjoyed, hurriedly went forward while at the same time looking at Shaman Cao. “How is my wife?” “Please forgive me for my inability.” Shaman Cao shook his head. “Commander, you’d best go invite the clan leader.” “The clan leader?” Yichuan’s heart clenched. The clan leader was the clan leader for the entire Five Prefectures of the Ji clan. His name was Ji Ninefire. An old fellow who had lived for nearly four hundred years, a true ancestor of the Ji clan. Of course, he was also a Zifu Disciple! Ji Ninefire loved to research, and had significant accomplishments in both formations, medicines, and poisons. In terms of medical treatment, he was naturally incomparably superior to Shaman Cao. “I’ll immediately take Snow over to him.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “No.” Shaman Cao said hurriedly. “Commander, you cannot be rash. The Madame currently can’t withstand any shaking or bumping. She needs to quietly recuperate. If you can invite the clan leader to come, that would be for the best.” Shaman Cao came to a halt. He knew that inviting the clan leader to come would be very difficult. Yichuan nodded, then immediately instructed a nearby maidservant, “Immediately go invite Commander Ji Redflower over.” Moments later. Redflower, dressed in red clothing, walked in. “Yichuan, what do you need me for?” “Aunty Flower.” Yichuan, upon seeing this person, hurriedly said, “I want to ask you to ride on your Azure Firebird and immediately head to the Central Prefecture. Invite the clan leader to pay a visit to our Western Prefecture.” “Invite the clan leader?” Redflower was startled. The clan leader had stopped managing the clan’s affairs long ago, and spent all of his time in research and training…even if Ji Young, the Prefecture Lord of the Western Prefecture went to invite him, the clan leader still probably wouldn’t come. “If I go invite him, would he come?” Yichuan said hurriedly, “Just tell him that I, Ji Yichuan, have a life-and-death matter and that I am asking the clan leader to come to the Western Prefecture City. The clan leader will definitely come.” Although Redflower was still puzzled at why Yichuan was so confident that the clan leader would definitely come, she still nodded. “Fine. I’ll go make a visit to the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’.” The Grand Xia Dynasty had erected countless commandery cities throughout the world. The Ji clan was only in control of a single one, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’. This was the ‘Central Prefecture’ of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan! As for the Eastern Prefecture, Western Prefecture, Southern Prefecture, and Northern Prefecture, they had all been built by the Ji clan, and had nothing special about them. “Sorry to trouble you.” Yichuan said in thanks. Redflower immediately left, then quickly mounted her Azure Firebird and left the Western Prefecture City, heading towards the City of Ten Thousand Swords! ———————————- The maidservants in the room had left as well, leaving behind only Yichuan and his wife, Snow. “Yichuan.” Snow smiled, lifting her head up to look at her man. “Snow.” Yichuan sat by the side of the bed, holding his wife’s hand. Snow shook her head gently. “I know it. You know it too. When we returned from the Darknorth Sea and suffered that attack on the way back, we were very lucky to be able to survive and return. The past ten years have been very calm and very happy. I am already content.” “If, if that year, you hadn’t given birth to Ning…” Yichuan’s voice was somewhat hoarse. Snow gently shook her head. “This is our child. I had to give birth to him. Even though using the secret technique resulted in me losing some years of my life, it was worth it! I had been heavily injured. If I hadn’t given birth to Ning then, who knows if I would have been able to give birth later on. Ning has the blood of both of us in his veins. And what’s more, his life was bought using the life of my elder brother.” “Elder brother.” Yichuan still remembered that great battle they had fought on the way back. That great battle had changed the fate of three people. The Yuchi siblings, and himself, Ji Yichuan. “Quick, take my little sister and go! Quick, go!” The image of that tall, powerful back. That furious roar. Yichuan had never forgotten it. “If we gave up Ning, perhaps I would have been able to live for a few more years, but I wouldn’t have been able to have a child with you. I would have regretted it my entire life. He has the bloodline of the Ji clan, and he also has the bloodline of my Yuchi clan.” Yuchi Snow said gently, “I’ve had ten years by your side, and I also have an incomparably clever son…I am incomparably happy and incomparably satisfied. These past ten years, I have felt very blessed and very happy.” Yichuan gently held his wife’s hand. “Ning is my pride and joy.” Snow said slowly. “I don’t regret giving birth to Ning.” “Right.” Yichuan nodded gently. “I understand. Understand. In less than two hours, the clan leader will be here. Let the clan leader take a look. Perhaps it isn’t too terrible.” Snow nodded. “If I can live for another year or two, let’s not tell Ning about this for now. If I won’t be able to live for much longer, then let Ning return.” And then, Snow looked towards her man, her eyes shining. “Yichuan, I am so blessed to have had you and Ning.” 487 “Alright.” Yichuan looked at his wife and said gently, “I feel the same way.” —————————- But neither Yichuan nor Snow knew that right now, their son Ning was in dire straits. He was in the great mountain between the borders of the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan, which from afar seemed ordinary and unremarkable. Upon entering this mountain, however, one would fall into a pit of endless dark fog and never come out again. The protective lotus petals swiveled around him. Ning sat there in the lotus position, currently focusing on the [Nine Scrolls on Formations], constantly hypothesizing and thinking about how to break this formation as soon as possible. ————————– At the midpoint of the mountain. One miserable scream after another emanated from places throughout the midway point of the mountain. All sorts of furious, hateful curses, wild pleas, and sobs all constantly assaulted the ears, while in the center of the mountain, there were multiple pillars with men and women bound to them. At a glance, one could see over a hundred men and women, their bodies covered in scars. Beaten, humiliated, tormented…all sorts of cruel methods had been used on them. “Xiantian lifeforms? You still think you are Xiantian lifeforms? Hahaha, drink it all, drink some of this wonderful urine to quench your thirst!” The muscular servants were wildly tormenting them. Standing in the center of the mountain, there were six beautiful dressed men and women. They calmly watched all of this. “We’ve purchased more than a million ordinary slaves in this Swallow Mountain region, and seized nearly a hundred Xiantian lifeforms. However, we are still quite a ways off from the requirements of Master.” A black-clothed woman who had a scorpion on her shoulders said slowly. “Senior apprentice-brother is currently outside capturing Xiantian lifeforms. We’ll quickly be at the necessary numbers.” A handsome youth smiled. “However, one of Master’s spirit-beasts, Blackneedle, went to kill an enemy within the formation, but was instead killed. My fellow apprentice-brothers and apprentice-sisters, how do you think we should deal with this?” “Younger apprentice-brother, you are naturally talented. It’s best if you go.” “Younger apprentice-brother…” The nearby men and women all looked at the handsome youth. Seeing the situation, his face darkened. None of these fellow martial apprentices were fools. Although all of them has extraordinary abilities, since they knew that the person within the formation could easily kill the spirit-beast ‘Blackneedle’, none of them were willing to go. After all, going meant encountering some risk. Suddenly… Kakaka… From within the mountain, a location began to turn and swivel. One metal plate after another began to move open, revealing a corridor. Within the dark corridor, there was a hint of green light, and an icy cold aura swept out from within. “Master.” The six men and women all called out respectfully in unison. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. From the dark abyss below came a sharp yet calm voice. “Little Seven, you are the most clever. You can go handle this matter. Get rid of this intruder.” “Yes, revered Master.” The handsome youth didn’t hesitate at all as he replied with respect. “Go, then.” Just as the words ended… Kakaka….. The metal board immediately rose up from the floor, once more tightly sealing away that corridor. Only now did those six men and women let out sighs of relief. Although they were their master’s closest disciples, whenever they faced their master, they still felt terrified. This was because those disciples who had dared to offend their master had all been tortured to death, and would never even have the chance to be reborn. “Who knows what sort of magic treasure Master is currently refining.” A violet-clothed young man said softly. “All together, from start to finish, including the people we tortured to death in other places, we’ve killed hundreds of Xiantian lifeforms, and an uncountable number of ordinary people. Master even said that once he finishes with this magic treasure, even if he encounters a Wanxiang Adept, he won’t be afraid. Who knows what sort of magic treasure this is?” “It definitely is a terrifyingly powerful one.” “Right now, Master’s magic treasure is only half completed, but he already pays no attention to those Zifu Disciples located in the tribes of Swallow Mountain. When he truly completes is…” The six men and women chatted softly. They were very curious about this mysterious magic treasure which their master was busy creating, but unfortunately, their master had remained deep within his study this entire time and had forbidden anyone from entering. As for that tunnel, as soon as it shut, not a single sound would come from outside. “Whoosh!” A blurry, savage ghost suddenly came out from the body of one of the Xiantian lifeforms bound to the pillar. It let out a soundless scream, and then that blurry ghost sank down into the stones, being gathered to the depths of the mountain, towards that hidden room. This scene caused those six men and women to feel nervous. Only a true dread wraith would be visible to the naked eye. “Yet another wraith!” The six men and women thought back to their second apprentice-brother, who had offended their master. He had been tortured to death, and then he had been transformed into a dread wraith, then been absorbed in. Even wraiths were being drawn down…clearly, whoever died there would never have the chance for rebirth. “Little Seven, go deal with the enemy in the formation.” His fellow apprentices exhorted. “Stop rushing me.” The handsome youth immediately walked outside. ———————— The dark fog was everywhere. The handsome youth quietly moved forwards, and everywhere he went, that black fog automatically opened a pathway for him. A Dao-seal appeared out of nowhere in the handsome youth’s left hand. On the surface of the Dao-seal, there was a blood vessel like pattern of strange characters. On his right hand, a horsetail whisk appeared. “Let’s go.” With a flip of the horsetail whisk, hundreds of white strands of light immediately transformed to a size of dozens of meters, swirling around towards the lotus-position seated Ji Ning. Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position. Suddenly, he sensed something, and he raised his head to look. The entire area around him was filled with those white strands. “Break.” Ning barked softly, and the Waterflame Lotus that had been swiveling around him instantly increased greatly in size. The two enormous layers of lotus petals swiveled, and those invading white strands that had sought to entangle him were all snapped, completely unable to draw near Ning. “Controlling fire and water?” The pupils of the distant, handsome youth immediately contracted. “It seems he is a Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level. This will be troublesome. I had wanted to rely on my horsetail whisk to directly seize him, but it seems that won’t be possible.” The hundreds of white strands quickly returned, then disappeared. In his right hand, a long whip appeared. “You’ve invaded our formation. Immediately report your name!” The handsome youth shouted. Ning was already on his feet, and he glanced at the handsome youth. “This is the border between the Ironwood clan and the Ji clan, but you seem to neither be of the Ji clan nor of the Ironwood clan. Who are you, exactly?” “If I told you, you’d be frightened to death.” The handsome youth sneered. “Why don’t you give it a try and see if I’ll be frightened to death.” Ning wielded a sword in each hand. “The only thing you need to see is my whip.” The handsome youth didn’t continue the conversation. Clearly, he didn’t want to explain where he was from. He immediately struck out with his whip, and the black whip slashed through the air, elongating at high speed. By the time it reached Ning, the whip had already transformed into a black serpent head which bit straight at Ning. Ning just looked at it. As soon as the long black whip broke through the first layer of the fire lotus, it was blocked by the second later of the water lotus. “What sort of technique is that lotus of fire and water?” The handsome youth wasn’t like that spirit-beast from earlier; he could immediately tell that Ning was a Fiendgod Body Refiner who could control fire and water, but he didn’t understand how Ning’s technique worked. Swoosh! Ning, who had previously been just calmly looking at the whip, suddenly without any warning began to use the Windwing Evasion technique. He instantly leapt over towards that handsome youth at an astonishing speed. At the same instant he leapt forward like a gust of smoke, the Darknorth swords in his hands executed Raindrop Pierces Rocks, stabbing straight towards the head of the handsome youth. “Hard to deal with. Flee!” This entire time, the handsome youth had been clutching that Dao-seal in his left hand. He suddenly activated it and it transformed into a blurry shadow and entered his body…and then the handsome youth suddenly disappeared into thin air. Swoosh. Ning appeared in front of where that handsome youth had been. He began to frown. “An escape technique? He should have relied on that Dao-seal to use this technique. A Xiantian Ki Refiner actually has an escape-type Dao-seal. The Zifu Disciple behind him definitely dotes on him.” Dao-seals were divided by class as well. The Divine Speed Seal, Light Body Seal, Diamond Seal, Giant Strength Seal, and other Dao-seals were all the lowest class seals, which escape seals were clearly on a higher level. For example, the ‘Traceless Talisman’ was a type of Dao-seal that was so precious you couldn’t even buy it with money. Only, unfortunately, he wasn’t carrying the ‘Traceless Talisman’ on him. Even if he was, because Ning was trapped within this formation, he was unable to tell which direction he was in, there was no way that Ning could use it to go directly into the insides of the mountain. Of course, he could still rely on the Traceless Talisman to immediately flee, but unfortunately, he didn’t have it on him. “Although I have Escape Seals on me, this trapping formation has activated the five elements. I’m completely unable to ‘escape’.” Ning was certain about this. He had pondered for a long time, and he could be considered to have a good level of attainment in formations. He had some understanding regarding the formation he was trapped in as well. When the five elements were activated, there was no way to ‘escape’, unless the master of the formation voluntarily helped out. Unfortunately, the master of this formation only wanted his death. How could he help out? ———————- The handsome youth quickly charged back to the midway point of the mountain. “Little Seven’s back.” “Younger apprentice brother, have you executed the enemy?” “With our younger apprentice brother having personally intervened, he definitely captured the trespasser with ease.” Those fellow apprentices, seeing the look on the handsome youth’s face, immediately knew that he had definitely failed, so they immediately began to ridicule him. The handsome youth barked back, “Fellow apprentices, you have no idea as to how powerful this enemy is. If I had just been a bit slower in fleeing, I probably would have lost my life to him.” “He’s that formidable?” “Does he have some sort of powerful magic treasure?” The other five men and women were all astonished. They knew how powerful this younger apprentice-brother of theirs was. The handsome youth said hurriedly, “He is just like our senior apprentice-brother. He trains in both ki and Body! He is a Xiantian level practitioner as a Fiendgod Refiner as well, and he was able to reach me in an instant. Fortunately, I had been holding the Escape Seal from the very beginning, and so I was lucky enough to escape. His speed alone indicates that he is probably a peak Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner.” “Ah?” “A peak Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner?” “Where did such a powerful figure suddenly come from?” The other five fellow apprentices were all shocked. The handsome youth sighed, “It seems we’ll have to wait for our senior apprentice-brother. Senior apprentice-brother has already reached the peak Xiantian level in both ki and Body, and he also has all sorts of magic treasures and poisons…the large majority of the hundred Xiantian lifeforms we have caught in the Swallow Mountain area were all captured by senior apprentice-brother.” “Who is speaking about me?” A low voice rang out. The six men and women hurriedly turned to look. At the halfway point of the mountain, near that enormous cave entrance, a man dressed in a black cloak with unbound hair walked in. That icy, sinister aura was just the same as their revered master’s. The man was currently carrying a large sack. As he walked into the mountain estate, he tossed the bag to the floor. At the opening of the bag, some feet could be seen. “Senior apprentice-brother.” The six men and women immediately called out respectfully. They all knew exactly how formidable their senior apprentice-brother was. They had all fled secretly with their master, and on the way, their senior apprentice-brother had even battled once against a Zifu Disciple and lived to tell the tale. “I went to the Kou clan’s territory and seized these three Xiantian lifeforms. I’ve already destroyed their dantian’s. Go tie them up.” The black cloaked man instructed. Immediately, servants charged forward and dragged out the three people in the sack. One woman, two men. The woman was incomparably charming, but in a dazed state. “So even the bewitching beauty, ‘Kou Hua’, was captured.” “Three more.” “All of the Kou clan.” The captured Ji clan, Ironwood clan, and Riverbank clan Xiantian level members of the Swallow Mountain region all glanced over. Immediately, the black-cloaked man’s face turned savage, and his eyes emanated a green light. “I ordered you to torment them, torment them until they go insane, torment them until they died. But look at them; they actually have the presence of mind to look at these three. If you aren’t able to torment to death, if a single one of them doesn’t become a dread wraith, then I will make sure all of you become dread wraiths!” “Yesyesyes.” Those servants were absolutely terrified, and then all of them threw themselves forward, using all methods at their disposal to torment these Xiantian lifeforms with destroyed dantians. Seeing their senior apprentice-brother angry, the other six men and women were all frightened as well. The black-robed man turned his head to look at his fellow apprentices. “Just now, you were speaking of me?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Senior apprentice-brother, within the formation with our revered master set up, an enemy who secretly entered has been trapped. He looks just like a youth.” That handsome youth addressed as ‘Little Seven’ immediately said. “But his power is astonishingly great. Even one of Master’s spirit-beasts, ‘Blackneedle’, was killed, and I almost lost my life as well.” The black-clothed man frowned. “Oh? He’s that powerful?” “Very powerful. That enemy is also both a Ki Refiner and a Body Refiner. He should be a peak Xiantian expert. Only you, senior apprentice-brother, will be able to kill him.” “Once senior apprentice-brother uses his ‘Intoxicating Dragonspit’ technique, no matter how powerful he is, he will definitely faint and be easily captured.” All of them were boasting and praising him. The black-clothed man looked at the fellow disciples. “Just a single intruder causes all of you to feel helpless! Hmph, Master is currently busy forging his magic treasure and cannot spare any attention. Since the six of you aren’t able to do anything else competently, then you can go personally torment those Xiantian lifeforms. At least you’ll be helping Master with his magic treasure.” “Yes, senior apprentice-brother.” The six men and women all responded in unison, and then all of them picked up the various tools on the floor and began to walk towards those Xiantian lifeforms. Those bound Xiantian lifeforms who had their dantians destroyed were virtually all from the Swallow Mountain region. As for the other Xiantian lifeforms, they were extremely rare, because most had been tortured to death long ago. Even the few dozen who didn’t die yet were at the verge of death. “Both a ki and a Body Refiner? Peak Xiantian? Let’s take a look.” The black-clothed man snorted, then walked out. —————————– “The Three Powers [Heaven, Earth, Man] as the foundation.” Ji Ning, surrounded and protected by his Waterflame Lotus, was seated in the lotus position, quietly chanting while looking at the formation around himself. “The Five Elements, with water and earth making up the majority…the variables lie in these areas.” In his mind, a model of this enormous formation naturally came into being. He was currently thoroughly investigating the secrets of this formation. Ning suddenly rose to his feet. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Instantly, he transformed into blur and repeatedly changed directions several times. The faster he moved, the greater the amount of pressure he would place on the formation, giving him a chance to test where the strengths and weaknesses of the formation lay. “It is even more profound and intricate than the formation I just envisioned.” Ning shook his head. “If I had a chance to see the formation flags or formation marks, I would quickly understand the secrets of this formation.” He knew that this was a formation controlled by a Zifu Disciple. Perhaps because the Zifu Disciple, for some special reasons, was busy, he had been unable to come and deal with Ning personally. But Ning knew that this was just a temporary situation. Once the Zifu Disciple attacked, given how powerful a Zifu Disciple naturally was, given that Ning was trapped within this confusing formation, he would definitely die. “I must break this formation.” Time was of the essence. Under this invisible pressure, Ning whole-heartedly was analyzing this formation, and his understanding of formations was constantly increasing. Fortunately, his previous life had given him a good foundation, while in this life, his soul was incredibly powerful, and he also had the guide to formations left behind by that Loose Immortal. Only because he had these three aspects combined did he have such an astonishing rate of improvement. However, to break this formation by this Zifu Disciple…he was still quite a ways off. The great formation of this Zifu Disciple, if one wanted to destroy it through strength, would have to use tremendous force! Power at the same level naturally wouldn’t be enough. Perhaps even a Wanxiang Adept would find it difficult to destroy it forcibly. As for Ning, without question, he had to defeat the formation through understanding its secrets. Only then would he be able to easily defeat it. Break through it by raw force? He was far from being able to. “Wu!” The black fog in front of him seemed to grow slightly dimmer. A dark figure could faintly be seen in the distance, which was currently looking at Ning, seated in the lotus position, with curiosity. “Control over water and fire? That protective lotus seems to be rather extraordinary.” Pu! The black-clothed man was currently holding a bottle in his hand. He pulled the stopper out, and the bottle began to release gusts of a mind-intoxicating scent. This bottle contained within it ‘Intoxicating Dragonspit’. If one directly drank this thing, perhaps even a Wanxiang Adept would immediately faint. But of course, it would be quite hard to get a Wanxiang Adept to drink it. After all, as soon as he smelled it, he would know not to drink it. The scent of Intoxicating Dragonspit alone, when smelled, was enough to cause virtually all Xiantian lifeforms to faint and collapse. As the senior apprentice, he had been bestowed this Intoxicating Dragonspit by his revered master, which was why he was able to stealthily capture so many Xiantian lifeforms. “Fall, fall, fall!” The black-clothed figure looked expectantly at Ning. “Hm?” The lotus-position seated Ning felt a fragrance assault his nostrils. Immediately, his body went soft and his head grew dizzy. However, by relying on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and the Fiendgod body it had given him, which was incomparably stronger than that of normal Fiendgods, although Ning felt slightly dizzy, the divine power in his body, when activated, quickly blocked this feeling. “Which scoundrel is using tricks from hiding!” Ning hurriedly stood up and shouted loudly! “Hahaha. You are indeed a Xiantian-level Fiendgod, and thus very hard to make faint.” The distant blackclothed man walked over. “A Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner whose body is akin to a Fiendgod’s. To make you faint is as hard as making a Zifu-level Ki Refiner faint. This is why all of the people I have been capturing in Swallow Mountain have been Xiantian Ki Refiners.” “Xiantian Ki Refiners, upon smelling this, will immediately collapse. After destroying their dantian, they won’t be able to resist at all. Fiendgod practitioners, however, will be able to regrow their dantian after it is destroyed. They are quite hard to control. In addition, torturing a Xiantian Body Refiner to death is too hard.” The black-clothed man mumbled to himself. Ning stared at the distant, black-clothed figure. His swords were in his hands, and he was incomparably cautious, because the distant man, when walking over, gave off an invisible pressure…the tyrannical aura which only a Xiantian Fiendgod gave off. Clearly, the man had already activated the divine power in his body. Once his power was fully activated, he would attack. “You said you captured Xiantian lifeforms?” Ning stared at him. The black-clothed man didn’t answer the question. A look on his face that seemed like a smile and yet wasn’t, he said to Ning, “If my guess is correct, you should be young master ‘Ji Ning’ of the Ji clan.” “Eh?” Ji Ning was startled. In this era, communication was only possible through shouting to others, while distant communication was through running between tribes. Thus, only the high level members of some tribes knew of Ji Ning’s name. Even if they knew his name, however, they wouldn’t be able to recognize him… 497 “It seems I didn’t guess wrongly.” The black-clothed man sighed. “In the entire Swallow Mountain area, there can only be one person who is so young in appearance, and yet is a Xiantian lifeform who is even capable of making my fellow apprentices think he is a peak Xiantian expert. The only person capable of this must be the one who kicked down the city walls with three kicks and sent River Sansi flying with one kick. Young master Ji Ning.” “You know quite a lot.” Ning looked at him. The black-clothed man sighed. “Of course. I have to. In accordance with the orders from my master, I had to go capture a large number of Xiantian lifeforms throughout the Swallow Mountain region. Naturally, I need a good understanding of the intelligence reports regarding the various Xiantian experts of the Swallow Mountain area. If I didn’t prepare in advance and ended up accidentally ‘kicking an iron board’, I would be in trouble! For example, your father, Ji Yichuan…he had become a peak Xiantian long ago, and I even suspect that he is already a Zifu Disciple. I definitely wouldn’t go capture a person like him.” “Only after getting a good understanding of a person would I go capture him. That is why so many Xiantian lifeforms went missing in the Swallow Mountain area, and yet no one knows who did it.” The black-clothed man looked at Ning. “So young, and yet so astonishingly strong. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, only you fit the criteria. In addition, this is the territory of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and you yourself are of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture.” Ning was stunned. Many Xiantian lifeforms had gone missing in the Swallow Mountain area? Why was it that he hadn’t heard of this? Actually, this was something which had only recently occurred. The capture of Xiantian lifeforms had to be done quickly. By the time the disappearance was noticed, perhaps days would have passed, and it also took time for the entire tribe to make a decision on what to do. Thus, he had to frantically seize the opportunity to capture as many as he could. He couldn’t capture them slowly. Once the major powers of the various forces of Swallow Mountain reacted and began to set traps, it would be dangerous. “Nearly a hundred Xiantian experts have ‘gone missing’ in Swallow Mountain.” The black-robed man looked at Ning. “Because this place is near the Ji clan, many of the Ji clan have gone missing, twenty four in total. There are some who directly belong to your Ji clan, while others belong to the tribes of your Ji clan. The Ji clan controls so much territory that I imagine up till now, your Ji clan still hasn’t gotten a full picture of how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing.” Ning was astonished. The Ji clan…had actually…had actually lost many Xiantian lifeforms? “Some have gone ‘missing’ from your Ji clan of the West Prefecture as well. Let me report a few names. I imagine you recognize them.” The black-clothed man said. “Ji Jadewich. Ji Shan. Poortile. Earthshaker. Blindfish. These five all directly belong to your Ji clan of the West Prefecture. You should know them, right?” “Ah!” Ning’s face instantly turned white. Ji Jadewich…that was the son of Ji Lee, his most talented son. In the past, during the fierce struggle between Ji Lee’s lienage and the current line in control of the Prefecture Lord position, Jadewich had been one of the most fiercest in the struggle. Ning had once deeply disliked this man. Ji Shan was a Xiantian lifeform of a younger generation of the Ji clan. Although he wasn’t a Commander, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had very great expectations for him. After all, his surname was ‘Ji’, and he also belonged to the primary line of descent. Poortile was a newly promoted Xiantian lifeform which had been trained and recruited by the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. In Western Prefecture City, Ning had seen him quite a few times. Each time when Poortile saw him, he would bow slightly and call out, “Young master Ji Ning!” Earthshaker was one of the twelve Commanders of the Ji clan! Blindfish…Blindfish….Blindfish!!! “Master Blindfish!” Ning’s heart was trembling. Master Blindfish had taught him archery. To Ning, he was the closest, most familiar figure of the five. All of them were familiar figures. After all, ever since he was young, he had grown up in Western Prefecture City. He had met with all of the Xiantian lifeforms of Western Prefecture City. Each year, at the gathering at Snowfall Palace, he would see this group of people. He was very familiar with them all. These people were his clansmen! Some of them had grudges against him, some of them were of the same lineage as him, while some were friends of him. One of them as the master archer who had taught him archery! “You…” Ning’s face turned pale. “You know them all, right? Haha.” The black-clothed man suddenly shouted loudly, “Ji Jadewich, Ji Shan, Poortile, Earthshaker, Blindfish, your young master Ji Ning of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture is within the formation. Your young master Ji Ning will soon accompany you! Hahaha…” The voice was very loud, and it transmitted directly into the distant tunnel midway up the mountain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the mountain. Blindfish’s body was covered with blood, and he was currently tied to that pillar. Ever since the day he had arrived in this hellish place, he had lost all hope. Currently, he was currently grinding his teeth, enduring the pain while taunting them, “Is that all you got? Harder, hit me harder. Come at me, boy. Didn’t you drink enough milk when you were a lad?” Suddenly… “Your young master Ji Ning will soon be coming to keep you company! Hahaha…” That laughter rang towards them. “Ji Ning!” The bearded Blindfish’s body trembled, and then he roared hoarsely with all his might, “Young master Ji Ning, hurry and flee! There is an Immortal practitioner here developing an evil magic treasure!” Ji Jadewich, also bound by Blindfish’s side, had been holding his head down, exhausted, but now his spirit was roused, and he raised his head as well. He murmured: “Ji Ning? Ji Ning?” “Ji Ning! Quick, flee! Quick, leave!” Jadewich howled desolately as well, striving to make himself heard. In the past, although he had wanted for his father’s lineage to take over the Prefecture Lord position, since they had lost, he had submitted whole-heartedly. Ji Ning was their Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s next Prefecture Lord! He had personally seen Ning’s talent, and knew that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture would definitely become even more powerful because of Ji Ning. His dantian had already been destroyed and he had been captured. He didn’t want the most promising genius of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, to die here as well. This was a humiliation to the Ji clan! “Quick, flee!” Jadewiched howled heroically. “Young master Ji Ning, quick, leave!” Ji Shan howled as well. They had all been caught here, and had often seen those dread wraiths enter that underground tunnel. From that, as well as the discourse of those six handsome men and women, they had learned…that this was utterly a devil’s lair! ———————– The black fog around him billowed, but from afar came furious, frantic howls. “Young master Ji Ning, hurry up and flee! There is an Immortal practitioner here developing an evil magic treasure!” “Young master Ji Ning, hurry and leave.” “Flee.” Although they had been tortured to the point of their voices turning hoarse, because he was so familiar with these people, Ning could tell who they were. “Devleoping an evil magic treasure?” Ning forcibly swallowed down the fiery anger in his heart as he stared at the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man chortled strangely. “The genius of the Ji clan, the mighty young master Ji Ning…don’t be so impatient, don’t be so angry. They will all die. As for you, you’ll die too.” He wanted to arouse Ning’s fury. When a person was enraged, they would lose their calm, and after doing so, their chances of victory would decrease. “Go die!” Ning was like a tiger leaving the mounting, releasing a surge of seemingly unblockable power as he charged straight forward. “Hmph, so rash. And they say you are a genius? In the end, you are still too young.” The black-clothed man said to himself. In his hands, he wielded black weaver’s shuttles in each hand, whirling them like devils as he welcomed the charging Ning. The two black shuttles stabbed towards Ning, and as the two drew near… Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! The two black shuttles actually shot out multiple black needles in a cluster towards Ning. Because they were too close, and the attack of the black needles was simply too fast, although Ning’s swordplay was powerful, he found it hard to block them all. Luckily, Ning’s body had those two layers of the Waterflame Lotus to block those black needles. The black needles just barely managed to break through the first layer before collapsing, and as they did, the earth immediately began to emit a hissing sound. “All stained with poison.” The two Darknorth swords in Ning’s hands stabbed angrily outwards towards the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man moved like a ghost, the two black shuttles in his hands just barely able to dodge while also shooting out those black needles. “What a formidable Ji Ning.” The black-clothed man was secretly shocked. “His protective lotus flower is too powerful. It’s actually able to affect even my own movements. Luckily, my robes are actually formed from an armor-type magic treasure, as otherwise, the power of the protective lotus alone would have torn my clothes apart.” 501 “Bang!” A sword shadow suddenly pierced through the black-clothed man’s arm, and the black-clothed man immediately leapt backwards at high speed, his face gradually turning savage. “What a marvelous, profound protective lotus you have. My Blackblood Needles are unable to break through it. It seems I’ll have to use power to break it.” The two black shuttles in his hands disappeared, and then in his hands appeared a long staff formed from six shuttles, while at the same time, the area around the body of the man began to faintly swirl with fire as a powerful aura began to emanate outwards. “Staff?” Ning was secretly startled. Earlier, when they had battled, he had noticed that this black-clothed man’s ability in wielding those black shuttles was truly quite weak. Only, the sudden shooting out of those Blackblood Needles was rather sinister. Now that the opponent was using a staff, Ning finally understood…that this was the weapon which the opponent was actually an expert in. “A staff is a long weapon and a heavy weapon.” Ning mused. “Fiendgod Body Refiners generally like to use heavy weapon type magic treasures, using power to break through magic.” “Receive my attacks.” The black-clothed man transformed into a black blur, and the longstaff was lifted up high and instantly began to increase in size rapidly, while its weight rapidly increased as well. The staff itself most likely now weighed tens of thousands of kilograms, and it smashed down directly towards Ning’s head! Ning’s Darknorth swords swept upwards. Clang! An enormous clashing sound. Ning himself was sent flying backwards, creating a deep gouge in the earth. His two hands had cracked apart at the thumb, and blood had already dyed the sword handles red. “What tremendous power, even greater than mine by far. Although I am merely at the fourth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], I’m still comparable to most late-stage Fiendgod Body Refiners. This black-clothed man is actually even stronger than me. He must be a peak Fiendgod Body Refiner.” Ning understood that he had encountered a true opponent this time. To kill an Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level was a much harder proposition. “I want to see how many staff blows of mine you can take.” The eyes of the black-clothed man flashed with a faint green light. He charged forwards with large steps, emanating an aura as mighty as a dragon’s, and as he drew near Ning, he delivered the longstaff in his hands in a forward blow. A direct attack! “Staves focus on power! Swords focus on skill!” Ning shouted, while at the same time, a pair of green wings appeared behind him, seemingly made out of steel. This was the wing-type magic treasure which Ning had acquired out of the thousands of magic treasures found in the Aquatic Manor. The [Shadewind Steps] was nothing more than one of the most basic foundations to the divine ability, [Windwing Evasion]. When using this set of wings to utilize this divine ability, the power was much greater, comparable to a tiger being given a set of wings. Hua! Ning’s wings trembled, and instantly, like a giant Roc, his speed tremendously, bizarrely increased. He flashed past like a gust of wind, constantly changing direction as the Darknorth swords in his hands struck out once and again against the black-clothed man. “Yayayaya!” The black-clothed man was completely in a state of frenzy. His ki had activated the runes scribed onto his longstaff, causing the power of the Weight Seal to continue to grow. The staff seemed to have transformed into a small mount. Luckily, he was a peak Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner, as otherwise he wouldn’t even be able to budge such a heavy weapon. “If you can’t hit someone with the staff, so what if it is heavy? Die!” Ning seemed to have been possessed as well. The existence of that Zifu Disciple was a source of invisible pressure for him. Those tormented clansmen of the Ji clan caused Ning’s heart to feel as though it was being scorched. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Ji Ning, relying on his wing-type magic treasures, moved like a ghost, his speed even greater than the black-clothed figure’s. The Darknorth swords in his hands, having already undergone a Bloodforging, were incomparably sharp. His swordplay which contained the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, in terms of technique, was at a level higher than the black-clothed man’s as well. “Bang!” A large hole was blasted through the waist by a piercing blow, but then immediately afterwards, the hole immediately grew small, then disappeared, having completely healed. “Hua!” A large wound was carved out on his back. “Chi.” His face was cut and scarred. “Yayaya!!!” The black-clothed man was being driven insane by this battle. His all but unkillable body, when paired with his ‘one with the world’ level of staff-play, allowed him to easily dominate most peak Xiantian Ki Refiners. He hadn’t expected that this time, he had run into a wall. The opponent’s strength was a good deal weaker than his, but the opponent was nonetheless an expert Fiendgod Body Refiner whose swordplay was clearly on a higher level! Swish! Ning was sent flying away by a grazing blow of the staff. Although the skin on his hands were ripped open from the shock of the collision, they instantly healed. After all, as his swordplay was extremely skilled, Ning would only occasionally suffer a bit, while the opponent was truly dancing on the fine line between life and death. If he was to be stabbed by Ning in the head, a fatal blow, then he would die for sure. “Bang!” Using both swords at the same time and moving like a ghost, the dance at the precipice of life and death finally came to a stumbling halt. Bang! The black-clothed man’s waist had a sword light flash past it, and an enormous wound appeared. He fell to the ground, his body chopped in half. “Formidable, formidable.” The black-clothed man ground his teeth. “However, you can go die now.” Hua. Just as Ning’s wings fluttered and he pounced towards the black-clothed man with his two swords, a bottle appeared in one of the hands of the black-robed man. He suddenly smashed it into the ground, which immediately exploded open against the rocky floor of the mountain. A thick white fog instantly poured out. Ning, seeing the situation looked bad, hurriedly retreated at high speed, but the faint fragrance still assaulted his nostrils. Although he had already stopped his breathing early on, that odor still invaded and burrowed through his body. “Transform into a pool of liquid!” The black-clothed man gritted his teeth as he stared at Ning, the two halves of his body quickly drawing close together and beginning to fuse together. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The white mist within the bottle was an essence removed from corpses and transformed into gaseous form. Once it touched the body, it would quickly invade and corrode the body, melting it into a puddle of liquid! Even this peak Xiantian ‘senior apprentice’ himself had to use an antidote against it. The youth in front of him was clearly weaker than him in strength, and based on his understanding, young master Ji Ning had only recently broken through to the Xiantian level. “No matter how monstrous of a genius you are, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, you are far inferior to me. Even I am not able to withstand it. You will definitely die.” The black-clothed man looked expectantly. Ning’s face changed. It really was a case of a certain type of master producing a certain type of disciple! In the past, Ning had calculated that this Zifu Disciple must be an expert poison user, and this black-clothed fellow in front of him was also skilled in poisons. The white corrosive fog…Ning felt numbness begin to spread and erode his entire body. “Gotta hold!” Ning circulated the Shining Scarlet divine power in his body, and the powerful Fiendgod life energy also began to wipe away the poison. “Die!” While forcibly suppressing this corpse essence in his body, the wing-type magic treasure on his back suddenly howled as Ning pounced towards the black-clothed man on the floor. Regardless of whether or not he was able to disperse this corpse essence in his body, he had to first kill the man in front of him. Otherwise, if he were to be dead from poison while the other was still alive, how hateful a thought would that be! “Hahaha, the more you move, the faster you die.” The black-clothed man wielded the six shuttle longstaff, his footsteps thundering on the ground and causing the earth to shake. Clearly, he was using all of his strength! “Go die!” He raised the six shuttle longstaff high, smashing it down towards Ning like a giant mountain. Shua! Shua! Relying on the Windwing Evasion, Ning moved like a ghost, moving in an arc to attack the black-clothed man from the side. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Ning wildly pounced forward, while the longstaff in the black-clothed man changed directly slightly to welcome Ning. The two had already exchanged blows multiple times and knew very well how powerful the enemy was. The black-clothed man was physically strong, while Ning’s swordplay was marvelous, and he was an expert in twin swords. Dong! A nearby piece of head-sized rock suddenly flew up, moving at supersonic speed as it smashed towards the black-clothed man’s head. The distance was too close, and the stone came flying from behind…the black-clothed man didn’t have eyes in his back. By the time he vaguely sensed the ripples in the air caused by the stone, it was too late! “Bang!” The stone, wrapped up by Ning’s divine will, was moving at an incredible speed. It was as though a late-stage Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner expert had viciously thrown it at full force against his head. The stone shattered into tiny pieces. Blood flowed from the black-clothed man’s head, while at the same time, he stumbled. “Clang!” “Chi!” Two rays of sword light, one which blocked the six-shuttle longstaff, while the other sword light slashed straight through the black-clothed man’s face, stabbing out from the back of his skull, carrying some brain matter and blood! Bang! The power of the six-shuttle longstaff stick forced Ning to retreat backwards by multiple steps, and naturally the sword was drawn out as well. There was a hole directly in the forehead of the black-clothed man, but there was no way it could possibly be healed. Forget about him; if Ning’s skull had been pierced through, even he would have died without question. “You…you….” Fiendgod Body Refiners possessed astonishing life force, allowing the black-clothed man to have a final few moments of life. He stared at Ning, struggling to open his mouth. “You…” And then he fell down, causing the ground to tremble. “Huff…huff…huff…” Ning stood there, his breathing rather ragged. He stared at the corpse in front of him, knowing how unwilling this person had been to accept death like this, how mystified this person had been in death. Most likely, this black-clothed ‘senior apprentice’, in the moment of his death, was still trying to puzzle out why his head had suddenly suffered an attack. Who had attacked him from behind? Divine will. This was Ning’s killing technique. Once it was used, if he was unable to kill his enemies with it, his enemies would immediately use Escape Seals and instantly run away. Most likely, by then, even the Zifu Disciple would know that Ning possessed a ‘divine will’ ability. Thus, it was not to be used lightly, and when used, it had to kill the enemy. Previously, Ning had been fighting with him head on, but because of the poison, Ning could no longer afford to waste time. Thus, he used his divine will to control the stone. The two had been on par in terms of general power. In a life and death battle, one couldn’t be the slightest bit careless. When that stone had carried boundless force in smashing down on the black-clothed man’s head, his staff techniques had become completely chaotic. Naturally, he was even less able to fend off Ning’s divine, ghost-like swordplay, with the result being a sword stabbing straight through his fatal point between his forehead. “Hahaha…” Ning began to laugh, raising his head and shouting heroically, “Come! Each one of you who comes shall die! However many comes, however many I shall kill! Hahaha…” At this moment, Ning was incomparably crazed. He was in utterly dire straits, and his clansmen had been trapped here. His chance of survival was very slim. Ning naturally became all the more frenzied. Killing an expert of the enemy naturally made him feel incomparably satisfied. There were deep gouges everywhere on the ground, with shattered rocks littering everywhere. After all, prior to this, Ning’s swordplay had activated the power of the world itself, while the enemy was also incomparably strong. Naturally, the area around them had been reduced to rubble. “Poison?” Ning could already sense that the corpse essence in his body was being slowly ground away by the natural life force in his body that was being created by the Crimsonbright divine power. “It seems it still can’t do anything against my Fiendgod body.” Ning was different from that black-clothed ‘senior apprentice’. The black-clothed man couldn’t withstand the poison…but Ning trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, while the Crimsonbright divine power was born from a fusion of the power of the sun and the power of the moon, while his divine body had been formed and birthed by Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater. In terms of quality, his body was untold times more powerful than other Fiendgod Body Refiner bodies. “That black-clothed man’s power was clearly much greater than the previous man’s. Most likely, he has a fairly high status in this place. Perhaps he has some secrets on this formation on him.” Ning hurriedly began to search the black-clothed man’s corpse, but unfortunately… The Zifu Disciple himself actually wasn’t an expert in formations. All he had done was set up formation flags in a very formulaic way. Ning thus naturally wasn’t able to find any information regarding this formation on the corpse. “However, he has quite a few Dao-seals and bottles and elixirs on him.” Ning collected them all, but didn’t have any time to investigate these battles. First of all, he didn’t dare to pull out the stoppers for fear of them being poisoned, and second of all, he himself didn’t know anything about poisons. It was best for him to spend his time focusing on the formation and increasing his abilities in formations. Breaking this formation as soon as possible was what mattered. —————————— Within the mountain. The six beautifully dressed men and women were currently, as per the senior apprentice’s orders, torturing these Xiantian lifeforms. “Haha, with our senior apprentice personally handling this, your young master Ji Ning’s death is assured.” “In the formation, I heard senior apprentice say that young master Ji Ning is still a youth? Little Seven, you are nearly thirty years old this year. Can it be that this young master Ji Ning is even younger than you?” The six men and women chatted amongst themselves. One of the nearby men bound to the pillar, a bald man whose body was covered with scars, howled at them, “Young master Ji Ning of the Ji clan is perhaps just eleven or twelve years old this year. Compared to him, you are like worms on the ground while he is like a divine dragon in the skies!” “Shut your mouth.” The nearby servants immediately used heated irons to torture and burn him. “Six fools! You want to compare yourselves to young master Ji Ning!” “I can’t even begin to express how inferior you are.” “Hahaha, almost thirty years old, but he wants to compare himself to young master Ji Ning? I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts!” Those nearly hundred Xiantian lifeforms of the Swallow Mountain area all began to shout out and mock them. “Beat them, beat them!” The six men and women shouted angrily. Suddenly… “Come! Each one of you who comes shall die! However many comes, however many I shall kill! Hahaha…” That wild, frenzied voice was filled with both hysteria and utter, incomparable madness. “What?!” The faces of those six changed. They were certain that this wasn’t the voice of the senior apprentice. Then…it could be only the voice of that trapped young master Ji Ning. “Can it be that our senior apprentice-brother died?” They were all in a state of panic. Without question, the senior apprentice was by far the most powerful of their group. Even if he didn’t use the many insidious options available to him, he was still incomparably strong. “Senior apprentice-brother!” “Senior apprentice-brother!” The six men and women shouted outwards, but their senior apprentice-brother didn’t respond. “If you want to find your senior apprentice-brother, then go to the Netherworld Kingdom!” That wild, impudent voice rang out from afar. “Senior apprentice-brother died.” The six men and women looked at each other, their eyes filled with awe. “Killed by a youth of just eleven or twelve years of age.” “Only eleven or twelve, yet he was able to kill our senior apprentice-brother? Is…is there such a monstrous talent in the world? Even in our school, there has never been such a monster. Most likely, only those legendary top-tier tribes under the protection of Immortals will there be monsters like this.” The six were completely overawed. After all, they quite broad experience. Their own school was a major school. But they had never seen anyone eleven or twelve years old who was so possible. “Kakaka…” The iron board in the center of the mountain began to slowly swing open, revealing that dark, gloomy tunnel. The tunnel had a hint of green light emanating from within it, and its cold, sinister aura caused the six men and women to shiver. “My boy Gan!” That shrill voice was quavering. “That ‘Ji Ning’ killed my boy Gan. He will die, definitely die!!!” The six men and women felt their hearts shake. As for those servants, all of them were shuddering. None of them could predict what this person would do when enraged. “That ‘Ji Ning’ is only eleven or twelve years old? What a monster. If it weren’t for the fact that he is an enemy, I would recommend him for entry into our school. But he killed my boy Gan! He must die!” The shrill voice was filled with hate. “Little Seven, come in.” “Come in?” The handsome youth was startled. He had never before entered the cavern in the mountain. That was a forbidden area. “Quick, enter.” The shrill voice carried anger within it. “Yes.” The handsome youth didn’t dare to hesitate any longer. Clearing his throat, he hurriedly walked towards the black tunnel, then leapt into the cavern. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dark tunnel was deep and also almost as straight as a pen. It was nearly three hundred meters deep, and the handsome youth, when jumping down, released his Xiantian Ki, allowing himself to descend as lightly as a goose feather, while at the same time, every so often, he would grab onto the sides of the dark tunnel to slow his descent. After a while, he finally stepped on the ground. “This is so deep. Uh, where is Master’s secret room?” The handsome youth hurriedly looked everywhere while carefully advancing through the winding tunnels. Up ahead, there was a dazzling green light. Soon, he reached an open stone door, behind which was an area filled with green life, as well as ripples which made the heart tremble. “Master.” The handsome youth called out from outside the stone door. “Enter.” The shrill voice screeched. “Yes.” The handsome youth suppressed his terror and walked in. This was a sealed stone room that was ten meters in diameter. In the center of the stone room, there was an enormous boulder, upon which was a man who wore loose black robes, had a skinny, pale face, and long, flowing black hair. The man’s eyes emitted an otherworldly green light, and his entire body seemed to be made out of solidified evil. In front of this person was an enormous cauldron, and above the cauldron, there was a burning green flame that emitted a freezing aura. Beneath the green flame, there lay hovering an unadorned, blood-red cloth banner, which had a number of either hidden or visible ferocious faces on it. The faces were either screaming soundlessly or bellowing as they tried to swallow each other and battled each other. The entire cloth banner was surrounded by a layer of black light that was visible to the naked eye. “Sin!” The handsome youth’s heart was trembling. “A grave sin.” Those who did good accumulated karmic merit. Those who did evil accumulated sins. Those who had committed grave sins would naturally emanate a heart-shaking evil aura. But the aura of sin around the cloth banner was actually so strong, it was visible to the naked eye. This was simply astonishing. “This is a magic treasure which was born from endless amounts of sin.” The handsome youth was both terrified as well as desirous. He knew very well that when one created this sort of magic treasure that was refined from sins, when one underwent the Three Calamities or Nine Tribulations, the power of the trials would be incomparably powerful. But this sort of magic treasure itself was incomparably, astonishingly powerful as well. This was why some evil schools were clearly committing countless grave sins, and yet were still able to continue forward in training to become an Immortal. It was because these evil paths allowed one to advance more quickly, and to even battle against foes of higher levels. “No wonder Master said that once his magic treasure is completed, he wouldn’t even fear a Wanxiang Adept.” The handsome youth couldn’t breathe. “Little Seven.” The long-haired man, seated in the lotus position, spoke in a shrill voice. “My boy Gan was my first disciple. He was like a son to me! This Ji Ning killed my son. How could I, Bei Goodson, possibly forgive him?” The handsome youth lowered his head. “I need to refine this magic treasure. I can’t spare any attention.” Bei Goodson’s green eyes stared at the handsome youth. Creating this sort of deeply sinful magic treasure was incomparably dangerous to begin with, and there were constant repercussions from the creation process. There were some people who were themselves bitten to death and had their souls dispersed by the dread wraiths they had created. Of course, if one truly wanted to force a pause, one could, but the price would also be great. “Little Seven, I bequeath unto you one Hearteater Powder.” A bottle appeared out of nowhere in the palm of Goodson’s right hand, and he casually tossed it towards the handsome youth. The handsome youth accepted it, then stared at the bottle in terror. “Hearteater Powder?” He had heard of the famous Hearteater Powder before. The price of this one bottle of Hearteater Powder was more valuable than even a ranked magic treasure. Countless Zifu Disciples had died to Hearteater Powder, and it was incredibly hard to procure. Even his own master had only been able to acquire this terrifying poison because he had been born into their school and had connections. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t be distracted, how would I possibly be willing to waste this Hearteater Powder?” Goodson said shrilly. “Remember. Smash the bottle within thirty meters of that Ji Ning, and he will definitely be poisoned. Once the Hearteater Powder enters his body, although it takes effect slowly and will need three days, it is virtually impossible to get rid of it once one has been poisoned. He, a mere Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner, will die without question, even if what he is training in is the legendary number one Fiendgod Body Refining, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]!” The handsome youth nodded “Remember. You yourself need to be careful. Stay far away. If you are poisoned, come to me. I will give you the antidote.” Goodson said. “Your disciple is still competent to perform a minor task like releasing poison.” The handsome youth said. “Go.” Goodson’s gaze fell upon that blood-red cloth banner beneath the swirling green flames. The countless dread wraiths within the cloth banner occasionally appeared, extending their necks out towards Goodson and wildly trying to bite at him, but Goodson’s oily green eyes remained cold and deadly. The handsome youth bowed respectfully, then left. When leaving this deep, dark tunnel, he jumped at high speed, occasionally clamping onto protruding pieces of rock on the stone walls. Soon afterwards, he left the tunnel. Kakaka… The iron boards turned, and the tunnel was shut once more. —————————– Within the black mist. The Waterflame Lotus surrounded him, and Ning’s soul was currently pondering at high speed, with one hypothetical formation after another appearing within his mind, and the construction of the formation changing nonstop. As Ning frantically analyzed these formations, his level of understanding with regards to formations continued to rise. “Huh?” Ning suddenly felt a spike of fear. When a person’s soul was as powerful as his, one would be able to unconsciously sense terrifying dangers approaching. The last time his soul had this feeling was when he was attempting the third trial in the ancient Aquatic Manor. This time, however, the feeling was even stronger than last time, as though no matter how he struggled, he still wouldn’t be able to escape this danger. “Danger?” Ning opened his eyes to stare around himself. Suddenly… The black fog in front of him to the right naturally parted, and in that instant, a large amount of white threads instantly wrapped towards him. In the distance, that handsome youth could be seen wielding a horsetail whisk in one hand and a Dao-seal in the other. The white threads of the horsetail whisk instantly attacked Ning. “Hmph.” Twin swords appeared in Ning’s hands, and the Waterflame Lotus blocked those white threads. “Boom!” 513 In that instant when those thousands of white strands and the Waterflame Lotus collided, it was as though something exploded. Only now did Ning realize that the thousands of white strands of had contained a bottle within it. In the instant their attacks had collided, the bottle had been smashed apart. Seeing the battle smash open, his soul could feeling that incomparably terrifying danger sense intensify, causing Ning’s face to change. “There had to have been something in the bottle.” Ning was no fool, but he couldn’t see anything. It was odorless and invisible! The distant, handsome youth had immediately retracted his horsetail whisk in that instant the bottle had smashed open, and had also used his Escape Seal, immediately fleeing and disappearing. “This…this bottle.” Ning had an uneasy feeling. “Ah!” Suddenly, a stabbing pain appeared in his heart. Ning’s face turned ashen, and he held his chest. The Crimsonbright divine power in his body immediately began to search throughout his entire body, but no matter what, it still couldn’t find any hint of poison. However, his heart continued to feel that slow, stabbing pain, and his entire body began to slowly ache. There was no way to stop it at all. Even his head was starting to hurt. “What should I do? The poison has invaded my entire body, but my Crimsonbright divine power isn’t able to sense it, nor can my divine will.” Ning, at this moment, suddenly remembered the words of that old black bull in the underwater estate. He had been warned not to underestimate any opponent, especially those who trained to become Immortals. Immortal practitioners had varied techniques. One could simply use poison to kill you. No matter how powerful your ability to fight was, they could simply refuse to fight you. This was how Immortal practitioners were! Nobody knew what anyone else was truly capable of…. “Hahaha.” From afar, a delighted sound could be heard. “Ji Ning, no matter how monstrous of a genius you are, you will definitely die.” Within that great formation, Ning’s face was unsightly. Although neither his divine will nor his Crimsonbright divine power could sense the poisonous elements, he could feel the pain wracking his entire body. This invisible poison was slowly, constantly devouring his entire body. Although the devouring process was slow, it was inexorable in its progress. Even his incomparably powerful Fiendgod lifeforce in his body was unable to remove it. “What a fierce poison. Odorless, colorless, and undetectable.” Ning was surprised. “Although it isn’t like some other poisons which instantly take effect, it seems to have embedded itself deep in every single cell. There’s no way to remove it at all. If this continues, in most likely just two or three days, my body will be finished.” “Two or three days?” Ning’s eyes began wild. “In the last two or three days, even if I die, I will destroy this formation.” Ning’s heart was beginning to blaze with a heaven-reaching fury. “I will wipe them all out, or if I’m lucky, maybe even find the antidote on their bodies.” “There’s nowhere to run.” “I must destroy this formation!” Ning sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes. The protective lotus flower swivelled around him as he once more frantically endeavoured to analyze formations. ———————– Within the mountain. That handsome youth walked back, then glanced at Blindfish, Ji Jadewich, and the other members of the Ji clan, who had looks of shock and fury on their faces. The other members of the Ji clan of the East Prefecture, North Prefecture, South Prefecture, and Central Prefecture all looked at him angrily as well. “What are you looking at? Your young master Ji Ning was poisoned. In three days, he will definitely die.” The handsome youth was completely confident. “Forget about him. Even a Zifu Disciple who is poisoned by this poison will definitely die.” “Our Ji clan’s Patriarch will definitely come.” “He will definitely exterminate all of you, and he will also rescue young master Ji Ning.” Blindfish and the others weren’t willing to believe that Ji Ning would die. “Hahaha, your clan’s Patriarch?” The handsome youth laughed wildly. “How could a small tribe here in your Swallow Mountain possibly have poison of this level? Even in our school, this sort of poison is hard to obtain. Stop looking at me. I won’t tell you what poison it is.” “Go die.” “You will all definitely die.” 515 The members of the Ji clan all cursed at him, and even the other bound Xiantian lifeforms began to curse in their despair. ————————- Within West Prefecture City of the Ji clan. Ji Yichuan was currently accompanying his wife, Yuchi Snow. Occasionally, he would look outside towards the door. Suddenly, through the door, he could see that from afar, an Azure Firebird appeared in the skies, with two people on its back. One was the red-clothed Ji Redflower, while the other was a red-haired, gray-robed elder. At a single glance, Ji Yichuan recognized him…that was the true pillar for the entire Ji clan. The Ji clan’s clan leader, Ji Ninefire! “Snow, Snow, the clan leader is here.” Yichuan hurriedly shouted. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Azure Firebird landed in the courtyard, and the red-haired, gray-robed Ji Ninefire stepped own, arriving outside the room’s door in just two steps. “Yichuan.” Ninefire had a smile that would make a person feel peaceful. According to legend, when Ninefire was young, he had an incomparably explosive temperament, but because Ninefire had lived nearly four centuries by now, while the oldest member of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture was only a century or so in age, the stories of what Ninefire had been like when young were lost to legends. “Clan leader.” Ji Yichuan, upon seeing the clan leader, immediately revealed a look of urgency in his eyes. “Snow, she…” “I heard from Redflower.” Ninefire nodded. “Let me take a look.” “Right.” Yichuan immediately led the way forward. At this moment, Snow had already left her bed, curtseying respectfully. “Snow greets the clan leader.” Ninefire said, “Your body is very weak right now. First lie down. There’s no need to stand on empty ceremonies.” Only then did Snow half lie down on the bed, while Ninefire sat on the chair by the side of the bed. He stretched his hand out, placing it against Snow’s wrist, gently tapping with his finger…immediately, a spot of red, fiery light immediately enveloped Snow’s entire body. In this instant, it seemed as though Snow’s entire body was covered by a layer of flames. Yichuan watched nervously by the side, while Ninefire’s eyes were closed. As much time as was needed for a pot of tea to be brewed passed before the fiery light surrounding Snow’s body vanished. Only now did Ninefire open his eyes as well. Facing Yichuan, whose face was filled with anticipation, Ninefire couldn’t help but let a soft sigh, then gently shake his head. “The seeds of the illness have taken deep root. There’s no way for it to be reversed.” “Ah!” Yichuan’s face instantly turned white. Ninefire sighed. “That year, your wife was a peak Xiantian expert. During that disaster, it was one thing for her foundation to have been damaged; if she had been immediately treated, it would have been fine. But your wife then executed that secret art which took her own life energy…it was like another blow to her already heavily injured body, causing the illness to be even more deeply rooted! Unless you can find some sort of pill suitable for mortals to use to extend their lives…there is no other method.” 517 “Longevity-enhancing pill for mortals?” Yichuan looked his wife, and Snow looked back at him. Their gazes intersected, and Snow sighed gently. “Yichuan, I understand my illness.” If it was just a matter of consuming a longevity-enhancing pill, although such a pill would be incomparably expensive, if Yichuan bankrupted himself, sold off all his possessions as well as the thousands of unranked magic treasures Ji Ning had given him, and also borrowed some money from the Ji clan, he might be able to acquire one such pill. But the additional requirement of ‘suitable for mortals to use’…the price would instantly rise by several additional levels. The more powerful a medicinal pill, the more powerful the medicinal effect. A pill that was capable of extending a person’s lifespan was a pill that defied the natural course of heaven. A pill that not only did this but also did it in such a way which allowed the weak, fragile bodies of a mortal to be able to endure the process…the preciousness of such a pill was far beyond what the likes of the Ji clan could possibly imagine. “Yichuan.” Ninefire said slowly, “I’ve refined some pills. I will immediately arrange for them to be sent over. Your wife should have another three months of life.” “Three months!” Yichuan’s face completely changed. Snow just revealed a smile. She said, “Yichuan.” Yichuan hurriedly turned to look at his wife, who laughed and said, “Three months is better than I had anticipated. I regret nothing. I did what I did that year in order to give birth to Ning. If I hadn’t given birth to Ning, I might have been able to live an extra twenty years, but every single day of those twenty years, I would have been in a hell of regret. But now, every day of these ten years that I have lived, I have lived happily. It’s enough, it’s enough. Have Ning come back. I want to see him. As long as he is by my side, all is well!” “Alright.” Yichuan hurriedly nodded, then after pondering for a moment, shouted, “Brother Black, Azure Firebird.” Immediately, from outside, a black-clothed man and an azure-clothed woman stepped in. It was the human forms of the black serpent and the Azure Firebird. “Brother Black.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Ji Ning will easily be able to recognize your voice. Thus, ride atop the Azure Firebird and quickly head to the border region between our Ji clan and the Ironwood clan.” As he spoke, a map appeared in Yichuan’s hands. He just casually glanced towards the door, making sure of their directions, then carefully sensed the location of the jade sword which Ning was holding. Staring at the map, Yichuan quickly ascertained a location. With a gentle tap of the finger, he pointed to a mountain on the map, and a spot of blood stained the map there. “Ji Ning is currently at this location. He hasn’t moved this entire time. Based on my sense, although there are slight uncertainties regarding the distance between us, he’s definitely within a hundred kilometers of this mountain. As long as you ride the Azure Firebird to the air above the mountain, then call for him and say that his mother is critically ill and that he is to quickly return, he will definitely hear it.” 518 “Understood.” The black-clothed man said hurriedly. “Yichuan, don’t worry. Ning’s hearing ability is far beyond that of ordinary people’s. He should be able to hear my voice from as far as two or three hundred kilometers away.” It wasn’t possible for mortals to project their voices a hundred kilometers, but it was simple for a Xiantian lifeform. For example, when Ning had been at Serpentwing Lake and shouted at Serpentwing, his voice had also projected throughout the lake. “Azure Firebird, I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip.” Yichuan looked at the azure-garbed woman. “A small matter.” The Azure Firebird’s voice was very gentle. “We can’t delay for even a moment. I’ll immediately head out along with Elder Brother Black.” “Let’s go.” The black-clothed man also nodded right away. Taking the map with them, the black-garbed man quickly mounted onto the back of the Azure Firebird, then quickly flew towards the direction of the borders between the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan. “Ning, son.” Snow watched as the Azure Firebird flew high into the sky, and in her heart she began to miss her son. The closer she drew to death, the more she wanted to see her son, her dearly beloved son. ————————– The Azure Firebird’s speed was astonishingly fast. In less than two hours, she had already arrived in the air above that mountain. “This is the mountain.” The black serpent nodded. From high up in the air, it was very easy to recognize the landscape below. “Elder Brother Black, call for him right away.” The Azure Firebird urged. “Right.” The black serpent stared below, then immediately infused his voice with monstrous energy, shouting loudly, “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” This voice echoed down from the heavens, quickly covering an area of two hundred kilometers of the forests and mountain below. And directly beneath them, deep within that mountain…there were a million commoners, whom the two spirit-beasts didn’t notice at all. ——————————- Within the mountain. Those Xiantian lifeforms that were bound to the pillars were still undergoing countless amounts of torment. They had to endure torture, and yet they were still kept alive. This was because the longer they 519 were tortured, the greater the rage and hatred these Xiantian lifeforms would feel! The more powerful, the deeper their hatred, the fiercer the dread wraiths their souls would transform into. “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” The voice drifted down from far above. Although a great formation was hidden here, causing the curses and cries of the million commoners within to be trapped and unable to leave, the sounds from the outside world could still come in…it was much as how the Zifu Disciple, ‘Bei Zishan’, was deep within the secret in the mountain and could hear the sounds from the outside world, even though the sounds from within the secret room wouldn’t go out. That way, they could more easily detect what was going on in the outside world. “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” The voice echoed throughout the mountains, the voice shockingly loud. “What a loud voice.” “Who is shouting up there?” The six beautifully dressed men and women all looked upwards towards the sky, with one of them, a scraggly, bearded man, hurriedly saying, “Fellow apprentices, do you hear that? They are calling for that Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning’s mother is critically ill?” The women with the scorpion said in surprise. “His mother’s ill?” “Hahaha…” The most muscular man of the group, a man with cyan hair, began to laugh loudly. “That Ji Ning is a monstrously talented figure. If he is allowed to develop, who knows how terrifying he will be in the future? But he won’t be able to live for more than three days, and is trapped within the formation. His mother is clearly critically ill, but even if he shouts until he is hoarse, his voice won’t escape!” “Right.” The handsome youth sighed. “Most likely, he is in a state of extreme rage right now.” “I must say, this Ji Ning really is a formidable figure. At eleven or twelve years of age, he was able to kill our senior martial-apprentice. But his final doom is so pitiful. He will pass away in the midst of despair, rage, pain, and regret. Hahaha…this is the end of this genius!” These fellow apprentices chatted amongst themselves. They could imagine how Ji Ning currently felt, which made them feel all the more delighted. “Madame is critically ill?” “Yuchi Snow is critically ill?” 520 The Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s Blindfish, Ji Jadewich, Poortile, and other members were all incomparably astonished, enraged, and filled with hate. At the same time, they felt a hint of pity for Ji Ning. After all, he had less than three days to live, and his mother was critically ill, yet he had no way to return…this sort of pain must be heart-breaking. ———————- Right. Everything was exactly as how those fellow apprentices deep in the mountain imagined. It was also exactly as Blindfish and the others feared. Ning was currently feeling utterly agony and grief in his heart. “Mother!” “Mother!” Ning’s tears began to fall down uncontrollably. He was in such pain, his entire body trembled. His heart felt as though it was being cut by a knife. That woman who had loved him since he was a child, that woman who had treated him as her world…that woman who always, uncontrollably doted on him. She was actually critically ill? Critically ill? “Aaaaaah!” Ning suddenly threw his head upwards, letting out a howl of incomparable pain. This howl spread throughout the mountain, but no matter what, it couldn’t spread out from it. As for those six men and women within the mountain residence, when they heard the howl, their hearts couldn’t help but tremble. That could sense the boundless grief and pain contained within that howl. “Young master.” “Young master Ji Ning.” Blindfish wept. That precocious, brilliant four year old toddler who he had personally taught archery…how had he ended up like this? This was even more agonizing and terrifying that the torture his body had endured. ——————– “I’m going to leave, I’m going to leave, I’m going to leave.” Ning’s voice was quavering. “Break the formation! I’m going to break the formation!” Ning forced his eyes shut. An incomparably powerful surge of emotion swept his entire body, filling his entire spirit. He was going to break the formation!!! He had to leave it, he had to go see that woman who treated him as more important than her life. He had to see her!!! Otherwise, even if he died and went to the Netherworld Kingdom, he would feel incomparable guilt and regret! “Break the formation. I’m going to break the formation.” Ning’s closed eyes were trembling, and his soul, filled with this incomparably powerful emotion that was even greater than what was felt at the moment between life and death, reached a new limit as he frantically visualized methods for the breaking of this formation. Blood began to leak out from Ning’s nose, and blood was coming from his ears as well. Clearly, this surge of powerful emotion had injured his body. “That’s it!” Ning’s soul, which had been constantly testing out new formations, suddenly halted. An incomparably complicated formation model suddenly appeared in his mind, which contained every possible variable within it. Ning opened his eyes. “Mother!” Ning raised his head, letting out a frenzied howl. “I will go back to see you, I will definitely go back to see you! Wait for your child!” Immediately, he transformed into a blur, moving through the formation. Ning moved like a ghost, quickly reaching a place which was still covered with thick black mist, but which had a black formation flag inserted into the earth. The runes atop the formation flag were currently fashing. Ning reached out, directly grabbing the flag and giving it a powerful pull. Instantly, the black mist that had been covering the entire world vanished, revealing a clearly visible mountain scene. From afar, many servants were staring in astonishment towards him. “What.” The six men and women rushed out of the mountain, staring in his direction with astonishment. “The formation was destroyed!” Ning was holding the formation flag in his hand, the light of utter madness in his eyes. “Kill! Kill him! Kill him at all costs! He cannot be permitted to leave this place alive!” Suddenly, a shrill voice filled with incomparable rage emanated from underground. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “He cannot be permitted to leave this place alive!” Those six lavishly dressed men and women began to shout as well. They knew very that with their formation broken and with the protective, hiding shroud which it had given them gone, they would quickly be discovered…and once Ji Ning escaped, the news would quickly spread and they would immediately be found. They had to capture back the formation flag to this bewildering formation! Ji Ning had to be executed as well! “Kill!” “Kill him!” A large number of servants charged wildly towards Ji Ning as well. Ning immediately stored the formation flag into his storage-type magic treasure, while at the same time, the wing-type magic treasures on his back immediately activated as he rushed outwards. At the same time, a boundless amount of scorching fire immediately descended, which surrounded those servants and began to burn them, causing the servants to all scream in agony. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Three figures from within the group of servants came pouncing out towards Ning. “Xiantian lifeforms?” Ning immediately recognized that all three of them were Xiantian lifeforms. “It seems this despicable Immortal practitioner has quite a few Xiantian lifeforms under his control.” “Kill him.” “The Master has given the order to kill him.” These three Xiantian lifeforms were filled with murderous intent. They were all servants of Bei Zishan who were controlled through poisons. They didn’t dare to disobey the orders of Bei Zishan’s orders. Immediately, they transformed into rays of light, streaking from different directions to attack Ning, but Ning simply used his Windwing Evasion technique to move forward and directly clash with one of them, a fat-headed, big-eared, bearded man. “Raaaawr!” The big fellow was wielding a large hammer. Swish! A sword light flashed, and the big fellow rolled to the ground, falling down while clutching his chest, blood staining the ground. In but a single exchange, Ning’s sword had pierced through his heart! “Little baby.” A hawk-nosed man roared angrily as he charged forward, and as he did, a flash of sword light chopped half his head off, and he died on the spot. The third Xiantian lifeform, an older man, was so terrified, his face changed and he immediately retreated. ——————————- Boundless amounts of flame descended, and two Xiantian lifeforms had been killed in an instant as well. The third had been so terrified, he had immediately retreated. This caused those six men and women to stare at each other, the looks on their faces unpleasant. “What terrifying speed!” “His swordplay is far superior to any of us. No wonder he was able to kill our senior fellow apprentice.” All of them understand that even if they all charged together, the result would most likely be that single same word; ‘death’. Right now, Ning was like a life-taking god of death. On one side, boundless amounts of fire scorched those servants, while on his side, he had slaughtered those Xiantian lifeforms. All together, the servants, spiritbeasts, and disciples of Bei Zishan totaled more than ten Xiantian lifeforms. “Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers!” The youngest of the six, that handsome youth, suddenly let out a fierce howl. “Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers.” The other five fellow apprentices immediately understood. All of them shouted furiously, while at the same time, their bodies quickly became covered with a layer of black armor. The six of them were now all garbed in the same black armor. “Rumble…” For a moment, the entire mountain seemed to tremble. This great mountain had actually been hollowed out long ago. Aside from the primary place midway up the mountain, there had been a large number of smaller caverns dug out as well. After all, more than a million commoners were being tortured here. From this number, one could imagine how many caves had been created to hold them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Like raindrops falling from the skies in a dense cluster, from each mountain cave flew out one deep green armored Dao-Soldier after another. Each DaoSoldier was covered with complicated, ancient runes which drew upon the energy of the world. “Dao-Soldiers!” Ning’s face changed. He watched as from afar, a large number of soldiers emerged from the hundreds of caves in the mountain. He immediately recognized them for Dao-Soldiers! “In addition, these are even more powerful Dao-Soldiers than the ‘Crimson Guard’ of my Ji clan.” Given his experience, Ning naturally could sense the power of those runes on these Dao-Soldier’s armor, causing him to be all the more surprised. More than ten thousand Dao-Soldiers descended from the skies. And there were more than ten black armored Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldiers as well, all charging forward. “Kill. Kill as many as I can.” Ning understood that he definitely couldn’t let them join forces. He immediately swept out with his wings, moving like a giant Roc towards a location a kilometer away. These Dao-Soldiers were virtually all at the Houtian level, and thus were much faster. “All of you, die!” Ji Ning, his face spotted red thanks to the poison, had gone completely insane. In an instant, an enormous amount of celestial fire and boundless amounts of freezing frost descended from the skies, wildly sweeping out in each direction. Ning was currently exhausting all of his power to control water and fire. “Careful.” “Assemble the formation!” Of the more than ten thousand Dao-Soldiers, every nine of them linked up, summoning forth the power of the natural world. Faintly, behind their bodies, the illusion of a dragon appeared. Faced with the attack of that scorching flame and freezing frost, most of those who had linked up just barely managed to withstand the attack, while those who had not instantly lost their lives, especially those who were at the center of the flames and of the frost. The surges of heat and cold intersected, causing even those who had linked up to lose their lives. “Grand Flood Dragon Formation!” The ten-plus black-armored Xiantian lifeforms wanted to charge together in formation as well. “Not good.” In the Aquatic Manor, Ning had seen nine Xiantian lifeforms using Dao-Soldier armors. How could he just stand by idly and permit these ten or so people to do as they pleased? “Waterflame Lotus, grind them all to death!” In an instant, Ning formed nine Waterflame Lotuses, surrounding nine of those people. The nine Waterflame Lotuses appeared out of nowhere, each with one petal of fire and one petal of water, one above and one below, and they ground down at their targets. “Aaaah!” The woman with the viper on her shoulder let out a shrill scry, and was killed, ground into fine pieces. “Quick.” “Assemble the formation.” 525 Although all of them wanted to assemble the formation, of the nine people covered by Waterflame Lotuses, six of them had already died while three were heavily injured. This caused the remaining Xiantian lifeforms to all be shocked…this sort of ability was simply too terrifying. At such a great distance, this man was capable of simultaneously killing six Xiantian lifeforms? Generally speaking, Xiantian lifeforms weren’t capable of long-distance attacks, because they were unable to ride on magic treasures to engage in distant attacks. The six dead people were quite unfortunate; they weren’t afraid of the fire and water which Ning was capable of controlling, but they hadn’t expected that Ning would execute this ‘Waterflame Lotus’, which contained a hint of the True Meaning of the Dao. If they had known in advance, they would have all immediately prepared protective Dao-seals, and thus wouldn’t have instantly lost their lives. “Assemble the formation!” The handsome youth’s black armor immediately began to glow with runes, while at the same time those runes which appeared connected with the illusory dragons behind the many ordinary Dao-Soldiers, connecting together into a large whole. In the blink of an eye, the handsome youth connected with a thousand of the ordinary Dao-Soldiers, and behind him appeared the illusion of a Flood Dragon. “Assemble the formation.” “Assemble the formation.” One Xiantian lifeform after another immediately began to link together with the Dao-soldiers. Some activated a thousand, while others activated five hundred. Although the maximum was a thousand DaoSoldiers, Ning had killed simply too many of them. “Unfortunately, too many Dao-Soldiers have died, and we don’t even have nine thousand. Otherwise, once we combined to form the entire Flood Dragon, we could effortlessly kill him.” One illusory Flood Dragon after another appeared in mid-air, resulting in a total of eight illusory Flood Dragons, which were controlled and formed by those eight Xiantian lifeforms and thousands of Dao-Soldiers joining formings. “But even though we aren’t able to transform into a greater Flood Dragon, he will still die.” —————————— Deep within the mountain, in that private room. The green flame continued to flicker in the middle of that ancient, unadorned cauldron. The blood red banner was currently hovering there, as a large number of dread wraiths were howling silently, wildly attacking. Bei Zishan was seated in the lotus position, his face incomparably sinister. “This person named Ji Ning was actually able to break my grand formation.” Zishan was both frantic and angry. He himself had been, this entire time, hiding, fleeing, and trying to refine this powerful magic treasure and thus suddenly rise in power. But without this great formation hiding him, there was no way for him to hide at all. In addition, there were still many dread wraiths that had yet to be absorbed. Right now, what he was trying to do was forcibly bring the process to a halt, as he would rather give up the many dread wraiths. However, this sort of incomparably sinful magic treasure was also incomparably dangerous to make. If he wasn’t careful, he would be devoured by it instead. He had to be extremely careful and cautious, even in an attempt to stop…he still had to kill each and every single one of those dread wraiths who had yet to be refined before he could be killed. If he tried to do it forcibly, he himself would be devoured. To come to a halt needed time. “Master, there are less than nine thousand Dao-Soldiers.” From within the mountain, a spirit-beast who had transformed into a human male’s form called out frantically. “What!” Bei Zishan, currently forcibly repressing his agitation, upon hearing the words from his spiritbeast, immediately grew frantic. “Less than nine thousand Dao-Soldiers? With less than nine thousand, there’s no way to transform into a giant Flood Dragon. Given the power of this Ning, he can absolutely flee.” Right at this moment, the blood-red banner suddenly began to shake, as countless dread wraiths wildly attempted to break free. “Not good.” Bei Zishan forced himself to calm down. He knew that as soon as he lost his grip, those dread wraiths would throw themselves upon him, and he would probably die here today. Bei Zishan immediately made a small bag appear in his hand, which appeared similar to a brocade purse. From within the little purse, a black coffin appeared out of nowhere, which with a thud landed against the ground. The coffin immediately opened, and a heart-trembling aura emanated forth. A large paw, covered with black fur, grabbed the sides of the coffin, and then sat up. This was a black-furred zombie which had glowing green eyes. Whoosh. The black-furred zombie landed on the ground, its body surrounded by a black energy that was visible to the naked eye. The black energy was a necromantic aura, and if a Xiantian lifeform were to absorb it, that person would definitely be poisoned to death. This zombie…was one of the final trump cards which Bei Zishan had. He had worked hard to create it from the corpse of a Zifu Disciple. “Go. Kill him.” Zishan gave the order. Zombies were neither living nor dead. The black-furred zombie was at the level where it had a certain degree of intelligence. It could recognize the disciples of Zishan, and it could also quickly recognize situations as well as whom its enemies were. This black-furred zombie was already comparable to a Zifu Disciple, and it was extremely dangerous. “Umm.” The black-furred zombie let out a low grunt, then walked out, then with a single leap, jumped out from the nearly 150 meter deep tunnel.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Kill! The Azure Firebird and the black serpent were currently high in the air, waiting impatiently. They were under orders to locate Ji Ning, but previously, the black serpent had already shouted three times, without any response at all. “Can it be that the young master isn’t here?” The black serpent said frantically. “Brother Black, look below.” The Azure Firebird spoke in the human tongue. The black serpent looked downwards, only to see that on the formerly calm mountain, a large number of armored Dao-Soldiers had appeared, surrounded by frost and with fires blazing…those Dao-Soldiers and Xiantian lifeforms had forcibly formed into eight illusory Flood Dragons, and the power emanating from those illusory Flood Dragons caused even the Azure Firebird and the black serpent in the air to feel shock. “Dao-Soldiers…thousands of them that can join together?” The Azure Firebird and the black serpent were shocked. The various local hegemons of Swallow Mountain weren’t capable of such things. Only the Grand Xia Dynasty’s soldiers that were stationed at Southmont City were capable of this. “Such power…even if the two of us were to go attack, we’d probably be easily annihilated.” “Look, young master Ji Ning.” In front of these thousands of Dao-Soldiers, appeared a beast-clad youth who was emanating an aura of incomparable wildness and savagery. It was Ning! “Young master Ji Ning! How can he possibly oppose thousands of joined Dao-Soldiers?!” “Ji Ning, quick, flee!” The black serpent shouted frantically in the air. ———————- Those Xiantian lifeforms bound against the pillars within the mountain stared towards the outside nervously as well. Outside, the boundless amounts of flame and frost that had appeared caused them to be shocked as well. “Young master Ji Ning, that Zifu Disciple is currently refining that evil magic treasure. For now, he can’t be distracted. Quick, flee!” Blindfish howled frantically. “Ji Ning, quick, leave! If you dawdle, it’ll be too late!” Ji Jadewich roared as well, his throat going hoarse. “Quick, leave!” All of the Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan were shouting frantically. They had been bound here for so long, and often heard the conversation of those people, and saw some dread wraiths enter the depths of the mountain…they knew that there was a Zifu Disciple here refining an incomparably vile magic treasure. Once this person completed it and personally attacked, what would the repercussions be? “What? Thousands of linked Dao-Soldiers?” The group of bound Xiantian lifeforms suddenly saw that those many Dao-Soldiers who were being burnt by fire or frozen by frost suddenly formed into multiple illusory Flood Dragons. They were only able to see a small portion, but this was already enough to shock them. “Quick, flee” “Ji Ning, leave now!” All of them were incomparably frantic. ————————- Hearing the frantic shouts from his Uncle Black from the skies, as well as the voices of his Master Blindfish, Ji Jadewich, Poortile, Ji Shan, and the others who were bound deeper in the mountain, how could Ji Ning, already poisoned, not go even wilder? Flee? Why would he flee? Even if he fled, he would unquestionably die. If he could risk his life to kill that Zifu Disciple, he might instead have a chance at life. “Kill!” Ning saw the thousands of Dao-Soldiers in front of him. Not hesitating at all, he released his most powerful killing blow. Rumble…. More than three hundred sword-type magic treasures appeared out of nowhere around Ning, every single sword glowing dimly with white light, while at same time activating the power of the natural world. Ning had already reached a very high level of attainment in formations, and so his ability to execute the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had clearly improved greatly as well. It wasn’t like in the past, where he controlled it by rote and by memory; he now understood some of the mysteries inherent within, and knew how to guide them more effectively. “What are those?!” “How can swords fly like that?” “Flying magic treasures?” The eight Xiantian lifeforms amongst those thousands of Dao-Soldiers were completely stunned. Seeing the hundreds of flying swords all hovering there, they instantly thought of something…Zifu Disciple! One had to at least be a Zifu Disciple in order to control magic treasures and fly on them. This was all but common knowledge. But now, this youth was actually flying on magic treasures. But how could they have imagined that Ning’s soul had already reached the level of ‘divine will’, which was why he was able to accomplish this? “He’s a Zifu Disicple, Master, he’s a Zifu Disciple. That youth is a Zifu Disicple!” Some of the Xiantian lifeforms in the Dao Battle-Armor were already beginning to cry out desolately. “Die, then.” Ning instantly controlled that pulsating, glowing sword in front of him. Swish! That pulsating sword light immediately slashed out in an incomparably beautiful arc, leaving behind a desolate, beautiful line in the air. It easily chopped through that handsome youth’s chest, and the handsome youth stared, wide-eyed, in disbelief. “Zifu…Zifu…” Even in death, he couldn’t believe it. “No!” The tall, muscular fellow just began to cry out, but before he finished it, he was pierced through by the sword glow as well. Their Dao-Soldier formation hadn’t truly formed into a Flood Dragon, after all; they had only formed eight illusory Floor Dragons. Every single illusory Flood Dragon was formed from a single Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldier and hundreds or a thousand Houtian Dao-Soldiers. In terms of defense alone, they were actually inferior to the combined forces of the nine Xiantian Dao-Soldiers of the second trial of the Aquatic Manor. Ning was naturally capable of winning through close combat and using the True Meaning of the Raindrop, but doing so would be very tiring, and he would have to face a group attack. But now… By relying on this level four [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he was able to bring forth the power of an early Zifu Disciple using a ranked magic treasure. Even if the enemy truly had nine thousand DaoSoldiers and nine Xiantian lifeforms and was capable of forming into a true Flood Dragon, Ning would still be able to fight. And now, when the enemy was like a platter of loose sand, unshaped and unformed, he naturally chopped through them as easily as chopping through vegetables. “Zifu Disciple!” “He’s a Zifu Disicple.” The sword light slashed out in another graceful arc, piercing through those eight Xiantian Dao-Soldiers in sucession. No matter how those Xiantian Dao-Soldiers attempted to flee, their speed was incomparably slower than the speed of that sword light. Even though the nearby Houtian Dao-Soldiers all tried to help block, those Houtian Dao-Soldiers were simply executed as well. “A Zifu Disicple!” 531 “Zifu Disciple!” One desolate scream after another shook the entire mountain. These Xiantian Dao-Soldiers were filled to the brim with unwillingness to accept this. They hadn’t imagined that this youth named Ji Ning was actually a Zifu Disciple! Ordering them to battle against a Zifu Disciple? They weren’t able to accept that this was how they would die. If they had known, they wouldn’t have come out at all. —————- “What.” “This….” In mid-air, the Azure Firebird and the black serpent watched with wide eyes, their mouths hanging open. From below, Ning was controlling hundreds of swords which were hovering in the air, and then formed into a single sword light which was dominating everyone and everything. This was power on a completely different level. Much like how Xiantian lifeforms could massacre Houtian experts, that sword light effortlessly executed those eight Xiantian Dao-Soldiers, and with their deaths, those Houtian DaoSoldiers naturally were unable to maintain their grand formation. “Ning, he…he’s a Zifu Disciple?” The black serpent, who had watched Ning grow up since he was a child, was somewhat stunned as well. —————— Even Blindfish, Jadewich, Shan, and the others trapped within the mountain who had been frantically calling for Ning to flee were stunned. From this angle, they couldn’t see Ning, but through the cave entrance, they were able to see many Dao-Soldiers. They personally saw those Dao-Soldiers dressed in black armor, which was to say the Xiantian Dao-Soldiers, be easily pierced through one by one by an incomparably brilliant sword light. All of those Xiantian Dao-Soldiers collapsed, dead. In addition, as they died, all of them were howling with grief and rage, “Zifu Disciple!” “A Zifu Disciple!” “A Zifu Disciple?” Blindfish and the others, including the other pitiable Xiantian lifeforms from the other powers here at the Swallow Mountain region, were all somewhat numb. Could it be that aside from Ning, there was another Zifu Disciple who was attacking? But right at this moment… Bang! A black shadow suddenly leapt out from the already opened entrance to that dark underground cave. His green pupils swept those Xiantian lifeforms who were bound within this cave. There were still some ordinary servants here who hadn’t joined the battle. Two unlucky bastards, because they had been fairly 532 close to the cave entrance, had their bodies immediately invaded by the black necromantic energy swirling around the black-furred zombie when it appeared. “Ahhh!” “Ahhh!” The two unlucky bastards hadn’t been able to become Dao-Soldiers. Naturally, they were quite ordinary in ability. As soon as the necromantic aura invaded their bodies, they let out desolate howls, then quickly dissolved into puddles of liquid. The black-furred zombie had already, with a single step, moved past the cave entrance. “Young master, be careful!” Blindfish howled frantically. ——————— Ning, after seeing that the Xiantian Dao-Soldiers had been executed, retrieved his three hundred plus swords. After all, he was still just an early stage Xiantian lifeform. The Xiantian ki in his body wasn’t dense enough! If he were to control thousands of swords, his ki would probably be used up in a single attack. If he just used these three hundred or so, he was still only able to execute it ten times. His true opponent was that truly terrifying Zifu Disciple. “Roaaaaar.” An angry roar rang out, and from the distance, a black shadow flew over. “Is that the Zifu Disciple?” Ning’s wing-type magic treasure trembled, and he immediately flew out in an arc, putting some distance between them. With a smashing sound, that black shadow smashed into the ground, causing a massive, thirty meter wide crater to appear on the ground. When Ning saw this, the look on his face changed. The black-furred zombie stared at Ning, that black, fog-like necromantic aura swirling around his body. “This fellow is so strong, and his speed is very fast.” Ning was still stunned, and he even was reminded of that black-furred aberration who had served as the third trial in the Aquatic Manor. However, this blackfurred zombie gave Ning an evil, baleful feeling, and had that black fog swirling around his body. That aberration who served as the third trial in the Aquatic Manor didn’t. “Kill.” The black-furred zombie stared at Ning, then charged towards him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Activating the wing-type magic treasures, Ning moved like a ghost, constantly dodging. Although each time he dodged, it was rather difficult, he was still able to evade. Occasionally, the Darknorth swords in his hands would land blows on the black-furred zombie, but only white smudges were left on it. “This fellow seems quite similar to the black-furred aberration in the Aquatic Manor. His strength is great, his speed is fast, and his body is incomparably tough. However, his strength is much lower.” In their 533 exchange of blows, Ning immediately discovered that the black-furred zombie’s method of using force was very clumsy, while the black-furred creature in the underwater estate has intelligence. In terms of both footwork and palm techniques, although each movement seemed simple, even with Ning’s miraculous evasion techniques, he still couldn’t dodge. “Not even at the advanced level of technique. Definitely not a Zifu Disciple. The antidote to my poison is probably being carried by that Zifu Disciple. He hasn’t come out, which means he definitely isn’t able to be distracted right now. I have to seize the opportunity to get rid of him.” Ning understood that for the Zifu Disciple to still not come out meant the man was definitely in a tough situation. While he was ill, go for the kill! Swoosh! The wing-type magic treasures on Ning’s back trembled, then took him in an arcing line, moving past the black-furred zombie. The zombie howled ferociously, wanting to attack Ning, but how could Ning, when using the [Windwing Evasion], be caught by the likes of him? “Ji Ning?” A sinister, cold, sharp voice suddenly emanated out from the mountain. Ning immediately saw that midway in the mountain, at the ground in front of the cavern entrance, there was a man dressed in a loose black robe. This man’s hair was loosely bound, and his face was utterly ashen, without a hint of color. The oily green eyes the man had caused even greater shock to Ning than the black-furred zombie had. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Bei Zishan swept the surrounding area with his gaze. He saw the areas frozen by frost or scorched by flames and those many corpses. In particular, when he saw, amongst the corpses, the bodies of those Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldiers, Zishan’s heart clenched. He ached! These were his subordinates. For forging and refining this sort of sinful magic treasure, he needed many subordinates to torment and torture people, and also some powerful subordinates to capture Xiantian lifeforms for him. “All ruined.” Zishan looked towards Ji Ning, his gaze filled with a sinister maliciousness. “My students and servants were all wiped out by you. Those potential dread wraiths that I had been cultivating and refining for so long, and was about to finish with…you forced me to stop. I, Bei Zishan, was actually by a little child like you to suffer such a loss! I won’t mistreat you. In fact, I will have to ‘thank’ you and let you have a taste of what it is like to have your soul be tormented! “Zifu Disciple.” “He’s a Zifu Disciple.” Amidst the thousands of Dao-Soldiers, there were still quite a few screaming in terror. “You are a Zifu Disciple?” Bei Zishan stared at Ning. After all, his evil magic treasure was only half completed because of Ning’s interruption. However, even with this half-completed magic treasure, Zishan could be considered a peak Zifu figure. Based on the discussion between his disciples, however, this Ning was just a twelve year old youth of the Ji clan. A twelve year old who had become a Zifu Disciple? If this was true! Then Zishan was actually worried. For someone so young to have become a Zifu Disciple most likely meant that this person had some miraculous events occur. Perhaps he might have some sort of hidden, secret technique. “Zifu Disciple? If I said I wasn’t a Zifu Disciple, would you believe me?” Ning said coldly. Swoosh! Zishan had been just standing there, but suddenly, a boat appeared beneath his legs. Stepping onto the boat, Zishan instantly began to pull away from Ning. Zishan, dressed in his long black robed, stared coldly at Ning. He had already decided to consider that Ning was an expert on the same level as him, and so he immediately pulled away. Immortal practitioners came in all types. Fiendgod Body Refiners preferred close combat, while others who liked to use magic treasures, poisons, golems, and more would naturally prefer to pull to a distance 535 before using their techniques. After all, close quarters combat was very dangerous. Bei Zishan, for example, liked to use poisons and magic treasures. “Boom!” A black claw suddenly appeared, sweeping forwards and attacking Ning from behind. Ning’s wing-type magic treasure trembled, and he flew out in an arc, immediately dodging past. As for that black claw, the wind from the attack alone had caused the ground to tear apart. The black-furred zombie, bellowing, charged towards Ning. “Bei Zishan, prepare to die!” Ning, while dodging the black-furred zombie, simultaneously manifested more than four hundred sword-type magic treasures, all of which were under Ning’s control and immediately emanated a blurry white light. “Indeed. There’s no need to forcibly control them all. All I need to do is just guide them into the correct flow. When I simply control the critical points of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation…it becomes much easier to control this Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.” Ning previously, while meditating on formations, had tested out the fifth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. At the underwater mansion, although he had been able to use it, it had been too exhausting. But this time, it was clearly much easier for him. In addition, thanks to Ning’s nonstop testing, his control over the 405 sword-type magic treasures had become much more dexterous, and it became easier and easier for Ning’s ‘divine will’ to control them. “Magic treasures!” Zishan, astride his flying boat, saw this from afar. His face changed. “He’s able to control magic treasures and fly on them. So he is indeed a Zifu Disciple! So many sword-type magic treasures….most likely they are almost all unranked, but so many unranked magic treasures joined together still pose a formidable threat.” “Roaaaaaaar.” Growling, the black-furred zombie was still in pursuit of Ning, attacking again and again. Ning, relying on his incomparably dexterous Windwing Evasion, was able to dodge aside time and time again. In a battle of life and death, one had to rely on one’s advantages. This black-furred zombie clearly was incomparably strong and indestructibly tough. Battling with it head on was simply idiocy. Ning naturally understood that this black-furred zombie was probably reared by Bei Zishan. As long as he could kill Zishan, there would be no need to fear this black-furred zombie. “Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, level five!” Ning constantly controlled the many swords hovering around him, and given that his understanding of the intricacies of the formation was rapidly increasing, his ability to utilize it was become greater as well. “Go!” Ning’s eyes suddenly flashed as he stared at the distant Zishan. In front of him, there formed a flickering, unstable sword light, which suddenly shot out into the distance, as fast as lightning, leaving behind only seemingly solid yet seemingly illusory arc in the skies. It stabbed 536 directly towards the distant Bei Zishan. Zishan had long since produced a horsetail whisk-type magic treasure in his hands, and seeing the attack, he immediately brandished the horsetail whisk, which transformed into three thousand white threads that sought to entangle that piercing sword light. Both this flying boat as well this horsetail whisk were ranked magic treasures! Their power was formidable. “Crackle…..” “Not good.” Zishan’s face changed, and he hurriedly controlled his horsetail whisk, making it so that even as those three thousand white threads were blocking and entangling the sword light, a large number of the white threads were also emanating rays of light, with each layer of them ablating and frantically neutralizing the oncoming force, causing the sword light to have lost almost all of its power before it even reached Zishan’s body. This caused the distant Ning’s face to change as well. The power of the fifth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation definitely wasn’t weak. The fourth level could be comparable to an early Zifu Disciple using a ranked magic treasure, so the fifth level had to be comparable to a more formidable Zifu Disciple, right? “You really are a Zifu Disciple.” Zishan stared at Ning, his face filled with savagery. He shouted, “At such a young age, you are such a monster. How can I possibly spare you!” In Zishan’s hands, a black item suddenly appeared which looked like a wasp’s nest. At the same time, it quickly grew greater, to the size of three meters tall. It was filled with countless holes, and there with countless buzzing sounds, one golden wasp after another swarmed out from those countless holes, instantly charging out. In the blink of an eye, those many wasps filled the skies, pouring towards Ning in a flood. “Venomous bugs.” Ning was startled, and in front of his body, an utterly unstoppable sword light formed once more. “Kill!” Swish! A sword light pierced through the skies, directly flying towards those countless, tightly clustered swarm of golden wasps. With crackling sounds that were quite unpleasant to hear, the sword light slaughtered hundreds of the venomous bugs before having passed through to the other time. By now, more than half of the energy of the sword light had been used up, and it turned in an arc, once more stabbing into the swarm. This time, however, it used up all of its power in the swarm, with another few hundred of them having died. “I can’t let this continue.” Ning, while using his wing-type magic treasures to dodge, immediately discarded the notion of using the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation to attack. The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation used up a truly astonishing amount of energy. Ning had only used the fifth level version of the attack twice, with a single fourth level version of this attack. However, as a result, only sixty or seventy percent of his Xiantian ki remained. There were, however, hundreds of thousands of these venomous bugs, while a single sword light of his had only killed seven or eight hundred. Even if he had an unlimited amount of Ki, most likely he would only be able to unleash three more sword lights before the venomous bugs would have arrived before him. “He’s dead for sure.” Bei Zishan stared at Ning. “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning let out a low growl, and surrounding him, one fiery lotus petal after another, along with one water lotus petal after another, formed and merged, creating a lotus bud that was protecting Ning around him. “Three buds of Waterflame Lotuses.” Ning had used his full strength. Every single Waterflame Lotus bud was created from three lotus petals of fire and three lotus petals of water. A larger lotus bud protected the smaller lotus petals, and thus…these three layers of Waterflame Lotuses surrounded Ning, who in the middle of them was constantly using his Windwing Evasion. The reason for this was that the black-furred zombie was constantly chasing, causing Ning to not dare to slack off in the slightest. “Bzzzzzz….” The countless, tightly clustered venomous bugs spread out towards Ning, wildly boring down towards the surface of the Waterflame Lotuses, easily piercing through the first layer. The three Waterflame Lotuses that were formed into six layers were constantly swiveling, and as the many venomous bugs sought to burrow through them, one after another were killed by grinding, swiveling power of the layers of the Waterflame Lotuses. However, they quickly reformed and burrowed through the gaps between each of the layers of the Waterflame Lotuses, continuing to burrow downwards. They quickly passed through the second layer, the third layer, the fourth layer…but many of the venomous bugs were dying as they did. “A protective technique that contains the True Meaning of the Dao! Where did this Ji Ning learn this from?!” Watching so many of his venomous bugs die from afar, Bei Zishan not only ached for his lost, he also was astonished. This was because although a supreme sword technique was precious, this sort of protective technique was even more precious. Even in his own sect, such a technique would rarely be learned. How could he have imagined…that this was a technique which Ning had developed on his own. “They broke through the sixth level!” Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, was wildly blocking the venomous bugs who had broken through the sixth level. However, the carapaces of these golden wasps 538 were tough and very hard to destroy. After blocking just a few, another wasp appeared, biting Ning’s body, breaking through the protective armor, and chomping down onto the flesh. “Die.” Ning’s Darknorth swords stabbed out wildly against the venomous bugs, while the injuries to his body were automatically healing. “I can’t continue like this. Although I have the body of a Fiendgod and will automatically heal, as the numbers of these venomous bugs increase…I’ll still be devoured alive by them in the end.” Ning was frantic. “These venomous bugs are all under Bei Zishan’s control. All I need to do is kill Bei Zishan.” Ning ignored the venomous bugs, preparing for a final, all-out assault. “He has the body of a Fiendgod.” Watching from afar atop his flying boat, Zishan couldn’t wait any longer as well. His face was filled with rage. “His regenerative abilities are so astonishing, and he also has that protective technique! If this continues, even if my wasps are able to devour him, the vast majority of my precious wasps will all die. Although this magic treasure of mine hasn’t been completed yet, and using it will cause great harm to the dread wraiths within…I can’t wait any longer!” Bei Zishan extended his hand, and instantly, a bloody banner appeared. The banner circulated with a layer of black light – solidified sin! When the banner appeared, the surrounding world seemed to grow dark. “Ji Ning, prepare to die!” Bei Zishan brandished the banner in his hand. “Bei Zishan, prepare to die!” Ning, surrounded by the many venomous bugs who had broken through his three Waterflame Lotuses and were wildly attacking him, let out a bellow as well. Around him, 486 sword-type magic treasures appeared. In this critical moment, Ning was wildly testing his own limits as well, because if the fifth level couldn’t kill the enemy, then if he was going to use this technique, he had to use the sixth level! The bloody banner flapped in the air! sword-type magic treasures also hovered there, as a blurry sword light appeared in front of them! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning had never before used the sixth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation before. Originally, back at the Aquatic Manor, using the fifth level alone had taken him to his limit. However, after he had spent time training in accordance with the [Nine Scrolls on Formations], Ning had learned how to better guide the swords in the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation through certain patterns. When he had used the fifth level, it had been fairly effortless for him, and so he now felt that although it might be difficult for him to use the sixth level, he should still be able to succeed. “I have to succeed. If I fail, I die!” Ning put his full power on display, and 486 sword-type magic treasures hovered around him. Ning used his divine will to carefully control the critical ‘juncture’ swords of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, then slowly allowed the other swords to follow those junctures, causing those 486 swords to constantly fluctuate, like the waves in a sea. Although it was difficult for Ning to control them, the 486 swords still began to glow with that blurry white light. “Success!” Although Ning still had to defend against those wasps and even be bit by them, while at the same time dodge against the attacking black-furred zombie, Ning was incomparably excited! By relying on his successes in developing formations, he had been able to manifest this sixth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. “Kill!” Ning stared savagely at the distant Bei Zishan, standing on his flying boat. In front of his body, that incomparably sharp sword light coalesced, compressing to the utmost limit possible, and then, following Ning’s will, shot out like a meteor, slicing through the air and attacking towards Bei Zishan with an utterly indomitable, unstoppable aura. “Die!” Standing atop the boat, Zishan also brandished the bloody banner in his hand. The banner stirred. The world around them turned dark, and one dread wraith after another, all visible to the naked eye, moaned as they flew out from the banner. These dread wraiths were the most powerful survivors of the battles between the dread wraiths. Nourished by the banner, they had become even more powerful! And this was with the treasure only being half completed; if it had been completely forged, it would be truly formidable. Despite that, however, this half-finished magic treasure was enough to allow Bei Zishan to stare down arrogantly at the vast majority of Zifu Disciples. “Roaaaaar!” “Kill!” “Devour you!” The countless wraiths were incomparably savage, emitting ear-piercing shrieks. After having been nourished by the banner, these dread wraiths were capable of making sounds now! They all charged forward in a flood towards Ning at an impossibly fast speed. But of course, compared to Ning’s Lesser Thousand Sword Formation’s sword light, the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation’s sword light was still a bit faster. “Hiss…” Zishan brandished the horsetail whisk in his hand, and it transformed into three thousand white strands, frantically attempting to block. However, this sword light was far more powerful than the previous one, and it chopped straight through the multiple layers. Bei Zishan frantically lifted up the handle of the bloody banner which he was holding, using it to block that sword light. But the sword light was just too fast. Zishan just barely managed to touch it in time. “Crackle…” The sword light struck the handle of the banner, and the entire bloody banner trembled slightly. The sword light instantly grew even weaker, and then it finally slammed into the armor-type magic treasure which Bei Zishan was wearing, that black robe. It just barely managed to leave behind a black smudge on the black robe, and then it disappeared. “Fortunately, I blocked it. It nearly broke through my body and claimed my life.” Zishan was shocked as well. A battle against a Zifu Disciple was a battle where death was always just a breath away. If one wasn’t careful and was hit by an enemy’s attack, one would lose one’s life. “Hmph. With those dread wraiths gnawing at him, he won’t be able to concentrate enough to launch another one of these sword lights. Those dread wraiths will gnaw him to death, no question about it.” Zishan was extremely confident. Even if he himself was bitten by those dread wraiths, he would die. ———————— Ning watched as those countless, tightly clustered dread wraiths howl as they flew towards him. His face couldn’t help but change. These howling dread wraiths easily bypassed his six layers of Waterflame Lotuses. Dread wraiths were ghosts, and so weapons and Waterflame Lotuses were completely unable to block them. “Devour you!” “Devour.” Countless dread wraiths surged forward, instantly completely engulfing Ning within them, wildly rushing into Ning’s body. “He’s dead for sure.” Watching from afar, Zishan was confidently awaiting the moment when Ning would invariably collapse. However, immediately afterwards, Zishan’s face began to change, because the bloody banner within his hand was beginning to tremble, and its aura was beginning to weaken as well as its power decreased. “What’s going on? What…what is this?” Zishan was shocked and angered. This banner was his trump card, his killing technique! But now, the aura of the banner was weakening nonstop, which meant that the power of the banner was dropping. The foundation of this magic treasure was those dread wraiths…which meant there was only one possibility. Many dread wraiths were dying! “How is this possible? Those dread wraiths are ghosts which are filled with hatred and murder. There’s no weapon at all capable of blocking them, and they are ripping and biting at the enemy’s soul. These countless dread wraiths aren’t able to devour his soul?” Zishan didn’t dare believe it. Even a Zifu Disciple’s soul probably wouldn’t be able to withstand these ghosts for long before being utterly devoured. ————————- Within Ning’s consciousness. Ning’s soul was there, and countless dread wraiths were flooding it, letting out howls as they attempted to devour it. “What to do?” In his consciousness, Ning could sense those countless dread wraiths flooding in. He was shocked. The soul was a person’s foundation; if the soul was gone, then one wouldn’t even be able to reincarnate. At the same time, Ning had never had the experience of battling against ghosts. “The [Nuwa Painting].” This was the first thing which Ning thought of. In his consciousness, a Ji Ning dressed in white clothes appeared, sitting in the lotus position. At the same time, behind his body, hovering in mid-air, there appeared the form of Nuwa. Maiden Nuwa seemed to have become truly timeless, with the passage of time not diminishing her in the slightest. Her eyes were filled with grief and sympathy, like the eyes of a mother. She also emanated boundless amounts of light, covering the surrounding area. When the many dread wraiths came charging over and touched the boundless light emanating from Maiden Nuwa, the evil aura emanating from their forms truly vanished. On their faces appeared smiles of peace and bliss. All of them looked towards Ji Ning with grateful gazes. Some bowed in thanks, while others knelt in thanks. And then, one after another vanished, returning to the Netherworld Kingdom to be reborn. The many dread wraiths continued to charge forwards, but the image of Maiden Nuwa dissolved their evil auras, and once they were no longer possessed by that evil, there was no way those ghosts could continue to remain here in the mortal world. All of them thus went to the Netherworld Kingdom. Actually, Ning’s own soul was comparable to that of a Wanxiang Adept to begin with. Even if he didn’t manifest a visualization of Maiden Nuwa, given the power of his soul, there was no way these dread wraiths would have been able to kill him…after all, the magic treasure was only half complete. It was only useful against Zifu Disciples, and it wasn’t strong enough to deal with Wanxiang Adepts. However, if he had done that, Ning would have been relying on the power of his soul to forcibly kill each of those dread wraiths. As Ning instead visualized Maiden Nuwa, those dread wraiths were instead all purified and sent to be reincarnated, which was a great karmic merit. ———————– Although this took a long time to discuss, in truth, it happened in an instant. Ning had no fear at all of those countless dread wraiths charging into his body, attempting to devour his soul. Instead, he just stared at the distant Bei Zishan, and let out a bellow. “KILL!” Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! A ray of sword light flashed out, followed immediately by another one…four bursts of sword light shot out towards the distant Zishan. These four bursts of sword light virtually exhausted all of the Xiantian ki in Ning’s body, as the amount remaining was not enough to permit him to unleash a fifth. This was Ning’s full strength attack! “How is that possible? How could a youth not be afraid of his soul being devoured by dread wraiths?!” Zishan, still gripping that bloody banner, was in disbelief. When he saw those rays of sword light shoot out, he was so terrified that he immediately controlled his flying boat to flee. But how could the speed of the boat match the speed of the sword light flashes? Zishan, terrified, brandished his horsetail whisk to defend while also thrusting out with his banner, but although he was just barely able to block the first attack, the second attack slashed outwards in an arc, directly piercing through the black robes that served as an armor-type magic treasure, stabbing into his body. Swish! Swish! The two other rays of sword light also instantly pierced through his head and his neck. In the corner of his forehead, a hole appeared. His neck, meanwhile, was completely cut through, and his head went flying. “Impossible…” A look of disbelief remained on Zishan’s face. The distant black-furred zombie came to a halt as well, confusion appearing in its eyes. As for those venomous wasps, many of whom had died as they had thrown themselves in their attack on Ning, they quickly retreated as well. Those three Waterflame Lotuses had crushed to death countless wasps, and without an order from their master, they naturally would prefer to flee. Only now did Ning retrieve his sword-type magic treasures, a look of disbelief appearing in his eyes. “I…I killed a Zifu Disciple? I succeeded?” But right at this moment… From Bei Zishan’s corpse, just as it was falling down from the flying boat, a golden light suddenly appeared. Given Ning’s visual prowess, he could instantly tell…that it was a golden bug! “What’s that?” A golden bug actually flew out from the body? Ning felt puzzled, while at the same time, he felt that something was off. He had the sense that he couldn’t allow that golden bug to fly away…but his Xiantian ki had been almost completely exhausted, while the Waterflame Lotus wasn’t capable of being manifested at such a great distance. “Rumble…” Suddenly, the entire world seemed to transform from day into night. In the night sky, many stars twinkled and flashed, and as they did, the countless stars seemed to have transformed into a stellar sea. Within that stellar sea, there was an enormous full moon, and as the light of the moon shone down, the soft moonlight landed upon the body of that frantically fleeing golden bug. The golden bug seemed to be utterly terrified, flying at high speed and trying to flee. But suddenly, that soft moonlight solidified into a giant hand, with gently grasped that golden bug, which in its incomparable terror, let out a terrified cry. “Spare me, spare me!” “Crunch!” With a light squeeze of the giant moonlight hand, the golden bug was crushed into dust. And then, that night sky, those millions of stars, and that moon all disappeared, with the skies once more returning to daylight. “This…this is…” Ning stood there, his face filled with shock. “A Manifestation of stars…a Wanxiang Adept! A Wanxiang Adept!” “You were too careless.” From high up in the air, a man flew over on the wind, dressed in a blue robe and with long, unbound hair. He had a smile on his face. “You worked so hard to kill the body of that Bei Zishan, but you almost let him borrow the body of the Life Gu-Bug to flee. Bei Zishan was an expert in using bugs, so naturally he raised a Life Gu-Bug. In killing him, you should’ve killed his Life Gu-Bug as well. By not doing so, you almost wasted all of your previous effort. That wouldn’t have been good.” 544 Ning understood that he had met a major figure today. Swallow Mountain didn’t have any Wanxiang Adepts. Ning immediately bowed respectfully. “Ji Ning greets you, senior.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The blue-robed man, his long hair fluttering in the wind, descended in front of Ji Ning. Laughing, he said, “My surname is Mu, while my name is Xiao. Others address me as Adept Mu.” “Greetings to you, Adept Mu.” Ning felt his heart calm down. This Wanxiang Adept whom he had never met had just told Ning his name and surname. Clearly, he held an excellent opinion of Ning. “Thank you, Adept Mu, for intervening. Otherwise, if this Bei Zishan were to have fled, he most likely would have caused more calamities in the future.” Ning immediately expressed his gratitude. Adept Mu had a smile on his face as he shook his head. “Actually, I should be the one thanking you. I came here for the purpose of killing this Bei Zishan, and I spent months investigating before I found him hiding here. Unfortunately, this Bei Zishan set up that large formation. Although I am a Wanxiang Adept, if I were to attempt to break the formation…I didn’t have confidence in my ability to do so. Thus, I have been waiting here. I was planning to wait until he left the formation before exterminating him, but I didn’t expect that I would end up personally witnessing a fine performance.” Ning was stunned. What? So this Adept Mu had been hiding here early on, and had been watching everything occur? “Afterwards, you broke open the formation.” Adept Mu sighed. “Only then did I know that it was you who did it. A youth who was able to break this formation. Formidable. In addition, I didn’t expect that all of those Dao-Soldiers, Xiantian lifeforms, and even Bei Zishan himself would be disposed of, all by you alone. Hahaha…that made things simple for me.” “If I had known that Adept Mu was present, then I wouldn’t have had to exhaust myself.” Ning said hurriedly. Adept Mu looked curiously at Ning. “Ji Ning, I wish to ask you. Are you a Zifu Disciple? Or a Xiantian lifeform?” A person’s strength couldn’t be judged from the surface. However, Adept Mu was someone who had been watching for a very long time from outside. In particular, after Ning broke open the formation, he had watched carefully as Ning engaged in those battles. As the saying goes, the eyes of the viewers are the clearest…Adept Mu discovered a number of issues which made him believe that Ning shouldn’t be a Zifu Disciple. “I have not yet established my ‘Violet Palace’.” Ning didn’t hide it. Adept Mu immediately revealed a look of surprise. “Indeed! I saw that your swordplay is exquisite, and that you should have reached the level of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. If you were a Zifu Disciple, when you used your elemental energy to execute such exquisite swordplay…you should have been able to easily defeat that black-furred zombie, and that battle should have been very simple for you. But you were actually in dire straits, which is why I guessed that you shouldn’t be a Zifu Disciple. Only, if you aren’t a Zifu Disciple, then you must be using ‘divine will’ to control all those sword-type magic treasures and fly with them. You, a mere Xiantian lifeform, have such a powerful soul. This truly is rare, quite rare!” Ning nodded. He didn’t deny it, because even in the records and books he had read, he had read of some incomparably monstrous Xiantian lifeforms who were able to do what he did. “My soul was powerful at birth.” Ning said. “Ever since I was a child, I could divide my mind. Afterwards, when I gained insights into the True Meaning of the Dao, my divine will was formed.” ——————— Facing a Wanxiang Adept, a person with the power to easily destroy him, Ning naturally didn’t have to play any games. Since he was an incomparably monstrous talent, he had to show it off. That might even be of benefit to him. “I want to ask you another thing.” Adept Mu looked at Ning, as though he were looking at a piece of unpolished jade. “Are you training in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?” “Yes.” Ning nodded. “Hahaha….” Adept Mu laughed delightedly. “Do you know who I am? Why I was in pursuit of Bei Zishan?” Ning looked at Adept Mu, then shook his head. He had never met the man; how could he know who he was? Adept Mu said directly, “I am a Raindragon Guard of the Grand Xia Dynasty. I am under orders to pursue and kill Bei Zishan.” “Raindragon Guard?” Ning was stunned. After he had killed that Diremonster, Serpentwing, his parents had given him a general explanation of the Stillwater Commandery, and how there was a powerful force within it that absolutely could not be offended; the Raindragon Guards! The Raindragon Guards was the most powerful military organization within the Grand Xia Dynasty, completely composed of Immortal practitioners, and according to legend, only those at least at the Wanxiang Adept level were able to join. The Raindragon Guards had an extremely special status. They directly served the Grand Xia Dynasty! Amongst the incomparably numerous forces and powers spread across the entire Stillwater Commandery, the two most highly ranked were the Marquis of Stillwater and the Raindragon Guards! The Marquis of Stillwater was the master of this area, and his roots here were very deep. But the Raindragon Guards were directly subordinate to the Grand Xia Dynasty. They themselves had numerous experts, and behind them they had the entire Grand Xia Dynasty as their backer. “Ji Ning.” Adept Mu looked at Ning. “The Grand Xia Dynasty’s Raindragon Guards are the most powerful force in existence in this vast land. No single tribe, no single school, no single sect…can come even close to comparing with my Raindragon Guards!” Ning nodded, acknowledging this. “The Raindragon Guards are quite independent and under no restrictions. Once you become a Raindragon Guard, you can be blessed with a tribe, and that you can carve out a territory of ten thousand kilometers for the land of your tribe. This land will be protected by the Raindragon Guards! Even if you die, the Raindragon Guards will protect that land for a thousand years. No power will dare invade it, as if they do, that would signify a challenge to the Raindragon Guards, and we Raindragon Guards will tear out any such invading force by their very roots!” Adept Mu said. Ning had heard his father say as well that the Raindragon Guards did indeed have an exalted status, and even their tribes would benefit. “Adept, you’ve said so many things, but I cannot become a Raindragon Guard.” Ning laughed. Adept Mu just looked at Ning. “I ask you this. Are you willing to become a Raindragon Guard?” “ME!?” Ning’s eyes widened. “I…I’m just a Xiantian lifeform. Even if I want to, my power is far from being sufficient.” But Adept Mu just shook his head. “It isn’t a major issue if your power is weak. Right now, you aren’t able to directly join the Raindragon Guards, but our Raindragon Guards has an auxiliary corps as well! Much like how some schools, sects, and tribes will intentionally attract some geniuses to join them, we Raindragon Guards also have an auxiliary corps which will draw in some geniuses to join for instruction and guidance.” “Upon joining the auxiliary corps, you’ll have access to all sorts of training techniques and even divine abilities.” Adept Mu sighed. “If you consider the Raindragon Guards to be a school or a sect, then we are the most powerful one of all. We have countless Immortals practitioners, and even Celestial Immortals have appeared from within our ranks.” “But of course, the threshold for joining the auxiliary corps is quite high. It isn’t just anyone who can join. Fortunately, you train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod 548 Body Refining technique in the world.” Adept Mu looked at Ning. “Anyone who relies on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to become a Xiantian lifeform can immediately enter the auxiliary corps. There’s no need to undergo the various trials.” “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is simply too hard. Every single person who can use it to become a Xiantian lifeform is a monstrous talent.” Adept Mu sighed emotionally. Ning, standing there, made a sound of agreement. It was true. He himself had spent that night meditating on the Dao before understanding how to fuse fire and water and to break through to become a Xiantian lifeform. Others most likely would also have to find their own secret ways to fuse fire and water as well. “Every single Immortal practitioner who trains in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is extraordinary.” Adept Mu said. “For ordinary Immortal practitioners, only those at the Wanxiang Adept level are permitted to join the Raindragon Guards.” “But for [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] practitioners, as long as they reach the Zifu level and learn a divine ability, their battle power will be equivalent to a Wanxiang Adept’s, and thus they would be allowed the chance to enter the Raindragon Guards. But of course, that just means you’ll have the chance to; whether or not you’ll actually be able to enter depends on your ability.” Adept Mu said. “I myself only was able to join the Raindragon Guards after becoming a late-stage Wanxiang Adept.” Ning, hearing this, blinked twice. Late-stage Wanxiang? The Raindragon Guards truly were difficult to join! —————– Right at this moment, those thousands of surviving Dao-Soldiers were all staring towards this direction in terror. From the skies, two figures descended as well; they were the human forms of the Azure Firebird and the black serpent. They, too, stared towards Ning. “You go rescue Master Blindfish and the others. I have some things to discuss with this senior.” Ning immediately instructed. “Yes.” The Azure Firebird and the black serpent responded. After having watched the grand battle between Ning and Bei Zishan, their hearts were filled with dread. Although Ning was frantically worried about his mother, he naturally couldn’t slight or be discourteous to this Wanxiang Adept in front of him. Ning even had the intention of inviting him to go to West Prefecture City.” “As long as you join the prepatory army, your future prospects will be limitless.” Adept Mu said. “In the future, you becoming a Raindragon Guard will be a matter of course. The chances you will have there will 549 be far greater than what you have here in the tribes, at least. Think about it carefully. If you are willing to join the auxiliary corps, then go back and bid your parents farewell. I will take you directly to Stillwater City!” To Stillwater City? Ning was stunned. “Adept Mu.” Ning said hurriedly. “There are so many benefits to joining the auxiliary corps. I fear there must be some sacrifices as well, right?” “Naturally.” Adept Mu nodded. “Upon joining the auxiliary corps, until you become a Zifu Disciple, you are forever forbidden from leaving the mountain.” “Forever forbidden from leaving the mountain?” Ning was puzzled. Adept Mu said, “The headquarters of we Raindragon Guards is located on the peaks of a tall mountain. The auxiliary corps is there as well! If you can’t even become a Zifu Disciple, then you will simply die of age on the mountain. After becoming a Zifu Disciple, you can often leave, but you’ll still need to spend most of your time on the mountain, as you’ll only leave on orders. Only when you become a Raindragon Guard will you have freedom.” Ning nodded. He could tell that the auxiliary corps was actually comparable to a school. If one didn’t become a Zifu Disciple, one wasn’t permitted to leave, while even after becoming a Zifu Disciple, one would be stationed on the mountain and only be allowed to leave on orders. “I have my Aquatic Manor.” Ning said to himself. “Immortal Juhua, by relying on that ancient Aquatic Manor, was able to live for millions of years, even as a Loose Immortal, and his power was comparable to a Celestial Immortal…there are many secrets contained within the Aquatic Manor which I must investigate. Once I become a Zifu Disciple, I’ll be able to bind the control talisman. Why should I be in a hurry to join the auxiliary corps?” Adept Mu, standing there, spoke again. “Ning, who in the Swallow Mountains can possibly provide you tutelage? For someone as naturally gifted as you, you must expand your horizons.” “Thank you, Adept.” Ning pondered for a time, then shook his head. “Adept, I imagine that you heard as well that my mother is gravely ill. For now, I don’t wish to go.” Adept Mu, hearing this, nodded. “Since that’s the case, I won’t press you. This is the talisman of the Raindragon Guards. In the future, if you encounter any danger on the road to Stillwater City, if you show off this talisman, perhaps it might be of use.” As he spoke, he turned over his hand, and a square black talisman appeared in his palm, with the image of a Rain Dragon on it. “Thank you, Adept.” Ning immediately accepted it. “Ji Ning has one thing to request of you, Adept.” Adept Mu immediately laughed. “You assisted me in exterminating Bei Zishan of Snowdragon Mountain. I had wanted to help send you to Stillwater City to enter the auxiliary corps of the Raindragon Guard, but I didn’t expect you wouldn’t want to go…I was worrying about how to repay your assistance. Go ahead and tell me. If I can help you, I will. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Snowdragon Mountain? Bei Zishan? This Bei Zishan had been a Zifu Disciple of Snowdragon Mountain? Ji Ning temporarily suppressed this line of thought, then immediately said with sincerity, “My mother is gravely ill. I expect that my Ji clan is unable to save her. I would like to ask you, Adept Mu, to go on a trip to visit my Ji clan of the West Prefecture and save my mother’s life.” Adept Mu saw the look on Ning’s face, and he couldn’t help but sigh. “I’m not talented in medical treatments, but I can go take a look. If I can save her, naturally I will. But if I cannot…” “Adept, if you are willing to go, Ji Ning will be forever grateful.” Ning said hurriedly. “Scum, get over here!” Adept Mu suddenly turned and stared into the distance, barking loudly. From afar, that black-furred zombie whose entire body was swirling with that necromantic aura walked over obediently, staring at Adept Mu with a hint of dread in its oily green eyes. Adept Mu waved his hand, and a violet coffin appeared in front of him. “Get in.” Adept Mu gave the order. The black-furred zombie obediently opened the coffin, then leapt in and lay down, then closed the lid behind it. “This is a corpse-preserving coffin.” Adept Mu, with a wave of his hand, took back the corpse-preserving coffin while explaining to Ning, “This black-furred zombie had just lost its master. If it were to be permitted to roam about, it would definitely harm many people. Thus, when I was speaking with you, I used a thread of my ki bind it to myself.” Ning nodded. “Don’t worry. You were the one to kill Bei Zishan, and so I won’t touch any of the things he left behind.” Adept Mu said. “Only, at your current level of power, you are not able to tame this black-furred zombie, and so I am taking it with me.” As he spoke, Adept Mu looked at the distant corpse of Bei Zishan. Zishan’s corpse immediately flew over, along with his various magic treasures, including the flying boat, his horsetail whisk, the bloody banner, and the nest which held the hornets. Adept Mu reached out with his hand, and a ring which had been on Zishan’s fingers flew off, entering Adept Mu’s hand. “This is a ranked storage-type magic treasure.” Adept Mu said. “You are unable to bind it, so I will help you in retrieving the items within.” Whoosh…. Soon, Adept Mu completed his binding of the ring, and as he did, a large number of miscellaneous items appeared out of nowhere onto the ground, amongst which were Dao Battle-Armor suits, foodstuffs, some golden items, as well as some alchemical ingredients as well as various bottles. “Judging from the look of your skin, you should have suffered a poisoning by the Hearteater Powder.” Adept Mu flipped his hand, and one of the little bottles on the ground flew up, with the words ‘Hearteater Antidote’ written atop it. Clearly, with so many bottles present, Zishan himself was worried that he would use a wrong bottle, and so had labeled all of them. Adept Mu opened the bottle’s plug, glanced at it, then nodded. “This is the antitode. Eat a pill. You can collect these various items and ranked magic treasures as well…although you are currently unable to bind them, when you become a Zifu Disciple, you will be. Don’t have any worries; although these things are treasures to you; they aren’t worth anything to me at all.” “Thank you, Adept.” Ning was very grateful. Although he knew that these things weren’t worth much to the Adept, the actions of this Adept Mu were clean and decisive. How could Ning not feel grateful for how well the man was treating him, a mere Xiantian lifeform? “One day, I absolutely must repay this kindness.” Ning said to himself. Ning swallowed the pill, which gave off a clear, fragrant taste, almost like a pellet of sugar. As soon as the pellet entered his stomach, it immediately dissolved. Soon, he felt a warm sensation throughout his entire body, and every single bit of Hearteater poison that was spread throughout his body suddenly dissolved like the snow, quickly and completely disappearing. The pain which had been spreading throughout his body vanished as well, and those red spots on his face faded. “This hornet’s nest…” Adept Mu pointed at the hornet’s nest, which had many venomous hornets within. “The hornet’s nest is an unranked magic treasure. You can bind it. However, as for the many hornets within the nest…to control them mentally, you’ll have to become a Zifu Disciple, and then slowly bind them with your Ki. Prior to becoming a Zifu Disciple, remember to often bring them food to eat. Don’t starve them to death. If they are starved, they will start to kill each other and devour each other.” Ning nodded immediately. “Understood.” “Hurry up and bind the hornet’s nest. Oh. Here’s a manual on binding hornets. This is a secret manual of Snowdragon Mountain. It isn’t that precious, but it does contain the basics for binding hornets and pests.” Adept Mu immediately saw a fur-clad book amongst Bei Zishan’s possessions. “Binding hornets is fairly 553 simple. Only, finding them is very hard, and so too is raising them. There’s no need for you to be in a rush to learn. These things can wait for you to become a Zifu Disciple before learning.” Ning accepted the manual, which had three characters atop it: [Insect Binding Manual]. “Because this hornet’s nest has venomous insects, there’s no way you can store it within a storage-type magic treasure.” Adept Mu handed the nest to Ning. “However, the hornet’s nest can change in size. You can shrink it, then carry it on you.” “Yes.” Ning acknowledged. He immediately accepted the enormous black hornet’s nest. Prior to handing it over, Adept Mu had already erased the remaining magic power that the hornet’s nest had contained, and so Ning was able to easily bind it. Otherwise, Ning would have had to spend an enormous amount of time just wiping out the remnant magic power left behind by Bei Zishan. “Smaller, smaller, smaller.” Ning looked at the black hornet’s nest rapidly shrink, until it was the size of a finger. With a flip of his hand, he picked up a cloth sack, then placed the hornet’s nest within it. He placed the sack within his clothes, and the armor-type magic treasure he was wearing shifted in configuration slightly, accommodating the sack within. “Collect them all.” Ning waved his hand, and collected the many miscellaneous items on the ground, as well as manuals and poisons which Bei Zishan had left behind.As for Bei Zishan’s ranked magic treasures, Ning didn’t touch them. “These ranked magic treasures.” Adept Mu pointed at the bloody banner as he spoke. “I am going to take away this Myriad Wraiths Banner. This is a magic treasure which was birthed from sins. I need to take it back…and it is also proof that I’ve accomplished my mission. You can keep the rest.” “Alright.” Only now did Ning collect the other ranked magic treasures. He was unable to use any of them, and so all he could do was to collect them for now. “The Myriad Wraiths Banner…” Adept Mu picked up the bloody banner, which glowed with a faintly visible black aura. “Who knows how many people were tortured to death to create it? What a terrible, weighty sin! This Bei Zishan really was fated to die; he actually used this Myriad Wraiths Banner against you, but your soul is already at the ‘divine will’ level. How could this incomplete Myriad Wraiths Banner possibly do anything to you?” Adept Mu was under the impression that Ning had relied on his powerful so to destroy all of those dread wraiths. He didn’t know that Ning had, in reality, had relied upon a visualization of Maiden Nuwa in order to pacify all of those dread wraiths. “Look. This is sin. Sin so heavy, one can see it with the naked eye. And yet, boundless karmic merits are very hard to see.” Adept Mu pointed at the black aura surrounding the bloody banner. “Sin which one can already see with the naked eye…you can imagine how grave and serious the sin is. We Raindragon Guards naturally must exterminate a person who has committed such grave sins.” Ning looked and nodded. ——————– Within the mountain cave, Blindfish and the others had their bodies and clothes covered with blood. “Quick, lift them up.” “Hurry.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird were shouting at those servants. How could the servants dare to resist? They obediently lifted, carried, and piggybacked those who were unable to walk on their own. “The young master?” “Where is young master Ji Ning?” Blindfish and Ji Jadewich asked, along with others. The black serpent just said, “The young master is outside.” Blindfish was still able to walk on his own, but Jadewich had to be lifted. All of them walked out of the cave, and as they did, they saw those thousands of terrified Dao-Soldiers, as well as the corpses which litered the ground, as well as Ji Ning, off in the distance, who was currently chatting with Adept Mu. Ning turned to look. When he saw his master Blindfish, his entire body covered with blood, as well as Jadewich and the others be carried over, he couldn’t help but feel his heart ache. He couldn’t help but call out, “Master Blindfish.” “Young master.” Blindfish spoke as well. “You…you all…” Ning didn’t know what to say. “Thank you, young master.” “Thank you, young master Ji Ning.” Not just the people of the Ji clan; even those Xiantian lifeforms of the Riverbank clan, the Ironwood clan, the Kou clan, and the various other clans, all of whom had their dantians shattered, spoke out in gratitude. The destruction of their dantians made them cripples, but they already felt boundless gratitude for being able to see the sun again and for being able to return to live amongst their clans. In his heart, Ning felt boundless sourness. These people included the enemies of the Ji clan, true, but in the past, they were glorious, respected Xiantian lifeforms. But now, all of their dantians had been destroyed. The hint of excitement he had felt prior to this when he had acquired all of those treasures of Bei Zishan completely vanished. Ning turned to look towards those servants and barked, “How many more people are imprisoned within this mountain?” “There’s most likely more than a million people imprisoned here, but it’s hard to say if even half remain alive.” Immediately, some servants spoke out nervously. Ning, hearing this, was stunned. A million? “What a sin!” Adept Mu shook his head and sighed. “Ji Ning…these thousands of Dao-Soldiers as well as hundreds of thousands of surviving commoners…let those two spirit-beasts deal with them. The two of you, remember that those thousands of Dao-Soldiers were innocent. They were forced to do what they did by Bei Zishan. Do not further violate the proscriptions against murder.” “Yes.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird hurriedly nodded. They had previously seen the power of those Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers. Although they could spare the lives of those Dao-Soldiers, they absolutely would take away those Dao Battle-Armors. “I’ll handle everything here to you two.” Ning instructed. “Don’t worry.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird responded. “Ji Ning, let’s go. Let’s go to your Ji clan’s West Prefecture City.” Adept Mu said. “I can bring these people along as well.” As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a leaf appeared out of nowhere. The leaf rapidly expanded in size, and soon became an enormous leaf that was dozens of meters long. Ning, seeing this, immediately had Master Blindfish, Jadewich, and the other members of the Ji clan all stand atop the leaf. As for the Kou clan, the Riverbank clan, and the other clans, they temporarily rested here, awaiting their clan’s forces to come pick them up. “Let’s go.” Adept Mu, Ning, Blindfish, and the other Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan who had their dantians destroyed had all mounted the leaf. The enormous green leaf, dozens of meters long, flew rapidly into the air, quickly flying beyond the peaks of the mountains and disappearing into the skies. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The single green leaf had Ji Ning as well as more than twenty others on it. It flew through the clouds, hurrying towards the direction of West Prefecture City. Everyone was either seated or lying down, while Ning and Adept Mu Xiao were standing. “Adept, prior to this, you said that Bei Zishan was from Snowdragon Mountain?” Ning asked the question he had been contemplating. “Right. Snowdragon Mountain.” Adept Mu glanced at Ning and nodded. “Snowdragon Mountain can be considered one of the most powerful forces of the entire Stillwater Commandery, and within the school, there are multiple Primal Daoists who stand guard. Their roots are quite deep.” Ning was secretly shocked. Multiple Primal Daoists? “Precisely because the school is so large and it has so many methods of training, it also possessed some evil techniques, and so naturally, it will also have some Immortal practitioners who have embarked upon an evil path.” Adept Mu said. “Snowdragon Mountain cares more about power, and thus within it, it possesses Demon practitioners, Evil practitioners, Immortal practitioners, Buddhist practitioners, and all sorts of other practitioners. It values power the most.” Adept Mu sighed, “Precisely because within it, the ‘fish and dragons are mixed together’, many people are attracted to Snowdragon Mountain, causing its power to grow even more enormous. Some Zifu Disciples who have departed from it will establish their own territory elsewhere, under the banner of Snowdragon Mountain. They can be considered branches, I suppose. These branches will often collect some talented youths and send them to the main school. Thus, Snowdragon Mountain continues to grow more and more powerful.” “But of course, compared to our Raindragon Guards…Snowdragon Mountain is incomparably inferior.” Adept Mu laughed. “Any one of the Loose Immortals which we Raindragon Guards have stationed here in the Stillwater Commadery is capable of eradicating the entire Snowdragon Mountain school.” Ning nodded. This was no joke. Snowdragon Mountain was nothing more than a school, while the Raindragon Guards was the most powerful military force the Grand Xia Dynasty possessed, overawing the entire world. Of course they weren’t on the same level. “Look. We’re here.” Adept Mu pointed into the distance. “West Prefecture City is up ahead.” “We’re here?” Ning was stunned. He saw that in the distance, there was a forest which surrounded a magnificent city. This was indeed West Prefecture City, where he had lived since he was young. Ning couldn’t help but feel stunned. “The speed at which Wanxiang Adepts travel on their magic treasures truly is astonishing! A distance of thousands of kilometers was travelled in the blink of an eye.” And then, Ning began to worry. “I wonder how Mother is doing. Mother has always been well. Why is she suddenly gravely ill?” ————– Within West Prefecture City. Yuchi Snow was resting in her room, while outside of the room, her husband, Ji Yichuan, was currently speaking with Ji Ninefire. “This is all caused by that calamity from the past.” Yichuan shook his head. Ninefire sat there, nodding slightly. “That disaster changed the destiny of the two of you, husband and wife. Yichuan, you were the most talented genius our Ji clan had produced in a thousand years. When you were a child and your father died, you suddenly began to soar…you had already established your ‘Violet Palace’ and embarked onto the path of Immortals as a Zifu Disciple. Unfortunately, it was all ruined.” “It doesn’t matter if my future potential on the path of Immortals is gone.” Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “During that disaster, the elder brother of my wife, the most powerful of us three, lost his life for the sake of protecting myself and Snow. Snow had already been badly injured, but for the sake of birthing Ning, she utilized a secret technique that used up her own lifeforce…although my future potential on the Immortal path has been destroyed, I got off the easiest, out of the three of us.” Ninefire shook his head gently, sighing. Fate makes fools of men! Adventuring in the vast, boundless world outside was indeed far more dangerous than living here in Swallow Mountain. Experts were as common as the clouds. There would be lucky encounters, but there would also be disastrous ones. For example, when the Yuchi siblings and Yichuan had met with that crisis, the result had been this. “Hm?” Ninefire suddenly lifted his head. From high up in the air, a green leaf was slashing through the skies until it landed within a courtyard. Atop this leaf were Adept Mu, Ning, Blindfish, Jadewich, and many others. “This…” Yichuan stared in astonishment at the people in front of him, then immediately dashed over. “Jadewich, Shan, Blindfish…you all came back? What happened to all of you? How is it that all of you are injured? What have you all been doing these past days? Why did you all suddenly go missing?” “Greetings, Patriarch.” The twenty-plus Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan quickly recognized their Patriarch, and in unison, they immediately called out. Ninefire naturally knew that more than twenty Xiantian lifeforms of his clan had gone missing, and he had been utterly frustrated by this affair. Now, seeing these Xiantian lifeforms all reappear, he was both surprised and delighted. He hurriedly said, “When we realized you had gone missing, our entire Ji clan started to serach for you. Are you all well?” “Our dantians have been destroyed, but we are very lucky to still be alive.” Jadewich said hoarsely. “Dantians destroyed?” Ninefire stared, wide-eyed. A nearby youth with long hair called out as well, “Patriarch, it was only thanks to Ji Ning as well as this Adept that we were able to survive this time.” “Adept?” Ninefire and Yichuan felt a surge of electricity in their hearts. Adept… Then that meant this was a Wanxiang Adept! The entire Swallow Mountain area didn’t have a single Wanxiang Adept. The two both looked at Adept Mu. Actually, when they first saw him, they had the feeling that this was an extraordinary figure. To be able to ride on a magic treasure to come here…they guessed that he was at least a Zifu Disciple, but they didn’t expect that he was actually a Wanxiang Adept. They saw how Ning was standing to the side of this Wanxiang Adept, as though they seemed to be on good terms. In their hearts, they couldn’t help but feel puzzled as to how Ning had managed to end up getting to know this Wanxiang Adept. “Ji Ninefire (Ji Yichuan) greets you, Adept.” Ninefire and Yichuan both said respectfully. “Actually, I’m the one who should be thanking Ji Ning.” Adept Mu laughed calmly. “Ji Ning?” Ninefire and Yichuan looked towards Ning. A look of worry appeared on Ning’s face, and he immediately said, “I learned that Mother is gravely ill, so I invited Adept Mu to come to our West Prefecture City…” “Snow is right inside the room.” Yichuan suddenly realized, and he immediately spoke out. Adept Mu Xiao nodded, then walked towards the nearby room. Ning and Yichuan followed behind, while Ning asked softly while walking, “Father, what happened? How could Mother suddenly have fallen ill?” “It was that illness left behind in the past.” Yichuan said. “I’ll explain to you in detail later.” ——————– After entering the room, they had the maidservants leave. Aside from Snow, who was lying on the bed, only Adept Mu, Ning, Yichuan, and Ninefire were present. Yuchi Snow opened her eyes, looking at the newcomers. She couldn’t help but reveal a trace of puzzlement in her eyes. “Snow, this is Adept Mu, whom Ning asked to come.” Yichuan said hurriedly. Hearing this, Snow immediately used her arms to prop herself up. “Yuchi Snow greets you, Adept.” “Give me your right hand.” Adept Mu sat down on the stone bench next to the bed. Snow extended her rather ashen right hand. She saw, now, that standing by the side of Adept Mu was Ning. She looked at her son…and as she did, a look of delight appeared on Snow’s face. Adept Mu stretched out with a single finger, gently tapping it on Snow’s wrist. Immediately, a spot of green light, filled with life energy, spread out, quickly enveloping Snow’s entire body. Ning and Yichuan, seated nearby and watching, felt restlessness in their hearts. After waiting for a good long while, Adept Mu began to frown. “Strange. Strange.” Ning, hearing this, felt nervousness in his heart. He hurriedly asked, “Adept, my Mother, she…?” Still frowning, Adept Mu said, “Although I’m not specialized in medicine, I can tell that your Mother doesn’t have any sickness. Rather, her lifeforce has been almost entirely used up…given how little lifeforce your mother has left in her body, she’ll most likely be able to live just three more months.” “Her lifeforce has nearly been used up?” Ning’s face changed. “When my wife was pregnant, she was injured.” The nearby Yichuan said hurriedly. “Afterwards, she then used a secret technique which spent her own vitality to protect the fetus.” Adept Mu nodded. “Your wife was originally a Xiantian lifeform, and judging from the purity of the remnants of ki in her body, she should have been a peak Xiantian lifeform. Unfortunately…that injury she suffered should have been a severe one. Her dantian was destroyed, and logically speaking, she shouldn’t have been able to preserve the fetus. Your wife used a secret technique to ignite her own lifeforce in order to protect the fetus, but the cost of this secret technique was extremely great. To replenish what the usage of it cost is almost impossible.” 560 Hearing this, Ning was flabbergasted. His mother had been a peak Xiantian expert? Her dantian had been destroyed, and she had used a secret technique to ignite her own lifeforce to protect the fetus? However, from what he had seen from when his mother had taught him footwork, she was indeed an expert. However, that year when he had been in his mother’s womb, what exactly had happened? His parents had always intentionally hidden the truth of what had happened when his mother was pregnant from Ning, refusing to tell him. “Adept, please save my mother.” Ning said frantically. “To save her, the only method is to extend her lifespan.” Adept Mu sighed. “There are plenty of spirit pills for curing diseases, and I myself have spirit pills that can be used for Immortal practitioners to extend their lifespan. But unfortunately…to let a mortal have an extended lifespan is thousands of times more difficult than to have an Immortal practitioner extend their lifespans. This sort of medicine is something which I, in the Raindragon Guards, have only heard of. I don’t even know where to find them. Most likely, only Immortals would be able to produce them.” The nearby Ninefire, hearing this, was shocked. Raindragon Guards? “Immortals!” Hearing this, Ning felt as though his heart had suddenly turned to ice. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Adept Mu Xiao left that very day for Stillwater City. Before leaving, he pulled Ji Ning aside to give him advice in private. “Ji Ning, your talent is extremely high. It is guaranteed that you will walk far on the path of Immortals! Immortal practitioners have very long lifespans. Unless his friends and family are also Immortal practitioners, you will have to watch as all of them die of old age. Actually, this is a form of selfimprovement with regards to your mind towards the Dao. Since you have become an Immortal practitioner…you need to be prepared. No matter how much pain you suffer, you must escape from the midst of your grief. Otherwise, it will be very hard for you to overcome the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.” ……………. After Adept Mu left, Ji Ninefire also immediatedly headed towards the mountain where Bei Zishan had hidden himself. That place, after all, had Flood Dragon Dao Battle-Armor. Ning travelled by himself to Serpentwing Lake. “There’s still hope. My mother still has hope for surviving.” Ning ran through the mountainous, forested wilderness, occasionally using his Windwing Evasion to advance. His running speed was far faster than the travelling speed of those black beasts, and after expending a large majority of his divine power, he managed to arrive at Serpentwing Lake in just two hours. “That ancient Aquatic Manor has had multiple masters. Immortal Juhua was the third master. Ignoring the other masters, Immortal Juhua himself had lived for millions of years as a Loose Immortal. He definitely had quite a few medicines, and perhaps some of them are able to allow mortals to have extended lifespans.” Ning ran across the surface of the water to the island. “Young master.” “Greetings, young master.” There were quite a few people on the island, who had arrived long ago to build a residence there. Autumn Leaf and that young child, Bluestone, were there as well. Seeing Ning run in their direction across the surface of the water, they immediately went to welcome him. “I have something to do. You can retire for now.” Ning instructed, then immediately transformed into a blur, disappearing from their field of vision. This caused Autumn Leaf and the other servants to feel rather puzzled. Ning soon arrived at the entrance to the cave. He continuously went deeper in, and after a few moments, he arrived at the place where he had been teleported away from last time. “Senior.” Ning called out frantically. “Quick, let me enter the estate. I have something important to do.” The dark tunnel caverns were completely silent. There was no response at all. This caused Ning to be all the more frantic. The old black bull had originally said…that Ning should only return after he had bound the control talisman. But currently, he was just an early Xiantian lifeform. How long would it be before he would become a Zifu Disciple? His mother only had three months left. He had no other options, besides coming here and begging! “Senior, I truly have an urgent matter involving life-and-death. I sincerely implore you, Senior, to let me in.” Ning begged frantically. Silence. Rumble… Suddenly, the surrounding space twisted, and in the cavernous area in front of him, an enormous bear’s head once more appeared. The bear’s head opened its giant mouth, swallowing Ning within it, and Ning disappeared from within the estate. ……………… Spacetime twisted…and then all was calm. Ning stared in front of him. In front of him was that majestic, ancient palace hall, in the center of which were those incomparably enormous prayer mats. An old black bull ambled over and let out a sigh. “Ji Ning, didn’t I tell you to wait until you bound the control talisman, at which point you would be able to naturally sense the Aquatic Manor and come as you pleased? You are just a Xiantian lifeform. Why have you entered again?” “Senior.” Ning said hurriedly. “My mother is gravely ill. I truly have no other methods, so I came here to beg.” “Your mother is gravely ill?” The old black bull shook his head. “Since you have chosen the path of Immortals, you need to be prepared for these things.” Ning hurriedly shook his head. “Senior, my mother is still young. She shouldn’t die so soon! Previously, I asked a Wanxiang Adept to help take a look at my mother…and that Wanxiang Adept said that my mother, in the past, had used a secret technique to expend her own lifeforce to rescue me. By now, her lifeforce is almost completely used up, and she only has three months of life left. To save my mother, a medicinal pill that can allow mortals to extend their lifespans is necessary. However, that Wanxiang 563 Adept himself had only heard of such pills, and said that most likely only Immortals were in possession of them. I have no other choices, and so I came to the Aquatic Manor.” “A medicinal pill that can allow mortals to extend their lifespans?” The old black bull sighed. “That is something that can described as an Immortal pill. Generally speaking, only Loose Immortals or Earthly Immortals can produce such a thing.” “Immortal Juhua was no ordinary Loose Imortal. He definitely has this sort of medicinal pill, right?” Ning asked frantically. The old black bull looked at Ning, then shook its head. “Immortal Juhua had been alive for millions of years. His family and friends had died long ago. He had no need of such pills, and so he didn’t have any of them.” Ning’s heart trembled. “Then…” Ning said hurriedly. “I imagine Immortal Juhua must have left behind quite a few magic treasures. Give me a magic treasure which has a valuable comparable to that of an Immortal pill, and I’ll take it and trade…” As soon as he said the words, Ning knew that he was making a mistake. He cared too much about his mother’s life, and so he had lost his bearings and equanimity. Even his words lacked proprietry. “Foolishness!” The old black bull shouted. “You yourself said just now that even a Wanxiang Adept has only heard of this sort of Immortal pill. You want to trade for it? With who? You, a Xiantian lifeform, hold a magic treasure on that level? If you show it off, most likely those powerful Immortal practitioners will just kill you for it. Trade for it? If you don’t have enough power, how will you trade?” “In addition! You haven’t even bound the control talisman, and the only place in the Aquatic Manor you can enter is just the main palace. You aren’t even able to enter the other places. On what basis am I supposed to hand over one of the magic treasures Immortal Juhua left behind?” The old black bull shook his head. “And what’s more, this isn’t even my decision to make.” “Not your decision to make?” Ning was stunned. “Then…” The old black bull sighed. “I’m just the spirit of a magic treasure Immortal Juhua always kept on him! The true controller of this Aquatic Manor is the Spirit of the Aquatic Manor!” “Spirit of the Aquatic Manor?” Ning was puzzled. The old black bull explained, “The entire Aquatic Manor was forged by the first master, who was incredibly mysterious. Even Immortal Juhua himself felt that this Aquatic Manor has secrets which even 564 he had been unable to discover. The Spirit of the Aquatic Manor…has been carrying out the laws and rules set forth by the first master. It won’t violate the rules in the slightest.” “Teleport someone outside into this place? The Spirit of the Aquatic Manor can do that. But allow you to go to other places within the manor? Without binding the Aquatic Manor, that definitely will not be permitted.” The old black bull said. “It also cannot possibly give you one of Immortal Juhua’s magic treasures. After all, it is the Spirit of the Aquatic Manor. It will definitely obey the orders of the first master of the manor.” Ning was stunned. “When, for example, the fourth master died in the outside world, the Spirit of the Aquatic Manor would at most act to find the next master.” The old black bull shook his head. “We spirits of magic treasures are different from you humans. You can change. But we will definitely respect the will of our master.” Ning understood. Magic treasures were covered with all sorts of runes and bindings. For example, some golems which were forged…even long after the death of their master, the golems would still obey their original orders. The same was true for dwelling-type magic treasures. After the owner of a dwelling died, the rules the owner had set down would still be obeyed by the spirit of the dwelling. When he understood this, Ning felt despair, deep within his heart. The old black bull looked towards Ning. “On the path of Immortals, you will see your family and friends die of age, one after the other. You will also see some friends die in battle…you will have to learn how to accept these things! Go, now!” Whoosh! An enormous illusory bear’s head appeared, engulfing Ning within its mouth. …………… Ning returned to West Prefecture city. Returned to the side of his mother. By now, it was already late at night. “Ning.” Yuchi Snow, lying on the bed, saw her son. Her eyes immediately lit up. “Where did you go? I couldn’t find you.” “Mother.” Ning hurriedly walked forward, half-kneeling by her side. He held his mother’s hand. “I went out for a trip. However, I won’t make any more trips. I’ll accompany you and stay by your side.” Snow gently stroked her son’s hair. She laughed, “It’s fine. If you are busy, do what you need to do. Just remember to come visit your mother.” “Alright.” Ning nodded gently, and as he did, he couldn’t help but shed tears. The only thing he could do now was accompany her mother for the final three months. This was the only filial act he could now do. …………….. Night. His mother had already fallen asleep. Ji Yichuan and Ji Ning, father and son, were within a hall. “Father.” Ning looked towards his father. “It is time to tell me, I think, what exactly happened in the past.” Yichuan looked at his son, and as he did, he thought of what Blindfish and the others had said regarding what Ning had done in the mountain. He understood that his son had grown up. Sighing, he said, That year, your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I thus decided to return to the Ji clan. At that time, your maternal uncle was worried, so he escorted and protected us on the way back.” “Maternal uncle?” Ning had never before heard that he had an uncle. “Your uncle’s name was Yuchi Mount.” Yichuan’s eyes had a hint of memory within them. “Your uncle was exceedingly intelligent, and he also knew how to treat others. He had many friends. He had also become a Zifu Disciple early on. If it weren’t because he wanted to escort myself and your mother back, your uncle probably would’ve had a chance at restoring and reestablishing the Yuchi clan. Unfortunately, your uncle died. He died for the sake of protecting the three of us. All three of our lives, we have because your uncle gave up his own! This great debt…is hard to repay!” Ning, hearing this, felt a heavy feeling. An uncle! Yuchi Mount! He had never heard of this name. This moment was deeply engraved into Ning’s heart. “I’ve only heard that your uncle had a daughter, your maternal cousin. Unfortunately, I have no idea where your cousin is.” Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “I’m unable to repay him. Unable to repay him…” “What exactly happened? Who harmed and killed my uncle, and also caused the roots of her illness?” Ning immediately asked. “Who was it?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Yichuan looked at his son. After hesitating, he said, “All I can tell you is that he is a disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, and that his grandfather is a Summit Master of one of their mountain summits, an individual on the Primal Daoist level.” Ning’s face changed. Primal Daoist? “He himself is just a Zifu Disciple and not worthy of being afraid of.” Yichuan shook his head. “But behind him stands a Primal Daoist…we truly cannot irriate him! If we struggle against him, the only result will be the extermination of the entire Ji clan. This is why your mother and I have never mentioned this, nor said a single word regarding this in front of you. Ever since that, after your mother and I stealthily returned to the Ji clan, we have always remained very low-key. However, most likely that person didn’t hold your mother and I in any regard at all. Yichuan looked at his son. “You are now an adult, and you are very talented. According to what that Adept Mu said, it is possible that you might one day join the Raindragon Guards. This is why I have told you these things. Otherwise…I had planned to never tell you.” “What is he called?” Ning pursued this line of questioning. “Once you become a Wanxiang Adept, I will tell you.” Yichuan said. “If I were to die, your Uncle White will tell you. That year, your Uncle White risked his life to carry your mother and flee. He saved your life, and he knew exactly what happened that year.” Ning said frantically, “You can’t tell me now?” “What good would it be if I did tell you?” Yichuan barked. “Will you go seek revenge? That’s just looking for death! First be patient and endure. After enduring for a few years, you’ll have calmed down as well.” “Remember”! Yichuan stared at Ning. “Don’t let hatred cloud your eyes. In this vast, endless world, slaughter and hatred is omnipresent. It is guaranteed that you will one day leave Swallow Mountain. In the vast world outside, those major schools, clans, and powerful sects are all hard to deal with. Snowdragon Mountain is nothing more than a millstone for you to sharpen your blade on, during your path to becoming an Immortal!” Ning nodded slightly. “On your hopes rest the future of both the Ji clan and the Yuchi clan, understood?” Yichuan said. “To become famous throughout this boundless world, and to make Snowdragon Mountain as well as the various other powers all lower their heads and submit to you; this is what your mother and I hope to see the most!” “Yes.” Ning nodded solemnly. “Make your mother and me proud of you!” Yichuan stared at his son. “My son!” ………… The autumn wind blew. Dry leaves fell. Yuchi Snow was seated on a long bench in front of her room. The beast fur pelt laid on the bench was warm and soft. There was a layer of beast fur on Snow’s body as well. Her face was even more ashen now. She held her son’s hand, then turned to say towards Yichuan, who was standing next to her, “Yichuan, bring those beast furs over.” “Alright.” Yichuan immediately entered the room, quickly returning while carrying a pile of beast fur clothes. “This is…?” Ning looked at the beast fur clothes. Yichuan said, “Your mother hasn’t had anything to do in recent days, and so she’s been sewing these beast fur clothes. Every single thread and stitch is the labor of your mother’s hands.” Seated there, Snow said softly, “There’s quite a few by now. I only made twelve sets of clothes in the past three months. They are all suitable for your current size and stature. In the future, Mother won’t be able to be by your side, but these clothes will accompany you.” Ning’s eyes stung, and he couldn’t refrain from tearing up. “Don’t cry.” Snow gently stroked her son’s face. “I know that soon now, I won’t be able to last any longer.” “Mother!” Ning’s voice was trembling. “Mother has experienced many things in this life.” Snow said slowly. “When I was an infant, I lived in a large clan with unlimited, glorious prospects. When I was young, I fled alongside my Father, eventually meeting your father and adventuring alongside him, braving danger. Afterwards, I lived ten peaceful years at the Ji clan…in my life, I’ve had a father who loved me, older brothers and sisters who loved me, a man who loved me, and you…my most beloved son. I truly feel content.” Ning’s tears were coming down nonstop. He couldn’t control them, no matter what he tried. The only thing he could do was continuously hold his mother’s hand. His mother’s hand was no longer smooth; it had become rough and leathery, like a dry leaf without any vitality. Snow said slowly, “In your body is the bloodline of the Ji clan, as well as the bloodline of my Yuchi clan. For your mother to have had you…is your mother’s greatest pride in life.” “Mother…” Ning stared at his mother. “Ning, son…in the future, will you stay for a long time at Serpentwing Lake?” Snow looked at her son. Ning nodded. As an Immortal practitioner, one had to have a base, after all. West Prefecture City was too crowded and had too many people. Serpentwing Lake was much calmer. In addition, Serpentwing Lake had the Aquatic Manor…in the future, he would indeed often stay at Serpentwing Lake. “After I die.” Snow looked at Yichuan, by her side. “After I am cremated, spread my ashes over Serpentwing Lake. Yichuan, you won’t be jealous, will you?” Yichuan’s eyes were moist. He forced out a laugh. “Slightly jealous, actually. However, after I die, my ashes will also be spread over Serpentwing Lake. By then, we’ll be together again, right?” Snow laughed. Yichuan gently embraced his wife. “Ning, son.” Snow’s voice was growing weaker. She smiled. “I want to look at our Yuchi clan’s Windwing Evasion. Demonstrate it for me.” “Yes, Mother.” Ning rose to his feet. Behind him, out of nowhere, a pair of wings appeared. And then, forcibly resisting the pain in his heart, Ning began to execute the Windwing Evasion. Ning moved about like a giant Roc, gliding through the air, landing atop of a distant roof, and then with another flash, gliding to another place. His two wings trembled, and his movements were like that of an illusion. Ning, in this moment, was whole-heartedly focusing on displaying the Windwing Evasion, because this was the last request of his mother. “Wind!” “Wind!” As Ning displayed it, the wind blew against him, like his mother’s hand gently stroking his face. The touch of the wind was a caress of someone who didn’t want to let go. Slowly… 569 Ning’s movements became all the more marvelous, and he seemed to have truly become a giant Roc, moving all the more faster and all the more freely, incomparably agile. He was a giant Roc, a giant Roc who flew in the skies beyond the Nine Heavens. Ning, unconsciously, was unconsciously incorporating that insights he had gained that night into the True Meaning of the Wind, and merging it with the Windwing Evasion. He even incorporated some deep emotions into them, like a bird who was longing for the wind. “The great Roc.” Snow’s eyes lit up as she watched, and she murmured softly, “The great Roc…” She seemed to have seen her older brother. That tall, stalwart man who had protected and cherished her since she was young. Her brother’s usage of the Windwing Evasion was so similar to the way in which Ning’s Windwing Evasion looked… “Big Brother…” Snow seemed to have returned to the past. A large courtyard. Her older brother was there, training in the Windwing Evasion, while her, as a toddler, was running around calling out, “Big Brother, Big Brother.” “Little Sis.” That man, as tall and mighty as a mountain, turned to look at her. “Big Sis, Father.” She saw two more figures, one an elegant middle-aged man with a long beard, while the other was a seemingly cold and arrogant young woman. This was her father and her older sister. “Big Brother. Big Sis. Father…I’m coming.” The child-Snow ran forward, ran to the side of her older brother, her older sister, and her father. Together again. They were finally together again… ……… Lying in Yichuan’s arms, Snow closed her eyes. A peaceful smile was on her face. “Ahh…ahhhh….aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Yichuan opened his mouth, making some noise, but wasn’t able to speak. He tightly clutched his wife, raising his head high, but the tears still came spilling out. The distant Ning came to a halt. His entire body trembling, he took one step forward after another, walking towards his mother’s side, then kneeling down. “Mother!” Ning began to sob, a rumbling, heart-broken sound. ……….. The sound spread outside of the courtyard. The servants outside, hearing the sobs of their young master Ji Ning, filled with such agony, misery, and sadness, immediately understood that their mistress had already died. All of them couldn’t help but to lower their heads, their tears spilling out. They would never forget this benevolent mistress of theirs. ……….. Ning left West Prefecture City, going to live on the island in Serpentwing Lake. According to the dying wishes of his mother, he personally scattered her ashes within the waters of Serpentwing Lake. From that day onwards, Ning gained a new hobby. He liked to lie down atop a small boat, allowing the boat to drift freely in the waters of Serpentwing Lake. It was like… Lying in the embrace of his mother. So very warm. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Time flowed on like water, silent and soundless. In the blink of an eye, nearly five years passed. Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. Brightheart was the name which Ji Ning had given this island in the center of the lake. The island had multiple buildings constructed atop it, and the formerly desolate island had been made into a beautiful place, like an unearthly utopia. It was currently at the changing of seasons from spring to summer, and all sorts of flowers were blooming and eye-catching. After careful arrangements by some servants, they appeared all the more beautiful and captivating. “Big Sis Autumn Leaf, Big Sis Autumn Leaf.” A youth dressed in blue clothes ran over while shouting. Autumn Leaf, who had been boiling a kettle of tea, turned to look. Laughing, she said, “Bluestone, your archery lessons have concluded? Did your Master Blindfish rebuke you?” “This…” Bluestone rubbed his head and said resignedly, “How can I not be rebuked? Each time I practice archery, Master Blindfish will always lecture me. He’ll also often compare me to Big Bro. But how can I compare to Big Bro? You know what a genius he is!” “You need to treasure this chance.” Autumn Leaf viewed Bluestone as she might her own little brother. She said seriously, “Young master himself said that although Master Blindfish had his dantian destroyed, that just made him become even more focused on archery…and his archery abilities have risen to a whole new level. It’s only because Master Blindfish is living here on Brightheart Island and because the young master asked him to do so that he is willing to teach you. You need to work hard. If you master it, it will be a consummate technique for you.” Bluestone immediately nodded. “I understand.” Bluestone’s life on Brightheart Island was quite carefree. Ning whole-heartedly treated him as he would a little brother, and acted towards him as an older brother would. One could tell how close their relationship was, just by the way Bluestone addressed him; generally speaking, a younger individual would address a more senior one as ‘Elder Brother’. Only someone who grew up together and thus were very close to each other would use the term ‘Big Bro’. “Right.” Autumn Leaf laughed and nodded. “Where is Big Bro Ji Ning?” Bluestone asked. “Training with the sword?” Autumn Leaf laughed, “He’s not training the sword.” 572 “Oh. Then he’s sleeping on Serpentwing Lake.” Bluestone laughed. After having lived on Serpentwing Lake for five years, he had become well acquainted with Ning’s habits. Ning, aside from training with the sword, spent most of his time casually drifting on Serpentwing Lake aboard a small boat while napping. “Right. He’s sleeping.” Autumn Leaf turned to look towards that boundless lake as well. Bluestone couldn’t help but say, “Originally, I asked Big Bro Ji Ning why he is always sleeping on Serpentwing Lake. Big Bro just said…he is training. I don’t get it. How can sleeping atop Serpentwing Lake be training? But Big Bro Ji Ning’s swordplay really is becoming increasingly more powerful. Two years ago, Commander Yichuan acknowledged that he didn’t believe he could beat him!” “Right. The young master’s swordplay has reached an unfathomably high level.” Autumn Leaf sighed. “I once watched the young master train with the sword, and when I did, I saw some aquatic birds flew over en masse, then fly around him in a circle for some time, unwilling to leave.” “So bizarre!” Bluestone was surprised. “In the past, Commander Yichuan would spar once with the young master every year. Two years ago, when he felt he wouldn’t be able to win, he stopped coming. Unfortunately, the young master forbade me from watching, so I don’t know how what the battle scene between the Commander and the young master was like.” Autumn Leaf felt a hint of longing. In her eyes, the swordplay of Ji Yichuan had reached a mythical level long ago, but her young master’s swordplay had apparently reached an even higher, deeper level. Yichuan lived on Brightheart Island as well. However, it was on the other end of Brightheart Island. He normally was a solitary, arrogant figure, forbidding anyone from approaching him, and without any servants serving him. Only Ning was permitted to go to his residence to accompany Yichuan, his father. “I’m truly curious. What level has Big Bro reached in swordplay, exactly?” Bluestone’s eyes were filled with veneration. “Look.” Autumn Leaf suddenly looked towards the lake. “Huh?” Bluestone turned to look as well. In the distance, a single boat could be faintly seen. At first, a look of delight appeared on Bluestone’s face as he took it for the boat on which Ning slept, but when he looked more closely…he saw that this was a large ship, the one which often delivered people to and from the shores of the lake. After all, quite a few people were now living on Brightheart Island, with nearly a hundred servants being present. Large amounts of food would often be delivered to the island, and some outsiders would come visit. Naturally, they had to have this ferry. Atop the ferry. There was a group of youths atop the ferry, and they were chatting and joking amongst themselves. “The Central Prefecture Lord told us to come pay our respects to Ji Ning.” A big, burly-chested youth had a hint of disgruntlement in his eyes. “We are the Central Prefecture of the Ji clan. We are far more powerful than the other four Prefectures! The six of us are the most powerful members of the younger generation of the Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. To have us come spar with this Ji Ning is one thing, but he actually said that we were to come ‘pay our respect’ and have this Ji Ning ‘provide guidance to us’? And that we had to be reverential towards him?” “Shut your mouth.” A handsome looking youth said. “The Central Prefecture Lord stated that we must be respectful and that we must address him as young master Ji Ning.” “Fine, fine. Young master Ji Ning.” The big youth couldn’t refrain from adding, “That’s fine for the rest of us, but Ji Mo, you are the number one, ultimate genius amongst the younger generation of our Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. You became a Xiantian expert at age fifteen, and reached the level of mastery long ago in the ultimate technique of our Ji clan, the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. That Ji Ning…although that young master Ji Ning became a Xiantian expert a few years earlier than you, the two of you will simply spar at most. How can you be asked to ‘pay your respects’ to him and have him ‘provide guidance’ to you?” “Ji Mo.” A black haired woman said. “Tongzhan speaks the truth. The instructions the Central Prefecture Lord gave us, none of us will openly oppose, but in our hearts, none of us truly submit either. We are the most talented youths of the Central Prefecture, while that Ji Ning…that young master Ji Ning is only the most talented youth of the West Prefecture. No matter how much of a genius he is, at most he’ll be a bit more powerful than us. How can he be qualified to have us ‘go pay our respects’ to him?” “Enough, all of you.” The handsome youth’s gaze was like water. He swept everyone with his gaze, and the other five youths all fell silent. Ji Mo was, without question, the number one figure in the younger generation of the Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. In addition, ever since he had been young, he had followed by the side of Granny Shadow, and thus Mo’s status was all the more unique…many people were certain that Mo would be the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. “You all know that I follow Granny Shadow.” Mo said slowly. “Right.” Looks of awe appeared in the eyes of the other five. Granny Shadow… In the entire Ji clan, there were two people who stood at the very pinnacle of the clan. One was the Patriarch, Ji Ninefire! The other was Granny Shadow! Granny Shadow was the sibling and younger sister 574 of Ninefire, an old granny who had also lived for nearly four centuries. But, without question, she had been at the Zifu Disciple level for three hundred years. The two of them were the two publicly acknowledged Zifu Disciples of the Ji clan. As for whether or not there were other Zifu Disciples hidden in the shadows, that was hard to say. A clan would naturally want to hide some cards up their sleeves, interchanging truth and lies. This led to longevity. “Granny Shadow personally taught me swordplay.” Mo said softly. “My swordplay, compared to Granny Shadow’s, is unimaginably weaker. Do you know why the six of us have been sent by the Central Prefecture Lord to Serpentwing Lake to pay our respects to Ji Ning?” “I hear the North Prefecture, the East Prefecture, and the South Prefecture had already sent their younger generation members over to pay their respects to young master Ji Ning, and so our Central Prefecture sent the six of us as well.” “Wrong.” Ji Mo shook his head lightly. “Our Central Prefecture is the root of the Ji clan. The Patriarch and Granny Shadow are both within our Central Prefecture.” Mo said. “The territory that our Central Prefecture takes up is the greatest, and the number of Xiantian experts we have far surpasses the number the other four prefectures have. Even the Crimson Guards are stationed in our Central Prefecture. Why, then, must our Central Prefecture act in the same manner as the other prefectures?” “Then what’s the reason?” They all looked towards Mo. Mo said softly, “The reason is, one year ago, Granny Shadow made a trip here to Serpentwing Lake.” “Granny Shadow came to Serpentwing Lake?” The other five youths instantly began to think of many possibilities. Mo said, “The Patriarch had once praised young master Ji Ning highly, saying that in the future, he would definitely be the number one expert of our Ji clan! Granny Shadow thus decided to come here to Serpentwing Lake to personally see what sort of ability this Ji Ning had…” “And?” “What did Granny Shadow say?” The five youths looked expectantly at Mo. Mo’s eyes had a very strange light to them. He said slowly, “After Granny Shadow returned, I repeatedly asked her how I was in comparison to young master Ji Ning. The only thing Granny Shadow would say was that it was hard to compare. That it was hard to compare. I kept on asking her what level of 575 swordplay this young master Ji Ning had reached, and Granny Shadow just replied with a single phrase; ‘unfathomably deep’!” “Unfathomably deep!” The five youths were stunned. For even Granny Shadow to say such a thing…how terrifying was Ji Ning’s swordplay? “Everyone, time to disembark.” A sailor said loudly. Only now did the six of them look over. The ferry had already neared the shore, and from afar, various buildings arose within their vision, an amazingly beautiful sight. The six of them couldn’t help but sigh in amazement in their hearts, while Ji Mo’s eyes lit up. “This is where Ji Ning lives?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The six youths from the Ji clan’s Central Prefecture disembarked. From the island, four figures walked over, the leader being a beautiful woman dressed in simple, plain clothes. By her side was a youth dressed in blue, while two Crimson Guards followed them from the side. There were a total of a hundred Crimson Guards on the island, which Ji Ninefire had especially stationed here. “I imagine you are Manager Autumn Leaf.” Ji Mo, the leader of the six youths, extended his hand, and within it, a beast skin appeared which had some words written atop it. “We are here at the commands of our Central Prefecutre Lord, and we have come to pay our respects to young master Ji Ning.” “Oh?” Autumn Leaf accepted the beast skin parchment and glanced at it. All of the various matters pertaining to Brightheart Island were under Autumn Leaf’s control, and she had been appointed as the General Manager by Ji Ning. Autumn Leaf carefully read through the beast skin parchment, then lifted her head and smiled. “We had already received the news previously and had been informed that six outstanding talents of the Central Prefecture were coming. Everyone, please follow me.” “We have come to pay our respects to young master Ji Ning. Might I ask when young master Ji Ning will be able to see us?” While following Autumn Leaf, the six youths asked this question. Autumn Leaf just said, “Everyone, don’t be hasty. You will definitely see the young master today.” Soon, the six youths were led to a quiet, reclusive residence which was specially used for receiving guests. Autumn Leaf instructed a pair of maidservants, “These six are our esteemed guests from the Central Prefecture. Take good care of them.” “Yes.” The two maidservants acknowledged. “Everyone.” Autumn Leaf looked at the six of them and laughed. “Once our young master has time, I will definitely come inform the six of you. Everyone, you must be tired from your journey. You can rest here for now.” After speaking, Autumn Leaf led Bluestone and the others away. “Hmph, people of high status really are troublesome!” The tall, muscular youth, Ji Tongzhan, was so angry his eyes bulged. “What could this young master Ji Ning possibly be worrying about, living here in such a 577 secluded, quiet little lake island? This female manager even said ‘when our young master has free time’. Jeeze…they really hold us in no regard at all.” “The Central Prefecture ordered someone to convey the letter long ago to inform them of our arrival. It’s one thing for young master Ji Ning to not come welcome us, but he won’t even let us know when he will meet with us, and instead just has us wait here like fools?” These youths were all the talented, favored sons of heaven. Although they believed that Ji Ning was one level stronger than them, they were still people of the same age. For them to be slighted like this…they were rather unhappy. “Endure it!” Ji Mo just sat there and called out to them quietly. “We are here to pay our respects. Thus, wait here obediently for young master Ji Ning to summon us.” “We’re just discontent, that’s all.” “Right. Everyone talks about how powerful young master Ji Ning is, but none of us have ever met him. He’s only sixteen years old. How powerful can he be?” These youths all chatted amongst themselves. Even Ji Mo, seated there, in his bones had the untamed arrogance inherent to all geniuses. What one heard didn’t matter. What one saw was what really mattered! Until he personally witnessed Ji Ning’s abilities, in Mo’s heart, he too had a small ball of fiery anger that was currently smoldering. …….. The sun had already set, and the night fog had covered the entire western horizons. The setting sun’s red glow covered the earth, causing the surface of Serpentwing Lake to appear as beautiful as a painting. Far away on the surface of the lake in this ‘painting’, a small boat was swaying as the water pushed it forward. “It’s the young master’s boat.” “It’s the young master.” The maidservants had noticed long ago, and they had immediately informed Manager Autumn Leaf. Autumn Leaf and Bluestone quickly arrived on the beach, staring at that distant little boat. Within the boat. Ning was comfortably lying there, his eyes shut. The lake around him was completely silent, as silent as a painting. Suddenly, he could vaguely sense the auras of many people in the distance, and as he did, his eyelids twitched, then opened. “I’m here.” Ning immediately stood up, stretching lazily. He was still dressed in those beast fur clothes. However, these were formed from the transformation of a protective magic-treasure…after all, he only had a few sets of beast fur clothes which his mother had sown for him. If he always wore them, they would eventually be ruined. Ning couldn’t bear for that to happen, and so he stored them away. However, he still changed the appearance of his armor-type magic treasure into beast furs. He felt the most comfortable dressed in them anyhow. “Splash.” The speed of the boat suddenly increased rapidly, and it broke through the waves, advancing at high speed, charging towards the distant island. Ning stood there atop the little boat, smiling as he greeted his Autumn Leaf and Bluestone. When the boat drew near the island, it actually disappeared. Ning walked atop the waves, arriving at the beach. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf laughed as she went to welcome him. “Big Bro Ji Ning.” Bluestone immediately ran over as well, saying excitedly, “Today, six youths of the Central Prefecture came. They act so high and mighty and look down on people so much, they might as well have their eyes growing from the tops of their heads.” Ning seemed to have thought of something. “Oh? This is that group of the most talented youths of the Central Prefecture?” “Right.” Autumn Leaf nodded. “They arrived at noon.” “Have them come to the sword training field.” Ning laughed. “Since the Central Prefecture had them come, their intention is for me to give these youths a sound beating.” “Alright. I’ll go invite them right now.” Autumn Leaf immediately said. ……… The sword training field. This was a wide area of more than three hundred meters, locate in front of Ning’s residence. This was the place where Ning usually trained with the sword. “I’ve already drank five bottles of water. It’s almost night. He’s finally willing to meet us.” “This Ji Ning has been made out to be a near legendary figure. I wonder what he’s actually like.” The six men and women spoke to each other softly, all clearly quite excited. They were filled with boundless curiosity towards this legendary young master Ji Ning. Autumn Leaf led the way from up front, and they soon arrived at the sword training field. “The young master is there. You can go there.” 579 Ji Mo and the other six looked over carefully. In the distance, a youth dressed in beast furs could be seen standing there. From his appearance, he wasn’t too tall; he was still at the same height he had been when he had broken through to become a Xiantian expert. Only, for some reason…just by standing there, Ning seemed to have become one with the surrounding area, as though the entire scene was one in a painting. The beast fur clad youth suddenly turned, leaving that earlier state of seeming to be a person in a painting. He seemed to have transformed into an Adept. Actually, before this, Ning had fused his soul with the world and was meditating on the ‘Dao’! Ever since he had moved to live on Serpentwing Lake, especially after he began to rest there on that little boat and casually drift on the surface of the lake each day, his entire soul had become incomparably peaceful and calm, and incomparably close to nature. At the same time, Ning’s swordplay had advanced by leaps and bounds. His level had risen nonstop, to the point which by now, Ning was able to infuse the ‘Dao’ he had learned casually and freely into his techniques. Although there was no way he could completely absorb himself into the Dao, like he had that night by the pool, to train in such a manner…was already inconceivable. This caused his swordplay to reach a truly astonishing level. “All of you, come over.” Ning spoke out. Mo and the others all looked at this young master Ji Ning. His features were handsome and delicate, like a youth’s. Only, he had a natural, reserved aura about him, an aura which one could only achieve after constantly improving upon one’s mind and spirit. “Greetings, young master Ji Ning.” Mo and the rest of the six all walked forward and said respectfully. “I heard that the most talented youth of the Central Prefecture is Ji Mo. Which of you is Ji Mo?” Ning said directly. Since he was to give them a beating, he might as well just pick the strongest one. This would be more effective. “Me.” Mo said, his eyes fierce. Ning nodded. “What do you train in?” “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]!” Mo’s eyes held great confidence within them. “I just mastered it. I hope young master Ji Ning will provide me with some guidance.” “Mastered?” Ning nodded. “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] is an ultimate technique which guards our entire clan, and is extremely marvelous. Take out your sword and use your most powerful sword attack against me. Let me see exactly how well you use the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords].” “Alright.” Mo drew out his icy longsword. The longsword had some faint runes atop it. Clearly, this was a weapon-type magic treasure. Mo shouted out, “Young master Ji Ning, be careful.” 580 Swish! Instantly, the sword transformed into countless illusions, all of which appeared and swept forward towards Ning. Ning just stood there, watching. Just as those countless sword illusions enveloped him, he stretched out a finger and lightly tapped. “Break!” Immediately, all of the sword illusions vanished, with the true form of the longsword appearing. Tapped by Ning’s finger, the longsword which had flying towards Ning at high speed suddenly flew away on its own power. “This…this…” Mo stared in shock, his eyes wide. The other five youths were completely stunned as well. Just by relying on his finger, he was able to flick away a sword which contained the power of the world? And they didn’t feel that Ning’s finger moved very quickly. “How is that possible…my sword…?” Mo didn’t dare believe it. “Your force clearly wasn’t that great. How could you instantly guide my force away and make my sword fly out?” “Let me ask you this.” Ning barked. “What techniques does the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] have?” Mo hurriedly said, “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] has three techniques in total. The ‘One Sword, Ten Thousand Shadows’ stance, the ‘Ten Thousand Swords Become One’, and the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’. Amongst them, the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’ is the most powerful lkilling technique. What I used just now was that most powerful technique, the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’!” Ning said, “Melody of Ten Thousand Swords…Melody of Ten Thousand Swords…the most important part of it isn’t the ‘ten thousand swords’, it is in the word ‘melody’!” In recent years, Ji Ninefire had especially arranged for people to send over the various sword and saber techniques the Ji clan possessed, and Ning had flipped through all of them. At Ning’s current level, he himself could develop techniques on par with these skills. All he had to do was to get an understanding of their essence. “Melody?” Mo was awestruck. “Watch carefully.” Ning pointed with his finger, and a ray of sword light solidified, slicing through the air. Immediately, the sky was filled with sword images, and the countless sword images appeared everywhere, seemingly quite similar to the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’ which Mo had just used. But at the same time, these countless, densely clustered sword shadows seemed to form into multiple musical notes, each of which had their own differences. These countless sword shadows actually formed into a single, high-pitched song. Passion! Celebration! Ji Mo and the other six were completely stunned. They could actually sense a sort of joy emanating from those countless sword shadows, which seemed to have a life of their own. “Watch now.” Ning shot out another ray of sword light, once more forming into countless blurry sword shadows. Those countless sword shadows affected each other, each of which seemed to be independent and yet which linked up with the others…the countless musical notes transformed into a song, but this song was filled with boundless killing intent, a killing intent which caused their courage to turn cold. Every single sword shadow seemed like a soldier, and the countless soldiers were bellowing while charging forward, covering the skies and filling the skies with their killing intent. The faces of Mo and the other five were completely ashen. They couldn’t help but unconsciously retreat. “Do you see?” The sword light from Ning’s finger vanished. “This is the ‘melody’. The soul of the entire sword technique! It doesn’t matter what type of soul it is; only with a soul will your ten thousand swords truly become one, and truly become the astonishing sword melody!” The other five felt utterly astonished. As for Ji Mo, who had an extremely deep level of accomplishment with regards to the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], he was thoroughly convinced and subdued. With a ‘bang’ sound, he immediately knelt down in front of Ning. “Please accept me as your disciple!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although Ji Mo had sincerely asked to be allowed to take Ji Ning as his master, how could Ning accept? After all, for a sword technique to have a ‘soul’, what was required was an understanding of the Dao. This wasn’t something that could simply be taught! Ning next provided guidance to the others, one by one. The attitudes of these youths had immediately become incomparably humble. All of them raised issues which had normally puzzled them, and Ning naturally was able to very easily resolve them. Just in terms of sword technique alone, there was no one within the Ji clan who could compare to him. He spent four full hours providing guidance to them, and afterwards, Ning sent them off. “Go back and spend some time pondering these things. I won’t keep you here any further.” After providing guidance, Ning himself left. The six youths just watched longingly as Ning left. How they wished that Ning could spend some more time giving them guidance! ……….. Night. Ning was seated in the lotus position on his bed mattress, training. Elemental energy was constantly surging towards him, entering his body and liquefying into Ki. After a long time, when he sensed that his dantian had become somewhat swollen, Ning came to a halt. “Most likely, within a few more months, I will be able to establish my ‘Violet Palace’ as a Ki Refiner.” Ning said to himself. “However, to reach the Zifu Disciple level as a practitioner of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] will require me to reach the seventh level of that art. I wonder how long it will be before I reach it.” By now, he had already reached the peak of power as a Xiantian lifeform as both a Ki Refiner and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. The technique he was using to train as a Ki Refiner was an ordinary technique of the Ji clan, known as the [Water Element Art]. The quality of the ki provided by those who trained in this technique was fairly poor, but it was easy to breakthrough to become a Zifu Disciple! Given Ning’s current level of understanding regarding the Dao, once the accumulated ki in his body reached a certain level, he could rely on it to immediately establish his Zifu ‘Violet Palace’! “This [Water Element Art] is a very ordinary technique.” Ning said to himself. “It can only allow a person to train to the Zifu Disciple level. After establishing the ‘Violet Palace’, I’ll have to acquire a new Ki Refining technique.” The further a Ki Refining technique allowed one to progress, the more valuable it was. “When the time comes, I must find a more formidable Ki Refining technique.” Ning pondered to himself. “The [Water Element Art] is, in the end, a very superficial technique. If I continue to use this sort of superficial technique in the future…most likely, my development in Ki Refining will come to a halt at the Wanxiang level.” This was the difference between a high class technique and a low class technique! A high class, hard-to-learn technique was hard to start training in, but it allowed one to begin slowly walking in the right direction, constantly advancing on firm footing. As for low class techniques, they made it easy for one to establish the ‘Violet Palace’, and if one went all out, one had the chance to reach the Wanxiang Adept level. But…to become a Primal Daoist? There was no hope of it whatsoever. The Ji clan, after all, was a fairly low level clan. It didn’t have any high class Fiendgod Body Refining techniques or Ki Refining techniques. It did have the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique, which was unique in that it was widely spread throughout the lands. The other Ki Refining techniques the clan possessed were all very poor; this was why the likes of Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow had been training for nearly four centuries, but were still at the Zifu Disciple stage. “I have to go out adventuring.” Ning was rather eager. “I’ll wait to establish my Violet Palace first. By then, I will be better equipped to protect myself. The little power I have right now is still rather insufficient.” Ning knew his own power quite well. As a Ki Refiner, he was at the peak Xiantian level; however, half a year ago, he had already become capable of executing the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and his attack power should have reached the peak Zifu Disciple level! His weakness was that his ki was used up too quickly, and that he wasn’t able to fight for as long as most Zifu Disciples. As a Body Refiner, he had reached the peak Xiantian level in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. He was already comparable to early, ordinary Zifu Disciple level Fiendgod Body Refiners! Given his current lifeforce, even if his skull was pierced through, he still wouldn’t die! Although his attack power was somewhat weaker than that of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], once battle truly began, his body was still the more powerful aspect of the two. “Although the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is incomparably sharp…” Ning said to himself. “If I were to encounter a Zifu Disciple who is an Fiendgod Body Refiner and whose body is incomparably durable, even if I can chop through his body with a ray of sword light, his body would quickly heal.” “Against Zifu level Ki Refiners, I can give them a good fight, even if they are peak Zifu Disciples.” “But against Fiendgod Body Refiners…I can deal with early stage ones, but anything stronger than that will be hard.” Ning knew this very well. “I wonder what I need to do to breakthrough in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Transform Yin and Yang…Blood-Drop Rebirth…what must I do to achieve this?” Not dying when one’s head was cut through wasn’t much. But if he could reach the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he would possess the ability to regenerate himself from a single drop of blood! Life energy as powerful as this made it extremely hard for other Zifu Ki Refiners to deal with him. To kill an Fiendgod Body Refiner expert…how hard it was! The only way was to slowly exhaust the expert of all his divine power. “Blood-Drop Rebirth.” Ning was filled with eagerness. Actually, the current Ning was already an absolute monster. For attack, he had the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! He had also become a peak Xiantian in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, and even Zifu Disciples would find it hard to kill him! It was hard for others to kill him, but by relying on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he could kill others from far away. “Not enough, not enough. If Bei Zishan’s insect swarms were ten times greater in number, they would still be able to kill me through exhausting my power..” Ning didn’t dare to be the slightest bit incautious. He still remembered what the old black bull had told him… That he was not to underestimate any Immortal practitioner! You are formidable, but aren’t others also in possession of formidable techniques? “Whew.” Ning shut his eyes, beginning to visualize the [Nuwa Painting]. The visualization of the Nuwa Painting was something he continuously did. The reason he was now able to execute the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was primarily thanks to the power of his divine will. …………. The sky slowly brightened. Ning, seated quietly in the lotus position on his bed, suddenly opened his eyes, frowning as he carefully reached out with his senses. “Was it just me?” Ning murmured to himself. “Rumble…” A surge of incomparably powerful elemental energy rippled outwards, washing through Serpentwing Lake in an instant like a huge, roaring wave. This enormously powerful elemental ripple caused Ning’s face to change. Swish! He flew straight out from the window, flying to the crown of a large tree and staring outwards. “Northward.” Ning stood there atop the tree’s crown, staring into the distant north. The incomparably savage elemental ripple had come from the north. It was like the ripple caused by a stone being thrown into a pool of water. In a distant point to the north, incomparably powerful natural, elemental ripples were being cast out in every direction….one ripple after another surged outwards, sweeping out for thousands of kilometers, constantly broadcasting outwards. “What a terrifying elemental energy ripple.” Ning was amazed and stunned. “To be able to arouse such a powerful elemental aura…the rate at which I absorb elemental energy when training, compared to this ripple, is like the light of a firefly compared to the glorious splendor of the sun and the moon. What is going on? What has caused such a powerful ripple?” Swoosh! From another place within the island, a figure flew out, leaping across the tops of some trees and buildings, advancing at high speed. Soon, the figure reached Ning’s side. It was Ji Yichuan, clad in a white beast fur jacket. “Father.” Ning looked at his father. “You felt it as well.” Yichuan looked solemnly towards the north. “Right. The north.” Ning nodded, then said with incomparable solemnity, “A terrifying elemental energy ripple. It was inconceivably strong. Given what I sensed, if I’m not mistaken, this elemental energy ripple should have originated from thousands of kilometers to the north.” Yichuan nodded as well. “I didn’t sense it as clearly as you did, but the impression I received was essentially the same.” “Father, what on earth happened to cause such a powerful elemental energy ripple?” Ning hurriedly asked. “There are many possibilities.” Yichuan said. “It is possible that a duel between Immortals has caused these elemental ripples. It is also possible that an ancient relic site has suddenly emerged! It’s also possible that an Immortal magic treasure has revealed itself!” 586 Ning’s face changed. “Then our Ji clan…” The land thousands of kilometers to the north remained the territory of the Ji clan. The West Prefecture City of the Ji clan was to the southwest of the Central Prefecture City. The region thousands of kilometers to the north was one of the centermost areas of the entire Ji clan! “No matter which of the possibilities it is, it isn’t good for our Ji clan.” Yichuan said in a low voice. Ning’s face became ugly. A battle between Immortals? An emergence of a relic site? An Immortal magic treasure revealing itself? Other unknown possibilities? How could the Ji clan, whose most powerful experts were only on the Zifu level, possibly withstand these things? “Come, let’s take a look.” Yichuan said. “Fine.” Ning was incomparably worried as well. At the same time, he immediately used his ki to send his voice to Autumn Leaf, who was staying in a room not too far from his own. “Autumn Leaf, I’m heading out. You are in charge of Brightheart Island.” Swoosh! The two flew into the air at high speed, then running across the waves, quickly transformed into blurred rays of light which advanced to the north at high speed. At their level, when they put all their energy into their footwork techniques, they were actually rather faster than even the Azure Firebird, and many times faster than ordinary mounts. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A thousand kilometers south of the City of Ten Thousand Swords, the only commandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty which was under control of the Ji clan. This place was a desolate mountain forest, completely ordinary and unremarkable! However, in the air above this desolate mountain forest, an enormous vortex had appeared! This was a rainbow vortex, thirty thousand meters high, its influence omnidirectional. This enormous rainbow vortex was wildly pulling in the surrounding elemental energy. Because the collection of elemental energy was too vigorous, and the density of the collected energy was too high, the swirling pressure compacted it to the point where a rainbow of colors had appeared. This enormous elemental vortex…agitated the elemental aura in the surrounding area to surge outward in waves, causing those powerful ripples to broadcast in every direction! This elemental vortex was shaped like a sharp awl, pointed directly downwards towards the ground. Clearly, the origin of this natural vortex was directly located within the ground region of that desolate mountain forest. “Whooosh!” A male figure appeared in the air, amidst the vibrating elemental energy. This man had long, loose hair, and wore black, traditional robes which had a strange beast embroidered onto them. He wore a crested crown on his head, and his face was as pale as jade. He naturally emanated a lofty aura, and his gaze was directed downwards, staring towards that origin point which the swirling, enormous elemental vortex was ‘pointing’ towards. “Oh?” The black robed man nodded slightly. “This Anomaly…it should be that someone has reached the Void stage and become an Earth Immortal! I wonder if which side this new Earth Immortal belongs to…this is Swallow Mountain. The number of large tribes, schools, and sects located near Swallow Mountain can be counted on one hand. The closest one is the Heavenly Saint Sect! Can it be that one of the Primal Daoists of the Heavenly Saint Sect has made a breakthrough? But if it were one of the Primal Daoists of the Heavenly Saint Sect, there should be protectors and guardians nearby.” While pondering, he continued to stand there, watching quietly in mid-air. The appearance of an Anomaly such as this meant that this person had already succeeded. It would be too late to stop it. Rumble… The enormous elemental vortex suddenly collapsed, causing the nearby elemental energy to violently tremble, but soon everything returned to normal. Right at the moment that the elemental vortex 588 collapsed…a man appeared out of nowhere, garbed in fiery red robes and carrying three greatswords on his back. His two temples had hints of white hair, and he swept the area with a lightning-like gaze, soon noticing the black robed man who stood in the distance in mid-air. “Congratulations, my fellow Daoist, for having returned to the Void and become an Earth Immortal!” The black robed man laughed. “Might I ask who you are, fellow Daoist?” The man carrying the three greatswords on his back asked immediately. He didn’t dare to be discourteous either; he knew that the Anomaly generated by his breakthrough had lasted for only a short period of time. For someone to be able to sense it and also hurry over in such a short period of time…that was no ordinary feat. The black robed man laughed. “I am Northmont Skyfall! And you, fellow Daoist?” The red robed man, hearing this, was shocked. Northmont? Throughout the Stillwater Commandery, this surname was known to represent the most exalted force present; the Marquis of Stillwater! The Marquis of Stillwater was of the Northmont clan! Ever since the time when the Grand Xia Dynasty unified the world and bequeathed marquisdoms, the Northmont clan and the Marquis of Stillwater had been in control of this region. Their roots were extremely deep, far more so than any of the other forces present in Stillwater Commandery. The only organization capable of competing for supremacy in this region was the Raindragon Guard, which represented the Grand Xia Dynasty itself! A look of delight was on the red robed man’s face as he said hurriedly, “So it is Immortal Laxiao! I was wondering who within the Stillwater Commandery could instantly notice this elemental Anomaly, and had guessed that only the Northmont clan of Stillwater was capable of this! I didn’t expect that the famous, world-renowned Immortal Skyfall had come in person. Compared to you, Immortal Skyfall, I’m just a junior. I imagine that you, Immortal Skyfall, have never even heard of my name. However, I did have a nickname in the past; Daoist Firedragon. Immortal Skyfall, have you heard of me?” This Immortal Skyfall who stood before him was a Loose Immortal who had lived for tens of thousands of years. The longer Loose Immortals lived, the more terrifying they became. Although he was confident in being able to stay alive if Immortal Skyfall attacked, he knew that in terms of power, as a new Earth Immortal, he was probably a level weaker in strength. “Daoist Firedragon?” Immortal Skyfall was briefly startled. He truly hadn’t heard of this figure before. He immediately said, “I truly haven’t heard of you. I imagine that prior to this, fellow Daoist, you weren’t present in the Stillwater Commandery region.” “When I was a Wanxiang Adept, I went to the East Sea.” The red robed man immediately said. “While adventuring in the East Sea, I suddenly broke through to the Primal stage, and acquired the nickname of 589 Daoist Firedragon. Because I was in the distant, remote East Sea…it isn’t strange that you have never heard of me, Immortal Skyfall. A hundred years ago, I returned once more to this region. Perhaps because I felt very moved upon returning to my ancient homeland, I had a sudden feeling and thus immediately found a place to start training. I sealed myself into a training cave for a hundred years, and today, I just made my breakthrough. Immortal Skyfall nodded. “So that’s how it is. Daoist Firedragon, might I ask where your homeland was?” “I myself am from Stillwater Commandery.” Daoist Firedragon said. “Unfortunately, my clan was eliminated long ago. I won’t lie to you, Immortal Skyfall; the purpose of this return of mine was to seek out my clansmen and rebuild my clan, and also to avenge my clan and execute this blood feud.” “Hahaha…” Immortal Skyfall laughed clearly. “So Daoist Firedragon, you are of my Stillwater Commandery? My Stillwater Commandery now has yet another Immortal. I truly am overjoyed! It is karmic which brings the two of us together, Daoist Firedragon. As for your matters, you can consider them to be the matters of the Marquis Palace of Stillwater. There’s no need for us to continue speaking here. Come, let’s go to Stillwater City. My clan’s Lord Marquis will definitely receive you, fellow Daoist, with the greatest of ceremony.” “Then I’ll obey your request rather than standing on ceremony.” Daoist Firedragon laughed as well. An Immortal was someone worthy of befriending. Immortal Firedragon was in no rush to join a side right now. He had to see what sort of offers would be made to him, after all. He knew very well that in the end, this boundless world belonged to the Grand Xia Dynasty. If he wanted to rise and to make his clan grow and prosper, it was best if he either joined with the forces of the Grand Xia Dynasty, or if he joined with the forces of the various Marquises, who had deep roots in their respective areas. “Let’s go.” Immortal Skyfall stretched his hand out, taking Immortal Firedragon’s. Whoosh! They disappeared from mid-air. …………. The City of Ten Thousand Swords was the base and foundation of the Ji clan. Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow both lived within this city. What’s more, that elemental Anomaly originated from just a thousand or so kilometers from the city; given their speed, the two of them naturally soon arrived at the desolate mountain forest. “It should be right here.” Ninefire and Granny Shadow, along with an old servant, were currently standing atop a large magic calabash gourd. Ninefire was staring down at the desolate mountain forest. He said, “But why is it that it seems as though this mountain wilderness is very calm. There’s nothing special here.” “I can’t see anything either.” Granny Shadow and the old servant were watching as well. “Elder Brother.” Granny Shadow said in her hoarse voice. “I’ll go down and take a look. Ah Xing, you stay here as well.” “Mistress, let me go.” The old servant let out a hoarse whisper, and then transformed into a ray of light, descending towards the desolate mountain forest below. Granny Shadow was frantic. “Ah Xing!” “Wait.” Ninefire looked at Granny Shadow. “This old servant of yours truly is devoted to you.” The earlier, violent ripples of elemental energy clearly involved a major affair. The first person to investigate thus would be taking on great risk. Ninefire, as the Patriarch of the Ji clan, was the true pillar of the clan and thus couldn’t be risked. This was why Granny Shadow was about to go down, but the old servant went down first. “In the entire world, Ah Xing is the most loyal person to me.” Granny Shadow said gently. Moments later… A blur from below rose into the skies, landing atop the flying gourd. It was that old servant with unbound hair and dressed in beast furs. Ninefire immediately asked, “How is it?” “There is a large amount of elemental ore below.” The old servant said in a low voice. “A large amount of elemental ore?” Ninefire frowned. “How much?” Elemental ore contained gems which possessed elemental energy. However, the amount of elemental energy which people were able to absorb each day was limited, generally speaking. At a certain point in time, it would be impossible to absorb any more. Ordinary elemental gems were thus used to set up formations, or they might be useful in creating golems. But training? They weren’t very useful. But of course, some rare natural treasures existed that didn’t place much of a strain on the body, but which when ingested could provide power comparable to ten or even a hundred years of training. In addition, amongst elemental stones, there were high quality ones which had special effects. The elemental energy within high class elemental stones was very pure; when absorbing the energy within them, the body wasn’t placed under much strain, and thus by using them, in a single day, one would be able to make gains comparable to ten days of normal training. However, the rate of consumption of stones for training in such a way was significant as well! It wasn’t so bad if one only occasionally used a 591 piece or two of high class elemental stones, but if an Immortal practitioner wanted to use them for long term training, one would have to buy thousands or more. This wasn’t something which the Ji clan was capable of affording. “Very many. Very many.” The old servant said solemnly. “It should be an elemental ore mine. In addition, my superficial scan turned up high quality elemental stones already.” “What? An elemental ore mine? With high class elemental stones?” Ninefire was instantly stunned. An elemental ore mine? Generally speaking, certain special environments would produce elemental ore mines. But of course, one was also capable of intentionally forming an elemental ore mine. For the sake of making his breakthrough, Immortal Firedragon had to have enough elemental energy present for him to use. Thus, he was willing to pay a high price to set up a grand formation which drew in the surrounding elemental energy. Day after day, month after month, an elemental ore mine was formed. “Elemental ore mine?” Granny Shadow revealed a look of excitement as well. “Our Ji clan is about to suddenly rise to prominence?!” “Let’s go take a look first.” Ninefire suppressed his excitement. He immediately collected his magic gourd, and the three of them descended at high speed into the desolate mountain forest, diving into the ground to investigate. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The sky slowly grew brighter. Ji Ning and his father, Ji Yichuan, were currently moving at top speed, moving towards the origin of those elemental ripples. “Eh? I have never competed against Father in speed before. Father is actually this fast?” Ning was extremely surprised. His divine body was comparable to that of early-stage Zifu-level Fiendgod practitioners. Given that he also had the Windwing Evasion technique, one could imagine how fast he was. Even when he didn’t use his wing-type magic treasure, he was still very fast…but his father, Ji Yichuan, was able to move at the same pace as him. “Father, your footwork technique…? Can it be that you have established your Violet Palace?” Ning use his ki to ask mentally while hurrying forward. He didn’t realize that when the disaster had occurred, aside from the injuries suffered by the Yuchi siblings, his own father, Yichuan, had been heavily wounded as well. “No need to ask.” Yichuan clearly didn’t want to discuss it. “This speed is already my maximum.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. If he were to use his wing-type magic treasures, he would still be able to increase his speed by quite a bit, but there was no need. Swoosh! Swoosh! The two moved forward like blurs of smoke. Moving at such an astonishing speed, this distance of thousands of kilometers was traversed in just a single hour! Their speed was completely at that of the Zifu Disciple level. “It should be in this region.” Ning came to a halt, standing atop the crown of a large, ancient tree. He stared towards a mountain forest. “The ripple originated from no more than three hundred kilometers away.” “Should be.” Yichuan nodded as well. “Let’s take a close look.” The two looked about carefully as they ran forward atop the trees. Soon, Yichuan jumped directly down into the ground, emerging shortly afterwards. “Ning, come over here.” Ning immediately leapt down, moving like a ray of light to the grassy area where Yichuan was currently standing. Ning hurriedly asked, “What is it?” 593 “There are elemental stones underground.” Yichuan said solemnly. “And this should be an extremely rich elemental ore mine. I’ve even noticed high quality elemental stones.” “High quality elemental stones?” Ning was shocked as well. “The area under the control of my Ji clan actually has high quality elemental stones?” “This vein of elemental stones is extremely rich, and there are very few other ores mixed in. Still, because these are elemental stones…there’s no way to traverse through them using ground-tunneling arts.” Yichuan said. “Just by using ground-tunneling arts, I was only able to burrow to a depth of a hundred and fifty meters, which is where the elemental ore mine begins. Further down…is an extremely rich vein of elemental ore.” Ning nodded. Ground-tunneling techniques allowed one to pass through ordinary dirt and rocks, but some special materials were completely impassable. Elemental stones, for example, were impassable. “Swish!” From afar, a hundred kilometers away, a golden light suddenly rose into the skies, emitting an earpiercing sound. Ning and Yichuan both turned to look. “The golden arrow of the Ji clan!” Ning and Yichuan, upon seeing it, immediately used their movement techniques to hurry forward. They traversed a kilometer with every single movement. This golden arrow of the Ji clan was used as a summons, calling all of the men of the Ji clan in the surrounding area who saw it to hurry forward to its location. …….. Ning and Yichuan saw from far away that more than ten people were present, amongst them the grayrobed Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow. The others belonged to the Central Prefecture of the Ji clan; after all, this place was closest to the Central Prefecture City, the City of Ten Thousand Swords. These people turned to look and recognized this father-son duo. “Yichuan, the two of you, father and son, really are fast.” Ninefire said. “We hurried over from the City of Ten Thousand Swords, but we just arrived. You two, father and son, are located at the border regions of West Prefecture City, but you arrived as well.” “Formidable.” These Xiantian experts all said in praise. “You came quite quickly.” A laugh rang out. A ray of light descended at high speed, then walked over. It was a middle-aged man dressed in beast furs. “Truekeep, you came as well.” Ninefire smiled and nodded. Ning saw this middle-aged figure come over. This man was named ‘Ji Truekeep’, and he was the number one figure of the Ji clan of the Northern Prefecture, on par with Ning’s father. For him to be able to hurry over from North Prefecture City so quickly…it seemed that Ji Truekeep should be a Zifu Disciple as well. “On the surface, my Ji clan only has Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow, two Zifu Disciples.” Ning said to himself. “However, a clan must have heirs and members amongst the younger generation who have reached the Zifu Disciple level. Now, it seems as though this Ji Truekeep truly is a Zifu Disciple. My father, given the earlier movement abilities he displayed, should also be a Zifu Disciple!” Yichuan and Truekeep glanced at each other, nodding. Yichuan spoke out, “Patriarch, why have you summoned us?” “I imagine that you have discovered as well,” Ninefire said solemnly, “That underground, there is an elemental ore mine. A very rich vein of elemental ore.” “Right.” All of the clansmen nodded, their eyes filled with excitement. Based on the rules of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the land within ten thousand kilometers of a commandery city belonged to the master of that commandery city! As for any territories under dispute outside of that area, the ownership of those regions depended on who had the strongest fist. This elemental ore mine was extremely close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. According to the rules set by the Grand Xia Dynasty…without question, it belonged to the Ji clan! “Not only is this vein very rich, it is also very large.” Ninefire looked towards the surrounding area. “We will now carry out a detailed analysis and mapping of this elemental ore mine. I will fly towards the southeast. Truekeep, you fly towards the north. Shadow, you fly towards the southwest. As for everyone else, carefully investigate how deep this mine is and the quality of the ore within it. No matter what the results are, within four hours, we’ll regroup here.” “Yes.” All of them assented. Soon, three rays of light flew towards three different directions, while Ning, Yichuan, and the others burrowed into the ground. Because there was no way to use ground-tunneling arts through elemental ore, the only option they had to was to slowly dig through. “Let’s go.” Ning’s body became surrounded by the petals of his Waterflame Lotus, which slowly swiveled about him, easily digging into the ground below. This allowed Ning to easily move deeper into the ground, step by step. As soon as he went downwards, the earth and mud above him collapsed. But Ning just ignored it, continuing to move downwards…and he soon ran into the surface layer of the elemental ore mine. Large amounts of elemental ore were connected to each other like ugly rocks. These were all low-quality elemental stones, and just by looking at them, one wouldn’t be able to see much of a difference between them and ordinary rocks. The only difference was that they emanated quite a bit of an elemental aura. Crackle… The Waterflame Lotus easily dug downwards, and Ning continued to move down at an astonishing rate. “So deep.” Ning could sense that he had already tunneled downwards for a hundred kilometers, but he was still surrounded by a large amount of elemental stones. “The hundred kilometers above me is filled with elemental stones. How deep is this elemental ore mine? And the top of the elemental ore mine was only a few dozen meters from the surface of the ground. How is it that nobody has discovered this mine, in all this time?” What Ning didn’t understand was that before Immortal Firedragon had set up a grand formation, who could have possibly found it? “Swoosh.” He finally encountered ordinary mud yet again. “Three hundred kilometers deep.” Ning was stunned. “Ore mines are generally spread out horizontally. If even the vertical depth is so great, how wide must the mine be?” Swoosh! Following this, Ning immediately began moving upwards at high speed. A long time later… He finally emerged once more, appearing on the surface of the ground. He quickly returned to the gathering spot, where Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant, and Truekeep were already present. “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked towards Ning, his eyes lighting up. “You’ve already completed your investigations?” “Right.” Ning nodded. He glanced around. Traveling three hundred kilometers into the ground was far more difficult than flying thousands of kilometers in the air. Fortunately, he had been able to rely on his Waterflame Lotus, which borrowed the elemental power of the world, to move so easily. The others had to exhaust their ki in order to slowly dig. “How deep is it?” Ninefire and the others all looked towards Ning. “Three hundred kilometers.” Ning said. The faces of Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Truekeep changed. They couldn’t be bothered to feel amazed at how Ning had, in a single short hour, made a round trip underground of more than three hundred kilometers. This was because they were already beginning to grow panicked. “What’s wrong?” Ning hurriedly asked. “This elemental ore mine…” Ninefire said solemnly. “We’ve finished our investigations as well. It has a circumference of at least four thousand kilometers! If it has a depth of three hundred kilometers…then this truly is an enormous large-scale elemental ore mine. To our Ji clan, such an enormous elemental ore mine isn’t a blessing; it is a calamity!” A grand calamity! Ning instantly understood. A stomach of a certain size could only hold a certain amount of food; if you filled it with too much, you could die from overstuffing. “This is a rich vein, and an enormous one.” Ninefire said solemnly. “Once we begin to excavate it, the value of the ore within will definitely be countless times greater than the total assets of the Ji clan. Tell me, how can our Ji clan handle it?” This mine… This mine had been formed after the peak Primal Daoist, ‘Daoist Firedragon’, had paid an enormous price in order to set up a large formation to collect elemental energy, so as to help himself break through. This mine had been forming for one hundred years. If it was completely mined out, the value of it would be comparable to half the assets of an ordinary Primal Daoist. Because Daoist Firedragon had broken through to the Earth Immortal level, his horizons had been expanded and he no longer cared as much. In addition, mining the elemental ore would simply be too difficult; even a Primal Daoist probably would be too lazy to go through the mining. Only, the likes of Wanxiang Adepts would go wild with excitement for something like this. “Then what should we do?” Granny Shadow immediately asked. “I’m not afraid of others. I’m only afraid of Snowdragon Mountain!” Ninefire’s face was filled with worry. “The Snowdragon Mountain of the Swallow Mountain area is just a branch clan. Behind it…is the true Snowdragon Mountain Sect! A major sect which has Primal Daoists standing guard over it. And, based on my calculations and the passage of time, the Zifu Disciples of the branch sect of Snowdragon Mountain should have already arrived in the nearby area!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Everything happened just as Ji Ninefire predicted. A thousand kilometers away from them… There was a screen hovering in mid-air, and atop that screen, there were four figures, staring down below. Suddenly, a ray of light rose into the skies. It was a large, armored, muscular man who was standing atop a greatsword. This muscular man had a hint of a blue light glowing from his skin, and standing there in midair atop that greatsword, he looked like a Fiendgod. “My fellow disciples.” The muscular man had a look of delight on his face. “I’ve finished my investigations. There is a large amount of elemental ore underground, with high quality elemental stones within the deposit. This is a very rich vein of elemental ore.” “Oh?” A long-haired man who wore a black robe and had eight bloody trigrams in front and behind him nodded, then laughed. “Junior apprentice-brother Ju San, thank you for your hard work. Who would have expected that an elemental ore mine such as this would have been hidden within the territory of the Ji clan? Right. Junior apprentice-brother Ju San, have you found any traces of mining?” The muscular man shook his head. The black robed man nodded in satisfaction. “The Ji clan has never sold elemental stones to outsiders. It seems that prior to this, they hadn’t discovered this vein either. My fellow disciples, I’d like to trouble you to go in each direction and investigate carefully exactly how large this vein is, while I will investigate how deep it is. After finishing our investigations, we’ll gather here again.” “Yes, elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Three men and women, including the muscular man, acknowledged, then each flew away on their own flying-type magic treasures, transforming into rays of light that flew towards four different directions to investigate. The black robed man collected his flying screen while rushing towards the ground, smashing through it and burrowing deep. ……. A long time later. The three men and one woman who had left earlier had already returned, flying on their magic treasures. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi still hasn’t finished exploring?” A green-haired man said in surprise. “It seems this mine really is quite deep.” 598 “Based on just what we’ve learned, this elemental ore mine has to have a circumference of four thousand kilometers.” A nearby woman whose hair was also emanating a green light said solemnly. “If it’s deep as well…then this mine is going to be an astonishing one.” Right after she finished speaking. Swoosh! From below, a ray of light surged towards the heavens, then came to a halt. It was their black-robed elder apprentice-brother, Ziqi. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The three men and woman bowed respectfully. Actually, all five of them were Zifu Disciples and of the same generation. Logically speaking, there was no need for them to act like this. But this Ziqi’s power was definitely far above theirs. “What an elemental ore mine. It is at least three hundred kilometers deep.” The black-robed man sighed in surprise. “Three hundred kilometers?” “That deep?” “The four of us have found that this mine has a circumference of four thousand kilometers. For it to also have such an astonishing depth…this elemental ore mine is simply too…” The three men and one woman were all in a state of shock. Some mines were fairly shallow, and it made sense for a mine of a circumference of thousands of kilometers to just a few kilometers deep. But this one was three hundred kilometers deep! The black-robed man shouted, “This elemental ore mine belongs to Snowdragon Mountain!” “Right, it belongs to our Snowdragon Mountain!” “We’ve rendered a major merit. The main sect will definitely reward us heavily.” “Our chance has come!” The five of them were all incomparably excited. They were easily able to tell the general size and scale of this elemental ore mine and knew the value of it. The value was inconceivably high! Most likely, even those Primal Daoists that stood at the very pinnacle of power in Snowdragon Mountain would care deeply about this place. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The green-haired woman frowned. “This place is very close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. According to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this place should be considered as belonging to the Ji clan.” 599 “What the hell is the Ji clan?” Ziqi snorted coldly. “Dare they intervene in Snowdragon Mountain’s mine?” The nearby green-haired man nodded. “No need to worry about the Ji clan. Snowdragon Mountain is definitely taking over this elemental ore mine! But no matter what, we can’t be too incautious. According to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this place is the territory of the City of Ten Thousand Swords, which means this mine belongs to the Ji clan. Our Snowdragon Mountain cannot openly violate the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty!” “Right.” Dong Ziqi nodded lightly. True. Even if they had to skirt the laws, they definitely couldn’t openly challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty! Even the Marquis Palace of Stillwater Commandery, which was almost as ancient as the Grand Xia Dynasty itself, wouldn’t dare to challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty! “Right now, I’m only afraid of one thing.” The green-haired man frowned. “If the Ji clan were to send someone to ally with the army of the Grand Xia Dynasty and sign a contract giving this site up to the Grand Xia Dynasty…! If they were to directly sign over this mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty, then there would be nothing that we can do!” “Apprentice-brother Hefang speaks reason.” A cold-faced, gray-robed man nodded. “We have to be careful.” “We do have to be careful.” The muscular man said frantically, “The Ji clan definitely will realize that they aren’t strong enough to hold this mine. If they give up the mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty, then the Ji clan will at least gain thirty percent of it! This would also result in them having the Grand Xia Dynasty supporting them. We wouldn’t be able to do anything.” “Sign an agreement?” Dong Ziqi’s eyes were dark and gloomy. “It’s not that easy to do!” The other four looked towards Dong Ziqi. “The garrison of the Grand Xia Dynasty in the Swallow Mountain region are in Swallow Mountain City.” Dong Ziqi said. “The general of that garrison is a good friend of mine.” “But elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, as soon as the Ji clan makes a report and offers to transfer the mine…a mere general wouldn’t dare to suppress the news. If he forcibly suppresses the report of something as major as this, and is later discovered to have done so, then the general will definitely have his soul shattered and dispersed in punishment.” The green-haired man said, concerned. Ziqi said, “I know that. He won’t dare to forcibly suppress the news, but at least he’ll be able to delay it!” 600 “Oh?” The other four looked at Ziqi as well. “You should know.” Dong Ziqi said. “The first part to signing an agreement of relinquishing a mine is the report to the higher ups! Afterwards, the higher ups will immediately send people to investigate the Ji clan’s territory. Only after they have verified that there is indeed such a mine within the Ji clan’s territory will they sign the contract.” The other four nodded. This was indeed the case. Once the report was made, someone would immediately be sent over. The efficiency would be very high. “As soon as the report is made, we won’t be able to act as we please.” Ziqi said, “What we can do is to have the garrison general at Swallow Mountain City delay as much as he can…and in addition, it will take time for the person sent by the Grand Xia Dynasty to make his way over. This will be enough time for us to seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords!” “Seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords?” The other four nodded gently. “As long as we take over the City of Ten Thousand Swords and acquire the official writ, then we will be the masters of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. In accordance with the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the mine will belong to us. Even if the Grand Xia Dynasty sends someone over…because the official writ has a new owner, there will be no way for the Ji clan to sign a contract.” Ziqi said. “Fine. We’ll take over the official writ!” “Once the official writ is in our hands, we will be the masters of the mine.” Cold light flashed in each of their eyes. Ziqi said in a low voice, “If the Ji clan dares to resist, then annihilate them!” “Right.” The other four nodded, not worried about the Ji clan at all. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, before this, when we were investigating the size of the mine, we discovered that the Ji clan’s forces were within a thousand kilometers.” The green-haired woman said. “Let’s go.” Ziqi said as he let out a cold snort. “Let’s go visit the Ji clan.” ……… Right at this moment, in the air above the elemental ore mine, quite a few Zifu Disciples were conducting investigations, including the Ironwood clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult…they were all local forces of Swallow Mountain. Only the forces of the Grand Xia Dynasty, stationed in Swallow Mountain City, were not present. “What a rich vein.” “Such an elemental ore mine…just looking at it is frightening.” ………….. The desolate mountain forests. The Ji clan’s forces were gathered there, deciding what to do. “Ji Ninefire!” Suddenly, a gloomy voice rang out. This voice caused the faces of quite a few clansmen of the Ji clan to change. Ning’s soul, being so powerful, wasn’t impacted much. He raised his head to look. He saw that high above them in mid-air, an enormous screen was descending towards them at high speed. Standing atop the screen were five men and women, all of them with extraordinary auras. The leader of the group was emanating a deathly cold aura. He was dressed in black, and the front and back of his robe were covered with eight bloody trigrams. “Dong Ziqi!” Ninefire’s face changed slightly. Ning looked carefully at the five on the screen, paying special attention to their leader, Dong Ziqi. “He is Dong Ziqi, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain?” Dong Ziqi’s fame was widespread, and he was quietly acknowledged to be the number one expert of the six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain region! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others had long ago come to view Ji Ning as the future pillar of the Ji clan! They naturally had long ago allowed Ning to view the intelligence reports the clan had regarding the various ancient monsters and Zifu Disciples of the various forces spread throughout Swallow Mountain. Ning knew very well…that this Dong Ziqi was a peak Zifu Disciple, one who had come from the main sect, whose abilities were far more powerful than those available to the local tribes of the Swallow Mountain Region. Dong Ziqi’s most powerful ability was the ‘Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation’! This was different from other great formations, which generally needed to be set up in advance. This ‘Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation’ was rather similar to the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]; one could activate it with a thought. Perhaps it wasn’t as high level and as formidable as the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], but this was a peak Zifu Disciple. When such a man used this formation, he probably would be able to fight a new Wanxiang Adept to a standstill. This wasn’t something which could be compared the likes of Bei Zishan, who had to rely on the Myriad Wraiths Banner. “It’s quite rare for us to be able to see you, fellow Daoist Dong.” Ninefire’s attitude was very humble. “Fellow Daoist Dong, might I ask why you have come?” “Ji Ninefire.” The five Zifu Disciples atop the banner landed on the ground. They swept the Ji clansmen with their gaze. Their eyes were filled with lofty arrogance; clearly, they held the Ji clan in no regard. This caused Ning and the others to feel a hint of rage in their hearts, but they understood…they had to suppress it. “The land which your Ji clan controls really is a blessed area. It actually has an elemental ore mine.” Ziqi’s cold, sinister eyes stared at Ninefire. “If it wasn’t for the elemental energy vibrations which emanated from here two days ago, we wouldn’t have had any idea. Hmph. I imagine that your Ji clan has secretly mined out quite a few elemental stones. You really are quite bold.” Looks of anger couldn’t help but appear in the eyes of the Ji clansmen, but Ninefire used his ki to bark at them mentally, “All of you, endure it!” “My Ji clan just discovered it as well.” Ninefire maintained a smiling face towards Ziqi. “Just discovered it?” Ziqi swept the Ji clansmen with his gaze. “Have you investigated the size and scale of this elemental mine?” “Not yet.” Ninefire shook his head. “All we know is that this is a rich vein of elemental ore.” 603 Ziqi said in a cold voice, “Since you don’t know, then I’ll tell you. Not only is this a rich vein, it stretches to a circumference of four thousand kilometers, and is three hundred kilometers deep as well! Your tiny little Ji clan is completely unable to try and swallow such an enormous elemental ore mine; if you tried, it would choke you to death!” “That’s fine.” Ninefire laughed. “In the end, my Ji clan can just offer this elemental ore mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty. By then, our Ji clan will obtain 30% of it, while the Grand Xia Dynasty will obtain 70%. In addition, our Ji clan will also receive the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, at which point we won’t fear anyone.” Ziqi’s pupils contracted. These locals! Although they didn’t come from any sects, and thus remained Zifu Disciples despite having trained for nearly four centuries, after having lived so long, these people had become incomparably crafty. Just now, he had been so arrogant, but Ninefire had remained all smiles. However, at the critical point in their negotiations, Ninefire had directly given voice to what Snowdragon Mountain feared the most. “Listen up!” Dong Ziqi’s voice was incomparably cold. “This elemental ore mine is being taken over by Snowdragon Mountain! Don’t threaten me. If you threaten me…the only result will be the destruction of the Ji clan!” Ninefire’s face changed. The others, such as Granny Shadow, were all both angry and agitated when they heard this. Ning felt a smoldering rage burn in his heart as well. Clearly, according to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this elemental ore mine belonged to the Ji clan! But Snowdragon Mountain’s people wanted to just take it from them, and in such a domineering manner? “Fellow Daoist Dong.” Ninefire suppressed his rage. Just now, he had just decided to bring out the strongest ‘threat’ he could must…so as to cause the opponents to feel nervous, and then engage in negotiations. He didn’t expect that these people didn’t want to negotiate at all; they acted with completely tyranny, wanting to take advantage of the Ji clan in their weakness! “This is Swallow Mountain.” Ninefire said solemnly. “The main Snowdragon Mountain Sect is millions of kilometers away, but once my Ji clan makes the report, in just a few days, the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty will arrive. By then, we will just directly sign a transfer agreement. Actually, our Ji clan doesn’t have that much ambition; the only thing we desire is to survive!” “Survive?” Ziqi laughed coldly. “At least you know your own limits!” 604 Ninefire said, “Snowdragon Mountain can arrange for people to mine this quarry. Our Ji clan definitely will not disturb you during the mining process. After you have completed your mining…all we ask is that you remove all of your forces from the Ji clan’s territory. As for the ore in this elemental ore mine, my Ji clan will not ask for a single stone of it! My Ji clan is willing to set up an Oath of Heavenly Law with your Snowdragon Mountain!” Oath of Heavenly Law… This was useless for ordinary mortals, but no one who had stepped onto the path of Immortal cultivation would dare to violate an Oath of Heavenly Law. “Oh?” Ziqi hesitated. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The nearby muscular man sent mentally through his Ki. “These conditions aren’t bad. We don’t care about the territory the Ji clan controls anyhow. What really matters is that elemental ore mine. Since the Ji clan is willing to allow us to harvest all of the ore within the elemental ore mine…if they are willing to set up an Oath of Heavenly Law, then they won’t dare violate it.” “Idiot.” The green-haired woman to the side sent mentally as well. “This is just a delaying tactic of the Ji clan! The Ji clan is going to set up an Oath of Heavenly Law with ‘us’, but not with those of us here. Even if we fellow disciples swear to an Oath of Heavenly Law, the high level members of the main sect can still decide to just cast us aside and exterminate the Ji clan. They definitely want us to have a high-level member of the main sect to come here and swear the oath. But we would first need to send work back, and by the time the high-level member of the main sect comes…more than enough time will have passed for the Ji clan and the Grand Xia Dynasty to have signed an agreement.” “Younger apprentice-sister, your words have merit.” The gray-robed man sent mentally as well. Dong Ziqi nodded slightly. The Ji clansmen were still awaiting their response. “Your Ji clan wishes to swear an Oath of Heavenly Law with Snowdragon Mountain…might I ask, which member of Snowdragon Mountain do you wish to come swear the oath with you?” Ziqi looked at Ninefire. Ninefire laughed. “Any Wanxiang Adept is acceptable. The fate of our Ji clan rests on this agreement; naturally, we must be cautious. The weight of an oath of a Zifu Disciple of Snowdragon Mountain isn’t quite enough…and we don’t dare trust fully in it either. I imagine that you, fellow Daoist Dong, also understand that the oath of a Zifu Disciple doesn’t have much binding power over the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect.” Dong Ziqi narrowed his eyes. A single Zifu Disciple? The main sect could sacrifice one with but a word. But a Wanxiang Adept was different. The main sect only had a limited number of them, and when they swore an oath, it represented the main sect swearing an oath! If the main sect dared to sacrifice even a Wanxiang Adept, wouldn’t it cause the other Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples to have an icy feeling in their hearts? To cause the Wanxiang Adepts of the clan to all have lessened loyalty, for the sake of an elemental ore mine, wasn’t worth it. Thus, it was most appropriate for a Wanxiang Adept to come and swear the oath. “Ji Ninefire!” Ziqi said in a freezing voice. “You want a Wanxiang Adept to come and swear an Oath of Heavenly Law with you? They are high level members of my main sect, which is over a million kilometers away! After we send the message, it will take at least ten days or half a month for a Wanxiang Adept to come! Within ten day’s time, your Ji clan would most likely have secretly signed an agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty long ago!” “Then…” Ninefire hesitated. “As I see it, you had best hand over the official writ!” Ziqi shouted. “Hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords to us! Snowdragon Mountain will continue to permit you to live within the City of Ten Thousand Swords, and everything will remain unchanged for the Ji clan…after we have completely excavated the elemental ore mine, we will return the official writ to you!” Ninefire was frantic. “How can that be acceptable?” “No way.” Granny Shadow said angrily as well. “The official writ is the very foundation of the Ji clan.” Ning just watched. These people of Snowdragon Mountain…you gave them an inch, and they attempted to take a mile! They made it sound so nice and simple; they would return the official writ after finishing the excavation? What if they didn’t? In addition, the Ji clan had already made a huge concession in being willing to offer the entire mine to Snowdragon Mountain. How could it be that Snowdragon Mountain now desired to take away the official writ as well, and ‘give it back’ in the future? “Hmph.” Ning’s face was ugly to behold, and the same was true for the other members of the Ji clan. “Do you think that our Snowdragon Mountain clan will lie to a petty little clan like the Ji clan?” Ziqi shouted. “It seems as though Snowdragon Mountain has taken advantage of quite a few clans.” Ninefire was enraged as well. “Otherwise, why would a branch of Snowdragon Mountain have come to Swallow Mountain!” Ziqi’s face changed. Outrageous! Ninefire actually had become harder and more forceful! Zifi swept the Ji clansmen with his gaze, noticing that youngest, solitary figure, the fur-clad youth. He immediately sent through his Ki, “Junior apprenticebrother Muse, the Ji clan only has a few Zifu Disciples. The one with the most potential is this Ji Ning; he is the one who, according to the stories, killed Zishan.” “Ji Ning.” The gray-robed man noticed the fur-clad youth in front of them as well. That battle he had with Bei Zishan that year… Ning’s reputation had been spread throughout the various forces of Swallow Mountain long ago. After all, at that time, quite a few Xiantian lifeforms of the various clans had all been sent back to their own clans, causing them to become aware of how terrifying Ji Ning was, and that Ji Ning should be a Zifu Disciple! A Zifu Disciple at age eleven or twelve…how terrifying would he be in the future? The various powers had taken notice of Ning long ago, and the intelligence reports regarding Ning were thus incomparably detailed. Everything which had happened to him since he was young, as well as his appearance and his habits…they had all been collected and compiled. Dong Ziqi didn’t care about anyone else in the entire Ji clan; the only one he cared about was this Ji Ning! He didn’t fear the current Ji Ning; what he feared was the future Ji Ning! Given Ji Ning’s talent…in the future, it probably wouldn’t be too hard for him to become a Wanxiang Adept. “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, the member of the Ji clan with the most potential and who poses the greatest threat is this Ji Ning. The entire Ji clan treats him as their treasure.” Ziqi sent mentally. “He is still fairly young, however, and at present, he shouldn’t be too powerful. Zishan, that fool…aside from being able to forge that Myriad Wraiths Banner, which was fairly powerful, his own level of ability wasn’t that great. In addition, the results of that battle probably had something to do with that Wanxiang Adept. Ji Ning’s own level of power is most likely not that great.” “Junior apprentice-brother, make a sudden attack and capture Ji Ning! By then, with Ji Ning in our hands, do you think the Ji clan will dare to disobey the orders of our Snowdragon Mountain?” Ziqi sent mentally. “Even in the extremely unlikely circumstance that they don’t care about Ji Ning’s life, we will then simply kill Ji Ning. Without him, the Ji clan won’t pose a threat to us at all in the future.” “Right.” The gray-robed man nodded. Ning was indeed a threat to them. Nobody feared Ning right now, but they feared the future Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, if you suddenly use your magic technique to attack, even I will have some trouble fending it off. You shouldn’t have any problems in subduing Ji Ning.” Ziqi sent mentally. Although his power was greater than that of Muse’s, he had to first activate his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. By the time he did so, the Ji clan would probably be at maximum vigilance. Thus, they had to make a sudden attack, and succeed in an instant! For this, Muse was the best choice. “Leave it to me. I made a breakthrough in this technique of mine not long ago.” Muse sent back mentally with great confidence. “Then we’ll just wait for you. Once you take down Ji Ning…we will have the upper hand.” Ziqi said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. At a single glance, Dong Ziqi saw clearly the Ji clan’s weakness. His thoughts were completely correct; Ji Ning was indeed the future pillar of the Ji clan! In this group of Ji clan experts…even if Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow had to die, they wouldn’t let Ning die! “Ninefire, I urge you to obediently hand over the official writ.” Ziqi frowned as he shouted. “My Ji clan is indeed weak and small, which is why we are willing to offer this elemental ore mine to you without requesting any part of it. But for you to try and forcibly take over our official writ…you are perhaps going too far! The official writ is the foundation of the Ji clan. How can my Ji clan…” Ninefire’s face changed halfway through his words, and he couldn’t help but lower his head to look at the ground. The ground was trembling slightly. Dong Ziqi’s group of five stood in the distance, and in their midst, the gray-robed man’s eyes flashed. The ki in his body had long ago entered the ground. By the time the Ji clan’s Zifu Disciples sensed it, the technique had already been executed! “BOOM!” Strands of green, wooden vines emerged suddenly from the ground, all of them flailing about wildly, covered with a layer of deep green light. The thin, slender strands of vines twined about each other like a tough cord rope. They suddenly emerged from the ground beneath Ning’s feet, instantly wrapping themselves around Ning! Fast! Completely caught off-guard! “What!” The faces of Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others changed. In the blink of an eye, Ji Ning, who had been standing next to them just moments ago, had been wildly entangled by those countless rattan vines. “Quick, save Ji Ning!” Granny Shadow shouted. “Too late!” Dong Ziqi, standing in the distance, just laughed loudly as he spoke. Bang! The countless vines wrapped around Ning whipped out violently, throwing him towards the ground. With a rumble, an enormous crevice appeared within the ground, with Ning and those vines already burrowed deep within the ground. “Snowdragon Mountain, you actually…” Ninefire’s face was savage. “Release my son.” Ji Yichuan was frantic as well. Every member of the Ji clan wanted to save Ning, but the sudden emergence of those vines, which had wrapped around Ning and then thrown him underground, caused them to not know what they should do to save him. “Hahaha…” Dong Ziqi just laughed wildly as he turned to look at the gray-robed man. “Junior apprenticebrother Muse, bring Ji Ning over here…” Dong Ziqi’s face suddenly changed, because he saw that his fellow disciple’s forehead was matted with sweat. Clearly, he was already going all out in this struggle. “That Ji Ning is currently breaking through my technique…” The gray-robed man’s eyes had turned red, and he was pouring all of his ki into the technique. ……. Underground. A seed had grown into thousands of wooden green tendrils, which were now heavily entangling themselves around Ning. Within the entangling clutches of the vines, a Waterflame Lotus was surrounding Ning, constantly swiveling around him and frantically resisting these tendrils, unceasingly killing them one by one while the dead vines were unceasingly being reborn. “Immortal practitioners truly have many techniques at their disposal. This technique wasn’t included in our intelligence reports. I wonder which branch member of Snowdragon Mountain used it.” Ning had suddenly suffered an attack, and this attack was too fast, giving him no time to break through before he had been thrown underground. Due to the constriction of the tendrils, the amount of space Ning had to move in was too limited, giving him no chance to use the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] at all. Thus, the first thing Ning had done was to execute the Waterflame Lotus. “Swivel, swivel…” The Waterflame Lotus slowly swiveled, grinding those thin vines that wanted to entangle Ning into dust. Nearly five years had passed since that battle with Bei Zishan, and during these five years, Ning’s improvements with regards to his understanding of the Dao had only grown greater and greater. If early on, the insight he had gained with regards to the Dao was just a thread, over the course of time, he had gained more threads of the True Meaning of the Dao. These many thin threads…had drawn close to each other, naturally resulting in a thicker thread. Ning’s time spent at Serpentwing Lake in particular, where he was virtually always in tune with the world…had resulted in him reaching a very high level of understanding. Actually, this was something which could only be accomplished by an Immortal practitioner who had reached a very high level of understanding. When one could always be in tune with nature and always be able to go attune with the Dao, it was only natural that one would gain many insights into the True Meaning of the Dao. His level of understanding had risen. Thus, the power his Waterflame Lotus now had was naturally much greater than before. That murderous grinding power alone would most likely instantly grind even peak Xiantian experts into tiny pieces in but an instant. “Darknorth sword.” Within the Waterflame Lotus, Ning drew forth a Darknorth sword. “Longing! Rain Line!” Ning murmured softly to himself. Each time he used this technique, he couldn’t help but think of his mother. This technique was one which he had developed thanks to the boundless longing he felt for his mother! It was the longing each drop of rain held for each other drop which allowed them to form a line of rain…the insights Ning had gained over the past five years into the Dao had resulted in him developing many techniques, but this was the most powerful of them all. This technique contained within it a boundless, powerful longing. It was born from the [Raindrop Sutra], but it had left the Raindrop Sutra far behind. “Swish….” Ning simultaneously struck out with two Darknorth swords at the same time, piercing past the Waterflame Lotus, which seemed to be like a shadow, not obstructing Ning’s swords in the slightest. Ning’s swords seemed to be like the caress of a mother, carrying boundless longing within them…as they summoned a large amount of natural power which directly coalesced atop the two swords. Anyone seeing this technique would unconsciously feel a sour feeling in their hearts, sense a powerful, endless yearning. “Crackle…” Many vines were instantly shattered. Although they were very tough, they were still chopped apart. In the face of Ning’s most powerful close-combat sword technique, the technique of Zifu Disciple Muse was unable to contain Ning. Actually, the first reason for this was that Ning’s swordplay had already far outstripped that of most Zifu Disciples. Most likely, even many Wanxiang Adepts wouldn’t be on par with him in this regard. The second reason was that Ning’s Fiendgod body was simply too powerful, comparable to an early-stage Fiendgod Zifu Disciple. His strength was so mighty, and his swordplay was so formidable; how hard must it be for a technique to contain him! Sword light flashed and danced, shattering a large number of frantically twisting vines. Ning followed his sword light and rose into the sky, breaking through the earth and arriving on the surface of the ground. ……… “Bang!” Just as the Ji clansmen were worriedly looking at the ground, into the hole from whence the rattan vines had disappeared, suddenly, hundreds of meters away, the ground suddenly exploded as a ray of sword light soared into the sky. A fur-clad youth, wielding a pair of swords, his body surrounded by a Fire-water Lotus, suddenly drifted up, then landed on the ground. “How is that possible!” Dong Ziqi’s face changed dramatically. Others might not understand this technique of his junior apprentice-brother’s, but he understood it very well. A sudden attack from this technique…it would be very difficult for someone to break through it. Even if one succeeded, it would only come at great effort. “That Ji Ning broke through?” The muscular man behind Ziqi stared as he growled, “How is that possible. I’m a Fiendgod practitioner, but even I wouldn’t be able to break through if senior apprentice-brother Muse captured me.” Junior apprentice Ju San was the newest Zifu Disciple of the five, who had only recently established his Violet Palace. He was just an early Zifu Disciple, but he was a Fiendgod practitioner! As an early Fiendgod practitioner…his battle strength was also amazing. It didn’t matter if others injured him, but if he landed a hit on someone else, that person would die! This was the advantage which Fiendgod practitioners had; if he trained to become a late stage Fiendgod Zifu Disciple, even Dong Ziqi would address him as ‘senior apprentice-brother’. “He broke through?” “How old is he?” “Senior apprentice-brother Muse’s ‘Myriad Ancient Green Vines’ technique…was broken, just like that?” That green-haired male-female pair stared as well, their faces filled with disbelief. In their group, Muse’s status was second only to Ziqi, precisely because of how powerful he was! In particular, his ambushing abilities with the ‘Myriad Ancient Green Vines’ had caused the other fellow disciples to feel endless admiration for him. The restricting power of those green vines was indeed 612 tremendous. How physically strong was a Fiendgod Zifu Disciple? And yet, even such a person was unable to break through. But the person who had broken through it…was only sixteen years old! No matter how monstrous of a genius he was, it was too… But how could they know that Ning’s physical strength was comparable to their junior apprenticebrother Ju San to begin with. In terms of his level of attainment in the sword, he vastly outstripped Ju San by many levels! ……. “Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning.” Ji Ninefire, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the other members of the Ji clan all stared at Ning with surprise and delight. At the same time, they felt unbearably pleased at the looks of shock and amazement on the faces of the five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain! Simultaneously, the Ji clansmen couldn’t help but feel stunned at Ning’s power. Ninefire’s eyes actually narrowed as he sighed in his heart that he felt he was growing more and more mystified by this kid. The Waterflame Lotus surrounding Ning vanished, and he walked over. “Ji Ning!” A hoarse voice rang out. Ning turned to look. From afar, there was a gray-robed man with an ashen, pallid face who stood by Dong Ziqi’s side. The man was staring fixedly at Ning. “You…what’s the name of that sword technique of yours?” “Longing.” Ning said softly. “Rain Line!” “Rain Line?” The gray-robed man stared wide-eyed in disbelief. “The power of the Rain Line technique of your Ji clan’s [Raindrop Sutra] is this great?” He was quite familiar with the nine sword stances of the [Raindrop Sutra].” “There are quite a few things that you don’t know.” Ning snorted coldly, no longer explaining. This sword technique was birthed from the Raindrop Sutra, but it was no longer the same as the Rain Line technique of the past. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Rain Line?” Dong Ziqi murmured softly as well. The four Zifu Disciples behind him were still in a state of shock. “This Ji Ning is even more powerful than anticipated.” Ziqi pondered. “He’s only sixteen years old, but even junior apprentice-brother Muse is unable to take him down! Most likely, only I will be capable of killing him.” If he were to personally attack, he would have to use his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Once the formation appeared, then the two sides would fight to the death, and there would be no chance to salvage the situation. Dong Ziqi was very self-confident, but he also understood that the Ji clan’s power wasn’t weak either. If they were really to fight against each other, his side would lose one or two of their five Zifu Disciples. If he could let the other side retreat in the face of encroaching difficulties, that would be for the best. “Ji Ning, formidable.” “Well done.” The Ji clansmen all looked towards Ning. “Are you alright?” Ji Yichuan looked at his son. Seeing that his son was unwounded, he relaxed. “Dong Ziqi!” Granny Shadow said in a fierce voice. “What was the meaning of this? You suddenly attacked a member of our Ji clan! All of us are present, and yet you still dare to behave so rashly.” “Your Snowdragon Mountain clansmen are too wild and unbridled.” The Ji clansmen were all very angry, but they still forced themselves not to attack. The opponents, after all, belonged to Snowdragon Mountain. “Hahaha…” Dong Ziqi just laughed. “Sudden attack? That’s a nasty way to put it. My junior apprenticebrother simply heard long ago that your Ji clan produced a genius with exceptional talents, and that even junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan of our Snowdragon Mountain died in his hands. Today, when we saw this genius, he couldn’t help but feel his hands itch and want to have a little spar. What, can it be that a Zifu Disciple of our Snowdragon Mountain is forbidden from sparring with a member of your Ji clan?” “You call that a spar?” Granny Shadow said in a fierce, hoarse voice. “Naturally.” Ziqi said. “And now, it seems that this genius of your Ji clan is indeed formidable. He was able to break through the technique of my junior apprentice-brother. Admirable, admirable.” 614 “You…” Granny Shadow felt a fiery rage build in her belly. She had lived for nearly four centuries, but had never been angered like this before. If she didn’t have other things holding her back, she would’ve attacked long ago, but for the sake of the rest of the Ji clan, she had to endure it. A savage look flashed past Ziqi’s eyes, and he snorted coldly. “Forget about sparring; even if we really killed that Ji Ning, what would your Ji clan do about it?” Dong Ziqi’s cold, sinister eyes swept past this group of Ji clansmen, and a disdainful smile was playing at the corner of his lips, causing the Ji clansmen to feel all the more enraged. Swollen with arrogance! What Ziqi was doing was being swollen with arrogance, with the intention of completely suppressing the Ji clansmen! “Patriarch.” Truekeep was truly enraged now, and he shouted, “Our Ji clan cannot let ourselves be so easily abused as this. I’d rather live and stand fighting rather than die kneeling. Our Ji clan has made one concession after another, but Snowdragon Mountain just continues to advance and pressure us further. Do they really take our Ji clan to be made out of mud, for them to mold as they please? Let’s go all out against them! Five of them came today. We are definitely going to make sure at least half of them die!” “Let’s go all out.” “Patriarch, let’s go all out.” “They refuse to give our Ji clan a way out. We won’t let them live either.” Immediately, quite a few Ji clansmen egan to bellow with rage. This caused Dong Ziqi and his group of five to be slightly startled. Snowdragon Mountain was indeed mighty, but that was thanks to the main sect! The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain, by itself, was more powerful than the Ji clan, true, but only to a certain point…after all, everyone only had access to Zifu Disciple level fighters at most. If they really went all out, even if Snowdragon Mountain eradicated the Ji clan, the losses to the Swallow Mountain branch would still be heavy. “Shut your mouths.” Ninefire turned and shouted mentally through his Ki, his voice reverberating within the ears of each member of the clan. The clansmen all looked towards Ji Ninefire. ……… “What are they discussing?” That muscular young man, Ju San, asked the other members of Snowdragon Mountain mentally. “These local bumpkins.” The gray-robed Muse sent back. “They are used to life in the tribes, where they would rather break than bend. If you force them too far, they’ll go all out…we gave them a bit too much pressure, and so they are beginning to fight back.” Dong Ziqi sent back confidently, “No need to worry. Ninefire is an old fellow who has lived for nearly four centuries. He is quite sly. He will remonstrate with and hold back those other clansmen.” …………. The Ji clansmen were secretly speaking mentally to each other. “Snowdragon Mountain has gone too far, true.” Ninefire sent mentally. “But no matter how arrogant they behave, we have to endure it. Or are we really going to fight against them?” “But Patriarch, we can sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty. By then, we would have the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and we would even receive thirty percent of this elemental ore mine.” A muscular member of the Ji clan sent mentally. “Fool!” Ninefire sent back. “To sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty, we must first make a report, at which point an Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty would come to inspect this elemental ore mine. Only at the very end would a transfer agreement be signed! This process takes time. During the course of such a long period of time, our Ji clan would most likely suffer the risk of annihilation!” “For the sake of thirty percent of an elemental ore mine, cause the entire clan to fall into the risk of annihilation?” Ninefire shouted. “Foolishness, utter foolishness! And even if we truly do succeed in signing a transfer agreement, resulting in the Grand Xia Dynasty protecting our Ji clan for a thousand years…what about after that thousand years? By then, Snowdragon Mountain would come to take revenge on our Ji clan, and our clan would still end up doomed. That’s why I would rather give this entire elemental ore mine to Snowdragon Mountain.” “But…” “This is too infuriating.” “Too…” The hearts of every Ji clansman burned with rage. “No matter how angry and unwilling to accept it we might feel, for the sake of the Ji clan, we have to endure it all.” Ninefire sighed mentally to them. “As long as the Ji clan can continue to exist and prosper, so what if we have to suffer some mistreatment?” “If you have to blame someone, then blame us for not being strong enough. This clearly is a stroke of luck bestowed upon us by the heavens, but we are unable to accept and make use of this elemental ore mine.” Ninefire looked towards Ning. “Ji Ning, you are the most incredible talent which our Ji clan has ever 616 produced, since the founding of the clan. If you continue developing, even becoming a Wanxiang Adept is virtually guaranteed.” All of the clansmen looked towards Ning, their eyes filled with hope and longing. Right. The hopes of the Ji clan’s future rise to prominence rested on him! These Xiantian lifeforms of the Central Prefecture previously had held some doubts regarding Ning’s power, as prior to this, they had only heard rumors about him…but now, they had personally witnessed Ning reveal some of his power. He had even broken through the technique of a powerful Zifu Disciple expert of Snowdragon Mountain. Ning was only sixteen years old! When they thought of Ning’s potential, all of them were excited. “However, no matter how great a genius someone is, once he’s dead, he’s no longer a genius.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “For the sake of our Ji clan, you must survive and live a long life.” Ning nodded gently. He thought of a person…the fourth master of the Aquatic Manor. Rampart. The man who, despite the presence of so many competitors, had successfully become the personal disciple of Immortal Juhua. There was no need to say anything about his talent…but he had died as a Wanxiang Adept. “We members of the Ji clan will firmly remember the insults we have borne today.” Ninefire looked at every member of the clan. “We have to grow strong. After we grow strong, others will not dare to insult us, look down on us.” “Right.” The clansmen all nodded, and Ning nodded as well. ….. Dong Ziqi and his group of five Zifu Disciples just watched to the side. Watched as the group of Ji clansmen all forcibly restrained and swallowed the anger. Seeing the looks on their faces, they couldn’t help but snicker. This was something they had seen too many times. In the past, when they had acted on orders from the main sect, those minor tribes and clans had all been forced to bend their waists and lower their heads in the face of Snowdragon Mountain. “Dong Ziqi.” Ninefire turned his head to look towards Ziqi and the others. “Finished chatting?” Ziqi looked at Ninefire. “But Ninefire, let me tell you clearly that no matter what, you must hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords! If you don’t hand it over, then the destruction of your Ji clan will be impending!” The members of the Ji clan were barely able to restrain their rage, which was now painted upon their faces. They ‘had’ to hand over the official writ? Wasn’t this the same as forcing their Ji clan to give up their territory? Ninefire clenched his teeth, his face ugly to behold. One word at a time, he ground out, “My Ji clan can give up the official writ and leave this land! This land will all belong to Snowdragon Mountain.” “What.” Everyone was stunned. Ning stared at the Patriarch in shock as well. Ninefire continued to speak, grinding each word out. “But your Snowdragon Mountain must give our Ji clan an official writ as well, to give our Ji clan a place to resist! We’ll use the official writ for our City of Ten Thousand Swords in exchange for another official writ of a large commandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Our Ji clan is willing to leave our homeland and depart.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Turn their backs on their homeland and leave? Ji Ning forcibly suppressed the unwillingness in his heart. He wasn’t willing. He truly wasn’t willing. But he saw that all the members of the clan around him, including his father, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the others were all silent. As long as the Ji clan could continue to survive and prosper, then they would be willing to endure even departing from their homeland! “As long as Snowdragon Mountain will hand over an official writ.” Ninefire said in a low voice. “Then our Ji clan will immediately hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords!” “Official writ?” In the distance, Dong Ziqi and the other five looked at each other, quietly discussing this amongst each other. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, what should we do?” The green-haired woman sent mentally. “Hand over an official writ?” “Hand over?” Ziqi looked at the green-haired woman. “Junior apprentice-sister He Xing, will you hand over one?” The green-haired woman immediately shut her mouth. These Zifu Disciples who had left the main sect and independently set up branches were all those who didn’t have much potential, and could be considered outer members of the sect. The commandery cities of the Grand Xia Dynasty they had taken over in the Swallow Mountain region was their foundation as well! It was also the foundation of many of their tribes, and their forces had coalesced there long ago. How could they give them up? Hand over an official writ? Who would hand it over? The elemental ore mine would be given to the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect. Why should we sacrifice? Why should our tribes sacrifice? Every single commandery city had three Zifu Disciples. They had to all agree before the official writ would be relinquished! But who would be willing to relinquish a base they had built up over so many years? “We aren’t willing to give ours up, but can it be that our fellow disciples in other areas would be willing to hand over a commandery city of theirs?” Ziqi shook his head. “Our Snowdragon Mountain has many 619 branches, and those fellow disciples of those branches won’t care about us at all. How could they be so kind-hearted as to relinquish a commandery city for us?” “At least, it’s impossible for our Ju clan. I don’t agree, and my uncle in the clan won’t agree either.” The muscular man said hurriedly. “Forget it. I refuse to believe the Ji clan will really dare to resist.” “Right.” The green-haired man nodded. “Force the Ji clan! If they resist, we will exterminate their clan! If they obey us, they will still be able to stay alive! I trust the Ji clan knows what they should do.” “Right. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.” The muscular man, Ju San, nodded as well. “Then that’s what we’ll do.” The gray-robed Muse nodded as well. Dong Ziqi looked at his four fellow disciples. Although not every member of the Swallow Mountain branch had come, since after all they couldn’t possibly summon everyone just for the sake of an elemental ore mine, these five represented all of the various internal factions of the Swallow Mountain branch. “Fine.” Ziqi nodded. “Then that’s what we will do. Just as junior apprentice-brother Ju San said, this isn’t the first time we’ve done this.” Snowdragon Mountain had many branches. With so many branches, how could they take over enough commandery cities? Fighting for each one? That was lunacy. They could simply use the butcher’s blade and their fame to frighten others simultaneously. In truth, the vast majority of tribes would, in the end, grit their teeth and swallow their rage, voluntarily relinquishing their official writs and obediently leaving. But of course, some battles would occasionally occur, as there were no absolutes. Dong Ziqi, however, was confident that his side’s power was definitely superior to that of the Ji clan’s. …….. The Ji clan was waiting. Although they felt heartache and unwillingness, Ning and everyone else had begun to mentally prepare for leaving their homeland. As long as the Ji clan was able to continue to survive, it would all be worth it. The Ji clan was waiting for Snowdragon mountain’s response. “Right.” Ziqi let out a light snort. “Ji Ninefire.” 620 Every Ji clansmen looked towards Ziqi, while Ninefire said hurriedly, “This is the final, bottom line of the Ji clan.” “Bottom line?” Ziqi laughed coldly. “Bottom lines are meant to be broken! Ji Ninefire, you want to trade the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords for another official writ? You really are dreaming. Right now, I’ll give you two options. The first option is that you defy my Snowdragon Mountain, and your Ji clan wait for annihilation. The second option is that you hand over the official writ to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Our Snowdragon Mountain sect will permit your Ji clan to continue to live in this area. After the elemental ore mine has been fully excavated, we will return the official writ to the City of Ten Thousand Swords to you. This is the promise of myself, Dong Ziqi!” The faces of every member of the Ji clan changed. What? Promise? What a dogshit promise! What was a promise worth? Just by a saying a few empty words, he was demanding that the Ji clan hand over their official writ? “Ziqi.” Ninefire was both furious and frantic. “Shut your mouth.” Ziqi snapped in a fierce voice, his cold, sinister eyes staring at Ninefire. “You only need to choose…to continue surviving, or to be annihilated! This is the decision for you to make, Ji Ninefire! If you choose the annihilation of your clan…well, it has been a long time since my Eight Trigrams Dragon Blood Formation has truly drawn blood.” The other four Zifu Disciples by his side all had savage looks flashing in their eyes. They were born in the main sect, and had each learned some powerful techniques. Their abilities were quite a bit superior to the abilities of ordinary, local experts. If they truly were to fight all out…there were three more Zifu Disciples in their headquarters. In total, they had eight Zifu Disciples!” “Choose!” Dong Ziqi said coldly. On the Ji clan’s side, some people were so angry that they were trembling. “Patriarch!” Some clansmen called out loudly. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Ninefire raised his head, howling heroically. “I, Ji Ninefire, am ashamed to meet the ancestors of the Ji clan!” Ning ground his teeth, his entire body trembling. As for the distant Dong Ziqi and the other four, they watched this with cold smiles on their faces. The decision to give up an ancestral homeland would indeed cause someone to feel ashamed to meet one’s ancestors. But would these local bumpkins dare to resist? Resistance meant death! “Die!” Ninefire suddenly threw out six black spheres, which transformed into six rays of light, flying directly before Dong Ziqi’s group of five. “Thunderflame Pearls!” Dong Ziqi and the other four were greatly startled. As they came from the main sect, they immediately recognized these very common and extremely vicious and sinister Thunderflame Pearls. They contained the power of lightning and fire, and held extremely explosive force. Once ki caused them to explode…they would immediately detonate, and the power of the explosions would be very shocking. The sudden explosion of six Thunderflame Pearls at a close distance could cause even Zifu Disciples to die. “These local bumpkin clans really do have some treasures. They are actually able to throw out six Thunderflame Pearls at one go.” Even as Ziqi was frantically dodging, this thought drifted into his mind. The five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain quickly separated into separate directions. Boom… Powerful explosions of thunder and flame burst forth, and dazzling serpents of electricity blasted out in every direction, while flames began to burn the entire area, causing the entire world to shake. The power was indeed astonishingly fierce. “Arise!” A look of utter savagery was in the eyes of Ninefire, who had just thrown out those six Thunderflame Pearls. Swooosh… Suddenly, the desolate mountain wilderness in the nearby area was surrounded by mist and fog. Mist and fog appeared everywhere, and even Ning was only able to see to a distance of ten meters with the naked eye. “Not good.” Dong Ziqi, who had just dodged the last attack and was feeling rather smug and disdainful, saw the mist which had appeared out of nowhere. His face instantly changed. “A bewildering formation!” “That sly old fellow threw out those six Thunderflame Pearls not for the purpose of killing us, but to make sure that the five of us would all put some distance between us.” Ziqi’s face completely changed. He stared at the thick mist around him. He could only see to a distance of six meters with the naked eye. Previously, upon encountering the Thunderflame Pearls, they had all dodged at full strength, trying to move as far away as they could. Thus, those fellow disciples had all put tens of meters of distance between each other. As long as they were more than fifteen meters away from each other, within this bewildering formation, they would be affected by the master of the formation, resulting in them moving further and further away from each other. “This Ji Ninefire is planning to completely separate the five of us.” Ziqi was both frantic and furious. “Senior apprentice-brother!” A distance voice rang out. “It’s a bewildering formation. We’ve all been separated. Ji Ninefire, that old bastard, is planning to kill us one by one! They will definitely have several Zifu Disciples join forces to fight against each of us one by one!” Although he could hear the sound, within the bewildering formation, directions constantly changed, and so he couldn’t tell where it came from at all. “Fellow apprentices Ju San, Muse, He Fang, and He Xing, are all of you together?” Ziqi called out frantically. “I’m with my older brother.” A female’s voice rang out. “I’m by myself.” “I’m alone as well.” The other two voices caused Ziqi’s heart to grow cold. He understood that although He Fang and his sister were together, Ju San, Muse, and Ziqi himself had been completely separated. And even if the two He siblings joined forces…once the Ji clan attacked together, they would also be in great danger. “This time, I really have fallen into the trap of that old fellow.” Ziqi was both frantic and furious. “But how could he have set up this formation in advance?” ……. Separated from each other within the fog of the bewildering formation, the five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were in a state of panic. At this time, the Ji clan’s side was both excited and shocked. “Patriarch, why did you suddenly attack?” “And this…this…this…what’s going on with this formation?” All of the clansmen were stunned. Ninefire swept everyone with his gaze, then growled, “My Ji clan isn’t a soft bone for them to chew on. They are riding on our heads to the point where they are even pissing and shitting on our faces. How can 623 we possibly take any more of this? Rather than slink away like cowards, let’s battle to our heart’s content. In the end, my Ji clan will still have a chance!” “Obey my orders!” Ninefire commanded. All the clansmen awaited. “Northwind, you go lead Ji Mo and the others to immediately board our birds to stealthily leave Swallow Mountain in three different streams.” Ninefire said. “They will pass down the lineage of the Ji clan.” “Yes.” “Ji Winterpool, immediately head to Swallow Mountain City and make a report to the Grand Xia Dynasty that an elemental ore mine has appeared within the territory of the Ji clan. I entrust this task to you. Remember, arrange for multiple messengers. You have to ensure that at least one group makes it to Swallow Mountain City.” “Yes.” Ninefire swept the rest with his gaze. “Everyone else who is not at the Zifu Disciple level, return to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Leave this place to us. Go.” With a thud, these members of the Ji clan all fell to their knees. They looked at Ninefire, Ning, Truekeep, Yichuan. Although they didn’t say anything, all of them then quickly left. “We are the only ones left here.” Ninefire swept the remaining people with his gaze. “These five arrogant Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain have already been separated by my formation. As long as we attack them one by one, we can completely exterminate them!” “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “You are the hope of our Ji clan, and the future of our Ji clan. If the situation truly grows dire, you are to immediately use the Traceless Talisman to flee! As long as you survive, our Ji clan will not be exterminated!” “Yes.” Ning gritted his teeth and replied. “Prepare to kill, then.” Ninefire began to laugh loudly. “It’s been so many years since I’ve gone wild. I suddenly feel much younger, and filled with anticipation, like the first time I entered my marital bed!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Patriarch, how did you come up with the idea in advance of setting up a formation?” Ji Truekeep couldn’t help but ask. This was the question which Ji Ning and the others had on their minds as well. None of them had seen the Patriarch set up the formation, and after the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain had come over…there was no time to set up a formation either. Ji Ninefire glanced at the people before him. “When considering matters, one needs to take a longer view of things. When I first had an inkling of how large this elemental ore mine was, I grew concerned that it would attract the greed of Snowdragon Mountain, and so I began to take precautions against them! What if Snowdragon Mountain came and tried to pressure us? Thus, early on, I set down the formation in the area around us. If we didn’t end up fighting, fine. If we did though, then we naturally have to seize the upper hand. As for why I didn’t tell the rest of you? If I told you and let you all be aware of the great formation around us, would you have all displayed such rage and grief? Snowdragon Mountain’s people probably would have realized, found the formation, and broken through it long ago.” “Uh…” Ning and the others all nodded. But Ning understood as well… Although this wasn’t very strange or mysterious once explained, earlier, everyone had been stunned and astonished by the size and scale of this elemental ore mine. None of them, however, had thought to set down a formation first. This was a matter of experience and foresight! “No matter what, my actions cause me to feel ashamed to meet the ancestors of the Ji clan. I’ve let the Ji clan fall into peril.” Ninefire said in a low voice. “I didn’t want to choose this path at all. Choosing this path means fighting Snowdragon Mountain head on. My Ji clan must sign an agreement as soon as possible with the Grand Xia Dynasty. Once we sign the agreement, we will at least be guaranteed of a thousand years of safety. A thousand years from now, I have faith that our Ji clan would have risen to prominence. Even if we are still weak though, a thousand years is enough time for our Ji clan to have made our arrangements.” “Now…” “Let’s go kill them, as many as we can. The more we kill, the less pressure our Ji clan will be under.” Ninefire swept his gaze across everyone. Granny Shadow. The old servant, Ah Xing. Truekeep. Yichuan. Ning. These were the top-tier fighters of the Ji clan. “I, Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ning will join forces to kill the He siblings! Truekeep, Yichuan, the two of you go deal with Ju San.” 625 “Yes.” “Yes.” Everyone acknowledged the order. Shadow hurriedly asked, “Then what about Dong Ziqi? He’s a calamity waiting to happen. We must eradicate him early on.” “He and Muse have located each other and joined forces already.” Ninefire said. “We will deal with them in the end.” “Let’s go. I’ll guide you through the fog.” Ninefire immediately advanced, and Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ning all followed him. The four of them were the most powerful four members of the Ji clan. As for Truekeep and Yichuan, a corridor naturally formed for them through the mist, and they advanced at high speed as well. …….. Within the formation. Dong Ziqi’s face was icy and sinister. “I actually fell into the old crook’s scheme.” In the area around him, eight black crystal balls appeared out of nowhere, each of which was the size of a person’s skull. Within them, a faint image of a draconic shadow could be seen swimming about. The eight bloody trigrams on the black robe he was wearing immediately radiated a bloody light. The bloody light encompassed those eight distant black crystal balls. “Arise!” One enormous, shadowy, blood-colored dragon after another appeared in front of Ziqi. There were eight shadowy blood-colored dragons. They swirled amongst each other, constantly roving about within the formation. “Fellow disciples, stay where you are and do not move.” Ziqi shouted, while at the same time, he controlled his Eight Trigram Blood Dragons Formation, constantly expanding the scope of the formation. As the scope of the formation increased, those eight shadowy blood dragons also swam about in a wider and wider area. Soon, the width of the formation reached a scope of three hundred meters, encompassing the nearby Muse within it as well. This sort of large formation, which spread out in every direction…made it so that even in a bewildering formation, there was no way one would be completely bewildered! “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The gray-robed man, Muse, said in surprised delight. He was overjoyed at having been brought within the perimeters of the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. “Where are our other fellow disciples?” Ziqi looked around him. “Not here.” Muse shook his head. “I’m the only one within your Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation.” Dong Ziqi ground his teeth, then immediately called out in a high voice, “I am together with fellow disciple Muse. He Fang, He Xing, the two of you need to be careful. And Ju San…take care of yourself.” “Don’t worry.” “We siblings aren’t afraid of them.” “If they want to kill me, I’ll make sure one of them dies as well!” Three voices rang out. “Damnable.” Dong Ziqi said unhappily. “We fell into that old crook’s trap. Otherwise, if the five of us joined forces, how could we be put into such a situation by the likes of the Ji clan? I myself am able to kill more than half of them. Junior apprentice-brother Muse, your accomplishments in the Myriad Ancient Green Vines technique are quite profound. If you use the Myriad Ancient Green Vines technique, can you break this formation?” “It would be very difficult.” Muse shook his head. “Even if I could break it, I would need a very long time, and I probably wouldn’t have enough ki energy.” “Use it as much as you can.” Ziqi said. “I have a bottle of ki recovery pills. Take it.” “Fine.” Muse gritted his teeth. “Then I’ll hand over the defense to you, senior apprentice-brother.” Ziqi said confidently, “You are within my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Even if several of them attack together…I have no fear of them. The only thing I’m afraid of is that they won’t come for me! How detestable…if I had known earlier, I would’ve started to kill them from the start. Now, I can’t even find them, even though I want to kill them.” He, by himself, was equal to his other four fellow disciples if they joined forces. But unfortunately, although he had power, he had no place to exert it. “Arise.” Muse stood there, and a single seed fell into the ground. Whoosh! Many tendrils suddenly grew out from that seed, wildly spreading out in every direction. “Bewildering formations will bewilder the senses.” Muse said in a low voice. “My vines will be affected by the bewildering formation as well. It will be hard for them to move in the correct direction. Still, these vines can constantly grow and expand towards empty areas…as long as they continuously fill up the area, if they continuously grow, then naturally they’ll be able to cover the entire formation, and perhaps even 627 go beyond it. My mind is one with these vines. So long as the vines are able to leave the formation, I will know it.” “But what I don’t know is how large this formation is. After all, when the diameter expands tenfold, the number of tendrils I need to grow is increased a hundredfold. The larger the formation is, the more exhausting it will be for my Ki.” Muse didn’t feel much confidence. “Let’s go all out.” Ziqi gritted his teeth. “Trapped here, the only thing that will happen is that we will be butchered as they please.” “Right.” Muse didn’t say anything further, striving to expand and empower his technique. Rustle, rustle… Countless vines frantically grew out and elongated, but in the bewildering formation, where they had no sense of direction, these vines grew out in a wild, unorderly manner as well. Still, one thing was certain…they were to grow in the direction of areas where there were no vines! To cover as much new space as they could! ………… In another area. Ning, Ninefire, and the others were present. “The He siblings are up front.” Ninefire said. “I’ll launch the first attack, and then part open the mist. You will see the two of them. All of you, immediately use killing attacks.” “Right.” Ning nodded. Whoosh! More than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures suddenly appeared in the area around Ning, each of which glowed with a hazy white light. The swords gently ebbed and flowed, unceasingly summoning and coalescing the power of the world. Ning’s ki was constantly being transformed through these magic swords as well, and in front of him, a dazzling, eye-catching white sword light had taken form. [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] – Level Nine! “What a sharp sword light.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the old servant, Ah Xing, were shocked. Although they hadn’t interacted with it, they could sense how sharp this sword light was. Granny Shadow pointed with her finger, and in front of her, three flying swords appeared as well, each of which glowed with a faint, fiery light. Next to her, the old servant Ah Xing lifted his hand, and a warhammer appeared within it. “Let’s do it.” Ninefire waved his hand, and a mottled, five-colored flying sword suddenly pierced through the air. Ninefire was famous for using poisons and formations…although this flying sword was a ranked magic treasure, to be more precise, it was a poison sword. …… A hundred meters in front of Ning, He Fang and He Xing, brother and sister, were present. The two had used a number of Dao-seals, and their bodies were covered by golden light. At the same time, two magic treasures were constantly flying around them, one which looked like an iron pestle, while the other was a strange-looking tiled jar magic treasure. “We can’t see our surroundings. They will definitely ambush us. Be careful.” The green-haired man, He Fang, said softly. “Right.” His younger sister, He Xing, was incomparably cautious as well. Suddenly… A five-colored flying sword suddenly descended at an astonishing speed. However, as the He siblings were constantly on-guarded, they immediately used their techniques to defend. “Whoosh…” The floating tiled jar suddenly emitted a large amount of green liquid into a watery curtain, which was incomparably tough and unyielding. Once the five-colored flying sword pierced into the curtain of green liquid, the speed of it immediately slowed greatly. “Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Three flying swords glowing with fiery light slashed through the skies as well. It was the three flying swords of Granny Shadow. This instantly caused the faces of He Fang and He Xing, brother and sister, to change greatly. They hurriedly worked to block it as well, but the water curtain was beginning to be unable to withstand it. “Bang!” An enormous black warhammer, carrying even more incomparably ferocious power, smashed straight through the quivering water curtain, and then smashed onto the golden light covering the body of He Xing, the younger sister. The golden light instantly trembled violently, as though it was about to shatter. “Not good.” 629 “Quick, let’s run. If we stay here, we’re just going to serve as punching bags.” He Fang and He Xing, after having suffered successive strikes, had begun to panic. Clearly, there were quite a few enemies. Swish! A dazzling sword light suddenly slashed out in a lonely arc, leaving behind a beautiful, dreary afterimage as it instantly pierced through the quivering barrier of golden light covering He Xing’s body… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. When Ji Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light swept down towards them, the graceful, lithe-bodied He Xing’s face changed. “What a terrifying sword light! There’re no other options!” Her green hair suddenly emitted a dazzling green light while at the same time, her entire body dimly glowed with a green aura. As for that sword light which had just pierced through the golden aura protecting her body, it clashed straight against that green aura. The green aura trembled, and rippling runes appeared on its surface, but in the end, with a boom, it blew apart. The remaining energy in the sword light was quite weak now, so weak that it wasn’t even able to pierce through the protective magic treasure He Xing was wearing. “Elder Brother! The talisman which Master gave us was broken through in just one attack.” He Xing said frantically. This was too terrifying. The power of that sword light was most likely close to that of a casual blow from a Wanxiang Adept. Even the talisman her master had given her to protect her was only able to take a single blow. “Little Sister, let’s go all out.” Mu Fang gritted his teeth. “We can’t hope for a lucky break to occur. We have to treat this as our potential tomb, for us to have a chance of surviving.” “Right.” Xing nodded. A look of resoluteness appeared in the eyes of these two siblings. Their auras grew savage, and a layer of bloody light arose on their skin. “Forbidden arts!” The distant attackers, Ji Ninefire, Ji Ning, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing saw this, and their faces changed. Forbidden arts… Generally speaking, they referred to forbidden techniques that were used through sacrificing one’s own lifespan. They could only be used at enormous cost, and once the cost was made, it was very hard to recover from it. But precisely because the cost was great, the power one had upon using a forbidden art would rapidly rise as ewll. “You want to kill us? Come, then.” “Come.” 631 After having used a forbidden technique, He Xing and He Fang both had savagery in their eyes. “They are like trapped beasts right now.” Ninefire hurriedly sent mentally to the others. “Although they are surrounded and attacked by us, they are still Zifu Disciples, and they’ve used forbidden techniques. If we aren’t careful, some of us might die. We have to be cautious. We have the advantage. I’d rather we give up some opportunities than risk our lives. We just have to find a single good opportunity, at which point we can kill them.” “Right.” Granny Shadow narrowed her eyes. The old servant, Ah Xing, just stared at the distant He siblings, controlling that great warhammer of his. As for Ning, he unleashed a second sword light. The four were working together! They wildly attacked the He siblings in unison. Amongst these five enemy Zifu Disciples, the He siblings actually had only average strength; they were ranked behind Dong Ziqi and Muse! As for Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing, they were old fellows who had lived for nearly four centuries, each of whom were actually a good amount more powerful than the He siblings. And that’s not even mentioning the monstrous Ji Ning! Only through using forbidden arts were the He siblings capable of just barely holding off the joint attacks of these four. “Despicable, sly Ji clansmen.” He Fang and He Xing were cursing wildly while controlling their magic treasures to resist. Because they had used forbidden arts, their ability to control magic treasures had clearly increased…in particular, the water curtain which flew out from the tiled jar was actually able to resist Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! This caused Ning to sigh in his heart. His enemies were Zifu Disciples, while he himself only had peak Xiantian-level Ki. For him to be able to fight against someone at a higher level who was even using forbidden arts…the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] should be proud of itself. “Elder Brother, that Ji Ning is too powerful.” He Xing had a look of despair in her eyes. “Even going all out, I’m only able to block him alone.” “I’m almost unable to hold out any longer as well.” He Fang was simultaneously blocking the other three. Suddenly… At the same instant, He Fang and He Xing each released a Dao-seal radiating a black light from their hands. They instantly activated the pair of Dao-seals, which immediately transformed into tens of rays of 632 black light which quickly attacked Ninefire and the other three! Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the old servant Ah Xing were shocked, and they hurriedly used what abilities they had to resist. As for Ning, he wielded two swords in his hands, with the Waterflame Lotus swiveling around his body. “Boomboomboom…” The rays of black light pierced directly through the Waterflame Lotus, but were blocked by Ning’s Darknorth swords. But Ning couldn’t help but stagger backwards, taking six heavy steps back, the ground cracking with each step. “Such power.” Ning stared at his waist. A large hole had been pierced through his waist, but in the blink of an eye, his flesh quickly grew out, regenerating the wound and not leaving behind a single scar. “Ji Ning, it’s good that we have you. Otherwise, that technique alone would have wounded us, and perhaps one of us would even have died.” Ninefire was frightened as well. That black light had simply been too fast. Once it pierced through their bodies…the other three were all Ki Refiners. If they weren’t careful, they would lose their lives. Granny Shadow sent mentally as well, “These two really live up to their reputation as being members from the main sect. They have so many techniques. If we aren’t careful, we might fall to one of them. Let’s pull away slightly; at a longer distance, it’ll be easier for us to deal with them.” “Right.” Ninefire nodded. “The two of them are close to the breaking point. If we keep it up a little longer, they will definitely die.” Hearing this, Ning frowned. The Patriarch and the other two were all Zifu-level Ki Refiners. They didn’t dare fight in close quarters combat, because in close quarters combat, if one suffered an attack that was too fast and which didn’t give one a chance to dodge, one could easily die. It was correct for them to decide to pull away…but Ning himself was a Fiendgod Body Refiner! How long would it take for them to continue wasting time like this? They had to end this quickly! “Patriarch, leave it to me.” Ning shouted mentally to them, while at the same time, a pair of wing-type magic treasures appeared out of nowhere on his back. The wings fluttered, and Ning soared into the air like a giant Roc, instantly appearing in front of He Fang and He Xing, the two siblings. “Careful.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing were all shocked, but they knew that Ning was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and that he trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. They weren’t too worried about him. “Perfect timing.” He Fang and He Xing, the two siblings, were startled, then delighted. Prior to this, they had been filled with rage. Ninefire and the others had been too crafty; they had insisted on fighting at a distance, not giving the two of them a chance to fight back! The two were all but standing there and letting others beat down on them. They didn’t dare to make the slightest mistake, because if they did, the enemies would seize the chance to kill them. But who could forever be perfect and never make a mistake? Just as they were feeling despair, Ji Ning charged over. “After killing you, our deaths would have been worth it.” “The genius of the Ji clan.” The He siblings had gone mad in their desire to kill Ning. But Ning, moving like a giant Roc, arced outwards in a curving, solitary line as he attacked He Xing. His target was her, as she had already used up a protective talisman. In front of Ning, there was a flash of sword light, and the Darknorth swords in his hands executed his most powerful attack…Rain Line! “Bang!” The sword light flashed outwards! He Xing’s beautiful head was sent flying into the air, her eyes still filled with disbelief and shock. “You…you…” The nearby He Fang stared at Ning. There was a wound on Ning’s head, which carved straight through his forehead, but this wound quickly healed. The reason why he was able to kill He Xing, a Zifu Disciple, in a single exchange was not only that Ning’s swordplay vastly outstripped the opponent’s; it was also because Ning fought in a way where the two of them would both take ‘lethal’ wounds, allowing her to stab him with her sword. This was why he was able to kill her in a single exchange. “You…have reached the Zifu Disciple level as a Fiendgod as well?” He Fang didn’t dare believe it. Killing a Fiendgod Body Refiner was far more difficult than killing a Ki Refiner. Previously, Ning had used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], which was clearly a Ki Refiner technique. And Ning was only sixteen years old…He Fang and He Xing had both believed that given his age, Ning should only have opened his Violet Palace as a Ki Refiner! He most likely had yet to be able to open his Violet Palace as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and should only be a Xiantian-stage lifeform. Generally speaking, a Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner’s head was still a critical area. Even someone who trained in the number one technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], would have to reach the peak Xiantian level before having no critical areas anywhere in the body. That was why He Xing had wanted to sacrifice her life in that exchange. “Little Sister.” He Fang stared at the corpse on the ground, then suddenly let out a heroic howl. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, avenge us and annihilate the Ji clan!!!” 634 “Back.” Ning’s face changed, and his wing-type magic treasure fluttered as he frantically retreated. “Boom.” He Fang suddenly exploded. The Zifu Violet Palace in his body was like an enormous lake which contained endless amounts of lake water. This lake water was actually liquefied ki energy! When He Fang detonated his Zifu ‘lake’, all of the liquefied ki energy that had accumulated in his Zifu instantly transformed into usable Ki. Even if his body had to blow apart, he wanted to make this liquefied ki instantly transform and blast outwards. The power of this elemental blast was simply terrifying. The savage, boundless wave of ki spread out, rippling in every direction! Instantly, the turbid wave of elemental ki blasted into the frantically retreating Ji Ning, submerging him within it! BOOM!!! “Ji Ning!” “Ji Ning!” The distant Ji Ninefire and the other two were shocked. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although Ji Ning had sensed in advance that something bad was going to happen, and thus had immediately used the Windwing Evasion to retreat, he was still struck on the back by the enormous surge of power, and his entire body was knocked helplessly flying, smashing a deep crater into the ground. “Ji Ning, are you alright?” “Ji Ning.” The distant Ji Ninefire and the other two hurriedly flew over, staring into that deep crater with concern. Ning lay deep within the crater, fresh, crimson blood splattered everywhere. The wing-type magic treasure on his back was already twisted…but within the crater, Ning was quickly recovering. He stretched his hand out, lifting himself upwards and quickly returning to his feet. “I’m fine.” Ning said hoarsely. That earlier explosive force had damaged even his throat. As he arose from the deep crater, the various wounds on his back were quickly healing, and the terrifying injuries his body had sustained were rapidly regenerating. Moments later, not even a scar could be seen. As for Ning’s protective magic armor, it quickly reformed into the shape of the beast fur clothes his mother had made for him. This caused Ninefire and the other two to sigh in amazement. This was what Ki Refiners like them envied the most with regards to Fiendgod Body Refiners. If it was them, they probably would have died long ago! “The power of a detonating Zifu ‘lake’ truly is terrifying.” Ning sighed in amazement. Establishing the ‘Violet Palace’ was part of the Immortal path. The Zifu was like a lake that contained liquefied ki energy. The Zifu lake was thus the foundation for an Immortal practitioner! A fruit tree that wished to bloom and birth fruits had to have a patch of land, while Immortal practitioners who wished to reach the Wanxiang level or become a Primal Immortal…had to have a Zifu lake! This was their foundation. Zifu Disciples would constantly accumulate their ki energy, expanding the size of that lake… But once the accumulated ki energy was detonated, the first to die from the explosion iwould be the practitioner! Only then would others be hit by the explosion. “This is why the three of us didn’t dare to attack in close combat. Only you, a Fiendgod Body Refiner, would dare draw near.” Ninefire said. “Formidable.” Ning said softly. “The lifeforce possessed by Fiendgods truly is astonishing.” Granny Shadow said hoarsely. ……….. In a different area. The eight shadowy blood dragons of the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation roved about sinuously. In the center were Muse and Dong Ziqi. Ziqi had a gloomy look on his face, and his eyes were filled with a boundless killing intent. He truly wished to charge out and kill them. But that group of Ji clan cowards didn’t dare to come face him. “Little Sister! Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, avenge us and annihilate the Ji clan!!!” A fierce voice suddenly rang out, and then…a deafening, massive explosion. Muse, seated in the lotus position, opened his eyes, which were filled with a look of sorrow. “The He siblings are dead.” “Not only dead; he even detonated his own Zifu lake. He was forced into dire straits.” Ziqi’s voice was hoarse, and his eyes were filled with rage. He, Dong Ziqi, had actually been forced into such a terrible situation, and by the puny little Ji clan. This caused the look on Ziqi’s face to become all the more terrible. He howled savagely, “I, Dong Ziqi, swear that I will definitely annihilate the Ji clan! Definitely!” His roar rang out. “I will definitely annihilate the Ji clan! Definitely!!!” As Ning heard this, his face changed slightly. He could sense the wild savagery and killing intent held within this shout. By his side, Ninefire just said coldly, “If we didn’t kill them, they would still annihilate our Ji clan for not handing over the official writ! If they want to kill us, then they need to be prepared for the possibility that we might kill them. Screaming loudly now is the act of a coward.” “Come. Let’s go deal with Dong Ziqi.” Granny Shadow ground her teeth, speaking in a hoarse voice. “Right.” The old servant, Ah Xing, acknowledged. Ning was filled with boundless killing intent as well…against these enemy forces who wanted to annihilate the Ji clan and give them no options, Ning wouldn’t feel a hint of pity! “Ji Ning.” Ninefire just frowned. “Immediately go to your father’s place. Assist them in killing Ju San.” “My father?” Ning was startled. Can it be that his father, Ji Yichuan, and Ji Truekeep had met with trouble in their combined effort to deal with that ‘Jusan’? “It’s Muse.” Ninefire said urgently. “Muse is currently using a magical technique, causing a large number of vines to rapidly grow out nonstop. They’ve already grown near the place where your father is. Once those vines encounter Ju San…! Dong Ziqi and Muse will quickly follow the vines and rejoin with Ju San! Once the three join forces, it will be even more difficult to kill them.” A path through the mist had already appeared in front of Ning. “I’ll go.” Ning transformed into a blurred shadow, quickly advancing forward. “We’ll go deal with Dong Ziqi and Muse.” Ninefire looked towards Granny Shadow and Ah Xing. “We don’t have to kill them, but we need to disturb that Muse…ideally, making it so that Muse won’t be able to continue to use that technique of his. Those vines have grown so large…Muse definitely had to use up quite a bit of mental energy and Ki.” “Right.” Granny Shadow and Ah Xing both nodded. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three quickly hurried towards Ziqi…and as for Ning, as he flew forward, he saw the vines rapidly growing, but by relying on the Windwing Evasion, he was able to dodge past them and not touch them. Soon. From far away, the sound of explosions could be heard, and the fog grew thin as well. Ning saw two figures standing in the distance; it was his own father, Yichuan, and his clansman, Truekeep. “Oh? Father isn’t using any magic treasures. Can it be that Father hasn’t established his Zifu yet?” As Ning hurried over, he discovered that Truekeep was currently controlling magic treasures to battle against that muscular man named Ju San, while Ning’s father, Yichuan, was brandishing his sword, releasing one last after another of sword light, each of which flowed out like a stream of water, constantly racing towards that muscular Ju San. Those blasts of sword light seemed like entangling threads, constantly restricting and binding Ju San. Truekeep was the main force, while Yichuan was support! “Damnable.” Ju San bellowed. “From what the Patriarch previously said, it seems as though my father is a Zifu Disciple. But why is it that I’ve never seen Father ride on a magic treasure?” Ning was puzzled. “In fact, that year, when I suffered the attack from Serpentwing, when Father pursued Serpentwing, he didn’t ride on a magic treasure back then either. What’s the reason for this?” Ning had asked his father before, but his father had refused to answer. “After this battle, I’ll ask the Patriarch.” Ning buried these doubts in his heart, while at the same time, a pair of Darknorth swords appeared in his hands, while the wings on his back fluttered, sending him piercing through the air. Prior to this, when He Fang had detonated his own Zifu Lake, the previous pair of wing-type magic treasures had been destroyed, but fortunately, Ning had quite a few sets of these unranked treasures. “Father, Uncle Truekeep! Leave this Ju San to me!” Ning shouted loudly, then transformed into a ray of light, charging towards Ju San. Yichuan and Truekeep both turned to look. “Ji Ning!” “Hahaha, perfect!” From afar, mighty Ju San, who had power but no place to expend it, watched as Ning charged towards him. He was overjoyed! He was a Zifu Fiendgod Body Refiner! Fiendgod Body Refiners loved to engage in close quarters combat. Prior to this, Truekeep and Yichuan had continuously kept far away from him, and he, Ju San, was not proficient in movement techniques, and thus was completely unable to catch up. To be constantly beaten down on, but be unable to catch up. What sort of torment was this! Although he had opened up his Zifu as a Ki Refiner as well, he hadn’t spent too much time and effort on learning how to ride magic treasures. His primary efforts had been expended on close quarters combat. “Come, come, come. Let me take a look at this genius of the Ji clan and see how powerful you are.” Behind Ju San, a pair of black wings had appeared. As he went forward to engage Ning, he clearly was quite agile. “Wing-type magic treasure?” Ning looked at the pair of wings on Ju San’s back, and his eyes couldn’t help but light up. The vast majority of Fiendgod Body Refiners would use wings, so as to make them more agile. “It should be a ranked magic treasure. I was worrying about how, after breaking through to the Zifu level, I wouldn’t have any ranked wing-type magic treasures.” Boom! Boom! Two people. One came from the main sect of Snowdragon Mountain, and although he trained in a fairly ordinary Fiendgod Body Refining technique, known as the [Mighty Demon – Introductory], he was an early Zifu Disciple. Although the name of this technique seemed quite ordinary, it was quite a bit superior to the techniques the Ji clan possessed, such as the [Sutra of the Future Buddha] or [Indestructible Blood Fiend], even though those techniques had more impressive-sounding names. Generally speaking, the more powerful a sect was, the more modest the names their techniques would be. As for the other person, this person trained in the technique that even in the Fiendgod Era was the indisputable number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. But this person was only a peak Xiantian. “BANG!” “BANG!” Ju San was wielding a greataxe, while Ning was wielding a pair of swords. The two exchanged blows… It was like a pair of juvenile Fiendgods from back in the Primordial Era who were fighting against each other. Instantly, the earth began to quake, then split apart, sending rocks flying everywhere! The two both had wing-type magic treasures behind them, and they they wildly battled each other in close quarters combat, completely unafraid of the occasional wounds they suffered. As for Ju San’s body, one wound after another appeared atop it. “This Ju San’s axecraft is quite impressive. The greataxe is very large, making it so that when it defends, it is almost like a buckler.” Ning said to himself. “Ji Ning has actually reached the Zifu level as a Fiendgod practitioner as well.” Ju San was even more shocked. “And his usage of dual swords is all the more marvelous and skilled. I’ve focused on my axecraft for nearly a century, but I actually can’t compare to his swordcraft! I’m at a disadvantage with every exchange…” Right now, he had only left two wounds on Ning’s body, and that was only because Ning had willingly accepted the blow in order to deliver one to him as well. But as for Ju San, his body had suffered over a hundred wounds on it by now. But of course, all of them had healed automatically. Ning’s swordplay became even more ferocious and wild. “Faster, faster, faster!” Ning understood that as the opponent used a heavy weapon, the greataxe, he himself had to fight based on his speed. The faster Ning was, the more flaws the enemy would reveal. “Like the wind!” “Like the flame!” Ning’s left and right hands each held a sword, but they used completely different swordplay techniques. One sword was as illusory as the wind, while the other sword was as aggressively scorching as a flame. Both of them were shockingly fast, and the two worked in unison, creating a explosive combination. The power of the two techniques multiplied, feeding off each other! “Faster! Even faster!” Ning battled wildly against Ju San, raining down blows upon him. Ju San’s movements became disordered, unable to keep up. “SLASH!” A sword blow that was as strangely agile and graceful as the wind slashed past the greataxe, and also slashed through Jusan’s waist. Crunch. Blood flew everywhere, and Ju San was bisected. “Here’s my chance.” Ning instantly entered a berserk mode. Thunderflash Flint! Thunderflash Flint! Thunderflash Flint! Ning’s two swords simultaneously executed this technique. There was nothing weird about this technique, nothing savage about it; all it had was speed! One ray after another of sword light wildly chopped down on the bisected halves of Ju San’s body, causing Ju San’s body to constantly shatter, but Ju San’s head continued to roar, “It won’t be so easy to kill a Fiendgod Body Refiner!” “Waterflame Lotus.” Ning executed his final, killing stroke. Those countless pieces of Ju San’s body became enveloped within a Waterflame Lotus. The petals of the fire and water slowly swiveled against each other. After five years of training, the murderous grinding power of Ning’s Waterflame Lotus had reached a terrifyingly strong level. These completely defenseless chunks of bloody flesh were completely ground into dust. Grind! Grind! Grind! The pieces of bloody flesh tried frantically to reconnect to each other, reforming into a person. But they were constantly being ground down by the Waterflame Lotus! Rumble… The chunks of bloody flesh were completely ground to dust, completely unable to reform once more. Ju San! Dead! “Looks like I acquired a set of ranked wing-type magic treasures in advance.” Ning stretched his hand out, collecting the nearby spoils, including the wing-type magic treasures, the greataxe, the protective magicterasures, and the various other magic treasures. Ning turned to look. Truekeep and Yichuan stood there watching from afar, looks of disbelief and shock on their faces. They had watched as two Fiendgod experts battled wildly and viciously against each other…it was power against power, and as soon as one fell, the other wildly charged forward to dismember him, giving him no 641 chance at all to recover. Fortunately, Ning had his Waterflame Lotus, as otherwise it would have been hard for him to so quickly dispose of this Ju San. “Let’s go.” Ning said hurriedly. “Father, Uncle Truekeep, we need to hurry up and rejoin the Patriarch. There are only two more remaining!” “Ther are only two more remaining?” Truekeep and Yichuan were excited as well. They hadn’t imagined that in this battle, the Ji clan would actually have achieved such a glorious success, with only two Zifu Disciples remaining now. However, it was the most powerful two! “Kill them.” Ning, Yichuan, and Truekeep transferred into rays of light, hurrying back to regroup with Ninefire and the others… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Moments later. A faint fog surrounded the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, and one shadowy blood dragon after another swam about, look towards Ji Ning, Ji Ninefire, and the rest of the six. “Ji Ning, don’t charge in.” “I want to give him a try.” With a thought, Ning summoned more than seven hundred weapon-type magic treasures, which undulated up and down in the air around him, all of them radiating a dim glow. In front of Ning formed an irresistible, unblockable sword light. With a thought, the sword light formed from the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] shot through the air. [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] – Level Nine! “Swish!” The dazzling sword light charged straight into the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, and in the instant that it did so, the shadowy blood dragons immediately bellowed and charged forth. Cracklecracklecrackle…the sword light just managed to eradicate a single shadowy blood dragon before the power of the sword light was used up, but soon, the shadowy blood dragon once more reformed. “What.” Ning was amazed. “I was only able to destroy a single dragon? And it almost immediately reformed?” Dong Ziqi, within the formation, gave the distant Ning a cold, insidious look. In a hoarse voice, he said, “You live up to your reputation as being the genius of the Ji clan. Only sixteen years old…and yet you are able to destroy one of the dragons of my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. However, the little bit of power you have is far from being sufficient.” “Ning, don’t charge in.” Ninefire sent mentally in a frantic voice. “This sort of formation is perfectly suited to countering Fiendgod Body Refiners. As soon as you charge within, you’ll be attacked by all eight of those blood dragons, and they will rip you to pieces.” “I know.” Ning nodded. Although Fiendgod Body Refiners were superior to Ki Refiners…there was no such thing as an absolute truth! Ki Refiners had their powerful experts as well, who were able to fight against those at a higher level as them. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was one such example! Or, for example, those Ki 643 Refiners who bred countless venomous pests, which would be released out in a flood, devouring everything in their path. Fiengod Body Refiners were more powerful, yes…but that was as a whole. On an individual level, there were incomparably glorious and talented Ki Refiners as well. “The six of us should join forces to attack and see if we have any chance of winning.” A killing intent flashed through the eyes of Ninefire. A flying sword flew through the air! Venomous bugs danced out! A sword light pierced forward! In an instant, the entire world seemed to be filled with various techniques and attacks, which flew towards the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Within the formation, Ziqi laughed wildly. “Excellent!” Those eight shadowy blood dragons, which had been peacefully swimming about, suddenly turned savage as they charged forward to welcome those attacks. They blocked one magic treasure after another, and as some of the dragons dispersed, they quickly reformed. The eight shadowy blood dragons coiled about in a circular rhythm, forcibly taking on the attacks of Ning and the rest of the six. “Cowards of the Ji clan, if you have any ability, come into my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation.” Seeing that the attacks had been completely blocked, Dong Ziqi, standing within the formation, became even more arrogant. “You killed three of my fellow disciples because you had the advantage of numbers. In terms of actual ability, how could your Ji clan be a match for us? If we were to really fight, I, Dong Ziqi, would be able to annihilate you all!” Outside the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, Ninefire, Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, Yichuan, Truekeep, and Ning were astonished at the power of this formation. “Formidable.” Ninefire sent mentally. “Although I have long heard of the power of Dong Ziqi’s Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, I’ve never fought against it. It seems that the eight dragons within the formation are all comparable to a peak Zifu Disciple. With the eight joining forces…the power is truly astonishing. Even if the six of us truly want to go all out and kill him, most likely three of us would die.” “There’s nothing in life that has no risk.” Granny Shadow sent. “Let’s kill this Dong Ziqi!” “Our Ji clan has too few Zifu Disciples! But Snowdragon Mountain has plenty of them. It isn’t worth it for us to die alongside these two.” Ninefire refuted. Ning stared at the distant Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. What to do? After having attacked for the amount of time needed to brew tea, although Ning had only occasionally released an attack from his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the ki energy in his body was more than half used up. “Hold your attacks.” Ninefire sent. “We’ve attacked together for so long now, but we haven’t had a single chance for breaking through. If we don’t take any risks, we won’t be able to kill Dong Ziqi. In addition, those vines are constantly growing outwards. Soon, they’ll have exited the perimeters of my bewildering formation. Forget it. We’ll just let them go this time.” “Let them go?” Truekeep’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “Patriarch, if we lose this opportunity, in the future, Dong Ziqi will definitely come together with other Zifu Disciples. Killing him will be even more difficult.” “Fool.” Ninefire sent furiously. “We aren’t trying to annihilate Snowdragon Mountain. What we are trying to do…is to let the Ji clan survive for a longer period of time! The six of us need to endure for as long as we can, to endure until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrives! Once we sign our agreement, then we will have succeeded. Our lives are more important than Dong Ziqi’s life! If we go all out and three of us die so that we eventually kill the two of them…when Snowdragon Mountain comes for revenge, they’ll come with an entire group of Zifu Disciples. By then, how can the remaining people delay for any longer?” Truekeep instantly came to his senses. Killing the enemy was secondary. What really mattered for the Ji clan was to overcome this tribulation. They had to endure and survive until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrived! As for killing the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain, that was a secondary goal. Killing a few extra Zifu Disciples would reduce their future pressure, but if today, they suffered too many losses, then it wouldn’t be worth it. Within the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, Dong Ziqi was feeling taut and nervous as well. As the saying goes, it is hard for a pair of hands to fight off two pairs. He was faced with the attacks of six Zifu Disciples, each of which was displaying numerous techniques which filled the skies. Just now, he had just barely blocked the attacks of these six. If the Ji clan’s forces were to use forbidden arts to go all out…he would be in great danger as well. “Even if I die, I’ll drag them down with me.” Dong Ziqi’s eyes flashed with wildness. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Seated in the lotus position, the ashen-faced Muse suddenly opened his eyes, a look of wild joy within them. “My vines have already extended to beyond the bewildering formation.” Ziqi was stunned, and then he was overjoyed as well. “We can leave?” If he could live, of course he would rather live than fight to the death. “I can sense the location of that vine. By following my senses, we can charge straight out.” Muse hurriedly rose to his feet. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, control the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. We’re going to leave.” A green leaf appeared out of nowhere. The green leaf extended to the size of multiple meters, and Muse and Ziqi stepped atop the leaf. Around them, those eight bloody dragons continued to swim about. Clearly Ziqi was continuously maintaining the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. “Let’s go.” Swoosh! The green leaf began to fly in a strange, zig-zagging manner, occasionally advancing, then retreating, then turning, then retreating, then retreating, then advancing…the movements were completely bizarre. But in truth, this was caused by the disruptions to their sense of direction within the formation. Although it seemed as though they were constantly changing directions, in truth, they were moving towards the outside this entire time. Whoosh… Standing atop the leaf, Muse and Ziqi suddenly saw the desolate mountain forests outside. “We’re out.” “We’re out. We made it out.” Ziqi and Muse both had looks of surprise and joy on their faces. They had been trapped within the bewildering formation and unable to escape, giving their enemies complete control over what to do. That was indeed quite torturous. Now that they had escaped, they naturally felt incomparably jubilant. “Ji clan!” Ziqi gritted his teeth. Muse’s face was sinister as well. “Three of my fellow disciples have died miserable deaths here. How can we not avenge this great enmity?” “Ji clan!” Dong Ziqi’s voice echoed for hundreds of kilometers. “Just wait for your clan to be annihilated!” Swoosh! A green leaf instantly slashed through the skies, quickly disappearing into the horizon. And as it did, six figures walked out from within the bewildering formation. It was Ninefire and the other five. Ninefire turned to look towards the distant, desolate mountain forests, and he spied several figures 646 from afar. Ninefire said in a booming voice, “Riverbank clan, Kou clan, Blackfire Sect…” As soon as he spoke, one figure after another flew over at high speed. “Forgive us for being unable to assist.” “Brother Ninefire, it wasn’t appropriate for us to intervene.” One mental voice after another was sent over. And then, those figures mounted on their magic treasures and flew away, departing. All of the Zifu Disciples of the various powers in the Swallow Mountain region had been drawn here by those earlier elemental waves of energy. Although they weren’t able to see the battle between the Ji clan and Snowdragon Mountain, they were able to guess what had happened. In particular, upon hearing Dong Ziqi’s final, angry words, they could tell what those words had implied. “Alas.” Watching as those figures left, Ninefire shook his head. “This elemental ore mine has major implications. It will definitely draw the attention of even more Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. No wonder the Blackfire Sect, the Riverbank clan, and the Kou clan weren’t willing to interfere.” In the Swallow Mountain region, the Ji clan, the Blackfire Sect, the Riverbank clan, and the Kou clan were allied with each other, and they jointly resisted Snowdragon Mountain and the Ironwood clan. But what they jointly resisted was the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain! But this elemental ore mine…soon, the Zifu Disciples of the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect would come to attack Swallow Mountain, and when that happened, for them to annihilate the Blackfire Sect, Riverbank clan, and Kou clan would be simplicity itself. Of course they didn’t dare interfere. No matter how great the benefits might be, they still wouldn’t dare to intervene. “Patriarch, what should we do now?” Truekeep spoke out. Ning and the others turned to look at their Patriarch. Ninefire said slowly, “This time, the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain has suffered severe losses. Three of their Zifu Disciples are dead. They will definitely invite their comrades from throughout the region to have them hurry over here. Given the allure of this elemental ore mine, there will be a large group of Zifu Disciples who will attack Swallow Mountain.” Ning and the others all nodded. “They will definitely invite those nearest Swallow Mountain. Given the speed of Zifu Disciples, they’ll probably arrive in just a day or two.” Ninefire said. “We have two options.” “The first option.” 647 “We can hide.” Ninefire said. “We can make it so that the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain are unable to find it. We only need to hide for a few days, and wait for the Angel arrives to sign a transfer agreement with us. This is a fairly safe route…but it will thrust the countless clansmen of our Ji clan into mortal danger.” “The Zifu Disciples will be here soon, within just a day or two. In just a short day or two, the hundreds of thousands of tribesmen and clansmen belonging to our Ji clan won’t be able to make it far.” Ji Ninefire sighed. “When the group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain find that they are unable to locate us, to give vent to their rage, they will massacre our clansmen, or perhaps seize them and sell them off as slaves. This is normal.” The faces of Ning and the others all changed. Hundreds of thousands of their compatriots! “The second option.” Ninefire said. “We publicly state that we will be in a certain location, and that we will set up a formation there. We publicly declare…that Snowdragon Mountain can come and kill us there, if they are able to.” “Snowdragon Mountain is a major sect. Sects like them care deeply about their reputation. If we publicly set up this formation, once their Zifu Disciples come, they will definitely attack the formation full force in an attempt to break it. They won’t lower themselves to go slaughter a group of mortals. If they did so, once the word spread, this would be a great stain on Snowdragon Mountain’s reputation. But if we hide, resulting in them being unable to find the ‘culprits’, they will definitely massacre the people of the Ji clan, so as to demonstrate how the supremacy of Snowdragon Mountain is not to be challenged. Ning and the others all nodded. Right. Major sects cared about their reputation! If they hid, then those Zifu Disciples would use the excuse of wanting to demonstrate how the supremacy of their sect was not to be challenged, and go massacre the members of the Ji clan, so as to warn others. But if the Ji clan’s experts stood out and openly proclaimed they would be at a certain location within a formation, then the enemies would no longer be able to go act against those ordinary mortals. “Everyone, speak. What choice should we make?” Ninefire looked at his clansmen. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Misty fog coiling about, Ji Ning just stood there, looking at his five elders. The Patriarch, his father, and the others were all very calm. Clearly, they had already made their decision. “I am the Patriarch.” Ji NInefire said very calmly. “For the sake of the Ji clansmen. For the sake of the Ji clan’s reputation! I will stand out and welcome this battle with Snowdragon Mountain!” Granny Shadow said in her hoarse voice, “I’ve lived nearly four hundred years. Can it be that I, Ji Shadow, am going to hide so as to live for a few more years while watching my clansmen fall into danger? In addition, I feel very happy that I’ll be able to face death with my elder brother.” “Wherever my mistress is, I shall be there.” The old servant, Ah Xing, actually spoke out, a rare event indeed. “It’s enough for we three old fellows to be there.” Ninefire smiled. “Patriarch!” Truekeep spoke out. “I know the limits of my own talent. Even amongst the Zifu Disciples of the Ji clan, I am only average. It’s virtually impossible for me to become a Wanxiang Adept! This battle…is the most critical battle which will determine the fate of my Ji clan. I cannot hide from it.” Yichuan smiled as well. “Patriarch, you know my situation as well. My Immortal path is shattered. I don’t want to die a silent, meaningless death. I must participate in this battle.” “The two of you…” Ninefire shook his head. Ning, hearing this, was stunned. His Immortal path was shattered? Didn’t his father always say that his heart was focused on following the Immortal path? Why did that change? “Father, you said your Immortal path is shattered?” Ning stared at his father in disbelief. Yichuan looked at his son, a rather complicated look on his face. “Actually, while adventuring in the Darknorth Sea, I had already broken through to the Zifu Disciple level. Afterwards, when your mother became pregnant with you, I had already reached to the middle Zifu level. I led your mother, wanting to return to Swallow Mountain, but your maternal uncle was worried, so he escorted us back.” Ning listened intently. He knew that a calamity had occurred on the way back. “Afterwards, we met with a disaster.” Yichuan said. “Your mother was badly injured, but your Uncle White led you back. Your uncle and I both executed forbidden arts, using all our might to delay the enemy! During that battle, your uncle died while I was badly injured. Because I used a forbidden art for too long a period of time, the damage done to my Zifu Violet Palace was too great, and my Violet Palace became warped and atrophied, unable to expand again in the future. In other words, it is impossible for me to increase my power. I will forever remain a mid-level Zifu Disciple.” “Because of the atrophication of my Zifu, I’m only able to draw out a hint of the ki energy within my Zifu.” Yichuan shook his head. “There’s no way I can ride on a magic treasure with just that tiny strand of Ki! Thus, I focus on my swordplay, with that strand of ki being the foundation of it. I draw forth the power of the world with every single blow of sword light.” “But of course.” Yichuan said somberly. “I can still use a forbidden art one more time, forcibly drawing out a large amount of ki energy from within my Zifu. But given how my Zifu is already warped…there’s no need to repeat what I said earlier. Once I use a forbidden art, most likely within one hour, my Zifu will completely shatter, and I will be transformed into a cripple. In other words…I, your father, can only be a Zifu Disciple for one more time. After one last bout of glory, I will become a cripple.” Ning was stunned. No wonder his father’s swordplay was so powerful! No wonder his father never rode on a ranked magic treasure! “My Immortal path is shattered. I only have one opportunity to use this forbidden art again.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Previously, I was keeping this opportunity in abeyance for you. I wanted to protect you. I wanted you to hold on to my jade sword, and upon encountering any danger, you would shatter that jade sword, and I would immediately hurry over to you. Even if you encountered a Zifu Disciple, I would have the power to rescue you. For the sake of my son, it would have been worth it.” Ning’s heart was trembling. So the truth was… So the truth was, his father had been planning on this. “But you no longer need my protection.” Yichuan smiled. “Your mother is dead as well. My Immortal path is shattered. And you are an adult, now. I have nothing holding me back. I will not retreat, this time. This will be the last battle I shall ever fight, and it will also be the most glorious battle of my life. If I die, I would rather die in this battle, die for the sake of the Ji clan!” Ning stared at his father, at his father’s smile. His father rarely smiled, but the smile on his father’s face was a very relaxed one. Although Ning felt bitter pain in his heart, he didn’t try to dissuade his father. ……. Of the six, five of the elders were preparing to do battle. “I…” Just as Ning spoke out. Ninefire barked, “It’s one thing for us to go risk our lives, but you, Ji Ning! You are the hope of our Ji clan! Your talent is something which our clan has never given birth to before! You must continue to live!” “Patriarch, I know what you mean.” Ning shook his head. “But I am not willing to hide and just watch as you risk your lives. I am not willing!” “You…” Ninefire said, enraged. “But Patriarch, don’t worry. I’m not a brash and mindless brute. If I see that the situation is unsalvageable, I will immediately leave and save my own life.” Ning looked at the Patriarch. “I have a Traceless Talisman. I imagine, Patriarch, you know how powerful the Traceless Talisman is. Once I activate it, I will instantly be able to travel to a distance of up to ten thousand kilometers.” Ever since his mother had died, his father had given the Traceless Talisman to Ning. Ninefire was stunned. The Traceless Talisman? Of course he knew that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had this treasure. He had once desired it, but the Ji clan had its rules which no one could violate. “Since that’s the case.” Ninefire nodded. “Fine. You can come along with us. But if the situation grows unsalvageable, you must immediately leave.” And thus, right here, within the desolate mountain forest filled with the fog of the bewildering formation, the six members of the Ji clan made their decision. Together, they would battle against Snowdragon Mountain. “There are only six of us.” Ninefire was actually filled with a boundless martial spirit. “As for Snowdragon Mountain, after their Swallow Mountain branch suffered such a loss, they will definitely invite some of their fellow disciples from the surrounding branches to come. By then, an entire group of Zifu Disciples will attack us en masse, and perhaps even a Wanxiang Adept might come as well! Fighting them head on is idiocy. What we need to do is to delay. Thus, we must set up multiple layers of formations.” “Right. Formations. Patriarch, you are the most skilled amongst us in formations.” Truekeep was filled with anticipation as well.” “I will set up multiple layers of large formations.” Ninefire looked towards the other five. “Leave the formation setting to me. What the rest of you need to do is come up with ideas to improve your own fighting abilities, such as perhaps using some of the supreme guardian treasures of your respective prefectures…” 651 Everyone nodded. “Also!” Ninefire lowered his head, looking into the ground. “Beneath this desolate wilderness, in an area with a circumference of thousands of kilometers, there lies hidden an enormous elemental ore mine! But the strange thing is, prior to this, nobody had ever discovered it. The vein is very close to the surface, yet nobody discovered it. In addition, previously, there had been such a powerful, forceful elemental energy wave.” “Right.” Ning nodded as well. Indeed. It had been the elemental energy ripple that had attracted their attention to this place. It was very bizarre. “Perhaps a strange, incredible treasure has just entered the world.” Ninefire said. “The elemental energy ripple that came prior to this could have been created by the emergence of this unique treasure, which might have caused the surrounding area to transform into an elemental ore mine.” “Or perhaps an Immortal was training here. When Immortals train, the amount of elemental energy they consume is as vast as an ocean.” Ninefire sighed. “If they train for a long period of time, an elemental ore mine will naturally form.” Granny Shadow frowned. “Elder Brother, are you saying…?” Ning and the others all looked at Ninefire. “I am guessing.” Ninefire’s eyes held a hint of desire. “That this elemental ore mine must have a secret behind its origins. Perhaps it has some treasures within, or some precious items left behind by an Immortal! Even items casually discarded by an Immortal…are enough to allow our Ji clan’s power to increase greatly.” “Patriarch, are you suggesting…?” Truekeep grew excited as well. “Treasures?” Yichuan and the others all stared towards the ground. Ninefire nodded. “Let’s dig into the ground and do an investigation. Perhaps we might find something.” “Right.” “Let’s go.” Each of them felt that the words of the Patriarch were reasonable. That elemental energy ripple from earlier had indeed been bizarre, and it was also strange that this elemental ore mine had never been discovered. Perhaps some treasure was hidden within. “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “That protective lotus technique of yours seems to dig very quickly. It’ll be up to you. We’ll follow from behind you.” Ning nodded. “Fine. I’ll begin, then.” …….. Rumblerumblerumble… Ning controlled his Waterflame Lotus, making it swivel through the ground, constantly digging deeper into it. Those elemental stones were easily broken through, carving out a tunnel. Ning moved quickly and constantly, digging deeper and deeper, while Ninefire and the rest of the five were behind him. “His speed is so fast.” Truekeep sighed in amazement, following from behind. “When we started digging, we were fast as well, but after exhausting a large amount of our Ki, we had to begin to slow down. But Ji Ning is completely relying on borrowing the power of nature.” Ninefire had already been able to see through Ning’s Waterflame Lotus, and that it was formed from natural power. They continued to go deeper. “Ji Ning, wherever the quality of the elemental ore is the finest, that is where you should dig.” Ninefire said. “If there are any treasures present, they should be located at wherever the elemental energy is the strongest.” Ning nodded. He had noticed as well…that different areas had different quality elemental stones. Some places only had low-grade elemental stones, while other places had quite a bit of high-grade elemental stones. “Rumblerumblerumble…” The Waterflame Lotus drilled down, like a giant dragon swimming through the underground ore deposit, constantly boring in the direction of high-grade stones. After an hour… “The majority of stones here are high-grade stones. You can pick them out with ease.” “This is a precious location.” “So many high-grade elemental stones.” Although they knew all along that this was a rich vein, they hadn’t imagined that this elemental ore mine would actually have a location within it with such an abundance of high-grade elemental stones. “Bang!” Suddenly, an explosive sound. Ning came to a sudden halt, causing Ninefire and the other four behind Ning to come to a startled halt as well. “What is it?” Ninefire asked hurriedly. “In front of me, there is a very tough, unyielding stone. My Waterflame Lotus is actually unable to drill through.” Ning said, puzzled. The power of his Waterflame Lotus was now tremendous, and generally speaking, even forged weapons would be shattered by it, to say nothing of rocks. “It really is strange.” Rumblerumblerumble… The Waterflame Lotus quickly swept away the nearby stones, allowing Ning to get a good luck at what was in front of him; a very flat, rocky surface. “This is…?” Ning was puzzled. Ninefire, Yichuan, and the others were puzzled as well. Ning continued to control his Waterflame Lotus to scatter aside the surrounding elemental stones…and soon, what appeared before their eyes was part of an enormous stone room, with a door in front of it. “This…this…” “This is a stone room! Manmade! Even Ji Ning’s Waterflame Lotus is unable to break through it. This is no ordinary stone room; it must have been left behind by an Immortal.” The members of the Ji clan all revealed looks of wild joy on their faces. Deep within the ground, more than a hundred kilometers down, in the heart of this elemental ore mine, they had discovered a stone room. Who amongst them would believe that it was a common room? “Ji Ning, don’t go too close. Beware of restrictive spells.” Ninefire said. “Keep away from it, and control your magic treasures to open the stone door at a distance.” “Right.” Ning nodded. All of them hurriedly retreated, while Ning directly controlled a sword-type magic treasure, sending it flying outwards and pushing at the stone door. Rumble…the stone door slowly turned, revealing an entrance. Instantly, an incomparably thick surge of elemental essence spurted out from within that stone room, causing Ning and the rest of them to feel incredibly comfortable. “There must be Immortal treasures within.” Ninefire called out frantically. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dense elemental aura caused Ning to take a deep breath. He could feel the Xiantian ki in his dantian rumble as it continuously grew. “What pure, dense elemental energy. The elemental energy released just by opening the door to this stone room is already so dense…then what about inside the room?” “Don’t go in rashly. There might be danger within.” Ji Ninefire hurriedly warned. “I’ll release a bug to go investigate inside.” Ninefire opened his mouth, and a black wasp immediately flew out, quickly flying through the stone door and darting into the stone room. After a span of time of ten breaths, the black wasp flew back out, and Ninefire swallowed it once more into his body. “How is it?” Each of them looked at Patriarch Ninefire, who just laughed. “I’ve finished my investigation. There’s no danger at all within. Come, let’s go take a look! You follow behind me. Even if there are dangers hidden within the stone room that I could not detect, I will be the first to die. Ji Ning, you walk in the very back!” “Right. Ji Ning needs to stay in the back.” Each of them looked towards Ning. There was nothing Ning could do. He didn’t argue, instead just docilely following from behind. Ninefire and Granny Shadow were in the very front, and as soon as they entered, the sound of their delighted, amazed cries rang out. “What a treasure! What a treasure!” “This place definitely was a place where an Immortal trained. Definitely!” Ning, hearing this, had an itchy feeling in his heart. What exactly was inside? “You can all come in. I’ve swept it with my Ki. There’s no danger.” Ninefire said. Immediately, everyone entered, and even Ning hurriedly followed them inside. “What thick elemental energy.” This was the first thing Ning sensed when he entered; that there was an incomparably dense, natural elemental energy in this place, causing all of the pores of his body to swell open and welcome it, absorbing as much of it as they could. The entire room seemed to be filled with a visible, verdant aura off life energy. This was a natural color which would appear once natural elemental energy reached a certain density. “Ji Ning, shut the stone door. Don’t let this elemental energy leak out. This stone room is rather special. Once the door is shut, the elemental energy won’t leak out.” Ninefire said. “Yes.” Ning understood this as well. Prior to this, it was only when he had pushed the stone door open that the elemental energy had leaked out. Rumble…the stone door shut. Ning looked curiously in detail at his surroundings. This room was thirty meters in diameter. There was even a door nearby; there should be other rooms within as well. “Look.” Ninefire pointed at a large pool, which was filled with a layer of thin green liquid. The green liquid was slowly swirling, filled with boundless life energy. The reason why the air here was emanating that incomparably dense elemental energy was because the liquid was releasing it into the air. “I am absolutely certain.” Ninefire said confidently. “That it definitely was an Immortal in training who caused this elemental ore mine to be formed. He intentionally set down a formation to summon a boundless amount of natural elemental energy from the surrounding area. After many years of accumulated energy, the elemental ore mine was formed. But to an Immortal, what is necessary isn’t elemental stones, but rather, this…” Ninefire pointed at the water pool filled with the layer of green liquid, incomparably certain. “Liquefied elemental essence! This is the true essence of natural elemental energy, extremely pure liquefied elemental essence!” Ning and the others held their breaths. Liquefied elemental essence? If one described the elemental energy contained within high-grade elemental stones as ‘very pure’ and as being not very burdensome to the body, and capable of increasing training speed tenfold, then liquefied elemental essence…was the purest form of elemental essence, which place no strain on the body whatsoever. One could completely absorb and convert it within a short period of time. For example, some Immortals, after being reincarnated, would lose their memories and become ordinary mortals. Once they regained their memories, however, based on the insights they had gained into the heavenly Dao, as well as the power of their souls, they could for example obtain and make use of a legendary ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’, which contained an ocean’s worth of elemental energy, and which also placed no burden on the body, allowing one to quickly absorb it all within a short period of time. Once a reincarnated Immortal regained his memory and swallowed a ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’, then just by relying on the natural elemental energy contained within the pill…he would be able to once again become an Immortal within a single day! To improve in one’s training? Strengthen one’s soul! One’s level of understanding! One’s techniques! Elemental energy! Not a single one of these four could be lacking! As for reincarnated Immortals, it was because they possessed the first three already, which was why they could rely on a single ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’ to instantly become an Immortal. If they didn’t have the Nine Cycles Golden Pill, even reincarnated Immortals would have to slowly, step by step train and rise in power. As for ordinary mortals, if they swallowed a ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’, they would be instantly exploded by the sea of elemental energy the pill contained! The Nine Cycles Golden Pill…was the stuff of legends. But Ning had read about liquefied elemental essence in books before. Liquefied elemental essence, in sufficient quantities, could be comparable to a Nine Cycles Golden Pill. “The Immortal who trained here…” Ninefire said excitedly. “He definitely had accumulated a large amount of liquefied elemental essence here. Because of his training, he had already used up the vast majority of it, leaving behind only this thin layer. But even just this thin layer…is perhaps comparable to the entire wealth of our Ji clan. And in addition, even if our Ji clan had the wealth to buy something like this, we still wouldn’t be able to.” Everyone present was excited. They all understood that liquefied elemental essence would allow a person to avoid spending a long period of time in absorbing and refining energy! Thus, it had long ago been monopolized by large sects and large clans. They might gift it to some truly monstrous talents, or some top-tier experts, making it so that they wouldn’t have to waste too much time in slowly refining elemental energy. How could the Ji clan possibly be able to buy something like this?” “Patriarch, with this, will you be able to break through to the Wanxiang Adept stage?” Ning asked hurriedly. “Our Ji clan’s training methods are fairly poor.” Ninefire shook his head. “In theory, I can break through, but in reality, our Ji clan, from past to present, has never produced a single Wanxiang Adept! I’ve trained for nearly four centuries now. If it were possible for me to become a Wanxiang Adept, I would’ve broken through long ago. This liquefied elemental essence is useless to me, or for your Granny Shadow. But for you, Ji Ning, it has quite a bit of use!” “Right. Ji Ning, you are the most suitable person for usig it.” Granny Shadow looked at Ning as well, her eyes filled with expectation. “You are such a genius. In truth, for you to have been born to our Ji clan has resulted in the Ji clan holding you back. You have to waste so much time in slowly accumulating elemental ki energy. If you were born within some top-tier clans, you would train much more quickly than you have thus far.” “Ji Ning, use it.” Yichuan said as well. “Don’t be hesitant and shy. I know exactly what level you are on. In terms of insight, most likely all of us are at least a level bellow you. By relying on this liquefied elemental essence, you absolutely can reach a higher level.” 657 “Right.” Truekeep, Ninefire, and the others all looked eagerly towards Ning. Ning felt a warm feeling in his heart. Such a treasure… And yet, they were all leaving it for him. “Patriarch, I won’t be shy then.” Ning said directly. “I’ll immediately take the liquefied elemental essence and begin to train.” It would be hard for him to break through as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and even if he wanetd to try, he needed the power of the Sun and the Moon…and so, this liquefied elemental essence was more suited for him in training as a Ki Refiner. He had reached the necessary level of insight long ago; he absolutely could establish his Zifu foundation! “Good.” Ninefire and the others were filled with excitement and anticipation. To them, this liquefied elemental essence would only be able to raise their power by a limited amount. But to the most monstrously talented member of the Ji clan, Ji Ning…it would most likely increase his power tremendously. “I’ll go look at the other rooms and see if there’s anything else we can use.” Ninefire said hurriedly. There was the other room nearby. In that room, there was only a stone bed, a stone chair, and a stone table. Nothing else. “It seems this place was just the place where the Immortal shut himself in for training, while this other room was the study where the Immortal would rest and flip through Immortal manuals.” Ninefire said. “The other room is a room where the Immortal actually trained.” “There’s nothing else.” “No other treasures.” Yichuan and the others took a careful look as well, but this stone room just had a primary room and a side room. It was very simple and plain, and one could tell at a glance that there was nothing else here. They used their ki energy to sweep it as well, but couldn’t find any hiding places for treasures. “Let’s go.” Ninefire and the others returned to the main room. They looked at Ning, then instructed, “Ji Ning, you remain here and train. Remember, shut the stone door. There’s a secret mechanism above the door. Once you shut the door, no one outside will be able to open it. We’ll wait aboveground for you.” “Fine.” Ning nodded. Ninefire and the others all quickly left, leaving only Ning behind in the stone room. Ning pushed the door shut, locking it in place. Training was something very important. One had to be very careful. Otherwise, if one was disturbed at an important point during the training, it would be very dangerous. “This time…I should be able to establish my Zifu.” Ning looked at the pool, filled with that spiritual liquefied elemental essence. He didn’t hesitate any further, immediately sitting down next to the pool and immediately activating his [Water Element Art] technique. The [Water Element Art], although a very basic technique, was one in which establishing the Zifu was simple. However, after establishing his Zifu, Ning needed to change to a different type of Ki Refining technique. Otherwise, just by relying on this poor technique, it would be quite difficult for him to become a Wanxiang Adept. In theory, it was possible, but only in theory. As for becoming a Primal Daoist? Even in theory, it was impossible! However, Ning wasn’t impatient. He primarily trained as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, after all. In the future, he would also leave Swallow Mountain. Naturally, he would be able to acquire a higher level technique. “Rumble…” Ning activated the [Water Element Art], and immediately began to absorb the elemental energy nearby. The elemental energy within this stone room was simply too dense, and it constantly condensed into Ki. Ning opened his mouth. Absorb! Immediately, part of the liquefied elemental essence within the pool flew up into the air. Controlled by Ning’s divine will, the essence flew straight into Ning’s mouth and entered his body. As soon as the liquefied elemenetal essence entered his body…it instantly transformed into elemental energy. The incomparably pure elemental energy constantly circulated within his dantian, transforming directly into elemental ki energy. It was successful at a single go! It didn’t place any stress on his body at all. Ning could constantly, unceaselessly continue to absorb and transform this energy. “Rumble…” The green water-type ki in his dantian began to surge about like endless, vast waves, wildly swirling and constantly accumulating! “Again.” Ning once more opened his mouth, drawing some liquefied elemental essence into his body. A massive wave of energy arose within his dantian. His elemental ki energy, which originally needed a long period of time to slowly accumulate, quickly reached a limit. Boundless amounts of elemental energy swirled ferociously in his dantian under great pressure, as though the space in his dantian was too small, unable to contain so much elemental energy. Rumble… 659 Instantly, something happened, like when Pangu split open the primordial chaos and created the heavens and the earth! The chaotic, monocolored dantian suddenly exploded! In the area around Ning, who had been quietly seated in the lotus position by the side of the pool, a large amount of watery mist suddenly arose out of nowhere. In this moment, he could so very clearly sense the ‘Dao’, but soon afterwards, the feeling disappearing. “I established my Zifu! Now that my Zifu is established, I have my foundation for continuing my training as an Immortal practitioner.” Ning said softly to himself. Within his body, in the location where the dantian had previously been. This was now a vast, empty, boundless space. This vast, empty space contained a limitless amount of violet ki which filled it. This strange location, quasi-real and quasi-imaginery, was the Violet Palace! Every single person, upon establishing their Zifu Violet Palace, would have the same thing. However, as to what sort of level a person would be able to train to in the future, that depended on each person’s destiny and techniques. “Absorb!” Ning opened his mouth, and more liquefied elemental essence from the watery pool into Ning’s body like water. The vast, spread-out space with violet ki instantly had the first drop of elemental ki formed from it. Soon, a large amount of ki was constantly coalescing. Within this boundless, empty, illusory void, a small pool began to form, which quickly transformed into a small pond…elemental ki continued to solidify and accumulate, and the size of the pond continued to grow as well… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning was seated next to the pool of water in the lotus position. His aura was like that of savage waves crashing down. He continued to open his mouth, absorbing the liquefied soul essence within the pool, causing that layer of liquefied essence to quickly deplete. But suddenly, Ning shut his mouth. “Whew.” A smile on his face, Ning opened his eyes. He glanced at the green, liquefied soul essence in the pool. “It let me break through as a peak Xiantian expert, allowing me to establish my Zifu, then solidify my base as an early Zifu Disciple. It has saved me at least a year or two of effort. I used up a third of the liquefied essence!” In a short period of time, just long enough to boil a pot of tea, not only had he established his Zifu, he had also solifidied his base. Even Ning, at his astonishing rate of improvement, would have needed a year or two. If I use the remaining two thirds of liquefied essence to train, I might be able to reach the mid-stage as a Zifu Disciple.” Ning understood that since he had already stabilized his base as an early Zifu Disciple, by relying on the remaining liquefied essence, he absolutely had the possibility of breaking through again, but if he really were to rely on the [Water Element Art] to train to the mid-stage as a Zifu Disciple, his future Ki Refining path would become difficult. After all, the [Water Element Art] was a very low-class technique. It was fine to use it to establish a Zifu, because every person’s Zifu was the same. But if Ning was to use it to break through to the middle of the Zifu level? There would be a very negative effective on the purity of his elemental energy. This single wrong step would be something which he would be unable to undo in the future. In the future, it would become ten times or a hundred times more difficult for him to become a Wanxiang Adept. “I’ve already made a large leap forward and become a Zifu Disciple! Even if I break through to become a mid-stage Zifu Disciple, the amount of benefit I would see in terms of power would be limited.” Ning pondered to himself. Leaping to a new level was a qualitative transformation! But a small leap within the same level didn’t have that much of an impact on his power. Xiantian lifeforms could dominate Houtiane experts. Zifu Disciples could dominate Xiantian lifeforms! Even an early Zifu Disciple could still dominate most peak Xiantian lifeforms. This was a qualitative difference. To battle someone at a higher level? Difficult! But if an early Zifu Disciple were to battle a mid-stage Zifu Disciple…it would be hard to say who the victor was. This sort of small gap within the same level didn’t result in huge differences in strength. “Even if I use up the remaining liquid, the amount of power I would gain would be limited, and it would destroy my future path. Not worth it.” With a flip of his hand, Ning made a talisman appear, which had a Fiendgod word on it; ‘Right’. This was the control talisman for the Aquatic Manor. Ning stared at it, an eager light flickering in his eyes. “Although I’ve established my Zifu, and I am confident that if I were to meet Dong Ziqi again, I would be able to suppress him and perhaps even kill him…this time, I will have to face not just Dong Ziqi by himself, but an entire group of Snowdragon Mountain experts.” “I hope this Aquatic Manor…will allow my power to rise to a new level.” “Given that this Aquatic Manor was able to produce the likes of Immortal Juhua, it should be extraordinary.” Ning said eagerly. A drop of green elemental ki passed from his hand into the talisman, quickly binding it. A surge of ancient-feeling power seemed to awaken, causing Ning to feel the desire to worship it from the depths of his heart. “What a fellow.” Ningn stared at the talisman. “I really wonder who the first master of the Aquatic Manor was.” “Let’s go.” Ning immediately arose, while at the same time, with a flip of his hand, he produced a palm-sized jade bottle. This was an unranked magic treasure. Although it was the size of his palm, it was able to contain within it thousands of kilograms of fine wine. Ning had quite a few storage-type magic treasures like this one. For example, when Ning had undergone the Fiendgod Bloodforging process in the Aquatic Manor, he had used one such gourd to contain a thousand kilograms of blood. “Go in.” Ning stared at the liquefied elemental essence in the pool. Summoning his divine will, ripple, ripple…the liquefied essence rose into the air, passing through the neck of the jade bottle. Every single drop was put in, leaving not a single drop remaining. “I wonder which Immortal left behind this stone room.” Ning, before leaving, took a final glance around the room. “It has caused such a calamity to my Ji clan, but it also allowed me to establish my Zifu in advance.” Ning understood in his heart that this wasn’t the fault of that Immortal; if he had to blame someone, he could only blame the Ji clan for being too weak. “Whoosh!” He left the stone room. Ning then used his Waterflame Lotus, which swiveled about him, carving a path straight out from within this elemental ore mine. He quickly charged upwards at a constant pace. Ning knew that it would take some time for him to charge a hundred kilometers upwards, and so two magic treasures appeared in his hands; one was a palm-sized flying boat magic treasure, while the other was a pair of black wing-type magic treasures. The flying boat had belonged to Bei Zishan, while the black wings had belonged to Ju San. They were both ranked magic treasures. “Now that I’ve reached the Zifu level! I am able to use these ranked magic treasures.” Ning understood that when reaching a new level, one benefit was a qualitative improvement to his personal strength, while another benefit was that the type of magic treasures he could use had also risen. These two benefits, combined, made it so that Zifu Disciples could absolutely dominate Xiantian lifeforms. …….. Boom! A petal of the Waterflame Lotus burst forth from the ground, with Ning behind it. “Ji Ning.” In the distance were Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others. They had long since dispersed and recollected the surrounding bewildering formation, and the sight of the desolate mountain forests had returned. Only, in parts of the forest, the traces of the earlier battle could still be seen. “Patriarch. Father.” Ning hurriedly walked over. “You came out quite quickly. We just arrived on the surface not long ago.” Ninefire and the other four walked over, laughing. “Truekeep just emerged moments ago as well.” Ning thought about it. He had been in training for as much time as it takes to brew a pot of tea; the amount of time he had spent boring through the ground had actually been greater than that. The Patriarch and the others had most likely had to spend more time boring through the ground than he did…and so, doing the math, it seemed as though they probably really did emerge at roughly the same time. “Right, Ji Ning.” Ninefire asked. “Prior to this, when you killed Ju San. What magic treasures did you acquire?” “Quite a few.” Ning said. The nearby Grany Shadow explained in detail, “We need to do an accounting of these treasures, to see who they are most useful for. This is the easiest way to put them to good use.” 663 Ning nodded. “Jusan had one flying transportation magic treasure, one storage magic treasure, one protective magic treasure, one magic greataxe, and a pair of magic wings! The magic wings are useful to me, but the others are not.” Ning had already acquired a ranked storage magic treasure, a transportation magic treasure, and a protective magic treasure from Bei Zishan. Thus, only this pair of ranked wing-type magic treasures was useful for him. “What do you need?” Ninefire looked at Ning. “Swords!” Ning said. “I only need ranked flying swords. Other things are useless to me. The more ranked flying swords, the better.” His two sources of combat power were close quarters combat and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. In particular, now that he had established his Zifu, the power of his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had naturally grown only greater. However, if he continued to use unranked swords…his power would most likely only rise by one or two levels. If, however, he was able to completely exchange them for ranked swords, Ning felt that he would probably be able to give even a Wanxiang Adept a good fight. “Ranked flying swords? The more the better?” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing, and Yichuan all repeated softly, then offered one or two flying swords each. “All together, we have five flying swords that we don’t need for now.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “Is it enough?” Ning was rather disappointed. Five? Useless. His [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] required at least nine swords to be used together in order to work and creation a formation base! And nine formations bases were required for each [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] formation! In other words, the smallest unit, the ‘formation base’, required at least nine ranked swords. And, to make his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] truly transform in power, he needed at least eighty one ranked flying swords. Only by using them as the foundation would the power of the other, unranked swords become truly explosive. But of course, the ideal solution would be to only use ranked flying swords… According to Ning’s calculations, if he only used ranked flying swords, he would only be able to use the third level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. But the power of it would be incomparably greater than before! Quality was even more important than quantity! “How many do you need?” Ninefire asked. “I need seven ranked flying swords. The more, the better. If I had several hundred, it would be even better.” Ning laughed. Sword-type magic treasures were very common; Ning had acquired a pair of ranked flying swords from Bei Zishan alone. If they could come up with another seven, then Ning would have nine in total, enough for a single, smallest unit ‘formation base’. With this formation base as the core, the power of the entire [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would double or triple! “Several hundred?” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others were all shocked. However, when they thought back to the scene of Ning utilizing the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], they realized that he did indeed have seven hundred plus flying swords swirling around him. It seemed as though Ning really did indeed need a large number of flying swords. But several hundred ranked magic treasures? Even if the entire Ji clan bankrupted itself, it wouldn’t be able to afford it. “We’ll strive to help you come up with seven more swords.” Ninefire said, then changed the subject. “Snowdragon Mountain will publicize this to their comrades. Most likely, they will come for battle in a day or two. Before this, you can all go back and pick up any treasures that you need or take care of any matters that need addressing. Afterwards, we will regroup here.” “Let’s go.” Swoosh! Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing mounted an enormous wine gourd, quickly disappearing into the horizon, leaving behind only Ning and his father. Ning understood that this was rather like taking care of one’s post-mortem affairs. “Father, will you return to West Prefecture City?” Ning looked at his father. “No. To Serpentwing Lake.” Yichuan shook his head. “I want to visit Little White. The two of us are like brothers who have shared life and death together. No matter what, I have to see him again.” Yichuan had stayed for five years at Serpentwing Lake, and the Whitewater Hound had stayed with him this entire time. “Uncle White?” Ning nodded gently. The Godbeast ‘Whitewater Hound’ had an extremely close relationship Ning’s father. They had adventured together to as far as the Darknorth Sea. The time they had spent together was even longer than the time Ning’s father and mother had spent together. Indeed, they really were lifelong brothers. “Let’s go.” A flying boat appeared beneath Ning’s feet, and Yichuan mounted it as well. Whoosh! The flying boat instantly rose into the air, quickly passing through the skies and into the clouds… 665 Swallow Mountain had a total of ten commandery cities. Snowdragon Mountain had three of them, which were similar to the commandery city the Ji clan controlled, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’. As soon as Dong Ziqi had invaded Swallow Mountain, he had given the name of the city he had taken over the name of ‘Snowdragon City’, so as to let everyone know that this was a branch of Snowdragon Mountain! Although afterwards, they had taken over two more commandery cities, the heart of this branch of Snowdragon Mountain remained in Snowdragon City. “Where are they? Where are the others? In the air above Snowdragon Mountain, three figures stood there atop a flying screen, staring into the distance as a greef leaf hurtled through the air, with Dong Ziqi and Muse standing atop it. “Where are the other three? All dead?” These three figures asked frantically. The three of them were the three other Zifu Disciples of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain. They were of the ‘Ju’ clan and the ‘Dong’ clan. Earlier, the Zifu Disciple belonging to the Ju clan, Ju Nianxiong, had seen that his nephew’s life-talisman had shattered, and so he had hurried over to Snowdragon Mountain. The two elders of the Dong clan were terrified upon hearing this, knowing that something must have gone wrong. But they didn’t expect that not only had Ju San died, even the He siblings had died. “They died. My three fellow disciples all died.” Dong Ziqi gritted his teeth. “It was the Ji clan. They set up a formation early on, then suddenly attacked, causing us to be caught offguard. My three fellow disciples were ganged upon and killed one by one. With the He siblings dead, most likely that official writ was taken away as well. Three commandery cities. They were split up between the Dong clan, the He clan, and the Ju clan. One of the official writs had been carried by the He siblings. “The Ji clan is asking for death!” Ju Nianxiong’s eyes were bloodshot. The nearby Muse said in a cold voice, “This time, due to the elemental ripples, we went to go investigate. We discovered that there was an enormous elemental ore mine within the Ji clan’s territory, with a large number of high-grade elemental stones. The entire quarry has a circumference of four thousand kilometers and a depth of three hundred kilometers. “What!” Nianxiong and the two elders of the Dong clan were badly startled. “The Ji clan wasn’t willing to hand it over, so we ended up in a battle.” Ziqi forced the words out. The shorter of the two elders of the Dong clan howled in a furious voice, “The main sect desperately needs an enormous elemental ore mine such as this! If we offer it to the main sect…this will be a great 666 merit for us. The Ji clan actually dares to oppose Snowdragon Mountain? Then we’ll destroy the Ji clan, we’ll annihilate them all!!!” “Of course we’ll annihilate their clan!” Ziqi’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “But what I fear the most is that the Ji clan will sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty.” The two Dong elders and Ju Nianxiong both paused. If a transfer agreement truly was signed, then even Snowdragon Mountain wouldn’t dare to interfere. Challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty? Did they want to die? “But the Ji clan needs to first make the report, then await the arrival of the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty. It will take at least three days. If we can do our best to delay, we can delay for a period of time.” Ziqi said hurriedly. “So we have to hurry. We have to invite our comrades and have them arrive at Swallow Mountain as fast as possible, so that we can annihilate the Ji clan together.” “Right.” Everyone nodded. The Ji clan had killed three of their Zifu Disciples, leaving them only five. If they went and fought all out, even if the won, most likely most of them would die. No matter how great the merit they rendered would be, they had to be alive to win plaudits for it. “The four of you, go invite the various Snowdragon Mountain branches nearest to us.” Ziqi said. “I myself will head to Swallow Mountain City to meet with the garrison general, and ask him to delay as long as possible.” “Alright.” The four nodded. “Invite a few dozen comrades. By then, with dozens of us together…we will utterly crush and annihilate the Ji clan with ease.” Ziqi said. “There’s virtually no danger when we join together into a group, and everyone will have a share of the glory. Those comrades will definitely come.” “Fine.” “Then we’ll go make a trip.” Soon, the arrangements and travel plans were made. The other four Zifu Disciples headed separately in four different directions to invite their fellow sectmates, while Dong Ziqi headed to Swallow Mountain City. ……….. The vast Serpentwing Lake. A flying boat descended at high speed from the skies, landing at one corner of Brightheart Island. This was the place where Ning’s father lived. The only thing here was a quite, secluded residence. There weren’t even any servants present, just a large, snow-white dog which lay there. The Whitewater Hound suddenly raised his head as the flying boat descended at high speed. “Uncle White.” Ning looked at the Whitewater Hound, feeling a surge of emotion as well. First, Ning knew that this Uncle White and his father were brothers that had fought together and risked their lives together, and that Ning’s mother and Ning himself had both been saved by Uncle White. And second, that year when gone outside of West Prefecture City every day to train archery, it had been Uncle White who had stood guard the entire time. He watched as his father and Uncle White moved towards each other. Although Uncle White was incapable of speech, the master-servant bond allowed spiritual communication at a close distance. Ning quietly left as well. Very shortly. Ning returned to his own residence, entering the quiet room which he used for training. He immediately sealed the room off. Earlier, while flying over Serpentwing Lake, Ning had already sensed the Aquatic Manor! It was just as the old black bull had said; once he bound the control talisman, he would be able to sense and directly enter the Aquatic Manor. “During this battle, I saw that although my power was great, it was still far from being sufficient. I hope that this ancient Aquatic Manor will be useful and be able to improve my power greatly.” Ning was filled with hope and expectations. “Let’s go in.” Ning willed it, and instantly, an enormous illusion of a grizzly head appeared in the quiet room. The enormous grizzly head opened its illusory maw, swallowing Ning with one gulp. Ning disappeared from within the quiet room. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Manor The tall, wide, ancient hall was the same as it had been for countless years. Many enormous prayer mats were placed throughout the hall, and an old black ox had appeared, smiling as he looked at the suddenly arrived Ji Ning. “The main hall.” Ning looked at the great hall. “Congratulations.” The old black bull walked over, filled with joy. “It’s only been a few years, but you’ve already reached the Zifu level. It was faster than I anticipated.” Ning was still worrying about the impending arrival of a large group of experts from Snowdragon Mountain, and so he said without too much joy, “I was simply lucky.” “The fact that you made it through those three trials earlier wasn’t a matter of luck.” The old black bull sighed. “You bound the control talisman…and you are now able to go to the most important places within the Aquatic Manor. With access to these places, you will now have the capital to truly rise to sudden prominence. Ji Ning, I feel as though I can already see into the future, with you as being one of the supreme experts of the Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning was stunned. He hadn’t imagined that this old black bull, the spirit of a magic treasure, would be so good at flattery. “I’m not lying.” The old black bull said. “Immortal Juhua’s decision to accept a disciple caused countless people throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty to go wild. If they knew that Immortal Juhua was merely the third master of this Aquatic Manor, most likely, a true storm would have erupted in the world.” “What exactly is so special about this Aquatic Manor?” Ning hurriedly asked. What he cared the most about was if this Aquatic Manor would be able to increase his power or not, and if he would be able to have a greater chance of success in the upcoming battle. “The Aquatic Manor has many secrets.” The old black bull said. “Immortal Juhua and I stayed here for a very long time. If my predictions are correct…this manor should have been designed for training future generations of Fiendgods.” “Training future generations of Fiendgods?” Ning was stunned. “Right.” The old black bull nodded his large head. “The first master of this Aquatic Manor should have been an extremely powerful Fiendgod! Just look at the prayer mats throughout the main hall, and you will 669 understand…originally, quite a few Fiendgods would have sat here, waiting for his command and listening to him expound on the correct way of training.” Ning stared at the enormous nearby prayer mats, as well as that solitary prayer mat seated at the front of the hall. He nodded gently. “The first master’s method for accepting disciples was through two corridors; one for Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiners, while the other was for Zifu-level Fiendgod Body Refiners.” The old black bull said. “Ordinary Fiendgod practitioners wouldn’t suffice. Only those whose bodies had transformed and become like the bodies of Fiendgods would qualify. Wouldn’t this be, essentially, true Fiendgods?” Ning nodded. His own body had been birthed from fire and water that had descended from the heavens. He did indeed have the body of a Xiantian Fiendgod. “In addition, clearly the various halls of the Aquatic Manor are meant for cultivating later Fiendgods.” The old black bull said. “Unfortunately, the path of Fiendgods is simply too difficult. Although Immortal Juhua originally started on the path of Fiendgod Body Refining as well, slowly, that path became more and more difficult for him. He advanced more rapidly as a Ki Refiner, but in the end, he failed his tribulation and became a Loose Immortal.” Ning understood. For example, although he himself focused almost all of his effort on training as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he had first established his Zifu as a Ki Refiner! Ki Refining was simple. Body Refining was hard. Perhaps in the future, he would become an Earth Immortal as a Ki Refiner while he was only at the Primordial Daoist level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner…or even just a Wanxiang Adept! Perhaps he, too, would face the tribulation as a Ki Refiner, and end up failing and becoming a Loose Immortal…it was completely possible that he would end up tracing the path of Immortal Juhua.” “Let me give you a warning.” The old black bull looked at Ning. “This is what Immortal Juhua once said to his disciple, Rampart.” “Please speak.” Ning immediately said. “This Aquatic Manor is meant for cultivating Fiendgods. Thus, do your best to walk the path of the Fiendgods.” The old black bull said. “Even if you are at the very verge of the Void stage and becoming an Earth Immortal, Ji Ning, you should halt your training in Ki. No matter what, do not go face the tribulation! Work hard as a Fiendgod Body Refiner and undergo the tribulation as a Fiendgod first.” Ning frowned. “According to the hypotheses of Immortal Juhua, the farther along you go on the path of the Fiendgods, the greater assistance this Aquatic Manor will be for you. Immortal Juhua sensed that this Aquatic Manor had some secrets he still didn’t know! They should have been secrets passed down by the first master…but unfortunately, Immortal Juhua was unable to divine them.” The old black bull said. “Thank you, senior, for your warning. Ji Ning will remember it.” Ning said hurriedly. “The first owner possessed incredible, divine powers, and he far eclipsed Immortal Juhua.” The old black bull said. “Wait until you go to the Stellar Hall. Then you will understand.” “Stellar Hall?” Ning was puzzled. Suddenly… An illusion suddenly began to form in empty space. It quickly solidified into a tall, powerful bear. The bear’s entire body was covered with yellow fur, and it was staring towards Ning…and as it did, Ning felt as though it was a sort of eternal, ancient existence. This was the same feeling he had when he visualized the painting of Maiden Nuwa in his mind. No matter how much time passed, it would be eternally present! This was the feeling that the giant bear gave Ning; only, the feeling was murkier, not as powerful as the one which the Nuwa Painting gave him. “Elder Brother.” The old black bull hurriedly lowered his face and called out. Ning could sense the bull’s mouth trembling, and the old black bull hurriedly said to Ning, “This is the spirit of the aquatic manor.” “The spirit of the manor?” Ning sensed how the head of this enormous bear before him…seemed very similar to the giant illusion of a bear head which transported him here. “Ji Ning greets you, senior.” Ning said respectfully. The giant yellow bear glanced at him. “Yet another who reached the Zifu level as a Ki Refiner first. You train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique in the world. You possess a strong Fiendgod lineage. Work hard as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Don’t waste your natural talent and potential.” “Yes.” Ning could feel the invisible aura emanating forward from the giant yellow bear. That ancient, eternal presence alone…made Ning feel as though this wasn’t something which ordinary practitioners would be capable of. The fact that the spirit of the manor was capable of teleporting people was, in an of itself, incredible and mysterious. Immortal Juhua was an expert during the latter stages of the Fiendgod Era. And the spirit of the manor? It had followed the very first master. How ancient was it? How powerful was it? It was best to be humble when facing it. “Follow me.” The giant yellow bear walked in front. “Hurry, follow.” The old black bull urged, hurriedly following as well. Ning followed from behind as the giant yellow bear led the way, into a corridor on the right side of the main hall that was three thousand meters tall. The giant yellow bear said while walking, “After having bound the control talisman, you can be considered a master-in-training. Aside from the main hall, you can also enter this corridor, which had four major secondary halls. These four major secondary halls are open to you…but of course, right now, you are limited to them. If you want to enter more halls, you’ll have to become a Primordial Daoist.” Ning understood. Becoming a Zifu Disciple and binding the control talisman was only the first step. Becoming a Primordial Daoist and binding the entire estate was just the second step. Most likely, even the second step would be just a simple binding, allowing one to carry it with him at all times. Most likely, the Aquatic Manor still would not be under complete control, as otherwise, Immortal Juhua wouldn’t have said that he suspected there were more mysteries within. “Look.” The giant yellow bear pointed into the distance. An ancient, azure bronze gate was there, which was open. Ning hurriedly walked over, looking through the bronze gate…. Wow. Ning’s eyes were round He saw an enormous hall past the gate, in the middle of which floated one magic treasure after another, each of them emanating a powerful, ancient aura. Ning saw a large warhammer which glittered with tricolored light that made Ning’s heart pound frantically just staring at it, as though it were about to explode. There were also four formation flags of different colors. When he looked at it, he felt as though he was being drawn into a boundless separate world. “This is the Treasure Hall, one of the four major secondary halls you can currently enter.” The giant yellow bear said. “The Treasure Hall is the place where Master stored his countless treasures, ranging from unique mortal items to items from the time of Primordial Chaos, when Pangu split the heavens and created the universe. Master set down a rule for all of these treasures; as long as you can satisfy the requirements the Master set down, you can acquire them.” Ning held his breath. Items of Primordial Chaos, from when Pangu split the heavens? What were they? But Ning knew that Fiendgods were naturally birthed from the heavens, and that after Pang split the heavens, there were many Fiendgods. Now, it seemed as though this Aquatic Manor truly had been left behind by an extremely ancient, powerful Fiendgod. “What do I need to do to acquire these treasures? What are the requirements?” Ning asked. “After you enter the Treasure Hall and slowly look through it, you’ll see the rules which Master left behind.” The giant yellow bear said. Ning nodded slightly. The first master had created the two corridors that had to be traversed for future disciples to be accepted. The rules of the Treasure Hall were also set by the first master…clearly, the first master had the greatest influence on the Aquatic Manor, while Immortal Juhua was just a passerby. “Continue walking.” The giant yellow bear said while walking. “The next secondary hall…is the Divine Abilities Hall that you are now able to enter.” “Divine Abilities Hall?” Ning was stunned. Divine abilities? He had only acquired a single divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion]. Ning knew exactly how precious divine abilities were. They weren’t things which just anyone could acquire. “Here we are.” After having walked momentarily, the giant yellow bear pointed to another nearby giant bronze door. That ancient bronze door had a single bronze palm above it, and the palm emanated boundless might, carrying the power to seal the heavens and block out the sun. “This is the Divine Abilities Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. “Only Fiendgods who fulfill two requirements are allowed to enter. The first is that the Fiendgod Body Refiner reaches the level of BloodDrop Rebirth. The second is that it must be done within ten years; at most, ten years.” Ning was stunned. Blood-Drop Rebirth? That meant being at the Zifu-level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. He hadn’t reached that yet. Ten years? He was already more than ten years old. “In the past, Immortal Juhua was more than ten years old, so he wasn’t permitted to enter the Divine Abilities Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. “If he had been able to enter it, Immortal Juhua probably would’ve been able to walk a longer path and his power should have been even greater. Perhaps…he wouldn’t have ended up becoming a Loose Immortal.” The giant yellow bear was clearly rather sentimental towards Immortal Juhua, who had controlled the estate for millions of years, after all. The old black bull sighed as well. “My master always felt regret for the fact that he wasn’t able to enter the Divine Abilities Hall. Every single one of these four secondary halls are important. Master was able to enter the other three, but he wasn’t able to enter this Divine Abilities Hall, and when he passed through the challenge corridors, he was more than ten years old.” Ning felt bitterness in his heart. No matter how you calculated it, he was more than ten years old! Could it be that he, too, had lost the chance to enter the Divine Abilities Hall? “Fortunately, you are lucky. You are only five years old.” The giant yellow bear glanced at Ning. “Five years old?” Ning stared. The old black bull understood what Ning was thinking. “Fiendgods are born at the Xiantian level. You are indeed only five years old.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The age referred to age as Fiendgods reckoned it; true Fiendgods were nurtured by the natural world and born as Xiantian lifeforms. As for Ning, when he was eleven years old, celestial fire and water had descended, nurturing his body and transforming it into a Fiendgod’s body, just like a normal Fiendgod who had just been birthed. And now he was sixteen…as Fiendgods reckoned it, Ning was indeed only five. “To be able to establish a Zifu within ten years will be proof of your potential.” The giant yellow bear looked at the towering bronze gate, a complicated look in his eyes. “Only then will you be able to enter the Divine Abilities Hall…within the Divine Abilities Hall is a test which Master left behind. If you pass, you will be able to acquire an extremely powerful divine ability which Master left behind.” “Remember; you only have a single chance to enter the Divine Abilities Hall.” The giant yellow bear looked towards Ning. “Thus, the more powerful you are, the greater your chance will be. It is best if you enter it at ten years of age; otherwise, if you fail, you won’t be able to acquire a divine ability. After all, it is a trial; it does hold some danger, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll lose even your own life.” Ning asked with curiosity, “What divine abilities are held within the Divine Abilities Hall?” The giant yellow bear looked towards Ning, then said calmly, “After having passed the trials, you’ll know. And if you don’t make it through? You won’t be qualified to know.” “Come. Let’s go to the next hall.” The giant yellow bear continued forward. Ning looked at the single palm above the giant bronze door, radiating that inexhaustible, majestic presence. Divine Abilities Hall? His Fiendgod body had yet to reach the Zifu level. There was no point thinking about it for now. ……… The giant yellow bear was in front of them, in this ancient corridor, with the old black bull by his side and Ning walking behind them. “This secondary hall.” The giant yellow bear looked towards a towering bronze door that was shut. This bronze door had an axe and a spear carved onto it, and a killing aura emanated from it. The bronze door itself had a bloody red light glowing from it, causing Ning to unconsciously feel fear in his heart. “This is the Wargod Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. “This is the most dangerous place in the entire Aquatic Manor, but a place filled with opportunity.” 675 The most dangerous? Filled with opportunity? Ning was curious. “Continue looking.” The giant yellow bear didn’t waste words, immediately walking forward. ……… From far away, the distant sound of flowing water could faintly be heard. Ning looked with curiosity towards the already opened wooden door. The wooden door was open, and through it, flowing water could be seen, along with some boulders as well as some lonely straw huts. “This is the Stellar Hall.” The giant yellow bear stood in front of the hall, staring into the vast, boundless space within. “Everything within the Stellar Hall was personally laid out by Master. When living within the Stellar Hall, one can even sense the wondrous mysteries of the Dao.” The nearby old black bull also said excitedly, “Ji Ning, Immortal Juhua had a lifespan of millions of years, precisely because of this Stellar Hall. The wondrous mysteries of the Dao fill every single part of this Stellar Hall, and it even has multiple complete ‘Daos’…Immortal Juhua had the Stellar Hall, which is why he was at such a high level of understanding, allowing him to withstand so many tribulations and living millions of years. “Multiple complete Daos?” Ning was rather puzzled. “I’ve told you everything already.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “The places you are now granted entrance into are the main hall, this corridor, and these four major secondary halls. You are not permitted entry into the other parts, nor would you be able to enter if you wanted to. Act appropriately. I hope you’ll be able to live to become a Primordial Daoist.” Whoosh. The giant yellow bear disappeared into specks of light, then completely vanished. Ning let out a sigh of relief. When facing the giant yellow bear, he always felt that it gave him tremendous pressure, as though he were facing an ancient, powerful Fiendgod. “That’s how the spirit of the manor is.” The old black bull laughed. “Forget about you; he didn’t even care much about Immortal Juhua. He’s quite arrogant and solitary. Actually, after so many years have passed, I felt that it was normal for him to be so solitary. After all, even Immortal Juhua didn’t truly master this Aquatic Manor.” Ning seemed to understand, and he nodded slightly. And then he hurriedly asked, “Senior, what should I do right now in these four major secondary halls? Please guide me, senior.” 676 “First, go to the Treasure Hall.” The old black bull said. “Follow me. I’m quite familiar with it.” “Fine.” Ning felt that the old black bull was much more amiable and genial than the giant yellow bear, the spirit of the manor. The Treasure Hall. Ning and the old black bull walked together into it, and as Ning did, he instantly felt as though he entered a different world. In the air hung a vast collection of magic treasures, some of which were so powerful that their aura alone made Ning feel his heart shake. Most likely, even the slightest of ripples from it would cause him to crushed and ground to dust. The power of it was far beyond what he imagined. “Treasures…” The old black bull sighed, his eyes shining. “All of them are true treasures. Immortal Juhua drooled when looking at them as well, back in the day. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn’t acquire them. If he was able to pick and choose as he pleased from these treasures, Immortal Juhua probably would’ve overcome the heavenly tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal long ago.” Ning felt his heart be moved, as he stared at them. He saw that above him was a blood-colored warspear. The warspear looked quite plain, but just hanging there, it caused the surrounding space to crumble and crack, although it then quickly recovered. Crumbling, recovering, crumbling…this continued nonstop. “These were all left by the first master.” The old black bull said hurriedly. “He left them for the future masters. He wanted to cultivate and provide for them, and so if you want to acquire these treasures, you’ll have to fulfill his requirements. Otherwise, even if you end up like Immortal Juhua, dying due to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, you still won’t be able to acquire a single treasure.” Ning was curious. “What are the rules? What must I do to acquire these treasures?” “Look over there.” The old black bull’s head nodded towards the side. Ning followed the bull’s gaze to look, only to see a tight cluster of tiny words on the distant wall. These words were all Fiendgod characters. Ning hurriedly walked over, reading them all at one go. “So that’s the situation.” Ning frowned. The treasures of the Treasure Hall…were all obtainable. There were two methods. The first was to rise in power as a Fiendgod practitioner. Once one reached the Zifu level as a Fiendgod practitioner, one would be able to acquire a ‘Mortal-rank magic treasure’, or a precious item of equivalent value. Upon reaching the Wanxiang level as a Fiendgod practitioner, one would be able to select a single ‘Earthrank magic treasure’ or equivalent. Upon reaching the Primordial level as a Fiendgod practitioner, one would be able to select a single ‘Heaven-rank magic treasure’ or equivalent. Upon reaching the Void level, one would be able to select an ‘Immortal-rank magic treasure’… After after successfully passing the tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal! One would be able to select a ‘Pure Yang magic treasure’ or equivalent. “So there are actually five ranks of magic treasures.” Ning murmured. “Zifu Disciples are only able to activate Mortal-rank magic treasures, while Wanxiang Adepts are able to use Earth-rank magic treasures. Primordials are able to use Heaven-rank magic treasures…and above that are Immortal-rank magic treasures and Pure Yang magic treasures.” Ning had never even heard of these things before. All he knew was that there was such a thing as a ‘ranked’ magic treasure. “There are five ranks of magic treasures.” The old black bull nearby said. “In addition, ranked magic treasures are also divide into ‘top’, ‘high’, ‘average’, and ‘low’ grades. The Zifu Disciples in that Swallow Mountain area of yours might use ranked magic treasures, but the vast majority of them are low-grade or average grade magic treasures. However, if you were able to choose at will from the Treasure Hall…I trust you would naturally be able to select the best of yourself.” Ning listened carefully. These were things he had no idea about. “The further you advance in your training, the harder it will be for you to acquire magic treasures.” The old black bull said. “At the Void level, Earth Immortals will be able to activate Immortal-rank magic treasures, but Immortal-rank magic treasures…can be considered treasures amongst Immortals. How many Void level Earth Immortals will truly be able to acquire treasures of that level? They are incredibly rare. Thus, generally speaking, those Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals will generally use Heavenrank magic treasures.” “In the past, Immortal Juhua became bottlenecked at the Primordial Daoist level as a Fiendgod practitioner. No matter what he did, he wasn’t able to break through and reach the Void level. It was pointless for him to break through to the Void level as a Ki Refiner.” The old black bull shook his head. “Thus, he was never able to acquire an Immortal-rank magic treasure.” “Ah.” Ning was stunned. Right. When one rose in power, one could acquire a treasure, but that was only as a Fiendgod. As for Ki Refiners? No matter how far you advanced, you wouldn’t be bestowed any treasures. Thus, one could imagine how much the first master hoped that his future inheritors would focus on training as Fiendgods. “Afterwards, Immortal Juhua failed in his tribulation and became a Loose Immortal. After countless years, his power grew greater and greater, and then he succeeded in passing through the seventh level of the Wargod Hall, which was when he was bestowed an Immortal-rank magic treasure.” The old black bull said. “Afterwards, Immortal Juhua collected a large amount of materials, over the course of which he defeated the Thousand Swords Immortal. After acquiring the hundreds of flying swords from the Thousand Swords Immortal…he finally forged me.” Ning said, curious, “Senior, what rank of a magic treasure are you?” “An Immortal-rank magic treasure, of course.” The old black bull said arrogantly. “I am an Immortal-rank magic treasure. I have already surpassed the levels of Human, Earth, and Heaven; thus, I gained sentience. Immortal Juhua relied on me to establish his awe-inspiring fame!” “Your Fiendgod body is only at the Xiantian lifeform level. To acquire magic treasures, you’ll have to achieve victory in the Wargod Hall.” The old black bull said. Ning nodded. There were two methods to acquiring the treasures of the Treasure Hall. The first was to rise in power as a Fiendgod. The second was to challenge the Wargod Hall, which had ten stages in total. If one succeeded in overcoming the first or second stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose a Mortal-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the third or fourth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose an Earth-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the fifth or sixth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose a Heaven-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the seventh or eighth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose an Immortal-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the ninth or tenth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose a Pure Yang magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. The Fiendgod practitioners who had inherited the manor were each given two chances to challenge the Wargod Hall at each level of power. For example, Ning was now a Xiantian lifeform as a Fiendgod. He had 679 two chances to go challenge the Wargod Hall. Once his Fiendgod form reached the Zifu level, he would gain two more chances. Xiantian, Zifu, Wanxiang, Primordial, Void. Before becoming an Immortal, he would only have ten chances! Each chance was incomparably precious! “Challenging the Wargod Hall is too hard.” The old black bull shook his head and sighed. “But this is the second way in which one can acquire a treasure of the Treasure Hall. Even though it is hard, you’ll have to try.” “It is indeed hard.” Ning nodded. Even Immortal Juhua had only overcome the seventh stage of the Wargod Hall after having become a Loose Immortal and spent countless years training. The nearby old black bull said, “I watched you training in Serpentwing Lake with your sword. I don’t want to discourage you, but…for you to challenge the first level with your current level of power? You’d have less than a ten percent chance.” “Less than ten percent?” Ning didn’t dare believe it. The Wargod Hall had ten levels in total. The first two levels only allowed him to select a Mortal-rank magic treasure. He had trained with the sword at Brightheart Island…which was within the scope of the Aquatic Manor, and so the old black bull knew exactly how strong he had become. But he was now saying that if Ning went to the Wargod Hall, he would have less than ten percent chance of victory? “Treasure Hall. Divine Abilities Hall. Wargod Hall. Stellar Hall.” The old black bull said. “The Treasure Hall is a place where, for now ,you won’t be able to acquire a single treasure. You aren’t able to enter the Divine Abilities Hall yet either. You’ll have to go to one of the other two halls.” “Wargod Hall…perhaps you can give it a try. If you succeed, you’ll be able to select a magic treasure. It will definitely be far superior to the ranked magic treasures you currently have. But of course, if you lose, that means that you’ll have wasted a chance to challenge the Wargod Hall.” “The Stellar Hall is filled with countless paths of the Dao, and is an excellent place for gaining insight into it.” “Which place shall you go to?” The old black bull looked towards Ning. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Senior, since you said that I have less than a ten percent chance of passing through the Wargod Hall’s challenge, why should I make the attempt?” Ji Ning said. “In addition, Immortal Juhua gained the greatest benefit from this Stellar Hall. I’m quite curious about it.” As he spoke, Ning stepped into a room. As for the treasures of the Treasure Hall? If he couldn’t touch them, what was the point? Immortal Juhua himself had only acquired a single Immortal-rank magic after having become a Loose Immortal. “Best to take things one step at a time.” Ning knew his own limits. He left the Treasure Hall and headed out through a corridor. The Treasure Hall was at the frontmost part of the corridor, while the Stellar Hall was at the rearmost. The old black bull followed while speaking constantly. “The Stellar Hall contains within it miraculous profundities, and by training within it, it is much easier to gain insights into the Dao. If you aren’t carefully, you’ll easily lose yourself in training…it seems as though in the outside world, you were rather frantic. I imagine you must have important business to attend to. Don’t let yourself become lost in meditating on the Dao within the Stellar Hall and delay your important affairs. “Ah!” Ning was startled, then hurriedly said with gratitude, “Thank you for the reminder, senior.” He had nearly caused himself to miss the critical affairs coming up! Although meditating on the Dao was important, if he lost one or two days meditating on the Dao, by the time he woke up and left…it would all be too late. “No matter what.” Ning instructed the old black bull. “As soon as the sky grows dark in the outside world, if I’m still in the Stellar Hall meditating on the Dao, then I would like to ask you to immediately disrupt my meditation and awaken me, senior.” “If the sky grows dark in the outside world? That means only twelve hours are remaining.” The old black bull said. “Right, twelve hours! If I begin to meditate on the Dao…at most allow me to meditate on it for twelve hours.” Ning said hurriedly. “After twelve hours, immediately awaken me.” Based on Ning’s calculations, generally speaking, Zifu Disciples who were flying on magic treasures would be able to travel a hundred thousand kilometers in a day. But of course, that was normal flight; if they 681 didn’t rest and didn’t sleep and also didn’t worry about using up their elemental energy, one could fly nearly two hundred thousand kilometers in a day. Swallow Mountain, in turn, was only a few tens of thousands kilometers in size…a roundtrip to see the other disciples of Snowdragon Mountain and return with them would take… As Ji Ninefire had said, most likely just a day or two! Ning would only be able to spend twelve hours meditating on the Dao. He absolutely couldn’t afford to go over! “Don’t worry at all.” The old black bull raised his head, looking like a guard. “Once twelve hours pass, I will immediately awaken you! We spirits of magic treasure…will never forget tasks that are assigned.” “Thank you, senior.” Ning laughed, then headed to the main entrance of the Stellar Hall. It was different from the other three halls, which all had large bronze doors. The gate to the Stellar Hall was seemingly made out of wood, and it emanated an ancient, natural aura. The old black bull, seeing Ning inspect the towering wooden door, murmured to himself, “This is the Ageless Bluefire Wood which only exists in the Nine Hells. It is a precious, spiritual wood which is very useful in making Immortal-rank magic treasures, but it was used to make a large gate.” “Is it possible to dismantle the gate?” Ning was curious. “If it was, Immortal Juhua would have done so long ago.” The old black bull said, resigned. “This gate is part of the entire Aquatic Manor; it is part of the entire magic treasure. There’s no way to move it at all.” Ning stroked the wooden gate. The wood was covered with a cold, abyssal light, but when touching it, it felt warm and gave off a comfortable sensation. Ning sighed emotionally…the Ageless Bluefire Wood which only the Nine Hells possessed? Alright, then…these were things which he had never even heard of before the old black bull had introduced it to him. He had experienced too little. “This really is…” Passing through the corridor and through the wooden gate, Ning felt breathless. The sight in front of him completely stunned him. “This really is utterly inconceivable. The works of a god. The works of a god!” In front of him, in the distance, was a large mountain. The mountain was filled with life, with a large number of trees and other vegetation growing everywhere. At the base of the mountain, the life suddenly disappeared; it was an area were virtually not a single inch of grass would grow. Only very occasionally, within a patch of strewn rocks, would one see a few strands of grass. At the base of the mountain, there was a straw hut. In front of the straw hut, there was a creek. The creek flowed down from the mountain, and it winded downwards in a curvy path, constantly flowing. It was only in the area wherever the creek flowed that 682 some wild grass could occasionally be seen. The other places were virtually all covered with wild, desolate stones. In midair, there was one enormous, brilliant star after another. The starlight filled the world, causing every place to seem rather illusory. “Can it be that this is an entire world?” Ning couldn’t help but say. “It is its own dimension.” The old black bull followed him in and sighed, “This is a dimension which the first master created within the Stellar Hall! This dimension is connected with the gate of the Stellar Hall. Thus, when we stepped through it, we entered the special space. I’ve heard it said that some great powers of the ancient past were able to create an entire dimension within a single grain of sand. The first master most likely had this ability as well. Ning nodded. Unfathomable! Although when he was young, he had heard of some legends, such as ‘Houyi Shooting the Son’ and other such legends, when had he ever seen them in person? After all, those things were a long, long distance away from him. As for creating a dimension? Generally speaking, people created a dimension, then an estate within their own dimension. The Aquatic Manor was itself a separate dimension…but the secondary halls actually were able to once again merge with another dimension. Although Ning didn’t understand it too well, he understood that accomplishing something like this was an incredible feat. “I really wonder who the first owner of this Aquatic Manor was.” Ning said to himself. “Come, come, come. The ‘treasure’ is within the straw hut.” The old black bull urged. “The straw hut?” Ning strode forward by a few dozen paces, quickly arriving at the straw hut. The straw hut was at the base of the mountain, a seemingly very ordinary straw hat, and with stone furniture inside. After entering the straw room…Ning was stunned. He saw that on the table of the straw room, there were multiple tomes, all of which were black. Ning couldn’t recognize any of them, and so he opened one. On the surface of the books, there were some beautiful Fiendgod characters: [Stellar Scroll] [Stellar Scroll 2] [Stellar Scroll 3]….there were forty three scrolls in total. “This is…?” Ning stared at these books. The old black bull explained, “These are the manuals left behind by the first owner. The name of it is the ‘Stellar Hall’ and there are a total of forty three parts. Ning lifted up the Stellar Scroll and flipped through it. The pages were black, while the words were in golden Fiendgod strict. The contents were rather puzzling as well…it felt like hastily scribbled notes! There wer like casual recordings which described personal feelings! Ning originally had taken them to be profound books and was rather surprised. “If you want to read!” The old black bull said hurriedly. “At a simple glance, there are no mysteries and nothing mysterious to the contents. But if you fully read everything…you will discover how extraordinary it is.” “Oh?” Ning, startled, picked up the [Stellar Scrolls]. “Go outside the room to read. Sit on that stone bench over there.” The old black bull said. “Read aloud!” “But I don’t recognize Fiendgod characters.” Ning asked. Although he could recognize Fiendgod characters at first glance, and understood which human words matched each Fiendgod word, the two were different languages after all. “Just use your own race’s language to read. That is what Immortal Juhua did in the past.” The old black bull said. “Right.” Ning held the tome in his hand and walked out of the straw hut. He seated himself at the stone table, where the first master might have sat countless years ago and where Immortal Juhua might have sat as well. Ning flipped open the book and began to read. “Today, Chang came to pay his respects to me…” Ning began to read, puzzlement in his heart regarding these casual personal recordings. His voice rang out. Every single sound was very ordinary, but once the words were read out, the sound of the large number of words connected…in a manner that was like a song, capable of moving a person’s heart, causing pain, amazement, sorrow, and more. The sounds of these words were unfathomable; just by reading them out, the sound of these words seemed to contain a ringing, miraculous power… Slowly, they drew Ning into a unique world. When he became absorbed with seeing this world, Ning forgot that he was holding the [Stellar Scroll] in his hands. He stared at the countless stones of the desolate region, at the creek filled with life energy, as though seeing a pair of ‘Daos’. Daos filled with boundless profundities. Even the small grass which was growing out carried another sort of Dao within it. Ning raised his head. The stars in the sky were brilliant. Each of them were incomparably bright, and they each gave Ning a different feeling. Suddenly…Ning stared at one particular star, one which caused Ning to feel familiar and intoxicated by it. “Longing, warmth…” Ning seemed to be once more lying ont hat little boat of his, drifting atop Serpentwing Lake. He also seemed to be in his mother’s arms… That longing, that warmth…it filled his entire heart. …………… The old black bull stared wide-eyed as it watched. “Truly inconceivable. This this this this…he actually completely read nearly the entire first scroll before halting? This Ji Ning really is at quite a high level of understanding. He was actually able to read so many characters. Most likely, he’s become emeshed on an extremely deep layer.” The old black bull understood this very well. This book was nothing more than a sort of ‘guide’, guiding the consciousness of practitioners on an extremely deep level to gain certain insights. The more words one read, the deeper a level of insight gaining one would reach! But of course…how much one would gain from it would depend on how many experiences that person had built up normally in life. Good preparation was the key to success; only by normally accumulating experiences would one have sudden insights. “Which star is he looking at?” The old black bull saw Ning raise his head to stare at the sky. He couldn’t help but feel curious “According to what Juhua said, every single star contains a different Dao.” A calm smile was on Ning’s face, as though he were by the side of his mother. That smile contained an inexhaustible charisma…when the old black bull saw Ning’s smile, he seemed to feel even his own heart grow warm. This was a form of longing. A mental warmth. “Sword.” The old black bull stared. Ning rose to his feet, leaving the stone table. He pressed his forefinger and middle finger together into the shape of a ‘sword’, then began to brandish them about in training swordplay within the Stellar Hall. This was a type of swordplay that contained inexhaustible, endless longing…Ning didn’t release any rays of 685 sword-light, nor did he use any elemental energy; this was seemingly a very ordinary display of swordplay. But it made the old black bull sense the boundless longing contained within it. The old black bull was able to sense the surrounding Serpentwing Lake area. He knew that over the past few years, Ning had gained insights into many hints regarding the True Meaning of the Dao, the majority of which belonged to a longing-type sword intention. “It changed.” The old black bull instantly saw how Ning’s swordplay had become purer. “Rustle…” In the area around Ning, who wasn’t using any elemental energy at all in executing this swordplay with just his fingers, suddenly appeared drops of rain. One drop of rain after another came to form, and they constantly fell. The rain fell nonstop, landing atop the scattered stones…and Ning, in the center of the rainstorm, was like the favored son of the rain, which surrounded him and protected him. “This this this…” The old black bull stared. “Accumulated effort which results in sudden rewards!” The accumulated hints of insight into the True Meaning of the Dao which Ning had gained over the past five years, at this moment…finally made a qualitative breakthrough! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The raindrops were sprinkling downwards. Ji Ning, amidst the rain, was completely absorbed in his swordplay. His sword-fingers alone were able to execute a sword technique that activated the ‘Dao’. How comfortable. Ning felt as though, in this moment, he himself had become a drop of rainwater! He was swirling about, playing and jesting with the other droplets of rain, and joining with them to form a single strand of it. That sort of interconnected-ness and mutual affection…caused the countless drops of rain to all join together. “Rustle…..” The sprinkling rain surrounding Ning transformed into countless drops of rain which transformed into a drizzling rain. The countless crystalline strands of rain appeared all the more mesmerizing. Swish! Swish! Swish! Every single strand of rain seemed to secretly be like a knife. “Rumble…” The rain grew heavier and heavier, transforming into a tempest. The tempest seemed incomparably ferocious, and Ning’s swordplay carried a ferocious, unstoppable power as well. ……….. The old black bull stared, stupefied. Rain drops, rain drizzle, tempest…and in the end, the rainwater once more transformed into that sprinkling, drizzling rain. One line of rain after another…they seemed like incomparably precious, crystalline jade sculptures that were carved into thin lines. They were also like the hands of a mother, gently stroking down. Finally, Ning came to a halt. “This…is Dao?” Ning murmured to himself. “Congratulations, Ji Ning.” The old black bull’s mouth was hanging wide open, and he was incomparably excited. “You have already truly immersed yourself into the Dao, truly and complete. The feeling of becoming part of the Dao itself is very marvelous, isn’t it?” Ning nodded gently. Just now, that feeling had indeed been incredible. He was like a pearl of water, a droplet of rain! In that instant, he felt incomparably familiar to and close with the rainwater. Ning understood…that he had developed his own Dao. The Dao of Rainwater! “Over the past five years, you have gained insights into many strands of the True Meaning of the Dao. Your accumulated insights have allowed you to break through to a new threshold, with the final result being that you have gained a ‘Dao Domain’.” The old black bull sighed in praise. “Dao Domain?” Ning looked puzzled. “What is that?” The old black bull said, astonished, “You don’t even know this?” “No idea.” Ning said honestly. The old black bull sighed, shaking his head. “Your clan really is an ordinary one. You don’t even have a basic understanding of the different levels of insight. I’ll tell you, then. In training, one aspect is improving on a technical level; be it sword, saber, spear, or even painting and music and other artistic endeavors, technique matters. The first level is the ‘foundation’! Which is to say, becoming familiar with the basic techniques of an art. The second level is the ‘advanced’ level; it represents that you have all but perfected your mastery of the techniques. The third level is ‘one with the world’; this represents that you are already getting close to the ‘Dao’, and have begun to attune to heaven’s will.” Ning listened. Naturally, he knew about these first three levels. “After ‘one with the world’, the next step is in attuning with the intricacies of the natural world, and slowly discovering one of the ‘Daos’. Once you discover it! You will have gained a hint of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. That is the fourth level; ‘True Meaning of the Dao’.” The old black bull shook his head. “It is very hard to gain insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. Even some Zifu Disciples aren’t capable of doing it.” When Ning had been meditating on the Dao by the side of the pool that year, he gained his first insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. “Afterwards, when you continue to gain insight and continuously accumulate many more hints of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, your insights into the Dao will grow greater and greater. There will then come a day when the many hints of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ will coalesce and then transform qualitatively. Only then will you truly be able to become one with the Dao itself, to the point where, with but a thought, you can summon the power of the Dao in your surroundings, to form it into your own Domain. This is the fifth level; ‘Dao Domain’. This is the level you are currently at. Formidable, formidable.” The old black bull sighed. “Only very few Wanxiang Adepts are capable of reaching this level; generally speaking, only people at the Primordial Daoist level are capable of reaching this level of insight into the Dao.” “Oh? I’m that amazing?” Ning said with a laugh. “Your innate talents are extremely high, especially your talents as pertain to the sword. You are an absolute monster! With the assistance of the Stellar Hall, at the young age of 16, you’ve actually reached this level!” The old black bull said. Ning understood as well. He possessed the [Nuwa Painting] and was incomparably hard-working. He also had an innately high comprehension ability, and also the Aquatic Estate…there were many variables which contributed to him being able to achieve what he had. “And above the Dao Domain?” Ning asked. “Above it…” The old black bull looked at Ning. “Reaching the ‘Dao Domain’ level, after all, just means that you are able to completely immerse yourself into the Dao. What you need to do is to gain greater insights into this Dao of yours, with the end result being that one day, you will have completely understood and mastered this entire Dao Path! That is the sixth level; completely understanding an entire Dao Path!” Ning now began to understand. Indeed, just now, he had completely immersed himself with the rainwater, but that was nothing more than immersion; he was still far off from being able to completely control the ‘Dao of Rainwater’. “The first level is the ‘basic’ level. The second is ‘advanced’. The third is ‘one with the world’. The fourth is ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. The fifth is ‘Dao Domain’. The sixth is a complete ‘Dao Path’!” The old black bull said solemnly. “The level of comprehension and enlightenment one possesses is very important. Only by having sufficient comprehension will one’s power increase. Otherwise, there is no way you’ll be able to withstand and control great power.” “To become a Celestial Immortal, you have to completely control a Dao Path!” The old black bull looked at Ning. “For example, Immortal Juhua had been a Loose Immortal for millions of years, and had completely mastered nine full Dao Paths. But so what if he did? The increasingly powerful Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations still caused him to fall in the end. Anyone who becomes a Loose Immortal is guaranteed to fall.” Ning sighed as well. “You train in the sword, and have reached the level of ‘Dao Domain’. Generally speaking, your Domain will be referred to as a ‘Sword Domain.’” The old black bull reminded. “Just based on the fact that you have a Sword Domain, countless major sects will swing open their doors for you to join.” “Sword Domain?” Ning said softly. “This Dao is the Dao of Rainwater. Let my Sword Domain therefore be known as the ‘Rainwater Sword Domain’, then.” Ning looked at his surroundings. Rustle… Rainwater appeared out of nowhere, sprinkling downwards and swirling about him. Every single line of rain also seemed like an incomparably sharp arrow, enough to slice apart hard mountain stones or steel. “Let me warn you. Just now, when you immersed yourself into the Sword Domain, eight hours went past in the outside world.” The old black bull said. “Eight hours?” Ning was startled. “I really didn’t have any sense of time passing when I was immersed in the Dao. Right, Elder. Now that I have my Rainwater Sword Domain…if I were to challenge the first level of the Wargod Hall, do I have a chance?” The old black bull was stunned. “The first level of the Wargod Hall? Right, you can give it a try!” Ning laughed. Even if the old black bull hadn’t said anything, Ning would have still gone and given it a try, because a Fiendgod practitioner only had two chances at each level of power to challenge the Wargod Hall. He had already reached the peak of power as a Xiantian Fiendgod, and would most likely soon break through to the Zifu level. If he didn’t use the two options he had at the Xiantian level, they would go to waste once he reached the Zifu level. “Let’s go. I want to see how formidable this Wargod Hall is.” Ning was extremely eager and deeply desired to successfully make it through, so as to be able to go to the Treasure Hall to select a treasure! The treasures of the Treasure Hall were all left behind by the first master. Even the Mortal-ranked magic treasures were most likely extraordinary, and might be of great benefit for the Ji clan’s battle against Snowdragon Mountain. “Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning murmured in his heart… ___________________________ It was already dark, and Zifu Disciple ‘Muse’ of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain had flown without stopping at all for tens of thousands of kilometers to arrive at this place. Like a ray of light, he charged downwards to an estate below. Below was a large, towering mountain. The name of the mountain was Landwyrm Mountain. “Human practitioner, immediately depart.” “Human practitioner, you actually dare invade our Landwyrm Mountain? Are you looking to die?” 690 As Muse descended towards Landwyrm Mountain on his flying treasure, some of the Diremonsters of Landwyrm Mountain began to curse angrily. Landwyrm Mountain was a powerful force, and the top of the mountain was an ancient Zifu-level monster who had trained for a thousand years, ‘Landwyrm’. Landwyrm was a Godbeast, and as a Zifu-level Godbeast, one could imagine how powerful this old monster was. Naturally, he commanded a large group of Diremonsters, and this was forbidden grounds for humans. A Zifu-level ancient monster, and with the lineage of a Godbeast. These two things guaranteed that many Zifu Disciples would be frightened of him. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, your junior apprentice-brother Muse requests a meeting.” Muse didn’t pay any attention to those Diremonsters, flying straight to the top of Landwyrm Mountain before speaking. “Grooooooowl.” An enormous draconic head suddenly emerged from a cave at the top of the mountain. That azure draconic head had a single horn atop it, and its wheel-sized eyes stared towards Muse. The incomparable aura alone the draconic head emanated…caused Muse to feel nervous. He knew very well that he wasn’t a match at all for this Landwyrm in front of him.” The Landwyrm before him was a peak Zifu monster, with the lineage of a Godbeast. “My respects, Daoist friend Landwyrm.” Muse bowed. “Master hates to be disturbed. Can it be that you do not know this?” The Landwyrm growled. “There’s something major happening.” Muse said hurriedly. “I have major news to report to senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, news which will be of great benefit to him.” Jadechild… Out of the many people which the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain were inviting over, he was the most important person. As Dong Ziqi and Muse saw it, as long as they were able to invite their fellow apprentice, Jadechild, that was enough; he alone could easily annihilate the Ji clan by himself. Actually, just by looking at this spirit-beast, the Landwyrm, which Jadechild controlled, one could imagine how powerful Jadechild was. It must be understood that Zifu-level spirit-beasts were extremely rare. Although many human experts had some Diremonsters as spirit-beasts, that was because there were a fairly high number of humans with the insights necessary to break through to the Zifu level. But for a spirit-beast to break through to the Zifu level was much rarer! Ancient Zifu-level monsters generally 691 weren’t willing to serve, and if they were willing to serve, it was generally only experts. Even if they served a weakling, a powerful expert would soon seize them! Dong Ziqi. Muse. Ji Ninefire. None of them had a Zifu-level spirit-beast. “You wish to see me?” A deep, powerful voice rang out, and a muscular man with long, loose azure hair, a pair of tiger-like eyes, and black clothes moved out from one side. “My respects, senior apprentice-brother.” Muse hurriedly bowed respectfully. “I’ve seen you before. You are Muse.” Jadechild looked at him. “Can it be that you aren’t aware that I am in closed door training in an attempt to make a breakthrough?” Muse felt his heart tremble. He knew exactly how terrifying this senior apprentice-brother Jadechild of his was. Jadechild was a Fiendgod Body Refiner who had reached the peak of the Zifu level! In addition, Jadechild had also learned the divine ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’. A peak Zifu-level Fiendgod practitioner was already very frightening; being in possession of a divine ability meant they could fight someone at a higher level than themselves. Dong Ziqi himself was nervous in front of this fellow apprentice, Jadechild. He was the most important person they were inviting on this venture. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” Muse said hurriedly. “I know that you are in closed door training and don’t like to be disturbed. However, not too far from here, at the nearby Swallow Mountain, we’ve discovered a large-scale elemental ore mine, with very many high quality elemental stones. The mine has a circumference of four thousand kilometers and a depth of three hundred kilometers.” “What!” Jadechild, who had been very calm up to now, suddenly had his eyes explode with two rays of golden light. “Your words are true?” “If I’ve deceived you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, you can go ahead and kill me with one palm blow.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I imagine you wouldn’t dare deceive me.” Jadechild nodded slightly. Muse said hurriedly, “Although we have discovered this enormous elemental ore mine, this elemental ore mine is within the territory of the Ji clan. The puny Ji clan wasn’t worth fearing, and our Swallow Mountain branch should have been able to easily exterminate it, but…” Muse explained what had happened afterwards. Jadechild frowned as he listened. “A bewildering formation?” “Right. Ji clan’s Patriarch, Ji Ninefire, is skilled in formations and poisons.” Muse said hurriedly. “This time, we have invited all our colleagues to go deal with the Ji clan. The Ji clan’s strength isn’t worth fearing. Only, in formations…” “If they set a great formation…” Jadechild frowned. “Since we are not skilled in formations, they can easily delay for a long period of time. Once enough time passes, the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy will most likely arrive! Of the formation experts close to the Swallow Mountain region…there is a junior apprentice-brother named ‘Nongdao’. If we can invite that fellow apprentice, the formations that a small clan like the Ji clan is capable of using will easily be broken!” Muse nodded hurriedly. “We have invited fellow apprentice Nongdao as well. Now that you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, have spoken, I imagine Nongdao will go as well.” “Hurry and go invite junior apprentice-brother Nongdao.” Jadechild instructed. “I will go to your Swallow Mountain region right now.” “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Muse was overjoyed. “Mm. Go.” Jadechild instructed. A green leaf-type magic treasure suddenly appeared beneath Muse’s feet, and then he transformed into a ray of light, disappearing into the horizon. Jadechild stared into the distance, silent for some time. “Landwyrm.” Jadechild turned and shouted. “Master.” An azure scale covered, horned Landwyrm clambered out. This Landwyrm had four claws, and was an imposing, majestic sight. Currently, his body was rapidly shrinking, until he was only ten meters long. “Come, follow me to Swallow Mountain.” Jadechild said softly. “If we render major merits this time, perhaps we can use the opportunity to ask the main sect to assist me in making a breakthrough.” Jadechild was something of a rogue practitioner. He had reached the Zifu level as a Ki Refiner long ago, but the technique he had used to train in ki was a fairly superficial one. This made it so that it was almost impossible for him to break through to become a Wanxiang Adept as a Ki Refiner! Afterwards, he slowly trained as a Fiendgod Refiner until he broke through to the Zifu level as well…he could be considered a talented figure, which is why he was accepted into Snowdragon Mountain! Unfortunately, he was already a late-stage Ki Refiner. There was no way back for him, and it was too late to change to a different technique. Fortunately, the long amount of time he had spent in training resulted in him developing a fierce, decisive temperament. After accomplishing a major deed, he was viewed upon favorably by the main sect, and he was given a divine ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’. This caused his status to rise once more. Nowadays… He always stayed in closed-door training, because he wanted his Fiendgod body to breakthrough to the Wanxiang level! Only, each major increase in level was too difficult. Although the main sect did indeed have methods by which the chances of breakthroughs could increase, the price was great; why would they be willing to help him?” “You will definitely succeed, Master.” The Landwyrm crawled out. Jadechild sat on the Landwyrm’s back. Whoosh! Clouds appeared beneath the feet of the Landwyrm, and it immediately flew into the distant horizons. All dragons were naturally capable of controlling water, and although this one was only at the Zifu level…it was still able to summon the clouds and fly on them. Within the ancient Aquatic Manor. Ji Ning and the old black bull were walking shoulder-to-shoulder out of the Stellar Hall. “It is indeed much faster to train and gain insights in the Stellar Hall.” Ning sighed in praise. “The Stellar Hall is effective in assisting one in comprehension.” The old black bull said. “But in the end, it still depends on your normal accumulated experiences. Only after you experience many things will you gain many insights. Normally, you randomly accumulate many different experiences…and you yourself won’t even notice it, but once you enter the Stellar Hall and begin to train in gaining further insights, you will improve greatly. But without those normal, everyday experiences…if you stay all the time in the Stellar Hall, it will be pointless.” 694 Ning nodded. As the saying went, read ten thousand books, then go on an actual journey of ten thousand kilometers. Personal experiences and insights were what mattered most. “We’re at the Wargod Hall.” The old black bull stood in front of the Wargod Hall. The bronze gate of the Wargod Hall had the carves of a waraxe and a spear above it, and a martial aura emanated forth from it. In addition, the entire bronze gate was covered with a faint layer of red light, which carried within it an aura of slaughter. Ning held his breath. “Senior.” Ning hurriedly asked. “In the past, what did Immortal Juhua experience when he passed the first level of the Wargod Hall?” “No point in asking.” The old black bull shook its head. “The dangers of the first level of the Wargod Hall are arranged on the fly. They can change at any time. The spirit of the manor and I learned this long ago.” “Oh.” Ning was resigned. The old black bull said hurriedly, “Be careful. Although the tests of the Wargod Hall are meant to sharpen your skills and not to kill you, and although you are a Fiendgod practitioner and have a low chance of dying inside, the tests always have an element of danger! Don’t lose your life.” “Don’t worry.” Ning pushed aside the giant bronze gate and strode inside. As soon as his hands touched the bronze gate. “Whoosh!” The blurry red light on the surface of the bronze gate instantly sucked Ning inside. Ning disappeared into thin air from in front of the bronze gate, and in the instant in which he was drawn within, Ning’s eyes instantly became round and filled with shock. “Oh, I forgot to tell you that entering the Wargod Hall is a matter of direct teleportation.” The old black bull, seeing the stupefied look on Ning’s face, stared back at him with his own ox-eyes, then began to laugh… In the blink of an eye, they arrived at a vast, empty land. The ground was covered with ground that seemed to be stained with blood. Up ahead, there was a majestic tower, and the door to the tower glowed with a faint white light. “Hm?” Ning immediately saw the giant yellow bear standing not too far away. “Senior.” Ning hurriedly paid his respects. The giant yellow bear nodded slightly. His formerly uncaring expression seemed to have softened significantly, and his attitude had become much nicer as well. “For you to have reached the level of ‘Dao Domain’ at the age of five is fairly rare, even amongst Fiendgods. Tell me, which level of the Wargod Hall do you intend to challenge?” “I can choose?” Ning was amazed. “Of course you can choose! For example, when the Aquatic Manor’s owner is outside adventuring, if he returns at the Primordial Daoist level, and he only has two options to challenge the tower, he naturally won’t choose the first level.” The giant yellow bear said. “You can, if you choose, go directly to the highest level of the Wargod Hall, level ten. But of course, even though the Wargod Hall’s tests aren’t meant to kill the testers, even the slightest energy ripple at that level will cause you to instantly disintegrate, leaving not even your soul.” Ning rubbed his eyes. Fine, then. Level ten? Even Immortal Juhua only passed level seven after becoming a Loose Immortal! He couldn’t even imagine how difficult the tenth level was. Ning only felt as though the original, ancient Fiendgod who had created this Aquatic Manor was simply too powerful. “I choose the first level.” Ning said honestly. Based on what the old black bull had said, before he had mastered his Rainwater Sword Domain, his chances of succeeding on the first level were less than 10%. One could imagine how difficult the first level was. “Fine.” The giant yellow bear nodded. “At least you are doing things step-by-step. This is you first challenge, and this test will be the easiest of tests.” “Easiest?” Ning was stunned. The giant yellow bear’s furry paws suddenly grabbed Ning by the arm. Whoosh! Instantly, Ning and the giant yellow bear arrived at the majestic tower. The tower gate glowed with blurry white light as Ning and the giant yellow bear stepped inside with a single step. This was a blurry white space that was three thousand meters high and with a circumference of many thousands of meters. The only thing present was that floating door behind them. “This is the first level of the Wargod Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. Ning immediately looked carefully at his surroundings. The first level of the Wargod Hall? Then where was the dangerous test? “Look.” The giant yellow bear stood there, pointing into the distance. Ning followed the giant yellow bear’s finger with his gaze. He saw that out of nowhere, a black wooden stake had suddenly appeared. The wooden stake was as thick as Ning’s legs, and was three meters tall. It just stood there. “A wooden stake?” Ning was stunned. “The test that I’ll give you is significantly easier than the test which I originally gave Immortal Juhua or Rampart.” The giant yellow bear said. “The first test of the Wargod Hall is…in the time it takes for a single incense stick to burn up, split that wooden stake apart!” The giant yellow bear’s palm suddenly had an incense stick within it, only roughly one foot long. “Shatter the wooden stake before the incense stick burns up?” Ning looked at the wooden stake. No wonder the spirit of the manor said that this was the easiest test. It was even easier than the one which Juhua and Rampart had to undergo! Indeed, it was just a matter of splitting a wooden stake. There wasn’t any danger at all. In addition, the wooden stake just stood there, not resisting at all. “Begin.” The giant yellow bear said. That incense stick appeared on the floor not too far away, already lit. “A single incense stick…” Ning didn’t dare to waste any time. Ning, with a ‘swoosh’, scurried before the wooden stake. Although it was only a wooden stake, blindly striking it was just foolishness. It was better to spend some time to first analyze it…and see where the wooden stake would more easily break apart. Only by knowing one’s self and one’s enemies would one have hope for victory. This wooden stake was completely black, and it had circles of characters covering it. “Would it be easier to follow the pattern of the runes in striking it?” Ning said to himself. “Haaargh!” The Darknorth swords appeared in Ning’s hands, and the divine power in his Zifu completely exploded forth. Whooooooooosh. Drizzling rain appeared in the surrounding area. The drizzling rain merged into lines of rain which swirled about the area, making it quite comfortable and cool. This also clearly caused Ning’s control over the surrounding ‘Dao’ to become much more powerful. “Rain Line!” Ning used his most powerful attack at the very start! Whoosh! Ning’s swords flashed like lightning, disappearing into thin air as they completely merged into the surrounding, billowing lines of rain. Ning’s sword light transformed into one of the strands of rain, as thin as silk, incomparably sharp, instantly chopping towards the wooden stake. “Bang!” The only thing which occurred was a white smudge appeared on the wooden stake. As the rainwater fell down, the white smudge disappeared, as though nothing had happened. Ning himself, because of the powerful counterforce, knocked backwards, and the palm of his hands split open. He took three step backwards, but instantly the wound to his palm was healed. “Just a white smudge. This wooden stake is indeed incomparably tough. To break it in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn is very hard.” Ning instantly charged forward and gave it another blow. It, too, was ‘Rain Line’. The sword merged into the lines of rain… Bang! As soon as it touched the wooden stake, a powerful concussive sound once more rang out, but this time, Ning chopped in accordance with the magical runes. Although he was still knocked backwards by the collisive force, Ning found to his surprised delight…that there was a hint of a very small wound on the wooden stake. The wound was very small, almost neglible, but it was still there. “I imagine that by using this sword strike with my Rainwater Sword Domain…the power is comparable to the ninth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation. But this is all I can accomplish?” Ning was stunned. “Without the Rainwater Sword Domain, I really wouldn’t be able to do anything to it.” Ning knew very well that within the Rainwater Sword Domain, he was like a tiger who had been given wings; the power of his sword technique had risen by several levels.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Treasures The distant giant yellow bear nodded slightly and mused to himself, “This Ji Ning’s talent for swordplay is indeed high. That sword blow alone has already just barely reached the Wanxiang Adept level. But if that’s all he has, there is no way he will be able to overcome this first trial. His blows needs to reach the power of a full-force blow from an early Wanxiang Adept…only then will he be able to break the wooden stake before a single incense stick burns down!” The first level of the Wargod Hall required that a person have the attack power of an early Wanxiang Adept in order to be overcome! This was already the easiest testing method which the spirit of the manor could select. A true test would also test a person’s battle experience, mentality, movement abilities, and many other aspects. After all, in a true battle against a real enemy, would the enemy just stand there like a block of wood, waiting for someone to split it apart? ……. “Even by using my Rainwater Sword Domain, my Darknorth swords aren’t able to split this wooden stake.” Ning immediately retracted his Darknorth swords. “Lesser Ten Thousand Swords Formation.” Ning retreated by thirty meters, and then out of nowhere, more than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures suddenly appeared. All of the magic swords glowed with a blurry white light, and powerful Zifu-level elemental energy filled each magic sword…after circulating through, the power condensed next to Ning, into the form of an incomparably fierce sword light. This sword light could faintly be seen to have the form of a flying sword. “Originally, when I fought against Dong Ziqi, I activated these swords with peak Xiantian-level energy. Now that I use Zifu-level elemental energy to activate them, the power of the Lesser Ten Thousand Swords Formation is clearly much enhanced.” Ning could sense the sharpness of this sword light. This sword light’s own power was most likely comparable to the earlier, full-strength close-combat blow he delivered. “Rainwater Sword Domain!” 699 A drizzling rain suddenly appeared around him as the area within three hundred meters sank into his Rainwater Sword Domain. “Go.” Ning willed it, and the sword light by his side instantly vanished, transforming into a line of rain as well. This line of rain instantly traversed the distance of thirty meters, slicing down in the direction of the runes covering the wooden stake. Boom! A wound immediately appeared atop the wooden stake, as the sword light chopped in nearly to the depth of half a finger. “Good.” Ning was overjoyed, and another ray of sword light formed by his side. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! One ray of sword light after another flew into and completely merged with Rainwater Sword Domain, transforming into thin lines of rainwater. The rainwater sliced directly downwards onto the distant wooden stakes, once more leaving behind wounds.. It must be understood that the wooden stake was harder to cut on the inside than on the outside…the elemental energy within Ning’z Zifu was quickly being used up, as the wound on the wooden stake grew greater and greater. Some time later. “BANG!” A line of rain sliced across the wooden illar, and the wooden stake snapped in half. The upper half of the wooden stake fell, descending down to and smashing against the ground. “Success.” Ning rejoiced. He hurriedly turned his head to look at the incense stick behind him. A majority of the incense stick was already gone. “Congratulations on succeeding.” The giant yellow bear walked across. “Do you wish to challenge the second level of the Wargod Hall?” Ning was swayed. The second level? It seemed as though succeeding on the second level of the Wargod Hall only resulted in a Mortal-ranked magic treasure. The benefit was the same as successfully passing the first level. The difficulty level… “Senior, how hard is the second level, compared to the first level?” Ning asked. “How is the danger level?” “Of course it is much more dangerous.” The giant yellow bear said directly. “You overcame the simplest first level test. But from the second level onwards…it won’t be that simple. It won’t be like just now, where there was only a block of wood that wouldn’t fight back. In addition, I won’t give you any advice at 700 all. All you can do is charge in! Fight! If you feel you are in danger of death, you can immediately use the control talisman to teleport out. Once you teleport out, it means you lost!” “Are you willing to use your second chance to challenge the second level of the Wargod Hall?” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “My second chance?” Ning was stunned. The giant yellow bear said, “I recommend you to use it. You are already at the peak as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. You might break through at any moment, and if you do…the two chances you have as a Xiantianlevel expert will be gone. If you don’t use it, it will go to waste.” Ning pondered for a moment. “Then I will try it.” Ning laughed. “Go then.” The giant yellow bear said. Whoosh! Ning disappeared from this first level of the Wargod Hall. But just ten seconds later. “Bang!” Ning once more appeared at the first level, flying backwards and falling against the the floor. The furs on his body were all torn apart, and there were multiple bloody wounds on him, although some of them healed by the time he landed on the ground. “You lost.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “Success in either the first or the second level results in just a single Mortal-ranked magic treasure.” Ning rose to his feet and said angrily. The furs on his body automatically repaired themselves. “Why is the second level so difficult?” As soon as he had entere, he had instantly been attacked by tens of strange beasts which looked like black panthers. He was caught rather off-guard, and only after he released his power did he realize that every single black panther was comparable to Dong Ziqi! He used everything available to him, but was only able to hold on for ten seconds before being forced to give up. If he didn’t give up, he would have been torn into pieces by that group of black panthers. “The Wargod Hall has ten levels, each of which is increasingly difficult.” The giant yellow bear growled. “This was decided by Master. There’s no point to you complaining.” “Is there no difference between passing through the second level and the first level?” Ning asked. “There is a difference.” The giant yellow bear said. “As you have passed the first level, I will give you a large number of Mortalranked magic treasures and items of comparable value for you to choose from! Some of them are topgrade Mortal-ranked magic treasures.” “If you succeed in challenging the second level, you can choose from any of the Mortal-ranked magic treasures or items of equivalent value which the Treasure Hall holds. There are some very unusual, very unique items there…although they are only Mortal-ranked, they are comparable to some ordinary Earthranked magic treasures, or even more valuable.” Ning now understood. “Go, then. Go to the Treasure Hall.” The giant yellow bear stretched out a furry paw, grabbing Ning by the arm. Whoosh! The two disappeared into thin air… The Treasure Hall. The Treasure Hall was an enormous hall, and high above in the air floated one magic treasure and unique item after another. Surges of tremendous power rippled forth…although these ripples were heartshaking, they were controlled by the restrictive spells of the first master, and didn’t injure Ning at all as he stood down below, preparing to make his selection. “There are many magic treasures and unique items.” The giant yellow bear looked down towards Ning. Within the bear’s palms, a golden book suddenly appeared. “This golden book has recorded within it magic treasures of the Mortal-rank. You can choose from them. Choose.” Ning accepted the golden book. The book only had two Fiendgod characters atop it: [Precious Treasures]. He opened the book, and atop the pages were diagrams of precious treasures and unique items, as well as descriptions of the items. “This really is…” Ning was stupefied as he read. “Compared with the magic treasures up above me, the treasures which the Zifu Disciples of my Swallow Mountain region are just dogshit.” Ning had a feeling of speechlessness. It was as though he was a farmer militia who encountered a formal military. The equipment was on a completely different level. The magic treasures above him were, at very least, high-grade Mortal-rank! Most were top-grade Mortalrank! The Mortal-rank magic treasures the first master was willing to keep naturally were all fine items. “Whew.” “These Tri-Poison Flags are too vicious. With them, a peak Zifu Disciple can fight head on against a Wanxiang Adept. The power is most likely no weaker than that of a completed form of the Myriad Wraiths Banner which Bei Zishan was working on. In addition, the Myriad Wraiths Banner needs countless people to be tortured to death, but these Tri-Poison Flags don’t require you to commit such grave sins.” Ning sighed in amazement. The evil Daos also had their own incredible magic treasures. It wasn’t always necessary for one to commit any sins, yet still allowed items of incredible power to be made. “This one is formidable as well. The Nine Yang Swords Formation?” Ning’s eyes blazed as he looked at it. The most alluring part of it was that this magic treasure was formed from nine flying swords, each of which was a high-grade Mortal-rank flying sword! “The Nine Yang Swords Formation is the most suited for you.” The nearby giant yellow bear said. “Choosing this magic treasure is equivalent to choosing nine flying swords. Although they are only highgrade Mortal-rank flying swords, they come from the same source. If you use these nine flying swords as the a base core for your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the power of it will increase threefold or fivefold! These nine high-grade Mortal-rank flying swords alone are worth more than several dozen of your ordinary Mortal-rank flying swords.” Ning felt desirous as well. This was an excellent item. “Yin Fire Bottle?” Ning raised an eyebrow. “How vicious.” “Waterflame Mixed Element Staff.” Ning felt his pulse race when looking at this one as well. He controlled fire and water, and was also a Fiendgod Body Refiner. The Waterflame Mixed Element Staff was very suited for Fiendgods. “Divine Starpoint Needles? Thirty six needles in a set? My soul is powerful, making it very suited for controlling large numbers of items.” Ning desired these as well. One magic item after another. Even the ones that weren’t suited for him made him feel desirous. These were all top-grade indeed! Topgrade! He had killed Bei Zishan and Ju San and acquired some magic treasures, but compared to these…there was no way to compare! Ning would be willing to trade dozens of magic treasures like those for a single one of these. What Ning didn’t understand was that these items were viewed by the first master as ‘top-grade’ or ‘highgrade’, but if they were to be ranked in the modern era, all of them would be viewed as top-grade! Even those nine flying swords of the Nine Yang Sword Formation…according to modern standards, they would be viewed as nine top-grade flying swords. “Wonderful.” Ning felt his heart itch. He really wanted to grab a pile of them. Ning began to understand Immortal Juhua a bit better. The poor Immortal Juhua could see all these powerful magic treasures, but couldn’t obtain them! If he could pick one as he pleased, he probably would’ve been able to survive his tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal! Although the first master wanted to help future generations, he didn’t show them any favoritism. Even if the future generations died…his rules were still unbreakable. You want magic treasures? Then follow the first master’s rules. “An ice-sealed Three-Eyed Firebug Larva? It can be used to raise an entire race of Three-Eyed Firebugs. An ordinary adult Three-Eyed Firebug is comparable to a Zifu Disciple? The only flaw is that it requires a large amount of spirit materials as food, and it also takes a long time to grow. However, it can also result in the breeding of incredibly powerful Three-Eyed Firebugs.” Ning’s heart burned. “A golem comparable to an ordinary early Wanxiang Adept? An unkillable golem? The only flaw is that it requires a large amount of elemental energy to be used.” Magic treasures. Unique items. Each of them drove Ning crazy and moved him. “Don’t be dazzled.” The giant yellow bear warned. “The Nine Yang Swords Formation is the most suitable for you. Nine excellent swords which come from the same source…it will be very hard for you to find something like them while adventuring outside. Your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] needs a core, and the stronger the swords of its core, the better.” Ning flipped through another page. Formation techniques? Ning’s eyelids shot up. Right now, the Ji clan was under tremendous threat. The best method for dealing with a large group of Zifu Disciples was using formations! It was formations which could create miracles! “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. A large formation suitable for guarding a clan or a sect. A large formation formed from five component formations…” Ning was moved as soon as he read through this. He hurriedly read through it carefully, and the joy on his face became even greater. “This is it, this is it!” Ning was howling in his heart. “With this, my power will greatly increase, and the power of the Patriarch and the others will increase as well.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Seeing this major formation that was could be used to guard an entire clan or sect, Ji Ning managed to suppress his excitement and continue reading, despite the fact that he was mentally howling in excitement. Perhaps there would be something even better! Ji Ning continued to flip through this golden book, and one magic treasure after another appeared, causing Ning’s heart to clench repeatedly! It was really…really breathtaking. Unfortunately, he couldn’t acquire them all! He only could choose a single item. “[Soaring Serpent Formation Loop of the Nine Heavens!]” Ning’s eyes lit up as he carefully inspected the descriptions within. “This formation is even more complicated than the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and the power is actually even greater. Still, it seems it needs nine users who are at least be at the Zifu Disciple level.” Ning shook his head. ………….. “Whew.” Ning closed the golden book. The item which was most suitable for the current Ji clan was naturally a formation technique! There were several that were comparable to the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and two that were even better than it. But from the current situation, the most suitable, realistic choie was still the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was formed from five component formations, each of which a single Zifu Disciple could control. However, if five Zifu Disciples joined forces…the power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation would reach the maximum level! As for the Ji clan, including Ning’s father, it had six Zifu Disciples! But his father would have to use a forbidden technique to release enough power. Strictly speaking, the Ji clan only had five Zifu Disciples. Given this…the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was the best choice. “Have you chosen?” The giant yellow bear said. “I have.” Ning nodded. “The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation!” The giant yellow bear stared at Ning in astonishment. “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation? Did you make a mistake? That is a grand formation suitable for protecting a clan; once you set it down, you cannot move. Even if you choose to fight…you still have to set the formation up in advance! In the future, you will definitely go adventuring outside. If you suddenly encounter any danger, you won’t have time to set up a 706 formation, and what’s more, the power of this grand formation when a single person is controlling is very ordinary. You need five people working together to reach a high level of power! I urge you to reconsider. You will have very, very few chances to select an item from the Treasure Hall. Once you make the choice, there’s no way to change it!” “I choose it.” Ning didn’t hesitate at all. “Fine.” The giant yellow bear said nothing further. “Come.” The giant yellow bear pointed at a spot in the air far above them, and in the tightly clustered mass of treasures and artifacts, a ray of light flew out from an unassuming dark corner that couldn’t even be seen with the naked eye. It was like a meteor, quickly passing through all obstructions and landing on the ground. Ning looked at it. He saw four black scales that surrounded a central black pearl. “This is a dragon pearl.” The giant yellow bear waved his hand, and the black pearl immediately levitated into the air. The black pearl was covered with a large amount of runes, and the faint image of a dragon’s shadow could be seen swimming within it. The complicated runes atop it seemed to be exceedingly beautiful, completely different from the crude scrawlings atop ordinary Mortal-rank magic treasures. “The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation has five parts to it. The core is the dragon pearl! And then, there is the dragon’s head, the dragon’s body, the dragon’s claw, and the dragon’s tail. Four secondary parts!” The giant yellow bear waved his hand again, and those four scales flew over as well. “They are formed from the scales on the dragon’s body, which were forged into four formation disks. One dragon pearl, four formation disks. This forms the complete, five-part Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. As for the mysteries within, after you bind it and carefully analyze it, you’ll understand.” Ning nodded. He stretched his hand out, accepting the dragon pearl and four formation disks. “You’ve already entered the Wargod Hall, Treasure Hall, and Stellar Hall. Only the Divine Abilities Hall remains.” The giant yellow bear said. “Work hard to make your breakthrough. At the latest, make your breakthrough at age ten. By then, you can challenge the Divine Abilities Hall.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. “Then now…?” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “I’m heading out.” Ning didn’t hesitate. The giant yellow bear nodded slightly. Whoosh! The bear’s head dramatically increased and became illusory, swallowing Ning within it. Ning disappeared. Serpentwing Lake. Beneath a courtyard within Brightheart Island. There was a lantern hanging nearby, casting a faint light on the surrounding area. It was already late at night. “Why hasn’t the young master returned?” Autumn Leaf held a flask of wine, standing behind Ji Yichuan. Yichuan sat down, and behind him was lying a big white dog, the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’. Autumn Leaf’s eyes had a hint of worry within them as well, because Yichuan had been waiting very long already. “The young master said that others were not permitted to disturb him, and that his room was to be completely sealed.” There was nothing Autumn Leaf could do. She knew Ning’s temper; if he said he was not to be disturbed, others absolutely would not dare disturb him. The only choice was to wait. “Don’t be impatient. There is enough time.” Yichuan held a cup of wine and spoke softly. He was very calm, because the coming battle would be the most glorious moment of his life. “Rumble…” The ground vibrated faintly from far away, and instantly, Autumn Leaf revealed a look of delight. “The young master should be leaving his closed quarters.” And then, a creaaaak. From afar, a door to a room opened, and a youth clast in beast furs stepped out. Yichuan stood up, frowning slightly as he looked at Ning. He had watched Ning grow up, and so he could sense any changes Ning went through. He noticed that the current Ning…seemed to be less ‘sharp’ than before, but in possession of a hint of the calmness of the water. “You were training?” Yichuan asked. Ning nodded slightly. “I had a breakthrough!” A look of delight and satisfaction appeared in Yichuan’s eyes. This was his final battle, and he believed that he would die in it! To be able to, before his death, see his son increase in power yet again…naturally, he was incomparably delighted. For his son to be such a monstrous talent…he could already see the sight of his son’s name being spread throughout the vast world. “Good.” Yichuan just said a single word. “Uncle White is going as well?” Ning looked towards the nearby Whitewater Hound. The Whitewater Hound nodded towards Ning. Yichuan glanced a side at the nearby Whitewater Hound. “Your Uncle White and I are lifelong brothers. I am prepared to die in this battle; even if I survive, I will be left a cripple. Before this, I released your Uncle White and Uncle Black, giving them their freedom…your Uncle Black has already returned to his mountain forests, but your Uncle White has chosen to accompany me. Even if he dies, he wishes to die by my side. I am unable to force him to leave. I simply cannot. For me, Yichuan, to have a brother like this…even in death, I will feel proud.” Ning’s heart trembled. He saw the tears brimming in his father’s eyes, and the steely, unrelenting look of eternal companionship in his Uncle White’s eyes. “Good. Let’s go together.” Ning walked over, embracing the Whitewater Hound, much like he had always done when he was young and would go out to train archery. “Uncle White, let’s go together.” The Whitewater Hound looked back at Ning, and deep love could be seen in his eyes. He had watched Ning grow up from an infant into an adult. This was the only son of his lifelong friend, Ji Yichuan. Naturally, he viewed Ning as a younger family member. Whoosh. A boat appeared out of nowhere. Hovering there in midair, it quickly expanded until it reached a size of more than thirty meters. Ning, Yichuan, and the Whitewater Hound boarded it. “Let’s go.” Ning willed it. The boat quickly began to fly through the skies, rapidly advancing through the dark night towards the north. ……. Back at that desolate mountain forest. Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing, Ji Truekeep. These four had already arrived, and had already set up a bewildering formation nearby. Ning had spent quite a bit of time meditating in the Stellar Hall. The others had taken care of their matters, then returned. Given the speed a Zifu Disciple could move at, they had naturally already taken care of everything. “Why did you bring your spirit-beast as well?” Granny Shadow said in a hoarse voice. Truekeep stroked the head of a black eagle. “I didn’t want it to come, but it insisted. It followed me since it was a chick. All these years, it has never left me. This time, it refused to leave no matter what…forget it. We’ve known each other all our lives. The relationship between the two of us is closer and more familiar than even the relationship between myself and my wife and children. Ninefire and the others just looked at him, then nodded gently. For a spirit-beast to willingly accompany a person in braving danger; this was rare indeed. “Yichuan hasn’t returned yet?” Truekeep stroked the eagle while raising his head to look. The bewildering formation hadn’t been activated yet; naturally, his vision was not impacted. Even in the darkness, the faint light of the moon was more than enough to allow Zifu Disciples to see to a great distance with the naked eye. “Don’t be impatient.” Ninefire said. “We still have quite a bit of time.” “It’d be best if that kid Ji Ning doesn’t come.” Granny Shadow sighed, speaking in her hoarse voice. “He insists on coming. He is the true hope of our Ji clan. Given his latent talent and potential, it shouldn’t be hard for him to become a Wanxiang Adept, but his temper is too stubborn.” Ninefire laughed, then said consolingly, “Don’t worry. He has the Traceless Talisman. When true danger comes, even if he doesn’t leave, we will force him to.” “Right. We will force him.” Granny Shadow nodded. “If he doesn’t leave at the critical moment, I’ll commit suicide right in front of him.” “Enough. He knows what is important.” Ninefire’s eyes lit up. “They are coming.” All of them raised their heads to look. From afar, in the air, they saw a ray of light fly over. Only when it began to slow as it descended could they see clearly what it was; it was a boat. This boat swiftly descended from the skies, and then, roughly thirty meters away from the ground, vanished. Ning, Yichuan, and the Whitewater Hound all landed on the ground. “You brought your Whitewater Hound as well?” Truekeep laughed. Yichuan glanced over in surprise as well. “Your Snow Eagle came as well?” The two glanced at each other, then both laughed. They both understood why. “Alright. We are all here.” Ninefire said. “We should prepare to deal with Snowdragon Mountain.” “Right.” Everyone’s faces grew a hint more solemn. Ninefire spoke out. “Earlier, I made a special trip to Swallow Mountain City, to pay a visit to General Dong, who is in charge of the forces stationed here!” “How did it go?” All of them asked with anticipation. A hint of fury was in Ninefire’s eyes. “Everyone knows General Dong. He is one of the members of that large, far away clan; the Dong clan! That’s the reason why he was able to become the commanding general of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s forces here.” 710 Ning nodded. They knew these things long ago; becoming a general in the Grand Xia Dynasty’s military…wasn’t something which someone in a small clan like the Ji clan could hope for. After all, that was, without question, a wonderful assignment. Once you put on the ‘tiger garb’ of serving the Grand Xia Dynasty, who would dare offend you? “I didn’t want to offend this General Dong.” Ninefire said. “Unfortunately, when I wanted to make the report, I was told that General Dong was in closed door meditation and unable to receive visitors. I went to see the Deputy General, but I was told the Deputy General had left Swallow Mountain City and wasn’t here at present.” “What.” They all grew frantic. “Definitely a delaying tactic. They didn’t want to meet with us.” “Snowdragon Mountain must have done something.” Ning was frantic as well. The point of them setting the formation was to delay until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrived. But if there was no report filed…how could the Celestial Envoy come? Ninefire said, “I couldn’t be bothered with anything else. This matter involves the fate of our Ji clan. Thus, I no longer cared about whether or not I was offending General Dong. Thus, I began to shout, sending my voice echoing throughout the entire Swallow Mountain City…I said that my Ji clan was willing to offer to the Grand Xia Dynasty an enormous elemental ore mine! My voice naturally flooded the entire Swallow Mountain City, and everyone within it, along with all of the soldiers, all heard my voice. General Dong thus no longer dared to delay, and so he hurriedly came to see me, his face as black as thunderclouds, and then angrily shooed me away.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Well-offended.” Ji Yichuan’s eyes flashed with cold light. “This matter involves the survival of the Ji clan. How can we be bothered by whether or not we are offending a garrison general?” “Right.” Ji Ning, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing all nodded. Garrison generals wielded great power. The six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain region all needed to pay a large amount of tax each year to the Grand Xia Dynasty. They delivered it directly to Swallow Mountain City! Aside from the authority to collect taxes, the garrison general was also responsible for oversight; he was responsible on behalf of the Grand Xia Dynasty for managing this region. Power over both oversight and tax collection…if they were really to squabble, these things would cause the Ji clan to suffer in the future. But that was just suffering; compared to the possible perishment of the entire clan, it didn’t matter! “As long as we sign an agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty, we would have their protection. He, a garrison general, wouldn’t be able to do anything to us.” Ji Ninefire said. “Since everyone is here, I will let you know that I have already chosen the location for our battle with Snowdragon Mountain. Let’s head out.” “Where will we battle with Snowdragon Mountain?” Ning asked. “Oxhorn Mountain, located close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” Ninefire said. “Oxhorn Mountain?” Ning was naturally extremely familiar with the geographical areas around the Ji clan. Upon hearing what Ninefire said, he immediately understood where they would be. Oxhorn Mountain was roughly eight hundred kilometers away from the City of Ten Thousand Swords. It was a large, desolate mountain. Because the peak of the mountain was split in twain, like the horns of an ox, it was referred to as ‘Oxhorn Mountain’. “I’ve also sent envoys.” Ninefire said. “They are flying on winged beasts towards Snowdragon City to idirectly inform them that our Ji clan has set a grand formation at the base of Oxhorn Mountain. Given the speed at which my envoys travel at, I imagine that in roughly ten hours, they will arrive at Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning and the others nodded. Ten hours? It would probably be tomorrow at noon, then! It made sense. The winged beasts the envoys flew on were ordinary, trained animals; it was only natural that they would not be able to compare with Xiantian-level flying monsters, or to Zifu Disciples. “I will collect this bewildering formation, and then we will immediately head out.” Ninefire, afraid of being suddenly attacked, had set up the formation here. “Whoosh!” An enormous gourd appeared. Ji Ning and the other five, along with the two spirit-beasts, stood or sat atop the gourd. The gouard flew through the skies at high speed. Oxhorn Mountain was roughly three hundred or so kilometers away. They arrived within moments. “Right there.” Ninefire pointed at the split peak of Oxhorn Mountain below them. “Land there onto Oxhorn Mountain. We can see everything from there, and given that the surrounding area is completely desolate…there’s nothing that can block our line of sight. As long as those Snowdragon Mountain disciples come, we will immediately see them from far away.” Ning, Yichuan, and the others all nodded. Whoosh! They landed from the skies, then put the gourd away. Ninefire and the others thus landed atop the mountain. “I have already prepared six formations. They represent my hundreds of years of painstaking research in analyzing formations.” Ninefire pointed at the surrounding area. “I’ll only need as much time as it takes to boil a kettle of tea before I set these formations down. Even if experts from Snowdragon Mountain who specialize in formations come to break through them, they will probably need to spend quite some time to break through six of them. During that period of time, we can also borrow the power of the formation to launch sneak attacks and ambushes, one after another, disrupting them from breaking through the formations! Our goal is to make them waste as much time as possible. Based on my calculations, the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty will arrive in three days. If we can hold for three days, then once the Celestial Envoy arrives, we will have won!” “Right. Once the Celestial Envoy arrives, they will no longer dare to act.” Granny Shadow nodded as well. “Even if we die, we have to delay them from breaking through our formation.” Truekeep nodded solemnly as well. “Our power, compared to that of a large group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain…if we fight them head on, there’s no way for us to compete. We have to rely on the formations! The more time it takes for them to break through our formations, the greater our chances for victory. Ideally, we should get rid of the formation experts which Snowdragon Mountain has invited over.” 713 Ninefire shook his head. “They will definitely focus on protecting their formation experts; they might even prepare specifically for us launching our most powerful attacks against the. It isn’t too likely that we will be able to kill the formation experts.” Yichuan nodded as well. “Let’s do our best to delay!” Six grand formations! The disruption of each formation represented an increase in the level of danger the Ji clan would face. “Patriarch.” Ning said solemnly. “I have a grand formation as well. We can be considered to have seven formations in total.” “Oh?” They all looked at Ning. “You have a grand formation?” Ninefire was extremely surprised. “Was it Bei Zishan’s? Bei Zishan came from Snowdragon Mountain, and he should have had some formations available to him.” Although this was what he said, in his heart, Ninefire didn’t feel too hopeful, because as he saw it, Bei Zishan was an amateur, while he, Ninefire, had chosen these six formations based on the most exquisite formations available to him and based on the treasures the Ji clan held. “No.” Ning shook his head. “I once had a special stroke of fortune, and the most valuable item I acquired from it was this grand formation.” “A special stroke of fortune?” They were all stunned. Yichuan stared at Ning. Yichuan’s first reaction was to think back to how Ning disappeared in Serpentwing Lake. That time, he and his wife had been worried for many days. Yichuan said, “Ji Ning has indeed had a special stroke of fortune, which he narrowly survived. However, I didn’t know he had acquired a powerful magic treasure from it.” Ning nodded. “Patriarch, look.” Ning waved his hand, and instantly, a black light appeared above them, covered with incomparably intricate, wondrous magical runes. It was the dragon pearl and the four black scales. They caused the surrounding space to fill up with a black fog. Just by looking at them, especially considering the majestic presence of the faint draconic shadow within the dragon pearl, Ninefire and the others felt incomparably delighted. “Dragon pearl?” Ninefire called out in surprise. “There is a dragon soul within?” “Look at these runes. In my entire life, I’ve never seen runes as beautiful as the ones atop this treasure.” Granny Shadow was scrutinizing the scales. “What complicated runes.” Ninefire was stunned as well. Ning said, “Patriarch, once you bind it, you will understand.” “How can I bind it? A treasure like this…our Ji clan has existed for thousands of years without having a treasure like this.” Ninefire shook his head. Although the Ji clan had its important, clan-protecting treasures, those were generally one-use Dao-seals and the like. How could it have an incomparably precious treasure like this, which could be used repeatedly? “This treasure isn’t something which the likes of our clan can use. Normally speaking, we’d be afraid others would come to steal it. However, now that our Ji clan is facing annihilation, I don’t have to be worried, I suppose. Still, Ji Ning, it’s best if you are the one to bind this magic treasure.” “Patriarch, didn’t you say that once things grew dangerous, I would have to immediately leave?” Ning said helplessly. “If I leave…am I supposed to take the formation with me?” “Oh…” Ninefire hesitated slightly, then gritted his teeth. “Fine. I will bind it. For now, I’ll use it!” Given that the annihilation of his clan was at hand, Ninefire wouldn’t hesitate. However, he could tell, just from the quality of the worksmanship, the runes, and the materials used that this magic treasure was extremely precious. “Whoosh.” Ninefire stretched out his right hand, and a flood of elemental energy flowed into the dragon pearl and the four draconic scales. This treasure didn’t have any remnants of ki within it, and so it naturally was easily bound. “A wonderful treasure. A wonderful treasure!” As Ninefire bound it, he immediately began to understand the secrets of the treasure, and his eyes turned completely round. “This is too, too…” Although he knew that it would be an excellent treasure, Ninefire was still stunned. “Patriarch?” “Elder brother?” Granny Shadow, Yichuan, and the others all looked at the Patriarch. “What a truly fine treasure!!!” Ninefire stared, round-eyed. He said excitedly, “My Ji clan has hope now. It has hope now! We have a chance! A real chance!” “What sort of treasure is it? Hurry up and tell us! I’m impatient to hear it!” Granny Shadow said hurriedly. Ninefire said, with incomparable excitement, “This grand formation has five parts. I can control them all by myself, but I need four Zifu Disciples assisting me! The four Zifu Disciples will be assigned to different locations. One Zifu Disciple will become the core of the ‘Dragonhead Formation’, one will be the core of the ‘Dragonbody Formation’, one will be the core of the ‘Dragontail Formation’, while one will be the core of the ‘Dragonclaw Formation’! Naturally, I will stand guard at the center and control the dragon pearl.” 715 “When the time comes, for the five Zifu Disciples who set up the formation, the most important thing is that, like with Dao-Soldiers, they will be able to share and borrow each other’s elemental energy! Even if one suffers an attack, it will be spread across to everyone in the entire formation and first be weakened by the formation itself, then dividing up amongst the five users.” Hearing this, Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the others were all excited. Being able to combine their elemental energy and defensive strength was already worth them being excited over; it meant all of them had gained in strength. “But this is just the first benefit.” Ninefire said excitedly. “There are other intricacies within. I’m unable to fully investigate them right now, but the dragon soul alone…when the time comes, we won’t even have to attack ourselves. We can use the dragon soul to launch attacks. This is much like Dong Xiqi’s Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Only, this formation of ours is far more exquisite than that one!” “Hurry, hurry. I’m going to immediately set it up. I need to focus on it and become familiar with the intricacies within.” Ninefire was incomparably excited. “Good, good, good.” All of them nodded. Ning nodded as well. He knew very well that this sort of formation required a very high level of comprehension regarding formations by the user. Only a high level of comprehension could result in effective control of the formation. Ninefire, in terms of talent, might not be superior to Ning, but he had been studying formations for centuries, and so in terms of his ability to control formations, he was on a similar level as Ning. “Right. Ning, what is the name of this formation?” Ninefire couldn’t help but ask. “I’ve never seen such an intricate, exquisite formation. This formation is more powerful than all six of my other formations.” “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” Ning said. “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” Ninefire murmured this, then transformed into a ray of light as he began to fly about, setting up the formation. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation had to be set up in advance. The dragon pearl could be carried at all times, but the four dragon scales had to be set down in advance. ………. Time passed by the minute and by the second. It was now dark at night. The Ji clan set up their formations, here at Oxhorn Mountain, training in them and becoming more familiar with the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. This caused them all to dance for joy. “So that’s how it is. How incredible.” 716 “We can allow the Netherwyrm to attack; the rest of us don’t have to interfere. We can also…transform into the ‘claws’ or the ‘tail’ of the Netherwyrm and actively attack. When we attack personally, the Netherwyrm will be able to unleash even greater power.” Truekeep was incomparably excited. He had never seen such an incredible formation. “In addition, in the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, the heavens and the earth are ‘locked’, making everything seem illusory! This is the most miraculous bewildering formation I have ever seen. If we want to attack, we can; if we want to retreat, we can hide behind the illusions, making it so that Snowdragon Mountain wouldn’t be able to find us.” Ninefire laughed loudly. Ning was excited as well. Although this was what he had expected, during their tests, he, a mere early Zifu Disciple, was able to use the combined elemental energy of the entire grand formation…and the Patriarch and the others were peak Zifu Disciples! When accessing all of the elemental energy of the formation, Ning had more elemental energy than any peak Zifu Disciple. For him to use so much ki in setting up his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] meant that the power would be even greater! “Come, then. Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning was filled with confidence. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Noon. The Golden Crow [the Sun] hung high in the sky. While Ji Ninefire, Ji Ning, and the others were setting up and familiarizing themselves with this grand formation, Snowdragon City of the Swallow Mountain area had already summoned quite a few Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. In the air above Snowdragon Mountain, there was a giant carpet, upon which was placed a number of chairs, fruit platters, wine, and more. All of the cultivators were seated in the lotus position, clinking glasses and exchanging toasts. They were quite at ease. “Junior apprentice-brother Dong Ziqi really has invited quite a few people this time. He invited all of our fellow apprentices in the areas surrounding Swallow Mountain.” A bearded elder held a beastskull cup of wine in his hands, chatting with a silver-haired cultivator who sat next to him. “It’s only been a short while, but more than ten Zifu Disciples have already arrived.” “The more Zifu Disciples arrive, the better it will be for us when we use the combination techniques off Snowdragon Mountain!” The silver-haired man laughed. “With so many people, no matter how many tricks that puny little Ji clan have, when we join forces against them…we will sweep them effortlessly.” “How can we possibly need this many Zifu Disciples to deal with a puny little Ji clan?” The long-bearded elder shook his head. He came just for the purpose of earning some merits; after they captured the elemental ore mine, the main sect would undoubtedly reward those who had played a part in it. Participants like them would be awarded merits, based on the size of their contributions. Unfortunately, with so many cultivators present, each person would have slightly less merits to earn. While they were discussing this… Dong Ziqi, as the host, was naturally walking around with a glass of wine in hand, chatting with everyone. Amongst his fellow apprentices, he was considered quite famous and formidable, and could be considered an exceptional character. Everyone would give him face. Still, Dong Ziqi spent most of his time with Jadechild. Jadechild’s face was glowing with golden light. Seated there in the lotus position, he had his own unique, domineering aura. The nearby Landwyrm shrank to a size of just a few dozen meters and lay there, gorging itself on meat. Next to Dong Ziqi were three fairly strong fellow disciples. “Now that senior apprentice-brother Jadechild is here, no matter what tricks the Ji clan uses, it will be useless. Actually, all we have to do is collect some military merits.” “The last time I saw you, senior apprentice-brother, was more than thirty years ago.” All of them chatted, beginning to flatter and praise each other. After all, this person in front of them, Jadechild, in terms of power, was strong enough to fight head on with an ordinary Wanxiang Adept! By relying on his divine ability, he was able to kill Zifu Disciples as easily as chickens. In addition, they had all heard of how Jadechild had secluded himself in the hopes of making a breakthrough. If he didn’t make a breakthrough, that was one thing, but if he did, then he would become a Fiendgod practitioner at the Wanxiang Adept. By then, Jadechild’s status would skyrocket, and he would become a major figure of the main sect. Naturally, they had to befriend him early on. “Hm?” Dong Ziqi suddenly turned to look into the skies. From afar, a fur-clad man could be seen, riding on a winged beast. The winged beast was an ordinary one, not a Xiantian-level Diremonster. The fur-clad man called out, “Cultivators of Snowdragon Mountain, I have come to deliver a message on the orders of my Patriarch. The Patriarch of our Ji clan, as well as the other Zifu Disciples, have set down a grand formation at Oxhorn Mountain, eight hundred kilometers outside of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. We are waiting for you, Snowdragon Mountain, to break it!” After speaking, the fur-clad man flew away atop that winged beast. “Arrogant little fellow. Watch me deal with him.” A Zifu Disciple with triangular pupils immediately said in a cold voice, preparing to act. “Stay your hand.” A calm voice rang out. The Zifu Disciple turned to look. The speaker was senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, who was seated in the position of honor. He immediately no longer dared to attack. “We are all people who have embarked on the path of Immortal practitioners, while he, a messenger, is merely a mortal. If you lower yourself to kill him, wouldn’t you be tarnishing the reputation of our Snowdragon Mountain?” Jadechild said calmly. “Their puny little Ji clan dares to brazenly set up a grand formation and ask us to go break it? Then our Snowdragon Mountain will display our overwhelming power and smash them all to death in an awe-inspiring display.” “Senior apprentice-brother is correct.” “Senior apprentice-brother’s words are reasonable.” 719 “Our power far exceeds the Ji clan’s. For us to act openly and above-the-board is the correct path.” All of the Zifu Disciples hurriedly said a few words of praise. Jadechild continued, “However, for the Ji clan to directly notify us means that they definitely have some tricks up their sleeves. These clans have been rooted here for thousands of years…they might have some powerful techniques available to them. Fellow apprentices, don’t be careless. Be careful and vigilant…if we are vigilant, then given our power, eradicating the Ji clan will not be an issue at all.” “Right.” All of them nodded, as though having been lectured. Actually, who amongst them didn’t know this already? Only, since Jadechild was speaking, they had no choice to obediently listen. …………….. Another four hours or so passed, and another series of Zifu Disciples arrived, three more in total. These three new Zifu Disciples who had rushed here, upon seeing so many fellow apprentices present, and upon seeing senior apprentice-brother Jadechild in particular, naturally also accepted Jadechild as their leader. Although quite a few Zifu Disciples went forward to say a few words to Jadechild, Jadechild just gave a few casual replies. “Hrm?” Jadechild’s eyes lit up as he looked towards the distant skies. He even put down the beastskull goblet in his hand. In the distant skies, a white Fairy Crane was descending. There were two Zifu Disciples seated atop it. One was Muse, who had gone out to deliver the invitations to the other apprentices of Snowdragon Mountain; as for the other, this man was dressed in ordinary fur clothes. This practitioner had unbound hair, and his eyes gleamed like the stars. Just looking at him made people unconsciously feel calmer. “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao has arrived.” Dong Ziqi hurriedly rose. “Come. Let’s go greet junior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Jadechild rose to his feet. Jadechild rose to welcome Zidao, naturally causing the surrounding Zifu Disciples to all rise as well. They also behaved in a very warm, welcoming manner. Nong Zidao… This was an awe-inspiring figure known throughout the Swallow Mountain region. Jadechild himself was merely a rogue practitioner who eventually joined Snowdragon Mountain! As for Zidao, he had been trained at Snowdragon Mountain as a child, and was a member of the extremely powerful ‘Nong’ lineage of Snowdragon Mountain! Amongst the younger members of Snowdragon Member, he was quite famous for his prowess in formations, and the Ki Refining technique he trained in was an exquisite one as well. In the future, he would have a chance at becoming a Wanxiang Adept. Logically speaking, it should have been quite hard to invite such a figure to attend. “I didn’t expect that Dong Ziqi would be able to invite even Nong Zidao to come.” The Zifu Disciples were all quite surprised. “Junior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Jadechild laughed as he went forward to welcome him. “I thought it would be quite some time, junior apprentice-brother, before you arrived. I didn’t imagine you’d arrive so soon.” “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” The celestial goose landed on the carpet, and Nong Zidao descended. “After hearing that you were inviting me and giving me a chance of earning some merits, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, of course I wouldn’t dare be slow. I had Crane leading the way, and so I moved much more quickly than our other fellow apprentices.” The two of them chatted, paying no attention to anyone else, but the other Zifu Disciples felt that this was only proper. “Junior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Nong Zidao looked at the nearby Dong Ziqi. “This time, you’ve accomplished a great deed.” “With you present, senior apprentice-brother Zidao, I now feel much more confident.” Dong Ziqi said hurriedly. “Prior to this, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and I were both concerned about those formations…although the Ji clan is a puny little clan, they have a history of thousands of years. For the sake of the survival of their clan, the formations they are setting down will definitely be extraordinary. Before this, I was worried, but with your arrival, senior apprentice-brother Zidao, everything will be simple.” “With senior apprentice-brother Zidao here, the puny Ji clan’s formations will quickly be broken.” “Quickly and easily.” The Zifu Disciples all began to laugh and sigh in praise. Nong Zidao nodded gently. The main sect actually cared quite deeply about his expertise in formations, but he was still, after all, a mere Zifu Disciple, not yet a Wanxiang Adept…and thus, his status wasn’t able to rise too much. As for Jadechild, however, by relying on his divine ability, he was able to fight with the strength of a Wanxiang Adept. Given that Jadechild wasn’t too old, and was capable of making a breakthrough, of course Zidao wanted to make friends with Jadechild. This mission was absolutely a simple one, but with great potential rewards. Of course he had to come. “Junior apprentice-brother Zidao, with you being here, we have a total of nineteen Zifu Disciples.” Jadechild glanced at the surrounding people. “If we include my Landwyrm and that Fairy Crane of yours, we actually can be said to have twenty one Zifu Disciples.” They all nodded. Jadechild then gave another glance at Nong Zidao. Their gazes intersected, and they made the decision simultaneously. “We have an absolute advantage in power, and for the formation-breaking, we have junior apprenticebrother Zidao.” Jadechild said. “Since this is the case, there is no need for us to delay any further. Let us head out for Oxhorn Mountain now! As for the fellow apprentices who will arrive later, junior apprenticebrother Ziqi, you arrange for someone to welcome them, then tell them that we have already gone to Oxhorn Mountain.” “Alright.” Dong Ziqi hurriedly responded. Since Jadechild and Zidao had made their decisions, most likely the latecomers wouldn’t dare say much. “Fine, let’s go.” “With so many colleagues present, we have enough power to annihilate the Ji clan.” “We even have senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao. Everything is set.” The Zifu Disciples all spoke out in praise and approval. The more Zifu Disciples came, the more people would divide the merits earned. If they headed out now, and immediately destroyed the Ji clan, then they would earn the majority of the merits, with the latecomers at most getting a few scraps. Dong Ziqi directly reached out to his clansmen within Snowdragon City: “Wait here within the city. Once our colleagues arrive, just say…that senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao have led the rest of us to Oxhorn Mountain.” “Yes, Patriarch.” The Xiantian lifeforms within the city began to make their preparations for welcoming the latercomer Zifu Disciples. “Let’s go.” Dong Ziqi laughed. Whoosh! The carpet immediately flew into the distance. This group of Zifu Disciples remained seated on it, continuing to nurse their drinks. They were quite at ease. To them, this trip to Oxhorn Mountain was nothing more than an excursion tour, incomparably relaxed. ……….. Oxhorn Mountain. The sun had already begun to set, having reached the western mountains. The sunlight bathed the world in its glow, causing the desolate wilderness and Oxhorn Mountain to be covered with a layer of red gauze. The Ji clan’s experts had already finished familiarizing themselves with the formation and were now resting. Their eyes were all filled with confidence and anticipation. If before this, they were prepared to fight to the death, or perhaps even had mentally prepared to die…then they now could be said to have confidence in their ability to give Snowdragon Mountain a fight. Ninefire said, “Unless a few dozen of their Zifu Disciples perish, they can forget about breaking this formation.” His words were filled with an eagerness for the coming battle. This powerful formation…it would definitely ensure that a large group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain would perish within. “This bottle of liquefied elemental essence.” Ning was holding the jade bottle while speaking to his clansmen. “Prior to this, when training, I only used thirty percent. Quite a bit of it remains. In this battle against Snowdragon Mountain, our Ji clan cannot be the slightest bit careless. This bottle of liquefied elemental essence will be of great use. Patriarch, please accept it.” Just as Ning was speaking, Truekeep suddenly shouted, “Look, look north!” “Hrm?” All of them turned to look. Standing at the tip of Oxhorn Mountain, they were able to see that in the distant skies, an enormous carpet was flying over. Atop the carpet was tables and chairs, as well as one Zifu Disciple after another, either seated in the lotus position or reclining while drinking wine, seeming quite relaxed. One of them stood at the very front of the carpet. From the looks of it, it was Dong Ziqi! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Dong Ziqi stood there atop the carpet, staring into the distance. The distant Oxhorn Mountain looked the same as always, extremely peaceful. “Apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao.” Dong Ziqi hurriedly called out. “Oxhorn Mountain is up ahead, but at first glance, I don’t see anything.” Immediately, a group of Zifu Disciples arose, with Jadechild and Zidao leading the way. They stood at the edges of the carpet, staring into the distance. Nong Zidao began to laugh. “Just a vision-bewildering formation. Although you can’t tell from the outside, once you investigate clearly what’s going on, you’ll know.” Whoosh! The giant carpet descended, quickly landing on a desolate patch of land not too far from Oxhorn Mountain. This group of Zifu Disciples all walked off, raising their heads as they looked at the distant Oxhorn Mountain. “Snowdragon Mountain members, our Ji clan has been here waiting for quite some time.” A heroic, forceful voice emanated forth from the distant Oxhorn Mountain. “So they really are atop the mountain.” Dong Ziqi’s eyes narrowed, and he said, “This is the voice of Patriarch Ninefire of the Ji clan. This old fellow is very crafty, and he is skilled in formations and poisons.” Jadechild just said calmly, “Nothing more than an old man. Killing him is like killing a chicken.” “It’s quite impressive for someone to be this bold though.” Nong Zidao laughed as well. “A grand formation has been set down here at Oxhorn Mountain. There’s no way of knowing what dangers and traps are inside.” A silver-haired Zifu Disciple said, worried. “What are we to do?” The practitioner with the triangular pupils snorted coldly. “What can we do? To break the formation, we first have to test it and see what intricacies it holds.” One Zifu Disciple after another began to discuss what they should do to test it. “No need.” Nong Zidao laughed gently. “This bewildering formation is quite ordinary. Just from reviewing the elemental energy ripples surrounding Oxhorn Mountain, I already know the secrets behind the vision- bewildering formation in front of us. Crane, go break this formation.” Nong Zidao, through his spiritual connection, informed the Crane of the secrets of breaking this formation. The Fairy Crane transformed into a blur, then solidified into a white-robed maiden. The white-robed maiden seemed like an eighteen year old girl, youthful and adorable. “Master, please wait momentarily. I will go break the formation.” The white-robed maiden immediately transformed into a ray of light, flying away towards the base of Oxhorn Mountain. She didn’t enter the formation at all, instead wielding a long black whip in her hands. Striking out with the whip…it suddenly extended, penetrating into the formation, and then wrapping up the formation flag with incomparable accuracy. And then, with a tug, she pulled it out. “Good.” “The spirit-beast of senior apprentice-brother Zidao really is extraordinary.” “Well broken.” They all congratulated. From their side, all they saw was a long whip enter the formation, with that part of the whip disappearing. By the time the whip returned, it returned wrapped around a formation flag! With one of the formation flags pulled out…instantly, the bewildering formation was broken, and the entire Oxhorn Mountain seemed to change slightly, revealing several figures at the peak of the mountain. “The Ji clan.” Muse immediately saw the six of them, with that youth amongst them. “That genius of the Ji clan, Ji Ning, is here as well.” “Activate!” Far away at the peak of Oxhorn Mountain, Ninefire suddenly let out a loud shout, and instantly, a large amount of fog arose, surrounding the entire Oxhorn Mountain. There was black fog everywhere…and for a time, nothing could be seen within. “Master.” The white-robed maiden flew back like a streak of light. “I just barely missed. As soon as I pulled away one formation flag, yet another formation was set down…there’s no way for me to pull away the other formation flags.” “It’s enough for you to be able to pull one out. That bewildering formation has already been broken.” Nong Zidao laughed calmly. “It seems this Ji clan has prepared quite a few formations! Unfortunately…it seems as though none of them are particularly high-class formations.” The nearby Jadechild said, “How can the Ji clan possibly compare with you, junior apprentice-brother Zidao, when it comes to meticulously analyzing formations? If they were capable of setting up a formation that even you, junior apprentice-brother Zidao, felt was high class, then that would be quite baffling. The situation before us is quite normal.” 725 “How should we break this next formation, junior apprentice-brother Zidao?” “It’s hard to see anything within this fog formation.” The Zifu Disciples all looked at Nong Zidao. Nong Zidao shook his head as well. “The previous vision-bewildering formation was easy to break. The one in front of us, however, is a bit harder. In addition, I imagine that the Ji clan has set up layers of formations, formations within formations! How can we break this fog formation just by looking at it from the outside? Most likely, only someone at the Primordial Daoist level would be able to see through the illusions of this formation at a glance.” “Then we…?” Jadechild looked at Nong Zidao. “Investigate the illusions!” Nong Zidao said. “As I see it, our group of nineteen Zifu Disciples should divide into two squads. We’ll first send one group of twelve Zifu Disciples to enter the formation…these twelve fellow apprentices are not to be separated while carrying out their mission, as otherwise, they will be separated and killed. Twelve Zifu Disciples….the Ji clan won’t have the strength to fight back, even if they want to. Nong Zidao looked at Dong Ziqi. “Junior apprentice-brother Ziqi, this time, it was your Swallow Mountain branch which invited everyone to come here, and so you should lead eleven of our colleagues in entering.” “Fine.” Dong Ziqi immediately assented. Nong Zidao immediately began to name names, until finally, twelve Zifu Disciples had been named, with Dong Ziqi being one of them. “My twelve fellow apprentices, please head out first.” Nong Zidao waved his hand, and three jade talismans flew out towards Dong Ziqi and two others. “These three jade talismans were forged by me personally. As long as you stay close to me, I will be able to sense them. Fellow apprentices, please enter the formation first. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and I will follow afterwards…and then, we shall separately test this formation. I will be able to sense everyone’s locations, and so meeting again will be simple.” “Excellent.” “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao is meticulous indeed.” Nobody had any objections. Because they were all very confident! As disciples of the main sect, they were all skilled in combination attacks! Every six fellow disciples would be able to form one formation. Nine, ten, or twelve disciples were also able to set up formations…if the thousands of powerful Zifu Disciples of the main sect were to 726 join together in one combination formation, they would even be able to give a Primordial Daoist a good fight! But of course, the prerequisite was that they all had to understand the intricacies of the combination formations. The larger scale a formation, the greater the level of complexity. For thousands of Zifu Disciples to form into one combination formation would require many moons of training and coordination. …….. Oxhorn Mountain. Black fog billowed everywhere, and Ji Ning and the others flew to the edges of the black fog, staring towards the outside. Everyone had a heavy feeling. Just now, that Zifu-level Celestial Crane didn’t even enter the formation; all it had done was use a whip from outside, and it was able to effortlessly capture that formation flag. Clearly, it had seen through the illusions of the formation. For it to be able to do so without even entering the formation…this caused every member of the Ji clan to have a heavy feeling in their hearts. “The bewildering formation I set down outside the perimeter was the weakest one.” Ninefire said. “First, we will make the enemies believe us to be weak, so as to make them lower their guard.” “Twelve of their Zifu Disciples have broken off and are moving towards us. It appears they are going to enter.” Truekeep suddenly said. “They are breaking into two groups?” Ninefire nodded slightly. “I expect that the second group is the more powerful one; judging from the conversation they had earlier, it seems as though those two Zifu Disciples are in charge. However, those two are in the second group and haven’t entered yet.” “Let us prepare the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” Granny Shadow said hurriedly. Ninefire waved his hand, and two plain, unadorned emblems appeared. The only thing on them was the character for ‘Xia’. “The official writs?” Ning stared in astonishment at these two emblems. “Two official writs?” “Previously, when we killed the He siblings, we acquired an official writ. This unbound writ belonged to them.” Ninefire looked at Ning. His eyes filled with hope, he said, “The other official writ belongs to my Ji clan. It is the official writ of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Ji Ning, for now, we will entrust you with these two writs!” Ninefire handed them directly to Ning. “Me?” Ning was stunned. “We are facing countless dangers right now. If I am lucky enough to survive, then you can give the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords back to me. If I die, then keep it.” Ninefire said. “No matter what, we absolutely cannot permit Snowdragon Mountain to acquire this official writ. If the situation becomes untenable, immediately use the Traceless Talisman to depart. The official writ will thus go with you as well…and so, even if they break our formation, they will not be able to find the official writ at all. By then, you will represent the Ji clan in signing an agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning nodded gently, then accepted the two official writs. When he filled them with his elemental energy, he was able to easily bind them both. At the same time, he could vaguely sense two places ‘calling’ to him. It was the call of those two cities. “Excellent.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others all laughed. Now that they had already arranged everything, they would be able to battle without any other concerns. “Truekeep.” Ninefire said. “You shall be the core for the ‘Dragonhead Formation’ of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. I will fill you with the power of the formation.” “Yes.” Truekeep immediately nodded. “Ji Shadow.” Ninefire, for once, called out his little sister by her full name. “You shall be the core of the Dragonbody Formation. “Alright.” Granny Shadow’s eyes were filled with anticipation. “Liu Xing.” Ninefire called out the full name of the old servant, Ah Xing, as well. “You shall be the core of the Dragonclaw Formation.” The old servant nodded gently. “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked towards Ji Ning. “You are the strongest person amongst us. Your elemental energy is somewhat weak, but once you join with the formation…our elemental energy will combine with yours! Your strength will thus rise the most out of all of us! Given this, your power will vastly surpass the power of the rest of us. The Dragontail Formation of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation is the most mysterious and most nimble part; it can support everyone else. You will thus serve as the core for this formation, and you will also be our killing blade.” Ning nodded. Once the Netherwyrm Heavenlock formation was set down, of the five formations, the Dragonhead Formation, the Dragonclaw Formation, the Dragonbody Formation, and the Dragon Pearl Formation would not be very nimble. The Dragontail Formation, however, was the nimblest formation, and could easily sweep across to many areas. “I will stand guard at the core, controlling the formation to support you all.” Ninefire looked at the nearby Yichuan. “Yichuan will be my backup. Once I die, Yichuan will replace me.” Everyone knew…that Yichuan would only be able to unleash sufficient energy from his Zifu after using a forbidden technique. “Everyone!” Ninefire looked at them all. “Everything we do, we do for the Ji clan.” “For the Ji clan.” Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing, Truekeep, Yichuan, and Ning all nodded solemnly. “Go, then. Prepare each of your formations.” Ninefire gave the order. Immediately, Truekeep, Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ning moved at high speed in four different directions. ………. At the same time. Dong Ziqi and the other eleven Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were carefully entering the black fog shrouded Oxhorn Mountain. As the person who had invited them here, Dong Ziqi naturally set up his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation to protect them! The enormous Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation swirled around the eleven Zifu Disciples, providing an outer layer of protection. This also guaranteed that the twelve Zifu Disciples wouldn’t be easily separated from each other. “A black fog bewildering formation?” The twelve people who entered the black fog region quickly grew cautious. “Everyone, beware the ambushes of the Ji clan.” Dong Ziqi called out. In the black fog, the aura of the region had become heavy and weighty. All of them grew cautious and guarded, for fear that a sudden, terrifying attack might emerge from the black fog. As Immortal practitioners…they all understood that even if they looked down upon their enemies, in a true life and death battle, they couldn’t underestimate any enemy Immortal practitioners. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The thick black fog surrounding Dong Ziqi’s group made it so that they couldn’t see too far away at all. If the black fog was to disappear, they would discover, to their amazement…that a completely black, enormous dragon that was more than ten kilometers long was currently coiled around the entire Oxhorn Mountain. At the same time, the head of the Netherwyrm was staring directly at them. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to see it. This was the reason why Ji Ninefire had set up this black fog bewildering formation. “Come. Come.” Ji Truekeep stared at them from far away. Twelve distant, faint figures could be seen far away in the black fog. These were created through Ninefire’s control over the fog; they were used to tell Truekeep and the others where everyone’s approximate locations were. Truekeep himself was within the enormous black draconic head. After being transformed by the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, the elemental energy of the five had given birth to a powerful draconic energy. At the center of the Dragonhead Formation, Truekeep was naturally able to borrow this power, and he could feel his own strength ready to explode. “Truekeep, wait a bit longer. Don’t be impatient.” A voice rang out by his ear. Truekeep nodded. All the major formations, including the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, was controlled by the Patriarch. Only the Patriarch could effortless speak mentally to them; the others, including Ji Ning, weren’t able to see too far through their eyes. They all needed the Patriarch to assist in guiding them. ……….. Ninefire was halfway up the mountain, within the body of the enormous Netherwyrm. He could see everything within the grand formation clearly, and the black fog served as his eyes. “They are all quite cautious.” Ninefire stared at them. “There are twelve Zifu Disciples, and they all belong to the same sect. They definitely have combination formation techniques…if we were to ambush them now, the chances of success probably wouldn’t be that great. In a short while, they will discover that this black fog formation isn’t an exceptionally clever one. And once they slightly lower their guard…the power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation will definitely make them suffer bitterly.” Ninefire was sufficiently patient. He was able to wait, wait for the best opportunity. Only then would he reveal his teeth and fangs… 730 Dong Ziqi and the rest of the twelve Zifu Disciples were indeed very vigilant when they entered the formation, all of them staying within the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. At the same time, they kept the elemental energy in their bodies activated, prepared to launch a combination attack at any time. “There’s nothing particularly special about this black fog bewildering formation. I’ve already discovered some of its secrets!” One of them, a black-haired elder, spoke out. “I found a few hints as well. However, senior apprentice-brother Zha is more formidable than me when it comes to formations. I imagine that in an even shorter period of time, he would be able to defeat this formation.” A silver-haired cultivator said with a laugh. As Immortal practitioners, especially ones at the Zifu Disciple level…given that they were trapped at the Zifu Disciple level, the most fundamental level, and were unable to make a breakthrough, they naturally would spend their time researching other methods. Formations? Poisons? Golem arts? They would research anything that was useful to them in enhancing their power. Generally speaking, these old fellows who had been alive for three or four centuries would be specialized in several areas. These branch sect Zifu Disciples who had left the main sect had almost no hope of breaking through. Most of them thus spent some degree of time on formations, and some of them were even more formidable in formations than Ji Ninefire was! Only…although setting one was easy, breaking one was difficult! They naturally weren’t confident in their ability to defeat the formations that Ji Ninefire had laid down. However, there were still some formations which they could defeat; only, it wouldn’t be as simple as it was for Nong Zidao. “I only need as much time as is needed to boil a kettle of tea to break this formation.” The black-haired elder smiled. “Then we’ll have to trouble you, senior apprentice-brother Zha.” “We will first break this bewildering formation. There is no need to rely on senior apprentice-brother Zidao to deal with these small formations. We are enough.” These Zifu Disciples clearly felt quite relaxed now. When first entering the black fog bewildering formation, the short line of sight made them grow wary, but upon understanding how simple this formation was to break, they clearly were starting to feel more confident. The black-haired elder nodded. “I will analyze this formation. Everyone, please stay on your guard.” “Leave it to us. Senior apprentice-brother Zha, focus on breaking this formation.” Dong Ziqi and the others said. Moments later. “Right up ahead.” The black-haired elder’s eyes lit up. He was completely confident. “I’ve already seen through this formation.” “Excellent.” All of them grew excited. Dong Ziqi continued to maintain his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, and the group of Zifu Disciples advanced at high speed. The fog up ahead seemed to be a bit thinner, and Dong Ziqi’s group saw, not too far away, a flag planted into the ground. The flag was grey, and covered with many black diagrams. “The formation flag!” They revealed looks of delight on their faces. …… “Truekeep, just wait there quietly.” Ninefire sent mentally. “In a short period of time, those Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain will arrive at your position. When I give the order, kill them.” “I’ve been waiting for this the entire time.” Truekeep’s eyes were flashing with cold light. “Excellent. Just listen to my orders.” Ninefire was eager as well. …. As Dong Ziqi’s group of twelve Zifu Disciples saw the distant flag, they failed to notice that within a hundred meters of them…an enormous draconic head was staring directly at them. “The formation flag!” The twelve Zifu Disciples were all wildly overjoyed, and the black-haired elder couldn’t help but reveal a hint of smugness. Right at that moment… “Attack!” Truekeep, who had been hiding there for quite some time, finally heard the Patriarch’s voice. Whoosh! Just as the group of Zifu Disciples saw the formation flag and were feeling overjoyed, an enormous draconic head suddenly emerged from the nearby dense black fog. The draconic head was incomparably large; in the black fog, they were only able to see several draconic whiskers and scales. The Netherwyrm’s head opened its maw, chomping down towards them. “Careful.” Dong Ziqi, being in control of the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, was the first to notice it, and he hurriedly called out in surprise and fright. It was too late. It came too fast! The distance at which one could see within the black fog was simply too short. The Netherwyrm was ten kilometers long. How enormous must the head thus be? As the draconic head charged towards them…it moved at a speed that was probably more than ten times faster than that of the Zifu Disciples. The draconic head, with a rumble, blasted into and broke through the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. With a crunch, rumble, boom, and terrifying roar…the Netherwyrm’s head came howling towards the enemies! In that howling instant… Truekeep was right in the center of the head. As the Netherwyrm’s head bit down, Truekeep seemed to have gone berserk as the nine sharp awls hovering around his body were filled by the draconic energy generated by the formation. Those sharp awls moved at an astonishing speed, attacking at three of the Zifu Disciples were were closest to and caught offguard by the Netherwyrm’s frontal attack. Supported by the formation, Truekeep’s current level of power was even more powerful than that of most peak Zifu Disciples. Bang! Bang! Bang! Simply too fast. Two of the Zifu Disciples had giant holes blasted through their chests and their corpses fell into the Netherwyrm’s devouring mouth. As for the other Zifu Disciple who had been attacked, he kicked backwards, his body flashing like azure light and instantly moving tens of meters away. A single sudden ambush had killed two Zifu Disciples. The primary reason was that the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation itself was simply too powerful. In addition, all five of its formations had a Zifu Disciple standing guard at the center, making it so that this Netherwyrm seemed to have sentience, making it all the more incomparably, astonishingly powerful. “While they are ill, go for the kill!” Truekeep then moved towards and attacked two other Zifu Disciples who had somewhat pulled away from their comrades. “Kill.” The sharp awls howled! The black draconic head was like a nightmare. “Assemble the formation.” “Assemble the formation.” As the howls rang out, Dong Ziqi and the others had already begun to prepare their formation. These Zifu Disciples were no fools; they knew that they couldn’t move too far away from 733 their comrades. This was because once they moved too far away from each other within this bewildering formation…they would be separately defeated by the Ji clan. But the problem wasn’t that they moved too far away; it was that the strike of the draconic head had knocked some of them flying! The power of the Netherwyrm’s attack was simply too great! “Formation, link.” “Formation, link.” A white light suddenly sprang up, instantly circulating around the bodies of each of the Zifu Disciples. Soon, eight enormous trigrams made of white light had appeared out of nowhere, with the eight Zifu Disciples separated in each part. Actually, this technique of Snowdragon Mountain’s only required six Zifu Disciples to be completely linked up. “Where is senior apprentice-brother Zha?” “Where is senior apprentice-brother Fang?” Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight, after setting up the formation, discovered to their amazement that although they had previously numbered twelve Zifu Disciples, only eight now remained. The other four could not be found. “Senior apprentice-brother Zha.” They all called out loudly, and their voices echoed within the formation. If the other four were still alive, they would be able to reply verbally. “Dead. The four of them are all dead.” Dong Ziqi gritted his teeth. “Too terrifying. Too powerful.” The silver-haired cultivator had a look of disbelief on his face. “Prior to this, I vaguely saw some draconic scales. It was the head of an incomparably large dragon. How could the Ji clan have access to something so powerful? Could that have been a true dragon?” “There’s no way it could have been a true dragon. If it was a true dragon, we would have discovered it long ago! In addition, how could a true dragon be so enormous? It must be a formation!” “But how could the dragon produced by a formation be so powerful?” This group of Zifu Disciples were still in a state of shock. That earlier attack had simply been too powerful. Although they had all been overjoyed upon seeing the flag and had relaxed slightly, they were still within the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, after all. In their hearts, they also remained 734 vigilant. Who would have imagined that this sudden ambush would have blasted through them, forcing them all to retreat and knocking some of them flying! This ambush had killed four of them! “We can no longer see the formation flag either.” Dong Ziqi swept the surrounding area with his gaze. He was now unable to see the formation flag. “When we were struck by that enormous black dragon, we were all knocked backwards and driven farther away from the formation flag.” “The illusion isn’t that important. That enormous black dragon is the true disaster.” “We must have senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild or Nong Zidao come.” The silver-haired expert flipped his hand and retrieved a jade seal. This was the seal Nong Zidao had given him. He clenched it. Crunch! The jade seal disintegrated. …. On the outside. Jadechild and Nong Zidao, along with the other five Zifu Disciples, were waiting. They were in no rush to enter the formation. “What sort of techniques could this sort of small clan have?” Jadechild laughed. “Our twelve Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain have entered, and they have access to a combination formation technique…that is more than enough to utterly sweep and dominate the enemies.” “Right. The formations of a small clan like this can’t possibly be very powerful. Our fellow apprentices also have studied formations. They, too, are capable of breaking formations.” Nong Zidao felt relaxed as well. As he saw it, the combined power of those twelve fellow apprentices….should indeed be more than enough to easily dominate this sort of small clan. Suddenly… Nong Zidao’s face changed. “What happened?” Jadechild immediately asked. “The jade talisman I gave him.” Nong Zidao said in a soft voice. “One of them was just crushed. It seems they encountered some sort of danger. Otherwise, they wouldn’t ask us to save them.” “This puny little Ji clan was able to force them to beg us to save them?” Jadechild couldn’t believe it. Prior to this, Nong Zidao had given them a jade talisman…primarily because this was a habit of the disciples of the sect. None of them actually thought it would be used. “Come, let’s enter the formation.” Nong Zidao said. The other five nearby Zifu Disciples had heard their conversation. They, too, were surprised. The twelve comrades who had entered had actually been forced to shatter a jade talisman? Still, upon seeing Jadechild and Nong Zidao by their side, they felt completely confident. “You wait here. If any comrades of our Snowdragon Mountain comes here, tell them that we have already entered the formation.” Nong Zidao waved his hand, then produced a wooden golem. The wooden golem had a green light within its eyes, and it just listened, then nodded obediently. “Yes, master.” “Let’s go.” Nong Zidao said. Immediately, Jadechild, under Nong Zidao’s guidance, led the group of seven Zifu Disciples and two Zifulevel spirit-beasts into the black fog that surrounded Oxhorn Mountain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The enormous scales atop the draconic tail were all incomparably clear. Ji Ning sat within the draconic tail, surrounded by those enormous scales. “Hrm?” Ning suddenly heard the sound of explosions and angered shouts. “Assemble the formation!” “Formation, linked!” Cries of surprise and terror rang out from afar. Ning’s ears twitched, and he laughed. “IT has begun.” Per their original strategy, Ning was in the strongest position of all, out of the various experts of the Ji clan! He would only be unleashed at the critical moment…there was no need for him to engage yet. Moments later. “Whoosh!” A figure flew over. It was Ji Yichuan, dressed in a white fur robe. “Father.” Ning rose. “Take it!” Yichuan produced six flying swords out of nowhere, which hovered there above his palm. “These were acquired by your Uncle Truekep after executing four Zifu Disciples. One of them was a Zifu Disciple who controlled multiple flying swords; we acquired five from him alone. Thus, the four of them had a total of six flying swords.” Ning didn’t hesitate, immediately accepting them. “Perfect timing.” Ning was incomparably excited. Prior to this, everyone had already traded for some magic treasures. Some of them were useless to him, but were very important to others! At such a crucial, life-and-death juncture, nobody would be shy; everyone acted quite forthrightly. For example, Ning gave the venomous bugs he had acquired from Bei Zishan to Ji Ninefire, while Ninefire, upon learning that Ning desperately needed ranked flying swords, had managed to scrape together five of them. Bei Zishan had left behind two; combined with those five, Ning had seven. That wasn’t even enough for a single formation base of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! But now that he had six more…he had enough. “These six flying swords are all ranked magic treasures.” Yichuan said. “Right.” Ning nodded. “With these six ranked flying swords, my power is going to rise significantly. Later, I’ll have to have a nice little ‘battle’ against these Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain!” 737 Yichuan had a rare look of delight on his face as well. “This has truly been wonderful. And it is all thanks to the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation you brought out! In a single ambush, we killed four enemy Zifu Disciples. Without the aid of this formation, we would probably lose someone on every attack.” “Right.” Ning nodded. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation had been acquired by Ning from the Aquatic Estate. Naturally, it was quite powerful. “Make your preparations. Once you are needed, the Patriarch will immediately notify you mentally.” Yichuan instructed, then transformed into a ray of light and left. Ning immediately filled his elemental energy into the flying swords, seizing every moment of time and hurriedly binding them. Although it was true that, as the spirit of the Aquatic Estate had said, it would be best if the flying swords which served as the core of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] all came from the same source, the current Ning, unfortunately, had no right to be choosy. It was already quite good for him to even be able to have enough ranked flying swords. …… The black fog hung everywhere. Nong Zidao, Jadechild, and the others were advancing carefully through the black fog. The Fairy Crane and the Landwyrm were all in human form now, accompanying Nong Zidao and Jadechild. “This black fog bewildering formation isn’t even worth discussing.” Nong Zidao finally spoke. “I’ve already completely seen through its mysteries. I can sense the direction in which Dong Ziqi’s group lies as well. Now, act according to my instructions…and we will soon reunite with them.” “We will listen to you, senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao is as formidable as ever.” The other Zifu Disciples previously had ugly looks on their faces, but now they finally looked pleased. Prior to this, upon entering the formation, they had immediately shouted, and the distant voices of Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight Zifu Disciples had naturally responded to them…and through the discussion, Jadechild and Nong Zidao learned that four of their comrades had actually died! This caused Jadechild and Nong Zidao to become incomparably enraged and cautious. Nong Zidao said in a clear voice, “Junior apprentice-brother Ziqi, we are coming over right now. We will soon arrive.” “Boom!” “Kill!” 738 “Kill that old bastard of the Ji clan!” A series of angry roars rang out from afar, causing Jadechild and Nong Zidao to be startled. But then, the warcries and sounds of battle came to a halt. Jadechild shouted with a frown. “Dong Ziqi, are you alright?” “We are fine.” The voice came from far away. “The eight of us stayed in formation the entire time, not relaxing at all. Just now, an enormous draconic claw attacked us…it was even more powerful than the first attack. We were at a slight disadvantage, but by joining forces, the eight of us were able to defend well enough that none of us perished.” “Alright. We will immediately come over.” Jadechild said. “Let’s hurry over.” Jadechild looked towards Nong Zidao by his side. “Prior to this, it was the dragon’s head. This time, it was the dragon’s claw. This puny little Ji clan actually has access to such a technique…” Nong Zidao said solemnly, “Most likely, in the past few thousand years, the Ji clan must have acquired this formation through a stroke of great fortune. It seems to be quite powerful. Let’s quickly reunite with them.” Right at this moment… Whoosh! The surrounding black fog suddenly grew denser, and a bone-piercing, insidious cold seemed to fill it. “Go forward. Stop. Turn left…stop.” Nong Zidao guided them easily, but then his face suddenly changed. “Eh?” “What is it?” They all looked towards him, awaiting his directions. “It changed.” Nong Zidao had an ugly look on his face. “There are multiple layers of formations, formations within formations. I’ve become baffled by an even more powerful formation.” “Can it be that even you can’t break it?” Jadechild looked at him. “It will be very difficult.” Nong Zidao looked at the surrounding area. Waving his hand lightly, he could sense that insidious, bone-piercing chill within the fog. “How long will you need to break it?” Jadechild asked. “I don’t know!” Nong Zidao shook his head. “If I’m fast, an hour. If it takes a long time, one or two days.” 739 The faces of the surrounding Zifu Disciples all changed. Jadechild said, shocked, “That long?” ………. Ning sat in the lotus position within the enormous tail of the Netherwyrm. Around him, more than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures were floating about, nine of which were particularly dazzling to behold. The white light covering those nine was much stronger. The hazy white light continuously thrummed through the swords, quickly coalescing into a sword light in front of Ning. “Right. With these nine ranked flying swords as a formation base, they can now serve as the core for the other seven hundred-plus flying swords of my [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The power clearly has grown dramatically.” Ning revealed a look of delight. “Only, the ranked flying swords put a lot of pressure on my soul as well.” Unranked flying swords made up the majority of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The difference between using them and using ranked flying swords in the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…was quite significant and apparent. The difficulty in controlling them rose dramatically, but so too did the power! “I’ve only added nine ranked flying swords. After gaining insight into my Sword Domain, my soul has grown much stronger. I’m still able to use the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” Ning had the feeling that if he were to add a few dozen ranked flying swords or a few hundred ranked flying swords…the total number of swords he was able to control would drop sharply! “Ji Ning!” A powerful voice echoed forth. “Patriarch.” A look of delight appeared on Ning’s face. “We are in trouble now.” Ninefire’s voice rang out. “What sort of trouble?” Ning was worried as well. “The second group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Dragon have just entered the formation. Amongst them there is one person in particular, Nong Zidao, who even I have heard of! Nong Zidao is extremely skilled in formations. He is able to easily defeat the black fog bewildering formation, and so I was forced to use the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation to trap and bewilder him.” Ninefire transmitted. Ning’s face changed. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation…it had the secondary effect of being a bewildering formation. It was far more exquisite than the Ji clan’s own bewildering formations. “They also have someone known as Jadechild. I haven’t heard of him, but his power is extremely great.” Ninefire sent mentally. “In our Ji clan, your power is the greatest, while the second strongest is our old 740 servant, Ah Xing. Just now, when Ah Xing ambushed Dong Ziqi’s group of eight, Dong Ziqi’s group was able to maintain their formation, and Ah Xing wasn’t able to do anything to them. However, I’ve discovered that Jadechild and Nong Zidao haven’t joined together in a formation. I ordered Ah Xing to attack as I thought we had an opportunity…but who would have imagined that despite riding on the claws of the Netherwyrm, Ah Xing was blocked off by Jadechild alone!” “Blocked by him alone?” Ning was shocked. “He is extremely powerful. Ah Xing launched a sneak attack, then immediately retreated.” Ninefire said. “Right now, there are a total of two groups in the formation. The second group is clearly far more powerful than the first one. Thus, we need to immediately eradicate the first group; otherwise, if they combine, we won’t be able to do anything against them.” Ning nodded. “You are the most powerful person in our group. Immediately go out and attack Dong Ziqi’s group. I will direct you. Prepare to listen to my commands.” Ninefire said. At the same time, the black fog in front of Ning began to part, revealing a corridor. “Wonderful. I’ve grown impatient long ago!” Ning sprang to his feet, then shot forward at high speed through the corridor. ……… Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight advanced carefully, always maintaining their formation. That white glow surrounded the eight trigrams which covered them. “Fellow apprentices, be careful. This is the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation!” Nong Zidao’s frantic voice rang out from far away. “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation?” Dong Ziqi and the others looked at each other, all of them seeming puzzled. The distant Nong Zidao said in a loud, frantic voice, “We just suffered an attack from a draconic claw as well. Your senior apprentice-brother, Jadechild, forced it to retreat. I could immediately recognize this as being the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. This Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation is an ancient, powerful formation! There is a complicated version of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and a simplified version of it…according to legend, the Marquis of Stillwater has access to a Heaven-rank Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. This formation which the Ji clan is using must be a simplified Mortal-rank formation. But even a Mortal-rank formation…is astonishingly powerful. We are in true danger this time. We have to conserve our power; otherwise, we will be in danger of dying.” 741 “Your senior apprentice-brothers, Jadechild and myself, will focus on breaking the formation. We won’t be able to divide our attention and take care of you for now. Take care of yourselves, the eight of you.” Nong Zidao’s voice echoed. Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight looked at each other, their faces unsightly. For this formation to force Nong Zidao and Jadechild to completely focus their efforts on breaking it…one could imagine how terrifying it was. “I’ve never even heard of this ‘Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation’. Only someone like senior apprenticebrother Nong Zidao, who has studied many formation manuals in the main sect, would know of it. How could the Ji clan have acquired such a powerful formation?” “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation?” The look on Dong Ziqi’s face was very ugly. “We will do our best.” Dong Ziqi looked at his seven comrades. “This is a life-and-death battle. Either the Ji clan dies or we die! Everyone, if you have any life-protecting measures, use them. Don’t save them.” Their attitudes had all changed. At first, all of them were simply toying around. The sudden deaths of four comrades had shocked them, but they trusted that once Jadechild and Nong Zidao joined them…all the danger would dissipate like smoke, like the clouds. But now, Nong Zidao had said that this game had just turned deadly. “If I knew that I’d risk my life, I wouldn’t have entered Swallow Mountain.” They all felt misery in their hearts, but with death staring at them, all of them prepared to fight to the death. Three hundred meters or so away from them. An enormous draconic tail was coiling there. Ning was in the center of the draconic tail, and the seven hundred flying swords were all hovering around him, prepared to begin the slaughter. “Ji Ning, attack!” Patriarch Ninefire’s voice rang out within his mind. “Kill!” A fierce light flashed through Ji Ning’s eyes. Swooosh! Instantly, the entire, enormous Netherwyrm whipped its tail out, and its tail struck forward towards those eight nervous, guarded Zifu Disciples. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The black fog swirled about like mist. The eight Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were constantly staying in their formation and moving about within it. “This Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation…even senior apprentice-brother Zidao is unable to break it. What else can we do? Let’s just run around wildly. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and Zidao are within this formation as well. Perhaps we might run into them.” The eight Zifu Disciples clung to this hope as they advanced. They all clenched their various Dao-seals in their hands, prepared to do battle at any moment. Suddenly… Rustle… A gentle sprinkling of rain suddenly began to fall. The rain fell like fine, silken threads that were incomparably soft. Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight, upon suddenly encountering the rain, were greatly shocked. “Rumble…” A layer of white light appeared on their bodies, which directly blocked those ordinary drops of rain. “It’s simply rain. Don’t make a fuss over nothing.” The hawk-nosed cultivator said coldly. “Why is there rainwater within this formation?” Dong Ziqi frowned. “Perhaps it is currently raining outside. This bewildering formation only has the power to bewilder; it isn’t able to block out the rainwater from the outside world.” A silver-haired cultivator spoke out. Dong Ziqi and the others all nodded. They were cultivators. They could clearly sense that this rain was falling naturally; it wasn’t poisonous liquid generated by the formation! For the moment, they didn’t think of the possibility of it being a Dao Domain; generally speaking, someone who had reached the Dao Domain realm could, with a thought, convert the surrounding area into their own Domain. Different Daos would naturally result in different Domains. Some could, with a thought, transform the surrounding area into boundless flames. Others could transform the surrounding area into a field of lightning. As for Ning, what he generated was the descent of rainfall. “Let’s be careful nonetheless. Don’t let this rainwater soak us.” A gray-robed elder said. “Junior apprentice-brother An’s words are reasonable. We are trapped in the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation; we should be careful.” These Zifu Disciples would rather do too much than to be careless. …… Whoosh! An enormous black draconic tail swept towards them as fast as lightning. In the midst of the draconic tail, there was a fur-clad Ji Ning, who stood there silently. The area around him was filled with more than seven hundred flying swords, nine of which were ranked. The nine ranked flying swords served as the nucleus, and the converted energy of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was incomparably shocking. The Rainwater Sword Domain had already been set up! An elemental energy that was greater than any peak Zifu Disciple’s, activated through the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…although only nine of these seven hundred-plus flying swords were ranked, this was still the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Sometimes, quantity was a form of quality! “Die.” Ning’s eyes flashed with a killing light. Swish! The sword light in front of him suddenly pierced through the skies, instantly transforming into a line of rainwater. At this moment, Ning was using all his might. The ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], supported by the formation and the Rainwater Sword Domain…all of these things made it so that the power of this sword of Ning’s was at an incredibly high level. ….. “Let’s keep moving.” Dong Ziqi and the others were continuing to advance while blocking off the descending rain. Just as they were walking forward calmly… Suddenly… “Eh?” The face of the hawk-nosed black-robed cultivator changed. In that instant, he vaguely felt a tremendous danger descending. This was something that he gained only after becoming an Immortal practitioner; he could sense when a dire threat was descending. Unfortunately, this danger sense always came quite late; it would only appear when the threat had already drawn very close. Despite that, it had still saved his life a few times. “Fogswirl Umbrella!” An umbrella suddenly appeared around the hawk-nosed black-robed cultivator. The umbrella spread open, completely protecting the hawk-nosed man’s body. A seemingly ordinary line of rainwater gently swirled and flew over, lashing out towards the trianglepupiled cultivator. The triangle-pupiled cultivator was staring in astonishment at his comrade, who had suddenly used his protective magic treasure. A sense of danger suddenly descended. “Not good.” As a line of rain drew close to him, the triangle-pupiled cultivator suddenly felt a sharp ripple come towards him. He hurriedly waved the longsword in his hand, wanting to block, but it was too late… That line of rainwater had come too close! And his sword techniques were too ordinary. How marvelous were Ning’s sword techniques? With a gentle twist, the rainwater moved past the longsword, then scraped past his head! “Rumble…” The formerly hazy white light of the Eight Trigrams Formation suddenly grew blindingly bright. “We are under attack!” Dong Ziqi and the others were all shocked. After suffering an attack, the formation would naturally explode with power. Bang! The head of the triangle-pupiled cultivator, his eyes still filled with shock, went flying into the air. One of the eight Zifu Disciples had died! “What?!” Dong Ziqi and the others were all terrified and shocked. One of their comrades had been killed while they had been maintaining the formation. How sharp did the enemy’s attack have to be?! “Assemble the formation!” “Assemble the formation.” The remaining Zifu Disciples called out in terror. With one of the eight dead, the earlier formation had already disappeared. For one of them to have been killed after setting up the formation…if they didn’t set it up again, wouldn’t they all be dead for sure? “Bang!” That line of rainwater, after killing the triangle-pupiled cultivator, had used up most of its power, but the other seven cultivators currently weren’t being protected by the grand formation. Naturally, the line of rainwater flew forward agilely. It swirled past…cutting apart the protection of a set of magic armor, sending yet another head flying, this one of the silver-haired cultivator. Only then did the line of rainwater vanish. “Rumble…” The white light appeared once more as the six surviving Zifu Disciples reformed the formation. “Rumble…” The enormous draconic tail came sweeping over again. “Kill.” “Kill him.” “Kill.” The six Zifu Disciples, upon seeing the draconic tail, seemed utterly enraged and berserk. Green vines, bolts of lightning, blasts of flame, phoenixes…they threw everything forward towards the draconic tail that was sweeping towards them. “They really have gone berserk.” Ning was shocked. “I’m going.” The black wings behind Ning trembled, then sent him flying in a solitary arc, far into the distance. Only the lightning bolt and the fiery phoenix were able to strike him. The strikes from the lightning bolt and the fiery phoenix allowed Dong Ziqi and the others to see Ning’s true appearance…Dong Ziqi was shocked and amazed. He immediately recognized that this was the genius of the Ji clan, ‘Ji Ning’. Rumble…the powerful attacks sent even Ning hurtling backwards, disappearing into the distant black fog. Dong Ziqi and the rest of the six Zifu Disciples felt dread in their heart. “Quick.” “Assemble the formation.” “Let’s go all out.” An enormous Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation suddenly appeared around Dong Ziqi, and the eight blood dragons began to swim about. That hawk-nosed cultivator, standing outside the formation, hurriedly threw out three flags. The formation flags fluttered, then quickly formed into an enormous hazy aura of light. This white aura of light seemed like a pyramid that enclosed the six. “Grow.” 747 Many vines suddenly emerged, wildly sprouting about in the surrounding areas. These vines crisscrossed each other, completely filling the surrounding area. “Children, go.” A dense cluster of venomous pests began to fly about in the surrounding area, filling the skies and blocking out the sun, completely filling the nearby region. “Come.” The gray-robed elder produced an enormous banner that fluttered with a bloody light. One enormous after another phantom flew out from the banner; some were four-legged beasts, while others were flying creatures. Nine enormous phantoms emerged into the surrounding area. These six Zifu Disciples were all sweating. They brought out all of their best techniques, completely and tightly sealing off the surrounding area… They looked at each other, their eyes filled with amazement and dread. “We won’t be able to leave. We have to wait here.” “We can’t keep walking.” “We’ll guard here.” These techniques of theirs were virtually all used for defending a particular location. The long, growing vines, the grand formation, and the other techniques weren’t able to be maintained while moving! “Who is that person? Who attacked us just now? By his appearance, he should be young.” The gray-robed elder clutched at his bloody banner as he looked at Dong Ziqi. “Right. Who was that? How could he be so powerful? Before this, we suffered the attacks from the dragon’s claw and the dragon’s head…this should have been the dragon’s tail. Why is it so powerful?” The hawk-nosed cultivator looked at Dong Ziqi as well. The other cultivators also stared at him. These people felt hatred. This was supposed to be an easy, relaxed journey. Who would have imagined that they had actually bitten down on such a terrifying, tough bone? First of all, they had even never heard of this ‘Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation’; only Nong Zidao had. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was one thing; after all, the power of a formation depended on its users. They felt no fear towards those other two who had relied on the power of the formation to attack them. But that young, slender youth that had just appeared was truly terrifying. Even while maintaining their formation, he had still killed two of them… Dong Ziqi said hurriedly, “The Ji clan has in total six fairly powerful figures. They are Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, an old servant, Ji Yichuan, Ji Truekeep, and Ji Ning! Ji Ning is the genius of the Ji clan…when he was eleven or twelve years old, he killed junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan.” 748 “He killed Bei Zishan when he was twelve?” These people all revealed looks of amazement. “This year, he should be sixteen.” Dong Ziqi said. “Just now, the person who launched that attack was Ji Ning! However, prior to this, Ji Ning and I exchanged blows; he wasn’t able to do anything to my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. His strength is only slightly superior to Ji Ninefire and the others, which is why I didn’t hold him in any regard. I didn’t imagine that with the support of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, his strength would reach such a terrifying level.” “If he is only one level higher than Ji Ninefire in strength, how could he explode with such power?” “A monster who was able to kill junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan at the age of eleven or twelve…how can we use common reasoning to explain him? Most likely, this Ji Ning made some sort of a breakthrough.” The gray-robed said in a hoarse voice. “This sort of monster…he was able to kill two of our comrades, even when we were in formation. Now, all we can do is stay here and wait.” ….. Ning was knocked flying backwards a great distance, and he smashed into a region of loose rocks and grass. “Good heavens.” Ning crawled painfully to his feet. The wounds on his body rapidly healed, leaving behind not even a scar. “Those Zifu Disciples seemed to have gone berserk. They applied all of those extremely powerful Daoseals and threw them at me! That fiery phoenix in particular…it even chased after me, and it was also very powerful. It blew a large hole into my chest. I wonder what sort of a Dao-seal that was?” Ning cracked a smile, feeling very confident. “Still, I killed two of them. For me to be able to kill two out of eight of them…only six are left! I’ll keep killing.” “Ji Ning!” A voice suddenly rang out. “Patriarch.” Ning was startled. “Well done, my good fellow! Ji Ning, hahaha, you truly are formidable. You killed two of them at one go. Now only six are remaining. However, don’t be too impatient. Wait for me to finish talking, then attack.” Ninefire sent hurriedly. “Dong Ziqi and the others are terrified by the way you killed them, and so they have set up layers of techniques and are staying on guard. Let me describe these techniques to you. After listening, you can make your decision.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ninefire sent, “We are already familiar with Dong Ziqi and Muse, out of those six. Those two have already set up the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation and those growing green vines! The hawknosed cultivator used a formation to protect the surrounding area! The black-clothed female cultivator released a large amount of venomous bugs. The gray-robed cultivator is holding a large banner which has released a large amount of monster wraiths.” “Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation? Green vines? Formation? Venomous pests? Banner? That’s only five; the sixth cultivator?” Ji Ning asked softly. “The sixth cultivator hasn’t done anything for now.” Ninefire sent. “I’ve told you everything now. You should consider how you will attack. Remember, don’t let yourself fall into any danger.” “Don’t worry, Patriarch.” Ning laughed. And then, Ning began to ponder. Prior to this, although he killed two Zifu Disciples in his surprise attack, he hadn’t acquired any magic treasures, because as soon as he had charged over, he had been blasted backwards. The items of those two Zifu Disciples were still in the hands of Dong Ziqi’s group. “Five types of techniques?” “Hmph!” Ning’s eyes had a cold light flash through them. “No matter how they struggle, they will die!” Suddenly… “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” A voice suddenly called out. “We just suffered the attack from the dragon’s tail of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! The genius of the Ji clan, Ji Ning, is in command of the dragon’s tail. The power of it is tremendous. He killed two of our fellow apprentices! All we can do for now is stay on guard. Senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao, remember, beware the rain…beware the rain!” “The six of you need to be careful as well. Delay as long as you can.” A voice rang out from the other side. Hearing the distant shouts, Ning frowned slightly. “I have to eliminate those six as soon as possible.” Nong Zidao was very formidable! He was even able to recognize at one glance that this was the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. Although Ning was very confident in the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, he still worried that if they 750 were permitted to slowly analyze it, they might truly be able to break through the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! If the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was destroyed, then the Ji clan’s members would, one by one, have their formations broken, and Snowdragon Mountain would easily annihilate the Ji clan’s side. “Kill.” Ning, riding on that enormous draconic tail, once more charged towards those six. ….. Venomous pests were flying around the outer perimeter. A hazy pyramid of light stood on guard, and atop it was coiled a large number of green vines. The pyramid of light had eight blood dragons swimming about within it. It also had various enormous phantasmal birds and beasts moving about, each one of them filled with murderous auras. “If we just defend, no matter how powerful they are, they will find it hard to break through.” The blackclothed female cultivator said in her cold voice. “Right.” Dong Ziqi nodded. These defensive measures were different in nature; they each compensated for the weaknesses of the others. They could be described as an impenetrable wall. “Even though he is a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and even though his swordplay might be formidable, he can forget about entering.” The gray-robed elder clutched that large banner and spoke in an icy voice. Rustle… Thin, sparse droplets of rain began to fall. The rain was as fine as silk, gentle and breezing. Drizzling rain and fog…these two were beautiful things, but the rain that fell in the midst of this black fog made the faces of Dong Ziqi, Muse, the gray-robed elder, the black-robed woman, the hawk-nosed man, and the skinny man change. They grew nervous. “He’s coming.” “The rain came.” Dong Ziqi’s group of six held their breaths. Prior to this, when the rainwater fell, two of their comrades were silently ambushed and slaughtered. “Chopchopchopchop…” The large number of venomous pests that had been swirling around the outside were suddenly chopped apart by the rainwater, one after another. The silk-like rain…every single strand of rain was as sharp as a knife. Countless lines of rain flew about, wildly chopping apart these pests. Rainwater was everywhere. Although there were many venomous pests, because they were outside the perimeter, many of them were instantly slaughtered. Every single line of rain contained a hint of the power of the Dao! Waterflame Lotus; this technique was developed based on control over natural fire and water, which Ning gained through his comprehension of the Dao. These lines of rain were also formed from natural water. Given Ning’s comprehension of the Dao, their killing power approached that of the Waterflame Lotus now! To use them to break through the formation and kill these Zifu Disciples wasn’t practical, but to kill the venomous pests was simplicity itself. The venomous pests swarmed about in dense clusters; naturally, each of them were individually weak. When Ning had battled against Bei Zishan in the past, he was able to effortlessly crush and kill many venomous pests with his Waterflame Lotus. Ning’s insights into the Dao were now far greater than they had been in the past. “Rustle…” The rain continued to fall. “Chirpchirpchirp…” The flourishing swarm of venomous pests let out agonized cries, but then they were annihilated. The outer perimeter, which had been guarded by those dense clusters of venomous pests, had now become very clear. All of the venomous pests had been annihilated. The black-robed female cultivator’s face was ashen. She said frantically, “Why didn’t you let my bugs return?” Prior to this, when her bugs suffered the initial attacks, she had immediately wanted to control her bugs to make them fly back and hide within the pyramid of white light. “The pyramid formation has been set up. How can we possibly disperse it for the sake of your venomous pests?” The hawk-nosed cultivator shouted. “The rainwater has already descended. Ji Ning can appear at any moment! How can I disperse the pyramid? And even if I did disperse it, only a small portion of your venomous bugs would be saved. Since that was the case, it was best not to disperse it.” The black-robed female gritted her teeth in rage. “Junior apprentice-sister Lu, don’t be angry. It is true that the pyramid cannot be dispersed.” “The power of this rain is too formidable. Every single line of rain actually has the power to attack.” “Can it be that this is some sort of rainwater technique? Generally speaking, water-based techniques are used for defense. This sort of rain which descends from the heavens…rain which is completely formed from nature…how can it be used in a technique?!” They were stunned at the power of the rainwater. Those venomous pests were able to bite through a Zifu Disciple’s protective armor, after all. Although they were individually weak, to kill them wasn’t that easy either. “Can it be a Dao Domain?” The gray-robed elder suddenly said slowly. “Dao Domain?” “Rainwater Domain?” 752 The other cultivators all called out in shock. “How can that be possible? Impossible. Ji Ning is only sixteen! He’s merely a Zifu Disciple. How can he have developed a Dao Domain? Many Wanxiang Adepts are unable to do this.” “Impossible!” These Zifu Disciples didn’t dare believe it. Right at this moment… The black fog in the distance began to grow sparse. An enormous draconic tail slowly began to move, and right in the middle of it was a fur-clad youth. The fur-clad youth was surrounded by more than seven hundred flying swords. Smiling slightly, he walked forward, step by step, towards them. “Ji Ning.” “It is Ji Ning.” Dong Ziqi and the rest of the six stared at the fur-clad youth. At the same time, they felt astonished that Ji Ning dared come walk over openly. Dong Ziqi shouted, “Ji Ning, ambushing us is one thing, but you come openly…you are seeking death.” Ning slowly strolled forward. Suddenly, beneath his feet, a lotus flower appeared. A beautiful, enormous Waterflame Lotus suddenly bloomed, making Ning appear to be the seed within the lotus…the Waterflame Lotus petals swiveled around him, and around the petals were the seven hundred-plus flying swords. Beyond even them was the enormous shadow of a draconic tail. And beyond the tail…was the boundless rainwater. In this moment, Ning seemed to have become the center of the universe. Even Dong Ziqi and the others felt as though their souls had been stirred. “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, stop him.” Dong Ziqi shouted. “Leave it to me.” Muse’s normally cold face was filled with a murderous aura. Instantly, many of the thick, sturdy vines began to wildly coil about and fly towards Ning. These vines weren’t the vines that Ning had encountered when he had fought against Muse the first time. Those vines had been suddenly grown, but the vines that Muse was now using against him had been growing for quite some time; they had already reached an astonishing degree of toughness. Ning continued to smile. “Rustle…” The enormous Waterflame Lotus swiveled about him. After gaining insight into the Dao Domain level, the power of Ning’s Waterflame Lotus had risen yet again. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Countless lines of rain seemed to chop down like countless blades, wildly chopping at the vines. Countless thin vines were shattered and minced into peaces, leaving behind only the thick main vines, which had many wounds atop them. But upon touching the Waterflame Lotus, they were instantly ground apart. “Rustle…” One lotus flower after another bloomed, with Ning at the center. The lotus flowers continuously bloomed freely, and even the leaves of the lotus flowers continuously expanded. The swiveling, crushing power continued unabated. Those vines weren’t able to draw close to Ning at all. “Break.” Ning looked at the white pyramid of light, then spoke in a soft voice. Roar… A faint draconic roar rang out. The enormous draconic tail suddenly swept forward, smashing viciously against the white pyramid of light. The draconic scales on the draconic tail were all clearly visible, and the power of the tail was astonishing. With an exploding sound, it smashed against the white pyramid of light, crushing it and shattering it. As soon as it did, the rainwater instantly fell down upon and uprooted the three formation flags. Ning had already effortlessly broken through the third layer of the five layers of defenses they had set up. “Go. Devour his soul.” The gray-robed elder waved the banner in his hands. This banner wasn’t like Bei Zishan’s, which had been created through refining countless mortal souls into dread wraiths. He used the souls of powerful monstrous beasts, and so comparatively speaking, the amount of sin he had accumulated was much smaller. The power of this banner, although inferior to a dread Myriad Wraiths Banner, was still much more powerful than Bei Zishan’s half-complete banner. These monster wraiths emitted soundless shrieks as they charged towards Ning, completely ignoring the rainwater and the blocking Waterflame Lotus flowers, instantly invading Ning’s body. Ning continued to smile. Within his consciousness, an image of Lady Nuwa emitted boundless light. When the light touched those monster wraiths, smiling looks of relief appeared on the faces of the formerly incomparably savage wraiths. They all bowed towards Ning and towards the divine image of Lady Nuwa, expressing their gratitude, and then disappeared, returning to the cycle of reincarnation. ……. “What?!” The gray-robed elder watched as the colors of his banner began to grow dim and dull. His face instantly changed. “The monster wraiths were all killed?” The others, including Dong Ziqi, had been eagerly looking at the gray-robed elder. Hearing this, though, their hearts turned cold. Ning strolled forward. The Waterflame Lotus continued to swivel…the rainwater continued to fall… “You can die now.” In front of Ning, a sword light suddenly formed. When it flew out, it merged into the rainwater and vanished. And then, yet another sword light appeared. Ning was releasing one blast of sword light after another, without stopping. Bang! How powerful was Ning’s sword light now? A single sword light was enough to pierce through the eight blood dragons and annihilate them all. As for the others, such as the gray-robed elder and the hawknosed man, they all began to howl savagely. They saw that their death had come. They all took our their Dao-seals or unleashed their magic treasures, preparing to go all out. “Bang…” “Boom…” The rainwater that swirled around them seemed like an crushing wall of copper or a rampart of steel. The Waterflame Lotuses continued to expand in layers as it attacked them. Ning had used everything available to him, and he completely crushed these six Zifu Disciples. “Bang!” Accompanying a miserable, unwilling screech, Muse’s head was the first to go flying. Ning had, at one go, unleashed nine blasts of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light, transforming them all into rainwater and merging them into the boundless rain of the surrounding region. He began to easily kill them, one by one. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Junior apprentice-brother Muse!” Dong Ziqi and the others, upon seeing Muse’s head go flying, all turned cold. Prior to this, two of their group of eight Zifu Disciples had been killed despite being in formation by Ji Ning. And now, their six-man formation…Ning had shattered their layered protections, and for him to kill them now was indeed quite easy. “Kill.” “Go all out against him.” The hawk-nosed man, the gray-robed elder, the black-robed female cultivator…they all seemed to have gone mad. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to flee; trapped within the grand formation of the Ji clan, where could they flee to? Only by staying here did they have a chance to live. “If you struggle, you’ll just die tired.” Ning walked forward, and the formerly savage, wildly coiling thick vines seemed to rapidly transform into nothingness. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! The rain dropped down like lines of silk. Within the rain, there were strands of [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light that had transformed into incomparably sharp ‘rain’. “Ahhh!” Although her body had been protected by that golden light, the black-robed woman’s eyes suddenly widened as a sword light chopped straight through her neck, sending her beautiful head flying. Yet another one had died! “Go die.” The Dao-seal in the hands of the gray-robed elder suddenly transformed into an enormous fiery phoenix which once more spread its wings and flew towards Ning. But a curtain of water formed from the rainwater around Ning blocked the advance of the fiery phoenix. Bang!!! An violent explosion blasted apart the watery curtain, and even Ning’s Waterflame Lotus trembled. Ning himself, however, continued to walk forward. “Die.” Ning stared at the gray-robed elder, whose face changed. He swung the banner in his hands backwards, because yet another strand of rain was striking towards him. Slash! A different strand of rain whipped past the gray-robed elder’s forehead, piercing straight through his head. His eyes were filled with a look of terror, shock, and rage…and then, he collapsed. “I simultaneously attacked you with two strands of sword light. Did you think you wouldn’t die?” With a thought, Ning then controlled the strands of sword light to strike towards the others. “Junior apprentice-sister Lu, senior apprentice-brother An, junior apprentice-brother Muse.” “Junior apprentice-sister Lu!” The remaining three, the hawk-nosed disciple, Dong Ziqi, and the skinny man, all had ashen looks on their faces. The six of them had lost three of their number in a flash! The power of those rain lines formed from sword light was simply too great, especially with the support of the formation and the Sword Domain. These were attacks of the Wanxiang Adept level. For them to face these attacks by themselves was impossible. “Ji Ning! You will definitely die!” Dong Ziqi had gone berserk. He stared at Ji Ning. “You killed the disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. Snowdragon Mountain will not let things end here!” “You will definitely die.” “Snowdragon Mountain has many more disciples. We will definitely eradicate your Ji clan.” The three of them had all gone berserk. Slash! Slash! The hawk-nosed man and Dong Ziqi were simultaneously sliced at by three lines of rain formed from sword light. If they had only been struck by a single flash of sword light, they would have been able to resist, but three lines of rain formed from sword light swirled about them. How could they resist? Their foreheads were pierced through, and their eyes became filled with terror, anger, and disbelief. “I, Dong Ziqi, am the number one expert of Swallow Mountain. I, I actually died in the hands of Ji Ning. I’m unwilling to accept this. I’m unwilling to accept this!!!” “Detestable, detestable! If I had known, I wouldn’t have come here.” The two of them had both been heroic figures of their eras. Actually, if it hadn’t been for the support of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, given that Ning only had early-stage Zifu-level energy, either of the two would have been able to battle with Ning for quite a long period of time. But with the support of the great formation, they died in a single exchange. “Snick.” The remaining person, the skinny man, had his neck severed as well, but then flesh grew out of his neck as it instantly healed. “A Fiendgod Body Refiner?” Ning lifted an eyebrow. “Ji Ning, can you spare my life?” The skinny man took a step back and looked at Ning. Although he was a middle-stage Fiendgod Body Refiner, he no longer felt any confidence. The difference in power between them was too great…with the support of the formation and the Rainwater Sword Domain, Ning absolutely had the power of a Wanxiang Adept. He could crush him!” Ning laughed softly. “Given how far this has gone, you tell me. Will I spare you?” Bang! The black wings on Ning’s back trembled, and he suddenly shot towards the skinny man. “Ji Ning!” The skinny man howled with rage as he gripped a long black staff in his hands. “Ji Ning, our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan and kill you!” Slash! Slash! Three flashes of sword light slashed across his body. Although the skinny man’s body was durable, he was still quadsected by the sword flashes of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. As for Ning, who charged towards him…the Waterflame Lotus swiveled around him, grinding down that skinny man, making it so that the man’s corpse was instantly ground into mincemeat. Although the mincemeat struggled to solidify into a whole, they were only able to resist the Waterflame Lotus for a few breaths before completely dissipating. The surrounding area was now completely silent. The rain still fell in a drizzle, and the Waterflame Lotus continued to slowly swivel back and forth. Ning, standing in the middle of the lotus, swept the surrounding area with his gaze. Dong Ziqi and the others lay fallen on the ground, none of them breathing, all of them dead. “Dead.” Ning said softly. “This group of Zifu Disciples has been completely exterminated. Only the other group of Zifu Disciples remain.” Two badges of Zifu Disciples from Snowdragon Mountain had entered the formation. The first batch of twelve Zifu Disciples had been completely annihilated! It wasn’t that they were weak; it was that Ning was too powerful! Although, for the Ji clan, even though they had the help of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, for them to kill these twelve was still quite hard. Prior to this, when Ji Truekeep and the old servant Ah Xing had tested their attacks, they found that aside from being able to kill those four people in the first 758 ambush, they were no longer able to achieve much success after Dong Ziqi’s group of eight had set down their formation. As for Ji Ning, he was able to use the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation to make up for his own weakness in elemental energy. He also had the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and his Rainwater Sword Domain, which allowed his power to reach the Wanxiang Adept level. And this was what had allowed him to crush them and slaughter them all… Halfway up the mountain. Ji Ninefire, in control of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, revealed a look of shock an amazement on his face. He was so excited, his entire body was trembling. “Patriarch?” The nearby Ji Yichuan looked at Ninefire. “Victory. Ji Ning won.” Ninefire was incomparably agitated. “Dong Ziqi’s group has been completely killed by Ji Ning. The first group of twelve Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain has been completely annihilated. None are left.” Yichuan, hearing this, felt his heart tremble as well. “The first group is completely dead?” “Right.” Ninefire nodded repeatedly. They were both excited as well as in a state of disbelief…they were merely the Ji clan, after all, just a clan of the Swallow Mountain region! What they faced was an enormous organization Snowdragon Mountain. The enemy’s group of Zifu Disciples who had hastened over here would have utterly terrified any ordinary clan. Even Ninefire had only wanted to delay until an Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty arrived. They hadn’t thought that they would actually be able to kill twelve Zifu Disciples in a row, without a single member of the Ji clan dying! “Now, only one remains.” Ninefire said. “Jadechild and Nong Zidao’s group of Zifu Disciples.” “Once we kill them, our victory is assured.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Nong Zidao in particular. If we kill Nong Zidao…I refuse to believe that Snowdragon Mountain would be able to find a second expert in formations in a short period of time.” “The second group holds Jadechild, Nong Zidao, and others. As long as Nong Zidao dies, our Ji clan will have won for certain.” Ninefire nodded as well. Snowdragon Mountain might have other Zifu Disciples who would hasten over… 759 But experts in formations were rare. Nong Zidao had only come to give face to Jadechild. In the region nearby Swallow Mountain, aside from Nong Zidao, Snowdragon Mountain had no other experts who were particularly skilled in formations. …….. Within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. An abyssal aura wafted about. Nong Zidao was frowning as he was analyzing the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. He seemed to have completely absorbed himself in calculating the positions of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. The other Zifu Disciples all stared around them, on high alert. Jadechild stood by Nong Zidao’s side, with the aura of a general who would block anything and everything which came. Suddenly… “Ji Ning!” “It is Ji Ning!” “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, stop him!” A series of shouts rang out from afar. “Go all out against him!” “Juniog apprentice-sister Lu, senior apprentice-brother An, junior apprentice-brother Muse!” Fierce, grief-stricken shouts rang out from afar. “Ji Ning, you will definitely die!” “Ji Ning, our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan and kill you!” A berserk, desolate curse rang out. And then, utter silence. There was no longer any sound that could be heard. Nong Zidao had already opened his eyes, and a look of utter solemnity was in Jadechild’s gaze. The other nearby Zifu Disciples all had extremely ugly looks on their faces. “Junior apprentice-brother Dong.” Jadechild called out in a loud voice which echoed within the formation. No voice replied. Not a single voice! “Dead.” Nong Zidao said hoarsely. “All dead.” “We, we…senior apprentice-brother Zidao. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild…” The red-haired cultivator stuttered. The other cultivators all looked towards Jadechild and Nong Zidao. Prior to this, there had been twelve Zifu Disciples in that group, but all of them had been killed. How could they not worry? How could they not feel uneasy?” Jadechild growled, “Obey my orders. Junior apprentice-brother Zidao, continue analyzing the formation. Fairy Crane, Landwyrm, continue to protect junior apprentice-brother Zidao. Myself and the rest of the six, we will set up the formation and protect junior apprentice-brother Zidao.” “Yes.” Instantly, the formation lit up. “All you need to worry about is defense.” Jadechild’s eyes were glowing with a golden light as he swept the surrounding area with his gaze. “If that Ji Ning truly does come, let me handle him.” “We’ll entrust everything to you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” Nong Zidao said. At the same time, he set up eight formation flags within an area of ten meters. A black tower of light instantly sprang up, layering protections around him. The only people within the black tower of light was Nong Zidao, the Landwyrm, and the Fairy Crane. “Don’t worry.” Jadechild’s eyes were calm, but his baleful aura surged to the heavens. As someone who had become a peak Zifu-level Fiendgod Body Refiner long ago, and one who trained in a divine ability and thus was able to fight at the Wanxiang Adept level, how could he fear Ji Ning? …… The Golden Crow hung high in the sky. Within the governor’s mansion, inside an enormous city. One of the two elders of the Dong clan, Dong Fanyu, was seated there. Next to him there was a youth, who laughed and said, “Senior Dong, please wait momentarily. The Patriarch will arrive shortly.” “No rush, no rush.” Dong Fanyu laughed as well. Four members of Snowdragon Mountain’s Swallow Mountain branch had gone out to invite people; the two elders of the Dong clan, Muse, and Ju Nianxiong. Of the four, Muse had gone to invite Jadechild and Nong Zidao, which he felt was enough, and so he had returned earlier. Based on their original plans, each of them needed to invite roughly ten or so Zifu Disciples. The two elders of the Dong clan and Ju Nianxiong had invited many, but some of the Zifu Disciples they wished to invite had already gone to Snowdragon Mountain. Thus, they continued to go out and invite more; only after each of them had successfully invited ten over would it be enough. They had no idea as to what was happening in Swallow Mountain. “Senior apprentice-brother Fanyu.” A deep voice rang out. A silver-robed, middle-aged man walked out. “Last time I saw you, senior apprentice-brother, you were back at Swallow Mountain. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred years have gone by. Earlier, senior apprentice-brother, you told my subordinates that there is something important you wish to discuss with me. What is it?” “A wonderful affair!” Dong Fanyu’s face was all smiles. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “A wonderful affair?” The silver-robed man had a puzzled look on his face. Dong Fanyu said, his face all smiles, “I’m not going to hide this from you, junior apprentice-brother Wu. This time, we’ve come to deliver you a chance to render some major merits. At my Swallow Mountain region, we’ve just discovered an enormous elemental ore mine. This elemental ore mine has a circumference of four thousand or so kilometers…” Dong Fanyu spent quite a period of time praising the elemental ore mine. “Elemental ore mine?” A clear, cold voice rang out, and a young man dressed in a long, beautiful black robe emerged from a side door of the hall. This young man had long, narrow eyes and a tall nose. He looked like a viper, and his gaze alone made Dong Fanyu tremble. Dong Fanyu hurriedly rose to his feet, then asked in a low voice, “Junior apprentice-brother Wu, this is…?” The silver-haired man had already risen to his feet early on, bowing towards the young man with incomparable respect. “Master!” “Master?” Dong Fanyu was very shocked. “This is my master, Adept Xu.” The silver-robed man said. Dong Fanyu, upon hearing his junior apprentice-brother Wu address this person as ‘master’, immediately knew who this young man was. Immortal practitioners…couldn’t be judged from their outward appearances. The more powerful a person was, the more often they tended to look young. If you were to run into a young Immortal practitioner who looked like a child, one would have to be very careful! Dong Fanyu was a disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, after all; he knew that his junior apprentice-brother Wu was a student of a core disciple of the main sect, ‘Xu Li’. They were both students of the main sect, but the difference in their status was very different. Snowdragon Mountain would divide up students based on their innate talent and potential. Some people who had the potential to break through to become Wanxiang Adepts or even had the chance to become Primal Daoists. Naturally, they would be heavily investd in. Xu Li was a core disciple, and had in fact reached the Wanxiang level more than sixty years ago. “Dong Fanyu pays his respects to Adept Xu.” Dong Fanyu immediately bowed and saluted. “You were speaking of an elemental ore mine?” Adept Xu said calmly. “Your Swallow Mountain branch actually discovered an elemental ore mine…so why have you come to invite my disciple?” Dong Fanyu said hurriedly, “I don’t dare to hide anything from you, Adept…” He described what had happened in detail. Adept Xu nodded lightly, a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. “So that’s how it is. I didn’t expect that on this leisure trip of mine, I would encounter this sort of wonderful affair. Wu Qi, accompany your master on a trip to Swallow Mountain and take over the elemental ore mine.” Dong Fanyu said, delighted and surprised, “Adept, if you go, then this matter will be settled!” But although he was delighted on the outside, he was cursing inwardly. Discovering the elemental ore mine was a great accomplishment, but if the Swallow Mountain branch was actually able to take it over, that would be an even greater one! But for a Wanxiang Adept to now intervene…Wanxiang Adepts were extremely important members of Snowdragon Mountain. After all, the highest ranking Primal Daoists rarely involved themselves in worldly matters. Thus, for Adept Xu to intervene and take over the elemental ore mine meant that when the main Snowdragon Mountain sect divided up accomplishments, the percentage that Adept Xu would receive would be very high. For a Wanxiang Adept to intervene…it meant that every single Zifu Disciple would lose a majority of their potential rewards! “How could a puny Ji clan necessitate a Wanxiang Adept to intervene.” Dong Fanyu felt misery in his heart, but on the surface, he looked incomparably excited. He didn’t dare say a single word of complaint. Adept Xu gave this old fellow surnamed Dong a sidelong glance. He couldn’t care less about him. “Come. Let’s go to Swallow Mountain.” Whoooosh. A sailboat suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Adept Xu, Wu Qi, and Dong Fanyu all boarded the ship. Wu Qi then sent a message to the Zifu Disciples of his own clan: “I’m making a trip to Swallow Mountain. I will return in a few days.” Swoosh. A white sail fluttered atop the sailboat, and then it transformed into a streak of light, piercing through the skies at an astonishing speed. “So fast.” Dong Fanyu was in a state of shock. This was the first time he had flown on a flying magic treasure controlled by a Wanxiang Adept. “We’ll only need two hours to reach Swallow Mountain.” Adept Xu said calmly. Swish! The sailboat left behind just a speck of light in the horizon, then completely disappeared. As for Dong Fanyu…he didn’t go invite any other Zifu Disciples. After all, since a Wanxiang Adept was taking part, why bother go asking any Zifu Disciples to come? ………………. Within an ancient city. Within a hall that was in a rather remote location. There were five jade strips glittering with azure light. The jade strips were all the size of a palm and very slender, seemingly quite exquisite. There were two servants seated within the hall. They were chatting amongst each other, bored. “Bang!” “Bang!” Two of the jade strips suddenly shattered, one after the other. The two servants were both startled. “What was that? Was that a mouse?” “How odd.” They looked around with mystified looks on their faces. And then, one of them saw that two of the jade strips in front of them had completely shattered. He was so terrified that his face changed. “Life…life…” The other servant, seeing the look on his face, couldn’t help but mumble, “Why are you so scared? This is the governor’s estate. How could there be any dange-…life…life…” He, too, stared in terror at the shattered jade strips. “The life tablets!” “The life tablets are shattered!” The two servants stared at each other, their eyes filled with shock and terror. “Quick, quick, report this.” The two of them charged out wildly. This was a major event! Just moments later! “Whoosh!” A ray of light surged into the skies, and standing above the ray of light was an old man with triangular pupils. His eyes were filled with savagery as well. “Two Zifu Disciples died? What exactly is going on in Swallow Mountain?!” 765 ………… “The life tablets, the life tablets are shattered!” ………… “Life tablets!” ………… In the instant that Ji Ning killed those eight Zifu Disciples, in the commandery cities around the Swallow Mountain area, one clan after another discovered that life tablets of their Zifu Disciples had just shattered. If the life tablet was shattered, that meant the Zifu Disciple was definitely dead! Naturally, these clans were shocked and enraged. Some of the other Zifu Disciples even began to fly at high speed towards Swallow Mountain. ………….. Within Swallow Mountain. Oxhorn Mountain, located eight hundred kilometers outside of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. The entire area was covered with black fog. Ji Ning stood there, and around him was a group of Zifu Disciple corpses, including Dong Ziqi’s. “Hrm?” Ning frowned. He could sense a savage, fierce aura constantly pouring into the Darknorth swords in his hands. Earlier, he had relied on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to kill, but to be safe, Ning had also kept the Darknorth swords in his hands. However, that ferocious aura coming from the corpses actually was drawn into the Darknorth swords. “The Darknorth swords are weapons that have undergone the Fiendgod Bloodforging rites! They are able to absorb baleful auras, murderous auras, necromantic auras…but you have to personally kill someone.” Ning understood this. The boundless earth was filled with baleful auras in many places; for example, when Bei Zishan had tortured countless people to death, that place became filled with a tremendous amount of baleful auras and murderous auras. But because those countless people hadn’t been killed by Ning, Ning hadn’t been able to absorb those baleful auras. But Ning had personally killed all eight of these Zifu Disciples. The Darknorth swords were able to actively draw from them. “How strange. Why is it that they can only absorb the baleful auras created by those I personally killed, and not other baleful auras?” Ning shook his head inwardly. He thought back to the Fiendgod Rites of Bloodforging, and to that ancient, powerful aura which descended that was unfathomably more exalted than even the ‘Dao’. “It makes sense. If it can grow just by absorbing any type of baleful aura, then it would be far too easy for Bloodforged weapons to grow in power.” 766 “Eh? In my body…?” Ning lowered his head. Surges of savage auras were constantly entering his body; or, to be more precise, Ning’s Zifu within his body was drawing it all in. Within the Zifu, that region which was filled with violet energy in the shape of a lake. That lake was formed from elemental energy, and above that lake of elemental energy there were various magical treasures, such as a flying boat, flying swords, and other items that temporarily didn’t need to be used. Amongst them was one of the Darknorth swords, which hovered there… Given that he was holding two of the Darknorth swords in his hands, there was one of them that was still stored within his body. Before establishing the Zifu, there was no way for a person to store magic treasures within the body! But upon doing so, ranked magic treasures and the Bloodforged weapons could be stored into his body. As for those unranked magic treasures, there was no way they could be drawn in. “Crackle…” The three Darknorth swords. Two were outside, one was within his Zifu. They shared the baleful auras, wildly devouring them. As they did so, on the surface of the Darknorth swords there appeared a common character, from the Fiendgod language…‘Kill’. The Darknorth swords themselves were evolving; after they had undergone the Rites of Bloodforging, this was the densest collection of baleful auras which the Darknorth swords had ever devoured. After all, the baleful aura generated from killing a Zifu Disciple was far denser than the aura generated from killing ten thousand ordinary mortals. “All done.” Moments later, the three Darknorth swords all emerged to hover in front of Ning. The glow of the Darknorth swords seemed to be even deeper. He used his divine will to control those three Darknorth swords to slice through the air. Swishswishswish… Ning even stretched out his palm to allow the Darknorth swords to slice against it. Three wounds appeared, then rapidly closed. “They did indeed grow much sharper.” Ning revealed a look of surprise and delight. “It seems that to nurture these powerful Bloodforged weapons, there really is a need for much slaughter.” Ning, by nature, disliked wanton killing, but if someone was to violate and offend him and give his Ji clan no chance for survival, Ning wouldn’t show a hint of pity. “Patriarch.” Ning said. “How should I attack the other group of Zifu Disciples?” 767 “Ji Ning.” Patriarch Ninefire sent back. “The other group has a total of seven Zifu Disciples and two Zifu spirit-beasts. The most powerful of them are Nong Zidao and Jadechild. Nong Zidao is a formations expert; he isn’t frightening in open battle. The other Zifu Disciples, even combined, are unable to do anything to you. The biggest problem for you will be that Jadechild.” “Jadechild?” Ning nodded lightly. “Jadechild should be an Fiendgod Body Refiner. I am always watching him. From their conversations, I can tell…that they are very confident in Jadechild. They know that twelve Zifu Disciples have died, yet still have full trust in Jadechild! I also heard those Zifu Disciples mention the phrase ‘divine ability’. If my guess is correct, Jadechild should be a peak Zifu Disciple who has learned a divine ability.” Ninefire sent. “A peak Zifu Ki Refiner who has a divine ability…his power will absolutely be at the Wanxiang Adept level. You must be careful.” Ning nodded. Wanxiang Adept level? By relying on an elemental energy that was more powerful than the peak Zifu level, the Rainwater Sword Domain, and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…Ning, too, could be said to have the combat ability of a Wanxiang Adept! The enemy was a Fiendgod Body Refiner and had a divine ability? “If you can’t kill Jadechild, do your best to kill Nong Zidao.” Ninefire sent. “Nong Zidao is their one and only formations expert. As long as Nong Zidao dies, there is no way they will be able to defeat our Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. We will still be able to hold on until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrives.” “Fine.” Ning nodded. “I understand.” Whoosh! Ning waved his hand, and a large number of storage-type magic treasures, flying swords, wings, banners, and other magic treasures appeared. These were all magic treasures that had been left behind by these eight Zifu Disciples. “I’ll first retrieve all the ranked flying swords these people carry. After I bind all of them, perhaps my [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] will gain further in power. And then, at full strength, I will go battle that Jadechild.” Ning’s eyes were filled with a killing intent. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A sailboat was sailing through the endless horizons of the sky. Adept Xu Li, Dong Fanyu, and Wu Qi were seated in the sailboat. Dong Fanyu suddenly pointed in surprise towards the distance. “That’s junior apprentice-brother Lu.” From afar, a ray of light was advancing at high speed, but clearly it was far slower than them. “He seems to be headed towards Swallow Mountain as well?” Wu Qi was surprised. “Apprentice-nephew Lu?” Adept Xu Li revealed a rare smile on his face. Instantly, that flying sailboat drew closer to the ray of light. A few breaths later, it had moved next to it. The ray of light had a middle-aged man standing atop it. The middle-aged man had a hint of urgency in his eyes. Upon seeing the sailboat block his way, he was forced to slow down. But upon seeing Adept Xu Li standing atop the sailboat, he immediately bowed with respect. “Lu Huang greets uncle-master Xu. I didn’t imagine I’d run into you here, Uncle-Master.” Upon seeing Dong Fanyu by Adept Xu’s side, Lu Huang’s eyes instantly turned red, and he roared angrily, “You old bastard, Dong Fanyu!” “What’s this about, apprentice-nephew Lu?” Adept Xu asked. “Junior apprentice-brother Lu, previously, I went to visit you and we chatted happily. Why do you curse at me upon seeing me now? I came to deliver to the Lu clan a chance to obtain a great merit.” Dong Fanyu felt completely puzzled. Lu Huang was enraged. Pointing at Dong Fanyu, he said furiously, “Uncle-Master Xu, this Dong Fanyu previously came to my place to tell me about the elemental ore mine. Thus, our Copperwater branch sent two Zifu Disciples, one from my Lu clan and one from the An clan. But just a short time ago, the life tablets of both the member of the Lu clan and the nearby An clan were both suddenly shattered. My own little sister died. Dong Fanyu claims that this is a chance to render great merits, and claims that the puny Ji clan isn’t worth worrying about. But in reality? Two of the Zifu Disciples of our Copperwater branch are dead! I’m heading straight for Snowdragon City to investigate this clearly and get some answers!” “What, all dead?” Dong Fanyu was shocked. “What’s going on?” Adept Xu frowned as well, and the nearby Wu Qi was growing angry as well. If this matter grew nettlesome, it would no longer be a chance to render a merit; it would be a calamity. Dong Fanyu said frantically, “I didn’t lie. It really is just the Ji clan. There are no other enemies. In addition, our Swallow Mountain branch invited quite a few Zifu Disciple comrades of our organization. How can…how can…” “But it is a fact that the two Zifu Disciples which our Copperwater branch sent both died!” Lu Huang roared. “I, Dong Fanyu, swear that if I lied to you, junior apprentice-brother Lu, then let my soul be shattered and never return to the cycle of reincarnation.” Dong Fanyu said frantically. Only after hearing this oath did Lu Huang’s face become less ugly. Immortal practitioners wouldn’t easily swear oaths. “Hmph.” Lu Huang let out a cold snort. “It seems Dong Fanyu didn’t lie.” Adept Xu said calmly. “That means something happened at Swallow Mountain. Apprentice-nephew Lu, follow me there.” Adept Xu no longer seemed as casual as before; instead, he was a bit cautious. Swish! The sailboat immediately pierced through the skies, advancing towards Swallow Mountain at high speed. …… Oxhorn Mountain. Within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position. Flying swords were hovering around him. When he had previously killed those eight Zifu Disciples, he had searched their storage magic treasures…and had found fifteen flying swords. The most pleasant surprise for Ning was that hawk-nosed cultivator; the hawk-nosed cultivator’s storage treasure actually held a total of nine flying swords…and it seemed as though those nine flying swords came from the same source. They all carried a frigid, icy aura. Upon finding this, Ning was immediately overjoyed. “Good, good, good. They come from the same source. The formation base they can create will be much stronger. This hawk-nosed man…was the hardest to kill of the eight. I didn’t expect he would have so much treasure.” Although Ning didn’t know the hawk-nosed cultivator’s name, he knew that when he had first launched the assassination attempt against them, the hawk-nosed man seemed to have sensed the oncoming danger and had suddenly used a giant umbrella to protect himself. Ning had planned to make him the 770 first target, but was forced to instead switch to a different one. Afterwards, when they fought head on with their most powerful attacks, Ning had to release three sword lights to kill him. “Prior to this, I had thirteen ranked flying swords. Now I acquired fifteen more ranked flying swords, and have a total of twenty eight…that’s enough to create three formation bases.” Ning naturally immediately began to bind these flying swords, wasting no time. Without question, his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would now have those nine frigid flying swords that came from the same origin as the core. “Whew.” Ning opened his eyes. “Done.” The fifteen new flying swords had all been bound. “Let me test them.” Ning willed it… Whoosh… Seven hundred-plus flying swords appeared in the air, with twenty seven of them being ranked that formed three formation bases! The nine frigid flying swords formed the core, controlling and guiding the entire [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. “Eh?” Ning’s face changed; his head hurt as though it were about to split apart. To divide one’s mind sufficiently in order to control so many flying swords and to set up the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] simply required too much out of the soul, especially with ranked flying swords involved…to control a single ranked flying sword was more difficult than controlling ten unranked flying swords! “There’s no way I can activate the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]?” Ning’s first attempt resulted in failure. He was unable to activate it fully. “I simply added eighteen more ranked flying swords, but I’m unable to use the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]?” “That’s not right.” Ning continued to test it. The flying swords around him began to move about, changing their locations. “Yin and Yang transform, endlessly engendering each other!” Ning suddenly thought of the critical barrier needed to break through the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. The book discussed ‘Yin and Yang transforming, endlessly engendering each other’. Now, while analyzing this 771 formation…he suddenly began to understand this principal. If he were to focus on gaining insights at this moment, in perhaps just an hour or just a few days, he would break through to the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! But Ning didn’t choose to meditate, because even if he rose in strength as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, it wouldn’t increase his power much! This was because he was borrowing the power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation…his elemental energy was a good deal stronger than even a peak Zifu Adept’s. He also borrowed from his Sword Domain and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], which was why he was capable of such power. Even if he rose in power as a Fiendgod Refiner, it wouldn’t help him much in battle. Moreover, he didn’t have the time at all to leisurely meditate on these matters right now. “Yin and Yang transform, endlessly engendering each other.” Ning stared at those twenty seven flying swords. The nine frigid flying swords served as the core. The other flying swords in the formation bases swirled around these nine frigid flying swords. They slowly swirled about them, and even began to slowly intersect with them. The power of the formation began to activate, and two formation bases slowly merged into one. “Right.” “Yin and Yang mutually transform…” Ning’s eyes lit up. “One serves as the core. Two serve to supplement. The others serve as everything else.” Rumble… The seven hundred-plus flying swords hovered around Ji Ning. A faint, incomparably powerful ripple suddenly formed. In front of Ning, an incomparably fierce, sharp sword light had taken shape. This sword light was now completely in the shape of a flying sword; it was nothing more than a flying sword that flashed with light. “Ahhhh!” Ning felt his head hurt, as though he were being stabbed. Still, his face had an excited smile appear on it. “Hahaha, success, success.” Although he had gained insight into the mysteries of how Yin and Yang transform and endlessly engender each other, making it possible for him to use the now much stronger ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…Ning was still at his absolute limit. Clearly, his soul felt tremendous pressure right now. “Best to use the eighth level.” Ning quickly removed eighty one ordinary flying swords, but continued to maintain the hovering formation. “Sword light.” Ning once more formed a ray of sword light. This was sword light formed from the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The sword light still appeared like a flying sword, except the sword was not as clear as before. “I feel as though the power is still a bit greater than it was when I used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to kill Dong Ziqi’s group.” Ning revealed a hint of joy on his face. When he had killed Dong Ziqi’s group, his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had nine ranked flying swords, but he now had twenty seven…back then, he was using the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], but he was currently now using the eighth. The current eighth level was even more powerful than the former ninth level. Actually, the reason why the improvement was this noticeable was primarily because…the core was now those ranked frigid flying swords that came from the same location. “Swoosh!” Ning collected the flying swords, then hurried at high speed towards the Patriarch. He quickly arrived. “Ji Ning.” Ji Ninefire and Ji Yichuan both looked at the suddenly arrived Ning. “Patriarch, these are the magic treasures, Dao-seals, medicine pills, and other items that belonged to those Zifu Disciples I killed.” Ning said. “I’ve kept these things, but the others are useless to me. I’ll give them to you, Patriarch…some of these spirit pills are able to replenish elemental energy. They are very useful to us.” Ninefire nodded. Not hesitating, he accepted the bracelet that Ning handed over. “I’ll go deal with Jadechild now.” Ning said. “Be careful.” The nearby Yichuan warned. “Don’t worry, Father.” Ning cracked a smile, then turned and, under the guidance of Ninefire, moved through the parted black fog and hurried towards Jadechild. ….. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was filled with that abyssal aura. “Why hasn’t he come yet?” Jadechild stood there like a Fiendgod, his aura rising to the heavens, his long azure hair unbound, and surges of divine power thrumming through him. He was currently in the 773 formation of the enemy, after all; he had to keep his divine power flowing, so as to be able to release his most powerful combat abilities at any moment. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, Ji Ning is only sixteen years old. Prior to this, when he killed our other fellow apprentices, he must have used some tricks. But you, senior apprentice-brother, are a Fiendgod Refiner and have a divine ability. Those tricks will be useless against you. He’s probably afraid.” “He is almost certainly afraid and hiding.” Those Zifu Disciples all agreed. Jadechild just stood there, his gaze sweeping into the darkness ahead of him. He couldn’t help but wonder as well…was Ning truly afraid? If he wasn’t, given that he knew that Nong Zidao was currently analyzing how to break the formation, why had so much time passed after Ji Ning killing Dong Ziqi’s group of Zifu Disciples? Why hadn’t he come? He had no idea that Ning was currently binding flying swords. “Hmph. The more we delay, the more confidence junior apprentice-brother Zidao will have. Once we break this Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! Without the formation, you will all die.” Jadechild said with great confidence. Suddenly… Rustle…faint lines of drizzling rain suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The rain was icy cold, and it fell down like foggy mist, spreading outwards. It was, however, blocked by the six mation formation and rendered unable to advance at all. “Rainwater!” “It is rainwater!” The other Zifu Disciples revealed looks of shock on their faces. Prior to this, Dong Ziqi had told the others that this rainwater…signified danger and perhaps death. “Rainwater!” A golden light flashed in Jadechild’s eyes. He let out an angry growl, and then his body emanated a dazzling golden as the entire body began to increase in size. Rumble…he transformed into a nearly two-story tall giant. The Zifu Disciples next to him were only as tall as his kneecap. His breaths created tempests that caused the surrounding space to crackle and explode. His footsteps caused the entire world to seem to tremble. Divine ability – Heavenly Transformation! The pupils of the eyes of this giant shot out golden light, and the giant roared loudly, “Ji Ning, come out and do battle!” This deep voice caused his voice to echo, even within his own chest. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The drizzling rain drifted down gently. Jadechild’s entire body was covered with a layer of golden light. He looked like a gold armored Fiend, and his eyes were filled with solidified golden light. His very breath caused the surrounding area to tremble. Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! The formerly soft, gentle rain suddenly became as sharp as knives. The countless raindrops wildly chopped towards the giant Jadechild, but the hazy golden light covering the giant Jadechild’s body effortless deflected them. He swept his gaze towards the surrounding areas. Suddenly, a ripple caught Jadechild by surprise. Without hesitating at all, he sent a fist smashing over! A wheel-sized golden fist smashed against one particular line of rain. This line of rain was the transformed sword flash of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. His fist was covered with a black glove, but it was also covered by that hazy golden light right now. Only if one looked closely would one see that beneath the golden light, there was a glove. His most powerful magic treasure was that glove! “BANG!” An explosive sound. The giant Jadechild couldn’t help but be knocked a step back by that attack, and his backwards step caused the ground to tremble violently and fracture repeatedly. “What an impressive Ji Ning.” The giant Jadechild narrowed his eyes. That line of rain had actually contained such astonishing power. It was definitely at the Wanxiang Adept level. No wonder that earlier group of Zifu Disciples had all been killed. “Formidable.” “He was actually able to make senior apprentice-brother Jadechild take a step back.” The hearts of the other Zifu Disciples instantly grew taut. They understood that the difference between Ji Ning and their senior apprentice-brother Jadechild probably wasn’t that great. “You are Jadechild?” A clear, cold voice rang out. From within the black fog, an enormous draconic tail began to move, and in the center of it was a fur clad youth. The fur clad youth was wielding a sword in each hand, and around him, a lotus flower was blooming and swiveling. Surrounded by the Waterflame Lotus, he walked over. “Ji Ning!” The giant Jadechild stared at this youth. He could sense an incomparably deep, profound mystery from that blooming lotus flower. He vaguely understood that in terms of the ‘Dao’, the youth in front of him probably had an even deeper understanding than he did. A monster! He was only sixteen years of age, but had actually reached such a deep level of understanding when it came to the Dao. ….. Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning strode forward. But upon seeing Jadechild, Ning was greatly shocked. A golden light covered that massive, cliff-like, two-story high body. That invisible, powerful Fiendgod aura made even Ning feel pressure. Ning was probably only as high as the enemy’s kneecaps. “This is the Heavenly Transformation?” Ning mused to himself. He had heard of this divine ability long ago, as this was known to be the most famous of the divine abilities. Divine abilities were very precious and very rare. Generally speaking, only supreme clans, sects, and cults had access to them. However, the majority of them used this ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’! Even in the Raindragon Guards, this divine ability was extremely famous. As the most widespread divine ability, if one wanted to learn it, naturally, the difficulty level would be a bit lower. But this didn’t mean that the Heavenly Transformation divine ability was weak! The prerequisites for this divine ability was low, but when trained to a very high level, it was comparable to some truly formidable divine abilities! When the Fiendgods of the primordial eras battled, they loved to use the Heavenly Transformation ability. With a single movement, one could increase to three hundred meters, three thousand meters, or even thirty thousand meters in height. Those towering, cliff-like Fiendgod bodies could even pick up a mountain range that was thousands of kilometers long as easily as picking up a strand of straw. For them, overturning a sea or flipping over a river was just like taking a bath! From this, one could see how powerful this divine ability was… But of course, those were simply ancient myths, like the myth of Houyi shooting down the suns. It was far too distant from them! “Ji Ning.” Suddenly, a gentle voice rang out. Ning, who was about to do battle with the giant Jadechild, was suddenly startled. Ning looked over to the origin of that voice. Within that tower of black light, there was an old man with simple clothes and 777 unbound hair. That man was smiling as he looked at Ning. “Your talent and potential is truly astonishing. But what is even more precious is that you were able to reach this level despite being in an ordinary, regional clan. You are certainly a rarely seen piece of unpolished jade. Your value far outstrips the value of this elemental ore mine. Ning frowned. The giant Jadechild was startled, as were the other Zifu Disciples as well. “If you are willing, then I am willing to swear an oath that I will guarantee your entrance into our Snowdragon Mountain sect.” Nong Zidao said with a smile. “Given your talent, you will definitely become one of the most important and most core disciples, the ‘heir-disciples’. Upon entering our school, your status will be no lower than that of a Wanxiang Adept. Our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely expend tremendous effort in training you, making you become a true, supreme expert. In the future, even becoming a Primal Daoist…is possible!” Jadechild was startled, but then he too said in a low voice. “Ji Ning, since junior apprentice-brother Zidao is willing to swear an oath, then you don’t need to worry about this. If you join our Snowdragon Mountain, we naturally won’t hold any grudges about what happened before this. But if you refuse…then don’t blame me for being ruthless!” Ning was surprised. They were trying to pull him into Snowdragon Mountain? “I killed so many of your fellow apprentices, but you’ll let me enter your school?” Ning said coldly. “If they died, they died.” Nong Zidao shook his head. “You are different from them. Our Snowdragon Mountain has plenty of those average, ordinary Zifu Disciples! But your talent and your current level of comprehension…I truly have never seen anyone like you in all my life. As long as I make the introductions, the Primal Daoists of our Snowdragon Mountain sect will definitely accept you as a disciple.” Ning, too, had heard his parents say that given his talents, it would be utter simplicity for him to take roof under any of the major powers. Even the spirit of the underwater estate had clearly shown a markedly better attitude towards him after he had comprehended his Rainwater Sword Domain. To gain insight into the Rainwater Sword Domain at age sixteen… This sort of talent was indeed monstrous. “The results of this grudge between your Ji clan and my Snowdragon Mountain have been the deaths of Snowdragon Mountain disciples only. Within this formation, not a single member of your Ji clan has perished. I imagine that you have no reason to feel hatred towards my Snowdragon Mountain.” Nong 778 Zidao then said, “Since we have no hatred for each other, while you yourself come from a regional clan and have a completely clean history, and are so monstrously talented, why wouldn’t the main sect use all of its efforts to cultivate you? In a few hundred years, it’s even possible that you will become the Sect Leader of our Snowdragon Mountain.” The giant Jadechild also spoke out. “If you join our Snowdragon Mountain, then what happened before will be of little consequence. But if you do not join Snowdragon Mountain…given how many of our fellow apprentices your Ji clan has killed, for the sake of our face, Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan. Consider this carefully.” “Consider this well.” Nong Zidao said as well. Two options. One to join them; that would make them all one family. As for the dead? That would have simply been a case where a heir-disciple of extremely exalted status killed a few outer disciples. A small matter. The other option was to refuse. To have killed so many disciples was an affront to Snowdragon Mountain. “Hahaha…” Ning laughed. How could he join Snowdragon Mountain? Just now, Nong Zidao had said that there was no enmity between their sides, and that Ning’s history was clean, that he was monstrously talented, and that Snowdragon Mountain would focus on training him… But loyalty would be the number one thing a sect would consider in cultivating its disciples. Before accepting him as an heir-disciple, Snowdragon Mountain would definitely do a thorough, close investigation of his history. By then, the events which happened to Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow would probably be revealed! Snowdragon Mountain had caused the deaths of Ning’s mother and uncle…given what a huge enmity lay between them, Snowdragon Mountain would never dare to train Ning, no matter how talented he was. Instead, it would want to destroy him as soon as possible, to prevent him from becoming a problem in the future! “Cut the crap.” Ning barked. “Don’t even think of trying to dissuade me.” “Ji Ning, you…” Nong Zidao, within that black tower, shook his head. “One step wrong leads to countless steps wrong. If you join Snowdragon Mountain now…it isn’t too late yet.” “Kill!” Ning didn’t waste any more words. Just on the basis of the ‘loyalty’ issue alone…Ning would be finished once they ran a background investigation on him. It was best to follow his previous plans; annihilate all of these fellows immediately, and delay until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrived! Once the Celestial Envoy arrived, they 779 would have the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty…even if Snowdragon Mountain was a hundred times as bold, they would never dare to do anything. They would have to swallow it. As long as he had enough time…Snowdragon Mountain? He would eventually rip them apart! “Then die!” The giant Jadechild smiled savagely as he stomped hard against the ground. Rumble… The earth trembled, and countless shattered rocks and sand flew about. Within the flying sand and rocks, there could faintly be seen countless granules of sand that flashed with golden light. These golden specks of sand wildly swirled about like a giant whirlpool which surrounded the giant Jadechild, with a portion of the golden sand wildly charging towards Ning. This was the magic treasure which the giant Jadechild often used…the ‘Stellar Sands’! “Thud! Thud! Thud!” The giant Jadechild stomped on the ground, leaving behind a giant golden blur as he charged towards Ning with crushing force. “Hmph.” The rainwater surrounding Ning formed itself into a resilient curtain of water. The translucent water curtain was constantly swirling…when the golden sand struck wildly against it, they were all forcibly stopped by the watery curtain. “Die!” A wheel-sized golden fist smashed through the watery curtain. In the fact of that punch, even the blooming Waterflame Lotus seemed incomparably weak. “What astonishing speed.” Ning’s face changed slightly as the black wings behind him suddenly trembled. Divine ability – Windwing Evasion! Whoosh! The golden fist smashed through the Waterflame Lotus and pierced past Ning’s frame, but there was no hint of delight on the giant Jadechild’s face. This was because it was just an ‘afterimage’ that his fist had punched through. Ning’s speed was simply too fast, and he was too agile; he had instantly dodged. “There’s no use. You won’t be able to escape.” The giant Jadechild took a step forward, causing the earth to crack. He himself once more transformed into a golden light as he charged towards Ning, and his fist easily tore apart the watery curtain and the Waterflame Lotus. “Too fast.” Ning was forced to dodge again. Whoosh… 780 After having used the Windwing Evasion three times in a row, Ning finally managed to pull away from him. Ning discovered that…in terms of straight line movements, this giant Jadechild was actually even faster than he was! After having executed the Heavenly Transformation and increased in size, Jadechild’s speed and strength rose to an astonishing level. Ning didn’t dare face him head on. This was because, when he had used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] earlier, the enemy had used his fist to block it, and had only been forced a single step back. From this, one could tell how powerful that fist was. Fortunately, Ning had the Windwing Evasion, and so had a bit of an advantage in terms of agility. He was also more nimble to begin with, given his smaller size, while the giant Jadechild was so large that his turning ability was naturally inferior. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” Seven hundred flying swords suddenly appeared round Ji Ning, but amongst them, only six hundred or so glowed with white light. Ning had only activated the eighty level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. A sword flash materialized in front of his chest. “Go.” “Go.” “Go!” While using the Windwing Evasion to dodge, Ning simultaneously released six rays of sword light. The six rays of sword light merged into rainwater, then disappeared, transforming into lines of rain…silently, soundless, the six went sweeping towards the direction of the giant Jadechild. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Crackle…” The countless golden grains of the Stellar Sands were swirling around the giant Jadechild. When the six rays of sword light that had transformed into lines of rain wished to pass through them, the Stellar Sands would naturally be knocked flying away. The giant Jadechild roared loudly, “Ambushing me?” His fist suddenly unclenched and expanded into his giant, fan-shaped palm. Whooooosh. He swiped out towards the surrounding area, as fast as a blur. His two giant palms instantly formed a protective barrier around himself. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” Consecutive explosive sounds. The six rays of sword light had all been stopped! “What a fast palm technique.” The distant Ning, seeing this, was astonished. “Although his body increased in size after using his divine ability, resulting in him becoming a bit less agile, his palms are still astonishing fast!” “Ji Ning, accept death!” The giant Jadechild’s body transformed into a golden blur as he charged straight towards Ji Ning. “Go.” The black wings behind Ning’s body trembled, and at the same time, a sword light formed in front of him. Boom! As soon as the sword light flew out, it was smashed apart by the giant Jadechild. “Die.” The giant Jadechild was like a fiendish god, his face savage. His twin fists swung out towards Ning like a pair of meteors! Back! Back! Back! Ning used his Windwing Evasion at full strength. Because the giant Jadechild was much faster, Ning had to rely on his agility to dodge. He wasn’t able to pull away at all; it was like dancing atop a steel wire! If one walked too long by the sides of a river, eventually, one’s shoes would grow wet! “Whoosh!” The giant Jadechild was clearly to the right, but suddenly his fist suddenly appeared and smashed straight towards Ning. Bang! The rainwater was knocked flying! Whoosh! The blooming Waterflame Lotus was completely crushed! Ning wielded two swords in his hands, and they transformed into two streaks of flowing water. The light of his swords was soft and gentle as they struck forward to welcome the oncoming, attacking golden fist. “Bang!” A giant collision. Jadechild felt as though his fists had smashed into something that was incomparably slick and soft, that couldn’t be affected by his power. He had the feeling that his punch had missed, or that it had been pulled astray. “Bang.” Ning himself was knocked flying back tens of meters, and a wound had appeared at the joints of his palms, although it then quickly healed. “What a fellow.” Ning was shocked by the power of that punch. He had power that surpassed that of a peak Zifu Ki Refiner, and also the Rainwater Sword Domain. The Darknorth swords also surpassed ordinary Mortal-rank magic treasures. In terms of close combat, although he was a bit weaker than when using the sword light of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he was probably still close to the Wanxiang Adept level. And yet, when they clashed head on, even when he focused on defense, he was knocked flying. “He actually didn’t die!” The distant, giant Jadechild stared, astonished. …… When the giant Jadechild had struck Ning, the nearby Zifu Disciples, including Nong Zidao, were all extremely excited. But upon seeing that Ning was simply knocked flying without being damaged at all, all of them were incomparably disappointed. “How could it end up this way?” “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild used the Heavenly Transformation divine ability. How powerful much his punches be? How could this person not have been smashed to death?” All of the Zifu Disciples felt a chill in their hearts. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, we will help you.” “We will help.” These frantic Zifu Disciples all unleashed their own techniques. ……… As Ning was sent flying dozens of meters back by Jadechild, a fierce look flashed through his eyes. All of the seven hundred-plus flying swords around him lit up. This was the first time during Ning’s battle with Jadechild that he had used the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. His head instantly felt a splitting, piercing pain! “Go!” The sword light that had appeared in front of Ning, shaped like a true sword, transformed into a line of rain. “Go!” “Go!” “Go!” “Go!” Ning, relying on their earlier exchange of blows, pulled farther away, then launched five attacks of the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. And then, he immediately came to a halt. Just launching five attacks of the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had made his soul almost unable to take it any longer. Naturally, he halted. “Die!” Ning’s eyes were filled with eagerness. This was his most powerful, supreme attack. It had to succeed. “Useless.” The giant Jadechild was surrounded by those countless flying specks of Stellar Sand. Ordinary raindrops were completely unable to break through them. When the first sword light under Ning’s control pierced through the Stellar Sands, the giant Jadechild glanced at the line of rain, then smashed over with a giant palm atop that rain line. BANG!!! The giant Jadechild shook violently. Boomboomboom…he took three hurried steps back, causing the surrounding ground to tremble violently. The other four rays of sword light attacked from up ahead and from behind. “How can he be so strong?” The giant Jadechild felt as though his arm was turning numb from pain. However, given the astonishing regenerative speed of his Fiendgod body, he wasn’t afraid. He hurriedly exerted his strength to block the other sword light rays. Bang! Bang! Each time he blocked them, he took several steps back. This impacted his agility. He wasn’t careful, and so two lines of ray still chopped past his fists, slicing directly towards his chest. Crackle…the rain line chopped down against the giant Jadechild’s body like a knife. However, his body, covered with that hazy golden light, was incomparably tough. By the time the sword light chopped through his protective armor and began to chop against his body, it found it quite difficult to advance. Crackle…it just barely managed to leave a large wound on Jadechild’s body, then vanished. The other flash of sword light also simply left a wound before disappearing. “What!” Ning stared, wide-eyed. He understood now. While activating the ‘Heavenly Transformation’ divine ability, Jadechild’s body had increased tremendously in size. And thus, the level of difficulty for chopping Jadechild’s body in half had risen as well. This was because Jadechild’s body was simply too thick, and every single strand of flesh and muscle had also risen in strength and endurance. The ninth level of his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had only been able to leave a wound on Jadechild’s body. “You injured me?” Jadechild bellowed as he charged over. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, we’ll help you.” “Ji Ning, prepare for death.” The other distant, spectating Zifu Disciples all unleashed their various magic treasures and techniques as they flew towards Ning. “Retreat.” Ji Ning hurriedly activated his wings and retreated at high speed. The surrounding rainwater began to swivel, spinning into layers of protective curtains that blocked these magic treasures. The magic treasures of these Zifu Disciples…weren’t able to penetrate these layers of protection at all. From this, one could see how terrifying Ning’s ‘Rainwater Sword Domain’ was. As for Jadechild, he smashed straight through the protective curtains of rain. “Retreat.” Ning had completely changed his strategy. While controlling the rainwater to form one layer after another of resilient water to block and slow down his opponent, Ning also generated Waterflame Lotuses around Jadechild! The Waterflame Lotuses around Ning…served as a form of protection. But once the Waterflame Lotuses appeared around Jadechild, they served as a form of binding. “Break.” Jadechild forcibly smashed apart the Waterflame Lotus, then through one watery curtain after another, seeking to chase after Ning. Ning used almost all of his concentration on controlling the rainwater and the Waterflame Lotuses. Once he focused his energy on controlling them, it was only natural that the Waterflame Lotuses could constantly bloom and spread out, blocking his foe. Those watery curtains continuously formed as well, one lafter another…faced with so many layers of bindings, the giant Jadechild’s speed naturally dropped dramatically. He wasn’t able to catch Ning at all. “Dao Domain.” The distant Nong Zidao, secreted within the black tower of light, narrowed his eyes. “It really is a Dao Domain. That rainwater forming into one protective wall after another is actually this powerful…Dao Domain. Only sixteen years ago, and yet he has gained insight into a Dao Domain. What a monster!” Prior to this, he wasn’t yet certain. But once Ning focused all his power on unleashing the might of his Dao Domain, using countless amounts of rainwater to block, Nong Zidao and Jadechild, these two experts with tremendous amounts of experience, knew for certain that this was a Dao Domain. If this wasn’t a Dao Domain, how could it be so powerful? The Waterflame Lotuses just bloomed, one after the other. But the Rainwater Sword Domain was everywhere. Every single curtain of rainwater was somewhat weaker than a Waterflame Lotus, but there was too much rain. This was quality born from quantity; Jadechild’s speed naturally dropped. “If you have any ability, fight me head on.” Jadechild roared savagely. “What sort of ability is this, to rely on this sort of technique?” “To be able to lock you down is a form of ability as well.” Ning laughed coldly. “And in addition, by locking you down, I’ve ensured your death.” Jadechild’s face changed. “Indeed…” Ning saw the look on Jadechild’s face. A thought came to his mind; he had guessed correctly. Previously, when they had fought head on, Jadechild’s strength had been simply too overbearing. Even by going all out and using the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], Ning had only been able to make him take three steps back. Even when he had landed a blow on Jadechild’s body, the sword light had only been able to leave behind an injury on that two-story-tall figure, then vanished. But the heavens were always fair. The Heavenly Transformation divine ability allowed one to gain in strength and speed. Even one’s endurance would rise dramatically, and one’s size would increase as well… With so many advantages, could it be that it had no disadvantages? The disadvantage was…it used up an enormous amount of divine power! To maintain the Heavenly Transformation state used up an astonishing amount of divine power. Ning had trained in the divine ability, ‘Windwing Evasion’. Windwing Evasion was different from the Heavenly Transformation technique. The Windwing Evasion…focused on technique! But the Heavenly Transformation divine ability…was a sort of divine ability that relied on one’s ability to control one’s body. The Windwing Evasion was a divine ability technique meant for flying about and evading. Those paintings of the giant Roc contained an incomparably deep and exquisite profoundness to them, while also a technique for using divine power! When Ning had been battling Bei Zishan, he had used up his divine power to activate the Windwing Evasion. When one used divine power to activate a divine ability, the divine power could increase tenfold or a hundredfold in power, naturally making the divine ability powerful as well. But Ning’s ‘divine power’ in his Fiendgod body was only at the peak Xiantian level, while his elemental energy surpassed that of a peak Zifu-level Ki Refiner. By using his elemental energy to control the wingtype magic treasures in accordance to the intricacies of the Windwing Evasion, naturally he was still quite fast. “Maintaining the Heavenly Transformation will use up astonishing amounts of divine power. I want to see how much you have.” Ning mused to himself. “As for myself, the amount of energy I’m using up is negligible. Both the Rainwater Sword Domain and the Waterflame Lotus relies on activating the power of the heavens in order to take form. “Ji Ning!” The giant Jadechild bellowed. “All you are capable of is using these despicable methods.” Ning just focused whole-heartedly on controlling the Rainwater Sword Domain and the Waterflame Lotuses, frantically trying to entangle his foe. The giant Jadechild, as Ning had predicted, was using up an extremely astonishing amount of divine power while using his divine ability. The giant Jadechild didn’t dare to return to his normal state either, as if he did, Ning’s sword light would probably instantly chop apart and slaughter him. ….. Roughly an hour later. This was the last hour of Jadechild’s life. During this hour, he came to a halt, no longer going to smash against the Waterflame Lotus or the curtains of rain. By not attacking, he was able to lower his expenditure of divine power. However…when he stopped moving, Ning would begin to control his sword light to attack. After Ning’s sword light left a wound on his body, he would have to use a large amount of divine power to heal. Not battling wasn’t an option. Battling also wasn’t an option. Jadechild’s divine power was finally used up, and reluctantly, his body returned to the size of a normal person’s. Crackle… A line of rain slashed past, and Jadechild’s head went flying, then landed on the ground. Given how his divine power had been completely used up, there was no way he could heal his wounds any longer. Naturally, he lost his life. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild died.” “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild!” The other Zifu Disciples were all incomparably terrified, but within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, they were completely unable to flee. “It’s all over.” Within the black tower of light, Nong Zido stretched his hand out to stroke the Fairy Crane by his side. A hint of pain and pity was in his eyes. “Crane, I’m sorry. This trip to Swallow Mountain was in error. I’m unable to save you. Let us end our master-servant relationship now. I hope that the Ji clan will spare your life!” Within his other hand, a Dao-seal suddenly appeared. Whoosh. Suddenly, a spatial vibration appeared, then Nong Zidao’s body disappeared from within the tower of black light, leaving behind only the other five Zifu Disciples, the Landwyrm, and the Fairy Crane. The Fairy Crane let out a griefstricken bird call as tears began to flow from its eyes. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Nong Zidao disappeared?” Ji Ning frowned. The other five Zifu Disciples were utterly terrified as well. Ning, with the assistance of the grand formation, was absolutely at the Wanxiang Adept level of power. The five of them weren’t even enough to join into a formation of their own. “Ji Ning, please spare our lives.” “I offer to you all of the magic treasures that I am carrying. My clan will also offer up magic treasures in exchange for my life.” “Ji Ning…” The five of them were all begging, without any hint of a martial spirit. Ning swept the five of them with his gaze. “Ji Ning.” A voice suddenly rang out by his ears. “We’ve destroyed these two groups of Zifu Disciples, but two more days will pass before the Grand Xia Dynasty arrives…within these two days, more disciples of Snowdragon Mountain might arrive. There is no way for us to watch over and guard these people. Kill them all. As for those two Zifu-level Diremonsters, if you are able to make them submit, do so. If not, kill them!” Ning nodded. The Patriarch’s words were reasonable. “All of you, accept death.” Ning looked at them and spoke calmly. In front of his body, that flashing sword light suddenly transformed into a line of rainwater and flew towards them. It was immediately followed by yet another flash of sword light. These were all only at the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! “Ji Ning, Snowdragon Mountain will definitely avenge us.” “Ji Ning, you will die a miserable death!” 789 These five seemed to have gone berserk. All of them wanted to go all out, but given that they weren’t able to join in a formation, even though they threw out some powerful Dao-seals…upon encountering that curtain of water, they immediately exploded, unable to touch Ning at all. Within a few moments, all five of them perished. “Do you two spirit-beasts submit?” Ning swept his gaze towards the still-living Landwyrm and Fairy Crane. The Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane looked at each other, and then the Landwyrm transformed into a large, azure-armored man, while the Fairy Crane transformed into a white-robed maiden. The azurearmored man and the white-robed maiden all immediately fell to their knees. “We are willing to submit!” Although Zifu-level Diremonsters were incomparably arrogant and hard to tame, when they were faced with only two options, to perish or to submit…they would generally submit, especially when the opponent’s power completely surpassed their own. “Follow me.” Ning’s gaze flashed, and the falling rain disappeared. Immediately afterwards, a surge of blazing fire swept out, rendering the corpses of the five Zifu Disciples into ash, leaving behind only their magic treasures, which Ning easily collected. “Yes.” The Landwyrm and the Celestial Crane all followed after Ning. Soon, they passed through the layers of black fog and arrived in front of Ji Ninefire. “Eh?” Ning was surprised. In front of him, aside from the Patriarch and his father, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing had all arrived as well. “I asked them to come.” Ninefire laughed. “Both groups of Zifu Disciples are dead. For now, we have no opponents, so I had them all come over.” “Ji Ning. Formidable.” Truekeep’s eyes were shining. “Formidable, formidable.” Old servantAh Xing’s face was filled with delight as well. Granny Shadow laughed and nodded as well. All of them were very happy. This was because, in just two or three short days worth of time, Snowdragon Mountain would only be able to invite some Zifu Disciples from nearby regions to come over…and as for the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect, it was simply too far away. There was no way they would be able to make it over in two or three short days. Having killed eighteen Zifu Disciples and tamed two spirit-beasts, the threat level had dropped dramatically. “Unfortunately, we allowed Nong Zidao to flee.” Patriarch Ninefire shook his head. “Patriarch, how did he escape? Why did he suddenly disappear?” Ning asked hurriedly. Granny Shadow and the others all looked towards the Patriarch as well. They had just gathered together, and so they hadn’t had a chance to ask about these things in detail. Ninefire shook his head. “I don’t know either. He simply disappeared. There’s no trace of him in the entire formation. However, if we ask his spirit-beast, I imagine it will know.” The eyes of Ning and the others lit up. Right. Ask the spirit-beast. “Fairy Crane.” Ninefire looked at the white-robed maiden. “How did Nong Zidao escape?” The white-robed woman said respectfully, “My former owner was skilled in formations. He was valued by his master, and so was given a ‘Lesser Teleportation Dao-Seal’. This Dao-seal, upon being used, will instantly allow one to teleport to any location within ten thousand kilometers.” “A Lesser Teleportation Dao-Seal?” Ning and the others looked at each other. Ning quietly memorized this name. It seemed as though this Lesser Teleportation Dao-Seal was the same thing as his so-called ‘Traceless Talisman’. The Traceless Talisman had been acquired in a fortuitous encounter by an ancestor of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, who had used up two, leaving only one behind. Because it allowed one to teleport within ten thousand kilometers without a trace, it had been named the ‘Traceless Talisman’. “Patriarch, what should we do with these two spirit-beasts?” Ning looked at Ninefire. The other five all looked at each other as well. “Ji Ning, are you willing to accept them?” Ninefire asked Ning. Ning looked at the Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane. Zifu-level spirit-beasts were very precious. Ordinary Zifu Disciples wouldn’t be able to acquire them, but in truth…Ning didn’t care about these two Zifu spiritbeasts. If Ning took some time to focus on his insights, in anywhere from a few hours to a few days, he would break through to the seventh level, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. In but a few years, he would reach the ninth level as an Fiendgod Body Refiner of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! By then, Zifu-level spirit-beasts would truly be useless to him; in fact, they would slow him down. “I have no need.” Ning shook his head. “Since that’s the case…” Ninefire nodded. “Then I will temporarily accept them. After we overcome this tribulation, I will then divide them up.” “Fine.” 791 “That’s what we’ll do, then.” Truekeep, Granny Shadow, Yichuan, and the others all nodded without any debate. It was too early to discuss who the spirit-beasts would go to. Nobody knew which of them would survive this tribulation. “These are the magic treasures left behind by that Jadechild.” Ning waved his hand, and a large amount of magic treasures immediately appeared on the ground. “Everyone, take a look and see which are useful. If you find any flying swords…various elders, please help me prepare them for binding. I need to find a place to train; just now, in battle, I gained some slight insights.” “Alright. Leave it to us.” Ninefire and the others didn’t hesitate at all. “Right.” Ning’s body flickered as he immediately departed at high speed. The Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane, in the form of the azure-armored warrior and the white-robed maiden, were both rather disappointed. In truth, they desired to become Ning’s spirit-beasts. First of all, they bore no hatred for Ning, as the Landwyrm had, for example, been forcibly subdued by Jadechild in the past. Although the Fairy Crane did have a close relationship with Nong Zidao, since Zidao had given her up and fled for his life, it could be said that the karmic binds between them had come to an end. Secondly, Ning was only sixteen years old. A monster like this would have unlimited potential; if they followed a master like him, their own future would be bright as well. Unfortunately, Ning wasn’t willing to accept them. ….. Ning was seated in the lotus position within the mountainous forests, surrounded by dark energy. “Yin and Yang transform, endlessly engendering each other.” Ning murmured to himself, then closed his eyes and began to meditate on it. Prior to this, when he had analyzing the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he had come to a realization…that all of the great Daos of the world were, in truth, similar. Formations, swordplay, magic, divine abilities…they all contained the ‘Dao’. The Dao was the same. Only, the paths of the Dao were different. Ning understood this principle…and so naturally, it now became much easier for him to break through, from the sixth to the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. “Yin and Yang transform!” Ning, his eyes closed, began to activate the divine power in his body… In midair, a thousand kilometers away from Snowdragon City, space suddenly rippled, and a figure appeared out of nowhere. It was a fur-clad Nong Zidao. Nong Zidao’s eyes were filled with grief. “If you encounter a formation, be cautious. Be cautious.” Nong Zidao let out a soft sigh. “This is the most simple of principles, but we disciples of Snowdragon Mountain had all forgotten about it.” If you encounter a formation, be cautious. This was something all Immortal practitioners knew. This was because formations were intricate and marvelous. No one could know what was within a formation, and upon entering it, one wouldn’t even be able to flee! For example, the Wanxiang Adept, Adept Mu Xiao, knew that Bei Zishan was hidden within the formation, but because Bei Zishan had set up a formation, Adept Mu Xiao had chosen to instead wait patiently outside, rather than enter the formation. But these disciples of Snowdragon Mountain had truly held their foes in too little regard. Although they knew that upon encountering a formation, they should be cautious, they hadn’t held the Ji clan in any regard at all. The Ji clan was nothing more than a local clan, and they had an understanding of the Ji clan’s power. They didn’t believe that the Ji clan would be capable of any powerful formations at all. In addition, they had Jadechild as well as a formations expert, Nong Zidao. They also had nearly twenty comrades… Their power was simply too great. They believed that they would completely dominate and crush a puny clan like the Ji clan. Because of their over-confidence, they had underestimated their foes, and so had become trapped in the formation, with no way to escape! Jadechild. Even with the assistance of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, Ning was only on par with Jadechild in power; Jadechild had only died after all of his divine power had been exhausted, rendering him unable to use his divine ability. If they had fought outside the formation, upon seeing that the situation was turning grim, he could’ve fled. But within the formation, there was no place to run! “If you encounter a formation, be cautious. But if we didn’t enter…should we have simply allowed the Ji clan to delay? Watch as the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty came?” Nong Zidao shook his head and sighed. “Formations…Ji Ning…” “The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and a monster who gained insight into a Dao Domain at age sixteen. For me to encounter both these things in such a puny little local clan? My defeat was not an injust one!” A flying ship appeared beneath Nong Zidao’s feet, which immediately tore through the skies, flying at high speed towards Snowdragon City. “No matter what, I have to go warn my other comrades, who are probably heading this way as well.” Nong Zidao mused. Of the first group of Zifu Disciples, the sole survivor was Nong Zidao. If he didn’t go warn the newcomers, in the future, when the main sect investigated this matter, he, Nong Zidao, would be censured. ………. Moments later. A distant city appeared within his field of vision. “Eh?” Nong Zidao, atop the ship, saw that there were people in the air above the distant city. That person flew over, as fast as a ray of light. “Dong Fanyu?” Nong Zidao immediately recognized this old man. “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Dong Fanyu, upon seeing Nong Zidao, immediately asked impatiently, “I heard that you, senior apprentice-brother Zidao, along with senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and a group of others all went to Oxhorn Mountain. Why have you come here, senior apprentice-brother Zidao? Also…the life-tablets of quite a few people who headed to Oxhorn Mountain have shattered. Even the lifetablet of my own Dong clan’s Patriarch, Dong Ziqi, has shattered. What happened at Oxhorn Mountain?” Nong Zidao shook his head. “I feel ashamed. Aside from myself, every single one of our fellow disciples who went to Oxhorn Mountain perished.” “What?! All perished?!” Dong Fanyu was shocked. “So many fellow disciples all, all…” “Aside from me, all of them died.” Nong Zidao sighed. “I’ve come to warn you that Oxhorn Mountain is incredibly perilous. No matter what, do not enter. I don’t want any other fellow disciples to suffer.” Dong Fanyu said frantically, “Can’t be entered? But just now, Wanxiang Adept, Adept Xu Li, personally led a group of Zifu Disicples to head towards Oxhorn Mountain.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Heavens] – Stage Seven “Adept Xu Li?” Nong Zidao was shocked. As a valued, intensively trained disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, Nong Zidao naturally was quite familiar with Adept Xu. He knew that Adept Xu wasn’t too skilled in the Dao of formations. Actually, the vast majority of Immortal practitioners with great potential were unskilled in formations; they would focus their efforts on training, on gaining insights into the Dao, on magic treasures, and on magic spells. “How long ago did the Adept head there?” Nong Zidao hurriedly asked. “Just a while ago, in less than the amount of time needed to brew tea. Adept Xu left just before you arrived, senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Dong Fanyu said hurriedly. Nong Zidao, shocked, immediately instructed: “Remember, if there are any other Zifu Disciples who arrive here, they can go to Oxhorn Mountain, but you must warn them…they are definitely not permitted to casually enter the grand formation of Oxhorn Mountain. That is the place where senior apprenticebrother Jadechild perished.” “I will definitely inform the other fellow disciples.” Dong Fanyu immediately said. “Right.” Nong Zidao had no time to speak any further; he immediately boarded his flying ship and flew through the skies, heading once more to Oxhorn Mountain. ………. Oxhorn Mountain. Ji Ninefire and the others paid attention to the region outside the grand formation while simultaneously binding the magic treasures. From their viewpoint on up high, they were able to see through the thin mist to the distant, desolate wilderness. “All of the Zifu Disciples from the earlier group, aside from Nong Zidao, have perished. Our Ji clan even ended up acquiring two additional Zifu-level spirit-beasts.” Ji Truekeep was currently working on binding a flying sword, then said with a satisfied look on his face, “The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain only had a few Zifu Disciples to begin with. With so many dead, I imagine there won’t be any other formidable figures who will come.” “Yes.” Ninefire nodded with a satisfied smile as well. “Our Ji clan now has hope.” Granny Shadow sighed in her hoarse voice as well. From a logical standpoint, their expectations were correct. The Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty would be able to arrive in two days. The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain simply wouldn’t be able to invite some more distant branches to assist in time. In addition, at most, forty or fifty Zifu Disciples could be invited over from the surrounding areas, and amongst them, the most powerful and famous were Jadechild and Nong Zidao! One had perished, while the other had fled; who else would dare to enter? The only choice was to report back to the main sect, but the main sect was too far away. Most likely, the Ji clan would receive protection from the Grand Xia Dynasty well before the main sect had even received word of this matter. “We are fortunate to have Ji Ning.” Ninefire sighed as he glanced at the nearby Ji Yichuan. “Yichuan. You have a good son.” Yichuan couldn’t help but smile as well. With a son like Ning, how could he not be proud? “Once this tribulation is over,” Granny Shadow said hoarsely, “Ji Ning will definitely leave our Ji clan and go out to adventure. Give his monstrous talents…I imagine that he should be able to take refuge within one of the great powers. By then, why would we need to fear Snowdragon Mountain?” “Ji Ning’s future is unlimited!” Ji Truekeep sighed emotionally as well. These were all the elites of the Ji clan, but compared to Ning…they felt a vast gap between them. “Someone is coming.” Ninefire suddenly shouted. “What?!” Instantly, a great commotion. All of them turned to stare through the sparse black fog, only to see a boat sail through the skies towards their direction, with quite a few Immortal practitioners gathered together atop it. “Who is it?” “I haven’t seen any of them. Don’t recognize them.” “I recognize one of them. That short old fellow is an Immortal practitioner of the Huan clan. The two of us have met once, but I don’t know his name.” Ninefire and the others could see a total of eight Zifu Disciples atop the boat, but they didn’t know the names of any of them. Only Ninefire was able to recognize a single one of them. Truekeep immediately asked, “What should we do? Should we go call for Ji Ning?” 796 “Ji Ning is currently training within the formation.” Ninefire shook his head. “In addition, only eight have come. No need to be impatient.” …….. The flying boat descended towards the ground, the vanished. The eight figures atop the boat disembarked. Not too far away, they saw a wood golem standing atop the ground. The eyes of the wood golem flashed with a green light as it looked towards them with curiosity. “A golem.” Lu Huang said hurriedly. “Master-uncle, I will go take a look.” Lu Huang immediately moved forward a few steps, but before he said anything, the wood golem spoke out: “Are you disciples of Snowdragon Mountain?” “Yes.” Lu Huang nodded as he spoke, while Adept Xu and the others walked over as well. The wood golem said, quite obediently, “Per the orders of my master, Nong Zidao, I am here awaiting the arrival of disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. I am here to let you all know that my master, Nong Zidao, along with Jadechild, eighteen other Zifu Disciples, and two Zifu-level spirit-beasts have all entered the grand formation.” “Do you have any other information?” Adept Xu Li asked. “I know nothing else.” The wood golem shook its head. “Has anyone emerged?” Adept Xu Li frowned as he spoke. “Did you feel the ground shake?” The wood golem said, “Nobody has emerged. Prior to this, I felt the ground shake multiple times, but now, I don’t feel the ground shaking whatsoever.” The faces of Adept Xu Li and the rest of the eight all changed. Some formations were able to completely block out sound, but it was extremely hard to block out the vibrations created from a battle, which would pass through the earth and the mud to the outside world. It was unheard of, at least, for Mortal-ranked formations to be able to block out ground vibrations. “The first few ground vibrations indicate that they battled multiple times. But for there to be no further vibrations at all…and given that based on the information we received, the life-tablets of many Zifu Disciples, including Dong Ziqi, are shattered…” Adept Xu Li said in a soft voice, “The most likely possibility is that all of them are dead.” “Adept, what should we do?” The others all looked towards Adept Xu Li. Of the seven, some had run into Adept Xu Li on the road, while others had been waiting at Snowdragon City. Prior to this, nineteen Zifu Disciples and two Zifu-level spirit-beasts had silently, soundlessly disappeared within this formation. “We can’t enter it casually.” Adept Xu Li said in a soft voice. “Nong Zidao is extremely skilled in formations. Even I am inferior to him. As for Jadechild, he has a divine ability and thus astonishingly great combat power, as well as tremendously strong lifeforce as a Fiendgod Body Refiner…the two of them joined forces to enter, and yet there is no word of them. No matter what, we cannot enter the formation casually.” The other seven all nodded in agreement. “Let me try to forcibly break the formation first and see if I can destroy it.” Adept Xu Li glanced at the distant Oxhorn Mountain. He waved his hand, and a large seal appeared within his palm. This large seal flew out from his palm, then rapidly increased in size, quickly becoming an enormous seal that was more than three hundred meters long. It hung there, high above Oxhorn Mountain. “Descend!” Adept Xu Li pointed into the distance. Instantly, the surrounding world seemed to change colors. The brilliant sunlight seemed to instantly disappear as the surrounding world turned pitch-black. Within the pitch-black skies, there were even many flashing stars, and amongst the stars there was an enormous, brilliant moon. Within the moon, a giant palm formed from moonlight emerged, which clasped that giant, three hundred meter seal. And then, it smashed that seal downwards to the ground! Bang! It smashed directly atop the black fog surrounding the base of Oxhorn Mountain. The surrounding earth trembled violently, and then the giant moonlight hand lifted up again, raising the enormous seal once more. …….. When Ninefire and the others saw the world itself change through the Manifestation, the looks on their faces changed as well. The brilliant light of the sun had been transformed into a constellation of stars in the night sky. They all called out in shock, “A Wanxiang Adept!” “How could a Wanxiang Adept be here? The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain is nothing more than a branch. These branches only have Zifu Disciples. How could a Wanxiang Adept have come? Wanxiang Adepts are the core of Snowdragon Mountain. How could they have appeared here?” Truekeep stared, wide-eyed. Every member of the Ji clan was completely shocked. They didn’t dare believe it. “Quick, everyone, go to your locations in your sub-formations.” Ninefire hurriedly ordered. “If that Wanxiang Adept thinks he can destroy our formation from outside just by using a giant seal, he is dreaming. At such a great distance…even a Wanxiang Adept is only able to at most unleash a tenth of his full power. Against power at this level, if we join forces and rely on the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, we can definitely fight back.” “Should we call for Ji Ning?” Granny Shadow asked. “No need. Landwyrm, follow my orders and head towards the north.” Ninefire gave the order. “For now, you will temporarily serve as the center for the Dragontail Formation of our Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” “Yes.” The azure-armored warrior replied. Monsters initially trained in monstrous power, but upon establishing their Zifu, the body in their energy would also become the elemental energy of the Zifu. This Landwyrm was at the peak Zifu-level…his elemental energy was even more powerful than Ji Ning’s!” ……… “Descend!” From far away, Adept Xu Li pointed yet again. The giant moonlight hand, clutching that great seal, once more smashed downwards towards Oxhorn Mountain. But this time, a draconic roar suddenly rang out, and an enormous black draconic tail swept out. The draconic tail was tremendous in size as well, and as it emerged from the black fog, it clashed directly against the downwards smashing seal. Bang! The giant seal smashed against the giant draconic tail. The draconic tail trembled slightly, but was able to hold on. “A black draconic tail?” Adept Xu Li frowned. “And it’s actually able to block my Manifestation…” There were limits to the distance at which an Immortal practitioner could use magic treasures to attack. The farther away they attacked from, the lower the power would be. Wanxiang Adepts could rely on their ‘Myriad Manifestations’ to launch long-distance attacks, but naturally, the power would be much lower than if they attacked in close-quarters combat. For example, when Adept Mu Xiao had wanted to prevent Bei Zishan from escaping, he had been able to, from an extremely great distance, generate his Manifestation to capture the bug-body of Bei Zishan. “What formation is this?” Adept Xu Li frowned. “A few mere Zifu Disciples, by relying on this formation, are able to block my Manifestation. This formation…” 799 Despite his knowledge, even he wasn’t able to recognize this formation. The seven nearby Zifu Disciples had looks of confusion and nervousness on their faces. That draconic tail that had emerged from the fog…what formation was this? ….. Ninefire and the others, by relying on the Netherwyrm created by the formation, had resisted the smashing blow of the giant seal. Still, they felt that doing so was quite an onerous task. “I wonder how Ji Ning’s training is progressing. He might be at a critical moment.” Ninefire, frantic, wanted to summon Ning, but he was also worried that he would disrupt Ning’s meditations. …… Within the formation. Dark energy was flowing everywhere. Ning sat there in the lotus position, completely absorbed in the intricate mysteries of Yin and Yang transforming. He continuously experimented, gaining a greater and greater comprehension, having reached a level of completely losing himself in his training. He didn’t even notice the tremors caused earlier by the giant seal smashing against the ground. As for Ninefire and the others, the giant Netherwyrm they were controlling was in the area surrounding Ning, protecting him. “Yin cannot be without Yang.” “Yang cannot be without Yin.” “Even the most powerful of dragons has regrets. After every peak, there is a valley…” “Only when Yin and Yang transform into each other can they endlessly engender each other in a cycle.” Ning suddenly understood. The Divine Sun Tattoo and the Divine Moon Tattoo on his back suddenly lit up. He could sense, from an unfathomably distance, separated by untold numbers of planes, those two giant stars. The Lunar Star and the Solar Star. They each immediately sent down surges of Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire, which pierced through countless planes and countless voids, descending directly upon Ning. “Rumble…” “Rumble…” The surrounding area instantly became transformed into a world of fire and water. Enormous petals of fire and water transformed into the bud of a flower, completely covering Ning within. With the Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire as the core, a tremendous amount of fire and water appeared, forming a gigantic flower that completely surrounded Ning, who was now like the stamen within the flower. Even the distant Adept Xu Li and his group of Zifu Disciples could see, from far away, an enormous flower emerge from within the dark fog, as the tips of the petals just barely stretched out above the black fog. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Walk faster!” “You’ve already died and become a ghost. Faster!” “You are a prince? You ruled over tens of millions of citizens and thirty thousand armored horsemen? In the Netherworld Kingdom, you human princes are nothing!” Smack! Smack! A tall, powerful-looking demonic soldier, his face mean and vicious, snarled angrily as he lashed out with his whip repeatedly. The whip flashed like lightning, striking on the bodies of the souls of the dead. He struck the ghost who had been arrogantly proclaiming that he was a prince several dozen times, only stopping when the ghost’s soul had almost dissipated. “I should’ve died. So that means…this is the Netherworld Kingdom?” Ji Ning appeared out of nowhere. He couldn’t help but stare with curiosity at the unfamiliar surroundings. When he heard the arrogant boastings of the prince, Ji Ning couldn’t help but feel suspicious; “Ten million citizens? Thirty thousand armored horsemen? In the modern Earth, where would one find thirty thousand armored horsemen?” “Faster!” The massive, glowing minotaur demon soldier stared at Ji Ning and brayed. Ji Ning followed the rest of the regiment. Countless men in white clothes formed into a line, like a long, sinuous dragon, as they slowly moved forwards. At the end of each line, more people in white would suddenly appear. Some of these whitedressed people would shake their heads and sigh. Some would weep. Some would brag and curse. Some would stare in astonishment. “My father is the Devil King of the Great Snowy Mountain. How dare you strike me! I’ll eat you! Grrr!” “Stop hitting me!” “Ah!” The ghosts who had just reached the Netherworld Kingdom didn’t know they were dead. Many of them were roaring in anger as they were beaten, but quickly, they were beaten to the point of 67 understanding…that they were dead. No matter how glorious they had been in the past, in death, they now had nothing. …. Time passed quickly. Ji Ning walked for a very long time in that endless line of ghosts. He didn’t dare to say anything. If he spoke, he might be whipped by that minotaur. He had walked in a daze for a long time already. Fortunately, ghosts didn’t get hungry or thirsty. One day, after a long, long period of dazed walking. “Ji Ning!” A thunderous sound seemed to echo in the world. The countless ghosts all raised their heads to stare at the sky. Ji Ning stared at the sky as well. From the horizon, an enormous black cloud began to roll over, and atop that cloud was an enormous minotaur god who was glowing with black light. This enormous minotaur god was over a hundred thousand meters tall. He was like a massive mountain. The black cloud he was on quickly flew over from the horizon. “Ji Ning.” Atop the massive black cloud, the minotaur god stared downwards, his eyes shooting out twin lofty golden rays of light, covering the entire area below and illuminating the body of Ji Ning, who stood there like an idiot. The glowing light from the eyes of the minotaur god wrapped around Ji Ning’s body, and Ji Ning disappeared from within the ranks of the ghosts. Those ordinary minotaur soldiers were all silent, none daring to make a sound. All of the ghosts were in a state of shock. Only a long time later did they recover. ….. Within the boundless black clouds, the titanic minotaur god stood. He stretched out his hand, and on top of his palm was a tiny little dot. Ji Ning. Ji Ning was totally shocked. God. An enormous minotaur god was standing in front of him, and he was standing on its palm? “Ji Ning.” The minotaur god peered down at the tiny little speck in his hands. “I have come at the orders of the Lord of Cui Palace to come receive you.” The minotaur god spoke to the tiny speck in his hands, and then with a wave of his hands, Ji Ning was placed into an empty void area. The minotaur god then rose his black cloud and quickly disappeared into the horizon. ….. In the Fengdu City of the Ghost World. Within a quiet study, there was a bookshelf and a table next to it. A blue robed man in his middle years was flipping through a book. Ji Ning stood there in front of him. “Why does the Lord of Cui Palace wish to see me?” Ji Ning was wondering. He had no idea who this Lord of Cui Palace was and had never met him. He was just an ordinary person. How could he possibly know any Immortals? If he had a powerful background, then he wouldn’t have been tormented by his illness his entire life. So why had that Lord of Cui Palace sent the minotaur god to bring him here? “He summoned me, but then he doesn’t speak to me.” Ji Ning sneaked a glance around the room. The study was very simple. The only decoration was a single painting. “That’s…” Ji Ning looked at it carefully. This was the painting of a girl. Her feathered clothes were filled with natural grace, and the smile on her lips was even more enigmatic than those on the Buddhas in the temples on Earth. In the blink of an eye, Ji Ning became enamored with studying that painting. The woman in this painting, in terms of appearance or hair or clothing, was extremely alluring. “Oh?” The blue robed man raised his head and glanced at him, glancing at the painting in surprise. “I didn’t expect that he would have such powers of perception.” “Wake up!” The blue robed man shouted quietly. The world of vacant pondering which Ji Ning had been in just now was totally shattered, and he was totally woken up. Only now did he remember that he was in the Lord of Cui Palace’s place. The Lord of Cui Palace had closed his book and was looking at him. Ji Ning’s expression instantly changed. This was because from his current position, he could see the words within the hands of the Lord of Cui Palace: “Book of Life and Death.” The Lord of Cui Palace was reading the Book of Life and Death? “I’ve just been reading about your life.” The Lord of Cui Palace smiled towards Ji Ning. Ji Ning was startled. His life? His previous life appeared in his mind like a dream. His father was a leading researcher in a bioscience program. His salary was extremely high. His mother was an ordinary teacher. His life should’ve been great since he had been born into such a family, but unfortunately, he suffered from constant diseases. The doctors all said that it would be a miracle if he would live to fifteen or sixteen. Therefore, he couldn’t go to school, nor could he play around with his peers. Every day, just by walking for half an hour, he would feel exhausted. His weak body, constantly tormented by illness, caused his childhood to be very lonely. He had heard long ago in the hospital that others were discussing how he should die in his teens. This sort of terrifying feeling of knowing your death was coming soon had tormented his childhood, causing him to be even more of a loner. Fortunately! Fortunately, he had his books and the internet. The books and the internet gave him a ‘mental world’ which allowed him to avoid the fate of having a twisted personality. Through books and the internet, he ravenously acquired knowledge about the world, and his heart slowly grew calm, making him more rational in the way he viewed the world. He knew that in the world, there were children who were even worse off than him. After all, he still had his parents and he had enough to eat. He was searching for his value in life. He couldn’t just stay here and wait to die, right? While he was alive, he had to do something. And thus, he had asked for a hundred thousand Chinese dollars from his parents and began to do business online. He originally had wanted to make his life more interesting, but unexpectedly, he really had incredible achievements. After many years, he had earned an enormous fortune. But despite that, his illness constantly reminded him that he wouldn’t be able to live for much longer. As his parents didn’t need him to support them, he felt that leaving the money there would be a waste. Thus, before dying, he handed out all of his money, giving it to the poor and sick children throughout the country. “I can’t change my own destiny, but I can change the destiny of those countless poor, sick children!” This was the deepest desire in Ji Ning’s heart! After handing out all of his money, he hadn’t expected that one day, while he was taking a walk in the streets outside the hospital with his parents, he had simply died. “Your life was bitter since you were born.” The Lord of Cui Palace said softly. “But bitterness didn’t twist you. Instead, it spurred you on to astonishing accomplishments. You not only made a huge sum of money, but more importantly…you gave it all away!” “Eighteen years of age. Dead.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed. “For one to be willing to sacrifice one’s self to rescue a stranger is quite rare.” 70 Ji Ning said, “Palace Lord, you praise me too much. If I had lived a long life, I might not have been willing to do this. According to the doctors, at most I would’ve lived another three months. For me to trade those three months of life to allow a little girl to gain dozens of years in her life was worth it!” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed, and then casually flipped open the Book of Life and Death. His gentle voice carried an infinite majesty. “Ji Ning, in your life, you saved over ten thousand people. Your merits are great. For your reincarnation, you shall be reborn into…the Heaven Realm!” “The Heaven Realm.” Ji Ning murmured quietly. The Lord of Cui Palace sighed, “Only those who accumulate great karmic merit can enter the Heaven Realm. On Earth, it is very hard for one to reach this level. Knowingly or unknowingly, by giving up your vast fortune and helping all of those children, you accumulated enormous karmic merit. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be able to enter the Heaven Realm.” “Palace Lord, what do you mean?” Ji Ning was confused. “People are born pure and without malice.” The Lord of Cui Palace said. “Children are totally pure, but later on, the vagaries of life cause them to change…if you were to have helped adults, you might’ve helped some kind people, but it is hard to say who is kind and who is evil. If you had helped evil people, it would’ve reduced your karmic merit.” Ji Ning now realized what he meant. “The Book of Life and Death had preordained that you would only live to be sixteen. However, because of your accumulated merits, you were allowed to live until age eighteen.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed. “What?” Ji Ning was shocked. “Are you saying that the fates contained within the Book of Life and Death can be changed?” “Of course they can be changed. Why can’t they be changed?” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “For me, adding a hundred years to a person’s life is nothing. Even if Heaven wanted you to die, it would still give you a chance, much less the Book of Life and Death. A person’s destiny is preordained, true, but it can be changed later on.” Ji Ning now understood. It was true. The ancients said, “If Heaven commits a sinful act, one can go against it; but if you do a sinful act, then you will not be allowed to live.” If Heaven wanted you to die, it would still give you a chance at life. The Book of Life and Death was nothing more than pre-ordained destiny, which one could try and change afterwards. “I believe there are many people who accumulated great merit. Palace Lord, why did you summon me alone?” Ji Ning asked, puzzled. The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “Because…you and I are from the same hometown.” “From the same hometown?” Ji Ning was stunned. “Are you also from…” “Right. According to the words you ‘modern’ people use, I’m also from Earth!” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “But that was back in the era of the Sui and Tang dynasties.” The Sui and Tang dynasties? Ji Ning was extremely excited. “I heard those ghosts say that they were ‘princes’ or ‘devil kings’. None of them are from Earth.” “It is normal from them to not be from Earth. In the infinite universe of space-time, there are three realms; the Heaven, the Netherworld, and the Mortal Realms.” The Lord of Cui Palace explained. “Heaven refers to the Heaven Realm! The Netherworld refers to the underworld, the Netherworld Kingdom! Mortal, refers to the Mortal Realm. In the Mortal Realm, there are over three thousand major worlds and trillions of minor worlds…the three thousand major worlds are all extremely vast, and have Immortals and Devils hidden within them. As for the trillions of minor worlds, all of them are much smaller and have much lower populations. Our hometown, the Earth, is one of those minor worlds. Up until now, there are still only a couple billion people.” “Every moment, in those three thousand major worlds and trillions of minor worlds, there are countless deaths, and the spirits all come here to the Netherworld Kingdom! Tell me, how many ghosts does the Netherworld Kingdom have?” The Lord of Cui Palace looked at Ji Ning. Ji Ning was shocked. My God! Three Realms? The Mortal Realm was enormous. The Earth was just one of a trillion minor worlds. As a human of Earth, in the past, he always thought the Earth was the center of the universe! But now, he realized…that the Earth was just one of a trillion minor worlds, and couldn’t even be considered one of the three thousand major worlds. In an instant, he had a sense of loss and disorientation. “Three thousand major worlds, a trillion minor worlds. Of course there’s many people who have high merit. But it is rare that there is someone from my hometown who has accumulated such high merit, and what’s more, your pre-ordained fate was a short life. For you to be able to reach such a level despite that is very rare! I just happened to have some free time, so I wanted to meet you, my fellow Earth man.” The 72 Lord of Cui Palace. “You are going to reincarnate soon. Let me tell you about the Six States of Reincarnation.” “The Six States of Reincarnation refers to Devas, Asuras, Humans, Animals, Preta Ghosts, and Hell Beings.” The Lord of Cui Palace explained, “Those who are born as Devas and Asuras are all considered to be in the ‘Heaven Realm’.” “Humans and Animals are part of the Mortal Realm.” “Preta Ghosts and Hell-beings are in the Netherworld Kingdom Realm.” “The Heaven Realm is the place where you are about to be reborn in.” These words immediately caused Ji Ning to grow alert. The Lord of Cui Palace sighed, “This is the best place to be. When you are reborn into the Heaven Realm, nature itself will give birth to you as a Deva! Only someone who is born naturally by the heavens can be described as a ‘immaculate lifeform’.” “Born by nature? Not by a mother?” Ji Ning was absolutely shocked. “Of course.” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “Otherwise, how could you be considered an ‘immaculate lifeform’? Strictly speaking, the heavens and the earth will be your parents!” “After being born into the Heaven Realm, you will train at an astonishing pace. You will easily be able to enter the Celestial Court and become a soldier or a general of Heaven.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed emotionally. Ji Ning rubbed his eyes. A soldier or general of Heaven? He was going to become a soldier or general of Heaven? “Devas have another advantage; once you turn sixteen, you will regain all your memories of your previous lives.” The Lord of Cui Palace sighed. “The only reason I met you this time was because you had high merit and are a fellow countryman. I didn’t expect that when you came here…you would’ve been spellbound by the painting of Nuwa, the creator of humans. Your insight and perception is indeed very high. For the sake of helping you to become a standout soldier of Heaven, I’ll give you some help.” Ji Ning was absolutely delighted. Help him? Help him out? “Stare at the painting of Nuwa.” The Lord of Cui Palace pointed at the painting on the wall. Ji Ning looked at it. So that woman in the painting was the goddess Nuwa? “The person on this painting is the most holy and most compassionate primordial goddess, Miss Nuwa.” The face of the Lord of Cui Palace turned solemn. “Ever since Pangu died after creating the universe, only she, Miss Nuwa, has reached Pangu’s level. Miss Nuwa is capable of destroying the universe, but also capable of healing it. She can even create new life. Of the countless races, the human race is the most spiritual one, and it was created by Miss Nuwa. She has understood 84,000 truths, and without question, she is the most invincible, powerful presence in the Three Realms.” “The highest in the Three Realms?” Ji Ning was stunned. Nuwa created humans, and Nuwa repaired the world. He had long ago heard of these myths. “This painting is used for the visualization technique, but there’s no way you can see the secrets hidden within it.” The Lord of Cui Palace laughed. “Although you are about to become a Deva and a heavenly warrior and will also be trained in this, let me first teach you a bit of the visualization technique and fulfill the karmic bonds that brought us together.” “Thank you, Lord of Cui Palace.” Ji Ning bowed so low, he almost reached the ground. “No need to thank me. It is nothing more than a visualization technique. It isn’t some sort of secret training method, or a magical technique of the Immortals or the Devils.” The Lord of Cui Palace pointed a single finger at Ji Ning’s forehead. Boom! Ji Ning felt his brain suddenly explode, and an enormous figure of Nuwa appeared in his mind. “Wake up.” The Lord of Cui Palace looked at Ji Ning. “Remember. Often visualizing her will definitely allow you to train your soul. But of course, you are about to be reborn and you’ll need to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. You will temporarily lose your memory. When you turn sixteen, you will remember this visualization technique. But that’s enough. It will definitely be enough to let you become an outstanding figure in the army of Heaven! With this visualization technique, you will have a chance to train to become an Immortal. If you wish to become a Celestial Immortal, you will suffer many trials…I hope that you will succeed, and in the future, we will meet again in the Celestial Court.” Ji Ning’s heart was filled with excitement. The army of Heaven? Becoming an Immortal? He really looked forward to it all. “Go.” The Lord of Cui Palace waved his hand. Hua. Ji Ning disappeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “By order of the Lord of Cui Palace, I have come to escort you to the Road to the Yellow Springs, brother.” In mid-air, a woman dressed in purple was flying while holding Ji Ning by his hand. Ji Ning stared around him. Just a moment ago, he had been in the palace of the Lord of Cui Palace. How did he suddenly appear in mid-air? “Dare I ask, who exactly is the Lord of Cui Palace?” Ji Ning was puzzled. “I heard that before reincarnating, I should meet with the Judges of the Dead, who would investigate my past and present lives, then send me to be reincarnated?” “Didn’t you already see a Judge?” The violet clothed woman laughed. “As the Custodian of the Book of Life and Death, naturally the Lord of Cui Palace is the First Judge of the Dead! Since he personally came to judge you, of course the other common judges don’t need to come judge you.” In the Netherworld Kingdom, the highest authority was that of the Yamas of the Ten Halls, the ten Kings of Hell. Immediately beneath them was the First Judge of the Dead, the Lord of Cui Palace, ‘Cui Jue’. His great fame had long since spread throughout the three Realms. The Mortal Realm was vast beyond compare. It had three thousand major worlds and trillions of minor worlds. Every single living creature, before they were born, would have their good deeds and evil deeds assessed by the Judges. What an enormous task this was! Thus, the entire Netherworld Kingdom had trillions of Judges who were responsible for judging the dead souls of the trillions of worlds. But Cui Jue was the leader of all of the Judges, and was titled the First Judge. He was the true Custodian of the Book of Life and Death. His power was so great that he was virtually on the same level as the Ten Kings of Hell. “Look. The Road to the Yellow Springs.” The woman pointed to a vast road ahead of them, which had countless ghosts slowly trudging along in a line. “If you follow the road, you will quickly arrive at the Bridge of Despair. After you pass the Bridge of Despair and drink Grandma Meng’s Elixer of Forgetfulness, you can go be reborn.” “Go.” The woman waved her hand. Ji Ning’s body was suddenly surrounded by golden light, which sent him flying straight down into the front of the line, allowing him to ‘cut in line’. The minotaur soldiers next to the line, upon seeing the violet clothed woman high up in the air, didn’t dare to say a word. They even arranged for one of the minotaur soldiers to escort Ji Ning and were extremely courteous to him. …….. The Yellow Springs Road was full of mist. Countless souls were making their way through it, and Ji Ning was one of them. “What’s that?” Ji Ning stared in front. In front of him, the mist was very thick. Any souls that entered there disappeared and never came back. “Go on. In front is the Bridge of Despair.” The nearby minotaur soldier said amiably. Ji Ning nodded. Not hesitating, he stepped forward, entering that dense fog. He suddenly felt as though spacetime had changed. “Where is this?” Ji Ning stared at his surroundings in confusion. In front of him was a small, winding road. Ghostly forms could be hazily made out. In front of him, only a few dozen ghosts could be seen. In front of this little road was a river with rapid, turbid water. “That should be the legendary Bridge of Despair.” Ji Ning headed forward. “How strange.” “Clearly, countless people entered here. But how come after I stepped in, so few people can be seen?” Ji Ning was quite baffled. How could he know that here at the Bridge of Despair, time flowed differently than in the outside world. As the saying goes, ‘For each day that passes in Heaven, a year passes in the mortal world.’ Time passed here at the Bridge of Despair at an even more extravagantly fast pace. A single day in the Netherworld Kingdom would equal countless years here in the Bridge of Despair. “Ah! Ah!” “I’m sorry!” 77 As Ji Ning walked onto the Bridge of Despair, he saw that the other side of the bridge had a pool of blood. The pool of blood had all sorts of poisonous bugs, poisonous snakes, and vicious dogs that wildly bit at people. Most of the ghosts simply walked past the pool of blood, but some fell straight into it. Clearly, these people were burdened by great sins, and found it impossible to avoid the terrifying pool of blood. “If you knew what would happen today, would you have acted so previously?” Ji Ning shook his head, then stared at the other side. “So beautiful.” Next to the River of Forgetfulness was countless beautiful flowers. Not too far from the bridge was a precious gem which flashed the light, creating many different images. This was the legendary ‘Gem of Three Lives’, referring to the ‘previous life’, the ‘current life’, and the ‘next life’. Not too far away from the Gem of Three Lives was a stone dais. This was the ‘Dais of Viewing Home’. After the souls passed the dais, they arrived at Grandma Meng. Grandma Meng was a seemingly very ordinary old grandmother. She held a bowl of water in her hands, handing it over to each soul to allow them to drink from it. After drinking it, the souls would become sluggish and seem to be in a trance, as they automatically began to walk towards one of the six tunnels of rebirth behind Grandma Meng. “Deva. Asura. Mortal. Animal. Preta Ghost. Hell.” Ji Ning stared at the infathomably deep tunnels behind Grandma Meng. “I won’t drink, I won’t drink, I don’t want to forget, I don’t want to forget…” Many ghosts struggled. But no matter how much they struggled, they were forced by an invisible, inexorable force to move forwards. When they arrived next to Grandma Meng, they were forced by the invisible force to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. No matter how they screamed or howled, they still drank it…and after drinking it, no matter how strong their emotions were or how deep their memories were, they forgot it all. By then, they were no longer themselves. “I’m entering the Heaven Realm. Although I’ll recover my memories at age sixteen, but by then, will my memories of the sixteen years of life in the Heaven Realm will take precedence, or would the memories of my previous life take precedence? By then, would I still be me?” Ji Ning felt a hint of grief. He understood. In this life, he only lived eighteen years. In the Heaven Realm, during those sixteen years, he would be far more powerful than in this life. Most likely, his current memories would be secondary. “But what can I do?” Ji Ning was already bound, and he moved forward under that force’s control. The ghosts ahead of him all drank from Grandma Meng’s Elixir. In six more ghosts, it would be his turn. “Grandma Meng’s Elixir.” Ji Ning stared at Grandma Meng. Grandma Meng suddenly raised her head. This was the first time Ji Ning had seen Grandma Meng raise her head. Grandma Meng stared far away into the skies, and then her ancient voice said in fury, “Impudent!” Boom! The skies seemed to shatter and the earth seemed to break. The surrounding skies suddenly began to fracture, and the surrounding mist began to break down and dissipate, exposing the countless ghosts in line in the outside world. The fractures in space transformed a large number of ghosts into dust. Like bubbles that were popping, countless souls began to disappear, all of them screaming in misery. “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” In mid-air, countless black dragons could be seen flying about, each one of them seeing as enormous as a massive, sinuous mountain chain. Ji Ning seemed to be able to see even those heart-freezing dragon scales. The countless dragons were wandering about, having fun in the skies, and then each of the black dragons vomited forth multiple streams of black lightning. Instantly, trillions of bolts of black lightning slashed down, every single one of them causing the heavens and the earth to break apart. “The Life and Death Formation of the Calamity Dragons? How is it that you dare to attack the Six Paths of Reincarnation? This is a grave sin!” Grandma Meng shouted with unbridled fury. Transforming into a beam of light, she flew towards the tens of millions of black dragons in the sky. Instantly, those countless black dragons surrounded Grandma Meng. Rumble… The world was fracturing, and the muddied waters of the River of Forgetfulness began to form waves. Any ghosts that touched those waters were instantly dissipated. The Bridge of Despair shattered, and the ghosts atop the Bridge of Despair fell directly into the River of Forgetfulness. As for the Six Paths of Reincarnation, those immeasurably deep tunnels were beginning to shake as well, and light was gleaming from within their depths. “Uh oh.” Ji Ning stared in terror at the calamity he was witnessing. At the same time, he could sense that invisible binding force dissipate. “I’ll risk it!” When the binding force dissipated, Ji Ning was both surprised and pleased. Half hopping, halfflying, he jumped directly towards the ‘Mortal Realm’ tunnel. The Six Paths of Reincarnation each were located in different places. Because most people entered the Mortal Realm, the Mortal Realm’s tunnel was directly behind Grandma Meng and was the closest one to Ji Ning. Naturally, Ji Ning chose to jump down into that tunnel. The surrounding ghosts were all jumping down into the various reincarnation tunnels. One ghost dared to try and rush towards the most distant, Heaven Realm tunnel. Boom… A bolt of black lightning struck down. That ghost, who hadn’t managed to dodge in time, instantly dissipated, along with several other nearby ghosts. …….. What exactly had happened in the Netherworld Kingdom? Those countless black dragons that had been circling about in the air, those trillions of black lightning bolts that had wildly struck downwards…that terrifying scene had shocked Ji Ning. But he understood that as an ordinary ghost, there was no point in worrying too much about it. In addition, right now, he didn’t have any time to worry about it, because his head hurt! Ji Ning sensed that his head was in tremendous pain, as though something was frantically grabbing onto and tearing at it. His neck hurt, and his body was suffering tremendous pressure. Hua! Suddenly, he felt at ease, and then, he felt a bone-piercing cold. At the same time, a breath of fresh air entered his mouth. This was the first ‘breath’ which Ji Ning had taken since dying. “Wow!” After taking a deep breath, Ji Ning immediately let out a cry. The cry of an infant. “A son! It’s a son!” Although his hearing was a bit distorted, he could still understand what was just said. “Oh. I’ve been reborn.” Ji Ning instantly understood. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning opened his eyes and saw that he was being held by a giant who wore a set of white fur clothes. Ji Ning instantly understood that this person was a ‘giant’, only because right now, he was an infant being held by this man. “You can leave now.” The man said. “Yes.” The three maids said respectfully. The man holding Ji Ning in his arms should be his father. Although he had just gotten a son, he still seemed like a piece of glacial ice, very hard to get close to. He wore a set of beautiful fur clothes, while those three maids also were dressed in animal fur. Clearly, they were of much poorer quality. The room was quite empty. The wall, the dresser, the seats, the bed, all of them were carved from marble. The carvings were quite exquisite and gave off an ancient, beautiful nobility. Atop the bed was a six or seven meter long enormous beast fur, with the fur hanging down to the floor. At a glance, one could tell that this fur was no doubt extremely expensive. Atop that bed, there was a red-faced young woman. “Even the chairs and the dressers were carved from marble. The room itself should be made from marble as well. Father and those three women are all dressed in animal fur. It seems this world doesn’t have a high level of civilization.” Ji Ning secretly said to himself. “Son.” Despite holding his infant son in his arms, that man still seemed very cold, without a hint of a smile on his face. Only, his eyes betrayed his excitement. Ji Ning suddenly had the feeling that a mysterious cold energy entered his body. It was very comfortable, and then, quickly, it passed away. “Yichuan, how is my son doing?” The woman on the bed hurriedly asked. “As expected, his body’s quality is ordinary.” Ji Yichuan said softly. The woman on the bed had faint tears in her eyes. “Let me hold him.” The man carried the child over in his arms. “Be good.” The young woman looked at the infant, her eyes filled with love. “Yichuan, our child was injured in the womb. Although he ate those natural treasures, it only repaired some of the damage. We haven’t done right by our child.” 81 He had been injured in the womb? Natural treasures? It seemed as though his parents in this world weren’t ordinary people. ….. Despite having just given birth to a child, his mother had easily been able to get off the bed. She was also dressed in a white fur, and was in her husband’s arms as they walked out of the room. “You can clean up in here.” His father, Ji Yichuan, said to those three maids. “Yes.” The three maids said respectfully. Outside the door, on the hallway, there was a big, snow white dog. Its fur was as long as cotton, and it appeared very docile. When its gaze fell upon Ji Ning, it was filled with excitement and love. In the wide courtyard outside the room was a giant, pitch-black coiling python which was lining the outside of the courtyard. It had circled around in multiple loops, and its head was raise to a height of dozens of meters. Its body was covered with dark, heart-stoppingly cold scales. The giant python slowly lowered its head and drew near. “Good God!” Ji Ning was frightened. That snow white dog was fine. He had seen plenty of dogs in the past. That snow white one was just a bit bigger. But this coiled, enormous monstrosity? Was it even a snake? Coiled around in endless circles, and its raised head alone was dozens of meters high. The entire thing had to be two or three hundred meters long. Such an awe-inspiring beast was actually in front of his own family’s house? This…this was simply… “Son.” Ji Yichuan didn’t pay any attention to his son’s feelings, or perhaps in this world, people were used to these things already and didn’t feel they were strange. Ji Yichuan pointed at the snow white massive dog in front of them. “This is your Uncle White. He is your father’s lifelong friend, and he’s saved your life. You must treat him as you would treat me.” The snow white hound looked lovingly at Ji Ning. Ji Ning could almost physically feel the deep love which the snow white hound bore him. However… He had to call a dog, ‘Uncle White’? “Yichuan, the child was just born and doesn’t understand anything yet. Is there a point to telling him these things?” The young woman said while holding the child. “Even if he doesn’t understand, this is his first time meeting with Little White.” Ji Yichuan raised his head to stare at the massive python. “Brother Black!” Hiss… This enormous black python which definitely would’ve made countless nations go insane suddenly transformed into a black mist, and then reformed into a black-haired middle-aged man. The black haired man smiled towards the infant. “Yichuan, I still remember how when you first showed your budding talent, I agreed to follow you. I didn’t expect that in the blink of an eye, you would have a son. Child, don’t be afraid. I am your Uncle Black.” “Let’s go outside.” Ji Yichuan said. “Grandpa and the others are outside waiting as well. Brother Black, it’s best if you return to your regular form. I know it is very uncomfortable for you to be in human form.” Hiss… The black haired man nodded, and then he once more transformed into a black fog which quickly returned to that massive, coiled black python. The massive black python immediately slithered towards the outside. Its enormous body moved very quickly. Slither, slither, slither. It easily passed the walls and disappeared. Ji Ning felt that he was still in a state of shock. Although this might be normal to people of this world, to Ji Ning, a man from the Earth, this was simply too stunning. A 200-300 meter long black python had suddenly transformed into a black haired man, and had said that he was his ‘Uncle Black’? Monster! “Can it be that the snow white hound is also a monster?” Ji Ning had the feeling that this world was more amazing than he could imagine. Husband and wife held the child together as they walked out into the corridor, while by their side was the snow white dog. Once they reached the end of the corridor, they walked onto a stone paved road which led to a garden. Within the garden, there was a thick layer of snow. Many black armored guards were standing there unmoving, while in the center, there were several dozen people standing. These several dozen people all possessed all sorts of miraculous bizarre beasts, venomous pests, and flying beasts. Ji Ning instantly understood. It wasn’t that his father was special. It was that the people of this world all raised strange beasts. Taming them was a common habit. “It seems in the future, I’ll have to get used to making friends with monsters.” Ji Ning quickly adjusted to this new reality and began to observe those several dozen people. These several dozen people all seemed ferocious as tigers or panthers. Virtually all of them were dressed in beautifully cut animal furs. Only the three women were dressed in silk or cloth garments. This secretly startled Ji Ning. It seemed that not everyone in this world wore animal furs. Silk and cloth already existed here. Judging from the location where the three women were standing, they were of fairly common rank within those dozens of people. Clearly, the quality of those silk or cloth clothes weren’t any higher than the lavish, exquisitely cut animal furs. The silver-haired old man standing in front walked over. “Come, Yichuan. Let me hold the child.” “Grandfather.” Ji Yichuan nodded, then took the child over from his wife’s arms and delivered him to the old man. “This child truly is beautiful.” The silver-haired old man’s face was filled with joy. He said in praise, “Yichuan, now that you have a son, I will no longer worry as much. I’ve been the lord of our prefecture for already eighty years. According to the rules of our clan, a person can only be a Prefecture Lord for no more than a century. I only have twenty years left as Prefecture Lord. Previously, I wanted you to succeed me in the position of the Prefecture Lord of the West Prefecture of our Ji clan, but you insisted on focusing on walking the path of the Immortals. Now that you have a son, as I see it, in the future, he can be the next Prefecture Lord.” The next Prefecture Lord? Ji Ning was surprised. It seemed as though his status was quite high, and this clan should be a special one as well. Those extremely obedient female servants and those unmoving, black armored guards all were a testament to his clan’s power. “Big brother!” A sudden angry shout. Who would dare to be so disrespectful to the Prefecture Lord? Ji Ning looked in the direction of the noise. He saw a red-haired old man who emanated heat walk over. The man had a eye-catching red earring in his right ear. Wait. It wasn’t a red earring. It was a little red snake the size of a finger. He was actually wearing a snake in his ear? The old man with the snake in his ear walked forward, growling, “The matter of the succession to the position of Prefecture Lord can’t be so casual as this. In addition, who knows what sort of ability that little fellow would have?” 84 “Yichuan’s son’s ability would naturally…” The silver-haired old man was extremely confident. At the same time, a sudden surge of heat entered Ji Ning’s body, then quickly dissipated. “Yichuan!” The silver-haired old man stared in astonishment towards the grandson he was so proud of. How could he not be shocked. This was the son of Ji Yichuan, famed as the ‘Raindrop Sword’. The majestic Raindrop Sword, all by himself, had exterminated countless monsters hidden in deep lakes and high mountains. The countless tribes under the control of their West Prefecture of the Ji clan all knew of the Raindrop Sword. In fact, more people knew of him than knew who the Prefecture Lord was. As long as his child ate some precious treasures while in the womb, the infant would naturally have the finest possible growth conditions. “Big brother.” The snake elder laughed. “It seems Yichuan’s son is quite average. How can the West Prefecture of our Ji clan, which commands so many tribes, have a weak little fellow take over the important position of Prefecture Lord? How can the people of the Ji clan possibly submit to him? How can the countless tribes be willing to submit to him?” “Prefecture Lord. This little fellow, it seems, isn’t suited to the position of being the next Prefecture Lord.” “The important position of Prefecture Lord cannot be so casually given away.” Those few dozen people present were all high level members of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan. Many began to speak. “Shut your mouth.” Ji Yichuan frowned. As he swept the area with his icy gaze, instantly, many of the clan members fell silent. But the snake elder said angrily, “What a huge temper. This is the West Prefecture of the Ji clan! What, we can’t even talk here? Your son as the Prefecture Lord…if your son was qualified, then given the great merits you yourself have rendered to the West Prefecture of the Ji clan, we definitely wouldn’t say anything. But your son is so very average. You still wish him to be Prefecture Lord? The countless tribes under the banner of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan must fight together in territorial battles, and also must struggle against the Diremonsters in the deep mountains and the lakes. How can a weak Prefecture Lord make the clan members willingly submit? How can he make those tribes submit? If the West Prefecture isn’t awe-inspiring, then how will we struggle for power against the surrounding organizations, and how will we go to the mountains and the lakes to slay the Diremonsters?” “I will naturally be the one to kill the Diremonsters of the lakes and the mountains!” Ji Yichuan’s voice was cold as ice. “You sure are tough. You live up to your reputation, Ji Yichuan. So you’ll go kill all of the Diremonsters hiding in all of the mountains and lakes by yourself? Then I, Ji Lee, will say this to you. If you can kill a hundred Diremonsters, then I will no longer dispute with you over who will become the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. I’ll let your son take it over.” The snake elder sneered. Ji Yichuan stared at him. Every single Diremonster was extremely sly and powerful. How could they be so easily killed? Even killing ten of them would be a miracle, much less a hundred. “Enough. The child was just born and can’t take all this stress.” The silver-haired elder stared at them, then ordered, “Tonight, we’ll hold a celebratory banquet at the Snowfall Hall. For now, everyone can leave.” “Alright.” The serpent elder was the first to respond, and he did so loudly. He immediately led more than half the people away with him, with the rest quickly returning to their own places as well, leaving this garden. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The banquet at Snowfall Palace continued into the late night. Late at night, the sky was covered with stars. Ji Yichuan and his wife took their infant back home. “Whoah.” Ji Ning blearily opened his little eyes and saw the night sky filled with stars. Ah. He had fallen asleep. He had actually fallen asleep mid-way. There had been fascinating performances, with musicians, drummers, and barefoot, fur-clad female dancers filling the hall. This was very different from Earth’s performances, but it was still very pleasing to the eye. However, he was still just an infant. Halfway through, he was simply too sleepy and thus he immediately fell asleep. “Yichuan.” Yuchi Snow said with a hint of anger while walking in the snow. “At the banquet, why did you say that you would let our son go seize the golden sword? Don’t you know how hard that is?” “I was able to accomplish it.” Yichuan frowned. “You are the most powerful member of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan. You were able to do it as a youth, but in the thousand year history of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, how many have been like you?” Snow was angry. Normally, she was very gentle, but anything which involved her son made her anxious. “And today, when the Prefecture Lord raised the question of having our son becoming the next Prefecture Lord, five overseers had agreed. Only a single additional overseer was needed. All you had to do was convince a single overseer…with six overseers in agreement, then our son would have easily been able to become the next Prefecture Lord. Why go seize the golden sword?” Seizing the golden sword was simply too hard. Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “You don’t understand.” “What don’t I understand?” Snow said angrily. “You haven’t been at the West Prefecture for a long time yet. You don’t understand the intricacies hidden within.” Yichuan explained. “The ten overseers of the West Prefecture are divided into the Prefecture Lord’s side and Ji Lee’s side. There are three centrists. If we were to draw another overseer into our orbit, the price would have been too high.” “So what if the price is high?” Snow said unhappily. “Yes, if we paid an enormous price, we could let our son become the Prefecture Lord.” Yichuan frowned. “But if our son is incapable, even if he is allowed to take the position of Prefecture Lord, he’ll just suffer countless miseries, unspeakable miseries. That will be a form of torment!” Yuchi Snow was stunned. “I don’t want my son to be miserable.” Yichuan continued slowly. “Thus, I brought up seizing the golden sword.” “If my son possesses astonishing insight and talent and is able to strengthen rapidly, then naturally, he’ll be able to seize the golden sword. No one would say a single word of dissent if he were to take over the Prefecture Lord position after doing so.” Yichuan said. “But if my son is unable to seize the golden sword, then he can just live a life of leisure. I, Yichuan, will protect him his entire life and let him live without any cares.” Snow seemed to have understood. Becoming Prefecture Lord didn’t necessarily mean a life of ease. If an expert became the Prefecture Lord, then naturally, his rule would be stable. But if someone incapable took the position…even if he was forcibly installed, he would just be miserable. “Yichuan, I was wrong to blame you.” Snow said softly. Yichuan just lowered his head and rubbed his son’s face. “His eyes are wide open. This kid woke up long ago.” “Right, Yichuan. What name should we give him?” Snow suddenly asked. “I asked you when I was pregnant, but you weren’t happy with any of the names. Now that he’s been born, we have to come up with a suitable name.” “Let his name come into the world alongside him.” Yichuan said. “How could I not be careful about it? I hadn’t made up my mind in the past, but just now, I suddenly thought of a name…let’s call our son ‘Ning’, meaning ‘calm’. No matter whether his life is normal or exciting, no matter if he is weak or becomes an expert, let him maintain a calm, peaceful heart.” “Ning?” Snow murmured. “Ji Ning. Ji Ning…” Ji Ning? The infant in his mother’s arms stared with wide eyes. Was this the name which the First Judge, the Lord of Cui Palace, had preordained that he would have in the Book of Life and Death? Or was it a true coincidence? In this life, he would be named Ji Ning once again? ….. The most powerful member of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan was the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. The second was the ‘Tiger Demon’, Ji Lee. Within Lee’s Prefecture. “Congratulations and felicitations, father.” A middle-aged man with several dozen braids in his hair said. “That Yichuan was so arrogant and blind that he actually said he would have his son go seize the golden sword…the West Prefecture has been in the hands of our Ji clan for generations. Not a single person has taken the Prefecture Lord position through seizing the golden sword.” The old man with flaming red hair and that scarlet snake in his ears slapped his hands together. “When I was young, I should’ve become the Prefecture Lord! But at that time, I was simply too much of a show-off and ended up losing to my big brother, Ji Young. That old bastard Young ended up taking the Prefecture Lord position and has been in that position for eighty years!” “Eighty full years!” “I’ve been waiting all this time. Every day has been a crucible.” Lee ground his teeth. “I didn’t expect that his line of descent would produce someone like Yichuan! He truly is a glorious, outstanding talent. Fortunately, fortunately, Yichuan is only interested in training to become an Immortal and doesn’t care about becoming the Prefecture Lord. Yichuan was simply too arrogant today. He actually chose such a path for his son.” “It seems it is the will of Heaven that we take the Prefecture Lord’s position.” The middle-aged man said excitedly. “Don’t be hasty.” Lee shouted. “When I was young, that loss I suffered taught me…that a person can’t be too happy before one has actually succeeded! What we need to do is prepare!” “Father, do you mean to say…” The man asked. Lee was frowning in concentration. Time slowly passed. The middle aged man sat off to one side, not daring to disturb him. He knew his father was thinking. “Right!” Ji Lee suddenly said in a soft voice. “That’s what we’ll do!” The middle-aged man looked at his father. “Father, what is your plan?” 89 “In order to seize the golden sword, one must defeat all of the youths of the tribes and the descendants of the Ji clan.” Lee said in a low voice. “Although there are few clan members, they are able to acquire a large amount of treasures and secret manuals, while although there are many youths in the tribes, very few will get any treasures. But despite that, in the quadrennial Golden Sword Ceremony, out of every five or six ceremonies, only once will a Ji clan member win.” The middle-aged man nodded. “There are simply too many tribe members. There will always be an extremely talented person who emerges. However, no matter how great their talent, we won’t teach them the truly powerful arts of the Ji clan. We’ll only teach them some of the lesser arts. Although those youths of the tribes might be powerful during the Golden Sword Ceremony, after seventy or eighty years, the most powerful exponents are those of the Ji clan.” “What I mean to do is…” Ji Lee said in a whisper. “Select a few outstanding youths from the tribes and give them a large amount of treasures and resources and train them. Without my training, those tribal youth talents are already so powerful. Once they receive my training, they will definitely skyrocket in power and become even mightier! I refuse to believe that the son of Yichuan will be able to defeat all of them and seize the golden sword.” “Right. Right.” The middle-aged man hurriedly nodded. Usually, the treatment of the tribal youths and of the Ji clan members were totally different. The Ji clan youths were of one family. Naturally, the Ji clan would treat them much better. But in dealing with the youths of the tribes, they would have to both draw them close and also control them well! But this time…he would use all of his talent to cultivate the most promising youths! “Father, if you do this, then Ji Yichuan’s son will definitely lose.” The middle-aged man said confidently. “Hahaha…” Lee laughed. “Remember. Plant some of our people by Yichuan’s side. I want to know how rapidly Yichuan’s son grows in power. Only knowing one’s own power and one’s opponent’s power will one gain victory!” “Yes!” The middle-aged man’s eyes were shining. …… Yuchi Snow gently placed her son down atop the warm bed. “Ning, be a good boy and sleep tight.” Snow gently kissed her son’s face, then lay down on the bed as well. A pained look was on Ning’s face. He wiped the corner of his lips. He had just drank breast milk. What a weird sensation. The events of the past twenty four hours were simply too shocking, too unbelievable. First, he had passed the Bridge of Despair, but then, just before he was to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir, a great upheaval had occurred in the Netherworld Kingdom. It was as though the world was about to shatter. He had been lucky enough to react in time and jump into the Mortal Realm’s tunnel, and had been reincarnated into this world. A snow white hound who was his ‘Uncle White’? A several hundred-meter giant black python that could raise its head up to the level of a house, and also transform into a black-haired middle aged man, who was his ‘Uncle Black’? And now, he was supposed to seize some golden sword and become some Prefecture Lord? Hey guys, did you think about asking me how I feel about all this? “Bah. Infants have no human rights.” Ji Ning licked the milk from the corner of his lips while pondering. Still, a hint of excitement was in his eyes. “Time to train!” The very first day he had arrived here, he had sensed that his clan was a powerful one. How could a clan capable of commanding countless tribes be ordinary? But clearly, the position of Prefecture Lord had aroused interest from all sides. That old fellow with the red snake in his ear wasn’t weak either. He dared to argue against the Prefecture Lord and squabble with Ning’s father. Screw it! Ning was still just an infant. There was no reason for him to worry about all these things. Right now, the most important thing was to train. Train in the visualization technique – Nuwa Painting. The Nuwa Painting, according to the Lord of Cui Palace, was something which would allow him to be an outstanding figure, even if he had been born into the Heaven Realm and had joined the Celestial Host, much less here in the Mortal Realm. In the Mortal Realm, it definitely would be the most top tier of visualization techniques. Such a precious technique that had been deeply engrained into his mind was the most powerful source of support he would have in this world. In his past life, he had been tormented by illness for eighteen years. He had been exhausted just by strolling for half an hour. He had simply had enough of that powerless sensation! The sensation of being powerless in the face of death! He had enough! Enough! Enough!!! He would take his destiny into his own hands, and that destiny was to follow the path that the Lord of Cui Palace had spoken to him of: Training to become an Immortal! Training to become an Immortal was the only choice he would make! Ning closed his eyes and began. A hint of natural energy slowly began to enter Ji Ning’s body. It was being attracted into his consciousness and began to strengthen his soul. But because only a tiny amount of natural energy was being absorbed, neither Yichuan nor Snow noticed at all. The visualization technique was capable of absorbing natural energy? This was simply incredible. The reason was, this wasn’t an Immortal training technique, nor was it a Immortal magic technique. If it was an Immortal training technique, it would wildly devour the surrounding natural energy. But the visualization technique, despite absorbing just a bit of natural energy…was already quite incredible. Whoosh. Whoosh. Tiny threads of elemental energy constantly entered Ning’s infant body. Natural energy repeatedly entered his body and cleansed his body. Infants were born pure. Only after experiencing life would they be sullied by the dirt and grime of the world. But right now, Ning’s body had very few impurities within it. With the natural energy repeatedly cleansing him, he quickly became incomparably pure, as pure as a newborn! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The rays of the spring sun shone down with lazy warmth. A red-lipped, pale-faced child was standing with arms stretched out, while a fur-clad young lady was quickly and carefully helping him get dressed in his fur clothes. Another young lady was waiting next to him with a basin of water and a bowl with rough salt. “In my past life, I was always sick and dressed myself. I didn’t expect that in this life, I would not only be perfectly healthy, I would also have servants to take care of me.” Ji Ning had been served by people since he was born. When he sometimes automatically began to dress himself out of habit, the two terrified maids, ‘Spring Grass’ and ‘Autumn Leaf’, immediately fell to their knees, trembling in absolute terror. “Give it to me.” Now dressed, Ning took over the black bowl of rock salt and headed outside the room. He walked to a nearby fountain, then began to use those white, tough pieces of rock salt to ‘brush his teeth’. “What a disaster this era is. There are no toothbrushes. I have to use my hands to brush my teeth! And there’s no tooth paste, only rock salt!” Ning quickly finished brushing his teeth. Actually, he wasn’t sure why, but he was extremely clean ever since he was born, and he didn’t have any mouth odor. There was no need for him to brush his teeth, but his mother forced him to do it anyways. “Gargle.” Ji Ning raised his head, then spat out a mouthful of water, then handed the basin to the nearby maid, Spring Grass. The maid, Autumn Leaf, then offered him a blue stone bowl for washing his face. Ji Ning quickly washed his face, then wiped the water off with a cloth. “Autumn Leaf.” Ning stared at her. “In your tribe, do you also use salt to brush your teeth?” Although he was already four years old and had read many books of the clan and had learned many things, he actually didn’t know much about the situation inside the tribes. “How could that be possible?” Autumn Leaf had a slightly freckled face. “Even the table salt which we use in the tribes aren’t as white and as clean as this salt. How can we use it to brush our teeth? The men and women of the tribe just use water to rinse their teeth. Many will go their entire lives without brushing their teeth. And also, this sort of basin is extremely valuable and is usually used to boil soup. How can we use it to brush our teeth?” Boil soup? Ning rubbed his eyes. This basin could be used to boil soup? “Let’s go eat.” Ning turned his head and walked away, with the two maids behind him. … “Father. Mother.” Ning arrived in the main hall and immediately stood there and bowed. “Mm.” His father, Ji Yichuan, was seated in front, while his mother was seated to the left. His own position was towards the right. In front of him was a black, marble table, with three big bowls on it. One contained steaming, aromatic meat, another had thick yet soft pastries, and the third was a bowl of hot water. This was his breakfast. If this breakfast for a four year old was placed on Earth, it would probably be enough for three adults to eat. But in this world…every child could eat a tremendous amount of food. Ning was no different. “Mmm, it tastes so good.” Ning grabbed a chunk of meat from the first bowl and ate it. Despite having the taste buds of an Earth human, he still felt the food was delicious. Ning knew…because his body was physically average, ever since he was young, he had been fed special food. The meat he ate wasn’t meat from ordinary beasts; it was meat from magical, monstrous beasts. In the tribes, monster meat was extremely rare and precious, but Ning was able to eat it every single day. It had special effects. It would make Ning stronger! “I’m done eating!” Ning ate very fast; it could be described as simply ‘scarfing the food down’. And then, with a gurgle, he drank all the hot water as well. “Let’s go.” Ning ran out, with Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf chasing after him. Snow watched her son run away and laughed, “Although Ning was rather weak when he was born, that’s only because he was injured while in the womb. His potential is still very high. Look, every day, he’s able to eat so much monster meat. His body will definitely grow stronger.” Yichuan nodded as well. Monstrous beasts weren’t like ordinary animals. Monstrous beasts absorbed the natural elemental energy of the world, and their flesh contained that energy as well. Normally, children wouldn’t be hungry for two days if they ate it for breakfast, but Ning ate it for three meals a day. Clearly, he was able to absorb it all. ……………….. The two maids were carrying thick books behind Ning. Behind them were eighteen massive guards who wore scarlet red armor. The red armored guards had mysterious runes scrawled onto their armor, which faintly seemed to hum with a strange energy, causing all of them to emanate a powerful aura. The Crimson Guards were the most powerful soldiers of the Ji clan. The West Prefecture only had a hundred Crimson Guards who listened only to the command of Ji Yichuan. Yichuan arranged eighteen Crimson Guards to protect Ning at all times. If Ning was to ever be outside the house, the eighteen Crimson Guards would stay right by his side. “To the training yard.” Ning’s journey was very smooth. Nobody dared to block his path! The city of the West Prefecture was a great and massive city. Within the city was hundreds of thousands of citizens, and there were three major areas. They were the inner city, the military camp, and the training grounds. The inner city was where the Ji clan members of West Prefecture lived. It was the central administrative area! The military camp was the place where the soldiers controlled by the Ji clan of West Prefecture were stationed. The training grounds was where the youths of the Ji clan and of the many tribes controlled by the Ji clan would come to train. The inner city and the training grounds were connected by a straight line. Ning led his servants and guards directly towards the central training grounds. The vast training plaza currently had thousands on thousands of youths there training. “Look, it is Ji Ning!” “The only child of the Raindrop Sword? Ji Ning?” “Are his female slaves holding books? When those roving merchants came to my clan in the past to sell books, I heard that that the cost of each book was a thousand lambskins.” Many of the youths in the training grounds were talking amongst themselves. There were many who had matured quickly, and thus knew that this child was the son of the number one expert of the Ji clan, Ji Yichuan, the ‘Raindrop Sword’. Many of the youths actually were quite fond of this child, because although Ji Ning came from a powerful and noble clan, he didn’t bully them at all. But no matter how fond of him they were, they wouldn’t dare tease him. “Oof.” Ji Ning sat down on the chair, his eyes filled with excitement. In the previous life, he was often by himself, and so now, in his heart, he really enjoyed crowded, rowdy areas. “Give me the books.” Ning took a thick and heavy book from the hands of Spring Grass. This tome really was thick, roughly twenty centimeters thick, and it was bound by the soft skin of some monstrous beast. In this era where slavery still existed, books were quite precious. Ning, however, could casually flip through the books in their private library and even take a few out. After being born, Ning had primarily done two things… The first thing was to train in according to the visualization technique – Nuwa’s Painting. His soul had become strong and sturdy, to the point where he now had photographic memory. Just half a month ago, he had even been able to reach the level of dividing his mind into two. What did dividing his mind in two meant? For example, he could simultaneously use his left hand to write an essay while using his right hand to paint a painting. It was as though his consciousness had been divided into two parts which didn’t interfere with each other. Actually, this wasn’t particularly miraculous. According to the books, those who trained in the path to become an Immortal could all use their minds to accomplish multiple things at once. They would be able to use several treasures to attack at the same time. The true brilliance of the Nuwa Painting was that Ji Ning was able to divide his mind in two after visualizing it for just two years. The second thing he had done was to read! Half a year after his birth, when Ning was able to form some words, he had hugged a book and pointed at what looked lke some words in it and said, “This, this, this…” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, being personal maids, all knew how to read. Naturally, they didn’t dare to not reply. With their help and with guesswork, he soon learned how to recognize the words. And then, his reading began! As the saying goes, ‘spending time sharpening the knife makes the cutting go faster’. Although he was fully devoted to the idea of training to become an Immortal, Ning understood that sometimes, haste made for ineffectiveness. Reading was a way of ‘sharpening the knife’ to become an Immortal. First of all, he needed to understand what this world was like. He would also learn more about what it meant to become an Immortal, and what types of Immortals there were, and so on and so forth. Only after learning about this would he know what the best choice for himself would be! After reading many books, Ning came to know that the Ji clan of West Prefecture was a small power located within the vast expanse of land ruled over by the Grand Xia Dynasty! The territory ruled over by the Ji clan of West Prefecture stretched for three thousand kilometers from north to south and five thousand kilometers from east to west. There were countless tribes who lived on this land, and all of them were ruled by the Ji clan! What’s more, this was nothing more than the Ji clan of West Prefecture. The Ji clan was an ancient clan. It was divided into the Central Prefecture, the East Prefecture, the West Prefecture, the North Prefecture, and the South Prefecture. All five Prefectures combined made up the entirety of the Ji clan! However…the Grand Xia Dynasty was simply too large. Its territory was nearly limitless, and it was an ancient dynasty which was born during the ‘Fiendgod Era’. Over a trillion years had passed since the terrifying Fiendgod Era. For a dynasty to be able to last a trillion years was something which Ning found to be inconceivable. The Ji clan was nothing more than a small power within the borders of the Grand Xia Dynasty, but to the countless local surrounding tribes, the Ji clan was definitely their absolute rulers! “This truly is a world where Immortals and Devils abound.” Ji Ning sighed mentally. “Ordinary mortal realms find it hard for an Empire to sustain for even a thousand years, but in this ancient world, an ancient, large empire is something which is beyond my imagination. “Right. It has been over two year since I was born, and I know very little about training to become an Immortal. It is time I begin.” He had spent a year in the womb, and when he was born, it was winter, while a new year had come soon after that. Thus, he had lived in this world for over two years now. …. That very night. Both sides of the main hall were filled with lit lamps, and the entire hall was extremely bright. His father continued to sit where he usually sat, with his mother on the left and Ning on the right. The table was still covered with meat as well as plates of vegetables and grains. “Nom nom nom.” Ning blew through the meat on the table like a twister, and then raised his head up. “Father, mother!” “Hrm, what is it?” Yichuan looked at his son, and Snow did as well. Although their son’s intelligence caused them boundless joy, it didn’t startle them too much, because in this vast world, there were plenty of people who were devilishly clever. “I want to train!” Ning said seriously. “I wish to train to become an Immortal!” Seeing the serious look on her son’s face, Snow began to laugh. “Train to become an Immortal? Yichuan, our son wishes to train to become an Immortal!” 97 “Immortal?” Yichuan looked at his son coolly. “Do you know what training to become an Immortal means?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I don’t know. Please instruct me, father.” Ning said respectfully. Actually, after having read so many books, Ning had learned about it long ago. But as a four year old child, there was no need for him to appear so devilishly intelligent. “Then I will tell you and let you understand.” Yichuan’s voice was like ice. “First, let’s talk about the seven major stages.” “The first stage, Houtian. Lifespan of a hundred years.” “The second stage, Xiantian. Lifespan of two hundred years” “The third stage, Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’. At this level, one will be addressed as Zifu Disciple. Lifespan of five hundred years.” “The fourth stage, Wanxiang, ‘Manifestations’. At this level, one will be addressed as Wanxiang Adept. Lifespan of eight hundred years.” “The fifth stage, Primal. Can be referred to as Primal Daoist.” “The sixth stage, Void. Can be referred to as ‘Land Immortal’, or ‘Earth Immortal’. In the later levels of the Void stage, a heavenly tribulation will test them. If they fail, then they will die and their spirits will be extinguished. If a Primal’s body is destroyed but manages to escape with his soul, then he will become a ‘Loose Immortal’, whose power is roughly on par with the ‘Earth Immortals’.” “The seventh stage, Celestial Immortal. Only at this stage can one be considered to have ascended beyond the Three Realms and no longer be formed by the Five Elements!” Yichuan stared at Ning after speaking. He wanted to see the look of awe and surprise on his son’s face…but Ning was just listening intently. “You say you wish to train to become an Immortal. Thus, I wish you to know how hard it is to become an Immortal.” Ji Yichuan’s voice sank down. “The first obstacle to becoming an Immortal…is to pass from the Houtian stage to the Xiantian stage!” “What does Xiantian mean? Only a lifeform which was naturally born by the heavens and the earth can be described as a Xiantian lifeform. In the distant Fiendgod Era, there were Fiendgods that were born naturally by the heavens and by the earth and which possessed tremendous power from their birth. In addition, there are those who are reborn into the Heavenly Realms as ‘Devas’ or as ‘Asuras’. These Devas 99 and Asuras are all birthed by nature itself, and thus by their very nature, they are a Xiantian lifeform. This makes it very fast for them to train, because only Xiantian life forms can train to become an Immortal!” “It is impossible for mortals to train to become an Immortal…but the Heavens always leave a thread of hope. Thus, in the past, benevolent elders created a set of training techniques which can allow the bodies of ordinary people become akin to the bodies of Xiantian lifeforms. Only then did it become possible for ordinary people to train to become an Immortal.” “But for an ordinary person to become a Xiantian lifeform is against the natural laws of the universe, making it very hard! The success rate is lower than one in ten thousand! Tell me, is it hard or not?” Ning continued to listen. Xiantian lifeform? If it wasn’t for that huge disturbance in the Netherworld Kingdom, he probably would have already reincarnated and become a Deva in the Heavenly Realms. Naturally, that would mean he would already be a Xiantian lifeform. However, currently he was a mortal…and indeed, for a mortal to reach the Xiantian stage was an extremely difficult path.” “The second great obstacle to becoming an Immortal…from the Xiantian stage to the Zifu stage!” “Only by establishing a Zifu, also known as a ‘Violet Palace’, can one continue to train as an Immortal. Establishing a ‘Violet Palace’ is like laying the ‘foundation’ when building a house, or seeding the fields in order to harvest the crops. The Violet Palace is the crop field and is the core for an Immortal. It is the basic underpinning of the path of Immortals! Only after one has truly established a ‘Violet Palace’ in one’s body can one embark on the route to becoming an Immortal. And only then can one be titled a Zifu Disciple! For a Xiantian expert to establish a ‘Violet Palace’…perhaps one in a thousand will succeed. Tell me, is it hard or not?” Ning nodded. Right. It was hard. At the same time, he continued to listen carefully. The books of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture only described these two obstacles. They didn’t describe the obstacles after that. “In order to establish a Zifu and become an Immortal, one must possess a world-shaking power.” “But becoming an Immortal, by its very nature, is against the laws of the universe. Thus, starting from the day you step onto the path of the Immortals, in other words from the day on which you establish your Zifu, you will be tested every three hundred years. Every nine hundred years, you will undergo a major tribulation. Thus, as the saying goes, ‘Three centuries a calamity, nine centuries a tribulation. Calamities are easy to avoid, but tribulations are hard to escape!’ A test every three centuries, and a tribulation every nine…after embarking on the path to becoming an Immortal, this will continue forever, unless you 100 become a Celestial Immortal. Otherwise, the ‘Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations’ will become your eternal fate.” Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations? Three centuries a calamity, nine centuries a tribulation. Calamities are easy to avoid, but tribulations are hard to escape? Ning truly was shocked by this. Unless one became a Celestial Immortal, everyone who trained in the path of Immortals would have to deal with a test every three centuries. …. Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow looked at their son. Right now, there was a look of shock and disbelief on their son’s face. Seeing the stunned look, Yichuan nodded slightly. He had finally managed to shock the little rascal. “Our son is still very young. Why did you tell him all those things?” Snow said unhappily. “Mother.” Ji Ning lifted his head up, a smile on his lips. “It is fine.” Ji Yichuan looked at him in surprise. “Father.” Ji Ning laughed. “From mortal to Xiantian, from Xiantian to Zifu. These two obstacles alone…are extremely difficult. The ‘Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations’ are very distant and very far off. I don’t need to worry about them at all for now.” “Mm.” Yichuan nodded. “Your attitude isn’t bad. You are correct. Right now, there truly is no need for you to think about becoming a Zifu Disciple. That’s too far away for you. At the vast area around Mount Swallow, the strongest people in the countless tribes and in the Ji clan are only at the Zifu Disciple level. The path of the Immortals is a hard one. Even our massive Grand Xia Dynasty would perhaps produce only a single Celestial Immortal in the space of a million years.” Ning nodded gently. In the Netherworld Kingdom, the Ruler of Cui Palace had told him that the ‘Nuwa Painting’ would only give him a chance at becoming a Celestial Immortal, and that there were still many obstacles to overcome. And that was assuming that he was going to be a Deva and also a soldier in the armies of Heaven. From this, one could imagine how hard it was for one to become a Celestial Immortal. To escape the confines of the Three Realms and no longer be subject to the Five Elements wasn’t so easily done. “Do you still desire to train to become an Immortal?” Yichuan looked at Ning. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Yichuan nodded slightly. If the boy had been terrified just by hearing about this, Yichuan would have been disappointed. What he didn’t know was…how could Ning possibly be scared as easily as this? There was nothing without risk. Even walking on the street, one might be killed by a rock falling down from the skies. Even when eating, one might choke to death. Training to become an Immortal naturally would be extremely risky. It would be bizarre if it wasn’t. “However…” Yichuan frowned. “You are too young, and training techniques are very complicated. If I was to transmit a high-class Immortal training technique to you and you trained in a wrong direction, it would harm your body. But ordinary Immortal techniques aren’t worth learning…” “Father.” Ning said. “I wish to learn the Fiendgod Body Refining Technique.” “Oh? You know about Body Refining?” Yichuan was extremely surprised, and Snow began to laugh. “It seems our son has read quite a few books. He even knows that there are two main paths of Immortal training.” There were two primary paths of training to become an Immortal. The first was in Ki Refining, refining ki energy! 99% of those who trained to become an Immortal chose this path. This path allowed one to use many mysterious Immortal treasures, create complicated golems, control large amounts of deadly magical beasts, develop powerful magical formations, and also use some extremely vile techniques…in a word, this was an extremely glorious and profound path. The other path was in Body Refining. Supposedly, the three Realms had each given birth to many Fiendgods. All of them were born from nature itself and were powerful from their birth! As for the creator of the universe, Pangu, he himself was the mightiest of them, the Fiendgod of Primordial Chaos. He also possessed the most powerful body…and thus, a number of elders managed to develop this ‘Fiendgod Body Refining’ technique, which would allow the practitioners to possess bodies on par with Fiendgods. Indestructible bodies, possession of boundless strength, having three heads and six arms, regenerating from a single drop of blood, immortal and undying…these all belonged to the Fiendgod Body Refining method. Reputedly, at the same level of development, a Fiendgod Body Refiner would be able to totally suppress his opponents! “Body Refining is a hundred times more difficult than Ki Refining.” Yichuan said seriously. “The Fiendgod Body Refining method allows one to possess the power of a Fiendgod. How powerful is that? Hard, very hard…” “Father, first I’ll train the body. Afterwards, I will develop Ki.” Ning said. “These two training methods can be simultaneously progressed in. By then, I’ll take whatever path I am most skilled in, which will be my primary path. In addition, weren’t you afraid that I am too young and that training in ki will damage my veins? The Fiendgod Body Refining technique doesn’t have this risk.” 102 Yichuan and Snow glanced at each other. It seemed their son had thought things through. Indeed, the Fiendgod Body Refining technique primarily exercised the entire body’s muscles and internal organs. As for the blood vessels? It didn’t have much to do with that at all. It must be known that Innate Fiendgods came in all types, and their veins were totally different from the veins of human beings. The benevolence of those ancestors had developed the Fiendgod Body Refining technique from the bodies of the Fiendgods. Naturally, they ignored the veins. “Alright!” Yichuan nodded. “The Fiendgod Body Refining method is incomparably precious. Our Ji clan in total has nineteen books on Fiendgod Body Refining scattered through our five prefectures. I will let you choose the one you wish to train in!” “Yes.” Ning was extremely excited. “Brother Black.” Yichuan shouted towards the outside. A black-haired middle-aged man appeared from outside. His eyes faintly glowed with red light, and his eyes were rather long. It was the human form of that massive black python. “Uncle Black.” Ning hurriedly called out. Two years ago, when he was born, he had learned that this black haired man was a Diremonster who had already trained to reach the ‘Xiantian lifeform’ stage. Generally speaking, animals who had reached a certain level of intelligence would be called ‘monsters’. After beginning to absorb the energy of nature, since they didn’t possess special training techniques, it was even harder for them to train than it was for humans. Only when they broke through to become Xiantian lifeforms would they possess the ability to transform themselves! The black-haired man smiled and nodded. “Yichuan, what do you need?” “I’d like to trouble you to make a journey to the library.” Yichuan said. “Bring the abridged versions of those nineteen training methods of the Fiendgod Body Refining techniques here. Ning wants to use them.” “Ning wants to use them?” The black-haired man looked at Ning with a laugh. “Someone who trains with the Fiendgod Body Refining would have the power of a Fiendgod. It seems Ning is quite ambitious.” Hua! The black-haired man disappeared into thin air. Ning took a deep breath as he waited. Uncle Black spoke the truth. He was indeed ambitious. The first reason was because he knew that due to his youth, his father probably wouldn’t allow him to train in Ki Refining. Self-study? Ning didn’t have the confidence. The second was that the Fiendgod Body Refining method had some very powerful benefits. To kill a Fiendgod practitioner was more than a thousand times 103 more difficult than to kill a ki practitioner! Fiendgod Body Refining experts, at the same level, could totally dominate a Ki Refining expert! They had both strong self-preservation abilities and strong power. Just based on these two alone, Ning took a liking to the Fiendgod Body Refining method. Hu! A gentle wind appeared out of nowhere, and the black-haired man appeared in the middle of a hall, a smile on his face. “Nineteen copies of abridged versions of Fiendgod Body Refining techniques.” “Ning.” Yichuan looked at his son. “The abridged versions only have the first parts of each Immortal training technique, combined with a summary and description of the technique. Take a close look and see which one you want.” The black-haired man placed the nineteen tomes in front of Ning. Every single tome was very thin. After all, these were abridged versions. Even if they were stolen, they wouldn’t pose a loss for the Ji clan. They couldn’t possibly place precious Immortal training copies in their entirety in the library, after all. However, even these abridged versions of the Fiendgod Body Refining weren’t freely available for others to see. This was why Yichuan had sent the black-haired man to make the trip. “Nineteen tomes.” Ning began to read in earnest. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Heavens One thin abridged book after another was placed on the table, and Ning instantly began to scan the names of each of these books. [Calamity Fiend] [Indestructible Blood Fiend] [Song of the Inferno] [Vajra Buddhist Sutras] [Freeform Soul] [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] [Eternal Mysteries of the Yellow Earth] [Spirit Fox Sutra] [Sutra of the Future Buddha] … Every single book was covered with ancient, strange-looking characters. Fortunately, Ning had learned these words after Ning had been born into this world. Ning took a deep breath. This was a critical choice! One which would determine his destiny! He picked up a book and began to read. [Calamity Fiend]. To train it, one needed to cover one’s body with magic tattoos and use hellfire to temper one’s body. It was extremely painful. After covering the body with nine different types of magic tattoos and after having been tempered by hellfire 81 times, the body would totally transform and become that of a Xiantian lifeform, instantly acquiring boundless strength, the ability to belch hellfire, and immediately regrow a severed arm. This was an extremely hard yet extremely fast way of training. Theoretically, one only needed 81 days in order to reach the Xiantian level. [Indestructible Blood Fiend]. The pain this caused was even greater than that of the [Calamity Fiend] training method. It required three years of magic tattoos, three years of a hellish, tormented existence. [Song of the Inferno]. This required one to train next to a blazing inferno, then to be engulfed by a blazing inferno, and then finally to enter the lava of a volcano without being harmed at all. It required a person to become one with fire. Once a person could control the limitless power of fire, the one would be considered to have reached the Xiantian level… Reading these three, Ning began to frown. Why was it that these Fiendgod training methods were all so painful? It was worse than torture! “You foolish child.” Snow couldn’t help but speak out. “Only a few Fiendgod Body Refining methods are truly painful. Only five of these nineteen books are excruciating painful. The others aren’t nearly as bad. I didn’t expect that the first three you picked up…” “Oh!” Ning let out a sigh of relief. Yichuan, seated nearby, said coldly, “Fiendgod Body Refining is far more difficult than Ki Refining. For a mortal to become a Xiantian lifeform is against the natural law of the world. To reach that level through the most difficult method, the Fiendgod Body Refining method…of course it is hard! In addition, these methods which require miserable agony and difficulties, although they are quick, can be considered heterodox methods which cannot be considered to have a good foundation.” Ning nodded as he continued to read. [Vajra Buddhist Sutras]. This was a type of Buddhist Vajra training method. [Freeform Soul]. It required an extremely long period of time to train, but after reaching the Xiantian level, it allowed one to freely transform one’s body and filled one with life. Even if one was chopped into many tiny pieces, one would quickly reform. This was one of the topmost life-preserving types of Fiendgod Body Training. [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Without question, the number one type of Fiendgod Body Training method! “What?!” Ning’s eyes turned hungry, and he immediately stared at the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and began to read carefully. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had nine parts. The first three levels were for the Houtian stage. The middle three levels were for Xiantian lifeforms. The later three levels were for the Zifu stage. “It really is different. Those other training methods, at their peak, only allowed the trainees to become peak Xiantian lifeforms. But this [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] allows a person to reach the peak Zifu level.” Ning continued to read carefully despite his excitement. Upon reaching the Xiantian level, one would be able to control water and fire, and also possess astonishing physical strength. One’s body would be light and agile, and all six of the senses would be sharpened. Severed limbs would regrow. Upon reaching the Zifu level, one would be able to regenerate from a single drop of blood. Upon reaching the Wanxiang stage, one would have amazing powers, such as growing three heads and six arms, the Kuafu Sunchaser ability, or Shining Dragon Eyes ability. But of course, the prerequisite was that one would need to be trained in these magical powers. Fiendgod Body Refining adepts were able to easily suppress Ki Refining adepts of the same level. But the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was able to suppress all other types of Fiendgod Body Refining techniques! This was publicly knowledged! There was no dispute! But training in it was extremely hard, the hardest of all. This, too, was undisputed! “That will be my choice!” After flipping through the remaining Fiendgod Body Refining books, without hesitating at all, Ning made his choice. “[Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]!” “You’ve chosen?” Yichuan looked at his son. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Yichuan said slowly, “Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens’. This is publicly acknowledged by everyone in the world as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method. It is far more profound than the likes of the ‘Song of the Inferno’, the ‘Vajra Buddhist Sutra’, or the ‘Calamity Fiend’ techniques. And that’s just at the Zifu level. The later stages of it are even more profound. If you are able to become a Zifu Disciple, it would be very easy for you to advance to higher levels as well.” “This is the most widely spread and most easily obtainable type of Fiendgod Body Refining technique.” Yichuan looked at his son. “But it is also the hardest!” Ning laughed. He had spent two years here in this world reading many books. He knew that refining techniques were extremely important! The more profound the training technique, the harder it was to train in. For the higher level books regarding the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to be easily obtainable meant that it was all the more important for him to choose this one. “It has the greatest power! The undisputed best!” “It is the most widespread one!” “It is the most easily obtainable method!” Yichuan looked at his son. “It has countless merits, and just one flaw; it is extremely difficult! There hasn’t been a single member of the Ji clan of any of our five Prefectures who managed to reach the fourth part and become a Xiantian lifeform.” “What? Not a single member of the Ji clan in all five Prefectures has been able to use it to become a Xiantian lifeform?” Ning was shocked. It was fine if they didn’t reach the Zifu stage. But not even one had reached the Xiantian lifeform stage? “Right.” Yichuan said. “Not a single one. Because it is simply too hard, far harder than you can imagine. But I must admit that it is the most mysterious and most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method. Even in the legends of the Fiendgods, this technique is the most powerful one!” “Then this will be my choice!” Ning didn’t hesitate at all. He was born into the world with the likes of the [Nuwa Painting], one of the highest class visualization techniques which would allow him to stand out even amongst the armies of Heaven. With such a firm foundation, how could he not at least give it a shot? Even if he failed, that wouldn’t be a big deal. He could then choose to train in another technique. “Fine!” Yichuan revealed a rare smile on his face. He was very happy with his son’s resoluteness. “Then I will go get the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] for you.” “Thank you, father.” Ning was filled with anticipation. ….. Dark night. The door to the room was closed, and inside the room, the arm-thick candles were flickering. There were only three people in the room. Yichuan, Snow, and their son, Ning. Ning was holding an extremely thick book with scarlet red letters and reading through it. This was the legendary, most powerful of techniques: [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. “It really is hard.” Ning was frowning as he read it. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had several major obstacles. The first was the introduction. In order to begin training in it, one had to be able to sense the ‘Great Yang’ (the Sun) and the ‘Great Yin’ (the Moon) in the skies. Many other Fiendgod training methods required the absorption of elemental energy, such as fire, water, or electricity in order to build up power. But the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] required its practitioners to immediately begin sensing those two greatest of celestial bodies, and to absorb the energy of the Sun and the Moon. Many trainees simply couldn’t sense the Sun and the Moon at all. And this was just the first step! Afterwards, by absorbing the energy of the Sun and the Moon, one’s entire body would become covered with divine tattoos. This was the second part! After the Divine Sun Tattoo and the Divine Moon Tattoo were completely formed, one could be considered as having completed the first level of the 108 [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! Actually, from this very first level, one could tell how unimaginably profound this technique was, because many of the other techniques, such as the [Calamity Fiend] technique, all relied on physically carving the magic tattoos onto one’s body. But for the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], those tattoos would be formed naturally, and the divine tattoos were of the Moon and the Sun! Once the first level was mastered, one was usually able to easily reach the third level without any problems. But breaking through to the fourth level and becoming a Xiantian lifeform was even more difficult. It required ‘Yin and Yang to Fuse, Water and Fire Become One’. Only then could one break past and become a Xiantian lifeform. The later obstacles…those were too far off. There was no need to worry about them. “Whew.” Finishing reading, Ning let out a long breath. Yichuan and Snow looked at their son. “Father, please instruct me with regards to the mysteries hidden within the first level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Ning looked at his father. “Understanding the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is very easy.” Yichuan said. “All you need to do is follow the instructions on the pictures. There are nine pictures to the first level. It is very simple.” Ning nodded. He had read many books in this world, and when he flipped through it, he had quickly learned what the training method was. But he was worried that he might have missed some sort of profound meaning. After all, training was something he couldn’t be too rash about. Since his father had said that the instructions in this book were very clear, then it was time to start. Ning closed his eyes and raised his fists, then bowed down…this was the first diagram: Bowing to the Sun and the Moon! He carried out all of the movements in accordance with the pictures, seeming almost to move in accordance with a strange ritual dance, and his body carried within it a strange, ancient aura. “Hrm?” Yichuan was surprised. “His very first attempts at the movement are so accurate and so precise.” Snow was surprised as well. Although most people wanted to make the movements properly, they wouldn’t actually be able to do so as precisely as they wished. However, Ning had been training in accordance to the [Nuwa Painting] since his birth. His soul was very powerful, and he had extremely strong control over his body as a result. Given 109 that he had also constantly been cleansed by the energy of nature and his soul was as pure as an infants, it was quite natural that he could easily make accurate movements. Hua! Ning’s final movement was to sit down in a kneeling position, his two arms hanging down in front of him, as though one was resting on the sun while the other was resting on the moon. Utter silence. Yichuan and Snow were holding their breaths as well. They knew that it was the critical movement. The earlier dancing movements were only for the purpose of allowing one to sense the ‘Great Yang’ (the Sun) and the ‘Great Yin’ (the Moon). Whether or not Ning would be able to sense those two most exalted of stellar bodies… Despite this just being the introductory part to the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], it had prevented countless people from training in it. The two of them knew that the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was the hardest Fiendgod Body Refining method to train, and they knew that the chance of their four year old son being able to master the introductory part was very low. However, parents always hoped that their children would succeed. They waited, hoping for a joyous surprise to happen… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. the Other Ning could feel his consciousness passing through multiple layers of the world’s obstructions, constantly going forward…after passing through countless layers, he entered an infinite, endless void. Deep within that infinite void was two incomparably enormous stellar bodies. One was an enormous stellar body which had huge plumes of raging flames dancing on its surface. It seemed like an enormous ball of flame, and it illuminated the endless void. The other was covered with a layer of unending ice, with an enormous osmanthus tree in the middle of the ice. The stellar body’s cold light also illuminated part of the world. These two ancient stellar bodies, one was the Solar Star (the Sun), the other was the Lunar Star (the Moon). “Too beautiful. Too incredible.” Ning was absolutely stunned. He felt that he could even ‘see’ those enormous plumes of flame and ‘see’ the enormous leaves of the osmanthus tree. Others, when training in accordance with the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], found it very hard to even hazily sense the Solar Star and the Star, but Ning could even ‘see’ the plumes of flame and the leaves on the osmanthus tree. …. Within the hall. Yichuan and Snow were watching in astonishment. They saw countless spots of starlight appear in the area around Ning. The countless spots of starlight were primarily gold and silver in color; scorching hot gold starlight and ice cold silver starlight. They swirled around Ning, not stopping in any location. Slowly, beneath Ning’s left hand, a miniature star formed beneath his left hand, and on it an Osmanthus Tree could vaguely be seen. This was the Lunar Star. And on his right hand, there formed a fiery hot miniature star that was surrounded by a flying Golden Crow. This was the Solar Star. The Solar Star in one hand, and the Lunar Star in the other. Surrounded by starlight, Ning’s face seemed so peaceful, so pious. “This…this…” 111 Yichuan and Snow looked at each other, stunned. “The Moon in one hand and the Sun in the other?” Yichuan couldn’t help but show his shock on his face, no matter how calm and collected he normally was. “The Osmanthus Tree was born on one, and the Golden Crow flies around the other?” “The legendary, ‘Moon in one hand, Sun in the other’?” Snow stared fixedly at the two miniature stellar bodies which had formed in her son’s hands. “And even the Osmanthus Tree and the Golden Crow have appeared…” The two were in a state of absolute shock. They were not ordinary people. Naturally, they knew much more than the common person, and they had personally read the contents of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] before. They naturally knew what this scene portended. The [Scarlet Diagram of the Nine Shining Heavens] was extremely difficult to train in, and the training speed would normally be very slow. There were several types of ‘initiations’ one might see. The first type was called, ‘threads of starlight’. Only two threads of starlight would slowly enter the body. This was the poorest type of initiation and guaranteed that one would be extremely slow in training. The second type was called ‘clouds of starlight’. A large amount of starlight would surround the body and form a cloud. This was quite good, actually. The third type, was known as ‘a vortex of starlight, the Moon in one hand, the Sun in the other’. Countless flecks of starlight would swirl around the body like a vortex, while the left hand would form a ‘Lunar Star’, while the right hand would form a ‘Solar Star’. This was the peak result. But if the two miniature stars formed to be so realistic as to even show the ‘Osmanthus Tree on the Lunar Star, Golden Crow on the Solar Star’, then this would be the legendary perfect result. Actually, it wasn’t strange for this result to occur. Ning had trained using the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique since he was born, a technique which even in the Deva realm would be a top class technique. He was even capable of dividing his mind. One could imagine how powerful his soul had become. And in addition, after being born, every day he had been nurtured and cleansed by natural elemental energy, rendering his body as pure as a newborn infant’s body, without any impurities. The purity of his body was on par with a Xiantian lifeform! His body was as pure as a Xiantian lifeform’s. His soul was so powerful that he could divide his mind. With these two strengths combined, it was natural that he would have the utmost aptitude for Fiendgod Body Refining. “For my son to have this sort of natural gift…” Snow’s face had turned red, and she was so excited that her body was shaking. “Yichuan, the Moon in one hand, and the Sun in the other. Osmanthus Tree was born, and the Golden Crow flies! This is something out of the legends! Our son will definitely have great accomplishments when training in accordance to the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. “Right.” Yichuan was very excited as well. When his son was born, he had sensed that his son’s arteries were very weak, and his bones were very ordinary as well. Although he knew that his son had been injured in the womb, he was still somewhat disappointed, because he knew…in this brutal, man-eat-man world, anyone who had no power would find it hard to live a good life. While he was alive, he could protect his son, but what if he died? “This is my son! The son of Ji Yichuan!” Yichuan held his wife’s hand tightly, and the two stared with excitement and hope towards their son. Which parents didn’t hope that their ‘children would fly like dragons’? ….. Ning’s eyes were closed, and he continued to sit on his knees, holding his two hands in front of him limply, with the Lunar Star in one, and the Solar Star in the other. Those two miniature floating Solar Star and Lunar Stars were separately transmitting energy nonstop into Ning’s body. The power of the Sun and the power of the Moon were quickly absorbed by the ravenous cells in his body, and Ning’s entire musculature and bone structure were undergoing constant transformations. “Swish…” A layer of ice suddenly appeared on the beast fur clothes which Ning was wearing. But then, “Crackle crackle crackle.” The back of Ning’s clothes suddenly began to burn with fire. Both frozen and blazing. This constant interchange was resulting in his furs starting to split apart. “Hrm?” Yichuan frowned. He pointed with a finger, and a ray of blue flowing light leaped out of his finger towards Ning’s back, and the already half-ragged fur clothes totally split apart and collapsed, leaving Ning’s back totally bare. On Ning’s tender, young back, there was silver light flashing on the left, while golden light flashing on the right. On the left, frozen side, the silver light was constantly flowing and slowly forming into a pattern. On the right, blazing side, the golden light was also constantly flowing and also formed a separate pattern. “Divine Tattoos!” Snow said softly. “The very first time he trains, he is already beginning to form the Divine Tattoos. Given this tattoo forming speed, in ten days or so the tattoo will have been fully formed. By then, the first level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] will be done. “Right.” Yichuan watched quietly. Time passed… The Divine Tattoos on Ning’s youthful back continued to grow. One could faintly tell that the left tattoo was that of a rabbit, while the right side was that of a crow. The two great Divine Tattoos. The Divine Moon Tattoo was that of the Moon Rabbit, while the Divine Sun Tattoo was that of the Golden Crow. “Hu.” Ning suddenly let out a long breath and opened his eyes. The Divine Tattoos on his back disappeared as well, and the two stellar bodies in his hands quickly dissipated. This caused Ning to be greatly startled. He had carefully read the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], and he knew exactly what it meant for him to have the Moon in one hand, the Sun in the other, especially with the Osmanthus Tree being born and the Golden Crow flying. “What a powerful force.” Ning clenched his fists, feeling his body surge with power. “I’m just a four year old child and I’ve just been initiated into the Fiendgod Body Refining method, but I already am this strong.” Suddenly, a cold voice rang out. “Put on a change of clothes.” With a wave of his hands, his father Yichuan made a set of children’s fur clothes appear out of midair, then tossed it to his son. “Yes.” Ning immediately grabbed it. Snow was still looking at her son, her face filled with joy. The more she looked at him, the happier she felt. Her son was her pride and her joy. On the day he was born, she had been worried about her son’s future…but now, her son had demonstrated such inconceivable potential. As a mother, in her heart, naturally she felt filled with joy. “Ning.” Yichuan said calmly. “Father.” Ning listened carefully. “Your potential is extraordinary. However, if you wish to break through the bottleneck of ordinary lifeforms and become a Xiantian lifeform, and then embark on the road to becoming an Immortal, potential alone isn’t enough.” Yichuan looked at his son. “You need to receive the best instruction possible.” 114 Ning said respectfully, “Father, please instruct me.” “Snow.” Yichuan looked at his wife, Yuchi Snow. She nodded, and with a flip of her hand, two items appeared. One was a deep green gemstone, roughly the size of a fingernail. It was cut and very beautiful. The other was a flashing, rainbow-colored, fist-sized rock. “This deep green stone is known as a kalestone.” Snow smiled. “This is a naturally forming gemstone which contains a miniature dimension inside of it. You can use it as part of a ring and store small items in it, or you can hide and store it within your belt. All you need to do to make it yours is to bind it with blood.” “Kalestone!” Ning was overjoyed. Training to become an Immortal was divided into two paths; the Body Refining path and the Ki Refining path. Body Refiners belonged to the Fiendgod path and didn’t teach someone how to use magical treasures. Ki Refiners, after becoming Xiantian lifeforms, would be able to control a few low level treasures…but even the lowest of manufactured treasures had a minimum requirement of the user being a Ki Refiner of the Xiantian level. Thus, most Fiendgod Body Refiners would also concurrently train in Ki. However, Heaven always gave people a chance. There were some naturally occurring objects which only needed to be bound by blood and didn’t have any strength requirements. kalestone was one of them! “Bind it first.” Snow handed the kalestone and a shortsword over. “Yes, Mother.” Ning accepted them. He didn’t hesitate at all, as he gently pricked his finger with the edge of the shortsword. A single drop of blood fell onto the kalestone and was quickly absorbed, giving the kalestone a hint of a blood color. “Get in.” Ning willed the shortsword in his hand to disappear, and it did, reforming and floating within the miniature dimension inside the kalestone. “Come out.” The shortsword appeared in his hands. “How magical.” Ning was absolutely delighted. He knew long ago that these naturally occurring dimensional gemstones existed. They weren’t like those manufactured treasures, which all had relatively large internal dimensions. The kalestone, as a naturally occurring object, had a much smaller internal dimension. Some were only the size of a fist or a head! These half-meter long ones were definitely an extremely precious treasure. “Mother.” Ning hurriedly said. “Please help me make a belt and put the kalestone inside of it.” “Alright.” Snow nodded. “The kalestone can be considered a treasure, but to our Ji clan, it isn’t something particularly valuable. Given your father’s status…a kalestone isn’t even worth discussing! However, the other treasure is something which your father only obtained after a life-and-death crisis!” Snow solemnly handed over the fist-sized rock which shone with the colors of the rainbow. “Bind it.” Snow looked at her son. Ning stuck out his finger and once more pricked it gently with the shortsword. A single drop of blood fell onto that flashing rainbow stone. The blood was quickly absorbed, and inside the rock, countless red ‘arteries’ could suddenly be seen. And then, the fist-sized rock turned into a liquid and flowed towards Ning. “What’s this?” Ning felt his entire body turn cold. “It is like the kalestone. It is a naturally occurring treasure. The name of this treasure is the Goldstar Shirt.” Snow explained. “You can use it immediately after binding it. It will quickly enter and become part of your skin. With the protection of the Goldstar Shirt…nothing below the Xiantian lifeform level will be able to harm you with its attacks.” Ning was shocked. “So powerful?” He had never read of this in any of the books. “The Grand Xia Dynasty, from the Fiendgod Era until now, has existed for countless of years, and the territory it rules over is vast. In the area around Swallow Mountain, our Ji clan reigns supreme. But in some of the more distant areas…there are clans that are even more powerful than our Ji clan.” Yichuan said. “In some of those ancient, mighty clans, some of the promising young youths, while they are still young, they will be given this Goldstar Shirt to help protect them.” Ning was startled. Turning to look at his father, he felt a warm feeling in his heart. His parents truly were very good to him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Although the Goldstar Shirt is a treasure, I can break through it with a casual finger poke.” Yichuan looked at his son. “These things are all external. In the future, you must have accomplishments in the Fiendgod Body Refining techniques, and in term, Fiendgods specialize in body power. What you need to do is to utilize all of your potential and all of your strength. “Right.” Ning nodded seriously. “With the Fiendgod Body Refining, your strength will be great, your movements will be fast, your vision will be clear at great distances, your hearing will be more sensitive, and even your body’s recovery ability will be astonishing!” Yichuan looked at his son. “In order to transform these into true, mighty power…” “First of all, what you need is a weapon!” Yichuan said. “Your strength might be ten times greater than your opponent’s, but your opponent might be able to shoot you to death from afar with an arrow. That’s what makes a good weapon so powerful.” “In addition, you must be good at actually wielding a weapon. For example, a swordsman who has no internal strength but who has reached the second level of sword mastery, ‘man and sword become one’, is capable of easily piercing the throat of a powerful yet inexperienced warrior. After all, no matter how much internal strength the warrior has, he can’t block the sharpness of a sword!” Yichuan said slowly. Ning understood this logic of course. A powerful but stupid brute who encountered an assassin who was good at wielding shortswords would die in a single exchange of blows! A strong body was just one aspect. Skill and technique was what determined how much of your power would be actually utilized! For example, in his past life, those competitors in the kickboxing or jujitsu competitions all were roughly on the same level in terms of physical fitness; it was technique and battle strategy which determined their competiveness. “Tell me, what do you want to learn?” Yichuan looked at his son. “Ning, son, think carefully.” Snow looked at her son as well. Actually, in their hearts, they had already mapped out a plan for their son. After all, as they saw it, their son was still too young, even though he was smart and capable. But they still wanted to ask their son what he wanted, so as to help him learn to think everything through. And then, they would tell him what they thought and let him reflect on the differences. “I want to learn three things.” Ning suddenly said. “First of all, I wish to learn archery.” Ning said. He was to walk on the Fiendgod Body Refining path. He would possess astonishing eyesight, and also enormous, heaven-granted strength. Naturally, he had to learn archery. The arrows released by a mighty Fiendgod were definitely capable of breaking past the sound barrier, and the power of its arrows was definitely far greater than the bullets of sniper rifles in his past life. He could kill his opponent from far away. And archery, according to the books he had read, wasn’t too hard to learn. “Second, I want to learn how to use twin swords!” The Ji clan specialized in sword techniques! His father Yichuan was nicknamed the ‘Raindrop Sword’. With a resource such as this at his disposal, he absolutely had to learn how to use swords! “Twin swords?” Yichuan frowned. “Continue.” “Third, I need to learn agility-enhancing techniques and escaping techniques.” Ning said. “These are what I need.” If he encountered a powerful opponent, he would flee! Only escaping techniques would allow a person to live longer. And the longer one lived, the more possibilities one would have. Snow laughed. “Ning is headed in the right direction. However, I think it’s best if you first start with single swords…there isn’t a single twin sword expert in the entire Ji clan, and when training in swords, the greatest danger is in losing concentration. You must focus all of your concentration on a single sword. Only this will allow you to achieve greater accomplishments.” “Your mother’s words are correct.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Father, mother, I’ve been able to divide my mind since I was born.” Ning raised his head to look at his parents. He wasn’t able to explain about the [Nuwa Painting], and so he just had to claim that he was able to divide his mind since he was born. “What?!” “Divide your mind?” Yichuan and Snow were both shocked. “Do you know what dividing your mind means?” Yichuan growled. “It isn’t as simple as multitasking. It means that your mind can simultaneously contemplate two separate matters without losing any effectiveness or causing any disruption.” 118 “I truly can divide my mind.” Ning said hurriedly. “Then let’s give it a test.” Yichuan’s eyes began to glow with an astonishing light. With one hand, he pulled over two pieces of chalk. “Use these two rocks to write on the ground. With your left hand, write your mother’s name, while with your right hand, write my name. Write simultaneously!” “Yes, father.” Ning nodded. Ning took the two pieces of chalk. It felt rather similar to the chalk he had used in his previous life. Immediately, he began to use his hands to write as instructed. Writing with the chalk actually felt quite natural. Hua! Hua! His left hand and right hand easily wrote at the same time, and what he wrote was the ancient, complicated script of this world. On one side, he wrote the name, “Ji Yichuan”. On the other, “Yuchi Snow.” His strokes were firm and very graceful. “Ning, you…” Snow was stunned. “But…” Yichuan was stunned as well. “No wonder. No wonder you were able to train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Shining Heavens] so quickly.” Yichuan said slowly. “So our son’s soul is so powerful that he can divide his mind!” Yichuan looked at his son as though he were looking at a piece of priceless, unpolished jade. Extremely excited, he said, “I’ve only been able to reach the level of dividing my mind because I’ve trained for so long. However, I’ve focused on using a single sword since I was young…my path is set, and hard to change! But my son is able to divide his mind since birth…he is a born twin sword user. He will be able to use twin swords as though two people were wielding them and make his opponents feel like they are being attacked by two people at once. What’s more, those two people will have their hearts and intentions totally linked, increasing the effectiveness ten times over!” “From today onwards, I will personally train you in using swords!” Yichuan looked at his son. …. Early next morning. The thick natural energy of the world filled the hazy morning. Ning had already been brought by his father to the training grounds. “Ning.” Yichuan looked at his son, then pointed at a nearby fur-clad, bearded man. “This is the number one expert archer of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. His name is ‘Blindfish’. His archery skills are extremely high. Blindfish, come, let the little fellow see what you are all about.” 119 “Yes.” Blindfish said respectfully. Yichuan walked in front of them towards four marble tablets, each one of them weighing several hundred pounds. Yichuan grabbed one of them, then threw it far away into the distance, and then grabbed another one and tossed that one as well. In the blink of an eye, all four of them were howling through the air. These massive, heavy tablets were thrown with such force that they made the air howl. They were like four missiles, and had transformed into black dots in the sky. “Hrm.” A pitch-black greatbow appeared in the hands of the bearded man, Blindfish, along with four arrows. He raised his bow high. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Four arrows flashed through the skies, disappearing almost instantly as they chased after those four black dots. Pengpengpengpeng!!!!! Those four black dots totally disappeared. Ning gaped at the sight. He gaped for a long time. “When father tossed those heavy stones, he threw them at least one or two kilometers and turned them into missiles?” Ning felt stunned. “And this Blindfish’s arrows…I felt like, in the blink of an eye, in less than a second, they arrived at that distance of a kilometer or two away. If we calculate it carefully…these arrows must have at least travelled at the speed of nearly two thousand meters a second.” “The legendary god, Houyi, once sent out nine arrows in a row and shot and killed nine Golden Crows.” Blindfish laughed loudly. “Young master, I only possess some superficial skills.” “Master Blindfish, the rubble won’t hit or hurt anyone when it falls, will it?” Ning suddenly remembered to ask this question. Yichuan shook his head. “Ning, your Master Blindfish is a Xiantian lifeform, and has infused his arrows with his own innate energy. When the arrows reached the tablets, they immediately blew the tablets into dust which will drift down slowly. How can there be rubble which would smash anyone?” Ning was secretly shocked. Formidable indeed. “From today onwards, every morning, you will come train with your Master Blindfish for an hour in archery.” Yichuan said. “This can be considered your morning exercises. Blindfish, sorry to trouble you.” “To be able to teach the young master is Blindfish’s glory.” Blindfish laughed loudly. Yichuan nodded, then turned and left. The entire training yard was very quiet. Only Blindfish and Ning were there. Not even a servant was present. “Young master.” Blindfish looked at Ning. “To an archer, the most important thing is his bows and arrows. The arrow is divided into three parts; the arrowhead, the arrow shaft, and the feathers. As for the bow, it is comprised of the bowstring and the body. Arrows can be made in large quantities, but bows are far more precious!” “There are two types of bows.” “The first type of bow is made from an elastic bow body and a tough bowstring. When drawing the bow, the body of the bow will curve…and that is where the power comes from, the curving of the bow’s body. This is the most commonly seen type of bow, and is a fairly simple type of archery. It is easy to produce, and ordinary archers use it.” “The second type of bow has a tough, inflexible bow body and an elastic bowstring. When pulling the bow, the bow’s body will essentially remain firm, while the bowstring will be pulled to an astonishing elastic length. This bow in my hand is that sort of bow!” Blindfish handed the pitch-black greatbow in his hands to Ning. Ning accepted this simple greatbow, and he instantly felt its weight. This greatbow was at least a hundred pounds heavy. He couldn’t help but stare at it carefully. The body of the greatbow was made from some sort of pitch-black metal which gleamed. The bowstring, however, was as thick as a finger, and carried a blue color. A terrifying fiendish aura could dimly be sensed as coming from the bowstring. “This bow body was forged from ‘thunderwind metal’ and is incomparably tough. But the bowstring is even more precious…it was made from one of the draconic tendons of a Diremonster that was slain, a Dragonsnake. It possesses astonishing elasticity. Even if my strength was ten times greater, I wouldn’t be able to break it.” Blindfish laughed. “The name I gave my bow is ‘Thunderdragon Bow’.” Ning’s eyes shone as he listened. A bowstring made from the tendons of a Dragonsnake, a Diremonster? “Come, let’s begin to learn the proper stance.” With a flip of his hand, Blindfish produced an ordinary bow. “Standing shot stance, crouching shot stance, backwards shot stance, falling shot stance, running shot stance!” Blindfish looked at Ning. “Young master, your training will be divided into two segments. The first is the basic segment. The second is the mental segment.” “In the basic segment, you need to practice those five stances to the point where ‘hand, eye, and arrow become one.’ You must always hit your target. Only then can you move to the next segment.” 121 “In the mental segment, the stances are no longer important. The only thing you need is for your ‘mind and arrow to become one’. You no longer need to use your eyes to see. That’s simply too slow. You must rely on your mind! In the blink of an eye, you will draw your bow and fire your arrows upon your target as fast as lightning. In a truly critical situation, you only have a heartbeat to do what you need. Nobody will give you a chance to slowly aim. When you have mastered the mental segment, then you will have completed your apprenticeship.” Ning listened and nodded. And then, according to Blindfish’s instructions, he began to train in the proper stance. “Waist straight! Left arm extended!” “That’s the correct posture for drawing the bow. Stay in that posture!” “Eyes! Eyes! Are your eyes blind?” As soon as he began teaching in earnest, Blindfish began to roar at him. The ignorant Ning was like a piece of white parchment. Howled at again and again, Ning could do nothing but endure it and slowly learn. A ten thousand meter high building is still built up from the ground floor. An expert archer had to start with the basics as well. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After practicing archery for an hour, the Sun had already begun to rise. “Ning, child, I shall be the one to teach you footwork.” Yuchi Snow, clad in white furs, smiled as she looked at her son. “Yes.” Ning said. Although he had exercised to the point where his waist and his back were bitterly sore, because he had trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], his body’s regenerative speed was astonishingly high. Right now, his mind was clear, fresh, and full of energy. “In close combat, footwork is every bit as importance as sword techniques!” Yuchi Snow said solemnly. “When two people engage in a battle, the one with better footwork and agility can make it hard for the opponent to injure them, while they are able to easily injure the opponent.” Ning nodded. He understood this logic. Close combat didn’t just mean standing there like an idiot, waving swords and sabers at each other. It was constantly changing positions like an unpredictable shadow. In his past life, he had seen taekwondo and karate experts. Those most elite competitors all valued footwork highly, and their footwork was exquisite, capable of causing ten enemy punches in a row to miss, or at least have their power reduced greatly. The importance of footwork was arguably even higher than that of attacking techniques! Because he had been tormented by illness in his past life, Ning truly and ardently enjoyed watching those competitions, which made him understand the importance of footwork in those taekwondo and karate competitions. In this world where spirits and monsters abounded, the basics were still the same. Footwork was one of the most important things. “I will teach you a footwork technique known as the [Shadewind Steps].” Snow said. “Don’t be fooled by its ordinary name. This is a very amazing set of footwork techniques. I am the only one who knows it in our Ji clan, and even amongst all five Prefectures, it is considered the highest type of footwork technique. Once you begin learning this footwork technique, you will understand how to dodge and move about in tight areas, while also learning how to easily flee.” 123 “First, carefully read the six basic movements.” With a flip of her hand, Snow made a thick yellow book appear out of nowhere. Ning accepted it and began to read it carefully. This book described the [Shadewind Steps] and its six basic movements. All six of the movements were exquisite and profound in their movements and usage of force and energy. “Don’t just stare at it.” Snow pointed at a distant area. “Look over there.” Ning turned his head and saw wooden pillars. There must have been thousands of wooden pillars there, and they were all of different height and at different distances from each other. Above these wooden stakes was a number of beast capes, thousands of them which dotted the area like ropes. “That is known as the Thousand Star Array.” Snow said. “Through the usage of the Thousand Star Array, within ten years, you should be able to be able to reach the ‘Ruwei’ stage of the Shadewind Steps. If it wasn’t for the Thousand Star Array…you probably would have to spend a hundred times the amount of time.” “The [Shadewind Steps] technique has three stages.” “First, the basic stage.” “Second, the advanced stage.” “Third, one with the world.” Snow looked at Ning. “Actually, all techniques, be it footwork, sword, saber, spear, or anything else, can be divided into these three stages. For example, the ‘advanced stage’ of sword technique is often described as ‘one with the sword’.” “Have you memorized the mysteries of the six basic movements?” Snow asked. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Snow then walked towards the Thousand Star Array, then pointed at one of the very short pillars. “Go stand on top of this pillar.” “Yes.” Ning easily jumped onto the wooden pillar. He instantly felt wobbly. The pillar wasn’t very thick, and there was only enough space for a single foot. Fortunately, after having trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he had an extremely good sense of balance. This was the only reason why he was able to stand stably. “Listen to my orders. Whichever one of the six basic movements I ask you to use, that’s what you use.” Snow said. “The ‘advancing’ move!” Ning immediately tried to charge forward and step atop another pillar in front of him, but when he brushed against a beast skin rope and, with a swish, he fell down to the ground. “Remember, whenever you are moving in the Thousand Star Array, you must not step onto any of the beast skins. Once you do so, you’ll have to start over again.” Snow said. Ning ground his teeth. He refused to believe it would happen again. He once again hopped onto the short pillar, and then, using the ‘advancing’ move, he dodged past the beast skin and moved onto the next wooden pillar. However, he had used too much force. His body swayed for a long while before he was able to steady himself on that one foot again. “Remember, your movements must be like nails, driving a nail down with each step. When you land on the pillar, you must be nailed to it!” Snow said. “Each step cannot be too small or too large. It cannot be too light or too heavy. Just now, you swayed wildly. If this was a life or death fight, you would’ve been stabbed to death by an enemy who would’ve discovered a flaw in your attacks. Continue. The ‘advancing’ move!” “The ‘advancing’ step!” “The ‘sidestep’ step!” “The ‘leaping’ step!” “The ‘backwards’ step!” “The ‘withdrawing’ step!” “The ‘turning’ step!” Snow snapped one order after another. Actually, all footwork techniques relied on these basic movements. But the differences between different techniques were like night and day in terms of skill. Some would make you move as fast as a bolt of lightning, while others would make you as agile and graceful as the wind, or perhaps as unpredictable as a spirit. Each footwork technique had its own mysteries, and naturally would have different effects in battle. “Oof!” He hadn’t leapt high enough, and his back had brushed against the beast skin ropes, causing him to be unable to land onto the wooden pillar. He fell down. Not saying a word, Ning climbed back onto the pillar. “Oof!” His knee hadn’t been bent enough. “Oof!” He had used too much force. … On those thousands of wooden pillars, Ning was moving like a flash, wildly training in these six basic steps. Because of the obstruction of the beast skins, Ning’s body also had to undergo various contortions to dodge them. But no matter what postures he used, the most important thing was that his center of gravity had to be stable, and his feet had to be stable! “Mother, how long will I train like this for?” Ning had fallen so many times. “Ning, son, start from the shortest pillar and move through all 1008 wooden pillars, then jump down from the tallest one! You are not to touch any of the beast skins on the way!” “If you are able to complete this within the time it takes for one to take ten breaths, then you will have mastered the ‘basic’ level of this footwork.” Yuchi Snow laughed. Ning was stunned when he heard this. “What? In ten breaths? Such a short period of time…even on running on the flat ground, I wouldn’t be able to do that in ten breaths.” 1008 wooden pillars, all of which had to be traversed. That was a distance of a thousand or so meters. It would take him a while to travel that distance at a full run.” “Later, Ning, when you have finished mastering the first level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], you would be able to travel a thousand meters on the ground in ten breaths.” Snow laughed. “But…” Ning was speechless. “Moving in the Thousand Star Array as though you were on the ground…only then would you have mastered the ‘basic’ stage.” “Then what about the second, ‘advanced’ stage?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. Snow pushed one of the nearby beast skin ropes, which began to collide with the other beast skins. Soon, the thousand plus beast skins were all swaying against and hitting each other in a totally wild, chaotic manner. “The second stage, the ‘advanced’ stage, requires you to once again start from the lowest pillar and move through all 1008 pillars, then jump down from the tallest one, in the span of ten breaths, without 126 touching any of the beast skin ropes. However…for the ‘advanced’ stage, all of the beast skins will be striking each other.” Snow looked at Ning. “Once you can do that, you will have mastered the ‘advanced’ stage.” “But but but…how is that possible? If all the beast skins are swaying about, how will I dodge them? There would probably only be a split second for me to dodge the beast skins and also jump onto the wooden pillars. And in such a short time frame…” Ning felt that this was simply too hard, impossibly hard. “That is why I said that with the help of the Thousand Star Array, you should need ten years to reach the ‘advanced’ stage of the [Shadewind Steps].” Snow said. “From now until lunch time, you will continuously practice here at the Thousand Star Array.” “Then what about the third stage, ‘one with the world’?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. Snow looked at Ning and laughed. “That’s on an entirely different level. Once you reach it, you’ll understand.” “How powerful is it? You can at least explain it.” Ning asked. “Alright. If I have to describe it…even ten thousand arrows raining down on me at the same time wouldn’t be able to injure me at all.” Snow looked at her son. “Ten thousand arrows at the same time?” Ning instantly imagined a thick cluster of countless arrows raining down, but none of them able to touch him. This was inconceivable. A human’s body occupied a certain amount of space, after all. If those countless arrows filled the skies, logically speaking, there should be no way to dodge them.” Snow smiled. “Don’t be discouraged. Most of the peak Houtian experts of the various tribes are only able to reach the first, ‘basic’ stage.” “Xiantian lifeforms are usually able to reach the second, ‘advanced’ stage.” “Most Zifu Disciples are able to reach the third stage of ‘one with the world’. But of course, some extremely talented Xiantian lifeforms are able to reach the level of ‘unity with the world’…such as your father!” Snow said. “Father?” Ning was surprised and delighted. “Your father’s footwork has reached the level of ‘one with the world’. And even in swordplay, which is harder to train in than footwork, your father has reached the ‘one with the world’ level.” Snow laughed. “That is why your father is the undisputed number one expert of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. That’s why his prestige awes all of the countless tribes.” Ning’s heart immediately swelled with a heroic feeling. Whatever his father could do, he himself could definitely do, especially since he had the [Nuwa Painting] and the wisdom from his past life! “Continue!” “The ‘advancing’ step!” “The ‘turning’ step!” “The ‘leaping’ step!” Ning’s small, young frame carefully flashed about the Thousand Star Array, occasionally falling down. …. After lunch. After having eaten to his fill and rested for a while, Ning was pulled to the training yards once more by his father. The afternoon spring Sun was dazzlingly beautiful, and its rays were very comfortable. “Father.” Ning looked at his glacier-like father, clad in a blood-red beast fur. His heart was filled with awe. His father had killed even Diremonsters such as Dragonsnakes. In terms of strength and skill, his father had already reached an extremely high level. Even some Xiantian lifeforms had come to ask to be taken as his father’s disciple and learn his sword techniques. His father had nine primary disciples, three of which were Xiantian lifeforms. But his father only taught the nine disciples once every month. But Ning? He would be taught every day! “From today onwards, I will teach you how to use the sword.” Yichuan looked at his son and said in a cold voice, “The sword is not the bow, nor is it like footwork.” “Archery training only requires one to become familiar with it. Once one’s strength increases and one’s vision improves, naturally, one will be able to fire more powerful arrows!” “Although footwork is important, it is still supplemental…to kill an opponent, you still have to use your sword in the end!” “Swords are considered short weapons! They are light and agile, with two edges. Their usage is more precise and profound than that of sabers; whether by slashing, by stabbing, by chopping, by scraping, or by tapping, one can easily kill the opponent. Sometimes, a person who is training incorrectly can even hurt himself. It is the truest weapon of war.” Yichuan looked at his son. Ning could feel his blood boiling, and he was extremely eager. His eyes were shining. “Father, what sort of sword technique will I learn?” “Sword technique? Wait a few more years!” Yichuan said coldly. “Wait a few more years?” Ning was confused. Yichuan said coldly, “The movements of the sword are birthed by your body! If you wish to use the sword well, then first, you must control your body well. First, you must train in boxing. After your body and your arms are extremely agile and you can fully control your strength, then your body will be ready to learn sword techniques!” “But preparing your body isn’t enough.” “You must also prepare your ‘mind’ for learning the sword!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning, listening to this, felt totally confused, as though his head was covered by mist and clouds. “Father, you say that I must prepare my body before I can train with a sword. I can just barely understand that. But I must also prepare my ‘mind’? What does that mean?” “Don’t be impatient.” Yichuan looked at his son. A thick book appeared in his hands out of nowhere. He tossed it towards Ning. “First, closely read through this boxing manual. There are sixteen stances in this boxing technique. It contains the simplest yet most fundamental of methods to allow one’s body to exert strength. Once you have mastered this boxing technique, your entire body will act as you will and you will be able to exert strength with ease.” “The sword is born from your body. If not even your body acts as you wish it to, how can your sword act as you wish it to?” Yichuan looked at his son, worried that his son would bite off more than he could chew. “First, you must calm your mind.” Ning understood the logic that ‘sharpening the knife didn’t slow down the cutting process’. “Yes, father.” Ning said as he lowered his head to begin reading the book. He began to closely review the mysteries of boxing described in the book. The book was quite thick, but actually, it was because it was made from animal leathers, which made every page very thick. After memorizing the profound secrets, he began to train. His father constantly gave him advice and pointed out his mistakes, or even demonstrated himself so as to help Ning understand. Actually, the [Shadewind Steps] also contained some principles on exerting force, but the [Shadewind Steps] were primarily about using force in the legs. Because he had some prior experience now…Ning learned relatively quickly. Two hours later. “Rest a while.” Yichuan looked at his sweaty son. “In the future, you will spend two hours every day training your boxing, unless and until I judge that your body is prepared to train with the sword.” “Preparing your body to train with the sword is just one aspect.” “You must also prepare your ‘mind’ to wield the sword.” Two black metal swords appeared in Yichuan’s hands, and he tossed them to his son. “Take them!” Ning took the two swords. Yichuan pointed to an empty area. Hu. A metallic puppet appeared out of nowhere, wielding a single saber. “This is a puppet.” Yichuan said. “Ki Refining practitioners of the Immortal way are often good at producing these puppets. This one is just a very ordinary puppet, with the power of a master-level Houtian combatant. However, its body is extremely tough.” “Father, what are those red spots on its body?” Ning wondered. The black metal puppet had over ten red dots on its body. The red dots were located between its forehead, on its throat, on its chest, on its arms, hands, back, and some other areas. “Try stabbing at the red dot on its forehead.” Yichuan said. “You have to be fast.” “Yes.” Ning stabbed out fiercely with his right hand. Hua! The tip of the sword pierced forward, but it struck the head, roughly an inch away from the red dot. “But…” Ning was slightly startled. He clearly had aimed at the red dot. He couldn’t help but try stabbing three more times, but the results were always the same, slightly off. “Have you discovered it?” Yichuan said calmly. “Although you want to stab it in the middle of the forehead, when you actually try to do so, you aren’t able to do so accurately. How can you stab accurately? First, you have to have to control your body perfectly. Second, you have to train countless times.” “Every single sword technique can be described as being composed of thirteen specific movements; chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, break, tap, cleave, support, intercept, twist, lift, draw, and sheath.” “Chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, tap, cleave; these are used to attack.” “Support, break, intercept, twist, lift, draw, and sheath; these are used to defend.” Yichuan pointed at the metal puppet. “This puppet isn’t moving at all, and it has nine red dots on its body. Execute the ‘chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, cleave, and tap’ movements against it. I will teach you the secrets to every single movement and how to move in harmony with your attacks. Every single basic movement must be practiced at least ten million times!” “In the future, the puppet will begin to move and chop at you with its own saber techniques. You will then use the ‘support, intercept, twist, lift, draw, break, and sheath’ movements, the seven basic defense movements, to defend yourself. You will train all of these movements ten million times as well.” “Attack!” 131 “Defend!” “After you have become familiar with these two, the puppet will engage in battle against you, and you will use the combined thirteen stances to fight against it.” Yichuan looked at his son. “When the day comes when your thirteen basic stances have become engrained into your mind and your bones, and when you are perfectly accurate, that is when you will have absorbed the essence of the sword into your mind. Only then will your mind be ready to train in the sword.” Ning listened with his breath held. “Prepare your body.” “Prepare your mind.” “Afterwards, you will be able to truly start training in sword techniques.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Sword techniques are very complicated, but they are still formed from these thirteen basic movements. If you aren’t even able to memorize and absorb these thirteen basic movements…how can you possibly have any achievements in training with the sword?” “After you have truly become familiar with the sword techniques I will pass down to you, then you can be considered to have reached the first, ‘basic’ level of wielding a sword.” “The sword has three levels as well.” “The basic level, the advanced level, and the ‘one with the world’ level!” “The ‘advanced level’ for footwork requires precise control over the body. But the ‘advanced level’ for the sword requires one to have precise control over both the body and the sword, and then merge them into one! It is ten times harder!” “Becoming ‘one with the world’? That’s even farther off.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Ji Ning, do you now understand the path you must walk?” “Yes.” Ning nodded heavily. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] training technique would give him a Fiendgod’s body and inconceivable strength. But the training in footwork and swordplay would decide…how much of that strength he would be able to use! “Father, how long would I need to train before I can reach the level of ‘one with the sword’?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “Hard to say.” Yichuan shook his head. “In the past, I had spent six years mastering the basics, then six more before becoming ‘one with the sword’. You can say that it took me twelve years!” “Twelve years?” Ning held his breath. His father, despite being young, had become the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Someone as peerless of a talent had him had needed twelve years. Many ordinary people…would spend their lives training without being able to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Take things one stable step at a time.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Let’s begin. Let me first teach you the ‘pierce’ movement of the thirteen basic movements!” ……. Under his father’s guidance, Ning’s posture was very correct as he pierced repeatedly! Chopped repeatedly! Scraped repeatedly! Tapped repeatedly! This was very boring. And very tiring. Fortunately, Ning had astonishing regenerating capabilities. And given his experience in being tormented by illness in his past life…he was a person who would not easily give up. After training attacking movements for two hours, he began to train defending movements for another two hours. The metal puppet wouldn’t get tired, delivering endless hacking blows with the saber for Ning to defend against. “Yichuan.” Snow stood from afar, watching her son train hard. Yichuan walked to his wife’s side as well, and both of them watched that distant metal puppet battle against their son. “Snow. I didn’t expect this. I really didn’t expect…that our son would have such strong willpower. I had even prepared for him to complain about being tired, and prepared to force him to continue training. I didn’t expect that I don’t need to force him at all!” “When he was training his footwork in the morning…” Snow felt sorry for her child. “Even though he said he was tired, all he did was talk. He didn’t stop a single time. Six hours in the morning, six hours in the afternoon…twelve hours of the day spent training. Ning is still very young…” “I still remember when I was young.” Yichuan said softly. “At that time, I was forced by my father to train. I felt too tired and that I was at the point of collapse, but whenever I gave up, my father would use his whip to beat me. I cried each time I drew my sword or used it to pierce…that continued until I turned ten, and my father was killed by a Diremonster from Eastlake Mountain. The status of my mother and I 133 dropped by a thousand fathoms. Seeing how cold everyone had become towards us and then my mother die of illness…I finally woke up. I no longer said I was tired, or that I was hurting. Every day, I focused on my training.” Someone who had never trained before would never know how exhausting training was. Tiring to the body. Tiring to the mind. Someone who wasn’t sufficiently mentally resolved or who had insufficient desire wouldn’t be able to persevere. “I had my doubts about our son’s future accomplishments.” Yichuan said softly. “Although his aptitude for the Fiendgod Body Refining is very high, if he doesn’t work hard, he still wouldn’t accomplish much…but now, I believe that my son will definitely become one of the true experts of this world. He definitely will!” Hearing her husband’s words, Snow stared at her son who was still training in the distance. She gently nodded. “I believe it too!” …….. Watching himself grow stronger, even stronger than those ‘supermen’ in the movies, was an absolutely wonderful feeling! A year later. Hua! Blindfish, standing far away, threw four stones up into the air. The slightly taller Ning nocked his bow while grabbing four arrows, holding them tightly between his five fingers. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Four arrows flashed out simultaneously, leaving behind four trails of air in the sky, hitting all four of the rocks that had been thrown up. The four rocks all shattered into tiny pieces which fell to the ground. “Good.” Blindfish walked over, laughing loudly like the thunder. “Master Blindfish.” Ning put away the bow. “You’ve already mastered the mental segment. You’ve even quickly mastered my pride and my joy, the ‘Quadshot’ skill.” Blindfish praised as he nodded. “I have nothing left to teach you when it comes to archery. Next, you will have to just continuously train and build up experience. As your strength grows, you will be able to fire more powerful arrows. This training courtyard is now too small for you. You need to go to a larger, more expansive place and shoot arrows from a distance of one, two, or even three or 134 four kilometers! The farther away you are shooting from, the more you will have to factor in the wind and the environment.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. Archery required one to be extremely precise. One needed to consider the strength of the pull, the trajectory of the arrow, and also the downward pull of gravity. At the same time, one had to factor in the wind speed! Although it was complicated, as long as one could sense the direction and strength of the wind, one would be able to shoot without even needing to aim. This was because the question of from what angle to fire from and how to fire would have already been built into one’s bones from countless repetitive training exercises. At least, to the current Ning…within a range of five hundred meters, not even a fly could escape his arrows! But this was far from being enough! As his strength grew, his arrows would be more powerful as well. Some Xiantian lifeform’s arrows would fly several kilometers and still have tremendous force! The greater the distance, the more difficult it would be to shoot accurately as well…it required even more training and experience. “Starting tomorrow, I won’t come here anymore. Young master, you are the most talented student I have ever taught.” Blindfish looked at Ning. “Don’t waste your talent. In the future, you will definitely become the most terrifying godly archer in the Swallow Mountain area.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the training courtyard, a youth clad in beast fur was wielding a black blunt sword. He stood there, and around him there were nine tall and powerful warriors. These valiant warriors all wore armor and wielding long spears, swords, and sabers, and other weapons in their hands. But none of the weapons had been edged or sharpened. Six years. Ning, who had trained for six years, was now ten years old. But because in this life, he had been training in accordance with the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he had already reached a height of 1.6 meters tall, just ten centimeters shorter than he had been in his previous life. His appearance was almost identical to how he had looked in his previous life. Perhaps this was what the saying, ‘a person’s appearance is birthed by their mind’. If one had to find a difference…then the difference was, in his previous life, his face was always sickly pale, while in this life, it was filled with boundless life and energy. “Same rule as always.” Ning stared at the people around him, his gaze even more terrifying than that of monsters. “As long as any of you can strike me, each person will be awarded a beasthead of gold!” “Grr!” “Careful, young master!” “Haha, a beasthead of gold. Brothers, let’s let the young master see how powerful we are.” These brave warriors began to roar. They were the mightiest warriors within the armies of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture; the Ninefang Warriors! For someone to be awarded the title of Ninefang Warrior required their internal energy to have reached the limits of the Houtian level, and also be warriors with significant battle experience. A beasthead of gold meant ten pounds of gold. Gold coins were used as a form of currency in the countless tribes, and ten pounds of gold, to these powerful warriors, was an extremely attractive offer. But they didn’t dare to be incautious, because Ning’s power had spread across the army long ago. He had often sparred in the army with some of the elite soldiers…and thus, Ning’s ability had risen rapidly, as these warriors all knew. Even if nine of the most powerful warriors joined forces against him…defeating Ning would still be a hard task. However, it was still possible. The blunt black sword in hand, Ning stared quietly at the surrounding people. Actually, ever since he had learned the reputedly most complicated of sword techniques [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] and mastered it to the point where his father nodded in satisfaction, sparring with 136 the metal puppet had become meaningless. Thus, he was permitted to begin sparring with the large number of soldiers and warriors in their army. While sparring, they always used blunt weapons. At the same time, his father had given him a strict order: “When sparring with others, you are only allowed to use a single sword! In addition, you are only permitted to use a tenth of your real strength! Only when sparring with your mother and I are you allowed to use the twin swords. Remember, the twin swords are your secret weapon. You are only permitted to use it when you really intend to kill your opponent.” Thus… Although Ning’s fame had become widespread across the army and he had been acknowledged as a rare talent, that was just the tip of the iceberg. But of course, when engaging in battle, Ning used all of his available skill in the ‘single sword techniques’ and in the ‘footwork’ techniques. …. The nine warriors surrounded Ning, walking in a circle around him while staring at him as though staring at their prey. Ning just stood there, as unmoving as a mountain. “Shua!” One of the nine soldiers surrounding him suddenly charged forward. The bald soldier was wielding a longspear in his hands, and struck out with it like a viper, instantly arriving next to Ning. Faced with this fierce spear, Ning’s body flickered and he drew near the bald warrior’s body, causing the spear to miss its mark. Spears were weakest against close quarters combat! “Chi!” The blunt sword in Ning’s hand sliced out. As the sword flashed towards him, the bald warrior hurriedly used his feet to kick against his longspear, sending it sweeping towards Ning as he himself rolled back into the array of soldiers surrounding Ning. “Wow, that was dangerous. I almost got ended in one exchange. Brothers, be careful.” The bald warrior quickly called out as he returned to the others. Ning had already stepped on top of that longspear, staring at the people around him. “It is better if you come all at once. Otherwise, you’ll have no chance.” “Let’s go.” “Let’s do it.” 137 The nine warriors, sensing the disparity in power, didn’t launch any more probing attacks. They immediately charged forward at full strength. The wind howled. Sabers flashed. The shadow of sword agilely danced about. Spears hissed through the air like dragons. Sticks smashed down like ferocious tigers. Attacks came from every direction towards Ning, while Ning just stood there, just occasionally taking a step back or turning. These seemingly minute movements resulted in many of the warriors’ attacks missing. The clanging sounds of weapons bashing against each other could be heard like thunderclaps. Clearly, these blows carried great force. Occasionally, the sound was just a whisper-soft snick. “Ninefang Warriors really live up to their name. These nine have really good teamwork. If it was just five or six of them…I would be able to beat them in an instant. But the nine working together have put me at a complete disadvantage.” Ning found it very difficult to deal with the storm of attacks from these nine warriors. After all, he only had one sword. Under this sort of pressure, he was forced to use his sword techniques and his footwork techniques to their utmost. “Hu!” “Hu!” The sword howled. Ning suddenly felt intoxicated. Right at this moment, his body and his sword seemed to be in perfect harmony, and he seemed to even somehow feel the ‘body’ of the sword itself, and even the wind which blew past the sword at high speed. “Chi!” The blunt black sword gently chopped against a cavalry saber. It trembled, but then with a twist, it pushed the enemy’s blade to the side and out of the enemy’s control. And then, the tip of the sword went forward, stabbing into the warrior’s chest. The warrior felt the pressure against his chest, and he immediately retreated two steps, then sat down. “Hu.” The blunt black sword slashed through a curved pattern in the air, easily avoiding the opponent’s blocking longspear, then slapping with the flat against the bald warrior’s face. With a bang, one of the man’s tooth went flying and was knocked away. Time seemed to past as slowly as a leaf falling down in the autumn wind. Ning’s sword had suddenly become extremely nimble, and the movements of his sword were careful and minute, able to change in a flash. In a life and death battle…a momentary advantage was enough to change the outcome of a battle into a victory. Thus, although Ning had previously found it very hard to resist those nine warriors, he now, in the blink of an eye, was able to knock them all down. “Congratulations, young master.” “Congratulations, young master, on your swordplay reaching the ‘advanced’ stage, ‘one with the sword’.” The warriors were both shocked and excited. All of them congratulated him. A youth who was merely ten years old was able to reach the ‘advanced’ stage of swordplay, and become ‘one with the sword’. This was more incredible than even the accomplishments of his father, the ‘Raindrop Sword’, Ji Yichuan. “Hahaha…” Ning was extremely excited as well. Six years. Six years of constantly training with the sword. Every day, aside from the time he spent training his archery skills outside the city at dawn, he spent virtually all of his time training with the sword. Sometimes he would train with his father, while sometimes he would train with his father’s disciples. Sometimes, he would spar against the army soldiers. The sword had long ago imprinted itself into his bones. After training with the sword for ten million times, his accuracy with the sword had reached a terrifying level a long time ago. And, with his ability to split his mind, his sword techniques became all the more elusive and unpredictable. He had the body of a Fiendgod, and in terms of Ki Refining, he had already reached the peak of the Houtian stage in internal energy. This caused his sword attacks to be unstoppable. And finally, today! All of these accumulated experiences had formed a cohesive whole, and he entered the ‘advanced’ stage of swordplay, ‘one with the sword’! “Everyone, today you have helped me to make a breakthrough. Although I don’t have much, I am giving each of you a beasthead of gold. Don’t try to refuse.” Ning laughed loudly. The nine warriors exchanged glances, then said in unison, “Thank you, young master!” If they had simply lost, they wouldn’t have accepted it. After all, these Ninefang Warriors had their own pride and dignity. But for young master Ning to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level was a major, joyous occasion. Such a joyous occasion…it was only fair and proper that they, too, receive some gifts. “Nine of them.” The distant Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, his two maids, hurriedly ran over with stone platters. Atop the stone platters were nine beastheads of gold. They were all the highest quality gold! The nine warriors 139 laughed as they accepted it, while at the same time, feeling moved…young master Ning truly was powerful. But they had all seen with their own eyes how hard Ning had worked over these years. “Congratulations, young master. Felicitations, young master.” After the nine warriors left, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf allowed their faces to be covered with joy and celebration. Six years had passed, and the two maids were now twenty years old. This was the most bewitching age for a woman. Maids such as these would usually be their master’s women, which is why they had long ago in their hearts decided to consider Ning as their world, as their god. To see their young master become so powerful, they naturally were extremely happy. “Hahaha…” Ning laughed as well. Anyone would be excited. After all, he had trained bitterly since he was young. How could he not be excited upon succeeding? Only after training with the sword for two years had his father decided that his ‘body’ and his ‘mind’ were prepared to learn sword techniques. Only then had he been taught the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] technique. After another year, when he mastered the first level, his father permitted him to spar with others. After three more years, culminating in this day today, he had finally reached the second level, the ‘advanced’ level, becoming ‘one with the sword’. “Spring Grass, Autumn Leaf, come with me.” Ning called out. What he wanted to do the most right now was to go see his parents. …. Deep in the mountain ranges, there was a series of furious howls. There was a large number of black armored riders, and these armored riders all had extremely thick armor, all covered with spikes as well. Their mounts were tall and powerful furry beasts with a single horn. These furry beasts had two curved, fierce looking fangs which flashed with cold light. Their four hooves were thick and sturdy. When they ran, the earth itself shook. The hundred black armored riders all gave off the aura of powerful experts. “Huh?” The black armored riders all turned to stare at a place nearby. They saw a distant mountain quickly begin to turn red, and then begin to transform into scorching hot lava. A large amount of lava began to pour out from somewhere in the mountain, and faintly, a human figure could be seen walking on top of the lava, his entire body covered with flames. He walked straight towards them. Hu. With a single step, he leaped to the ground. He was bringing with him a ferocious scaled beast that was blackish-brown in color. Behind him, there was also a four-hooved beast that was walking as well. Quickly, the human figure flew out from the middle of the lava, revealing his face…it was a face belonging to an old man, with fiery red hair and a small scarlet snake hanging from his ear. The four-hooved beast also walked to the viper elder’s side, seeming extremely obedient. “Master.” The hundred black armored riders called out respectfully. The viper elder laughed loudly. “We came hunting, but I didn’t expect that we would run into an Armored Wyrm. My luck isn’t bad. This Armored Wyrm is very close to becoming a Xiantian lifeform. When I get home, I need to spend some time raising it.” “Master, master!” A voice suddenly rang out from the skies. Ji Lee raised his head. In mid-air, an enormous flying beast with blue feathered wings could be seen, with a man wearing an exquisite beast pelt seated atop it. After the flying beast landed at high speed, the rider immediately jumped off and landed on the ground, then came to one knee. “Master, there’s news from the Prefecture.” “Speak.” Lee frowned. “Yichuan’s son, Ning, has entered the ‘one with the sword’ stage today.” The man said respectfully. Lee stared at him, the fire surrounding his body blazing hotter. He was so angry that his entire body began to shake. Suddenly, he smashed that Armored Wyrm he had captured into the distant mountain cliff. The heavy monstrous beast, at least ten thousand pounds in weight, turned into a blur. With a bang, it smashed against the distant mountain cliff, and on it appeared an enormous crevice which was now surrounded by hundred-meter long cracks. The Armored Wyrm lay there in the crevice, blood pouring from its head, and its scales shattered. It had been smashed to death. “Return to the West Prefecture City!” Lee ground his teeth for a long time before finally shouting out this order. “Yes.” The hundred black armored riders said in unison. Although they felt that throwing away the corpse of the Armored Wyrm was a huge waste, their master, Ji Lee, was currently in a royal rage. Naturally, no one dared to contradict him. Rumble rumble. Lee, riding his four-hooved monstrous beast, was followed by his hundred black armored riders. They left the deep, mysterious mountain forest and quickly disappeared, only leaving behind that Armored Wyrm in that crevice in the mountainside, its blood still dripping down the cliff. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. With a sinister look on his face, Lee returned to his estate. Behind him was the four-hooved beast. The two entered his estate, and those servants and house guards all knelt down or lowered their heads when seeing him. None of them dared to even breathe too loudly. They could all tell that their master, Lee, was in an extremely foul mood. Someone who upset him might be slapped to death. “Father.” A sound from afar, and a middle-aged man clad in beast fur with dozens of braids in his hair came out. Lee glanced at him. The person was his most competent son, and also one who had become a Xiantian lifeform; Ji Jadewich. Frowning, he said, “Jadewich, is this true? I just went out hunting, and shortly afterwards, I received news that Yichuan’s little animal has reached the ‘advanced’ stage of swordplay, ‘one with the sword’?” “It is, father.” Jadewich shook his head and sighed. “Today, Ji Ning and nine Ninefang Warriors were sparring. He made a breakthrough in swordplay while sparring. There’s no doubt about this at all.” “Argh!” Lee let out an angry sound. “The Heavens have set themselves against me, Ji Lee. My elder brother, Ji Young, was inferior to me, but due to my arrogance, I allowed him to seize the position of Prefecture Lord. He produced an outstanding descendant, Ji Yichuan, making his lineage even more stable. But now, an even more outstanding Ji Ning has been produced, who in six years managed to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level!” “Reaching the ‘one with the sword’ level in just six years. Those three geniuses we selected from those countless tribes are far inferior to him by comparison.” Jadewich shook his head as well. For the sake of blocking Ning’s progression, they had specially selected three outstandingly talented children near Ning’s age, and began to teach them from a young age. But they were still inferior to Ning. “Just a bit off. If Grizzly was just three years younger…” Jadewich sighed. “Grizzly?” Lee was startled. Grizzly was his foster son. In the past, when he had led the army to punish one of the larger tribes for a transgression, he had encountered a Diremonster, a ‘Golden Grizzly Bear’. After a vicious, terrifying battle, the Golden Grizzly Bear had finally fled in defeat. Lee then raided the Golden Grizzly Bear’s lair, and found inside the lair an infant child. The infant wasn’t a year old, but was born with tremendous strength…and was very much to Lee’s liking. He had said, “Kid, you were snatched by a Golden Grizzly Bear but weren’t killed. Instead, it 143 raised you? Hahaha…from today onwards, you will be the adopted son of myself, Ji Lee. I’ll name you…Grizzly!” It was common for someone to raise an adopted son who possessed extraordinary abilities. When Grizzly was brought back home, it was determined that he was one year old. He was now thirteen years old. Lee treated and raised Grizzly as a terrifying monstrous beast, having him engage beasts in battle since he was an infant, and sometimes even with monstrous beasts. Naturally, he also taught Grizzly the most suitable training methods… In the middle of all that combat, last year, Grizzly had reached the stage of ‘one with the saber’. “The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is held every four years. There will be one this year.” Jadewich narrowed his eyes. “Four years from now, there will be another one. In another four years…Grizzly will be seventeen. Only those sixteen and younger can participate in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. Four years from now, Grizzly won’t even be able to participate, much less stop Ning!” “The only hope we have right now is that the three little brats I took in will be able to become a Xiantian lifeform within these next four years.” Lee muttered. “Right.” Jadewich nodded. “I personally selected the three of them out of all of the tribes as the most suited for Ki Refining. They’ve reached the peak of the Houtian level long ago. If a single one of them can advance to the Xiantian level, then our victory is assured.” Lee nodded as well. “A Xiantian Ki Refiner is capable of using magical treasures and would definitely win. Only, it is simply too hard to become a Xiantian lifeform…” “All we can do is wait and see what Fate has to offer.” Jadewich said softly. Lee nodded lightly. Although they were struggling over the Prefecture Lord position, Ji Lee and Ji Jadewich never even thought about killing Ji Ning. In this vast world, for a clan to be able to survive…they had to be unified, and fratricide was definitely forbidden! In addition, Ning had already been selected as a potential heir. If someone dared to try and use a wicked method to kill Ji Ning, most likely everyone in the Five Prefectures of the Ji Clan would join forces to punish the murderer! …… The thick, large candle lit up the hall. Yichuan was seated in the primary seat, while Snow and Ning sat close to him. The three of them were eating the meal in front of them on the table. “Yichuan.” Snow looked at her son, his hands and mouth greasy from the meat he was eating. Her eyes were filled with pride. “Our son Ning mastered the basics in three years, and in three more years became ‘one with the sword’! It seems it will be easy for him to gain the position of Prefecture Lord.” Holding a ramshorn goblet, Yichuan nodded lightly. “When Ning sparred with the others, he only used his internal force. He didn’t use any of the power of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining method. And in addition, when sparring with outsiders, Ning has only used a single sword.” Others didn’t know how powerful Ning was, but Yichuan and his wife knew exactly how capable their son was. Seizing the golden sword? As easy as picking something out of his pocket! “Ning, at his current level of power, is already easily capable of seizing the golden sword. In four more years, even Xiantian lifeforms won’t be able to stop him.” Yichuan poured himself another cup of wine. Ning continued to simply sit there, eating and drinking prodigious amounts of food. Because he trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he possessed the appetite of a Fiendgod as well. He could easily eat dozens of pounds of the meat of monstrous beasts in every meal. He had reached the third level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] two years ago. He was at a bottleneck now, but with one more step, he would reach the fourth level! The fourth level would let him become a Xiantian lifeform, and one which belonged to the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. His battle ability would far outstrip that of normal Xiantian lifeforms by a hundred times or a thousand times. “Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.” Ning drank large mouthfuls of hot water, pouring it all down his mouth, then rubbed his stomach as he put it down. “That feels good.” “Ning.” Snow looked at her son with a laugh. “Mother.” Ning was very obedient. He could sense that his father cherished him but also valued the clan, while his mother had placed virtually all of her hopes and concerns in him. In her mother’s eyes, perhaps even the rise and fall of the entire Ji clan wasn’t nearly as important as her son. Snow looked at her son. “When your father taught you the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons], it was the most complicated level of sword techniques you could learn, and it was the most suitable set of sword techniques for you to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level. However, now that you have already reached that level, the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] technique is no longer of much use to you.” 145 “Right.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Now, Ning! When I had you prepare your ‘body’ and your ‘mind’, I needed you to make all of your attacks as fast as lightning and incomparably accurate. I needed you to imprint those things in your bones. Only then did I teach you the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons], and the purpose of that was…to let you go from something simple to complicated!” “The path of sword training first goes from simple to complicated, and then from complicated back to simple. Only then can one be considered to have mastered the sword.” Yichuan looked at his son. “You have become ‘one with the sword’, and you can wield it as easily as your own hands. You can be considered to have gone from complicated back to simple.” Ning nodded. He understood this logic. If he was so stupid as to just constantly use those thirteen basic stances, he could still be considered an expert swordsman, but without having truly experienced ‘going from simple to complicated, then from complicated to simple’, it would be very hard for one to reach the ‘one with the sword’ level. “Next, you will need to reach the level of being ‘one with the world’.” Yichuan sighed. “This step is an extremely hard step.” “One with the world…” Ning was filled with anticipation. “The previous sword techniques you’ve learned are now useless to you.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Your current level is enough to qualify you to learn the highest level swordplay of the Ji clan.” Ning’s eyes lit up. The highest level swordplay of the Ji clan? “Our Ji clan is famous because of our swordplay.” Yichuan sighed with emotion. “In turn, the city of the Ji clan of the Main Prefecture, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’, was named because the ancestors of the Ji clan rose to fame due to the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], which they used to establish themselves here.” “After thousands of years, the Ji clan now has five highest level sword arts. They are the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], [Thunderflame Sword], [Illusion Sutra], [Raindrop Sutra], and the [Polaris Secret Manual]. Every single technique is extremely profound and is beyond what the ‘one with the sword’ level is capable of. If you can make accomplishments in any of them, you will find that their power is boundless.” Yichuan looked at his son. “I trained in the [Raindrop Sutra]. Most people, even after reaching the ‘one with the sword’ level, is at most able to select a single one of the arts to train in. This is because dividing the mind is simply too difficult. But Ning, since you are able to divide your mind in two, you would be able to choose two arts to train in.” Hu! In Yichuan’s hand, five books suddenly appeared. He casually tossed them out, and they flew straight over, landing in a neat stack on a nearby table, not touching any of the cups or plates. “The highest level swordplay?” Ning looked at the five books. He understood that these were just abridged versions. Only after he made his choice would he receive the ‘full versions’. “Make your choice.” Yichuan looked at his son and said solemnly, “Once you have chosen, your choice will be recorded for the Ji clan of the Five Prefectures to review! If it isn’t recorded down, you will be considered to have learned in secret. Anyone who does that will be exterminated by the combined forces of the Five Prefectures.” “Ah!” Ji Ning understood this, but he still couldn’t help but feel surprised. “Then why is it that there was no such restriction on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique that I learned?” “Although the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique is the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, it is extremely widespread. Virtually all of the tribes on the level of the Ji clan possesses a copy. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if our copy is leaked.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Most Ki Refining methods and Fiendgod Body Refining methods aren’t very valuable. Only the ultimate techniques of each clan are tightly restricted, like these five sword techniques here. In the area around Swallow Mountain, four of these techniques are possessed only by our Ji clan. Only the [Polaris Secret Manual] is also in the possession of another entity, the Blackflame Sect.” Ning nodded. He knew that in the area around Swallow Mountain, aside from the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty that were stationed here, there were in total, five other hegemonic powers. The Ji clan was also one of them. These six hegemons engaged in constant battle, but none of them dared to offend the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty! “Right.” Ning immediately lowered his head and began to read, flipping through these five top-class sword techniques. If a person was at the ‘one with the sword’ level and then also possessed this sort of top-class sword technique, his power would definitely multiply. “Raindrop Sutra…” This was the first one Ning looked at. This was the top-class technique which had made his father famous. His father’s nickname, after all, was the ‘Raindrop Sword’! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.[Raindrop Sutra]. The principle behind it was that of the saying, ‘dripping water can eventually tunnel through a rock’. Its attacks were soft yet inexhaustible, seemingly as endless as the raindrops falling from the skies during a rainstorm, making the enemy find it difficult to even dodge. In turn, its defenses were utterly airtight…and at the same time, when tens of millions of raindrops converged on one point, it could form a terrifyingly explosive force. Even ordinary drops of water could eventually tunnel through a rock; the sword that had been transformed into ‘raindrops’ would naturally contain an unshakable, unyielding power. “The [Raindrop Sutra] truly is profound and wondrous.” Ning nodded as he read it, then picked up the second book, [Polaris Secret Manual]. The [Polaris Secret Manual] was part of the legendary [Polaris Sword Manual]. It was divided into seven different sword stances, known as Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid. These seven major sword stances all contained the power of the stars. They could be as ferocious and savage as the Voracious Alkaid Wolf Sword, or the extremely soft and extremely sinister Melodious Megrez Sword… The sword technique was unfathomably mysterious, and was very hard to defend against. “What a good sword technique.” Ning sighed in amazement as he read, before picking up the other three books. [Thunderflame Sword]. This was something which the ancestors of the Ji clan, when roving and training themselves elsewhere in the world, had been lucky enough to find. They had found a half-burned remnant of a book, and the words in it were not very clear. Only two words on the title could be seen: Thunderflame! In addition, they were only able to reclaim three complete sword stances from the book. All of the stances were used to attack. When the stances were used, it was as though it contained the power of heavenly thunder and hellish flames. There was no question that in terms of attack power, it was the undisputed champion amongst the sword techniques of the Ji clan! For just three stances to allow it to be ranked amongst the Five Major Sword Techniques of the Ji clan, one could imagine how that unnamed complete sword technique…definitely outstripped the other four sword techniques vastly. However, although its strengths were apparent, its weaknesses were also apparent. This was because these vicious stances…were only three in number. Thus, they didn’t perfectly link to each other. In addition, all three stances were purely offensive, without any defensive stances. How could experts, when engaged in battle, have no defensive stances? Thus, very few people would choose to train in this sword technique. “I really want to see what the complete Thunderflame Sword looks like.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh. “If we had a complete copy,” the nearby Yichuan said, “Then it would be, without question, the number one Immortal technique in Swallow Mountain.” Ning nodded, then picked up the fourth book. [Illusion Sutra]. Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a sword technique, because once one truly understood the meaning of the word ‘Illusion’, one could execute an ‘Illusion Saber’ technique, or an ‘Illusion Spear’ technique, or an ‘Illusion Staff’ technique…this was an insidious and powerful attacking technique that allowed one to hide one’s true abilities and actions. Opponents often would die before even knowing what happened. This technique was sinister to the extreme. “This isn’t suited to my temperament.” The first technique Ning discarded was the [Illusion Sutra]. Picking something suited to a person was very important. A technique that was opposite of one’s natural instincts, no matter how profound…would be incredibly difficult to train. Naturally, Ning immediately discarded it. “Hrm, the last one was originally the greatest strength of the Ji clan.” Ning began to flip through the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] was praised as the most complicated of the five sword techniques, far more complicated than the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] which Ning had previously learned. But although it was complicated, once one truly mastered it, the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] could be simplified into three major stances. The ‘One Sword, Ten Thousand Shadows’ stance, the ‘Ten Thousand Swords Become One’, and the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’. …… Ning closed his eyes, pondering. In terms of being the most awe-inspiring and most complicated, or perhaps even the simplest, it would be the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. In terms of being the most insidious and difficult to guard against, it would be the [Illusion Sutra]. In terms of being the most orthodox, it would be the [Polaris Secret Manual]. In terms of having the greatest defense, it would be the [Raindrop Sutra]. In terms of the most powerful attack and the deepest, most profound principles, it would be the [Thunderflame Sword]. “First of all, the [Illusion Sutra] can be excluded. It doesn’t suit my temperament!” Ning pondered. “The [Polaris Secret Manual] is part of the [Polaris Sword Manual]. In terms of attack, it isn’t very strong. In defense, it isn’t either. It isn’t very exquisite either…it’s comparatively average, but it isn’t weak in any aspect either. When fighting against experts, one must have some sort of advantage! The [Polaris Secret Manual] can be excluded as well.” “Only three left. The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], [Raindrop Sutra], and [Thunderflame Sword].” “The [Raindrop Sutra] is a must!” Ning thought to himself. The Raindrop Sutra was like a curtain of endless raindrops. It was the most defensive technique amongst the five major sword techniques. In a battle, defensive abilities were even more important than attacking abilities! In his past life, Ning had seen many martial arts competitions. All of the champions were experts at dodging and defense. Even in soccer and basketball, there was the saying that ‘defense is king’. Although attacks were pretty to look at…it was defense which truly gave the best chances at victory. The venue was different, but the logic was the same! In life and death battles, defense was also important. When encountering an expert more powerful than one’s self, one might reach the point of only being able to defend and not attack. If one’s defense was strong, then perhaps one might still live. But once those attack-focused people encountered those who were even stronger than them, once their attacks were not able to harm the opponent, they were finished. “Defense is the same thing as preserving my life. First, I have to preserve my life; only then can I take the lives of others. In addition, this is the technique which my father used to become famous. With him personally instructing me, I will improve quickly. The [Raindrop Sutra] is a must.” Ning carefully continued to consider. “As for the [Thunderflame Sword] and the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]…” “Alright, [Thunderflame Sword] it is!” Ning quickly made his decision. If he was like an ordinary person who could only use a single sword technique, Ning probably would’ve made a choice between the [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. However, since he used twin swords, he already had the [Raindrop Sutra] for defense. Thus, for the second one, he chose the most offensively powerful [Thunderflame Sword]. The [Thunderflame Sword] had, as its flaw, no defensive techniques, but as a twin-sword wielder, that wasn’t a flaw at all. He had already chosen the [Raindrop Sutra] for his defense, and thus what he now truly needed was a powerful killing technique. “The [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword].” Ning made up his mind. “The [Raindrop Sutra] is excellent at defense, while the [Thunderflame Sword], despite only having three strokes, has three incomparably powerful killer moves.” “In addition, once my [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] reaches the Xiantian level, my Divine Sun Tattoo and Divine Moon Tattoo will allow me to control fire and water. Water is very suited to the [Raindrop Sutra] while fire is very suited to the [Thunderflame Sword]. I trust they will be of great help to my swordplay.” “In defending, my defense must be so tight that not even a drop of water can get through!” “In attacking, my attacks must be as explosively powerful as a fiery volcano!” “I have twin swords. One for defense, one for offense. Or perhaps I can use both for defense. Or both for attack. I’ll do as I please!” Ning rapidly began to evaluate his future possibilities in battle, and he saw the path with crystal clarity. He knew…only once one had a full understanding as to how one would develop and progress would one be able to avoid taking a wrong path. This would help one develop faster! In warfare, strategies were of greater importance than tactics. In a person’s growth, there was a saying that planning counted for more than effort. If one knew the right way one needed to advance towards, even if one didn’t make huge advances every day, after ten or twenty years, one would still reach a high level. But if one didn’t have a clear objective, and just blindly worked hard, a person might just be running in-place without improving, or perhaps even going backwards! …. His careful examination of the books had taken two hours. That huge candle was already half used up. Yichuan and Snow just waited there quietly, occasionally exchanging a few words. “Father, Mother.” Ning suddenly spoke. “Hrm?” Yichuan and Snow both turned to look at him. Yichuan spoke. “You’ve chosen?” Ning nodded. “Ning, son, what have you chosen? One or two?” Snow asked. “I’ve chosen two.” Ning held out the two books. “One is the [Raindrop Sutra]. The other is the [Thunderflame Sword].” “[Raindrop Sutra]? [Thunderflame Sword]?” Yichuan nodded slightly. As the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, despite not having gained any merits in battle after his son was being born, his reputation had only grown. This was because no one knew how powerful Yichuan had become…but no one could dispute that in even ten years, Yichuan had already become the number one expert of the West Prefecture. His judgment was therefore exceptional. “Fine.” Yichuan nodded. “I’d like to hear your advice, Father.” Ning hurriedly said. “No rush.” Yichuan shook his head. “I have some thoughts on the [Raindrop Sutra], but you’ve never trained it in before. Thus, even if I explained my thoughts to you, you wouldn’t be able to comprehend them. You have to first train hard, and even engage in life-and-death battles, before I can successfully guide you.” “Tomorrow at dawn, I will give you the full copies of the [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword]. At that time, you will perform them in front of me once. As long as you can get the postures and movements right, that will be enough.” Yichuan nodded. “Three days later, you will begin to engage in real battles. Those sparring matches you usually do are too simple and soft. You need to fight in real lifeand-death battles.” Ning was puzzled. “Father, haven’t I already engaged in life-and-death battles?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “In the past, when you acknowledged that my skill had reached the first level in sword training, the basic level, didn’t you have me fight against and kill some prisoners who had been sentenced to death?” He still remembered the first time he had killed someone. At that time, his entire body had been trembling, uncontrollably so. Although he rationally knew that he shouldn’t be afraid, he still couldn’t help but shake. According to what his father had said…aside from a very few people who lived for slaughter, this was the normal reaction of most people the first time they killed someone. After having killed dozens of people sentenced to death row, he had grown calmer. “That wasn’t a battle. That was just training your courage.” Yichuan shook his head. “Fighting against convicts? All of them were weaker than you. How can that be called a life-and-death battle? Three days from now…I will arrange for you to engage in a true battle with monstrous beasts, powerful ones that have already reached mastery in the Houtian level.” “Monsters?” Ning’s face changed. “Those captured monsters will turn insane and ferocious for food and for the chance to live. In addition, they won’t show you any mercy at all.” Yichuan looked at his son. “In front of a massive cage, you will 152 fight against the monstrous beasts, one on one. This is the battle which all important descendants of the Ji clan must go through; the ‘Cage Battle’. Over half of these important descendants will die in that cage. Half? Ning was briefly shocked, but then grew calm again. This was because he knew that the women and the slaves in the various tribes were highly fertile, but the total population here had never changed. Why? Because the savage environment had caused the tribes to need to struggle against the heavens, against the earth, against the Diremonsters hidden within the mountains and valleys, and even against other tribes. Only a few would be able to survive! Even though he was born into the Ji clan, he still needed to face tough, relentless training. Only the elite would survive. It was precisely because all the clan members of the Ji clan were so strong that the Ji clan was famous and had become a local hegemon! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Three days later, at dawn, Ning and his father came to Dragon Castle. Dragon Castle was three hundred meters wide, a thousand meters long, and was divided into two parts; the Cage, and the tunnels for the monstrous beasts. The Cage was where the life-and-death battles would be carried out, while the beast tunnels were where the monstrous beasts were imprisoned. Because Dragon Castle held many monstrous beasts inside, it was extremely dangerous, which is why it had been built outside of the city. ….. Dragon Castle. Within the Cage. Ning entered the Cage and looked around. This was an empty area that was two or three hundred meters in diameter. The four walls were all made from some sort of black metal, and up above him was black metallic chains that formed a metal web, preventing anyone from fleeing. “This place is completely sealed.” Yichuan, who faintly emanated a cold aura, said, “The walls are formed with blackwater iron. Although blackwater iron isn’t a particularly precious material, most early stage Xiantian will find it very difficult to damage such a thick blackwater iron wall. As for the thick chains above, those are also made from blackwater iron. Given your strength…if you are to use the power within the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and use your full strength, you should be able to break apart the chains. But a web like this formed from many chains…you will probably need the span of ten breaths before you are able to break enough chains to escape.” Ning nodded. “Look.” Yichuan pointed towards the air above the net of chains. There was a viewing platform beyond it. “Your mother and I, as well as your Uncle White, will be there watching you.” Yichuan said coldly. “Be careful.” Snow encouraged her son. “Roar!” The snow white dog also looked at Ning, his eyes filled with encouragement and anticipation. This snow white dog was his father Yichuan’s lifelong friend, and was also his own Uncle White. In total, his father had tamed two Diremonsters; one was that massive black python, the so-called Uncle Black! The other was a snow white dog, his Uncle White. Beasts, upon gaining a level of intelligence, could begin to absorb natural energy and transform into monstrous beasts! Monstrous beasts, after managing the difficult art of transformation, would enter the Xiantian level and become Xiantian lifeforms. Only then would they be considered Diremonsters. Generally speaking, Diremonsters were capable of transforming into humans, such as Uncle Black. But amongst monstrous beasts, there was a very unique type of creature: the Godbeasts. Godbeasts were magical beasts that contained some of the bloodline of those ancient Fiendgods of the past. They were born intelligence, and possessed powerful natural gifts. Their strength was far greater than that of ordinary monstrous beasts. They also found it extremely hard to transform into human forms, and for different Godbeasts, the level of difficulty was different as well. Some needed to reach the ‘Zifu’ level before they could take human form. Some needed to reach the ‘Wanxiang’ level. Some, even higher… Uncle White was a Godbeast of the ‘Whitewater Hound’ type, and he had to reach the Zifu level before he could take human form and speak in the human tongue. However, Ning and the Whitewater Hound were extremely close to each other, because after having been taught archery by his teacher, Blindfish, Ning would spend every morning with the Whitewater Hound at the forests outside the West Prefecture training in archery. Yichuan hadn’t been able to rest easy with his son going out by himself, which is why he asked the Xiantian lifeform, the ‘Whitewater Hound’, to help protect him. The power of a Xiantian level Godbeast was terrifying indeed! The Whitewater Hound was one of the reasons why Yichuan had such a high position and reputation in the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture. “Just watch.” Ning’s lips twisted into a smile. “Growl.” The Whitewater Hound let out a growl as well, then followed Yichuan and Snow to the narrow walkway. Soon, they arrived at the viewing platform. Ning let out a soft breath, calming himself down as he looked around him. “Why do I feel like I’m in the Coliseum?” Ning secretly murmured. “There’s a place for battle, and there’s a viewing platform.” He knew that generally speaking, only the important disciples of the clan would be permitted to engage in battle against monstrous beasts here, which is why the elders and family members of the clan would often come watch. “Hua….” “Hua…” “Hua…” The sound of chains clanking against each other could be heard from a distant tunnel. Ning couldn’t help but turn to look, and within that pitch black tunnel…he could faintly make out a low, angry growling 155 sound, a sound which actually shook the entire cage. Even the massive chain net above the cage was quivering with the noise. A massive, silver furred head slowly appeared from within the distant tunnel. “What is that?” Ning looked carefully. “Ning.” Yichuan said coldly from the viewing platform above the cage, “You train in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, so I specially selected an extremely powerful monstrous beast for you, one with the lineage of the Fiendgods: A Howling Moonwolf.” Ning’s eyes widened as he stared above at his father, a look of shock on his face. A beast that possessed the lineage of the Fiendgods? Then that would be a Godbeast, right? But it made sense; Godbeasts were a type of monstrous beast. In the vast world, there were still a good number of Houtian level Godbeasts that roamed about, such as the Armored Wurm, the Earthquake Rhino, the Howling Moonwolf, the Redclawed Goldenraven, the Thundersea Owl, or the Whitewater Hound. Generally speaking, out of every thousand Houtian level Godbeast, only one would be able to break through to the Xiantian lifeform level. “Hua…” The metal clanking sound continued. Ning didn’t lose his focus. He stared at the giant tunnel in the wall. He knew that they were probably removing the chains on the other side. Once the chains were removed, the Howling Moonwolf would be released. “Pengcheng!” The sound of metal chains hitting the floor. “Hoooooowl!” Instantly, a carefree wolf’s howl rang out. In the air above, Yichuan, his wife, and the Whitewater Hound stared carefully down below. Ning held his breath. From the distant tunnel, a massive creature slowly made its way out. Its entire body was covered with beautiful silver fur. It was over two meters tall, and its steps were graceful. It stared at the tiny little pipsqueak standing in the distance; a human male. As one of the special types of monstrous beasts, a Godbeast, the creature’s intelligence wasn’t lower than that of humans. It knew that there were only two possible outcomes after entering this cage. The first was to kill this human and continue to live. The other was to be killed by this human youth. “He picked a Godbeast for me the first time here.” Ning stretched out his right hand, and a sword appeared in it out of nowhere, gleaming with cold light. “Then let’s kill it.” 156 The Howling Moonwolf’s massive body weighed nearly ten thousand pounds, but its four legs moved with great agility as it closed the distance. Its long, narrow eyes inspected this human youth. Ning walked forward, one step at a time, with longsword in hand. The distance between the two quickly drew near. “Shua!” The Howling Moonwolf’s movements suddenly changed from being graceful to being savage, and it suddenly transformed into a blur as it pounced at Ning, and its previously soft paws suddenly had sharp claws emerge from it as well. Swoosh! At the critical moment, Ning suddenly moved, as graceful as the wind as he dodged the Howling Moonwolf’s pounce, and then stabbed out with the sharp sword in his hand! The stab was extremely forceful and straight, and it was also fast as lightning. If it managed to land on the Howling Moonwolf’s body, it would be able to borrow the charging force of the Moonwolf and tear its body open! “Huh?” As he stabbed, Ning’s face suddenly changed. The sword tip had met with a powerful blocking force. The Howling Moonwolf’s fur had blocked the tip of the sword, preventing it from penetrating through. At the same time, the Howling Moonwolf suddenly sent its tail whisking towards Ning. Unable to dodge in time, Ning quickly used his sword to block. Bang! The Moonwolf’s tail landed against the blade like a heavy iron whip, and the powerful force knocked Ning flying away, his body slamming against the distant blackwater iron wall with a boom. Bang! The thick wall trembled violently. “Roar!” The Howling Moonwolf immediately followed up with another pounce as it slashed at Ning with its claws. Ning quickly dodged with a flying leap. Chi! Chi! Chi! Several deep claw marks appeared on the blackwater iron wall. The Moonwolf landed on the ground, then stared at the distant human youth. Its tail attack was its killing weapon. Its tail had sent the human youth slamming into the wall, but the human youth had actually been able to quickly dodge far away. It understood that this human youth truly was very powerful, powerful enough to give him a good fight. “An ordinary Ninefang Warrior, upon meeting with that tail, would probably have their organs split open.” Ning frowned as he stared at the Howling Moonwolf. “It seems I’ll have to rely on the power of the Fiendgod Body Refining.” 157 These years, he had also engaged in Ki Refining and had reached mastery of the Houtian level. But his attacks with Houtian level Ki Refining techniques couldn’t even break through the fur. How could he use it to fight? “Hrmph!” Ning let out a deep growl, and from his nostrils came forth two streams of energy that were visible to the naked eye. The streams of energy were causing the air itself to shake. At that moment, the hidden, terrifying potential strength that was lying dormant in his body suddenly exploded forth, and the hidden Solar Strength and Lunar Strength exploded as well, and his entire body began to turn faintly red. With a slight movement of the sword in his hands, Ning shattered the air before him and carved a huge ditch into the thick earth. The distant Howling Moonwolf let out a low growl, staring fixedly at this youth. …. “The child has finally begun to use the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Snow laughed. “Before this, he was still trying to avoid doing so.” Yichuan nodded. “The Howling Moonwolves have the lineage of the Fiendgods. Their fur is incomparably tough, and ordinary Houtian experts aren’t able to break through it. I chose this creature on purpose…to force Ning to use all of his strength, and see how much of it he can use in a real, life-and-death battle.” “What do you think about the look on Ning’s face?” Yuchi Snow asked. “Average.” Ji Yichuan stared down. “He’s fairly calm.” …. Spinning the sword in his hand, Ning slowly walked towards the Howling Moonwolf, circling around it. The Moonwolf stared at Ning as well, choosing not to rashly attack. This was because once it attacked…it would expose its own flaws as well. That would the moment which determined life or death. “Hrmph.” Not hesitating at all, Ning suddenly charged forward after the Moonwolf, his body becoming a blur. With a howl, the Howling Moonwolf immediately pounced over as well, opening its massive maw and revealing its sharp fangs. Its sharp claws tore at Ning as well. Shua! A flash of the sword! The shadow of a sword slashed through the air, striking in a short range while changing trajectories nine times. Its speed was terrifyingly fast, so fast that it was as though even the void was being chopped apart with it. Chi chi chi chi chi. The flashing sword chopped at the Moonwolf’s chest, carving out a massive wound, and fresh blood instantly spurted out. “Block.” Just after Ning chopped out with one sword, he immediately turned his sword back and blocked the Howling Moonwolf’s claw, while simultaneously borrowing the clashing force to fly backwards and retreat. The Howling Moonwolf stared furiously at Ning. The massive wound on its chest was shrinking, and the flow of blood began to slow, but it still continued to drip blood. Clearly, that wound had simply been too massive. The Howling Moonwolf was now truly sensing the impending arrival of death! “The [Thunderflame Sword]’s technique, ‘Thunderflash Flint’, really is extraordinary. Ning sighed softly. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After having received two consummate sword techniques, Ning had been training hard, of course. He was now capable of utilizing the techniques of the [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword], and his power had increased. However, he had only learned a tiny bit, and he wasn’t even at the level of expertise, much less mastery. After all, even his father, Yichuan, was still pondering on the secrets of the [Raindrop Sutra]. Thunderflash Flint was one of the three killer moves of the [Thunderflame Sword]. It relied on a single word; fast! As fast as lightning! As swift as flame! “Ning’s swordplay and his footwork are both exquisite.” Snow said in praise from the viewing platform. “Although the Howling Moonwolf is as fast as a shadow, even faster than Ning, Ning has relied on the [Shadewind Steps] to constantly change directions. He’s in complete control of this battle. His swordplay has reached the ‘advanced’ level, and he can quickly make multiple changes in his movements. In dealing with that monstrous wolf…it can be said that his defense is airtight.” Yichuan nodded. “With the Fiendgod Body Refining, Ning’s great strength is his forte, while his speed is a bit weaker…but this is a Godbeast, after all. It has an extremely strong life force. A wound like this is just a skin wound to it. When it starts fighting all out, and with Ning never having experienced such a vicious life and death battle before, the results will be hard to predict.” …. Below, Ning had the feeling that everything was under control, and he continued to wield the sword in his hand as he drew near the Moonwolf. “Awoooooo!” Sensing the threat of death from this human youth, the Moonwolf gave a savage howl. All the fur on its body stood up straight as needles, and its eyes turned hard, its pupils flashing. Those who were familiar with Moonwolves could tell…that this one had already entered a wild, bestial state. A terrifying aura spread forth from it, causing Ning to pause. A killing aura? “Growl!” The Howling Moonwolf charged towards him, the earth shaking beneath it. Ning dodged as agilely as the wind, changing directions with a simple step. At the same time, his sword flashed. Chi! Fresh blood sprayed out once more, and yet another enormous wound appeared on the Moonwolf’s chest, but this time, the Moonwolf didn’t care at all as it sent its two pairs of ferocious paws towards Ning, its knife-like claws slashing through the air. Ning calmly retreated while at the same time, using his sword to block. “Ka!” The Moonwolf’s left paw slammed against the sharp sword, its paw seeming to have transformed into a hook which suddenly latched onto the sword. But how could Ning’s sword, infused with his Fiendgod Body Refining power, be so easily caught? If the two clashed and then immediately flew apart, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but the Moonwolf wanted to fight that power head on with his claws, and so it smashed it hard against the sword. Ka! The Moonwolf’s left paw clearly turned red with blood, and the faint sound of bones breaking could be heard. Hua! The other paw came at Ning’s chest. The distance was simply too close, and there was no chance to block. Ning’s only option was to take a deep breath, and his chest suddenly retracted in by three centimeters. Chi! Chi! Chi! The tough animal fur over Ning’s chest was ripped to tatters. Blood spouted everywhere, and Ning was knocked flying as well, striking against the ground and making the earth itself crack from the impact. Swoosh! Ning hurriedly pulled away. “Injured.” Ning looked at the Moonwolf, his eyes narrowing. Just then, the Moonwolf had actually chosen to use its paw to take his sword head on. The Howling Moonwolf didn’t care about what injuries upon itself were being inflected, as it was going all out. Its left paw was now half useless, and its speed had dropped dramatically as well. But the paw blow it had landed on Ning had torn through Ning’s beast skin clothes. The beast skin clothes were part of the fur from a Xiantian lifeform. Without any monstrous power infused into it, the defense would be a bit weaker, but generally speaking the fur from a Xiantian lifeform would be able to block the attacks of a Houtian monster. However, the Howling Moonwolf was a Godbeast. Its full strength attack was able to rip the fur apart. In order to further train himself…although Ning had the protection of the Goldstar Shirt and could use it to guard his entire body, Ning had shrank its defensive radius to only protect his most vulnerable areas. “A life-and-death battle is different from a spar. I can’t just use the experience I gained while sparring.” Ning quickly changed his calculations. “When sparring, nobody will engage in self-destructive behavior, but in a life-and-death battle…the goal is to kill the opponent. For the sake of this goal, any price is worth paying.” “I need to be more careful and more cautious.” Ning was like a sponge, quickly absorbing the learned experience. The fierce scar over his chest was visibly shrinking. The blood from it began to stop, and soon, it totally closed over, leaving behind a red line which then turned into white, clear skin. No lasting damage at all! This was the powerful regenerative power provided by Fiendgod Body Refining. Ordinary Fiendgod Body Refining techniques only required a person to reach the Xiantian level before being able to regrow severed limbs. But Ning trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, and his healing abilities were nearly on par with that sort of regeneration already. “Excellent!” Ning cracked his lips into a smile. “It actually took my sword away.” “Roaaaar.” The sword was stuck right beneath the Howling Moonwolf’s paw. It stared at Ning, its eyes filled with boundless bloodlust. The terrifying recuperative abilities of the human youth in front of it…it understood that this was a Fiendgod in human skin, with even greater healing abilities than Godbeasts. Ning waved his right hand, and yet another sharp sword appeared within it. “Come again.” Ning transformed into a shadow as he pounced towards the Moonwolf. “Roaaar!” The Howling Moonwolf charged forward as well. …… The two engaged each other time and time again, each time exchanging blows that nearly took the other’s life. Ning possessed powerful healing abilities and terrifying power, and a fierce sword attack style! But the Howling Moonwolf had its fangs, sharp claws, and tail, all of which it could use as weapons. In addition, its massive body was so large that most weapon wounds were of minimal threat to it. “So he’s only using the Goldstar Shirt to protect his vital points.” A rare smile appeared on Yichuan’s face. “Ning really is trying very hard.” Snow was growing nervous as she watched. Her son’s body was covered in bloodstains. As his mother, how could she not worry? “Don’t worry. Ning has still covered his body’s vital points with the Goldstar Shirt. Even if he is wounded, it won’t be life-threatening.” Yichuan said. “At most, he might lose an arm or a leg…but given his regenerative abilities, with a little bit of time, he’ll grow another one.” “Lose an arm or a leg?” Snow couldn’t help but grow frantic, but she knew how difficult the road to becoming an expert had to be. …. “Hu!” “Hu!” “Hu!” Although Ning had the body of a Fiendgod, right now, he couldn’t help but pant for breath. The fur clothes on his body was already ripped apart in many areas, and the wound on his body was rapidly closing. “Roaaaar.” The Moonwolf let out a despairing growl. It was forcing itself to stand erect, but its two paws were both quivering, as though it could collapse at any time. Its body was covered with dozens of giant wounds, and a particularly vicious pierce-wound was in its head. Both of its legs had been shattered. It was already quite an impressive feat for it to be able to remain standing. “You lose.” Ning wiped the blood from the corner of his eyes, then said in a quiet voice, “My power is actually greater than yours, but my victory was quite a difficult one…the reason is because when faced with your bloodlust and your wildness, I was unable to be calm and bring out my full power. You are the first monster that I have ever killed, and thus, I will let you die under my greatest attack!” Hua! A second sword appeared out of nowhere in Ning’s left hand. Holding the twin swords, he stared at the Moonwolf. Swoosh! Ning suddenly transformed into a blur as he threw himself at the Moonwolf. The Howling Moonwolf let out a final howl as it threw itself at Ning as well. Two massive flashes of light suddenly appeared, destroying one of the Moonwolf’s remaining good legs, and then, with another flash, a massive criss-cross wound appeared on the Howling Moonwolf’s head, sending blood and brain matter flying everywhere. Ning landed on the ground. The Howling Moonwolf collapsed on the ground, brain matter tumbling out of the massive wound on its head. Its fur was stained with the color of the earth, and its formerly beautiful silver fur had became a stained combination of mud and blood, unsightly to the extreme. A descendant of the Fiendgods of the wolf lineage had died! “How do you feel?” Yichuan looked down at his son. “I feel great.” Ning looked up at his father, his eyes filled with ardor. “Let’s do this once a day.” Yichuan’s eyelids twitched. He muttered, “Do you think capturing a peak Houtian level Godbeast is easy? Once every three days. And, most will be ordinary monstrous beasts. If you want to Godbeast, it’ll be a matter of luck. I’ll arrange for the most powerful monstrous beasts here in Dragon Castle to be reserved for your training.” Ning nodded. “If I meet some weaker monstrous beasts, I’ll just rely on my internal force only.” Given the power of a Fiendgod’s body, your ordinary peak Houtian monstrous beasts would be brutalized by brute force alone. This was why only Godbeasts with Fiendgod heritage in their blood could fight against Ning. …. Time passed by. Ning fought with one monstrous beast after another, and his sword technique and footwork grew more exquisite. At the same time, he learned how to better maintain his calm in life-and-death battles. If his heart was not calm…then his power wouldn’t be able to be displayed to perfection. …. Autumn had come. Swallow Mountain had become incomparably cold, and some weak tribes had their lives become even more difficult. Especially when they were met with the savage attacks of some monsters from deep in the mountains…some smaller tribes might be exterminated! Honghonghong…. The earth was shaking. Atop this barren, desolate wasteland, a large group of black armored riders were riding their long-furred beasts. They seemed like a black flood which was charging across these plains. “Halt.” A cold command. Three hundred powerful black armored riders instantly came to a halt. “Commander, this place is the location where that serpent monster appeared last. This is the territory of the Sharphorn Tribe. Three days ago, the monster suddenly charged at the Sharphorn Tribe and devoured eighteen people, then killed over a hundred. The Sharphorn Tribe was totally destroyed.” A black armored rider said respectfully. “This creature has been an impending disaster for months. It has killed over a thousand people and devastated over ten tribes. However, all of those tribes were small ones. Logically speaking, it should be a peak-stage Houtian level monster with the lineage of the Fiendgods, or perhaps a Diremonster who has newly reached the Xiantian level.” 164 “Hrm.” The bearded man who was riding a white tiger and wore red, fiery scale mail armor nodded. “This serpent monster has been causing wanton devastation within the area controlled by our Ji clan of the Western Prefecture. It deserves death. It has only appeared in this area…all of you, divide into thirty small units and begin searching. Once you find it, immediately fire the signal arrow.” “Yes.” The three hundred black armored riders acknowledged in unison. Hua… Soon, the three hundred mighty black armored riders divided into thirty small units which went searching in various directions. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Two days later. Within a forest with thick foliage, a large number of black armored riders were surrounding a serpent monster. “Roar…” This was a massive, blood-red serpent which glowed with silver light around its torso. Around its torso, it had two pairs of sinuous claws with four toes, and a pair of terrifying red serpentine eyes. However, right now, the giant snake had been totally covered by a giant net. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn’t break loose. “Hahaha.” The bearded man in red armor laughed loudly. “Stupid snake. You were caught alive by us so easily. You, go tie it up.” “Yes.” Instantly, several dozen black armored knights cast one black chain after another, sending them flying towards the giant snake, quickly binding it up. The red serpent was tied up to securely that no matter how it contorted itself, it wasn’t able to do anything. Soon, it had been completely wrapped up by metal chains and bound so securely it couldn’t even open its mouth. “Commander, where does this giant snake come from? Why does it have two claws?” A nearby black armored rider was curious. No matter how long he had been pondering, he couldn’t discern what type of Godbeast this was. The bearded man laughed. “Serpent-type creatures are often intermingled in blood. I myself have seen over a hundred serpents with Fiendgod blood. Only, some bloodlines are very pure and therefore become famous and are named. A sort of mongrel mutant Godbeast like this has no name at all.” “The young master needs some powerful Houtian level monstrous beasts to practice his sword on. This serpent monster would be a good choice.” The bearded man weighed the snake with his gaze, then nodded in satisfaction. “Take it back.” “Yes.” The black armored riders acknowledged respectfully. The commander of this regiment was a Xiantian-level lifeform belonging to the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture – the number one expert archer, Blindfish! Blindfish was still one of young master Ning’s instructors, and without question in the Ji clan, he stood on the side of Ji Young and Ji Yichuan. In addition, Blindfish was quite proud of having taught Ning. The story of how young master Ning would use monstrous beasts to train his swordplay had spread quite some time ago. After all, for him to kill one every three days resulted in a large number of monstrous beasts being killed. These beasts were almost all brought back by the black armored riders, and so the news had quickly spread amongst the army. “Young master Ning reached the peak of the Houtian stage long ago, and his swordplay is at the advanced level of ‘one with the sword’. In addition, he is training in the most powerful sword technique of our Ji clan. Killing a peak Houtian monster should be a simple thing.” “Supposedly, he’s even killed a Houtian level Godbeast.” “Think about who young master Ning is. He definitely has an extremely sharp, unblockable precious weapon. With a weapon like this, relying on his ‘advanced’ level sword techniques…killing a peak Houtian level Godbeast isn’t too hard.” The legends that were circulating amongst the soldiers of the West Prefecture were quite vivid and fanciful. Even the other powerful member of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, Ji Lee, believed that the little fellow Ning was only able to kill a Godbeast because he had some sort of precious weapon. Dragon Castle. The cage. A powerfully built monstrous beast with black spots was lying on the ground. The thick fur on his body had been split open in many places, and blood from those massive wounds stained the ground. Ning was still standing there, frowning as he was thinking. The sharp sword in his hand disappeared into thin air. When fighting with most peak Houtian monsters, he only used his internal energy, and the weapons he used were only fairly decent weapons which couldn’t be described as ‘precious’. After all, he was already so physically strong that using a precious weapon on top of that would make the training pointless. “Ji Ning!” A voice from above. Ning couldn’t help but look up at his father, Yichuan, who was on the viewing platform. This made Ning quite surprised. “Father, why have you come?” Because he fought every three days here in the Dragon Castle, aside from that first fight with the Howling Moonwolf, the subsequent dozens of battles, his father had not attended… “I wanted to see how your swordplay was progressing.” Yichuan said. “Have you reached ‘initiation’ yet?” 167 “Not yet.” Ning shook his head. “I haven’t gained expertise in any of the many attacks contained within the [Raindrop Sutra] or the [Thunderflame Sword].” The [Raindrop Sutra] had a total of nine attack techniques. The [Thunderflame Sword] had a total of three attack techniques. These attack techniques were all very special…if one could train in them to a high level, one would feel as though one had become ‘one with the world’ and be able to use the power of the world itself. This was what was known as ‘initiation’. But this didn’t actually symbolize that a person had reached the third level of swordplay, ‘one with the world’, because the true ‘one with the world’ level of swordplay was when one could use any sword attack, be it as something as simple as a stab, a chop, or a scrape, and utilize the power of the world itself with the attack. Only then would one be at the ‘one with the world’ level! Initiation only meant that one could temporarily reach the ‘one with the world’ effect when using certain techniques. According to what his father had said… Upon reaching ‘initiation’, one would have reached a certain level of expertise in a technique. When one reached the ‘one with the world’ level, that means one had mastered a technique. According to legends… There was an even higher, more profound level above the ‘one with the world’ level. The [Raindrop Sutra] and the [Thunderflame Sword] techniques were developed by people who were beyond the ‘one with the world’ level. “There is no need for you to be so continuously hard working while training in the sword.” Yichuan said. “Today, take Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf and go for a stroll.” Ning nodded. “Yes, father.” Ning turned his head and left through that narrow tunnel. As for the corpse of the dead monstrous beast, someone would come collect it later. ….. West Prefecture City had hundreds of thousands of citizens. It was a large city. “Young master, it’s been so long since we’ve gone for a stroll.” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, his two female servants, were clearly very happy as they followed by his side. Ning smiled as he walked on the streets. This was one of the most bustling streets in the entire West Prefecture City. Generally speaking, all the merchants would pass by this street. The street was normally ten meters wide, but there were so many merchant stalls on each side that nearly half the space was taken up, causing there to only be seven meters of walking space left. “Look at this woman. Look at her ample chest, her large buttocks. She can definitely birth many babies. Ten lambskins for her!” “These men are all fine warriors. They can all lift over a thousand pounds. Just five ingots of gold. If you buy one, we’ll throw in a kid as well.” A bald man dressed in beast furs was shouting at the top of his lungs. He had several dozen fur-clad warriors standing guard around him, while he also had many slaves dressed in dirty, tattered fur pelts. All of them stared pitifully around them, hoping that they would meet a kind master who would buy them. There were signs on their heads. These signs signified that they were for sale. …. They strolled and looked around. There were slave traders, beast fur traders, weapon traders, beast traders, monstrous beast traders…all sorts of people were here. There were even some precious books, precious weapons, poisons and herbs, secret technique manuals, and other things for sale. “Over a hundred warriors in our tribe died for us to acquire this precious weapon, and then we had to make our way back through the wilderness and encounter countless difficulties before we arrived at the West Prefecture City. We weren’t even willing to sell it for thirty beastheads of gold, but you want to try and buy it for ten? That’s too little. At least a hundred beastheads of gold!” A rough-voiced man was shouting from nearby. Ning glanced over in curiosity. He saw around dozens of people in a circle surrounding three strong men wearing pitch-black furs, one of whom had a black snake coiled around his arm. The man continued: “A hundred beastheads of gold, whoever pays a hundred beastheads can take it away!” “How greedy.” “He actually dares to demand a hundred beastheads of gold.” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf both murmured. Ning was surprised as well. A beasthead of gold was around ten pounds. A hundred beastheads meant a thousand pounds of gold. Although to the young master of the Ji clan, it was nothing, to an ordinary tribesman, it was a vast fortune.” “No matter how sharp it is, it’s just a weapon.” “It isn’t as though it is some perfect magic treasure. It’s just a damaged magic treasure that can be used as a weapon.” “Twenty beastheads. I’ll pay twenty beastheads at most. You want to sell, and I want to buy!” Someone made an offer. “A hundred beastheads.” The man didn’t budge at all. The two men by his side watched the crowd carefully, afraid that someone might try to seize their treasure. For the sake of this treasure, many people in their tribe had died, and as they made their way from the tribe to the city through the desolate wilderness, dozens more warriors had died. They had to sell this treasure for a high price. After selling it, they would be able to buy some slaves and some good weapons, so as to allow the tribe to increase its power. “Let me take a look.” Ning saw the precious weapon which the man was clutching and immediately stepped forward. The people nearby all turned to look at him. “Young master.” “Young master.” “This is the young master of the Ji clan? The son of the Raindrop Sword?” Many people stepped back modestly. Anyone capable of paying such a high price was an extraordinary person. In addition, in the past few years, Ning had gone every day with the Whitewater Hound outside the city to train in archery. Each time they left the city, many people saw and recognized him as the exalted young master of the Ji clan. The other people who didn’t recognize him, upon hearing others discuss him, were made aware as well. When the man with the black snake saw everyone else step back, then heard the words ‘young master of the Ji clan’ and ‘son of the Raindrop Sword’, he was instantly so frightened that his heart began to shake. As people who lived on the territory of the Ji clan, they all knew the legendary Raindrop Sword. This was the number one expert in the entire area around the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, a godlike presence. And the person in front of him was the only child of the Raindrop Sword? “Let me take a look.” Ning said. “Honored young master, please look.” The man respectfully offered the sword in both hands. The two men behind him both felt extremely nervous. They were afraid that this young master who had an extremely high and exalted status would simply take their treasure by force. In the tribes, for a powerful person or person with high status to seize treasures by force was quite common. Although it was forbidden in the West Prefecture City and nobody dared to challenge the laws of the Ji clan, the young man in front of them was a young master of the Ji clan, the only son of the Raindrop Sword! Ning accepted the sword, and his hands sank down slightly from the weight. This was a pitch-black sword. The thick black sheath seemed very plain and unadorned, but if one looked at it closely, one would find that this scabbard actually had three swords sheathed within it. “One scabbard, three swords?” Surprised, Ning pulled out the swords. Clang! While pulling out the three swords, a cold light flashed on the surface of the swords, and ancient, shattered runes glowed dimly. “What a pity.” Ning shook his head and sighed. He had seen many treasures in the prefecture. Seeing those mysterious runes and the power they emanated, he knew that this was previously a magic treasure. It should have been three flying swords which were controlled by a Immortal practitioner. But these runes were all but destroyed. Clearly, this magic treasure was badly damaged. It could only be used as a weapon now.” “Chi.” Ning tested his finger against the blade of the sword. “Careful. It is very sharp.” The man with the serpent called out in alarm. This precious weapon could cut through stones like tofu.” Ning felt the skin of his fingertips shake slightly. He couldn’t help but feel surprise. “I have the Goldstar Shirt protecting my body, which is currently spread to every inch of my skin. Just then, when I casually sliced my finger…it actually impacted the Goldstar Shirt. If I were to swing the sword down hard, it probably would have broken through the Goldstar Shirt’s defense. I walk through the city streets every day on my way to archery training and have seen countless weapons, but I’ve never seen such a sharp, precious weapon.” Others only sensed that this weapon was very sharp, but they didn’t know exactly how sharp it was. But Ning had the feeling…that even his Goldstar Shirt would find it hard to block this precious weapon. “I want this weapon.” Ning looked at the man with the snake. The man was both excited and nervous. He hurriedly said, “Young master, for the sake of this weapon, our tribe…” In front of this young man of exalted status, he was nervous and didn’t dare to demand a certain price. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Mm.” With a flip of his hand, a piece of blue-tinged gold appeared in Ning’s palm. He tossed it directly towards the man with the black serpent. “Take it.” “Just this little tiny piece of gold?” The man with the black serpent and the two behind him were frantic. They stared at that tiny bit of blue-tinged gold, just the size of a finger. “And it isn’t even pure?” “Young master.” “Respected young master.” The three men began to call out and beg. How could they possibly return to the tribes with this? The other tribal warriors were outside the city waiting. None of them were willing to enter the city…because the cost of entering the city was a lambskin or some other equivalent value item. “You pack of idiots. That is thundergold!” “I’m willing to pay a hundred beastheads of gold for that piece of thundergold.” “Just a hundred beastheads? A piece of thundergold of that size, I’d pay 160 beastheads! I can send someone to bring the beastheads of gold right now!” Instantly, the nearby people began to make offers. All of them were people of some status in the West Prefecture City, or came from the clans with Xiantian lifeforms in them, or perhaps belonged to the powerful tribes that were located close to the West Prefecture. How excellent their judgment must therefore be! The man with the black snake hurriedly clutched the piece of thundergold. He clearly felt that the weight of this item was far beyond that of normal yellow gold. He exchanged glances with his two friends, both shocked and overjoyed. “Thank you, young master.” “Thank you, mighty young master.” The three men instantly thanked him, filled with gratitude. “Now you thank him? The Raindrop Sword is a major figure whose fame is known everywhere. Think about what sort of status his son has. How could he possibly take your weapon by force? Just the tiniest portion of his fortune that he could casually toss out would astonish you.” A fat, fur-clad old man next to them said in a loud voice. Clearly, these words were intentionally said for the not too distant Ning to hear. Ning chuckled, and then casually made the sheath with the three swords disappear into his kalestone. Because the space inside the kalestone was limited, thus Ning only carried a few beastheads of gold with him. Everything else he had was all precious treasures. ….. Within the hall. Ji Yichuan was seated at the master’s seat, while Yuchi Snow sat on his left. The two were slowly eating the food on the table in front of them. Swoosh! A human figure rushed in. It was Ning, who had finished his stroll. “Father, mother.” Ning said hurriedly. Yichuan frowned. “Why didn’t you pay attention to the time when you were taking a stroll outside?” Ning obediently didn’t dare to make a sound, hurriedly running to his usual spot, sitting on his knees and beginning to eat. Their lunch was rather sumptuous, with all sorts of meats, bread, and wine on the table. Ning’s current appetite was simply voracious, and virtually all of the food and beverages on the table were devoured by Ning in a short period of time. Snow laughed as she watched her son tear through the food like a tornado. “Father, mother.” Ning suddenly thought of the sheath and three swords he had purchased today. He hurriedly said, “Today, while taking the walk, I ran into three tribal warriors. They should have come from a distant, impoverished place to the Western Prefecture City. They came for the purpose of selling a precious weapon. And I…decided to buy it.” “Precious weapon?” The seated Yichuan frowned. “In the treasure warehouse of our Ji clan here in the West Prefecture, we have plenty of precious weapons. In the past, didn’t you already select two precious weapons? How can those lowly peddlers in the city possibly have anything good.” Because Ning had yet to read the Xiantian level in Ki Refining, he naturally couldn’t control any magic treasures yet, which is why he went to the treasure warehouse to pick out two precious swords. But of course, when training in the cage, he only used ordinary weapons. “Father, the two precious weapons I selected in the warehouse are far inferior to this one I just bought.” Ning said seriously. “Oh?” Yichuan looked at his son. “Actually, the precious weapon I bought is a damaged sword-type magic treasure.” Ning explained. “There are occult runes carved onto it, but they are totally damaged. Therefore, it can only be used as a fairly sharp precious weapon. However, it really is sharp, far more so than the previous precious weapons in my residence. If I use some force, I can pierce through the Goldstar Shirt.” “Pierce through the Goldstar Shirt?” Yichuan revealed a hint of surprise. “Let me take a look.” Ning stretched his hand out, and that simple, unadorned sheath and three swords appeared within it. Standing up, he walked it over to his father. Yichuan accepted it and took a close look at the sheath, then pulled out the three swords. “The magic runes on the swords are totally destroyed, but it feels as though…this is indeed a flying sword magic treasure! Unfortunately, it’s a damaged magic treasure. Most damaged magic treasures aren’t worth much. At most, they might be sold to be broken down into some other materials.” Ning nodded. He had read many books, and knew that damaged magic treasures were not worth much, because the material components of magic treasures had already undergone various fusing techniques, making it so that even if one broke down the magic treasure, one wouldn’t be able to get many of the original components back. “Chi!” Yichuan stroked the tip of the sword with his finger, and a hint of blood appeared on his fingertip. A look of shock appeared on his face. “What a sharp sword. Without any energy infused into it, the sword is still so incredibly sharp. I’ve never seen such a thing. Snow, come take a look. Can you tell where it comes from?” Yuchi Snow accepted it and carefully looked it over, then slowly shook her head after a long time. “I can’t tell.” “Mother, if this magic flying sword treasure wasn’t damaged, would it be a ‘ranked’ treasure?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Of course it would be a ‘ranked’ treasure.” Snow nodded. “Even though it is damaged, the sharpness of this sword is still on par with some ‘unranked’ magic treasures. When it was undamaged…of course it was a ‘ranked’ treasure. Only, exactly what rank it was at, I can’t tell at all. Perhaps no one in the entire area around Swallow Mountain can tell.” Ning nodded. He understood this. Generally speaking, the magic treasures owned by a Xiantian level Ki Refiner was ‘unranked’. Only Zifu Disciples and above would have ‘ranked’ magic treasures. Forging magic treasures…that was even harder. There was nobody in the entire Swallow Mountain area who was known to be able to forge magic 175 treasures. Perhaps only in those distant, incomparably powerful tribes would there be an expert capable of forging magic treasures. “The Grand Xia Dynasty has persisted from the Fiendgod Era until now.” Yichuan returned the sheath and the three swords to his son. “It rules over countless territories, with a history of trillions of years. Who knows how many tribes have risen, fallen, or been exterminated, and how many treasures they have left behind. It isn’t rare to see some magic treasures left over from wars, and our Ji clan has hundreds of damaged magic treasures as well, most of which are of unknown origin. But for this damaged magic treasure to still be so incredibly sharp is quite rare. It is very suited for your use.” Snow then added, “Ning, in the future, when you reach the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner and infuse your life energy into an ‘unranked’ magic treasure…its power still might be inferior to these swords!” Ning nodded. Magic treasures could be unfathomably profound. Generally speaking, when Ki Refiners used magic treasures, they were capable of thousands of bizarre powers. But for Fiendgod Body Refiners…they still specialized in close combat. They had a virtually indestructible body, great strength, speed, and regenerative abilities, which is why even when using magic treasures, Fiendgod Body Refiners would generally use weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and what not. “This sheath and its three sword will still be useful to me, even after I become a Xiantian lifeform.” Ning felt delighted. He pondered, “Since it will most likely be with me for a long time, I need to give it a name…Hrm. I’ll call it the ‘Darknorth sword!’” There was a reason why Ning had suddenly thought of ‘Darknorth’. In the past, when his father, Ji Yichuan, had left Swallow Mountain and roamed in the boundless wide world, he had even gone to the north, to the unending ocean. That massive sea was named as the ‘Dark North Sea’. Within the Dark North Sea, there were many islands. Ji Yichuan had floated from one island to another, and that’s where he had met Yuchi Snow. They became travel companions, and then after experiencing life and death battles, fell in love with each other, then Snow became pregnant. Because of the pregnancy…they finally left the dangerous Dark North Sea and returned to Swallow Mountain. Mid-journey, however, they had run into a dangerous situation and Yuchi Snow had suffered a serious wound. This is why they had said that ‘Ning suffered an injury in the womb’. At that critical time, the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’, had carried Snow on his back and fled. This was why Yichuan often said that Uncle White had once saved Ning. His parents had met, fell in love, then conceived him in the Dark North Sea. The phrase, ‘Darknorth’, thus had a special meaning to Ning. “Father. Mother.” Ning said seriously. “I have given a name to this sheath and its three swords. Its name will be the Darknorth swords!” …… At the same time Ning acquired the Darknorth swords. In an area within Swallow Mountain known as Serpentwing Lake…. Serpentwing Lake was a massive lake, nearly a hundred kilometers long, so large that one wouldn’t be able to see the end of it. As the saying goes, deep mountains and massive lakes always have monsters within. These words were not false! This massive, mysterious lake, without question, has Diremonsters within it, and countless numbers of lesser monsters. The name of the Diremonster within this lake was Serpentwing. It was an ancient monster, over a thousand years old, and possessed outlandishly strong power. It was born capable of flight, and it could control both water and poison. It was a very ferocious, awe-inspiring Diremonster. Deep in the center of the lake, there was a small island. This was the lair of Serpentwing. “Boom…” A giant black coiled serpent, hundreds of meters long. Its two massive scaled wings were spread so wide, it seemed to encompass the skies. Its scarlet eyes were focused on a group of quivering monstrous beasts. A cold aura surrounded the place, and a layer of frost was on the ground. The densely clustered lesser monsters were all on their knees or on their faces, all of them quivering. Over a hundred monstrous beasts lay fallen on the ground, their bodies covered with frost. They had been frozen solid. “Boom…” The furious Serpentwing let out an enraged roar. Those lesser monsters consisted of all sorts of serpent, crab, and fish-type monsters. They all growled softly in reply. Clearly, they were all incomparably terrified. “ROAR!” Serpentwing snarled coldly. Huahuahua…. All the monsters retreated at high speed, as though relieved of a heavy burden. Many of the monsters left the island and entered the depths of the lake, while a portion of them took up defensive positions in various places around the island. “Shua.” The giant black snake suddenly transformed into mist, and then it reformed into a black-clothed man. “I, Serpentwing, had ninety two sons!” The black-clothed man ground his teeth. “While they grew up, the majority died, and only sixteen survived! And only one of them has the lineage of the Fiendgods…my most beloved son, Redtip!” Snakes were lascivious by nature. Although he himself did not have the lineage of the Fiendgods, he had copulated with many Houtian monsters, some of whom included Houtian stage Godbeasts. To an ancient monster who had trained for over a thousand years…it was fairly easy for him to meet and engage with some Houtian level Godbeasts. But Godbeasts rarely got pregnant, and thus only a single one of his children had the lineage of the Fiendgods. That one was Redtip. His most beloved child. He was certain that so long as Redtip could become a Xiantian lifeform, he would definitely possess enormous power and limitless prospects. “Redtip, I told you long ago not to go out before reaching the Xiantian level. Although humans are delicious, if you eat too many of them, the Ji clan would come and deal with you.” The black-robed man growled, filled with misery. His pride and his joy, his son Redtip, had snuck out and discovered that the taste of human flesh was far better than that of other monstrous beasts. Human flesh truly was delicious. And thus, Redtip had gone behind his father’s back and snuck out time and time again to engage in slaughter. “My child. I have to bring you back.” The black-clothed man instantly transformed back into the enormous winged serpent form. His massive body floated into the air, and then he transformed into a black shadow, streaking across the sky and disappearing into the clouds. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In a connected area surrounded by large, tall fences. These fences were six meters tall and linked together tightly. Beast swarms definitely wouldn’t be able to charge inside past them. Within the massive wooden fences, there were stone houses, wooden houses, and large numbers of fur-clad men, women, children, and elderly people living their lives here. This was a very ordinary tribe with several thousand tribesmen. “My child was captured within these few dozen kilometers!” The black-robed man walked within a mountain forest, heading towards the massive tribal gate. “And this is the tribe nearest the place he was taken from.” “Halt.” “Halt.” The main gate to the tribe was shut, and on each side there were two archer towers. Each archer tower had five powerful, beast-clad warriors within. All of them had their bows drawn and nocked, and they aimed at the distant, black-clothed man who was drawing near. “Outsider, state your intentions.” A warrior atop the archer tower said angrily. The black-robed man glanced at him sideways, as though looking at an ant. His footsteps didn’t stop, and he continued towards the gate. The ten warriors on the archer tower all grew angry… “Kill him!” Instantly, ten greatbows shot out at the same time! Beng! Beng! Beng! One arrow after another screamed through the air at the black-clothed man, each of them containing enough force to shatter boulders or make large trees collapse. But when these ten arrows drew near the black-clothed men, they all went, zizizi…. The shafts of the arrows cracked, then disintegrated. The man continued to walk forward. “Not good.” The ten warriors on the archer tower were alarmed, and one of them grabbed his oxhorn and gave it a mighty blow! “Wu, wu, wu!” The deep sound from the horn was powerful and penetrative. It quickly spread to the entire tribe, and the men, women, children, and elders of the tribe all grabbed their weapons while 179 assembling. In order to survive in this world…men, women, children, and elders all had to act as battlehardened warriors. When the tribesmen assembled and began to roar and charge towards the door…. Shua! That incomparably thick black ironwood gate suddenly exploded, transforming into countless pieces of splinters that flew away. Every single splinter was more terrifying than the arrows of the tribe’s archers, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of warriors located close to the door all died or were maimed. Blood stained the ground, but the warriors weren’t afraid at all. Instead, they charged forward with even more furious howls. “Hold!” A shout rang out. A white haired old man dressed in beast fur transformed into a blur as he charged towards the empty ground in front of the door. The enraged tribal warriors came to a halt as they looked at the white-haired old man who wore a grey beast pelt. This old man was the leader of the tribe. “Mighty hero, might I ask, what can our Goldblade Tribe do to assist you?” The white-haired old man bowed respectfully. Someone capable of shattering their gate just through releasing his internal energy was, without a question, a Xiantian lifeform, and Xiantian lifeforms, even amongst the local hegemon, the Ji clan, were people with extremely exalted statuses. At this moment, the black-clothed man leisurely strolled in. “I ask you.” The black-clothed man looked at the white-haired elder. “Have there been any serpent monsters in the area recently?” “Serpent monsters?” The white-haired old man paused, then hurriedly nodded. “There are. Recently, a serpent monster appeared, and many small tribes were devastated by it. The week following that, the tribes sent the news to the Ji clan…and the Ji clan sent their black armored riders to resolve with that calamitous snake monster.” The black-clothed man’s narrow eyes flashed with cold light. So it was indeed the Ji clan! The Ji clan was a powerful organization in this area. Even an ancient monster like him didn’t want to go bother it. He had previously guessed that it must have been the Ji clan which had captured his son Redtip, and now it seemed this was indeed the case. “Killed or captured?” The black-clothed man continued to ask. “Taken alive.” The white-haired old man said. “The Ji clan sent their black armored riders, who captured the snake monster alive, then went back. Most likely, it is currently in West Prefecture City!” “West Prefecture City?” The black-clothed man’s eyes had a hint of fire hidden within them. The fire of rage. West Prefecture City, to Diremonsters, was the most dangerous place possible. That was where the experts of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture gathered! Diremonsters didn’t dare go there. If his child was there…the chance of him being able to rescue his child and bring him back was very, very low. “Human.” The black-clothed man looked at the white-haired elder. His voice was cold. “Do you know who I am?” When the white-haired elder heard himself be addressed as ‘human’, his face instantly changed. Monster! And it was a terrifying Diremonster who could take human form! “Huhuhu…” The temperature suddenly dropped, and a vast layer of frost began to appear. Even plumes of snow began to drift down. The terrifying low temperature began to spread, and the surrounding tribal warriors quickly were frozen into ice, then shattered into small pieces. “Quick, leave!” The white-haired old man’s hair and eyebrows had a layer of ice form over them, and the tribesmen behind him roared, “A Diremonster! Flee, flee!” “Quick.” “Flee.” All of the tribesmen gritted their teeth, enduring their pain and rage as they began to flee. Many other tribal warriors shouted heroically as they charged towards the black-clothed man like maddened demons, but when they got near him…the layer of frost on their bodies grew thicker, and then they quickly turned into ice statues. The old man’s internal energy was valiantly fighting. He howled out stutteringly, “You dare provoke the mighty Ji clan?” “Provoke?” The black-clothed man’s pitch-black long hair fluttered in the air. His eyes flashed with a scarlet red light. “The snake monster was my child, my most beloved child. I’m not only going to provoke them, I’m also going to break into the West Prefecture City!” “Roaaaar!” 181 A world-shaking furious howl. The black-clothed man transformed into a coiled serpent, an enormous black serpent which howevered in mid-air. The enormous scaled wings of the coiled serpent fully extended, like a massive net which blocked the sun off from the tribesmen. The tribesmen who had scattered in each direction raised their head and saw this terrifying sight, and all of them were filled with utter terror. “It’s Serpentwing!” “It’s the Diremonster of Serpentwing Lake!” Not a single tribal warrior now had the thought of fighting back. Ever since they were born, they had heard the ancient legends of the ‘Diremonster of Serpentwing Lake’. They knew how terrifying Serpentwing was. There was no way their Goldblade Clan could fight against this sort of terrifying Diremonster! “All die!” “All of you must die!” The enormous Serpentwing enveloped the area below with its massive wings, bloodlust in its scarlet red eyes. It suddenly opened its massive maw and breathed. Huuuuuu. An endless, freezing black wind arose, so strong that even a layer of the ground was stripped off, and some stone houses collapsed. The large amount of black wind quickly surrounded the entire area for nearly ten kilometers around. “Cough, cough.” The tribesmen all held their throats, their bodies quickly turning pitch black. “No.” A woman held her child, tears running down her face like a river. “Diremonster, the Ji clan will definitely avenge us!” A powerful warrior who had reached the peak of power in internal energy stopped his own breathing, but the poisonous gas stilled penetrated through his skin. In the last moment of his life, all he could do was let out this bitter shout. Soon…. The territory of the Goldblade Tribe turned into a desolate, silent wasteland. Not a hint of life or sound. All of the tribesmen of the Goldblade Tribe had been turned to ice statues, shattered into pieces, or poisoned to death. The entire area for ten kilometers around…had turned into a charnel house. Even poisonous bug-type creatures had been poisoned to death. The enormous Serpentwing gently flapped its wings as it stared below. After sensing that all life was gone, it casually flew away at high speed, disappearing into the sky. ….. Night descended. A cold wind blew drearily. The distant, massive West Prefecture City stretched off into the distance. “Swoosh!” A black shadow easily flashed past the walls, avoiding the patrolling black armored riders and stealthily entering the city. “My child, where are you?” The black-clothed man began to search within West Prefecture City. This was the first time the Diremonster, Serpentwing, had entered West Prefecture City. After investigating for a long time, he discovered, to his pain, “Monsters that are taken alive are all delivered to the inner city. And the inner city is the place where the Ji clan lives. It is guarded very tightly. There are many Xiantian lifeforms living there…there is no way I can sneak in.” Sneaking into West Prefecture City was fairly easy. Sneaking into the inner city? That was the place where the clan members of the Ji clan lived. How exceedingly tight did the security of such a place have to be? “Hu!” A moment later. In the air above the West Prefecture City, Serpentwing flew high into the sky while at the same time, using its natural-born ability to control water, it quickly created a large amount of fog and clouds with the moisture in the air. The fog surrounded the nearby area, and he secretly stared down below from the skies, carefully watching every single place. Past midnight. Ning was by himself in Dragon Castle. Today was the day for his once every three days cage battle. “Young master.” “Young master.” The black armored riders and some servants of Dragon castle were all extremely respectful to him. Ning’s father was the number one expert of the Ji clan! And Ning himself was extremely talented, so many people had already begun to believe…Ning would be the next Prefecture Lord. One could imagine how exalted his status was. “Prepare the most formidable monster.” Ning laughed and called out. “Recently, we had a powerful monster delivered here. It was brought to us by Commander Blindfish. It has the lineage of the Fiendgods.” A one-armed old man called out loudly. “A monster with Fiendgod lineage?” Ning revealed a hint of delight on his face. “Excellent. Today I’ll be able to have a fun fight then. Quick, arrange for it to be sent to the cage.” “Alright.” The one-armed old man went to make the arrangements. Dragon Castle was divided into the cage and the beast tunnels. Naturally, the beast tunnels was where the monsters lived, all of which were kept in captivity here. “Roaaar!” The massive red serpent wrapped up in chains, upon seeing the human in the massive cage outside, let out a deep, angry growl. “Keep shouting.” The one-armed old man sneered coldly. “You ate so many humans. Today is the day of your death. Go. Open the door, and then release the chains…let it enter the cage.” “Yes.” The servants who had been installed here for the purposes of taking care of the monsters went to make the arrangements. “Rumble.” After opening the gate between the cage and the beast tunnels, a faint, glimmering light could be seen from afar. The giant red snake instantly looked over and began to let out a growling sound. “Release the chains.” The one-armed elder ordered. “Clank.” “Clank.” One chain after another was released. Feeling the layers of chains on its body quickly loosen, the giant red snake couldn’t help but begin to wriggle, making the chains rattle against each other. After the last one was released…with a clanking sound, the entire chain apparatus fell to the floor with a loud sound. The giant red snake stared coldly at the one-armed elder, and then slithered its way at high speed out of the tunnel towards the place which had just been opened to it. It quickly arrived in the cage outside. Within the enormous cage… 184 A red-lipped, white-toothed, fur-clad young man was staring at it from afar. The giant red snake’s saliva instantly began to drool out. Given the extensive man-eating experience it had, it had the sudden knowledge…that this sort of human youngster’s flesh was definitely the most tender and most delicious of them all. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning stared at the distant giant red snake and he softly murmured, “The entire body is blood red, but the scales around the chest are bright silver, and a pair of red eyes…oh, and it has two claws as well?” “Slitherslitherslither…” The giant red snake slowly began to move. Its enormous serpentine head raised high as it stared at Ning. Its natural-born arrogance caused it to hold the human youth in front of it in no regard at all. According to its experience, those people in the tribes like this youth were all very weak. Even though this was the lair of the Ji clan, this sort of youth shouldn’t be that strong. Ning let out a light harrumph. The air in his chest came out as he breathed, shaping into two streams of energy that were visible to the naked eye. His entire body turned slightly red, and a powerful aura began to emanate from him. The distant giant red snake was startled. He could suddenly sense this young man in front of him had a terrifying aura that was no weaker than its own. “Recently, I haven’t had a lot of practice with the [Raindrop Sutra]. I’ll use you to train it.” Ning suddenly moved forward by several dozen meters, the sharp sword in his hand stabbing out at the giant scarlet snake at lightning speed. The giant scarlet snake sent its two massive sharp claws at its thorax directly towards Ning in an arcing slash. “Shua! Shua! Shua!” Sword flashing hundreds of times like a fog of light, one stab after another was delivered towards the giant red snake. The giant red snake only dodged three sword attacks aimed at its vitals, taking the rest of the attacks head on. Only a few white spots appeared on its scales. This caused the giant red snake to unconsciously underestimate the strength of this young human by a bit. “Wu…..” A strange rumble sound. It was the sound of Ning’s sharp sword slashing through the air, instantly slashing towards the giant red snake’s chest, suddenly creating a two meter long massive wound. The scales split open, and the muscles beneath were torn apart, and fresh red blood instantly spewed out. “Roaaar!” The giant red snake was instantly shocked. How was it that the youth in front of him had suddenly become so powerful? ….. Ning was no longer the callow youth who had battled against the Howling Moonwolf. His constant battles against monstrous beasts had given him much experience. Right now, he was actually only using half of 186 his strength, but because the [Shadewind Steps] and the [Raindrop Sutra] all were quite exquisite in the application of force, he still wasn’t at any disadvantage. First, Ning utilized a chain of attacks, ‘Drizzling Rain’, but against this giant red snake, it proved useless. Then, Ning used the vicious, powerful killing attack, ‘Rain Line’, which was the technique Ning used to leave that massive, large wound on the giant red snake. Next, Ning used the penetrating ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’ attack. Following that, Ning blocked the wild attacks of the giant red snake by using the technique, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’. The [Raindrop Sutra] had a total of nine stances. These stances were, ‘Drizzling Rain’, ‘Tempest Curtain’, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, ‘Watertight’, ‘Rain Line’, ‘Eternally Fresh Waterflow’, ‘Merciless Waterflow’, and ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’! Some were attack stances, some were defensive stances. Even the attack stances, however, included defensive components. The profoundness of this technique constantly caused Ning to sigh in amazement and be mesmerized. After all, he hadn’t even reached the level of ‘expertise’ in this technique, and although his own father, Yichuan, had reached the level of ‘mastery’ long ago, his father was still studying the [Raindrop Sutra], because the more one reflected on the [Raindrop Sutra], the more one realized how boundless its scope was. “This technique, ‘Thin Unending Waterflow’, should be an unrestrained, free-willed attack.” Under the attacks of this monstrous beast with Fiendgod lineage, Ning occasionally had some insights with regards to his sword techniques. But the giant red snake, by contrast, was growing furious! It could tell that this human youth was using it to train in swordplay. Although there were many wounds on its body already, none of them were lethal. But the youth in front of him had only suffered a few light wounds…which instantly healed in the blink of an eye. The youth in front of it was so terrifying that its heart quailed, while at the same time, it felt fear that it was going to die at the hands of this human youth. But even if it was going to die, its inborn arrogance and pride wouldn’t allow it to be toyed with to death. “Roaaaaar.” The giant red snake suddenly let out a wild, earthshaking howl, filled with rage, unwillingness, and carried with it the knowledge of its death. ….. The howl split the air. In the air above the inner reaches of the Ji clan, there were many clouds. Within one of the clouds was the black Winged Snake. “Roaaaar.” By the time this howl made it to the heavens, it was very weak, but Serpentwing was an extremely sensitive Diremonster. In addition, the roar was the familiar voice of its child. “It is Redtip! My son!” Serpentwing was instantly certain of this. It had been searching around the inner city the entire time, and from kilometers away, its gaze had clearly made out the building known as the Cage. But because of the fog and because of all the steel chains above the cage, it simply couldn’t tell what the Cage actually was. But just at that moment… Upon hearing the sound, it immediately knew that the sound was coming from that cage area! “There it is!” Serpentwing immediately charged down, its body still wrapped by clouds and fogs, shrouding it from view. …. Within the cage. Ning, hearing the grief-stricken, enraged howl of the giant red snake, knew how the giant red snake was feeling. Immediately, a sharp sword appeared in his left hand as well. “Since you beg for death, then die!” Shua! Ning suddenly transformed into a tempest and charged at the giant red snake. Sword light flashed! [Thunderflame Sword] – Thunderflash Flint! Blazing Thunderclap! [Raindrop Sutra] – Merciless Waterflow! Raindrop Pierces Rocks! Shua! The red eyes in the upraised head of the giant red snake slowly dimmed. There was a deep hole in its head now, which had pierced straight through its skull. And then, its massive body collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud, causing the earth to shake. Fresh blood flowed outwards, staining the ground in a river of red blood. “Mm.” Ning looked at the corpse of the massive red snake, then inspected its wound. He was studying how effective his killing blow had been. “Blazing Thunderclap truly is a powerful attack. It actually drilled such a massive hole into the snake’s chest. It almost split the snake in half.” Ning nodded as he continued to inspect the damage. “Merciless Waterflow and Thunderflash Flint can both be described in one word; fast! Merciless Waterflow is both fast and agilely unpredictable, while Thunderflash Flint is fast and explosive.” “Raindrop Pierces Rocks has good penetrative ability. It was easily able to pierce through this snake’s skull.” Ning nodded. In the air above the cage, a massive creature was descending through the clouds. Compare to Serpentwing, his child, Redtrip, was nothing more than a tadpole! Serpentwing’s scarlet eyes could already see through the chains of the cage to the scene below. It saw the desolate, miserable sight of the blood-splattered serpent corpse lying on the soft earth, and as it saw this, it felt a terrible fire suddenly fill its consciousness. “My child!” Serpentwing had gone totally mad. “Human, pay for my child’s death!” Bang! The powerful energy vibrations coming from above the cage made Ning raise his head to take a look. “What?!” Ning immediately saw that hundreds of meters away, within the clouds, an enormous serpent with barely visible pair of giant wings was staring at him. The creature was currently charging downwards at him…its wingspan alone was larger than the entire cage. The red-eyed snake’s eyes were filled with boundless killing intent. Ning was shocked, and he understood…that the creature charging down from above was here to kill him! “Not good. Flee!” Ning turned his head and immediately wanted to flee! But just as he wanted to flee, he realized that the corridor he had come through had been shut. Generally speaking, during cage battles, they would always be shut, to prevent someone from fleeing before the battle was over! Only after obtaining victory would Ning order people to open the tunnel…but he just killed the giant red snake moments ago, and hadn’t had the chance to give the order yet. In addition, as he had started the cage battle, he had forbidden others from watching him. Generally speaking, only his father watched. After all, his true power was something that had remained a secret all along. For example, the fact that he used twin swords or that he could use ordinary swords to kill a peak Houtian level Godbeast…these were all secrets. The outside world still believed that Ning relied on sharp precious weapons to slay Godbeasts. “Shua!” “Shua!” Ning immediately threw away the two swords in his hands, and instantly, two more swords appeared; the Darknorth swords! “Break!” Ning exploded forth with all his power, hacking away at the thick chains above him, while also calling out frantically at the top of his lungs, “FATHER!” The sound rang out, but the speed of sound was actually slower than the downward charging speed of Serpentwing. “Dangdangdang!” Ning’s Darknorth swords wildly chopped against the steel chain net up above. In the past, his father, Yichuan had said this: “Given your strength…if you are to use the power within the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and use your full strength, you should be able to break apart the chains. But a web like this formed from many chains…you will probably need the span of ten breaths before you are able to break enough chains to escape.” But now that Ning had the Darknorth swords. They were indeed sharp. Dangdangdang…one chain after another was shattered, but there were simply too many of them. To break enough to allow him to escape would probably require the span of one breath. One breath? The terrifying creature charging from above wouldn’t even need a second before arriving! “No time.” Even as Ning was chopping the steel chains, he immediately understood this. The massive scaled wings sliced through the air, striking against the chain of webs. These steel chains, which were incomparably tough for Ning, were extremely feeble in the face of this attack of a thousand year old monster. With a series of shattering sounds, countless chains broke apart and flew everywhere. And then, the scaled wings swept directly against Ning. “Pay with your own life for my son’s!” Serpentwing’s red eyes stared wildly at Ning. “Dodge.” Twin swords in his hands, Ning quickly dodged while at the same time, using the same technique with both swords; ‘Thin Unending Waterflow’. His sword flashed, receiving the scaled wing that came from above. One layer of sword flash after another intersected, and both swords combined, forming an endless web of sword light. It was as though multiple layers of silk were being wrapped around the opponent’s attack, restricting it. He launched ten of these attacks in a row! “Bang!” The massive scaled wing smashed down upon the twin Darknorth swords, and the power of this strike caused Ning to instantly feel the bones in his wrists splitting apart. And then, the blade-like edges of the wing cleaved down upon the dodging Ning, slashing straight through the Goldstar Shirt. Pu! Fresh blood sprayed out, and his left arm, still clutching a Darknorth sword, went flying. Ning’s entire body was sent smashing into the blackwater iron wall, creating a human-shaped impression into the wall. Ning vomited out a large mouthful of blood from his lips. “Hu!” Serpentwing raised its scaled wings again, preparing to deal yet another cleaving blow. “This is the moment!” The now one-armed Ning gritted his teeth, then suddenly scurried out like a massive grasshopper through the broken cage. [Shadewind Steps]. He used this footwork technique to its absolute limits, flashing out like a streak of azure light, fleeing outside. “Die!” A violent wind attacked. Looking behind him, Ning saw an enormous black blur sweep towards him. That was the massive serpent tail of Serpentwing. This whipping attack by Serpentwing’s tail was even faster and even fiercer than the attack of his scaled wings! The air it passed through exploded with terrifying sonic booms, and the tough marble stones of Dragon Castle began to split apart… The enormous black tail was everywhere, surrounding Ning. Given Ning’s speed, there was simply no way he would be able to dodge this attack at all. “I’m finished!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within his courtyard, Yichuan was currently wielding a blue longsword, chopping and piercing against a tree trunk. Chop, pierce, scrape, slice…he only used these most basic of movements and didn’t even use much force, and so the tree trunk only had some scratches appear on its surface. His wife, Snow, held a bottle of water nearby, watching her man train with a smile on her face, occasionally sprinkling some water on the nearby flowers and grass. “Hrm?” Yichuan and Snow simultaneously turned to look in the same direction. Both of them sensed a vibration of energy. “Dragon Castle.” Yichuan and Snow simultaneously leaped onto the rooftop of the building, staring at the distant Dragon Castle. Dragon Castle was built in a fairly out-of-the-way location in the inner city, at least two kilometers or so away from where Yichuan and his wife lived. They saw… In the air above Dragon Castle was the enormous Serpentwing. Serpentwing’s scaled wings were currently covering the entirety of Dragon Castle, and a bloodstained youth with only one arm was scurrying out of Dragon Castle at high speed, while an enormous draconic tail flashed towards him like lightning. Snow’s eyes instantly turned red. She let out an agonized howl. “Ning!” But the distance was too far. There was no time at all! “Vermin!” Yichuan exploded with anger, letting out a sudden, ferocious chop with the blue sword in his hands. Hua! A brilliant wave of blue light flew out from his sword. The three hundred meter long wave of blue light was even slightly larger than Serpentwing itself! It slashed through the air, chopping directly towards Serpentwing. Pengpengpeng! The distant tail of Serpentwing, in the blink of an eye, was struck dozens of times. The entire Dragon Castle exploded and collapsed, sending large amounts of rocks flying everywhere. Many of the servants, guards, and members of the Ji clan who lived around Dragon Castle were injured or wounded, and their blood splashed everywhere. Even some of the monstrous beasts inside the beast tunnels were killed by the impact. ….. Just as Ning scurried out of the cage, he was attacked by the massive tail of the serpent. Ning knew that in front of this Winged Snake monstrosity, the Goldstar Shirt of his might as well have been paper. All he had was a peak Houtian level Fiendgod body….he probably would be smashed into a pile of pulverized flesh in an instant. “No.” Ning simply couldn’t accept this. In this life, he had such a healthy, strong body, had a pair of doting parents, and had the chance to train to become an Immortal, to control his own destiny. He had trained for so long…and everything was just starting. He truly couldn’t accept this! “Dodge!” Ning used the [Shadewind Steps] with all his might. Quick, quicker, quicker! “Hu!” “Hu!” The wind was howling! Hu! Ning’s body was howling as well! “Bang!” The serpent’s tail came smashing down. It scraped past Ning, then smashed against the thick marble rocks of Dragon Castle. Instantly, the entire Dragon Castle had shuddered and large amounts of marble rock had shattered and been sent flying everywhere. “You managed to dodge?” The red-eyed Serpentwing howled, “You were lucky enough to dodge once, but do you think you’ll dodge twice?” Bang! The serpent tail swung down at him again! But Ning was like a piece of paper, fluttering about in the breeze, as agile as the wind, as unpredictable as a shadow. The serpent tail once again missed Ning, smashing against Dragon Castle once more. “Impossible!” Serpentwing was now truly enraged. It was a Diremonster who had trained for thousands of years and had reached the late-stage Xiantian level. It was many times more powerful than those ordinary early-stage Xiantian Diremonsters. For someone of its power, killing a youth should be simplicity itself, much like how it has easily slaughtered those thousands of tribesmen in the Goldblade Tribe. Pengpengpeng! Serpentwing wildly struck everywhere with its tail, and its wings struck out as well. The entire Dragon Castle was shuddering and on the verge of collapse, and large amounts of stones were flying everywhere. Many servants and black armored riders lost their lives… “Diediedie!” Serpentwing was frantic. A wild cold aura emanated from him, and the temperature dropped, causing some servants to immediately freeze to death. The black poisonous mist came out, and the surrounding Houtian level lifeforms all were poisoned to death. But Ning continued to dodge time and time again in that massive cloud of dust. The cold aura could freeze to death those peak Houtian Ki Refining warriors, but Ning, who trained in the Fiendgod Body Refining technique, his body was more than a hundred times stronger than those Houtian Ki Refiners. These large-scale cold air and poison gas attacks couldn’t harm him at all. “Like the wind. Like the shadows.” “Shadewind Steps.” “This is the Shadewind Steps. The true Shadewind Steps.” Ning totally immersed himself in it, allowing those strikes from the enormous Serpentwing to come as they will, allowing the scaled wings to slash at him as they pleased. He simply followed the natural force of the wind and borrowed it, and also the force of the wind created by his opponent, Serpentwing, to dodge agilely time and time again. He moved like a shadow. Serpentwing couldn’t hit him, no matter how he tried. He moved like the wind. Ning’s body flickered everywhere with such gentle ease, as though he were a leaf that was being blown by the gentle wind. “One with the world!” “This youngster has actually reached the level of ‘one with the world’? His footwork is at the ‘one with the world’ level?” The vicious, otherworldly ancient monster, Serpentwing, was finally certain that this human youth who had killed his son had actually reached the level of ‘one with the world’. This was a level which this old monster hadn’t reached yet, despite having trained for thousands of years.” One with the world! Generally speaking, only Zifu Disciples were at the ‘one with the world’ level, while some powerful Xiantian lifeforms would also reach the ‘one with the world’ level. Humans naturally had a greater potential for insight than monsters! Only the likes of Godbeasts were on par with humans in terms of understanding. “Damnable.” The ancient monster, Serpentwing, knew that in a short period of time, he wouldn’t be able to kill this human youth. “Vermin!” An enormous blue sword light attacked. The ancient monster, Serpentwing, swung his tail towards that blue sword light, not caring about it at all. “Yichuan, do you think that your sword light can harm me from a distance of two kilometers?” Bang! Dark green blood splattered everywhere, and wherever the blood splattered, the ground hissed and bubbled. The marble and the blackwater iron all quickly dissolved. That enormous, thick tail had been cut so deeply, it was nearly severed in half. “How could it be this powerful?” Serpentwing was truly frightened. The number one expert of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture truly was too terrifying. “Hu!” “I’ll let you live for now!” Serpentwing tossed Ning a furious glare, and then with a beat of its two wings, flew into the sky at high speed. “Vermin!” “Serpentwing, you dare to barge into the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, and you think you can flee?” “Die!” From multiple areas in the inner city, there erupted furious roars, including those of Ji Lee and Ji Young, as well as dozens of Xiantian lifeforms, all of whom shouted at him. “Loan me your Azure Firebird.” Yichuan transformed into a ray of light, flying onto a giant blue bird that was in mid-flight, which had a blue fire blazing on its tail. On the back of this blue bird, there was a woman dressed in black. “Yichuan, I’ll come with you.” The black-clothed woman said in her hoarse voice. “Let’s go.” Yichuan swept the area below with his gaze. Seeing his son standing within the rubble of Dragon Castle, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief…but seeing the bloodstained severed arm of his son, he felt his fury blaze up once more. “Hu!” Yichuan and the black-clothed woman, riding the Azure Firebird, tore through the air, pursuing in the direction of the fleeing Serpentwing. As for the other Xiantian level people in the West Prefecture, all of them were roaring with fury. A Diremonster had dared to barge into the inner city of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture City? This was totally against all reason! But humans at the Xiantian level were not capable of flight yet, and so they could only watch as Yichuan and his companion flew on the back of the Azure Firebird in pursuit of Serpentwing. ….. Ning remained within that state of being ‘one with the world’. He could sense the strength of the wind, and he could borrow that strength to become as carefree as the wind itself. He could even borrow the attacking strength of the enemy to dodge the enemy’s attacks, as though he were the enemy’s shadow. “Ah.” “Ah!” A feeble moan caused Ning to look around him. The entire Dragon Castle had been reduced to rubble. A large number of servants and black armored riders had died gruesome deaths, either smashed, frozen, or poisoned to death. The sight was unbearable to see. The joy he felt at having the ‘one with the world’ level of the [Shadewind Steps] faded away. Ning ground his teeth. With a leap, he entered the field of rubble. He began kicking aside pieces of rock, and quickly found his severed left arm, then re-absorbed the Darknorth sword his left arm was clutching back into his kalestone. And then, Ning grabbed his severed left arm with his right arm, pressing it against the stump. By now, the severed stump was no longer bleeding any more. “Connect.” Ning connected the severed arm to the stump, and then extended the Goldstar Shirt to quickly encapsulate his left arm as well, putting it back into position. Even in his previous life, a severed hand or arm that had only been severed recently could be reattached. Ning currently had the body of a Fiendgod. A severed arm only needed a few hours to be regrown, much less a severed arm that was being reattached…Ning could clearly sense his muscles and flesh rapidly grow back, and his bones were quickly reaching out and connecting as well. His arm had already been reattached, but he would still need a little bit longer before reaching his perfect state. “Ning!” A somewhat frantic sound rang out. Ning raised his head up. He saw an old man who wore a dark red beast fur pelt standing in the rubble looking down at him. This man was the Prefecture Lord, Ji Young. Prefecture Lord Young saw that Ning was unharmed, and only then let out a sigh of relief. “As long as you aren’t hurt. As long as you aren’t hurt.” “Ning.” An agonized shout. Ning didn’t have the chance to speak with the Prefecture Lord. He hurriedly made his way out from the debris field, and saw from far away his mother running towards him, her face covered with bitter tears. “Mother.” Ning called out repeatedly. Seeing her son standing there, Snow instantly began to shed tears of joy. Ning quickly ran towards his mother at high speed, then hugged her. Snow hugged her son back. “Wonderful, wonderful. I was so frightened just now. If anything had happened to you, I really don’t know what I would’ve done.” “Mother, I’m fine.” Ning said repeatedly. “Your arm?” Snow looked carefully at her son’s left arm. “It’s fine. Look.” Ning waved his left arm around. The bones and flesh of his left arm had been totally connected by now, and even the cells had been 80% regenerated. Most likely, in just a little bit longer, he would be in perfect condition. Only now did Snow completely relax. She knew how powerful her son’s recuperative ability was, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. “What happened? How could this Diremonster, Serpentwing, dare to have the temerity to attack our Ji clan’s Western Manor?” A heroic voice rang out, and the red-haired viper elder, Ji Lee, came running over, his face filled with fury. “This vermin is asking to be killed. Also, we need to immediately investigate why it charged and attacked our Ji clan’s Western Prefecture City.” “It is indeed strange. Doesn’t Serpentwing know that by acting in such a way, it has fully infuriated the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture?” A skinny old man with a scar over his forehead said coldly. One Xiantian individual after another walked over. Seeing the destroyed Dragon Castle and the large number of corpses and bloodstains, the dozens of Xiantian individuals had very ugly looks on their faces. As the administrators of this large expanse of land, it had been a long time since a Diremonster had dared to attack the West Prefecture. Every single expert of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture felt both fury and shame. “It must die!” “We absolutely must kill that Diremonster, Serpentwing.” “Kill it!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The flames on the plumage of the Azure Firebird swirled around it as it flew in the skies, the desolate winds howling past it as it chased after that giant scaled and winged serpent. On the back of the Azure Firebird were two figures who were each half-kneeling; Ji Yichuan, and that black-clothed woman. The black-clothed woman stared at the rapidly fleeing Serpentwing. “Yichuan, this Serpentwing is a late-stage Xiantian level Diremonster. It is quite a bit stronger than my Azure Firebird. Although the Azure Firebird is good at long-distance flight, it’ll still be hard to catch up. “Lady Flower, I’ll handle this.” Yichuan’s face was as cold as ice. From within his hands, a silver greatbow suddenly appeared out of nowhere, while in his left hand was an arrow. Hua…. The bow was fully drawn. Yichuan stared coldly at the fleeing Serpentwing. “Swish!” The arrow suddenly transformed into a ray of light, streaking towards the fleeing Serpentwing. At such a short range, the terrifying speed at which Yichuan had launched this arrow, combined with Serpentwing’s massive body, meant that there was no way it could dodge. In terms of pure archery skill, Yichuan was perhaps inferior to Blindfish. But most of the men of the Ji clan were skilled in archery, and this arrow of Yichuan’s…in terms of speed, was even faster than Blindfish’s! “Bang!” The arrow struck Serpentwing’s body, then instantly exploded, creating an enormous, bloody hole. A massive, bone-exposing wound was revealed on the serpent’s body, and it seemed as though with just one more arrow, this serpent would completely explode from the inside. Actually, Yichuan’s arrow had been aimed at those bony wings. But Serpentwing knew…once his scaled, bony wings were injured, he wouldn’t be able to flee. Thus, he had used his own serpentine body to block the arrow instead. “Crackle…” The flesh on the serpent’s body quickly closed, and blood stopped flowing. Serpentwing continued to flee wildly. “Yichuan, your Ji clan killed my son. Can it be that you won’t let me seek revenge?” Serpentwing shouted backwards. “Vermin, if you let yourself die peacefully, I’ll let you die fast. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you regret it.” Halfkneeling on the back of the Azure Firebird, Yichuan once more nocked that silver greatbow. Serpentwing hurriedly moved to dodge. Bang! Yet another arrow blasted against Serpentwing’s body. Serpentwing howled in agony, and his heart was frantic. “Yichuan is the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, true, but how can he be this powerful? Earlier, from the great distance of two kilometers, the sword flash of Yichuan’s had still been powerful enough to injure me severely. And now, a single arrow of his can injure me. Even a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster is only at most able to hold me down; there’s no way one would be able to demolish me so easily!” Serpentwing’s courage had been entirely shattered by that sword flash from earlier. A sword flash that could heavily injure him despite having come from over two kilometers away. If it was executed at a closer distance, wouldn’t it have killed him in one blow? “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” Yichuan fired one arrow after another, and Serpentwing could only grit his teeth and use his body to block it. Fortunately, his massive body was hundreds of meters long. Although his enormous body now had over ten massive craters in it, given his powerful life force, he could still maintain his high speed flight. Soon, the wide expanse of earth below gave way to a wide lake. “Hu!” Serpentwing immediately charged downwards. “Serpentwing Lake.” Yichuan and the black-clothed woman’s faces both changed. Serpentwing Lake was over a hundred kilometers long. One couldn’t even see the ends of the lake…and what’s more, it was Serpentwing’s lair. Hua… The enormous Serpentwing plummeted down from the skies, diving into the lake. A few large waves arose, but the creature itself had disappeared. As for the Azure Firebird, it continued to hover in the air above Serpentwing Lake. “Yichuan, what should we do?” The black-clothed woman asked. “Fled?” Yichuan stood on the back of the Azure Firebird, staring down at the massive lake. He said coldly, “He thinks that just because he is hiding in the water that I won’t be able to do anything to him? Lady 200 Flower, loan me the Azure Firebird for now. I’d like to trouble you, Lady Flower, to immediately return to the West Prefecture…and have my spirit-beast, the serpent, come over. “Alright.” The black-clothed woman nodded. Swish! The black-clothed woman transformed into a streak of light, flashing across the surface of the lake, then disappearing into the distance. …. In the depths of Serpentwing Lake. The enormous Serpentwing lay coiled at the bottom, occasionally licking some of its enormous wounds with its tongue. His enormous life force and regenerative force was causing his wounds to quickly grow stronger, and his flesh was visibly regrowing and extending. “Ji Yichuan.” Serpentwing’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “How can he be this powerful? That Ji Lee is the number two expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. In the past, when we fought against each other, he only had somewhat of an advantage over me…but most likely, if this Yichuan is allowed to draw close to me, he would be able to kill me with one blow of his sword. How can the difference be this great?” Before this, Serpentwing had been confident in his fleeing abilities. As he viewed it, he was a late-stage Xiantian-level Diremonster. Even if he ran into a terrifying peak Xiantian-level creature…he would at most be at an disadvantage. He would still be able to flee. As long as he wasn’t attacked by an entire group of Xiantian life forms, he should be fine. But that sword of Yichuan’s had scared him silly. “Groooowl.” “Gaaaaaa!” The monsters within Serpentwing Lake all began to howl fiercely. This sound instantly caused great shock to Serpentwing, deep within the waters of the lake. He could understand those monstrous cries. “A Diremonster has come?” Serpentwing was greatly shocked. “Right, one of the Diremonsters that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture has tamed is a water-type Diremonster.” Some monsters were avian-types, skilled at flight. Others were water-types, extremely powerful in the water. Some non-water races, upon entering the water, would see their power drop! For example, Yichuan…in the water, his speed probably would be less than a tenth of his usual speed. But in the water, Serpentwing would be even faster than on land! Even if Yichuan were to use his sword techniques, with the water blocking him, the power of his techniques would be much lower as well. Of course, although the power of Yichuan’s sword techniques would be greatly reduced, he could still kill Serpentwing! The problem was that in the water, he would be completely unable to catch Serpentwing. No matter how powerful his sword techniques were, it would be of no use. …. “Brother Black, go search and find that Serpentwing.” Yichuan stood on the surface of the lake, but didn’t sink down at all. “Although he is more powerful than you, he is badly wounded. In addition, after finding him, you just need to tie him down for a while and prevent him from escaping. I will immediately charge over and slay him.” “Leave it to me.” The coiled black serpent nodded on the surface of the lake, then immediately sank its entire body into the depths, beginning to search within Serpentwing Lake. Those lesser monsters in the lake all fled in every direction, screaming in terror. “Azure Firebird.” Yichuan looked at the Azure Firebird above him. “Stay up there and keep a lookout. Once Serpentwing flees from the lake, immediately chase after and kill him.” “Alright.” The Azure Firebird spoke in a soft voice, then rose at a high speed. Yichuan’s face was grim. Wielding his blue longsword, he paced about on the surface of the lake as though it were flat land. One step at a time, he walked, leaving faint ripples on the surface. His cold gaze stared at his surroundings, as though he could see straight through the lake water to the depths of the lake. ….. Ji clan’s West Prefecture. It was dark now, and the commotion caused by Serpentwing’s attack in the Ji clan’s West Prefecture had died down as well. “Father.” Ji Jadewich, his hair parted into dozens of braids, was seated on his knees. After draining all of the wine in his beast-skull goblet, he said, “Serpentwing, that Diremonster, has already fled back to his lair. Serpentwing Lake is extremely large, and so deep that the bottom cannot be seen. If it makes up its mind to hide, a single black serpent searching by itself will find it hard to locate him. Although Yichuan is extremely powerful, it will still be very hard for him to kill that Serpentwing.” Lee nodded, but he was frowning. He hadn’t touched any of the wine or meat in front of him. Clearly, he was frustrated by something. “Father?” Jadewich looked questioningly at his father. Frowning, Lee let out a low sigh. “His sword flash travelled a distance of over two kilometers, but was still able to heavily wound Serpentwing, a Diremonster. The power of that sword has essentially surpassed the limits which a Xiantian lifeform can attain.” “Father, do you mean to say…” Jadewich was shocked. “Zifu Disciple?” Lee shook his head. “Hard to say! If Yichuan had opened his Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’, then he should be able to fly about on magic treasures. He wouldn’t just stand there and watch as that Serpentwing, which almost slew his son, turn tail and run away. But if he hasn’t opened his Zifu…the power of his sword attack remains ridiculously large. Thus, I feel puzzled and unable to understand it.” “Also!” “I saw that Ji Ning had his arm severed, but in the blink of an eye, by the time the dust had settled and I rushed over there, Ning was totally fine.” Lee was frowning. Many Xiantian-level people had seen Ning’s severed arm lying there in the rubble. “The son of Ji Yichuan, Ji Ning, should be training in some sort of Fiendgod Body Refining.” Jadewich nodded. “In addition, he has already reached an exceedingly high level, for him to be able to re-connect a severed arm. Only, I am puzzled…how did Ning manage to survive the attack of Serpentwing on Dragon Castle?” “I don’t understand either.” Lee sighed. “I suppose he is lucky.” Why was Ning able to survive? Perhaps it was because Serpentwing knew who Ning was and thus was afraid to kill him. Perhaps it was because Ning had powerful lifeforce as a Fiendgod Body Refiner and thus was luckily able to survive. Perhaps it was because Ning had some sort of protective treasure given to him by his parents. The experts of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture were all abuzz, guessing wildly over the reason, but none of them guessed that the merely ten year old Ning had already reached the level of ‘one with the world’ in terms of footwork. …… Ning was currently in the middle of his training area, displaying his Shadewind Steps. In the hundreds of meter wide training field, a blurred form was moving about at high speed. As it did…Shua! Shua! Shua! Dozens of Ning’s appeared out of nowhere. “Ning.” A voice rang out. Ning immediately came to a halt. “Mother.” Ning immediately went over to welcome her. Yuchi Snow slowly walked over, filled with joy as she stared at her son. After suffering from Serpentwing’s attack, during the day, the Ji clan had prepared a series of cremations and memorial ceremonies for the deceased black armored riders and clansmen killed during the attack. At that time, Ning had secretly informed his mother that his footwork had already reached the ‘one with the world’ level. But of course, his mother was the only one he told! At just ten years of age, he had reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Snow had been to many areas of the Grand Xia Dynasty, but she had almost never seen someone as monstrous as this. Actually, because Ning had utilized the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique since birth, his soul was extremely powerful. In addition, he had painstakingly trained in the [Shadewind Steps] since he was young, and thus reached the ‘advanced’ level two years ago. In that moment where life and death hung in the balance, he had suddenly been able to sense the world and reached the ‘one with the world’ level. This was nothing more than success naturally arriving when the conditions were right. “Ning.” Snow looked at her son. “Your footwork has reached the ‘one with the world’ level. The next step will be to have your sword techniques also become ‘one with the world’. Do not slacken off.” “Yes, mother.” Ning nodded. For footwork to be at the ‘one with the world’ level meant for the man to become one with the world. But for the sword to be at the ‘one with the world’ level meant for the man, the sword, and the world to all become one. Naturally, it was considerably more difficult. “Mother.” Ning asked. “When will Father come back?” “Your father went to kill that Diremonster. After killing Serpentwing, he will come home, of course.” Snow said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The time passed, day after day. The days slowly grew colder, but his father still had not returned. The Ji clan of West Prefecture had long since sent a squad of black armored riders to surround Serpentwing Lake. Within the training yard. One sword attack after another howled and flashed through the air. Ning stood there by himself, training in the [Raindrop Sutra]. At this point, neither black armored riders nor powerful monstrous beasts…were of any use to Ning in terms of improving his swordplay. But his father, Yichuan, had yet to return. Thus, Ning could only train by himself. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf called out softly. “Hrm?” Ning looked at Autumn Leaf, who had a nervous, uncertain look on her face. Frowning, Ning sheathed his Darknorth swords. “Autumn Leaf, what is it?” “Young master…” Autumn Leaf said in a low voice. “Spring Grass’s father requests to see you, young master.” “Who?” Ning was stunned. “Spring Grass’s father.” Autumn Leaf’s voice grew slightly louder. “Her biological father!” Ning was shocked. “Spring Grass has a father?” His two personal maids had been slaves their entire lives. When they were very young, they were sold to the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. “Where is Spring Grass?” Ning asked. “Spring Grass didn’t dare to come see you, young master.” Autumn Leaf said in a low voice. “I could tell that actually, Spring Grass would rather like to see her father, but her status…makes her afraid to say it.” Ning suddenly remembered something. Right. Strictly speaking, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf were his maidservants, and their lives were under his control. From the day they were sold as slaves, they no longer had any contact with their parents. However, people were not like trees or grass; they had feelings. “Go and bring Spring Grass’ father here.” Ning chuckled. “Since he wants to meet me, then let him meet me.” “Yes.” Autumn Leaf’s face was covered with joy and she immediately ran out. Ning called towards the outside of the yard, “Spring Grass, come in.” Outside the courtyard, a fur-clad female servant was standing there uncertainly. Hearing the young master’s shout, she had to walk inside. But her face was filled with nervousness and uncertainty…right now, Spring Grass felt many complicated emotions. She was excited, happy, nervous, embarrassed, guilty, and restless. “Young master.” Spring Grass looked at Ning. “Your father is here. If you want to meet him, you can.” Ning laughed. “But…but I was bought by the Ji clan.” Spring Grass bit her lips. “Hrm?” Ning frowned slightly. “Do my words no longer carry weight around here?” “Understood, young master.” Spring Grass glanced at Ning, her heart filled with gratitude. Actually, she had long ago sensed that this most brilliant talent of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the youngster who would one day become Prefecture Lord, didn’t treat her and Autumn Leaf like most masters treated their servants. “He’s here.” Ning looked outside, and immediately saw two figures walking into the courtyard. The one in front was Autumn Leaf, while the one behind was a tall, middle-aged man wearing black beast fur. This middle-aged man had some scars on his face, and his head was lowered, seeming rather nervous. “Young master, he’s here.” Autumn Leaf said respectfully. The scarred man hurriedly knelt down, pressing his head against the ground and also his two hands down on the ground in prostration. Extremely respectful, he said, “Blacktooth pays his respects to the mighty young master.” Seeing this, Spring Grass’ eyes couldn’t help but turn red. Ning glanced at Spring Grass, then said, “Please rise.” “Yes.” Only now did the scarred man rise, and as he did, he saw Spring Grass standing by Ning’s side. Father and daughter’s gazes met, and instantly, tears began to flow down both their faces. The scarred man quickly recovered, hurriedly wiping his tears away. “Why have you come here to my place?” Ning asked. The scarred man took a deep breath. “Blacktooth has come to your place, young master, because I wish to request that young master redeem my child, ‘Miwa’, back to me.” “Redeem?” Ning was surprised. Redeem? In the years since he had arrived in this world, he didn’t have many people whom he had close relationships with, but Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, in Ning’s heart, were like big sisters to him. “Father.” Spring Grass couldn’t help but shout out. It was generally possible to redeem an ordinary slave by paying a certain price, but what sort of status did young master Ji have? How could her father possibly redeem her? If the young master was angered, her father might immediately lose his life. At the same time, she fell to her knees with a thudding sound. “Young master, my father doesn’t understand anything. I beg you, young master, to pardon my father for his disrespect.” “Let him speak.” Ning looked at the scarred man. “If you have anything to say, say it. If you can convince me, I’ll agree. If you can’t…hmph.” The scarred man’s heart shook. He understood exactly how much power and authority this young man in front of him had. If this young man wanted his life, it would be simplicity itself to take it. But since he had chosen to come…he had made mental preparations! “Mighty young master.” The scarred man said respectfully, “Blacktooth will tell you everything in my heart.” Ning only looked at him. “I, Blacktooth, was once the son of a tribal chief.” The scarred man said slowly. “Within a mountain forest, the Blacktooth Tribe lived a peaceful life. We raised animals inside, and I led the mighty warriors of the tribe to pursue and kill monstrous beasts across the nearby land…and one day, we discovered in a secluded valley a large amount of naturally grown millet rice.” “The entire tribe was extremely excited and overjoyed with this discovery. With this supply of millet, the lives of our tribe would be much improved, and we would be able to have more tribesmen. However, this news was quickly discovered by another powerful tribe, the Blood Mosquito Tribe. One morning at dawn, when the sky was just beginning to brighten and many tribesmen were still asleep…” The scarred man’s eyes revealed a hint of bitterness and pain. “They ambushed our clan, slaughtering many of my tribesmen. Our power was far inferior to the Blood Mosquito Tribe to begin with, and we were ambushed. The few of us who were lucky enough to survive had to flee.” 207 “I fled with Miwa, encountering countless perils and dangers on the way before finally fleeing to the West Prefecture City.” The scarred man’s body was trembling slightly. “But my dearly beloved daughter and my tribal brothers had all died. I had to seek revenge, even if I died doing so. But Miwa was innocent and blameless. I hoped she would continue to live…so I sold her to the Ji clan. In the Ji clan, she would at least have a stable life.” Spring Grass was shaking as well, her tears pouring down. “Father, Father…” She could never forget… Forget those days of flight. Although she was still young, she would never forget the sight of her loved ones all dying, one after the other, and all her friends of the same age dying as well. Never forget her father desperately fighting to survive one terrible danger after another as they battled their way to the West Prefecture City. At that time, her father had only told her, “Miwa, Father needs to go do what must be done. Miwa, you need to continue to live a good life.” “Father, don’t leave Miwa, Father, Father!” The young Spring Grass had cried bitterly. The still-young Blacktooth had ground his teeth and then left. He had embarked on the road to revenge! “I hated…” The scarred man’s body was shaking. “I wanted to get revenge. Although I was a Ninefang Warrior, to the Blood Mosquito Tribe, I was nothing at all. After I killed four of my enemies, a red-furred Diremonster suddenly ambushed the Blood Mosquito Tribe. That bastard who had led the squad to destroy my homeland was devoured by that Diremonster in one gulp, and the Blood Mosquito Tribe was destroyed. The few lucky survivors of the Blood Mosquito Tribe all joined other tribes.” “I had no enemies left.” “I, who had nothing at all, did not have any way to redeem Miwa, so I became a travelling merchant.” The scarred man said. “After one life-and-death experience after another, I managed to find some of the scattered survivors of my tribe, and my merchant caravan became more and more powerful. I gained wealth, and thus alongside the scattered survivors, I founded a tribe…my own Blacktooth Tribe! And I, I became the new ‘Blacktooth’.” “While becoming a travelling merchant,” the scarred man looked at Ning, “I had the chance to chat with a servant of the Ji clan, and learned that Miwa had become the maidservant of you, young master Ji.” “After re-establishing the Blacktooth Tribe, I had done all that I had to do. I had done right by my father, and by the past generations of Blacktooths.” The scarred man looked at Ning. “Therefore, I have come. I have come to see my child, Miwa, whom I have seen in my dreams for these ten years. Even if I had to die, I would see Miwa.” 208 “My Miwa, my child…I want to be with her. She is the last kin who Blacktooth has.” The scarred man’s face was covered in tears. Spring Grass’s face had been covered in tears long ago, and she was bawling loudly. “Father.” Spring Grass ran over, embracing her agonized father. “Miwa.” The scarred man held his daughter as well. He had been waiting for this day for so long. Autumn Leaf, standing to one side, couldn’t help but cry as well. As for Ning, he sighed as he listened. The tribesmen had to fight against the heavens, the earth, and the monsters. Spring Grass’ father, ‘Blacktooth’, was the epitome of this. “Spring Grass.” Ning spoke out. “Do you wish to be together with your father?” Spring Grass bit her lips, unable to control the tears in her eyes. She fell to her knees. “Young master, please forgive Spring Grass! I truly do wish to be with my father, I truly do!” “Mighty young master.” The scarred man immediately fell to his knees as well. Ning looked at the two of them, father and daughter. The long time they had spent together had resulted in him loving Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf like a younger brother loving a pair of older sisters. He didn’t want Spring Grass to leave him, but he wanted Spring Grass to be mentally anguished even less. “Spring Grass, from today onwards, your liberty is restored to you. You can go with your father.” “Ah!” Spring Grass and Blacktooth were both stunned. Just like that, he had agreed? The two of them, father and daughter, could be together again? “Thank you, mighty young master. Blacktooth will forever remember your great benevolence, young master.” Blacktooth, on his knees, thanked him again and again. …. Under Ning’s instructions, Spring Grass had her liberty restored to her. As she left alongside her father, Spring Grass had called out to him, “Young master, Spring Grass will forever remember your kindness. Spring Grass will constantly pray for you to be blessed, young master, within the Blacktooth tribe. If in the future, young master, you ever pass by the Blacktooth Tribe, I hope you will be able to come pay a visit to Spring Grass.” 209 “Definitely.” Ning agreed. “We definitely will go.” Autumn Leaf was crying as well. She and Spring Grass truly were like sisters. ————- The days continued to grow colder. Ning’s mentality was changing as well. Spring Grass’ departure, her father’s experiences, Serpentwing’s attack, his father’s departure to kill the Diremonster, his inability to find an opponent to train his swordplay with within the Ji clan…all of these events caused Ning’s mentality to change. He had the feeling that perhaps the West Prefecture City was too small of a place. He wanted to go outside, wanted to see the wider world! He wanted to see how the tribes like the Blacktooth Tribe lived, and what their lives were like! He wanted to be like his father and go fight one Diremonster after another…he wanted to go adventure in this area of the world… “Ning, your father is back.” On this snowy day, Snow called out to her son. Only now did Ning see that in the skies above, his father was returning, half-kneeling on the back of that Azure Firebird. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The hall was very silent, with the thick candles flickering and casting their light everywhere. Ji Ning’s head was lowered as he devoured the food in front of him, quickly gulping down all of the meat and wine on the table. Today, they were celebrating his father’s return, so he actually had the rare chance to drink some wine. “Father.” Ning spoke out. “Mm.” Ji Yichuan frowned as he looked at his son. Ning could sense that his father wasn’t in a very good mood, because this attempt to kill Serpentwing had resulted in failure. To kill a late-stage water-type Xiantian level Diremonster which was hiding in the depths of a lake was simply too difficult. If the Ji clan of the West Prefecture truly wanted to directly slaughter Serpentwing, they could if they paid a large price for it, but clearly, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture wasn’t willing to pay that price. For the sake of their pride and honor, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had already wiped out the other creatures in Serpentwing Lake, then stationed soldiers all around Serpentwing Lake, as well as numerous Xiantian lifeforms, forcing Serpentwing to be afraid to leave Serpentwing Lake. This would be a long battle. Once Serpentwing became the slightest bit incautious, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s Xiantian lifeforms would immediately slaughter him. “I want to go out and adventure.” Ning spoke. “Adventure?” Yichuan frowned. Yuchi Snow said hurriedly, “Ning, you were just ambushed by Serpentwing. You should know how terrifying Diremonsters are. Outside the Western Prefecture…there are many Diremonsters lying in wait in the high mountains and the deep lakes. To go adventuring outside…you are still too young. Wait a few more years.” “In the West Prefecture, I no longer have anyone whom I can train myself against.” Ning shook his head. Yichuan snapped coldly, “How old are you? Wait until you are at least sixteen before going out and adventuring.” “But Father!” Ning said urgently, “I’ve been in the Western Prefecture since I was a child. I’ve always stayed in this small little area of the Western Prefecture. I want to see the countless tribes in the greater world. I want to be like Father, to go out and adventure, to experience danger, to go fight with those Diremonsters and kill them.” “Diremonsters? Just based on your little bit of power…” Yichuan shook his head. “What’s the problem with my strength?” Ning said hurriedly. “Even under Serpentwing’s full strength attacks, I was still able to survive. What’s the problem with my strength?” Yichuan was startled, and seemed to have suddenly thought of something. “Right. I haven’t had the chance to ask you. How did you survive Serpentwing’s attack?” The nearby Snow laughed. “Yichuan, you’ve been dealing with Serpentwing this entire time and hadn’t had the chance to come back, so we haven’t had the chance to tell you. Our son, in that moment of lifeand-death when being attacked by Serpentwing, has reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Relying on his ‘one with the world’ level of footwork, he was able to escape Serpentwing’s attacks. “One with the world?” Yichuan stared at Ning in astonishment. At merely ten years old, he had reached the level of ‘one with the world’ in footwork? “Receive three sword blows from me.” With a sudden flip of his hands, Yichuan made three hazy swordshadows suddenly appear and surround Ning, attacking as fast as lightning. Ning had been kneeling down at the dinner table. Now, he suddenly dodged aside gracefully, moving past those three hazy sword-shadows as gracefully as the wind. “What do you think?” Ning said proudly. “You really have reached it.” Yichuan stared at his son in amazement. “One with the world. Your footwork has reached the ‘one with the world’ level. Then your swordplay…isn’t too off from reaching the ‘one with the world’ level as well.” Yichuan looked as his son, his heart swelling with excitement as he quickly pondered. His son, Ning, had such a high level of talent. In the area around Swallow Mountain, he was definitely an extremely rare, monster of a talent. Such incredible talent couldn’t be treated as a normal person was! Given Ning’s rapid rate of improvement, there truly was nothing left in West Prefecture City which would prove useful for him in training. “If you want to go out and adventure, that isn’t completely out of the question.” Yichuan looked at his son. “But you need to accomplish a requirement of mine.” “Yichuan!” Snow was a bit frantic, but Yichuan stretched his hand out, stopping her. “Father, speak.” Ning was full of excitement. Yichuan nodded. “The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is hosted once every four years. It is a ceremony which all youths under the age of sixteen will participate in. I want you to seize the golden sword during this year’s Ceremony of the Golden Sword! As long as you are able to seize the golden sword, I will permit you to go out adventuring.” 212 “Golden sword?” Ning’s eyes lit up. He had known long ago about the agreement that if he could seize the golden sword, he would become the next Prefecture Lord. And during these recent years of training…his father had also spoken to him about this matter of ‘seizing the golden sword to become the Prefecture Lord’. “Seizing the golden sword is very easy.” Ning looked at Yichuan suspiciously. “Father, I only need to use perhaps a tenth of my full strength to seize the golden sword. This isn’t much of a test for me. Can it be that Father, you truly care so much about the Prefecture Lord position?” His father’s heart was totally set on the Immortal Path. Ning naturally also had the same desire to step on the Immortal Path. “Prefecture Lord position?” Yichuan shook his head. “You are the son of Ji Yichuan, my greatest pride. I trust that you will be able to go even farther than me…the position of Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture will only be a constraint on you. You will definitely spread your wings and fly higher.” Ning was confused. “Then Father, why do you wish me to go seize the golden sword?” “First, to let Ji Lee know that he can stop dreaming.” Yichuan said. “The second reason, you will discover after you seize the golden sword. So long as you can seize the golden sword, I will permit you to go out and adventure. But if you are unable to seize it, then be a good child and stay in the Western Prefecture City.” “Alright.” Ning grinned widely. The nearby Snow, on the other hand, was frantic. “Enough, you can go back and get some rest now.” Yichuan said. Ning immediately jumped up and returned to his room, overjoyed. In the main hall, Yichuan began to explain the reason for his actions to his wife, Snow. ….. The next morning. Dawn. While Ning was eating with his parents, Snow instructed him, “After seizing the golden sword, I won’t block you from going adventuring either, but you have to bring followers.” “Followers?” Ning said hurriedly. “But I’m going out to adventure. What’s the point of bringing a big group of followers?” 213 “You only need to bring two people.” Snow laughed. “The first is Autumn Leaf. She is familiar with your habits and can cater to your needs. The other servant would be Mowu. Mowu used to be a Ninefang Warrior of the black armored riders, and then he followed your father for a long time. He is extremely loyal. Although he isn’t as strong as you, he has abundant experience in adventuring in the wilds. Ning pondered for a while, then nodded. “Fine, I’ll bring them. I can’t bring any others though.” ….. “Young master, you are going to leave the Western Prefecture to go adventuring? And you are going to bring me along with you?” Autumn Leaf was extremely excited. Ever since she was brought into the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, she had not had a chance to leave the city for a long, long time. “Don’t just stand there, silly. Hurry up and get all the records on the Diremonsters in the area around Swallow Mountain from the library. Also get the records on the various tribes, and the maps as well. Move them all here.” Ning was feeling very intrepid as he instructed Autumn Leaf, “I need to get a good understanding and prepare a rough path of adventuring for myself.” “Yes, young master.” Autumn Leaf all but flew out. Autumn Leaf was Ning’s personal maidservant, and thus ever since she was young, she had been taught extremely good Ki Refining techniques, and thus was close to the peak of the Houtian level. For someone of her status, the personal maidservant of Ji Ning, she naturally would also be taught special techniques as well, permitting her, at a critical juncture, to sacrifice her life for the sake of her master. “Coming.” Autumn Leaf came back, carrying a high stack of books. With a thudding sound, she set them down on the ground. This huge stack of books had to be several hundred pounds. Ning hurriedly began to flip through them. One legendary Diremonster after another… Only now did Ning truly realize exactly how many Diremonsters lay hidden within the high mountains and the deep lakes. It was because Diremonsters were both abundant and very hard to deal with. Thus, the Diremonsters and the local hegemons such as the Ji clan actually had an unspoken understanding. Diremonsters usually wouldn’t wildly slaughter humans on a wide scale, while the Ji clan and the other hegemons wouldn’t go all out to slaughter the Diremonsters. Both sides would stay their hands, maintaining their superficial calm. Although some tribes would often be slaughtered and some Diremonsters would be killed…it was all within a manageable degree! There was an invisible line which neither the Ji clan and the other local hegemons, nor the Diremonsters, wished to cross. Once that line was crossed, then a true storm of blood would occur. “Blacktooth Tribe.” Ning pointed at the map. “This is the newest map of the territory of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and the Blacktooth Tribe is a newly erected, small tribe. It should be Spring Grass’ father’s tribe. It is right here, just a thousand kilometers away from us.” “Young master, young master, we have to go pay a visit to the Blacktooth Tribe and see Spring Grass.” Autumn Leaf said hurriedly. “Of course we’d have to go.” Ning nodded. “But we have to make an adventure of it. First we go here, then here, then here, and…here!” Ning pointed at one dangerous area after another, marked with black colors on the map. “Those are all places where Diremonsters are hiding.” Autumn Leaf cried out in shock. “Right.” Ning’s eyes were shining. “I’m going to go kill some Diremonsters! Don’t worry, the Diremonsters I’ve picked out are all early Xiantian level ones. They are much weaker than Serpentwing. I’ll fight them all, one after the other…until the time comes when I break through and become a Xiantian lifeform myself. After I become a Xiantian lifeform, it will be time to go to Serpentwing Lake.” Autumn Leaf said frantically, “Young master, Serpentwing is a late Xiantian level Diremonster.” “I have confidence.” Ning said. The number one Fiendgod Body Refining method, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], had boundless strength. Right now, despite only being at the third stage, he could already equal an ordinary early Xiantian level Ki Refiner! Once he broke through to the fourth stage, he would be on par with a late Xiantian level Ki Refiner. Even if he fought Serpentwing head on, he would be on par. But in terms of enlightenment, he was far superior to Serpentwing. “Diremonster. Serpentwing.” Ning’s eyes flashed with a hint of wildness. He couldn’t forget the scene of how Serpentwing had suddenly attacked him. “This time, when I go out and adventure, my final goal is you. I hope you won’t die before I reach you!” ————————- The Ji clan of the West Prefecture made preparations to welcome the arrival of the quadrennial Ceremony of the Golden Sword. The promising youths which the countless tribes had been preparing were all filled with eagerness, and they registered for it, one after the other. They wanted to defeat one opponent after another at the ceremony and become dazzling, glorious personages. They wanted to let their names spread throughout the countless tribes! “This time, after the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, I am going to go back to the tribe. I am definitely going to make it into the top eight, so that I will be able to learn the techniques for training to reach the Xiantian level. That way, in my lifetime, I’ll have the chance of becoming a Xiantian lifeform!” A youngster with pitch black skin, carrying a single blade on his back and dressed in ragged beast furs, with two leather shoes on his feet that had been almost worn through. “The name of Tigerhowl shall definitely spread throughout all of the tribes of this land!” “I am the strongest!” “This is my final chance to obtain a training manual for Immortal magic.” All the youths of the tribes were filled with their own desires, and they went to register for the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. This was a holy ceremony. A holy ceremony for countless tribal youths. The entire area under the dominion of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture and all of the young talents living in that area were going to participate in it. They desired to become famous, to obtain a profound Ki Refining technique from this Ceremony of the Golden Sword, or some other powerful techniques. These would become the powerful, awe-inspiring abilities they would rely on in the future. ….. “What? Ji Ning is participating in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword?” Ji Lee, who had just received this news, stared, and the scarlet viper looped in his ear also spoke. “He’s only ten years old. He absolutely could wait another four years to participate in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. Why is he participating now?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Jadewich sat in his usual spot, nursing a beastskull goblet. “Perhaps Ji Yichuan wants to let his son have an early try. After all, even if he fails, four years later, Ji Ning can try again.” “They have two chances, but I can’t fail even once.” Ji Lee revealed a hint of a smile on his face. “Fortunately, back then, I took in my adoptive son, Grizzly.” Immediately, Lee said to a nearby servant, “Have Grizzly come and see me!” “Yes, master.” The barefoot female servant bowed, then quickly left. Soon afterwards, a tall young man wearing golden furs came striding in. This youngster had a very fierce aura. His face was covered with golden fur, and his eyes also had a faint gold look to them, unlike ordinary people. At all times, he carried a pitch black straight saber on his back. He strode in, and as he did…he seemed like a skinny, golden grizzly bear. Although he was only thirteen, he was even slightly taller than Lee. “Father.” Grizzly called out respectfully. “Grizzly.” Lee looked at his adopted son, nodding in satisfaction. “The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is held once every four years. I will arrange for you to be registered in this year’s Ceremony of the Golden Sword. I only have one request: Seize the golden sword!” “Yes.” Grizzly’s voice was deep and thick. “Right.” Lee nodded with satisfaction. Of the many adoptive sons he had taken in, only a very few had made him satisfied, and amongst them, Grizzly was the one he was the most satisfied with. Lee had total confidence in Grizzly’s abilities to prevent Ning from seizing the golden sword in this year’s ceremony. Lee spoke again. “This time, the one you need to be careful of is the only son of Ji Yichuan – Ji Ning! Although he hasn’t experienced any real life-and-death battles yet, he has still trained in the highest class techniques of our Ji clan. Although the techniques I taught you are also top-class, compared to his, they are still slightly inferior.” Grizzly nodded. He understood. He was, after all, just an adopted son. But Ji Ning? He was the only son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, and also the heir presumptive of the position of Prefecture Lord. The difference in status between the two was simply too great. Ning could easily obtain the ultimate techniques of the Ji 217 clan, but he, an adopted child, couldn’t possibly be permitted to learn the most powerful techniques of a clan. “In addition, Ning just reached the level of ‘one with the sword’ this year.” Lee looked at his adoptive son. “Don’t be over-confident.” “I, your son, will definitely be victorious.” Grizzly growled. ————————— The Ceremony of the Golden Sword began! Large numbers of tribal youths were at the bottom, fighting against each other wildly. One youth after another was cast out, with the stronger ones left behind. After a full month of battles, finally, the most powerful eight youths were selected. Or, to be more precise…seven youths were selected. There was another person who was automatically registered as one of the final eight, without having to undergo any competitions. Ji Ning! Ji Ning, the only son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan! The most talented youngster of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. According to what the Ji clan of the West Prefecture said to the outsiders, Ji Ning was so powerful that he didn’t need to enter the competition at all. He could directly be included in the top eight. Anger? Injust? “Hrmph. On the last day, when he encounters the other seven experts, this Ji Ning will definitely be utterly thrashed.” “He really will stoop to nothing!” “He brings shame to the Ji clan!” Some of the tribal youths muttered secretly amongst themselves. Only a very, very few of the tribal youths had heard the news that Ji Ning had already reached the level of ‘one with the sword’. ————————- “Huahuahua….” The battle flag flapped loudly. The desolate, cold wind extinguished the furious flames in the hearts of many, because today would be the final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword! At the center of the wide training fields, there was an enormous dueling platform, with eight tribal youths standing below it. One of them was the beast fur clad Ning. Outside was a large number of black armored riders who surrounded the dueling platform protectively, preventing any of the tens of thousands of tribal youths and citizens of the West Prefecture City who had come to watch the battles from drawing any closer to the dueling area. “They are here.” “The Xiantian lifeforms have come.” The tens of thousands of spectators gathered here all became very excited. The Ceremony of the Golden Sword had proceeded for so long now, and usually, there weren’t so many spectators. But today was special! Because today was the final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, and the final eight competitors would, in the final contest, determine who was the most powerful and who would seize the golden sword. On the last day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, many legendary Xiantian lifeforms would also come and watch! “That person riding the long-necked monstrous beast, that’s the Heavenly Firehammer.” “The one riding that white tiger is the number one archer of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture!” “That…that’s the Fire God, Ji Lee!” “Look, Raindrop sword! Over there, the one with a big, snow-white dog next to him is the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan! The big snow-white dog next to him is a Xiantian lifeform, the ‘Whitewater Hound’!” “Prefecture Lord!” “The Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, has appeared as well!” “Why are there so many Xiantian lifeforms present? There’s too many of them!” “So many Xiantian lifeforms!” ….. Utter insanity. Utter pandemonium. The Ceremony of the Golden Sword was only held once every four years, after all. Generally speaking, only a few Xiantian lifeforms would come watch, but today, many legendary figures had come, such as the mysterious, rarely seen number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. Or the man as wild and as arrogant as a Fire God, Ji Lee! The ten overseers had all come, not a single one of them missing. This was because this wasn’t just a Ceremony of the Golden Sword. More importantly…this was a test and skirmish which would determine who the next Prefecture Lord would be! As long as Ning was able to seize the golden sword, then he would be the next Prefecture Lord. Since this event involved something as important as who the next Prefecture Lord would be, almost all of the Xiantian lifeforms in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture naturally came to witness it. “Today is the final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword.” A cold voice rang out from a woman with long hair that gleamed with blue light who stood on the dueling platform. “Now, let the eight youths ascend the platform.” Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Eight shadows leapt onto the dueling platform in succession. Ning glanced at them and found that virtually all the seven other opponents were staring at him. Clearly, all seven of them felt disdain for him being allowed to directly be placed amongst the final eight without having to advance through the many tiers of battle like they had. “Do you think I wanted it to be like this?” Ning pursed his lips. It had totally been the decision of Prefecture Lord Young for him to be designated as one of the eight. “However, these seven fellows really are tall. Even the shortest of them, a woman, is at least 1.7 meters, slightly taller than me…ugh, and this big, stupid fellow is probably 2.3 meters tall.” Although they were ‘youths’, all of them were very accomplished in their training, and most were almost sixteen. Only Ning was just ten years old. Naturally, he was the shortest of them. “The eight of you will fight each other, one at a time. The loser will leave, and the winner will remain, until four remain. And then, you will duel until only two remain, then finally, the strongest will be chosen.” The long haired woman said. Ning and the other seven youths were listening. Suddenly… “Halt!” A cold voice rang out. The spectating tribal youths and citizens of Ji clan of the West Prefecture all turned towards the sound of the voice. Even the long haired woman turned and frowned. She was a Xiantian level expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and she had only come to officiate today because it was the final day. Who was causing such a ruckus at a time like this? She turned her head and saw…that the speaker was a callouslooking man dressed in white fur. The long haired woman trembled. “The Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan.” “Raindrop Sword.” “The Raindrop Sword looks like a giant iceberg, just standing there. I feel my heart growing cold just looking at him.” The tens of thousands of spectators had excited looks in their eyes. All of the Xiantian experts present were like Fiendgods to them, but Ji Yichuan was the most dazzling expert in these lands, a legendary figure. Yichuan sat there and said coldly, “The final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword is for selecting the most powerful of the eight finalists to be the one to seize the golden sword. As I see it…let Ji Ning fight the other seven!” “One against seven?” The long haired woman was stunned. “But…but…” “What?!” “One against seven? The other seven are all highly talented youngsters.” “But!” A scene of utter shock. Even the Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, seated next to Yichuan, was amazed. As for the old man with the viper, Ji Lee, who sat on the other side of Ji Young, he immediately laughed loudly. “Wonderful. One against seven. Ji Ning is the most talented youngster in our Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even if he loses, this would be a form of training for him. But Yichuan…if your son loses his battle against the seven of them, then what?” “If he loses, then he admits defeat, and has nothing to do with the golden sword!” Yichuan said calmly. “Good.” Lee nodded. Ji Young looked at Yichuan curiously, then spoke out. “Let it be as Yichuan has said.” “Yes, Prefecture Lord.” The long haired woman, seeing the situation, nodded. The two most powerful factions in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had both agreed. Naturally, she had nothing to say about it. All she could do was inwardly sigh that the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, was perhaps too arrogant. “The eight of you.” The long haired woman looked at the eight youths. “Come here and select your weapons. After choosing your weapons…wait for my order. Once I give the order, it will be Ji Ning fighting against the seventh of you. If Ji Ning loses, or if the seven of you lose…then this combat will come to an end.” 221 “Hua.” With a wave of her hand, the long haired woman made a large number of weapons appear out of nowhere onto the dueling platform. There were all types of weapons. Only, none of them were sharpened! “Choose.” The long haired woman said. Ning and the other seven youths all strode forward, quickly choosing their weapons. Ning chose a sturdy black longsword that weighed roughly fifty pounds. The tens of thousands of spectators below were all engaged in conversation. Many of them were only now seeing the ‘Raindrop Sword’, Ji Yichuan, for the first time. They felt as though Yichuan was like a piece of ancient, glacial ice, so cold that their hearts trembled. “Ji Yichuan is perhaps too arrogant and exacting, and he even treats his son the same way. One against seven? Even if Ji Ning’s true power is beyond that of the other seven, how can he possibly beat all seven of them at once?” “He’s truly insane.” “I hear that Ji Ning is only ten years old, but his father has already ordered him to come here and attend the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, and even wants him to fight one on seven. Poor fellow.” Many of the spectators now began to feel sympathy for Ning. After all, Ning was the smallest and shortest of the eight youths on the dueling platform, and the youngest one as well. In addition, Ning was so handsome…this slender, handsome youngster had a father who was so legendarily cold and severe. One could imagine how strictly this youngster’s father usually governed him. “Are you done choosing?” The long haired woman looked at the eight youths. Seven of the youths were standing on one side of the dueling platform. They had their weapons ready, be it a sickle, a spear, a straight saber, or a sword. All of them stared at Ning. On the opposite side of the platform stood Ning, all by himself. Ning wielded a sword in his hands, staring calmly at them. “Since you’ve made your choices…” The long haired woman waved her hand, reclaiming the heap of blunt weapons that were on the side while saying, “Then you can begin.” Just as her words came out… Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The seven figures on the other side of the platform moved over at high speed, simultaneously charging at Ning, who stood on the other side. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Seven figures attacked from seven different directions, pouncing towards Ji Ning en masse. Although they had not previously been prepared for a ‘seven against one’ battle, all of them were the most talented youths in the vast area under the control of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even if they were somewhat unhappy towards this young master of the Ji clan, they didn’t dare to be the slightest bit contemptuous. As though by prior agreement, they all chosen to attack at full force! Ning stood there, not moving at all, waiting for the seven blurs to reach him. And when they did, he moved! Hu…. As those weapons all flashed towards him, Ning moved like a gust of wind, demonstrating extreme accuracy and precision in terms of control, positioning, speed, and power…easily dodging and moving through the combined attacks of the seven talented youths. “What!” “He dodged?” “How is that possible?” The seven youths all halted, their eyes filled with disbelief. Just then, Ning actually hadn’t even used his weapons. Just relying on footwork alone, he was able to easily dodge past their combined attacks. This sort of terrifying footwork…demonstrated that so long as Ning was focused, the seven of them combined wouldn’t be able to even touch Ning’s clothes. “So fast.” “Just like a gust of wind.” “He lives up to being the son of the Raindrop Sword. Too formidable. So fast that I couldn’t even clearly see him; all I saw was a blur.” The tens of thousands of spectators all grew excited. In this area, all the people began to train in childhood, so they all were experienced, and yet even most of them were only able to see a blur. One could imagine how fast Ning had moved. …. Ning halted, standing on the other side of the dueling platform. “Seven opponents were unable to force me to use my sword. Their footwork is inferior to mine.” Ning swept the seven opponents with his gaze. Just now, during that brief moment of time, he had already assessed the footwork level these seven opponents were at. “Two of them are at the ‘advanced’ level. One is that scimitar wielding youth, while the other is the golden-furred beast. It seems the earlier reports were in error.” Although his father was arrogant, Ning himself had sent people to collect details regarding these seven opponents. He only knew that the scimitar wielding youth had reached the advanced level of footwork. He didn’t imagine that this golden-furred beast had also reached such a high level. “But their footwork is still a bit weaker than mine.” Ning revealed a small smile. He had, after all, already reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Even though on this dueling platform, he would only utilize ‘advanced’ level footwork, his footwork was clearly more perfected. In addition, he trained in an extremely advanced [Shadewind Steps] type of footwork, allowing him to naturally seize an advantage. “Tie him down.” “Don’t give him the chance to utilize his footwork.” “All together.” The seven youths once more charged forth. But Ning slowly walked towards them. In an instant, the seven youths and Ning once again collided. Swords and sabers flashed in the air, but Ning still moved as though he was taking a casual stroll. The longsword in his hands became like a whip, with all of his force being transmitted to the tip of the sword as he then viciously struck out. In order to reduce the amount of casualties as much as possible during the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, all of the weapons were blunt, and thus were more suited to chopping, sweeping, and whipping type attacks. Fast! Ning’s sword was so fast as to make one’s heart shudder. Ning gracefully walked out from the combined attacks of the seven, while at the same time, making seven lightning-fast whip-like attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Five figures were sent flying backwards by the whip-strikes, flying over thirty meters before falling down onto the ground. All of them struggled to their feet, covered with dust. A few couldn’t help but hold their chests, coughing out a hint of blood. Some had cuts on their faces, and their faces were filled with 224 disbelief. This was because just then, they clearly had seen Ning attack with his sword, and they had tried to block it, but none of them had been able to touch Ning’s sword. They hadn’t even been able to touch it! Ning had sent them flying! “One with the sword!” The five talented youths instantly knew what sort of level this young master Ji had reached in swordplay, and understood how great the gap was between them. Only three youths were left on the dueling platform. Black sword in hand, Ning looked at the nearby scimitar wielding youth and the golden-furred beast. He nodded to himself. “I struck once against each of them, but these two were able to touch my sword. That scimitar wielding youth is very fast with his blade strikes, but he hasn’t reached the ‘advanced’ level yet. That golden-furred beast…has actually reached the advanced level of ‘one with the saber’.” “Young master Ji, remember…my name is Grizzly! Ji Grizzly!” The golden-furred bestial man stared at Ji Ning. “The one who is going to defeat you is me, Grizzly!” The scimitar wielding youth’s face changed slightly. “So I am not the strongest one after all in these many tribes. There are actually two who are stronger than me. Even this Grizzly has already reached the ‘one with the saber’ level.” He had been training painstakingly for many years in the martial pavilion. He knew that he was born into a low status and wouldn’t be able to obtain the ultimate saber techniques, and thus he gave up focusing on any complicated saber techniques, and instead focused on making his saber ‘fast’! His saber…had to be fast enough. The faster the better. He pursued the fastest possible attacks, combining them with his ‘advanced’ footwork…if he used his saber, he definitely would be able to defeat the other youths. But now he discovered to his amazement that it wasn’t just this son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, who was stronger than him. The virtually unknown golden-furred fellow next to him was stronger than him as well. “Ji Ning.” The scimitar wielding youth suddenly growled. “I know you are stronger than me, but I want you to take three saber blows from me! Just take these three saber blows of mine alone…as for you, Grizzly, don’t interfere.” Grizzly stood there disdainfully, a cold smile on his face. This scimitar wielding youth was far weaker than him, and what’s more, Ning’s footwork was simply too formidable, and there was no way to successfully do a combined attack on him anyhow. So he might as well let this scimitar wielding youth seek his own humiliation. Ning, as though thinking about something, glanced at the scimitar wielding youth. He had the feeling that this scimitar wielding youth’s words had some special belief hidden within. “Alright.” Ning nodded. “Hua!” The scimitar wielding youth charged forward like a blur, howling. His eyes were as vicious as that of a wolf’s, and as he drew near Ning, his scimitar came out! The scimitar gleamed brilliantly, and the very first saber-blow was directed towards Ning’s neck. Logically speaking, since the scimitar was blunt, this sort of slashing technique wasn’t very suitable. But clearly, this scimitar wielding youth wanted to demonstrate his strongest, ultimate attacks. “Retreat.” Ning moved like the wind, taking a step back, allowing the scimitar to howl past his body. “Chi!” Suddenly, with the flip of his hand, the scimitar wielding youth launched another attack, and this saberblow was even faster, slashing towards Ning’s neck from the opposite direction. With leap, Ning still managed to dodge, but he even he felt it was a bit difficult. If he continued to use ‘advanced’ level footwork and the opponent’s scimitar moved any faster, Ning would have to use his sword. “Swish!” The flashing blade suddenly left his hand, moving even faster, arriving close to Ning’s eyes in an instant. The third saber-blow – The flying saber! The flying saber was spinning in the air, and borrowed the speed from those two earlier attacks, allowing this final flying saber attack to reach an even more incredible speed. Not hesitating at all, Ning attacked with his sword. “Clang.” The scimitar and the sword intersected, and the scimitar immediately was sent flying away, landing back into the hands of the scimitar wielding youth. The scimitar wielding youth nodded. “I lose.” And then with a leap, he jumped down from the dueling platform. The scimitar wielding youth knew…that this Ji Ning and himself simply weren’t on the same level at all. Even aside from the fact that Ji Ning trained in the ultimate sword techniques of the Ji clan, the simple fact that he had reached the ‘one with the sword’ level made it impossible for the youth to do anything to Ji Ning. He was already very satisfied with being given the chance to show off his most powerful attacks on this dueling platform. “Recruit that scimitar wielding youth into the Ji clan!” The distant, spectating Ji Young said to one of his personal servants standing behind him. “He has the potential to reach the Xiantian level.” 226 Yes, master.” …. The dueling platform only had Ning and Grizzly left. Grizzly’s eyes flashed with golden light, staring from afar at Ning, while at the same time, his entire body began to glow with a faint gold light as well, and a powerful aura began to emit from him. This caused the distant Ning’s eyes to narrow. “This Grizzly is also a Fiendgod Body Refiner? It seems he’s reached quite a high level as well.” “Ji Ning.” Grizzly growled. “I admit that your footwork is superior to mine! But today, we must determine who the strongest person is, and you won’t be able to acquire the golden sword just by fleeing! You must fight me head on, but unfortunately, if you fight me head out, you aren’t a match for me at all. You will definitely lose!” Black sword in hand, Ning looked calmly at his opponent. From Grizzly’s ferocious aura, Ning could predict that this Grizzly had definitely gone through life-anddeath battles. With his sabercraft having reached the ‘one with the saber’ level, and that layer of golden life demonstrating that he had trained in a powerful type of Fiendgod Body Refining technique, if Ning’s guess was correct, this Grizzly should have trained in the [Eternal Mysteries of the Yellow Earth]. After all, he had reviewed all of the nineteen books on Fiendgod Body Refining which the Ji clan’s five prefectures had.” “This person called Grizzly has encountered many life-and-death battles, and is a Fiendgod Body Refiner who has reached the ‘one with the saber’ level. But he doesn’t have any reputation at all.” Ning secretly mused. “He definitely wasn’t born in the tribes. He should belong to the Ji clan…nine out of ten says that he is someone whom the viperous Ji Lee cultivated and intentionally kept hidden.” “Afraid?” Grizzly, saber in hand, stared like a hungry tiger at Ning. He didn’t make any movement to go attack Ning of his own volition. Ning, wielding his black sword, began to walk forward in a very calm, natural way, as though taking a stroll in his own home. If he had encountered Grizzly before suffering from Serpentwing’s attack, Ning would perhaps be a bit more trouble, but in the months which had passed since suffering from Serpentwing’s attack, the swordplay of Ning, who had reached the ‘one with the world’ level in footwork, had increased dramatically as well. To reach the ‘one with the world’ level in footwork, one needed to spend time training. The same was true for reaching the ‘one with the world’ level in swordplay. Although Ning had yet to reach the ‘one with the world’ level in swordplay, Ning’s swordplay was no longer what it had been mere months ago. He didn’t even need to utilize the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] in order to easily defeat this Grizzly. Ning’s sword suddenly moved! “Hu!” The sword was as graceful as the rain, descending in an instant. Beautiful to behold. When a killing sword technique could transform into a beautiful sight, it showed that the wielder had already reached an extremely deep level of skill. “Break apart!” Grizzly roared as he wielded his saber, which flashed with the thickness of blood as one enormous saber-flash after another flew towards Ning. In the blink of an eye, it was though Hell had descended…those enormous flashes of saber-light were the punishing blades of hell, causing one to feel hopeless and as though they deserved to stand there and die beneath those saber flashes. “Bloodhell Saber?” Ning’s sword swept out like a gentle sprinkling of rain. His flashing sword flowed together into one stream like rainwater which drizzled down, ensnaring Grizzly. No matter how wild and explosive Grizzly’s Bloodhell Saber techniques were, that drizzling flow of water continued to ensnare it, making it lose its wild, explosive aura. Grizzly felt as though he had suddenly become trapped in a prison of water. There was water everywhere, wildly ensnaring him. He clearly possessed boundless strength, but he wasn’t able to utilize it against the water. “Break!” Grizzly’s saberplay was incomparably wild. Even though he was constantly being ensnared, he still didn’t hesitate one bit, only growing even more ferocious. “Your saberplay is indeed strong.” Ning said gently. An opponent of this level wasn’t a threat to him at all. Only, the fact that this Grizzly’s saberplay was developed in life-and-death battles was a source of interest to Ning, which was why Ning was willing to exchange ten blows with him to accumulate some experience. Ning knew very well…that compared to some of the elder experts of the clan, what he lacked the most was sufficient experience. “Hua.” The black longsword in Ning’s hands suddenly thrust forward in a straight attack, and instantly, it seemed as though the entire world grew silent. The hazily glowing sword seemed to have transformed into a single drop of rain. This raindrop pierced past the saber, and as it did, the saber shattered. The raindrop then smashed against Grizzly’s chest, like a raindrop falling against a stone. Pa! The faint sound of bones splintering could be heard as Grizzly was sent flying several dozen meters, smashing viciously against the floor beneath the dueling platform, causing a small crater in the earth. Raindrop Sword – Raindrop Pierces Rocks! “Ugh.” Grizzly clutched his chest, spewing out a mouthful of fresh blood. He lowered his head to look at his chest. The fur of the Xiantian-level beast which he wore had split open, and his chest had caved in, his bones broken. And this was with Ning using a very ordinary, blunt black longsword. ….. The tens of thousands of spectators watching the training area all fell silent…and then, there was an earth-shaking commotion. They were all in awe. This truly was the son of the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. No wonder the Raindrop Sword had dared to be so wildly arrogant as to have his son fight seven others…this seemingly handsome, inexperienced young master Ji was simply too terrifying, to easily be able to dominate these seven opponents. “Hahaha…” The Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, let out a loud, carefree laugh, incomparably happy. He won. His lineage had won. Ji Ning had seized the golden sword, and would become the next Prefecture Lord. “Raindrop Pierces Rocks! The advanced level in swordplay!” Sitting next to him, Ji Lee suddenly clenched his right hand, and the stone armrest his hand was resting on was shattered and cracked. “Second brother.” Prefecture Lord Young turned to look at his second brother. Lee looked at the Prefecture Lord, his senior brother. His face changing, he said in a low voice, “Advanced swordplay…he’s only ten, but his swordplay is already ‘advanced’, and he has reached the level of ‘expertise’ in the [Raindrop Sutra], one of the five major sword techniques of the Ji clan! He is even more of a monster than his father. Senior brother, first your lineage produced Ji Yichuan, and now, your lineage produced a Ji Ning. Heaven has shown it does not favor me. I have lost, and I have nothing more to say! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Prefecture Lord Ji Young spoke out, “Second brother, listen to me!” “Big brother.” Ji Lee closed his eyes, and then opened them and growled fiercely, “No need to say anything else. From today onwards, Ji Ning is the heir to the Prefecture Lord position of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. I, Ji Lee, will definitely be prepared to come when he calls, and will be faithful and loyal as I go out and do battle on behalf of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. I will not be the slightest bit rebellious. I thoroughly admire and submit to Ji Ning. But you…I simply do not admire and submit to you at all!” Lee hurriedly turned and left. “Father.” Ji Jadewich, seated next to him, called out, hurriedly following after him. Young watched quietly as Lee left, but he had a hint of a smile on his face. He knew very well that his second brother, Ji Lee, had a fierce temper. Lee was an extremely combative man. He would submit to those who were powerful, but he would never do so to one who was weak! Ever since they were young, in terms of power, he, Young, had been inferior to his second brother. Naturally, Lee had never submitted to him. But Lee had once said…if Ji Yichuan were to become Prefecture Lord, he wouldn’t voice a single word of complaint. Now that Ning had showed that he was even more of a monster than his father Yichuan, and had in such an awe-inspiring manner defeated seven opponents to seize the golden sword, Lee naturally admired and submitted to him in the same manner. If he submitted, he submitted! If he didn’t submit, he didn’t submit! He, Ji Lee, had never admired or submitted to his big brother, Ji Young. ….. Sunset. The Snowfall Palace of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had put on a feast. The settling of the identity of the next Prefecture Lord was an event of enormous importance to the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. After Young stepped down, Ning would assume his position and also become one of the overseers. As for Young, being both a Xiantian lifeform and the previous Prefecture Lord, he would also become an overseer. The Ji clan of the West Prefecture had in total ten major overseers. Any affairs which had a major impact on the destiny of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture were all decided together by the ten overseers. Once Ning assumed his position, the weakest of the current ten overseers would have to step down! The structure of power would completely change. One could foresee how much power would be gained by the current, principal lineage. “Wu Sa, Wu Sa Ya!” In the center of the palace, more than thirty barefoot and half-naked fur-clad young women were dancing. In the area behind the two rows on each side of the palace, there were musicians playing instruments such as drums, pipes, ocarinas, and other such instruments. The sound of the musical instruments were occasionally somber while occasionally lively, reverberating throughout the palace. Within this palace, the most powerful people within the Ji clan of the West Prefecture were currently clustered together, toasting each other and laughing loudly. Ning, as the heir apparent to the Prefecture Lord position, had his own seat as well. In front of him, there was a table that was filled with all sorts of delicious food. “Huahuahua…” A fur-clad young lady was standing to the side, holding a large urn of wine. Seeing that Ning’s beastskull cup was empty, she hurriedly filled it. The urn of wine weighed dozens of pounds, but the young fur-clad lady didn’t spill a single drop of wine as she poured. “It truly has its own unique charm.” Watching, Ji Ning shook his head dizzily. There was more than one person seated next to Ning. Ji Yichuan was naturally seated on his knees in the middle of the table, with Yuchi Snow by his side, while a large, snow-white dog was on his other side. It was the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’. The people qualified to have their own individual seats here in the Snowfall Palace were all people of extremely high status in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even Ning’s mother, Snow, had to be brought in her capacity as the wife of Yichuan, as she herself wouldn’t have otherwise been qualified to have her own seat. ….. All of the Xiantian lifeforms had brought either their family or the spirit-beasts they had tamed. Soon, it was nightfall, and the musicians and dancers all depart, and even the female servants and attendants were dismissed as well. It was the time to talk about some major affairs. If they were talking about extremely important, secret matters, even spirit-beasts and family members would have to leave. “Everyone.” Prefecture Lord Young laughed. “Today, the Ceremony of the Golden Sword was concluded. Ning, at the age of ten, defeated seven combatants by himself and seized the golden sword. Naturally, he has become the next heir to the position of Prefecture Lord. However, Ning is still young…it’s best to have him wait a while longer and gain more experience before taking the Prefecture Lord position. As I see it, let’s wait until he is twenty. What do you think, everyone?” “Agreed.” “Agreed.” “Ning’s talent is no lower than Yichuan’s. He is very suitable for being selected as the next Prefecture Lord.” Another overseer nodded. Not even a single objection was raised, including from those on Ji Lee’s side. Yichuan, seated off to the side, revealed a rare smile. “Prefecture Lord.” “Yichuan, what is it?” Young looked towards him. “I wish to ask for an item for my son.” Yichuan said. Young was puzzled. “What item?” “The Traceless Talisman!” Yichuan said solemnly. As soon as his words came out, the entire hall fell silent. Many of the Xiantian-level people stared at each other in surprise. “The Traceless Talisman?” Young frowned as he looked at Ning, then asked, “Ning, you want the Traceless Talisman?” Sitting there holding his wine-filled beastskull goblet, Ning was startled. Glancing at his father, he nodded. “Right.” Yichuan said, “Ning is the next Prefecture Lord. He should be able to request this Traceless Talisman, right?” “Right.” Young nodded, and then took a deep breath. With a flip of his hand, a strange jade talisman, glittering with jade light, appeared in his palm. This jade talisman was covered with complicated diagrams and illegible words, and it emanated strange, faint waves of energy which caused the area around it to seemingly distort. With a toss, Young tossed the item directly to Yichuan. “Yichuan, this Traceless Talisman is one of the guardian treasures of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture. It must not be used carelessly.” Yichuan nodded. “I understand.” —————— 232 Late night. On the road back from Snowfall Palace, Ning and his parents, as well as the Whitewater Hound, were walking together. “Father. Mother.” Ning said, puzzled. “What is the Traceless Talisman. What do you want it for, Father?” Snow laughed as she looked at her son. “This is the reason why your father said he would only permit you to leave if you participated in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword and seized the golden sword. Because only after seizing the golden sword and settling the question of your position as heir to the Prefecture Lord position would you be able to acquire one of the guardian treasures, the ‘Traceless Talisman’.” Yichuan said with a cold face, “The Traceless Talisman is an extremely valuable talisman. Three hundred years ago, one of the ancestors of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture, thanks to good luck, managed to acquire it. Back then, he acquired three of them, but he used up two of them…and now only this last one is remaining, and it has become the guardian treasure of our prefecture.” “What use does it have?” Ning asked. Yichuan laughed. “As long as you utilize the ‘Traceless Talisman’, you can instantly travel to any place within ten thousand kilometers.” “What?!” Ning was shocked. Instantly travel to any location within ten thousand kilometers? “A talisman like this is something you can’t even purchase if you wanted to, and our ancestor was only able to acquire it through luck.” Yichuan sighed. “To our Ji clan, obtaining a treasure of this level…is our absolute good fortune. You are the next Prefecture Lord, and thus I used that to acquire this ‘Traceless Talisman’ without anyone being able to object.” After speaking, with a flip of his hand, Yichuan withdrew a jade shortsword that was gleaming with a bloody light, handing it to Ning. “This jade sword was only completed after being immersed in my blood for a long time. No matter how distant you are, I will be able to sense the location of this jade sword. This time, when you go out adventuring, keep it within you at all times. Remember, as soon as you meet any danger, immediately break this jade sword. When you break the jade sword, I will immediately know, and I will immediately use the ‘Traceless Talisman’ to instantly teleport to you and save your life.” “Ah!” Ning instantly understood the reason why his father needed this Traceless Talisman. Yichuan barked at him, “On this adventuring trip, you are not permitted to go too far from the West Prefecture City. This Traceless Talisman has a maximum range of only ten thousand kilometers. Through sensing the location of the jade sword, I’ll know how far away you are. If I sense that you have moved more than ten thousand kilometers away from the West Prefecture City, I will immediately head towards you, capture you, bring you back, and imprison you in the underground prison for three years!” 233 Ning rubbed his eyes. Imprisoned for three years in the underground prison? The forever dark underground prison, where the sunlight never shone, was the place where felons and those who were to be executed were held by the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. “Your son will definitely remember.” Ning hurriedly said. Ten thousand kilometers? More than enough. After all, the area which the Ji clan of the West Prefecture controlled was only a few thousand kilometers. If he kept heading west, he would enter the territory of one of the other local hegemons. “Ning, son.” Snow asked with concern. “When do you plan to head out and go adventuring?” “I’ll make some quick preparations first.” Ning nodded. “Three days from now.” ———————— Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Dawn. The sky was barely lit. Within Ning’s room. “Ning, son, take these with you.” With a wave of Snow’s hand, atop Ning’s bed, two large sets of beast fur clothing as well as some other miscellaneous items appeared out of nowhere. “Mother.” Ning couldn’t help but say. “I’ve already prepared everything. Clothing, food, tools.” Yichuan snapped coldly, “If we tell you to take it, then take it. Your mother personally stitched every single one of these items with her own hands.” Ning’s heart shook. He couldn’t help but glance at his mother. Yuchi Snow’s gaze remained on her son, and Ning could clearly sense the boundless, infinite love within his mother’s gaze…ever since he was young, his mother had taken care of him in every way possible. It was like he was everything to her. For him to go adventuring, his mother most likely was truly frightened for him. As the saying goes, ‘When the son travels far, his mother worries at home.’ What’s more, this time he was going out to adventure. “Father.” Ning had a serious thought. He hurriedly asked, “This time, when I go out, will Ji Lee secretly…” “He will not.” Yichuan said coldly. “The reason why our Ji clan has been able to remain in existence in this part of the world for so long is because of our internal unity. We absolute forbid infighting. Anyone who violates this would suffer the pursuit and slaughter of all five prefectures of the Ji clan! In addition, I understand Lee’s personality very well. He just doesn’t want to submit to Prefecture Lord Young, but in 234 his heart, he still holds the matters of the Ji clan in the highest regard. In addition, his arrogance is bred into his bones. He disdains doing such things.” Ning nodded as though he had understood something. “Don’t worry about Ji Lee.” Yichuan barked. “What you need to worry more about are those Diremonsters. Diremonsters all possess different innate powers and also have different tactics. Even the Xiantian level experts of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture will often die, much less you, who have not even reached the Xiantian level!” “Don’t say such things.” Snow said hurriedly. “Our son is about to go out adventuring. Say something more pleasant. Ning, son, Mother has one more thing to give you.” As she spoke, a golden book appeared in her hands. The pages seemed made from gold leaf, and on top of the book there were four ancientlooking words: [Wind Wing Evasion Technique]. “This is a set of footwork techniques, and this is also the most precious Immortal training manual which Mother has. Wait until you become a Xiantian lifeform before reading it.” Snow instructed. “Also, you are not permitted to teach it to any other member of the Ji clan.” “Yes.” Ning nodded. The [Shadewind Steps] which his mother had taught him was something which only his mother knew! This was because even the Ji clan didn’t possess that footwork technique, so his mother had instructed him…that he was forbidden from teaching the [Shadewind Steps] to the other members of the Ji clan. This [Windwing Evasion] technique was also possessed by his mother alone, and thus she was forbidding him from teaching it to other members of the Ji clan. “Alright. You can head out now.” Yichuan spoke. “If you are going to leave, then leave. Be straightforward about it.” “Father. Mother. I’m leaving now.” Ning looked at his parents. And then, with a turn of his head, he left. Outside, Mowu and his female maidservant, Autumn Leaf, were waiting for him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In the mountain forest outside the West Prefecture City. Ji Ning, Mowu, and his maidservant Autumn Leaf were each seated on a black ferobeast. This beast was shaped like a leopard, and its body was covered with faint leopard-type patterns. It had a single horn on its head. This was an extremely ferocious type of beast. It could clamber up mountains like flat land, and was extremely fast. It was an excellent mount, but of course, it was a bit inferior to a tamed monstrous beast. Given Ning’s status, he was being quite low-key in riding this sort of mount. “West Prefecture City.” Ning turned and looked back, staring at the distant, enormous city. He had lived there ever since he was young. “Let’s go!” Ning shouted. With a kick to the waist of the mounted beast, the mounted beast immediately leapt forward at a gallop, while Autumn Leaf and Mowu hurriedly rode their own black ferobeasts behind. ————– Winter left. Spring came. On a grassy area within a mountain village, there were dozens of fur-clad men moving forward happily, half of them carrying burdens on shoulder poles. “Uncle Dala!” A clearly inexperienced, spear-wielding youngster called out excitedly, “Before this, you never let us visit Eastmount Marsh, and you said that Eastmount Marsh was extremely dangerous. But this time…we encountered no danger at all, and we managed to catch so many fish. It will be enough for our tribe to eat for a long time.” A heroic, bear-like figure next to him laughed, “Ah Yi, you brought us good luck. This time to Eastmount Marsh, not a single tribesman died. This is very rare. However, don’t underestimate Eastmount Marsh. Eastmount Marsh is one of the places in this area with the most Diremonsters within an area of ten thousand square kilometers. But of course, the fish in Eastmount Marsh are boundless in number as well. “Ah Yi, this is the first time you’ve gone fishing with us. After a few more trips, you’ll know how dangerous it is. When we go back, you need to exercise more and refine your ki. Only when you are strong will you be able to live a longer life.” A one-armed man next to them laughed. “Ah Yi isn’t a child anymore. This time, when we go back, we need to find a woman for Ah Yi. Let’s get some good furs and go to one of the neighboring tribes to exchange them for a fertile woman with big buttocks.” “Get a few more women, so they can birth a few more childrens.” The older men were all teasing this youth. Just at this time, from the brambles and bushes nearby, a monstrous beast with black fur was lying in wait. Its fur was extremely smooth, and the contours of its body were sleek and soft. It seemed like a panther of some sort. A faint hint of green could be seen in its eyes, and its body was nearly seven meters long. Its furry mane was extremely tough, and it was shaped like a ring of circular spikes. It was waiting. Waiting for an opportunity. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll find one for myself.” Ah Yi was a bit embarrassed, and his face was turning red. He hastily called out. “Haha, he’s shy.” The older men laughed. Suddenly… “Roaaaar!” A black blur suddenly pounced over, pouncing directly towards the closest tribesman, a man who was holding a carrying pole. “Monster!” The other tribesmen hurriedly roared in anger, and the spears in their hands thrust out. They had painstakingly trained since their youth, and had been refining their internal energy for dozens of years, and now possessed great strength. “Bang!” The enormous black blur’s claws easily swept aside the spears, knocking them to one side. “Quick.” “Kill.” The surrounding tribesmen all roared with anger, thrusting out with their spears as well. As a small tribe, they didn’t possess any profound Immortal techniques, making spear and polearm type weapons extremely popular amongst them. So long as they trained a few simple movements every day, after a few dozen years, their power would still be extraordinary. “Hua!” Stepping on the polearms, the enormous black blur easily leapt up and pounced towards the center of the group of tribesmen. These tribesmen often went to Eastmount Marsh to fish, and thus they selected a fairly safe return path, one which rarely encountered monstrous beasts. But caution was bred into their bones, and so the tribesmen with the carrying poles were all in the center, while the powerful tribal warriors with weapons at the ready were on the outer perimeter. “A monster!” The one-armed man called out hurriedly. “Careful.” As he spoke, he brandished his single blade, pouncing towards the massive black blur. “Monster, die!” The most powerful of the tribal warriors, the bear-like, ‘Uncle Dala’, also brandished his long greataxe as he threw himself towards the black blur. “Kill!” The nearby tribesmen were all going crazy. All of them knew how powerful Bi’an Tigers were. Just then, six powerful warriors had surrounded and attacked this Bi’an Tiger, but it had easily stepped on their weapons and jumped into their center, causing them all to understand…that this was most likely an extremely terrifying monstrous beast that had already reached the peak of the Houtian level. Today, it was possible that several of them would die. “Grrrrrrrrrr.” The Bi’an Tiger roared angrily. Unlike before, where it moved quickly, this time it stayed where it was, attacking wildly. Clang! The one-armed man was sent flying backwards by the collision, while Uncle Dala continued to chop downwards with his greataxe while roaring wildly. The Bi’an Tiger had also noticed that this greataxe wielding human was the most dangerous of the group, and so he didn’t pay any attention to the other tribal warriors, using his sharp claws to smash directly against the greataxe, causing its trajectory to be altered. However, the greataxe still landed on the flank of the Bi’an Tiger, chopping out a massive wound. Only, the Bi’an Tiger’s muscles around its flank tightened, and very little blood flowed out. The main problem was that the greataxe hadn’t landed a deep enough blow. At the same time the Bi’an Tiger batted the greataxe aside, roaring, the Bi’an Tiger opened its massive maw and bit down towards Uncle Dala. “Uncle Dala.” The somewhat stupefied youngster, Ah Yi, was stunned and called out. “Dala!” “Dala!” The surrounding tribesmen were all worried as well. Suddenly… 238 “Shua!” Something flashed past like a glittering meteor from afar, instantly penetrating the Bi’an Tiger’s skull, then flying out from the other side before penetrating into a giant tree…and then shot out from the other side of the tree as well. “Grrr…” Uncle Dala fell to the ground, with the massive body of the Bi’an Tiger on top of him, blood covering Uncle Dala’s face. “Uncle Dala.” The youngster, Ah Yi, immediately ran over. He was at the verge of tears. “I’m fine.” That powerful tribesman pushed the Bi’an Tiger off, then stood up while rubbing his face, finding that it was covered with blood. “This isn’t my blood. It is the Bi’an Tiger’s blood.” The one armed man walked over and took a glance as well, first looking at the corpse of the Bi’an Tiger, and then at the nearby tree. His pupils contracted, and he whispered, “For an arrow to pierce through the rock-hard skull of the Bi’an Tiger, and then through the black arrowwood tree…that’s simply terrifying. In addition, the Bi’an Tiger suffered the arrow in mid-leap. This archery skill…” “Definitely a godly archer.” “A godly archer shot this arrow.” All of the tribesmen stared at the corpse of the Bi’an Tiger, then looked afar into the general direction from which the arrow had come from and where the godly archer must be. Hua! Hua! Hua! Three figures drew from deep within the mountain forests. The tribesmen watched carefully…and soon, they were able to see them clearly. Three people, riding extremely handsome black ferobeasts. The black ferobeasts moved through the mountain slopes as though they were travelling on flat land, and quickly arrived before the tribesmen. “Uh….” Seeing the three people in front of them, all the tribesmen were awestruck. They were riding handsome black ferobeasts, and wore extremely meticulous, beautifully made beast fur clothes. The person in front was a seemingly very young and handsome young man, while by his side was an extremely beautiful girl. The men could swear to themselves…that they couldn’t find such a girl as beautiful as this one in their entire tribe. Although she was dressed in warrior’s clothes, it couldn’t hide her beauty. As for the man on the other side of the youngster, he emitted a fierce, ferocious aura, causing the hearts of these tribesmen to quail. “Hu.” The older man leapt down from his black ferobeast, walking over to the tall, thick black arrowwood tree, snatching out the arrow. “Young master.” The man walked next to the youngster, respectfully offering him the arrow. Ji Ning accepted it. Although they had prepared many arrows for this adventuring expedition, if they abandoned every arrow they shot out, they probably would run out of arrows soon. These were all extremely good arrows…they could be used multiple times. “Honored young master.” The one-armed tribesman went forward, respectfully bowing. “Thank you for acting to save us. Might I ask if there is some way in which our Metalstone Tribe can serve you, young master?” The other tribesmen didn’t dare to make a sound. Someone who brought a maidservant and a manservant while adventuring…this clearly was no ordinary person. And in addition, he had been referred to as ‘young master’ earlier. Someone who was respectfully addressed as ‘young master’ was generally the son of a tribal chief of a major tribe with tens of thousands of tribesmen. Clearly, this youngster should belong to an extremely large tribe. “Are you familiar with Eastmount Marsh?” Ning, riding on the black ferobeast, asked them. The tribesmen looked at each other. Why was this young master going to Eastmount Marsh? He definitely couldn’t be going there for fishing like they had, right? It would definitely be very dangerous. “I am.” The powerful, dark-skinned Uncle Dala strode forward. “I have been fishing in Eastmount Marsh for dozens of years now, and am very familiar with this place. Young master, if you wish to go to Eastmount Marsh, I can lead the way for you.” “Excellent.” Ning, mounted on the black ferobeast, laughed ,and then with a flip of his hand, tossed over a ‘beasthead’ of gold. “Come with me, then.” Accepting the beasthead of gold, Uncle Dala’s eyes instantly lit up. This beasthead of gold, weighing exactly ten pounds, would be more than enough for his child to live off of for the rest of his life. He immediately gave it to the nearby one armed man. “Help me take it back and give it to my eldest son. If I die, then help me take care of my three little kids.” “Alright.” The one armed man nodded. “Report your name.” Ning said. “Honored young master, you can address me as Dala!” Uncle Dala said respectfully. “Dala, mount on her black ferobeast.” Ning pointed to Autumn Leaf’s mount. “Autumn Leaf, you come sit with me.” 240 “Yes, young master.” Autumn Leaf leapt down, then immediately mounted Ning’s black ferobeast, then held her arms around Ning’s waist. She had served Ning since he was born, and they were as close to each other as real siblings. In addition, as Ning’s personal maidservant, it was essentially determined long ago that she was Ning’s woman, and thus there were no taboos between them. Uncle Dala, holding his breath, carefully mounted the black ferobeast. He had never ridden on such a fine mount before. “Let’s go.” Ning ordered. Hua! Ning and the others rode the black ferobeasts, quickly disappearing into the mountain forests. “Uncle Saber.” The youngster, Ah Yi, asked frantically. “Uncle Dala is going to take them to the Eastmount Marsh. Will it be dangerous?” The one-armed man nodded. “They aren’t like us. That youngsters is definitely the son of a leader of a large tribe, and has received the finest instruction since he was young. That arrow was probably loosed by him. He has most likely come to Eastmount Marsh for a rite-of-passage adventure! He has to kill a certain number of monstrous beasts, but Eastmount Marsh is too large and too complicated an area. Just relying on a simple map isn’t sufficient, so they asked for Uncle Dalat to help lead the way.” “Rites-of-passage? But that youngster isn’t an adult yet.” Ah Yi said. “Some people look older than their age, others look younger.” The one armed man said. Actually, right now, Ning was just eleven years old, although he was already 1.7 meters tall, the same height he was in his past life. “But that young master was very benevolent.” The one armed man sighed. “Just then, when the Bi’an Tiger ambushed us, if that young master hadn’t intervened…several of us probably would have died, and the first to die would have been your Uncle Dala! Having had his life saved, your Uncle Dala would go guide them, even if it cost him his life. In addition, the young master gave him a beasthead of gold. Ten pounds!” “Hurry, hurry, hurry.” The one armed man suddenly shouted. “Butcher that Bi’an Tiger’s corpse and take it back.” “Quick.” 241 “Come.” One after another pulled out their knives and hatchets, quickly butchering the Bi’an Tiger’s corpse, and then they continued on their return trip. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning’s squad, mounted on the three black ferobeasts, charged through the borders of the mountain forest. “Look.” Uncle Dala pointed in front. “Eastmount Marsh is up ahead.” “Eastmount Marsh.” Ning stared off into the distance. An enormous, endless lake stretched far into the distance, flashing with the beautiful light of the spring sun. At one glance, one could see flying beasts diving down and snatching up fish, or some tails of enormous aquatic creatures wriggling amongst the reeds. Occasionally, a massive head would be seen. This was the world of monsters! “Eastmount Marsh.” Ning murmured. “We’re finally here.” Eastmount Marsh was located between the territory of the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan. The Ironwood clan was a hegemonic power on par with the Ji clan, but it was the Ji clan’s enemy! Eastmount Marsh was over a thousand kilometers wide, and was on par in size with a ‘province’ in his previous life. Such an enormous lake…naturally had countless monstrous beasts here. The monstrous beasts which the Ji clan knew about numbered up to twelve! Ever since leaving the Ji clan of the West Prefecture and adventuring ,Ning had wanted to go fight with a few Xiantian level Diremonsters, but Diremonsters were all hidden within the deep lakes and tall mountains. How could they be so easily found? In the past, he had spent nearly an entire month searching an area without any success. Furious, Ning immediately changed their path and headed straight to Eastmount Marsh! “There are many monsters in Eastmount Marsh, and many of them are early Xiantian level. I refuse to believe I won’t encounter a single one.” Ning was like a newborn calf who didn’t know the meaning of fear. However, he didn’t dare to be too incautious either, because many clansmen of the Ji clan had died here in Eastmount Marsh, such as his grandfather, who had died here at Eastmount Marsh! ————————- “Mowu. Autumn Leaf.” Ning leapt off the back of his black ferobeast and instructed, “Eastmount Marsh is too risky a place, and there is danger everywhere. In addition, the black ferobeasts are of no use in the water. The two of you, take these three black ferobeasts and head to the Metalstone Tribe. Wait for me at the Metalstone Tribe!” 243 Mowu and Autumn Leaf glanced at each other. They could only reply respectfully, “Yes, young master.” “Dala.” Ning looked at the swarthy, big man. “You and I will make a trip to this lake. Help me get used to the general areas around here, and then you can go back and rest at the Metalstone Tribe as well.” “Yes, young master.” Uncle Dala said respectfully. “Let’s go.” Ning immediately headed forward, and Uncle Dala, hefting his greataxe, followed behind. Autumn Leaf and Mowu watched as their young master entered the distant Eastmount Marsh. Although they were nervous, there was nothing they could do. One of them was a maidservant, while the other was nothing more than a person assigned to teach the young master his abundant mountaineering experience. Their power was far inferior to Ning’s. The vast lake was filled with myriad beautiful scenes. “Within this great lake, there are places with islands of firmer terrain and grasses as well.” Uncle Dala laughed. “In fact, there are even some small villages. But of course, most of the muddy areas, if you step into them, you’ll sink into the marsh…and in addition, there is of course the immeasurably deep lake itself. Within the marsh, it is difficult to move about, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll sink into it.” Ning was right next to him. “Our Metalstone Tribe has lived in a village near the marsh for centuries now, and often come here to fish. We know exactly where which roads are passable and which aren’t.” Uncle Dala was very confident. Pa! Pa! Striding through the mud, Ning followed this tribal warrior through Eastmount Marsh. “Look.” A beastskin parchment appeared out of nowhere in Ning’s hands. “This is the map of Eastmount Lake. Lead me to these circled areas.” “Ah!” Uncle Dala was terrified. “These…these are all places where Diremonsters are hiding. These are the most dangerous places. We don’t dare go near them.” “You don’t need to go near them.” Ning shook his head. “Just lead me there, and tell me from afar how to go.” Uncle Dala’s forehead was covered in sweat. He nodded. “Alright. I’ll lead you, young master.” ———————- Eastmount Marsh was simply too vast. It was indeed quite slow for them to move through it relying on their legs alone. In addition, this was Ning’s first time coming here, and the various meandering pathways stretched for thousands of kilometers. Fortunately, the experienced Uncle Dala guided him to one hidden pathway after another, allowing them to easily navigate this marsh. In the blink of an eye, over a month passed. Ning had carried food and beverages within his kalestone, and in addition, they could roast the meat of some monstrous beasts. Whenever they went to sleep, they would just find a random patch of dry land or grass. Ning wasn’t in a hurry to go challenge those hidden Diremonsters. First, he wanted to locate them. Afterwards, he would travel by himself and relying on his ‘one with the world’ level of footwork to easily walk atop the surface of the lake water. He would be able to traverse a thousand kilometers in but a single day. “This is the last place.” Uncle Dala pointed from afar at a distant place, where the luxurious growth of aquatic plants, at least three meters high, waved in the wind. “Right there, where the aquatic plants are growing, is the lair of a Greater Beast. Supposedly, this is an extremely, extremely large rhinoceros, an aquatic rhinoceros the size of a small mountain.” “Alright. Let’s go back. After returning to the Metalstone Tribe, I will definitely reward you heavily.” Ning said. “Young master, you’ve given me enough.” Uncle Dala said hastily. This seemingly delicate youngster was actually terrifyingly powerful. During their month in Eastmount Marsh, they had been attacked by quite a few monstrous beasts, but all of them died to but a single blow of the youngster’s sword! Ning didn’t care about the corpses of the monstrous beasts either, but Uncle Dala’s heart ached every time. This was monstrous beast flesh. If they sold it, the tribe would be in a much better situation, but he couldn’t carry it all back, so all he could do was to carve out a few choice parts and take them with him. “Hrm?” Ning and Uncle Dala both suddenly stared into the distance. From afar, there was a squad of troops, with quite a few figures within. Deep in the marsh, there were solid areas, muddy areas, and even hilly areas, along with a large mountain. That mountain was known as the East Mountain, which was why this marsh was known as Eastmount Marsh. Off in the distance, a squad of apparently several hundred soldiers could be seen clustered in on a hill. Suddenly, ten figures ran over at rapid speed towards Ning and Uncle Dala. “What’s going on?” Ning frowned. “Quick, let’s leave.” Uncle Dala was so frightened that he immediately turned tail and ran. Shua! One of those ten men was wearing blue metal armor, and with a howl, he leapt forward at an astonishing speed, blocking off Uncle Dala’s escape path. “The two of you.” The blue armored man stared at them coldly, pausing only briefly to glance at the exquisite beast fur clothes on Ning’s body, before continuing disdainfully, “Come with us!” “What do you want with us?” Uncle Dala, seeing the man’s armor, immediately bowed and said respectfully. The other nine walked over as well, all of them dressed in armor. “Hurry up. If we tell you to follow us, then follow us. Otherwise, you die here!” These armor-clad guards all stared coldly while hefting their weapons, clearly very skilled. Uncle Dala looked at Ning. “Let’s take a look for now.” Ning was actually quite calm. These armored guards were clearly no ordinary people, but to him, they were like nothing more than wild chickens facing a ravenous dog. But why did the armored guards want them to follow? If it wasn’t necessary, Ning didn’t want to so casually slaughter others. “Move.” “Hurry.” Under the watchful gazes of the ten armored guards, Ning and Uncle Dala headed towards the hill. There was some grass on the hill, and there were currently hundreds of people there. Most of them were lying there with their hands and feet bound, while roughly a hundred armored guards were in a perimeter around them, while there was a stone seat in the center. On the stone seat, there was a bulky, muscled man, at least six and a half feet tall, wearing thick armor and with a dominating gaze. Ning stared in surprise at the tall armored man who sat in the middle. The ‘demonstone’ in Ning’s pocket was currently radiating heat. Clearly, it had sensed the presence of a nearby monster. At the same time, Ning could vaguely feel that the massive armored man escorted by the many guards had an extraordinary aura. “There’s a Diremonster.” Ning hurriedly inspecting everyone carefully. Only humans were nearby. A monster which could take human form was, without question, a Diremonster! Ning had brought many objects with him on this journey, and a demonstone was one of them. Demonstones…were a type of special natural rock. Once they sensed the aura of a monster, they would emanate light and heat. Some cities that were even larger than West Prefecture City would have ‘Monster Revealing Mirrors’ installed on the city gates, which were formed from multiple demonstones. So long as a monster drew near, the Monster Revealing Mirror would immediately radiate light. Humans had a human aura, while monsters naturally had their own monstrous auras. This was a type of life aura. “Dala!” “Uncle Dala!” Suddenly, several voices rang out. Ning and Uncle Dala both turned their heads and saw that amongst the bound people, there were ten of them calling towards the two of them. This caused Uncle Dala to immediately have a distressed look on his face. “Black Tiger, why have you been bound here?” Those ten or so people belonged to his tribe. “Dala, why are you here? That giant person is a Diremonster. He’s going to eat us all.” One of the bound tribesmen called out frantically. “Diremonster?” Uncle Dala was shocked. Ning stared back at that massive man in heavy armor, seated in the center of that ring of armored guards. Taking a careful glance, he saw that the giant man had a hint of blood at the corner of his lips, and he was currently smacking them in a satisfied manner. This caused Ning’s heart to immediately become filled with an urge to kill. “So the Diremonster which my demonstone sensed is him! Eastmount Marsh has a total of twelve Diremonsters. I wonder which one he is.” “Shut your mouth.” An armored guard walked over and kicked that bound man, kicking him wildly and repeatedly. “All of you, shut your mouths.” “You are harming your fellow humans for the sake of a Diremonster, and you want us to shut our mouths?” “And you are the venerable Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan. You really are a disgrace to the Ironwood clan!” “Kick away, kick as much as you like, kick us all to death.” The people being kicked shouted wildly. “Stop it!” The massive, heavily armored man seated on the stone bench rumbled. His voice was very deep, as though coming from a bullhorn. “If you kick them to death, then I’ll eat you.” 247 The armored guard glanced at the heavily armored giant, and then unhappily stepped back. “Aquatic Rhino King!” A bald armored guard growled, “We have already helped you capture over five hundred people. Our comrades have spread out everywhere to capture people, and have already done our part. Give our young master back to us, and our Ironwood clan will act as though this never happened. Otherwise, if the situation escalates, Aquatic Rhino King…you should know that you are unable to bear the fury of our Ironwood clan.” Watching from a distance under escort from two armored guards, Ning’s eyes lit up. Aquatic Rhino King? There was only a single Aquatic Rhinoceros amongst the twelve Diremonsters of Eastmount Marsh. It was an early Xiantian level Diremonster! “Early Xiantian level?” Ning’s eyes were filled with a killing intent. “I’ve searched a long, long time for a Diremonster of this level of power. This really is a case of ‘searching far and wide to no avail, but then discovering it all of a sudden’.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Aquatic Rhino King, seated on his stone chair, glanced at the bald armored guard. Reaching out with his enormous hand, he grabbed a nearby bound youth, placing the youth down on his thigh. The youth, on the thigh of the Aquatic Rhino King, was like a tiny doll, without any ability to resist at all. The youth screamed in pain, “He told you to go capture people, so do so. All you need to do is capture a thousand people. Oh mighty Aquatic Rhino King, the two we just captured, plus the nineteen you ate earlier, means that I have already ordered my subordinates to capture five hundred and eighty three humans for you already.” “Don’t worry.” The voice of the Aquatic Rhino King was still very low and very thick. “I, the Aquatic Rhino King, will do what I promise. After you catch a thousand people, I will definitely spare you.” “Baldy!” The Aquatic Rhino King stared with his massive eyes at the bald armored guard. “Don’t try to use the Ironwood clan’s name to try and scare me. Here in the Eastmount Marsh, every year, how many disciples of the Ironwood clan and the Ji clan die? You came to adventure in Eastmount Marsh. If you die, you die! Even if this soft-skinned, tender-fleshed ‘young master’ of your Ironwood clan really has an extremely high status, if I were to kill you all, most likely it would be a long time before the Ironwood clan found out that you were all dead, and wouldn’t be able to find out who the killer was!” The Blue Guards could only grit their teeth. The Aquatic Rhino King laughed, and with a wave of his hand, tossed the bound ‘young master’ of the Ironwood clan to the ground again. “All of you, go out and capture more people. Go capture more, quickly. Go capture more of these lowly peasants.” Lying on the ground, the Ironwood clan’s ‘young master’ was roaring angrily. “But young master.” The bald armored guard said frantically, “We’ve already captured virtually all of the hunters and fishers here in Eastmount Marsh. Even if there were any more here…there would only be a very few. It’s going to be very hard to reach four hundred.” The young master of the Ironwood clan, lying on the ground, howled fiercely, “Then find a tribe. Any who resist, slaughter them all. Bring the rest back here. You should be able to find a few hundred people in a tribe, right?” “Massacre a tribe?” The bald armored guard was stunned. “What are you afraid of?” The Ironwood clan’s ‘young master’ roared, “If you are afraid, then go to the territory of the Ji clan! Go massacre a clan in the Ji clan’s territory. Kill any who resist and bring the others back.” 249 The bald armored guard clenched his teeth. “Yes!” If it was a case of the two major sides engaging in battle, or an order from their master in ordinary circumstances, they wouldn’t hesitate at all to kill. But they were now serving a Diremonster to kill and torture other humans…this caused the valiant armored guards to feel incomparable shame. “Haha…” The Aquatic Rhino King laughed loudly, his voice like thunder. “Good, good, good. After you round up a thousand humans, I’ll definitely spare you.” “Boom!” The Aquatic Rhino King rubbed his rumbling stomach, licking his lips. “Just ate a man. Now I’m hungry again! Who should I eat?” The Aquatic Rhino King cast his gaze towards the others, and instantly, the people who were tied up all had changed looks on their face. Many people’s eyes were filled with fear. They had personally witnessed this Diremonster eat someone alive earlier. They weren’t afraid of death, but to be eaten one bite at a time was a sort of hell! “Um?” The Aquatic Rhino King’s gaze landed on the distant Ning, and his eyes lit up. “Um, that human youth’s skin is so delicate and so clean. He seems very young. His flesh definitely will be delicious. Quick, someone, go bring him to me.” As he spoke, he began to drool. “Young master.” Uncle Dala looked frantically towards Ning. There were ten Blue Guards next to them. “Move it.” A Blue Guard grabbed at Ning’s beast fur clothes. Ning turned his head and glanced at the Blue Guard. With a movement of his right hand, he sent his right palm chopping towards the chest of the Blue Guard. Bang…a low sound rang out, and the Blue Guard was sent flying far away into the air. His eyes were bulging and round, and his mouth was hanging wide open. His face was red. Bang! Fresh blood spewed out from his shattered organs. He fell into the watery marsh over a hundred meters away, and as he did, he kicked up a splash of water, then sank down, not moving at all. Clearly, he was dead. “To willingly serve as the fangs and claws for a Diremonster and harm those of your own race…you deserve death!” A cold voice rang out. Utter silence. The five hundred plus people who were tied up on the hill, as well as the hundred plus Blue Guards, and even that seated Diremonster, the Aquatic Rhino King, all turned to look at the seemingly fragile youngster. A single palm sent someone flying over a hundred meters? “Wonderful!” The Aquatic Rhino King was the first to react, and he actually became excited. He naturally was very happy to witness humans killing each other, and he immediately shouted, “Aren’t you going to fight him? He just killed one of your people! Quick, fight!” “Kill!” The other Blue Guards instantly saw red, and all of them transformed into cruel blurs as they pounced towards him. The youngster in front of them had just killed one of their comrades. When their comrade had died to that palm just now, the only thing that could be said was that they were unable to react in time. In addition, this youngster probably trained in some sort of Fiendgod Body Refining technique. He just had a bit of strength, that was all. In a life and death battle, what mattered was the sword and saber techniques which one had refined and trained in. Even if one was much physically weaker, one’s sword would still be able to pierce through an opponent’s skull! Hu! Hu! Hu! Twenty Blue Guards attacked in unison. With a wave of his hand, Ning pushed the nearby Uncle Dala, who went flying. Dala somersaulted in a midair, then landed on the ground, completely uninjured. Uncle Dala looked frantically at the twenty Blue Guards charging towards Ning. “Young master, be careful.” “Be careful.” “Quick, run.” “Young man, quick, run!” The bound prisoners all grew frantic as well, and they began to call out, staring at the youngster with worry. They knew how powerful these Blue Guards were…these Blue Guards were highly experienced Ninefang Warriors who were extremely skilled at group attacks. These were elite soldiers of the Ironwood clan. Only a Xiantian level lifeform would be able to survive the attack of twenty of these Blue Guards. Faced with the attacking Blue Guards, Ning suddenly transformed into a gust of wind, the carefree wind which went where it pleased. When the Blue Guards chopped and stabbed at them with their sabers, spears, and sharp swords, Ning leisurely stepped past, easily making his way past their combined attacks. Hu! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! A series of palm slapping sounds in a row. Even as Ning made his way past the attacks of the twenty Blue Guards, he slapped out with his palms, each strike coming from his wrist and striking onto the faces of the Blue Guards. Each palm strike of Ning’s carried ten thousand pounds of force, and sent these Blue Guards flying. No one was able to block Ning’s palm. Hu! Ning’s body came to a halt. All twenty of the Blue Guards had been knocked flying to the side, all of their heads and necks crooked and twisted, blood flowing from their mouths, noses, and ears. All of them dead! “What?!” “Good heavens!” “But…but…” The hundreds of bound people and the Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan…even the Diremonster was shocked. “You…you…” The young master of the Ironwood clan who was lying there bound on the floor was both furious and frantic. “We are the Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan.” The other Blue Guards had very ugly looks on their faces. They were furious, but didn’t dare to make a move. Ning said with cold calm, “To willingly serve as the claws and fangs of a Diremonster is a crime that deserves death.” The Ironwood clan and the Ji clan were enemies to begin with, and these dead enemies had even been willing to serve as the claws of a Diremonster! Hua! A sharp sword appeared out of nowhere into Ning’s hands. His feet moved, and then sword light began to flash…in the blink of an eye, nine of the Blue Guards held their throats, gurgling a few times, before collapsing, blood flowing from the wound in their necks. In terms of footwork or swordplay, this youngster was extremely fast, causing the other Blue Guards to be terrified. Earlier, Ning had already been terrifying without even using his sword. But now, he began to wield his sword. “Quick, run.” “Aquatic Rhino King, save us!” The Blue Guards were completely frantic. This youngster who had appeared out of nowhere was clearly about to massacre them. The Aquatic Rhino King just sat there, laughing loudly. “All I said was that if you seized a thousand humans, I’d spare you. I never said I’d save you from others. Kill, kill, kill.” The Aquatic Rhino King wasn’t worried at all. To him, a Diremonster, these humans in front of him were nothing more than humans. This was nothing more than internal warfare amongst humans. Chi! Chi! Chi! Blood was flying everywhere, and one Blue Guard after another fell down lifelessly. The Blue Guards all fled in every which way in terror. They were truly frightened now. Their swordplay and saberplay, against this youngster, clearly weren’t enough to even withstand a single blow. “Quick, run.” “Quick.” Hu….moving at extreme speed with the sound of the wind, multiple blurry forms of Ning appeared out of nowhere. Every single Blue Guard fell where they stood. Some had been stabbed through the heart, others had their throats cut. Blood stained the ground. The Blue Guards lay collapsed on the ground, scattered throughout the area. Every single Blue Guard had died! “Hrm?” The Aquatic Rhino King, previously just enjoying the show, suddenly stood up, his face changed. The last, full-strength attack which Ning had employed had pushed his speed to the utmost limit, generating dozens of blurry images. This had truly stunned the Aquatic Rhino King. Before this, he hadn’t considered this youngster as a potential opponent. But now, he began to feel a bit wary. “Too powerful.” “So strong.” “They deserved to die.” The bound people all felt extremely excited. They hadn’t expected this youth to be as powerful as this. Could it be that this powerful youth was so powerful…that he was going to kill this terrifying Diremonster? Swish! Swish! Swish! Sword light flashing, the ten or so people around Ning instantly found their binds had been cut through. “Human youth.” The Aquatic Rhino King transformed into a black blur, charging towards Ning and smashing down at him with a massive fist that was covered with a thick layer of ice. “They are my food.” “Clang.” Ning struck out with his Darknorth sword, stabbing straight towards that massive fist. BANG!!!! It was as though a mountain had collapsed. Ning flew back a hundred meters, and the layer of ice on the fist of the Aquatic Rhino King also exploded, and even half the arm of the monster had exploded. The 253 watching tribesmen all revealed looks of joy and expectation on their faces. Had the Diremonster’s arm been destroyed? “Excellent.” The Aquatic Rhino King growled. “You are worthy of me using my real form.” The Aquatic Rhino King suddenly transformed into a huge, watery fog, and then the enormous fog of water suddenly coalesced at high speed, transforming into a hill-sized, thirty meters tall massive monster. This was an enormous Aquatic Rhinoceros. It was covered with an extremely thick blue hide, and was seventy meters long. It truly was like a small mountain. The energy emitting from its nostrils caused the ground to be covered with a layer of thick ice, and the nearby tribesmen were instantly frozen into ice statues. At this time, Uncle Dala was still rapidly rescuing the other members of his clan. “Quick, leave.” The distant Ning transformed into a stream of light, travelling atop the water. In but an instant, he scurried over, and as his sword flashed, the ropes binding the dozens of men were instantly cut apart. “Why aren’t you leaving?” Ning roared angrily, and then turned to stare at the giant monster. These people quickly grabbed the weapons lying on the ground, cut open the ropes on the people next to them, and then in the blink of an eye, the four hundred lucky survivors quickly fled. “Fleeing? I’m going to freeze you and slowly enjoy eating you.” The Aquatic Rhino King stared around him. Instantly, a cold aura began to radiate forth, and the temperature rapidly began to lower. A layer of ice and frost began to spread out, and instantly, some people were turned into ice statues. Only the fastest runners and the likes of Uncle Dala, who had fled long ago, managed to survive. “I am the Ironwood clan’s…” The young master of the Ironwood clan was still shouting fiercely, but halfway through his words, he turned into an ice statue. In the blink of an eye, the area within thirty meters of the Aquatic Rhino King had turned into a graveyard. Only Ning and the Aquatic Rhino King remained, staring at each other. From off in the distance, Uncle Dala and the dozens of lucky survivors still felt the aftertaste of terror. A young man near Uncle Dala said with concern, “Uncle Dala, will that young fellow survive?” “He will, he will.” Uncle Dala said with his mouth, but in his heart, he didn’t feel too confident either. Would that youngster with astonishing strength and swordplay be able to defeat the vicious, ferocious Diremonster? “Why haven’t you left yet!” The distant Ning roared in anger. Once the battle began, this distance of a three hundred meters, to the likes of Ning or the Aquatic Rhino King, would be nothing at all. He wouldn’t be able to help save them. “Let’s go.” Uncle Dala gritted his teeth, then led his tribesmen to flee. As for those of other tribes, they had fled long ago. They had been utterly frightened. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Freezing ice covered the area. Frozen corpses stood there like ice statues, whether on the ground, lying down, or standing up. There was no longer any hint of life in them. These six hundred corpses, especially those of the five hundred innocents, filled Ning’s heart with an even stronger desire to kill. “Human youth.” The Aquatic Rhino’s four legs seemed like massive pillars, pawing at the ground as it stared at Ning. “You have angered me. Those were meant to be my food.” The ice covered Ning, and there was even a layer of frost on his fur clothes. But Ning’s clothes rippled slightly, instantly breaking apart that layer of frost. Still, a large amount of ice continued to accumulate…all Ning could do was constantly break it apart and sent it flying. “Your swordplay and footwork are both quite impressive, but you are still only at the Houtian level. Whereas I, I am a mighty Xiantian lifeform.” The Aquatic Rhino rumbled in deep throated laughter. “Since a few dozen ordinary humans fled, you’ll have to be the compensatory prize. The flesh of a powerful human youth is even more attractive to me than that of a thousand ordinary humans.” “I haven’t killed a Xiantian lifeform yet.” Covered with frost, Ning stared at the Aquatic Rhino, his voice ice cold. “Thus, I have an unquenchable urge to kill a Xiantian lifeform! Aquatic Rhino King, as the first Xiantian lifeform to die to me, you should feel proud! I will chop off your flesh and personally sample it, and I’ll also let my parents and clansmen taste your flesh!” Hua! Ning’s left hand suddenly was also grasping a precious sword, and he was now wielding a Darknorth sword in each hand. “Twin swords? So it seems your swordplay is just average. In this area around Swallow Mountain, there isn’t a single person who uses twin swords who had good sword techniques!” The Aquatic Rhino stared at Ning with its enormous eyes, and then casually stamped on the ground, causing the entire area to shake. And then, like a mountain, it came crashing towards him. “Die!” Bang! A massive hoof, so large that several men would be needed to wrap their arms around it in a circle, came crashing down from up high, stamping down towards Ning. The air itself exploded with a desolate, earpiercing boom, and a blast of energy gouged multiple holes in the ground. Long before this hoof actually touched Ning, Ning knew how powerful it was. “Swoosh!” Ning first drew out a sword, which dimly flashed like a faint light of water which cut at the enormous hoof in a thin line. After just barely penetrating into the hoof’s skin, it was no longer able to penetrate any further. Ning immediately moved like a gust of wind and retreated. Bang!!! The earth shuddered, and an enormous crater many meters in size appeared, while Ning himself had already dodged more than thirty meters away. “You won’t be able to escape.” The Aquatic Rhino bellowed as it charged towards Ning. Although it seemed to be clumsy, due to its massive size, it travelled a huge distance with every step. Its enormous hooves created massive crater-like hoof-prints in the ground with each pounding step, and soon, it chased Ning all the way into a mountain forest not too far from the hill. This forest was only a few square kilometers in size. “These trees won’t be able to impede me at all.” The Aquatic Rhino bellowed, charging through them. In front of the mountain-like Aquatic Rhino, these large trees were like blades of grass being stepped on and moved through by ordinary people. “He lives up to the reputation of being an Aquatic Rhino. His physical strength is much greater than that of an ordinary Diremonster’s.” Ning said to himself. “And its skin is very thick. Just relying on my internal ki energy and ‘one with the world’ swordplay, I’m unable to even break through its skin. It seems I’ll have to rely on Fiendgod Body Refining.” Swoosh! Ning, with a leap, suddenly was standing atop the crown of a tall, large tree. Standing on the tree’s leaves, he didn’t sink down at all, staring down into the matching gaze of the Aquatic Rhino. “Huh?” The Aquatic Rhino suddenly came to a halt. He sensed that there was a change to this human youngster’s aura, and in terms of the strength of that aura, it was only very slightly weaker than the Aquatic Rhino’s own. “Fiendgod Body Refining?” “Right.” Ning’s skin was beginning to turn red. The power of the Sun and the Moon had begun to totally fill his body, and his strength instantly rose to the maximum limits. If he could break through and reach the Xiantian lifeform level, the divine power in his body would even be able to appear outside his body. “Haha, you are but a Houtian lifeform. Even if you train in an Fiendgod Body Refining, you are far inferior to me.” The Aquatic Rhino charged forward ferociously, smashing through trees in its wake, and the trees it smashed through all went ‘pengpengpeng’ as they collapsed, not able to slow it down at all. “Hrmph.” 257 Standing on the crown of the tree, Ning stared down coldly at the charging Aquatic Rhino, two swords in his hands. The Aquatic Rhino was physically enormous. Only a freakishly powerful Diremonster such as Serpentwing would be able to fight against it head on. But, as an expert swordsman, Ning would not do such a thing. Shua! At that moment of impact, Ning used his ‘one with the world’ level ‘Shadewind Steps’ to their utmost limits, and in but a single sudden movement, he dodged the Aquatic Rhino’s charge. Compared to Ning…the Aquatic Rhino was simply far less agile. While dodging from the Aquatic Rhino, the Darknorth sword in Ning’s hand sliced down towards the Aquatic Rhino’s flank. The sword flashed like a thin line, translucent, gem-like line of light…as though it were a line created by a large number of waterdrops. The line came slashing through the Aquatic Rhino’s flank! [Raindrop Sutra] – Rain Line! ‘Advanced’ level swordplay! Like the earlier attack he had used to block the Aquatic Rhino’s stomp, this attack also was one which activated on the power of nature. However, last time, Ning had only used his internal ki energy as the foundation for the attack, while this time…the Solar and Lunar energy in Ning’s body exploded. Using the Fiendgod Body Refining strength as his foundation meant that the power of this attack instantly increased by more than a hundred times! “Huala!” The tough hide of the Aquatic Rhino, under the sharp slash of the precious weapon, ‘Darknorth sword’, had an enormous wound chopped straight through it. Fresh blood burst forth as though from a dam. Bang! An enormous amount of blood exploded everywhere, and shattered intestines could faintly be seen as well. Swoosh. Ning landed on the ground and turned. The Aquatic Rhino, which had been charging at high speed, had come to a sudden halt while simultaneously letting out a roar of both pain and rage. His muscles and flesh were quivering, and the enormous, ripped wound in his body was rapidly beginning to shrink, but Ning’s sword attack had been simply too vicious and the wound created had been too large. Even despite trying hard to suppress the blood from flowing out and to close the wound, blood still dripped out. It no longer seemed as boastful as it had been earlier. “Aquatic Rhino King, the day of your death has come.” Ning transformed into a shadow, flying at high speed towards the Aquatic Rhino. “Howl!” The Aquatic Rhino let out a fierce howl, and then began to charge madly…to the opposite direction. It was fleeing! Fleeing! “It is going to run away, just like that?” Ning was astonished. But he quickly understood. His father had previously told him that Diremonsters were extremely crafty. Once they sensed any danger to their well-being, they would immediately flee. Clearly, this Aquatic Rhino had already discovered that its hide, which it was so proud of…could be broken through by a slice from this youngster. This meant that one of its greatest defenses was now useless! Ning’s footwork and agility far surpassed the Aquatic Rhino. After all, even the Diremonster, Serpentwing, hadn’t been able to do anything to him for a period of time. The Aquatic Rhino had always relied on its thick hide. It had thought that the youngster in front of it couldn’t hurt it, while all it had to do was keep charging. If it were to even graze the youngster, the youngster would instantly be injured heavily or even die. But now, it discovered that in but an single sword blow, the youngster had split his chest open…how could this be allowed to continue? “Flee.” The Aquatic Rhino fled wildly. “My thick hide is hard to split open even for those other Diremonsters. How could that human youth’s sword be so powerful?” The Aquatic Rhino was utterly frightened, not knowing what to do. But… How could he flee? Ning, when utilizing his ‘one with the world’ footwork, was only slightly slower than Serpentwing. He was far superior to the Aquatic Rhino. Shua! Shua! Shua! Ning had already caught up to the Aquatic Rhino. “I serve the Azure Skysnake King. You can’t kill me!” The Aquatic Rhino galloped wildly while bellowing loudly, and then it also let out a desolate scream, “King! Save me!” “King! Save me!” 259 The low, fierce scream travelled a very long distance. Swoosh! Ning’s incomparably agile body suddenly charged forward, while the twin swords in his hands suddenly, simultaneously stabbed upwards. For a moment, Ning’s entire body transformed into a dazzling-tobehold line of fire light, and with utter ruthlessness, he stabbed upwards at the Aquatic Rhino’s neck position. With a ‘Chi’ sound, the Aquatic Rhino’s skull was broken through. A burst of fire rose over thirty meters into the air before solidifying into a human form. It was the fur-clad Ning. “Ugh…” The Aquatic Rhino’s eyes were bulging and round. It hadn’t thought that its glorious, brash life would have suddenly come to an end at the hands of this human youth. As a Xiantian lifeform Diremonster, although it possessed strong life force and wouldn’t die even if stabbed in the heart, Ning had selected its true weak point! Forget about the Aquatic Rhino; even if a Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner had been stabbed in the head, he would also die. Bang… The massive corpse of the Aquatic Rhino collapsed to the ground, crushing many trees beneath it. “The ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’ – It really does live up to its reputation as the most powerful attack of the [Thunderflame Sword].” Ning landed gracefully from mid-air, not a single hint of blood staining his body. “By now, even the three major killing blows of the [Thunderflame Sword] have been trained to the point of the ‘advanced’ level.” The [Raindrop Sutra] had nine techniques in total, and Ning was already at the ‘advanced’ level for all of them, able to summon the power of nature. The [Thunderflame Sword] was a bit harder, especially that last blow, ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’. Ning had never been able to truly grasp it to the point of reaching the ‘advanced’ level, but just then, that Diremonster, the Aquatic Rhino, had tried to charge into the nearby marsh waters. If it had made it into the marsh waters, Ning wouldn’t have been able to do anything to it. In order to instantly kill such a powerful Diremonster with such strong life force…ordinary techniques wouldn’t have been enough. Ning had been frantic, and naturally thought of the the ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’ attack. Utilizing nature’s energy, he had pierced straight through the extremely thick skull of the Aquatic Rhino, like a moth throwing itself into a fire! “Diremonster.” Ning looked at the mountain-like corpse of the Aquatic Rhino. He couldn’t help but reveal a hint of excitement in his eyes. “This is the very first Xiantian level Diremonster I have ever killed. But before dying, didn’t he say something about being the subordinate of some ‘Azure Skysnake King’? Hrm, best that I leave quickly and not allow anything out of the ordinary to occur.” Shua! Ning instantly appeared next to the Aquatic Rhino’s corpse. His sword flashing, he quickly chopped open the thick skin of the Aquatic Rhino. The skin of the dead Aquatic Rhino was now clearly much weaker than before…in but a few seconds, Ning retrieved from the Aquatic Rhino’s corpse a black, palm-sized object that faintly emanated a fragrant scent. This was the most precious item contained within the Aquatic Rhino’s body; the bezoar. It was often described as a miraculous antidote to poisons. The value of this Aquatic Rhino’s bezoar alone would be enough to acquire an ordinary magic treasure. “Time to leave.” Holding the monstrous rhino’s bezoar, Ning instantly moved like a gust of wind, flying away at high speed while occasionally landing and taking a few steps on the surface of the water. Half-flying, half-walking on the waves, he fled for more than three kilometers. Huahuahua… Suddenly, the water in front of him suddenly began to vibrate, and an enormous whirlpool appeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “What?” Ji Ning, staring in front of him, couldn’t help but come to a halt. “Could it be that this Azure Skysnake King is really about to appear?” Not taking the time to consider anything else, Ning immediately turned and dashed across the surface of water towards a different direction, desiring to flee. “Hua….” An incomparably beautiful, enormous serpent head emerged from the surface of the lake, covered with jade green scales. Staring at the enormous serpent head of the Azure Skysnake King which had emerged, Ning’s face grew solemn. “I’m in trouble now. I didn’t expect the Azure Skysnake King to be this fast! With my ‘one with the world’ footwork, I can escape the attacks of many Diremonsters. In Eastmount Marsh, there’s only a few Diremonsters that pose a threat to me, but the Azure Skysnake King is one of them.” “On my very first trip to Eastmount Marsh, I encountered it!” Ning’s brain quickly flashed through the information regarding the Azure Skysnake King which he had read, back in the West Prefecture. The Azure Skysnake King was a Godbeast known as the Azure Skysnake! According to the records of the Ji clan, the last time they investigated it, it possessed the power of an early Xiantian lifeform! But although it was only an early Xiantian lifeform, due to it possessing the lineage of the Fiendgods, its power was actually comparable to that of the Diremonster, Serpentwing. The Azure Skysnake King was famous for its agility! In other aspects, it was perhaps a bit inferior to Serpentwing, but in terms of agility, it was superior to Serpentwing! In addition, the Azure Skysnake’s venom possessed extremely potent, hallucinatory qualities. If it landed a bite on its target, generally speaking, even Diremonsters would be affected by hallucinations! “My strongest attribute, my agility, is countered by it.” Ning was worried. In this sort of life and death battle, agility was even more important than strength and speed! For example, the strength of the Aquatic Rhino King was far superior to that of Ning! Its defense was far superior to Ning! But in Ning’s eyes, the Aquatic Rhino King was nothing more than a stupid, clumsy idiot. He was able to effortlessly circle around the Aquatic Rhino King and then kill it. It wanted to ram into Ning, but it couldn’t. But what this Azure Skysnake King was most skilled at was agility! ——————— 262 “Huahuahua…” From afar, the surface of the lake was beginning to slowly reveal an enormous serpentine scaled body. The Azure Skysnake King raised its serpentine head high, staring towards Ning, its eyes filled with confusion. It let out a few low growling sounds. “Huh?” Ning frowned, looking back at the Azure Skysnake King. What was this Snake King saying? He couldn’t understand. The Azure Skysnake King was a Godbeast…and at the early Xiantian level, wasn’t able to transform, nor was it able to speak in the human tongue. Hua! A human form suddenly rose from the water to stand next to the Azure Skysnake King. A thin, whiterobed man appeared, staring towards Ning. He shouted, “My King asks you, were you the one who killed the Aquatic Rhino?” “If I say I didn’t, would you believe me?” Ning asked. “In this area, aside from you, there are no other humans at all. Who could have done it besides you?” The tall and thin white-robed man laughed coldly. “In addition, you are able to run atop the water, showing that you have reached the ‘one with the world’ level!” Suddenly, the Azure Skysnake King let out a few more growls, and the white-robed man changed the subject. “However, in the area around the Aquatic Rhino’s body, there are no Xiantian energy ripple remnants. Could it be that you are not yet a Xiantian lifeform?” “If I answer you, will you let me go?” Ning asked. “How could that be possible?” The white robed man laughed coldly. “You killed one of the King’s subordinates, the Aquatic Rhino. If we so casually let you leave, what would become of the King’s prestige?” Ning frowned and shouted back, “If that’s the case, then enough chitchat. If you want to fight, then fight. If you don’t want to fight, then I’m leaving.” The Azure Skysnake King stared at Ning with its enormous serpentine head, filled with questions. The little human child in front of it…it wasn’t afraid of him, naturally. But the area around the Aquatic Rhino was simply too bizarre. There clearly wasn’t any Xiantian energy ripples in the area, but why did the Aquatic Rhino die? Could someone who wasn’t at the Xiantian level kill a Diremonster? “Hrmph.” Ning immediately began to run atop the water, transforming into a gust of wind, fleeing at high speed. Although he had come out to adventure, he knew his own limits. If he went to engage in battle against Diremonsters that were too powerful, he was asking for death! Ning had never intended to do battle against the Azure Skysnake King… “Hua…” The Azure Skysnake King swam across the surface of the lake, transforming into a silver tidal wave. In an instant, an enormous serpentine head appeared in front of Ning yet again. “He really is faster than me.” Ning came to a sudden halt, his eyes blazing with wildness. “It seems this fight cannot be avoided. If that’s the case, then let’s fight!” “In Eastmount Marsh, the only one faster than my King is that ancient monster, the Snow Toad! Do you know of the Ancient Snow Toad? That is the most powerful Diremonster of the entire Eastmount Marsh. It can freeze and kill you with but a single cold breath!” The white-robed man was walking atop the water, each step causing the water to ripple slightly, his movements not nearly as agile and graceful as Ning’s. “It is best that you simply accept your death before my King…” Ning frowned, then transformed into a streak of light, charging towards that tall, thin, white-robed man. “Monster, you sure are noisy. Eat a sword from me!” Swish! A cold light flashed towards the man. The white-robed man was so frightened that he immediately dove into the water with a splash. He served under the Azure Skysnake King, and in terms of power, he was actually a bit weaker than even the Aquatic Rhino King. How could he dare to fight with this human youth? “Groooowl.” The Azure Skysnake King suddenly let out an angry roar. Ning turned his head to look at him, not afraid at all. Since he wasn’t going to be able to flee, Ning naturally wiped the hesitation and fear away from his heart, leaving only a blazing heat. The heat of battle! Only by fighting an opponent’s whose strength totally surpassed his own would the blood in his entire body truly begin to boil! Hua…suddenly, an enormous green scaled tail emerged from the lake at high speed, sweeping towards Ning at incomparably high speed. “So fast!” Ning’s entire body was turning faintly red. Clearly, the Solar and Lunar energies in his body had been raised to their limits. At the same time, his feet began to move in accordance with the Shadewind Steps, and he wielded his twin Darknorth swords in his hands, one of which was flashing with blue light on its edge; poison! The Darknorth swords composed of three swords and a sheath. Two of the swords were normal, but one of them had been coated by Ning with poison. In fact, even a small part of the arrows he had brought were treated with poison! After all, while adventuring and engaging in life-and-death battles, the ultimate goal was to kill the opponent! Naturally, any means of accomplishing this would be acceptable. When battling with the likes of the Aquatic Rhino King, Ning didn’t bother with poison, but this Azure Skysnake King was simply too dangerous. With one hand, he executed ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’. With the other hand, he executed ‘Rain Line’. Both Darknorth swords moved, instantly drawing forth the power of the natural world. Huahuahua…a visible, thin, and long stream of water was currently arcing towards the serpentine tail in an attack. This stream of water was incomparably tough, and it wildly wrapped around the tail, causing the power and speed of that tail to slow. At the same time, drops of water had solidified into a thin line, and that thin line chopped directly towards that enormous serpentine body! “Bang!” Ning was blasted backwards at high speed by the force of the collision, and water splashed everywhere. “Huala!” Green, emerald-like blood came flying out of a large wound on the serpentine body, but quickly, the flow of blood slowed and the wound shrank. The blood, however, had a faint black color as well, but moments later, it returned to an emerald color. Clearly, the poison on the Darknorth swords didn’t pose much of a threat to the Azure Skysnake King, which was venomous by nature. Swoosh! Ning rose high into the sky, leaping off the surface of the water. The Azure Skysnake King coiled up its enormous body, staring at the distant human youth. This human youth had actually wounded it in a single exchange. Suddenly… The enormous body of the Azure Skysnake King began to shrink at high speed. Previously, it had been even larger than Serpentwing, but in a few seconds, it transformed to a size of only ten meters long, and its serpentine body was now only as thick as a person’s thighs. At the same time, this jade-green Azure Skysnake continued to stare at Ning, emitted a ‘Hisssssss’ sound. “Not good.” Ning’s face grew even more solemn. The Azure Skysnake King was a Godbeast. It could increase or decrease its size, and was famous for its agility. When it shrank its size, that was when it was the most fearsome! A violet pill suddenly appeared in Ning’s hand out of nowhere, and he immediately tossed it in his mouth. This was an antivenom spiritual pill. It was one of multiple different types of antivenoms which Ning had prepared for this adventuring expedition for when he encountered Diremonsters. This one was particularly effective against hallucinatory toxins and venoms. Ning wielded his twin blades, staring death at the Azure Skysnake King. The Azure Skysnake King’s serpentine head swayed slightly in a confident manner. It seemed like an experienced hunter, searching for Ning’s weaknesses. While swaying, it also slowly began to move closer to Ning, but Ning, striding on water, took one step back after another, maintaining the distance between them. “Swish!” Suddenly, the Azure Skysnake King transformed into a flash of emerald lightning! It charged at Ning! Ji Ning’s eyes flashed with a fierce light. The Darknorth sword in his right hand suddenly transformed into a flash, chopping ray of light as his speed increased to its maximum. This was one of the three killing strokes of the [Thunderflame Sword], ‘Thunderflint Flash’. This technique relied on a single word; ‘Quick’! It could be described as the fastest sword attack Ning was capable of, and he used it now to deal with this sudden pounce of the Azure Skysnake King! Shua! Shua! In but an instant, the Azure Skysnake King changed direction twelve times, transforming into a magical, illusory shadow which passed through the Darknorth sword in Ning’s right hand, and even used its serpentine body, now greatly reduced in size but clearly much more powerful, to strike at the Darknorth sword. But Ning’s left hand, also wielding a Darknorth sword, transformed into circles of spinning water as he put on display the most defensively powerful stance of the [Raindrop Sutra], ‘Watertight’! “Clang!” The serpentine head and the edge of the Darknorth sword collided, and the Azure Skysnake King couldn’t help but have its trajectory slightly altered to one side. The two of them passed each other! “Pa!” In that instant when they moved past each other, a terrifying shadow suddenly emerged from the water, striking towards Ning. Ning, unable to block in time, was struck heavily on the chest with a ‘Bang!’ sound…Ning couldn’t help but immediately vomit out a mouthful of blood, his face turning red as he was sent flying across the surface of the lake. Huahua… The Azure Skysnake King swam at high speed through the waters of the lake, pouncing towards Ning’s position. “Those whip-strikes of that tail are too fast. Much faster than the tail strikes of that old monster Serpentwing.” Ning, in mid-air, flipped around and gracefully landed on the surface of the lake. He couldn’t help but clutch his chest. He could faintly sense that his bones were broken, but the powerful regenerative energies of the Fiendgod Body Refining method was quickly restoring them. Kakaka…the two shattered ribs in his chest quickly were repaired. “But his strength is quite a bit lower than Serpentwing’s.” Ning stared at his chest. Only his fur clothes had been ripped apart. With the added protection of the Goldstar Shirt, his body hadn’t been injured too badly. “Swish!” The Azure Skysnake King once more shot towards him as fast as lightning. So very fast! “Come.” Ning wildly wielded his twin swords in an effort to defend. The Azure Skysnake King moved its head as if to bite, moved its body as if to coil around him, and also used its serpentine tail to strike at him. Its entire body was a weapon, and it coiled around Ning, wildly attacking. In this sort of extremely close quarters combat, often, a single second would allow numerous blows to be exchanged. Ning’s [Raindrop Sutra] and [Thunderflame Sword] had both reached the ‘advanced’ stage, but he had yet to reach the ‘one with the world’ level of swordplay! If his swordplay was at the ‘one with the world’ level, every ordinary pierce, thrust, scrape…any attack would be able to call on the natural power of the world. Only then was one’s level of swordplay truly at the ‘one with the world’ level. Because Ning had yet to reach this level, thus in this sort of high-speed combat, some of the postures and movements of his attacks were no longer carrying the power of the world. Upon losing the natural power of the world, the power of his swordplay decreased noticeably. This was an enormous flaw, one which Ning was relying on his twin swords to make up for, but still, in the end…if one only defended, one would be defeated! “Chi!” The Azure Skysnake King’s serpentine head bit viciously at Ning’s calf, and its sharp, venomous fangs pierced straight through the fur clothes and the Goldstar Shirt, the venom in its fangs instantly transmitting into Ning’s body. A powerful, numbing, intoxicating sensation quickly spread from Ning’s 267 calf to the rest of his body, and Ning hurriedly swallowed the antivenom spiritual pill which he had been holding under his tongue. “Die.” Ning struck out with the Darknorth swords in both hands, both of them simultaneously executing the ‘Moth Flies into the Flame’ of the [Thunderflame Sword]. The two swords instantly seemed to have transformed into two scorching lines of fire, piercing down directly towards the head of the Azure Skysnake King which was latched onto his calf! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The white-robed skinny man stealthily popped out of the water, staring at the distant battle between the Azure Skysnake and the human youth. “That human youth is truly formidable.” The white-robed man couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh of amazement. “He’s actually able to force the King to shrink in size to fight him. In terms of power, even I am inferior to that human youth…it seems in the future, when I encounter human youths, I need to be more careful. Still, it looks like that human youth is about to die!” “After he dies, I need to go have a taste of that youth’s flesh. Such a powerful human youth…I haven’t seen another like him in the three hundred years I have spent training.” “Huh.” “How unfortunate for him.” The white robed man shook his head as he watched. Most of Ji Ning’s beast fur clothes had been ripped to tatters, and blood was dribbling down his chest. His hair-bindings had been shattered, and his hair was now loose and unbound. But he still wielded those two Darknorth swords with hands that were as stable as ever, and his eyes were still very bright, as though fires were burning in them! Desire! A desire to achieve victory. Even though he was currently at a disadvantage and was being wounded repeatedly, Ning had never even thought of giving up. ———————– “So what if you trained in a Fiendgod Body Refining method?” The white robed man snickered. “He’s still only at the Houtian level. Injured repeatedly, then healing repeatedly. Each recovery will take up a large amount of his energy! After the energy in his body is depleted…then, utterly exhausted, he will no longer be able to fight back.” He could all but see the astonishingly talented youth collapse, and then be dismembered and eaten by the Diremonsters. “How sad. A heroic figure who would have doubtlessly become legendary throughout this area is going to die, right here.” The white robed man watched, not wanting to miss a thing. “Huh?” 269 The white robed man’s face changed slightly. “Why is his swordplay…” ———————- The Azure Skysnake King was simply too strong. After having shrunk in size, the body of the Azure Skysnake King became even tougher, like an iron whip. It had also become even more agile and even fiercer! In terms of strength, defense, speed, it was superior to Ning…Ning’s only advantage was that the pair of Darknorth swords he wielded in his hands. The Azure Skysnake King’s pressuring attacks had caused Ning to enter an empty mental realm where nothing existed except the next attack! He didn’t have any other thoughts, other than thoughts of battle! Kill! Kill! The Azure Skysnake King in front of him was like a nightmare. Its striking attacks was even faster than Ning’s ‘Thunderflint Flash’! Its coiling body was even more elastic than Ning’s ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’ attack! Its whip-like tail struck against Ning, causing him to lose his breath, but fortunately, his two Darknorth swords were able to complement each other. If one sword couldn’t take it, then the second sword would join in! “Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” At first, he was constantly being wounded. However, because he had a Fiendgod Body and had eaten an antivenom spiritual pill, the venom of the Azure Skysnake King, despite causing a bit of numbness, didn’t have any effect on his ability to perform in battle. As for bloodloss…Ning cared about that even less! Slowly… The Azure Skysnake King seemed to find it harder and harder to break through the defenses of the Darknorth swords. It was growing harder for him to wound Ning. “Huahuahua…” The swords flashed everywhere, summoning the power of the world. The Azure Skysnake King transformed into an emerald ray of light, swirling around Ning, attacking him wildly time and time again, but that perfect, mastered swordplay which carried with it the power of the world had created an utterly unbroken defense…one sword attack flashed after another, flowing like quicksilver, revealing no cracks at all, causing each of the Azure Skysnake King’s attacks to be fruitless. “Hrm?” Ning suddenly found that he was able to think again. Earlier, the Azure Skysnake King had simply put him under too much pressure, forcing him to totally concentrate on defense and on this battle. But now, that pressure had decreased, and he could spare a little bit of time to think. And when he did, Ning discovered that under the pressure of the Azure Skysnake King’s attacks, his swordplay had become perfected, with each sword blow that he delivered having not a single flaw at all. “My swordplay…” Ning’s face slowly was covered with a smile. “Hahahaha!!!!” Ning suddenly laughed loudly, laughed joyfully. “I broke through, hahaha! Azure Skysnake King, thank you for helping me make this breakthrough. I’ve finally reached the level of becoming ‘one with the world’ in swordplay.” One with the world! After having experienced these two major, bloody battles, especially with the amount of pressure which the Azure Skysnake King had placed him under, Ning had finally taken the final step and reached the level of being ‘one with the world’ in swordplay! Actually, Ning had already reached the end of the ‘advanced’ level in both sets of sword techniques he knew, and had already been very close to breaking through. All he needed was a bit of good luck. If he had stayed in the West Prefecture City and slowly trained on his own through constant repetition, he probably would’ve needed a few more years to break through. ————————– “Hisssss!” A low, growling hiss. The Azure Skysnake King had been enraged. The arrogant beast hadn’t expected that the youth he was hunting would suddenly have improved. “What’s the point of being angry?” Ning ran atop the surface of the water. “I no longer fear you now!” “Hisssssssssssss.” Hissing with fury, the Azure Skysnake King pounced wildly towards Ning, moving with even greater ferocity, no longer paying attention to its own defense. Previously, as the Azure Skysnake King had the advantage, it didn’t pay too much attention to receiving wounds, but now, the Azure Skysnake King had decided that even at the cost of being wounded, it would still kill this arrogant, belittling human. “Come, you liddle widdle snakey!” Ning wielded Darknorth swords in his two hands. At this moment, he felt as though being able to display his swordplay was a sort of enjoyment, something which was graceful and elegant. He delivered one sword stroke after another, each one perfect and flawless. Even the simplest of chops and stabs were utterly unbreakable and immaculate! “Our fight comes to an end here for today, Azure Skysnake King. This time, thank you so very much for helping me break through.” Ning laughed loudly as he began to run away. Both of the Darknorth swords in his hands were currently executing the ‘Watertight’ stance of the [Raindrop Sutra]. He wasn’t striving to land any blows, only to be able to defend himself, causing the Azure Skysnake King to be utterly unable to do anything to Ji Ning…and in the blink of an eye, Ning fled far away.” A long time later… “Grrrrrrr.” The Azure Skysnake King swam back. All it could do was raise its head towards the sky and roar in dissatisfaction. Over the course of its life, it had met multiple Xiantian level humans who had reached the ‘one with the world’ level, but it had still beaten the snot out of those humans…but that youngster with the twin swords he had just faced used those two swords as though they were wielded by two separate people who were perfectly linked in their thoughts. Indeed, the threat posed by those twin swords was ten times greater than normal. No matter what sort of disadvantage Ning had been put into, and even if one of his swords had been forced out of position and no longer at the pseudo ‘one with the world’ level granted by his sword techniques, the other sword would still maintain the ‘one with the world’ level, causing his actual battle ability to be no lower than that of a single-weapon expert at the ‘one with the world’ level. But now… Ning had truly reached the ‘one with the world’ level, and his power had exploded. Even facing against a Xiantian Godbeast, he was still able to flee easily. ————————- Swoosh! He ran as fast as the wind. “Hahahaha…” Ning was extremely delighted. He ran as he pleased atop the surface of the water, moving through Eastmount Marsh before entering the mountain forests. After running a long time, Ning leapt atop a large tree. Passing by the crown of the tree, with another leap, he sent himself floating gracefully several dozen more meters before landing by atop a cliff. With only a few more bounds, he ended up at the peak of this little mountain. Sitting down on the mountain peak, he leisurely withdrew a bottle of fruit wine from his kalestone, then raised his head and poured it into his mouth. And then, Ning happily shouted, “Enjoyable! Today was so enjoyable.” He had battle against two Diremonsters, and had executed the Aquatic Rhino King! The other, more powerful Diremonster, the ‘Azure Skysnake King’, was indeed extremely powerful. Under the pressure of its attacks, Ning’s swordplay had suddenly broken through and reached the ‘one with the world’ level. “One with the world!” Ning couldn’t help but feel self-satisfied. “Although the Xiantian level experts of West Prefecture City can use magic treasures, in terms of skill level, I imagine most of them are inferior to me.” “Only, I don’t know what level Father is at, exactly. Even before going out and adventuring, Father had become acknowledged as the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and had reached the ‘one with the world’ level long ago. Afterwards, he had gone adventuring for nearly ten years and met my mother…and then ever since then, he had been living peacefully at the West Prefecture City. Nobody knows how strong he has become!” Ning pondered this question. “But previously, when that Diremonster, Serpentwing, had attacked, that sword blow Father sent out from far away…” That sword blow had truly been terrifying. “My father’s skill level should still be stronger than mine.” Ning shook his head. “Enough of that. I’m not even at the Xiantian level yet.” Xiantian lifeforms possessed extraordinary power. Even Ki Refiners at that level would be able to use all sorts of magic treasures, seals, and formations. As for Fiendgod Body Refiners…they had all sorts of incredible transformations available to them, and they would truly be able to be described as Fiendgods. After all, during the ancient Fiendgod Era, those Fiendgods were all born at the Xiantian level. “The technique I am training in is acclaimed as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Not a single member of the Ji clan, in its entire history, has ever successfully reached the Xiantian level in it.” Ning was worried about this. “So how should I break through, exactly?” The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was simply too difficult! Actually, Ning’s natural gifts, such as his utterly pure body, as clean as a newborn’s, and the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique, caused the power of his already mighty soul to increase every day! It was extremely beneficial to him in body training, causing his rate of improvement to be extremely rapid. If he had been training in an ordinary Fiendgod Body Refining method, he would have broken through to the Xiantian level long ago. By contrast, in terms of Ki Refining, Ning’s talent was a bit weaker. Because he had been injured while he was in the womb, his meridian system had been damaged. At that time, when his father, Ji Yichuan, and Prefecture Lord Ji Young had investigated the quality of the meridians in his body, they had found that it was very average. The vast majority of Xiantian lifeforms relied on Ki Refining to traverse the Path of Immortals. Fiendgod Body Refining was even more difficult. None of them had expected that although Ning’s Ki Refining talent was rather poor, he would have such a monstrous aptitude for Body Refining. “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] has notes.” “I have to ‘merge Yin and Yang, fuse fire and water’. The power of the Moon and the power of the Sun must combine into a whole, transforming into the ‘Crimsonbright’ divine power.” Ning pondered this. “But how would one cause fire and water to fuse? How would one cause the power of the Moon and the Sun to combine into a whole?” All Ning knew was that fire and water didn’t mix! How, then, could fire and water be fused? This was an extremely difficult step. “I have to reach the Xiantian level!” Ning suddenly rose to his feet. Standing at the mountain peak, his eyes were filled with desire. “The Xiantian level, in the distant Heaven Realm, is nothing more than a starting point! To the ancient Fiendgods, the Xiantian level is nothing more than the level they were at when they were first born! If I can’t even break through to the Xiantian level, how can I possibly talk about being able to control my own destiny?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The exquisitely cut and stitched beast furs were very form fitting, causing Autumn Leaf to seem rather heroic and valiant. She stood there in the area outside the Metalstone Tribe, staring off into the distance. Her figure had attracted the attention and the gazes of this rustic tribe’s youths. Ever since Autumn Leaf had arrived at the Metalstone Tribe, there had been no question that she had become the most beautiful girl here…one youngster after another did their best to find opportunities to show off their strength and valor in front of her, but not a single one had been able to attract her interest. “Miss Autumn Leaf is waiting for her young master, right?” “Right. I hear that Uncle Dala, upon returning, said that her young master is extremely powerful. Over a hundred Blue Guards of the Ironwood clan were all killed by that young master in the blink of an eye!” “Only a powerful young master like that would be worthy of someone as beautiful as Miss Autumn Leaf.” “It’s a pity that he encountered a Diremonster! Most likely, that powerful young master won’t be able to survive his encounter with the Diremonster. When angered, Diremonsters can cause the entire area to change. That one had immediately killed a large group of people by freezing them to death. Uncle Dala and the others were only lucky enough to survive because they fled quickly. If that young master were to die, Miss Autumn Leaf would have to find another person to marry!” The youths of the tribe all watched from their position by the gate while speaking quietly amongst themselves. As far as they considered, a girl like Autumn Leaf was like one of the legendary goddesses…compare to Autumn Leaf, the other girls of their tribe were as far beneath her as the earth was beneath the heavens. —————————- Autumn Leaf stood there, staring into the distant mountain forest. She was waiting. Waiting for the most important man in her life. “Autumn Leaf.” A powerfully built figure strode out from the tribe. It was the other servant, Mowu. Mowu urged her, “Go back and get some rest. Once the young master arrives, the guards at the gate of the tribe will definitely see him.” “No.” Autumn Leaf shook her head gently. Mowu looked at Autumn Leaf, and then he sat down as well on a nearby, chopped-through tree trunk. His forehead was furrowed in worry as well. After Uncle Dala had returned, he had found out that Ji Ning had begun battling with the ‘Aquatic Rhino King’, a Diremonster. As to what the results of that battle were, no one knew. Although in his heart, of course he still hoped that his young master would return, his rational mind was telling him…the young master probably had met with misfortune! This was because Uncle Dala and the others had spent roughly two days on the journey back from Eastmount Marsh. Given young master Ning’s speed, if he was still alive, he probably would have made his way to the Metalstone Tribe under half a day. Logically speaking, he should have reached the Metalstone Tribe before Uncle Dala and the others had arrived! But Uncle Dala and the others had been back for more than two days, but Ning had yet to return. “If the young master is dead…Autumn Leaf and I will most likely have to die as well.” Mowu said quietly. If their master died, how could the servants continue to live? Local hegemons such as the Ji clan had very strict internal regulations. “Huh?” Mowu suddenly blinked. From afar, he faintly saw an indistinct, yet familiar figure…the young master’s figure! “Young master!” Autumn Leaf had already begun to rush over there. “Young master?” “Miss Autumn Leaf is running over.” “Look, there seems to be someone coming from that side. Could that be the young master which Miss Autumn Leaf has been waiting for?” The youths standing guard at the gate whispered to each other, while some of them also immediately began to run inside the tribe to inform the other tribesmen. —————————– Autumn Leaf watched as the fur-clad, smiling young man walked over. The past two days, she had been constantly repressing her own fear, her nervousness, her wild thoughts…and now, all these various emotions caused her to suddenly begin to shed tears. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf looked at Ning. “I, I…” “Hey, I’m back.” With his astonishing eyesight Ning noticed that from afar, in the middle of the tribe, Uncle Dala and the one-armed man were currently walking in their direction. He couldn’t help but laugh, “So Dala made it back already. Was he the one who told you that I was battling with the Aquatic Rhino King? Just because I didn’t come back for a few days, you were frightened this badly?” 276 Autumn Leaf did her best to hold back further tears. “It was just an Aquatic Rhino King. To your young master, it’s barely worth mentioning.” Ning winked at her, seemingly in extremely high spirits. Autumn Leaf breathed out in astonishment, “Young master, you killed the Diremonster?” “Yep.” Ning nodded delightedly. “Wow, a Diremonster. Young master, you killed a Diremonster.” Autumn Leaf was extremely excited. “Young master, you are only eleven years old, but you killed a Diremonster. This…this…” As a personal maidservant, Autumn Leaf’s life centered around Ning. As she always revolved around him, to her, Ning was like her most important family member. Naturally, Autumn Leaf was truly excited to learn that Ji Ning was now capable of killing Diremonsters.” Ji Ning hurriedly lowered his voice. “Don’t spread the news.” “Right, right.” Autumn Leaf nodded hurriedly. “Come, let’s go take a look at the Metalstone Tribe.” Ning said. The past few days, Ning had been in the mountain forests, pondering the results of the past two day’s battles. He had also come to realize some mistakes he had made in the previous battles. After careful pondering and consideration of the two sword techniques he had used, he had actually improved quite a bit further. Ning led Autumn Leaf towards the gate of the Metalstone Tribe. Uncle Dala and a group of tribesmen were there, and they went up to welcome him. Leading the tribesmen was a balding old man with white hair. The balding old man walked over and bowed repeatedly with respect. “I, Tyson of the Metalstone Tribe, would like to thank you, mighty young master, for having repeatedly saved the lives of the tribesmen of my Metalstone Tribe. All the clansmen of the Metalstone Tribe feel boundless gratitude for you…and we’ve been waiting for your return.” Ning smiled and nodded. “I’ll stay with your Metalstone Tribe for a period of time. As for ‘rescued’, all I did was help out in passing. Also…for now, I don’t want to be disturbed.” “Understood, understood.” The balding old man nodded repeatedly. “Dala.” Ning looked over. The tall, powerful, bear-like Uncle Dala hurriedly stepped forward, seemingly very excited. “Young master, when I saw that you returned, I…” “It’s alright.” Ning laughed. “You helped me for a month in Eastmount Marsh. I told you that when I returned to the Metalstone Tribe, I would definitely reward you heavily. Take this.” As he spoke, within 277 his hands, three ‘beastheads’ of gold appeared. He tossed it over, each beasthead weighing ten pounds. This bear-like Uncle Dala instantly was stupefied. And then, he hurriedly caught them all, while the surrounding tribesmen all stared at him with envy. “Let’s go.” Ning looked at Mowu and Autumn Leaf, then headed straight into the Metalstone Tribe. Ning could easily have given an even more valuable gift, but to a small tribe like the Metalstone Tribe, which had barely a thousand people, truly valuable treasures might cause a disaster instead! ——————————- Within the Metalstone Tribe. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf poured some fruit wine for Ning, then offered him some fruit and some delicacies. “Mowu and I have been in this tribe for a month now. Not soon after arriving, we got in touch with our Ji clan.” “Right.” Ning nodded. While adventuring, every month he had to reach out to and contact the scattered troops of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture who were stationed in various places throughout the area. “There is a letter from the West Prefecture City.” Autumn Leaf withdrew a scroll from her sleeves. Ning accepted it. He rolled the yellow parchment open, and as he did, he couldn’t help but reveal a smile. This was a letter his mother had personally written to him! The letter didn’t contain too much; it mainly just consisted of some words of concern. But having just experienced a life-and-death battle, the nagging of his mother actually filled Ning’s heart with a sense of warmth. “Enough, Autumn Leaf. It looks as though it’s been many days since you had a good rest. Go get some rest.” Ning said. “I’m not tired.” Autumn Leaf hurriedly said. “Go.” Ning ordered. Autumn Leaf hurriedly lowered her head, obediently going back to her own room to get some rest. ———————– Time moved on. Every ten days or so, he would make a trip to Eastmount Marsh. Most of the time, though, Ning remained within the Metalstone Tribe, practicing his sword techniques. In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed. Ning was currently seated on the eaves of his house, holding a bamboo reed that was filled with fine fruit wine. “Although West Prefecture City is large, it isn’t as comfortable as these small tribes.” Resting at sundown, heading out at sunrise. The Metalstone Tribe showed great solidarity. Everyone helped each other, and they all treated each other like brothers. “Quick, quick, quick.” “Everyone, go back.” “Quick, bundle everything up.” Suddenly, the formerly peaceful tribe instantly became a chaotic bedlam of activity. This caused Ning, who was drinking wine leisurely on the top of his building, to grow confused. He immediately leapt down from the building, then grabbed one of the running youths. “You.” “Young master.” The youth, seeing that it was Ning who grabbed him, immediately greeted him respectfully. “What’s going on?” Ning asked. “Why did the tribe suddenly turn so chaotic? Weren’t you training in spear-fighting just now? Why did you stop?” “The people of the Blackmount Tribe are coming!” The youth hurriedly said. “The people of Blackmount Tribe have come to collect furs from us. We need to hide some of the finer furs which the tribe has, as otherwise, if the Blackmount Tribe discovers them, they’ll take them for their own. That would be terrible. Young master, I need to get back immediately…” Ning, understanding, nodded. “Go ahead.” Autumn Leaf was watching this from in front of the building as well. She spoke out, “The Blackmount Tribe is an extremely large tribe with tens of thousands of tribesmen. Each year, these smaller tribes will have to offer them some tribute.” “Hmph.” Ning frowned. “This land belongs to the Ji clan! Only my Ji clan has the right to levy taxes. If the Blackmount Tribe is forcing the nearby, smaller tribes to pay them tribute, isn’t that the same as levying a tax?” The Ji clan levied and collected taxes from every singlet tribe within its borders. At the same time, the Ji clan itself was a subject of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and so most of the tax they collected had to be delivered to the Grand Xia Dynasty! “In principle, yes.” Autumn Leaf shook her head. “But how would these smaller tribes dare to refuse? If they were to refuse, the Blackmount Tribe is completely capable of utterly destroying them, then selling off the captives as slaves.” Ning let out a long sigh. Right. Because there were too many tribes, there was no way for the Ji clan to manage all of the internecine squabbles between the tribes, so they usually left them to their own devices. Not just the Ji clan…even the Grand Xia Dynasty, who ruled over an enormous, boundless expanse of territory, had to govern in a loose fashion. Wasn’t the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan also in a state of war, viewing each other as deadly enemies? If one’s territory was too large, it became hard to govern! “They are coming.” Autumn Leaf said. “The Blackmount Tribe’s tribesmen are coming.” Ning looked over as well. He saw that from afar, a group of half-armored, pelt-clad tribesmen were currently strutting around in the area, looking around as if they were in territory which belonged to them. The leader of the Metalstone Tribe, Uncle Dala, and the others were all by their sides, obediently following them, not daring to disobey them at all. The leader of this Blackmount squad, Braveshell, was currently viewing this little tribe with satisfaction. “Hmph.” Braveshell glanced at the nearby Metalstone tribesmen. Seeing the frightened, supplicatory looks on their faces, he couldn’t help but feel even more delighted. Even within the Blackmount Tribe, he was a high level, central figure. In a small tribe like this Metalstone Tribe…he could act as he wished! If he was angered, this entire tribe would probably be finished. The hundred guards he had brought with him could probably destroy this sort of small tribe all by themselves. In this sort of small tribe, he had absolute authority. “Huh?” Braveshell suddenly saw that not too far away, there was a young man and a girl standing together. Braveshell’s eyes instantly lit up. The guards by his side, looking along with him, couldn’t help but hold their breaths as well. “Beautiful. Mesmerizing.” Braveshell was instantly stunned, and then his heart was instantly overwhelmed with powerful lust and desire. He definitely had to seize this beautiful girl and make her his personal maidservant. Every day, he would definitely ‘bestow his affections’ on her! Just thinking about it made Braveshell feel the blood pumping through his entire body. “Hahaha…” Laughing loudly, Braveshell walked directly towards the young man and the girl. Ning frowned slightly as he looked at this tall man walking towards him, who was wearing some exquisitely crafted ornaments. The tall men swept Ning and Autumn Leaf with a gaze, as though he were 280 a high ranking tribesman inspecting some goods. In particular, he didn’t disguise the greedy look in his eyes when he was staring at Autumn Leaf. “Your fur clothes were cut and stitched so exquisitely. Did you make it yourself, miss? Your handiwork is quite fine. The fur clothes of the youngster next to you is stitched and cut very nicely as well. Is he your little brother?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Impudent!” Autumn Leaf’s voice rang out. Braveshell raised his jaw slightly. “Impudent? This tiny little Metalstone Tribe…I can do what I wish to it, much less ‘impudent’. I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve taken a fancy to you. Follow me obediently. The last time I took a fancy to a girl, that girl was quite stubborn. She preferred to commit suicide than follow me, so I wiped out her entire family, and sold off her entire clan as slaves! For your little brother here, and your clansmen, you need to make a good decision!” Tribesfolk were straightforward individuals. They weren’t very calculating, but at the same time, they were very bloodthirsty. Most of them didn’t fear death, especially beautiful girls like the one in front of him right now. They were definitely the shining jewels of their tribes, and generally they were all very prideful. It was quite common for such beautiful girls to rather commit suicide than to submit to others, once their pride took hold of them. Braveshell didn’t want to see this happen. “Venerable Lord Braveshell.” The balding elder, Tyson, hurriedly urged him, “These three do not belong to my Metalstone Tribe. There come from a very large tribe!” “A large tribe?” Braveshell’s eyebrows twitched. “No wonder. I was just wondering how a place like your Metalstone Tribe could produce such a graceful young lady. Miss, tell me what tribe you belong to.” As he spoke, he moved two steps forward, wanting to stroke Autumn Leaf’s face. Autumn Leaf directly delivered a lightning-fast kick to him. Bang! This heavy kick was powered by rage, and it struck heavily upon Braveshell’s chest. Not only did it shatter the ornaments covering his chest, it also sent Braveshell falling back over his head. “Impudent!” “Clang!” The Blackmount guards instantly shouted in anger, and some of them even drew their blades. Braveshell quickly climbed up. He wiped away a hint of blood from the corner of his mouth, then reached out to stop his guards. All his guards knew exactly how vicious and diabolical Braveshell could be, for him to have become a high level, core member of a tribe as large as the Blackmount tribe. “It’s all over.” “This young miss is going to suffer a terrible fate.” 282 The guards all understood that when Braveshell was clearly furious but temporarily suppressed his anger, it only represented…that Braveshell was truly livid! He was currently considering how to vent his fury! Braveshell was on his feet now. His eyes were narrowed, staring at the three like a poisonous viper. He slowly said, “That kick was rather heavy. Can you let me know where the three of you have come from, exactly? Is it a large tribe, or is it the mighty Ji clan?” “Take a good look.” Mowu stepped forward coldly, revealing with a flip of his hand an emblem. The emblem had a single word on it: Ji! “Ji!” Many of the faces of the surrounding guards changed. They all looked at their leader, Braveshell, whose face had turned ashen. He hurriedly bowed in terror, “I didn’t expect that I would accidentally offend you. Please pardon me.” Mowu’s eyes contained a hint of pity in them, because he knew how much his young master hated evildoers. Autumn Leaf also glanced coldly at Braveshell. Ever since Braveshell said that he had once destroyed a small tribe for the sake of seizing a girl, and sold off all the tribesmen as slaves, Autumn Leaf had felt utter revulsion for him. Because she herself had been sold off after her tribe had been destroyed. Ji Ning simply looked at Braveshell. In an instant, he had already determined that he would punish Braveshell with death! Braveshell had destroyed an entire tribe for no cause? When Ning thought of how the women and children in that tribe had died miserable deaths or had been sold, Ning’s heart was filled with boundless rage! Although this area contained many hidden evildoers, and Ning couldn’t possibly stop them all, when he encountered them, he could never suppress the fury he felt! “Hahaha…” Braveshell, whose face had been ashen, suddenly cracked his lips and laughed, laughed brightly. “It seems the three of you already have a killing intention. I really don’t know if I should call you stupid or arrogant!” “Oh?” Ning frowned slightly. Braveshell continued to laugh. “So what if you are of the Ji clan? How many youngsters of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan go out adventuring as part of their coming-of-age, and how many of them have died! How could the Ji clan possibly discover…if their clansmen were killed by monstrous beasts, or by other tribesmen?” 283 “Even if you have a high status, in this place, you are nothing more than three people. Thus, even if you want to kill me, you should hide it in your hearts…as the books say, ‘distant water cannot quench a nearby drought’. No matter what your status is, no one will be able to save you.” Braveshell sighed. “I still remember how three years ago, I once enjoyed a young girl of the Ji clan. Her skin was truly fine. My servants all enjoyed her as well, and afterwards, we fed her to the beasts who ate her clean!” “Do you understand now?” Braveshell’s eyes were shining. “Status doesn’t represent power. At least in this place, I am the one who determines your life and death!” “Everyone.” Braveshell raised his head and said in a loud voice. “Make your move. Kill the two men, spare the woman! After I enjoy her first, each of you will have your chance!” “Wooo!” “Kill!” “Haha, let’s do it!” Braveshell’s guards all drew out their blades and swords, valiantly charging forward. The high level military leaders of large tribes trusted their own servants and slaves the most. Whether it was Ji Lee or Ji Yichuan, they all had their own trusted servants and slaves, who would definitely obey them without question. Under Braveshell’s orders, these guards, who were born into his servitude, all dared to charge forward and kill! “How dare you!” Suddenly, a voice rang out like spring thunder, exploding in the skies. In the skies above, there was someone standing atop an enormous flying bird. That person drew out his longsword and brandished it downwards. In but a second, sword energy criss-crossed everywhere…one ray of sword energy after another rained down, and each blow of sword energy pierced through a guard, easily chopping their bodies apart, sending fresh blood spewing everywhere. “Aaaaah!” “Nooooooo!” “Aaaaah!” All sorts of miserable cries rang out, but soon, everything became silent again. The hundred-plus servant guards, who had been shouting savagely, all collapsed on the ground. Some had large holes in their chest, while others had been chopped apart. Blood stained the ground. All of them had died miserable deaths! But not a single one of the utterly terrified tribesmen of the Metalstone Tribe had been struck. “But…but…but…” Braveshell had thought that everything was under his control, but now, his face turned ashen. He stood there numbly, staring at his dead servants, and then at the man standing on the giant bird in mid-air. He stuttered, “Xian…Xiantian…” The people of the Metalstone Tribe all raised their heads. Some were dumbfounded, others were awestruck, while some of the girls in particular just stared unblinkingly. Ning, Autumn Leaf, and Mowu all raised their head to take a look as well. Swoosh! The man jumped down from his mid-air position on the back of the giant bird, landing on the ground. “Young master.” The man bowed slightly as he said to Ning, demonstrating his respect for Ning. This scene caused all the members of the Metalstone Tribe, as well as Braveshell, feel stunned. Because just then, those lines of energy attacks represented that this person was a Xiantian lifeform! A Xiantian lifeform, in any tribe, no matter how large, was definitely a person of the highest status. Even in the Ji clan, they were high level, core members! Generally speaking, the adventuring youths of the Ji clan who encountered Xiantian lifeforms all had to pay their respects first. But this Xiantian lifeform was actually paying his respects to this youngster? “Spare me.” Braveshell threw himself forward, kneeling in front of Ning, begging, “Mighty young master, those words that I said earlier were all wild ravings. I’ve never done such a thing! In addition, once, when I was collecting furs from some small tribes, I acquired a special treasure. It definitely is a magic treasure! As to what type of magic treasure it is, I don’t understand either…as long as you are willing to spare me, young master, I am willing to give this magic treasure…” Before he even finished speaking. Hu. Braveshell suddenly threw himself towards Ning, his right hand forming a claw, wanting to rip out Ning’s throat. At such a close range…generally speaking, even late stage Houtian experts would find it hard to dodge. “Hrmph.” With a casual wave of his hand, despite striking out later, Ning’s hand slapped down onto Braveshell’s skull before Braveshell finished his attack. Braveshell’s body trembled, and then blood began pouring out of his nose and his ears, and his body weakly tumbled to the ground. “He’s a sly one.” Ning said softly. This Braveshell really was both crafty and vicious, venomous and diabolical, daring to do anything. Even though he knew that his chance of of dealing with the Xiantian level person was low, he immediately 285 made the decision to first use the magic treasure to try and attract Ning’s interest…and then try to capture Ning. As long as he could take Ning hostage, he would have a chance at life. Unfortunately… Ning was someone who could kill even Diremonsters with ease. “So him and those guards were all on the same side.” The Xiantian level man said with a laugh. “Those guards were all half-armored, while this person was dressed in furs…I hadn’t noticed him.” “Thank you for your assistance, elder apprentice-brother.” Ning said with a laugh. The man in front of him was one of the nine major disciples which his father, Ji Yichuan, had trained. His name was Wanfang, and he was an early Xiantian lifeform. Within the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, his status was fairly high, but at his current level of power, he wasn’t quite eligible yet to take command over the black armored riders, while Ning, being the next Prefecture Lord, had an extremely high status. “If you had been the one to act, young master, things would have gone just as easily.” Wanfang sheathed his longsword while laughing. “But I came here for an important reason.” “Important reason?” Ning’s face changed. He kept in touch with the West Prefecture once a month. The person who had come this time was his own elder apprentice-brother. One could imagine how important the reason was, for a Xiantian expert to personally make the journey. “Let’s chat inside.” Ning said hurriedly. Ning glanced at the still-shocked Metalstone Tribesmen. “Dispose of the corpses. As for the Blackmount Tribe…in a little while, I’ll ask my elder apprentice-brother to make a trip to the Blackmount Tribe. You naturally won’t have anything to worry about.” “Thank you, young master!” The balding elder and the others all hurriedly fell to their knees. Only now did they understand how exalted Ning’s status truly was. For even a Xiantian lifeform to greet him with respect…a person like this, even the chieftain of the Blackmount Tribe would have to kneel before! Ning and Wanfang quickly entered the stone room, then closed the door. “Quick.” “Quick, clean it up.” The people of the Metalstone Tribe were filled with pumping blood as they looked at the corpses on the ground. They felt both nervous and excited. Normally, they had to all but worship the ground on which these terrifying Blackmount tribesmen walked on, but now, all of them lay here dead. “So even you will have an ending like this.” That cold, one-armed man gave a savage kick to the corpse of Braveshell, his eyes filled with rage and hate. ——————— Within the room. Only Ning and Wanfang were present. “Elder apprentice-brother, what is the matter?” Ning asked. “Why did you come here?” “Because of the Diremonster, Serpentwing!” Wanfang’s face was solemn. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Formation “The Diremonster, Serpentwing?” Ji Ning frowned. “What happened? Our Ji clan of the West Prefecture should have people stationed at Serpentwing Lake, with multiple Xiantian experts present. Could it be that Serpentwing has escaped Serpentwing Lake?” Wanfang shook his head. “If he had simply escaped from Serpentwing Lake, that would be a minor affair! Alas, our Ji clan of the West Prefecture actually ended up helping out Serpentwing. Our Xiantian experts stationed at Serpentwing Lake constantly tried to kill him whenever possible, causing Serpentwing’s every day to be filled with danger. There were several major battles as well! Under that pressure…Serpentwing actually reached the peak of the Xiantian level!” “What?! Peak Xiantian level?!” Ning was shocked. A peak Xiantian level Diremonster was truly dangerous. Even Eastmount Marsh had only a single peak Xiantian level Diremonster, that Ancient Snow Toad! “The Xiantian level experts of our Ji clan of the West Prefecture were only able to just barely survive through relying on their magic treasures. They had to just watch as Serpentwing disappeared!” Wanfang sighed. “As soon as he heard this news, Master immediately went in pursuit!” “Father went in pursuit?” Ning nodded. Wanfang nodded as well. “But that Serpentwing can both soar in the skies as well as dive into the seas. His speed is now much faster than before, and as soon as he enters the deep water, even a Zifu Disciple would find it hard to kill him. Master understood this as well, and this pursuit of his ended in failure. Thus, he ordered me to tell you of this affair and to make sure that you are careful. After all, previously, you killed his child.” “Understood.” Ning nodded solemnly. “It seems I need to leave this Metalstone Tribe now. Serpentwing, hrmph, I didn’t expect he’d survive this long, much less make a breakthrough!” “This sort of old monster who has been training for thousands of years has accumulated significant experience. It isn’t strange for him to make a breakthrough at last.” Wanfang then said, “That’s all there is to report. My mission is now complete.” Ning hurriedly advised him, “Apprentice brother Wanfang, those people you executed earlier belong to the Blackmount Tribe, located not far from here. Go help me rap their knuckles a bit!” 288 “Just leave this sort of minor task to me.” Wanfang nodded. ………. That very day, Ning led Autumn Leaf and Mowu out of the Metalstone Tribe. As to where he was headed…Ning didn’t inform anyone. Only by acting in such a way would he make it harder for Serpentwing to find him. —————————- A month after the Serpentwing Disaster, everything was calm again. Originally, after Serpentwing broke through to the peak Xiantian level, he charged out of Serpentwing Lake, beginning to vent his fury upon the area, causing great harm to the nearby tribes and devouring many humans, filling countless tribesmen with fear. He boldly went out in search of Ning, but the news that Ning was adventuring was a secret which few knew. Given that Ning himself was extremely vigilant as well, Serpentwing naturally couldn’t find him! After half a month, Serpentwing encountered Ji Yichuan. Relying on his vastly increased strength, Serpentwing confidently did battle with him, but he didn’t expect that once again, he would be badly injured. Still, his flying speed was much faster than before, and when he fled for his life, even Yichuan wasn’t able to do anything to him. This battle resulted in Serpentwing coming to a decision; he never wanted to fight against Yichuan ever again. If he saw Yichuan, he would immediately run far away. Another month later, Poisondove Ridge stepped in! The Five Prefectures of the Ji clan negotiated with Poisondove Ridge, and the end result was…‘The Diremonster, Serpentwing, is forbidden to leave Serpentwing Lake for a hundred years!’ …….. Time passed. In the blink of an eye, summer arrived. Within Eastmount Marsh. Two figures lay hidden within the aquatic grass. One was a half-red, half-white man with a vile aura and braided hair, while the other was a muscular man dressed in black. “The information you have is correct?” The vile-looking man said softly. “We’ve waited here for three days now.” The black-clothed man nodded. “Recently, there is a youngster who often comes to fight against the Azure Skysnake King. Every ten or fifteen days, they’ll do battle. In addition, their battles are generally in the area around here. Don’t worry, Master. When the time comes, the Azure Skysnake King will definitely emerge from the depths, and once he enters our formation, he won’t be able to escape!” 289 “Alright.” The vile man nodded. “For the sake of this day, I have prepared for so long, and also spent an incredible price in order to acquire this Yin and Yang Twin Energy Formation. This time, we must capture the Azure Skysnake King alive and let it become my spirit beast!” “Once the Azure Skysnake King enters the formation, its life and death will be entirely determined by you, Master.” The black clothed man said. “Hahaha…” The vile man laughed gently. “Right. That youth who often fights against the Azure Skysnake King, do you know who he is?” “I’ve never seen him.” The black clothed man shook his head. “I know all of the young geniuses of our Ironwood clan, and he isn’t one of them. It seems as though this youngster’s sword techniques are based on the Ji clan’s [Raindrop Sutra].” “Ji clan?” A fierce look flashed through the vile man’s eyes. “For him to be able to fight equally at such a young age with the Azure Skysnake King means that when he grows up, he’ll most likely become yet another Yichuan…since that’s the case, then I, Ironwood Zhan, will give the Ji clan a hand and help them send their genius straight to the Yellow Springs of Hell.” Time passed. Another half day went by. It was now sunset, and in the distance, a fur-clad youngster appeared, walking atop of the waves. “Master, he’s here!” The black clothed man hurriedly shouted. Zhan turned and looked. Seeing that Ning was walking on water as though it were flat ground, his pupils shrank. “One with the world!” “He must die.” Zhan’s heart was now filled with a killing urge. At such a young age, this person was able to reach the ‘one with the world’ level. Once this terrifying youngster grew up…he would be far more powerful than even the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan. He might even become the most powerful figure in the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan!” “Brother An!” Ironwood Zhan hurriedly instructed. “Afterwards, you go deal with that youth. Even if you can’t kill him, don’t let him get away. After I subdue the Azure Skysnake King, I’ll immediately hurry over.” “Yes.” The black clothed man said respectfully. Ironwood Zhan stared grimly into the distance. To be able to reach the ‘one with the world’ level as a youth…this sort of monstrous talent was countless times more talented than him, Ironwood Zhan. Fortunately, he, Zhan, had been training for over a 290 hundred years. Relying on his years of accumulated strength, it would still be simplicity itself for him to slay this little child. ……… Zhan was hiding within the aquatic grasses, and had secretly set up a formation in the area around this location. Neither their auras nor their voices would penetrate through it. If even their auras couldn’t pass through…then of course, there was no way to sense them. Ning, thus, also didn’t sense their presence either. “Little snakey-snake.” Ning stood on the surface of the water as he called out. “Still not coming out?” His voice transmitted directly into the depths of the water. A moment later. BOOM! An enormous emerald serpent erupted forth from the waves, and then its body rapidly shrank to a length of around ten meters, while its head stared, swaying, at Ning while emitting a disdainful snort. Actually, over the course of his multiple battles against Ning, the Azure Skysnake King had gained some insights as well. The Azure Skysnake King had the feeling that he too was about to reach the ‘one with the world’ level. Although his battle ability was astonishing, he primarily relied on his natural gifts. In terms of skill level, he was inferior to Ji Ning. This sort of utterly ruthless battles against an opponent, with both using deadly, lethal blows, was the best way for an individual to improve! “Once I also reach the ‘one with the world’ level, you will definitely die.” The Azure Skysnake King secretly said to himself. ‘Haha, c’mere, little snakey-snake.” Two swords appeared out of nowhere in Ning’s hands. Hua! The Azure Skysnake King flashed towards him like a bolt of green lightning, while Ning went forward to welcome him. ……… Zhan, hiding in the distant aquatic grass, felt even more astonished. “His swordplay is also at the ‘one with the world’ level! And he uses twin swords to such a perfect degree! It seems he isn’t even a Xiantian lifeform yet, but he is able to fight head on with a Xiantian level Godbeast…this sort of talent is absolutely terrifying! He must be destroyed as soon as possible!” 291 “Why haven’t they entered yet?” “Almost.” Ironwood Zhan grew frantic with impatience. He had laid down his formation in advance. Although the formation took up a large amount of space, there was some distance between the formation and Ning’s battle with the Azure Skysnake King. “Almost…” Ironwood Zhan’s heart was frantic, but he had to suppress his impatience. Because he knew that once he revealed himself…the frightened Azure Skysnake King would instantly dive into the water, at which point he wouldn’t have any chance at all to deal with him. All he could do was watch as the distant battle continued. Sometimes, Ning would be sent flying, while at other times, a wound would appear on the body of the Azure Skysnake King. The two battled amidst the waves, with Ning constantly gliding atop the waves, sometimes charging forward, other times dodging. On multiple occasions, they almost entered the formation, but the end, they didn’t…this truly was nerve wracking. “Swish.” On one exchange of blows… “They’re in!” Zhan’s eyes were red. At this moment, Ning and the Azure Skysnake King had just barely entered the formation. They were at the very edges of it. But Zhan no longer dared to wait any longer. Perhaps in the next moment, Ning and the Azure Skysnake King would once more leave the area of the formation. “Up!” Zhan’s face was fierce. “Huh?” Ning, at the borders of the formation, suddenly felt a thrill race through his mind. This was because Ning’s soul was already extremely powerful, so much so that he could unconsciously sense any deadly dangers nearby. An invisible terror suddenly filled Ning’s head, and he had the feeling that if he didn’t move, he might really die! “Retreat!” Ning glided backwards at maximum speed, and as he did so, he just so happened to leave the edges of the formation. ……….. As Ning retreated past the edges of the formation, he saw that the surface of the water in front of him suddenly transformed into a scene of chaos. One enormous white energy wave after another appeared, intersecting with enormous black energy waves, creating countless ‘nets’ covering the area in front of him. The power of this enormous formation made Ning’s heart shake. This was something set up by a late stage Xiantian Ki Refiner, who then suddenly released all the terrifying power he had previously placed in the surrounding area. “The Azure Skysnake King is within the formation!” Ning’s heart clenched. After having battled with this old opponent so many times, seeing that the opponent had fallen into the formation, Ning felt worry for him as well. “Grooooowl.” A black human figure suddenly flew into the air, transforming into a black Bi’an Tiger that was over thirty meters long. The furry mane around its neck was spread out like an enormous fan, rising up to the heads. Its jade eyes were filled with savage fury, and it pounced directly towards Ning. “A Bi’an Tiger?!” Ning instantly understood who it was that had set up the massive formation. “The only Xiantian lifeform who has a Bi’an Tiger as his spirit-beast is Ironwood Zhan, of the Ironwood clan! A latestage Xiantian expert!” “Gotta go!” Ning knew very well the difference in power between the two of them. Ironwood Zhan was extremely famous, and was legendary for how sinister he was. When he used his magic treasures, even the Azure Skysnake King was far from being his match! “Swish!” Suddenly, a black light shot towards Ning. With a quick sword stroke and a ‘clang’ sound, Ning sent the black light flying back towards that Xiantian level Bi’an Tiger. The Bi’an Tiger roared, “Child of the Ji clan, today, shall be the day of your death!” “Argh!” A sharp, ear-piercing scream of pain shook the heavens, emanating from within that formation. Ning couldn’t help but feel his heart shudder as well. He knew that this was the desolate cry of the Azure Skysnake King. Despite having fought with Ning for so long, the Azure Skysnake King had never before let out such a miserable sound. Clearly, it truly was in dire straits this time. “Little green snake, I hope you’ll be able to survive this affair.” Ning could only silently pray. Not daring to hesitate at all, he immediately began to flee across the surface of the lake while blocking the furious attacks of that Xiantian level Bi’an Tiger. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Don’t think of escaping!” The Bi’An Tiger roared furiously, while at the same time chasing after Ji Ning on water at high speed. But with each step, waves exploded beneath his feet. After all, it had yet to reach the ‘one with the world’ level. It had to rely on its released monstrous energy to forcibly walk atop the water. In addition, it was only a land-based beast to begin with. Naturally, its running speed was even slower! Actually, even in the mountains, the forests, or the plains, its speed would probably still be slightly lower than Ning’s, much less now, on water! It could only watch as Ning quickly escaped. “Grrrr.” The Bi’An Tiger could only return. Staring at that ferocious battle going on within that massive formation, the Azure Skysnake King, occasionally expanding while occasionally contracting, the tiger mused, “How can this Azure Skysnake possibly resist the magical formation? No matter how long it struggles, in the end, it will have to submit!” ——————————- The formation called upon the natural power of the world and had unimaginable strength! This Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation’s power was far beyond the ability of the Azure Skysnake to resist. “Hahaha….” Ironwood Zhan stood atop the water, pointing at the distant enormous emerald snake, which was currently entangled by those countless streams of black and white energy. “Azure Skysnake, now that you have fallen into my formation, no matter how much you struggle, it is useless. Best obediently surrender and acknowledge me as master. That way, you’ll suffer a bit less!” “Groooowl.” The Azure Skysnake raised its head, roaring with fury. “You don’t submit?” Although Zhan didn’t understand, he could sense the Azure Skysnake’s fury and enmity. He immediately laughed coldly, “Azure Skysnake, in this boundless world, it is the human race which is truly in charge! It is the Grand Xia Dynasty who has unified this land! No matter how powerful you are, Godbeast, what can you really do? Even if I release you, others will come to capture you. I think you had best obediently submit to me!” Ironwood Zhan was speaking nonstop. But no matter what he said, the Azure Skysnake didn’t pay attention to him, causing Zhan to truly grow angry. “Fine, then. I want to watch and see…if your bones are tougher, or if my Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation is tougher!” 295 “Crackle…” Black and white energy streams were wildly wrapping about it like a millstone, grinding the Azure Skysnake’s scales to the point of shattering, with its jade blood staining the water below. But this scale-ripping, flesh-tearing pain couldn’t make the Azure Skysnake lower its proud head in the slightest. Shua! The Azure Skysnake suddenly shrank to the thickness of a finger, temporarily escaping the entanglement of the black and white energy streams, but immediately afterwards, the energy streams once more wildly wrapped around it. The energy continued to dissipate and reform without end! How arduous would it be to avoid these energy streams? “Aaaaargh!” The finger-thick, miniature Azure Skysnake let out a fierce cry, suddenly transforming to an enormous size once again, even larger than Serpentwing! Sometimes large, sometimes small, it continuously struggled. Only in this way would it be able to reduce the amount of time the Yin Yang energy streams ground down upon it. After all, that grinding sensation truly, truly was painful. At the same time the little Azure Skysnake was struggling, it was repeatedly trying to pounce towards Zhan as well. But the power of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation was simply too great, not giving it the slightest chance to draw near Zhan. Struggling repeatedly, the wounds on its body grew greater and greater. Its scales were shattered, and its jade blood leaked out. “Yaaaaaaa!” “Yaaaaaaa!” One fierce cry after another. The Azure Skysnake King was still struggling. As a monstrous beast, it was incomparably arrogant. How could it submit to this human in front of it? If it was a human Zifu Disciple, perhaps the Azure Skysnake would have been willing to lower its head, but this Ironwood Zhan wasn’t qualified. “Huh?” After a long time, Zhan began to frown. “How is it still struggling?” Zhan stared at the Azure Skysnake, still incomparably wild despite being badly injured and being covered in wounds. “Although only part of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation’s power has been released, if it keeps on acting like this, it will be ground to death by the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation! Can it be that it would rather die than submit to me?” Zhan gritted his teeth. With a thought, he caused the black and white energy streams binding the Azure Skysnake to begin to dissipate. “Azure Skysnake!” Zhan pointed at the wounded, exhausted Diremonster. “I relied on the formation to suppress you, so most likely, you aren’t convinced! Then you and I shall do battle. I won’t rely on the assistance of the formation…as long as you can defeat me, I will release you. But if you lose, then you’ll submit to me. Agreed?” “Yaaaaaa!” The Azure Skysnake let out a few vicious sounds, then transformed to a length of ten or so meters. This was the most powerful form it could transform into. And then, it pounced towards Zhan! “Hmph.” A long black whip appeared out of nowhere in Ironwood Zhan’s right hand. The whip had multiple natural-growing sharp nails embedded into it. This long black whip was the magic treasure, “Blackwood Vinewhip”. It was one of the famous magic treasures of the Ironwood clan. With a powerful whipping motion, he sent the whip towards the Azure Skysnake, and it transformed into an enormous black blur. Shua! Shua! The Azure Skysnake rapidly dodged, managing to move past this whip. “Huahuahua…” Ironwood Zhan continued to brandish the long whip in his hand. The whip spun in circle upon circle, covering the skies in countless enveloping circles towards the Azure Skysnake. And then, with a ripping sound, the Azure Skysnake lost yet another piece of scale and flesh from its body. “Sssssssssssss.” The Azure Skysnake let out a furious hiss. Despite being wounded, it still pounced forward. Zhan only smiled coldly, continuing to brandish his Blackwood Vinewhip. This wasn’t the first time for him to fight against the Azure Skysnake. He was an expert at using the whip, and was completely able to counter the Azure Skysnake’s agility! However, the Azure Skysnake was capable of fleeing very quickly. In the past, Zhan wasn’t able to do anything about it, but now that the Azure Skysnake was trapped within the formation, there was nowhere for it to run. “What do you think?” Zhan stood there, long whip dancing, with each whipping blow containing a power capable of cracking a small mountain, causing the Azure Skysnake’s body to crack open on multiple locations. “My strength is greater than yours. You had best obediently submit.” “Pa!” The magic treasure’s slammed against its body. Given that Zhan himself was a late-stage Xiantian expert, he was completely capable of suppressing it. “Swoosh!” 297 This time, as it dodged past through dancing long whip, the Azure Skysnake suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared a few dozen meters away. Ironwood Zhan was astonished, but immediately afterwards, his face changed greatly. “Sssssss…” The Azure Skysnake called out in excitement, while at the same time, with every single slithering motion of its body, it seemed to teleport dozens of meters, if not even farther. “Die!” Ironwood Zhan’s face was ferocious, and he seemed to have gone insane. Rumble…. The formation shuddered, and large amounts of black and white energy vicious slammed down towards the Azure Skysnake, but the Azure Skysnake only glanced icily at Ironwood Zhan, then disappeared with another slither. “Bang!” The black and white energy collided, transforming into large amounts of chaotic energy. “Damnable!” Ironwood Zhan howled madly, fists waving furiously. “Damnable!!!” “Void Blink! Void Blink!” Ironwood Zhan’s face was ferocious, and his eyes were red and insane. “This Azure Skysnake is actually capable of using Void Blink. Right. It is due to that child of the Ji clan. That child of the Ji clan has battled against the Azure Skysnake repeatedly…it must be that this has caused the Azure Skysnake to improve, allowing it to reach the ‘one with the world’ level and be able to utilize the Void Blink!” Ironwood Zhan was utterly enraged. Although there was only a single Azure Skysnake in the Swallow Mountain area, there were quite a few in the boundless territory ruled over by the Grand Xia Dynasty. Thus, Ironwood Zhan knew very well how powerful Azure Skysnakes were, which was why he so desperately wanted to tame this one. Generally speaking, Diremonsters were capable of controlling water, or poison, or fire, or son on and so forth. Even the likes of the Aquatic Rhino King and Serpentwing, non-Godbeast creatures, had this ability. But as a Godbeast, the Azure Skysnake King didn’t have a special ability… But actually, it still had something! Only, the Azure Skysnake King’s natural ability was simply too powerful. While it was at a low level of power, it wasn’t capable of utilizing it. Much like how a normal monstrous beast wasn’t capable of controlling water at the Houtian stage but was able to at the Xiantian stage, this Azure Skysnake King’s natural ability had to do with the ‘Void’. Even after it reached the Xiantian lifeform level, it still had to 298 reach the ‘one with the world’ level before it was capable of instantly becoming one with the void, allowing it to utilize the Void Blink technique! “Void Blink!” Ironwood Zhan ground his teeth. “A Azure Skysnake King capable of developing the Void Blink technique will quickly become incomparably powerful!” The Void Blink… This allowed the Azure Skysnake to be capable of going to some very secretive places, and even go steal some of the world’s spirit fruits. This represented that its growing speed was about to enter a phase of explosive growth! Without question, this Azure Skysnake King was about to leave Eastmount Marsh and begin an adventuring journey. After all, only by going to other places would it be capable of acquiring more natural treasures and grow more rapidly in power. If it always stayed here comfortably, it would be a waste of its talent! “Given the amount of hatred it bears me, in the future, when it returns to Swallow Mountain, it might come looking for me seeking revenge.” Zhan was both furious and frightened. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!” Ironwood Zhan bellowed in fury, the sound of his roars causing even the water to explode! He was furious. “All because of that Ji clan child!” Ironwood Zhan ground his teeth, filled with utter hatred. If Ji Ning hadn’t caused the Azure Skysnake King to advance so rapidly, how could it have suddenly made a breakthrough during this battle? Most likely, Zhan would have already tamed the Azure Skysnake. Now, he not only had been unable to tame it, he had also offended a powerful future enemy. The Azure Skysnake would definitely remember this grudge! ———————— The massive formation vanished. Ironwood Zhan collected all eight of the formation flags, then walked out atop the water, a sinister, shadowy look on his face. “Master.” The Bi’An Tiger transformed into a black-clothed man, flying over. Seeing the look on his master’s face, he knew that the taming attempt had failed. He hurriedly said, “Master, don’t be angry. This Azure Skysnake was simply too foolish. It was its own fault that Master killed it!” “It didn’t die!” Ironwood Zhan said coldly. “It didn’t die?!” The black-clothed was astonished. “Then it?” Ironwood Zhan shook his head. “It actually managed to comprehend the Void Blink technique. It fled.” 299 “Butbutbut…” The black-clothed man found it hard to believe as well. The Azure Skysnake had actually managed to comprehend the Void Blink technique at the critical juncture. “All of it is the fault of that Ji clan child.” Zhan said coldly. “His power was on par with the Azure Skysnake. After repeated battles, the Azure Skysnake has improved greatly. Thus, during this battle, it suddenly sensed the world, allowing it to become ‘one with the void’ and use the Void Blink technique! This Ji clan’s child ruined everything. I will definitely strip his skin and rip his tendons. Otherwise, I won’t be able to get rid of this fury in my heart!” The black-clothed man nodded repeatedly. “Master, don’t worry. Before this, I shot several of my backspikes at him, which are stained with the ‘Iceflower Liquid’. Some of the Iceflower Liquid has already gotten onto his body. As long as we release the Ice Wasp, we’ll definitely be able to find him. “Fine.” Zhan withdrew a gray sack from his waist. Loosening the sack, a semi-translucent, gem-like wasp flew out at high speed. “Pursue.” Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger followed behind the Ice Wasp at high speed. After they left, a green snake suddenly emerged atop the peaceful water. The green snake stared from afar, a look of hope in its eyes. After it had battled against Ji Ning so many times, the two of them were evenly matched for so long. In addition, Ning had helped contribute to it being able to break through to the ‘one with the world’ level of movement technique and comprehend the Void Blink technique. It felt some gratitude towards Ning. “Ssssss….” The Azure Skysnake let out a soft sound. It hoped Ning would be able to escape. It had already done what it was capable of. After all, although right now, he had very formidable fleeing abilities, in terms of actual power, he was far from being Ironwood Zhan’s match. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Pond Ji Ning, relying on his ‘one with the world’ footwork technique, ran at high speed, as fast as the wind. After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he continued to flee at high speed, moving most likely over a thousand kilometers through the mountain forests before coming to a halt. Actually, by now, the Golden Crow [the Sun] had already completely sunk beneath the horizon. However, the eastern horizon was still very red, and there was still some light cast on the ground. “Whew!” Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I first ran three hundred kilometers on water, then another thousand kilometers on land. In addition, I was moving at my maximum speed. I’ve never run like this before. I didn’t expect that even with a body like mine, I still ended up so sweaty.” Ning usually could run for a thousand kilometers on Eastmount Marsh without sweating at all, but this time, he really had moved at his utmost speed. Feeling exhausted, Ning slowly walked forward. There was a pool in front of him, and within the pool, there were a few floating lotus flowers. The flowers were not stained at all by the mud, and their stems were straight. The fragrance of the lotuses entered his nose, causing the exhausted Ning to let out a hint of a smile as he sat down next to the pool. “I guess I managed to make it through that setback.” Ning withdrew a bamboo reed with a flip of his hand. The reed was filled with clean water. Raising his head, he took two gulps. “I wonder how the little green snake is doing.” Ning sighed lightly. “Little green snake, don’t blame me. I’m not able to help you either. Alas, I haven’t reached the Xiantian level.” “Xiantian!” Just thinking about this made Ning feel a hint of worry. The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method, was extremely powerful, but training it was simply too difficult. Even someone with his background found it so hard to breakthrough. ‘Merge Yin and Yang, Fuse Fire and Water’. How was this accomplished? “What do I need to do in order to break through?” Ning pondered bitterly. Hu! A gentle breeze blew by. The cool, summer night breeze was so comfortable. The breeze wafted through the lotus flowers in the pool. Some spun in place, first towards one direction, then towards the other. Having reached the ‘one with the world’ level in the [Shadewind Steps], Ning naturally was able to mentally become one with the wind. When the wind blew past the lotus blossom, he could clearly sense… “Huh?” Ning suddenly revealed a look of curiosity. “When the wind blows the lotus, it turns both left, then right!” Ning suddenly felt as though he understood something. “If a leaf is blown by the wind, it will be blown wildly without any rhythm at all!” “If it was a small tree that was being blown down by the wind, it would only shake from left to right! That’s because it doesn’t have any enormous round leaves.” But when the lotus flower is blown upon, the petals of the lotus can turn left or turn right, cancelling out this force.” Raising his head, Ning stared at the sky. It wasn’t completely dark yet, but in the skies, he could already faintly see the light of the moon. “The Golden Crow [Sun] falls, and the Moon Rabbit [Moon] rises!” “Turn left, turn right!” “Day and night. Because there is day, thus there is the concept of night!” Ning murmured to himself. “In a place of utter darkness, a tiny hint of light is incomparably brilliant! The left and right turns of the lotus petal allow it to cancel out the two contrasting spins, allowing it to cancel out the force of the wind and stay in place, unmoved.” Ning closed his eyes. His spirit was already ‘one with the world’, and he became one with the wind and the lotus flowers in the pool. He could faintly sense some sort of enormous Principle, which hid ancient secrets that had existed since the creation of the endless universe…this secret, was the Dao [The Way]! The wind held the Dao within it, and the Dao itself was vast and unknowable. But when the wind blew past the lotus flower…Ning was capable of seeing the shadow of the Dao flash through the lotus flowers. Capable of finding a hint of the movements and the true appearance of the Dao! Ning quietly sat there in the lotus position by the side of the pool, completely lost in thought as he attentively meditated on the hint of the ‘Dao’ which he had sensed from the lotus flowers circular movements. ————————— 302 Comprehending the Dao was something that one could hope for but not ask for. In that moment when his soul, his thoughts, the environment, and everything else all fused together, he was able to just barely touch a hint of the Dao. But in order to touch the Dao…the prerequisite was that one would first have to become ‘one with the world’. Only after one’s mind could completely become one with the world was one capable of touching the Eternal Dao. “Huahuahua…” A stream of water slowly flowed through a small creek covered up by the wild grass. “Gugugu!” Night descended, and the forest was now filled with the croaking of frogs. Slowly…. Rays of light began to surround Ning, still seated in the lotus position. First, some rays of watery light appeared, slowly forming one enormous lotus petal after another around him. One watery lotus petal after another surrounded Ning, currently blossoming while swaying gently in the breeze. Immediately afterwards, dots of fiery light began to gather as well, forming into fiery lotus petals. These enormous lotus petals of flame also wrapped around Ning. Two layers of lotus petals. The first layer was of watery lotus petals. The second was of fiery lotus petals. Each layer had exactly three petals. “Hu!” Fire and water intersected. A wind arose out of nowhere. Huahuahua…. Between the two layers of lotus petals, a wind arose out of nowhere. The two layers of lotus petals began to swivel. The lower layer of watery lotus petals swiveled to the left, while the upper layer of fiery lotus petals were turning to the right! The two layers of lotus petals were completely turning in opposite directions…slowly, sluggishly, they rotated, but Ning himself didn’t utilize any of his own strength at all. Everything happened by nature. “Swoosh!” A gray-furred wolf loped out from within the forests, its jade eyes focused on that distant, furclad youth. Only, those enormous lotus petals, multiple meters in size, which were surrounding that furclad youth made the wolf slightly confused. As a beast with low intelligence, however, its innate sense was telling it that those rotating petals of fire and water were nothing more than part of the world, just like the clouds…there was no need to pay attention to them. The gray wolf bared its fangs, staring at the fur-clad youth. It was very hungry! The fur-clad youth was just sitting there without moving, as though he was asleep. He definitely wouldn’t have the ability to fight back. In addition, the flesh of this youth seemed so tender and delectable. The gray wolf could already feel its saliva coming into its mouth. It hesitated no more! “Swoosh!” The gray wolf charged forward rapidly, pouncing forward with fangs bared, preparing to bite down on that fur-clad youth. But as soon as it leapt within two meters of those layers of lotus petals… “Boom!” The wind created by those two layers of lotus petals contained within them a hint of the destructive force of the world. In an instant, it chopped that wolf into tiny pieces, with blood splattering everywhere, some seeping deep into the earth, while the rest flowed into the pool. ——————————– Nightfall. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger he commanded, in the former of a black-clothed man, were currently following behind that Ice Wasp as they traversed the mountain forests. The Ice Wasp was just a wasp, after all. It wasn’t an enormous flying beast, nor was it a Diremonster. One could imagine how much slower it was! It was far from being even a tenth as fast as Ning “This child of the Ji clan really can run.” Ironwood Zhan’s face was gloomy and sinister. “After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he kept on fleeing…” The black-clothed man said hurriedly, “Master, the Ice Hornet’s flying speed is much slower. If this child of the Ji clan keeps running without stopping, all the way to one of the Prefectures of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan, we probably won’t have any way to catch him.” “Run all the way to one of the Five Prefectures?” Ironwood Zhan shook his head. “Too far. Eastmount Marsh is already at the borders of the Ji clan’s territory. To run from the border to one of the Five Prefectures at once? That child of the Ji clan shouldn’t run that far.” Although he said this, in his heart, Zhan was worried as well. If Ning truly had run to any one of the Five Prefectures, no matter how confident Zhan was in his abilities, he wouldn’t dare to charge into the lair of his enemies. “We’ll slowly pursue him.” 304 Ironwood Zhan said. “Wherever the Iceflower Liquid passes by, it will leave that unique aroma. It won’t dissipate for at least three days. We can’t smell it, but the Ice Wasp can. As long as that child of the Ji clan doesn’t flee to the Five Prefecture, he will die!” “Right, he will die.” The black-clothed man said hurriedly. “He ruined everything for me, and caused me to have a powerful future foe.” Ironwood Zhan could visualize that Azure Skysnake adventuring in the outside world through the usage of its Void Blink, becoming more powerful, reaching the Zifu level, then coming back to kill him…he couldn’t help but feel fear, while at the same time, he hated Ji Ning even more. “I definitely have to personally tear his skin off and rend his tendons!” “Right! Tear his skin, rip his tendons!” The black-clothed man ground his teeth as well. ———————– The Golden Crow [Sun] was beginning to raise its head over the eastern skies. It was daybreak. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger under his command were still slowly pursuing. They had pursued for so long, both of them had bellies full of anger. This child of the Ji clan really was too cautious. After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he had actually fled for at least another thousand kilometers. A Ice Wasp that flew for a thousand kilometers would be very tired as well. Fortunately, this Ice Wasp was a mutant. “Master.” The black-clothed man’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly pointed to the distant. “Huh?” The also-tired Zhan turned to look in that direction. Instantly, he could make out an indistinct human figure at the distant side of a pool. This caused his mind to instantly wake up. Ironwood Zhan’s eyes lit up. He licked the corner of his lips, then said mentally, “Let’s go take a look.” Between master and spirit beast, at a close distance, there was the ability to maintain psychic communications. As for the exact distance…it depended on how powerful their souls were. Generally speaking, a Xiantian lifeform and his spirit beast had to maintain a distance of ten meters if they wanted to be able to converse mentally. The two carefully crept forward, trying not to make any noise. But in truth, even if they made some noise, Zhan wasn’t afraid. He was, after all, a late stage Xiantian expert. When running at full speed, he was a bit faster than even Ji Ning, and in addition, he carried on him a ‘Divine Movement Seal’ as well as a number of other ordinary Dao seals. How could he possibly allow Ning to escape? “What an idiot. No matter how careful I am, I still am making some noise, but he didn’t notice at all. He should be a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Logically speaking, he should have excellent senses. Hmph, hmph, he 305 really has no experience at all. He’s probably fallen asleep.” Zhan laughed coldly. “All the better. It will make my life easier. Otherwise, I’d have to waste a Divine Movement Seal. Ironwood Zhan and the black-clothed man continued moving forward. Slowly… They could make the person out clearly. “What?” They were both stunned. This was because the Sun had already risen by now. Under the light of the Sun, those enormous fiery lotus petals and the watery lotus petals appeared semi-translucent. After all, these lotus petals were not real lotus petals. They were formed by the energy of the world. Under the light of the sun, they instantly appeared semi-translucent. The two layers of enormous lotus petals were still slowly swiveling in opposite directions, but contained within them a very strange rhythm. In the center of these two enormous layers of rotating lotus petals, Ning was seated there in the lotus position. “What…what is this?” Zhan, although highly experienced, had never seen a sight like this. “Can it be that this is created from internal ki?” “Still, even if he has broken through to the Xiantian lifeform stage, he is still only an early stage Xiantian. I imagine he doesn’t have any magic treasures on him.” A fierce look appeared on Zhan’s face. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Birth to Xiantian Ironwood Zhan and his Bi’an Tiger drew near at high speed, quickly arriving by the side of the pool. “It really is beautiful.” Ironwood Zhan couldn’t help but sigh in amazement as he stared at the reflecting light of the setting sun, which shone down upon those two blooming, enormous lotus petals. But the more he looked at them, the more nervous he became. He was, after all, a late stage Xiantian expert. Although he hadn’t reached the ‘one with the world’ level, he could already dimly sense how extraordinary those two layers of petals were. “Master.” The Bi’an Tiger looked at Zhan as well. “What should we do now?” “Don’t be impatient. He is in front of us and won’t be able to escape. Let’s give him a test, first!” Zhan instructed mentally. With a wave of his hand, he released his Xiantian force, which directly dragged a rock into his hand. And then, with a powerful throw, he infused this rock with his Xiantian energy, transforming it into a ray of light which shot straight towards Ji Ning, still seated in the lotus-position. Although he just threw a rock, a Ninefang Warrior would definitely be killed. “Hua!” When the stone reached the area of ten meters of Ning and intersected with those two layers of lotus petals, it instantly became frozen! That invisible killing energy, with a hiss, transformed the rock into dust. The Bi’An Tiger and Ironwood Zhan both felt their hearts tighten. They exchanged glances. Clearly, they were somewhat puzzled by those two mysterious lotus layers. “I refuse to believe it.” Zhan sneered coldly, and the Blackwood Vinewhip appeared in his hands out of nowhere. “Hu!” Ironwood Zhan lashed out with his long whip. The Blackwood Vinewhip elongated, coiling around a thick nearby tree. With a massive pull! Honglong…the entire tree was ripped out by the roots, carrying with it a large amount of dirt, swinging about along with Zhan’s whip. Boom…this tens of thousands of pounds heavy tree smashed directly towards Ning, seated in the lotus position. When the massive tree trunk slammed against those two layers of translucent, enormous lotus 307 leaves, it instantly shattered apart. However, the terrifying power of the collision contained within the massive tree caused the two layers of lotus leaves to tremble. Ning, who had been meditating in the lotus position, shook slightly. His eyes opened up. As his eyes opened, he saw that the two enormous lotus leaves surrounding his body were dissipating as an enormous tree trunk smashed down upon him. In the distance, Ironwood Zhan and that black-clothed man were sneering coldly at him. “You ruined my good fortune!” Watching the two layers of enormous lotus petals dissipate, Ning instantly realized what he had gained this night, and also realized how priceless these insights had been. If nobody had disturbed him, he probably would have been able to gain insights for even longer. But unexpectedly, Zhan had ruined it for him. It must be understood that these moments of enlightenment were something which could only be hoped for and not asked for. It might be decades, if not centuries, until the next time something like this would occur. “Damn you!” Ning swept out with a palm, and with a booming sound, smashed that massive tree trunk into two halves. One half landed into the middle of the pond, crushing many of the lotus flowers. The other half fell down against several other nearby trees, sending dust everywhere. “Little child of the Ji clan!” Ironwood Zhan laughed ferociously. “You fled a thousand kilometers into the forest, but I still caught you in the end! Today is the day you die!” Ning glanced at him coldly, and then immediately summoned forth the Lunar energy and the Solar energy in his body. Over the course of the previous night’s meditation, he had gained just a hint of insight into the true nature of the Dao, but that hint of insight was enough to allow him to understand, without question, what the method was for breaking through to the next level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Nothing in the world was truly opposite of anything else! It was much like how night and day were seemingly opposites, but in reality, were just two different aspects of the sky. It was much like the two layers of fire and water lotus petals that had surrounded him. Not only did they not cancel each other out, they had even increased each other’s power. Why? A lotus flower had a stalk, which was what allowed the lotus petals to swivel! The ‘stalk’ of the two layers of fire and water lotus petals was Ning himself! Solar energy, Lunar energy…how to fuse them? By finding that ‘stalk’ which connected the Solar energy and the Lunar energy! “Come!” 308 Ning’s eyes were filled with absolutely certainty. His body had already completely brought forth all of his Solar and Lunar energy, which instantly filled every part of his body. Be it his hair or his skin or his organs or his very cells…it filled every part of him! Every single thread of Lunar energy and Solar energy began to swirl around each other, but their natures caused them to be unwilling to fuse. “Huahuahua…” All of the Lunar energy and Solar energy were swiveling, like the lotus flowers that had been blown upon by the wind. They were also like the two ‘fish’ of the yin-yang Taiji diagram, forever chasing each other. The Sun. The Moon. They constantly chased after each other…and as they did, they contained that hint of the Dao which Ning had understood. Slowly, in the center of the circling Solar energy and Lunar energy, a new force arose! Instantly… In that deep, boundless void, separated from this place by incomprehensibly many worlds, there lay the two Supreme Stars; the Solar Star [Sun] and the Lunar Star [Moon]. Each of them emitted a hint of their power; the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater appeared on each side around Ning, and also activated the power of fire and water of the surrounding world. “Bang!” “Bang!” The surrounding world instantly became filled with a sea of flame as well as an abyss of water. Though this took time to describe, in truth, as soon as Ning had shattered that tree, he had immediately activated the energy in his body and began to break through. Ironwood Zhan and his Bi’an Tiger saw with their own eyes the boundless flames and water appear out of nowhere, causing even them to feel fear. Wherever the water passed through, everything was frozen into ice sculptures, while wherever the fire passed through, everything was consumed by the flames. At the same time, within the surging water, the faint outline of the Jade Rabbit could be seen. Deep within the boundless flames, there was also the shadow of a three-legged Golden Crow. Between the Jade Rabbit and the Golden Crow, there was Ning! “This…this…” Zhan was so shocked, his face changed dramatically. “Can this be the legendary…the legendary [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?” 309 The Golden Crow and the Jade Rabbit had both appeared! Without question, this was the legendary [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, in at least the past thousand years, there hadn’t been a single person who was known to have relied on this technique to become a Xiantian lifeform. Although Zhan had read this technique and knew what the breakthrough looked like, this was his first time personally witnessing the amazing spectacle of a breakthrough. “Hrmph.” Ironwood Zhan’s hands summoned a formation flag out of nowhere. He immediately flew backwards, then began running around Ning, surrounded by boundless water and fire, in a circular pattern, while constantly throwing out one flag after another, all of which stabbed deep into the mud. In but a few seconds, eight formation flags had all been planted, covering an area of a square kilometer. Ironwood Zhan now simply stood from afar and watched. “Master, kill him.” The Bi’an Tiger said hurriedly. “Right now, he is breaking through. This is his weakest moment.” “No!” Zhan hurriedly shouted. “He trains in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, and is currently surrounded by the power of the Supreme Stars, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star! When breaking through to the Xiantian lifeform level, these two Supreme Stars will send down a hint of their Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater, breaking through countless barriers to allow him to evolve and be reborn into the body of a true Xiantian-level Fiendgod.” “Then it becomes all the more important for us to stop him.” The Bi’an Tiger said frantically. “Don’t you understand?” Ironwood Zhan’s face was ashen as he stared at the distant Ning, wrapped by the endless flames and water. “Right now, he is surrounded by boundless icy water and cocooned in flames. At the heart of the boundless icy water is a hint of the Lunar Truewater! At the heart of the endless flames is a hint of the Solar Truefire! Even if a Zifu Disciple were to touch it, he would instantly be frozen and shatter or be burnt to ashes, much less you and me! Not even his soul would be left. He wouldn’t even have the chance to go to the Netherworld Kingdom to be reborn!” “As fearsome as that?” The Bi’an Tiger was shocked. “Of course it is!” Ironwood Zhan’s face was solemn. “This is power which comes from the two Supreme Stars! Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater. Who dares to touch them?” “Then, then are we just going to watch?” The Bi’an Tiger said frantically. “Just watch as this child of the Ji clan becomes even more powerful?” “Don’t worry!” Zhan growled. “Right now, the two Supreme Stars have bequeathed their power to him, and he is beginning to transcend his mortal coil and be reborn into a true Xiantian Fiendgod. After he 310 breaks through, that hint of Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater will disappear. After all, the power of the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater doesn’t belong to this little child of the Ji clan himself. Ironwood Zhan sneered coldly, “I’ve already set down the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation. After this little child of the Ji clan breaks through, he’ll no longer have the protective power of the Supreme Stars. I will immediately activate the formation! No matter what, he’ll only be an early Xiantian lifeform without a single magic treasure. I, on the other hand, am a late Xiantian lifeform with the assistance of the formation!” “Right.” The Bi’an Tiger nodded as well. “But this child of the Ji clan really is amazing!” Ironwood Zhan couldn’t help but sigh in praise. “[Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. This is the legendary, most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Virtually all tribes of a certain size are in possession of it! But in a thousand years, in the entire Swallow Mountain area, there hasn’t been a single person who has reached Xiantian through it. If he is permitted to grow, he will definitely become the number one person of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan, and perhaps even the entire Swallow Mountain! But no matter how powerful he will be, right now, he will only have reached the Xiantian level. Haha…I feel wonderful when I think about how I’m about to kill such a monstrous genius.” ———————- What did Xiantian mean? It meant to be born from the heavens and from nature. Only that was a true Xiantian lifeform. Generally speaking, most Ki Refiners only had the inner ki energy in their bodies transform into Xiantian Afterwards, the energy would wash through their entire body, allowing them to reach a quick and agile state! But actually, this was the weakest type of Xiantian body. A casual sword thrust through the heart would cause them to die. But for Fiendgod Body Refiners…their entire body would be reborn into the body like a Fiendgod’s. Fiendgods could have their bodies chopped into eighteen parts, but as long as their head wasn’t destroyed, they would not die! Generally speaking, most Fiendgod Body Refining techniques were lowgrade, to the point of even relying on tattooing the divine patterns onto their bodies. But the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] relied on the power of the two Supreme Stars to naturally generate those two major divine tattoos. When breaking through to the Xiantian level, the Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater of the two Supreme Stars would descend…fire and water would coincide, giving birth to a Fiendgod’s body! This sort of Fiendgod body wasn’t one bit inferior to those trueborn Fiendgods of the ancient Fiendgod Era. Thus, this was reputed to be the number one technique in the world! “Pipa!” Ning could sense every single cell in his body explode. And then, the divine power of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] caused the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater to begin to reforge every single cell anew. The hint of Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater which the two Supreme Stars had sent down, in turn, were being utterly consumed in the process of forging this new Xiantian Fiendgod. The mortal vessel fell away! The Fiendgod body formed! Hua…The Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater were consumed, and the countless amounts of fire and water which surrounded them dispersed as well, revealing the fur-clad Ji Ning. Although he had leapt into the Xiantian level, the furs hadn’t been damaged by the fire and water at all. Only, Ning’s skin was now emitting an enchanting radiance, as though he were a gem formed by the heavens. Ning opened his eyes and stared at the distant Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger. He said only two words. “Now, die!” The Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo on his back instantly activated. Boom! Boom! An enormous flaming dragon and an enormous water dragon appeared out of nowhere, formed from the fire and water summoned by the Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo. Containing terrifying destructive power, it charged straight towards the distant Ironwood Zhan and Bi’an Tiger! This was the proof of the Xiantian level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]; the ability to control fire and water! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi’an Tiger were both astonished. Zhan hurriedly activated his Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation, while shouting loudly, “Be careful, he can control fire and water. The ability of Xiantian Fiendgods of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to control water and fire is extraordinary. Once water and fire come out simultaneously, even most ordinary Xiantian lifeforms can be killed!” The reason he shouted so loudly was because as soon as the Bi’an Tiger had seen the fire and water, it had already transformed into its real body and begun to retreat. Once the distance between the two increased, they were no longer capable of spiritual communication. But how could the speed of the Bi’an Tiger compare to that of the water and fire? “Boom…” An enormous water dragon instantly coiled around the Bi’an Tiger, causing a layer of frost to appear on it. At the same time, the other fire dragon also wrapped itself around the Bi’an Tiger. The water dragon and fire dragon simultaneously coiled around it, the water dragon filled with boundless cold, while the fire dragon was filled with endless heat… Hot and cold. Pa! Pa! Pa! The Bi’an Tiger’s fur began to crack, and his red flesh and muscles began to be revealed, then quickly char. “Grooooooooowl.” The Bi’an Tiger roared. “Still not dead!” Ji Ning’s gaze grew colder. The water dragon that had been coiling around the Bi’an Tiger suddenly loosened, then quickly began to transform, changing into an enormous flowing lotus petal. At the same time, the fire dragon also quickly transformed into a blazing lotus petal. The water lotus petal was below. The fire lotus petal was above. The Bi’an Tiger was in the middle. Despite how it tried to struggle and flee, it was useless. The two lotus petals followed it wherever it went. “Waterflame Lotus, smelt!” With a thought from Ning, instantly the two lotus petals began to slowly revolve. It was like two terrifying millstones slowly crushing down while revolving. Earlier, Ning had just 313 been unconsciously activated the energy of the world to form those two protective lotus petals through his slight understanding of the Dao, and yet the power had already been so tremendous. But now, Ning was himself a Xiantian lifeform, capable of controlling both fire and water. Adding onto that basic power the hint of the Dao he had understood…the power became hundreds of times greater than before. The petals of the Waterflame Lotus revolved. The Bi’an Tiger caught between them only felt a surge of heat and cold, and it felt far more miserable than before! Its entire body seemed to have lost all feeling! At the same time, as the water and fire intersected, a wind arose out of nowhere, and that wind filled with a powerful killing force descended directly upon the Bi’an Tiger. “Ka…” The Bi’an Tiger’s charred body was like a porcelain doll. It shattered into many little pieces, its eyes filled with incomprehension as they grew dim. The Bi’an Tiger had died! “It is actually this powerful.” Ning’s heart was filled with surprise and delight as well. “With the water and fire I control as the base, and then formed into the protective Waterflame Lotus which I developed, I was able to execute a middle Xiantian level Diremonster, without even giving it a chance to fight back.” Although the above took time to describe, a battle between experts was incredibly fast. From the moment when Ning created the Waterflame Lotus to the moment when the Bi’an Tiger died, only a heartbeat’s worth of time had occurred. “Boom…” The Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation which had surrounded this square kilometer fully released its power as well, and lines of black energy and white energy criss-crossed towards Ning. Ironwood Zhan was shocked by how easily his Bi’an Tiger had been executed as well. And then, with a savage expression, he howled, “Within my Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation, even if you are a monstrous talent which Swallow Mountain sees once in a millennium, you will still surely die! Die!” Lines of viper-like black and white energy instantly pounced towards Ning. “Hrmph.” With but a thought, instantly fire and water appeared out of nowhere next to his body. The fire and water transformed into lotus petals, with two layers of enormous petals of the Waterflame Lotus hovering about him, waiting for those black and white energy streams to attack. When they did…with a thought from Ning, the Waterflame Lotus suddenly fused! Like a budding flower, those upward-pointing lotus petals formed into a massive lotus flower bud that was over ten meters high, instantly ensconcing Ning within them. “Pengpengpeng…” The black and white energy waves came crashing down. The Waterflame Lotus, although having fused into a flower bud, was still slowly swiveling. The inner layer was made of fire lotus petals, while the outer layer was made from water lotus petals. They continued to slowly swivel in opposite directions. No matter how the black and white energy struck against it time and time again, sometimes just barely breaking through the outer layer of the water lotus petals, the water lotus petals would once more reform into their normal appearance. After all, fire and water could always part and reform; they weren’t solid substances to begin with. Even if they were occasionally broken through, with but a thought, Ning could reform them! “What?” Ironwood Zhan was shocked. “How is this possible? My Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation…this is an extremely powerful formation. Given my power when using it, even if I were to meet with an opponent who was a peak Xiantian lifeform, I wouldn’t be afraid. How could it be that it can’t even break through the protective lotus of this child of the Ji clan? What is that protective lotus? How is it that I’ve never even heard of it?” But how could Ironwood Zhan know that Ning had previously already reached the ‘one with the world’ level. The greatest benefit of his previous night’s worth of enlightenment was…this protective lotus, which already had a hint of the true meaning of the Dao within it. A Xiantian lifeform created by the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was incomparably powerful to begin with, and the fire and water it controlled was far stronger than that of the fire and water which most Diremonsters could create. When infusing that with the hint of the true Dao through the Waterflame Lotus, blocking a mere formation naturally was nothing at all. “Ironwood Zhan, you’ve chased for such a long time. Let me repay you now, and send you on the next leg of your journey!” Within the lotus bud, Ning stared through the flowing water lotus petals and the blazing fire lotus petals, seeing the distant, unclear figure. In addition, his mind had reached the ‘one with the world’ level…naturally, he could sense the auras of all nearby creatures, and could clearly sense the location of Zhan. “Die.” With but a thought from Ning. In the area where Ironwood Zhan was standing, yet another fiery lotus petal and watery lotus petal appeared. One above him, one below him, crushing down upon Zhan like millstones. “Formation, aid me!” Ironwood Zhan, seeing the situation, was terrified. This was how his servant, the Bi’an Tiger, had died just now. He hurriedly controlled the black and white energy streams, wildly wrapping them around himself to block the grinding, crushing force of this Waterflame Lotus. By doing so, he was just barely able to block it. Although occasionally, some fire and water would break through, his Xiantian ki was able to block it. “How can he simultaneously create two lotus flowers?” Zhan was filled with shock and dread. “Such a powerful attack should take up almost all of his concentration.” But how could he know… When he was four years old, Ning’s soul was already almost on par with a Zifu Disciple. Right now, his soul was already far above that of a Zifu Disciple. Dividing his mind to execute two separate Waterflame Lotus techniques was simplicity itself. “You actually haven’t died!” Protected within the lotus bud, Ning quickly charged towards Ironwood Zhan. “Retreat.” Ironwood was so frightened that his face changed. He ground his teeth. Flee! This decision was made quite decisively. He was, after all, born into the Ironwood clan. He knew very well that once someone trained to the Xiantian lifeform level in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the power of the practitioner would be hundreds of times that of ordinary Fiendgod Body Refiners. Although right now, Ning was only an early Xiantian lifeform, he was capable of matching other late-stage Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiners! He, Ironwood Zhan, was nothing more than a late-stage Xiantian Ki Refiner. Engage in close combat with a Fiendgod Body Refiner of this level? That was just suicide! Before this, he had been relying on the fact that Ning didn’t have any magic treasures, but if even the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation couldn’t do anything to Ning, if he were to continue to fight with Ning, would that be suicide? “An early Xiantian whose battle power is equivalent to a peak Xiantian. What a monster. The Ji clan actually produced such a monster. I definitely have to inform the Ancestor and have him be exterminated as soon as possible. Otherwise, in the future, he will be a calamity to the Ironwood clan!” Ironwood Zhan was utterly terrified, especially by those Waterflame Lotuses. They were simply too powerful. Formations had to be prepared in advance, but Ning’s Fire Water Lotus could be created with but a thought, and it was even more powerful than his formation. This was too… “He must be eliminated.” Ironwood Zhan’s only thought was to go back and report this to his clan’s Ancestor.” Both the Ironwood clan and the Ji clan…as two of the six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain area, had Zifu Disciples standing guard over them. That was why they had the ability to be acknowledged by the Grand Xia Dynasty to become ministers of the Grand Xia Dynasty. “Divine Movement Seal!” With a flip of Zhan’s hand, a black, leaf-like paper seal suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The paper seal was covered with what looked like veins of blood, and was covered with an ancient, strange character which faintly emanated a mysterious, rippling aura. Ironwood Zhan sent a surge of his Xiantian ki into this seal. Hua! The seal instantly transformed into a shadowy word which fused into Ironwood Zhan’s body. “Flee!” Ironwood Zhan immediately transformed into a ray of light, quickly fleeing afar, not even bothering to collect his Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation flags. This was because Ironwood Zhan knew very well that right now, he was still relying on the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation to protect him against that Waterflame Lotus. In addition, collecting those eight formation flags would also take up time. It would give that terrifying youth of the Ji clan a chance to catch up to him, at which point, he wouldn’t just lose the eight formation flags. He would lose his life. “He ran?” Ji Ning hurriedly chased afterwards. His Xiantian Fiendgod body, matched with his ‘one with the world’ footwork, caused his speed to become even more rapid. He transformed into a ray of light as well, chasing after Zhan. “Just slightly slower than me?” Ironwood Zhan was greatly shocked. “Before, when he hadn’t yet broken through to the Xiantian level yet, I was faster than him. But now, even after using a precious Divine Movement Seal, we’re roughly on par.” Ironwood Zhan couldn’t help but feel his heart ache with the cost, but grinding his teeth, he took out yet another Dao seal, covered with that same ancient network of veins atop it. He filled his Xiantian ki into that Dao seal. Yet another illusory word appeared, then entered his body. Light Body Seal! “Swoosh!” Ironwood Zhan transformed into a blue blaze as he retreated even faster. “Won’t be able to catch him.” Ning’s eyes had a hint of unwillingness to accept this outcome in them. As an Fiendgod Body Refiner expert, his speed was already incredible. But Ironwood Zhan had utilized two Dao seals in succession; a Light Body Seal, and a Divine Movement Seal…although these seals weren’t nearly as valuable as the ‘Traceless Talisman’, they were still able to allow Ironwood Zhan’s speed to explosively increase. Ning didn’t have any Dao seals right now. In addition, even if he had them, he wouldn’t be able to use them, because Dao seals and magic treasures all required one to have Xiantian ki in order to use them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Ironwood Zhan fled out of the area of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation, pulling ahead of Ning, causing Ning to be unable to utilize his Waterflame Lotus against him. This was because the Waterflame Lotus was formed through his ability to control fire and water, but there was a limit to how far a Xiantian Fiendgod could maintain the control. At too great a distance, control would no longer be possible. “Hahaha…” Ironwood Zhan let out a sigh of relief. Without the threat from the Waterflame Lotus, and having pulled away from Ning, he finally relaxed. But then, he was filled with hate. Hatred for this Ji Ning. After all, he had lost his Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation. “Boy of the Ji clan, feel happy for now. I will definitely report this to the Ancestor, and also to Snowdragon Mountain! The Ji clan is the mortal foe of both my Ironwood clan as well Snowdragon Mountain. A monster like you is someone which both Snowdragon Mountain and my Ironwood clan will eradicate as soon as possible.” Ironwood Zhan’s heart was filled with hatred. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. the Nose Ironwood Zhan moved as quickly as a ray of blue smoke, fleeing at high speed. Right at that moment, the many large, tall trees in front of him suddenly began to crash down in front of him, completely blocking the road ahead of Zhan. Some of those trees even flew through the air towards him at high speed. “What is going on?” Ironwood Zhan’s face lost all color. With a mighty wave of his black vine whip, he transformed it into a series of rays of light, slicing towards several trees that were flying towards him. As though they had been chopped apart, the large tree trunks were split in half, but Zhan’s speed had been lessened as well. “Huahua…” From every direction, many branches, tree trunks, and even boulders and chunks of earth all began to fly over, wildly throwing themselves at Ironwood Zhan. “What, what is going on?” Zhan was completely stunned. “These boulders, branches, trees, why are they all flying towards me?” Zhan had never heard of something like this. Even a Zifu Disciple would only be able to fly on his own magic treasures by standing on them, then ordering the magic treasures to fly! Not even Zifu Disciples were capable of making ordinary items fly like this. Countless boulders and tree trunks filled the sky, smashing towards Zhan and forcing his speed to lessen. “Ironwood Zhan, you won’t be able to flee!” From behind, another ray of light shot towards him. It was Ji Ning, and Ji Ning was shouting at him. “How did you accomplish this?” Zhan shouted while slicing through the trees, hoping to continue to be able to flee, but under the attack of the surrounding earth, boulders, and tree trunks, he wasn’t able to run at high speed at all. Ji Ning only smirked. Right. He had accomplished this. Just then, after Zhan had used the ‘Divine Movement Seal’ and the ‘Light Body Seal’, he had nearly fled. Naturally, Ji Ning had grown desperate! In that frantic moment, Ning had 319 discovered that his powerful thought waves were causing even the water of the pool and the earth to shake. He could clearly sense how his consciousness seemed to have become an invisible hand, capable of grasping the nearby trees and mud, as well as all other things. “Divine will!” Ning instantly was filled with a surge of wild joy. When a soul grew excessively powerful, some strange things would occur. Generally speaking, Zifu Disciples were capable of splitting their minds! Generally speaking, Wanxiang Adepts were capable of ‘divine will’! Primal Daoists were capable of opening the ‘eye of heaven’ and utilize their ‘divine sense’! visualization techniques were extremely rare and mysterious. In the Ji clan, nobody had even heard of such a thing as a visualization technique! If one wanted to strengthen one’s soul? Generally, the only method was to train their will, meditate on the Dao, and strengthen first the body, then the soul. Ji Ning’s training in accordance with the [Nuwa Painting] had already nearly reached a limit. That night of enlightenment towards the Dao had been extremely beneficial to his soul. After gaining a greater understanding of the Dao, fire and water had then descended from the heavens, giving him a Fiendgod’s body. As the body grew stronger, the soul would strengthen once again. Unconsciously, Ning’s soul had already reached the level of being capable of ‘divine will’! Only, he didn’t know that until when Ironwood Zhan had fled. Desperate, Ning unconsciously had caused his willpower to affect the water and the earth, which made him realize what he had achieved. “You won’t be able to flee.” Ning used his divine will to control the nearby things, causing the nearby trees, mud, and stones to all surround Zhan. ———————————- “Can it be that this wasn’t done by this child of the Ji clan? Is there a terrifyingly powerful practitioner of the way of Immortal who, seeing the talent of this child, has decided to help him?” Ironwood Zhan was unable to flee, try as he might. He felt both frantic and terrified “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning’s gaze focused on him. The enormous fire lotus petal appeared above Ironwood Zhan, while an enormous water lotus petal appeared beneath Ironwood Zhan. At the same time, the two slowly began to swivel. “I don’t know which elder is present?” Ironwood Zhan called out loudly, while revealing a Dao-seal in his hand. This Dao-seal transformed into an illusory diamond, then disappeared into his body, and his body 320 began to glow with a faint golden light. “I am a disciple of the Ironwood clan, and I am on very good terms with Snowdragon Mountain as well.” “Stop struggling.” The formerly distant Ning had already arrived. “Child of the Ji clan.” The golden light on Ironwood Zhan’s body was trembling and swaying. He repeatedly, viciously twirled out the Blackwood Vinewhip in his hand, which quickly elongated as it flew towards Ning. Ning wielded a sword in each hand. He was as fast as lightning. “Chi!” The Darknorth sword in his left hand utilized the ‘Watertight’ technique. As soon as the Blackwood Vinewhip touched the Darknorth sword, it naturally wrapped around it, but Ning voluntarily began spinning his left sword…the Blackwood Vinewhip wrapped around it many times, and in the end, Ning’s left hand actually was able to snatch the Ironwood Vinewhip. Swish! Ning’s right hand reached an even faster level. “Break!” Zhan roared fiercely while pulling at the Blackwood Vinewhip, but he wasn’t able to budget it at all. “No, I can’t die here. I can’t die to this little child of the Ji clan!” Sensing death draw nearer, Ironwood Zhan became even crazier. He even released the Ironwood Vinewhip in his hand. Turning his head, he continued to flee! “Bang!” Slowly being ground down by the Waterflame Lotus, the golden light on his body finally cracked and dispersed. “Aaaah.” Ironwood Zhan’s clothes were instantly ground into dust by the Waterflame Lotus, revealing his body, which was beginning to turn black. He emitted an agonized scream. “Swish!” A raindrop pierced straight through Zhan’s forehead. And then, the Waterflame Lotus dissipated. Ning withdrew his sword, looking quietly at the charred Ironwood Zhan. Ironwood Zhan’s eyes were bulging. Even his eyebrows were gone, while in his forehead, there was a bloody hole. His eyes were filled with disbelief and rage. He hadn’t imagined that he would die at the hands of this youth. In his heart, he even more hated that ‘elder’ who had blocked his flight. If it hadn’t been for that elder practitioner, he would have been able to flee. “Immortal practitioner?” Ning said to himself softly, his heart filled with a silent excitement. Finally! He had finally become a Xiantian lifeform! Even the world-famous, powerful expert, Ironwood Zhan, had died in the face of his might. “Even though I was reincarnated into the mortal world!” Ning growled in his heart. “Relying on my own efforts, I was still able to become a Xiantian lifeform! And that was just the beginning! The beginning of myself, Ji Ning!” The experiences of his past life. Everything he had seen in this one. They had all allowed Ning to have a heart that was filled with an incomparable urge to grow stronger. An urge to control his own destiny. To not be controlled by others, to not be controlled by fate! “This is just the start!” Ning took a few steps forward, walking to Zhan’s corpse. With but a thought, a gust of flame instantly turned Zhan’s corpse into nothing but ash, leaving behind only an armguard and that Blackwood Vinewhip. “Oh?” The armguard and the whip both flew into Ning’s hands. Ning inspected them carefully. “So this armguard is actually a storage-type magic treasure! The Blackwood Vinewhip is also a magic treasure.” “Hm.” Ning returned. He returned to the pool, collecting those eight Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation flags. The flags were all very dark and grey, and yet they emitted pulses. “Magic treasures, Dao-seals. All of them are only usable when one is at least at the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner.” Ning collected all these things into his kalestone. “I first have to reach the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner as well.” ——————————– Ning cleaned up the surrounding area. As for the corpses of the Bi’an Tiger and Ironwood Zhan, he transformed them all into ash. Ning then once again continued his meditations by the pool side, because he had the sense…that training his ki to the Xiantian level would be very easy! The night after that battle! Ning still sat in the lotus position by the side of the pool, and for the moment, the dantian in his body began to change and rumble! The original powerful threads of ki began to rotate and then condense into liquid drops. One drop of ki began to solidify, and Ning’s body also began to attract some mist which wrapped around him. “So I’m about to break through.” Ning smiled. When he had been in the womb, his meridians had been damaged. If he had been relying on Ki Refining to reach the Xiantian level, it would have been very hard. But upon reaching the Xiantian level through the [Scarlet Diagram of the Ning Shining Heavens], Ning’s entire body had been transformed into a true Fiendgod’s body by the Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire of the Solar Star [Sun] and the Lunar Star [Moon]. Because his entire body had been transformed, his mortal body had been transformed into a Fiendgod’s body, and his meridians had been remade anew as well! Currently, Ning’s meridian network had become perfected and unblemished. The meridian channels were far wider than that of most Xiantian Ki Refiners! In addition, Ning had a very high level of enlightenment, so naturally, he was now about to break through. “The storage-type magic treasure.” Ning held the armguard while activating the ki in his body. He quickly managed to bind it to him. “Storage-type magic treasures and natural kalestones really are different.” Ning instantly felt overjoyed. This armguard held an enormous storage space. Within an area of chaos, there was a storage area of tens of meters across. There were many items inside as well, such as clothes, food, gold, and other things. The most valuable items were those eight Dao-seals! They had been slowly accumulated by Ironwood Zhan over many years. Today, he had used three of them in one breath, but he had still died in the end. “A pity there are no other magic treasures.” Ning shook his head. Still, this was as he had expected. A Xiantian lifeform was already quite lucky to have just two or three magic treasures. “This bow is pretty good.” With a flip of his hand, Ning retrieved a simple, unadorned greatbow from within the storage-type magic treasure. “This should be the bow which Ironwood Zhan normally uses. After reaching the Xiantian level, I am in need of a good bow.” Hua! As he applied force to it, the monstrous, Fiendgod-like power he possessed easily drew the bow. “Good boy.” Ning praised, then he took a good look at it. The bow had two things drawn on it that looked like characters; ‘Jia Yong’. This name made Ning puzzled. “It should be the name of the bowyer who made this bow, I suppose.” “When I return to the West Prefecture City, I’ll exchange this Blackwood Vinewhip for another magic treasure.” Ji Ning collected everything, extremely happy. “Without experiencing the bone-freezing cold, how could one experience the fragrant scent of the flowers assailing the nose? Four years of training the sword. After training to now, I’ve broken through and am about to enter a brand new world. I suppose this counts as finally smelling the fragrant scent of the plum blossoms assailing the nose.” 323 This breakthrough resulted in him reaching the Xiantian level in both ki and as a Fiendgod. Even his soul had reached the ‘divine will’ level. And the hint of understanding regarding the true Dao which he had gained by the side of the pool had allowed him to develop an ultimate attack, the ‘Waterflame Lotus’. “Oh, right, and there’s that!” Ning took a breath, letting himself calm down. As he did, with great solemnity, he took out the book his mother had given him, the most precious secret manual his mother possessed, which she had forbidden him to teach to any other members of the Ji clan. She had told him that he was only to use it upon reaching the Xiantian level. Ning carefully looked at the golden cover of the book, and those four characters on the cover: [Wind Wing Evasion Technique]! And then, Ning opened the book and began to read. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Windwing Evasion is the root and foundation for our Yuchi clan. It is not to be transmitted to outsiders!” Upon opening the gold-leaf pages, this was the very first line of characters, which caused Ji Ning to be stunned. The Yuchi clan? His mother was Yuchi Snow. Could this mean that his mother belonged to the Yuchi clan? In this wide land, those who were born into poor circumstances and didn’t have a good clan name would just randomly pick names for themselves, such as ‘Blacktooth’, ‘Blackstone’, ‘Ironhead’, etc. Generally speaking, only large-scale clans had proper surnames! “Mother has never mentioned the Yuchi clan to me.” Ning said to himself. “I am Mother’s child, and I can thus be considered to have the blood of the Yuchi clan in my veins. But strictly speaking, I am only half a Yuchi clan member. And yet, Mother still taught this to me. However, from my birth until today, I have never heard of a Yuchi clan.” The number of books Ning had read could only be described as ‘many’! But the books had no records of a Yuchi clan, which meant that the Yuchi clan was not a clan from the surrounding area. That made sense… Mother and Father had met in the distant Dark North Seas, and then they had gone adventuring together. “I’ve never heard Mother discuss the Yuchi clan. Perhaps Mother left the clan, or perhaps the Yuchi clan collapsed? Forget it, it doesn’t matter right now.” Ning lowered his head, continuing to read. This book explained in detail the history of the [Windwing Evasion] technique. The ancestor of the Yuchi clan, Yuchi Anton, was born a slave. Once, when hunting on a mountain, he had rescued a heavily injured child. He had worked hard to take care of this child, and the child slowly recovered. Only after half a year did the child reveal his true identity…as it turned out, this person who had appeared to be a child was, in reality, a Celestial Immortal who had trained for countless years and had long since escaped the Three Realms. This time, he had encountered a great disaster, and thus he had used all his abilities in order to flee to this mountain, but by then, he had become powerless. If he had ran into an ordinary little monstrous beast, he probably would have been eaten. This child had named himself Suhuan, and claimed that he had already become an Immortal in the Fiendgod Era. And then, this Immortal named Suhuan had taught Anton training methods. Who would have thought that Anton was actually more talented in Fiendgod Body Refining methods…Suhuan had stayed by 325 Anton’s side for fully a hundred years, carefully teaching him, while at the same time transmitting to him a divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion]. And then, Suhuan had said, “Our karmic destiny has come to its end. I hope you will shape up!” And then, he had flown away. —————————- “Celestial Immortal?” Ning was shocked. “Divine ability?” This…this…. Even in the Netherworld Kingdom, according to what the Lord of Cui Manor had said the celestial soldiers and generals of the Heaven Realm, after acquiring the likes of the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique, would have to experience countless tribulations before becoming a Celestial Immortal! In the Grand Xia Dynasty, perhaps a million years would pass without a single Celestial Immortal being born. They truly were creatures who had transcended the Three Realms, who were no longer bound by the restrictions of the Netherworld Kingdom or of the Heavenly Court. They were Immortals who did as they pleased. “Who would have thought that the ancestor of Mother’s Yuchi clan would have had a history like this.” Ning felt shaken. “This history is far more incredible than our Ji clan’s.” “In addition, the [Windwing Evasion] is a divine ability!” Ning couldn’t breathe. What was a ‘divine ability’? Some of the more famous divine abilities, included the ‘Kuafu Sunchaser’, ’72 Transformations’, ‘Three Heads, Six Arms’, ‘Houyi Shooting the Sun’. These were the natural abilities which the ancient, mighty Fiendgods had developed. Only these abilities could be described as ‘divine abilities’! Only Fiendgod Body Refiners could train in them, and only upon reaching the Zifu level could they begin their training! Every single ‘divine ability’ was incomparably precious. Many Fiendgod Body Refiners, upon reaching the Zifu Disciple level, were clearly capable of learning divine abilities, but they didn’t have any chance to do so. “Divine abilities should only be usable at the Zifu stage. But Mother instructed me to begin learning at the Xiantian stage. Why is that?” Ning continued to read the detailed information regarding the training methods for the [Windwing Evasion]. Hua! Flipping through the golden pages, another golden page appeared before him, but clearly, this golden page was somewhat different from the previous pages. This golden page still had a hint of stellar light glowing from it, and there was a diagram engraved at the top of it. It was that of a giant Roc in flight. At times, it stretched its wings. At times, it sank down. At times, it flew throughout the Nine Heavens. At times, it sank into the seas. At times, it landed on the ground. At times, it burrowed deep into the earth… Ning couldn’t help but feel affected by this diagram. It was as though he had seen an enormous Roc in flight. In addition, the great Roc in this diagram was covered by countless specks of stellar light, and these specks of stellar light…seemed like the divine power flowing through the critical parts of the great Roc’s body. The spots of light seemed to be focused on a pair of wings. “The great Roc spreads his wings, and travels a hundred thousand kilometers as it flies!” “This is what Master Suhuan told to me. Unfortunately, I am far too distant from that level. The descendants of my Yuchi clan must focus on training in this [Windwing Evasion] technique. I hope that one day, one of them will be able to reach the highest ‘divine ability’ level. The eighty one Roc diagrams of the [Windwing Evasion] has profound secrets hidden within it. It must be meditated upon! The benefits to it are boundless!” “The [Windwing Evasion] is divided into multiple layers and levels. Once the divine power in one’s body reaches the level of being able to condense into a pair of wings, only then can one be considered to have developed a ‘divine ability’. However, the [Windwing Evasion] remains a divine technique, and it would be jealously desired by some extremely powerful tribes of the Grand Xia Dynasty. The descendants of my clan absolutely must use wing-type magic treasures alongside this divine ability. Thus, not only can they rely on the power of the magic treasures to fly even faster, they can also prevent others from knowing of the existence of this divine ability…” Ning closed the book. Only after a long time was he able to calm down. “My mother truly does have an extraordinary background.” Ning frowned. “But clearly, although each page of this book is golden, the paper of those eighty one Roc diagrams are different from that of the other pages. In addition, such miraculous diagrams were most likely left behind by that Immortal, Suhuan, himself.” “Immortal Suhuan, despite teaching the [Windwing Evasion], most likely only left a single copy. In other words, the Yuchi clan should only have a single secret manual!” Ning hypothesized. Although this was his first time viewing the eighty one Roc diagrams, Ning felt extremely certain that these eighty one Roc diagrams did indeed contain boundless secrets. It was the same feeling he had when 327 he was gaining insights into the Dao…the feeling of immeasurably deep secrets. Most likely, only a person who had reached the highest levels of training in this divine ability was able to carve and draw them down. “Ancestor Yuchi only had a single copy of this secret manual, but my mother is in possession of it.” Ning pondered. “Can it be that the Yuchi clan was destroyed? Or was there another reason?” Although he felt somewhat worried for his mother’s relatives, he had never had any attachments to the Yuchi clan, and so Ning quickly stopped thinking about it. “I need to carefully meditate on this.” The moon hanging high above him, Ning quietly sat down by the side of the pond, flipping through and looking at the Roc diagrams. The [Windwing Evasion] was divided into many different levels. Only after one’s divine power was able to form wings could one be considered to have developed a divine ability. However, the requirements for divine power were very high; only a Zifu Disciple was capable of it. “My mother had me begin to read it at the Xiantian level.” Ning laughed. “Although I’m not able to use divine power to form wings, the eighty one Roc diagrams contain boundless, endless secrets and mysteries. After I gain insight into them, it will still be very beneficial to my body.” Ning had already gained a hint of the true meaning of the Dao. The higher one’s level of enlightenment was, the more easily one would be able to tell that the eighty one Roc diagrams contained boundless truths, and even more infinite mysteries. Naturally, he would meditate on them intensively. ————————– Time passed. The Golden Crow fell. The Moon Rabbit rose. One day passed after another. Ning remained within that mountain forest, completely focused on the [Windwing Evasion]. His body flashed through the mountain forests time and time again, and his movements took him farther and farther each time, at faster and faster speeds, with greater ease each time. “I’ve already trained here for over a month.” Ning suddenly came to his senses as he stared at the sun in the sky. “If I don’t go back, most likely Autumn Leaf and the others will frantically report back to West Prefecture City.” 328 “Time to go back.” Ning revealed a smile on his face. Turning to glance at the surrounding area, he saw that the pool was as calm as ever, and the aquatic grass in the pool still continued to slowly drift about. “In the past month or so, I’ve improved dramatically.” Ning felt incomparably delighted. Whether in Ki, as a Fiendgod, his soul, or even his newly learned divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion], he had improved greatly. “Time to go.” Ning instantly leapt up. Swoosh! Like a blurry image, or like a bird in flight, he instantly flew over a kilometer away. His speed was now faster than when Ironwood Zhan had simultaneously used the ‘Light Body Seal’ and the ‘Divine Movement Seal’. …………… In a desolate tribe within the wilderness, there were many overturned stone rooms. The tribe was in a state of desolation. Clearly, the tribesmen had all departed long ago. This was an abandoned place. But at the edges of the tribe, there were a few dozen stone houses that were absolutely spotless, where a group of black armored guards were gathered together. Autumn Leaf was seated on a stone bench, quietly staring into the distance while waiting. Previously, due to the appearance of the Diremonster, Serpentwing, at Serpentwing Lake, Ji Ning had immediately led Autumn Leaf and Mowu out of the Metalstone Tribue…but after the Serpentwing event had died down, Ning had permitted Autumn Leaf and Mowu to temporarily stay here with these black armored guards. The territory which the Ji clan ruled over was simply too vast. Thus, they had squads of black armored guards scattered throughout their domain. Whenever they were needed, they could immediately congregate while shocking and overawing countless tribes. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf stood up in surprised delight. Those black armored guards and Mowu also turned to look. They saw from the distance a blurry figure appeared in a flash within those ruined tribal houses, then smile and walk towards them. “Huh?” Autumn Leaf was slightly startled. She could tell that her young master, who was walking towards her from afar, was somewhat different. His entire body seemed to radiate a familiar aura, as though the essence of the heavens and the earth were within him! But of course, only she, who had been by Ning’s side since he was young, was able to notice many of these little qualitative changes in Ning. “Young master.” Mowu stepped forward to pay his respects. “Young master.” The nearby group of black armored guards all fell to one knee. “Make your preparations. It is time for me to head back.” Ji Ning laughed as he spoke. Autumn Leaf was startled. “Go? Go back?” “First to Serpentwing Lake.” Ning’s eyes had a hint of anticipation flash through them. On this adventuring trip, he had decided long ago that upon breaking through and becoming a Xiantian lifeform, he would go deal with Serpentwing. Although Serpentwing had currently broken through to the peak Xiantian level, Ning was still completely confident. “Young master, you…” Autumn Leaf revealed a look of surprise and delight. Naturally, she knew that Ning planned to go deal with Serpentwing as soon as he broke through to the Xiantian lifeform level. “Right.” Ning nodded. Autumn Leaf was extremely cautious. She didn’t say anything, only nodded repeatedly. “Mowu, hurry, gather our things. We’re heading out.” Moments later. Ning, Autumn Leaf, and Mowu, riding three black beasts, departed this ruined tribe. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. On the desolate grasslands, three black beasts were galloping at high speed. Ning and the others had looks of irrepressible joy on their faces. No matter what, they were finally coming home from the border region of Eastmount Marsh. They drew closer and closer to West Prefecture city. “Young Master.” Autumn Leaf called out. “Hm?” Ji Ning looked towards her. Autumn Leaf hurriedly said, “On this trip to Serpentwing Lake, we’ll pass by Spring Grass’ Blacktooth Tribe. How about let’s go visit her at the Blacktooth Tribe? It has been a long time since I’ve seen her. I miss her very much.” “Spring Grass?” Ning was startled, and in his heart, a surge of longing arose as well. Autumn Leaf and Spring Grass had accompanied him ever since he was young. They were like sisters to him. Originally, despite being unwilling to part from her, he didn’t want to cause Spring Grass to feel sorrow, which was why he permitted her to be with her father again. Now that Spring Grass was suddenly mentioned, Ning couldn’t help but feel a hint of excitement as well as anticipation. “Alright. Let’s go pay a visit on the way.” “Thank you, young master.” Autumn Leaf hurriedly said with gratitude. “I want to go as well.” Ning smiled, and as he did, he slapped the black beast on its head, ordering it to change directions slightly. Although in theory they were paying a visit to the Blacktooth Tribe ‘enroute’ to Serpentwing Lake, in truth, it was still something of a long detour. —————– In a rather open mountain cave below a mountain wall, with many large wooden fences nearby. There were some armors hung up in the mouth of the cave, while there were also some long-furred beasts strung up on the trees. Some powerfully built men, their upper bodies bare, were casually chatting while seated, roasting the flesh of a beast. At the cave entrance, ten black armored guards were on watch. “Someone is coming.” One of the black armored guards called out loudly, and those men who were eating turned to look. One of them, a bare-chested man, stood up and walked over, frowning slightly as he looked over. Three figures made their way over at high speed from within the mountain forests. Seeing that it was three people riding black beasts, they immediately relaxed. The bare-chested man’s face immediately changed, and he hurriedly calld out, “The young master has arrived, so why haven’t you paid your respects yet? Quick quick quick, all of you, rise!” After speaking, he immediately rushed forward, coming down to one knee at the entrance. Very respectfully, he called out, “Young master!” Both the armored men as well as the men with bared chests all came over and knelt down while calling out, “Young master.” “Rise.” With a flip, Ning descended from the black beast, laughing at the leader of these black armored guards. “You’ve met me before?” He had been preparing to take out his insignia just now. “I, Wuzhan, was lucky in the past.” The heroic figure had a scarred face, and his body was powerfully built. “Young master, in the past, when you sparred with Ninefang Warriors, I once sparred with you, young master. Thus, I was instantly able to recognize you, young master. Behind you should be that Miss Autumn Leaf, your maidservant, young master. I recognize her as well.” Ning laughed. So that was the reason why. In the past, he often sparred with Ninefang Warriors, and many of the Ninefang Warriors of the black armored guards had sparred with him. It wasn’t strange for him to meet one of them stationed outside. “I need to ask you about something.” Ning said. “It has to do with Serpentwing Lake. Come. Let’s talk inside.” “Yes.” This Captain Wuzhan immediately said. “Young master, please come with me.” Wuzhan guided Ning inside, towards a spacious stone room. “A while ago, Serpentwing ran amok not too far from us. Even we suffered some repercussions.” Wuzhan let out a laughing breath. At this time, another black armored guard came over with a plate of fruits. Ning casually picked up a fruit and took two bites. “He even came to your place?” “No. If he had, we’d have been dead for sure.” Wuzhan shook his head. “However, at the time, we were all terrified. In the face of Serpentwing, we black armored guards wouldn’t be able to fight back at all. Although we managed to avoid that calamity, many tribes suffered disasters. I can only use the word ‘miserable’ to describe what happened to them! At that time, we were hoping that Serpentwing would be executed by our Ji clan, but unfortunately…” Ning nodded. In the end, Poisondove Ridge had interceded and engaged in negotiations with the Ji clan, with the result being that Serpentwing only had to be confined within Serpentwing Lake for a century. “Has Serpentwing been in Serpentwing Lake the entire time?” Ning asked. “Also, is he at the bottom of Serpentwing Lake, or in the central island?” “The bottom of the lake, of course.” Wuzhan said hurriedly. “How could he dare to stay on the island? He is afraid that our Ji clan will act against him.” “Bottom of the lake?” Ning seemed to have thought of something. It seemed that it wouldn’t be so easy for him to kill Serpentwing. “Wuzhan.” Ning asked. “Do you know of a tribe known as the Blacktooth Tribe?” “Blacktooth Tribe?” Wuzhan nodded. “I know them, of course I know them. The leader of the Blacktooth Tribe is a very skillful man. He was able to found a new tribe. No ordinary person is capable of founding a new tribe. Unfortunately, the many tribes which Serpentwing harmed had the Blacktooth Tribe amongst their number.” “What!” Ning’s face changed dramatically. His heart shuddered. Could it be… Based on what he knew, originally, even before Serpentwing attacked him, Serpentwing had destroyed a small tribe. Everyone in the tribe had died. In the end, it was only through the examination of the corpses of those poor victims that it was determined that Serpentwing was the killer. “Does the Blacktooth Tribe still exist?” Ning asked hurriedly. “It does.” Wuzhan nodded. “This time, Serpentwing caused disaster everywhere. He’d go to a tribe, engage in some slaughter, then leave! It didn’t try to wipe out everyone! After all, to exterminate an entire tribe would take more time and make it easier for our Ji clan’s Xiantian lifeforms to catch up. But although the Blacktooth Tribe wasn’t wiped out, more than half of its tribesmen died. It really is terrible.” “Over half?” Ning’s heart began to clench. “Do you know Spring Grass?” Ning hurriedly asked. “My maidservant, Spring Grass. Is she still alive?” “Spring Grass?” Wuzhan said questioningly. “I know Spring Grass. You have two maidservants, young master. Can it be that Spring Grass is no longer following you, young master?” Ning had released Spring Grass to her freedom, but very few people knew this. “No. I granted her freedom. She is the daughter of the chief of the Blacktooth Tribe.” Ning said hurriedly. “I don’t know about this.” Wuzhan shook his head. “Although I’ve seen Blacktooth, I don’t know anything about his daughter.” Ning took a deep breath. Worry! Concern! More than half the people of the Blacktooth Tribe had died. Too many had died. Perhaps Spring Grass was amongst them. “Definitely, she definitely has to be alright.” Ning ground his teeth, then immediately left the stone room. Outside, Autumn Leaf and Mowu were currently seated in a circle with the black armored guards, enjoying some roast meat. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf and Mowu both turned to look. “Let’s go.” Ning hurriedly shouted. Autumn Leaf and Mowu’s gazes were filled with puzzlement. Why were they leaving in such a hurry? However, they didn’t dare ask too much. They hurriedly rose, no longer eating as they headed towards their black beasts. “To the Blacktooth Tribe.” Ning’s face was gloomy. Kicking the waist of the black beast, he immediately sent it bounding forward. The three black beasts quickly charged into the distant mountain forests. “Captain, what happened?” The other black armored guards were extremely puzzled. As for Wuzhan, as he walked out of the stone room, he too frowned as he stared into the distance. “Spring Grass? The daughter of the chief of the Blacktooth Tribe?” ————————– Ning’s heart was blazing with worry. Autumn Leaf and Spring Grass, although nominally his servants, were in truth like big sisters to him. He still remembered how when he was young, he would point at the words on the books and stammer out questions. At that time, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, despite being ‘tormented’ by their young master, could only obediently reply. “No way.” “No way she’s dead.” Ning was extremely worried. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf asked with concern. “What’s wrong?” She could tell that her young master’s face was exceedingly ugly right now. She rarely saw her young master look so furious. Ning shouted, “The Blacktooth Tribe suffered an attack by Serpentwing. More than half its tribesmen died.” “Ah?!” Autumn Leaf was instantly shocked. “Then Spring Grass…” “We’ll know once we get there.” Ning shouted back coldly. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three black beasts moved at high speed. By the time the sun was beginning to set, the three black beasts arrived at a sparsely covered mountain forest. From the distance, they could faintly see a tribe. “Halt.” Ning shouted. The three beasts quickly came to a halt. “Young master?” Autumn Leaf’s face was red with worry as well. “Go over there.” Ning pointed into the distance. From the distance, dozens of fur-clad men were currently chopping down trees using hatchets. They were most likely collecting firewood. “They should be the clansmen of the Blacktooth Tribe. If we ask them, we’ll know.” Ning immediately rode his black beast over, with Autumn Leaf and Mowu following from behind. Soon. Ning arrived in front of those dozens of fur-clad woodcutters. These men all raised their spears and sabers, carefully watching them approach. “I have a question for you.” With a flip of his hand, Ning immediately brought out his insignia, which had a single character on it; ‘Ji’. “Ji clan?” These tribesmen were all shocked. “Does your tribe had a person named Spring Grass? She is the daughter of your chief.” Ning barked. “The chief’s daughter?” A one-eyed man hurriedly said. “Our Blacktooth Tribe doesn’t have anyone known as Spring Grass. Our chief’s daughter is named Miwa!” Ning was startled, then he hurriedly said, “Right, her name is Miwa. Is she still alive?” 335 “Dead.” “Miwa’s dead.” The tribesmen all said. Ning’s face changed dramatically, and the face of the nearby Autumn Leaf turned utterly white. Her body swayed, and then she collapsed from her black beast. Mowu hurriedly leapt off of his own black beast and caught Autumn Leaf. Autumn Leaf’s face was pale and utterly without color. Her tears had already begun to flow down uncontrollably. “How did she die?” Ning shouted. “Was it Serpentwing who killed her?” “Serpentwing killed many of the tribesmen of our tribe. Even one of the chief’s son died.” The one-eyed man said. “Many of our tribesmen died right away, while a few others suffered from shrapnel from exploding rocks which smashed into their body, or were frozen…they didn’t die right away, but they were injured. Afterwards, their wounds festered, while others became extremely ill. All of them held on, but eventually died. Many badly injured tribesmen died like that. Miwa, as well, died of illness afterwards.” “Spring Grass!” Autumn Leaf wailed. Ning’s face became all the more terrible, and the mental waves generated by his violent thoughts caused the nearby trees to begin to shake and vibrate. “Serpentwing!” Ning ground his teeth and howled, “I, Ji Ning, so swear that I will definitely kill you! I will definitely kill you!!!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dozens of tribesmen looked at this youth, feeling a sudden terror. They felt as though the entire world around them was shaking. Kill Serpentwing? The youth in front of them was going to kill Serpentwing? “You didn’t lie to me.” Ji Ning swept this group of tribesmen with his gaze. “Miwa truly died?” “Why would we lie? The entire Blacktooth Tribe knows this.” The group of experts were filled with terror and panic. Whether it was due to this youth’s aura or the ‘Ji’ insignia he held, they were in terror of him. “Let’s go.” Ning mounted his black beast and began to head straight into the distant Blacktooth Tribe. Autumn Leaf and Mowu mounted their own black beasts and followed. ———————- There were more than ten tribal warriors standing guard on the two archer towers on each side of the fence gate. “Outsiders, halt.” A warrior immediately shouted angrily. His face sunken, Ning took out his insignia and shouted back, “Tell Blacktooth to come see me!” Upon seeing the insignia, the warrior above were terrified and quickly called out, “Please wait, I’ll go inform the chief right away.” As he spoke, the warrior jumped down directly to the ground, then began to fly towards the tribe. In but a few moments, a black fur clad, scarred man ran in their direction, under escort of a number of warriors. It was the chief of the Blacktooth Tribe, Chief Blacktooth. When he saw the three figures mounted on black beasts, especially the leader, his body suddenly trembled. He immediately howled, “Quick, open the gate and welcome the young master of the Ji clan!” “Young master of the Ji clan?” The people of a small clan like the Blacktooth Tribe naturally were shocked. They hurriedly began to open the heavy gate. Blacktooth was the first to fall to his knees. “Blacktooth pays his respect to you, young master.” 337 The other tribal warriors all knelt down as well. “To your residence.” Ning remained on his black beast as he gave the instruction. “Yes.” Blacktooth quickly led the way up ahead. Ning looked at Blacktooth. He couldn’t help but feel a hint of hatred in his heart! He knew that Spring Grass’ death couldn’t be blamed on Blacktooth, and he believed that Blacktooth was heartbroken as well. But Ning couldn’t help but feel hatred and pain…originally, when he had given Spring Grass into her father’s care, he had never imagined that she would die, just like this. If Spring Grass had remained by his side… Ning’s left hand couldn’t help but clench into a fist. Even his knuckles were turning white. “Young master, this is my residence.” Blacktooth arrived at one of larger stone houses of the tribe. There were two women and a young child at the doorway. These two women and the child were clearly cautious and uneasy. “He is?” Ning looked at the young child. This child looked very similar to Spring Grass…causing a pang in Ning’s heart. “My son.” Blacktooth said respectfully, while at the same time, barking to his women and his son, “Why haven’t you left yet?” The two women and the child immediately left. “Speak inside. Mowu, you stand guard at the doorway. Don’t let anyone in.” Ning immediately dismounted his black beast and led Autumn Leaf into the house. Blacktooth, terrified, followed him in. ——————- Within the room. Ning looked at Blacktooth, sitting down on a stone chair and saying coldly, “Blacktooth, when I gave Spring Grass into your care, my hope was that the two of you, father and daughter, would be reunited and live a good life! But why is it that I didn’t see Spring Grass upon entering the tribe?” Blacktooth hurriedly said, “Young master, right now, Spring Grass isn’t within the tribe!” “Not within the tribe?” Ning frowned as he stared accusingly at Blacktooth. Blacktooth still wanted to lie about it? “Soon after Spring Grass returned to the tribe, she encountered a young travelling merchant whom she took a liking to. I knew that travelling merchant, so I had faith in him.” Blacktooth said in a very practiced manner. “When one’s daughter grows up, she will have to get married. Thus, I had my daughter marry 338 this travelling merchant. Before Spring Grass left with this travelling merchant…she left a letter for you, young master.” Before this last sentence, Ning was beginning to grow truly angry as he listened. Blacktooth, you dare deceive me! But upon hearing this last sentence, Ning said softly, “Letter?” “I’ll get it now.” Blacktooth hurriedly ran into a nearby room. “Young master?” Autumn Leaf looked at Ning. Ning said softly, “Don’t be impatient.” Ning’s intelligence wasn’t low. He wasn’t an idiot who only knew how to train. From the intelligence he had gathered….there was no question that Spring Grass had died! First of all, all of the people outside the tribe were in total agreement, and they even said that Ning could ask anyone in the tribe and would still get this answer. There was no reason for that group of people to deceive him. Also…after having been separated from her father for so long, Spring Grass had wanted to be with him so much that she had even left Ning! How could she immediately get married and leave not long after reuniting with her father? “Young master, this is the letter Spring Grass left for you.” Blacktooth held a white beast skin parchment and handed it over. Ning took a deep breath. Letter? This was most likely her will. The will which Spring Grass had intentionally left behind amidst her grave illness…Ning stretched out his trembling hand and accepted the white beast skin, opening it and reading carefully. Those graceful characters appeared. These characters were very familiar to him. Upon seeing them, Ning’s heart instantly shook. It was Spring Grass’ handwriting! “Young master, after returning to the tribe, I was truly very happy, very happy. I saw my father, and I even have two little brothers…I feel as though I did when I was a child, when I was with my parents….” This is what the letter said. The letter included all of the joy which Spring Grass had felt. Ning could sense the joy emanating from these words. Spring Grass truly had been happy when she returned to the tribe. “Two little brothers?” Ning had a thought. Previously, he had only seen a single son of Blacktooth’s, while previously the clansman had said…when Serpentwing had run amok, more than half of the Blacktooth Tribe had died, including the son of the chief. Ning continued to read. “I met him.” “Every single woman has a man who is destined for her. As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was the one. When I see him smile, I feel happy. When I see him frown, I worry. When I see him training hard with the sword, I stand there and watch. Just looking at him is a gift given by heaven. Thus, I decided…to marry him!” Ning clearly saw that there was a splotch here, as though left behind by a tear. Ning’s heart shook. Marry? Was the man which Spring Grass spoke of actually himself? As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was the one. When I see him smile, I feel happy. When I see him frown, I worry. When I see him training hard with the sword, I stand there and watch…. If you wanted to marry me, why didn’t you say it to me yourself! Ning shut his eyes, unable to prevent the tears from flowing down. Although Spring Grass was only a maidservant, most of the men in this area would marry quite a few women. In his previous life, Ning hadn’t loved any woman. In this life, he had quickly become accustomed to this culture. Even if he truly married several women, that wouldn’t be a big deal. But they had to be women which he dearly loved. Ning would have been willing to nod and agree to letting Spring Grass become his woman. “Young master!” The nearby Autumn Leaf saw that Ning was shedding tears. Her heart couldn’t help but clench. She had been a maidservant since she was young. Naturally, she wouldn’t read a letter while Ning was reading it. But when she saw Ning cry…Autumn Leaf’s heart became panicked. Ning opened his eyes. He continued to read. “Young master, if you can see this letter, that means you came to the Blacktooth Tribe to see me.” “I really am very happy, very happy. Spring Grass is just a maidservant. For you, young master, to come to the Blacktooth Tribe to visit Spring Grass means at least…Spring Grass has a small place of her own in your heart, young master…Spring Grass is very happy, very happy, truly, very happy.” The letter concluded here. Ning’s eyes were wet. Very happy? Are you truly very happy? “Hahaha.” Ning laughed loudly. His laugh was so sorrowful. This was someone who had been with him his entire life, like family. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf was worried. “Young master.” Blacktooth was terrified and uneasy as well. Ning turned to stare at Blacktooth, his eyes as sharp as swords. He growled, “Blacktooth, you still want to try and deceive me? Speak, tell me, tell me everything!!!” Upon hearing this, Blacktooth’s face changed dramatically. And then his body began to tremble. Thud! Blacktooth’s knees hit the ground. His entire body shook in agony, and for a long time, he let out a desolate, heartbroken cry. “Miwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A grief that had been suppressed for so long but which was given sudden release….how powerful it was! Ji Ning stood there quietly, looking at the agonized Blacktooth, not saying a single word. “Since you already know, young master, then I won’t lie any more. Young master, come with me.” Blacktooth rose and walked out of the room. Ning and Autumn Leaf followed behind him. Blacktooth led the way in front, all the way towards the very back of the tribe. In the very back of the tribe, there was a small door in the wooden fence. Through the wooden door…there was a cemetery far past it. Many of the erected tombs were newly made. Clearly, this was a freshly built cemetery. “Young master?” Autumn Leaf looked towards Ning, her eyes filled with a hint of unease. Ning held his breath as well. He understood where Blacktooth was taking him. “Right here.” Blacktooth pointed at a seemingly ordinary grave. In front of this grave, there was a large stone, which had just a few words carved into it: ‘Daughter, Miwa. Erected by Father, Blacktooth.’ “Spring Grass.” Ning quietly stood there, looking at the grave. In his life, he had rarely experienced the sensation of heartbreak. Compared to those strong, powerful emotions, Ning preferred calm, quiet, warm emotions. The feeling of seeing someone every morning, and affection for each other slowly growing deeper. Calm and peaceful was real! To treat someone as part of your own life. At least in this life, from when he was an infant until now, the amount of time Spring Grass had spent with him was most likely even greater than his parents had. Ning hadn’t realized it when she was alive, but now that he knew she was dead, he felt as though a piece of his heart had been chopped off. It hurt very much! “Blacktooth.” Ning stood there, looking at the tombstone. Slowly, he said, “Tell me everything. Tell me everything which happened after Spring Grass returned.” Blacktooth nodded. “At first, on the way back, she was actually quite sad. Sad that she had to part with you, young master.” Blacktooth sighed. “But after she arrived at the tribe and saw her two brothers, Miwa clearly became much happier. She’d often spend time with her two little brothers…the days passed in happiness, and at that time, Miwa had looked forward to young master one day coming to visit her.” “Only!” Blacktooth’s voice sunk. “One day, Serpentwing arrived. It was like a nightmare, causing countless members of our tribe to die, one of which was my son, Waterfront.” “The death of Waterfront, her little brother, hurt Miwa very much.” Ning remembered that beast skin letter which discussed some of the events Miwa had experienced upon returning to the Blacktooth Tribe. Many were stories regarding her and her two little brothers. Clearly, Miwa truly doted on her two little brothers. This caused Ning to quietly come to the decision that he would have to help out Spring Grass’ sole surviving brother, as a way to help console Miwa’s soul in heaven. “Serpentwing’s attack caused the entire Blacktooth Tribe to fall into an abyss of fear and pain! The tribesmen were afraid, afraid that Serpentwing could attack again. Some of the tribesmen even fled the tribe and joined other, larger tribes.” “Everyone in the tribe was in a state of panic.” Blacktooth continued, “Many tribesmen would leave. Actually, after Serpentwing’s attack, our tribe’s population became less than a thousand. With so many tribesmen fleeing…if this continued, the Blacktooth Tribe would have fallen apart soon.” Ning nodded. “I had undergone countless difficulties in order to build the tribe. Naturally, I didn’t want it to fall apart just like that.” Blacktooth said. “Spring Grass felt sympathy for me, so she put down her embarrassment and wrote a letter and asked the tribesmen to deliver it to West Prefecture City to give it to you, young master. She wanted to ask you, young master, to help my Blacktooth Tribe.” “Only, we quickly received the news that you, young master, were out adventuring.” Blacktooth shook his head. Ning ground his teeth. Right. He had gone adventuring long before Serpentwing had reached the peak of the Xiantian stage. Naturally, they wouldn’t have been able to find him. “The tribesmen suggested that our Blacktooth Tribe should consider go asking for the protection of that extremely large tribe, the ‘Riverside Tribe’.” Blacktooth said in a dark voice. “As long as we could receive 343 the protection of the Riverside Tribe and be permitted to temporarily reside within Riverside City, everything would be fine.” “Riverside City?” Ning murmured to himself. As one of the hegemons of the Swallow Mountain area, the Ji clan naturally had to control the many tribes within this territory. No tribe’s population was permitted to expand beyond fifty thousand! Once they expanded beyond fifty thousand, they might become a threat to the Ji clan’s rule. Thus, if that happened, the Ji clan would definitely use some brutal, ruthless methods to overawe the surrounding tribes. Thus, a fifty thousand man tribe was considered an extremely large tribe. The Riverside Tribe was one such tribe! Because the tribe was large, the walls of the tribe were made from enormous rocks, like a small city. Although it couldn’t compare to a large city like the West Prefecture City which held hundreds of thousands of citizens, it was still an extremely powerful tribe amongst the countless tribes. Generally speaking, tribes that were able to erect such a city had a Xiantian lifeform guarding them. “Riverside City had two powerful Xiantian lifeforms. Diremonsters wouldn’t dare go there.” Blacktooth said. “Our Blacktooth Tribe only had a few hundred people. As long as we could enter Riverside City! Once Serpentwing was dealt with, everything would then return to normal.” “We went to pay our respects to a powerful figure within Riverside City, River He, and offered treasures, wanting him to accept our Blacktooth Tribe hide within for a time.” Blacktooth ground his teeth. “But that River He was very picky. He didn’t have any interest in those treasures we offered. But he took an interest in Miwa.” “He wanted Miwa to become his woman, and in exchange, he would help the Blacktooth Tribe this time. You know how haughty Miwa is. Of course she didn’t accept. She immediately left!” A ferocious look flashed through Blacktooth’s eyes. “That River He actually sent his subordinates to go capture Miwa, wanting to forcibly take her back.” “However, Miwa was very powerful, and she used very high class sword techniques as well. She beat Jiang He’s servants half to death…Miwa had also said at the time, ‘My master is the young master of the Ji clan. Jiang He, don’t go too far!’” “That Jiang He just laughed loudly and said, ‘Even if you are the maidservant of young master Ji, you are just a female servant. If you were able to successfully ask your young master for help, then you wouldn’t come here asking me for help. What’s more, how could the maidservant of a young master of the Ji clan end up in such a small tribe?’” Blacktooth ground his teeth. “This Jiang He added another sentence…‘If you become my woman, I will protect the Blacktooth Tribe! Otherwise, just wait for death.’ After this, we left Riverside City.” Autumn Leaf, hearing this, was enraged. “How could Sister Spring Grass possibly agree to him!” 344 “Spring Grass wouldn’t agree.” Ning shook his head while looking at Blacktooth. “Right. Spring Grass was completely unwilling.” Blacktooth shook his head in pain. “But seeing how panicked the tribesmen were and how members of the tribe often fled, and seeing how agonized I was….for the sake of me, her father, after agonizing for three days, she still agreed.” “How could Sister Spring Grass be so stupid!!!” Autumn Leaf was frantic. Ning shut his eyes. He could imagine the mental struggle which Spring Grass had gone through during those three days. For the sake of her father, was it worth it? “Miwa became River He’s woman.” Blacktooth’s voice was trembling slightly. “But when Miwa was completely unprepared, River He suddenly launched a sneak attack, smashing Miwa’s dantian with a palm strike and dispersing all of the ki in her body while mocking her….‘You stupid woman, there are countless tribes which want to be protected by my Riverside Tribe. Just because you became my woman, I have to help you? Hahaha, what a dreamer!’” “Detestable!!!” Autumn Leaf was so angry that she was shaking. Ning ground his teeth. Spring Grass. Oh, Spring Grass! Why did you trust that bastard? Why did you have to sacrifice yourself for your father? Why? “The Serpentwing affair quickly calmed down. The Ji clan imprisoned Serpentwing within Serpentwing Lake, causing Serpentwing to not dare to come out at all.” Blacktooth said. “Once this news came out from the Ji clan, all the tribes quickly settled down. The hearts of our Blacktooth Tribe’s tribesmen calmed down as well, and some of the tribesmen who had fled actually returned.” “I was worried about Miwa, so I went to look for her.” Blacktooth said in a low voice. “Only when I went looking for her did I find out the situation had changed. After using all sorts of methods, I finally managed to have a private meeting with Miwa. As soon as Miwa saw me, Miwa began to cry, cry so hard!” Ning shut his eyes. He could imagine Spring Grass’s agony, regret, and heartbreak. “She said that this was her own mistake. It was her own stupidity, and that it wasn’t the fault of myself, her father. She had willingly done this.” Blacktooth said in agony. “She also said…she didn’t want you, young master, to learn of this. She didn’t want to make you feel heartbroken, which is why she concocted this story of her marrying a travelling merchant, which she left for you in that letter she gave you.” 345 “After giving me the letter, Miwa died. She took poison.” Blacktooth said softly. “I knew how much agony my daughter was in. Death was perhaps a type of release. Actually, when she died, she was murmuring your name. She didn’t want you to know why she died.” Ning gently nodded. Understood. He understood. After having been with each other for so long, how could he not understand what Spring Grass was thinking? She wanted that happy, cheerful Spring Grass to live on in Ning’s heart….she didn’t want Ning to learn of the humiliations she had suffered! “Every single woman has a man who is destined for her. As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was the one. When I see him smile, I feel happy. When I see him frown, I worry. When I see him training hard with the sword, I stand there and watch. Just looking at him is a gift given by heaven…” “I really am very happy, very happy. Spring Grass is just a maidservant. For you, young master, to come to the Blacktooth Tribe to visit Spring Grass means at least…Spring Grass has a small place of her own in your heart, young master…Spring Grass is very happy, very happy, truly, very happy.” Ning opened his eyes, tears faintly visible within them. He quietly walked towards the tombstone, sitting down in front of him. Holding a bamboo tube in his hands, he said softly, “Spring Grass, in the past, you always poured wine for me. It is my turn to pour wine for you.” The wine within the bamboo tube dripped onto the ground in front of the tombstone. “I know. I understand. I know that you are forever the happy Spring Grass, forever happy!” “Your stupidity truly is adorable.” Ning laughed, but his eyes were filled with tears. “I know what happened to you, but I don’t look upon you. How could a little brother look down on his big sister? Although sometimes his big sister might be a bit stupid…you will always be the big sister of Ji Ning.” Hearing the words, ‘big sister’, the nearby Autumn Leaf’s lips trembled, and she let out a whimper. “Sis, you were too tired. Sleep, sleep, have a good sleep.” Ning said softly. “Those people who took advantage of you, sis, those people who caused you to be heartbroken…I won’t spare any of them. Not one.” “Let’s go.” 346 Ning put down the bamboo tube and rose. “Let’s go to the Riverside Tribe. I am going to meet this River He!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Let’s go!” Riding on his black beast, Ji Ning and the other two left the Blacktooth Tribe at high speed, disappearing into the distant mountain forests. “Chief?” “Where are they going?” The tribesmen at the gate asked, but Blacktooth simply stood there, watching as Ning and the other two left. Shaking his head, Blacktooth said, “Don’t know.” But a look of anticipation through his eyes. He knew…that this young master of the Ji clan was going to the Riverside Tribe to get revenge for his daughter. But given the status of the Riverside Tribe, would this young master of the Ji clan be able to do so? “Even if young master Ji isn’t able to get revenge, his father, the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, definitely is.” Blacktooth’s heart was filled with hatred. He truly hated River He, but unfortunately, his own strength was insufficient. ———————— The Riverside Tribe was hundreds of kilometers away from the Blacktooth Tribe, and mountains lay in the way. Only when the sun rose on the next day did they arrive at the Riverside Tribe. Every single nearby tribe was living within the city. A place where over fifty thousand tribesmen were living…this was essentially a city. “All of you, come over.” “Right, go on in.” “Go on through.” The armored guards at the gate inspected the items of the people entering the city. The Riverside Tribe had enemies, and they were concerned about people possibly smuggling in large amounts of siege bows and other such weapons. “Huh? You three!” Suddenly, an armored guard saw three black armored beasts galloping over at high speed. Seeing that they didn’t seem to have any intentions on slowing down, he immediately shouted, “Quickly come to a halt. If you charge through the gate of our Riverside City, we will release arrows.” Instantly, the archers above on the guard tower nocked their bows. They wouldn’t show any mercy at all. Swoosh! Ning, who had been seated on the back of that black east, suddenly flew into the air, charging onto the top of that enormous city wall. And then, a surging wave of invisible energy instantly swept outwards. The dozens of armored guards that were originally on top of the city guard tower felt their bodies suddenly sway, and then they smashed downwards out of the guard tower. Suddenly, Ning was the only person standing atop the guard tower. Those armored guards fell down, all of their faces grimy with dirt, and some of the unluckier ones even had bones broken. However, these were all powerful, valiant warriors. They normally wouldn’t be injured much just from falling down from the top of the city walls. They only were now because they had been caught off guard by that energy wave which had knocked them down. “What’s going on.” “He, he…” A group of armored guards stared at Ji Ning, standing atop the city walls, and then looked at their empty hands. Hurriedly, they moved to pick up the bows that had fallen onto the ground as well. Standing atop the city walls, Ning stared into the city and let out an enraged bellow, “River He, I order you to come out!” “River He, I order you to come out!” “River He, I order you to come out!” “River He, I order you to come out!” …. This furious bellow that seemed to have come from a Fiendgod exploded forth like thunder. The guards that had been nearby the city walls as well as some passer-byers all clapped their hands to their ears in pain, and some of them even began to flee. The furious roar echoed throughout every location of the entire Riverside City. Ning’s face was dark. With a massive kick, an enormous exploding sound was heard! “DONG!” An enormous wall like this one which was six or seven meters thick was extremely durable, but thanks to Ning’s kick, it began to vibrate powerfully. One giant crack after another began to appear on the tall, powerful city wall, and some distortions and cracks even began to appear in the ground below it. This kick had caused even the ground nearby to ripple and shake as though the ground was a pool of water, and those armored guards were so terrified that they hurriedly retreated. “DONG!” Ning delivered yet another kick! The nearby earth began to shudder yet again, and a large number of cracks had now appeared within the wall. Many stones began to tumble down, and the stone guard tower itself began to shudder, as though preparing to crack at any moment. “DONG!” Ning delivered one final kick! Rumble…. The city wall which was already covered with countless cracks finally collapsed. Many boulders came falling down. Instantly, the massive city gate became a pile of rubble. The tall, massive city walls fell downwards towards the street. This scene of rubble lying everywhere caused those armored guards and civilians who had run away long ago to stare in shock. “My God…” “The city towers…” None of them could believe it. The walls of the main gate to a city were the thickest, most stable parts of the city. Even siege machines would at most attack the gates. Attacking the city walls would be entirely useless. That seamless, tough stone that was six or seven meters thick….even if a person slashed down onto it with a knife, at most a scar would be left behind. Kicking down the city walls with just three kicks? Swoosh! Swoosh! Autumn Leaf and Mowu, riding their black beasts, quickly arrived at the area of rubble. By now, Ning had already landed on the rubble as well. ———————- River Sansi was current seated in the lotus position within a quiet room, fragrant room. He was the chief of the Riverside Tribe, a very famous and reputable person in the territory controlled by the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan. “River He, I order you to come out!” An enraged bellow suddenly rang out. “Huh?” River Sansi suddenly opened his eyes. DONG! DONG! DONG! The subsequent three massive sounds caused River Sansi’s face to change. He immediately transformed into a ray of light, hurrying out. Moments later. River Sansi, as a Xiantian lifeform, had already reached the city gates, where those enormous sounds had come from. Upon seeing the destroyed city gates and the rubble, River Sansi’s eyes instantly turned red! The city gates had been destroyed. This was like spitting directly into the Riverside Tribe’s face, giving them no leeway at all. “You are River Sansi?” Ning stood atop the rubble. Seeing this black haired old man suddenly appear, he immediately barked towards him. The entire Riverside Tribe only had two Xiantian lifeforms, one male, one female. The male, of course, was River Sansi. The black haired old man stared at Ning, his face an ugly sight. “No matter who you are, you can’t trample the honor and dignity of our Ji clan like this.” As soon as he spoke, within his hands, a purple set of chains appeared. With a massive whirl, he sent those chain links flying towards Ning in an attack. Just from the way Ning was acting, there was no question at all that he was the person who had done this. Swoosh! Ning suddenly charged forward, moving forward at an intense speed, generating a faint howl like that of a great Roc. Swish! Ning landed a kick directly on the chest of that black-haired old man, causing the black haired old man to fly backwards. A deep crevice appeared in the stone ground, with the old man sunken into it. The black haired old man immediately jumped up, clutching his chest, a hint of blood on his lips. His face covered in astonishment, he looked at Ning. “You…who are you?” How could this happen? His magic treasure had yet to strike Ning, but Ning had sent him flying with a kick. Fortunately, he was protected by his Xiantian Ki. “Hmph.” Ning sneered coldly. “Have River He come out.” Shua! Yet another figure appeared, this one red-colored. It was an old lady with white hair dressed in red clothes. The old lady hurriedly helped prop up River Sansi. “Sansi, are you alright?” “Be careful. He is very powerful.” River Sansi said quietly. The red-clothed old granny look at Ning, shouting, “I don’t know how our Riverside Tribe has offended you. In addition, who are you? You destroyed our gates. I trust you wouldn’t be so cowardly as to not even dare to give us your name!” Ning said coldly, “Ji clan! Ji Ning!” “Ji Ning?” The red-clothed granny was puzzled. “Ji Ning?” The black haired elder, River Sansi, was greatly astonished. He hurriedly said in a soft voice to the nearby granny, “Aunty Snow, the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture has been decided upon already. It is someone named Ji Ning. But he is only eleven years old. How could he…” “The Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture?” Aunty Snow was shocked. Although they were shocked at Ning becoming a Xiantian lifeform at the age of eleven, they were even more shocked by Ning’s status; the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture! It was common for a person to become a Xiantian before reaching the age of twenty. The Ji clan alone had quite a few, such as Ji Lie who had also been hoping that one of the three tribal youths he had brought up would reach the Xiantian level before the age of sixteen. If Ji Ning had trained in other Fiendgod Body Refining methods, he most likely would have reached the Xiantian level as a toddler. In the numerous tribes, there were even more talented individuals. There were quite a few who reached the Xiantian level before the age of twenty. River Sansi was one such person! But these tribes didn’t have any powerful, ultimate techniques. The more they trained, the lower their potential became compared to the Ji clan! “Ji clan of the West Prefecture?” Aunty Snow stared at the youth in front of her. Their Riverside Tribe was within the territory of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture and was under their direct authority! If the Ji clan of the West Prefecture wanted to destroy the Riverside Tribe, it could be accomplished as easily as lifting their hand up. “Young master!” A voice suddenly rang out. Over a hundred black armored guards appeared from afar. Upon seeing Ning standing atop the rubble, the leader of the black armored guards, greatly shocked, immediately fell down to one knee. The other black armored guards all hurriedly called out respectfully, “Young master!” “Rise.” Ning glanced at them sideways. In these extremely large tribes, the Ji clan would usually send a squadron of a hundred black armored guards to stay there and watch over them. “Yes.” The black armored guards hurriedly ran over, standing around Ji Ning. “Young master Ji Ning.” The old granny, Aunty Snow, bowed slightly. “Since it is River He who angered you, young master, my Riverside Tribe naturally will not protect him. Sansi, go bring River He out as soon as possible.” “Right.” The black haired elder, River Sansi, immediately went. A single Xiantian individual wouldn’t be enough to cause the Riverside Tribe to lower their heads! Even if the Xiantian belonged to the Ji clan, that didn’t mean anything. After all, everything had to have a reason. The Ji clan couldn’t act wildly either, otherwise how could the many tribes submit peacefully? A single ordinary Xiantian lifeform was not able to destroy a large-scale tribe. But if it was the Prefecture Lord himself! Then the situation would be different. —————– “Keep training!” River He was an extremely handsome young man with white skin. Only, his eyes contained an extreme arrogance. Currently, he was holding a whip while looking at a toddler, who was wielding a shortsword and training in swordplay. “No matter how sore or painful your arm feels, endure it. You will be the future clan leader of our Riverside clan!” “Yes, Father.” The toddler gritted his teeth, continuing to train. He didn’t dare stop. Stopping meant a whip would come his way. Suddenly…. “River He, come out.” A furious roar rang out. River He’s face changed. “Who dares to be this impudent and act like this in Riverside City? This person cannot be ordinary.” DONG! DONG! DONG! The three kicks which had smashed open the city walls were like kicks against his heart, causing River He to unconsciously feel panic. “Who is it? Who has come looking for me?” No longer paying any attention to anything else, Riverside He hurriedly rushed towards the outside. “He, what is it?” The inside of the manor was in a state of chaos. His wife came out as well, seemingly very panicked. Some of his other women were worried as well, but some of them were secretly rejoicing at his impending misfortune. “Let’s go take a look.” River He headed outside. Just as he walked out of his manor, from afar, a black figure suddenly pounced downwards, arriving directly in front of River He. River He was shocked when he saw the person. “Clan leader.” The black haired elder, River Sansi, stared at him coldly. Sansi had an extremely ugly look on his face, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. His clothes were extremely dirty. “This is all your doing.” As he said this, he grabbed River He by the neck, as though he were picking up a chicken. Swoosh! He transformed into a ray of light, moving at high speed towards the city gate. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Standing on the cracked streets, the white-haired old granny, Aunty Snow, spoke out. “Young master Ji Ning, if River He has offended you, he deserves death. However, given that he is still young, I wonder if he might perhaps be spared?” In the struggles and battles between tribes, it was generally possible for an important person who had been captured to be released in exchange for a ransom. Ning glanced at her coldly, not saying a word. Aunty Snow instantly frowned. She understood that young master Ji Ning’s decision to kill River He was unshakable. “What’s going on?” “Why have the city gates been destroyed?” “What is going on in the Riverside Tribe?” “Look, look, that youngster is surrounded by a group of black armored guards. He must be an important figure within the Ji clan.” Some of the outsiders who had come to engage in trade in Riverside City quickly began to congregate towards this direction. Seeing the situation, Aunty Snow immediately shouted, “Have all those onlookers f*ck off.” “Yes.” The armored guards of the Riverside Tribe immediately acknowledged, and quickly began to shoo aside those outsiders as well as even some people of the clan, not letting them draw close. “Out of the way!” “Out of the way!” One unit after another of guards quickly ran at high speed towards the distant streets, all of them wielding bows and other sorts of weapons. The leader of the units were all core, high-level people of the Riverside Tribe. Clearly, they had heard those explosive sounds from earlier and were worried that an enemy had come in force, and so they had quickly brought their own people to come over. “Granny Snow.” A white-haired elder led a group to rush over. Upon seeing Aunty Snow, he immediately called out respectfully. Aunty Snow only glanced at him. One squadron after another drew near. All of the core members of the Riverside Tribe had arrived. “Swoosh!” A black shadow drew near at high speed as well, only slowing down once it reached the armored guards. Those armored guards wanted to block the black shadow, but when they saw it come to a halt, they were shocked. “Clan leader!” River Sansi’s face was like ice. Still holding onto that handsome young man, he passed straight through the crowd. All of the core members of the tribe stared at River He in confusion. River He was one of River Sansi’s grandchildren, and was greatly valued by River Sansi. In the Riverside Tribe, his position was in the top ten of the entire tribe. Why had the clan leader dragged him here? “Swish!” River Sansi directly tossed him out. River He fell face-first into the rubble and rocks, wounds appearing on his face and his body becoming covered with dust. He hurriedly raised his head and stood up, looking around him. Soon, his gaze settled down upon the fur-clad youth who was surrounded by black armored guards. “Young master Ji Ning, I brought him for you.” River Sansi stood together with Aunty Snow. “You are River He?” Ning stared judgingly at River He. He couldn’t help but think of poor Spring Grass, and his heart began to flood with a desire to slaughter! River He could feel that this young master Ji Ning emanated an aura of power and influence. In front of this young master Ji Ning…even the clan leader and Granny Snow had to lower their heads. “River He pays his respects to you, young master.” River He said respectfully. “River He…River He…” Ning gently murmured, his eyes as sharp as daggers as he stared at this youth in front of him. “Do you know why I have come to find you?” Ning’s voice was very soft. But when River He heard his voice, his heart shook. He could sense the murderous intent contained within Ji Ning’s voice! “I don’t know.” River He stared at Ning. “Young master Ji Ning, have you come to kill me?” “Yes.” Ning nodded. The entire area was utterly silent. River Sansi and Aunty Snow just watched. The core members of the Riverside Tribe just watched as well. They could tell…that this young master Ji Ning clearly had the power to change their entire world. Even the clan leader had to submit to him. In addition, Ji Ning’s desire to kill River He was clearly very strong. They just quietly sighed to themselves…the glorious River He, whose prospects had been limitless, was going to die today! “Young master Ji Ning, if you wish to kill me, then I have no choice but to die.” River He’s handsome face didn’t have a hint of fear on it. He looked at Ning. “But I don’t know why you are going to kill me, young master?” “Why I am going to kill you?” Ning looked at him. Hua. A Darknorth sword appeared out of nowhere into Ji Ning’s hands. Sword light flashed across River He’s body. Instantly, a terrifying, suppressive aura swept out, but River He didn’t dodge. The nearby River Sansi and Aunty Snow just watched quietly as well. Even if Ji Ning had killed River He with this sword attack, they wouldn’t say a word. Chi! Chi! Chi! River He’s body now had six bloody holes appear on it. His blood flowed outwards from those holes, which were situation in his legs, shoulders, and other non-lethal points. “This!” River He stared, his eyes wide. “She…she was your…” “Now do you understand?” Ning looked at him. The sword technique he had displayed just now when stabbing six bloody holes into River He was the sword technique of Spring Grass. When River He had originally ordered his servants to capture Spring Grass, this was the technique Spring Grass had relied upon when she had beaten those servants half to death before leaving. “A mere woman. Young master Ji Ning, you are going to kill me for a mere woman? Women are nothing more than merchandise, just property.” River He howled in disbelief, unwilling to accept this. “I’m willing to offer ten or a hundred women to you, young master. In addition, she was just a slave. I’m willing to do anything so long as you are willing to spare me, young master.” “In my eyes…you can’t even compare to a single hair on her head.” Ning said coldly. His face ashen, River He immediately retrieved a dagger from within his breastpocket. In a gloomy voice, he said, “Young master Ji Ning, I, River He, have offended you, young master, and I deserve to be killed. There’s no need for you to dirty your hands, young master. River He will end it personally.” As he spoke, he stabbed with his dagger towards his heart. Dang! A sword flash collided against the dagger, sending it flying. “You actually think you’ll be able to die so easily?” Ning stared at River He. “When she died, she did so in agony and humiliation! How can I possibly let you die so easily?” River He gritted his teeth as he looked at Ning. Ning shouted, “Mowu!” “Young master.” Mowu immediately stepped forward. “The suspension punishment.” Ning said coldly. “Hang up him at the top of Riverside City.” River He’s face turned white. The suspension punishment generally meant one would have his hands and feet bound up, then hung up in the air and given nothing to eat or drink while allowing the sun to bake the criminal. In addition, prior to this, Ning had left six bloody holes on River He’s body. Given River He’s life force, he naturally wouldn’t die due to bloodloss, but the blood he had lost would attract some birds. The birds which would dare to draw near to the top of Riverside City were all ordinary birds. They would occasionally take a peck out of River He’s flesh. He would slowly be tortured to death in the midst of starvation, agony, and terror… In addition, countless tribesmen would all be watching. The humiliation he would feel in his heart would cause a proud figure like River He even more agony. “Yes.” Mowu quickly retrieved a set of chains and began to bind and fetter River He. River He knelt there, his head lowered, not daring to make a sound. “Father!” A fierce cry rang out, and a toddler came running out from the crowd. “F*ck off.” Seeing that toddler running over, he hurriedly shouted in anger, “F*ck off, f*ck off!” “Father.” The toddler sobbed. Although his father was strict in forcing him to train with the sword, his father deeply loved him. The distant River Sansi frowned. “Take the child away!” “Yes.” Immediately, two guards charged forward, grabbing the child and leaving with him. But that child continued to wildly struggle while staring at Ji Ning, his eyes filled with hate. Ning only stared back calmly at the child. When he was very young, his father, Ji Yichuan, had him train in courage by having him go kill some prisoners. He had seen far more terrifying glares before. The slave 358 markets of West Prefecture City…he had seen numbness, despair, insanity, hatred, supplication. He had seen every sort of gaze there was. “Hang him up at the highest point of the city.” Mowu had two black armored guards help. River He was completely tied up in metal chains, and his hair was a mess. The nearby tribesmen watched, some of their eyes filled with pity. Others delighted in his misfortune. This humiliation caused River He’s entire body to shake constantly. “Young master.” Mowu said softly towards Ji Ning. “That son of River He’s…when cutting grass, you must tear out the roots!” Ning glanced coldly at Mowu. Mowu hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to say anything else. “I will spend the next few days at Riverside City.” Ning looked at the nearby River Sansi and Aunty Snow. “No need to trouble you. I will stay at the place where the black armored guards are stationed. I will watch as River He slowly dies. After he is dead, I will leave.” The bodies of the surrounding core members of the tribe all shook. All of them could sense the hatred within Ning’s voice. ——————- At first, River He didn’t have too many problems, baking there in the sun. Afterwards, when some crows began to feast on his flesh, and when the sun began to cause his skin to dry and crack, revealing his red flesh, the pain he went through was absolute hell. Because of the ki in his body, River He’s life force was very strong, but this now became a source of agony to him. He was baked in the sun until his skin cracked and his flesh congealed. In the midst of this agony, he moaned for three days and two nights before finally dying. This entire time, Ning remained at Riverside City. After the black armored guards reported that River He had died in agony, Ning finally took a cold look at River He’s tattered corpse, then turned and led Mowu and Autumn Leaf away, mounted on their black beasts. —————– Ning left Riverside City at night. Riverside Sansi was currently seated in front of a table, quietly drinking wine from a beastskull cup. There was a toddler kneeling within the courtyard. “Cai, child.” Sansi lifted his beastskull cup. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Do you want to kill young master Ji Ning?” “I don’t dare. Cai doesn’t dare.” The kneeling toddler said hurriedly. “Alas.” River Sansi shook his head. In a soft voice, he murmured, “The hatred you feel will be a disaster to my Riverside Tribe.” “Servants!” River Sansi called out. “Master.” A servant entered and knelt down. “Alright.” River Sansi said coldly, “Execute all of those servants of River He. None of them are to be spared! River He’s women are to be sold off at the slave markets!” “Clan leader.” The toddler grew frantic. One of them was his mother. “And him.” River Sansi looked coldly at the toddler. “River He’s only son…he is to be sold off at the slave market as well!” “No.” “No!” The toddler hurriedly kowtowed. “Clan leader, spare me, spare me!” “Yes!” The servant replied respectfully, and then stepped forward, grabbing the toddler, then departing. The toddler continued to struggle, sob, and cry. Slave? Why! Why had this happened! Watching as the toddler cried and called out in agony, River Sansi was silent. “Master, you are going to sell River He’s women and children as slaves?” A human figure appeared within the dark corners of the room. River Sansi nodded. When River He had been undergoing the suspension punishment, Sansi had sent people to secretly ask River He…and only then did he understand that the source of this problem came from the Miwa of the Blacktooth Tribe! River Sansi had even sent people to the Blacktooth Tribe to speak with Blacktooth to clearly understand what this was about. And then, he had put to death all of the servants who knew anything about this affair at all. “Ji Ning doesn’t wish for Spring Grass’ affair to spread out.” River Sansi said calmly. “Spring Grass had once said that she was the servant of young master Ji. Everyone who heard these words needs to be put to death.” “There’s no point in keeping River He’s women either.” “River He’s sole child, Cai…he has too much hatred towards Ji Ning. I asked him several times. Although he verbally stated that he wouldn’t seek revenge, how could a toddler like him deceive me? I could see straight to his heart in a single glance. His hatred of Ji Ning is bone deep.” Sansi shook his head. “At such a young age, he has already learned to cover up his thoughts. In the future, once he rises to a position of great power within the tribe, given the hatred he feels for Ji Ning, I fear that he might act in a way that would cause our entire Riverside Tribe to be destroyed!” “Everything that I am doing is to ensure that the Ji clan knows that our Riverside Tribe is loyal!” The man in the darkness was silent. “Breaker Three.” River Sansi spoke out. “Master.” The man in the darkness replied. “Send out Breaker Nine.” River Sansi said. “Take Cai away in the darkness and send him to the territory under the control of the Ironwood clan and have him just join a small tribe at random. Make him give Cai good training! If Cai has talent and always works hard, give him good tutelage. If Cai quickly forgets his hatred and doesn’t train hard, then kill him and have Breaker Nine return.” “Yes.” The figure in the darkness nodded. “Hatred…is a source of strength as well.” River Sansi murmured softly. “Our Riverside Tribe, compared to the Ji clan…we’re too weak, too weak…” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The three black beasts were travelling through the desolate terrain. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf couldn’t help but speak out. “That son of River He has tremendous hatred towards you. If we let him grow up, in the future, it will most likely be detrimental to you, young master.” Ji Ning cast a sideways glance at Mowu. Autumn Leaf hurriedly said, “It wasn’t Mowu who said this to me. I knew that you wouldn’t be happy, but after thinking about it for a long time, I felt I had to say this.” Ning let out a sigh. “My enmity was with River He. I have no enmity with his son. I went to get revenge. Why do I have to harm his child as well?” “But when tribes engage in battles against each other, we generally utterly destroy any remaining threats…” Autumn Leaf wanted to speak. “I understand.” Ning nodded. “For the sake of the tribe’s survival…any sort of measures and means can be used! But how can a small child like him possibly affect my Ji clan? My Ji clan controls this area, and has put countless people to death. Who knows how many people secretly hate our Ji clan? The reason that my Ji clan is able to remain in command isn’t because we didn’t offend people, but rather because we ourselves are powerful!” Autumn Leaf begun to understand a bit. “Even if we don’t offend others, if we aren’t powerful, others will still come and destroy you.” Ji Ning said calmly. “But if we are powerful, then those secret enemies might secretly feel resentment, but publicly they will still be very respectful. Most likely, a century later, their sons and grandsons will have truly become loyal subjects of our Ji clan.” “In addition, when experts train, the heart and mind is very important.” Ning said. The mind and the heavens become one! One with the world! The mind gains insights into the Dao, and learns the true meaning of the Dao! Ning understood that a person who was training in the Dao had to be true to himself. Only with a clear mind and clear conscience could one improve at a faster rate when training. “If a person is not true to himself, not only will he be frustrated, he will also come to a halt in his training, or perhaps even lose ground.” Ning shook his head. “If I, Ji Ning, want to kill someone, I will only kill him and him alone. I will not harm his wife and children! This is my true self!” In his past life, his illness had tormented him and caused him to always be alone. Lonely people often would become accustomed to think about many things. Some thought about too many things and would go insane, while others would see through their own heart and mind and become wise. Ning was one of those who had seen through his own heart, which made him all the more broad-minded and calm. If he hadn’t seen through his own heart, how could he have had such resolve to keep training so bitterly in this life? Autumn Leaf and Mowu glanced at each other. Be true to themselves? They didn’t understand! “Enough.” Ning saw the looks on their faces and shook his head. “Don’t overthink it. Let’s go to Serpentwing Lake.” “Young master, aren’t you going to the Blacktooth Tribe? Didn’t you say…that you wanted to help take care of the little brother of Spring Grass?” Autumn Leaf asked. “No rush.” Ning shook his head. “I’ll make a trip to Serpentwing Lake first and kill Serpentwing, then head to the Blacktooth Tribe…the original cause of this disastrous affair was still Serpentwing. One of Spring Grass’ two little brothers died to Serpentwing as well. I will use Serpentwing’s death to commemorate Spring Grass, and then I’ll take her only brother to the West Prefecture City with me.” “Let’s go.” Ning rapped his black beast on its chest slightly, and it instantly began to gallop forward. Autumn Leaf and Mowu followed him towards Serpentwing Lake as well. ——————— They travelled by day and rested at night. Given the rapid pace at which the black beasts travelled through even mountainous terrain, they still spent three full days before arriving at a place near Serpentwing Lake. “Greetings, young master.” Ten black armored guards fell down to one knee. Ning, seated on the black beast, nodded while instructing, “Mowu, Autumn Leaf, the two of you can stay here and rest for a bit. Serpentwing Lake is a few kilometers up ahead. I can’t take you there. I will go to Serpentwing Lake by myself.” “Yes.” Mowu and Autumn Leaf were both very respectful. Ning descended from the black beast, and then, moving as agilely as a great bird, charged into the distance. With but two flashing movements, he disappeared from the field of vision of those ten black armored guards, Mowu, and Autumn Leaf. This was the first time the black armored guards had seen Ning displaying his footwork techniques, and they stared in amazement and disbelief. Serpentwing Lake was currently forbidden territory. The Ji clan had arranged for dozens of scattered little squads to be spread around the area, each of which had ten black armored guards. They were located in different areas around Serpentwing Lake, so as to keep a close watch on Serpentwing. ——————– “Huahuahua….” The hundred-kilometer long Serpentwing Lake was vast. One couldn’t see the other side of the lake. Such an enormous lake would of course have three-foot high waves, even when it wasn’t windy. Ning stood by the shore, staring at Serpentwing Lake. In a soft voice, he said, “This lake truly is immeasurably deep. Even though I can control water, if I were to enter its depths…my speed would probably still be far inferior to Serpentwing.” The deeper one went, the greater the water pressure would be, and the harder it would be to control water. A human who was in water wouldn’t even be able to bring out 10% of his power, but a water monster would be more powerful than usual. “Right now, although I am powerful, compared to a peak Xiantian Diremonster…most likely, I’m just slightly more powerful.” Ning said to himself. And this was because he trained in the [Windwing Evasion], and had gained a hint of understanding into the true nature of the Dao. After all, just by relying on the four stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] alone, he would only roughly have power comparable to other late-stage Fiendgod practitioners. Compared to Serpentwing, his power would actually be slightly lower. Swoosh! With a series of movements, Ning travelled a kilometer, walking atop the water as though it were land. “Serpentwing!” Ning let out a loud bellow. “Serpentwing!” “Serpentwing!” “Serpentwing!” …. The sound echoed like thunder, spreading everywhere and piercing deep into the depths of the water of the lake. Moments later…. In the depths of the sea, within a twisting, dark lair, the Diremonster, Serpentwing, was currently slumbering. His enormous scaled wings surrounded him, protecting his body. “Serpentwing!” A sound pierced through the water, directly arriving to him. The slumbering Serpentwing suddenly opened his scarlet eyes. “What’s going on?” Serpentwing let out a low growl. “Investigate immediately.” “Yes.” The sound of screams from terrified lesser water monsters could be heard from outside. Although humans usually weren’t able to understand the languages of these lesser monsters, these lesser monsters could all understand each other. —————————— There were two black armored guards hiding within the wild grass fairly close to Serpentwing Lake. “Serpentwing?” “Someone is challenging Serpentwing.” The two black armored guards exchanged glances of amazement, then hurriedly turned to look. However, they were dozens of kilometers away from Ning, and thus they couldn’t see him at all. “I’ll keep watch. You go make the report.” There were over ten black armored guards on watch at all times around Serpentwing Lake, and right now, the three black armored guards closest to Ji Ning were all able to see him. This group of black armored guards had been dispatched from West Prefecture City. Naturally, they were able to recognize Ning. “It is young master Ji Ning.” “Young master Ji Ning has come to challenge Serpentwing? But young master Ji Ning truly is powerful. He is able to stand atop the water as though it was flat ground. Just like Commander Ji Yichuan had been!” 365 “Stop talking. Hurry and go back to make the report.” ———————————— The amazed black armored guards quickly spread the news to all of the little squads, but given their speed…as one might imagine, it would take them at least a day before they were able to reach West Prefecture City. Ning continued to walk calmly on the surface of the vast waters of Lake Serpentwing. Huahua…. The head of a large green snake appeared, along with the head of a large black fish. Breaking through the surface of the water, they stared into the distance. “A human youth?” The two monsters exchanged glances. Hua! They both dove into the deeper water, making haste to the watery lair of the Diremonster, Serpentwing. “Mighty King, mighty King, there is a human youth in the water above.” The green serpent monster and the black fish monster both growled out frantically. “A human youth?” Serpentwing’s scaly wings spread out, and his scarlet eyes stared at those two lesser monsters, who were so terrified that they trembled as they nodded. “But that human youth is standing on the water, just like that Ji Yichuan had done so in the past. The water doesn’t sink down at all.” The green serpent monster said hurriedly, while the black fish monster also nodded. “Right right right.” “Standing on the water without it sinking at all?” Serpentwing disappeared into a black mist, then reformed into a black clothed man. The black clothed man stood there, his slender, narrow eyes filled with suspicion. Serpents were by their very nature cautious. Given that he had also been pursued and often tricked into traps on multiple occasions by the Xiantian experts of the Ji clan, he had long ago become an easily startled creature. Now, a human youth who could walk on water had suddenly come to challenge him. How could he not be suspicious? “Have you seen him before?” The black clothed man looked at the two lesser monsters. “Never, never. Before this, we have clearly memorized the appearances of those Xiantian lifeforms surrounding our Serpentwing Lake. This human youth definitely isn’t one of those Xiantian lifeforms.” The green snake monster hurriedly said, and the black fish monster nodded. The black clothed man nodded. “Then I will go take a look.” Swoosh! He stealthily slipped out of his watery lair. Although in his human form Serpentwing wasn’t nearly as fast as when he was in his true form, his true form was simply too enormous. If he appeared at the surface of the water, he would cause an enormous commotion and would definitely be noticed. “Who is it?” The black clothed man quickly and stealthily lifted his head out of the surface of the water to take a look around him. He immediately saw that roughly eight or nine kilometers away, there was a fur-clad youth. The youth looked very fine and delicate, but he casually walked atop the surface of the water. The area around the youth was completely barren and empty. There were no other human experts there at all. “It is him!” The black clothed man’s narrow eyes instantly became filled with a terrifying, ferocious light. A murderous look! A hateful look! These feelings instantly filled his mind, causing the water around him to begin to tremble with the force of his emotions. The distant Ji Ning seemed to have sensed him, as he turned to look. Ning instantly saw him. Although Serpentwing was currently in human form, Ning immediately recognized that this was the Diremonster, Serpentwing. “Serpentwing!” Ning let out an angry shout. The black clothed man gave Ning a cold, sinister glance, and then sunk down slowly into the depths of the lake. “Serpentwing.” Ning ran over at high speed over the surface of the water, quickly arriving at that part of the lake. Staring downwards into the depths, he shouted, “Didn’t you want to kill me? Don’t you have a hatred for me which is so deep, it is engraved into your bones? Come out, come out…I am waiting here for you to come kill me.” Deep within the water. The narrow eyes of the black clothed man were burning with the flames of rage. He truly was filled with an incomparable desire to fly upwards, attack, and devour the flesh of this Ji Ning. “I personally killed that big crimson snake.” “Hahaha, I killed him with a single blow. He really was pathetic!” The voice from above continuously transmitted downwards, further stoking the flames of Serpentwing’s rage. The black clothed man was trembling slightly, but he managed to suppress the killing urge in his mind. “I can’t be hasty. Can’t be hasty. If I am hasty, I will fall into the Ji clan’s crafty trap. Before this, Poison Dove Ridge and the Ji clan only agreed that I would be restricted from leaving Serpentwing Lake for a century, and that only the highest level members of the clan, the Zifu Disciples, would be restricted from acting. There was no agreement forbidding those Xiantian lifeforms from acting against me.” Humans and the monsters fought viciously against each other. However, there were some limits and some restrictions. For example, the true leaders of each side wouldn’t act against and bully the weaker members of each side. That old monster at the Zifu level wouldn’t kill…and the Zifu Disciple of the Ji clan wouldn’t kill either. After all, the Zifu level experts were the foundation. Once Zifu experts began to fight each other, once one fell, that would shake the very foundations of a clan. Neither humans nor monsters wanted their foundations to be shaken. “The area around that Ji Ning is empty. There are no humans there.” The black clothed man’s eyes flashed with a ferocious light. “But why would he come to throw his life away? Most likely, his father, Ji Yichuan, and some other Xiantian lifeforms are nearby, utilizing some sort of concealing formation technique to hide there. Once I come out, I will most likely instantly be attacked en masse.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood on the surface of the water, staring at his surroundings. Everything was silent. The only sound that could be heard was that of the wind blowing atop the surface of the lake, and the waves it created. “Serpentwing is even more careful and cautious than I had expected. Not only does he remain within the depths, even when I, his most hated foe, appeared, he still doesn’t dare come attack me.” Ning frowned. To draw Serpentwing out would be very hard! Otherwise, the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan wouldn’t have been unable to do anything about Serpentwing. Ji Ning’s breakthrough to the Xiantian lifeform level was still a secret, with very few people aware of it. Serpentwing naturally didn’t know either. In the eyes of Serpentwing, Ning was perhaps just an eleven year old youth who had very powerful footwork techniques. He wasn’t a threat, but despite that, Serpentwing still managed to curb his impulse to attack. “Huh?” Ning suddenly frowned. Some heads were jutting up secretly from far away in the pond. “Lesser monsters.” Out of nowhere, that greatbow Ning had retrieved from Ironwood Zhan suddenly appeared, along with four arrows. He quickly nocked his bow and fired. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! The four arrows instantly pierced outwards, terrifying those lesser water monsters to hurriedly dive down. But how fast were Ning’s arrows? Immediately, a series of agonized howls could be heard, and even a large fish tail flapped on the surface of the water. Leaving behind only a pool of blood, the lesser monsters all hid themselves away. “Serpentwing.” Holding his greatbow, Ning shouted, “I didn’t expect that you, a mighty Diremonster, would be forced to the state of only daring to have those lesser monsters appear. You really make me look down upon you!” “Ji Ning.” A deep, growling voice suddenly emerged from the depths of the lake. Ning instantly felt a surge of joy in his heart. Serpentwing finally had spoken. “Don’t even think that you can succeed in using these despicable measures. Do you think I don’t know that your father and the others are hiding nearby?” The growling voice emanated from the depths. “How could you, a little child of the Houtian level, possibly have come to throw your life away?” “Hahaha, Houtian?” Ning laughed loudly. His body immediately began to be covered by a layer of hazy light, while he pointed at the surface of the lake. A sword light shot out from his fingernail, piercing straight into the depths of the lake. “Open up your serpentine eyes and take a good look!” Swish! The sword light tunneled through the depths of the lake, creating tremors. “Huala…” Several kilometers away, a black figure raised his head up, staring in his direction with eyes filled with shock. “Xiantian? You are already Xiantian?” “Dare you battle me?!” Ning shouted. “If you are worried that I have arranged an ambush, then you can pick any location in the lake or any island within this hundred-kilometer wide Serpentwing Lake! You and me, one on one. Dare you battle me?” Serpentwing stared at the distant youth atop the water. He hesitated. Even if Ji Yichuan and his men were lying in ambush, how many places could they possibly have prepared an ambush? “You humans are incomparably crafty. Even if you, a youth, have reached the Xiantian level, how could the Ji clan possibly let you just die? There must be some scheme I don’t know about.” Serpentwing immediately sunk deep into the water while roaring angrily, “If you have any courage, come to the depths of the lake. I will definitely have a battle with you here. Above the water? I definitely won’t fall for your tricks!” Ning, atop the water, cursed angrily, “As cowardly as a mouse!” Swoosh! Ning was so furious that he immediately turned and left, walking atop the waves and quickly arriving on the island in the center of Serpentwing Lake. He leapt directly atop the island. “How can he be so cowardly.” Ning didn’t have any ideas either. He wasn’t so arrogant as to head directly into the bottom of the lake to do battle with a peak Xiantian aquatic Diremonster. —————- At the bottom of the lake. “Mighty King, mighty King, that human youth is on the island.” Several lesser monsters reported. “He went to the island?” The black clothed man sat there, suppressing the fury in his heart. “Father, Silvertip and the others are on the island.” Suddenly, a serpent called out in worry. “Silvertip?” The black clothed man was instantly shocked. He remembered now. Ever since Poisondove Ridge and the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan had engaged in their negotiations, he had carefully remained beneath the water, not even daring to go to his lair on the island! But those children of his and those lesser monsters weren’t as cautious. They would occasionally head to the island. After all, in the past, that island was their true home. “How many? How many of my children are on the island?” The black clothed man shouted angrily. “It should just be Silvertip. But there are hundreds of lesser monsters there.” The serpent immediately reported. The black clothed man’s face changed greatly when he heard this. “Immediately send some lesser monsters to inform Silvertip and have him immediately come back.” “Yes.” —————— Ning was a human, after all. When walking atop the water, he had to maintain his mind at the ‘one with the world’ level at all times. Since for now he had no way of forcing Serpentwing out, Ning headed directly to the island to take a rest. “This island used to be Serpentwing’s lair in the past.” Ning glanced at the surroundings. “In the past thousand years, this place has always been the territory of monsters. Since I’m unable to have Serpentwing come out, then I might have a good look at this island!” Ning slowly walked about. Each step, however, was like the wind, as graceful and as fast as gentle smoke. He wandered about the muddy beaches of the island. The island had an area of roughly twenty kilometers. It wasn’t a small one. There were some hills and creeks in the island. “Growl….” From afar, a millstone-sized crimson crab was currently waving its big metal pincers, staring at Ning. “Lesser water monsters.” Ning kicked a rock, which with a ‘Swoosh!’ shot out. Then, with a clang, it struck on the crab monster’s shell, causing it to flip around multiple times before it came to a halt and stopped 371 moving. When Ning left, the giant crab flipped over yet again, hurriedly charging back down into the depths of the lake. This used to be Serpentwing’s lair was in the past, after all. Even though Serpentwing currently wasn’t here, there were still quite a few lesser aquatic monsters who lived on this island. When they saw Ning, these lesser monsters wanted to attack him. The weaker monsters were taught a lesson by Ning, while when dealing with the peak Houtian monsters, Ning showed no mercy at all. “Huh?” Ning suddenly turned and looked into the distance. From afar, there was a great cavern entrance, from which a large silver serpent suddenly emerged. By the side of this silver serpent were a number of lesser water monsters that were many meters wide. None of those lesser monsters were physically small. Most likely, all of them were peak Houtian. “Swoosh!” Ning moved, instantly charged forwards. “Hurry and leave.” “Leave.” “That human youth should be a Xiantian lifeform.” These peak Houtian lesser monsters all growled to each other. None of them attacked Ning. Rather, they all scattered in every direction, towards the distant waters of the lake. That greatbow and four arrows appeared in Ning’s hands, and he once more pulled his arrow. After firing those four arrows, he fired four more! Hua! Hua! Hua! One arrow after another shot out. Instantly, the ten physically largest Houtian lesser water monsters were all killed. Some of the smaller, weaker monsters were able to escape into the water. “Ji Ning, you killed yet another one of my sons. I will definitely kill you, definitely kill you!” An enraged growl echoed from the depths of the lake, causing Ning, who had been preparing to enter the lair entrance, to be astonished. “Killed another son? How many children does this old monster have?” Ning curiously swept the surrounding area with a glance. There were three Houtian-level snake-type aquatic monsters that he had killed with his arrows. Which one was Serpentwing’s child? Ning didn’t know that the old monster, Serpentwing, originally had 92 children, only many had been eaten by other monsters or killed by humans, with only sixteen surviving. Two more of those were then killed by Ning. However, to Serpentwing…the one he was the most devoted to was still Redtip, the one which had Fiendgod heritage. “Old monster Serpentwing, all you can do is shout out verbally. Does this lair of yours have any more children within it? I’m going to go in and kill them.” Ning called out as he entered the lair. ——————- This lair was a place where Serpentwing had lived for a thousand years. It was dark inside, with twisting paths. Ning moved forward, his Darknorth swords at the ready. Within the lair, he repeatedly encountered some aquatic monsters who charged at him. Some were ferocious, others were bizarre. As soon as they saw this human youth, it was as though they had seen a delicacy which they all wanted to devour. For some of the extremely weak lesser monsters, Ning would just knock them flying…whether they died as a result or just fainted, he didn’t bother with them further. But Ning still exterminated all of the peak Houtian aquatic monsters. “This lair truly is infathomably deep.” Ning continued going deeper into the twisting tunnels of the lair. Suddenly, within the dark tunnels, a blurry, enormous beast shadow appeared in the shape of the head of a giant grizzly. This enormous shadow of a grizzly head seemed to open its mouth wide, trapping Ning within. Ning’s face changed dramatically. At the same time, he discovered that he was now completely incapable of movement. He could neither advance, nor retreat. “This, this…is a relic site!” Ning instantly thought of this term. In the boundless world, from the Fiendgod era to the modern era, countless numbers of experts had existed throughout the countless years. There were thus an uncountable number of Fiendgod relic sites and Immortal mansion relic sites throughout the land. Since humankind was spread across the entire world, people would often accidentally enter some ancient Fiendgod relic sites, some of whom would be able to gain some benefits from these places. Most, however, died within these Immortal relic sites and Fiendgod relic sites. In just the books which Ning had read, there were many famous ancient relic sites that had devoured countless creatures. “I actually encountered a relic site. Live. I will definitely make it out alive. Definitely!” Ning’s eyes were filled with incomparable desire. He understood that in the face of these ancient relic sites of great powers 373 and Fiendgods, he, a mere Xiantian, had no chance to fight back at all. His only choice was to submit to it, and then later try to come up with a way to escape. The enormous shadow of a grizzly bear head swallowed Ning with one gulp. The shadow vanished. Ning vanished as well. The tunnels within Serpentwing’s lair remained as calm and peaceful as ever, as though nothing had happened. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning could sense spacetime changing. It was similar to the feeling he had when he had jumped into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. A heartbeat later, everything calmed down again. “This place…” Ning hurriedly inspected his surroundings. He himself was in a large, wide corridor that was three hundred meters tall and three hundred meters wide. When Ning turned to look behind him, he was greatly shocked. Behind him was the exit to this corridor, but the outside was covered with a vast, endless amount of water. The water, however, was completely unable to enter this corridor, as though some sort of invisible screen was blocking out the water. “What is going on?” Ning carefully stepped over, an arrow appearing in his hand. He sent it piercing directly towards the water. Chi! The arrow collided with an invisible barrier. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t pierce through. “I don’t believe it.” Ning hurriedly took ten steps back, then took out that ‘Jia Yong’ greatbow. Letting out a soft snort, his entire body began to be covered with a crimson red light. Clearly, the Fiendgod energy was being completely released. Pulling the bow into a near circle, he immediately shot out an arrow, which flew like a ray of light towards that invisible barrier. The arrow was shattered to pieces, falling to the ground. “This…” Ning frowned, carefully inspecting this corridor yet again. “The corridor alone is three hundred meters tall.” Ning looked through the invisible barrier into the boundless water outside. “This building is definitely astonishingly large, at least multiple kilometers across. And it was built underwater…” “Is it at the bottom of Serpentwing Lake?” Ning shook his head. Serpentwing Lake was only a lake with an area of a hundred square kilometers. It would be quite hard for such an enormous structure to fit within it. Most likely, if it was in Serpentwing Lake, the Ji clan would have discovered it long ago. “Just then, I had the sense of spacetime twisting, as though creating a tunnel in space.” Ning said to himself. “I’m afraid I’ve entered a separate dimension.” 375 After having read many books, he knew many things. The books had recorded that in the countless years of time’s passage, some powerful Immortals or powerful Fiendgods were able to create their own little dimensions. A single grain of sand might store an entire world of its own! Some Immortal estate relic sites or Fiendgod relic sites were located in these small dimensions and small worlds. Normally, it was impossible to find them. Only by luck or misfortune would one accidentally enter. However, these estates left behind by these great powers were all extremely dangerous. After all, how could the Immortals and Fiendgods not leave behind some defensive mechanisms? The vast majority of those who entered relic sites would die. If one was able to stay alive and flee, that would already be a stroke of luck. As for those legends of people who were able to actually obtain treasures from within, Ning didn’t even dare think of that? “Can’t be greedy! I just need to work hard to stay alive and escape.” Ning carefully inspected his surroundings. The unknown represented opportunity. But it also represented enormous risks! “This underwater estate…for now, I’ll call it the Serpentwing Aquatic Manor.” Ning casually picked a name for it. Since for now he wouldn’t be able to leave this corridor, he might as well head in. ———————– The corridor was wide and tall, and the floor seemed to be made from a single massive slab. Ning tried everything he could think of, yet still was unable to leave a single mark on the walls. After walking a short while. The corridor turned, and Ning’s eyes narrowed. From afar, he saw one white skeleton after another, littering the floor. The flesh on these skeletons had rotted away long ago, but the strange thing was, there were very few magic treasures on the ground. Only some of the most distant, most complete skeletons on the far left still had some armor, weapons, and magic treasures near them. “The other corpses don’t have magic treasures?” Ning was suspicious. “Even if they don’t have magic treasures, they should at least have some sharp weapons. How could they not have a single one?” “Swoosh!” With a thought, Ning sent his divine will outwards, picking up all of those skeletons with armors and weapons and depositing them in front of him. Swish. As soon as they landed on the ground, the skeletons instantly shattered. “It seems they died long ago.” Ning glanced at the armor and weapons. He immediately picked them up and began to use his Xiantian ki to attempt to bind them, but as he did so, he discovered…because the previous owners had died too long ago, two of the magic treasures didn’t have any magic power within them. Thus, Ning was easily able to bind them. “Even I can bind them. It seems these are only unranked magic treasures.” Ning said to himself. “It seems the dead only had Xiantian level power.” And then, Ning began to inspect the various corpses. He quickly noticed a ring on one of the corpse’s fingers. He immediately picked up the ring and began to bind it. Indeed…this ring was the dead person’s storage-type magic treasure. Taking a casual glance inside this storage magic treasure, Ning was greatly shocked. The space inside it wasn’t that great, somewhat smaller than Ironwood Zhan’s. But… “So many magic treasures.” Ning was astonished. Within this storage magic treasure, one magic treasure was floating after another, all possessing extraordinary auras. There were weapons, formation treasures, armor, and even more storage treasures. “Why would a single person need to carry this many magic treasures?” Ning glanced at the many corpses in the distance, none of which had magic treasures on them. “Most likely, this person had collected the magic treasures of all the others.” Ning quickly began to bind them. As he started binding them, he discovered…this storage ring had a total of 112 storage-type magic treasures, 136 weapon-type magic treasures, 31 armor-type magic treasures, and 16 bizarre magic treasures, including formation-types. There were quite a few Dao-seals as well, but unfortunately, too much time had passed, and the magic power within the Dao-seals had all leaked out. Only ten or so Daoseals were still somewhat serviceably usable. “If I’m able to bind them, then these are all unranked magic treasures.” Ning murmured. “The previous owners of these magic treasures were all Xiantian lifeforms. In other words, everyone who came to this tunnel in the past were all Xiantian lifeforms.” Ning selected one of the storage-type magic treasures that had a storage space of nearly three hundred meters, a storage belt, and wrapped it around his waist. This storage belt, on the surface, looked like it was nothing more than a sturdy, plain belt. Ning then selected an excellent armor, binding it and then wearing it over his skin. This armor was far more powerful than the Goldstar Shirt. The Goldstar Shirt was thus decommissioned, and Ning stored it away. Actually, these magic treasures didn’t make Ning particularly overjoyed. After all, he was the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. He would easily be able to obtain protective treasures. “However, the number is quite great. All together, the value is probably comparable to a low-ranked magic treasure.” Ning didn’t think about it any longer. The fellow in front of him had also acquired many magic treasures, but in the end, he had also died. What mattered was escaping with his life. Wielding his two Darknorth swords, Ning carefully made his way forward. After all, there was no other path he could take. His only choice was to advance! In terms of power, the Darknorth swords weren’t inferior to these unranked magic treasures. In addition, he didn’t have to use any Xiantian ki in order to use them. Naturally, Ning would prefer to keep using his Darknorth swords. ———————— Ning stepped forward carefully. As he walked past those skeletons, he became even more cautious. Suddenly… PA! PA! PA! PA! PA! PA! PA! One golden pea after another suddenly appeared out of thin air. Many golden peas appeared in the surrounding area, all of which let out a clear ringing sound as they hit the floor. And then, these golden peas quickly began to melt, transforming into a golden liquid, each drop of which then quickly transformed into weapon-wielding, golden-armored celestial warriors. Flashing with golden light, the incomparably dazzling, powerful celestial warriors and celestial generals stood around him. “Growing soldiers from peas?” Ning was stunned. At the same time, he could sense that these goldenarmored celestial warriors all had powerful auras. He could sense they were all at the Xiantian level of power. “And there’s eighty one of them?” “You who dare trespass in the manor, prepare to die!” The eighty one golden-armored celestial warriors shouted in unison, and then they charged over and attacked. The two Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning instantly understood everything. Those skeletons had most likely been killed by those eighty one golden armored soldiers. Not hesitating at all, Ning instantly began to utilize the Windwing Evasion technique. With a ‘Swoosh’ sound, he ran across the side of the walls of the corridor like a giant Roc in flight, instantly passing through those eighty one golden armored soldiers and wanting to continue forward. “Formation, activate!” The eighty one golden armored warriors shouted in unison. Instantly, at two sides of the corridor, a hazy mist arose. As Ning charged into the mist, he shot out with his sword, but was unable to pierce into it even slightly. “Don’t even think of escaping.” The eighty one golden armored warriors charged over once again. “A Trap Formation?” Ning looked at the two hazy mists. “It seems if I don’t kill these eighty one golden armored soldiers, I won’t be able to continue. Those fellows all died, but I’m not as weak as them.” Swoosh! Ning utilized the Windwing Evasion technique, once again running across the surface of the corridor at high speed until he arrived behind the golden armored soldiers, and then he stabbed directly at one of those soldiers. “Dang, dang, dang!” Three sword blows at once. Bang! Ning pierced through the head of that golden armored soldier, but the soldier still stabbed backwards with his spear. “What.” Ning was so frightened, he hurriedly jumped back in retreat. “Even a Xiantian level Fiendgod Body Refiner stabbed through the head would definitely die. How could this golden armored soldier not die?” Ning instantly grew frantic. Just then, in that short exchange, he had discovered that the spearcraft of that golden armored soldier could only be considered at the ‘advanced’ level, but in terms of strength, it was no lower than Ning’s. The worst part of it was…not even stabbing through the soldier’s head had done anything. “Kill!” Ning’s stabbing blow through that soldier’s head seemed to have truly infuriated these golden armored soldiers, who all began to bellow angrily and wildly attack him en masse. Ning utilized his footwork, moving through the attacking golden armored soldiers. At every moment, he was dealing with three separate opponents. By relying on his twin Darknorth swords, he stabbed through the throat, skull, and various other fatal points of the golden armored guards, but the golden armored guards remained undamaged. “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning was frantic. Huahuahua…. In the area around Ning, three enormous lotus petals of fire and three enormous lotus petals of water appeared, surrounding him in every direction. The two layers of lotus petals were slowly swiveling in opposite directions. Instantly, six of the golden armored soldiers who were within the range of the Waterflame Lotus became crushed by the pressure of the Waterflame Lotus back into liquid form. But the golden liquid quickly flowed outside the range of the Waterflame Lotus, then once more reformed into six Golden Armored Soldiers. “How is that possible?” Ning, seeing the situation, couldn’t believe it. They had already been dissolved; how could they reform? “It wasn’t that the previous Xiantian lifeforms were too weak; it was that these eighty one golden armored soldiers are completely unkillable.” Ning clearly found himself at a loss for how he should deal with these eighty one golden armored soldiers. After all, even after they were crushed, they simply liquefied then returned into human form. “Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!” The six golden armored guards which had been crushed seemed to have caused these golden armored guards to be even angrier. “Prepare the formation!” The eighty one golden armored soldiers shouted angrily in unison. All of these golden armored guards flew out at high speed, quickly completely surrounding Ji Ning. These golden armored guards formed into two circles, an inner circle and an outer one. The inner circle had twenty seven golden armored guards, while the other one had fifty four, all of them pointing their spears at Ning and staring at him angrily. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The twenty seven golden armored soldiers simultaneously stabbed out with their glittering golden spears, carrying boundless force as they attacked Ji Ning! The fifty four golden armored soldiers behind also simultaneously aimed their spears, preparing to swap in at any moment. “There’s definitely a flaw. There definitely is a chance for success. If they truly are immortal, then they would exhaust me to death through by using up my energy.” Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning charged forward, as fast as the wind. Dangdangdang! The Darknorth sword and the spears clashed. Ning blocked the spears while at the same time, charging into the midst of those golden armored soldiers. “Retreat!” “Attack!” The twenty seven golden armored soldiers in the center retreated in unison at high speed, while the fifty four golden armored soldiers then formed an even wider encirclement, allowing Ning to be the ‘turtle in their jar’. “Can it be?” Ning suddenly frowned. “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning made his decision. Huahuahua…. Around him eight pairs of Waterflame Lotuses suddenly appeared, each one created from a single water lotus petal and a single fire lotus petal. Because this attack contained a hint of the true meaning of the Dao, even Ning had to use his full force when utilizing this attack, and dividing his mind to the point of creating these eight Waterflame Lotuses was extremely arduous for him. “Kakaka…” The eight Waterflame Lotuses swiveled, grinding like millstones while surrounding sixteen golden armored soldiers. These golden armored soldiers all frantically dodged, but all of their bodies began to crack from the tremendous pressure. “Kill!” “Kill!” The golden armored warriors howled angrily, bellowing as they dodged past the Waterflame Lotuses and attacked Ning. Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, was like a vicious tiger. His sword shadow danced like fire, instantly chopping one of the golden armored warriors into three pieces. But the body of the warrior who was chopped into three pieces quickly then reconnected and reformed, then once more bellowed and attacked Ning. “So this really is the case. This really is the case.” Ning was jubilant, and he laughed loudly. “What nonsense about these golden armored warriors having ‘immortal bodies’. That’s just for frightening people. Every time I injure you, your power goes down. Haha. I want to see how long you can hold on for.” Previously, when the eighty one golden armored guards had set up their formation attacks, Ning, when blocking, had discovered that the power of these golden armored guards had dropped slightly. Although it wasn’t by much, Ning’s senses were extremely sensitive, so he was still able to discover it. Thus, Ning simultaneously created eight Waterflame Lotuses, badly injuring those sixteen golden armored warriors. After exchanging blows with them again, Ning discovered…that the power of these golden armored warriors had weakened considerably. “The eighty one golden armored warriors are like a single unit. If one is badly wounded, the others will be affected as well.” Ning said to himself. “In addition, these golden armored warriors are made from golden liquid. They don’t have any ‘vital points’ to speak of. As long as I constantly injure them, their magical power will constantly deplete…and in the end, they will definitely collapse.” “Kill!” The golden armored warriors were utterly fearless. Ning continued to control the eight Waterflame Lotuses, causing them to surround and grind down against the golden armored warriors repeatedly, while at the same time he himself constantly dodged with his Darknorth swords…Ning discovered that each time, when he stabbed the golden armored warriors with his swords, their power dropped very slowly. However, when the Waterflame Lotuses ground them to pieces, the power would drop somewhat faster. —————————- This was a war of attrition. “Swish!” One golden armor warrior shattered and fell apart, transforming into nothingness. Then all eighty one golden armored warriors completely disappeared. Ning let out a long breath, releasing his nearby Waterflame Lotuses. “Too…too troublesome.” 382 “If I didn’t have the Waterflame Lotus technique, I probably would’ve been exhausted to death.” Sensing the remaining ‘Crimsonbright’ divine power in his body, Ning couldn’t help but sigh. The Crimsonbright divine power in his body only had roughly half left. And this was only because the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique he trained in resulted in an extraordinarily dense base of power. This battle had primarily relied upon Ning using the Waterflame Lotus to grind them into small pieces repeatedly, while he had only utilized the Crimsonbright divine power in his Darknorth swords to defend! Despite that, half of his divine power had been used up. Ning glanced behind him, seeing those corpses lying on the ground. Some of them had been transformed into dust from the battle, but a few still remained. “Those that died here were most likely exhausted to death.” Ning said to himself. “Fiendgod Body Refiners are proficient at long-lasting, endurance battles, but I still found it so hard. How could those who relied solely upon Ki Refining to reach the Xiantian level possibly survive?” Hua… The two walls of mist at each side of the tunnel slowly dissipated. Ning carefully made his way towards the corner of the corridor, not going forward yet. He instead took a glance towards the other side, and saw that far away, on the other side of the corridor, there were corpses present as well. “There’s even more corpses. It seems the next corridor is just as dangerous. I really wonder how many dangers this ancient relic site contains within it.” Ning’s heart shivered. “And most likely, those who died there had successfully passed through those eighty one golden armored soldiers.” “Come.” Ning stared at those corpses on the other side of the hall. He realized that here as well, only a few of the corpses had armor and weapons on them. He used his divine will to pull one of the corpses and its magic treasures over to himself. “Those who were able to break through the previous corridor most likely had quite some magic treasures.” Ning carefully inspected the skeleton. The large skeleton was more than three meters tall. The most likely location of its storage treasure was on the armguard covering its skeletal arm. Ning quickly removed the armguard and bound it. “It really is a storage-type magic treasure.” “So many things.” This storage-type magic treasure had more than a thousand magic treasures within it. Ning easily bound all of them, but he discovered to his resignation…that all of them were unranked magic treasures. “All of them are unranked.” Ning shook his head. “Although there’s more than a thousand, all of them combined are worth perhaps less than 1% of the Traceless Talisman.” The Traceless Talisman was a guardian treasure of the Prefecture! Even ranked magic treasures would find it difficult to compare to it. “Take a rest first.” Ning sat in the lotus position. Taking out a bamboo tube, he opened the cork, raised his head, and drank it. Then he took out some roast meat and began to eat. “Although these old fellows who died left behind their storage treasures, they didn’t leave behind any food at all. It has been too long. Their food became dust long ago.” “These unranked magic treasures aren’t very useful to me either.” “After all, I only need a few magic treasures.” Ning shook his head. For example, storage-type magic treasures; what was the point of having several hundred? Would he gain any extra power at all? If he wasn’t able to survive, most likely the thousand-plus unranked magic treasures he had found would in turn be discovered in the future by someone else. ———————– Ning sat there, eating and drinking, not in a rush to go forward. At the same time, the Crimsonbright divine power slowly began to recover. After eating and drinking, Ning then flipped through each storage-type magic treasure to see what was inside. Occasionally, he saw some training manuals or sword technique manuals. However, the most important ultimate technique books were generally destroyed after being learned, to prevent them from being leaked to others! Thus, these books which had been brought were all quite ordinary, not very valuable. Only a single copy was comparable to the [Raindrop Sutra]. “I suppose this is an unexpected benefit.” Ning laughed. And then he once more began to flip through the large number of storage-type magic treasures, searching through them. Clothes! Utensils! Toys! All sorts of curiosities were removed. During the treasure searching process, Ning’s mood improved greatly as well. “Huh?” Ning suddenly picked up a strange piece of bark. He was about to toss it, but then he saw the words atop it. His face immediately changed.” “Wudan, our clan just received word that Immortal Juhua, someone who has lived for millions of years, ever since the Fiendgod era, has publicly announced that he is accepting disciples. Although Immortal Juhua is a Loose Immortal, for him to be able to survive millions of years and undergo countless tribulations without dying means, according to our clan leader, his power is not inferior to that of a Celestial Immortal. Immortal Juhua has never before accepted a disciple. Not even the Second Prince of our Grand Xia Dynasty was able to successfully become his disciple. The news that Immortal Juhua is accepting a disciple has been spread long ago. In addition, Immortal Juhua has also said publicly that the student he is accepting must be a Fiendgod Body Refiner, who at least must be at the Xiantian level, and at most can be of the Zifu level! He would set down two paths…one for Xiantian lifeforms to traverse, while the other is for Zifu Disciples to traverse. There are three trials in each path! After breaking through the three trials without dying, one would become the heir to Immortal Juhua! Immortal Juhua will only accept a single disciple! As for the place he is accepting a disciple, Immortal Juhua has set his immortal estate down in the Thousand Autumns Island of the Darknorth Sea. Most likely, he will only leave after recruiting his disciple. Traveling from our place to the distant Darknorth Ocean’s Thousand Autumns Island will take at least half a year. Make haste. If you are late, someone else will seize the opportunity. Wudan, I’ve given you the news. Whether you go or not is your decision. Signed, Godbanian Water!” —————— Looking at this incomparably ancient tree bark in his hands, Ning couldn’t breath. “Godbanian clan? This tree bark should be the bark of a Godbanian tree. No wonder this ancient letter was able to persist for so long.” The Godbanian tree was immortal and would never decay. Some precious items would generally be put in wooden cases made out of Godbanian wood. Godbanian trees were the unique products of the ‘Godbanian clan’, and it was their proof of identity. That was a truly incomparably powerful clan, unspeakably more powerful than the Ji clan. That was a clan that could be described as supreme, even thoughout the entirety of the vast domain of the Grand Xia Dynasty! “Immortal Juhua?” Ning frowned, pondering. “Immortal Juhua was accepting a disciple. He existed in the Fiendgod Era, and had been alive for millions of years when he started looking for a disciple. But from the Fiendgod Era until now, it has probably been billions or trillions of years.” “Far too much time has passed since this ‘seeking a disciple’ affair. That Immortal Juhua most likely died long ago.” Ning understood. Loose Immortals would constantly undergo the Three Calamities and the Nine Tribulations. It was a miracle for a person to survive millions of years without dying. How could one possibly have survived to this era? “Then this underground estate…” “It should be the underground estate where Immortal Juhua tested potential disciples. This corridor that I am currently in should be one of the two corridors for his potential disciples.” Ning said to himself. Ning looked at the distant corpses. Although those corpses were clearly of Fiendgod Body Refiners, the fact that they still remained meant that they didn’t die too long ago. Clearly, Xiantian-level or Zifu Disciples who were Fiendgod Body Refiners often were transported into this Immortal estate. He himself was one of those unlucky souls. “Since Immortal Juhua decided to take an apprentice, the requirements for his apprentice must have been extremely strict. Otherwise, he would have easily accepted a disciple long ago.” Ning said to himself. “There are three trials on each path. It seems that was the first trial just now, which forced me to rely on the Waterflame Lotuses in order to pass through it. The next two trials will most likely be even more terrifying and dangerous…how will I past them?” “Can it be that I will be like them? That I will die and rot here?” Ning looked at the distant corpses, not breathing as he pondered. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within West Prefecture City. “Yichuan, I heard Ji Ning has already broken through to the Xiantian level. Congratulations!” “Yichuan, your son really is formidable.” “He’s only eleven this year, right? A Xiantian at eleven. He ranks amongst the top three talents of the past thousand years for our Ji clan’s Five Prefectures.” Ji Yichuan, who had always been like an implacable glacier, had a rare hint of delight on his face. Although he was still stiff-faced, those who were familiar with him could sense how happy Yichuan currently was. Ever since Ning had kicked down the walls of the Riverside Tribe with three kicks, then knocked River Sansi flying with another kick, the news had quickly spread back to the Ji clan. This news had already spread across all five of the prefectures of the Ji clan. As his father, Ji Yichuan naturally felt very happy in his heart. The past two days, he often heard words of praise and congratulations. By nature, people liked to praise the praiseworthy even further. Now that Ning had already been selected to be the next Prefecture Lord, and also was so monstrous as to become a Xiantian lifeform at age eleven, everyone understood that in the future, the lineage of Ji Yichuan and Ji Ning would be incomparably glorious. This father-son duo’s status in the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan would undoubtedly be extremely high. “Look at how happy you are.” Yuchi Snow held a flask of water as she watered the flowers. “How can I not be jubilant?” Yichuan sat on a nearby stone bench. Flipping his hand, he retrieved a bamboo flask, contentedly drinking fruit wine. “Ning was able to kill the Aquatic Rhino King before reaching the Xiantian level. Now that he has broken through to the Xiantian level…he was able to send that Riverside Sansi flying with one kick. River Sansi reached the Xiantian level long ago, and is an expert Ki Refiner of the middle Xiantian level, yet he couldn’t take a single blow from my son. This means that Ning should have reached the Xiantian level in the Fiendgod Body Refining methods as well!” According to the news from the black armored guards stationed at the Riverside Tribe, Ning had executed sword flashes to send River He’s shortsword flying. Clearly, Ning had already reached the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner. But Yichuan knew his son very well, and knew the weaknesses in his son’s arteries. Most likely only after the Fiendgod Body Refining technique raised him to be a Xiantian level and remade his body would Ning be able to make a breakthrough as a Ki Refiner. “[Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Yichuan looked at Snow. “This is the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. The legendary number one Fiendgod Body Refining method! Our Ji clan has never had someone break through to the Xiantian level through it, but Ning accomplished it. In the future, he will definitely be even more powerful than me. His name will be spread throughout the countless tribes, and our Ji clan will become greater and greater!” Yichuan was filled with a heroic vigor right now. “The Ji clan will become greater?” Snow nodded gently. “Perhaps because of my son, the Ji clan will reach the same heights of glory as my Yuchi clan once had, but sadly, my Yuchi clan…” “There is no clan that will exist forever without perishing.” Yichuan said. “Even the almighty Grand Xia Dynasty which has existed for countless years, ever since being founded during the Fiendgod Era, exterminated other ancient dynasties before unifying this land. Those ancient dynasties had their own extremely long history as well. Weren’t they destroyed in the end also?” Yuchi Snow nodded. “I understand. I’ve already made my peace with this. In Ning’s veins also flows the blood of my Yuchi lineage. In the future, when Ning’s name is known throughout the boundless earth, my ancestors of the Yuchi clan will feel very happy as well, no doubt.” “Right.” Yichuan nodded. ———————- Just as the husband and wife couple were chatting happily, the face of Ji Yichuan, who had been drinking wine from the bamboo tube, suddenly changed. This was the moment where Ning, at Serpentwing’s lair, had suddenly been transported into that mysterious, ancient underwater estate relic site. “What is it?” Seated next to him, Yuchi Snow noticed that her man’s mood had dramatically changed. “What happened?” “Nothing.” Yichuan shook his head. “Only, I just remembered something I have to do.” Snow frowned. “You want to deceive me? Your face is completely incapable of fakery. Given your mental willpower, normal matters aren’t able to cause you to panic…and for you to panic to this degree, this must be a major event. Speak.” Looking at his wife, Yichuan sighed, “I originally gave Ning a jade sword. No matter how far away he is, I’ll be able to sense Ning’s location. I had warned him quite strictly that he is not permitted to wander more than ten thousand kilometers away from the West Prefecture City. If he goes beyond it, I will capture him, bring him back, and put him in the prison for three years.” “What, he went more than ten thousand kilometers away from West Prefecture City?” Snow hurriedly asked. “That’s not it.” Yichuan’s face was unpleasant. “I can’t sense the jade sword at all.” “What!” Snow, shocked, suddenly rose to her feet, then began to cough, cough very hard. “I didn’t want to say it, but you forced me to.” Yichuan hurriedly helped support his wife, rubbing her back. “Feel better?” Snow said frantically, “How can you not be able to sense the jade sword? Didn’t you say that you can sense it no matter how far away it is? If you can’t sense it…does that mean Ning has encountered danger?!” “Don’t panic.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “There’s two possible answers for why I can’t sense the jade sword.” “The first possibility is that Ning has encountered some danger, and then took out the jade sword, but before he was able to break it, the enemy instantly disintegrated the jade sword.” “The second possibility is that Ning was instantly transported to a very distant location, so distant that even I can’t sense it.” Snow calmed down. Snow was very experienced as well, and she nodded. “Even if your jade sword was destroyed and broken into small pieces, you should still be able to sense it. Unless it was completely disintegrated; only then would you be unable to sense it. But right now, Ning is very strong. He was able to send River Sansi flying with one kick. If he encountered such great danger that he had to take out the jade sword…he would be able to break it instantly. How could it be that he wouldn’t even have the opportunity to break it?” “In addition, if an enemy wanted to kill Ning, but was capable of instantly destroying the jade sword in Ning’s hands before Ning had a chance to break it, then he would have the power to easily kill Ning. Why bother with breaking the jade sword?” Snow’s train of thought helped her calm down slightly. Logically speaking, her son shouldn’t have died yet! “So it’s the other possibility.” Yichuan said. “Ning was instantly transported to an incomparably distant location. I can sense my jade sword no matter where it is…although this is a slight exaggeration, within an area of a million kilometers, at least, I should still be able to sense it. To instantly be transported more than a million kilometers is rather inconceivable as well. I think the more likely answer is that Ning should have been transported to another dimension. He stumbled into a relic site.” “Stumbled into a relic site?” Snow nodded as well. The two of them had adventured in the outside world, and had significant experience. They knew that this vast, boundless world was incomparably marvelous. The relic sites that were left behind from the Fiendgod era alone were uncountable in number. Some of those greater powers were capable of opening their own small dimension or small world. “Where was the last place you sensed Ning’s at?” Snow asked hurriedly. “Serpentwing Lake!” Yichuan said. “Let’s go to Serpentwing…cough!” Snow started to cough again. Yichuan said hurriedly, “I’ll go. You can’t go out yet.” “Ning is in danger. How can I not go?” Yuchi shook her head. “You know this stems from the illness that I had when I was pregnant with Ning. It’s fine.” Seeing the look in his wife’s eyes, Yichuan could only nod. “Fine. We’ll go find Aunty Flower and borrow her Azure Firebird. We’ll head to Serpentwing Lake at full speed.” ————————— The vast Serpentwing Lake was very calm. A godlike husband and wife couple were currently standing atop the back of an enormous Azure Firebird, flying at high speed in the air towards Serpentwing Lake. “Hurry up and report to the great King that Ji Yichuan has come again. He brought a woman as well.” “Ji Yichuan.” “And sitting on that Azure Firebird.” Some of the lesser aquatic monsters glanced into the sky, then, terrified, hurriedly went to make their report. On the back of that Azure Firebird, Yichuan and his wife exchanged glances. Soon, Yichuan pointed at a nearby shoreline. “There are black armored guards there. Azure Firebird, go there!” The Azure Firebird hurriedly flew towards that direction, and the two black armored guards that had been keeping watch on the shores of Serpentwing Lake stared in astonishment at the male and female atop the back of the distant Azure Firebird. “Our respects to you, Commander!” The two black armored guards hurriedly fell to one knee in terror. They all recognized Yichuan. “I ask you, have you seen my son, Ning?” Yichuan asked directly. “We saw him.” One of them, the taller black armored guard, immediately replied. “Just now, young master Ji Ning was walking atop the surface of the lake, calling out for Serpentwing to come and do battle with him.” “Serpentwing?” Yichuan and Snow both had the same thought. However, they didn’t believe that their son, at his current level of power, wouldn’t even have the chance to break the jade sword when fighting against the Diremonster, Serpentwing. In fact, they even believed that Ning was fully capable of staying alive in the face of Serpentwing’s attacks. “But this time, the Diremonster, Serpentwing, wasn’t willing to come out.” The black armored guard said. “Young master Ji Ning called him out to do battle multiple times. His voice echoed across the entire lake, and most likely the black armored guards in the other areas all heard it as well. But because Serpentwing still refused to come out, nothing happened. We were too far away, so as to where young master Ji Ning went afterwards while walking on water, we don’t know.” The island was located in the center of Serpentwing Lake. The distance from the shore to the island was tens of kilometers. At the distance of tens of kilometers, the black armored guards were not able to see Ning at all. “Oh? You are certain they didn’t do battle?” Yichuan quickly asked. “They didn’t. We didn’t hear anything at all.” The two black armored guards were absolutely certain. —————– Yichuan went to the other black armored guards to ask them these questions, and even sought out Autumn Leaf and Mowu, who were waiting at the designated meeting point. From these two, Yichuan understood that Ning had come in anger, intending to execute Serpentwing, but Serpentwing had remained in hiding and hadn’t come out…Ning had remained standing atop the water, and then walked off and disappeared! “Where did he go?” Standing by the lakeside, Yichuan and Snow stared towards the vast lake, frowning in concern. “Wife, what do you think?” Yichuan looked at his wife. Snow said pensively, “There wasn’t any disturbance at all. It shouldn’t have been a battle. It’s very possible that it really was an ancient relic site! These relic sites might be in the middle of an empty area, only sealed off from us by a thin barrier, but we can’t see them or sense them at all.” “Perhaps our son is within a world that is hidden within a single speck of sand at the bottom of Serpentwing Lake.” 391 “Or perhaps he is within an ancient, hidden formation.” “Only, the two of us aren’t capable of dealing with any of these possibilities.” Snow shook her head. “All we can do is wait. Wait for our son to come back to us, alive.” “Right. Wait.” Yichuan looked at the immeasurably vast lake as well. “I believe our son will come from afar, walking across the water back to us.” Snow nodded gently, leaning against her man. They were still waiting. Waiting for their son’s return. ——————– Within the corridor of the aquatic estate, it was very dark. It felt that even the passage of time was slow here. Ning, his divine power fully recovered, finally stood up. Staring at the other corner of the corridor and its corpses, he understood that he had nowhere to retreat to. If he wanted to leave, he had to go forward! “I have to live.” Ning stared at those distant corpses, then walked over. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Wielding a Darknorth sword in each hand, Ji Ning headed straight towards the center of this ancient corridor. Suddenly, a thousand or so meters in front of him, several blackish-blue seeds appeared at the same time, four ahead of him, five behind him. These seeds appeared at the same time as nine sets of battle armor. The battle armors were all completely black, and the weapons were identical as well; long staffs that were seemingly made of stone. Nine seeds. Nine sets of battle gear. “Hua…” The blackish-blue seeds suddenly transformed into a liquid, flowing into the armors, then transforming into massive men with blackish-blue skin. These massive men were several meters tall and had two horns in their foreheads. Their faces were ugly, and they had sharp fangs in their mouths. They donned the armor, while simultaneously picking up those three-meter long stone staffs next to them. The nine ugly giants all glanced at each other, their eyes filled with savagery and excitement. “It’s been so long. We’re finally out again!” “This time, the person we have to deal with is this human youth. Such a tender-fleshed human. I can squeeze him to death by myself. The nine of us combined, and with these godly weapons and armor, haha…this is going to be too easy.” “Set up the formation first.” The nine ugly giants all began to chant the words to some foreign tongue which Ning couldn’t understand, but his face quickly changed, because he understood that these ugly giants which had sprouted from those seeds were intelligent, and even capable of conversation! The two ends of the halls once again became filled with dense fog. “Human, prepare for death.” The nine ugly giants all released furious roars. The ancient armor on their bodies immediately began to emit dazzling black light. The black light, emitting the stench of blood, quickly connected with each other, forming an enormous spiderweb in mid-air. Ning was shocked. “Dao Battle-Armor?” Dao Soldiers were a type of seed-soldier often used by the Grand Xia Dynasty. The Ji clan’s most powerful seed-soldier, the ‘Scarlet Guardians’, were the lowest-level type of Dao Soldiers. Every single Dao Soldier’s armor contained a large number of rune inscriptions, and the Dao Soldiers were capable of 393 combining their energy together to attack the opponent together. They were also capable of combining their defense. Dao Battle-Armor like that of the Scarlet Guardians of the Ji clan were at most capable of allowing nine of the Scarlet Guardians to combine forces. Once they joined together, nine Scarlet Guardians were even capable of giving an early Xiantian expert a good fight. What’s more, the Ji clan had five hundred thousand of these powerful seed-soldiers, the Scarlet Guards! This was the true backbone of the Ji clan. Normally, missions were carried out by black armored guards. Each time the Scarlet Guardians were sent out, it was only after the Ji clan’s Five Prefectures all agreed to send them out, and it would have to involve a major event of the Ji clan. “Dao Battle-Armor. Aren’t they all used for Houtian experts? And they should be covered with a large number of runes that can be seen at a glance.” Ning stared at them. “But these nine strange giants have armor that don’t have any runes on top of them, and each of them have power that is not weaker than that of a Xiantian.” “This is going to be trouble.” Ning held his breath. Dao Battle-Armor which Xiantian experts could use was something which the six hegemons of Swallow Mountain simply did not have. Ning hadn’t even heard of such a thing. Most likely, only the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty had them! “Kill!” The nine ugly giants raised their large, thick staffs, charging towards Ning from both directions with angry roars, that enormous illusory spider web still connecting them from up above. Ning immediately transformed into a ray of smoke, quickly pouncing towards the direction which only had four of those strange ugly giants, who were maintaining a distance of several meters from each other as they wielded their massive stone staffs and charged forward wildly with long steps. “Kill!” One of the ugly giants raised his enormous stone staff up high, then smashed downwards. “Come on.” Ning let his strength explode as well. His Fiendgod-like power completely filled his Darknorth swords, and he took this blow head on. He wanted to get a clear understanding of the strength of these ugly fellows. Swish! The stone staff was as thick as a man’s thigh and over three meters long. It slashed through the air, smashing down on Ning’s Darknorth swords. Immediately afterwards, with a ‘Swoosh!’ Ning’s entire body was sent flying backwards, while the strange giant only took a single step back, garbling in his racial 394 tongue, “This human has great strength. However, he still cannot compare to me, much less the nine of us combined.” Although Ning had only fought one of them head on, because of the Dao Battle-Armor…in reality, that staff blow had contained the combined strength of those nine strange giants. Flying backwards through the air, Ning felt his entire body was numb. His hand was damaged, and even the Darknorth sword in that hand flew out. “Can’t take it head on!” In mid-air, Ning flipped over, his Fiendgod body quickly healing. Still in mid-air, he stepped onto the sides of the corridor walls, then like a giant Roc, scurried out, quickly leaping past the oncoming charge of those nine strange ugly giants. “Don’t run!” “What sort of talent is fleeing?” “Humans only know how to run.” The nine strange giants opened their fanged mouths, howling angrily. They discovered that this human was even faster than them. Ning pointed from a distance. “Waterflame Lotuses!” Huahuahua… Every single Waterflame Lotus was formed from a fire lotus petal and a water lotus petal. Six sets of Waterflame Lotuses appeared out of nowhere, completely surrounding those nine ugly giants within. Every single lotus petal was slowly swiveling in opposite directions, forming a terrifying grinding, killing force. “What a powerful human.” The nine ugly giants came to a halt and looked at each other. “Without this godly armor, we probably would’ve been injured long ago.” Ning saw that the nine giants had come to a halt, and were even conversing in their strange tongue. But his ever-successful Waterflame Lotuses were completely unable to harm them. “No use.” Ning was surprised. Last time, when fighting against Ironwood Zhan, Zhan had relied on his formation and his Diamond Seal to hold on for a long time, which let Ning understand that his Waterflame Lotuses couldn’t actually break through everything. “My Waterflame Lotuses were developed just recently, and were originally meant to protect me. Thus there are some deficiencies when using them to attack. Wielding their stone staffs, the nine strange giants once more charged forward en masse. “Lotus Protection.” In the area around Ning, three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals appeared, surrounding him. When the nine strange giants charged over and collided with the swiveling Waterflame Lotus, they were all impacted and were no longer able to attack Ning together. Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, chose one of them to attack! “Die.” His sword flashed like fire, moving at astonishing speed as he displayed the killing technique of the [Thunderflame Sword], the ‘Thunderflash Flint’. Hua! Hua! Hua! Rays of sword light shot towards the giant, who howled with valiant fury as he brandished his stone staff. The stone staff was incomparably heavy. Last time, when Ning had struck it, his entire body had gone numb. No longer daring to take it head on at all, Ning completely relied upon his marvelous sword techniques to deal with the giant in front of him. The battle armor was only capable of protecting part of the body. The head and some other areas were still exposed. Ning’s sword blows were all aimed at this giant’s head! Only, each blow was hampered by that dense black light. After just barely breaking through the obstruction, it was only capable of leaving some wounds on the giant’s face, which immediately would heal, leaving the giant unwounded. “Kill, kill, kill.” Ning was going all out. “I want to live! So I have to kill you all!” Ning used all his strength, even filling the Darknorth swords with his Xiantian ki as well. All he could do, however, was to leave some flesh wounds on these strange giants. The giants were capable of completely ignoring the negligible drop to their strength from these wounds. They fought for the amount of time it would take to brew a pot of tea. Because he had been controlling the Waterflame Lotus this entire time, and also fighting all out, his divine power was being used up at a fast rate. “Their power isn’t dropping at all. I’m not even able to badly injure them.” Ning could sense that he had less than half his divine power remaining. He didn’t dare to keep fighting them head on like this. He hurriedly flashed through their encirclement. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Ning utilized the Windwing Evasion, scurrying first in this direction, then in that direction, dodging the pursuit and attacks of these strange giants. “Human, don’t run.” “You won’t be able to run.” “Humans are only able to run.” These nine ugly giants roared angrily as they ran forward majestically, continuing their attacks. Ning didn’t take them head on at all, relying on his Windwing Evasion to throw them off time and time again. In his heart, Ning was sighing. He had trained in swordplay for so long, but in the end, it was still the Windwing Evasion technique which allowed him to stay alive! —————— Another long period of time passed. “What should I do?” While fleeing, Ning was thinking frantically. Staring at the nine furiously roaring giants, who didn’t seem to grow tired at all, he thought, “They have been chasing me for half a day now, but they still aren’t getting tired. My divine power, however, is down to 20%.” The Windwing Evasion technique required him to use his Crimsonbright divine power as well! Although it used it up at a rate that was far slower than the rate it was used up in battle, running around for half a day would consume a great amount as well. “My full-strength sword attacks are only capable of giving them some light flesh wounds.” Ning said to himself. “But the nine of them are actually those nine transformed seeds, just like those eighty one golden armored soldiers I fought earlier. When I shattered their army, they immediately reformed.” Ning understood very well… Even if he were to pierce through their heads, they still probably wouldn’t die. More importantly, his full strength attacks were only capable of leaving behind some flesh wounds. “What should I do?” “What exactly should I do?” Ning constantly pondered. He had no options. Despair! “In the long-ago distant past, those Fiendgod Body Refiners of the Xiantian level who were transported probably watched, just like me, in despair as their divine power was used up, and then were killed.” Ning now understood his weakness. His weakness was that his [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was only at the fourth stage. This corridor was meant for Fiendgod Body Refiners of the Xiantian level to go through. When Immortal Juhua had accepted disciples, most likely the majority of those who had attempted these trials were at the peak Xiantian level as Fiendgod Body Refiners! But Ji Ning? Only when reaching the sixth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] would he be a peak Xiantian. He was currently only at the fourth stage! In terms of the purity or the depth of his divine power, he was still at an incomparable distance from the limits of the Xiantian level. It was only natural that he wouldn’t be able to complete these three trials. “Compared to those Xiantian experts who wanted to become the disciple of Immortal Juhua and came here to attempt these trials, my divine power is very shallow.” Ning understood. “Fortunately, I gained a hint of understanding in the true meaning of the Dao, and then developed the ‘Waterflame Lotus’ technique, which is why I was lucky enough to complete the first trial! Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t even have been able to complete the first one.” “But…there are three trials.” “Forget about the third trial. This second trial…” Ning could sense that he already had dropped to less than 10% of his Crimsonbright divine power left. Deep in his heart, he felt both panic and despair. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I can’t keep running. If I keep running, the Crimsonbright divine power in my body will be completely used up. Once my divine power is used up, I will definitely die. I won’t even be able to struggle.” Ji Ning suddenly came to a halt, then turned to look towards the four ugly giants, already extremely angry due to the long chase. The ugly giants wielded those stone staffs, charging forward with large steps. “He finally stopped running.” “The human should be out of divine power by now.” “Competing with us in running. We could run for several more days without fear.” The nine ugly giants wanted to devour this human in front of them. Ning wielded a sword in each hand, standing there calmly. Faced with life and death, Ning’s spirit was incomparably calm and empty. In this moment, he had thrown all other thoughts to the back of his mind, and in his heart, the only thing remaining was this battle. “Hmph.” The nine ugly giants charged forward, and Ning immediately charged forward as well. Three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals slowly swiveled around him, causing the giants to be unable to attack Ning simultaneously when they drew near him. Ning’s sword struck out. A sword like fire! Wanton slaughter! “Haha, his sword is too weak.” “Too weak.” The ugly giants didn’t care at all. Ning’s sword pierced through the protection of that thick black light, but was only able to leave behind a hint of a wound. Although Ning was very calm, he was using his full force. “Not much divine force left.” Ning could feel that his divine power was ebbing. Grinding his teeth, he suddenly charged forward like a giant Roc soaring into the skies. Swoosh! The corridor was a hundred meters high, so Ning leapt a hundred meters into the air. While flying, two ancient Dao-seals appeared in Ning’s hands. One was a Light Body Seal, while the other was a Divine Movement Seal. The Xiantian ki in his body immediately rushed into the two Dao-seals, and two queer surges of power immediately flowed into Ning’s body. “The last sword!” Ning hit the very top of the corridor, and then with two kicks, released all of his power! He charged downwards! Fast! Fast! Fast! Relying on the force from springboarding off the ceiling, the always-terrifying speed of the [Windwing Evasion], and the force of gravity pulling him downwards, as well as the Light Body Seal and the Divine Movement Seal, his speed became all the more terrifying! In this moment, Ning’s downward charging speed had reached a heretofore unreached level, as fast as light! Speed is power. When speed reaches a certain extreme, the power of the sword would naturally be great as well. “The raindrop holds the meaning of Raindrop Pierces Rocks. The raindrop can become a Rain Line, a Thin Stream, a river or an ocean.” As Ning charged downwards, he was using the killing stroke of the Raindrop Sutra, the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’. As he did so, in his mind, he couldn’t help but think back to the scene of his father, Ji Yichuan, teaching him swordplay. His father had once demonstrated all nine stances of the Raindrop Sword for him, three times. At this moment, when faced with death, Ning immediately understood. When his father demonstrated the swordplay, he moved very slowly. He started from ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’, then moved to ‘Rain Line’, ‘Eternally Fresh Waterflow’, ‘Merciless Waterflow’, and then finally returned to the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’. Right after that, it transformed into ‘Drizzling Rain’, ‘Tempest Curtain’, ‘Water Curtain Links to Heaven’, and finally returned once more to the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’! After that, it transformed once more into ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, ‘Watertight’, before finally returning to ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’ once more! “Raindrop Pierces Rocks is the most powerful attack, but also the weakest attack. The amazing mysteries in the [Raindrop Sutra] are inexhaustible and boundless. One can spend a lifetime training in it. Remember…Raindrop Pierces Rocks!” Yichuan had said these words. At the time, Ning had felt he understood them. But after that night of meditating on the Dao, and these repeated life-and-death battles, Ning at this moment finally, truly understood what his father had labored to teach him. “This is the attack.” “Raindrop…!” Ning, charging downwards at high speed with twin swords, immediately drew away one of the stone staffs of an ugly giant, sending it smashing to one side. With his right hand, Ning pierced directly towards the ugly giant’s skull! The ugly giant’s stone staff had missed its downwards smashing mark; naturally, he didn’t have the chance to raise it back to block, but he wasn’t afraid at all. “He can’t hurt me.” “…Pierces Rocks!” Ning only stared calmly at the head of that giant. Chi! His sword was like water, like a heavy raindrop landing upon a stone. Pa! The sword instantly pierced through that thick black barrier, driving itself deep into the head of that giant, even into the brain. The terrifyingly natural power of the blow suddenly exploded. There was nothing in the body that could block it, and so, instantly, with a ‘Swish!’ sound, the head exploded. It transformed into a puddle of black water, and the armor and the stone staff all fell to the ground. “Collect.” Ning immediately collected both the armor as well as the stone staff into his own storage magic treasure. The pool of black water quickly reformed into the strange giant again, who called out in shock, “How is that possible? How is that possible?” “Nothing is impossible.” Ning was now completely confident. He understood that these nine strange giants were no longer able to stop him. “Die.” Ning only had to control his Waterflame Lotus to quickly once more smash the strange giant into a puddle of black water. Without the protection of the Dao Battle-Armor, the giant wasn’t able to resist the crushing force of the Waterflame Lotus at all. “The eight of you can die as well now.” Ning transformed into a blur, once more flashing forth like lightning. All nine Dao Battle-Armors had to be linked together for them to be able to assist each other. Right now, the strange giants weren’t able to combine their strength at all. Now, when facing Ning’s vastly improved swordplay…they became unable to flee. All of them were killed, one after the other, and even their Dao Battle-Armor and stone staves were stored by Ning into his storage treasure. “Die.” Ning stood there unmoving, only relying on the Solar and Lunar Divine Tattoos to control six Waterflame Lotuses, repeatedly grinding down on those nine giants, smashing them time and time again into black water. Even though they reformed, Ning would simply grind them apart again. After being crushed just a few times, the nine strange giants completely collapsed and weren’t able to reform. The fog at the two ends of the corridor slowly faded away. “Father.” Ning gently murmured. Although that night he had spent meditating on the Dao resulted in Ning gaining a hint of true understanding regarding fire, water, and wind, understanding was nothing more than understanding; whether or not it could be used was another matter. In the past, Ning only understood the Waterflame Lotus, this single technique, which was meant for self-protection, not for attacking. But just now, relying on the guidance his father had given him to be his foundation, in that moment between life and death, he had finally understood the true meaning of the [Raindrop Sutra] – the True Meaning of the Raindrop! In terms of levels of understanding… The level above ‘one with the world’ was that of the ‘True Meaning’! “The True Meaning of the Raindrop originates from the ‘raindrop’.” Ning sighed in amazement. “A single raindrop is the source. When there are many raindrops, it can transform into a line and become the ‘Rain Line’. When there are even more raindrops, naturally it can begin to flow and have life force, which is the ‘Eternally Fresh Waterflow’. And once the waves swell to an unblockable tide, that becomes ‘Merciless Waterflow’. But when the countless raindrops all come together, you can still describe it as just a single raindrop.” “Raindrop Pierces Rocks is the most powerful attack of the Raindrop Sutra, but also its weakest.” Ning laughed. “That is true for defense as well. Drizzling Rain, Tempest Curtain, Water Curtain Links to Heaven…they all become Raindrop Pierces Rocks in the end. Thin Streams Flow Forever and Watertight also become Raindrop Pierces Rocks.” “The True Meaning of the Raindrop.” “An unending circle.” Ning sighed in amazement. “No wonder Father said that one can spend a lifetime on the Raindrop Sutra.” Without question, his father had clearly understood the True Meaning of the Raindrop long ago. One truly could spend a lifetime to understand that the [Raindrop Sutra] could infinitely circle in on itself to grow even more powerful. Strictly speaking… Upon gaining insight into the True Meaning of the Raindrop, the [Raindrop Sutra] itself actually became without value. Perhaps the ancestor who had originally developed the [Raindrop Sutra] himself only reached this level, the True Meaning of the Raindrop, after having in some lucky circumstance developed these nine techniques that could forever cycle without ending. But of course, it was also possible that it was some sort of powerful Fiendgod or powerful Immortal who intentionally developed this sort of inexhaustible, circular, increasingly powerful swordplay. “Raindrop Pierces Rocks. Raindrop Pierces Rocks.” Ning chanted softly, and then he shut his eyes to rest. That battle had been too exhausting. —————————— After resting and eating to his fill, Ning’s divine power recovered and then he began to perfect his True Meaning of the Raindrop. Upon having learned the True Meaning of the Raindrop…he was completely capable of using one small raindrop after another to create a thin line, then execute the ‘Rain Line’. The power of this attack was far greater than that of Raindrop Pierces Rocks. Time flowed on. Ning ate and drank. Fortunately, prior to this, his kalestone and Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasure all had some food within it. What he lacked right now was time. As time went out, if he was able to increase his [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] by another stage, if he could make his swordplay become even more powerful, then his chances of survival would naturally become greater. Ning understood… He had relied on the Waterflame Lotus to make it through the first trial, while in the second trial, he had been pushed to his limits, at which point he had gained insights into the True Meaning of the Raindrop, finally making that breakthrough in peril. Based on the increase in difficulty, the third trial would definitely be very terrifying. Since Immortal Juhua had publicly called for a disciple, one could imagine how difficult this third trial must have been. ————————— By Serpentwing Lake. Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow, husband and wife, were temporarily staying here by the side of Serpentwing Lake. They were quietly waiting. Waiting for their son to return. But as one day after another passed, their hearts grew increasingly frantic, because the more time passed, the lower the chances were that their son was still alive. “Cough, cough.” Snow was coughing. “Don’t panic, don’t panic.” Yichuan saw that in one short month, his wife’s illness had rapidly worsened, making him feel all the more pity for her. “I don’t want to panic either.” Snow stared at the endless waters of Serpentwing Lake, then sighed. “But Ning, Ning, he…it’s been more than a month. Why hasn’t he come back yet. Why hasn’t he come back yet!” To Yuchi Snow, her son was her whole world. “Our son will definitely come back. Definitely. When you were pregnant with Ning, the roots of your illness took hold. You can’t be angry, and you can’t panic. You know that. Take care of your body.” Yichuan’s heart was as frantic as a scorching fire. In his heart, he cared deeply about his son, but he was also worried about his wife by his side. Ever since that great battle they had fought on the way back from the Darknorth Seas… Although the Whitewater Hound had braved a serious injury to take his wife away and flee, and their son had been lucky enough to survive, his wife and his son had both been injured. “Ning.” Yichuan stared at the boundless lake waters as well. “You have to come back alive.” —————————– Within the endless hallway. There was no day or night within this hallway, and there was no way to clearly judge the passing of time. His appetite was enormous, but the amount of food in the kalestone wasn’t that much, nor the amount in Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasure. After all, they could hunt for food at any time in Swallow Mountain, while the kalestone had size limitations, so why put in too much? After a month, all of the stored food was completely devoured. “Thin Streams Flow Forever and Rain Line have all reached the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’ level.” Ning said to himself. One was a defensive technique, while the other was offensive. His power could be considered to have greatly advanced. “After a month of training, my divine power has grown stronger as well. This third trial is the final battle…” Ning understood how terrifying this final trial would be. He also understood that if he passed through it, then he would survive. But if he failed, he would die! “Whether it is life or it is death, it all comes down to this.” “If I die, I will most likely go to the Netherworld Kingdom again. This time, I probably won’t be so lucky as to avoid drinking Granny Meng’s Elixir. After drinking it, I will no longer be myself.” Ning had a dim sense right now, the deep, unconscious sense which one would have when one’s soul grew powerful. His unconscious sense felt a type of incomparable terror right now, as though he was about to face an incomparably terrifying trial. “Time to determine life or death.” Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning headed directly for a twisting corridor, which still had three corpses on it that hadn’t completely rotted away, as well as some magic treasures scattered on the floor. Ning used his divine sense to pick them up, calmly binding them. Upon investigating, he found that there were thousands of magic treasures stored within a storage treasure, all of which he could easily fuse. Indeed, these were all unranked magic treasures. However…such a terrifying number still represented an incomparably astonishing wealth. Ning was very calm though. Because…if he died, what use would these be? “You finally came.” A hoarse voice rang out, in the tongue of the humans which was spoken everywhere throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty. Ning immediately looked over. From afar, in a place filled with black mist, a figure walked out. He had a crooked body, an oily green gaze, and his entire body was covered with black fur. He seemed to walk very slowly, but with each step, he travelled dozens of meters. “A pity. You are too weak.” Hua! In an instant, he appeared in front of Ning. His fan-sized, big grey palm carried a dense, deathly aura which slammed down towards Ning. This simple slap was so fast that Ning was completely unable to dodge. All he could do was relying on using his two swords to execute his ultimate defensive technique, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, to block it. This ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’ technique was currently also holding the True Meaning of the Raindrop within it. “Swish!” Ning was knocked flying, and his hands instantly turned numb. “No…” Ning wanted to tighten his grip over the Darknorth swords in his hands. If his swords were sent flying, how would he use his sword techniques? But his fingers were already completely numbed and had no feeling. Hua! Hua! His shattered fingers and his two Darknorth swords flew far away, smashing into the distant walls and emitting a clear ringing sound. Every part of Ning’s skin had split open, and he was surrounded by a bloody mist. The fingers on both hands had been shattered. And so, his entire body covered by that bloody mist, he flew backwards and smashed against the distant ground. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning slammed onto the ground, but he felt the area around him was so quiet. So terrifyingly quiet. He couldn’t hear anything at all. At the same time, his entire body had lost all feeling. The powerful life force within his Fiendgod-like body immediately got to work, and his divine power quickly began to heal everything. The torn muscles and skin on his body, and even his torn intestines and organs began to rapidly heal. Ning’s ears could now hear again, and he gained feeling in his body again. “Pain. Such pain.” Ning hurriedly looked into the distance. In that moment when he had completely lost all feeling and lost all hearing, he had been terrified. “Truly too…too terrifying.’ Ning stared at that distant, stooped, black-furred monster which emanated that thick, deathly aura. “That slap’s speed was so fast I couldn’t dodge at all. His strength in turn is far greater than the combined strength of those nine strange giants!” The black-furred monster stood there quietly, his oily green eyes staring at Ning. He let out a hoarse sigh, which carried an endless resignation and disappointment. “I’ve waited for far too long, so long that I’ve forgotten time. All you need to do is pass the three trials without dying. You don’t need to kill me. You just need to knock me down, to injure me. That’s all.” With difficulty, Ning climbed to his feet, the ground stained with blood. “Knock you down?” Ning stared at the stooped, black-furred creature. “No. More precisely speaking, as long as you can injure me, can break my skin, can make me bleed.” The black-furred creature said slowly, “I will immediately fall down. I’ve already calculated…the last time, when Immortal Juhua was recruiting a disciple, there were ten people who had completed the trials and appeared before me. It was so rowdy. There was one of them, a youth, who relied on an extremely powerful Dao-seal to injure me. But I just took a step back instead of falling down…if I had fallen down, there would have been no need for me to endure these countless, lonely years. Loneliness truly is terrifying, very terrifying…” Listening to this, Ning held his breath. The black-furred creature in front of him had actually existed in the era of Immortal Juhua. He definitely wasn’t training the Immortal ways, because there was no way for an ordinary Immortal to live this long. Only by becoming a Celestial Immortal would one truly have an unlimited lifespan, but there was no way 407 a Celestial Immortal would be like the person in front of him. Most likely, a single breath from a Celestial Immortal would disintegrate Ning. “Master only said that anyone able to injure and knock me down would be considered to have passed this trial.” The black furred creature said slowly in that hoarse voice. “Come. Injure me. As long as you can injure me, I will immediately fall down.” “Injure you?” Ning’s divine will once more picked up those two Darknorth swords. His severed fingers were reattached. This black-furred monster only watched silently, not interfering. The black-furred monster looked at Ning, then said slowly, “Come at me full force. Everyone in the countless years who has come before me, I have given them this same chance. As long as a person can injure me, I will immediately fall down. Only…none of them were able to injure me. Not one!” Ning’s heart shook. “Only that one time, when Immortal Juhua was recruiting a disciple, did that Dao-seal injure me. Why didn’t I fall down? Just that one time. I missed that opportunity and never had another one.” The blackfurred creature spoke very slowly. Tormented by countless years of loneliness, he no longer wished to live. “Injure him?” Ning was frightened and shocked. Based on what this creature which had most likely lived since the Fiendgod era was saying, only a single person had ever been able to injure him, and that was through using a Dao-seal! “These people who made it here over the years most likely also included geniuses who had reached the level of comprehending the True Meaning of the Dao.” Ning felt an unbearable pressure. “What should I do?” “Come.” The black-furred creature began to walk forward, his body hunchbacked. “Come. Wound me.” Ning clenched his Darknorth swords. Swoosh! Ning suddenly charge into the air, two Dao-seals appearing in his hands. They were a Light Body Seal and a Divine Movement Seal…although he had found many Dao-seals in the storage magic treasures on the corpses, virtually all of them had lost their magic power over the passage of countless years and become useless. Only a hundred or so seals were left, amongst which the Divine Movement Seal and the Light Body Seal were the most common. The two Dao-seals immediately entered his body upon activation. “Die.” Ning charged upwards, reaching the ceiling of the corridor, then kicked off with his two legs, utilizing the Windwing Evasion as he charged down from the top of the prefecture. At this moment, Ning had reached the limits of his speed. “Die!” Ning’s entire strength was focused on the Darknorth sword in his right hand, stabbing directly downwards. The stooped frame of the black-furred creature came to a halt, raising its head and staring upwards with its oily green eyes at the downwards charging Ning. He just watched, watched quietly…his eyes didn’t have a hint of life, seeming very slow and numb. “Raindrop!” “Pierces Rocks!” Ning charged downward, the tip of his sword transforming into a drop of water. ‘Drip’. It dripped onto the fur-covered face of that black-furred creature. At this moment, both his divine power as well as his Xiantian ki were being released at full power, and penetrative force from his high speed combined with the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’ had formed an extremely terrifying sword… “Chi!” The tip of the sword pierced onto the black-furred creature’s face, who simply continued to look at Ning with an upraised face. “You are still very far off.” The black-furred creature sighed, his oily green eyes filled with boundless disappointment. “I need to keep waiting, keep waiting…as for you, I have no choice but to kill you.” Ning’s sword had stabbed onto the black-furred creature’s face, but hadn’t left behind any injury. Unwilling to accept this, the Darknorth sword in his twin hands executed the ‘Rain Line’ and ‘Moth Flies Into the Flame’, two great killing strokes, stabbing at the creature’s chest and face, but once again, he was unable to harm the creature at all. “Retreat.” Ning hurriedly retreated dozens of meters. The black-furred creature’s stooped form continued to make its way forward, slowly shuffling, but moving dozens of meters with each step. In terms of speed, he was actually even faster than Ning! Whether it was walking speed or attack speed, he was faster than Ning. This was the first time Ning encountered someone faster than him in this corridor of trials. Previously, he was able to rely on his Windwing Evasion to flee and buy time for himself, but this time, he was not able to do so. “How can his skin be as tough as this?” Ning was incomparably frantic. Although the other Fiendgod Body Refiners of the Xiantian level who had previously fallen here served as proof that harming this black- furred creature was an incomparably difficult task, Ning still felt a sense of hopelessness after he himself truly used a full force attack and yet was unable to scratch the other’s face. “Die. Stop struggling.” The hoarse voice rang out, and the stooped black-furred figure appeared out of nowhere by Ning’s side. Ning’s body immediately became surrounded by three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals, swiveling slowly in opposite directions and generating a stirring force. But to this black-furred creature, the force generated by the Waterflame Lotus was like nothing more than walking within small rippling waves, unable to budge his body at all. Ning’s two hands once more executed the ‘Raindrop Pierces Rocks’ attack, stabbing at the black-furred creatures legs and genitalia. “I’m unable to flee, and defense is useless. I have to find a chance of survival. Killkillkill! Perhaps the other parts of his body have a weak point that I can stab.” Ning definitely wouldn’t just give up. “Stop struggling.” The black-furred creature sighed, and his fan-shaped giant palm once more slapped down towards Ning. He couldn’t be bothered to take about Ning’s swords, allowing them to stab on his body as he still slammed his palm down on Ning’s body. “Bang!!!” The armor-type magic treasure Ning was wearing instantly split apart, and the giant palm, filled with that dense deathly aura, went straight through Ning’s chest, and then Ning himself was sent flying far, far away. Bang. Ning lay there on the floor, a huge hole in his chest. His body had nearly been torn in half. Ning lay there, completely unable to move. Such a huge hole suddenly appearing in his chest had caused his entire body to be paralyzed. He had to wait for the life force in his body to begin to regenerate it, but that needed time. He would most likely need half a minute before he would be able to recover his ability to move again. But that distant, black-furred creature was already walking over again. Most likely, in just another second, he would be in front of Ning. “Die.” The stooped figure of that black-furred creature ambled forward. “No!” Ning’s heart was filled with incomparable ardor, ardor for life. He had died before, and had even gone to the Netherworld Kingdom and had seen Grandma Meng’s Elixir. So he all the more desired life…he didn’t want to go drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. “What should I do? How can I survive? I can’t even 410 move…right now, all I have left is my divine will. Can it be that I can rely on my divine will to wrap up the Darknorth swords to pierce into the black-furred creature.” Ning felt hopeless. Ning knew very well the level of strength the divine will was capable of. When he had killed Ironwood Zhan, he had investigated. Divine will was capable of wrapping up trees, boulders, with a force that was roughly equivalent to a late-stage Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner! The power of will made physical was very powerful and very strong. But what good would it be right now? ———————— “I also have them.” Ning, seeing the black-furred creature draw closer, suddenly thought of something, letting out a heroic cry. “All out, now!” Huahuahua…. In the area around Ning, one magic treasure after another appeared out of nowhere in a dense cluster. Sabers, swords, spears…thousands of magic treasures hovered there. These magic treasures were all controlled by his divine will, and the blade tips, sword tips, and spear tips were all pointed towards that black-furred creature. “All of my Xiantian Ki! Let’s go!” Ning had gone completely mad. The Xiantian ki in his dantian fully entered every single magic treasure. These were all unranked magic treasures that had been left behind by deceased Xiantian lifeforms over the course of countless years. Ning had been able to easily bind them. All of these were usable by Xiantian experts, but generally speaking, Xiantian experts would wield them with their hands. Ning, because he had divine will, was able to use his divine will to wield the magic treasures. It was as though thousands of hands had suddenly snatched up every single magic treasure, aiming them at the black-furred creature. All of his Xiantian ki had entered every single magic treasure, causing Ning’s meridians to be torn. Generally speaking, a Xiantian lifeform could battle for a very long time, but Ning had used all of his Xiantian ki to be dispersed amongst thousands of magic treasures, causing the amount to drop. “Kill!” Ning’s badly damaged, completely immobile body lay there as he howled heroically with a savage look on his face. His heroic howl was filled with incomparable ardor for life! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Countless sword flashes, saber flashes, spear flashes, and more all shot out, instantly turning the entire corridor into a wall of dazzling white color. All of them were aimed with incomparable accuracy, stabbing out at the same time at the body of the black-furred creature, who had already closed his eyes and spread his arms out. “Bang….” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Thousands of magic treasures shot out like rays of sword light, blade light, spear light, and more. They were like thousands of Xiantian Ki Refiners attacking in unison! But Ji Ning did this all by himself. If Ning hadn’t reached the ‘divine will’ level of the soul, there would have been no way for him to control so many magic treasures so accurately. If Ning hadn’t gained such astonishing regenerative abilities at the Xiantian level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he wouldn’t have been able to so wildly have all of his ki explode outwards; the only thing that would have happened was that his arteries and meridians would completely shatter, resulting in him becoming a cripple. “Swish….” The black-furred creature didn’t block at all, nor did he dodge at all. He held his arms wide and closed his eyes. He was waiting…hoping… The corridor was a cacophony of sound. The black-furred creature was like a mountain collapsing. With a rumbling sound, he fell over! “Did I wound him?” Ning stared with incomparable hope. Right now, his body was ravaged, his meridians and arteries were ripped, and not a single drop of his Xiantian ki was remaining. “I must have…I must have…” Ning stared hopefully. From afar, the fallen black-furred creature suddenly sat up, lowering his head to look at his chest. At his chest, his black fur had been torn apart, revealing faintly red flesh and deep green-colored blood. A thin line of blood oozed out from the wound, and then the wound rapidly healed, leaving behind only that line of deep green blood. Ning’s eyes instantly turned round, and he stared at the traces of deep green blood on the chest of that black-furred creature. Success! He had succeeded! He would live! “Father. Mother. I’ve survived.” Ning’s Fiendgod-like body was quickly recovering. Although he was unable to move, Ning forgot his pain; rather, he felt wild joy at having overcome that tribulation. “Wounded me. You wounded me.” From afar, the black-furred creature was first stunned, and then he raised his head, letting out a wild, heroic howl. “Aoooooooooooooooooo!” This heroic howl contained incomparable madness, sadness, and a sense of release. Ning managed to sit up as well now, and he stared at the distant, howling black-furred creature….the loneliness and torment which could be heard in this great howl, which had been suppressed for trillions of years, caused even Ning’s heart to feel a sour bitterness. After a long time, the sound ceased. The black-furred creature stood up and look at Ning. In his hoarse voice, he said, “Thank you, my new master! Hurry up and bind this Immortal mansion. We will meet again.” Hua! Immediately afterwards, the black-furred creature disappeared into thin air. —————————– Ning quickly was able to stand up as well. The previous wounds to his meridians had been completely healed now, and he collected the thousands of magic treasures that lay scattered on the floor, storing them into his storage treasure. “I didn’t expect that in the end, I would rely on these unranked magic treasures to pass the third trial.” Ning let out a long sigh. A Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level was able to use thousands of magic treasures in a single combined strike…he had never even heard of such a thing, so prior to this, he hadn’t even considered the possibility. This was because this sort of action would only be possible for a freakishly talented person like Ning, who clearly was only a Xiantian level, and yet whose soul was already on the level of having ‘divine will’. Ning had been visualizing the [Nuwa Painting] since he was an infant. The [Nuwa Painting] was one of the best visualization techniques even in the Celestial Realm or the Netherworld Kingdom, much less in the mortal realms… the likes of the Ji clan had never even heard of ‘visualization techniques’. In fact, Ning believed that even in the entire vast area controlled by the Grand Xia Dynasty, the best visualization techniques couldn’t necessarily compare to the [Nuwa Painting]. “Success.” “I successfully passed this tribulation.” Ning stared at his surroundings. He saw the corpses and skeletons in the distance on the ground, and felt all the more emotional. “The dead became these skeletons. The survivor, according to what the black-furred creature said…I should be the new master.” Ning was in no hurry to advance. Instead, he sat down in the lotus position and rested. It took a full day for the Xiantian ki in his body to return to normal. Only then did Ning rise and continue to advance. When walking through the twisting corridors, Ning didn’t move very quickly. Instead, he carefully inspected this ancient Immortal estate. After a long time… “Um?” Ning saw that not far away, there was an exit, outside of which a pillar could faintly be seen. “I’ve arrived?” Ning quickly walked out of the exit, and as he did, he had to suck in a cold breath. This was an incomparably vast palace, at least thousands of meters high. Compared to this vast palace, the nearby hundreds of meters tall corridors appeared to be extremely small. In the front of the palace, there was an enormous praying mat, which was also three hundred meters in diameter. And in the back of the palace… There were also hundreds of enormous prayer mats scattered about as well. “Such an enormous prayer mat?” Ning’s heart was filled with many questions. “Prayer mats are meant to be sat on, but this three hundred meter long prayer mat…what sort of a giant would sit atop this? And it seems that in addition to the giant who would sit at the top of the hall, there would also be hundreds of other giants sitting in front of him. “The Immortal estate of Immortal Juhua?” Ning shook his head. If the Immortal was a human, his body should be sized like a normal humans. “This doesn’t make sense.” Ning hurriedly walked about, carefully inspecting this palace. The entire palace was very old and plain. Aside from those hundreds of prayer mats, there were no other decorations at all. One plain stone pillar after another supported the palace hall, and on each of the two sides of the palace hall were corridors, some three hundred meters tall, others three thousand meters tall. There were three of the corridors that were three thousand meters tall, while only two of the corridors that were three hundred meters tall. “I can’t go in?” Ning discovered that he wasn’t able to enter any of the corridors, including the one he had just come from. It was as though there was an invisible wall blocking them. “The palace door!” Ning turned to look at the imposing palace door. Outside the palace door…there was an area completely enveloped in mist that one couldn’t see through at all. Ning stood there, in this incomparably vast palace. He was as small as an ant. He then walked over to one of the prayer mats and sat down. He himself was only 1.7 meters in height, but he was seated on a three hundred meter long prayer mat. Ning felt that this was quite amusing. “It really is comfortable.” While sitting on the prayer mat, Ning could feel his mind growing more alert, and even his thoughts became much more rapid and nimble. “How strange. I clearly have made it past the three trials and arrived at this palace hall. But right now, I’m not able to enter any of the corridors of the palace halls. I’m trapped here.” Ning said to himself. “The original master of this Aquatic Manor, having left behind those three trials, should have made some preparations for the successor who passed those trials, right?” For example, the black-furred creature was teleported to him, then teleported away. He himself had been teleported here as well…clearly, someone should be controlling this Aquatic Manor. —————————- Right at this moment, as Ning was sitting on the prayer mat and pondering, suddenly, from one of the three thousand meter tall corridors off to the side of the palace hall, an old black bull walked over. As though sensing it, Ning turned his head to look. As he did, he saw an old black bull that was many meters in length slowly walk in. The old bull’s eyes were filled with curiosity and liveliness as it carefully inspected Ning. “Senior, might I ask who you are?” Ning immediately spoke out. Most likely every single creature which appeared within this Aquatic Manor was extraordinary. “Me?” The old black bull shook its head. “Don’t call me ‘Senior’. I’m nothing more than the spirit of a magic treasure.” “Spirit of a magic treasure?” Ning was astonished. “Magic treasures have spirits?” He’d never heard of such a thing. “I’m the magic treasure which Immortal Juhua always kept by his side.” The old black bull sighed. “Child, don’t think too much about it. Even if I brought my ‘body’ in front of you, given your power, there is no way you would be able to bind me.” Ning nodded. He understood this. As a Xiantian, he was only capable of binding some unranked magic treasures. Even ranked treasures had high and low level ones. The more powerful the magic treasure, the more difficult binding it was! “Might I ask about the status of the master of this Immortal estate?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Dead. All dead.” The old black bull shook its head. “Dead for I don’t even know how many years.” 416 Ning nodded to himself. It was as he had thought. “It has been too long, far too long. Over these slow, countless ages, I’ve teleported in quite a few Xiantianlevel Fiendgod Body Refiners, as well as Zifu Disciples.” The old black bull sighed. “Unfortunately, not a single one was able to succeed. At most, they would make it to the third trial, where they would all die. I didn’t expect that you, child, who clearly don’t have sufficiently dense divine power, would be able to succeed. This can be considered a miracle.” “That third trial in particular.” “Your soul has actually reached such a stage of power. However, the technique which you used is completely impractical.” The old black bull said disdainfully. “Thousands of magic treasures, aimed in a single direction. All the enemy has to do is dodge, and then you would have to immediately control thousands of magic treasures to change direction and aim at him again…it will be very hard for you to actually strike your enemy.” Ning nodded. “True.” “However, that golem was driven to nearly the point of insanity by the torment of countless years of loneliness, and so he actively welcomed the attack.” The old black bull said. “And so, you succeeded.” “Golem?” Ning said in surprise. “It was a golem?” He had seen golems before. When he had been training with a sword, his father had procured a training golem for him. But that black-furred creature just now…it had blood, had flesh, and was even capable of speech. How could it be a golem? “Child, how much do you know? There are many different types of golems. That one just now was just a golem which had a soul inserted into it.” The old black bull said. “After implanting a soul into it, it gains intelligence and is even capable of displaying the ‘one with the world’ sage, or even more profound sword techniques, saber techniques, boxing techniques, etc. Naturally, its power would multiply manifold.” Ning now understood. “As the soul trapped within the golem who is forever incapable of being reincarnated, it will be endlessly tormented.” The old black bull said. “However, your own level of enlightenment is not low. That lotus flower you created earlier was based on the fact that your body has the Divine Solar Tattoo and the Divine Lunar Tattoo. For you to have these two great divine tattoos means that you most likely are training in the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining technique of the Fiendgod era, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Given your density of divine power, I expect you have only reached the fourth stage!” Ning hurriedly said, “Senior, your judgment is wise.” 417 “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is a very powerful technique.” The old black bull sighed. “You were able to break through to the Xiantian level, but you are only at the fourth stage. Most likely, you broke through just recently. You should be only ten or so years old as well.” “Eleven.” Ning didn’t try to hide it. “An eleven year old Xiantian who trains in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. And at such a young age, you were able to reach the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ in swordplay.” The old black bull shook its head. “A genius like this is someone whom even the Grand Xia Dynasty would expend countless efforts in cultivating and training. There’s no way they would be willing to let someone like you take tutelage under the auspices of Immortal Juhua.” Ning lifted an eyebrows. “Actually, just by reaching the sixth stage, given the amount of divine power you would have, and your understanding of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, you would have been able to succeed in the third trial. However, for you to succeed in the way you have is still quite impressive. Your soul is powerful, and your level of enlightenment is high. Your future accomplishments will be limitless.” The old black bull sighed. “I still have to congratulate you. You have become the fifth master of this place.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “The fifth master?” Ji Ning was astonished. “Me?” The old black bull had a hint of laughter in his eyes. He slowly ambled over, his body seeming vaguely illusory. He wasn’t a material creature, after all; just the spirit of a magic treasure. “Of course it is you.” The old black bull said. “That’s not what I meant. What I meant was…I’m only the fifth master?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Can it be that Immortal Juhua wasn’t the first one?” He had previously discovered the letter on that Godbanian tree bark, and had hypothesized that after Immortal Juhua died, he shouldn’t have given this Immortal estate to anyone else. “Immortal Juhua was the third master of this Immortal estate.” The old black bull said. “Who was the fourth?” Ning asked. The old black bull’s eyes held a hint of wistful memory in them. He slowly said, “In those days, Immortal Juhua’s fame was widespread. He was someone who stood at the very forefront of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. A Loose Immortal capable of living for millions of years is an absolute miracle. The Three Disasters and Nine Tribulations which everyone who embarks on the Immortal path must endure…each tribulation is fiercer than the last. He had lived for simply too long, and the difficulty of the tribulations had reached an inconceivable level. Even Celestial Immortals probably wouldn’t be able to survive them. The longer he lived, the more the people in the Grand Xia Dynasty became aware of how formidable he was.” “Immortal Juhua knew that his time was limited, and so he wanted to accept a disciple, and thus he spread the word…that he would only accept a Fiendgod Body Refiner who was at least a Xiantian lifeform but no more than a Zifu Disciple. Of the major clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the ones who were in the know all sent their disciples to attempt the trials of that corridor. “Two corridors. One for Xiantian lifeforms, one for Zifu Disciples.” “One young person after another died. In the end, finally, a Zifu Disciple named ‘Rampart’ successfully passed the three trials of his corridor, and thus Rampart became the fourth master of this Immortal estate. Ning nodded. Immortal Juhua was the third. Rampart was the fourth. “Unfortunately.” The old black bull shook his head. “In the face of the endless tribulations, Immortal Juhua died. Not long after Immortal Juhua died…Rampart, who was merely at the ‘Wanxiang Adept’ level died as well. As for how he died and where he died, that’s unclear. Ever since Rampart died, this Immortal estate has not had an owner.” Ning nodded, then said questioningly, “Rampart didn’t carry the Immortal estate with him?” “Carry it with him?” The old black bull said in a low voice. “He was unable to even completely bind this Immortal estate. How could he have carried it with him?” “He, a venerable Wanxiang Adept, was unable to bind it?” Ning asked. The old black bull said, “Child, don’t underestimate this Immortal estate. This Immortal estate has an extraordinary background and history, and binding it is extremely hard. You should know that the more powerful a magic treasure is, the harder it is to bind it. This Immortal estate is actually a ‘dwelling’ type magic treasure…only by becoming a Primal will one become just barely capable of binding it and carrying it.” “A Primal can only just barely bind it; he wouldn’t be able to completely control this Immortal estate, which has some secret areas within that he still wouldn’t be able to enter. Only by becoming an Earthly Immortal or a Loose Immortal will one truly be in control of this Immortal estate.” Ning understood. It made sense. If one was able to easily bind a magic treasure which was capable of teleporting people, that would be bizarre. “Child, do you now understand how extraordinary this Immortal estate is?” The old black bull said complacently. “Elder, you can address me as Ji Ning.” Ning said. “Child Ji Ning.” The old black bull stepped onto one of the giant prayer mats on the ground. “Take a look at this prayer mat. The prayer mats are all hundreds of meters wide. Have you considered why?” Ning pondered, then said, “Elder, when I first arrived within this palace hall, I was very puzzled as well. There is no need for an Immortal estate to have such enormous prayer mats. I actually wondered…if this Immortal estate was previously lived in by a race of giants or some other races.” “Although Immortal Juhua was only a Loose Immortal, he survived for millions of years before dying.” The old black bull sighed. “He is the only Loose Immortal I know of who lived for so long! Why was Immortal Juhua so powerful, and why could he last for so long before dying? It was because of this…this Immortal estate!” 420 “This Immortal estate’s age is beyond reckoning. According to the guesses of Immortal Juhua, this should have been the dwelling of an extremely powerful Fiendgod, which is why such enormous prayer mats, beds, and corridors were built.” The old black bull said. “Immortal Juhua had, when he was young, made it past three trials before becoming the third master of this place.” “Immortal Juhua had to pass three trials as well?” Ning was stunned. The old black bull said, “The three trials….was the rule set down by the first master of this Immortal estate! That first master should have been an extremely powerful Fiendgod. Judging from the way the giant prayer mats in this hall are laid out, that Fiendgod should have been sat on the one up front, expounding on the Dao, while below many other Fiendgods would listen. Haha, these are all the affairs of the past. The Fiendgod Era ended long ago.” —————————- The old black bull and Ning chatted for quite a long while. Ning finally couldn’t help but ask, “As the fifth master of this Immortal estate, what sort of benefits do I get?” The old black bull blinked. “Immortal Juhua was a Loose Immortal who had lived for millions of years. He should have left some things behind.” Ning asked. The old black bull remained silent. “You…” “Alas!” The old black bull finally let out a sigh. “The third master and the fourth master both died, and they died too long ago. Immortal Juhua had originally given Rampart some treasures, but Rampart died outside. Countless years have passed, and you can’t possibly get anything from Rampart. Immortal Juhua did indeed leave some magic treasures within this Immortal estate, but you won’t be able to get them.” “Why not?” Ning asked. “Aren’t I the master of this Immortal estate now?” The old black bull shook his head. “Imagine that you are the owner of a storage-type magic treasure, but you aren’t able to bind it. Will you be able to take out the treasures within it? This Immortal estate is a dwelling-type magic treasure. If you don’t bind it, there are many areas you cannot enter. Right now, you are only able to be here in the main palace hall. The other areas are off limits to you.” “I can only enter this main hall?” Ning was astonished. “You should have discovered that you are only able to be in this main hall and that you are unable to enter the other areas of this Immortal estate.” The old black bull said. “First become a Zifu Disciple; that 421 will allow you to bind the control talisman. When you bind the control talisman, there will be many benefits to you. You will be able to enter many of the areas within the Immortal estate, and you’ll also be able to voluntarily enter the Immortal estate from outside; for example, at Serpentwing Lake, you’ll be able to enter the Immortal estate as you please.” Pa! Out of nowhere, a dark gray talisman appeared, landing on the floor with a clattering sound atop a prayer mat. “This is the control talisman.” The old black bull said. “Only the master is permitted to have the control talisman. Hurry up and take it. Once you reach the Zifu Disciple level, you’ll be able to bind it. After binding it, come back to the Immortal estate. Right now, you aren’t able to enter any place at all, and you won’t be able to get anything.” Ning collected this talisman. The talisman was very rough. Atop it, there was a complicated, ancient-looking character; ‘Left’! Just a single character. Although Ning had never learned the meaning of this character, upon seeing it, he naturally understood what it meant. “Control talisman?” Ning stored it into his storage-type magic treasure. “Alright. You’ve taken the control talisman, and I’ve told you everything. You can leave now.” The old black bull said. “I’ll send you off now and teleport you back to that island in Serpentwing Lake.” Ning hurriedly called out, “Stop!” The old black bull looked towards Ning. “Is there something else?” “Just like that…I’m supposed to leave?” Ning couldn’t help but say. “I just barely survived, and I’m supposed to leave with just a control talisman?” The old black bull blinked twice. “Whose fault is it that the previous owner has already died? If he was alive, he could probably guide you or help you. But I’m just the spirit of a magic treasure…I don’t have any magic treasures or curios of my own. As for you yourself, you train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique which was even better than the technique which Immortal Juhua trained it. What can I give you? Oh! You probably don’t have any visualization techniques, right?” “visualization techniques?” Ning was startled. The Lord of Cui Palace had given him the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique! “visualization techniques are capable of refining the soul and strengthening it.” The old black bull said hurriedly. “This is something only the most powerful of clans have access to. I have a visualization technique in my memory. I’ll transmit it to you.” “Transmit?” Ning was curious. “Take out a quill and some ink.” The old black bull urged. Flipping his hand, Ning took out a quill and some ink, as well as a large piece of beast skin, placing them to one side. The old black bull looked at the quill, which began to hover in the air. “I am the spirit of a magic treasure who has trained for countless years, but my ‘divine will’ is most likely still weaker than yours. Still, grabbing a quill isn’t too difficult.” Controlling the quill, he began to draw a painting onto that glossy beast skin parchment. Soon, a picture of a Buddha that had a compassionate look on his face began to appear on the parchment. This Buddha had the sun and the moon behind his back, and radiated boundless light. Just by looking at it, Ning felt slightly affected. “What do you think?” The old black bull casually controlled the quill and tossed it to one side, then said delightedly, “This is a painting of the true form of Buddha, and the Shining Sun Moon Buddha at that! This [Inner Visualization of the Shining Sun-Moon Buddha] is the visualization technique which Immortal Juhua had previously used. I always was by his side, looking at this painting of Buddha, and thus I naturally memorized it. Although my painting isn’t as good as the original, as long as you often look at this painting of Buddha…you will definitely strengthen your soul. Ning was puzzled. “Inner visualization of Buddha?” “To become a master of the Great Dao, aside from your body, you must understand the myriad mysteries of the Great Dao.” The old black bull said. Ning only felt resigned. Compared with the [Nuwa Painting]…it wasn’t even comparable. His [Nuwa Painting] had been imprinted by the Lord of Cui Palace into his very soul and his memory. Naturally, he could sense it much more clearly. This old bull had simply drawn out an image of Buddha based on his own memory. “Can it be that you already have a visualization technique?” The old black bull noticed that Ning wasn’t very excited, and he couldn’t help but nod. “Makes sense. Your soul is so powerful. You should already have a visualization technique. Right…” The old black bull pondered for a while. Ning just waited. This old bull was the spirit of an extremely powerful magic treasure who had followed Immortal Juhua for countless years. He should know many things. “I remember now. Before this, you controlled thousands of magic treasures, right? I have a secret sword formation technique that is suitable for you to learn.” The old black bull suddenly said hurriedly. “In the past, I watched Immortal Juhua kill a powerful enemy who controlled a large number of flying swords in a formation to attack his enemies. His sword formation was thus recorded down by Immortal Juhua, who carefully looked through it. Although I only saw it once, I completely memorized it. I’ll make a copy for you.” Ning hurriedly took out a large number of beastskin parchments. The old black bull once again controlled the quill and began to write with it. At the very top of the beastskin parchment were four words: [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning watched off to the side, not daring to disturb the old black bull as he wrote. On the skin parchment, one line of words after another swiftly appeared, along with the occasional formation diagram. Soon, the pages of skin parchment were completely filled. “All done.” The old black bull tossed the quill aside, saying delightedly, “Child Ji Ning, you can be considered to be exceptionally talented. A Xiantian who actually has such an astonishing soul! Only with a sufficiently powerful soul is one suited for utilizing this ‘Lesser Thousand Swords Formation’. However, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] also requires flying sword type magic treasures, and it has exceptionally high requirements with regards to the amount of magic treasures. “I have plenty of these unranked magic treasures.” Ning laughed. The old black bull shook his head. “Once you reach the Zifu Disciple level, those unranked magic treasures will no longer be usable. At that time, what you will need is ranked magic treasures, and generally speaking, you will need a large number of flying sword type magic treasures in order to utilize this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] technique’s power.” “A large number of ranked magic treasures?” Ning was stunned. “How many?” “The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] at this highest level requires 729 flying swords.” The old black bull said. “Even if you are just using the weakest types of ranked magic treasures, you still need 729 of them…the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] requirements regarding magic treasures are very high. The more flying swords, the better. The more you have, the greater the power of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] technique.” Ning was stupefied. Over seven hundred ranked magic treasures, and all sword type? He wasn’t sure if the entire Five Prefectures of the Ji clan combined would be able to buy so many, even if they sold off all their assets. “As your power increases, the number of flying swords you can use will naturally increase.” The old black bull said. “Starting from Mortal-level magic treasures to Earth-level magic treasures, to Heaven-level magic treasures, to Immortal-level magic treasures…” “I, I…” Ning felt an unbearable pressure. He hurriedly said, “It wouldn’t have been hard for Immortal Juhua to procure and leave behind a few hundred flying swords here in this Immortal estate prior to his 425 death, right? And Immortal Juhua killed that powerful enemy, who used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] right?” The old black bull shook his head. “That great enemy was known as the Thousand Swords Immortal! Immortal Juhua had to expend enormous amounts of effort in order to kill him. Although he had acquired those flying sword magic treasures after killing him, it was a waste to just keep them without using them. Thus, Immortal Juhua immediately traded them away for a large number of precious materials, which he then forged me out of! Thus, if you want to acquire thousands of flying swords from Immortal Juhua, it is impossible. Truly powerful Immortals will usually only carry a few magic treasures which they are particularly skilled in. After killing an enemy, they will immediately use the enemy’s tools to upgrade their own magic treasures! They won’t just leave them there to be wasted.” “Understood.” Ning was somewhat despondent. “Don’t think too much of it. Don’t think that just because you received this Immortal estate that you’ll instantly fly to the heavens.” The old black bull said. “There are countless relic sites left from the Fiendgod Era, but how many people are able to truly stand at the very top of the Grand Xia Dynasty? The fourth master, Rampart, only reached the Wanxiang Adept level before dying. Don’t end up like him.” The old black bull continued, “My creation was thanks to this Thousand Swords Immortal. Thus, I paid especial attention to this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. I didn’t just read it once; I also carefully pondered it. I’ll explain to you.” Ning immediately began to listen attentively. “The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] uses nine flying sword type magic treasures to form the base of a formation! You need nine formation bases…in order to form a sword formation. This is the most basic sword formation, which requires eighty one flying sword type magic treasures . This is the first level [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] attack.” “If you are able to control a second set of eighty one flying swords and have these two sword formations cooperate…your power will instantly multiple! This is the second level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! You will need 162 flying swords!” “If you are able to control 243 flying swords to have three sword formations join forces, your power will multiple once more. This is the third level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!” “Four sword formations will again multiply the power, and is known as the fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” “And so on and so forth.” “In the end, with nine sword formations combined, you will need exactly 729 flying swords, which will be the ninth level of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The power is so great…as to be 426 inconceivable! But of course, given your current soul strength, even if you are able to control many unranked flying swords, you are far from being able to reach this level for now.” Ning nodded as though understanding. “For example, if you were to become a Wanxiang Adept, you would be able to use unranked magic treasures to set up nine sword formations! But if you were to use ranked magic treasures, most likely you wouldn’t even be able to set up two or three sword formations.” The old black bull said, “The more powerful a magic treasure is, the more mental energy you use up in controlling them. Naturally, it won’t be easy to control them. But this also means that even after becoming a Celestial Immortal, you can still use this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. However, by then, perhaps you would have acquired an even better sword formation. But of course, this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…should be good enough for you to use for a thousand years.” “The most important secret of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] lies in the ‘Lesser Thousand Seal Lines’…” The old black bull continued to explain some of the mysteries. ————————— A while later, Ning had finished reading the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] for the first time. He couldn’t help but sigh in astonishment. Compared to the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], that ‘YinYang Twin Energy Formation’ which Ironwood Zhan had used was absolute trash. Ning immediately and quickly withdrew nine sword-shaped magic treasures from his storage treasure. Because these were all unranked magic treasures, generally speaking they were meant to be held in the hand when engaging in battle; there were thus some differences between them and flying swords. “Lesser Thousand Seal Lines.” Ning tested drawing the lines out on the floor with his finger. Given Ning’s control of his body, he was naturally able to completely duplicate the seal lines. The old black bull, by his side, shook his head. “No. It isn’t the appearance that needs to be the same; the inner meaning needs to be the same. When you draw the ‘Lesser Thousand Seal Lines’, you need to faintly activate the power of the heavens and the earth. Only then will the seal lines be complete.” “Alright.” Ning continued to draw. Because his copying ability was quite accurate, and given that Ning had already reached the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ level, and also had a faint hint of understanding regarding the ‘Dao’…after drawing it 312 times, he drew a seal line which was capable of utilizing a hint of the power of the world. “Right.” The old black bull nodded. “Your level of comprehension is very high, your soul is powerful, and you are very sensitive towards the heavens and the earth. It is only normal that you learn 427 quickly…remember, the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines is the base for the entire [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. You must not reveal it. Once the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines are revealed, some of the larger tribes will definitely be able to develop this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] just based on the seal lines.” Ning nodded. “I understand.” “Then you can begin.” The old black bull watched from one side. Ning let himself calm down, and then he withdrew a small basin from within his storage treasure. He placed his finger within the small basin, and from within his fingernail, one drop of blood after another began to well up and flow out. Soon, he had a small basin that was half-full of blood. Watching to the side, the old black bull shook his head and sighed emotionally, “Fiendgod Body Refiners have extremely powerful life force. They can be chopped into many pieces without dying, while Ki Refiners will die to a blow to the heart. If a Ki Refiner was to lose this much blood, their face would turn pale. For you, though, most likely your body replenished the blood as soon as you let it out.” Ning didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked up a sword-type magic treasure, which suddenly shrank in size greatly. Ning’s finger, stained with blood, began to draw atop the sword. In the blink of an eye, a single Lesser Thousand Seal Line appeared on the sword. A bloody light flashed, and quickly, the seal line completely merged into the sword. “Success.” The old black bull nodded. Ning then picked up yet another sword-type treasure. Once he had mastered the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines, he virtually never made a mistake. During this attempt at the trials, he had acquired thousands of magic treasures, with swords being extremely common. He had a full thousand sword-type magic treasures. Ning straightforwardly drew onto 729 of the sword-type magic treasures. “Formation base!” Ning sat there in the lotus position, and imposed his will. Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Immediately, nine swords swung into the air around Ning, slowly revolving. But there was something missing. Ning frowned. “Remember. The power of the sword formation comes from attuning to the heavens and the earth.” The old black bull said to one side. After the amount of time it took to brew tea. The nine swords hovering around Ning were faintly carrying within them a type of invisible intent. It was as though the nine swords actually formed a single entity. In that moment, the nine swords were positioned in a very perfect manner with respect to each other. “The formation base is complete. Formation, arise!” Ning willed it, and then 72 more swords suddenly lifted up, all of them in groups of nine. The first level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] required 81 swords to be formed into a formation. “Huahuahua…” 81 sword-type magic treasures circled and hovered around Ning, while Ning himself closed his eyes as he controlled them. Soon, with the Lesser Thousand Seal Lines in each sword as the base, the 81 sword-type magic treasures began to emit a hazy glow while countless sword glows quickly converged around Ning. A constantly fluctuating sword light hovered there in the air next to Ning. Ning finally opened his eyes and stared at the hovering sword light next to him. This sword light was the Xiantian ki of his which had been transformed and compressed by the magic formation of the 81 swordtype magic treasures. The amount of power had already caused a qualitative change, and the strength was astonishing. “Not too bad.” Ning willed it. Another 81 swords rose into the air. ———————- The old black bull stood there, watching. He couldn’t help but sigh in amazement at the strength of Ning’s soul. This wasn’t as simple as what he had done earlier, just stupidly and wildly controlling thousands of magic treasures to go forward in one direction. He had to carefully control every single flying sword…causing them to form a perfect, complete sword formation which was continuously able to summon the power of the heavens and the earth. “He mastered the third level as well. In terms of strength alone, the power of his sword light right now isn’t any longer than his earlier attack of thousands of magic treasures.” The old black bull sighed in astonishment. The power of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] multiplied several times over with each increase in level. Hundreds of sword-type magic treasures swiveled around Ning, with the surface of each sword having a hint of light on it. In front of Ning, the solidified, devouring sword light grew even more powerful. Yet another 81 swords entered the mix, with the level of difficulty in controlling them quickly increased as well. Ning’s forehead began to be covered in sweat. Rumble… All of the swords were hovering with a faint light. “Success.” The old black bull was stunned, incomparably stunned. “He is actually able to utilize the fifth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!” Papapapapapa…405 swords clattered and fell to the floor. His forehead covered in sweat, Ning opened his eyes and murmured to himself, “The fifth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is too arduous. My head hurts terribly. Normally, in battle, I should limit myself to the fourth level. Using the fourth level is much easier.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The old black bull looked at Ji Ning, head covered in sweat, and said in praise, “Formidable, formidable. Child Ji Ning, at such a young age, you are already able to utilize the fifth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Compared to you, that Rampart is nothing worth mentioning at all! I didn’t expect that after the Immortal estate has waited for so many years, an unpolished jade like you would appear!” Ning murmured to himself, ‘unpolished jade’? He himself had the experiences of his previous life, the [Nuwa Painting], and had been training hard since he was young. All these factors combined were what led to the old black bull praising him as being a piece of ‘unpolished jade’. “Senior, right now, I find it difficult to utilize the fifth level.” Ning repeatedly shook his head. “I’m only able to use the fourth level freely.” “Using it freely is more important.” The old black bull sighed. “Have you discovered that although the fourth level of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] only allows you to control three hundred or so flying swords, in terms of power, it is already greater than when you wildly controlled thousands of magic treasures!” Ning revealed a hint of amazement. “Even more powerful than the combined attack of thousands of swords from earlier? Although I was able to feel that the sword light I created was done so in a free manner and that it held great power, I didn’t know exactly how much power it had.” The old black bull said, “The fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] will allow you to kill most peak Xiantian lifeforms as easily as you wish.” Ning was delighted upon hearing this. “Senior.” Ning hurriedly asked, “Dare I ask, how is my current power? How does it compare to a Zifu Disciple?” “Right now, you have two primary types of battle tactics. The first relies on your Fiendgod body and your close-combat sword techniques.” The old black bull said. “Your swordplay already carries within it a hint of the True Meaning of the Dao. Most Xiantian lifeforms aren’t at such a high level of comprehension; most peak Xiantian lifeforms are at the ‘one with the world’ stage. Just based on this alone, you are at an advantage compared to most peak Xiantian lifeforms! But of course, I’m just talking about ‘ordinary’ Xiantian lifeforms. If your enemy is as much of a freak as you are, whose swordplay is not inferior to you, then it would be hard to say who would win.” Ning nodded. He understood. For example, his father, Ji Yichuan. His swordplay was most likely still inferior to that of his father; after all, Father had long ago reached the peak Xiantian level. Ning naturally wouldn’t be a match for his father. “If you relied on your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…” The old black bull continued, “Given your powerful Fiendgod body, if you use hundreds of flying swords to form into a [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the power will indeed be very formidable. In terms of strength, it will be far beyond that of peak Xiantian lifeforms. It should have reached the power level of most early Zifu Disciples.” “Just early Zifu?” Ning felt that his improvement should be larger than this. The old black bull shook his head. “Don’t underestimate Zifu Disciples. Once Zifu Disciples internally establish their Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’, their bodies will begin to generate elemental power! Even simple attacks such as punches and kicks will be far greater than that of the Xiantian level. These are two fundamentally different levels! In addition, more importantly, Zifu Disciples are capable of using ranked magic treasures.” “Ranked magic treasures are extremely powerful. Zifu Disciples, when using them, are far more powerful than you Xiantians can imagine. The difference between a peak Xiantian and a Zifu Disciple is like that of an infant and an adult.” The old black bull sighed in praise. Ning understood. Right. From the Xiantian level to the Zifu level was a fundamental change. It allowed one to be able to use ranked magic treasures. It was much like how a Xiantian lifeform could kill a peak Houtian expert as easily as chopping vegetables. Zifu Disciples could kill Xiantian lifeforms just as easily. “Remember.” The old black bull shook his head. “No matter what, do not underestimate Zifu Disciples. Every single Zifu Disciple has bizarre, strange abilities. Some are skilled at formations, others are skilled at venomous pests, still others at controlling souls or creating golems, or even sorcery…there’s no way to describe them in ‘general’. If you run into someone who is a bad matchup for you, you will definitely die.” “The weak can overcome the strong.” “If a bad matchup happens, an early Zifu expert can slay a late Zifu expert.” The old black bull sighed. “The path of Immortality includes everything in existence. There are too many techniques…a Zifu Disciple might be weak, but if he had raised millions of terrifying venomous insects, even a Wanxiang Adept might be devoured alive!” Ning swallowed a cold breath of air. “But it’s rare.” The old black bull said hurriedly. “It’s quite rare for someone of a lower rank to kill someone of a higher rank. For example, someone like you who has such an incredibly powerful soul as well as hundreds of flying swords, and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…many factors 432 combined to give you this sort of combat potential. I’m just warning you not to underestimate any opponent. Even Xiantian lifeforms.” Ning nodded gently. “Understood.” Upon reaching the Zifu Disciple level in particular, no one was easy to deal with. ——————————– In his heart, Ning was still quite joyful. On this trip to the underground estate, he had acquired a killing attack; the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! “Child Ji Ning.” The old black bull continued, “Before this, when I watched you attempt the trials, I discovered that the power of your swords is fairly average. Can it be that you aren’t aware of the ‘Fiendgod Bloodforging’ technique? “Fiendgod Bloodforging technique?” Ning blinked. “What’s that?” The old black bull couldn’t help but say, “In the Fiendgod Era, virtually all people with a bit of power or clans of a decent size would know about this. This is because every single Fiendgod knew it, and this was something which every single Fiendgod had to learn. I saw that you are clearly a Fiendgod Body Refiner, but you it seemed as though you didn’t know the Bloodforging technique. Naturally, that made me curious.” “Senior, please instruct me.” Ning asked hurriedly. Having an old person at home was like having a treasure. This sort of old man who had lived since the Fiendgod era knew so many things. “Fiendgods are not the same as we humans.” The old black bull said. “They don’t train in Ki, and are unable to use magic treasures. However, they need weapons as well. As their strength increased in power, however, how could they find a suitable weapon for them? Thus…the great powers amongst the Fiendgods developed the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique!” “First, find a weapon, and then utilize the complicated Rites of Bloodforging! After the bloodforging is completed the weapon will be able to absorb various auras, such as a baleful aura, an evil aura, a killing aura, and other auras. The more enemies you kill, the more powerful the enemies you kill, the more the weapon will naturally strengthen. It can change in size and weight as you please.” “This sort of weapon is often referred to as a ‘divine weapon’, a ‘demonic weapon’, or a ‘slaying weapon’.” The old black bull said. “As the strength of the master increases, and as the master kills more and more powerful opponents, the strength of the weapon will increase as well, to the point where in the Fiendgod era, some divine weapons and demonic weapons were even more powerful than Immortal-level magic treasures.” 433 Ning’s eyes were shining. Right. The heavens were always fair. The Fiendgods were completely unable to use magic weapons, but thus they had some techniques to make weapons for themselves. So it was through absorbing baleful auras and other auras; causing their divine weapons to increase in power through slaughter. “Senior, please teach me.” Ning said hurriedly. “Since I’ve mentioned this to you, of course I will teach you.” The old black bull said. “The Rites of Bloodforging are very complicated. Listen carefully.” The old black bull stood there, expounding on the process of the Rites of Bloodforging, while at the same time drawing down some diagrams on occasion. Ning just listened and memorized. Why was it known as the Rites of Bloodforging? The primary required ingredient was the blood of Fiendgods. For a human Fiendgod Body Refiner, only the blood of one who had naturally developed divine tattoos while reaching the Xiantian level would suffice, as only then would they have been reborn into the body of a Fiendgod. Only such a person would be able to use the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique. Some of the lower-class Fiendgod Body Refiners were unable to use this bloodforging technique. “Huahuahua…” Ning took out a gourd. This gourd was originally used to store wine. It didn’t look large, but it was able to contain ten thousand kilograms of wine. Ning poured out all of the remaining wine in the gourd, not leaving a single drop behind, and then placed his finger into the gourd. Blood dripped out from his finger, flowing into the gourd. A long time later. “A thousand kilograms of blood is enough.” The old black bull said to the side. “This bloodforging technique is only usable by Fiendgods. Normal Ki Refiners who lose this much blood will definitely die.” Ning sat there in the lotus position. Immediately after having released the blood, the powerful life force in his body naturally began to regenerate his blood. The only thing which was used up was divine power. When the divine power in Ning’s body was reduced to just half, roughly a thousand kilograms of blood had entered the gourd. “There are seven steps to the rites. You must be sincere.” The old black bull warned. Ning respectfully knelt down and kowtowed three times, and then stood up before kneeling down and kowtowing three more times. He did this eight times, in all eight directions! “Hua…” Ning suddenly overturned the gourd in his hand. From within the gourd flowed out a large amount of fresh blood. As soon as it flowed out, it was wrapped up by Ning’s divine will and quickly 434 scattered in an area of roughly two hundred and fifty meters around him. The countless droplets of blood formed into a massive diagram, a diagram of a head with disheveled hair. The diagram completed. Boom! Instantly, a bloody aura that was visible to the naked eye began to shine. “The descendant kneels in supplication to the Ancestor God.” Ning called out in a loud voice. The first step of the bloodforging rites – Begging the Ancestor God! ———————— The complicated Rites of Bloodforging continued for nearly half a day. The bloody light in the area had already formed into a bizarre character. According to what the old black bull had said…this sort of character was known as Fiendgod characters! It was a type of writing which the heavens had naturally given birth to. Although he had never learned it before, the first time he had seen the characters, he understood it. The meaning of this Fiendgod character was…‘KILL’! “Huahuahua…” Three Darknorth swords appeared in mid-air. As soon as they appeared, they began to hover there. The weapons which Ning was planning to use the Rites of Bloodforging on were these Darknorth swords! Because, according to what the old black bull had said, although the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique didn’t have very high standards necessary towards weapons, the better the base material was, the better the results would be. Those unranked magic treasures were simply too inferior. Based on the judgment of that old black bull, the Darknorth swords should have previously been Heavenlevel magic treasures. Although the runes atop them had been destroyed, the only thing that matter for bloodforging was the physical material components. As for the runes, those were meaningless. “Hua!” “Hua!” “Hua!” The ‘Kill’ character formed by the nearby blood began to shoot shadows out from itself, entering the three swords. That enormous ‘Kill’ character hovering in mid-air began to dim, and then disappeared. The entire hall once more returned to its usual calm. Ning let out a long breath. “Senior.” Ning couldn’t help but say. “Just then, I sensed an awesome presence that seemed even higher than that of the ‘Dao’…” He had meditated on the Dao before, and had gained a hint of an insight into the aura of the Dao. However, just now, when undergoing the Rites of Bloodforging, that ancient, natural aura that had emanated forth made him feel as though he had touched a powerful, mighty existence which was even more ancient than the Dao. The old black bull sighed. “I didn’t dare to say a word during the Rites of Bloodforging. I was completely stunned. Take a look and see how your weapon seems.” With a wave of his hand, the three Darknorth swords landed in Ning’s grasp. Picking one up with his divine will, he sliced it against his arm. Chi! The skin on his arm, seemingly as tough as leather, began to emit sparks, then finally cracked apart into a wound. “Much sharper.” Ning was shocked. “Your Darknorth swords were made from good materials.” The old black bull said. “Right now, your close combat abilities have increased dramatically. Most peak Xiantian experts won’t be a match for you. In close combat, you are only one or two levels lower in power than when using the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. However, you must understand that you are training in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Your close combat strength will increase at a monstrous rate. For example, when you train to the sixth stage, your close combat power should completely eclipise the power of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Once you then learn a close-combat type ‘divine ability’, it will become effortless for you to do battle against those at a higher level.” Ning’s eyes lit up. “Elder, do you know any divine abilities?” “Divine abilities? Those are the secrets of the great powers amongst Fiendgods, which are not taught to outsiders.” The old black bull shook his head. “Immortal Juhua only knew a single divine ability; the ‘Heavenly Transformation’ technique. Unfortunately, I never asked him about it. Alright…given your potential, in the future, you will definitely have the chance to learn a ‘divine ability’. Once you do, it will be normal for you to fight those at a higher level. That is the power of a true Fiendgod!” Ning nodded. He understood. As an Fiendgod Body Refiner, he had a good foundation. In a few years, he would reach the sixth stage. His [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would also strengthen alongside his soul, and he was very talented. The only problem was that the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had very high requirements with regards to magic treasures. When he became a Zifu Disciple, he would have to get hundreds of ranked magic treasures…his head hurt just thinking about it. “Enough. You can go back now.” The old black bull said. “Thank you so much, Senior.” Ning naturally had packed away the scrolls of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and the [Inner Visualization of the Shining Sun-Moon Buddha]. Although he himself didn’t need the visualization technique for himself, he could still leave it for his parents or the Ji clan. “You can go.” The old black bull said. Hua! Ning only felt an enormous illusory grizzly head appear, swallowing him within its maw. Spacetime around him once more distorted. He understood that he was about to return to Serpentwing Lake. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Serpentwing Ji Ning only felt spacetime changing, and then everything calmed down. “Huh?” Ning looked at the dark tunnel in the lair. This was the place he had been teleported from. He couldn’t help but laugh. This event truly had been something he had barely survived. However, in the end, he had lived, and his power was much greater than before as well. “Next time I go in, I’ll need to have first bound this control talisman.” Ning stretched out his hand, and a roughly made talisman appeared within it, with the Fiendgod character for ‘Right’ embedded on it. Ning had tested binding it, but unfortunately, his Xiantian ki was completely unable to enter it. It seemed as though he absolutely had to wait to become a Zifu Disciple. “Right?” Ning murmured. “Why is there a ‘Right’ character on this talisman? I wonder what sort of history it has.” And then, Ning pushed it to the back of his mind as he stored the talisman again. With a leap, he moved out from the corridor as agilely and as quickly as a gust of wind. ———————- Serpentwing Lake, within a crude room. Ji Yichuan and his wife were living here. Yuchi Snow was currently quietly seated at the side of the lake. In her hand, she held a cup of boiling hot water, which she was slowly drinking. “Snow, Snow.” Suddenly, a cry of excitement rang out from within the room. Yuchi Snow immediately turned her head to look. The normally glacier-like Yichuan now had his face covered with excitement and joy as he rushed out. On his chest, some drops of water could be seen, with the faint scent of wine. Yuchi Snow, seeing the way her man was acting, had a sense that she knew what had happened. “What is it?” “I can sense it.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “I can sense the jade sword. It is completely unharmed! Previously, Ning definitely must have suddenly entered a secret, hidden area, a small dimension or a small world, or perhaps an ancient formation. He has already come out of that hidden area alive.” 438 Encountering a relic site was a matter of luck, but it also represented an enormous risk! Ning hadn’t left for over a month, and so the two of them had been growing increasingly concerned and increasingly panicked. Yuchi Snow closed her eyes. Two flows of tears came out, and she murmured to herself, “Thank the heavens and thank the earth. Thank the heavens and thank the earth.” “He is currently in the center of Serpentwing Lake, most likely on that island.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Let’s go see him.” Snow stood up. “Right.” It had been a long time since Yichuan had lost his composure like this. Even when he had learned that his son had broken through to the Xiantian level, he hadn’t been this excited. Immediately, he took his wife by the hand and began running across the surface of the lake as though it were solid land, transforming into a streak of blue mist as he hurried afar. The Azure Firebird couldn’t always be here waiting. After all, that was the spirit-beast of Ji Redflower! In recent days, Yichuan and Snow had been living here, while the Azure Firebird had gone home. Suddenly… “Diremonster Serpentwing, I, Ji Ning, have come again! You still won’t come out?!” A loud roar spread in every direction, including into the ears of Yichuan and his wife, still walking across the surface of the lake. “Ning, he…” Yuchi Snow couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a laugh on her face. “As soon as he leaves that hidden relic site, he immediately once again challenges that Serpentwing.” Yichuan nodded. “Ji Ning relied on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to become a Xiantian, and so he wasn’t that far off from Serpentwing to begin with in power. This time, within that hidden relic site, perhaps he had some certain gains…and now that I can sense his location, there’s no need for any concern.” “Right.” Snow nodded as well. The two continued to move forward. Soon… “Look!” Yichuan saw from afar, in the distance, the waves of the lake were parted as a youngster was walking directly towards the bottom of the lake. “That kid has actually parted the waters and is heading directly towards the bottom of the lake.” “He’s going to the bottom of the lake?” Snow was shocked. Yichuan shook his head. “Don’t be worried. You watched Ning as he grew up. Can it be that you don’t know his temperament? If he wasn’t confident, would he go down?” “Right.” Snow nodded. “Let’s go over, but we’ll stay on the surface of the lake.” Yichuan said. “We’ll monitor the situation down below at all times. As soon as anything goes wrong, I will immediately go down.” ———————– “Diremonster Serpentwing, I, Ji Ning, have come again! You still won’t come out?!” After calling out while at the surface of the lake, Ning waited for a long time but Serpentwing still did not come out. Ning immediately made the decision to use his power to control fire and water to take command over the water around him in Serpentwing Lake. Huahuahua…. The waters of the lake were parted by an invisible hand, and were parted, revealing a corridor into the water. Ning walked directly towards the bottom of the lake. The deeper he went, the more powerful the water pressure became. Ning directly controlled a cylindrical underwater ‘corridor’ roughly ten meters across as he walked down through the corridor. “That’s the one named Ji Ning.” “It’s him.” The aquatic lesser monsters within the lake stared from afar as a human walked down through a corridor. All of them once more went to make the report. Serpentwing’s nest. The Diremonster, Serpentwing, had already transformed into human form, and was seated on a chair. He was forcibly suppressing his rage. “This Ji Ning came over a month ago to challenge me, and now he is challenging me again! The lake is so enormous. If some Xiantian lifeforms are hidden nearby, who would know? I know you have a trap. How could I let myself fall for it?” “Great king, great king.” “Great king.” Three lesser aquatic monsters came charging over. “What is it?” Serpentwing growled. Of the three lesser aquatic monsters, the leader, a prawn monster, hurriedly reported, “Great king, that Ji Ning suddenly parted the waters and has begun entering the depths of the lake.” “Entering the lake?” Serpentwing suddenly stood up, then immediately said, “When he parted the waters, what method did he use?” “We didn’t see him use any Xiantian Ki, nor did we see anything special. The waters simply naturally parted.” That prawn monster said hurriedly. Serpentwing said in astonishment, “No wonder this Ji Ning dared to challenge me in such a way. So he was capable of controlling water as soon as his Fiendgod Body Refining technique reached the Xiantian level. I wonder which type of technique he trains it. Who cares. When I went to the Western Prefecture City, he was only at Houtian level. Now that he has reached the Xiantian level, he is still only at most an early Xiantian!” “He actually dares to enter the lake!” The long, narrow eyes of Serpentwing were flashing with a ferocious light. “Hell has no doors, but you insist on barging in. I, Serpentwing, will naturally grant you your wish and send you to the depths of the eighteenth level of Hell.” Serpentwing immediately charged out of his nest. If they were on the surface of the lake, Serpentwing would be afraid of an ambush. But the bottom of the lake was his territory. Humans who entered it wouldn’t be able to use a tenth of their power; even if Yichuan had entered, he would only at most be able to wound Serpentwing. “Ji Ning is actually as stupid as this? It makes sense. He’s just an eleven year old child. His power is great, and so he thinks he is a peerless talent, and he has no regard for anyone. You killed my boy Redtip. I will definitely kill you.” Serpentwing, upon leaving his nest, immediately transformed into his enormous winged serpent form, swimming at high speed. “So it really is him!” Serpentwing suddenly came to a halt. Staring into the distance, he saw that from afar, Ning was already very close to the bottom of the lake, and a cylindrical downwards corridor was constantly being created, with a human youth slowly walking downwards. “He really did come to the bottom of the lake.” Serpentwing’s red eyes were filled with a murderous light. “He really is asking for death.” Hua… He quickly swam over. ——————————- Ning was wielding the Darknorth sword in his hand, striding on the water as he walked towards the bottom of Serpentwing Lake. Wherever he walked past, the waters of the lake naturally parted to form a corridor. “Hrm?” Ning immediately saw that enormous black shadow draw close to him. “Serpentwing!” Ning immediately recognized him. As the enormous black shadow drew near, that ferocious head of Serpentwing’s grew clearer as well. Those scarlet red eyes were staring angrily at Ning. “Ji Ning!” Serpentwing let out a furious howl, his voice ringing out. “You killed my son. Today, I will make you pay for it with your life!” Ji Ning roared back, “Old monster, you have slaughtered humans in the thousands. You caused the death of Spring Grass, and today, I will personally execute you!” The original cause of so many things! So many people had died. Spring Grass had died. All of this came from the enmity between himself and Serpentwing. “Hahaha, you will execute me? Little child, you truly don’t know your own limits. You actually dare to come into the depths of the water…once you are within the water, you won’t be able to return to the surface of the lake until your next life!” Serpentwing was supremely confident. “Your father wounded me multiple times, but I will let him share the pain of losing a child with me!” As soon as his words came to an end, Serpentwing suddenly scurried forward, charging straight towards the corridor which Ning had created. “Hua…” First, a serpentine tail pierced into the watery corridor, smashing straight towards Ning. Serpentwing’s current speed and power…was immeasurably greater than the Azure Skysnake’s. “He lives up to being a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster.” Ning was startled. In terms of speed alone, the late Xiantian-level Serpentwing was actually somewhat weaker than the Azure Skysnake, but in strength he was definitely above the Azure Skysnake. But now, even in terms of his weakness, speed, Serpentwing was superior to the Azure Skysnake. As for his strong point, power, Serpentwing had reached an awe-inducing level. “Old monster, prepare for death!” Ning immediately utilized his Windwing Evasion, transforming into blurred smoke that was even faster than the whipping attack of the serpentine tail of Serpentwing, immediately leaping onto the body of the snake. “Roaaaaaaaaaaar.” Serpentwing turned his head, opening his foul maw and biting down towards Ning. Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords in his hands, leapt up and directly stabbed towards Serpentwing’s serpentine head. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Blood Serpentwing’s giant bloody maw spat out a watery arrow of liquid. Swish! Swish! Swish! Gleaming with black light, the venomous liquid spread out towards Ji Ning, who didn’t dodge at all. The Darknorth sword in his left hand immediately executed the ‘Watertight’ technique, deflecting the venomous liquid to one side, and it landed on Serpentwing’s own body. “Crackle…” Serpentwing’s scales were immediately set alight, but then afterwards the venomous liquid sank into Serpentwing’s body, absorbed by him. Ning’s left hand had pushed aside the venomous liquid. His right hand was stabbing straight for Serpentwing’s head! His sword flashed like a ray of light! Hua! This sword contained the power of the True Meaning of the Waterdrop, and was so fast that it caused even Serpentwing to be shocked. He hurriedly tried to twist his head away. “Raindrop!” Ning’s eyes were filled with a cold, flashing light. “PIERCES ROCKS!!!” The sword light flashed straight through the side of Serpentwing’s head, piercing straight through those scales and then burrowing straight through the side of his head. Beneath the injury, one could faintly even see the white skull bone, and an enormous amount of green blood sprayed out from the wound. “He actually injured me?” The old monster, Serpentwing, went completely berserk. He wildly swung his head, his enormous scaled wings quickly sweeping towards Ning as well, and even his serpentine tail struck out, seeking to constrict Ning. For a moment it seemed as though he had been possessed, and the waters of the lake around them began to bubble and froth. Ning, wielding his two swords, moved like a shadow. “Not only will I injure you, I will kill you!” Although Serpentwing was stunned at the power of the swordplay Ning had displayed, he refused to believe that he, an old monster who had been training for a thousand years, would be defeated by this little human child. What’s more, Ning was the one who killed his most beloved child, Redtip…in this moment, Serpentwing had only one thought – kill Ji Ning! Huahuahua… 444 The waters of the lake swirled about, and the enormous scaled wings as well as that unpredictable serpentine tail attacked wildly. The waters of the lake was the domain of the aquatic monsters, and here, Serpentwing was like a tiger who had been given wings. Using the principles of ‘using generals against soldiers, using earth to block floods’, Ning continued to use appropriate, matching techniques to deal with the attacks. His sword techniques flashed out, leaving behind one wound after another on the serpentine tail and scaled wings of Serpentwing. “How is this possible!” “How can he possibly defeat me!” “Die! Die! Die! I will make you die!” The old monster Serpentwing was now completely berserk. Ning continued to battle against him, and occasionally, with but a glance, he would create a fire lotus petal or a water lotus petal. The fire lotus petal and water lotus petal would appear directly above and below Serpentwing, boxing him within. As the fire lotus petal and water lotus petal slowly swiveled in opposite directions, Serpentwing began to howl as his scales began to crack. “FORM!” Above his head, a layer of frost rapidly appeared, while at the same time, his serpentine head shook violently, dispersing the Waterflame Lotus. ——————- They battled wildly within the lake, causing utter chaos. None of the lesser aquatic monsters dared to draw near. Serpentwing’s body was covered with multiple gaping wounds, and green blood oozed everywhere, staining the surrounding lake water green. Above the lake. Ji Yichuan, dressed in white fur, stood there with Yuchi Snow. The entire surface of the lake was shaking wildly, as though deep within the lake, an enormous aquatic monster was shaking. “Such a large commotion.” Yichuan’s eyes lit up. Snow nodded as well. “It seems Ning is giving that old monster Serpentwing a great deal of pressure. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a large commotion. Look, the water of the lake is turning green, and there are corpses of fishes and prawns.” The nearby undulating waters of the lake were beginning to have corpses of fish and prawns float on the surface. Clearly, they had been poisoned. Yichuan took a sniff with his nose. “This is the blood of Serpentwing. His blood is highly venomous. Even after having been diluted by the lake water, most fish and prawns will be poisoned to death by it.” 445 “He has lost so much blood.” Snow’s amusement became even more pronounced. “Ning’s power has improved greatly.” “Right. To let a peak Xiantian-level old monster like Serpentwing lose so much blood is indeed very impressive.” Yichuan was very eager as well. ————————— Serpentwing had already used all the power available to him, but he still had yet to even injure Ning. Instead, his body was now covered with wounds, all inflicted by the sharp Darknorth swords in Ning’s hands. “After I reached the peak Xiantian stage, in this area controlled by the Ji clan, there’s only a few people more powerful than me! All of them are extremely famous…how could this punk Ji Ning be so powerful? Most likely, not even that Ji Lee is a match for him.” Serpentwing, after going berserk for a time, had calmed down, and had begun to plan for a retreat. The power Ning had displayed truly was astonishing. As an old monster, Serpentwing’s body was naturally powerful…the sword attacks of most Xiantian-level Ki Refiners probably wouldn’t even break through his scales. But Ning’s swords were incomparably sharp! They sliced right through, leaving massive wounds, or pierced right through, gouging great holes. “In a few more years, won’t this Ji Ning be even more powerful than his father?” The rage in Serpentwing’s heart was quickly dissipating, leaving behind only terror and alarm. “There’s no way I’ll be able to outfight a freak like him. I’d best flee!” Swoosh! With a shake of his serpentine tail and a turn of his serpentine head, the two scaled wings began to tremble…and Serpentwing began to attempt to flee at high speed. “Old monster Serpentwing, don’t even think about fleeing!” Ning, currently standing on Serpentwing’s body, simultaneously controlled the corridor of water while utilizing the Windwing Evasion technique rapidly. “If I want to leave, I’ll leave.” Serpentwing bellowed. With a shake of his tail, the waters of the lake immediately grew turbulent, and a surge of water immediately drenched Ning. Immediately afterwards, Serpentwing felt extremely delighted. A corridor formed by controlling water? Serpentwing was an aquatic monster who could also control water. To destroy it would naturally be extremely easy. If he wasn’t able to beat Ning, could it be that he also wouldn’t be able to flee? “Huh?” Serpentwing suddenly, vaguely felt a terrifying threat appear. He couldn’t help but to turn his head and look. In the lake waters behind him, Ning was currently standing upright and floating, surrounded by countless sword-type magic treasures. Every single one of them was covered with a faintly glowing light. A glowing sword of light formed from Xiantian ki that had been passed through and transformed by over three hundred flying sword magic treasures was currently hovering next to Ning, flickering. “Magic treasures? So many magic treasures?” Serpentwing was stunned. Swish! The glowing sword of light flashed, instantly traversing hundreds of meters. Serpentwing could sense that this glowing sword of light contained boundless power. He wanted to turn his head to dodge it, but the glowing sword of light only curved slightly when arcing, and thus still pierced with great precision straight through the center of Serpentwing’s serpentine head. Bang! The sword of light pierced straight through Serpentwing’s skull, carrying with it green blood as well as some brain tissue. “Aaaaah!” Serpentwing stared at Ning in astonishment. “This formation, formation…” “You should feel honored that you died beneath this sword formation.” Ning slowly walked over, and the waters of the lake parted before him. Serpentwing’s eyes grew dim, and then his enormous body began to slowly drift downwards… This old monster of Serpentwing Lake, who had been treated as a local tyrant for thousands of years, had died! Watching the corpse of Serpentwing slowly drift down, Ning had very complicated feelings in his heart. It was this old monster who had gone to Western Prefecture City to attack him…resulting in this chain of events. When he had gone out adventuring and exploring, he had treated Serpentwing as his ultimate goal. Although Serpentwing had broken through to the peak Xiantian level in power, Ning had still executed him! “Collect.” Ning grabbed Serpentwing’s enormous corpse. With but a thought, he stored it into an empty storage-type magic treasure. Although Serpentwing’s corpse was massive, when rolled up, it could still fit into one of the storage-type magic treasures. Although Ning didn’t have many other things, he had nearly a thousand storage-type magic treasures. “Time to go back up.” With but a thought, the waters parted above him, and Ning began to walk upwards. ————————- Yichuan and Snow were standing atop the lake, waiting. “No more movement?” Snow looked at the slowly calming waters. “There’s nothing going on down there any longer.” “Serpentwing was most likely unable to do anything to Ning.” Yichuan said. “Thus, he probably retreated. This battle has come to an end.” Snow looked at her man. “Can’t it be that Ning executed that old monster?” “Executed? In the water, that old monster can battle when he wants and flee when he wants. Beating him is easy, but executing him? Hard, hard, hard.” Yichuan had personally fought with Serpentwing a few times. He couldn’t help but shake his head. But then his eyes lit up, and he stared into the distance. “Look. Ji Ning is coming out.” Snow turned to look as well. From afar was the island in the center of Serpentwing Lake. A white wave was rising up next to the island, and the wave then parted, creating a corridor. A youth dressed in beast furs was walking through the waves, heading straight for the island. “Ning!” Snow immediately called out. ———————– Ning had been walking on the waves and heading for the island, but in his ears, he suddenly heard that familiar call. “Ning!” “Mother?” Ning was stunned, and he hurriedly turned to look. From afar, he saw Ji Yichuan, dressed in white furs, and Yuchi Snow. They were rapidly running towards him on water. This sight caused Ning to be both astonished and delighted. Yichuan and Snow landed on the island. “Ning.” As soon as she had arrived, Snow immediately grabbed her son by the hand, carefully inspecting him. “Don’t worry. Even if Ji Ning was wounded, given the strength of his Fiendgod body, he will quickly recover.” Yichuan looked towards Ning, his eyes filled with satisfaction. “To be able to battle with a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster and cause him, Serpentwing, to flee helplessly…Ning, you have improved even more than I predicted.” Ning was startled, and then he quickly said, “Father, I executed the Diremonster, Serpentwing.” 448 If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “You executed Serpentwing?” Ji Yichuan looked at his son, and by his side, Yuchi Snow stared in disbelief as well. The two of them knew that their son wasn’t the type of person to tell lies, but this was simply too…when the experts of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan had battled Serpentwing numerous times, they hadn’t been able to execute Serpentwing. Ji Ning said hurriedly, “Father, please look.” With a wave of his hand, out of nowhere, an enormous thing covered in wounds appeared in the pool next to them. Those enormous scaled wings, that viscous green blood…they all testified to this creature’s identity. “Serpentwing?” “Serpentwing?” Yichuan and Snow looked at the enormous corpse. They couldn’t help but exchange a glance. “It seems my son’s strength…his strength is quite extraordinary.” Yichuan said. “Not only did he kill Serpentwing, he also was able to store Serpentwing’s corpse within storage-type magic treasures.” “Father. Mother.” Ning didn’t hide anything. “When I was adventuring at Eastmount Marsh, I encountered the Ironwood clan’s Ironwood Zhan.” Yichuan and Snow were both startled. Ironwood Zhan? That was a dangerous foe. “He probably was there to deal with the Azure Skysnake to try and force it to become his slave.” Ning said. At this point, he began to sigh a bit as he thought back to how he and the Azure Skysnake had battled repeatedly with each other, with the two being unable to harm each other, and how slowly, they began to build respect for each other as opponents. In the end, as he did not find the Azure Skysnake’s corpse within Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasures, nor did he see the Azure Skysnake become a tamed slave, Ning understood that the Azure Skysnake, at that critical juncture, had probably developed its natural ability, ‘Void Blink’. An Azure Skysnake who had developed the Void Blink technique was like a carp who had transformed into a dragon! It had definitely left the Swallow Mountain area to roam the world in search of natural treasures… It was hard to say if they would ever meet again. Ning quickly returned to his senses. “When Ironwood Zhan battled the Azure Skysnake, I took the chance to flee, and I fled over a thousand kilometers out of the mountain forests…and by the side of a pool, as I rested, I was lucky enough to suddenly gain an understanding of the Dao.” “An understanding of the Dao?” Yichuan and his wife exchanged glances. They held their breaths. “I spent an entire night comprehending the Dao, but I didn’t expect that in the end, I was disrupted by the pursuing Ironwood Zhan.” Ning shook his head. “However, in my fury, I immediately utilized the Yin and Yang power, fusing it into the Crimsonbright divine power. Heavenly water and fire descended upon me, transforming me into a Xiantian Fiendgod’s body as I became a Xiantian lifeform. At that time, my power dramatically increased, and I then first killed Ironwood Zhan’s spirit-beast, that Bi’An Tiger, and then Ironwood Zhan himself!” Yichuan said in surprise, “You killed Ironwood Zhan?” “Right.” Ning waved his hand, and within it appeared a black rattan whip. “This is Ironwood Zhan’s personal weapon.” Upon seeing the Blackwood Vinewhip, Yichuan nodded and sighed in approval. “This is indeed his Blackwood Vinewhip. As soon as you reached the Xiantian level, you defeated and slayed Ironwood Zhan. It seems as though that night you spent comprehending the Dao helped you improve quite substantially.” Ning nodded. “That night, as I comprehended the Dao, I gained insight into a hint of the True Meaning of the Dao.” “The True Meaning of the Dao?” Even Snow called out in shock. “Was it truly the True Meaning of the Dao?” Yichuan didn’t dare to believe it either. In raising one’s level of enlightenment, the higher one went, the harder it became. Above the level of ‘one with the world’ was the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’! Even most Zifu Disciples hadn’t reached the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ level! Yichuan, in the past, had only managed to reach this level thanks to special circumstances, and in addition, this was something which the Ji clan had held as a secret and never made public. Others only believed Yichuan to be at the ‘one with the world’ level. “My son is only eleven.” Snow’s eyes were shining. “But he’s actually reached the level of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, and is training in what is acknowledged as the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. With this sort of talent, it would be exceptionally easy for him to be accepted for tutelage by some of the major powers.” “No rush, no rush.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Are you able to actually utilize the True Meaning of the Dao that you comprehended?” Comprehension was one thing, but being able to utilize it was another thing altogether. At the ancient aquatic estate, Ning had been in a near-lethal situation when he finally managed to execute the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’. “Father, please watch.” The Darknorth swords appeared in Ning’s hands, and he shot a sword into the air. Hua! The tip of the sword seemed like a drop of rain, causing the air around it to ripple violently. “True Meaning of the Raindrop!” Yichuan nodded repeatedly. “This is the True Meaning of the Raindrop. That night you spent comprehending the Dao allowed you to be able to put the True Meaning of the Dao on display through your swordplay? This is…this is…” Yichuan didn’t even know what to say. Swallow Mountain, at least, had never seen such a monstrous talent. Most likely, only in those distant, super-massive tribes would an equivalent talent exist. “I was only able to comprehend the True Meaning of the Raindrop in a hidden area.” Ning said. “I imagine, Father and Mother, that you both knew that I was trapped within a hidden area.” The couple hurriedly nodded. “Your son suddenly disappeared, and caused you such worry, Father, Mother…” Ning, after seeing his parents, quickly understood this. His father had no doubt been unable to sense the jade sword, and thus had frantically rushed over. After all, the aquatic palace was in a completely different dimension. How could his father sense the jade sword there? At that time, most likely his father was worried that he was dead. Ning could completely guess at how his father and mother had felt, having been worried for so long. He couldn’t help but feel rather ashamed. “This isn’t your fault.” Yichuan sighed. “When I was adventuring back in the day, I saw multiple relic sites, but never entered them. Although relic sites offer great opportunities, perhaps not even one out of a hundred will come out of a site alive. Your mother and I are very happy that you came out of it alive.” Snow gently rubbed her son’s hair as well. Over this past month, she truly had been very worried. “But I imagine in that hidden area, your gains were quite substantial. You were actually able to execute Serpentwing in one encounter.” Yichuan said. He didn’t believe that his son would be able to kill Serpentwing solely after having comprehended the True Meaning of the Raindrop. After all, Yichuan himself had long ago gained insight into the True Meaning of the Raindrop. In addition, Yichuan had merged every single one of the nine sword techniques of the [Raindrop Sutra] with the True Meaning of the Raindrop, and yet was still unable to kill Serpentwing. “Right. I received the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” With a wave of his hand, Ning retrieved those multiple pieces of fur parchment, offering them to his parents. Although the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was a secret, there was no need for Ning to hide anything from his parents. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]?” Yichuan and his wife both took a look, but as soon as they did, their faces changed. “This, this…” Yichuan and his wife were completely stunned. They were quite experienced, especially Snow, whose lineage was extraordinary. They were quickly able to tell how special this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was. Yichuan couldn’t refrain from saying, “This [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is even more powerful than any of the ‘ultimate techniques’ of our Ji clan. Snow, this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is most likely comparable to your tribe’s [Windwing Evasion] technique.” Off to one side, Ning couldn’t help but sigh. That which Fiendgod Body Refiners needed most was divine abilities! But every single divine ability, even in the Fiendgod era, was not permitted to be taught to outsiders. Not even the old black bull in that ancient aquatic estate had known any. It was only because the Yuchi clan had helped that Celestial Immortal and saved his life that they had gained a ‘divine ability’. The value of a divine ability was perhaps even greater than that of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Fortunately, his mother had given this ‘divine ability’ to him, as otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken before he would have had a chance to learn his first divine ability? “This [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] possesses extraordinary power. It is a peerless formation technique that can allow a person to battle at a higher level of power.” Yuchi Snow said. “Only, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] has very high requirements for magic treasures as well as the soul. This is its weakness.” “Right. Several hundred magic treasures. Who can acquire so many?” Yichuan nodded as well. But Ning said, “Father, Mother, in the hidden area, I acquired many unranked magic treasures. Simply too many.” As he spoke, he brought out the storage armguard and gave it to his parents, while at the same time, Ning withdrew all of his personal ki from within the magic treasures, so as to allow others to more easily bind them.” “Too many?” Yichuan accepted the armguard, puzzled. He quickly bound the armguard, and as soon as he investigated it, he couldn’t help but reveal a look of shock. “What is it?” Snow immediately asked. “The number of magic treasures…is most likely in the thousands.” Yichuan sighed. “So many!” Snow was shocked as well. Although they didn’t care about unranked magic treasures, there were ‘thousands’ of them within. Even the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan would be envious of such a fortune. Ning added, “Those magic treasures are useless to me. I’ll hand them to Father and Mother for you to dispose.” He had dozens of storage treasures and over a thousand sword-type magic treasures, as well as various other scattered magic treasures, such as wing-type magic treasures…which was very suited for him to train in the [Windwing Evasion] technique. The scattered treasures also included some Dao-seals, formations, and others items. As for the thousands of storage treasures, blades, whips, staffs, spears, and axes, he might as well give all of those to his father. —————————— Ning had first acquired the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], then shown off so many magic treasures. His parents had yet to fully recover, before Ning spoke once more. “This time, in the hidden area, I acquired a treasure. This will be of true benefit to our Ji clan.” “What is it?” Yichuan and Snow immediately looked over. With a wave of Ning’s hand, a beast fur scroll appeared. Atop the beast fur scroll, a sun and a moon hung high in the sky, sparkling with boundless light down upon a Buddha. “A visualization technique!” Yichuan and Snow simultaneously spoke out. Ning said with surprise, “Father, Mother, you know already?” “How could we not know?” Snow stared at the painting of the Buddha. “In the past, my Yuchi clan also had a Visualization painting, but afterwards, the Visualization painting was lost in a struggle with another tribe. But Ning, this visualization technique is a technique which can allow one to strengthen the soul. The soul is a person’s foundation. While normally it is hard to see the benefits of a strong soul, the benefits are invisible and tremendous. You should leave this with you and use it at all times.” Ning hurriedly said, “In the hidden area, I was fortunate enough to have a Visualization painting imprinted directly into my memory! It is even clearer than this!” Snow, understanding the situation, said joyfully, “My son’s karmic luck is extraordinary. According to legends, the ancestor of my Yuchi clan met a Celestial Immortal, who with but a single finger point imprinted the Visualization painting directly into his soul. It was even clearer than the painting, and it could be visualized at all times. I didn’t expect that in this hidden area, my son would also have such a stroke of fortune.” 454 Ning thought back to how, while he was being reincarnated, he had run into the Lord of Cui Palace in the Netherworld Kingdom, and how the Lord of Cui Palace had also used a single finger to imprint the [Nuwa Painting] into his soul’s memory. “Father, Mother, the name of this visualization technique is the [Inner Visualization of the Sun-Moon Buddha].” Ning added. “Ji Ning.” Yichuan’s heart was pounding as he looked at his son. “This [Inner Visualization of the Sun-Moon Buddha] will have a long-lasting impact on the Ji clan. I will immediately take it back. However, this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] should not be publicized for now. It is too hard to train in, and aside from you, no one in the Ji clan is capable of bringing forth the power of this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. After your own strength improves in the future, you yourself can decide whether or not you want to publicize it. As for those unranked magic treasures, I will help you dispose of them.” “Let it all be as you decide, Father.” Ning replied. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Yichuan looked at his wife. “Snow, Ji Ning’s strength can be considered at the absolute top for all below the Zifu Disciple level. The Swallow Mountain region is unable to contain him any further.” Snow nodded as well. She understood what her man was saying. “Huh?” Ji Ning looked at his parents, somewhat puzzled. Yichuan said, “Ji Ning, you should know about the six great powers here at Swallow Mountain.” “I know.” Ning nodded. “Swallow Mountain has six local hegemons. They are our Ji clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult, the Ironwood clan, and Snowdragon Mountain. Of the six hegemons, our Ji clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, and the Blackfire Cult are allies, while the Ironwood clan and the Snowdragon Mountain are allied!” The six major hegemons of Swallow Mountain were arrayed into two alliances, and the battles between them were very fierce, with Xiantian lifeforms often dying. Yichuan continued, “But are you aware of the reason as to why the alliance between the Ironwood clan and Snowdragon Mountain is capable of forcing us other four hegemons to ally together?” “I am not.” Ning shook his head. These secrets were not recorded in any books. “The six great powers are all guarded by Zifu Disciples.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Your power is most likely already invincible against anyone below the Zifu Disciple level. In a few more years, you will most likely become a Zifu Disciple, so I must tell you these things now!” “That Ironwood clan is not worth mentioning!” Yichuan said seriously, his eyes filled with a murderous light. “But the Snowdragon Mountain is a truly formidable enemy. They are truly frightening. In our Swallow Mountain region, Snowdragon Mountain is merely a single branch of the true Snowdragon Mountain Sect.” “A branch?” Ning was stunned. Of the six hegemons, Snowdragon Mountain was the most powerful force. But this Snowdragon Mountain was merely a branch? Yichuan looked at his son and said solemnly, “The power of the Snowdragon Mountain Sect is thousands of times greater than that of Swallow Mountain’s Snowdragon Mountain Branch, and thousands of times 456 greater than our Ji clan! This is a colossal, top-tier clan which is not inferior than your mother’s Yuchi clan!” Yuchi Snow looked at her son as well. “The [Windwing Evasion] includes the history of my Yuchi clan. My Yuchi clan is an extremely ancient, top-tier large clan. Clans like the Ji clan…are completely incomparable to the likes of my Yuchi clan. But of course, that was all in the past. ———————— Ning, hearing his parents speak of these things, instantly had a desire to learn more about this boundless world. The Yuchi clan, Snowdragon Mountain, and those legendary, distant top-tier clans. They were all so far away from Swallow Mountain. “Ning, do you know how large the Grand Xia Dynasty is, exactly?” Snow looked at her son. “I do not.” Ning shook his head. The Grand Xia Dynasty had been founded in the Fiendgod Era, and had destroyed other ancient dynasties to unify this vast world. It had existed for trillions of years! The books which described the territory of the Grand Xia Dynasty all used the same word: Boundless! How enormous would such a dynasty be? How deep would its roots be? “When the Grand Xia Dynasty unified the world, it divided the world into 3600 commanderies, and also assigned 800 Marquises!” Snow said slowly. “Because the world is simply too vast, even Immortals and Fiends found it difficult to govern it. Thus, they divided it into 3600 commanderies. Amongst these 3600 commanderies, there are large ones and small ones, but even the smallest are extremely vast.” “Swallow Mountain is under the governance of the Stillwater Commandery, which is the territory ruled over by the Marquis of Stillwater.” Snow said. “The commandery city of Stillwater is nearly a million kilometers away from us.” “The commandery city of Stillwater? A million kilometers away from us?” Ning could completely imagine how in that distant, distant region, there was an incomparably ancient, vast, and bustling city. In that place, Immortals and Fiends congregated, their decisions impacting this entire enormous region. Snow continued, “The commandery city of Stillwater is the seat of power for the entire Stillwater Commandery, a place where Immortals and Fiends reside. However, Stillwater Commandery is simply too vast, and there are tens of thousands of regions within it like our Swallow Mountain…thus, some of the most top tier clans, schools, and sects are all scattered throughout the area!” “As large as that?” Ning held his breath. “As the saying goes, the heavens are high and the ruler is far away. With the world divided into 3600 commanderies, the power of those Marquises in the territory they rule is absolutely monstrous.” Snow 457 sighed. “The imperial city of the Grand Xia Dynasty is simply too far away. In history, there have even been some Marquises who rebelled. Those wars truly are wars where Immortals and Fiends slaughter each other and countless experts fall. Truly terrifying.” Ning nodded. The flaw of having an enormous territory was the difficulty one would have in governing it. Even the high and mighty Marquis of Stillwater was unable to completely govern his vast territory, and so he allowed the various tribes to slaughter and battle each other. “After some of the Marquises revolted, the Grand Xia Dynasty, so as to better govern the various regions, began to frantically build one commandery city after another in the various commanderies, and even Swallow Mountain has over ten of these commandery cities.” Snow looked at her son. “Every single city has a matching ‘official writ’!” “Official writ?” Ning listened carefully. “Right. Official writ!” Snow continued. “By binding an official writ, that means you are in control of one of those commandery cities, and are in name one of the officials of the Grand Xia Dynasty. However, these official writs are ranked magic treasures, and thus only Zifu Disciples and above can bind them.” “Swallow Mountain has ten of these commanderies within it.” Yichuan spoke out as well. “Of the ten commandery cities, one is Swallow Mountain City, where the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty are stationed! Of the other nine cities, our Five Prefectures of the Ji clan is in control of one, the ‘Thousand Swords City’ of our Central Prefecture.” Yichuan explained. “The Riverbank clan, Kou clan, and Ironwood clan all have one as well.” “The Blackfire Cult has two commandery cities. Snowdragon Mountain has three commandery cities.” “Actually, long ago, the Ji clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult, and the Ironwood clan all were considered part of the local tribes of Swallow Mountain.” Yichuan sighed. “Afterwards, when Snowdragon Mountain acquired one of the official writs for one of the cities and got involved in this region, the Ironwood clan, the weakest of the clans, quickly threw themselves in with Snowdragon Mountain. However, we other four powers continue to resist.” “We are all officials of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and within our own commandery cities, it is forbidden for Immortal practitioners to battle each other. To disobey this rule is to challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty, punishable by death!” Ning, hearing his father’s explanation, couldn’t help but frown. “Father, Mother, based on what you are saying, if Immortal practitioners are forbidden from battling within the commandery cities on pain of death, would it be very hard for one tribe to try and destroy another one?” 458 “Hard?” Snow laughed coldly. “Easy! For example, Zifu Disciples have a limited lifespan. Upon death, the official writ becomes an ownerless object, at which point, the tribe will quickly collapse.” “Also, Zifu Disciples can’t always stay within their commanderies. As long as they come out and are killed, then their official writs can be seized and their tribe will be finished.” “And then of course, there are some utterly lawless, large, powerful clans!” Snow said. “They will send people over to your commanderyity to assassinate the Zifu Disciples of your clan and take away your official writ. What can you do about it?” Ning was stunned. “This…” “Without any proof, what will you do?” Snow laughed. “But of course, the mightier a power, the more cautious they will be. Challenging the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty is a capital offense. They wouldn’t casually do such a thing, and even if they decide to, they would use some very secretive methods. All I am trying to tell you is that there are many possible ways to destroy a tribe. You might not make trouble for others, but they might for you. In the end, the most important thing is strengthening one’s self!” ————————— “The Marquis of Stillwater controls this vast region, but aside from the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty stationed here, there is another squad of Immortal practitioners, known as the ‘Raindragon Guards’. According to legend, only Wanxiang Adepts are allowed to join the Raindragon Guards! By relying on the Raindragon Guards, the Grand Xia Dynasty is able to better control its vast territory. Remember. The Raindragon Guards cannot be trifled with.” ————————— “Ning, given your talent and comprehension, you would find it very easy to request tutelage under a major power. After you go out adventuring, it would be best for you to find a major school or power to take shelter under.” —————————- Yichuan and Snow told their son many things. They knew that Ning would definitely advance onto a far greater stage, and perhaps even become a major figure in the entire Stillwater Commandery…naturally, they carefully instructed and warned him, telling him everything which they knew. Only now did Ning truly understand how vast the world was. Only now did he know about the Raindragon Guards of the Grand Xia Dynasty, all formed from Immortal practitioners. Of the great army controlled by the Marquis of Stillwater. Of some of the top tier clans, schools, sects…and of course, many 459 other clans that were powerful in their own localities, that had been able to control official writs for a long period of time. Below them, of course, were countless, innumerable minor tribes. “Whew.” Ning’s heart was beginning to fill with ardor. “Ji Ning, I will take away the corpse of Serpentwing. To outsiders, we shall simply say that I was the one to kill him.” Yichuan said. “After all, you are very young. If we were to publicize that you were the one who killed him, it will only cause endless difficulties.” “I’ll let Father handle all of these things.” Ning said hurriedly. “Right, Father, I want to build a residence here at Serpentwing Lake. In the future, I will often live here.” “Live here?” Yichuan and Snow looked around them. This area was very peaceful. “Right. This is a good place.” Yichuan nodded. “I will arrange for some people to help you build a residence here. Your mother and I will go back now. While adventuring, come back and visit us often.” “I will. I will go back to West Prefecture City in a few days.” Ning nodded. He was going to take a trip to the Blacktooth Tribe to bring Spring Grass’ younger brother to West Prefecture City. This was the promise he had made to Spring Grass. “Hurry back.” Snow gently stroked her son’s head. “Right.” Ning nodded. He understood that this trip he had made into the Aquatic Manor had caused his parents great worry. —————— That day, Ning led Autumn Leaf and Mowu back to the Blacktooth Tribe, mounted on their black beasts. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The journey from Serpentwing Lake to the Blacktooth Tribe was a long one. Even with the black beasts travelling all day and only resting at night, three days time was needed. Night time. The campfire was blazing. Ji Ning and Autumn Leaf were by the side of the campfire, while Mowu was on watch, so as to not allow any impudent wild beasts to interrupt his young master. “I haven’t had the chance to take a good look at the miscellaneous items I acquired in the Aquatic Manor.” Ning suddenly remembered that although he had gone through all those magic treasures he had acquired during the first and second trials, of the thousands of magic treasures and miscellaneous items he had acquired at the third trial, he had bound them then immediately battled that black-furred golem, then met with that old black bull. He hadn’t had any time to flip through them at all. “One of the miscellaneous items I found in the first or second trial was a secret manual that is nearly as good as the [Raindrop Sutra]. The number of miscellaneous items in the third trial was several times greater than in the first two.” With a wave of his hand, Ning brought out one item after another, which he then made disappear afterwards. Autumn Leaf just watched to the side, curious. A long time later… “Yet another secret manual, the [Clearwind Manual]?” Ning flipped through it, and was instantly delighted. “It’s actually a swordplay manual, and it directly instructs one in how to utilize the True Meaning of the Dao. It is comparable to the [Raindrop Sutra].” Ning’s judgment and vision was much keener than before. After all, he had gained insights into the True Meaning of the Dao, and as he carefully read the contents, he quickly could vaguely sense that the ultimate goal of this type of swordplay was to develop the ‘True Meaning of the Clearwind’. Actually, the deceased people in the corridor were all only at the Xiantian level, so how powerful or profound could the manuals they were carrying on them possibly be? Actually, a consummate skill such as the [Clearwind Manual], logically speaking, shouldn’t even be in there. For example, Ning hadn’t brought the [Raindrop Sutra] or the [Thunderflame Sword] with him. From this, one could tell that the previous master of this manual most likely came from an even more powerful, top-tier clan who didn’t restrict manuals on this level too tightly. ————– 461 There really were many miscellaneous items in the third trials, and plenty of treasures as well. Ning found as many as three powerful techniques! After flipping through these manuals, Ning began to carefully inspect the other miscellaneous items, the ones that didn’t look like manuals. “Huh?” Ning suddenly flipped out a jade carving! This was two foot long square piece of jade, and on the jade there was carved an image of an old man with a long beard. “Wait!” Ning’s eyes lit up, and he carefully inspected it. At first glance, he had thought that this was just a carving, but as he took a closer look…he felt as though the square jade piece was actually covered with countless small characters that formed some small images. These characters were the characters used in the Grand Xia Dynasty. The characters were tiny! If an ordinary person saw it, they probably wouldn’t even notice it, but Ning was no ordinary person. His visual acuity was astonishing, and he could see a housefly from a distance of ten kilometers! With such visual acuity, naturally he could read the dense, tiny characters on the jade carving. “How marvelous.” “This piece of jade has hundreds of thousands of words carved onto it, and the countless works actually formed the image of a long-bearded elder.” Ning first exhaled in amazement, and then he began to search for the place where these characters originated. Soon, he found that in the leftmost upper corner, there were four prominent characters… [Nine Scrolls on Formations]! Ning’s eyes lit up as he carefully continued to read. “I, Wu Daoyan, have focused exclusively on formation techniques for over eighty thousand years. I was lucky enough to survive the last tribulation, but I think that the next great tribulation in nine hundred years time, I will not be able to survive. I am unwilling for the essence of my formation techniques to be lost, and so I have recorded down the knowledge of my formation techniques within these nine scrolls! I hope that someone with the right karmic fortune will carefully learn and comprehend it!” The opening words caused Ning to feel delighted. Anyone who was capable of living eighty thousand years and yet still be subject to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations was almost certainly a Loose Immortal. Immortal Juhua was able to live for millions of years, but most Loose Immortals weren’t able to live that long. Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations; the calamities were easy to avoid, but the tribulations were hard to escape. A great tribulation every nine hundred years! Each tribulation more powerful than the last, continuously accumulating until even a Loose Immortal like of Immortal Juhua, on par with a Celestial Immortal, would not be able to withstand it. “The knowledge of a Loose Immortal regarding formation techniques. This is something that is no less valuable than the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] or the [Windwing Evasion].” Ning immediately understood how valuable this was. “With this knowledge regarding formations, someone actually went to enter the trials of the underground estate’s corridors. Jeeze…” The person who acquired this knowledge on formations was most likely someone who was unskilled in formations. After all, the abstruse mysteries of formations were very hard to comprehend. Generally speaking, Immortal practitioners only knew how to set up formations; they didn’t understand the principles behind the formations. For example, Ning only knew how to set up and control the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Immortal practitioners would generally prefer to spend their time in binding more powerful magic treasures, or more powerful magic techniques. Those who would lower their heads and study formations were indeed very rare! And what’s more, formations were extremely abstruse and hard to understand, making researchers in formations even rarer! Most likely, the person who received this didn’t understand it. Even up until the point of his death, he still hadn’t had any accomplishments, and thus he had gone to attempt the underground estate. There was another possibility as well, that it was someone like Ning…someone who accidentally entered Serpentwing Lake and thus was forcibly teleported into the Aquatic Manor, then died within. “No matter what happened, this [Nine Scrolls on Formations] is now mine. And here I was, wondering how it could be possible that, given there were thousands of storage treasures, signifying thousands of people, how could not a single one of them been carrying something truly valuable?” Ning said to himself joyfully. “I finally acquired a valuable treasure. Time to take a good look.” He immediately lowered his head and began to read this [Nine Scrolls on Formations]. Formations could be set up using all sorts of things, and some truly miraculous, large-scale formations could even make the world itself part of the formation! “Interesting.” Many people felt that the [Nine Scrolls on Formations] were dry and boring, but Ning began to smile as he read them. Formations required a high ability to compute and understand. One had to be able to calculate! Ning, in his previous life, was exceedingly smart. Because of his illness, he was unable to go to school, so he had to teach himself everything! He had taught himself through reading books online, and his knowledge had far outstripped those of the same age as him, especially in the sciences. Despite his young age, he had earned a vast fortune! In this life, he had acquired the [Nuwa Painting] and was able to divide his mind, thus making his mental computational abilities even nimbler! In the previous life, on Earth, the education system had taught Ning how to think. Although Earth was just one of trillions of little worlds, its educational system was far superior to this world’s, where, for example, Swallow Mountain was still at a tribal era of development…even the descendants of the Ji clan would generally only be able to read, while the members of lesser tribes wouldn’t even be able to recognize any characters. Given this sort of level of education, it was only natural for everyone here to find it incredibly hard to analyze formations. It can be said that although perhaps the skilled scientists of Earth wouldn’t necessarily all become formation experts, they would at least be very promising prospects in this regard. ————————– The education Ning had received in his past life was like ‘software’. In this life, Ning had an extremely powerful soul, which was like ‘hardware’! Naturally, he was very well suited for training in formations! “So that’s how it is.” Ning revealed a smile while reading. “That Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation and other formations like it truly are crude. They completely rely on activating the power of the world. There’s no skill at all in them.” The more he read, the more Ning appreciated it. But slowly, the smile on Ning’s face disappeared, and it was replaced by a frowning concentration, mixed with occasional stupefaction. “Formation techniques really can’t be underestimated.” Ning nodded. “The way of formations is as vast and boundless as the seas. I’m only able to understand the most basic principles, but as soon as I see some slightly more abstruse, complex parts, I am completely lost. It makes sense. Although in this boundless world, most people are a bit stupid, there are still many geniuses as well. Upon focusing on something for hundreds or thousands of years, they will of course vastly exceed those of us on Earth.” “Young master, the sun is up. We should head out.” Autumn Leaf suddenly called. “Ah?” Ning suddenly discovered that it was already day. —————————— Formation techniques were as boundless as the seas. Upon understanding the first scroll of the [Nine Scrolls on Formations], one could be considered a formations expert. Unfortunately, Ning wasn’t able to completely understand even that first scroll. This caused him to become more humble and not feel so self-delighted. “Through analyzing formations, I will have more options and more tactics available to me.” 464 “Also, when I use the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], I can make it more nimble and won’t have to use it in such a static manner.” Although Ning was just a basic student of this field, he now had a basic understanding of the way of formations, with the essence of it being ‘guidance’! For example, at first, when he stupidly just simultaneously controlled hundreds of flying swords, he had to spend effort controlling every one minutely, which was simply too mentally exhausting. Fortunately, his soul was very powerful, and so he was easily able to execute the fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. But if he were an expert on formations, he would be able to have some of the critical swords ‘guide’ the other swords, which would greatly reduce the amount of load on his soul, and allow him to easily execute more powerful levels of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. ————————— “Young master, the Blacktooth Tribe is up ahead.” Autumn Leaf called out. Only now did Ning halt his pondering on formations. Raising his head, he saw that in the distance, the sentries of the Blacktooth Tribe had noticed them. “It is young master Ji.” “Quick, hurry and report this to the leader.” The tribesmen of the Blacktooth Tribe had seen Ji Ning last time. This time, the three of them were once again travelling together, mounted on the three black beasts. They were quickly recognized. As Ning and the other two arrived at the gates to the tribe, Blacktooth was there to personally welcome them. “My respects to you, young master.” Blacktooth had a large group of tribesmen behind him, all of them kneeling in unison. “Mm.” Ning nodded. “Take me to Spring Grass’ place.” “Alright.” Blacktooth said hurriedly. The only person in the Blacktooth Tribe who had any sort of a connection to Ji Ning was Spring Grass. Ning suddenly looked sideways, glancing a skinny toddler standing behind Blacktooth whose face was rather sickly, yet seemed similar to Spring Grass. Ning remembered seeing this toddler last time, and thus he spoke out. “What is your name?” The toddler was stunned. Blacktooth, following Ning’s gaze, turned to look at his son. He hurriedly said, “Quick, response to the young master’s words.” Only now did the toddler stutter out, “My name is Bluestone!” “Bluestone, Bluestone…” Ning gently murmured to himself. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The toddler nervously looked at the youth riding on the black beast. He only felt that this youth was a very powerful figure. The entire tribe seemed to be afraid of him. “Bluestone.” The youth dismounted from the black beast, then walked over and held his hand. “Come with me. Let’s go to your big sister’s tomb and kowtow to your sister.” Ji Ning took Bluestone’s tiny hand, and Bluestone, stupefied, just let himself be led away, not daring to resist. By his side, Blacktooth and the other tribesmen naturally didn’t dare to argue. And so, just like that, they made their way through the tribe before arriving at a large graveyard behind the tribe. Once again, they came before that tomb. “Spring Grass. I came.” Ji Ning had prepared some sacrificial items which he had prepared when passing through some of the nearby tribes along the way. He placed all of them in front of the tomb carefully, while at the same time saying gently, “That Riverside He of the Riverside tribe is dead now. Serpentwing of Serpentwing Lake is dead as well. Your enemies are all dead.” As soon as these words were uttered, Blacktooth and the others next to him were startled. What? The Diremonster, Serpentwing, was dead as well? “Bluestone should be your only remaining little brother.” Ning reached his hand out, pulling the dumbstruck Bluestone forward. “I swear before your tomb that I will definitely provide good tutelage to Bluestone” Bluestone was somewhat stunned, but his father, Blacktooth, was incomparably delighted. He hurriedly said, “Thank you, young master.” He himself was just the leader of a small tribe. What sort of a future would he be able to offer his son? But if someone as exalted as the young master of the Ji clan were to help out, then his son’s future would be very different.” “As long as you don’t oppose it.” Ning glanced at Blacktooth. “In the future, I will be spending quite a long period of time by Serpentwing Lake. If you want to see your son, come to Serpentwing Lake and find me there.” “Yes.” Blacktooth said respectfully. “Bluestone, kowtow to your big sister.” Ning looked towards Bluestone by his side. “Okay.” The toddler hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed three times. Ning waved towards the side. “All of you can leave now.” “Yes, young master.” Autumn Leaf included, everyone withdrew. Even Bluestone was led away by Blacktooth. In this wild, desolate graveyard, the only one remaining was Ji Ning. “Just the two of us now.” Ning withdrew a bamboo reed, beginning to drink wine. “Today, your young master will spend some time chatting with you. In the future, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come visit you too often.” ———————— Ning drank fruit wine in front of the tomb while chatting with ‘Spring Grass’. In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. “Huh?” Ning suddenly frowned. As a Fiendgod-like entity, his senses were extremely acute. He easily detected minute trembles in the ground. “Thousands of warriors! And the distance should only be twenty kilometers. Thousands of warriors, gathering twenty kilometers away? Can it be that a tribe is about to attack the Blacktooth Tribe?” With regards to the struggles between the various tribes, the Ji clan usually pretended not to notice them. “Blacktooth was originally a travelling merchant, and thus should be smooth and slick in establishing relationships.” Ning was puzzled. “Ever since founding this Blacktooth Tribe, no other tribes have ever attacked. Why has a tribe come to attack this time? And with thousands of warriors at that?” “Let’s take a look.” Ning immediately rose. Regardless of whether it was for Spring Grass or for Bluestone, he couldn’t just stand and watch with arms folded. Although the Ji clan usually pretended to not notice these intertribal struggles, once they did interfere, the tribes they controlled naturally didn’t dare to disobey. ———————- Ning walked within the tribe, heading straight for the gates. “Young master.” Mowu and Autumn Leaf hurriedly followed him. “Young master.” Blacktooth led his tribesmen to follow him as well. Ning just barked, “Twenty kilometers outside of here, thousands of warriors are gathering and advancing towards us. Right. There should be two to three thousand of them. Your Blacktooth Tribe needs to immediately prepare.” Blacktooth was shocked. “Two or three thousand warriors? Impossible. Only an enormous tribe would be able to mobilize two to three thousand warriors. A tribe of that size wouldn’t bother with our Blacktooth 468 Tribe. Our entire population, including women, children, and the elderly only number one thousand or so. We aren’t worth such a large military mobilization!” “If I say it is so, then it is so!” Ning glanced at him sideways, saying nothing more. “Right.” Blacktooth naturally didn’t dare to say anything else, and he hurriedly began to shout. “Quick quick quick, enemies are coming to attack! Quickly, gather around!” “Rumble…” A low beast horn sound quickly rang out, filling the entire tribe. The muscular warriors of the tribe, the elderly and the womenfolk, all grabbed their sabres, swords, spears, and bucklers, while all of the children hid themselves. ———————– Ning was staring into the distance at the gates, while all of the tribesmen of the Blacktooth Tribe were holding their weapons with bated breath in preparation. All of them were staring towards the distant mountain forests. Slowly… They began to clearly sense footsteps coming. After all, how could two or three thousand warriors on the march make no sound at all? This caused Blacktooth and the others to be all the more amazed. It must be understood that Ning had already informed them long ago of the rough number of people coming. “So many.” “So many warriors.” The tribesmen of the Blacktooth tribe were all stunned. From afar, a densely packed swarm of human figures were emerging from the forests, with the ones in front armored. It was like a flood of metal coming their way at high speed, causing the Blacktooth Tribe’s members to feel their hearts turn cold. “Halt!” The order came, and the three thousand warriors immediately formed ranks roughly half a kilometer in front of the Blacktooth Tribe’s gates. “Blacktooth Tribe, listen up!” In front of the enemy troops, a powerfully built bald man was bellowing. “We are from the Firewing Tribe. Quickly open your gates and surrender to us, and you have a chance at life. If you resist, those who resist shall all be killed, while the rest of the tribesmen shall be sold as slaves.” The voice echoed in the air. The Blacktooth Tribe was in a state of panic. “What to do?” 469 “So many warriors. There’s thousands of them.” “We’re finished.” “Isn’t young master Ji here?” The Blacktooth Tribe had no fighting spirit at all now. First of all, their tribe was newly founded to begin with, as many of the tribesmen were gathered from those who had fled from other tribes. They didn’t have too strong a sense of loyalty to the Blacktooth Tribe yet. And secondly, the Blacktooth Tribe had less than five hundred tribal warriors, but in front of them there were three thousand! Once battle began, they would quickly be defeated! “Everyone in the Firewing Tribe!” Blacktooth hurriedly went forward and said loudly, “I don’t know why you have come to my Blacktooth Tribe. If you have any demands, our Blacktooth Tribe will naturally work hard to meet them.” “Enough chitchat!” The bald man in front of the enemy lines bellowed back. “Surrender or battle!” Ning frowned, glancing at Mowu by his side. Mowu nodded, then immediately walked forward while shouting, “Our young master Ji Ning is here. Leaders of the Firewing Tribe, why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” ——————————— “Why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” “Why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” “Why haven’t you come to pay your respects yet!” The voice echoed within the forests, causing a commotion amidst the Firewing Tribe as well. In the center of the enemy formation, there was a group of men who were riding mounts. “Young master Ji Ning?” “The Ji Ning who was at the Riverside Tribe?” “Aside from that Ji Ning, who would dare order the leaders to go pay their respects to him?” The highlevel figures of the Firewing Tribe were all immediately stunned. The Firewing Tribe was also a large tribe with more than twenty thousand tribesmen, but because their tribe didn’t have any Xiantian lifeforms, thus they had already reached their limits and didn’t dare to expand any further. Compared to the Riverside Tribe, the Firewing Tribe was on a lower level. The Riverside Tribe wasn’t too far away from them. With over a month having passed, these higher level members of the Firewing Tribe naturally all knew of what had happened, and had learned of Ji Ning’s name. “Chief.” 470 “Chief.” All of them looked at black-bearded man whom was escorted in front of them. By the side of the black-bearded man, a youth whose hair fell down his shoulders said in a low voice, “Nothing more than a descendant of the Ji clan. There’s no need to pay any attention to a descendant of the Ji clan in this sort of tribal war. Let’s do it.” “Attack!” The black-bearded man immediately shouted loudly. “What?” “What? Attack?” “Chief!” The high level figures of the tribe who were around the black-bearded man were all stupefied. They didn’t expect that their chief, who was both valorous and wise, would act so stupidly. Given the chief’s status, he should clearly be aware of what the name ‘Ji Ning’ represented. If it was an ordinary member of the Ji clan, that was one thing, but this was Ji Ning, who had forced even the Riverside Tribe to lower their heads before him! “Kill!” Those three thousand warriors were all ordinary tribesmen. How could they know what this name ‘Ji Ning’ represented? Hearing their chief’s orders, they immediately bellowed and charged forward. “Kill!” “Charge!” Like an steel flood, the armored warriors in front charged forward, while the beast-fur clad men were behind them. The earth shook, and it seemed as though even the skies grew dark. The tribesmen of the Blacktooth Tribe were all stupefied, and some even began to cry out, “Surrender, we surrender!” “We’re finished.” “Quick, run.” ——————————– Ji Ning, standing at the gates, watched as the dark, dense mass of people charged forward. Immediately, he was suspicious. “My name should be known to all of the slightly larger tribes, especially after I acted against the Riverside Tribe. It should have spread throughout the area under the control of the Ji clan. Why is the black-bearded leader still ordering an attack?” Ning was puzzled. The Blacktooth Tribe was a small tribe. It didn’t have much wealth. Mobilizing three thousand warriors to attack it was quite bizarre, in and of itself. After hearing his, the enemy still decided to attack? That was all the odder. However, just based on the fact that this Firewing Tribe dared to ignore his name, and just for the sake of the prestige of the Ji clan alone, he naturally had to act now. “Hmph.” In front of the gates of the Blacktooth Tribe, Ning suddenly leapt forward like a giant Roc in flight, instantly flashing through the air. At the same time he leapt up, enormous waves suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the area around him, and the incomparably turgid waves instantly formed like the waters of a flood. Huahuahua…the boundless waves rolled forth, smashing directly towards those three thousand tribal warriors. “Waves.” “Where did all this water suddenly come from?” “Xiantian lifeform, a Xiantian lifeform.” The three thousand warriors were instantly terrified. They previously had high morale, but upon those rolling waves crashing upon them, all of them began to collapse and everything fell to chaos. These warriors all understood that only Xiantian lifeforms and Diremonsters were able to accomplish the ability to control fire, water, poisonous gases, and the like. If a Xiantian lifeform wished to do so, slaughtering three thousand men was simplicity itself. Indeed, Ning didn’t actually wanted to slaughter them. He only controlled the waves to smash down upon them. If he used fire or ice to freeze or burn them to death, the scene would have been completely different. “Hua!” With a single bound, Ning travelled over a kilometer, landing directly in front of that blackbearded figure, grabbing him by the neck. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning instantly landed a kilometer away and grabbed the black-bearded leader, instantly terrifying the high level members of the Firewing Tribe. All of them hurriedly knelt down on wobbling knees and called out repeatedly, “Young master Ji Ning, spare us!” “Young master Ji Ning, don’t be angry!” “Young master Ji Ning, don’t be angry!” The tribal warriors behind them who had not been hit by the waves, seeing the high level members of the tribe all kneel down, naturally all knelt down as well. At this time, the waves disappeared, and those knocked down tribesmen all knelt in terror as well. Instantly, the black mass of men were all on their knees, aside from the black-bearded man Ning had seized. “Pa!” With a toss of the hand, the black-bearded man was sent rolling twice on the ground. “Young master Ji Ning.” The black-bearded man was shuddering. “You don’t recognize me?” Ning looked at him. The black-bearded man shook his man hurriedly. “No, no, I heard of young master Ji Ning’s fame long ago.” “Then you still ordered an attack?” Ning frowned. “I…I…” The black-bearded man didn’t know what to say for the moment. This caused Ning to be even more puzzled. The leader in front of him clearly knew his name, and was frightened of him. So why, then, had he dared to issue that order? Ning shouted, “I ask you, why do you attack the Blacktooth Tribe?” The black-bearded man immediately hesitated. The high level members next to him said hurriedly, “Young master Ji Ning, the Blacktooth Tribe is only a small tribe. Our Firewing Tribe didn’t want to attack them at all! Only, the chief insisted on coming. We didn’t oppose him, as it was just a small tribe and thus not worth it.” “This was the decision of the chief and the chief alone.” “We all opposed it.” 473 “Half a year ago, the chief ignored our opposition and forcibly led the warriors out and destroyed a small tribe with only a few hundred people, and sold off everyone, man, woman, child, and elder alike as slaves to his good friend, Zig! Look, that one right next to the chief is Zig! The chief trusts him very much!” A silver-haired fur-clad elder pointed to the long haired youth next to Ji Ning. Swoosh! The kneeling long haired youth suddenly shot out a black light from his sleeves towards the nearby Ning. “Clang!” Ji Ning’s body was covered by beast furs, and underneath them he had magic treasures protecting him. Naturally, this attack was blocked. “Hmph.” Ning looked at the long haired youth, but discovered that the youth’s face had already begin to turn black. At this moment, the other high level members of the Firewing Tribe were angrily howling and reaching out with their hands to seize the youth, planning to subdue him. “He dares to ambush the young master. He deserves death.” “Don’t touch him!” Ning immediately barked. But a muscular man of the Firewing Tribe who had charged in front had already touched the arm of the long haired youth. The pitch-black color on the arm of the youth instantly transmitted to the right arm of the muscular man. “Swish!” Ning pointed out with a fingernail, and a ray of sword energy swung out, chopping the left arm of the muscular man off. The long haired youth slumped to the ground, his entire body pitch black, and his seven orifices bleeding with black blood. That man whose arm had been chopped off by Ning had black blood flowing out of his severed arm as well. “Poison!” The surrounding Firewing tribesmen all retreated in surprise. Ning’s expression was grave. “Such fierce poison.” “Aaaaah!” The chief of the Firewing Tribe, that black-bearded man, suddenly called out, then hurriedly pointed at the corpse on the ground. “It was him! It was him! Young master Ji Ning, it was all him. He originally spat a mouthful of smoke at me, and I lost my faculties. Although I knew what was going on, I treated this Zig as my master and obeyed him from my heart. Whatever he wanted me to do, I would do. Even if he wanted me to die, I wouldn’t resist at all. When I heard your name, young master, it was he who ordered me to attack. I clearly didn’t want to offend you, young master, but as soon as he instructed me, I immediately gave the order.” 474 The black-bearded man stared in shock and fury at the corpse on the ground. “It was that mouthful of smoke.” The high level members of the tribe, upon hearing this, were all awestruck. “What?” Ning was surprised as well. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, only the ‘Blackfire Cult’ was in possession of drugs that could control a person, but the most famous medicine which the Blackfire Cult had was the ‘Holy Fire Pill’. Upon eating the Holy Fire Pill, a person would become unswervingly loyal to the Blackfire Cult and not even fear death! Only, the ‘Holy Fire Pill’ of the Blackfire Cult wasn’t a breath of smoke. “Anyone capable of creating this thing is definitely a very powerful warlock or alchemist.” Ning was secretly startled, and he turned to look at the leader. “Speak. What did this Zig want from you?” “To buy slaves!” The black-bearded man said hurriedly. “He first bought slaves from us twice, over two thousand slaves! Afterwards, he controlled me and ordered me to swallow up some smaller tribes and have all the members of those tribes be sold as slaves to him. He would arrange for those people to be taken away.” Ning was puzzled. What was the point of buying so many slaves? Generally speaking, tribes would buy slaves to use them for manual labor or as servants. Slaves had to eat as well, and providing enough food for so many wouldn’t be easy. “His subordinates?” Ning asked. “Didn’t you say that he sent subordinates to take the slaves away? So many slaves, including women, children, and elderly, would have travelled very slowly. You should be able to find traces of them.” “I can. I can.” The black-bearded man nodded hurriedly. “Ten days ago, his subordinates took a group of slaves away. They were headed towards the east. Two days ago, a hunting squad of our tribe saw that slaver squad. Most likely, in two days they couldn’t have gone too far. We should be able to find them quickly.” Ning nodded. “Mowu. Autumn Leaf.” Ning turned to look into the distance. Mowu and Autumn Leaf immediately ran over. “Young master.” The two looked at Ning. “I have something to take care of.” Ning said. “The two of you, immediately send word to the nearest station of black armored guards, and have the hundred closest black armored guards to escort you and Bluestone to Serpentwing Lake. My father will arrange for a dwelling to be built at Serpentwing Lake, and you will temporarily live on the island in the center of it.” 475 “Yes.” Mowu and Autumn Leaf assented. “As for you.” Ning looked at the black-bearded man. “You will immediately arrange for your hunter squads to provide me with two guides. I want to find that slaving squad.” “Yes, young master.” The black-bearded man hurriedly said, and then roared backwards behind himself, “Threeknife, Cardcloth, come over here.” —————————– Ning led the two guides on the backs of the black beasts, traveling by day while resting at night in hot pursuit. That squad, guiding hundreds of elderly and infants, naturally travelled much more slowly. They would at most be able to advance a hundred kilometers a day. “Young master, there clearly are footsteps here.” A swarthy man with braided hair said hurriedly. “The tracks are very clear. They should have been made less than a day ago. We will soon catch up to them.” “Alright.” Ning nodded. They continued the chase. Soon, they saw a large cluster of figures. All of them, male and female, were fettered by the hands, with the rope being attached to a tree trunk. A group of men and women were bound all together, carrying a tree trunk. By doing so, anyone who attempted to flee would pull others with him, and once the movement became apparent enough, the slaver escorts would easily notice. “Hurry, hurry up.” The slaver escorts were soldiers wielding whips, and they would occasionally lash out with the whips. As for some of the toddlers, they were tied up and seated on horses, with eight or ten toddlers tied up on each horse, allowing them to move more quickly. The looks on the faces of the men and women were full of grief, and their eyes were filled with despair. Half a month ago, they were in their own tribes, living peaceful, happy lives with their families. But now, they had become slaves and were being escorted to an unknown area. “You two, take these three black beasts and return. Have your tribesmen arrange for them to be sent to Serpentwing Lake.” With a flip of his hand, Ning withdrew two beastheads of gold. “You made a trip with me. I won’t mistreat you.” “Thank you, young master.” The two tribesmen hurriedly thanked him. Ning nodded, then patted his black beast. He had ridden this black beast while adventuring. After having spent so much time with it, he was rather reluctant to part with it. “You can go now.” Ning immediately dismounted, then began to travel by himself. After all, this squad was moving very slowly. There was no need for him to ride the black beast. ————————- The slaver squad continued to advance through the mountain forests. On the road, although they encountered some monstrous beasts, the slaver escorts were powerful experts, almost all of them peak Houtian level, with three of them being Fiendgod Houtian experts. They easily killed the monstrous beast. “It is indeed odd.” Ning said to himself. “Large-scale purchasing of slaves, and using medicines to control the leader of a tribe to engage in the large-scale capture of slaves. Even the slaver escorts have peak Houtian Fiendgod practitioners.” “Hurry up!” “Hurry up.” “We’re almost there.” The slaver escorts seemed to be rather happy. Ning secretly followed from behind. This place was already at what was considered the border between the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan, while up ahead was a chain of mountains. This group of slavers were heading towards the mountain range. “Enter the mountains.” The squad continued forward. Ning moved from behind, but just as they arrived at the base of the mountain, the sun which been bright in the sky suddenly changed as soon as Ning followed them into the mountains. It was as though day had suddenly transformed into night. The area around them had turned pitch black, and only some faint details of the surrounding area could be made out. The entire area seemed to be covered with black fog. The black fog was everywhere, and it was filled with a cold aura. “A formation.” Ning immediately understood that he had entered a formation. “Someone actually came to die. Hahaha!” An evil, ear-piercing laugh suddenly rang out. “Little human child, your flesh will definitely be very delicious. I will slowly devour you bite by bite.” Ning stood there, staring into the endless black fog surrounding him. He could just barely see to a distance of ten meters. Beyond that, he couldn’t see anything. In his hands, the two Darknorth swords had already appeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Go ahead and kill me.” “Even as a ghost, I won’t forgive you.” “Aaargh!” “No, no, no!” Standing in the middle of the boundless darkness of the great formation, sounds could vaguely be heard from everywhere, as though many people were suffering terrifying torments. Ji Ning was secretly startled. “They wildly purchased so many slaves, and even controlled the leaders of some tribes to snatch up some slaves through battling other tribes. What are they doing!” “No matter what, first I have to leave.” Ning stared seriously at his surroundings. With a ‘swoosh’, he charged forward, moving more than a kilometer. And then, he once more turned and began to sprint, retreat, leap forward…within the pitch black, foggy formation, Ning moved around at high speed for a long time, but no matter where he moved, he remained within the formation filled with the dark fog and cold air. “Not good.” Ning’s face changed slightly. “This is no ordinary maze formation. I moved at such high speed and constantly changed directions, but the formation remained utterly stable. The person controlling this formation is most likely not a Xiantian lifeform.” During this past month of pursuit, Ning had focused on training in the [Nine Scrolls on Formations] and had made some accomplishments. Although he was unable to easily defeat the formation in front of him, he was able to tell…this was far above the likes of simple formations such as the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation. It was an extremely intricate formation, and a magic treasure capable of setting up this sort of formation would have to be considered a ranked magic treasure. There was no way for a Xiantian lifeform to bind a ranked magic treasure. “A person on the level of a Wanxiang Adept wouldn’t deign to act in such a manner in a place like Swallow Mountain. Nine out of ten…the person who set up this formation should be a Zifu Disciple, and one specialized in using poisons.” Ning quickly came to this conclusion based on what he had encountered previously. ———————— “Human child, I’m coming for you.” The ear-piercing laugh reverberated within the endless black mist. Ning just stood there, completely unmoving, while at the same time, around him appeared three fire lotus petals and three water lotus petals. The two layers of lotus petals slowly swiveled around Ning in opposite directions… “Hahaha!” A sinister laughter echoed. Shua! A shadow suddenly leapt forth from the dark mist, pouncing towards Ning. But when that shadow saw Ning being protected by the Waterflame Lotus, it paused slightly. “Hmph.” Ning’s eyes had a fierce look flash past them, and he immediately charged forward, his Darknorth sword in his hand transforming into a ray of firelight as he executed the ‘Thunderflash Flint’, chopping the shadow in half. Hua…. The shadow instantly split into mist, then glided backwards before reforming into a mutant beast. Hidden in the darkness, there was no way to clearly see the mutant beast at all. “This isn’t a human child, this is a human Xiantian lifeform who has been training for who-knows how many years!” The ear-piercing sound emanated out from the mist, travelling a long distance. “This human most likely broke through to become a Xiantian when very young, and so his features remain so very young. In addition, he has a protective lotus surrounding his body. The lotus flower around his body should be a magic treasure.” From far off in the distance, another clear, cold voice echoed forth. “If he isn’t a Zifu Disciple, he doesn’t matter. Just kill him.” “I’ll handle it.” The mutant beast in front of Ning, hidden in the mist, said directly. Hearing this, Ning’s face changed slightly. If he isn’t a Zifu Disciple, he doesn’t matter. For someone to dare say something like this most likely meant that the person who set up this formation really was a Zifu Disciple! In addition, the one who had attacked just now was nothing more than a monstrous beast, most likely a spirit beast under the command of that Zifu Disciple. “My Master said.” The mutant beast in the mist slowly began to change positions, occasionally appearing here, and then over there. “When adventuring in the outside world, the younger a human you encounter, the harder they are to deal with. It looks like his words weren’t wrong…but unfortunately, you ran into me!” Ning just stood there calmly. After a person reached the Xiantian lifeform stage, that person would no longer be a mortal, and his appearance would remain virtually unchanged. Only when he began to reach the limits of his life would he slowly age. Thus, elderly looking Xiantian lifeforms were virtually all over a century old. Ji Yichuan, who had first made his name echo in Swallow Mountain, and then had gone out adventuring for many years before bringing his wife back, was now nearly fifty, but he still looked exactly as he had when he was a youngster. If a Xiantian lifeform looked like a child, then that meant that he became a Xiantian lifeform when he was a child. Thus, the younger one appeared, the harder they were to deal with. Even some Immortals might have the appearance of a child. “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” Suddenly, three black rays shot towards Ning, but when they hit those swiveling lotus petals of fire and water which were protecting Ning, they just barely broke through the first layer of lotus petals, but the second layer successfully blocked them. The enormous black shadow emerged from the mist, and an enormous claw grabbed towards Ning! “Dang!” Ning’s sword light flashed, and the grab attempt was blocked while Ning himself dodged to the side. “Eh?” Ning frowned as he looked. This was a mutant beast which looked like a panther. Ning was actually momentarily unable to recognize what sort of mutant beast this was, primarily because many mutant beasts had mixed lineages, which would often resulted in mutant beasts. The mutant beast in front of him could only be said to look similar to a Bi’an Tiger. Its body was extremely long. The mutant beast stared at Ning, its tail swaying. Its tail had circles of black bony spikes which, if struck onto a person’s body, would definitely be no weaker than a whip-type magic treasure striking a person. Ning’s pupils contracted, and he transformed into a blur. Windwing Evasion! Swoosh! Moving as fast as lightning, he pounced towards the mutant beast, and the mutant Diremonster’s twin claws snatched towards Ning as well. “Raindrop Pierces Rocks!” A water-like sword light flashed past, seeming like a drop of water falling down, and with a thundering sound, that mutant Diremonster collapsed to the ground, rolling a few times before coming to a halt, no longer moving. Its head had a large hole in it, with blood and brain matter flowing outside. Ning quietly landed on the ground, still holding his twin swords as he cautiously stared around himself. He only glanced sideways at the mutant beast. “Nothing more than a late-stage Xiantian level Diremonster!” “Black Needle!” “Black Needle!” From afar came the call of that cold voice. “Is that human dead yet? Black Needle! Black-” Quickly, that clear, cold voice went silent. “I killed the mutant, but he didn’t know about it. It seems that mutant beast wasn’t his spirit-beast.” Ning understood that there wasn’t necessarily only a single Zifu Disciple here in this mountain. It was very possible that a hidden power was here! But the person capable of setting up this sort of formation had to at least be a Zifu Disciple. “This is big trouble.” Ning hadn’t imagined that in the Swallow Mountain area, at the borders of the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan, such a powerful force was hidden. —————— Ning was trapped within the great formation. The protective Waterflame Lotus swirled around him, and in his mind, he was constantly pondering formations. The [Nine Scrolls on Formations] were abstruse, especially those extremely hard to memorize diagrams, but Ning had still been able to forcibly commit the contents of the first scroll to memory. He was currently using the greater part of his mental power to analyze them. “I have to break this formation. While trapped here, all I can do is allow them to use whatever techniques they have against me.” Ning focused on analyzing the formation, while constantly hearing miserably cries, fierce curses. It seemed as though a true hell was hidden within this mountain. ——————– Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Snowfall Palace. Ji Young was seated at the throne of the palace, while Ji Yichuan, Ji Lee, and others were all seated below him, their faces all solemn. “In the past ten days.” Ji Lee’s voice was rather hoarse, and his eyes were rather red. “The Five Prefectures of our Ji clan has already had multiple Xiantian lifeforms disappear! We have neither found them alive nor found their corpses!” “Prefecture Lord, who has come to the territory of our Ji clan to cause trouble?” “Find them and destroy them.” 481 “I’ve almost gone crazy in the past few days. My close friend! I must find him and rescue him.” The members of the Ji clan seated below couldn’t help but howl. Ji Lee, glaring, let out a hiss, “My son has gone missing as well. I must find him, I must!” And then, he looked at the Prefecture Lord, seated in the throne. “Elder brother, up till now, how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing? Also, who exactly is acting against our Ji clan? Have we found the culprit?” “Based on the news which the Central Prefecture just sent over, up till now, already twenty three Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing.” Ji Young shook his head. “And most of them are fairly powerful and quite famous Xiantian lifeforms! The Five Prefectures of the Ji clan have lost five of our Commanders who were outside. As for where they have gone, there’s no trace of them at all.” “This is provoking our Ji clan. They show no regard for the Ji clan at all.” Lee bellowed. Young’s eyes were red. “All the ones who went missing were quite powerful and were at least mid-stage Xiantian lifeforms. There were even late-stage Xiantian lifeforms, and even peak Xiantian lifeforms! They are running roughshod over our Ji clan, then pissing on our faces! We have to find the culprits! No matter how great the price, we must destroy them!” Yichuan, seated to one side, spoke out. “They must be destroyed indeed. However, based on my experience, this power should have a Zifu Disciple guarding it.” “Oh?” Everyone looked towards Yichuan. Yichuan, after all, had gone adventuring outside. He had even gone to the Darknorth Seas. His experience was greater than theirs. Yichuan continued, “There are two possibilities which have the greatest likelihood. The first is that it should be some sort of fleeing tribe, who lost their city and no longer have a base and were sent wandering…but the remnants of this tribe are still very powerful. Thus, they want to cause a battle here in Swallow Mountain and conquer a commandery city through it.” With a commandery city, they would have their own territory. Only then would a tribe have a base! “The second possibility is that it is a fleeing Immortal practitioner. The Immortal practitioners of some evil sects will use souls and corpses to train in some evil magic spells. Snatching Xiantian lifeforms is done because Xiantian lifeforms have more powerful souls, and can be better used to train in some magic spells.” Yichuan said. “And the disappearance of Xiantian lifeforms,” Yichuan continued, “Based on the intelligence of our Ji clan, is not just limited to the Ji clan, but also the nearby Ironwood clan! The Riverbank clan has Xiantian lifeforms missing as well. Only, we don’t know how many Xiantian lifeforms they have lost. For them to act so wildly means that the power which has come to our Swallow Mountain is not weak. We absolutely 482 must get revenge, and we must rescue the missing Xiantian lifeforms, but we cannot be rash. We need to first discover the true situation regarding the opponents, and then set a strategy to destroy them at one blow!” Everyone in the palace went silent. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Yichuan walked by himself on the stone brick road, his forehead furrowed in thought. He knew that this affair would be a tough trial for the Ji clan, but any organization which wanted to survive in this world would have to be able to endure repeatedly trials! After passing them, the roots of the clan would naturally grow deeper and grow more powerful. But if they weren’t able to pass them, then the clan would be exterminated! It would be lucky if even a few survivors managed to flee and pass down the bloodline. “Master. “Master.” Some of the servants knelt down on the side to welcome him. Yichuan walked into his residence, then headed back to the place where he normally stayed. Suddenly, a female servant hurriedly rushed over. Upon seeing Yichuan, she was so frightened, she immediately knelt down. “Why are you in such a rush? Consider your image!” Yichuan frowned and barked. “Master.” The female servant’s face was white with tension. “Madame, Madame, she…” Yichuan’s face instantly changed. “What’s wrong with Snow?” “Madame fainted!” The female servant said frantically. “Fainted?” Yichuan’s face instantly turned white. As an expert Ki Refiner, how could she faint? If his wife fainted, there could only be one reason. “Snow!” Yichuan instantly turned into a gust of wind, disappearing from that area. —————————- Within the room. Yuchi Snow was quietly lying on the bed. Her face was rather pale, but her features were still so beautiful, so calm. “Snow.” Yichuan instantly appeared within the room. Seeing his wife lying there, he hurriedly walked forward and carefully inspected her. He couldn’t help but glance at the female servant. “What exactly happened?” 484 The female servant was shaking in terror, and had knelt down long ago. “Master, the Madame had been drinking tea and was perfectly fine. Nobody touched the Madame, and nobody spoke with the Madame. But suddenly, the Madame’s body turned weak and she just collapsed. All of us panicked. I carefully lifted the Madame back into the room, while Keepleaf went to call you, Master.” “How could this happen.” A look of agony was on Yichuan’s face. “How could this happen! Quick, quick, go have Shaman Cao immediately come over!” “Yes.” The female servant immediately retreated, leaving behind only Yichuan and his wife in the room. Yichuan sat at the side of the bed, looking at his wife. He stretched his hand out to stroke her face, murmuring, “Is this day truly here? When you gave birth to Ning, I feared that this day would come. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. You will definitely survive. I will accompany you and we will both watch our son become into an incredible hero.” Moments later. A big-bearded old man dressed in filthy animal skins walked in. His body naturally carried an herbal fragrance. Shamans and apothecaries were a group of people who had a great deal of experience in natural herbs and remedies. The boundless world was a very miraculous place, and it had all sorts of curious types of things living within it. Even the most seemingly ordinary herbs, once combined in a certain manner, could have some unique effects. This Shaman Cao was one of the most skilled in herbs in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. “Shaman Cao.” Yichuan looked towards the big-bearded elder. “My wife just fainted for no reason. You take a look.” “Commander, please step back.” Shaman Cao said in his hoarse voice, and Yichuan hurriedly moved to the side, stepping back to make way for him. Shaman Cao stretched out his dry hand, as skinny as a chicken claw, placing it against Snow’s forehead. Instantly, a spot of green light was birthed from Shaman Cao’s palm, and it began to slowly seep into Snow’s body. A very strong herbal odor began to fill the area. Shaman Cao closed his eyes. After a long time, Shaman Cao took his hand back. As for Snow, who had previously been in a state of unconsciousness, her eyebrows trembled, and then she opened her eyes. “Snow.” Yichuan, shocked and overjoyed, hurriedly went forward while at the same time looking at Shaman Cao. “How is my wife?” “Please forgive me for my inability.” Shaman Cao shook his head. “Commander, you’d best go invite the clan leader.” “The clan leader?” Yichuan’s heart clenched. The clan leader was the clan leader for the entire Five Prefectures of the Ji clan. His name was Ji Ninefire. An old fellow who had lived for nearly four hundred years, a true ancestor of the Ji clan. Of course, he was also a Zifu Disciple! Ji Ninefire loved to research, and had significant accomplishments in both formations, medicines, and poisons. In terms of medical treatment, he was naturally incomparably superior to Shaman Cao. “I’ll immediately take Snow over to him.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “No.” Shaman Cao said hurriedly. “Commander, you cannot be rash. The Madame currently can’t withstand any shaking or bumping. She needs to quietly recuperate. If you can invite the clan leader to come, that would be for the best.” Shaman Cao came to a halt. He knew that inviting the clan leader to come would be very difficult. Yichuan nodded, then immediately instructed a nearby maidservant, “Immediately go invite Commander Ji Redflower over.” Moments later. Redflower, dressed in red clothing, walked in. “Yichuan, what do you need me for?” “Aunty Flower.” Yichuan, upon seeing this person, hurriedly said, “I want to ask you to ride on your Azure Firebird and immediately head to the Central Prefecture. Invite the clan leader to pay a visit to our Western Prefecture.” “Invite the clan leader?” Redflower was startled. The clan leader had stopped managing the clan’s affairs long ago, and spent all of his time in research and training…even if Ji Young, the Prefecture Lord of the Western Prefecture went to invite him, the clan leader still probably wouldn’t come. “If I go invite him, would he come?” Yichuan said hurriedly, “Just tell him that I, Ji Yichuan, have a life-and-death matter and that I am asking the clan leader to come to the Western Prefecture City. The clan leader will definitely come.” Although Redflower was still puzzled at why Yichuan was so confident that the clan leader would definitely come, she still nodded. “Fine. I’ll go make a visit to the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’.” The Grand Xia Dynasty had erected countless commandery cities throughout the world. The Ji clan was only in control of a single one, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’. This was the ‘Central Prefecture’ of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan! As for the Eastern Prefecture, Western Prefecture, Southern Prefecture, and Northern Prefecture, they had all been built by the Ji clan, and had nothing special about them. “Sorry to trouble you.” Yichuan said in thanks. Redflower immediately left, then quickly mounted her Azure Firebird and left the Western Prefecture City, heading towards the City of Ten Thousand Swords! ———————————- The maidservants in the room had left as well, leaving behind only Yichuan and his wife, Snow. “Yichuan.” Snow smiled, lifting her head up to look at her man. “Snow.” Yichuan sat by the side of the bed, holding his wife’s hand. Snow shook her head gently. “I know it. You know it too. When we returned from the Darknorth Sea and suffered that attack on the way back, we were very lucky to be able to survive and return. The past ten years have been very calm and very happy. I am already content.” “If, if that year, you hadn’t given birth to Ning…” Yichuan’s voice was somewhat hoarse. Snow gently shook her head. “This is our child. I had to give birth to him. Even though using the secret technique resulted in me losing some years of my life, it was worth it! I had been heavily injured. If I hadn’t given birth to Ning then, who knows if I would have been able to give birth later on. Ning has the blood of both of us in his veins. And what’s more, his life was bought using the life of my elder brother.” “Elder brother.” Yichuan still remembered that great battle they had fought on the way back. That great battle had changed the fate of three people. The Yuchi siblings, and himself, Ji Yichuan. “Quick, take my little sister and go! Quick, go!” The image of that tall, powerful back. That furious roar. Yichuan had never forgotten it. “If we gave up Ning, perhaps I would have been able to live for a few more years, but I wouldn’t have been able to have a child with you. I would have regretted it my entire life. He has the bloodline of the Ji clan, and he also has the bloodline of my Yuchi clan.” Yuchi Snow said gently, “I’ve had ten years by your side, and I also have an incomparably clever son…I am incomparably happy and incomparably satisfied. These past ten years, I have felt very blessed and very happy.” Yichuan gently held his wife’s hand. “Ning is my pride and joy.” Snow said slowly. “I don’t regret giving birth to Ning.” “Right.” Yichuan nodded gently. “I understand. Understand. In less than two hours, the clan leader will be here. Let the clan leader take a look. Perhaps it isn’t too terrible.” Snow nodded. “If I can live for another year or two, let’s not tell Ning about this for now. If I won’t be able to live for much longer, then let Ning return.” And then, Snow looked towards her man, her eyes shining. “Yichuan, I am so blessed to have had you and Ning.” 487 “Alright.” Yichuan looked at his wife and said gently, “I feel the same way.” —————————- But neither Yichuan nor Snow knew that right now, their son Ning was in dire straits. He was in the great mountain between the borders of the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan, which from afar seemed ordinary and unremarkable. Upon entering this mountain, however, one would fall into a pit of endless dark fog and never come out again. The protective lotus petals swiveled around him. Ning sat there in the lotus position, currently focusing on the [Nine Scrolls on Formations], constantly hypothesizing and thinking about how to break this formation as soon as possible. ————————– At the midpoint of the mountain. One miserable scream after another emanated from places throughout the midway point of the mountain. All sorts of furious, hateful curses, wild pleas, and sobs all constantly assaulted the ears, while in the center of the mountain, there were multiple pillars with men and women bound to them. At a glance, one could see over a hundred men and women, their bodies covered in scars. Beaten, humiliated, tormented…all sorts of cruel methods had been used on them. “Xiantian lifeforms? You still think you are Xiantian lifeforms? Hahaha, drink it all, drink some of this wonderful urine to quench your thirst!” The muscular servants were wildly tormenting them. Standing in the center of the mountain, there were six beautiful dressed men and women. They calmly watched all of this. “We’ve purchased more than a million ordinary slaves in this Swallow Mountain region, and seized nearly a hundred Xiantian lifeforms. However, we are still quite a ways off from the requirements of Master.” A black-clothed woman who had a scorpion on her shoulders said slowly. “Senior apprentice-brother is currently outside capturing Xiantian lifeforms. We’ll quickly be at the necessary numbers.” A handsome youth smiled. “However, one of Master’s spirit-beasts, Blackneedle, went to kill an enemy within the formation, but was instead killed. My fellow apprentice-brothers and apprentice-sisters, how do you think we should deal with this?” “Younger apprentice-brother, you are naturally talented. It’s best if you go.” “Younger apprentice-brother…” The nearby men and women all looked at the handsome youth. Seeing the situation, his face darkened. None of these fellow martial apprentices were fools. Although all of them has extraordinary abilities, since they knew that the person within the formation could easily kill the spirit-beast ‘Blackneedle’, none of them were willing to go. After all, going meant encountering some risk. Suddenly… Kakaka… From within the mountain, a location began to turn and swivel. One metal plate after another began to move open, revealing a corridor. Within the dark corridor, there was a hint of green light, and an icy cold aura swept out from within. “Master.” The six men and women all called out respectfully in unison. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. From the dark abyss below came a sharp yet calm voice. “Little Seven, you are the most clever. You can go handle this matter. Get rid of this intruder.” “Yes, revered Master.” The handsome youth didn’t hesitate at all as he replied with respect. “Go, then.” Just as the words ended… Kakaka….. The metal board immediately rose up from the floor, once more tightly sealing away that corridor. Only now did those six men and women let out sighs of relief. Although they were their master’s closest disciples, whenever they faced their master, they still felt terrified. This was because those disciples who had dared to offend their master had all been tortured to death, and would never even have the chance to be reborn. “Who knows what sort of magic treasure Master is currently refining.” A violet-clothed young man said softly. “All together, from start to finish, including the people we tortured to death in other places, we’ve killed hundreds of Xiantian lifeforms, and an uncountable number of ordinary people. Master even said that once he finishes with this magic treasure, even if he encounters a Wanxiang Adept, he won’t be afraid. Who knows what sort of magic treasure this is?” “It definitely is a terrifyingly powerful one.” “Right now, Master’s magic treasure is only half completed, but he already pays no attention to those Zifu Disciples located in the tribes of Swallow Mountain. When he truly completes is…” The six men and women chatted softly. They were very curious about this mysterious magic treasure which their master was busy creating, but unfortunately, their master had remained deep within his study this entire time and had forbidden anyone from entering. As for that tunnel, as soon as it shut, not a single sound would come from outside. “Whoosh!” A blurry, savage ghost suddenly came out from the body of one of the Xiantian lifeforms bound to the pillar. It let out a soundless scream, and then that blurry ghost sank down into the stones, being gathered to the depths of the mountain, towards that hidden room. This scene caused those six men and women to feel nervous. Only a true dread wraith would be visible to the naked eye. “Yet another wraith!” The six men and women thought back to their second apprentice-brother, who had offended their master. He had been tortured to death, and then he had been transformed into a dread wraith, then been absorbed in. Even wraiths were being drawn down…clearly, whoever died there would never have the chance for rebirth. “Little Seven, go deal with the enemy in the formation.” His fellow apprentices exhorted. “Stop rushing me.” The handsome youth immediately walked outside. ———————— The dark fog was everywhere. The handsome youth quietly moved forwards, and everywhere he went, that black fog automatically opened a pathway for him. A Dao-seal appeared out of nowhere in the handsome youth’s left hand. On the surface of the Dao-seal, there was a blood vessel like pattern of strange characters. On his right hand, a horsetail whisk appeared. “Let’s go.” With a flip of the horsetail whisk, hundreds of white strands of light immediately transformed to a size of dozens of meters, swirling around towards the lotus-position seated Ji Ning. Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position. Suddenly, he sensed something, and he raised his head to look. The entire area around him was filled with those white strands. “Break.” Ning barked softly, and the Waterflame Lotus that had been swiveling around him instantly increased greatly in size. The two enormous layers of lotus petals swiveled, and those invading white strands that had sought to entangle him were all snapped, completely unable to draw near Ning. “Controlling fire and water?” The pupils of the distant, handsome youth immediately contracted. “It seems he is a Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level. This will be troublesome. I had wanted to rely on my horsetail whisk to directly seize him, but it seems that won’t be possible.” The hundreds of white strands quickly returned, then disappeared. In his right hand, a long whip appeared. “You’ve invaded our formation. Immediately report your name!” The handsome youth shouted. Ning was already on his feet, and he glanced at the handsome youth. “This is the border between the Ironwood clan and the Ji clan, but you seem to neither be of the Ji clan nor of the Ironwood clan. Who are you, exactly?” “If I told you, you’d be frightened to death.” The handsome youth sneered. “Why don’t you give it a try and see if I’ll be frightened to death.” Ning wielded a sword in each hand. “The only thing you need to see is my whip.” The handsome youth didn’t continue the conversation. Clearly, he didn’t want to explain where he was from. He immediately struck out with his whip, and the black whip slashed through the air, elongating at high speed. By the time it reached Ning, the whip had already transformed into a black serpent head which bit straight at Ning. Ning just looked at it. As soon as the long black whip broke through the first layer of the fire lotus, it was blocked by the second later of the water lotus. “What sort of technique is that lotus of fire and water?” The handsome youth wasn’t like that spirit-beast from earlier; he could immediately tell that Ning was a Fiendgod Body Refiner who could control fire and water, but he didn’t understand how Ning’s technique worked. Swoosh! Ning, who had previously been just calmly looking at the whip, suddenly without any warning began to use the Windwing Evasion technique. He instantly leapt over towards that handsome youth at an astonishing speed. At the same instant he leapt forward like a gust of smoke, the Darknorth swords in his hands executed Raindrop Pierces Rocks, stabbing straight towards the head of the handsome youth. “Hard to deal with. Flee!” This entire time, the handsome youth had been clutching that Dao-seal in his left hand. He suddenly activated it and it transformed into a blurry shadow and entered his body…and then the handsome youth suddenly disappeared into thin air. Swoosh. Ning appeared in front of where that handsome youth had been. He began to frown. “An escape technique? He should have relied on that Dao-seal to use this technique. A Xiantian Ki Refiner actually has an escape-type Dao-seal. The Zifu Disciple behind him definitely dotes on him.” Dao-seals were divided by class as well. The Divine Speed Seal, Light Body Seal, Diamond Seal, Giant Strength Seal, and other Dao-seals were all the lowest class seals, which escape seals were clearly on a higher level. For example, the ‘Traceless Talisman’ was a type of Dao-seal that was so precious you couldn’t even buy it with money. Only, unfortunately, he wasn’t carrying the ‘Traceless Talisman’ on him. Even if he was, because Ning was trapped within this formation, he was unable to tell which direction he was in, there was no way that Ning could use it to go directly into the insides of the mountain. Of course, he could still rely on the Traceless Talisman to immediately flee, but unfortunately, he didn’t have it on him. “Although I have Escape Seals on me, this trapping formation has activated the five elements. I’m completely unable to ‘escape’.” Ning was certain about this. He had pondered for a long time, and he could be considered to have a good level of attainment in formations. He had some understanding regarding the formation he was trapped in as well. When the five elements were activated, there was no way to ‘escape’, unless the master of the formation voluntarily helped out. Unfortunately, the master of this formation only wanted his death. How could he help out? ———————- The handsome youth quickly charged back to the midway point of the mountain. “Little Seven’s back.” “Younger apprentice brother, have you executed the enemy?” “With our younger apprentice brother having personally intervened, he definitely captured the trespasser with ease.” Those fellow apprentices, seeing the look on the handsome youth’s face, immediately knew that he had definitely failed, so they immediately began to ridicule him. The handsome youth barked back, “Fellow apprentices, you have no idea as to how powerful this enemy is. If I had just been a bit slower in fleeing, I probably would have lost my life to him.” “He’s that formidable?” “Does he have some sort of powerful magic treasure?” The other five men and women were all astonished. They knew how powerful this younger apprentice-brother of theirs was. The handsome youth said hurriedly, “He is just like our senior apprentice-brother. He trains in both ki and Body! He is a Xiantian level practitioner as a Fiendgod Refiner as well, and he was able to reach me in an instant. Fortunately, I had been holding the Escape Seal from the very beginning, and so I was lucky enough to escape. His speed alone indicates that he is probably a peak Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner.” “Ah?” “A peak Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner?” “Where did such a powerful figure suddenly come from?” The other five fellow apprentices were all shocked. The handsome youth sighed, “It seems we’ll have to wait for our senior apprentice-brother. Senior apprentice-brother has already reached the peak Xiantian level in both ki and Body, and he also has all sorts of magic treasures and poisons…the large majority of the hundred Xiantian lifeforms we have caught in the Swallow Mountain area were all captured by senior apprentice-brother.” “Who is speaking about me?” A low voice rang out. The six men and women hurriedly turned to look. At the halfway point of the mountain, near that enormous cave entrance, a man dressed in a black cloak with unbound hair walked in. That icy, sinister aura was just the same as their revered master’s. The man was currently carrying a large sack. As he walked into the mountain estate, he tossed the bag to the floor. At the opening of the bag, some feet could be seen. “Senior apprentice-brother.” The six men and women immediately called out respectfully. They all knew exactly how formidable their senior apprentice-brother was. They had all fled secretly with their master, and on the way, their senior apprentice-brother had even battled once against a Zifu Disciple and lived to tell the tale. “I went to the Kou clan’s territory and seized these three Xiantian lifeforms. I’ve already destroyed their dantian’s. Go tie them up.” The black cloaked man instructed. Immediately, servants charged forward and dragged out the three people in the sack. One woman, two men. The woman was incomparably charming, but in a dazed state. “So even the bewitching beauty, ‘Kou Hua’, was captured.” “Three more.” “All of the Kou clan.” The captured Ji clan, Ironwood clan, and Riverbank clan Xiantian level members of the Swallow Mountain region all glanced over. Immediately, the black-cloaked man’s face turned savage, and his eyes emanated a green light. “I ordered you to torment them, torment them until they go insane, torment them until they died. But look at them; they actually have the presence of mind to look at these three. If you aren’t able to torment to death, if a single one of them doesn’t become a dread wraith, then I will make sure all of you become dread wraiths!” “Yesyesyes.” Those servants were absolutely terrified, and then all of them threw themselves forward, using all methods at their disposal to torment these Xiantian lifeforms with destroyed dantians. Seeing their senior apprentice-brother angry, the other six men and women were all frightened as well. The black-robed man turned his head to look at his fellow apprentices. “Just now, you were speaking of me?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Senior apprentice-brother, within the formation with our revered master set up, an enemy who secretly entered has been trapped. He looks just like a youth.” That handsome youth addressed as ‘Little Seven’ immediately said. “But his power is astonishingly great. Even one of Master’s spirit-beasts, ‘Blackneedle’, was killed, and I almost lost my life as well.” The black-clothed man frowned. “Oh? He’s that powerful?” “Very powerful. That enemy is also both a Ki Refiner and a Body Refiner. He should be a peak Xiantian expert. Only you, senior apprentice-brother, will be able to kill him.” “Once senior apprentice-brother uses his ‘Intoxicating Dragonspit’ technique, no matter how powerful he is, he will definitely faint and be easily captured.” All of them were boasting and praising him. The black-clothed man looked at the fellow disciples. “Just a single intruder causes all of you to feel helpless! Hmph, Master is currently busy forging his magic treasure and cannot spare any attention. Since the six of you aren’t able to do anything else competently, then you can go personally torment those Xiantian lifeforms. At least you’ll be helping Master with his magic treasure.” “Yes, senior apprentice-brother.” The six men and women all responded in unison, and then all of them picked up the various tools on the floor and began to walk towards those Xiantian lifeforms. Those bound Xiantian lifeforms who had their dantians destroyed were virtually all from the Swallow Mountain region. As for the other Xiantian lifeforms, they were extremely rare, because most had been tortured to death long ago. Even the few dozen who didn’t die yet were at the verge of death. “Both a ki and a Body Refiner? Peak Xiantian? Let’s take a look.” The black-clothed man snorted, then walked out. —————————– “The Three Powers [Heaven, Earth, Man] as the foundation.” Ji Ning, surrounded and protected by his Waterflame Lotus, was seated in the lotus position, quietly chanting while looking at the formation around himself. “The Five Elements, with water and earth making up the majority…the variables lie in these areas.” In his mind, a model of this enormous formation naturally came into being. He was currently thoroughly investigating the secrets of this formation. Ning suddenly rose to his feet. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Instantly, he transformed into blur and repeatedly changed directions several times. The faster he moved, the greater the amount of pressure he would place on the formation, giving him a chance to test where the strengths and weaknesses of the formation lay. “It is even more profound and intricate than the formation I just envisioned.” Ning shook his head. “If I had a chance to see the formation flags or formation marks, I would quickly understand the secrets of this formation.” He knew that this was a formation controlled by a Zifu Disciple. Perhaps because the Zifu Disciple, for some special reasons, was busy, he had been unable to come and deal with Ning personally. But Ning knew that this was just a temporary situation. Once the Zifu Disciple attacked, given how powerful a Zifu Disciple naturally was, given that Ning was trapped within this confusing formation, he would definitely die. “I must break this formation.” Time was of the essence. Under this invisible pressure, Ning whole-heartedly was analyzing this formation, and his understanding of formations was constantly increasing. Fortunately, his previous life had given him a good foundation, while in this life, his soul was incredibly powerful, and he also had the guide to formations left behind by that Loose Immortal. Only because he had these three aspects combined did he have such an astonishing rate of improvement. However, to break this formation by this Zifu Disciple…he was still quite a ways off. The great formation of this Zifu Disciple, if one wanted to destroy it through strength, would have to use tremendous force! Power at the same level naturally wouldn’t be enough. Perhaps even a Wanxiang Adept would find it difficult to destroy it forcibly. As for Ning, without question, he had to defeat the formation through understanding its secrets. Only then would he be able to easily defeat it. Break through it by raw force? He was far from being able to. “Wu!” The black fog in front of him seemed to grow slightly dimmer. A dark figure could faintly be seen in the distance, which was currently looking at Ning, seated in the lotus position, with curiosity. “Control over water and fire? That protective lotus seems to be rather extraordinary.” Pu! The black-clothed man was currently holding a bottle in his hand. He pulled the stopper out, and the bottle began to release gusts of a mind-intoxicating scent. This bottle contained within it ‘Intoxicating Dragonspit’. If one directly drank this thing, perhaps even a Wanxiang Adept would immediately faint. But of course, it would be quite hard to get a Wanxiang Adept to drink it. After all, as soon as he smelled it, he would know not to drink it. The scent of Intoxicating Dragonspit alone, when smelled, was enough to cause virtually all Xiantian lifeforms to faint and collapse. As the senior apprentice, he had been bestowed this Intoxicating Dragonspit by his revered master, which was why he was able to stealthily capture so many Xiantian lifeforms. “Fall, fall, fall!” The black-clothed figure looked expectantly at Ning. “Hm?” The lotus-position seated Ning felt a fragrance assault his nostrils. Immediately, his body went soft and his head grew dizzy. However, by relying on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and the Fiendgod body it had given him, which was incomparably stronger than that of normal Fiendgods, although Ning felt slightly dizzy, the divine power in his body, when activated, quickly blocked this feeling. “Which scoundrel is using tricks from hiding!” Ning hurriedly stood up and shouted loudly! “Hahaha. You are indeed a Xiantian-level Fiendgod, and thus very hard to make faint.” The distant blackclothed man walked over. “A Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner whose body is akin to a Fiendgod’s. To make you faint is as hard as making a Zifu-level Ki Refiner faint. This is why all of the people I have been capturing in Swallow Mountain have been Xiantian Ki Refiners.” “Xiantian Ki Refiners, upon smelling this, will immediately collapse. After destroying their dantian, they won’t be able to resist at all. Fiendgod practitioners, however, will be able to regrow their dantian after it is destroyed. They are quite hard to control. In addition, torturing a Xiantian Body Refiner to death is too hard.” The black-clothed man mumbled to himself. Ning stared at the distant, black-clothed figure. His swords were in his hands, and he was incomparably cautious, because the distant man, when walking over, gave off an invisible pressure…the tyrannical aura which only a Xiantian Fiendgod gave off. Clearly, the man had already activated the divine power in his body. Once his power was fully activated, he would attack. “You said you captured Xiantian lifeforms?” Ning stared at him. The black-clothed man didn’t answer the question. A look on his face that seemed like a smile and yet wasn’t, he said to Ning, “If my guess is correct, you should be young master ‘Ji Ning’ of the Ji clan.” “Eh?” Ji Ning was startled. In this era, communication was only possible through shouting to others, while distant communication was through running between tribes. Thus, only the high level members of some tribes knew of Ji Ning’s name. Even if they knew his name, however, they wouldn’t be able to recognize him… 497 “It seems I didn’t guess wrongly.” The black-clothed man sighed. “In the entire Swallow Mountain area, there can only be one person who is so young in appearance, and yet is a Xiantian lifeform who is even capable of making my fellow apprentices think he is a peak Xiantian expert. The only person capable of this must be the one who kicked down the city walls with three kicks and sent River Sansi flying with one kick. Young master Ji Ning.” “You know quite a lot.” Ning looked at him. The black-clothed man sighed. “Of course. I have to. In accordance with the orders from my master, I had to go capture a large number of Xiantian lifeforms throughout the Swallow Mountain region. Naturally, I need a good understanding of the intelligence reports regarding the various Xiantian experts of the Swallow Mountain area. If I didn’t prepare in advance and ended up accidentally ‘kicking an iron board’, I would be in trouble! For example, your father, Ji Yichuan…he had become a peak Xiantian long ago, and I even suspect that he is already a Zifu Disciple. I definitely wouldn’t go capture a person like him.” “Only after getting a good understanding of a person would I go capture him. That is why so many Xiantian lifeforms went missing in the Swallow Mountain area, and yet no one knows who did it.” The black-clothed man looked at Ning. “So young, and yet so astonishingly strong. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, only you fit the criteria. In addition, this is the territory of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and you yourself are of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture.” Ning was stunned. Many Xiantian lifeforms had gone missing in the Swallow Mountain area? Why was it that he hadn’t heard of this? Actually, this was something which had only recently occurred. The capture of Xiantian lifeforms had to be done quickly. By the time the disappearance was noticed, perhaps days would have passed, and it also took time for the entire tribe to make a decision on what to do. Thus, he had to frantically seize the opportunity to capture as many as he could. He couldn’t capture them slowly. Once the major powers of the various forces of Swallow Mountain reacted and began to set traps, it would be dangerous. “Nearly a hundred Xiantian experts have ‘gone missing’ in Swallow Mountain.” The black-robed man looked at Ning. “Because this place is near the Ji clan, many of the Ji clan have gone missing, twenty four in total. There are some who directly belong to your Ji clan, while others belong to the tribes of your Ji clan. The Ji clan controls so much territory that I imagine up till now, your Ji clan still hasn’t gotten a full picture of how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing.” Ning was astonished. The Ji clan…had actually…had actually lost many Xiantian lifeforms? “Some have gone ‘missing’ from your Ji clan of the West Prefecture as well. Let me report a few names. I imagine you recognize them.” The black-clothed man said. “Ji Jadewich. Ji Shan. Poortile. Earthshaker. Blindfish. These five all directly belong to your Ji clan of the West Prefecture. You should know them, right?” “Ah!” Ning’s face instantly turned white. Ji Jadewich…that was the son of Ji Lee, his most talented son. In the past, during the fierce struggle between Ji Lee’s lienage and the current line in control of the Prefecture Lord position, Jadewich had been one of the most fiercest in the struggle. Ning had once deeply disliked this man. Ji Shan was a Xiantian lifeform of a younger generation of the Ji clan. Although he wasn’t a Commander, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had very great expectations for him. After all, his surname was ‘Ji’, and he also belonged to the primary line of descent. Poortile was a newly promoted Xiantian lifeform which had been trained and recruited by the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. In Western Prefecture City, Ning had seen him quite a few times. Each time when Poortile saw him, he would bow slightly and call out, “Young master Ji Ning!” Earthshaker was one of the twelve Commanders of the Ji clan! Blindfish…Blindfish….Blindfish!!! “Master Blindfish!” Ning’s heart was trembling. Master Blindfish had taught him archery. To Ning, he was the closest, most familiar figure of the five. All of them were familiar figures. After all, ever since he was young, he had grown up in Western Prefecture City. He had met with all of the Xiantian lifeforms of Western Prefecture City. Each year, at the gathering at Snowfall Palace, he would see this group of people. He was very familiar with them all. These people were his clansmen! Some of them had grudges against him, some of them were of the same lineage as him, while some were friends of him. One of them as the master archer who had taught him archery! “You…” Ning’s face turned pale. “You know them all, right? Haha.” The black-clothed man suddenly shouted loudly, “Ji Jadewich, Ji Shan, Poortile, Earthshaker, Blindfish, your young master Ji Ning of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture is within the formation. Your young master Ji Ning will soon accompany you! Hahaha…” The voice was very loud, and it transmitted directly into the distant tunnel midway up the mountain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the mountain. Blindfish’s body was covered with blood, and he was currently tied to that pillar. Ever since the day he had arrived in this hellish place, he had lost all hope. Currently, he was currently grinding his teeth, enduring the pain while taunting them, “Is that all you got? Harder, hit me harder. Come at me, boy. Didn’t you drink enough milk when you were a lad?” Suddenly… “Your young master Ji Ning will soon be coming to keep you company! Hahaha…” That laughter rang towards them. “Ji Ning!” The bearded Blindfish’s body trembled, and then he roared hoarsely with all his might, “Young master Ji Ning, hurry and flee! There is an Immortal practitioner here developing an evil magic treasure!” Ji Jadewich, also bound by Blindfish’s side, had been holding his head down, exhausted, but now his spirit was roused, and he raised his head as well. He murmured: “Ji Ning? Ji Ning?” “Ji Ning! Quick, flee! Quick, leave!” Jadewich howled desolately as well, striving to make himself heard. In the past, although he had wanted for his father’s lineage to take over the Prefecture Lord position, since they had lost, he had submitted whole-heartedly. Ji Ning was their Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s next Prefecture Lord! He had personally seen Ning’s talent, and knew that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture would definitely become even more powerful because of Ji Ning. His dantian had already been destroyed and he had been captured. He didn’t want the most promising genius of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, to die here as well. This was a humiliation to the Ji clan! “Quick, flee!” Jadewiched howled heroically. “Young master Ji Ning, quick, leave!” Ji Shan howled as well. They had all been caught here, and had often seen those dread wraiths enter that underground tunnel. From that, as well as the discourse of those six handsome men and women, they had learned…that this was utterly a devil’s lair! ———————– The black fog around him billowed, but from afar came furious, frantic howls. “Young master Ji Ning, hurry up and flee! There is an Immortal practitioner here developing an evil magic treasure!” “Young master Ji Ning, hurry and leave.” “Flee.” Although they had been tortured to the point of their voices turning hoarse, because he was so familiar with these people, Ning could tell who they were. “Devleoping an evil magic treasure?” Ning forcibly swallowed down the fiery anger in his heart as he stared at the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man chortled strangely. “The genius of the Ji clan, the mighty young master Ji Ning…don’t be so impatient, don’t be so angry. They will all die. As for you, you’ll die too.” He wanted to arouse Ning’s fury. When a person was enraged, they would lose their calm, and after doing so, their chances of victory would decrease. “Go die!” Ning was like a tiger leaving the mounting, releasing a surge of seemingly unblockable power as he charged straight forward. “Hmph, so rash. And they say you are a genius? In the end, you are still too young.” The black-clothed man said to himself. In his hands, he wielded black weaver’s shuttles in each hand, whirling them like devils as he welcomed the charging Ning. The two black shuttles stabbed towards Ning, and as the two drew near… Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! The two black shuttles actually shot out multiple black needles in a cluster towards Ning. Because they were too close, and the attack of the black needles was simply too fast, although Ning’s swordplay was powerful, he found it hard to block them all. Luckily, Ning’s body had those two layers of the Waterflame Lotus to block those black needles. The black needles just barely managed to break through the first layer before collapsing, and as they did, the earth immediately began to emit a hissing sound. “All stained with poison.” The two Darknorth swords in Ning’s hands stabbed angrily outwards towards the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man moved like a ghost, the two black shuttles in his hands just barely able to dodge while also shooting out those black needles. “What a formidable Ji Ning.” The black-clothed man was secretly shocked. “His protective lotus flower is too powerful. It’s actually able to affect even my own movements. Luckily, my robes are actually formed from an armor-type magic treasure, as otherwise, the power of the protective lotus alone would have torn my clothes apart.” 501 “Bang!” A sword shadow suddenly pierced through the black-clothed man’s arm, and the black-clothed man immediately leapt backwards at high speed, his face gradually turning savage. “What a marvelous, profound protective lotus you have. My Blackblood Needles are unable to break through it. It seems I’ll have to use power to break it.” The two black shuttles in his hands disappeared, and then in his hands appeared a long staff formed from six shuttles, while at the same time, the area around the body of the man began to faintly swirl with fire as a powerful aura began to emanate outwards. “Staff?” Ning was secretly startled. Earlier, when they had battled, he had noticed that this black-clothed man’s ability in wielding those black shuttles was truly quite weak. Only, the sudden shooting out of those Blackblood Needles was rather sinister. Now that the opponent was using a staff, Ning finally understood…that this was the weapon which the opponent was actually an expert in. “A staff is a long weapon and a heavy weapon.” Ning mused. “Fiendgod Body Refiners generally like to use heavy weapon type magic treasures, using power to break through magic.” “Receive my attacks.” The black-clothed man transformed into a black blur, and the longstaff was lifted up high and instantly began to increase in size rapidly, while its weight rapidly increased as well. The staff itself most likely now weighed tens of thousands of kilograms, and it smashed down directly towards Ning’s head! Ning’s Darknorth swords swept upwards. Clang! An enormous clashing sound. Ning himself was sent flying backwards, creating a deep gouge in the earth. His two hands had cracked apart at the thumb, and blood had already dyed the sword handles red. “What tremendous power, even greater than mine by far. Although I am merely at the fourth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], I’m still comparable to most late-stage Fiendgod Body Refiners. This black-clothed man is actually even stronger than me. He must be a peak Fiendgod Body Refiner.” Ning understood that he had encountered a true opponent this time. To kill an Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level was a much harder proposition. “I want to see how many staff blows of mine you can take.” The eyes of the black-clothed man flashed with a faint green light. He charged forwards with large steps, emanating an aura as mighty as a dragon’s, and as he drew near Ning, he delivered the longstaff in his hands in a forward blow. A direct attack! “Staves focus on power! Swords focus on skill!” Ning shouted, while at the same time, a pair of green wings appeared behind him, seemingly made out of steel. This was the wing-type magic treasure which Ning had acquired out of the thousands of magic treasures found in the Aquatic Manor. The [Shadewind Steps] was nothing more than one of the most basic foundations to the divine ability, [Windwing Evasion]. When using this set of wings to utilize this divine ability, the power was much greater, comparable to a tiger being given a set of wings. Hua! Ning’s wings trembled, and instantly, like a giant Roc, his speed tremendously, bizarrely increased. He flashed past like a gust of wind, constantly changing direction as the Darknorth swords in his hands struck out once and again against the black-clothed man. “Yayayaya!” The black-clothed man was completely in a state of frenzy. His ki had activated the runes scribed onto his longstaff, causing the power of the Weight Seal to continue to grow. The staff seemed to have transformed into a small mount. Luckily, he was a peak Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner, as otherwise he wouldn’t even be able to budge such a heavy weapon. “If you can’t hit someone with the staff, so what if it is heavy? Die!” Ning seemed to have been possessed as well. The existence of that Zifu Disciple was a source of invisible pressure for him. Those tormented clansmen of the Ji clan caused Ning’s heart to feel as though it was being scorched. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Ji Ning, relying on his wing-type magic treasures, moved like a ghost, his speed even greater than the black-clothed figure’s. The Darknorth swords in his hands, having already undergone a Bloodforging, were incomparably sharp. His swordplay which contained the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, in terms of technique, was at a level higher than the black-clothed man’s as well. “Bang!” A large hole was blasted through the waist by a piercing blow, but then immediately afterwards, the hole immediately grew small, then disappeared, having completely healed. “Hua!” A large wound was carved out on his back. “Chi.” His face was cut and scarred. “Yayaya!!!” The black-clothed man was being driven insane by this battle. His all but unkillable body, when paired with his ‘one with the world’ level of staff-play, allowed him to easily dominate most peak Xiantian Ki Refiners. He hadn’t expected that this time, he had run into a wall. The opponent’s strength was a good deal weaker than his, but the opponent was nonetheless an expert Fiendgod Body Refiner whose swordplay was clearly on a higher level! Swish! Ning was sent flying away by a grazing blow of the staff. Although the skin on his hands were ripped open from the shock of the collision, they instantly healed. After all, as his swordplay was extremely skilled, Ning would only occasionally suffer a bit, while the opponent was truly dancing on the fine line between life and death. If he was to be stabbed by Ning in the head, a fatal blow, then he would die for sure. “Bang!” Using both swords at the same time and moving like a ghost, the dance at the precipice of life and death finally came to a stumbling halt. Bang! The black-clothed man’s waist had a sword light flash past it, and an enormous wound appeared. He fell to the ground, his body chopped in half. “Formidable, formidable.” The black-clothed man ground his teeth. “However, you can go die now.” Hua. Just as Ning’s wings fluttered and he pounced towards the black-clothed man with his two swords, a bottle appeared in one of the hands of the black-robed man. He suddenly smashed it into the ground, which immediately exploded open against the rocky floor of the mountain. A thick white fog instantly poured out. Ning, seeing the situation looked bad, hurriedly retreated at high speed, but the faint fragrance still assaulted his nostrils. Although he had already stopped his breathing early on, that odor still invaded and burrowed through his body. “Transform into a pool of liquid!” The black-clothed man gritted his teeth as he stared at Ning, the two halves of his body quickly drawing close together and beginning to fuse together. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The white mist within the bottle was an essence removed from corpses and transformed into gaseous form. Once it touched the body, it would quickly invade and corrode the body, melting it into a puddle of liquid! Even this peak Xiantian ‘senior apprentice’ himself had to use an antidote against it. The youth in front of him was clearly weaker than him in strength, and based on his understanding, young master Ji Ning had only recently broken through to the Xiantian level. “No matter how monstrous of a genius you are, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, you are far inferior to me. Even I am not able to withstand it. You will definitely die.” The black-clothed man looked expectantly. Ning’s face changed. It really was a case of a certain type of master producing a certain type of disciple! In the past, Ning had calculated that this Zifu Disciple must be an expert poison user, and this black-clothed fellow in front of him was also skilled in poisons. The white corrosive fog…Ning felt numbness begin to spread and erode his entire body. “Gotta hold!” Ning circulated the Shining Scarlet divine power in his body, and the powerful Fiendgod life energy also began to wipe away the poison. “Die!” While forcibly suppressing this corpse essence in his body, the wing-type magic treasure on his back suddenly howled as Ning pounced towards the black-clothed man on the floor. Regardless of whether or not he was able to disperse this corpse essence in his body, he had to first kill the man in front of him. Otherwise, if he were to be dead from poison while the other was still alive, how hateful a thought would that be! “Hahaha, the more you move, the faster you die.” The black-clothed man wielded the six shuttle longstaff, his footsteps thundering on the ground and causing the earth to shake. Clearly, he was using all of his strength! “Go die!” He raised the six shuttle longstaff high, smashing it down towards Ning like a giant mountain. Shua! Shua! Relying on the Windwing Evasion, Ning moved like a ghost, moving in an arc to attack the black-clothed man from the side. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Ning wildly pounced forward, while the longstaff in the black-clothed man changed directly slightly to welcome Ning. The two had already exchanged blows multiple times and knew very well how powerful the enemy was. The black-clothed man was physically strong, while Ning’s swordplay was marvelous, and he was an expert in twin swords. Dong! A nearby piece of head-sized rock suddenly flew up, moving at supersonic speed as it smashed towards the black-clothed man’s head. The distance was too close, and the stone came flying from behind…the black-clothed man didn’t have eyes in his back. By the time he vaguely sensed the ripples in the air caused by the stone, it was too late! “Bang!” The stone, wrapped up by Ning’s divine will, was moving at an incredible speed. It was as though a late-stage Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner expert had viciously thrown it at full force against his head. The stone shattered into tiny pieces. Blood flowed from the black-clothed man’s head, while at the same time, he stumbled. “Clang!” “Chi!” Two rays of sword light, one which blocked the six-shuttle longstaff, while the other sword light slashed straight through the black-clothed man’s face, stabbing out from the back of his skull, carrying some brain matter and blood! Bang! The power of the six-shuttle longstaff stick forced Ning to retreat backwards by multiple steps, and naturally the sword was drawn out as well. There was a hole directly in the forehead of the black-clothed man, but there was no way it could possibly be healed. Forget about him; if Ning’s skull had been pierced through, even he would have died without question. “You…you….” Fiendgod Body Refiners possessed astonishing life force, allowing the black-clothed man to have a final few moments of life. He stared at Ning, struggling to open his mouth. “You…” And then he fell down, causing the ground to tremble. “Huff…huff…huff…” Ning stood there, his breathing rather ragged. He stared at the corpse in front of him, knowing how unwilling this person had been to accept death like this, how mystified this person had been in death. Most likely, this black-clothed ‘senior apprentice’, in the moment of his death, was still trying to puzzle out why his head had suddenly suffered an attack. Who had attacked him from behind? Divine will. This was Ning’s killing technique. Once it was used, if he was unable to kill his enemies with it, his enemies would immediately use Escape Seals and instantly run away. Most likely, by then, even the Zifu Disciple would know that Ning possessed a ‘divine will’ ability. Thus, it was not to be used lightly, and when used, it had to kill the enemy. Previously, Ning had been fighting with him head on, but because of the poison, Ning could no longer afford to waste time. Thus, he used his divine will to control the stone. The two had been on par in terms of general power. In a life and death battle, one couldn’t be the slightest bit careless. When that stone had carried boundless force in smashing down on the black-clothed man’s head, his staff techniques had become completely chaotic. Naturally, he was even less able to fend off Ning’s divine, ghost-like swordplay, with the result being a sword stabbing straight through his fatal point between his forehead. “Hahaha…” Ning began to laugh, raising his head and shouting heroically, “Come! Each one of you who comes shall die! However many comes, however many I shall kill! Hahaha…” At this moment, Ning was incomparably crazed. He was in utterly dire straits, and his clansmen had been trapped here. His chance of survival was very slim. Ning naturally became all the more frenzied. Killing an expert of the enemy naturally made him feel incomparably satisfied. There were deep gouges everywhere on the ground, with shattered rocks littering everywhere. After all, prior to this, Ning’s swordplay had activated the power of the world itself, while the enemy was also incomparably strong. Naturally, the area around them had been reduced to rubble. “Poison?” Ning could already sense that the corpse essence in his body was being slowly ground away by the natural life force in his body that was being created by the Crimsonbright divine power. “It seems it still can’t do anything against my Fiendgod body.” Ning was different from that black-clothed ‘senior apprentice’. The black-clothed man couldn’t withstand the poison…but Ning trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, while the Crimsonbright divine power was born from a fusion of the power of the sun and the power of the moon, while his divine body had been formed and birthed by Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater. In terms of quality, his body was untold times more powerful than other Fiendgod Body Refiner bodies. “That black-clothed man’s power was clearly much greater than the previous man’s. Most likely, he has a fairly high status in this place. Perhaps he has some secrets on this formation on him.” Ning hurriedly began to search the black-clothed man’s corpse, but unfortunately… The Zifu Disciple himself actually wasn’t an expert in formations. All he had done was set up formation flags in a very formulaic way. Ning thus naturally wasn’t able to find any information regarding this formation on the corpse. “However, he has quite a few Dao-seals and bottles and elixirs on him.” Ning collected them all, but didn’t have any time to investigate these battles. First of all, he didn’t dare to pull out the stoppers for fear of them being poisoned, and second of all, he himself didn’t know anything about poisons. It was best for him to spend his time focusing on the formation and increasing his abilities in formations. Breaking this formation as soon as possible was what mattered. —————————— Within the mountain. The six beautifully dressed men and women were currently, as per the senior apprentice’s orders, torturing these Xiantian lifeforms. “Haha, with our senior apprentice personally handling this, your young master Ji Ning’s death is assured.” “In the formation, I heard senior apprentice say that young master Ji Ning is still a youth? Little Seven, you are nearly thirty years old this year. Can it be that this young master Ji Ning is even younger than you?” The six men and women chatted amongst themselves. One of the nearby men bound to the pillar, a bald man whose body was covered with scars, howled at them, “Young master Ji Ning of the Ji clan is perhaps just eleven or twelve years old this year. Compared to him, you are like worms on the ground while he is like a divine dragon in the skies!” “Shut your mouth.” The nearby servants immediately used heated irons to torture and burn him. “Six fools! You want to compare yourselves to young master Ji Ning!” “I can’t even begin to express how inferior you are.” “Hahaha, almost thirty years old, but he wants to compare himself to young master Ji Ning? I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts!” Those nearly hundred Xiantian lifeforms of the Swallow Mountain area all began to shout out and mock them. “Beat them, beat them!” The six men and women shouted angrily. Suddenly… “Come! Each one of you who comes shall die! However many comes, however many I shall kill! Hahaha…” That wild, frenzied voice was filled with both hysteria and utter, incomparable madness. “What?!” The faces of those six changed. They were certain that this wasn’t the voice of the senior apprentice. Then…it could be only the voice of that trapped young master Ji Ning. “Can it be that our senior apprentice-brother died?” They were all in a state of panic. Without question, the senior apprentice was by far the most powerful of their group. Even if he didn’t use the many insidious options available to him, he was still incomparably strong. “Senior apprentice-brother!” “Senior apprentice-brother!” The six men and women shouted outwards, but their senior apprentice-brother didn’t respond. “If you want to find your senior apprentice-brother, then go to the Netherworld Kingdom!” That wild, impudent voice rang out from afar. “Senior apprentice-brother died.” The six men and women looked at each other, their eyes filled with awe. “Killed by a youth of just eleven or twelve years of age.” “Only eleven or twelve, yet he was able to kill our senior apprentice-brother? Is…is there such a monstrous talent in the world? Even in our school, there has never been such a monster. Most likely, only those legendary top-tier tribes under the protection of Immortals will there be monsters like this.” The six were completely overawed. After all, they quite broad experience. Their own school was a major school. But they had never seen anyone eleven or twelve years old who was so possible. “Kakaka…” The iron board in the center of the mountain began to slowly swing open, revealing that dark, gloomy tunnel. The tunnel had a hint of green light emanating from within it, and its cold, sinister aura caused the six men and women to shiver. “My boy Gan!” That shrill voice was quavering. “That ‘Ji Ning’ killed my boy Gan. He will die, definitely die!!!” The six men and women felt their hearts shake. As for those servants, all of them were shuddering. None of them could predict what this person would do when enraged. “That ‘Ji Ning’ is only eleven or twelve years old? What a monster. If it weren’t for the fact that he is an enemy, I would recommend him for entry into our school. But he killed my boy Gan! He must die!” The shrill voice was filled with hate. “Little Seven, come in.” “Come in?” The handsome youth was startled. He had never before entered the cavern in the mountain. That was a forbidden area. “Quick, enter.” The shrill voice carried anger within it. “Yes.” The handsome youth didn’t dare to hesitate any longer. Clearing his throat, he hurriedly walked towards the black tunnel, then leapt into the cavern. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dark tunnel was deep and also almost as straight as a pen. It was nearly three hundred meters deep, and the handsome youth, when jumping down, released his Xiantian Ki, allowing himself to descend as lightly as a goose feather, while at the same time, every so often, he would grab onto the sides of the dark tunnel to slow his descent. After a while, he finally stepped on the ground. “This is so deep. Uh, where is Master’s secret room?” The handsome youth hurriedly looked everywhere while carefully advancing through the winding tunnels. Up ahead, there was a dazzling green light. Soon, he reached an open stone door, behind which was an area filled with green life, as well as ripples which made the heart tremble. “Master.” The handsome youth called out from outside the stone door. “Enter.” The shrill voice screeched. “Yes.” The handsome youth suppressed his terror and walked in. This was a sealed stone room that was ten meters in diameter. In the center of the stone room, there was an enormous boulder, upon which was a man who wore loose black robes, had a skinny, pale face, and long, flowing black hair. The man’s eyes emitted an otherworldly green light, and his entire body seemed to be made out of solidified evil. In front of this person was an enormous cauldron, and above the cauldron, there was a burning green flame that emitted a freezing aura. Beneath the green flame, there lay hovering an unadorned, blood-red cloth banner, which had a number of either hidden or visible ferocious faces on it. The faces were either screaming soundlessly or bellowing as they tried to swallow each other and battled each other. The entire cloth banner was surrounded by a layer of black light that was visible to the naked eye. “Sin!” The handsome youth’s heart was trembling. “A grave sin.” Those who did good accumulated karmic merit. Those who did evil accumulated sins. Those who had committed grave sins would naturally emanate a heart-shaking evil aura. But the aura of sin around the cloth banner was actually so strong, it was visible to the naked eye. This was simply astonishing. “This is a magic treasure which was born from endless amounts of sin.” The handsome youth was both terrified as well as desirous. He knew very well that when one created this sort of magic treasure that was refined from sins, when one underwent the Three Calamities or Nine Tribulations, the power of the trials would be incomparably powerful. But this sort of magic treasure itself was incomparably, astonishingly powerful as well. This was why some evil schools were clearly committing countless grave sins, and yet were still able to continue forward in training to become an Immortal. It was because these evil paths allowed one to advance more quickly, and to even battle against foes of higher levels. “No wonder Master said that once his magic treasure is completed, he wouldn’t even fear a Wanxiang Adept.” The handsome youth couldn’t breathe. “Little Seven.” The long-haired man, seated in the lotus position, spoke in a shrill voice. “My boy Gan was my first disciple. He was like a son to me! This Ji Ning killed my son. How could I, Bei Goodson, possibly forgive him?” The handsome youth lowered his head. “I need to refine this magic treasure. I can’t spare any attention.” Bei Goodson’s green eyes stared at the handsome youth. Creating this sort of deeply sinful magic treasure was incomparably dangerous to begin with, and there were constant repercussions from the creation process. There were some people who were themselves bitten to death and had their souls dispersed by the dread wraiths they had created. Of course, if one truly wanted to force a pause, one could, but the price would also be great. “Little Seven, I bequeath unto you one Hearteater Powder.” A bottle appeared out of nowhere in the palm of Goodson’s right hand, and he casually tossed it towards the handsome youth. The handsome youth accepted it, then stared at the bottle in terror. “Hearteater Powder?” He had heard of the famous Hearteater Powder before. The price of this one bottle of Hearteater Powder was more valuable than even a ranked magic treasure. Countless Zifu Disciples had died to Hearteater Powder, and it was incredibly hard to procure. Even his own master had only been able to acquire this terrifying poison because he had been born into their school and had connections. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t be distracted, how would I possibly be willing to waste this Hearteater Powder?” Goodson said shrilly. “Remember. Smash the bottle within thirty meters of that Ji Ning, and he will definitely be poisoned. Once the Hearteater Powder enters his body, although it takes effect slowly and will need three days, it is virtually impossible to get rid of it once one has been poisoned. He, a mere Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner, will die without question, even if what he is training in is the legendary number one Fiendgod Body Refining, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]!” The handsome youth nodded “Remember. You yourself need to be careful. Stay far away. If you are poisoned, come to me. I will give you the antidote.” Goodson said. “Your disciple is still competent to perform a minor task like releasing poison.” The handsome youth said. “Go.” Goodson’s gaze fell upon that blood-red cloth banner beneath the swirling green flames. The countless dread wraiths within the cloth banner occasionally appeared, extending their necks out towards Goodson and wildly trying to bite at him, but Goodson’s oily green eyes remained cold and deadly. The handsome youth bowed respectfully, then left. When leaving this deep, dark tunnel, he jumped at high speed, occasionally clamping onto protruding pieces of rock on the stone walls. Soon afterwards, he left the tunnel. Kakaka… The iron boards turned, and the tunnel was shut once more. —————————– Within the black mist. The Waterflame Lotus surrounded him, and Ning’s soul was currently pondering at high speed, with one hypothetical formation after another appearing within his mind, and the construction of the formation changing nonstop. As Ning frantically analyzed these formations, his level of understanding with regards to formations continued to rise. “Huh?” Ning suddenly felt a spike of fear. When a person’s soul was as powerful as his, one would be able to unconsciously sense terrifying dangers approaching. The last time his soul had this feeling was when he was attempting the third trial in the ancient Aquatic Manor. This time, however, the feeling was even stronger than last time, as though no matter how he struggled, he still wouldn’t be able to escape this danger. “Danger?” Ning opened his eyes to stare around himself. Suddenly… The black fog in front of him to the right naturally parted, and in that instant, a large amount of white threads instantly wrapped towards him. In the distance, that handsome youth could be seen wielding a horsetail whisk in one hand and a Dao-seal in the other. The white threads of the horsetail whisk instantly attacked Ning. “Hmph.” Twin swords appeared in Ning’s hands, and the Waterflame Lotus blocked those white threads. “Boom!” 513 In that instant when those thousands of white strands and the Waterflame Lotus collided, it was as though something exploded. Only now did Ning realize that the thousands of white strands of had contained a bottle within it. In the instant their attacks had collided, the bottle had been smashed apart. Seeing the battle smash open, his soul could feeling that incomparably terrifying danger sense intensify, causing Ning’s face to change. “There had to have been something in the bottle.” Ning was no fool, but he couldn’t see anything. It was odorless and invisible! The distant, handsome youth had immediately retracted his horsetail whisk in that instant the bottle had smashed open, and had also used his Escape Seal, immediately fleeing and disappearing. “This…this bottle.” Ning had an uneasy feeling. “Ah!” Suddenly, a stabbing pain appeared in his heart. Ning’s face turned ashen, and he held his chest. The Crimsonbright divine power in his body immediately began to search throughout his entire body, but no matter what, it still couldn’t find any hint of poison. However, his heart continued to feel that slow, stabbing pain, and his entire body began to slowly ache. There was no way to stop it at all. Even his head was starting to hurt. “What should I do? The poison has invaded my entire body, but my Crimsonbright divine power isn’t able to sense it, nor can my divine will.” Ning, at this moment, suddenly remembered the words of that old black bull in the underwater estate. He had been warned not to underestimate any opponent, especially those who trained to become Immortals. Immortal practitioners had varied techniques. One could simply use poison to kill you. No matter how powerful your ability to fight was, they could simply refuse to fight you. This was how Immortal practitioners were! Nobody knew what anyone else was truly capable of…. “Hahaha.” From afar, a delighted sound could be heard. “Ji Ning, no matter how monstrous of a genius you are, you will definitely die.” Within that great formation, Ning’s face was unsightly. Although neither his divine will nor his Crimsonbright divine power could sense the poisonous elements, he could feel the pain wracking his entire body. This invisible poison was slowly, constantly devouring his entire body. Although the devouring process was slow, it was inexorable in its progress. Even his incomparably powerful Fiendgod lifeforce in his body was unable to remove it. “What a fierce poison. Odorless, colorless, and undetectable.” Ning was surprised. “Although it isn’t like some other poisons which instantly take effect, it seems to have embedded itself deep in every single cell. There’s no way to remove it at all. If this continues, in most likely just two or three days, my body will be finished.” “Two or three days?” Ning’s eyes began wild. “In the last two or three days, even if I die, I will destroy this formation.” Ning’s heart was beginning to blaze with a heaven-reaching fury. “I will wipe them all out, or if I’m lucky, maybe even find the antidote on their bodies.” “There’s nowhere to run.” “I must destroy this formation!” Ning sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes. The protective lotus flower swivelled around him as he once more frantically endeavoured to analyze formations. ———————– Within the mountain. That handsome youth walked back, then glanced at Blindfish, Ji Jadewich, and the other members of the Ji clan, who had looks of shock and fury on their faces. The other members of the Ji clan of the East Prefecture, North Prefecture, South Prefecture, and Central Prefecture all looked at him angrily as well. “What are you looking at? Your young master Ji Ning was poisoned. In three days, he will definitely die.” The handsome youth was completely confident. “Forget about him. Even a Zifu Disciple who is poisoned by this poison will definitely die.” “Our Ji clan’s Patriarch will definitely come.” “He will definitely exterminate all of you, and he will also rescue young master Ji Ning.” Blindfish and the others weren’t willing to believe that Ji Ning would die. “Hahaha, your clan’s Patriarch?” The handsome youth laughed wildly. “How could a small tribe here in your Swallow Mountain possibly have poison of this level? Even in our school, this sort of poison is hard to obtain. Stop looking at me. I won’t tell you what poison it is.” “Go die.” “You will all definitely die.” 515 The members of the Ji clan all cursed at him, and even the other bound Xiantian lifeforms began to curse in their despair. ————————- Within West Prefecture City of the Ji clan. Ji Yichuan was currently accompanying his wife, Yuchi Snow. Occasionally, he would look outside towards the door. Suddenly, through the door, he could see that from afar, an Azure Firebird appeared in the skies, with two people on its back. One was the red-clothed Ji Redflower, while the other was a red-haired, gray-robed elder. At a single glance, Ji Yichuan recognized him…that was the true pillar for the entire Ji clan. The Ji clan’s clan leader, Ji Ninefire! “Snow, Snow, the clan leader is here.” Yichuan hurriedly shouted. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Azure Firebird landed in the courtyard, and the red-haired, gray-robed Ji Ninefire stepped own, arriving outside the room’s door in just two steps. “Yichuan.” Ninefire had a smile that would make a person feel peaceful. According to legend, when Ninefire was young, he had an incomparably explosive temperament, but because Ninefire had lived nearly four centuries by now, while the oldest member of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture was only a century or so in age, the stories of what Ninefire had been like when young were lost to legends. “Clan leader.” Ji Yichuan, upon seeing the clan leader, immediately revealed a look of urgency in his eyes. “Snow, she…” “I heard from Redflower.” Ninefire nodded. “Let me take a look.” “Right.” Yichuan immediately led the way forward. At this moment, Snow had already left her bed, curtseying respectfully. “Snow greets the clan leader.” Ninefire said, “Your body is very weak right now. First lie down. There’s no need to stand on empty ceremonies.” Only then did Snow half lie down on the bed, while Ninefire sat on the chair by the side of the bed. He stretched his hand out, placing it against Snow’s wrist, gently tapping with his finger…immediately, a spot of red, fiery light immediately enveloped Snow’s entire body. In this instant, it seemed as though Snow’s entire body was covered by a layer of flames. Yichuan watched nervously by the side, while Ninefire’s eyes were closed. As much time as was needed for a pot of tea to be brewed passed before the fiery light surrounding Snow’s body vanished. Only now did Ninefire open his eyes as well. Facing Yichuan, whose face was filled with anticipation, Ninefire couldn’t help but let a soft sigh, then gently shake his head. “The seeds of the illness have taken deep root. There’s no way for it to be reversed.” “Ah!” Yichuan’s face instantly turned white. Ninefire sighed. “That year, your wife was a peak Xiantian expert. During that disaster, it was one thing for her foundation to have been damaged; if she had been immediately treated, it would have been fine. But your wife then executed that secret art which took her own life energy…it was like another blow to her already heavily injured body, causing the illness to be even more deeply rooted! Unless you can find some sort of pill suitable for mortals to use to extend their lives…there is no other method.” 517 “Longevity-enhancing pill for mortals?” Yichuan looked his wife, and Snow looked back at him. Their gazes intersected, and Snow sighed gently. “Yichuan, I understand my illness.” If it was just a matter of consuming a longevity-enhancing pill, although such a pill would be incomparably expensive, if Yichuan bankrupted himself, sold off all his possessions as well as the thousands of unranked magic treasures Ji Ning had given him, and also borrowed some money from the Ji clan, he might be able to acquire one such pill. But the additional requirement of ‘suitable for mortals to use’…the price would instantly rise by several additional levels. The more powerful a medicinal pill, the more powerful the medicinal effect. A pill that was capable of extending a person’s lifespan was a pill that defied the natural course of heaven. A pill that not only did this but also did it in such a way which allowed the weak, fragile bodies of a mortal to be able to endure the process…the preciousness of such a pill was far beyond what the likes of the Ji clan could possibly imagine. “Yichuan.” Ninefire said slowly, “I’ve refined some pills. I will immediately arrange for them to be sent over. Your wife should have another three months of life.” “Three months!” Yichuan’s face completely changed. Snow just revealed a smile. She said, “Yichuan.” Yichuan hurriedly turned to look at his wife, who laughed and said, “Three months is better than I had anticipated. I regret nothing. I did what I did that year in order to give birth to Ning. If I hadn’t given birth to Ning, I might have been able to live an extra twenty years, but every single day of those twenty years, I would have been in a hell of regret. But now, every day of these ten years that I have lived, I have lived happily. It’s enough, it’s enough. Have Ning come back. I want to see him. As long as he is by my side, all is well!” “Alright.” Yichuan hurriedly nodded, then after pondering for a moment, shouted, “Brother Black, Azure Firebird.” Immediately, from outside, a black-clothed man and an azure-clothed woman stepped in. It was the human forms of the black serpent and the Azure Firebird. “Brother Black.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Ji Ning will easily be able to recognize your voice. Thus, ride atop the Azure Firebird and quickly head to the border region between our Ji clan and the Ironwood clan.” As he spoke, a map appeared in Yichuan’s hands. He just casually glanced towards the door, making sure of their directions, then carefully sensed the location of the jade sword which Ning was holding. Staring at the map, Yichuan quickly ascertained a location. With a gentle tap of the finger, he pointed to a mountain on the map, and a spot of blood stained the map there. “Ji Ning is currently at this location. He hasn’t moved this entire time. Based on my sense, although there are slight uncertainties regarding the distance between us, he’s definitely within a hundred kilometers of this mountain. As long as you ride the Azure Firebird to the air above the mountain, then call for him and say that his mother is critically ill and that he is to quickly return, he will definitely hear it.” 518 “Understood.” The black-clothed man said hurriedly. “Yichuan, don’t worry. Ning’s hearing ability is far beyond that of ordinary people’s. He should be able to hear my voice from as far as two or three hundred kilometers away.” It wasn’t possible for mortals to project their voices a hundred kilometers, but it was simple for a Xiantian lifeform. For example, when Ning had been at Serpentwing Lake and shouted at Serpentwing, his voice had also projected throughout the lake. “Azure Firebird, I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip.” Yichuan looked at the azure-garbed woman. “A small matter.” The Azure Firebird’s voice was very gentle. “We can’t delay for even a moment. I’ll immediately head out along with Elder Brother Black.” “Let’s go.” The black-clothed man also nodded right away. Taking the map with them, the black-garbed man quickly mounted onto the back of the Azure Firebird, then quickly flew towards the direction of the borders between the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan. “Ning, son.” Snow watched as the Azure Firebird flew high into the sky, and in her heart she began to miss her son. The closer she drew to death, the more she wanted to see her son, her dearly beloved son. ————————– The Azure Firebird’s speed was astonishingly fast. In less than two hours, she had already arrived in the air above that mountain. “This is the mountain.” The black serpent nodded. From high up in the air, it was very easy to recognize the landscape below. “Elder Brother Black, call for him right away.” The Azure Firebird urged. “Right.” The black serpent stared below, then immediately infused his voice with monstrous energy, shouting loudly, “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” This voice echoed down from the heavens, quickly covering an area of two hundred kilometers of the forests and mountain below. And directly beneath them, deep within that mountain…there were a million commoners, whom the two spirit-beasts didn’t notice at all. ——————————- Within the mountain. Those Xiantian lifeforms that were bound to the pillars were still undergoing countless amounts of torment. They had to endure torture, and yet they were still kept alive. This was because the longer they 519 were tortured, the greater the rage and hatred these Xiantian lifeforms would feel! The more powerful, the deeper their hatred, the fiercer the dread wraiths their souls would transform into. “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” The voice drifted down from far above. Although a great formation was hidden here, causing the curses and cries of the million commoners within to be trapped and unable to leave, the sounds from the outside world could still come in…it was much as how the Zifu Disciple, ‘Bei Zishan’, was deep within the secret in the mountain and could hear the sounds from the outside world, even though the sounds from within the secret room wouldn’t go out. That way, they could more easily detect what was going on in the outside world. “Young master Ji Ning, your mother is critically ill. Quickly return!” The voice echoed throughout the mountains, the voice shockingly loud. “What a loud voice.” “Who is shouting up there?” The six beautifully dressed men and women all looked upwards towards the sky, with one of them, a scraggly, bearded man, hurriedly saying, “Fellow apprentices, do you hear that? They are calling for that Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning’s mother is critically ill?” The women with the scorpion said in surprise. “His mother’s ill?” “Hahaha…” The most muscular man of the group, a man with cyan hair, began to laugh loudly. “That Ji Ning is a monstrously talented figure. If he is allowed to develop, who knows how terrifying he will be in the future? But he won’t be able to live for more than three days, and is trapped within the formation. His mother is clearly critically ill, but even if he shouts until he is hoarse, his voice won’t escape!” “Right.” The handsome youth sighed. “Most likely, he is in a state of extreme rage right now.” “I must say, this Ji Ning really is a formidable figure. At eleven or twelve years of age, he was able to kill our senior martial-apprentice. But his final doom is so pitiful. He will pass away in the midst of despair, rage, pain, and regret. Hahaha…this is the end of this genius!” These fellow apprentices chatted amongst themselves. They could imagine how Ji Ning currently felt, which made them feel all the more delighted. “Madame is critically ill?” “Yuchi Snow is critically ill?” 520 The Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s Blindfish, Ji Jadewich, Poortile, and other members were all incomparably astonished, enraged, and filled with hate. At the same time, they felt a hint of pity for Ji Ning. After all, he had less than three days to live, and his mother was critically ill, yet he had no way to return…this sort of pain must be heart-breaking. ———————- Right. Everything was exactly as how those fellow apprentices deep in the mountain imagined. It was also exactly as Blindfish and the others feared. Ning was currently feeling utterly agony and grief in his heart. “Mother!” “Mother!” Ning’s tears began to fall down uncontrollably. He was in such pain, his entire body trembled. His heart felt as though it was being cut by a knife. That woman who had loved him since he was a child, that woman who had treated him as her world…that woman who always, uncontrollably doted on him. She was actually critically ill? Critically ill? “Aaaaaah!” Ning suddenly threw his head upwards, letting out a howl of incomparable pain. This howl spread throughout the mountain, but no matter what, it couldn’t spread out from it. As for those six men and women within the mountain residence, when they heard the howl, their hearts couldn’t help but tremble. That could sense the boundless grief and pain contained within that howl. “Young master.” “Young master Ji Ning.” Blindfish wept. That precocious, brilliant four year old toddler who he had personally taught archery…how had he ended up like this? This was even more agonizing and terrifying that the torture his body had endured. ——————– “I’m going to leave, I’m going to leave, I’m going to leave.” Ning’s voice was quavering. “Break the formation! I’m going to break the formation!” Ning forced his eyes shut. An incomparably powerful surge of emotion swept his entire body, filling his entire spirit. He was going to break the formation!!! He had to leave it, he had to go see that woman who treated him as more important than her life. He had to see her!!! Otherwise, even if he died and went to the Netherworld Kingdom, he would feel incomparable guilt and regret! “Break the formation. I’m going to break the formation.” Ning’s closed eyes were trembling, and his soul, filled with this incomparably powerful emotion that was even greater than what was felt at the moment between life and death, reached a new limit as he frantically visualized methods for the breaking of this formation. Blood began to leak out from Ning’s nose, and blood was coming from his ears as well. Clearly, this surge of powerful emotion had injured his body. “That’s it!” Ning’s soul, which had been constantly testing out new formations, suddenly halted. An incomparably complicated formation model suddenly appeared in his mind, which contained every possible variable within it. Ning opened his eyes. “Mother!” Ning raised his head, letting out a frenzied howl. “I will go back to see you, I will definitely go back to see you! Wait for your child!” Immediately, he transformed into a blur, moving through the formation. Ning moved like a ghost, quickly reaching a place which was still covered with thick black mist, but which had a black formation flag inserted into the earth. The runes atop the formation flag were currently fashing. Ning reached out, directly grabbing the flag and giving it a powerful pull. Instantly, the black mist that had been covering the entire world vanished, revealing a clearly visible mountain scene. From afar, many servants were staring in astonishment towards him. “What.” The six men and women rushed out of the mountain, staring in his direction with astonishment. “The formation was destroyed!” Ning was holding the formation flag in his hand, the light of utter madness in his eyes. “Kill! Kill him! Kill him at all costs! He cannot be permitted to leave this place alive!” Suddenly, a shrill voice filled with incomparable rage emanated from underground. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “He cannot be permitted to leave this place alive!” Those six lavishly dressed men and women began to shout as well. They knew very that with their formation broken and with the protective, hiding shroud which it had given them gone, they would quickly be discovered…and once Ji Ning escaped, the news would quickly spread and they would immediately be found. They had to capture back the formation flag to this bewildering formation! Ji Ning had to be executed as well! “Kill!” “Kill him!” A large number of servants charged wildly towards Ji Ning as well. Ning immediately stored the formation flag into his storage-type magic treasure, while at the same time, the wing-type magic treasures on his back immediately activated as he rushed outwards. At the same time, a boundless amount of scorching fire immediately descended, which surrounded those servants and began to burn them, causing the servants to all scream in agony. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Three figures from within the group of servants came pouncing out towards Ning. “Xiantian lifeforms?” Ning immediately recognized that all three of them were Xiantian lifeforms. “It seems this despicable Immortal practitioner has quite a few Xiantian lifeforms under his control.” “Kill him.” “The Master has given the order to kill him.” These three Xiantian lifeforms were filled with murderous intent. They were all servants of Bei Zishan who were controlled through poisons. They didn’t dare to disobey the orders of Bei Zishan’s orders. Immediately, they transformed into rays of light, streaking from different directions to attack Ning, but Ning simply used his Windwing Evasion technique to move forward and directly clash with one of them, a fat-headed, big-eared, bearded man. “Raaaawr!” The big fellow was wielding a large hammer. Swish! A sword light flashed, and the big fellow rolled to the ground, falling down while clutching his chest, blood staining the ground. In but a single exchange, Ning’s sword had pierced through his heart! “Little baby.” A hawk-nosed man roared angrily as he charged forward, and as he did, a flash of sword light chopped half his head off, and he died on the spot. The third Xiantian lifeform, an older man, was so terrified, his face changed and he immediately retreated. ——————————- Boundless amounts of flame descended, and two Xiantian lifeforms had been killed in an instant as well. The third had been so terrified, he had immediately retreated. This caused those six men and women to stare at each other, the looks on their faces unpleasant. “What terrifying speed!” “His swordplay is far superior to any of us. No wonder he was able to kill our senior fellow apprentice.” All of them understand that even if they all charged together, the result would most likely be that single same word; ‘death’. Right now, Ning was like a life-taking god of death. On one side, boundless amounts of fire scorched those servants, while on his side, he had slaughtered those Xiantian lifeforms. All together, the servants, spiritbeasts, and disciples of Bei Zishan totaled more than ten Xiantian lifeforms. “Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers!” The youngest of the six, that handsome youth, suddenly let out a fierce howl. “Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers.” The other five fellow apprentices immediately understood. All of them shouted furiously, while at the same time, their bodies quickly became covered with a layer of black armor. The six of them were now all garbed in the same black armor. “Rumble…” For a moment, the entire mountain seemed to tremble. This great mountain had actually been hollowed out long ago. Aside from the primary place midway up the mountain, there had been a large number of smaller caverns dug out as well. After all, more than a million commoners were being tortured here. From this number, one could imagine how many caves had been created to hold them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Like raindrops falling from the skies in a dense cluster, from each mountain cave flew out one deep green armored Dao-Soldier after another. Each DaoSoldier was covered with complicated, ancient runes which drew upon the energy of the world. “Dao-Soldiers!” Ning’s face changed. He watched as from afar, a large number of soldiers emerged from the hundreds of caves in the mountain. He immediately recognized them for Dao-Soldiers! “In addition, these are even more powerful Dao-Soldiers than the ‘Crimson Guard’ of my Ji clan.” Given his experience, Ning naturally could sense the power of those runes on these Dao-Soldier’s armor, causing him to be all the more surprised. More than ten thousand Dao-Soldiers descended from the skies. And there were more than ten black armored Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldiers as well, all charging forward. “Kill. Kill as many as I can.” Ning understood that he definitely couldn’t let them join forces. He immediately swept out with his wings, moving like a giant Roc towards a location a kilometer away. These Dao-Soldiers were virtually all at the Houtian level, and thus were much faster. “All of you, die!” Ji Ning, his face spotted red thanks to the poison, had gone completely insane. In an instant, an enormous amount of celestial fire and boundless amounts of freezing frost descended from the skies, wildly sweeping out in each direction. Ning was currently exhausting all of his power to control water and fire. “Careful.” “Assemble the formation!” Of the more than ten thousand Dao-Soldiers, every nine of them linked up, summoning forth the power of the natural world. Faintly, behind their bodies, the illusion of a dragon appeared. Faced with the attack of that scorching flame and freezing frost, most of those who had linked up just barely managed to withstand the attack, while those who had not instantly lost their lives, especially those who were at the center of the flames and of the frost. The surges of heat and cold intersected, causing even those who had linked up to lose their lives. “Grand Flood Dragon Formation!” The ten-plus black-armored Xiantian lifeforms wanted to charge together in formation as well. “Not good.” In the Aquatic Manor, Ning had seen nine Xiantian lifeforms using Dao-Soldier armors. How could he just stand by idly and permit these ten or so people to do as they pleased? “Waterflame Lotus, grind them all to death!” In an instant, Ning formed nine Waterflame Lotuses, surrounding nine of those people. The nine Waterflame Lotuses appeared out of nowhere, each with one petal of fire and one petal of water, one above and one below, and they ground down at their targets. “Aaaah!” The woman with the viper on her shoulder let out a shrill scry, and was killed, ground into fine pieces. “Quick.” “Assemble the formation.” 525 Although all of them wanted to assemble the formation, of the nine people covered by Waterflame Lotuses, six of them had already died while three were heavily injured. This caused the remaining Xiantian lifeforms to all be shocked…this sort of ability was simply too terrifying. At such a great distance, this man was capable of simultaneously killing six Xiantian lifeforms? Generally speaking, Xiantian lifeforms weren’t capable of long-distance attacks, because they were unable to ride on magic treasures to engage in distant attacks. The six dead people were quite unfortunate; they weren’t afraid of the fire and water which Ning was capable of controlling, but they hadn’t expected that Ning would execute this ‘Waterflame Lotus’, which contained a hint of the True Meaning of the Dao. If they had known in advance, they would have all immediately prepared protective Dao-seals, and thus wouldn’t have instantly lost their lives. “Assemble the formation!” The handsome youth’s black armor immediately began to glow with runes, while at the same time those runes which appeared connected with the illusory dragons behind the many ordinary Dao-Soldiers, connecting together into a large whole. In the blink of an eye, the handsome youth connected with a thousand of the ordinary Dao-Soldiers, and behind him appeared the illusion of a Flood Dragon. “Assemble the formation.” “Assemble the formation.” One Xiantian lifeform after another immediately began to link together with the Dao-soldiers. Some activated a thousand, while others activated five hundred. Although the maximum was a thousand DaoSoldiers, Ning had killed simply too many of them. “Unfortunately, too many Dao-Soldiers have died, and we don’t even have nine thousand. Otherwise, once we combined to form the entire Flood Dragon, we could effortlessly kill him.” One illusory Flood Dragon after another appeared in mid-air, resulting in a total of eight illusory Flood Dragons, which were controlled and formed by those eight Xiantian lifeforms and thousands of Dao-Soldiers joining formings. “But even though we aren’t able to transform into a greater Flood Dragon, he will still die.” —————————— Deep within the mountain, in that private room. The green flame continued to flicker in the middle of that ancient, unadorned cauldron. The blood red banner was currently hovering there, as a large number of dread wraiths were howling silently, wildly attacking. Bei Zishan was seated in the lotus position, his face incomparably sinister. “This person named Ji Ning was actually able to break my grand formation.” Zishan was both frantic and angry. He himself had been, this entire time, hiding, fleeing, and trying to refine this powerful magic treasure and thus suddenly rise in power. But without this great formation hiding him, there was no way for him to hide at all. In addition, there were still many dread wraiths that had yet to be absorbed. Right now, what he was trying to do was forcibly bring the process to a halt, as he would rather give up the many dread wraiths. However, this sort of incomparably sinful magic treasure was also incomparably dangerous to make. If he wasn’t careful, he would be devoured by it instead. He had to be extremely careful and cautious, even in an attempt to stop…he still had to kill each and every single one of those dread wraiths who had yet to be refined before he could be killed. If he tried to do it forcibly, he himself would be devoured. To come to a halt needed time. “Master, there are less than nine thousand Dao-Soldiers.” From within the mountain, a spirit-beast who had transformed into a human male’s form called out frantically. “What!” Bei Zishan, currently forcibly repressing his agitation, upon hearing the words from his spiritbeast, immediately grew frantic. “Less than nine thousand Dao-Soldiers? With less than nine thousand, there’s no way to transform into a giant Flood Dragon. Given the power of this Ning, he can absolutely flee.” Right at this moment, the blood-red banner suddenly began to shake, as countless dread wraiths wildly attempted to break free. “Not good.” Bei Zishan forced himself to calm down. He knew that as soon as he lost his grip, those dread wraiths would throw themselves upon him, and he would probably die here today. Bei Zishan immediately made a small bag appear in his hand, which appeared similar to a brocade purse. From within the little purse, a black coffin appeared out of nowhere, which with a thud landed against the ground. The coffin immediately opened, and a heart-trembling aura emanated forth. A large paw, covered with black fur, grabbed the sides of the coffin, and then sat up. This was a black-furred zombie which had glowing green eyes. Whoosh. The black-furred zombie landed on the ground, its body surrounded by a black energy that was visible to the naked eye. The black energy was a necromantic aura, and if a Xiantian lifeform were to absorb it, that person would definitely be poisoned to death. This zombie…was one of the final trump cards which Bei Zishan had. He had worked hard to create it from the corpse of a Zifu Disciple. “Go. Kill him.” Zishan gave the order. Zombies were neither living nor dead. The black-furred zombie was at the level where it had a certain degree of intelligence. It could recognize the disciples of Zishan, and it could also quickly recognize situations as well as whom its enemies were. This black-furred zombie was already comparable to a Zifu Disciple, and it was extremely dangerous. “Umm.” The black-furred zombie let out a low grunt, then walked out, then with a single leap, jumped out from the nearly 150 meter deep tunnel.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Kill! The Azure Firebird and the black serpent were currently high in the air, waiting impatiently. They were under orders to locate Ji Ning, but previously, the black serpent had already shouted three times, without any response at all. “Can it be that the young master isn’t here?” The black serpent said frantically. “Brother Black, look below.” The Azure Firebird spoke in the human tongue. The black serpent looked downwards, only to see that on the formerly calm mountain, a large number of armored Dao-Soldiers had appeared, surrounded by frost and with fires blazing…those Dao-Soldiers and Xiantian lifeforms had forcibly formed into eight illusory Flood Dragons, and the power emanating from those illusory Flood Dragons caused even the Azure Firebird and the black serpent in the air to feel shock. “Dao-Soldiers…thousands of them that can join together?” The Azure Firebird and the black serpent were shocked. The various local hegemons of Swallow Mountain weren’t capable of such things. Only the Grand Xia Dynasty’s soldiers that were stationed at Southmont City were capable of this. “Such power…even if the two of us were to go attack, we’d probably be easily annihilated.” “Look, young master Ji Ning.” In front of these thousands of Dao-Soldiers, appeared a beast-clad youth who was emanating an aura of incomparable wildness and savagery. It was Ning! “Young master Ji Ning! How can he possibly oppose thousands of joined Dao-Soldiers?!” “Ji Ning, quick, flee!” The black serpent shouted frantically in the air. ———————- Those Xiantian lifeforms bound against the pillars within the mountain stared towards the outside nervously as well. Outside, the boundless amounts of flame and frost that had appeared caused them to be shocked as well. “Young master Ji Ning, that Zifu Disciple is currently refining that evil magic treasure. For now, he can’t be distracted. Quick, flee!” Blindfish howled frantically. “Ji Ning, quick, leave! If you dawdle, it’ll be too late!” Ji Jadewich roared as well, his throat going hoarse. “Quick, leave!” All of the Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan were shouting frantically. They had been bound here for so long, and often heard the conversation of those people, and saw some dread wraiths enter the depths of the mountain…they knew that there was a Zifu Disciple here refining an incomparably vile magic treasure. Once this person completed it and personally attacked, what would the repercussions be? “What? Thousands of linked Dao-Soldiers?” The group of bound Xiantian lifeforms suddenly saw that those many Dao-Soldiers who were being burnt by fire or frozen by frost suddenly formed into multiple illusory Flood Dragons. They were only able to see a small portion, but this was already enough to shock them. “Quick, flee” “Ji Ning, leave now!” All of them were incomparably frantic. ————————- Hearing the frantic shouts from his Uncle Black from the skies, as well as the voices of his Master Blindfish, Ji Jadewich, Poortile, Ji Shan, and the others who were bound deeper in the mountain, how could Ji Ning, already poisoned, not go even wilder? Flee? Why would he flee? Even if he fled, he would unquestionably die. If he could risk his life to kill that Zifu Disciple, he might instead have a chance at life. “Kill!” Ning saw the thousands of Dao-Soldiers in front of him. Not hesitating at all, he released his most powerful killing blow. Rumble…. More than three hundred sword-type magic treasures appeared out of nowhere around Ning, every single sword glowing dimly with white light, while at same time activating the power of the natural world. Ning had already reached a very high level of attainment in formations, and so his ability to execute the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had clearly improved greatly as well. It wasn’t like in the past, where he controlled it by rote and by memory; he now understood some of the mysteries inherent within, and knew how to guide them more effectively. “What are those?!” “How can swords fly like that?” “Flying magic treasures?” The eight Xiantian lifeforms amongst those thousands of Dao-Soldiers were completely stunned. Seeing the hundreds of flying swords all hovering there, they instantly thought of something…Zifu Disciple! One had to at least be a Zifu Disciple in order to control magic treasures and fly on them. This was all but common knowledge. But now, this youth was actually flying on magic treasures. But how could they have imagined that Ning’s soul had already reached the level of ‘divine will’, which was why he was able to accomplish this? “He’s a Zifu Disicple, Master, he’s a Zifu Disciple. That youth is a Zifu Disicple!” Some of the Xiantian lifeforms in the Dao Battle-Armor were already beginning to cry out desolately. “Die, then.” Ning instantly controlled that pulsating, glowing sword in front of him. Swish! That pulsating sword light immediately slashed out in an incomparably beautiful arc, leaving behind a desolate, beautiful line in the air. It easily chopped through that handsome youth’s chest, and the handsome youth stared, wide-eyed, in disbelief. “Zifu…Zifu…” Even in death, he couldn’t believe it. “No!” The tall, muscular fellow just began to cry out, but before he finished it, he was pierced through by the sword glow as well. Their Dao-Soldier formation hadn’t truly formed into a Flood Dragon, after all; they had only formed eight illusory Floor Dragons. Every single illusory Flood Dragon was formed from a single Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldier and hundreds or a thousand Houtian Dao-Soldiers. In terms of defense alone, they were actually inferior to the combined forces of the nine Xiantian Dao-Soldiers of the second trial of the Aquatic Manor. Ning was naturally capable of winning through close combat and using the True Meaning of the Raindrop, but doing so would be very tiring, and he would have to face a group attack. But now… By relying on this level four [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he was able to bring forth the power of an early Zifu Disciple using a ranked magic treasure. Even if the enemy truly had nine thousand DaoSoldiers and nine Xiantian lifeforms and was capable of forming into a true Flood Dragon, Ning would still be able to fight. And now, when the enemy was like a platter of loose sand, unshaped and unformed, he naturally chopped through them as easily as chopping through vegetables. “Zifu Disciple!” “He’s a Zifu Disicple.” The sword light slashed out in another graceful arc, piercing through those eight Xiantian Dao-Soldiers in sucession. No matter how those Xiantian Dao-Soldiers attempted to flee, their speed was incomparably slower than the speed of that sword light. Even though the nearby Houtian Dao-Soldiers all tried to help block, those Houtian Dao-Soldiers were simply executed as well. “A Zifu Disicple!” 531 “Zifu Disciple!” One desolate scream after another shook the entire mountain. These Xiantian Dao-Soldiers were filled to the brim with unwillingness to accept this. They hadn’t imagined that this youth named Ji Ning was actually a Zifu Disciple! Ordering them to battle against a Zifu Disciple? They weren’t able to accept that this was how they would die. If they had known, they wouldn’t have come out at all. —————- “What.” “This….” In mid-air, the Azure Firebird and the black serpent watched with wide eyes, their mouths hanging open. From below, Ning was controlling hundreds of swords which were hovering in the air, and then formed into a single sword light which was dominating everyone and everything. This was power on a completely different level. Much like how Xiantian lifeforms could massacre Houtian experts, that sword light effortlessly executed those eight Xiantian Dao-Soldiers, and with their deaths, those Houtian DaoSoldiers naturally were unable to maintain their grand formation. “Ning, he…he’s a Zifu Disciple?” The black serpent, who had watched Ning grow up since he was a child, was somewhat stunned as well. —————— Even Blindfish, Jadewich, Shan, and the others trapped within the mountain who had been frantically calling for Ning to flee were stunned. From this angle, they couldn’t see Ning, but through the cave entrance, they were able to see many Dao-Soldiers. They personally saw those Dao-Soldiers dressed in black armor, which was to say the Xiantian Dao-Soldiers, be easily pierced through one by one by an incomparably brilliant sword light. All of those Xiantian Dao-Soldiers collapsed, dead. In addition, as they died, all of them were howling with grief and rage, “Zifu Disciple!” “A Zifu Disciple!” “A Zifu Disciple?” Blindfish and the others, including the other pitiable Xiantian lifeforms from the other powers here at the Swallow Mountain region, were all somewhat numb. Could it be that aside from Ning, there was another Zifu Disciple who was attacking? But right at this moment… Bang! A black shadow suddenly leapt out from the already opened entrance to that dark underground cave. His green pupils swept those Xiantian lifeforms who were bound within this cave. There were still some ordinary servants here who hadn’t joined the battle. Two unlucky bastards, because they had been fairly 532 close to the cave entrance, had their bodies immediately invaded by the black necromantic energy swirling around the black-furred zombie when it appeared. “Ahhh!” “Ahhh!” The two unlucky bastards hadn’t been able to become Dao-Soldiers. Naturally, they were quite ordinary in ability. As soon as the necromantic aura invaded their bodies, they let out desolate howls, then quickly dissolved into puddles of liquid. The black-furred zombie had already, with a single step, moved past the cave entrance. “Young master, be careful!” Blindfish howled frantically. ——————— Ning, after seeing that the Xiantian Dao-Soldiers had been executed, retrieved his three hundred plus swords. After all, he was still just an early stage Xiantian lifeform. The Xiantian ki in his body wasn’t dense enough! If he were to control thousands of swords, his ki would probably be used up in a single attack. If he just used these three hundred or so, he was still only able to execute it ten times. His true opponent was that truly terrifying Zifu Disciple. “Roaaaaar.” An angry roar rang out, and from the distance, a black shadow flew over. “Is that the Zifu Disciple?” Ning’s wing-type magic treasure trembled, and he immediately flew out in an arc, putting some distance between them. With a smashing sound, that black shadow smashed into the ground, causing a massive, thirty meter wide crater to appear on the ground. When Ning saw this, the look on his face changed. The black-furred zombie stared at Ning, that black, fog-like necromantic aura swirling around his body. “This fellow is so strong, and his speed is very fast.” Ning was still stunned, and he even was reminded of that black-furred aberration who had served as the third trial in the Aquatic Manor. However, this blackfurred zombie gave Ning an evil, baleful feeling, and had that black fog swirling around his body. That aberration who served as the third trial in the Aquatic Manor didn’t. “Kill.” The black-furred zombie stared at Ning, then charged towards him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Activating the wing-type magic treasures, Ning moved like a ghost, constantly dodging. Although each time he dodged, it was rather difficult, he was still able to evade. Occasionally, the Darknorth swords in his hands would land blows on the black-furred zombie, but only white smudges were left on it. “This fellow seems quite similar to the black-furred aberration in the Aquatic Manor. His strength is great, his speed is fast, and his body is incomparably tough. However, his strength is much lower.” In their 533 exchange of blows, Ning immediately discovered that the black-furred zombie’s method of using force was very clumsy, while the black-furred creature in the underwater estate has intelligence. In terms of both footwork and palm techniques, although each movement seemed simple, even with Ning’s miraculous evasion techniques, he still couldn’t dodge. “Not even at the advanced level of technique. Definitely not a Zifu Disciple. The antidote to my poison is probably being carried by that Zifu Disciple. He hasn’t come out, which means he definitely isn’t able to be distracted right now. I have to seize the opportunity to get rid of him.” Ning understood that for the Zifu Disciple to still not come out meant the man was definitely in a tough situation. While he was ill, go for the kill! Swoosh! The wing-type magic treasures on Ning’s back trembled, then took him in an arcing line, moving past the black-furred zombie. The zombie howled ferociously, wanting to attack Ning, but how could Ning, when using the [Windwing Evasion], be caught by the likes of him? “Ji Ning?” A sinister, cold, sharp voice suddenly emanated out from the mountain. Ning immediately saw that midway in the mountain, at the ground in front of the cavern entrance, there was a man dressed in a loose black robe. This man’s hair was loosely bound, and his face was utterly ashen, without a hint of color. The oily green eyes the man had caused even greater shock to Ning than the black-furred zombie had. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Bei Zishan swept the surrounding area with his gaze. He saw the areas frozen by frost or scorched by flames and those many corpses. In particular, when he saw, amongst the corpses, the bodies of those Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldiers, Zishan’s heart clenched. He ached! These were his subordinates. For forging and refining this sort of sinful magic treasure, he needed many subordinates to torment and torture people, and also some powerful subordinates to capture Xiantian lifeforms for him. “All ruined.” Zishan looked towards Ji Ning, his gaze filled with a sinister maliciousness. “My students and servants were all wiped out by you. Those potential dread wraiths that I had been cultivating and refining for so long, and was about to finish with…you forced me to stop. I, Bei Zishan, was actually by a little child like you to suffer such a loss! I won’t mistreat you. In fact, I will have to ‘thank’ you and let you have a taste of what it is like to have your soul be tormented! “Zifu Disciple.” “He’s a Zifu Disciple.” Amidst the thousands of Dao-Soldiers, there were still quite a few screaming in terror. “You are a Zifu Disciple?” Bei Zishan stared at Ning. After all, his evil magic treasure was only half completed because of Ning’s interruption. However, even with this half-completed magic treasure, Zishan could be considered a peak Zifu figure. Based on the discussion between his disciples, however, this Ning was just a twelve year old youth of the Ji clan. A twelve year old who had become a Zifu Disciple? If this was true! Then Zishan was actually worried. For someone so young to have become a Zifu Disciple most likely meant that this person had some miraculous events occur. Perhaps he might have some sort of hidden, secret technique. “Zifu Disciple? If I said I wasn’t a Zifu Disciple, would you believe me?” Ning said coldly. Swoosh! Zishan had been just standing there, but suddenly, a boat appeared beneath his legs. Stepping onto the boat, Zishan instantly began to pull away from Ning. Zishan, dressed in his long black robed, stared coldly at Ning. He had already decided to consider that Ning was an expert on the same level as him, and so he immediately pulled away. Immortal practitioners came in all types. Fiendgod Body Refiners preferred close combat, while others who liked to use magic treasures, poisons, golems, and more would naturally prefer to pull to a distance 535 before using their techniques. After all, close quarters combat was very dangerous. Bei Zishan, for example, liked to use poisons and magic treasures. “Boom!” A black claw suddenly appeared, sweeping forwards and attacking Ning from behind. Ning’s wing-type magic treasure trembled, and he flew out in an arc, immediately dodging past. As for that black claw, the wind from the attack alone had caused the ground to tear apart. The black-furred zombie, bellowing, charged towards Ning. “Bei Zishan, prepare to die!” Ning, while dodging the black-furred zombie, simultaneously manifested more than four hundred sword-type magic treasures, all of which were under Ning’s control and immediately emanated a blurry white light. “Indeed. There’s no need to forcibly control them all. All I need to do is just guide them into the correct flow. When I simply control the critical points of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation…it becomes much easier to control this Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.” Ning previously, while meditating on formations, had tested out the fifth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. At the underwater mansion, although he had been able to use it, it had been too exhausting. But this time, it was clearly much easier for him. In addition, thanks to Ning’s nonstop testing, his control over the 405 sword-type magic treasures had become much more dexterous, and it became easier and easier for Ning’s ‘divine will’ to control them. “Magic treasures!” Zishan, astride his flying boat, saw this from afar. His face changed. “He’s able to control magic treasures and fly on them. So he is indeed a Zifu Disciple! So many sword-type magic treasures….most likely they are almost all unranked, but so many unranked magic treasures joined together still pose a formidable threat.” “Roaaaaaaar.” Growling, the black-furred zombie was still in pursuit of Ning, attacking again and again. Ning, relying on his incomparably dexterous Windwing Evasion, was able to dodge aside time and time again. In a battle of life and death, one had to rely on one’s advantages. This black-furred zombie clearly was incomparably strong and indestructibly tough. Battling with it head on was simply idiocy. Ning naturally understood that this black-furred zombie was probably reared by Bei Zishan. As long as he could kill Zishan, there would be no need to fear this black-furred zombie. “Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, level five!” Ning constantly controlled the many swords hovering around him, and given that his understanding of the intricacies of the formation was rapidly increasing, his ability to utilize it was become greater as well. “Go!” Ning’s eyes suddenly flashed as he stared at the distant Zishan. In front of him, there formed a flickering, unstable sword light, which suddenly shot out into the distance, as fast as lightning, leaving behind only seemingly solid yet seemingly illusory arc in the skies. It stabbed 536 directly towards the distant Bei Zishan. Zishan had long since produced a horsetail whisk-type magic treasure in his hands, and seeing the attack, he immediately brandished the horsetail whisk, which transformed into three thousand white threads that sought to entangle that piercing sword light. Both this flying boat as well this horsetail whisk were ranked magic treasures! Their power was formidable. “Crackle…..” “Not good.” Zishan’s face changed, and he hurriedly controlled his horsetail whisk, making it so that even as those three thousand white threads were blocking and entangling the sword light, a large number of the white threads were also emanating rays of light, with each layer of them ablating and frantically neutralizing the oncoming force, causing the sword light to have lost almost all of its power before it even reached Zishan’s body. This caused the distant Ning’s face to change as well. The power of the fifth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation definitely wasn’t weak. The fourth level could be comparable to an early Zifu Disciple using a ranked magic treasure, so the fifth level had to be comparable to a more formidable Zifu Disciple, right? “You really are a Zifu Disciple.” Zishan stared at Ning, his face filled with savagery. He shouted, “At such a young age, you are such a monster. How can I possibly spare you!” In Zishan’s hands, a black item suddenly appeared which looked like a wasp’s nest. At the same time, it quickly grew greater, to the size of three meters tall. It was filled with countless holes, and there with countless buzzing sounds, one golden wasp after another swarmed out from those countless holes, instantly charging out. In the blink of an eye, those many wasps filled the skies, pouring towards Ning in a flood. “Venomous bugs.” Ning was startled, and in front of his body, an utterly unstoppable sword light formed once more. “Kill!” Swish! A sword light pierced through the skies, directly flying towards those countless, tightly clustered swarm of golden wasps. With crackling sounds that were quite unpleasant to hear, the sword light slaughtered hundreds of the venomous bugs before having passed through to the other time. By now, more than half of the energy of the sword light had been used up, and it turned in an arc, once more stabbing into the swarm. This time, however, it used up all of its power in the swarm, with another few hundred of them having died. “I can’t let this continue.” Ning, while using his wing-type magic treasures to dodge, immediately discarded the notion of using the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation to attack. The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation used up a truly astonishing amount of energy. Ning had only used the fifth level version of the attack twice, with a single fourth level version of this attack. However, as a result, only sixty or seventy percent of his Xiantian ki remained. There were, however, hundreds of thousands of these venomous bugs, while a single sword light of his had only killed seven or eight hundred. Even if he had an unlimited amount of Ki, most likely he would only be able to unleash three more sword lights before the venomous bugs would have arrived before him. “He’s dead for sure.” Bei Zishan stared at Ning. “Waterflame Lotus!” Ning let out a low growl, and surrounding him, one fiery lotus petal after another, along with one water lotus petal after another, formed and merged, creating a lotus bud that was protecting Ning around him. “Three buds of Waterflame Lotuses.” Ning had used his full strength. Every single Waterflame Lotus bud was created from three lotus petals of fire and three lotus petals of water. A larger lotus bud protected the smaller lotus petals, and thus…these three layers of Waterflame Lotuses surrounded Ning, who in the middle of them was constantly using his Windwing Evasion. The reason for this was that the black-furred zombie was constantly chasing, causing Ning to not dare to slack off in the slightest. “Bzzzzzz….” The countless, tightly clustered venomous bugs spread out towards Ning, wildly boring down towards the surface of the Waterflame Lotuses, easily piercing through the first layer. The three Waterflame Lotuses that were formed into six layers were constantly swiveling, and as the many venomous bugs sought to burrow through them, one after another were killed by grinding, swiveling power of the layers of the Waterflame Lotuses. However, they quickly reformed and burrowed through the gaps between each of the layers of the Waterflame Lotuses, continuing to burrow downwards. They quickly passed through the second layer, the third layer, the fourth layer…but many of the venomous bugs were dying as they did. “A protective technique that contains the True Meaning of the Dao! Where did this Ji Ning learn this from?!” Watching so many of his venomous bugs die from afar, Bei Zishan not only ached for his lost, he also was astonished. This was because although a supreme sword technique was precious, this sort of protective technique was even more precious. Even in his own sect, such a technique would rarely be learned. How could he have imagined…that this was a technique which Ning had developed on his own. “They broke through the sixth level!” Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, was wildly blocking the venomous bugs who had broken through the sixth level. However, the carapaces of these golden wasps 538 were tough and very hard to destroy. After blocking just a few, another wasp appeared, biting Ning’s body, breaking through the protective armor, and chomping down onto the flesh. “Die.” Ning’s Darknorth swords stabbed out wildly against the venomous bugs, while the injuries to his body were automatically healing. “I can’t continue like this. Although I have the body of a Fiendgod and will automatically heal, as the numbers of these venomous bugs increase…I’ll still be devoured alive by them in the end.” Ning was frantic. “These venomous bugs are all under Bei Zishan’s control. All I need to do is kill Bei Zishan.” Ning ignored the venomous bugs, preparing for a final, all-out assault. “He has the body of a Fiendgod.” Watching from afar atop his flying boat, Zishan couldn’t wait any longer as well. His face was filled with rage. “His regenerative abilities are so astonishing, and he also has that protective technique! If this continues, even if my wasps are able to devour him, the vast majority of my precious wasps will all die. Although this magic treasure of mine hasn’t been completed yet, and using it will cause great harm to the dread wraiths within…I can’t wait any longer!” Bei Zishan extended his hand, and instantly, a bloody banner appeared. The banner circulated with a layer of black light – solidified sin! When the banner appeared, the surrounding world seemed to grow dark. “Ji Ning, prepare to die!” Bei Zishan brandished the banner in his hand. “Bei Zishan, prepare to die!” Ning, surrounded by the many venomous bugs who had broken through his three Waterflame Lotuses and were wildly attacking him, let out a bellow as well. Around him, 486 sword-type magic treasures appeared. In this critical moment, Ning was wildly testing his own limits as well, because if the fifth level couldn’t kill the enemy, then if he was going to use this technique, he had to use the sixth level! The bloody banner flapped in the air! sword-type magic treasures also hovered there, as a blurry sword light appeared in front of them! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning had never before used the sixth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation before. Originally, back at the Aquatic Manor, using the fifth level alone had taken him to his limit. However, after he had spent time training in accordance with the [Nine Scrolls on Formations], Ning had learned how to better guide the swords in the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation through certain patterns. When he had used the fifth level, it had been fairly effortless for him, and so he now felt that although it might be difficult for him to use the sixth level, he should still be able to succeed. “I have to succeed. If I fail, I die!” Ning put his full power on display, and 486 sword-type magic treasures hovered around him. Ning used his divine will to carefully control the critical ‘juncture’ swords of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, then slowly allowed the other swords to follow those junctures, causing those 486 swords to constantly fluctuate, like the waves in a sea. Although it was difficult for Ning to control them, the 486 swords still began to glow with that blurry white light. “Success!” Although Ning still had to defend against those wasps and even be bit by them, while at the same time dodge against the attacking black-furred zombie, Ning was incomparably excited! By relying on his successes in developing formations, he had been able to manifest this sixth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. “Kill!” Ning stared savagely at the distant Bei Zishan, standing on his flying boat. In front of his body, that incomparably sharp sword light coalesced, compressing to the utmost limit possible, and then, following Ning’s will, shot out like a meteor, slicing through the air and attacking towards Bei Zishan with an utterly indomitable, unstoppable aura. “Die!” Standing atop the boat, Zishan also brandished the bloody banner in his hand. The banner stirred. The world around them turned dark, and one dread wraith after another, all visible to the naked eye, moaned as they flew out from the banner. These dread wraiths were the most powerful survivors of the battles between the dread wraiths. Nourished by the banner, they had become even more powerful! And this was with the treasure only being half completed; if it had been completely forged, it would be truly formidable. Despite that, however, this half-finished magic treasure was enough to allow Bei Zishan to stare down arrogantly at the vast majority of Zifu Disciples. “Roaaaaar!” “Kill!” “Devour you!” The countless wraiths were incomparably savage, emitting ear-piercing shrieks. After having been nourished by the banner, these dread wraiths were capable of making sounds now! They all charged forward in a flood towards Ning at an impossibly fast speed. But of course, compared to Ning’s Lesser Thousand Sword Formation’s sword light, the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation’s sword light was still a bit faster. “Hiss…” Zishan brandished the horsetail whisk in his hand, and it transformed into three thousand white strands, frantically attempting to block. However, this sword light was far more powerful than the previous one, and it chopped straight through the multiple layers. Bei Zishan frantically lifted up the handle of the bloody banner which he was holding, using it to block that sword light. But the sword light was just too fast. Zishan just barely managed to touch it in time. “Crackle…” The sword light struck the handle of the banner, and the entire bloody banner trembled slightly. The sword light instantly grew even weaker, and then it finally slammed into the armor-type magic treasure which Bei Zishan was wearing, that black robe. It just barely managed to leave behind a black smudge on the black robe, and then it disappeared. “Fortunately, I blocked it. It nearly broke through my body and claimed my life.” Zishan was shocked as well. A battle against a Zifu Disciple was a battle where death was always just a breath away. If one wasn’t careful and was hit by an enemy’s attack, one would lose one’s life. “Hmph. With those dread wraiths gnawing at him, he won’t be able to concentrate enough to launch another one of these sword lights. Those dread wraiths will gnaw him to death, no question about it.” Zishan was extremely confident. Even if he himself was bitten by those dread wraiths, he would die. ———————— Ning watched as those countless, tightly clustered dread wraiths howl as they flew towards him. His face couldn’t help but change. These howling dread wraiths easily bypassed his six layers of Waterflame Lotuses. Dread wraiths were ghosts, and so weapons and Waterflame Lotuses were completely unable to block them. “Devour you!” “Devour.” Countless dread wraiths surged forward, instantly completely engulfing Ning within them, wildly rushing into Ning’s body. “He’s dead for sure.” Watching from afar, Zishan was confidently awaiting the moment when Ning would invariably collapse. However, immediately afterwards, Zishan’s face began to change, because the bloody banner within his hand was beginning to tremble, and its aura was beginning to weaken as well as its power decreased. “What’s going on? What…what is this?” Zishan was shocked and angered. This banner was his trump card, his killing technique! But now, the aura of the banner was weakening nonstop, which meant that the power of the banner was dropping. The foundation of this magic treasure was those dread wraiths…which meant there was only one possibility. Many dread wraiths were dying! “How is this possible? Those dread wraiths are ghosts which are filled with hatred and murder. There’s no weapon at all capable of blocking them, and they are ripping and biting at the enemy’s soul. These countless dread wraiths aren’t able to devour his soul?” Zishan didn’t dare believe it. Even a Zifu Disciple’s soul probably wouldn’t be able to withstand these ghosts for long before being utterly devoured. ————————- Within Ning’s consciousness. Ning’s soul was there, and countless dread wraiths were flooding it, letting out howls as they attempted to devour it. “What to do?” In his consciousness, Ning could sense those countless dread wraiths flooding in. He was shocked. The soul was a person’s foundation; if the soul was gone, then one wouldn’t even be able to reincarnate. At the same time, Ning had never had the experience of battling against ghosts. “The [Nuwa Painting].” This was the first thing which Ning thought of. In his consciousness, a Ji Ning dressed in white clothes appeared, sitting in the lotus position. At the same time, behind his body, hovering in mid-air, there appeared the form of Nuwa. Maiden Nuwa seemed to have become truly timeless, with the passage of time not diminishing her in the slightest. Her eyes were filled with grief and sympathy, like the eyes of a mother. She also emanated boundless amounts of light, covering the surrounding area. When the many dread wraiths came charging over and touched the boundless light emanating from Maiden Nuwa, the evil aura emanating from their forms truly vanished. On their faces appeared smiles of peace and bliss. All of them looked towards Ji Ning with grateful gazes. Some bowed in thanks, while others knelt in thanks. And then, one after another vanished, returning to the Netherworld Kingdom to be reborn. The many dread wraiths continued to charge forwards, but the image of Maiden Nuwa dissolved their evil auras, and once they were no longer possessed by that evil, there was no way those ghosts could continue to remain here in the mortal world. All of them thus went to the Netherworld Kingdom. Actually, Ning’s own soul was comparable to that of a Wanxiang Adept to begin with. Even if he didn’t manifest a visualization of Maiden Nuwa, given the power of his soul, there was no way these dread wraiths would have been able to kill him…after all, the magic treasure was only half complete. It was only useful against Zifu Disciples, and it wasn’t strong enough to deal with Wanxiang Adepts. However, if he had done that, Ning would have been relying on the power of his soul to forcibly kill each of those dread wraiths. As Ning instead visualized Maiden Nuwa, those dread wraiths were instead all purified and sent to be reincarnated, which was a great karmic merit. ———————– Although this took a long time to discuss, in truth, it happened in an instant. Ning had no fear at all of those countless dread wraiths charging into his body, attempting to devour his soul. Instead, he just stared at the distant Bei Zishan, and let out a bellow. “KILL!” Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! A ray of sword light flashed out, followed immediately by another one…four bursts of sword light shot out towards the distant Zishan. These four bursts of sword light virtually exhausted all of the Xiantian ki in Ning’s body, as the amount remaining was not enough to permit him to unleash a fifth. This was Ning’s full strength attack! “How is that possible? How could a youth not be afraid of his soul being devoured by dread wraiths?!” Zishan, still gripping that bloody banner, was in disbelief. When he saw those rays of sword light shoot out, he was so terrified that he immediately controlled his flying boat to flee. But how could the speed of the boat match the speed of the sword light flashes? Zishan, terrified, brandished his horsetail whisk to defend while also thrusting out with his banner, but although he was just barely able to block the first attack, the second attack slashed outwards in an arc, directly piercing through the black robes that served as an armor-type magic treasure, stabbing into his body. Swish! Swish! The two other rays of sword light also instantly pierced through his head and his neck. In the corner of his forehead, a hole appeared. His neck, meanwhile, was completely cut through, and his head went flying. “Impossible…” A look of disbelief remained on Zishan’s face. The distant black-furred zombie came to a halt as well, confusion appearing in its eyes. As for those venomous wasps, many of whom had died as they had thrown themselves in their attack on Ning, they quickly retreated as well. Those three Waterflame Lotuses had crushed to death countless wasps, and without an order from their master, they naturally would prefer to flee. Only now did Ning retrieve his sword-type magic treasures, a look of disbelief appearing in his eyes. “I…I killed a Zifu Disciple? I succeeded?” But right at this moment… From Bei Zishan’s corpse, just as it was falling down from the flying boat, a golden light suddenly appeared. Given Ning’s visual prowess, he could instantly tell…that it was a golden bug! “What’s that?” A golden bug actually flew out from the body? Ning felt puzzled, while at the same time, he felt that something was off. He had the sense that he couldn’t allow that golden bug to fly away…but his Xiantian ki had been almost completely exhausted, while the Waterflame Lotus wasn’t capable of being manifested at such a great distance. “Rumble…” Suddenly, the entire world seemed to transform from day into night. In the night sky, many stars twinkled and flashed, and as they did, the countless stars seemed to have transformed into a stellar sea. Within that stellar sea, there was an enormous full moon, and as the light of the moon shone down, the soft moonlight landed upon the body of that frantically fleeing golden bug. The golden bug seemed to be utterly terrified, flying at high speed and trying to flee. But suddenly, that soft moonlight solidified into a giant hand, with gently grasped that golden bug, which in its incomparable terror, let out a terrified cry. “Spare me, spare me!” “Crunch!” With a light squeeze of the giant moonlight hand, the golden bug was crushed into dust. And then, that night sky, those millions of stars, and that moon all disappeared, with the skies once more returning to daylight. “This…this is…” Ning stood there, his face filled with shock. “A Manifestation of stars…a Wanxiang Adept! A Wanxiang Adept!” “You were too careless.” From high up in the air, a man flew over on the wind, dressed in a blue robe and with long, unbound hair. He had a smile on his face. “You worked so hard to kill the body of that Bei Zishan, but you almost let him borrow the body of the Life Gu-Bug to flee. Bei Zishan was an expert in using bugs, so naturally he raised a Life Gu-Bug. In killing him, you should’ve killed his Life Gu-Bug as well. By not doing so, you almost wasted all of your previous effort. That wouldn’t have been good.” 544 Ning understood that he had met a major figure today. Swallow Mountain didn’t have any Wanxiang Adepts. Ning immediately bowed respectfully. “Ji Ning greets you, senior.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The blue-robed man, his long hair fluttering in the wind, descended in front of Ji Ning. Laughing, he said, “My surname is Mu, while my name is Xiao. Others address me as Adept Mu.” “Greetings to you, Adept Mu.” Ning felt his heart calm down. This Wanxiang Adept whom he had never met had just told Ning his name and surname. Clearly, he held an excellent opinion of Ning. “Thank you, Adept Mu, for intervening. Otherwise, if this Bei Zishan were to have fled, he most likely would have caused more calamities in the future.” Ning immediately expressed his gratitude. Adept Mu had a smile on his face as he shook his head. “Actually, I should be the one thanking you. I came here for the purpose of killing this Bei Zishan, and I spent months investigating before I found him hiding here. Unfortunately, this Bei Zishan set up that large formation. Although I am a Wanxiang Adept, if I were to attempt to break the formation…I didn’t have confidence in my ability to do so. Thus, I have been waiting here. I was planning to wait until he left the formation before exterminating him, but I didn’t expect that I would end up personally witnessing a fine performance.” Ning was stunned. What? So this Adept Mu had been hiding here early on, and had been watching everything occur? “Afterwards, you broke open the formation.” Adept Mu sighed. “Only then did I know that it was you who did it. A youth who was able to break this formation. Formidable. In addition, I didn’t expect that all of those Dao-Soldiers, Xiantian lifeforms, and even Bei Zishan himself would be disposed of, all by you alone. Hahaha…that made things simple for me.” “If I had known that Adept Mu was present, then I wouldn’t have had to exhaust myself.” Ning said hurriedly. Adept Mu looked curiously at Ning. “Ji Ning, I wish to ask you. Are you a Zifu Disciple? Or a Xiantian lifeform?” A person’s strength couldn’t be judged from the surface. However, Adept Mu was someone who had been watching for a very long time from outside. In particular, after Ning broke open the formation, he had watched carefully as Ning engaged in those battles. As the saying goes, the eyes of the viewers are the clearest…Adept Mu discovered a number of issues which made him believe that Ning shouldn’t be a Zifu Disciple. “I have not yet established my ‘Violet Palace’.” Ning didn’t hide it. Adept Mu immediately revealed a look of surprise. “Indeed! I saw that your swordplay is exquisite, and that you should have reached the level of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. If you were a Zifu Disciple, when you used your elemental energy to execute such exquisite swordplay…you should have been able to easily defeat that black-furred zombie, and that battle should have been very simple for you. But you were actually in dire straits, which is why I guessed that you shouldn’t be a Zifu Disciple. Only, if you aren’t a Zifu Disciple, then you must be using ‘divine will’ to control all those sword-type magic treasures and fly with them. You, a mere Xiantian lifeform, have such a powerful soul. This truly is rare, quite rare!” Ning nodded. He didn’t deny it, because even in the records and books he had read, he had read of some incomparably monstrous Xiantian lifeforms who were able to do what he did. “My soul was powerful at birth.” Ning said. “Ever since I was a child, I could divide my mind. Afterwards, when I gained insights into the True Meaning of the Dao, my divine will was formed.” ——————— Facing a Wanxiang Adept, a person with the power to easily destroy him, Ning naturally didn’t have to play any games. Since he was an incomparably monstrous talent, he had to show it off. That might even be of benefit to him. “I want to ask you another thing.” Adept Mu looked at Ning, as though he were looking at a piece of unpolished jade. “Are you training in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?” “Yes.” Ning nodded. “Hahaha….” Adept Mu laughed delightedly. “Do you know who I am? Why I was in pursuit of Bei Zishan?” Ning looked at Adept Mu, then shook his head. He had never met the man; how could he know who he was? Adept Mu said directly, “I am a Raindragon Guard of the Grand Xia Dynasty. I am under orders to pursue and kill Bei Zishan.” “Raindragon Guard?” Ning was stunned. After he had killed that Diremonster, Serpentwing, his parents had given him a general explanation of the Stillwater Commandery, and how there was a powerful force within it that absolutely could not be offended; the Raindragon Guards! The Raindragon Guards was the most powerful military organization within the Grand Xia Dynasty, completely composed of Immortal practitioners, and according to legend, only those at least at the Wanxiang Adept level were able to join. The Raindragon Guards had an extremely special status. They directly served the Grand Xia Dynasty! Amongst the incomparably numerous forces and powers spread across the entire Stillwater Commandery, the two most highly ranked were the Marquis of Stillwater and the Raindragon Guards! The Marquis of Stillwater was the master of this area, and his roots here were very deep. But the Raindragon Guards were directly subordinate to the Grand Xia Dynasty. They themselves had numerous experts, and behind them they had the entire Grand Xia Dynasty as their backer. “Ji Ning.” Adept Mu looked at Ning. “The Grand Xia Dynasty’s Raindragon Guards are the most powerful force in existence in this vast land. No single tribe, no single school, no single sect…can come even close to comparing with my Raindragon Guards!” Ning nodded, acknowledging this. “The Raindragon Guards are quite independent and under no restrictions. Once you become a Raindragon Guard, you can be blessed with a tribe, and that you can carve out a territory of ten thousand kilometers for the land of your tribe. This land will be protected by the Raindragon Guards! Even if you die, the Raindragon Guards will protect that land for a thousand years. No power will dare invade it, as if they do, that would signify a challenge to the Raindragon Guards, and we Raindragon Guards will tear out any such invading force by their very roots!” Adept Mu said. Ning had heard his father say as well that the Raindragon Guards did indeed have an exalted status, and even their tribes would benefit. “Adept, you’ve said so many things, but I cannot become a Raindragon Guard.” Ning laughed. Adept Mu just looked at Ning. “I ask you this. Are you willing to become a Raindragon Guard?” “ME!?” Ning’s eyes widened. “I…I’m just a Xiantian lifeform. Even if I want to, my power is far from being sufficient.” But Adept Mu just shook his head. “It isn’t a major issue if your power is weak. Right now, you aren’t able to directly join the Raindragon Guards, but our Raindragon Guards has an auxiliary corps as well! Much like how some schools, sects, and tribes will intentionally attract some geniuses to join them, we Raindragon Guards also have an auxiliary corps which will draw in some geniuses to join for instruction and guidance.” “Upon joining the auxiliary corps, you’ll have access to all sorts of training techniques and even divine abilities.” Adept Mu sighed. “If you consider the Raindragon Guards to be a school or a sect, then we are the most powerful one of all. We have countless Immortals practitioners, and even Celestial Immortals have appeared from within our ranks.” “But of course, the threshold for joining the auxiliary corps is quite high. It isn’t just anyone who can join. Fortunately, you train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod 548 Body Refining technique in the world.” Adept Mu looked at Ning. “Anyone who relies on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] to become a Xiantian lifeform can immediately enter the auxiliary corps. There’s no need to undergo the various trials.” “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is simply too hard. Every single person who can use it to become a Xiantian lifeform is a monstrous talent.” Adept Mu sighed emotionally. Ning, standing there, made a sound of agreement. It was true. He himself had spent that night meditating on the Dao before understanding how to fuse fire and water and to break through to become a Xiantian lifeform. Others most likely would also have to find their own secret ways to fuse fire and water as well. “Every single Immortal practitioner who trains in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] is extraordinary.” Adept Mu said. “For ordinary Immortal practitioners, only those at the Wanxiang Adept level are permitted to join the Raindragon Guards.” “But for [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] practitioners, as long as they reach the Zifu level and learn a divine ability, their battle power will be equivalent to a Wanxiang Adept’s, and thus they would be allowed the chance to enter the Raindragon Guards. But of course, that just means you’ll have the chance to; whether or not you’ll actually be able to enter depends on your ability.” Adept Mu said. “I myself only was able to join the Raindragon Guards after becoming a late-stage Wanxiang Adept.” Ning, hearing this, blinked twice. Late-stage Wanxiang? The Raindragon Guards truly were difficult to join! —————– Right at this moment, those thousands of surviving Dao-Soldiers were all staring towards this direction in terror. From the skies, two figures descended as well; they were the human forms of the Azure Firebird and the black serpent. They, too, stared towards Ning. “You go rescue Master Blindfish and the others. I have some things to discuss with this senior.” Ning immediately instructed. “Yes.” The Azure Firebird and the black serpent responded. After having watched the grand battle between Ning and Bei Zishan, their hearts were filled with dread. Although Ning was frantically worried about his mother, he naturally couldn’t slight or be discourteous to this Wanxiang Adept in front of him. Ning even had the intention of inviting him to go to West Prefecture City.” “As long as you join the prepatory army, your future prospects will be limitless.” Adept Mu said. “In the future, you becoming a Raindragon Guard will be a matter of course. The chances you will have there will 549 be far greater than what you have here in the tribes, at least. Think about it carefully. If you are willing to join the auxiliary corps, then go back and bid your parents farewell. I will take you directly to Stillwater City!” To Stillwater City? Ning was stunned. “Adept Mu.” Ning said hurriedly. “There are so many benefits to joining the auxiliary corps. I fear there must be some sacrifices as well, right?” “Naturally.” Adept Mu nodded. “Upon joining the auxiliary corps, until you become a Zifu Disciple, you are forever forbidden from leaving the mountain.” “Forever forbidden from leaving the mountain?” Ning was puzzled. Adept Mu said, “The headquarters of we Raindragon Guards is located on the peaks of a tall mountain. The auxiliary corps is there as well! If you can’t even become a Zifu Disciple, then you will simply die of age on the mountain. After becoming a Zifu Disciple, you can often leave, but you’ll still need to spend most of your time on the mountain, as you’ll only leave on orders. Only when you become a Raindragon Guard will you have freedom.” Ning nodded. He could tell that the auxiliary corps was actually comparable to a school. If one didn’t become a Zifu Disciple, one wasn’t permitted to leave, while even after becoming a Zifu Disciple, one would be stationed on the mountain and only be allowed to leave on orders. “I have my Aquatic Manor.” Ning said to himself. “Immortal Juhua, by relying on that ancient Aquatic Manor, was able to live for millions of years, even as a Loose Immortal, and his power was comparable to a Celestial Immortal…there are many secrets contained within the Aquatic Manor which I must investigate. Once I become a Zifu Disciple, I’ll be able to bind the control talisman. Why should I be in a hurry to join the auxiliary corps?” Adept Mu, standing there, spoke again. “Ning, who in the Swallow Mountains can possibly provide you tutelage? For someone as naturally gifted as you, you must expand your horizons.” “Thank you, Adept.” Ning pondered for a time, then shook his head. “Adept, I imagine that you heard as well that my mother is gravely ill. For now, I don’t wish to go.” Adept Mu, hearing this, nodded. “Since that’s the case, I won’t press you. This is the talisman of the Raindragon Guards. In the future, if you encounter any danger on the road to Stillwater City, if you show off this talisman, perhaps it might be of use.” As he spoke, he turned over his hand, and a square black talisman appeared in his palm, with the image of a Rain Dragon on it. “Thank you, Adept.” Ning immediately accepted it. “Ji Ning has one thing to request of you, Adept.” Adept Mu immediately laughed. “You assisted me in exterminating Bei Zishan of Snowdragon Mountain. I had wanted to help send you to Stillwater City to enter the auxiliary corps of the Raindragon Guard, but I didn’t expect you wouldn’t want to go…I was worrying about how to repay your assistance. Go ahead and tell me. If I can help you, I will. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Snowdragon Mountain? Bei Zishan? This Bei Zishan had been a Zifu Disciple of Snowdragon Mountain? Ji Ning temporarily suppressed this line of thought, then immediately said with sincerity, “My mother is gravely ill. I expect that my Ji clan is unable to save her. I would like to ask you, Adept Mu, to go on a trip to visit my Ji clan of the West Prefecture and save my mother’s life.” Adept Mu saw the look on Ning’s face, and he couldn’t help but sigh. “I’m not talented in medical treatments, but I can go take a look. If I can save her, naturally I will. But if I cannot…” “Adept, if you are willing to go, Ji Ning will be forever grateful.” Ning said hurriedly. “Scum, get over here!” Adept Mu suddenly turned and stared into the distance, barking loudly. From afar, that black-furred zombie whose entire body was swirling with that necromantic aura walked over obediently, staring at Adept Mu with a hint of dread in its oily green eyes. Adept Mu waved his hand, and a violet coffin appeared in front of him. “Get in.” Adept Mu gave the order. The black-furred zombie obediently opened the coffin, then leapt in and lay down, then closed the lid behind it. “This is a corpse-preserving coffin.” Adept Mu, with a wave of his hand, took back the corpse-preserving coffin while explaining to Ning, “This black-furred zombie had just lost its master. If it were to be permitted to roam about, it would definitely harm many people. Thus, when I was speaking with you, I used a thread of my ki bind it to myself.” Ning nodded. “Don’t worry. You were the one to kill Bei Zishan, and so I won’t touch any of the things he left behind.” Adept Mu said. “Only, at your current level of power, you are not able to tame this black-furred zombie, and so I am taking it with me.” As he spoke, Adept Mu looked at the distant corpse of Bei Zishan. Zishan’s corpse immediately flew over, along with his various magic treasures, including the flying boat, his horsetail whisk, the bloody banner, and the nest which held the hornets. Adept Mu reached out with his hand, and a ring which had been on Zishan’s fingers flew off, entering Adept Mu’s hand. “This is a ranked storage-type magic treasure.” Adept Mu said. “You are unable to bind it, so I will help you in retrieving the items within.” Whoosh…. Soon, Adept Mu completed his binding of the ring, and as he did, a large number of miscellaneous items appeared out of nowhere onto the ground, amongst which were Dao Battle-Armor suits, foodstuffs, some golden items, as well as some alchemical ingredients as well as various bottles. “Judging from the look of your skin, you should have suffered a poisoning by the Hearteater Powder.” Adept Mu flipped his hand, and one of the little bottles on the ground flew up, with the words ‘Hearteater Antidote’ written atop it. Clearly, with so many bottles present, Zishan himself was worried that he would use a wrong bottle, and so had labeled all of them. Adept Mu opened the bottle’s plug, glanced at it, then nodded. “This is the antitode. Eat a pill. You can collect these various items and ranked magic treasures as well…although you are currently unable to bind them, when you become a Zifu Disciple, you will be. Don’t have any worries; although these things are treasures to you; they aren’t worth anything to me at all.” “Thank you, Adept.” Ning was very grateful. Although he knew that these things weren’t worth much to the Adept, the actions of this Adept Mu were clean and decisive. How could Ning not feel grateful for how well the man was treating him, a mere Xiantian lifeform? “One day, I absolutely must repay this kindness.” Ning said to himself. Ning swallowed the pill, which gave off a clear, fragrant taste, almost like a pellet of sugar. As soon as the pellet entered his stomach, it immediately dissolved. Soon, he felt a warm sensation throughout his entire body, and every single bit of Hearteater poison that was spread throughout his body suddenly dissolved like the snow, quickly and completely disappearing. The pain which had been spreading throughout his body vanished as well, and those red spots on his face faded. “This hornet’s nest…” Adept Mu pointed at the hornet’s nest, which had many venomous hornets within. “The hornet’s nest is an unranked magic treasure. You can bind it. However, as for the many hornets within the nest…to control them mentally, you’ll have to become a Zifu Disciple, and then slowly bind them with your Ki. Prior to becoming a Zifu Disciple, remember to often bring them food to eat. Don’t starve them to death. If they are starved, they will start to kill each other and devour each other.” Ning nodded immediately. “Understood.” “Hurry up and bind the hornet’s nest. Oh. Here’s a manual on binding hornets. This is a secret manual of Snowdragon Mountain. It isn’t that precious, but it does contain the basics for binding hornets and pests.” Adept Mu immediately saw a fur-clad book amongst Bei Zishan’s possessions. “Binding hornets is fairly 553 simple. Only, finding them is very hard, and so too is raising them. There’s no need for you to be in a rush to learn. These things can wait for you to become a Zifu Disciple before learning.” Ning accepted the manual, which had three characters atop it: [Insect Binding Manual]. “Because this hornet’s nest has venomous insects, there’s no way you can store it within a storage-type magic treasure.” Adept Mu handed the nest to Ning. “However, the hornet’s nest can change in size. You can shrink it, then carry it on you.” “Yes.” Ning acknowledged. He immediately accepted the enormous black hornet’s nest. Prior to handing it over, Adept Mu had already erased the remaining magic power that the hornet’s nest had contained, and so Ning was able to easily bind it. Otherwise, Ning would have had to spend an enormous amount of time just wiping out the remnant magic power left behind by Bei Zishan. “Smaller, smaller, smaller.” Ning looked at the black hornet’s nest rapidly shrink, until it was the size of a finger. With a flip of his hand, he picked up a cloth sack, then placed the hornet’s nest within it. He placed the sack within his clothes, and the armor-type magic treasure he was wearing shifted in configuration slightly, accommodating the sack within. “Collect them all.” Ning waved his hand, and collected the many miscellaneous items on the ground, as well as manuals and poisons which Bei Zishan had left behind.As for Bei Zishan’s ranked magic treasures, Ning didn’t touch them. “These ranked magic treasures.” Adept Mu pointed at the bloody banner as he spoke. “I am going to take away this Myriad Wraiths Banner. This is a magic treasure which was birthed from sins. I need to take it back…and it is also proof that I’ve accomplished my mission. You can keep the rest.” “Alright.” Only now did Ning collect the other ranked magic treasures. He was unable to use any of them, and so all he could do was to collect them for now. “The Myriad Wraiths Banner…” Adept Mu picked up the bloody banner, which glowed with a faintly visible black aura. “Who knows how many people were tortured to death to create it? What a terrible, weighty sin! This Bei Zishan really was fated to die; he actually used this Myriad Wraiths Banner against you, but your soul is already at the ‘divine will’ level. How could this incomplete Myriad Wraiths Banner possibly do anything to you?” Adept Mu was under the impression that Ning had relied on his powerful so to destroy all of those dread wraiths. He didn’t know that Ning had, in reality, had relied upon a visualization of Maiden Nuwa in order to pacify all of those dread wraiths. “Look. This is sin. Sin so heavy, one can see it with the naked eye. And yet, boundless karmic merits are very hard to see.” Adept Mu pointed at the black aura surrounding the bloody banner. “Sin which one can already see with the naked eye…you can imagine how grave and serious the sin is. We Raindragon Guards naturally must exterminate a person who has committed such grave sins.” Ning looked and nodded. ——————– Within the mountain cave, Blindfish and the others had their bodies and clothes covered with blood. “Quick, lift them up.” “Hurry.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird were shouting at those servants. How could the servants dare to resist? They obediently lifted, carried, and piggybacked those who were unable to walk on their own. “The young master?” “Where is young master Ji Ning?” Blindfish and Ji Jadewich asked, along with others. The black serpent just said, “The young master is outside.” Blindfish was still able to walk on his own, but Jadewich had to be lifted. All of them walked out of the cave, and as they did, they saw those thousands of terrified Dao-Soldiers, as well as the corpses which litered the ground, as well as Ji Ning, off in the distance, who was currently chatting with Adept Mu. Ning turned to look. When he saw his master Blindfish, his entire body covered with blood, as well as Jadewich and the others be carried over, he couldn’t help but feel his heart ache. He couldn’t help but call out, “Master Blindfish.” “Young master.” Blindfish spoke as well. “You…you all…” Ning didn’t know what to say. “Thank you, young master.” “Thank you, young master Ji Ning.” Not just the people of the Ji clan; even those Xiantian lifeforms of the Riverbank clan, the Ironwood clan, the Kou clan, and the various other clans, all of whom had their dantians shattered, spoke out in gratitude. The destruction of their dantians made them cripples, but they already felt boundless gratitude for being able to see the sun again and for being able to return to live amongst their clans. In his heart, Ning felt boundless sourness. These people included the enemies of the Ji clan, true, but in the past, they were glorious, respected Xiantian lifeforms. But now, all of their dantians had been destroyed. The hint of excitement he had felt prior to this when he had acquired all of those treasures of Bei Zishan completely vanished. Ning turned to look towards those servants and barked, “How many more people are imprisoned within this mountain?” “There’s most likely more than a million people imprisoned here, but it’s hard to say if even half remain alive.” Immediately, some servants spoke out nervously. Ning, hearing this, was stunned. A million? “What a sin!” Adept Mu shook his head and sighed. “Ji Ning…these thousands of Dao-Soldiers as well as hundreds of thousands of surviving commoners…let those two spirit-beasts deal with them. The two of you, remember that those thousands of Dao-Soldiers were innocent. They were forced to do what they did by Bei Zishan. Do not further violate the proscriptions against murder.” “Yes.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird hurriedly nodded. They had previously seen the power of those Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers. Although they could spare the lives of those Dao-Soldiers, they absolutely would take away those Dao Battle-Armors. “I’ll handle everything here to you two.” Ning instructed. “Don’t worry.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird responded. “Ji Ning, let’s go. Let’s go to your Ji clan’s West Prefecture City.” Adept Mu said. “I can bring these people along as well.” As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a leaf appeared out of nowhere. The leaf rapidly expanded in size, and soon became an enormous leaf that was dozens of meters long. Ning, seeing this, immediately had Master Blindfish, Jadewich, and the other members of the Ji clan all stand atop the leaf. As for the Kou clan, the Riverbank clan, and the other clans, they temporarily rested here, awaiting their clan’s forces to come pick them up. “Let’s go.” Adept Mu, Ning, Blindfish, and the other Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan who had their dantians destroyed had all mounted the leaf. The enormous green leaf, dozens of meters long, flew rapidly into the air, quickly flying beyond the peaks of the mountains and disappearing into the skies. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The single green leaf had Ji Ning as well as more than twenty others on it. It flew through the clouds, hurrying towards the direction of West Prefecture City. Everyone was either seated or lying down, while Ning and Adept Mu Xiao were standing. “Adept, prior to this, you said that Bei Zishan was from Snowdragon Mountain?” Ning asked the question he had been contemplating. “Right. Snowdragon Mountain.” Adept Mu glanced at Ning and nodded. “Snowdragon Mountain can be considered one of the most powerful forces of the entire Stillwater Commandery, and within the school, there are multiple Primal Daoists who stand guard. Their roots are quite deep.” Ning was secretly shocked. Multiple Primal Daoists? “Precisely because the school is so large and it has so many methods of training, it also possessed some evil techniques, and so naturally, it will also have some Immortal practitioners who have embarked upon an evil path.” Adept Mu said. “Snowdragon Mountain cares more about power, and thus within it, it possesses Demon practitioners, Evil practitioners, Immortal practitioners, Buddhist practitioners, and all sorts of other practitioners. It values power the most.” Adept Mu sighed, “Precisely because within it, the ‘fish and dragons are mixed together’, many people are attracted to Snowdragon Mountain, causing its power to grow even more enormous. Some Zifu Disciples who have departed from it will establish their own territory elsewhere, under the banner of Snowdragon Mountain. They can be considered branches, I suppose. These branches will often collect some talented youths and send them to the main school. Thus, Snowdragon Mountain continues to grow more and more powerful.” “But of course, compared to our Raindragon Guards…Snowdragon Mountain is incomparably inferior.” Adept Mu laughed. “Any one of the Loose Immortals which we Raindragon Guards have stationed here in the Stillwater Commadery is capable of eradicating the entire Snowdragon Mountain school.” Ning nodded. This was no joke. Snowdragon Mountain was nothing more than a school, while the Raindragon Guards was the most powerful military force the Grand Xia Dynasty possessed, overawing the entire world. Of course they weren’t on the same level. “Look. We’re here.” Adept Mu pointed into the distance. “West Prefecture City is up ahead.” “We’re here?” Ning was stunned. He saw that in the distance, there was a forest which surrounded a magnificent city. This was indeed West Prefecture City, where he had lived since he was young. Ning couldn’t help but feel stunned. “The speed at which Wanxiang Adepts travel on their magic treasures truly is astonishing! A distance of thousands of kilometers was travelled in the blink of an eye.” And then, Ning began to worry. “I wonder how Mother is doing. Mother has always been well. Why is she suddenly gravely ill?” ————– Within West Prefecture City. Yuchi Snow was resting in her room, while outside of the room, her husband, Ji Yichuan, was currently speaking with Ji Ninefire. “This is all caused by that calamity from the past.” Yichuan shook his head. Ninefire sat there, nodding slightly. “That disaster changed the destiny of the two of you, husband and wife. Yichuan, you were the most talented genius our Ji clan had produced in a thousand years. When you were a child and your father died, you suddenly began to soar…you had already established your ‘Violet Palace’ and embarked onto the path of Immortals as a Zifu Disciple. Unfortunately, it was all ruined.” “It doesn’t matter if my future potential on the path of Immortals is gone.” Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “During that disaster, the elder brother of my wife, the most powerful of us three, lost his life for the sake of protecting myself and Snow. Snow had already been badly injured, but for the sake of birthing Ning, she utilized a secret technique that used up her own lifeforce…although my future potential on the Immortal path has been destroyed, I got off the easiest, out of the three of us.” Ninefire shook his head gently, sighing. Fate makes fools of men! Adventuring in the vast, boundless world outside was indeed far more dangerous than living here in Swallow Mountain. Experts were as common as the clouds. There would be lucky encounters, but there would also be disastrous ones. For example, when the Yuchi siblings and Yichuan had met with that crisis, the result had been this. “Hm?” Ninefire suddenly lifted his head. From high up in the air, a green leaf was slashing through the skies until it landed within a courtyard. Atop this leaf were Adept Mu, Ning, Blindfish, Jadewich, and many others. “This…” Yichuan stared in astonishment at the people in front of him, then immediately dashed over. “Jadewich, Shan, Blindfish…you all came back? What happened to all of you? How is it that all of you are injured? What have you all been doing these past days? Why did you all suddenly go missing?” “Greetings, Patriarch.” The twenty-plus Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan quickly recognized their Patriarch, and in unison, they immediately called out. Ninefire naturally knew that more than twenty Xiantian lifeforms of his clan had gone missing, and he had been utterly frustrated by this affair. Now, seeing these Xiantian lifeforms all reappear, he was both surprised and delighted. He hurriedly said, “When we realized you had gone missing, our entire Ji clan started to serach for you. Are you all well?” “Our dantians have been destroyed, but we are very lucky to still be alive.” Jadewich said hoarsely. “Dantians destroyed?” Ninefire stared, wide-eyed. A nearby youth with long hair called out as well, “Patriarch, it was only thanks to Ji Ning as well as this Adept that we were able to survive this time.” “Adept?” Ninefire and Yichuan felt a surge of electricity in their hearts. Adept… Then that meant this was a Wanxiang Adept! The entire Swallow Mountain area didn’t have a single Wanxiang Adept. The two both looked at Adept Mu. Actually, when they first saw him, they had the feeling that this was an extraordinary figure. To be able to ride on a magic treasure to come here…they guessed that he was at least a Zifu Disciple, but they didn’t expect that he was actually a Wanxiang Adept. They saw how Ning was standing to the side of this Wanxiang Adept, as though they seemed to be on good terms. In their hearts, they couldn’t help but feel puzzled as to how Ning had managed to end up getting to know this Wanxiang Adept. “Ji Ninefire (Ji Yichuan) greets you, Adept.” Ninefire and Yichuan both said respectfully. “Actually, I’m the one who should be thanking Ji Ning.” Adept Mu laughed calmly. “Ji Ning?” Ninefire and Yichuan looked towards Ning. A look of worry appeared on Ning’s face, and he immediately said, “I learned that Mother is gravely ill, so I invited Adept Mu to come to our West Prefecture City…” “Snow is right inside the room.” Yichuan suddenly realized, and he immediately spoke out. Adept Mu Xiao nodded, then walked towards the nearby room. Ning and Yichuan followed behind, while Ning asked softly while walking, “Father, what happened? How could Mother suddenly have fallen ill?” “It was that illness left behind in the past.” Yichuan said. “I’ll explain to you in detail later.” ——————– After entering the room, they had the maidservants leave. Aside from Snow, who was lying on the bed, only Adept Mu, Ning, Yichuan, and Ninefire were present. Yuchi Snow opened her eyes, looking at the newcomers. She couldn’t help but reveal a trace of puzzlement in her eyes. “Snow, this is Adept Mu, whom Ning asked to come.” Yichuan said hurriedly. Hearing this, Snow immediately used her arms to prop herself up. “Yuchi Snow greets you, Adept.” “Give me your right hand.” Adept Mu sat down on the stone bench next to the bed. Snow extended her rather ashen right hand. She saw, now, that standing by the side of Adept Mu was Ning. She looked at her son…and as she did, a look of delight appeared on Snow’s face. Adept Mu stretched out with a single finger, gently tapping it on Snow’s wrist. Immediately, a spot of green light, filled with life energy, spread out, quickly enveloping Snow’s entire body. Ning and Yichuan, seated nearby and watching, felt restlessness in their hearts. After waiting for a good long while, Adept Mu began to frown. “Strange. Strange.” Ning, hearing this, felt nervousness in his heart. He hurriedly asked, “Adept, my Mother, she…?” Still frowning, Adept Mu said, “Although I’m not specialized in medicine, I can tell that your Mother doesn’t have any sickness. Rather, her lifeforce has been almost entirely used up…given how little lifeforce your mother has left in her body, she’ll most likely be able to live just three more months.” “Her lifeforce has nearly been used up?” Ning’s face changed. “When my wife was pregnant, she was injured.” The nearby Yichuan said hurriedly. “Afterwards, she then used a secret technique which spent her own vitality to protect the fetus.” Adept Mu nodded. “Your wife was originally a Xiantian lifeform, and judging from the purity of the remnants of ki in her body, she should have been a peak Xiantian lifeform. Unfortunately…that injury she suffered should have been a severe one. Her dantian was destroyed, and logically speaking, she shouldn’t have been able to preserve the fetus. Your wife used a secret technique to ignite her own lifeforce in order to protect the fetus, but the cost of this secret technique was extremely great. To replenish what the usage of it cost is almost impossible.” 560 Hearing this, Ning was flabbergasted. His mother had been a peak Xiantian expert? Her dantian had been destroyed, and she had used a secret technique to ignite her own lifeforce to protect the fetus? However, from what he had seen from when his mother had taught him footwork, she was indeed an expert. However, that year when he had been in his mother’s womb, what exactly had happened? His parents had always intentionally hidden the truth of what had happened when his mother was pregnant from Ning, refusing to tell him. “Adept, please save my mother.” Ning said frantically. “To save her, the only method is to extend her lifespan.” Adept Mu sighed. “There are plenty of spirit pills for curing diseases, and I myself have spirit pills that can be used for Immortal practitioners to extend their lifespan. But unfortunately…to let a mortal have an extended lifespan is thousands of times more difficult than to have an Immortal practitioner extend their lifespans. This sort of medicine is something which I, in the Raindragon Guards, have only heard of. I don’t even know where to find them. Most likely, only Immortals would be able to produce them.” The nearby Ninefire, hearing this, was shocked. Raindragon Guards? “Immortals!” Hearing this, Ning felt as though his heart had suddenly turned to ice. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Adept Mu Xiao left that very day for Stillwater City. Before leaving, he pulled Ji Ning aside to give him advice in private. “Ji Ning, your talent is extremely high. It is guaranteed that you will walk far on the path of Immortals! Immortal practitioners have very long lifespans. Unless his friends and family are also Immortal practitioners, you will have to watch as all of them die of old age. Actually, this is a form of selfimprovement with regards to your mind towards the Dao. Since you have become an Immortal practitioner…you need to be prepared. No matter how much pain you suffer, you must escape from the midst of your grief. Otherwise, it will be very hard for you to overcome the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.” ……………. After Adept Mu left, Ji Ninefire also immediatedly headed towards the mountain where Bei Zishan had hidden himself. That place, after all, had Flood Dragon Dao Battle-Armor. Ning travelled by himself to Serpentwing Lake. “There’s still hope. My mother still has hope for surviving.” Ning ran through the mountainous, forested wilderness, occasionally using his Windwing Evasion to advance. His running speed was far faster than the travelling speed of those black beasts, and after expending a large majority of his divine power, he managed to arrive at Serpentwing Lake in just two hours. “That ancient Aquatic Manor has had multiple masters. Immortal Juhua was the third master. Ignoring the other masters, Immortal Juhua himself had lived for millions of years as a Loose Immortal. He definitely had quite a few medicines, and perhaps some of them are able to allow mortals to have extended lifespans.” Ning ran across the surface of the water to the island. “Young master.” “Greetings, young master.” There were quite a few people on the island, who had arrived long ago to build a residence there. Autumn Leaf and that young child, Bluestone, were there as well. Seeing Ning run in their direction across the surface of the water, they immediately went to welcome him. “I have something to do. You can retire for now.” Ning instructed, then immediately transformed into a blur, disappearing from their field of vision. This caused Autumn Leaf and the other servants to feel rather puzzled. Ning soon arrived at the entrance to the cave. He continuously went deeper in, and after a few moments, he arrived at the place where he had been teleported away from last time. “Senior.” Ning called out frantically. “Quick, let me enter the estate. I have something important to do.” The dark tunnel caverns were completely silent. There was no response at all. This caused Ning to be all the more frantic. The old black bull had originally said…that Ning should only return after he had bound the control talisman. But currently, he was just an early Xiantian lifeform. How long would it be before he would become a Zifu Disciple? His mother only had three months left. He had no other options, besides coming here and begging! “Senior, I truly have an urgent matter involving life-and-death. I sincerely implore you, Senior, to let me in.” Ning begged frantically. Silence. Rumble… Suddenly, the surrounding space twisted, and in the cavernous area in front of him, an enormous bear’s head once more appeared. The bear’s head opened its giant mouth, swallowing Ning within it, and Ning disappeared from within the estate. ……………… Spacetime twisted…and then all was calm. Ning stared in front of him. In front of him was that majestic, ancient palace hall, in the center of which were those incomparably enormous prayer mats. An old black bull ambled over and let out a sigh. “Ji Ning, didn’t I tell you to wait until you bound the control talisman, at which point you would be able to naturally sense the Aquatic Manor and come as you pleased? You are just a Xiantian lifeform. Why have you entered again?” “Senior.” Ning said hurriedly. “My mother is gravely ill. I truly have no other methods, so I came here to beg.” “Your mother is gravely ill?” The old black bull shook his head. “Since you have chosen the path of Immortals, you need to be prepared for these things.” Ning hurriedly shook his head. “Senior, my mother is still young. She shouldn’t die so soon! Previously, I asked a Wanxiang Adept to help take a look at my mother…and that Wanxiang Adept said that my mother, in the past, had used a secret technique to expend her own lifeforce to rescue me. By now, her lifeforce is almost completely used up, and she only has three months of life left. To save my mother, a medicinal pill that can allow mortals to extend their lifespans is necessary. However, that Wanxiang 563 Adept himself had only heard of such pills, and said that most likely only Immortals were in possession of them. I have no other choices, and so I came to the Aquatic Manor.” “A medicinal pill that can allow mortals to extend their lifespans?” The old black bull sighed. “That is something that can described as an Immortal pill. Generally speaking, only Loose Immortals or Earthly Immortals can produce such a thing.” “Immortal Juhua was no ordinary Loose Imortal. He definitely has this sort of medicinal pill, right?” Ning asked frantically. The old black bull looked at Ning, then shook its head. “Immortal Juhua had been alive for millions of years. His family and friends had died long ago. He had no need of such pills, and so he didn’t have any of them.” Ning’s heart trembled. “Then…” Ning said hurriedly. “I imagine Immortal Juhua must have left behind quite a few magic treasures. Give me a magic treasure which has a valuable comparable to that of an Immortal pill, and I’ll take it and trade…” As soon as he said the words, Ning knew that he was making a mistake. He cared too much about his mother’s life, and so he had lost his bearings and equanimity. Even his words lacked proprietry. “Foolishness!” The old black bull shouted. “You yourself said just now that even a Wanxiang Adept has only heard of this sort of Immortal pill. You want to trade for it? With who? You, a Xiantian lifeform, hold a magic treasure on that level? If you show it off, most likely those powerful Immortal practitioners will just kill you for it. Trade for it? If you don’t have enough power, how will you trade?” “In addition! You haven’t even bound the control talisman, and the only place in the Aquatic Manor you can enter is just the main palace. You aren’t even able to enter the other places. On what basis am I supposed to hand over one of the magic treasures Immortal Juhua left behind?” The old black bull shook his head. “And what’s more, this isn’t even my decision to make.” “Not your decision to make?” Ning was stunned. “Then…” The old black bull sighed. “I’m just the spirit of a magic treasure Immortal Juhua always kept on him! The true controller of this Aquatic Manor is the Spirit of the Aquatic Manor!” “Spirit of the Aquatic Manor?” Ning was puzzled. The old black bull explained, “The entire Aquatic Manor was forged by the first master, who was incredibly mysterious. Even Immortal Juhua himself felt that this Aquatic Manor has secrets which even 564 he had been unable to discover. The Spirit of the Aquatic Manor…has been carrying out the laws and rules set forth by the first master. It won’t violate the rules in the slightest.” “Teleport someone outside into this place? The Spirit of the Aquatic Manor can do that. But allow you to go to other places within the manor? Without binding the Aquatic Manor, that definitely will not be permitted.” The old black bull said. “It also cannot possibly give you one of Immortal Juhua’s magic treasures. After all, it is the Spirit of the Aquatic Manor. It will definitely obey the orders of the first master of the manor.” Ning was stunned. “When, for example, the fourth master died in the outside world, the Spirit of the Aquatic Manor would at most act to find the next master.” The old black bull shook his head. “We spirits of magic treasures are different from you humans. You can change. But we will definitely respect the will of our master.” Ning understood. Magic treasures were covered with all sorts of runes and bindings. For example, some golems which were forged…even long after the death of their master, the golems would still obey their original orders. The same was true for dwelling-type magic treasures. After the owner of a dwelling died, the rules the owner had set down would still be obeyed by the spirit of the dwelling. When he understood this, Ning felt despair, deep within his heart. The old black bull looked towards Ning. “On the path of Immortals, you will see your family and friends die of age, one after the other. You will also see some friends die in battle…you will have to learn how to accept these things! Go, now!” Whoosh! An enormous illusory bear’s head appeared, engulfing Ning within its mouth. …………… Ning returned to West Prefecture city. Returned to the side of his mother. By now, it was already late at night. “Ning.” Yuchi Snow, lying on the bed, saw her son. Her eyes immediately lit up. “Where did you go? I couldn’t find you.” “Mother.” Ning hurriedly walked forward, half-kneeling by her side. He held his mother’s hand. “I went out for a trip. However, I won’t make any more trips. I’ll accompany you and stay by your side.” Snow gently stroked her son’s hair. She laughed, “It’s fine. If you are busy, do what you need to do. Just remember to come visit your mother.” “Alright.” Ning nodded gently, and as he did, he couldn’t help but shed tears. The only thing he could do now was accompany her mother for the final three months. This was the only filial act he could now do. …………….. Night. His mother had already fallen asleep. Ji Yichuan and Ji Ning, father and son, were within a hall. “Father.” Ning looked towards his father. “It is time to tell me, I think, what exactly happened in the past.” Yichuan looked at his son, and as he did, he thought of what Blindfish and the others had said regarding what Ning had done in the mountain. He understood that his son had grown up. Sighing, he said, That year, your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I thus decided to return to the Ji clan. At that time, your maternal uncle was worried, so he escorted and protected us on the way back.” “Maternal uncle?” Ning had never before heard that he had an uncle. “Your uncle’s name was Yuchi Mount.” Yichuan’s eyes had a hint of memory within them. “Your uncle was exceedingly intelligent, and he also knew how to treat others. He had many friends. He had also become a Zifu Disciple early on. If it weren’t because he wanted to escort myself and your mother back, your uncle probably would’ve had a chance at restoring and reestablishing the Yuchi clan. Unfortunately, your uncle died. He died for the sake of protecting the three of us. All three of our lives, we have because your uncle gave up his own! This great debt…is hard to repay!” Ning, hearing this, felt a heavy feeling. An uncle! Yuchi Mount! He had never heard of this name. This moment was deeply engraved into Ning’s heart. “I’ve only heard that your uncle had a daughter, your maternal cousin. Unfortunately, I have no idea where your cousin is.” Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “I’m unable to repay him. Unable to repay him…” “What exactly happened? Who harmed and killed my uncle, and also caused the roots of her illness?” Ning immediately asked. “Who was it?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Yichuan looked at his son. After hesitating, he said, “All I can tell you is that he is a disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, and that his grandfather is a Summit Master of one of their mountain summits, an individual on the Primal Daoist level.” Ning’s face changed. Primal Daoist? “He himself is just a Zifu Disciple and not worthy of being afraid of.” Yichuan shook his head. “But behind him stands a Primal Daoist…we truly cannot irriate him! If we struggle against him, the only result will be the extermination of the entire Ji clan. This is why your mother and I have never mentioned this, nor said a single word regarding this in front of you. Ever since that, after your mother and I stealthily returned to the Ji clan, we have always remained very low-key. However, most likely that person didn’t hold your mother and I in any regard at all. Yichuan looked at his son. “You are now an adult, and you are very talented. According to what that Adept Mu said, it is possible that you might one day join the Raindragon Guards. This is why I have told you these things. Otherwise…I had planned to never tell you.” “What is he called?” Ning pursued this line of questioning. “Once you become a Wanxiang Adept, I will tell you.” Yichuan said. “If I were to die, your Uncle White will tell you. That year, your Uncle White risked his life to carry your mother and flee. He saved your life, and he knew exactly what happened that year.” Ning said frantically, “You can’t tell me now?” “What good would it be if I did tell you?” Yichuan barked. “Will you go seek revenge? That’s just looking for death! First be patient and endure. After enduring for a few years, you’ll have calmed down as well.” “Remember”! Yichuan stared at Ning. “Don’t let hatred cloud your eyes. In this vast, endless world, slaughter and hatred is omnipresent. It is guaranteed that you will one day leave Swallow Mountain. In the vast world outside, those major schools, clans, and powerful sects are all hard to deal with. Snowdragon Mountain is nothing more than a millstone for you to sharpen your blade on, during your path to becoming an Immortal!” Ning nodded slightly. “On your hopes rest the future of both the Ji clan and the Yuchi clan, understood?” Yichuan said. “To become famous throughout this boundless world, and to make Snowdragon Mountain as well as the various other powers all lower their heads and submit to you; this is what your mother and I hope to see the most!” “Yes.” Ning nodded solemnly. “Make your mother and me proud of you!” Yichuan stared at his son. “My son!” ………… The autumn wind blew. Dry leaves fell. Yuchi Snow was seated on a long bench in front of her room. The beast fur pelt laid on the bench was warm and soft. There was a layer of beast fur on Snow’s body as well. Her face was even more ashen now. She held her son’s hand, then turned to say towards Yichuan, who was standing next to her, “Yichuan, bring those beast furs over.” “Alright.” Yichuan immediately entered the room, quickly returning while carrying a pile of beast fur clothes. “This is…?” Ning looked at the beast fur clothes. Yichuan said, “Your mother hasn’t had anything to do in recent days, and so she’s been sewing these beast fur clothes. Every single thread and stitch is the labor of your mother’s hands.” Seated there, Snow said softly, “There’s quite a few by now. I only made twelve sets of clothes in the past three months. They are all suitable for your current size and stature. In the future, Mother won’t be able to be by your side, but these clothes will accompany you.” Ning’s eyes stung, and he couldn’t refrain from tearing up. “Don’t cry.” Snow gently stroked her son’s face. “I know that soon now, I won’t be able to last any longer.” “Mother!” Ning’s voice was trembling. “Mother has experienced many things in this life.” Snow said slowly. “When I was an infant, I lived in a large clan with unlimited, glorious prospects. When I was young, I fled alongside my Father, eventually meeting your father and adventuring alongside him, braving danger. Afterwards, I lived ten peaceful years at the Ji clan…in my life, I’ve had a father who loved me, older brothers and sisters who loved me, a man who loved me, and you…my most beloved son. I truly feel content.” Ning’s tears were coming down nonstop. He couldn’t control them, no matter what he tried. The only thing he could do was continuously hold his mother’s hand. His mother’s hand was no longer smooth; it had become rough and leathery, like a dry leaf without any vitality. Snow said slowly, “In your body is the bloodline of the Ji clan, as well as the bloodline of my Yuchi clan. For your mother to have had you…is your mother’s greatest pride in life.” “Mother…” Ning stared at his mother. “Ning, son…in the future, will you stay for a long time at Serpentwing Lake?” Snow looked at her son. Ning nodded. As an Immortal practitioner, one had to have a base, after all. West Prefecture City was too crowded and had too many people. Serpentwing Lake was much calmer. In addition, Serpentwing Lake had the Aquatic Manor…in the future, he would indeed often stay at Serpentwing Lake. “After I die.” Snow looked at Yichuan, by her side. “After I am cremated, spread my ashes over Serpentwing Lake. Yichuan, you won’t be jealous, will you?” Yichuan’s eyes were moist. He forced out a laugh. “Slightly jealous, actually. However, after I die, my ashes will also be spread over Serpentwing Lake. By then, we’ll be together again, right?” Snow laughed. Yichuan gently embraced his wife. “Ning, son.” Snow’s voice was growing weaker. She smiled. “I want to look at our Yuchi clan’s Windwing Evasion. Demonstrate it for me.” “Yes, Mother.” Ning rose to his feet. Behind him, out of nowhere, a pair of wings appeared. And then, forcibly resisting the pain in his heart, Ning began to execute the Windwing Evasion. Ning moved about like a giant Roc, gliding through the air, landing atop of a distant roof, and then with another flash, gliding to another place. His two wings trembled, and his movements were like that of an illusion. Ning, in this moment, was whole-heartedly focusing on displaying the Windwing Evasion, because this was the last request of his mother. “Wind!” “Wind!” As Ning displayed it, the wind blew against him, like his mother’s hand gently stroking his face. The touch of the wind was a caress of someone who didn’t want to let go. Slowly… 569 Ning’s movements became all the more marvelous, and he seemed to have truly become a giant Roc, moving all the more faster and all the more freely, incomparably agile. He was a giant Roc, a giant Roc who flew in the skies beyond the Nine Heavens. Ning, unconsciously, was unconsciously incorporating that insights he had gained that night into the True Meaning of the Wind, and merging it with the Windwing Evasion. He even incorporated some deep emotions into them, like a bird who was longing for the wind. “The great Roc.” Snow’s eyes lit up as she watched, and she murmured softly, “The great Roc…” She seemed to have seen her older brother. That tall, stalwart man who had protected and cherished her since she was young. Her brother’s usage of the Windwing Evasion was so similar to the way in which Ning’s Windwing Evasion looked… “Big Brother…” Snow seemed to have returned to the past. A large courtyard. Her older brother was there, training in the Windwing Evasion, while her, as a toddler, was running around calling out, “Big Brother, Big Brother.” “Little Sis.” That man, as tall and mighty as a mountain, turned to look at her. “Big Sis, Father.” She saw two more figures, one an elegant middle-aged man with a long beard, while the other was a seemingly cold and arrogant young woman. This was her father and her older sister. “Big Brother. Big Sis. Father…I’m coming.” The child-Snow ran forward, ran to the side of her older brother, her older sister, and her father. Together again. They were finally together again… ……… Lying in Yichuan’s arms, Snow closed her eyes. A peaceful smile was on her face. “Ahh…ahhhh….aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Yichuan opened his mouth, making some noise, but wasn’t able to speak. He tightly clutched his wife, raising his head high, but the tears still came spilling out. The distant Ning came to a halt. His entire body trembling, he took one step forward after another, walking towards his mother’s side, then kneeling down. “Mother!” Ning began to sob, a rumbling, heart-broken sound. ……….. The sound spread outside of the courtyard. The servants outside, hearing the sobs of their young master Ji Ning, filled with such agony, misery, and sadness, immediately understood that their mistress had already died. All of them couldn’t help but to lower their heads, their tears spilling out. They would never forget this benevolent mistress of theirs. ……….. Ning left West Prefecture City, going to live on the island in Serpentwing Lake. According to the dying wishes of his mother, he personally scattered her ashes within the waters of Serpentwing Lake. From that day onwards, Ning gained a new hobby. He liked to lie down atop a small boat, allowing the boat to drift freely in the waters of Serpentwing Lake. It was like… Lying in the embrace of his mother. So very warm. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Time flowed on like water, silent and soundless. In the blink of an eye, nearly five years passed. Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. Brightheart was the name which Ji Ning had given this island in the center of the lake. The island had multiple buildings constructed atop it, and the formerly desolate island had been made into a beautiful place, like an unearthly utopia. It was currently at the changing of seasons from spring to summer, and all sorts of flowers were blooming and eye-catching. After careful arrangements by some servants, they appeared all the more beautiful and captivating. “Big Sis Autumn Leaf, Big Sis Autumn Leaf.” A youth dressed in blue clothes ran over while shouting. Autumn Leaf, who had been boiling a kettle of tea, turned to look. Laughing, she said, “Bluestone, your archery lessons have concluded? Did your Master Blindfish rebuke you?” “This…” Bluestone rubbed his head and said resignedly, “How can I not be rebuked? Each time I practice archery, Master Blindfish will always lecture me. He’ll also often compare me to Big Bro. But how can I compare to Big Bro? You know what a genius he is!” “You need to treasure this chance.” Autumn Leaf viewed Bluestone as she might her own little brother. She said seriously, “Young master himself said that although Master Blindfish had his dantian destroyed, that just made him become even more focused on archery…and his archery abilities have risen to a whole new level. It’s only because Master Blindfish is living here on Brightheart Island and because the young master asked him to do so that he is willing to teach you. You need to work hard. If you master it, it will be a consummate technique for you.” Bluestone immediately nodded. “I understand.” Bluestone’s life on Brightheart Island was quite carefree. Ning whole-heartedly treated him as he would a little brother, and acted towards him as an older brother would. One could tell how close their relationship was, just by the way Bluestone addressed him; generally speaking, a younger individual would address a more senior one as ‘Elder Brother’. Only someone who grew up together and thus were very close to each other would use the term ‘Big Bro’. “Right.” Autumn Leaf laughed and nodded. “Where is Big Bro Ji Ning?” Bluestone asked. “Training with the sword?” Autumn Leaf laughed, “He’s not training the sword.” 572 “Oh. Then he’s sleeping on Serpentwing Lake.” Bluestone laughed. After having lived on Serpentwing Lake for five years, he had become well acquainted with Ning’s habits. Ning, aside from training with the sword, spent most of his time casually drifting on Serpentwing Lake aboard a small boat while napping. “Right. He’s sleeping.” Autumn Leaf turned to look towards that boundless lake as well. Bluestone couldn’t help but say, “Originally, I asked Big Bro Ji Ning why he is always sleeping on Serpentwing Lake. Big Bro just said…he is training. I don’t get it. How can sleeping atop Serpentwing Lake be training? But Big Bro Ji Ning’s swordplay really is becoming increasingly more powerful. Two years ago, Commander Yichuan acknowledged that he didn’t believe he could beat him!” “Right. The young master’s swordplay has reached an unfathomably high level.” Autumn Leaf sighed. “I once watched the young master train with the sword, and when I did, I saw some aquatic birds flew over en masse, then fly around him in a circle for some time, unwilling to leave.” “So bizarre!” Bluestone was surprised. “In the past, Commander Yichuan would spar once with the young master every year. Two years ago, when he felt he wouldn’t be able to win, he stopped coming. Unfortunately, the young master forbade me from watching, so I don’t know how what the battle scene between the Commander and the young master was like.” Autumn Leaf felt a hint of longing. In her eyes, the swordplay of Ji Yichuan had reached a mythical level long ago, but her young master’s swordplay had apparently reached an even higher, deeper level. Yichuan lived on Brightheart Island as well. However, it was on the other end of Brightheart Island. He normally was a solitary, arrogant figure, forbidding anyone from approaching him, and without any servants serving him. Only Ning was permitted to go to his residence to accompany Yichuan, his father. “I’m truly curious. What level has Big Bro reached in swordplay, exactly?” Bluestone’s eyes were filled with veneration. “Look.” Autumn Leaf suddenly looked towards the lake. “Huh?” Bluestone turned to look as well. In the distance, a single boat could be faintly seen. At first, a look of delight appeared on Bluestone’s face as he took it for the boat on which Ning slept, but when he looked more closely…he saw that this was a large ship, the one which often delivered people to and from the shores of the lake. After all, quite a few people were now living on Brightheart Island, with nearly a hundred servants being present. Large amounts of food would often be delivered to the island, and some outsiders would come visit. Naturally, they had to have this ferry. Atop the ferry. There was a group of youths atop the ferry, and they were chatting and joking amongst themselves. “The Central Prefecture Lord told us to come pay our respects to Ji Ning.” A big, burly-chested youth had a hint of disgruntlement in his eyes. “We are the Central Prefecture of the Ji clan. We are far more powerful than the other four Prefectures! The six of us are the most powerful members of the younger generation of the Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. To have us come spar with this Ji Ning is one thing, but he actually said that we were to come ‘pay our respect’ and have this Ji Ning ‘provide guidance to us’? And that we had to be reverential towards him?” “Shut your mouth.” A handsome looking youth said. “The Central Prefecture Lord stated that we must be respectful and that we must address him as young master Ji Ning.” “Fine, fine. Young master Ji Ning.” The big youth couldn’t refrain from adding, “That’s fine for the rest of us, but Ji Mo, you are the number one, ultimate genius amongst the younger generation of our Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. You became a Xiantian expert at age fifteen, and reached the level of mastery long ago in the ultimate technique of our Ji clan, the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]. That Ji Ning…although that young master Ji Ning became a Xiantian expert a few years earlier than you, the two of you will simply spar at most. How can you be asked to ‘pay your respects’ to him and have him ‘provide guidance’ to you?” “Ji Mo.” A black haired woman said. “Tongzhan speaks the truth. The instructions the Central Prefecture Lord gave us, none of us will openly oppose, but in our hearts, none of us truly submit either. We are the most talented youths of the Central Prefecture, while that Ji Ning…that young master Ji Ning is only the most talented youth of the West Prefecture. No matter how much of a genius he is, at most he’ll be a bit more powerful than us. How can he be qualified to have us ‘go pay our respects’ to him?” “Enough, all of you.” The handsome youth’s gaze was like water. He swept everyone with his gaze, and the other five youths all fell silent. Ji Mo was, without question, the number one figure in the younger generation of the Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. In addition, ever since he had been young, he had followed by the side of Granny Shadow, and thus Mo’s status was all the more unique…many people were certain that Mo would be the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the Central Prefecture. “You all know that I follow Granny Shadow.” Mo said slowly. “Right.” Looks of awe appeared in the eyes of the other five. Granny Shadow… In the entire Ji clan, there were two people who stood at the very pinnacle of the clan. One was the Patriarch, Ji Ninefire! The other was Granny Shadow! Granny Shadow was the sibling and younger sister 574 of Ninefire, an old granny who had also lived for nearly four centuries. But, without question, she had been at the Zifu Disciple level for three hundred years. The two of them were the two publicly acknowledged Zifu Disciples of the Ji clan. As for whether or not there were other Zifu Disciples hidden in the shadows, that was hard to say. A clan would naturally want to hide some cards up their sleeves, interchanging truth and lies. This led to longevity. “Granny Shadow personally taught me swordplay.” Mo said softly. “My swordplay, compared to Granny Shadow’s, is unimaginably weaker. Do you know why the six of us have been sent by the Central Prefecture Lord to Serpentwing Lake to pay our respects to Ji Ning?” “I hear the North Prefecture, the East Prefecture, and the South Prefecture had already sent their younger generation members over to pay their respects to young master Ji Ning, and so our Central Prefecture sent the six of us as well.” “Wrong.” Ji Mo shook his head lightly. “Our Central Prefecture is the root of the Ji clan. The Patriarch and Granny Shadow are both within our Central Prefecture.” Mo said. “The territory that our Central Prefecture takes up is the greatest, and the number of Xiantian experts we have far surpasses the number the other four prefectures have. Even the Crimson Guards are stationed in our Central Prefecture. Why, then, must our Central Prefecture act in the same manner as the other prefectures?” “Then what’s the reason?” They all looked towards Mo. Mo said softly, “The reason is, one year ago, Granny Shadow made a trip here to Serpentwing Lake.” “Granny Shadow came to Serpentwing Lake?” The other five youths instantly began to think of many possibilities. Mo said, “The Patriarch had once praised young master Ji Ning highly, saying that in the future, he would definitely be the number one expert of our Ji clan! Granny Shadow thus decided to come here to Serpentwing Lake to personally see what sort of ability this Ji Ning had…” “And?” “What did Granny Shadow say?” The five youths looked expectantly at Mo. Mo’s eyes had a very strange light to them. He said slowly, “After Granny Shadow returned, I repeatedly asked her how I was in comparison to young master Ji Ning. The only thing Granny Shadow would say was that it was hard to compare. That it was hard to compare. I kept on asking her what level of 575 swordplay this young master Ji Ning had reached, and Granny Shadow just replied with a single phrase; ‘unfathomably deep’!” “Unfathomably deep!” The five youths were stunned. For even Granny Shadow to say such a thing…how terrifying was Ji Ning’s swordplay? “Everyone, time to disembark.” A sailor said loudly. Only now did the six of them look over. The ferry had already neared the shore, and from afar, various buildings arose within their vision, an amazingly beautiful sight. The six of them couldn’t help but sigh in amazement in their hearts, while Ji Mo’s eyes lit up. “This is where Ji Ning lives?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The six youths from the Ji clan’s Central Prefecture disembarked. From the island, four figures walked over, the leader being a beautiful woman dressed in simple, plain clothes. By her side was a youth dressed in blue, while two Crimson Guards followed them from the side. There were a total of a hundred Crimson Guards on the island, which Ji Ninefire had especially stationed here. “I imagine you are Manager Autumn Leaf.” Ji Mo, the leader of the six youths, extended his hand, and within it, a beast skin appeared which had some words written atop it. “We are here at the commands of our Central Prefecutre Lord, and we have come to pay our respects to young master Ji Ning.” “Oh?” Autumn Leaf accepted the beast skin parchment and glanced at it. All of the various matters pertaining to Brightheart Island were under Autumn Leaf’s control, and she had been appointed as the General Manager by Ji Ning. Autumn Leaf carefully read through the beast skin parchment, then lifted her head and smiled. “We had already received the news previously and had been informed that six outstanding talents of the Central Prefecture were coming. Everyone, please follow me.” “We have come to pay our respects to young master Ji Ning. Might I ask when young master Ji Ning will be able to see us?” While following Autumn Leaf, the six youths asked this question. Autumn Leaf just said, “Everyone, don’t be hasty. You will definitely see the young master today.” Soon, the six youths were led to a quiet, reclusive residence which was specially used for receiving guests. Autumn Leaf instructed a pair of maidservants, “These six are our esteemed guests from the Central Prefecture. Take good care of them.” “Yes.” The two maidservants acknowledged. “Everyone.” Autumn Leaf looked at the six of them and laughed. “Once our young master has time, I will definitely come inform the six of you. Everyone, you must be tired from your journey. You can rest here for now.” After speaking, Autumn Leaf led Bluestone and the others away. “Hmph, people of high status really are troublesome!” The tall, muscular youth, Ji Tongzhan, was so angry his eyes bulged. “What could this young master Ji Ning possibly be worrying about, living here in such a 577 secluded, quiet little lake island? This female manager even said ‘when our young master has free time’. Jeeze…they really hold us in no regard at all.” “The Central Prefecture ordered someone to convey the letter long ago to inform them of our arrival. It’s one thing for young master Ji Ning to not come welcome us, but he won’t even let us know when he will meet with us, and instead just has us wait here like fools?” These youths were all the talented, favored sons of heaven. Although they believed that Ji Ning was one level stronger than them, they were still people of the same age. For them to be slighted like this…they were rather unhappy. “Endure it!” Ji Mo just sat there and called out to them quietly. “We are here to pay our respects. Thus, wait here obediently for young master Ji Ning to summon us.” “We’re just discontent, that’s all.” “Right. Everyone talks about how powerful young master Ji Ning is, but none of us have ever met him. He’s only sixteen years old. How powerful can he be?” These youths all chatted amongst themselves. Even Ji Mo, seated there, in his bones had the untamed arrogance inherent to all geniuses. What one heard didn’t matter. What one saw was what really mattered! Until he personally witnessed Ji Ning’s abilities, in Mo’s heart, he too had a small ball of fiery anger that was currently smoldering. …….. The sun had already set, and the night fog had covered the entire western horizons. The setting sun’s red glow covered the earth, causing the surface of Serpentwing Lake to appear as beautiful as a painting. Far away on the surface of the lake in this ‘painting’, a small boat was swaying as the water pushed it forward. “It’s the young master’s boat.” “It’s the young master.” The maidservants had noticed long ago, and they had immediately informed Manager Autumn Leaf. Autumn Leaf and Bluestone quickly arrived on the beach, staring at that distant little boat. Within the boat. Ning was comfortably lying there, his eyes shut. The lake around him was completely silent, as silent as a painting. Suddenly, he could vaguely sense the auras of many people in the distance, and as he did, his eyelids twitched, then opened. “I’m here.” Ning immediately stood up, stretching lazily. He was still dressed in those beast fur clothes. However, these were formed from the transformation of a protective magic-treasure…after all, he only had a few sets of beast fur clothes which his mother had sown for him. If he always wore them, they would eventually be ruined. Ning couldn’t bear for that to happen, and so he stored them away. However, he still changed the appearance of his armor-type magic treasure into beast furs. He felt the most comfortable dressed in them anyhow. “Splash.” The speed of the boat suddenly increased rapidly, and it broke through the waves, advancing at high speed, charging towards the distant island. Ning stood there atop the little boat, smiling as he greeted his Autumn Leaf and Bluestone. When the boat drew near the island, it actually disappeared. Ning walked atop the waves, arriving at the beach. “Young master.” Autumn Leaf laughed as she went to welcome him. “Big Bro Ji Ning.” Bluestone immediately ran over as well, saying excitedly, “Today, six youths of the Central Prefecture came. They act so high and mighty and look down on people so much, they might as well have their eyes growing from the tops of their heads.” Ning seemed to have thought of something. “Oh? This is that group of the most talented youths of the Central Prefecture?” “Right.” Autumn Leaf nodded. “They arrived at noon.” “Have them come to the sword training field.” Ning laughed. “Since the Central Prefecture had them come, their intention is for me to give these youths a sound beating.” “Alright. I’ll go invite them right now.” Autumn Leaf immediately said. ……… The sword training field. This was a wide area of more than three hundred meters, locate in front of Ning’s residence. This was the place where Ning usually trained with the sword. “I’ve already drank five bottles of water. It’s almost night. He’s finally willing to meet us.” “This Ji Ning has been made out to be a near legendary figure. I wonder what he’s actually like.” The six men and women spoke to each other softly, all clearly quite excited. They were filled with boundless curiosity towards this legendary young master Ji Ning. Autumn Leaf led the way from up front, and they soon arrived at the sword training field. “The young master is there. You can go there.” 579 Ji Mo and the other six looked over carefully. In the distance, a youth dressed in beast furs could be seen standing there. From his appearance, he wasn’t too tall; he was still at the same height he had been when he had broken through to become a Xiantian expert. Only, for some reason…just by standing there, Ning seemed to have become one with the surrounding area, as though the entire scene was one in a painting. The beast fur clad youth suddenly turned, leaving that earlier state of seeming to be a person in a painting. He seemed to have transformed into an Adept. Actually, before this, Ning had fused his soul with the world and was meditating on the ‘Dao’! Ever since he had moved to live on Serpentwing Lake, especially after he began to rest there on that little boat and casually drift on the surface of the lake each day, his entire soul had become incomparably peaceful and calm, and incomparably close to nature. At the same time, Ning’s swordplay had advanced by leaps and bounds. His level had risen nonstop, to the point which by now, Ning was able to infuse the ‘Dao’ he had learned casually and freely into his techniques. Although there was no way he could completely absorb himself into the Dao, like he had that night by the pool, to train in such a manner…was already inconceivable. This caused his swordplay to reach a truly astonishing level. “All of you, come over.” Ning spoke out. Mo and the others all looked at this young master Ji Ning. His features were handsome and delicate, like a youth’s. Only, he had a natural, reserved aura about him, an aura which one could only achieve after constantly improving upon one’s mind and spirit. “Greetings, young master Ji Ning.” Mo and the rest of the six all walked forward and said respectfully. “I heard that the most talented youth of the Central Prefecture is Ji Mo. Which of you is Ji Mo?” Ning said directly. Since he was to give them a beating, he might as well just pick the strongest one. This would be more effective. “Me.” Mo said, his eyes fierce. Ning nodded. “What do you train in?” “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]!” Mo’s eyes held great confidence within them. “I just mastered it. I hope young master Ji Ning will provide me with some guidance.” “Mastered?” Ning nodded. “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] is an ultimate technique which guards our entire clan, and is extremely marvelous. Take out your sword and use your most powerful sword attack against me. Let me see exactly how well you use the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords].” “Alright.” Mo drew out his icy longsword. The longsword had some faint runes atop it. Clearly, this was a weapon-type magic treasure. Mo shouted out, “Young master Ji Ning, be careful.” 580 Swish! Instantly, the sword transformed into countless illusions, all of which appeared and swept forward towards Ning. Ning just stood there, watching. Just as those countless sword illusions enveloped him, he stretched out a finger and lightly tapped. “Break!” Immediately, all of the sword illusions vanished, with the true form of the longsword appearing. Tapped by Ning’s finger, the longsword which had flying towards Ning at high speed suddenly flew away on its own power. “This…this…” Mo stared in shock, his eyes wide. The other five youths were completely stunned as well. Just by relying on his finger, he was able to flick away a sword which contained the power of the world? And they didn’t feel that Ning’s finger moved very quickly. “How is that possible…my sword…?” Mo didn’t dare believe it. “Your force clearly wasn’t that great. How could you instantly guide my force away and make my sword fly out?” “Let me ask you this.” Ning barked. “What techniques does the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] have?” Mo hurriedly said, “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] has three techniques in total. The ‘One Sword, Ten Thousand Shadows’ stance, the ‘Ten Thousand Swords Become One’, and the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’. Amongst them, the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’ is the most powerful lkilling technique. What I used just now was that most powerful technique, the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’!” Ning said, “Melody of Ten Thousand Swords…Melody of Ten Thousand Swords…the most important part of it isn’t the ‘ten thousand swords’, it is in the word ‘melody’!” In recent years, Ji Ninefire had especially arranged for people to send over the various sword and saber techniques the Ji clan possessed, and Ning had flipped through all of them. At Ning’s current level, he himself could develop techniques on par with these skills. All he had to do was to get an understanding of their essence. “Melody?” Mo was awestruck. “Watch carefully.” Ning pointed with his finger, and a ray of sword light solidified, slicing through the air. Immediately, the sky was filled with sword images, and the countless sword images appeared everywhere, seemingly quite similar to the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’ which Mo had just used. But at the same time, these countless, densely clustered sword shadows seemed to form into multiple musical notes, each of which had their own differences. These countless sword shadows actually formed into a single, high-pitched song. Passion! Celebration! Ji Mo and the other six were completely stunned. They could actually sense a sort of joy emanating from those countless sword shadows, which seemed to have a life of their own. “Watch now.” Ning shot out another ray of sword light, once more forming into countless blurry sword shadows. Those countless sword shadows affected each other, each of which seemed to be independent and yet which linked up with the others…the countless musical notes transformed into a song, but this song was filled with boundless killing intent, a killing intent which caused their courage to turn cold. Every single sword shadow seemed like a soldier, and the countless soldiers were bellowing while charging forward, covering the skies and filling the skies with their killing intent. The faces of Mo and the other five were completely ashen. They couldn’t help but unconsciously retreat. “Do you see?” The sword light from Ning’s finger vanished. “This is the ‘melody’. The soul of the entire sword technique! It doesn’t matter what type of soul it is; only with a soul will your ten thousand swords truly become one, and truly become the astonishing sword melody!” The other five felt utterly astonished. As for Ji Mo, who had an extremely deep level of accomplishment with regards to the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], he was thoroughly convinced and subdued. With a ‘bang’ sound, he immediately knelt down in front of Ning. “Please accept me as your disciple!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although Ji Mo had sincerely asked to be allowed to take Ji Ning as his master, how could Ning accept? After all, for a sword technique to have a ‘soul’, what was required was an understanding of the Dao. This wasn’t something that could simply be taught! Ning next provided guidance to the others, one by one. The attitudes of these youths had immediately become incomparably humble. All of them raised issues which had normally puzzled them, and Ning naturally was able to very easily resolve them. Just in terms of sword technique alone, there was no one within the Ji clan who could compare to him. He spent four full hours providing guidance to them, and afterwards, Ning sent them off. “Go back and spend some time pondering these things. I won’t keep you here any further.” After providing guidance, Ning himself left. The six youths just watched longingly as Ning left. How they wished that Ning could spend some more time giving them guidance! ……….. Night. Ning was seated in the lotus position on his bed mattress, training. Elemental energy was constantly surging towards him, entering his body and liquefying into Ki. After a long time, when he sensed that his dantian had become somewhat swollen, Ning came to a halt. “Most likely, within a few more months, I will be able to establish my ‘Violet Palace’ as a Ki Refiner.” Ning said to himself. “However, to reach the Zifu Disciple level as a practitioner of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] will require me to reach the seventh level of that art. I wonder how long it will be before I reach it.” By now, he had already reached the peak of power as a Xiantian lifeform as both a Ki Refiner and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. The technique he was using to train as a Ki Refiner was an ordinary technique of the Ji clan, known as the [Water Element Art]. The quality of the ki provided by those who trained in this technique was fairly poor, but it was easy to breakthrough to become a Zifu Disciple! Given Ning’s current level of understanding regarding the Dao, once the accumulated ki in his body reached a certain level, he could rely on it to immediately establish his Zifu ‘Violet Palace’! “This [Water Element Art] is a very ordinary technique.” Ning said to himself. “It can only allow a person to train to the Zifu Disciple level. After establishing the ‘Violet Palace’, I’ll have to acquire a new Ki Refining technique.” The further a Ki Refining technique allowed one to progress, the more valuable it was. “When the time comes, I must find a more formidable Ki Refining technique.” Ning pondered to himself. “The [Water Element Art] is, in the end, a very superficial technique. If I continue to use this sort of superficial technique in the future…most likely, my development in Ki Refining will come to a halt at the Wanxiang level.” This was the difference between a high class technique and a low class technique! A high class, hard-to-learn technique was hard to start training in, but it allowed one to begin slowly walking in the right direction, constantly advancing on firm footing. As for low class techniques, they made it easy for one to establish the ‘Violet Palace’, and if one went all out, one had the chance to reach the Wanxiang Adept level. But…to become a Primal Daoist? There was no hope of it whatsoever. The Ji clan, after all, was a fairly low level clan. It didn’t have any high class Fiendgod Body Refining techniques or Ki Refining techniques. It did have the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique, which was unique in that it was widely spread throughout the lands. The other Ki Refining techniques the clan possessed were all very poor; this was why the likes of Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow had been training for nearly four centuries, but were still at the Zifu Disciple stage. “I have to go out adventuring.” Ning was rather eager. “I’ll wait to establish my Violet Palace first. By then, I will be better equipped to protect myself. The little power I have right now is still rather insufficient.” Ning knew his own power quite well. As a Ki Refiner, he was at the peak Xiantian level; however, half a year ago, he had already become capable of executing the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and his attack power should have reached the peak Zifu Disciple level! His weakness was that his ki was used up too quickly, and that he wasn’t able to fight for as long as most Zifu Disciples. As a Body Refiner, he had reached the peak Xiantian level in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. He was already comparable to early, ordinary Zifu Disciple level Fiendgod Body Refiners! Given his current lifeforce, even if his skull was pierced through, he still wouldn’t die! Although his attack power was somewhat weaker than that of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], once battle truly began, his body was still the more powerful aspect of the two. “Although the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is incomparably sharp…” Ning said to himself. “If I were to encounter a Zifu Disciple who is an Fiendgod Body Refiner and whose body is incomparably durable, even if I can chop through his body with a ray of sword light, his body would quickly heal.” “Against Zifu level Ki Refiners, I can give them a good fight, even if they are peak Zifu Disciples.” “But against Fiendgod Body Refiners…I can deal with early stage ones, but anything stronger than that will be hard.” Ning knew this very well. “I wonder what I need to do to breakthrough in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Transform Yin and Yang…Blood-Drop Rebirth…what must I do to achieve this?” Not dying when one’s head was cut through wasn’t much. But if he could reach the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he would possess the ability to regenerate himself from a single drop of blood! Life energy as powerful as this made it extremely hard for other Zifu Ki Refiners to deal with him. To kill an Fiendgod Body Refiner expert…how hard it was! The only way was to slowly exhaust the expert of all his divine power. “Blood-Drop Rebirth.” Ning was filled with eagerness. Actually, the current Ning was already an absolute monster. For attack, he had the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! He had also become a peak Xiantian in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, and even Zifu Disciples would find it hard to kill him! It was hard for others to kill him, but by relying on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he could kill others from far away. “Not enough, not enough. If Bei Zishan’s insect swarms were ten times greater in number, they would still be able to kill me through exhausting my power..” Ning didn’t dare to be the slightest bit incautious. He still remembered what the old black bull had told him… That he was not to underestimate any Immortal practitioner! You are formidable, but aren’t others also in possession of formidable techniques? “Whew.” Ning shut his eyes, beginning to visualize the [Nuwa Painting]. The visualization of the Nuwa Painting was something he continuously did. The reason he was now able to execute the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was primarily thanks to the power of his divine will. …………. The sky slowly brightened. Ning, seated quietly in the lotus position on his bed, suddenly opened his eyes, frowning as he carefully reached out with his senses. “Was it just me?” Ning murmured to himself. “Rumble…” A surge of incomparably powerful elemental energy rippled outwards, washing through Serpentwing Lake in an instant like a huge, roaring wave. This enormously powerful elemental ripple caused Ning’s face to change. Swish! He flew straight out from the window, flying to the crown of a large tree and staring outwards. “Northward.” Ning stood there atop the tree’s crown, staring into the distant north. The incomparably savage elemental ripple had come from the north. It was like the ripple caused by a stone being thrown into a pool of water. In a distant point to the north, incomparably powerful natural, elemental ripples were being cast out in every direction….one ripple after another surged outwards, sweeping out for thousands of kilometers, constantly broadcasting outwards. “What a terrifying elemental energy ripple.” Ning was amazed and stunned. “To be able to arouse such a powerful elemental aura…the rate at which I absorb elemental energy when training, compared to this ripple, is like the light of a firefly compared to the glorious splendor of the sun and the moon. What is going on? What has caused such a powerful ripple?” Swoosh! From another place within the island, a figure flew out, leaping across the tops of some trees and buildings, advancing at high speed. Soon, the figure reached Ning’s side. It was Ji Yichuan, clad in a white beast fur jacket. “Father.” Ning looked at his father. “You felt it as well.” Yichuan looked solemnly towards the north. “Right. The north.” Ning nodded, then said with incomparable solemnity, “A terrifying elemental energy ripple. It was inconceivably strong. Given what I sensed, if I’m not mistaken, this elemental energy ripple should have originated from thousands of kilometers to the north.” Yichuan nodded as well. “I didn’t sense it as clearly as you did, but the impression I received was essentially the same.” “Father, what on earth happened to cause such a powerful elemental energy ripple?” Ning hurriedly asked. “There are many possibilities.” Yichuan said. “It is possible that a duel between Immortals has caused these elemental ripples. It is also possible that an ancient relic site has suddenly emerged! It’s also possible that an Immortal magic treasure has revealed itself!” 586 Ning’s face changed. “Then our Ji clan…” The land thousands of kilometers to the north remained the territory of the Ji clan. The West Prefecture City of the Ji clan was to the southwest of the Central Prefecture City. The region thousands of kilometers to the north was one of the centermost areas of the entire Ji clan! “No matter which of the possibilities it is, it isn’t good for our Ji clan.” Yichuan said in a low voice. Ning’s face became ugly. A battle between Immortals? An emergence of a relic site? An Immortal magic treasure revealing itself? Other unknown possibilities? How could the Ji clan, whose most powerful experts were only on the Zifu level, possibly withstand these things? “Come, let’s take a look.” Yichuan said. “Fine.” Ning was incomparably worried as well. At the same time, he immediately used his ki to send his voice to Autumn Leaf, who was staying in a room not too far from his own. “Autumn Leaf, I’m heading out. You are in charge of Brightheart Island.” Swoosh! The two flew into the air at high speed, then running across the waves, quickly transformed into blurred rays of light which advanced to the north at high speed. At their level, when they put all their energy into their footwork techniques, they were actually rather faster than even the Azure Firebird, and many times faster than ordinary mounts. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A thousand kilometers south of the City of Ten Thousand Swords, the only commandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty which was under control of the Ji clan. This place was a desolate mountain forest, completely ordinary and unremarkable! However, in the air above this desolate mountain forest, an enormous vortex had appeared! This was a rainbow vortex, thirty thousand meters high, its influence omnidirectional. This enormous rainbow vortex was wildly pulling in the surrounding elemental energy. Because the collection of elemental energy was too vigorous, and the density of the collected energy was too high, the swirling pressure compacted it to the point where a rainbow of colors had appeared. This enormous elemental vortex…agitated the elemental aura in the surrounding area to surge outward in waves, causing those powerful ripples to broadcast in every direction! This elemental vortex was shaped like a sharp awl, pointed directly downwards towards the ground. Clearly, the origin of this natural vortex was directly located within the ground region of that desolate mountain forest. “Whooosh!” A male figure appeared in the air, amidst the vibrating elemental energy. This man had long, loose hair, and wore black, traditional robes which had a strange beast embroidered onto them. He wore a crested crown on his head, and his face was as pale as jade. He naturally emanated a lofty aura, and his gaze was directed downwards, staring towards that origin point which the swirling, enormous elemental vortex was ‘pointing’ towards. “Oh?” The black robed man nodded slightly. “This Anomaly…it should be that someone has reached the Void stage and become an Earth Immortal! I wonder if which side this new Earth Immortal belongs to…this is Swallow Mountain. The number of large tribes, schools, and sects located near Swallow Mountain can be counted on one hand. The closest one is the Heavenly Saint Sect! Can it be that one of the Primal Daoists of the Heavenly Saint Sect has made a breakthrough? But if it were one of the Primal Daoists of the Heavenly Saint Sect, there should be protectors and guardians nearby.” While pondering, he continued to stand there, watching quietly in mid-air. The appearance of an Anomaly such as this meant that this person had already succeeded. It would be too late to stop it. Rumble… The enormous elemental vortex suddenly collapsed, causing the nearby elemental energy to violently tremble, but soon everything returned to normal. Right at the moment that the elemental vortex 588 collapsed…a man appeared out of nowhere, garbed in fiery red robes and carrying three greatswords on his back. His two temples had hints of white hair, and he swept the area with a lightning-like gaze, soon noticing the black robed man who stood in the distance in mid-air. “Congratulations, my fellow Daoist, for having returned to the Void and become an Earth Immortal!” The black robed man laughed. “Might I ask who you are, fellow Daoist?” The man carrying the three greatswords on his back asked immediately. He didn’t dare to be discourteous either; he knew that the Anomaly generated by his breakthrough had lasted for only a short period of time. For someone to be able to sense it and also hurry over in such a short period of time…that was no ordinary feat. The black robed man laughed. “I am Northmont Skyfall! And you, fellow Daoist?” The red robed man, hearing this, was shocked. Northmont? Throughout the Stillwater Commandery, this surname was known to represent the most exalted force present; the Marquis of Stillwater! The Marquis of Stillwater was of the Northmont clan! Ever since the time when the Grand Xia Dynasty unified the world and bequeathed marquisdoms, the Northmont clan and the Marquis of Stillwater had been in control of this region. Their roots were extremely deep, far more so than any of the other forces present in Stillwater Commandery. The only organization capable of competing for supremacy in this region was the Raindragon Guard, which represented the Grand Xia Dynasty itself! A look of delight was on the red robed man’s face as he said hurriedly, “So it is Immortal Laxiao! I was wondering who within the Stillwater Commandery could instantly notice this elemental Anomaly, and had guessed that only the Northmont clan of Stillwater was capable of this! I didn’t expect that the famous, world-renowned Immortal Skyfall had come in person. Compared to you, Immortal Skyfall, I’m just a junior. I imagine that you, Immortal Skyfall, have never even heard of my name. However, I did have a nickname in the past; Daoist Firedragon. Immortal Skyfall, have you heard of me?” This Immortal Skyfall who stood before him was a Loose Immortal who had lived for tens of thousands of years. The longer Loose Immortals lived, the more terrifying they became. Although he was confident in being able to stay alive if Immortal Skyfall attacked, he knew that in terms of power, as a new Earth Immortal, he was probably a level weaker in strength. “Daoist Firedragon?” Immortal Skyfall was briefly startled. He truly hadn’t heard of this figure before. He immediately said, “I truly haven’t heard of you. I imagine that prior to this, fellow Daoist, you weren’t present in the Stillwater Commandery region.” “When I was a Wanxiang Adept, I went to the East Sea.” The red robed man immediately said. “While adventuring in the East Sea, I suddenly broke through to the Primal stage, and acquired the nickname of 589 Daoist Firedragon. Because I was in the distant, remote East Sea…it isn’t strange that you have never heard of me, Immortal Skyfall. A hundred years ago, I returned once more to this region. Perhaps because I felt very moved upon returning to my ancient homeland, I had a sudden feeling and thus immediately found a place to start training. I sealed myself into a training cave for a hundred years, and today, I just made my breakthrough. Immortal Skyfall nodded. “So that’s how it is. Daoist Firedragon, might I ask where your homeland was?” “I myself am from Stillwater Commandery.” Daoist Firedragon said. “Unfortunately, my clan was eliminated long ago. I won’t lie to you, Immortal Skyfall; the purpose of this return of mine was to seek out my clansmen and rebuild my clan, and also to avenge my clan and execute this blood feud.” “Hahaha…” Immortal Skyfall laughed clearly. “So Daoist Firedragon, you are of my Stillwater Commandery? My Stillwater Commandery now has yet another Immortal. I truly am overjoyed! It is karmic which brings the two of us together, Daoist Firedragon. As for your matters, you can consider them to be the matters of the Marquis Palace of Stillwater. There’s no need for us to continue speaking here. Come, let’s go to Stillwater City. My clan’s Lord Marquis will definitely receive you, fellow Daoist, with the greatest of ceremony.” “Then I’ll obey your request rather than standing on ceremony.” Daoist Firedragon laughed as well. An Immortal was someone worthy of befriending. Immortal Firedragon was in no rush to join a side right now. He had to see what sort of offers would be made to him, after all. He knew very well that in the end, this boundless world belonged to the Grand Xia Dynasty. If he wanted to rise and to make his clan grow and prosper, it was best if he either joined with the forces of the Grand Xia Dynasty, or if he joined with the forces of the various Marquises, who had deep roots in their respective areas. “Let’s go.” Immortal Skyfall stretched his hand out, taking Immortal Firedragon’s. Whoosh! They disappeared from mid-air. …………. The City of Ten Thousand Swords was the base and foundation of the Ji clan. Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow both lived within this city. What’s more, that elemental Anomaly originated from just a thousand or so kilometers from the city; given their speed, the two of them naturally soon arrived at the desolate mountain forest. “It should be right here.” Ninefire and Granny Shadow, along with an old servant, were currently standing atop a large magic calabash gourd. Ninefire was staring down at the desolate mountain forest. He said, “But why is it that it seems as though this mountain wilderness is very calm. There’s nothing special here.” “I can’t see anything either.” Granny Shadow and the old servant were watching as well. “Elder Brother.” Granny Shadow said in her hoarse voice. “I’ll go down and take a look. Ah Xing, you stay here as well.” “Mistress, let me go.” The old servant let out a hoarse whisper, and then transformed into a ray of light, descending towards the desolate mountain forest below. Granny Shadow was frantic. “Ah Xing!” “Wait.” Ninefire looked at Granny Shadow. “This old servant of yours truly is devoted to you.” The earlier, violent ripples of elemental energy clearly involved a major affair. The first person to investigate thus would be taking on great risk. Ninefire, as the Patriarch of the Ji clan, was the true pillar of the clan and thus couldn’t be risked. This was why Granny Shadow was about to go down, but the old servant went down first. “In the entire world, Ah Xing is the most loyal person to me.” Granny Shadow said gently. Moments later… A blur from below rose into the skies, landing atop the flying gourd. It was that old servant with unbound hair and dressed in beast furs. Ninefire immediately asked, “How is it?” “There is a large amount of elemental ore below.” The old servant said in a low voice. “A large amount of elemental ore?” Ninefire frowned. “How much?” Elemental ore contained gems which possessed elemental energy. However, the amount of elemental energy which people were able to absorb each day was limited, generally speaking. At a certain point in time, it would be impossible to absorb any more. Ordinary elemental gems were thus used to set up formations, or they might be useful in creating golems. But training? They weren’t very useful. But of course, some rare natural treasures existed that didn’t place much of a strain on the body, but which when ingested could provide power comparable to ten or even a hundred years of training. In addition, amongst elemental stones, there were high quality ones which had special effects. The elemental energy within high class elemental stones was very pure; when absorbing the energy within them, the body wasn’t placed under much strain, and thus by using them, in a single day, one would be able to make gains comparable to ten days of normal training. However, the rate of consumption of stones for training in such a way was significant as well! It wasn’t so bad if one only occasionally used a 591 piece or two of high class elemental stones, but if an Immortal practitioner wanted to use them for long term training, one would have to buy thousands or more. This wasn’t something which the Ji clan was capable of affording. “Very many. Very many.” The old servant said solemnly. “It should be an elemental ore mine. In addition, my superficial scan turned up high quality elemental stones already.” “What? An elemental ore mine? With high class elemental stones?” Ninefire was instantly stunned. An elemental ore mine? Generally speaking, certain special environments would produce elemental ore mines. But of course, one was also capable of intentionally forming an elemental ore mine. For the sake of making his breakthrough, Immortal Firedragon had to have enough elemental energy present for him to use. Thus, he was willing to pay a high price to set up a grand formation which drew in the surrounding elemental energy. Day after day, month after month, an elemental ore mine was formed. “Elemental ore mine?” Granny Shadow revealed a look of excitement as well. “Our Ji clan is about to suddenly rise to prominence?!” “Let’s go take a look first.” Ninefire suppressed his excitement. He immediately collected his magic gourd, and the three of them descended at high speed into the desolate mountain forest, diving into the ground to investigate. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The sky slowly grew brighter. Ji Ning and his father, Ji Yichuan, were currently moving at top speed, moving towards the origin of those elemental ripples. “Eh? I have never competed against Father in speed before. Father is actually this fast?” Ning was extremely surprised. His divine body was comparable to that of early-stage Zifu-level Fiendgod practitioners. Given that he also had the Windwing Evasion technique, one could imagine how fast he was. Even when he didn’t use his wing-type magic treasure, he was still very fast…but his father, Ji Yichuan, was able to move at the same pace as him. “Father, your footwork technique…? Can it be that you have established your Violet Palace?” Ning use his ki to ask mentally while hurrying forward. He didn’t realize that when the disaster had occurred, aside from the injuries suffered by the Yuchi siblings, his own father, Yichuan, had been heavily wounded as well. “No need to ask.” Yichuan clearly didn’t want to discuss it. “This speed is already my maximum.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. If he were to use his wing-type magic treasures, he would still be able to increase his speed by quite a bit, but there was no need. Swoosh! Swoosh! The two moved forward like blurs of smoke. Moving at such an astonishing speed, this distance of thousands of kilometers was traversed in just a single hour! Their speed was completely at that of the Zifu Disciple level. “It should be in this region.” Ning came to a halt, standing atop the crown of a large, ancient tree. He stared towards a mountain forest. “The ripple originated from no more than three hundred kilometers away.” “Should be.” Yichuan nodded as well. “Let’s take a close look.” The two looked about carefully as they ran forward atop the trees. Soon, Yichuan jumped directly down into the ground, emerging shortly afterwards. “Ning, come over here.” Ning immediately leapt down, moving like a ray of light to the grassy area where Yichuan was currently standing. Ning hurriedly asked, “What is it?” 593 “There are elemental stones underground.” Yichuan said solemnly. “And this should be an extremely rich elemental ore mine. I’ve even noticed high quality elemental stones.” “High quality elemental stones?” Ning was shocked as well. “The area under the control of my Ji clan actually has high quality elemental stones?” “This vein of elemental stones is extremely rich, and there are very few other ores mixed in. Still, because these are elemental stones…there’s no way to traverse through them using ground-tunneling arts.” Yichuan said. “Just by using ground-tunneling arts, I was only able to burrow to a depth of a hundred and fifty meters, which is where the elemental ore mine begins. Further down…is an extremely rich vein of elemental ore.” Ning nodded. Ground-tunneling techniques allowed one to pass through ordinary dirt and rocks, but some special materials were completely impassable. Elemental stones, for example, were impassable. “Swish!” From afar, a hundred kilometers away, a golden light suddenly rose into the skies, emitting an earpiercing sound. Ning and Yichuan both turned to look. “The golden arrow of the Ji clan!” Ning and Yichuan, upon seeing it, immediately used their movement techniques to hurry forward. They traversed a kilometer with every single movement. This golden arrow of the Ji clan was used as a summons, calling all of the men of the Ji clan in the surrounding area who saw it to hurry forward to its location. …….. Ning and Yichuan saw from far away that more than ten people were present, amongst them the grayrobed Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow. The others belonged to the Central Prefecture of the Ji clan; after all, this place was closest to the Central Prefecture City, the City of Ten Thousand Swords. These people turned to look and recognized this father-son duo. “Yichuan, the two of you, father and son, really are fast.” Ninefire said. “We hurried over from the City of Ten Thousand Swords, but we just arrived. You two, father and son, are located at the border regions of West Prefecture City, but you arrived as well.” “Formidable.” These Xiantian experts all said in praise. “You came quite quickly.” A laugh rang out. A ray of light descended at high speed, then walked over. It was a middle-aged man dressed in beast furs. “Truekeep, you came as well.” Ninefire smiled and nodded. Ning saw this middle-aged figure come over. This man was named ‘Ji Truekeep’, and he was the number one figure of the Ji clan of the Northern Prefecture, on par with Ning’s father. For him to be able to hurry over from North Prefecture City so quickly…it seemed that Ji Truekeep should be a Zifu Disciple as well. “On the surface, my Ji clan only has Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow, two Zifu Disciples.” Ning said to himself. “However, a clan must have heirs and members amongst the younger generation who have reached the Zifu Disciple level. Now, it seems as though this Ji Truekeep truly is a Zifu Disciple. My father, given the earlier movement abilities he displayed, should also be a Zifu Disciple!” Yichuan and Truekeep glanced at each other, nodding. Yichuan spoke out, “Patriarch, why have you summoned us?” “I imagine that you have discovered as well,” Ninefire said solemnly, “That underground, there is an elemental ore mine. A very rich vein of elemental ore.” “Right.” All of the clansmen nodded, their eyes filled with excitement. Based on the rules of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the land within ten thousand kilometers of a commandery city belonged to the master of that commandery city! As for any territories under dispute outside of that area, the ownership of those regions depended on who had the strongest fist. This elemental ore mine was extremely close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. According to the rules set by the Grand Xia Dynasty…without question, it belonged to the Ji clan! “Not only is this vein very rich, it is also very large.” Ninefire looked towards the surrounding area. “We will now carry out a detailed analysis and mapping of this elemental ore mine. I will fly towards the southeast. Truekeep, you fly towards the north. Shadow, you fly towards the southwest. As for everyone else, carefully investigate how deep this mine is and the quality of the ore within it. No matter what the results are, within four hours, we’ll regroup here.” “Yes.” All of them assented. Soon, three rays of light flew towards three different directions, while Ning, Yichuan, and the others burrowed into the ground. Because there was no way to use ground-tunneling arts through elemental ore, the only option they had to was to slowly dig through. “Let’s go.” Ning’s body became surrounded by the petals of his Waterflame Lotus, which slowly swiveled about him, easily digging into the ground below. This allowed Ning to easily move deeper into the ground, step by step. As soon as he went downwards, the earth and mud above him collapsed. But Ning just ignored it, continuing to move downwards…and he soon ran into the surface layer of the elemental ore mine. Large amounts of elemental ore were connected to each other like ugly rocks. These were all low-quality elemental stones, and just by looking at them, one wouldn’t be able to see much of a difference between them and ordinary rocks. The only difference was that they emanated quite a bit of an elemental aura. Crackle… The Waterflame Lotus easily dug downwards, and Ning continued to move down at an astonishing rate. “So deep.” Ning could sense that he had already tunneled downwards for a hundred kilometers, but he was still surrounded by a large amount of elemental stones. “The hundred kilometers above me is filled with elemental stones. How deep is this elemental ore mine? And the top of the elemental ore mine was only a few dozen meters from the surface of the ground. How is it that nobody has discovered this mine, in all this time?” What Ning didn’t understand was that before Immortal Firedragon had set up a grand formation, who could have possibly found it? “Swoosh.” He finally encountered ordinary mud yet again. “Three hundred kilometers deep.” Ning was stunned. “Ore mines are generally spread out horizontally. If even the vertical depth is so great, how wide must the mine be?” Swoosh! Following this, Ning immediately began moving upwards at high speed. A long time later… He finally emerged once more, appearing on the surface of the ground. He quickly returned to the gathering spot, where Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant, and Truekeep were already present. “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked towards Ning, his eyes lighting up. “You’ve already completed your investigations?” “Right.” Ning nodded. He glanced around. Traveling three hundred kilometers into the ground was far more difficult than flying thousands of kilometers in the air. Fortunately, he had been able to rely on his Waterflame Lotus, which borrowed the elemental power of the world, to move so easily. The others had to exhaust their ki in order to slowly dig. “How deep is it?” Ninefire and the others all looked towards Ning. “Three hundred kilometers.” Ning said. The faces of Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Truekeep changed. They couldn’t be bothered to feel amazed at how Ning had, in a single short hour, made a round trip underground of more than three hundred kilometers. This was because they were already beginning to grow panicked. “What’s wrong?” Ning hurriedly asked. “This elemental ore mine…” Ninefire said solemnly. “We’ve finished our investigations as well. It has a circumference of at least four thousand kilometers! If it has a depth of three hundred kilometers…then this truly is an enormous large-scale elemental ore mine. To our Ji clan, such an enormous elemental ore mine isn’t a blessing; it is a calamity!” A grand calamity! Ning instantly understood. A stomach of a certain size could only hold a certain amount of food; if you filled it with too much, you could die from overstuffing. “This is a rich vein, and an enormous one.” Ninefire said solemnly. “Once we begin to excavate it, the value of the ore within will definitely be countless times greater than the total assets of the Ji clan. Tell me, how can our Ji clan handle it?” This mine… This mine had been formed after the peak Primal Daoist, ‘Daoist Firedragon’, had paid an enormous price in order to set up a large formation to collect elemental energy, so as to help himself break through. This mine had been forming for one hundred years. If it was completely mined out, the value of it would be comparable to half the assets of an ordinary Primal Daoist. Because Daoist Firedragon had broken through to the Earth Immortal level, his horizons had been expanded and he no longer cared as much. In addition, mining the elemental ore would simply be too difficult; even a Primal Daoist probably would be too lazy to go through the mining. Only, the likes of Wanxiang Adepts would go wild with excitement for something like this. “Then what should we do?” Granny Shadow immediately asked. “I’m not afraid of others. I’m only afraid of Snowdragon Mountain!” Ninefire’s face was filled with worry. “The Snowdragon Mountain of the Swallow Mountain area is just a branch clan. Behind it…is the true Snowdragon Mountain Sect! A major sect which has Primal Daoists standing guard over it. And, based on my calculations and the passage of time, the Zifu Disciples of the branch sect of Snowdragon Mountain should have already arrived in the nearby area!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Everything happened just as Ji Ninefire predicted. A thousand kilometers away from them… There was a screen hovering in mid-air, and atop that screen, there were four figures, staring down below. Suddenly, a ray of light rose into the skies. It was a large, armored, muscular man who was standing atop a greatsword. This muscular man had a hint of a blue light glowing from his skin, and standing there in midair atop that greatsword, he looked like a Fiendgod. “My fellow disciples.” The muscular man had a look of delight on his face. “I’ve finished my investigations. There is a large amount of elemental ore underground, with high quality elemental stones within the deposit. This is a very rich vein of elemental ore.” “Oh?” A long-haired man who wore a black robe and had eight bloody trigrams in front and behind him nodded, then laughed. “Junior apprentice-brother Ju San, thank you for your hard work. Who would have expected that an elemental ore mine such as this would have been hidden within the territory of the Ji clan? Right. Junior apprentice-brother Ju San, have you found any traces of mining?” The muscular man shook his head. The black robed man nodded in satisfaction. “The Ji clan has never sold elemental stones to outsiders. It seems that prior to this, they hadn’t discovered this vein either. My fellow disciples, I’d like to trouble you to go in each direction and investigate carefully exactly how large this vein is, while I will investigate how deep it is. After finishing our investigations, we’ll gather here again.” “Yes, elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Three men and women, including the muscular man, acknowledged, then each flew away on their own flying-type magic treasures, transforming into rays of light that flew towards four different directions to investigate. The black robed man collected his flying screen while rushing towards the ground, smashing through it and burrowing deep. ……. A long time later. The three men and one woman who had left earlier had already returned, flying on their magic treasures. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi still hasn’t finished exploring?” A green-haired man said in surprise. “It seems this mine really is quite deep.” 598 “Based on just what we’ve learned, this elemental ore mine has to have a circumference of four thousand kilometers.” A nearby woman whose hair was also emanating a green light said solemnly. “If it’s deep as well…then this mine is going to be an astonishing one.” Right after she finished speaking. Swoosh! From below, a ray of light surged towards the heavens, then came to a halt. It was their black-robed elder apprentice-brother, Ziqi. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The three men and woman bowed respectfully. Actually, all five of them were Zifu Disciples and of the same generation. Logically speaking, there was no need for them to act like this. But this Ziqi’s power was definitely far above theirs. “What an elemental ore mine. It is at least three hundred kilometers deep.” The black-robed man sighed in surprise. “Three hundred kilometers?” “That deep?” “The four of us have found that this mine has a circumference of four thousand kilometers. For it to also have such an astonishing depth…this elemental ore mine is simply too…” The three men and one woman were all in a state of shock. Some mines were fairly shallow, and it made sense for a mine of a circumference of thousands of kilometers to just a few kilometers deep. But this one was three hundred kilometers deep! The black-robed man shouted, “This elemental ore mine belongs to Snowdragon Mountain!” “Right, it belongs to our Snowdragon Mountain!” “We’ve rendered a major merit. The main sect will definitely reward us heavily.” “Our chance has come!” The five of them were all incomparably excited. They were easily able to tell the general size and scale of this elemental ore mine and knew the value of it. The value was inconceivably high! Most likely, even those Primal Daoists that stood at the very pinnacle of power in Snowdragon Mountain would care deeply about this place. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The green-haired woman frowned. “This place is very close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. According to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this place should be considered as belonging to the Ji clan.” 599 “What the hell is the Ji clan?” Ziqi snorted coldly. “Dare they intervene in Snowdragon Mountain’s mine?” The nearby green-haired man nodded. “No need to worry about the Ji clan. Snowdragon Mountain is definitely taking over this elemental ore mine! But no matter what, we can’t be too incautious. According to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this place is the territory of the City of Ten Thousand Swords, which means this mine belongs to the Ji clan. Our Snowdragon Mountain cannot openly violate the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty!” “Right.” Dong Ziqi nodded lightly. True. Even if they had to skirt the laws, they definitely couldn’t openly challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty! Even the Marquis Palace of Stillwater Commandery, which was almost as ancient as the Grand Xia Dynasty itself, wouldn’t dare to challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty! “Right now, I’m only afraid of one thing.” The green-haired man frowned. “If the Ji clan were to send someone to ally with the army of the Grand Xia Dynasty and sign a contract giving this site up to the Grand Xia Dynasty…! If they were to directly sign over this mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty, then there would be nothing that we can do!” “Apprentice-brother Hefang speaks reason.” A cold-faced, gray-robed man nodded. “We have to be careful.” “We do have to be careful.” The muscular man said frantically, “The Ji clan definitely will realize that they aren’t strong enough to hold this mine. If they give up the mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty, then the Ji clan will at least gain thirty percent of it! This would also result in them having the Grand Xia Dynasty supporting them. We wouldn’t be able to do anything.” “Sign an agreement?” Dong Ziqi’s eyes were dark and gloomy. “It’s not that easy to do!” The other four looked towards Dong Ziqi. “The garrison of the Grand Xia Dynasty in the Swallow Mountain region are in Swallow Mountain City.” Dong Ziqi said. “The general of that garrison is a good friend of mine.” “But elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, as soon as the Ji clan makes a report and offers to transfer the mine…a mere general wouldn’t dare to suppress the news. If he forcibly suppresses the report of something as major as this, and is later discovered to have done so, then the general will definitely have his soul shattered and dispersed in punishment.” The green-haired man said, concerned. Ziqi said, “I know that. He won’t dare to forcibly suppress the news, but at least he’ll be able to delay it!” 600 “Oh?” The other four looked at Ziqi as well. “You should know.” Dong Ziqi said. “The first part to signing an agreement of relinquishing a mine is the report to the higher ups! Afterwards, the higher ups will immediately send people to investigate the Ji clan’s territory. Only after they have verified that there is indeed such a mine within the Ji clan’s territory will they sign the contract.” The other four nodded. This was indeed the case. Once the report was made, someone would immediately be sent over. The efficiency would be very high. “As soon as the report is made, we won’t be able to act as we please.” Ziqi said, “What we can do is to have the garrison general at Swallow Mountain City delay as much as he can…and in addition, it will take time for the person sent by the Grand Xia Dynasty to make his way over. This will be enough time for us to seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords!” “Seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords?” The other four nodded gently. “As long as we take over the City of Ten Thousand Swords and acquire the official writ, then we will be the masters of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. In accordance with the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the mine will belong to us. Even if the Grand Xia Dynasty sends someone over…because the official writ has a new owner, there will be no way for the Ji clan to sign a contract.” Ziqi said. “Fine. We’ll take over the official writ!” “Once the official writ is in our hands, we will be the masters of the mine.” Cold light flashed in each of their eyes. Ziqi said in a low voice, “If the Ji clan dares to resist, then annihilate them!” “Right.” The other four nodded, not worried about the Ji clan at all. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, before this, when we were investigating the size of the mine, we discovered that the Ji clan’s forces were within a thousand kilometers.” The green-haired woman said. “Let’s go.” Ziqi said as he let out a cold snort. “Let’s go visit the Ji clan.” ……… Right at this moment, in the air above the elemental ore mine, quite a few Zifu Disciples were conducting investigations, including the Ironwood clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult…they were all local forces of Swallow Mountain. Only the forces of the Grand Xia Dynasty, stationed in Swallow Mountain City, were not present. “What a rich vein.” “Such an elemental ore mine…just looking at it is frightening.” ………….. The desolate mountain forests. The Ji clan’s forces were gathered there, deciding what to do. “Ji Ninefire!” Suddenly, a gloomy voice rang out. This voice caused the faces of quite a few clansmen of the Ji clan to change. Ning’s soul, being so powerful, wasn’t impacted much. He raised his head to look. He saw that high above them in mid-air, an enormous screen was descending towards them at high speed. Standing atop the screen were five men and women, all of them with extraordinary auras. The leader of the group was emanating a deathly cold aura. He was dressed in black, and the front and back of his robe were covered with eight bloody trigrams. “Dong Ziqi!” Ninefire’s face changed slightly. Ning looked carefully at the five on the screen, paying special attention to their leader, Dong Ziqi. “He is Dong Ziqi, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain?” Dong Ziqi’s fame was widespread, and he was quietly acknowledged to be the number one expert of the six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain region! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others had long ago come to view Ji Ning as the future pillar of the Ji clan! They naturally had long ago allowed Ning to view the intelligence reports the clan had regarding the various ancient monsters and Zifu Disciples of the various forces spread throughout Swallow Mountain. Ning knew very well…that this Dong Ziqi was a peak Zifu Disciple, one who had come from the main sect, whose abilities were far more powerful than those available to the local tribes of the Swallow Mountain Region. Dong Ziqi’s most powerful ability was the ‘Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation’! This was different from other great formations, which generally needed to be set up in advance. This ‘Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation’ was rather similar to the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]; one could activate it with a thought. Perhaps it wasn’t as high level and as formidable as the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], but this was a peak Zifu Disciple. When such a man used this formation, he probably would be able to fight a new Wanxiang Adept to a standstill. This wasn’t something which could be compared the likes of Bei Zishan, who had to rely on the Myriad Wraiths Banner. “It’s quite rare for us to be able to see you, fellow Daoist Dong.” Ninefire’s attitude was very humble. “Fellow Daoist Dong, might I ask why you have come?” “Ji Ninefire.” The five Zifu Disciples atop the banner landed on the ground. They swept the Ji clansmen with their gaze. Their eyes were filled with lofty arrogance; clearly, they held the Ji clan in no regard. This caused Ning and the others to feel a hint of rage in their hearts, but they understood…they had to suppress it. “The land which your Ji clan controls really is a blessed area. It actually has an elemental ore mine.” Ziqi’s cold, sinister eyes stared at Ninefire. “If it wasn’t for the elemental energy vibrations which emanated from here two days ago, we wouldn’t have had any idea. Hmph. I imagine that your Ji clan has secretly mined out quite a few elemental stones. You really are quite bold.” Looks of anger couldn’t help but appear in the eyes of the Ji clansmen, but Ninefire used his ki to bark at them mentally, “All of you, endure it!” “My Ji clan just discovered it as well.” Ninefire maintained a smiling face towards Ziqi. “Just discovered it?” Ziqi swept the Ji clansmen with his gaze. “Have you investigated the size and scale of this elemental mine?” “Not yet.” Ninefire shook his head. “All we know is that this is a rich vein of elemental ore.” 603 Ziqi said in a cold voice, “Since you don’t know, then I’ll tell you. Not only is this a rich vein, it stretches to a circumference of four thousand kilometers, and is three hundred kilometers deep as well! Your tiny little Ji clan is completely unable to try and swallow such an enormous elemental ore mine; if you tried, it would choke you to death!” “That’s fine.” Ninefire laughed. “In the end, my Ji clan can just offer this elemental ore mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty. By then, our Ji clan will obtain 30% of it, while the Grand Xia Dynasty will obtain 70%. In addition, our Ji clan will also receive the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, at which point we won’t fear anyone.” Ziqi’s pupils contracted. These locals! Although they didn’t come from any sects, and thus remained Zifu Disciples despite having trained for nearly four centuries, after having lived so long, these people had become incomparably crafty. Just now, he had been so arrogant, but Ninefire had remained all smiles. However, at the critical point in their negotiations, Ninefire had directly given voice to what Snowdragon Mountain feared the most. “Listen up!” Dong Ziqi’s voice was incomparably cold. “This elemental ore mine is being taken over by Snowdragon Mountain! Don’t threaten me. If you threaten me…the only result will be the destruction of the Ji clan!” Ninefire’s face changed. The others, such as Granny Shadow, were all both angry and agitated when they heard this. Ning felt a smoldering rage burn in his heart as well. Clearly, according to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this elemental ore mine belonged to the Ji clan! But Snowdragon Mountain’s people wanted to just take it from them, and in such a domineering manner? “Fellow Daoist Dong.” Ninefire suppressed his rage. Just now, he had just decided to bring out the strongest ‘threat’ he could must…so as to cause the opponents to feel nervous, and then engage in negotiations. He didn’t expect that these people didn’t want to negotiate at all; they acted with completely tyranny, wanting to take advantage of the Ji clan in their weakness! “This is Swallow Mountain.” Ninefire said solemnly. “The main Snowdragon Mountain Sect is millions of kilometers away, but once my Ji clan makes the report, in just a few days, the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty will arrive. By then, we will just directly sign a transfer agreement. Actually, our Ji clan doesn’t have that much ambition; the only thing we desire is to survive!” “Survive?” Ziqi laughed coldly. “At least you know your own limits!” 604 Ninefire said, “Snowdragon Mountain can arrange for people to mine this quarry. Our Ji clan definitely will not disturb you during the mining process. After you have completed your mining…all we ask is that you remove all of your forces from the Ji clan’s territory. As for the ore in this elemental ore mine, my Ji clan will not ask for a single stone of it! My Ji clan is willing to set up an Oath of Heavenly Law with your Snowdragon Mountain!” Oath of Heavenly Law… This was useless for ordinary mortals, but no one who had stepped onto the path of Immortal cultivation would dare to violate an Oath of Heavenly Law. “Oh?” Ziqi hesitated. “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The nearby muscular man sent mentally through his Ki. “These conditions aren’t bad. We don’t care about the territory the Ji clan controls anyhow. What really matters is that elemental ore mine. Since the Ji clan is willing to allow us to harvest all of the ore within the elemental ore mine…if they are willing to set up an Oath of Heavenly Law, then they won’t dare violate it.” “Idiot.” The green-haired woman to the side sent mentally as well. “This is just a delaying tactic of the Ji clan! The Ji clan is going to set up an Oath of Heavenly Law with ‘us’, but not with those of us here. Even if we fellow disciples swear to an Oath of Heavenly Law, the high level members of the main sect can still decide to just cast us aside and exterminate the Ji clan. They definitely want us to have a high-level member of the main sect to come here and swear the oath. But we would first need to send work back, and by the time the high-level member of the main sect comes…more than enough time will have passed for the Ji clan and the Grand Xia Dynasty to have signed an agreement.” “Younger apprentice-sister, your words have merit.” The gray-robed man sent mentally as well. Dong Ziqi nodded slightly. The Ji clansmen were still awaiting their response. “Your Ji clan wishes to swear an Oath of Heavenly Law with Snowdragon Mountain…might I ask, which member of Snowdragon Mountain do you wish to come swear the oath with you?” Ziqi looked at Ninefire. Ninefire laughed. “Any Wanxiang Adept is acceptable. The fate of our Ji clan rests on this agreement; naturally, we must be cautious. The weight of an oath of a Zifu Disciple of Snowdragon Mountain isn’t quite enough…and we don’t dare trust fully in it either. I imagine that you, fellow Daoist Dong, also understand that the oath of a Zifu Disciple doesn’t have much binding power over the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect.” Dong Ziqi narrowed his eyes. A single Zifu Disciple? The main sect could sacrifice one with but a word. But a Wanxiang Adept was different. The main sect only had a limited number of them, and when they swore an oath, it represented the main sect swearing an oath! If the main sect dared to sacrifice even a Wanxiang Adept, wouldn’t it cause the other Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples to have an icy feeling in their hearts? To cause the Wanxiang Adepts of the clan to all have lessened loyalty, for the sake of an elemental ore mine, wasn’t worth it. Thus, it was most appropriate for a Wanxiang Adept to come and swear the oath. “Ji Ninefire!” Ziqi said in a freezing voice. “You want a Wanxiang Adept to come and swear an Oath of Heavenly Law with you? They are high level members of my main sect, which is over a million kilometers away! After we send the message, it will take at least ten days or half a month for a Wanxiang Adept to come! Within ten day’s time, your Ji clan would most likely have secretly signed an agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty long ago!” “Then…” Ninefire hesitated. “As I see it, you had best hand over the official writ!” Ziqi shouted. “Hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords to us! Snowdragon Mountain will continue to permit you to live within the City of Ten Thousand Swords, and everything will remain unchanged for the Ji clan…after we have completely excavated the elemental ore mine, we will return the official writ to you!” Ninefire was frantic. “How can that be acceptable?” “No way.” Granny Shadow said angrily as well. “The official writ is the very foundation of the Ji clan.” Ning just watched. These people of Snowdragon Mountain…you gave them an inch, and they attempted to take a mile! They made it sound so nice and simple; they would return the official writ after finishing the excavation? What if they didn’t? In addition, the Ji clan had already made a huge concession in being willing to offer the entire mine to Snowdragon Mountain. How could it be that Snowdragon Mountain now desired to take away the official writ as well, and ‘give it back’ in the future? “Hmph.” Ning’s face was ugly to behold, and the same was true for the other members of the Ji clan. “Do you think that our Snowdragon Mountain clan will lie to a petty little clan like the Ji clan?” Ziqi shouted. “It seems as though Snowdragon Mountain has taken advantage of quite a few clans.” Ninefire was enraged as well. “Otherwise, why would a branch of Snowdragon Mountain have come to Swallow Mountain!” Ziqi’s face changed. Outrageous! Ninefire actually had become harder and more forceful! Zifi swept the Ji clansmen with his gaze, noticing that youngest, solitary figure, the fur-clad youth. He immediately sent through his Ki, “Junior apprenticebrother Muse, the Ji clan only has a few Zifu Disciples. The one with the most potential is this Ji Ning; he is the one who, according to the stories, killed Zishan.” “Ji Ning.” The gray-robed man noticed the fur-clad youth in front of them as well. That battle he had with Bei Zishan that year… Ning’s reputation had been spread throughout the various forces of Swallow Mountain long ago. After all, at that time, quite a few Xiantian lifeforms of the various clans had all been sent back to their own clans, causing them to become aware of how terrifying Ji Ning was, and that Ji Ning should be a Zifu Disciple! A Zifu Disciple at age eleven or twelve…how terrifying would he be in the future? The various powers had taken notice of Ning long ago, and the intelligence reports regarding Ning were thus incomparably detailed. Everything which had happened to him since he was young, as well as his appearance and his habits…they had all been collected and compiled. Dong Ziqi didn’t care about anyone else in the entire Ji clan; the only one he cared about was this Ji Ning! He didn’t fear the current Ji Ning; what he feared was the future Ji Ning! Given Ji Ning’s talent…in the future, it probably wouldn’t be too hard for him to become a Wanxiang Adept. “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, the member of the Ji clan with the most potential and who poses the greatest threat is this Ji Ning. The entire Ji clan treats him as their treasure.” Ziqi sent mentally. “He is still fairly young, however, and at present, he shouldn’t be too powerful. Zishan, that fool…aside from being able to forge that Myriad Wraiths Banner, which was fairly powerful, his own level of ability wasn’t that great. In addition, the results of that battle probably had something to do with that Wanxiang Adept. Ji Ning’s own level of power is most likely not that great.” “Junior apprentice-brother, make a sudden attack and capture Ji Ning! By then, with Ji Ning in our hands, do you think the Ji clan will dare to disobey the orders of our Snowdragon Mountain?” Ziqi sent mentally. “Even in the extremely unlikely circumstance that they don’t care about Ji Ning’s life, we will then simply kill Ji Ning. Without him, the Ji clan won’t pose a threat to us at all in the future.” “Right.” The gray-robed man nodded. Ning was indeed a threat to them. Nobody feared Ning right now, but they feared the future Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, if you suddenly use your magic technique to attack, even I will have some trouble fending it off. You shouldn’t have any problems in subduing Ji Ning.” Ziqi sent mentally. Although his power was greater than that of Muse’s, he had to first activate his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. By the time he did so, the Ji clan would probably be at maximum vigilance. Thus, they had to make a sudden attack, and succeed in an instant! For this, Muse was the best choice. “Leave it to me. I made a breakthrough in this technique of mine not long ago.” Muse sent back mentally with great confidence. “Then we’ll just wait for you. Once you take down Ji Ning…we will have the upper hand.” Ziqi said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. At a single glance, Dong Ziqi saw clearly the Ji clan’s weakness. His thoughts were completely correct; Ji Ning was indeed the future pillar of the Ji clan! In this group of Ji clan experts…even if Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow had to die, they wouldn’t let Ning die! “Ninefire, I urge you to obediently hand over the official writ.” Ziqi frowned as he shouted. “My Ji clan is indeed weak and small, which is why we are willing to offer this elemental ore mine to you without requesting any part of it. But for you to try and forcibly take over our official writ…you are perhaps going too far! The official writ is the foundation of the Ji clan. How can my Ji clan…” Ninefire’s face changed halfway through his words, and he couldn’t help but lower his head to look at the ground. The ground was trembling slightly. Dong Ziqi’s group of five stood in the distance, and in their midst, the gray-robed man’s eyes flashed. The ki in his body had long ago entered the ground. By the time the Ji clan’s Zifu Disciples sensed it, the technique had already been executed! “BOOM!” Strands of green, wooden vines emerged suddenly from the ground, all of them flailing about wildly, covered with a layer of deep green light. The thin, slender strands of vines twined about each other like a tough cord rope. They suddenly emerged from the ground beneath Ning’s feet, instantly wrapping themselves around Ning! Fast! Completely caught off-guard! “What!” The faces of Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others changed. In the blink of an eye, Ji Ning, who had been standing next to them just moments ago, had been wildly entangled by those countless rattan vines. “Quick, save Ji Ning!” Granny Shadow shouted. “Too late!” Dong Ziqi, standing in the distance, just laughed loudly as he spoke. Bang! The countless vines wrapped around Ning whipped out violently, throwing him towards the ground. With a rumble, an enormous crevice appeared within the ground, with Ning and those vines already burrowed deep within the ground. “Snowdragon Mountain, you actually…” Ninefire’s face was savage. “Release my son.” Ji Yichuan was frantic as well. Every member of the Ji clan wanted to save Ning, but the sudden emergence of those vines, which had wrapped around Ning and then thrown him underground, caused them to not know what they should do to save him. “Hahaha…” Dong Ziqi just laughed wildly as he turned to look at the gray-robed man. “Junior apprenticebrother Muse, bring Ji Ning over here…” Dong Ziqi’s face suddenly changed, because he saw that his fellow disciple’s forehead was matted with sweat. Clearly, he was already going all out in this struggle. “That Ji Ning is currently breaking through my technique…” The gray-robed man’s eyes had turned red, and he was pouring all of his ki into the technique. ……. Underground. A seed had grown into thousands of wooden green tendrils, which were now heavily entangling themselves around Ning. Within the entangling clutches of the vines, a Waterflame Lotus was surrounding Ning, constantly swiveling around him and frantically resisting these tendrils, unceasingly killing them one by one while the dead vines were unceasingly being reborn. “Immortal practitioners truly have many techniques at their disposal. This technique wasn’t included in our intelligence reports. I wonder which branch member of Snowdragon Mountain used it.” Ning had suddenly suffered an attack, and this attack was too fast, giving him no time to break through before he had been thrown underground. Due to the constriction of the tendrils, the amount of space Ning had to move in was too limited, giving him no chance to use the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] at all. Thus, the first thing Ning had done was to execute the Waterflame Lotus. “Swivel, swivel…” The Waterflame Lotus slowly swiveled, grinding those thin vines that wanted to entangle Ning into dust. Nearly five years had passed since that battle with Bei Zishan, and during these five years, Ning’s improvements with regards to his understanding of the Dao had only grown greater and greater. If early on, the insight he had gained with regards to the Dao was just a thread, over the course of time, he had gained more threads of the True Meaning of the Dao. These many thin threads…had drawn close to each other, naturally resulting in a thicker thread. Ning’s time spent at Serpentwing Lake in particular, where he was virtually always in tune with the world…had resulted in him reaching a very high level of understanding. Actually, this was something which could only be accomplished by an Immortal practitioner who had reached a very high level of understanding. When one could always be in tune with nature and always be able to go attune with the Dao, it was only natural that one would gain many insights into the True Meaning of the Dao. His level of understanding had risen. Thus, the power his Waterflame Lotus now had was naturally much greater than before. That murderous grinding power alone would most likely instantly grind even peak Xiantian experts into tiny pieces in but an instant. “Darknorth sword.” Within the Waterflame Lotus, Ning drew forth a Darknorth sword. “Longing! Rain Line!” Ning murmured softly to himself. Each time he used this technique, he couldn’t help but think of his mother. This technique was one which he had developed thanks to the boundless longing he felt for his mother! It was the longing each drop of rain held for each other drop which allowed them to form a line of rain…the insights Ning had gained over the past five years into the Dao had resulted in him developing many techniques, but this was the most powerful of them all. This technique contained within it a boundless, powerful longing. It was born from the [Raindrop Sutra], but it had left the Raindrop Sutra far behind. “Swish….” Ning simultaneously struck out with two Darknorth swords at the same time, piercing past the Waterflame Lotus, which seemed to be like a shadow, not obstructing Ning’s swords in the slightest. Ning’s swords seemed to be like the caress of a mother, carrying boundless longing within them…as they summoned a large amount of natural power which directly coalesced atop the two swords. Anyone seeing this technique would unconsciously feel a sour feeling in their hearts, sense a powerful, endless yearning. “Crackle…” Many vines were instantly shattered. Although they were very tough, they were still chopped apart. In the face of Ning’s most powerful close-combat sword technique, the technique of Zifu Disciple Muse was unable to contain Ning. Actually, the first reason for this was that Ning’s swordplay had already far outstripped that of most Zifu Disciples. Most likely, even many Wanxiang Adepts wouldn’t be on par with him in this regard. The second reason was that Ning’s Fiendgod body was simply too powerful, comparable to an early-stage Fiendgod Zifu Disciple. His strength was so mighty, and his swordplay was so formidable; how hard must it be for a technique to contain him! Sword light flashed and danced, shattering a large number of frantically twisting vines. Ning followed his sword light and rose into the sky, breaking through the earth and arriving on the surface of the ground. ……… “Bang!” Just as the Ji clansmen were worriedly looking at the ground, into the hole from whence the rattan vines had disappeared, suddenly, hundreds of meters away, the ground suddenly exploded as a ray of sword light soared into the sky. A fur-clad youth, wielding a pair of swords, his body surrounded by a Fire-water Lotus, suddenly drifted up, then landed on the ground. “How is that possible!” Dong Ziqi’s face changed dramatically. Others might not understand this technique of his junior apprentice-brother’s, but he understood it very well. A sudden attack from this technique…it would be very difficult for someone to break through it. Even if one succeeded, it would only come at great effort. “That Ji Ning broke through?” The muscular man behind Ziqi stared as he growled, “How is that possible. I’m a Fiendgod practitioner, but even I wouldn’t be able to break through if senior apprentice-brother Muse captured me.” Junior apprentice Ju San was the newest Zifu Disciple of the five, who had only recently established his Violet Palace. He was just an early Zifu Disciple, but he was a Fiendgod practitioner! As an early Fiendgod practitioner…his battle strength was also amazing. It didn’t matter if others injured him, but if he landed a hit on someone else, that person would die! This was the advantage which Fiendgod practitioners had; if he trained to become a late stage Fiendgod Zifu Disciple, even Dong Ziqi would address him as ‘senior apprentice-brother’. “He broke through?” “How old is he?” “Senior apprentice-brother Muse’s ‘Myriad Ancient Green Vines’ technique…was broken, just like that?” That green-haired male-female pair stared as well, their faces filled with disbelief. In their group, Muse’s status was second only to Ziqi, precisely because of how powerful he was! In particular, his ambushing abilities with the ‘Myriad Ancient Green Vines’ had caused the other fellow disciples to feel endless admiration for him. The restricting power of those green vines was indeed 612 tremendous. How physically strong was a Fiendgod Zifu Disciple? And yet, even such a person was unable to break through. But the person who had broken through it…was only sixteen years old! No matter how monstrous of a genius he was, it was too… But how could they know that Ning’s physical strength was comparable to their junior apprenticebrother Ju San to begin with. In terms of his level of attainment in the sword, he vastly outstripped Ju San by many levels! ……. “Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning.” Ji Ninefire, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the other members of the Ji clan all stared at Ning with surprise and delight. At the same time, they felt unbearably pleased at the looks of shock and amazement on the faces of the five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain! Simultaneously, the Ji clansmen couldn’t help but feel stunned at Ning’s power. Ninefire’s eyes actually narrowed as he sighed in his heart that he felt he was growing more and more mystified by this kid. The Waterflame Lotus surrounding Ning vanished, and he walked over. “Ji Ning!” A hoarse voice rang out. Ning turned to look. From afar, there was a gray-robed man with an ashen, pallid face who stood by Dong Ziqi’s side. The man was staring fixedly at Ning. “You…what’s the name of that sword technique of yours?” “Longing.” Ning said softly. “Rain Line!” “Rain Line?” The gray-robed man stared wide-eyed in disbelief. “The power of the Rain Line technique of your Ji clan’s [Raindrop Sutra] is this great?” He was quite familiar with the nine sword stances of the [Raindrop Sutra].” “There are quite a few things that you don’t know.” Ning snorted coldly, no longer explaining. This sword technique was birthed from the Raindrop Sutra, but it was no longer the same as the Rain Line technique of the past. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Rain Line?” Dong Ziqi murmured softly as well. The four Zifu Disciples behind him were still in a state of shock. “This Ji Ning is even more powerful than anticipated.” Ziqi pondered. “He’s only sixteen years old, but even junior apprentice-brother Muse is unable to take him down! Most likely, only I will be capable of killing him.” If he were to personally attack, he would have to use his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Once the formation appeared, then the two sides would fight to the death, and there would be no chance to salvage the situation. Dong Ziqi was very self-confident, but he also understood that the Ji clan’s power wasn’t weak either. If they were really to fight against each other, his side would lose one or two of their five Zifu Disciples. If he could let the other side retreat in the face of encroaching difficulties, that would be for the best. “Ji Ning, formidable.” “Well done.” The Ji clansmen all looked towards Ning. “Are you alright?” Ji Yichuan looked at his son. Seeing that his son was unwounded, he relaxed. “Dong Ziqi!” Granny Shadow said in a fierce voice. “What was the meaning of this? You suddenly attacked a member of our Ji clan! All of us are present, and yet you still dare to behave so rashly.” “Your Snowdragon Mountain clansmen are too wild and unbridled.” The Ji clansmen were all very angry, but they still forced themselves not to attack. The opponents, after all, belonged to Snowdragon Mountain. “Hahaha…” Dong Ziqi just laughed. “Sudden attack? That’s a nasty way to put it. My junior apprenticebrother simply heard long ago that your Ji clan produced a genius with exceptional talents, and that even junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan of our Snowdragon Mountain died in his hands. Today, when we saw this genius, he couldn’t help but feel his hands itch and want to have a little spar. What, can it be that a Zifu Disciple of our Snowdragon Mountain is forbidden from sparring with a member of your Ji clan?” “You call that a spar?” Granny Shadow said in a fierce, hoarse voice. “Naturally.” Ziqi said. “And now, it seems that this genius of your Ji clan is indeed formidable. He was able to break through the technique of my junior apprentice-brother. Admirable, admirable.” 614 “You…” Granny Shadow felt a fiery rage build in her belly. She had lived for nearly four centuries, but had never been angered like this before. If she didn’t have other things holding her back, she would’ve attacked long ago, but for the sake of the rest of the Ji clan, she had to endure it. A savage look flashed past Ziqi’s eyes, and he snorted coldly. “Forget about sparring; even if we really killed that Ji Ning, what would your Ji clan do about it?” Dong Ziqi’s cold, sinister eyes swept past this group of Ji clansmen, and a disdainful smile was playing at the corner of his lips, causing the Ji clansmen to feel all the more enraged. Swollen with arrogance! What Ziqi was doing was being swollen with arrogance, with the intention of completely suppressing the Ji clansmen! “Patriarch.” Truekeep was truly enraged now, and he shouted, “Our Ji clan cannot let ourselves be so easily abused as this. I’d rather live and stand fighting rather than die kneeling. Our Ji clan has made one concession after another, but Snowdragon Mountain just continues to advance and pressure us further. Do they really take our Ji clan to be made out of mud, for them to mold as they please? Let’s go all out against them! Five of them came today. We are definitely going to make sure at least half of them die!” “Let’s go all out.” “Patriarch, let’s go all out.” “They refuse to give our Ji clan a way out. We won’t let them live either.” Immediately, quite a few Ji clansmen egan to bellow with rage. This caused Dong Ziqi and his group of five to be slightly startled. Snowdragon Mountain was indeed mighty, but that was thanks to the main sect! The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain, by itself, was more powerful than the Ji clan, true, but only to a certain point…after all, everyone only had access to Zifu Disciple level fighters at most. If they really went all out, even if Snowdragon Mountain eradicated the Ji clan, the losses to the Swallow Mountain branch would still be heavy. “Shut your mouths.” Ninefire turned and shouted mentally through his Ki, his voice reverberating within the ears of each member of the clan. The clansmen all looked towards Ji Ninefire. ……… “What are they discussing?” That muscular young man, Ju San, asked the other members of Snowdragon Mountain mentally. “These local bumpkins.” The gray-robed Muse sent back. “They are used to life in the tribes, where they would rather break than bend. If you force them too far, they’ll go all out…we gave them a bit too much pressure, and so they are beginning to fight back.” Dong Ziqi sent back confidently, “No need to worry. Ninefire is an old fellow who has lived for nearly four centuries. He is quite sly. He will remonstrate with and hold back those other clansmen.” …………. The Ji clansmen were secretly speaking mentally to each other. “Snowdragon Mountain has gone too far, true.” Ninefire sent mentally. “But no matter how arrogant they behave, we have to endure it. Or are we really going to fight against them?” “But Patriarch, we can sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty. By then, we would have the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and we would even receive thirty percent of this elemental ore mine.” A muscular member of the Ji clan sent mentally. “Fool!” Ninefire sent back. “To sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty, we must first make a report, at which point an Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty would come to inspect this elemental ore mine. Only at the very end would a transfer agreement be signed! This process takes time. During the course of such a long period of time, our Ji clan would most likely suffer the risk of annihilation!” “For the sake of thirty percent of an elemental ore mine, cause the entire clan to fall into the risk of annihilation?” Ninefire shouted. “Foolishness, utter foolishness! And even if we truly do succeed in signing a transfer agreement, resulting in the Grand Xia Dynasty protecting our Ji clan for a thousand years…what about after that thousand years? By then, Snowdragon Mountain would come to take revenge on our Ji clan, and our clan would still end up doomed. That’s why I would rather give this entire elemental ore mine to Snowdragon Mountain.” “But…” “This is too infuriating.” “Too…” The hearts of every Ji clansman burned with rage. “No matter how angry and unwilling to accept it we might feel, for the sake of the Ji clan, we have to endure it all.” Ninefire sighed mentally to them. “As long as the Ji clan can continue to exist and prosper, so what if we have to suffer some mistreatment?” “If you have to blame someone, then blame us for not being strong enough. This clearly is a stroke of luck bestowed upon us by the heavens, but we are unable to accept and make use of this elemental ore mine.” Ninefire looked towards Ning. “Ji Ning, you are the most incredible talent which our Ji clan has ever 616 produced, since the founding of the clan. If you continue developing, even becoming a Wanxiang Adept is virtually guaranteed.” All of the clansmen looked towards Ning, their eyes filled with hope and longing. Right. The hopes of the Ji clan’s future rise to prominence rested on him! These Xiantian lifeforms of the Central Prefecture previously had held some doubts regarding Ning’s power, as prior to this, they had only heard rumors about him…but now, they had personally witnessed Ning reveal some of his power. He had even broken through the technique of a powerful Zifu Disciple expert of Snowdragon Mountain. Ning was only sixteen years old! When they thought of Ning’s potential, all of them were excited. “However, no matter how great a genius someone is, once he’s dead, he’s no longer a genius.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “For the sake of our Ji clan, you must survive and live a long life.” Ning nodded gently. He thought of a person…the fourth master of the Aquatic Manor. Rampart. The man who, despite the presence of so many competitors, had successfully become the personal disciple of Immortal Juhua. There was no need to say anything about his talent…but he had died as a Wanxiang Adept. “We members of the Ji clan will firmly remember the insults we have borne today.” Ninefire looked at every member of the clan. “We have to grow strong. After we grow strong, others will not dare to insult us, look down on us.” “Right.” The clansmen all nodded, and Ning nodded as well. ….. Dong Ziqi and his group of five Zifu Disciples just watched to the side. Watched as the group of Ji clansmen all forcibly restrained and swallowed the anger. Seeing the looks on their faces, they couldn’t help but snicker. This was something they had seen too many times. In the past, when they had acted on orders from the main sect, those minor tribes and clans had all been forced to bend their waists and lower their heads in the face of Snowdragon Mountain. “Dong Ziqi.” Ninefire turned his head to look towards Ziqi and the others. “Finished chatting?” Ziqi looked at Ninefire. “But Ninefire, let me tell you clearly that no matter what, you must hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords! If you don’t hand it over, then the destruction of your Ji clan will be impending!” The members of the Ji clan were barely able to restrain their rage, which was now painted upon their faces. They ‘had’ to hand over the official writ? Wasn’t this the same as forcing their Ji clan to give up their territory? Ninefire clenched his teeth, his face ugly to behold. One word at a time, he ground out, “My Ji clan can give up the official writ and leave this land! This land will all belong to Snowdragon Mountain.” “What.” Everyone was stunned. Ning stared at the Patriarch in shock as well. Ninefire continued to speak, grinding each word out. “But your Snowdragon Mountain must give our Ji clan an official writ as well, to give our Ji clan a place to resist! We’ll use the official writ for our City of Ten Thousand Swords in exchange for another official writ of a large commandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Our Ji clan is willing to leave our homeland and depart.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Turn their backs on their homeland and leave? Ji Ning forcibly suppressed the unwillingness in his heart. He wasn’t willing. He truly wasn’t willing. But he saw that all the members of the clan around him, including his father, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the others were all silent. As long as the Ji clan could continue to survive and prosper, then they would be willing to endure even departing from their homeland! “As long as Snowdragon Mountain will hand over an official writ.” Ninefire said in a low voice. “Then our Ji clan will immediately hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords!” “Official writ?” In the distance, Dong Ziqi and the other five looked at each other, quietly discussing this amongst each other. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, what should we do?” The green-haired woman sent mentally. “Hand over an official writ?” “Hand over?” Ziqi looked at the green-haired woman. “Junior apprentice-sister He Xing, will you hand over one?” The green-haired woman immediately shut her mouth. These Zifu Disciples who had left the main sect and independently set up branches were all those who didn’t have much potential, and could be considered outer members of the sect. The commandery cities of the Grand Xia Dynasty they had taken over in the Swallow Mountain region was their foundation as well! It was also the foundation of many of their tribes, and their forces had coalesced there long ago. How could they give them up? Hand over an official writ? Who would hand it over? The elemental ore mine would be given to the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect. Why should we sacrifice? Why should our tribes sacrifice? Every single commandery city had three Zifu Disciples. They had to all agree before the official writ would be relinquished! But who would be willing to relinquish a base they had built up over so many years? “We aren’t willing to give ours up, but can it be that our fellow disciples in other areas would be willing to hand over a commandery city of theirs?” Ziqi shook his head. “Our Snowdragon Mountain has many 619 branches, and those fellow disciples of those branches won’t care about us at all. How could they be so kind-hearted as to relinquish a commandery city for us?” “At least, it’s impossible for our Ju clan. I don’t agree, and my uncle in the clan won’t agree either.” The muscular man said hurriedly. “Forget it. I refuse to believe the Ji clan will really dare to resist.” “Right.” The green-haired man nodded. “Force the Ji clan! If they resist, we will exterminate their clan! If they obey us, they will still be able to stay alive! I trust the Ji clan knows what they should do.” “Right. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.” The muscular man, Ju San, nodded as well. “Then that’s what we’ll do.” The gray-robed Muse nodded as well. Dong Ziqi looked at his four fellow disciples. Although not every member of the Swallow Mountain branch had come, since after all they couldn’t possibly summon everyone just for the sake of an elemental ore mine, these five represented all of the various internal factions of the Swallow Mountain branch. “Fine.” Ziqi nodded. “Then that’s what we will do. Just as junior apprentice-brother Ju San said, this isn’t the first time we’ve done this.” Snowdragon Mountain had many branches. With so many branches, how could they take over enough commandery cities? Fighting for each one? That was lunacy. They could simply use the butcher’s blade and their fame to frighten others simultaneously. In truth, the vast majority of tribes would, in the end, grit their teeth and swallow their rage, voluntarily relinquishing their official writs and obediently leaving. But of course, some battles would occasionally occur, as there were no absolutes. Dong Ziqi, however, was confident that his side’s power was definitely superior to that of the Ji clan’s. …….. The Ji clan was waiting. Although they felt heartache and unwillingness, Ning and everyone else had begun to mentally prepare for leaving their homeland. As long as the Ji clan was able to continue to survive, it would all be worth it. The Ji clan was waiting for Snowdragon mountain’s response. “Right.” Ziqi let out a light snort. “Ji Ninefire.” 620 Every Ji clansmen looked towards Ziqi, while Ninefire said hurriedly, “This is the final, bottom line of the Ji clan.” “Bottom line?” Ziqi laughed coldly. “Bottom lines are meant to be broken! Ji Ninefire, you want to trade the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords for another official writ? You really are dreaming. Right now, I’ll give you two options. The first option is that you defy my Snowdragon Mountain, and your Ji clan wait for annihilation. The second option is that you hand over the official writ to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Our Snowdragon Mountain sect will permit your Ji clan to continue to live in this area. After the elemental ore mine has been fully excavated, we will return the official writ to the City of Ten Thousand Swords to you. This is the promise of myself, Dong Ziqi!” The faces of every member of the Ji clan changed. What? Promise? What a dogshit promise! What was a promise worth? Just by a saying a few empty words, he was demanding that the Ji clan hand over their official writ? “Ziqi.” Ninefire was both furious and frantic. “Shut your mouth.” Ziqi snapped in a fierce voice, his cold, sinister eyes staring at Ninefire. “You only need to choose…to continue surviving, or to be annihilated! This is the decision for you to make, Ji Ninefire! If you choose the annihilation of your clan…well, it has been a long time since my Eight Trigrams Dragon Blood Formation has truly drawn blood.” The other four Zifu Disciples by his side all had savage looks flashing in their eyes. They were born in the main sect, and had each learned some powerful techniques. Their abilities were quite a bit superior to the abilities of ordinary, local experts. If they truly were to fight all out…there were three more Zifu Disciples in their headquarters. In total, they had eight Zifu Disciples!” “Choose!” Dong Ziqi said coldly. On the Ji clan’s side, some people were so angry that they were trembling. “Patriarch!” Some clansmen called out loudly. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Ninefire raised his head, howling heroically. “I, Ji Ninefire, am ashamed to meet the ancestors of the Ji clan!” Ning ground his teeth, his entire body trembling. As for the distant Dong Ziqi and the other four, they watched this with cold smiles on their faces. The decision to give up an ancestral homeland would indeed cause someone to feel ashamed to meet one’s ancestors. But would these local bumpkins dare to resist? Resistance meant death! “Die!” Ninefire suddenly threw out six black spheres, which transformed into six rays of light, flying directly before Dong Ziqi’s group of five. “Thunderflame Pearls!” Dong Ziqi and the other four were greatly startled. As they came from the main sect, they immediately recognized these very common and extremely vicious and sinister Thunderflame Pearls. They contained the power of lightning and fire, and held extremely explosive force. Once ki caused them to explode…they would immediately detonate, and the power of the explosions would be very shocking. The sudden explosion of six Thunderflame Pearls at a close distance could cause even Zifu Disciples to die. “These local bumpkin clans really do have some treasures. They are actually able to throw out six Thunderflame Pearls at one go.” Even as Ziqi was frantically dodging, this thought drifted into his mind. The five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain quickly separated into separate directions. Boom… Powerful explosions of thunder and flame burst forth, and dazzling serpents of electricity blasted out in every direction, while flames began to burn the entire area, causing the entire world to shake. The power was indeed astonishingly fierce. “Arise!” A look of utter savagery was in the eyes of Ninefire, who had just thrown out those six Thunderflame Pearls. Swooosh… Suddenly, the desolate mountain wilderness in the nearby area was surrounded by mist and fog. Mist and fog appeared everywhere, and even Ning was only able to see to a distance of ten meters with the naked eye. “Not good.” Dong Ziqi, who had just dodged the last attack and was feeling rather smug and disdainful, saw the mist which had appeared out of nowhere. His face instantly changed. “A bewildering formation!” “That sly old fellow threw out those six Thunderflame Pearls not for the purpose of killing us, but to make sure that the five of us would all put some distance between us.” Ziqi’s face completely changed. He stared at the thick mist around him. He could only see to a distance of six meters with the naked eye. Previously, upon encountering the Thunderflame Pearls, they had all dodged at full strength, trying to move as far away as they could. Thus, those fellow disciples had all put tens of meters of distance between each other. As long as they were more than fifteen meters away from each other, within this bewildering formation, they would be affected by the master of the formation, resulting in them moving further and further away from each other. “This Ji Ninefire is planning to completely separate the five of us.” Ziqi was both frantic and furious. “Senior apprentice-brother!” A distance voice rang out. “It’s a bewildering formation. We’ve all been separated. Ji Ninefire, that old bastard, is planning to kill us one by one! They will definitely have several Zifu Disciples join forces to fight against each of us one by one!” Although he could hear the sound, within the bewildering formation, directions constantly changed, and so he couldn’t tell where it came from at all. “Fellow apprentices Ju San, Muse, He Fang, and He Xing, are all of you together?” Ziqi called out frantically. “I’m with my older brother.” A female’s voice rang out. “I’m by myself.” “I’m alone as well.” The other two voices caused Ziqi’s heart to grow cold. He understood that although He Fang and his sister were together, Ju San, Muse, and Ziqi himself had been completely separated. And even if the two He siblings joined forces…once the Ji clan attacked together, they would also be in great danger. “This time, I really have fallen into the trap of that old fellow.” Ziqi was both frantic and furious. “But how could he have set up this formation in advance?” ……. Separated from each other within the fog of the bewildering formation, the five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were in a state of panic. At this time, the Ji clan’s side was both excited and shocked. “Patriarch, why did you suddenly attack?” “And this…this…this…what’s going on with this formation?” All of the clansmen were stunned. Ninefire swept everyone with his gaze, then growled, “My Ji clan isn’t a soft bone for them to chew on. They are riding on our heads to the point where they are even pissing and shitting on our faces. How can 623 we possibly take any more of this? Rather than slink away like cowards, let’s battle to our heart’s content. In the end, my Ji clan will still have a chance!” “Obey my orders!” Ninefire commanded. All the clansmen awaited. “Northwind, you go lead Ji Mo and the others to immediately board our birds to stealthily leave Swallow Mountain in three different streams.” Ninefire said. “They will pass down the lineage of the Ji clan.” “Yes.” “Ji Winterpool, immediately head to Swallow Mountain City and make a report to the Grand Xia Dynasty that an elemental ore mine has appeared within the territory of the Ji clan. I entrust this task to you. Remember, arrange for multiple messengers. You have to ensure that at least one group makes it to Swallow Mountain City.” “Yes.” Ninefire swept the rest with his gaze. “Everyone else who is not at the Zifu Disciple level, return to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Leave this place to us. Go.” With a thud, these members of the Ji clan all fell to their knees. They looked at Ninefire, Ning, Truekeep, Yichuan. Although they didn’t say anything, all of them then quickly left. “We are the only ones left here.” Ninefire swept the remaining people with his gaze. “These five arrogant Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain have already been separated by my formation. As long as we attack them one by one, we can completely exterminate them!” “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “You are the hope of our Ji clan, and the future of our Ji clan. If the situation truly grows dire, you are to immediately use the Traceless Talisman to flee! As long as you survive, our Ji clan will not be exterminated!” “Yes.” Ning gritted his teeth and replied. “Prepare to kill, then.” Ninefire began to laugh loudly. “It’s been so many years since I’ve gone wild. I suddenly feel much younger, and filled with anticipation, like the first time I entered my marital bed!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Patriarch, how did you come up with the idea in advance of setting up a formation?” Ji Truekeep couldn’t help but ask. This was the question which Ji Ning and the others had on their minds as well. None of them had seen the Patriarch set up the formation, and after the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain had come over…there was no time to set up a formation either. Ji Ninefire glanced at the people before him. “When considering matters, one needs to take a longer view of things. When I first had an inkling of how large this elemental ore mine was, I grew concerned that it would attract the greed of Snowdragon Mountain, and so I began to take precautions against them! What if Snowdragon Mountain came and tried to pressure us? Thus, early on, I set down the formation in the area around us. If we didn’t end up fighting, fine. If we did though, then we naturally have to seize the upper hand. As for why I didn’t tell the rest of you? If I told you and let you all be aware of the great formation around us, would you have all displayed such rage and grief? Snowdragon Mountain’s people probably would have realized, found the formation, and broken through it long ago.” “Uh…” Ning and the others all nodded. But Ning understood as well… Although this wasn’t very strange or mysterious once explained, earlier, everyone had been stunned and astonished by the size and scale of this elemental ore mine. None of them, however, had thought to set down a formation first. This was a matter of experience and foresight! “No matter what, my actions cause me to feel ashamed to meet the ancestors of the Ji clan. I’ve let the Ji clan fall into peril.” Ninefire said in a low voice. “I didn’t want to choose this path at all. Choosing this path means fighting Snowdragon Mountain head on. My Ji clan must sign an agreement as soon as possible with the Grand Xia Dynasty. Once we sign the agreement, we will at least be guaranteed of a thousand years of safety. A thousand years from now, I have faith that our Ji clan would have risen to prominence. Even if we are still weak though, a thousand years is enough time for our Ji clan to have made our arrangements.” “Now…” “Let’s go kill them, as many as we can. The more we kill, the less pressure our Ji clan will be under.” Ninefire swept his gaze across everyone. Granny Shadow. The old servant, Ah Xing. Truekeep. Yichuan. Ning. These were the top-tier fighters of the Ji clan. “I, Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ning will join forces to kill the He siblings! Truekeep, Yichuan, the two of you go deal with Ju San.” 625 “Yes.” “Yes.” Everyone acknowledged the order. Shadow hurriedly asked, “Then what about Dong Ziqi? He’s a calamity waiting to happen. We must eradicate him early on.” “He and Muse have located each other and joined forces already.” Ninefire said. “We will deal with them in the end.” “Let’s go. I’ll guide you through the fog.” Ninefire immediately advanced, and Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ning all followed him. The four of them were the most powerful four members of the Ji clan. As for Truekeep and Yichuan, a corridor naturally formed for them through the mist, and they advanced at high speed as well. …….. Within the formation. Dong Ziqi’s face was icy and sinister. “I actually fell into the old crook’s scheme.” In the area around him, eight black crystal balls appeared out of nowhere, each of which was the size of a person’s skull. Within them, a faint image of a draconic shadow could be seen swimming about. The eight bloody trigrams on the black robe he was wearing immediately radiated a bloody light. The bloody light encompassed those eight distant black crystal balls. “Arise!” One enormous, shadowy, blood-colored dragon after another appeared in front of Ziqi. There were eight shadowy blood-colored dragons. They swirled amongst each other, constantly roving about within the formation. “Fellow disciples, stay where you are and do not move.” Ziqi shouted, while at the same time, he controlled his Eight Trigram Blood Dragons Formation, constantly expanding the scope of the formation. As the scope of the formation increased, those eight shadowy blood dragons also swam about in a wider and wider area. Soon, the width of the formation reached a scope of three hundred meters, encompassing the nearby Muse within it as well. This sort of large formation, which spread out in every direction…made it so that even in a bewildering formation, there was no way one would be completely bewildered! “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The gray-robed man, Muse, said in surprised delight. He was overjoyed at having been brought within the perimeters of the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. “Where are our other fellow disciples?” Ziqi looked around him. “Not here.” Muse shook his head. “I’m the only one within your Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation.” Dong Ziqi ground his teeth, then immediately called out in a high voice, “I am together with fellow disciple Muse. He Fang, He Xing, the two of you need to be careful. And Ju San…take care of yourself.” “Don’t worry.” “We siblings aren’t afraid of them.” “If they want to kill me, I’ll make sure one of them dies as well!” Three voices rang out. “Damnable.” Dong Ziqi said unhappily. “We fell into that old crook’s trap. Otherwise, if the five of us joined forces, how could we be put into such a situation by the likes of the Ji clan? I myself am able to kill more than half of them. Junior apprentice-brother Muse, your accomplishments in the Myriad Ancient Green Vines technique are quite profound. If you use the Myriad Ancient Green Vines technique, can you break this formation?” “It would be very difficult.” Muse shook his head. “Even if I could break it, I would need a very long time, and I probably wouldn’t have enough ki energy.” “Use it as much as you can.” Ziqi said. “I have a bottle of ki recovery pills. Take it.” “Fine.” Muse gritted his teeth. “Then I’ll hand over the defense to you, senior apprentice-brother.” Ziqi said confidently, “You are within my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Even if several of them attack together…I have no fear of them. The only thing I’m afraid of is that they won’t come for me! How detestable…if I had known earlier, I would’ve started to kill them from the start. Now, I can’t even find them, even though I want to kill them.” He, by himself, was equal to his other four fellow disciples if they joined forces. But unfortunately, although he had power, he had no place to exert it. “Arise.” Muse stood there, and a single seed fell into the ground. Whoosh! Many tendrils suddenly grew out from that seed, wildly spreading out in every direction. “Bewildering formations will bewilder the senses.” Muse said in a low voice. “My vines will be affected by the bewildering formation as well. It will be hard for them to move in the correct direction. Still, these vines can constantly grow and expand towards empty areas…as long as they continuously fill up the area, if they continuously grow, then naturally they’ll be able to cover the entire formation, and perhaps even 627 go beyond it. My mind is one with these vines. So long as the vines are able to leave the formation, I will know it.” “But what I don’t know is how large this formation is. After all, when the diameter expands tenfold, the number of tendrils I need to grow is increased a hundredfold. The larger the formation is, the more exhausting it will be for my Ki.” Muse didn’t feel much confidence. “Let’s go all out.” Ziqi gritted his teeth. “Trapped here, the only thing that will happen is that we will be butchered as they please.” “Right.” Muse didn’t say anything further, striving to expand and empower his technique. Rustle, rustle… Countless vines frantically grew out and elongated, but in the bewildering formation, where they had no sense of direction, these vines grew out in a wild, unorderly manner as well. Still, one thing was certain…they were to grow in the direction of areas where there were no vines! To cover as much new space as they could! ………… In another area. Ning, Ninefire, and the others were present. “The He siblings are up front.” Ninefire said. “I’ll launch the first attack, and then part open the mist. You will see the two of them. All of you, immediately use killing attacks.” “Right.” Ning nodded. Whoosh! More than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures suddenly appeared in the area around Ning, each of which glowed with a hazy white light. The swords gently ebbed and flowed, unceasingly summoning and coalescing the power of the world. Ning’s ki was constantly being transformed through these magic swords as well, and in front of him, a dazzling, eye-catching white sword light had taken form. [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] – Level Nine! “What a sharp sword light.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the old servant, Ah Xing, were shocked. Although they hadn’t interacted with it, they could sense how sharp this sword light was. Granny Shadow pointed with her finger, and in front of her, three flying swords appeared as well, each of which glowed with a faint, fiery light. Next to her, the old servant Ah Xing lifted his hand, and a warhammer appeared within it. “Let’s do it.” Ninefire waved his hand, and a mottled, five-colored flying sword suddenly pierced through the air. Ninefire was famous for using poisons and formations…although this flying sword was a ranked magic treasure, to be more precise, it was a poison sword. …… A hundred meters in front of Ning, He Fang and He Xing, brother and sister, were present. The two had used a number of Dao-seals, and their bodies were covered by golden light. At the same time, two magic treasures were constantly flying around them, one which looked like an iron pestle, while the other was a strange-looking tiled jar magic treasure. “We can’t see our surroundings. They will definitely ambush us. Be careful.” The green-haired man, He Fang, said softly. “Right.” His younger sister, He Xing, was incomparably cautious as well. Suddenly… A five-colored flying sword suddenly descended at an astonishing speed. However, as the He siblings were constantly on-guarded, they immediately used their techniques to defend. “Whoosh…” The floating tiled jar suddenly emitted a large amount of green liquid into a watery curtain, which was incomparably tough and unyielding. Once the five-colored flying sword pierced into the curtain of green liquid, the speed of it immediately slowed greatly. “Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Three flying swords glowing with fiery light slashed through the skies as well. It was the three flying swords of Granny Shadow. This instantly caused the faces of He Fang and He Xing, brother and sister, to change greatly. They hurriedly worked to block it as well, but the water curtain was beginning to be unable to withstand it. “Bang!” An enormous black warhammer, carrying even more incomparably ferocious power, smashed straight through the quivering water curtain, and then smashed onto the golden light covering the body of He Xing, the younger sister. The golden light instantly trembled violently, as though it was about to shatter. “Not good.” 629 “Quick, let’s run. If we stay here, we’re just going to serve as punching bags.” He Fang and He Xing, after having suffered successive strikes, had begun to panic. Clearly, there were quite a few enemies. Swish! A dazzling sword light suddenly slashed out in a lonely arc, leaving behind a beautiful, dreary afterimage as it instantly pierced through the quivering barrier of golden light covering He Xing’s body… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. When Ji Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light swept down towards them, the graceful, lithe-bodied He Xing’s face changed. “What a terrifying sword light! There’re no other options!” Her green hair suddenly emitted a dazzling green light while at the same time, her entire body dimly glowed with a green aura. As for that sword light which had just pierced through the golden aura protecting her body, it clashed straight against that green aura. The green aura trembled, and rippling runes appeared on its surface, but in the end, with a boom, it blew apart. The remaining energy in the sword light was quite weak now, so weak that it wasn’t even able to pierce through the protective magic treasure He Xing was wearing. “Elder Brother! The talisman which Master gave us was broken through in just one attack.” He Xing said frantically. This was too terrifying. The power of that sword light was most likely close to that of a casual blow from a Wanxiang Adept. Even the talisman her master had given her to protect her was only able to take a single blow. “Little Sister, let’s go all out.” Mu Fang gritted his teeth. “We can’t hope for a lucky break to occur. We have to treat this as our potential tomb, for us to have a chance of surviving.” “Right.” Xing nodded. A look of resoluteness appeared in the eyes of these two siblings. Their auras grew savage, and a layer of bloody light arose on their skin. “Forbidden arts!” The distant attackers, Ji Ninefire, Ji Ning, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing saw this, and their faces changed. Forbidden arts… Generally speaking, they referred to forbidden techniques that were used through sacrificing one’s own lifespan. They could only be used at enormous cost, and once the cost was made, it was very hard to recover from it. But precisely because the cost was great, the power one had upon using a forbidden art would rapidly rise as ewll. “You want to kill us? Come, then.” “Come.” 631 After having used a forbidden technique, He Xing and He Fang both had savagery in their eyes. “They are like trapped beasts right now.” Ninefire hurriedly sent mentally to the others. “Although they are surrounded and attacked by us, they are still Zifu Disciples, and they’ve used forbidden techniques. If we aren’t careful, some of us might die. We have to be cautious. We have the advantage. I’d rather we give up some opportunities than risk our lives. We just have to find a single good opportunity, at which point we can kill them.” “Right.” Granny Shadow narrowed her eyes. The old servant, Ah Xing, just stared at the distant He siblings, controlling that great warhammer of his. As for Ning, he unleashed a second sword light. The four were working together! They wildly attacked the He siblings in unison. Amongst these five enemy Zifu Disciples, the He siblings actually had only average strength; they were ranked behind Dong Ziqi and Muse! As for Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing, they were old fellows who had lived for nearly four centuries, each of whom were actually a good amount more powerful than the He siblings. And that’s not even mentioning the monstrous Ji Ning! Only through using forbidden arts were the He siblings capable of just barely holding off the joint attacks of these four. “Despicable, sly Ji clansmen.” He Fang and He Xing were cursing wildly while controlling their magic treasures to resist. Because they had used forbidden arts, their ability to control magic treasures had clearly increased…in particular, the water curtain which flew out from the tiled jar was actually able to resist Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! This caused Ning to sigh in his heart. His enemies were Zifu Disciples, while he himself only had peak Xiantian-level Ki. For him to be able to fight against someone at a higher level who was even using forbidden arts…the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] should be proud of itself. “Elder Brother, that Ji Ning is too powerful.” He Xing had a look of despair in her eyes. “Even going all out, I’m only able to block him alone.” “I’m almost unable to hold out any longer as well.” He Fang was simultaneously blocking the other three. Suddenly… At the same instant, He Fang and He Xing each released a Dao-seal radiating a black light from their hands. They instantly activated the pair of Dao-seals, which immediately transformed into tens of rays of 632 black light which quickly attacked Ninefire and the other three! Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the old servant Ah Xing were shocked, and they hurriedly used what abilities they had to resist. As for Ning, he wielded two swords in his hands, with the Waterflame Lotus swiveling around his body. “Boomboomboom…” The rays of black light pierced directly through the Waterflame Lotus, but were blocked by Ning’s Darknorth swords. But Ning couldn’t help but stagger backwards, taking six heavy steps back, the ground cracking with each step. “Such power.” Ning stared at his waist. A large hole had been pierced through his waist, but in the blink of an eye, his flesh quickly grew out, regenerating the wound and not leaving behind a single scar. “Ji Ning, it’s good that we have you. Otherwise, that technique alone would have wounded us, and perhaps one of us would even have died.” Ninefire was frightened as well. That black light had simply been too fast. Once it pierced through their bodies…the other three were all Ki Refiners. If they weren’t careful, they would lose their lives. Granny Shadow sent mentally as well, “These two really live up to their reputation as being members from the main sect. They have so many techniques. If we aren’t careful, we might fall to one of them. Let’s pull away slightly; at a longer distance, it’ll be easier for us to deal with them.” “Right.” Ninefire nodded. “The two of them are close to the breaking point. If we keep it up a little longer, they will definitely die.” Hearing this, Ning frowned. The Patriarch and the other two were all Zifu-level Ki Refiners. They didn’t dare fight in close quarters combat, because in close quarters combat, if one suffered an attack that was too fast and which didn’t give one a chance to dodge, one could easily die. It was correct for them to decide to pull away…but Ning himself was a Fiendgod Body Refiner! How long would it take for them to continue wasting time like this? They had to end this quickly! “Patriarch, leave it to me.” Ning shouted mentally to them, while at the same time, a pair of wing-type magic treasures appeared out of nowhere on his back. The wings fluttered, and Ning soared into the air like a giant Roc, instantly appearing in front of He Fang and He Xing, the two siblings. “Careful.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing were all shocked, but they knew that Ning was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and that he trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. They weren’t too worried about him. “Perfect timing.” He Fang and He Xing, the two siblings, were startled, then delighted. Prior to this, they had been filled with rage. Ninefire and the others had been too crafty; they had insisted on fighting at a distance, not giving the two of them a chance to fight back! The two were all but standing there and letting others beat down on them. They didn’t dare to make the slightest mistake, because if they did, the enemies would seize the chance to kill them. But who could forever be perfect and never make a mistake? Just as they were feeling despair, Ji Ning charged over. “After killing you, our deaths would have been worth it.” “The genius of the Ji clan.” The He siblings had gone mad in their desire to kill Ning. But Ning, moving like a giant Roc, arced outwards in a curving, solitary line as he attacked He Xing. His target was her, as she had already used up a protective talisman. In front of Ning, there was a flash of sword light, and the Darknorth swords in his hands executed his most powerful attack…Rain Line! “Bang!” The sword light flashed outwards! He Xing’s beautiful head was sent flying into the air, her eyes still filled with disbelief and shock. “You…you…” The nearby He Fang stared at Ning. There was a wound on Ning’s head, which carved straight through his forehead, but this wound quickly healed. The reason why he was able to kill He Xing, a Zifu Disciple, in a single exchange was not only that Ning’s swordplay vastly outstripped the opponent’s; it was also because Ning fought in a way where the two of them would both take ‘lethal’ wounds, allowing her to stab him with her sword. This was why he was able to kill her in a single exchange. “You…have reached the Zifu Disciple level as a Fiendgod as well?” He Fang didn’t dare believe it. Killing a Fiendgod Body Refiner was far more difficult than killing a Ki Refiner. Previously, Ning had used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], which was clearly a Ki Refiner technique. And Ning was only sixteen years old…He Fang and He Xing had both believed that given his age, Ning should only have opened his Violet Palace as a Ki Refiner! He most likely had yet to be able to open his Violet Palace as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and should only be a Xiantian-stage lifeform. Generally speaking, a Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner’s head was still a critical area. Even someone who trained in the number one technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], would have to reach the peak Xiantian level before having no critical areas anywhere in the body. That was why He Xing had wanted to sacrifice her life in that exchange. “Little Sister.” He Fang stared at the corpse on the ground, then suddenly let out a heroic howl. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, avenge us and annihilate the Ji clan!!!” 634 “Back.” Ning’s face changed, and his wing-type magic treasure fluttered as he frantically retreated. “Boom.” He Fang suddenly exploded. The Zifu Violet Palace in his body was like an enormous lake which contained endless amounts of lake water. This lake water was actually liquefied ki energy! When He Fang detonated his Zifu ‘lake’, all of the liquefied ki energy that had accumulated in his Zifu instantly transformed into usable Ki. Even if his body had to blow apart, he wanted to make this liquefied ki instantly transform and blast outwards. The power of this elemental blast was simply terrifying. The savage, boundless wave of ki spread out, rippling in every direction! Instantly, the turbid wave of elemental ki blasted into the frantically retreating Ji Ning, submerging him within it! BOOM!!! “Ji Ning!” “Ji Ning!” The distant Ji Ninefire and the other two were shocked. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although Ji Ning had sensed in advance that something bad was going to happen, and thus had immediately used the Windwing Evasion to retreat, he was still struck on the back by the enormous surge of power, and his entire body was knocked helplessly flying, smashing a deep crater into the ground. “Ji Ning, are you alright?” “Ji Ning.” The distant Ji Ninefire and the other two hurriedly flew over, staring into that deep crater with concern. Ning lay deep within the crater, fresh, crimson blood splattered everywhere. The wing-type magic treasure on his back was already twisted…but within the crater, Ning was quickly recovering. He stretched his hand out, lifting himself upwards and quickly returning to his feet. “I’m fine.” Ning said hoarsely. That earlier explosive force had damaged even his throat. As he arose from the deep crater, the various wounds on his back were quickly healing, and the terrifying injuries his body had sustained were rapidly regenerating. Moments later, not even a scar could be seen. As for Ning’s protective magic armor, it quickly reformed into the shape of the beast fur clothes his mother had made for him. This caused Ninefire and the other two to sigh in amazement. This was what Ki Refiners like them envied the most with regards to Fiendgod Body Refiners. If it was them, they probably would have died long ago! “The power of a detonating Zifu ‘lake’ truly is terrifying.” Ning sighed in amazement. Establishing the ‘Violet Palace’ was part of the Immortal path. The Zifu was like a lake that contained liquefied ki energy. The Zifu lake was thus the foundation for an Immortal practitioner! A fruit tree that wished to bloom and birth fruits had to have a patch of land, while Immortal practitioners who wished to reach the Wanxiang level or become a Primal Immortal…had to have a Zifu lake! This was their foundation. Zifu Disciples would constantly accumulate their ki energy, expanding the size of that lake… But once the accumulated ki energy was detonated, the first to die from the explosion iwould be the practitioner! Only then would others be hit by the explosion. “This is why the three of us didn’t dare to attack in close combat. Only you, a Fiendgod Body Refiner, would dare draw near.” Ninefire said. “Formidable.” Ning said softly. “The lifeforce possessed by Fiendgods truly is astonishing.” Granny Shadow said hoarsely. ……….. In a different area. The eight shadowy blood dragons of the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation roved about sinuously. In the center were Muse and Dong Ziqi. Ziqi had a gloomy look on his face, and his eyes were filled with a boundless killing intent. He truly wished to charge out and kill them. But that group of Ji clan cowards didn’t dare to come face him. “Little Sister! Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, avenge us and annihilate the Ji clan!!!” A fierce voice suddenly rang out, and then…a deafening, massive explosion. Muse, seated in the lotus position, opened his eyes, which were filled with a look of sorrow. “The He siblings are dead.” “Not only dead; he even detonated his own Zifu lake. He was forced into dire straits.” Ziqi’s voice was hoarse, and his eyes were filled with rage. He, Dong Ziqi, had actually been forced into such a terrible situation, and by the puny little Ji clan. This caused the look on Ziqi’s face to become all the more terrible. He howled savagely, “I, Dong Ziqi, swear that I will definitely annihilate the Ji clan! Definitely!” His roar rang out. “I will definitely annihilate the Ji clan! Definitely!!!” As Ning heard this, his face changed slightly. He could sense the wild savagery and killing intent held within this shout. By his side, Ninefire just said coldly, “If we didn’t kill them, they would still annihilate our Ji clan for not handing over the official writ! If they want to kill us, then they need to be prepared for the possibility that we might kill them. Screaming loudly now is the act of a coward.” “Come. Let’s go deal with Dong Ziqi.” Granny Shadow ground her teeth, speaking in a hoarse voice. “Right.” The old servant, Ah Xing, acknowledged. Ning was filled with boundless killing intent as well…against these enemy forces who wanted to annihilate the Ji clan and give them no options, Ning wouldn’t feel a hint of pity! “Ji Ning.” Ninefire just frowned. “Immediately go to your father’s place. Assist them in killing Ju San.” “My father?” Ning was startled. Can it be that his father, Ji Yichuan, and Ji Truekeep had met with trouble in their combined effort to deal with that ‘Jusan’? “It’s Muse.” Ninefire said urgently. “Muse is currently using a magical technique, causing a large number of vines to rapidly grow out nonstop. They’ve already grown near the place where your father is. Once those vines encounter Ju San…! Dong Ziqi and Muse will quickly follow the vines and rejoin with Ju San! Once the three join forces, it will be even more difficult to kill them.” A path through the mist had already appeared in front of Ning. “I’ll go.” Ning transformed into a blurred shadow, quickly advancing forward. “We’ll go deal with Dong Ziqi and Muse.” Ninefire looked towards Granny Shadow and Ah Xing. “We don’t have to kill them, but we need to disturb that Muse…ideally, making it so that Muse won’t be able to continue to use that technique of his. Those vines have grown so large…Muse definitely had to use up quite a bit of mental energy and Ki.” “Right.” Granny Shadow and Ah Xing both nodded. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three quickly hurried towards Ziqi…and as for Ning, as he flew forward, he saw the vines rapidly growing, but by relying on the Windwing Evasion, he was able to dodge past them and not touch them. Soon. From far away, the sound of explosions could be heard, and the fog grew thin as well. Ning saw two figures standing in the distance; it was his own father, Yichuan, and his clansman, Truekeep. “Oh? Father isn’t using any magic treasures. Can it be that Father hasn’t established his Zifu yet?” As Ning hurried over, he discovered that Truekeep was currently controlling magic treasures to battle against that muscular man named Ju San, while Ning’s father, Yichuan, was brandishing his sword, releasing one last after another of sword light, each of which flowed out like a stream of water, constantly racing towards that muscular Ju San. Those blasts of sword light seemed like entangling threads, constantly restricting and binding Ju San. Truekeep was the main force, while Yichuan was support! “Damnable.” Ju San bellowed. “From what the Patriarch previously said, it seems as though my father is a Zifu Disciple. But why is it that I’ve never seen Father ride on a magic treasure?” Ning was puzzled. “In fact, that year, when I suffered the attack from Serpentwing, when Father pursued Serpentwing, he didn’t ride on a magic treasure back then either. What’s the reason for this?” Ning had asked his father before, but his father had refused to answer. “After this battle, I’ll ask the Patriarch.” Ning buried these doubts in his heart, while at the same time, a pair of Darknorth swords appeared in his hands, while the wings on his back fluttered, sending him piercing through the air. Prior to this, when He Fang had detonated his own Zifu Lake, the previous pair of wing-type magic treasures had been destroyed, but fortunately, Ning had quite a few sets of these unranked treasures. “Father, Uncle Truekeep! Leave this Ju San to me!” Ning shouted loudly, then transformed into a ray of light, charging towards Ju San. Yichuan and Truekeep both turned to look. “Ji Ning!” “Hahaha, perfect!” From afar, mighty Ju San, who had power but no place to expend it, watched as Ning charged towards him. He was overjoyed! He was a Zifu Fiendgod Body Refiner! Fiendgod Body Refiners loved to engage in close quarters combat. Prior to this, Truekeep and Yichuan had continuously kept far away from him, and he, Ju San, was not proficient in movement techniques, and thus was completely unable to catch up. To be constantly beaten down on, but be unable to catch up. What sort of torment was this! Although he had opened up his Zifu as a Ki Refiner as well, he hadn’t spent too much time and effort on learning how to ride magic treasures. His primary efforts had been expended on close quarters combat. “Come, come, come. Let me take a look at this genius of the Ji clan and see how powerful you are.” Behind Ju San, a pair of black wings had appeared. As he went forward to engage Ning, he clearly was quite agile. “Wing-type magic treasure?” Ning looked at the pair of wings on Ju San’s back, and his eyes couldn’t help but light up. The vast majority of Fiendgod Body Refiners would use wings, so as to make them more agile. “It should be a ranked magic treasure. I was worrying about how, after breaking through to the Zifu level, I wouldn’t have any ranked wing-type magic treasures.” Boom! Boom! Two people. One came from the main sect of Snowdragon Mountain, and although he trained in a fairly ordinary Fiendgod Body Refining technique, known as the [Mighty Demon – Introductory], he was an early Zifu Disciple. Although the name of this technique seemed quite ordinary, it was quite a bit superior to the techniques the Ji clan possessed, such as the [Sutra of the Future Buddha] or [Indestructible Blood Fiend], even though those techniques had more impressive-sounding names. Generally speaking, the more powerful a sect was, the more modest the names their techniques would be. As for the other person, this person trained in the technique that even in the Fiendgod Era was the indisputable number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. But this person was only a peak Xiantian. “BANG!” “BANG!” Ju San was wielding a greataxe, while Ning was wielding a pair of swords. The two exchanged blows… It was like a pair of juvenile Fiendgods from back in the Primordial Era who were fighting against each other. Instantly, the earth began to quake, then split apart, sending rocks flying everywhere! The two both had wing-type magic treasures behind them, and they they wildly battled each other in close quarters combat, completely unafraid of the occasional wounds they suffered. As for Ju San’s body, one wound after another appeared atop it. “This Ju San’s axecraft is quite impressive. The greataxe is very large, making it so that when it defends, it is almost like a buckler.” Ning said to himself. “Ji Ning has actually reached the Zifu level as a Fiendgod practitioner as well.” Ju San was even more shocked. “And his usage of dual swords is all the more marvelous and skilled. I’ve focused on my axecraft for nearly a century, but I actually can’t compare to his swordcraft! I’m at a disadvantage with every exchange…” Right now, he had only left two wounds on Ning’s body, and that was only because Ning had willingly accepted the blow in order to deliver one to him as well. But as for Ju San, his body had suffered over a hundred wounds on it by now. But of course, all of them had healed automatically. Ning’s swordplay became even more ferocious and wild. “Faster, faster, faster!” Ning understood that as the opponent used a heavy weapon, the greataxe, he himself had to fight based on his speed. The faster Ning was, the more flaws the enemy would reveal. “Like the wind!” “Like the flame!” Ning’s left and right hands each held a sword, but they used completely different swordplay techniques. One sword was as illusory as the wind, while the other sword was as aggressively scorching as a flame. Both of them were shockingly fast, and the two worked in unison, creating a explosive combination. The power of the two techniques multiplied, feeding off each other! “Faster! Even faster!” Ning battled wildly against Ju San, raining down blows upon him. Ju San’s movements became disordered, unable to keep up. “SLASH!” A sword blow that was as strangely agile and graceful as the wind slashed past the greataxe, and also slashed through Jusan’s waist. Crunch. Blood flew everywhere, and Ju San was bisected. “Here’s my chance.” Ning instantly entered a berserk mode. Thunderflash Flint! Thunderflash Flint! Thunderflash Flint! Ning’s two swords simultaneously executed this technique. There was nothing weird about this technique, nothing savage about it; all it had was speed! One ray after another of sword light wildly chopped down on the bisected halves of Ju San’s body, causing Ju San’s body to constantly shatter, but Ju San’s head continued to roar, “It won’t be so easy to kill a Fiendgod Body Refiner!” “Waterflame Lotus.” Ning executed his final, killing stroke. Those countless pieces of Ju San’s body became enveloped within a Waterflame Lotus. The petals of the fire and water slowly swiveled against each other. After five years of training, the murderous grinding power of Ning’s Waterflame Lotus had reached a terrifyingly strong level. These completely defenseless chunks of bloody flesh were completely ground into dust. Grind! Grind! Grind! The pieces of bloody flesh tried frantically to reconnect to each other, reforming into a person. But they were constantly being ground down by the Waterflame Lotus! Rumble… The chunks of bloody flesh were completely ground to dust, completely unable to reform once more. Ju San! Dead! “Looks like I acquired a set of ranked wing-type magic treasures in advance.” Ning stretched his hand out, collecting the nearby spoils, including the wing-type magic treasures, the greataxe, the protective magicterasures, and the various other magic treasures. Ning turned to look. Truekeep and Yichuan stood there watching from afar, looks of disbelief and shock on their faces. They had watched as two Fiendgod experts battled wildly and viciously against each other…it was power against power, and as soon as one fell, the other wildly charged forward to dismember him, giving him no 641 chance at all to recover. Fortunately, Ning had his Waterflame Lotus, as otherwise it would have been hard for him to so quickly dispose of this Ju San. “Let’s go.” Ning said hurriedly. “Father, Uncle Truekeep, we need to hurry up and rejoin the Patriarch. There are only two more remaining!” “Ther are only two more remaining?” Truekeep and Yichuan were excited as well. They hadn’t imagined that in this battle, the Ji clan would actually have achieved such a glorious success, with only two Zifu Disciples remaining now. However, it was the most powerful two! “Kill them.” Ning, Yichuan, and Truekeep transferred into rays of light, hurrying back to regroup with Ninefire and the others… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Moments later. A faint fog surrounded the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, and one shadowy blood dragon after another swam about, look towards Ji Ning, Ji Ninefire, and the rest of the six. “Ji Ning, don’t charge in.” “I want to give him a try.” With a thought, Ning summoned more than seven hundred weapon-type magic treasures, which undulated up and down in the air around him, all of them radiating a dim glow. In front of Ning formed an irresistible, unblockable sword light. With a thought, the sword light formed from the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] shot through the air. [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] – Level Nine! “Swish!” The dazzling sword light charged straight into the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, and in the instant that it did so, the shadowy blood dragons immediately bellowed and charged forth. Cracklecracklecrackle…the sword light just managed to eradicate a single shadowy blood dragon before the power of the sword light was used up, but soon, the shadowy blood dragon once more reformed. “What.” Ning was amazed. “I was only able to destroy a single dragon? And it almost immediately reformed?” Dong Ziqi, within the formation, gave the distant Ning a cold, insidious look. In a hoarse voice, he said, “You live up to your reputation as being the genius of the Ji clan. Only sixteen years old…and yet you are able to destroy one of the dragons of my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. However, the little bit of power you have is far from being sufficient.” “Ning, don’t charge in.” Ninefire sent mentally in a frantic voice. “This sort of formation is perfectly suited to countering Fiendgod Body Refiners. As soon as you charge within, you’ll be attacked by all eight of those blood dragons, and they will rip you to pieces.” “I know.” Ning nodded. Although Fiendgod Body Refiners were superior to Ki Refiners…there was no such thing as an absolute truth! Ki Refiners had their powerful experts as well, who were able to fight against those at a higher level as them. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was one such example! Or, for example, those Ki 643 Refiners who bred countless venomous pests, which would be released out in a flood, devouring everything in their path. Fiengod Body Refiners were more powerful, yes…but that was as a whole. On an individual level, there were incomparably glorious and talented Ki Refiners as well. “The six of us should join forces to attack and see if we have any chance of winning.” A killing intent flashed through the eyes of Ninefire. A flying sword flew through the air! Venomous bugs danced out! A sword light pierced forward! In an instant, the entire world seemed to be filled with various techniques and attacks, which flew towards the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Within the formation, Ziqi laughed wildly. “Excellent!” Those eight shadowy blood dragons, which had been peacefully swimming about, suddenly turned savage as they charged forward to welcome those attacks. They blocked one magic treasure after another, and as some of the dragons dispersed, they quickly reformed. The eight shadowy blood dragons coiled about in a circular rhythm, forcibly taking on the attacks of Ning and the rest of the six. “Cowards of the Ji clan, if you have any ability, come into my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation.” Seeing that the attacks had been completely blocked, Dong Ziqi, standing within the formation, became even more arrogant. “You killed three of my fellow disciples because you had the advantage of numbers. In terms of actual ability, how could your Ji clan be a match for us? If we were to really fight, I, Dong Ziqi, would be able to annihilate you all!” Outside the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, Ninefire, Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, Yichuan, Truekeep, and Ning were astonished at the power of this formation. “Formidable.” Ninefire sent mentally. “Although I have long heard of the power of Dong Ziqi’s Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, I’ve never fought against it. It seems that the eight dragons within the formation are all comparable to a peak Zifu Disciple. With the eight joining forces…the power is truly astonishing. Even if the six of us truly want to go all out and kill him, most likely three of us would die.” “There’s nothing in life that has no risk.” Granny Shadow sent. “Let’s kill this Dong Ziqi!” “Our Ji clan has too few Zifu Disciples! But Snowdragon Mountain has plenty of them. It isn’t worth it for us to die alongside these two.” Ninefire refuted. Ning stared at the distant Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. What to do? After having attacked for the amount of time needed to brew tea, although Ning had only occasionally released an attack from his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the ki energy in his body was more than half used up. “Hold your attacks.” Ninefire sent. “We’ve attacked together for so long now, but we haven’t had a single chance for breaking through. If we don’t take any risks, we won’t be able to kill Dong Ziqi. In addition, those vines are constantly growing outwards. Soon, they’ll have exited the perimeters of my bewildering formation. Forget it. We’ll just let them go this time.” “Let them go?” Truekeep’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “Patriarch, if we lose this opportunity, in the future, Dong Ziqi will definitely come together with other Zifu Disciples. Killing him will be even more difficult.” “Fool.” Ninefire sent furiously. “We aren’t trying to annihilate Snowdragon Mountain. What we are trying to do…is to let the Ji clan survive for a longer period of time! The six of us need to endure for as long as we can, to endure until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrives! Once we sign our agreement, then we will have succeeded. Our lives are more important than Dong Ziqi’s life! If we go all out and three of us die so that we eventually kill the two of them…when Snowdragon Mountain comes for revenge, they’ll come with an entire group of Zifu Disciples. By then, how can the remaining people delay for any longer?” Truekeep instantly came to his senses. Killing the enemy was secondary. What really mattered for the Ji clan was to overcome this tribulation. They had to endure and survive until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrived! As for killing the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain, that was a secondary goal. Killing a few extra Zifu Disciples would reduce their future pressure, but if today, they suffered too many losses, then it wouldn’t be worth it. Within the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, Dong Ziqi was feeling taut and nervous as well. As the saying goes, it is hard for a pair of hands to fight off two pairs. He was faced with the attacks of six Zifu Disciples, each of which was displaying numerous techniques which filled the skies. Just now, he had just barely blocked the attacks of these six. If the Ji clan’s forces were to use forbidden arts to go all out…he would be in great danger as well. “Even if I die, I’ll drag them down with me.” Dong Ziqi’s eyes flashed with wildness. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Seated in the lotus position, the ashen-faced Muse suddenly opened his eyes, a look of wild joy within them. “My vines have already extended to beyond the bewildering formation.” Ziqi was stunned, and then he was overjoyed as well. “We can leave?” If he could live, of course he would rather live than fight to the death. “I can sense the location of that vine. By following my senses, we can charge straight out.” Muse hurriedly rose to his feet. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, control the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. We’re going to leave.” A green leaf appeared out of nowhere. The green leaf extended to the size of multiple meters, and Muse and Ziqi stepped atop the leaf. Around them, those eight bloody dragons continued to swim about. Clearly Ziqi was continuously maintaining the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. “Let’s go.” Swoosh! The green leaf began to fly in a strange, zig-zagging manner, occasionally advancing, then retreating, then turning, then retreating, then retreating, then advancing…the movements were completely bizarre. But in truth, this was caused by the disruptions to their sense of direction within the formation. Although it seemed as though they were constantly changing directions, in truth, they were moving towards the outside this entire time. Whoosh… Standing atop the leaf, Muse and Ziqi suddenly saw the desolate mountain forests outside. “We’re out.” “We’re out. We made it out.” Ziqi and Muse both had looks of surprise and joy on their faces. They had been trapped within the bewildering formation and unable to escape, giving their enemies complete control over what to do. That was indeed quite torturous. Now that they had escaped, they naturally felt incomparably jubilant. “Ji clan!” Ziqi gritted his teeth. Muse’s face was sinister as well. “Three of my fellow disciples have died miserable deaths here. How can we not avenge this great enmity?” “Ji clan!” Dong Ziqi’s voice echoed for hundreds of kilometers. “Just wait for your clan to be annihilated!” Swoosh! A green leaf instantly slashed through the skies, quickly disappearing into the horizon. And as it did, six figures walked out from within the bewildering formation. It was Ninefire and the other five. Ninefire turned to look towards the distant, desolate mountain forests, and he spied several figures 646 from afar. Ninefire said in a booming voice, “Riverbank clan, Kou clan, Blackfire Sect…” As soon as he spoke, one figure after another flew over at high speed. “Forgive us for being unable to assist.” “Brother Ninefire, it wasn’t appropriate for us to intervene.” One mental voice after another was sent over. And then, those figures mounted on their magic treasures and flew away, departing. All of the Zifu Disciples of the various powers in the Swallow Mountain region had been drawn here by those earlier elemental waves of energy. Although they weren’t able to see the battle between the Ji clan and Snowdragon Mountain, they were able to guess what had happened. In particular, upon hearing Dong Ziqi’s final, angry words, they could tell what those words had implied. “Alas.” Watching as those figures left, Ninefire shook his head. “This elemental ore mine has major implications. It will definitely draw the attention of even more Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. No wonder the Blackfire Sect, the Riverbank clan, and the Kou clan weren’t willing to interfere.” In the Swallow Mountain region, the Ji clan, the Blackfire Sect, the Riverbank clan, and the Kou clan were allied with each other, and they jointly resisted Snowdragon Mountain and the Ironwood clan. But what they jointly resisted was the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain! But this elemental ore mine…soon, the Zifu Disciples of the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect would come to attack Swallow Mountain, and when that happened, for them to annihilate the Blackfire Sect, Riverbank clan, and Kou clan would be simplicity itself. Of course they didn’t dare interfere. No matter how great the benefits might be, they still wouldn’t dare to intervene. “Patriarch, what should we do now?” Truekeep spoke out. Ning and the others turned to look at their Patriarch. Ninefire said slowly, “This time, the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain has suffered severe losses. Three of their Zifu Disciples are dead. They will definitely invite their comrades from throughout the region to have them hurry over here. Given the allure of this elemental ore mine, there will be a large group of Zifu Disciples who will attack Swallow Mountain.” Ning and the others all nodded. “They will definitely invite those nearest Swallow Mountain. Given the speed of Zifu Disciples, they’ll probably arrive in just a day or two.” Ninefire said. “We have two options.” “The first option.” 647 “We can hide.” Ninefire said. “We can make it so that the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain are unable to find it. We only need to hide for a few days, and wait for the Angel arrives to sign a transfer agreement with us. This is a fairly safe route…but it will thrust the countless clansmen of our Ji clan into mortal danger.” “The Zifu Disciples will be here soon, within just a day or two. In just a short day or two, the hundreds of thousands of tribesmen and clansmen belonging to our Ji clan won’t be able to make it far.” Ji Ninefire sighed. “When the group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain find that they are unable to locate us, to give vent to their rage, they will massacre our clansmen, or perhaps seize them and sell them off as slaves. This is normal.” The faces of Ning and the others all changed. Hundreds of thousands of their compatriots! “The second option.” Ninefire said. “We publicly state that we will be in a certain location, and that we will set up a formation there. We publicly declare…that Snowdragon Mountain can come and kill us there, if they are able to.” “Snowdragon Mountain is a major sect. Sects like them care deeply about their reputation. If we publicly set up this formation, once their Zifu Disciples come, they will definitely attack the formation full force in an attempt to break it. They won’t lower themselves to go slaughter a group of mortals. If they did so, once the word spread, this would be a great stain on Snowdragon Mountain’s reputation. But if we hide, resulting in them being unable to find the ‘culprits’, they will definitely massacre the people of the Ji clan, so as to demonstrate how the supremacy of Snowdragon Mountain is not to be challenged. Ning and the others all nodded. Right. Major sects cared about their reputation! If they hid, then those Zifu Disciples would use the excuse of wanting to demonstrate how the supremacy of their sect was not to be challenged, and go massacre the members of the Ji clan, so as to warn others. But if the Ji clan’s experts stood out and openly proclaimed they would be at a certain location within a formation, then the enemies would no longer be able to go act against those ordinary mortals. “Everyone, speak. What choice should we make?” Ninefire looked at his clansmen. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Misty fog coiling about, Ji Ning just stood there, looking at his five elders. The Patriarch, his father, and the others were all very calm. Clearly, they had already made their decision. “I am the Patriarch.” Ji NInefire said very calmly. “For the sake of the Ji clansmen. For the sake of the Ji clan’s reputation! I will stand out and welcome this battle with Snowdragon Mountain!” Granny Shadow said in her hoarse voice, “I’ve lived nearly four hundred years. Can it be that I, Ji Shadow, am going to hide so as to live for a few more years while watching my clansmen fall into danger? In addition, I feel very happy that I’ll be able to face death with my elder brother.” “Wherever my mistress is, I shall be there.” The old servant, Ah Xing, actually spoke out, a rare event indeed. “It’s enough for we three old fellows to be there.” Ninefire smiled. “Patriarch!” Truekeep spoke out. “I know the limits of my own talent. Even amongst the Zifu Disciples of the Ji clan, I am only average. It’s virtually impossible for me to become a Wanxiang Adept! This battle…is the most critical battle which will determine the fate of my Ji clan. I cannot hide from it.” Yichuan smiled as well. “Patriarch, you know my situation as well. My Immortal path is shattered. I don’t want to die a silent, meaningless death. I must participate in this battle.” “The two of you…” Ninefire shook his head. Ning, hearing this, was stunned. His Immortal path was shattered? Didn’t his father always say that his heart was focused on following the Immortal path? Why did that change? “Father, you said your Immortal path is shattered?” Ning stared at his father in disbelief. Yichuan looked at his son, a rather complicated look on his face. “Actually, while adventuring in the Darknorth Sea, I had already broken through to the Zifu Disciple level. Afterwards, when your mother became pregnant with you, I had already reached to the middle Zifu level. I led your mother, wanting to return to Swallow Mountain, but your maternal uncle was worried, so he escorted us back.” Ning listened intently. He knew that a calamity had occurred on the way back. “Afterwards, we met with a disaster.” Yichuan said. “Your mother was badly injured, but your Uncle White led you back. Your uncle and I both executed forbidden arts, using all our might to delay the enemy! During that battle, your uncle died while I was badly injured. Because I used a forbidden art for too long a period of time, the damage done to my Zifu Violet Palace was too great, and my Violet Palace became warped and atrophied, unable to expand again in the future. In other words, it is impossible for me to increase my power. I will forever remain a mid-level Zifu Disciple.” “Because of the atrophication of my Zifu, I’m only able to draw out a hint of the ki energy within my Zifu.” Yichuan shook his head. “There’s no way I can ride on a magic treasure with just that tiny strand of Ki! Thus, I focus on my swordplay, with that strand of ki being the foundation of it. I draw forth the power of the world with every single blow of sword light.” “But of course.” Yichuan said somberly. “I can still use a forbidden art one more time, forcibly drawing out a large amount of ki energy from within my Zifu. But given how my Zifu is already warped…there’s no need to repeat what I said earlier. Once I use a forbidden art, most likely within one hour, my Zifu will completely shatter, and I will be transformed into a cripple. In other words…I, your father, can only be a Zifu Disciple for one more time. After one last bout of glory, I will become a cripple.” Ning was stunned. No wonder his father’s swordplay was so powerful! No wonder his father never rode on a ranked magic treasure! “My Immortal path is shattered. I only have one opportunity to use this forbidden art again.” Yichuan looked at his son. “Previously, I was keeping this opportunity in abeyance for you. I wanted to protect you. I wanted you to hold on to my jade sword, and upon encountering any danger, you would shatter that jade sword, and I would immediately hurry over to you. Even if you encountered a Zifu Disciple, I would have the power to rescue you. For the sake of my son, it would have been worth it.” Ning’s heart was trembling. So the truth was… So the truth was, his father had been planning on this. “But you no longer need my protection.” Yichuan smiled. “Your mother is dead as well. My Immortal path is shattered. And you are an adult, now. I have nothing holding me back. I will not retreat, this time. This will be the last battle I shall ever fight, and it will also be the most glorious battle of my life. If I die, I would rather die in this battle, die for the sake of the Ji clan!” Ning stared at his father, at his father’s smile. His father rarely smiled, but the smile on his father’s face was a very relaxed one. Although Ning felt bitter pain in his heart, he didn’t try to dissuade his father. ……. Of the six, five of the elders were preparing to do battle. “I…” Just as Ning spoke out. Ninefire barked, “It’s one thing for us to go risk our lives, but you, Ji Ning! You are the hope of our Ji clan! Your talent is something which our clan has never given birth to before! You must continue to live!” “Patriarch, I know what you mean.” Ning shook his head. “But I am not willing to hide and just watch as you risk your lives. I am not willing!” “You…” Ninefire said, enraged. “But Patriarch, don’t worry. I’m not a brash and mindless brute. If I see that the situation is unsalvageable, I will immediately leave and save my own life.” Ning looked at the Patriarch. “I have a Traceless Talisman. I imagine, Patriarch, you know how powerful the Traceless Talisman is. Once I activate it, I will instantly be able to travel to a distance of up to ten thousand kilometers.” Ever since his mother had died, his father had given the Traceless Talisman to Ning. Ninefire was stunned. The Traceless Talisman? Of course he knew that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had this treasure. He had once desired it, but the Ji clan had its rules which no one could violate. “Since that’s the case.” Ninefire nodded. “Fine. You can come along with us. But if the situation grows unsalvageable, you must immediately leave.” And thus, right here, within the desolate mountain forest filled with the fog of the bewildering formation, the six members of the Ji clan made their decision. Together, they would battle against Snowdragon Mountain. “There are only six of us.” Ninefire was actually filled with a boundless martial spirit. “As for Snowdragon Mountain, after their Swallow Mountain branch suffered such a loss, they will definitely invite some of their fellow disciples from the surrounding branches to come. By then, an entire group of Zifu Disciples will attack us en masse, and perhaps even a Wanxiang Adept might come as well! Fighting them head on is idiocy. What we need to do is to delay. Thus, we must set up multiple layers of formations.” “Right. Formations. Patriarch, you are the most skilled amongst us in formations.” Truekeep was filled with anticipation as well.” “I will set up multiple layers of large formations.” Ninefire looked towards the other five. “Leave the formation setting to me. What the rest of you need to do is come up with ideas to improve your own fighting abilities, such as perhaps using some of the supreme guardian treasures of your respective prefectures…” 651 Everyone nodded. “Also!” Ninefire lowered his head, looking into the ground. “Beneath this desolate wilderness, in an area with a circumference of thousands of kilometers, there lies hidden an enormous elemental ore mine! But the strange thing is, prior to this, nobody had ever discovered it. The vein is very close to the surface, yet nobody discovered it. In addition, previously, there had been such a powerful, forceful elemental energy wave.” “Right.” Ning nodded as well. Indeed. It had been the elemental energy ripple that had attracted their attention to this place. It was very bizarre. “Perhaps a strange, incredible treasure has just entered the world.” Ninefire said. “The elemental energy ripple that came prior to this could have been created by the emergence of this unique treasure, which might have caused the surrounding area to transform into an elemental ore mine.” “Or perhaps an Immortal was training here. When Immortals train, the amount of elemental energy they consume is as vast as an ocean.” Ninefire sighed. “If they train for a long period of time, an elemental ore mine will naturally form.” Granny Shadow frowned. “Elder Brother, are you saying…?” Ning and the others all looked at Ninefire. “I am guessing.” Ninefire’s eyes held a hint of desire. “That this elemental ore mine must have a secret behind its origins. Perhaps it has some treasures within, or some precious items left behind by an Immortal! Even items casually discarded by an Immortal…are enough to allow our Ji clan’s power to increase greatly.” “Patriarch, are you suggesting…?” Truekeep grew excited as well. “Treasures?” Yichuan and the others all stared towards the ground. Ninefire nodded. “Let’s dig into the ground and do an investigation. Perhaps we might find something.” “Right.” “Let’s go.” Each of them felt that the words of the Patriarch were reasonable. That elemental energy ripple from earlier had indeed been bizarre, and it was also strange that this elemental ore mine had never been discovered. Perhaps some treasure was hidden within. “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “That protective lotus technique of yours seems to dig very quickly. It’ll be up to you. We’ll follow from behind you.” Ning nodded. “Fine. I’ll begin, then.” …….. Rumblerumblerumble… Ning controlled his Waterflame Lotus, making it swivel through the ground, constantly digging deeper into it. Those elemental stones were easily broken through, carving out a tunnel. Ning moved quickly and constantly, digging deeper and deeper, while Ninefire and the rest of the five were behind him. “His speed is so fast.” Truekeep sighed in amazement, following from behind. “When we started digging, we were fast as well, but after exhausting a large amount of our Ki, we had to begin to slow down. But Ji Ning is completely relying on borrowing the power of nature.” Ninefire had already been able to see through Ning’s Waterflame Lotus, and that it was formed from natural power. They continued to go deeper. “Ji Ning, wherever the quality of the elemental ore is the finest, that is where you should dig.” Ninefire said. “If there are any treasures present, they should be located at wherever the elemental energy is the strongest.” Ning nodded. He had noticed as well…that different areas had different quality elemental stones. Some places only had low-grade elemental stones, while other places had quite a bit of high-grade elemental stones. “Rumblerumblerumble…” The Waterflame Lotus drilled down, like a giant dragon swimming through the underground ore deposit, constantly boring in the direction of high-grade stones. After an hour… “The majority of stones here are high-grade stones. You can pick them out with ease.” “This is a precious location.” “So many high-grade elemental stones.” Although they knew all along that this was a rich vein, they hadn’t imagined that this elemental ore mine would actually have a location within it with such an abundance of high-grade elemental stones. “Bang!” Suddenly, an explosive sound. Ning came to a sudden halt, causing Ninefire and the other four behind Ning to come to a startled halt as well. “What is it?” Ninefire asked hurriedly. “In front of me, there is a very tough, unyielding stone. My Waterflame Lotus is actually unable to drill through.” Ning said, puzzled. The power of his Waterflame Lotus was now tremendous, and generally speaking, even forged weapons would be shattered by it, to say nothing of rocks. “It really is strange.” Rumblerumblerumble… The Waterflame Lotus quickly swept away the nearby stones, allowing Ning to get a good luck at what was in front of him; a very flat, rocky surface. “This is…?” Ning was puzzled. Ninefire, Yichuan, and the others were puzzled as well. Ning continued to control his Waterflame Lotus to scatter aside the surrounding elemental stones…and soon, what appeared before their eyes was part of an enormous stone room, with a door in front of it. “This…this…” “This is a stone room! Manmade! Even Ji Ning’s Waterflame Lotus is unable to break through it. This is no ordinary stone room; it must have been left behind by an Immortal.” The members of the Ji clan all revealed looks of wild joy on their faces. Deep within the ground, more than a hundred kilometers down, in the heart of this elemental ore mine, they had discovered a stone room. Who amongst them would believe that it was a common room? “Ji Ning, don’t go too close. Beware of restrictive spells.” Ninefire said. “Keep away from it, and control your magic treasures to open the stone door at a distance.” “Right.” Ning nodded. All of them hurriedly retreated, while Ning directly controlled a sword-type magic treasure, sending it flying outwards and pushing at the stone door. Rumble…the stone door slowly turned, revealing an entrance. Instantly, an incomparably thick surge of elemental essence spurted out from within that stone room, causing Ning and the rest of them to feel incredibly comfortable. “There must be Immortal treasures within.” Ninefire called out frantically. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dense elemental aura caused Ning to take a deep breath. He could feel the Xiantian ki in his dantian rumble as it continuously grew. “What pure, dense elemental energy. The elemental energy released just by opening the door to this stone room is already so dense…then what about inside the room?” “Don’t go in rashly. There might be danger within.” Ji Ninefire hurriedly warned. “I’ll release a bug to go investigate inside.” Ninefire opened his mouth, and a black wasp immediately flew out, quickly flying through the stone door and darting into the stone room. After a span of time of ten breaths, the black wasp flew back out, and Ninefire swallowed it once more into his body. “How is it?” Each of them looked at Patriarch Ninefire, who just laughed. “I’ve finished my investigation. There’s no danger at all within. Come, let’s go take a look! You follow behind me. Even if there are dangers hidden within the stone room that I could not detect, I will be the first to die. Ji Ning, you walk in the very back!” “Right. Ji Ning needs to stay in the back.” Each of them looked towards Ning. There was nothing Ning could do. He didn’t argue, instead just docilely following from behind. Ninefire and Granny Shadow were in the very front, and as soon as they entered, the sound of their delighted, amazed cries rang out. “What a treasure! What a treasure!” “This place definitely was a place where an Immortal trained. Definitely!” Ning, hearing this, had an itchy feeling in his heart. What exactly was inside? “You can all come in. I’ve swept it with my Ki. There’s no danger.” Ninefire said. Immediately, everyone entered, and even Ning hurriedly followed them inside. “What thick elemental energy.” This was the first thing Ning sensed when he entered; that there was an incomparably dense, natural elemental energy in this place, causing all of the pores of his body to swell open and welcome it, absorbing as much of it as they could. The entire room seemed to be filled with a visible, verdant aura off life energy. This was a natural color which would appear once natural elemental energy reached a certain density. “Ji Ning, shut the stone door. Don’t let this elemental energy leak out. This stone room is rather special. Once the door is shut, the elemental energy won’t leak out.” Ninefire said. “Yes.” Ning understood this as well. Prior to this, it was only when he had pushed the stone door open that the elemental energy had leaked out. Rumble…the stone door shut. Ning looked curiously in detail at his surroundings. This room was thirty meters in diameter. There was even a door nearby; there should be other rooms within as well. “Look.” Ninefire pointed at a large pool, which was filled with a layer of thin green liquid. The green liquid was slowly swirling, filled with boundless life energy. The reason why the air here was emanating that incomparably dense elemental energy was because the liquid was releasing it into the air. “I am absolutely certain.” Ninefire said confidently. “That it definitely was an Immortal in training who caused this elemental ore mine to be formed. He intentionally set down a formation to summon a boundless amount of natural elemental energy from the surrounding area. After many years of accumulated energy, the elemental ore mine was formed. But to an Immortal, what is necessary isn’t elemental stones, but rather, this…” Ninefire pointed at the water pool filled with the layer of green liquid, incomparably certain. “Liquefied elemental essence! This is the true essence of natural elemental energy, extremely pure liquefied elemental essence!” Ning and the others held their breaths. Liquefied elemental essence? If one described the elemental energy contained within high-grade elemental stones as ‘very pure’ and as being not very burdensome to the body, and capable of increasing training speed tenfold, then liquefied elemental essence…was the purest form of elemental essence, which place no strain on the body whatsoever. One could completely absorb and convert it within a short period of time. For example, some Immortals, after being reincarnated, would lose their memories and become ordinary mortals. Once they regained their memories, however, based on the insights they had gained into the heavenly Dao, as well as the power of their souls, they could for example obtain and make use of a legendary ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’, which contained an ocean’s worth of elemental energy, and which also placed no burden on the body, allowing one to quickly absorb it all within a short period of time. Once a reincarnated Immortal regained his memory and swallowed a ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’, then just by relying on the natural elemental energy contained within the pill…he would be able to once again become an Immortal within a single day! To improve in one’s training? Strengthen one’s soul! One’s level of understanding! One’s techniques! Elemental energy! Not a single one of these four could be lacking! As for reincarnated Immortals, it was because they possessed the first three already, which was why they could rely on a single ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’ to instantly become an Immortal. If they didn’t have the Nine Cycles Golden Pill, even reincarnated Immortals would have to slowly, step by step train and rise in power. As for ordinary mortals, if they swallowed a ‘Nine Cycles Golden Pill’, they would be instantly exploded by the sea of elemental energy the pill contained! The Nine Cycles Golden Pill…was the stuff of legends. But Ning had read about liquefied elemental essence in books before. Liquefied elemental essence, in sufficient quantities, could be comparable to a Nine Cycles Golden Pill. “The Immortal who trained here…” Ninefire said excitedly. “He definitely had accumulated a large amount of liquefied elemental essence here. Because of his training, he had already used up the vast majority of it, leaving behind only this thin layer. But even just this thin layer…is perhaps comparable to the entire wealth of our Ji clan. And in addition, even if our Ji clan had the wealth to buy something like this, we still wouldn’t be able to.” Everyone present was excited. They all understood that liquefied elemental essence would allow a person to avoid spending a long period of time in absorbing and refining energy! Thus, it had long ago been monopolized by large sects and large clans. They might gift it to some truly monstrous talents, or some top-tier experts, making it so that they wouldn’t have to waste too much time in slowly refining elemental energy. How could the Ji clan possibly be able to buy something like this?” “Patriarch, with this, will you be able to break through to the Wanxiang Adept stage?” Ning asked hurriedly. “Our Ji clan’s training methods are fairly poor.” Ninefire shook his head. “In theory, I can break through, but in reality, our Ji clan, from past to present, has never produced a single Wanxiang Adept! I’ve trained for nearly four centuries now. If it were possible for me to become a Wanxiang Adept, I would’ve broken through long ago. This liquefied elemental essence is useless to me, or for your Granny Shadow. But for you, Ji Ning, it has quite a bit of use!” “Right. Ji Ning, you are the most suitable person for usig it.” Granny Shadow looked at Ning as well, her eyes filled with expectation. “You are such a genius. In truth, for you to have been born to our Ji clan has resulted in the Ji clan holding you back. You have to waste so much time in slowly accumulating elemental ki energy. If you were born within some top-tier clans, you would train much more quickly than you have thus far.” “Ji Ning, use it.” Yichuan said as well. “Don’t be hesitant and shy. I know exactly what level you are on. In terms of insight, most likely all of us are at least a level bellow you. By relying on this liquefied elemental essence, you absolutely can reach a higher level.” 657 “Right.” Truekeep, Ninefire, and the others all looked eagerly towards Ning. Ning felt a warm feeling in his heart. Such a treasure… And yet, they were all leaving it for him. “Patriarch, I won’t be shy then.” Ning said directly. “I’ll immediately take the liquefied elemental essence and begin to train.” It would be hard for him to break through as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and even if he wanetd to try, he needed the power of the Sun and the Moon…and so, this liquefied elemental essence was more suited for him in training as a Ki Refiner. He had reached the necessary level of insight long ago; he absolutely could establish his Zifu foundation! “Good.” Ninefire and the others were filled with excitement and anticipation. To them, this liquefied elemental essence would only be able to raise their power by a limited amount. But to the most monstrously talented member of the Ji clan, Ji Ning…it would most likely increase his power tremendously. “I’ll go look at the other rooms and see if there’s anything else we can use.” Ninefire said hurriedly. There was the other room nearby. In that room, there was only a stone bed, a stone chair, and a stone table. Nothing else. “It seems this place was just the place where the Immortal shut himself in for training, while this other room was the study where the Immortal would rest and flip through Immortal manuals.” Ninefire said. “The other room is a room where the Immortal actually trained.” “There’s nothing else.” “No other treasures.” Yichuan and the others took a careful look as well, but this stone room just had a primary room and a side room. It was very simple and plain, and one could tell at a glance that there was nothing else here. They used their ki energy to sweep it as well, but couldn’t find any hiding places for treasures. “Let’s go.” Ninefire and the others returned to the main room. They looked at Ning, then instructed, “Ji Ning, you remain here and train. Remember, shut the stone door. There’s a secret mechanism above the door. Once you shut the door, no one outside will be able to open it. We’ll wait aboveground for you.” “Fine.” Ning nodded. Ninefire and the others all quickly left, leaving only Ning behind in the stone room. Ning pushed the door shut, locking it in place. Training was something very important. One had to be very careful. Otherwise, if one was disturbed at an important point during the training, it would be very dangerous. “This time…I should be able to establish my Zifu.” Ning looked at the pool, filled with that spiritual liquefied elemental essence. He didn’t hesitate any further, immediately sitting down next to the pool and immediately activating his [Water Element Art] technique. The [Water Element Art], although a very basic technique, was one in which establishing the Zifu was simple. However, after establishing his Zifu, Ning needed to change to a different type of Ki Refining technique. Otherwise, just by relying on this poor technique, it would be quite difficult for him to become a Wanxiang Adept. In theory, it was possible, but only in theory. As for becoming a Primal Daoist? Even in theory, it was impossible! However, Ning wasn’t impatient. He primarily trained as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, after all. In the future, he would also leave Swallow Mountain. Naturally, he would be able to acquire a higher level technique. “Rumble…” Ning activated the [Water Element Art], and immediately began to absorb the elemental energy nearby. The elemental energy within this stone room was simply too dense, and it constantly condensed into Ki. Ning opened his mouth. Absorb! Immediately, part of the liquefied elemental essence within the pool flew up into the air. Controlled by Ning’s divine will, the essence flew straight into Ning’s mouth and entered his body. As soon as the liquefied elemenetal essence entered his body…it instantly transformed into elemental energy. The incomparably pure elemental energy constantly circulated within his dantian, transforming directly into elemental ki energy. It was successful at a single go! It didn’t place any stress on his body at all. Ning could constantly, unceaselessly continue to absorb and transform this energy. “Rumble…” The green water-type ki in his dantian began to surge about like endless, vast waves, wildly swirling and constantly accumulating! “Again.” Ning once more opened his mouth, drawing some liquefied elemental essence into his body. A massive wave of energy arose within his dantian. His elemental ki energy, which originally needed a long period of time to slowly accumulate, quickly reached a limit. Boundless amounts of elemental energy swirled ferociously in his dantian under great pressure, as though the space in his dantian was too small, unable to contain so much elemental energy. Rumble… 659 Instantly, something happened, like when Pangu split open the primordial chaos and created the heavens and the earth! The chaotic, monocolored dantian suddenly exploded! In the area around Ning, who had been quietly seated in the lotus position by the side of the pool, a large amount of watery mist suddenly arose out of nowhere. In this moment, he could so very clearly sense the ‘Dao’, but soon afterwards, the feeling disappearing. “I established my Zifu! Now that my Zifu is established, I have my foundation for continuing my training as an Immortal practitioner.” Ning said softly to himself. Within his body, in the location where the dantian had previously been. This was now a vast, empty, boundless space. This vast, empty space contained a limitless amount of violet ki which filled it. This strange location, quasi-real and quasi-imaginery, was the Violet Palace! Every single person, upon establishing their Zifu Violet Palace, would have the same thing. However, as to what sort of level a person would be able to train to in the future, that depended on each person’s destiny and techniques. “Absorb!” Ning opened his mouth, and more liquefied elemental essence from the watery pool into Ning’s body like water. The vast, spread-out space with violet ki instantly had the first drop of elemental ki formed from it. Soon, a large amount of ki was constantly coalescing. Within this boundless, empty, illusory void, a small pool began to form, which quickly transformed into a small pond…elemental ki continued to solidify and accumulate, and the size of the pond continued to grow as well… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning was seated next to the pool of water in the lotus position. His aura was like that of savage waves crashing down. He continued to open his mouth, absorbing the liquefied soul essence within the pool, causing that layer of liquefied essence to quickly deplete. But suddenly, Ning shut his mouth. “Whew.” A smile on his face, Ning opened his eyes. He glanced at the green, liquefied soul essence in the pool. “It let me break through as a peak Xiantian expert, allowing me to establish my Zifu, then solidify my base as an early Zifu Disciple. It has saved me at least a year or two of effort. I used up a third of the liquefied essence!” In a short period of time, just long enough to boil a pot of tea, not only had he established his Zifu, he had also solifidied his base. Even Ning, at his astonishing rate of improvement, would have needed a year or two. If I use the remaining two thirds of liquefied essence to train, I might be able to reach the mid-stage as a Zifu Disciple.” Ning understood that since he had already stabilized his base as an early Zifu Disciple, by relying on the remaining liquefied essence, he absolutely had the possibility of breaking through again, but if he really were to rely on the [Water Element Art] to train to the mid-stage as a Zifu Disciple, his future Ki Refining path would become difficult. After all, the [Water Element Art] was a very low-class technique. It was fine to use it to establish a Zifu, because every person’s Zifu was the same. But if Ning was to use it to break through to the middle of the Zifu level? There would be a very negative effective on the purity of his elemental energy. This single wrong step would be something which he would be unable to undo in the future. In the future, it would become ten times or a hundred times more difficult for him to become a Wanxiang Adept. “I’ve already made a large leap forward and become a Zifu Disciple! Even if I break through to become a mid-stage Zifu Disciple, the amount of benefit I would see in terms of power would be limited.” Ning pondered to himself. Leaping to a new level was a qualitative transformation! But a small leap within the same level didn’t have that much of an impact on his power. Xiantian lifeforms could dominate Houtiane experts. Zifu Disciples could dominate Xiantian lifeforms! Even an early Zifu Disciple could still dominate most peak Xiantian lifeforms. This was a qualitative difference. To battle someone at a higher level? Difficult! But if an early Zifu Disciple were to battle a mid-stage Zifu Disciple…it would be hard to say who the victor was. This sort of small gap within the same level didn’t result in huge differences in strength. “Even if I use up the remaining liquid, the amount of power I would gain would be limited, and it would destroy my future path. Not worth it.” With a flip of his hand, Ning made a talisman appear, which had a Fiendgod word on it; ‘Right’. This was the control talisman for the Aquatic Manor. Ning stared at it, an eager light flickering in his eyes. “Although I’ve established my Zifu, and I am confident that if I were to meet Dong Ziqi again, I would be able to suppress him and perhaps even kill him…this time, I will have to face not just Dong Ziqi by himself, but an entire group of Snowdragon Mountain experts.” “I hope this Aquatic Manor…will allow my power to rise to a new level.” “Given that this Aquatic Manor was able to produce the likes of Immortal Juhua, it should be extraordinary.” Ning said eagerly. A drop of green elemental ki passed from his hand into the talisman, quickly binding it. A surge of ancient-feeling power seemed to awaken, causing Ning to feel the desire to worship it from the depths of his heart. “What a fellow.” Ningn stared at the talisman. “I really wonder who the first master of the Aquatic Manor was.” “Let’s go.” Ning immediately arose, while at the same time, with a flip of his hand, he produced a palm-sized jade bottle. This was an unranked magic treasure. Although it was the size of his palm, it was able to contain within it thousands of kilograms of fine wine. Ning had quite a few storage-type magic treasures like this one. For example, when Ning had undergone the Fiendgod Bloodforging process in the Aquatic Manor, he had used one such gourd to contain a thousand kilograms of blood. “Go in.” Ning stared at the liquefied elemental essence in the pool. Summoning his divine will, ripple, ripple…the liquefied essence rose into the air, passing through the neck of the jade bottle. Every single drop was put in, leaving not a single drop remaining. “I wonder which Immortal left behind this stone room.” Ning, before leaving, took a final glance around the room. “It has caused such a calamity to my Ji clan, but it also allowed me to establish my Zifu in advance.” Ning understood in his heart that this wasn’t the fault of that Immortal; if he had to blame someone, he could only blame the Ji clan for being too weak. “Whoosh!” He left the stone room. Ning then used his Waterflame Lotus, which swiveled about him, carving a path straight out from within this elemental ore mine. He quickly charged upwards at a constant pace. Ning knew that it would take some time for him to charge a hundred kilometers upwards, and so two magic treasures appeared in his hands; one was a palm-sized flying boat magic treasure, while the other was a pair of black wing-type magic treasures. The flying boat had belonged to Bei Zishan, while the black wings had belonged to Ju San. They were both ranked magic treasures. “Now that I’ve reached the Zifu level! I am able to use these ranked magic treasures.” Ning understood that when reaching a new level, one benefit was a qualitative improvement to his personal strength, while another benefit was that the type of magic treasures he could use had also risen. These two benefits, combined, made it so that Zifu Disciples could absolutely dominate Xiantian lifeforms. …….. Boom! A petal of the Waterflame Lotus burst forth from the ground, with Ning behind it. “Ji Ning.” In the distance were Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others. They had long since dispersed and recollected the surrounding bewildering formation, and the sight of the desolate mountain forests had returned. Only, in parts of the forest, the traces of the earlier battle could still be seen. “Patriarch. Father.” Ning hurriedly walked over. “You came out quite quickly. We just arrived on the surface not long ago.” Ninefire and the other four walked over, laughing. “Truekeep just emerged moments ago as well.” Ning thought about it. He had been in training for as much time as it takes to brew a pot of tea; the amount of time he had spent boring through the ground had actually been greater than that. The Patriarch and the others had most likely had to spend more time boring through the ground than he did…and so, doing the math, it seemed as though they probably really did emerge at roughly the same time. “Right, Ji Ning.” Ninefire asked. “Prior to this, when you killed Ju San. What magic treasures did you acquire?” “Quite a few.” Ning said. The nearby Grany Shadow explained in detail, “We need to do an accounting of these treasures, to see who they are most useful for. This is the easiest way to put them to good use.” 663 Ning nodded. “Jusan had one flying transportation magic treasure, one storage magic treasure, one protective magic treasure, one magic greataxe, and a pair of magic wings! The magic wings are useful to me, but the others are not.” Ning had already acquired a ranked storage magic treasure, a transportation magic treasure, and a protective magic treasure from Bei Zishan. Thus, only this pair of ranked wing-type magic treasures was useful for him. “What do you need?” Ninefire looked at Ning. “Swords!” Ning said. “I only need ranked flying swords. Other things are useless to me. The more ranked flying swords, the better.” His two sources of combat power were close quarters combat and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. In particular, now that he had established his Zifu, the power of his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had naturally grown only greater. However, if he continued to use unranked swords…his power would most likely only rise by one or two levels. If, however, he was able to completely exchange them for ranked swords, Ning felt that he would probably be able to give even a Wanxiang Adept a good fight. “Ranked flying swords? The more the better?” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing, and Yichuan all repeated softly, then offered one or two flying swords each. “All together, we have five flying swords that we don’t need for now.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “Is it enough?” Ning was rather disappointed. Five? Useless. His [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] required at least nine swords to be used together in order to work and creation a formation base! And nine formations bases were required for each [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] formation! In other words, the smallest unit, the ‘formation base’, required at least nine ranked swords. And, to make his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] truly transform in power, he needed at least eighty one ranked flying swords. Only by using them as the foundation would the power of the other, unranked swords become truly explosive. But of course, the ideal solution would be to only use ranked flying swords… According to Ning’s calculations, if he only used ranked flying swords, he would only be able to use the third level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. But the power of it would be incomparably greater than before! Quality was even more important than quantity! “How many do you need?” Ninefire asked. “I need seven ranked flying swords. The more, the better. If I had several hundred, it would be even better.” Ning laughed. Sword-type magic treasures were very common; Ning had acquired a pair of ranked flying swords from Bei Zishan alone. If they could come up with another seven, then Ning would have nine in total, enough for a single, smallest unit ‘formation base’. With this formation base as the core, the power of the entire [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would double or triple! “Several hundred?” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others were all shocked. However, when they thought back to the scene of Ning utilizing the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], they realized that he did indeed have seven hundred plus flying swords swirling around him. It seemed as though Ning really did indeed need a large number of flying swords. But several hundred ranked magic treasures? Even if the entire Ji clan bankrupted itself, it wouldn’t be able to afford it. “We’ll strive to help you come up with seven more swords.” Ninefire said, then changed the subject. “Snowdragon Mountain will publicize this to their comrades. Most likely, they will come for battle in a day or two. Before this, you can all go back and pick up any treasures that you need or take care of any matters that need addressing. Afterwards, we will regroup here.” “Let’s go.” Swoosh! Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing mounted an enormous wine gourd, quickly disappearing into the horizon, leaving behind only Ning and his father. Ning understood that this was rather like taking care of one’s post-mortem affairs. “Father, will you return to West Prefecture City?” Ning looked at his father. “No. To Serpentwing Lake.” Yichuan shook his head. “I want to visit Little White. The two of us are like brothers who have shared life and death together. No matter what, I have to see him again.” Yichuan had stayed for five years at Serpentwing Lake, and the Whitewater Hound had stayed with him this entire time. “Uncle White?” Ning nodded gently. The Godbeast ‘Whitewater Hound’ had an extremely close relationship Ning’s father. They had adventured together to as far as the Darknorth Sea. The time they had spent together was even longer than the time Ning’s father and mother had spent together. Indeed, they really were lifelong brothers. “Let’s go.” A flying boat appeared beneath Ning’s feet, and Yichuan mounted it as well. Whoosh! The flying boat instantly rose into the air, quickly passing through the skies and into the clouds… 665 Swallow Mountain had a total of ten commandery cities. Snowdragon Mountain had three of them, which were similar to the commandery city the Ji clan controlled, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’. As soon as Dong Ziqi had invaded Swallow Mountain, he had given the name of the city he had taken over the name of ‘Snowdragon City’, so as to let everyone know that this was a branch of Snowdragon Mountain! Although afterwards, they had taken over two more commandery cities, the heart of this branch of Snowdragon Mountain remained in Snowdragon City. “Where are they? Where are the others? In the air above Snowdragon Mountain, three figures stood there atop a flying screen, staring into the distance as a greef leaf hurtled through the air, with Dong Ziqi and Muse standing atop it. “Where are the other three? All dead?” These three figures asked frantically. The three of them were the three other Zifu Disciples of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain. They were of the ‘Ju’ clan and the ‘Dong’ clan. Earlier, the Zifu Disciple belonging to the Ju clan, Ju Nianxiong, had seen that his nephew’s life-talisman had shattered, and so he had hurried over to Snowdragon Mountain. The two elders of the Dong clan were terrified upon hearing this, knowing that something must have gone wrong. But they didn’t expect that not only had Ju San died, even the He siblings had died. “They died. My three fellow disciples all died.” Dong Ziqi gritted his teeth. “It was the Ji clan. They set up a formation early on, then suddenly attacked, causing us to be caught offguard. My three fellow disciples were ganged upon and killed one by one. With the He siblings dead, most likely that official writ was taken away as well. Three commandery cities. They were split up between the Dong clan, the He clan, and the Ju clan. One of the official writs had been carried by the He siblings. “The Ji clan is asking for death!” Ju Nianxiong’s eyes were bloodshot. The nearby Muse said in a cold voice, “This time, due to the elemental ripples, we went to go investigate. We discovered that there was an enormous elemental ore mine within the Ji clan’s territory, with a large number of high-grade elemental stones. The entire quarry has a circumference of four thousand kilometers and a depth of three hundred kilometers. “What!” Nianxiong and the two elders of the Dong clan were badly startled. “The Ji clan wasn’t willing to hand it over, so we ended up in a battle.” Ziqi forced the words out. The shorter of the two elders of the Dong clan howled in a furious voice, “The main sect desperately needs an enormous elemental ore mine such as this! If we offer it to the main sect…this will be a great 666 merit for us. The Ji clan actually dares to oppose Snowdragon Mountain? Then we’ll destroy the Ji clan, we’ll annihilate them all!!!” “Of course we’ll annihilate their clan!” Ziqi’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “But what I fear the most is that the Ji clan will sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty.” The two Dong elders and Ju Nianxiong both paused. If a transfer agreement truly was signed, then even Snowdragon Mountain wouldn’t dare to interfere. Challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty? Did they want to die? “But the Ji clan needs to first make the report, then await the arrival of the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty. It will take at least three days. If we can do our best to delay, we can delay for a period of time.” Ziqi said hurriedly. “So we have to hurry. We have to invite our comrades and have them arrive at Swallow Mountain as fast as possible, so that we can annihilate the Ji clan together.” “Right.” Everyone nodded. The Ji clan had killed three of their Zifu Disciples, leaving them only five. If they went and fought all out, even if the won, most likely most of them would die. No matter how great the merit they rendered would be, they had to be alive to win plaudits for it. “The four of you, go invite the various Snowdragon Mountain branches nearest to us.” Ziqi said. “I myself will head to Swallow Mountain City to meet with the garrison general, and ask him to delay as long as possible.” “Alright.” The four nodded. “Invite a few dozen comrades. By then, with dozens of us together…we will utterly crush and annihilate the Ji clan with ease.” Ziqi said. “There’s virtually no danger when we join together into a group, and everyone will have a share of the glory. Those comrades will definitely come.” “Fine.” “Then we’ll go make a trip.” Soon, the arrangements and travel plans were made. The other four Zifu Disciples headed separately in four different directions to invite their fellow sectmates, while Dong Ziqi headed to Swallow Mountain City. ……….. The vast Serpentwing Lake. A flying boat descended at high speed from the skies, landing at one corner of Brightheart Island. This was the place where Ning’s father lived. The only thing here was a quite, secluded residence. There weren’t even any servants present, just a large, snow-white dog which lay there. The Whitewater Hound suddenly raised his head as the flying boat descended at high speed. “Uncle White.” Ning looked at the Whitewater Hound, feeling a surge of emotion as well. First, Ning knew that this Uncle White and his father were brothers that had fought together and risked their lives together, and that Ning’s mother and Ning himself had both been saved by Uncle White. And second, that year when gone outside of West Prefecture City every day to train archery, it had been Uncle White who had stood guard the entire time. He watched as his father and Uncle White moved towards each other. Although Uncle White was incapable of speech, the master-servant bond allowed spiritual communication at a close distance. Ning quietly left as well. Very shortly. Ning returned to his own residence, entering the quiet room which he used for training. He immediately sealed the room off. Earlier, while flying over Serpentwing Lake, Ning had already sensed the Aquatic Manor! It was just as the old black bull had said; once he bound the control talisman, he would be able to sense and directly enter the Aquatic Manor. “During this battle, I saw that although my power was great, it was still far from being sufficient. I hope that this ancient Aquatic Manor will be useful and be able to improve my power greatly.” Ning was filled with hope and expectations. “Let’s go in.” Ning willed it, and instantly, an enormous illusion of a grizzly head appeared in the quiet room. The enormous grizzly head opened its illusory maw, swallowing Ning with one gulp. Ning disappeared from within the quiet room. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Manor The tall, wide, ancient hall was the same as it had been for countless years. Many enormous prayer mats were placed throughout the hall, and an old black ox had appeared, smiling as he looked at the suddenly arrived Ji Ning. “The main hall.” Ning looked at the great hall. “Congratulations.” The old black bull walked over, filled with joy. “It’s only been a few years, but you’ve already reached the Zifu level. It was faster than I anticipated.” Ning was still worrying about the impending arrival of a large group of experts from Snowdragon Mountain, and so he said without too much joy, “I was simply lucky.” “The fact that you made it through those three trials earlier wasn’t a matter of luck.” The old black bull sighed. “You bound the control talisman…and you are now able to go to the most important places within the Aquatic Manor. With access to these places, you will now have the capital to truly rise to sudden prominence. Ji Ning, I feel as though I can already see into the future, with you as being one of the supreme experts of the Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning was stunned. He hadn’t imagined that this old black bull, the spirit of a magic treasure, would be so good at flattery. “I’m not lying.” The old black bull said. “Immortal Juhua’s decision to accept a disciple caused countless people throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty to go wild. If they knew that Immortal Juhua was merely the third master of this Aquatic Manor, most likely, a true storm would have erupted in the world.” “What exactly is so special about this Aquatic Manor?” Ning hurriedly asked. What he cared the most about was if this Aquatic Manor would be able to increase his power or not, and if he would be able to have a greater chance of success in the upcoming battle. “The Aquatic Manor has many secrets.” The old black bull said. “Immortal Juhua and I stayed here for a very long time. If my predictions are correct…this manor should have been designed for training future generations of Fiendgods.” “Training future generations of Fiendgods?” Ning was stunned. “Right.” The old black bull nodded his large head. “The first master of this Aquatic Manor should have been an extremely powerful Fiendgod! Just look at the prayer mats throughout the main hall, and you will 669 understand…originally, quite a few Fiendgods would have sat here, waiting for his command and listening to him expound on the correct way of training.” Ning stared at the enormous nearby prayer mats, as well as that solitary prayer mat seated at the front of the hall. He nodded gently. “The first master’s method for accepting disciples was through two corridors; one for Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiners, while the other was for Zifu-level Fiendgod Body Refiners.” The old black bull said. “Ordinary Fiendgod practitioners wouldn’t suffice. Only those whose bodies had transformed and become like the bodies of Fiendgods would qualify. Wouldn’t this be, essentially, true Fiendgods?” Ning nodded. His own body had been birthed from fire and water that had descended from the heavens. He did indeed have the body of a Xiantian Fiendgod. “In addition, clearly the various halls of the Aquatic Manor are meant for cultivating later Fiendgods.” The old black bull said. “Unfortunately, the path of Fiendgods is simply too difficult. Although Immortal Juhua originally started on the path of Fiendgod Body Refining as well, slowly, that path became more and more difficult for him. He advanced more rapidly as a Ki Refiner, but in the end, he failed his tribulation and became a Loose Immortal.” Ning understood. For example, although he himself focused almost all of his effort on training as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he had first established his Zifu as a Ki Refiner! Ki Refining was simple. Body Refining was hard. Perhaps in the future, he would become an Earth Immortal as a Ki Refiner while he was only at the Primordial Daoist level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner…or even just a Wanxiang Adept! Perhaps he, too, would face the tribulation as a Ki Refiner, and end up failing and becoming a Loose Immortal…it was completely possible that he would end up tracing the path of Immortal Juhua.” “Let me give you a warning.” The old black bull looked at Ning. “This is what Immortal Juhua once said to his disciple, Rampart.” “Please speak.” Ning immediately said. “This Aquatic Manor is meant for cultivating Fiendgods. Thus, do your best to walk the path of the Fiendgods.” The old black bull said. “Even if you are at the very verge of the Void stage and becoming an Earth Immortal, Ji Ning, you should halt your training in Ki. No matter what, do not go face the tribulation! Work hard as a Fiendgod Body Refiner and undergo the tribulation as a Fiendgod first.” Ning frowned. “According to the hypotheses of Immortal Juhua, the farther along you go on the path of the Fiendgods, the greater assistance this Aquatic Manor will be for you. Immortal Juhua sensed that this Aquatic Manor had some secrets he still didn’t know! They should have been secrets passed down by the first master…but unfortunately, Immortal Juhua was unable to divine them.” The old black bull said. “Thank you, senior, for your warning. Ji Ning will remember it.” Ning said hurriedly. “The first owner possessed incredible, divine powers, and he far eclipsed Immortal Juhua.” The old black bull said. “Wait until you go to the Stellar Hall. Then you will understand.” “Stellar Hall?” Ning was puzzled. Suddenly… An illusion suddenly began to form in empty space. It quickly solidified into a tall, powerful bear. The bear’s entire body was covered with yellow fur, and it was staring towards Ning…and as it did, Ning felt as though it was a sort of eternal, ancient existence. This was the same feeling he had when he visualized the painting of Maiden Nuwa in his mind. No matter how much time passed, it would be eternally present! This was the feeling that the giant bear gave Ning; only, the feeling was murkier, not as powerful as the one which the Nuwa Painting gave him. “Elder Brother.” The old black bull hurriedly lowered his face and called out. Ning could sense the bull’s mouth trembling, and the old black bull hurriedly said to Ning, “This is the spirit of the aquatic manor.” “The spirit of the manor?” Ning sensed how the head of this enormous bear before him…seemed very similar to the giant illusion of a bear head which transported him here. “Ji Ning greets you, senior.” Ning said respectfully. The giant yellow bear glanced at him. “Yet another who reached the Zifu level as a Ki Refiner first. You train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique in the world. You possess a strong Fiendgod lineage. Work hard as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Don’t waste your natural talent and potential.” “Yes.” Ning could feel the invisible aura emanating forward from the giant yellow bear. That ancient, eternal presence alone…made Ning feel as though this wasn’t something which ordinary practitioners would be capable of. The fact that the spirit of the manor was capable of teleporting people was, in an of itself, incredible and mysterious. Immortal Juhua was an expert during the latter stages of the Fiendgod Era. And the spirit of the manor? It had followed the very first master. How ancient was it? How powerful was it? It was best to be humble when facing it. “Follow me.” The giant yellow bear walked in front. “Hurry, follow.” The old black bull urged, hurriedly following as well. Ning followed from behind as the giant yellow bear led the way, into a corridor on the right side of the main hall that was three thousand meters tall. The giant yellow bear said while walking, “After having bound the control talisman, you can be considered a master-in-training. Aside from the main hall, you can also enter this corridor, which had four major secondary halls. These four major secondary halls are open to you…but of course, right now, you are limited to them. If you want to enter more halls, you’ll have to become a Primordial Daoist.” Ning understood. Becoming a Zifu Disciple and binding the control talisman was only the first step. Becoming a Primordial Daoist and binding the entire estate was just the second step. Most likely, even the second step would be just a simple binding, allowing one to carry it with him at all times. Most likely, the Aquatic Manor still would not be under complete control, as otherwise, Immortal Juhua wouldn’t have said that he suspected there were more mysteries within. “Look.” The giant yellow bear pointed into the distance. An ancient, azure bronze gate was there, which was open. Ning hurriedly walked over, looking through the bronze gate…. Wow. Ning’s eyes were round He saw an enormous hall past the gate, in the middle of which floated one magic treasure after another, each of them emanating a powerful, ancient aura. Ning saw a large warhammer which glittered with tricolored light that made Ning’s heart pound frantically just staring at it, as though it were about to explode. There were also four formation flags of different colors. When he looked at it, he felt as though he was being drawn into a boundless separate world. “This is the Treasure Hall, one of the four major secondary halls you can currently enter.” The giant yellow bear said. “The Treasure Hall is the place where Master stored his countless treasures, ranging from unique mortal items to items from the time of Primordial Chaos, when Pangu split the heavens and created the universe. Master set down a rule for all of these treasures; as long as you can satisfy the requirements the Master set down, you can acquire them.” Ning held his breath. Items of Primordial Chaos, from when Pangu split the heavens? What were they? But Ning knew that Fiendgods were naturally birthed from the heavens, and that after Pang split the heavens, there were many Fiendgods. Now, it seemed as though this Aquatic Manor truly had been left behind by an extremely ancient, powerful Fiendgod. “What do I need to do to acquire these treasures? What are the requirements?” Ning asked. “After you enter the Treasure Hall and slowly look through it, you’ll see the rules which Master left behind.” The giant yellow bear said. Ning nodded slightly. The first master had created the two corridors that had to be traversed for future disciples to be accepted. The rules of the Treasure Hall were also set by the first master…clearly, the first master had the greatest influence on the Aquatic Manor, while Immortal Juhua was just a passerby. “Continue walking.” The giant yellow bear said while walking. “The next secondary hall…is the Divine Abilities Hall that you are now able to enter.” “Divine Abilities Hall?” Ning was stunned. Divine abilities? He had only acquired a single divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion]. Ning knew exactly how precious divine abilities were. They weren’t things which just anyone could acquire. “Here we are.” After having walked momentarily, the giant yellow bear pointed to another nearby giant bronze door. That ancient bronze door had a single bronze palm above it, and the palm emanated boundless might, carrying the power to seal the heavens and block out the sun. “This is the Divine Abilities Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. “Only Fiendgods who fulfill two requirements are allowed to enter. The first is that the Fiendgod Body Refiner reaches the level of BloodDrop Rebirth. The second is that it must be done within ten years; at most, ten years.” Ning was stunned. Blood-Drop Rebirth? That meant being at the Zifu-level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. He hadn’t reached that yet. Ten years? He was already more than ten years old. “In the past, Immortal Juhua was more than ten years old, so he wasn’t permitted to enter the Divine Abilities Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. “If he had been able to enter it, Immortal Juhua probably would’ve been able to walk a longer path and his power should have been even greater. Perhaps…he wouldn’t have ended up becoming a Loose Immortal.” The giant yellow bear was clearly rather sentimental towards Immortal Juhua, who had controlled the estate for millions of years, after all. The old black bull sighed as well. “My master always felt regret for the fact that he wasn’t able to enter the Divine Abilities Hall. Every single one of these four secondary halls are important. Master was able to enter the other three, but he wasn’t able to enter this Divine Abilities Hall, and when he passed through the challenge corridors, he was more than ten years old.” Ning felt bitterness in his heart. No matter how you calculated it, he was more than ten years old! Could it be that he, too, had lost the chance to enter the Divine Abilities Hall? “Fortunately, you are lucky. You are only five years old.” The giant yellow bear glanced at Ning. “Five years old?” Ning stared. The old black bull understood what Ning was thinking. “Fiendgods are born at the Xiantian level. You are indeed only five years old.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The age referred to age as Fiendgods reckoned it; true Fiendgods were nurtured by the natural world and born as Xiantian lifeforms. As for Ning, when he was eleven years old, celestial fire and water had descended, nurturing his body and transforming it into a Fiendgod’s body, just like a normal Fiendgod who had just been birthed. And now he was sixteen…as Fiendgods reckoned it, Ning was indeed only five. “To be able to establish a Zifu within ten years will be proof of your potential.” The giant yellow bear looked at the towering bronze gate, a complicated look in his eyes. “Only then will you be able to enter the Divine Abilities Hall…within the Divine Abilities Hall is a test which Master left behind. If you pass, you will be able to acquire an extremely powerful divine ability which Master left behind.” “Remember; you only have a single chance to enter the Divine Abilities Hall.” The giant yellow bear looked towards Ning. “Thus, the more powerful you are, the greater your chance will be. It is best if you enter it at ten years of age; otherwise, if you fail, you won’t be able to acquire a divine ability. After all, it is a trial; it does hold some danger, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll lose even your own life.” Ning asked with curiosity, “What divine abilities are held within the Divine Abilities Hall?” The giant yellow bear looked towards Ning, then said calmly, “After having passed the trials, you’ll know. And if you don’t make it through? You won’t be qualified to know.” “Come. Let’s go to the next hall.” The giant yellow bear continued forward. Ning looked at the single palm above the giant bronze door, radiating that inexhaustible, majestic presence. Divine Abilities Hall? His Fiendgod body had yet to reach the Zifu level. There was no point thinking about it for now. ……… The giant yellow bear was in front of them, in this ancient corridor, with the old black bull by his side and Ning walking behind them. “This secondary hall.” The giant yellow bear looked towards a towering bronze door that was shut. This bronze door had an axe and a spear carved onto it, and a killing aura emanated from it. The bronze door itself had a bloody red light glowing from it, causing Ning to unconsciously feel fear in his heart. “This is the Wargod Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. “This is the most dangerous place in the entire Aquatic Manor, but a place filled with opportunity.” 675 The most dangerous? Filled with opportunity? Ning was curious. “Continue looking.” The giant yellow bear didn’t waste words, immediately walking forward. ……… From far away, the distant sound of flowing water could faintly be heard. Ning looked with curiosity towards the already opened wooden door. The wooden door was open, and through it, flowing water could be seen, along with some boulders as well as some lonely straw huts. “This is the Stellar Hall.” The giant yellow bear stood in front of the hall, staring into the vast, boundless space within. “Everything within the Stellar Hall was personally laid out by Master. When living within the Stellar Hall, one can even sense the wondrous mysteries of the Dao.” The nearby old black bull also said excitedly, “Ji Ning, Immortal Juhua had a lifespan of millions of years, precisely because of this Stellar Hall. The wondrous mysteries of the Dao fill every single part of this Stellar Hall, and it even has multiple complete ‘Daos’…Immortal Juhua had the Stellar Hall, which is why he was at such a high level of understanding, allowing him to withstand so many tribulations and living millions of years. “Multiple complete Daos?” Ning was rather puzzled. “I’ve told you everything already.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “The places you are now granted entrance into are the main hall, this corridor, and these four major secondary halls. You are not permitted entry into the other parts, nor would you be able to enter if you wanted to. Act appropriately. I hope you’ll be able to live to become a Primordial Daoist.” Whoosh. The giant yellow bear disappeared into specks of light, then completely vanished. Ning let out a sigh of relief. When facing the giant yellow bear, he always felt that it gave him tremendous pressure, as though he were facing an ancient, powerful Fiendgod. “That’s how the spirit of the manor is.” The old black bull laughed. “Forget about you; he didn’t even care much about Immortal Juhua. He’s quite arrogant and solitary. Actually, after so many years have passed, I felt that it was normal for him to be so solitary. After all, even Immortal Juhua didn’t truly master this Aquatic Manor.” Ning seemed to understand, and he nodded slightly. And then he hurriedly asked, “Senior, what should I do right now in these four major secondary halls? Please guide me, senior.” 676 “First, go to the Treasure Hall.” The old black bull said. “Follow me. I’m quite familiar with it.” “Fine.” Ning felt that the old black bull was much more amiable and genial than the giant yellow bear, the spirit of the manor. The Treasure Hall. Ning and the old black bull walked together into it, and as Ning did, he instantly felt as though he entered a different world. In the air hung a vast collection of magic treasures, some of which were so powerful that their aura alone made Ning feel his heart shake. Most likely, even the slightest of ripples from it would cause him to crushed and ground to dust. The power of it was far beyond what he imagined. “Treasures…” The old black bull sighed, his eyes shining. “All of them are true treasures. Immortal Juhua drooled when looking at them as well, back in the day. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn’t acquire them. If he was able to pick and choose as he pleased from these treasures, Immortal Juhua probably would’ve overcome the heavenly tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal long ago.” Ning felt his heart be moved, as he stared at them. He saw that above him was a blood-colored warspear. The warspear looked quite plain, but just hanging there, it caused the surrounding space to crumble and crack, although it then quickly recovered. Crumbling, recovering, crumbling…this continued nonstop. “These were all left by the first master.” The old black bull said hurriedly. “He left them for the future masters. He wanted to cultivate and provide for them, and so if you want to acquire these treasures, you’ll have to fulfill his requirements. Otherwise, even if you end up like Immortal Juhua, dying due to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, you still won’t be able to acquire a single treasure.” Ning was curious. “What are the rules? What must I do to acquire these treasures?” “Look over there.” The old black bull’s head nodded towards the side. Ning followed the bull’s gaze to look, only to see a tight cluster of tiny words on the distant wall. These words were all Fiendgod characters. Ning hurriedly walked over, reading them all at one go. “So that’s the situation.” Ning frowned. The treasures of the Treasure Hall…were all obtainable. There were two methods. The first was to rise in power as a Fiendgod practitioner. Once one reached the Zifu level as a Fiendgod practitioner, one would be able to acquire a ‘Mortal-rank magic treasure’, or a precious item of equivalent value. Upon reaching the Wanxiang level as a Fiendgod practitioner, one would be able to select a single ‘Earthrank magic treasure’ or equivalent. Upon reaching the Primordial level as a Fiendgod practitioner, one would be able to select a single ‘Heaven-rank magic treasure’ or equivalent. Upon reaching the Void level, one would be able to select an ‘Immortal-rank magic treasure’… After after successfully passing the tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal! One would be able to select a ‘Pure Yang magic treasure’ or equivalent. “So there are actually five ranks of magic treasures.” Ning murmured. “Zifu Disciples are only able to activate Mortal-rank magic treasures, while Wanxiang Adepts are able to use Earth-rank magic treasures. Primordials are able to use Heaven-rank magic treasures…and above that are Immortal-rank magic treasures and Pure Yang magic treasures.” Ning had never even heard of these things before. All he knew was that there was such a thing as a ‘ranked’ magic treasure. “There are five ranks of magic treasures.” The old black bull nearby said. “In addition, ranked magic treasures are also divide into ‘top’, ‘high’, ‘average’, and ‘low’ grades. The Zifu Disciples in that Swallow Mountain area of yours might use ranked magic treasures, but the vast majority of them are low-grade or average grade magic treasures. However, if you were able to choose at will from the Treasure Hall…I trust you would naturally be able to select the best of yourself.” Ning listened carefully. These were things he had no idea about. “The further you advance in your training, the harder it will be for you to acquire magic treasures.” The old black bull said. “At the Void level, Earth Immortals will be able to activate Immortal-rank magic treasures, but Immortal-rank magic treasures…can be considered treasures amongst Immortals. How many Void level Earth Immortals will truly be able to acquire treasures of that level? They are incredibly rare. Thus, generally speaking, those Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals will generally use Heavenrank magic treasures.” “In the past, Immortal Juhua became bottlenecked at the Primordial Daoist level as a Fiendgod practitioner. No matter what he did, he wasn’t able to break through and reach the Void level. It was pointless for him to break through to the Void level as a Ki Refiner.” The old black bull shook his head. “Thus, he was never able to acquire an Immortal-rank magic treasure.” “Ah.” Ning was stunned. Right. When one rose in power, one could acquire a treasure, but that was only as a Fiendgod. As for Ki Refiners? No matter how far you advanced, you wouldn’t be bestowed any treasures. Thus, one could imagine how much the first master hoped that his future inheritors would focus on training as Fiendgods. “Afterwards, Immortal Juhua failed in his tribulation and became a Loose Immortal. After countless years, his power grew greater and greater, and then he succeeded in passing through the seventh level of the Wargod Hall, which was when he was bestowed an Immortal-rank magic treasure.” The old black bull said. “Afterwards, Immortal Juhua collected a large amount of materials, over the course of which he defeated the Thousand Swords Immortal. After acquiring the hundreds of flying swords from the Thousand Swords Immortal…he finally forged me.” Ning said, curious, “Senior, what rank of a magic treasure are you?” “An Immortal-rank magic treasure, of course.” The old black bull said arrogantly. “I am an Immortal-rank magic treasure. I have already surpassed the levels of Human, Earth, and Heaven; thus, I gained sentience. Immortal Juhua relied on me to establish his awe-inspiring fame!” “Your Fiendgod body is only at the Xiantian lifeform level. To acquire magic treasures, you’ll have to achieve victory in the Wargod Hall.” The old black bull said. Ning nodded. There were two methods to acquiring the treasures of the Treasure Hall. The first was to rise in power as a Fiendgod. The second was to challenge the Wargod Hall, which had ten stages in total. If one succeeded in overcoming the first or second stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose a Mortal-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the third or fourth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose an Earth-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the fifth or sixth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose a Heaven-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the seventh or eighth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose an Immortal-rank magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. If one succeeded in overcoming the ninth or tenth stage of the Wargod Hall, one was allowed to choose a Pure Yang magic treasure or another item of equivalent value. The Fiendgod practitioners who had inherited the manor were each given two chances to challenge the Wargod Hall at each level of power. For example, Ning was now a Xiantian lifeform as a Fiendgod. He had 679 two chances to go challenge the Wargod Hall. Once his Fiendgod form reached the Zifu level, he would gain two more chances. Xiantian, Zifu, Wanxiang, Primordial, Void. Before becoming an Immortal, he would only have ten chances! Each chance was incomparably precious! “Challenging the Wargod Hall is too hard.” The old black bull shook his head and sighed. “But this is the second way in which one can acquire a treasure of the Treasure Hall. Even though it is hard, you’ll have to try.” “It is indeed hard.” Ning nodded. Even Immortal Juhua had only overcome the seventh stage of the Wargod Hall after having become a Loose Immortal and spent countless years training. The nearby old black bull said, “I watched you training in Serpentwing Lake with your sword. I don’t want to discourage you, but…for you to challenge the first level with your current level of power? You’d have less than a ten percent chance.” “Less than ten percent?” Ning didn’t dare believe it. The Wargod Hall had ten levels in total. The first two levels only allowed him to select a Mortal-rank magic treasure. He had trained with the sword at Brightheart Island…which was within the scope of the Aquatic Manor, and so the old black bull knew exactly how strong he had become. But he was now saying that if Ning went to the Wargod Hall, he would have less than ten percent chance of victory? “Treasure Hall. Divine Abilities Hall. Wargod Hall. Stellar Hall.” The old black bull said. “The Treasure Hall is a place where, for now ,you won’t be able to acquire a single treasure. You aren’t able to enter the Divine Abilities Hall yet either. You’ll have to go to one of the other two halls.” “Wargod Hall…perhaps you can give it a try. If you succeed, you’ll be able to select a magic treasure. It will definitely be far superior to the ranked magic treasures you currently have. But of course, if you lose, that means that you’ll have wasted a chance to challenge the Wargod Hall.” “The Stellar Hall is filled with countless paths of the Dao, and is an excellent place for gaining insight into it.” “Which place shall you go to?” The old black bull looked towards Ning. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Senior, since you said that I have less than a ten percent chance of passing through the Wargod Hall’s challenge, why should I make the attempt?” Ji Ning said. “In addition, Immortal Juhua gained the greatest benefit from this Stellar Hall. I’m quite curious about it.” As he spoke, Ning stepped into a room. As for the treasures of the Treasure Hall? If he couldn’t touch them, what was the point? Immortal Juhua himself had only acquired a single Immortal-rank magic after having become a Loose Immortal. “Best to take things one step at a time.” Ning knew his own limits. He left the Treasure Hall and headed out through a corridor. The Treasure Hall was at the frontmost part of the corridor, while the Stellar Hall was at the rearmost. The old black bull followed while speaking constantly. “The Stellar Hall contains within it miraculous profundities, and by training within it, it is much easier to gain insights into the Dao. If you aren’t carefully, you’ll easily lose yourself in training…it seems as though in the outside world, you were rather frantic. I imagine you must have important business to attend to. Don’t let yourself become lost in meditating on the Dao within the Stellar Hall and delay your important affairs. “Ah!” Ning was startled, then hurriedly said with gratitude, “Thank you for the reminder, senior.” He had nearly caused himself to miss the critical affairs coming up! Although meditating on the Dao was important, if he lost one or two days meditating on the Dao, by the time he woke up and left…it would all be too late. “No matter what.” Ning instructed the old black bull. “As soon as the sky grows dark in the outside world, if I’m still in the Stellar Hall meditating on the Dao, then I would like to ask you to immediately disrupt my meditation and awaken me, senior.” “If the sky grows dark in the outside world? That means only twelve hours are remaining.” The old black bull said. “Right, twelve hours! If I begin to meditate on the Dao…at most allow me to meditate on it for twelve hours.” Ning said hurriedly. “After twelve hours, immediately awaken me.” Based on Ning’s calculations, generally speaking, Zifu Disciples who were flying on magic treasures would be able to travel a hundred thousand kilometers in a day. But of course, that was normal flight; if they 681 didn’t rest and didn’t sleep and also didn’t worry about using up their elemental energy, one could fly nearly two hundred thousand kilometers in a day. Swallow Mountain, in turn, was only a few tens of thousands kilometers in size…a roundtrip to see the other disciples of Snowdragon Mountain and return with them would take… As Ji Ninefire had said, most likely just a day or two! Ning would only be able to spend twelve hours meditating on the Dao. He absolutely couldn’t afford to go over! “Don’t worry at all.” The old black bull raised his head, looking like a guard. “Once twelve hours pass, I will immediately awaken you! We spirits of magic treasure…will never forget tasks that are assigned.” “Thank you, senior.” Ning laughed, then headed to the main entrance of the Stellar Hall. It was different from the other three halls, which all had large bronze doors. The gate to the Stellar Hall was seemingly made out of wood, and it emanated an ancient, natural aura. The old black bull, seeing Ning inspect the towering wooden door, murmured to himself, “This is the Ageless Bluefire Wood which only exists in the Nine Hells. It is a precious, spiritual wood which is very useful in making Immortal-rank magic treasures, but it was used to make a large gate.” “Is it possible to dismantle the gate?” Ning was curious. “If it was, Immortal Juhua would have done so long ago.” The old black bull said, resigned. “This gate is part of the entire Aquatic Manor; it is part of the entire magic treasure. There’s no way to move it at all.” Ning stroked the wooden gate. The wood was covered with a cold, abyssal light, but when touching it, it felt warm and gave off a comfortable sensation. Ning sighed emotionally…the Ageless Bluefire Wood which only the Nine Hells possessed? Alright, then…these were things which he had never even heard of before the old black bull had introduced it to him. He had experienced too little. “This really is…” Passing through the corridor and through the wooden gate, Ning felt breathless. The sight in front of him completely stunned him. “This really is utterly inconceivable. The works of a god. The works of a god!” In front of him, in the distance, was a large mountain. The mountain was filled with life, with a large number of trees and other vegetation growing everywhere. At the base of the mountain, the life suddenly disappeared; it was an area were virtually not a single inch of grass would grow. Only very occasionally, within a patch of strewn rocks, would one see a few strands of grass. At the base of the mountain, there was a straw hut. In front of the straw hut, there was a creek. The creek flowed down from the mountain, and it winded downwards in a curvy path, constantly flowing. It was only in the area wherever the creek flowed that 682 some wild grass could occasionally be seen. The other places were virtually all covered with wild, desolate stones. In midair, there was one enormous, brilliant star after another. The starlight filled the world, causing every place to seem rather illusory. “Can it be that this is an entire world?” Ning couldn’t help but say. “It is its own dimension.” The old black bull followed him in and sighed, “This is a dimension which the first master created within the Stellar Hall! This dimension is connected with the gate of the Stellar Hall. Thus, when we stepped through it, we entered the special space. I’ve heard it said that some great powers of the ancient past were able to create an entire dimension within a single grain of sand. The first master most likely had this ability as well. Ning nodded. Unfathomable! Although when he was young, he had heard of some legends, such as ‘Houyi Shooting the Son’ and other such legends, when had he ever seen them in person? After all, those things were a long, long distance away from him. As for creating a dimension? Generally speaking, people created a dimension, then an estate within their own dimension. The Aquatic Manor was itself a separate dimension…but the secondary halls actually were able to once again merge with another dimension. Although Ning didn’t understand it too well, he understood that accomplishing something like this was an incredible feat. “I really wonder who the first owner of this Aquatic Manor was.” Ning said to himself. “Come, come, come. The ‘treasure’ is within the straw hut.” The old black bull urged. “The straw hut?” Ning strode forward by a few dozen paces, quickly arriving at the straw hut. The straw hut was at the base of the mountain, a seemingly very ordinary straw hat, and with stone furniture inside. After entering the straw room…Ning was stunned. He saw that on the table of the straw room, there were multiple tomes, all of which were black. Ning couldn’t recognize any of them, and so he opened one. On the surface of the books, there were some beautiful Fiendgod characters: [Stellar Scroll] [Stellar Scroll 2] [Stellar Scroll 3]….there were forty three scrolls in total. “This is…?” Ning stared at these books. The old black bull explained, “These are the manuals left behind by the first owner. The name of it is the ‘Stellar Hall’ and there are a total of forty three parts. Ning lifted up the Stellar Scroll and flipped through it. The pages were black, while the words were in golden Fiendgod strict. The contents were rather puzzling as well…it felt like hastily scribbled notes! There wer like casual recordings which described personal feelings! Ning originally had taken them to be profound books and was rather surprised. “If you want to read!” The old black bull said hurriedly. “At a simple glance, there are no mysteries and nothing mysterious to the contents. But if you fully read everything…you will discover how extraordinary it is.” “Oh?” Ning, startled, picked up the [Stellar Scrolls]. “Go outside the room to read. Sit on that stone bench over there.” The old black bull said. “Read aloud!” “But I don’t recognize Fiendgod characters.” Ning asked. Although he could recognize Fiendgod characters at first glance, and understood which human words matched each Fiendgod word, the two were different languages after all. “Just use your own race’s language to read. That is what Immortal Juhua did in the past.” The old black bull said. “Right.” Ning held the tome in his hand and walked out of the straw hut. He seated himself at the stone table, where the first master might have sat countless years ago and where Immortal Juhua might have sat as well. Ning flipped open the book and began to read. “Today, Chang came to pay his respects to me…” Ning began to read, puzzlement in his heart regarding these casual personal recordings. His voice rang out. Every single sound was very ordinary, but once the words were read out, the sound of the large number of words connected…in a manner that was like a song, capable of moving a person’s heart, causing pain, amazement, sorrow, and more. The sounds of these words were unfathomable; just by reading them out, the sound of these words seemed to contain a ringing, miraculous power… Slowly, they drew Ning into a unique world. When he became absorbed with seeing this world, Ning forgot that he was holding the [Stellar Scroll] in his hands. He stared at the countless stones of the desolate region, at the creek filled with life energy, as though seeing a pair of ‘Daos’. Daos filled with boundless profundities. Even the small grass which was growing out carried another sort of Dao within it. Ning raised his head. The stars in the sky were brilliant. Each of them were incomparably bright, and they each gave Ning a different feeling. Suddenly…Ning stared at one particular star, one which caused Ning to feel familiar and intoxicated by it. “Longing, warmth…” Ning seemed to be once more lying ont hat little boat of his, drifting atop Serpentwing Lake. He also seemed to be in his mother’s arms… That longing, that warmth…it filled his entire heart. …………… The old black bull stared wide-eyed as it watched. “Truly inconceivable. This this this this…he actually completely read nearly the entire first scroll before halting? This Ji Ning really is at quite a high level of understanding. He was actually able to read so many characters. Most likely, he’s become emeshed on an extremely deep layer.” The old black bull understood this very well. This book was nothing more than a sort of ‘guide’, guiding the consciousness of practitioners on an extremely deep level to gain certain insights. The more words one read, the deeper a level of insight gaining one would reach! But of course…how much one would gain from it would depend on how many experiences that person had built up normally in life. Good preparation was the key to success; only by normally accumulating experiences would one have sudden insights. “Which star is he looking at?” The old black bull saw Ning raise his head to stare at the sky. He couldn’t help but feel curious “According to what Juhua said, every single star contains a different Dao.” A calm smile was on Ning’s face, as though he were by the side of his mother. That smile contained an inexhaustible charisma…when the old black bull saw Ning’s smile, he seemed to feel even his own heart grow warm. This was a form of longing. A mental warmth. “Sword.” The old black bull stared. Ning rose to his feet, leaving the stone table. He pressed his forefinger and middle finger together into the shape of a ‘sword’, then began to brandish them about in training swordplay within the Stellar Hall. This was a type of swordplay that contained inexhaustible, endless longing…Ning didn’t release any rays of 685 sword-light, nor did he use any elemental energy; this was seemingly a very ordinary display of swordplay. But it made the old black bull sense the boundless longing contained within it. The old black bull was able to sense the surrounding Serpentwing Lake area. He knew that over the past few years, Ning had gained insights into many hints regarding the True Meaning of the Dao, the majority of which belonged to a longing-type sword intention. “It changed.” The old black bull instantly saw how Ning’s swordplay had become purer. “Rustle…” In the area around Ning, who wasn’t using any elemental energy at all in executing this swordplay with just his fingers, suddenly appeared drops of rain. One drop of rain after another came to form, and they constantly fell. The rain fell nonstop, landing atop the scattered stones…and Ning, in the center of the rainstorm, was like the favored son of the rain, which surrounded him and protected him. “This this this…” The old black bull stared. “Accumulated effort which results in sudden rewards!” The accumulated hints of insight into the True Meaning of the Dao which Ning had gained over the past five years, at this moment…finally made a qualitative breakthrough! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The raindrops were sprinkling downwards. Ji Ning, amidst the rain, was completely absorbed in his swordplay. His sword-fingers alone were able to execute a sword technique that activated the ‘Dao’. How comfortable. Ning felt as though, in this moment, he himself had become a drop of rainwater! He was swirling about, playing and jesting with the other droplets of rain, and joining with them to form a single strand of it. That sort of interconnected-ness and mutual affection…caused the countless drops of rain to all join together. “Rustle…..” The sprinkling rain surrounding Ning transformed into countless drops of rain which transformed into a drizzling rain. The countless crystalline strands of rain appeared all the more mesmerizing. Swish! Swish! Swish! Every single strand of rain seemed to secretly be like a knife. “Rumble…” The rain grew heavier and heavier, transforming into a tempest. The tempest seemed incomparably ferocious, and Ning’s swordplay carried a ferocious, unstoppable power as well. ……….. The old black bull stared, stupefied. Rain drops, rain drizzle, tempest…and in the end, the rainwater once more transformed into that sprinkling, drizzling rain. One line of rain after another…they seemed like incomparably precious, crystalline jade sculptures that were carved into thin lines. They were also like the hands of a mother, gently stroking down. Finally, Ning came to a halt. “This…is Dao?” Ning murmured to himself. “Congratulations, Ji Ning.” The old black bull’s mouth was hanging wide open, and he was incomparably excited. “You have already truly immersed yourself into the Dao, truly and complete. The feeling of becoming part of the Dao itself is very marvelous, isn’t it?” Ning nodded gently. Just now, that feeling had indeed been incredible. He was like a pearl of water, a droplet of rain! In that instant, he felt incomparably familiar to and close with the rainwater. Ning understood…that he had developed his own Dao. The Dao of Rainwater! “Over the past five years, you have gained insights into many strands of the True Meaning of the Dao. Your accumulated insights have allowed you to break through to a new threshold, with the final result being that you have gained a ‘Dao Domain’.” The old black bull sighed in praise. “Dao Domain?” Ning looked puzzled. “What is that?” The old black bull said, astonished, “You don’t even know this?” “No idea.” Ning said honestly. The old black bull sighed, shaking his head. “Your clan really is an ordinary one. You don’t even have a basic understanding of the different levels of insight. I’ll tell you, then. In training, one aspect is improving on a technical level; be it sword, saber, spear, or even painting and music and other artistic endeavors, technique matters. The first level is the ‘foundation’! Which is to say, becoming familiar with the basic techniques of an art. The second level is the ‘advanced’ level; it represents that you have all but perfected your mastery of the techniques. The third level is ‘one with the world’; this represents that you are already getting close to the ‘Dao’, and have begun to attune to heaven’s will.” Ning listened. Naturally, he knew about these first three levels. “After ‘one with the world’, the next step is in attuning with the intricacies of the natural world, and slowly discovering one of the ‘Daos’. Once you discover it! You will have gained a hint of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. That is the fourth level; ‘True Meaning of the Dao’.” The old black bull shook his head. “It is very hard to gain insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. Even some Zifu Disciples aren’t capable of doing it.” When Ning had been meditating on the Dao by the side of the pool that year, he gained his first insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. “Afterwards, when you continue to gain insight and continuously accumulate many more hints of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, your insights into the Dao will grow greater and greater. There will then come a day when the many hints of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ will coalesce and then transform qualitatively. Only then will you truly be able to become one with the Dao itself, to the point where, with but a thought, you can summon the power of the Dao in your surroundings, to form it into your own Domain. This is the fifth level; ‘Dao Domain’. This is the level you are currently at. Formidable, formidable.” The old black bull sighed. “Only very few Wanxiang Adepts are capable of reaching this level; generally speaking, only people at the Primordial Daoist level are capable of reaching this level of insight into the Dao.” “Oh? I’m that amazing?” Ning said with a laugh. “Your innate talents are extremely high, especially your talents as pertain to the sword. You are an absolute monster! With the assistance of the Stellar Hall, at the young age of 16, you’ve actually reached this level!” The old black bull said. Ning understood as well. He possessed the [Nuwa Painting] and was incomparably hard-working. He also had an innately high comprehension ability, and also the Aquatic Estate…there were many variables which contributed to him being able to achieve what he had. “And above the Dao Domain?” Ning asked. “Above it…” The old black bull looked at Ning. “Reaching the ‘Dao Domain’ level, after all, just means that you are able to completely immerse yourself into the Dao. What you need to do is to gain greater insights into this Dao of yours, with the end result being that one day, you will have completely understood and mastered this entire Dao Path! That is the sixth level; completely understanding an entire Dao Path!” Ning now began to understand. Indeed, just now, he had completely immersed himself with the rainwater, but that was nothing more than immersion; he was still far off from being able to completely control the ‘Dao of Rainwater’. “The first level is the ‘basic’ level. The second is ‘advanced’. The third is ‘one with the world’. The fourth is ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. The fifth is ‘Dao Domain’. The sixth is a complete ‘Dao Path’!” The old black bull said solemnly. “The level of comprehension and enlightenment one possesses is very important. Only by having sufficient comprehension will one’s power increase. Otherwise, there is no way you’ll be able to withstand and control great power.” “To become a Celestial Immortal, you have to completely control a Dao Path!” The old black bull looked at Ning. “For example, Immortal Juhua had been a Loose Immortal for millions of years, and had completely mastered nine full Dao Paths. But so what if he did? The increasingly powerful Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations still caused him to fall in the end. Anyone who becomes a Loose Immortal is guaranteed to fall.” Ning sighed as well. “You train in the sword, and have reached the level of ‘Dao Domain’. Generally speaking, your Domain will be referred to as a ‘Sword Domain.’” The old black bull reminded. “Just based on the fact that you have a Sword Domain, countless major sects will swing open their doors for you to join.” “Sword Domain?” Ning said softly. “This Dao is the Dao of Rainwater. Let my Sword Domain therefore be known as the ‘Rainwater Sword Domain’, then.” Ning looked at his surroundings. Rustle… Rainwater appeared out of nowhere, sprinkling downwards and swirling about him. Every single line of rain also seemed like an incomparably sharp arrow, enough to slice apart hard mountain stones or steel. “Let me warn you. Just now, when you immersed yourself into the Sword Domain, eight hours went past in the outside world.” The old black bull said. “Eight hours?” Ning was startled. “I really didn’t have any sense of time passing when I was immersed in the Dao. Right, Elder. Now that I have my Rainwater Sword Domain…if I were to challenge the first level of the Wargod Hall, do I have a chance?” The old black bull was stunned. “The first level of the Wargod Hall? Right, you can give it a try!” Ning laughed. Even if the old black bull hadn’t said anything, Ning would have still gone and given it a try, because a Fiendgod practitioner only had two chances at each level of power to challenge the Wargod Hall. He had already reached the peak of power as a Xiantian Fiendgod, and would most likely soon break through to the Zifu level. If he didn’t use the two options he had at the Xiantian level, they would go to waste once he reached the Zifu level. “Let’s go. I want to see how formidable this Wargod Hall is.” Ning was extremely eager and deeply desired to successfully make it through, so as to be able to go to the Treasure Hall to select a treasure! The treasures of the Treasure Hall were all left behind by the first master. Even the Mortal-ranked magic treasures were most likely extraordinary, and might be of great benefit for the Ji clan’s battle against Snowdragon Mountain. “Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning murmured in his heart… ___________________________ It was already dark, and Zifu Disciple ‘Muse’ of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain had flown without stopping at all for tens of thousands of kilometers to arrive at this place. Like a ray of light, he charged downwards to an estate below. Below was a large, towering mountain. The name of the mountain was Landwyrm Mountain. “Human practitioner, immediately depart.” “Human practitioner, you actually dare invade our Landwyrm Mountain? Are you looking to die?” 690 As Muse descended towards Landwyrm Mountain on his flying treasure, some of the Diremonsters of Landwyrm Mountain began to curse angrily. Landwyrm Mountain was a powerful force, and the top of the mountain was an ancient Zifu-level monster who had trained for a thousand years, ‘Landwyrm’. Landwyrm was a Godbeast, and as a Zifu-level Godbeast, one could imagine how powerful this old monster was. Naturally, he commanded a large group of Diremonsters, and this was forbidden grounds for humans. A Zifu-level ancient monster, and with the lineage of a Godbeast. These two things guaranteed that many Zifu Disciples would be frightened of him. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, your junior apprentice-brother Muse requests a meeting.” Muse didn’t pay any attention to those Diremonsters, flying straight to the top of Landwyrm Mountain before speaking. “Grooooooowl.” An enormous draconic head suddenly emerged from a cave at the top of the mountain. That azure draconic head had a single horn atop it, and its wheel-sized eyes stared towards Muse. The incomparable aura alone the draconic head emanated…caused Muse to feel nervous. He knew very well that he wasn’t a match at all for this Landwyrm in front of him.” The Landwyrm before him was a peak Zifu monster, with the lineage of a Godbeast. “My respects, Daoist friend Landwyrm.” Muse bowed. “Master hates to be disturbed. Can it be that you do not know this?” The Landwyrm growled. “There’s something major happening.” Muse said hurriedly. “I have major news to report to senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, news which will be of great benefit to him.” Jadechild… Out of the many people which the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain were inviting over, he was the most important person. As Dong Ziqi and Muse saw it, as long as they were able to invite their fellow apprentice, Jadechild, that was enough; he alone could easily annihilate the Ji clan by himself. Actually, just by looking at this spirit-beast, the Landwyrm, which Jadechild controlled, one could imagine how powerful Jadechild was. It must be understood that Zifu-level spirit-beasts were extremely rare. Although many human experts had some Diremonsters as spirit-beasts, that was because there were a fairly high number of humans with the insights necessary to break through to the Zifu level. But for a spirit-beast to break through to the Zifu level was much rarer! Ancient Zifu-level monsters generally 691 weren’t willing to serve, and if they were willing to serve, it was generally only experts. Even if they served a weakling, a powerful expert would soon seize them! Dong Ziqi. Muse. Ji Ninefire. None of them had a Zifu-level spirit-beast. “You wish to see me?” A deep, powerful voice rang out, and a muscular man with long, loose azure hair, a pair of tiger-like eyes, and black clothes moved out from one side. “My respects, senior apprentice-brother.” Muse hurriedly bowed respectfully. “I’ve seen you before. You are Muse.” Jadechild looked at him. “Can it be that you aren’t aware that I am in closed door training in an attempt to make a breakthrough?” Muse felt his heart tremble. He knew exactly how terrifying this senior apprentice-brother Jadechild of his was. Jadechild was a Fiendgod Body Refiner who had reached the peak of the Zifu level! In addition, Jadechild had also learned the divine ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’. A peak Zifu-level Fiendgod practitioner was already very frightening; being in possession of a divine ability meant they could fight someone at a higher level than themselves. Dong Ziqi himself was nervous in front of this fellow apprentice, Jadechild. He was the most important person they were inviting on this venture. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” Muse said hurriedly. “I know that you are in closed door training and don’t like to be disturbed. However, not too far from here, at the nearby Swallow Mountain, we’ve discovered a large-scale elemental ore mine, with very many high quality elemental stones. The mine has a circumference of four thousand kilometers and a depth of three hundred kilometers.” “What!” Jadechild, who had been very calm up to now, suddenly had his eyes explode with two rays of golden light. “Your words are true?” “If I’ve deceived you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, you can go ahead and kill me with one palm blow.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I imagine you wouldn’t dare deceive me.” Jadechild nodded slightly. Muse said hurriedly, “Although we have discovered this enormous elemental ore mine, this elemental ore mine is within the territory of the Ji clan. The puny Ji clan wasn’t worth fearing, and our Swallow Mountain branch should have been able to easily exterminate it, but…” Muse explained what had happened afterwards. Jadechild frowned as he listened. “A bewildering formation?” “Right. Ji clan’s Patriarch, Ji Ninefire, is skilled in formations and poisons.” Muse said hurriedly. “This time, we have invited all our colleagues to go deal with the Ji clan. The Ji clan’s strength isn’t worth fearing. Only, in formations…” “If they set a great formation…” Jadechild frowned. “Since we are not skilled in formations, they can easily delay for a long period of time. Once enough time passes, the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy will most likely arrive! Of the formation experts close to the Swallow Mountain region…there is a junior apprentice-brother named ‘Nongdao’. If we can invite that fellow apprentice, the formations that a small clan like the Ji clan is capable of using will easily be broken!” Muse nodded hurriedly. “We have invited fellow apprentice Nongdao as well. Now that you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, have spoken, I imagine Nongdao will go as well.” “Hurry and go invite junior apprentice-brother Nongdao.” Jadechild instructed. “I will go to your Swallow Mountain region right now.” “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Muse was overjoyed. “Mm. Go.” Jadechild instructed. A green leaf-type magic treasure suddenly appeared beneath Muse’s feet, and then he transformed into a ray of light, disappearing into the horizon. Jadechild stared into the distance, silent for some time. “Landwyrm.” Jadechild turned and shouted. “Master.” An azure scale covered, horned Landwyrm clambered out. This Landwyrm had four claws, and was an imposing, majestic sight. Currently, his body was rapidly shrinking, until he was only ten meters long. “Come, follow me to Swallow Mountain.” Jadechild said softly. “If we render major merits this time, perhaps we can use the opportunity to ask the main sect to assist me in making a breakthrough.” Jadechild was something of a rogue practitioner. He had reached the Zifu level as a Ki Refiner long ago, but the technique he had used to train in ki was a fairly superficial one. This made it so that it was almost impossible for him to break through to become a Wanxiang Adept as a Ki Refiner! Afterwards, he slowly trained as a Fiendgod Refiner until he broke through to the Zifu level as well…he could be considered a talented figure, which is why he was accepted into Snowdragon Mountain! Unfortunately, he was already a late-stage Ki Refiner. There was no way back for him, and it was too late to change to a different technique. Fortunately, the long amount of time he had spent in training resulted in him developing a fierce, decisive temperament. After accomplishing a major deed, he was viewed upon favorably by the main sect, and he was given a divine ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’. This caused his status to rise once more. Nowadays… He always stayed in closed-door training, because he wanted his Fiendgod body to breakthrough to the Wanxiang level! Only, each major increase in level was too difficult. Although the main sect did indeed have methods by which the chances of breakthroughs could increase, the price was great; why would they be willing to help him?” “You will definitely succeed, Master.” The Landwyrm crawled out. Jadechild sat on the Landwyrm’s back. Whoosh! Clouds appeared beneath the feet of the Landwyrm, and it immediately flew into the distant horizons. All dragons were naturally capable of controlling water, and although this one was only at the Zifu level…it was still able to summon the clouds and fly on them. Within the ancient Aquatic Manor. Ji Ning and the old black bull were walking shoulder-to-shoulder out of the Stellar Hall. “It is indeed much faster to train and gain insights in the Stellar Hall.” Ning sighed in praise. “The Stellar Hall is effective in assisting one in comprehension.” The old black bull said. “But in the end, it still depends on your normal accumulated experiences. Only after you experience many things will you gain many insights. Normally, you randomly accumulate many different experiences…and you yourself won’t even notice it, but once you enter the Stellar Hall and begin to train in gaining further insights, you will improve greatly. But without those normal, everyday experiences…if you stay all the time in the Stellar Hall, it will be pointless.” 694 Ning nodded. As the saying went, read ten thousand books, then go on an actual journey of ten thousand kilometers. Personal experiences and insights were what mattered most. “We’re at the Wargod Hall.” The old black bull stood in front of the Wargod Hall. The bronze gate of the Wargod Hall had the carves of a waraxe and a spear above it, and a martial aura emanated forth from it. In addition, the entire bronze gate was covered with a faint layer of red light, which carried within it an aura of slaughter. Ning held his breath. “Senior.” Ning hurriedly asked. “In the past, what did Immortal Juhua experience when he passed the first level of the Wargod Hall?” “No point in asking.” The old black bull shook its head. “The dangers of the first level of the Wargod Hall are arranged on the fly. They can change at any time. The spirit of the manor and I learned this long ago.” “Oh.” Ning was resigned. The old black bull said hurriedly, “Be careful. Although the tests of the Wargod Hall are meant to sharpen your skills and not to kill you, and although you are a Fiendgod practitioner and have a low chance of dying inside, the tests always have an element of danger! Don’t lose your life.” “Don’t worry.” Ning pushed aside the giant bronze gate and strode inside. As soon as his hands touched the bronze gate. “Whoosh!” The blurry red light on the surface of the bronze gate instantly sucked Ning inside. Ning disappeared into thin air from in front of the bronze gate, and in the instant in which he was drawn within, Ning’s eyes instantly became round and filled with shock. “Oh, I forgot to tell you that entering the Wargod Hall is a matter of direct teleportation.” The old black bull, seeing the stupefied look on Ning’s face, stared back at him with his own ox-eyes, then began to laugh… In the blink of an eye, they arrived at a vast, empty land. The ground was covered with ground that seemed to be stained with blood. Up ahead, there was a majestic tower, and the door to the tower glowed with a faint white light. “Hm?” Ning immediately saw the giant yellow bear standing not too far away. “Senior.” Ning hurriedly paid his respects. The giant yellow bear nodded slightly. His formerly uncaring expression seemed to have softened significantly, and his attitude had become much nicer as well. “For you to have reached the level of ‘Dao Domain’ at the age of five is fairly rare, even amongst Fiendgods. Tell me, which level of the Wargod Hall do you intend to challenge?” “I can choose?” Ning was amazed. “Of course you can choose! For example, when the Aquatic Manor’s owner is outside adventuring, if he returns at the Primordial Daoist level, and he only has two options to challenge the tower, he naturally won’t choose the first level.” The giant yellow bear said. “You can, if you choose, go directly to the highest level of the Wargod Hall, level ten. But of course, even though the Wargod Hall’s tests aren’t meant to kill the testers, even the slightest energy ripple at that level will cause you to instantly disintegrate, leaving not even your soul.” Ning rubbed his eyes. Fine, then. Level ten? Even Immortal Juhua only passed level seven after becoming a Loose Immortal! He couldn’t even imagine how difficult the tenth level was. Ning only felt as though the original, ancient Fiendgod who had created this Aquatic Manor was simply too powerful. “I choose the first level.” Ning said honestly. Based on what the old black bull had said, before he had mastered his Rainwater Sword Domain, his chances of succeeding on the first level were less than 10%. One could imagine how difficult the first level was. “Fine.” The giant yellow bear nodded. “At least you are doing things step-by-step. This is you first challenge, and this test will be the easiest of tests.” “Easiest?” Ning was stunned. The giant yellow bear’s furry paws suddenly grabbed Ning by the arm. Whoosh! Instantly, Ning and the giant yellow bear arrived at the majestic tower. The tower gate glowed with blurry white light as Ning and the giant yellow bear stepped inside with a single step. This was a blurry white space that was three thousand meters high and with a circumference of many thousands of meters. The only thing present was that floating door behind them. “This is the first level of the Wargod Hall.” The giant yellow bear said. Ning immediately looked carefully at his surroundings. The first level of the Wargod Hall? Then where was the dangerous test? “Look.” The giant yellow bear stood there, pointing into the distance. Ning followed the giant yellow bear’s finger with his gaze. He saw that out of nowhere, a black wooden stake had suddenly appeared. The wooden stake was as thick as Ning’s legs, and was three meters tall. It just stood there. “A wooden stake?” Ning was stunned. “The test that I’ll give you is significantly easier than the test which I originally gave Immortal Juhua or Rampart.” The giant yellow bear said. “The first test of the Wargod Hall is…in the time it takes for a single incense stick to burn up, split that wooden stake apart!” The giant yellow bear’s palm suddenly had an incense stick within it, only roughly one foot long. “Shatter the wooden stake before the incense stick burns up?” Ning looked at the wooden stake. No wonder the spirit of the manor said that this was the easiest test. It was even easier than the one which Juhua and Rampart had to undergo! Indeed, it was just a matter of splitting a wooden stake. There wasn’t any danger at all. In addition, the wooden stake just stood there, not resisting at all. “Begin.” The giant yellow bear said. That incense stick appeared on the floor not too far away, already lit. “A single incense stick…” Ning didn’t dare to waste any time. Ning, with a ‘swoosh’, scurried before the wooden stake. Although it was only a wooden stake, blindly striking it was just foolishness. It was better to spend some time to first analyze it…and see where the wooden stake would more easily break apart. Only by knowing one’s self and one’s enemies would one have hope for victory. This wooden stake was completely black, and it had circles of characters covering it. “Would it be easier to follow the pattern of the runes in striking it?” Ning said to himself. “Haaargh!” The Darknorth swords appeared in Ning’s hands, and the divine power in his Zifu completely exploded forth. Whooooooooosh. Drizzling rain appeared in the surrounding area. The drizzling rain merged into lines of rain which swirled about the area, making it quite comfortable and cool. This also clearly caused Ning’s control over the surrounding ‘Dao’ to become much more powerful. “Rain Line!” Ning used his most powerful attack at the very start! Whoosh! Ning’s swords flashed like lightning, disappearing into thin air as they completely merged into the surrounding, billowing lines of rain. Ning’s sword light transformed into one of the strands of rain, as thin as silk, incomparably sharp, instantly chopping towards the wooden stake. “Bang!” The only thing which occurred was a white smudge appeared on the wooden stake. As the rainwater fell down, the white smudge disappeared, as though nothing had happened. Ning himself, because of the powerful counterforce, knocked backwards, and the palm of his hands split open. He took three step backwards, but instantly the wound to his palm was healed. “Just a white smudge. This wooden stake is indeed incomparably tough. To break it in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn is very hard.” Ning instantly charged forward and gave it another blow. It, too, was ‘Rain Line’. The sword merged into the lines of rain… Bang! As soon as it touched the wooden stake, a powerful concussive sound once more rang out, but this time, Ning chopped in accordance with the magical runes. Although he was still knocked backwards by the collisive force, Ning found to his surprised delight…that there was a hint of a very small wound on the wooden stake. The wound was very small, almost neglible, but it was still there. “I imagine that by using this sword strike with my Rainwater Sword Domain…the power is comparable to the ninth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation. But this is all I can accomplish?” Ning was stunned. “Without the Rainwater Sword Domain, I really wouldn’t be able to do anything to it.” Ning knew very well that within the Rainwater Sword Domain, he was like a tiger who had been given wings; the power of his sword technique had risen by several levels.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Treasures The distant giant yellow bear nodded slightly and mused to himself, “This Ji Ning’s talent for swordplay is indeed high. That sword blow alone has already just barely reached the Wanxiang Adept level. But if that’s all he has, there is no way he will be able to overcome this first trial. His blows needs to reach the power of a full-force blow from an early Wanxiang Adept…only then will he be able to break the wooden stake before a single incense stick burns down!” The first level of the Wargod Hall required that a person have the attack power of an early Wanxiang Adept in order to be overcome! This was already the easiest testing method which the spirit of the manor could select. A true test would also test a person’s battle experience, mentality, movement abilities, and many other aspects. After all, in a true battle against a real enemy, would the enemy just stand there like a block of wood, waiting for someone to split it apart? ……. “Even by using my Rainwater Sword Domain, my Darknorth swords aren’t able to split this wooden stake.” Ning immediately retracted his Darknorth swords. “Lesser Ten Thousand Swords Formation.” Ning retreated by thirty meters, and then out of nowhere, more than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures suddenly appeared. All of the magic swords glowed with a blurry white light, and powerful Zifu-level elemental energy filled each magic sword…after circulating through, the power condensed next to Ning, into the form of an incomparably fierce sword light. This sword light could faintly be seen to have the form of a flying sword. “Originally, when I fought against Dong Ziqi, I activated these swords with peak Xiantian-level energy. Now that I use Zifu-level elemental energy to activate them, the power of the Lesser Ten Thousand Swords Formation is clearly much enhanced.” Ning could sense the sharpness of this sword light. This sword light’s own power was most likely comparable to the earlier, full-strength close-combat blow he delivered. “Rainwater Sword Domain!” 699 A drizzling rain suddenly appeared around him as the area within three hundred meters sank into his Rainwater Sword Domain. “Go.” Ning willed it, and the sword light by his side instantly vanished, transforming into a line of rain as well. This line of rain instantly traversed the distance of thirty meters, slicing down in the direction of the runes covering the wooden stake. Boom! A wound immediately appeared atop the wooden stake, as the sword light chopped in nearly to the depth of half a finger. “Good.” Ning was overjoyed, and another ray of sword light formed by his side. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! One ray of sword light after another flew into and completely merged with Rainwater Sword Domain, transforming into thin lines of rainwater. The rainwater sliced directly downwards onto the distant wooden stakes, once more leaving behind wounds.. It must be understood that the wooden stake was harder to cut on the inside than on the outside…the elemental energy within Ning’z Zifu was quickly being used up, as the wound on the wooden stake grew greater and greater. Some time later. “BANG!” A line of rain sliced across the wooden illar, and the wooden stake snapped in half. The upper half of the wooden stake fell, descending down to and smashing against the ground. “Success.” Ning rejoiced. He hurriedly turned his head to look at the incense stick behind him. A majority of the incense stick was already gone. “Congratulations on succeeding.” The giant yellow bear walked across. “Do you wish to challenge the second level of the Wargod Hall?” Ning was swayed. The second level? It seemed as though succeeding on the second level of the Wargod Hall only resulted in a Mortal-ranked magic treasure. The benefit was the same as successfully passing the first level. The difficulty level… “Senior, how hard is the second level, compared to the first level?” Ning asked. “How is the danger level?” “Of course it is much more dangerous.” The giant yellow bear said directly. “You overcame the simplest first level test. But from the second level onwards…it won’t be that simple. It won’t be like just now, where there was only a block of wood that wouldn’t fight back. In addition, I won’t give you any advice at 700 all. All you can do is charge in! Fight! If you feel you are in danger of death, you can immediately use the control talisman to teleport out. Once you teleport out, it means you lost!” “Are you willing to use your second chance to challenge the second level of the Wargod Hall?” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “My second chance?” Ning was stunned. The giant yellow bear said, “I recommend you to use it. You are already at the peak as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. You might break through at any moment, and if you do…the two chances you have as a Xiantianlevel expert will be gone. If you don’t use it, it will go to waste.” Ning pondered for a moment. “Then I will try it.” Ning laughed. “Go then.” The giant yellow bear said. Whoosh! Ning disappeared from this first level of the Wargod Hall. But just ten seconds later. “Bang!” Ning once more appeared at the first level, flying backwards and falling against the the floor. The furs on his body were all torn apart, and there were multiple bloody wounds on him, although some of them healed by the time he landed on the ground. “You lost.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “Success in either the first or the second level results in just a single Mortal-ranked magic treasure.” Ning rose to his feet and said angrily. The furs on his body automatically repaired themselves. “Why is the second level so difficult?” As soon as he had entere, he had instantly been attacked by tens of strange beasts which looked like black panthers. He was caught rather off-guard, and only after he released his power did he realize that every single black panther was comparable to Dong Ziqi! He used everything available to him, but was only able to hold on for ten seconds before being forced to give up. If he didn’t give up, he would have been torn into pieces by that group of black panthers. “The Wargod Hall has ten levels, each of which is increasingly difficult.” The giant yellow bear growled. “This was decided by Master. There’s no point to you complaining.” “Is there no difference between passing through the second level and the first level?” Ning asked. “There is a difference.” The giant yellow bear said. “As you have passed the first level, I will give you a large number of Mortalranked magic treasures and items of comparable value for you to choose from! Some of them are topgrade Mortal-ranked magic treasures.” “If you succeed in challenging the second level, you can choose from any of the Mortal-ranked magic treasures or items of equivalent value which the Treasure Hall holds. There are some very unusual, very unique items there…although they are only Mortal-ranked, they are comparable to some ordinary Earthranked magic treasures, or even more valuable.” Ning now understood. “Go, then. Go to the Treasure Hall.” The giant yellow bear stretched out a furry paw, grabbing Ning by the arm. Whoosh! The two disappeared into thin air… The Treasure Hall. The Treasure Hall was an enormous hall, and high above in the air floated one magic treasure and unique item after another. Surges of tremendous power rippled forth…although these ripples were heartshaking, they were controlled by the restrictive spells of the first master, and didn’t injure Ning at all as he stood down below, preparing to make his selection. “There are many magic treasures and unique items.” The giant yellow bear looked down towards Ning. Within the bear’s palms, a golden book suddenly appeared. “This golden book has recorded within it magic treasures of the Mortal-rank. You can choose from them. Choose.” Ning accepted the golden book. The book only had two Fiendgod characters atop it: [Precious Treasures]. He opened the book, and atop the pages were diagrams of precious treasures and unique items, as well as descriptions of the items. “This really is…” Ning was stupefied as he read. “Compared with the magic treasures up above me, the treasures which the Zifu Disciples of my Swallow Mountain region are just dogshit.” Ning had a feeling of speechlessness. It was as though he was a farmer militia who encountered a formal military. The equipment was on a completely different level. The magic treasures above him were, at very least, high-grade Mortal-rank! Most were top-grade Mortalrank! The Mortal-rank magic treasures the first master was willing to keep naturally were all fine items. “Whew.” “These Tri-Poison Flags are too vicious. With them, a peak Zifu Disciple can fight head on against a Wanxiang Adept. The power is most likely no weaker than that of a completed form of the Myriad Wraiths Banner which Bei Zishan was working on. In addition, the Myriad Wraiths Banner needs countless people to be tortured to death, but these Tri-Poison Flags don’t require you to commit such grave sins.” Ning sighed in amazement. The evil Daos also had their own incredible magic treasures. It wasn’t always necessary for one to commit any sins, yet still allowed items of incredible power to be made. “This one is formidable as well. The Nine Yang Swords Formation?” Ning’s eyes blazed as he looked at it. The most alluring part of it was that this magic treasure was formed from nine flying swords, each of which was a high-grade Mortal-rank flying sword! “The Nine Yang Swords Formation is the most suited for you.” The nearby giant yellow bear said. “Choosing this magic treasure is equivalent to choosing nine flying swords. Although they are only highgrade Mortal-rank flying swords, they come from the same source. If you use these nine flying swords as the a base core for your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the power of it will increase threefold or fivefold! These nine high-grade Mortal-rank flying swords alone are worth more than several dozen of your ordinary Mortal-rank flying swords.” Ning felt desirous as well. This was an excellent item. “Yin Fire Bottle?” Ning raised an eyebrow. “How vicious.” “Waterflame Mixed Element Staff.” Ning felt his pulse race when looking at this one as well. He controlled fire and water, and was also a Fiendgod Body Refiner. The Waterflame Mixed Element Staff was very suited for Fiendgods. “Divine Starpoint Needles? Thirty six needles in a set? My soul is powerful, making it very suited for controlling large numbers of items.” Ning desired these as well. One magic item after another. Even the ones that weren’t suited for him made him feel desirous. These were all top-grade indeed! Topgrade! He had killed Bei Zishan and Ju San and acquired some magic treasures, but compared to these…there was no way to compare! Ning would be willing to trade dozens of magic treasures like those for a single one of these. What Ning didn’t understand was that these items were viewed by the first master as ‘top-grade’ or ‘highgrade’, but if they were to be ranked in the modern era, all of them would be viewed as top-grade! Even those nine flying swords of the Nine Yang Sword Formation…according to modern standards, they would be viewed as nine top-grade flying swords. “Wonderful.” Ning felt his heart itch. He really wanted to grab a pile of them. Ning began to understand Immortal Juhua a bit better. The poor Immortal Juhua could see all these powerful magic treasures, but couldn’t obtain them! If he could pick one as he pleased, he probably would’ve been able to survive his tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal! Although the first master wanted to help future generations, he didn’t show them any favoritism. Even if the future generations died…his rules were still unbreakable. You want magic treasures? Then follow the first master’s rules. “An ice-sealed Three-Eyed Firebug Larva? It can be used to raise an entire race of Three-Eyed Firebugs. An ordinary adult Three-Eyed Firebug is comparable to a Zifu Disciple? The only flaw is that it requires a large amount of spirit materials as food, and it also takes a long time to grow. However, it can also result in the breeding of incredibly powerful Three-Eyed Firebugs.” Ning’s heart burned. “A golem comparable to an ordinary early Wanxiang Adept? An unkillable golem? The only flaw is that it requires a large amount of elemental energy to be used.” Magic treasures. Unique items. Each of them drove Ning crazy and moved him. “Don’t be dazzled.” The giant yellow bear warned. “The Nine Yang Swords Formation is the most suitable for you. Nine excellent swords which come from the same source…it will be very hard for you to find something like them while adventuring outside. Your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] needs a core, and the stronger the swords of its core, the better.” Ning flipped through another page. Formation techniques? Ning’s eyelids shot up. Right now, the Ji clan was under tremendous threat. The best method for dealing with a large group of Zifu Disciples was using formations! It was formations which could create miracles! “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. A large formation suitable for guarding a clan or a sect. A large formation formed from five component formations…” Ning was moved as soon as he read through this. He hurriedly read through it carefully, and the joy on his face became even greater. “This is it, this is it!” Ning was howling in his heart. “With this, my power will greatly increase, and the power of the Patriarch and the others will increase as well.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Seeing this major formation that was could be used to guard an entire clan or sect, Ji Ning managed to suppress his excitement and continue reading, despite the fact that he was mentally howling in excitement. Perhaps there would be something even better! Ji Ning continued to flip through this golden book, and one magic treasure after another appeared, causing Ning’s heart to clench repeatedly! It was really…really breathtaking. Unfortunately, he couldn’t acquire them all! He only could choose a single item. “[Soaring Serpent Formation Loop of the Nine Heavens!]” Ning’s eyes lit up as he carefully inspected the descriptions within. “This formation is even more complicated than the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and the power is actually even greater. Still, it seems it needs nine users who are at least be at the Zifu Disciple level.” Ning shook his head. ………….. “Whew.” Ning closed the golden book. The item which was most suitable for the current Ji clan was naturally a formation technique! There were several that were comparable to the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and two that were even better than it. But from the current situation, the most suitable, realistic choie was still the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was formed from five component formations, each of which a single Zifu Disciple could control. However, if five Zifu Disciples joined forces…the power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation would reach the maximum level! As for the Ji clan, including Ning’s father, it had six Zifu Disciples! But his father would have to use a forbidden technique to release enough power. Strictly speaking, the Ji clan only had five Zifu Disciples. Given this…the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was the best choice. “Have you chosen?” The giant yellow bear said. “I have.” Ning nodded. “The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation!” The giant yellow bear stared at Ning in astonishment. “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation? Did you make a mistake? That is a grand formation suitable for protecting a clan; once you set it down, you cannot move. Even if you choose to fight…you still have to set the formation up in advance! In the future, you will definitely go adventuring outside. If you suddenly encounter any danger, you won’t have time to set up a 706 formation, and what’s more, the power of this grand formation when a single person is controlling is very ordinary. You need five people working together to reach a high level of power! I urge you to reconsider. You will have very, very few chances to select an item from the Treasure Hall. Once you make the choice, there’s no way to change it!” “I choose it.” Ning didn’t hesitate at all. “Fine.” The giant yellow bear said nothing further. “Come.” The giant yellow bear pointed at a spot in the air far above them, and in the tightly clustered mass of treasures and artifacts, a ray of light flew out from an unassuming dark corner that couldn’t even be seen with the naked eye. It was like a meteor, quickly passing through all obstructions and landing on the ground. Ning looked at it. He saw four black scales that surrounded a central black pearl. “This is a dragon pearl.” The giant yellow bear waved his hand, and the black pearl immediately levitated into the air. The black pearl was covered with a large amount of runes, and the faint image of a dragon’s shadow could be seen swimming within it. The complicated runes atop it seemed to be exceedingly beautiful, completely different from the crude scrawlings atop ordinary Mortal-rank magic treasures. “The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation has five parts to it. The core is the dragon pearl! And then, there is the dragon’s head, the dragon’s body, the dragon’s claw, and the dragon’s tail. Four secondary parts!” The giant yellow bear waved his hand again, and those four scales flew over as well. “They are formed from the scales on the dragon’s body, which were forged into four formation disks. One dragon pearl, four formation disks. This forms the complete, five-part Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. As for the mysteries within, after you bind it and carefully analyze it, you’ll understand.” Ning nodded. He stretched his hand out, accepting the dragon pearl and four formation disks. “You’ve already entered the Wargod Hall, Treasure Hall, and Stellar Hall. Only the Divine Abilities Hall remains.” The giant yellow bear said. “Work hard to make your breakthrough. At the latest, make your breakthrough at age ten. By then, you can challenge the Divine Abilities Hall.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. “Then now…?” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “I’m heading out.” Ning didn’t hesitate. The giant yellow bear nodded slightly. Whoosh! The bear’s head dramatically increased and became illusory, swallowing Ning within it. Ning disappeared. Serpentwing Lake. Beneath a courtyard within Brightheart Island. There was a lantern hanging nearby, casting a faint light on the surrounding area. It was already late at night. “Why hasn’t the young master returned?” Autumn Leaf held a flask of wine, standing behind Ji Yichuan. Yichuan sat down, and behind him was lying a big white dog, the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’. Autumn Leaf’s eyes had a hint of worry within them as well, because Yichuan had been waiting very long already. “The young master said that others were not permitted to disturb him, and that his room was to be completely sealed.” There was nothing Autumn Leaf could do. She knew Ning’s temper; if he said he was not to be disturbed, others absolutely would not dare disturb him. The only choice was to wait. “Don’t be impatient. There is enough time.” Yichuan held a cup of wine and spoke softly. He was very calm, because the coming battle would be the most glorious moment of his life. “Rumble…” The ground vibrated faintly from far away, and instantly, Autumn Leaf revealed a look of delight. “The young master should be leaving his closed quarters.” And then, a creaaaak. From afar, a door to a room opened, and a youth clast in beast furs stepped out. Yichuan stood up, frowning slightly as he looked at Ning. He had watched Ning grow up, and so he could sense any changes Ning went through. He noticed that the current Ning…seemed to be less ‘sharp’ than before, but in possession of a hint of the calmness of the water. “You were training?” Yichuan asked. Ning nodded slightly. “I had a breakthrough!” A look of delight and satisfaction appeared in Yichuan’s eyes. This was his final battle, and he believed that he would die in it! To be able to, before his death, see his son increase in power yet again…naturally, he was incomparably delighted. For his son to be such a monstrous talent…he could already see the sight of his son’s name being spread throughout the vast world. “Good.” Yichuan just said a single word. “Uncle White is going as well?” Ning looked towards the nearby Whitewater Hound. The Whitewater Hound nodded towards Ning. Yichuan glanced a side at the nearby Whitewater Hound. “Your Uncle White and I are lifelong brothers. I am prepared to die in this battle; even if I survive, I will be left a cripple. Before this, I released your Uncle White and Uncle Black, giving them their freedom…your Uncle Black has already returned to his mountain forests, but your Uncle White has chosen to accompany me. Even if he dies, he wishes to die by my side. I am unable to force him to leave. I simply cannot. For me, Yichuan, to have a brother like this…even in death, I will feel proud.” Ning’s heart trembled. He saw the tears brimming in his father’s eyes, and the steely, unrelenting look of eternal companionship in his Uncle White’s eyes. “Good. Let’s go together.” Ning walked over, embracing the Whitewater Hound, much like he had always done when he was young and would go out to train archery. “Uncle White, let’s go together.” The Whitewater Hound looked back at Ning, and deep love could be seen in his eyes. He had watched Ning grow up from an infant into an adult. This was the only son of his lifelong friend, Ji Yichuan. Naturally, he viewed Ning as a younger family member. Whoosh. A boat appeared out of nowhere. Hovering there in midair, it quickly expanded until it reached a size of more than thirty meters. Ning, Yichuan, and the Whitewater Hound boarded it. “Let’s go.” Ning willed it. The boat quickly began to fly through the skies, rapidly advancing through the dark night towards the north. ……. Back at that desolate mountain forest. Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing, Ji Truekeep. These four had already arrived, and had already set up a bewildering formation nearby. Ning had spent quite a bit of time meditating in the Stellar Hall. The others had taken care of their matters, then returned. Given the speed a Zifu Disciple could move at, they had naturally already taken care of everything. “Why did you bring your spirit-beast as well?” Granny Shadow said in a hoarse voice. Truekeep stroked the head of a black eagle. “I didn’t want it to come, but it insisted. It followed me since it was a chick. All these years, it has never left me. This time, it refused to leave no matter what…forget it. We’ve known each other all our lives. The relationship between the two of us is closer and more familiar than even the relationship between myself and my wife and children. Ninefire and the others just looked at him, then nodded gently. For a spirit-beast to willingly accompany a person in braving danger; this was rare indeed. “Yichuan hasn’t returned yet?” Truekeep stroked the eagle while raising his head to look. The bewildering formation hadn’t been activated yet; naturally, his vision was not impacted. Even in the darkness, the faint light of the moon was more than enough to allow Zifu Disciples to see to a great distance with the naked eye. “Don’t be impatient.” Ninefire said. “We still have quite a bit of time.” “It’d be best if that kid Ji Ning doesn’t come.” Granny Shadow sighed, speaking in her hoarse voice. “He insists on coming. He is the true hope of our Ji clan. Given his latent talent and potential, it shouldn’t be hard for him to become a Wanxiang Adept, but his temper is too stubborn.” Ninefire laughed, then said consolingly, “Don’t worry. He has the Traceless Talisman. When true danger comes, even if he doesn’t leave, we will force him to.” “Right. We will force him.” Granny Shadow nodded. “If he doesn’t leave at the critical moment, I’ll commit suicide right in front of him.” “Enough. He knows what is important.” Ninefire’s eyes lit up. “They are coming.” All of them raised their heads to look. From afar, in the air, they saw a ray of light fly over. Only when it began to slow as it descended could they see clearly what it was; it was a boat. This boat swiftly descended from the skies, and then, roughly thirty meters away from the ground, vanished. Ning, Yichuan, and the Whitewater Hound all landed on the ground. “You brought your Whitewater Hound as well?” Truekeep laughed. Yichuan glanced over in surprise as well. “Your Snow Eagle came as well?” The two glanced at each other, then both laughed. They both understood why. “Alright. We are all here.” Ninefire said. “We should prepare to deal with Snowdragon Mountain.” “Right.” Everyone’s faces grew a hint more solemn. Ninefire spoke out. “Earlier, I made a special trip to Swallow Mountain City, to pay a visit to General Dong, who is in charge of the forces stationed here!” “How did it go?” All of them asked with anticipation. A hint of fury was in Ninefire’s eyes. “Everyone knows General Dong. He is one of the members of that large, far away clan; the Dong clan! That’s the reason why he was able to become the commanding general of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s forces here.” 710 Ning nodded. They knew these things long ago; becoming a general in the Grand Xia Dynasty’s military…wasn’t something which someone in a small clan like the Ji clan could hope for. After all, that was, without question, a wonderful assignment. Once you put on the ‘tiger garb’ of serving the Grand Xia Dynasty, who would dare offend you? “I didn’t want to offend this General Dong.” Ninefire said. “Unfortunately, when I wanted to make the report, I was told that General Dong was in closed door meditation and unable to receive visitors. I went to see the Deputy General, but I was told the Deputy General had left Swallow Mountain City and wasn’t here at present.” “What.” They all grew frantic. “Definitely a delaying tactic. They didn’t want to meet with us.” “Snowdragon Mountain must have done something.” Ning was frantic as well. The point of them setting the formation was to delay until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrived. But if there was no report filed…how could the Celestial Envoy come? Ninefire said, “I couldn’t be bothered with anything else. This matter involves the fate of our Ji clan. Thus, I no longer cared about whether or not I was offending General Dong. Thus, I began to shout, sending my voice echoing throughout the entire Swallow Mountain City…I said that my Ji clan was willing to offer to the Grand Xia Dynasty an enormous elemental ore mine! My voice naturally flooded the entire Swallow Mountain City, and everyone within it, along with all of the soldiers, all heard my voice. General Dong thus no longer dared to delay, and so he hurriedly came to see me, his face as black as thunderclouds, and then angrily shooed me away.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Well-offended.” Ji Yichuan’s eyes flashed with cold light. “This matter involves the survival of the Ji clan. How can we be bothered by whether or not we are offending a garrison general?” “Right.” Ji Ning, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing all nodded. Garrison generals wielded great power. The six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain region all needed to pay a large amount of tax each year to the Grand Xia Dynasty. They delivered it directly to Swallow Mountain City! Aside from the authority to collect taxes, the garrison general was also responsible for oversight; he was responsible on behalf of the Grand Xia Dynasty for managing this region. Power over both oversight and tax collection…if they were really to squabble, these things would cause the Ji clan to suffer in the future. But that was just suffering; compared to the possible perishment of the entire clan, it didn’t matter! “As long as we sign an agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty, we would have their protection. He, a garrison general, wouldn’t be able to do anything to us.” Ji Ninefire said. “Since everyone is here, I will let you know that I have already chosen the location for our battle with Snowdragon Mountain. Let’s head out.” “Where will we battle with Snowdragon Mountain?” Ning asked. “Oxhorn Mountain, located close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” Ninefire said. “Oxhorn Mountain?” Ning was naturally extremely familiar with the geographical areas around the Ji clan. Upon hearing what Ninefire said, he immediately understood where they would be. Oxhorn Mountain was roughly eight hundred kilometers away from the City of Ten Thousand Swords. It was a large, desolate mountain. Because the peak of the mountain was split in twain, like the horns of an ox, it was referred to as ‘Oxhorn Mountain’. “I’ve also sent envoys.” Ninefire said. “They are flying on winged beasts towards Snowdragon City to idirectly inform them that our Ji clan has set a grand formation at the base of Oxhorn Mountain. Given the speed at which my envoys travel at, I imagine that in roughly ten hours, they will arrive at Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning and the others nodded. Ten hours? It would probably be tomorrow at noon, then! It made sense. The winged beasts the envoys flew on were ordinary, trained animals; it was only natural that they would not be able to compare with Xiantian-level flying monsters, or to Zifu Disciples. “I will collect this bewildering formation, and then we will immediately head out.” Ninefire, afraid of being suddenly attacked, had set up the formation here. “Whoosh!” An enormous gourd appeared. Ji Ning and the other five, along with the two spirit-beasts, stood or sat atop the gourd. The gouard flew through the skies at high speed. Oxhorn Mountain was roughly three hundred or so kilometers away. They arrived within moments. “Right there.” Ninefire pointed at the split peak of Oxhorn Mountain below them. “Land there onto Oxhorn Mountain. We can see everything from there, and given that the surrounding area is completely desolate…there’s nothing that can block our line of sight. As long as those Snowdragon Mountain disciples come, we will immediately see them from far away.” Ning, Yichuan, and the others all nodded. Whoosh! They landed from the skies, then put the gourd away. Ninefire and the others thus landed atop the mountain. “I have already prepared six formations. They represent my hundreds of years of painstaking research in analyzing formations.” Ninefire pointed at the surrounding area. “I’ll only need as much time as it takes to boil a kettle of tea before I set these formations down. Even if experts from Snowdragon Mountain who specialize in formations come to break through them, they will probably need to spend quite some time to break through six of them. During that period of time, we can also borrow the power of the formation to launch sneak attacks and ambushes, one after another, disrupting them from breaking through the formations! Our goal is to make them waste as much time as possible. Based on my calculations, the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty will arrive in three days. If we can hold for three days, then once the Celestial Envoy arrives, we will have won!” “Right. Once the Celestial Envoy arrives, they will no longer dare to act.” Granny Shadow nodded as well. “Even if we die, we have to delay them from breaking through our formation.” Truekeep nodded solemnly as well. “Our power, compared to that of a large group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain…if we fight them head on, there’s no way for us to compete. We have to rely on the formations! The more time it takes for them to break through our formations, the greater our chances for victory. Ideally, we should get rid of the formation experts which Snowdragon Mountain has invited over.” 713 Ninefire shook his head. “They will definitely focus on protecting their formation experts; they might even prepare specifically for us launching our most powerful attacks against the. It isn’t too likely that we will be able to kill the formation experts.” Yichuan nodded as well. “Let’s do our best to delay!” Six grand formations! The disruption of each formation represented an increase in the level of danger the Ji clan would face. “Patriarch.” Ning said solemnly. “I have a grand formation as well. We can be considered to have seven formations in total.” “Oh?” They all looked at Ning. “You have a grand formation?” Ninefire was extremely surprised. “Was it Bei Zishan’s? Bei Zishan came from Snowdragon Mountain, and he should have had some formations available to him.” Although this was what he said, in his heart, Ninefire didn’t feel too hopeful, because as he saw it, Bei Zishan was an amateur, while he, Ninefire, had chosen these six formations based on the most exquisite formations available to him and based on the treasures the Ji clan held. “No.” Ning shook his head. “I once had a special stroke of fortune, and the most valuable item I acquired from it was this grand formation.” “A special stroke of fortune?” They were all stunned. Yichuan stared at Ning. Yichuan’s first reaction was to think back to how Ning disappeared in Serpentwing Lake. That time, he and his wife had been worried for many days. Yichuan said, “Ji Ning has indeed had a special stroke of fortune, which he narrowly survived. However, I didn’t know he had acquired a powerful magic treasure from it.” Ning nodded. “Patriarch, look.” Ning waved his hand, and instantly, a black light appeared above them, covered with incomparably intricate, wondrous magical runes. It was the dragon pearl and the four black scales. They caused the surrounding space to fill up with a black fog. Just by looking at them, especially considering the majestic presence of the faint draconic shadow within the dragon pearl, Ninefire and the others felt incomparably delighted. “Dragon pearl?” Ninefire called out in surprise. “There is a dragon soul within?” “Look at these runes. In my entire life, I’ve never seen runes as beautiful as the ones atop this treasure.” Granny Shadow was scrutinizing the scales. “What complicated runes.” Ninefire was stunned as well. Ning said, “Patriarch, once you bind it, you will understand.” “How can I bind it? A treasure like this…our Ji clan has existed for thousands of years without having a treasure like this.” Ninefire shook his head. Although the Ji clan had its important, clan-protecting treasures, those were generally one-use Dao-seals and the like. How could it have an incomparably precious treasure like this, which could be used repeatedly? “This treasure isn’t something which the likes of our clan can use. Normally speaking, we’d be afraid others would come to steal it. However, now that our Ji clan is facing annihilation, I don’t have to be worried, I suppose. Still, Ji Ning, it’s best if you are the one to bind this magic treasure.” “Patriarch, didn’t you say that once things grew dangerous, I would have to immediately leave?” Ning said helplessly. “If I leave…am I supposed to take the formation with me?” “Oh…” Ninefire hesitated slightly, then gritted his teeth. “Fine. I will bind it. For now, I’ll use it!” Given that the annihilation of his clan was at hand, Ninefire wouldn’t hesitate. However, he could tell, just from the quality of the worksmanship, the runes, and the materials used that this magic treasure was extremely precious. “Whoosh.” Ninefire stretched out his right hand, and a flood of elemental energy flowed into the dragon pearl and the four draconic scales. This treasure didn’t have any remnants of ki within it, and so it naturally was easily bound. “A wonderful treasure. A wonderful treasure!” As Ninefire bound it, he immediately began to understand the secrets of the treasure, and his eyes turned completely round. “This is too, too…” Although he knew that it would be an excellent treasure, Ninefire was still stunned. “Patriarch?” “Elder brother?” Granny Shadow, Yichuan, and the others all looked at the Patriarch. “What a truly fine treasure!!!” Ninefire stared, round-eyed. He said excitedly, “My Ji clan has hope now. It has hope now! We have a chance! A real chance!” “What sort of treasure is it? Hurry up and tell us! I’m impatient to hear it!” Granny Shadow said hurriedly. Ninefire said, with incomparable excitement, “This grand formation has five parts. I can control them all by myself, but I need four Zifu Disciples assisting me! The four Zifu Disciples will be assigned to different locations. One Zifu Disciple will become the core of the ‘Dragonhead Formation’, one will be the core of the ‘Dragonbody Formation’, one will be the core of the ‘Dragontail Formation’, while one will be the core of the ‘Dragonclaw Formation’! Naturally, I will stand guard at the center and control the dragon pearl.” 715 “When the time comes, for the five Zifu Disciples who set up the formation, the most important thing is that, like with Dao-Soldiers, they will be able to share and borrow each other’s elemental energy! Even if one suffers an attack, it will be spread across to everyone in the entire formation and first be weakened by the formation itself, then dividing up amongst the five users.” Hearing this, Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the others were all excited. Being able to combine their elemental energy and defensive strength was already worth them being excited over; it meant all of them had gained in strength. “But this is just the first benefit.” Ninefire said excitedly. “There are other intricacies within. I’m unable to fully investigate them right now, but the dragon soul alone…when the time comes, we won’t even have to attack ourselves. We can use the dragon soul to launch attacks. This is much like Dong Xiqi’s Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Only, this formation of ours is far more exquisite than that one!” “Hurry, hurry. I’m going to immediately set it up. I need to focus on it and become familiar with the intricacies within.” Ninefire was incomparably excited. “Good, good, good.” All of them nodded. Ning nodded as well. He knew very well that this sort of formation required a very high level of comprehension regarding formations by the user. Only a high level of comprehension could result in effective control of the formation. Ninefire, in terms of talent, might not be superior to Ning, but he had been studying formations for centuries, and so in terms of his ability to control formations, he was on a similar level as Ning. “Right. Ning, what is the name of this formation?” Ninefire couldn’t help but ask. “I’ve never seen such an intricate, exquisite formation. This formation is more powerful than all six of my other formations.” “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” Ning said. “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” Ninefire murmured this, then transformed into a ray of light as he began to fly about, setting up the formation. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation had to be set up in advance. The dragon pearl could be carried at all times, but the four dragon scales had to be set down in advance. ………. Time passed by the minute and by the second. It was now dark at night. The Ji clan set up their formations, here at Oxhorn Mountain, training in them and becoming more familiar with the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. This caused them all to dance for joy. “So that’s how it is. How incredible.” 716 “We can allow the Netherwyrm to attack; the rest of us don’t have to interfere. We can also…transform into the ‘claws’ or the ‘tail’ of the Netherwyrm and actively attack. When we attack personally, the Netherwyrm will be able to unleash even greater power.” Truekeep was incomparably excited. He had never seen such an incredible formation. “In addition, in the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, the heavens and the earth are ‘locked’, making everything seem illusory! This is the most miraculous bewildering formation I have ever seen. If we want to attack, we can; if we want to retreat, we can hide behind the illusions, making it so that Snowdragon Mountain wouldn’t be able to find us.” Ninefire laughed loudly. Ning was excited as well. Although this was what he had expected, during their tests, he, a mere early Zifu Disciple, was able to use the combined elemental energy of the entire grand formation…and the Patriarch and the others were peak Zifu Disciples! When accessing all of the elemental energy of the formation, Ning had more elemental energy than any peak Zifu Disciple. For him to use so much ki in setting up his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] meant that the power would be even greater! “Come, then. Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning was filled with confidence. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Noon. The Golden Crow [the Sun] hung high in the sky. While Ji Ninefire, Ji Ning, and the others were setting up and familiarizing themselves with this grand formation, Snowdragon City of the Swallow Mountain area had already summoned quite a few Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. In the air above Snowdragon Mountain, there was a giant carpet, upon which was placed a number of chairs, fruit platters, wine, and more. All of the cultivators were seated in the lotus position, clinking glasses and exchanging toasts. They were quite at ease. “Junior apprentice-brother Dong Ziqi really has invited quite a few people this time. He invited all of our fellow apprentices in the areas surrounding Swallow Mountain.” A bearded elder held a beastskull cup of wine in his hands, chatting with a silver-haired cultivator who sat next to him. “It’s only been a short while, but more than ten Zifu Disciples have already arrived.” “The more Zifu Disciples arrive, the better it will be for us when we use the combination techniques off Snowdragon Mountain!” The silver-haired man laughed. “With so many people, no matter how many tricks that puny little Ji clan have, when we join forces against them…we will sweep them effortlessly.” “How can we possibly need this many Zifu Disciples to deal with a puny little Ji clan?” The long-bearded elder shook his head. He came just for the purpose of earning some merits; after they captured the elemental ore mine, the main sect would undoubtedly reward those who had played a part in it. Participants like them would be awarded merits, based on the size of their contributions. Unfortunately, with so many cultivators present, each person would have slightly less merits to earn. While they were discussing this… Dong Ziqi, as the host, was naturally walking around with a glass of wine in hand, chatting with everyone. Amongst his fellow apprentices, he was considered quite famous and formidable, and could be considered an exceptional character. Everyone would give him face. Still, Dong Ziqi spent most of his time with Jadechild. Jadechild’s face was glowing with golden light. Seated there in the lotus position, he had his own unique, domineering aura. The nearby Landwyrm shrank to a size of just a few dozen meters and lay there, gorging itself on meat. Next to Dong Ziqi were three fairly strong fellow disciples. “Now that senior apprentice-brother Jadechild is here, no matter what tricks the Ji clan uses, it will be useless. Actually, all we have to do is collect some military merits.” “The last time I saw you, senior apprentice-brother, was more than thirty years ago.” All of them chatted, beginning to flatter and praise each other. After all, this person in front of them, Jadechild, in terms of power, was strong enough to fight head on with an ordinary Wanxiang Adept! By relying on his divine ability, he was able to kill Zifu Disciples as easily as chickens. In addition, they had all heard of how Jadechild had secluded himself in the hopes of making a breakthrough. If he didn’t make a breakthrough, that was one thing, but if he did, then he would become a Fiendgod practitioner at the Wanxiang Adept. By then, Jadechild’s status would skyrocket, and he would become a major figure of the main sect. Naturally, they had to befriend him early on. “Hm?” Dong Ziqi suddenly turned to look into the skies. From afar, a fur-clad man could be seen, riding on a winged beast. The winged beast was an ordinary one, not a Xiantian-level Diremonster. The fur-clad man called out, “Cultivators of Snowdragon Mountain, I have come to deliver a message on the orders of my Patriarch. The Patriarch of our Ji clan, as well as the other Zifu Disciples, have set down a grand formation at Oxhorn Mountain, eight hundred kilometers outside of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. We are waiting for you, Snowdragon Mountain, to break it!” After speaking, the fur-clad man flew away atop that winged beast. “Arrogant little fellow. Watch me deal with him.” A Zifu Disciple with triangular pupils immediately said in a cold voice, preparing to act. “Stay your hand.” A calm voice rang out. The Zifu Disciple turned to look. The speaker was senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, who was seated in the position of honor. He immediately no longer dared to attack. “We are all people who have embarked on the path of Immortal practitioners, while he, a messenger, is merely a mortal. If you lower yourself to kill him, wouldn’t you be tarnishing the reputation of our Snowdragon Mountain?” Jadechild said calmly. “Their puny little Ji clan dares to brazenly set up a grand formation and ask us to go break it? Then our Snowdragon Mountain will display our overwhelming power and smash them all to death in an awe-inspiring display.” “Senior apprentice-brother is correct.” “Senior apprentice-brother’s words are reasonable.” 719 “Our power far exceeds the Ji clan’s. For us to act openly and above-the-board is the correct path.” All of the Zifu Disciples hurriedly said a few words of praise. Jadechild continued, “However, for the Ji clan to directly notify us means that they definitely have some tricks up their sleeves. These clans have been rooted here for thousands of years…they might have some powerful techniques available to them. Fellow apprentices, don’t be careless. Be careful and vigilant…if we are vigilant, then given our power, eradicating the Ji clan will not be an issue at all.” “Right.” All of them nodded, as though having been lectured. Actually, who amongst them didn’t know this already? Only, since Jadechild was speaking, they had no choice to obediently listen. …………….. Another four hours or so passed, and another series of Zifu Disciples arrived, three more in total. These three new Zifu Disciples who had rushed here, upon seeing so many fellow apprentices present, and upon seeing senior apprentice-brother Jadechild in particular, naturally also accepted Jadechild as their leader. Although quite a few Zifu Disciples went forward to say a few words to Jadechild, Jadechild just gave a few casual replies. “Hrm?” Jadechild’s eyes lit up as he looked towards the distant skies. He even put down the beastskull goblet in his hand. In the distant skies, a white Fairy Crane was descending. There were two Zifu Disciples seated atop it. One was Muse, who had gone out to deliver the invitations to the other apprentices of Snowdragon Mountain; as for the other, this man was dressed in ordinary fur clothes. This practitioner had unbound hair, and his eyes gleamed like the stars. Just looking at him made people unconsciously feel calmer. “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao has arrived.” Dong Ziqi hurriedly rose. “Come. Let’s go greet junior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Jadechild rose to his feet. Jadechild rose to welcome Zidao, naturally causing the surrounding Zifu Disciples to all rise as well. They also behaved in a very warm, welcoming manner. Nong Zidao… This was an awe-inspiring figure known throughout the Swallow Mountain region. Jadechild himself was merely a rogue practitioner who eventually joined Snowdragon Mountain! As for Zidao, he had been trained at Snowdragon Mountain as a child, and was a member of the extremely powerful ‘Nong’ lineage of Snowdragon Mountain! Amongst the younger members of Snowdragon Member, he was quite famous for his prowess in formations, and the Ki Refining technique he trained in was an exquisite one as well. In the future, he would have a chance at becoming a Wanxiang Adept. Logically speaking, it should have been quite hard to invite such a figure to attend. “I didn’t expect that Dong Ziqi would be able to invite even Nong Zidao to come.” The Zifu Disciples were all quite surprised. “Junior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Jadechild laughed as he went forward to welcome him. “I thought it would be quite some time, junior apprentice-brother, before you arrived. I didn’t imagine you’d arrive so soon.” “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” The celestial goose landed on the carpet, and Nong Zidao descended. “After hearing that you were inviting me and giving me a chance of earning some merits, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, of course I wouldn’t dare be slow. I had Crane leading the way, and so I moved much more quickly than our other fellow apprentices.” The two of them chatted, paying no attention to anyone else, but the other Zifu Disciples felt that this was only proper. “Junior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Nong Zidao looked at the nearby Dong Ziqi. “This time, you’ve accomplished a great deed.” “With you present, senior apprentice-brother Zidao, I now feel much more confident.” Dong Ziqi said hurriedly. “Prior to this, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and I were both concerned about those formations…although the Ji clan is a puny little clan, they have a history of thousands of years. For the sake of the survival of their clan, the formations they are setting down will definitely be extraordinary. Before this, I was worried, but with your arrival, senior apprentice-brother Zidao, everything will be simple.” “With senior apprentice-brother Zidao here, the puny Ji clan’s formations will quickly be broken.” “Quickly and easily.” The Zifu Disciples all began to laugh and sigh in praise. Nong Zidao nodded gently. The main sect actually cared quite deeply about his expertise in formations, but he was still, after all, a mere Zifu Disciple, not yet a Wanxiang Adept…and thus, his status wasn’t able to rise too much. As for Jadechild, however, by relying on his divine ability, he was able to fight with the strength of a Wanxiang Adept. Given that Jadechild wasn’t too old, and was capable of making a breakthrough, of course Zidao wanted to make friends with Jadechild. This mission was absolutely a simple one, but with great potential rewards. Of course he had to come. “Junior apprentice-brother Zidao, with you being here, we have a total of nineteen Zifu Disciples.” Jadechild glanced at the surrounding people. “If we include my Landwyrm and that Fairy Crane of yours, we actually can be said to have twenty one Zifu Disciples.” They all nodded. Jadechild then gave another glance at Nong Zidao. Their gazes intersected, and they made the decision simultaneously. “We have an absolute advantage in power, and for the formation-breaking, we have junior apprenticebrother Zidao.” Jadechild said. “Since this is the case, there is no need for us to delay any further. Let us head out for Oxhorn Mountain now! As for the fellow apprentices who will arrive later, junior apprenticebrother Ziqi, you arrange for someone to welcome them, then tell them that we have already gone to Oxhorn Mountain.” “Alright.” Dong Ziqi hurriedly responded. Since Jadechild and Zidao had made their decisions, most likely the latecomers wouldn’t dare say much. “Fine, let’s go.” “With so many colleagues present, we have enough power to annihilate the Ji clan.” “We even have senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao. Everything is set.” The Zifu Disciples all spoke out in praise and approval. The more Zifu Disciples came, the more people would divide the merits earned. If they headed out now, and immediately destroyed the Ji clan, then they would earn the majority of the merits, with the latecomers at most getting a few scraps. Dong Ziqi directly reached out to his clansmen within Snowdragon City: “Wait here within the city. Once our colleagues arrive, just say…that senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao have led the rest of us to Oxhorn Mountain.” “Yes, Patriarch.” The Xiantian lifeforms within the city began to make their preparations for welcoming the latercomer Zifu Disciples. “Let’s go.” Dong Ziqi laughed. Whoosh! The carpet immediately flew into the distance. This group of Zifu Disciples remained seated on it, continuing to nurse their drinks. They were quite at ease. To them, this trip to Oxhorn Mountain was nothing more than an excursion tour, incomparably relaxed. ……….. Oxhorn Mountain. The sun had already begun to set, having reached the western mountains. The sunlight bathed the world in its glow, causing the desolate wilderness and Oxhorn Mountain to be covered with a layer of red gauze. The Ji clan’s experts had already finished familiarizing themselves with the formation and were now resting. Their eyes were all filled with confidence and anticipation. If before this, they were prepared to fight to the death, or perhaps even had mentally prepared to die…then they now could be said to have confidence in their ability to give Snowdragon Mountain a fight. Ninefire said, “Unless a few dozen of their Zifu Disciples perish, they can forget about breaking this formation.” His words were filled with an eagerness for the coming battle. This powerful formation…it would definitely ensure that a large group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain would perish within. “This bottle of liquefied elemental essence.” Ning was holding the jade bottle while speaking to his clansmen. “Prior to this, when training, I only used thirty percent. Quite a bit of it remains. In this battle against Snowdragon Mountain, our Ji clan cannot be the slightest bit careless. This bottle of liquefied elemental essence will be of great use. Patriarch, please accept it.” Just as Ning was speaking, Truekeep suddenly shouted, “Look, look north!” “Hrm?” All of them turned to look. Standing at the tip of Oxhorn Mountain, they were able to see that in the distant skies, an enormous carpet was flying over. Atop the carpet was tables and chairs, as well as one Zifu Disciple after another, either seated in the lotus position or reclining while drinking wine, seeming quite relaxed. One of them stood at the very front of the carpet. From the looks of it, it was Dong Ziqi! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Dong Ziqi stood there atop the carpet, staring into the distance. The distant Oxhorn Mountain looked the same as always, extremely peaceful. “Apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao.” Dong Ziqi hurriedly called out. “Oxhorn Mountain is up ahead, but at first glance, I don’t see anything.” Immediately, a group of Zifu Disciples arose, with Jadechild and Zidao leading the way. They stood at the edges of the carpet, staring into the distance. Nong Zidao began to laugh. “Just a vision-bewildering formation. Although you can’t tell from the outside, once you investigate clearly what’s going on, you’ll know.” Whoosh! The giant carpet descended, quickly landing on a desolate patch of land not too far from Oxhorn Mountain. This group of Zifu Disciples all walked off, raising their heads as they looked at the distant Oxhorn Mountain. “Snowdragon Mountain members, our Ji clan has been here waiting for quite some time.” A heroic, forceful voice emanated forth from the distant Oxhorn Mountain. “So they really are atop the mountain.” Dong Ziqi’s eyes narrowed, and he said, “This is the voice of Patriarch Ninefire of the Ji clan. This old fellow is very crafty, and he is skilled in formations and poisons.” Jadechild just said calmly, “Nothing more than an old man. Killing him is like killing a chicken.” “It’s quite impressive for someone to be this bold though.” Nong Zidao laughed as well. “A grand formation has been set down here at Oxhorn Mountain. There’s no way of knowing what dangers and traps are inside.” A silver-haired Zifu Disciple said, worried. “What are we to do?” The practitioner with the triangular pupils snorted coldly. “What can we do? To break the formation, we first have to test it and see what intricacies it holds.” One Zifu Disciple after another began to discuss what they should do to test it. “No need.” Nong Zidao laughed gently. “This bewildering formation is quite ordinary. Just from reviewing the elemental energy ripples surrounding Oxhorn Mountain, I already know the secrets behind the vision- bewildering formation in front of us. Crane, go break this formation.” Nong Zidao, through his spiritual connection, informed the Crane of the secrets of breaking this formation. The Fairy Crane transformed into a blur, then solidified into a white-robed maiden. The white-robed maiden seemed like an eighteen year old girl, youthful and adorable. “Master, please wait momentarily. I will go break the formation.” The white-robed maiden immediately transformed into a ray of light, flying away towards the base of Oxhorn Mountain. She didn’t enter the formation at all, instead wielding a long black whip in her hands. Striking out with the whip…it suddenly extended, penetrating into the formation, and then wrapping up the formation flag with incomparable accuracy. And then, with a tug, she pulled it out. “Good.” “The spirit-beast of senior apprentice-brother Zidao really is extraordinary.” “Well broken.” They all congratulated. From their side, all they saw was a long whip enter the formation, with that part of the whip disappearing. By the time the whip returned, it returned wrapped around a formation flag! With one of the formation flags pulled out…instantly, the bewildering formation was broken, and the entire Oxhorn Mountain seemed to change slightly, revealing several figures at the peak of the mountain. “The Ji clan.” Muse immediately saw the six of them, with that youth amongst them. “That genius of the Ji clan, Ji Ning, is here as well.” “Activate!” Far away at the peak of Oxhorn Mountain, Ninefire suddenly let out a loud shout, and instantly, a large amount of fog arose, surrounding the entire Oxhorn Mountain. There was black fog everywhere…and for a time, nothing could be seen within. “Master.” The white-robed maiden flew back like a streak of light. “I just barely missed. As soon as I pulled away one formation flag, yet another formation was set down…there’s no way for me to pull away the other formation flags.” “It’s enough for you to be able to pull one out. That bewildering formation has already been broken.” Nong Zidao laughed calmly. “It seems this Ji clan has prepared quite a few formations! Unfortunately…it seems as though none of them are particularly high-class formations.” The nearby Jadechild said, “How can the Ji clan possibly compare with you, junior apprentice-brother Zidao, when it comes to meticulously analyzing formations? If they were capable of setting up a formation that even you, junior apprentice-brother Zidao, felt was high class, then that would be quite baffling. The situation before us is quite normal.” 725 “How should we break this next formation, junior apprentice-brother Zidao?” “It’s hard to see anything within this fog formation.” The Zifu Disciples all looked at Nong Zidao. Nong Zidao shook his head as well. “The previous vision-bewildering formation was easy to break. The one in front of us, however, is a bit harder. In addition, I imagine that the Ji clan has set up layers of formations, formations within formations! How can we break this fog formation just by looking at it from the outside? Most likely, only someone at the Primordial Daoist level would be able to see through the illusions of this formation at a glance.” “Then we…?” Jadechild looked at Nong Zidao. “Investigate the illusions!” Nong Zidao said. “As I see it, our group of nineteen Zifu Disciples should divide into two squads. We’ll first send one group of twelve Zifu Disciples to enter the formation…these twelve fellow apprentices are not to be separated while carrying out their mission, as otherwise, they will be separated and killed. Twelve Zifu Disciples….the Ji clan won’t have the strength to fight back, even if they want to. Nong Zidao looked at Dong Ziqi. “Junior apprentice-brother Ziqi, this time, it was your Swallow Mountain branch which invited everyone to come here, and so you should lead eleven of our colleagues in entering.” “Fine.” Dong Ziqi immediately assented. Nong Zidao immediately began to name names, until finally, twelve Zifu Disciples had been named, with Dong Ziqi being one of them. “My twelve fellow apprentices, please head out first.” Nong Zidao waved his hand, and three jade talismans flew out towards Dong Ziqi and two others. “These three jade talismans were forged by me personally. As long as you stay close to me, I will be able to sense them. Fellow apprentices, please enter the formation first. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and I will follow afterwards…and then, we shall separately test this formation. I will be able to sense everyone’s locations, and so meeting again will be simple.” “Excellent.” “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao is meticulous indeed.” Nobody had any objections. Because they were all very confident! As disciples of the main sect, they were all skilled in combination attacks! Every six fellow disciples would be able to form one formation. Nine, ten, or twelve disciples were also able to set up formations…if the thousands of powerful Zifu Disciples of the main sect were to 726 join together in one combination formation, they would even be able to give a Primordial Daoist a good fight! But of course, the prerequisite was that they all had to understand the intricacies of the combination formations. The larger scale a formation, the greater the level of complexity. For thousands of Zifu Disciples to form into one combination formation would require many moons of training and coordination. …….. Oxhorn Mountain. Black fog billowed everywhere, and Ji Ning and the others flew to the edges of the black fog, staring towards the outside. Everyone had a heavy feeling. Just now, that Zifu-level Celestial Crane didn’t even enter the formation; all it had done was use a whip from outside, and it was able to effortlessly capture that formation flag. Clearly, it had seen through the illusions of the formation. For it to be able to do so without even entering the formation…this caused every member of the Ji clan to have a heavy feeling in their hearts. “The bewildering formation I set down outside the perimeter was the weakest one.” Ninefire said. “First, we will make the enemies believe us to be weak, so as to make them lower their guard.” “Twelve of their Zifu Disciples have broken off and are moving towards us. It appears they are going to enter.” Truekeep suddenly said. “They are breaking into two groups?” Ninefire nodded slightly. “I expect that the second group is the more powerful one; judging from the conversation they had earlier, it seems as though those two Zifu Disciples are in charge. However, those two are in the second group and haven’t entered yet.” “Let us prepare the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” Granny Shadow said hurriedly. Ninefire waved his hand, and two plain, unadorned emblems appeared. The only thing on them was the character for ‘Xia’. “The official writs?” Ning stared in astonishment at these two emblems. “Two official writs?” “Previously, when we killed the He siblings, we acquired an official writ. This unbound writ belonged to them.” Ninefire looked at Ning. His eyes filled with hope, he said, “The other official writ belongs to my Ji clan. It is the official writ of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Ji Ning, for now, we will entrust you with these two writs!” Ninefire handed them directly to Ning. “Me?” Ning was stunned. “We are facing countless dangers right now. If I am lucky enough to survive, then you can give the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords back to me. If I die, then keep it.” Ninefire said. “No matter what, we absolutely cannot permit Snowdragon Mountain to acquire this official writ. If the situation becomes untenable, immediately use the Traceless Talisman to depart. The official writ will thus go with you as well…and so, even if they break our formation, they will not be able to find the official writ at all. By then, you will represent the Ji clan in signing an agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning nodded gently, then accepted the two official writs. When he filled them with his elemental energy, he was able to easily bind them both. At the same time, he could vaguely sense two places ‘calling’ to him. It was the call of those two cities. “Excellent.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others all laughed. Now that they had already arranged everything, they would be able to battle without any other concerns. “Truekeep.” Ninefire said. “You shall be the core for the ‘Dragonhead Formation’ of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. I will fill you with the power of the formation.” “Yes.” Truekeep immediately nodded. “Ji Shadow.” Ninefire, for once, called out his little sister by her full name. “You shall be the core of the Dragonbody Formation. “Alright.” Granny Shadow’s eyes were filled with anticipation. “Liu Xing.” Ninefire called out the full name of the old servant, Ah Xing, as well. “You shall be the core of the Dragonclaw Formation.” The old servant nodded gently. “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked towards Ji Ning. “You are the strongest person amongst us. Your elemental energy is somewhat weak, but once you join with the formation…our elemental energy will combine with yours! Your strength will thus rise the most out of all of us! Given this, your power will vastly surpass the power of the rest of us. The Dragontail Formation of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation is the most mysterious and most nimble part; it can support everyone else. You will thus serve as the core for this formation, and you will also be our killing blade.” Ning nodded. Once the Netherwyrm Heavenlock formation was set down, of the five formations, the Dragonhead Formation, the Dragonclaw Formation, the Dragonbody Formation, and the Dragon Pearl Formation would not be very nimble. The Dragontail Formation, however, was the nimblest formation, and could easily sweep across to many areas. “I will stand guard at the core, controlling the formation to support you all.” Ninefire looked at the nearby Yichuan. “Yichuan will be my backup. Once I die, Yichuan will replace me.” Everyone knew…that Yichuan would only be able to unleash sufficient energy from his Zifu after using a forbidden technique. “Everyone!” Ninefire looked at them all. “Everything we do, we do for the Ji clan.” “For the Ji clan.” Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing, Truekeep, Yichuan, and Ning all nodded solemnly. “Go, then. Prepare each of your formations.” Ninefire gave the order. Immediately, Truekeep, Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ning moved at high speed in four different directions. ………. At the same time. Dong Ziqi and the other eleven Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were carefully entering the black fog shrouded Oxhorn Mountain. As the person who had invited them here, Dong Ziqi naturally set up his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation to protect them! The enormous Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation swirled around the eleven Zifu Disciples, providing an outer layer of protection. This also guaranteed that the twelve Zifu Disciples wouldn’t be easily separated from each other. “A black fog bewildering formation?” The twelve people who entered the black fog region quickly grew cautious. “Everyone, beware the ambushes of the Ji clan.” Dong Ziqi called out. In the black fog, the aura of the region had become heavy and weighty. All of them grew cautious and guarded, for fear that a sudden, terrifying attack might emerge from the black fog. As Immortal practitioners…they all understood that even if they looked down upon their enemies, in a true life and death battle, they couldn’t underestimate any enemy Immortal practitioners. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The thick black fog surrounding Dong Ziqi’s group made it so that they couldn’t see too far away at all. If the black fog was to disappear, they would discover, to their amazement…that a completely black, enormous dragon that was more than ten kilometers long was currently coiled around the entire Oxhorn Mountain. At the same time, the head of the Netherwyrm was staring directly at them. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to see it. This was the reason why Ji Ninefire had set up this black fog bewildering formation. “Come. Come.” Ji Truekeep stared at them from far away. Twelve distant, faint figures could be seen far away in the black fog. These were created through Ninefire’s control over the fog; they were used to tell Truekeep and the others where everyone’s approximate locations were. Truekeep himself was within the enormous black draconic head. After being transformed by the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, the elemental energy of the five had given birth to a powerful draconic energy. At the center of the Dragonhead Formation, Truekeep was naturally able to borrow this power, and he could feel his own strength ready to explode. “Truekeep, wait a bit longer. Don’t be impatient.” A voice rang out by his ear. Truekeep nodded. All the major formations, including the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, was controlled by the Patriarch. Only the Patriarch could effortless speak mentally to them; the others, including Ji Ning, weren’t able to see too far through their eyes. They all needed the Patriarch to assist in guiding them. ……….. Ninefire was halfway up the mountain, within the body of the enormous Netherwyrm. He could see everything within the grand formation clearly, and the black fog served as his eyes. “They are all quite cautious.” Ninefire stared at them. “There are twelve Zifu Disciples, and they all belong to the same sect. They definitely have combination formation techniques…if we were to ambush them now, the chances of success probably wouldn’t be that great. In a short while, they will discover that this black fog formation isn’t an exceptionally clever one. And once they slightly lower their guard…the power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation will definitely make them suffer bitterly.” Ninefire was sufficiently patient. He was able to wait, wait for the best opportunity. Only then would he reveal his teeth and fangs… 730 Dong Ziqi and the rest of the twelve Zifu Disciples were indeed very vigilant when they entered the formation, all of them staying within the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. At the same time, they kept the elemental energy in their bodies activated, prepared to launch a combination attack at any time. “There’s nothing particularly special about this black fog bewildering formation. I’ve already discovered some of its secrets!” One of them, a black-haired elder, spoke out. “I found a few hints as well. However, senior apprentice-brother Zha is more formidable than me when it comes to formations. I imagine that in an even shorter period of time, he would be able to defeat this formation.” A silver-haired cultivator said with a laugh. As Immortal practitioners, especially ones at the Zifu Disciple level…given that they were trapped at the Zifu Disciple level, the most fundamental level, and were unable to make a breakthrough, they naturally would spend their time researching other methods. Formations? Poisons? Golem arts? They would research anything that was useful to them in enhancing their power. Generally speaking, these old fellows who had been alive for three or four centuries would be specialized in several areas. These branch sect Zifu Disciples who had left the main sect had almost no hope of breaking through. Most of them thus spent some degree of time on formations, and some of them were even more formidable in formations than Ji Ninefire was! Only…although setting one was easy, breaking one was difficult! They naturally weren’t confident in their ability to defeat the formations that Ji Ninefire had laid down. However, there were still some formations which they could defeat; only, it wouldn’t be as simple as it was for Nong Zidao. “I only need as much time as is needed to boil a kettle of tea to break this formation.” The black-haired elder smiled. “Then we’ll have to trouble you, senior apprentice-brother Zha.” “We will first break this bewildering formation. There is no need to rely on senior apprentice-brother Zidao to deal with these small formations. We are enough.” These Zifu Disciples clearly felt quite relaxed now. When first entering the black fog bewildering formation, the short line of sight made them grow wary, but upon understanding how simple this formation was to break, they clearly were starting to feel more confident. The black-haired elder nodded. “I will analyze this formation. Everyone, please stay on your guard.” “Leave it to us. Senior apprentice-brother Zha, focus on breaking this formation.” Dong Ziqi and the others said. Moments later. “Right up ahead.” The black-haired elder’s eyes lit up. He was completely confident. “I’ve already seen through this formation.” “Excellent.” All of them grew excited. Dong Ziqi continued to maintain his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, and the group of Zifu Disciples advanced at high speed. The fog up ahead seemed to be a bit thinner, and Dong Ziqi’s group saw, not too far away, a flag planted into the ground. The flag was grey, and covered with many black diagrams. “The formation flag!” They revealed looks of delight on their faces. …… “Truekeep, just wait there quietly.” Ninefire sent mentally. “In a short period of time, those Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain will arrive at your position. When I give the order, kill them.” “I’ve been waiting for this the entire time.” Truekeep’s eyes were flashing with cold light. “Excellent. Just listen to my orders.” Ninefire was eager as well. …. As Dong Ziqi’s group of twelve Zifu Disciples saw the distant flag, they failed to notice that within a hundred meters of them…an enormous draconic head was staring directly at them. “The formation flag!” The twelve Zifu Disciples were all wildly overjoyed, and the black-haired elder couldn’t help but reveal a hint of smugness. Right at that moment… “Attack!” Truekeep, who had been hiding there for quite some time, finally heard the Patriarch’s voice. Whoosh! Just as the group of Zifu Disciples saw the formation flag and were feeling overjoyed, an enormous draconic head suddenly emerged from the nearby dense black fog. The draconic head was incomparably large; in the black fog, they were only able to see several draconic whiskers and scales. The Netherwyrm’s head opened its maw, chomping down towards them. “Careful.” Dong Ziqi, being in control of the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, was the first to notice it, and he hurriedly called out in surprise and fright. It was too late. It came too fast! The distance at which one could see within the black fog was simply too short. The Netherwyrm was ten kilometers long. How enormous must the head thus be? As the draconic head charged towards them…it moved at a speed that was probably more than ten times faster than that of the Zifu Disciples. The draconic head, with a rumble, blasted into and broke through the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. With a crunch, rumble, boom, and terrifying roar…the Netherwyrm’s head came howling towards the enemies! In that howling instant… Truekeep was right in the center of the head. As the Netherwyrm’s head bit down, Truekeep seemed to have gone berserk as the nine sharp awls hovering around his body were filled by the draconic energy generated by the formation. Those sharp awls moved at an astonishing speed, attacking at three of the Zifu Disciples were were closest to and caught offguard by the Netherwyrm’s frontal attack. Supported by the formation, Truekeep’s current level of power was even more powerful than that of most peak Zifu Disciples. Bang! Bang! Bang! Simply too fast. Two of the Zifu Disciples had giant holes blasted through their chests and their corpses fell into the Netherwyrm’s devouring mouth. As for the other Zifu Disciple who had been attacked, he kicked backwards, his body flashing like azure light and instantly moving tens of meters away. A single sudden ambush had killed two Zifu Disciples. The primary reason was that the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation itself was simply too powerful. In addition, all five of its formations had a Zifu Disciple standing guard at the center, making it so that this Netherwyrm seemed to have sentience, making it all the more incomparably, astonishingly powerful. “While they are ill, go for the kill!” Truekeep then moved towards and attacked two other Zifu Disciples who had somewhat pulled away from their comrades. “Kill.” The sharp awls howled! The black draconic head was like a nightmare. “Assemble the formation.” “Assemble the formation.” As the howls rang out, Dong Ziqi and the others had already begun to prepare their formation. These Zifu Disciples were no fools; they knew that they couldn’t move too far away from 733 their comrades. This was because once they moved too far away from each other within this bewildering formation…they would be separately defeated by the Ji clan. But the problem wasn’t that they moved too far away; it was that the strike of the draconic head had knocked some of them flying! The power of the Netherwyrm’s attack was simply too great! “Formation, link.” “Formation, link.” A white light suddenly sprang up, instantly circulating around the bodies of each of the Zifu Disciples. Soon, eight enormous trigrams made of white light had appeared out of nowhere, with the eight Zifu Disciples separated in each part. Actually, this technique of Snowdragon Mountain’s only required six Zifu Disciples to be completely linked up. “Where is senior apprentice-brother Zha?” “Where is senior apprentice-brother Fang?” Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight, after setting up the formation, discovered to their amazement that although they had previously numbered twelve Zifu Disciples, only eight now remained. The other four could not be found. “Senior apprentice-brother Zha.” They all called out loudly, and their voices echoed within the formation. If the other four were still alive, they would be able to reply verbally. “Dead. The four of them are all dead.” Dong Ziqi gritted his teeth. “Too terrifying. Too powerful.” The silver-haired cultivator had a look of disbelief on his face. “Prior to this, I vaguely saw some draconic scales. It was the head of an incomparably large dragon. How could the Ji clan have access to something so powerful? Could that have been a true dragon?” “There’s no way it could have been a true dragon. If it was a true dragon, we would have discovered it long ago! In addition, how could a true dragon be so enormous? It must be a formation!” “But how could the dragon produced by a formation be so powerful?” This group of Zifu Disciples were still in a state of shock. That earlier attack had simply been too powerful. Although they had all been overjoyed upon seeing the flag and had relaxed slightly, they were still within the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation, after all. In their hearts, they also remained 734 vigilant. Who would have imagined that this sudden ambush would have blasted through them, forcing them all to retreat and knocking some of them flying! This ambush had killed four of them! “We can no longer see the formation flag either.” Dong Ziqi swept the surrounding area with his gaze. He was now unable to see the formation flag. “When we were struck by that enormous black dragon, we were all knocked backwards and driven farther away from the formation flag.” “The illusion isn’t that important. That enormous black dragon is the true disaster.” “We must have senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild or Nong Zidao come.” The silver-haired expert flipped his hand and retrieved a jade seal. This was the seal Nong Zidao had given him. He clenched it. Crunch! The jade seal disintegrated. …. On the outside. Jadechild and Nong Zidao, along with the other five Zifu Disciples, were waiting. They were in no rush to enter the formation. “What sort of techniques could this sort of small clan have?” Jadechild laughed. “Our twelve Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain have entered, and they have access to a combination formation technique…that is more than enough to utterly sweep and dominate the enemies.” “Right. The formations of a small clan like this can’t possibly be very powerful. Our fellow apprentices also have studied formations. They, too, are capable of breaking formations.” Nong Zidao felt relaxed as well. As he saw it, the combined power of those twelve fellow apprentices….should indeed be more than enough to easily dominate this sort of small clan. Suddenly… Nong Zidao’s face changed. “What happened?” Jadechild immediately asked. “The jade talisman I gave him.” Nong Zidao said in a soft voice. “One of them was just crushed. It seems they encountered some sort of danger. Otherwise, they wouldn’t ask us to save them.” “This puny little Ji clan was able to force them to beg us to save them?” Jadechild couldn’t believe it. Prior to this, Nong Zidao had given them a jade talisman…primarily because this was a habit of the disciples of the sect. None of them actually thought it would be used. “Come, let’s enter the formation.” Nong Zidao said. The other five nearby Zifu Disciples had heard their conversation. They, too, were surprised. The twelve comrades who had entered had actually been forced to shatter a jade talisman? Still, upon seeing Jadechild and Nong Zidao by their side, they felt completely confident. “You wait here. If any comrades of our Snowdragon Mountain comes here, tell them that we have already entered the formation.” Nong Zidao waved his hand, then produced a wooden golem. The wooden golem had a green light within its eyes, and it just listened, then nodded obediently. “Yes, master.” “Let’s go.” Nong Zidao said. Immediately, Jadechild, under Nong Zidao’s guidance, led the group of seven Zifu Disciples and two Zifulevel spirit-beasts into the black fog that surrounded Oxhorn Mountain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The enormous scales atop the draconic tail were all incomparably clear. Ji Ning sat within the draconic tail, surrounded by those enormous scales. “Hrm?” Ning suddenly heard the sound of explosions and angered shouts. “Assemble the formation!” “Formation, linked!” Cries of surprise and terror rang out from afar. Ning’s ears twitched, and he laughed. “IT has begun.” Per their original strategy, Ning was in the strongest position of all, out of the various experts of the Ji clan! He would only be unleashed at the critical moment…there was no need for him to engage yet. Moments later. “Whoosh!” A figure flew over. It was Ji Yichuan, dressed in a white fur robe. “Father.” Ning rose. “Take it!” Yichuan produced six flying swords out of nowhere, which hovered there above his palm. “These were acquired by your Uncle Truekep after executing four Zifu Disciples. One of them was a Zifu Disciple who controlled multiple flying swords; we acquired five from him alone. Thus, the four of them had a total of six flying swords.” Ning didn’t hesitate, immediately accepting them. “Perfect timing.” Ning was incomparably excited. Prior to this, everyone had already traded for some magic treasures. Some of them were useless to him, but were very important to others! At such a crucial, life-and-death juncture, nobody would be shy; everyone acted quite forthrightly. For example, Ning gave the venomous bugs he had acquired from Bei Zishan to Ji Ninefire, while Ninefire, upon learning that Ning desperately needed ranked flying swords, had managed to scrape together five of them. Bei Zishan had left behind two; combined with those five, Ning had seven. That wasn’t even enough for a single formation base of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! But now that he had six more…he had enough. “These six flying swords are all ranked magic treasures.” Yichuan said. “Right.” Ning nodded. “With these six ranked flying swords, my power is going to rise significantly. Later, I’ll have to have a nice little ‘battle’ against these Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain!” 737 Yichuan had a rare look of delight on his face as well. “This has truly been wonderful. And it is all thanks to the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation you brought out! In a single ambush, we killed four enemy Zifu Disciples. Without the aid of this formation, we would probably lose someone on every attack.” “Right.” Ning nodded. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation had been acquired by Ning from the Aquatic Estate. Naturally, it was quite powerful. “Make your preparations. Once you are needed, the Patriarch will immediately notify you mentally.” Yichuan instructed, then transformed into a ray of light and left. Ning immediately filled his elemental energy into the flying swords, seizing every moment of time and hurriedly binding them. Although it was true that, as the spirit of the Aquatic Estate had said, it would be best if the flying swords which served as the core of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] all came from the same source, the current Ning, unfortunately, had no right to be choosy. It was already quite good for him to even be able to have enough ranked flying swords. …… The black fog hung everywhere. Nong Zidao, Jadechild, and the others were advancing carefully through the black fog. The Fairy Crane and the Landwyrm were all in human form now, accompanying Nong Zidao and Jadechild. “This black fog bewildering formation isn’t even worth discussing.” Nong Zidao finally spoke. “I’ve already completely seen through its mysteries. I can sense the direction in which Dong Ziqi’s group lies as well. Now, act according to my instructions…and we will soon reunite with them.” “We will listen to you, senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao is as formidable as ever.” The other Zifu Disciples previously had ugly looks on their faces, but now they finally looked pleased. Prior to this, upon entering the formation, they had immediately shouted, and the distant voices of Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight Zifu Disciples had naturally responded to them…and through the discussion, Jadechild and Nong Zidao learned that four of their comrades had actually died! This caused Jadechild and Nong Zidao to become incomparably enraged and cautious. Nong Zidao said in a clear voice, “Junior apprentice-brother Ziqi, we are coming over right now. We will soon arrive.” “Boom!” “Kill!” 738 “Kill that old bastard of the Ji clan!” A series of angry roars rang out from afar, causing Jadechild and Nong Zidao to be startled. But then, the warcries and sounds of battle came to a halt. Jadechild shouted with a frown. “Dong Ziqi, are you alright?” “We are fine.” The voice came from far away. “The eight of us stayed in formation the entire time, not relaxing at all. Just now, an enormous draconic claw attacked us…it was even more powerful than the first attack. We were at a slight disadvantage, but by joining forces, the eight of us were able to defend well enough that none of us perished.” “Alright. We will immediately come over.” Jadechild said. “Let’s hurry over.” Jadechild looked towards Nong Zidao by his side. “Prior to this, it was the dragon’s head. This time, it was the dragon’s claw. This puny little Ji clan actually has access to such a technique…” Nong Zidao said solemnly, “Most likely, in the past few thousand years, the Ji clan must have acquired this formation through a stroke of great fortune. It seems to be quite powerful. Let’s quickly reunite with them.” Right at this moment… Whoosh! The surrounding black fog suddenly grew denser, and a bone-piercing, insidious cold seemed to fill it. “Go forward. Stop. Turn left…stop.” Nong Zidao guided them easily, but then his face suddenly changed. “Eh?” “What is it?” They all looked towards him, awaiting his directions. “It changed.” Nong Zidao had an ugly look on his face. “There are multiple layers of formations, formations within formations. I’ve become baffled by an even more powerful formation.” “Can it be that even you can’t break it?” Jadechild looked at him. “It will be very difficult.” Nong Zidao looked at the surrounding area. Waving his hand lightly, he could sense that insidious, bone-piercing chill within the fog. “How long will you need to break it?” Jadechild asked. “I don’t know!” Nong Zidao shook his head. “If I’m fast, an hour. If it takes a long time, one or two days.” 739 The faces of the surrounding Zifu Disciples all changed. Jadechild said, shocked, “That long?” ………. Ning sat in the lotus position within the enormous tail of the Netherwyrm. Around him, more than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures were floating about, nine of which were particularly dazzling to behold. The white light covering those nine was much stronger. The hazy white light continuously thrummed through the swords, quickly coalescing into a sword light in front of Ning. “Right. With these nine ranked flying swords as a formation base, they can now serve as the core for the other seven hundred-plus flying swords of my [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The power clearly has grown dramatically.” Ning revealed a look of delight. “Only, the ranked flying swords put a lot of pressure on my soul as well.” Unranked flying swords made up the majority of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The difference between using them and using ranked flying swords in the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…was quite significant and apparent. The difficulty in controlling them rose dramatically, but so too did the power! “I’ve only added nine ranked flying swords. After gaining insight into my Sword Domain, my soul has grown much stronger. I’m still able to use the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” Ning had the feeling that if he were to add a few dozen ranked flying swords or a few hundred ranked flying swords…the total number of swords he was able to control would drop sharply! “Ji Ning!” A powerful voice echoed forth. “Patriarch.” A look of delight appeared on Ning’s face. “We are in trouble now.” Ninefire’s voice rang out. “What sort of trouble?” Ning was worried as well. “The second group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Dragon have just entered the formation. Amongst them there is one person in particular, Nong Zidao, who even I have heard of! Nong Zidao is extremely skilled in formations. He is able to easily defeat the black fog bewildering formation, and so I was forced to use the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation to trap and bewilder him.” Ninefire transmitted. Ning’s face changed. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation…it had the secondary effect of being a bewildering formation. It was far more exquisite than the Ji clan’s own bewildering formations. “They also have someone known as Jadechild. I haven’t heard of him, but his power is extremely great.” Ninefire sent mentally. “In our Ji clan, your power is the greatest, while the second strongest is our old 740 servant, Ah Xing. Just now, when Ah Xing ambushed Dong Ziqi’s group of eight, Dong Ziqi’s group was able to maintain their formation, and Ah Xing wasn’t able to do anything to them. However, I’ve discovered that Jadechild and Nong Zidao haven’t joined together in a formation. I ordered Ah Xing to attack as I thought we had an opportunity…but who would have imagined that despite riding on the claws of the Netherwyrm, Ah Xing was blocked off by Jadechild alone!” “Blocked by him alone?” Ning was shocked. “He is extremely powerful. Ah Xing launched a sneak attack, then immediately retreated.” Ninefire said. “Right now, there are a total of two groups in the formation. The second group is clearly far more powerful than the first one. Thus, we need to immediately eradicate the first group; otherwise, if they combine, we won’t be able to do anything against them.” Ning nodded. “You are the most powerful person in our group. Immediately go out and attack Dong Ziqi’s group. I will direct you. Prepare to listen to my commands.” Ninefire said. At the same time, the black fog in front of Ning began to part, revealing a corridor. “Wonderful. I’ve grown impatient long ago!” Ning sprang to his feet, then shot forward at high speed through the corridor. ……… Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight advanced carefully, always maintaining their formation. That white glow surrounded the eight trigrams which covered them. “Fellow apprentices, be careful. This is the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation!” Nong Zidao’s frantic voice rang out from far away. “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation?” Dong Ziqi and the others looked at each other, all of them seeming puzzled. The distant Nong Zidao said in a loud, frantic voice, “We just suffered an attack from a draconic claw as well. Your senior apprentice-brother, Jadechild, forced it to retreat. I could immediately recognize this as being the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. This Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation is an ancient, powerful formation! There is a complicated version of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and a simplified version of it…according to legend, the Marquis of Stillwater has access to a Heaven-rank Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. This formation which the Ji clan is using must be a simplified Mortal-rank formation. But even a Mortal-rank formation…is astonishingly powerful. We are in true danger this time. We have to conserve our power; otherwise, we will be in danger of dying.” 741 “Your senior apprentice-brothers, Jadechild and myself, will focus on breaking the formation. We won’t be able to divide our attention and take care of you for now. Take care of yourselves, the eight of you.” Nong Zidao’s voice echoed. Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight looked at each other, their faces unsightly. For this formation to force Nong Zidao and Jadechild to completely focus their efforts on breaking it…one could imagine how terrifying it was. “I’ve never even heard of this ‘Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation’. Only someone like senior apprenticebrother Nong Zidao, who has studied many formation manuals in the main sect, would know of it. How could the Ji clan have acquired such a powerful formation?” “Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation?” The look on Dong Ziqi’s face was very ugly. “We will do our best.” Dong Ziqi looked at his seven comrades. “This is a life-and-death battle. Either the Ji clan dies or we die! Everyone, if you have any life-protecting measures, use them. Don’t save them.” Their attitudes had all changed. At first, all of them were simply toying around. The sudden deaths of four comrades had shocked them, but they trusted that once Jadechild and Nong Zidao joined them…all the danger would dissipate like smoke, like the clouds. But now, Nong Zidao had said that this game had just turned deadly. “If I knew that I’d risk my life, I wouldn’t have entered Swallow Mountain.” They all felt misery in their hearts, but with death staring at them, all of them prepared to fight to the death. Three hundred meters or so away from them. An enormous draconic tail was coiling there. Ning was in the center of the draconic tail, and the seven hundred flying swords were all hovering around him, prepared to begin the slaughter. “Ji Ning, attack!” Patriarch Ninefire’s voice rang out within his mind. “Kill!” A fierce light flashed through Ji Ning’s eyes. Swooosh! Instantly, the entire, enormous Netherwyrm whipped its tail out, and its tail struck forward towards those eight nervous, guarded Zifu Disciples. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The black fog swirled about like mist. The eight Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were constantly staying in their formation and moving about within it. “This Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation…even senior apprentice-brother Zidao is unable to break it. What else can we do? Let’s just run around wildly. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and Zidao are within this formation as well. Perhaps we might run into them.” The eight Zifu Disciples clung to this hope as they advanced. They all clenched their various Dao-seals in their hands, prepared to do battle at any moment. Suddenly… Rustle… A gentle sprinkling of rain suddenly began to fall. The rain fell like fine, silken threads that were incomparably soft. Dong Ziqi and the rest of the eight, upon suddenly encountering the rain, were greatly shocked. “Rumble…” A layer of white light appeared on their bodies, which directly blocked those ordinary drops of rain. “It’s simply rain. Don’t make a fuss over nothing.” The hawk-nosed cultivator said coldly. “Why is there rainwater within this formation?” Dong Ziqi frowned. “Perhaps it is currently raining outside. This bewildering formation only has the power to bewilder; it isn’t able to block out the rainwater from the outside world.” A silver-haired cultivator spoke out. Dong Ziqi and the others all nodded. They were cultivators. They could clearly sense that this rain was falling naturally; it wasn’t poisonous liquid generated by the formation! For the moment, they didn’t think of the possibility of it being a Dao Domain; generally speaking, someone who had reached the Dao Domain realm could, with a thought, convert the surrounding area into their own Domain. Different Daos would naturally result in different Domains. Some could, with a thought, transform the surrounding area into boundless flames. Others could transform the surrounding area into a field of lightning. As for Ning, what he generated was the descent of rainfall. “Let’s be careful nonetheless. Don’t let this rainwater soak us.” A gray-robed elder said. “Junior apprentice-brother An’s words are reasonable. We are trapped in the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation; we should be careful.” These Zifu Disciples would rather do too much than to be careless. …… Whoosh! An enormous black draconic tail swept towards them as fast as lightning. In the midst of the draconic tail, there was a fur-clad Ji Ning, who stood there silently. The area around him was filled with more than seven hundred flying swords, nine of which were ranked. The nine ranked flying swords served as the nucleus, and the converted energy of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was incomparably shocking. The Rainwater Sword Domain had already been set up! An elemental energy that was greater than any peak Zifu Disciple’s, activated through the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…although only nine of these seven hundred-plus flying swords were ranked, this was still the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Sometimes, quantity was a form of quality! “Die.” Ning’s eyes flashed with a killing light. Swish! The sword light in front of him suddenly pierced through the skies, instantly transforming into a line of rainwater. At this moment, Ning was using all his might. The ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], supported by the formation and the Rainwater Sword Domain…all of these things made it so that the power of this sword of Ning’s was at an incredibly high level. ….. “Let’s keep moving.” Dong Ziqi and the others were continuing to advance while blocking off the descending rain. Just as they were walking forward calmly… Suddenly… “Eh?” The face of the hawk-nosed black-robed cultivator changed. In that instant, he vaguely felt a tremendous danger descending. This was something that he gained only after becoming an Immortal practitioner; he could sense when a dire threat was descending. Unfortunately, this danger sense always came quite late; it would only appear when the threat had already drawn very close. Despite that, it had still saved his life a few times. “Fogswirl Umbrella!” An umbrella suddenly appeared around the hawk-nosed black-robed cultivator. The umbrella spread open, completely protecting the hawk-nosed man’s body. A seemingly ordinary line of rainwater gently swirled and flew over, lashing out towards the trianglepupiled cultivator. The triangle-pupiled cultivator was staring in astonishment at his comrade, who had suddenly used his protective magic treasure. A sense of danger suddenly descended. “Not good.” As a line of rain drew close to him, the triangle-pupiled cultivator suddenly felt a sharp ripple come towards him. He hurriedly waved the longsword in his hand, wanting to block, but it was too late… That line of rainwater had come too close! And his sword techniques were too ordinary. How marvelous were Ning’s sword techniques? With a gentle twist, the rainwater moved past the longsword, then scraped past his head! “Rumble…” The formerly hazy white light of the Eight Trigrams Formation suddenly grew blindingly bright. “We are under attack!” Dong Ziqi and the others were all shocked. After suffering an attack, the formation would naturally explode with power. Bang! The head of the triangle-pupiled cultivator, his eyes still filled with shock, went flying into the air. One of the eight Zifu Disciples had died! “What?!” Dong Ziqi and the others were all terrified and shocked. One of their comrades had been killed while they had been maintaining the formation. How sharp did the enemy’s attack have to be?! “Assemble the formation!” “Assemble the formation.” The remaining Zifu Disciples called out in terror. With one of the eight dead, the earlier formation had already disappeared. For one of them to have been killed after setting up the formation…if they didn’t set it up again, wouldn’t they all be dead for sure? “Bang!” That line of rainwater, after killing the triangle-pupiled cultivator, had used up most of its power, but the other seven cultivators currently weren’t being protected by the grand formation. Naturally, the line of rainwater flew forward agilely. It swirled past…cutting apart the protection of a set of magic armor, sending yet another head flying, this one of the silver-haired cultivator. Only then did the line of rainwater vanish. “Rumble…” The white light appeared once more as the six surviving Zifu Disciples reformed the formation. “Rumble…” The enormous draconic tail came sweeping over again. “Kill.” “Kill him.” “Kill.” The six Zifu Disciples, upon seeing the draconic tail, seemed utterly enraged and berserk. Green vines, bolts of lightning, blasts of flame, phoenixes…they threw everything forward towards the draconic tail that was sweeping towards them. “They really have gone berserk.” Ning was shocked. “I’m going.” The black wings behind Ning trembled, then sent him flying in a solitary arc, far into the distance. Only the lightning bolt and the fiery phoenix were able to strike him. The strikes from the lightning bolt and the fiery phoenix allowed Dong Ziqi and the others to see Ning’s true appearance…Dong Ziqi was shocked and amazed. He immediately recognized that this was the genius of the Ji clan, ‘Ji Ning’. Rumble…the powerful attacks sent even Ning hurtling backwards, disappearing into the distant black fog. Dong Ziqi and the rest of the six Zifu Disciples felt dread in their heart. “Quick.” “Assemble the formation.” “Let’s go all out.” An enormous Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation suddenly appeared around Dong Ziqi, and the eight blood dragons began to swim about. That hawk-nosed cultivator, standing outside the formation, hurriedly threw out three flags. The formation flags fluttered, then quickly formed into an enormous hazy aura of light. This white aura of light seemed like a pyramid that enclosed the six. “Grow.” 747 Many vines suddenly emerged, wildly sprouting about in the surrounding areas. These vines crisscrossed each other, completely filling the surrounding area. “Children, go.” A dense cluster of venomous pests began to fly about in the surrounding area, filling the skies and blocking out the sun, completely filling the nearby region. “Come.” The gray-robed elder produced an enormous banner that fluttered with a bloody light. One enormous after another phantom flew out from the banner; some were four-legged beasts, while others were flying creatures. Nine enormous phantoms emerged into the surrounding area. These six Zifu Disciples were all sweating. They brought out all of their best techniques, completely and tightly sealing off the surrounding area… They looked at each other, their eyes filled with amazement and dread. “We won’t be able to leave. We have to wait here.” “We can’t keep walking.” “We’ll guard here.” These techniques of theirs were virtually all used for defending a particular location. The long, growing vines, the grand formation, and the other techniques weren’t able to be maintained while moving! “Who is that person? Who attacked us just now? By his appearance, he should be young.” The gray-robed elder clutched at his bloody banner as he looked at Dong Ziqi. “Right. Who was that? How could he be so powerful? Before this, we suffered the attacks from the dragon’s claw and the dragon’s head…this should have been the dragon’s tail. Why is it so powerful?” The hawk-nosed cultivator looked at Dong Ziqi as well. The other cultivators also stared at him. These people felt hatred. This was supposed to be an easy, relaxed journey. Who would have imagined that they had actually bitten down on such a terrifying, tough bone? First of all, they had even never heard of this ‘Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation’; only Nong Zidao had. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was one thing; after all, the power of a formation depended on its users. They felt no fear towards those other two who had relied on the power of the formation to attack them. But that young, slender youth that had just appeared was truly terrifying. Even while maintaining their formation, he had still killed two of them… Dong Ziqi said hurriedly, “The Ji clan has in total six fairly powerful figures. They are Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, an old servant, Ji Yichuan, Ji Truekeep, and Ji Ning! Ji Ning is the genius of the Ji clan…when he was eleven or twelve years old, he killed junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan.” 748 “He killed Bei Zishan when he was twelve?” These people all revealed looks of amazement. “This year, he should be sixteen.” Dong Ziqi said. “Just now, the person who launched that attack was Ji Ning! However, prior to this, Ji Ning and I exchanged blows; he wasn’t able to do anything to my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. His strength is only slightly superior to Ji Ninefire and the others, which is why I didn’t hold him in any regard. I didn’t imagine that with the support of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, his strength would reach such a terrifying level.” “If he is only one level higher than Ji Ninefire in strength, how could he explode with such power?” “A monster who was able to kill junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan at the age of eleven or twelve…how can we use common reasoning to explain him? Most likely, this Ji Ning made some sort of a breakthrough.” The gray-robed said in a hoarse voice. “This sort of monster…he was able to kill two of our comrades, even when we were in formation. Now, all we can do is stay here and wait.” ….. Ning was knocked flying backwards a great distance, and he smashed into a region of loose rocks and grass. “Good heavens.” Ning crawled painfully to his feet. The wounds on his body rapidly healed, leaving behind not even a scar. “Those Zifu Disciples seemed to have gone berserk. They applied all of those extremely powerful Daoseals and threw them at me! That fiery phoenix in particular…it even chased after me, and it was also very powerful. It blew a large hole into my chest. I wonder what sort of a Dao-seal that was?” Ning cracked a smile, feeling very confident. “Still, I killed two of them. For me to be able to kill two out of eight of them…only six are left! I’ll keep killing.” “Ji Ning!” A voice suddenly rang out. “Patriarch.” Ning was startled. “Well done, my good fellow! Ji Ning, hahaha, you truly are formidable. You killed two of them at one go. Now only six are remaining. However, don’t be too impatient. Wait for me to finish talking, then attack.” Ninefire sent hurriedly. “Dong Ziqi and the others are terrified by the way you killed them, and so they have set up layers of techniques and are staying on guard. Let me describe these techniques to you. After listening, you can make your decision.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ninefire sent, “We are already familiar with Dong Ziqi and Muse, out of those six. Those two have already set up the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation and those growing green vines! The hawknosed cultivator used a formation to protect the surrounding area! The black-clothed female cultivator released a large amount of venomous bugs. The gray-robed cultivator is holding a large banner which has released a large amount of monster wraiths.” “Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation? Green vines? Formation? Venomous pests? Banner? That’s only five; the sixth cultivator?” Ji Ning asked softly. “The sixth cultivator hasn’t done anything for now.” Ninefire sent. “I’ve told you everything now. You should consider how you will attack. Remember, don’t let yourself fall into any danger.” “Don’t worry, Patriarch.” Ning laughed. And then, Ning began to ponder. Prior to this, although he killed two Zifu Disciples in his surprise attack, he hadn’t acquired any magic treasures, because as soon as he had charged over, he had been blasted backwards. The items of those two Zifu Disciples were still in the hands of Dong Ziqi’s group. “Five types of techniques?” “Hmph!” Ning’s eyes had a cold light flash through them. “No matter how they struggle, they will die!” Suddenly… “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” A voice suddenly called out. “We just suffered the attack from the dragon’s tail of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! The genius of the Ji clan, Ji Ning, is in command of the dragon’s tail. The power of it is tremendous. He killed two of our fellow apprentices! All we can do for now is stay on guard. Senior apprentice-brothers Jadechild and Zidao, remember, beware the rain…beware the rain!” “The six of you need to be careful as well. Delay as long as you can.” A voice rang out from the other side. Hearing the distant shouts, Ning frowned slightly. “I have to eliminate those six as soon as possible.” Nong Zidao was very formidable! He was even able to recognize at one glance that this was the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. Although Ning was very confident in the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, he still worried that if they 750 were permitted to slowly analyze it, they might truly be able to break through the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! If the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was destroyed, then the Ji clan’s members would, one by one, have their formations broken, and Snowdragon Mountain would easily annihilate the Ji clan’s side. “Kill.” Ning, riding on that enormous draconic tail, once more charged towards those six. ….. Venomous pests were flying around the outer perimeter. A hazy pyramid of light stood on guard, and atop it was coiled a large number of green vines. The pyramid of light had eight blood dragons swimming about within it. It also had various enormous phantasmal birds and beasts moving about, each one of them filled with murderous auras. “If we just defend, no matter how powerful they are, they will find it hard to break through.” The blackclothed female cultivator said in her cold voice. “Right.” Dong Ziqi nodded. These defensive measures were different in nature; they each compensated for the weaknesses of the others. They could be described as an impenetrable wall. “Even though he is a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and even though his swordplay might be formidable, he can forget about entering.” The gray-robed elder clutched that large banner and spoke in an icy voice. Rustle… Thin, sparse droplets of rain began to fall. The rain was as fine as silk, gentle and breezing. Drizzling rain and fog…these two were beautiful things, but the rain that fell in the midst of this black fog made the faces of Dong Ziqi, Muse, the gray-robed elder, the black-robed woman, the hawk-nosed man, and the skinny man change. They grew nervous. “He’s coming.” “The rain came.” Dong Ziqi’s group of six held their breaths. Prior to this, when the rainwater fell, two of their comrades were silently ambushed and slaughtered. “Chopchopchopchop…” The large number of venomous pests that had been swirling around the outside were suddenly chopped apart by the rainwater, one after another. The silk-like rain…every single strand of rain was as sharp as a knife. Countless lines of rain flew about, wildly chopping apart these pests. Rainwater was everywhere. Although there were many venomous pests, because they were outside the perimeter, many of them were instantly slaughtered. Every single line of rain contained a hint of the power of the Dao! Waterflame Lotus; this technique was developed based on control over natural fire and water, which Ning gained through his comprehension of the Dao. These lines of rain were also formed from natural water. Given Ning’s comprehension of the Dao, their killing power approached that of the Waterflame Lotus now! To use them to break through the formation and kill these Zifu Disciples wasn’t practical, but to kill the venomous pests was simplicity itself. The venomous pests swarmed about in dense clusters; naturally, each of them were individually weak. When Ning had battled against Bei Zishan in the past, he was able to effortlessly crush and kill many venomous pests with his Waterflame Lotus. Ning’s insights into the Dao were now far greater than they had been in the past. “Rustle…” The rain continued to fall. “Chirpchirpchirp…” The flourishing swarm of venomous pests let out agonized cries, but then they were annihilated. The outer perimeter, which had been guarded by those dense clusters of venomous pests, had now become very clear. All of the venomous pests had been annihilated. The black-robed female cultivator’s face was ashen. She said frantically, “Why didn’t you let my bugs return?” Prior to this, when her bugs suffered the initial attacks, she had immediately wanted to control her bugs to make them fly back and hide within the pyramid of white light. “The pyramid formation has been set up. How can we possibly disperse it for the sake of your venomous pests?” The hawk-nosed cultivator shouted. “The rainwater has already descended. Ji Ning can appear at any moment! How can I disperse the pyramid? And even if I did disperse it, only a small portion of your venomous bugs would be saved. Since that was the case, it was best not to disperse it.” The black-robed female gritted her teeth in rage. “Junior apprentice-sister Lu, don’t be angry. It is true that the pyramid cannot be dispersed.” “The power of this rain is too formidable. Every single line of rain actually has the power to attack.” “Can it be that this is some sort of rainwater technique? Generally speaking, water-based techniques are used for defense. This sort of rain which descends from the heavens…rain which is completely formed from nature…how can it be used in a technique?!” They were stunned at the power of the rainwater. Those venomous pests were able to bite through a Zifu Disciple’s protective armor, after all. Although they were individually weak, to kill them wasn’t that easy either. “Can it be a Dao Domain?” The gray-robed elder suddenly said slowly. “Dao Domain?” “Rainwater Domain?” 752 The other cultivators all called out in shock. “How can that be possible? Impossible. Ji Ning is only sixteen! He’s merely a Zifu Disciple. How can he have developed a Dao Domain? Many Wanxiang Adepts are unable to do this.” “Impossible!” These Zifu Disciples didn’t dare believe it. Right at this moment… The black fog in the distance began to grow sparse. An enormous draconic tail slowly began to move, and right in the middle of it was a fur-clad youth. The fur-clad youth was surrounded by more than seven hundred flying swords. Smiling slightly, he walked forward, step by step, towards them. “Ji Ning.” “It is Ji Ning.” Dong Ziqi and the rest of the six stared at the fur-clad youth. At the same time, they felt astonished that Ji Ning dared come walk over openly. Dong Ziqi shouted, “Ji Ning, ambushing us is one thing, but you come openly…you are seeking death.” Ning slowly strolled forward. Suddenly, beneath his feet, a lotus flower appeared. A beautiful, enormous Waterflame Lotus suddenly bloomed, making Ning appear to be the seed within the lotus…the Waterflame Lotus petals swiveled around him, and around the petals were the seven hundred-plus flying swords. Beyond even them was the enormous shadow of a draconic tail. And beyond the tail…was the boundless rainwater. In this moment, Ning seemed to have become the center of the universe. Even Dong Ziqi and the others felt as though their souls had been stirred. “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, stop him.” Dong Ziqi shouted. “Leave it to me.” Muse’s normally cold face was filled with a murderous aura. Instantly, many of the thick, sturdy vines began to wildly coil about and fly towards Ning. These vines weren’t the vines that Ning had encountered when he had fought against Muse the first time. Those vines had been suddenly grown, but the vines that Muse was now using against him had been growing for quite some time; they had already reached an astonishing degree of toughness. Ning continued to smile. “Rustle…” The enormous Waterflame Lotus swiveled about him. After gaining insight into the Dao Domain level, the power of Ning’s Waterflame Lotus had risen yet again. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Countless lines of rain seemed to chop down like countless blades, wildly chopping at the vines. Countless thin vines were shattered and minced into peaces, leaving behind only the thick main vines, which had many wounds atop them. But upon touching the Waterflame Lotus, they were instantly ground apart. “Rustle…” One lotus flower after another bloomed, with Ning at the center. The lotus flowers continuously bloomed freely, and even the leaves of the lotus flowers continuously expanded. The swiveling, crushing power continued unabated. Those vines weren’t able to draw close to Ning at all. “Break.” Ning looked at the white pyramid of light, then spoke in a soft voice. Roar… A faint draconic roar rang out. The enormous draconic tail suddenly swept forward, smashing viciously against the white pyramid of light. The draconic scales on the draconic tail were all clearly visible, and the power of the tail was astonishing. With an exploding sound, it smashed against the white pyramid of light, crushing it and shattering it. As soon as it did, the rainwater instantly fell down upon and uprooted the three formation flags. Ning had already effortlessly broken through the third layer of the five layers of defenses they had set up. “Go. Devour his soul.” The gray-robed elder waved the banner in his hands. This banner wasn’t like Bei Zishan’s, which had been created through refining countless mortal souls into dread wraiths. He used the souls of powerful monstrous beasts, and so comparatively speaking, the amount of sin he had accumulated was much smaller. The power of this banner, although inferior to a dread Myriad Wraiths Banner, was still much more powerful than Bei Zishan’s half-complete banner. These monster wraiths emitted soundless shrieks as they charged towards Ning, completely ignoring the rainwater and the blocking Waterflame Lotus flowers, instantly invading Ning’s body. Ning continued to smile. Within his consciousness, an image of Lady Nuwa emitted boundless light. When the light touched those monster wraiths, smiling looks of relief appeared on the faces of the formerly incomparably savage wraiths. They all bowed towards Ning and towards the divine image of Lady Nuwa, expressing their gratitude, and then disappeared, returning to the cycle of reincarnation. ……. “What?!” The gray-robed elder watched as the colors of his banner began to grow dim and dull. His face instantly changed. “The monster wraiths were all killed?” The others, including Dong Ziqi, had been eagerly looking at the gray-robed elder. Hearing this, though, their hearts turned cold. Ning strolled forward. The Waterflame Lotus continued to swivel…the rainwater continued to fall… “You can die now.” In front of Ning, a sword light suddenly formed. When it flew out, it merged into the rainwater and vanished. And then, yet another sword light appeared. Ning was releasing one blast of sword light after another, without stopping. Bang! How powerful was Ning’s sword light now? A single sword light was enough to pierce through the eight blood dragons and annihilate them all. As for the others, such as the gray-robed elder and the hawknosed man, they all began to howl savagely. They saw that their death had come. They all took our their Dao-seals or unleashed their magic treasures, preparing to go all out. “Bang…” “Boom…” The rainwater that swirled around them seemed like an crushing wall of copper or a rampart of steel. The Waterflame Lotuses continued to expand in layers as it attacked them. Ning had used everything available to him, and he completely crushed these six Zifu Disciples. “Bang!” Accompanying a miserable, unwilling screech, Muse’s head was the first to go flying. Ning had, at one go, unleashed nine blasts of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light, transforming them all into rainwater and merging them into the boundless rain of the surrounding region. He began to easily kill them, one by one. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Junior apprentice-brother Muse!” Dong Ziqi and the others, upon seeing Muse’s head go flying, all turned cold. Prior to this, two of their group of eight Zifu Disciples had been killed despite being in formation by Ji Ning. And now, their six-man formation…Ning had shattered their layered protections, and for him to kill them now was indeed quite easy. “Kill.” “Go all out against him.” The hawk-nosed man, the gray-robed elder, the black-robed female cultivator…they all seemed to have gone mad. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to flee; trapped within the grand formation of the Ji clan, where could they flee to? Only by staying here did they have a chance to live. “If you struggle, you’ll just die tired.” Ning walked forward, and the formerly savage, wildly coiling thick vines seemed to rapidly transform into nothingness. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! The rain dropped down like lines of silk. Within the rain, there were strands of [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light that had transformed into incomparably sharp ‘rain’. “Ahhh!” Although her body had been protected by that golden light, the black-robed woman’s eyes suddenly widened as a sword light chopped straight through her neck, sending her beautiful head flying. Yet another one had died! “Go die.” The Dao-seal in the hands of the gray-robed elder suddenly transformed into an enormous fiery phoenix which once more spread its wings and flew towards Ning. But a curtain of water formed from the rainwater around Ning blocked the advance of the fiery phoenix. Bang!!! An violent explosion blasted apart the watery curtain, and even Ning’s Waterflame Lotus trembled. Ning himself, however, continued to walk forward. “Die.” Ning stared at the gray-robed elder, whose face changed. He swung the banner in his hands backwards, because yet another strand of rain was striking towards him. Slash! A different strand of rain whipped past the gray-robed elder’s forehead, piercing straight through his head. His eyes were filled with a look of terror, shock, and rage…and then, he collapsed. “I simultaneously attacked you with two strands of sword light. Did you think you wouldn’t die?” With a thought, Ning then controlled the strands of sword light to strike towards the others. “Junior apprentice-sister Lu, senior apprentice-brother An, junior apprentice-brother Muse.” “Junior apprentice-sister Lu!” The remaining three, the hawk-nosed disciple, Dong Ziqi, and the skinny man, all had ashen looks on their faces. The six of them had lost three of their number in a flash! The power of those rain lines formed from sword light was simply too great, especially with the support of the formation and the Sword Domain. These were attacks of the Wanxiang Adept level. For them to face these attacks by themselves was impossible. “Ji Ning! You will definitely die!” Dong Ziqi had gone berserk. He stared at Ji Ning. “You killed the disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. Snowdragon Mountain will not let things end here!” “You will definitely die.” “Snowdragon Mountain has many more disciples. We will definitely eradicate your Ji clan.” The three of them had all gone berserk. Slash! Slash! The hawk-nosed man and Dong Ziqi were simultaneously sliced at by three lines of rain formed from sword light. If they had only been struck by a single flash of sword light, they would have been able to resist, but three lines of rain formed from sword light swirled about them. How could they resist? Their foreheads were pierced through, and their eyes became filled with terror, anger, and disbelief. “I, Dong Ziqi, am the number one expert of Swallow Mountain. I, I actually died in the hands of Ji Ning. I’m unwilling to accept this. I’m unwilling to accept this!!!” “Detestable, detestable! If I had known, I wouldn’t have come here.” The two of them had both been heroic figures of their eras. Actually, if it hadn’t been for the support of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, given that Ning only had early-stage Zifu-level energy, either of the two would have been able to battle with Ning for quite a long period of time. But with the support of the great formation, they died in a single exchange. “Snick.” The remaining person, the skinny man, had his neck severed as well, but then flesh grew out of his neck as it instantly healed. “A Fiendgod Body Refiner?” Ning lifted an eyebrow. “Ji Ning, can you spare my life?” The skinny man took a step back and looked at Ning. Although he was a middle-stage Fiendgod Body Refiner, he no longer felt any confidence. The difference in power between them was too great…with the support of the formation and the Rainwater Sword Domain, Ning absolutely had the power of a Wanxiang Adept. He could crush him!” Ning laughed softly. “Given how far this has gone, you tell me. Will I spare you?” Bang! The black wings on Ning’s back trembled, and he suddenly shot towards the skinny man. “Ji Ning!” The skinny man howled with rage as he gripped a long black staff in his hands. “Ji Ning, our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan and kill you!” Slash! Slash! Three flashes of sword light slashed across his body. Although the skinny man’s body was durable, he was still quadsected by the sword flashes of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. As for Ning, who charged towards him…the Waterflame Lotus swiveled around him, grinding down that skinny man, making it so that the man’s corpse was instantly ground into mincemeat. Although the mincemeat struggled to solidify into a whole, they were only able to resist the Waterflame Lotus for a few breaths before completely dissipating. The surrounding area was now completely silent. The rain still fell in a drizzle, and the Waterflame Lotus continued to slowly swivel back and forth. Ning, standing in the middle of the lotus, swept the surrounding area with his gaze. Dong Ziqi and the others lay fallen on the ground, none of them breathing, all of them dead. “Dead.” Ning said softly. “This group of Zifu Disciples has been completely exterminated. Only the other group of Zifu Disciples remain.” Two badges of Zifu Disciples from Snowdragon Mountain had entered the formation. The first batch of twelve Zifu Disciples had been completely annihilated! It wasn’t that they were weak; it was that Ning was too powerful! Although, for the Ji clan, even though they had the help of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, for them to kill these twelve was still quite hard. Prior to this, when Ji Truekeep and the old servant Ah Xing had tested their attacks, they found that aside from being able to kill those four people in the first 758 ambush, they were no longer able to achieve much success after Dong Ziqi’s group of eight had set down their formation. As for Ji Ning, he was able to use the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation to make up for his own weakness in elemental energy. He also had the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and his Rainwater Sword Domain, which allowed his power to reach the Wanxiang Adept level. And this was what had allowed him to crush them and slaughter them all… Halfway up the mountain. Ji Ninefire, in control of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, revealed a look of shock an amazement on his face. He was so excited, his entire body was trembling. “Patriarch?” The nearby Ji Yichuan looked at Ninefire. “Victory. Ji Ning won.” Ninefire was incomparably agitated. “Dong Ziqi’s group has been completely killed by Ji Ning. The first group of twelve Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain has been completely annihilated. None are left.” Yichuan, hearing this, felt his heart tremble as well. “The first group is completely dead?” “Right.” Ninefire nodded repeatedly. They were both excited as well as in a state of disbelief…they were merely the Ji clan, after all, just a clan of the Swallow Mountain region! What they faced was an enormous organization Snowdragon Mountain. The enemy’s group of Zifu Disciples who had hastened over here would have utterly terrified any ordinary clan. Even Ninefire had only wanted to delay until an Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty arrived. They hadn’t thought that they would actually be able to kill twelve Zifu Disciples in a row, without a single member of the Ji clan dying! “Now, only one remains.” Ninefire said. “Jadechild and Nong Zidao’s group of Zifu Disciples.” “Once we kill them, our victory is assured.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Nong Zidao in particular. If we kill Nong Zidao…I refuse to believe that Snowdragon Mountain would be able to find a second expert in formations in a short period of time.” “The second group holds Jadechild, Nong Zidao, and others. As long as Nong Zidao dies, our Ji clan will have won for certain.” Ninefire nodded as well. Snowdragon Mountain might have other Zifu Disciples who would hasten over… 759 But experts in formations were rare. Nong Zidao had only come to give face to Jadechild. In the region nearby Swallow Mountain, aside from Nong Zidao, Snowdragon Mountain had no other experts who were particularly skilled in formations. …….. Within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. An abyssal aura wafted about. Nong Zidao was frowning as he was analyzing the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. He seemed to have completely absorbed himself in calculating the positions of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. The other Zifu Disciples all stared around them, on high alert. Jadechild stood by Nong Zidao’s side, with the aura of a general who would block anything and everything which came. Suddenly… “Ji Ning!” “It is Ji Ning!” “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, stop him!” A series of shouts rang out from afar. “Go all out against him!” “Juniog apprentice-sister Lu, senior apprentice-brother An, junior apprentice-brother Muse!” Fierce, grief-stricken shouts rang out from afar. “Ji Ning, you will definitely die!” “Ji Ning, our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan and kill you!” A berserk, desolate curse rang out. And then, utter silence. There was no longer any sound that could be heard. Nong Zidao had already opened his eyes, and a look of utter solemnity was in Jadechild’s gaze. The other nearby Zifu Disciples all had extremely ugly looks on their faces. “Junior apprentice-brother Dong.” Jadechild called out in a loud voice which echoed within the formation. No voice replied. Not a single voice! “Dead.” Nong Zidao said hoarsely. “All dead.” “We, we…senior apprentice-brother Zidao. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild…” The red-haired cultivator stuttered. The other cultivators all looked towards Jadechild and Nong Zidao. Prior to this, there had been twelve Zifu Disciples in that group, but all of them had been killed. How could they not worry? How could they not feel uneasy?” Jadechild growled, “Obey my orders. Junior apprentice-brother Zidao, continue analyzing the formation. Fairy Crane, Landwyrm, continue to protect junior apprentice-brother Zidao. Myself and the rest of the six, we will set up the formation and protect junior apprentice-brother Zidao.” “Yes.” Instantly, the formation lit up. “All you need to worry about is defense.” Jadechild’s eyes were glowing with a golden light as he swept the surrounding area with his gaze. “If that Ji Ning truly does come, let me handle him.” “We’ll entrust everything to you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” Nong Zidao said. At the same time, he set up eight formation flags within an area of ten meters. A black tower of light instantly sprang up, layering protections around him. The only people within the black tower of light was Nong Zidao, the Landwyrm, and the Fairy Crane. “Don’t worry.” Jadechild’s eyes were calm, but his baleful aura surged to the heavens. As someone who had become a peak Zifu-level Fiendgod Body Refiner long ago, and one who trained in a divine ability and thus was able to fight at the Wanxiang Adept level, how could he fear Ji Ning? …… The Golden Crow hung high in the sky. Within the governor’s mansion, inside an enormous city. One of the two elders of the Dong clan, Dong Fanyu, was seated there. Next to him there was a youth, who laughed and said, “Senior Dong, please wait momentarily. The Patriarch will arrive shortly.” “No rush, no rush.” Dong Fanyu laughed as well. Four members of Snowdragon Mountain’s Swallow Mountain branch had gone out to invite people; the two elders of the Dong clan, Muse, and Ju Nianxiong. Of the four, Muse had gone to invite Jadechild and Nong Zidao, which he felt was enough, and so he had returned earlier. Based on their original plans, each of them needed to invite roughly ten or so Zifu Disciples. The two elders of the Dong clan and Ju Nianxiong had invited many, but some of the Zifu Disciples they wished to invite had already gone to Snowdragon Mountain. Thus, they continued to go out and invite more; only after each of them had successfully invited ten over would it be enough. They had no idea as to what was happening in Swallow Mountain. “Senior apprentice-brother Fanyu.” A deep voice rang out. A silver-robed, middle-aged man walked out. “Last time I saw you, senior apprentice-brother, you were back at Swallow Mountain. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred years have gone by. Earlier, senior apprentice-brother, you told my subordinates that there is something important you wish to discuss with me. What is it?” “A wonderful affair!” Dong Fanyu’s face was all smiles. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “A wonderful affair?” The silver-robed man had a puzzled look on his face. Dong Fanyu said, his face all smiles, “I’m not going to hide this from you, junior apprentice-brother Wu. This time, we’ve come to deliver you a chance to render some major merits. At my Swallow Mountain region, we’ve just discovered an enormous elemental ore mine. This elemental ore mine has a circumference of four thousand or so kilometers…” Dong Fanyu spent quite a period of time praising the elemental ore mine. “Elemental ore mine?” A clear, cold voice rang out, and a young man dressed in a long, beautiful black robe emerged from a side door of the hall. This young man had long, narrow eyes and a tall nose. He looked like a viper, and his gaze alone made Dong Fanyu tremble. Dong Fanyu hurriedly rose to his feet, then asked in a low voice, “Junior apprentice-brother Wu, this is…?” The silver-haired man had already risen to his feet early on, bowing towards the young man with incomparable respect. “Master!” “Master?” Dong Fanyu was very shocked. “This is my master, Adept Xu.” The silver-robed man said. Dong Fanyu, upon hearing his junior apprentice-brother Wu address this person as ‘master’, immediately knew who this young man was. Immortal practitioners…couldn’t be judged from their outward appearances. The more powerful a person was, the more often they tended to look young. If you were to run into a young Immortal practitioner who looked like a child, one would have to be very careful! Dong Fanyu was a disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, after all; he knew that his junior apprentice-brother Wu was a student of a core disciple of the main sect, ‘Xu Li’. They were both students of the main sect, but the difference in their status was very different. Snowdragon Mountain would divide up students based on their innate talent and potential. Some people who had the potential to break through to become Wanxiang Adepts or even had the chance to become Primal Daoists. Naturally, they would be heavily investd in. Xu Li was a core disciple, and had in fact reached the Wanxiang level more than sixty years ago. “Dong Fanyu pays his respects to Adept Xu.” Dong Fanyu immediately bowed and saluted. “You were speaking of an elemental ore mine?” Adept Xu said calmly. “Your Swallow Mountain branch actually discovered an elemental ore mine…so why have you come to invite my disciple?” Dong Fanyu said hurriedly, “I don’t dare to hide anything from you, Adept…” He described what had happened in detail. Adept Xu nodded lightly, a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. “So that’s how it is. I didn’t expect that on this leisure trip of mine, I would encounter this sort of wonderful affair. Wu Qi, accompany your master on a trip to Swallow Mountain and take over the elemental ore mine.” Dong Fanyu said, delighted and surprised, “Adept, if you go, then this matter will be settled!” But although he was delighted on the outside, he was cursing inwardly. Discovering the elemental ore mine was a great accomplishment, but if the Swallow Mountain branch was actually able to take it over, that would be an even greater one! But for a Wanxiang Adept to now intervene…Wanxiang Adepts were extremely important members of Snowdragon Mountain. After all, the highest ranking Primal Daoists rarely involved themselves in worldly matters. Thus, for Adept Xu to intervene and take over the elemental ore mine meant that when the main Snowdragon Mountain sect divided up accomplishments, the percentage that Adept Xu would receive would be very high. For a Wanxiang Adept to intervene…it meant that every single Zifu Disciple would lose a majority of their potential rewards! “How could a puny Ji clan necessitate a Wanxiang Adept to intervene.” Dong Fanyu felt misery in his heart, but on the surface, he looked incomparably excited. He didn’t dare say a single word of complaint. Adept Xu gave this old fellow surnamed Dong a sidelong glance. He couldn’t care less about him. “Come. Let’s go to Swallow Mountain.” Whoooosh. A sailboat suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Adept Xu, Wu Qi, and Dong Fanyu all boarded the ship. Wu Qi then sent a message to the Zifu Disciples of his own clan: “I’m making a trip to Swallow Mountain. I will return in a few days.” Swoosh. A white sail fluttered atop the sailboat, and then it transformed into a streak of light, piercing through the skies at an astonishing speed. “So fast.” Dong Fanyu was in a state of shock. This was the first time he had flown on a flying magic treasure controlled by a Wanxiang Adept. “We’ll only need two hours to reach Swallow Mountain.” Adept Xu said calmly. Swish! The sailboat left behind just a speck of light in the horizon, then completely disappeared. As for Dong Fanyu…he didn’t go invite any other Zifu Disciples. After all, since a Wanxiang Adept was taking part, why bother go asking any Zifu Disciples to come? ………………. Within an ancient city. Within a hall that was in a rather remote location. There were five jade strips glittering with azure light. The jade strips were all the size of a palm and very slender, seemingly quite exquisite. There were two servants seated within the hall. They were chatting amongst each other, bored. “Bang!” “Bang!” Two of the jade strips suddenly shattered, one after the other. The two servants were both startled. “What was that? Was that a mouse?” “How odd.” They looked around with mystified looks on their faces. And then, one of them saw that two of the jade strips in front of them had completely shattered. He was so terrified that his face changed. “Life…life…” The other servant, seeing the look on his face, couldn’t help but mumble, “Why are you so scared? This is the governor’s estate. How could there be any dange-…life…life…” He, too, stared in terror at the shattered jade strips. “The life tablets!” “The life tablets are shattered!” The two servants stared at each other, their eyes filled with shock and terror. “Quick, quick, report this.” The two of them charged out wildly. This was a major event! Just moments later! “Whoosh!” A ray of light surged into the skies, and standing above the ray of light was an old man with triangular pupils. His eyes were filled with savagery as well. “Two Zifu Disciples died? What exactly is going on in Swallow Mountain?!” 765 ………… “The life tablets, the life tablets are shattered!” ………… “Life tablets!” ………… In the instant that Ji Ning killed those eight Zifu Disciples, in the commandery cities around the Swallow Mountain area, one clan after another discovered that life tablets of their Zifu Disciples had just shattered. If the life tablet was shattered, that meant the Zifu Disciple was definitely dead! Naturally, these clans were shocked and enraged. Some of the other Zifu Disciples even began to fly at high speed towards Swallow Mountain. ………….. Within Swallow Mountain. Oxhorn Mountain, located eight hundred kilometers outside of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. The entire area was covered with black fog. Ji Ning stood there, and around him was a group of Zifu Disciple corpses, including Dong Ziqi’s. “Hrm?” Ning frowned. He could sense a savage, fierce aura constantly pouring into the Darknorth swords in his hands. Earlier, he had relied on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to kill, but to be safe, Ning had also kept the Darknorth swords in his hands. However, that ferocious aura coming from the corpses actually was drawn into the Darknorth swords. “The Darknorth swords are weapons that have undergone the Fiendgod Bloodforging rites! They are able to absorb baleful auras, murderous auras, necromantic auras…but you have to personally kill someone.” Ning understood this. The boundless earth was filled with baleful auras in many places; for example, when Bei Zishan had tortured countless people to death, that place became filled with a tremendous amount of baleful auras and murderous auras. But because those countless people hadn’t been killed by Ning, Ning hadn’t been able to absorb those baleful auras. But Ning had personally killed all eight of these Zifu Disciples. The Darknorth swords were able to actively draw from them. “How strange. Why is it that they can only absorb the baleful auras created by those I personally killed, and not other baleful auras?” Ning shook his head inwardly. He thought back to the Fiendgod Rites of Bloodforging, and to that ancient, powerful aura which descended that was unfathomably more exalted than even the ‘Dao’. “It makes sense. If it can grow just by absorbing any type of baleful aura, then it would be far too easy for Bloodforged weapons to grow in power.” 766 “Eh? In my body…?” Ning lowered his head. Surges of savage auras were constantly entering his body; or, to be more precise, Ning’s Zifu within his body was drawing it all in. Within the Zifu, that region which was filled with violet energy in the shape of a lake. That lake was formed from elemental energy, and above that lake of elemental energy there were various magical treasures, such as a flying boat, flying swords, and other items that temporarily didn’t need to be used. Amongst them was one of the Darknorth swords, which hovered there… Given that he was holding two of the Darknorth swords in his hands, there was one of them that was still stored within his body. Before establishing the Zifu, there was no way for a person to store magic treasures within the body! But upon doing so, ranked magic treasures and the Bloodforged weapons could be stored into his body. As for those unranked magic treasures, there was no way they could be drawn in. “Crackle…” The three Darknorth swords. Two were outside, one was within his Zifu. They shared the baleful auras, wildly devouring them. As they did so, on the surface of the Darknorth swords there appeared a common character, from the Fiendgod language…‘Kill’. The Darknorth swords themselves were evolving; after they had undergone the Rites of Bloodforging, this was the densest collection of baleful auras which the Darknorth swords had ever devoured. After all, the baleful aura generated from killing a Zifu Disciple was far denser than the aura generated from killing ten thousand ordinary mortals. “All done.” Moments later, the three Darknorth swords all emerged to hover in front of Ning. The glow of the Darknorth swords seemed to be even deeper. He used his divine will to control those three Darknorth swords to slice through the air. Swishswishswish… Ning even stretched out his palm to allow the Darknorth swords to slice against it. Three wounds appeared, then rapidly closed. “They did indeed grow much sharper.” Ning revealed a look of surprise and delight. “It seems that to nurture these powerful Bloodforged weapons, there really is a need for much slaughter.” Ning, by nature, disliked wanton killing, but if someone was to violate and offend him and give his Ji clan no chance for survival, Ning wouldn’t show a hint of pity. “Patriarch.” Ning said. “How should I attack the other group of Zifu Disciples?” 767 “Ji Ning.” Patriarch Ninefire sent back. “The other group has a total of seven Zifu Disciples and two Zifu spirit-beasts. The most powerful of them are Nong Zidao and Jadechild. Nong Zidao is a formations expert; he isn’t frightening in open battle. The other Zifu Disciples, even combined, are unable to do anything to you. The biggest problem for you will be that Jadechild.” “Jadechild?” Ning nodded lightly. “Jadechild should be an Fiendgod Body Refiner. I am always watching him. From their conversations, I can tell…that they are very confident in Jadechild. They know that twelve Zifu Disciples have died, yet still have full trust in Jadechild! I also heard those Zifu Disciples mention the phrase ‘divine ability’. If my guess is correct, Jadechild should be a peak Zifu Disciple who has learned a divine ability.” Ninefire sent. “A peak Zifu Ki Refiner who has a divine ability…his power will absolutely be at the Wanxiang Adept level. You must be careful.” Ning nodded. Wanxiang Adept level? By relying on an elemental energy that was more powerful than the peak Zifu level, the Rainwater Sword Domain, and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…Ning, too, could be said to have the combat ability of a Wanxiang Adept! The enemy was a Fiendgod Body Refiner and had a divine ability? “If you can’t kill Jadechild, do your best to kill Nong Zidao.” Ninefire sent. “Nong Zidao is their one and only formations expert. As long as Nong Zidao dies, there is no way they will be able to defeat our Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. We will still be able to hold on until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrives.” “Fine.” Ning nodded. “I understand.” Whoosh! Ning waved his hand, and a large number of storage-type magic treasures, flying swords, wings, banners, and other magic treasures appeared. These were all magic treasures that had been left behind by these eight Zifu Disciples. “I’ll first retrieve all the ranked flying swords these people carry. After I bind all of them, perhaps my [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] will gain further in power. And then, at full strength, I will go battle that Jadechild.” Ning’s eyes were filled with a killing intent. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A sailboat was sailing through the endless horizons of the sky. Adept Xu Li, Dong Fanyu, and Wu Qi were seated in the sailboat. Dong Fanyu suddenly pointed in surprise towards the distance. “That’s junior apprentice-brother Lu.” From afar, a ray of light was advancing at high speed, but clearly it was far slower than them. “He seems to be headed towards Swallow Mountain as well?” Wu Qi was surprised. “Apprentice-nephew Lu?” Adept Xu Li revealed a rare smile on his face. Instantly, that flying sailboat drew closer to the ray of light. A few breaths later, it had moved next to it. The ray of light had a middle-aged man standing atop it. The middle-aged man had a hint of urgency in his eyes. Upon seeing the sailboat block his way, he was forced to slow down. But upon seeing Adept Xu Li standing atop the sailboat, he immediately bowed with respect. “Lu Huang greets uncle-master Xu. I didn’t imagine I’d run into you here, Uncle-Master.” Upon seeing Dong Fanyu by Adept Xu’s side, Lu Huang’s eyes instantly turned red, and he roared angrily, “You old bastard, Dong Fanyu!” “What’s this about, apprentice-nephew Lu?” Adept Xu asked. “Junior apprentice-brother Lu, previously, I went to visit you and we chatted happily. Why do you curse at me upon seeing me now? I came to deliver to the Lu clan a chance to obtain a great merit.” Dong Fanyu felt completely puzzled. Lu Huang was enraged. Pointing at Dong Fanyu, he said furiously, “Uncle-Master Xu, this Dong Fanyu previously came to my place to tell me about the elemental ore mine. Thus, our Copperwater branch sent two Zifu Disciples, one from my Lu clan and one from the An clan. But just a short time ago, the life tablets of both the member of the Lu clan and the nearby An clan were both suddenly shattered. My own little sister died. Dong Fanyu claims that this is a chance to render great merits, and claims that the puny Ji clan isn’t worth worrying about. But in reality? Two of the Zifu Disciples of our Copperwater branch are dead! I’m heading straight for Snowdragon City to investigate this clearly and get some answers!” “What, all dead?” Dong Fanyu was shocked. “What’s going on?” Adept Xu frowned as well, and the nearby Wu Qi was growing angry as well. If this matter grew nettlesome, it would no longer be a chance to render a merit; it would be a calamity. Dong Fanyu said frantically, “I didn’t lie. It really is just the Ji clan. There are no other enemies. In addition, our Swallow Mountain branch invited quite a few Zifu Disciple comrades of our organization. How can…how can…” “But it is a fact that the two Zifu Disciples which our Copperwater branch sent both died!” Lu Huang roared. “I, Dong Fanyu, swear that if I lied to you, junior apprentice-brother Lu, then let my soul be shattered and never return to the cycle of reincarnation.” Dong Fanyu said frantically. Only after hearing this oath did Lu Huang’s face become less ugly. Immortal practitioners wouldn’t easily swear oaths. “Hmph.” Lu Huang let out a cold snort. “It seems Dong Fanyu didn’t lie.” Adept Xu said calmly. “That means something happened at Swallow Mountain. Apprentice-nephew Lu, follow me there.” Adept Xu no longer seemed as casual as before; instead, he was a bit cautious. Swish! The sailboat immediately pierced through the skies, advancing towards Swallow Mountain at high speed. …… Oxhorn Mountain. Within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position. Flying swords were hovering around him. When he had previously killed those eight Zifu Disciples, he had searched their storage magic treasures…and had found fifteen flying swords. The most pleasant surprise for Ning was that hawk-nosed cultivator; the hawk-nosed cultivator’s storage treasure actually held a total of nine flying swords…and it seemed as though those nine flying swords came from the same source. They all carried a frigid, icy aura. Upon finding this, Ning was immediately overjoyed. “Good, good, good. They come from the same source. The formation base they can create will be much stronger. This hawk-nosed man…was the hardest to kill of the eight. I didn’t expect he would have so much treasure.” Although Ning didn’t know the hawk-nosed cultivator’s name, he knew that when he had first launched the assassination attempt against them, the hawk-nosed man seemed to have sensed the oncoming danger and had suddenly used a giant umbrella to protect himself. Ning had planned to make him the 770 first target, but was forced to instead switch to a different one. Afterwards, when they fought head on with their most powerful attacks, Ning had to release three sword lights to kill him. “Prior to this, I had thirteen ranked flying swords. Now I acquired fifteen more ranked flying swords, and have a total of twenty eight…that’s enough to create three formation bases.” Ning naturally immediately began to bind these flying swords, wasting no time. Without question, his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would now have those nine frigid flying swords that came from the same origin as the core. “Whew.” Ning opened his eyes. “Done.” The fifteen new flying swords had all been bound. “Let me test them.” Ning willed it… Whoosh… Seven hundred-plus flying swords appeared in the air, with twenty seven of them being ranked that formed three formation bases! The nine frigid flying swords formed the core, controlling and guiding the entire [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. “Eh?” Ning’s face changed; his head hurt as though it were about to split apart. To divide one’s mind sufficiently in order to control so many flying swords and to set up the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] simply required too much out of the soul, especially with ranked flying swords involved…to control a single ranked flying sword was more difficult than controlling ten unranked flying swords! “There’s no way I can activate the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]?” Ning’s first attempt resulted in failure. He was unable to activate it fully. “I simply added eighteen more ranked flying swords, but I’m unable to use the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]?” “That’s not right.” Ning continued to test it. The flying swords around him began to move about, changing their locations. “Yin and Yang transform, endlessly engendering each other!” Ning suddenly thought of the critical barrier needed to break through the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. The book discussed ‘Yin and Yang transforming, endlessly engendering each other’. Now, while analyzing this 771 formation…he suddenly began to understand this principal. If he were to focus on gaining insights at this moment, in perhaps just an hour or just a few days, he would break through to the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! But Ning didn’t choose to meditate, because even if he rose in strength as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, it wouldn’t increase his power much! This was because he was borrowing the power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation…his elemental energy was a good deal stronger than even a peak Zifu Adept’s. He also borrowed from his Sword Domain and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], which was why he was capable of such power. Even if he rose in power as a Fiendgod Refiner, it wouldn’t help him much in battle. Moreover, he didn’t have the time at all to leisurely meditate on these matters right now. “Yin and Yang transform, endlessly engendering each other.” Ning stared at those twenty seven flying swords. The nine frigid flying swords served as the core. The other flying swords in the formation bases swirled around these nine frigid flying swords. They slowly swirled about them, and even began to slowly intersect with them. The power of the formation began to activate, and two formation bases slowly merged into one. “Right.” “Yin and Yang mutually transform…” Ning’s eyes lit up. “One serves as the core. Two serve to supplement. The others serve as everything else.” Rumble… The seven hundred-plus flying swords hovered around Ji Ning. A faint, incomparably powerful ripple suddenly formed. In front of Ning, an incomparably fierce, sharp sword light had taken shape. This sword light was now completely in the shape of a flying sword; it was nothing more than a flying sword that flashed with light. “Ahhhh!” Ning felt his head hurt, as though he were being stabbed. Still, his face had an excited smile appear on it. “Hahaha, success, success.” Although he had gained insight into the mysteries of how Yin and Yang transform and endlessly engender each other, making it possible for him to use the now much stronger ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…Ning was still at his absolute limit. Clearly, his soul felt tremendous pressure right now. “Best to use the eighth level.” Ning quickly removed eighty one ordinary flying swords, but continued to maintain the hovering formation. “Sword light.” Ning once more formed a ray of sword light. This was sword light formed from the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The sword light still appeared like a flying sword, except the sword was not as clear as before. “I feel as though the power is still a bit greater than it was when I used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to kill Dong Ziqi’s group.” Ning revealed a hint of joy on his face. When he had killed Dong Ziqi’s group, his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had nine ranked flying swords, but he now had twenty seven…back then, he was using the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], but he was currently now using the eighth. The current eighth level was even more powerful than the former ninth level. Actually, the reason why the improvement was this noticeable was primarily because…the core was now those ranked frigid flying swords that came from the same location. “Swoosh!” Ning collected the flying swords, then hurried at high speed towards the Patriarch. He quickly arrived. “Ji Ning.” Ji Ninefire and Ji Yichuan both looked at the suddenly arrived Ning. “Patriarch, these are the magic treasures, Dao-seals, medicine pills, and other items that belonged to those Zifu Disciples I killed.” Ning said. “I’ve kept these things, but the others are useless to me. I’ll give them to you, Patriarch…some of these spirit pills are able to replenish elemental energy. They are very useful to us.” Ninefire nodded. Not hesitating, he accepted the bracelet that Ning handed over. “I’ll go deal with Jadechild now.” Ning said. “Be careful.” The nearby Yichuan warned. “Don’t worry, Father.” Ning cracked a smile, then turned and, under the guidance of Ninefire, moved through the parted black fog and hurried towards Jadechild. ….. The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation was filled with that abyssal aura. “Why hasn’t he come yet?” Jadechild stood there like a Fiendgod, his aura rising to the heavens, his long azure hair unbound, and surges of divine power thrumming through him. He was currently in the 773 formation of the enemy, after all; he had to keep his divine power flowing, so as to be able to release his most powerful combat abilities at any moment. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, Ji Ning is only sixteen years old. Prior to this, when he killed our other fellow apprentices, he must have used some tricks. But you, senior apprentice-brother, are a Fiendgod Refiner and have a divine ability. Those tricks will be useless against you. He’s probably afraid.” “He is almost certainly afraid and hiding.” Those Zifu Disciples all agreed. Jadechild just stood there, his gaze sweeping into the darkness ahead of him. He couldn’t help but wonder as well…was Ning truly afraid? If he wasn’t, given that he knew that Nong Zidao was currently analyzing how to break the formation, why had so much time passed after Ji Ning killing Dong Ziqi’s group of Zifu Disciples? Why hadn’t he come? He had no idea that Ning was currently binding flying swords. “Hmph. The more we delay, the more confidence junior apprentice-brother Zidao will have. Once we break this Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation! Without the formation, you will all die.” Jadechild said with great confidence. Suddenly… Rustle…faint lines of drizzling rain suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The rain was icy cold, and it fell down like foggy mist, spreading outwards. It was, however, blocked by the six mation formation and rendered unable to advance at all. “Rainwater!” “It is rainwater!” The other Zifu Disciples revealed looks of shock on their faces. Prior to this, Dong Ziqi had told the others that this rainwater…signified danger and perhaps death. “Rainwater!” A golden light flashed in Jadechild’s eyes. He let out an angry growl, and then his body emanated a dazzling golden as the entire body began to increase in size. Rumble…he transformed into a nearly two-story tall giant. The Zifu Disciples next to him were only as tall as his kneecap. His breaths created tempests that caused the surrounding space to crackle and explode. His footsteps caused the entire world to seem to tremble. Divine ability – Heavenly Transformation! The pupils of the eyes of this giant shot out golden light, and the giant roared loudly, “Ji Ning, come out and do battle!” This deep voice caused his voice to echo, even within his own chest. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The drizzling rain drifted down gently. Jadechild’s entire body was covered with a layer of golden light. He looked like a gold armored Fiend, and his eyes were filled with solidified golden light. His very breath caused the surrounding area to tremble. Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! The formerly soft, gentle rain suddenly became as sharp as knives. The countless raindrops wildly chopped towards the giant Jadechild, but the hazy golden light covering the giant Jadechild’s body effortless deflected them. He swept his gaze towards the surrounding areas. Suddenly, a ripple caught Jadechild by surprise. Without hesitating at all, he sent a fist smashing over! A wheel-sized golden fist smashed against one particular line of rain. This line of rain was the transformed sword flash of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. His fist was covered with a black glove, but it was also covered by that hazy golden light right now. Only if one looked closely would one see that beneath the golden light, there was a glove. His most powerful magic treasure was that glove! “BANG!” An explosive sound. The giant Jadechild couldn’t help but be knocked a step back by that attack, and his backwards step caused the ground to tremble violently and fracture repeatedly. “What an impressive Ji Ning.” The giant Jadechild narrowed his eyes. That line of rain had actually contained such astonishing power. It was definitely at the Wanxiang Adept level. No wonder that earlier group of Zifu Disciples had all been killed. “Formidable.” “He was actually able to make senior apprentice-brother Jadechild take a step back.” The hearts of the other Zifu Disciples instantly grew taut. They understood that the difference between Ji Ning and their senior apprentice-brother Jadechild probably wasn’t that great. “You are Jadechild?” A clear, cold voice rang out. From within the black fog, an enormous draconic tail began to move, and in the center of it was a fur clad youth. The fur clad youth was wielding a sword in each hand, and around him, a lotus flower was blooming and swiveling. Surrounded by the Waterflame Lotus, he walked over. “Ji Ning!” The giant Jadechild stared at this youth. He could sense an incomparably deep, profound mystery from that blooming lotus flower. He vaguely understood that in terms of the ‘Dao’, the youth in front of him probably had an even deeper understanding than he did. A monster! He was only sixteen years of age, but had actually reached such a deep level of understanding when it came to the Dao. ….. Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning strode forward. But upon seeing Jadechild, Ning was greatly shocked. A golden light covered that massive, cliff-like, two-story high body. That invisible, powerful Fiendgod aura made even Ning feel pressure. Ning was probably only as high as the enemy’s kneecaps. “This is the Heavenly Transformation?” Ning mused to himself. He had heard of this divine ability long ago, as this was known to be the most famous of the divine abilities. Divine abilities were very precious and very rare. Generally speaking, only supreme clans, sects, and cults had access to them. However, the majority of them used this ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’! Even in the Raindragon Guards, this divine ability was extremely famous. As the most widespread divine ability, if one wanted to learn it, naturally, the difficulty level would be a bit lower. But this didn’t mean that the Heavenly Transformation divine ability was weak! The prerequisites for this divine ability was low, but when trained to a very high level, it was comparable to some truly formidable divine abilities! When the Fiendgods of the primordial eras battled, they loved to use the Heavenly Transformation ability. With a single movement, one could increase to three hundred meters, three thousand meters, or even thirty thousand meters in height. Those towering, cliff-like Fiendgod bodies could even pick up a mountain range that was thousands of kilometers long as easily as picking up a strand of straw. For them, overturning a sea or flipping over a river was just like taking a bath! From this, one could see how powerful this divine ability was… But of course, those were simply ancient myths, like the myth of Houyi shooting down the suns. It was far too distant from them! “Ji Ning.” Suddenly, a gentle voice rang out. Ning, who was about to do battle with the giant Jadechild, was suddenly startled. Ning looked over to the origin of that voice. Within that tower of black light, there was an old man with simple clothes and 777 unbound hair. That man was smiling as he looked at Ning. “Your talent and potential is truly astonishing. But what is even more precious is that you were able to reach this level despite being in an ordinary, regional clan. You are certainly a rarely seen piece of unpolished jade. Your value far outstrips the value of this elemental ore mine. Ning frowned. The giant Jadechild was startled, as were the other Zifu Disciples as well. “If you are willing, then I am willing to swear an oath that I will guarantee your entrance into our Snowdragon Mountain sect.” Nong Zidao said with a smile. “Given your talent, you will definitely become one of the most important and most core disciples, the ‘heir-disciples’. Upon entering our school, your status will be no lower than that of a Wanxiang Adept. Our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely expend tremendous effort in training you, making you become a true, supreme expert. In the future, even becoming a Primal Daoist…is possible!” Jadechild was startled, but then he too said in a low voice. “Ji Ning, since junior apprentice-brother Zidao is willing to swear an oath, then you don’t need to worry about this. If you join our Snowdragon Mountain, we naturally won’t hold any grudges about what happened before this. But if you refuse…then don’t blame me for being ruthless!” Ning was surprised. They were trying to pull him into Snowdragon Mountain? “I killed so many of your fellow apprentices, but you’ll let me enter your school?” Ning said coldly. “If they died, they died.” Nong Zidao shook his head. “You are different from them. Our Snowdragon Mountain has plenty of those average, ordinary Zifu Disciples! But your talent and your current level of comprehension…I truly have never seen anyone like you in all my life. As long as I make the introductions, the Primal Daoists of our Snowdragon Mountain sect will definitely accept you as a disciple.” Ning, too, had heard his parents say that given his talents, it would be utter simplicity for him to take roof under any of the major powers. Even the spirit of the underwater estate had clearly shown a markedly better attitude towards him after he had comprehended his Rainwater Sword Domain. To gain insight into the Rainwater Sword Domain at age sixteen… This sort of talent was indeed monstrous. “The results of this grudge between your Ji clan and my Snowdragon Mountain have been the deaths of Snowdragon Mountain disciples only. Within this formation, not a single member of your Ji clan has perished. I imagine that you have no reason to feel hatred towards my Snowdragon Mountain.” Nong 778 Zidao then said, “Since we have no hatred for each other, while you yourself come from a regional clan and have a completely clean history, and are so monstrously talented, why wouldn’t the main sect use all of its efforts to cultivate you? In a few hundred years, it’s even possible that you will become the Sect Leader of our Snowdragon Mountain.” The giant Jadechild also spoke out. “If you join our Snowdragon Mountain, then what happened before will be of little consequence. But if you do not join Snowdragon Mountain…given how many of our fellow apprentices your Ji clan has killed, for the sake of our face, Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan. Consider this carefully.” “Consider this well.” Nong Zidao said as well. Two options. One to join them; that would make them all one family. As for the dead? That would have simply been a case where a heir-disciple of extremely exalted status killed a few outer disciples. A small matter. The other option was to refuse. To have killed so many disciples was an affront to Snowdragon Mountain. “Hahaha…” Ning laughed. How could he join Snowdragon Mountain? Just now, Nong Zidao had said that there was no enmity between their sides, and that Ning’s history was clean, that he was monstrously talented, and that Snowdragon Mountain would focus on training him… But loyalty would be the number one thing a sect would consider in cultivating its disciples. Before accepting him as an heir-disciple, Snowdragon Mountain would definitely do a thorough, close investigation of his history. By then, the events which happened to Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow would probably be revealed! Snowdragon Mountain had caused the deaths of Ning’s mother and uncle…given what a huge enmity lay between them, Snowdragon Mountain would never dare to train Ning, no matter how talented he was. Instead, it would want to destroy him as soon as possible, to prevent him from becoming a problem in the future! “Cut the crap.” Ning barked. “Don’t even think of trying to dissuade me.” “Ji Ning, you…” Nong Zidao, within that black tower, shook his head. “One step wrong leads to countless steps wrong. If you join Snowdragon Mountain now…it isn’t too late yet.” “Kill!” Ning didn’t waste any more words. Just on the basis of the ‘loyalty’ issue alone…Ning would be finished once they ran a background investigation on him. It was best to follow his previous plans; annihilate all of these fellows immediately, and delay until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Celestial Envoy arrived! Once the Celestial Envoy arrived, they 779 would have the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty…even if Snowdragon Mountain was a hundred times as bold, they would never dare to do anything. They would have to swallow it. As long as he had enough time…Snowdragon Mountain? He would eventually rip them apart! “Then die!” The giant Jadechild smiled savagely as he stomped hard against the ground. Rumble… The earth trembled, and countless shattered rocks and sand flew about. Within the flying sand and rocks, there could faintly be seen countless granules of sand that flashed with golden light. These golden specks of sand wildly swirled about like a giant whirlpool which surrounded the giant Jadechild, with a portion of the golden sand wildly charging towards Ning. This was the magic treasure which the giant Jadechild often used…the ‘Stellar Sands’! “Thud! Thud! Thud!” The giant Jadechild stomped on the ground, leaving behind a giant golden blur as he charged towards Ning with crushing force. “Hmph.” The rainwater surrounding Ning formed itself into a resilient curtain of water. The translucent water curtain was constantly swirling…when the golden sand struck wildly against it, they were all forcibly stopped by the watery curtain. “Die!” A wheel-sized golden fist smashed through the watery curtain. In the fact of that punch, even the blooming Waterflame Lotus seemed incomparably weak. “What astonishing speed.” Ning’s face changed slightly as the black wings behind him suddenly trembled. Divine ability – Windwing Evasion! Whoosh! The golden fist smashed through the Waterflame Lotus and pierced past Ning’s frame, but there was no hint of delight on the giant Jadechild’s face. This was because it was just an ‘afterimage’ that his fist had punched through. Ning’s speed was simply too fast, and he was too agile; he had instantly dodged. “There’s no use. You won’t be able to escape.” The giant Jadechild took a step forward, causing the earth to crack. He himself once more transformed into a golden light as he charged towards Ning, and his fist easily tore apart the watery curtain and the Waterflame Lotus. “Too fast.” Ning was forced to dodge again. Whoosh… 780 After having used the Windwing Evasion three times in a row, Ning finally managed to pull away from him. Ning discovered that…in terms of straight line movements, this giant Jadechild was actually even faster than he was! After having executed the Heavenly Transformation and increased in size, Jadechild’s speed and strength rose to an astonishing level. Ning didn’t dare face him head on. This was because, when he had used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] earlier, the enemy had used his fist to block it, and had only been forced a single step back. From this, one could tell how powerful that fist was. Fortunately, Ning had the Windwing Evasion, and so had a bit of an advantage in terms of agility. He was also more nimble to begin with, given his smaller size, while the giant Jadechild was so large that his turning ability was naturally inferior. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” Seven hundred flying swords suddenly appeared round Ji Ning, but amongst them, only six hundred or so glowed with white light. Ning had only activated the eighty level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. A sword flash materialized in front of his chest. “Go.” “Go.” “Go!” While using the Windwing Evasion to dodge, Ning simultaneously released six rays of sword light. The six rays of sword light merged into rainwater, then disappeared, transforming into lines of rain…silently, soundless, the six went sweeping towards the direction of the giant Jadechild. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Crackle…” The countless golden grains of the Stellar Sands were swirling around the giant Jadechild. When the six rays of sword light that had transformed into lines of rain wished to pass through them, the Stellar Sands would naturally be knocked flying away. The giant Jadechild roared loudly, “Ambushing me?” His fist suddenly unclenched and expanded into his giant, fan-shaped palm. Whooooosh. He swiped out towards the surrounding area, as fast as a blur. His two giant palms instantly formed a protective barrier around himself. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” Consecutive explosive sounds. The six rays of sword light had all been stopped! “What a fast palm technique.” The distant Ning, seeing this, was astonished. “Although his body increased in size after using his divine ability, resulting in him becoming a bit less agile, his palms are still astonishing fast!” “Ji Ning, accept death!” The giant Jadechild’s body transformed into a golden blur as he charged straight towards Ji Ning. “Go.” The black wings behind Ning’s body trembled, and at the same time, a sword light formed in front of him. Boom! As soon as the sword light flew out, it was smashed apart by the giant Jadechild. “Die.” The giant Jadechild was like a fiendish god, his face savage. His twin fists swung out towards Ning like a pair of meteors! Back! Back! Back! Ning used his Windwing Evasion at full strength. Because the giant Jadechild was much faster, Ning had to rely on his agility to dodge. He wasn’t able to pull away at all; it was like dancing atop a steel wire! If one walked too long by the sides of a river, eventually, one’s shoes would grow wet! “Whoosh!” The giant Jadechild was clearly to the right, but suddenly his fist suddenly appeared and smashed straight towards Ning. Bang! The rainwater was knocked flying! Whoosh! The blooming Waterflame Lotus was completely crushed! Ning wielded two swords in his hands, and they transformed into two streaks of flowing water. The light of his swords was soft and gentle as they struck forward to welcome the oncoming, attacking golden fist. “Bang!” A giant collision. Jadechild felt as though his fists had smashed into something that was incomparably slick and soft, that couldn’t be affected by his power. He had the feeling that his punch had missed, or that it had been pulled astray. “Bang.” Ning himself was knocked flying back tens of meters, and a wound had appeared at the joints of his palms, although it then quickly healed. “What a fellow.” Ning was shocked by the power of that punch. He had power that surpassed that of a peak Zifu Ki Refiner, and also the Rainwater Sword Domain. The Darknorth swords also surpassed ordinary Mortal-rank magic treasures. In terms of close combat, although he was a bit weaker than when using the sword light of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he was probably still close to the Wanxiang Adept level. And yet, when they clashed head on, even when he focused on defense, he was knocked flying. “He actually didn’t die!” The distant, giant Jadechild stared, astonished. …… When the giant Jadechild had struck Ning, the nearby Zifu Disciples, including Nong Zidao, were all extremely excited. But upon seeing that Ning was simply knocked flying without being damaged at all, all of them were incomparably disappointed. “How could it end up this way?” “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild used the Heavenly Transformation divine ability. How powerful much his punches be? How could this person not have been smashed to death?” All of the Zifu Disciples felt a chill in their hearts. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, we will help you.” “We will help.” These frantic Zifu Disciples all unleashed their own techniques. ……… As Ning was sent flying dozens of meters back by Jadechild, a fierce look flashed through his eyes. All of the seven hundred-plus flying swords around him lit up. This was the first time during Ning’s battle with Jadechild that he had used the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. His head instantly felt a splitting, piercing pain! “Go!” The sword light that had appeared in front of Ning, shaped like a true sword, transformed into a line of rain. “Go!” “Go!” “Go!” “Go!” Ning, relying on their earlier exchange of blows, pulled farther away, then launched five attacks of the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. And then, he immediately came to a halt. Just launching five attacks of the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had made his soul almost unable to take it any longer. Naturally, he halted. “Die!” Ning’s eyes were filled with eagerness. This was his most powerful, supreme attack. It had to succeed. “Useless.” The giant Jadechild was surrounded by those countless flying specks of Stellar Sand. Ordinary raindrops were completely unable to break through them. When the first sword light under Ning’s control pierced through the Stellar Sands, the giant Jadechild glanced at the line of rain, then smashed over with a giant palm atop that rain line. BANG!!! The giant Jadechild shook violently. Boomboomboom…he took three hurried steps back, causing the surrounding ground to tremble violently. The other four rays of sword light attacked from up ahead and from behind. “How can he be so strong?” The giant Jadechild felt as though his arm was turning numb from pain. However, given the astonishing regenerative speed of his Fiendgod body, he wasn’t afraid. He hurriedly exerted his strength to block the other sword light rays. Bang! Bang! Each time he blocked them, he took several steps back. This impacted his agility. He wasn’t careful, and so two lines of ray still chopped past his fists, slicing directly towards his chest. Crackle…the rain line chopped down against the giant Jadechild’s body like a knife. However, his body, covered with that hazy golden light, was incomparably tough. By the time the sword light chopped through his protective armor and began to chop against his body, it found it quite difficult to advance. Crackle…it just barely managed to leave a large wound on Jadechild’s body, then vanished. The other flash of sword light also simply left a wound before disappearing. “What!” Ning stared, wide-eyed. He understood now. While activating the ‘Heavenly Transformation’ divine ability, Jadechild’s body had increased tremendously in size. And thus, the level of difficulty for chopping Jadechild’s body in half had risen as well. This was because Jadechild’s body was simply too thick, and every single strand of flesh and muscle had also risen in strength and endurance. The ninth level of his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had only been able to leave a wound on Jadechild’s body. “You injured me?” Jadechild bellowed as he charged over. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild, we’ll help you.” “Ji Ning, prepare for death.” The other distant, spectating Zifu Disciples all unleashed their various magic treasures and techniques as they flew towards Ning. “Retreat.” Ji Ning hurriedly activated his wings and retreated at high speed. The surrounding rainwater began to swivel, spinning into layers of protective curtains that blocked these magic treasures. The magic treasures of these Zifu Disciples…weren’t able to penetrate these layers of protection at all. From this, one could see how terrifying Ning’s ‘Rainwater Sword Domain’ was. As for Jadechild, he smashed straight through the protective curtains of rain. “Retreat.” Ning had completely changed his strategy. While controlling the rainwater to form one layer after another of resilient water to block and slow down his opponent, Ning also generated Waterflame Lotuses around Jadechild! The Waterflame Lotuses around Ning…served as a form of protection. But once the Waterflame Lotuses appeared around Jadechild, they served as a form of binding. “Break.” Jadechild forcibly smashed apart the Waterflame Lotus, then through one watery curtain after another, seeking to chase after Ning. Ning used almost all of his concentration on controlling the rainwater and the Waterflame Lotuses. Once he focused his energy on controlling them, it was only natural that the Waterflame Lotuses could constantly bloom and spread out, blocking his foe. Those watery curtains continuously formed as well, one lafter another…faced with so many layers of bindings, the giant Jadechild’s speed naturally dropped dramatically. He wasn’t able to catch Ning at all. “Dao Domain.” The distant Nong Zidao, secreted within the black tower of light, narrowed his eyes. “It really is a Dao Domain. That rainwater forming into one protective wall after another is actually this powerful…Dao Domain. Only sixteen years ago, and yet he has gained insight into a Dao Domain. What a monster!” Prior to this, he wasn’t yet certain. But once Ning focused all his power on unleashing the might of his Dao Domain, using countless amounts of rainwater to block, Nong Zidao and Jadechild, these two experts with tremendous amounts of experience, knew for certain that this was a Dao Domain. If this wasn’t a Dao Domain, how could it be so powerful? The Waterflame Lotuses just bloomed, one after the other. But the Rainwater Sword Domain was everywhere. Every single curtain of rainwater was somewhat weaker than a Waterflame Lotus, but there was too much rain. This was quality born from quantity; Jadechild’s speed naturally dropped. “If you have any ability, fight me head on.” Jadechild roared savagely. “What sort of ability is this, to rely on this sort of technique?” “To be able to lock you down is a form of ability as well.” Ning laughed coldly. “And in addition, by locking you down, I’ve ensured your death.” Jadechild’s face changed. “Indeed…” Ning saw the look on Jadechild’s face. A thought came to his mind; he had guessed correctly. Previously, when they had fought head on, Jadechild’s strength had been simply too overbearing. Even by going all out and using the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], Ning had only been able to make him take three steps back. Even when he had landed a blow on Jadechild’s body, the sword light had only been able to leave behind an injury on that two-story-tall figure, then vanished. But the heavens were always fair. The Heavenly Transformation divine ability allowed one to gain in strength and speed. Even one’s endurance would rise dramatically, and one’s size would increase as well… With so many advantages, could it be that it had no disadvantages? The disadvantage was…it used up an enormous amount of divine power! To maintain the Heavenly Transformation state used up an astonishing amount of divine power. Ning had trained in the divine ability, ‘Windwing Evasion’. Windwing Evasion was different from the Heavenly Transformation technique. The Windwing Evasion…focused on technique! But the Heavenly Transformation divine ability…was a sort of divine ability that relied on one’s ability to control one’s body. The Windwing Evasion was a divine ability technique meant for flying about and evading. Those paintings of the giant Roc contained an incomparably deep and exquisite profoundness to them, while also a technique for using divine power! When Ning had been battling Bei Zishan, he had used up his divine power to activate the Windwing Evasion. When one used divine power to activate a divine ability, the divine power could increase tenfold or a hundredfold in power, naturally making the divine ability powerful as well. But Ning’s ‘divine power’ in his Fiendgod body was only at the peak Xiantian level, while his elemental energy surpassed that of a peak Zifu-level Ki Refiner. By using his elemental energy to control the wingtype magic treasures in accordance to the intricacies of the Windwing Evasion, naturally he was still quite fast. “Maintaining the Heavenly Transformation will use up astonishing amounts of divine power. I want to see how much you have.” Ning mused to himself. “As for myself, the amount of energy I’m using up is negligible. Both the Rainwater Sword Domain and the Waterflame Lotus relies on activating the power of the heavens in order to take form. “Ji Ning!” The giant Jadechild bellowed. “All you are capable of is using these despicable methods.” Ning just focused whole-heartedly on controlling the Rainwater Sword Domain and the Waterflame Lotuses, frantically trying to entangle his foe. The giant Jadechild, as Ning had predicted, was using up an extremely astonishing amount of divine power while using his divine ability. The giant Jadechild didn’t dare to return to his normal state either, as if he did, Ning’s sword light would probably instantly chop apart and slaughter him. ….. Roughly an hour later. This was the last hour of Jadechild’s life. During this hour, he came to a halt, no longer going to smash against the Waterflame Lotus or the curtains of rain. By not attacking, he was able to lower his expenditure of divine power. However…when he stopped moving, Ning would begin to control his sword light to attack. After Ning’s sword light left a wound on his body, he would have to use a large amount of divine power to heal. Not battling wasn’t an option. Battling also wasn’t an option. Jadechild’s divine power was finally used up, and reluctantly, his body returned to the size of a normal person’s. Crackle… A line of rain slashed past, and Jadechild’s head went flying, then landed on the ground. Given how his divine power had been completely used up, there was no way he could heal his wounds any longer. Naturally, he lost his life. “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild died.” “Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild!” The other Zifu Disciples were all incomparably terrified, but within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, they were completely unable to flee. “It’s all over.” Within the black tower of light, Nong Zido stretched his hand out to stroke the Fairy Crane by his side. A hint of pain and pity was in his eyes. “Crane, I’m sorry. This trip to Swallow Mountain was in error. I’m unable to save you. Let us end our master-servant relationship now. I hope that the Ji clan will spare your life!” Within his other hand, a Dao-seal suddenly appeared. Whoosh. Suddenly, a spatial vibration appeared, then Nong Zidao’s body disappeared from within the tower of black light, leaving behind only the other five Zifu Disciples, the Landwyrm, and the Fairy Crane. The Fairy Crane let out a griefstricken bird call as tears began to flow from its eyes. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Nong Zidao disappeared?” Ji Ning frowned. The other five Zifu Disciples were utterly terrified as well. Ning, with the assistance of the grand formation, was absolutely at the Wanxiang Adept level of power. The five of them weren’t even enough to join into a formation of their own. “Ji Ning, please spare our lives.” “I offer to you all of the magic treasures that I am carrying. My clan will also offer up magic treasures in exchange for my life.” “Ji Ning…” The five of them were all begging, without any hint of a martial spirit. Ning swept the five of them with his gaze. “Ji Ning.” A voice suddenly rang out by his ears. “We’ve destroyed these two groups of Zifu Disciples, but two more days will pass before the Grand Xia Dynasty arrives…within these two days, more disciples of Snowdragon Mountain might arrive. There is no way for us to watch over and guard these people. Kill them all. As for those two Zifu-level Diremonsters, if you are able to make them submit, do so. If not, kill them!” Ning nodded. The Patriarch’s words were reasonable. “All of you, accept death.” Ning looked at them and spoke calmly. In front of his body, that flashing sword light suddenly transformed into a line of rainwater and flew towards them. It was immediately followed by yet another flash of sword light. These were all only at the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! “Ji Ning, Snowdragon Mountain will definitely avenge us.” “Ji Ning, you will die a miserable death!” 789 These five seemed to have gone berserk. All of them wanted to go all out, but given that they weren’t able to join in a formation, even though they threw out some powerful Dao-seals…upon encountering that curtain of water, they immediately exploded, unable to touch Ning at all. Within a few moments, all five of them perished. “Do you two spirit-beasts submit?” Ning swept his gaze towards the still-living Landwyrm and Fairy Crane. The Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane looked at each other, and then the Landwyrm transformed into a large, azure-armored man, while the Fairy Crane transformed into a white-robed maiden. The azurearmored man and the white-robed maiden all immediately fell to their knees. “We are willing to submit!” Although Zifu-level Diremonsters were incomparably arrogant and hard to tame, when they were faced with only two options, to perish or to submit…they would generally submit, especially when the opponent’s power completely surpassed their own. “Follow me.” Ning’s gaze flashed, and the falling rain disappeared. Immediately afterwards, a surge of blazing fire swept out, rendering the corpses of the five Zifu Disciples into ash, leaving behind only their magic treasures, which Ning easily collected. “Yes.” The Landwyrm and the Celestial Crane all followed after Ning. Soon, they passed through the layers of black fog and arrived in front of Ji Ninefire. “Eh?” Ning was surprised. In front of him, aside from the Patriarch and his father, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing had all arrived as well. “I asked them to come.” Ninefire laughed. “Both groups of Zifu Disciples are dead. For now, we have no opponents, so I had them all come over.” “Ji Ning. Formidable.” Truekeep’s eyes were shining. “Formidable, formidable.” Old servantAh Xing’s face was filled with delight as well. Granny Shadow laughed and nodded as well. All of them were very happy. This was because, in just two or three short days worth of time, Snowdragon Mountain would only be able to invite some Zifu Disciples from nearby regions to come over…and as for the main Snowdragon Mountain Sect, it was simply too far away. There was no way they would be able to make it over in two or three short days. Having killed eighteen Zifu Disciples and tamed two spirit-beasts, the threat level had dropped dramatically. “Unfortunately, we allowed Nong Zidao to flee.” Patriarch Ninefire shook his head. “Patriarch, how did he escape? Why did he suddenly disappear?” Ning asked hurriedly. Granny Shadow and the others all looked towards the Patriarch as well. They had just gathered together, and so they hadn’t had a chance to ask about these things in detail. Ninefire shook his head. “I don’t know either. He simply disappeared. There’s no trace of him in the entire formation. However, if we ask his spirit-beast, I imagine it will know.” The eyes of Ning and the others lit up. Right. Ask the spirit-beast. “Fairy Crane.” Ninefire looked at the white-robed maiden. “How did Nong Zidao escape?” The white-robed woman said respectfully, “My former owner was skilled in formations. He was valued by his master, and so was given a ‘Lesser Teleportation Dao-Seal’. This Dao-seal, upon being used, will instantly allow one to teleport to any location within ten thousand kilometers.” “A Lesser Teleportation Dao-Seal?” Ning and the others looked at each other. Ning quietly memorized this name. It seemed as though this Lesser Teleportation Dao-Seal was the same thing as his so-called ‘Traceless Talisman’. The Traceless Talisman had been acquired in a fortuitous encounter by an ancestor of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, who had used up two, leaving only one behind. Because it allowed one to teleport within ten thousand kilometers without a trace, it had been named the ‘Traceless Talisman’. “Patriarch, what should we do with these two spirit-beasts?” Ning looked at Ninefire. The other five all looked at each other as well. “Ji Ning, are you willing to accept them?” Ninefire asked Ning. Ning looked at the Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane. Zifu-level spirit-beasts were very precious. Ordinary Zifu Disciples wouldn’t be able to acquire them, but in truth…Ning didn’t care about these two Zifu spiritbeasts. If Ning took some time to focus on his insights, in anywhere from a few hours to a few days, he would break through to the seventh level, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. In but a few years, he would reach the ninth level as an Fiendgod Body Refiner of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! By then, Zifu-level spirit-beasts would truly be useless to him; in fact, they would slow him down. “I have no need.” Ning shook his head. “Since that’s the case…” Ninefire nodded. “Then I will temporarily accept them. After we overcome this tribulation, I will then divide them up.” “Fine.” 791 “That’s what we’ll do, then.” Truekeep, Granny Shadow, Yichuan, and the others all nodded without any debate. It was too early to discuss who the spirit-beasts would go to. Nobody knew which of them would survive this tribulation. “These are the magic treasures left behind by that Jadechild.” Ning waved his hand, and a large amount of magic treasures immediately appeared on the ground. “Everyone, take a look and see which are useful. If you find any flying swords…various elders, please help me prepare them for binding. I need to find a place to train; just now, in battle, I gained some slight insights.” “Alright. Leave it to us.” Ninefire and the others didn’t hesitate at all. “Right.” Ning’s body flickered as he immediately departed at high speed. The Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane, in the form of the azure-armored warrior and the white-robed maiden, were both rather disappointed. In truth, they desired to become Ning’s spirit-beasts. First of all, they bore no hatred for Ning, as the Landwyrm had, for example, been forcibly subdued by Jadechild in the past. Although the Fairy Crane did have a close relationship with Nong Zidao, since Zidao had given her up and fled for his life, it could be said that the karmic binds between them had come to an end. Secondly, Ning was only sixteen years old. A monster like this would have unlimited potential; if they followed a master like him, their own future would be bright as well. Unfortunately, Ning wasn’t willing to accept them. ….. Ning was seated in the lotus position within the mountainous forests, surrounded by dark energy. “Yin and Yang transform, endlessly engendering each other.” Ning murmured to himself, then closed his eyes and began to meditate on it. Prior to this, when he had analyzing the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he had come to a realization…that all of the great Daos of the world were, in truth, similar. Formations, swordplay, magic, divine abilities…they all contained the ‘Dao’. The Dao was the same. Only, the paths of the Dao were different. Ning understood this principle…and so naturally, it now became much easier for him to break through, from the sixth to the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. “Yin and Yang transform!” Ning, his eyes closed, began to activate the divine power in his body… In midair, a thousand kilometers away from Snowdragon City, space suddenly rippled, and a figure appeared out of nowhere. It was a fur-clad Nong Zidao. Nong Zidao’s eyes were filled with grief. “If you encounter a formation, be cautious. Be cautious.” Nong Zidao let out a soft sigh. “This is the most simple of principles, but we disciples of Snowdragon Mountain had all forgotten about it.” If you encounter a formation, be cautious. This was something all Immortal practitioners knew. This was because formations were intricate and marvelous. No one could know what was within a formation, and upon entering it, one wouldn’t even be able to flee! For example, the Wanxiang Adept, Adept Mu Xiao, knew that Bei Zishan was hidden within the formation, but because Bei Zishan had set up a formation, Adept Mu Xiao had chosen to instead wait patiently outside, rather than enter the formation. But these disciples of Snowdragon Mountain had truly held their foes in too little regard. Although they knew that upon encountering a formation, they should be cautious, they hadn’t held the Ji clan in any regard at all. The Ji clan was nothing more than a local clan, and they had an understanding of the Ji clan’s power. They didn’t believe that the Ji clan would be capable of any powerful formations at all. In addition, they had Jadechild as well as a formations expert, Nong Zidao. They also had nearly twenty comrades… Their power was simply too great. They believed that they would completely dominate and crush a puny clan like the Ji clan. Because of their over-confidence, they had underestimated their foes, and so had become trapped in the formation, with no way to escape! Jadechild. Even with the assistance of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, Ning was only on par with Jadechild in power; Jadechild had only died after all of his divine power had been exhausted, rendering him unable to use his divine ability. If they had fought outside the formation, upon seeing that the situation was turning grim, he could’ve fled. But within the formation, there was no place to run! “If you encounter a formation, be cautious. But if we didn’t enter…should we have simply allowed the Ji clan to delay? Watch as the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty came?” Nong Zidao shook his head and sighed. “Formations…Ji Ning…” “The Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, and a monster who gained insight into a Dao Domain at age sixteen. For me to encounter both these things in such a puny little local clan? My defeat was not an injust one!” A flying ship appeared beneath Nong Zidao’s feet, which immediately tore through the skies, flying at high speed towards Snowdragon City. “No matter what, I have to go warn my other comrades, who are probably heading this way as well.” Nong Zidao mused. Of the first group of Zifu Disciples, the sole survivor was Nong Zidao. If he didn’t go warn the newcomers, in the future, when the main sect investigated this matter, he, Nong Zidao, would be censured. ………. Moments later. A distant city appeared within his field of vision. “Eh?” Nong Zidao, atop the ship, saw that there were people in the air above the distant city. That person flew over, as fast as a ray of light. “Dong Fanyu?” Nong Zidao immediately recognized this old man. “Senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Dong Fanyu, upon seeing Nong Zidao, immediately asked impatiently, “I heard that you, senior apprentice-brother Zidao, along with senior apprentice-brother Jadechild and a group of others all went to Oxhorn Mountain. Why have you come here, senior apprentice-brother Zidao? Also…the life-tablets of quite a few people who headed to Oxhorn Mountain have shattered. Even the lifetablet of my own Dong clan’s Patriarch, Dong Ziqi, has shattered. What happened at Oxhorn Mountain?” Nong Zidao shook his head. “I feel ashamed. Aside from myself, every single one of our fellow disciples who went to Oxhorn Mountain perished.” “What?! All perished?!” Dong Fanyu was shocked. “So many fellow disciples all, all…” “Aside from me, all of them died.” Nong Zidao sighed. “I’ve come to warn you that Oxhorn Mountain is incredibly perilous. No matter what, do not enter. I don’t want any other fellow disciples to suffer.” Dong Fanyu said frantically, “Can’t be entered? But just now, Wanxiang Adept, Adept Xu Li, personally led a group of Zifu Disicples to head towards Oxhorn Mountain.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Heavens] – Stage Seven “Adept Xu Li?” Nong Zidao was shocked. As a valued, intensively trained disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, Nong Zidao naturally was quite familiar with Adept Xu. He knew that Adept Xu wasn’t too skilled in the Dao of formations. Actually, the vast majority of Immortal practitioners with great potential were unskilled in formations; they would focus their efforts on training, on gaining insights into the Dao, on magic treasures, and on magic spells. “How long ago did the Adept head there?” Nong Zidao hurriedly asked. “Just a while ago, in less than the amount of time needed to brew tea. Adept Xu left just before you arrived, senior apprentice-brother Zidao.” Dong Fanyu said hurriedly. Nong Zidao, shocked, immediately instructed: “Remember, if there are any other Zifu Disciples who arrive here, they can go to Oxhorn Mountain, but you must warn them…they are definitely not permitted to casually enter the grand formation of Oxhorn Mountain. That is the place where senior apprenticebrother Jadechild perished.” “I will definitely inform the other fellow disciples.” Dong Fanyu immediately said. “Right.” Nong Zidao had no time to speak any further; he immediately boarded his flying ship and flew through the skies, heading once more to Oxhorn Mountain. ………. Oxhorn Mountain. Ji Ninefire and the others paid attention to the region outside the grand formation while simultaneously binding the magic treasures. From their viewpoint on up high, they were able to see through the thin mist to the distant, desolate wilderness. “All of the Zifu Disciples from the earlier group, aside from Nong Zidao, have perished. Our Ji clan even ended up acquiring two additional Zifu-level spirit-beasts.” Ji Truekeep was currently working on binding a flying sword, then said with a satisfied look on his face, “The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain only had a few Zifu Disciples to begin with. With so many dead, I imagine there won’t be any other formidable figures who will come.” “Yes.” Ninefire nodded with a satisfied smile as well. “Our Ji clan now has hope.” Granny Shadow sighed in her hoarse voice as well. From a logical standpoint, their expectations were correct. The Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty would be able to arrive in two days. The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain simply wouldn’t be able to invite some more distant branches to assist in time. In addition, at most, forty or fifty Zifu Disciples could be invited over from the surrounding areas, and amongst them, the most powerful and famous were Jadechild and Nong Zidao! One had perished, while the other had fled; who else would dare to enter? The only choice was to report back to the main sect, but the main sect was too far away. Most likely, the Ji clan would receive protection from the Grand Xia Dynasty well before the main sect had even received word of this matter. “We are fortunate to have Ji Ning.” Ninefire sighed as he glanced at the nearby Ji Yichuan. “Yichuan. You have a good son.” Yichuan couldn’t help but smile as well. With a son like Ning, how could he not be proud? “Once this tribulation is over,” Granny Shadow said hoarsely, “Ji Ning will definitely leave our Ji clan and go out to adventure. Give his monstrous talents…I imagine that he should be able to take refuge within one of the great powers. By then, why would we need to fear Snowdragon Mountain?” “Ji Ning’s future is unlimited!” Ji Truekeep sighed emotionally as well. These were all the elites of the Ji clan, but compared to Ning…they felt a vast gap between them. “Someone is coming.” Ninefire suddenly shouted. “What?!” Instantly, a great commotion. All of them turned to stare through the sparse black fog, only to see a boat sail through the skies towards their direction, with quite a few Immortal practitioners gathered together atop it. “Who is it?” “I haven’t seen any of them. Don’t recognize them.” “I recognize one of them. That short old fellow is an Immortal practitioner of the Huan clan. The two of us have met once, but I don’t know his name.” Ninefire and the others could see a total of eight Zifu Disciples atop the boat, but they didn’t know the names of any of them. Only Ninefire was able to recognize a single one of them. Truekeep immediately asked, “What should we do? Should we go call for Ji Ning?” 796 “Ji Ning is currently training within the formation.” Ninefire shook his head. “In addition, only eight have come. No need to be impatient.” …….. The flying boat descended towards the ground, the vanished. The eight figures atop the boat disembarked. Not too far away, they saw a wood golem standing atop the ground. The eyes of the wood golem flashed with a green light as it looked towards them with curiosity. “A golem.” Lu Huang said hurriedly. “Master-uncle, I will go take a look.” Lu Huang immediately moved forward a few steps, but before he said anything, the wood golem spoke out: “Are you disciples of Snowdragon Mountain?” “Yes.” Lu Huang nodded as he spoke, while Adept Xu and the others walked over as well. The wood golem said, quite obediently, “Per the orders of my master, Nong Zidao, I am here awaiting the arrival of disciples of Snowdragon Mountain. I am here to let you all know that my master, Nong Zidao, along with Jadechild, eighteen other Zifu Disciples, and two Zifu-level spirit-beasts have all entered the grand formation.” “Do you have any other information?” Adept Xu Li asked. “I know nothing else.” The wood golem shook its head. “Has anyone emerged?” Adept Xu Li frowned as he spoke. “Did you feel the ground shake?” The wood golem said, “Nobody has emerged. Prior to this, I felt the ground shake multiple times, but now, I don’t feel the ground shaking whatsoever.” The faces of Adept Xu Li and the rest of the eight all changed. Some formations were able to completely block out sound, but it was extremely hard to block out the vibrations created from a battle, which would pass through the earth and the mud to the outside world. It was unheard of, at least, for Mortal-ranked formations to be able to block out ground vibrations. “The first few ground vibrations indicate that they battled multiple times. But for there to be no further vibrations at all…and given that based on the information we received, the life-tablets of many Zifu Disciples, including Dong Ziqi, are shattered…” Adept Xu Li said in a soft voice, “The most likely possibility is that all of them are dead.” “Adept, what should we do?” The others all looked towards Adept Xu Li. Of the seven, some had run into Adept Xu Li on the road, while others had been waiting at Snowdragon City. Prior to this, nineteen Zifu Disciples and two Zifu-level spirit-beasts had silently, soundlessly disappeared within this formation. “We can’t enter it casually.” Adept Xu Li said in a soft voice. “Nong Zidao is extremely skilled in formations. Even I am inferior to him. As for Jadechild, he has a divine ability and thus astonishingly great combat power, as well as tremendously strong lifeforce as a Fiendgod Body Refiner…the two of them joined forces to enter, and yet there is no word of them. No matter what, we cannot enter the formation casually.” The other seven all nodded in agreement. “Let me try to forcibly break the formation first and see if I can destroy it.” Adept Xu Li glanced at the distant Oxhorn Mountain. He waved his hand, and a large seal appeared within his palm. This large seal flew out from his palm, then rapidly increased in size, quickly becoming an enormous seal that was more than three hundred meters long. It hung there, high above Oxhorn Mountain. “Descend!” Adept Xu Li pointed into the distance. Instantly, the surrounding world seemed to change colors. The brilliant sunlight seemed to instantly disappear as the surrounding world turned pitch-black. Within the pitch-black skies, there were even many flashing stars, and amongst the stars there was an enormous, brilliant moon. Within the moon, a giant palm formed from moonlight emerged, which clasped that giant, three hundred meter seal. And then, it smashed that seal downwards to the ground! Bang! It smashed directly atop the black fog surrounding the base of Oxhorn Mountain. The surrounding earth trembled violently, and then the giant moonlight hand lifted up again, raising the enormous seal once more. …….. When Ninefire and the others saw the world itself change through the Manifestation, the looks on their faces changed as well. The brilliant light of the sun had been transformed into a constellation of stars in the night sky. They all called out in shock, “A Wanxiang Adept!” “How could a Wanxiang Adept be here? The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain is nothing more than a branch. These branches only have Zifu Disciples. How could a Wanxiang Adept have come? Wanxiang Adepts are the core of Snowdragon Mountain. How could they have appeared here?” Truekeep stared, wide-eyed. Every member of the Ji clan was completely shocked. They didn’t dare believe it. “Quick, everyone, go to your locations in your sub-formations.” Ninefire hurriedly ordered. “If that Wanxiang Adept thinks he can destroy our formation from outside just by using a giant seal, he is dreaming. At such a great distance…even a Wanxiang Adept is only able to at most unleash a tenth of his full power. Against power at this level, if we join forces and rely on the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, we can definitely fight back.” “Should we call for Ji Ning?” Granny Shadow asked. “No need. Landwyrm, follow my orders and head towards the north.” Ninefire gave the order. “For now, you will temporarily serve as the center for the Dragontail Formation of our Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.” “Yes.” The azure-armored warrior replied. Monsters initially trained in monstrous power, but upon establishing their Zifu, the body in their energy would also become the elemental energy of the Zifu. This Landwyrm was at the peak Zifu-level…his elemental energy was even more powerful than Ji Ning’s!” ……… “Descend!” From far away, Adept Xu Li pointed yet again. The giant moonlight hand, clutching that great seal, once more smashed downwards towards Oxhorn Mountain. But this time, a draconic roar suddenly rang out, and an enormous black draconic tail swept out. The draconic tail was tremendous in size as well, and as it emerged from the black fog, it clashed directly against the downwards smashing seal. Bang! The giant seal smashed against the giant draconic tail. The draconic tail trembled slightly, but was able to hold on. “A black draconic tail?” Adept Xu Li frowned. “And it’s actually able to block my Manifestation…” There were limits to the distance at which an Immortal practitioner could use magic treasures to attack. The farther away they attacked from, the lower the power would be. Wanxiang Adepts could rely on their ‘Myriad Manifestations’ to launch long-distance attacks, but naturally, the power would be much lower than if they attacked in close-quarters combat. For example, when Adept Mu Xiao had wanted to prevent Bei Zishan from escaping, he had been able to, from an extremely great distance, generate his Manifestation to capture the bug-body of Bei Zishan. “What formation is this?” Adept Xu Li frowned. “A few mere Zifu Disciples, by relying on this formation, are able to block my Manifestation. This formation…” 799 Despite his knowledge, even he wasn’t able to recognize this formation. The seven nearby Zifu Disciples had looks of confusion and nervousness on their faces. That draconic tail that had emerged from the fog…what formation was this? ….. Ninefire and the others, by relying on the Netherwyrm created by the formation, had resisted the smashing blow of the giant seal. Still, they felt that doing so was quite an onerous task. “I wonder how Ji Ning’s training is progressing. He might be at a critical moment.” Ninefire, frantic, wanted to summon Ning, but he was also worried that he would disrupt Ning’s meditations. …… Within the formation. Dark energy was flowing everywhere. Ning sat there in the lotus position, completely absorbed in the intricate mysteries of Yin and Yang transforming. He continuously experimented, gaining a greater and greater comprehension, having reached a level of completely losing himself in his training. He didn’t even notice the tremors caused earlier by the giant seal smashing against the ground. As for Ninefire and the others, the giant Netherwyrm they were controlling was in the area surrounding Ning, protecting him. “Yin cannot be without Yang.” “Yang cannot be without Yin.” “Even the most powerful of dragons has regrets. After every peak, there is a valley…” “Only when Yin and Yang transform into each other can they endlessly engender each other in a cycle.” Ning suddenly understood. The Divine Sun Tattoo and the Divine Moon Tattoo on his back suddenly lit up. He could sense, from an unfathomably distance, separated by untold numbers of planes, those two giant stars. The Lunar Star and the Solar Star. They each immediately sent down surges of Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire, which pierced through countless planes and countless voids, descending directly upon Ning. “Rumble…” “Rumble…” The surrounding area instantly became transformed into a world of fire and water. Enormous petals of fire and water transformed into the bud of a flower, completely covering Ning within. With the Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire as the core, a tremendous amount of fire and water appeared, forming a gigantic flower that completely surrounded Ning, who was now like the stamen within the flower. Even the distant Adept Xu Li and his group of Zifu Disciples could see, from far away, an enormous flower emerge from within the dark fog, as the tips of the petals just barely stretched out above the black fog. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “That’s because you, Uncle White, are capable of breaking the formation,” Ji Ning sent mentally. “Uncle White, we have no time to waste. Hurry up and break it. If there’s anything you need, just speak out; young master Youngflame will definitely provide it. “Keep these Qiongqi golems a bit farther away; make it so that within thirty meters, I won’t be disturbed in the slightest.” “Alright.” Ji Ning immediately sent mentally, “Young master Youngflame, everyone, we are going to expand the scope of this five elements formation.” “Expand it? The larger we make the formation, the more ice shards will strike us,” Adept Vastriver said frantically. “My Whitewater Hound spirit-beast is able to break this formation, but he needs thirty meters of space to do so,” Ning sent. “Break the formation?” “Truly?” All of them were both delighted and shocked. Youngflame Nong urged frantically, “Everyone, hurry up and do your best to hold on for a period of time.” After finishing his words, he gave Xue Hongyi a hard look, and Xue Hongyi hurriedly tried to make it appear as though he truly was going all out and risking his life to hold on. Rumble… The formation expanded. Youngflame Nong and his Redscale Salamander displayed their might as well; the two of them, man and spirit-beast, were able to simultaneously tie down eight of those Qiongqi Manticore golems, while Xue Hongyi managed to block one as well. As for Ji Ning and the rest of the five, they were able to block the other nine Qiongqi golems. For a period of time, the group was actually able to overpower the golems and deliver blows to them. However, while they were overpowering the golems, they still had to divert part of their attention and efforts to blocking the icy shards. Each of them were using up astonishing amounts of elemental ki; they were all operating at maximum power, a state which they couldn’t maintain for too long. “Arise.” 1601 A large, snowy white hound was in the very center of the entire formation. Around him were ancient, simple-looking wooden staffs that were covered with magic runes. The staffs suddenly flew out in every direction, quickly landing in various areas. As each staff landed down, the space around them seemed to have been ‘nailed down’. All sixty four Fuxi Staffs descended on their respective locations. Every single staff suddenly began to glow with an eye-catching, watery glow. In addition, lines of watery light began to connect between the staffs, forming an incomparably massive seal-formation. Rumble… The seal-formation actually began to merge with the giant formation around them. It was like a drop of black water, falling onto a spotless white cloth, or a iron spike that was thrust into the spokes of a wheel; in short, the grand formation which had previously been incomparably harmonious and perfect was suddenly, instantly, ‘stuck’. In turn, the incomparably powerful surges of elemental energy from the natural world ceased to flow, and the attacking ice shards suddenly began to weaken in power. In but a single breath’s worth of time, they all vanished into nowhere. And then, the entire grand formation itself completely vanished. The ancient hall that they had been in previously once more appeared within Ning’s field of vision. They were still within the hall; they had never actually left it. “The formation is broken?” Youngflame Nong was stunned for a moment, but then he was wildly overjoyed. When he had been trapped within the formation, he had been consumed with the agony of despair and bitterness. Now that he had been released from it…it was hard for him to express the joy in his heart through words. “Formidable, formidable.” Mu Northson blinked his eyes as he looked at the large, snowy white dog in their midst. “What a formidable Whitewater Hound.” Adept Vastriver looked at the snowy white dog as well. “Uncle White, you really are formidable,” Ninelotus sent mentally as well. All of them were absolutely overjoyed. Although Xue Hongyi was surprised and delighted at their escape, in his heart, he still felt extremely displeased. “Even his spirit-beast is as formidable as this in formations…why the hell don’t I have such a powerful spirit-beast? Damnable, absolutely damanable…this time, Ji Ning once again became the one to accumulate great merits in front of young master Youngflame.” ….. No longer having to worry about the constant attacks from the overwhelming number of icy arrows, Ning and the others instantly exploded with power. By relying on the five-elements pentagonal formation, Ning, Adept Vastriver, and Yu Wei were each able to lock down four of the Qiongi golems, while Ninelotus, Northson, and Xue Hongyi were each able to lock down one. The Redscale Salamander, by itself, was able to block all of the other golems. It was now extremely easy. Young master Youngflame didn’t even need to personally intervene; all eighteen of the golems were now locked down. “Uncle Fang, the formation has been broken. You can come in now.” Youngflame Nong sent a spiritual message to Xiangliu Fang, who was still outside. The two had set up a soul-bind long ago. Xiangliu Fang, this Fiendgod, was Youngflame Nong’s most loyal servant; otherwise, how could the Youngflame clan be comfortable with sending a Fiendgod to accompany their young master? …… Xiangliu Fang had successfully fled to the outside perimeter of this palace long ago, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to enter. Thus, he could only continue to run about and flee outside of it. The entire Immortal estate was only a few tens of thousands of kilometers in size; it truly was too small. Xiangliu Fang had already completely circumnavigated this world once. “Stop chasing.” “That Fiendgod is too crafty.” “And he won’t die.” The two mightiest monstrous powers in the Immortal estate world had both given up their chase. Although their attacks on Xiangliu Fang had caused him repeated injuries, as a Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang’s recuperative abilities were simply too astonishing. In addition, he had been using evasive techniques, causing his speed to vastly outstrip the combined Dao-soldier armies. After repeated engagements, the two forces had given up. “This Fiendgod isn’t easy to deal with, but those humans that came in with him are far weaker. This Fiendgod is a protector for one of them; once they come out, we’ll kill the humans, then seize the key to the Immortal estate.” These monstrous powers were also waiting outside the Vault of Treasures, one of the five palaces of the Immortal estate. As soon as Ning’s group came out, they would surround them and kill them! This was their one and only chance at seizing the key to the Immortal estate. Leaving this Immortal estate world was something which the various monstrous races here had hoped and dreamed about for 1603 countless ages. Their ancestors had all passed down legends of how incomparably vast the outside world was, and how even Immortals could fly for days and nights without reaching the ends of the world. Days and nights? The monsters of the Immortal estate world couldn’t even imagine such a thing, because in the Immortal estate world, a Loose Immortal could completely circumnavigate the world in as much time as was needed to boil a kettle of tea. “I truly want to leave.” “I truly want to see that vast, endless world.” All the monsters shared this feeling. At this moment, the distant Xiangliu Fang was still awaiting Youngflame Nong’s spirit-message; both of them had extremely powerful souls, and thus they could naturally communicate spiritually at a fairly long distance. “The young master is trapped within a formation in that palace…what should I do?” Xiangliu Fang was worried as well. “I can’t go in. If no one can break the formation and the young master remains trapped in it…in the end, I’m afraid he’ll give up and leave, but if he does, that means he will have failed this trial.” Xiangliu Fang was worried, but he had no way of entering. “Uncle Fang, the formation is broken. You can come in now,” Youngflame Nong sent spiritually. “The formation is broken?” Xiangliu Fang was amazed and delighted. He immediately transformed into a streak of light and flew towards the palace. Swoosh! He flew over at high speed. “That Fiendgod is coming again.” “We can’t kill him…why’s he coming?” “Can it be that he wants to enter the palace? Let’s follow him and go in together.” The monstrous Daosoldiers reformed into that titanic wave and the Yaksha Dao-soldier. They looked at the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, but didn’t attack. Whoosh. In midair, an enormous palace door suddenly appeared, and then the door swung open. Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang had just reached that location. With a swoosh, he flew through the palace door…and then, the illusory door once more vanished. Xiangliu Fang and young master Youngflame’s coordination was simply perfect. As soon as he had arrived, the door had appeared, and as soon as he entered, the palace door had once more shut, causing the pursuing Dao-soldiers that were right behind him to be unable to enter at all. After all, Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang was faster than them to begin with. “Wait! I refuse to believe he won’t come out! As soon as they come out, we’ll first kill those humans, then seize the key to the Immortal estate.” The monstrous Dao-soldiers could only choose to wait patiently. …….. Within the massive palace hall. Ning’s group was still fighting back against the wildly attacking Qiongqi golems. “Swoosh.” A figure suddenly charged in. It was a pitch-black, narrow-eyed, middle-aged man…the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang. “Uncle Fang.” Youngflame Nong was delighted. Finally, he had reunited with Uncle Fang. After seeing Uncle Fang, his restless, uneasy heart finally calmed down. With Uncle Fang present, he was safe. Upon entering, Xiangliu Fang immediately saw those Qiongqi Manticore golems. “Golems?” Xiangliu Fang, with a single step, arrived next to one of the Qiongqi golems. The golem immediately bellowed, slashing out with his claws and wanting to tear Xiangliu Fang apart. But what welcomed it was Xiangliu Fang’s fist! BOOM! The fist smashed directly upon the Qiongi golem, like the descent of a meteor, knocking it flying back and, with a titanic smashing out, sending it smashing hard against the walls of the palace. The walls of the Immortal estate were incomparably sturdy, while the Qiongqi golem itself was a magic artifact; neither were damaged. However, the Qiongqi golem first slumped to the ground, before them clambering back to its feet. “A Primal golem?” Xiangliu Fang frowned, and then he threw out an enormous sack. “Come.” Xiangliu Fang waved his large hands, and then his ten fingers transformed into ten giant snakes, filling the air as they seized two of the Qiongqi golems. The two Qiongqi golems struggled viciously, but weren’t able to escape from Xiangliu Fang’s snake-hands. “Get in.” After having seized the two Qiongqi golems, Xiangliu Fang tossed them directly into the sack. Xiangliu Fang moved as fast as lightning, his giant hands filled with boundless, awe-inspiring might. Clearly, this was a powerful divine ability he had access to. With power far greater than that of the Qiongqi golems, he snatched them two or three at a time. In the blink of an eye, all eighteen of the golems had been seized and thrown into the sack; they didn’t even have a chance to flee. “So powerful.” Ning and the others were stupefied and speechless with amazement. “Uncle Fang.” Youngflame Nong was delighted. Xiangliu Fang nodded, then gave a sideways glance to the Whitewater Hound, who was still maintaining the formation. He said softly, “Whitewater Hound? There are very few monsters who are skilled in formations. Whitewater Hounds are indeed extremely intelligent and well-suited for analyzing formations.” After speaking, Xiangliu Fang transformed into a streak of light. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! He flew to three places, smashing down viciously with his fist. Although the palace itself was undamaged, some of its decorations, such as its giant chandeliers and drapes, were smashed into tiny bits. “Alright. I’ve already blocked the critical chokepoints to the formation.” Xiangliu Fang looked towards the Whitewater Hound. “No need for you to constantly maintain the formation.” The Whitewater Hound retrieved the artifacts from his Fuxi Staff Formation, and indeed, the previously active enemy formation didn’t respond at all. “Whew.” Ning and the others shared glances, then revealed smiles. With an expert present, things would indeed be much simpler going forward. “Eh?” Xiangliu Fang frowned slightly as he looked towards a distant place in the palace. He pointed towards it, and instantly, a ray of black divine power flew out from his finger, striking against the distant palace wall. Three giant characters instantly appeared on the wall – VAULT OF TREASURES. “The Vault of Treasures?” Ning, Northson, and Xue Hongyi were all overjoyed. The Immortal estate world had a total of five palaces. Ning’s group had no idea what the palace they had entered was meant for. Now, upon seeing those three characters, they knew immediately that this must be for storing treasures! Originally, Youngflame Nong had promised that any treasures they were capable of acquiring from within the Immortal estate would be theirs! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Immortal “Don’t be impatient.” Youngflame Nong could naturally tell what Ji Ning and the others were thinking. Smiling, he said, “The treasures aren’t going anywhere. As I said to you, and as I even promised in the name of the Youngflame clan, anything you acquire will belong to you.” Ji Ning and the others all nodded. “And these.” Youngflame Nong pointed towards the ground nearby. On the ground were the magic treasures left behind by Adept Bu You and the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn. “This time, we were trapped within the Immortal estate’s formation; it was thanks to Ji Ning’s spirit-beast that we were able to break through it. These magic treasures aren’t worth that much; Ji Ning, go ahead and take them.” Youngflame Nong looked towards Ning, who didn’t hesitate; he immediately collected all of the various magic treasures. After all, these were treasures from eleven Wanxiang Adepts, one of whom was a two-clawed Raindragon Guard. This sort of treasure was quite valuable. Xue Hongyi looked at Ning, musing secretly to himself, “Damn your luck! I want to see how long it holds!” Although he felt jealous hatred, he still understood that right now, the Black-White College’s five disciples held the advantage in power. “Let’s go.” Youngflame Nong now appeared much more relaxed. With Xiangliu Fang by his side, he began to walk leisurely to the front. Each of the five palaces were extremely large. However, Xiangliu Fang was a true expert of formations; he led them with ease through the various corridors, and they thus naturally made their way towards the heart of the entire palace. Just a short while later, Ning’s group arrived at an incomparably wide hall within the palace, filled with a jade bed at the front and prayer mats below. The jade bed was most likely where Immortal Witchriver used to sit and meditate. “This is…!?” Youngflame Nong suddenly stared at the jade bed. His Immortal estate key was vibrating strongly, having sensed where the heart of this palace was. “That jade bed is the core of this palace,” Youngflame Nong said. “Young master, let me take a look.” Xiangliu Fang stretched his hands out. His hands instantly expanded, and his ten fingers transformed into ten giant snakes which filled the air and swarmed the region. After sweeping past the region, he nodded and said, “Young master, there are no dangers here.” 1607 Only now did Youngflame Nong, with a swoosh, scurry to the top of the jade bed. He sat down in the lotus position, then began to fill the jade bed below him with elemental ki. This jade bed was the core of this palace, the Vault of Treasures. Every palace had a core, and if one could bind them all, the entire Immortal estate would be bound as well. The test the Youngflame clan had given Youngflame Nong was to have him completely bind this Immortal estate. “Alright. The rest of you can go,” Youngflame Nong said, seated on the jade bed, “And search to your hearts’ content for the treasures which Immortal Witchriver left behind here. I won’t go.” Xiangliu Fang stood at the jade bed as well, quietly standing guard. Ning and the others exchanged a glance, secretly celebrating. If the most powerful member of their group, the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang, was not going to compete with them for treasures, it would be wonderful. “I’ve already begun to bind the core of this palace. None of the restrictive spells within this palace will activate, so the only thing you need to worry about are golems lying in wait,” Youngflame Nong said with a loud laugh. “However, my guess is that this palace doesn’t have any golems left. If there were, they would’ve attacked us long ago.” “Young master Youngflame, we’ll go search for treasures, then.” Ning and the others didn’t stay here any longer; they immediately departed. They had arrived in hall together, but now, they immediately parted ways. “Senior apprentice-brother, treasure-hunting is a matter of individual luck,” Northson said with extraordinary excitement. “There might be Immortal-ranked magic treasures,” Adept Vastriver said with great eagerness as well. “It’s up to destiny,” Ninelotus said. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! They all quickly parted ways. Even the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing parted ways from Ning, moving out on their own. “I refuse to believe you’ll be that damn lucky.” Xue Hongyi, at the rear of the procession, had a cold look on his face. He chose a pathway for himself, then began to search. ……. The Vault of Treasures, one of the five palaces of the estate, was simply too vast. “And my divine sense can’t even penetrate through the walls here?” Ning had no other options; he had to rely on the simplest, most rudimentary of methods to search; push through the doors of each room and search them.” 1608 Rumble. A stone door was pushed out. Ning swept the inside of the room with his divine sense while also scanning it with his eyes. “Not this one.” Rumble. Yet another stone door was pushed open, and Ning searched this room as well. “Not this one either.” “Nope.” “Not this one.” Ning quickly searched through multiple rooms. Rumble! Ning pushed open the door to the sixth room. “Not this one eith-…eh? This is…?!” Ning’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot with excitement. He hurriedly shut the door to the study, then entered. Surges of ripples emanated from the magic treasures in this room. Ning stared at the magic treasures and sensed the rippling waves of energy coming from them, and felt as though he were in a dream. “I actually was the one to discover the true Treasure Vault. It seems I really am lucky.” Ning swept the room with his gaze. Upon an enormous display case, there were many magic treasures, including ropes, flying swords, gongs, disks, needles, awls, nails, sacks, warhammers, seals, staffs, ribbons, horsetail whisks, fog bottles, jade flasks, colored clothes, powders, armbands… The amount of treasure here was simply astonishing. They all had different auras of power as well; the ones closest to Ning had ripples of power that were a bit weaker, while the more distant ones were more powerful. Clearly, these magic treasures were divided up by power levels. “So many magic treasures…how could Immortal Witchriver possibly have a use for all of them?” Ning sighed gently, but suddenly, he thought about the so-called ‘Witchriver clan’ which he had encountered in the outside areas of the Immortal estate world. “Right. Immortal Witchriver, as a Celestial Immortal, naturally had many, many monstrous attendants. Of course he would want to be able to take good care of them and provide resources for them.” It was much like how Ning had made certain preparations for the Ji clan as well. Immortal Witchriver had made preparations to strengthen his descendants. In addition, as a Celestial Immortal, Immortal Witchriver naturally had far more members in his clan than the Ji clan did. In turn, then, he would need to be extremely strict in handing out magic treasures. He must have created this ‘Vault of Treasures’, with clansmen who had rendered meritorious deeds or who had extremely good talent being provided gifts. This was only logical. “Bind them!” Ning’s body instantly emanated streaks of elemental ki, like ribbons of light, filling the air with them as he shot them towards the magic treasures. Countless years had passed; even if the treasures 1609 did have masters in the distant pass, by now, there wasn’t even the slightest bit of vestigial ki within them, and they were extremely easy to bind. “These are Mortal-ranked. These are Earth-ranked…I’m unable to bind this one! Haha, it has to at least be a Heaven-ranked magic treasure.” Ning could no longer remain calm, beginning to laugh wildly. He had hit the jackpot! He had truly hit the jackpot today. This was a stroke of tremendously good fortune. He originally had thought that Immortal Witchriver would carry his most important treasures with him, and thus logically the Vault of Treasures wouldn’t have too many treasures within, but in reality, within this treasure room, there was a veritable sea of treasures, all of which Immortal Witchriver had prepared for his clansmen. A few poor Witchriver clansmen had been trapped within the Vault of Treasures after Immortal Witchriver’s death, forever unable to leave. They had died within the vault of old age. Fortunately, however, the Witchriver clansmen outside the vault had some other treasures as well. Still, despite that, they were only able to be local hegemons in the outside world of this Immortal estate world. In as much time as was needed to boil a kettle of tea, Ning completely bound everything he could. “My heavens.” Ning took a deep breath, his heart pounding so loudly, he felt as though he could audibly hear his heartbeats. This was simply too amazing. “More than 180,000 Mortal-ranked treasures, more than 16,000 Earth-ranked treasures, and more than a hundred treasures which I could not bind.” Ning was somewhat stunned. This…this was too amazing. Although he had already been an extremely wealthy Wanxiang Adept, compared to this sea of treasures…there was no comparison at all. “Even Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals probably don’t have this much,” Ning sighed in amazement. “Celestial Immortals live up to their reputation. Even a small fraction of their wealth is far beyond what ordinary Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals possess.” “I’m taking this.” “And this.” “My precious, my precious, all of you, come here.” Ning was absolutely giddy. He collected up all the Mortal-ranked magic treasures, storing them in his storage magic treasure, then stored all of the Earthranked magic treasures into his Zifu region. His Zifu was incomparably vast; even the 16,000-plus Earthranked magic treasures only took up a small corner of his Zifu. Swoosh! Ning, with a flash, instantly arrived next to one of the longest display counters. This display counter was covered with magic treasures that emanated powerful ripples; Ning wasn’t able to bind any of them. “Unless I’m mistaken, these should be Heaven-ranked,” Ning said softly. Although he was unable to bind them, which meant they could also be Immortal-ranked treasures, logic argued against it. Although the magic treasures atop this long table emanated ripples that were different in power, the general strength of the ripples were roughly on the same level. Most likely, some were middle-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasures, while others were high-grade or even top-grade. “Even Primal Daoists generally only have a few Heaven-ranked magic treasures, but I have more than a hundred. And, given that they were stored away by a Celestial Immortal, I imagine that none of them are weak.” Ning could feel his blood pumping. It must be understood that even the weakest, low-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasures could only be purchased with five hundred kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. Slightly better treasures would cost much more, upwards of five thousand kilograms. If, theoretically… If all of these hundred-plus magic treasures were Heaven-ranked, and all of them were slightly better than low-grade, without a single top-grade…they would still be worth nearly five hundred thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence! This was a sum that was enough to cause even Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals to feel their hearts tremble. “A Celestial Immortal could pluck a hair from his head, and it would still be thicker than my legs. And what I have here isn’t just one of his ‘hairs’…it’s more like one of his ‘legs’!” Ji Ning was simply too excited. He actually began to ramble and spout nonsense, while mentally calculating the worth of these Heavenranked magic treasures. The powerful ripples emanating from them caused Ning to feel incomparably delighted, especially because several of the ripples were extremely strong, which caused Ning to feel even more pleasure. “Haha, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]? Just 700 Earth-ranked magic treasures…that’s nothing!” Ning continued to celebrate. “In training to the Second Cycle of the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer], I’ll also need a lot of precious materials, but with this, I can go trade for them at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” Previously, he had been extremely tight on money. He felt that he was extremely poor, unable to buy this and unable to buy that. Now, however, he suddenly felt that he was extremely rich. Even ordinary Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals were a bit less wealthy than him! But of course, some of the top-class Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were still wealthier. “In you go.” After savoring the feeling for a while, Ning began to collect these powerful Heaven-ranked magic treasures as well. As he was unable to bind them for now, he had no choice but to put them within his storage-type magic treasure. “This trip with Youngflame Nong to this Celestial Immortal’s estate was absolutely worth it. Celestial Immortals…Celestial Immortals…they really live up to their reputations.” Ning had completely cleaned out all of the treasures within this room. Suddenly, he blinked. “Hey…these display tables that held the magic treasures…the wood seems to be quite extraordinary. Slumberghost Waterwood? A single kilogram of it is equivalent in value to two taels…there has to be a million kilograms worth of Slumberghost Waterwood here. Mm, makes sense…Immortal Witchriver put the magic treasures on the display tables for his descendants to look at. Of course he had to procure some good tables. I’m taking this as well! And this one here!” Ning collected up all of the tables and cases within this room as well. The entire room was now completely empty. Not a single thing was left. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Treasure Emerges Ji Ning, feeling incomparably delighted, walked out of the treasure storeroom. “This was a tremendous stroke of fortune. No wonder so many Immortal cultivators, despite knowing some places are dangerous, insist on going into them. It is because they hope for strokes of fortune like this. With such wealth…my power will increase tremendously, and my ability to stay alive will improve tremendously as well.” As long as he had enough treasures, he would be able to trade for what he needed at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Life-saving items, fleeing items, support items, Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities…as long as he was willing to pay a high enough price, he could acquire them all! Although Ning currently had those two extremely powerful life-protecting items from the underwater estate, one of which had even been personally created by Daoist Threelives…two wasn’t enough. The likes of young master Youngflame definitely carried more than ten life-saving items by his side. “If I had so many treasures to begin with, my earthfire and dire-ice would’ve been raised to the first grade long ago.” Ning continued to advance through the corridors at high speed, pushing open the doors to one study after another. Rumble. “Nothing here.” “Nothing here either.” Ning continued to search. Given how enormous the Vault of Treasures was, aside from the items treasure storeroom he had located, there might be other treasures present. Just as Ning was continuing to relaxedly search, suddenly… BOOM! The entire region seemed to tremble, causing Ning’s skin and hair to begin to shake. Ning couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the corridor behind him. Deep from the ends of that corridor, an incomparably powerful ripple was surging forth. “A magic treasure ripple.” Ning, having seen so many magic treasures earlier in the treasure hall, immediately came to this conclusion. “In addition, this ripple is far more powerful than the ripples that were given off by the Heaven-ranked magic treasures in that storeroom!” Instantly, a thought flashed past Ning’s mind. Immortal-ranked magic treasure! “It has to be an Immortalranked treasure.” Ning instantly swept forward, moving towards the direction of the ripple at high speed. …… “This material is excellent. I can use it to create constructs.” Northson was searching within the palace as well, and he didn’t hold back at all. He immediately collected all of the drapes, tables, and prayer mats he found on his path through. “Just now, I discovered long-decayed corpses with magic treasures that even I am unable to bind. I imagine they must be Heaven-ranked, while the dead were Primal Diremonsters. Heh heh, one more corpse, please, one more corpse!” When Immortal Witchriver had died, the palace had instantly become sealed off. Generally speaking, those granted access to this palace were experts of high status. However, trapped within, they had no escape, eventually dying of old age! They left behind their corpses, and all of the treasures next to the corpses were extraordinary. “One more corpse, please…” Northson’s gaze was blazing as he continued to search. Rumble! A powerful ripple surged forth. Northson was momentarily stunned, and then he immediately turned to face a sideways, curving corridor, letting out a surprised howl. “It must be an Immortal-ranked magic treasure.” And then, he immediately transformed into a streak of light, flying over. ……. “Why doesn’t this Vault of Treasures have anything? I wonder if the others found anything.” Adept Vastriver had nothing to show for his efforts, finding nothing on his path. “Eh?” Adept Vastriver suddenly came to a halt, sensing that powerful ripple. “Such a powerful ripple…it must be an Immortal-ranked magic treasure.” Given that he had fragments of memories from his past life, some naturally involved Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Adept Vastriver’s eyes instantly turned red with desire, and he immediately transformed into a streak of light, hurrying forward. …… All of them, scattered throughout the palace, advanced at high speed towards the source of the ripples. The Immortal-ranked magic treasure was within an extremely large and quiet secret room. The room was very large. The insides, however, were quite empty. The red-robed youth, Xue Hongyi, was currently staring, mouth hanging open, at a nearby oil lamp. Above the lamp, there was an azure, blazing flame. The area around the tiny lamp was filled with circles upon circles of flames, all of which emanated powerful ripples, forcibly preventing Xue Hongyi from reaching out to seize it. “This, this…Immortal-ranked magic treasure?!” Xue Hongyi felt that this really was his lucky today. Just now, when he had entered, he had seen that to the side of the room, there was a seemingly ordinary decorative lamp. Only, a fire was blazing within the oil lamp, causing him to feel intrigued. What he had thought to himself was, “Given that Immortal Witchriver has died countless hundreds of millions of years ago, for this lamp to remain burning means that it must be extraordinary.” He immediately had stretched his hand out to collect it into his storage-type magic treasure, but as he was about to do so, the lamp suddenly exploded with awe-inspiring might. Circles of fire blazed out from within the lamp, emanating a powerful, rippling energy aura that easily deflected him. “Hahaha, who says Ji Ning is the only lucky one around? I, Xue Hongyi, can be lucky as well. This Immortal-ranked magic artifact is mine.” Xue Hongyi was incomparably excited. He produced a horsetail whisk within his hand, then swept out with it. The white threads on the whisk immediately flew out, moving to surround the oil lamp. The oil lamp remained where it was, but the flames around it began to blaze even greater, forcibly keeping the threads at bay. “What?” A look of amazement appeared on Xue Hongyi’s face. “I can’t take it, even when I’m using a magic treasure?” “A puny Wanxiang wants to be my master?” The flame atop the oil lamp suddenly transformed into the face of a child, which then stared angrily at Xue Hongyi. “You had best know your own limits and quickly depart.” Xue Hongyi, however, only felt all the more delighted. According to the legends, Immortal-ranked magic treasures would give birth to treasure-spirits which could speak in the human tongue. “It is as the legends say. They really are capable of human speech. An Immortal-ranked treasure!” Xue Hongyi’s eyes were shining. The entire Snowdragon Mountain was not in possession of a single Immortalranked magic treasure, but now, he had a chance to acquire one! A tremendous bit of luck had befallen him; it would be a sin to to anything besides seize it. “Magic treasure, you had best obediently follow me.” A snowy white ribbon appeared in front of Xue Hongyi, the power of it clearly much greater than the previous treasure. This was one of Xue Hongyi’s most favored magic treasures, and it went sweeping in an entangling manner towards the lamp. The lamp remained where it was. It was, after all, only an Immortal-ranked magic treasure; it wasn’t yet able to fly about and move about on its own. However, it was capable of manifesting a bit of its might…and even just a small portion of the might of an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, was not something which an ordinary Wanxiang Adept could handle. The circles of fire around it began to grow even larger, and the ripples it manifested grew even stronger, managing to forcibly block Xue Hongyi’s white ribbon. “You aren’t able to collect me. Your power is lacking, lacking by far.” The blaze-turned-toddler face sneered, “You had best leave now. If someone who is weak acquires an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, it will only be a disaster, not a blessing.” “Hmph. I can take you and trade you for top-grade Heaven-ranked magic items and many other treasures. Alternately, I can go to the local Raindragon Guard branch and immediately enter secluded meditation, only leaving once I reach the Primal level…by then, my power will greatly expand, and Snowdragon Mountain will hold me in reverence.” Xue Hongyi’s eyes were filled with madness. “I refuse to believe I can’t collect you, an inanimate object!” Xue Hongyi used magic treasures repeatedly, attempting to capture it. However, he simply could not. He didn’t dare use his own hand to snatch it; after all, he wasn’t a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Upon doing so, he would probably be burnt to ash. “Swoosh.” Ripples of power suddenly came from outside, and the stone door began to be pushed open. “Someone’s coming in.” Xue Hongyi could no longer afford to wait. “GET OVER HERE!” Xue Hongyi let out a howl, then executed a forbidden technique. His face turned completely red, and a series of flying needles flew out, exploding with power and transforming into a gigantic hand that grabbed the lamp, smothering and breaking the flames surrounding it. “GET IN!” He immediately collected the Immortal-ranked magic treasure. Only now did Xue Hongyi turn his body, only to see that two figures had appeared from behind; Ji Ning and Yu Wei. “Decisive and vicious,” Ning said softly. Xue Hongyi just grinned, seeming quite smug. At the critical moment, he had executed a forbidden technique and collected the Immortal-ranked magic treasure. He, too, felt that he had been quite decisive. “Unfortunately, you were a step too late.” Xue Hongyi gave Ning a glance. “That was an Azuresilk Godfire Lamp!” Yu Wei said softly, “It can be used to nourish skyfire and raise it to the first grade in power! In addition, the azuresilk godfire within it can be activated to attack enemies. It will pose a grave threat to even Loose Immortals, although it isn’t very effective against Celestial Immortals…still, it can be considered an excellent Immortal-ranked magic treasure. If it were to be sold to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, it could fetch a price of 1.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!” Ning’s heart shook. 1.5 million? And, according to what Yu Wei said, it seemed as though this Azuresilk Godfire Lamp was similar to the Earthfire Heartlamp in effect, capable of nourishing skyfire to the first grade! And it could also be used to fight against enemies… 1616 Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh. A series of figures flew out; Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, Northson, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing. “The Immortal-ranked magic treasure? Where is it?” Northson hurriedly looked around, then stared at Xue Hongyi. “It wasn’t acquired by Xue Hongyi, was it?” “It was him,” Yu Wei explained. …… In the largest hall within the Vault of Treasures. Youngflame Nong was seated in the lotus position, continuously working to bind the hall. He, too, could sense the powerful ripples emanating from the Immortal-ranked magic treasure. “There actually is an Immortal-ranked treasure?” Youngflame Nong said, surprised, “Was Immortal Witchriver so wealthy that he wouldn’t keep all of his Immortal-ranked treasures by his side?” Powerful experts would keep their most powerful artifacts by their side. A Celestial Immortal would generally have multiple Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Youngflame Nong had originally felt certain that the Witchriver Immortal Estate would have no Immortal-ranked magic treasures within, and so he didn’t care about the treasures here at all. “Young master, are you going to take action?” Xiangliu Fang asked. “No need.” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “I have, after all, made a promise in the name of the clan. In addition, they will be needed within this Immortal estate.” Xiangliu Fang nodded. “Once they are no longer of use…” Youngflame Nong’s eyes suddenly flickered with a bit of heat. “I have to say, that Rainbowflame Fairy, Yu Wei…she really is quite fine.” Xiangliu Fang laughed. He knew exactly what his master was thinking about. “Young master, when the time comes, you just need to give a few subtle hints, and Yu Wei will know how she should act. She’s merely a reincarnated Immortal; to Immortal cultivators, the most important thing is their cultivation paths. The pleasures of the flesh are, by comparison, a minor matter. For the sake of being able to proceed to greater heights on her path, she will yield to you, young master.” Xiangliu Fang spoke in a soft voice; his young master, in the imperial capital, was quite a lavish, generous spender. He was the future Godplume Duke! Given his status, the types of pleasures he enjoyed were quite extravagant as well. It was actually quite common for reincarnated female Immortals to submit to being maidservants for him. “Not the same. This Yu Wei isn’t like the others; she’s even better than those I had in the imperial capital.” Youngflame Nong licked his lower lip. “But as for that Ninelotus, heh heh…her demeanor and aura is quite extraordinary as well. People from large, top-tier clans like her know how to judge a situation. I imagine that it would be a bit easier to convince her to play with me a few times. Yu Wei will probably be harder.” “How about…” Xiangliu Fang’s voice grew even softer. “No need. I still need them.” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “Some matters are more important than others.” “Right.” Xiangliu Fang nodded. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the private room. Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing were all staring towards Xue Hongyi. The allure of an Immortal-ranked magic artifact was incomparably great. Although Adept Vastriver had been a Loose Immortal in his past life, he had never acquired an Immortal-ranked magic treasure…for the sake of such a treasure, even the annihilation of entire clans and sects was not uncommon. “Why don’t we kill them, then take the Immortal-ranked magic treasure to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and trade it for liquefied elemental essence? We can split it evenly,” Adept Vastriver sent mentally, a hint of coldness in his eyes. “Kill?” “Should we kill?” They were all hesitating, but the most determined one was Adept Vastriver. Ning and Xue Hongyi weren’t exactly on good terms; in the past, Xue Hongyi had even intended to try and capture Ning. Fortunately, Northmont Baiwei had stopped him. Ning didn’t feel any compunctions against killing Xue Hongyi…but they had entered this Immortal estate together. And, when they had done so, Youngflame Nong had already given them a strongly worded warning. “What are you planning on doing?” Xue Hongyi shouted, “Previously, when we arrived at this Witchriver Immortal Estate, young master Youngflame said on the warship that we were forbidden from fighting against each other!” Xue Hongyi was mentally panicking as well. Although Youngflame Nong had issued this warning, the reality was that at this point in time, these five disciples of the Black-White College were definitely more important to Youngflame Nong than Xue Hongyi was. If they really were to kill Xue Hongyi, most likely Youngflame Nong wouldn’t be too upset about it. Ning and the others all exchanged glances. Previously, Youngflame Nong had said these words: “After we enter the Witchriver Immortal Estate, we have to be of one mind and work together. We cannot fight internally. If anyone causes chaos inside, then don’t blame me, Youngflame Nong, for becoming cruel and unfeeling.” “What is there to fear? We five disciples of the Black-White College are more important to Youngflame Nong,” Adept Vastriver sent mentally. “After we kill Xue Hongyi, Youngflame Nong definitely wouldn’t act against us; that would be like breaking his own arms.” 1619 “He won’t act against us now, but after he binds this Immortal estate, we won’t be of use to him and he’ll be able to act against us,” Ninelotus sent. “Act against us? We aren’t so easily dealt with. What’s more, you, Ninelotus, are the next leader of the Dongyan clan. Youngflame Nong won’t dare to act too rashly; after all, he’s currently just an ordinary disciple of the Youngflame clan who has a high chance of becoming the next Godplume Duke; he’s not the actual Godplume Duke yet. If he dares to act against you…his inheritance might actually be seized and stolen by another,” Adept Vastriver said. “He won’t act against senior apprentice-sister Ninelotus, but he would act against us,” Yu Wei sent mentally. “If we don’t kill Xue Hongyi, then he won’t have an excuse to attack us, because he previously gave us a promise. But once we actually kill Xue Hongyi, then we’ll have given him an excuse.” Whether or not an excuse was created was of great importance. In all matters, one needed to occupy the moral high ground. After all, behind Ning and the others were powerful forces such as the Black-White College and the Dongyan clan. If Ning and the others were extremely weak and without much influence, then simply killing them might not matter. But because they did have backgrounds…in all matters , there was a need to occupy the moral high ground before dealing with them! “We cannot give him an excuse. After all, that Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, is far more powerful than us,” Yu Wei said. “As for Xue Hongyi…after we leave, we can find another chance to get rid of him.” “I agree with senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei.” Ning expressed his opinion mentally as well. Adept Vastriver frowned. Of the five of them, himself, Ning, and Yu Wei were the most powerful. With Ning and Yu Wei disagreeing…while Vastriver was capable of defeating Xue Hongyi, he wasn’t certain of being able to kill him. “Hmph.” Adept Vastriver turned his head and left. Ning and the others exchanged a glance, then all left as well. The only one left in the room was Xue Hongyi, who finally let out a sigh of relief. “In the end, I was able to rely on Youngflame Nong to scare them off,” Xue Hongyi mused to himself. “After we leave the Witchriver Immortal Estate, I need to immediately stick very close to young master Youngflame, and then find a chance to use a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal and flee.” He understood that successfully escaping might be difficult. But he had to take the risk; for the sake of this Immortal-ranked magic treasure, he had to! In fact, he didn’t even dare trust the three Primal Daoists of Snowdragon Mountain. In the Immortal path, it was not rare for disciples to kill their masters and ancestors, and it was even more common for masters to kill disciples. For the sake of acquiring an Immortal-ranked magic treasure…anything might happen. Ning and the others all spread out, once more continuing to search through the palace for treasures. After all, this was the Vault of Treasures of a Celestial Immortal; any random treasure would be worth more than the entire holdings of an ordinary Wanxiang Adept. They carefully searched for another hour. Each of them had completely searched the entire palace. They all believed that it might be possible that the others might have missed searching a spot. “I’m finished. Master, I don’t have anything, not even a single magic treasure.” The distant Little Qing was chatting mentally with Ning. “Not a single magic treasure? That’s so sad!” Ning teased. “Ask Uncle White and see if he found any treasures,” Little Qing sent back through their spirit-link. “Alright, I’ll ask.” Ning sent spiritually to the Whitewater Hound, “Uncle White, have you finished your search?” “I’m finished.” The Whitewater Hound’s mental voice seemed quite delighted. “My luck wasn’t bad. I discovered a corpse, which had a magic robe and some other treasures near it. I don’t know if it was left behind by a Loose Immortal or a Primal Diremonsters, but all the treasures are excellent. I’m not able to bind them; they should be Heaven-ranked magic treasures.” Ning was instantly delighted. This Vault of Treasures actually could be said to be the most important of the five palaces. It had the most treasures, and thus it was normally guarded by monstrous experts that were at least at the Primal or Loose Immortal levels. Even Loose Immortals generally wouldn’t have access to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, and so it was quite hard to judge from magic treasures alone if they were left behind by a Loose Immortal or a Primal Diremonster. Only after binding the storage items and seeing how many treasures were inside it would one know. “Master, Master, how did Uncle White do? Did he also find nothing?” Little Qing sent spiritually. “Uncle White’s luck was better than yours; he acquired the treasures from a skeletal corpse.” “A corpse? His luck was actually better than mine? I’m an Azure Skyserpent; it’s as easy for me to encounter a stroke of luck as it is to eat rice. I’m surrounded by good fortune…but his luck was better than mine? Master, what about you? Did you find any treasures?” “I acquired…even more than Uncle White,” Ning replied. “Even more?! How can this be?!” 1621 ….. Within the largest hall in the palace. Youngflame Nong remained seated in the lotus position on the jade bed, continuing to bind it, while Xiangliu Fang stood to one side. Ning and the others had all regrouped here together. “This is the Vault of Treasures. It should be the place within the Witchriver Immortal Estate which was meant for the storage of treasures, and the place with the most treasures. By the looks of it, you have all gained quite a bit.” Youngflame Nong sat above them, smiling. “And just now, I could sense some ripples; it should have been an Immortal-ranked magic treasure emerging. I wonder which of you was so lucky as to acquire the Immortal-ranked treasure.” Ji Ning and the others all turned their heads, looking towards Xue Hongyi in unison. Xue Hongyi was stunned. “Oh, so it was you, Xue Hongyi?” Youngflame Nong raised an eyebrow. Earlier, when trapped within the formation, Xue Hongyi had hid far away and abandoned Youngflame Nong. This caused Youngflame Nong to feel ill-will towards him. “Young master Youngflame, I am willing to offer this Immortal-ranked magic treasure to you,” Xue Hongyi said hurriedly. Against Ji Ning’s group, he was willing to threaten them and struggle against them, but young master Youngflame was simply too powerful. In terms of both background and political power, Youngflame Nong could completely crush him. In terms of personal power, that Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, could probably annihilate him with one blow. Ning and the others all looked over with surprise. Offering it to young master Youngflame? “Treasures should go to the worthy!” Xue Hongyi said hurriedly. “I, Xue Hongyi, acknowledge that I am lacking in worthiness; a treasure like this, to me, is a disaster, not a blessing. It is better for me to offer it to you, young master Youngflame. It is only natural and reasonable that someone as exalted as you, young master Younglame, be the possessor of this treasure.” Youngflame Nong laughed. He liked those who knew how to flatter, especially when the flatterer was a fairly powerful genius. Ji Ning and the others were from the Black-White College; all of them were proud by nature, and there was no way they could debase themselves to flatter in this way. Xue Hongyi, however, had lowered his head and bent his waist, truly humbling himself. “I’ve already promised, in the name of my Youngflame clan, that the treasures you acquire will belong to you. I absolutely will not fight with you for them, or ask you to offer them,” Youngflame Nong said. “This isn’t fighting with me, nor is it asking me to offer it up…this is a normal trade,” Xue Hongyi said hurriedly. “This Immortal-ranked magic treasure, the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp, isn’t very useful to me. I’m 1622 willing to trade it to you, young master Youngflame, for some other treasures. You can just give me some random Heaven-ranked magic treasures and it would suffice.” “You are over-thinking things.” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “No matter what, I will not accept this Immortal-ranked magic treasure.” Only now did Xue Hongyi let out a mental sigh of relief. He had proactively offered the treasure, but young master Youngflame had declined. Now, he was calm. “Xue Hongyi is quite the clever fellow,” Youngflame Nong mused secretly to himself. “I can’t accept it now. If I did, the hearts of Ji Ning and his group would turn cold! They are still very useful to me. After I bind the immortal estate…at that point, I can have Xue Hongyi offer it to me again. If necessary, I can just bestow a few treasures upon him in exchange.” After two full hours later, Youngflame Nong finally completed binding the jade bed. “Haha, the binding is finally complete.” Youngflame Nong walked down from the jade bed, a smile on his face. “Young master,” the nearby Xiangliu Fang said with a frown, “Right now, the two most powerful monstrous forces in the entire Immortal estate world are waiting outside. As soon as we emerge, we will most likely suffer their immediate attack. “The two most powerful monstrous forces?” Ning and the others were all startled. The titanic wave formed from more than ten thousand Dao-soldiers, and the giant Yaksha Dao-soldier formation formed by the Witchriver clan? Those were capable of completely suppressing even the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang; he had been forced to rely on his astonishing recuperative abilities and evasive techniques in order to escape with his life. He hadn’t been able to fight back at all. “I can stay alive, but I am not confident in being able to protect the young master.” This was Xiangliu Fang’s worry. “Oh?” Youngflame Nong frowned slightly. “You say they are waiting outside?” “Right. They’ve been waiting outside the entire time,” Xiangliu Fang growled. “They’ve been trapped for countless years within this Immortal estate world; every generation has always dreamed of leaving and going to the vast Grand Xia Empire. Thus, they will definitely stop at nothing and be willing to pay any price in order to seize the key to the Immortal estate you hold, young master.” Youngflame Nong nodded. He could understand the powerful desire and urge these two monstrous forces had to leave. It was a desire to see the greater world, a desire that would lead them to use all their might in acting against Youngflame Nong. “This will be trouble.” Youngflame Nong gritted his teeth. Ning and the others all stood there, racking their brains. What to do? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “How strong are the Dao-soldiers of the monsters in this Immortal estate world?” Youngflame Nong frowned. He understood that the biggest obstacles to him binding this Immortal estate were the local monster races present. They had all been trapped in this tiny world for far too long; every generation dreamed of leaving. This sort of powerful desire was something which would cause them to be willing to sacrifice anything. The worst thing was, these monstrous Dao-soldiers were all extremely powerful. “The two most powerful forces are the Titanwave Dao-soldier formation and the Yaksha Dao-soldier formation,” Xiangliu Fang said. “These two forces both have more than ten thousand Dao-soldiers, and the leaders of each are at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal level.” “Both are at the Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal level?” Youngflame Nong was surprised. “Right. They each should have one,” Xiangliu Fang said. “The Titanwave Dao-soldier formation’s leader should be a bit stronger. As for the Yaksha Dao-soldier formation’s leader, although their Immortal is a bit weaker, as a whole, they are stronger…against these two forces, even the most supreme of Loose Immortals would be beaten so badly they would have no choice but to flee!” Xiangliu Fang was a true, primordial Fiendgod, and one of the Hydraga race at that. Although he was at the peak Primal level, he was comparable to a supreme Loose Immortal in actual combat power. The slightly weaker Titanwave Dao-soldier formation was already powerful enough to force Xiangliu Fang into constant flight. The Yaksha Dao-soldier formation was also able to dominate Xiangliu Fang with ease. “It isn’t too likely that we would be able to defeat them.” Xiangliu Fang shook his head. “Even if a few extra Loose Immortals came, it would be far from being enough.” “The Immortal estate has five palaces in total,” Youngflame Nong said in a low voice. “Right now, I’ve bound one of them. I’m confident in being able to move to the other two palaces, but the final two will be troublesome.” “Young master Youngflame, you are confident in being able to go to two palaces?” Mu Northson said with surprise, “Since you can go to two, why can’t you go to all four?” Ning and the others all looked towards Youngflame Nong, confused. The two monstrous forces were waiting outside; how were they supposed to charge past them? “You don’t understand,” Youngflame Nong said with a laugh, “I’ve already bound this Vault of Treasures. This palace is extremely large, one of the five main pillars of the entire Immortal estate world, capable of affecting an area of ten thousand kilometers around it. By relying on the key to the Immortal estate, I can open a corridor, allowing us to exit this palace at any location within ten thousand kilometers of this palace.” “If these two monstrous forces choose to just wait close nearby, then I can move us to a location thousands of kilometers away from them. Afterwards, by relying on Uncle Fang’s evasive techniques, we can hurry towards the next palace.” Ning and the others now understood. “After I bind all five palaces, I can appear in any location within this Immortal estate world!” Youngflame Nong sighed, “But right now, I’ve only bound one.” “Young master Youngflame, by using this ability,” Xue Hongyi said with astonished delight, “Can’t you just go into all four of the palaces? There’s no way these monstrous forces can possibly prevent us from entering.” “You are wrong.” Youngflame Nong shook his head and sighed. “They have been sealed within this Immortal estate world for too long, and so they’ve forgotten about the power of the palaces. But once I use the palace to move us to a location thousands of kilometers away…as soon as I use this technique, they’ll know that it is possible for us to do this. By then, they will probably go and guard the palaces which I have yet to bind.” The looks on everyone’s faces grew solemn. Right! Five major palaces…there was no need for the monstrous forces to wait for them outside. They could just go and completely surround and guard the palaces that had yet to be bound! For the sake of binding the Immortal estate, Youngflame Nong would still have to charge towards them, even though he knew that the unbound palaces were now surrounded in rings of protection. “Lying in wait to catch the hare!” Ning murmured this saying to himself. “The unbound palaces…Youngflame Nong has to go there. As long as they surround the unbound palaces with layers of protection, then…there will be no way for us to avoid them.” Lying in wait to catch the hare was a seemingly clumsy technique. But this technique was aimed at their weak point; Ning’s group would have no other options other than to fall into the trap. “Well, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s first go bind two of the palaces,” Youngflame Nong said. “Let’s go!” …… 1626 In the area around the pillar of light which represented the Vault of Treasures. The two most powerful monstrous forces of this world were gathered here. The Titanwave Dao-soldier formation and the Yaksha Dao-soldier formation were both present. “Duohe, this time, the two of us should set aside our differences and work together to deal with the humans and seize the key to the Immortal estate.” “Witchsui, if your Witchriver clan is willing to join forces, I naturally will be delighted to comply.” These were the two most powerful figures of the entire Immortal estate world. One was an old Loose Immortal, Immortal Duohe, who had lived for more than a hundred thousand years. The other was Immortal Witchsui, who had only lived for ten thousand years. The two of them immediately swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens to join forces on this day. For the sake of being able to leave, they would be willing to sacrifice anything. The two sides continued to wait quietly. A long time later… “Eh?” The two Loose Immortals, as well as some Primal Diremonsters, simultaneously turned their heads to stare thousands of kilometers away. There, a warship suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And then, aboard the warship, Xiangliu Fang’s body suddenly blurred, transforming into an enormous Fiendgod that was three thousand meters tall, with the lower body of a serpent and nine heads. The Fiendgod Hydraga clutched the warship in his claws, then used an evasive technique, fleeing at an utterly astonishing speed. Swoosh! He left behind only a streak of light in the air. This caused both Immortal Duohe and the Witchriver clan to be flabbergasted. They knew very well that in terms of speed, they couldn’t possibly catch up with that Fiendgod. Since they had already started at a distance of thousands of kilometers…there was no hope at all. “How could this be? How could they have suddenly appeared thousands of kilometers away?” “When they had entered the palace, they had all been very close to it.” “They had to be very close to enter…why were they able to leave at a distance of thousands of kilometers?” Even countless years ago, when Immortal Witchriver was still alive and the master of this place, his clansmen didn’t fully understand the special powers of these palaces. And now that countless years had passed? How could these monsters possibly understand them? “They must have bound the palace. The palace is under their control, which is why they were able to do something so unique,” Immortal Duohe said. “That has to be the case,” Immortal Witchsui agreed. “The Immortal estate has five palaces in total. They’ve only bound one. There are four which remain unbound. Let us each guard one of the unbound palaces; unless they give up their quest, they will have to fight us head on,” Immortal Duohe said. The two sides quickly agreed on a plan, and they howled through the air as they flew at high speed towards two of the distant golden Skypillars of light. …… “The worst case scenario has already come to pass.” The nine-headed, serpent-bodied Hydraga was still clutching the warship. Within the warship, Youngflame Nong, Ji Ning, and the others were watching those two distant monstrous powers begin to move. They hadn’t moved to pursue or attack; rather, they had flown off into two different directions, towards two of those golden Skypillars of light. “I have to bind this Immortal estate.” Youngflame Nong gritted his teeth. “These monsters…damn them. Damn them!” Soon, the enormous Hydraga Fiendgod, warship in one hand, had arrived at one of the other golden Skypillars of light. “Go in.” Youngflame Nong activated the key to the Immortal estate, opening up a corridor. Ji Ning and the others all felt a certain somberness. They were able to easily enter this time, but that was only because there were no monsters blocking them. Two of the five palaces, however, were now under heavy guard; how could those two palaces be so easily traversed? Whoosh. The Hydraga shrank himself, once more entering the warship, and the entire warship flew into the opened tunnel. ……. An incomparably massive hall, so large that it was more than a thousand times larger than the first hall they had entered in the Vault of Treasures. “It’s so big.” Ning’s group was completely amazed. Looking at this world felt like looking at an entire continent. This utterly massive hall actually really was a miniature sealed world. In the skies above it, a ‘sun’ was blazing with endless light and heat. In the earth below, there were countless types of spirit-grass and spirit-fruit that were growing. During the passage of countless years, the Immortal grass here had been taken care of by some constructs, but hadn’t truly been nourished properly. These types of spirit-grass and spirit-fruit generally needed many unique treasures in order to grow properly. Still, despite that, after the passage of countless years, some truly rare and precious specimens of spirit-grass and spirit-fruit had appeared. “Immortal grass and Immortal fruit!” Ning and the others were overjoyed. WHOOSH! Suddenly, the Fiendgod Hydraga by Youngflame Nong’s side stretched his hands out. His hands quickly increased in size as his fingers transformed into ten giant snakes, covering the skies as they swept out towards the entire region of Immortal grass. In a twinkling, the eighteen types of Immortal grass and spirit-fruit with the densest elemental auras were all plucked clean. “Growl…damn you.” “This is the Master’s Immortal Grass Palace. You dared to steal his Immortal grass…damn you.” Three golems came flying out. The Fiendgod Hydraga sent one of his giant hands outwards in a backhanded blow. The three golems were instantly sent flying away, smashing against the distant walls. And then, Xiangliu Fang sent out another hand to grab them, tossing the three Primal-level golems into his own large sack. Only then did Xiangliu Fang come to a stop, standing there calmly by Youngflame Nong’s side, as though nothing had happened. “Uhh….” Ning and the others stared towards the Fiendgod Hydraga in astonishment. There was no way they could compete against Xiangliu Fang, when he chose to act. “The treasures will go to whoever obtains them. I said these words earlier. Since Uncle Fang obtained them, those things will go to Uncle Fang,” Youngflame Nong laughed. “There is still quite a bit of spiritfruit and spirit-grass remaining. Although their medicinal value is a bit lower, they still are very good.” Ning and the others couldn’t help but curse in secret. This medicinal garden left behind by Immortal Witchriver, despite the passage of countless years, had never received the top-tier treatment it deserved. The ‘large fish ate the small fish, and the small fish ate the shrimp’; as a result, eighteen truly Immortal-grade spirit-fruit and spirit-grass had emerged. All of the other remaining Immortal grass and Immortal fruit had had much of their spiritual energy stolen by those eighteen. Although all of them were unhappy, Ji Ning and the others, including Xue Hongyi, still hurriedly went to collect all of the Immortal grass and Immortal fruit remaining. “The Immortal Grass Palace is an empty place; there are barely any rooms here.” Youngflame Ning quickly discovered the core of this palace; it was a quite, secluded little room built right next to the Immortal grass garden. The entire room was the core of this palace. “The rest of you can do some sightseeing outside. You might find some treasures.” Youngflame Nong calmly entered the room, beginning to bind it. Ning and the others cursed in secret. Immortal Grass Palace, Immortal Grass Palace …from the name alone, one could tell that the treasures within consisted of Immortal grass. The Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, had already taken the most valuable specimens for himself; what other treasures could they possibly find? Despite that, Ning and the others still separated and began a quick search. Unfortunately, this Immortal Grass Palace didn’t have so much as a single skeleton within it. It made sense; this was Immortal Witchriver’s personal medicinal garden. He trusted his own constructs above all, and thus forbade any of his clansmen from entering this palace. Two hours later. “I’ve already bound the Immortal Grass Palace,” Youngflame Nong laughed. “Come. Let us go to the next palace.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Cultivators Within the Immortal estate world. The three thousand meter tall Hydraga Fiendgod, warship in hand, once more used his evasive techniques to move towards a third palace. “These local monsters…” Youngflame Nong stared coldly into the distance. Of the five Skypillars of golden light, two of them were tightly surrounded by dense clusters of Dao-soldiers. “After I bind this Immortal estate, I am definitely going to summon the clan’s army and enslave all of these local monsters. They will forever serve our Youngflame clan in battle.” The local monsters of this Immortal estate were all exceptionally powerful. Even after binding the Immortal estate, Youngflame Nong wouldn’t be able to do anything to these powerful monsters. Still, behind him, there was the even more powerful Youngflame clan. “Senior apprentice-brother, what method do you think young master Youngflame will use in order to bind the final two palaces? It seems quite difficult to me. The monsters present really are a bit too powerful,” Mu Northson sent mentally. “Don’t underestimate Youngflame Nong. He is one of the ‘Four Dukelings’ of the imperial capital; since he has dared to come accept this trial, he definitely has many things up his sleeve,” Ji Ning sent back. Swoosh! Soon, Ning’s group entered a new palace. …… In the midst of the sky-covering Titanwave Dao-soldier formation. The leader was a silver-haired, feather-robed, middle-aged man. His eyes flashed with electricity, and his bearing was graceful and leisurely. He was the the most powerful and longest living figure within this Immortal estate world; Immortal Duohe. “Everyone, the moment has come for the destinies of all of us within this world to be changed. I won’t try to invade or to assimilate you.” Immortal Duohe stared into the distance. Right in front of him, there was another massive wave. This was a wave formed from one of the lesser monstrous powers of this world; all of the weaker monsters had been invited to come over as well. The Immortal estate world was simply too small; it was very easy for them to gather together. “I can even swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that I am willing to enter an alliance with you to work together against that Fiendgod and those humans,” Immortal Duohe said. “We have to acquire that key. As long as we can acquire the key…all of us who live within this Immortal estate world can leave and go to the wider world.” “Immortal Duohe, you might not act against us, but what about the Witchriver clan?” “Don’t worry. Witchsui and I have already sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. At a moment like this, why should we engage in internecine strife?” The decision came very quickly. This was because all of the monsters present shared the same goal – to go to the greater world outside. Since they were all sincere in their desires and had no wish to squabble, the leaders naturally decided to swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. Although these loose, scattered powers were seemingly small and weak, if one added them all up, they were definitely not any weaker than the ten thousand-plus Dao-soldiers which Immortal Duohe himself commanded. “Witchsui, your Witchriver clan is a bit stronger than my forces. Let these monsters stay with me and stand on guard here,” Immortal Duohe said. “That’s fine.” The proud Witchriver clan disdained from allying with the other monsters. With a teleport, Immortal Witchsui once more departed, returning to his own Yaksha Dao-soldier formation. …… Ning and the others had no idea at all that the monsters outside had finally accomplished a miracle which had not been seen in all the countless years after Immortal Witchriver’s death…absolute unity! The Dao-soldiers which Immortal Witchriver had left behind consisted of two types; the ‘Seawave Daosoldiers’ and the ‘Yaksha Dao-soldiers’. The Seawave Dao-armors were extremely numerous. As for the more elite Yaksha Dao-armors, he had left them to his own Witchriver clan. Now, under Immortal Duohe’s command, all of the Seawave Dao-soldiers had been gathered in one place, forming a power that was no weaker than the Yaksha Dao-soldier formation! These Seawave Daosoldiers tightly surrounded one golden Skypillar of light, while the other Yaksha Dao-soldiers tightly surrounded the other one. “Swoosh.” 1632 Ning’s group flew into the palace. This was an extremely large hall, almost identical to the Immortal Grass Palace. Within the hall were many, many corpses. “Those are Dao-soldier armors.” “Dao-soldier armors!” Ning’s group, upon entering, was immediately stunned by the many corpses on the ground. And then, they noticed those Dao-armors. BOOM! The Fiendgod Hydraga once more stretched out his two massive hands. With inexorable power, he snatched up the the magic treasures around two corpses that were covered with Dao-armors that were nearly translucent and which glowed with black light. These two Dao-armors both emanated incredibly powerful ripples; although they were inferior to Immortal-ranked magic treasures, they vastly surpassed the other Dao-armors. After collecting these two Dao-armors and sets of magic treasures, the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, once more returned to stand on the warship next to Youngflame Nong, acting as though nothing had happened. “This guy…” Ning’s group was completely helpless. They had no time to waste for words. All of them transformed into streaks of light, beginning to frantically collect the treasures lying on the ground. The entire, massive hall had to have at least hundreds of skeletons littering it, all of which were covered by Dao-armors. These Dao-armors varied in strength; some were suitable for the Zifu level, some were suitable for the Wanxiang level, and some were even suitable for Primals. “Those two that glowed with black light were probably meant for Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals to wear,” Ning and the others mused silently to themselves. Soon, Ning’s group had completely swept through this entire hall. This palace didn’t have any private rooms; it was just a massive, empty palace. Swish. The Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, pointed off into the distance. A black surge of divine power landed on the distant walls of the palace, and three characters instantly appeared on the wall – DAO SOLDIER PALACE. “This is the Dao Soldier Palace,” Youngflame Nong laughed. “However, Immortal Witchriver had too many Dao-soldiers, so most remained in the outside world. Only a small number of them remained in here…just now, the two Dao-armors which Uncle Fang collected can only be considered top-grade Heaven-ranked treasures; they are far from being at the level of Immortal-ranked treasures. If they were Immortalranked treasures, then they probably would have manifested treasure-spirits.” 1633 Ning and the others understood that Youngflame Nong was trying to console them. Within the wide palace, there were also a series of extremely large pillars. One of them, covered in decorative carvings of a divine, coiling dragon, was the core of this palace. Youngflame Nong thus sat down in the lotus position in front of the pillar, beginning to bind it. Ning and the others could do nothing but wait patiently to one side. “Senior apprentice-brother, that’s amazing,” Northson said, seated next to Ning. He chortled, “Just now, each of us only managed to acquire a few of the treasures from those hundreds of Dao-soldier corpses, but you, senior apprentice-brother…with two spirit-beasts helping you, it was as though there were three of you scavenging at the same time. And that Azure Skysnake in particular…with a blink, she moved from corpse to corpse at astonishing speed.” Earlier, it had primarily been Ji Ning’s group, Xue Hongyi, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing who had been scavenging the corpses. Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing had thus made up three of the eight scavengers! “Hmph. He ended up with the most Dao-armors as well. Still, I acquired an Immortal-ranked magic treasure; it’s even better than a thousand or ten thousand Dao-armors.” The nearby Xue Hongyi mused silently to himself, but he didn’t dare to say anything aloud. “Right, right. Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, after we go to the next palace, you need to take it easy,” Adept Vastriver laughed. “Him? Take it easy?” Yu Wei laughed as well. “It is your own fault for not having spirit-beasts.” Ninelotus spoke up in Ning’s defense. Adept Vastriver sighed, “Everyone wants good spirit-beasts. If, for example, a Redscale Salamander was willing to submit to me, of course I would accept it. Unfortunately, there’s no way I can even get close to that sort of Godbeast; as soon as the mere hint of one appears, supremely powerful clans like the Youngflame clan will immediately capture it. Even your Azure Skysnake, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning…Azure Skysnakes are extremely skilled at finding treasures and fortuitous legacies. They are extremely rare and hard to find; to take in one as a spirit-beast is quite hard as well.” “Azure Skysnake, come, take me as your master,” Northson called out. “Woody, you blockhead, you think you are worthy of being my master?” Little Qing, coiled around Ning’s arm, raised her serpentine head and spoke out in the human tongue, clearly filled with disdain. “You, you Azure Skysnake, I’m still your master’s brother, you know!” Northson stared at him. “I only acknowledge my master. You? Go sit in the corner somewhere,” Little Qing said with tremendous arrogance. “You…!” Northson, utterly infuriated, was only able to let out a snort. “You know what? I’m not going to squabble with a little snake like you.” He had never been able to win a verbal victory over Little Qing. Ning, watching this, began to laugh. Actually, the likes of Yu Wei and Adept Vastriver, both reincarnated Immortals, trained at extremely rapid rates. Thus, they generally would not acquire spirit-beasts, because their spirit-beasts wouldn’t possibly be able to keep up with them! As for some truly powerful Godbeasts…they weren’t so easily acquired. For example, the Redscale Salamander; everyone wanted them, but they weren’t so easily acquired. Although the Azure Skysnake was a bit weaker in power, it was still extremely talented in seeking out fortuitous legacies and treasures; generally speaking, Immortal cultivators would all be willing to tame one. Unfortunately, they were too rare, and also very skilled in escape. As for Whitewater Hounds? By comparison, they were actually a bit inferior. Their strengths mainly lay in their intelligence and their comprehensive abilities. Still, to Ning, the Whitewater Hound was his Uncle White, like a parent or an elder in the family. He had also once saved both Ning and Ning’s mother, and had always quietly supported Ning in his endeavors. Still, it had to be said that Uncle White was indeed quite accomplished in the art of formations; he had been the main problem-solver in the Vault of Treasures. …… Youngflame Nong rose to his feet. He had already bound the core of this palace, but there wasn’t a hint of joy on his face. Ning and the others weren’t smiling either. This was because…they had now completely bound three of the palaces; the Vault of Treasures, the Immortal Grass Palace, and the Dao Soldier Palace. Two more palaces remained…and one was under heavy guard by the Yaksha Dao-soldiers, while the other was under heavy guard by the Seawave Daosoldiers. If they wanted to enter, they would have to fight. There would be no way to avoid them! Those terrifying monstrous Dao-soldiers were so powerful that they had beaten even a Fiendgod like Xiangliu Fang into a constant retreat. If Ning and the others were to engage them in battle, they would probably be effortlessly slaughtered! Compared to Xiangliu Fang, they were in a position of extreme weakness, to say nothing of those Daosoldiers. The threat of imminent death…it caused all of them to have ugly looks on their faces. “Everyone.” Youngflame Nong swept Ning and the others with his gaze. “I have the key to the estate, and can open a corridor to leave from any location within this Immortal estate. If we truly encounter a great 1635 danger that we simply cannot withstand…I’ll lead you all in fleeing this Immortal estate. Don’t worry; I’m still confident in my abilities to escape.” “However, everyone, you need to be very careful; I don’t wish for any of you to end up being killed by the monsters,” Youngflame Nong said. Ning and the others all understood that there was no way out now. However, none of them had thought that challenging a Celestial Immortal’s estate would be an easy task. Danger was expected and normal. Ning and the others all had their own life-saving measures, none of which had been used yet. “Very good. Let’s head out,” Youngflame Nong ordered. …… All of the monsters of this Immortal estate world had been divided into two forces. One was the Witchriver clan’s Yaksha Dao-soldiers, while the other was the Seawave Dao-soldiers. They were each guarding one of the palaces. In air, far away, a large warship suddenly appeared. Waves of energy rippled out from it as it cruised forward, flying through the air at high speed and heading directly towards the Seawave Dao-soldiers, led by Immortal Duohe. “They are coming.” “That Fiendgod and those humans are coming.” “Duohe, it’s up to you,” Immortal Witchsui sent mentally from far away. Immortal Duohe had more than twenty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers under his command. They formed into an incomparably titanic wave that covered the skies, and all of them stared coldly towards the large warship flying towards them. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Aboard the warship. Ji Ning and the others stared at the massive, distant wave, and the savage, sky-filling aura the wave emanated. All of them had heavy feelings in their hearts. “These monsters…after I bind the Immortal estate, I am going to enslave all of them. All of them!” Youngflame Nong stared at the distant monsters, his face turning savage. He also gritted his teeth, then produced in his hand a queer contraption that was the size of a person’s head. Extraordinarily powerful ripples emerged from it. Ning and the others couldn’t help but look at this item. “A Wildcore?” Mu Northson called out in surprise. Ning and the others, including Adept Vastriver, Ninelotus, and Xue Hongyi, all had puzzled looks on their faces. Clearly, they had no idea what this was. “You actually know about Wildcores?” Youngflame Nong nodded. “Right. This is a Wildcore! An Immortalgrade Wildcore.” “But your construct-warship is only at the Heaven-rank. If you put this Immortal-grade Wildcore into this construct-warship, it won’t be able to withstand the power. Even if it looks perfectly fine from the outside, the formation diagrams inside it will begin to crumble. Your construct-warship will be doomed.” Northson couldn’t help but voice his concerns. “It will be able to hold for a short period of time, the time needed to boil a kettle of tea,” Youngflame Nong said calmly. He then immediately pressed the head-sized Wildcore towards the planks of the warship. Whoosh. A dark corridor naturally appeared in the floorboards of the warship, and the Wildcore burrowed within. “For at least that period of time, this warship of mine will be able to reach a level that approaches the Immortal-rank. Perhaps it wouldn’t be able to withstand the attacks of Celestial Immortals, but these monstrous Dao-soldiers won’t be able to break my warship,” Youngflame Nong said in a low voice. “What’s a Wildcore?” “Junior apprentice-brother, what sort of a thing is this Desolate Heart?” 1637 Ning and the others, puzzled, all sent mental messages to Northson. Northson was extremely skilled in the Dao of Constructs, and he also understood Wildcores very well. He immediately sent back, “It’s quite complicated, but to simplify it…Wildcores are, in reality, meant to be used for Immortal-ranked construct-warships, allowing them to temporarily explode with power. Immortal-ranked construct-warships are able to withstand this sort of sudden increase in power…but Immortal-ranked warships are far more valuable than even ordinary Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Even young master Youngflame most likely doesn’t possess this sort of warship.” “Thus, Youngflame Nong is placing his Wildcore into the warship he is using. His warship is actually very good as well; it is Heaven-ranked, and a very precious one. But the power of a Wildcore is simply too great, and this Heaven-ranked construct-warship cannot endure it. Even though its own ‘body’, being a magic treasure, won’t be damaged, the formations and diagrams within it will begin to crumble,” Northson said. Although Ning and the others understood little of this craft, they understood the importance of formation-diagrams. The formation-diagrams of a construct served as their core; they were what made the constructs work properly! It was precisely because of the existence of formation-diagrams that constructs were able to possess sentience and unleash powerful, precise attacks. Once the formation-diagrams crumbled, the entire construct would be finished. “One warship, one Wildcore,” Youngflame Nong growled. “We have to enter this palace. We have to!” Ning and the others exchanged glances. They could all sense Youngflame Nong’s resolve. ……. The warship steadily moved forward. Immortal Duohe, in command of more than twenty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers, stared coldly as it approached. “Kill.’ “Kill that Fiendgod. Kill those humans.” These monstrous Dao-soldiers were all eager and impatient. However, without Immortal Duohe’s order, nobody dared to attack rashly. Finally… The seemingly placid and calm warship, that had been advancing at an ordinary speed, suddenly began to glow with an dazzlingly brilliant golden light. Its aura vastly increased, and a golden halo suddenly covered the entire warship as it became criss-crossed with lines of power. It seemed to have transformed 1638 into a long awl, shuttling through the air at an incomparably astonishing speed towards the massive, skyfilling Seawave Dao-soldier formation. It was too fast! The warship’s sudden explosion of speed made it move lightning-fast, catching the Seawave Dao-soldiers off-guard. “Kill!” Immortal Duohe’s already-gravelly voice suddenly rang out in the minds of every single Daosoldier. All of them activated their elemental ki into their Dao-armors, and an enormous, endless amount of elemental ki passed through their armors as more than twenty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers merged powers. As for Immortal Duohe, he was the ‘head’ of this massive Seawave Dao-soldier formation. How to attack and how to defend…it was all up to him. “Let’s go,” Immortal Duohe howled. The massive wave came smashing down towards the lightning-face warship. BOOM! The wave heavily struck the warship head-on. The golden aura surrounding the warship, however, just trembled once, then regained it’s perfect stability. However, the collisive power was simply too great, causing the warship to be knocked backwards. “We can’t charge them head-on,” Northson shouted hurriedly. Ning and the others, standing within the warship, were incomparably stable. All of them had solemn looks on their faces, and their raised their heads to stare at the massive wave which came crashing down upon them once again. “Uncle Fang, go,” Youngflame Nong said, gritting his teeth. “Alright.” Xiangliu Fang let out a growling response, and each of his hands became filled with a long awl that emanating an astonishing aura. And then….swoosh! He passed straight through the outer layer of golden light surrounding the warship. The golden light didn’t impede him at all, allowing Xiangliu Fang to leave. “Monsters, f*ck off.” Xiangliu Fang, having transformed into his true form of a three thousand meter tall, nine-headed, serpent-bodied Hydraga, went forward to clash with the massive, sky-filling wave. He began to launch his attack. By now, his awls were also three thousand meters long. They struck out like the galloping thunder or the dancing lightning, stabbing directly into the wave. “Puny Fiendgod, don’t even think of affecting us.” Immortal Duohe’s voice boomed out, and the massive, savage wave sent out another surge of power, smashing directly against the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang. BOOM! BOOM! Skin tore open, and flesh split apart. Blood flew everywhere. One of the long awls was knocked flying, while Xiangliu Fang himself was sent hurtling through the air as well. Last time, although he was capable of fighting against Immortal Duohe’s monstrous Dao-soldiers, there had only been ten thousand of them. This time, Immortal Duohe had unified all of the other smaller powers, forming a Seawave Dao-soldier formation of more than twenty thousand monsters. The power had increased several times over, causing even Xiangliu Fang to be completely unable to fight back. “Come.” Xiangliu Fang’s hands stretched out, transforming into countless giant snakes and latching onto the discarded awl. The injuries on his body rapidly healed, and he once more fearlessly charged forward. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The clashes between the Fiendgod and the wave contained enough power to shock the heavens and shake the earth. Although the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, was in a position of absolute inferiority, he still managed to divert a large part of the power of the Seawave Dao-soldiers. For a moment, the warship, seeming incomparably tiny in the face of this vast wave, was able to once more advance at high speed, seizing the chance to hurtle forwards. “Detestable.” Immortal Duohe was frantic as well. If he had to deal with Xiangliu Fang, it was hard to avoid the warship from advancing through openings in their defense. He had no idea how this warship could have suddenly grown so powerful; despite the power of the waves and the collisive force of the blows, they still weren’t able to force the warship back. “Zhenbao, you come and lead my tribe,” Immortal Duohe sent mentally. “We will divide into two Seawave Dao-soldier formations.” “Yes, Master.” Zhenbao was the disciple which Immortal Duohe trusted the most, and was second only to him in power. He was already a peak Primal, and was extremely powerful. “Divide!” Whoosh! Whoosh! The massive wave in the air instantly split apart, dividing into two. The Seawave Dao-soldier formation personally commanded by Immortal Duohe, formed from many merged lesser monstrous tribes, went to 1640 block the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang. As for the other ten thousand Dao-soldiers, they were led by Daoist Zhenbao to block the warship. ……. Ning and the others, within the warship, watched as the massive Fiendgod battled with the giant wave. The warship continued to advance forward at high speed. “Hahaha, it is capable of stopping Uncle Fang, but not me.” Youngflame Nong’s eyes were filled with madness. “Keep charging. Charge to the edges of the palace, and I’ll be able to enter.” Around them were countless waves, but the warship continued to charge forward with inexorable power. “Eh?!” The massive wave suddenly split apart, forming into two waves. One completely focused on stopping the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, and completely tied him down. The other, seemingly slightly weaker, was completely focused on guarding against the encroaching warship. The advance of the warship instantly grew much more difficult. “They separated?” Youngflame Nong ground his teeth. “Charge, charge, charge! Wildcore, blaze for me!” BOOM!!!! The light on the surface of the warship suddenly skyrocketed in luminosity, and its charging power grew even more ferocious. The ten thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers commanded by Daoist Zhenbao were completely capable of suppressing Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals, but in the face of this explosively powerful warship, they actually weren’t able to tie it down, and the warship continued to advance. “Stop it, Zhenbao, stop it, stop it!” Immortal Duohe hurriedly sent a mental message. “Don’t worry, master, leave it to me!” Daoist Zhenbao was going crazy as well. His entire wave suddenly grew even more savage, transforming into a bloody color. As for the warship, it too advanced forward at a berserk speed. “Faster, faster, faster.” Youngflame Nong gritted his teeth. “Dangerous. This is dangerous. This is way too dangerous.” Northson’s eyelids were twitching as he watched. He hurriedly sent a mental message to Ning and the others, “Senior fellow disciples, be careful. Youngflame Nong has gone utterly mad. This Heaven-ranked construct-warship was unable to withstand the Wildcore to begin with, and now he’s burning its power like mad, causing its power to explode even more in a short period of time. The formation-diagrams within this Heaven-ranked warship can collapse at any moment. Once it does, the warship will be finished, and we’ll have to suffer the attacks from these ten thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers head on.” 1641 Ning, Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and the others all began to feel nervous. “Charge, charge, charge!” Youngflame Nong’s face was completely red, and madness was in his eyes. “Madman. He’s a madman.” Xue Hongyi, seeing this, felt panic in his heart. In front of the warship was that terrifying Seawave Dao-soldier formation; it was capable of splitting the skin and rending the flesh of even a Fiendgod like Xiangliu Fang. If the warship was destroyed and the wave slammed against them, it would probably break them all into tiny pieces. Crack…. Crack crack crack… Suddenly, the entire warship began to emanate sounds. Its charging speed began to lessen, and the aura of golden light around it began to grow unstable, starting to shudder. “It’s breaking. It’s breaking!” Northson immediately called out, “Young master Youngflame!!!” As for Daoist Zhenbao, who was in command of the ten thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers, he naturally noticed that the speed of the warship he was in charge of dealing with was beginning to lesson, and that the golden light surrounding it was weakening. He immediately was overjoyed, and he bellowed out, “Kill them! Kill them all and seize the key!” Instantly, an even more terrifying wave-crest formed, smashing down viciously towards the warship! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning, Adept Vastriver, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, Mu Northson, and Xue Hongyi were all incomparably nervous. As for Yu Wei, a dim spot of light appeared in her forehead. Ning’s elemental ki had already seeped into his storage-type magic treasure. Within it, there was a green leaf that was covered with gray runes, causing it to appear unfathomably mysterious This was one of the two life-saving treasures which Ning had acquired within the underwater estate, the one meant for defense. “Hm?” Ninelotus clenched her fist as well, and the skin on her arm began to vaguely emanate with white lotus flowers. All of them were preparing to activate their life-saving treasures at a moment’s notice. They stared towards the warship nervously, watching the shuddering, fluctuating golden barrier of light. BOOM! A massive, savage wave viciously struck against the barrier of light. The warship flipped over, but then continued to charge forward. Despite the warship flipping over, Ning and the others all stood firmly on the floor of the warship, as though rooted to it. Their eyes couldn’t help but suddenly widen as they all stared at the warship. Crack crack rack…. A series of shuddering cracks rang out from inside the warship, the golden barrier of light began to dim. “AAAAARGH! Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU!” Youngflame Nong let out a throat-rending howl. A rolled paper scroll suddenly appeared within his hand. The scroll seemed quite ordinary; although paper was relatively rare in the Ji clan’s territory, in Stillwater City, it was still quite common. This seemingly ordinary scroll, however, had a single, large character written atop it. LOCK! “Lock!” The gazes of Ning and everyone else were completely captivated by the ‘lock’ character on the paper scroll. It was an extremely simple character, but it emanated with the aura of a vast Dao, far broader and wider than the Dao of Rainwater and the Dao of the Inferno which Ning normally meditated on. In fact, Ning even felt a desire to submit and kowtow towards it. Rumble! The ‘lock’ character atop the scroll suddenly began to glow with light. It emanated a blurry radiance which spread out to the sourrounding area, and the surrounding Seawave Dao-soldiers were caught by it as well. In this moment…the wind halted. The water halted. It was as though the world had frozen. Ning and the others, however, were completely unaffected. All of them couldn’t help but feel astonished. “What, what, what was that?!” “Wait. Those Seawave Dao-soldiers are still moving, only…they are moving extremely slow.” Ning’s group immediately realized that the massive, surrounding wave hadn’t actually frozen; it was just advancing at an extremely slow pace. Swoosh! Without the Seawave Dao-soldiers blocking the way, the warship instantly traversed the final ten kilometers. “Open!” The ashen-faced Youngflame Nong activated the key, and an illusory palace door instantly appeared in front of him. The warship immediately flew into the illusory gate, and then the gate swung shut. Whoosh… As Youngflame Nong and the others entered the illusory gate, the massive wave, which had seemed to be almost frozen in place, suddenly came crashing down. “How can…how can that have happened?” The leader of the Seawave Dao-soldiers, Daoist Zhenbao, stared in disbelief at the distant, already-shut palace door. “Just now, just then…” He would never forget that feeling. He clearly had already unleashed the full power of the Seawave Dao-soldiers, and had been attacking at high speed, but…how could the enemy warship have suddenly increased in speed by ten thousand times or a hundred thousand times? It was precisely because the enemy’s speed had suddenly increased by an utterly ridiculous amount that he had been unable to control the wave and unleash an attack. Thus, the enemy had passed straight through his Dao-soldiers and entered the illusory palace gate. “Master, they…how did they suddenly move so fast? I was completely unable to block them,” Daoist Zhenbao sent mentally. The distant Immortal Duohe, who had been dealing with Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang in the distance, had actually been paying attention to the battle over here as well. After all, the humans aboard the warship were what mattered the most. Just now, he had been completely stupefied as well. “It wasn’t that they were fast; it was that you were slow,” Immortal Duohe sent mentally. “All of the Daosoldiers, in that instant, seemed to be crawling even slower than a baby turtle.” “How can that be? I didn’t feel as though my speed lessened, and none of the Dao-soldiers under my command felt that their speed had lessened,” Daoist Zhenbao said frantically. “That’s because…time changed for you. You should have heard the saying, ‘a day in the Deva realm, a year in the mortal realms’, right? This is because time passes at different rates in the Deva realm and in the mortal realms. Perhaps in the Deva realm, you might only feel as though a day had passed, but in the mortal realm, a year might have passed. This is exactly what happened just now. You felt as though just an instant had passed, but in reality, an extremely long period of time had passed, and the enemy warship flew more than ten kilometers away.” A hint of despair was in Immortal Duohe’s eyes. “These humans were actually able to produce such a treasure…can it be that the Heavens themselves wish to destroy those of us in this Immortal estate world?” Daoist Zhenbao now understood as well. So it was time. Time had changed for them. It was as though an instant had passed for him, but thousands of years had passed for them; when time flowed at completely different rates, what happened just now would occur. “There’s actually a treasure like this…” Daoist Zhenbao murmured to himself. “Hahaha…you aren’t capable of stopping my young master. You aren’t capable of it!” The distant Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, had already begun to flee. As he did so, his laughter echoed out in the heavens. The Seawave Dao-soldiers were completely unable to catch him with their attacks. When Xiangliu Fang completely focused on running away, they weren’t able to catch up to him at all. “Let’s go, all of us.” Immortal Duohe had the appearance of a middle-aged man, but in that instant, he seemed to have aged significantly. Rumble… The two Seawave Dao-soldier formations reformed into one, and the massive seawave flew at high speed towards the distant. A short period of time later, the massive Seawave Dao-soldiers reunited with the Yaksha Dao-soldiers. “You actually failed? Failed?!” Immortal Witchsui sent a mental message over, and the other members of the Witchriver clan looked at them as well. “Failed.” Immortal Duohe said hoarsely, “These humans actually held an inconceivably powerful treasure.” Earlier, the two sides had been separated by ten thousand kilometers, and so the Witchriver clan hadn’t been able to clearly watch the exchange of battle. “What sort of treasure was it, for it to be able to break through your defense?” Immortal Witchsui asked. “A treasure capable of affecting time itself,” Immortal Duohe said, shaking his head. “Time?” Immortal Witchsui was shocked as well. He was, after all, of the Witchriver clan; he knew some secrets. Generally speaking, it was fairly common for Celestial Immortals to encounter treasures that affected time itself. For Celestial Immortals, it was a common type of attack. But it was rare for even even one out of ten thousand Earth Immortals to become a Celestial Immortal… Treasures capable of influencing the flow of time, to Loose Immortals, were incomparably powerful. The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the outside world might have witnessed such treasures before, but these two Loose Immortals of the Immortal estate world had only heard of them. “Don’t worry,” Immortal Witchsui sent mentally. “It is already incredible that the human had even one such treasure. I refuse to believe he has a second one.” Immortal Duohe nodded as well. “Duohe, we have no way out now. This is the last palace. We have to guard it! This is our last chance to acquire the key to the Immortal estate,” Immortal Witchsui said. “The dream which those of us within the Immortal estate have held for countless generations…this is our very last chance.” “Not just our last chance at leaving,” Immortal Duohe said hoarsely. “Our last chance at survival as well.” “Survival?” Immortal Witchsui was startled…and then, his face turned completely pale. “Someone capable of having a treasure like this, and having a Fiendgod serve as a guard…these humans definitely have an extraordinary background.” Immortal Duohe’s voice echoed out in the minds of every single Dao-soldier. He slowly said something which caused terror in every single monstrous Dao-soldier’s heart. “After he completely binds this final palace, then he will be in complete control fo the entire Immortal estate. By then, he can do whatever he wants to us; everything will be under his control. He can also summon an army from the outside world, or he can also destroy the environment of this Immortal estate world, causing our descendants to not even have anything to eat or drink, starving them to death. In short…if he binds this Immortal estate, he will have countless tools at his disposal.” All of the monsters were terrified. Right. If the enemy was to control the Immortal estate, he could launch sneak attacks from anywhere in the estate. If he were to toss out some powerful, deadly poisons… 1646 It would be too simple to destroy an area of mere tens of thousands of kilometers. Some terrifyingly powerful poisons were capable of causing an area of tens of thousands of kilometers to be completely poisoned, where not even a blade of grass would grow. Creation was hard. Destruction was easy. After destroying the environment of this Immortal world, a few tens of thousands of years later, most likely almost no one would be left alive within it. “This is our last hope.” “This is our last chance.” “We have to fight.” “We have to seize the key to the Immortal estate.” “Even if all of us die, we cannot let them bind this final palace!!!” Immortal Duohe’s voice rang out in the skies. “Fight.” “Fight!” “FIGHT!” All of the monsters howled in anger. All of them brimmed with eagerness for battle. This was no longer a battle for freedom; it was a true battle for survival! ……. Within an ancient palace. The warship had charged in, and as soon as it did, the golden glow around it completely vanished. The mysterious, powerful aura that had previously permeated the warship was completely gone; it seemed completely inert and lifeless. “The formation-diagrams finally collapsed.” Northson shook his head. “Towards the end, the warship was just flying forward on momentum. A Heaven-ranked construct-warship, just like that, was destroyed.” “The Heaven-ranked construct-warship was nothing.” Adept Vastriver shook his head, gesturing with his eyes. “Take a look at young master Youngflame.” Ning and the others had noticed as well. Youngflame Nong was currently clutching that paper scroll, staring fixedly at the ‘lock’ character atop it. Alas, the ‘lock’ character now seemed completely ordinary. There was nothing special about it at all. “One Instant, A Thousand Years,” Yu Wei said softly. “This sort of treasure, when used, can virtually guarantee the death of a Loose Immortal. Although this sort of treasure isn’t Immortal-ranked, it isn’t too far from it in value.” Ning and the others were puzzled. The nearby Ninelotus, seeing the look on Ning’s face, sent mentally to him, “One Instant, A Thousand Years – this name symbolizes the ability of this sort of treasure to affect the rate of time. For you, it might feel as though an instant had passed, but for the enemy, more than a thousand years would have passed. But of course, that’s only an extremely, overly extravagant description. In short, when the rate of time is flowing at very different speeds, a Primal Daoist is capable of killing a Loose Immortal. From this, you can tell how precious this treasure is.” Ning understood. Originally, when he had been received the [Starseizing Hand] transmission in the transmission space of the underwater estate, he had spent months within, but time in the outside world had barely moved. This was indeed far more incredible than a mere scroll. “Damn. Damn.” Youngflame Nong stared at the scroll in his hand, grinding his teeth. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Judging from the look on young master Youngflame’s face, he must be about to go crazy from grief.” Mu Northson’s mental voice had a hint of schadenfreude to it. This exalted young master had taken one one powerful treasure after another. How could Ji Ning, Northson, Xue Hongyi, and the others not feel powerless before them? They all understood that they were nothing more than geniuses of Stillwater Commandery…while the man before them was very likely going to be the next Godplume Duke! Someone who was even more exalted than the Marquis of Stillwater! Even though he was just the heir to the position, the treasures he possessed were enough to cause Ning and the others to constantly sigh in amazement. “The monsters of this Immortal estate…I won’t spare any of them.” Youngflame Nong ground his teeth. To charge into this fourth palace, he had to use up his Heaven-ranked construct-warship, a Wildcore, and his ‘Lock’ scroll; psychologically, he had been completely unprepared to have to use up all three treasures. And this was just the fourth palace; by now the Seawave Dao-soldiers and the Yaksha Dao-soldiers had surely assembled outside the fifth and final palace. The cost for them to enter that fifth palace would definitely be incomparably astonishing. Just thinking about it made young master Youngflame feel miserable. “I am definitely going to enslave them all, then sell them offer to various tribes. Their descendants will forever be slaves,” Youngflame Nong said with a hate-filled voice. “Young master Youngflame.” Xue Hongyi spoke out softly. “Yes?” Young master Youngflame looked at him. “What is it?” Xue Hongyi immediately smiled and said, “Young master, are you worrying about entering the fifth palace? As I see it, actually, there’s no need to fight head-on against them. These monsters just want to leave this Immortal estate world, right? Young master, you can promise to let them leave. I imagine that these monsters would be willing to accept. Each of you can set an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, which they wouldn’t dare violate. In this way, young master, you would be able to enter the fifth palace without using up any treasures. What do you think, young master?” Xue Hongyi thought that his idea was a good one. Young master Youngflame gave him a cold glance. Between grinding teeth, he spoke out two words: “You imbecile!” 1649 “Young…” Xue Hongyi’s face instantly turned red. Being a genius of cultivation didn’t necessarily mean that one was intelligent in handling worldly affairs. Still, Xue Hongyi was still quite intelligent; upon being rebuked as young master Youngflame as an ‘imbecile’, although he felt incredibly insulted, he then immediately understood what Youngflame Nong was thinking. Ninelotus, standing next to Ning, sent a mental laugh to him. “This Xue Hongyi really is an imbecile. Since young master Youngflame has elected to come to this estate, he most likely has already prepared for all contingenices. As far as he is concerned, if he can bind this estate, then all of the monsters within can be toyed with as he pleases; they wouldn’t even be able to escape. Tens of thousands of monster-slaves, and all of which are Dao-soldiers as well! There are even precious Yaksha Dao-soldiers here…only Celestial Immortals could afford to be so extravagant. Once he offers these Dao-soldiers to his clan, not only will he be able to make up for his losses, he will be rewarded richly! To negotiate with the monsters and to let them leave…isn’t this the same as letting an enormous fortune just walk away?” Ning nodded his head. The vast number of Seawave Dao-armors and Yaksha Dao-armors alone was an inestimable fortune. “This palace actually doesn’t even have a single golem within, nor are there any attacking formations.” Youngflame Nong no longer focused on his losses, instead carefully inspecting the palace. “Hmph.” He suddenly waved his hand, and a bubbling, boiling black strand of elemental ki spread out in every direction, striking against the walls of the palace. Rumble, rumble, rumble. The palace walls were incomparably sturdy, but under the assault of the elemental ki, three words suddenly appeared on the palace wall in front of them: DAO REPOSITORY PALACE. “Dao Repository Palace?” The eyes of Ning and everyone else lit up. Every single power needed to build a Dao Repository. Even the Ji clan of West Prefecture City had its own vault that was used for hiding sutras and scripts for its descendants to learn from. The Black-White College had its own Dao Repository as well. Immortal Witchriver had his own forces; although his roots weren’t as deep and his history wasn’t as old as the Black-White College, he vastly surpassed the likes of Snowdragon Mountain. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Without even waiting for Youngflame Nong to say anything, Ning and the others transformed into streaks of light, charging towards a corridor right next to the three characters, ‘DAO REPOSITORY PALACE’. The reason they all charged towards this corridor was because this was the only corridor there was. “These guys…” With a swooshing sound, Youngflame Nong charged forward as well. ….. Upon charging into the corridor, what greeted them was a massive, vast hall. The insides of this hall were filled with countless books, a veritable sea of them, most likely not much smaller than the Dao Repository of the Black-White College. “Quick, take them.” “Quick.” All of them seemed to have been possessed. Every single power cared deeply about its techniques and secret arts. If they were to find any which the Black-White College was not in possession of and offer it to them, they would be able to acquire enormous sums of black-white pellets. “Whoosh.” Ning waved his hand, and a large number of books in front of him were immediately collected in into his storage-type magic treasure. As for the Azure Skysnake, she blinked from place to place, calling out in celebration, “C’mere, all of ya!” The books beneath her all vanished. “Come.” The Whitewater Hound collected the books before him as well. “Take them.” “These are mine.” Xue Hongyi had gone crazy as well. Everyone, including the final person to enter, Youngflame Nong, began to quickly collect the books. Although this giant hall had a massive number of books, in just a few moments, the entire hall had been completely emptied out. In the end, they didn’t even spare the shelves used to carry the books. “Look at how crazy all of you have gotten.” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “I hope these aren’t just the abridged versions. All of you will be stupefied if they are.” Ning and the others knew this as well. It was very likely that the books here were simple abridged versions…but no one wanted to take the risk that they weren’t. After all, it would take some time to ascertain if a book was an abridged version or not, and in the time it took, everyone else would have seized all the other books. “Let’s take a look.” Ning and the others started to take out one book after another, perusing through them carefully. Moments later… “Abridged.” 1651 “This one is abridged; it just has the very first part of the technique.” “This is abridged.” “This one is also abridged.” “This one isn’t abridged, it is complete, but it is actually the most commonly seen formation technique.” All of them were instantly downfallen; nearly ninety percent of the books were abridged, and as for the complete versions? They were commonly known commodies; in the Black-White College, one didn’t even have to use black-white pellets to trade for them. Almost all larger schools had them. The books with more valuable techniques, secret arts, and divine abilities…were all abridged. “Almost all of these are abridged,” Ning mused to himself. “But there should definitely a place where the full versions are located. The full versions should be located in a more hidden area. I refuse to believe that Immortal Witchriver carried all of those books with him. Can it be that his clansmen wouldn’t need to train while he was wandering and adventuring?” Swoosh1 Ning immediately scurried towards one of the four corridors leading away from the massive hall. It wasn’t just Ning who had come to this conclusion; the others had as well. There had to be complete versions somewhere! And that place was most likely hidden. Swoosh. Youngflame Nong, by relying on the affinity from the key to the estate, moved into one corridor, quickly discovering a private room. “Here it is.” Youngflame Nong entered the room, immediately seeing the skeleton within it. This skeleton was the guardian of the Dao Repository Palace! “In you go.” Youngflame Nong collected the skeleton, and then turned his gaze towards a stone book. His key was telling him…that this stone book was the core for the entire Dao Repository Palace. “Bind.” Youngflame Nong just bound a small part of it, then came to a halt. He only needed to bind a small part of it to ensure that all of the formations and restrictive spells within the Dao Repository Palace would be deactivated. And then, Youngflame Nong quickly left the room, beginning to search as well. If he were to locate a powerful divine ability or secret art which the Youngflame clan didn’t already possess, he would be rendering a major merit. However, given how ancient and powerful the Youngflame clan was…it was very, very hard to discover secret arts or divine abilities they didn’t already have. …… 1652 Ning’s divine sense had been activated long ago, filling every single part of the hall he was in. However, since the walls of the Immortal estate blocked out divine sense, he wasn’t able to search deeper. “Ning, son, quick, come over here!” Uncle White suddenly sent him a mental message. Ning, just about to push open a stone door and investigate, suddenly came to a halt. He transformed into a streak of light, hurrying towards Uncle White’s direction. Just a few seconds later, he entered a private room. Within the private room, there were rows of books, all of which were protected by restrictive spells. However, these restrictive spells were all inactive, and the Whitewater Hound, Xue Hongyi, and Adept Vastriver were frantically seizing them.’ “Quick.” Ning had no time to waste. He began to frantically start collecting books. Actually, as soon as he entered the room and saw the books and bookshelves, Ning felt quite certain that they should all be complete versions. This was because generally speaking, complete versions of techniques would span up to ten full volumes. Abridged versions, in turn, might take up just a thin book. “…and this. And this!” Ning was frantically collecting books. A short while later, the entire room was completely empty. The final person to arrive, young master Youngflame, was only able to collect a few books. “These are all full versions.” Ning and the others began to look through the books they had acquired. “Eh? Just Earth-ranked techniques?” “This one is Mortal-ranked?” “These ‘secret arts’ are too ordinary.” Ning and the others began to frown as they looked. They were all geniuses, and in the Black-White College, they chose from Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques. However, the books they had found here were all Mortal-ranked and Earth-ranked techniques and secret arts. Although the books were extremely numerous, there wasn’t even a single Heaven-ranked technique. “My Youngflame clan has plenty of this sort of crap. There isn’t even a single useful book here.” Youngflame Nong furrowed his brows, shaking his head. Ning, however, just laughed. Right. These books were useless to him, but they would be very useful to the Ji clan. The Ji clan had far, far too few techniques and secret arts, and those they had, he had purchased from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. But how many could he possibly buy, on his own? To accumulate a large number of secret arts and techniques, generally speaking, the only way was annihilate another large clan and seize their books. “More than a million techniques and secret arts. Although they aren’t that good, they are enough for Xiantian lifeforms and Zifu Disciples to use,” Ning mused to himself. “In the future, after I find some toptier Ki Refining techniques, my Ji clan will be able to set up a Dao Repository of its own to pass down to later generations.” Dao Repositories were the heart of any tribe, sect, or school. Each generation relied on their Dao Repositories to grow strong. “Immortal Witchriver was a Celestial Immortal; he definitely must have more powerful techniques and divine abilities. But where are they?” Youngflame Nong frowned. “The most powerful techniques and divine abilities must be stored in extremely well-hidden places. They might not even be in this Dao Repository Palace.” Ning and the others just pondered briefly, and then…swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! They all scattered in different directions, searching for treasures. Although this Dao Repository Vault didn’t necessarily have any top-tier techniques, secret arts, or divine abilities, perhaps it did! Swoosh. Youngflame Nong once more returned to that earlier room. He sat down in the lotus position in front of the stone book, beginning to once more bind the core of this Dao Repository Palace. “Once I bind it, I’ll be in complete control of this entire Dao Repository Palace. No matter how well-hidden a room is, I’ll know about it,” Youngflame Nong mused to himself. “I need roughly two hours to bind it. Given how well-hidden the top-tier secret arts and divine abilities must be, they might not be able to find them within two hours.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mind “The top-tier techniques, divine abilities, and secrets arts. They are going to be mine, all mine!” Xue Hongyi was rapidly checking one room after another, his eyes filled with an endless frenzy. He came from Snowdragon Mountain, which currently didn’t even have a single Loose Immortal; even if it did occasionally produce a Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal throughout its long history, there was no way those figures could compare to a Celestial Immortal like Immortal Witchriver. The divine abilities and secret arts left behind by a Celestial Immortal would definitely be extraordinary. When one’s level of power was very close to another’s, the deciding factor were divine abilities and secret arts. This was especially true for geniuses. ….. “This is a chance. A tremendous chance. I have to find it. With powerful secret arts, in this life, I might be able to overcome the Celestial tribulation.” Adept Vastriver was filled with endless desire as well. ….. Everyone was searching. Ji Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing had separated as well. “Where is it? Where could it be?” A little azure serpent was slithering forward like a streak of light, occasionally disappearing into thin air and reappearing somewhere else, and at other times moving directly into a room without even pushing the stone door open. “For me, finding fortunes is as easy as eating rice, but in this Immortal estate, I’ve gotten fewer treasures than even Uncle White.” The Azure Skysnake used her Void Blink technique repeatedly, and even blinked from one end of a hallway to the other to save time, or directly into rooms. She wildly teleported about with abandon, trying to find something. Whoosh. Yet another Void Blink. The Azure Skysnake appeared within a new room. “Nothing here eith…” The Azure Skysnake suddenly came to a halt. “Eeee?” The Azure Skysnake looked about this room in surprise. This was a very ordinary room. It wasn’t very large, and it only held two bookcases and a single table. The bookcase was covered with a few books, while the number of books on the table was even more pitifully low. The total number of books in this entire room was very low. “That’s all?” It must be understood that training tomes for Immortal cultivators were extremely massive and complicated; a single set might comprise of dozens of books. For example, when Ji Ning had received the transmission of the [Starseizing Hand] divine ability, it had been directly transferred to his soul, and had taken several months. From this, one could tell how massive the amount of information was. The Azure Skysnake couldn’t help but transform into an azure-robed maiden. She lowered her head to glance at the books, and as she did, her gaze narrowed. “Master, master, quick, come quick!!!” Little Qing hurriedly shouted through their spirit-link. “Wha..? Coming!” Ji Ning, located in another region, spread out his divine sense, searching through the various corridors. Given that he could mentally sense where Little Qing was located, he quickly found a route to her. As he did, he felt extremely surprised. “Little Qing actually ran to this place? This place really is rather unassuming and out of the way. How long would it have taken to find such a tiny little study?” Swoosh! Ning immediately transformed into a streak of smoke, rapidly advancing forward and soon arriving outside the room. He pushed the door open. “What is it?” Upon entering, Ning saw that the room was completely empty. There was nothing there, aside from Little Qing, who stood there. “I collected it all,” Little Qing said excitedly. “I didn’t dare leave them here, for fear that others might take them.” “What techniques did you discover? Why are you so careful?” Ning began to grow excited as well. Little Qing said in a lowered whisper, “Six types of Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques, totaling more than three hundred volumes. Three types of divine abilities, totalling more than a hundred volumes. One divine will technique, totaling six volumes. All of them are complete!” Ning’s eyes instantly turned completely round. Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques? Divine abilities? A divine will technique? This…this was truly, truly priceless. Even in the Black-White College, it would number amongst their toptier materials. “This room was actually filled with Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and divine will techniques.” Ning quickly understood. “Previously, we only discovered Mortal-ranked and Earthranked techniques and what not…I imagine that another room was used to store Heaven-ranked techniques and arts.” Mortal, Earth, Heaven, Immortal – the higher the rank was, the more precious the technique was. Now that he had acquired the Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and a divine will technique, Ning was no longer too interested in those Heaven-ranked techniques and arts. It’d be nice if he could get them, but it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t. “Master, they are all over here.” Little Qing waved her hand, and a pile of books instantly appeared in front of her. Ning was so terrified that he instantly waved his hand, collecting them into his own storage-type magic treasure. He actually began to sweat from fear. “How could you just take them out?!” “It’s better to leave them with you. I’m not a Fiendgod Body Refiner; those divine abilities are useless to me. I already have top-tier Ki Refining techniques of my own as well. Right…later, I’ll give that divine will technique a try,” Little Qing instructed. “Right.” Ning nodded. He immediately sent his divine sense into his storage treasure, beginning to investigate. There were only a few hundred tomes present; in total, there were ten complete sets! Six sets of Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques! Three sets of divine abilities! One divine will technique! “These Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques are useless to me. The divine abilities?” Ning swept them with his divine sense. “[Heavenly Transformation], [Three Heads, Six Arms], and [Pentabolt Vajra].” This caused Ning to feel delighted. [Heavenly Transformation] was a commonly seen divine ability, which virtually all larger schools and sects possessed. [Three Heads, Six Arms] was in the possession of the Black-White College, but it could be considered quite a precious divine ability. Ning had yet to train in it, primarily because he didn’t have enough blackwhite pellets yet. Now, however, he had acquired it, and a complete set at that! “This ability, [Three Heads, Six Arms]…when executed, it will allow me to grow four more arms that are identical to real arms.” Ning was extremely excited. Actually, at the Void level, powerful Fiendgod Body Refiners were capable of transforming a single strand of hair into a clone, and could completely change 1657 their physical appearance. It would be extremely easy to even generate eighteen new arms, but that would just be a superficial change; those wouldn’t be true arms. The reason why [Three Heads, Six Arms] was so powerful was because the heads and arms it generated were absolutely real, allowing one’s power to truly rise exponentially! Ning could execute the [Starseizing Hand] divine ability with two arms, but once he used the [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique, all six arms would be able to use the [Starseizing Hand]…this was why Ning had always deeply desire to acquire this technique. “I didn’t acquire it at the Black-White College, but I acquired it here.” Ning was absolutely overjoyed. “The [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique, when synergized with my [Starseizing Hand]…the power will definitely be exponentially greater.” “[Pentabolt Vajra]?” Ning, with a thought, made a book appear in his hand. It was the first volume of the [Pentabolt Vajra]. He began to flip through it… The [Pentabolt Vajra] was a divine ability which only a true Fiendgod, or perhaps a Fiendgod Body Refiner who was very close to being a true Fiendgod, was capable of learning. “Fortunately, I trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Ning let out a secret sigh of relief. Previously, when he had been at the local Raindragon Guard branch, Ning had discovered that some supreme, top-tier divine abilities had extremely high requirements for Fiendgod Body Refiners. Some actually stated outright that only someone who trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] or someone who was a true Fiendgod could train in them. That Immortal of the Raindragon Guard had also told Ning…that once he passed the trials of the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, he would soon come to learn how truly powerful the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was. The reason the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was so mighty was because it allowed the user to train in some truly top-tier divine abilities, including some which generally only Fiendgods were able to use. “[Pentabolt Vajra]…to bathe in thunder and lightning and form a vajra-like body. Only after five baptisms by five types of lightning can one be said to have mastered it. But the fifth one actually requires one to be at the Empyrean God level before training in it?” Ning was secretly shocked. It was the same as the [Starseizing Hand], which was divided into the Six Cycles. The [Pentabolt Vajra] was divided into five levels; the highest level was only trainable by Empyrean Gods. Only at that level could this divine ability be truly perfected to a supreme level. “This is the simplified version of the legendary divine ability, [Golden Nirmana Body]?” 1 Ning, upon seeing this, nodded in understanding. The very first tome said it plainly; this divine ability’s creator had developed it as a simplified version of the [Golden Nirmana Body], to be left to his descendants. The [Golden Nirmana Body]…it was a legendary divine ability that was one of the top divine abilities of the entire Three Realms. From the notes in this tome, at least, the [Golden Nirmana Body] was one of the absolute best divine abilities. Ning hypothesized that it should be on the same general level as his own [Starseizing Hand]. “I wonder which major power simplified the [Golden Nirmana Body] into this [Pentabolt Vajra],” Ning mused to himself. “To be able to simplify it…this major power must be incredible.” …… Ning waved his hand, collecting the divine ability book, then took out the divine will technique. There was only one of them, and it was titled [Soldiers of the Mind]. “Soldiers of the Mind?” Ning had just begun to flip through it, but he suddenly frowned, then hurriedly sent through their spirit-link, “Little Qing, hurry up and leave.” Swoosh. Little Qing instantly disappeared into thin air. BOOM. The stone door was pushed open, and Xue Hongyi charged in. “You?!” Xue Hongyi stared in astonishment towards Ning. “What a coincidence.” Ning glanced at Xue Hongyi, then paid him no attention, immediately flying out from the stone door that had just been opened. Xue Hongyi frowned as he studied the room. It was completely empty, with nothing within. He hesitated a moment, then shook his head. “Nah…no way…” He then turned and left, continuing the search. ……. Each of the rooms within the Dao Repository Palace were hidden quite well. Ning continued to frantically search through them in a seemingly crazed manner. He didn’t want others to know that he had already acquired top-tier Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and a divine will technique. It must be understood that the Yuchi clan had suffered annihilation, simply because they had been discovered to be in possession of a single divine ability, the [Windwing Evasion]. Thus, it was best not to casually reveal such things. …… “Whew.” Youngflame Nong gave the stone book in front of him a glance. He had already completely refined the core to this Dao Repository Palace, and everything within it was now under his control. “Eh?” He closed his eyes, sensing everything in the palace. “Nothing? There is actually nothing?” His senses were telling him that the entire Dao Repository Palace didn’t have a single book within it. It was completely empty. ….. Another hour passed. Ning and the others had just reunited with Youngflame Nong at the outermost hall. “We’re all here. Did you find any divine abilities or secret arts?” Youngflame Nong laughed as he looked at them. “Nothing.” “Nothing.” They all shook their heads. Ning, too, shook his head. “Nothing.” “The Rainbowflame Fairy and Adept Vastriver were fairly lucky; they discovered those Heaven-ranked techniques,” Xue Hongyi spoke out. “But…there should be Immortal-ranked techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts. We didn’t find them anywhere.” “Can it be that those things were too valuable, and so they weren’t placed in the Dao Repository Vault, and were instead hidden somewhere else?” Northson said. “Hm, that’s possible,” Ning nodded.. It is indeed Nirmana, not Nirvana. This bit actually took me nearly half an hour to research and completely comprehend. The actual term in Chinese was ‘丈六⾦⾝’, literally ‘Zhang Six Golden Body’. Zhang is a term referring to 3.3 meters, so this would literally mean ’20 Meter Golden Body’. I did some research, and the phrase 丈六⾦⾝ refers to one of the manifestations of Buddha’s corporeal/created body. In Buddhism, the Lord Buddha has three bodies (Trikaya); the Dharmakaya (Truth body), the Niramanakaya (the created/corporeal body), and the Sambhogakaya (I’m not even sure how to translate this one). Since this 20 Meter Golden Body was basically one of the manifestations of the Nirmanakaya/Nirmana Body, I decided to translate this as Golden Nirmana Body. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Youngflame Nong gave the group of Wanxiang Adepts a look. He mused to himself, “Perhaps they aren’t in the Dao Repository Palace…or perhaps one of them has them. Still, Immortal Witchriver was merely a Diremonster Immortal; his roots weren’t that deep. Even if he had some divine abilities or techniques, the Youngflame clan probably has them as well. And they are still very useful to me…” “Everyone, since we have finished our investigations, then let us head to the final palace,” Youngflame Nong said. “Right.” Ning and the others immediately began to grow nervous. “Let’s go!” Youngflame Nong took out yet another magic treasure, a flying weaver’s shuttle. The flying shuttle expanded to thirty meters long and ten meters wide. Ning and the others entered it, which was quite roomy. Swish! The flying shuttle immediately exited the Dao Repository Palace. As they emerged, the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang was already waiting for them. “Young master.” Xiangliu Fang transformed into a streak of light, flying towards the shuttle Youngflame Nong smiled and nodded towards Xiangliu Fang, seeming somewhat relaxed. But then, he turned his head to stare at the final golden Skypillar of light, and the many monstrous Dao-soldiers guarding it. He snorted coldly, “These monstrous Dao-soldiers have blocked me repeatedly. After I bind this Immortal estate, I am definitely going to repay them for their actions!” “How could the monsters of a puny little Immortal estate possibly withstand the Youngflame clan?” Xiangliu Fang laughed as well, and Youngflame Nong nodded. Ning and the others were secretly surprised…why was it that Youngflame Nong didn’t seem to be the slightest bit worried? “So many monstrous Dao-soldiers…” Ning mused to himself, “The Seawave Dao-soldiers and the Yaksha Dao-soldiers are all far more powerful than ordinary Loose Immortals; even Xiangliu Fang was dominated. What sort of treasure does this Youngflame Nong have?” “Senior apprentice-brother, he seems quite confident,” Northson said with a smirk. “Let’s watch and see,” Ning sent back. As the flying shuttle continued to fly forward, constantly advancing towards that distant golden Skypillar of light and the Seawave Dao-soldiers and the Yaksha Dao-soldier formations surrounding it. They were now quite close. “Humans!” A deep voice shook the heavens. Youngflame Nong just laughed icily, while next to him, Xiangliu Fang spoke out on his behalf. “What is it?” “Actually, there is no need for you to fight with us, the monstrous races of the Immortal estate world. So long as you are willing to open up a corridor out with your key and let us leave to the world of the Grand Xia Empire, then we are willing to permit you to enter this final palace,” the deep voice said. Immortal Duohe and Immortal Witchsui both felt that, given these humans still dared to advance in the face of so many monstrous Dao-soldiers, that they probably felt confident in passing through them. Thus, Immortal Duohe and Imimortal Witchsui quickly came to the decision of negotiating with these humans. “Let you leave? That’s not impossible.” Youngflame Nong revealed a smile. “But I have a requirement.” “Oh? Speak. What requirement.” The deep voice echoed forth once more. “Simple. Hand over all of your Dao-armors, and I’ll let you leave.” Youngflame Nong’s voice also echoed out in the skies. “All of our Dao-armors?” “Impossible.” “Kill this human.” “In his dreams!” All sorts of ferocious howls rang out. These Dao-armors had been left behind by Immortal Witchriver, and were the reason why these monsters were so powerful. “Without the Dao-armors, we would be like a pile of loose sand; we wouldn’t even be able to defeat that Fiendgod by your side. In fact, we’d probably be beaten by him instead,” the deep voice thundered angrily. “I can swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that if you are willing to hand over all of your Dao-armors, that I will let you leave and will not pursue or kill you,” Youngflame Nong said. The Dao-armors interested Youngflame Nong the most; if he could obtain them easily, then he wouldn’t mind letting the wielders of them leave. “Impossible!” The deep voice bellowed angrily. “Then don’t blame me for this,” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “You are forcing us!” The deep voice snarled. “Right. So what if I am?” Youngflame Nong snickered. These powerful monsters were bloodthirsty to begin with. Given how excessive Youngflame Nong had behaved, they were now truly angered. “Kill.” “Kill.” “Kill.” An enormous, sky-filling wave arose, blotting out the heavens and smashing down towards the flying shuttle which Ning and Youngflame Nong were riding. The flying shuttle, however, went directly towards the giant wave with incredible agility. “This is the moment.” A long time ago, Youngflame Nong had produced a queer-looking disc in his hand, which was a mixture of black and white in color. “POLARIS STARSHIFTER!” Youngflame Nong let out an angry roar. Rumble… This black and white bi-colored disc floated into the air. A ray of black light enveloped the entire flying shuttle, while a ray of white light shot directly towards part of the distant Yaksha Dao-soldiers. Whoosh! Space instantly distorted. That portion of the distant Yaksha Dao-soldiers instantly disappeared, then appeared in the location where the shuttle had been. As for the flying shuttle, it appeared in the location where those Yaksha Daosoldiers had been. “Open.” As soon as the shuttle appeared, a corridor into the palace appeared. Swoosh! The long shuttle flew directly into the tunnel, and then the gate shut behind it. “This…” 1663 Immortal Duohe and Immortal Witchsui were completely stunned. All of the Dao-soldiers were stunned. Then stared stupidly at the bi-colored black and white disc. As the energies of the disc were used up, it silently, soundlessly shattered. “They entered?” “They entered, just like that?” Immortal Duohe and Immortal Witchsui, as well as all the other monsters, had looks of disbelief, anger, and despair in their eyes. “It shouldn’t have been like this. It shouldn’t have…” Immortal Duohe’s eyes were filled with boundless rage. Raising his head, he let out an earth-rending, pained, agonized roar. They had lost. Utterly lost. If this had been an actual battle, teleporting away a small part of their Dao-soldiers would have only been a minor matter. But this wasn’t an actual battle; the enemy, upon teleporting those soldiers away, had immediately been able to enter the final palace. “After this, the Immortal estate will be bound. After this, all of us will be under his control.” Immortal Witchsui was mumbling to himself. In this moment, the countless monstrous Dao-soldiers were all howling in anger, grief, and despair… …… Swoosh. A long shuttle appeared within the hall, with Youngflame Nong, Xiangliu Fang, Ji Ning, and the others within it. They all emerged from within. “Hahaha.” Youngflame Nong, upon entering, began to laugh joyfully. “We’ve finally arrived at the final palace. Mmm, and it is quite beautiful as well, far more so than those other four palaces.” Ning and the others were still feeling shocked by what had happened with that bi-colored disc. It had actually caused them to completely swap positions with the distant enemy Dao-soldiers. What treasure was that? Ning, at least, had never even heard of such a treasure. “It really is much more beautiful. Every single pillar is exquisitely, intricately carved,” Xue Hongyi said quickly. “The final palace. After binding it, the entire Immortal estate will be under my control, and the trial the clan gave me will have been concluded. I’ll have earned an Immortal estate as well.” Youngflame Nong was quite delighted, but then he let out a sigh. “What a pity, though…after entering this Immortal estate, I lost two of my three most powerful treasures.” 1664 “Treasures are meant to be used. After you master the Immortal estate, you’ll acquire even better treasures, young master,” Xiangliu Fang said. “I hope so.” Youngflame Nong still felt a bit of pain in his heart. The ‘Lock’ scroll and the Polaris Starshifter disc were two of the most powerful magic treasures he had on him. These were treasures which even many Loose Immortals didn’t have access to; even if one had large amounts of liquefied elemental essence, it would be difficult to purchase them. After all, they were simply too rare. Youngflame Nong had only managed to acquire them after many years of collecting resources. Still, for the sake of solidifying his status as the next Godplume Duke, he had no other choices. “Acquiring the Immortal estate will mean that I’ll have recouped my costs, and earned a little on top of it. Those monsters…hmph. They should make their preparations for all of their descendants to forever be slaves.” A cold light flashed through Youngflame Nong’s eyes. “And that Xue Hongyi…I need to acquire his Immortal-ranked magic treasure as well.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. This impressive group of experts filed in through a corridor, arriving at a massive, towering hall. The hall was lined with seats, and the walls were lined with musical instruments. “This must have been the place where, when Immortal Witchriver was alive, he would merrymake with his monstrous clansmen,” Youngflame Nong laughed loudly. “These tables, these pillars, and these sculptures…all of them are utterly exquisite and extraordinary.” Ning and the others all nodded. They could completely imagine how, countless years ago, the Diremonsters would all be seated next to those tables, eating and drinking and making merry. “And there. That’s the place where Immortal Witchriver must have sat.” Youngflame Nong pointed towards the front of the hall. The front of the hall had the most beautiful, lavish table of all, and decorative screen behind it was also exquisite. To each side of the decorative screens, there were bronze lamps. “That bronze lamp was the core of this Witchriver Palace,” Youngflame Nong said, pointing towards a Zifu Disciple. “Go next to that bronze lamp.” “Yes.” These Zifu Disciples were all Deathsworn. They knew very well that they had been trained, solely for the purpose of obeying their master. If their master was to order them to their deaths, they wouldn’t hesitate at all. As soon as the Zifu Disciple moved to walk towards the front of the hall… BOOM! The entire hall instantly began to change in appearance. Ning and the others watched as the scenery around them transformed into a beautiful peach tree garden. They were surrounded by peach trees, and the floor was covered with petals. “Careful. It is an illusory formation,” Xiangliu Fang shouted. “I knew it. This place, the main palace, the Witchriver Palace…there’s no way we’d be able to acquire it so easily.” Youngflame Nong laughed coldly. With Uncle Fang present, he wasn’t nervous at all. This was a formation that had been in storage for countless years, and it didn’t have anyone truly controlling it; at most, this formation would be able to unleash a tenth of its power. “Assemble into formation.” Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and Ninelotus all immediately assembled into that five-elements, pentagonal formation. All of them were on their guard. “This illusory formation is very formidable; even divine sense is unable to see through it,” Adept Vastriver said. “And I have a vague feeling…that this formation is even stronger than the one which had been located in the Vault of Treasures.” “This formation seems to be gathering Azurewood Godbolts,” Ning said with a frown. “It seems you understand a bit about formations as well.” Xiangliu Fang, standing next to Youngflame Nong, gave Ning a glance, then said calmly, “This formation activates the power of the Solar Star. Using wood to guide the power, it generates Azurewood Godbolts. Although no one is controlling it, you still can’t underestimate the power of the Azurewood Godbolts. I need some time to break this formation; I wish all of you the best during this time.” Ning and the rest of the five moved closer to each other, prepared to deal with the Azurewood Godbolts at any moment. They didn’t dare to run about wildly; to do so in this illusory world was to seek death. “I, I, what should I do?” Xue Hongyi was panicking internally, but on the surface, he continued to grit his teeth and wait. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Suddenly, three bolts of azure lightning thundered down from up above, smashing directly towards Youngflame Nong. “Someone is commanding the formation?” Xiangliu Fang was shocked. “How could someone be commanding it?” The nearby Youngflame Nong was panicked as well. Whoosh! Xiangliu Fang stretched his large hands out. His hands were like dark clouds capable of covering the skies and smothering the sun; they stretched out to those three bolts of lightning. Boom, boom, boom…the lightning struck against the giant hands, and although the giant hands sank down momentarily, and the skin on the hands split apart as lightning writhed and spat against them, the hands endured. “Hahaha, young master, don’t worry.” While receiving the lightning bolts, Xiangliu Fang actually began to laugh loudly. “Immortal Witchriver died countless hundreds of millions of years ago; the Witchriver Palace definitely has no living creatures within it. Anything still surviving should be a golem. Generally speaking, golems only possess a simple level of intelligence; at most, they can activate formations. They aren’t able to control them. After all, this sort of large formation is quite complicated. Without Immortal Witchriver passing down the the special technique to control it, there is no way they will be able to do so. “If my guess is correct, the Witchriver Palace should have a powerful golem within it, and this golem should have a sentient spirit animating it. Thus, this golem is extremely intelligent, and is thus also skilled in controlling formations. Immortal Witchriver must have trusted him so much that he transmitted the formation control method to him,” Xiangliu Fang laughed. “But unfortunately, he is still merely a golem, with no elemental ki within his body; at most, he is capable of unleashing twenty to thirty percent of the power of the formation.” As Xiangliu Fang was speaking loudly, one bolt of thunder after another continued to come crashing down from the skies. Xiangliu Fang, by himself, received all of these blows. Ning and the others let out sighs of relief. Xiangliu Fang’s guess was most likely accurate; to truly control a formation required the usage of elemental ki. If the ki was that of an Immortal, then the power of the formation would naturally increase greatly. But golems didn’t have any ki at all; even if they were able to control the formation, they would only be able to, at most, increase its power by a small amount. “Humans, you are not the Immortal’s heirs. To barge into the Witchriver Palace is a capital offense.” A furious shout rang out from within the illusion of a peach garden. “A capital offense? Who is going to carry out the penalty, you? If my guess is correct, you are at most comparable to an ordinary Loose Immortal in strength,” Xiangliu Fang laughed coldly. “Your power is far from being a match for mine.” As soon as his words came out, Xiangliu Fang suddenly let out a savage howl. “BREAK!” Instantly, Xiangliu Fang’s hands swung outward, howling out as the fingers on his large hands all transformed into giant serpents. The ten giant serpents instantly latched onto something in the void and gave it a hard pull. The entire formation immediately seemed to have been ‘stuck’, and the peach blossom formation trembled, grew blurry, and completely vanished. “How can this be?!” An astonished cry. With the disappearance of the peach blossom, Ning’s group once more was able to see the giant hall, and the tables within it. “Not bad, not bad. I managed to survive. Fortunately, that golem was extremely intelligent and knew that it had to kill Youngflame Nong, and so it focused all of its efforts on him. If those lightning bolts had struck amongst the rest of us, although those five of the Black-White College would probably be able to endure it, I would have been in danger.” Xue Hongyi felt as though he had been blessed with tremendous luck. Last time, when he and Adept Bu You had faced those attacks from the golems, Adept Bu You had died, while he had been lucky and survived. He had then acquired an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, and just now avoided yet another tribulation. He had survived multiple dangerous encounters, and had even acquired an Immortal-ranked treasure. Wasn’t this a tremendous blessing of luck? “The formation is already broken.” Xiangliu Fang swept the hall with his gaze, then said calmly, “Everyone, no need to be afraid. Immortal Witchriver was only a Celestial Immortal, and his roots were not very deep; it is already quite impressive for him to have produced a golem that is fairly close to a Loose Immortal in power. If that golem doesn’t appear, then fine; if he does, however, I’ll capture him.” Youngflame Nong laughed and nodded, then instructed, “There are golems lying in wait within the Witchriver Palace. Everyone, don’t run around rashly; if you run into those golems, Uncle Fang won’t be able to save you in time.” “How could we dare to run about rashly? Are we suicidal?” Xue Hongyi hurriedly responded. Ning and the others shared a glance. Clearly, an extremely powerful golem was lying in wait within the Witchriver Palace. They were no fools; naturally, they wouldn’t run about wildly within. Xiangliu Fang and Youngflame Nong moved to the front of the main hall, beginning to bind a bronze lamp. “Haha, this is the core of the final palace.” Youngflame Nong was utterly delighted. “After binding it, the entire Immortal estate will be under my complete control. The Witchriver Palace definitely has other dangers lurking within; however, there’s no need at all for us to go and take any risks. Once I bind the Immortal estate, the golems will naturally have lost.” Ning and the others nodded. “The rest of you, be careful; those golems won’t just watch and wait for me to successfully bind this palace. I imagine they will try to ambush us,” Youngflame Nong said. …….. Eighteen savage, fearsome looking Qiongqi Manticore golems were looking at their leader, a blackarmored, muscular man. The black-armored man growled, “That person who broke the formation just now, he is most likely a Fiendgod. He was able to make his hands so large, and his fingers transform into giant serpents; only true Fiendgods are capable of such a thing. From the techniques he displayed, I can tell that he is more powerful than me.” “Commander, what should we do?” “They are starting to bind the Witchriver Palace.” The Qiongqi golems were all panicking. “I estimate he will need two hours to completely bind the Witchriver Palace,” the black-armored man said in a low voice. “We need to come up with a method…and we need to succeed in one try. We need to kill the humans that Fiendgod is protecting. From the conversation between those humans when they first arrived, that human should have already bound the other four palaces. This is the last one.” 1669 “Prepare to obey my orders.” The black-armored man’s cold, dark eyes flashed with a freezing light. ……… A group of Zifu Disciples were scattered in the surrounding area. Ji Ning, Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, Xue Hongyi, and the others were all waiting vigilantly, worried that the golem might suddenly attack. Youngflame Nong, seated high above at the front of the hall and binding that bronze lamp, seeing how nervous everyone in the hall was, couldn’t help but frown. He barked, “No need to be so nervous. It’s just a few golems. If one comes, Uncle Fang will capture one. They will definitely lose.” Ji Ning and the others, including Xue Hongyi, silently tightened their lips. Yes, Xiangliu Fang could defeat all comers. But the most powerful of those golems had the combat strength of an ordinary Loose Immortal; if golems of such power were to suddenly attack and catch this group off guard, some of them might die. They were not protected by Xiangliu Fang, after all. “Attend me.” Youngflame Nong, seeing how Ning and the others remained vigilant, couldn’t help but frown and bark, “Prepare a celebratory banquet.” Very soon, the two Zifu Disciple maidservants who personally served Youngflame Nong had prepared a banquet of fine wine. Actually, during the two day journey on the warship from Serpentwing Lake of Swallow Mountain to the Immortal estate, they had often drank and enjoyed themselves, and so the fine wine had been prepared long ago. Very soon, the table became filled with wine, spirit-fruit, and delicacies. Youngflame Nong sat down in the lotus position, laughing loudly as he scooped up a goblet of wine. He only needed to use up a small amount of his attention on binding the bronze lamp. “Everyone, no need to worry. The outer perimeter will be handled by my Zifu Deathsworn; even if golems attack, they’ll be the first ones engaged, giving you enough time to react and fight back.” “Sit, all of you,” Youngflame Nong called out. Seeing Ning and the others continue to hesitate, he couldn’t help but snap, “I told you all to sit!” Ning and the others exchanged a glance. They had no choice but to sit down. “That’s more like it.” Youngflame Nong laughed, “You’ve all accompanied me into this Witchriver Immortal Estate and engaged repeated dangers with me. You’ve rendered quite a few merits. However, this is the final moment; after I bind this bronze lamp, the task shall be complete. Although a few golems continue to resist, they aren’t much to be worried about. Come, let us toast each other for the treasures we have gained, and for my successful binding of the Witchriver Immortal Estate.” After speaking, Youngflame Nong lifted up his bronze wineglass, etched with a tattoo of flames. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Let us down this cup together,” Xue Hongyi hurriedly called out. He wanted to flatter Youngflame Nong as best as he could, because in his heart, he was still thinking about later leaving the Witchriver Immortal Estate, then fleeing alive with the Immortal-ranked magic item in tow! “My fellow disciples, we must be vigilant against the outsiders. Let’s not drink this wine,” Adept Vastriver sent mentally. “We were useful to him earlier, but now we are useless; who knows what sort of tricks he might play,” Northson sent as well. But Ninelotus said, “I imagine he wouldn’t dare to be so heartless and crazed.” While sending mental messages amongst themselves, they all lifted up their cups and drank from it. “Gulp.” The wine entered Ji Ning’s mouth, then a surge of elemental ki surrounded the liquid. The liquid was completely vaporized by a streak of fire. Only then did Ning put down his winecup. “Chun and Ji, the two of you, perform a dance and help us enjoy ourselves.” Youngflame Nong was in an extremely fine mood as he gave the orders. Instantly, two of the female Zifu Disciples behind him moved. Previously, their robes were in the shape of maid robes, but the robes now changed. Their sleeves fluttered as the two of them laughed, unveiling their astonishing charisma as the two of them began to dance gracefully in the center of the palace hall. Strum. Clink. Three other nearby Zifu Disciples who were musicians moved to those ancient musical instruments in the hall, then in a very practiced manner, began to drum and strum. Although countless years had passed, the instruments were completely undamaged, as they were all magical treasures. One melody rang out after another, while the beautiful courtesans danced. Youngflame Nong was absolutely delighted with himself as he watched and drank, and Ning and the others all accompanied him. His spirits having grown increasingly high as he drank, Youngflame Nong suddenly glanced sideways at the truly peerless, fairy-like beauty, ‘Yu Wei’. In terms of appearance and aura, even he, Youngflame Nong, who had seen reincarnated fairy-like maidens in the capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty, felt her to be astonishing. His throat went a little dry, and his heart began to grow heated. The desire he had held down this entire time was beginning to rise. Still, he knew quite well that this Rainbowflame Fairy would probably be hard to convince. Thus, he then looked towards Ninelotus, then laughed, “Little Sister Ninelotus, now that I have completed my task, we 1672 need to have a good celebration. Little Sister Ninelotus, why don’t you perform a dance to us and help us celebrate?” “Eh?” Ning frowned, his face growing somewhat unsightly. ‘Little Sister’ Ninelotus? This was not a form of address for Youngflame Nong to use. And he wanted Ninelotus to dance? How could Ning not feel angry? “This Youngflame Nong is going too far,” Little Qing sent through the spirit-link. “Master, this Youngflame Nong holds you in no regard at all; he knows that you are Ninelotus are Dao-Companions, but he still acts in such a way.” Indeed, all of the others present in the hall were stunned. Ninelotus was astonished as well. She first gave Ning a glance, then said hurriedly, “Young master Youngflame, I have no talent in dance. Compared with the beautiful courtesans you have by your side, I am far inferior; I’d rather not go up and embarrass myself.” “How can they compare with you, Little Sister Ninelotus?” Youngflame Nong laughed, “What, aren’t you even going to give me, Youngflame Nong, even this tiny bit of face?” Ninelotus hesitated a moment, then put a smile on her face. “Then I’ll go up and dance to a song.” At the same time, she gave Ning a glance. Ning just sat there, an ugly look on his face. It was just a dance. With so many fellow disciples present, it wasn’t appropriate for Ning to grow angry. “Ning, son, be careful,” the Whitewater Hound sent spiritually. “Inviting her to dance as part of the victory celebrations is a small matter. Youngflame Nong clearly knows that you and Ninelotus are DaoCompanions, but when he asked her to dance, he didn’t even look at you or say a single word to you. Clearly, he holds you in no regard at all. Given that, you need to be careful.” Ning immediately came to his senses. “Don’t worry, Uncle White. I understand,” Ning sent back, and then turned to look at Ninelotus, who was dancing in the middle of the hall, in tune with the melodies. As Ning watched, he suddenly realized…that Ninelotus was actually a very skilled dancer. Truth be told, Ning knew far too little about the Dongyan clan and the other major clans. The people which future clan leaders like Ninelotus interacted with were generally some of the more formidable figures of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, and thus she would learn a bit of this and a bit of that, so as to ensure that her performance in any event was perfect. “Good, good, good.” Youngflame Nong laughed as he drank his wine, occasionally clapping his hands in praise. Ninelotus was like a blooming lotus flower, swirling about throughout the hall. But as she moved closer to Youngflame Nong, Youngflame Nong suddenly swung his arm out. A long, black whip actually swept out, coiling around Ninelotus’ arm, then tugging at her. Ninelotus, caught 1673 completely offguard, couldn’t help but be pulled even closer to Youngflame Nong. Still, Ninelotus was a Wanxiang Adept; by activating her elemental ki, she managed to stabilize herself as she was pulled closer to Youngflame Nong. However, Youngflame Nong intimately grabbed her by the arm; he had originally actually been planning on taking her by the waist. Laughing, he pulled at Ninelotus’ arm, wanting to pull her in while saying, “Little Sister Ninelotus, come, let’s drink a cup of wine together.” This scene shocked everyone present in the hall. “What?!” Mu Northson, Yu Wei, and the others were all shocked. As for Xue Hongyi, he just gave Ning a sideways glance, revealing a cold smile as he took a sip of wine. Ning felt as though his head had gone blank. Earlier, Ninelotus’ dance could have been said to be a performance for everyone, but now… BANG! Ning suddenly rose to his feet, smashing his hand hard against the table. This table was technically a Mortal-ranked magic treasure, but it was only used for holding wine and food; it wasn’t meant for combat. In addition, Ning was currently gripped by rage, and even his eyes had begun to turn bloodshot. This slap towards the table was actually even more powerful than the palm blows he would deliver in a life-or-death battle. The energy wave alone from this palm blow smashed all of the plates into tiny pieces, and the fine wine and meat were utterly transformed into dust. BOOM!!! The entire table actually was split apart. Large amounts of shards went flying everywhere, and some of them actually sliced across the body of a nearby Zifu Disciple, causing blood to instantly fly everywhere. “Hm?” Youngflame Nong immediately gave him a cold look. “What, I can’t even share a drink of wine with Little Sister Ninelotus?” As he finished speaking, a hint of anger appeared on Youngflame Nong’s face. Youngflame Nong’s anger would’ve instantly reduced most people to a quivering pile of fear. But Ning’s eyes only reddened further. Ignoring all else, he barked out, “Youngflame Nong!” “Ji Ning.” Ninelotus realized that Youngflame Nong’s eyes had a hint of a murderous intent in them, and she immediately barked out towards Ning. Ning looked at Ninelotus, then said coldly, “Ninelotus, there’s no need for you to pay any heed to this young master of the Youngflame clan. Hmph. He’s not even the Godplume Duke yet! When we first followed him into the Immortal estate, he was so mild and humble. But not that we are useless to him, this is how he acts!” 1674 “You are courting death.” Youngflame Nong’s anger was beginning to build. Previously, Ning was a useful assistant, but he was now useless. Geniuses like him…they weren’t much in the eyes of him, Youngflame Nong. Ning said angrily, “Do you remember our original agreement? You made us promises in the name of your Youngflame clan. What, now that you have the Immortal estate, you are planning to act against us? Are you feeling greedy for the treasures we acquired in the Immortal estate? You endured it then, but are now planning to act against us?” “Be silent!” Ninelotus cried out. “Ninelotus.” Ning was utterly infuriated. “Sit down!” Ninelotus shouted at him, while also sending him a frantic mental message. “Ji Ning, you are too rash. Think about Youngflame Nong’s status. He’s normally in the imperial capital, and when together with the imperial princes and various young dukelings, they often act in dissolute, wanton ways. I just have to deal with it and drink a few cups of wine with him, and this matter will be at an end. If you let anger cloud your mind, then it will be trouble.” Ning sent back, “Some things, I can endure, but others, I cannot. Ninelotus…” “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You want to fight him?!” Ninelotus sent furiously, “Don’t be so immature!” Ning was stunned. Immature? Youngflame Nong was naturally watching the mental argument between Ninelotus and Ning. “It seems as though this young and famous Ji Ning doesn’t live up to his reputation,” Youngflame Nong sent mentally to the Fiendgod by his side, Xiangliu Fang. “A scene like this has already angered him to the point of insanity. To deal with him would be simplicity itself. For now, however, there’s no rush to deal with him; if I kill him within the Immortal estate, once the news of it is spread out by the Dongyan clan, the other large tribes will all think of me, Youngflame Nong, as a narrow-minded man.” “Right.” Xiangliu Fang concurred. …… Ninelotus’ words had truly enraged Ning now. Who was Ninelotus? She was the next leader of the Dongyan clan! There was absolutely no need for her to compromise in such a manner; since there was no need, why did she do so? “Young master Youngflame, Ji Ning is still young; please pardon him.” Ninelotus smiled towards Youngflame Nong. Youngflame Nong didn’t continue with his earlier actions. He could tell that if he went just a bit farther, this Ji Ning probably would actually start to a fight to the death against him. He dared to kill Ji Ning, but Ninelotus? Ninelotus was the next leader of the Dongyan clan. If he killed her, he would be in serious trouble. Ninelotus quickly returned to Ning’s side and sat down. Ning remained seated in the lotus position on his chair. Zifu Disciple servants removed the shattered magic treasure table in front of him, replacing it with a new one. “Ji Ning.” As soon as Ninelotus returned to her seat, she immediately spoke mentally to Ning. “Calm down.” “Oh, so you know I’m pissed?” Ning looked towards NInelotus. “This really was nothing. This was a small matter. If in the future, you were to see how the young masters of the major clans act when they are together, you’ll understand that this sort of minor flirtation…it really means nothing. Generally speaking, everyone has a bottom line that they won’t cross; to engage in a little playing around is nothing,” Ninelotus sent. “You’ve seen too little, which is why you were so easily enraged. Look over there; after drinking a cup of wine, Youngflame Nong is no longer harping on this matter.” “I’ve seen too little?” Ning sent back with a shout, “Bottom line? Ninelotus, you are my Dao-Companion. This so-called ‘a little playing around’ of yours, being embraced by others men, being teased by them, drinking with them…these thigns have already gone beyond my bottom line. Do you understand?” “You…how can you act this way?” Ninelotus was furious as well. “That’s the way I am. Can it be that you didn’t know?” Ning stared at her. Ninelotus and Ning’s gazes intersected. She could sense the determination and resolve from Ning’s eyes. “Fine. I won’t be act like this in the future.” Ninelotus lowered her head. Ning lowered his head as well, beginning to drink. Although Ninelotus had bowed her head to him, Ning still felt as though there were thorns stuck in his heart. Just now, he truly hoped that Ninelotus would directly refuse Youngflame Nong. Even if she didn’t throw the cup of wine into Youngflame Nong’s face, she had to at least turn and immediately leave. In this recent period of time, the two had already argued twice due to differences in the way they behaved towards others. This time, their fight was due to the fact that they handled matters and conducted themselves in completely different ways. “Heh. Heh. Heh heh.” Youngflame Nong, seated at the front of the hall, was able to tell that there was some unhappiness between Ji Ning and Ninelotus. He actually laughed…and then his gaze fell towards the nearby Rainbowflame Fairy, Yu Wei. The flames in his heart blazed even hotter. The desire he felt towards Yu Wei was far stronger than the desire he felt towards Ninelotus. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Quite a few thoughts were going through Youngflame Nong’s mind. At the same time, the other members of the Black-White College began to console Ji Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, endure it,” Adept Vastriver sent to Ning. “After we leave the Witchriver Immortal Estate, you won’t have to stay here and swallow Youngflame Nong’s attitude.” “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning,” Yu Wei sent, worried, “We aren’t able to beat Youngflame Nong right now. However, truly powerful Immortal cultivators rely on themselves; no matter what how impressive he might be, in the future, Youngflame Nong will only be the Godplume Duke, whereas the real powers behind the Youngflame clan are those old fellows who have lived for countless years. When you train to the Celestial Immortal level in the future, the Youngflame clan will treat you with courtesy, not daring to slacken off in the slightest. What would a Godplume Duke be to you? He’s nothing more than a titular leader.” Ning gave Yu Wei a look. He had met with the Lord of Cui Manor and Granny Meng, and had watched as a great power had assaulted the Six Paths of Reincarnation! His master, Daoist Threelives, was one of the most incredible figures of the Three Realms…it really was as she had said; personal strength was the truest foundation to power. If Ning were to also become a major power of the Three Realms, what would a mere Youngflame clan, one of the clans subordinate to the Grand Xia Dynasty’s major world, be to him? There were three thousand major worlds! As long as he was able to reach the Celestial Immortal level, the Youngflame clan would be respectful to him. After all, it was rare for there to be even a single Celestial Immortal for every ten thousand Loose Immortals. Celestial Immortals were true Immortals, who had escaped the binds of the Three Realms and lived carefree lives. “Senior apprentice-brother,” Northson sent to him, “If you aren’t happy with senior apprentice-sister Ninelotus, then as I see it, you should just break up. I mean, I’m just saying…it’s up to you, and how you really feel. You need to ask yourself if you truly want for senior apprentice-sister Ninelotus to be your Dao-Companion.” Ning gave Northson a glance. “Junior apprentice-brother, no need to say anything further.” In his heart…Ning truly did like Ninelotus. In his past life and in this life, Ning had never been in a romantic relationship. He couldn’t quite explain how he felt towards her, but he truly did feel a hazy liking for her. However, these recent arguments had caused Ning to truly feel upset! “Glugglugglug.” Ning held his cup, constantly drinking wine. Although he downed one cup after another, all of the wine continued to be burnt away by flames after it entered his body. ……. Ninelotus sat there in the lotus position, staring at the constantly drinking Ning. “It seems Ji Ning is really angry.” Ninelotus felt frustrated as well. “How can Ji Ning act like this. I lowered my head to him, and this wasn’t even a big deal to begin with. This sort of thing is too common; I just had to deal with it in a casual, superficial manner. Why does he have to be so angry about it? If he gets angry at this and angry at that…in the future, after I become the leader of the Dongyan clan, am I supposed to follow his every wish and desire?” “I’ll let him calm down and sober up first. He should understand, later.” One had been held up high since childhood, and had been chosen to be the next leader of a major clan. The other came from a world of peace in his past life, and was a genius who had been born into a backwater clan in this life. The two of them attracted each other. When they had been in the secluded peach-garden utopia of Serpentwing Lake, there had been no problems, but once they truly began to face worldly affairs together, their disagreements had begun to constantly worsen. ………. Ning and Ninelotus were both feeling rather frustrated in their hearts. Suddenly… BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A figure carrying a terrifying, tremendous force came charging in. Those Zifu Deathsworn that had been stationed in the outer perimeter instantly blew apart, their bodies being knocked flying and blood spraying verywhere. In the blink of an eye, the entire hall was transformed into an asura’s hell, the floor stained with blood and chunks of meat. “The golem.” Youngflame Nong, seated at the front of the hall, was greatly surprised, but then he immediately grew excited and eager. One golem after another charged in. As for Ji Ning and the others, as they had been assigned to sit down at various locations in the table, they weren’t able to assemble into formation. “That dogshit Youngflame Nong…he said that those Zifu Deathsworn would be able to hold on for a few moments, but in reality, they weren’t able to do so at all.” Ning’s Darknorth swords appeared in his hands as he hurriedly blocked the Qiongqi Manticore golem which was pouncing towards him. BOOM! Ning’s sword-light flashed out, crashing against the body of the Qiongqi golem and sending it flying away. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, protect junior apprentice-brother Mu Northson,” Adept Vastriver sent. “I know, don’t worry,” Ning said hurriedly. This hall was simply too large. Ning’s group had been divided into two rows that sat on each end of the table. Ninelotus, Vastriver, and Yu Wei were on the side opposite to Ning, and were quite far from each other as well. As for Ning, Northson, and Xue Hongyi, they were on the same side. Right now, six Qiongqi golems were throwing themselves against Ning and the rest of the six Wanxiang Adepts. Even more of the golems were charging towards Youngflame Nong! It was very easy for Ning to handle a single Qiongqi golem, but clearly it was a bit difficult for Northson; Northson was more talented in controlling golems, not at close combat. Swoosh. A pair of black wings appeared on Ning’s back, and the wings fluttered as he began to execute the Windwing Evasion, howling through the air as he moved next to Northson. His sword-light flashed out, striking against a Primal-level Qiongqi golem and sending it flying. “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Northson was covered with cold sweat, and he hurriedly controlled a giant silver serpent construct, sending it into battle. “It’s nothing.” Ning laughed, twin swords in hands, and then lotus petals began to bloom around him, easily blocking those two Qiongqi golems. ……. Ning and the others, including Xue Hongyi, were each dealing with a single Qiongqi golem. In truth, these six golems weren’t meant to kill them; they were assigned to keep them tied down. The other twelve Qiongqi golems and their black-armored leader simultaneously charged towards Youngflame Nong. “Hahaha…” Youngflame Nong laughed loudly. “Capture them.” Xiangliu Fang’s twin hands struck out, and those massive hands seemed to cover the skies as they did so. His fingers transformed into massive serpents, which seemed to coil about as they moved to wrap around the Qiongqi golems. In fact, some of them managed to snare two Qiongqi golems each. All twelve of them were actually seized by his giant hands…but the black-armored man pulled out a longsword from within his leg with his right arm, hacking it directly against Xiangliu Fang’s hands. BOOM! The surrounding area was filled with a deafening explosion. Actually, it was quite taxing for Xiangliu Fang to rely on nothing but a pair of hands to capture those twelve Qiongqi golems. The power of this sword attack was even more tremendous. His hands trembled and were knocked aside, allowing the Qiongqi golems to all escape their captor. “Eh?” Xiangliu Fang was shocked. “This sword of yours…” CHOP. The black-armored man transformed into a streak of light, charging forwards and slamming the sword down towards Xiangliu Fang once more. Right at this moment, the other twelve Qiongqi golems howled through the air, flying towards Youngflame Nong. Youngflame Nong frowned, and instantly that enormous Redscale Salamander appeared around him. At the same time, a leaf-like Dao-seal appeared in his hand. “They are rather irritating.” Youngflame Nong muttered softly, but he felt completely confident; he had Uncle Fang, the Redscale Salamander, and a protective treasure; he was definitely going to win. “Growl…” The Redscale Salamander howled with rage as it fought against the Qiongqi golems. But suddenly, a Qiongqi golem reached out to snatch the nearby bronze lamp, then began to run away withi t! “The bronze lamp!” Youngflame Nong was shocked. Now, he understood. These golems weren’t meant to kill him; they knew that they weren’t strong enough to do that. Thus, their real target was the bronze lamp. To bind a treasure, one had to be right next to it and slowly use one’s elemental ki to bind it. If one was a bit too far away, or if someone else took possession of it, then there would be no way for one to fill it with elemental ki. Naturally, then, there would be no way to bind it. This would result in it taking forever for him to control the Immortal estate. Given how well these golems knew the Witchriver Palace, they could simply play hide-and-seek with him within it. The golems could delay for thousands of years…but he could not. “Quick, seize the bronze lamp,” Youngflame Nong howled furiously.. Xiangliu Fang immediately let out an astonishing howl as well. His right arm suddenly split apart and flew out from his body. His severed right arm blasted out with a sky-filling black-colored divine power, which rippled forth, then transformed the right arm into a new Xiangliu Fang. As for the original Xiangliu Fang, he grew out a new arm. In the blink of an eye, two Xiangliu Fang’s had appeared within the main hall. However, by the time this splitting process had completed, that Qiongqi golem had already charged out of the main hall; after all, Primal-level Qiongqi golems were indeed as fast as lightning. One Xiangliu Fang remained in combat against the black-armored man. The other, however, went chasing after the Qiongqi golem that had fled with the bronze lamp. With a swoosh, he charged into the corridor, continuing his pursuit. “Two Xiangliu Fang’s? A clone?” Ning and the others were all shocked. “The bronze lamp, the bronze lamp! Damn them, damn them!” Youngflame Nong bellowed with rage. But right at this moment, at a distant corridor within the hall, Xiangliu Fang suddenly reappeared, bronze lamp in one hand, sack in the other. “Haha.” Youngflame Nong instantly laughed. As for the black-armored man, he immediately felt disappointed. He knew that the difference in power between himself and these invading humans was simply too great; thus, he had hoped to catch them offguard and seize the bronze lamp. Unfortunately, this Fiendgod was truly too powerful; the Fiendgod was able to tie him down with one body, then use another one to chase after the Qiongqi golem and bring the bronze lamp back. “The overall situation has been cast in stone.” Youngflame Nong immediately felt completely relaxed, watching the battle going on in the rest of the hall with leisure. But as he did so, his face suddenly changed. He was looking at Ning and Northson, located far away from him. Ning was wielding two Darknorth swords, and on his back was a pair of black wings; he was effortlessly blocking two Qiongqi golems. “Wings?” Youngflame Nong carefully watched the way in which Ning moved. At the same time, he sent mentally to Xiangliu Fang, “Uncle Fang, look at Ji Ning.” Xiangliu Fang’s two bodies had merged into one again. Fighting at full power once more, Xiangliu Fang stuffed the black-armored man into his sack. Upon hearing Youngflame Nong’s words, he immediately turned to look. Upon doing so, his face changed as well. “Uncle Fang, that’s the Windwing Evasion. I’m not mistaken, am I?” Youngflame Nong asked. Windwing Evasion. Youngflame Nong himself had never trained in it, but he had watched his clansmen train in it repeatedly. Because of how often he had seen it, and because he had personally read the contents of the [Windwing Evasion] manual, he could see traces of it in the way Ning moved. “Right. That’s the Windwing Evasion. I’ve trained in it before. Although Ji Ning is using wings to mask it, he is definitely using the Windwing Evasion,” Xiangliu Fang sent mentally. “In the past, the descendants of the Yuchi clan also used wings to hide it; Ji Ning is using the same old trick. Although this is a rather 1682 clumsy method, unless one has an extremely deep understanding of the Windwing Evasion, there’s no way one would be able to tell.” Youngflame Nong sent mentally, “Uncle Fang, how could Ji Ning know the Windwing Evasion?” “It should be one of the surviving spawns of the Yuchi clan!” Xiangliu Fang sent back. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Surviving spawns of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong began to feel a killing intent in his heart. “Not a single member of the Yuchi clan is to be spared, and those members of the Yuchi clan who have trained in the Windwing Evasion are all the more deserving of death. The Windwing Evasion…only my Youngflame clan can have it. It cannot be learned by others!” The secret arts and divine abilities which were unique to a certain major clan were absolutely forbidden to be taught to others. Any outsiders who learned these techniques would suffer pursuit and assault! “Uncle Fang, let’s deal with these golems first.” Youngflame Nong had no desire to play around anymore at all. For the first time, he truly had the desire to kill Ji Ning. Whoosh! Whoosh! Xiangliu Fang’s two large hands swished through the air, snatching away at the Qiongqi golems with abandon while shouting, “Everyone, stop these Qiongqi golems. Don’t let them escape; if they escape, they’ll cause problems in the future.” While saying this, he continually captured Qiongqi golems and stuffed them into his sack. Everyone did their best to stop the Qiongqi golems from escaping, allowing Xiangliu Fang to capture them, one by one. “They really were suicidal.” The black wings on Ning’s back disappeared. He gave a glance to the bloodstained corpses on the ground. Although those Zifu Disciples were all Deathsworn and were able to assemble into formation…the difference between them and golems at the Primal level of power was simply too vast. The first wave of assaults from the Qiongqi Manticore golems had caused virtually all of the Zifu Disciples to be wiped out, leaving behind only ten or so. “How pitiable. They were Zifu Disciples…but against these golems, they were completely useless. And yet, Youngflame Nong insisted on having them watch the perimeter; clearly, he didn’t give a damn about them dying,” Mu Northson sent with a mental sigh. “Youngflame Nong truly is cold-blooded.” These Deathsworn had been voluntarily gifted by Northmont Yin and some others. To Youngflame Nong, however, these Deathsworn had been raised by outside clans, and there was no way the Youngflame clan would truly trust them. There was no point to him bringing him back! And yet, he couldn’t just ‘return’ them back to Northmont Yin. Thus, he might as well let them die. If some were lucky enough to survive, then that meant that they had been blessed with good fortune and might be worthy of bringing back to the clan and training. ……… 1684 The few lucky Zifu Disciple survivors hurriedly began to clean the hall, completely removing all of the corpses and bloodstains and restoring it to a pristine condition. Youngflame Nong reseated himself at the front of the hall. His gaze cold, he stared directly at Ning, then barked, “Ji Ning!” Everyone in the hall was stunned. Northson, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, and Xue Hongyi were all astonished; they could sense that there was a terrifying look in Youngflame Nong’s eyes, and the cold, tyrannical way he had just shouted was something they could all sense. Not even earlier, when Ning had shattered the table, had Youngflame Nong been so formal and cold. “Young master Youngflame.” Ning looked towards Youngflame Nong. “What is it? Speak..” “Youngflame Nong.” This time, it was Ninelotus, seated on the other side, who grew angry. “Ji Ning is my Dao-Companion. Earlier, he offended you, but that was just a minor matter. For you to act this way…you are being a bit too narrow-minded.” Although these young masters and princes of major clans often chatted and teased each other, there were some bottom lines that could not be crossed. Ji Ning was her Dao-Companion, after all, and he had also helped Youngflame Nong this time. It was one thing for the two of them to have had a bit of friction earlier, but for Youngflame Nong to act this way now was going too far. “Ninelotus, you’ll understand after hearing what I say,” Youngflame Nong said coldly. “Then I shall listen attentively,” Ninelotus said with cold anger as well. “Ji Ning, I ask you this.” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Just now, was the divine ability you displayed the Windwing Evasion?” Ning was stunned. Windwing Evasion? How did Youngflame Nong know about the Windwing Evasion? Ning’s mother’s clan, the Yuchi clan, had been almost completely obliterated; most likely, the only remaining member was Ning’s uncle’s daughter, and Ning didn’t even know if she was still alive. Ning could be somewhat considered a descendant of the Yuchi clan…but the Yuchi clan was extremely secretive about the Windwing Evasion to begin with. “No need to deny it. You used the Windwing Evasion,” Youngflame Nong said with a cold laugh. “Uncle Fang, display it for him.” Whoosh. Xiangliu Fang suddenly disappeared from Youngflame Nong’s side. He seemed to have transformed into a giant Roc, instantly appearing in the center of the main hall. Then, with another movement, he retreated and returned to Youngflame Nong’s side. Ning, seeing this, felt his heart tremble. His other fellow disciples of the Black-White College couldn’t tell, but he himself, as a practitioner of the Windwing Evasion, could – Xiangliu Fang truly was using the Windwing Evasion! In addition, it was even more precise and profound than Ning’s own usage! But this made sense; after all, Ning was only a Fiendgod Body Refiner; compared to Xiangliu Fang, a true Fiendgod, he was still far inferior. “They are the culprits!” “They are the ones who annihilated my clan!” A thought suddenly entered Ning’s mind. “Can it be that it was the Youngflame clan which annihilated my mother’s Yuchi clan? Can it be that the grandparents and aunts and uncles who I never met were all slain by the Youngflame clan?” “Well?” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Is it the same as yours?” “I do indeed train in the Windwing Evasion.” Ning knew that there was no point in lying. Frowning, he said, “But so what if it is?” Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and Northson all sood there, watching nervously but not rushing to speak. Youngflame Nong laughed loudly, “The Windwing Evasion technique was originally unique to the Yuchi clan of the Eastisle Commandery of our Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning, hearing this, felt his heart shake. “The Yuchi clan had possessed this divine ability for a long, long time; however, they relied on using wing-type magic treasures to hide it. Our Youngflame clan, however, found out about it long ago. After preparing for an extremely long period of time, we annihilated the entire Yuchi clan in one blow…but were unable to find the original manual of the [Windwing Evasion]! Some of the powerful Immortals of my Youngflame clan personally intervene and used a soul-scour technique to collect enough memories from members of the Yuchi clan to completely rebuild the [Windwing Evasion] manual from scratch.” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Right now, the [Windwing Evasion] is unique to my Youngflame clan, and it is absolutely forbidden to teach it to others. For you to learn the Windwing Evasion without the permission of my Youngflame clan…this, in and of itself, merits the death penalty for you. What’s more, I suspect that you are one of the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan!” “SPEAK! Are you a surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong stared at Ning. Everyone else now completely understood. So this was what it was all about! Warfare between clans…there was no real right or wrong in inter-clan warfare! Since the Youngflame clan had annihilated the Yuchi clan, and the Yuchi clan’s Windwing Evasion technique was now solely possessed by the Youngflame clan…from the Youngflame clan’s standpoint, it was true that all descendants of the Yuchi clan had to be annihilated. After all, between the two clans, there was now a grudge that stemmed from clan genocide. “Ji Ning.” Ninelotus sent to Ning, saying frantically, “No matter what, don’t admit that you are a descendant of the Yuchi clan. If you admit to it, given that there is hatred that stems from clan genocide between you and the Youngflame clan, the Youngflame clan will definitely not permit you to remain alive. You only need to say that you acquired the original copy of the [Windwing Evasion] manual through happenstance, and that without knowing the full backstory, you learned it. Thus, since you didn’t know it was forbidden to learn it, you cannot be blamed. I will have my Dongyan clan engage in negotiation with the Youngflame clan on your behalf, and this matter will quickly come to an end.” Ning looked towards Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang. His heart was filled with boundless rage. The Immortals of the Youngflame clan had soul-scoured the souls of many Yuchi clansmen in order to remake a complete Windwing Evasion. Upon being soul-scoured, one’s soul would generally be dispersed and destroyed. “Damn. Damn. Damn!” Ning truly wanted to take revenge for his mother’s entire clan. “Are you the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong stared at Ning, his murderous intent billowing to the heavens. Previously, during the banquet, he had just been flirting a bit with Ninelotus; he hadn’t truly felt any desire to kill Ning. After all, he had to protect the Youngflame clan’s face and reputation. However, if Ning truly was a spawn of the Yuchi clan, then even the patriarchs of the Youngflame clan were present, they would still mercilessly kill Ning. In this moment, he was the representative of the entire Youngflame clan! “I am not.” Ning stared at Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang. He forcibly repressed his anger and said in a low voice, “Youngflame Nong, if you want to kill me, there’s no need for you to put on such a show to find an excuse.” “My senior apprentice-brother has already spoken; there is no relationship between himself and the Yuchi clan,” Northson said angrily. “Young master Youngflame, we came here to help you; is this how you are going to treat us?” “Young master Youngflame, since my junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning has said that he is not a descendant of the Yuchi clan, that means he is not. He most likely acquired this divine ability through a fortuitous encounter. He can negotiate with your Youngflame clan and offer some compensatory gifts, then swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that he absolutely will not pass this divine ability out ot anyone else,” Adept Vastriver said. Yu Wei spoke out as well. “Young master Youngflame, for you to claim at a time like this that junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning is a descendant of the Yuchi clan…once word of this spreads, people will think that it is you, Youngflame Nong, who intentionally sought out an excuse to act against him.” “Youngflame Nong.” Ninelotus stared at Youngflame Nong as well. Filled with wrath, she said, “Ji Ning is my Dao-Companion!” Everyone was standing out, pressuring Youngflame Nong from all sides. But he only laughed. “Hahaha…don’t worry,” Youngflame Nong said with a laugh. “Since Ji Ning has accompanied me on this trip through the Immortal estate, I’ll give him a chance to live.” As he spoke out, he produced a set of black manacles, covered with ancient golden runes. He tossed the manacles directly towards Ning. Clank. They landed on the ground before him. “These are godlock chains.” Youngflame Nong looked towards Ning. “Upon being manacled, you’ll be like an ordinary mortal. Even Fiendgods, when locked by these chains, won’t be able to resist. Put these chains on and wait for my orders. I can swear an oath as well; so long as you are not a spawn of the Yuchi clan, I absolutely will not kill you, nor harm your power. I will go out and engage in an investigation. If, however, I can verify that you are a spawn of the Yuchi clan, I will kill you. If you are not? I’ll release you to your freedom.” Ning furrowed his brows. Yu Wei spoke out in a high voice, “Young master Youngflame, think about how powerful your Youngflame clan is; is it necessary for you to act in such a petty manner? You can let junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning go free for now, then engage in your investigations; upon verifying the results, you can act against him later. Can it be that in the face of the power of your Youngflame clan, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning would be able to escape your reach?” “Ji Ning, do you agree or not?” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “I’ve given you your only way out.” Ning stared at Youngflaem Nong. “You want me to chain myself and hand over my life to you? Do you think this is possible?” Youngflame Nong’s face instantly turned even colder and more sinister. No matter what, Ning would not voluntarily put the godlock chains around himself. But right at this moment… “Young master Youngflame!” The nearby Xue Hongyi suddenly laughed coldly as he pointed at Ning. “Don’t listen to his lies. This Ji Ning’s father was known as Ji Yichuan, while his mother was known as Yuchi Snow!” 1688 “You learned the Windwing Evasion, and your mother was Yuchi Snow?” Youngflame Nong instantly revealed a savage look on his face, and his voice became as cold as ice. “So you truly are the spawn of the Yuchi clan! Die! Ji Ning shall die! Anyone who attempts to block the path of the Youngflame clan in doing so will be killed, without reservation!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Everyone close to Ji Ning, such as Mu Northson and Ninelotus, all knew that Ning’s mother was named Yuchi Snow. However, they all wanted to try and buy him some time; at the very least, they wanted to make sure that could leave this major world alive. Later on, the Dongyan clan and the Black-White College could use some methods at their disposal to ensure that Ning could be sent and escape to other lesser worlds, or perhaps even a different major world. Unfortunately… Xue Hongyi had thoroughly investigated Ning long ago, and had even purchased a set of intelligence reports regarding Ning from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Naturally, he knew who Ning’s parents were. “Youngflame Nong!” Ninelotus was enraged. “Hold!” Yu Wei’s forehead suddenly began to glow with white light. Her aura quickly became terrifying as she, too, roared with fury. Adept Vastriver and Mu Northson all called out in anger as well. Whoooosh. Xiangliu Fang only stretched out a single hand, which instantly expanded to a tremendous size. At the same time, his five fingers transformed into five giant serpents, each more than three hundred meters long. They stretched out towards Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Northson, and Adept Vastriver. Every single serpent emanated a terrifyingly powerful aura, causing the faces of Ninelotus and the others to become unsightly. “Ninelotus, I won’t kill you.” Youngflame Nong pointed towards Ninelotus. “But those three fellow disciples of yours…Uncle Fang, if they dare interfere, just kill them.” Although he felt lust towards Yu Wei…women, to Youngflame Nong, were nothing more than playthings. Playthings, in the end, were still playthings; they could be killed at a moment’s notice. “You…” “Youngflame Nong…” Ninelotus, Northson, Yu Wei, and Adept Vastriver all stared towards him with hatred, but they knew exactly how strong Xiangliu Fang was; he was absolutely capable of crushing them. Although they had some protective items on them, those items would at most allow them to stay alive for a short period of time. To completely change the situation…was impossible. “Senior apprentice-brother, senior apprentice-sister, junior apprentice-brother…Ninelotus.” Ning looked towards Youngflame Nong, seated at the front of the hall, then said calmly, “There’s no need for you to intervene. This is a matter between myself and Youngflame Nong.” “Ji Ning.” Ninelotus called out frantically towards him. Ning looked towards Ninelotus. “Don’t worry.” “YOUNGFLAME NONG!!!” Ninelotus was absolutely livid. “You are provoking my Dongyan clan!” “If it was the Forefather of the Dongyan clan who said these words to me, then I might truly be forced to reconsider. But you?” Youngflame Nong laughed, then shook his head. Ninelotus suddenly produced a black lotus petal in her hand, a petal with an aura that inspired terror. The black lotus petal quickly expanded, causing Xiangliu Fang to called out icily, “Are you looking to die!?” His giant python-finger instantly smashed headlong against the black lotus flower, which trembled, then began to crack. This cracked black lotus flower continued to fly straight towards the giant serpent. BOOM! The giant serpent quickly froze into a statue of ice, then shattered apart. In fact, Xiangliu Fang’s entire hand became frozen, all the way to his elbow, then began to splinter across. However, Xiangliu Fang’s arm then once more grew out. WHAP. His fingers once more transformed into serpents, striking heavily against Ninelotus and causing her to be knocked flying, vomiting blood from her mouth. “Not bad. Unfortunately, you were only capable of injuring Uncle Fang.” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “Even I am unable to produce treasures capable of killing Uncle Fang. You?” Xiangliu Fang was of the ancient Fiendgod ‘Hydraga’ race; his lifeforce was incredibly powerful, and his combat ability was comparable to a peak Loose Immortal’s. To kill Xiangliu Fang? This was an incredibly hard task. “Xue Hongyi, I’ll give you a chance to render merits for yourself.” Youngflame Nong looked towards Xue Hongyi. “Go and kill Ji Ning.” “Me? Kill Ji Ning?” Xue Hongyi was stunned. “Are you going to kill him or not?” Youngflame Nong’s eyes flashed with a cold light. Xue Hongyi mentally cursed nonstop. He had been flattering Youngflame Nong this entire time, and had even told him that Ning’s mother was named Yuchi Snow. He had done all of this in the hopes of making Youngflame Nong like him…but who would’ve imagined that Youngflame Nong would be this vicious? Youngflame Nong had actually ordered him to go kill Ji Ning…he had no confidence in being able to do so at all! “Kill, yes, kill.” Xue Hongyi nodded frantically, but in his heart, he thought to himself, “I’m not going to be able to kill Ji Ning, but I should be able to stay alive at least.” “Ji Ning, prepare to die,” Xue Hongyi called out with anger, then instantly shot out a series of flying needles towards Ning. Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang stood there at the front of the hall, watching this happen. A look of anticipation was in Youngflame Nong’s eyes. “Xue Hongyi’s strength should be a bit weaker than Ji Ning’s; if Ji Ning really was to go all-out against him, he should be able to kill Xue Hongyi…and after Xue Hongyi dies, his Immortal-ranked magic treasure will be mine.” “Uncle Fang, after Xue Hongyi dies, you attack and kill Ji Ning,” Youngflame Nong sent. “The Immortalranked magic treasure will be mine then.” “Yes, young master,” Xiangliu Fang said. …… Upon hearing Youngflame Nong say, the words, “Ji Ning shall die” and “anyone who attempts to block the path of the Youngflame clan in doing so will be killed,” Ning had already made up his mind to kill Youngflame Nong! Xiangliu Fang was far too powerful; Ning didn’t feel any confidence in his ability to defeat him, but he had no choice now. “Die.” Xue Hongyi charged forward. “First you. Then Youngflame Nong.” Ning wielded his Darknorth swords in his hands. At this point, he couldn’t be bothered to use wings to hide his technique. Whoooooosh!!! A series of flying needles filled the skies, shooting towards him. “KILL!” Ning let out an enraged bellow. In this moment, Ning’s sword-heart was more steadfast and firm than it had ever been before. He understood now. In this moment, he had embarked on a brand new path. If he didn’t kill Youngflame Nong, then due to being physically located within this Immortal estate, he wouldn’t be able to escape. He would die! But if he did kill Youngflame Nong, someone who had the highest chances to become the next Godplume Duke…the Youngflame clan would definitely pursue him with full power. This was a clan that was even more terrifyingly powerful than the Northmont clan of Stillwater! Two roads lay ahead of him. One was the road to death. The other was the road of being pursued by the Youngflame clan. After having been pressured to this extent…Ning actually became incomparably resolved. BOOOM!!! His soul became completely pure and transparent in this moment, more than it ever had been before. Ning suddenly felt as though time itself slowed down. Something that he had been struggingly this entire time to reach, and yet had never been able to…finally, he truly had reached it, and embarked on a new journey through his Grand Dao. This was…the Grand Dao of the Sword! A vast, awe-inspiring Grand Dao! In this moment, Ning felt as though he had transformed into a sword that was swimming through the entirety of the Grand Dao. In this moment…Ning had completely reached the Grand Dao Domain level. Generally speaking, Immortal cultivators who trained in a Dao all had the chance to reach the ‘Dao Domain’ level, but that was generally only true for an ordinary Dao. The Dao of the Sword, however, was one of the Grand Daos; to reach the Grand Dao Domain was far more difficult than even completely mastering an entire Dao-Path. Although Ning had reached the fifth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] long ago, if he hadn’t been placed under such enormous pressure this time, causing his heart to suddenly and completely comprehend and allow him to pass through the final barriers, it would have remained very difficult for him to reach this new level. Within his sea of consciousness. Ning’s soul suddenly transformed into a sword, an incomparably dazzling sword. This was the swordsoul, which only a Sword Immortal who had truly reached the Grand Dao Domain level would possess. This was a fundamental change, an evolution of the soul. Whoosh. The sword suddenly transformed into Ji Ning’s appearance…but the spirit-Ning faintly emanated with the light of a sword. “What is the purpose of a life lived?” “All I ask for is to be joyful.” “Kill, kill, kill.” “Exterminate all injustices!” 1693 “Exterminate all those who deserve killing!” “Only then will I be exultant.” “As Loose Immortals, there is no path to immortality.” “Thus…” “Better to live passionately for a day, than to live a century while stifled.” “My sword is the joyous sword, the sword of passion, the sword which exterminates all injustices. The name of this sword technique is the [Three-Foot Sword].” While battling against Xue Hongyi, Ning suddenly began to laugh. Laugh loudly, and with joy. “Kill, kill, kill; exterminate all ijustices, and exterminate all those who need killing! Better to live passionately for a day, than to live a century while stifled.” As Ning laughed loudly, the Darknorth swords in his hands suddenly became incomparably brilliant and incomparably awe-inspiring. Swish! An unfathomably terrifying sword-aura instantly filled the entire hall. A dazzling streak of sword-light lashed out, tearing through the flying needles as though they were made of rotting wood, then sliced across Xue Hongyi’s body. “I, I, I…” Xue Hongyi’s eyes were completely round. He had never imagined that he would end up like this. Filled to the brim with terror, even his soul began to crack and shatter under the terrifying sword-aura filling the hall. And then…his body fell into two parts on the ground. The sixth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]…the Grand Dao Domain! The [Three-Foot Sword], as the highest level sword art of the Black-White College, had six stances that were available to the public. The final three stances, however, were limited to direct, Epochal Transmission for Sword Immortals. The first stance – Lustrous Sword-Heart The second stance – Manifold Thistlethorns The third stance – Sudden Sword-Light The fourth stance – Sun in the Sky The fifth stance – Moonlight Hiding the Sword 1694 The sixth stance – Grand Dao Domain. These sword stances weren’t completely set in stone; for example, the first stance, Lustrous Sword-Heart, was different for each person, depending on how they comprehended it. The [Three-Foot Sword] primarily served as a guide. It guided Sword Immortals towards techniques that suited them best. Every single practitioner of the [Three-Foot Sword] was capable of executing the [Three-Foot Sword] in a way which suited them the most. In dire straits, Ning’s heart had completely merged into the Grand Dao, allowing him to reach the Grand Dao Domain level. The power of this sixth stance he had comprehended was truly incomparably frightening. “Is this a Grand Dao Domain?” Youngflame Nong watched as a terrifying sword-aura washed over the entire hall, causing even his own soul to shudder. Youngflame Nong’s face completely changed from its previous, calm and smug look. He stared at Ji Ning, this young man from a backwater clan, who seemed to have gone berserk and who had just killed Xue Hongyi with one blow. “How old is he? He actually…actually has already reached the Grand Dao Domain level? And in the Dao of the Sword, the most offensive of Daos?!” Youngflame Nong suddenly felt jealousy in his heart; why couldn’t he be this talented? Why did this sort of talent had to fall onto a rustic youth like this one? “Grand Dao Domain?” “This Dao of the Sword…” Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and Ninelotus were in a state of shock. The sword-aura that filled the hall…all of them could feel the resoluteness, the sharpness, the indomitableness emanating from it. The sword was a sharp weapon. The heart of a Sword Immortal…only one whose heart was truly as sharp, resolute, and indomitable as a sword would be capable of truly comprehending the exquisiteness of the Dao of the Sword. When the sword emerged, there was no room for regret. When the sword emerged, it could not be blocked. This was what it meant to be a Sword Immortal! “KILL!” Ning wielded his twin swords in his hands. His body suddenly increased dramatically as he transformed into a thirty meter tall giant as he simultaneously executed his divine ability, [Starseizing Hand] as well. In this moment, the sword-light in Ning’s hands had reached an awe-inspiringly powerful level. But Xiangliu Fang just let out a furious growl, smashing out with his palm, which swept forward like a dark stormcloud as the giant serpents that were his fingers ravenously bit down. BOOOOM! An explosive sound rang out. The flesh on Xiangliu Fang’s serpent-hand split open, and fresh blood sprayed everywhere as divine power lashed everywhere. Ning was sent flying nback as well, blood spewing out from his mouth. In this moment, Ning understood…that although his power had increased dramatically, compared with Xiangliu Fang, who possessed the power of a peak Loose Immortal, the difference in power was simply too great. The opponent was able to defeat him with just one hand. “Ji Ning.” “Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson, Yu Wei, and Ninelotus all called out in alarm. While being knocked backwards, Ning’s eyes became filled with madness. That black loop, which had been tucked into his bracer the entire time, suddenly appeared in his palm. This was the treasure which Daoist Threelives had personally forged; of Ning’s two important life-saving treasures, it was the only one capable of an active attack. Ning had no other choices left to him. “GO!” Ning waved his hand, sending the black loop flying out. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The black loop seemed quite ordinary, but as Xiangliu Fang struck out with his massive, dark, cloud-like hand, with those giant, serpentine fingers…the black loop actually passed straight through it. The giant Fiendgod’s hand wasn’t harmed at all; it was as though the black loop was composed of a different type of force, as though it was illusory. It passed straight through. “What’s this?” Xiangliu Fang was completely flabbergasted. “Kill him.” Youngflame Nong’s eyes were filled with a murderous intent as well, but then…he too stared in amazement at the black loop which had appeared. A seemingly ordinary black loop, but it caused both Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang to feel nervousness, because they had no idea what sort of a treasure it was. One of them was an ancient Fiendgod with vast experience. The other was all-but-guaranteed to be the next Godplume Duke, who similarly had seen many things. The two of them had seen countless treasures…but they had never seen a treasure like this before. In fact, they couldn’t even tell what it was. “This black loop easily passed through Xiangliu Fang’s massive, Fiendgod hand…and didn’t injure it in the slightest?” Mu Northson was completely awestruck as well. It was like an ordinary person being ‘struck’ by a ghost; the ghost would pass straight through the person. When Xiangliu Fang and the sphere collided, the sphere shot straight through him. But Xiangliu Fang, as a Fiendgod, had an incredibly powerful level of divine power; if it had been a ghost or something like a ghost, it would have been shattered. “What queer thing is this?” NInelotus was amazed as well. She came from the Dongyan clan, but had never heard of such a treasure. “Eh?” Adept Vastriver had long ago awakened fragments of his former memories, but he felt puzzled as well. Yu Wei originally had a look of puzzlement, but then she revealed a look of astonishment. “Can this be…how can it…” ….. The black loop flew into the air directly above Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang, and as it did, it suddenly emanated a soft, hazy glow, causing it to appear dreamlike and illusory. “Shatter,” Xiangliu Fang howled angrily. A long awl appeared in his hand, filled with a boundless, savage aura, and Xiangliu Fang stabbed the black loop viciously with his awl. “Protect me.” Youngflame Nong also felt that this black loop was extremely bizarre. He had already taken out that leaf-like Dao-seal earlier, in order to protect against the black-armored golem’s sudden ambush if necessary. He now shattered it right away. Instantly, a hazy golden aura covered him with a tight defensive aura. “This would be able to withstand for a few moments against even a full-strength attack from a Loose Immortal.” Whoosh. Xiangliu Fang’s ferocious stab…missed. It was as though the black loop didn’t exist at all; or perhaps, it existed on a completely different plane. The black loop continued to emanate that hazy light. Suddenly, an invisible, devouring ripple swept out. “This is…” Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang’s faces both changed dramatically. They could both sense that invisible devouring force…and it was aimed directly at their souls. “AHH!! NO—!” Youngflame Nong’s face turned incomparably savage and terrified. He let out a hideous howl…and then, his soul left his body. Twisting and distorting, it was forcibly drawn into that black loop. Youngflame Nong was a peak Wanxiang Adept, and ever since he was young, he had access to an extremely high level visualization technique; his soul was comparable to a Primal Daoist’s by now, and so naturally it could almost take physical form. Ning and everyone else personally witnessed his twisting, distorting soul howl in anguish as it was drawn into the black loop. “What sort of treasure is this? How can it absorb my soul? How can…how can…how can this be my end? How could I have died to this Ji Ning? Is my soul about to be destroyed? Ji Ning, Ji Ning, spare me, spare me!” Youngflame Nong’s soul let out a soundless screech, continuing to twist and distort as it was drawn deeper and deeper within. “I, I…” Xiangliu Fang was struggling in a berserk manner. And yet…his powerful Fiendgod’s soul was still being forcibly ripped out from his Fiendgod body. As a Primal-level Fiendgod who was capable of creating a clone of himself, it was clear that his soul had long ago completely merged with his Fiendgod body, fusing into one. And yet, it was still being forcibly ripped out right now. It was an enormous soul, and it was letting out earth-shaking bellows that shook the entire hall…but it, too, was being drawn into the black loop. And so, just like that… 1698 Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang, despite their protective treasures or powerful divine bodies…had their souls forcibly devoured by this terrifying, bizarre treasure. Crack. The black loop let out a clear sound, like a piece of ice breaking. Instantly, it shattered apart, dissipating and melting in midair, leaving nothing behind at all. Even Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang’s souls had completely vanished. Slump. Youngflame Nong’s body remained standing there for a moment, eyes completely blank, and then his body slumped gently to the ground. The mighty Xiangliu Fang remained standing for a moment as well, but then he too collapsed to the ground, no longer breathing. This ancient Fiendgod, who had been born in the Fiendgod Era, then been enslaved by the Youngflame clan…finally died on this day. “Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang just…just…just died, like that?” Northson stared with huge eyes. He cleared his throat repeatedly, completely awestruck. “Dead. This…this…” Adept Vastriver was completely awestruck as well. Ninelotus and Yu Wei both looked at the two collapsed, lifeless figures as well; one master, the other a servant. They felt as though they were in a dream. Xiangliu Fang had been so powerful! He was an ancient Fiendgod! As for Youngflame Nong, his background and status were both mighty as well; earlier, when dealing with the monstrous Dao-soldiers, he had taken out the likes of the ‘Lock’ scroll and the ‘Polaris Starshifter’ treasure. They had watched him do this and had realized how truly extraordinary the next Godplume Duke truly was, and how many protective items he had. But the end result? They had both died. Ji Ning, who had been knocked flying backwards and had vomited out blood, revealed a look of astonishment as well. He had never imagined that the black loop would be this powerful. When he had originally selected the black loop, the giant yellow bear had said to him, “Ji Ning, to tell the truth, I originally didn’t want to give you this treasure. However, after you grow more powerful, it will no longer be of much use to you, as by the time you become a Primal, you’ll be able to carry around this underwater estate with you. The Wanxiang Adept period…this is the period in an Immortal cultivator’s life when he is most susceptible to dying. This treasure was personally forged by my master; although he did so casually, it is more than enough to keep you alive. You can consider it a second life….but it can only protect you once.” “A treasure personally forged by Daoist Threelives…even though he made it in a casual way, it was simplicity itself for it to devour the souls of a Primal Fiendgod and a Wanxiang-level noble of a major clan.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh in astonishment to himself. He only knew that this black loop was meant for the sole purpose of drawing in and eradicating souls…but up till now, he had no idea how powerful it was. ….. Ning was only amazed for a second. In the next instant, however, he understood that he had embarked on a path of no return. Actually, ever since Youngflame Nong had determined that Ning was a descendant of the Yuchi clan and moved to kill him, Ning had already embarked on a path of no return. Either he would be killed by Youngflame Nong, or he would kill Youngflame Nong. These were his only two options! But by killing Youngflame Nong, someone who was virtually guaranteed to be the next Godplume Duke, and whose background was incredibly astonishing… Youngflame Nong’s status within his clan was similar to Ning’s former status in the Ji clan of West Prefecture City; Ning had both the Lord Prefect and his own father supporting him. For it to be all but determined that Youngflame Nong would be the next Godplume Duke meant that he definitely had an incredibly powerful figure supporting him as well! Youngflame Nong had died. If only for emotional reasons alone, that powerful figure would come to seek revenge! Aside from saving face for the Youngflame clan, revenge for Youngflame Nong would also be an important reason! “Hahaha…” Ning actually began to laugh loudly. With a wave of his hand, he sent out a streak of earthfire, which burnt the corpse of Xue Hongyi to ash. He then collected the magic treasures which Xue Hongyi had left behind. Xue Hongyi had that Immortal-ranked magic treasure; naturally, since Ning was about to flee for his life, he would want to carry as many treasures with him as possible. Whoosh. With a single step, Ning moved to Youngflame Nong and the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang’s corpses. A streak of earthfire burned Youngflame Nong’s corpses to gray ash, but the earthfire was completely unable to damage Xiangliu Fang’s Fiendgod body at all. This caused Ning to frown. “Come in here.” He simply stored the entire Fiendgod body into his storage-type magic treasure. Then, with a wave of his hand, Ning collected the key to the Immortal estate. Ning quickly began to bind it. The key to the Immortal estate was merely a talisman; binding it was quite simple. The nearby Northson, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, and Adept Vastriver just watched as Ning burned the corpses of Xue Hongyi and Youngflame Nong, then took away all their magic treasures. All of them were still in a state of shock. “Senior apprentice-brother, you, you…you killed Youngflame Nong?” Northson’s mouth flapped open a few times. He was still speechless. More than ten or so Zifu Disciples were still alive. They all watched Ning intently, especially those two female Zifu-level maidservants who served Youngflame Nong. Swish! Ning’s gaze flickered past them. Suddenly, the air was filled with sword-ki, which howled downwards, instantly killing all of the Deathsworn. “If the Deathsworn remain alive, they would only reveal everything which happened here.” Ning knew very well that these Deathsworn were completely loyal to Youngflame Nong. They had watched everything happen; once the Youngflame clan found these Deathsworn, everything would have been exposed. “Ji Ning.” Ninelotus had a look of panic on her face. Tears actually began to appear. “How could you have killed Youngflame Nong. This…next…this…the Youngflame clan is definitely going to pursue and kill you. There’s no way…no way to stop the Youngflame clan. He was one of the Four Dukelings of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty. He was extremely famous…for the sake of their reputation alone, the Youngflame clan would spare no expense in pursuing and killing you.” Ning looked towards Ninelotus. “I had no choice. I only had two options; to let him kill me, or to kill him! Either he died or I died. What should I have done?” Ninelotus was so frantic, she began to cry. Previously, she had been trying her best to prevent hatred from developing between Ning and Youngflame Nong, but in the end…the result was even worse than what she had feared. Youngflame Nong, the exalted heir-presumptive to the position of Godplume Duke of the Youngflame clan…had died. “No need to panic,” Ning said with cold calmness. “I killed Youngflame Nong, but I trust that none of you will voluntarily report me. There’s no way the Youngflame clan would be able to ascertain, within such a short period of time, who the killer was. They will need to spend time to investigate. I’ll immediately send you all out of this Immortal estate. By then, you can return to your own homes, to the Dongyan clan and to the Black-White College of Stillwater City. Nothing which happened here had anything to do with you. I was the killer; the Youngflame clan won’t act against the rest of you. But by the time they’ve fully investigated this matter, I’ll have already arranged an escape plan and executed it.” “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you are wrong.” Yu Wei was frantic and restless as well, and she said hurriedly, “According to legends, some extremely powerful figures, such as Celestial Immortals, are completely capable of causing a temporal inversion, resulting in scenes from the past being replayed in the present. From this, they can discover right away that you were the culprit.” Ning instantly felt his heart clench. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Temporal inversion?” Ning instantly realized that the situation was far more dire than he had thought! He had previously believed that after having killed Youngflame Nong, he would have some time before the Youngflame clan discovered him, which would allow him to arrange for his clan, the Ji clan, to escape. But now, it seemed, time was far too tight. “Everyone, we have no time. I’ll send you all out now. Go to a safe location. Because of me, all of you have been implicated.” In order to save time, Ning began to converse mentally with them. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning,” Yu Wei sent hurriedly, “You don’t need to worry about our safety; the Grand Xia Dynasty has its rules, and the Youngflame clan cannot simply do what it wishes. As long as we return to the Black-White College, we will be fine; the Grand Xia Dynasty’s laws state that violence is forbidden within its commandery cities. In addition, we weren’t the ones to kill Youngflame Nong, and so the Youngflame clan would have no excuse to act against us. Right now, you need to worry about yourself.” “You have two main options right now.” “The first is to flee. Flee to a place where the Youngflame clan cannot reach you and take revenge, such as other lesser or major worlds. Another option would to be to flee straight to the main headquarters of the Raindragon Guard. The Raindragon Guard remains the most powerful military force within the Grand Xia Dynasty; no matter how daring the Youngflame clan is, they wouldn’t dare to act against you while you are with the Raindragon Guard.” “The second option is to go up against them head-on. Go straight to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty; that’s the capital city for the entirety of the Grand Xia Empire, and the most supreme clans and schools of the entire Grand Xia Empire reside there. You can first go to the local Raindragon Guard branch; that place will be absolutely safe. Afterwards, you can participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Now that you have mastered a Grand Dao Domain, you will definitely be able to perform with brilliant splendor at the Conclave. Given your talent, there will be quite a few powers which will want to draw you into their fold. By then, you can join a power that is opposed to the Youngflame clan.” “The Youngflame clan is powerful, but if you look at the Grand Xia Dynasty as a whole, you’ll still find a few organizations which are more powerful than them and which hold vast grudges against them. Some of the grudges can be described as ‘mortal enmity’, and there are more than a few; after all, in this vast world which the imperial clan of the Grand Xia Dynasty has unified, it is normal for the largest, most powerful clans, sects, and churches to have their disputes and grudges against each other. For example, the ‘Kindwater’ 1 clan is even more powerful than the Youngflame clan 2, and these two clans have felt mortal enmity towards each other ever since the Fiendgod Era. After countless generations of struggle, both sides have even lost Celestial Immortals. One leader after another has been assassinated by the 1703 other side as well. Given that you’ve killed Youngflame Nong, powers like the Kindwater clan would definitely be willing to pull you into their fold. By relying on powerful clans such as them, you can continue to fight against the Youngflame clan.” “Two options; one to flee, the other to resist. These are the only two ideas I’m able to come up with in such a short period of time,” Yu Wei sent. Ning had previously been planning on fleeing. He hadn’t expected that Yu Wei would be able to provide yet another clear path for him. Right! The Youngflame clan ranked in the top ten clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty…but that meant there were nine other clans on par with them! The more powerful an organization was, the more fights it would get into over resources; this was extremely common. “As for your clan, the Ji clan,” Yu Wei sent hurriedly, “For now, you can have your clansmen lay low; you can also have some of the elites be sent to Stillwater City or the imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Murder and fighting is forbidden in commandery cities; if anyone dares to act in such a way, they will definitely suffer reprisals from the Grand Xia Dynasty.” “Although the Youngflame clan might be able to arrange for some wanted criminals to go commit suicide attacks…how powerful could these wanted criminals possibly be? These wanted criminals are all completely lawless; the more powerful they are, the less willing they are to do anyone’s bidding, especially those Fiendgods and Loose Immortals. It will be very hard for the Youngflame clan to invite those truly terrifying figures to intervene.” “The only option is for the Youngflame clan to send its own Loose Immortals out to annihilate your Ji clan. Even if they escape blame by claiming that the Loose Immortal did it of his own free will…that Loose Immortal would definitely die!” Yu Wei continued, sending mentally, “No matter what, so long as a tribe can save its elites, in the future, it will flourish again. You are the genius which the Ji clan has finally produced after countless years; you need to protect yourself.” “Thank you, senior apprentice-sister.” Ning had some plans of his own, but upon hearing Yu Wei’s suggestions, he instantly felt as though a bigger picture had been revealed to him, giving him some new ideas as well. And, Ning also had a feeling…as though Yu Wei seemed to have quite a clear understanding of the most powerful, supreme forces of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. “Ji Ning,” Ninelotus sent hurriedly, “Come with me. I’ll take you to see the Forefather and have him send you out from this major world of the Grand Xia Dynasty. As for the Ji clan, I’ll come up with a way to protect some of their elites. In the future, when you are more powerful and come back, we can have the Ji clan flourish again.” 1704 “Senior apprentice-brother, are you preparing to flee? I’ll go with you. My master is close to the end of her life; she’s going to enter her final, closed-door meditation. She’s already taught me everything she can. I have nothing holding me back. Going with you and fleeing together is bound to be an exciting life,” Northson sent. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, protect yourself; only then will you have a chance to turn the tables in the future.” Adept Vastriver looked towards Ning. Ning laughed. Then, suddenly…Ning’s gaze fell upon Ninelotus. He sent mentally, “Ninelotus.” “Yes?” Ninelotus looked at Ning. “I killed Youngflame Nong. Regardless of whether I choose to flee to another world, or if I choose to join another supreme clan or alliance…I’ll be unable to remain within Stillwater Commandery. I’ll be a homeless wanderer…would you be willing to go with me?” Ning looked towards Ninelotus, eyes filled with hope. “I, I…” Ninelotus hesitated. She could imagine the path which Ning would walk down in the future. It would be a path of incomparable danger. Should she accompany him on that wandering path? She felt an impulsive urge to agree. To wander to the edges of the world with Ning, to share life and death together. But then she thought of her clan. She was the next leader of the Dongyan clan. She couldn’t possibly just go wandering off with Ning to the ends of the earth endlessly. No one could know how long the wandering would last. “Ninelotus.” Ning could sense her hesitation. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of pain in his heart. He knew that this request of his was a bit excessive. Only…in this moment, after having embarked on this path, Ning truly wanted for someone to walk it with him. This arduous Immortal path…if someone could share it with him and share its burdens with him…Ning truly hoped that someone would be Ninelotus. “I’m sorry.” Ninelotus’ eyes filled with tears as she looked at Ning. “Ji Ning, I suddenly understand now. I simply can’t wander the world by your side; I can’t share life and death with you. The Forefather’s words were right. To be Dao-Companions…that means to be willing to die for someone. Dao-Companions…if Immortals or Buddhas block your path, for the sake of bringing your Dao-Companion back, you would be willing to murder Immortals or annihilate Buddhas. But I can’t do it! I truly can’t do it. I have my own path to follow and I…I don’t want to give up my own path for you.” “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tears were streaming down Ninelotus’ face. “No need to say anything further.” Ning’s eyes were glimmering with unshed tears as well. “It’s my fault for being too greedy. I’m embarking on a path of certain danger, and I’ll definitely be fighting against the Youngflame clan for countless years to come. I went too far in what I asked for. I shouldn’t dare to drag you in and implicate you as well.” “From now on…you are you.” “I am me.” “This Immortal path…it’s enough for me to walk it alone.” Ning pointed into the distance. Whoosh! Instantly, a watery, rippling pattern appeared, followed by a tunnel. Outside the tunnel was the Skyrove Mountains of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s major world. Ning immediately said, “Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, senior apprentice-brother Vastriver, junior apprentice-brother Northson, and Ninelotus…you can leave.” “Senior apprentice-brother, I told you that I’m going to go adventuring with you. I have nothing holding me back. What the hell do I have to be afraid of?” Northson spoke with great urgency. “This is an extremely dangerous path I am embarking on, junior apprentice-brother Northson…” “Do you think I’m too weak for it?” Northson ground his teeth. “Right. You are too weak. You can’t help me; instead, you’d slow me down.” Ning gritted his own teeth as well as he responded. The nearby Yu Wei spoke out to urge Northson. “Junior apprentice-brother Northson, don’t be stubborn; this isn’t the time to show your loyalty. Your strength truly is a bit too low.” Northson looked at Ning, his eyes turning slightly red. “Senior apprentice-brother, after my mother died, I no longer had any kinsmen left. After I joined the school, you became the closest person in my life. Long ago, I started to view you as I would an actual, biological brother. It is true that I am a bit weak, and I know that you said those word because you don’t want me to be pulled into this. I’m not going to say anything else for now, except…” “When I go back, I’m going to train hard. And if you die, I’ll definitely take revenge for you.” Ning’s eyes turned red. He hadn’t imagined…he truly hadn’t imagined that Northson, in his heart, viewed Ning as he would a real brother. “Hahaha, don’t worry. I won’t die that easily.” Tears in his eyes, Ning laughed loudly, then said, “Stop dawdling. Hurry up and leave.” Ninelotus felt all the more agony in her heart at this moment. Even Northson had been willing to throw everything away, but her? She truly wanted to do the same, to throw everything away, to discard her clan, to roam the world by Ning’s side. But…she continued to hesitate. She just couldn’t throw it all away. “I’m sorry.” Tears fell down Ninelotus’ face. “Stay alive. You have to stay alive.” And then, she turned her head and flew through the corridor to the Skyrove Mountains on the other side. Northson, Yu Wei, and Adept Vastriver all understood. Dao-Companions, Dao-Companions…what were Dao-Companions? Only those who would never abandon each other, even at their most critical moments, could be considered Dao-Companions. Ninelotus’ departure, and the words she had just spoken…they caused the three to understand that in the future, most likely Ji Ning and Ninelotus would truly embark on completely separate Immortal paths. “Be careful,” Northson said. “Stay alive.” Yu Wei looked at Ning. “You have to stay alive,” Adept Vastriver instructed as well. And then, the three flew through the corridor, arriving within the Skyrove Mountains. The corridor then shut. ….. The Skyrove Mountains. They had returned to the world of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Northson, and Adept Vastriver all turned their heads to stare at the corridor. Through it, they could vaguely make out that solitary, lonely figure within the main hall on the other side. From today on…Ning was going to have to fight by himself. Ninelotus stared through the tunnel. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop her tears from continuing to fall. The choice she had made today was an incomparably agonizing choice for her. She wasn’t able to abandon her tribe. She had her own dreams. She simply couldn’t make herself discard everything for Ning’s sake. Yu Wei, Northson, and Adept Vastriver didn’t say anything. This was because they, too, understood how rare it was for there to be a pair of Dao-Companions who would truly share life and death together, who would never leave each other, and whose lives would become as one. In fact, many so-called DaoCompanions would actually end up hating each other and becoming enemies; it wasn’t uncommon for them to end up fighting over treasures and killing each other. To truly be together until death parted them…this was far too rare. Ninelotus had too many other things she cared about. She couldn’t throw them all away. Whoosh. The corridor swung shut, and they could no longer see to the other side. “Let’s go.” Northson gritted his teeth. “Let’s go.” “I’m going back to my clan.” Ninelotus returned by herself to the Dongyan clan, while Northson, Adept Vastriver, and Yu Wei returned to the Black-White College. ….. Within the palace. “From today onwards, I shall traverse my Immortal path alone. It’s for the best, actually. By myself, I’ll be much more carefree,” Ning said with a laugh. “Master, you still have us.” Little Qing raised her serpentine head and called out to him. Ning looked towards the Azure Skysnake, then towards Uncle White, who had followed him silently this entire time. He felt a warm feeling in his heart. “Right. I still have you two. Little Qing, Uncle White, let’s go. Let’s go and meet the monsters of this Immortal estate.” 1. The character for ‘Kind’, Zhuan, is a reference to mythological Emperor Zhuanxu, one of the legendary Five Emperors of prehistoric China 2. The character for ‘Flame’, Yan, is a reference to mythological Yan Emperor, the Flame Emperor If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the Immortal estate. The clan commanded by Immortal Witchsui, along with the many Seawave Dao-soldiers commanded by Immortal Duohe, continued to wait on the outside of the fifth palace. Although they were enraged and despairing, they still hoped…hoped that a miracle might occur. “Monster clans.” Suddenly, a voice rang out, and along with it, waves of divine will rolled out, instantly encompassing all of the monstrous Dao-soldiers. “Eh?” All of the monsters looked over. Even Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe were shocked. A few hundred kilometers away, there was a fur-clad youth, with a little azure serpent coiled around his arm and a large, snowy white dog by his side. In the air around them hovered ancient, plain, unadorned wooden sticks. It was the Fuxi Staff Formation; space within a hundred kilometers of that human was completely locked, and there would be no way to teleport inside. “You?” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe immediately recognized him. Amongst the group of humans, there was indeed a fur-clad human who had a giant snowy white dog. “The key to the Immortal estate is now in my hands.” Ning’s voice rang out by the ears of every single monster. His divine sense had spread to a thousand kilometers; naturally, he was able to send his voice to each and every one of them. “Open.” Ning held the key to the Immortal estate in his hands. He sent his will forth, and next to him a corridor appeared; it was the corridor to the Skyrove Mountains in the outside world. Actually, just now, Ning had already used the key to leave and go to the Skyrove Mountains, then re-entered, having Little Qing lead him and Uncle White in a teleportation. Little Qing was actually far more powerful now than she had been in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains; for near-distance blinks, she could bring others along with her. The main thing was that Ning had yet to bind the various branches; if he emerged directly from within the Witchriver Palace, he would have been surrounded by the monsters. “The key to the Immortal estate.” “He is holding the key to the Immortal estate in his hands.” “That’s the outside world, the smell of the outside world.” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe swept forward with their divine senses, and were even able to extend them into the corridor leading to the outside world. “That’s another world!” 1709 Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and the many monsters all stared towards Ning with even more blazingly desirous gazes. Although they were suspicious as to why the other human was no longer holding the key, the truth remained that this man before them was holding it now. They couldn’t be bothered to over-analyze it; they knew that the appearance of this youth represented a desire by this youth to negotiate with them. Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe were actually considering whether or not they should try to seize the key to the Immortal estate. However, their earlier, repeated failures caused them to no longer dare to act rashly. “Don’t try anything. I’ve already set up a formation around me, and the corridor is already open; I can leave at any time. In addition, even if you truly were to attack, you wouldn’t be able to kill me,” Ning said. He had that other protective magic treasure, and also the magic treasures which Youngflame Nong had left behind. His words were completely true. Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe, as well as the other monsters, all calmed down. They no longer dared to make any more gambles. “What do you want?” Immotal Witchsui asked. “I offended a powerful a tribe, the Youngflame clan, and the clan is going to come act against me. They might even act against my tribe.” Ning’s divine sense was sending a message to every single monster. “My tribe is located in a commandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the City of Ten Thousand Swords. I wish for you, the monsters of this Immortal estate world, to go to the City of Ten Thousand Swords and protect my tribe. Protect them for a thousand years; after that period of time, I’ll release you and give you your freedom. As for the key to the Immortal estate? I can just give it to you.” The key to the Immortal estate wasn’t of much use to Ning. There was no way he could carry the Witchriver Immortal Estate with him; what was he supposed to do with it? In addition, he had the underwater estate, an even finer estate left behind by Daoist Threelives. As for the treasures within the Witchriver Immortal Estate? The Dao Repository and the Treasure Vault had already been looted clean. “Protect them for a thousand years?” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe, along with the tens of thousands of monsters, were both amazed and delighted. Although a thousand years was a fairly long period of time, monsters had extremely long lifespans to begin with. To simply protect a tribe for a thousand years…they would then be able to go to the wider, vast world. They would even receive the key to the Immortal estate. They didn’t even dare to imagine something like this previously. They had been preparing to be fleeced, and had even been willing to hand over part of their Dao-armors as their offer for peace. But Ning had no desire for the Dao-armors; wearing the Dao-armors, these monsters would be ten times or even tens of times more powerful. That was what he wanted; them to be powerful! “Your tribe is located in the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’ of the Grand Xia Dynasty? Based on what I know, the Grand Xia Dynasty is extremely strict in its prohibition against battles within commandery cities. If anyone dares to fight within one, they will suffer pursuit and apprehension by the Grand Xia Dynasty. This ‘Youngflame’ clan that wishes to act against your tribe, they shouldn’t dare to actually attack your city, should they?” Immortal Duohe asked. Although they had always been trapped within here, they had passed down records regarding the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world from generation to generation, and so they knew some of the most basic things. “Correct, they won’t dare to launch an actual attack. However, if they were to send some wanted criminals or some Deathsworn to attack my tribe…” Ning sent to them, “These criminals and Deathsworn would most likely be at the Wanxiang level or the Primal Daoist level. Loose Immortals? The chances of there being one of them should be very, very low. Celestial Immortals? That’s even less likely.” To enter a commandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty and launch an attack was a challenge and affront to the entire Dynasty. Anyone who did so would be killed without question. For the sake of Youngflame Nong, who was already dead…would they really be willing to sacrifice a Loose Immortal, just for the sake of giving vent to their rage and killing a backwater tribe? The chances were quite low. As for sacrificing a Celestial Immortal? That was virtually impossible. It must be understood that every single Celestial Immortal was considered one of the true foundations for a clan. A single word from a Celestial Immortal could even cause the clan leader to be changed. If Ning were to become a Celestial Immortal, he would become one of the figures capable of influencing the entire Grand Xia Dynasty; even the entire Youngflame clan would treat him with courtesy. If it had been a Celestial Immortal who had killed Youngflame Nong, most likely the Youngflame clan would just go negotiate with him, rather than pursue and attack him. Thus, there was no way the Youngflame clan would be so stupid as to send a Celestial Immortal into a commandery city and begin a slaughter. “We know a little bit about the Grand Xia Empire’s world. It is already incredible for the supreme clans to have even just one or two Celestial Immortals; there is no way they would let them end up as wanted criminals.” Immortal Duohe and Witchsui exchanged a glance, then made up their minds. “We have decided to agree to your request. For a thousand years, we shall be stationed at that commandery city of the Grand Xia Empire, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’, and protect your clan. Given our power, even if supreme Loose Immortals come, we should be able to easily defeat them. However, if a Celestial Immortal comes, there is nothing we can do.” “If a Celestial Immortal attacks, I’ll just accept it,” Ning sent. “Monsters, all of you need to now swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. I shall do the same.” “Fine.” 1711 “That’s how it should be done.” The monsters were indeed afraid that Ning would later go back on his word; it was best if they all swore oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. Soon, with Ning personally choosing the words to the oaths, both came to an agreement on what to say, then swore the oaths. Tens of thousands of monsters simultaneously swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. Ripples of power from the Dao of the Heavens descended upon them, and through his divine sense, Ning could clearly see every single monster making the oath. These thirty thousand-plus monsters were the elites of this entire Immortal estate world; more than ninety nine percent of the Diremonster Immortal cultivators were present. Oaths to the Dao of the Heavens were useless against mortals and useless against ordinary monsters, but upon monsters or humans embarking upon the Immortal path, it would have tremendous effect! These monstrous Dao-soldiers were all at the Zifu level at the very least. The thirty thousand-plus monsters, along with two Loose Immortals, all swore their oaths to the Dao of the Heavens, and Ning, in turn, was no longer worried about them going back on their word. Naturally, he swore an oath as well. “There is no time to waste,” Ning sent mentally. “That expert from the Youngflame clan might even be a Celestial Immortal, and he will soon reach the Witchriver Immortal Estate. Once he comes, he might annihilate all of you. We need to immediately leave.” “What?!” Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and the others were all shocked. The two Immortals were quite decisive; in the face of an opportunity that would change the destinies of all the monsters in the Immortal estate world, they immediately ordered the necessary arrangements be made. “Daoist Zhenbao, Daoist Witchaxle, each of you go lead a thousand Dao-soldiers and gather all of our clansmen within the Immortal estate world, then lead them to the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” “This is a map of the Stillwater Commandery of the Grand Xia Empire. There is a mark here for the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” Ning flew over as well. Given that they had all sworn oaths to the Dao of the Heavens, they were naturally now in the same boat. “We’ll lead these soldiers to head there right away,” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe both said. “Everyone, get in.” The two Immortals each produced a giant sack. Whooooooosh. Not a single one of the many monstrous Dao-soldiers resisted. All of them allowed themselves to be drawn into the sacks, leaving behind just Immortal Zhenbao, Immortal Witchaxle, and the two thousand Dao-soldiers under their command. “Let’s go.” Whoosh. A corridor appeared, leading to the Skyrove Mountains. Ning, Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and Daoist Witchaxle all flew out. They appeared within the gorge in the Skyrove Mountains. Even the aura and the smell here was different compared to the Immortal estate world; this was an aura of a vast, endless world, the smell of an entire, major world. “It’s different.” “It really is different.” “This is the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world.” Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and the others were all stunned and excited. “This is the key to the Immortal estate.” Ning handed the key directly to Daoist Witchaxle. “I’m giving it to you now. Immediately lead the remaining monsters to quickly depart from the Immortal estate world; if you delay, the situation might change.” “Right.” Daoist Witchaxle accepted the key, then immediately generated a corridor, returning to the Immortal estate and then shutting the corridor off. “Let’s go,” Ning said. “The City of Ten Thousand Swords is six hundred thousand kilometers to the north.” “Let’s go.” Immortal Duohe, that powerful old fellow, personally executed a teleportation, bringing Immortal Witchsui, Ning, Little Qing, and Uncle White with him in a long-distance teleport. …… Whoosh. Ning realized that the surrounding environment had changed. He took a careful look, then said, “We were slightly off; the City of Ten Thousand Swords is roughly twenty six thousand kilometers to our southeast.” “Then I’ll just teleport us again.” The shorter the distance, the easier a teleportation was. Immortal Duohe easily teleported them a short distance. In the middle of the air, surrounded by clouds, at a location just a few hundred kilometers outside the City of Ten Thousand Swords. A spatial ripple appeared, then from within it emerged Immortal Duohe, Immortal Witchsui, and a fur-clad youth, a little azure serpent, and a large, snowy white hound. “Here we are.” Ning stared towards the distance. His Fiendgod-like eyesight could easily see the distant commandery city, just a few hundred kilometers away. This caused Ning to let out a sigh of relief; previously, when he had been chatting with the monsters in the Immortal estate, he had done so through divine sense, so as to save as much time as possible. He had been worried about taking too much time and unforseen things happening. Ning pointed towards the distant commandery city. “That city is the City of Ten Thousand Swords, the city which the monster clans of the Immortal estate must protect for a thousand years.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Inside a large, secluded, palace. “What? A tribe even more powerful than the Northmont clan of Stillwater?” Ji Ninefire, Ji Truekeep, and Granny Shadow were completely petrified. “This is Immortal Duohe, while this is Immortal Witchsui; both are extremely powerful Loose Immortals.” After describing the dangerous situation, Ji Ning moved to introduce the two by his side. “Loose Immortals?” Ninfire and the others felt dazed. Legendary, exalted Loose Immortals were before them…and two of them at that. “They will command thirty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers to protect our City of Ten Thousand Swords,” Ning said. “They are all wearing Dao-armors, and so with these two Loose Immortals in command of thirty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers…even if tens of Loose Immortals come, they should be able to withstand them. They will protect our city for a thousand years. Unless a Celestial Immortal or someone with a Celestial Immortal’s power attacks us, our city should be completely safe.” Ninefire, Truekeep, and Granny Shadow were cultivators, after all; despite still being stunned, they quickly regained their equilibrium. “You three can decide what arrangements need to be made for the tribe,” Ning said. “You know more about these things than me anyhow.” “Don’t worry.” Truekeep nodded. “With such a powerful army of Dao-soldiers stationed here, and with this being a commandery city of the Grand Xia Empire that is under special protection from the Raindragon Guard as well…anyone who dares attack will be pursued throughout the entire Grand Xia Dynasty! No matter how powerful the Youngflame clan is, they wouldn’t possibly be willing to have one of their legendary Celestial Immortals become a wanted criminal.” Celestial Immortals were figures of legends. It wasn’t even known for certain whether or not the Northmont clan of Stillwater had a Celestial Immortal. As for the Black-White College, in its countless years of existence, it had produced countless Loose Immortals, but only a single Celestial Immortal. “Little Qing, Uncle White, the two of you shall stay here for now. Here is a talisman.” Ning handed a talisman to the human-shaped Uncle White. “If you notice that the talisman has shattered, then teleport directly towards Serpentwing Lake and reunite with me. If the talisman remains whole, then you are absolutely not permitted to come.” 1715 “Right.” Little Qing and Uncle White both nodded. At a critical moment like this, they wouldn’t let him down. “Ning, son, be careful,” Uncle White instructed. Ning nodded and smiled. “I’ll leave now. After this departure, I probably won’t be able to return for a very long period of time.” Ning looked towards Ninefire, Truekeep, and Granny shadow. “It was I who brought this calamity upon the tribe. In the future, I’ll make up for it.” “Don’t say such things!” Ninefire scolded in a low voice. “Remember, you have to protect yourself. Only if you are alive shall our Ji clan have a chance to flourish.” For a tribe to produce a genius like Ning was completely a matter of luck. “I’m leaving now.” Ning immediately used a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal. Whoosh. He disappeared from within the hall. ………. In the air above Brightheart Island of Serpentwing Lake. A ripple in the air could be seen, and then Ning emerged. “Autumn Leaf.” Upon landing, Ning immediately sent his voice out, calling towards Autumn Leaf. Soon, a light gray-robed Autumn Leaf emerged. She looked at Ning in surprise and delight. “Young master.” “You can no longer stay on Brightheart Island. Hurry up and have everyone on the island move away to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. As for you, you need to leave immediately,” Ning instructed. Autumn Leaf was stunned. “What, what happened?” Brightheart Island had long ago become her home; she had poured her heart out in developing this place. “Don’t ask. I don’t have time to explain in detail. When you arrive in the City of Ten Thousand Swords, you can ask Uncle White and the others, and they will let you know. Right now, you need to make the arrangements right away, then immediately leave. This is a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal; you can use it to teleport up to ten thousand kilometers away. Teleport straight to the city.” Ning handed her a Dao-seal. Autumn Leaf immediately understood how grave the situation was. Actually, even if a Celestial Immortal of the Youngflame clan was to personally investigate, he would have to first go into the Witchriver Immortal Estate, find the ‘Witchriver Palace’ in which Youngflame Nong had been killed, then utilize a temporal inversion technique. Even if, through the usage of such a technique, he discovered that Ning was the killer, he would probably need a bit of time before finding out about Ning’s background. This entire process would take time, and in truth, by the time that Celestial Immortal might have made his way to Swallow Mountain, much time would have passed. And even if he came, he wouldn’t recognize Autumn Leaf, nor know about the relationship between her and Ning; thus, there was absolutely no need at all for Autumn Leaf to use the Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal. Ning, however, was uneasy. In order to prevent any unknown variables from arising, he thus instructed Autumn Leaf to use the Dao-seal. Swoosh. After making the arrangements, Autumn Leaf, per Ning’s request, was forced to use this Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal. “Whew.” Ning let out a sigh of relief. “Alright.” He pushed open the door to the private room he normally stayed in, entered, then shut the door. With but a thought, he caused the illusion of a giant grizzly head to appear within the room. The grizzly head swallowed Ning within its mouth, and Ning disappeared from Serpentwing Lake, entering the underwater estate in another world. ………. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty. This was the administrative heart of this entire major world. There were many Loose Immortals and Primal Daoists here, as well as various supreme tribes, schools, and sects as well! In fact, even some of the most powerful forces from other major worlds would arrange for spies and intelligence agents to be placed here. This was truly a place where the fish swam with the dragons. Immortals were as common as the clouds, and unfathomable in their power! The Youngflame clan’s estate in this place took up a thousand kilometers. It was incomparably luxurious. Within a quiet study inside their estate. A golden-robed man with a crown on his head was seated before a desk, reading various intelligence reports. He was the leader of the Youngflame clan, the current Godplume Duke! “The Kindwater clan is becoming increasingly excessive in their actions!” The golden-robed man frowned and muttered to himself. “Clan leader, clan leader.” Suddenly, a panicked voice rang out. Upon hearing this voice, the golden-robed man’s face sunk. He hated it when his subordinates lost their bearings and grew panicked. However, this particular subordinate was his personal attendant, and one who should have known the rules. The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man dressed in blue robes charged in, then knelt down and said in sobbing voice, “Clan leader, young master Youngflame Nong, he, he…” “Youngflame Nong? What about him?” The golden-robed man frowned. “He died!” The blue-robed middle-aged servant spoke out in a terrified, frantic voice. “What?!” The golden-robed man rose to his feet, revealing a look of astonishment. “How did he die? How do you know he died? You can’t say such things unless you are absolutely certain.” “His life-tablet in the ancestral hall has shattered,” the blue-robed servant called out. The golden-robed man stood there in the study. After a few moments of silence, he said in a low voice, “Investigate. Send out my orders; within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Youngflame Nong’s whereabouts needs to be discovered.” “Yes,” the blue-robed servant said hurriedly. “Youngflame Nong actually died? He should have gone to the Witchriver Immortal Estate. How could he have died? Even if he wasn’t able to bind the Witchriver Immortal Estate, he had a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal on him…even within the Immortal estate, he would’ve been able to teleport out to the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world. And he had that Fiendgod with him, Xiangliu Fang.” The golden-robed man was pondering to himself. Youngflame Nong was one of his juniors; they weren’t exactly on close terms with each other, and in fact, he didn’t really like Youngflame Nong. But Youngflame Nong had a Celestial Immortal supporting him! Although on the surface, the most powerful figure in a clan was its titular clan leader, compared to the Celestial Immortals who were the Patriarchs of the clan, the clan leader was far inferior. These Celestial Immortal Patriarchs who had lived countless years were the true foundation of a clan. The birth of every Celestial Immortal would cause the entire clan to celebrate, and the fall of every Celestial Immortal would be hidden for as long as possible. This was why no one was certain as to how many Celestial Immortals a clan had. For example, the Northmont clan of Stillwater; did it have any surviving Celestial Immortals or not? This was a mystery. How many Celestial Immortal Patriarchs did the Youngflame clan have? This, too, was a mystery. Even the Godplume Duke himself only knew of three Celestial Immortal Patriarchs within the clan; as for Youngflame Nong, he only knew of one! But even the Godplume Duke wasn’t certain as to exactly how many Celestial Immortals his clan had. “Clan leader.” The blue-robed servant returned, saying hurriedly with respect, “Three days ago, Young master Youngflame Nong used a teleportation array to go to Stillwater Commandery, then headed towards the Witchriver Immortal Estate. I’m not capable of locating the exact location of the estate.” “Right.” The golden-robed man nodded. “I need to go on a visit. For now, you are not to inform any outsiders of Youngflame Nong’s death.” “Yes.” 1718 Soon, nine golden Flood Dragons, pulling an Immortal carriage behind them, soared out from within the Youngflame clan’s estate. They howled through the air, departing from the imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty and entering the azure void of the skies. …… At the peak of a tall volcano which stretched through the clouds. The nine golden Flood Dragons, pulling the Immortal carriage, descended from the skies, then flew into the mouth of the volcano. The last time this volcano had erupted was hundreds of thousands of years ago. They continued to fly down through the opening. Bubbling streams of lava could be seen in the depths below. In the center of the lava flows, a towering, red-haired giant could be seen, reclining in the lava. This red-haired giant lay there as though lying within a personal bathtub. His head was supported by a ‘pillow’ of stone, and his feet pressed against another stone. His eyes were even larger than the Immortal carriage. “Senior Bafire.” The golden-robed man stood in front of the Immortal carriage and called out. “Oh?” The red-haired giant opened his eyes and looked at the golden-robed man. After pondering a moment, he said slowly, “You are…Youngflame Fujun, the current clan leader and Godplume Duke?” “I am.” The golden-robed man was still quite humble. This was because he knew who the Fiendgod in front of him was. This Fiendgod was surnamed Bafire, and was an incomparably powerful warrior who had belonged to an extremely mighty Fiendgod tribe, back in the Fiendgod Era. He was a Void-level Fiendgod! However, although he was ‘only’ a Void-level Fiendgod, his true combat power was absolutely on the level of Celestial Immortals. In the past, it had been one of the most brilliant, outstanding Patriarchs of the Youngflame clan who had subdued and tamed him. Unfortunately, that Patriarch had already fallen over the passage of countless years. “What is it?” The red-haired giant asked. “Are the three Patriarchs still within this major world?” The golden-robed man asked. The red-haired giant said slowly, “Patriarch Infatuation left this major world more than ten thousand years ago. Where he went, and when he shall return…is unknown. Patriarch Sunfish, just a few decades, went to meet with friends in the Deva realm; generally speaking, he will spend a century in the Deva realm when meeting with friends. Only Patriarch Arcanum remains here, in secluded meditation.” “Youngflame Nong just died. This is a matter of grave import; I’d like to trouble you, senior Bafire, to make a report to Patriarch Arcanum,” the golden-robed man said hurriedly. “Youngflame Nong? The next clan leader of your clan?” The red-haired giant laughed. “Your next clan leader actually died? What a joke. I’ll go help you make the report.” 1719 The red-haired giant closed his eyes. Moments later, he opened them again. “Patriarch Arcanum will arrive right away.” The location of the place where Patriarch Arcanum was secluded was a mystery; only some of Patriarch Arcanum’s closest confidantes knew. Not even the Godplume Duke knew. Whoooosh. In the air above the lava, spots of stellar light suddenly appeared. The brilliant spots of stellar light began to link together, seemingly forming a mysterious, arcane formation. Suddenly, a tall, skinny, narrow-eyed elder stepped out from within that swirl of countless stars. In this moment, it seemed as though the entire world was bowing towards him, as though he and he alone was the only master of the world. “Patriarch Arcanum.” The golden-robed man hurriedly bowed with respect. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The old man looked at the golden-robed man. His voice was rather shrill, and his gaze was filled with grief. “My child Nong died?” “Patriarch, Youngflame Nong’s spirit-tablet has shattered,” the golden-robed man said respectfully, not daring to show the slightest bit of discourtesy. “Lishui, your master has failed you.” Patriarch Arcanum shut his eyes, tears appearing at the corner. Immortal Lishui was the female disciple who he had loved the dearest; the two had identical dispositions, and Patriarch Arcanum had all but viewed her as he would his own daughter. Unfortunately, Immortal Lishui had been too arrogant when facing her Celestial Tribulation, and in the end, her spirit had been destroyed! The Celestial Tribulation was the greatest tribulation in any individual’s life. Overcoming it meant becoming a carefree Celestial Immortal; failing it, for the lucky, meant becoming a Loose Immortal, while the unlucky would have their souls destroyed. Immortal Lishui had simply been too arrogant. At the last stage, she refused to give up, and had chosen to continue to fight head on! And so…she died! Patriarch Arcanum had been griefstricken by this for an extremely long period of time. Fortunately, Immortal Lishui had a son named Youngflame Nong. Patriarch Arcanum had supported him from an early age, wanting to make up for his failure with Immortal Lishui by taking care of Youngflame Nong. He had given Youngflame Nong his full support this entire time, and had insisted on pushing Youngflame Nong onto the position of Godplume Duke. Unfortunately…Youngflame Nong had died! Died at the Wanxiang level! “I arranged a Fiendgod to protect him. That Fiendgod should’ve been able to withstand even a supreme Loose Immortal. How could he have died? How? Who killed him?” Patriarch Arcanum revealed a look of explosive, incomparably terrifying savagery in his eyes. “He was also carrying the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal I gave him; even in a completely different world, he would’ve been able to teleport straight back.” The golden-robed man said hurriedly, “Patriarch, Youngflame Nong should have died within the Witchriver Immortal Estate.” “Witchriver Immortal Estate?” Patriarch Arcanum was instantly enraged. “Tests, tests, always the stupid tests. What’s the big deal about becoming Godplume Duke?!” 1721 Although he was angry, Patriarch Arcanum knew that this was in accordance with the rules of the clan; they couldn’t be easily discarded. “Where is the Witchriver Immortal Estate?” Patriarch Arcanum asked. “Within Stillwater Commandery. I’ll lead the way for you, Patriarch,” the golden-robed man said respectfully. “Fine. Let’s go.” Patriarch Arcanum gave the order. Soon, the nine Flood Dragons flew out, with that Immortal carriage behind them. Patriarch Arcanum remained seated within, while the golden-robed man sat in the front, in the position normally reserved for servants, carriage drivers, and bodyguards. Swoosh! The Immortal carriage soared into the skies, flying out off the volcano. The Immortal estate had been hidden in a separate world which was only connected to the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world by a single corridor. If one did not know where the connection point was, there would be no way to find the exact location of the corridor, even if one was a Celestial Immortal. Thus, one would naturally be unable to enter that world. Since the Youngflame clan had arranged for Youngflame Nong to take his trials there, they naturally had, early on, sent clan elders bearing the key to the Immortal estate into the estate. They had done a quick surveillance, assuring themselves that the ‘Witchriver Immortal Estate’ was a place which would pose something of a challenge to Youngflame Nong, but which absolutely couldn’t put him in mortal danger. Only then did they bestow the key onto Youngflame Nong and have him come. This was why the Youngflame clan had the precise location of the Witchriver Immortal Estate. Whoosh. In the air above the Skyrove Mountains, there appeared an Immortal carriage that was pulled by nine Flood Dragons. The golden-robed man at the front of the carriage pulled out and unfurled a scroll while saying, “This scroll is of the Skyrove Mountains, and it also marks the location where the Skyrove Mountains connects to the Witchriver Immortal Estate. It’s right in front of us.” They gave it a careful glance and did a quick comparison. Soon, the Immortal carriage arrived within the gorge. “Right there, on the walls of the gorge,” the golden-robed man said. Patriarch Arcanum, seated within the carriage, had a very sinister look on his face. He barked, “This cliff wall is enormous. Where, exactly, is the connection point? The Witchriver Immortal Estate is in a separate dimension; unless you can find the exact point, there’s no way to enter it.” “Patriarch, please wait a moment.” The golden-robed man immediately executed a secret art, causing a golden, glowing rune to appear in his palm. Rumble… A golden rune began to glow somewhere on the cliff wall as well. “Right there. That’s the place where the Witchriver Immortal Estate connects to our world,” the goldenrobed man said, pointing forward. “The clan elders set a secret mark there long ago. That’s the mark.” “Open up.” Patriarch Arcanum’s gaze turned incredibly sharp as he released his full power. To forcibly break through the defenses of an Immortal estate was no easy task. Spots of starlight began to appear in the surrounding area. The countless specks of starlight seemed dreamlike and illusory. At the same time, two giant hands of starlight began to coalesce, then tore towards the front. Riiiiiip. Space itself tore apart, a corridor appearing. One could vaguely see through the corridor that there was an Immortal estate world on the other side. If one had not known the exact connection location, however, the only result of this rip would have been the void. “The Witchriver Immortal Estate? So it truly is here.” Patriarch Arcanum said coldly, “Wait here then.” “Alright.” The golden-robed man responded with respect. Swish. Patriarch Arcanum rose to his feet, then took a single step which carried him straight through the torn-open corridor and into the Immortal estate world. The Immortal estate world was completely empty. With but a thought, Patriarch Arcanum spread his sense out to cover the entire world, capable of discovering everything within it. “There isn’t a single living thing here?” Patriarch Arcanum was startled. But of course, how could he know that when Ning fled, he had told the monstrous races that there was a high chance a Celestial Immortal would come. The monsters had been so terrified that the monstrous Dao-soldiers had seized all of their kinsmen and pulled them onto warships in quite a brutal and ruthless fashion, using all sorts of cultivation techniques to quickly drag and send away one batch after another. In but the time needed to boil a cup of tea, the entire population of monsters had completely fled. “But those items in those monstrous mountain lairs…those lake lairs…those estates…there’s fruit and wine placed out in the open. Clearly, they just left a short time ago.” Patriarch Arcanum turned his gaze 1723 towards a nearby Skypillar of golden light. “The five palaces of Immortal Witchriver. After my child Nong came, he definitely would’ve entered one of these five palaces. Most likely, he died within one of them!” With a single step, Patriarch Arcanum appeared before the Dao Repository Palace. He then stretched out his finger and pointed towards the distance. “Temporal Inversion!” The ‘Temporal Inversion’ technique was an incomparably powerful technique. Generally speaking, only Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals who had incredibly profound insights into the Dao of Time were capable of using it. If their insights were insufficient, then they would have to wait until they surpassed the restrictions of the Three Realms and became Celestial Immortals before they would be able to use this art. Whooosh…. The scenery in the area began to change as time began to rapidly flow backwards. It flowed all the way back to the point where Youngflame Nong used the Wildcore and the ‘Lock’ scroll before just barely bypassing the monstrous Dao-soldiers and entering the Dao Repository Palace. And then, time began to progress forward at a normal pace. Soon, Youngflame Nong led Ning and the others out of the Dao Repository Palace. “My boy Nong entered this palace, then left this palace; he didn’t die here.” Patriarch Arcanum followed Youngflame Nong’s warship as it flew forward. As he did so, the scene in the second location began to replay once more. Youngflame Nong, Xue Hongyi, Ji Ning, and the others rode the warship all the way to the fifth palace, the Witchriver Palace, where the monsters had set up a tight guard. Patriarch Arcanum just flew behind them. Youngflame Nong used the black and white disc, then immediately entered the fifth palace. “All of the monsters were gathered here, rather than being dispersed in the other palaces. My boy Nong, in turn, was willing to pay any price to enter this palace. This should have been the final palace he entered.” Patriarch Arcanum’s figure turned blurry for a moment, and then he reappeared within the fifth palace, the Witchriver Palace. Within the Witchriver Palace. Patriarch Arcanum once more used the Temporal Inversion technique, replaying the scene in front of him, starting from when Youngflame Nong and the others entered the palace. The breaking of the illusory formation…the entering of the main hall…the celebratory banquet…Ninelotus’ dance…Ji Ning’s anger…the attack of many golems…Ji Ning using the Windwing Evasion…one scene after another appeared. Even the dialogue was repeated. “Eh?” Patriarch Arcanum suddenly frowned. “That’s the Windwing Evasion!” In the past, for the sake of completing and perfecting their copy of this divine ability, Patriarch Arcanum had personally soul-scoured some members of the Yuchi clan; he naturally was quite familiar with the Windwing Evasion. He immediately recognized that Ji Ning used the Windwing Evasion. The scenes continued to change at high speed. Youngflame Nong tried to force Ji Ning to cuff himself with the godlock chains; Xue Hongyi then suddenly called out that Ji Ning’s mother was named Yuchi Snow. Instantly, a major battle began! Xiangliu Fang, by himself, was able to block Mu Northson, Ninelotus, Yu Wei, and Adept Vastriver. Xue Hongyi went to fight Ji Ning. However…Ji Ning’s power suddenly increased explosively, causing the entire hall to be filled with countless swords. A single, dazzling sword-light executed Xue Hongyi. “Grand Dao Domain?” Patriarch Arcanum continued to watch, and as he did, his magical power continued to rapidly deplete; Temporal Inversion, after all, was no ordinary technique. “This kid named Ji Ning who knows the Windwing Evasion, he’s only at the Wanxiang level. Even if he comprehended a Grand Dao Domain, he should’ve been far from being a match for the Fiendgod bodyguard my boy Nong had.” Indeed, Ning was defeated by a single palm blow from Xiangliu Fang. But right at that moment…that black loop had flown out. The souls of Youngflame Nong, Xiangliu Fang, and the Redscale Salamander were all devoured and extinguished. “This, this, this is…” Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes were filled with shock and rage. “A Soulslayer Loop? How could this kid have possibly procured such a treasure? Can it be that a major power died during one of the huge, chaotic battles of the Fiendgod Era, and the Soulslayer Sphere ended up as a relic somewhere, where the kid found it?” Luck. It was hard to say what luck might bring. A backwater bumpkin might be lucky enough to acquire a heaven-defying treasure! In fact, a lucky kid who offered an old man a bowl of water might end up finding that the old man was one of the major powers of the Three Realms. “My child Nong didn’t have bad luck, but he actually ended up dying to this Ji Ning of the Black-White College. For this Ji Ning to have procured such a treasure…it seems he must have been blessed with tremendous luck. However, no matter how lucky he might be, he won’t be able to overcome my divine abilities.” Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes became filled with a cold light. “Those survivors were Yu Wei, Mu Northson, Vastriver, and Ninelotus; all of them are disciples of the Black-White College.” “Black-White College.” 1725 Patriarch Arcanum turned, once more ripping a corridor through space, at the point where the estate was linked with the outside world of the Grand Xia Empire. Swoosh! Within the Skyrove Mountains. The golden-robed man had been waiting here the entire time, only to see Patriarch Arcanum tear a corridor through space and emerge through it. “Patriarch,” the golden-robed man said. “The culprit was Ji Ning of the Black-White College.” Patriarch Arcanum looked at him. “Do you know him?” The golden-robed man was the Godplume Duke; how could he possibly know about one particular genius within Stillwater Commandery? He immediately shook his head. “I do not.” “Then let’s go straight to Stillwater City. First, we’ll do a thorough investigation regarding Ji Ning at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain; then, we shall go to the Black-White College! Those other disciples are most likely still within the Black-White College,” Patriarch Arcanum instructed coldly. “Yes.” The golden-robed man immediately commanded the Immortal carriage to leave. The nine Flood Dragons pulled the Immortal carriage, quickly departing from the Skyrove Mountains. They flew through the skies, heading towards Stillwater City. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Black‐White College In the skies above Stillwater City. There were nine Flood Dragons, pulling an Immortal carriage behind them, which had come to a halt above the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. “Patriarch, wait here. I will go investigate Ji Ning in detail,” the Godplume Duke said respectfully. “Also, Ji Ning’s mother is named Yuchi Snow; purchase an intelligence report on her as well.” Patriarch Arcanum remained seated aboard the Immortal carriage as he calmly gave the orders. “Yes.” The Godplume Duke immediately flew down into the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Just a short while later, the Godplume Duke walked out from within it. With a blurring movement, he flew back into the sky, next to Patriarch Arcanum, respectfully handing him a book with two characters on it – JI NING. “Just Ji Ning’s?” Patriarch Arcanum frowned. “Ji Ning’s mother, Yuchi Snow, was a minor Xiantian lifeform who hadn’t accomplished any major deeds; the only record of her is that she had a son named Ji Ning. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain informed me that there is virtually no intelligence regarding Yuchi Snow, and all of what they have is in this tome,” the Godplume Duke explained. Patriarch Arcanum nodded softly. Although the Heavenly Treasures Mountain’s intelligence unit was spread throughout the world, they weren’t as all-knowing as the heavens themselves. They, too, needed to engage in deep, careful investigations in order to find things out. Yuchi Snow and her family’s flight was a very secretive thing to begin with; even the Youngflame clan hadn’t been able to catch these final few fish who had fled their net. It wasn’t strange for the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to be unaware of it as well. “Ji Ning? He’s actually this young?” Patriarch Arcanum, upon seeing the report, was shocked. His beloved Youngflame Nong had trained for more than a century. Amongst Wanxiang Adepts, that was actually quite young, because Wanxiang Adepts could live for up to eight hundred years. Unexpectedly, this kid who had killed the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang as well as Youngflame Nong, this kid who had already reached the Grand Dao Domain level in the Dao of the Sword, was actually this young! “The more impressive his potential, the more he needs to die!” A cold light flashed through Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes. He quickly flipped through the report, finishing it. “Swallow Mountain? Serpentwing Lake?” Patriarch Arcanum hummed to himself, then instructed, “Come, let’s go to the Black-White College.” ……. The Black-White College had made thorough preparations long ago. Mu Northson, Yu Wei, and Adept Vastriver had used the closest teleportation array to first go straight to the Crimson Dragon Mountains, and then from those mountains to Stillwater City; they had moved fairly quickly, and as soon as they had returned to the Black-White College, they had immediately reported this event to the higher-ups. The Headmaster’s Palace of the Black-White College. This was also the place where they welcomed important guests. Within the palace were multiple seated figures. On one side of the palace sat the black-robed, blackhaired Immortal Diancai, along with Immortal Fivecraze and the rest of the Immortals. There were a total of eight of them. Behind them stood Headmaster Jadesea and three of the third-generation disciples; Rainbowflame Fairy Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and Mu Northson. In front of them sat Patriarch Arcanum and the Godplume Duke. “I imagine you all know why I have come here today.” Patriarch Arcanum sat there and spoke calmly as he swept his gaze across the group of Immortals before him. Eight Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. Virtually all of the Loose Immortals of the Black-White College who were normally in closed-door meditation, in seclusion, or adventuring had returned. Aside from a single Loose Immortal who had already left this major world and wouldn’t be able to make it back in time, the other eight had all returned. The Immortal cultivators of the Black-White College were all absolute elites; they all had mastered a complete Dao-Path, which was a prerequisite for them even reaching the Primal Daoist level. Only after mastering two Dao-Paths, however, were they permitted to break through to the Earth Immortal level! This is why the Primal Daoists of the Black-White College were comparable to Loose Immortals in combat power. As for the Loose Immortals of the Black-White College…each of them were capable of fending off ten ‘normal’ Loose Immortals. Each of them had the combat power of a supreme Loose Immortal. “Of course we know.” The short old man, Immortal Fivecraze, chuckled as he spoke. “Youngflame Nong of your Youngflame clan was killed by our disciple, Ji Ning, correct?” “Correct.” Patriarch Arcanum replied calmly. “If he died, he died. When young people are out adventuring, it’s normal for them fight and kill each other. If you are weaker than someone else, you die. That’s normal,” the short elder said. “If you have to blame 1728 someone, you can only blame yourself for being too weak. Generally speaking, the clans and sects won’t intervene.” For example, the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains; Ning’s group had often fought internally and quite a few had died, but no sect had ever come for reprisal against another. Patriarch Arcanum’s gaze instantly changed. It became sharp. “However, if you, senior Arcanum, doted on this Youngflame Nong to the point where you would lower yourself to personally attack Ji Ning, there’s nothing our Black-White College can do about it.” The short elder sighed, “So…I really don’t understand why, senior Arcanum, you have come to our Black-White College?” “Hand over Ji Ning,” Patriarch Arcanum said coldly, “And this matter will have nothing to do with your Black-White College. Otherwise…hmph!” Instantly, the faces of the Immortals of the Black-White College changed. Hand over Ji Ning? “Forget it!” The black-robed, black-haired Immortal Diancai snapped coldly, “Ji Ning is a disciple of our Black-White College. If he were to die while adventuring in the outside world, we wouldn’t blame others…but you want us to hand him over? Are you dreaming? And, let me tell you something – so long as Ji Ning returns to the Black-White College, your Youngflame clan can forget about harming a single hair on his head.” “Senior Arcanum, we respect you as a Celestial Immortal, but our Black-White College, which has existed for so many generations, isn’t so easily abused either,” the short, elderly Immortal Fivecraze warned coldly as well. “Our Black-White College has our own rules; if our disciples die while adventuring, we won’t blame others, but once they return, then they will absolutely be protected by us.” The tall, muscular man wrapped up in chain links spoke out in a loud, rumbling voice, his eyes seemed to be filled with thunder. Patriarch Arcanum’s face sank. “Oh, so your Black-White College wishes to become enemies with my Youngflame clan.” Patriarch Arcanum swept these Immortals with his gaze. The Youngflame clan was, indeed, powerful. It was much more powerful than even the Northmont clan of Stillwater. It had more than a thousand Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals; from this, one could imagine how mighty they were! However, just because they were powerful didn’t mean they could freely abuse other powers; for example, the Black-White College was located within Stillwater City. Who would dare launch a massive attack within Stillwater City? There would only be one result – becoming wanted criminals of the Grand Xia Dynasty! As for fighting in the outside world? Every single Loose Immortal of the Black-White College was top-tier; each of them were capable of fighting against ten Loose Immortals! If they completely focused on fleeing, it would be very hard to deal with them. “It isn’t that we wish to become enemies with you; rather, your Youngflame clan is forcing us to become enemies. If our Black-White College can’t even protect our own disciples, what the hell type of College would we be?” Immortal Diancai replied coldly. “If that’s the case!” Patriarch Arcanum coldly rose to his feet. “Then don’t blame the Youngflame clan for our future actions. Let’s go!” “Yes, Patriarch.” The Godplume Duke followed by his side. But just as Patriarch Arcanum was about to lead the Godplume Duke to leave, a voice suddenly rang out. “Brother Arcanum.” A hunchbacked old man suddenly walked in. His hair was completely white, and his eyebrows drooped downwards. He was leaning against a wooden cane as he walked in. Patriarch Arcanum was momentarily startled. Then, he let out a cold laugh. “Hunchmont? You are still alive?” “You haven’t died yet; how could I?” The hunchbacked old man laughed. “Senior Hunchmont.” The eight Loose Immortals of the Black-White College all rose to their feet and saluted respectfully. Celestial Immortal Hunchmont…he was one of the most famous Celestial Immortal Patriarchs in the history of the Northmont clan. However, because he had lived for so very long, many outside schools and sects thought him to be dead; after all, Celestial Immortals would occasionally engage in battles against each other for the sake of their tribe or for certain treasures. After many battles, some would eventually fall. “The Black-White College belongs to our Stillwater Commandery.” The hunchbacked elder leaned against his cane. “Arcanum, if you want to deal with their disciples, there is nothing they can do to stop you; why must you force the Black-White College to hand Ji Ning over? If you have the ability to do so, go ahead and deal with him yourself; our Northmont clan absolutely won’t interfere. But if you were to deal against the Black-White College, you would be stepping beyond your bounds! Stillwater Commandery belongs to the Northmont clan!” Patriarch Arcanum’s face sank. Although the Youngflame clan was even more powerful than the Northmont clan, there was a limit to their strength; the Northmont clan held a marquisdom, and it had 1730 existed since the Fiendgod Era as well. After the passage of so many years…who knew how many trump cards the Northmont clan of Stillwater might be holding in secret? “Fine. Since you, Hunchmont, have spoken out…” Patriarch Arcanum nodded. “Then I won’t quibble with the Black-White College. However, this Ji Ning…he absolutely must die! If anyone tries to stop me, I’ll kill them as well! Fujun, let’s go.” Patriarch Arcanum led the Godplume Duke out of the Headmaster’s Palace. They boarded the Immortal carriage, then quickly flew into the skies and disappeared. “Senior Huchmont.” Immortal Fivecraze walked over, watching as Patriarch Arcanum flew away aboard the Immortal carriage. “This Patriarch Arcanum seems to be a bit too arrogant.” “That’s just the way he is. He’s like a madman.” The hunchbacked elder laughed. “Don’t worry about him. But that Ji Ning of yours…you had best not interfere. Given how murderous Patriarch Arcanum seems to be feeling right now, you won’t be able to stop him. Alright, it is time for me to go. Such a pity. Ji Ning was a fine young sapling. What a pity.” And then, the hunchbacked elder left. ……. Within another world. The underwater estate. Ning had just appeared within the main hall. He immediately saw the giant yellow bear and the old black bull. “Seniors,” Ning was about to speak out. “You caused a huge mess in the outside world, eh?” The giant yellow bear said, “You were in such a frantic hurry to order all of the people off of Brightheart Island.” “I did cause a huge mess, yes,” Ning said hurriedly. “I have…” The giant yellow bear interrupted Ning. “Let me ask you this; have you completed your arrangements in the outside world?” “I have.” Ning nodded. “Mm.” The giant yellow bear nodded. “I can sense the turbulence in your heart. Your mind is currently in a state of chaos. First, go to the Stellar Hall and read some of the star maps within it. After reading a few books and calming yourself down, come and speak to me regarding your matters.” Ning was startled. “Read in the Stellar Hall?” 1731 “Go,” the giant yellow bear instructed. “Yes, senior.” Ning didn’t disobey. He went straight to the Stellar Hall. Within the Stellar Hall. Outside the thatched cottage. Ning carried a book to the stone desk, then sat down, opened it up, and began to force himself to calm down and read. He had first killed Youngflame Nong, then separated with Ninelotus, and then arrange for the monsters of the Immortal estate to protect his clan. Whenever Ning thought about the impending arrival of the Youngflame clan, Ning’s mind would become filled with a myriad of random thoughts, causing him to feel extremely restless. “Today, Chang came to pay his respects to me…” Ning’s voice reverberated within this small pocket world. Every single word was extremely simple, but when joined together, they became filled with boundless magical power. In a very natural way, Ning began to calm down; in fact, he even began to slowly enter a state of attunement and meditation on the Dao. Calm. Relaxation. The restlessness in Ning’s heart faded away, and Ning raised his head to stare at the stars in the sky. Suddenly…rain began to fall down from the skies, as fine as silk, sprinkling everywhere, including upon Ning himself. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The downpour steadily grew, and it poured down into this world. Ji Ning didn’t move to avoid it, nor did he use his elemental ki to block it; he allowed the rain to cascade onto his body. He felt closer to the raindrops than he ever had before, so close that he felt intoxicated by them. Suddenly… A nameless aura began to envelope Ning. This was the aura of the Dao! Ning’s entire body seemed to have become the Dao itself. “The Dao of Rainwater?” The giant yellow bear and the old black bull were both completely stunned. “He’s actually mastered it. Although Ning has made major improvements in the ten years he spent at Serpentwing Lake, and had an extremely deep grasp regarding the Dao of Rainwater, he was still some distance away from mastering it. Generally speaking, when comprehending the Dao, the farther along the path you go, the more difficult it will become. What in the world has Ji Ning experienced? Whatever it was, it seems to have baptized him, allowing him to break through and completely understand the Dao of Rainwater at one go.” The giant yellow bear sighed in amazement. The old black bull nodded as well. . “Whatever it was he experienced, it had a tremendous impact on him.” …… The rainwater vanished. Ning stared at the stars in the sky. He had advanced in the Dao of the Inferno, the Dao of the Gale, and the Dao of the Sword as well. His understanding of the Dao of the Sword in particular, which had reached the Grand Dao Domain, had further stabilized after this period of time of time in the Stellar Hall. Finally, he came to a halt and rested. “How much time did I spend in meditation?” Ning spoke out. “Not too long, just an hour.” The giant yellow bear laughed, “But in this hour, you improved quite a bit; you surged forward tremendously in one breath.” Ning felt more peaceful than he ever had before. He revealed a hint of a smile. “I can sense my improvement as well. I have thoroughly comprehended the Dao of Rainwater, and in fact, I have gained a certain degree of insight into all ‘water’-type Daos.” “This is called resonance,” the giant yellow bear said. “You have now mastered the Dao-Path of Rainwater; naturally, you will continue to advance in the element of water. For the other, similar Daos to 1733 resonate is quite normal. Unfortunately, although you advanced a bit in the Dao of the Inferno and the Dao of the Gale, you are still a little ways off from completely mastering these Dao-Paths.” Ning nodded. Of his three Daos, he had gained insights into the Dao of Rainwater the earliest, and his level of comprehension with regards to this Dao was the highest. His insights into the Dao of the Inferno was secondary only to the Dao of Rainwater, and was actually quite close; however, he still had yet to completely master it. As for the Dao of the Gale, it was weaker than both the other two. “I didn’t expect that you’d actually be able to master a Grand Dao Domain.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “Sword Immortals are all skilled at offense; it’s clear that your strength has risen significantly after you reached the Grand Dao Domain. Now that you’ve also mastered the Dao-Path of Rainwater, you will be absolutely capable of fusing your Dao of Rainwater into your Dao of the Sword.” The Dao of the Sword was a mechanistic Dao. One could infuse one’s insights in other areas into the Dao of the Sword and display it through the sword! “Let me try.” Ning laughed, then struck out with a finger into a sword-stance. Suddenly, rainwater appeared in the surrounding area. The rainwater sprinkled everywhere, but each drop of water carried an incomparably amazing amount of power. The entire world seemed to have been frozen into place. An ordinary Wanxiang Adept probably wouldn’t even be able to move right now. After completely mastering a Dao-Path, one would be able to summon the awesome presence of the Dao itself, causing the entire surrounding area to be under one’s own control. “This technique is called ‘My Own World’. Activate.” Ning suddenly flicked his finger. Swish! A streak of watery sword-light sliced through the skies, leaving behind a scar in the air that lingered for quite some time without vanishing. “A good technique; truly, a good sword technique,” the giant yellow bear praised. “It’s not just good; even Loose Immortals are generally only at this level, and many aren’t as good as you, Ji Ning,” the old black bull called out in surprise. Ning laughed. Generally speaking, Primal Daoists were at the Dao Domain level, while Loose Immortals were generally capable of mastering a complete Dao-Path. Ning had not only mastered a completely Dao-Path, he had also reached the Grand Dao Domain level in the Dao of the Sword. It was even harder to reach the Grand Dao Domain level than mastering a complete Dao-Path. With the two amplifying each other…indeed, many Loose Immortals were inferior to Ning. However, that only referred to ‘ordinary’ Loose Immortals, not ones like the Loose Immortals of the Black-White College. “I am now in control of a complete Dao-Path. According to the rules of the College, I can make my breakthrough to the Primal Daoist level,” Ning said. “In addition, after having killed a young master of a major tribe, I’ve reaped quite a few rewards; I imagine I should now have enough liquefied elemental essence to make that breakthrough. Only, I’m still hesitating; should I make that breakthrough or not? I’d like to ask you two seniors to please advise me on what I should do next.” The old black bull had accompanied Immortal Juhua for a million years, and had a great deal of experience. Naturally, his vision would be very broad as well. As for the giant yellow bear, he had followed Daoist Threelives and had unfathomable experiences. Ning felt that he truly should ask the advice of these two. “Speak,” The giant yellow bear said. “What’s this? You killed a young master of a major clan? Tell, tell,” the old black bull said with great eagerness. Ning nodded. “I was originally training in Brightheart Island on Serpentwing Lake, but a few days ago, a large warship suddenly appeared in the skies above it…” Ning began to describe his experience in detail, from start to finish. He even explained the backgrounds of Youngflame Nong and Ninelotus, so as to give these two old figures sufficient background information for pondering. He even told them about Yu Wei’s advice and the upcoming Conclave of Immortal Destiny. “The Youngflame clan is going to pursue me. What should I do?” Ning looked at the old black bull and the giant yellow bear. “A major tribe that can rank amongst the top ten clans of one of the three thousand major worlds…this sort of tribe definitely has Celestial Immortals,” the giant yellow bear said. “In addition, they should have more than just one. A force like this…for the current you, they are indeed far too powerful. Fortunately, in the Grand Xia Dynasty, there are strict laws, which is why you still have a chance to resist them.” “The Youngflame clan? I know this clan,” the old black bull said hurriedly. “In the past, Immortal Juhua had a bit of a relationship with the clan. The Youngflame clan does indeed rank towards the front amongst the clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty. However, although the imperial clan of the Grand Xia did indeed need these clans when it was unifying the world, after doing so, these clans became a threat to them.” Ning was startled. “In truth, the imperial clan of the Grand Xia has been working all this time to try and weaken the power of the clans,” the old black bull said quickly. “They first built the commandery cities, spreading them throughout the world so as to increase their sphere of control, and then formed the Raindragon Guard 1735 and spread them throughout the world as well! In addition, they secretly forment internal struggles between these clans, tribes, and sects.” “Can it be that the other tribes are idiots? They’ll just stupidly fight amongst each other like that?” Ning was curious. “This is what you don’t understand. This isn’t a hidden scheme; it’s an open scheme. There is only so much land in this major world, and only so many treasures. And yet, there are so many tribes. What to do about it? The imperial clan of the Grand Xia will take their share, then leave the other major powers to fight over what’s left. If you aren’t willing to fight for your share, then your clan will end up with no treasures. Thus, they are forced to struggle against each other, and as they do, they naturally end up forming grudges.” Ning nodded. “However, the imperial clan of the Grand Xia wouldn’t dare to act directly against its marquises. That’s because if they were to act against one marquis, all of the other marquises would feel threatened; in fact, some actually might join forces to revolt!” The old black bull continued, “This is why the imperial clan of the Grand Xia has set down some laws, some public laws.” “So long as you do not disobey the laws, the imperial clan absolutely won’t touch you.” “But if you were to violate those laws? The imperial clan of the Grand Xia would be like sharks that smelled the scent of blood; they will eat you alive,” the old black bull laughed. “So long as you hide within a commandery city, the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan definitely won’t dare to act against you, because once they do, then the imperial clan of the Grand Xia, which has always wanted to whittle away at the power of the marquises, will have an ironclad reason to act against them. They would quickly send out a squad to annihilate that Celestial Immortal!” “Now, do you understand some of the hidden undercurrents of this world of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s?” The old black bull looked at Ning. Ning nodded. The imperial clan of the Grand Xia, and the many marquises. Many of the marquises held grudges against each other; no wonder Yu Wei had advised him to join a different marquisdom. “That senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei of yours told you to go participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Her words are quite correct,” the giant yellow bear said. “You are going to become a Celestial Immortal, and in fact, an Empyrean God…” 1736 “Senior, what is an ‘Empyrean God’?” Ning immediately asked. Ning had never quite understood what Empyrean Gods were. “When Earth Immortals, who are at the ‘Void’ level, overcome the Celestial Tribulation, they will naturally become carefree Celstial Immortals.” “Void-level Fiendgods, however, when overcoming the Celestial Tribulation will become Empyrean Gods!” The giant yellow bear said, “To become an Empyrean God is tens of times, perhaps a hundred times, as difficult as becoming a Celestial Immortal.” Ning was speechless. “A hundred times harder?” It was rare for there to be even a single Celestial Immortal for every ten thousand Earth Immortals; to become an Empyrean God was even harder?! “That’s because they have completely different levels of power,” the giant yellow bear explained. “Earlier, you said you encountered a Fiendgod, a Hydraga. He was only at the Primal level, but already comparable to a peak Loose Immortal.” “Right.’ Ning nodded. “A Void-level Fiendgod is already comparable to a Celestial Immortal. And an Empyrean God…they are absolutely comparable to True Immortals!” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “Now do you understand? Once you become an Empyrean God…you would become a true major power of the Three Realms. In fact, even if you were to go to the Deva realm and express a desire to join the Celestial Court, the Celestial Emperor would warmly welcome you and even let you command hundreds of thousands of celestial soldiers or generals.” Ning blinked. The Celestial Emperor of the Celestial Court would personally welcome him? Let him command hundreds of thousands of celestial soldiers? “Master said that only after I become an Empyrean God would I truly be considered his apprentice.” Ning couldn’t help but say, “This requirement is a bit high for me.” “Think about what Master’s status was. He emerged from the world alongside Pangu and Nuwa…he was one of the most supreme powers of the entire Three Realms. Only after reaching the Empyrean God level could it be said that you are not an embarrassment to him,” the giant yellow bear said. “But don’t change the subject. As I was saying earlier, the advice from your senior apprentice-sister, Yu Wei, to go to the Conclave of Immortal Destiny was very good advice. This is because, as the saying goes, it is better to travel ten thousand kilometers than to read ten thousand books…and it is better to make a single journey on the border between life and death than to travel ten thousand kilometers.” “The Conclave of Immortal Destiny will have all the geniuses of this entire major world present; in fact, some of the geniuses of other major worlds might come in secret as well, so as to take part.” 1737 “This is just like the cultivation of Gu-bugs. Put ten thousand venomous bugs in one place and have them fight against each other and devour each other. In the end, the venomous bugs that you have left will be incomparably powerful. The principle is the same; the ones to survive the Conclave of Immortal Destiny shall be truly extraordinary. This is an excellent chance for you to temper yourself, a chance which is quite rare and hard to find.” The giant yellow bear continued, “Right, you said you killed Youngflame Nong; didn’t you acquire a great deal of treasure from him? Take it out, take it all out and let me take a look and see which would be of use to you.” Ning waved his hand. “He had many treasures. I just bound the storage-type magic treasure not long ago.” He had been hiding some of the treasures within his Zifu, while he had stored the others in his own storage-type magic treasure. Whoosh. Instantly, a small hill appeared on the ground, completely formed from precious items and magic treasures. “These are the treasures and precious items of Youngflame Nong.” Ning pointed at them. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ning waved his hand again, and another hill of items appeared as well, as well as some sacks. “These were left behind by that dead Fiendgod.” The Hydraga had once forced himself to train as a Ki Refiner as well. Unfortunately, natural Fiendgods were innately very weak as Ki Refiners. Only after many years of painstaking training had he reached the Zifu level; afterwards, Xiangliu Fang could no longer be bothered to train in this regard. After reaching the Zifu level, he was able to use storage-type magic treasures, at least. This was enough to make Xiangliu Fang quite happy! In the Fiendgod Era, before he had trained as a Ki Refiner, he always had to carry around his treasures with him. “There’s quite a bit.” The old black bull sighed in amazement. “Let me take a look.” The giant yellow bear swept his gaze across the magic treasures. Suddenly, the two treasure-hills all flew into the air, then stayed there. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. These treasures quickly began to sort themselves out by type. Bottles and jars moved to one side, while Dao-seals and jade discs, as well as some other unique items were pulled to another. The many magic treasures were also placed on another side… Ning simply watched as the levitating treasures sorted themselves out by type. “I didn’t sense any ripples of power, but these treasures all levitated into the air; the powers of this spirit of the underwater estate truly are unfathomable.” “This is a spirit-pill; if you lose an arm or a leg, eat the pill, and it’ll be healed. You are a Fiendgod Refiner; this is useless to you. Go back and sell it off or give it to a friend.” “This is a poison powder…it’s hard to ascertain how powerful the poison is, but it should be decent.” “This bottle is marked with the words, ‘Drunken Immortal’s Pill’? Eh? Its intoxicating properties are quite strong; I imagine that even if Loose Immortals ate it, they would be intoxicated. Three pills in total.” The giant yellow bear quickly went through the various jars and bottles. Soon, he pulled out two of the jade bottles from the masses. “These two bottles both contain liquefied elemental essence, roughly twenty five thousand kilograms each, for a total of fifty thousand kilograms. Youngflame Nong actually carried fifty thousand kilograms on him…that’s quite a bit.” Unless they were in desperate need, most Immortal cultivators wouldn’t carry that much with them. They would use them to buy magic treasures or just use them up. However, to Youngflame Nong, fifty thousand kilograms wasn’t that much. “He must’ve been worried that he might gain a sudden insight while wandering the world, and so prepared them for a possible breakthrough to the Primal Daoist level,” Ning laughed. Fifty thousand kilograms; this was absolutely enough to break through to the Primal Daoist level. “You cannot use it.” The giant yellow bear shook his head. “You are going to the Conclave of Immortal Destiny; you cannot breakthrough to become a Primal Daoist.” Ning nodded. He understood this principle. This Conclave came only once every three centuries; there was no way he could wait another three hundred years. Thus, this was the only chance he would have to attend the Conclave. Sparring against so many other geniuses on the same level was an opportunity that would have long, far-ranging impacts on him. If one didn’t have a long-term plan and only focused on short-term gains, in the end, one would suffer for it. “These curios aren’t bad either.” “Oh? A Greater Teleportation Dao-seal? Youngflame Nong had a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal?” The giant yellow bear called out in surprise as he pointed with a finger. Instantly, a rune-covered leaf flew over. Ning’s eyes lit up. “Greater Teleportation Dao-seal?” He had previously acquired two protective items from the underwater estate; one was that black loop, while the other was, in fact, a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. One was meant for attack; the other was meant for defense and escaping. Upon using a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, the might within it would instantly activate and surround him in a barrier which even Loose Immortals wouldn’t be able to break. And then, he would vanish and disappear. Even if the region was spacelocked, even if he was trapped in a place of no escape, he could still use a Greater Teleport to leave! He could even teleport from a different world directly to the world of the Grand Xia Dynasty! “You now have two Greater Teleportation Dao-seals.” The giant yellow bear flicked his finger, sending the leaf flying towards Ning. Laughing, Ning waved his hand and accepted it. “Youngflame Nong truly was unfortunate to run into you. His soul was immediately ripped out, giving him no chance to even use the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal.” The giant yellow bear continued to investigate. “There’s quite a few protective treasures as well. There’s a Vajra-Guard Skypearl, a Golden Skyfire seal, a Skyflee shuttle…still, these are quite inferior compared to a Greater Teleportation Daoseal.” Youngflame Nong actually had three major treasures; the ‘Lock’ scroll, the black and white disc, and the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. He had used up two of them. The plan had been to bind the Immortal 1740 estate, sell the monstrous Dao-soldiers of the estate to his clan, then use those resources to purchase some truly top-tier treasures. Unfortunately, he would never have the chance to do so. “Big bro, take a look; isn’t that the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater?” The old black bull suddenly pointed to a watery pearl which hovered in the mass of precious items. “A Sole-Ki Pearl of Elemental Water?” The giant yellow bear hurriedly looked over. His eyes lit up, and he began to laugh loudly. “Ning, you little tyke, it seems it is indeed time for you to reach the Primal level. With this Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater, you can now cultivate a Primaltwin.” Ning called out in surprise, “A Primaltwin?!” Naturally, Ning knew what a Primaltwin was; virtually all cultivators knew what it was! In the BlackWhite College, the technique for forming a Primaltwin was something which every single disciple could learn. There was no need for using black-white pellets at all. It was something for everyone to know, but unfortunately, less than one in a thousand Primal Daoists would actually be able to refine a Primaltwin! This was because…it was too hard to find the right vessel! When a cultivator broke through from the Wanxiang stage to the Primal stage, the essence of the myriad manifestations of stars and the elemental sea within the Zifu region would crystallize and give birth to a Turtle-Snake 1. At the same time, the soul would descend from the sea of consciousness and sink deep into the Turtle-Snake. When they fused into one…the Primal Turtle-Snake would be formed! With the Primal Turtle-Snake serving as a physical vessel, and the soul serving as the self, a Primal Daoist would arise from the fusion! In order to refine a Primaltwin, one would need to find a physical vessel; once one found it, one would use a secret art to split one’s soul in two, keeping half the soul in the original body and placing the other half within the vessel and forming a Primaltwin. “Right. This Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater is like a natural Zifu region,” the giant yellow bear laughed. “All you need to do is split out part of your soul and place it within the pearl, and you’ll be able to slowly refine it into a Primaltwin! In fact, in the future your Primaltwin would even be able to become an Earth Immortal and perhaps surpass the tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal.” Ning had never even heard of a ‘Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater’; in the annals of the Black-White College regarding Primaltwins, the most famous vessel was the ‘Darkvalley Pearl’. “How is it compared to the Darkvalley Pearl?” Ning asked. “The Darkvalley Pearl is too mediocre,” the giant yellow bear said. “A Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater contains the essence of primal, elemental water. After you fuse your soul into it and form your Primaltwin, your body will be formed from the essence of primal water as well. By then, when you use it 1741 to train in water-type Daos, you will find it much simpler. It seems as though you are destined to travel very far in the element of water.” The Dao of Rainwater was nothing more than an extremely unremarkable type of Dao that belonged to the element of water, one of the Five Elements. “How is your soul? Is it capable of withstanding a Primaltwin secret art?” The giant yellow bear asked. To divide a soul in half was extremely dangerous. The soul had to be sufficiently strong; if it wasn’t, then dividing it in half was akin to suicide! Thus, generally speaking, only Primal Daoists who had been at that stage for a very long time or experts who had already reached the Void level and become Earth Immortals would be able to produce a Primaltwin! “My divine sense stretches to a thousand kilometers,” Ning said. “Mm. There are very few Primal Daoists who have souls comparable to yours; you can compare to a weak Loose Immortal.” The giant yellow bear nodded. “You can split your soul in half.” Ning felt a fire begin to blaze in his heart. To produce a Primaltwin at the Wanxiang level; this was far too rare. First of all, the soul had to be strong enough; then, one had to have a vessel, such as the ‘Darkvalley Pearl’ or the ‘Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater’. Thus, for every thousand recinarnated Immortals, perhaps only one would be able to produce a Primaltwin at the Wanxiang stage. The reason why only those below the Primal stage were allowed to participate in the contests of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny was to ensure fairness! Although Ning might have refined a Primaltwin, his true body remained at the Wanxiang level. So long as it was only his true body which went to compete, and his Primaltwin stayed out of it…there would be no problems! Ning had already chatted previously with Yu Wei regarding the Conclave, and so he naturally knew about some of the rules of it. Only geniuses amongst geniuses would be capable of producing Primaltwins at the Wanxiang level; naturally, they wouldn’t be barred from participating in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. However, they would only be allowed to use their true bodies to compete; in fact, their Primaltwins wouldn’t even be permitted to enter the competition grounds! “Eh?” The giant yellow bear frowned. “What is it?” Ning asked. “A Celestial Immortal has come to Serpentwing Lake,” the giant yellow bear said. “Celestial Immortal?” Ning was shocked. “It must be the Youngflame clan!” 1742 “Don’t worry. I can discover him, but he can’t discover me.” The giant yellow bear said calmly, “Master spent unfathomable amounts of blood, sweat, and effort in order to forge me. There is no one in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty capable of discovering me.” In the air above Serpentwing Lake. It was already dark. Nine Flood Dragons, pulling an Immortal carriage behind them, had appeared in the skies. Aboard the Immortal carriage sat Patriarch Arcanum, with the Godplume Duke attending to him by the side. “This is the place where Ji Ning is permanently stationed?” Patriarch Arcanum, with but a single thought, was able to scan this entire region. Brightheart Island was now completely empty; not a single person was present. However, there were still a few people on boats who were sailing aboard Serpentwing Lake. These were ordinary mortals. Given how large Serpentwing Lake was, it would take them a tremendous amount of time to pass through it. “They fled?” A baleful look appeared in Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes. “Kill those mortals.” “Kill them?” The Godplume Duke hesitated. The Dao of the Heavens was protective of mortals. For Immortal cultivators to kill mortals was a grave sin. Even someone like Patriarch Arcanum, who wanted to kill these mortals, wasn’t willing to personally kill them and cause sin to surround him. Even Celestial Immortals would see their luck plummet, and as their luck plummeted…they would run into all sorts of trouble. If Celestial Immortals had sufficiently bad luck, they might end up dying in battle. “Why aren’t you acting yet?” Patriarch Arcanum gave the Godplume Duke a sidelong glance. “Alright.” The Godplume Duke gritted his teeth, then looked at the nine Flood Dragons pulling the Immortal carriage. He sent a spirit-message: “Kill the mortals.” Although none of the nine Flood Dragons wanted to obey, they still all opened their mouths. Whoooooosh. Nine streaks of fire descended, instantly sweeping through the entire lake. The commoners on the lake’s surface were all shocked and terrified for a moment…and then they transformed into ash. Tendrils of sin instantly descended, with some swirling around the bodies of those nine Flood Dragons, and the rest swirling around the Godplume Duke. A very small amount of sin ended up swirling around Patriarch Arcanum as well. “Let’s go to the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” Patriarch Arcanum gave the order, and the nine Flood Dragons pulled the Immortal carriage away, quickly arriving at the City of Ten Thousand Swords, just a few thousand kilometers away. The City of Ten Thousand Swords remained as it always had been. Patriarch Arcanum did a quick inspection. His face immediately changed. “There are this many monstrous Dao-soldiers here? Hrm? Ji Ning’s master, that Sword Immortal known as Diancai, he is here as well?” “Hmph.” Patriarch Arcanum’s temper was volatile, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to this city. He immediately ordered coldly, “Fujun, arrange for the City of Ten Thousand Swords, Western Prefecture City and Serpentwing Lake be under constant watch! This is the homeland of Ji Ning’s clan; I refuse to believe he will never return. Also, ask the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to keep a close watch on Ji Ning. Upon discovering his whereabouts, immediately inform our Youngflame clan. No matter where he is hiding, once we discover him, immediately send people to kill him.” “Yes,” the Godplume Duke said respectfully.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tortoise#/media/File:Wudanghshan-Xuanwu-in-Beijing-CapitalMuseum-3796.jpg If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Let’s go. We return to the imperial capital!” Patriarch Arcanum gave the order. Immediately, those nine Flood Dragons pulled the Immortal carriage away, disappearing into the skies. Patriarch Arcanum was a decisive individual. He knew that given that he hadn’t discovered Ji Ning right away, if he wanted to capture Ning…he would have to spend quite a bit of time. Although he was a Celestial Immortal, he wasn’t omniscient; he still had to resort to using the power of the tribe and the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to find Ning. ….. Within the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Immortal Diancai lifted his head, watching as Patriarch Arcanum departed. By his side were Ji Truekeep, Ji Ninfire, and the other members of the Ji clan, along with the two monstrous Loose Immortals. “Clan leader Ji,” Immortal Diancai said, “Patriarch Arcanum has already departed. He wasn’t able to find my apprentice, but he won’t stay here indefinitely; he’s a Celestial Immortal, after all, with an exalted status! However, I imagine he will arrange for some people to stay on watch, here at Swallow Mountain. This is my apprentice’s homeland, after all; they will definitely keep an eye on it. Now that your Ji clan has so many monstrous Dao-soldiers present…there’s no reason for me to stay here. I won’t tarry any longer, then.” “Thank you, senior Immortal,” Truekeep and the others said hurriedly. They felt tremendous gratitude for this Immortal of the Black-White College, who had hurried here at such a critical time. Although he was Ning’s master, when trouble came, some masters would flee even faster than their disciples would. Immortal Diancai didn’t say anything else. He soared straight into the skies. The City of Ten Thousand Swords had already set down a grand spacelock formation, preventing teleportation. Whoosh. After flying high into the sky, Immortal Diancai immediately disappeared. “This Immortal Diancai truly is a loyal man,” the monstrous Immortal Duohe said with a sigh. “Admirable, admirable,” Immortal Witchsui said as well. “It’s true. For Ning to have such a master is his good fortune,” Ninefire sighed. ……. Stillwater City. The Black-White College. The black-robed, black-haired Immortal Diancai was seated face to face with a short old man. Before the two of them, there was only a flagon of Immortal wine. “Senior apprentice-brother Fivecraze,” Immortal Diancai said softly, “The arrival of Patriarch Arcanum caused me to feel powerless. Ning is my apprentice, my one and only disciple…but I’m not able to do anything in the face of the Youngflame clan’s attempt to kill him! I’m completely unable to save him!” As he spoke, Diancai’s body was visibly trembling. “Junior apprentice-brother Diancai,” the short elder said hurriedly, “Don’t be so stubborn. He’s a Celestial Immortal, after all.” “So what if he is? In the past, wasn’t senior Northwalker, a Loose Immortal, comparable to a Celestial Immortal in might?” Immortal Diancai growled, “I’ve made up my mind. Today, I am going to leave. Leave this major world of ours, and temper myself through adventuring. Although I reached the peak of the Void stage long ago and although I can attempt my tribulation, I’ve been suppressing myself, precisely because I don’t feel confident in succeeding. My talent is a bit weaker than this disciple of mine’s. If I don’t frantically temper myself, most likely, in the end, I won’t be able to avoid being overcome by the Celestial Tribulation and becoming a Loose Immortal. After becoming a Loose Immortal…even if I stay alive countless eons and reach senior Northwalker’s level of power, what’s the point? In the end, I still won’t be able to overcome the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, resulting in death.” The short elder was silent for a moment, then said slowly, “It seems your apprentice’s matter has affected you tremendously.” “I, his master, have failed him. I am of no use!” Immortal Diancai rose to his feet. “I’ll leave now, senior apprentice-brother.” “Be careful!” The short elder said solemnly. To temper one’s self naturally required one to experience deadly situations, to walk on the border between life and death, which would allow one’s insights and comprehension to rapidly increase. However, this sort of tempering was extremely dangerous. When walking on a line between life and death, one might truly fall into death. Immortal Diancai laughed, then charged into the skies, quickly disappearing. Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. Five figures appeared in succession by the short elder’s side. These were the other Immortals of the Black-White College. “He truly is decisive,” a youthful-looking ‘child’ sighed. “Compared to him…” The tall, muscular, chain-shrouded man said in a low voice, “Although I am a reincarnated Immortal, my Dao-heart isn’t as firm as his. It seems the common saying is true; if you fail in one life to become a Celestial Immortal, even if you reincarnated ten times or a hundred times, you still won’t be able to become a Celestial Immortal.” “There are still some reincarnated Immortals who do become Celestial Immortals,” the short elder said. “But how few and rare are they?” The youthful-looking child sighed. “With the great determination that junior apprentice-brother Diancai has…as I see it, he might have just increased his chances of becoming a Celestial Immortal by a bit. He may very well truly have a shot at becoming only the second Celestial Immortal the Black-White College has seen in our ancient history.” “He does indeed have a shot,” the tall, blood-robed, skinny youth said with a nod. “However…the Celestial Tribulation is difficult to overcome!” All of them fell silent. The Celestial Tribulation? This was a nightmare for all Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. The worst part of it was, every single Celestial Tribulation was different in power; just because one was strong, didn’t mean they would necessarily succeed in overcoming it! “First, junior apprentice-brother Diancai needs to return safely. Otherwise, there’s no point in discussing the Celestial Tribulation.” The short elder’s eyes were filled with anticipation. “I wonder if I, a crazy old madman, will be able to see him again before I die.” ….. Within another world. The underwater estate. Ning had no idea as to what had happened in the outside world. His attention was completely focused on the Primaltwin secret art; this was a soul-splitting technique, and he had to be incredibly cautious in using it. Ning was seated in the lotus position on a prayer mat. Not too far away, the giant yellow bear and the old black bull were staring at him. “He won’t fail, will he?” The old black bull said worriedly They had already set up a barrier around them, preventing their voices from reaching out and disturbing Ning. “Ji Ning’s visualization technique is an extremely impressive one. Even if he fails, he would at most lose control over half of his soul; he wouldn’t die,” the giant yellow bear said. “Lose control over half his soul…” The old black bull murmured to himself. That was still quite severe. If the Primaltwin art was a success, the soul would be split in two, but both parts would still remain in existence. Although Ning would temporarily be weakened, that would be a minor matter, and he would soon recover. If, however, one of the two parts of his soul was to be completely extinguished, Ning’s 1747 personality might change drastically. He might even develop mental issues such as depression or madness. To lose control over half of one’s soul…this could indeed cause a drastic personality change. Huff. Puff. Ning took several long breaths, completely calm. He had already memorized and mentally repeated the Primaltwin art several times now. “Let’s begin.” Ning shut his eyes. Within his sea of consciousness. The spirit-Ning stood there, entire body emanating with sword-ki. This was an evolved sword-soul! Sword-souls were almost utterly indestructible, making a split even more difficult. Whooooooosh. The forehead of the spirit-Ning began to glow with light, a vertical-shaped light. Ning used all of his energy in executing the secret art, causing his own divine will to form into a knife that began to cut both upwards and downwards from his forehead. That vertical light slowly began to elongate. “Arggggggh!” Agony. The soul-ripping agony caused even Ning, despite his incredible endurance and Daoheart, to tremble. However, generally speaking, those who dared to execute the Primaltwin technique were all extraordinary figures who would be able to endure this level of pain. The vertical light continued to elongate. It reached his neck…his chest…his abdomen… The vertical light splitting the ‘body’ of the spirit-Ning had completely cut him in half. It was as though a ray of light had just cleanly bisected him. However, this wasn’t the dangerous part; what was going to happen next was the dangerous part. “SPLIT!” Ning’s soul began to split apart. That vertical light splitting his spirit in half separated, causing his spirit to split into two parts. One half, moving as fast as lightning, flew back into Ning’s physical body. In the instant his soul split apart, Ning felt a wave of dizziness overcome him, and while flying over his soul trembled as well. Ning’s Dao-heart, however, was resilient, and so although the dizziness caused him to feel incredibly tired, he was still able to withstand it. This was a step that had to be fast and had to be endured. Otherwise, if the other half of the soul wasn’t able to enter the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater, it would die on the way. After splitting the soul, there was no way to merge it again. “Enter.” 1748 The other half of the soul flew out like a streak of light, entering the Sole-Ki Pearl. In the instant it did, the soul felt as though it was a son entering the embrace of the other, a wandering, adrift boat that had finally returned to harbor. There was a feeling of peace, of warmth, of calm which completely filled the soul. The soul had its vessel…naturally, it felt nice. “Whew.” Ning let out a sigh of relief. “visualization technique!” For the moment, Ning had no time to waste on training his Primaltwin. His very first response was to immediately have both of his souls immediately execute the visualization technique. Within his sea of consciousness. The now-shrunken spirit-Ning sat down in the lotus position. Ahead of him, within the vast void of his sea of consciousness, appeared an enormous image of Maiden Nuwa. The image of Maiden Nuwa, in the void, seemed to press down upon both the past and the future. It was eternal and unchanging, and it caused Ning’s soul to become incomparably stable as well. The aura of divine light emanating from her, filled with boundless warmth, illuminated Ning’s soul, causing the badly damaged soul to begin to heal. Within the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater, there was the second, also-shrunken spirit-Ning, who was also visualizing an image of Maiden Nuwa. When her image appeared, her light seemed to stretch off into infinity. Both souls were in a wounded state right now, but they rapidly began to heal. This healing process took nearly three full days, during the course of which both souls grew considerably stronger. “Whew.” Ning opened his eyes. The Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater in front of him flew up as well, landing within his hand. “How did it go?” The giant yellow bear asked hurriedly, “How is your soul?” “I’ve healed to roughly seventy percent of normal,” Ning said. “Seventy percent?!” The giant yellow bear was stunned. “It seems you truly do have a formidable visualization technique.” When the soul split into two, both souls would have roughly half of the strength of the former soul. For an ordinary visualization technique, the user would be lucky to see each half-soul stabilize at fifty percent power. You could forget about having the soul quickly grow back! But Ning had not only stabilized his souls, he had already reached seventy percent power. “However, this is a one-time thing. After all, the damage caused by the soul-splitting was fresh, which was why I was able to heal so much of it at one go. In the future, it will be slower. To return to a divine sense of a thousand kilometers…I’m afraid it will take a long time,” Ning sighed. “Don’t be too greedy. You’ve already produced a Primaltwin, after all; this represents a second life for you,” the giant yellow bear sighed. “Your Primaltwin can also become an Earth Immortal or Celestial Immortal; in fact, if your true body dies, your Primaltwin will still survive.” Laughing, Ning nodded. The true body and the Primaltwin had linked memories; in all other ways, however, they were completely independent. Indeed, a Primaltwin could be described as a second life. “Hurry up and begin your training. Completely refine all of the essence within the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater,” the giant yellow bear laughed. “Right.” Ning nodded, then had his Primaltwin within the Sole-Ki Pearl begin to train. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater was a naturally occurring spirit-treasure that was one of the most superb resources for nourishing the soul. There were some Immortal cultivators who, believing their Zifu’s to be damaged, would steal the bodies of others. This sort of possession, however…had a major problem. It was that the affinity between the body and the soul would be very weak. Generally speaking, most bodies were not of very high quality. Some Immortal cultivators, upon finding a good body, would seize it. Once their affinity with it reached a certain level, they would be extremely satisfied. However, the likes of the Darkvalley Pearl, the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater, and other such naturally occurring spirit-treasures were truly perfect vessels. Because they had never been inhabited by a soul, once a soul did enter them, they would merge together perfectly. In terms of quality, as naturally occurring spirit-treasures, they were of course of superb quality. “It was lucky for me that Youngflame Nong had procured this. If I were to search for it on my own, where the hell would I even start?” Ji Ning had begun his refining process, and as he did, he instantly realized how wonderful this pearl was. He couldn’t help but sigh to himself, “Youngflame Nong must have prepared this for himself. However, in the end, his efforts ended up being for my sake.” Sole-Ki Pearls of Primalwater were filled with elemental essence to begin with; there was thus no need to absorb elemental ki from the surrounding world. One only needed to refine the ki within it. Ning was currently rising in power at a rapid rate. BOOM! A world suddenly came into being within the pearl. A Zifu region was born, and large amounts of elemental water essence began to transform, causing the Zifu region to expand in size. Stars. The Moon. The Golden Crown. Three major Manifestations appeared…and the body immediately broke through to the Wanxiang level. “This sort of ‘training’ truly is wonderful.” The old black bull, watching, couldn’t help but sigh in amazement, “What tremendous speed.” “It’s just like when a reincarnated Immortal regains his memories. He already had the sufficient insights and a strong enough Dao-heart. Given that the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater has condensed water elemental essence within it to begin with, it wouldn’t even surprise me if he trained all the way to the Primal stage,” the giant yellow bear said. These sorts of treasures, which contained elemental essence 1751 within them, would generally allow those who used them to reach the Primal stage. One couldn’t help but sigh at how marvelous the treasures of the natural world could be. “He’s about to make a breakthrough,” the old black bull suddenly said. After just an hour, the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater had risen in power from the Xiantian level to the peak of the Wanxiang level. It was currently moving towards the Primal level. Within the pearl. There was a vast, empty void here. The Zifu Lake was almost infinitely vast, and within the sky of this world, thousands of stars, a Jade Rabbit, and a Golden Crow hung in the sky. The aura of this place was even more powerful than the aura of Ning’s true body. This was because this body had truly reached the absolute peak of the peak Wanxiang stage! “Arise!” Ning’s soul was above the thousands of stars, at the very heart of the void in his Zifu region. He willed it…and instantly, the sea of elemental energy in his Zifu began to frantically condense into trillions of specks of purified light that wildly soared into the skies, towards those stars, the moon, and the sun, all of which were beginning to move in accordance with a secret rhythm. In the instant in which they all merged into the heavenly bodies, the stars, the Jade Rabbit, and the Golden Crow, all of which had already reached their limit long ago, suddenly transformed into pillars of light that shot downwards. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Tens of thousands of pillars of light, some thin, some thick. The pillars of light created from the countless stars appeared very thin, while the pillars of light from the Golden Crow and the Moon Rabbit were clearly far thicker. The countless pillars of light all focused on the central part of the Zifu, beginning to slowly form into an enormous creature. The enormous creature was beginning to take shape. The light from the Golden Crow was focusing on its head, forming a tortoise-like beast. The light from the Jade Rabbit was beginning to focus on the other side, forming a serpent’s head. The countless beams of light from the stars were beginning to form the body of the creature. The massive thing began to take clearer and clearer form; it was a mutant beast that looked like a turtle with a snake intertwined within it. This was a legendary creature; the Turtle-Snake! Any living creature, upon breaking through to the Primal level, would form a Primal Turtle-Snake. Rumble…. In that instant, the enormous Turtle-Snake suddenly seemed to move. It actually began to crawl downwards, through the void, until it reached the elemental sea. Within that vast elemental sea of energy, the enormous, island-like Turtle-Snake began to slowly swim about. “The Turtle-Snake has been formed. Let the Primal soul descend!” Instantly, Ning’s soul, which had remained hovering in the sky this entire time, descended directly into the enormous Turtle-Snake. As it entered the creature’s body, it felt an incomparably comfortable sensation. It was as though the body of the Turtle-Snake was innately nurturing to souls; Ning could even feel his own soul begin to strengthen at an alarming speed. “What a shocking speed of advancement. The rate at which my soul is strengthening is even faster than the rate at which it was healing when I visualized the image of Maiden Nuwa.” Ning sighed in absolute amazement. He finally understood why it was that although many Immortal cultivators had fairly weak souls at the Wanxiang stage, upon reaching the Primal stage, they would all quickly come to possess divine sense. It was precisely because, within the Primal Turtle-Snake, the soul would strengthen at an astonishing rate! It was like grass being sown into mud, then quickly growing out of it. Rumble… The Turtle-Snake swiveled there. Yin and Yang intersected on the back of the Turtle-Snake, which is to say, it’s shell. Suddenly, a golden flame emerged, blazing with incomparable heat and yet not harming the Primal Turtle-Snake in the slightest. This was the ‘Primal Fire’ which every single Primal Daoist was capable of using. Whooooooosh. The enormous Turtle-Snake swam about happily in the vast sea of elemental ki. The eyes of both the turtle-head and the snake-head both seemed extremely lively and clever, as though they were true living creatures. As for the thousands of stars, the Golden Crow, and the Jade Rabbit, they continued to send down their condensed elemental essence. Bathed by it, the Turtle-Snake was still continuing to slowly grow. After another long period of time, the stars, the Golden Crow, and the Jade Rabbit finally stopped sending down essence. “The early Primal stage!” The giant Primal Turtle-Snake spoke out in the human tongue. “The energy within the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater truly is remarkable. It was only used up after I trained all the way to the early Primal stage, then solidified my base.” …… 1753 In the instant he had become a Primal Daoist, there had actually also been a sudden change in the surrounding elemental ki aura of the underwater estate. In addition, the ancient, eternal aura of the Dao itself had also descended. “He made the breakthrough.” The giant yellow bear and the old black bull both laughed. Very soon, mist suddenly began to emerge from the pearl, which had been hovering in midair…and then the mist solidified into a black-robed Ji Ning. “Greetings, seniors,” the black-robed Ji Ning laughed. “Take a look at your original body,” the giant yellow bear said with a smirk. The black-robed Ning turned his head. The original Ning turned his head as well. Their gazes intersected. “Hahaha…” The two both laughed. Actually, their memories were linked; it was as though one was the left hand, while the other was the right hand. As they exchanged glances, their thoughts were identical; this was, indeed, an extremely marvelous feeling. “Greetings, fellow Daoist,” the black-robed Ning said.. “Greetings, fellow Daoist,” the other Ning also said. And then, both laughed. With identical memories and thoughts, saying ‘greetings, fellow Daoist’ to each other was like mumbling to himself. It was nothing more than a joke. “How does it feel?” The giant yellow bear asked. “Very good,” the black-robed Ning nodded. “Breaking through to the Primal level feels very different. The soul fused with the Primal Turtle-Dragon, which felt incomparably comfortable. It is also advancing very rapidly.” “Right. Generally speaking, upon breaking through to the Primal level, the rate of advancement for the soul will be very fast for a period of time. Afterwards, it will slow down, and in fact the soul might advance very little even after a century passes,” the giant yellow bear said. The black-robed Ning nodded. “Although the Primal Turtle-Snake is of tremendous help to the soul, everything has a limit. If the soul were to continue to rise at this rate perpetually, that would be ridiculous!” “Let me first try the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] with this Primaltwin and see how it is.” The black-robed Ning willed it, and suddenly, a dense cluster of more than seven hundred flying swords appeared. Nine were the Nethercold swords, while 360 were high-grade fire-attribute Earth-ranked flying swords, and another 360 were high-grade water-attribute Earth-ranked flying swords. He had picked these flying swords out from the vast ocean of magic treasures left behind by Immortal Witchriver in the estate. Ning had procured more than sixteen thousand magic treasures. With flying swords being one of the most common types of magic treasures, it hadn’t been too hard for him to find some that were suited to him. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!” The black-robed Ning willed the formation to immediately activated. Previously, when activing the formation, Ning had always used the Nethercold swords first, then led the other 720 Mortal-ranked flying swords with them! Now, however, with all 720 Mortal-ranked flying swords having been changed into Earth-ranked flying swords, the difficulty of controlling the swords instantly increased more than a hundredfold. After all, he had upgraded far too many swords. “Eh?!” The black-robed Ning frowned. “How is it?” The old black bull laughed. “I wanted to activate the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], but I’m unable to.” The black-robed Ning shook his head, then began to lower the level. The eighth level? The seventh level? Whoosh! Finally, he successfully activated the technique. More than five hundred flying swords swiveled about Ning, beginning to levitate up and down. Ning’s Primal-level elemental ki filled them, and his soul commanded them. Before his chest solidified an incomparably brilliant flying sword, which was even covered with a layer of prismatic white light. “The seventh level [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” The black-robed Ning shook his head. “I broke through to the Primal level, and my elemental ki has increased in power dramatically. However, my soul is still somewhat weaker than it was, before it split in two. Even though I’ve gained much enlightenment regarding the Dao…I’m still unable to go past the seventh level.” “These are, after all, all Earth-ranked magic treasures, and most are high-grade. Even the seventh level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is still more powerful than the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] with those Mortal-ranked flying sword,” the giant yellow bear said. The black-robed Ning nodded in agreement. “Right. Just now, I took a look at your other treasures,” the giant yellow bear said, pointing towards the other magic treasures, all separated by type. “Some of the sacks have quite a few golems in them.” The black-robed Ning nodded. “These are the golems that we discovered in the Witchriver Immortal Estate. That Fiendgod collected them.” 1755 “Let me help you retrofit these golems. Otherwise, they won’t listen to your commands,” the giant yellow bear said. “Right; don’t you have fifty thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence? Hurry up and refine it all. You are only at the early Primal level, right? Raise your power a bit more. That way, your elemental ki will grow more pure, and it will be easier for you to control your magic treasures. By then, I imagine you’ll be able to control the eighth, or even the ninth, level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” The black-robed Ning nodded. “Right.” There was no reason not to use them up; it was best to use the liquid to improve his own power. Fifty thousand kilograms? This was more than enough to allow his Primaltwin to once more improve its power dramatically. “In the future, I need to focus on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation],” the black-robed Ning mused to himself. Although he had read many secret manuals, amongst those that were meant for Ki Refiners, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] remained the best suited for him, and the most powerful one as well. His Primaltwin was a Ki Refiner; there was no way it could train in divine abilities, and so it naturally would have to focus on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. It was destined that his Primaltwin would become an extremely powerful ki-refining Sword Immortal! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the quiet hall. The black-robed Ning sat in the lotus position, a jade bottle in front of him. The liquefied elemental essence within it was continuously flowing into Ning’s mouth. “Heh heh heh.” The old black bull watched, quite excited. He had been alone for far, far too long. As for the giant yellow bear, he waved a paw and two giant sacks opened up. The golems within all flew out, howling through the air. A total of thirty-six Qiongqi Manticore Golems, along with a black-armored male golem, emerged. As they flew out, they began to frantically struggle, trying to fight back. “Be good and be obedient,” the giant yellow bear chuckled merrily. The thirty-six Qiongqi golems and the black-armored man all hung there in midair. Although they were struggling, there were unable to move at all, causing them to all reveal looks of amazement. “Who are you?” The black-armored man stared at the giant yellow bear, then shouted, “Why are you confining us?” “Oh, you actually have a soul planted inside you?” The giant yellow bear then shook his head. “Who made these golems? He was so rough and clumsy.” Clatter clatter clatter… The thirty-six Qiongqi golems and the black-armored man all suddenly separated into tens of thousands of component parts. “Let me first collect the parts. I’ll slowly reconfigure them.” The giant yellow bear had a look of anticipation in his eyes. He waved a paw, and whoosh, all of the tens of thousands of parts disappeared, having been teleported away. “Ji Ning, kid,” the giant yellow bear said. “I’m going to go analyze these golems and wipe out some of the seals the former controller placed on them. After fixing them up, I’ll return them to you.” “No rush,” Ning laughed. Ning himself wasn’t training; it was currently the Primaltwin, the ‘black-robed Ji Ning’, who was training. …… Time slowly passed on. Finally, all of the fifty thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence in the jade bottle had been used up. The black-robed Ning opened his eyes, revealing a look of joy in them. “Ji Ning, how is it?” The old black bull asked eagerly. “Just as I used up the liquefied elemental essence, I finally reached the late Primal stage,” the black-robed Ning said. “Let me test the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] first.” Swish. Once again, more than seven hundred flying swords appeared. The Earth-ranked flyinig swords, led by the Nethercold Sword Formation, all flew into the air. However, even after trying his hardest for a long period of time, Ning was still unable to control them well, and was only able to execute the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. “My elemental ki is far more pure than it was before, but I’m still only able to use the eighth level?” “Ji Ning, you’ve already reached the Primal level with your Primaltwin. By using it, you can go and bind this underwater estate now,” the giant yellow bear said. “Bind the estate?” Ning willed it, and suddenly, the Primaltwin transformed into a pearl that flew into Ning’s clothes. “Come with me.” The giant yellow bear walked forward. Ning felt tremendous anticipation. He had waited for this day for a very, very long time. When he had become a Zifu Disciple, he had only been able to bind a talisman; now, after having created his Primaltwin, he was finally going to be able to bind the underwater estate. Afterwards, he would be able to carry it around with him, just like Immortal Juhua had. He followed the giant yellow bear through a wide, spacious corridor that he previously hadn’t been given access to at all. “From now on, you will be granted access into 90% of the areas of the underwater estate,” the giant yellow bear said. “After binding the underwater estate, you’ll be able to carry it with you.” “90%? Senior, are you saying that there are still areas which I cannot enter?” Ning asked. “Right. For example, the Divine Abilities Hall; you cannot enter it. There are some other regions as well.” The giant yellow bear gave Ning a glance. “I imagine that you have already guessed…that at the Primal stage, you are only able to do a very basic binding of the estate, allowing you to carry it with you. To truly master all of its mysteries, you will need to wait until the day you become an Empyrean God and truly become Master’s disciple.” Ning nodded. He had expected this all along. Earlier, he had watched as the giant yellow bear had effortlessly paralyzed in midair and rendered immobile the black-armored male golem, which was comparable to a peak Loose Immortal. In addition, Ning could sense the ancient aura of eternity emanating from the giant yellow bear, an aura that was even more heart-shaking than the aura which emanated from the Fiendgod he had encountered in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains. To completely master the underwater estate as a Primal Daoist? Even Ning himself felt that he was far from being able to do so. “Empyrean God?” Ning murmured to himself, “Daoist Threelives, what in the world did you leave behind, that I have to become an Empyrean God before receiving it?” They walked through the corridor and thorugh various passages. Soon, they arrived at an ancient, simple room. Ning walked in, immediately feeling as though his heart was more peaceful than it ever had been before. “This is the Still Room. In the past, Master personally set down a Buddhist formation, the ‘Grand Bodhi Stillheart Formation’, in this place. Amongst all the mind-calming formations known throughout the Three Realms, this formation ranks close to the top. Its name is ordinary, but its power is extraordinary.” The giant yellow bear pointed at the giant, vast room with a claw. Instantly, an incomparably complicated golden formation appeared on the walls. Ning felt dizzy just looking at it. “This formation isn’t something you can try to comprehend yet. One glance is enough; don’t stare at it.” The complicated golden formation covering the four walls of the place once more dimmed. “Look.” The giant yellow bear pointed at the center of the Still Room. There was a platform there, atop which was an ordinary-looking, inky jade bed which emanated a frigid aura. “This is made from netherwater jade, retrieved from the deepest depths of the Nine Hells. It is extremely cold. When you first sit atop it, you feel feel extremely cold, but soon afterwards, you will feel very comfortable, and also feel it help to calm your heart. This jade bed alone is comparable in value to a Pure Yang magic treasure.” Ning’s heart clenched, hard. A Pure Yang magic treasure? Daoist Threelives truly was wealthy and generous. “However, don’t even think about selling it. This is already part of the underwater estate; there’s no way for you to pull it off.” The corners of the giant yellow bear’s mouth twitched upwards, a hint of smug amusement visible. “Haha, enough joking. The Still Room is the center of the entire underwater estate. All you need to do is bind it, and you’ll have a basic control over the underwater estate. Go ahead and start the binding process.” Ning nodded, walking straight towards the inky jade bed. Upon sitting atop it, he did indeed feel a heart-penetrating chill instantly fill his entire body. Even his soul seemed to have been frozen solid, but immediately afterwards, he felt calmer than he ever had before. A void-soul! His soul was in a state of complete transcendence. Ning began to carefully go through and dissect every single thing which had happened to him recently. This sort of reflection and contemplation of one’s memories caused Ning’s Dao-heart to slowly strengthen even further. “This is incredible. The Buddhist formation, ‘Bodhi Stillheart Formation’, and the netherwater jade truly are extraordinary.” Ning hesitated no longer. With but a thought, he unleashed the black-robed Ning, who also sat down atop the netherwater jade, then began to use his powerful elemental ki to fill the Still Room and bind it to him. The Still Room was slowly becoming bound. Time flowed on… This binding process took six full days! And this was only the first, most elementary binding possible for the underwater estate. …… “What a truly marvelous feeling.” It felt as though every part of the entire underwater estate was under his control, but the strange thing was, although he felt as though he was in complete control, the Divine Abilities Hall seemed to have vanished, as though it didn’t exist. “Weird.” Ning returned to the main hall. Within the main hall, the giant yellow bear and the old black bull were both present. “Senior, did you forget about something?” Ning asked. “What is it?” The giant yellow bear looked towards Ning. “The treasures which Immortal Juhua left behind.” Ning couldn’t help but say, “I’ve already bound the underwater estate…where are his treasures?” The treasures of Immortal Juhua, the disassembled golems…although Ning could sense the entire estate, he couldn’t find any trace of those things. And, right now, Ning didn’t feel any sense of control over the giant yellow bear either. “Oh, I almost forgot.” The giant yellow bear waved a hand. Whoosh! Instantly, a mountain of magic treasures appeared within the hall. It truly was a mountain! A treasure mountain that was hundreds on hundreds of meters in height. Ning’s eyes instantly lit up upon seeing it. “After living for a few million years, he really did accumulate quite a bit of treasure.” The giant yellow bear shook his head. “Immortal Juhua left behind a total of three Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and each one of them could be considered high-grade for Immortal-ranked treasures.” Ning’s eyes instantly began to shine. Three? And all high-grade? Immortal Juhua really lived up to his reputation as a Loose Immortal who had lived for millions of years, a figure even more powerful than Immortal Northwalker. Most likely, even the Immortal artifacts owned by actual Celestial Immortals were only on par with his at best. “Still, only one is left,” the giant yellow bear continued, pointing towards the old black bull. “Him.” “Just one?!” Ning was flabbergasted. “Didn’t you say there were three? Immortal Juhua left three behind, right? The fourth master of the estate died at the Wanxiang level; there’s no way he could’ve taken away the Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Where’d the other two go?” 1760 Was this a joke? Two high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures had just ‘gone missing’?! “Don’t be in such a rush. It’s a good thing for you that two of them are gone now,” the old black bull said smugly. “You still have me, right? Ji Ning, kiddo, in the future, this old bull is going to follow you, and you are enormously lucky to have me.” Ning was still filled with puzzlement. What about the other two Immortal-ranked magic treasures? The spirit of the estate wouldn’t have embezzled them, would he? The giant yellow bear said, “The three Immortal-ranked magic treasures left behind by Immortal Juhua were the ‘Thousandbull Sword’, the ‘Nightriver Painting’, and the ‘Nine Realms Seal’.” “The Nightriver Painting was chosen by Immortal Juhua as his reward after he overcame the seventh level of the Wargod Hall, a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure. Within it, it held an ancient river from the primordial era that came before the three thousand major worlds were born; the Nightriver. By drawing the enemy into the painting, the enemy would be within your domain and dramatically weakened, while you would be able to borrow from the power of the Nightriver to increase your own might. One of the reasons why Immortal Juhua was so famous was because of this magic treasure,” the giant yellow bear said. Ning listened, speechless. What fine treasures! Compared to the Nightriver Painting, the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp was far too inferior. That was a primordial river, the Nightriver, which existed before the three thousand major worlds had been born! “The Nine Realms Seal was fashioned by Immortal Juhua from the extract of materials collected by Immortal Juhua after wandering nine different major worlds. This seal…naturally, it’s used to smash and crush. He used up an astonishing amount of precious materials in fashioning it, managing to brute-force it up to be a high-grade Immortal-ranked seal. In his old age, Immortal Juhua loved to smash people with the seal.” “The Thousandbull Sword…when Immortal Juhua met the Thousand Swords Immortal, the two exchanged blows. After killing the Thousand Swords Immortal and acquiring hundreds of valuable flying swords, he traded them for precious materials, using them and other treasures he had accumulated in forging a flying sword. Immortal Juhua was also a Sword Immortal; the most important thing for a Sword Immortal is their flying swords. The Thousandbull Sword was thus the weapon he used in order to dominate the world.” Ning listened, spellbound and rapt. He couldn’t help but ask, “Then what happened to the Nightriver Painting and the Nine Realms Seal?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Adventuring Through the World “Let me finish,” the giant yellow bear continued. “Did you think that I just absconded with those two Immortal-ranked magic treasures? When I followed Master, I saw more treasures than you’ve even heard of.” Ning blinked. “After Immortal Juhua died, he left behind these three Immortal-ranked magic treasures. He died just as the Fiendgod Era had come to an end. Over the countless years that passed since then, I was completely bored out of my mind. It wasn’t convenient for me to mess around with the magic treasures which Master left behind, and so I took some of the treasures which Immortal Juhua left behind and began to retrofit them.” “Retrofit them?!” Ning was speechless. “The Thousandbull Sword, the Nightriver Painting, the Nine Realms Seal; all of them were pretty good, but they couldn’t be considered top-grade; they weren’t truly mighty,” the giant yellow bear said “That Nine Realms Seal in particular; it was forged in a slipshod way, completely wasting the massive amount of precious materials which were piled together to create that seal. So…I completely destroyed it, pulled out the extracted essence of it, then slowly spend the next 360 million years to completely fuse the essence into the Thousandbull Sword. This slow fusing process caused the Thousandbull Slow to evolve to a new level of power, but it didn’t disrupt any of its inherent might.” Ning blinked again. million years? Not even a Celestial Immortal would dare to waste time like this. “But, you know, I realized the Nightriver Painting was also pretty terrible as well.” The giant yellow bear shook his large head. “A perfectly fine primordial Nightriver was being wasted, having merely been forged into a separate world. To pull the enemy into the world and fight inside it? What sort of a terrible idea is that? So…I just completely destroyed it as well.” “I pulled out the flows of the Nightriver from within the painting, then reforged it into a sword-diagram which I also fused into the Thousandbull Sword.” The giant yellow bear seemed extremely smug. “Now, this is what you call a real treasure! The Thousandbull Sword, as a short, is unblockably sharp; with the extracted essence of the Nine Realms Seal, the Thousandbull Sword’s power rose dramatically. It absolutely became a top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure.” “But after mixing in the Nightriver Painting as well…whenever the Thousandbull Sword is use, the ancient, primordial Nightriver will suddenly appear within a region of ten thousand kilometers. With the assistance of the Nightriver, one’s power will explode dramatically! The stand-alone Nightriver Painting required one to pull the enemy into it, but the upgraded Thousandbull Sword has no need to do so at all. As long as the sword is drawn, the ten-thousand kilometer Nightriver will immediately appear.” The giant yellow bear was absolutely delighted with himself. “Heh heh heh. The Pure Yang swords used by the major powers of the Three Realms…which one of them doesn’t have a sword-diagram within? How can a Sword Immortal without a sword-diagram even be considered a Sword Immortal?” Ning was completely stunned. “Three mighty Immortal-ranked magic treasures were combined into one. When the upgraded Thousandbull Sword leaves the sheath, the Nightriver Sword-Diagram shall appear…sword-ki shall emerge and roam about for ten thousand kilometers, completely unstoppable.” The giant yellow bear was extremely smug. “This truly is a top-grade amongst top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures. Those three original magic treasures combined aren’t even half as good as it is. As for the hundreds of millions of years I spent in total on this project, I’m not going to go into detail.” “Thousandbull Sword!” The giant yellow bear called out. “Coming!” The old black bull called out. Instantly, from within the mountain of treasures that was many hundreds of meters high, a black sword flew out. When this flying sword emerged, a whooshing sound of flowing water could be heard as well, as though an ancient, primordial river had begun to flow. And then…the hazy outlines of a river appeared. When the illusion of the river appeared, space itself seemed to freeze. Ning could feel a sudden pressure envelope him as well. The ordinary looking black flying sword had caused the entire mountain of treasures next to it to fade by comparison. Swoosh. The old black bull immediately transformed into a streak of light, burrowing into the black flying sword. “Ning, take a look at me; what do you think? Aren’t I awesome?” The black flying sword hovered there in midair as the old bull’s voice echoed in the halls. Ning suddenly called out in surprise, “You, how can you move around? How can magic treasures move around on their own?!” 1763 Magic treasures were lifeless things; without a master controlling them, how could they move around? Even if an Immortal-ranked magic treasure had given birth to a treasure-spirit, logically speaking, they shouldn’t be able to move around. For example, the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp was completely incapable of movement; it could only summon flames to block Xue Hongyi, but in the end, it was still forcibly taken away by him. “Who told you that magic treasures can’t move around?” The giant yellow bear said. “Pure Yang treasures, for example, can soar into the heavens or delve deep into the earth.” Pure Yang magic treasures? Those were on a higher level than even Immortal-ranked magic treasures. They were simply on a realm too far from Ning. “Based on what I know, Immortal-ranked magic treasures aren’t capable of movement,” Ning said. “I read it in the books, and earlier, I also talked about how I acquired an Immortal-ranked magic treasure after killing Xue Hongyi in the Witchriver Immortal Estate.” “Are you talking about that Azuresilk Godfire Lamp?” The giant yellow bear shook his head disdainfully. “That’s just a low-grade Immortal-ranked item! It’s true that the vast majority of Immortal-ranked magic treasures are incapable of movement, and in fact, there’s extremely few top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures capable of movement as well. The Thousandbull Sword, however, is a top-grade amongst top-grades; his sentience and his power is comparable to some weak Pure Yang magic treasures. Given how sentient he is and how pure and valuable his components are, he’s naturally able to move about on his own. Still, without a master controlling him, he’s only able to release a tiny amount of his power. If your Primaltwin was to unleash its full power, you’d be able to suppress him.” Ning was secretly speechless. His Primaltwin was at the late Primal level; when using the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] with the Grand Dao Domain and the Dao-Path of Water, he was absolutely comparable to a Loose Immortal! Only a Loose Immortal’s full power could suppress this ownerless Immortal-ranked magic treasure? The Azuresilk Godfire Lamp had been suppressed by someone like Xue Hongyi! “Ji Ning, train hard. After you become an Earth Immortal, I can come out and fight again, hahaha…I, Thousandbull, will once be able to roam and dominate the world!” The black flying sword landed. The old black bull walked out of the blade, speaking with incomparable excitement. But then, he grew forlorn once more. “Unfortunately, Juhua has already passed away.” Magic treasures all felt a very unique attachment to their first master; their first master was like their parents or elders. “Perhaps he might have reincarnated.” Ning could sense the old black bull’s sadness. “Stop trying to console me. Juhua died countless years ago. Even if he reincarnated…I can’t even imagine how many times he would’ve reincarnated by now,” the old black bull sighed. ……. Ning wasn’t in a hurry to depart from Stillwater Commandery.. After all, there were three years left before the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Instead, he began to calmly train in seclusion within the underwater estate. After all, he had reached the Grand Dao Domain level, then mastered the complete Dao of Rainwater. Ning needed to quickly and completely master a way of using them to increase his power. Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, more than a year had passed. Winter. Within the Stellar Hall of the underwater estate. The space within this separate world, the Stellar Hall, was quite vast. Ning was walking through the skies. Suddenly, he disappeared before reappearing more than ten kilometers away, where a spatial ripple had just appeared. Swish, swish, swish. Ning blinked forward repeatedly, disappearing and reappearing as he teleported again and again. “Success, success.” The old black bull, lying on the grassy ground next to the thatched hut, stood up and called out in delight, “Ji Ning, you’ve finally mastered the technique of teleportation.” “It took me over a year.” The distant Ning, with a blink, reappeared in front of the thatched hut, then said, “I feel so ashamed.” Teleporting through the void was one of the most basic, most fundamental underpinnings to the Grand Dao of the Qiankun 1. Another name for the Grand Dao of the Qiankun was the Grand Dao of Space. The Azure Skysnake, because of her innate abilities, was able to utilize the ‘Void Blink’ technique was a Xiantian lifeform. In truth, the Void Blink was a form of teleportation through the void! However, for an ordinary Immortal cultivator to try and develop a void teleport technique was extremely difficult; after all, this was akin to gaining a basic understanding of a Grand Dao. The vast majority of Wanxiang Adepts would therefore purchase and keep a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal with them at all times. Still, virtually all Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals were capable of void teleportation. This was because, generally speaking, Earth Immmortals and Loose Immortals were in control of at least one complete Dao-Path. If one mastered a complete Dao-Path, one would be able to take control of the world around them. With but a thought, they could cause the power of the Dao to descend, placing the world around them under their control. When controlling the world around them, they would be able to clearly sense the Grand Dao of Qiankun around them. As time passed and as they did this often, they would naturally be able to comprehend the principles of teleportation. This was why Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, regardless of which Dao-Path they had mastered, were almost all capable of void teleportation; the only difference was in how much time they spent before achieving it. Whoosh. The giant yellow bear suddenly appeared. “Ji Ning,” the giant yellow bear called out. “Senior,” Ning responded. The giant yellow bear nodded in satisfaction. This year of pain-staking, solitary training, combined with the invisible pressure from the Youngflame clan, had indeed caused Ning to improve rapidly. “You have already completely fused your Dao of Rainwater into your Grand Dao of the Sword; your sword arts can be considered nearly perfect for your current level,” the giant yellow bear said. “However, Immortal cultivators who spend all their time in private training will never be able to become Celestial Immortals. You remain unable to break through in the Dao of the Inferno and the Dao of the Gale, unable to completely master them. This is because you’ve spent all your time here in study, instead of going out and tempering yourself. It is now time for you to leave.” Ning nodded gently. He, too, recently felt a desire in his heart to see the outside world; a desire to fight, to test himself. …… It was a cold winter. It was noon, but the skies were dark. Giant plumes of snow were drifting about in the air. Whoosh. A fur-clad youth suddenly appeared on Brightheart Island. Turning his head, he glanced at his surroundings. The area around him had been reduced to rubble. This was, after all, a place under the surveillance of the minions of the Youngflame clan, and in fact, Youngflame Nong’s biological father had come here as well. Because he was unable to attack the City of Ten Thousand Swords, in his rage, he had destroyed all of the buildings on Brightheart Island here in Serpentwing Lake. “In the future, I will definitely rebuild Brightheart Island,” Ning said softly. “Ji Ning, it is time to go. Soon, the patrols from the Youngflame clan’s Immortal cultivators will arrive.” A voice rang out within Ning’s mind; it was the voice of the spirit of the estate. Ning was now able to carry the underwater estate with him at all times. “Right.” Ning nodded. He lifted his head, staring at the skies. Snow continued to drift in the skies above him. “I remember the last time I left Swallow Mountain and went to Stillwater City…it was winter then as well. Now, it’s winter again.” Ning shook his head with a smile, then took a single step and disappeared from Brightheart Island. Just a few moments later… Whoooosh. A warship came howling through the air, leaving ‘waves’ of air in its wake. Aboard the warship stood many armored Immortal cultivators. The watchers the Youngflame clan had sent to Serpentwing Lake included Primal Daoists and other soldiers as well. The Primal Daoists would be constantly using their divine sense to scan the region every day. However, to ensure that they wouldn’t simply be fooled by bewildering formations that could affect their divine sense, they would also send ordinary soldiers over to do visual inspections, to make sure that their oversight was completely perfect.. Remember my previous post about Daoism? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The City of Ten Thousand Swords, under the falling snow, remained as lively as ever. The city had now become the very center of the entire Swallow Mountain region; naturally, it was quite bustling! As for the grudge between the Youngflame clan and the Ji clan? Those merchants and peddlers who came and went from Swallow Mountain’s commandery cities were all ordinary mortals; the Immortal cultivators stationed by the Youngflame clan weren’t willing to wantonly slaughter too many mortals, as that would cause the accumulation of far too much sin. Within a particular alleyway in the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Space rippled, and then Ji Ning appeared. Although there were some ordinary mortals within the alleyway, they didn’t seem to notice Ning’s presence at all. “These minor invisibility tricks are still useful against mortals.” Ning spread his sense out, and as he did, he couldn’t help but feel startled. “The city is absolutely…” “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” A ripple of divine sense spread out to him. “Immortal Duohe.” Ning took a single step forward, then transformed into a gust of wind and disappeared. The Lord Prefect’s estate was the heart of the entire city; it also comprised the inner city. Within a particular courtyard in the estate. Immortals Duohe and Witchsui were both seated here. A gust of wind blew in, then Ning appeared as well. “Master.” “Ning, son.” Two other figures almost simultaneously appeared as well; it was the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing. In the instant Ning had teleported to the City of Ten Thousand Swords, Uncle White and Little Ning had sensed his arrival. “Master, it’s been over a year.” Little Qing, in azure serpent form, immediately coiled around Ning’s arm, then raised her little serpentine head and spoke in the human tongue. “I’ve been worried to death over you during this past year. The army of the Youngflame clan has been sending nonstop patrols around. Fortunately, I could sense that you were still alive, master; otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to sleep.” The Whitewater Hound looked at Ning. He, too, had been worried about Ning this entire time. “Uncle White, Little Qing,” Ning laughed. “The Youngflame clan isn’t able to do anything to me.” 1768 “Immortal Duohe, Immortal Witchsui.” Ning turned to look at the two already-standing monstrous Immortals, then laughed. “I didn’t expect that after being absent from here for a year, by the time of my return, your forces would have layered it in protections that render it as impregnable as an iron fortress. I sense more than a hundred different types of formations alone, and wasn’t even able to teleport into the city. Also, you discovered me as soon as I arrived; this is an even more restrictive area than some headquarters for major schools.” Immortal Duohe nodded. “This is the core of your Ji clan, and the place where all of us monsters of the Immortal estate world have gathered. Naturally, we cannot be careless. We’ve used all our power to set up these formations; so long as any Loose Immortal dares to enter, we will immediately notice them.” “This is the homeland of your Ji clan, and the home of our clans as well, for the next thousand years,” Immortal Witchsui said with a smile. Ning let out a sigh of relief. He had been right to invite the monsters here. “Not just that,” Immortal Duohe chuckled, “Our clans have a vast number of Xiantian lifeforms amid our ranks as well. We’ve sent out tens of thousands these Xiantian Diremonsters to spread out throughout the Swallow Mountain region, allowing us to completely control and oversee the mortals here as well. This way, it will be hard for the Youngflame clan to kill the mortals.” Ning nodded. It was a grave sin to kill ordinary mortals, but Xiantian lifeforms had yet to truly embark on the Immortal path; the amount of sin they accumulated was much lower. “This is the decision which we came to after negotiating with Old Patriarch Ninefire. The Old Patriarch was worried that the Youngflame clan would butcher ordinary mortals with abandon,” Immortal Duohe said. “Actually, I feel that the Old Patriarch is worrying too much; the Youngflame clan is, after all, a major clan that has existed for countless years. Clans like this care tremendously about their karmic luck. Even if they send Xiantian lifeforms to slaughter ordinary mortals, there will still be some degree of sin that will surround the bodies of the Youngflame clan members, which will affect the luck of the clan as a whole. Although it won’t have a huge impact, given how much these ancient clans care about luck, they absolutely wouldn’t do anything that would negatively influence it, just for the sake of giving vent to a bit of anger.” Ning nodded. Luck. You couldn’t see it, nor could you feel it. But it did indeed exist. Those blessed by luck were the favored of heaven, and their lives would naturally be different. For example, the Grand Xia Dynasty established the Raindragon Guard, whose primary mission was to constantly capture and kill major sinners and thus allowing the Dynasty’s luck to constantly rise! “I’ll trouble you all to take care of my Ji clan’s affairs,” Ning said. “I need to go see the clan leader and the others. Afterwards, I’ll leave the city, and it will most likely be many years before we meet again.” “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you must be careful,” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe both said. “Right.” Ning nodded. And then, he led Uncle White and Little Qing to go see the clan leader. ….. Ji Ninefire and the others had no idea that Ning had returned. Soon, however, Ning’s divine sense reached out to Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ji Truekeep, who went to go meet with Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing in a secluded courtyard. Rumble…the door to the courtyard shut. Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Truekeep all looked at Ning. Given they had secluded themselves in this place, the conversation was undoubtedly a weighty one. Ning spread out his divine sense as well, keeping a vigilant watch on the surrounding area. “We are going to leave the City of Ten Thousand Swords soon. I don’t know how long this journey will last, or if I will be able to return,” Ning said. “Ji Ning, don’t say such things; you’ll definitely be able to return,” Ninefire said hurriedly. Ning laughed. “Alright. I’ll definitely be able to return. Before leaving, there’s something I want to give you all.” “Oh?” Ninefire and the others were quite curious. Ning waved his hand, and the floor became filled with piles of magic treasures, such as swords, spears, staffs, needles, shuttles, grand seals, ribbons, and horsetail whisks. The treasures were numerous beyond counting. “This is?” Ninefire and the others held their breaths. Ning waved his arm again, and nearly thousand magic treasures appeared on the ground. Yet another wave of the arm, and ten more treasures appeared as well. “There are more than ten thousand Mortal-ranked magic treasures, nine hundred-plus Earth-ranked magic treasures, and twelve Heaven-ranked magic treasures,” Ning said. “Even if our Ji clan produces several Primal Daoists and a group of Wanxiang Adepts, these treasures should be enough for us.” “It’s enough, it’s enough. Immortal cultivators usually acquire magic treasures through adventuring in the outside world,” Ninefire said hurriedly. “At most, the clan will provide a little bit of support. So many treasures…Ning, son, where in the world did you get them?” Ning didn’t answer. Instead, he waved his hand again. A large number of spirit-pills and valuable treasures and materials appeared. “These are all spirit-pills and valuable materials,” Ning said. “There are some commonly seen Immortal elixirs and pills here. Clan leader, if you flip through this book, you’ll know what is here. As for the most precious spirit-pills and materials, I’ve written down a book explaining their value and usage. You can’t be too wild in your use of these things; after all, some of them are poisonous in nature.” This caused Ninefire and the others to all feel breathless. “These magic treasures are all external items.” Ning solemnly waved his hand, and instantly, a vast, dense cluster of books appeared, filling more than half of the hall and rising to thirty meters in height. “This will be our Dao Repository,” Ning said. “It includes everything, and in number should be even larger than Snowdragon Mountain’s.” He had killed Xue Hongyi, Youngflame Nong, and had also acquired the Dao Repository of the Witchriver Immortal Estate. “These eighteen sets are the most important.” Ning waved his hand yet again. “Here there are Immortalranked Ki Refining techniques, Fiendgod Body Refining techniques, divine abilities, and divine will arts,” Ning said. “These are precious techniques which Celestial Immortals and those on their level use; some of them aren’t even available to the Black-White College.” Ninefire, Truekeep, and Granny Shadow were all completely stunned. Divine abilities? Divine will techniques? These were things that only existed in legendary Dao Repositories. Actually, these things had been left behind both by Immortal Juhua and the Witchriver Immortal Estate. Immortal Juhua had lived for millions of years, after all, and his combat power was comparable to a Celestial Immortal’s; he had acquired quite a few Dao Repositories in his time. In other words, Ning’s repository was the combination of the ones that had belonged to Immortal Witchriver and Immortal Juhua! Immortal Juhua was a lone wanderer with no clan to worry about, and so the techniques he left behind were all top-notch, at least at the Heaven-rank. “These eighteen sets that I’m giving to you,” Ning said solemnly, “Absolutely must not be taught to others. They are the hope for our Ji clan’s rise to power, the heart of our heart. Who to pass them down to? When to pass them down? I’ve left behind my recommendations on this book.” Ning handed a book directly over to Truekeep. Truekeep, hands trembling, accepted it. He was completely stunned. Perhaps this repository was quite a bit weaker than the Dao Repository which the Black-White College had accumulated over the course of countless years, but it definitely far surpassed the likes of Snowdragon Mountain, and definitely ranked amongst the top ten or so of the 1771 entire Stillwater Commandery. Those divine abilities and secret arts in particular…the other powers didn’t have them at all. Whooosh. Ning waved his hand yet again, and a pile of statues appeared. A total of nine golems, all of Qiongqi Manticores. “Master.” The nine Qiongqi Manticore golems all looked towards Ning with respect. He had originally acquired thirty-six Qiongqi golems and the black-armored male golem from the Witchriver Immortal Estate. The giant yellow bear had completely disassembled them, then rebuilt them into eighteen Qiongqi golems. As for that black-armored male golem? He was completely, truly finished; he no longer existed. After the retrofitting of the eighteen Qiongqi golems, every single one of them was now close to a Loose Immortal in combat power. Nine of them could join together to form into a ‘Grand Nine Heavens Formation’, and even Ning’s Primaltwin fighting at full power still found it hard to overcome them when surrounded. “These nine golems are each close to a Loose Immortal in combat power. For a single one to actually kill a Primal Daoist on its own might be difficult,” Ning said, “But once the nine join forces into a golem formation…they will be able to kill Primal Daoists as easily as killing chickens. This will become our Ji clan’s final trump card. Every single one of them has an elemental ki formation within their bodies, and they can absorb natural elemental energy and distill it into liquefied elemental essence, so there’s no need for you to provide them with a power supply. However, remember this…don’t use them too often. Once they use up the essence inside, they will no longer be able to fight. You can ask them yourself how much energy they have remaining and how much longer they can fight for.” “Kill Primal Daoists as easily as killing chickens?” Ninefire, Truekeep, and Granny Shadow exchanged a glance. They were completely filled with joy by this situation. “Ji Ning,” Ninefire said hurriedly, “I know about golems. Such powerful, mighty golems are incomparably valuable; it’s better to keep them by your side. You will be experiencing countless dangers; these golems will be of great use to you.” “For me, killing Primal Daoists is also as easy as killing chickens,” Ning said.. Ninefire and the others were speechless. These words were simply too savage and brutal. If Ning dared to say these words, that meant he absolutely had the combat power of a Loose Immortal! Actually, Ning’s true body wasn’t that strong, but his Primaltwin? It definitely did have that power. “Hurry up and collect these,” Ning said. “Right, right. Truekeep, hurry up and collect them,” Ninefire said hurriedly. Truekeep nodded. “These treasures cannot leave the City of Ten Thousand Swords; in fact, they can’t even leave the Lord Prefect’s manor. I’ll allow these nine Loose Immortal golems to guard them.” …… Everything had been arranged. The door to the hall swung open. Ning led Uncle White and Little Qing out, transforming into a gust of wind that disappeared into the skies. Truekeep, Ninefire, and Granny Shadow raised their heads, staring into the firmament. “Our Ji clan’s foundation has been established. So long as we are given enough time, we will definitely become one of the local hegemons of Stillwater Commandery.” Ninefire murmured silently to himself, “Although my life is coming to an end…it’s enough…it’s enough. Even in death, my life will have been worth it. Yichuan…I knew your son was formidable, but not that he was this formidable! You produced a fine son!” Truekeep and Granny Shadow were both in a stunned state as well. They both understood…that because of the things Ji Ning had left behind today, the Ji clan now had a powerful foundation. Like seeds entering fertile mud, the only thing left to do was to wait. All they needed now…was time! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Crimson Dragon Mountains. The local branch of the Raindragon Guard. The enormous, tower-shaped teleportation array. There was a white-robed elder seated in the lotus position next to it, quietly waiting. “It seems as the Youngflame clan’s hatred for Ji Ning is truly bone-deep. They instructed me long ago to help keep an eye out, and to immediately inform them upon discovering him.” Ten servants near the teleportation array were whispering and laughing amongst themselves. “And yet, they also sent one of the Raindragon Guards belonging to their clan to stay here permanently and keep watch.” “It’s been over a year. Ji Ning definitely left Stillwater Commandery long ago, but this Raindragon Guard of the Youngflame clan is still waiting here like an idiot.” “Everyone says that Ji Ning killed that young master ‘Youngflame Nong’; how could the Youngflame clan not be enraged? Stillwater Commandery is Ji Ning’s homeland, and this teleportation array of ours is the largest one within Stillwater Commandery, capable of sending someone to any place in the Grand Xia Empire. They are definitely going to stay on watch here permanently.” Just as the two servants were chatting, the teleportation array suddenly lit up. “Someone is coming.” The ten servants all turned their heads to look. As for the white-robed elder who had been in the lotus position this entire time, he opened his eyes out of habit. He had been on watch here for far too long, but each time the teleportation array lit up or someone used the array to leave, he would still pay attention. Rumble! A fur-clad youth appeared within the teleportation array. On his arm was a little azure serpent, while by his side was a large, snowy white dog. “Ji Ning!” The ten servants responsible for maintaining the teleportation array, as well as the distant, lotus-seated white-robed elder, all called out in shock. A fur-clad youth? An azure snake? A large, snowy white dog? This was…a perfect match! And he looked identical to Ji Ning as well! “He, is he Ji Ning?” The white-robed elder couldn’t help but look towards those ten servants of the array. What his thinking was, even if Ji Ning was going to use the teleportation array, he would most likely do it in secret! For example, he might change his appearance, change his clothes, and temporarily hide his spirit-beasts, making others unable to see that it was him. For Ji Ning to suddenly appear without any disguises at all…this actually made it so that he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Could it be a fake?” The white-robed elder suddenly had this thought. “That’s him. He’s Ji Ning.” Those ten servants of the array all spoke out. “We met him several times before. There’s no mistake.” “Yes. I am Ji Ning.” The fur-clad youth stood there within the formation, sweeping those ten with his gaze. The ten were so frightened, they hurriedly took several steps back. This was a branch of the Raindragon Guard; if Ji Ning dared to kill someone, he would become a wanted criminal and be pursued! They all knew that the chances of him attacking were very low, but when they thought about the fact that he was already being pursued by the Youngflame clan, they felt that he might be capable of doing anything. Naturally, these ten servants felt a bit of dread. “Everyone,” Ning said. “I am going to the imperial capital. Please activate the teleportation array.” “The imperial capital?” The ten servants were amazed. He wasn’t going to flee to a distant place; instead, he was going to the very heart of the Grand Xia Empire? “Are you going to activate it or not?” Ning barked. “Alright.” After a brief moment of surprise, the ten calmed down. No matter what, the grudge between the Youngflame clan and Ji Ning was a private matter. Ji Ning was still nominally a Raindragon Guard; they could not bar his way to the imperial capital. The ten immediately began to make minor adjustments to the teleportation array. “Wait a moment. I’m going to the imperial capital as well.” The white-robed elder immediately walked over, stepping into the teleportation array. Within the array. Ning and the white-robed elder exchanged glances. “You are quite bold,” the white-robed elder said in a low voice. “It’s been more than a year, but you actually have dared to return in Stillwater Commandery!” “This is my homeland. Why wouldn’t I dare to return?” Ning gave him a sidelong glance. “Did you actually wait here for me this entire time? Poor bastard.” This man’s strength was ordinary; after scanning him with divine sense, Ning estimated that he probably should be a Wanxiang Adept. It was also possible that he vastly surpassed Ning, causing Ning to be completely unable to tell how terrifyingly strong he was. Given the attunement towards the Dao which Ning’s divine sense now had, to make it so that even he couldn’t discover anything at all…the man would have to be at least at the Celestial Immortal level. But clearly, there was no way this watchman could have been a Celestial Immortal. “You’ve returned to Stillwater Commandery. And now, after revealing your whereabouts, you plan to go straight to the imperial capital? Hmph, hmph. Ji Ning, you won’t be able to escape. Those who my Youngflame clan wish to kill will definitely die,” the white-robed elder said. “Oh, is that so? Then hurry up and kill me,” Ning smirked. “The two of you, we’ve finished our adjustments to the teleportation array. We will send you to the imperial capital now.” The ten servants, while speaking, stepped back and activated the array. Soon, the teleportation array lit up. Whooooosh. The array was now empty. Everything inside had vanished. ……… The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. This was the very core of this entire major world. It was truly a place where the fish swam with the dragons, where experts were as common as the clouds. In terms of size of commandery cities or number of experts, compared to the imperial capital…Stillwater Commandery was nothing more than a backwater. Within a tall, towering mountain within the imperial capital. This was the tallest mountain within the imperial capital, and its name…was Raindragon Godpeak. The Raindragon Godpeak was the most towering edifice present. Even the tallest building of the imperial citadel, the Skylight Palace, was slightly lower. Raindragon Godpeak was ten thousand kilometers high, while the Skylight Palace of the imperial citadel was 9999 kilometers high! These were the two most towering structures of the imperial capital…and in fact, there were no buildings in the entire Grand Xia Empire which were taller than these two. Correct – buildings! In truth, the Raindragon Godpeak, while nominally a ‘mountain’, was actually an enormous magic treasure building! Halfway up Raindragon Godpeak, there were numerous, enormous teleportation arrays. This was the center of this major world, and in fact, it was to here where those from other major worlds would come! Whoosh. In one of the many teleportation arrays halfway up the mountain. Suddenly, a number of people appeared. There was a white-robed elder, a fur-clad youth, a little azure snake, and a large snowy white dog. “He’s Ji Ning. Hurry up and make the report.” As soon as the white-robed elder appeared, he turned his gaze to two armored men in a higher part of the mountain and sent a mental message to them. These two 1776 armored men were on permanent station here, and were responsible for welcoming the guests of the Youngflame clan. “Ji Ning?” The two armored warriors were shocked. They exchanged a glance, and then one of them immediately flew down from his position. Ning, with Little Qing and Uncle White by his side, leisurely strolled over towards the edge of the cliff. From this position, he could stare down and marvel at the vast, endless imperial city. As he stared down…there was actually not a cloud to be seen. Although he was more than three thousand kilometers in the air, when he looked downwards, he didn’t see any clouds at all, nor was there any smoke or dust; nothing hindered his vision. From their vantage point, an enormous, awe-inspiring commandery city could be seen, a city that seemed to have no end. Far away, there was a towering, massive Immortal palace that was as large as this mountain. This was the place the Emperor of the Grand Xia normally resided; the Skylight Palace. The Skylight Palace, 9999 kilometers tall, was a single massive magic treasure. It emanated all sorts of brilliant, blinding light; golden light, silver light, red light, azure light, violet light… The streams of light shone over the entire imperial capital. At the highers point of the Skylight Palace, starting at roughly six thousand kilometers or so, fog and mist could be seen, as well as a layer of incomparably beautiful red clouds. “It is said that the Skylight Palace of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia is 9999 kilometers high. At 6000 kilometers, there is a layer of red clouds, with multiple other layers of clouds beyond that, for a total of nine layers! In terms of power and prestige…it can absolutely compare to the Sacred Palace of the Skies 1 of the Heaven Realm. That’s what is said…and today, I can see that it truly is extraordinary.” Ning sighed in amazement. “They are so high. Everyone says that both the Skylight Palace and Raindragon Godpeak are magic treasures,” Little Qing called out in amazement. “Look at the infinite light the Skylight Palace is giving off…that power and might…if such a massive palace is actually a magic treasure, what level of magic treasure is it?!” “Immortal-ranked at the very least, and most likely Pure Yang-ranked,” Ning said softly. “Let’s go down.” Ning led Little Qing and Uncle White, flying down from the mountain. Whoosh! They flew along the wind, staring down at the seemingly endless imperial capital and feeling completely stunned. This was no mortal city…this was a city which should only exist in the Heaven Realm. “According to legend, Immortal Eastroam, ‘Dong You’, once led the Immortals and Fiendgods of a major world to assault the Heaven Realm, forcing that power of the Heaven Realm to lower their heads and 1777 allow him to reunite with his beloved.” Ning sighed, moved. “As I look at the power of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia…I now believe that an emperor of a major world does indeed have this level of power.” Ning had realized some time ago that in the books regarding the Heaven Realm and the Netherworld Kingdom, it seemed as though the Celestial Emperor wasn’t viewed as being tremendously important. It seemed as though the emperors of major worlds were completely qualified to sit down and chat with the Celestial Emperor as equals. This was the feeling which Ning had after reading those books. …… They flew down Raindragon Godpeak, landing on a long street that seemed to be made from clouds. They saw, atop this massive street, countless people either flying on magic treasures, riding flying carriages, or mounted on spirit-beasts. Not a single mortal could be seen. Ning turned his head to look backwards; behind him was the seemingly infinitely tall Raindragon Godpeak. “Raindragon Godpeak is actually slightly taller than even the Skylight Palace. The Skylight Palace is the place where the Emperor of the Grand Xia resides, whereas Raindragon Godpeak is nothing more than the headquarters of the Raindragon Guard. Why have they been raised to such an exalted status? Ning was secretly puzzled. The height of a building had to conform to exacting requirements; for the Skylight Palace to be 9999 kilometers tall meant that no one in any of the other commandery cities would dare to construct a building of such heights. But Raindragon Godpeak was actually slightly higher… “The imperial capital lives up to its reputation,” Ning said. “Come, let’s go wander about the city.” Ning no longer pondered this matter. He immediately produced a construct-carriage. It appeared, surrounded by mist, with a black dragon construct pulling it. This carriage had been left behind by Youngflame Nong! Although Immortal Juhua had left behind far more treasures than Youngflame Nong, including fine Immortal carriages as well, Ning decided it was best to be a bit low-key. Whoosh. The black dragon carriage flew forward, with Ning seated in the carriage, an azure snake on one side and the Whitewater Hound on the other. Soon, the carriage reached the walls of the imperial city. The imperial city was surrounded by a wall that was more than thirty thousand meters high. It had an enormous gate, and the gate was guarded by four human-shaped Fiendgods that were also thirty thousand meters tall. Of the four Fiendgods, the first had red skin and flames coming out of his nostrils, the second had azure skin and was surrounded by watery mist, the third gleamed with golden light and had a sharp golden gaze, while the fourth was completely pitch-black and had a giant snake wrapped around its body. These four Fiendgods guarded the city gate. Regardless of entry or exit, they had to first give permission. “My God.” Ning stared at these four titanic Fiendgods. He couldn’t help but shake in amazement. “Master, those four Fiendgods, it, it feels as though each of them are comparable to that one from the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains.” Little Qing and Uncle White sighed in amazement as well.. This is where the Jade Emperor of Chinese mythology resides in Heaven If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The imperial capital. Within the Youngflame clan’s estate. “Clan leader.” An azure-robed middle-aged man flew in a rush into a study, then knelt down, unable to mask the excitement on his face. “We’ve found Ji Ning.” The Godplume Duke, who was seated behind a table, flipping through a book, was stunned upon hearing this. And then, he called out in delight, “Found Ji Ning?” It had been more than a year. Per the orders from Patriarch Arcanum, the Godplume Duke had been searching for Ji Ning’s traces this entire time, but Ji Ning seemed to have completely disappeared, leaving behind no traces behind at all. In fact, the Godplume Duke actually believed that Ji Ning had perhaps hidden himself within another lesser world or major world. In fact, he had thought that ten or twenty years might go by without any traces of Ji Ning being discovered. For Ji Ning to kill the successor to the Youngflame clan and then leave completely unhindered was a humiliation to the entire Youngflame clan…but if they couldn’t find him, what could they do about it? And yet, they actually found him! “Where is he?” The Godplume Duke immediately asked. “Ji Ning has already arrived here in the imperial capital. We followed him the entire time,” the azurerobed man said hurriedly. “The imperial capital? He came to the imperial capital?” The Godplume Duke frowned. The imperial capital was tightly guarded, and here in the imperial capital, without a shadow of a doubt the most powerful organization was the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. For Ji Ning to come to the imperial capital actually made things more difficult. “He actually came to the imperial capital. Fighting is forbidden in the imperial capital…what should we do about him, then?” The Godplume Duke continued to frown. In some other commandery cities, the Youngflame had quite a large amount of influence, but in the imperial capital, there were quite a few clans more powerful than the Youngflame clan…and in the end, there was the Imperial Xiamang clan, which had completely unified this major world. In the face of the Imperial Xiamang clan, even the supremely powerful clans such as the Youngflame clan, the Kindwater clan, and the Skyfarmer clan had to tread carefully. “Ji Ning must be followed continuously. Keep a close watch on his movements,” the Godplume Duke ordered. “Don’t do anything else for now; just await my orders.” “Yes.” The azure-robed man immediately acknowledged the order. It was true that Patriarch Arcanum had originally ordered for Ji Ning to be killed immediately upon him being found, but this was the imperial capital! To kill someone inside the capital…this was a challenge to the Imperial Xiamang clan! The only way to do it was to send out Deathsworn, Deathsworn who wouldn’t betray the Youngflame clan even after being captured. “Given how tightly guarded the imperial capital is, once the battle starteds, most likely in the space of a single breath, the Imperial Guard of the Grand Xia will immediately arrive,” the Godplume Duke pondered to himself. “To find a Deathsworn who can kill Ji Ning in just the space of a single breath…where am I supposed to find such a Deathsworn? Ji Ning has acquired many of Youngflame Nong’s treasures!” Ji Ning was powerful to begin with. Given that he had protective treasures on him as well, even Loose Immortals would find it hard to defeat him in such a short period of time. A Deathsworn like this would be very difficult to find. “I’ll go see the Patriarch.” The Godplume Duke no longer hesitated. Soon, the nine Flood Dragons flew outwards, pulling an Immortal carriage behind them with the Godplume Duke seated within it. They howled through the air, leaving the imperial capital and entering the azure skies. ………. Filled with curiosity, Ning continued to stare at the imperial citadel, and also at the distant Skylight Palace. Alas, given Ning’s status, how could he possibly be allowed to enter the imperial ccitadel? And so, a few moments later, his black dragon carriage flew away. “Master, there are three people behind us now,” Little Qing glanced backwards. Ning, seated within the carriage, glanced backwards as well. There was a long shuttle behind them, with a white-robed elder and two others on it. Earlier, the only one following them had been the white-robed elder, but now, there were three in total. “One is a Primal Daoist.” Ning could feel those behind him reaching out through divine sense, and he immediately sent his own divine sense crushing backwards as well. BOOM. [Soulshaker Art]! Their divine senses collided, and instantly, the face of the tall, thin, azure-robed man changed. “This Ji Ning actually has such a powerful soul?” 1781 After the divine sense collision, the three behind Ning immediately grew much more ‘obedient’, no longer trying to challenge him. “Ning, son, where shall we go next?” The Whitewater Hound sent through their spirit-link. “To the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” Ning sent back through their spirit-link as well. “I’ve acquired quite a few treasures this time; the amount of magic treasures alone is quite astonishing. With so many magic treasures…I should go to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to exchange them for liquefied elemental essence, then trade for treasures I actually need.” Right now, what Ning needed the most desperately was treasures which contained the purified essences of the Five Elements, so that he could begin training on the second Cycle. Whoosh. The black dragon carriage advanced at an astonishing speed through the wide streets. The streets of the imperial capital were all extremely wide. The several major thoroughfares were actually built and ‘tiled’ with clouds, causing them to seem extraordinarily beautiful. Even the ordinary streets were tiled with incredibly rare and precious stones. “The main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain lives up to its name.” Ning’s eyes lit up as he stared into the distance. The other Heavenly Treasures Mountains in the various commandery cities were merely local branches; this one here in the imperial capital was the true center. Many of the most rare and precious curios were all stored here in the main headquarters. Many Immortals would come to the imperial capital expressly for the purpose of purchasing items at the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain that could not be found elsewhere.” “It really is huge.” Little Qing’s eyes were filled with excitement as well. The Whitewater Hound raised his head as well. He had never before seen such a beautiful place. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain before them was structured like an enormous qilin creature which lay there, nearly ten thousand kilometers long. In other words, the size of this Heavenly Treasures Mountain was comparable to the entire Stillwater City. Whoosh. The black dragon carriage quickly flew into the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. “Let’s first get something to eat, then sell off our treasures.” Ning was in a superb mood. He paid no attention to those three following him, and the black dragon carriage flew straight in, under the guidance of the greeters. The main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain was filled with enormous crystalline mirrors which hung in the air everywhere, nearly covering the entirety of the sky at a height of tens of kilometers. Beneath the countless mirmrors, many Immortal cultivators were congregating. Swoosh. As Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing flew into the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, one of the mirrors quickly locked onto them. “Black dragon carriage, the one used by young master Youngflame Nong of the Youngflame clan. Youngflame Nong has already been killed by Ji Ning..” “The rider on the carriage is dressed in magic robes in the shape of furs, and looks identical to Ji Ning.” “Next to him are two Godbeasts; Azure Skysnake and Whitewater Hound.” “99% chance of the youth being Ji Ning.” This report was quickly duplicated and spread out, and as it was, it was sent out through one of the thousands of intelligence channels. This was a location under constant surveillance by the main headquarters, as every day, all sorts of figures would arrive, including those from other major worlds or even the Heaven Realm or the Netherworld Kingdom. All sorts of intelligence reports could be generated here, of greater or lesser import. As for the news of Ji Ning…in the eyes of the many intelligence agencies, he was very unremarkable and ordinary. “Ji Ning has already appeared within the main headquarters of our Heavenly Treasures Mountain. There are five customers who have a standing purchase order for all information regarding him. Immediately deliver these reports to them.” A black-robed woman gave a calm order, and soon, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain sent out five subordinates, each with a copy of an intelligence report, towards five different locations in the imperial capital. Immediately report Ji Ning’s whereabouts upon discovering him! There were five customers who had standing purchase orders of this nature. “Is that the Blackwater Carriage?” Within the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, a violet-robed man stared into the distance as Ning, aboard his carriage, entered a private courtyard. The black dragon carriage brought him all the way into the courtyard, then Ning entered a two-story building within the estate, sitting down alongside Little Qing and Uncle White to enjoy some of delicacies that came from places throughout the Grand Xia Empire, and even from some other major worlds. “Fur-clad youth? Azure Skysnake? Whitewater Hound?” The violet-robed man murmured to himself, “Can this be the Ji Ning who killed Youngflame Nong? He truly is ignorant, to dare to so be so arrogant and open…he’s probably already been discovered by the intelligence division, and the Youngflame clan will most likely quickly be aware of him as well. However, none of that has anything to do with me.” 1783 “Youngflame Nong was quite wealthy. Ji Ning killed him…and must have taken his many treasures. It seems my opportunity has come.” The violet-robed man’s eyes lit up, and he immediately, leisurely walked forward. A few moments later, he arrived outside the courtyard. He stood there, outside the courtyard, waiting silently, not entering. A long time later… “Who is it outside?” Ning’s voice rang out. “Yu Qi of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” the violet-robed man laughed. “Enter,” Ning said. The violet-robed man obediently entered, quickly arriving at that two-story building. He followed the stairs up to the second floor, where Ji Ning, an azure-robed maiden, and a white-robed man were seated. They had essentially finished eating.. “You were outside the courtyard for quite some time. What for?” Ning leisurely held a cup of wine in his hand, sweeping this Yu Qi with a weighing gaze. Yu Qi’s power…from what Ning could tell, he should be at the Wanxiang level. “I am responsible for purchasing and selling treasures on behalf of the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” Yu Qi said modestly. “For example, if some people wish to sell their treasures or want to buy something special, I can assist. And of course, for the deals that I was responsible for carrying out, the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain will give me some rewards.” Ning nodded lightly. “You recognize me?” Yu Qi laughed. “I immediately recognized that carriage that you rode on, fellow Daoist Ji Ning. The carriage is known as the ‘Blackwater Carriage’, and was used in the past by Youngflame Nong; he often rode in it to come to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Thus, quite a few people recognize it. Upon seeing the carriage, seeing the way you look, and the Azure Skysnake and Whitewater Hound by your side, I was able to guess that you are the ‘legendary’ Ji Ning.” “It seems I’m quite famous. Even the imperial capital knows about me.” Ning couldn’t help but laugh. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you might not be aware of this, but you are indeed quite well-known,” Yu Qi laughed. “Youngflame Nong was one of the Four Dukelings of the imperial capital. Although they were described as the Four Dukelings, they weren’t necessarily the most powerful individuals of their generation; however, they had exalted statuses, were extremely wealthy, and loved to have fun. Youngflame Nong, however, ended up dying in the outside world. This news was naturally picked up by interested parties. Although the Youngflame clan never publicized it, anyone who did just a bit of investigation would realize that the killer was Ji Ning. Thus, your information was quickly unearthed by many as well. You have as spirit-beasts a Whitewater Hound and an Azure Skysnake; you like to dress in 1784 fur-shaped magic robes; you are extremely talented in swordplay, and have the appearance of a delicate, handsome youth…” Yu Qi rambled on and on, while Ji Ning, Little Qing, and Uncle White just stared. It seemed as though after having killing Youngflame Nong, he truly had become quite well-known in the imperial capital. “…and I guessed that the reason you came here today, fellow Daoist Ji Ning, was to sell off some treasures,” Yu Qi laughed. “And I, here at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, specialize in this sort of business.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Right at this moment, someone suddenly knocked at the door. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, might I come in?” “Eh?” Yu Qi frowned. This voice was quite familiar. The door swung open. A short, chubby old man walked in, also dressed in violet. The man looked towards Ning and bowed. “Hawkart greets you, fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” He smiled casually towards Yu Qi. “Yu Qi, you came quite quickly.” “Fellow Daoist Hawkart, you actually discovered fellow Daoist Ji Ning so quickly. I’m quite surprised.” Yu Qi let out a cold snort. Both of them were responsible for dealing in the treasure trade. Everyone loved treasures, especially rare ones. When absolutely unique, one-of-a-kind treasures were discovered, the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain would go and collect them and offer them only to the imperial clan, not selling them to outsiders. That was why some of the major clans and sects, in order to avoid certain precious treasures from being completely monopolized by the imperial clan, would also collect many treasures and keep them internally. For example, the Northmont clan of Stillwater had the ‘Carefree Caverns’, which was secretly collecting precious items as well. And in turn, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain had a number of people who were responsible for befriending experts and acquiring treasures from them. “I didn’t ‘discover’ fellow Daoist Ji Ning; it was he who declared his interest in selling treasures, which is why I learned of this,” the violet-robed elder laughed. Yu Qi was startled. Ning, seated there, said calmly, “I came to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain this time for the purpose of selling treasures. Thus, I had already instructed the attendant to make it known. I imagine that fellow Daoist Hawkart was notified by the attendant.” Yu Qi now understood. The short elder said proactively, “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, if you sell your treasures to me, I will definitely give you a price that satisfies you.” “I don’t really care who I sell them to. To me, this is but a small matter.” Ning looked at the two. After entering into a feud with the Youngflame clan, Ning’s Dao-heart had improved considerably, and the two in front of him weren’t able to entice him at all. “I know quite well that the most common treasures are always purchased at 60% of actual value by the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” Yu Qi and the short elder both nodded. “Come, let’s go to a larger location.” Ning rose to his feet. “As for who I will sell the treasures to, we can discuss that in a bit.” “This way, please.” “After you.” Yu Qi and the short elder both responded with warmth. Moments later, they arrived within a large garden, where only maidservants were present. “All of you, leave.” Yu Qi and the short elder were both dressed in violet robes. Upon their entrance, the maidservants immediately left obediently. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, how about this garden? Large enough?” Yu Qi glanced at the surrounding area. “Generally speaking, when Loose Immortals trade with us, they’ll come to this type of location.” Ning swept the area with his gaze. In the center of the garden, there was a gazebo, next to which was nearly a three hundred meter region of polished stone, surrounded by precious flowers of all types. “It’ll work.” Ning nodded, then waved his hand. Instantly, an awe-inspiringly massive pile of magic treasures appeared on the ground. There were more than a hundred thousand Mortal-ranked, ten thousand Earth-ranked, and a hundred-plus Heaven-ranked. “First calculate as to roughly how much these treasures are worth.” “Whoah.” Yu Qi and the short elder both took deep breaths. This many treasures? “This is just a portion,” Ning said calmly. “I’ll sell them to whoever gives me the best price. Oh, right; if I recall correctly, as long as the value of a business deal reaches two hundred and fifty thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, one can receive a ‘Xia’ insignia, right?” “Right.” Yu Qi and the short elder didn’t hesitate at all. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, don’t worry at all; we will definitely give you a ‘Xia’ insignia.” Just by a quick visual appraisal, they could tell that the treasures in front of them definitely exceeded the necessary value. Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing sat down within the gazebo, leisurely sipping wine and laughing. Whoosh whoosh whoosh. The magic treasures were quickly divided by type. Yu Qi and the short elder both carefully assessed every single magic treasure. Since the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain employed them to deal in treasures, they were clearly no ordinary Wanxiang Adepts. Each of them had memorized the prices of hundreds of millions of types of magic treasures and items, as well as the details regarding them. Their memories, naturally, were unfathomably superior to the memories of ordinary mortals. Still, it took them a full hour before they finally came to a halt. “The Mortal-ranked treasures would round up to be 40,600 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. The Earth-ranked treasures are approximately 252,500 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. As for the Heaven-ranked, the highest price I can give is roughly 560,000 kilograms,” Yu Qi said. “A final price of 853,100 kilograms for everything.” “I can give you 855,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence,” the short elder said. “Me too,” Yu Qi said hurriedly. Ning chuckled. “Any higher prices?” Yu Qi and the short elder exchanged glances, secretly feeling hateful towards each other. Ning just laughed. Actually, most of these were mass produced magic treasures, and so the price that could be offered for them was set in stone. Those hundred or so Heaven-ranked treasures, however, did include a few that should have been personally produced by an Immortal, and thus were priced differently and with some fluctuation. Still, the overall price wouldn’t change much. “So that’s the price for the treasures, eh?” Ning waved his hand again. “I have quite a few more treasures here as well. Give me a calculation and an offer; the magic treasures and these curios will go to the high bidder.” The ground was instantly filled with a huge amount of Immortal grass, spirit-pills, protective curios, and other such items. These protective items were useful for Youngflame Nong, but with Ning now having a Primaltwin, Ning’s combat power was now comparable to a Loose Immortals, and so the treasures were useless to him. “Eh?” Yu Qi and the short elder’s syees lit up. Immortal grass, spirit-pills, and protective curios? There was some degree of fluctuation in the price of treasures that couldn’t be mass-produced. They would be able to make the most profit from these items. As for those magic treasures…although there was a high number of them, there was very little margin to be made. “What a fellow. He really did take out all of Youngflame Nong’s treasures,” Yu Qi murmured to himself. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen so many nice items,” the short elder said, his eyes shining as well. The two rapidly began to calculate while pondering internally as well. “The magic treasures, combined with these various other treasures…I can offer you 1,300,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!” Yu Qi gritted his teeth, then made the offer. “If this old fellow gives a higher price, then I’ll bow out.” The short elder was stunned. He stared at Yu Qi in amazement. “Are you mad?” 1788 Ning was completely amazed as well. Ning had actually already had an estimate in mind regarding the value of the medicinal items and magic treasures he had taken from the Witchriver Immortal Estate. “Can you beat that offer?” Yu Qi stared at the short elder, savagery in his eyes. “Eh, I’m too old for this.” The short elder shook his head and sighed. “I don’t dare act as crazily as you. Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I bid you farewell. Yu Qi, the end of my life will be coming soon. Let me offer you a few words of advice; don’t be too crazy. If you wager too heavily, you might end up losing yourself.” The short elder turned his head and left. Ning looked at Yu Qi. “1,300,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence?” “Right.” Yu Qi nodded. “Fine.” Ning laughed. He couldn’t be bothered with the interactions between the two; what mattered was getting the liquefied elemental essence into his hands. Moments later, the two carried out their trade. The treasures went to Yu Qi, while Ning acquired the 1,300,000 kilograms, as well as a Xia insignia. This represented that Ning was like most Loose Immortals, qualified to purchase magic treasures at a 40% discount. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” After having completed the transaction, Yu Qi’s face was ruddy with excitement. “It’s almost night. At nightfall, the monthly Treasure Auction will begin.” “Treasure Auction?” Ning nodded, but didn’t look too interested. “This is the Treasure Auction of the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. The major powers of this world, and in fact many lone wanderer Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals will deliver their treasures to this Treasure Auction,” Yu Qi said. “In fact, even Immortal-ranked magic treasures might appear, along with many other hard-to-purchase items. If you have time, you should make an appearance at the Treasure Auction.” Ning was intrigued. It was worth a visit; perhaps he might find essence extracts of the Five Elements. He immediately said, “Will members of the Youngflame clan participate?” “The Youngflame clan? That’s a major clan; they will definitely send someone to participate in the monthly auction,” Yu Qi said. “Good. Tonight, I’ll pay a visit.” Ning nodded. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Within King Yan’s estate. Anyone conferred the title of ‘King’ was definitely someone who had an extremely high status within the imperial Xiamang clan. After all, the Xiamang clan had existed for countless years; as the chief of this major world, they had countless offspring, but extremely few who would receive the title of ‘King’. “Princess, Princess!” An armored female soldier charged towards a residence. “You can come up.” There were two stories to this residence. On the second floor, a green-robed woman was seated, against the railing, staring at the garden below. The garden was filled with some stones, sand, and even had a small lake; it looked just like a little beach. “Princess.” The female soldier fell to one knee. The green-robed woman seemed a bit fragile and weak, but the look in her eyes caused the female soldier to feel dread. The green-robed woman said calmly, “Speak. What is it.” “A report from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” the female soldier said. “The Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” The green-robed woman was startled, then immediately said, “Hand it over.” “Alright.” The armored female soldier immediately offered the report over. The green-robed woman accepted it, then opened it. Upon seeing the details regarding Ji Ning within the scroll, she couldn’t help but tremble, then murmur to herself, “Ji Ning? Came to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia? Is at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” Plop. A single tear suddenly fell down onto the scroll. Only now did the green-robed woman suddenly seem to come to her senses. “Hahahahaha…” The green-robed woman suddenly began to laugh. She immediately rose to her feet, then shouted, “Transmit my orders. The Golden Imperials are to prepare to accompany me to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” “You are summoning the Golden Imperials?” The armored female soldier was stunned. “Why haven’t you gone yet?!” The green-robed woman snapped at her. “Right away.” The armored female soldier didn’t dare to hesitate; she immediately departed. As for the grene-robed woman, she excitedly paced back and forth within the residence, her body trembling slightly as she murmured to herself, “The only child left behind by Aunt…my little cousin, my one and only little cousin…you’ve finally arrived. I, your big sister, am finally going to see you. Finally. I definitely won’t let the Youngflame clan harm a hair on your head. Definitely not!” 1790 “Princess.” The voice of a female soldier, calling from outside. The green-robed woman turned her head, and then her body flickered as she flew out gracefully. Soon, a carriage that was completely wreathed in golden flames and which was pulled by two enormous azure phoenixes flew out. In front and behind the carriage was a crowd of Golden Imperials, all of whom had heroic, vigorous auras and who seemed to move as one. Clouds naturally manifested in the area around them, and the Golden Imperials all flew forward, striding on the clouds. “Azure phoenixes, to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” the green-robed woman said, seated within the carriage. “Yes, Princess.” One of the azure phoenixes spoke out in the human tongue. Immediately afterwards, the two phoenixes began to pull the carriage forward. Escorted by the Golden Imperials, they immediately flew towards the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Escorted by a ring of Golden Imperials, the azure phoenixes pulled the Immortal carriage to the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain. As they arrived, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain proactively sent someone out to welcome them; after all, this was the exalted Princess Xiyue of King Yan’s estate. “Little sister Xiyue.” A white-robed, fairy-like maiden with an extraordinary aura that stuck out from the crowd went to welcome her. “Elder sister Azurewillow.” Princess Xiyue emerged from the Immortal carriage, revealing a smile. “Little sister Xiyue, why have you come to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain? You come here quite rarely. I was planning to go visit you in a few days,” the white-robed maiden, Azurewillow, laughed. Fairy Azurewillow…she was a reincarnated female Immortal, and in the past, she had been a Loose Immortal of the Skyfarmer clan. After reincarnating, she had once more been reborn into the Skyfarmer clan! Azurewillow, a Primal Daoist, was an extremely high ranking member of the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, and a very close friend of Princess Xiyue’s. “I wanted to come and take a look, so I did.” Princess Xiyue and Azurewillow linked arms together. Clouds emerged beneath their feet, leading them forward towards a particularly wide hallway. Most ordinary guests, such as Ning, entered through an ordinary hallway. “You should’ve come a long time ago. You always stay cooped up within the king’s estate. Don’t you feel stifled there? I feel stifled for you!” Azurewillow felt that this good friend of hers, Princess Xiyue, was excellent in all areas save for one; she was a bit too solitary. When the younger generation members of the various major clans located in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia met together, they would often discuss Princess Xiyue. There were simply too many imperial descendants, and so ‘princes’ and ‘princesses’ had varying levels of status. King Yan, however, only had a single family member, Princess Xiyue, and so he doted heavily on her. Thus, her own status naturally became extremely high as well. Many people believed…that the reason why Princess Xiyue was so solitary was because of her childhood. This was because no one knew about what she had experienced as a child; all they knew was that when King Yan brought Princess Xiyue back, she was already a grown woman. “Right. Help me look into something,” Princess Xiyue said. “Someone named Ji Ning should’ve come to your Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Help me investigate and see where this Ji Ning is currently located? He should still be within your Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” 1792 “Fine.” Azurewillow smiled, then stretched her divine sense out a few hundred kilometers, giving the instructions to a subordinate. “It seems, Xiyue, that you came because of this Ji Ning. Ji Ning…the only person of this name that I can think of is that disciple of the Black-White College of Stillwater Province, who killed Youngflame Nong,” Azurewillow said. “That’s the one.” Princess Xiyue revealed a smile as well. “I’m quite curious about him. He actually dared to kill Youngflame Nong.” “I’m quite intrigued by him as well,” Azurewillow said. Moments later. “Found him.” Azurewillow said, “Ji Ning is at Fortunes Peak.” “Fortunes Peak? Then let’s go to Fortunes Peak,” Princess Xiyue said directly. The main Heavenly Treasures Mountain took up an extremely large amount of space. There were many mountain peaks within it, and the top of the mountain peaks appeared like the scales of an enormous kirin. Amongst them, there were nine peaks that were jointly referred to as the Fortunes Peaks. Every single one of them had hundreds of estates floating around them, all of which were surrounded by clouds. The dense clouds were more than thirty meters thick, forming into streets and traversed by carriages and maidservants. Ning was seated in the lotus position atop one particular cloudbank, eating delicacies with Uncle White and Little Qing by his side, along with a maidservant who was awaiting his instructions. Whoosh. A ripple in the air above the mountain peak. Azurewillow and Princess Xiyue flew out together, landing atop a cloud. Both sat down, and instantly, maidservants came to deliver delicacies to them. “Look. That’s Ji Ning, right over there.” Azurewillow gave Ning a glance. Princess Xiyue followed Azurewillow’s gaze, quickly discovering that in that direction, there were quite a few clouds at various different levels, upon which were seated various guests. In fact, some of them were extremely respected, high-status members of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and they voluntarily smiled towards Azurewillow and Princess Xiyue. “Eh?” Princess Xiyue quickly discovered that amongst the guests, there was a very ordinary-looking furclad youth. This youth was almost completely absorbed in his eating, and by his side was a snowy white hound and an azure serpent, both of whom were eating as well while chatting about how ‘this one tastes great’ or ‘the imperial capital lives up to its reputation’ or ‘I never tasted this in Stillwater Commandery’ or ‘we certainly came to the right place, master!’ 1793 “Ji Ning.” Princess Xiyue looked towards the distant Ning, a warm feeling in her heart. “They look so similar. He looks just like father!” Princess Xiyue murmured quietly to herself. Ning’s appearance was more like that of his mother, Yuchi Snow. Yuchi Snow and Yuchi Mount, in turn, were actual siblings…as the saying goes, a boy will look more like his maternal uncles. Ning did indeed have many facial similarities to his uncle, Yuchi Mount. However, because Ning broke through to the Xiantian level quite early on, he had always looked just as he had when he was a youth. If he had made his breakthrough a few years later…given how tall he already was at age eleven, by age sixteen, he would’ve been quite massive and muscular. “Little brother.” Princess Xiyue felt warmth in her heart, and her eyes couldn’t help but begin to glisten. It had been far too long. She had always been by herself. Even after her grandfather had found her and brought her back to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, she was still very lonely. She dearly missed her her departed mother, and her father, who would never return…every night, in her dreams, she would return to the warm, happy days she had spent with her parents on that island. She wanted to return to that island, to go back to the life of a fisherman’s daughter. Unfortunately…there was no way to ever go back. Her father’s life-tablet had already shattered. She had thought that she would never have any other family members…but Youngflame Nong’s death was discovered to have involved a youth, a youth whose mother was named Yuchi Snow, a youth who was supposedly a ‘spawn of the Yuchi clan’. Yuchi Snow…although she had never met this woman, she had heard her father speak of her. That was the one and only surviving little sister of her father’s. “Little brother.” Princess Xiyue had been quite frantic earlier, but upon seeing that youth, seated atop the clouds, be eating and chatting with his two spirit-beasts, the Whitewater Hound and the Azure Skysnake, she no longer felt frantic. “Xiyue. Tonight is the night of the monthly Treasure Auction,” Fairy Azurewillow said with a laugh. “And I heard some news regarding this Ji Ning.” “What is it?” Princess Xiyue, upon hearing the words ‘Ji Ning’, instantly felt curious. Azurewillow said, “Ji Ning originally wasn’t very interested in the Treasure Auction, but upon hearing that the forces of the Youngflame clan would also be present, he came.” “Ah?!” Princess Xiyue was amazed. “What’s he going to do?” “Ji Ning came without changing his appearance. He also brought his spirit-beasts and rode on the carriage Youngflame Nong had owned, straight into the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. It’s as though he was afraid 1794 the Youngflame clan wouldn’t realize he was here.” Azurewillow sighed, “In fact, upon hearing that the Youngflame clan would attend, he insisted on attending as well. I feel as though he is setting himself directly against the Youngflame clan. I must say, he truly is quite audacious.” “Isn’t he in great danger?” Princess Xiyue said hurriedly. “This Ji Ning has acquired the treasures of the Youngflame clan; he definitely must have quite a few protective treasures,” Azurewillow said. “And…for him to be capable of killing Youngflame Nong means that he is an extraordinary figure. Given his power, it will actually be quite hard for the Youngflame to kill him in the imperial capital.” Princess Xiyue quickly returned to a clear-minded state. She nodded. “Right. The Imperial Guard maintain a constant watch over the entire imperial capital. Once battle begins, they’ll quickly teleport over.” “Right. So, if the Youngflame clan wishes to kill Ji Ning, they’ll probably have to send Deathsworn, and a Deathsworn capable of killing him in a single breath at that. Finding this sort of Deathsworn…” Azurewillow shook her head. “Hard. Very hard. He’d have to be a supreme Loose Immortal at the very least, but most likely, even a supreme Loose Immortal wouldn’t necessarily be able to kill him within a single breath. After all, Ji Ning has already displayed prowess in battle sufficient to kill Youngflame Nong and a Primal-level Fiendgod.” Princess Xiyue laughed as well. She suddenly felt a sense of pride for this cousin of her’s; her cousin truly was formidable. ….. It was already late at night. Stars had appeared in the night sky. The starlight linked together, creating rays of starlight. A tall, thin, narrow-eyed old man was taking a stroll through the skies, surrounded by starlight. It was Patriarch Arcanum. Beneath him was a quiet, secluded mountain range. “Floatcloud.” Patriarch Arcanum spoke out, and his voice instantly echoed out, passing through the mountains. Soon, a figure emerged from within the mountains. It was a bald old man. Upon seeing Patriarch Arcanum, the bald old man immediately bowed with respect. “Floatcloud pays his respects to the Patriarch.” “Mmm. How many years have you trained for?” Patriarch Arcanum asked calmly. “It has already been 128,113 years,” the bald elder said respectfully. “Not bad. Every hundred thousand years constitutes a major accomplishment; many Loose Immortals are unable to make it past a hundred thousand years,” Patriarch Arcanum said. The bald elder said hurriedly, “When I faced the tribulation that year, my Primal base was damaged. It was all thanks to the help of the tribe that I was able to restore my base quickly, which allowed me to survive until now. However…I’m almost at my limit. Each trial and tribulation poses a major threat to me. I want to reincarnate, but I’m afraid that I will fail in doing so.” Reincarnation wouldn’t necessarily be successful; if one was lucky, one might succeed, but there were also those who would fail. The Netherworld Kingdom, after all, was not a kind, gentle place. “I can bestow a dharmic decree of reincarnation unto you,” Patriarch Arcanum said. “A dharmic decree of reincarnation?” The bald elder instantly revealed a look of surprise and joy. Dharmic decrees were decrees which were issued by major powers of the Three Realms. Even the Netherwold Kingdom would give face to the dharmic decrees of major powers. Even for the Youngflame clan, such decrees were extremely precious. After all, there were far too many Loose Immortals; the entire Youngflame clan had in excess of a thousand Loose Immortals. “I need you to accomplish something,” Patriarch Arcanum said. “Please instruct me, Patriarch,” the bald elder said hurriedly. He had begged the clan repeatedly in the past, but the clan had not given him a dharmic decree of reincarnation. Now that the Patriarch had come in person and said that he would bestow a dharmic decree of reincarnation…this must involve a major affair. “You know that Ji Ning killed my child, Nong?” Patriarch Arcanum said calmly. “I do,” the bald elder said hurriedly. How could he not know? Youngflame Nong had been all but guaranteed to be the next Godplume Duke, and had a Fiendgod bodyguard. In the Patriarch’s heart, his status had been far higher than that of Loose Immortal whose life was nearing its end. “That Ji Ning is currently in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.” Patriarch Arcanum instructed, “You are to go there and kill Ji Ning, then go reincarnate.” “The imperial capital?” The bald elder’s face changed. Kill someone in the imperial capital? Kill Ji Ning? This was no simple task. After all, Ji Ning was someone who had even managed to kill both Youngflame Nong and a Primal-level Fiendgod. Killing Ji Ning was very difficult, and to kill someone in the imperial capital was incredibly troublesome. If he wasn’t, even his soul would be captured and taken away by the Imperial Guard. Most likely, the end result would be that his soul would be shattered. “I’ll give you time to prepare. Buy or trade for whatever treasures you need. However, I want you to kill Ji Ning within three days,” Patriarch Arcanum said coldly. At the same time, he produced a golden scroll in his hand. “This is the dharmic decree of reincarnation. If you swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, I’ll give it to you.” 1796 The bald elder hesitated, looking at the golden dharmic decree. He thought about the fact that he had quite a few treasures; he could sell them off and purchase a few particularly powerful items. And…since Patriarch Arcanum had personally come, most likely, he had no choice but to accept. “Let the Dao of the Heavens bear witness! I, Floatcloud, shall kill Ji Ning within three days, and will not reveal any information regarding the Youngflame clan. If I violate this oath, let my soul be shattered.” The bald elder gritted his teeth, then swore the oath. “Very good.” Patriarch Arcanum nodded, then casually waved his hand, sending the golden scroll flying forward. The bald elder immediately caught it. “I’ll give you three days…but the sooner the better.” After saying his part, Patriarch Arcanum took a single step, then disappeared within the countless stars of the night sky. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain. The clouds hovering around the nine peaks of the Fortunes Peaks. Atop the clouds were formidable figures from various areas around the world; this truly was a place where the fish swam with the dragons. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” A violet-robed Yu Qi had just arrived at Ning’s place. “Oh?” Ning gave him a glance. Earlier, he had sold off treasures worth 1.3 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence to this man. Ning was quite satisfied with this. Smiling, he said, “Fellow Daoist Yu Qi, come, have a few cups of wine with me.” “No need,” Yu Qi said with a laugh, then whispered, “I’ve come to inform you, fellow Daoist Ji Ning, that the men of the Youngflame clan have arrived.” “The men of the Youngflame clan have arrived?” Ning’s eyes lit up. “Where?” “Right? Where?” Little Qing’s eyes were shining as well. Yu Qi was flabbergasted. When these two had heard the word ‘Youngflame clan’, it was as though they had located their prey. “Right over there.” Yu Qi gestured with his eyes as he gave a sideways glance to a distant mountain peak. “See them? That group that just flew out from that mountain peak. Including the maid, there are nine in total.” Ning immediately followed Yu Qi’s gave. Right away, he saw the group of people flying out; the group was led by a middle-aged man with an extraordinary aura and loose, unbound long hair. By his side were two youths. As for the others with him, they were all guards, servants, and maids. “Youngflame Xiushui?” Ning’s eyes narrowed. After having sold off the magic treasures, Ning had purchased quite a few intelligence reports, such as a detailed one regarding the Youngflame clan and the various other powers of the imperial capital. In short, Ning had already memorized all of the fairly formidable figures of the Youngflame clan that had been mentioned in the intelligence reports. Youngflame Xiushui was a Void-level Earth Immortal! He was being nurtured by the Youngflame clan, and had a good chance of becoming a Celestial Immortal. In fact, his position was such that he couldn’t even be bothered to become a Godplume Duke. This was because, for one who had a true chance of becoming a Celestial Immortal, there was generally no time to take care of various clan matters. Becoming the Godplume Duke meant that one would have to carry out many matters and divide one’s attention. “You recognize him?” Yu Qi laughed softly. “This is Youngflame Xiushui with his son, Youngflame Jun. They’ve invited Adept Woodpass of the Southern Seas to be their guest for dinner.” “They’ve invited Adept Woodpass?” Ning said, puzzled, “Youngflame Xiushui has an extraordinary status; he’s actually inviting a Wanxiang Adept to dinner, and one from the Southern Seas?” Yu Qi laughed. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you don’t understand; the Southern Seas are incomparably vast and difficult to govern. Thus, the battles between the cultivators in that area are extremely chaotic and ferocious. However, this chaotic region has given birth to some truly outstanding geniuses. Adept Woodpass can be described as one of the most supreme of Wanxiang Adepts of this place.” “Most supreme?” Ning was shocked. The Southern Seas…that was a place of endless water, with many islands and cultivators, that was comparable in size to several commanderies. To describe someone was being one of the most supreme of Wanxiang Adepts in this place was quite the boast. “Adept Woodpass is one of those who have come to the Conclave of Immortal Destiny in order to fight for first place,” Yu Qi said softly. “Three hundred years ago, Adept Woodpass was already capable of executing a Primal Daoist.” “He killed a Primal Daoist more than three centuries ago?” Ning was greatly shocked. “This Woodpass…for the sake of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, he managed to force himself to remain at the Wanxiang Adept level for three centuries?” The nearby Little Qing called out in shock, “I’ve heard of freaks like him, but I didn’t expect to actually run into one.” Fortunately, every single cloud was surrounded by formations which blocked out sound. Ning still felt his heart clench. He had killed Primal Daoists three hundred years ago? Then how powerful must he now be? “Adept Woodpass is extremely famous,” Yu Qi said hurriedly. “Two hundred years ago, he produced his Primaltwin.” “Primaltwin…” Ning silently memorized this. “A few decades ago, his Primaltwin actually trained all the way to the Void level, becoming an Earth Immortal!” Yu Qi said. “He took over an island in the Southern Seas and often expounds on the Dao there, turning away neither monsters nor humans. He often expounds on the Dao, causing his fame to grow greater and greater…and, according to what the outside world knows, more than six Loose Immortals have died to him already!” Ji Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing were completely stunned upon hearing this. “What a madman! His true body is only at the Wanxiang Adept level, but his Primaltwin actually dared to train to the Void level and become an Earth Immortal?” Little Qing called out in shock. “Three hundred years…isn’t he afraid of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations?” “To dare to act in such an insane manner…either he’s a madman, or he’s an absolute, peerless monster,” Ning said. It was actually incredibly dangerous for a Primaltwin to train to the Void level and become an Earth Immortal when the true body was a Wanxiang Adept. This was because once a Calamity or a Tribulation descended, the power of the trial would be linked to one’s own power. How terrifying would a Calamity or a Tribulation meant for an Earth Immortal be? The terrifying trial would simultaneously descend on both the true body and the Primaltwin. The Primaltwin might make it, but if the original body was too weak, it might not be able to do so. “The Primaltwin of Adept Woodpass broke through to the Earth Immortal level a few decades ago; it’s possible that he had already overcome his Calamity at that time,” Yu Qi said with a laugh. “I refuse to believe that his true Wanxiang-level body is capable of overcoming a trial meant for a Void-level Earth Immortal.” “Right.” Ning nodded. That made sense. “However, Adept Woodpass truly is at a high level of comprehension. He dares to publicly expound on the Dao, and the outside world knows of at least six Loose Immortals who died to him…in the imperial capital, he is publicly acknowledged as one of the contenders for the number one position.” Yu Qi sighed, “He’s already so formidable; if his true body becomes apprenticed to one of the major powers of the Three Realms and learns even higher level techniques and divine abilities, it will definitely become far more powerful than even his Primaltwin.” “Fellow Daoist Yu Qi,” Ning said hurriedly, “Regarding this Conclave of Immortal Destiny…there should be intelligence reports regarding some publicly acknowledged formidable figures, right?” “Right.” Yu Qi nodded. “However, just some of the more famous ones; after all, the Grand Xia Empire is simply too vast. No one knows about all of the monstrous geniuses that are hidden within it. For example, yourself, fellow Daoist Ji Ning. Before you killed Youngflame Nong, no one in the imperial capital had ever even heard of you.” “The Grand Xia Empire is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Adept Woodpass is just one of the most likely contenders, but no one knows if an even more terrifying genius might emerge.” Yu Qi sighed with great emotion. Ning nodded as well. “I need the intelligence reports regarding this Conclave of Immortal Destiny and some formidable Wanxiang Adepts participating in it.” “I’ll deliver it shortly,” Yu Qi said with a laugh, then departed. Still seated atop the cloud, Ji Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing all felt as though this Conclave of Immortal Destiny wouldn’t be an easy one to win. “Even his Primaltwin is a Void-level Earth Immortal…and yet he insists on shamelessly keeping his true body at the ‘Wanxiang’ level,” Little Qing grumbled viciously. “Well, he wants to be apprenticed to a truly formidable figure of the Three Realms,” Ning said with a laugh. “It makes sense.” As the saying went, a teacher could lead you through the door, but training relied on one’s self. Although training did indeed rely on one’s self, one still needed a teacher to at least lead one through the door. If one had a good teacher, the situation would be completely different. Although Ning had never met Daoist Threelives, given that Daoist Threelives had arranged the ‘Divine Abilities Hall’, ‘Wargod Hall’, and ‘Stellar Hall’ for him, it was as though Daoist Threelives was personally guiding him. …… In another area. “Since our last parting in the Southern Seas, it has been more than a century. Now, fellow Daoist, you have come to the imperial capital, hahaha…” The long-haired Youngflame Xiushui laughed with emotion. “When I think about how how you will display your divine might in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, and about how some of the major powers of the Three Realms will discover you and perhaps accept you as disciple…I can’t help but feel jealous of you. I feel as though I should’ve stayed a few more years at the Wanxiang level as well.” Adept Woodpass looked like a youth; he had a simple, honest appearance. But this simple, honest-looking youth was known throughout the Southern Seas. He had travelled alone, establishing a tremendous reputation, and openly gave lectures on the Dao. He was venerated by countless Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters. “Fellow Daoist Xiushui, you don’t understand; to stay at the Wanxiang Adept level is incredibly miserable,” Adept Woodpass said with a sigh. “My true body’s foundation is far more powerful than that of my Primaltwin’s; after all, my Primaltwin is only a Ki Refiner, while my true body is primarily a Fiendgod Body Refiner. And yet, I keep on refraining from breaking through. After having done so for so long…it’s actually cast a shadow over my heart. In the recent Calamity, when my Primaltwin was at the peak Primal level, the mental attacks were exceptionally powerful. I almost died due to the blandishments of the mental attacks.” Youngflame Xiushui nodded. “Others only see your gloriousness and see you shine with power at the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, but they don’t see how you’ve gritted your teeth and endured the passage of the past three centuries. The shadow cast over your heart by three centuries of forcibly repressing your power…how terrifying it must be!” 1801 “Father.” A handsome youth next to them suddenly called out. Youngflame Xiushui looked towards his son. “Should I wait for three cenutires as well?” The handsome youth asked. “You? Even if you wait three centuries, you have no hope. Focus on your training. If you are able to become a Void-level Earth Immortal, I’d have to thank the heavens and thank the earth.” Youngflame Xiushui shook his head in resignation. His son, at his level of ability, wanted to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny? In the past, even Xiushui himself had chosen to give up. There were countless monsters who had been suppressing their own power for years, waiting for this chance to soar to the heavens during the Conclave. The handsome youth pursed his lips. Although he too had participated in the conversation between his father and Adept Woodpass, he was clearly on a lower level…and so, bored, he looked around. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon a distant cloud. Atop the cloud there was a fur-clad youth, a snowy white dog, and an azure-robed maiden. The fur-clad youth was actually holding a book and reading it. “Is he…?” The handsome youth stared, wide-eyed. “…Ji Ning?” “Father, Father, quick, look.” The handsome youth immediately called out. Youngflame Xiushui frowned as he looked at his son. His son had interrupted him while he was speaking; clearly, he was rather displeased. “Quick, look. Ji Ning. That’s Ji Ning, who killed Youngflame Nong.” The handsome youth pointed towards Ning’s direction. Youngflame Xiushui and Adept Woodpass both looked in that direction. They immediately saw the distant, fur-clad youth. “His appearance, his clothes…and he has a Whitewater Hound and an azure-robed maiden by his side. Can that really be Ji Ning?” Youngflame Xiushui frowned. The Youngflame clan had been pursing Ji Ning this entire time…however, they wouldn’t bother Youngflame Xiushui over a matter like this. Still, in his heart, he felt proud of his clan, and naturally wouldn’t permit outsiders to challenge it. “Can that really be him?” Youngflame Xiushui said softly, “He dares to come to the imperial capital…what is Ji Ning planning? To challenge my Youngflame clan?” Adept Woodpass looked over as well, then laughed. “I heard that Ji Ning is quite formidable. Can it be that he, too, has come to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Auction “Him?” Youngflame Xiushui shook his head. “He’s only trained for thirty short years. To try to shock everyone at the Conclave of Immortal Destiny before he’s truly established his foundation of power? He’d just be dreaming.” Next to him, his son said while grinding his teeth, “Father, Ji Ning rose to fame by stepping on our Youngflame clan. For the sake of our clan’s reputation alone, we should kill him.” “That’s none of your concern.” Youngflame Xiushui glanced at his son. ….. As Youngflame Xiushui, Adept Woodpass, Princess Xiyue, and Fairy Azurewillow were all paying attention to Ning, the number of guests at the Fortune Peaks had continued to steadily grow. These guests had all come here to participate in the Treasure Auction. Amongst them, there was a bald elder. He walked by himself to a cloud, then sat down in the lotus position. “Ji Ning?” The bald elder gave Ning, seated on a distant cloud around a different mountain, a sidelong glance. “If I kill Ji Ning, I’ll then reincarnate. If I can’t kill him, then my soul will be shattered.” The bald elder was Immortal Floatcloud, who had been given the mission by Patriarch Arcanum. Although he had been away from the imperial capital for more than ten thousand years, and very few people in the capital were even capable of recognizing him, Immortal Floatcloud had still changed his appearances and pulled in his aura. Immortal Floatcloud stood there. Although he was drinking wine quite casually, he had chosen the perfect spot; from the corner of his eyes, he could pay clear attention to Ning’s actions. “The main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. There are layers of protective spells here, and many Immortals on guard. To kill Ji Ning within the Heavenly Treasures Mountain…unlikely!” Immortal Floatcloud pondered on what to do. Actually, he wanted to walk right over to Ning, quickly kill him, then immediately self-detonate and go reincarnate. But he knew quite well… As soon as he attacked, in the blink of an eye the formations of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain would activate. There was almost no chance he would be able to kill Ji Ning. “I’ll wait until he leaves the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters. Once he goes out, on the outside streets…” Immortal Floatcloud continued to ponder. “There will be no restrictive formations there. I can 1803 make my move then! As for the Imperial Guards, although they will arrive very quickly, it’ll still take them a bit of time.” “I’ll let you live a little while longer.” Immortal Floatcloud’s Dao-heart was currently filled with the utmost resolve. There were no contradictory thoughts in his mind at all. He had only one thought – to kill Ji Ning, then reincarnate! ……… Ning was carefully reading through the intelligence report which Yu Qi had brought. This report detailed all of the more famous Wanxiang Adepts of the entire imperial capital. Indeed, there were several individuals who were publicly acclaimed as having the highest chances of success in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. There was Xiamang Zishan of the imperial clan, Cangwu Jiu of the Cangwu clan, Xiangtian Xiao of the Xiangtian clan, Youngflame Xuan of the Youngflame clan, Adept Woodpass of the Southern Seas, Adept Redbamboo of the Eastern Seas… These individuals all had enormous reputations, and were publicly acclaimed as the most supreme of Wanxiang Adepts. Although the likes of the Sloppy Daoist of the Black-White College were also recorded within the book, they were clearly ranked towards the lower end. The Sloppy Daoist could only be considered one of the supreme Wanxiang Adepts of Stillwater Commandery. Adept Woodpass, Cangwu Jiu, and the others listed in the front, however, were the most supreme of this entire major world. “I’m actually in this as well?” Ning flipped through, then laughed. “My main battle accomplishment is actually the killing of Youngflame Nong and a Primal-level Fiendgod.” If he hadn’t killed Youngflame Nong and his servant, given how short Ning’s period of training had been, he logically wouldn’t have emerged in this intelligence report at all. Suddenly, the maidservant who had been standing behind him moved forward. Ning turned to look at her. She smiled and said, “Adept, the Treasure Auction is about to begin. Are you going to participate? If you are, please hand over five thousand kilograms as your deposit; if you are not, then you will have to leave.” “Participating in the Treasure Auction requires a deposit?” Ning said, surprised, “And five thousand kilograms?” “This is the requirement of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters,” the maidservant explained. “Ordinary Treasure Auctions don’t require deposits, but the monthly Treasure Auction held by the headquarters is an auction with treasures collected from throughout the Grand Xia Empire, and even some other major worlds. Generally speaking, there will be extremely valuable treasures present that are extremely rare and precious. To prevent customers from making random bids they cannot or will not honor, there is a need to put in a deposit of five thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. If 1804 someone makes a bid but doesn’t honor it, then we will punish them by taking away the five thousand kilograms.” Ning nodded. “Also, the five thousand kilograms is non-refundable,” the maidservant said. “Adept, you can use it to buy whatever treasures you like during the Treasure Auction. In the end, we will deduct the five thousand kilograms from your total bill.” “It seems all participants in the Treasure Auction, no matter what, must pay at least five thousand kilograms…” Ning swept the area with his gaze. “There are more than a thousand customers present. The amount of liquefied elemental essence will be at a minimum of five million kilograms.” “We have prepared many treasures as well,” the maid said. “Mm.” Ning nodded, then tossed out an elemental talisman he had acquired earlier when selling his treasures. The maid accepted it, then stepped backwards once more. Atop the Treasures Peaks, the clouds were filled with maids chatting with their customers. Some customers left, but quite a few remained. In fact, there were some latecomers as well who had clearly arrived just for the Treasure Auction. “Youngflame clan.” Ji Ning stared towards the distant Youngflame Xiushui. “It seems they’ve discovered me as well. Hmph. The reason I came to the imperial capital was to make more people know about me. The more, the better.” The reason why Ning had come so openly and in full ‘regalia’ was to become famous! The Youngflame clan had been frantically searching for him and knew about his whereabouts. However, the enemies of the Youngflame clan such as the Kindwater clan, their most powerful enemy, probably didn’t know about Ning’s arrival yet. So…what he wanted to do was to make himself famous! To make all the customers at the Treasure Auction spread word of his arrival. “When the major powers of the Grand Xia’s imperial capital all know that I am here…those who wish to befriend me will probably seek me out.” Ning knew quite well that fighting against the Youngflame clan by himself would be extremely taxing. He needed a bit of outside support! Thus, he needed to become famous! It would be even better if his name became spread throughout the imperial capital! ….. Moments later. An enormous, rainbow-colored cloud soared into the skies, with a black-haired maiden standing atop it. Riding the cloud, she flew directly towards the air in the center of the nine peaks of the Fortune Peaks. “Everyone.” The black-haired maiden laughed, spinning around and curtseying in each direction. “The time has come once more for the monthly Treasure Auction. This Treasure Auction shall be administered by myself, Feathervoid. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain has prepared, in total, 1360 treasures, each of which are extraordinary. They all have their own unique attributes, and many of them come from hidden areas. Some even come from dangerous areas that are elsewhere in the Three Realms, or even beyond the Three Realms.” “Same as always; aside from the treasures which our Heavenly Treasures Mountain is selling off, all the customers present who possess treasures they wish to auction off can do so, after an examination by us. The Treasure Auction itself will only charge a commission of 5%, capped off at five thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence.” “Alright, enough with the small talk. Let’s begin with the first item of this Treasure Auction.” The long black-haired maiden waved her hand, and a golden set of drums suddenly appeared in the air, wafting out with ripples of power. “Battlesoul Drums, Heaven-ranked magic treasure. It can be used to wound enemies, and it can also be used to make thousands of your Dao-soldiers unleash extraordinary combat power. Reserve price of five thousand kilograms! Each bid has to be at least five hundred kilograms higher,” the black-haired maiden said with a laugh. “5500 kilograms.” “6000 kilograms.” …… The formidable figures who had come to attend the Treasure Auction all began to make their bids, purchasing one treasure after another. Those who had the money to put down 5000 kilogram deposits were all extraordinary cultivators. Ordinary Primal Daoists wouldn’t be willing to spare a deposit of such size. Ning sat there, drinking and watching leisurely. “Master, aren’t you going to act yet?” Little Qing felt her blood boil as she watched the Treasure Auction go on. She was incomparably excited. “Don’t be impatient,” Ning said. “The Youngflame clan hasn’t acted; why should I be in a rush? And in addition, there aren’t any treasures that I deeply desire either.” The treasures which Ning had sold off were virtually all from either the Witchriver Immortal Estate or from Youngflame Nong. As for the truly exquisite items left behind by Immortal Juhua, Ning was holding them back and in no rush to sell! After having been ‘baptized’ by going through the treasures of 1806 Youngflame Nong, Immortal Witchriver, Immortal Juhua, and the underwater estate, Ning now had very high standards. “This next treasure is a formation diagram! This formation diagram belonged to the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo. These two old Celestial Immortal Diremonsters made them as part of a game. I imagine that you all know that the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo had received a legacy from a major power of the Three Realms, and are exceptionally skilled in the Dao of Formations. Although this was nothing more than a toy to these two Celestial Immortals, it is still quite extraordinary, and contains many profound mysteries regarding formations. The Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo once said…anyone who completely comprehends this formation diagram can be considered a grandmaster of formations.” The black-haired maiden laughed, “This formation diagram will start at a minimum price of 25,000 kilograms. Everyone, place your bids.” “The Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo?” Everyone began to discuss this. As for Ning and Uncle White, their eyes lit up as well. The Whitewater Hound was completely focused on the Dao of Formations. Ning had a certain degree of understanding regarding formations as well. Naturally, the two knew of the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo. The Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo were two figures out of legends. Both were Celestial Immortal Diremonsters…and they could be said to have the highest level of comprehension regarding formations, here in the major world of the Grand Xia Empire. In addition, it was said that they were apprentices to a truly major power of the Three Realms. “Nothing more than a toy to them…if this was the essence of their knowledge, then the price would definitely not be a mere 25,000 kilograms.” Ning gave the nearby Uncle White a glance; clearly, Uncle White was rather eager and excited. As someone who walked the Dao of Formations, he was naturally filled with eagerness towards this formation diagram. “25,500 kilograms.” “30,000 kilograms.” The price of this formation diagram quickly skyrocketed. Although the Dao of Formations was an extremely complex and difficult one which very few truly supreme geniuses would embark on, there were still some people who knew that they had no hopes of becoming a Celestial Immortal and who would thus focus their efforts on formations. Formation grandmasters were quite terrifying, and in fact there were even some Celestial Immortals who relied on formations as well. Still, the Dao of Formations was a bitter, tough Dao to follow. A single formation diagram wouldn’t rise to an excessive price. “40,000 kilograms.” Youngflame Xiushui finally spoke out. This was already quite a high price. Those who had come to the treasure auction were all quite level-headed, and wouldn’t bid randomly. “Any higher bids?” The black-haired maiden swept her gaze towards the surrounding area. Suddenly… Ning, who had yet to make a bid yet, suddenly spoke out. “42,500 kilograms!” He had immediately raised the price by 2500 kilograms, and it had already been at quite a high price. The black-haired maiden glanced over, revealing a smile. “42,500 kilograms. Any higher?” Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The guests seated on the clouds surrounding the various peaks all looked over, curious as to who the bidder was. “Oh? A fur-clad youth? A Whitewater Hound? An Azure Skysnake?” Ning, for the sake of making himself more recognizable, had Little Qing revert to her Azure Skysnake form. “That fur-clad youth…is he Ji Ning, who was said to have killed Youngflame Nong?” “Who is Ji Ning?” “Youngflame Nong, the next Godplume Duke of the imperial capital’s Youngflame clan, was killed in Stillwater Commandery. Didn’t you hear about this? The person who killed him was Ji Ning! The one who just made the bid! Look at those two spirit-beasts next to him, and look at his appearance. There’s no mistaking it. It’s him.” “He killed Youngflame Nong?” “Ji Ning?” “The previous bidder was Youngflame Xiushui of the Youngflame clan. Ji Ning is in a bidding war against Youngflame Xiushui!” The many guests of the Fortunes Peaks were all focused on Ning now, and instantly, a buzz of conversation swept the area. Youngflame Xiushui’s face became unsightly to look at. As for the nearby Youngflame Jun, his face turned red with anger. He ground his teeth, and it seemed as though his eyes were spitting fire. He called out loudly, “45,000 kilograms!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “45,000 kilograms!” The rage-filled voice echoed through the entire Fortune Peaks, reverberating in the air. This caused quite a few guests to look over. From that rage-filled bid…they could tell that the Youngflame clan must have been truly enraged. “You imbecile.” Atop the cloud. Youngflame Xiushui, upon hearing his son make the bid, couldn’t help but give his son a hard look. He shouted mentally at him, “Can’t you tell that Ji Ning wants to make a name for himself today? He’s dared to come to the imperial capital openly and without any disguises, and even came to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarter to participate in the Treasure Auction and cause trouble for our Youngflame clan during the bidding. This is all because he wants to make a name for himself!” “In Stillwater Commandery, even the Northmont clan would have to give our Youngflame clan face. But this isn’t Stillwater Commandery; this is the imperial capital. This isn’t a place where we can just do whatever we please. What he wants to do is make a name for himself and make everyone in the imperial capital know about him, Ji Ning! Later on, he will enter an opposing power, which will make it much harder for our Youngflame clan to act against him.” Youngflame Xiushui looked at his son. “Earlier, we could’ve just ignored him, but now that you are in a bidding war against him…more and more people are going to know about him.” “But, but I’ve already made a bid…how about, how about we stop bidding?” Youngflame Jun was beginning to panic. “Since we’ve made a bid, we can’t lower our heads,” Youngflame Xiushui sent. “The more people are watching, the more careful we need to be not to lose face for our Youngflame clan. Don’t say anything else. Let me handle it.” “Alright.” Youngflame Jun didn’t dare to say anything else. …… Ning, upon hearing a bid of ’45,000 kilograms!’ be called out, immediately laughed. This was as perfect as someone delivering a pillow to him, just as he was feeling drowsy. He wanted to make his name known! “45,000 kilograms. Anything higher?” The black-haired maiden atop the cloud called out. “If someone else was bidding, I’d just say forget about it. But, since it’s the Youngflame clan that’s bidding, then I, Ji Ning, refuse to back down. 47,500 kilograms!” Ji Ning’s voice rang out as well, echoing within the nine peaks. “So it really is Ji Ning!” “Who is Ji Ning?” “Ji Ning, who killed Youngflame Nong, is at the Treasure Auction?” Although earlier a few guests had noticed Ning, they only made up a small part of the total people present. Now that Ning spoke out so challengingly…more and more people began to pay attention to him. …….. “I KNEW he was trying to make himself known.” Youngflame Xiushui’s face was like ice. As for his son, Youngflame Jun, he didn’t dare to make a single sound. He knew that his earlier bid had given Ning his opportunity. “Little fellow from Stillwater Commandery, you actually want to struggle against my Youngflame clan?” Youngflame Xiushui said calmly, “50,000 kilograms.” “Hmph, if your Youngflame clan wants this formation diagram, then prepare a bit more liquefied elemental essence. 60,000 kilograms!” Ning once more spoke out. Youngflame Xiushui’s face sank. This was a formation diagram that was clearly only worth forty to fifty thousand kilograms, but the price had been forcibly uplifted. If he continued to bid, regardless of whether or not he ended up acquiring the formation diagram, the Youngflame clan would still have ‘lost’. This was because, even if they acquired it…they would’ve paid an excessive price for it. But if they didn’t acquire it? It would be akin to having let Ning trample all over them. “62,500 kilograms,” Youngflame Xiushui growled. “64,000 kilograms.” Ning didn’t increase the price too much this time. “My Youngflame clan has plenty of formation diagrams like this. I’ll let you have this one.” Youngflame Xiushui felt as though something was wrong, and he immediately stopped bidding. “You have no skill in formations, but actually bid so much out of spite. How amusing.” “Hahaha, what’s a mere 64,000 kilograms? It’s nothing. Youngflame Nong, of your Youngflame clan, gifted me with millions of kilograms!” Ning’s laugh rang out. Youngflame Xiushui’s face immediately sank. Actually, he knew very well that as soon as his son called out a bid of 45,000 kilograms, their side was going to suffer a loss no matter what. This was because Ji 1810 Ning’s motivation was to make a name for himself! No matter what, Ning would definitely be able to achieve his goal. At the price of 64,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, the formation diagram left behind by the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo was purchased by Ji Ning. And, in turn, Ji Ning attracted the attention of the vast majority of the guests present. Those final words in particular, about how ‘Youngflame Nong, of your Youngflame clan, gifted me with millions of kilograms’, was simply too vicious and brutal. Virtually all of the guests present began to murmur amongst themselves. “Millions of kilograms of liquefied elemental essence?” “Youngflame Nong was one of the Four Dukelings of the imperial capital; he had quite a few magic treasures on him. Now, all of them were taken away by Ji Ning at one go. I imagine he really does have several million kilograms now.” “I’m starting to wish I was the one who killed Youngflame Nong.” “Millions of kilograms. That’s enough to buy even an Immortal-ranked magic treasure!” Actually, although Youngflame Nong did indeed carry astonishingly valuable treasures on him, of his three most precious treasures, he had already used up two of them; the ‘Lock’ scroll and the black-andwhite disc. The only one remaining was the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, which was something that generally wasn’t even available on the market for those who had enough money to purchase it. Ning wasn’t willing to sell it. Amongst the many guests. Princess Xiyue stared at Ning from afar, a hint of softness in her eyes. This look was the look one had when one looked at a kinsman. “Xiyue, you are quite well-disposed towards Ji Ning?” Fairy Azurewillow laughed. “Yes.” Princess Xiyue nodded. “Want to bring him on as your groom?” Azurewillow teased. “Don’t speak nonsense.” Princess Xiyue frowned as she snapped back in a soft voice. She viewed Ji Ning purely as a family member, as a little brother. What was this nonsense about marrying him? “I have to admit though, this Ji Ning really is bold. He actually dares to go completely head-on against the Youngflame clan.” Fairy Azurewillow sighed. “He even said that Youngflame Nong gifted him with millions of kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. I imagine that when the Youngflame clan heard these words…I don’t even know how angry they must be right now.” ……. Time flowed on. One treasure after another was auctioned off. Nearly two hours later. “Everyone.” The black-haired maiden’s voice suddenly went higher. “Don’t just chat with your friends. This next treasure is the most valuable one this particular Treasure Auction has put up so far. This is truly a treasure which normally cannot be purchased. If you miss this chance, who knows if you’ll ever have another one?” The many guests all immediately turned to look at her, curious. Ning, curious, looked over as well. The most valuable treasure thus far? The highest bid for a treasure in this auction thus far had gone up to more than 150,000 kilograms. “This is an ‘intrinsic magic treasure’, left behind by a peacock-type Godbeast from the Heaven Realm after it died,” the black-haired maiden called out loudly. “And this peacock-type Godbeast had an incomparably pure lineage; even after it had reached the Void level, it was still unable to transform.” “What?!” Ning, hearing this, was shocked. Unable to transform even after becoming a Void-level Earth Immortal? Could it be that it could only transform after becoming a Celestial Immortal? A Godbeast like this…he hadn’t even heard of such a creature in this world of the Grand Xia. “This peacock-type Diremonster’s ‘intrinsic magic treasure’ consisted of five plumes.” The black-haired maiden waved her hand, and instantly, five peacock feathers appeared out of nowhere. These five peacock plumes hovered there, emanating a natural aura of might and power. One was wreathed by fire, one was wreathed by water, the third seemed to emanate an aura of infinite ponderance, the fourth howled with golden energy, and the fifth emanated a blurry, azure aura. When the five plumes appeared, the surrounding space seemed to be immediately frozen. “That is…!” Instantly, a series of cries rang out from throughout the Treasure Auction area. Peacocks were born from the Five Elements, and even amongst such creatures, were the favored children of the heavens. Supposedly, the more pure the lineage of a peacock-type Godbeast was, the more dense and pure the Five Elements essence would be in their plumes. Some were capable of manifesting two plumes, others three. Only those with the most exquisite and pure of Godbeast lineages would be capable of forming five plumes! A peacock Godbeast with such a pure lineage was definitely no weaker than a Fiendgod. A Void-level peacock Godbeast was most likely comparable to a Celestial Immortal! “These five plumes it had were innately bestowed with the five elements,” the black-haired maiden said with a laugh. “Unfortunately, it was merely a Void-level Diremonster. If it had been a Diremonster at the 1812 Celestial Immortal level…the value of these five plumes would be truly high. Most likely, even Celestial Immortals would go mad for it. But of course, if this peacock Godbeast had become a Celestial Immortal, this plume wouldn’t appear in a place like this. In fact, there’s no way we would sell it.” Everyone nodded. These five plumes were already incredibly precious; if the peacock had undergone the heavenly tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal, the value of its plumes would probably rise by thousands of times. Most likely, even the emperors of the major worlds would feel desire for it. However, a Celestial Immortal peacock Godbeast with such an exalted, rare, and pure bloodline would probably be comparable to an ordinary True Immortal. It wouldn’t easily perish. “Although it was merely a Void-level Earth Immortal, given how exalted and noble its lineage was, and how its five plumes were divided into the Five Elements…if these plumes are used to forge a magic artifact, when a few other things are mixed in, they can absolutely produce an Immortal-ranked magic treasure. Normally, it would at least be a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure, but if you were lucky, you might even be able to produce a top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure,” the black-haired maiden said. These five plumes were the ‘intrinsic magic treasures’ of the peacock-type Godbeast. To humans, however, they could only be used for refining artifacts. As for making them into a top-grade Immortalranked magic treasure? That was just nonsense. Many other materials would be required, and the chances of success were virtually negligible. However, there truly was a very high chance of producing a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure. “A reserve price of a million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence! Each bid has to increase by at least fifty thousand kilograms!” The black-haired maiden called out. “1,050,000 kilograms. I’m taking these Five Elements Peacock Plumes.” An ancient voice rang out. The speaker was an old man dressed in a long, gaudy robe that was covered with draconic runes. Anyone who looked at the clothes would be able to tell right away that this should be someone from the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. But… In the Treasure Auction, no one gave a damn if you were from the imperial clan! “My master is going to forge an Immortal-ranked magic treasure of the Five Eleemnts. He’s lacking in some primary materials. 1,100,000 kilograms.” A white-whiskered youth said with a laugh. “1,150,000 kilograms.” Another man called out, his entire body covered with azure light. He was built like a rod of iron. “1,200,000 kilograms. I need a Five Elements Immortal-ranked magic treasure for my tribulation.” The speaker was Youngflame Xiushui. By now, he paid no attention to Ji Ning at all; he stared directly at the Five Elements plumes. Clearly, he was determined to acquire it. “1,250,000 kilograms. The Raindragon Godpeak will take this.” A woman with a monstrous aura that filled the skies spoke out in an icy voice. Every single person had an extraordinary background. However, the imperial capital of the Grand Xia had its laws, and no one was able to take this thing by force. Everyone had to rely on their own ‘abilities’; whoever had more liquefied elemental essence would win! Materials like this, with a perfect set of the Five Elements…they were indeed extremely rare. You truly might only encounter them once; no one could say when such items would appear again. You couldn’t simply purchase them, even if you had enough liquefied elemental essence. Many people wanted to acquire them. So, too, did Ning. “Naturally formed by the Five Elements?” Ning’s eyes were shining. “I train the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer]. I need the essence of the Five Elements. These five plumes and the essence within them…based on the legacy of the [Starseizing Hand] which I acquired and the materials mentioned within them, these would definitely be considered absolutely high-grade materials. These are five plumes that were born from a peacock Godbeast with a supremely pure and exalted lineage. The essence of the Five Elements within them…they’d probably be enough to allow me to reach the third Cycle of my [Starseizing Hand]!” “1,300,000 kilograms!” Ning called out loudly. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Whoosh! Instantly, more than a thousand of the other customers at the Fortune Peaks all turned to stare. It must be understood that although they, too, were participating in the Treasure Auction, in reality they would only spend around fifty thousand kilograms or so in purchasing treasures. Only very, very few were truly willing to pay more than five hundred thousand kilograms! The entire networth of many Loose Immortals was perhaps lower than this amount, and their networth was usually tied up in their magic treasures! Only a small portion of the people present at the Fortune Peaks were capable of making a bid of 1.3 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. “It’s that Ji Ning again.” “A mere Wanxiang Adept?” “He dares to purchase the Five Elements peacock plumes?” “Does he even have that much liquefied elemental essence?” “He killed Youngflame Nong and a Primal-level Fiendgod. Youngflame Nong had quite a few treasures on him, and that Fiendgod probably had quite a few as well.” A series of conversations erupted. Everyone was stunned at the fact that Ning dared to bid as well. After all, all five of the previous bidders had extraordinary backgrounds, and all of them were Immortals! Ji Ning? He was a mere Wanxiang Adept. “1.35 million kilograms. Young fellow from the Black-White College, this is just raw materials, not an actual magic treasure; even if you buy it, it will be of no use to you. You have to match it with many other raw materials and invite a forging expert to forge an Immortal-ranked magic treasure for you.” “1.4 million kilograms. Whoever bids the highest will gain the treasure. It doesn’t matter that Ji Ning is just a Wanxiang Adept; even an ordinary mortal who has enough money can bid. Don’t concern yourself over why he’s buying it.” “1.5 million kilograms. Everyone, stop fighting with me over it. Master has needed this sort of Five Elements raw materials for a very long time.” The price slowly began to rise. Ning, in turn, began to feel the pressure as well. After all, he had only sold off around 1.3 million kilograms of treasure earlier. Still, this was within his expectations; after all, the peacock plumes could serve as the primary materials for a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure. This wasn’t something which his Azuresilk Godfire Lamp could compete with. It was, after all, just a lowgrade Immortal-ranked magic treasure! “Ji Ning, send the price sky-high and stun then.” Suddenly, the giant yellow bear’s voice rang out in his mind. “If they slowly bid it up, the final price will probably be even higher. Make an immediate bid of 2 million kilograms.” Ning hesitated slightly. He was carrying the underwater estate with him, and the spirit of the estate was capable of sensing everything going on in the surrounding area. “2 million kilograms!” Ning called out in a loud voice. Instantly, the Fortune Peaks fell completely silent. Earlier, the bidding increases had all been at slow increments of just fifty thousand kilograms. This sudden increase of five hundred thousand kilograms was simply too huge. After all, this wasn’t an actual Immortal-ranked magic treasure; just materials for making one. …… “He has that much liquefied elemental essence?” Princess Xiyue began to worry in her heart. When she saw Ning make bids, she wanted to help him…but she always stayed within the royal estate and rarely ventured out to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. As a result, she almost never spent money, and thus she only carried some protective treasures with her. In addition, she was only a Wanxiang Adept herself; she naturally wouldn’t have any Immortal-ranked magic treasures with her. She didn’t go out adventuring, and she always stayed in the imperial capital; thus, most likely the total value of the magic treasures she was carrying, if sold off, would only come to perhaps five hundred thousand or a million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. or 2.5 million kilograms…not even many imperial princesses were capable of producing such a sum. “If only Grandpa was here,” Princess Xiyue mused silently to herself. Given how her Grandpa coddled her in all things, if he was here, purchasing the peacock plumes would only be a minor matter. “This Ji Ning…how much treasure did he acquire from killing Youngflame Nong?” The nearby Fairy Azurewillow sighed, completely moved. “He even dares to bid on items like the peacock plumes. 2 million kilograms! That’s enough to actually purchased a completed Immortal-ranked magic treasure.” ….. “Ji Ning only killed mere Youngflame Nong; how much could Youngflame Nong have possibly been worth? Ji Ning actually dares to bid two million kilograms?” A white-faced, beardless youth frowned. ….. “Two million kilograms?” The man whose entire body glittered with a metallic azure light frowned as well. This price was indeed rather high. To produce a powerful Immortal-ranked magic treasure, other materials were needed as well. In addition, a Celestial Immortal Patriarch who was skilled in forging artifacts would have to personally oversee the forging, which would not be cheap either. Only after all these expenses would an Immortal-ranked magic treasure take form. “What a fellow.” Adept Woodpass, who had been watching this with intrigue, sighed in amazement as well. He couldn’t help but cast the distant Ning a deep, long glance. Two million kilograms? Ji Ning truly was quite wealthy. As the saying went, a horse who was not fed an extra ration of grass wouldn’t be fat and sturdy; to focus on training and searching for natural treasures truly wasn’t as efficient as Ning’s killing of Youngflame Nong. By killing Youngflame Nong, he had instantly grown rich! “Fellow Daoist Xiushui, are you still planning to bid against him?” Adept Woodpass laughed. “I still have roughly half a million kilograms that I can led to you, fellow Daoist.” “Thank you, fellow Daoist Woodpass.” Youngflame Xiushui glanced towards a nearby attendant, and the azure-robed man immediately walked over. “Didn’t you say earlier that based on your investigations, Ning’s trade with the Heavenly Treasures Mountain was only worth around 1.3 million kilograms?” Youngflame Xiushui said, frustrated and irritated, “If he only had 1.3 million kilograms, how would he dare make a bid of two million?” The azure-robed servant said hurriedly, “Master, this information is absolutely correct. Don’t worry; the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters also knows that Ji Ning only traded for 1.3 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence with them. For him to suddenly bid two million…they, too, will be worried that Ning is not going to be honor his bid for this auction, and so will go investigate him.” “Mm.” Youngflame Xiushui nodded. His gaze suddenly lit up, as he already saw that atop the distant cloud on which Ning was seated, a man and a woman were flying towards him. Ning had noticed two figures were flying towards him from behind as well. One was an azure-robed Yu Qi, while the white-robed one was a bald woman. As the two flew towards the cloud, a mist suddenly arose from it, completely blocking out the surrounding area, causing the outside world to have no idea what they were discussing. The bald woman said with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I am Soledust of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. I know that you, fellow Daoist, had already traded for 1.3 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, but now that you are suddenly bidding 2 million…our Heavenly Treasures Mountain is concerned that in the end, this transaction cannot be completed.” Ning nodded. In an ordinary treasure auction, if the auction failed due to insufficient funds from the winning bidder, it would be enough to just punish the faithless bidder by taking away his deposit of 5000 1817 kilograms. But this was the auction for the peacock plumes; the value of it was simply too great. If Ning were to make random bids that he could not honor, there would be no way to make up for the damage done by just penalizing him 5000 kilograms. “I truly hope you can understand our position, fellow Daoist Ji Ning,” the bald, white-robed woman said with great courtesy. “I do understand,” Ning laughed. “I’ve heard earlier that during this Treasure Auction, if I have treasures of my own, I can hand them over to you for auctioning, right?” “Right.” The bald, white-robed woman nodded. “I have one right here.” Ning waved his hand, and an ancient, unassuming lamp appeared. The lamp had azure flames blazing above it. Instantly, the face of a child appeared within the azure flames. Scanning the surrounding area, the child sighed, “You locked me in your storage treasure for so long. That was really stifling. And whoah, what’s this place?” “An Immortal-ranked magic treasure?” The white-robed woman was startled. “Azuresilk Godfire Lamp?” An Azuresilk Godfire Lamp was considered a fairly common type of Immortal-ranked magic treasure. Described simply, it was just a type of lamp with Azuresilk Godfire within it, but the Godfire within the lamp could be borrowed to attack enemies. Although it was fairly common, quite a few experts would still fight over the chance to acquire one. After all, everyone wanted to help the skyfire in their bodies rise to the first grade if at all possible. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, are you saying that you are intending to auction off this Azuresilk Godfire Lamp? Here, at this Treasure Auction?” The white-robed woman asked. “Right.” Ning nodded. “Our Heavenly Treasures Mountain can just purchase it for a price of 1.5 million kilograms,” the whiterobed woman, Soledust couldn’t refrain from saying. Although fairly common, it was extremely rare for an Azuresilk Godfire Lamp to appear at auction, and whenever one appeared, it would immediately be purchased. Naturally, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain was willing to accept it. “No, I’ll sell it off in this Treasure Auction. Let’s set the reserve price at 1.5 million kilograms. If no one buys it, then I’ll sell it to you,” Ning said. “Fellow Daoist Soledust, you wouldn’t object to this, would you?” The white-robed woman’s facial muscles twitched. A reserve price of 1.5 million kilograms? To be sold to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain only if no one was willing to buy it? “No objections, no objections.” The white-robed woman picked up the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp, then turned and left. Ning didn’t feel worried; when the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters engaged in a business trade, they wouldn’t stop so low as to embezzling a single low-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure like an Azuresilk Godfire Lamp. ……. The black-haired maiden standing on a cloud and officiating over this Treasure Auction was waiting for the investigate by her side to conclude. Now that she knew that Ning did indeed have the ability to complete this purchase, she immediately said, “2 million kilograms. Are there any higher bids?” “It seems this Ji Ning does have the ability to honor his bid.” The pale-faced, beardless youth shook his head and sighed. “Too expensive. The price is too high.” “The price is too high.” People immediately began to give up. After all, Ning’s suddenly price increase of five hundred thousand kilograms had truly stunned quite a few people. Still…there were others who remained greatly desirous of these peacock plumes. “2.05 million kilograms!” The man who shone with a metallic azure light said with a growl, “This is something I need for my tribulation. I hope that you will all give me, Eastclown, some face.” “Hmph, Eastclown, you need to pass your tribulation, but so do I! 2.1 million kilograms,” Youngflame Xiushui growled back. Immortal Eastclown was just a solitary, wandering figure; although he was extremely powerful, Youngflame Xiushui was still of the Youngflame clan. “2.15 million kilograms!” Immortal Eastclown growled. “2.2 million kilograms!” Youngflame Xiushui ground his teeth. “2.3 million kilograms!” A killing intent appeared in Immortal Eastclown’s eyes. “2.35 million kilograms!” Youngflame Xiushui’s gaze was like ice. The tribulation. This was the most difficult trial for any cultivator on an Immortal path. By passing the Celestial Tribulation, one would be able to escape the confines of the Three Realms, to live a carefree life, to live forever! Upon failing…if one was lucky, one would end up as a mere Loose Immortal. How could they not be willing to fight over a treasure helpful for their tribulations?” “2.5 million kilograms!” Ning’s voice thundered out. Youngflame Xiushui and Immortal Eastclown simultaneously turned to stare. All of the guests present turned to stare as well. They couldn’t help but begin to chatter about Ji Ning once again. This was insane..5 million kilograms?! “Youngflame Xiushui, do you have another bid?” Ji Ning stared at the distant Youngflame Xiushui. If the desire those two Earth Immortals towards acquiring the plumes could be described as ‘intense’, Ji Ning’s desire would have to be described as no less than theirs! Finding treasures with the essence extracts of the Five Elements…although it was a bit easier for the second Cycle of the Starseizer, the third Cycle was far more difficult. The peacock plumes, however, were absolutely capable of allowing Ning to reach the second and third Cycles, with some left over! Of the divine abilities Ning trained in, the most powerful one was definitely the [Starseizing Hand]; this was ranked as one of the top ten divine abilities that had been created after the heavens had been established. It was supreme within the Three Realms! Magic treasures, curios…those were all secondary. The divine ability, [Starseizing Hand], was what would make Ning’s power rise the most! The peacock plumes…he absolutely had to have them! “2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. Any higher bids? Any higher?” The black-haired maiden, atop her cloud, called out in a high voice. The Fortune Peaks were filled with a buzz of conversation, but not a single bid came out. Although Youngflame Xiushui’s face was quite ugly to behold, even he hesitated. As for Immortal Eastclown, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it. “If there are no higher bids, then this peacock plume will go to fellow Daoist Jij Ning!” The black-haired maiden made one final urging call to the crowd. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After a long pause, during which the black-haired woman carefully looked at both Immortal Eastclown and Youngflame Xiushui, the woman called out loudly, “Done! 2.5 million kilograms. The peacock plumes go to fellow Daoist Ji Ning!” And with this declaration, the ownership of the peacock plumes was settled. Youngflame Xiushui let out a single, long sigh. Just now, he had been hesitating and considering to bid again, but in the end, his reason won out and held him back. The nearby Adept Woodpass gave him a glance, then picked up his goblet of wine and took a sip. “Father, why didn’t you buy it?” Youngflame Jun couldn’t help but ask, “The peacock plumes would be of great service to you during your tribulation…and that Ji Ning was insisting on bidding straight against us. Whether for the sake of giving vent to our anger or for your tribulation, Father, you should’ve continued.” “What do you know? 2.5 million kilograms? Do you even know how much that is?” Youngflame Xiushui stared at his son. Youngflame Jun was stunned. His status in the clan could not be compared to Youngflame Nong’s; any amount of liquefied elemental essence above a million kilograms was already a vast, astronomical sum to him. “With that much, I could just go ahead and buy an excellent Immortal-ranked magic treasure!” Youngflame Xiushui said, “There are many types of Immortal-ranked magic treasures that can be used for the tribulation; why should I completely focus my attentions on these peacock plumes? Paying more than 2.5 million kilograms isn’t worth it. That’s a sum of money that would have a major impact on my Immortal path; I can’t possibly make random, stupid bids just because I’m angry and want to give vent.” Youngflame Jun nodded obediently. “And this Ji Ning is an idiot as well.” Youngflame Xiushui turned to give him a cold look. “Even though he has the peacock plumes, he’s just a Wanxiang Adept. What’s the point of having them?” “If we kill Ji Ning, then the peacock plumes will be ours,” Youngflame Jun said, a hint of desire in his eyes. “And who would go do the killing?” Youngflame Xiushui shook his head. “This isn’t for something for you to concern yourself over.” ….. “2.5 million kilograms.” Immortal Eastclown shook his head as well. “This young Wanxiang Adept is really quite crazy.” ….. “2.5 million kilograms. My little brother really is…formidable.” Princess Xiyue stared at the distant Ning, a smile on her face. ….. “Hmph. Acquiring the peacock plumes won’t do a damn thing for your power. After you leave the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, you die.” Immortal Floatcloud quietly drink his wine, watching from afar. ….. Ning, however, was extraordinarily excited. Success! He had acquired the peacock plumes! Immortalranked magic treasures? Curios? Those were all less than a dog’s fart in comparison. His Primaltwin only needed a large amount of flying swords, while his main body, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, mainly needed divine abilities! “With this thing, I won’t have to trouble myself at all regarding the completion of the second and third Cycles for my [Starseizing Hand].” Ning was absolutely delighted. Time continued to flow on. Because there were more than a thousand magic treasures up for sale, the entire Treasure Auction took up an entire day. Still, Ning left roughly six hours later, because during the sixth hour of the Treasure Auction, the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp came out for bidding. Azuresilk Godfire Lamp, an Immortal-ranked magic treasure. This was a completed treasure! It instantly aroused a storm of bidding. The Azuresilk Godfire Lamp was different from the peacock plumes; very few people needed those thing, but quite a few had a use for the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp. This was because it could nurture ‘skyfire’ to the first grade! Although each usage of the lamp consumed a large amount of resources that took a long period of time to replenish, after the replenishment, it could be used again. This was an item that could be used over and over! However, because the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp needed time to absorb elemental energy from the natural world and replenish its own energy, none of the major tribes would ever be worried about having ‘too many’ of the lamps on hand. The reserve price was 1.5 million kilograms, but the price quickly skyrocketed! It rose all the way up to a price of 2.45 million kilograms before the bidding came to an end. Immortal-ranked magic treasures of this level were, in the end, still fairly common. Thus, the price would settle down at a certain point. There was a limit to how much it could rise during an auction. ….. “He left?” Immortal Floatcloud immediately noticed when Ning began to prepare to leave. Frowning, he too began to leave. Soon, Immortal Floatcloud arrived at the streets outside the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters. It was early morning now. The Golden Crow had just risen into the skies, casting its light upon the world. “Senior.” Immortal Floatcloud’s emergence caused the members of the Youngflame clan who were waiting outside to immediately move towards him. “Ji Ning should be comoing out soon. Go inside the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and keep an eye on him. Be ready to report as soon as he does.” Immortal Floatcloud gave them order, then began to wait outside silently. He was waiting for the final battle he would experience in his life! In this battle, he would use all of the power available to him to kill a supremely talented Wanxiang Adept within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. ….. “He’s leaving?” Princess Xiyue, upon seeing Ning prepare to leave, immediately rose to her feet. A hint of panic was in her eyes. She could feel her heartrate quickening, and she immediately said to the nearby Fairy Azurewillow, “Azurewillow, help me make some arrangements. I want to meet privately with Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning?” Fairy Azurewillow was startled, but then she nodded. “I’ll go make the arrangements right now.” “Thank you.” Earlier, when Princess Xiyue had been watching Ji Ning, she hadn’t felt that nervous. Now, however, as she thought about how they were about to meet, she immediately became incomparably nervous. “Whew.” Princess Xiyue let out a long sigh, then said quietly to herself, “Little brother, we’re going to meet soon.” Princess Xiyue began to withdraw from the event as well. Actually, since the Treasure Auction would go on for a full day, over the course of it, quite a few people would withdraw. Ning, after handing over his liquefied elemental essence, acquired his formation diagram and the peacock plumes. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, in the future, if you have any more magic treasures you don’t want, you can deliver them here to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. It doesn’t matter if you decide to sell them to us or if you sell them at the Treasure Auction.” The white-robed woman, Soledust, laughed. “Treasures don’t just fall out of nowhere from the sky,” Ning sighed. “I even had to hand over my Azuresilk Godfire Lamp to you.” Soledust laughed, then withdrew. Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing glanced towards the nearby violet-robed Yu Qi. “Fellow Daoist Yu Qi, I wish to purchase some flying swords,” Ning said. “Flying swords?” Yu Qi was instantly delighted. He knew very well that Ning had more than a million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence on him. This was a major customer! He immediately said, “What sort of flying swords? Just tell me what you need. We have plenty of precious flying swords manufactured by Celestial Immortal Patriarchs, and in fact we even have flying swords with powerful formations within them.” Ning shook his head. “I only require large-scale manufactured flying swords.” “Large-scale manufactured…” Yu Qi’s face stiffened. The profit on those was incredibly low; after all, Ning could buy them at a 40% discount. “I need a total of 720 high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords,” Ning said. Yu Qi’s facial muscles spasmed. Good heavens; Heaven-ranked flying swords? 720 of them? Was this a joke? It must be understood that even many Loose Immortals would generally use Heaven-ranked magic treasures; many of them would just use several particularly powerful ones. Even those who focused on victory through superior numbers would at most have a few dozen Heaven-ranked magic treasures, which was already quite incredible. Heaven-ranked magic treasures? The number alone would terrify quite a few people! But in turn, the price was quite high as well. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, are you certain you want 720? Are you able to afford them?” Yu Qi couldn’t help but add, “High-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasures are generally around 5000 kilograms per sword. If you want more than 700 of them, then you’d need to pay over 3.5 million kilograms.” Ning frowned. Ugh! Earlier, he had felt that he was quite wealthy, but when he thought about the price of seven hundred Heaven-ranked magic treasures, he suddenly felt his heart ache with unbearable pain. “Go ahead and give me a book on the types of mass-produced Heaven-ranked flying swords,” Ji Ning said. “Alright. This way, please,” Yu Qi said hurriedly. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain both bought and sold mass-produced magic items to Ji Ning at a price of 60% the list price. On the surface, it would seem as though they didn’t earn any money at all. In reality, however, the mass-produced magic treasures which the Heavenly Treasures Mountain sold were all mass-produced by the mighty imperial clan of the Grand Xia, which stood behind them. In truth, the cost for the imperial clan to mass-produce these magic items wasn’t really as high as 60% of the list price; at most, 30% to 40%. The reason they told the outside world that they were willing to both buy and sell these items at 60% was just to encourage more people to come shopping. After all, after an Immortal cultivator purchased a life-saving treasure, it was quite rare for them to later sell it off. Thus, Yu Qi would earn quite a bit from this deal for 700+ Heaven-ranked flying swords, even if they were only mass-produced artifacts. ….. Ning was seated before a gazebo, staring at the rising sun and in quite a good mood. He had no idea that right now, on the streets outside, a Loose Immortal named Immortal Floatcloud was waiting for him impatiently. “Here’s the report regarding the mass-produced Heaven-ranked flying swords.” Yu Qi handed Ning a thick, fur-clad book. Ning flipped it open, taking a look. By his side, the Whitewater Houna and Little Qing helped scan thorugh it as well. Mass-produced flying swords were rather cheap, because mass-produced flying swords mainly required only that the swords were sharp and hard to break. In other aspects, they were quite poor. “Low-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords are 500 kilograms each? At a discounted price of 60%, that’s just 300 kilograms.” Ning mumbled to himself while reading. “Middle-grade is a bit more expensive; 1500 kilograms each.” There were nearly a hundred types of low-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords. There were nearly two hundred types of middle-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords. There were far fewer high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords; just eighteen. As for top-grade Heaven ranked flying swords? There was no such thing as a mass-produced ‘top-grade’ flying sword. High grade was already the limit for Heaven-ranked mass-produced flying swords. “High-grade, Heaven-ranked flying swords are all roughly 5000 kilograms each.” Ning frowned. “What should I do?” He was going to purchase them for his Primaltwin to train in. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was a technique where the more and the better flying swords he had, the more powerful it would be! However, controlling so many flying swords was incredibly taxing on the soul. Still, during his year of training in the underwater estate, Ning’s soul had improved dramatically, especially with the support of the Nuwa visualization technique and the fact that his Primaltwin’s soul was being nourished. Ning was currently able to control all 720 Earth-ranked flying swords. But if they were to be changed into Heaven-ranked flying swords? Most likely, for at least a period of time, it would be hard for him to control that many. “I’ll take 198 of these Redsol swords!” Ning pointed towards the book. “And these Netherblue swords, I’ll take 198 of them as well!” “The Redsol swords were 5500 kilograms each, while the Netherblue swords are 3500 each,” the nearby Yu Qi said with a laugh. “All together, this comes out to be a price of 1,945,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. At the discounted price of 60%, that comes out to be 1,185,300 million. Ning felt resigned. After factoring in the money he had spent…the 2.3 million kilograms he had remaining had been almost completely used up, leaving just a bit behind. In addition, his Primaltwin actually needed elemental essence as well. “Here!” Ning waved his hand, and instantly, the black dragon carriage appeared on the ground next to them. “I’ll sell this carriage to your Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” Ning said majestically. …. The black dragon construct had the combat power of a Primal Daoist. Youngflame Nong had often ridden it about the various locations of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia; naturally, its price was extraordinary. In the end, Ning acquired not only his 396 Heaven-ranked flying swords, but also 60,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, there’s one more thing.” Yu Qi, after concluding their deal, suddenly winked and laughed, “Princess Xiyue wishes to meet with you.” “A princess wants to see me?” Ning was startled. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Master, it must be because you made a name for yourself during the Treasure Auction?” The nearby Little Qing immediately added, “That’s why this Princess Xiyue wants to meet you.” Ning grinned as well. During the Treasure Auction, he had purchased the peacock plumes for 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. Even Youngflame Xiushui had lowered his head and retreated in the end. This news would definitely spread like wildfire, and later on, some of the major clans would come to befriend him and meet him. This was within his realm of expectations. However, for Princess Xiyue to invite him for a meeting while the Treasure Auction was still going on…his ‘fame’ was perhaps just a bit too effective! “Might I ask who Princess Xiyue is?” Ning asked.. “Princess Xiyue is from King Yan’s Estate,” Yu Qi explained. “King Yan?” Ning’s eyes lit up. Ning had already purchased intelligence reports regarding some of the major powers and figures within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. King Yan was one of those major figures. King Yan…was a Celestial Immortal who had just recently succeeded in overcoming his tribulation! He was a Celestial Immortal! It was simply far, far too difficult to become a Celestial Immortal. Just by looking at the history of the Black-White College, one could tell how hard it was. The Black-White College had existed for countless millions of years, and every ten thousand years or so would produce an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal. How many had they produced over the countless ages? And yet, they had only produced a single Celestial Immortal! From this, one could tell what a terrifying barrier the Celestial Tribulation was. Countless geniuses, such as Immortal Northwalker or even Immortal Juhua, who had the benefit of the underwater estate, had failed and perished. Celestial Immortals were simply too rare! It was rare for the Grand Xia Empire to produce a single Celestial Immortal in a million years! However, how many Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals did it produce during a million years? This was why there were actually very many Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals; the Youngflame clan alone held more than a thousand of them. Every few tens or hundreds of millennia, there would be a new ‘batch’ of Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals…but the number of Celestial Immortals who had arisen from them over the course of countless years was pitifully low. Any Celestial Immortal was the foundation of his or her entire clan! Even for the mighty imperial Xiamang clan of the Grand Xia Dynasty, a Celestial Immortal was extremely valuable. For clans like the imperial Xiamang clan, which had unified an entire major world, the number of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals under their control was an absolutely terrifying figure. Naturally, however, these figures had very ordinary statuses. If, however, one of them were to break through and become a Celestial Immortal…the imperial clan of the Grand Xia would immediately bestow upon them the royal title of ‘King’ and give them an estate, Immortal treasures, etc… In short, within the imperial clan of the Grand Xia, anyone who became a Celestial Immortal would see his status suddenly and explosively skyrocket! This often happened less than once in a million years…and yet King Yan was the latest, newest Celestial Immortal! “Of King Yan’s Estate…” Ning nodded inwardly to himself. “Princess Xiyue is the only family member King Yan has,” Yu Qi said in a lowered voice. “King Yan absolutely dotes on Princess Xiyue. He even allows Princess Xiyue to command the Golden Imperials which the Emperor bestowed upon him. He even gave Princess Xiyue a pair of azure phoenix Godbeasts, having them pull her carriage for her. Those two azure phoenixes have incomparably exalted lineages; although they are only at the Primal level, each of them have the combat power of a supreme Loose Immortal. As for the Golden Imperials, they are the absolute elites of the Imperial Guards of the imperial capital. Even the weakest amongst them is at least a Primal Daoist!” Ning, hearing this, was secretly speechless. Azure phoenixes? Golden Imperials? “Princess Xiyue usually remains within King Yan’s Estate and rarely comes out, nor does she participate in the various gatherings for nobles,” Yu Qi said in a low voice. “That’s why Princess Xiyue actually isn’t very well-known. However, given how much King Yan dotes on her, if she truly was the spoiled, arrogant throwing type, she probably would be even more famous than Youngflame Nong.” “Then why does she wish to see me?” Ning asked. “I don’t know either,” Yu Qi said, shaking his head. “I heard that today, she came to the Treasure Auction along with Fairy Azurewillow of our Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Perhaps she grew curious upon seeing you, and so she wishes to meet you.” Ning hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Fine. Lead the way.” Yu Qi laughed. “Follow me.” Within Ning’s Zifu region. The underwater estate was located there. Generally speaking, there was no way to put people within storage treasures, but estate treasures were capable of holding people. Ning’s Primaltwin continued to reside within the underwater estate. There, within the main hall, a black-robed Ning was seated in the lotus position, a jade bottle placed in front of him. Within the jade bottle, there was a total of 60,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. This came from the earlier trade he had engaged in. Whooosh. The black-robed Ning opened his mouth. Instantly, the liquefied elemental essence began to flow in a continuous stream towards Ning’s mouth, and his power began to quickly rise. Just a few moments later, he broke through to the peak Primal level. “Good.” After stabilizing his power base slightly, the black-robed Ning came to a halt. “Mm.” The blackrobed Ning looked at the jade bottle. “More than 15,000 kilograms remain. My Primaltwin has broken through to the peak Primal level.” In the past year after forging his Primaltwin, the divine soul of the Primaltwin had advanced at a frightfully fast pace. This was because of the Primal nurturing effect; thus, his Primaltwin had advanced even more quickly in soul power than his true body had! The Primaltwin’s divine sense could now stretch to a distance of 1600 kilometers, while his main body’s divine sense had only just recovered to the presplitting level of power, just barely reaching 1000 kilometers. A powerful soul! A high level of comprehension! A mighty Dao-heart! After reaching the peak Primal level, the Primaltwin was virtually instantly able to fully control his elemental ki. Everything was as familiar to him as the back of his hand; there wasn’t the slightest bit of discomfort at all. “Flying swords.” The black-robed Ning willed it. Whoosh! Instantly, the surrounding area, with a swish swish swish series of sounds, became filled with 405 flying swords, each of which emanated mighty ripples of power. Those nine flying swords in the center, in particular, emanated truly mighty ripples! These 405 flying swords were all Heaven-ranked flying swords, and 396 of them had been purchased just now at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. As for those nine other Heaven-ranked flying swords…more than a year ago, by relying on his Primaltwin, Ning had overcome the fifth level of the Wargod Hall, and then chosen from the Heaven-ranked magic items of the Treasure Hall. These nine Heaven-ranked flying swords were known as the Waterbreaker Godshark Swords. The primary material for the forging of these swords had been the body of a slain, primordial nine-headed Godshark that had existed in the era before the three thousand major worlds had even been born. These nine flying swords were all quasi-sentient. According to the rating of the underwater estate, all nine were high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords. However, according to the rating system of the Grand Xia Dynasty, they were absolutely top-grade Heaven-ranked, and each of them were probably worth 100,000 1829 to 150,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence! And with all nine coming from the same source…the set was probably worth a million kilograms, and could be traded for a low-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure. In the past, when Immortal Juhua had owned the underwater estate, he had acquired a top-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasure as well. By relying on the magic treasures of the underwater estate…he could’ve gone and traded them for Immortal-ranked magic treasures.. Unfortunately…he would only have been able to trade them for low-grade or middle-grade Immortalranked magic treasures. To overcome the Celestial Tribulation? One had to at least have high-grade, or even top-grade Immortalranked magic treasures in order to have a degree of confidence. It would be best if the magic treasures were also suited to one’s abilities; that would give an even better chance. All of the Immortal-ranked magic treasures of the underwater estate were at least high-grade, and some were even top-grade. Unfortunately, Immortal Juhua hadn’t had the chance to choose from them, as he had only been given the chance to do so after becoming a Loose Immortal and overcoming the seventh level of the Wargod Hall. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” The black-robed Ning willed it. With the nine Waterbreaker Godshark Swords serving as the core, all the other flying swords were activated. The exquisitely pure elemental ki of a peak Primal Daoist filled them, and Ning’s powerful soul began to guide them. All of the flying swords began to ripple as Ning tested time and time again the limits of his power. “Can’t do it.” “I’ll drop it by one level. [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], level four!” The black-robed Ning was striving to test his might, but Heaven-ranked magic treasures were on a completely different level than Earth-ranked magic treasures. Controlling a single Heaven-ranked magic treasure was at least as hard as controlling more than ten Earth-ranked magic treasures! Even though Ning was relying on formation techniques to lessen the difficulty…it was still extremely hard for him to execute the fourth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], level three!” Whoosh! Instantly, more than two hundred Heaven-ranekd flying swords all began to flutter in the air, emanating an incomparably powerful ripple of power. Immediately afterwards, a flying sword appeared in front of Ning’s chest as well. This flying sword, which managed to completely manifest, flashed repeatedly with a golden metallic light. Swords were sharp in weapons; for metallic light to flash off a sword was a testament to the quality of the sharp aura of the sword. The flying sword, flashing with golden light, held power within it that caused even Ning to feel astonished. “Such power.” Although he was only using a bit more than 200 Heaven-ranked magic treasures, the effect was far more powerful than when he used 700+ Earth-ranked magic treasures. It was a huge increase in power, an increase of more than just one level. Generally speaking, it was incredible for Primal Daoists to be able to control even a few dozen magic treasures. Ning, however, was able to control more than two hundred, and amongst them were incomparably precious flying swords such as the Watercutter Godshark Swords. It could be said that Ning’s soul was at the Earth Immortal level. He controlled a Grand Dao Domain, and was quite skilled in formations. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] itself was quite special to begin with. The combination of these factors was why he was able to control more than two hundred Heaven-ranked magic treasures. “By relying on my sword formation…my Primaltwin is strong enough to compare to supreme Loose Immortals!” Ning felt a boundless heroic feeling within his heart. …… Within a quiet, secluded residence. The windows were all closed, and even the servants had departed. Within the residence was only Princess Xiyue. Outside the door, however, there were some servants, and a group of Golden Imperials remained on constant guard. “Ji Ning.” Princess Xiyue held a cup of warm wine in her hands, unable to suppress the excitement and nervousness in her heart. “We are finally going to meet.” “My cousin. My one and only little brother.” Princess Xiyue’s heart was nervous, excited, and tense. Suddenly, a voice rang out from outside. “Go report to the Princess. Ji Ning has already arrived.” “Wait a moment. I’ll make the report,” a servant said. “He’s here!” Princess Xiyue took a deep breath. This was as nervous as she had ever been during the past thirty years; she was even more nervous than when she had met Grandpa for the first time. ….. Ji Ning and Yu Qi were both standing outside the door to the courtyard. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain was simply too vast. It had taken them quite a while to go from Ning’s previous location to this place. Ning’s Primaltwin had reached the peak Primal level long ago, and had already begun to test the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] when they arrived. “The Princess is instructing Ji Ning to enter,” an armored female soldier said. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I’ll leave now. If there’s anything you need, you can find any staff member of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and ask them to send a word to me,” Yu Qi laughed. “Thank you for your help this time, fellow Daoist Yu Qi. If I have any business in the future, I’ll definitely seek you out again,” Ning said. After the exchange of farewells, Yu Qi left. As for Ning, he said to the nearby Little Qing and Whitewater Hound, “Little Qing, Uncle White, wait here a while for me.” “Right.” Uncle White and Little Qing both believed that there shouldn’t be any danger, here within the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Ning immediately entered the courtyard by himself. After entering the courtyard, Ning felt a surge of mental pressure, due to the troop of Imperial Gods who were watching him carefully. Moments later, the female guard led him to a stand-alone residence, then pushed at the door. “The Princess is inside.” The door opened. Ning saw a green-robed woman seated inside. Right at this moment, the green-robed woman turned to look at him as well. Their gazes intersected. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning understood that this green-robed woman in front of him should be Princess Xiyue. From this first glance…Ning felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and closeness towards her. “My respects, Princess,” Ning said. “Sit.” Princess Xiyue spoke out. Only now did Ning take a seat. Princess Xiyue, however, remained standing. She waved her arm, and a series of formation flags began to fly out, emanating a gray, rippling power. These nine formation flags penetrated into the wooden floor, and a series of ripples began to emanate from the formation flags, quickly covering the entire residence. A series of Dao-seals began to flow atop the surface of the residence, instantly and completely severing it from the outside world. “Now no one can spy on our conversation,” Princess Xiyue said. “This is a magic treasure which Grandpa gave me; upon hiding within it and retracting one’s aura, even Celestial Immortals would find it difficult to detect you.” “Princess, you are doing this because…?” Ning was puzzled. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain publicly proclaimed that they would never spy on the conversations of their customers. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain relied on the faith of its customers; unless they were willing to pay a truly high price for it, there was no way they would eavesdrop on the conversation of two guests. Their sterling reputation had been built up over the course of countless years. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain wouldn’t dare act rashly in matters that would affect it. “I have to be careful.” Princess Xiyue looked at Ning. Ning felt his heart clench; it seemed as though Princess Xiyue hadn’t just invited him for a simple meeting. “Ji Ning, I ask you this.” Princess Xiyue looked at him. “Your mother was Yuchi Snow? You are a descendant of the Yuchi clan?” Ning frowned. He wasn’t willing to discuss his mother with others. “Princess, the Youngflame clan is pursuing me because they believe me to be one of the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan. Although this information is quite well hidden, for someone like you, Princess, it shouldn’t be too hard to acquire this type of report.” Ning was rather displeased. Princess Xiyue, however, revealed a look of delight. She could already tell the truth from Ning’s reaction. She immediately said, “Actually, I found out about it long ago, and I even sent people to your West 1833 Prefecture City of Swallow Mountain to investigate. Only, I still couldn’t quite believe it, so I had to ask you myself.” “Oh?” Ning, surprised and puzzled, asked her, “Princess, you sent people to Swallow Mountain to investigate? Dare I ask, why did you seek me out, Princess?” She was so cautious, and her words gave no clues at all. What in the world was this princess up to? “Ji Ning.” Princess Xiyue began to feel rather nervous. Looking at Ning, she said, “Actually, actually, I, I…” Ning just looked at her. “Actually…you are my little brother.” Princess Xiyue finally said the words. “Little brother? My mother only had one son; me.” Ning immediately shook his head, refuting these words. However, in his heart, a different idea came to Ning’s mind…little brother? Could it be that this Princess Xiyue was the cousin which his mother had always been thinking about, the final successor to the Yuchi clan’s lineage? 1 “You are my younger cousin. I’m your older cousin.” Princess Xiyue said, “My father’s name…was Yuchi Mount!” Ning was stunned. Although this thought had flashed through his mind earlier…when Princess Xiyue said the words, Ning was still rather stunned. “But…you are a princess. A princess of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia,” Ning said. “King Yan is only my maternal grandfather; my mother was of the Xiamang clan, but I am a true heir of the Yuchi clan. My true name is Yuchi Xiyue.” Princess Xiyue looked at Ning. Ning’s heart was in a state of chaos now. In the past, Ning’s uncle, Yuchi Mount, had given up his life in order to block the forces of Snowdragon Mountain and protect his pregnant little sister, Ning’s mother. He had been the strongest one of their group, but he had died. In doing so, he had allowed Ning’s parents, Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow, to escape with their lives. The bitter seeds sown in that year, however…had caused his parents to only live for a fairly brief period of time. Ning’s father had always felt guilt towards Ning’s uncle, and even more guilt towards his daughter, whom they had never seen before. Strictly speaking…although Ning also carried the blood of the Yuchi clan in his veins, he was a child of the Ji clan! Only his older cousin…only she, and she alone, was a true member of the Yuchi clan! “Your name is Yuchi Xiyue? Your father was Yuchi Mount?” Ning couldn’t even believe it. “Yes.” Princess Xiyue nodded heavily. “Princess…it’s not that I don’t want to believe you. However, this matter is of tremendous importance to me. We have to test our blood together.” Ning’s heart was filled with excitement as well. Actually, upon Princess Xiyue saying that she was the daughter of Ning’s uncle, Ning had already been mostly convinced. This was because…very, very few people knew about Ning’s uncle. As for the fact that Ning’s uncle had a daughter, even within the Ji clan, only Ning and his parents knew about it. His parents had already passed away. No one else could possibly know. Ning himself had never before revealed this to anyone. And so, this Princess Xiyue who stood in front of him was indeed quite possibly his own cousin, who he had never seen before! “Alright. Let me test our blood.” Princess Xiyue immediately slashed out with her fingernail, using it as the tip of a dagger to prick her own wrist. Swish. Instantly, fresh, scarlet blood flicked out. Ning stretched out his own wrist, using his own finger to cut it as well. After he cut his own wrist and the blood flew out, the wound on his wrist instantly healed. Those two drops of blood flew towards each other in midair, forming into two small spheres of blood. These two spheres of blood swiveled around each other, and as they did, Ning executed a technique that would cause blood from the same lineage to resonate with each other. Instantly, golden runes began to flash atop the two spheres of blood. Whooooooosh. Slowly…strands of golden blood began to appear above the two spheres of blood. The two strands of golden blood quickly began to ravel around each other, forming into one. There was no way to tell them apart now. “It’s true!” Ning was stunned. “It’s true. It’s true!” Princess Xiyue revealed a look of excitement and joy as well. Although she had engaged in deep, thorough investigations, those couldn’t compare to testing their blood lineage. “Cousin…” Ning stared at Princess Xiyue, still in a shaken state. This news had simply arrived too quickly. He had truly been caught caught off-guard. “Little brother. Little brother.” Princess Xiyue excitedly stretched her hands out, clutching at Ning’s own hands. Because she had mentally prepared herself over the course of the past year, she had been desiring to meet Ning this entire time. She simply hadn’t been able to find him. “My cousin is Princess Xiyue? A princess of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia?” Ning still couldn’t believe this was happening. Princess Xiyue let out a long sigh, then said, “What’s the point of being a princess? It’s all too late…Grandpa came too late. If he had come a bit earlier, then my father, my mother, and even Aunt…none of those tragedies would have occurred.” “What happened? The exalted King Yan just allowed his own daughter and son-in-law to die, without even responding to it?” Ning couldn’t help but say these words. “You don’t understand the situation back then.” Princess Xiyue said slowly, “Grandpa was of an extremely distant branch of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. Even though he worked hard and trained to become a Void-level Earth Immortal, all he received was a few treasures from the imperial clan that were mandated by the rules. Every single person who became an Earth Immortal would be bestowed those treasures. That was it; just a few treasures. After that? They no longer paid any attention to my grandfather. His status within the imperial clan of the Grand Xia remained low.” Ning nodded. He could understand. Just look at the Ji clan; the Ji clan had only been within the Swallow Mountain region for a comparatively short period of time, but the number of clansmen it had was truly astonishing. The imperial clan of the Grand Xia had begun to establish itself as soon as this major world had been born. From then til now, countless, unfathomable numbers of eons had passed. The passage of so much time had caused the imperial clan of the Grand Xia to possess an utterly breathtaking population; just the number of people with the surname of Xiamang was beyond number. As for Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals? Within the Black-White College, they might be major figures. Within the Youngflame clan, they might be considered fairly powerful figures. But within the imperial clan of the Grand Xia? They’d just be given a few treasures, and then let loose to live or die on their own merits. If they were to fail their tribulation and perish, the imperial clan of the Grand Xia wouldn’t even notice! Only those who succeeded in overcoming their tribulation…only then would they suddenly ascend to the heavens in status. The imperial clan of the Grand Xia would immediately bestow all sorts of treasures, estates, and guards to them, treating them with incomparable importance. “My grandfather had average talent, and trained very slowly,” Princess Xiyue said slowly. “There are very few members of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia who are viewed as important. Grandpa wasn’t one of them…and so he went out to adventure, tempering himself between life and death, striving to encounter a major twist of fate. In fact, he even trained in some evil, demonic secret arts. “Evil, demonic secret arts?” Ning was amazed. “Right. When facing the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, he even activated his evil demonic arts to voluntarily draw more demonic mental attacks to himself, causing them to grow even stronger,” Princess 1836 Xiyue said. “The more powerful those demonic mental attacks, the more his own Dao-heart could be tempered and the stronger it would grow.” “He’s an absolute madman.” Ning was utterly astonished now. The Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations…all Immortal cultivators were terrified of them and wanted to come up with ways to weaken them. But this King Yan actually came up with a method to cause the demonic mental attacks to become even more powerful, so as to temper himself? Yes, this did indeed have the effect of strengthening his Dao-heart, and it was astonishing effective, but…if he failed, he would’ve died. “Once, Grandpa was successfully enticed and seduced by the demonic mental attacks. That was incredibly dangerous,” Princess Xiyue said. “In fact, he completely transformed into a crazed demon, and he began to torture and rape women with wild abandon.” Ning was secretly speechless. Be driven into an insane state during the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations? That virtually guaranteed death. Many of the major demons and vile figures were born after having been driven into an insane state. They would die in their insanity, unless some sort of a miracle occurred, allowing them to reawaken from their crazed state. “Afterwards, a miracle occurred and Grandpa came back to his senses. The process of entering an insane demonic state and then recovering was tremendously beneficial to Grandpa. Afterwards, he endured all sorts of trials and tests, and in the end he actually overcame the Celestial Tribulation, becoming a Celestial Immortal.” Princess Xiyue sighed with emotion. “After becoming a Celestial Immortal, he could sense those of his bloodline. He could sense that he had family still alive, and so he began to search. In the end…he found me.” “My grandmother…she was one of the countless women who he raped in the past. After being raped, Grandma gave birth to Mother. Because this was an out-of-wedlock birth, they were all viewed with contempt by the other clansmen on our island. They shunned the two of them…and in the end, Grandma died in depression.” “Then Father arrived on our island. He had grown weary of fleeing. He wanted to live permanently on this island. He wanted to take Mother as his wife, and continue the lineage of our Yuchi clan. Father and Mother joined together…and in the end, I was born.” “Those were the happiest years of my life.” “Father was an Immortal cultivator, and would often fly out of the island to other places. However, he would always come back very quickly. One day, Father said that his little sister and his brother-in-law wanted to leave the Darknorth Seas and return to the mainland. Father said that his little sister was pregnant and that he was worried about her, so he was going to personally escort them.” “But…when Father left, he never returned. The life-tablet he left at home shattered. Mother couldn’t bear this mental blow, and filled with both grief and agony, she perished as well.” 1837 “I lived by myself, there on that island. Afterwards…Grandpa came.” “Grandpa had already become a Celestial Immortal by then, but he had no family members of his own. All of his closest family members had died. I was the only family member left, his one and only granddaughter.” Princess Xiyue continued to speak slowly. As for Ning, he was silent. The path of Immortal cultivation was a lonely one. Although King Yan was a member of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia, generally speaking, after five or six generations of separation, one couldn’t truly be described as ‘family’. King Yan’s parents and brothers had died long ago. As for family, only one was left; his one and only granddaughter. “I came with Grandpa to the imperial capital. I investigate and discovered that our Yuchi clan had been annihilated by the Youngflame clan.” Hatred was in the eyes of Princess Xiyue. “From that day forward, I swore an oath that I, Yuchi Xiyue, would definitely take revenge. I would definitely destroy the Youngflame clan! And, I’m going to re-establish the Yuchi clan, fulfilling my father’s dream! This was what my father had always dreamed of…and I am definitely going to accomplish it!” 1. Chinese lineages are patriarchal; because Ning’s lineage was through his mother, he is not a ‘real’ Yuchi clan member, and is considered a ‘Ji’ clan member. Xiyue’s lineage, however, is from her father, and so she is a ‘real’ Yuchi clan member. Alas, because there are no male Yuchi clan members left, technically speaking, she is the ‘final’ one of this line. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Annihilate the Youngflame clan?” Ning was stunned. Even though he viewed the Youngflame clan as a major, powerful foe, deep in his heart, Ning had the same desire…to utterly eradicated the Youngflame clan, so as to console the spirit of his mother! His mother’s sisters, father, and family members…the entire Yuchi clan had died in the hands of the Youngflame clan. His mother must have deeply desired to eradicated the Youngflame clan…but the Youngflame clan was simply too powerful, so powerful that Yuchi Mount never even dared to tell Princess Xiyue that their enemy, the one who had destroyed their clan, was the Youngflame clan. Yuchi Snow had never told Ning this secret either. This was an ancient tribe that could rank in the top ten of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, a might tribe that had existed from the Fiendgod Era into the present era. Who would dare claim that they would definitely annihilate a clan such as this? Ning had this desire in his heart…but he wouldn’t dare say these words. Princess Xiyue, however, did! Ning could sense the hatred in his cousin’s words, a hatred that had forged into a will that would pay any price and stop at absolutely nothing to accomplish its goals! “This was Father’s dream. Father died…and I’ll do it on his behalf.” Princess Xiyue ground her teeth. “Even if I fail and die, in failing, I’ll deliver a vicious bite to the Youngflame clan.” “Cousin,” Ning couldn’t help but say, “The eradication of the Youngflame clan isn’t something to be rushed.” “Of course. I know that.” Princess Xiyue shook her head. “I haven’t even told Grandpa of my intentions, because I know that while perhaps the entire imperial Xiamang clan is capable of wiping out the Youngflame clan, the imperial clan will not do such a thing. The imperial clan isn’t willing to pay the price of having the countless tribes under its command feel frightened, restless, and possibly rebel. Ning nodded. If the imperial clan were to wipe out a major tribe, they would have to have a sufficiently solid excuse! They couldn’t just find a random excuse to do this. The many marquises of the world weren’t fools, after all; the Youngflame clan would have had to truly commit a heinous crime that exceeded the imperial clan’s bottom line before the imperial clan would eradicate them. Otherwise…if the imperial clan could just wipe out another clan on a whim, how could the other marquises feel at ease? Most likely, they would all revolt together, and by then, this major world would probably once more enter into a state of chaotic war, just like in the Fiendgod Era. One of the reasons why the imperial clan of the Grand Xia had been able to unify the world was because many tribes had given them their support and subordinated themselves to it. If these tribes were to all revolt, then it was very likely that the imperial clan of the Grand Xia would come to a calamitous end. “That’s why I’m enduring it for now. There aren’t even many people in the imperial capital who know that my name is actually Yuchi Xiyue. I asked Grandpa not to tell others,” Princess Xiyue said. “I don’t want to cause the Youngflame clan to be on guard against me. I will find a chance, seek out all opportunities, and use any means necessary. When I act, I will make sure that this Youngflame clan is wiped out…and even if I fail, I’ll make them suffer a grievous wound.” “Cousin, what are you planning?” Ning was quite puzzled. His cousin had an ordinary level of power; to annihilate the Youngflame clan? Not even a Celestial Immortal would dare say such things. “If I had your talent, I would definitely work hard to train and become a Celestial Immortal. Upon becoming a Celestial Immortal, I will have as much time as I need to slowly work against them.” Princess Xiyue shook her head. “But I don’t have your talent, so I’ll have to borrow power from others. I plan to borrow the power of the imperial clan of the Grandn Xia.” “Borrow power?” Ning was startled. “The imperial clan of the Grand Xia doesn’t have enough of a reason to wipe them out. So…I’ll have to come up with a way to give them enough of a reason,” Princess Xiyue said. “Even if I have to use my own life…it will be worth it. But I know that even if I sacrifice myself, it will still be quite hard. No matter how hard it is, however, I’ll strive to accomplish it. I’ll slowly wait…silently wait…” Princess Xiyue seemed to have transformed into a vengeful, venomous viper; she was silently waiting, waiting for the moment to deliver her final blow. “To annihilate the Youngflame clan in my lifetime will be very, very hard.” Resolve flashed through Princess Xiyue’s eyes. “That’s why I’m going to find a husband. I’m not going to marry out; I’m going to bring one in. The children I give birth to will follow me in publicly using the surname ‘Chi’. My children will have children of their own, and our family will grow from one generation to the next…and the ultimate goal of my descendants will be bringing down the Youngflame clan!” “I have Grandpa backing me up; I’m his only family member. Even if I die, I’ll beg Grandpa to help me take care of the Chi clan,” Princess Xiyue said. “Grandpa is a Celestial Immortal Patriarch of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia; with his protection, the Chi clan will definitely grow stronger and stronger. When the Chi clan itself gives birth to a Celestial Immortal, or when the Youngflame clan is finally annihilated, the Chi clan will truly return to becoming the ‘Yuchi’ clan. Ning took a deep breath. He couldn’t help but feel his heart quiver at the hatred contained within his cousin’s words. Yes. She was different from him. He was a child of the Ji clan; this was why his mother, Yuchi Snow, didn’t even mention the Yuchi clan’s feud. In turn, the hatred he felt for the Youngflame clan hadn’t truly sunk into his bones. But his cousin was a true descendant of the Yuchi clan. Ning’s uncle, Yuchi Mount, had trained her from childhood and had told her stories of the former glory of the Yuchi clan. Although Yuchi Mount had never told her who their enemies were, Yuchi Mount himself had always trained hard, always wanting to restore his clan and strengthen himself enough to take revenge. Yuchi Xiyue had always quietly watched her father at work. She knew that her father’s desire was twofold; to re-establish the Yuchi clan, and to take revenge! Yuchi Mount was simply suppressing his desire for revenge…but his daughter could sense the hatred buried within his heart. This was why she wanted to fulfill her father’s hopes…to re-establishing the clan, and to take revenge! “Right.” Ning’s heart suddenly trembled. “Uncle was the last surviving man of the Yuchi clan. The amount of hatred he felt must have been tremendous. My cousin has a similar level of hate towards the Youngflame clan. What about Mother?” “Grandpa and the others, they all died…could it be that Mother didn’t feel hate?” “But after marrying my father and marrying into my Ji clan, she never mentioned this matter. She never even displayed any hint of it in front of me. Perhaps, in private, she would feel agony and hatred on behalf of her murdered parents and kinsmen.” Ning’s heart suddenly ached. His mother had never passed any of the hatred she felt to him, precisely because she didn’t want him to go take revenge. She was afraid that he would become an egg that tried to smash itself against a rock! “Mother…you were worried about me. But in the end, your son has still ended up fighting against the Youngflame clan.” “This is what destiny is!” “Mother, if your son was nothing more than an ‘ordinary’ supreme genius, it would indeed be hard to take revenge…but I’m not! I have the legacy of the primordial Fiendgod, Daoist Threelives. I can easily acquire Immortal-ranked and even Pure Yang magic items. My divine ability is a terrifying one that ranks amongst the top ten of the entire Three Realms. I absolutely have hope of being able to become a power that dominates the Three Realms. Annihilating the Youngflame clan…I can do it, I can absolutely do it!” Resolve flashed in Ning’s eyes as well. “Cousin.” Ning looked towards her. “Little brother.” Yuchi Xiyue looked towards her little brother, then said in a soft voice, “I’ve never spoken these words before to anyone else. When I saw you, those words that I kept hidden in my heart all came spilling out. Aside from Grandpa…you are my only family.” Ning nodded. “Cousin, don’t worry. Becoming a Void-level Earth Immortal, to me, is absolutely not a problem at all. It will happen without any impediments! Even dealing with the Celestial Tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal…although it will be hard, I can do it. I definitely will do it. Dealing with the Youngflame clan isn’t just your personal issue; it’s mine as well. The Youngflame clan and I are already like fire and water; either they will extinguish me, or I’ll extinguish them!” “Little brother.” Yuchi Xiyue felt a warm feeling in her heart. Although the two knew exactly how hard it would be for one to overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal…neither of them said such things right now. No matter what, the two of them still had their resolve. “The two of us, brother and sister, will join hands and annihilate the Youngflame clan.” Ning tightly clasped his cousin’s hand. “Right. Hand in hand, we will annihilate the Youngflame clan.” Yuchi Xiyue nodded in excitement as well. “The two of us shall be of one heart, and our will shall be sharp enough to cut metal!” “The two of us shall be of one heart, and our will shall be sharp enough to cut metal.” Ning nodded heavily as well. On this day. In this moment. The Treasure Auction was still underway. Immortal Floatcloud was still on the street outside, waiting for and wanting to assassinate Ning. Yuchi Xiyue and Ji Ning, a pair of cousins, truly joined forces against their common foe…the Youngflame clan! With two massive azure phoenixes pulling from up ahead, an Immortal carriage, wreathed in golden flames, flew into the skies of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. There were some servants by its side, and a large amount of Golden Imperials protecting its perimeter. Princess Xiyue and Ji Ning were both seated within the carriage. The Whitewater Hound was lying on one side, while Little Qing remained wrapped around Ning’s arm. Just a short while ago, when Princess Xiyue had pulled Ning into the Immortal carriage, the maidservants were speaking out about how this action was inappropriate, for fear that Ning might be an assassin. Still, given how the princess always followed her own plans…there was naturally nothing they could do. “In the imperial capital, it’s quite common for geniuses to be pulled into and share carriages as part of a befriending process,” Princess Xiyue sent mentally. “If you are going to invite a genius to be your friend, can it be that you’d seat yourself in your carriage, then have him fly alongside it? That would be a show of absolute disrespect to such a peerless genius. Am I right?” Ning could only let out a helpless laugh. “Don’t go take up residence in the Raindragon Guard headquarters. Although it’s safe there, there’s too many people and too many eyes. The Raindragon Guards of the Youngflame clan will definitely be keeping watch over you, and all of your actions will be under complete surveillance. Better to come to King Yan’s Estate. There will be absolutely no one who will make trouble for you,” Princess Xiyue sent mentally. “Alright.” Ning nodded. It was true that his earlier plan had been to live at the Raindragon Guard headquarters in the imperial capital. The Raindragon Godpeak was an absolutely secure location; the Godpeak was higher than even the Skylight Palace, which meant that the martial power hidden within it was surely endlessly amazing. Not even Celestial Immortals would dare to act rashly within it. However…plans never keep pace with events. He had run into his cousin, and so he would now go to the estate of a king of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. Naturally, it was also extremely safe there. “The Golden Imperials…two of them are Immortals?” Ning sent mentally. “Little brother, you truly are impressive. Right; these hundred Golden Imperials include 98 Primal Daoists and two Loose Immortals. These are definitely the most elite soldiers amongst the Imperial Guard of the imperial capital. They had originally been bestowed upon Grandpa, who ordered them to obey my commands. This time, I only brought out two small squad. Every single squad has one Loose Immortal and 49 Primal Daoist who can join together into a Dao-soldier formation. If two squads join forces, even tens of Loose Immortals would find it difficult to defeat them,” Princess Xiyue sent mentally. Ning sighed in amazement upon hearing this. The imperial clan of the Grand Xia truly was extraordinary in its resources. “Later, we’ll only need to send out a single squad to annihilate that ‘Snowdragon Mountain’ you spoke of.” A fierce look flashed through Princess Xiyue’s eyes. “I’ll have Grandpa give the Northmont clan of Stillwater advance notice. They absolutely won’t argue about it. A sect that doesn’t even have a single Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal? If they get wiped out, they get wiped out.” Ning nodded. Previously, during their discussion in the residence, they had spoken of how Yuchi Mount had been killed by Snowdragon Mountain’s men. Yu Dong and Shui Yi had already died, leaving behind only Dong Seven, who remained on Snowdragon Mountain. Because Ning had been pursued by the Youngflame clan, he absolutely didn’t dare to spend time fighting at or attacking Snowdragon Mountain. Upon being encircled and trapped there, he would be finished. Annihilating Snowdragon Mountain? To Ji Ning, that was a bit tricky. But for Princess Xiyue? It was much easier. ….. “Why isn’t he out yet?” Immortal Floatcloud, who had been waiting on the streets outside for quite some time, was frowning. He had been waiting for a very long time now. Swoosh! Suddenly, an azure-robed servant emerged from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters, hurriedly sending mentally, “Senior, Ji Ning emerged, but he’s with Princess Xiyue.” “Princesss Xiyue?!” Immortal Floatcloud was flabbergasted. Just a few seconds later, an incomparably beautiful and noble pair of azure phoenix Godbeasts flew out, pulling an Immortal carriage wreathed in golden flames. A green-robed woman was seated alongside Ning within it, and next to them lay a Whitewater Hound. In front of them and behind them was a troop of Golden Imperials, emanating powerful auras. “But, but, but…” Immortal Floatcloud was completely poleaxed. “Two azure phoenix Godbeasts? A hundred Golden Imperials? I…how the hell am I supposed to assassinate him?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The two azure phoenix Godbeasts were both comparable to supreme Loose Immortals in power. Those two squads of Golden Imperials were even mightier! Even ten Immortal Floatclouds wouldn’t be able to do anything. “What…what should I do? He’s with Princess Xiyue. How am I supposed to kill him?” Immortal Floatcloud began to briefly panic, but he quickly came back ot his senses. “Princess Xiyue is a woman, and she never met Ji Ning before. This is just their first meeting; she wants to befriend him, which is why they are sharing an Immortal carriage…I imagine that in a short while, they will separate, and Ji Ning will return to his residence, while Princess Xiyue will go back to her royal residence.” “I’ll follow them. Once they separate, I’ll kill Ji Ning.” Immortal Floatcloud immediately sent a mental order to his subordinates, ordering them to follow. He stayed far away behind them, so as to avoid being discovered. ….. The spies of the Youngflame clan quietly followed, only to discover that Ji Ning and Princess Xiyue actually weren’t separating. The azure phoenixes pulled the Immortal carriage whistling through the air, all the way to King Yan’s Estate. “Come.” Princess Xiyue disembarked from the Immortal carriage. Ning, too, led the Whitewater Hound out of the carriage, following Princess Xiyue into the royal estate. “Senior, Ji Ning and Princess Xiyue both entered King Yan’s Estate,” the spy immediately reported back. “What?! Entered the royal estate?! Ji Ning entered King Yan’s Estate?!” Immortal Floatcloud couldn’t even believe it. “Keep watching! I refuse to believe he won’t come out. As soon as he does, immediately report it to me.” “Yes.” The spy resumed his watch. …… King Yan’s Estate took up a large amount of space, but it was fairly cold and pristine. This was because although most kings had many friends and relatives with them, King Yan had only a single family member; Princess Xiyue. This caused the estate to feel cold and clean. Still, King Yan was a newly ascended Celestial Immortal; most likely in a thousand years or ten thousand years, this estate would become incredibly lively. “The royal estate is quite large,” Princess Xiyue said with a laugh. “Many places are unoccupied. Later, I’ll accompany you in picking out a place.” “Everyone says that it is hard finding a place to stay in the imperial capital, and that most Immortal cultivators can’t even afford it,” Ning laughed. “I didn’t expect that I, Ji Ning, would actually be able to pick and choose. It seems my luck isn’t bad!” Princess Xiyue laughed as well. The two walked together, chatting and laughing. The two female soldierservants following them were quite surprised; their princess was quite solitary and rarely made friends she could chat with. Those she did make friends with were all women. For her to chat so happily with a young man….they had never seen this before. “Xiyue, bring Ji Ning to my place.” A voice suddenly echoed in Princess Xiyue’s mind. “Let’s go,” Princess Xiyue said. “My Grandpa wants to see you.” “King Yan wishes to see me?” Ning felt a surge of nervousness. He knew that King Yan was a friend and not an enemy…but he was still a Celestial Immortal! Ning had never before seen a Celestial Immortal Patriarch. Perhaps the Lord of Cui Palace Ning had met in the Netherworld Kingdom was a Celestial Immortal, or even more powerful than a Celestial Immortal…but Ning had been a mere mortal soul, and the Lord of Cui Palace had completely hidden and suppressed his aura of power. Ning couldn’t sense the Lord of Cui Palace’s level of power at all. Now, however, things were different. Ning was an Immortal cultivator, and his soul was comparable to a supreme Loose Immortal’s. He now understood more than ever before how powerful Celestial Immortals were. “Let’s go.” Princess Xiyue laughed as she pulled at Ning’s hand. “They are holding hands?!” The eyes of two female soldier-servants escorting them turned completely round. “Can the princess actually have fallen for Ji Ning?” The two were personal maidservants; although they were stunned, there was no way they would speak of what they had seen. Every single personal servant had sworn certain oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. A very short time later. Princess Xiyue led Ning towards a graceful mountain. King Yan’s Estate spanned a thousand kilometers, and so the insides of it were naturally filled with winding mountain ranges, and even some lakes and pools. “This place, Skygazer Mountain, is the place which Grandpa likes to come to the most,” Princess Xiyue said. “Servants are forbidden from coming up the mountain. Usually, I’m the only one who goes up.” “Oh?” Ning nodded. Little Qing nand Uncle White were left at the base of the mountain, not coming up; after all, King Yan had only said that he wanted to meet with Ji Ning. At the very summit of othe mountain peak, there was an old, gnarled, twisted tree. Next to it, there was a pavilion, which had a single table, a single chair, and a single person within it! This was a tall, muscular man who was dressed in a long black robe. He quietly sat there by himself, drinking wine and staring at the vast landscape around him. In this moment, it seemed as though the sky, the earth, and the man were all one being. “Grandpa,” Princess Xiyue called out, her voice breaking the stillness. Only then did the man rise to his feet, turning to stare at them. He was more than eight feet tall, and his eyebrows were crow-black and almost excessively thick. The eyes below the brows were staring straight at Ji Ning. Ning, in turn, was looking back at King Yan. Whoosh! Everying in the surrounding area completely vanished. Ning could only sense an infinite, baleful aura, a baleful aura that filled the skies and covered the earth, so strong as to cause even Ning to feel fear. However, Ning’s soul was powerful and his Dao-heart was sturdy; his sword-soul quickly stabilized itself, allowing him to escape that state a short moment later. Ning looked at the man in front of him. “What a King Yan! He didn’t even try to consciously attack me; he just revealed the baleful aura contained within his body, but it was almost enough to cause me to lose myself within it.” “Cousin said that her grandpa had only an ordinary level of talent, and wasn’t even viewed as important by the imperial clan of the Grand Xia…but he dared to use evil, demonic techniques and even strengthen the demonic mental attacks of the calamities to temper himself. This is a very crazy fellow…and because of his craziness, although his talent was clearly ordinary, he managed to force his way into becoming a Celestial Immortal.” Ning knew quite well that it was rare for even a single Celestial Immortal to emerge within the Grand Xia Empire over the span of a million years. King Yan’s talent had been ordinary for an Earth Immortal, but he had succeeded in becoming a Celestial Immortal. He most assuredly had his own terrifying secrets. Everything else aside, that baleful aura contained within his gaze…that alone was enough to make Ning understand that this person before him had definitely undergone terrifying experiences. Otherwise, there was no way the baleful aura could be so strong. “Ji Ning pays his respects to you, King Yan.” Ning respectfully bowed deeply. “Not bad. You’ve only trained for thirty years, but your Dao-heart wasn’t moved by my baleful aura; you instantly threw it off.” King Yan nodded slightly, then said with a calm smile, “Formidable, formidable.” 1847 Princess Xiyue said, surprised, “Grandpa, you just praised him as ‘formidable’ twice in a row? I’ve never seen you praise someone like that before.” “Xiyue, can it be that you don’t know Grandpa’s nickname?” King Yan revealed a hint of smugness in his eyes. “You mean…Yama-King?” Xiyue said. 1 Ning revealed a puzzled look. “Yama-King refers to the Yama Hell-Kings of the Netherworld Kingdom!” Xiyue explained. “Even I don’t know why Grandpa acquired a nickname like this.” “It’s precisely because I became a Celestial Immortal through a life of slaughter that my baleful aura is this strong. Otherwise, why would others call me Yama-King?” King Yan laughed smugly. In front of his only granddaughter, he acted as if he were an ordinary person; if he wanted to laugh, he would, and if he wanted to be smug, he would. And if he wanted to be unhappy, he would. King Yan looked at Ning. “Which is why it is quite formidable that you are able to ignore the influence of my baleful aura.” “I know that you and Xiyue are maternal cousins.” King Yan nodded. “I also know that enmity exists between you and the Youngflame clan. Their roots, however, are deep and stable; they won’t be so easily uprooted. Xiyue hasn’t even publicly acknowledged her true surname. However, you, Ji Ning, have truly gone head-on against the Youngflame clan. You need to be careful in your day-to-day life.” Ning nodded. “Understood.” “Grandpa!” Princess Xiyue immediately said, “Didn’t you say that Patriarch Arcanum of the Youngflame clan doted heavily on Youngflame Nong, and would definitely take revenge for him?” “Yes, I did say that,” King Yan nodded. “Patriarch Arcanum truly is quite an unreasonable fellow. Although I’m savage, I can be reasonable. He, however, is completely unreasonable. That’s why you have to be careful.” “Don’t you have more Golden Imperials under your control? Divert a squad to my little brother,” Xiyue immediately pleaded. Ning was stunned. She had never before mentioned this idea to him. “Golden Imperials?” King an frowned. “Xiyue, the Golden Imperials belong to the Imperial Guard of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. Generally speaking, only members of the imperial clan will have Imperial Guards with them. You are a princess, so it doesn’t matter that you have them with you, but if Ji Ning were also to have them…this is…” 1848 “Grandpa!” Princess Xiyue said frantically. “His Majesty, the Emperor, bestowed the Golden Imperials to you for you to command as you see fit, right? I’m not asking you to give my little brother all the Golden Imperials as protection, just a single squad. The laws of the imperial clan have never stated that the Golden Imperials can only protect imperial clan members.” King Yan shook his head, letting out a resigned laugh. It was true. There was no way the laws of the Grand Xia would stipulate that Golden Imperials could only protect imperial clan members. After all, even the Emperor himself had his important ministers and subjects, or formidable independent roving Immortals who he wanted to befriend. For the sake of showing his grace, he would arrange for some Golden Imperials to serve these people. “Fine then.” King Yan nodded. “I’ll arrange for a squad of Golden Imperials. The worst thing that could happen is some people will mumble about it behind my back.” “Thank you, Grandpa. Grandpa, you are the best.” Princess Xiyue hugged King Yan by the arm in quite the friendly manner. “Hahaha.” King Yan laughed. Only with her, his granddaughter, would he feel the warmth of family. In front of others…he would always remain the legendary Yama-King. “Hurry up and thank my grandpa,” Princess Xiyue said, immediately looking at Ning. “Thank you, King Yan,” Ning said hurriedly. “Mm.” King Yan nodded, then laughed, “Go now. You are quite cautious in front of me. Xiyue, make the arrangements for your little brother. The royal estate is quite large; let him choose a place as he pleases, then have him settle down. There will definitely be no one who will dare to barge into my estate.” “Grandpa, we’ll leave now.” Xiyue immediately pulled Ning away, and they quickly descended from Skygazer Mountain. King Yan watched as Princess Xiyue and Ning went down the mountain. He nodded lightly. “Xiyue clearly is much happier now. She’s suppressed her hatred in her heart for too long. In the end, it is family which will allow her to become a happier person.” King Yan then turned and sat down again. He sat there, by himself, holding a cup of wine, staring at this vast, wide world. ….. They had arrived at a grassy area next to a lake. Ning nodded. “Right here. I’ll live here.” “Here?” Princess Xiyue was flabbergasted. “But this is a barren place. There’s nothing but grass here. There’s no place to stay at all. We have plenty of residences in this royal estate…why are you going to stay in a barren grassland?” 1849 “Watch.” Ning waved his hand. Whoosh! Instantly, an enormous, beautiful Immortal estate appeared, with beautiful pavilions and residences that were decorated with paintings and sculptures. Like golden jade, they stood there, emanating natural elemental ki. “What a fine Immortal estate.” Princess Xiyue was surprised. “You can actually carry this Immortal estate with you…it definitely can’t be a cheap one.” “Right. This is an Immortal estate that one can carry at the Wanxiang level; it’s worth at least half a million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence,” Ning said. Actually, this Immortal estate was one which the giant yellow bear had given to Ning, free of charge; although it was a ‘gift’, Ning was absolutely forbidden from selling it. This was because within this Immortal estate which worth half a million kilograms, there was a region where the underwater estate was secreted. Within the underwater estate, inside the Immortal estate, there were layers on layers of protective formations. It was definitely a completely safe spot. “Half a million kilograms? Nice.” Princess Xiyue said, “Is this Youngflame Nong’s as well?” “No. I acquired it by luck,” Ning said. “I knew it. For you to be able to kill Youngflame Nong and a Primal-level Fiendgod means that you definitely must have had some tremendous strokes of fortune.” Princess Xiyue laughed, “Alright, go inside and get some rest. When night comes, I’ll prepare a dinner banquet for you.” “Alright.” Ning nodded. “Get a good rest. You haven’t had a chance to rest at all after arriving at the imperial capital.” Princess Xiyue then led her two female soldier-servants away. As for Ning, he led Uncle White and Little Qing into his own Immortal estate.. In Chinese, the ‘Yan’ of King Yan and the ‘Yama’ of Yama-King are pronounced identically, although the characters are completely different. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Master, has Princess Xiyue taken a fancy to you? She’s so nice to you. She even brought you to the royal estate and had you live here.” After they entered the Immortal estate, Little Qing could no longer refrain from beginning to jabber at Ji Ning. “Ning, son, this princess is indeed treating you quite well. I feel as though she is being sincere,” the Whitewater Hound said as well. Ning just grinned, not explaining. The fact that his cousin’s name was Yuchi Xiyue was a major secret which she had never before revealed to her servants or spirit-beasts. Naturally, Ning wouldn’t reveal it either. Although his spirit-beasts were absolutely loyal to him, sometimes…just because a person didn’t want to reveal a secret, didn’t mean it wouldn’t end up being revealed anyhow. For example, weren’t the members of the Yuchi clan all soul-scoured? “We’ve already established ourselves here, at the imperial capital of the Grand Xia,” Ning said. “Next, we’ll just stay for a time here at King Yan’s Estate, awaiting the Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” “Ning, son, at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, you suppressed many challengers with your financial might, spending 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence to buy the peacock plumes. I trust that word of this will quickly spread, and more and more people within the imperial capital will know of you. Soon, I imagine, some major clans will invite you over,” Uncle White said. Ning nodded. This was what he had planned to begin with. He had originally wanted to seek out various powers, so as to use their strength against the Youngflame clan. He hadn’t expected he would run into his cousin! “There’s no harm getting to know more of the clans and tribes which are feuding against the Youngflame clan,” Ning said. “Uncle White, Little Qing, let me go train in my private room for a time. If there’s nothing important, don’t call for me.” And then, Ning returned to his own private room. As for the underwater estate…it was secreted within that very room. Whoosh! Ning entered the private room. Within it, there was actually a secondary door. Upon opening it, he immediately arrived at the enormous main hall of the underwater estate, filled with those giant prayer mats. The giant yellow bear was within the main hall, smiling as he looked at Ning. “King Yan truly is a fine fellow; earlier, when he swept his entire royal estate with his coresense, he scanned our Immortal estate as well. When he realized that there were layers of restrictive spells on it, he didn’t try to send his coresense to penetrate through them.” Coresense…this was something a level higher than even ‘divine sense’. Immortal cultivators were primarily divided into two categories; the one before and the one after the Celestial Tribulation. The category before the tribulation was a category filled with misery and painstaking work, faced with the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations and countless dangers. The ‘divine soul’ of this level was independent; even after becoming a Primal Daoist, although the divine soul would enter the body of the Primal, it would just be nurtured there within it. The soul itself was still stand-alone and independent. Independent souls could divide into two, and the split half could be trained into a ‘Primaltwin’.” The second category of Immortal cultivators was those who had overcome the Celestial Tribulation. After it, the divine soul and the Primal would truly fuse together. There would be no distinction between the two; each would be part of the other. This was a true transformative change, and over the process of it, the ‘coresense’ would emerge as well. This was a form of power that was even more formidable than ‘divine sense’. A form of power that was able to touch on the hidden, underworld currents of fate and destiny. “This royal estate is his territory, after all; some Celestial Immortals will carefully investigate everything which is brought onto their estate, or even force their way in to take a look. King Yan, however, went out of his way to avoid scanning this estate again.” The giant yellow bear nodded in approval; clearly, he was quite approving of the way this King Yan acted. “If he insisted on using his coresense to investigate?” Ning asked. “I could forcibly deny him,” the giant yellow bear said. “Or, I could allow his coresense in and let him believe that he had already found everything, when in reality, he would be ridiculously wrong.” Ning nodded. He then sat down in the lotus position, and with a wave of his hand, produced the five peacock plumes. The peacock plumes emanated powerful ripples of might that were not one whit weaker than that of an ordinary Immortal-ranked magic treasure. The space and world around them even seemed to begin to congeal. Still, compared to the Thousandbull Sword, it was still rather weaker. “What a pity. A peacock with plumes that manifested from the Five Elements actually died at the Voidlevel. If he had overcome the Celestial Tribulation, the various major powers of the Three Realms would probably fight over him as a mount,” the giant yellow bear sighed. “The more monstrously powerful a Godbeast is, the harder it is for them to overcome the Celestial Tribulation.” “…a mount?” Ning was speechless. Poor Godbeast; his destiny was just to become a mount at best? Ning then stretched out both of his arms, beginning to absorb the extracted essence of the Five Elements contained within the five peacock plumes. Ning executed a special technique, and his palms began to be covered with the Divine Starseizer Runes. The divine runes glowed with light, and the round runes began to spin, vaguely generating a devouring power that seemed to fill the region. The Five Elements peacock plumes began to try and resist, not willing to allow the essence of the Five Elements within theselves be lost. However, these were nonliving items; how could they overcome the technique? Slowly, one strand after another of essence was extracted from and flew out of the five peacock plumes. They strands were golden, azure, watery-blue, fire-red, and dark yellow. The five types of essence continuously flew out and into Ning’s twin hands. Slowly, Ning’s entire body began to send out one ripple of power after another as well. Time passed on. The five-colored essences continuously flew into Ning’s hands. After a long period of time, Ning finally put his hands down, halting the absorption process. “That’s enough.” After having absorbed enough of the Five Elements essence, Ning began to activate another technique. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! His twin hands began to emanate a blinding, pentacolor aura of light. The strength of the light was incomparably strong! His hands were no longer ordinary items; they were more like magic treasures, and the powerful ripples emanating from them vastly surpassed those given off by Heaven-ranked magic items in power. Slowly, the pentacolored aura of light swiveled and spun into Ning’s palms, transforming into a chaotic mash of colors. Immediately afterwards, the round divine tattoos on Ning’s palms once more began to expand and become even more profound, with some additional, complicated diagrams appearing. As they did so, the ripples emanating from them began to grow even more terrifiyingly strong. “The [Six Cycles of the Starseizer]…the second Cycle is completed!” Ning revealed a look of delight. “Whew.” Ning clenched his fists. BOOM! BOOM! Both fists exploded with power, causing sonic booms. Even the surrounding space, which had been congealed and frozen by the Five Elements peacock plumes, trembled and shook, with the energy within beginning to fluctuate. “My pair of hands…they are far more powerful than even Heaven-ranked magic items. They are comparable to Immortal-ranked magic items now.” Ning sighed in amazement. “From the first Cycle to the second Cycle…it truly is a major rise in power. Only after training to the second Cycle can my Fiendgod body truly explode with the power it should have.” Actually, the true [Starseizing Hand] technique was to transform one’s hands into weapons. When receiving the legacy, Ning had seen one image after another of Daoist Threelives using his own hands to launch attacks! The hands of Daoist Threelives were more terrifying than any magic treasure. He had no need of any magic treasures. His hands were the most powerful of magic treasures. Ning, however, used his hands to control his swords! “Ji Ning, after having mastered the second Cycle, your [Starseizing Hand] has already reached the highest level of power which your current Fiendgod body can withstand.” The giant yellow bear nodded and said praisingly, “Train harder. You are only at the eleventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]; if you were to train to the tweltfth stage, then you would have an even better chance at the Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” “Senior, if I use the [Starseizing Hand] at the Conclave…wouldn’t I be revealing myself? Supposedly, the Conclave will attract attention from some of the most formidable figures of the Three Realms,” Ning said. “Don’t worry. As long as you don’t reveal the Divine Starseizer Tattoos, they won’t be able to realize what you are doing, no matter how many times you use the technique,” the giant yellow bear said with a laugh. “At most, they’ll believe that you have access to some sort of powerful divine ability or secret art…or perhaps they’ll believe that your weapons, the Darknorth swords, are incredibly powerful. There’s no way they’ll be able to guess at the true might of your divine ability.” Ning nodded. “There’s no major power who, just by glancing at your physical body, can recognize the divine ability you are using,” the giant yellow bear said. “Unless it’s one of those special attack divine abilities, or those divine abilities that allow the body to instanteously increase in size. Those are all immediately recognizable. Aside from that, it’s incredibly hard to recognize the vast majority of divine abilities.” “Eh?” The giant yellow bear frowned. “Someone is coming.” Ning could sense it as well. A servant had arrived outside the gates to his Immortal estate. “I’ll take a look,” Ning said. Swoosh. Ning quickly arrived at the gataes to his Immortal estate. The servant outside it said respectfully, “Outside our royal estate, a short old man who styles himself ‘Immortal Fivecraze’ wishes to see you, milord.” “Immortal Fivecraze?” Ning was startled, but he immediately said, “Understood.” Outside the gates to King Yan’s Estate. There was a rather sloppily dressed short elder who was waiting here. As Ning appeared at the gates, Ning immediately cried out in delight, “Patriarch.” “Ji Ning.” Immortal Fivecraze beamed as well. “Please, come in, Patriarch.” Ning hurriedly led the way. “Come to my place.” “Alright.” Immortal Fivecraze nodded. …… Immortal Floatcloud had been waiting outside this entire time, waiting for a good opportunity to assassinate Ji Ning. “Senior, Ji Ning has arrived at the gates to the royal estate.” “Is he coming out?” Immortal Floatcloud grew eager and excited. “No. He went back inside. It seems he was welcoming a short, sloppy-looking old man.” “Keep watching for me.” Immortal Floatcloud was beginning to grow a bit frantic. When he had sworn the oath to the Dao of the Heavens, he had said that he would kill Ji Ning within three days; else, his soul would be shattered. If Ji Ning continued to hide within King Yan’s estate for three days and refused to come out, then Immortal Floatcloud would have no choice but to allow his soul to be destroyed. ……. Ji Ning led Immortal Fivecraze back to his own Immortal estate, preparing Immortal wine and fruit for him. “Patriarch, how did you know I was here at King Yan’s Estate?” Ning said with a laugh. “I came here for the express purpose of seeking you out,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Seeking me out?” Ning was surprised. Immortal Fivecraze nodded. “Right. Your master, Immortal Diancai, has gone out adventuring. Before doing so, he asked us to all give you a hand. Our Black-White College is unable to help you directly fight against the Youngflame clan. The only thing we can do…is give some of the secret arts and manuals of the school to you. We wanted to do so, but we weren’t able to find you. Just now, we received word that you had appeared in the Heavenly Treasures Mountain of the imperial capital. Only after I arrived at and searched everywhere in the Heavenly Treasures Mountain did I learn that you had entered King Yan’s Estate.” “I’ve brought scrolls for your Ki Refining Technique and your Fiendgod Body Refining Techniques over,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Also the divine abilities and secret arts of our College; I’ve brought all of them as well. Look at and memorize all of them; after memorizing each one, destroy it.” As he spoke, thirty-six formation flags suddenly appeared in midair around them. As they hovered there, they emanated a series of pulses of light which covered the region. “Not even Celestial Immortals can think about spying on you.” Immortal Fivecraze looked at Ji Ning. “Hurry up and view them.” As he spoke, he offered them to Ning. Ning was speechless. So Immortal Fivecraze had hurried all the way from Stillwater Commandery to deliver him divine abilities and secret arts? “Don’t stand there like a fool. You are a student of the Black-White College; you are supposed to be able to train in these anyhow. The point of those so-called black-white pellets is just to ensure that you will work hard and test yourself. We can’t just give everything to you without making you work for it, right?” Immortal Fivecraze sighed. “This is all the Black-White College can do for you now…” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning’s eyes stung. After killing Youngflame Nong, Ning had never hoped for the Black-White College to help him, their disciple. In truth, he felt guilt towards the Black-White College. Because of him…the relationship between the Black-White College and the Youngflame clan had almost assuredly turned quite stiff. Thus, Ning had only planned to rely on his own power to fight against the Youngflame clan. “Master…Master went out adventuring?” Ning asked, worried. “Right. Your matter…your master is unable to assist you in resolving it. This had a tremendous impact on your master. In addition, he isn’t certain of his ability to overcome the Celestial Tribulation. Thus, he is going to go out and adventure and temper himself.” Immortal Fivecraze said with a sigh, “However…how can the matters of the world always go as you desire them to go? Your master is too stubborn and fixated.” Ning didn’t say a word. “Hurry up and read.” Immortal Fivecraze handed the [Flowing Watersource] to Ning. “Right.” Ning nodded. No matter how many thoughts he had in his mind, given his power was insufficient, those thoughts were useless. “In the past life, or in this life…my goal is to have my destiny in my own hands.” That powerful desire filling Ning’s heart continued to cause his Dao-heart to grow firmer. He flipped through the second half of the [Flowing Watersource], memorizing it carefully. After doing so, a flame emerged from Ning’s hand which completely burned the book into ash. Next, Immortal Fivecraze gave him the third scroll for the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. The full copy of the [Flowing Watersource]. The third scroll of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. The full copy of [Heavenly Transformation]. The full copy of the [Divine Thunderbolt Eye]. The full copy of the [Myriad Hibernating Venoms]. The full copy of [Three Heads, Six Arms]. The full copy of the [Eye of the Luminous Heart]. The full copy of the [Soulshaker Art]. The full copy of the [Soulcharmer Art]. The full copy of the [Soulslayer Art]. This was what Immortal Fivecraze had brought him. Almost all of the most important divine abilities and secret arts of the Black-White College; he had brought them all for Ning. After each read, Ning would burn the book. Some of the divine abilities took up ten full books. Immortal cultivators had utterly astonishing memories, but Ning still needed to read all the way to the dawn of the next day before completely memorizing all of the techniques. But of course, halfway through the process, Ning had taken a break and taken the Patriarch to participate in the dinner banquet which Princess Xiyue had prepared for him. “No need to see me off.” Ning was at the gates to the royal estate, sending off Immortal Fivecraze. “Ji Ning…” Immortal Fivecraze looked towards Ning, then said with a laugh, “Last night, I could tell from the banquet that King Yan treats you with great importance. He is a Celestial Immortal Patriarch, and yet he views you so highly; you need to work hard! Every bit of help the Black-White College can possibly give you, we have already! As for myself, I’m just trying to overcome as many tribulations as I can before succumbing. I don’t have much time left to me. I truly hope to be able to see one of the disciples of the Black-White College become a Celestial Immortal. Your master is striving to do this; you need to as well.” “Right.” Ning nodded. “In the imperial capital, when you are alone, you need to be careful.” Immortal Fivecraze cracked a smile. “Since you are going to the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, you need to go all out. If you can apprentice yourself to a major power of the Three Realms…by then, the Youngflame clan will be completely stupefied.” “Right. I’m going to go all out.” Ning nodded. “Alright. I’m leaving now.” Immortal Fivecraze turned and left. He was holding up his calabash of wine, appearing to be quite relaxed and at ease. Moments later, he disappeared from Ning’s field of vision. Ning took a deep breath. In this moment…Ning felt an incomparably powerful sense of belonging for the Black-White College. “No matter how much time passes…I, Ji Ning, shall forever be a disciple of the Black-White College.” These were the words Ning said silently to himself. And then, Ning turned and returned to the estate. …… “Senior, Ji Ning came to the entrance of the royal estate.” “He’s coming out?” Immortal Floatcloud asked frantically. “He just went back inside again.” Immortal Floatcloud’s face was filled with indisguisable franticness. He barked, “Keep watching!” 1858 Although he was a Loose Immortal, and although he was extremely patient…he had already sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens before Patriarch Arcanum. He had to kill Ji Ning within three days. “It’s already been a day and a half!” Immortal Floatcloud said frantically to himself, “Ji Ning, oh, Ji Ning…are you going to stay inside the entire time? Then my death will really have been for nothing.” ……. Within King Yan’s Estate. The underwater estate. “Ji Ning, that fellow named Fivecraze brought over quite a few divine abilities and secret arts. The secret arts are one thing; you can do as you please. But of the divine abilities, you absolutely cannot train in the [Myriad Hibernating Venoms]. Absolutely not,” the giant yellow bear said. “Eh?” Ji Ning said, surprised, “This [Myriad Hibernating Venoms] is said to be one of the most powerful divine abilities the Black-White College possesses; the cost in black-white pellets is as high as the [Eye of the Luminous Heart]. They are the most expensive of all. And isn’t it better to have as many divine abilities as possible? There shouldn’t be any issues.” The giant yellow bear shook his head. “Yes, the more divine abilities the better, but…training in divine abilities will distract you take up your time, won’t it? As for the [Myriad Hibernating Venoms], you will need to use more than ten thousand types of strange venoms in order to train in it. Searching for and acquiring so many venoms will cost you a great deal, and merging those venoms into your body is extremely troublesome. It will cost you a lot of effort, for little gain! In addition, the more pure a divine body is, the better; fusing so many venoms into your body isn’t worth shit. In the future, after you become an Empyrean God, you’d probably have to actually purify your body of those venoms and actively wipe out the traces of this divine ability from it.” Ning was speechless. “What about the other divine abilities?” Ning hurriedly asked. “[Heavenly Transformation] and [Three Heads, Six Arms]; virtually all of the Fiendgods of the Three Realms train in these two divine abilities. Although they are very common, they are still quite useful,” the giant yellow bear said. “You are definitely going to train in them. As for the rest? Didn’t you already acquire the [Pentabolt Vajra]? You can train in both the [Pentabolt Vajra] and the [Divine Thunderbolt Eye], and the two can actually support each other, causing both to grow stronger. In addition, in reality, this [Divine Thunderbolt Eye] is in reality the foundation for one of the supreme divine abilities of the Three Realms, the [Thundergod’s Eye].” Ning laughed, “So it really is true that having an old man at home is like having a treasure.” “Yep. So you, you little tyke, need to be more polite to me,” the giant yellow bear said smugly. “How powerful is that [Thundergod’s Eye] you spoke of, the one you said is a supreme divine ability of the Three Realms?” Ning asked, curious. “Amongst the countless divine abilities of the Three Realms, it can rank in the top hundred, I suppose. It’s on a lower level than your [Starseizing Hand],” the giant yellow bear said. “But it’s still quite powerful. Anyone who can completely master the [Thundergod’s Eye] will become a major figure of the Three Realms.” Ning nodded. During the past year, he had already trained the [Pentabolt Vajra], [Soldiers of the Mind], and [Three Heads, Six Arms] to a very high level. “There’s still more than a year from now until the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. I need to reach a certain level of accomplishment in the [Divine Thunderbolt Eye], the [Soulcharmer Art], and the [Soulslayer Art],” Ning mused to himself. …… “Open.” Ning let out a loud shout within the underwater estate’s main hall. His forehead suddenly split apart, revealing a vertical eye-slit. A bolt of thunder snaked out from it, crashing against the ground of the distant hallway. “Eh? Someone’s coming? It’s not even dark; dinner hasn’t even begun. Why has a servant come?” With a thought, Ning willed the Divine Thunderbolt Eye in his forehead to close. He had just reached a basic level of understanding of this technique, but the power was already quite something. Ning arrived at the entrance to the Immortal estate, with Uncle White and Little Qing hurriedly following. “What is it?” Ning asked. The female soldier-servant at the gate said with a laugh, “The Princess is asking you to meet her, young master.” “Oh?” Ning nodded. “Uncle White, Little Qing, I’m going to make a short trip.” Soon, Ning arrived at his cousin’s residence. She was currently within her pavilion, and in her hands she held a leather scroll that was covered with golden light. “All of you, leave,” Yuchi Xiyue instructed. Soon, the entire courtyard was emptied, save for Ning and Yuchi Xiyue. “Little brother, after you went to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and tossed out 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence to buy the peacock plumes, word of you spread. Many in the imperial 1860 capital now know about you.” Yuchi Xiyue handed the golden leather scroll to Ning. “So, someone has already come to invite you to attend a banquet.” Ning accepted it and took a glance. “Kindwater clan?” Ning’s eyes lit up. Ning had already purchased intelligence reports regarding the various major powers of the imperial capital. Although he didn’t know the details, he knew the rough situation. “The Kindwater clan and the Youngflame clan are mortal enemies! In addition, the Kindwater clan is even more powerful than the Youngflame clan.” Yuchi Xiyue laughed. “According to the stories, back in the Fiendgod Era, the Kindwater clan led a large number of tribes, as did the Xiamang clan. The Xiamang clan and the Kindwater clan fought for a long period of time before the Kindwater clan finally submitted to them.” Ning sighed in amazement. He didn’t know about the hidden histories such as these. “Back in the Fiendgod Era, the Kindwater clan even declared themselves as emperors!” Yuchi Xiyue sighed, moved. “Even after submitting, they still remain one of the top three clans of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning knew about this part. As for the leader of the top three clans, that was of course the imperial Xiamang clan! It was they who had unified and controlled the world. As for the second and the third, they were the Kindwater clan and the Blackgod clan. “The Kindwater clan and the Youngflame clan have an enormous feud between them. And the first one to invite me really is the Kindwater clan.” Ning laughed. “Right. This invited you as well, cousin; they asked you to accompany me tonight.” “I won’t go. Although they invited me, that was just to be polite. I’ve never liked to get too involved with them,” Yuchi Xiyue said, shaking her head. “Don’t force me.” “Then I won’t try and compel you, cousin.” Ning nodded. …… Ji Ning led the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing to the gates of the royal estate. Outside, fifty Golden Imperials were already congregating. “Our respects to you, young master.” The leader of the Imperials, Immortal Plumerider, said. “Sorry to trouble you, fellow Daoist Plumerider,” Ning said. “This is no trouble. We are at the command of King Yan; naturally, we will strive to do our utmost to protect you, young master,” Immortal Plumerider said. Ning waved his hand, and instantly, a large ship appeared. This was a large ship that was ancient and unadorned, and yet faintly radiated a threatening presence. This was one of the treasures which Immortal Juhua had left behind; it was a construct-ship, and was quite a bit more valuable than even the black dragon carriage that Youngflame Nong had. “Let’s go.” Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing all boarded the large ship. Whoooooosh. The crowd of Golden Imperials boarded as well. In a very practiced manner, the Golden Imperials quickly assumed positions throughout the ship, all of them vigilant and continuously scanning the area. The warship immediately released crushing waves of energy as it began to fly towards the place which the Kindwater clan had invited Ning to meet at. This was a place that could be considered one of the most exquisite of entertainment venues; Cloudwater Manor. Swoosh. Immortal Floatcloud appeared in midair, staring at the distant, enormous warship flying through the skies. The Golden Imperials standing aboard the warship caused him even more frustration. “My three day deadline is growing closer and closer. He finally came out, but why…why is he bringing a squad of Golden Imperials with him? How am I supposed to kill him when he is protected by Golden Imperials?” True panic was in the eyes of Immortal Floatcloud now. He truly didn’t want to end up having no chance to attack, and then being punished by the Dao of the Heavens by having his soul shattered. That would be too unjust! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Cloudwater Manor. It was built over the massive Ninesun Lake. Wreathed by clouds and mist, it appeared like an abode for Immortals, built amidst the clouds. A large, plain, ancient-looking warship came cruising forward, flying towards the Cloudwater Manor. “Is this young master Ji Ning?” An attendant had been waiting for quite some time, outside the Cloudwater Manor. Ning, leading a group of Golden Imperials, disembarked from the warship. With a wave of his hand, he collected it, then walked to the long-awaiting, white-robed, youthful-looking Primal Daoist. He said, “I am Ji Ning.” “Per orders from my young master, I have been here awaiting you, young master Ji Ning. Young master Ji Ning, please follow me.” The white-robed youth gave the Golden Imperials behind Ning a glance. His eyelids couldn’t help but twitch. Someone who could summon a troop of Golden Imperials when travelling… was definitely no ordinary person. He was absolutely someone with a background, with a backer! For those important officials and senior ministers, the backer was the Emperor of the Grand Xia himself; that was why they would be bestowed with a squad of Golden Imperials. In turn, only the important figures of the imperial clan would be bestowed with Golden Imperials. The only reason Ning had a troop of Golden Imperials was because behind him stood King Yan! “This Cloudwater Manor is quite awe-inspiringly majestic.” A little azure serpent was wrapped around Ning’s arm, while by his side was a large, snowy white dog. Behind him was a large group of Golden Imperials. This impressive troop moved through the Cloudwater Manor, moving swiftly and unopposed as they glided many kilometers each moment. The white-robed youth who was leading the way said with a laugh, “Cloudwater Manor was only completed after our Kindwater clan spent countless treasures and three years of time. After its initial creation, countless years of time were spent to carefully carve and sculpt it. Only after all these efforts did the Cloudwater Manor before you come into being.” “The Kindwater clan lives up to its name. Formidable, formidable,” Ning said in praise. This was a mighty tribe which had once been able to struggle against even the imperial Xiamang clan over control of the world, a clan that absolutely ranked amongst the top three clans of this major world. Its roots were unfathomably deep. One could tell this just by looking at the many restrictive formations set up on a building like Cloudwater Manor, which was most likely on par with some of the main 1863 headquarters of other supreme clans. The Kindwater clan had indeed spent boundless effort on Cloudwater Manor, as the largest business building the Kindwater clan owned within the imperial capital. Ning’s praise for it truly came from the heart. The white-robed youth, hearing Ning’s praise, couldn’t help but smile. He then said, “The young master is right up ahead. He’s prepared a banquet long ago, and is awaiting you, young master Ji Ning.” “It seems I am late,” Ning laughed. Soon, they arrived at a long pathway that hung in the air. As they walked through the pathway, they could look down and see the rippling waves of the lake, as well as the mist that filled the entire place… This corridor led to an enormous building that was at least three thousand meters high. This building was standalone, and the Cloudwater Manor had only a single corridor that led to it. In front of the doors to the building, there were two servants standing guard. These servants were both Wanxiang Adepts. Upon seeing the white-robed youth, they immediately pushed the door open with tremendous courtesy. “The young master is right inside,” the white-robed youth laughed. “This place is fairly secluded, and it has a wonderful view of the beautiful scenery of the Ninesuns Lake.” Ning led his troop of Golden Imperials in, and the door closed behind them. “Hahaha, brother Ji Ning truly is extraordinary. Just a short while ago, you spent 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence to purchase the peacock plumes, causing your name to be spread throughout the imperial capital. Now, shortly after entering King Yan’s Estate, you actually re-emerged with a squad of Golden Imperials. I have no choice but to be in awe of you, so much so that I might prostrate myself before you. Songspear, how about you?” A slightly frivolous voice spoke out. A youth dressed in loose white-robes walked over barefooted, his long hair casually unbound. His eyes had a seemingly drunk look in them, appearing to be quite hazy. His face, however, was covered with a warm smile as he came to welcome them. Next to his side was a tall, muscular, black-robed youth. This tall youth nodded as well. “I am in awe as well. King Yan is notorious for being unapproachable. He’s quite cold and grim. There are truly very few youngsters who he views with importance. For brother Ji Ning to be able to emerge in just two short days with a squad of Golden Imperials…he truly is formidable.” Of the two, the white-robed, barefoot youth appeared to be a bit more of a dandy, and he seemed to be quite free and relaxed. As for the other, the tall, muscular, black-robed youth, he emanated a sharp, fierce aura. Behind the two was a man and a woman, who followed them. “You praise me too much,” Ning laughed. His invitation to the Cloudwater Manor had come from Kindwater Xiaolou. Ning naturally knew of Kindwater Xiaolou, one of the Four Dukelings of the imperial capital. The white-robed, barefooted youth was Kindwater Xiaolou. Although he and Youngflame Nong shared the same reputation of being one of the ‘Four Dukelings’ of the imperial capital, their clans were mortal enemies, and so the two naturally had been on extremely tense terms. Normally, they struggled quite viciously against each other. Still, in turns of resources, personal ability, connections, or tribal strength, Kindwater Xiaolou was superior to Youngflame Nong. “Brother Ji Ning.” The white-robed, barefoot Kindwater Xiaolou warmly took Ning by the hand. “Come, let me make some introductions.” Kindwater Xiaolou pointed towards the tall, muscular, black-robed youth. “This person is the truly peerless genius of the younger generation of the Skyfarmer clan – Skyfarmer Songspear! Songspear isn’t like me; I often go out and party, but Songspear is quite low-key. He focuses on his training, and often goes out to temper himself through adventuring. In fact, he’s almost never in the imperial capital. The only reason he’s here right now is the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Since he just so happened to hear about your matters as well, Ji Ning, and was curious about you, he told me that he wanted to meet with you.” “Skyfarmer Songspear?” Ning was secretly surprised. Amongst those who were believed to have a good chance of ranking number one in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny were the likes of Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Adept Woodpass, and some other exceedingly famous people. Although Skyfarmer Songspear was comparatively speaking much more low-key, he was still the most outstanding figure amongst the younger generation members of the Skyfarmer clan, and was believed to definitely rank in the top hundred, and in fact was a genius likely to be able to explode forth with tremendous power. He was too low-key, causing others to be unable to be certain of his current level of power. “Brother Ji Ning.” Songspear laughed. “Brother Songspear.” Since the man had warmly greeted him as ‘brother Ji Ning’, Ning naturally wouldn’t treat him coldly. If he were to foolishly respond to him as ‘fellow Daoist Songspear’, then the man would probably think Ning was not giving him face. “Come, come, come. Let me introduce you to another person who is taking part in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” Xiaolou pointed to a man behind him. This man was dressed in violet robes, and his skin was pure white and incomparably beautiful. His eyes even seemed to have a hint of devilishness to them. “This is a good friend which I met many years ago; Xiao Lang. He’s definitely one of the most famous of playboys; in the imperial capital, quite a few maidens are completely smitten with him, wanting to marry him.” “So he is Xiao Lang?” Ning said to himself. Xiao Lang was recorded in his intelligence records as well. He was quite dissolute, and his temperament was a bit bizarre. Still, in the Heavenly Treasures Mountain’s 1865 reports, he was a figure who was only mentioned; there was no way he could compare with Skyfarmer Songspear. “My respects to you, fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” Xiao Lang looked at Ning, clasping his hands in greeting, a smile that wasn’t a smile on his face. “Fellow Daoist Xiao Lang.” Ning nodded as well. The nearby Songspear said with a laugh, “I have a good friend as well. I met her while adventuring in the outside world, and she came back with me to the imperial capital on this trip. She is also going to participate in the Conclave.” As he spoke, the alluring, red-robed woman behind him walked forward. “Wavecolor greets you, fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” “Fellow Daoist Wavecolor,” Ning greeted her as well. Kindwater Xiaolou, Skyfarmer Songspear, Xiao Lang, Wavecolor. Ning secretly sighed in amazement; all four of these figures were extraordinary. Xiao Lang was a dissolute figure with a strange personality and a bizarre temperament. Wavecolor was a figure who was quite famous in the Northern Seas. However, her fame came primarily due to her beauty. “Come, let’s sit over there,” Kindwater Xiaolou said. The Golden Imperials, Little Qing, and Uncle White sat down to one side. There were sitting mats specially prepared for them as well. As for Xiaolou, Songspear, Xiao Lang, Wavecolor, and Ji Ning, they walked to another place. There, all five of them sat down. “I had originally planned to invite you, brother Ji Ning, to go stay with me at the Kindwater Estate. I didn’t expect that you would have ended up staying at King Yan’s Estate so quickly.” Xiaolou let out a very regretful sigh, then laughed, “If you ever are dissatisfied with your accommodations, you can move out and come stay at my Kindwater Estate.” “King Yan treats me with great kindness, and he cares greatly about me. He’s also bestowed Golden Imperials onto me; how can I possibly disappoint him like that?” Ning laughed. This was what he and his cousin had decided on as their cover story. To the outside world, they would only say that King Yan cared about Ji Ning! “It’s true.” Xiaolou nodded. He didn’t truly expect to be able to pull Ning over to his side; he was just speaking casually. “Glug.” Xiao Lang, seated to one side, drained his cup of wine. He thought to himself, “This Ji Ning’s only trained for thirty years. How formidable can he be? He simply managed to kill Youngflame Nong and acquire many treasures, then spent 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence to purchase the peacock plumes. That’s the only reason why he’s famous in the imperial capital. His luck really is good, though; Princess Xiyue took a liking to him and brought him to King Yan’s Estate. Given how much King Yan’s temperament and how much he dotes on Princess Xiyue…I imagine that it was she who asked King Yan to send a squad of Golden Imperials to follow Ji Ning around.” Xiao Lang looked down on Ji Ning. He had been adventuring for many years, and he was much more famous than Ning! This time, he wanted to truly shine during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny! Ji Ning? A little fellow who only grew famous through killing Youngflame Nong, and who relied on a woman to make King Yan care about him. Actually, in his heart, Xiao Lang felt some jealousy…because Ning was able to produce 2.5 million kilograms, while he, Xiao Lang, wasn’t even close to be able to doing that. Ning was also able to command a squad of Golden Imperials; how majestic and awe-inspiring as that? Although Xiao Lang was now living in the Kindwater Estate, how could he move about in as majestic a manner as Ning? “Lucky punk. You aren’t strong enough. When enough time passes, others will discover that you are nothing more than lead covered by gold paint.” Xiao Lang drank there by himself. He couldn’t be bothered to even chat with Ning. ……. Xiao Lang was a strange, eccentric figure to begin with. Others didn’t think anything of this; amongst Immortal cultivators, there were many with far more bizarre temperaments than him. Ning, Xiaolou, Songspear, and Wavecolor were chatting quite happily amongst themselves. “Ji Ning, Cloudwater Manor just recently purchased some strange creatures, all of which came from one of the lesser worlds. This lesser world is quite unique; there are thousands of types of bizarre lifeforms within it. These two can be considered some exceptionally powerful creatures of this lesser world; each of them are comparable to peak Wanxiang Adepts in power.” Kindwater Xiaolou pointed towards the large arena, more than three hundred meters in diameter, up ahead. There were people carrying enormous metal cages towards it. Within one of the two metal cages was a golden-haired giant who was more than ten meters tall, while in the other was and a strange creature with the lower body of a lion and the upper body of a human. “Let’s watch these creatures fight each other. It can be considered someone amusing.” Xiaolou clapped his hands. Instantly, a rumbling sound could be heard. A grand sealing formation instantly covered the entire arena. Within it, with clanking sounds, the cages were automatically unlocked. The golden-haired giant, clad only in beast furs, came charging out from his cage, with the sphinx charging out of the other. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Kindwater Xiaolou, Ji Ning, Skyfarmer Songspear, and the others each held cups of wine, chatting while watching the battles going on in the center of the arena. Within the grand sealing formation, the golden-haired giant and the sphinx both charged out of their pens, then raised their heads and let out bellows. Although the sound of their bellows was blocked out by the grand sealing formation, the sonic booms were visible from outside. “Their physical bodies are quite powerful. They should be fairly low-level Fiendgod Body Refiners of a sort.” Fairy Wavecolor laughed, instantly transforming into a rupturing sight that caused both the goldenhaired giant and the sphinx to stare, stunned, at the alluring woman outside the formation. “Even creatures of other races find it hard to withstand Fairy Wavecolor’s allure,” Kindwater Xiaolou laughed. But soon, the golden-haired giant and the sphinx regained their faculties. The two now stared fixedly at each other. Ever since the day they had been seized and brought to this Watercloud Manor, they had been told by the staff: “One of you must die in every single battle. If you survive nine in a row, you’ll be able to leave, and you’ll become a soldier for our Kindwater clan.” The golden-haired giant and the sphinx, in their own respective lesser world, were supreme experts who normally had a group of servants following them. Ever since that group of terrifying Immortal cultivators had arrived in their world, however, they had quickly been subjugated, and the two had become slaves…then sold off to this ‘Kindwater’ clan. When this had happened, they discovered, to their amazement, that virtually every single servant of the Kindwater clan was more powerful than them. They felt utter despair. They no longer harbored any hopes for escape. They had no choice but to obey. They hoped for just one thing – to survive the nine battles, and then become soldiers of the Kindwater clan! “Goldsea clansman, prepare to die.” The sphinx bellowed, then sent its four limbs flying forward as it transformed into a tornado that pounced towards the golden-haired giant. “It is you who shall die!” The giant bent down, charging forward as well. BOOM! The two collided head on. The sphinx left a bloody wound on the chest of the golden-haired giant, while the giant’s fist smashed hard against the head of the sphinx. Blood splattered everywhere. The wounds of both combatants quickly closed, and they continued to battle. ….. “They are indeed Fiendgod Refiners.” Ning nodded. “The cultivators of that lesser world are all Fiendgod Refiners,” Xiaolou said. “Still, they use the most low level of Fiendgod Body Refining techniques. Supposedly, the three most powerful figures of that lesser world were three Fiendgod Body Refiners that were roughly at the Primal level. They also have extremely poor comprehensions of the Dao. Any Primal Daoist of our Grand Xia Dynasty could use magic treasures to effortlessly take care of those three ‘strongest’ figures from that lesser world.” Ning nodded. Ki Refiners required an extremely high level of comprehension of the Dao so as to control elemental ki well. As for Fiendgod Body Refiners, comparatively speaking, there wasn’t as high a requirement in terms of the Dao. Of course, the most supreme [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had a ridiculously high level of demand regarding the Dao. Some of those comparatively poorer techniques, especially those which could be described as the weakest of Fiendgod Body Refining techniques, had no requirements with regards to understanding the Dao at all. However, with such a poor foundation, it was naturally hard for one to reach a very high level of insight. Training to the Wanxiang level was essentially the limit; to reach the Primal level as an Fiendgod Body Refiner was a stroke of tremendous luck. “Their close combat abilities are roughly at the ‘one with the world’ level,” Skyfarmer Songspear laughed. “Victory is about to be determined,” Xiaolou said. The sphinx let out a savage bellow, charging forward repeatedly with paws flying and hands grappling. But the golden-haired giant was clearly more nimble, sometimes appearing on the left, other times appearing on the right. He left behind one massive, gaping wound after the other on the body of the sphinx, using up the sphinx’s divine power. “Whoosh!” The golden-haired giant brushed past those trampling paws, at the same time stabbing his right hand directly into the chest of the sphinx, as though his hand was a knife. Slash! The chest was ripped open, and blood flew everywhere. Bang! The sphinx swiped out with both hands, and the golden-haired giant hurriedly moved to block, in the end being knocked flying by the blow. “Hahaha…” the golden-haired giant laughed wildly, then continued to encircle and strike at the sphinx with lightning-fast blows, leaving behind massive wounds on his body each time. In the end, the sphinx’s divine power was used up, and his wounds would no longer close. His speed dropped as well. Crunch. The golden-haired giant was like a golden bolt of lightning; he howled through the air, then caught the sphinx’s head and gave it a hard twist. The head was forcibly ripped off. Picking up and hoisting the head aloft with one hand, the golden-haired giant looked as though he was a victorious general. As for the sphinx, its body slumped to the ground with a thud, blood staining the ground. Whoosh. The grand sealing formation disappeared, and the servants of the Cloudwater Manor hurriedly moved forward to quickly scrub the ground clean. The sphinx’s body was disposed of as well, and soon, the arena was now completely spotless once more. “Reporting to the young master,” a manager of the Cloudwater Manor said respectfully while standing within the arena, “This golden-haired giant has already won nine consecutive victories. According to the rules, he is now a soldier of our Kindwater clan.” The golden-haired giant was standing obediently to the side of that Cloudwater Manor manager. “Oh?” Xiaolou, seated high above them, laughed. “What a coincidence for him to win his ninth victory today. I will bestow you with a flagon of Immortal nectar. Work hard for my Kindwater clan; my Kindwater clan will definitely not mistreat our soldiers.” “Thank you, exalted Immortal.” The golden-haired giant knelt down on one knee, his voice rumbling. Although his words sounded rather muddy, they were the words of the human tongue; he was a creature comparable to a Wanxiang Adept, after all, and was quite intelligent and thus quick to learn a new tongue. Soon afterwards, the golden-haired giant departed. In his place within the arena appeared a troop of seductive female dancers, who began to dance with fans while the sound of music rang out from the side. “In the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, these creatures from other worlds are set to fight each other. When I first arrived at Stillwater City, in the gambling arena, I fought against those monstrous beasts, as well as with other humans. Those monstrous beasts and humans weren’t able to refuse at all; they were forced to obey and go fight. The weak are given no choices. Only by becoming strong can one have the power to choose. First, grow strong enough to choose for yourself; only then can one master one’s own destiny.” This was what Ning was thinking to himself. Only by constantly reflecting on one’s own heart and mind could one make one’s Dao-heart continually grow stronger. “The Conclave of Immortal Destiny is a chance for me to be reborn anew and change my life. I need to rely on the Conclave and make myself even more powerful through tempering through adversity.” ….. All sorts of performances were going on in the center of the arena. Ji Ning and the others were clinking wine glasses together while watching. As for the antisocial Xiao Lang, who was rather unhappy to begin 1871 with, upon seeing how courteously Xiaolou and Songspear treated Ning, he was growing even more unhappy. “Everyone.” Xiao Lang suddenly spoke out. Instantly, Ning and the others all looked over. Xiao Lang rarely spoke; since he now spoke, everyone naturally turned to look at him. “The battles of these creatures aren’t interesting enough. As I see it…why don’t I have a little spar with fellow Daoist Ji Ning?” Xiao Lang’s eyes had a hint of desire for battle in them, as well as complete confidence. “I hear that fellow Daoist Ji Ning’s power is formidable. He was even able to kill Youngflame Nong, and in particular was also able to kill that Primal-level Fiendgod under Youngflame Nong’s command. This makes my hands itch. Today, fellow Daoist Ji Ning and I will merely spar with each other; if one party is unable to keep fighting, then we can just simply admit defeat. We absolutely won’t harm the friendship between us. Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, what say you?” Ning was startled. Why did the man suddenly want to spar with him? Although it was Ning who killed the Hydraga Fiendgod, that creature was a Primal-level Fiendgod with the power of a supreme Loose Immortal; anyone with half a brain would understand that Ning must have used some sort of special method to kill it. Otherwise, just by relying on his own true power, how could he have done so? Xiaolou, Songspear, and Fairy Wavecolor just watched, waiting to see Ning’s reaction. “No need.” Ning shook his head. Xiao Lang, upon hearing this, became all the more convinced that Ning had no ability, which was why Ning had no confidence in fighting him. Ning was, after all, just thirty years old. “It’s just a spar, not a life-and-death battle,” Xiao Lang said unhappily. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, your fame is widespread. You even killed a Primal-level Fiendgod; why don’t you dare spar against me?” “It was luck that allowed me to kill that Primal-level Fiendgod, not my own true power,” Ning said. Xiao Lang secretly snickered. Everyone knew that there was no way Ning could’ve done it through his own power! But today, so long as Ning could be convinced to spar, he was going to make Ning look like a fool. “We are all going to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. By then, life-and-death battles will come in a steady stream. Today is just sparring; if you don’t even dare to spar, how can you participate in the Conclave?” Xiao Lang intentionally put on an angry, unsatisfied appearance. “Are you actually afraid, fellow Daoist Ji Ning?” Ning frowned. Why was this Xiao Lang trying to force him into this? “I don’t want to spar.” Ning shook his head. “If fellow Daoist Xiao Lang truly wishes to fight me, once the Conclave of Immortal Destiny begins, we can fight then.” “Conclave of Immortal Destiny? That’s more than a year from now! And those battles are all life-anddeath battles. If you don’t even dare spar, how…” Xiao Lang laughed coldly, a look of disdain already on his face. “Enough.” Kindwater Xiaolou frowned and spoke out. Xiao Lang nodded. “I won’t force fellow Daoist Ji Ning. Since fellow Daoist Ji Ning won’t spar, then forget it. Fellow Daoist Wavecolor, how about we two spar for fun?” Fairy Wavecolor frowned slightly, but then she laughed and said, “Then I’ll ask you, Xiao Lang, to show mercy in our fight.” “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” Xiao Lang said. “I’ll stop after knocking your magic treasures away.” This caused anger to appear in Fairy Wavecolor’s heart. It was just as the stories said; this Xiao Lang truly did have a bizarre disposition. He was so arrogant in his speech. “Then let’s do it.” Fairy Wavecolor immediately flew towards the center of the arena. “Alright.” Xiao Lang’s body blurred, then he appeared within the arena as well. As for the dancing women that had been in the arena, they all quickly fled and left. Ning sat there, looking at the arena and at Xiao Lang and Fairy Wavecolor. He frowned to himself. “This Xiao Lang really thinks he is invincible. I’ve just arrived at the imperial capital; the Youngflame clan is definitely scheming to act against me, so I need to be vigilant for a period of time. This Xiao Lang might be secretly working for the Youngflame clan, and might throw out some terrifyingly powerful magic treasures at me, such as that ‘Lock’ scroll, at which point I might suffer a tremendous loss. Although I have a Primaltwin, my true body is still more important.” In the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, the usage of Dao-seals and certain other magic treasures was forbidden. One had to rely on one’s own true power; only in such a way could geniuses be chosen. But in a spar in the Cloudwater Manor, if Xiao Lang truly had been sent by the Youngflame clan, if he were to suddenly produce a terrifying, bizarre treasure and destroy Ning’s true body…that’d be a completely unfair death. “This Kindwater Xiaolou was actually able to bring even a person of such a disposition into his estate…” Ning gave a glance to the nearby Xiaolou. Xiaolou continued to smile as he watched the arena. Xiaolou knew exactly what sort of a weird, twisted personality Xiao Lang had. But even if Xiao Lang was a rabid dog, so long as he obeyed orders, he would still be very useful. Sometimes, there were things that he couldn’t do that a rabid dog could. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the central arena. The grand sealing formation now covered this region, and a violet-robed Xiao Lang and a red-robed Fairy Wavecolor were staring at each other from afar. “Hahaha, Fairy Wavecolor, if you aren’t able to withstand my attacks, then hurry up and admit defeat.” Xiao Lang laughed in a ratherly sickly fashion. And then, following his laughter, his skin turned completely red, as though a river of lava was flowing beneath his skin. His eyes also turned the color of fire as well. He lifted his hands slightly. Whoosh. Instantly, petals of fire began to emerge around him, each of them blazing with the stench of blood. At the same time, the arena seemed to instantly become transformed into a world of fire. Although the flames just hovered there in the air, it caused the insides of the grand sealing formation to become extremely hot, and even the air in the arena began to shimmer in a twisted manner. “Hmph.” Fairy Wavecolor let out a cold snort. Whoosh. A jade-green ribbon suddenly howled through the air. This jade-green ribbon swirled out in circles, instantly and completely guarding an area of tens of meters around Fairy Wavecolor’s body. At the same time, it caused a seemingly limitless amount of watery mist to emerge, and the region around her seemed to become a world of water. Around Xiao Lang, the temperature was extremely high. Around Fairy Wavecolor, however, was a world of watery fog and mist. The fire and the water began to clash against each other, and crackling sounds could be heard. “Your alluring charms are useless against me.” Xiao Lang emitted a shrill screech, and his fiery, lava-like eyes became even more savage. “Have a taste of my bloodflame earthfire!” As he let out the screech, Xiao Lang suddenly opened his mouth. Whoosh! Instantly, flames that reeked of blood billowed out, instantly filling the region. The petals of fire that were hovering in the area around him, under the guidance of the earthfire, actually formed into an enormous formation, transforming into a an enormous midair millstone formed from bloodflame earthfire that slowly swiveled, grinding downwards. Swish…the jade-green ribbon continued to swim about in circles, and the runes on it began to glow, with undulating ripples rising up then snapping back down like bubbles. The ribbon was incomparably flexible and resilient, and it was able to forcibly resist the bloodflame earthfire. …… 1875 Outside the formation, Ji Ning and the others focused their attentions as they watched. Kindwater Xiaolou said, “Xiao Lang’s ‘bloodflame earthfire’ has already reached the first grade. When forged into this ‘Bloodfire Millstone’ technique, it is quite formidable. Ordinary Primal Daoists aren’t able to withstand the crushing pressure of the Bloodfire Millstone.” The nearby Skyfarmer Songspear laughed, “Fairy Wavecolor perfectly counters him; her ‘Skywater Net Formation’ is perfect and legendary for defense. To break through it is actually an incredibly hard feat.” “Fairy Wavecolor has fairly few techniques.” Xiaolou shook his head. “She generally uses her Skywater Net Formation to protect herself, then relies on her divine will and her charming abilities…and she has indeed reached a formidable level in them. But Xiao Lang is a madman; it’s simply too hard to mesmerize him.” “Aside from her charming techniques, Fairy Wavecolor is skilled in other divine will techniques as well. So long as Xiao Lang succumbs to one of them, she will immediately be able to switch from defending to attacking!” Songspear said. Ning, curious, just listened. The report from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain only had cursory explanations; how could they be as well-informed as Songspear and Xiaolou regarding their own friends? ….. “You crazy bitch…argh!!!!” Xiao Lang pressed a hand against his head, howling savagely. As for Fairy Wavecolor, she just laughed coldly. Those ribbons that had been circling around her suddenly expanded dramatically, and at the same time, one drop after another of incomparably dense and heavy water, each one having the weight of a mountain, came smashing towards Xiao Lang! “Graaaaaaaah!” Xiao Long howled shrilly, and then he suddenly grew out four more arms, and two more heads emerged from his shoulders as well. [Three Heads, Six Arms!] Each of Xiao Lang’s six arms clenched a long black awl in them, and with the shrill howl, the long black awls transformed into a rainbow streak of light as it struck straight towards Fairy Wavecolor, carrying the limitless force of the bloodflame earthfire with it. Every single one of those six long black shuttles were capable of causing the colors of the world to change, and gave off the strange feeling of being able to puncture a hole through reality. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Xiao Lang, with three heads and six arms, attacked wildly as the surrounding area once more manifested the millstone of bloodflame earthfire, which crushed down towards her. “F*ck off.” Fairy Wavecolor struggled to execute her divine will technique once more. She was skilled in three mighty divine will techniques; one was a charm, one was for ambushing, and one was for forceful assault. She had trained all three to an extremely high level, and by relying on her powerful soul as a 1876 reincarnated Immortal, she was extremely powerful when using them. She had, indeed, gained quite a bit of fame. But if, however, an opponent was able to resist her secret arts, then her chances for victory would be much lower. BOOM. With the support of the millstone of bloodflame earthfire, the three-headed, six-armed Xiao Lang attacked with incomparable savagery, forcibly breaking through one layer of the defense of the jadegreen ribbon. “I admit defeat.” An unhappy voice rang out. “Bahahaha…” Only now did Xiao Lang stay his hand, dismissing his bloodflame earthfire and his divine ability. He laughed wildly, and his body continued to emit a scorching heat. “Fairy Wavecolor, I told you that you’d lose. That divine will technique of yours? Bahaha, you want to shake my soul? In your dreams.” The grand sealing formation disappeared. Fairy Wavecolor, with a cold face, flew back to her own position, not even bothering to look at Xiao Lang. “Ji Ning, wanna spar?” Xiao Lang gave Ning a glance, appearing quite smug. “No need,” Ning said calmly. “Hmph.” Xiao Lang flew straight back to his own seat, clearly quite delighted with himself. Generally speaking, madmen with twisted personalities actually had extremely tough Dao-hearts. Xiao Lang was one such twisted madman. He was the sort who would never bow his head, even in the face of death; he’d remain as arrogant and unbridled as ever. Although he had offended quite a few people, he remained true to his own personality. Still…he also knew who he couldn’t afford to offend. For example, he never tried to set himself up against Kindwater Xiaolou. Cloudwater Manor. In the air above the long passageway that led to the place where Ji Ning currently was, a bald old man suddenly appeared. It was Immortal Floatcloud, who had changed his appearance. “Ji Ning!” Immortal Floatcloud walked through the midair corridor, no thoughts in his mind save one – to kill Ji Ning! When he saw Ji Ning lead a group of Golden Imperials to Cloudwater Manor, Immortal Floatcloud understood that he would have no other opportunities. In King Yan’s Estate, there was no way to kill Ji Ning at all. When leading a group of Golden Imperials on his flying ship, Immortal Floatcloud still didn’t have even the slightest hint of a chance. But right now, Ning was chatting and merrymaking with others, and his servants and guards were all stationed somewhere else. This…this actually gave Immortal Floatcloud his one and only chance. Although the Cloudwater Manor definitely had experts guarding it, as well as layers of protective formations and spells, as far as Immortal Floatcloud was concerned, this was going to be the best chance he had. If he continued to hesitate, then by the time Ning returned to King Yan’s Estate and rested for a day without leaving, he, Immortal Floatcloud, would have his soul devoured and shattered due to his oath to the Dao of the Heavens. “This is my final chance.” “Ji Ning. Either you die, or I die.” Immortal Floatcloud walked on the levitating pathway, moving straight towards main door towards that three thousand meter tall building. There were two Wanxiang Adepts standing guard at the door; they were here to prevent others from disturbing the people inside. “Eh?” One of the guards immediately spoke out. “What are you doing here?” The noise-cancellation features of the Cloudwater Manor’s buildings were simply too good; there was no way for the people inside to hear the noises coming from outside. Ning and the others continued to eat, drink, chat, and laugh. They weren’t on guard at all. “I came to meet young master Kindwater,” Immortal Floatcloud said. As his words rang out, the two Wanxiang guards suddenly felt their souls grow dazed. And in that instant that their souls were stunned! Immortal Floatcloud, with a single step, appeared before the door, then pushed it open and charged in. Bang! The door immediately swung open. “Haha, Fairy Wavecolor, I don’t want to criticize you, but your weakness is way too obvious. If your divine will technique is useless, then you are guaranteed to lose.” Xiao Lang, who had just won, was incomparably smug right now. “And Ji Ning. Hey, Ji Ning, you’ve only trained for thirty years; I recommend that you don’t go embarrass yourself in the Conclave of Immortal destiny. Train for another three centuries.” “Enough.” Xiaolou spoke out. And just as Xiaolou spoke out…the door suddenly opened. “Eh?” Xiaolou, Songspear, Ning, and the others all turned their heads to look. Because the building in which they were having their banquet was three thousand meters high, the servants who brought in food 1878 and wine, as well as the dancers and musicians, would all come in through another corridor. And when they did, they would all be completely silent. Very few would just push the main door open. Swoosh. Immortal Floatcloud, after pushing the door open, took a single step and appeared directly in front of Ning. At the same time, a white bone needle suddenly appeared in his hand, and he sent it flying forward, straight towards Ning! The surrounding world instantly froze! A powerful, deathly aura emanated outwards as the white bone needle, carrying an infinitely terrifying aura, pierced straight towards Ning. “Whitebone Immortal Slayer Needle!” Xiaolou, Songspear, Ning, Fairy Wavecolor, and the smug Xiao Lang all had the looks on their faces completely changed. In this instant…all of them felt cold fear. They all knew how terrifying the Whitebone Immortal Slayer Needles were…and they all watched as one of them flew straight towards Ji Ning! “It must be a Deathsworn the Youngflame clan has sent over…and it is a Loose Immortal Deathsworn at that. Only an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal can activate this Whitebone Immortal Slayer Needle.” Xiaolou immediately shattered a Dao-seal, and a stream of jade water immediately began to glow as it flowed over his body. “With the emergence of this needle…even though Ji Ning is a Fiendgod Body Refiner, even his soul will probably be destroyed, to say nothing of his Fiendgod body.” “He’s dead. He’s dead for certain. That’s a Whitebone Immortal Slayer Needle; it’s a killing technique against even many Loose Immortals. Many Loose Immortals would perish to it; only a few, extremely powerful Loose Immortals would be able to block it, but they would still be injured. Ji Ning is absolutely dead.” Xiao Lang was actually delighting in Ning’s misfortune; he, too, could guess that this was a Deathsworn from the Youngflame clan. In this instant, Xiaolou, Songspear, Fairy Wavecolor, and Xiao Lang were all certain that Ning was most likely going to die. As for the Golden Imperials which Ning had brought with him, they were shocked as well. “Protect the young master!” The problem was, it would take the fifty Golden Imperials a little bit of time to assemble into a Dao-soldier formation, then hurry over to save Ning. But…how fast was the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle flying? There was no time for them at all. No one could save Ning. Everything relied on Ning himself! “The Youngflame clan.” Ning instantly understood, and he immediately unleashed his divine ability. Ning’s body instantly exploded forth with divine power, becoming incomparably tall and muscular. Lightning began to crackle on his body as he seemed to transform into an enormous vajra. At the same time, four more arms grew out from his body, and two more heads emerged from his shoulders. [Three Heads, Six Arms]! Ning’s six arms wielded the three Darknorth swords and three Heaven-ranked flying swords. These three were all top-grade magic treasures left behind by Immortal Juhua which he personally used for battle. “Waterflame Lotus!” Thanks to the treasures which Youngflame Nong had left behind, Ning’s earthfire and dire-ice had both reached the second grade already. An enormous Waterflame Lotus appeared, swiveling around this three-headed, six-armed Fiendgod. “[Starseizing Hand]!” Ning’s six arms exploded with awe-inspiring power! “Grand Dao Domain!” The three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning, wielding six enormous Immortal swords, crackled with electricity. His aura filled the heavens, and a Waterflame Lotus swiveled around him. At the same time, the entirety of the building became instantly transformed into a world of sword-ki. The limitless field of sword-ki instantly filled the entire building, and sword-ki was stabbing everywhere. The six enormous swords in Ning’s hands began to glow with an incomparably dazzling golden metallic light, a light that was so strong that it was all but in material form. “Block.” The three-headed, six-armed Ning used all six swords to simultaneously block towards the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although this was slow to describe, in reality it happened in an instant! Faced with the lightning-fast Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle, Ji Ning didn’t even have time to make his Primaltwin emerge to block. After all, although he could indeed make his Primaltwin emerge from the underwater estate extremely quickly, it would still need to unleash the hundreds of Heaven-ranked flying swords and execute the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. All these things took time! The Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle, however, gave Ning no such time at all. Ning only had enough time to immediately activate his divine abilities, then block! BOOM! Although the Waterflame Lotus surrounding Ning was incomparably resilient, it was still instantly penetrated through! The three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning held his Immortal swords in his hands, unleashing his most powerful attacks to block the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Six consecutive and incomparably ferocious collisions. Of the six swords, three were Darknorth swords and thus possessed tremendous power. As for the other three Heaven-ranked swords, although Ning’s true body couldn’t fill them with his elemental ki, as Heaven-ranked artifacts, they were still quite tough and strong. If Ning had used Earth-ranked flying swords, the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needles probably would’ve pierced straight through them. These three Heaven-ranked flying swords Immortal Juhua had left behind wouldn’t shatter, at least! They would at least allow Ning to unleash the full power of his [Starseizing Hand]! Each collision was like an enormous mountain range smashing towards Ning. Six consecutive collisions! Fortunately, Ning’s palms had been strengthened by the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer] to be even more powerful than Heaven-ranked magic treasures. That’s the only reason why he was able to hold the hilts of the swords securely. BOOM! As the six sword-wielding ars all executed the [Starseizing Hand] and strove to block the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needles, Ning himself was knocked flying back by the terrifying collisive force. He shot out backwards like a meteor. “Block, block, BLOCK!” Ning strove his utmost to block for as long as he could. Although Ning had already trained to the eleventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] as a Fiendgod Body Refiner and was nominally only at the peak Wanxiang Adept level, because Ning had acquired the peacock plumes and trained to the second Cycle of the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer], his [Starseizing Hand] technique was now capable of exploding with incomparably terrifying force. This caused Ning’s power to instantly surpass the Primal stage and charge all the way into the Void-level Earth Immortal stage! With the additional support of his current Grand Dao Domain, his nearly perfect Dao of Rainwater, and the fact that Sword Immortals were extremely skilled in attacks…. BANG!!!! Ning’s towering Fiendgod body struck heavily against a wooden pillar. This wooden pillar, however, was covered by the restrictive spells which stretched across the entire Cloudwater Manor. It was extremely stable, and it wasn’t damaged in the slightest. “Ugh.” Ning spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His physical body actually was already covered with all sorts of scars and wounds by now, and blood was oozing out from them. The collisive forces had been far, far too powerful. Although Ning had executed [Heavenly Transformations] and [Pentabolt Vajra] to stabilize and bolster his divine body, his body was still vastly inferior to his two hands. The force of the collisions caused his flesh to split open into countless wounds. “I didn’t die.” Ning was startled. He had gone all out to block the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle, and as he had continued to block, the power of the needle had continuously been whittled away. In the end, as it smashed down against the final sword, it had caused the sword to slash across Ning’s chest. The force of that final collision had nearly caused Ning’s body to implode…but in the end, although countless tears and rips appeared on his body, he didn’t truly perish. “I blocked it.” Ning mentally began to celebrate wildly. “Fortunately, I trained in the second Cycle of the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer]. And fortunately, during this past year, I’ve begun to train in the [Three Heads, Six Arms] ability. This allowed all six of my arms to execute the [Starseizing Hand]!” Crimsonbright divine energy began to flow over the countless wounds covering his body, and the divine energy quickly began to cause the wounds to heal and close. Ning’s six arms continued to each grasp an Immortal sword. The sword-light unique to Sword Immortals filled the skies. Sword-ki filled the entire area with their awe-inspiring might. “He didn’t die?” As Ning was knocked flying backwards, Immortal Floatcloud had charged forward as well. Although he was amazed by the fact that Ning had managed to block it, he didn’t pause or hesitate at all! This was 1882 because he had sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens for this assassination. If Ning didn’t die, then his soul would be shattered. Thus, his reaction came quite quickly. Whoosh! As he charged straight towards Ning, Immortal Floatcloud waved his arm. Instantly, a golden heart appeared in midair. The golden heart immediately began to manifest thousands of veins and arteries, forming an enormous net that completely covered the empty central region they were in. This enormous net formed from countless blood vessels glowed with a bloody light, and an aura of power emanated from it. For the sake of assassinating Ning, Immortal Floatcloud had prepared two magic items. The first was the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle. It possessed astonishing power, and Immortal Floatcloud believed that even he would be heavily injured upon being assaulted by it. Ji Ning? Ordinary protective items would be immediately shattered by it; Ji Ning would almost assuredly perish. The other item was this, the ‘Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation’. Once the formation was set down, it would take a good amount of time for either the Imperial Guard or the Loose Immortals on guard here to charge through it. As long as he had enough time, he would be able to kill Ji Ning in a one-on-one fight. He was a supreme Loose Immortal! Ji Ning was merely a Wanxiang Adept! Even though the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle had been blocked by some strange magic treasures, in a true one-on-one fight, if he had enough time, he refused to believe Ji Ning could withstand him! Both treasures were single-use items. Although he had paid a high price of many magic treasures, in truth, the Youngflame clan had essentially ‘gifted’ these two items to Immortal Floatcloud. Cloudwater Manor was the largest, most important trading ground for the Kindwater clan in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. There were thirty-six Loose Immortals permanently stationed here. The Kindwater clan had thousands of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. For only thirty-six to be stationed here…on the surface, the numbered seemed to be quite low. In truth, however, these thirty-six Loose Immortals…were all dressed in Immortal-ranked Dao-soldier armors. Once they all joined forces, they could even force a Celestial Immortal to retreat! “Earth character, second number. There’s an assassination attempt there!” Some of the thirty-six Loose Immortals were in private training, while others were drinking and carousing. However, upon the Primal Daoist overseeing Cloudwater Manor sending them mental messages, they all instantly arrived in the air above Cloudwater Manor. Thirty six of them in total! They were all dressed in black Dao-armors, and they each emanated with terrifying auras that filled the heavens. They hung there in midair for a moment, then suddenly all thirtysix of them joined together to transform into an enormous black serpent. As soon as it appeared in the 1883 skies, a stream of water appeared. The surrounding space was completely frozen. The giant black serpent immediately charged towards the three-thousand meter tall building where Ning and the others were currently located. Whoosh. The enormous ceiling, under the control of the overseer of Cloudwater Manor, split open, allowing the giant black serpent to immediately charge in. Although this took time to describe, in truth, the thirty-six Loose Immortals were incredibly fast. And yet, despite their speed, by the time they arrived, the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation had already completely covered Ning’s region. “He’s dead for sure.” Xiao Lang stared at the area covered by the massive net of blood vessels. “This is the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation. It can only be acquired at a cost of half a million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, and it can only be used once. Although it can only be used once…it has truly astonishing power. Even if the Imperial Guard of the Grand Xia were to arrive, it would take them some time to break through it. Although Cloudwater Manor is guarded by experts of the Kindwater clan, I imagine it will take them time to break through as well. Skyfarmer Songspear, Kindwater Xiaolou, and Fairy Wavecolor were all in a stunned state as well as they all sighed. The reason why they were stunned…was because they all saw how just now, Ning had instantly exploded with terrifying power. All of those divine abilities aside, Ning had demonstrated a Grand Dao Domain, and it had even had the resilience and elasticity of water. Ning’s sword-light had flowed in a steady, unbreakable stream as his six Immortal swords had blocked the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle! Clearly, Ning was incredibly powerful in terms of the Dao. “Just by virtue of the fact that he has comprehended a Grand Dao Domain, this Ji Ning has vastly surpassed all of those geniuses who have only mastered a single Dao-Path. Xiao Lang, Fairy Wavecolor…they are vastly inferior to Ji Ning.” Xiaolou secretly sighed to himself. “And he was actually able to survive under the assault of the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle. Clearly, in that instant when he unleashed his full power, he reached the level of a Loose Immortal.” Those who dared to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny were generally geniuses at the peak Wanxiang Adept level who were capable of exploding forth with the power of a peak Primal Daoist! Only a small number were able to reach the combat power of a Loose Immortal! Only… Immortals had tremendously varying levels of power as well. Void-level Earth Immortals, for example, were also divided into early, middle, late, and peak stages. Because of different levels of insight into the 1884 Dao, Immortals had tremendously different levels of power as well. Even those most supreme of Wanxiang Adept geniuses were only comparable to ordinary Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals. But even amongst supreme geniuses, there were still differences; Ning, because of his [Starseizing Hand], could be considered an ordinary Void-level Earth Immortal, but with the powerful life-force of his Fiendgod body, and the added support of the [Three Heads, Six Arms] ability giving him six arms that could use the [Starseizing Hand], Ning was able to stay alive against the assault of even a Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle. “What a pity.” Songspear secretly sighed to himself. “What a genius. And he’s only trained for thirty years?” Fairy Wavecolor secretly sighed as well. “He’s already so strong at thirty years of age. He is indeed much stronger than me. Buuut, he’s gonna die soon.” Xiao Lang stared fixedly at the grand formation. …… “Young master.” The squad of Golden Imperials instantly transformed into a divine golden dragon, battering and smashing towards the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation. Rumble… The thousands of blood vessels covering the formation just bulged slightly, then easily deflected the force of the attack. The golden heart was pumping blood in an endless stream to them, causing the grand formation to remain standing. Only the blood was used up would the formation dissipate. “Break!” The thirty-six Loose Immortals in the form of a giant black serpent flew in from above. With power that was tens of times more powerful than the divine golden dragon, they launched an aweinspiring strike against the formation. The formation trembled, and many of the blood vessels actually splintered and shattered. The golden heart, however, frantically sent out more blood, causing many new blood vessels to be grown out, allowing the formation to be sustained. ….. “No one can save you now.” Immortal Floatcloud was within the formation. In front of him, three flying swords had appeared, forming into a formation-diagram. As for Ning, who had been smashed against the wooden pillar…he laughed coldly. “Youngflame clan, right?” Next to him, a black-robed youth suddenly appeared. This black-robed youth looked identical to him, and as it appeared, more than two hundred flying swords appeared around him as well. Ning’s true body suddenly vanished from sight. He had entered the underwater estate. After all, during the previous exchange, Ning’s true body had been heavily wounded and needed to recuperate. His divine power had been almost used up, with only 20% remaining; he didn’t have enough to continue fighting against this Immortal. Rumble… With the nine precious Waterbreaker Godshark Swords serving as the core, the other 200+ Heavenranked flying swords were all activated, causing the insides of the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation to be filled with an endless amount of sword-ki. This sword-ki…was tens of times more powerful than the sword-ki Ning’s true body had shown earlier. “Primaltwin?” Immortal Floatcloud’s eyes instantly turned huge. He stared at the three Heaven-ranked flying swords in front of him, then at the 200+ Heaven-ranked flying swords hovering in front of the distant, black-robed Ji Ning. “WHAT?!” Outside the formation. Songspear, Xiaolou, and Fairy Wavecolor, who had been feeling pity for Ji Ning, were all flabbergasted. “But, but…IMPOSSIBLE!” Xiao Lang, who had been smirking coldly as he watched Ning ‘go to his death’, actually called out in shock. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The black-robed Ji Ning stood there, more than two hundred Heaven-ranked flying swords floating around him. The amount of sword-ki filling the region inside the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation was simply astonishing and heart-shaking. Anyone could tell what terrifying power this black-robed Ning possessed. And, given that Ning’s true body had suddenly vanished, everyone present could guess… That this black-robed Ning was a Primaltwin! “That’s a Primaltwin. How…but…Ji Ning’s only trained for thirty years…” A look of shock and anger was in Xiao Lang’s eyes, along with disbelief. “He’s only trained for thirty years! How can he have a Primaltwin? He dared to split his soul in half? Isn’t he afraid of death?” “What a formidable Primaltwin. All of those two hundred-plus flying swords seem to be Heaven-ranked. I heard that this Ji Ning purchased hundreds of high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain; so it was for the sake of giving them to his Primaltwin for use. This Ji Ning is exceptionally wealthy; his Primaltwin has probably trained all the way up to the peak Primal level at one go.” Kindwater Xiaolou secretly sighed in amazement. “To be able to simultaneously control more than two hundred Heaven-ranked magic treasures…he absolutely has a peak Loose Immortal’s power. His true body has vanished; it should’ve entered an estate that he carries with him. Mobile estates are exceptionally valuable. How much money does this Ji Ning have? Can it be that he gained an enormous sum from the Witchriver Immortal Estate?” Not even Youngflame Nong had an estate that he could carry around with him…but Ji Ning did! Xiaolou believed that Ning must have acquired it from the Witchriver Immortal Estate. He had no idea that this Immortal estate which Ning was carrying with him had been gifted to Ning by the giant yellow bear, the spirit of the underwater estate, for free. “Formidable.” Skyfarmer Songspear stared at the formation. “Such power…and yet, when Xiao Lang challenged him in such an insulting manner, he didn’t pay him any heed. He truly has tremendous restraint.” Fairy Wavecolor sighed in amazement as well. They could all guess that Ning’s true body was now hidden within the estate he carried with him. Mobile estates could indeed hold people…but no matter what, either Ning’s true body or his Primaltwin had to be in the outside, real world. If both hid inside, then the mobile estate would be forced to reveal itself. Generally speaking, mobile estates weren’t too strong in terms of resisting attacks. Enemies could forcibly take it over, then toss it into the voids of the Three Realms, at which point the person inside would be doomed. The Witchriver Immortal Estate, for example, was immobile and couldn’t be carried away. That was why it was able to be used as a headquarters and why it had such strong defenses. Estates that one could carry, however, were generally very weak. One had to choose between strong defenses and mobility. Generally speaking, one could only choose a single quality from the two. Except, of course, for the likes of the ‘underwater estate’. Daoist Threelives, one of the primordial Fiengods who had been born before the universe had been established, had used all of his effort to craft it for his heirs. Only at the Primal level could it be carried, and it was exceedingly strong in defense. However, the value of such a treasure far surpassed even Pure Yang magic treasures; this was why it was so special. Normal estates, however, had to obey the normal rules. Mobility or defensive strength; the two couldn’t co-exist. “If my true body and Primaltwin both hide within the underwater estate, then under the wild attacks of this Loose Immortal of the Youngflame clan, the secrets of my underwater estate will probably be revealed.” Ning absolutely would not permit this to happen. “What’s more, my Primaltwin has already reached the peak Primal level. Although in terms of a base of power, he’s on a much lower level…that’s not insurmountable.” …… “It’s actually a Primaltwin. Patriarch Arcanum, you screwed me over!” Immortal Floatcloud was howling with grief in his mind…and then, a look of savagery filled his eyes. “I have no way out. Either Ji Ning dies or I die.” “I refuse to believe that I, who have trained bitterly for more than a hundred thousand years, can’t do anything to this little fellow who trained for thirty.” These thoughts flashed through his mind lightning-fast. After Immortal Floatcloud had laid down his Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation and saw Ning’s Primaltwin, he spent just a brief moment in shock before executing his most powerful attack. “HEAVEN!” “EARTH!” “MORTAL!” Immortal Floatcloud bellowed, his entire face instantly turning completely red. Ignoring all consequences, he immediately used a forbidden technique. Within the core of his body, a golden lotus Primal exploded forth with even more elemental ki. The auras of those three flying swords in front of him which vaguely formed into a sword-diagram formation suddenly increased dramatically, and the 1888 formation-diagram seemed to truly materialize. The enormous formation-diagram seemed capable of swallowing the universe. It was incomparably vast, and clouds and fog appeared within the formation. “KILL!!!” Immortal Floatcloud immediately used his most powerful killing technique. He had no time to waste. The thirty-six Loose Immortals of the Kindwater clan who were outside were joining forces to wildly assault his Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation. Once the formation was broken through, then in the face of those thirty-six Loose Immortals who were dressed in Immortal-ranked Daoarmors, he probably would be finished in a single exchange. Naturally, he had to seize the moment. Rumble… Heaven, Earth, Mortal. The three top-grade flying swords, surrounded by the spinning formationdiagram, seemed to carry the majesty of the world itself as it came crashing downwards towards Ning. This was using raw force to suppress the foe! “Hmph.” The distant black-robed Ning, faced with this attack, didn’t move slower than Immortal Floatcloud at all. He also immediately executed the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Under the guidance of those nine Waterbreaker Godshark Swords, the power of the two hundred-plus Heavenranked flying swords was joined together by the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], forming in front of Ning a flying sword that was surrounded by an aura of golden light. “In terms of elemental ki, I’m a major level below him.” “But in terms of the Dao…I’ve comprehended the Grand Dao Domain of the Dao of the Sword, and I’ve mastered the Dao-Path of Rainwater. The two have been fused into one, and Sword Immortals specialize in attacks.” “In terms of treasures and formations, I have the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]; that HeavenEarth-Mortal formation clearly isn’t all that exquisite. This technique of mine belonged to the Thousand Swords Immortal, a major foe of Immortal Juhua who Immortal Juhua had never been able to forget. Even the spirit of the underwater estate praised this technique. And, for the Youngflame clan to send you as a Deathsworn means that your status amongst the Loose Immortals of the Youngflame clan probably wasn’t that high either. You are vastly inferior to the Thousand Swords Immortal and Immortal Juhua.” “In terms of flying swords…the Wavebreaker Godshark Swords come from the underwater estate, and are vastly superior to your three flying swords. In addition, I have nine of them. In terms of raw numbers, I have more than two hundred flying swords.” “I refuse to believe I can’t win!” A cold light flashed through the eyes of the black-robed Ning, and his savage aura filled the skies. One was dressed in black robes, the other in white. They stared at each other from afar. BOOM! BOOM! The three flying swords, carrying the enormous formation-diagram with them, came crashing downwards. As for that flying sword wreathed in golden light in front of Ning, it instantly pierced through the skies, carrying a sharp sheen that caused one’s heart to tremble. It clashed directly against the enormous formation-diagram ahead of it. Rumble…. An enormous rumbling sound of a collision. Elemental ki exploded, causing space to distort. The three flying swords were actually forced backwards by several meters, and many cracks had appeared atop the foggy formation-diagram. As for Ning’s flying sword, it dispersed into nothingness. “Again.” The black-robed Ning laughed coldly, and the two hundred-plus flying swords around him undulated once more. A large amount of sword-ki coalesced in front of his chest, forming yet another flying sword that was covered with a golden glow. “How can this be? He blocked…blocked it!?” Immortal Floatcloud felt his heart grow cold. It was as though he was beneath the moon in a freezing winter night, and someone had just poured a bucket of ice water over his head. Even his soul felt cold. He had a feeling…that he was going to lose. He had executed a forbidden technique to unleash his most powerful killing attack, but his attack had actually been met head-on and blocked. A head-on collision was the most effective way to judge the opponent’s strength. “His Primaltwin has the power of a supreme Loose Immortal in combat.” Immortal Floatcloud now understood. “This…this is a true genius. His Primaltwin is probably only at the peak Primal level, and he has only trained for thirty years…but he’s comprehended a Grand Dao Domain. His insights are not inferior to mine, and the power of that grand flying sword formation is simply marvelous and unfathomable. His power is no lower than mine either.” “Can it be that I, Floatcloud, am going to die here?” Immortal Floatcloud felt despair for just a brief moment; he wouldn’t so easily discard more than a hundred thousand years of cultivation. “I failed to crush him with raw force…then I’ll try techniques, speed, and other secret arts.” Immortal Floatcloud had gone completely mad. He was using all of his power to struggle to kill Ning! Whoosh! The entire region within the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation became filled with white fog. The fog was incomparably thick, so thick that not even divine sense could penetrate eit. This was Immortal Floatcloud’s most powerful supportive art, the ‘Heaven-Covering Fog’. However, executing this secret art 1890 consumed an enormous amount of his mental energy, and he was no longer able to keep his flying swords at peak power. “I can’t see anything.” Xiao Lang, who had been staring so hard and fixedly that his eyes had gone bloodshot, instantly grew frantic. “Why is there so much fog there? I can’t see anything.” “Fog? This fog is definitely capable of blocking out divine sense; otherwise, that Deathsworn wouldn’t use it..” Kindwater Xiaolou was pondering. “Of the many Loose Immortals of the Youngflame clan, there should be a few dozen that are close to the point of being unable to resist the Three Calamities or Nine Tribulations. Those amongst them that are capable of unleashing this sort of mist…it seems the only one is Loose Immortal Floatcloud?” Celestial Immortal Patriarchs were truly ageless; they would only ever die in combat. Thus, they generally would live extremely long lives and experience countless things. It was thus quite hard for anyone to know for certain how many of the Celestial Immortals of a particular clan remained alive. Loose Immortals, however, were different. It was incredible for a Loose Immortal to live even a few million years, such as Immortal Juhua. This was why the Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of every tribe could generally be located and verified. The Kindwater clan, at least, was quite familiar regarding the statuses of the vast majority of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of their mortal enemy, the Youngflame clan. “This Ji Ning is so formidable. His Primaltwin definitely has the power of a supreme Loose Immortal…and he’s also a Sword Immortal. In a head-on clash, he was no weaker than that Loose Immortal Deathsworn.” Songspear mused to himself, “But with this bewildering fog unleashed, Ji Ning can’t see anything at all…he’s now in a bit of danger.” …. “Strike.” The thirty-six Loose Immortals, in the shape of that giant black serpent, were absolutely as powerful as a Celestial Immortal. They once more charged towards the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation. They had smashed against it eight times now, and they had shattered countless blood vessels of the formation. However, that golden heart continued to frantically spew out even more blood, forming more arteries and veins as it strove to support and maintain this formation. Still, one could tell that scars were beginning to appear on the surface of the golden heart. Clearly, the attack of the thirty-six Loose Immortals was simply too strong. Within the grand formation. Fog was everywhere. “Grand Dao Domain!” 1891 “Waterflame Lotus!” “My Own World!” The black-robed Ning stood there. Faced with this divine sense smothering technique, he finally unleashed the protective technique which he had developed during this past year within the underwater estate. It must be understood that Ki Refiners had very weak bodies; thus, they usually researched protective techniques that would prevent the opponent from easily reaching their flesh. Ji Ning naturally had to consider the best way to protect his Primaltwin. Under the guidance of the spirit of the underwater estate, Ning had used his Grand Dao Domain, his Waterflame Lotus, and the ‘My Own World’ technique 1 to serve as the foundation for the development of a powerful protective technique. The ‘Lotusflower Swordland!’ 1. This was the technique of merging the Grand Dao Domain and the Dao-Path of Rainwater, which I realized I accidentally missed in B11C3 If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Rumble… The thirty-six Loose Immortals of the Kindwater clan, in the form of the giant black serpent, launched a twelfth attack against the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation. It was already beginning to shudder, and the color of the golden heart was beginning to change. Beginning to grow dim, as the cracks and scars on its surface multiplied. “Break, break, break!” Immortal Floatcloud was in a berserk state, his white hair flying about. His three flying swords clashed hard against Ning’s Lotusflower Swordland. Crackle… Layers of lotus petals continuously defended, one layer after the other. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]-formed golden flying sword was as fast as lightning. By comparison, the speed of the flying swords of Immortal Floatcloud was much lower; they were once more struck, then sent back. “It’s over.” Immortal Floatcloud suddenly gave up. His three flying swords no longer attacked. He just stood there, staring blankly at the black-robed Ji Ning, who stood there within the Lotusflower Swordland. In the face of the Lotusflower Swordland…Immortal Floatcloud felt as though he was facing a turtle that had retreated into its shell. There was no way to break it at all! Or, at least, he wasn’t going to be able to do it in a short period of time. In addition, he could sense that his Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation was at the breaking point. He felt despair. He gave up. He understood that this time…he had failed. Immortal Floatcloud looked at Ning, his face incomparably calm and peaceful. He sent mentally, “Ji Ning, tell me, what…what technique is this?” The black-robed Ning, seeing that the opponent had actually stopped attacking, realized that the opponent had given up. Towards the bald elder in front of him, Ning actually didn’t feel any hatred; instead, he felt pity. This was because Ning could tell…that this person was a Deathsworn! “This is my Lotusflower Swordland.” “Every single lotus petal was formed from my elemental ki and the sword-light.” 1893 “The region covered by my lotus flowers becomes my world.” “This is a world with the Dao of the Sword, the Dao of Rainwater, the Dao of Space, and the Dao of the Inferno. This is the most powerful technique which I have developed.” The black-robed Ning spoke mentally to his foe. In this moment…Ning understood that the man had chosen death. Immortal Floatcloud looked at Ning, envy in his eyes. “The Dao of the Sword? The Dao of Space? The Dao of Rainwater? The Dao of the Inferno? So many Daos…and two of them are Grand Daos. You’ve actually been able to join them together perfectly and create a technique of your own. At only thirty years of age, you are already so talented…I’ve never before met a genius like you in my life. I can’t even imagine what your future shall be like. I…am whole-heartedly convinced that my defeat was deserved.” Ning, however, knew exactly how much effort he had put into the creation of this technique. He had often gone to the Stellar Hall to meditate on the Dao. He had often gone to the Still Room to quietly ponder. He had repeatedly, tirelessly tested time and time again. The spirit of the underwater estate had guided him as well…and all of these things had helped to inspire him, allowing him to develop this protective technique, this technique that was completely focused on defense. “Kill me. Let me die by your hands.” A dreamy look was in Immortal Floatcloud’s eyes. In the moment before his death, his subconscious was telling him…that this peerless genius in front of him, Ji Ning, would have an astonishing future. In fact, he even had the vague feeling that an incomparably massive storm was about to arise…and that the peerless genius before him would become one of the most dazzling figures to emerge from the storm. “As you desire.” The black-robed Ning nodded. Swish! A golden sword-light flew out. Immortal Floatcloud didn’t block at all. He allowed it to slash directly through his body, piercing into the golden-lotus Primal within his body. The golden lotus, upon being pierced through, began to collapse. Although Ning hadn’t destroyed Immortal Floatcloud’s soul, because of the oath he had sworn to the Dao of the Heavens, Immortal Floatcloud knew that his soul was about to be shattered regardless. He knew this…because he could sense the ripples from the impending descent of the Dao of the Heavens. “Patriarch Arcanum…” 1894 “In this moment, my subconscious is telling me that an enormous tempest is about to descend…one dazzling, eye-catching figure after another is going to arise from the storm, and this Ji Ning is going to be one of them. Our Youngflame clan is going to have a calamity befall us because of this…” “Patriarch Arcanum, it is one thing for you to have doomed me…but how terrifying of an enemy have you made for our Youngflame clan?” “In the future, you will regret it.” “You will regret it.” “You are the criminal, the sinner of our Youngflame clan. The sinner! But none of this has anything to do with me any longer…I, whose soul is about to shatter, no longer have any connection to anything, to anything at all…” Immortal Floatcloud closed his eyes. His body completely dissipated into nothingness, revealing an already battered and disintegrating golden-lotus Primal. Under the descent of the ripples of the Dao of the Heavens, the golden lotus was completely annihilated, quickly and completely vaporizing. The more powerful a cultivator was, the more faith they would place in what their subsconscious told them. Immortal Floatcloud, in the moment before his death, could also sense that in the future, a terrifying storm was about to arise…and that even the likes of the Youngflame clan, which had existed from the earliest days of the Fiendgod Era until now, would be shaken and perhaps be thrown down by the storm… BOOM! As the sword-light of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] pierced through the golden-lotus Primal and as Immortal Floatcloud transformed into nothingness, a massive explosion could suddenly be heard. The Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation blew apart, and a giant black serpent coiled in the air above it, staring down at Ji Ning, who was being protected by a titanic, swiveling lotus flower. One lotus petal swept around and picked up the flying swords, storage treasures, and other relics left behind by the deceased Immortal Floatcloud. This petal then drifted over to the black-robed Ji Ning. The black-robed Ning waved his hand, collecting it all. The entire manor was completely silent. The terrified servants…the stunned Golden Imperials…Skyfarmer Songspear…Kindwater Xiaolou…Fairy Wavecolor…Xiao Lang…and even the thirty-six Loose Immortals, who had dropped their formation…all of them stared at the black-robed Ning, protected by the defensive layers of the enormous Lotusflower Swordland. They had just witnessed… A Wanxiang Adept’s Primaltwin execute a mighty Loose Immortal. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Kindwater Xiaolou, Skyfarmer Songspear, and the others were unable to even breathe. They were all in a state of shock. “Xiaolou, whose this friend of yours?” The leader of the thirty-six Loose Immortals, a burly and muscular bearded man, spoke out. “Uncle Fan, he is Ji Ning. I invited him here…but who would’ve thought that he’d suffer an attack from a Loose Immortal Deathsworn?” Xiaolou said. “Ji Ning?” The bearded, burly ‘Uncle Fan’ immediately realized who Ning was, as did the group of Loose Immortals behind him. The death of Youngflame Nong wasn’t something everyone knew, but most of these Loose Immortals who were permanently stationed at Cloudwater Manor knew about this matter. They thus immediately guessed that it had been the Youngflame clan who had sent out the Loose Immortal Deathsworn. Instantly, these Immortals of the Kindwater clan began to feel a sense of delighted schadenfreude; the Kindwater clan had been mortal enemies with the Youngflame clan for countless eons now. “My young friend Ji Ning.” Kindwater Sanfan looked at the black-robed Ning, then said with a loud laugh, “You truly are formidable. If my guess is correct, this Loose Immortal should have been Immortal Floatcloud. He’s a Loose Immortal who has lived for a hundred thousand years, but he actually died in your hands…and your Primaltwin should be at the peak Primal level, correct?” “For a peak Primal to be able to kill a supreme Loose Immortal…you clearly are a level lower in terms of elemental ki, and you’ve only trained for thirty years, but…formidable, formidable.” “That lotus technique truly broadened my horizons as well, and that sword formation technique was also quite impressive.” The group of Loose Immortals of the Kindwater clan all laughed and praised Ning. The reason why they praised him was not just because Ning truly had surprised them; more importantly, there was a huge grudge between Ning and the Youngflame clan! Since the Kindwater clan was mortal enemies against the Youngflame clan, they took a true liking towards Ning. The more impressive he was, the more of a threat he would be to the Youngflame clan, and the more they would like him. “You praise me too much.” The black-robed Ning shook his head. “The only reason I won was because your combined powers, seniors, was far too strong. You caused the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation to nearly break down. Immortal Floatcloud knew that he had no more time left, and so he voluntarily gave up. Only thus could I kill him.” 1897 In terms of power, Ning’s Primaltwin was actually only on par with Immortal Floatcloud. If they had been in a simple one-on-one fight, it would be hard to say who would be the winner. But this was no simple battle; it was an assassination attempt! An assassination attempt in the Cloudwater Manor of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia! It had to be resolved quickly. As a Deathsworn, Immortal Floatcloud had already been forced to the brink from the very beginning. If he wasn’t able to kill Ning in a short moment, then he would have no choice but to welcome death in his despair. Swoosh. Swoosh. The Whitewater Hound and Little Qing charged over to the black-robed Ning. Previously, the two had been seated alongside the Golden Imperials, drinking and eating with them. When Ning suffered the attack, not even the Golden Imperials had been able to protect him in time, much less the two of them. The two had been frantic and nervous, and had been driven nearly to the point of insanity. They didn’t even dare to send soul messages, for fear that Ning would be distracted by them; after all, this was a lifeand-death battle. If Ning was distracted and something untoward happened as a result, then it truly would be too late for regrets. Fortunately! Fortunately, Ning had survived. “You killed him, that’s all that matters.” Kindwater Sanfan shook his head, then laughed, “Your Primaltwin is at the peak Primal level; it is a full tier lower than Immortal Floatcloud in power. But in the end, Immortal Floatcloud wasn’t able to do anything to you. There’s nothing he can say about his loss, and your victory was a clean and fair one.” Right at this moment, a powerful aura suddenly spread out from the air above them. This caused all the people present, including the Loose Immortals, Ning, Xiaolou, Songspear, and the others to all raise their heads to look. From the opened ceiling above them, a group of figures flew downwards, with the leader dressed in black armor and the rest dressed in silver armor. These were the Imperial Guards of the Grand Xia! The leader, a black-armored youth, chortled, appearing to be quite relaxed and at ease. The silverarmored warriors behind him also seemed quite relaxed. “Xiaolou, what’s going on in your Cloudwater Manor?” The black-armored youth laughed. “Just now, when the watchers of the Imperial Guard headquarters were scanning the entire imperial capital, they realized that thirty-six Loose Immortals had appeared in the air above Cloudwater Manor, and that they had all formed into the Kindwater Godsnake and flew into this building. Something happen?” The Imperial Guards watched over the entire imperial capital, including the streets, the arenas, and the many Immortal estates. Once powerful ripples of battle were felt, the Imperial Guard would immediately hurry over. However, places like the Heavenly Treasures Mountain or Cloudwater Manor would often have some gambling duels and battles; these locations had all applied for permission for these events from the Grand Xia Dynasty. That was why they were permitted to hold battles, ‘with conditions’. The so-called ‘battles with conditions’ were almost all gambling battles and duels. Assassinations, however, were still absolutely forbidden. When the Imperial Guard had first noticed the powerful ripples coming from Cloudwater Manor, they had thought that it was a fairly powerful betting duel going on. Only after seeing the thirty-six Loose Immortals form into the Kindwater Godsnake did they realize that something was wrong! Still, with so many experts protecting Cloudwater Manor, the Imperial Guard didn’t panic; one of the deputy commanders just grabbed a few people and casually sauntered over. “It was an assassination,” Xiaolou laughed. “The Loose Immortal Deathsworn assassin should have been Immortal Floatcloud of the Youngflame clan. Brother Hong, although I say that it was Immortal Floatcloud, that’s just a guess.” “Immortal Floatcloud of the Youngflame clan? Who was he assassinating?” The black-armored youth, Xiamang Hong, exclaimed in surprise. Xiaolou pointed at Ning. “Look. Him right there.” Xiamang Hong looked towards Ning with curiosity. “Him?” Xiamang Hong said, “The Youngflame clan sent a Deathsworn to assassinate you, but you remain alive?” Ning was speechless. This man was excessively impolitic in his words; he actually said to the assassination target, ‘you remain alive’?! How was Ning even supposed to respond to that? “Ji Ning, let me make the introductions,” Xiaolou said. “This is Deputy Commander Xiamang Hong of the Imperial Guard, and a good friend of mine.” Ning instantly understood. Xiamang Hong? So he was of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. Most likely, he was viewed with some degree of importance by the imperial clan; otherwise, Kindwater Xiaolou wouldn’t be so courteous to him. “Brother Hong, this Ji Ning is a good friend of mine; when Immortal Floatcloud tried to assassinate him, he used the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation to seal the region off from outsiders, causing the many Immortals of my Cloudwater Manor to be unable to save Ji Ning in time. Fortunately, Ji Ning had a Primaltwin, and his Primaltwin should have been at the Primal Daoist level…and yet, he was able to actually kill Immortal Floatcloud. You tell me; is he amazing or not?” Xiaolou said. “He’s that amazing?” Xiamang Hong’s eyes lit up. “Ji Ning? I know about you. You are the little Wanxiang Adept fellow who killed Youngflame Nong, right? I didn’t expect that you’d actually have a Primaltwin. If my memory serves, you’ve only trained for thirty years…and in thirty short years, your produced a 1899 Primaltwin that was able to kill Immortal Floatcloud, who was a full tier higher in power? Impressive, impressive. I, Xiamang Hong, deeply admire people of ability. I imagine that after this assassination attempt, you are a bit unsettled; in a few days, I’ll send someone to invite you over. I’ll put on a feast, and we can chat a bit. You have to give me this face, right?” “I naturally will accept Commander Xiamang’s invitation,” the black-robed Ning said. “Brother Ji Ning, you truly did scare me silly this time,” Xiaolou said, looking at Ning. “It was a series of frightening events; even I thought that you would find it hard to overcome this tribulation.” “Brother Ji Ning’s power is truly formidable. In this Conclave of Immortal Destiny, I am certain that brother Ji Ning will shine quite brightly,” Skyfarmer Songspear nodded in praise as well. For Ning to be able to use his true body to survive the attack from the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle was enough for Skysong to feel certain that Ning’s true body was incredibly powerful as well. “I quite admire brother Ji Ning as well,” Fairy Wavecolor said with a laugh while looking towards the nearby Xiao Lang. “But just now, someone was provoking brother Ji Ning repeatedly, insisting on sparring with him and looking down on him…and saying that if brother Ji Ning went to the Conclave, he would just lose face…and advising Ji Ning to go back home and train for three more centuries…” “The person who said that is quite incredible as well.” Xiao Lang’s face instantly began to alternate between purple and pale. It was true that earlier, he had provoked Ning repeatedly, and had even spoken disdainfully about Ning afterwards. When he had defeated Fairy Wavecolor, he had indeed felt quite smug, and in his arrogance had said quite a few unpleasant things. Now, looking back…it did all seem quite laughable. “Look down on Ji Ning? Told him to not to go lose face in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, and to go home and train for three more centuries instead?” Xiamang Hong could tell what was going on, but he put on an act as he asked with ‘curiosity’, “Who in the world said that?” “Who else could it be? None other than the distinguished, elegant, and suave young master, Adept Xiao Lang,” Fairy Wavecolor said, pointing at Xiao Lang. Earlier, Xiao Lang had given her no face at all. Women…held grudges. “Xiao Lang? It was you who looked down upon Ji Ning?” Xiamang Mang clearly was playing his role to perfection as he looked at Xiao Lang. Xiao Lang gritted his teeth, his face pale. “Hmph.” He let out an angry snort, then turned and left, pushing open the main door and walking out from the corridor. “He left?” Xiamang Hong shook his head. “Boooring.” 1900 Kindwater Xiaolou was still looking at Ning. “Brother Ji Ning, you suffered an assassination attempt at my Cloudwater Manor, and we weren’t even able to help save you; the Cloudwater Manor was remiss…” “The Cloudwater Manor is not to blame. This feud is one that I caused myself,” Ning said. “Since our Kindwater clan has established Cloudwater Manor, we absolutely have to protect our guests who come here. There is nothing more to be said about this; it was our Kindwater clan who did not do what we were supposed to. Here is a treasure I recently acquired; I saw that you, brother Ji Ning, are exceptionally formidable in lotus techniques, and this treasure might help bring you some more insight.” Xiaolou suddenly produced a very slender bottle in his hand, topped by a lotus flower. “This lotus bottle has been infused with some of the essence of the arcane secrets of the lotus within it; I’ll give it to you in recompense,” Xiaolou said, handing it over to Ning. “Brother Ji Ning, no need to refuse; if you refuse, I truly won’t know what to do.” Ning hesitated a moment, then accepted it. Ning was able to tell at a single glance that this lotus bottle was extraordinary; the bottle itself wasn’t too impressive of a treasure, but the lotus flower on top of it was covered with many runes. It was indeed worth analyzing. It might indeed help inspire Ning to further perfect his Lotusflower Swordland. After chatting for a few more moments, Ning made his farewells. He had just suffered an assassination attempt, after all; there was no way this banquet could continue. Before Cloudwater Manor. Kindwater Xiaolou and Skyfarmer Songspear watched as Ning flew out within that giant warship, which sent out waves of energy as it departed. They were silent for a moment. “Xiamang Hong led a group of Imperial Guard over and learned about this event. I imagine that soon, the entire Imperial Guard will know about it…and as a result, the entire imperial capital will know about it.” Xiaolou sighed. “Word of this battle is going to quickly spread over the entire imperial capital. Ji Ning has now truly become famous.” Previously, when Ning had purchased the peacock plumes, others thought that he had simply been lucky. But this time, however, Ning had proven his power in battle; only now would others truly esteem him. “It is true. He’s only trained for thirty years, but has already produced a Primaltwin, and one which can kill a supreme Loose Immortal at that. A genius like him is quite rare, even in the imperial capital. The Youngflame clan has actually attracted an enemy like him…I imagine that in a few thousand years or a few tens of thousands of years, Ji Ning will be able to give the Youngflame clan quite a few good battles,” Songspear said with a laugh. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Nightfall. A cold wind was howling through the air. Within the Youngflame clan’s estate. The current clan leader of the Youngflame Clan, the Godplume Duke, was currently seated in his study. He had no desire to keep reading through the book he was holding. There was just a single thought in his mind; had the assassination of Ji Ning succeeded? Tonight, Kindwater Xiaolou had invited Ji Ning to a banquet. Immortal Floatcloud was going to take the chance to assassinate Ji Ning. Naturally, the Godplume Duke knew of this plan. He was waiting for the results. Crack! The Godplume Duke suddenly turned to look at the life-tablet placed at the edges of his table. This was the life-tablet of Immortal Floatcloud, and at this moment, it had shattered. “Floatcloud died. It seems the assassination attempt was made. However, I don’t know if it was a success or not.” The Godplume Duke took a deep breath. Regardless of whether it had succeeded or not, Floatcloud would perish. If he succeeded, then he would go reincarnate; if he failed, his soul would be shattered. Time slowly passed… The Godplume Duke continued to quietly wait for news to arrive. A long time later. “Clan leader.” An azure-robed servant charged in, then immediately whispered, “We have word.” “Speak,” the Godplume Duke said calmly. “Immortal Floatcloud attempted to assassinate Ji Ning in Cloudwater Manor, and he even used the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation, engaging in a one-on-one fight with Ji Ning within it. But Ji Ning suddenly produced a Primaltwin and killed Immortal Floatcloud,” the azure-robed servant said. The Godplume Duke had an ugly look on his face. He hesitated for a moment, then said with a frown, “You said Ji Ning’s Primaltwin killed Immortal Floatcloud? But his true body is only at the Wanxiang level; can it be that his Primaltwin has already trained to the Void-level and become an Earth Immortal?” “His Primaltwin should be at the Primal level,” the azure-robed servant said. “There shouldn’t be any mistake about this.” 1903 The Godplume Duke sat there quietly pondering, and the azure-robed servant didn’t dare to make another sound. After pondering for quite some time, the Godplume Duke said coldly, “Immortal Floatcloud was a Loose Immortal of my Youngflame clan; how dare he act in such an audacious way? Without receiving permission from my Youngflame clan, he actually dared to go attempt to assassinate Ji Ning on his own accord! This is a violation of the laws of the clan. Inform the outside world that Immortal Floatcloud violated the laws of the clan and has been expelled from the Youngflame clan, and is no longer a member of the clan. Also – blot out his name from the Youngflame clan registrar.” “Yes,” the azure-robed servant said respectfully. “Go now.” The Godplume Duke waved his hand, and the azure-robed servant hurriedly retreated. As for the Godplume Duke himself, he sat there quietly for a long moment. This wasn’t the news he had wanted; in fact, it was the worst news possible. Ji Ning had actually been able to rely on his own power to kill Immortal Floatcloud. Then killing Ji Ning…was truly going to be difficult. “He’s trained for thirty years, but is already so formidable; he needs to be killed. But in the imperial capital…killing him will be as hard as ascending to heaven. I imagine that we’ll have to wait for him to leave the city before our Youngflame clan will be able to use all of the methods available to us to deal with him. But who knows how long we will have to wait before Ji Ning will leave?” The Godplume Duke quietly pondered this issue. “I can only hope that his true body will be killed in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny by other supreme geniuses! His true body has far more potential than his Primaltwin does; so long as it dies, then his threat will be greatly lessened.” Although the Primaltwin was currently more powerful than Ning’s true body, without question, the true body had more potential and a much more solid foundation. “It’s time to pay a visit Patriarch Arcanum.” In truth, the Godplume Duke felt some resentment as well. This was all because Patriarch Arcanum had doted on Youngflame Nong too much; otherwise, how could all of this nonsense have occurred? “Once news of this battle spreads, the various major powers of the imperial capital will most likely all learn about Ji Ning. My Youngflame clan will have truly lost face.” The Godplume Duke shook his head. Then, by himself, he boarded his Immortal carriage and departed from the imperial capital to go pay his respects to Patriarch Arcanum. After the Imperial Guards under the command of Xiamang Hong returned to their headquarters, the news that Ning’s Primaltwin had killed a Loose Immortal quickly spread throughout the entire headquarters. The Imperial Guard was the most important military which guarded the imperial capital; all of the various major clans had disciples within it, and so this news quickly spread to all of the major clans as well. Now they all understood that it wasn’t that Ji Ning didn’t know his own limits; rather, it was that he did indeed have enough ability to back up his actions. …… Stillwater Commander. The Black-White College. Amongst the powers that paid the most attention to Ning, the one which cared the most was the BlackWhite College. Within the Headmaster’s Hall of the Black-White College. “Apprentice-nephew headmaster, why have you asked us to all gather here?” “Senior apprentice-brother, for what reason have you asked us to hurry here so late at night?” The first generation Immortals and the second generation Primal Daoists who were gathered within the hall all spoke out to ask questions. “Don’t be impatient. Listen to me read this intelligence report.” Daoist Jadesea, the Headmaster, was holding a copy of an intelligence report sent from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. He read aloud, “Tonight, in the Kindwater clan’s Cloudwater Manor located in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, Kindwater Xiaolou hosted a banquet for Ji Ning. Ji Ning attended with a troop of Golden Imperials. Halfway through the banquet, Immortal Floatcloud suddenly appeared. He first used a Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle to ambush Ji Ning, who was heavily injured but managed to stay alive. Immortal Floatcloud then utilized the Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation to seal off the surrounding area, then engaged in a one-on-one fight with Ji Ning. Ji Ning’s Primaltwin suddenly emerged. His Primaltwin had already reached the peak Primal level. By using a sword formation technique involving hundreds of Heaven-ranked flying swords, he executed Immortal Floatcloud.” The hall was completely silent. Everyone was speechless for a moment…and then, a storm of commotion. “Apprentice-nephew headmaster, are you sure about what you read?” “Do you speak the truth?” “Ji Ning’s Primaltwin killed Immortal Floatcloud?” None of them could believe it. Many of them had actually been present when Ning had joined the school. That little fellow who had only been a Zifu Disciple…after just ten or so years, he had killed a Loose Immortal? Was this a joke? “This is a report from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. How could they lie about something like this?” Daoist Jadesea looked at his fellow disciples. “Wonderful, wonderful.” Immortal Fivecraze called out, “This is absolutely wonderful. Spread the news. Let all of the disciples of our Black-White College learn of this matter!” Some would celebrate, some would mourn. News of Ning’s battle spread throughout the entire imperial capital, and it also spread to the ears of certain people located in many other commandery cities. Some celebrated, some sighed in amazement, some felt jealousy, and some felt disdain. Highwater Commander. The Dongyan Mountains. Late night. Within a mountain peak inside the Dongyan Mountains. Ninelotus was seated by herself at the edges of a cliff. The cold night wind felt as sharp as knives of ice, but Ninelotus allowed the wind to blow against her as she continued to sit there silently. Ever since she and Ning had parted ways at the Witchriver Immortal Estate, Ninelotus had begun to enjoy sitting by herself in this quiet place at night, a time of absolute stillness. She would just watch quietly until the sun rose. “Little Yun.” Suddenly, a voice rang out. Ninelotus turned to look. A very beautiful woman walked over; it was her mother. Ninelotus’ mother looked at her daughter, feeling quite pained for her. Ninelotus and her were extremely close. When Ninelotus had returned from the Witchriver Immortal Estate, she had been truly been heartbroken, but had no one to talk to about it. Her mother had consoled her, and eventually, Ninelotus had told her mother about the pain in her heart. Only then did her mother realize that her daughter had very nearly chosen to completely walk the same path with Ji Ning. “Little Yun, are you still not over it?” The mother sat down as well, looking at her daughter. “I’ve been over it for quite some time,” Ninelotus said, gently shaking her head. “I just continue to feel ashamed.” “If you feel ashamed, how can you say you are over it?” Her mother shook her head. “No need to be ashamed. This Ji Ning, he isn’t worth you feeling ashamed over. He just came from a backwater clan; how good could his upbringing have possibly been? The two of you belong in completely separate worlds. There’s no way the two of you could’ve been together. No way at all.” “Enough,” Ninelotus said softly. “You are going to command the entire Dongyan clan, and the Forefather of the Dongyan clan has full faith in you. You need to stir yourself up. You might not be able to forget about him now, but in a few centuries or millennia, you’ll realize that he was actually just a very ordinary passerby in your life. Nothing more than a bumpkin. Forget about him,” Ninelotus’ mother said. Before Ninelotus was born, her mother and her father had decent lives in the Dongyan clan, but were quite ordinary figures. However, after Ninelotus was born, she was loved and doted upon by the Dongyan clan’s Forefather, who trained her and assigned her to be the next clan leader. Thus, Ninelotus’ father and mother saw their statuses skyrocket, and they now had a very great deal of power within the Dongyan clan. “He isn’t a bumpkin.” Ninelotus stared at her mother. “He is my former Dao-companion, and a true genius!” “And what good is a genius? He might just end up being killed by the Youngflame clan,” her mother said angrily. “Enough!” Ninelotus was growing angry as well. Her mother forced down her anger. Ninelotus was the next clan leader, after all, and so normally she and her husband would listen to Ninelotus. But with regards to Ji Ning…the mother had always nursed a belly full of anger. How exalted a status did her daughter have? How could she possibly be together with someone who came from a backwater tribe? That was an absolute travesty. “Mistress, mistress!” Suddenly, a female servant flew in on a flying sword, landing on the mountain peak. “Mm?” Ninelotus looked at her servant. “The Heavenly Treasures Mountain sent an intelligence report. It has to do with young master Ji Ning,” the female servant said. Ninelotus waved her hand, and the intelligence report scroll immediately flew towards her. By her side, her mother said unhappily, “You said you are over it, but you continue to pay attention to his intelligence reports?” “Does being over it mean that I can no longer pay attention to news regarding him?” Ninelotus gave her mother a glance, then unfurled the scroll to read it. A look of shock and amazement appeared on her face. “Let me take a look. What’s this all about? Was he killed by the Youngflame clan?” Her mother snatched it over to take a read. And as she did…she was so shocked that she jumped to her feet. “Ki-ki-killed Immortal Floatcloud of the Youngflame clan?” She was astonished. “He’s only trained for thirty years, right? How could, how, how could…” “I told you. He is a genius.” Ninelotus said softly, “Mother, go home. Let me be by myself for a while.” Her mother was truly stunned by this news as well. She simply couldn’t comprehend it. How could this young fellow from a backwater tribe, who was even younger than her own daughter, have actually killed a supreme Loose Immortal? Stunned, she left obediently. The maidservant left as well. Ninelotus sat there by herself, silent. “As long as you are doing well, I can be at ease. Ji Ning…stay alive.” Ninelotus could only pray silently in her heart. When she had chosen the path of becoming the next leader of the Dongyan clan, she had decided to follow this path to its completion. As for Ji Ning? All she could do was silently pray for him in her heart. This was because, after their parting at the Witchriver Immortal Estate… “You shall be you, and I shall be me…” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. It was a late, cold winter night. The temperature was bone-chillingly low. But Princess Xiyue, of King Yan’s Estate, was filled with burning rage. She angrily slammed her hand against the table. “The Youngflame clan is truly damnable. They actually dare to attempt an assassination within the imperial capital. Damnable, damnable, absolutely damnable!” “Cousin, although the Youngflame clan sent a Loose Immortal Deathsworn, that person ended up dying in my hands,” Ji Ning said. “Don’t be so angry, cousin.” “How can I not be angry?” Princess Xiyue looked towards Ning. “I’m still covered in cold sweat. Fortunately, you are strong and were able to block both the Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needles as well as Immortal Floatcloud. If not…little brother, aside from Grandpa, you are my own family.” If her one and only little brother would have died…Princess Xiyue didn’t even know what she would’ve done. “The Youngflame clan is utterly damnable,” Princess Xiyue said, so angry that she was shaking. “Their strategy this time of sending out a Loose Immortal Deathsworn failed. I imagine that for now, they won’t have any other tricks up their sleeves; so long as I stay within the imperial capital, the Youngflame clan shouldn’t be able to do anything to me,” Ning hurriedly consoled his cousin. Princess Xiyue took a deep breath, then nodded. “Right. There is nothing else they can do to you. I imagine that a year later though, during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, they will use the rules of the Conclave to act against you.” “Against others who are at the peak Wanxiang level…although I don’t dare say that I am unequaled in the world, I should be able to keep myself alive.” Ning’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Cousin, my Primaltwin just finished binding the storage treasure which the deceased Immortal Floatcloud left behind.” “Oh?” Yuchi Xiyue’s eyes lit up as well. “Let’s see what sort of treasure Immortal Floatcloud left behind. However…since he dared to attempt to assassinate you, and also carried a Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle and a Bloodcoil Heavenlock Formation with him, I imagine that he no longer had many other treasures on him.” “Let me take a close look.” Ning nodded. He immediately began to have his Primaltwin, located within the underwater estate, to carefully investigate each treasure. Suddenly, Ning revealed a look of astonishment. “What is it?” Yuchi Xiyue asked hurriedly. “The other treasures are as I expected, but I found a scroll.” Ning waved his hand, and a golden scroll suddenly appeared within it, emanating ripples of power that were ancient and strange. “This scroll…?” Yuchi Xiyue looked at it, also curious. Ning unfurled the scroll. Atop the golden scroll, there was just a single, simple line of characters. They stated: “From whence come, to where go. Xiamang Xun.” Every single stroke was simple and plain, but an aura of majesty exploded forth from them. Both Ning and Xiyue felt their hearts tremble; they felt as if they were facing the heavens themselves. Even Ning, when facing that ancient Fiendgod in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, hadn’t felt such terror. Whoosh. Ning hurriedly closed the scroll, and only then did the terrifying majesty completely disappear. “What in the world is this?” Xiyue was absolutely amazed. “I don’t know either.” Ning shook his head. “Just a single line of characters; from whence come, to where go. And a single, simple signature inscription – Xiamang Xun. Who exactly is Xiamang Xun? Can it be that he is an ancient member of the imperial Xiamang clan?” Xiyue was completely puzzled. “Why haven’t I ever heard of this name before?” Ning said with a frown, “The person who wrote the line of words should be named Xiamang Xun…and judging from the majestic power from those words, he should be an incredibly powerful figure.” “I’ll go ask Grandpa,” Xiyue immediately said. “Wait a moment for me.” “Right now? So late at night?” Ning was amazed. “It’s fine. My grandfather is a Celestial Immortal; do you think there is a big difference between day and night for him? And he lives by himself; he doesn’t even let maidservants move close to him. It’s fine for me to find him late at night. And I’m in quite an uneasy mood as well; I feel as though this scroll is quite extraordinary. Wait a moment; I’ll be back shortly.” Xiyue hurriedly departed. In just the amount of time needed to boil a kettle of tea. Xiyue once more flew back gracefully, her face filled with excitement. “Cousin, what’d he say?” Ning was quite curious as well as to exactly what this scroll is. “Do you know who Xiamang Xun is?” Xiyue had a secretive look on her face. “Who?” Ning asked. He had never heard of this name before. “He is his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of our Grand Xia Dynasty!” Xiyue whispered to him, “He’s also the founder of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and the sovereign of this major world.” “His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor?” Ning was awestruck. The Grand Xia Emperor stood far above them. He was the sovereign of this entire major world, and his power filled the skies. In fact, it was said that the Grand Xia Emperor could even sit down and speak to the Celestial Emperor as equals. One was the Emperor of a major world of the mortal realms; the other was the Emperor of the Deva realms. This was how things had been since the Fiendgod Era. The Grand Xia Emperor had never been anyone else. He rarely showed himself; after all, this ancient dynasty which he had founded and which had existed for countless millions of years had long ago stabilized. It had its own laws, and most matters could be handled by his senior officials. He was powerful. After all, he had single-handedly established an enormous dynasty and unified the world, after the end of the Fiendgod Era. He was mysterious. Over the course of countless years, he had almost never shown himself. He was exalted. No one in the Grand Xia Dynasty dared to go against his decrees. As the sovereign of this major world, who had stood at its very peak from the Fiendgod Era until now, a figure who the vast majority of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals couldn’t even approach…very few people even knew his name. “Right. His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor. This is his name.” Xiyue was extremely excited. “Xiamang Xun…that’s the name of his Imperial Majesty.” “Xiamang Xun, his Imperial Majesty…the Emperor…” Ning’s heart was suddenly filled with fright and nervousness. In his subconscious…he suddenly felt as though a pair of eyes was staring directly at him. Previously, when he hadn’t known this was the name of the Emperor, Ning hadn’t felt anything. But now that he knew…he felt in his subconscious as though a pair of eyes had suddenly turned towards him. “Do you know what this scroll is?” Xiyue didn’t sense anything amiss at all. All she felt was excitement and energy. “A dharmic decree of reincarnation! This is a dharmic decree that was personally penned by the Grand Xia Emperor. If you possess this decree, once you perish, the dharmic decree will escort and accompany your soul into the Netherworld Kingdom. When the Yama-Kings of the Ten Halls see this dharmic decree, they will naturally give some face to our Grand Xia Emperor. The line of ‘from whence come, to whence go’ is an instruction; it means that the bearer is to reborn back into the major world and the clan from whence he last lived in.” Ning was enlightened. The Yama-Kings of the Ten Halls. The Lord of Cui Palace. All of them had exalted statuses in the Netherworld Kingdom. For them, letting a few Immortals return to their own major world and clans was nothing more than a minor matter. It could also be viewed as helping to build up ties between themselves and the major power who wrote the dharmic decree. “Right. My grandfather said that you are not to rashly tell others of the name of his Imperial Majesty,” Xiyue said hurriedly. “According to what my grandfather said, if you say his Imperial Majesty’s name aloud, his Imperial Majesty will sense it. However, since we are within King Yan’s Estate, his Imperial Majesty won’t mind too much.” “Understood. I won’t tell others,” Ning immediately said. In his heart, however, he felt shocked. So just now, when he felt in his subconscious as though a pair of eyes were paying attention to him…it had probably been his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor. Time flowed on. News of Ning’s Primaltwin’s slaying of Immortal Floatcloud spread, and Ning’s fame grew greater and greater. In the imperial capital, almost everyone believed that Ning had an exceedingly high level of insight into the Dao; far higher, at least, than Immortal Floatcloud possessed. Otherwise, how could he have so fought him, despite Immortal Floatcloud being at a higher tier of power? ….. Stillwater Commandery. Within a private training room in the Black-White College. The Sloppy Daoist, the number one figure amongst the third generation disciples, was seated in the lotus position. He was only wearing pants, his upper body unclad. The skin on his upper body was actually covered with runes that looked like the shell of a tortoise, and series of ancient-feeling ripples of power poured out from him. Whoosh. Suddenly, within the private training room, the illusion of an incomparably enormous Turtle-Snake appeared. This Turtle-Snake filled nearly the entire training room, and the Sloppy Daoist stood on the illusory Turtle-Snake’s back. The entire Turtle-Snake began to move, and both the turtle head and the serpent head emitted growling roars. A layer of turtle shell began to appear on the Sloppy Daoist’s entire body as he sat there, but his eyes were like the eyes of a snake, capable of filling the hearts of viewers with terror. His aura was incredibly ancient and powerful. “Eh?” The Sloppy Daoist suddenly frowned. In his subconscious, he could feel something calling to him. It was… 1912 “The Conclave of Immortal Destiny?” The Sloppy Daoist mumbled to himself, “What’s going on? Why is it that when I’m training in the Black Tortoise 1 divine ability, my subconscious is foretelling that this upcoming Conclave is going to be quite important. It seems as though it is a major chance for me.” The powerful call was so strong that the Sloppy Daoist was almost unable to suppress it. The Sloppy Daoist knew very well that this sort of subconscious feeling didn’t need to be doubted; if he could sense that it was going to be a major stroke of luck for him, then he had to go. “I don’t like fighting and struggling with others. I just want to quietly relax and train. But…I didn’t expect that in the end, I still have to go to this Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” The Sloppy Daoist nodded lightly. “What shall be, shall be. Those things that are meant to be mine will be; for those things that aren’t meant to be mine, there’s no need to force it. I’ll go give this Conclave a try and test out these geniuses of our major world.” “I’ve just reached the second Cycle of my Black Tortoise divine ability. I was planning to break through to the Primal level, but it now seems that I shouldn’t be in a hurry. After this Conclave of Immortal Destiny is concluded, I’ll make my breakthrough.” The Sloppy Daoist no longer considered this matter, and began to train once more. The enormous phantom of a Turtle-Snake once more filled the entire training room. The Sloppy Daoist was like an ancient, primordial Fiendgod. He sat there quietly, meditating. …….. In the great Darknorth Sea, there was an Immortal island known as Goldcrow Island. The master of this island was referred to as Immortal Goldcrow; he was a truly mighty Void-level Earth Immortal. Although he had only reached the Void level a century ago, he had been famous for a long period of time. He had the lineage of the Golden Crow, and so although he was merely a Void-level Earth Immortal, he was close to Celestial Immortals in power. In the Darknorth Sea, there were countless powers who wanted to befriend him, but Immortal Goldcrow was solitary and did as he pleased. As someone with the lineage of the Golden Crows, and as a man with a strange temper who was quite bloodthirsty, there were very few powers who dared to antagonize him. Within Goldcrow Island. A golden-robed Immortal Goldcrow was seated at the front of a grand palace, expounding on the Dao. Before him were six young men and women who were listening reverently. These were the six major disciples of Immortal Goldcrow. During a pause in the expounding of the Dao, the eldest of the six disciples, a human, spoke out and asked, “Master, I heard that the Grand Xia Dynasty is about to hold the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Your disciple wishes to go; may I?” “You, with your level of power, plan to go to the Conclave of Immortal Destiny? Do you want to die?” Immortal Goldcrow responded calmly, but as soon as his words came out, his face suddenly changed.. This term ‘Xuanwu’literally translates as ‘Black Warrior’, but is also supposed to be, in Chinese mythology, either the name of the Black Tortoise/Turtle-Snake of the Four Beasts, or the Immortal whose pet is the Black Tortoise. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Immortal Goldcrow could sense a powerful beckoning coming from his subconscious, from deep in his soul. “Why do I suddenly have such a powerful premonition?” Immortal Goldcrow was stunned; as an Immortal cultivator, he placed a great deal of faith in his subconscious premonitions. “It seems as though this Conclave of Immortal Destiny will be very important to me…as though it is calling for me to attend…” “Master, your disciple isn’t that bad. If I truly am unable to win it, then I will immediately give up and admit defeat.” The senior disciple, unhappy, hurriedly added, “This Conclave of Immortal Destiny will see countless geniuses from this major world gather together. A chance like this will probably only come once in a lifetime.” Immortal Goldcrow, whose mind had been wandering, quickly returned to his senses. “Enough!” Immortal Goldcrow snapped with a frown, still seated at the front of the hall. “That little bit of talent you possess; you think that’s ‘not bad’? You have always stayed in a distant island and your experiences are very shallow. You’ve only heard of the Conclave; you have no idea how formidable the geniuses participating in the Conclave truly are. This is a report from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain regarding the previous Conclave; go ahead and read it.” As he spoke, he produced a book in his hand, then tossed it out. His senior disciple hurriedly caught it. “To enter the Conclave without having at least a bit of ability…you won’t even have a chance to admit defeat.” Immortal Goldcrow rose to his feet. Whoosh. He transformed into a rainbow, disappearing from their sight. “Eldest apprentice-brother, you angered Master.” “Eldest apprentice-brother, let me take a look at this book as well. How formidable are the participants of the Conclave?” The other junior apprentice-brothers and junior apprentice-sisters all crowded around as well. As for Immortal Goldcrow, he had already arrived within his own Immortal estate. This Immortal estate could not be carried away, but it had tremendous power. No one else was inside the estate. Immortal Goldcrow quickly entered a pavilion, within which sat a black-robed man. The black-robed man and Immortal Goldcrow appeared nearly identical; only, Immortal Goldcrow had a stronger and more bloodthirsty aura. “It seems as though the reason I had that premonition is because my true body is still at the peak Wanxiang level.” The black-robed man rose to his feet. “Although I have already had a stroke of great fortune, from my subconscious premonition…it seems as though this Conclave is going to be an extremely important one. I might be able to truly soar into the heavens at this Conclave.” “If I, Bu Yi, wish to become a Celestial Immortal, it seems that my chance will come through this Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” The black-robed man continued to mutter to himself. He had been the son of a fisherman. In his youth, he accompanied his father out to sea to catch fish, but because of a great storm, the waves had caused the ship to capsize. He had passed out, and by the time he had woken up, he had found out to his astonishment that he had entered an estate in the bottom of the sea. This was an estate left behind by a powerful predecessor, and was filled with many cultivation techniques, arts, divine abilities, and even some supreme visualization techniques, along with magic treasures and curious items. There had even been an amount of liquefied elemental essence which had accumulated over the course of years within the estate, forming a giant pond with at least five million kilograms. Amongst the various precious treasures, he had also discovered a Golden Crow’s egg. His youthful self had settled down in the estate, focusing on his training. Most likely, he had been a cultivator in his past life as well; his soul was innately powerful to begin with, and with the aid of the supreme visualization techniques, when his true body had reached the Wanxiang level, he had split his soul, using the created half to possess the Golden Crow’s egg. Afterwards, the egg had hatched, and the Golden Crow had been born. This Golden Crow had an extremely pure lineage; only after training to the Void level had he been able to transform into human shape. Over the course of many long years, Bu Yi had wandered the great Darknorth Sea, experiencing many lifeand-death dangers. Thanks to the Golden Crow Primaltwin body he had acquired thanks to his great stroke of fortune as a youth, he had managed to overcome those dangerous situations and profit from them. After his Primaltwin had experienced the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, he had decided to break through to become a Void-level Earth Immortal. He had more than two hundred years before the next calamity descended; for Bu Yi, this was more than enough time. “Although my Primaltwin’s body is that of a Golden Crow and is extremely powerful…” the black-robed Bu Yi shook his head. “But the body is a possessed one. I’m a human, whereas Golden Crows are monsters. Although I possessed the egg…I was at most able to complete a 70% or 80% fusion with it. Training to the Void level is most likely my limit. To overcome the tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal? There’s no hope at all!” Possessing a Golden Crow’s egg was a stroke of tremendous fortune. When he had been very weak and young, he hadn’t hesitated at all to make this choice. However, a Primaltwin acquired through possession wouldn’t be sufficiently well fused together, and becoming a Celestial Immortal was difficult to begin with. Even creatures such as a Golden Crow Godbird with exceedingly pure Golden Crow lineages would find it hard to overcome the Celestial Tribulation. He, whose soul and body had only fused 70% or 80%, had almost no chance of overcoming it at all. He knew this quite well. “I can sense that this Conclave of Immortal Destiny is a chance for me.” “I, Bu Yi, have roamed and dominated the Darknorth Seas. It has always been my Primaltwin, ‘Immortal Goldcrow’, who was famous. This time…my true body shall reveal its own brilliance as well at this Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” The black-robed Bu Yi felt tremendous eagerness. Three days later. Immortal Goldcrow gave instructions to his disciples to train hard, stating that he was going out for some wandering…and then quietly left, heading towards the imperial capital. ….. A small ship was flying through the misty clouds, atop which was a black-robed man seated in the lotus position, a sharp, saber-hacking aura emanating from him. “Eh?” The black-robed man suddenly opened his eyes. Previously, his eyes had been closed as he was meditating, but the Conclave of Immortal Destiny had suddenly come to his mind, and as it did, his subconscious began to whisper to him. “After bidding Master farewell, I began to rove through the various major worlds to adventure and train. This world of the Grand Xia Dynasty is already my ninth major world. I completely have no interest in this so-called ‘Conclave of Immortal Destiny’; after all, I apprenticed myself to Master long ago. But why is it that I suddenly have a feeling…as though I should go participate? It seems as though if I don’t go, I’ll miss something or will lose something.” The black-robed man was mystified. However, he didn’t doubt the premonitions of his subconscious. “If that’s the case…then I might as well make a trip to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia and participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. I want to see how formidable the geniuses of this major world are.” The black-robed man willed it, and the air around the small ship began to shimmer. It then disappeared completely; he had used a void teleportation technique to head directly towards the imperial capital. …… An ordinary tavern within a commandery city of the Grand Xia. A dirty-looking maiden was completely drunk, and there was even some straw in her hair. She continued to call out loudly, “More wine, quick, more wine!” 1917 “Miss, you’ve used up all your money already,” the tavern waiter hurriedly said. The dirty-looking maiden opened her eyes. “Used up?” “Listen up, all of you. I’ll let you guys hit or kick me as you please; I definitely won’t fight back at all. Buuut, you have to help me pay some money for wine. You don’t need to pay too much; just a gourd’s worth of wine is enough. Just let me fill up my gourd,” the dirty-looking maiden called out. “Beat you as I please?” Instantly, a newcomer was intrigued. “Heh, yet another poor bastard is going to fall for it.” “That gourd just won’t fill up no matter how you try.” Some of the regulars were secretly muttering to each other. The guest who had wanted to give her a kick for fun felt that something was off and immediately stopped himself. The dirty maiden, holding that gourd of wine, looked around herself. No one had come to hit her. “I’ll let you hit or kick me as you please. I definitely won’t fight back,” the dirty maiden called out. “…ugh. It seems I need to switch places again. I can’t swindle too much in a little place like this anyhow. Why don’t I go to a larger place…say, the imperial capital, the largest city of them all?” The maiden was suddenly stunned. Her blurry, drunken eyes suddenly grew clear. “The Conclave of Immortal Destiny?” She could feel a powerful call from it. Originally, in accordance with the way she trained her Dao, she shouldn’t have participated in the Conclave at all. But her subconscious premonition couldn’t be wrong. “As soon as I had the idea to go to the imperial capital, I immediately felt a strong premonition regarding the Conclave of Immortal Destiny…it seems as though I truly will have to go attend. Perhaps this Conclave of Immortal Destiny will be of help to me in overcoming the tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal. I’ve reincarnated nine times now…if I fail again, then I truly will have no more hope for the future.” Whoosh. The drunken woman suddenly disappeared from within the tavern. As for the ordinary mortals within the tavern, they didn’t notice anything at all. It was as though this maiden had never appeared in their midst before at all. …… The truly formidable figures who had secluded themselves throughout the vast Grand Xia Empire, including some truly peerless monsters who had originally disdained from attending the Conclave, all felt a call from their subconscious. All of them changed their minds, hastening towards the imperial capital. The imperial capital. King Yan’s Estate. Ji Ning’s Immortal estate. There was a lake in front of it, and atop the lake, there was a small ship. Ning was lying down in the middle of the ship, allowing it to drift where it pleased. Perhaps because he had grown into a habit of drifting on a boat at Serpentwing Lake, when Ning lay down in a boat and let it drift where it please, his soul felt exceptionally calm and empty. It was even often of benefit to him in pondering secret arts. “Young master Ji Ning.” A maidservant, standing at the side of the lake, called out. A handsome, slender fur-clad youth suddenly stood up from within the distant wooden boat. With a single step, he disappeared from the boat and reappeared on the shore. “Young master Ji Ning,” the maidservant said respectfully, “A group of people are at the royal estate and wish to meet you.” “Meet me? Who are they?” Ning asked. “They say…that they are your fellow disciples from your school, or something like that,” the maidservant said. Ning’s eyes lit up. He immediately transformed into a gust of wind, howling through the air as he disappeared. King Yan’s Estate’s front gate. A gust of wind blew past, and Ning appeared at the entrance. “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning!” A white-robed youth ran over excitedly. “Junior apprentice-brother Northson.” Ning, upon seeing his junior apprentice-brother, felt extraordinarily happy as well. The two of them clutched each other in a bear hug before letting go. Ning had long ago begun to view Northson as he would a true little brother. “Senior apprentice-brother, you truly are amazing. You actually produced a Primaltwin and even killed Immortal Floatcloud.” Northson was extraordinarily excited. “When I was in the Black-White College, I heard the news and was absolutely tickled. Hahaha, you killed Youngflame Nong and that Fiendgod, and then you caused even a Deathsworn sent out by the Youngflame clan to perish. Hehehe, I wonder how infuriated the Youngflame clan is right now?!” 1919 “Hopefully, they’ll die from their anger,” Ning said. And then he looked at the other three in front of him. “Senior apprentice-brother Vastriver, senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, and eldest apprenticebrother…why have you all come?” The figures in front of him were the Sloppy Daoist, Yu Wei, Vastriver, and Northson. Yu Wei laughed, “Both myself and our eldest apprentice-brother are participating in this Conclave. Senior apprentice-brother Vastriver and junior apprentice-brother Northson are here to watch. I imagine that once the Conclave truly begins, quite a few other disciples of the Black-White College will come to watch as well. After all, actual participants are quite few in number, but quite a few spectators will be present.” “Eldest apprentice-brother, you are attending as well?” Ning was surprised. When he had chatted with Yu Wei and the others about the Conclave, it seemed as though the only member of the Black-White College to attend would be Yu Wei. The others wouldn’t participate, and the leader of the third generation disciples, the Sloppy Daoist, wasn’t planning to attend either. “What should happen, will happen,” the Sloppy Daoist said with a laugh. “This time, our Black-White College will have a total of three participants in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, and eldest apprenticebrother. Our Black-White College is definitely going to be famous!” Northson was filled with anticipation. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mountain Yuchi Xiyue was also aware that Ji Ning’s fellow disciples had arrived, and she arranged a special banquet for them, inviting the disciples of the Black-White College to attend. …. On this very day. In the distant Stillwater Commandery. A giant warship, covered with flowery golden tattoos, was howling through the air, sending out waves of energy in its wake. Aboard the warship there was a large, tightly clustered group of Golden Imperials. Upon the deck, there were also nine blackarmored Captains of the Imperial Guard, each of whom emanated unfathomably mighty auras. “Snowdragon Mountain is up ahead,” a black-uniformed man said with a laugh. “Sorry to trouble you, fellow Daoist Skyfall,” one of the nine Golden Imperial captains said. “This is a small matter. It is the good fortune of myself, Northmont Skyfall, to be able to assist King Yan in handling this matter.” Skyfall spoke in a flattering manner, but in his heart, he sighed to himself. “Oh, Snowdragon Mountain…how could you be so foolish as to offend King Yan? Even though in the past King Yan was in dire straits, he still wasn’t someone which your puny little Snowdragon Mountain sect could afford to offend. This time, King Yan has sent nine full squads of Golden Imperials over. It seems as though he truly harbors hatred for Snowdragon Mountain. I wonder what exactly Snowdragon Mountain did to him in the past.” Yuchi Snow, Yuchi Mount; their deaths were caused principally by Dong Seven! Ning and Xiyue naturally hated the man deeply. King Yan knew how his granddaughter felt, and so immediately ordered nine squads of Golden Imperials to head towards Stillwater Commandery. He instructed them to first notify Stillwater Commandery’s Northmont clan of the following: “In the past, when our royal excellency was wandering the world, a feud arose between himself and Snowdragon Mountain. Today, we have come to annihilate Snowdragon Mountain; we’d like to ask the Northmont clan to permit this.” The Northmont clan’s response: Annihilate Snowdragon Mountain? A little clan which didn’t even have a single Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal? The Northmont clan naturally wouldn’t care about this matter. In addition, given how diplomatic King Yan was by first sending people to notify them, the Northmont clan immediately arranged for Northmont Skyfall to personally lead the way, bringing these Golden Imperials directly towards Snowdragon Mountain. “Here we are.” Skyfall pointed towards the area below them. Past the clouds, one could vaguely make out a long, winding mountain range, amongst which were three particularly imposing and tall mountain peaks that vastly surpassed the other three mountains. “Snowdragon Mountain?” The nine Imperial Guard captains looked down at the base, all nodding slightly. “First capture Dong Seven, then annihilate Snowdragon Mountain,” one of the captains said. BOOM! The warship immediately flew downwards, carrying boundless might and power as it soared directly towards the area above Snowdragon Mountain’s headquarters. This instantly caused a huge shock within Snowdragon Mountain; who would actually dare to have their warship halt directly above the school? This was too arrogant. “I wonder which fellow Daoist has arrived at Snowdragon Mountain?” Boom! Boom! Boom! Three figures soared into the skies; they were the three Primal Daoists of Snowdragon Mountain. Daoist Snowplume, Daoist Coldsun, and Daoist Blackdragon. Upon flying upwards, their gazes were immediately drawn to the eye-catching, golden-armored soldiers. The terrifying majesty and aura of power emanating from the soldiers caused their hearts to quail. However, upon seeing the black-uniformed Northmont Skyfall, Daoist Blackdragon hurriedly said, “Senior Skyfall, why have you come to our Snowdragon Mountain? If there’s anything you need, just summon us; we will simply go to you. There’s no need for you to personally make a trip.” “Senior Skyfall, might I ask why you have come to Snowdragon Mountain? If there is anything you need, just tell us; we will definitely strive to accomplish it,” Daoist Coldsun said hurriedly as well. All three Primal Daoists were extremely courteous. “Gentlemen?” Skyfall just looked at the nine Imperial Guard captains; all nine of them were Loose Immortals. “Found him.” The eyes of one of the captains lit up. Whoosh! He took a single step, then disappeared from his original location, reappearing inside the Snowdragon Mountain headquarters. In the blink of an eye, he suddenly flew back with a white-robed youth in tow. The white-robed youth’s face was ashen. His entire body was shaking in abject terror. “Dong Seven!” Daoist Coldsun called out in shock. “Grandpa, Grandpa!” The white-robed youth was utterly terrified. He hurriedly called out, “My Zifu has been destroyed, my Zifu has been destroyed!” Daoist Coldsun’s face instantly changed. A hint of rage was now visible, but he forced it down and said angrily, “Senior Skyfall, what’s this all about? Why have you led people here to apprehend disciples of Snowdragon Mountain? If Snowdragon Mountain has offended you in some way, just tell us; those who deserve to be punished will be. Snowdragon Mountain will definitely give you a satisfactory response.” “These aren’t my men.” Northmont Skyfall shook his head. “You really have no vision, have you? You aren’t even able to recognize the most formidable soldiers of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, the Golden Imperials!” “Golden Imperials?” Daoists Coldsun, Blackdragon, and Snowplume were all shocked. Imperial Guards? Even in Stillwater Commandery, Snowdragon Mountain was a fairly ordinary sect, located in a fairly distant location, without even a single Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal to their name. Naturally, they knew very little about the distant imperial capital. Although Daoist Blackdragon would occasionally make a visit to the imperial capital, he had never even seen an Imperial Guard, much less the elite ‘Golden Imperials’ of the Guard. When they saw the golden armor worn by the soldiers, they had taken them to be soldiers of the Northmont clan of Stillwater! “Generals,” Daoist Blackdragon said hurriedly, “If Snowdragon Mountain has acted offensively in some manner, please tell us.” Daoist Coldsun and Daoist Snowplume were terrified and restless as well. “We have come on orders to apprehend Dong Seven and wipe out Snowdragon Mountain,” one of the captains said coldly. “Apprehend Dong Seven? Wipe out Snowdragon Mountain?” Daoist Blackdragon and the other two felt as though thunderbolts had suddenly come crashing down out of the clear sky. Both were stupefied. Wipe out their school? Good, good heavens! Their school was one which had existed for a very long time. Everything had been perfectly fine; why had the Golden Imperials suddenly come to wipe them out? “Coldsun!” Daoist Blackdragon, upon seeing the captured Dong Seven, instantly understood what this was about. He stared at the nearby Daoist Coldsun, then roared furiously, “It is all your fault. You coddled Dong Seven! Dong Seven has harmed countless people in the outside world; even in our own school, he’s harmed quite a few of our female disciples. But you’ve always protected him! Dong Seven must have 1923 offended a powerful figure at some point, causing our Snowdragon Mountain to now face complete annihilation.” Daoist Coldsun’s face was completely ashen now as well. Daoist Snowplume begged, “Everyone, you can punish Dong Seven as you please. You can even have Snowdragon Mountain do whatever you wish us to do. Just, please give us a way out.” “Everyone.” The captain who had apprehended Dong Seven spoke out emotionlessly. “Let’s do it.” With this order given, the squads of Golden Imperials immediately began to fly out of the warship. “FORMATION! PROTECT THE MOUNTAIN!” Daoist Blackdragon let out an earsplitting bellow, and his voice rang out in the ears of every single disciple. “SEALS!” “SNOWDRAGON SKYSOAR FORMATION!” Every single formation and restrictive spell which the previous generations experts of Snowdragon Mountain had every created were instantly activated. One seal after another instantly appeared, hovering in the air. Clouds and mist appeared. One snowy white dragon after another began to appear as well, flying and weaving amidst the skies above the mountains. When a school unleashed all of its stored powers at once, even a Loose Immortal would find it difficult to break through the school. Rumble…. One divine golden dragon after another began to appear in the skies. There were a total of eight divine golden dragons, each of which was coiled and nearly ten thousand kilometers long, and emanated a majestic presence. It was true that ordinary Loose Immortals would find it difficult to break through Snowdragon Mountain’s headquarters…but a squad of Golden Imperials consisted of a Loose Immortal commanding forty nine Primal Daoists, all of whom were dressed in Dao-armor, and who joined together to form into a divine dragon! Their might was at the very least comparable to ten ordinary Loose Immortals! And here…there were nine squads! Rumble… The golden dragons coiled and writhed in the sky. A simple thwack from one of the tails caused all of the seals to explode and crack, bursting as if they were soap bubbles. The captain who had captured Dong Seven just watched from above. As for the other eight squads, they had all transformed into golden dragons and were launching attacks at the below Snowdragon Mountain. With absolute superiority in raw power…they smashed through every single grand sealing formation. As for the so-called bewildering formations? Every single divine dragon was ten thousand kilometers in length; a single trembling movement from them caused entire formations to break apart. “This, this…” Daoist Coldsun had led his own disciples to form into an enormous Snowdragon. But, upon seeing the might and power of the divine golden dragons, he was so terrified he didn’t even dare to go block. He was a Primal Daoist, leading a group of Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples in forming a Snowdragon…and he was supposed to fight against a divine dragon formed by a Loose Immortal leading forty nine Primal Daoists? They were on completely separate levels. The difference in power was just too great. “Oh, Dong Seven…who the hell did you offend…” Daoist Coldsun felt both fury and despair. “It’s finished.” Daoist Snowplume led his disciples to block, but at the very first exchange, more than half of his disciples perished and the Snowdragon was completely shattered. A look of despair appeared on Daoist Snowplume’s face. “Snowdragon Mountain is finished. Damn us…damn us for not being strict in carrying out the laws of the sect. Our disciples have caused harm everywhere, and in the end…they finally offended a powerful figure.” BOOM. Daoist Snowplume instantly blew apart, causing an enormous storm of elemental ki. He had chosen selfdetonation; this way, at least his soul would be able to reincarnate. ….. Daoist Snowplume self-detonated. Daoist Coldsun was killed. Daoist Blackdragon was killed. Every single mountain peak that belonged to Snowdragon Mountain was overturned. Under the majestic power of these eight divine dragons that were ten thousand kilometers in length, some parts were crushed down to form a lakebed, while other parts were flattened into plains. In short…not a single true mountain could now be seen. “This…this…” Dong Seven was completely stunned. “Fellow Daoist Skyfall, sorry for the trouble. We’ll head straight back to the imperial capital now.” “This was a small matter. Snowdragon Mountain offended King Yan; they invited annihilation upon themselves. They cannot blame anyone but themselves.” “Then we’ll leave now.” “Please do. I won’t send you off.” 1925 The group of Golden Imperials immediately led Dong Seven aboard their warship, then departed. As for Northmont Skyfall, he stared at the former Snowdragon Mountains, which had now been smashed into lakes and plains. He couldn’t help but shake his head. “A small sect like this…they weren’t strict in their rules, and their disciples harmed many. The karmic luck of the school would naturally continue to drop, until finally, one day, annihilation arrived. How utterly laughable…even the imperial clan of the Grand Xia erected the Raindragon Guard and sent them out to apprehend and execute sinners for the sake of improving their luck, but a small sect like this actually acted with such wild abandon.” Whoosh. Northmont Skyfall disappeared into thin air, teleporting away. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. King Yan’s Estate. The snow was drifting downwards right now as a group of Golden Imperials entered King Yan’s Estate. “Brothers, go get some rest, but keep an eye on that Dong Seven. I’m going to go report to the Princess right now,” a captain said, then immediately went to go see her. Within a wide, spacious hall. A banquet had been prepared here. Ning and Xiyue were currently accompanying Northson and the others, watching the snow while eating and chatting together. “Reporting to the Princess,” the captain said respectfully as he appeared, “We’ve caught him.” Ning and Xiyue both looked at the captain, and as they did, both were breathless. Upon hearing the words, “We’ve caught him”, both of them couldn’t help but rise to their feet. “Everyone, Ji Ning and I have something to attend to. We’ll return shortly,” Yuchi Xiyue said immediately. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. A dark, gloomy room. There were many instruments of punishment located in this room. In the center, there was a punishment rack, atop which was bound a terrified, pathetic-looking white-robed youth. “This, this…” Dong Seven stared at the punishment instruments, face utterly ashen. “Who is it? Who exactly did I offend?” Dong Seven was absolutely horrified. “They actually annihilated Snowdragon Mountain.” His previous arrogant demeanor had completely vanished, leaving behind nothing but terror. The soldiers in the corner of the room just watched quietly. Suddenly… Rumble…the stone door swung open, and a woman walked in alongside a fur-clad youth. This caused Dong Seven to feel even more uneasy. He didn’t recognize these two at all. “Princess.” The soldier on guard called out with respect. “You can leave,” Yuchi Xiyue instructed. “Yes.” The soldier immediately departed, and the stone door once more swung shut. Yuchi Xiyue and Ji Ning both stared at the terrified, pathetic man bound atop the rack. These two cousins had long ago repeatedly reviewed the intelligence reports regarding Dong Seven. His appearance had been deeply engraved in both their hearts. “Dong Seven!” Ning’s eyes flashed with coldness. “It was you. It was you. It was you who destroyed my family, who killed my father and caused my mother to die of depression as well.” Xiyue’s eyes instantly turned red. She picked up a large ladle, filled with a bubbling, hot silver liquid, then flicked it towards Dong Seven. Crackle… The blazing silver liquid splattered on Dong Seven’s body. Dong Seven instantly emitted a miserable wail, and his neck stretched out as his agonized cries rang out. His face was as white as paper. After he somewhat came back to his senses, he pitifully cried out, “Mercy, mercy!” Ning’s eyes were red as well. Everything…everything had been a result of this wayward, hedonistic wastrel. This detestable person, this vile little creature who he, Ji Ning, now only looked down upon! But 1927 this detestable little creature had caused Ning’s parents as well as his cousin’s parents to all die early on. A feud of familicide…he could not live under the same skies with this man! “It hurts, it hurts! Mercy!” Dong Qi screamed miserably. “Hurts?” Ning picked up a blazing branding iron-type magic treasure and walked over. “That was just the start. Dong Seven, don’t be in such a rush. Slowly enjoy this.” “No, no, no no no—!” Dong Seven felt his own heart quiver. He began to scream miserably once more…but protective formations covered this punishment room, and no one outside could hear him at all. Ning heated up this branding iron-type magic treasure, filling it with his elemental ki. Instantly, a crackling sound could be heard as he pressed it down against the tattered body of Dong Seven. Smoke and steam arose. After he moved the branding iron away, he saw that Dong Seven’s skin now had the diagram of a flame branded into it, a brand which quietly activated the power of the natural world. “AHHH!! It hurts, it hurts!” Dong Seven’s entire body was quivering. That brand diagram seemed to be causing his entire body to burn, and this sensation of being burned to death repeatedly nearly caused him to mentally collapse. The nearby Xiyue said coldly, “Don’t worry. These are all instruments of punishment used by the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. You’ve only tasted two types so far. I won’t let you die that easily. I’ve prepared many fine spirit-pills. I’ll heal you repeatedly and let you taste the more than ten thousand types of corporal punishment the Grand Xia Dynasty has to offer. I’ll let you learn what pain is, what regret is!” Dong Seven, upon hearing this, nearly broke down. Ten thousand types of punishment? The first two had already nearly driven him to insanity. “How the hell did I offend you two? What the hell did I do? You must have the wrong person!” Dong Seven was almost crying now. Rumble…the stone door was once more pushed open. From outside padded in a large, snowy white hound. The stone door then shut once more. “Do you still recognize me?” Savagery was in the eyes of the Whitewater Hound as he stared at Dong Seven. “Whitewater Hound?” Dong Seven was stunned. Deep in his memories, a scene from decades ago began to replay. A scene with a tall, muscular man and a loving couple; the wife was pregnant and truly beautiful, with a rare and noble aura. Her pregnancy just added a strange mystique to her charm…and Dong Seven had been incredibly aroused. And so, he had ordered Yu Dong and Shui Yi to make their moves. “You remember now?” Ning said coldly. “That couple back then…they were my mother and father.” 1928 “The one that was killed by your group back then was my father.” Xiyue began to grow even more crazed. Her father had absolutely doted on her when she was a child. His wide, mountain-like shoulders…his loud laughter…his repeated appearances in her dreams… He was her most beloved father…and she had been her kind and gentle man… Ning and Xiyue both stared at Dong Seven. Dong Seven felt coldness in the bottom of his heart. “It was you who killed Shui Yi and Yu Dong?” Dong Seven said quaveringly. “Right.” Ning nodded. “And now, it is time for you. The principal instigator.” “My cousin was far too gentle; he simply used the Heartburner Art to torment those two.” Xiyue was gnashing her teeth. “Those two died, so that’s that…but as for you, the main culprit? I’m going to let you taste all of the ten thousand-plus punishments the Grand Xia has to offer. When the time comes for you to die, I will absorb your soul into the Furnace of Despair. I am going to torture your soul, every day and every night, for thousands of years…” Dong Seven’s gaze grew numb as he listened. Ning looked at his nearby cousin. Although he felt tremendous hatred as well, and also wanted to torture and shatter this man’s soul…compared to his cousin, he was far off. “Cousin, it’s enough for you to torment his soul for ten days and ten nights,” Ning sent mentally, his eyes red. “There’s no need for you to steep your soul in hatred for thousands of years for the sake of this piece of trash.” Torturing Dong Seven for thousands of years would also mean that Yuchi Xiyue would be steeped in hatred for thousands of years. Torturing others was a form of tormenting one’s self as well. “The seeds of my hatred are deep. Little brother, don’t worry about me.” Xiyue’s gaze had become twisted from madness. As Ning had grown up, he had been taught by his parents for more than ten years, then taught by Immortal Diancai as well. He also had his good friend, Mu Northson; thus, Ning’s inner heart had never become twisted. As for Xiyue, however…after her parents had died, she had lived by herself and suffered tremendously. She didn’t wish to think back to her days of suffering, but even after being brought back by her maternal grandfather to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, she remained quite solitary. Only in front of her cousin would her heart feel slightly warm. ….. Dong Seven died an agonizing death. After having been tortured for three months and perishing, his soul was indeed drawn into the ‘Furnace of Despair’ and tormented for more than another month. In the end…it had been King Yan who intervened. Although Princess Xiyue kept the Furnace of Despair on her own person at all times, and although there was no way an ordinary person could kill a soul that was located with a magic treasure…King Yan could. He destroyed Dong Seven’s soul. “Ji Ning, spend more time with Xiyue. She’s given vent to her hatred for nearly half a year now; she should be about done. If she continues like this, then she will completely lose herself to madness. Spend more time with her; this will help her slowly begin to walk out from the grips of hate.” King Yan personally chatted with Ning on this, and Ning naturally memorized these words. Deep autumn. In the deepest reaches of the skies above the imperial capital, there was a hazy gray void. Whoosh…the dim gray void suddenly parted, revealing an enormous corridor which was filled with a hazy golden light. A large number of black soldiers flew out in columns, and behind them there was a group of blackarmored warriors that were riding on celestial horses. Behind the riders, there was an enormous coiling black dragon whose incomparably powerful aura filled the skies. It was pulling an enormous Immortal carriage that emanated golden light. There were golden lamps hanging from the Immortal carriage, and seated atop it was a black-robed man. This black-robed man had a plain, unassuming face. His eyes, however, seemed to hold thunder within them. Wherever his gaze passed, the world itself seemed about ready to split apart. His might and prestige caused the surrounding soldiers to feel absolute submission in their trembling hearts. Behind this Immortal carriage, there was a group of black-armored soldiers who were seated obediently within a warship. This warship was three hundred meters long, but it was much smaller than the Immortal carriage. It must be understood that the black dragon was more than thirty kilometers long…and the Immortal carriage was roughly the same size as the black dragon. Whoosh. The Emperor was out and about, with 999 guards escorting him. This squad flew downwards, flying directly towards the Skylight Palace. Amidst the clouds at the highest point of the Skylight Palace, a large group of Immortal maidens and soldiers were already waiting. They all fell to their knees. Each of them were at least at the Primal Daoist level…but for them to be able to serve the Grand Xia Emperor was their fortune. “We bow to you, your Imperial Majesty.” A muscular, two-headed Fiendgod was the first to immediately kneel down and call out the words. Instantly, the other Immortal maidens and soldiers all knelt down as well. “We bow to you, your Imperial Majesty.” The black dragon pulled the Immortal carriage downwards. The many black-armored soldiers that were escorting the carriage all quickly separated, moving to stand in different positions. “Mm.” The black-robed man left the Immortal carriage. With but two steps, he arrived at the nearby imperial throne, then sat down. He looked downwards at them from his position on high, then instructed, “Send an order out to have King Qi come.” “Yes.” The twin-headed Fiendgod immediately obeyed the order. The black-robed man continued to sit there on the throne. He swept his gaze forward, seeming to stare through the layers of clouds and be able to inspect everything within the imperial capital. He sat there on high. This was the Emperor of this major world…the one who had truly, absolutely unified it! However, he had set his sights on the Three Realms long ago. He rarely came back to spend time in this major world of the Grand Xia. “A few decades ago, the Netherworld Kingdom of the Three Realms suffered an attack. The Six Paths of Reincarnation were collapsed and destroyed…and then the attackers suddenly vanished without a trace.” The black-robed Emperor mused softly to himself, “The Netherworld…that is where the souls of the Three Realms reside. How important it is! The defenses there are very tight. The Yama-Kings of the Ten Halls and the Lord of Cui Palace are all Pure Yang True Immortals, and each of them are formidable.” “Kshitigarbha 1, of the Buddhist schools, stands guard there as well. The Netherworld has some other ancient fellows there as well…it is a place of tremendous power, but upon suffering a sneak attack, it wasn’t able to fight back at all. In a very short period of time, the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed…and they haven’t even been able to find out who caused it or where the attackers came from. Even someone like Master was unable to find out.” “These forces which lie in the shadows…they are terrifying powerful. And their very first attack was against the Six Paths of Reincarnation.” “It seems…the Three Realms are about to fall into a state of chaos.” The black-robed Emperor had a look of deep worry within his eyes. When a tribulation came for the Three Realms as a whole, it would be incredibly terrifying. In the unfathomably ancient past, after Pangu established the world, the first era had been the Primordial era. Afterwards, the Primordial World had been shattered; only then had the three thousand major worlds and the trillions of smaller worlds been created. From this, one could tell how terrifying that storm had been. “Every single major cataclysm will give birth to some truly supreme heroic figures.” The black-robed Emperor stared downwards towards the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. As the saying went, heroes were born in the midst of chaos. All of the powerful figures of the Three Realms had been born over the course of the truly major tribulations of the past. “This will be the first Conclave of Immortal Destiny after the destruction of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Then…most likely, some of those heroic figures that are going to emerge in this era will first appear in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny,” the black-robed Emperor mused to himself… 1. This is the bodhisattva who swore that he would only become a Buddha after emptying out all the hells of their sinners through enlightening mankind. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “My imperial Xiamang clan is the successor to and has the bloodline of the imperial ‘Xia clan’ of the Primordial World of Pangu. We long ago unified this major world and have cultivated it for countless years. I then apprenticed myself to Master, who once said…in terms of strength of karmic luck, the major world of the Grand Xia Dynasty ranks as number one amongst the tens of major worlds under his control. With so much karmic luck present here, the upcoming tremors that are going to give birth to some peerless heroes will very likely give birth to them right here, in the world of the Grand Xia!” The blackrobed Emperor was pondering this matter. “Master is someone who mastered a Heavenly Dao. Even in the Three Realms, he is one of the most absolutely supreme of major powers…but even he is worried about the major storm that is going to sweep the Three Realms…if I am careless, the imperial clan of the Grand Xia might be wiped out.” He knew very well that his master was one of the truly supreme powers of the Three Realms, with tens of major worlds that completely obeyed his orders. The Grand Xia’s world was just one of them. As for the Celestial Emperor? The Celestial Emperor was nothing more than a person who was in charge of administrating and managing some of the rules of the Three Realms. In terms of power and authority, the Celestial Emperor wasn’t that much higher than the Grand Xia Emperor, much less his master. Only individuals on the level of his master were hegemons who truly governed the destiny of the Three Realms. In the past, when there had been some disturbances in the Three Realms, quite a few Celestial Emperors had been appointed. Who would be the Celestial Emperor? This was something that would be decided by the supreme experts on his master’s level. “If even someone like Master is worried, then his disciples, such as myself, have a very high chance of falling. I must be absolutely cautious, as careful as I can.” The black-robed Emperor had lived from the era of the Primordial World until this era; in the past, he had led his tribe from the Primordial World and relocated to this world, later known as the world of the ‘Grand Xia Dynasty’. He had battled against the local Fiendgods and the other tribes before finally unifying the world. He wasn’t an easy person to deal with! He knew exactly what needed to do in order to survive a major cataclysm. “I need to befriend even more experts of the Three Realms. It would be ideal if some of them were willing to put themselves under my command. My luck would improve significantly if they did.” 1933 “During this Conclave of Immortal Destiny, I imagine that future experts of the Three Realms will be born.” The black-robed Emperor’s eyes were hooded. Suddenly…from afar, a figure appeared atop the clouds. This man was dressed in long yellow robes that were embroidered with the image of a Raindragon. His face was round, with soft lines, but his eyes were like the stars themselves. He…was King Qi! A Celestial Immortal! “I bow before you, your Imperial Majesty,” King Qi said, bowing respectfully. “King Qi, have any major matters occurred during this period of time when I was gone?” The black-robed Emperor asked. Normally, it was the Emperor’s clansmen and senior officials who managed the major affairs of the empire; only the truly major matters would be reported to the Emperor. “Your Imperial Majesty, you already know that King Yan has become a Celestial Immortal. As for other matters…nothing major has occurred. Everything in the Grand Xia Dynasty is rather peaceful,” King Qi said respectfully. The death of Youngflame Nong? Forget about the next Godplume Duke; even if the current Godplume Duke died, it would be a petty, minor matter that was not worth mentioning to the Emperor. But of course, if a Celestial Immortal like Patriarch Arcanum perished, it would be worth reporting. “Mm.” The black-robed Emperor nodded. “There are a few months left before the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Have you heard any unusual news regarding this Conclave?” “The Conclave?” King Qi was startled. The Conclave of Immortal Destiny was carried out every three centuries. For short-lived Immortal cultivators, this was something that happened only once in a lifetime, but for someone as exalted as the Grand Xia Emperor…the Emperor had lived for so incomparably long that for him, the tricentennial Conclave was quite a ordinary, regular event. He might spend ten thousand years in a single closed-door meditation session; he normally wouldn’t pay any attention to the Conclave. It would be his subordinates, the Celestial Immortals, who would spend a bit of time on it. For Celestial Immortals to officiate over it was already putting it on a very high pedestal. “If I must point out something unusual regarding this Conclave of Immortal Destiny…” King Qi pondered for a moment as he thought about an intelligence report that had been delivered to him by the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, then said, “I suppose there is something. In past Conclaves, some of the truly proud and peerless geniuses would disdain from attending…but all of the extremely famous peerless geniuses are attending this time. In terms of quality, the competitors in this Conclave should be exceptionally high.” 1934 Peerless geniuses wouldn’t necessarily take part in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Because of their own personality, characters, and training techniques, quite a few would not attend. For example, the Sloppy Daoist had originally not been planning to attend at all. “Oh?” The black-robed Emperor nodded lightly. Indeed; the signs were all there. Luck, the invisible intrinsic, was beginning to gather. This Conclave of Immortal Destiny was going to be one of the places where karmic luck would gather. Those peerless geniuses would innately be drawn to attend, because the most outstanding of them would gain the blessing of even more luck, allowing their future potential to be limitless. “I shall personally host this Conclave of Immortal Destiny,” the black-robed Emperor said. “Persona–” King Qi said, astonished, “The Conclave happens every three centuries; it isn’t that important. Your Imperial Majesty, you are going to personally host it? The black-robed Emperor nodded. “Yes. I shall personally host it, and I am going to increase the rewards for this Conclave a hundredfold as well.” “A hundredfold?” King Qi’s heart shook. In the past, only the top three competitors of the Conclave would be bestowed an Immortal-ranked magic treasure. Then this time…? “Spread my command to the various marquisates and the major schools and sects of the world,” the black-robed Emperor said calmly. “Tell them that I am paying close attention to this Conclave, and that I will personally officiate over it. Have the various marquisates, schools, and sects all arrange for their most supremely talented disciples to attend this Conclave.” “Command?” King Qi was even more speechless. The question of participation was generally a matter of personal choice. “King Qi, you should know about the major upheavals that occurred in the Netherworld Kingdom a few decades ago, yes?” The black-robed Emperor looked at King Qi. “I do. Of course I know about the collapse of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. But what does this have to do with the Conclave of Immortal Destiny…?” King Qi had some vague premonitions, but because his vision was limited to this major world, he didn’t truly understand. In his heart, however, he understood that most likely it was the prior upheavals in the Netherworld Kingdom which caused the Emperor to pay such attention to this Conclave. If that was the case, then he definitely could not be negligent. “I’ll send your commands right away,” King Qi immediately said. “Good. Arrange for the opening ceremony of the Conclave to be on the sixteenth of the first lunar month,” the black-robed Emperor ordered. “Yes,” King Qi acknowledged. ….. Soon, the news that his Imperial Majesty the Grand Xia Emperor was going to personally host this Conclave of Immortal Destiny and was ordering the various marquisates, schools, and sects to arrange for their most elite of disciples to participate quickly spread from the imperial capital to the entirety of this major world. The countless marquises of this vast world, as well as the major powers located in the boundless seas, all received the Emperor’s commands! “The Emperor is going to personally officiate?” “The last time the Emperor officiated a Conclave of Immortal Destiny was back when the revolting Dong’e clan and the other clans were annihilated. That was already countless years ago…and the only time that he officiated before that was the during the very first Conclave. Why is the Emperor going to host the Conclave of Immortal Destiny this time?” All of the marquises, major schools, and major sects were all uneasy. They weren’t worried about the deaths of their Wanxiang Disciples; even if all of them perished, that would simply mean that there would be a gap at a certain level of experts for a few centuries, after which new geniuses would have arisen. What they were worried about was what the Emperor was planning. This was the Emperor who controlled the destiny of this entire major world! He was going to personally officiate, and had send commands to them…the hidden meaning behind this was extraordinary. “Patriarch, it was the Emperor who officiated over the very first Conclave of Immortal Destiny; he also officiated the Conclave that occurred after the revolting Dong’e clan was wiped out. This will be only the third time the Emperor is personally hosting the Conclave…there must be a reason behind it.” “Enough. Don’t trouble yourself about it. How can someone like you possibly comprehend the thoughts of someone as exalted as his Imperial Majesty? Even if he ordered all of the younger geniuses in our clan to go die, we would still obey. Arrange for the top three Wanxiang Disciples of the younger generation in our clan to go attend this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. As for the others…let them do as they please.” …… “Summon the three Sacred Childs. They are to prepare to join the Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” “Yes, Sacred Master.” …… “The five highest ranked disciples of our school, Heaven’s Equal, are all required to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. As for the others, they can do as they please.” 1936 “Yes, Supreme One.” …… Not a single one of the many powerful forces of the world of the Grand Xia dared to disobey. Those who received the orders were all at least on the level of the Northmont clan of Stillwater. As for the likes of the Black-White College? They weren’t even qualified to receive these orders. Another winter had arrived. The sun shone down on the accumulated snow, making it gleam brightly. Ji Ning, Yuchi Xiyue, Yu Wei, Mu Northson, Adept Vastriver, and the Sloppy Daoist were all together, drinking Immortal nectar, eating seafood, and chatting casually. “The order has already come down from within the imperial citadel,” Xiyue said with a laugh. “The date of this Conclave has been set down as the sixteenth of the first lunar month. A little more than a month remains now.” Every single Conclave was hosted during the first lunar month. “I was wandering the imperial capital the other day, and when I was eating, I heard people next to me chatting. They said that three of the nine top-ranked disciples of their school had arrived, and that various other figures from other schools had arrived as well. It seems as though very many geniuses are participating this time.” Northson, holding a beasthead goblet of wine, spoke quite excitedly. “From the intelligence reports I purchased from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, I can see that one batch after another of geniuses are gathering here at the imperial capital,” Yu Wei said solemnly. Xiyue said with a laugh, “It seems as though you don’t know enough of the inner details; in reality, it will be his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor himself, who will personally officiate over this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. The various schools, sects, and marquisates are all naturally sending their most talented geniuses over, in the hopes of ingratiating themselves with his Imperial Majesty.” “His Imperial Majesty is personally officiating?” Ning, Yu Wei, and the Sloppy Daoist were all surprised. “Actually, all of the marquisates know about this matter, and I imagine some of the peerless geniuses of the various schools know as well. However, they don’t dare to casually discuss this with others,” Xiyue said. “I’m letting you know now, but don’t let others know.” “Of course.” Ning and the others were still in a state of shock. The Grand Xia Emperor? The person who unified this entire major world? Someone who stood at the true peak of this land? Ning and the others couldn’t help but feel even more eager now. As time flowed out, more and more geniuses arrived at the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. In fact, there were some people who originally hadn’t planned to come, but decided to hurry over specifically because they heard that a truly staggering number of geniuses was attending this Conclave. Time passed in the blink of an eye…and it was now the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The day was just beginning. The Wanxiang Adepts who were scattered in residences throughout the imperial capital, as well as the 3600 marquises and their entourages, were all floating towards the imperial citadel. “So many people.” Ji Ning, Yu Wei, and the Sloppy Daoist were currently flying together shoulder-toshoulder on a cloud towards the imperial capital. “Junior apprentice-brother, where are the others?” The Sloppy Daoist seemed to have just woken up. He asked, puzzled, “Why haven’t junior apprentice-brother Vastriver and the others shown up?” Ning laughed, “Junior apprentice-brother Northson and senior apprentice-brother Vastriver have gone to go join with the main delegation from Stillwater Commandery. His Imperial Majesty is personally officiating over this Conclave, and delegations have come from all 3600 commanderies to pay their respects to his Imperial Majesty. They have to be alongside the Stillwater delegation; otherwise, they won’t even be able to enter the imperial citadel.” “Oh.” The Sloppy Daoist nodded, now understanding. “I thought anyone who wanted to go watch could just go in and watch.” “Senior apprentice-brother, all you ever do is train. You should at least read some of the intelligence reports,” Yu Wei said helplessly. “How can just anyone come and watch the Conclave of Immortal Destiny? Do you think the imperial citadel is just a place anyone can enter?” “Well, I’m always in closed-door training, so…” the Sloppy Daoist scratched his head, grinning. Ning explained, “There are three types of people who are entering the imperial citadel today. The first type consists of Wanxiang Adepts like us; because we are going to risk our lives in battle, we can just go in directly. The second type consists of the delegations that are led by the various marquises who are going to go pay their respects to his Imperial Majesty. The third type consists of the likes of Celestial Immortals, such as King Yan, who can take Princess Xiyue directly into the citadel. As for others? There might be some exceptional, powerful figures who can enter the citadel, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.” The Sloppy Daoist nodded in understanding. Right at this moment, as they were speaking, Ning’s group had flown through the clouds and arrived at a large street. In the distance, they could see those four massive Fiendgods that were thirty thousand meters tall who were guarding the gates to the imperial citadel. Whoooooosh. One squad after another of Immortal cultivators flew past, either in groups of two or three, or in giant delegations. All of them were flying towards the imperial citadel. However, the gates to the imperial citadel remained shut. Soon, Ning’s group arrived as well, and they landed. “So many people.” The Sloppy Daoist looked around at his surroundings. A vast, tightly packed cluster of more than a hundred thousand individuals had already gathered outside the imperial citadel. Some were here to participate in the Conclave, but most were here to spectate. A steady, unbroken stream of Immortal cultivators continued to descend from the heavens. “We might as well wait patiently. When the nine gongs ring out, the citadel gates will open,” Ning said. …… They waited for nearly two hours. The Golden Crow had already risen high into the sky, and the light of the sun shone down upon the entire imperial capital. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Nine consecutive gongs rang out. The sound was melodious, seeming to come down from the Nine Heavens, causing the million-plus individuals who had gathered outside the imperial citadel to all quiet down. RUUUMBLE! The tall gates of the imperial citadel suddenly swung open. The four massive Fiendgods stared down at the million-plus humans. One of them, a fire-spewing, fire-skinned Fiendgod, spoke out: “Wanxiang Adepts who wish to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, you can now enter the imperial capital. If you enter, then you must participate in the Conclave; there will be no chance to change your mind. You may now enter!” Instantly, with a series of whooshes, a vast locust swarm of figures all began to fly towards the imperial citadel’s gates, blocking out the skies as they did so. “How many people is this?!” The Sloppy Daoist’s eyes were completely round. “Normally, each Conclave of Immortal Destiny will generally have twenty or thirty thousand competitors,” Ning said with a laugh. “In this Conclave…since his Imperial Majesty is personally hosting it, this Conclave is extraordinarily special, and I estimate that there should be roughly a hundred thousand or so.” Much of this information had come to Ning via his cousin. “On average, each commandery has sent thirty individuals?” The Sloppy Daoist pondered on this. “It seems as though 99% of the formidable elites of the world have all come.” 1940 “This Conclave of Immortal Destiny is different from normal ones,” Yu Wei said. As they flew into the imperial capital, they saw a wide, spacious thoroughfare. “Those who shall participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, follow me!” A deep, booming voice shook the heavens. Up ahead, a squad of Imperial Guards had appeared in midair, and they were guiding the way. They followed the wide thoroughfare and quickly arrived at an incomparably vast plaza. This plaza was so large that one couldn’t see to the end of it with the naked eye alone. It was paved with pitch-black stones, and the pavestones were all covered with incomparably complicated runes. The runes covered the entire plaza, causing it to emanate a terrifying, heart-freezing aura. “Those who shall participate in the Conclave are all to wait in this region,” the Imperial Guards up ahead instructed. Almost none of these geniuses and talents from around the world had ever been in the imperial capital. They were all rather awestruck, and they behaved obediently, all moving towards the designated region. Whoosh! The Imperial Guards quickly split apart, forming a perimeter that completely surrounded the region. They stood there with blank faces, not moving at all. These Imperial Guards also knew that today, his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, was going to be personally hosting the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. It was rare for Imperial Guards like them to encounter his Imperial Majesty; how could they not be extremely earnest and serious today? “I imagine that this plaza is at least ten thousand kilometers wide.” The chubby Sloppy Daoist lowered his heads, inspecting the runes. “And it contains an extremely terrifying formation, one that vastly surpasses any I have ever sensed.” “Right.” Yu Wei had a solemn look on her face as well as she carefully inspected the plaza. The voice of the giant yellow bear rang out in Ning’s mind. “It seems as though the roots of this Grand Xia Dynasty of yours are actually quite deep. Based on what I can tell from the runic formations covering this plaza…it should be a single formation-diagram! This formation-diagram was formed from the linkage of more than three Pure Yang magic treasures, and more than a thousand Immortal-ranked magic treasures. With but a thought, the Grand Xia Emperor could probably activate this titanic formation, formed from all those treasures. A formation formed from so many treasures…it should be a vast formation designed to safeguard his headquarters, and also to safeguard this entire major world of yours. Formidable, formidable. Incredible! I imagine that even most Pure Yang True Immortals are unable to lay such a grand formation; the person who laid out this world-guarding formation is absolutely one of the truly top powers of the Three Realms, most likely on par with Master himself!” 1941 “What?!” Ning was shocked. Comparable with Daoist Threelives? A formation which even most Pure Yang True Immortals would not be able to establish? A world-guarding formation? Meant to protect this entire major world? What Ning didn’t know…was that the guess of the spirit of the underwater estate was absolutely correct. Although this ancient world-guarding formation hadn’t been established by the master of the Grand Xia Emperor, and had instead been set up by another major power who was equivalent to him in power…it was indeed meant to protect this entire major world, and the headquarters of the Grand Xia Dynasty. “If the Emperor of your Grand Xia is a Pure Yang True Immortal…with a formation like this at his back, there are extremely few figures in the entirety of the Three Realms who can do anything to him at all. The major powers who are capable of acting against him, upon seeing the world-guarding formation, would probably give face to the major power who set up the formation and stay their hands.” The giant yellow bear said. “Formidable, formidable! The background of your Grand Xia Emperor is truly exceptional. He lives up to his reputation as someone capable of controlling an entire major world.” The spirit of the underwater estate was tremendously experienced; at a single glance, he could tell how extraordinary the Grand Xia Emperor’s background was. “Then would his Imperial Majesty be able to discover your presence?” Ning asked. “Don’t worry at all. Even the supreme major power who set up this formation would at most notice something unique about the underwater estate, but they can forget about trying to spy inside it. This is, after all, the treasure which Master poured all of his efforts into as his legacy.” The giant yellow bear was extremely confident. Ning nodded. …. Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Ning and all of the other Wanxiang Adept participants of the Conclave all turned to look. One delegation after another, in absolute perfect formation, came flying over. They came over methodically, clearly understanding quite a bit about the rules of propriety. By contrast, Ning and the other geniuses had all flown in like a horde of locusts. “3600 commanderies, and the four seas…” Ning could immediately tell that all of these delegations were split up by commanderies. The delegations all flew in, then settled down onto the plaza. “Stillwater Commandery.” Yu Wei pointed towards the distance. Ning and the Sloppy Daoist both looked over. The Stillwater delegation was led by a tall, skinny, black-robed man. His aura was heroic and majestic, and his bearing was extraordinary as well. It was the Marquis of Stillwater. Behind him was a group of Northmont clansmen. Amongst them, Ning noticed Northmont Baiwei, who was obediently following within the crowd. Behind them were ten-plus individuals from the Black-White College, as well as representatives from the Dragonhunter clan, the Bluewood clan, and the other major clans of Stillwater Commandery. The entire Stillwater delegation consisted of at least hundreds of individuals. The delegations from the 3600 commanderies and the four seas all landed in perfect unison. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! One figure after another now began to soar in through the skies. “Cousin.” Ning could see that the figures who were flying through the skies included King Yan, who had led Xiyue directly into the skies and through the clouds. “Is that junior apprentice-sister Ninelotus?!” The Sloppy Daoist called out in surprise. Ning saw her as well. Ninelotus was currently flying through the skies alongside a blue-robed man. Ning had heard his cousin speak of this as well…only Celestial Immortals were allowed to fly directly into the main hall of the Skylight Palace and go see the Grand Xia Emperor. The others actually wouldn’t even have a chance to see him at all. Celestial Immortals were permitted to bring two followers with them, and so the blue-robed man should be a Celestial Immortal. As Ning lifted his head, Ninelotus looked downwards with a searching gaze as well. Suddenly, their gazes intersected. A familiar yet strange feeling resonated between their hearts. Both of them couldn’t help but look away. ……. The highest point of the main hall of the Skylight Palace. The Grand Xia Emperor, dressed in black robes, was seated on high atop his throne. The individuals below him were divided into two columns, all standing. Those standing closest to the Grand Xia Emperor were naturally the Celestial Immortals and Kings of the Xiamang clan, while those towards the rear consisted of the Celestial Immortals from other parts of the Grand Xia Empire. Although technically speaking, there had been no order for the Celestial Immortals to all attend as well, many of them were quite keen and sharp; they, too, sensed that there was something strange with the fact that the Grand Xia Emperor was going to personally officiate over this Conclave, and so quite a few of them had hurried over as well. At a glance, one could see nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals who stood there before the Emperor. “We bow in respect to you, your Imperial Majesty.” King Qi led the first respectful salute. Instantly, all the other Celestial Immortals bowed as well. As for the followers who had accompanied the Celestial Immortals, they all fell to their knees. In this moment… Every single individual present on the vast plaza located far below the Skylight Palace, be it the hundred thousand-plus geniuses who were participating in the Conclave or the million-plus members of the delegations from the 3600 commanderies and four seas…they all knelt down in unison, kowtowing and pressing their foreheads against the ground. In unison, they called out: “WE BOW IN RESPECT TO YOU, YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY!” The sound echoed like thunder, shaking the entire world. “ARISE!” The voice of the Grand Xia Emperor shook the world as well. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mountains and Rivers The black-robed Emperor, seated at the highest point of the main hall of the Skylight Palace, spoke out. “King Qi.” “Your Imperial Majesty,” King Qi immediately acknowledged. “Announce the rules for this Conclave,” the black-robed Emperor instructed. “Yes.” King Qi immediately flew out of the main hall. He stood atop a cloud, staring downwards as his voice echoed out within the heavens. “This Conclave of Immortal Destiny has a total of 109,362 participants!” His voice rang out clearly, echoing in skies. More than nine thousand kilometers below him, the Wanxiang Adepts of the Grand Xia Empire as well as other major worlds all listened carefully. “More than 109,000?” Ning’s eyebrows twitched. Although he could clearly calculate the number of people present through a simple sweep of his divine sense…this was the imperial citadel, and the Grand Xia Empire was seated directly above them. No one dared to wildly spread out their divine sense to investigate the place. The voice above them continued to speak. “Wanxiang Adepts, each of you shall receive a talisman. All of you shall enter the magic treasure which his Imperial Majesty shall use; the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers! This painting is capable of holding the cosmos, of holding qian and kun; it forms an independent world of its own. Within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, you can battle each other and seize each other’s talismans without any restrictions. If you feel that you are not strong enough, you can discard your talisman, which will cause you to immediately be teleported out from the Diagram. Although this will represent defeat, you will at least be able to stay alive.” “Those who choose to give up…” “Those who are killed…” “Your talismans will be taken away by the victor of your battle. The length of time you are to remain within the Diagram is at most one year; after a year, the eighty competitors with the most talismans will have passed the trial of the Diagram. If, however, before the year is up…if, for example, after three months, only eighty of you are still alive…then the trial of the Diagram will be stopped early, and the eighty lucky survivors will have passed.” 1945 “If after a year has passed and eighty victors are selected, but other Wanxiang Adepts remain alive within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, then the remaining survivors will be put together in one place and engage in a final battle. You shall fight until only sixteen of you remain. Those sixteen will receive chances as well.” “In other words, the trial of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountain and Seas will have at least eighty victors, and at most ninety six.” “Remember – within the Diagram, you are forbidden from using any Dao-seals, golems, or strange treasures! This trial is meant to test your personal ability. All of your actions within the Diagram shall be under the gaze of his Imperial Majesty, as well as the gazes of the Celestial Immortals present. You absolutely cannot act improperly; those who disobey shall be slain without exception!” Slain without exception! These final three words caused the hearts of all of the competitors to quiver. “At least eighty? At most ninety six?” Ning, Yu Wei, and the Sloppy Daoist exchanged glances. They all could sense how bloody the upcoming battles would be. This was absolutely insane. All of these hundred thousand-plus individuals were peerless geniuses who were at least at Holyfire’s level! A hundred thousand-plus peerless geniuses, many of whom would most likely have a high chance of becoming Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals…but because of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, they had to engage in a bloody battle against each other. Although it was said that one could give up, in the heat of a battle, it was very likely that many would end up perishing. “At most ninety six…and the world has 3600 commanderies, as well as four vast seas. On average, there will only be a single victor for every few dozen commanderies.” The Sloppy Daoist let out a sigh. “This is crazy.” “I wonder if the three of us will be able to overcome this trial.” Yu Wei’s gaze was much more solemn now as well. Ning, too, felt the pressure. In the past, the Conclave had generally not been this bloody; in the past, there were usually only twenty or thirty thousand Wanxiang Adepts, all of whom would go through several rounds of selection, resulting in the top hundred, then top fifty, then slowly a top ten and top three. But this time, more than a hundred thousand of them were going to be sent directly into the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, with this competition intended to produce between eighty to ninety six victors. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. King Qi walked back, bowing respectfully. “Reporting to your Imperial Majesty: The proclamation has been made.” “Mm.” The black-robed Emperor nodded lightly. His gaze pierced past the blocking hall and clouds, landing upon the bodies of the hundred thousand-plus youths. He wanted to watch…watch and see which of them would rise up to become truly powerful figures within this upcoming storm for the Three Realms. “There are more than a hundred who are surrounded by the golden light of karmic virtue.” The blackrobed Emperor reflected silently on this. “The more karmic merits one has rendered, the better one’s luck shall be. But it is also possible for those who have ordinary karmic merits to be tremendously lucky as well, and sometimes even astonishingly so.” Karmic luck and karmic virtue weren’t identical. If one had a high level of karmic virtue, then one would naturally be blessed with additional luck. But, for example, if one apprenticed one’s self to a major power of the Three Realms, one would also be blessed by karmic luck. If one’s parents were major powers of the Three Realm, one would similarly be blessed. Or perhaps, because of a tremendous stroke of fortune, one would suddenly have the blessing of luck. One could tell at a glance if a person had high or low karmic virtue, but luck…this was unfathomable and invisible. Whoosh. The black-robed Emperor suddenly produced a wrapped diagram in his hand. He unfurled the diagram, and atop it, one could vaguely make out a painting of a bright moon, hanging over a mountain and a river. The eyes of the Celestial Immortals all lit up. The Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers… This was a Pure Yang magic treasure. It was a tremendously intriguing artifact for them…but at the same time, these Celestial Immortals were all pondering nonstop. Today, the Grand Xia Emperor had barely said anything to these Celestial Immortals before immediately beginning the initial selection tournament for the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. From this, they could tell how much importance this Conclave held for the Grand Xia Emperor. In fact, the very fact of him taking out the Diagram and using it as the place for the competition was proof of how seriously he took this. Rumble… Ning and the others all raised their heads, looking towards the skies. The delegations from the 3600 commanderies and the four seas all raised their heads to stare as well. In the air above them, an utterly enormous painting, at least ten thousand kilometers long, had suddenly appeared. It blocked out the skies, and one could even vaguely make out the world within the diagram. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Ning, Yu Wei, the Sloppy Daoist, and the rest of the 109,362 individuals, who had all been just standing there, were suddenly and involuntarily pulled into the skies. All of them were sucked inwards as the surface of the vast painting began to undulate. When each of them touched the painting, their bodies also began to undulate; it was as though they were drops of rainwater that had landed on a lake. In just the blink of an eye, all of them had completely disappeared. ……. The main hall of the Skylight Palace. The black-robed Emperor finally revealed a smile as he said calmly, “This trial within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers shall most likely go on for a year. Everyone, watch at your leisure. Prepare the banquet!” Instantly, a large number of maids immediately moved over. They placed down long tables, then delivere pitchers of Immortal nectar and platters of Immortal fruit. All of the Celestial Immortals sat down in the lotus position. As for the followers that had come alongside them, they sat down in the lotus position to the side of and slightly behind the Celestial Immortals. “You can watch everything which is going on within the Diagram.” The black-robed Emperor pointed towards the clouds outside the main hall. The vast, ten thousand kilometer long diagram hung there amidst the clouds. The world within the diagram was clearly visible; within it, there were mountains, rivers, a bright moon, and more than a hundred thousand Wanxiang Adepts who were scattered in different areas. “Dongyan, tell me, why do you think his Imperial Majesty cares so much about this Conclave of Immortal Destiny?” A scabby-looking old man seated next to the Dongyan Forefather spoke out. “He’s personally hosting it, and even commanded people to participate. Although so many of us Celestial Immortals have arrived, he is still mostly paying attention to the Conclave. Can it be that this Conclave is very special? Does it involve the reincarnation of someone exceptionally powerful? As I recall, a few decades back, the Netherworld Kingdom suffered a sudden attack, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation collapsed, right? Can this have something to do with it?” “How am I supposed to know? However, the collapse of the Six Paths of Reincarnation is an absolutely world-changing event. The mysteries behind its collapse must definitely be quite shocking. We should just stay in our own major world and not go running around wildly; otherwise, something might happen and we might even fall. In addition, although the Six Paths of Reincarnation collapsed, the venerable Daofather has re-established the cycle of reincarnation for us and several dozen other major worlds. We 1948 have the protection of the venerable Daofather; there’s no need for us to panic,” the Dongyan Forefather sent back. The scabby-looking old man nodded as well. While the Dongyan Forefather and Patriarch Riverbridge were discussing their worries regarding the impending storm, Ninelotus, seated behind the Dongyan Forefather, was carefully watching the ten thousand kilometer long painting. The painting was truly enormous, so much so that the individual figures within it could be seen clearly. “Where is Ji Ning?” Ninelotus couldn’t help but search for him. …… “Where is Ji Ning?” Yuchi Xiyue was seated behind King Yan in the lotus position. She, too, was carefully staring at the enormous painting. “Little brother, you have to be careful. Be careful!” …… “Where is Master?” In the plaza below the painting, amidst the delegation led by the Marquis of Stillwater, Mu Northson was standing next to a large, snowy white hound and an azure-robed maiden. Ning had gone out to battle, but spirit-beasts were forbidden from participating. Thus, Uncle White and Little Qing had to stay with Northson for now as they watched the battle. “Don’t worry. Senior apprentice-brother is a truly monstrous genius; back in the Witchriver Immortal Estate, he was in such dire straits, but in the end he was still able to kill Youngflame Nong and that Fiendgod. He absolutely will not easily die or easily give up.” Northson’s eyes were shining as he stared at the skies above him, and at the massive, illusory world that had appeared there. This illusory world was an image of the situation within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. One could clearly see every single figure located within the mountains, the rivers, the grasslands, and the forests of the world. The Whitewater Hound, Little Qing, and Northson quickly scanned the massive painting with their gaze, flashing past one figure after another. “Look.” Uncle White suddenly spoke out as he stared at one location. Northson and Little Qing followed Uncle White’s gaze, looking over as well. Indeed; within one particular corner of that world, there was a fur-clad youth within a mountain gorge. “Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson’s eyes lit up. “Master.” Little Qing watched with excitement as well. The nearby Immortal Fivecraze quickly discovered Ning as well. His eyes were also filled with excitement. …… The people of this plaza, filled with delegations from the 3600 commanderies and four seas, were all staring upwards, trying to find the people they cared about within the painting. They quickly were able to find them, and they began to watch eagerly, quietly praying for the people they cared about to end up as one of the final 96 survivors. Within the world of the Diagram. Ning had suddenly felt the world change as soon as he touched the diagram. He had suddenly appeared within a mountain gorge. “A gorge?” The Darknorth swords instantly appeared in Ning’s hands. He carefully scanned his surroundings, so cautious that he didn’t even use divine sense. This was because, upon using divine sense, the enemy would locate him as soon as he found them. A solid majority of the participants of this Conclave all possessed divine sense, after all. Swoosh. Suddenly, a light flashed past Ning’s eyes, and a green talisman appeared before him. “Each of you shall have a talisman. If you no longer wish to fight and wish to give up, you only need to throw the talisman away, and I will immediately throw you out of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers.” The voice of the Grand Xia Emperor rang out in the minds of the hundred thousand-plus individuals. Ning immediately reached out to grasp the talisman. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After taking the talisman, Ning turned to stare at the gorge before him. He was the only person present within it. “So I was separated from senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei and eldest apprentice-brother Sloppy, just like that. It makes sense. The Grand Xia Emperor won’t let us so easily join forces. In addition, per the rules, the more talismans you acquire, the better a chance you would have of passing this trial. If I don’t kill others, others will still try to kill me. In this trial…I will have to kill!” Ning made up his mind on what to do, but suddenly, his ears twitched. Rumble… A faint ripple of power swept out. With a swoosh, Ning immediately flew to the very top of the nearby mountain, stealthily looking towards the source of the ripples. In the distant wilderness, eight men and women were separately using magic treasures and techniques against each other. It was an utter clash of attacks, causing the color of the sky to change. These were all peerless geniuses from various places of the Grand Xia Empire, all of whom had the pride innate to all geniuses. How could they easily admit defeat? However, one of the young women quickly began to weaken slightly, and the other seven immediately began to focus their attacks on her. That woman, dressed in violet, immediately sent out her divine sense to scan the nearby 300 kilometers, then hurriedly sent mentally, “Everyone, let’s stop fighting. There are a total of 103 Wanxiang Adepts who are hidden in the surrounding area. If we keep fighting like this, we are going to get ambushed by others.” “What?! 103?!” The other seven were badly frightened. None of them knew exactly how large this world within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers was; they thought that a short battle wouldn’t attract too much attention. Who would have imagined that 103 individuals would come? Although they were very self-confident, they knew that all the participants in this Conclave were formidable and could not be underestimated. Rumble! After the violet-robed maiden sent out her divine sense, the other Wanxiang Adepts all sent out their own divine senses to investigate in succession. Some of them were reincarnated Immortals, while others had been at the Wanxiang level for far too long, and so their soul had also reached the divine sense level. A few also has supreme visualization techniques. In short, they did a scan, and they were all shocked by what they found. “A fur-clad youth? That’s Ji Ning! Ji Ning, up there on the mountain! He’s the one who killed a Loose Immortal.” “Ji Ning is atop that mountain.” “Ji Ning is ranked in the top hundred for this Conclave. Let’s join forces to wipe him out first.” The divine senses joined together as they began to converse through it. Since they had decided to attend this Conclave, they had naturally purchased intelligence reports from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Ever since Ning’s Primaltwin had killed Immortal Floatcloud, his fame had skyrocketed. Even the Heavenly Treasures Mountain had come to believe that Ning’s Primaltwin, despite being only at the peak Primal level, was capable of killing supreme Loose Immortals. This meant that Ning was superior to Loose Immortal Floatcloud in terms of the Dao and in terms of techniques; naturally, this caused Ning to become quite famous. “Let’s join forces and wipe him out.” “Let’s go.” These Wanxiang Adepts quickly came to the same conclusion. They howled through the air, flying towards the mountain top where Ning was standing. More than a hundred figures suddenly flew out, moving at astonishing speeds like thunderbolts or swift gales. Ning was badly startled. “These individuals are all heroic talents in their own locales, but they don’t seem to care about their bearing at all.” Ning was helpless; he had watched those eight fight, and none of them were easy to deal with. He was confident in being able to deal with eight, but more than a hundred? That was suicide! “Time to go.” Ning waved his arm, and a ship-type treasure appeared before him. Ning immediately jumped into it. Swoosh! The ship instantly transformed into a streak of black light, disappearing without a trace into the distance. “Ji Ning ran quite quickly.” “He killed Youngflame Nong, then a Loose Immortal. It is said that he is valued by King Yan as well. He really has quite a few treasures, and he really was able to run quite fast.” The hundred-plus men and women in the air felt helpless as well. Unless they had already completely encircled him, if someone like Ning who was clearly more powerful than them wished to flee, it would be hard for them to stop him. They quickly began to stare vigilantly against each other, stealthily pulling apart. Nobody wanted to suddenly start a giant, chaotic battle of over a hundred people. They were confident in their ability to handle a wild battle with seven or eight people, but a wild battle with over a hundred…once a person was trapped, there would be no way to escape. “Time to go.” “This is going to be troublesome. More than a hundred thousand people, all of whom are crafty and cautious. To be able to survive to the very end and become one of the final 96…that is going to be very difficult.” “Power alone won’t be enough. Even the most powerful competitor, when surrounded and attacked by a hundred in a formation, will have no option but death.” The people all quickly departed. As for Ning…only after his ship had fled more than several thousand kilometers and entered a large mountain did Ning reappear. “To overcome the trial of the Diagram…power is just one aspect of it. This is also a trial of the mind, a trial of intelligence.” Ning quickly understood this. Everyone was a Wanxiang Adept, after all, and everyone was a supreme talent. They had all essentially reached the limit of what was possible for a Wanxiang Adept to accomplish; to be able to improve any further would be incredibly difficult. The average person here was at least comparable to an ordinary peak Primal Daoist! If a hundred people joined together in a formation, then they would definitely be comparable to a supreme Loose Immortal! “I have to be careful and cautious…and also ruthless. I need to seize any opportunities and to kill at high speed. I can’t let myself be surrounded.” Ning nodded to himself. In the plaza below, the delegates from the 3600 commanderies and the four seas all raised their heads and watched, extremely nervous. Previously, they had all felt that their own disciples were quite formidable, but as they watched…they realized that every single person was crafty and capable. There were more than ten thousand who had reached the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! There were even more who had cultivated earthfire or dire-ice to the first grade. None of them were easy to deal with. “Why is it that I suddenly feel as though senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, and eldest apprentice-brother are all in a lot of danger?” Northson blinked. “Right.” Adept Vastriver shook his head. “As I see it…I imagine that most likely, more than half of these individuals are reincarnated Immortals.” The Whitewater Hound and Little Qing just stared fixedly at the skies, paying attention to Ning the entire time. Wherever Ning ran to, their gazes would turn to. The atmosphere within the main hall of the Skylight Palace, by contrast, was much more relaxed. The black-robed Emperor sat there. He took a sip from the wineglass he was holding, then said with a smile, “This Conclave shall initially proceed within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers for a year. This is just the beginning; the most exciting parts will come later.” The Celestial Immortals seated below him were all chatting and laughing as well. “That little fellow isn’t bad. He actually killed someone, then scared someone into throwing their talisman away. Who is that little fellow?” “I don’t recognize him.” “Never seen him.” The Celestial Immortals chatted and laughed, but as they watched, they saw that likes of the long-famous ‘Xiamang Zishan’, ‘Cangwu Jiu’, ‘Adept Woodpass’, and others had yet to truly put on an awe-inspiring display. Instead, they suffered repeated attacks by groups of others and were often put in quite sorry positions. To the contrary, it was the figures that they had never heard about and who were heretofore unknown who were suddenly revealing their terrifying power. “A cataclysm of the Three Realms truly does cause heroes to gather.” The black-robed Emperor was quite satisfied. “I imagine that many formidable figures who no one had ever known about in the past are going to display their truly shocking power.” Right at this moment… Suddenly, a clear voice rang out. “Fellow Daoist Xiamang, I come uninvited; are you willing to welcome me, fellow Daoist?” The black-robed Emperor’s face changed slightly, and the thousand Celestial Immortals seated below him all quieted down as well. From the mists and clouds outside, eight figures suddenly appeared, each of whom had different appearances. There was a dissolute, handsome man who was dressed in an azure Daoist robe; there was a middle-aged Buddhist who was dressed in yellow robes; there was an old man who was riding an old bull; there was a muscular, golden-eyed man who was dressed in dragon robes… All eight of them had marvelous, unfathomable, profound auras about them. The eight caused the thousand Celestial Immortals to secretly feel as though their hearts were trembling. As for the Grand Xia Emperor, he immediately arose from his throne and walked down. “Fellow Daoists, why is it that you’ve decided to come to my Grand Xia?” The black-robed Emperor laughed, “Come, come, come, come and sit!” He waved a hand, and on the two sides next to his throne, eight more seats and tables appeared. Immortal fruit and nectar appeared atop the tables as well, and they were far better than the fare provided to the Celestial Immortals. “Why we came to your Grand Xia? Fellow Daoist Xiamang, can it be that you don’t know?” The leader of the group, an azure-robed man who carried an Immortal sword on his back, laughed in a hearty manner. “The Three Realms are currently filled with dangerous hidden undercurrents. Most likely, a great cataclysm is coming. This is precisely the point in time when heroic figures will emerge into the world. Your Grand Xia is one of the most highly ranked of the three thousand major worlds in terms of karmic luck; perhaps one of the peerless figures of the future will be born here. That is why I, Lu Dongbin, have shamelessly come here. You won’t mind, will you, fellow Daoist Xiamang?” 1 Although his voice echoed loudly, none of the nearby Celestial Immortals could hear anything. “Senior apprentice-brother Xiamang, my own major world just concluded a Conclave of Immortal Destiny, and so Eastflower paid a visit to my place, then insisted on pulling me here as well.” The muscular, golden-eyed man who was dressed in dragon robes spoke in a resigned manner. “Sovereign Hao, since you knew how shameless this Lu Dongbin is, you truly should have stopped him.” The Xia Emperor spoke with resignation. “As for myself, this old man is just here to watch the fun. Don’t worry, don’t worry; I’m not here to try and snatch some of the geniuses from your major world,” the old man riding the old bull laughed merrily. “I’m just here to watch the fun as well.” “I’m just wandering about.” They all spoke out. This caused the Xia Emperor to feel exceptionally resigned; the individuals in front of him were all aweinspiringly famous and influential figures of the Three Realms. For example, there was Lu Dongbin, the leader of the Eight Immortals of the High Caves. Lu Dongbing was the reincarnation of Emperor Eastflower, and back when he had been Emperor Eastflower, he had apprenticed himself to a major power. After reincarnating and becoming Lu Dongbin, he had apprenticed himself to a second major power. Behind him, a single person, stood two major powers. What’s more, Lu Dongbin had merged the strong points from both schools, infusing them into his Dao of the Sword. He was known in the Three Realms to be frighteningly powerful…and he was a famous, awe-inspiring Sword Immortal! Even amongst Pure Yang True Immortals, he was ranked towards the very front. However, Lu Dongbin was utterly shameless, had a weird temper, liked to play tricks on people, and cursed or giggled as he pleased…and he often liked to wander about the mortal realms, leaving behind quite a few legacies in many of the worlds he passed through. “And you, Mahasthamaprapta? Why have you, a member of the Buddhist way, come here?” The Xia Emperor’s gaze fell upon the yellow-robed Buddhist. Followers of the Daoist path felt a certain degree of disliking towards followers of the Buddhist path. 2 The male Buddhist had a smile on his face that made others feel calm. Clasping his palms together in a prayer, he said, “I’m just here to take a look.” The Xia Emperor was helpless. Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, the Bodhisattva of Great Strength, was someone who had an extremely high status amongst those of the Buddhist path. He was someone who had followed Lord Buddha for a long period of time, and was also someone comparable to a Pure Yang True Immortal. In addition, he had an extremely good temperament, always having a smile on his face whenever he met anyone. In the face of such a truly kind, amiable individual…there was no way the Xia Emperor could shoo him off. “Everyone, take your seats. Why are you all standing? Others will think that the Xia clan doesn’t understand how to treat guests.” The Xia Emperor said, rather impolitely, “But everyone, please understand this; I’m not the only person paying attention to this Conclave of Immortal Destiny of the Grand Xia. Even my venerable Master is paying close attention to it as well. Thus, the only one who can choose a disciple must be my venerable Master.” “We naturally won’t fight over with the Daofather over a disciple. Xiamang, stop worrying. After you have made your picks, if I take a fancy to one of the remaining individuals, there won’t be any problems if I choose him, right?” Lu Dongbin had been the first to plop his butt down on the seat, then had picked up a bottle of Immortal nectar and started to drink. His eyes instantly lit up. “Hey, this is good wine. Not bad! Your Xiamang clan truly lives up to its reputation as being of the lineage of the imperial Xia clan of the Primordial Era. You have so much fine wine, and it’s even better than the Celestial Court’s. What’s the name of this wine?” As he spoke, Lu Dongbin’s eyes began to spin as he turned to stare at the massive Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, carefully inspecting each of the young men and women within it.. Lu Dongbin is one of the most famous Immortals in Chinese mythology, and he is reputed to lead an entire group known as the Eight Immortals, although these eight are not them. From this point on in the story, a lot of ‘real’ Chinese mythology is going to be incorporated. I will do my best to point it out when it occurs via footnotes.. Mahasthamaprapta is a bodhisattva of wisdom; his name means ‘great strength’. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The other Pure Yang True Immortals all turned their gazes towards the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers as well. The Xia Emperor felt resigned. He mused to himself, “It seems it truly is the time for a cataclysm to befall the Three Realms. All the major powers are beginning to make their preparations. My Master, Daofather Crimsonbright, has previously provided some tutelage to Lu Dongbin in the past as well. In his past life, Lu Dongbin had a very close relationship with me. He’s not an issue, nor are the others…but that bodhisattva, Mahasthamaprapta!” The Xia Emperor knew very well that the supreme powers of the Three Realms were divided into many different organizations. Fortunately, all of the eight Pure Yang True Immortals who had arrived today had major powers backing them who were on good terms with his own master, Daofather Crimsonbright. The only exception was Mahasthamaprapta, who was of the Buddhist path. It couldn’t be said that he was on good terms with Daofather Crimsonbright…but they weren’t enemies either. “I have to be careful. If he takes a fancy to one of the individuals in this Conclave, Mahasthamaprapta might actually plot to abduct the person in secret,” the Xia Emperor pondered to himself. Within the Diagram. Ning was atop a dwarf mountan, his body covered by trees and shrubs. “Before killing Immortal Floatcloud, I was a very ordinary, unremarkable figure in the intelligence reports of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain who was casually mentioned in them. After killing him, however, my name became widespread throughout the Grand Xia Empire. Even the intelligence reports praise me tremendously, claiming that I have the power to rank in the top hundred.” Ning felt helpless. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain had to have some margin for error, and so in truth, they had only ranked thirty-two individuals as having the power to rank in the top hundred! The thirty-two the Heavenly Treasures Mountain ranked as being in the top hundred were all but guaranteed to truly have that power…and Ning was one of those thirty-two! From this, one could imagine how within the Diagram, the top thirty-two such as Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Ji Ning would instantly be attacked by groups upon them being discovered! The other Immortal cultivators all believed that the likes of Ji Ning had a very high chance of winning, and so they needed to eliminate them as soon as possible. Only then would they themselves have a chance to pass this trial. “I need to change myself slightly.” Ning had just suffered an attack from more than a hundred individuals. Fortunately, his treasured ship had been able to flee fast enough. Whoosh. Ning’s magic robes transformed into ordinary black robes, no longer appearing like furs. “There should be quite a few black-robed youths,” Ning mused to himself. “I won’t be recognized on sight, at least.” “Time go to.” From a fur-clad youth to a black-robed youth. Ning quietly began to wander the world of the Diagram. Every so often, he would spread out his divine sense to scan the ten surrounding kilometers. Within this short distance, Ning could instantly move to a location…and that way, he wouldn’t startle too many with his divine sense. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! He spread out his divine sense repeatedly. On the eighteenth time, Ning immediately discovered a white-robed maiden who suddenly turned her head towards him, having noticed him. Swoosh! Ning seemed to have transformed into a giant Roc, howling through the air as he moved at lightning speed and charged down from his mountain peak. In a flash, he appeared in front of the whiterobed maiden. “Do you want to die?” The white-robed maiden’s face turned cold, and a pair of short sticks appeared in her hands, flashing with electric light. As Ning attacked, the first thing he did was will an enormous Waterflame Lotus to appear. After developing the Lotusflower Swordland, he had gained insights into both this technique and his Waterflame Lotus due to their commonalities. During the past year at the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, Ning had carefully worked to further refine his technique, making the Waterflame Lotus technique even more perfect! In addition, after a full year of cultivation, the earthfire and dire-ice in Ning’s body had already risen to the first grade as well! The earthfire and dire-ice of the first grade served as the foundation, and the True Lunar Tattoo and the True Solar Tattoo within his divine body activated fire and water of the natural world in support. The Dao of the Sword, the Dao of Rainwater, the Dao of the Inferno, the Dao of the Gale, and the Dao of Space were all joined together as well…to finally form into this Waterflame Lotus, which now had reached a ridiculous level of power. “Eh?” The white-robed maiden was completely shocked. This enormous Waterflame Lotus was at least three thousand meters, completely surrounding her. “A technique?” The white-robed maiden laughed coldly. Her body suddenly expanded dramatically in size as she transformed into a thirty-six meter tall giant. The giant white-robed maiden also activated the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability. In her hands, she now wielded six of the short sticks, each of which flashed with electric light. The sticks in her hand howled through the air as she smashed downwards towards the layers of Waterflame Lotus petals binding her. BANG! BANG! It was as though two mountains had collided. The six short sticks carried the majestic, divine power of lightning. Given the power of this woman, a Fiendgod Body Refiner, when she smashed down upon the flower, a layer of leaves cracked…but new leaves were then born from the Waterflame Lotus. “What?!” The white-robed maiden was shocked. Per her predictions, she should’ve been able to smash through this technique like rotting wood, but in reality, the breaking process was very slow. The enemy’s technique could continue to be maintained indefinitely. “What a fellow. This white-robed maiden is probably even a bit more powerful than Daoist Snowplume was.” Ning was shocked as well. “Fortunately, my earthfire and dire-ice have both reached the first grade, and I’ve further perfected this technique. If this was a year ago…she probably would’ve broken through it. However…since you can’t break through my Waterflame Lotus, then you have lost.” Whoosh! More than seven hundred flying swords immediately appeared in the air around Ning, with the Nethercold swords serving as the core. All of them were Earth-ranked flying swords. “Go!” Ning pointed, and instantly, a golden flying sword that had formed in front of his chest howled forth as it flew out, striking towards the white-robed maiden. The golden flying sword carried a terrifying sword-intent that struck directly at the opponent’s soul. This was the terrifying sword-intent which only Sword Immortals possessed. “You are Adept Darknorth…Ji Ning!” The white-robed maiden called out in shock. Lotus-type techniques were fairly common, but upon seeing those seven hundred-plus flying swords? If she wasn’t able to put two and two together and recognize Ning from this, it would have been bizarre. Clang! In the face of the attack of the sword light from Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the white-robed maiden hurriedly used all six short sticks to block. BOOM! The power of Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was far greater than the Waterflame Lotus; the Waterflame Lotus was primarily meant to bind and grind an opponent, whereas the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was a purely offensive technique. Ning was using nearly ninety percent of his spiritual energy on maintaining the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. The white-robed maiden was knocked flying backwards, and two of the short sticks flew out of her hands. She was, however, blocked from behind by the Waterflame Lotus once more. Whooosh. The killing, grinding power of the Waterflame Lotus was constantly pressing down on the white-robed maiden’s body. “Damn you.” The white-robed maiden gritted her teeth, staring viciously at Ning. “Ji Ning, you are a piece of work.” She tossed out her talisman. Rumble! An invisible power instantly covered her body, and then she was teleported away. “How powerful.” Ning waved his hand, collecting the talisman. “A random person I encountered was already this powerful…fortunately, I was able to use the Waterflame Lotus to bind her. Otherwise, she would’ve fled upon realizing she couldn’t beat me.” The intelligence reports of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain stated quite clearly that Ji Ning’s true body was skilled in close combat. Next was his flying swords formation, which was significantly weaker than Ji Ning’s close combat ability. The white-robed woman had realized that Ning was capable of using just his sword formation to completely suppress her, and would most likely be able to kill her in just ten exchanges or so! If he closed to engage in close quarters combat…he might be able to kill her in just one or two exchanges. With the Waterflame Lotus binding her and preventing her from fleeing, she had no choice but to admit defeat. That way, she would at least stay alive. …… Ning carefully advanced, continuing to be very cautious for fear of suffering another group attack. There was a reason why his power was such that the Heavenly Treasures Mountain ranked him as being within the top hundred. After all, Ning’s true body relied on his divine abilities to do battle, and had been able to stay alive against the assault of a Whitebone Immortal Slaying Needle! This was enough to ensure that the Heavenly Treasures Mountain viewed Ning’s true body as definitely being extremely formidable in close combat. One against one… 1960 It was true that within the Diagram, Ning was indeed one of the supreme fighters. Against ordinary foes, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and the Waterflame Lotus was already enough to suppress them. Against powerful foes, he would have to use both the Waterflame Lotus and close quarters combat. But of course…that was in one-on-one fights. “All of the fairly famous individuals are beginning to slowly display their might.” The Xia Emperor accompanied the eight Pure Yang True Immortals in drinking as he watched. Previously, Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, and the others had all suffered quite a bit. However, they quickly hid their tracks and began to act with great caution. Whether through killing their foes or forcing them to voluntarily give up, they began to slowly accumulate more and more talismans. Still…things were quite early. Thus, with each kill, they only acquired one or two talismans. “That dirty-looking maiden, she’s quite formidable.” The Xia Emperor’s eyes lit up. The Xia Emperor suddenly looked towards the nearby Lu Dongbin. Lu Dongbin had left behind many legacies throughout the Three Realms, and liked to take on new disciples. Amongst Pure Yang True Immortals, he was one of the most powerful; naturally, he had quite an astute gaze. The Xia Emperor couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Lu Dongbin, which of these youths do you view as having the most luck surrounding them?” “The most luck?” Lu Dongbin half-lay there, sipping his wine. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes at the Diagram, then shook his head and said, “How can you tell just by looking? Luck is unfathomable and ever-changing to begin with…even someone with tremendous luck can still be killed.” The Xia Emperor felt resigned. Of course he knew that lucky individuals could be killed as well. Those blessed by luck would just have more lucky encounters and have the assistance of the heavens. They could still, however, be killed! In fact, the person who killed them might even be able to steal their luck…but it was also possible that their own luck would lessen as a result. For example, let’s say an individual was the only child of a major power. Killing this person would cause the major power to feel great hatred, and perhaps even personally intervene; in this case, one’s luck would naturally lessen. For another example, if one person had a tremendous stroke of fortune and acquired a huge treasure repository, this person could be said to have had great luck. But if he were to killed by another and his treasure repository stolen, then his luck would now be the killer’s. Thus… 1961 Luck was something which could neither be seen or felt; it could only be hypothesized based on numerous factors. This required astute judgment. Clearly, Lu Dongbin was a person with incredibly astute judgment. “You alcoholic! I asked you to tell me, but you refused to.” The Xia Emperor felt resigned. “Of course I know that lucky individuals can be killed, but lucky individuals will still have a higher chance of becoming powerful figures of the Three Realms, right?” “But what if I told you, then you picked that person?” Lu Dongbin glanced sideways at him. “Pick your own. I told you that I’ll definitely let you and your Daofather pick first. I’ll pick from whoever is left.” The Xia Emperor felt resigned. What could he do against such a shameless person? …… Within the Diagram. More than five days had passed. Ning was currently resting within a cavern estate. There was a cold pool of water here. When washing his face in it, Ning felt incomparably refreshed. “Five days. I’ve acquired a total of fifty talismans,” Ning mused to himself. “However…at the beginning, there will be many Wanxiang Adepts within the Diagram, and I would often encounter them. Later on, however, the number will begin to drop and it will be more rare to run into someone. In addition, those who survive until the end will be extremely powerful and hard to deal with.” “Still, there’s a benefit to that as well; those who survive for longer will also have more talismans on them.” Ning’s eyes suddenly flickered. Rumble… A vague, trembling ripple was sweeping towards him from far away. “A battle? And it seems it’s quite a big one.” Ning immediately transformed into a streak of light, leaving the cavern and carefully moving closer. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers was perpetually cast in the glow of moonlight. Ji Ning passed through a mountain forest, silently and soundlessly arriving at the mountain’s peak. He hid there within the grass, staring into the distance. Off in the distance, within a gorge, there was a mirror-like lake. A massive battle was underway at the lake; three individuals were attacking a single woman. The three individuals included a black-robed man who hovered in midair, an enormous black Flood Dragon coming into being in front of him. The black Flood Dragon appeared to be real, and its aura was powerful. It was savagely attacking the woman. The second of the three attackers was a silver-haired woman. The silver-haired woman, every so often, would open her mouth, and with a whooooosh, an incomparably terrifying gust of balewind would be unleashed. It was as though countless sharp swords were flying out, slicing away at even the ground itself. The balewind, carrying a glowing azure light, was savagely attacking the woman as well. The last attacker was a silver-robed youth with a cold, arrogant face. He pointed from far away into the air, and as he did, an enormous greatsword that was three hundred meters long would appear, chopping down repeatedly as its tip pierced towards the woman! The person the three were attacking… Was an absolutely peerless black-robed beauty. Around her, there was a pair of enormous phoenixes, one of fire and one of ice, which swirled around her, struggling to defend. However, under the triple attack, the woman was clearly finding it quite hard to endure. In addition, the coiling black dragon continually attacked her as well, giving her no way to flee or escape. “Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei!” Ning stared. The woman being attacked was, amazingly, Yu Wei. The black-robed man’s eyes had grown bloodshot, and it seemed as though the black Flood Dragon was about to change… “HOLD!” A sudden, explosive roar exploded from Ning’s lips. Swoosh! Ning immediately utilized the [Windwing Evasion], seeming to have transformed into a giant Roc as he howled through the air towards them. …… 1963 Yu Wei had felt that she had become trapped in a dire situation. The three in front of her were all extraordinarily strong, especially the one with the giant black dragon. The black Flood Dragon was the personification of a magic treasure formation that was absolutely massive. Its coiling body completely surrounded her. As for the silver-haired woman, her balewind technique was extremely amazing as well. When the gust of balewind blew out, when one tried to dodge, it felt as though one was moving against the wind. The technique lowered her speed ridiculously. “It’s only the sixth day, but I’m already in grave danger.” Yu Wei gritted her teeth. Rumble… Thirty-six Rahu Godneedles formed into an enormous phoenix of ice, whose entire body seemed to be produced from arcane ice that was incomparably hard. It blocked the balewind repeatedly, as well as the strikes from the Flood Dragon and the massive sword. This was the absolute best defensive technique Yu Wei had available to her. As for the other thirty-six Rahu Godneedles, they were formed into the enormous phoenix of fire. Its flames blazed ferociously, and it clashed repeatedly against the balewind, causing even the balewind to crumble, while at other times forcing the Flood Dragon or the massive sword back. But it could only knock back one thing at a time. “Senior apprentice-brother, senior apprentice-sister, this woman’s power is formidable; she certainly must have many talismans on her. She might have over a hundred! I’ll tie her down; you two, kill her at one blow.” The black-haired man sent a mental message to the other two. They were from the same school, and although he seemed old, he was actually the junior disciple. “Alright. “It’ll be up to you, junior apprentice-brother.” The silver-haired woman and the silver-robed youth both responded. The black-robed man immediately gritted his teeth as his eyes began to turn bloodshot. His elemental ki wildly exploded forth, and the enormous black Flood Dragon let out a furious howl as its head actually split into two enormous heads. The two-headed black Flood Dragon’s aura instantly expanded greatly, and it threw itself towards the phoenix of ice. So long as it was able to break through the phoenix of ice, Yu Wei wouldn’t have anything to rely on and would be finished. “Damn.” Yu Wei gritted her white teeth, revealing a look of savagery as well. But right at this moment… “HOLD!” A furious roar, filled without elemental ki, instantly exploded forth into the area. The silver-haired woman, the silver-robed man, and the black-robed man all turned to look. They saw a black-robed youth who was howling through the air as he flew towards them like a giant Roc. Yu Wei turned her head and saw the black-robed youth flying towards them from afar. Upon seeing his face…her heart suddenly shook. “Ji Ning!” Yu Wei couldn’t believe it. In the moment that she had been trapped in a dire situation, her junior apprentice-brother had actually arrived as well. “Can this be fate?” Yu Wei’s heart instantly was thrown into a rather chaotic state. Actually, a long time ago, shortly after Ning had joined the Black-White College, Yu Wei had investigated Ning’s background and learned of his past…she, too, had a tragic past, and her parents had both passed away as well. This was why Yu Wei had, from the very beginning, felt well-disposed towards Ning. When Ning had instantly shocked everyone in such a splendid manner during the Dao Debates, she liked him even more. In the end, after she personally intervened and defeated Ning, she even teased him a little bit. Given her normal, icy disposition, why would she so casually tease one of her junior apprentice-brothers like that? She had always been quietly watching Ning… However, Ning ended up being together with Ninelotus. This tied Yu Wei’s heart up in knots, but all she could do we silently bless them and hide everything she felt in her heart. Afterwards, when she learned that Ning had defeated Daoist Snowplume, she had an excuse to go seek him out alongside Mu Northson and Adept Vastriver. In fact, she had even been preparing to stay for the next two or three years at Serpentwing Lake, but who would’ve thought that Youngflame Nong would invite them to the Witchriver Immortal Estate? That journey to the Witchriver Immortal Estate! In the end, it caused Ninelotus and Ning to part ways for good. Ninelotus had chosen to leave. As she had, in that moment, Yu Wei had a sudden impulse…she wanted to say to Ning, ‘I will go with you!’ But she wasn’t in a position to say such a thing; she was not Ning’s Daocompanion. In addition, her power was truly not enough to help Ning at all in facing the disaster that was unfolding for him. The only thing she could do was wrack her brains to come up with strategies for him! After she and Ning separated, she watched as he wandered by himself. She could only repress all her feelings once more, and once more silently bless him. Who would have imagined… 1965 Ning was even more brilliant than she had thought he would be. His Primaltwin had actually slain Immortal Floatcloud, causing the Youngflame clan to be unable to do anything to him. In addition, Ning was participating in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny as well! This caused a surge of delight in Yu Wei’s heart. Only…after entering the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, they had all been separated. “The world of the Diagram is enormous, and there are more than a hundred thousand people present. On just the sixth day, and coincidentally just as I found myself in a dire situation, Ji Ning arrived? Can this be fate? Are the hands of fate at work here?” Yu Wei was shocked, delighted, and stunned. The distant Ning howled through the air like a streak of lightning. The silver-robed youth, the silverhaired woman, and the black-robed man were all enraged. “Junior apprentice-sister, stop him,” the silver-robed youth sent mentally. “Right.” The silver-haired maiden immediately stared at the distant Ning. Suddenly, she opened her mouth. Whooooooosh. The balewind came out, filling the skies with its azure light. If one looked carefully, one would be able to see that in reality, this was a tempest formed from countless azure needles, and thus had even more penetrative power than ordinary wind attacks. Whoooooosh. A beautiful Waterflame Lotus appeared, swiveling around Ning. The enormous Waterflame Lotus was incomparably resilient, and the layers of leaves actually completely blocked the balewind. After all, Ning was using earthfire and dire-ice of the first grade to serve as his foundation of this technique, then activating the fire and water of the natural world to condense around it. In terms of technique quality, Ning was a hair above his opponent; this was a self-created technique, after all. In addition, he had both earthfire and dire-ice, whereas this woman only had balewind. Although the power of her balewind was truly astonishing, it was still blocked by the Waterflame Lotus. “F*ck off!” The approaching Ning’s body suddenly expanded as he transformed into a 54 meter tall blackrobed giant. The surface of his body flowed with electricity, and Ning’s forehead suddenly split open as well, revealing a vertical eye. Divine ability – [Divine Thunderbolt Eye]! CRACK! A bolt of lightning thundered out from Ning’s third eye, that vertical slit in his forehead. It was astonishingly fast, and it struck directly against the round umbrella which had suddenly appeared in the hands of that distant, silver-haired woman. [Pentabolt Vajra] and [Divine Thunderbolt Eye]; these two 1966 divine abilities synergized, causing the power of his thunder to vastly surpass that of ordinary divine abilities. This caused the silver-haired woman to be knocked flying back by the thunderbolt, and she threw up a mouthful of blood. In addition, this [Divine Thunderbolt Eye] attack also contained a divine will attack as well. “Argh!!!” The silver-haired woman let out a miserable cry. “Protect senior apprentice-sister!” The black-haired man and the silver-robed youth were both greatly shocked. They had thought that the balewind would be enough to block the youth for a period of time, but who would’ve imagined that the enemy would not only easily block it, but also injure their senior apprentice-sister with a bolt of lightning? “Let’s go.” The silver-robed youth couldn’t be bothered to deal with Yu Wei; the aura of this approaching black-robed youth who was protected by the Waterflame Lotus was simply too ferocious. Rumble! With but a thought, the silver-robed youth willed the surface of his massive, three hundred meter long greatsword to suddenly be covered with flowing runes. The power of his sword continuously rose and focused on the tip of the sword. This enormous sword pierced towards Ning, lightning-fast! “You want to block me?” Ning surged forward like a rainbow streak of light, neither dodging nor moving away. The vertical eye in his forehead sent out two bolts of lightning in a row. CRACK! CRACK! One bolt of lightning struck towards the silver-robed youth, while the other struck towards the blackrobed man. The thunderbolts couldn’t be casually blocked; both of them knew this very well. Thus, they all immediately used powerful techniques to block against it. Around the silver-robed youth, a chain link suddenly appeared. CRACK! The thunderbolt was blocked by the chain link, which was knocked flying back by the collision. However, the divine will attack within the thunderbolt was transmitted into the silver-robed youth’s body, causing his face to change. However, he was able to withstand it. As for the black-robed youth, he was protected by the black Flood Dragon, which withstood the lightning bolt. However, the divine will attack also penetrated invisibly into his body. His body suddenly swayed, and even the black Flood Dragon turned blurry for a moment. However, it quickly re-stabilized. “Careful, his divine ability includes a divine will attack.” Only now did the silver-haired woman, who had been knocked to the ground by the earlier attack, manage to send a frantic mental message to them. The main reason was that the two were battling far too fast. Ning had immediately sent out three lightning bolts upon arriving, causing the heart of all three to be filled with amazement. “[Soldiers of the Mind]!” Immediately after having used a divine ability, Ning then revealed a true divine will attack; the [Soldiers of the Mind] he had acquired from the Witchriver Immortal Estate. This was an even more powerful technique than the Black-White College’s [Soulslayer Art]! Although Ning had also spent some time on other divine will techniques, most of his time had been spent on this, [Soldiers of the Mind]! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Within Ning’s sea of consciousness, his soul was seated in the lotus position, and a soldier’s seal was hovering in his hand. When his divine will was summoned forth from this soldier’s seal…it instantly transformed into invisible and untraceable sharp swords, warblades, and longspears. These spiritual weapons howled forth, striking towards the silver-robed youth, the black-robed man, and the silverhaired woman. Imagine how fast divine will attacks were! Sharp swords formed from divine will…they were incomparably sharp and stabbed right towards the soul! Warblades formed from divine will…they carried an unstoppable might, hacking against the enemy soul with overwhelming brute force! Longspears formed from divine will…they combined both of the advantages of the two other weapons, and were also savage in focusing their power at one point as they pierced straight towards the enemy! Invisible, formless weapons that were created from divine will. The sharp swords, giant sabers, and longspears were savagely attacking the three! Slash! Chop! Boom! The souls of the three were immediately, violently assaulted by Ning’s divine will technique. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning’s soul was comparable to many Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, and [Soldiers of the Mind] was even more formidable than the [Soulslayer Art] technique. The power of his assault…it was so great that both the black-robed man and the silver-haired woman felt their souls rumble as they were sent into a dazed state. Only the silver-robed youth was dazed momentarily before immediately regaining consciousness. “Not good.” The silver-robed youth was shocked. “Even I passed out for a moment; how can junior apprentice-brother and junior apprentice-sister withstand that?” However, at this moment, he could not do anything for the two of them, because Ning was pouncing towards him. “Who on earth is this person? He is so powerful that just by using a divine will attack, he was able to set me back?” The silver-robed youth’s heart clenched, and he didn’t dare to be the least bit overconfident. He hadn’t been able to recognize Ning, who had only used a single lotus technique so far. “Your divine will attacks are formidable, but I refuse to believe that you are that formidable in actual combat as well.” A cold look flashed through the eyes of the silver-robed youth. “Die!” BAM! The power of the enormous, three hundred meter long greatsword was now completely focused on the tip, where black and white light had joined together to form a strand of golden sword-light. The silver-robed youth had already poured all of his power into this attack. A powerful soul might be stem from a person’s birth; although the black-haired youth that was pouncing towards him had a powerful soul, he didn’t necessarily have a high level of insight into the Dao. “Die!” The charging Ning showed no mercy at all. The layers of the Waterflame Lotus swiveling around him blocked the massive sword, which repeatedly hacked against it but was firmly stopped. A cold light flashed through Ning’s eyes. Divine ability – [Starseizing Hand]! CLANK! The Darknorth sword in Ning’s hand instantly lit out a brilliant flash of sword-light, and with a massive boom, it collided against and actually knocked that enormous enemy sword flying. As for Ning, after the sword in his left hand knocked the massive sword flying, he immediately used the [Windwing Evasion] technique to arrive in front of the silver-robed youth. The silver-robed youth was tremendously shocked. He couldn’t believe that his most powerful technique had been knocked away by a single sword blow. He was one of the most elite of geniuses within his 1969 school! He no longer had the courage to fight against Ning, and he immediately produced dozens of talismans and threw them all away. He had given up his talismans and was planning to flee. It must be understood that the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers was a Pure Yang magic treasure; naturally, it had a soul as well. There was no way that Ning and the others could deceive the spirit of the Diagram as to how many talismans they had. They had to throw out all of their talismans in order to be teleported away. Swish! Ning’s sword-light had already arrived in front of the silver-robed youth. Clang! The silver-robed youth used both his earthfire and his chains, striving to buy himself just a single moment of time. BOOM!!! Ning’s sword-light was like an attack unleashed by one of those ancient, primordial Fiendgods. It possessed an utterly shocking power that shattered the earthfire and sent the chains flying. The body of the silver-robed youth, when struck, was instantly turned into pulp. Blood sprayed everywhere, along with chunks of flesh and bits of bone, but even as it sprayed everywhere, it was completely vaporized in midair by the terrifying sword-ki. It was all too fast! Although the silver-robed youth had already thrown away the talismans…there was an extremely short window of time between the talismans being thrown away and himself being teleported away. In a true, close quarters battle, that window of time was enough for Ning to attack ten more times with his sword! Ning felt hatred for these three for daring to act against his senior apprentice-sister, and so he showed no mercy at all. In addition, the silver-robed youth truly was quite powerful; without using the [Starseizing Hand], Ning would only at most be able to seize an advantage; he wouldn’t be able to cause the foe to completely collapse at all. He had to use his [Starseizing Hand], and use overwhelming raw power to deal with this foe! BOOM! BOOM! The two enormous phoenixes of fire and ice struck against the bodies of the other two temporarily stunned Adepts. Although the stunning effect was only for a short moment, Yu Wei was a true expert as well; she naturally seized the chance to immediately change from defending to attacking as she sent her phoenix of fire and her phoenix of ice to separately attack the black-robed man and the silver-haired woman, instantly killing the two! Yu Wei then turned her head, looking at the black-robed youth who was 54 meters tall, crackling with lightning, and who had a vertical eye-slit in his forehead. She was both excited and nervous. “Senior apprentice-sister.” Ning’s third eye closed. The lightning around his body vanished. He returned to the size of a normal person. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei spoke out as well, and her eyes glistened like jewels. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. “Those three are disciples of my Heavenly Silkworm Sect. That black-robed woman is almost finished; yet another is going to be a slain and vanquished corpse of my Heavenly Silkworm Sect.” An extremely skinny and shriveled Celestial Immortal was laughing smugly right now. Normally, when in front of their own disciples, these individuals would maintain the majestic decorum expected of a Celestial Immortal. Here, however, in front of all of these other Celestial Immortals, they would revealed his true personality, acting with abandon. When it was time to be smug, they would be smug; when it was time to mock, they would mock. “That black-robed maiden is quite formidable as well. Look at those two techniques of hers; one is a phoenix of fire, the other a phoenix of ice. As I see it, she has absolutely mastered two complete DaoPaths.” Next to the first Celestial Immortal was a laughing fat man whose robe was open, revealing his chest. “Right. She has mastered two complete Dao-Paths. That’s the only reason why she was able to hold off the attacks of three of my sect’s disciples for a period of time,” the skinny, shriveled Celestial Immortal said confidently. “Do you know which school the black-robed maiden comes from?” The bare-chested fat Immortal asked. “No idea.” The wizened Celestial Immortal shook his head. “Who knows what minor sect she’s from? Major sects naturally sent quite a few disciples, who would usually travel in pairs or trios.” The fat Immortal’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Help has arrived.” The shriveled Celestial Immortal’s eyes narrowed. He, too, saw that within the enormous Diagram, a black-robed youth had suddenly appeared to assist the black-robed maiden being attacked by those three Adepts of his. The black-robed youth was ridiculously powerful. He instantly defeated the three, as easily though he were bursting through rotting wood, and in the end all three died. “Hmph.” The shriveled Celestial Immortal couldn’t help but frown. He slammed his wineglass against the table, appearing to be quite vexed. “Bahaha, didn’t you say the black-robed maiden was going to die?” The chubby Celestial Immortal began to laugh loudly. In truth, Celestial Immortals like them didn’t care too much about the deaths of these geniuses; after all, geniuses came every three centuries. Their deaths were minor matters. However, when so many Celestial Immortals were gathered together, they naturally hoped that the disciples of their school would be outstanding and earn some face for them from their peers. But of course…that was just a matter of face. …… The thousand Celestial Immortals down below were chatting amongst themselves. Up high, the Xia Emperor and the other eight Pure Yang True Immortals were chatting as well. “Look there!” Lu Dongbin’s eyes suddenly lit up as he pointed towards a corner of the Diagram. “Look at the black-robed girl being attacked by those three. A black-robed youth appeared next to them. Look, quick! See that look in the black-robed girl’s eyes? That look in her eyes that instantly appeared when she looked at the black-robed youth…bahaha, a gaze that is extremely complicated, as though longsuppressed emotions were instantly unleashed! Although it was only for an instant, I daresay that this black-robed woman must have fallen in love!” “Fallen in love?” The Xia Emperor, the Bodhisattva of Great Strength, Sovereign Hao, the Immortal Elder of the Northlands…they all were completely speechless. They had followed Lu Dongbin’s pointing finger to watch, and they had been paying attention to Ning who had exploded with power. Who would’ve thought that Lu Dongbin, however, was paying attention to the look in Yu Wei’s eyes? “That gaze…ahaha…it was really…not only has this woman fallen in love, I daresay that she’s never confessed it to this black-robed youth before.” Lu Dongbin swept his gaze across the other True Immortals, then laughed smugly, “Any of you want to bet with me on this?” The Xia Emperor and the others exchanged glances, all feeling quite resigned. “Senior apprentice-brother Xiamang, that black-robed youth of yours is rather formidable,” Emperor Hao congratulated. The Xia Emperor laughed. “The black-robed youth is named Ji Ning. He numbers amongst the few dozen most famous figures participating in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. His Primaltwin has even killed a Loose Immortal.” “Oh?” The True Immortals present all nodded, but to them, killing a Loose Immortal was an extremely minor matter. They naturally wouldn’t pay too much attention to it. What they cared more about was if 1972 any of the many geniuses present at this Conclave would become one of the powerful experts of the Three Realms in the future. And if so…who would it be? “One of the few dozen most famous? He lives up to the reputation.” The Bodhisattva of Great Strength smiled and praised him. They actually didn’t feel that Ning was particularly outstanding; after all, in the past five days of the Conclave, quite a few members of the hundred thousand-plus competitors had revealed astonishing levels of power. They were all Wanxiang Adepts, but had been capable of exploding forth with power comparable to an ordinary Loose Immortal’s…and in fact, there were two Wanxiang Adept monsters who had comprehended five complete Dao-Paths. Comprehended five Dao-Paths? Even this wasn’t enough to shock the Pure Yang True Immortals present. This was because they felt that it wasn’t too shocking for some peerless geniuses to have mastered five complete Dao-Paths after having spent three hundred years at the Wanxiang level, all for the purpose of surprising everyone at this Conclave. Pure Yang True Immortals like them…they were major figures of the Three Realms, and so naturally their vision was quite broad. If one looked at the Three Realms as a whole, it was indeed not rare for competitors with five mastered Dao-Paths to appear at the Conclave. “That little lass is quite interesting, quite interesting.” Lu Dongbin was rather intrigued now, and he laughed in a self-congratulating manner, “Yep…that black-robed maiden’s been hiding her feelings all along. I wonder when she will voice them?” The nearby Xia Emperor and the others just pretended not to hear anything. Everyone knew that what Lu Dongbin loved to do was play matchmaker. This was one of his favorite hobbies, and in fact, stories about him playing matchmaker were extremely common throughout the Three Realms. They could tell that Lu Dongbin was feeling the impulse to do so once more. He might add a bit of ‘spice’ into the relationship between the black-robed maiden and the black-robed youth. …… Ninelotus sat in the lotus position behind the Dongyan Forefather. Her head had been raised this entire time as she stared at the Diagram. She was mainly paying attention to the six disciples sent by the Dongyan clan and the three from the Black-White College…but of course, she paid the most attention to Ji Ning! “Not good. Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei is in danger.” A look of worry appeared on Ninelotus’ face as her hands clenched around her robes. “Ji Ning. Ji Ning is nearby.. Ji Ning, hurry up and notice it, hurry!” Ninelotus hoped it would happen. And indeed, just as she had hoped, Ning had sensed the ripples from the battle. He had immediately moved in that direction, and had even displayed an astonishing amount of power. All three died, and Ning and Yu Wei were reunited. “Whew. The danger is past. Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei is safe.” Ninelotus let out a sigh. “Now, senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei and Ji Ning can move together and support each other. It will be much safer for them.” Suddenly, Ninelotus’ heart trembled. It was only natural and normal for Ji Ning and Yu Wei to travel together; they were fellow disciples, after all. It was normal for them to support each other. But Ninelotus suddenly realized…Ji Ning and Yu Wei, a single man and an unmarried woman, would be together for most likely an entire year. “A single man and an unmarried woman…experiencing life and death together…for nearly a year…” Ninelotus suddenly shook her head gently. “But I no longer have any right to think about such matters.” Love was a strange thing. They had clearly already separated, but upon seeing Ji Ning with Yu Wei, she felt as though a stone had just hammered against her heart, causing ripples that would be difficult to calm down. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ability Within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei’s emotions and her excitement were all difficult to control right now. “Senior apprentice-sister, your earlier battle caused quite a stir, and you fought for a long while. Others are definitely lying in wait in this area, and even more are probably on the way.” Ning had no time to talk; with a wave of his hand, he collected the magic treasures and storage treasures of the silver-haired woman and the black-robed man. The talismans were located in the storage treasures; how could he not take them away? Whoosh. A ship appeared in front of Ning and Yu Wei. “Senior apprentice-sister, let’s go.” Ning pulled Yu Wei by the hand as he leaped into the ship. The two immediately entered it, and the ship transformed into a streak of light, quickly fleeing. As it fled, Ning spread out his divine sense to sweep the area…and, just as he had expected, quite a few people were present. “Who was that black-robed youth? How could he be so powerful?” “Given his power, he should be one of those who was ranked as one of the top hundred prior to the Conclave beginning. He seems rather similar to that Ji Ning, mentioned in the reports of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. He uses twin swords, is very powerful in close combat, and is skilled in lotus techniques. Given the level of his power…it should probably be Ji Ning. However, Ji Ning is usually dressed in furs, whereas that youth was dressed in black robes. It seems that even Ji Ning doesn’t dare to be too bold and brash.” “Right. Anyone would recognize him in furs. In black robes…one would have to carefully inspect him.” “The top hundred experts of the Conclave truly are formidable. In single combat in close quarters against this Ji Ning, when he activates all his divine abilities…he can probably kill me in just one exchange of blows.” “Gotta be careful.” All of them quickly and secretly departed. Ning had fled quite fast. In addition, without enough people joining forces, they didn’t dare to try and antagonize Ning. …… 1975 Whoosh. The ship flew thousands of kilometers, then hide within a large mountain. Ning put away the flying treasure, then let out a sigh of relief alongside Yu Wei. Ning said with a laugh, “Senior apprentice-sister, earlier when we were fighting, there were eight figures within ten kilometers who were watching us, and nearly two hundred people within a thousand kilometers were pressing near. In this Diagram, even if you get into a fight, you can’t continue to fight for too long. Otherwise, the disturbance will definitely attract attention from others. You have to resolve any fights quickly.” “Of course I know that, but I was trapped by them and wasn’t able to even flee,” Yu Wei said helplessly. “I was just about to throw out my talismans and prepare to escape.” His senior apprentice-sister definitely was a supremely beautiful woman in terms of appearances. This look of helplessness on her face couldn’t help but cause Ning’s heart to tremble slightly, but then he quickly calmed himself. “Senior apprentice-sister, earlier you used phoenixes of ice and fire,” Ning said with a sighing laugh. “I have yet to congratulate you on mastering yet another complete Dao-Path.” Three years ago, she had already mastered the Dao of the Freeze, but that was but a single Dao-Path. “You all call me the Rainbowflame Fairy, right?” Yu Wei laughed softly. “I was more talented in fire to begin with. Thanks to a stroke of luck, I first mastered the Dao of the Freeze. My Dao of the Inferno was just a small step behind that.” Ning nodded. He, too, felt as though he was about to make a breakthrough in the Dao of the Inferno…but he continued to be just a hair away from actually accomplishing it. “Later on, I’ll need to ask you to help guide me on the Dao of the Inferno, senior apprentice-sister,” Ning said. “A minor matter.” Yu Wei naturally was happy to help teach him. “Right, senior apprentice-sister. This is the storage treasure of the silver-haired woman. Help me bind it. I’ll bind the other one’s storage treasure. The talismans are all inside.” Ning handed a bracelet to Yu Wei. “You go ahead and slowly bind it yourself,” Yu Wei said, looking at Ning. “If I bound it, you definitely wouldn’t accept the talismans inside. Don’t try to trick me.” Ning was flabbergasted. Yu Wei was truly quite meticiulous and intelligent. Ning felt that he was a smart man, but compared to her, he was still a bit inferior. For example, just now; all he had done was ask her to help bind the storage-type bracelet, and she had immediately been able to infer that in reality, he was giving the talismans within to her. “You killed both of those two. The talismans belong to you. How about we split them?” Ning said. “You saved my life, and when I killed them, they were in a dazed state because of you.” Yu Wei shook her head. “Enough. In the future, we are going to continue to adventure in this Diagram. In the future, whoever makes the kill will get the items, but this time, since you saved my life, the talismans should be yours.” Ning had no choice but to nod. Seeing how Ning was behaving, Yu Wei felt quite happy, and the corner of her lips couldn’t help but curve upwards. “Let’s go. Senior apprentice-sister, you battled for a long time earlier; you need to first restore your elemental ki and also calm your mind.” Ning immediately led Yu Wei to quickly find a cave to hide in. Time flowed on. The days passed, one by one. Together, Ji Ning and Yu Wei truly were much more formidable. Yu Wei had mastered two complete Dao-Paths, and was able to combine fire and water together. Her phoenixes of ice and fire were indeed incredibly powerful, and in terms of defense alone, the ice phoenix was comparable to Ning’s Waterflame Lotus! This was the reason why Yu Wei had been able to hold on for so long against the attacks of those three. In terms of offense, the fire phoenix was quite astonishing as well. With each other’s support, even if ten or so people attacked them at once, they would still have a chance at winning. …… “Yu Wei truly is extraordinary; she has comprehended two entire Dao-Paths.” Immortal Fivecraze was quite delighted with the performance of these two disciples of the Black-White College. He often bragged about them to the nearby members of other major powers of Stillwater Commandery. “Ji Ning is even more formidable! One of the 96 positions will definitely go to our Black-White College. And the eldest disciple of the third generation; little Sloppy has yet to show his power.” “Ji Ning is formidable, but I really don’t see anything remarkable about that the Sloppy Daoist of your Black-White College.” A white-haired Loose Immortal of the Skysplitter Sword Sect shook his head and sneered, clearly unhappy at how smug Immortal Fivecraze was acting. “You are just jealous!” Immortal Fivecraze stared at him. …… 1977 The Conclave had been going on for more than a month. The Sloppy Daoist was reclining lazily within a cave. Next to him was a pool of water that was both clear and refreshing. “The first three months will be the craziest. I’ll relax for three months. Those who survive to the end will all be formidable, and will definitely have many talismans on them. Fighting will only be fun by that point.” The Sloppy Daoist just lay there, producing a large cooked rib and beginning to gnaw on it, covering his mouth in oil. Suddenly… Whoosh! A wind blew past, and eight figures suddenly appeared at the entrance to the cave. One of the eight, a muscular man, said with a laugh, “Eldest apprentice-brother, let’s take a break at this cave and bind the storage treasures we just acquired. I hope there are talismans inside—” But suddenly, the muscular man stared. The other seven also stared, flabbergasted, at the sloppy, chubby man lying down in the cave and gnawing on a roast rib. The world of the Diagram was clearly quite large; the chances of encountering someone in a cave they randomly selected was very low. For the Sloppy Daoist, despite having often hidden in this cave during the past month, this was his first time encountering someone at the entrance. “If you always walk by the side of the river, eventually your shoes will get wet.” The Sloppy Daoist resignedly stood up and muttered to himself, then said with a chortle, “Everyone, I’m resting here. Why don’t you leave? Or perhaps I shall leave?” “Little sloppy kid, are you playing dumb or actually dumb?” A youth with triangle pupils said coldly, “Be good and hand your talisman over and we can spare your life. Otherwise, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.” “Nope.” The Sloppy Daoist shook his head. “Don’t waste words with him. Attack!” the leader, a youth holding a feather fan, let out a cold laugh and then immediately waved his hand. Feathers instantly began to shoot out from the feather fan in his hands, and hundreds of feathers instantly formed into an enormous Immortal crane. The Immortal crane screeched as it sent its claws tearing towards the Sloppy Daoist, and the surrounding rocky walls of the cave were beginning to shatter from the force of the attack. “Die.” The muscular man let out an angry roar, then immediately expanded in size to thirty-six meters. Because they were in a cave, he had to squat down and lower his head. He also suddenly activated the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability, and in each hand he wielded an enormous greataxe. He transformed into a streak of lightning, charging forward. Each of the eight released their own techniques. Three were Fiendgod Body Refiners, while the others were Ki Refiners. Each had secret arts of their own, and the ‘Immortal Crane of the Nine Heavens’ technique of their leader, the fan-wielding youth, wasn’t that much weaker than even the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. However, although the technique was fine, the power a technique could actually unleash depended on the user. For example, when Ning used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], it was even more powerful and dazzling than when the Thousand Swords Immortal had used it back when he himself had been at the peak Wanxiang level. These eight all came from an extremely large clan from the Eastern Seas known as the ‘Myriad Beasts School’. This was ranked as one of the most supreme of schools in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, and it was ranked several tiers higher than the Black-White College. It had hundreds of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals! Naturally, all eight were extremely powerful. Rumble… The battle began. Rocks began to fly everywhere, and the mountain peak itself began to crumble. BOOM! Within the crumbling mountain peak, the illusion of an enormous Turtle-Snake suddenly appeared. A powerful aura that filled the heavens swept out from it. A chubby youth with the eyes of a snake and whose skin was covered with tattoos that looked like the shell of a turtle was there…and with his bare hands, he smashed aside a giant, blood-red seal, then slapped a terrified white-robed youth into dust with a single palm blow. Next, his hand formed into a claw, striking forward like the beak of a crow and piercing directly through the head of one of the Fiendgod Refiner men. Then, with a swiping movement, he completely tore the Fiendgod Refiner’s body apart. Whoooooosh. The enormous illusion of the Turtle-Snake quickly ground apart the body of the Fiendgod Refiner, quickly transforming it into ash. “Quick, run!” “My lord…” “How can he be this powerful?! The records of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain regarding the most powerful participants made no mention at all of this sloppy-looking fatty!” The geniuses of the Myriad Beasts School had completely collapsed. They all threw our their talismans, but in total six of them still ended up being killed by the sloppy-looking fatty. Only two of them just barely managed to escape with their lives. “Whew.” The Sloppy Daoist stood there atop the destroyed mountain. Waving his hand, he collected up all the talismans and storage treasures. He was completely back to normal, and no longer seemed as terrifying as he had before. “I didn’t want to fight in the first three months, but they actually forced me to unleash my grand divine ability.” The Sloppy Daoist shook his head. “The participants of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny truly are extraordinary. The attacks of just eight of them were enough to force me to use my grand divine ability. I imagine that many others are going to quickly arrived. I’d best leave.” Whoosh. With a single step, the Sloppy Daoist transformed into a gust of wind and disappeared. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. The faces of the Xia Emperor, Lu Dongbin, the Immortal Elder of the Northlands, and the rest of the nine had all changed. Although it didn’t appear as though they were paying much attention to the Diagram, since they were Pure Yang True Immortals, they actually saw everything which was going on within it. “The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability.” “Grand Emperor Xuanwu!” 1 “He’s actually a successor for Grand Emperor Xuanwu. I wonder if he is a personal apprentice or just an honorary apprentice.” They all had solemn looks on their faces now. Grand Emperor Xuanwu…he was one of the major powers of the Three Realms, and an extremely terrifying figure. “The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability…it is definitely ranked as one of the top hundred divine ability of the countless divine abilities created since the universe was established.” Lu Dongbing spoke with a serious look on his face. “I didn’t imagine that here, at the Conclave of Immortal Destiny of your Grand Xia Empire, I’d be able to see one of the most supreme divine abilities of the Three Realms!” 1. As noted previously, Xuanwu, literally ‘dark warrior’, is both the name of an Immortal as well as the Black Tortoise of the Four Beasts. There are many legends regarding the both, and often the legends are linked, such as the Black Tortoise/Turtle-Snake originally being the guts and intestines of Xuanwu. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Xia Emperor, Sovereign Hao, and the rest of the nine Pure Yang True Immortals were all staring at the distant, massive Diagram which hung in the skies. They stared at that sloppy-looking, chubby youth. Without question, this divine technique, the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability, absolutely was not something that could be recorded down in a book. It had to be transmitted through very special methods, and it had to be Grand Emperor Xuanwu himself who did the transmitting! “Someone who was approved of by Grand Emperor Xuanwu…he cannot be a simple figure.” The Immortal Elder of the Northlands chortled. “Xiamang, who is this youth? Where is he from?” The others all looked towards the Xia Emperor as well. The Xia Emperor knew the details of every single one of the hundred thousand-plus attendees to this Conclave. Not trying to hide anything, he said, “This youth is a disciple of the Black-White College, which hails from the Stillwater Commandery of my Grand Xia Dynasty. His name is Zhang Qi, and his Daoist title is ‘Threefat’, but because he’s always dressed so sloppily, there are very few people in the outside world who refer to him as Adept Threefat. The majority refer to him as the Sloppy Daoist.” “The Sloppy Daoist? His Daoist title is ‘Threefat’? This young fellow is quite amusing.” Lu Dongbin laughed. “He actually picked such a casual Daoist title. It seems as though this youth who Grand Emperor Xuanwu took a liking to really does have unusual points about him.” “Grand Emperor Xuanwu is so majestic, and yet he actually chose such a sloppy young fellow as his disciple.” “The Sloppy Daoist?” They all memorized this name. Even if this fat youth was currently nothing more than an honorary disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, after he became a Celestial Immortal, he would most likely become a personal disciple! For him to have been taught the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability, even when he was so young and weak, was testament to how much Grand Emperor Xuanwu liked him. For a major power to care about him so much…his future would definitely be extraordinary.” Pure Yang True Immortals had incredibly good high standards. The number of Celestial Immortals that would arise from these hundred thousand-plus geniuses could be counted on one hand, and they actually didn’t care about them too much. However, the Sloppy Daoist’s status as the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu was definitely enough to make them pay serious attention to him. …… “The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability?” The Dongyan Forefather revealed a look of astonishment. “This, this Conclave actually has a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu?” “The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability!” A stunned look was on Patriarch Arcanum’s face as well. “This sloppily-dressed youth…who is he?! Our Grand Xia world actually has someone capable of becoming a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu?!” The thousand Celestial Immortals had often journeyed to other worlds as well, and some had even gone to the Heaven Realm. Thus, they were fairly experienced. In addition, the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability was an extremely recognizable one; upon seeing the massive illusion of the Turtle-Snake, and upon seeing the turtle shell-like tattoos that had suddenly emerged on the Sloppy Daoist’s skin, there was no question in their minds at all that this was the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability. More than 80% of the nearly one thousand Celestial Immortals present all recognized it. And they were all amazed! The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability…it meant that this person was the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu! Grand Emperor Xuanwu was one of the hegemons of the entire Three Realms. He had been a hegemon ever since the Primordial Era, and was absolutely one of the most major of powers! Celestial Immortals like them dreamed about being able to become a personal disciple of such a major power…but alas, the vast majority of them would only be permitted to become honorary disciples at best. There was a huge difference between honorary disciples and personal disciples. Personal disciples…to be one meant that the major power would use all of his effort in training you. Honorary disciples, by contrast, were just honorary; you’d be qualified to go listen to the major power expound on the Dao, but it would be hard to even speak a single word to that major power in private! Celestial Immortals were carefree Immortals who had escaped the restrictions of the Three Realms, and were able to dominate a local region. Major powers needed servants to take care of matters for them, which was why they give appropriate Celestial Immortals a status of being ‘honorary disciples’. But the Sloppy Daoist was different. He had been taught the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability when he was merely a Wanxiang Adept. His treatment was absolutely on par with a personal disciple’s treatment! Even though he was currently just an honorary disciple, that was merely because he was currently too weak; after becoming a Celestial Immortal, he would be immediately promoted to personal disciple. …… The plaza below. “The Patriarch has ordered us to immediately investigate who that sloppy-looking fatty is.” An azure Flood Dragon that had shrunken in size and was coiling in midair stretched out a claw, pointing towards a spot in the sky. “We’ll investigate right away.” ……. “The Supreme One has ordered us to investigate that sloppy-looking fatty.” …… Celestial Immortals were on too high of a level, and so they knew very little about the geniuses in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. The Sloppy Daoist, at least, was someone which almost none of them recognized. They didn’t dare to spread out their coresense; after all, the Xia Emperor and eight other Pure Yang True Immortals were right next to him. All they could do was just to send orders to their subordinates. More than half of the major powers of the 3600 commanderies and four seas immediately began to investigate. Soon, they discovered…that this person was named Zhang Qi, his Daoist title was Threefat, and that most referred to him as the Sloppy Daoist. He was a disciple of the Black-White College of Stillwater Commandery! “Stillwater Commandery…the Black-White College?” “Black-White College?” “A small school like that actually produced a disciple that Grand Emperor Xuanwu cares about?” The Celestial Immortals located in the main hall of the Skylight Palace all quickly received this information. They were all completely puzzled…but in their hearts, they already viewed the Sloppy Daoist as someone with status equal to theirs. The mere fact that he was someone whom Grand Emperor Xuanwu cared about was more than enough for him to be treated as an equal. The leader of the Black-White College delegation, Immortal Fivecrazed, couldn’t help but laugh delightedly as he saw all this. “I always did say that little Sloppy is extremely formidable. I understood his Dao-heart long ago…and I’ve always said that not even the Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals of the Black-White College are comparable to him in terms of his Dao-heart. He truly is formidable! But what divine ability is that? Not even I have ever seen it. It seems fairly powerful though; little Sloppy must’ve had a very lucky encounter.” 1983 “Heh heh heh…given how formidable little Sloppy is, perhaps in this Conclave…he’ll be accepted by one of the powerful Celestial Immortals or Pure Yang True Immortals of the Three Realms as a disciple.” Immortal Fivecraze was daydreaming beautifully right now. …… Time flowed on. More than a month had already passed. The battles raging within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers were exceptionally agonizing, because everyone understood that they were all fighting over their Immortal destiny. However, in the eyes of the exalted Xia Emperor and the other eight True Immortals, aside from the Sloppy Daoist, who had caused them to sigh in amazement…these other geniuses could at most cause their eyes to briefly light up. In addition, it was already quite rare for a disciple of a major power to appear in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny of a major world; they didn’t believe a second would emerge! Rumble…. Within the world of the Diagram. A waterfall cascaded down like a white torrent, smashing against a pool and spraying water everywhere. Next to the pool, there was a violet-robed, thick-browed, large-eyed, massively built youth. He was seated in the lotus position. Not too far away from him another youth, also in the lotus position; this youth had a head of tousled, unruly hair, and looked almost like a barbarian. His gaze was like that of one of the eagles in the sky, filled with a savagery that could cause the heart to quiver. “Xiamang Zishan, are you done rest? It’s time for us to go. We don’t have enough talismans yet!” 1 “Hey, I’m talking to you!” The wild-haired barbarian youth began to get angry. But right at this moment… Arcane ripples of power suddenly began to descend around the massively built violet-robed youth. These were the ripples of the Dao. Water and mist began to swirl around him, and in the midst of the water and mist could be seen flashes of lightning. “…the hell? You made a breakthrough, just like that?” The barbarian youth was speechless. The violet-robed youth slowly opened his eyes. If the barbarian youth could be described as an eagle of the heavens, then this violet-robed youth was like a primordial behemoth of the group, filled with an absolutely dominating aura. In terms of dominating auras, even the father of Northmont Baiwei, ‘Northmont Blacktiger’, was a level inferior to him. “Cangwu Jiu.” 2 The azure-robed youth cracked a smile, revealing his white teeth. “I’ve mastered a fourth Dao-Path as well! I’ve caught up to you!” 1984 “Before this, you and I were on par…and now, you punk, you are even more powerful than me?” Cangwu Jiu was amazed. The two of them had run into each other shortly after entering this Diagram world. They had fought together, then realized neither could achieve victory of the other. Given that they had also grown up together in the imperial capital, and felt friendly towards each other to begin with…and that as soon as they had entered the Diagram world, they had both suffered repeated group attacks…they decided to join forces! “You run too fast. If you focus on avoiding taking on my attacks head-on, there’s nothing I can do to you either.” A look of confidence was in Xiamang Zishan’s eyes. “But if you actually fight against me headon…you naturally are no longer my match. With four Dao-Paths which have been infused into my Grand Dao of Lightning…I imagine that in this entire Diagram world, if I said that I was number two, no one would dare claim themselves to be number one!” “Don’t go too crazy,” Cangwu Jiu sneered. “And don’t be smug. There are countless geniuses in the Diagram, and given how many times they are battling every day…these battles are tempering them and allowing them to improve at an astonishing rate. Quite a few people are most likely making breakthroughs!” “Mm. That’s something I do need to be careful about.” Xiamang Zishan nodded. “I can’t be too overconfident. My goal in this Conclave is to come out number one!” Cangwu Jiu shook his head. “Let’s hurry up and go.” Swoosh! Swoosh! Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu both flew off. …… The Sloppy Daoist was standing by the side of a lake. Underneath the light of the moon, it appeared illusory and dreamy. His eyes were closed. He had no idea that in the outside world, nine True Immortals and many Celestial Immortals were all focusing on him, and that he was the largest focal point for the entire Diagram right now. “whew.” The Sloppy Daoist’s body suddenly trembled slightly, and then a swirl of fire erupted in the surrounding area, billowing outwards. One circle of fire after another spread out, with the Sloppy Daoist at the center. The ripples of the Dao descended. The Sloppy Daoist opened his eyes. “After training for all these years, and after fighting tens of times every day in the Diagram world…I’ve finally made a break through in the fourth month and mastered my 1985 third complete Dao-Path. What I need to do now is to fuse all three of these complete Daos into my Grand Dao of Taiji.” 3 The Sloppy Daoist had also gained insight into a Grand Dao. Ji Ning had gained insight into the Grand Dao of the Sword, while the Sloppy Daoist had embarked on the path of the Grand Dao of the Taiji. …… After a few months, many of those who had been present in the Diagram had given up…and many of them had perished within it! But for the surviving geniuses? It was normally incredibly rare for them to be able to encounter geniuses on their same general level and fight with them…and now that they were doing so for tens of times or a even hundred times each day, many of them began to make sudden breakthroughs. Many of them had been trapped at bottlenecks, and now, they were all making their breakthroughs. The sixth month of the trials within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. Within a wilderness region. A black-robed youth and a black-robed woman were within the wild grass of this area. Ning sat there in the lotus position, and not too far away was Yu Wei. Yu Wei was also seated in the lotus position, quietly looking at Ning. Earlier, Ning had said to her: “Senior apprentice-sister, I gained some insights in that previous battle. Help stand guard for me.” And then, he had set down a simple visionobscuring formation, then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Yu Wei looked at Ning, whose eyes were still closed. She carefully looked at his eyes, his nose, his lips…she looked at him very carefully and very earnestly.. Zishan means ‘Violet Mountain’, which goes with his preference for violet clothes.. ‘Jiu’ means hawk, hence the description of him as looking like an eagle.. This is the same Taiji as the Taiji Diagram, aka the Yin-Yang diagram, or in ‘Tai Chi’ martial arts. The concept of the Taiji is one of the most fundamental ones in Daoism. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Yu Wei rested her hands on her chin, just looking at Ji Ning. In fact, an unconscious smile even crept onto her face. It was very quiet. They were underneath the light of the moon. The only people present were herself and her junior apprentice-brother. She just gazed at her junior apprentice-brother…and everything seemed so perfect. …… The plaza of the imperial citadel. “Whaaaaaat?” Mu Northson stared at the image of Ji Ning and Yu Wei within the Diagram in the skies. Yu Wei sat there, resting her hands on her chin and staring intently at Ning. “Can it be that senior apprenticesister Yu Wei has fallen for senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning? Good heavens!” Little Qing, wrapped around Northson’s arm, was staring intently as well. Just from the look on Yu Wei’s face, anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence would be able to guess that Yu Wei harbored feelings for Ji Ning. “That little girl Yu Wei and Ji Ning…?” Immortal Fivecraze revealed a grin. As he saw it, since both Yu Wei and Ji Ning were peerless geniuses of the Black-White College, they were quite a match for each other. …… “Look look, look look look, that expression on that little girl’s face! I told you, I told you all! I told you that this little girl must be in love with that Ji Ning fellow.” Lu Dongbin urgently pointed at a corner of the massive Diagram while saying to the nearby Xia Emperor, Sovereign Hao, and others, “I wanted to bet with you earlier, but none of you were willing.” “You are the Sage of Love, a legendary matchmaker, the Moon Elder…who would dare bet against you in such a matter?” A Pure Yang True Immortal dressed in black Daoist robes that had a blood-colored Taiji diagram embroidered onto them laughed. 1 “Truelord, I’m no sage of love; I don’t even have a Dao-companion. I’m definitely not the Moon Elder either; the Celestial Court already has a designated Moon Elder,” Lu Dongbin said hurriedly. Buffoonery and jests; shamelessness and thick-skinnedness; a master of pretense. In short, any place with Lu Dongbin in it would be a place of laughter. This was why Lu Dongbin had so many friends in the Three Realms. He was an incredibly good-natured fellow, had powerful backers supporting him, and was very strong in his own right. How could he not have countless friends? …… Ninelotus, seated behind the Dongyan Forefather, tightly grasped at her robes as she stared at the massive Diagram. She chewed on her lips, a complicated look in her eyes. “Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei…towards Ji Ning, you…” In the past, she had only been a bit worried. Although over the past few months, Ji Ning and Yu Wei had grown fairly close as they had adventured together, Ninelotus had chalked that up to being because they were fellow disciples of the same school. But upon seeing that look…she had no more doubts at all! “I’ve made my choice.” “No regrets.” Ninelotus bit her lips, lecturing herself mentally. Yu Wei just gazed at Ning, completely absorbed in her own little world. She completely forgot that there even was an outside world. After an indeterminable period of time, tendrils of flame began to emerge around Ning, which grew and expanded into an lotus flower that began to continuously expand, from a fist-sized lotus flower to an enormous flaming lotus that was many tens of meters long. Ning sat there in the very center of the lotus amidst the pistils as the ripples of the Dao descended. “Eh?” Yu Wei suddenly came to her senses. “Not good!” She suddenly felt shocked. “Those in the outside world can see everything that’s going on within this Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers! Someone might’ve noticed me!” She had only revealed her emotions and ceased disguising them when she had seen that Ning had been completely absorbed in meditating on the Dao. She had forgotten that others outside could see her! This caused Yu Wei to feel incredibly awkward and embarrassed. “Senior apprentice-sister.” Ning opened his eyes, then said with a laugh, “I’ve broken through the bottleneck. I’ve finally mastered the Dao of the Inferno.” Yu Wei hurriedly came back to her senses, then said happily, “That’s wonderful. Junior apprenticebrother, you’ve already mastered the Dao of Rainwater. Now that you’ve mastered the Dao of the Inferno as well…with fire and water joining together and then infusing your Dao of the Sword, your power must have grown significantly.” 1988 “Yes.” Ning nodded, filled with anticipation as well. Two complete Dao-Paths. He had also reached the Grand Dao Domain in the Dao of the Sword. He now felt even more confident in his chances. Although some of the most supreme geniuses amongst these hundred thousand-plus competitors in the Conclave might have already started training in their own Grand Daos, some had just a basic grasp while others had just gotten to understand their own hearts. Only a very few would have reached the Grand Dao Domain like Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, you need to seize the chance to train in your [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens],” Yu Wei immediately said. “You are only at the eleventh stage. There are many practitioners of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] in this Conclave, and most of them have reached the twelfth stage.” “Understood.” Ning nodded. This was his weakness. In Swallow Mountain, countless years would pass before there would a genius capable of training in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], but in Stillwater Commandery, the Black-White College alone had quite a few. As for the participants in this Conclave, many of them trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. To be at the eleventh stage of it was indeed a bit weak. However, he had a powerful soul and was a Sword Immortal, and also had the [Starseizing Hand]. He didn’t fear fighting against any of them. …… Just half a month after Ning had mastered the Dao of the Inferno. A massively built violet-robed youth and a barbarian youth were walking shoulder-to-shoulder amidst the mountain forests, sweeping out with their divine sense to a distance of ten kilometers. “Cangwu Jiu, how many talismans do you have?” Xiamang Zishan asked. “Just barely over a thousand. You?” Cangwu Jiu asked. “You have more than a thousand already? I’ve killed even more people than you, but I only have 989!” Xiaman Zishan stared at him. “That’s because you are stupid. Will you necessarily acquire a lot of talismans just by killing a lot of people? Some people had many on them; some had less. It comes down to being a matter of judgment…and clearly, your judgment is vastly inferior to mine,” Cangwu Jiu said disdainfully. Xiamang Zishan shook his head. “You don’t have THAT many more than me. Look at how smug you are acting! We’ve spent more than six months in the Diagram; more than half a year has passed. We need to speed it up and acquire at least 1300 each.” The Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers had a total of 109,362 competitors within it. After a year, the eighty contestants with the most talismans would have passed the trials. Thus, so long as they acquired at least 1370 talismans, it was guaranteed that you would have passed. And given that some would have more and others less, while some of the losers would also have talismans…1300 was probably going to be enough. “We have to aim for 1400! Only then can I be at ease,” Cangwu Jiu said. While chatting, the two continued to sweep their divine sense forward. Whoosh! They continued to advance rapidly forward. “Eh?” Cangwu Jiu and Xiamang Zishan’s eyes suddenly flickered. Swoosh! Swoosh! The two transformed into streaks of light, instantly charging forward by many kilometers. Many kilometers away, halfway up a tall mountain peak, there stood a black-robed man and a woman. It was Ning and Yu Wei. Ning and Yu Wei both had powerful souls as well; when the enemy swept them with their divine sense, they both immediately noticed it. A moment later, two figures appeared in the distance. “Them?” Ning and Yu Wei were both shocked. They immediately recognized the two, because these two were simply far too famous. And, more importantly, the two hadn’t changed their clothes at all. “Xiamang Zishan? Cangwu Jiu?” Ning’s heart clenched. According to the reports from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain regarding the peerless geniuses participating in this Conclave, the number one ranked figure was Xiamang Zishan, while the number two was Cangwu Jiu! Xiamang Zishan trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], and also trained in my divine abilities that were used only by the imperial Xiamang clan and were not taught to outsiders! His talent was absolutely top-notch as well, and the Grand Xia Emperor was quite pleased with him. Supposedly, he had long ago been guided by the Grand Xia Emperor into the tutelage of one of the experts of the Three Realms, and his power was immeasurable. Cangu Jiu was one of the rare, peerless geniuses of the Cangwu clan. His age was comparable to Xiamang Zishan’s, and ever since they had been young, they had been famous geniuses of the imperial capital. They had grown up together. Because Xiamang Zishan was of the imperial clan, he was ranked as number one while Cangwu Jiu was forced to be ranked as number two. But no matter what…without question, these two were the two most famous participants in this Conclave! “Given how famous they are, they assuredly have the power to back it up. Why have the two most famous figures joined forces?” Ning felt nervousness in his heart. If he encountered one of them, he would dare to fight…but he had Yu Wei with him as well, and she was a Ki Refiner. Although she had mastered two complete Daos, her power was still quite a bit lower than figures like Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu. …… 1990 “Lu Dongbin, weren’t you paying a great deal of attention to that little girl? This time, that little girl and Ji Ning have really run into trouble,” the Immortal Elder of the Northlands called out with a chortle. Lu Dongbin was watching. He said vexedly, “This really does seem to be trouble. Those two are named Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu, right? Their power can be considered to be in the absolute top tier of these hundred thousand-plus competitors. Even compared to the Sloppy Daoist, they would still probably be on par. You can’t say for certain who is stronger until they actually fight, but…Ji Ning and the little girl are a bit too weak.” “Zishan is the most outstanding member in the junior generation of my Xiamang clan, and has a chance to rank in the top three this time.” The Xia Emperor laughed as he spoke. It was rare for him to care about someone from the younger generation, but Xiamang Zishan was the one he liked the most. …… “Senior apprentice-sister, Ji Ning.” Ninelotus watched nervously. She knew how frightening Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu were. Earlier, when she had watched as Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu had been headed in the direction of Ning and Yu Wei, she had begun to feel nervous. And in the end…they really did encounter each other. “I hope nothing bad happens.” Ninelotus was extremely nervous. …… Within the world of the Diagram. The friends and family outside were worried, but there was nothing they could do. Ning and Yu Wei were now both very cautious as well. “You are…Ji Ning?” Cangwu Jiu’s hawk-like eyes stared at Ning, immediately recognizing him. “He’s Ji Ning? Doesn’t Ji Ning dress in furs?” The nearby Xiamang Zishan said. “I told you that you are an idiot, but you wouldn’t listen. Can’t you just change your damn robes?” Cangwu Jiu shook his head. “I acquired quite a few paintings of Ji Ning. I collected many paintings of all the geniuses. Just by looking at a single one, it can be hard to recognize the real person, which is why I had to view many of them.” “I have more than a hundred paintings of Ji Ning, so I recognized him at one glance,” Cangwu Jiu said confidently. Ning and Yu Wei exchanged a glance. From the way the two were chatting to each other and from how calm they were, it was clear that they were very confident. “Senior apprentice-sister, don’t fight them head on. Use your phoenixes to attack them, while I’ll tie them up for a while. You flee first, then I’ll come afterwards,” Ning sent. Yu Wei nodded as well. She knew that if it weren’t for her, it would be much easier for Ning to flee, but with her here…although their attack power was greater, fleeing became trickier. As Ning and Yu Wei were chatting mentally… “Hand over your talismans, and I’ll spare your lives!” Cangwu Jiu’s voice suddenly turned sharp, and his mental message echoed in Ning and Yu Wei’s minds. Cangwu Jiu charged forward, and suddenly in midair a massive black vulture that was was three hundred meters long suddenly appeared. The plumes of the black vulture glowed with an oily light, and its eyes seemed almost alive as it dove forward with a screech.. In Chinese Daoist religions, a minor divinity known as the ‘Moon Elder’ is responsible for marriages and matchmaking, much like Cupid is in Western mythologies. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “That’s the Venomous Nethervulture secret art!” Ning immediately recognized the technique. Cangwu Jiu had become famous long ago, and this Venomous Nethervulture art was his signature technique. It was an enormous Venomous Nethervulture that was formed from many magic treasures in a formation. As for Cangwu Jiu himself, he was hidden within the grand Venomous Nethervulture. Once it failed, Cangwu Jiu would emerge from within the body of the Nethervulture and enter close combat! Yu Wei pointed towards the distant. Whoosh! All 72 Rahu Godneedles instantly appeared in midair. Filled with elemental ki, they activated the natural energy of the world to form a pair of enormous phoenixes of fire and ice. The two phoenixes simultaneously howled through the air as they charged towards the giant black vulture. “Shkreee!” The black vulture let out a venomous screech, then slashed downwards viciously with his claws. The phoenix of ice and the phoenix of ice charged upwards, but after exchanging just two blows many cracks had already appeared on their bodies. Upon their third collision against the vulture, both phoenixes completely shattered, and the 72 Rahu Godneedles were immediately knocked flying back as well. “Arise.” Ning stood there, and around him manifested the Waterflame Lotus. The Waterflame Lotus surrounded him, the lotus leaves swaying gently as they continuously swiveled. Boom… The charging black vulture smashed directly against the Waterflame Lotus. There was an enormous collision sound, but although some of the leaves of the Waterflame Lotus shattered, new ones quickly emerged. Clearly, this technique was incomparably resilient. This caused the relaxing, spectating Xiamang Zishan to feel startled; this was rather beyond his expectations. After six months of tempering and especially after having thoroughly mastered both the Dao of Rainwater and the Dao of the Inferno, Ning had further perfected his Waterflame Lotus, as his powers were now in perfect equilibrium, allowing the technique to clearly grow more formidable. In addition, this was a technique which used earthfire and dire-ice of the first grade as its base; how could it be so easily defeated? “Quick, leave.” Ning sent mentally. Swoosh! Yu Wei transformed into a streak of light, immediately planning to fly away. “Shkreee!” The venomous black vulture suddenly opened its mouth, and a person emerged from within it. It was Cangwu Jiu. Cangwu Jiu was wielding a scimitar in his hand, and as he flew out, his body suddenly exploded in size to become sixty meters tall. His right arm transformed into a golden color, and with a single flash, he caught up to the location in front of Yu Wei, frightening her into hurriedly retreating. “Go!” Ning suddenly manifested more than seven hundred flying swords around him. A golden flying sword appeared in front of him, then shot out with a bang. Boom! The power of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] caused even Cangwu Jiu’s body to tremble for a moment, but in the next moment, the golden right arm of Cangwu Jiu brandished that scimitar and chopped apart the flying sword of golden light. By this time, Yu Wei had fled back to the Waterflame Lotus. “He is too fast. I’m not able to escape,” Yu Wei sent frantically. Ning understood as well. Forget about Yu Wei; even he himself wasn’t confident in being able to escape from the attacks of Cangwu Jiu. Cangwu Jiu’s strongest point was his speed to begin with. “Then I’ll trap him!” Ning sent. “Senior apprentice-sister, you and I shall first block him off together!” Swish! Swish! Swish! One golden flying sword after another, formed from the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], flew out and attacked. As for Yu Wei, the 72 Rahu Godneedles in front of her flew out once more. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the phoenix of ice, and the phoenix of fire simultaneously attacked. Cangwu Jiu, seeing everything headed his way as well as that enormous Waterflame Lotus, couldn’t help but frown. He mentally barked, “Xiamang Zishan, why aren’t you helping out yet?!” There was no way Cangwu Jiu could dominate Ning and Yu Wei by himself, after they joined forces. “It’s just two people. I thought you could handle it by yourself.” Xiamang Zishan laughed loudly in response. “Cangwu Jiu, remember, don’t let these two escape. You are most skilled in pursuing and trapping enemies.” “Don’t worry about that!” Cangwu Jiu stood there in midair, pointing towards the distance. Instantly, a fierce gale arose in the surrounding area, howling as it spun into a tornado. The spinning tornado covered the surrounding area, stretching several kilometers and completely trapping Ning and Yu Wei within it. “I’ll use the Qian-Heaven Soulwind to trap them, the Venomous Nethervulture to support it, and I’ll personally be prepared to attack at any time,” Cangwu Jiu sent mentally. “Under these three techniques…there’s no way they’ll escape. As for fighting them head on? I’ll leave that to you.” “Hahaha…” 1994 Xiamang Zishan laughed loudly. Boom! His footsteps suddenly began to cause the mountains to tremble as he immediately transformed into a sixty meter tall giant, and his entire body began to radiate with a violet-colored lightning. The violetcolored lightning even began to appear in the surrounding area, and an enormous black metal staff appeared in his hands. Wielding the black metal staff, he charged into the heart of the giant tornado towards the Waterflame Lotus. Bang!!! He unleashed a single sweeping smash from the black metal staff, but the power of it was so great it seemed capable of reversing the course of rivers. Many of the leaves of the Waterflame Lotus were completely smashed apart into two pieces. “Such power.” Ning was shocked. Why was the man even more powerful than he had predicted? In the Heavenly Treasures Mountains’ reports, it didn’t seem as though Xiamang Zishan was quite this terrifying. Ning’s Waterflame Lotus wasn’t even able to withstand a single blow from this man. “Ji Ning, right? Come!” Xiamang Zishan laughed loudly, possessing the aura of a dominating mountain that would crush and destroy anything before it. Ji Ning suddenly took a step forward as well. Boom! He transformed into a 54 meter tall giant, and lightning crackled around his body as well. In his hands, two Darknorth swords appeared. He charged forward, and as he did a third eye appeared in the middle of his forehead. A succession of lightning bolts slammed out towards the distant Xiamang Zishan…who actually didn’t dodge at all! The violet lightning crackling around his body was enough to easily deflect Ning’s thunderbolt strikes. As for the divine will component to the attack? He paid even less attention to that. “[Soldiers of the Mind].” An invisible, formless surge of divine will shot out, forming into sharp swords, warblades, and longspears. The weapons howled as they flew towards Xiamang Zishan’s sea of consciousness, frantically chopping and stabbing at it. Xiamang Zishan paused momentarily, but he then quickly regained control over himself. The savagery in his eyes only grew stronger. “So you have some ability after all!” “You live up to your reputation as the number one expert in the Heavenly Treasures Mountain’s intelligence report.” The enormous Ning charged forward, twin swords in his hands and absolute confidence in his eyes. “Hahaha…” Xiamang Zishan twirled his black metal staff, his aura of power filling the heavens. Even before his breakthrough, he had been ranked by the Heavenly Treasures Mountain as the number one 1995 figure in this crowded. Now that he had made a breakthrough, Xiamang Zishan personally believed that he had no equals left. His goal in this Conclave was to become the number one champion! The two instantly collided against each other! A dazzling sword-light filled the skies! A massive staff shattered apart the Waterflame Lotus with the force of a flood! BOOM!!!! Ning took three steps back. Xiamang Zishan took three steps back as well. The surrounding mountain had begun to crumble, and even the mountain peak was trembling, on the verge of collapse. “What?!” Cangwu Jiu, in midair, was astonished. “He blocked that madman Xiamang Zishan? This Ji Ning has incredibly terrifying close combat power.” “What a fellow. You actually managed to receive the third stance of my self-created Qiankun Staff of Force! Have a test of the fourth stance I just created! This is a stance which I created by fusing four complete Dao-Paths into my Grand Dao of Lightning!” Xiamang Zishan was clearly growing even more berserk as he charged towards Ning once more, and the staff in his hands verily surged with flows of violet lightning. As his staff smashed down, it seemed to tear apart the world itself. Ning stepped forward to receive the blow, the Darknorth swords in his hands transforming into dazzling streaks of sword-light as they blocked the terrifying staff. BOOM!!!! A heavy collision. Xiamang Zishan didn’t even take a single step back, but Ning was actually forced backwards until his back slammed into the mountain wall behind him. The mountain peak, already trembling and unstable, suddenly began to collapse. “How can this be?!” Ning’s face was completely ashen. In his very first clash against Xiamang Zishan, he had already executed the [Starseizing Hand]. In the first exchange, he had barely managed to fight the man to a standstill, but now that this man had used an even more powerful technique, Ning was now in a position of absolute inferiority. “His staff techniques are more powerful than my sword techniques.” Ning understood the issue. The difference between the two in terms of the Dao was too great. In addition, the enemy had reached the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], which was more than Ning! This opponent was of the imperial Xiamang clan. Although the divine abilities he trained in couldn’t compare to Ning’s [Starseizing Hand], they were still some of the better divine abilities of the Three Realms, and the difference wasn’t too staggeringly great. Rumble… The mountain peak collapsed, sending rocks flying everywhere. Ji Ning and Xiamang Zishan stared at each other, completely ignoring the flying rubble. The flying rubble couldn’t even strike them; as soon as they came near, the divine power covering their bodies would instantly smash them apart. “[Three Heads, Six Arms!]” Ning’s body suddenly swayed as two new heads and four new arms emerged. “Haha, me too!” Xiamang Zishan’s body swayed as well, and he too used the [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique. He was now wielding a total of three giant black metal staffs. “Come.” Ning charged forward, displaying his Windwing Evasion, moving as unpredictably as a ghost as he moved to engage Xiamang Zishan. Hahaha….” Xiamang Zishan continued to fight him head-on, charging straight for him. Both of them were using [Three Heads, Six Arms]! Six swords, fighting against three black metal staffs! Sword-light flowed through the air like streams of running water, incomparably beautiful. A flood of staffblows filled the skies like bolts of thunder. Ning no longer fought head on; in the past, when he relied on the [Starseizing Hand], he was able to brute-force everything, but upon meeting Xiamang Zishan…he began to instead turn to using the nimbleness inherent to swords, as well as the Windwing Evasion technique. Although with each exchange of blows, Ning was knocked backwards, he wasn’t sent completely flying like earlier. “I’m going to hit! Hit! Hit hit hit you!!!” Xiamang Zishan was incomparably berserk as his three black metal staffs wildly smashed everywhere. Ning’s six swords were like an unbroken, everflowing stream of water, blocking and shunting the power of the enemy attacks to the side each time. Every so often, he would even be able to deliver a counterblow with his sword as well. However, Ning could taste the blood in his mouth. “I can’t continue like this. I have to rescue senior apprentice-sister.” 1997 “[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!” Swish! Swish! Swish! Instantly, a golden sword coalesced before him, then howled through the air and shot towards Cangwu Jiu. Ning sent frantically, “Senior apprentice-sister, hurry up and leave.” BANG! With a powerful staff blow, Xiamang Zishan smashed Ning down into the shattered stones. He roared angrily, “Punk, don’t get distracted. If you get distracted, you’ll die!” …… The fight between Xiamang Zishan and Ji Ning had long ago attracted the attention of almost everyone, from the Pure Yang True Immortals and Celestial Immortals to the people on the plaza below the Skylight Palace. “Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain reported these two as number one and number two.” “Ji Ning is so formidable; he was actually able to tie down Cangwu Jiu.” “He’s now fighting against Xiamang Zishan.” “Xiamang Zishan is so powerful. Ji Ning has actually been able to exchange more than a hundred rounds of attacks with him?” The various delegates from the 3600 and 4 great seas all felt their hearts clench. Many of them were Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals; naturally, they could tell how formidable and fierce Xiamang Zishan’s staff technique was. This was a staff technique that surpassed the techniques of many Loose Immortals! In addition, Xiamang Zishan’s divine body and divine abilities were clearly incredibly powerful as well. He was an absolutely dominating and irresistible force. But Ji Ning, a young fellow who had only trained for thirty or so years, was actually able to withstand the attacks. Although he was in a position of inferiority, he was able to rely on the nimbleness of his sword arts to deflect the attacks, and tie down his opponent! But upon seeing Ji Ning be distracted as he controlled the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to tie down Cangwu Jiu, resulting in Xiamang Zishan heavily injuring him and sending him flying into the rubble, many people instantly felt their hearts clench for Ning. “Ji Ning is actually allowing himself to be distracted in a life-and-death battle? His opponent is Xiamang Zishan!” “I hope he doesn’t end up losing his own life for the sake of saving his female companion.” 1998 Many of the people in the plaza of the imperial citadel were discussing the situation amongst themselves. Mu Northson, Little Qing, the Whitewater Hound, Immortal Fivecraze, Northmont Baiwei, and Ninelotus had begun to feel nervous and worried long ago. But there was nothing they could do; they couldn’t go inside. No one could help Ji Ning. They could just watch as the scene played out before them. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mountain Cave Yu Wei, hidden within the Waterflame Lotus while controlling her phoenixes of fire and ice, watched as the three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning battled with full force against Xiamang Zishan, then diverted part of his attention to use his sword formation against Cangwu Jiu. This caused the eyes of Yu Wei, who was only controlling her phoenixes to protect herself, to instantly turn red. How long had it been? It had already been six months. During the past six months, she and Ning had adventured together through the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. They had fought nearly a hundred times on every single day; sometimes, others fled, while other times, it was her and Ning who fled! Ning was more powerful than her, and was a Fiendgod Body Refiner as well; each time they were in danger, it had always been Ning who had charged forward to block the enemy from pursuing. Although this time there were only two enemies fighting them, compared to the previous dangers they had undergone, this was the most dangerous one of them all! “Senior apprentice-sister, hurry up and leave!” Ning’s voice echoed out in Yu Wei’s mind. “He’s telling me to leave again. To leave again. Why am I always a burden to him?” Yu Wei ground her teeth, tears flashing through her eyes. She sent back, “Junior apprentice-brother, don’t worry about me. I’m not strong enough to continue. I’ll give up. I’m going to leave this Diagram. In the future, you’ll have to rely on yourself.” With her slowing him down, Ji Ning would definitely find things easier. Given his power, there was no need at all for him to go fight anyone head-on if he didn’t have to. Whoosh… In front of Yu Wei, many talismans suddenly appeared, and they scattered out in the area around her. She truly didn’t want to accept this. It had only been six months. She truly wanted to accompany Ji Ning in continuing to journey through the world of the Diagram until the year was over. “Give up the talismans and I’ll spare your life.” Cangwu Jiu, in midair, revealed a smile. But suddenly…his smile froze. This was because Yu Wei, who had just thrown out all her talismans…actually grabbed a handful back. Then, with a wave of her hand, she actually collected all of them once more. “Are you looking to die?!” Cangwu Jiu, who felt as though he had just been played for a fool, was instantly enraged. He no longer waited there in midair; he immediately transformed into a streak of light and charged downwards. Yu Wei, who had just taken back her talismans, now had a deep, dark, dangerous look in her eyes. She stared at the charging Cangwu Jiu, then gently pointed a single finger towards him. Instantly, the 72 Rahu Godneedles separated into two groups which undulated in the air. of the Rahu Godneedles, summoning the power of the natural world, formed into a single, enormous black phoenix. This phoenix was completely black, and the tail-feathers of the phoenix blazed with black flames. As for the other 36 Rahu Godneedles, they transformed into an enormous white phoenix which was completely pristine and pure, emanating an almost holy gaze. Lines of glowing white light could be seen emanating from the tail-feathers of the white phoenix as well. “Eh?” Cangwu Jiu instantly felt his heart tremble as an inexplicable, nameless sensation of danger caused him to instantly explode forth with full power. Whoosh! The 60 meter tall Cangwu Jiu struck out with his golden right arm, and his saber was absolutely dazzling to behold, leaving behind a beautiful, solitary, perfect arc in the skies as it chopped downwards towards that black phoenix. The black phoenix let out a bird’s call; although it was knocked backwards, it wasn’t damaged in the slightest. “Screech!” The white phoenix began to battle against Cangwu Jiu’s black vulture…and the black vulture actually began to tremble and crack. “How can this be? She, she…” Cangwu Jiu was incomparably shocked and angered. This woman was clearly much weaker than him! Ji Ning was one thing; he had been famous before this, and was even capable of battling with Xiamang Zishang for so long. Most likely, Cangwu Jiu himself was only on par with Ji Ning. But how was it that this woman, who had no reputation whatsoever, was able to completely block him now? “Not happening. Don’t believe it.” Cangwu Jiu exploded with power, also manifesting two more heads and four more arms. He now wielded three scimitars in his hands, and he transformed into a tempest as he shot forward, his scimitar-light seeming capable of splitting the skies and carrying a terrifying majesty. But the black phoenix and the white phoenix supported each other…and were actually able to block the berserk Cangwu Jiu. …… Previously, Mu Northson, the Whitewater Hound, Little Qing, Immortal Fivecraze, Adept Vastriver, Northmont Baiwei, and Ninelotus were all extremely nervous. Now, they were all stunned. How had Yu Wei suddenly exploded forth with such power? Her defense was completely airtight, causing even Cangwu Jiu to be unable to do anything to her at all. This was simply inconceivable! It was Cangwu Jiu she was facing! “Can, can it be that senior apprentice-sister had been hiding her power all along?” Northson was puzzled. “But she hasn’t been training for much longer than senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning has.” The main hall of the Skylight Palace. The Xia Emperor, watching, couldn’t help but smile. “The situation has just reversed.” “Just like in the poem; ‘the same mountains and the same rivers, with seemingly no path forward; then the shady willow tree, the brilliant flowers, and a mountain village’1. Something pleasant and unexpected has just occurred.” Lu Dongbin sighed in surprised. “Who would’ve imagined that at this critical moment, the little girl managed to reawaken her memories from her past life? Judging from what I saw…her reawakening of memories caused her to master at least four complete Dao-Paths. Her level of insight in the Grand Dao of Taiji is quite high as well; in her past life, she must’ve been a fairly formidable Loose Immortal.” The Grand Dao of Taiji and four complete Dao-Paths; this would make someone a supreme expert amongst Loose Immortals. “She had already mastered two Daos before this.” The Immortal Elder of the Northlands, nursing a cup of wine, rolled his head. “When one is at a high enough level of comprehension, it does indeed become possible for the memories from a previous life to reawaken. However, it is quite hard for the memories of a past life as a Loose Immortal to completely awaken; it seems in that instant, she suffered a severe mental blow which stimulated her, causing her soul to instantly explode and activate the hidden memories.” “Mm.” “Right.” The Pure Yang True Immortals present all nodded. The Conclave of Immortal Destiny had more than a hundred thousand participants, and there were many reincarnated Immortals amongst them. It was indeed theoretically possible for them to reawaken their past memories…but it was extremely, extremely rare. “What’s the name of this little lass?” Lu Dongbin looked towards the Xia Emperor. “I don’t know her name yet.” “Her name is Yu Wei. Her Daoist title is Rainbowflame; because she is a reincarnated Immortal, she is referred to by others as the Rainbowflame Fairy,” the Xia Emperor said. “She, too, hails from the BlackWhite College of Stillwater Commandery. You already know about Ji Ning, who is next to her. This time, the Black-White College has produced three attendees, and each of them truly are formidable.” “The Sloppy Daoist is the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, and his power is on par with Cangwu Jiu, Xiamang Zishan, and Ji Ning. This Yu Wei was originally weaker, but now that she’s regained her former memories, she’s on the same level as well,” Sovereign Hao said with a sigh. “As I see it, the Sloppy Daoist has trained for more than a century, while Yu Wei had memories from a past life that she reawakened. But Ji Ning has only trained for thirty years, yet already has such incredible power…this is rather inconceivable.” Lu Dongbin stroked his jaw, murmuring to himself, “As I see it, Ji Ning has tremendous potential.” The Xia Emperor laughed. “Lu Dongbin, can it be that you want to take on a disciple?” “No, no, no…I actually have more of a liking for that little lass named Yu Wei.” Lu Dongbin’s eyes lit up. “She was actually stimulated to the point of having her former memories awaken; this little lass is quite, quite amusing.” The others all immediately shook their heads. Reincarnated Immortals generally didn’t have much potential; if they weren’t able to overcome the tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal in their past life, then the chances they would succeed in this one would be very, very low. “Ji Ning does have some potential.” The Xia Emperor murmured quietly to himself. He had already taken notice of twenty one youths in this Conclave, each of which had tremendous potential; Ji Ning was one of them. Within the world of the Diagram. BOOM! Ji Ning was suppressed by Xiamang Zishan’s might; although he used his agility to counter the other’s raw power, he was still wounded by their colliding blows. Still, this sort of injury was minor; Ning was still paying full attention to his senior apprentice-sister, only to discover that under Cangwu Jiu’s attack, Yu Wei had suddenly exploded with power. She was actually able to fight him to a standstill! This caused Ning to feel both astonished and delighted. “Junior apprentice-brother, come over here. Hurry up and collect your sword array,” Yu Wei sent frantically. “Senior apprentice-sister!” Ning stopped wasting time with Xiamang Zishan. With a whoosh, he swept through the air to move towards Yu Wei, while at the same time mentally commanding the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] swords to return to him. “Let’s go.” Yu Wei grabbed Ning by the arm. The black phoenix and the white phoenix suddenly began to revolve around each other, forming into a black and white vortex. Yu Wei grabbed Ning, then charged into the vortex. Swoosh! A brilliant, dazzling streak of black-and-white light appeared in the skies. They had instantly moved more than a thousand kilometers away. “What, what technique is this?!” Xiamang Zishan walked over, saying in astonishment, “How could they have escaped so quickly? Cangwu Jiu, even you were unable to catch them? Didn’t you say that you are the fastest person in the world at the Wanxiang level?” “I can’t catch them.” Cangwu Jiu shook his head. “I can tell that this is evasive technique which uses a magic treasure…a technique that was specifically designed for escape, formed from the Grand Dao of Taiji. This woman has an extremely high level of comprehension in the Grand Dao of Taiji!” …… Within a mountain cave. After setting up a simple formation, Ning plopped his rear down. “Xiamang Zishan really was an absolute madman.” Ning felt utterly exhausted; the earlier battle had been simply too frenetic. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye he saw a pool of water located deep in the cave. He immediately ran over, then used his hands to cup some water and wash his face. “That feels great.” Yu Wei laughed. She was going to be able to continue to stay with her junior apprentice-brother in the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. She walked towards the side of the pool, then sat down. With a wave of her hand, she produced a jade flute, then began to gently blow it. The sound of the flute was melodious and leisurely, seeming to reach deep into a person’s heart. Ning, stunned, put down the water in his hands and sat down to listen. The sound of the flute was drifting and soft… 2004 …it spoke of a vast grassland, a peaceful, gentle tribe, and a female child who was the member of that small tribe… …the peace was destroyed, and disaster descended… …the female child embarked upon the path of slaughter, becoming a terrifying female Asura… …… One scene after another, starting from childhood in the past life, to death and reincarnation…they all entered Ning’s mind. The sound of the flute seemed to possess an indescribable magic power, causing Ning to feel joy, rage, sorry, and pleasure. It was a flute song that bored straight through to the heart. Ning was completely drawn into it. He looked at the black-robed woman playing the flute. This memory was deeply engraved into Ning’s heart. Even after a tremendous period of time passed, he would still be unable to forget it. Drip. A single tear fell down onto the ground, staining the dirt. Ning was startled awakened from the reverie the flute song had brought him into. Only now did he realize that Yu Wei had two tearstains on her face. He couldn’t help but call out, “Senior apprentice-sister!” Yu Wei trembled…then gently put down her flute. “Senior apprentice-sister, you…” Ning was a bit worried. “I’m fine.” Yu Wei shook her head, looking at Ning. She even smiled. “I just thought of some things in my past life. Although everything has already happened…now that the memories have truly returned, they really do make it hard to control one’s emotions. Still, those are all in the past now; let the past be in the past. I’ve already reincarnated into a different world. In truth…I would rather not know about what happened in my past life.” “Can you talk to me about it?” Ning asked. “I don’t want to.” Yu Wei shook her head. “Then…did you have a Dao-companion in your past life?” Ning suddenly asked. Yu Wei was startled. She gave Ning a close look, as though wanting to see something in Ning’s expression. She then gently shook her head. “I did not!” 1. In the original Chinese, only a very short fragment of the poem was included, which has become an idiom. The full poem, which comes from 1166, involves a weary traveler who travelled through countless 2005 mountains that seemed identical, but then finally, as he was expecting yet another identical mountain, he saw a beautiful village with a willow tree and brilliant flowers beneath it. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Oh.” Ning said hurriedly, “I…used up a lot of divine power in the previous battle. I need to take a rest.” As he spoke, Ning hurriedly walked deeper into the cave. Waving his arm, he chopped out a neat, flat region onto the ground and then lay down. Using his arms as a pillow, he immediately closed his eyes and began to snore. He seemed calm, but in his heart Ning felt a bit confused. “Why the hell did I ask senior apprentice-sister if she had a Dao-companion or not?” Ning’s mind was restless. He was a smart person, and an Immortal cultivator who had understood his own heart long ago. He quickly understood the issue. “Can it be that I’m…” “Forget it…how can Dao-companions be so casually joined?” “Am I mentally ready?” “Not yet! I’m not yet ready…” Ning turned in his sleep, suppressing everything in his heart. He thought back to the experiences he had in the past half year. He thought back to the first time he had met her, and all the times he had met her up till today. Ning had to admit…from the very beginning, he had felt very friendly towards her, because she was unlike Ninelotus, who had many beliefs that were different from Ning’s. He and Ninelotus were from different worlds. As for Yu Wei…many of her beliefs were the same as his, and her personality was similar as well! Her birth… Her experiences… Her talent… He and Yu Wei were very similar. She was even more intelligent than him! The past half year he had spent with her was very relaxed and comfortable. She had silently, tracelessly slipped deep into his heart with her warmth. Just now in particular, when she had played the flute, the song of the flute had thoroughly penetrated his heart. Ning could even feel the joy, the pain, and the sadness she felt in her heart… This feeling, as though he had touched her soul, made Ning feel a certain softness towards her. He even wanted to go over and hug her. This was why his subconscious had moved him to ask her about Daocompanions. “Dao-companions…this sort of promise cannot be casually made.” Ning sighed quietly to himself in his heart. ….. Yu Wei watched Ning lie there deep in the cave. She rose, then walked to the entrance of the cave, where she sat down. She stared at the vast, seemingly endless mountain forest. The cave was protected by a bewildering formation, and so the outside world couldn’t see inside it. Moonlight shone down into the cave. Yu Wei picked up her flute, holding it as she sat there quietly. “I can feel junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning’s heart.” “Previously, I held back, wanting to let it all pass.” “But on the sixth day I was in the Diagram, I was in dire straits…despite how vast the Diagram was, junior apprentice-brother ran into me. Can it be that fate is telling me that I should be together with him?” “But…can I even have a Dao-companion? Can I dare hope for a Dao-companion?” Yu Wei stared at the moon hanging high in the skies. She quietly asked…“Heavens above…what should I do?” Yu Wei understood that she had reached a fork in the path. If she chose to be with Ning, then the two might have a chance. But if she didn’t want to be with him, then after leaving the Diagram, she would have to separate from him and make a clean break. …… One month after another passed. The number of Wanxiang Adepts within the Diagram dropped continuously. Now, virtually all the remaining competitors within the Diagram were monsters capable of exploding forth with power that rivaled ordinary Loose Immortals. Within the imperial citadel’s plaza. “Haha, only a thousand remain within the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, but the Black-White College has taken up three of those slots!” Immortal Fivecraze was utterly delighted. There was no way any of the other powers of Stillwater Commandery, including the Northmont clan of Stillwater, could compare to the Black-White College in this regard. The three experts the Black-White College had sent out this time were simply too dazzling. “Even the Marquis of Stillwater came over to chat with me for quite a long period of time. Even other marquises came over, as well as leaders of supreme clans and sects.” Immortal Fivecraze then frowned. “But it’s weird…Ji Ning is clearly very powerful as well, but why is it that those who came to chat with me discussed little Sloppy even more?” He could sense the goodwill these major clans and sects were displaying towards the Black-White College was primarily aimed towards befriending the Sloppy Daoist. It seemed as though Ji Ning and Yu Wei were far from being comparable with the Sloppy daoist. “Weird, weird. Ji Ning is very formidable as well, and he’s trained for an even shorter period of time.” Immortal Fivecraze was puzzled. …… “How bizarre.” Lu Dongbin, who had spent a period of time napping in the main hall of the Skylight Palace, stared at the Diagram. “I took a three month nap…why is that this little girl named Yu Wei still hasn’t become Dao-companions with Ji Ning yet?” “Dao-companions represent a promise that cannot be so easily uttered!” The Pure Yang True Immortal who was dressed in black robes decorated with a blood-colored taiji diagram shook his head. “You can’t dawdle when it comes to matters of love!” Lu Dongbin shook his head. “Based on my experiences roaming the Three Realms and countless minor worlds, matters of love must be immediately seized and settled down upon at the critical moments in time! If you hesitate, the more you dawdle, the more difficult it will become to form Dao-companions. I am willing to bet on it! If this Yu Wei and Ji Ning are to become Dao-companions, they’ll become Dao-companions within the Diagram. If they don’t, then after they leave it…without these shared daily life-and-death experiences, the chances will drop even more!” “Do any of you dare to bet against me?” Lu Dongbin stared at them. “Lu Dongbin, you are a Sage of Love. You spout so much wisdom about love…why don’t you have a Daocompanion of your own?” The True Immortal with the blood-colored taiji diagram robes spoke out. “Those in the game are blinded by it. Those who are watching the game have clear eyes.” Lu Dongbin gave a calm response, then stopped talking. ……. Within a quiet mountain. A bewildering formation had been set down. Ning was seated in the lotus position atop a grassy area. Streams of fire and water swirled around the surrounding area. Surges of power from the Solar Star and the Lunar Star were being absorbed into Ning’s body. Although they were within the world of the Diagram, he was still able to train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Rumble… A series of rumbling sounds could be heard from within Ning’s body. His bones were clattering together as his muscles and skin were rapidly transforming. At his current level, Ning’s physical body was already extremely tough; he wasn’t too far off from the likes of the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang. A casual breath from him could generate a hurricane that would sweep out for a thousand kilometers. Slowly…everything calmed down. Ning opened his eyes, revealing a smile. “Junior apprentice-brother?” Yu Wei, who had been standing guard for him, looked eagerly at Ning. “Mm. I’ve already broken through.” Ning let out a laugh. “It took me quite a few years, but I’ve finally managed to reach the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. And it really is different; the twelfth level of this technique…it’s comparable to ordinary early Primal stage Fiendgod Body Refiners. My divine body and my soul have completely joined…and I can feel that my soul is rapidly strengthening.” Fiendgod Body Refiners and Ki Refiners…these were two different paths. Upon reaching the Primal level, Fiendgods could directly split off a clone! Upon reaching the Void level, they could pluck out a hair and transform it into a clone! Now that Ning had trained to the twelfth stage, his body was actually quite similar to the Primal TurtleSnake in that it was capable of nourishing the soul. In addition, he was able to join his soul to his body! His soul was able to enter every single part of his body. In other words…Ning’s current body was no longer made of mere flesh. His flesh and blood contained his soul within it as well! This was why he was now capable of creating mobile ‘clones’. “Your soul is rapidly gaining in strength?” Yu Wei hurriedly said, “I heard that the souls of Fiendgods are generally even more powerful than that of ordinary Primal Daoists.” “It’s true.” Ning nodded. “The soul-nourishment provided by my divine body is even more astonishing than that provided by the Primal Turtle-Snake…based on what I sensed when I created my Primaltwin, my Fiendgod body is strengthening my soul at least five or six times faster than the Primal Turtle-Snake did.” “No wonder Fiendgod Body Refiners are so powerful. Everyone says that at higher levels, Fiendgod Body Refiners are even more powerful, especially after overcoming the Celestial Tribulation and becoming Empyrean Gods. Empyrean Gods are comparable to Pure Yang True Immortals in power,” Yu Wei sighed. “Senior apprentice-sister, you know about Empyrean Gods and Pure Yang True Immortals?” Ning was startled. “Don’t forget that I’m a reincarnated Immortal.” Yu Wei nodded. “Based on what I know…for Immortal cultivators, the stages are Zifu Disciples, Wanxiang Adepts, Primal Daoists, Void-level Earth Immortals…and, for those who pass the Celestial Tribulation, the stages are Celestial Immortals and True Immortals! True Immortals are also known as Pure Yang True Immortals. After them are Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament, also known as Daofathers of the Great Firmament! Alternately, they can just be addressed as Daofather! Daofathers are the absolute most supreme figures of the Three Realms. They are unquestioned hegemons who are even more exalted in status than the Celestial Emperor!” Ning’s eyes lit up. He didn’t know any of these things. He had only trained for thirty years. Compared to someone who had memories from a past life, he did indeed know very little regarding the Three Realms. “Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament, also known as Daofathers of the Great Firmament or as Daofathers?” Ning murmured to himself. “Mastery of a Dao-Path is a prerequisite for becoming a Celestial Immortal. Mastery of a Grand Dao is a prerequisite for becoming a Pure Yang True Immortal. And mastery of a Heavenly Dao is the prerequisite for becoming a Daofather of the Great Firmament!” Yu Wei said. Ning’s heart shook. Mastery of a Heavenly Dao? When the Black-White College’s Headmaster Daoist Jadesea had discussed these things with him, he hadn’t explained in such detail. It seemed as though Yu Wei was truly extraordinary in her past life. At least, she knew much more than Daoist Jadesea! “After Pangu established the heavens and the earth, there were ten Heavenly Daos! This is common knowledge for Celestial Immortals. It was a Celestial Immortal who told me this,” Yu Wei said. “Ten Heavenly Daos?” Ning immediately asked, “What are the ten?” “They are the Heavenly Dao of Metal, the Heavenly Dao of Wood, the Heavenly Dao of Water, the Heavenly Dao of Fire, the Heavenly Dao of Earth, the Heavenly Dao of Life, the Heavenly Dao of Destruction, the Heavenly Dao of Yin, the Heavenly Dao of Yang, the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos,” Yu Wei said. Ning immediately memorized this all. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, Yin, Yang, life, destruction, and primordial chaos! “All things in the world were born from primordial chaos. They are then split into Yin and Yang. The Three Realms…its foundation comes from the Five Elements,” Yu Wei said. “For example, your Dao of 2011 Rainwater actually belongs to the Grand Dao of the Waterdrop. As for the Grand Dao of the Waterdrop, it belongs to the Heavenly Dao of Water.” Ning nodded. Dao. Grand Dao. Heavenly Dao. The Five Elements served as the foundation for the functioning of the Three Realms, and were all Heavenly Daos. This was as he had expected. “Mastery of a complete Grand Dao is already incredibly difficult,” Yu Wei said. “As for the legendary Heavenly Daos…only those who master them can have the exalted title of ‘Daofather’. After all, the Heavenly Daos are the source of all things. Thus, their masters can be titled Daofathers!” Ning now understood. Daoist Threelives had been born with mastery of a Grand Dao. He had later mastered many Grand Daos, but never a Heavenly Dao. “Daofathers of the Great Firmament are seated above all. They possess inconceivable power, and are the hegemons of the Three Realms,” Yu Wei said. “Pure Yang True Immortals are the experts of the Three Realms! Daofathers won’t casually engage in combat, and so the most glorious, eye-catching figures of the Three Realms are actually the True Immortals. As for Celestial Immortals, they are also free-willed, unconstrained figures with immortal life. They can dominate a region for themselves; after all, Pure Yang True Immortals are fairly rare in the Three Worlds, and so Celestial Immortals have very high statuses as well.” Ning nodded. Only today, did he understand…some of the higher levels of the Immortal path. “What about the path of Fiendgods?” Ning immediately asked. “After Fiendgods pass the Heavenly Tribulation, they become Empyrean Gods! Empyrean Gods are comparable to Pure Yang True Immortals in power. Every single one of them is an expert of the Three Realms,” Yu Wei said. “Above Empyrean Gods are True Gods! True Gods are generally actual Fiendgods who have created their own divine ability. They war against the heavens and against the earth with terrifying power, and are absolutely comparable to Golden Immortal Daofathers of the Great Firmament!” “True Gods are the highest level of Fiendgods possible. According to legends…the Fiendgods born in the primordial chaos before the heavens were established were at all least Empyrean Gods! The strongest amongst them were True Gods of Primordial Chaos! They were born into the very highest realms of power of the Three Realms. Even without training, they were incomparably frightening figures.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Yu Wei said with envy, “They are the true favored children of the heavens. Ki Refiners revere Golden Immortal Daofathers of the Great Firmament, whereas Fiendgod Refiners revere True Gods of Primordial Chaos. Daofathers or True Gods; ever since Pangu established the heavens, they have been the most supreme of existences in the Three Realms. They are the ones who truly determine the destiny of the Three Realms. Even the Celestial Emperor is chosen by these major powers.” Ning suddenly felt many thoughts flood his mind. Daoist Threelives was born in primordial chaos and had mastered a Grand Dao. Clearly, Daoist Threelives was a True God of Primordial Chaos! However, according to what the giant yellow bear had said, Daoist Threelives had once suffered a catastrophic defeat, losing an arm in it. The proud Daoist Threelives elected not to regrow his arm, continuing to only have one arm. Thanks to his constant research and meditation, he had developed one of the ten most terrifying divine abilities of the Three Realms…the [Starseizing Hand]! “Ji Ning.” The giant yellow bear’s voice suddenly echoed in Ning’s mind. “Senior,” Ning immediately said. “Amongst Empyrean Gods, there are those with powerful divine abilities and those with weak ones. Amongst True Gods, there are those with formidable divine abilities and ordinary ones. How can they all possibly be on par?” The giant yellow bear clearly felt displeased on behalf of his master. “In addition…if Master was still alive, I imagine that he would have long ago mastered a Heavenly Dao. Only…despite the passage of ages, Master has never come to seek me out…” The giant yellow bear’s voice suddenly faded away. He didn’t know if Daoist Threelives was still alive or not either. ……. After this conversation with Yu Wei, Ning’s vision had been greatly broadened. At the most exalted, venerable positions were the Daofathers of the Great Firmament and the True Gods of Primordial Chaos. The Three Realms were their chessboard, and they controlled everything in it. The Celestial Emperor and the Yama-Kings of Hell were jointly decided upon and appointed by them. “However…I wonder what Daoist Threelives encountered in the past, which caused even him to feel that he had no confidence in being able to survive,” Ning pondered to himself. When Daoist Threelives had left 2013 behind the underwater estate, he had gone to deal with a so-called ‘tremendous calamity’. Afterwards, all word of him had been lost, and he had never returned to the underwater estate. Daoist Threelives was a major power. Something that could cause even him to feel uncertain regarding his chances of survival…what sort of calamity was that?! “The Three Realms…” “I imagine that senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei doesn’t know the true face of the Three Realms either.” Ning continued to feel as though a layer of gauze was preventing him from understanding the truth of things. For example, in the Netherworld Kingdom, he had encountered a terrifyingly strong power which had assaulted the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Fortunately, Ning had leapt into the Six Paths and been reincarnated; otherwise, he would’ve died permanently on the spot. “Who attacked the Six Paths of Reincarnation?” The more Ning’s horizons were broadened, the more he was amazed…because the Six Paths of Reincarnation were the most important, central region for the functioning of the Three Realms. Most likely, even major powers wouldn’t dare to act rashly there. Otherwise, the other major powers would be enraged and join forces to deal with them. “I’m nothing but an ant; this matter isn’t for me to worry about. If the heavens fall, the tall fellows will hold it up.” Ning quickly discarded these thoughts for now. Time passed in the blink of an eye. It was already the twelfth month within the trial of the Diagram. This was the final month! A dirty-looking maiden and a violet-robed youth were walking forward, shoulder-to-shoulder. “Where the hell did this Adept Ninedeaths come from?” The violet-robed youth glanced sideways at the maiden, secretly muttering to himself. He, Xiamang Qi, was one of the most outstanding young members of the imperial Xiamang clan, second only to Xiamang Zishan! In addition, he had never been convinced of his inferiority; he always wanted to be able to overcome Zishan with his power. During this Conclave, Xiamang Qi had revealed his magnificence as well. His strength was formidable…but upon encounter this girl, this so-called ‘Adept Ninedeaths’, he had felt deflated. “This girl is too powerful. No matter how I hit her, I couldn’t injure her. Her body is just like a magic treasure.” The violet-robed youth was very resigned. “Adept Ninedeaths? More like Adept Nodeath!” The dirty maiden had said to him back then, “I have enough talismans already. The more time passes in the Diagram, the more powerful the survivors are. Many of them have already formed into small teams. Kid, you seem pretty powerful; shall we join into a team of our own? That will make the final two months easier.” “If we encounter any enemies and kill them, can I have the talismans?” Xiamang Qi listed his requirement. “Fine.” The dirty maiden nodded, and so Xiamang Qi and Adept Ninedeaths joined forces. “Eh?” The two suddenly came to a halt. They stared into the distance, where four figures had appeared, some male and some female. There was a wild, black-haired youth who was very skinny, a silver-haired maiden, a woman who was so beautiful she looked like a fairy from the legendary Moon Palace, and a bald, black-skinned youth. The black-skinned youth was actually barefoot, and he wielded a gnarled black staff in his hands. “Kindwater Qi? Second brother, why is it that you are travelling alongside Adept Danzhu?” Xiamang Qi laughed. “Big brother?!” The skinny, black-haired youth called out in surprise. These two were known as the ‘Two Qis’ of the imperial capital. This was because both of them had strange, rather wicked personalities. However, the two just so happened to take a liking to each other, and they had become sworn brothers. Xiamang Qi was the elder brother, while Kindwater Qi was the younger brother. 1 “The more time passes, the more dangerous it gets; I no longer dare to travel alone.” Kindwater Qi said with resignation, “I feel confident in my power, but even Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu have formed an alliance long ago. We have to do the same! The four of us even fought against those two. Fortunately, thanks to Blackstone’s presence, the two were frightened into immediately fleeing.” “Oh?” Xiamang Qi was surprised, and the dirty maiden by his side, Adept Ninedeaths, revealed a look of surprise as well. Someone had caused Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu to flee? “Introduce us,” Xiamang Qi said with a laugh. “You already know Adept Danzhu of the East Seas.” The black-haired Kindwater Qi pointed at the beautiful maiden who looked like a fairy from the Moon Palace. Adept Danzhu smiled and nodded at them. Kindwater Qi then pointed at the silver-haired maiden. “This is Adept Snowfly; her magic arts are extremely powerful.” He then pointed at the barefoot, black-skinned youth with a gnarled black staff. “This is Adept Blackstone. Adept Blackstone is exceptionally skilled in the Fuxi Formation Staffs, and a true grandmaster of the art of formations…with him present, we can flee when we wish and attack when we wish. Adept Blackstone is also extremely powerful in close combat. With a single blow, he was able to block an attack from Xiamang Zishan…as I see it, Adept Blackstone absolutely has a chance to become number one in this Conclave.” 2015 Xiamang Qi and Adept Nindeaths both looked towards the bald, staff-wielding, black-skinned youth. It was quite curious. When they faced this bald, black-skinned youth, they felt as though they were facing the vast heavens themselves… “A grandmaster of formations? Capable of withstanding Xiamang Zishan in close combat?” Xiamang Qi was secretly shocked. “Hm…” The dirty maiden looked towards the bald, black-skinned youth with curiosity as well. He, in turn, was looking back at her. The two of them both had an indescribable feeling…that the other was quite terrifying! “How about it? Shall we travel together?” Xiamang Qi asked. Kindwater Qi looked towards the black-skinned youth. The black-skinned youth gave the dirty maiden a glance, then revealed an extremely thin smile. “Fine.” “Fine.” The dirty maiden spoke out as well. And so… The six of them joined into a squad. In this squad, Adepts Blackstone, Ninedeaths, and Danzhu had already acquired more than 1400 talismans. As for the other three, Xiamang Qi, Kindwater Qi, and Adept Snowfly still needed a bit more. …… Ji Ning and Yu Wei were wandering the mountains as well. They moved as fast as the wind, instantly moving across the peaks. As they walked, they released their divine sense to scan up to a thousand kilometers away. Although it was the twelfth month already, nothing had changed between the two. Ji Ning and Yu Wei acted like a pair of normal fellow disciples. “Senior apprentice-sister, how many talismans do you have? How many more do you need?” Ning asked. “Do you have enough?” Yu Wei asked. “I have 1200 or so,” Ning said. “Actually, since everyone is going to have different amounts of talismans, I should have a 99% chance of ranking in the top eighty.” “Better to be safe. Only if you have 1370 will you be absolutely certain to be qualified of passing the trial,” Yu Wei said. “I have slightly fewer talismans than you; I have nearly eight hundred.” 2016 Ning nodded. The two had continued to split talismans based on who had killed the foe. Although Ning had been trying to hold back for her sake, ever since he had reached the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], his power had simply grown too great. Upon encountering some powerful foes, Ning had to explode forth with full power. Naturally, he would thus be the one to kill them, and so the talismans would go to him. “In the final month, I imagine that all of the remaining survivors have hundreds of talismans on them. As long as we just kill two or three, we’ll have enough,” Ning said. “But killing those final two or three will be very hard.” Yu Wei spoke with great solemnity as well. There were now fewer and fewer people present. It was quite hard to run into someone, and in each battle, if the enemy felt that the situation was bad, they would immediately flee! To kill them or force them to give up their talismans…it was far too difficult! “We still have plenty of time. We have more than half a month,” Ning said. The two continued to advance, and in the blink of an eye, they had passed more than a thousand kilometers. Their divine sense continued to sweep out to a thousand kilometers as well. “Eh?” Ning and Yu Wei suddenly raised their heads, staring towards the sky. A ship was charging downwards at high speed towards them. “That ship is covered with restrictive spells, making it unable to be scanned by divine sense. They come with ill intentions. Be careful.” Yu Wei mentally messaged Ning, but the two were bold due to their power; they wouldn’t easily retreat or flee. Swoosh! A thousand kilometers was passed in an instant. The ship vanished, and six figures appeared on the grassy ground. Ning and Yu Wei’s pupils contracted. “Xiamang Qi, a genius of the imperial Xiamang clan. Kindwater Qi, a genius of the Kindwater clan. And Adept Danzhu!” Ning and Yu Wei’s glances fell upon the figure of the beautiful Adept Danzhu, who looked like a fairy maiden from the Moon Palace. Of the six before them, the most famous one was Adept Danzhu. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. “For the Ji Ning – Yu Wei pair, their earlier encounter with Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu was a tribulation.” Lu Dongbin said with a sigh, “That time, they only escaped because Yu Wei awakened her former memories. This time…these six are even more powerful. That dirty maiden has mastered five 2017 complete Daos! That bald, bare-foot, black-skinned youth is an expert in formations. Both of these two are capable of fighting to be the number one competitor in this Conclave. Upon encounter this six-person squad…Ji Ning’s duo is in huge trouble.” “Within the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, how many have died in the past year? Each battle was a life-and-death trial for them. For your precious little pair of Daocompanions…this is nothing more than a slightly tougher trial,” Truelord Chiji said calmly. 2 “This battle is going to be interesting,” the Xia Emperor laughed. There were roughly twenty or so that had a chance at the top spot in this Conclave. Adept Ninedeaths, Adept Blackstone, and Ji Ning, after his recent breakthrough…they all had a chance at becoming number one in this Conclave.. Qi can mean bizarre/strange/wondrous.. Chiji literally means crimson taiji; this is most likely the person with the blood-taiji robes mentioned earlier. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although Ji Ning and Yu Wei were wary, they weren’t afraid. As they saw it, the only one of the six who they needed to be careful of was Adept Danzhu. Ning had broken through to the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], and he was completely confident in being able to defeat Adept Danzhu. What he didn’t realize was that although Adept Danzhu was formidable, in this six-person squad, Adept Blackstone and Adept Ninedeaths were even more frightening. Whoosh! The bald, barefoot, black-skinned youth suddenly smirked, and instantly, streaks of light shot out everywhere like bolts of lightning. They were ancient, plain-looking Fuxi Staffs. “Fuxi Staffs! A formation!” Ning was startled. There were very few supreme geniuses who also trained in formations. Rumble… Streaks of light intersected and runes formed and flowed. The formation appeared, locking down the nearby region of space for ten kilometers, completely capturing Ning and Yu Wei within it. “Done.” The black-skinned youth said calmly, “I’ve already sealed this area off. There’s no place these two can run to. Whether you decide to kill them or release them is up to you.” He actually sat down in the lotus position towards the edges of the sealing barrier, planting his gnarled staff next to him. He just sat there, clearly not wanting to intervene. He already had enough talismans; for him to set up this grand sealing formation against the enemies was enough of a show of kindness for his teammates. Have him do battle as well? He couldn’t be bothered to…and in his bones, he wasn’t the type of person who enjoyed battle. “Ji Ning.” Xiamang Qi said coldly, “Obediently hand over all of your talismans, and the two of you can live. Otherwise…death is your only escape!” “Hand over your talismans!” Kindwater Qi barked as well. “Hand them over.” The silver-haired maiden, Adept Snowfly, barked at them as well. These three didn’t have enough talismans yet. Naturally, they felt the most urgent. Adept Danzhu smiled. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, to tell you the truth, there are people in this squad who are more powerful than me. I urge you to cease any attempts at struggling and hand over the talismans. That way, you will stay alive. You’ve only trained for a very short period of time; your potential is limitless. There’s no need for you to push yourself too far in this Conclave.” 2019 Ning stood there in the distance. “Come and take them, if you can.” He replied coldly, “You want me to just give them up to you? Keep dreaming.” Alongside Ning’s voice, an enormous Waterflame Lotus suddenly appeared and bloomed. The layers of fiery lotus petals and watery lotus petals were incomparably beautiful as they continuously swiveled. Ning and Yu Wei were in the center, protected by the enormous Waterflame Lotus. “Don’t waste words with them,” the silver-haired maiden said coldly. “Attack.” As she spoke, a horsetail whisk suddenly appeared in her hand. She flicked it outwards, and thousands of white strands flew towards the air, then formed into a bizarre beast’s head. This snowy white beast’s head appeared incomparably savage. Its mouth was filled with rows on rows of jagged teeth that gnashed against each other. The snowy white beast head opened its mouth, then bit downwards towards Ning and Yu Wei. The Waterflame Lotus, however, continued to protect the two of them. Crunch. The snowy white head bit down against the Waterflame Lotus, and its countless teeth ground against each other, easily biting through a layer of leaves. “Oh?” Ning was secretly startled. Still, as he had expected, no one who was able to survive to this stage would be easy to handle. “Kill.” Kindwater Qi’s hands formed together into a hand-seal. Instantly, layers of black light flew out from his body, forming giant serpents that appeared in midair. A total of six giant black serpents appeared, wildly assaulting Ning and Yu Wei and also breaking through a layer of leaves. “Too stubborn.” Adept Danzhu let out a soft sigh, but then her eyes suddenly lit up. An invisible divine will attack instantly swept towards Ning and Yu Wei. Yu Wei’s face turned white. As for Ning, he felt as though his soul was being stabbed at by a needle-like divine will. However, his soul and his divine body had now completely fused together, and it was far more durable against this sort of attack. He was able to completely withstand it. “Ninedeaths, kill them!” Xiamang Qi howled as he transformed into a 54-meter tall giant. His entire body glowed with a golden light, and he radiated an aura that filled the heavens. He was wielding a giant warblade in his hands, and he trampled past the already-shattered lotus leaves as he charged towards Ning and Yu Wei. “Ji Ning? Seems pretty powerful.” The dirty-looking maiden chortled. With a flicker, she transformed to a size of sixty meters, but her body didn’t give off a hint of any aura at all. She seemed quite ordinary, just enormous, and she charged forward with completely empty hands. The five of them had instantly attacked in unison. “F*ck off!” Ning suddenly exploded with power, becoming a 54-meter tall giant with an aura that similarly filled the heavens. Letting out an enraged roar, his divine will formed into countless invisible swords, warblades, and longspears that immediately struck towards Adept Danzhu, Adept Snowfly, Adept Ninedeaths, Kindwater Qi, and Xiamang Qi. When a Ki cultivator broke through to the Primal Daoist level, it was his soul that benefited the most. Similarly, once a Fiendgod Body Refiner broke through to the Primal level, his soul would be tremendously benefited as well. Ning had reached the twelfth stage, and his soul had been nourished by his divine body, resulting it in explosively increasing in strength. In fact, it was already almost comparable to his Primaltwin’s soul. In this clash, the faces of all five immediately changed. “BREAK!” Ning, his aura filling the heavens, wielded two enormous Immortal swords in his hands as he charged forward, sending the swords howling forth as his sword-light chopped directly against that enormous snowy white beast’s head. BOOM! The snowy white beast’s head was immediately chopped apart and collapsed, transforming back into countless white strands that flew black to the silver-haired maiden with the flywhisk. She had a look of shock on her face. “Go!” After breaking through the snowy white hound with one sword chop, Ning sent his dominating sword-light forward once more, charging straight against the six giant black snakes, knocking all of them flying backwards. “Kill!” With the next step, Ning arrived in front of Xiamang Qi, and his sword-light chopped directly towards him. “Block!” Xiamang Qi was frightened by Ning’s ferocious, savage aura. He didn’t dare to be overconfident, and he focused on defense. CLANG! With a loud sound, Xiamang Qi’s enormous, 54-meter tall giant body was knocked backwards like a meteor, slamming directly against the walls of the distant sealing barrier. “He’s this powerful?!” Xiamang Qi, Kindwater Qi, and Adept Snowfly were both awestruck. Against the three of them, Ning had absolutely suppressed and crushed them; if they were fighting one-on-one, he probably would’ve taken their lives in just two or three exchanges of blows. Swoosh. Right at this moment, the dirty-looking youth charged straight forward towards Ning. She struck out with her palm, and it hacked downwards like a knife towards Ning. This palm-blow…it was simply perfectly exquisite. Ning could sense the unfathomable profoundness of it, a profoundness which absolutely surpassed his own sword technique. Ning raised his own sword as well to meet the palm. BANG! The sword-light and the palm collided against each other; the dirty-looking maiden was knocked backwards and forced to take three steps back, while Ning only took a single step back. “What?!” Ning was shocked. During the final few months in the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, he had always immediately used the [Starseizing Hand] when he attacked; he didn’t dare to hold anything back at this point. After all, none of the survivors were easy to deal with. For example, against Xiamang Qi, even though he had immediately used the [Starseizing Hand], he still hadn’t been able to kill him with a single blow. Clearly, all of the survivors were extremely powerful! But this maiden actually dared to block his sharp sword with her hands, and did so successfully?! This was insane! “The rest of you, go handle that woman. Leave this Ji Ning to me.” The dirty-looking maiden was clearly quite excited. Ning’s body blurred momentarily, and he instantly transformed into a three heads and six arms form. With six swords in his hands, he charged straight towards the dirty-looking maiden. “If you don’t want to die, then hurry up and leave!” “It’s so rare for me to encounter a good opponent.” Instead of leaving, the dirty-looking maiden went to welcome his attacks. “Kill, kill, kill!” Ning showed no mercy at all. After using [Three Heads, Six Arms], his sword-light rained down like a curtain of lightning. This dirty-looking maiden, however, relied on her pair of palms. They danced in front of her and were actually able to block the majority of the sword-light. Although the remaining sword-light blows were able to pierce onto her body…they were only able to leave some minor wounds on her. “How can her body be as tough as magic treasures?! My full-force blows can cause even Earth-ranked magic treasures to be torn asunder…but are only able to leave small wounds on her skin?” Ning was completely awestruck. “I can’t waste time with her.” With a flash, Ning moved to charge towards Adept Snowfly and Kindwater Qi. “You are mine!” The dirty-looking maiden’s body flashed as well. She, too, transformed with the [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique. She moved alongside Ning as though she were flying water, and her six palms continuously smashed and hacked towards Ning. “What the hell?!” Ning was frantic. The maiden in front of him was completely insistent on continuing to fight against him. Although Ning’s swordplay was ferocious, against a person whose entire body was comparable to an unbreakable magic treasure, there was nothing he could do. …… Adept Snowfly, Kindwater Qi, Xiamang Qi, and Adept Danzhu, seeing the situation, all began to focus against Yu Wei. “Black and white.” “Taiji.” Yu Wei stood there, the black phoenix and the white phoenix twirling around her. She was like an unbreakable steel wall, simultaneously dealing with the attacks of all four. The giant snowy white beast head, the six giant black serpents, and an enormous semi-translucent grand seal in the skies created by Adept Danzhu through a secret art…they came smashing down towards her two phoenixes repeatedly. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei sent a frantic mental call. “Senior apprentice-sister.” Ning understood that she wasn’t going to be able to hold much longer. Although her power had increased tremendously, and although she was an expert at defense…she still wasn’t going to be able to defend against four at once. The three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning roared furiously, “Get the f*ck away!” “You aren’t strong enough to make me.” The dirty-looking maiden, also with three heads and six arms, had completely tied him down. Ning hadn’t even felt this stifled when fighting against Xiamang Zishan. Not only did this maiden have a body like a magic treasure, she also had an extremely, extremely high level of comprehension regarding the Dao. Each of her techniques were unfathomably miraculous, and she was able to completely tie him down, giving him no chance to run away from her at all. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei’s voice rang out in Ning’s mind, and as it did, Ning saw what was happening from afar. Boom! The white phoenix finally collapsed, and the 54-meter tall Xiamang Qi charged towardsYu Wei, warblade at the ready. “Go.” Ning frantically summoned the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Instantly, more than seven hundred swords appeared, floating in midair and condensing their power to form a streak of sword-light that shot out towards Xiamang Qi. Although Ning’s close combat power had increased tremendously, the power of his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] hadn’t improve that much. Clang! Xiamang Qi was able to block the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] with one saber blow. Although his body trembled from the collision, he continued to charged towards Yu Wei. A single black phoenix was left, and it was struggling to defend against the grand seal, the giant black snake, and the snowy white beast head. Xiamang Qi was charging into close combat…Yu Wei hurriedly moved to retreat, but given that they were trapped within this grand sealing formation and being attacked from all sides, where could she retreat to?! Clang! After Xiamang Qi’s warblade blocked the attack from the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], his right arm suddenly began to emanate hundreds of bizarre colors and even a strange black ki that caused one’s heart to tremble as he grabbed towards Yu Wei. “The [Myriad Hibernating Venoms]!” Yu Wei’s face immediately changed. BOOM! Although she struggled to block, how could she compare in close combat to a Fiendgod Refiner like Xiamang Qi? Instantly, his right arm, still emanating that terrifying black aura, pierced directly through her flank, and the terrifying venoms instantly invaded her entire body, causing her face to instantly turn a deathly dark gray color. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Foot Sword] Yu Wei understood that she was at a true life-and-death juncture. Her body suddenly flashed with a bloody light, forming into a blood-colored taiji symbol. Swish! Yu Wei transformed into a streak of blood light, retreating more than three hundred meters before collapsing to the ground. She spat out a mouthful of black-colored blood, a savage, jagged wound in her flank that was filled with black blood. Ji Ning watched this all happen. His senior apprentice-sister had been stabbed through the flank by Xiamang Qi’s palm. She had spat out blood, then collapsed to the ground. This caused Ning’s eyes to instantly turn red. A surge of uncontrollable rage and terror instantly filled his entire soul. “AAAAHHHHH!!!!” Ning let out a massive howl, and a limitless bloodlust instantly filled every part of his spirit. Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill them all! Kill all who oppose him! “Angry, eh? Won’t do you any good.” The dirty-looking maiden continued to tie down Ning, seeming quite entertained. “CHOP!” Ning let out an enraged howl. This howl emerged from the deepest parts of his soul, from the innermost depths of his spirit. The three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning simultaneously struck out with all six swords, and six enormous streaks of sword-light immediately shone with incomparable brilliance. They transformed into six strings of line…the sword-light had been compressed into lines! There was nothing capable of stopping Ning…he was going to chop through all which stood in front of him! He had never felt such a desire to kill. He had never before felt so determined. The more than ten thousand life-and-death battles he had engaged in over the past year had been even more effective for improving his insights than the past ten years. The [Three-Foot Sword], which Immortal Northwalker had imprinted deep into Ning’s soul many years ago, once more arose. A limitless, terrifying killing intent…determination which no one would withstand at all…an sword-heart that was completely enlightened…many former insights…they all combined together, allowing Ning to immediately execute the seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]. The seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] – Horizontal Sword Execution! 1 Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whosh! Six rays of silken lines of sword light sliced through the body of the dirty-looking maiden. When the first sword descended, her face began to change…because the first sword actually chopped straight through her hand, cutting it off. Her body, as tough as a magic treasure, was completely unable to block this fierce, sharp sword-light. “RETREAT!” The dirty-looking maiden no longer appeared as relaxed as she had earlier; in fact, she even seemed slightly frightened as she frantically retreated. Whoosh! As her hand was chopped off, a massive wound appeared on her chest as well. However, she did managed to actually retreat. Her Fiendgod-like body frantically healed as she stared towards Ning in both terror and rage. “Sword-light compressed into silken lines! He’s actually reached this level!” …… “Sword-light like silk!” “He’s only trained for thirty years, right? He’s actually reached the level of sword-light like silk…he truly is a rare genius of the Dao of the Sword!” “He truly does have a chance to make it all the way to the top position of this Conclave. I imagine that even Xiamang Zishan is inferior to him.” Within the Skylight Palace, the nine Pure Yang True Immortals and the thousand Celestial Immortals were all stunned by this. They all began to let out sighs of amazement and chatter amongst each other. Sword-light like silk… This meant that a person had already treached a truly, incomparably high level of attainment in the Dao of the Sword. The seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], ‘Horizontal Sword Execution’, was at the level of ‘sword-light like silk’. Actually, each of the final three stances of the [Three-Foot Sword] were more terrifying than the last. The seventh, the eighth, the ninth…they were so formidable that not even Immortal Northwalker was able to record them down in books. For the first six stances of the [Three-Foot Sword], it could be said that one would advance through them in an ordinarly fashion, all the way until one reached the Grand Dao Domain level. The increase in power between each stance wouldn’t be too great, because these six stances focused on an orderly sort of improvement; they were primarily meant for guiding and teaching, which was why they could be compiled into books. Naturally, the level of improvement between each stance would be a bit smaller, which would make it easier to train. But those final three stances which could not be recorded down in any books…there was a truly explosive increase in power between each of the three stances. The seventh stance represented that a person had reached a level that was comparable to the techniques of a Loose Immortal who had trained for three hundred thousand years. The eighth stance was comparable to the technique of an ordinary Celestial Immortal. The ninth stance was comparable to the techniques of an absolutely supreme Celestial Immortal! It was because of the ninth stance that Immortal Northwalker, despite being a Loose Immortal, was comparable to a true Celestial Immortal! These three stances…there was a huge gap in power between each of them, but each of them were tremendously powerful. Yu Wei lay there, struggling to control her magic treasures to form into the white phoenix and black phoenix. At the same time, she produced a jade bottle, shattered it with her elemental ki, then swallowed a pill into her mouth. Rumble…the wound in her flank began to rapidly heal. “Myriad Hibernating Venoms.” Yu Wei knew that this was going to be trouble. The Myriad Hibernating Venoms was a divine ability which the Black-White College had as well. However, the imperial Xiamang clan had countless divine abilities in its Dao Repository, amongst which was the Myriad Hibernating Venoms. Xiamang Qi trained in this technique! The Myriad Hibernating Venoms was an extremely deadly, poisonous art; it required one to fuse a large amount of strange poisons into one’s own body. Xiamang Qi, as a genius of the imperial clan, naturally was able to easily procure many hard-to-find poisons. Thus, his Myriad Hibernating Venoms was exceptionally vicious. Anything he touched would be instantly poisoned. A Fiendgod Body Refiner might not fear him too much, but Yu Wei was a Ki Refiner; her body’s defensive and recuperative power was insufficient, and she had to rely on pills. But pills that could suppress the dire venom of the Myriad Hibernating Venoms…Yu Wei had none of those precious pills at all. “Die!” The distant Xiamang Qi howled with laughter, but as he did, a golden sword-light suddenly flew towards him; it was the light of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. “Although the power of this sword-light is significant, it’s not enough to do anything to me.” Xiamang Qi had already withstood it several times; this time, he once more swung his arms out as he chopped out with his warblade towards it. Swish! The sword-light was as fine as silk, but it carried an incomparably powerful force. Xiamang Qi was caught completely off-guard, and his warblade was instantly knocked flying away. The skin between his thumb and forefinger was split apart, and he himself was knocked backwards. However, Ning suddenly charged towards him at an utterly astonishing speed, and so Xiamang Qi hurriedly produced yet another warblade in his hands. “Die.” The three-headed, six-armed Ning appeared incomparably savage. Six rays of sword-light struck out like a giant windmill of light. Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!!!! Six consecutive rays of sword-light came howling down. Xiamang Qi stared, eyes bulging. He was instantly chopped apart into small chunks of meat. A Waterflame Lotus suddenly bloomed, surrounding the chunks of meat and grinding down at them. “No…” Xiamang Qi’s soul was howling. Bu unfortunately…he was ground to death, until nothing remained. “What?!” Adept Danzhu, Adept Snowfly, and Kindwater Qi were all shocked. Xiamang Qi had been killed in a single exchange!? This level of power was too great! How could Ji Ning’s power have increased so explosively in just an instant?! “All of you should die.” Ning immediately turned and threw himself at Adept Snowfly, who was the closest to him. “Quick, flee!” Adept Danzhu, Adept Snowfly, and Kindwater Qi, upon seeing how savage and ferocious Ning was, didn’t dare to take him on at all. They immediately fled at high speed. “Open.” The bald, black-skinned Adept Blackstone, who had been controlling the grand sealing formation this entire time, quickly withdrew the formation. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Adept Danzhu, Adept Snowfly, and Kindwater Qi all immediately charged out of the formation. As soon as they did, Adept Blackstone, with a single thought, once more activated the formation. The barrier of light arose once more. “Open up!” Ning howled. His sword-light was like silk, and six streams of silken light chopped towards the grand sealing formation. BOOM! The grand formation was immediately torn apart, and the three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning charged out from within it. “What?!” Adept Snowfly, who had just let out a sigh of relief after leaving the formation, was completely shocked. She immediately turned to flee…but how could her speed comparable to that of Ning, a Fiendgod Body Refiner? Although she hurriedly brandished her flywhisk to defend, transforming it into tens of thousands of tightly clustered strings that formed into a strange white fox to defender her, she also threw out a large number of talismans. She frantically sent to Ning, “Take my talismans, spare my life!” Whoosh whoosh whoosh…six more streams of sword-light came. They chopped straight through the white fox, chopping Adept Snowfly to death. It was too fast. The three-headed, six-armed Ning’s sword-light was so fast that there wasn’t even enough time for Adept Snowfly to be teleported away after throwing out her talismans. She was immediately killed by Ning. Kindwater Qi and Adept Danzhu were both terrified by Ning’s savagery. Adept Danzhu was formidable, but she was a Ki Refiner…how could she possibly summon the courage to fight Ning to the death? Swish! Swish! Kindwater Qi and Adept Danzhu both flew far away, fleeing into the distance. As for the bald, black-skinned Adept Blackstone, he collected his grand sealing formation. The dirtylooking maiden, Adept Ninedeaths, was standing by his side. She was now wearing a pair of silver gloves on her hands. “Let’s go. This isn’t the time for us to be fighting with him to the death,” Adept Blackstone sent mentally. Adept Nindeaths gritted her teeth, giving Ning a glare. “Let’s go.” 2029 The two were quite decisive in their actions; they realized that Ning’s power had already reached a level where it posed a threat to them. They were not confident in actually beating him in a fight to the death, and they already had enough talismans; it wasn’t worth it for them to risk it. Swoosh! Swoosh! The two quickly departed. …… The enraged Ning had slaughtere Xiamang Qi and Adept Snowfly, then scared off Kindwater Qi and Adept Danzhu as well as caused Adept Ninedeaths and Adept Blackstone to choose to temporarily retreat as well. “Hmph.” Ning, still filled with a boundless killing intent, swept the area with his gaze. He collected the treasures which Adept Snowfly had left behind, then quickly ran towards his senior apprentice-sister. Upon reaching her side, he immediately returned to his normal form. “Senior apprentice-sister.” Ning saw that Yu Wei’s face was so dark, it was almost black. She had been very badly poisoned. He couldn’t help but begin to grow frantic. As for Yu Wei, she forced herself to sit up, then smiled as she looked at Ning. Ning had seen everything; it had been Xiamang Qi who had used the divine ability, ‘Myriad Hibernating Venoms’. This divine ability was one which the giant yellow bear of the underwater estate had forbidden him from training in; although it was quite formidable when the practitioner was weak, once the practitioner grew strong, he’d probably actually have to spend some effort in purging the poisons from his body. But…it had to be said that this was an extremely terrifying divine ability at this level. Anyone who was touched would immediately be poisoned and see their power drastically lowered! “I have antivenoms here. They might be able to suppress…” Ning was extremely frantic. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” Yu Wei sat there, looking at Ning. She smiled, then shook her head gently. When she saw how crazed Ning had become, she actually felt a blissful feeling in her heart. Ning, seeing the shape his senior apprentice-sister was in, couldn’t help but feel pained for her as well as feel frightened. Forgetting everything else, he immediately took her into her arms. Yu Wei allowed Ning to hold her. She rested her head against his neck. She could sense the warmth surging from Ning’s body, an almost boiling heat that actually startled her. “I don’t want to hesitate any longer.” Ning gently murmured into her ears, “I don’t want to feel any regrets. No regrets. I was truly afraid…afraid that you were dead. If you were dead…would I keep hesitating?” 2030 Yu Wei reached out as well, tightly clinging to Ning as she revealed a smile on her face. Her tears began to fall down. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. Lu Dongbin suddenly slapped his table, the force of the blow causing the Immortal wine in front of him to be knocked flying. He jumped to his feet, then pointed towards the portion of the enormous Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers where Ning was holding Yu Wei. He roared with laughter, “That’s how it should be! That’s exactly how it should be! What’s the point of being so squeamish and indecisive? If they missed this opportunity, they would never have a chance to be together again for the rest of their lives. They had to seize this opportunity! If you have the right feelings, then you should act on them! You’ve been fighting in so many life-and-death battles together; how could you not have understood your own hearts? How could you have even hesitated for so long? Bahahaha, but now it’s all better. In the final month, they are finally embracing.” 1. In Chinese, the original is literally ‘one-character sword execution’ – the character for the letter 1 in Chinese is just a horizontal line: ⼀ If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Xia Emperor, Sovereign Hao, and the others all stared as Lu Dongbin slapped his table so hard, he sent the Immortal wine flying everywhere. They couldn’t help but feel speechless. Lu Dongbin, you are one of the most awe-inspiringly famous figures of the Three Realms. Countless schools located throughout the three thousand major worlds and the trillion minor worlds all venerate you as ‘Patriarch Lu’. Is it really appropriate for you to get so excited over a bit of romance between a pair of young Wanxiang-level fellows? This is at most a spot of entertainment; why must you be so excited? Still…they all understood that this was precisely Lu Dongbin’s temperament. He loved to wander the mortal realms, and absolutely delighted in paying attention to the love stories of minor figures as well as playing the role of the Moon Elder as a matchmaker. …… The imperial citadel plaza. The disciples of the Black-White College were staring at the massive Diagram in midair, feeling incomparably nervous. “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, quick, QUICK! YES! Kill them! KILL THEM ALL!” Mu Northson was incomparably agitated as he stared at the explosively savage Ji Ning within the Diagram. “Quick, quick!” Immortal Fivecraze watched anxiously as well…and in the end, he finally let out a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, Xiamang Qi was only a Wanxiang Adept as well; although his Myriad Hibernating Venoms is powerful, by relying on some pills, its effects can be suppressed for a short while, at least.” “Whaaaaat?!” Northson, Little Qing, the Whitewater Hound, Immortal Fivecraze, Adept Vastriver, Northmont Baiwei, and the others all suddenly stared with bulging eyes. Because… Ji Ning and Yu Wei were actually embracing! “But but but…” Northson actually began to stammer. “Master…and Miss Yu Wei…” Little Qing was completely flabbergasted as well. Northmont Baiwei was the first to recover. Roaring with laughter, he slapped his thigh. “My brother Ji Ning truly is formidable. In the Conclave of Immortal Destiny’s trial within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers…he actually is going to be returning with a beauty in his arms.” 2032 “Right!” Immortal Fivecraze shook his head a few times, feeling extremely delighted. “The Black-White College is going to be the talk of the world for some time now!” …… Ninelotus watched this silently. She felt as though the entire world had turned still. “He ended up with senior apprentice-sister after all.” “It’s for the best.” “I am myself. He is himself! Only…should I hope that the two will forever be together and forever be blissful…or should I hope that they will separate as well?” Ninelotus wanted to offer them her prayers, but while searching in her own heart…she found that deep inside her heart, for some reason she couldn’t explain, she still felt a strange sort of hope. Hope that Ning and Yu Wei would separate as well. Ninelotus was an Immortal cultivator who understood her own heart; she immediately analyzed and realized what she was feeling. She quietly said to herself, “It is said that the trial of emotions is the most difficult trial to overcome…although I have already comprehended my own heart, whenever I see Ji Ning, waves always once more appear upon the lake of my heart. If I wish to be able to walk further on the path of Immortal cultivation, then I should never meet him again.” “It will be better for him. It will be better for me as well.” Ninelotus made up her mind. After this Conclave of Immortal Destiny concluded, she would return to the Dongyan clan. Unless there was an absolutely pressing need, she would absolutely never meet Ning again. The nearby Dongyan Forefather glanced sideways at Ninelotus, seated by his side. He saw the look in her eyes. A look of determination! The Dongyan Forefather shook his head gently. He had not desired for things between Ning and Ninelotus to end up like this. However…this was Ninelotus’ decision, born from her heart. He would not interfere. Within the Diagram. Yu Wei was tightly embracing Ning. She could feel the warmth from his body, and she could feel a sense of bliss that came with it. It had been a long, long time since she had felt this sort of bliss. Far too long. Even in her past life, as a child, she had known this bliss for just a brief period of time. Now, she once more felt this sense of bliss and contentment. This caused uncontrollable tears to streak down her face. She moved slightly, clutching Ning even more tightly to her. In her mind, she couldn’t help but think back to that terrifying figure from her memories of her past life, that figure which caused her heart to remble with fear. Yu Wei bit her lips, bit them so hard that blood appeared. In her heart, she quietly said to 2033 herself, “I swear that even if it means that I, Yu Wei, will have my soul be shattered…I will never hurt you. Never!” After making up her decision, Yu Wei actually relaxed. Now that she was mentally prepared for her soul to be destroyed, the knot in her heart had been resolved. “My man.” Yu Wei revealed a smile on her face. Ning held Yu Wei in his arms, smelling the fragrance that came from her body. The feathery down on her clothings around her neck rubbed against his face. Ning felt calmer than he ever had before. It had been a long time since he had felt so calm. He could feel that the heart of this woman before him was extremely close to his own. It was as though the two of them were one. “From today onwards,” Ning whispered words gently into Yu Wei’s ears, words that sounded like a sort of promise, “Yu Wei, you shall be my woman.” “And you’ll be mine as well,” Yu Wei replied softly. The two could both sense each other’s hearts. You are willing to die for me. I am willing to die for you. In the future, we shall walk the Immortal path together, never leaving or separating. “Yu Wei.” Ning released Yu Wei, looking at the deathly dark pallor to her face. He said with concern, “You’ve been badly poisoned?” “The poisons of the Myriad Hibernating Venoms are very unique.” Yu Wei gently shook her head. “The pills I have on me only suffice to temporarily suppress them for two to four hours. To actually cure the poison, I would either need an incomparably precious Immortal pill that could resolve countless poisons, or a spirit-pill that was specially designed to dissolve the poisons of this divine ability. There’s no way I can do this from within the world of the Diagram. I have to leave.” Ning gritted his teeth. He and Yu Wei had been on the verge of passing the trial, but she now had to depart. If the poison wasn’t cured, then once it was no longer suppressed, she would die. “Enough. Don’t be unhappy.” Yu Wei smiled as she looked at Ning, contentment in her eyes. “To ‘win’ you here is better than winning any other award in the Conclave.” “Right.” Although Ning wanted to continue to be together with Yu Wei, he immediately said, “Hurry up and cure your poison. It won’t be so easily cured, so don’t dawdle.” 2034 “This is the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, and there are countless experts gathered outside. It won’t be too hard.” Yu Wei nodded. “Take my talismans.” Whoosh. Instantly, a large number of talismans appeared on the ground. Yu Wei looked at Ning. Rumble… An invisible ripple of power descended, teleporting Yu Wei away. Ning collected the talismans. Actually, the number of talismans he had acquired after killing Xiamang Qi and Adept Snowfly was more than enough to allow himself and Yu Wei to pass the trial. But she had been poisoned by the Myriad Hibernating Venoms…she had to leave and have it cured. Swoosh! Ning took a single step forward, then disappeared as a streak of light. Within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. The nine Pure Yang True Immortals were all staring at the Diagram. “This Yu Wei girl is coming out. Xiamang, have her be teleported over here,” Lu Dongbin immediately said. The Xia Emperor, seated on his imperial throne, simply smiled. Whoosh! A black-robed woman whose skin was as lustrous as white jade and who was roughly 1.7 meters tall by Earth measurements suddenly appeared within the main hall of the Skylight Palace, right next to the nine Pure Yang True Immortals. “Eh?!” Yu Wei stared at her surroundings, immediately poleaxed. The Xia Emperor was seated on high atop his throne. The other Pure Yang True Immortals who were seated with him hadn’t suppressed their auras, and so naturally their auras rippled out…causing absolute terror in Yu Wei. She had seen Celestial Immortals in her past life, and not just one; these figures before her gave her the semse of tremendous power. They absolutely were not Celestial Immortals. Yu Wei looked backwards and saw nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals. Their auras were similarly shocking. “Yu Wei, disciple of the Black-White College, prostrates before you, your Imperial Majesty.” Yu Wei immediately fell to her knees with tremendous respect. “Quite clever.” The Xia Emperor laughed and praised her. “Arise.” Lu Dongbin was staring at Yu Wei with interest. Actually, the other eight Pure Yang True Immortals present rather looked down on Yu Wei; she was nothing more than a reincarnated female Immortal. The only one intrigued by her was Lu Dongbin. “Little girl.” Lu Dongbin tossed her a gourd of wine, sending it flying towards Yu Wei. Yu Wei immediately caught it, her eyes filled with puzzlement. “Drink it,” Lu Dongbin instructed. Yu Wei stared at the gourd of wine in her hands. Although she was restless and nervous, she knew that there was no way she could refuse. She immediately lifted up the gourd of wine and gulped it all down. The sight of her lifting up her neck and drinking the wine was extremely pretty; however, her neck and her face were a bit black. Slowly, however, the color of her neck and face began to change, beginning to turn pale. Moments later, Yu Wei had transformed from a grayskinned girl to a white-skinned girl. “My poison…?” Yu Wei was extremely startled. The poison in her body was no ordinary poison…but just by drinking some wine, it had been dissolved? “Little girl, this Immortal nectar which you just drank was no ordinary wine. It came from the Xia Emperor’s private stash, and he rarely brings it out. Usually, not even Celestial Immortals will have a chance to drink it. This was specially prepared by the Xia Emperor for Lu Dongbin.” The Immortal Elder of the Northlands chortled as he spoke. Yu Wei immediately knelt down in gratitude. “No need. It was just a gourd of wine.” Lu Dongbin seemed quite indifferent. “Alright, you can go now.” “Go?” Yu Wei stared at the vast Skylight Palace. Behind here were nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals who were split into two lines that stretched far off into the distance! Yu Wei actually didn’t know where to go for now. “Go sit down next to King Yan,” the Xia Emperor instructed. “Yes.” Only now did Yu Wei feel a bit relaxed. When she had scanned the room earlier, she saw Yuchi Xiyue seated behind King Yan. …… Yu Wei, her thoughts in a confused jumble, walked before King Yan, then sat down behind next, close to Yuchi Xiyue. All of the Celestial Immortals present stared at the black-robed maiden. They had all 2036 personally witnessed Lu Dongbin bestow a gourd of wine upon her. All of the Celestial Immortals present knew of the legendary Lu Dongbin, but almost none of them had ever spoken with him before. “Who is this little girl? She was actually able to chat with Patriarch Lu.” “No clue.” “She should be from the Black-White College; that Ji Ning is from the Black-White College.” The Celestial Immortals were all chatting amongst themselves regarding this. Yu Wei was now seated behind King Yan, next to Yuchi Xiyue. “Yu Wei, you are so amazing.” Xiyue sent an excited mental message to her. “You were actually able to chat with Patriarch Lu. Not even my grandfather has ever spoken to Patriarch Lu before.” “Yeah…” Yu Wei was still in a dazed state. She had heard of Lu Dongbin even in her past life. He was one of the most famous experts of the Three Realms. “Right. You and Ji Ning have chosen each other to be life partners?” Princess Xiyue’s eyes were shining brightly. As Ning’s cousin, she naturally paid tremendous attention to this. Yu Wei’s face instantly became slightly red and bashful, but she still nodded and sent back, “Right.” However, in her heart, Yu Wei felt a bit nervous. This was because the outside world had long buzzed with rumors that Princess Xiyue liked Ji Ning very much. It was said that it was Princess Xiyue who had led Ji Ning into King Yan’s Estate when he had just arrived at the imperial capital, and that it was because of her that King Yan treated him so kindly! He was nothing more than a genius. Think about who King Yan was! If it wasn’t for Princess Xiyue, how could he have sent his Golden Imperials out to protect Ji Ning? Everyone believed that Princess Xiyue must have fallen for Ji Ning! Even many members of the BlackWhite College believed this, and this was Yu Wei’s guess as well. “Has Princess Xiyue truly fallen for Ji Ning as well? Is she going to be angry at me?” Yu Wei was feeling worried. “WONDERFUL!” Princess Xiyue was absolutely delighted and excited. “Yu Wei, you need to take good care of Ji Ning. Ideally, you would immediately have his babies!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. The hazy glow of the moon shone down upon the land. By the side of a river, Ning was seated in the lotus position, a simple bewildering formation having been laid down long ago. Slash… Streaks of silken sword-light howled about the region. Sword-light criss-crossed everywhere with astonishing power. Ning had comprehended the seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] – ‘Horizontal Sword Execution’. As a result, he had reached the level of silken sword-light. He had also finally gotten together with Yu Wei, and as a result was in extremely high spirits. His Dao-heart was incomparably pure and comprehended, and his heart was currently calm and peaceful, without a hint of rage or hate poisoning his soul at all. Generally speaking, after making a breakthrough, one would need to stabilize one’s foundations. Ning was doing this right now, focusing his heart on the Dao of the Sword. Naturally, one thread of enlightenment after another was filling his heart. “Within the heart, each person has their own desires, their own obsessions.” “The stronger the obsession, the sharper the sword.” “What I ask for…” “Is to be carefree and unrestrained!” Ning spoke these words silently to himself. What did it mean to be carefree and unrestrained? It meant to be able to protect those that you loved. It meant being free from the threats of others. It meant having your destiny in your own hands! “This…is my Dao of the Sword.” “All those who oppose my Dao shall be slaughtered!” Ning’s eyes flashed like lightning. Whoosh! Sword-light flew everywhere in an invincible, dominating fashion. The sword-intent contained within it was so powerful, it had reached a height which Ning had never before reached! Every single Sword Immortal had their own sword-heart. There were evil Sword Immortals, arrogant and solitary Sword Immortals, carefree and unrestrained sword…and they all continued to advance in accordance with their own sword-hearts. If they were to hesitate, to be puzzled, to be confused…then their sword-intents would grow weak. Their sword-intents would no longer be pure, and the power of their sword would constantly drop. “The [Three-Foot Sword] of Immortal Northwalker…it desires to be ‘joyful’. Better to live joyfully for a day, than to live a century while stifled.” “My [Three-Foot Sword], however, desires to be carefree and unrestrained! To be joyful is only one part of being carefree and unrestrained; to be carefree and unrestrained is to surpass, to surpass the bounds of the Three Realms, to possess invincible power. Only then can one truly do as one pleases.” Ning understood the difference between himself and Immortal Northwalker. Immortal Northwalker was a Loose Immortal; it was guaranteed that he would eventually perish under the increasingly powerful Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. Thus, the sword art of Immortal Northwalker was a sort of savagery that came after a person knew that he was going to die. No matter who opposed him, he would kill, kill, kill! He would exterminate all injustices, exterminate all those who deserve killing. All he asked for was to be joyful. He didn’t give a damn how powerful one’s backer was; he would still slaughter you! But in reality…precisely because he knew that he was going to die, Immortal Northwalker’s [Three-Foot Sword] was excessively savage. When one went too far into an extreme, one’s sword art would actually lessen in power. Ning had comprehended profound mysteries of the Dao of the Sword through the [Three-Foot Sword], but his sword-intent was his alone. It formed into a [Three-Foot Sword] that belonged to himself and only himself. In truth, Immortal Northwalker understood this issue as well. This was why when each time the [ThreeFoot Sword] was transmitted to an heir, the heir would form a [Three-Foot Sword] of their own. …… Ning wielded the Darknorth swords in his hands. He had the feeling of being one with the sword as he strode forth through the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. “Someone travelling by himself? Let’s go. Surround him.” Instantly, three figures came howling through the air. One of them executed a secret art, and a dense cluster of crows flew out, quickly and completely surrounding Ning. Ning…actually just smiled. Swish! Ning suddenly moved. His entire body crackled with lightning, and he moved forward with the speed of a Roc and the unpredictability of a ghost, constantly darting and flashing about. His sword-light flew through the air, like thin silken strands. Countless crows were instantly sliced apart, transforming into one spike-type magic treasure after another. And then, like a completely unpredictable ghost, he moved to attack those three. “Who is this?! He’s too fast!” “Careful!” “Argh!” Although Ning hadn’t used the [Starseizing Hand], [Heavenly Transformation], or [Three Heads, Six Arms], having only executed the [Pentabolt Vajra] and the [Windwing Evasion], just by relying on these two divine abilities he was still able to explode forth with enough speed and power to deal with them. He wasn’t trying to completely crush these people; he was using them to train and refine his sword art. Sword-light flashed everywhere, beating the three into utterly sorry sights. All they could do was use all their power to try and stay alive as they started to flee. “He’s too fast, and his sword arts are too formidable.” “And he’s a Fiendgod Body Refiner, but hasn’t even used the [Heavenly Transformation]. I refuse to believe he doesn’t even know that divine ability!” …… Ning continued to stroll forward. In this final month within the Diagram, he spread out his divine sense with abandon as he searched for opponents, engaging in one battle after another. Against weaker Ki Refiners, he wouldn’t use the [Heavenly Transformation]. Against tougher foes, he would rely on [Heavenly Transformation]. Against a group of tougher foes…he would use his full power, as well as the [Starseizing Hand]! In short, Ning was fast, had a savage sword, and was tremendously strong…he wandered the Diagram as he pleased. He didn’t care about how many people joined forces against him; he would kill, kill, kill them all as he continued to roam forward! After all, by now, everyone was in a small squad. If things were like they had been back at the very start, with the possibility of hundreds of people joining forces against him, Ning wouldn’t have dared to be so bold. But right now… There were very few still alive! That being said, the survivors were all true monsters. Ning used them to temper his sword arts; the sword was a weapon of battle, and in battle his sword arts rose in power with great speed. Ning fused both the Dao-Path of Rainwater and his Dao-Path of the Inferno into his Dao of the Sword; it was hard when it needed to be hard and soft when it should be soft. He was now significantly more powerful than back when he had killed Xiamang Qi and Adept Snowfly. The people in the imperial citadel’s plaza all sighed repeatedly with incomparable amazement. Only two hundred or so individuals were left in the Diagram, and each of them were peerless monsters…but there were still a few that shone with particular splendor. One of them was Ji NIng! “Ji Ning’s sword arts are improving at a simply astonishing pace. He’s far more powerful than he was when he first entered the Diagram. Now, in the entire world of the Diagram…he should be one of the most powerful.” “As I see it, Ji Ning can become number one in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny!” “He’s only trained for thirty years; how can he be so powerful?!” “Monster, what a monster!” “This Ji Ning was born to be a Sword Immortal! After only thirty years, he has already reached such a level; I’ve trained for thirty thousand years, but am inferior to him. What a damn waste of my life!” “In the entire Conclave, as far as sword arts go….Ji Ning is definitely number one!” The individuals who had come from the 3600 commanderies and four seas were all chatting amongst themselves. There was no question whatsoever that of the hundred thousand-plus who had entered this Conclave, Ning was the number one Sword Immortal! After all, those few who were on his level, such as Xiamang Zishan, Adept Ninedeaths, Adept Blackstone, and the Sloppy Daoist were not Sword Immortals. Sword Immortals were extremely skilled in attacking, and so naturally there were many who believed that Ning would become number one in this tournament. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. Patriarch Arcanum seemed to have quite an unpleasant taste in his mouth. Although it was true that the Youngflame clan had the extremely powerful Youngflame Zhan, who was comparable to Xiamang Zishan…in the world of the Diagram, Youngflame Zhan wasn’t as brilliant or as eye-catching as Ji Ning was. “This Ji Ning…” Patriarch Arcanum ground his teeth. “The more of a talented monster he is, the more he needs to be eradicated!” “Hmph. I’ll let you act smugly for now. You are nothing more than a genius in a Conclave. There’s a Conclave every three centuries. I can’t even count how many times a Conclave has gone on…but how many of the winners end up being Celestial Immortals?” Patriarch Arcanum mused silently to himself, “If you can’t become a Celestial Immortal, in the end you’ll never be able to step out onto the grand stage.” “The Xia Emperor cares deeply about this Conclave, and quite a few Pure Yang True Immortals are watching as well. However, they are doing nothing more than just watching; after all, consider how exalted a status True Immortals have! They are experts of the Three Realms who definitely will not choose apprentices casually. They shouldn’t decide to accept Ji Ning as a disciple, right? So long as the True Immortals don’t take him as apprentice…once the chance comes, I’ll definitely exterminate him.” Patriarch Arcanum felt an extremely intense desire to kill. He had truly felt love for Youngflame Nong, and he truly wanted to avenge him! In addition, the feud between the Youngflame clan and Ning was by now an enormous one; after all, the Youngflame clan had even sent Deathsworn to assassinate him. If Ji Ning truly did spread his wings one day…how could he not desire to take revenge? Given how much monstrous talent he had displayed in this Conclave…how could Ji Ning be permitted to continue to grow like this? He had to be eradicated! But of course…if a Pure Yang True Immortal really did accept Ji Ning as his disciple, then Patriarch Arcanum would have no choice but to swallow this bitter fruit. “Generally speaking, the number of disciples a Pure Yang True Immortal accepts can be counted on one hand. They definitely will not casually accept new apprentices.” Patriarch Arcanum quietly hoped that none of the True Immortals would suddenly reach out and take on Ji Ning as a disciple. If that happened…he would truly be stupefied. …… Ning sat in the lotus position atop the mountain peak. Suddenly… 2042 “The year has ended. The eighty contestants with the most talismans have successfully passed the trial of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers.” The voice of the Emperor of the Grand Xia suddenly rang out in the minds of every single person present within the Diagram. With it, a rumbling sound could be heard… Rays of golden light shot out to surround Ji Ning, Xiamang Zishan, Adept Ninedeaths, the Sloppy Daoist, and the rest of the eighty. Some were seated in the lotus position, others were walking around, and still others were sleeping. In short, all of their bodies were surrounded by golden light; clearly, the light was meant to let the people in the outside world be able to clearly see who the eighty were. Swish, swish, swish! The eighty were all immediately teleported out of the world of the Diagram. “The 159 of you who remain must engage in the final battle. Only sixteen of you are permitted to remain alive within the world of the Diagram.” The voice of the Emperor of the Grand Xia reverberated in each of their minds…and then all 159 of them were teleported to a vast, spacious grassland. A grand sealing formation appeared on the grassland, spanning a hundred kilometers. All 159 of them were locked within the sealing formation. They all looked towards their fellow contestants. “Start killing,” boomed the voice of the Emperor of the Grand Xia. Instantly, the 159 competitors within the grand sealing formation began a berserk, final struggle against each other. This was a very small region of just a hundred kilometers; to people like them, who could move a hundred kilometers with a single movement…and with so many of them present…the battle here was exceptionally fierce and miserable. Many people were forced to voluntarily throw our their talismans and give up. …… The clouds in front of the main hall of the Skylight Palace. Ji Ning and the rest of the eighty all appeared atop the cloud. They looked at each other. “Eh?” Ning quickly saw quite a few familiar faces; Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Adept Blackstone… “Senior apprentice-brother.” Ning saw the Sloppy Daoist as well. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” The Sloppy Daoist beamed as well. “The eighty of you, all stand up!” An attendant wearing a crown spoke out to them coldly: “The other sixteen will appear shortly, at which point the ninety-six of you will jointly follow me to go pay your respects to his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor. This time, some Pure Yang True Immortals of the Three Realms have also arrived to watch. All of you need to know what the rules are; no matter what, you cannot offend or disturb one of the True Immortals.” The crowned attendant had a pale, beardless face. He had an insidiously cold aura, and Ning and the others could tell from the invisible ripples of power that radiated from the man that this person…was most likely a Celestial Immortal. This caused Ning and the others to all secretly sigh in amazement. It was possible that not one of the hundred thousand-plus competitors would become a Celestial Immortal…but this attendant was one. This instantly caused Ning and the others to feel an invisible pressure push down upon them. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Awards After a long period of time passed, another sixteen figures appeared atop the clouds. Most of these sixteen appeared to be in quite the sorry shape, and most of them were heavily wounded. “Everyone is present.” The crowned attendant wave his arm, and instantly a rainbow-colored drizzle descended from the heavens onto Ning and the rest of the ninety-six. The rainbow raindrops quickly merged into their bodies, and the heavily wounded all saw their injuries immediately repaired, leaving them in perfect condition. Even those who had exhausted much of their divine power and elemental ki due to having battled for a long period of time saw their energy replenished. This caused Ning and the others to all feel stunned. “Remember. The main hall of the Skylight Palace currently has nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals, his Imperial Majesty the Emperor, and Pure Yang True Immortals who have gathered from various places throughout the Three Realms. You absolutely must not be careless. If you anger a true True Immortal who takes your life on the spot, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” The crowned attendant swept his gaze past the ninety-six, pausing very slightly as he glanced at the Sloppy Daoist, whom he actually revealed a hint of a smile towards. “Obey my commands. Let’s move,” the crowned attendant ordered. He led the way up ahead. Ning and the other ninety-six followed from behind, walking through the clouds. They quickly arrived at a wide, spacious palace hall. The main hall of the Skylight Palace had no ceiling; above it was the infinitely vast firmament. “So many Celestial Immortals.” Ning immediately saw the two rows of Celestial Immortals. They stretched all the way to the deepest parts of the main hall; there truly were nearly a thousand. “In Stillwater Commandery, I didn’t even see a single Celestial Immortal Patriarch, but today I’ve seen so many. I imagine that the entire Grand Xia Empire must have several thousand Celestial Immortals. No wonder it is said that the emperor of a major world is capable of sitting down and speaking with the Celestial Emperor as equals.” Ning could sense the ripples of power coming from around him. The ripples that emanated from a Celestial Immortal, even when they were not actively flaring their power, was still enough to cause a Wanxiang Adept like Ning to feel tremendous pressure. “Hmph!” Patriarch Arcanum was seated there. Upon seeing Ning walk past him, his long, narrow eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. He let out a cold snort, not disguising his hostility towards Ning at all. …… 2045 “Halt.” The crowned attendant sent a mental message to Ning and the others, who all immediately came to a halt. Right in front of them, not too far away, were the eight Pure Yang True Immortals and the Emperor of the Grand Xia. Ning and the others could tell that the auras emanating from those eight figures next to the Emperor of the Grand Xia were simply too terrifying. In addition, the tables and Immortal nectar placed before them were completely different from those given the Celestial Immortals. They could immediately tell who these eight were. “They are all Pure Yang True Immortals!” Ning and the rest of the ninety-six all felt as though they were looking up at unfathomably exalted figures. “All of you, kneel,” the crowned attendant sent mentally. Whoosh. Ning and the rest of the ninety-six all fell to their knees, calling out at the same time, “We prostrate ourselves before you, your Imperial Majesty.” The Emperor of the Grand Xia looked downwards towards them, and his gaze along with the gazes of the eight Pure Yang True Immortals all landed upon the Sloppy Daoist. To these nine Pure Yang True Immortals, the only person worth them paying serious attention to was the Sloppy Daoist. This was because he was the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. As for the others? The nine of them didn’t hold them in too much regard. The only reason they paid even a slight bit of attention to them was because the Three Realms was entering turbulent times. During one of the ‘normal’ Conclaves of Immortal Destiny, they wouldn’t even be bothered to come attend and watch, nor would the Emperor of the Grand Xia come to officiate. The officiator would at most record down the most exciting scenes of the battles through a scryer technique and deliver it to some of the major figures of the three realms. On occasion, someone might be lucky and end up becoming an apprentice to one of those True Immortals! “It would be impressive if even three or four out of these ninety-six became Celestial Immortals. As for Pure Yang True Immortals? If a true expert of the Three Realms really was to emerge from this Conclave, it will probably be this disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu.” This was what the Immortal Elder of the Northlands and the others were thinking. This was what even Lu Dongbin believed as well. For two Pure Yang True Immortals to emerge from a group of ninety-six? That was bit too unrealistic. “Arise!” The Grand Xia Emperor commanded. Ning and the other ninety-six all arose, each acting with complete decorum. The Grand Xia Emperor looked down upon them, then said calmly, “You have all passed the trial of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. You have thus passed the preliminary sorting out process. From today onwards, I will arrange for the ninety-six of you to engage in duels with each other. The losers will be eliminated, while the winners will remain.” “The ninety-six of you will engage in a round of duels. After the first round, forty-eight will remain. All forty-eight of you will each receive an Immortal-ranked magic item.” The voice of the Grand Xia Emperor echoed throughout the entire main hall. Whooosh. Everyone below was stunned. Even the near-thousand Celestial Immortals were stunned. All forty-eight would receive an Immortal-ranked magic treasure? In the past, only the top three figures in the Conclave would receive such a treasure. This was more than ten times as extravagant as the past; it represented forty-eight Immortal-ranked treasures! “The forty-eight will go through two rounds of elimination duels, resulting in twelve remaining. These twelve will each receive five million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!” The Grand Xia Emperor said calmly. Utter silence. The Celestial Immortals were all surprised…and Ning and the rest of the ninety-six were all stunned. Their eyes turned red with desire. Even Ning, despite his tremendous wealth, felt a surge of desire. Five million kilograms…even if Ning sold off all of Youngflame Nong’s treasures and everything he had acquired from the Witchriver Immortal Estate, it would still be far less than five million kilograms. Five million kilograms was a sum that would cause even many Celestial Immortals to turn red-eyed with envy. Only the Grand Xia Emperor could afford to be so generous. “Why is his Imperial Majesty being so generous? Five million kilograms to each person? Twelve people…how many kilograms is that?!” “His Imperial Majesty has never been so generous when bestowing even the likes of us with gifts.” The Celestial Immortals were speechless. …… The Grand Xia Emperor, still speaking in a very calm manner, continued: “The twelve will engage in another series of duels, resulting in six remaining. These six will fight until only three remain! The three final winners…will be permitted to go into the imperial treasure vault of my Grand Xia Dynasty and choose out any divine ability or secret art of their choosing.” Choosing?! Ning and the others turned berserk with desire. The accumulated knowledge of an entire major world…it vastly surpassed the Dao Repository of the Black-White College by countless times! The techniques which the local Raindragon Guard branches possessed were already enough to cause Ning to turn red-eyed with desire, to say nothing of the main Raindragon Guard headquarters! And the imperial treasure vault of the Grand Xia Dynasty? It most assuredly had even more than the main Raindragon Guard headquarters! “How can they be allowed to choose?! Divine abilities and secret arts are the foundation of a powerful tribe.” Even King Qi, King Yan, and the other Kings were completedly stunned. “That vault is the foundation of our Xiamang clan. How can they be allowed to choose from it as they see fit?! They will definitely choose the strongest techniques. How can the most powerful divine abilities and secret arts we possess be disseminated to outsiders?!” However, the leader of the Xiamang clan, the Emperor of the Grand Xia, held unquestioned authority and power. “In addition…per the orders of my venerable master…!” The Grand Xia Emperor spoke in an extremely solemn voice. All of the Pure Yang True Immortals next to him, be it Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, Lu Dongbin, or the Immortal Elder of the Northlands, all felt their hearts clench. “Amongst the final three victors…my venerable master will choose a person to become his own honorary disciple. After said person breaks through to become a Celestial Immortal, said person shall become my venerable master’s personal disciple.” The Grand Xia Emperor’s voice rang out clearly, echoing throughout the entire main hall. All the Celestial Immortals within the main hall fell completely silent. Even the Pure Yang True Immortals had fallen silent. The eight Pure Yang True Immortals were all in a state of shock; they had no idea that this was going to happen. “What boldness and spirit! Daofather Crimsonbright truly is bold and spirited; he’s actually going to accept a disciple from this Conclave!” Lu Dongbin sighed mentally to himself. “Still…it makes sense. Amongst the tens of major worlds under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright, the world of the Grand Xia is number one in terms of luck and karma. The Three Realms are in a state of upheaval and facing turbulent undercurrents. It has only been a few decades since the collapse of the Six Paths of Reincarnation…it is indeed true that one of the future heroes of the Three Realms will emerge in the first Conclave of Immortal Destiny to be held here after the collapse. It is worth him taking on a new disciple.” “One of them will become the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright?” Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta and the others all stared at Ning’s group. “Clearly, Grand Emperor Xuanwu has taken a fancy to that sloppy-looking fatty, and has even taught him his Grand Black Tortoise divine ability. There’s no way Daofather Crimsonbright would disgrace himself 2048 by trying to steal him! Then of the other 95…which one shall become the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright?” All of them were now guessing. …… “The disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright?” The eyes of the near-thousand Celestial Immortals below all turned red. They were the Celestial Immortals of the world of the Grand Xia; thus, they were all naturally under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright! Daofather Crimsonbright had an exalted status far above theirs; he was a major power of the Three Realms who commanded dozens of major worlds. The Celestial Immortals under his command were as numerous as the clouds. Almost all of these Celestial Immortals were his honorary disciples…but most of them had never even said a single word to Daofather Crimsonbright! They dreamed about becoming a personal disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright, but alas, they had no chance. In fact…not a single one of these near-thousand Celestial Immortals was a personal disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright! “None of us will become a personal disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright, but one of them will actually become the Daofather’s personal disciple.” “That Sloppy Daoist is the personal disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu…as for the other six, one of them will become the personal disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright.” “This is really too insane.” The Celestial Immortals present found it hard to accept this. A Daofather! Someone who was capable of controlling a Heavenly Dao. The personal disciples they took on were innately endowed with astonishing potential and comprehension ability; after spending enough effort and paying enough of a price, they would generally all become Celestial Immortals! This was why, even though the likes of Daofather Crimsonbright and Grand Emperor Xuanwu nominally took on weak Wanxiang Disciples as mere ‘honorary disciples’, in the future it was all but guaranteed that they would be upgraded to ‘personal disciples’. The eight Pure Yang True Immortals were surprised…and the nearly-thousand Celestial Immortals were filled with disbelief and envy. As for Ning and the others, they were completely stunned silly. Most of them didn’t even know who the master of the Emperor of the Grand Xia was! But since the Emperor of the Grand Xia was the emperor of this major world, someone capable of casually tossing out dozens of Immortal-ranked magic treasures…how formidable was his master?! The Grand Xia Emperor was someone who could speak with the Celestial Emperor of the Celestial Court as equals. Then his master…? The ninety-six could all guess the answer, and they were naturally both stunned and filled with wild desire. Was this like manna from the heavens? “The place where you shall engage in your duels shall be atop the clouds outside the palace.” The Grand Xia Emperor pointed to the distant clouds outside the hall. Whoosh. Instantly, an enormous grand sealing barrier that was ten kilometers in size appeared atop the cloud. “You shall battle there, within the grand sealing formation. When one side dies or admits defeat, then the battle will conclude.” “The first battle shall be Cangwu Jiu of the Cangwu clan against Dragonmatch of the Myriad Beasts School!” The Grand Xia Emperor continued, “The others can rest off to the side.” “Ji Ning, little Sloppy, come over here.” Ning immediately heard someone call out. Turning his head, he saw that it was King Yan. Behind King Yan was his cousin, Yuchi Xiyue, along with Yu Wei. Ning immediately went over. As for the Sloppy Daoist, upon seeing this he immediately followed; they were all of the Black-White College, after all. The others who had Celestial Immortal Patriarchs of their various schools or clans present all went to the sides of those Celestial Immortals. As for those who didn’t have any Celestial Immortals behind them, as long as there was even a hint of a relationship with them, a Celestial Immortal would call them over. “Zhan, child!” Patriarch Arcanum’s long, slanted eyes were filled with savagery. He sent mentally, “This is a chance that rarely comes once in even ten thousand reincarnations. You absolutely must use all your power to fight into the top three! If you can become the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright, then you shall have done more for our Youngflame clan than anyone else in our entire history. Even the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs of our Youngflame command shall obey your command!” Youngflame Zhan couldn’t help but send mentally, “Who is Daofather Crimsonbright?” “The teacher of his Imperial Majesty!” Patriarch Arcanum explained, “He is one of the true major powers of the Three Realms…someone who can determine whether our Youngflame clan will flourish or decay with but a single word!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Crimsonbright “If you die here as a result, I guarantee that after reincarnating, you will be reborn into our Youngflame clan once more, and I will take you on as my disciple.” Patriarch Arcanum looked at Youngflame Zhan. “Zhan, child, this is a rare chance. You have to seize it!” Zhan could sense Patriarch Arcanum’s ardent desire. He understood how important this was. “If you succeed…then you might become an expert on the level of his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor,” Patriarch Arcanum said eagerly. Zhan nodded heavily. …… “You have reincarnated nine times for the sake of overcome the Celestial Tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal. To become a Celestial Immortal is far, far too difficult…the path in front of you is almost guaranteed to be a dead end. Little girl, if you become Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple, you need not fear that you will not be able to become a Celestial Immortal!” …… “Jiu, child, you absolutely have the power to make your way into the top three of this Conclave. Although our Cangwu clan has already reached the very pinnacle of power in the Grand Xia Empire, that’s our limit; there’s no way the imperial clan of the Grand Xia will give us any chance to increase in power any further, unless our Cangwu clan also produces a Pure Yang True Immortal. That, however, is too difficult…but you now have that chance! You have to seize this sort of a chance!” …… The various major clans, sects, and schools were all saying these words to the competitors with them. If previously the Celestial Immortals were quite relaxed, upon learning that Daofather Crimsonbright was going to take on a disciple, all of them were frantic. They even felt hatred…self-hatred for not having personally taught these young geniuses! If they had personally taught them, then the young geniuses on their side would probably be even more powerful. Unfortunately, they had previously held these so-called geniuses in no regard at all; after all, there were far too many geniuses in the world. It was too late for any regrets. Ji Ning and Yu Wei were next to each other. They were even holding hands, and the dreamy looks they were giving each other were causing even the nearby Yuchi Xiyue and Sloppy Daoist to get a bit sick of it. “Junior apprentice-brother, junior apprentice-sister, the two of you…?” The Sloppy Daoist blinked a few times. “You just found out?” Yuchi Xiyue smirked. Ji Ning and Yu Wei looked at each other and smiled. After sharing life and death experiences together during the past year, their hearts had long ago become linked. “Haha, congratulations and felicitations. The disciples of the Black-White College, in participating in this Conclave, have actually produced a pair of Dao-Companions. This shall be the talk of the world,” the Sloppy Daoist laughed. “Sloppy Daoist, Ji Ning, don’t be too relaxed,” Yuchi Xiyue quickly warned. “Didn’t you hear? The top three have a chance to become accepted by Daofather Crimsonbright as a disciple. This is a chance to ascend to the heavens at one go! Daofather Crimsonbright is one of the true hegemons of the Three Realms, someone who has mastered a Heavenly Dao.” “Right! We have to fight for this chance,” the Sloppy Daoist nodded. Ning nodded as well. At the same time, he mentally asked, “Senior, if I become apprenticed to Daofather Crimsonbright, will he recognize my [Starseizing Hand] and realize the relationship between myself and Daoist Threelives? Will this be trouble?” Suddenly, a voice rang out in his mind. “Ji Ning, don’t worry; Daofather Crimsonbright was born a True God of Primordial Chaos. Like Master, he was born from the primordial chaos itself. They even adventured and faced life and death together; the relationship between them is quite deep. Although he wasn’t one of Master’s most intimate of friends, they were still on extremely good terms. Even if he knows of the relationship between you and Master, he won’t harm you. Someone like Daofather Crimsonbright would not lower himself by acting against you.” “A True God of Primordial Chaos…and they adventured together?” Ning was puzzled. “Daoist Threelives was one of the major powers of the Three Realms, while Daofather Crimsonbright is one as well. Even they need to adventure together and risk their lives?” “I don’t understand this very clearly either; all I know is that there truly are some extremely terrifying places in the Three Realms. Master and some other True Gods of Primordial Chaos have joined forces in the past to fight in those places. All of them are very close to each other, and some of them are in fact individuals who are willing to sacrifice their lives for Master, and vice versa.” The giant yellow bear sent, “Don’t worry. The True Gods of Primordial Chaos are quite a unified group.” 2052 “In addition, it was Daofather Crimsonbright who developed the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] which you train in.” The giant yellow bear sighed, then sent, “After countless years have passed, Daofather Crimsonbright has mastered a Heavenly Dao and become a Daofather. If Master is still alive, he should have perhaps mastered a Heavenly Dao as well.” “Daofather Crimsonbright is very good-natured, and all the other True Gods of Primordial Chaos praise him. If you can become his apprentice, you should be able to learn some information regarding Master from him.” The giant yellow bear had always wanted to learn if Daoist Threelives was still alive or not. “Then I will force my way into the top three, or even become number one. I will do my best to make Daofather Crimsonbright choose me as his disciple,” Ning sent. “Right.” The giant yellow bear felt eager as well. …… King Yan suddenly turned to look at the Sloppy Daoist, then asked mentally, “Little Sloppy, you also want to become the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright?” “I naturally have to at least give it a good shot,” the Sloppy Daoist said, puzzled. “How can I let a chance like this just slip away? If I miss it, I probably won’t have another chance like this for the rest of my life.” “How did you learn the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability?” King Yan asked. The sloppy, pudgy youth grinned. He knew that upon revealing it, his secrets would be eventually revealed. After all, the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability was simply too easy to recognize. He laughed then sent mentally, “Your Highness, I acquired this Grand Black Tortoise divine ability by luck. While adventuring, I entered a cavern estate and thus inherited a legacy and was taught this grand divine ability.” “Oh.” King Yan now understood. Most likely, the Sloppy Daoist had no idea…that his master was Grand Emperor Xuanwu! In the main hall of the Skylight Palace, the various Celestial Immortals were all chatting and laughing amongst themselves while paying attention to the duels that were going on atop the cloud. The first round of duels was currently taking place. In the first battle, Cangwu Jiu battled against Dragonmatch. This was an exceptionally vicious battle, as both were Fiendgod Body Refiners. Dragonmatch was unwilling to admit defeat until almost all of his divine power had been used up. However, his eyes were clearly filled with resentment. As for the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs of the Myriad Beasts School, they couldn’t help but shake their heads with resentment and sigh as they saw this. The chance had come and go, just like that. In the second battle, Adept Woodpass battled against Kindwater Qi. Kindwater Qi immediately used a forbidden technique at the very start, going all out. However, Adept Woodpass actually showed mercy; at a critical moment in the fight, he merely gave Kindwater Qi a heavy wound, not taking his life. The helpless Kindwater Qi was forced to admit defeat. One battle after another went on, everyone going all out. “The allure of becoming a Daofather’s disciple…who can resist it?” Lu Dongbin shook his head and sighed. Raising his head, he took a swig of wine from his cup. “And yet, how many of them understand…that the disciple of a Daofather is still nothing more than a disciple. The master can bring you into the school, but training is a matter of personal cultivation. The major powers of the Three Realms…they all relied on their own abilities for their achievements.” “Lu Dongbin! You hypocrite, you have two Daofathers standing behind you and even more Daofathers who have provided you guidance, and you’re going to sigh and shake your heads at them?” The Immortal Elder of the Northlands was clearly rather displeased. “This old man can’t stand your words.” “You’re just jealous.” Lu Dongbin cast the Immortal Elder a sideways glance out of the corner of his eyes. “Jealous my ass. This old man is also a Pure Yang True Immortal; if you have true ability, then go become a Daofather! By then, I’d definitely admire you; in fact, I’d even go to your door and obediently listen to you expound on the Dao and treat you as I would a teacher,” the Immortal Elder snorted. “Shameless old fogey. Once I truly do become a Daofather…I might not even be willing to expound on the Dao with you. It’ll depend on my mood.” After saying these words, even Lu Dongbin himself felt that he was boasting too much; after all, it wasn’t so easy for someone to become a Daofather. He didn’t even have mastery over a Heavenly Dao yet! He immediately pointed towards the outside and said, “Look, the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu has entered the arena.” …… In the sixth battle, the Sloppy Daoist fought against Adept Gloomcloud. Adept Gloomcloud truly was an extraordinary figure; however, there was a quite a bit of difference in power between himself and the Sloppy Daoist. Fortunately, the Sloppy Daoist showed mercy and so Adept Gloomcloud’s life was spared. He admitted defeat, then left. …… The Grand Xia Emperor, seated atop his imperial throne, stared downwards at his subjects. He said calmly, “The 41th duel shall be between Ji Ning of the Black-White College and Zhuxiang of the Redlotus Sect.” 2054 His voice didn’t just reverberate within the main hall; his echoing voice, filled with all of his majesty, reverberated within the imperial citadel plaza as well. The delegates from the 3600 commanderies and four seas all stared into the skies. In the sky above them was a massive mirror, which reflected the scenes of battle between the geniuses within the grand sealing formation atop the cloud. “Junior apprentice-brother, you have to be careful.” Within the palace, the Sloppy Daoist said with a laugh, “This Zhuxiang is a Fiendgod Body Refiner. All Fiendgod Refiners are tough to deal with. Thankfully, the Adept Gloomcloud I ran into just now was a Ki Refiner, which made it a bit easier.” “Ji Ning, be careful.” Yu Wei looked at Ning as well. “Don’t worry. I’m planning to go for number one.” Ning immediately turned and walked outside. Right at this moment, a youth who had been seated in the lotus position behind a distant Celestial Immortal also rose to his feet and began to walk towards the outside. This youth seemed quite wanton and dissolute, and gave the impression of being perpetually sleepy. However, he was the number one Holy Child of an extremely large sect, the Redlotus Sect. His power was indeed formidable; previously, the outside world had known very little about him, and he had only become famous during this Conclave. “They are coming out. Coming out!” Mu Northson stared upwards excitedly. “Quick, look, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning is coming out.” “Brother Ji Ning’s power is formidable; that Zhuxiang of the Redlotus Sect is no match for him at all. Brother Ji Ning is aiming to be number one.” Northmont Baiwei was watching with excitement as well; he naturally was pleased upon seeing his good friend ascend farther and farther along this Immortal path. “Wonderful. My Black-White College is about to suddenly become famous, utterly famous!” Immortal Fivecraze was in extremely high spirits and excited. “Master.” Little Qing’s serpentine eyes were flashing with light as well. The Whitewater Hound’s head was also lifted. As he watched, he felt his chest heave with emotions. “Big brother, if you were still alive…how wonderful it would be for you to be here and watch Ji Ning become such a dazzling figure in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny of the Grand Xia Dynasty.” …… Atop the cloud. Within the grand sealing formation. Ji Ning and Zhuxiang of the Redlotus Sect were both standing within the grand sealing formation. Zhuxiang was dressed extremely casually. His Daoist robes appeared quite sloppy, and a large portion of his chest was revealed as well. He looked at Ning, appearing to be still half-asleep. Zhuxiang sighed gently, “I didn’t expect to run into you in the very first duel. I heard that you are one of the participants in this Conclave who is the hardest to deal with. In the Diagram, I travelled alongside my fellow disciples. No one was capable of forcing me to unleash my supreme technique…but I didn’t expect that I would be forced to do so in this very first battle. You should feel lucky to lose to my supreme technique.” “Zhuxiang.” Ning spoke out. “Do you know…what I view you as?” “What?” Zhuxiang smiled lazily. “A pile of crap? A mere ant? A mighty dragon? Or…?” “No, no…in my eyes…you are an Immortal-ranked magic treasure,” Ning chortled. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Xia Emperor, Lu Dongbin, and the rest of the nine Pure Yang True Immortals were watching the two competitors within the grand sealing formation. Upon hearing their dialogue, all nine of them couldn’t help but laugh. “This Zhuxiang…he is fearless due to his ignorance.” Lu Dongbin shook his head and sighed, “Actually, everyone who has been watching this Conclave already has a rough sense of who the most powerful individuals of the ninety-six are. By contrast, the ninety-six themselves actually aren’t clear about how powerful many of them are.” Indeed. Zhuxiang had only been warned by a Celestial Immortal Patriarch of the Redlotus Sect that Ji Ning was one of the most difficult to deal with contestants in this Conclave, and that he had to fight with full power and not be the slightest bit overconfident. But Zhuxiang himself had never fought against Ning; how could he understand how powerful Ning was? The spectators on the outside had seen all the battles within the Diagram. The Wanxiang Adepts themselves, however, were ignorant despite having been actually within the Diagram itself. Even Ning himself had only fought against ten or so members of the other 95. “The first round of duels doesn’t matter that much.” The Xia Emperor nodded. “The purpose of this first round is to separate the most powerful experts; I’m not actually having the most powerful ones fight against each other yet. Ji Ning truly is far more powerful than Zhuxiang.” “Senior apprentice-brother, you had best hurry up and prepare those Immortal-ranked magic treasures. All forty-eight of the winners are going to need one.” Sovereign Hao let out a loud laugh. “Right; are the forty-eight Immortal-ranked magic treasures going to be low-grade or middle-grade?” “Low grade, of course!” The Xia Emperor laughed. “I knew it!” Sovereign Hao nodded as well. “You aren’t ashamed to take out low-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures? The Immortal-ranked magic treasures I carry with me and which I hand out on a whim are all at least high-grade!” Lu Dongbin glanced sideways at the Xia Emperor, who instantly felt resigned. “I have many subordinates under my command, and I also need to keep control over an entire major world. It isn’t easy, you know! I can’t just randomly throw out Immortal-ranked magic treasures like you, Lu Dongbin. You are free to do what you please.” 2057 …… Ning exploded forth with his full power. His six Immortal swords simultaneously chopped downwards towards Zhuxiang of the Redlotus Sect like a series of catastrophes, giving him no chance to fight back at all. “I admit defeat,” Zhuxiang called out loudly. He then gave Ning a hard look, as though memorizing Ning’s appearance. This defeat had been simply too disastrous… “Mm. One Immortal-ranked magic treasure down.” Ning quickly returned to normal, then lazily left the grand sealing formation and returned to King Yan’s side within the palace, moving to stand together with his cousin and Yu Wei. …… Soon, all forty-eight battles came to an end. The battles in this first round were all fairly simple; after all, the Xia Emperor had arranged a strong competitor to fight a weak competitor in each duel, with the goal of selecting out the strongest competitors. “The forty-eight of you have each won a duel in the first round. Each of you shall receive an Immortalranked magic treasure. Now, I shall bestow them unto you.” The Grand Xia Emperor, seated high up above them on his throne, waved his hand. Instantly, magic treasures that emanated massive ripples of power came flying out. There were ropes, flying swords, clocks, millstones, needles, shuttles, spikes, warhammers, grand sealings, longstaffs, silk ribbons, flywhisks… The forty-eight Immortal-ranked magic treasures all flew outwards to the forty-eight winners. It was an Immortal-ranked sword that flew towards Ning. The sword-ki revolving around the Immortal sword transformed into the appearance of an old man that looked towards Ning with curiosity. “This is…” Ning stretched his hand out, catching the Immortal sword and sending his senses into it briefly. He was someone who had seen the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp and the Thousandbull Sword, after all; Ning had the feeling that this was comparable to the ripples given off by the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp. “It should be a low-grade Immortal-ranked item.” Ning mused secretly to himself, “But it is still a flying sword, extremely suited to attacks. The Grand Xia Emperor saw that I am a Sword Immortal and so bestowed an Immortal sword upon me? Mmm…it’s probably worth around 1.75 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence.” He had expected this Immortal-ranked magic treasure to be low-grade. After all, the top twelve would receive five million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. It was reasonable for the top forty-eight to be bestowed with a low-graded Immortal-ranked magic treasure. “Thank you, your Imperial Majesty!” 2058 Ning and the rest of the forty-eight all kowtowed as their voices rang out in unison. Some of them had looks of uncontrollable excitement on their faces. Low-grade Immortal-ranked? Not all of these Wanxiang Adepts were as lucky as Ji Ning! Many Loose Immortals were not in possession of Immortal-ranked magic treasures; for them to possess one was already quite incredible. Whoosh. The Xia Emperor smiled and nodded. Instantly, rainbow-colored raindrops appeared above Ning and the others. As they landed upon the bodies of the Ning and the others, Ning could feel his divine power and elemental ki be quickly restored. Those who were wounded were all quickly healed as well. Although most of them had spirit-pills that could have accomplished this, Ning and the others couldn’t help but feel excited that the Xia Emperor had personally healed them. “Arise. All of you can go back and get some rest. Prepare for the next competition,” the Xia Emperor said. Ning and the others all returned to their respective locations. Ning and the Sloppy Daoist returned to King Yan’s side. Soon, the Xia Emperor ordered for the second round of duels to begin. “The second round of duels shall begin now,” the Xia Emperor said calmly. “In the first battle, Xiangtian Xiao of the Xiangtian clan shall face Kindwater Gan of the Kindwater clan.” 1. Xiangtian Xiao…he was the final remaining competitor of the Xiantian clan within this Conclave. Kindwater Gan, in the same way, was the final disciple the Kindwater clan had within this Conclave. Both of these ancient clans hoped for their own disciples to win. However, victory was determined after a few short exchanges in this duel. Xiangtian Xiao, with clear superiority, defeated Kindwater Gan. “Xiangtian Xiao is quite powerful.” The Sloppy Daoist watched the battle outside the palace and spoke out in praise. “Yes.” Ning nodded. “His Dao is the Grand Dao of the Sabre; the Dao of the Sabre is a Grand Dao that is comparable to the Dao of the Sword…and it is even more dominating and overbearing. Xiangtian Xiao himself is quite a heroic and straightforward figure, and his sabre arts are like him…he is indeed a formidable foe.” “He can indeed be described as a formidable foe,” the Sloppy Daoist nodded. “The second battle shall be between the unaffiliated Adept Blackstone and Adept Danzhu of the East Seas,” the Xia Emperor proclaimed. Upon hearing this, Adept Danzhu, as beautiful as a fairy from the Moon Palace, couldn’t help but frown. Still, she still walked into the grand sealing formation outside of the main palace. As for Adept Blackstone, he appeared as he always did; barefoot, bald, and pitch-black. He leaned on a gnarled staff as he walked forward with a calm smile. “The Xia Emperor actually pitted Adept Danzhu against Adept Blackstone? Based on what we saw from the first round…the Xia Emperor generally pits a strong fighter against a weak fighter, so as to ensure that strong fighters won’t clash against each other too early on.” Ning shook his head. “It seem as though in the Xia Emperor’s eyes, Adept Danzhu’s power should be in the bottom twenty-four of these forty-eight.” “Right. Although Adept Danzhu is quite famous, she still isn’t a Fiendgod Body Refiner,” the Sloppy Daoist agreed. “When Ki Refiners fight against Fiendgod Body Refiners, they are generally at a significant disadvantage…especially seeing as how all the competitors in this Conclave are supreme geniuses. The weaknesses of Ki Refiners are made even more apparent.” Ning nodded. It was true. And this was before the tribulation; upon a Fiendgod Body Refiner becoming an Empyrean God, his power would immediately be on the same level as a Pure Yang True Immortal! From this, one could tell how major an advantage Fiendgod Body Refiners towards the late stages! …… The battle between Adept Blackstone and Adept Danzhu was an extremely weird battle. Adept Blackstone only had to use his Fuxi Staff Formation to cause Adept Danzhu to be completely unable to fight back. In the end, she had to admit defeat. From start to finish, Adept Blackstone hadn’t been forced to fight in close combat a single time. “What a terrifying Adept Blackstone.” This caused Xiamang Zishan, Ji Ning, Adept Ninedeaths, Cangwu Jiu, and the other geniuses to all memorize what had just happened. …… One competition after another. Several figures appeared who caused Ning to be secretly alarmed. There were some whom he wasn’t too familiar with, such as the likes of Adept Goldcrow, Adept Primalback, or Adept Unicosmo. Actually, everyone in the top twenty four was quite frighteningly strong. “The twenty-fourth battle. The unaffiliated Adept Saberslave shall fight against Adept Bloodfiend of the Heaven Piercing clan.” This was the final battle of the second round. Adept Bloodfiend was a fairly dazzling figure; his berserkness and his bloodlust had caused everyone watching to firmly fix them in their minds. But… He was actually defeated miserably! Just two blows of the saber! The first blow caused Adept Bloodfiend to be knocked flying backwards, but he had enough power to want to come back and try to fight again. The second blow, however…it chopped his body completely in half! The bisected Adept Bloodfiend hurriedly called out loudly, “I admit defeat!” “What?!” “How can this be?!” Ji Ning, the Sloppy Daoist, Xiamang Zishan, Adept Blackstone, Adept Ninedeaths, and the others were all tremendously shocked. A serious look appeared in their eyes. A formidable foe! Without question, a formidable foe! Nobody dared to say that they were confident in being able to defeat this mysterious ‘Adept Saberslave.’ Adept Saberslave was a black-robed man that carried a warcleaver. He was cold-faced and didn’t say anything at all. When he stood there silently, he was easily overlooked…but when acting against Adept Bloodfiend, he revealed his fierceness! “This wandering cultivator…he should be the disciple of a good friend of mine. Previously, he didn’t cause any stir at all, and I thought that he simply had the same Daoist title. But those two saber blows, and his status as a wandering cultivator…there should be no doubt about it.” Lu Dongbin’s eyes lit up, and he laughed as he praised, “This good friend of mine once mentioned this disciple of his; he said that his disciple had taken on the Daoist title ‘Saberslave’ and had sworn that he would offer everything he had to the Dao of the Saber. He was going to infuse everything he had into the Dao of the Saber, and that he was willing to be a slave to the Dao of the Saber!” “Oh? Intriguing.” Truelord Chiji’s eyes lit up. “Eastflower, who is friend of yours?” “Umm…nice weather we have today!” Lu Dongbin suddenly turned his head to stare into the void of the skies. Truelord Chiji was instantly speechless. The Xia Emperor and the others couldn’t help but smile. Still, they could tell that Lu Dongbin clearly didn’t want to name this friend of his; most likely, this friend of Lu Dongbin most likely belonged to an alliance that was an enemy of one of the Daofathers supporting Lu Dongbin! Lu Dongbin made friends throughout the Three Realms; he even dared to befriend some enemies and some vile demons. “There are quite a few solitary wandering cultivators this time,” the Xia Emperor said. “This Adept Saberslave is one of them. There are some truly powerful figures amongst this group; some most likely 2061 come from other worlds. No matter where they are from, however…since they have participated in this Conclave, I will naturally treat them all equally.” “However, for this Saberslave to suddenly explode with such power causes me a bit of a headache.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “Based on my previous understanding of their power levels, in the third round, I had already made plans for who would fight who…but for this Saberslave to explode with such power in the final battle of the second round makes it so that I don’t know what to do.” “I have a recommendation,” Lu Dongbin suddenly said. “Oh?” The others all looked over. “This Saberslave should be the most powerful expert of the Dao of the Saber out of these remaining twenty-four. As for that Dao-companion of the little girl I like, that Ji Ning…he’s the most powerful expert of the Dao of the Sword. One is a Sword Immortal while the other is a Saber Devil; having the two of them fight each other will undoubtedly be quite interesting.” 2 The Xia Emperor, hearing this, let out a laugh. “Each of the twenty-four are formidable. No matter who I put Adept Saberslave against, it will still cause me a headache. Since you’ve spoken out, Lu Dongbin…then let’s have this Ji Ning fight against this Saberslave.” 1. Xiangtian Xiao is an interesting name; Xiangtian means ‘facing the heavens’, while Xiao means laugh; his name thus means ‘laughing towards the heavens’ 2. In Chinese, the sword (jian) refers to thin, double-edged longswords that are used for slashing and piercing. The saber (dao) can refer to either daggers (duan dao, short saber), or to (usually) single-edged bladed weapons meant for hacking and chopping, such as backswords/broadswords and cleavers. The sword is viewed as the weapon of the gentleman due to its more graceful stances and elegance, while the saber is viewed as the sword of a brute/warrior due to its violent, hacking blows that are extremely suited for the battlefield. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning, Yu Wei, the Sloppy Daoist, and Yuchi Xiyue were quietly whispering amongst each other, discussing each of the remaining twenty-four competitors. “Adept Woodpass always defends passively, reacting to whatever the enemy throws at him…but he ended up winning, just like that.” Yuchi Xiyue sighed. “I have the feeling that he hasn’t shown his full power yet.” “Adept Ninedeaths, her body is like a magic treasure. Enemies aren’t able to do anything to her at all.” “Adept Goldcrow is bizarre and savage.” “That Adept Saberslave is also quite terrifying.” “Ji Ning, the Xia Emperor isn’t going to arrange for you to fight against the Sloppy Daoist, is he?” “The Xia Emperor wouldn’t, unless senior apprentice-brother and I both make it into the top three.” They continued to chat amongst themselves. Not a single remaining expert was easy to fight; after all, all of the twenty four were favored by the Xia Emperor. Although it seemed as though Ji Ning, Adept Ninedeaths, Adept Blackstone, Xiamang Zishan and the others were the most outstanding, the others weren’t much weaker. Perhaps they were hiding supreme techniques, or perhaps they might make a sudden breakthrough. At a time like this, anything could happen. “The twenty-four of you!” The Xia Emperor suddenly spoke out. The entire main hall of the Skylight Palace fell silent. All of them listened carefully. The closer they were to the finale, the more cautious the Celestial Immortals present were; after all, a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu had appeared in this Conclave, and one of the final three would definitely become the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright. “In the third round of duels, the twelve winners shall each receive five million kilograms as a reward,” the Xia Emperor said calmly. “I hope that you will all use your full power. Don’t let it all be for nothing.” Ning and the rest of the twenty-four held their breaths as they waited eagerly. “In the first battle of the third round…Ji Ning of the Black-White College shall fight against the unaffiliated Adept Saberslave,” the Xia Emperor said. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Countless gazes turned towards Ji Ning and Adept Saberslave. The faces of Yuchi Xiyue Yu Wei both changed. They were both looking towards Ning as well. To both of them, Ji Ning was the most important person in their world. Although they had great faith in him…Adept Saberslave’s earlier performance had been simply too shocking. In addition, they had the feeling that they hadn’t seen the full extent of his power. Ning and Adept Saberslave both began to walk towards the grand sealing formation outside the palace. …… “It is the two of them?” The delegates from the 3600 commanderies and four seas who were watching from the imperial citadel plaza were all completely focused. During this past year, they had been relaxing, chatting, eating, and drinking…but these were the final battles between the ninety-six. This was going to be the most dazzling spectacle in this entire Conclave. This was especially true now that only twenty-four remained! Each of them were incomparably amazing, supreme geniuses. In addition, this Conclave itself was far more dazzling than previous ones; the top twenty-four were each capable of being ranked in the top three of ordinary Conclaves. The Sloppy Daoist, Saberslave, Adept Goldcrow, Adept Ninedeaths, and most of the others had originally not planned to come. It was only because their subconscious called them to come that so many peerless monsters had gathered in this place! “This Adept Saberslave, when fighting against Adept Bloodfiend earlier, chopped through him as easily as chopping through vegetables. He’s terrifyingly strong.” “Ji Ning was also one of the most dazzling figures in the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. He is tremendously strong as well. For these two to fight…it’s truly going to be hard to say who shall win.” Everyone present couldn’t help but hold their breaths. As for the disciples and Loose Immortals of the Black-White College, which had skyrocketed in fame during this Conclave, all of them were extremely nervous. This was because the person who was going to enter battle was Ji Ning, of their own school! “Master.” Little Qing watched without blinking. “Ji Ning.” Northmont Baiwei looked towards his good friend as well. When he had first met Ning, Ning was nothing more than a youth of Swallow Mountain…but now, he had become the focal point of attention for the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. …… Within the grand sealing formation. Ji Ning and Saberslave stood there atop the cloud, staring at each other from afar. Ning carefully inspected Saberslave. The black-robed man who carried a warcleaver appeared to be extremely calm. He was as still as water, and his aura was completely withdrawn; it was indeed easy for others to pay no attention to him. “For him to be able to remain so calm at a time like this…for his heart to have reached such a level…when he explodes forth with full power, it will be extremely terrifying. Even I didn’t pay any attention to him before he unleashed his full power.” Ning was quite cautious. …… Adept Saberslave was inspecting Ji Ning as well. This delicate-looking fur-clad youth before him seemed to be like a young bumpkin from the vast wilderness, quite ordinary-looking without appearing to be the slightest bit threatening. But Adept Saberslave had watched the two previous rounds of duels; he naturally knew how terrifying this seemingly-delicate youth could be when he exploded with power. And his eyes…they were as deep as a bottomless pool of water, but within them one could faintly make out a spirit that was as sharp and fierce as the blade of a sword! This was quite a terrifying youth. Based on the intelligence reports he had seen earlier, this youth had trained for only thirty years or so. He truly was an incredible monster. “I have to attack with full power,” Adept Saberslave mused to himself. He had often fought those at a higher level of power, and had even killed quite a few Primal Daoists. However, he had never encountered such a terrifying foe who was also at the Wanxiang Adept level, just like he was. …… “I have to fight with full power.” This was Ning’s private conclusion as well. Bang! Bang! Their bodies simultaneously flickered as they both transformed, one into a 54-meter tall giant and the other into a 60-meter tall giant. Clearly, Ji Ning had spent comparatively less time training in the [Heavenly Transformations], and so was slightly lacking in this regard. Next, the two of them simultaneously executed [Three Heads, Six Arms]! [Heavenly Transformations] and [Three Heads, Six Arms]…these were two extremely widespread divine abilities in the Three Realms, and were viewed as absolutely necessary for all true experts who trained as Fiendgod Body Refiners. Swoosh! Swoosh! The two charged towards each other like a pair of true Fiendgods. Ning wielded six Immortal swords in his hands, while Adept Saberslave wielded six warcleavers. As they moved next to each other…both of them released their most powerful divine abilities as well! Ning held nothing back, immediately executing his [Starseizing Hand]. Clang! Clang! Clang! …… A consecutive, frantic flurry of sounds could be heard as the swords and sabers collided. The sounds were actually incomparably clear as they spread far away. In total, they exchanged a total of twelve blows. The six Immortal swords and the six warcleavers clashed against each other twice. Whoosh. Adept Saberslave suddenly retreated at high speed, transforming into a streak of black light. He retreated all the way to the edge of the grand sealing formation. His entire body seemed to be brimming with dim flames, and he stared coldly towards Ning with a dark gaze. His six hands had already split open at the juncture between his thumb and forefinger, and blood was dripping out. ……. Adept Saberslave stared at Ning, his pupils contracting. “What a terrifying strength this Ji Ning possesses, and what terrifying sword arts! Sabers are single-edged weapons that are thicker at the back, allowing them chop out with even greater force. In terms of weapons…if two opponents with equal strength fight against each other, the side wielding a saber will have a greater advantage. But I was actually at a disadvantage!” Practitioners of the Dao of the Sword were referred to as Sword Immortals; they were agile, relaxed, refined, and free-spirited. Practitioners of the Dao of the Saber were referred to as Saber Devils; they were savage, brutal, vicious, and ferocious. These were two diametrically opposed styles! But in a frontal clash…Adept Saberslave had actually been at a disadvantage. …… “I’ve reached the twelfth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], and my Fiendgodlike body is incomparably mighty. I also have the [Starseizing Hand]; in terms of pure strength, I am definitely number one in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny! My sword arts are comparable to his saber arts; in a frontal clash, how can he compare to me?” Ning felt complete self-confidence. Although he looked like a delicate youth, his physical strength was definitely number one in this Conclave! His [Starseizing Hand] allowed his hands to explode forth with truly tremendous power; after all, it was ranked as one of the top ten divine abilities to be invented ever since the universe had been created! Ning refused to believe that in this Conclave, there would appear another divine ability that ranked in the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms. That was simply too unlikely. “You are the most powerful Wanxiang Adept I have ever met. However…a battle isn’t just about fighting head-on against your foes,” Adept Saberslave growled. “In terms of agility, the Dao of the Sword has always been superior to the Dao of the Saber,” Ning replied tranquilly. As soon as Ning’s words came out… Swish! Adept Saberslave, moving like a ghost, suddenly appeared in front of Ning. His six arms simultaneously chopped down with his warcleavers, all moving in an extremely strange pattern. It was as though a series of illusions had appeared, each of which was completely silent, either stabbing or hacking towards Ning. Ning immediately used his own Windwing Evasion, and his six arms also executed his own sword arts. His sword-light was like silk, dancing and fluttering about in the surrounding area with absolute beauty. It was quite bizarre. There were no sounds of weapons colliding at all. Their sword-light and saber-light howled past each other repeatedly, seeming to almost clash but then separate before actually doing so. Adept Saberslave’s warcleavers were truly unfathomably strange. Ning’s swords were moved about in a profound, agile manner. Ning still held the upper hand! After all, in terms of agility, the Dao of the Sword was indeed slightly superior to the Dao of the Saber. “The saber…is my life!” Suddenly, a hoarse voice rang out. Adept Saberslave’s eyes suddenly brimmed with a fiery light. His six hacking warcleavers suddenly began to move with incomparable speed! One chop after another…they all chopped down towards Ning. The six warcleavers seemed to have transformed into the spokes of a wheel. A limitless amount of saber-light was constantly descending towards Ning, and Adept Saberslave’s eyes, glowing with fiery light, appeared to burn with insanity. In this moment, he had forgotten himself. Only the saber remained! In this world of the saber… Fast! Faster! Fastest! One blow after another! CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!! Ning fought back against his foe, and their two figures began to appear in multiple places throughout the grand sealing formation. The saber-light flashed at a simply incomparably fast rate; after all, sabers were single-edged weapons that were used to hack and chop. In terms of raw speed…their attacks had an advantage over the attacks of a sword. “Break! Break! BREAK!” Ning, assaulted and pressured by countless saber-assaults that flashed as fast as fire, instantly exploded with power. Previously, he had been planning to use this as a chance to temper himself, but he now had no other choices. His six Immortal swords instantly became unfathomable in their movements; some were invincibly savage and ferocious, some were as nimble and dextrous as an Immortal maiden sewing clothes, while others solely focused on support. “YOU CANNOT WITHSTAND ME!” Adept Saberslave had gone completely berserk. In the area around him, a fiery dragon suddenly appeared. The fiery dragon wrapped itself around him as it launched sneak attacks against Ning, disturbing Ning’s rhythm. Around Ning’s own body, an enormous Waterflame Lotus suddenly appeared. The Waterflame Lotus bloomed open, the petals of the lotus swiveling against each other. Slash! Slash! Blood flew everywhere as the two battled with utter madness. Adept Saberslave could only be described in a single word – fast! Ji Ning, in turn, brought out all of the magnificent splendor of the Dao of the Sword. CLANG! A warcleaver was suddenly knocked aside…and attached to it was a severed hand. “I admit defeat.” A hoarse voice rang out. The two separated with a swoosh. Adept Saberslave’s entire body was covered in wounds. The wound on his chest was particularly bad; it had torn apart almost his entire chest. His face was covered with many savage wounds, and one of his hands had been severed, causing his warcleaver to fly away. Ji Ning, by comparison, was a bit better off. He only had a single vicious wound on his chest, as well as several wounds that were about to completely finish healing. “You weren’t completely defeated yet.” Ning looked at Adept Saberslave. “With six sabers, I still lost a hand. With only five sabers…you probably would’ve taken my life.” Adept Saberslave gently shook his head. He picked up his discarded warcleaver, then walked out of the grand sealing formation. Ji Ning walked out as well. All of the Wanxiang Adepts within the main hall had extremely solemn looks on their faces. The battle between Ji Ning and Adept Saberslave had been too berserk, too violent. The two had pulled out almost all the stops in their battle, releasing the full power of the Grand Dao of the Sword and the Grand Dao of the Saber, the two Grand Daos that were most suited for attacking. This caused all of the spectators to feel nervousness in their hearts. Many of them would most likely have been defeated had they been the one to encounter Adept Saberslave. Fortunately, it was Ji Ning, a Sword Immortal, who had been the one to fight. He had managed to suppress this Saber Devil! And now…Adept Saberslave had admitted defeat, leaving behind the even more terrifying Ji Ning! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Ji Ning won!” “Ji Ning of the Black-White College of Stillwater Commandery won!” The imperial citadel plaza was a hubbub of noise. The delegates from the 3600 commanderies and four seas were all excitedly discussing this most recent battle. It had indeed been quite spectacular! This was because the other competitors, such as Xiamang Zishan, Adept Ninedeaths, or the Sloppy Daoist all relied on their hands or on staffs. When they fought, their techniques might be more exquisite or more violent…but in terms of murderous savagery, they were far from being a match for the Dao of the Sword or the Dao of the Saber. Sword Immortals and Saber Devils were highly suited to combat! Previously, the two had easily defeated their foes, but this time when they collided against each other…they finally, truly revealed the strengths of Sword Immortals and Saber Devils, these two major schools of combat. The sight of their battled caused hearts to shudder and grow numb. The sword-light, the saber-light…any casual blow was capable of slaughtering a Primal Daoist! …… Ning walked back into the main hall of the Skylight Palace, moving behind King Yan and seating himself alongside the Sloppy Daoist, Yuchi Xiyue, and Yu Wei once more. The gazes of many individuals within the main hall all fell upon Ning. “I absolutely can’t exchange blows head-on against this Ji Ning. I need to use my strengths to seize his weaknesses.” “Sword Immortals truly are formidable in an all-out fight.” “I can’t take him head-on.” The rest of the twenty-four Wanxiang Adept competitors were all pondering. Only when knowing one’s self and one’s enemies could one win a hundred battles without fail. They all knew that Sword Immortals specialized in attacking, and they naturally knew where their own advantages lay as well…and so the likes of Adept Ninedeaths, Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Youngflame Zhan, and Adept Blackstone were all quietly pondering on their plans. The nine Pure Yang True Immortals seated on high, by contrast, began to grow puzzled. “I wasn’t able to see it clearly previously,” the Immortal Elder of the Northlands said in a suspicious manner, “But during the battle between Ji Ning and Saberslave, everything became apparent. In terms of their levels of comprehension regarding the sword and the saber, the two were on par…but when they fought head-on, Ji Ning actually held the upper hand. This Saberslave is the disciple of a good friend of Eastflower; his divine abilities shouldn’t be weak. So…this Ji Ning should train in an even more powerful divine ability! Or perhaps the power of the swords he wields is greater!” Truelord Chiji nodded as well. “Ji Ning has only trained for around thirty or so years, but has already reached such a level; he should have had a tremendous stroke of luck that allowed him to learn a powerful divine ability. However, this divine ability is a support-type divine ability that is quite low-key, making it extremely hard to detect from the surface.” “He should indeed have a formidable divine ability.” Lu Dongbing laughed loudly. “But each of those who have managed to survive this Conclave thus far are the darlings of this entire major world of the Grand Xia; I’m sure that all of them have had tremendous strokes of luck. Since the universe was established, countless divine abilities have been invented. Some are for attack, others are for suppressing and sealing, others are for poison, while some are for raw strength…they are all different. Ji Ning should have trained in one meant for raw strength.” “Right. “His speed isn’t exceptionally impressive.” They all nodded. There were, after all, far too many variables that could affect a person’s combat power. Some were exceptionally talented; even if they were also just at the twelfth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], their talent made it so that they were a bit stronger! Not everyone at the same level would necessarily have the exact same level of strength! Even those who trained in the same Ki Refining technique, such as the [Flowing Watersource], would need different levels of liquefied elemental essence for a breakthrough. After all, each of them were born with unique bodies that had their differences; the only thing that could be said was that the difference between them wouldn’t be too ridiculous. Different weapons, different insights into different Daos, particularly special divine abilities, or secret arts that allowed elemental ki to explode in certain ways… These could all cause differences in one’s level of power. Previously, they hadn’t even been able to tell that Ning possessed a powerful divine ability, but in Ning’s battle against Saberslave, the two had simply been too similar! One was of the Dao of the Sword, the other was of the Dao of the Saber. Putting them side by side made the differences very easily detected, which was why the Pure Yang True Immortals were able to ascertain that Ning should be in possession of a powerful divine ability. But that was nothing special. There were plenty of formidable divine abilities; the imperial treasury of the Grand Xia Emperor even held the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], one of the top hundred grand divine abilities of the Three Realms. However, the treasury only held the first part of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]; it was only suitable for Voidlevel Fiendgods to train in. They didn’t have the higher-level training techniques. In truth, a grand divine ability like this, ranked in the top hundred in the entire Three Realms, shouldn’t actually have been transmitted to outsiders, even if it was just the first part. The reason the imperial treasury of the Grand Xia had it was because…the creator of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], the major power of the Three Realms known as the Torch Dragon, had died long ago during the era of the Primordial World! “Ji Ning might have learned a unique divine ability developed by some Empyrean God or major power,” the Pure Yang True Immortals believed. The divine abilities developed by major powers weren’t necessarily the most supreme abilities. For example, Grand Emperor Xuanwu; only his ‘Grand Black Tortoise’ divine ability was exceptionally famous. He would occasionally develop some other unique divine abilities as well. Some were suited for fleeing, others were suited for defense, while still others were suited for attacking…these types divine abilities, which he would create in a fairly casual manner, were comparatively speaking of much lower value. Only supreme abilities which the creator poured all of their blood and sweat into would become truly precious. For example, the ‘Grand Black Tortoise’ divine ability of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. Or for example, the [Starseizing Hand] of Daoist Threelives. …… “In the second duel, the unaffiliated Adept Ninedeaths will battle against Adept Rainflower of the Soaring Immortal School.” This was a battle between two women. Adept Ninedeaths had a body like a magic treasure; Adept Rainflower was completely unable to do anything to her. After all, her attacks weren’t as powerful as that of a Sword Immortal like Ji Ning! In this battle…Adept Ninedeaths was the victor! …… “The third duel…” “The fourth duel…” 2072 …… One duel after another. The people watching from the imperial citadel plaza below were all breathless. The Celestial Immortals and Pure Yang True Immortals seated within the main hall of the Skylight Palace were all watching attentively as well. The only reason why the Pure Yang True Immortals were paying so much attention was because Daofather Crimsonbright would choose one of them as a disciple. “The eighth duel shall wee Youngflame Zhan fight against Xiangtian Xiao.” This was a battle that many people cared about. This was because, amongst the twenty-four competitors, only four came from the major clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty – Xiamang Zishan of the imperial Xiamang clan, Cangwu Jiu of the Cangwu clan, Youngflame Zhan of the Youngflame clan, and Xiangtian Xiao of the Xiangtian clan. Just four of them! This proved that in terms of searching for geniuses, the number of geniuses within the various clans was vastly inferior to the number of geniuses spread out within the entire world. In this battle, Xiangtian Xiao was quite berserk. He completely displayed the legendary valor and savagery of the Xiangtian clan, famous for being willing to challenge the heavens themselves. However…he still lost. His power was indeed quite a bit lower than Youngflame Zhan’s. 1 In addition, Youngflame Zhan had been entrusted with the hopes of his clan; he had also gone all out. The victor of the eighth battle was Youngflame Zhan! “Good, good, good. Very good!” Watching the battle, Patriarch Arcanum couldn’t help but laugh so hard his mouth was about to split apart. Everyone knew how crazed and cold-blooded he was; it was rare to see him smile a single time in ten thousand years. But right now, he was laughing! And in truth, the other Celestial Immortals all understood how Patriarch Arcanum was feeling. “Zhan, child, well done. Charge forward in just this manner. You’ve already made it to the top twelve.” Patriarch Arcanum watched as Youngflame Zhan walked to his side, then immediately encouraged him, “You are very, very, very close to being in the top three now.” ……. Finally, the twelve competitions in the third round came to an end. This resulted in the final twelve being determined! Ning and the rest of the twelve all stood in a neat line in the main hall, awaiting the Grand Xia Emperor’s bestowal of five million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. “Xiamang Zishan. Cangwu Jiu. Ji Ning. Sloppy Daoist. Youngflame Zhan. Adept Woodpass. Adept Blackstone. Adept Ninedeaths. Adept Whitedragon. Adept Unicosmo. Adept Primalback. Adept Goldcrow.” 2073 The Xia Emperor stood at the front of the hall, listing out the names of all twelve before continuing. “The twelve of you have ranked in the top twelve in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. I said previously that those who made it into the top twelve would each receive five million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence.” The Xia Emperor waved his hand. Instantly, twelve violet-jade bottles appeared out of nowhere in the air before them. One of the twelve violet-jade bottles flew to each of the twelve victors. This caused even the Celestial Immortals present to stare towards the bottles. Five million kilograms! This caused even them to feel envy and desire. These twelve little fellows ended up acquiring so much! Ning and the others reached out to grab them. They then swept the bottles with their divine senses! “Wow.” Ning secretly sighed in amazement. “This violet bottle is a wonderful treasure for storing liquefied elemental essence as well. It is actually able to hold five million kilograms of it. It’s comparable to a high-grade Heaven-ranked flying sword in value.” “With these five million kilograms, my Primaltwin should be able to charge all the way to the peak of the Void-stage,” Ning mused to himself. “But there’s no need to rush it; my Primaltwin has spent very little time at the Primal level. I should keep it there for a period of time longer and understand it better.” At every single level, there were different insights to be gained. Reincarnated Immortals might have already trained at a certain level, so it didn’t matter, but Ji Ning was no reincarnated Immortal. It was best for him to spend a bit of extra time at each level. But of course, after his true body broke through to become a Primal, his Primaltwin could make the breakthrough to the Void-level. “You shall first enter the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers,” the Xia Emperor suddenly said. “I will change the flow of time in the place where you reside. I shall wait for you for two hours in the outside world; within the Diagram, you will have three days to quietly train.” Ning and the others were flabbergasted. Train for three days within the Diagram? “Strange. Previously, when the hundred thousand-plus competitors entered the world of the Diagram, wasn’t the flow of time inside it the same as the flow of time outside it? Why is it that all of a sudden, three days in the diagram becomes equal to two hours outside of it?” Ning was puzzled. “Ji Ning!” The giant yellow bear’s voice rang out in Ning’s mind. “It seems as though the emperor of your Grand Xia Dynasty has quite a bit of insight into the Grand Dao of Time. However, changing the flow of time will use a tremendous amount of energy; although the Grand Xia Emperor is a Pure Yang True Immortal, he still wouldn’t dare to try and change the flow of time for more than a hundred thousand people. The twelve of you represent a much lower burden to him.” …… 2074 Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!! Ning and the rest of the twelve were teleported straight into the world of the Diagram, and then the scroll of the Diagram itself flew into the Grand Xia Emperor’s hands. “Xiamang, you want to let them train for three days?” Truelord Chiji laughed. “It seems you truly do place tremendous importance on this Conclave.” “It’s not that I place importance on it; it’s that I must not only be hard-working in service to Master, I also must put thought into it,” the Xia Emperor said. “There are only twelve who remain in this Conclave. The previous battles they engaged in have caused their hearts to be tempered through the invisible pressure their competitors placed upon them…and they are currently in the process of evolving. I am giving them three days. Perhaps, this will be enough to let them make a breakthrough. I naturally wish to ensure that only the three best geniuses are presented to Master for the choosing.” “Right. When you are working for your master, you need to not only be hard-working, but also put thought into it.” Lu Dongbin nodded and smiled. “No wonder Daofather Crimsonbright likes you so much, Xiamang.” …… Ji Ning and the others appeared atop a mountain peak. The mountain peak was more than a three hundred meters in size; naturally, it was enough for twelve cultivators to train in. In addition, there were invisible barriers surrounding the mountain peak; there was no way for Ning or the others to walk out from the area of the peak. Ning and the others immediately sat down into the lotus position, not even saying anything to each other. They all felt as though their souls had been filled with new insights; perhaps this might be their chance to apply them and make a breakthrough. A little bit of a breakthrough might make a tremendous difference in whether or not they would be able to be selected into the top three! That meant a chance to become the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright! Who wouldn’t go all out for that chance? Ning, too, had the ardent desire to become Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple!. Remember, Xiangtian means ‘facing the heavens’. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ninedeaths While Ji Ning and the rest of the twelve were in secluded meditation and training within the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. The imperial citadel’s plaza. Twelve names repeatedly came up in conversations: Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Ji Ning, Sloppy Daoist, Youngflame Zhan, Adept Woodpass, Adept Blackstone, Adept Ninedeaths, Adept Whitedragon, Adept Unicosmo, Adept Primalback, Adept Goldcrow. “The top twelve have been determined.” “Our South Seas have Adept Woodpass.” “Our North Seas have Adept Goldcrow!” “Our Quchang Commandery has Adept Whitedragon.” “You guys are nothing. Our Stillwater Commandery has two people; Ji Ning and the Sloppy Daoist!” Only twelve finalists had emerged from the 3600 commanderies. Two of them belonged to Stillwater Commandery, and both were from the Black-White College! Immortal Fivecraze was grinning so broadly his jaw was almost crooked. Clutching a calabash of wine, he gulped it down happily, occasionally chatting through divine sense. “Oh, you are the leader of the Myriad Beasts School? Haha, yup, I’m Fivecraze. Yup, Ji Ning and little Sloppy both belong to our Black-White College. To be honest, Yu Wei of our Black-White College was poisoned; otherwise, she would’ve made it into the top ninety six as well. She might have even entered the top twelve! What? You would like to get to know the disciples of our Black-White College? You want to go spend some time viewing the Black-White Diagram within the Black-White College? Sure, no problem! How about letting the disciples of our Black-White College also go take a look at the ten thousand beasts of your school?” “Xiangtian clan? Your Xiangtian clan wishes to send its disciples to the Black-White College? But, but…the Black-White College is in Stillwater Commandery, after all. We have very little room, and it’s not convenient for us to have too many disciples! That’s why we are extremely strict whenever we take on new students. What’s that? Your Xiangtian clan wishes to send an envoy delegation to the Black-White College? No problem. Our Black-White College will definitely take good care of them.” Many people had come to seek out Immortal Fivecraze. It must be understood that the Xiangtian clan and the Myriad Beasts School were some of the most supremely powerful schools in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. They had all learned from their Celestial Immortal Patriarchs that the Sloppy Daoist was the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. Given how outstanding Ji Ning was as well…all of the major powers were puzzled. “For a small school to suddenly produce one outstanding genius is one thing; that can just be attributed to luck. But they actually produced two! The entire Grand Xia Dynasty has only twelve on their level…and one of them is the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. I imagine that this Black-White College must be one of the places within our Grand Xia Dynasty where luck is gathering and flourishing.” “It must be a place of tremendously positive karmic luck.” Many major powers came to this conclusion. Luck; it couldn’t be seen, nor could it be touched. But some places were just naturally lucky! When the imperial capital of the Grand Xia had been built, the Grand Xia Emperor had invited a major power to personally choose a site with great karmic luck to build on, then set up a grand formation that guarded the entire world from the site. “We have to send our disciples over there. When they train in a place of such karmic luck, they too will be blessed by luck.” “Right. We also need to go spend some time observing the Black-White Diagram of this Black-White College.” …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. An hour had passed. The Grand Xia Emperor sat above all others atop his throne. With a wave of his arm, a furled scroll appeared in his palm. It was the Pure Yang treasure, the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. The scroll opened, and twelve streaks of light flew out and landed on the ground. It was Ji Ning, the Sloppy Daoist, and the rest of the twelve. “We prostrate ourselves before you, your Imperial Majesty,” Ning and the others said as they all fell to their knees. “Mm.” The Grand Xia Emperor glanced at them, then nodded in satisfaction. He could vaguely sense that after three days of quiet training, all twelve of these had made some improvements. Some of them had improved considerably. “This is now the most important part of this Conclave. Three of you shall emerge from the twelve…and one of the three shall definitely be chosen by my master as a disciple,” the Xia Emperor said. “There is no 2077 time to waste. Let the first battle in the fourth round of duels begin. Let us have the Sloppy Daoist of the Black-White College fight against the unaffiliated Adept Ninedeaths. The others can all rest, watch, and prepare for their own duels.” Ning, Xiamang Zishan, and the others were all surprised. The Sloppy Daoist against Adept Ninedeaths? Adept Ninedeaths was extremely strong, and she had yet to unleash all of her full power. As for the Sloppy Daoist, the Celestial Immortals had all gushed over him endlessly. Xiamang Zishan and the others had all heard their respective Celestial Immortal Patriarchs praise the Sloppy Daoist and warn them to be wary of him. It was as though the Sloppy Daoist was the strongest amongst them. Due to the warnings of their Celestial Immortal Patriarchs, all of them were paying very close attention to the Sloppy Daoist. Sloppy against Ninedeaths? So soon? As for the Sloppy Daoist and Adept Ninedeaths, they each gave the other a glance, then walked out from the main hall and towards the grand sealing formation. …… The nine Pure Yang True Immortals seated at the front of the main hall of the Skylight Palace began to argue amongst each other. “Xiamang, is something wrong with your head?” Truelord Chiji said with a frown, “This is just the fourth round, meant to determine the top six; why are you pitting the Sloppy Daoist against Adept Ninedeaths? Adept Ninedeaths has mastered five complete Dao-Paths long ago, and her divine abilities and training techniques are all incredibly powerful. Her might is significant! She should rank amongst the very top, and definitely has a chance to become number one. The Sloppy Daoist is the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu; he should rank at the top as well, and also has a chance to become number one. For you to have them fight now…that means one of them will have to be discarded prematurely.” “It is indeed too early. It isn’t appropriate to have the two of them compete so soon.” Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta slowly spoke out as well. “Do all of you think that I can’t tell that Adept Ninedeaths is powerful?” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “Xiamang has his own difficulties.” Lu Dongbin shook his head. “Actually, by now, I have a favorable impression of eight…but six must be eliminated! Thus, no matter how you match them up, at least two of the eight I like will be eliminated.” The Xia Emperor nodded. “Right. By now, of these twelve, I have a particularly favorable impression of Xiamang Zishan of my own clan, Ji Ning, Adept Goldcrow, Adept Woodpass, Adept Blackstone, the Sloppy 2078 Daoist, and Adept Ninedeaths! No matter how I match them up, two of these seven will have to end up fighting each other. I pondered for a long time about what to do. The Sloppy Daoist is already the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu; Master definitely won’t try to steal someone else’s disciple. As for Adept Ninedeaths, she’s the only female amongst the seven. They stood out. So, I ended up deciding to stop worrying about it and just have the Sloppy Daoist and Adept Ninedeaths fight. Whoever wins will stay behind.” “That’s quite decisive of you.” “The reason you are having Adept Ninedeaths fight the Sloppy Daoist is actually because she’s female?” The other Pure Yang True Immortals couldn’t help but laugh. …… Ning, Yu Wei, and Yuchi Xiyue were all behind King Yan. They were staring at the distant grand sealing formation outside the hall. Within the formation, there were two individuals; a sloppy, chubby youth and a similarly dirty maiden. “Both of them are incomparably slovenly. They are a good match,” Yuchi Xiyue whispered. “But both are very powerful,” Yu Wei praised. “They are indeed. When Adept Ninedeaths puts on those silver gloves, even I can’t tell how great her power is. Although I fought against her previously, she hadn’t used that magic treasure at all.” Ning watched carefully. “Eldest apprentice-brother’s power is unfathomable as well. It’s hard to say who will win.” They were all staring at this battle. The Pure Yang True Immortals were paying absolute attention as well. The Sloppy Daoist? A disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. Adept Ninedeaths? Everyone had noticed long ago that she was one of the two masters of five Dao-Paths, and she had a body like a magic treasure. “They are starting.” Yuchi Xiyue stared intently. Ning’s eyes instantly narrowed. “They are finally showing their powers. Adept Ninedeaths…she truly is frightening.” Till now, Adept Ninedeaths had never before revealed her full power. When she had fought Ning, she had mainly focused on tying him down. But this time, in her duel against the Sloppy Daoist, she actively launched a sudden, violent attack. Gloves on hands, Adept Ninedeaths six arms had become six incomparably fierce weapons! Attack! Sometimes, her hands hacked down like blades with invincible sharpness. At other times, they glided like water, swirling about in a soft, circular manner. Adept Ninedeaths circled around the Sloppy Daoist, attacking wildly. The two of them both used their divine abilities, both having transformed into three-headed, six-armed giants. “Which Grand Dao is this?” Ning frowned. The attacks of Adept Ninedeaths were extremely strange. They created an extremely uncomfortable stifling feeling, while her own attacks were constantly fluctuating in style in an unfathomable manner. “It shouldn’t be an especially well-known one. I, at least, have never seen this Grand Dao.” …… “The Grand Dao of Mortality 1! This little girl truly is quite ambitious. The Grand Dao of Mortality…it is one of the most supreme of the many Grand Daos. It is extremely hard to train in. She actually dares to trod on this Grand Dao?” Lu Dongbin shook his head with a sigh. “But if she reaches a certain level in this Grand Dao, then overcoming the Celestial Tribulation will become significantly easier by comparison.” The Grand Daos of Taiji, the Sword, and the Saber were all technique-focused Daos! By contrast, the Grand Dao of Mortality contained the infinite mysteries of life and death within it, as well as the technical principles regarding how life and death interchanged. It was a Grand Dao that not only contained many profound mysteries, but also ways to apply techniques! It was extremely difficult to train in, even more so than the Daos of the Sword or the Saber. “Interesting.” “This little lass truly is formidable.” …… Adept Ninedeaths attacked wildly, occasionally becoming as savage and vicious as a God of Death, while at other times seeming to be as gentle and soft as the caress of a mother. The interchange and the linkages between life and death…they caused even the Sloppy Daoist to be suppressed for a period of time. However… The Sloppy Daoist was truly too stable and unshakeable. When executing the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability, he also executed his Grand Dao of Taiji. The Sloppy Daoist seemed to have transformed into a whirling and spinning turtle-shell. His defense was absolutely impregnable. The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability was exceptionally suited for defense, and the Grand Dao of Taiji was also extremely suited for defense. “Damn.” Adept Ninedeaths let out a furious growl as she grew even more berserk. By contrast, the Sloppy Daoist was incomparably relaxed and leisurely. His six arms seemed to have transformed into the spokes of an enormous windmill, blocking one attack after another. HISS! A sound like the hissing of a serpent. The Sloppy Daoist had been defending this entire time, his guard as tight as a turtle shell, allowing the opponent no flaws to slip attacks through. All of a sudden, his arm came slamming out! His hand struck out in a serpentine stance, viciously stabbing forth! As it did, it just so happened to strike at a flaw in the stances of the frantically attacking Adept Ninedeaths, tearing her arm apart at the shoulder and sending it flying off. Slash… After his first attack, the Sloppy Daoist suddenly exploded with power. He charged forth with the power of a formerly dormant volcano that was suddenly exploding, and his six arms had all transformed into vipers that moved with strange savagery. His defense had been completely impregnable. His attacks…they were as terrifying as the strikes of a viper. “Perfect. I was afraid you’d keep hiding!” Adept Ninedeaths wasn’t startled; in fact, she was delighted. If her opponent had continued to defend, he might have been able to exhaust her divine power. That would be an unfair way to lose! Adept Ninedeaths immediately moved forward to exchange blows, and her severed arm was quickly regrowing. Both of them truly did have the power to contend for the number one position!. Literally, life/death If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The Sloppy Daoist’s six arms were currently striking out like six venomous serpents, moving with unstoppable ferocity and extreme viciousness! His savage attacks seemed as torrential as a storm of rain, and each strike was potentially lethal. Clearly, he wanted to seize this chance to break down Adept Ninedeaths; after all, she had lost an arm and now had only five remaining. “Hahaha…hahaha…” Adept Ninedeaths actually let out a delighted laugh. Each of her palm blows seemed to contain the power of life and death within them, causing everyone who looked at her to feel a stifled feeling. She madly blocked all of the Sloppy Daoist’s attacks, and she even used her own body to block some strikes to win a little bit of time. The Sloppy Daoist was ferociously attacking, while Adept Ninedeaths was striving to hold on until her severed arm had regrown. “Not good!” Ji Ning, Yu Wei, and Yuchi Xiyue all felt nervous as they saw this. Even though Adept Ninedeaths only had five arms, the Sloppy Daoist remained unable to shatter through her defenses. She was currently planning to hold on until her sixth arm grew back…at which point, it would be even harder for the Sloppy Daoist to defeat her. “Is this all he has…this disciple which Grand Emperor Xuanwu took such a fancy to?” He can’t even defeat an unaffiliated cultivator like Adept Ninedeaths?” The True Immortals at the front of the Skylight Palace were all quite puzzled. As they saw it, given Grand Emperor Xuanwu’s status, his disciple should naturally be extraordinary. Otherwise, that would be an utter loss of face for Grand Emperor Xuanwu. Lu Dongbin, by contrast, was staring far into the distance. Smiling, he said, “This battle is interesting. This Adept Ninedeaths has an extremely deep level of insight into the Grand Dao of Mortality; in fact, I even suspect that she has memories from several previous lives…she is definitely extremely strong. Can it be that the Sloppy Daoist is actually going to lose to her?” “It wouldn’t be strange if he did,” Truelord Chiji agreed. “Just because someone is going to become a Celestial Immortal in the future doesn’t mean they cannot lose a battle in the present.” Sovereign Hao shook his head. All of the Pure Yang True Immortals felt that the outcome of this battle was now in doubt. Based on their judgment, both the Sloppy Daoist and Adept Ninedeaths had used all of the powers available to them. The Sloppy Daoist had am impregnable defense, and his attacks were absolutely savage as well…and yet, he remained unable to do anything to his opponent. This was indeed quite dangerous for him. …… The Sloppy Daoist suddenly took a break from his frantic attacks, beginning to launch a different tempo of strikes. “This is…?!” Adept Ninedeaths face suddenly changed. The Sloppy Daoist was currently very calm; his six arms moved in unfathomable ways, and at almost all times four of them were defending while two of them were attacking! They felt like the waves of the sea. Each successive wave was increasingly powerful, and the same was true for the Sloppy Daoist’s attacks. When defending, he was accumulating power…and when attacking, he would let it erupt forth! Accumulating power, then unleashing it! This sort of strange tempo caused the Sloppy Daoist’s attacks to slowly become increasingly ferocious. One wave after another continued to merge into each other, causing Adept Ninedeaths to feel increasingly stifled. “What what what…what is this?!” Adept Ninedeaths couldn’t understand it at all. The waves were growing increasingly savage in power! BOOM! The Sloppy Daoist suddenly struck out with all six arms. They all struck out as fists with a power that felt faintly similar to an enormous black tortoise slamming against the pillars of heaven. Boom….Adept Ninedeath blocked the blows, but was knocked flying backwards. Her body had split open at many places from the force of the collision, and blood was flowing from the wounds nonstop. Whoosh. The Sloppy Daoist took a single step, appearing before Adept Ninedeaths. His six fists once more moved to strike out. “I admit defeat.” Adept Ninedeaths discontented voice rang out. She was now using all her efforts to dodge. Only now did the Sloppy Daoist come to a halt. The turtle-shell runes covering his body disappeared as well as he returned to normal. The dirty face of Adept Ninedeaths was filled with resentment and an unwillingness to accept this. She looked towards the Sloppy Daoist: “Sloppy Daoist; your level of comprehension of the Dao is limited, and whether I am attacking or defending, I can handle you. So why is it that this last technique of yours became increasingly hard for me to withstand…until in the end, I had to admit defeat?” 2083 The Sloppy Daoist just laughed. This was a battle technique he had developed after gaining insight into the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability. When he had been transmitted this Grand Black Tortoise divine ability, he had sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that without permission, he absolutely wouldn’t teach anyone any part of it at all. This technique involved some of the profound mysteries of the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability; naturally, he couldn’t teach it to anyone else. “What is the name of this sort of battle technique?” Adept Ninedeaths quickly asked. “Wavefolding!” The Sloppy Daoist responded to her. “Wavefolding…one wave after another, folding onto each other…I was trapped within the waves, and death was the only way out…I clearly wasn’t weaker than you, but I was still defeated…wavefolding…wavefolding…” Adept Ninedeaths walked away, murmuring the word ‘wavefolding’ to herself. She even had a sudden feeling…that if she could comprehend the mysteries of this ‘wavefolding’, then she would have a chance to overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal! This was a stroke of luck for her! But if she was unable to comprehend it, then in this life, her ninth life, she would probably once more fail the tribulation! …… Within the Skylight Palace’s main hall. The nearly thousand-strong Celestial Immortal Patriarchs were all frowning. Although they were very experienced, even they couldn’t understand what had just happened. Clearly, these two were both on par with each other in terms of divine abilities, comprehension of the Dao, and Fiendgod Body Refining techniques. In fact, Adept Ninedeaths was even at a slight advantage. So why, in the end, had she been defeated like this? It had seemed as though Adept Ninedeaths had walked into an endless tide; no matter how much she struggled, it was useless. In the end, the tide had completely drowned her. “What was that?” “How could that have happened?” “I don’t understand.” The Celestial Immortals all felt that there were strange mysteries to what had just happened. It should have been some sort of battle art they just saw, but none of them could comprehend it. “He truly lives up to being the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu.” This was the only thing they could come up with. …… 2084 “Wavefolding!” The Xia Emperor and the rest of the nine Pure Yang True Immortals all revealed a look of surprise and amazement. “I sigh in amazement. I sigh in amazement!” The Immortal Elder of the Northlands shook his head and sighed with emotion, “This Sloppy Daoist truly has astonishing comprehension abilities. He was even able to comprehend some of the true exquisiteness of this secret art of Grand Emperor Xuanwu’s…when I watched that battle just now, I was even reminded of that scene from back when I was listening to Grand Emperor Xuanwu expound on the Dao.” “Truly incredible!” Lu Dongbin sighed in disbelief as well. “Formidable.” The Xia Emperor seemed to show a hinit of envy. “Grand Emperor Xuanwu…he truly is a major power!” Truelord Chiji’s eyes were filled with admiration. At their level, they actually all understood the profound principles behind the Sloppy Daoist’s ‘wavefolding’ technique. This was a technique that constantly circulated and accumulated waves of power; the longer the power was stored up for, the more terrifying the final explosion of power would be! But even if one was taught this technique and completely understood its principles, that didn’t mean one would necessarily be able to use it. This was a matter of heart, a matter of comprehension. They all understood some of the profound underlying principles, but as the saying goes, some things are ‘easy to understand, but hard to do’! Understanding was one part; actually executing the technique was something else entirely. “We can comprehend the mysteries of this Sloppy Daoist’s ‘wavefolding’ technique, but when the Grand Emperor personally executes it, the profound mysteries are countless times more complicated,” Lu Dongbin sighed. “Grand Emperor Xuanwu’s ‘Grand Black Tortoise’ divine ability…its true exquisiteness lies in a single word; the so-called ‘folding’.” …… Ning was frowning as he watched. He could vaguely sense that the final battle technique the Sloppy Daoist had used had seemed to contain an utterly heaven-shaking profound mystery. He could even sense that the Grand Dao of Taiji was mixed into it. But Ning himself did not walk upon the Grand Dao of Taiji; he couldn’t understand what he had seen at all. “Yu Wei, what do you think?” Ning looked towards the nearby Yu Wei; she herself was walked upon the Grand Dao of Taiji. “I don’t understand it. It is very profound, unfathomably so. I can vaguely sense the exquisite essence of the Grand Dao of Taiji, but that’s just one part of this secret art. I imagine that eldest apprentice-brother has only mastered the tiniest portion of this secret art.” Yu Wei completely couldn’t understand the technique either; she couldn’t get the slightest bit of insight into it. …… The Celestial Immortals were puzzled, while Ning and the others were completely baffled. Just like that…this battle ended. One of the top six had been determined…the Sloppy Daoist! Rumble… Suddenly, a ripple of the Dao descended within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. “Eh?” Everyone’s gazes turned in unison to stare at the point where the Dao-ripple had descended. They saw Cangwu Jiu, seated in the lotus position behind a Celestial Immortal Patriarch of the Cangwu clan. In the area around him, a hint of a black wind could vaguely be seen. “He comprehended a Dao?” “He comprehended yet another complete Dao-Path?” “He actually comprehended a complete Dao-Path by watching that battle?” Everyone present was completely astonished. Generally speaking, it was fairly common for someone to suddenly make a breakthrough during the course of a battle, but Cangwu Jiu had just been watching the battle. In that tense atmosphere, he had actually gained sudden mastery over a complete Dao-Path? Ning, Xiamang Zishan, Youngflame Zhan, Adept Blackstone, Adept Woodpass, Adept Whitedragon, Adept Goldcrow, and the rest of the twelve Wanxiang Adepts all sensed a new threat. Cangwu Jiu had been very powerful to begin with. And now, he had mastered yet another complete DaoPath….and in doing so had immediately become a truly formidable foe! …… “But, but…” The Grand Xia Emperor, seated atop his throne above the others, shook his head and laughed bitterly. He looked towards the other eight Pure Yang True Immortals. “Everyone, how do you think I should arrange these next battles? With this breakthrough, he has now mastered five complete DaoPaths. In addition, this breakthrough was in one of the Daos of the Wind, one of the Five Elements. He was already exceptionally fast; he now will be even more formidable.” He had already come up with a plan for matching up duelists. But Cangwu Jiu’s sudden mastery of a new Dao-Path, combined with the fact that he was already very formidable…this made him an even more shocking competitor. “I view Cangwu Jiu quite positively,” Lu Dongbin said with a laugh. “He was actually able to make a breakthrough just by watching a battle…I imagine that his level of luck must be quite high as well. He was already quite formidable, and had never exploded forth with his full power; now that he has made another breakthrough, I imagine that his power is most likely not inferior to even the likes of Adept Ninedeaths.” “This is going to be trouble.” The Grand Xia Emperor was pondering. He immediately made some slight mental adjustments to the pairings he had come up with earlier. He had originally ranked Cangwu Jiu as number eight or nine amongst the twelve, but now he ranked him somewhere around the third or fourth. …… A sudden breakthrough in the main hall of the Skylight Palace…this naturally attracted quite a bit of attention. The Celestial Immortal Patriarch of the Cangwu Clan had extremely long eyebrows, and he was currently extremely excited. He stared at Cangwu Jiu, this disciple of his clan. Upon seeing him open his eyes, the Celestial Immortal immediately said, “Good, good, good. Jiu, child, this is an excellent breakthrough. For you to make a sudden breakthrough here in the Skylight Palace must be the arrangement of the heavens; this time, you’ll definitely make the top three.” The Celestial Immortal Patriarch was almost able to visualize how glorious the Cangwu clan would be in the future. Why did the Cangwu clan necessarily have to submit to the Xiamang clan? With Daofather Crimsonbright supporting them, in the future the Cangwu clan would be able to grow and develop to the point where they would be able to sit down with the Xiamang clan as equals. “The second duel in the fourth round shall see Adept Whitedragon of the Divine Dragon Mountain against Cangwu Jiu of the Cangwu clan.” The Xia Emperor’s voice suddenly echoed in the main hall of the Skylight Palac as well as the vast imperial citadel plaza below. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Cangwu Jiu against Adept Whitedragon! Every person who had battled through the Conclave of Immortal Destiny to this point was a peerless genius. As if by unspoken agreement, they had all but given up using divine will attacks or spell-based attacks against each other! This was because using magic treasures and elemental ki was not enough to threaten their foes; they all had to rely on divine abilities to battle. Ji Ning had given up the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] as well! BOOM! WHOOSH! Cangwu Jiu and Adept Whitedragon were battling savagely against each other. Both of them used [Heavenly Transformation] and [Three Heads, Six Arms], then each unleashed their respective divine abilities. Adept Whitedragon had completely transformed into a snowy white divine dragon, while Cangwu Jiu had exploded forth with a level of speed that was utterly amazing. The only thing that could be seen was a howling wind which flashed with streaks of lightning. Within the berserk lightning, the vague form of Cangwu Jiu could be barely made out. He flashed forward repeatedly at an utterly astonishing speed…it was as though a group of Cangwu Jius were fighting against this single snowy white divine dragon! “What terrifying speed.” “What shocking agility.” Everyone was secretly amazed. Ning, Xiamang Zishan, the Sloppy Daoist, and the others all felt their hearts sink. In terms of speed, Cangwu Jiu had always been ranked number one in this Conclave! Now, with this additional new breakthrough, his speed and agility had reached an unfathomable new level. In close combat, speed and agility were even more important than strength! “What a terrifying Cangwu Jiu.” “A single overwhelming advantage can be used to great effect everywhere. Just by relying on his absolute advantage in speed and agility, he is an extremely terrifying foe.” …… 2088 There was no question about it. In t his battle between two powerful Fiendgod Body Refiners, Cangwu Jiu could attack when he wished and could retreat when he wished; he completely controlled the tempo of battle! Although Adept Whitedragon was powerful, in the face of Cangwu Jiu’s agility and speed, he had no tactical options available at all. In the end…he was defeated. The second of the sixth finalists in this Conclave had been chosen…Cangwu Jiu! “Goodd, good, good!” The long-browed Celestial Immortal Patriarch of the Cangwu clan grew even more excited, and his eyes gleamed with light. He was a Celestial Immortal; naturally, he could tell that although by this point there shouldn’t be any tremendous differences in power amongst the finalists, Cangwu Jiu was able to make his enemies helpless against him, thanks to his tremendous advantage in speed. If this continued…he would definitely be in the top three as well. The Grand Xia Emperor spoke out once more. “The third duel in the fourth battle…Ji Ning of the BlackWhite College shall battle Youngflame Zhan of the Youngflame clan!” His voice echoed forth everywhere. Ning was seated by King Yan. His pupils contracted. Youngflame Zhan? The Youngflame clan? It was wellpublicized that he had a major feud against the Youngflame clan…and his opponent would actually be Youngflame Zhan? “Ji Ning.” Yu Wei held Ning’s hand in her own as she looked at him. “Be careful.” “Right.” Ning nodded. By now, none of the remaining opponents could be underestimated. On the other side. Patriarch Arcanum’s face had changed slightly as well. Ji Ning? He had long ago desired to find a chance to get rid of Ji Ning, but compared to the chance of having a clansman becoming the disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright, getting rid of Ji Ning was much less important. He had put that in the back of his mind, and his entire focus was on Youngflame Zhan making the top three. “Zhan, child.” Patriarch Arcanum looked at Youngflame Zhan, who was by his side. He instructed mentally, “This Ji Ning is a Sword Immortal; he’s most skilled in attacking and battling. There is no need for you to fight him head on…and your talents don’t lie in fighting head on either. Use your strengths to strike as his weaknesses. You absolutely can win.” Youngflame Zhan nodded gently as well. This battle…it was more important than life or death! Whoosh. Youngflame Zhan immediately walked over towards the outside of the main hall. …… 2089 “Xiamang, when you instructed Ji Ning and Youngflame Zhan fight…why is it that I felt as though the atmosphere within the Skylight Palace became a bit strange? Those Celestial Immortals seem to be looking at Ji Ning and Youngflame Zhan in a rather queer manner,” Lu Dongbin said, puzzled. The other Pure Yang True Immortals had noticed this as well. The Xia Emperor laughed loudly, “Everyone, you don’t know this, but there is a feud between Ji Ning and the Youngflame clan. To be honest, it’s actually become a bit of a legend.” “Legend?” Lu Dongbin and the others all began to listen carefully. All of these True Immortals had arrived after this Conclave had already begun; they didn’t have much of an understanding regarding these Wanxiang-level geniuses of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Naturally, they didn’t know of the matters between Ning and the Youngflame clan. The only reason the Grand Xia Emperor himself knew about it was because he had collected intelligence reports on all of the geniuses, which was why he learned of it. “The Youngflame clan had a member known as Youngflame Nong, who was going to be their next clan leader…” “……” “…and in the end, that Deathsworn which the Youngflame clan sent out ended up being killed by this Ji Ning’s Primaltwin,” the Xia Emperor said with a loud laugh. “So…you now understand the feud between Ji Ning and the Youngflame clan, yes?” The other Pure Yang True Immortals now all understood. “Xiamang, that’s a nasty little trick. You know that there is a feud between them, and yet you intentionally set them up against each other. Still…given that such a feud exists, they are definitely going to fight even more insanely against each other.” “Mm. This battle is definitely going to be quite exciting.” …… Two of the six finalists had already been determined. Ji Ning and Youngflame Zhan; only one of them could enter the final six! So long as they could enter the final six…they would be very close to becoming the three victors. Just one step away! “The disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright should be me.” Youngflame Zhan’s gaze was cold. He was a very low-key person; in the younger generation of the Youngflame clan, the most famous person had been Youngflame Nong. He, Youngflame Zhan, had kept his head down and focused on quietly training; his goal had always been to overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become an immortal, free, unconstrained Celestial Immortal! He had never held that playboy, Youngflame Nong, in any regard at all. Youngflame Nong merely relied on the affection of the Patriarch; he would only be able to dominate for a period of time. “To become a disciple of a Daofather…this is indeed a chance that rarely comes even after a thousand reincarnations. I have to seize it.” Youngflame Zhan walked into the grand sealing formation, then stared at the distant Ji Ning. …… “The Three Realms are unfathomably mysterious. After I become Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple and have the guidance of a Daofather, I shall be able to advance along my path in a faster, more stable manner!” Ji Ning knew very well that personal hard work and comprehension abilities were only part of it; luck and fate were another part. For example, if he hadn’t had the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique as he had worked hard under the tutelage of his father, Ji Yichuan…although he still might have been able to surpass his father and become a major figure of Stillwater Commandery after a few centuries, it was thanks to the [Nuwa Painting] that his rise to prominence had become more than ten times faster! In fact, were it not for the [Nuwa Painting]…he probably would’ve died when he had entered the underwater estate. Strictly speaking, without the [Nuwa Painting], Ning’s talent might not have been high enough for the underwater estate to even teleport him inside. An initial advantage snowballs into continuous advantages! To walk farther, to make it to a higher position, to become a major power of the Three Realms…one had to seize every single opportunity possible! “I am definitely going to enter the top three, and perhaps even become number one!” Ning looked towards Youngflame Zhan. “This Youngflame Zhan…he’s a stumbling block, a tiger blocking a critical juncture in my path of Immortal cultivation. I must annihilate him.” Their gazes collided from far away. Even their gazes seemed to be striking at each other. Everyone could sense the resolute aura emanating from the two. Either I can live, or he can…we cannot coexist! Boom! Boom! Their bodies moved at the same instant as both transformed into three-headed, six-armed giants! Ning’s six arms were holding six Immortal swords, while Youngflame Zhan’s six arms were holding onto six long black whips. “Ji Ning, although your swordplay is indeed formidable, I perfectly counter you. You will definitely lose.” Youngflame Zhan’s voice echoed forth from his chest as his six arms struck out. The six long black whips 2091 began to dance, each one contorting and twisting in the air like an enormous, coiling black serpent. The whips were tipped with a series of sharp spikes, and were also covered with runes. A powerful aura sprang out from each of them. “Youngflame Zhan, once you get into close combat with me, you will definitely lose.” Ning’s voice was also incomparably valorous and echoing. Although both their words held some degrees of truth, they were actually trying to cause their opponent’s Dao-hearts to become unstable. At their level, if their Dao-hearts became the slightest bit unstable, then the amount of power they could unleash would be slightly lessened. If a strike at a critical moment was slightly weaker…one might be defeated. Ning was pondering to himself. “Youngflame Zhan is an expert in using whips. Once one whip entangles me, the other whips will come to surround me as well. By then, I will be in serious trouble, and might even lose! Thus, I absolutely cannot give him that chance. That means I can’t be too straightforward and rely on brute force…in this battle, I need to focus on agility.” Against different opponents, different battle tactics were needed. Suddenly… The two of them, who had been speaking and sensing each others auras, suddenly began to charge forward. The battle had instantly begun! Swish! Swish! A Waterflame Lotus bloomed around Ning. He stood at the pistil within the center of the lotus, within the leaves. This Waterflame Lotus was capable of affecting the opponent’s whips…although the amount of influence was miniscule, it was enough to be of tremendous help in this fight. Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Three long black whips simultaneously lashed out, unleashing crackling sounds of thunder as they did. They were like three black Flood Dragons, containing an incomparably dominating power! As for the other three long black whips, they silently struck out like deadly vipers towards Ning as well. Ning brandished his Immortal swords while doing his best to close the gap with his foe. The closer they were to each other, the greater his advantage was! Whips…they needed sufficient space to unleash their power. The closer they were in distance, the less of a threat a whip would be. Crackle… 2092 Sword-light like silk. Silken rays of sword-light flew about in midair, constantly colliding against the whips. The flying, dancing silken rays of sword-light carried an incomparable resilience. They came out in an interconnected, unending cycle. “What tremendous strength.” From this first exchange, Youngflame Zhan immediately sensed how terrifying Ning was. Although Ning had not chosen to fight him head-on, and had instead chosen to rely on a sword technique that was like water, repeatedly carrying away the strikes of the long whip…each time the sword-light and a whip collided, a terrifying tremor of power would be unleashed! Youngflame Zhan even felt as though his six arms were beginning to slightly grow numb! Each time he lashed out wih his whip, they were knocked to the side. After using the [Starseizing Hand], Ning truly did have an absolute advantage in terms of power against him. …… Immortal Fivecraze of the Black-White College, Uncle White, Little Qing, Yu Wei, Yuchi Xiyue, and the others were all watching nervously. Patriarch Arcanum was incomparably nervous as well. Both Ji Ning and Youngflame Zhan seemed to be quite cautious in their clashes. They were both familiarizing themselves with their opponent’s techniques, giving their foe no chances at all. “Kill him, kill him!” Patriarch Arcanum’s narrow eyes flashed with cold light as he quietly chanted these words to himself. Suddenly… Within the grand sealing formation, Youngflame Zhan’s six arms suddenly, simultaneously changed. His arms actually became covered with many black scales, as though he himself had transformed into serpent as well. His arms instantly became soft and boneless. His whip strikes, which had previously been savage and vicious…immediately became softer and more insidious as they frantically moved forward to encircle and bind Ning. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Youngflame Zhan has lost for sure.” Upon seeing Youngflame Zhan execute this divinen ability, and upon seeing how the whip grew even more insidious and soft in its movements, the Xia Emperor couldn’t help but shake his head and say these words. “Indeed. Youngflame Zhan lost his composure. He actually made a mistake like this!” Lu Dongbin shook his head disdainfully. “Ji Ning has been extremely cautious and hasn’t used any power attacks…thus, Youngflame Zhan’s whips seemingly held the upper hand for a while. In reality, however, Ji Ning’s attacks are the most powerful amongst the top twelve! Just because he didn’t reveal his fangs doesn’t mean that he isn’t powerful; rather, he was just being cautious against whip-type weapons. Who would’ve thought that Youngflame Zhan, frantic to achieve victory, would have immediately used this divine ability as soon as he held the upper hand. He wants to use the whips to try and entangle and bind Ji Ning…but in reality, he’s doomed himself!” Pure Yang True Immortals had exceptional judgment. They saw right away, as soon as Youngflame Zhan executed this unnamed divine technique, that the divine technique was meant to make one’s arms soft and boneless, so as to allow the movements of the whips to become even more insidious and softer as well. However, this caused the strength of the attacks to actually drop. In this battle between Ning and Youngflame Zhan, Youngflame Zhan was already at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength! And now, he was being so hot-headed as to execute this divine technique and further lower his own strength…wasn’t this the same as dooming himself?! …… Ning had started off quite cautious, and his six Immortal swords flowed like water in an airtight defense. Youngflame Zhan, upon seeing this, had immediately used a divine ability to make his arms soft and boneless, making his whip movements even more softer and insidious as well. He thought to himself, “Although my strength will lessen slightly, the movements of my whips will become even more unfathomable and insidious. So long as I can tie him down, I’ll definitely win.” Youngflame Zhan had gone completely berserk; in the face of this opportunity to become the disciple of a Daofather, even someone as cold and calm as him had grown hot-headed. “Eh?” Ning was surprised and speechless. “I haven’t even started fighting at full power; I’ve just been carefully guarding. I wasn’t trying to seize an advantage, just working to ensure I didn’t suffer a loss. This would allow me to get a clear look at the secrets of his whip techniques. Why has this Youngflame Zhan suddenly lowered his own strength?” Upon discovering the changes in Youngflame Zhan’s whips, Ning felt surprised and perplexed. “He’s dooming himself!” 2094 Ning trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! His divine ability was the [Starseizing Hand]! In terms of raw strength, he had an absolute advantage! He was just being very careful and cautious, but his opponent actually lowered his own strength in a frantic rush towards victory… “He’s delivering a present to my door.” Ji Ning suddenly exploded with power. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Six brilliant streaks of sword-light flashed through the air, each one incredibly dominating and savage! The power of the [Starseizing Hand] and his Fiendgod-like body simultaneously exploded forth! BOOM! A black whip was blasted away as soon as Ning’s sword-light brushed past it. The difference in power between the two was simply too great, causing the whips to be blasted away. Although Youngflame Zhan managed to keep his grip on it, the skin between his thumb and forefinger had split apart and blood was leaking out. The six streaks of sword-light, carrying extraordinary savagery and ruthlessness, swept, chopped, and slammed against the whips, blasting all of them apart. Whoosh. Ning instantly charged right next to Youngflame Zhan. Youngflame Zhan was tremendously shocked. His face instantly turned ashen as he realized that he had acted too impetuously and rashly. He had completely underestimated Ji Ning. Previously, he had watched Ji Ning’s other battles, but only now did he realize how savage and powerful Ji Ning’s attacks actually were. At the very beginning, when his hands were turning slightly numb from the colliding blows, Ning had actually been fighting very carefully and conservatively; he hadn’t exploded forth with full power at all. He now knew how utterly terrifying Ning was when fighting him head-on. Unfortunately, it was too late. Ning had already reached him. “I admit defeat!” Youngflame Zhan’s face was ashen as he called out these words loudly. His six arms brandished his whips as well as he frantically tried to create a wall of whips in front of him. Whoosh! Slash! Ning’s six rays of sword-light streaked out before Youngflame Zhan’s voice actually rang out. As soon as he spoke out, Ning immediately came to a halt. This was in accordance with the rules of the duel. Anyone who dared violate them would be killed by the Grand Xia Emperor. Even though Ning had halted, Youngflame Zhan’s body had already been chopped into several sections. His body quickly began to pull together and reconnect. “I lost.” Youngflame Zhan rose to his feet, a look of self-mocking in his eyes. “I, Youngflame Zhan, have always felt myself to be an extremely cold and calm person. I didn’t imagine…that this time, I was defeated because I wasn’t calm enough. The allure of becoming a disciple of a Daofather combined with your ability, Ji Ning…they put me under too much pressure. I wanted to win too badly.” Ning also felt that this battle had been too easily won. In his previous battle against Saberslave, he had to go all out in order to win. This battle against Youngflame Zhan, however, he had won easily. He had actually been fighting very carefully and conservatively, for fear of the unpredictable movements of the whip. In truth, amongst the top twelve, all of the Pure Yang Immortals including the Xia Emperor and Lu Dongbin felt the most favor towards the Sloppy Daoist, Ji Ning, Xiamang Zishan, Adept Blackstone, Adept Woodpass, Cangwu Jiu, and Adept Goldcrow. As for Youngflame Zhan…they actually didn’t hold in much favor. Still, any of the top twelve, no matter how weak, shouldn’t have been defeated so calamitously. If he hadn’t been in a rush to win, and had instead moved to make the blows of his whips more powerful, so as to counter his disadvantage in strength…Ning probably would’ve had to first understand and familiarize himself against the whip technique. “Useless thing!” Patriarch Arcanum gave Youngflame Zhan a glance, his gaze filled with nothing but ice. “You knew that his attacks were powerful, but still lowered your own strength…you are utterly useless.” Youngflame Zhan sat down in the lotus position silently. Patriarch Arcanum felt like his belly was filled with fire…but he had forgotten that all the things he had told Youngflame Zhan earlier had actually also contributed to Youngflame Zhan being insufficiently calm. “Calm…even in the face of a tremendous stroke of fortune, one still must be calm.” “This was a tremendous fall for me. Patriarch Arcanum even cursed me as ‘useless’. I imagine that upon my return to the clan, the other high-level clan members will also be filled with endless rage.” Youngflame Zhan came to a decision. “Since I would have to endure the mockery and insults of others within the clan…after this Conclave concludes, I shall leave the clan and go adventuring.” He had always been an extremely calm person. This rare case of hotheadedness had caused him to lose his chance. This was a tremendous loss to him. But one learns wisdom from each setback. He became even calmer as he coolly reflected on the path he should take in the future. …… 2096 The Xia Emperor had originally viewed seven favorably. He had been forced to decide on having the Sloppy Daoist and Adept Ninedeaths fight, but then Cangwu Jiu had unexpectedly made a breakthrough. The number of people the Xia Emperor viewed favorably had suddenly risen to eight as a result. Of the eight, the Sloppy Daoist and Adept Ninedeaths had already fought. But what should his next arrangements be? …… In the fourth duel, Adept Woodpass battled Adept Primalback! Adept Woodpass was like a human-shaped tree; he was too sturdy and resilient, seemingly even tougher to deal with than the Sloppy Daoist. He, too, was a terrifying foe that was extremely, extremely good on defense. He forced Adept Primalback to use up all of his divine power…and in the end, forced him to admit defeat. ……. In the fifth duel, Adept Blackstone battled Adept Unicosmo! The bald, bare-footed youth, Adept Blackstone, was indeed extremely powerful. He executed the Fuxi Staff Formation, then relied on it to launch sudden attacks and then vanish. Adept Unicosmo was thoroughly abused until he was finally forced to admit defeat. …… In the sixth duel, Xiamang Zishan battled Adept Goldcrow! …… The most vicious, bloody battle was the sixth duel; that between Xiamang Zishan and Adept Goldcrow! Both of them were viewed favorably by the Pure Yang True Immortals. Per the Xia Emperor’s original plans, Xiamang Zishan was going to fight Adept Whitedragon, while Adept Goldcrow was going to fight Cangwu Jiu. But Cangwu Jiu’s sudden breakthrough had transformed him into an extremely formidable figure. There was nothing for it. The second duel had become Cangwu Jiu against Adept Whitedragon. The sixth one had thus become Xiamang Zishan against Adept Goldcrow. “That Adept Goldcrow is truly formidable; he will be a test for Zishan. If he cannot even defeat Adept Goldcrow, how can he possibly become Master’s disciple?” The Xia Emperor was quite harsh in dealing with with the disciples of his clan. And thus, this battle was an exceptionally violent one! Xiamang Zishan was even more powerful than he had been when battling Ji Ning; his staff techniques were now even more overbearing and dominating than before. As for Adept Goldcrow, his speed and agility were second only to Cangwu Jiu, while his attacks were even more savage vicious and savage. The two battled until their blood flowed like rivers. It was an incomparably savage sight. In the end, because Adept Goldcrow had been badly injured and had used up almost all of his divine power, he had been forced to admit defeat! In this battle…Xiamang Zishan had won! ……. And so, the six finalists of this Conclavef of Immortal Destiny had finally emerged from the crucible. They were the Sloppy Daoist, Cangwu Jiu, Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, Adept Blackstone, and Xiamang Zishan! “Two of the top six are actually of the Black-White College of Stillwater Commandery.” “But but but…what sort of a place is this Black-White College? Two of these six peerless monsters are actually from them?” “I hear that the Black-White College is merely a school within Stillwater City that takes up a very small amount of land. They have a total of just a few hundred disciples.” “What?! They only have a few hundred?! Our school has nearly a million, and is one of the most supreme, large schools of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, but we didn’t even make it into the top ninety-six. But they actually have two in the top six?!” Of the top six finalists, two came from major clans; Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu. Two were unaffiliated wanderers; Adept Blackstone and Adept Woodpass. Two came from a school…and they both actually came from the same school, the Black-White College; Ji Ning and the Sloppy Daoist. “Ahaha, ahahaha…” Immortal Fivecraze was laughing so hard his jaw was turning crooked. He was utterly beside himself with delight. “Haha, I didn’t expect that an old alcoholic like myself would actually be showered with such glory before dying. Even if I die right now, it would be worth it. Ji Ning, little Sloppy, well done, well done, ahahaha! If that little girl Yu Wei had also entered the top six, things would be even better!” “Patriarch, you want senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei to make the top six as well? This…is a bit too ambitious, isn’t it?” Upon hearing this, the nearby Mu Northson’s eyes couldn’t help but twitch. “You think this is ambitious? Nope…in fact, I’m still hoping for little Sloppy and Ji Ning to both make it into the top three. That would be even better. Ahahaha! Two of the top three finalists of this entire Conclave of the Grand Xia Dynasty both belonging to the Black-White College…I’d wake myself up laughing whenever I fell asleep. When I die and go to the Netherworld Kingdom, I’d be able to brag a bit with the Judges of the Dead.” Immortal Fivecraze was indeed absolutely overjoyed. …… 2098 The imperial citadel plaza was incomparably lively right now, but the atmosphere in the main hall of the Skylight Palace was rather stifled. This was because the top six had been determined! Next would come the top three! One of the top three would definitely become the disciple of a Daofather. “Top three…” Xiamang Zishan’s gaze was crackling with hidden thunder. “Top three…” Cangwu Jiu was seated, head lowered. He murmured these words to himself. Ji Ning, the Sloppy Daoist, Adept Woodpass, Adept Blackstone…they were all silent. In fact, they weren’t even talking to the people nearby them. An invisible pressure had completely surrounded the six of them. With one more fight, it would be determined whether or not they would make it into the top three. Six people. Three duels. Three eliminations. Three victors! Who would be eliminated? Who would remain? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Woodpass The Xia Emperor sat above all others atop his throne. Staring downwards, he said calmly, “This is the most crucial point of this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Xiamang Zishan. Cangwu Jiu. Ji Ning. Sloppy Daoist. Adept Woodpass. Adept Blackstone.” Ning and the other six all looked towards the Xia Emperor. “This next round will determine which three of you six will have the chance to be chosen by Master as a disciple.” The Xia Emperor’s voice was calm, but his gaze swept past Ning and the other of the six. He knew very well that if the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world was to produce a peerless hero in this upcoming period of upheaval for the Three Realms, it would most likely be one of the six! In addition, it was guaranteed that one would be taken on by Daofather Crimsonbright as a disciple, while a second one was already a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. “First, spend two hours calming your minds. After two hours, the final, crucial battles shall begin,” the Xia Emperor said calmly. Ning and the rest of the six were instantly stunned. Calming their minds for two hours? The pressure of making it into the top three had already made it hard for them to even breath. They were all prepared to start beginning their one-on-one duels…but who would have imagined that the Xia Emperor would instruct them to spend two hours calming their minds. “After two hours, the duels shall begin. These duels shall be the fulcrum on which your destinies shall turn,” the Xia Emperor said calmly, then fell silent. …… “Xiamang, you are quite the tormenter,” Lu Dongbin said with a smirk. “As the saying goes, death isn’t frightening; the terror you feel right before dying is what is frightening. If they were to compete right away, that’d be one thing, but you insisted on delaying for two hours…during these two hours, the invisible pressure they are feeling will most lkely torment all of them.” “How can a chance to become a Daofather’s disciple be so easily given?” The Xia Emperor said calmly, “The nine of us all encountered countless life-and-death tribulations before making it to our present levels. They, however, are merely Wanxiang Adepts. They must be tempered a bit, and the invisible pressure created by this chance of becoming a Daofather’s disciple is an excellent form of tempering.” 2100 “Everyone, which one amongst the six do you think the Daofather will choose?” The Immortal Elder of the Northlands said. “The Sloppy Daoist won’t have any problems entering the top six, but he is already the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu. There’s no way the Daofather will choose him. Mm…it might be Xiamang Zishan. Xiamang Zishan’s dominating aura is bone-deep, and he is most likely being assisted by the karmic luck that surrounds the Xiamang clan. As long as he can become the Daofather’s disciple, his future potential will be limitless.” “I favor that bald, bare-foot youth. I keep on feeling as though I can sense the shadow of the Shennong clan on him.” 1 The human race was the most powerful of the countless races of the Three Realms. In the Primordial World which Pangu had established after creating the universe, after Maiden Nuwa created humanity, the human race began to flourish nonstop. They learned, they grew powerful, and they began to embark upon the Immortal path…and so even as far back as the era of the Primordial World, mankind had already given birth to countless supreme powers. The Emperor of Mankind, the Divine Farmer Shennong, was one of them. “Mahāsthāmaprāpta, is something wrong with your head? That bald, bare-foot lad uses the Fuxi Staff Formation; if anything, he arguably has a connection to the Fuxi clan.” “I favor Ji Ning. This Ji Ning has trained for just thirty years, but he’s already such a monster; his talent is limitless. Perhaps the Daofather shall choose Ji Ning.” “I think Adept Woodpass is not bad.” “I favor Cangwu Jiu.” The Xia Emperor and the rest of the nine Pure Yang True Immortals each had their own favorites amongst the top six, aside from the Sloppy Daoist. Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Yuchi Xiyue, and the Sloppy Daoist were currently seated together. Yu Wei and Yuchi Xiyue looked at each other, not daring to say a word. As for Ning and the Sloppy Daoist, they were silent as they meditated calmly. “Yu Wei, the two of them are…” Yuchi Xiyue sent a worried mental message. “Don’t worry about them. Although both their Dao-hearts are formidable, the allure of becoming a Daofather’s disciple is simply far, far too great. In addition, this is the final, critical battle. It’s good for them to sit quietly for a time and temper their Dao-hearts,” Yu Wei said. Her training experience was, comparatively speaking, much greater; after all, she had her memories from her past life. Although Ning also had memories from his past life, not only was his past life a short one, he had also been an ordinary mortal. Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, two hours passed. “The fourth round. The most important round.” The Xia Emperor’s voice suddenly rang out. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Ji Ning, the Sloppy Daoist, Xiamang Zishan, Adept Blackstone, Cangwu Jiu, and Adept Woodpass; their gazes turned scorchingly hot as they simultaneously turned to look towards the Xia Emperor. “After careful consideration, the six of you shall fight these three battles.” “In the first battle, the Sloppy Daoist shall fight Adept Woodpass.” “In the second battle, Adept Blackstone shall fight Cangwu Jiu.” “In the third battle, Ji Ning shall fight Xiamang Zishan.” His voice was deep and resonating. It echoed throughout the hall. Ning and the rest of the six instantly turned their gazes towards their respective opponents. The Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpass both appeared to be simple, honest, good-natured individuals…and yet these two good-natured individuals had both battled their way into the top six. Only one of the two could enter the top three. Their gazes turned towards each other…but both were very calm. However, behind the calmness, an unshakable resolve could be seen. Adept Blackstone and Cangwu Jiu were both unconventional. The bald Adept Blackstone always walked around barefoot, leaning on his staff. Cangwu Jiu, in turn, always appeared to be like a hawk, his gaze predatory and devouring. The two gave each other a glance, and their eyes both seemed to spark with fire. Ji Ning and Xiamang Zishan were the two most ferocious individuals of the six. Xiamang Zishan’s domineering, tyrannical temperament was bone-deep, and his staff techniques were similarly overbearing. Ji Ning, in turn, was the number one Sword Immortal of this Conclave; although he looked like a handsome, delicate youth, in terms of strength, he was the strongest of them all. …… Good-natured against good-natured. Unconventional against unconventional. Savage against savage. “The first battle. Sloppy Daoist, Adept Woodpass, the two of you can go to the grand sealing formation. You can begin now,” the Xia Emperor instructed. “Yes.” The Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpass both responded with respect, them immediately both moved towards the outside of the hall. “Xiamang, your arrangements truly are like pitting the point of the nail against the tip of the needle.” Lu Dongbin shook his head. “Not even I would dare guess as to which of them shall become the top three. I can’t tell, I truly can’t tell.” “It’s precisely because we can’t tell that makes this intriguing.” Although the Xia Emperor was chatting with Lu Dongbin, his gaze was focused on the grand sealing formation outside the palace. He had to pay extremely close attention to each of these three battles…after all, watching with his own eyes was completely different from watching using a water scryinig technique. Water scrying techniques only transmitted images. Watching with his own eyes, however, allowed him to sense the ripples of the Dao. “Ji Ning, which of the two will win?” Yuchi Xiyue was extremely nervous. “I don’t know.” Ning shook his head, then gave a sideways glance towards the nearby Xiamang Zishan. Xiamang Zishan seemed to feel his gaze, as he turned to look back at Ning as well. Their gazes met…and then both turned away to look towards the battle outside that had just begun. The Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpass; one of them would make it into the top three. Who would it be? …… Within the grand sealing formation. The Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpass were staring at each other from far away. “You are the most powerful foe I have encountered so far in this Conclave.” Adept Woodpass normally looked quite amiable, but right now his eyes were as sharp as knives. He said seriously, “I watched you defeat Adept Ninedeaths, but…you will be defeated by me.” “Oh. Just saying the words is nothing; if you have any formidable techniques, bring them out,” the Sloppy Daoist said with a chortle. Boom! Boom! The two simultaneously transformed into towering giants, each with three heads and six arms. Each of the six arms of Adept Woodpass clutched a giant hammer, while the Sloppy Daoist remained barehanded. However, with the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability, he truly didn’t need any weapons at all. Actually, Ning didn’t need to use any weapons either; his [Starseizing Hand] made his hands comparable to Immortal-ranked magic treasures, after all. But the implications of the [Starseizing Hand] were simply too great; Ning didn’t dare to casually reveal this technique. If he revealed it in front of Daofather Crimsonbright, that was one thing, but the Conclave of Immortal Destiny had too many eyes and ears present. Once he revealed the technique, news would surely spread like wildfire, and most likely many individuals within the Three Realms would learn of it. Perhaps some of the major powers who held grudges against Daoist Threelives would decide to wipe out Ning, the successor to Daoist Threelives’ legacy! Ning didn’t dare to make this gamble. Thus, he had never used his bare hands to block magic treasures, even though his hands were even more powerful than the Darknorth swords! “Growl…” An enormous Turtle-Snake had appeared. It was even letting out a slight growl. The Sloppy Daoist, in the very center of the Turtle-Snake, came crushing downwards towards Adept Woodpass with an absolutely dominating air. “This is my world…” Adept Woodpass narrowed his eyes, a look of intoxication appearing on his face. Instantly, fruit tree saplings began to appear and grow throughout the sealed region. The saplings quickly grew into towering trees which died, transformed into ash, then gave birth to new saplings. Countless saplings were growing, and the three-headed, six-armed Adept Woodpass was himself like a humanshaped tree, with his six arms like tree branches and the giant warhammers in his hands like fruit. BANG! The Sloppy Daoist’s attack had arrived. His fist smashed down like thunder, crushing downwards. Adept Woodpass, in turn, waved a great warhammer. BOOM! The warhammer met the fist. Adept Woodpass just took one heavy step back after another, deflecting the force of the collision. He continued to look like a human-shaped tree as he brandished about those six giant warhammers. “I couldn’t break through?” The Sloppy Daoist was surprised. “He truly is a peerless genius who was famous even as far back as three cenuturies ago who insisted on stifling himself for three hundred years as he waited for this day.” The Sloppy Daoist’s attack form c hanged. He immediately executed the ‘Wavefolding’ secret art, and his attacks began to seem to turn into the waves of the sea, each wave more savage than the last as power continuously accumulated! Even Adept Woodpass, legendary for his defense, was finding it increasingly difficult to handle. “For trees to grow, they need water!” Adept Woodpass’ face changed slightly as he suddenly spoke out in a gravelly voice. Rumble… The trees that had sprung up within the sealed region began to be surrounded with a large amount of water. The vast amount of water swirled around the trees…and the feeling which Adept Woodpass gave off changed. He previously seemed like a man-shaped tree, but now he seemed more agile, with perfect dexterity. “Two Grand Daos?” “He actually has embarked on two Grand Daos?” Lu Dongbin, the Xia Emperor, and the rest of the Pure Yang True Immortals were instantly shocked. During the previous duels as well as when he was within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, Adept Woodpass had always used the Grand Dao of Verdant Wood. This Grand Dao of the Watersource, Adept Woodpass had never before revealed. The Grand Dao of the Verdant Wood. The Grand Dao of the Watersource. These were two Grand Daos that reinforced and supported each other. For a Wanxiang Adept to simultaneously train in two Grand Daos to such an extremely high level, at very least at the Grand Dao Domain level…in this entire Conclave, only Adept Woodpass had accomplished such a thing. This seemingly amiable and honest Adept Woodpass had never before revealed this, and upon doing so, he shocked everyone.. Shennong, lit. ‘Divine Farmer’, is the name of one of China’s legendary Emperors from thousands of years ago. He was supposedly also the father of Chinese medicine, as he tested countless plants for their medicinal properties, then wrote them all down. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “It’s hard to say who will win and who will lose.” Watching the battle, Lu Dongbin said softly, “The two of them really are similar…their battle styles are both majestic, using absolute power to crush their foes.” “Right.” The Xia Emperor and the others nodded as well. Adept Woodpass and the Sloppy Daoist were indeed quite similar. And both were extremely skilled at defense! As for attacking? The Sloppy Daoist had always used his bare hands, while Adept Woodpass used six large warhammers. But in reality, those six large warhammers were just bigger fists! Since Adept Woodpass didn’t have the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability, he naturally didn’t dare to actually use his bare hands to fight. The Sloppy Daoist’s fists were definitely no weaker than the large warhammers in power. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two were clashing head on. The Sloppy Daoist was like a wave that was growing increasingly savage and powerful. Adept Woodpass, in turn, seemed incredibly resilient. His six arms swung about those six giant warhammers, counterattacking again and again. Warhammers and fists. Boom, boom, boom! They slammed against each other repeatedly! “They really are similar.” Ji Ning, seated behind King Yan, couldn’t help but mumble to himself, “Eldest apprentice-brother and Adept Woodpass are both so majestic in their attacks…and the more majestic their attacks, the harder it is to defend against them.” Both of them had extremely strong defenses and would fight opponents head on! Other peerless geniuses, when encountering them, would most likely use up all of their divine power and then be forced to admit defeat. “Eldest apprentice-brother seems like a black tortoise divine beast.” “Adept Woodpass seems like a mobile, man-shaped tree.” Just as Ning and the others were watching and pondering, suddenly… The Sloppy Daoist, whose aura had been growing increasingly wild and explosive, suddenly came to a halt. The folding waves of attacks came to a halt as well. Adept Woodpass immediately noticed this weakening, and with a grand hammer blow, he directly caved in the Sloppy Daoist’s chest. BOOM! This hammer blow was incomparably heavy, and cracks appeared on the turtle shell runes on the Sloppy Daoist’s body as he spat out a mouthful of blood. BOOM BOOM BOOM! Adept Woodpass struck out repeatedly with his great hammer, showing no mercy at all in seizing the advantage. The Sloppy Daoist was smashed by multiple hammers in virtually the same instant. Heavily wounded, he struggled to defend while calling out: “I admit defeat!” Whoosh! Adept Woodpass immediately retreated, the giant hammers in his hands disappearing as he returned to a normal size. The Sloppy Daoist returned to a normal size as well. He looked at Adept Woodpass with a hint of resignation. “I lost…but I’m convinced by my defeat.” “Your attacks clearly had me at a disadvantage. Why did you suddenly stop?” Adept Woodpass asked, puzzled, “Your earlier attacks were becoming increasingly berserk…if that continued, I probably would’ve lost.” “If the ‘wavefolding’ secret art can continue to explosively increase in power into perpetuity, wouldn’t that make me invincible?” The Sloppy Daoist shook his head. Adept Woodpass now understood. Right. If the power of this wavefolding technique could increase without end…how crazy would that be? “The length of time I sustained in using this secret art today…it is already the longest I have ever used it in all these years.” The Sloppy Daoist shook his head and laughed. “But no matter what, this Conclave has proven to be a tremendous tempering experience to me, and my wavefolding abilities have increased dramatically as well.” Adept Woodpass instantly began to feel admiration for the Sloppy Daoist. The top three…they had a chance of becoming a Daofather’s disciple. Losing such a supreme chance was something that would definitely cause a major mental setback towards one’s self-confidence. And yet, this Sloppy Daoist was actually able to recover from it almost instantly; he was even able to laugh. This sort of Dao-heart alone was already enough for Adept Woodpass to feel endless admiration. In addition, when they fought earlier, Adept Woodpass also noticed that both their personalities and their paths were quite similar! The path of Immortal cultivation was an incomparably difficult one. Upon finding a powerful figure that was very similar to one’s self…they were practically bosom friends now. Adept Woodpass felt tremendous affection and admiration for him. “Congratulations, fellow Daoist Woodpass,” the Sloppy Daoist said with a laugh. “This duel with you, fellow Daoist Sloppy, was a truly joyful one for me. It is rare for a person to encounter a bosom friend on the Immortal path, but you, fellow Daoist Sloppy, feel like a bosom friend to 2107 me…if you are free, you must come to the South Seas. When I’m free, I’ll definitely visit the Black-White College of Stillwater Commandery,” Adept Woodpass said. “Definitely.” The Sloppy Daoist nodded as well. Over the course of this battle, he had also come to feel very positively towards Adept Woodpass. There were some people who had never met before in the past, but upon meeting a single time would become bosom friends with each other! The Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpass were two such people…their Dao-hearts, their beliefs, and their ideas were all very similar. It was rare to encounter such a similar bosom-friend! …… The Xia Emperor, Lu Dongbin, and the rest of the Pure Yang True Immortals all nodded silently. When Adept Woodpass had suddenly demonstrated yet another Grand Dao, they had all come to believe that the results of this battle had become hard to predict. Adept Woodpass winning was reasonable. “Wavefolding has a limit…upon reaching it, it will collapse and become uncontrollable.” Lu Dongbin nodded. “This is true even when Grand Emperor Xuanwu personally uses the technique. Although it might not actually collapse, upon reaching the limit, there will be no way to increase the power of the wavefolding any further. For this Sloppy Daoist to be able to use this technique for so long is already quite rare.” “This Adept Woodpass is a rare talent as well. He was actually able to defeat the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu,” Mahasthamaprapta said. His gaze was focused on Adept Woodpass; clearly, he felt quite positively about him. “For the Sloppy Daoist to be defeated makes sense,” the Xia Emperor said. “This Sloppy Daoist, when entering the Black-White College of Stillwater Commandery, was a fairly ordinary disciple in the sect. However, he grew increasingly formidable; in training, he’s one of those that becomes increasingly brilliant as time goes on. His late-blooming potential is tremendous. In terms of amount of time spent training, the Sloppy Daoist has trained for much less time than Adept Woodpass has. For him to lose by a stroke isn’t strange. I imagine…that if we were to give them another century, most likely the Sloppy Daoist would be able to defeat Adept Woodpass.” “Right.” “Tremendous late-blooming potential.” They all nodded. There were far too many ‘geniuses’ in the Three Realms that were exceptionally brilliant early bloomers. Much rarer were those who were not only dazzling in the early stages, but were also able to train all the way through the Primal and Void levels, or even all the way up to the Celestial Immortal and True Immortal levels! Those who grew more formidable as more time passed…these late-bloomers were the true, unpolished jade. After being ‘sculpted’ properly, they would become even more dazzling. Clearly, the Sloppy Daoist was one such person. When he was young, he was very unremarkable. Afterwards, he entered the Black-White College but was still just an ordinary disciple. After even more time passed, he became the number one figure amongst the Black-White College’s third generation disciples. And now, he was so incredibly dazzling in this Conclave for the entire major world. This sort of rise…was quite terrifying. “And more importantly…his heart!” Lu Dongbin sighed. “I can tell that this Sloppy Daoist doesn’t actually know that Grand Emperor Xuanwu has taken note of him; he’s been working hard this entire time in the hopes of making it into the top three and apprenticing himself to Daofather Crimsonbright. But just now, after losing that battle…he should have felt a tremendous psychological blow. And yet, he was able to almost instantly grow calm again, and he was even able to laugh. A heart like his…incredible.” “Right.” They all nodded. The more these Pure Yang True Immortals watched the Sloppy Daoist, the more strengths they discovered. No wonder Grand Emperor Xuanwu accepted him as a disciple. In this first battle to determine the top three…the Sloppy Daoist had been eliminated! This caused the members of the Black-White College, such as Immortal Fivecraze, Mu Northson, and Adept Vastriver to all feel tremendous regret. Ning shook his head and sighed as well. There was nothing to be done; there was nothing that could be said regarding this loss. These two fought each other in a completely head-on manner…and in the end, the Sloppy Daoist had lost. …… The second battle had begun! Adept Blackstone against Cangwu Jiu! “Sloppy.” Yuchi Xiyue began to chat with the Sloppy Daoist. “You have good judgment. Can you tell who is going to win in this fight between Adept Blackstone and Cangwu Jiu?” The two had already begun battling within the grand sealing formation outside. “Let me watch for a bit first.” The Sloppy Daoist watched in a seemingly casual manner, but his eyes were very intent. After watching for just a brief moment, he gently nodded. “Adept Blackstone has a major advantage. He has a higher chance of winning.” 2109 “Oh?” Yuchi Xiyue was puzzled. “But that Cangwu Jiu seems to be quite formidable, and he’s also astonishingly fast. Why do you think Adept Blackstone has a better chance of winning?” Yuchi Xiyue actually wanted to ask Ning his opinion as well. But this was the second duel; the third would be Ning’s. She naturally didn’t want to disturb him. The Sloppy Daoist laughed, “Adept Blackstone is skilled in the Fuxi Staff Formation. Through his usage of the formation…he has actually made it so that Cangwu Jiu is already unable to use his speed to its full potential. Adept Blackstone can just hide inside the formation, and there’s no way Cangwu Jiu can even find him. Adept Blackstone has complete control over the tempo of this entire duel. He can attack when he wants to and flee when he wants to!” “Based on what you are saying, by relying on his formation, Adept Blackstone is now invincible?” Yuchi Xiyue was puzzled. “No.” The Sloppy Daoist shook his head. “This sort of duel has to come to a conclusion. Although Cangwu Jiu is trapped within the formation, if Adept Blackstone doesn’t actually attack, Cangwu Jiu can just relax and wait within the formation. He wouldn’t need to use up any divine power at all, but Adept Blackstone needs to maintain that powerful formation. It definitely is consuming a large amount of elemental ki. And, as time passes, I imagine that the Xia Emperor will also order Adept Blackstone to attack. Otherwise, who knows how long this would drag out to?” Yuchi Xiyue nodded gently. “Thus, in the end, it is still Adept Blackstone’s close combat ability that will determine victory or defeat! But of course, he still benefits from the advantages of his formation. And, based on what I saw from their close combat previously, Adept Blackstone is definitely no weaker than Cangwu Jiu in close combat!” “Comparable power in close combat, but with Adept Blackstone having the advantage of a formation, and Cangwu Jiu being unable to fully utilize his speed…in this battle, Cangwu Jiu is completely countered. He should lose.” Just as the Sloppy Daoist’s words were concluding… Within the formation, Cangwu Jiu was like a hawk that had been trapped within a cage. He was injured repeatedly until finally, Adept Blackstone saw his opportunity and seized it, suddenly delivering a heavy wound to Cangwu Jiu. Cangwu Jiu was unwillingly forced to call out, “I admit defeat!” And so, the second of the three had been chosen…Adept Blackstone! “Xiamang, are you trying to prevent this Cangwu Jiu from entering the top three? It wouldn’t have been so bad if he had encountered Ji Ning, Xiamang Zishan, the Sloppy Daoist, or even Adept Woodpass; he would’ve been able to make full use of his speed and agility. He’s at the greatest disadvantage when fighting against Adept Blackstone, a master of the Fuxi Staff Formation,” Lu Dongbin said with a smirk. “The ambitions of the Cangwu clan are a bit too grand,” the Xia Emperor said calmly. He was suppressing them by doing this! The other major clans all had extremely deep roots of power; if given a chance, they would be able to soar into the skies! And so, he let Ji Ning fight Youngflame Zhan while having Adept Blackstone fight Cangwu Jiu. In truth, this was his scheme to suppress them. As for Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, and the others, they didn’t come from major clans. …… The third duel was now beginning. “Ji Ning, be careful.” Yu Wei held Ning’s hand and spoke gently to him. Ning nodded lightly, then rose and began to walk towards the grand sealing formation outside the hall! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning and Xiamang Zishan both walked towards the outside of the main hall. Within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. The nine Pure Yang True Immortals and nearly one thousand Celestial Immortals were all gazing towards these two young men. Two of the top three had been determined; Adept Woodpass and Adept Blackstone. Now, only the last one remained… “Which of them will win?” Lu Dongbin said softly. The Xia Emperor and the others were all silent. Only after a long moment did Truelord Chiji say slowly, “Their power is comparable, and both are extremely skilled in close combat. The end of this battle will most likely come when one side runs out of divine power and admits defeat.” “Right.” Lu Dongbin nodded gently as well. “Zishan has a better chance,” the Xia Emperor said. …… Yu Wei looked quietly at Ning. She knew very well that Ning wanted to seize this chance to become a Daofather’s apprentice and thus soar into the heavens. She was eager for his success…but she hoped even more that Ning would be safe. “Ji Ning, be careful.” Yu Wei watched him nervously. …… “One last step before entering the top three.” Ninelotus was seated behind the Dongyan Forefather. In this moment, she was quietly hoping to herself, “Ji Ning, I hope you succeed.” Although they had broken up, in her heart, Ji Ning would forever be a peerless genius. She didn’t want to see him discouraged and defeated. …… “Master.” Little Qing raised her head, staring at the massive curtain of water and the scene within it. “Ning, son…” The Whitewater Hound was even more restless. “Senior apprentice-brother, you have to win!” Mu Northson called out in a high voice. Atop the clouds, within the grand sealing formation. Ning and Xiaman Zishan stared at each other from afar. Both of them just stood there with seeming tranquility. However, underneath the tranquility, there was a savage self-confidence…they had to win! Both of them felt incomparable desire for entering the top three, but to do so, they had to defeat the opponent before them. One of them was a young man dressed in violet; the other was a youth dressed in furs. Their auras were completely different. The violet-robed young man was born with a dominating aura, as well as an air of nobility that came from being born into an imperial clan. By contrast, due to Ji Ning’s sufferings in his former life as well as this life, Ning looked like just an ordinary, bumpkin-like youth…but due to having come from a world of peace, he showed neither subservience nor arrogance. “We meet again.” Xiamang Zishan’s voice boomed out heroically. “Last time, you were defeated by me. This time, you will be defeated again.” “I have only trained for a bit more than thirty years,” Ning said calmly. “It has only been ten or so years since I became a Zifu Disciple…and during these ten years, I’ve reached my current level. That year of nonstop battling in the world of the Diagram was definitely equivalent to ten years of hard training in the outside world. The battle between us was more than half a year ago…and during that half a year, my power has vastly surpassed your imagination.” Xiamang Zishan’s pupils shrank. Indeed. Ji Ning’s short period of training truly did cause astonishment. “You improved during the past half year. So did I.” Xiamang Zishan’s natural, inborn aura of arrogance caused him to release an angered laugh. “If you have any techniques to show, go ahead and show them. Otherwise…when you are defeated, you won’t be thoroughly convinced.” “Come.” Ning looked calmly towards Xiamang Zishan. This sort of calmness…masked an even more berserk desire for battle! Xiamang Zishan’s body instantly flickered as he transformed into a 60-meter tall giant that had three heads and six arms. With regards to the [Heavenly Transformation], it was true that Ning had spent several fewer centuries training in this technique compared to Xiamang Zishan. However, unlike other divine abilities such as the [Myriad Hibernating Venoms], the amount of power the early stages of the [Heavenly Transformation] granted significantly weaker. In the early stages, other divine abilities were better than the [Heavenly Transformation]. However, the latter stages of [Heavenly Transformation], especially during the Empyrean God stage, were truly and terrifyingly formidable. As for now? Ning used the second Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]; thus, [Heavenly Transformation] didn’t increase the power of his hands in even the slightest. “Taste my staf!” Xiamang Zishan bellowed with incomparable savagery. Three black steel staffs simultaneously smashed through the air, carrying an invincible aura as they slammed towards Ning. Staves were heavy weapons. Only powerful experts with truly great strength would be able to unleash the advantages of staves. Compared to sabers and swords, staves were inferior in terms of agility. Compared to spears, which were also long weapons and even had sharp tips, staves naturally were naturally inferior in terms of piercing power. But staves had a tremendous advantage as well. This was…in smashing as one pleased! In the Three Realms, especially amongst Empyrean Gods who were famed for their strength, there were very many people who used staves! The power of a single staff blow could pierce through the heavens…and could smash apart the earth! These two were the same in terms of strength, level of cultivation, and divine abilities. A staff-wielder was naturally much more savage and overbearing than a sword-wielder; this was due to the differences in the weapons. The ‘best’ type of weapon was the weapon that was most suited to you…and clearly, Xiamang Zishan was best-suited for wielding staves. BOOM! The staves cleaved through the skies, causing the world to change in color. Ning wielded six Immortal swords in his hands. Although it wasn’t too suitable for him to brashly use Immortal swords to block head-on, Ning wanted to give it a try, given the power of his divine abilities. He blocked the attacks head on! The three staves thundered forth with the power of a flood! They were met by six dazzling sword-lights! They smashed directly onto each other. They caused the surrounding area to tremble with the terrifying force of the collision…and the result of this head-on strike was that the two were actually on par with each other! “We’re actually on par.” Ning was startled. “Last time, I was at an absolute disadvantage. I’ve made repeated breakthroughs…but this Xiamang Zishan has made some breakthroughs as well. It seems there’s no hope of defeating him in a head-on fight. In addition, the amount of divine power my [Starseizing Hand] uses up is quite astonishing; it can’t be used for prolonged combat!” Ning knew exactly what his own weakness was. Although he was very powerful in the Grand Dao of the Sword, with regards to ‘ordinary’ Daos, he had mastered only two Dao-Paths. Xiamang Zishan’s ‘Grand Dao of Lightning’ might be a bit weaker than Ning’s own ‘Grand Dao of the Sword’, but he had mastered four complete ‘normal’ Dao-Paths! In addition, after spending the past half year constantly infusing all four Daos into his staff technique, his staves had become increasingly powerful. The power of Ning’s divine ability compensated for this weakness…but the power of his divine ability resulted in a similarly astonishing rate of using divine power. After fighting for a prolonged period of time, his divine power would probably be exhausted. “I am a Sword Immortal; why should I fight him head-on?” Ning’s swordplay began to change. Previously, his six streaks of sword-light had flown out in straight lines, but they now changed. Ning’s sword-light became like an unending flow of water, constantly striking in a steady stream towards Xiamang Zishan. Xiamang Zishan continued to do as he normally did, releasing his staff strikes as he pleased, either smashing down, lashing out, or suddenly sweeping forth. Ning’s swordplay was like water, flowing without an end. Xiamang Zishan’s staff techniques were unable to accomplish anything at all…but in turn, Ning was unable to leave even a single wound on Xiamang Zishan’s body. “There’s no chance at all. It seems I’ll have to use that unfinished sword technique,” Ning mused to himself. Whoosh! Ning’s sword changed once again. Of Ning’s six Immortal swords…some of them suddenly blazed like fire, containing the fierce sharpness of the Dao of the Sword! Others flowed like an unbroken stream of water, continuously moving to entangle and hinder his foe! The rest fluctuated unpredictably with tremendous speed! After, this sort of sword technique placed a great deal of strain on Ning’s mind and spirit upon execution. This sort of combat technique was something Ning had thought up when he had watched the Sloppy Daoist battle with his ‘wavefolding’ technique. The Sloppy Daoist used four arms to defend and two arms to attack, and then formed a ‘folding’, circular wave of power…although Ning didn’t understand it, he had still been stimulated by the Sloppy Daoist’s combat method. “The sword can be used as a spear, but it doesn’t have as much penetrative power as the spear. It can be used as a warblade, but it doesn’t have a warblade’s savage chopping power. It can be used as a staff, but it isn’t as heavy as a staff…” “Swords have two edges; they are incomparably agile, and can be used in many different manners of battle. After using the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability, if I were to use the six arms to fight in different manners…perhaps they might affect each other and cause a loss of power, but it’s also possible that just like with the Sloppy Daoist, the power will actually join together increase.” Prior to this battle, Ning had been constantly visualizing and hypothesizing regarding this technique in his mind. Earlier, during the previous battle, he had been completely silent, partially because he had been spending part of his attention in pondering the [Lesser Five Elements Sword] that he had learned back at the Black-White College. Within the manual, there was a combination technique that used the Five Elements. Ning carefully reflected on these things, and had already come up with a vague technique in his mind. In this moment, he unleashed it. Whoooosh. Sword-light like water, sword-light like fire, and sword-light that fluctuated unpredictably… Ji Ning was incomparably agile and graceful, occasionally advancing and occasionally retreating. His swordplay became similarly illusory and fluctuating as large amounts of sword-light howled everywhere. Suddenly, all sorts of different types of sword-light appeared…it was like a melody that was occasionally soft, occasionally bright, sometimes flowing, and sometimes explosive… The Daos of Water, Fire, Wind, Space, and the Sword. He infused all of his insights into the Dao of the Sword and into his hands. Ning had a wonderful feeling, as though many different types of sword techniques were cooperating together and supporting each other. It was all so natural that he didn’t even have to intentionally come up with next sword techniques; everything came out naturally, in accordance with this marvelous feeling. He didn’t want to disrupt this sort of feeling; he wanted to flow with it and let it unleash what it could! “Beautiful.” “So beautiful.” “So swordplay can actually become this beautiful!” The nearly one thousand Celestial Immortal Patriarchs within the main hall of the Summerlight Palace all felt a carefree, relaxed feeling in their heart as they watched. Ning’s three-headed, six-armed form executed various different sword techniques. It was just like he was painting a beautiful watercolor painting. The watercolor splashed everywhere, but it had a beauty that moved the heart. In this moment, Ning’s form was like the wind. His six Immortal swords were graceful and agile, putting the exquisite essence of the sword on complete display. The sword was by nature incomparably complicated. Even the most simple of sword techniques could be divided into thirteen different basic movements, which was far more complicated than the spear, the staff, and the saber. This sort of complicatedness…to a true expert, it represented many materials to work with, allowing him to produce a consummately beautiful product. For a weakling, however, too much complicated was actually a bad thing. …… “Genius!” Lu Dongbin, within the main hall of the Skylight Palace, couldn’t help but sigh in amazement. “He’s actually able to enter such a deep state during such a crucial battle. If my judgment is correct, he is currently in a state of no-thought, where everything simply flows from the heart…when executing swordplay in this state, the power is naturally going to be extraordinary. In addition, he will also firmly memorize these extraordinary sword techniques. After this battle ends, his insight into the Dao and into swordplay will both rise dramatically.” “He is indeed a rare genius of the Dao of the Sword,” Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta couldn’t help but say. “We Buddhists are willing to accept this sort of genius.” “He has only mastered two ordinary Daos, but his Dao of the Sword is at such a high level that he is absolutely the number one genius Sword Immortal of the Conclave.” Lu Dongbin couldn’t help but say, “He was indeed born to be a Sword Immortal. His talent in the Dao of the Sword is absolutely inconceivable. Xiamang…if you don’t accept this Ji Ning, can I take him on as my disciple?” “Eastflower, is your heart feeling itchy?” “Even the Buddhists are feeling itchy. Why can’t I?” Lu Dongbin looked back at the Xia Emperor. The Xia Emperor shook his head. “All of the top six in this Conclave must first be given to my master and his many disciples for choosing! If no one picks Ji Ning, then you, Lu Dongbin, can be his master. What do you say?” “Bullshit! Are you telling me that you guys won’t choose a potential peerless Sword Immortal like him?” Lu Dongbin immediately shook his head. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Xia Emperor laughed, saying nothing else. Ji Ning and the others were of the Grand Xia Emperor’s world to begin with; thus, as the saying goes, ‘fertilizing water must not be allowed to flow into the fields of another’. He naturally had to keep these individuals who had a chance of becoming experts of the Three Realms on his side. How could he release them? “You old scallywag.” Lu Dongbin pursed his lips. “Look at how smug your smile is. Haven’t you noticed that Ji Ning’s power is currently increasing, and that his opponent Xiamang Zishan is at an increasing disadvantage? This is someone of your Xiamang clan.” “Indeed, in this battle, Zishan is going to lose.” The Xia Emperor was extremely calm. “I have nothing to say if he is beaten by Ji Ning. In addition, given Zishan’s temperament…he’s too brash and wild, making him excessively hard and brittle. Given Master’s temperament, I imagine that he would choose Ji Ning even if both he and Ji Ning were in the running.” “This guy Xiamang…” The other Pure Yang True Immortals all shook their heads. Still…given that the Xia Emperor had spoken out, all of them had no choice but to give up any thoughts of acquiring Ji Ning. In truth, given how turbulent the undercurrents were in the Three Realms right now, and how the Grand Xia Dynasty’s major world was one that was exceptionally blessed by karmic luck, this world did indeed have a very good chance of giving birth to a future expert of the Three Realms. However…not even they fully understood how enormous the impending tribulation would be. The greater a tribulation, the more powerful major figures would born from it. In fact, even multiple Daofathers might be born! However, they would be spread out throughout the three thousand major worlds and the trillion minor worlds. It was very hard to say exactly how many experts the Grand Xia Dynasty’s major world would give birth to. “The Sloppy Daoist, as a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, must be blessed with luck.” “Of the top three…one of them will become a disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright. He too will be blessed by luck. For this single Conclave of Immortal Destiny to give birth to two future experts would be quite remarkable.” And precisely because of this, their desire to acquire Ji Ning wasn’t too burning; after all, Ning was still just a Wanxiang Adept. No one could tell how far he would be able to actually make it… ……. Within the grand sealing formation. Xiamang Zishan was growing increasingly surprised and worried. The Ji Ning before him wielded those six Immortal swords as though they were parts of a moving melody. They danced with tremendous beauty, and just watching them felt like a form of enjoyment! But this sort of ‘enjoyment’ wasn’t something which Xiamang Zishan could withstand. He only felt increasingly stifled, and no matter how he fought back, he remained at a disadvantage! Ji Ning’s swords were simply too inconceivable. They were savage, gentle, fast, slow…Xiamang Zishan was unable to keep up, and wounds began to appear repeatedly on his body. Blood sprayed everywhere as his divine body had to heal repeatedly as well. “No.” “I don’t accept this. I’m going to win. I have to win.” Xiamang Zishan’s eyes were crackling with thunder as he grew increasingly berserk. If before this, he could be described as ‘dominating’ in a heroic manner that subjugated his foes, then his current berserk status was like a sort of utter madness, a madness born from despair. He was struggling to hang on! And it was lucky for Ning that he did. His struggle to hang on allowed Ning to continue to stay immersed in this wondrous state for even longer. This sort of level of no-thought didn’t actually mean that one had lost all consciousness; rather, it allowed one to unleash one’s full potential and be guided by the invisible hands of the heavens…simply put, it was as though gods were helping him reach a perfect state that he normally would find it hard to enter. For example, some poets might suddenly feel divinely inspired and write a line of poetry that would be passed down for ages…but for the rest of their lives, they would never again be able to write something to match it. This was the wondrous state which Ning was currently immersed into. “I admit defeat!” Suddenly, an unhappy, dissatisfied voice rang out. Only now did Ning come back to his senses. Whoosh. Ning came to a halt. The area around him was completely splattered with blood, and half of Xiaman Zishan’s body was lying off in the distance. His two halves quickly flew to each other and began to fuse together, but his bloodshot eyes remained filled with discontent. “A pity that it ended so soon.” Ning understood how rare it was for him to have entered such a state just now. If Xiamang Zishan had been able to hold on for a bit longer, it would’ve been even better for him. However, more than half of Ning’s divine power had been used up as well; it was enough for him to have battled for so long. And then…a look of wild joy appeared in Ning’s eyes. “I won!” “I won.” “Won.” “The top three. The Xia Emperor will send a recording of my battle to Daofather Crimsonbright. He might choose me as a disciple.” Ning was filled with eager expectation. “But ideally, I shall become number one in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny. That way, I’ll have a better chance of being chosen.” “I won.” The imperial citadel plaza was filled with delegates from the 3600 commanderies. Amongst them, many of the delegates from Stillwater Commandery began to call out in celebration. Although they each belonged to different powers within Stillwater, they were all from the same commandery! They had all felt regret when the Sloppy Daoist had been defeated, but now that Ji Ning had successfully entered the top three, they all felt incomparably proud. “Senior apprentice-brother, senior apprentice-brother, I knew you’d do it! Haha, and to think the Heavenly Treasures Mountain ranked Xiamang Zishan at number one. He still got taken care of by my senior apprentice-brother!” Mu Northson was incomparably delighted. He called out loudly, “Number one! Number one! Take number one in this Conclave!” “Take number one!” Little Qing spoke out in the human tongue as well as she called out in excitement. The Whitewater Hound grinned as well. A series of joyful shouts swept the plaza. …… Yu Wei watched from afar as Ning walked out from within the grand sealing formation. In this moment, all of the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs within the main hall of the Skylight Palace were watching Ning. Ning was the most dazzling figure of them all at present. Yu Wei felt a surge of excitement as well. Excitement for Ning. “Right. He’s entered the top three. Perhaps Ji Ning shall become the Daofather’s disciple.” …… Ninelotus was watching from afar as well. A hint of a faint smile appeared on her face. In this instant…her heart and soul suddenly became tranquil. With regards to Ning and Yu Wei being together, she still felt jealousy, but with regards to Ning himself…she was filled with nothing but hopes for the best for him. …… 2120 With the most important top three victors of this Conclave being now chosen, all three of them advanced to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the main hall of the Skylight Palace, awaiting the Grand Xia Emperor’s orders. Even the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs had a hint of envy in their eyes. “One of the three will definitely become the Daofather’s disciple.” “Such luck…and yet, we can’t touch that luck.” “Perhaps in the future, one of them shall become a figure which we must revere with tremendous respect.” The Celestial Immortal Patriarchs all sighed with emotion. Still…only one of the three would become a Daofather’s disciple. The other two by comparison wouldn’t be nearly as well-off. If they were lucky, they might become a disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal, but there was an enormous difference between becoming the disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal and a Daofather’s disciple. Upon becoming a Daofather’s disciple, it was virtually assured that one would become a Celestial Immortal. However, far too many disciples of a Pure Yang True Immortal would fail in their Celestial Tribulation. It could only be said that compared to ordinary cultivators, they had a much higher chance. Perhaps not even one out of a hundred thousand Void-level Earth Immortals would successfully pass the tribulation. If a Pure Yang True Immortal patiently taught his disciple, then perhaps one out of ten might become a Celestial Immortal. And individual variables mattered as well. Some were very skilled at training disciples, while others were not. For example, in terms of training disciples, Lu Dongbin was clearly far superior to the Xia Emperor. Lu Dongbin’s disciples even included another Pure Yang True Immortal. This was often spoken of and praised in the Three Realms. …… The Xia Emperor looked down upon the three youths, revealing a smile. “I have to congratulate you. You are all extremely fortunate…and in the future, many years from now, you will understand how special this Conclave of Immortal Destiny was for you! This is a critical turning point in your lives. It is clear that all three of you shall soar into the heavens. Only, it’s hard to say exactly how high you shall each soar.” Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone all listened obediently. “One of you three shall definitely become the Daofather’s disciple,” the Xia Emperor said. “As for the other two…I can promise you that you shall both become disciples of a Pure Yang True Immortal.” 2121 Whoooosh. The nearly thousand Celestial Immortals were all stunned. What?! For a Daofather to take a disciple was one thing, but the other two would also become the disciples of a Pure Yang True Immortal? Pure Yang True Immortals didn’t casually take on disciples either. Why would two suddenly be taken on today? “It seems this Conclave truly is special. First a Daofather chooses a disciple, but then even Pure Yang True Immortals will take on disciples.” These Celestial Immortals now all realized how unique this was. In truth, because they didn’t have a high enough status, they only came to realize this now. As for the experts and major powers of the Three Realms, they had long ago understood that a storm was coming…and that this storm would most likely be a major one. Naturally, these major powers would have to plan early in advance! “A Daofather’s disciple.” Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone all wished to become a Daofather’s disciple. As for a Pure Yang True Immortal? There was a thousandfold difference between a Daofather and a Pure Yang True Immortal! For Ji Ning, in particular…since he had already received the legacy of Daoist Threelives, and the Stellar Hall provided guidance in multiple Dao-Paths and Grand Daos…what was a Pure Yang True Immortal? They weren’t that attractive for Ning. He still felt more desire for becoming a Daofather’s disciple. “But of course, all of you will desire to become the Daofather’s disciple, and so these final battles are still very important,” the Xia Emperor said. “Two hours from now, the three of you shall engage in the final duels, divided into three sets.” Ji Ning battling Adept Blackstone. Adept Blackstone fighting Adept Woodpass. Adept Woodpass battling Ji Ning. Three duels…each person would compete twice against the others. “I shall use a water scrying technique to record all three duels and give it to Master. Master shall watch all three of your duels, then choose who his disciple will be,” the Xia Emperor said. “In these three competitions, you need to display out all of your abilities; after all, the number one victor in this Conclave isn’t necessarily going to be the person the Daofather shall choose. The choice is his. But of course…if you become number one, the chances the Daofather shall choose you might be a bit higher.” Ning and the other three all waited quietly. “Now, all three of you shall enter the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. Two hours in the outside world shall be equivalent to a month of quiet training in the Diagram,” the Xia 2122 Emperor said. “In this month, you need to reflect on the experiences you have gained in this Conclave and prepare for the final competition.” “Yes,” Ning and the other three all said. The Xia Emperor waved his arm, and the Diagram floated up into the skies. Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone were all sucked into it. …… Within the Diagram. The moonlight continued to shine everywhere. Atop a mountain peak, Ning seated himself in the lotus position. In two other corners of the peak were Adepts Blackstone and Woodpass, also seated in the lotus position. These three were the most powerful competitors in this Conclave. Of the three of them…only one could become a Daofather’s disciple. “Mm…?” Ning sat there in the lotus position, beginning to reflect on what he had learned and gained during his battle against Xiamang Zishan. Many insights began to fill his mind… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In terms of appearance, Ji Ning appeared the youngest of the three, like a youth. However, although that was younger than his actual age of over thirty, the other two had trained for more than a century. “This is…?” Adept Blackstone and Adept Woodpass both turned their heads to stare at Ning. They saw Ning sit there in the lotus position as sudden gusts of wind began to swirl around him. At the same time…ripples of the Dao descended. “What? He broke through?” Adept Woodpass and Adept Blackstone both felt shock. They could naturally tell that Ning should’ve completed an entire Dao-Path pertaining to wind. “He was actually able to master yet another Dao-Path at such a critical moment. Ji Ning was formidable to begin with. In close combat, Adept Saberslave and Xiamang Zishan were both very powerful, but both were defeated by him. For him to make a breakthrough now…his close combat ability will most likely be superior to even me.” Adept Blackstone made some calculations. Instantly, he began to grow nervous. During the competition in the world of the Diagram, he had somewhat of an advantage. This was because the most important part in that competition was to stay alive and have enough talismans! Naturally, he was able to put on full display all of his advantages gained from his mastery of formations. But in a oneon-one fight, where one side had to win, he was at a disadvantage. The aid provided to him by his formations skills wasn’t as significant. “However, the Daofather isn’t necessarily going to pick the number one winner for his disciple,” Adept Blackstone mused to himself. “When the duel comes, I’m going to unleash all of my insights in the art of formations so as to let the Daofather see my full potential…and I believe he will choose me.” He was very powerful in close combat as well, close to Xiamang Zishan’s level. But he was more confident in his formations ability! He had spent far, far too much of his blood and sweat on formations. …… Ning could sense the ripples of the Dao from around him. He opened his eyes, revealing a hint of a smile. The Dao of the Gale…he had finally mastered this Dao-Path! Actually, long ago when he had mastered the Dao of the Raindrop, his Dao of the Inferno and Dao of the Gale had already been close to mastery. These two Daos had been just slightly lacking…but the many battles over the past year had been very helpful towards him. In the end, he had finally mastered both the Dao of the Inferno and the Dao of the Gale. “Three Daos. Rainwater, Inferno, Gale. I’ve mastered them all.” Ning had primarily been spending his time meditating on these three Daos, and they had all advanced in unison. It wasn’t too strange that by the time of the Conclave, he would have mastered all three. “My Dao of the Sword improved tremendously as well,” Ning celebrated. During his earlier battle with Xiamang Zishan, his insights into the Dao of the Sword had indeed increased significantly. However…there was a huge gap in difficulty between the seventh, eighth, and ninth stances of the [ThreeFoot Sword]. After all, the eighth stance was comparable to an ordinary Celestial Immortal’s technique, while the ninth stance was a skill that allowed a Loose Immortal like Immortal Northwalker to unleash the power of a Celestial Immortal! Ning’s current level of insights into the Dao of the Sword was between the seventh and the eighth stance. He had yet to be able to unleash the eighth stance…but he had still improved enormously. His combat power had risen by a large amount. “The Xia Emperor gave us a month. During this month, I need to fuse the Daos of Rainwater, Inferno, and Gale into my Dao of the Sword, making the power of my sword increase even further,” Ning mused to himself, then calmed down and began to meditate. …… The main hall of the Skylight Palace. Everyone was waiting for the two hours to conclude, and for the three final duels to begin. These three final duels would be recorded and given to Daofather Crimsonbright to watch. “In his battle with Xiamang Zishan, Ji Ning entered a state of no-thought; I imagine that he must’ve improved considerably. By the time they have left their secluded meditation, Ji Ning’s power will most likely have risen significantly yet again. In terms of attack power, he is most likely the absolute number one in this Conclave. As for Adept Woodpass, he should be the absolute number one in terms of defense. Adept Blackstone…he’s a bit worse off. If this was a battle in the outside world, his skill in formations would make it difficult for others to slay him. But this is a duel in the Conclave in which a victor must be determined,” Truelord Chiji said calmly. “As I see it, the number one position should go to either Ji Ning or Adept Woodpass.” “Mm.” “Right.” “It’ll be a bit harder for Adept Blackstone.” 2125 Lu Dongbin and the others all nodded in agreement. Even the Xia Emperor nodded as well. “Ji Ning has mastered yet another Dao-Path in secluded meditation in the world of the Diagram. This should be part of what he gained during the previous battle with Xiamang Zishan.” “No-thought, no-self; as expected, he has gained power after having entered that state of mind.” The Pure Yang True Immortals were all quite calm. …… Comparatively speaking, in the final three duels, who won and who lost wasn’t as important. This was because the Daofather wouldn’t necessarily choose the top-ranked person. However, without question…the victor would have a better chance of being chosen. After all, over the course of history, victory and defeat usually determined who would be acclaimed as the hero. In the blink of an eye, two hours passed. Swish swish swish! Three figures flew out from the world of the Diagram, appearing on the main hall. “Your Imperial Majesty.” Ning and the other two both called out in unison with respect. “With regards to these three duels, the first shall see Ji Ning against Adept Blackstone,” the Xia Emperor instructed. “After these three duels, I’ll arrange for all of you to go to the imperial treasury of my Grand Xia Dynasty and pick out a divine ability of your choice. However, compared to becoming the disciple of the Daofather, choosing a divine ability is naturally a small matter.” Ning and the other two just listened quietly. “Let it begin, then,” the Xia Emperor instructed. “Yes.” Ning and Adept Blackstone exchanged a glance, and then both walked towards the outside of the hall. …… By now, Ning and the other two no longer had any more tricks up their sleeves. They had long ago unleashed all of their abilities, which was why Lu Dongbin and the others were able to get a very good picture of what would happen! Adept Blackstone was clearly a master of formations, but Ning just stood there without moving, just using a Waterflame Lotus to protect himself. As soon as Adept Blackstone moved near him, Ning would fight him…but if he didn’t, then Ning wouldn’t move about randomly. And so… 2126 Adept Blackstone began to put on his ‘performance’, unleashing all of his abilities as a master of formations. The seemingly simple Fuxi Staff Formation unleashed one mighty formation after another. Some were illusory, others were meant to kill, while still others were meant to seal. In fact, the formations actually were layered atop each other, causing the area to be filled with illusions and killing intent. But Ning didn’t even try to break the formation; all he had to do was wait for Adept Blackstone to move close to him and start fighting. Only after putting on a show of displaying his formidable formations did Adept Blackstone begin to actually fight with Ning. And indeed…in close combat, now that Ning had improved even further, he ended up defeating Adept Blackstone! In the first battle…Ji Ning won! …… As for the second battle, Adept Woodpass and Adept Blackstone fought against each other. Adept Woodpass was even more shameless than Ning! Although Ning had stood there without moving, he had still at least engaged Adept Blackstone in a frenzied battle. Adept Woodpass, however, had just stood there as unmoving as a mountain. Like a giant, human-shaped tree, he just stood there and let Adept Blackstone whale on him. No matter how Adept Blackstone attacked, Adept Woodpass was still able to withstand it…and he didn’t even counter-attack! And so, just like that…Adept Blackstone’s divine power ended up being exhausted. He was forced to admit defeat! In the second battle, Adept Woodpass had won! …… The third duel was between Ning and Adept Woodpass. This battle was clearly much more exciting than the last two. In the two previous battles, Ning and Adept Woodpass hadn’t dared to run about randomly within Adept Blackstone’s formations. In this battle, the two fought each other head on! Ji Ning was the most powerful attacker in this Conclave! His [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was at the twelfth stage, his Dao of the Sword was at an extremely high level, and he had three complete Dao-Paths as well as the [Starseizing Hand]! In this battle… Ning put his sword arts on full display, wildly unleashing all of his attacking abilities. At the beginning, Adept Woodpass had attempted to counter-attack, but he was quickly forced by Ning into a point where he was spending 90% of his efforts on defense, with only the occasional counter! This was because Ning was different compared to the Sloppy Daoist; the Sloppy Daoist’s wavefolding technique would 2127 eventually collapse, whereas Ning’s sword arts would not. His sword arts came out in an endless series, causing Adept Woodpass to begin to be injured. With each injury, he would have to spend divine power to heal it…and in the end, Adept Woodpass was forced to admit defeat! “I used up more than 70% of my divine power in wild attacks before he admitted defeat.” Ning felt cold sweat trickle down his back as well. His [Starseizing Hand] used up far too much divine power. If Adept Woodpass had been able to hold on for a bit longer, Ning’s own divine power probably would’ve been used up. …… Three duels. Ning won two! Adept Woodpass won one! Adept Blackstone won none! “He won!” “Ahaha, won, won, WON!!!” The Stillwater Commandery delegation in the imperial citadel plaza let out an incomparably excited roar of delight. They all called out jubilantly and their roars of laughter rang out. There were more than a million delegates present from the 3600 commanderies and the Four Seas, but the number of them who knew that the Daofather would choose a disciple could be counted on one hand. To them…seizing the number one position in the Conclave was a matter of the utmost glory. “Number one, number one!” Mu Northson was so excited, his entire face was red. He was incomparably delighted as he said, “My senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning is number one!” Adept Vastriver sighed with emotion. “In the past, when I saw junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning kill Youngflame Nong, all sorts of worries had appeared. But unexpectedly, after such a short period of time, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning actually became number one in this Conclave. This is really…a miracle. A real miracle!” “NUMBER ONE!” Immortal Fivecraze was so excited that he actually tossed his gourd of wine to the ground. He seemed to have gone mad, and was so excited he seemed berserk. “Ahahaha! A disciple of my Black-White College has become number one in this Conclave! This has never before happened in the entire history of my Black-White College, never ever! Haha, the champion of the Conclave…belongs to a disciple of my Black-White College! Haha, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!” “Ji Ning truly is incredible.” Northmont Baiwei’s breathing was rather ragged. He was simply too excited. “He actually became number one in the Conclave. I didn’t even dare imagine this happening. This is truly unfathomable.” “Master is so amazing.” Little Qing’s eyes were glowing. “Big brother…” The Whitewater Hound thought back to the scenes of Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow teaching Ji Ning swordplay. “Can you see this? You taught him movement arts…taught him swordplay…and now, sword in hand, he has become the champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny of this entire vast Grand Xia Dynasty! Can you see it? Can you see it?!” The Whitewater Hound’s tears began to fall. He was incomparably agitated. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Deep within the void of the Three Realms. There was a world here that had been born from chaos, filled with endless, fathomless amounts of seawater. The fathomless oceans had several islands within it, and Immortal cultivators as well as Immortals were very common. At the very center of this ocean world, atop an island surrounded by the waters of the sea, there were a series of indescribably beautiful palaces. Immortal maidens, celestial generals, and celestial soldiers were everywhere to be seen. On the top of the highest palace, there was an enormous diagram of a yin-yang taiji symbol that hung high up in the air, constantly emanating boundless amounts of white and black light… An old black-haired man was seated atop a bed formed from clouds, and the enormous yin-yang taiji diagram was directly above him. “Mm?” The old black-haired man opened his eyes. “Novice,” he said calmly. Beneath him were a pair of male and female novices, who were obediently awaiting his orders. The golden-robed male novice immediately responded obediently, “Patriarch.” “Go and call out your uncle-master, Seatopple,” the black-haired elder instructed. “Yes.” The golden-robed male novice acknowledged with respect, then took a single step forward through a ripple in the air that had appeared. He teleported away and disappeared. …… Deep within the sea of this world, there was an underwater palace. The golden-robed novice teleported straight into the depths of the sea, and where he passed by the waters of the sea parted, allowing him to go straight to the jade-colored underwater palace. There were many soldiers and guards protecting this underwater palace, and upon seeing this person approach, they immediately moved to block him. “Uncle-master Seatopple,” the golden-robed novice called out. His voice echoed within the sea. Within the underwater estate. There was a tall, skinny man dressed in deep green armor whose eyes flashed with deep green light and a gaze that caused the hearts of others to quiver. In front of him was a white-robed cultivator. The two were happily drinking and chatting with each other. “It isn’t that I, your big brother, don’t want to help you. You must understand, I’ve been confined to this place by Master…I want to help, but there’s nothing I can do. But come, come, come, let’s stop talking 2130 about these unhappy things. Let’s drink.” The tall, skinny man in the deep green armor lifted up a large bowl of wine, drinking happily. That bowl contained at least a kilogram of wine, but he gulped it all down at once. “Eh?” The green-armored man’s face suddenly changed. With but a thought… Whoosh. The golden-robed novice that had been outside the underwater palace was instantly teleported inside. “Uncle-master Seatopple.” The golden-robed novice bowed respectfully. “Apprentice-nephew, why have you come to my place?” The green-armored man asked hurriedly. Although this golden-robed novice was merely a Celestial Immortal, he was permanently stationed by the side of Grand Emperor Xuanwu to carry out his orders. Thus, the green-armored man was very courteous to him and didn’t dare show him any discourtesy. The white-robed cultivator next to him hurriedly rose to his feet as well. “I greet you, Immortal novice.” The golden-robed novice glanced sideways at the white-robed cultivator, just nodding slightly at him, then said, “Uncle-master Seatopple, I have come per the orders of the Patriarch. The Patriarch wishes to see you.” “Oh.” Upon seeing this, Seatopple immediately said, “Then I shall go right away.” Seatopple then immediately said to the white-robed cultivator next to him, “Master is ordering me to go to him. I must…” “Big brother, no worries; go take care of your matters first. I won’t stay here any longer; I’m going to pay the Heaven Realm a visit and see if I can find anyone to help that poor child of mine,” the white-robed cultivator hurriedly said, then left gracefully. …… “Master!” The green-armored man called out with respect. Above him was the black-haired elder, seated atop a cloud. He nodded lightly, then said with a smile, “Seatopple, there is something I am going to have you go do.” “Master, please instruct me,” Seatopple said respectfully. “A hundred years ago, I accepted a disciple in the world of the Grand Xia, one of the three thousand major worlds,” the black-haired elder said with a calm laugh. “In other words, a junior apprentice-brother for you.” “A junior apprentice-brother?” Seatopple was amazed. A hundred years ago? When his master took on a disciple, it was a matter of tremendous importance. And yet, he had no idea of this whatsoever. “His true name is Zhang Qi. He is learning the Dao in a small school known as the Black-White College within the world of the Grand Xia. He is currently just a Wanxiang Adept, and others refer to him as the Sloppy Daoist.” The black-haired elder said with a laugh, “The Grand Xia world has just held a Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Your junior apprentice-brother attended this Conclave, which has now concluded. Go to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia’s world and bring your junior apprentice-brother before me. Remember…on this trip, you absolutely cannot cause any trouble. All you need to do is bring your junior apprentice-brother back here.” “Understood,” Seatopple said respectfully. “Go then,” the black-haired elder nodded. Seatopple immediately departed respectfully, and then he left this major world to go to the world of the Grand Xia. …… The world of the Grand Xia Dynasty. The imperial capital. The main hall of the Skylight Palace. Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone were all standing there respectfully, awaiting the order of the Grand Xia Emperor. “This Ji Ning truly is formidable.” “He’s only trained for thirty or so years, and yet became number one in this Conclave. It seems he has an extremely good chance of becoming the Daofather’s disciple.” “It’ll be soon. His Imperial Majesty is about to deliver the scryer recording of the duels to the Daofather.” The nearly thousand Celestial Immortals were all chatting amongst themselves. The Conclave had come to an end, with Ji Ning number one, Adept Woodpass number two, and Adept Blackstone number three. However, right now what everyone was paying attention to was…who the Daofather would choose as a disciple! The ‘champion’ of the Conclave was nothing but a meaningless title; to become the disciple of the Daofather was what really matter and came with real benefits. “The three of you.” The Grand Xia Emperor’s voice once more rang out. Ning and the other two immediately listened carefully. “I have already recorded all three of the previous duels using the water-scrying technique. I am now going to go to my master’s place and offer them to Master for the viewing.” The Grand Xia Emperor’s voice once more rang out, and a second, white-robed Xia Emperor appeared by his side who looked identical to the main body of the Xia Emperor. Swoosh! The white-robed Xia Emperor took a single step forward, entering the skies above them, then tearing open the void and departing from this major world. Ning and the other two were incomparably nervous. The white-robed Xia Emperor was clearly the clone or Primaltwin of the Xia Emperor. Clearly, he had gone to visit Daofather Crimsonbright. Now, they were going to wait for the Daofather’s selection. Who would be chosen? …… “My formations are even more formidable than my personal close combat strength. The Daofather will naturally have excellent judgment and will be able to see how special and blessed I am in formations.” Adept Blackstone was ranked number three. He had very complicated feelings in his heart right now. “Given my talent in formations…the Daofather should choose me.” …… “I became the champion. I did everything I could. Next, all I can do is wait for the Daofather’s decision,” Ning said to himself silently. …… “Let’s see if this destiny is mine,” Adept Woodpass silently mused to himself. …… The Grand Xia Emperor, seated up high, once more spoke out. “My Primaltwin has already headed towards Master’s place, but it is hard to say when Master will meet me and when he will choose a disciple.” The Grand Xia Emperor looked down at the three nervous individuals below him. Clearly, it was hard for Ning and the other two to feel at ease for even a second. “Since the three of you are the top three of this Conclave, you can go pick a divine ability of your choosing from the Grand Xia’s treasury.” “King Qi,” the Grand Xia Emperor spoke out. “Your Imperial Majesty.” King Qi immediately rose and acknowledged him. “Lead these three to our Grand Xia treasury. Let them choose a divine ability,” the Grand Xia Emperor said. How could Ning and the other two be in a mood to choose a divine ability right now? In a normal situation, yes, they would be incomparably excited at this chance to choose a divine ability from the Grand Xia’s treasury. But they were waiting for Daofather Crimsonbright’s decision. Their hearts felt suspended, and they only had one thought in their minds… Who will the Daofather choose…who will be the one to be chosen…? Choose me, choose me, choose me… 2133 “Go. After my Primaltwin returns, I will naturally notify you of Master’s final decision,” the Grand Xia Emperor said. “Yes,” Ji Ning, Woodpass, and Blackstone both responded respectfully. Then they moved to follow King Qi through a side corridor leading away. The nearly thousand Celestial Immortals in the main hall, as well as the eliminated Wanxiang Adept geniuses, all watched the three leave with envious eyes… The Grand Xia Emperor had already informed them all that one would be chosen by the Daofather as a disciple, while the other two would be chosen by Pure Yang True Immortals as disciples. In other words, all three of them would see their statuses suddenly and dramatically change. How could the eliminated contestants not feel envious? “Yu Wei, Sloppy, do you two think Ji Ning will be chosen by the Daofather as a disciple?” Yuchi Xiyue was both excited and nervous. He was her most important family member; naturally, she hoped that Ning could ascend to the heavens with a single step. That way, it would also be much easier for Ning to deal with the Youngflame clan in the future. “He will. The Daofather definitely will.” Yu Wei was holding Yuchi Xiyue’s hands. “Sloppy?” Yuchi Xiyue looked towards the Sloppy Daoist, who shook his head. “I don’t know the Daofather’s temperament. It’s hard to say. Still…since junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning has become number one in this Conclave, and has trained for such a short period of time…he is indeed the most dazzling figure of the three. There is a very high chance that the Daofather will choose junior apprenticebrother Ji Ning. However…no one can be absolutely certain regarding this.” Those who cared deeply about something would often find their thoughts in a jumble because of it. Both Yu Wei and Yuchi Xiyue cared far too deeply about Ning. “But even if he cannot take on Daofather Crimsonbright as his master, he’ll be apprenticed to a Pure Yang True Immortals. There’s no need to be too nervous,” the Sloppy Daoist said with a sigh. “I wonder if I would have this same good fortune to become the disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal one day.” “Eldest apprentice-brother, you were also quite dazzling in this Conclave. You should be accepted by a Pure Yang True Immortal as well,” Yu Wei said. “It won’t be as simple as that. Pure Yang True Immortals won’t casually accept new disciples.” Although the Sloppy Daoist did feel a hint of hope, he maintained a calm heart. …… Suddenly, a heroic but terrifying aura spread out from the main hall. At the same time, a voice rang out: “Xiamang, long time no see.” 2134 Whoosh! Nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals, along with the eliminated Wanxiang Adepts, all turned to stare towards the outside in astonishment. This aura was so powerful and the words were so grandiose that this was clearly an extraordinary person. “Hahaha…” The Xia Emperor rose to his feet, and the other eight Pure Yang True Immortals rose to their feet as well. From the outside, a tall, skinny man dressed in deep green armor strode in. He had a heroic aura of vigor that caused all the surrounding Celestial Immortals to feel stunned. “That’s Great Sage Who Topples the Seas.” “Empyrean God Seatopple!” “Demon King Seatopple!” 1 The nearly thousand Celestial Immortals all cried out in their hearts. The Xia Emperor was now on his feet. He said with a laugh, “Seatopple, it has indeed been a long time. The Three Realms are currently filled with the stories of your heroics.” “Seatopple, have you come to receive your junior apprentice-brother?” Lu Dongbin said with a lazy grin. “Right.” Seatopple had an incomparably dominating aura, and his deep green eyes swept the surrounding figures. He immediately called out, “Who here is known as Zhang Qi? Who here is known as the Sloppy Daoist?” The sloppy-looking fatty seated behind King Qi trembled with shock. What the hell?. This figure is a figure from Journey to the West. Early in the story, Sun Wukong (aka ‘Monkey King’) swore brotherhood with six other powerful demons. The Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong, took on the title of ‘Great Sage Equal to Heaven’, while this demon, the Flood Dragon Demon King, took on the title of ‘Great Sage Who Topples the Seas. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Seatopple was an extremely famous figure of the Three Realms. He was a Diremonster who had trained all the way to the Empyrean God level. Generally speaking, others would refer to him as ‘Empyrean God’ or ‘Great Sage’ when being respectful to him…but in reality, since Empyrean God Seatopple was something of an unruly, lawless individual who was also quite savage and tyrannical, others would often secretly refer to him as the ‘Demon King’. The sloppy, chubby youth had indeed been badly frightened. After all, Seatopple’s savage aura…was utterly terrifying within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. Even the Celestial Immortals were shocked by it, to say nothing of the Wanxiang Adepts. “I, I am…” The Sloppy Daoist rose to his feet. “Oh?” Seatopple turned to look at him, then nodded in satisfaction as he revealed a smile. “You really are pretty sloppy-looking.” As he spoke, he walked over, then grabbed the Sloppy Daoist by the arm, pulling him over as he walked towards the Grand Xia Emperor. A new table had already been prepared, covered with Immortal nectar and fruit. The Sloppy Daoist was slightly panicking now. Still…this Empyrean God, Seatopple, was far too powerful. After having his arm grabbed, the Sloppy Daoist was completely unable to resist. “What in the world is going on? Why has this savage-looking man with a dark-green Flood Dragon armor sought me out upon entering the Skylight Palace? Even the Grand Xia Emperor is polite to him, but I have never met such a formidable figure before.” The Sloppy Daoist was panicking, but could do nothing but just go with the flow. At the same time…the Sloppy Daoist that the gazes of those nearly thousand Celestial Immortals who were looking at him were filled…with envy! In fact, some of these Celestial Immortals smiled in a friendly manner towards him. “I was eliminated…but these Celestial Immortal Patriarchs are still this polite towards me? And they are envious of me?” The Sloppy Daoist’s mind began to be filled with many thoughts. “Junior apprentice-brother, come and sit.” Seatopple first sat down, then pulled the Sloppy Daoist to sit next to him. “Junior apprentice-brother?” The Sloppy Daoist was completely bewildered now. “Seatopple, it seems your junior apprentice-brother doesn’t understand the situation yet,” the Xia Emperor laughed. Seatopple turned his head to look at the rather confused Sloppy Daoist. He said in a very straight manner, “Junior apprentice-brother, Master ordered me to come to the Grand Xia world, one of the three thousand major worlds, in order to take you back!” “Senior, are you…sure you aren’t mistaken?” The Sloppy Daoist was feeling rather unnerved. He had no idea who this person was. “Little Sloppy,” Lu Dongbin laughed, “This person before you is a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, Empyrean God Seatopple! He’s not just an Empyrean God; he’s also reached the Pure Yang True Immortal as a Ki Refiner as well. In the Three Realms…he is extremely well-known. Not too long ago, he actually wrecked the Celestial Court.” “Empyrean God? Pure Yang True Immortal? Wrecked the Celestial Court?” The Sloppy Daoist stared at this savage-looking man, completely shocked. “Hahaha…” Seatopple began to laugh loudly. Slapping the Sloppy Daoist on the shoulder, he said, “Junior apprentice-brother, I have come on Master’s orders to receive you. Master said that you took part in this Conclave, and said that you come from the Black-White College, that your name is Zhang Qi, the Sloppy Daoist. There shouldn’t be a second person in this entire Conclave who comes from the Black-White College and who is known as the Sloppy Daoist Zhang Qi, right?” The Sloppy Daoist nodded. In this competition, the Black-White College only sent a total of three participants. There was naturally only one called the Sloppy Daoist. “Little Sloppy,” the Xia Emperor laughed as well, “Don’t question it. Earlier, the divine ability which you displayed is called the ‘Grand Black Tortoise’ divine ability. Did you know that?” “I did.” The Sloppy Daoist nodded. “The Grand Black Tortoise divine ability was created by Grand Emperor Xuanwu. Without his permission, there’s no way you could’ve learned this divine ability,” the Xia Emperor laughed. “Perhaps you don’t realize this, but Grand Emperor Xuanwu has long ago viewed you as his disciple. He is a major power of the Three Realms, on the same level as my own master. He is a Daofather! When you put your divine ability on display earlier during this Conclave, all of us already guessed that you are the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu.” The Sloppy Daoist began to think back to the strange encounter he had so long ago… “So…he was Grand Emperor Xuanwu…” The Sloppy Daoist was stunned. So…there had been no need at all for him to fight so crazily in order to become Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple. He had long ago been chosen as a disciple by Grand Emperor Xuanwu. However…this Conclave had been extremely beneficial to him. His insights into the Dao, especially into the ‘wavefolding’ secret art, had reached a very high level. “Junior apprentice-brother, you’ve learned the Grand Black Tortoise divine ability? Then there’s no mistake about it; without Master’s permission, there’s no way you could’ve learned this.” Seatopple knew quite well that someone who had been accepted by his master at the Wanxiang Adept level or perhaps even earlier was someone who his master clearly viewed with tremendous favor. Thus, it would be best if he made friends with this Sloppy Daoist. Seatopple himself usually caused quite a bit of trouble. In the future, once this junior apprentice-brother became powerful, he’d be able to give Seatopple a hand. As the saying went, every hero should have at least three helpers by his side. The more powerful figures by his side, the better. That would naturally give him more confidence in roaming the Three Realms! “Greetings, senior apprentice-brother,” the Sloppy Daoist immediately said while saluting him. “Hahaha, don’t be so courteous.” Seatopple was extremely happy. “A while ago, I wrecked the Celestial Court and was confined by Master to my quarters. It’s rare for me to be allowed out. And today, I’ve even run into Eastflower, this old fogey from the Northlands, and all of these others as well. I’m just going to drink some wine first; in a bit, I’ll take you back to meet Master.” “I’ll listen to your arrangements, senior apprentice-brother.” The Sloppy Daoist naturally was willing to follow his lead. Seatopple patted the Sloppy Daoist on the shoulder. “Junior apprentice-brother, you have quite a good temper.” “Eastflower, this Grand Xia world is holding a Conclave…why have all of you come as well?” Seatopple’s gaze swept forward as he asked this question. He felt quite puzzled. Pure Yang True Immortals were considered experts of the Three Realms. For nine of them to be gathered in one place was indeed fairly rare. “This Conclave is quite special. One of the top three of this Conclave shall be chosen by Daofather Crimsonbright as a disciple,” Lu Dongbin said with a laugh. “Including little Sloppy, this Conclave actually includes two Daofather disciples.” “What? Daofather Crimsonbright is taking on a disciple?” Seatopple looked towards the Xia Emperor. “Who is he choosing? Let me take a look.” 2138 “The top three of this Conclave consist of Ji Ning, Blackstone, and Woodpass,” the Xia Emperor said. “As for who Master shall choose…my Primaltwin is heading towards Master’s estate right now. After a little bit more time, I imagine we’ll know the results.” Seatopple immediately nodded, his eyes gleaming. Daofather Crimsonbright was taking on a disciple? This was quite an interesting affair. He had been confined to his quarters for years now, and had been incredibly stifled. “Come, let’s drink while chatting. Xiamang, you are of the Primordial Imperial Clan…you need to prepare more wine.” Seatopple immediately guzzled down all the wine on his table, causing the corners of the Xia Emperor’s eyes to begin twitching. The others were drinking in a fairly graceful way, but this Great Sage Who Topples the Seas was a Flood Dragon; it was a minor matter for him to swallow all the water of a river with a single gulp. In drinking Immortal wine, he was similarly savage beyond all compare. …… The imperial treasury of the Grand Xia was located on the sixth floor of the main hall of the Skylight Palace. “This place holds the abridged versions of all of the books held by the Dao Repository of our imperial Xia clan,” King Qi said with a laugh as he pointed towards countless bookshelves that were filled with books. “You can choose a divine ability at will, or a secret art or technique. But only one!” Ji Ning, Adept Blackstone, and Adept Woodpass all nodded. Although their minds were still occupied with the matter of becoming Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple, for now they put that matter aside. The three began to search through this Dao Repository. Soon, they saw a black jade table that was the most eye-catching of all. This enormous black jade table was filled with abridged versions of divine abilities! On another table, a white jade table, there were abridged versions of precious secret arts. [Moving Mountains, Overturning Seas] [Qiankun Arrow] [Myriad Hibernating Venoms] [Formless Illusions] …… Ning and the other two hurriedly grabbed one divine ability book after another, flipping through them. These books all had had some prerequisites listed on the front; for example, some required a person to have reached a certain level in order to train in it. These requirements, however, were all meant for the clansmen of the imperial Xia clan. Ning and the other two could choose as they pleased. They read for a long period of time. …… They flipped through all the secret arts as well. In the end, as if by tacit agreement, all three of them chose the same divine ability – [Torch Dragon’s Eye]! “Are you certain you are going to choose the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]?” King Qi asked. “Yes.” Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone all nodded in unison. “Fine.” King Qi revealed a smile. “Come with me, then.” King Qi was actually fairly happy that all three had chosen the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], because this technique was still fairly widespread amongst the various major powers of the Three Realms. However, this [Torch Dragon’s Eye] really was the most powerful divine ability within the imperial treasury of the Grand Xia! Although this was only the first part to the whole technique…this was still a technique that ranked in the top hundred of the Three Realms. Rumble…a stone door was pushed open. King Qi led Ji Ning and the others into the stone room. In the center of the stone room, there were bamboo books that was hovering in midair, emanating a dreamy light and covered with restrictive spells. “This is the [Torch Dragon’s Eye].” King Qi pointed towards a bamboo book. “The restrictive spells covering them have been unsealed. The other ones remain sealed; there’s no way for you to touch them.” “All you need to do is touch the bamboo with your hands. The large amounts of information contained within the bamboo will instantly be transmitted into your soul,” King Qi said. “Fortunately, this is merely the first part of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], and so it won’t take too much time to accept the transmission. For each person, it will at most take as much time as needed to brew a pot of tea.” Ning understood. This divine ability was one of those that increased dramatically in difficulty at the higher levels. Most likely, the part meant for Empyrean Gods was thousands of times more difficult than the part meant for Void-level cultivators. In addition, the part meant for True Gods would be thousands of times more complex than the part meant for Empyrean Gods. Ning had accepted the complete transmission of the [Starseizing Hand], which was why it had taken him months to do so. “Ji Ning, you come first,” King Qi said. Ning nodded, stretching out his hand and pressing it against the hovering bamboo book. As soon as he touched it! Boom! Instantly, a large amount of information began pouring into his soul. Although the transmission wasn’t as efficient and fast as when he had received the [Starseizing Hand] transmission, Ning’s soul was far more powerful than it had been back then, and the speed at which he accepted the data was faster as 2140 well. In just a short while, the complete first part of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] had been transmitted into Ning’s soul. “So that’s how it is.” Ning was secretly startled and delighted. The [Torch Dragon’s Eye]…this was a divine ability developed by the Torch Dragon, one of the major powers of the Three Realms. This divine ability was extremely famous! The legends often mentioned abilities like the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] or [Houyi Shooting the Sun]. Now, upon seeing the real method to activate this technique and its real power, Ning was secretly startled as well. The [Torch Dragon’s Eye], in short, relied on harvesting the light of the Nine Heavens and focusing it in the eye, and then cultivating a so-called ‘innate torch-light’. “Although this is just the first part, which any Fiendgods up to the Void-level can train in…it’s enough. After all, beyond that is the tribulation that results in Empyrean Gods. Upon becoming an Empyrean God, I’d be someone on the level of the Xia Emperor. I can just rely on my own powers to search for the second part to the [Torch Dragon’s Eye].” Ning was extraordinarily excited. Aside from the [Starseizing Hand]…he had finally acquired yet another truly powerful divine ability. Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone all meditated on the contents of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. Each of them felt delighted in their hearts; after all, this was a technique comparable to the [Grand Black Tortoise] technique. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the Torch Dragon had perished, how could they have had a chance to learn this? “Alright,” King Qi suddenly said. Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone all raised their heads to look at him. “His Imperial Majesty has sent word to me that Daofather Crimsonbright has chosen a disciple. The three of you need to hurry back with me to meet his Imperial Majesty at the main hall,” King Qi said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone all felt their hearts clench. The joy they felt upon acquiring the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] instantly fled to the back of their minds. All three of them had the same question in their heart: “Who did the Daofather choose? Was it me?” “Let’s go,” King Qi said. “Right.” Ning and the other two obediently followed behind him, but in their hearts, they felt their emotions surge like the waves of the ocean. The main hall of the Skylight Palace. The Xia Emperor’s face changed as he revealed a look of surprise. “What is it, Xiamang?” Lu Dongbin, Seatopple, and the rest of the nine all looked towards the Xia Emperor. “Xiamang, can it be that the Daofather has already chosen a disciple?” Lu Dongbin chortled as he spoke. These Pure Yang True Immortals were all clever fellows; a simple change in expression by the Xia Emperor instantly drew their attention and caused them to be able to guess at what had happened. After all, given the Xia Emperor’s status, why would he suddenly appear surprised for no reason at all? “Hahaha…” The Xia Emperor laughed and nodded. “I really can’t hide anything from you all. Indeed, my Primaltwin has visited Master, and Master just made his choice.” “Who?” “Who did the Daofather choose?” These Pure Yang True Immortals from the Celestial Court, the Buddhist Sangha, and the Daoist Path were all filled with curiosity as they asked the Xia Emperor. “No rush, no rush. I’ve already sent for King Qi to bring those three little fellows back,” the Xia Emperor laughed. “After those three little fellows return, I’ll make the announcement.” “Show-off!” Seatopple pursed his lips, then glanced at the Sloppy Daoist. “Junior apprentice-brother, this Conclave you participated in the world of the Grand Xia really is quite special. You are a disciple of Master, while Daofather Crimsonbright is going to accept a disciple as well…the news that there were two disciples of a Daofather in a single Conclave is most likely going to soon spread throughout the Three Realms.” The Sloppy Daoist just smiled. In front of these True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, he rarely said anything. “Who will the Daofather choose?” The Sloppy Daoist felt puzzlement in his heart as well. “Will it be junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning?” In his heart, he hoped that his own junior apprentice-brother would be the one to be apprenticed to the Daofather. If that were to happen, then things really would be perfect for the Black-White College this time. …… Moments later. King Qi led Ning and the other two back into the main hall. Instantly, the gazes of the nearly thousand Celestial Immortals present swung towards them. “Why have the three of them returned?” “Can it be that the Daofather has already made his choice?” The Celestial Immortals instantly guessed at the reason, and they all felt nervousness in their hearts. “Your Imperial Majesty, the three have come,” King Qi said respectfully. Ji Ning, Adept Woodpass, and Adept Blackstone stood obediently behind him. “Mm.” The Xia Emperor nodded slightly. King Qi retreated to one side, sitting down in the lotus position in the seat he had been in previously. Ning and the other two were now the focal point for the entire main hall of the Skylight Palace. They found it difficult to hide the restlessness and nervousness in their eyes. Although all three of them were monstrous geniuses, they were still extremely nervous right now! The Xia Emperor, seated above them atop his throne, revealed a rare smile. He said in a clear voice: “Master has already chosen a disciple amongst you three. The disciple shall be…” When these words came out, everyone held their breaths. “Gotta be Ji Ning. Gotta be Ji Ning.” Yuchi Xiyue was tightly clenching Yu Wei’s hands. “Ji Ning. Ji Ning.” Ninelotus raised her head to watch as well. “Don’t let it be Ji Ning. Don’t let it be him!” Patriarch Arcanum’s narrow eyes were filled with frantic worry. If Ji Ning became the Daofather’s disciple, then in the future, he would most likely prove to become a true disaster for the Youngflame clan! Many people were waiting silently. Some hoped it would be Ning; others hoped it would be Adept Woodpass; still others hoped it would be Adept Blackstone. They each had their own supporters and detractors. For the world of the Grand Xia to give birth to a new disciple of a Daofather was something that would completely, fundamentally change the balance of power in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. …… The Xia Emperor’s gaze swept downwards, pausing to intentionally prolong the tension. Only upon seeing Seatopple glare angrily at him and Lu Dongbin rub his nose did the Xia Emperor declare, “The Daofather’s chosen disciple is…Adept Woodpass!” “Adept Woodpass!” The Xia Emperor’s voice echoed within the entire main hall. For a moment, the entire main hall was completely silent. “Adept Woodpass!” “The Daofather’s disciple…Adept Woodpass!” “Adept Woodpass!” In perfect unison, all of the Celestial Immortals and eliminiated Wanxiang Adepts within the main hall all turned their gazes towards the simple, honest-looking youth, Adept Woodpass. For a time, all of the Celestial Immortals found it difficult to mask the envy and desire they felt. They knew very well that this honest-looking youth’s status had just soared into the heavens! The Daofather’s disciple! Adept Woodpass! In this instant, Adept Woodpass had become the most dazzling figure in the entire Skylight Palace! “It was actually Adept Woodpass!” Yuchi Xiyue, Yu Wei, the Sloppy Daoist, and some others all turned to look at Ji Ning. They felt unhappy on Ning’s behalf. Ning had already tried his best. He was the youngest of the three, and was number one in this Conclave. Why hadn’t he been chosen? However, they didn’t argue against this decision, because the decision was Daofather Crimsonbright’s! Only the person who the Daofather took a favoring to would be chosen…and that person didn’t necessarily have to be number one. “The Daofather’s chosen disciple is…Adept Woodpass!” The voice rang out in Ning’s ears. He felt dazed. For an extremely brief moment, Ning’s entire mind went blank. However, he quickly came back to consciousness. Although he was clear-headed now, in his heart, he still felt countless emotions. “Why would it be him? Why did the Daofather choose him?” Ning’s heart was filled with urgency, resentment, rage…and helplessness! He was helpless. Truly helpless. The choice of a disciple was up to the Daofather; no matter how dazzling Ning had proven himself to be, if the Daofather didn’t like him, it was all for nothing. “If I had completely exposed my [Starseizing Hand], then perhaps Daofather Crimsonbright would have chosen me.” This thought suddenly came to Ning’s mind…but it was nothing more than a disgruntled thought. Ning knew very well that given how many people were watching this Conclave, as soon as his [Starseizing Hand] was revealed, the after-effects would be completely unpredictable! The Three Realms were currently filled with turbulent undercurrents that were simply too mysterious. Daoist Threelives’ status was unknown. Ning didn’t dare take this risk. “Congratulations, brother Woodpass.” Ning immediately turned to the nearby Adept Woodpass, expressing his congratulations. On his other side was Adept Blackstone, who had an extremely complicated look in his eyes. Upon hearing Ning’s words, he immediately came to his own senses. In his heart, he secretly felt ashamed; in the face of this mental blow, he had actually taken longer to recover than Ji Ning, who had trained for just thirty or so years. But no matter what…he hadn’t been chosen. It was guaranteed that two of them would be eliminated. “Congratulations, brother Woodpass,” Adept Blackstone said as well. Adept Woodpass’s eyes were filled with joy. He immediately said, “Brother Ji Ning, brother Blackstone, I was just lucky. Neither of you are inferior to me.” The Xia Emperor, seated on his throne, nodded slightly upon seeing this. Ji Ning and Blackstone’s Dao-hearts were fairly formidable. The chance of becoming the Daofather’s disciple had suddenly disappeared; this was a tremendous blow that would cause some people’s Daohearts to completely crumble, and perhaps even cause them to go insane. For Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone to be able to quickly recover from this blow and regain their faculties…they did indeed live up to being top of the top three contestants in this Conclave. “Ji Ning, Blackstone,” the Xia Emperor said. “The two of you don’t need to be depressed. I told you that the two of you will both be able to apprentice yourselves to a Pure Yang True Immortal! I will help you select a suitable master…and if others do not take you in, then I, Xiamang Xun, will personally take you on as my disciples. However, I do not travel on the Dao of the Sword, nor do I travel on the Dao of Formations. I’m not necessarily the best suited master for you two. Go and spend three days in the imperial capital first. Within three days, I’ll send someone to meet you two.” “Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Ning and Adept Blackstone both responded respectfully. “The two of you can leave now,” the Xia Emperor said. He was quite favorably disposed towards both Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone. The attack on the Six Paths of Reincarnation and its collapse…the fact that this Conclave gave birth to two Daofather’s disciples…the Xia Emperor felt increasingly certain that this Conclave was going to give birth to future heroes of the Three Realms. Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone both had this potential! “Junior apprentice-brother Woodpass, go ahead and seat yourself next to junior apprentice-brother Sovereign Hao,” the Xia Emperor said. Adept Woodpass couldn’t breath. ‘Junior apprentice-brother’? The Xia Emperor had just referred to him as junior apprentice-brother? Adept Woodpass now truly understood…that from today onwards, his destiny had indeed been completely changed. He truly was about to soar into the heavens. “Yes.” Adept Woodpass obediently walked forward. Sovereign Hao grabbed him and pulled him over to sit next to him. “Eh?” Only now did Adept Woodpass see Empyrean God Seatopple, as well as the Sloppy Daoist who was beside him. “Why is the Sloppy Daoist sitting here as well?” This place was a place where the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods were seated; not even the Celestial Immortals were permitted to come close. Why was the Sloppy Daoist here? And who was this man dressed in deep green Flood Dragon armor? …… Ning was seated back before King Yan once more. King Yan consoled him, “Ji Ning, don’t feel dispirited. After all, you shall still become the disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal. Even if there are no suitable ones…you will at least become his Imperial Majesty’s personal disciple. For him to become your master means that in the future, you will have no troubles at all within the world of the Grand Xia Dynasty. You will no longer need to fear the Youngflame clan.” Ning nodded lightly. Since he couldn’t become the Daofather’s disciple, then all he could do was lower his expectations for now. Pure Yang True Immortals were truly formidable figures of the Three Realms as well. Perhaps they might know about whether Daoist Threelives was alive or not. In addition, with a Pure Yang True Immortal as his master, he would have a powerful backer in the future! “Ji Ning.” Yuchi Xiyue looked towards Ning with concern. “Ji Ning.” Yu Wei looked towards him as well. Both of them were worried about him. Ning, after sitting down, smiled gently. “There’s no way I can change the Daofather’s decision on whether or not too choose me! No matter what, I’ve already done all I can.” 2146 “Right.” Both Yu Wei and Xiyue let out sighs of relief. Ning’s Dao-heart was even more firm and strong than they had expected. Ning then looked towards the place where the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods were gathered. He immediately whispered, “Why is eldest apprentice-brother seated over there? Who is that fellow dressed in the dark green Flood Dragon armor in front of him?” Yu Wei and Xiyue exchanged a glance. Xiyue spoke out, “When you went to choose a divine ability, that Empyrean God known as Seatopple arrived. He is the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, and he has come to this Conclave for the express purpose of bringing back the Sloppy Daoist.” “He’s taking him away?” Ning was puzzled. Yu Wei said, “You didn’t see it, Ji Ning. Everyone in the main hall was talking about it earlier. The divine ability which eldest apprentice-brother uses is known as the ‘Grand Black Tortoise’ divine ability, which was created by Grand Emperor Xuanwu, one of the major powers of the Three Realms. In reality…he had been chosen by Grand Emperor Xuanwu long ago to be his disciple. After this Conclave, he is going to be taken before Grand Emperor Xuanwu and truly taught the Dao.” “What?!” Ning was stunned. Woodpass was a major power’s disciple, and now the Sloppy Daoist was becoming one as well? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning, Adept Blackstone, and Adept Woodpass quickly came to understand the situation. It wasn’t so bad for Adept Woodpass, but Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone found it hard to refrain from feeling envy. Becoming a Daofather’s disciple! Aside from personal effort, luck was another part of it! “Xiamang,” Seatopple said, puzzled. “I heard you say earlier that it seems as though of the three, Ji Ning is the youngest. In addition, he also became number one in this Conclave. In turn, Blackstone is a grandmaster in formations. Why would the Daofather end up choosing Adept Woodpass?” “How should I know?” The Xia Emperor shook his head. However, in his heart, the Xia Emperor thought back to his Primaltwin’s visit with Daofather Crimsonbright. …… Beyond the Three Realms, within the infinite void. There was a mountain that was hovering within the void. The mountain was a million kilometers in size, and it was filled with palaces. This was the place where Daofather Crimsonbright, a major power of the Three Realms, resided. “Master, here are the recordings of the top three youths who participated in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” The white-robed Xia Emperor stood there respectfully while handing over a scroll. Off in the distance, there was an elder with long azure hair seated in the lotus position atop a stone. The void around the place where he was seated seemed to be incomparably stable and steady. The azure-haired elder nodded gently. The scroll instantly unfurled, its surface flashing through the images of those three duels. Whoosh…the scene of the first battle suddenly turned dramatic and exciting. Instantly, the battle between Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone began to proceed. “Mm.” The azure-haired elder revealed a hint of a smile as he nodded lightly. “This young fellow who uses formations truly is quite remarkable in this respect. If he were to focus on it, in the future, he would most likely become a true grandmaster of the Dao of Formations! By relying on the Dao of Formations, he has a chance of overcome the Celestial Tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal. He is worth nurturing!” “The young fellow who uses the sword isn’t bad either. His sword-intent is quite formidable; he should be an excellent potential Sword Immortal,” the azure-haired elder said in praise. The white-robed Xia Emperor said respectfully, “Master, of the final three in this Conclave, the number one victor is the sword-wielding one. His name is Ji Ning, and he has only trained for thirty years. This 2148 formations wielder is known as Blackstone; he ranked number three, and has spent a hundred years in his training. As for the last one, his name was Adept Woodpass. He ranked number two in this Conclave, and has trained for more than three hundred years!” “Thirty years?” Daofather Crimsonbright was surprised. He nodded lightly, a look of delight appearing in his eyes. “It seems his talent in the Dao of the Sword is quite astonishing. He’s worth nurturing as well.” The white-robed Xia Emperor nodded lightly as well. That went without saying. Even Lu Dongbin had grown intrigued, and he was someone who was quite skilled at guiding disciples, and who had exceptional judgment. He had taken a liking to Ji Ning…and had long ago praised him as being a genius in the Dao of the Sword. Whoosh. Daofather Crimsonbright flicked through to the second battle. This was between Adept Woodpass and Adept Blackstone. Upon seeing seeing this battle, Daofather Crimsonbright’s eyes lit up. He immediately flicked through to the third battle, the one between Ji Ning and Adept Woodpass. “Good, good, good.” Daofather Crimsonbright said the word ‘good’ three times in a row. The white-robed Xia Emperor was immediately surprised and perplexed. Who was Daofather Crimsonbright praising? Was it Ji Ning? “Master, there was someone else in this Conclave known as the Sloppy Daoist. He is the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, and has trained for a hundred years. The Sloppy Daoist was actually himself kept in the dark, and had no idea that he was the Grand Emperor’s disciple. In the end, Seatopple personally came to receive him back to meet with Grand Emperor Xuanwu,” the white-robed Xia Emperor added. “The Turtle-Snake’s disciple?” Daofather Crimsonbright was curious. “Do you have a scryer recording?” “I do.” Since the white-robed Xia Emperor had mentioned the Sloppy Daoist, he naturally had come prepared. He immediately offered yet another scroll, this one with multiple battles recorded, including that between Adept Woodpass and the Sloppy Daoist, where the Sloppy Daoist had been defeated in the end. After viewing that battle, Daofather Crimsonbright couldn’t help but laugh. “Hahaha, that old TurtleSnake’s temperament is very similar to mine, and his judgment is the same. This Sloppy Daoist that he chose…he is quite low-key and quite reliable, with a solid, deep foundation that has no flaws. Although in his youth he may have seemed to be slow in training, as time passes…his deep, solid foundation will allow his Immortal path to be a long and stable one.” “Woodpass and this Sloppy have almost identical Immortal cultivation paths,” Daofather Crimsonbright nodded with a sigh. “Both have incomparably perfect and stable foundations, and both have extremely strong Dao-hearts.” 2149 The white-robed Xia Emperor was startled. Judging from these words…it seemed as though his master favored Adept Woodpass. “Daofather, can it be that you are going to choose Adept Woodpass?” The white-robed Xia Emperor couldn’t help but speak out. He had spent the most time training out of the top three. “Remember,” Daofather Crimsonbright said with a calm laugh, “Don’t just judge a person just by his temporary prominence. The path of Immortal cultivation is an incomparably long and limitless one…and these three have just embarked on it a short while ago. In choosing a disciple, one must see through the present and into the infinite future.” “Thirty years? A hundred years? Three hundred years? In the fact of the long Immortal path, these timeframes are nothing,” Daofather Crimsonbright said. “The Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpath are both unrushed and stable, with calm, leisurely dispositions! Just by looking at their combat styles, I can tell that they didn’t waste any of their attention on small tricks and benefits.” The white-robed Xia Emperor nodded. Indeed, the Sloppy Daoist and Adept Woodpass were quite similar. “This sort of temperament is the best sort of mentality and heart for an Immortal cultivator,” Daofather Crimsonbright said with a laugh. “Or at least, it’s the sort that I and the old Turtle-Snake favor.” Daofather Crimsonbright was an extremely good-natured person; everyone knew this. As the saying goes, when a turtle sees a pea, he would like it for its color! Daofather Crimsonbright favored Woodpass for his heart and mind. He knew very well that although the Immortal path required a certain degree of comprehension ability and talent, towards the later parts of the path, it required even more regarding one’s mind and Dao-heart! “It’ll be Woodpass,” Daofather Crimsonbright nodded. “As for the other two, they are moldable talents as well. Go and seek out your fellow disciples and see which of them are willing to accept these two as disciples. The Three Realms are in a state of upheaval; perhaps my gaze has gone astray and either Ji Ning or Adept Blackstone shall become formidable in the future as well. Thus, we should still bring them into my Crimsonbright League!” “Yes,” the white-robed Xia Emperor nodded. “Ji Ning is a Sword Immortal. I shall go seek out junior apprentice-brother Evergreen! Junior apprentice-brother Evergreen is a Sword Immortal as well. As for this Blackstone…it seems as though none of us are truly peerless with regards to the Dao of Formations.” “If you can’t find anyone suitable, then you can accept this Blackstone yourself. Although your talent in formations isn’t amongst the top within the Three Realms, it is more than enough to teach this Blackstone,” Daofather Crimsonbright said. The white-robed Xia Emperor nodded in acknowledgment. Back within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. Amongst the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, Lu Dongbin was the strongest. He was ranked at the very top amongst the Pure Yang True Immortals of the Three Realms, and was a peerless Sword Immortal who had an extremely good chance of becoming a Daofather of the Great Firmament. As for the Daofathers supporting him…they were Lieges of the Daoist Path. He was viewed with great favor by those two Daofathers, and had even produced a disciple who became a Pure Yang True Immortal. Lu Dongbin’s vision was particularly astute! Long before the others had realized how special Ji Ning was, Lu Dongbin had been able to somewhat sense it. “Xiamang,” Lu Dongbin said with a laugh, “Since Daofather Crimsonbright has not accepted Ji Ning as his disciple, then I’ll shamelessly raise this topic again; Ji Ning truly has exceptional potential as a Sword Immortal, and I like him very much. I wonder, Xiamang, if you would ber willing to give me some face and let me take Ji Ning. I truly do want to take on this disciple.” “Lu Dongbin…” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “Although Master didn’t choose Ji Ning, he still praised him multiple times. So…please don’t make things hard for me, Lu Dongbin.” “Xiamang, it is just a Wanxiang Adept.” Empyrean God Seatopple pursed his lips. “Since Eastflower has asked this of you…can it be that Eastflower’s face is worth less than a young Wanxiang Adept? In addition, your Crimsonbright League only has a single Pure Yang Sword Immortal, Immortal Evergreen, right? Immortal Evergreen isn’t a good teacher; it’s been so many years, but I’ve never heard of him producing a single Celestial Immortal.” The corners of the Xia Emperor’s eyes twitched. “Since Eastflower has made the request, just give him some face, Xiamang,” the Immortal Elder of the Northlands spoke out as well. At the beginning, Lu Dongbin had mentioned this in a joking way, but had been refused. But this time…he was being extremely serious. Lu Dongbin had many good friends. He was very influential, and his backers were very powerful. All of the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods present aside from Sovereign Hao, who was also Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple, were speaking out on his behalf. “Xiamang, you know what sort of a temperament I have. I’ve always been a blunt, straight-talker. I truly am intrigued by this Ji Ning, and I want to take him on as my disciple. Xiamang, help me out here. I’ll owe you a favor and I won’t forget it. What do you say?” Lu Dongbin spoke out earnestly. The Xia Emperor was startled. A favor from Lu Dongbin? That was quite valuable indeed. But…Daofather’s Crimsonbright’s words remained within his mind. Although the Daofather hadn’t chosen Ji Ning and Blackstone, he still had a very good impression of them. He had said that perhaps Ji 2151 Ning and Blackstone would also be quite astonishing in the future…and that they had to be brought into the Crimsonbright League. “Lu Dongbin, it’s not that I won’t allow it, it is that Master has given his orders.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do.” Lu Dongbin frowned. The Xia Emperor could tell that Lu Dongbin was unhappy…but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to make this refusal. Lu Dongbin shook his head and sighed. It seemed as though he truly was not destined to become Ji Ning’s master! He didn’t dare to actually kidnap and forcibly take away Ji Ning…after all, that would be the equivalent of slapping Daofather Crimsonbright directly in the face! A Daofather who had emerged from the primordial chaos and had survived into the present era…he absolutely would not offend such a person for no good reason. “Then Ji Ning’s Dao-companion, Yu Wei. I rather like this little lady as well. If I take her as my disciple, you won’t stop me, will you Xiamang?” Lu Dongbin said. “Haha, that’s a small matter. Lu Dongbin, you can pick anyone you want from outside the top ninety-six. Even if you choose them all, it’d be fine.” The Xia Emperor spoke out in a very magnanimous way. He knew that he had caused Lu Dongbin to feel unhappy, and so he naturally now spoke out in a way to make him feel better. Lu Dongbin nodded, then turned his gaze towards King Yan’s side, towards Yu Wei. She was currently holding hands with Ji Ning and whispering with him. “Little girl, come over here,” Lu Dongbin smiled towards Yu Wei. His voice rang out directly within her ears. “Eh?” Yu Wei was startled. Raising her head to look over, she immediately saw that the Xia Emperor and the others were all looking towards her. “Yu Wei, come here,” the Xia Emperor said as well. Only now did Yu Wei, rather puzzled and lost, rise to her feet. She began to walk towards them…and in doing so, caused quite a few of the Celestial Immortals and Wanxiang Adepts present to pay attention to her. “Little girl,” Lu Dongbin said with a laugh as he looked at Yu Wei, “I, Lu Dongbin, wish to take you on as a disciple. Are you willing?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Lu Dongbin didn’t mask his voice at all. It echoed throughout the entire main hall of the Skylight Palace, and all of the nearly thousand Celestial Immortals as well as the various Wanxiang Adepts were all incomparably surprised. “Exalted Immortal Eastflower is taking on that little girl of the Black-White College?” “Why is Lu Dongbin taking on this little girl?” “Lu Dongbin’s judgment is exceptional. Even I would like to take him on as a master, but he wouldn’t even look at me! But why is it that today…” Many of the Celestial Immortals present were rather jealous. Becoming the disciple of a Daofather was a stroke of tremendous karmic fortune! They didn’t even dare to dream of such a thing, and so most of them actually hoped for becoming a disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal. Lu Dongbin was one of the very top True Immortals or Empyrean Gods, and his background was incredible as well. He was also superb at teaching his students! He was a passionate man, and whenever he took on a disciple, he would use all his heart in training them. Compared to him, many of the other True Immortals or Empyrean Gods were focusing on training in the Dao, and didn’t care as much about their disciples. “Lu Dongbin?” “The legendary Lu Dongbin?” The Wanxiang Adepts, such as Adept Ninedeaths, Cangwu Jiu, Xiangtian Xiao, Youngflame Zhan, and the others all turned red-eyed with jealousy. They had fought into the top ninety-six, and some had even fought into the top twelve or top six! Lu Dongbin’s fame was such that even many ordinary mortals and commoners had heard of it. This was because figures such as Houyi, Father Kua, and the Eight Immortals of the High Caves were simply too famous and too well-known in the legends. As for Lu Dongbin…he was the leader of the Eight Immortals of the High Caves! …… Although they were red-eyed with jealousy, the Celestial Immortals all knew that this was the type of person Lu Dongbin was. “Are you willing?” Lu Dongbin asked once again. Yu Wei was stunned. This sudden, unexpected surprise had made her somewhat speechless. Of course she was willing! Who wouldn’t be willing to be an apprentice to Lu Dongbin? This was something that was second to only becoming a Daofather’s disciple! But she had just become Dao-companions with Ji Ning…were they going to be separated just like this? Yu Wei turned her head to look towards the distant Ning. Ning understood what she was feeling. Although he couldn’t bear to let her go, he knew that Yu Wei was also a person whose heart was focused on the Dao. He nodded gently. “Don’t feel too much regret for your little lover.” Lu Dongbin saw Yu Wei turn her head towards Ji Ning. He explained, “Your little lover is definitely going to become an apprentice to a True Immortal or Empyrean God as well; he’s definitely going to spend some time by their side. And so, regardless of whether or not you accept me as your master, in a short period of time, Ji Ning himself will depart from the world of the Grand Xia.” Yu Wei now understood. She gave the distant Ning another glance. Ning himself repeatedly gestured with his eyes at her while nodding. “Can I ask how long it will be?” Yu Wei asked nervously. “At least a few decades, at most a century,” Lu Dongbin said with a laugh. “Don’t worry; once I hear that Ji Ning has returned to the world of the Grand Xia, I will soon let you come back and reunite with your little lover.” Yu Wei said with desire, “Then can Ji Ning take you on as his master as well?” She knew that Lu Dongbin was a Sword Immortal; he was quite suited to teach Ning. “I want that too,” Lu Dongbin said, shaking his head and sighing. “But unfortunately, this Grand Xia Emperor of yours won’t allow it no matter what.” As he spoke, he gave the Xia Emperor a glance. The Xia Emperor just sat there smiling, not saying a single word. Clearly…there was no room for discussion on this at all! Yu Wei nodded. She no longer hesitated at all. Falling to her knees, she called out respectfully, “Your disciple greets you, Master.” “Hahaha…” Lu Dongbin began to laugh loudly. “Good, good, good. To be able to take on a good disciple such as you…this trip of mine to this Conclave was worth it. Yu Wei, go spend some more time with your little lover; in a short while, when the Conclave concludes, we shall leave this world of the Grand Xia.” “Yes, Master.” Yu Wei once more headed right back to Ning’s side. …… 2154 “Yu Wei, congratulations.” Yuchi Xiyue was very happy for Yu Wei. Her cousin’s Dao-companion had become Lu Dongbin’s apprentice; this was a joyous matter indeed. “Ji Ning, after this Conclave concludes, the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods will leave. Master will take me away from this world of the Grand Xia as well.” Yu Wei had a look of longing in her eyes. Ning gently took Yu Wei’s hand in his own. “Both of our hearts are focused on the Dao. An opportunity like this is rare; how can we let it pass by? In addition, I’m going to be apprenticed to a True Immortal or Empyrean God as well. By then, I’ll be stayed permanently by Master’s side…and I too shall leave this world of the Grand Xia.” Although he wasn’t going to be able to become a Daofather’s apprentice…by becoming a True Immortal or Empyrean God’s apprentice, he would still have a powerful backer! He would also learn more about the various powers within the Three Realms! Ning had already decided to spend some time alongside the True Immortal or Empyrean God and focus on training with him or her. Yu Wei nodded. “Master said the same thing. He will probably take me away for a few decades, no more than a century. Once you come back, Ji Ning…Master will know and will quickly release me as well.” “We’ll both work hard,” Ning said softly. “We are both going to overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become Celestial Immortals. We truly be together for eternity.” “Together for eternity.” Yu Wei nodded as well, her eyes slightly red. To be by the side of her lover for all eternity…how beautiful that would be. “But can I truly be together for eternity with Ji Ning?” Yu Wei once more thought back to her past life, and her heart began to be filled with a surge of terror. “…no matter what, I will rather let my soul be destroyed than harm Ji Ning in the slightest. At least before I die…everything will be perfect.” Within one of the trillion minor worlds of the Three Realms. This was a beautiful world with fragrant flowers and chirping birds. The people were simple folk. Although the world was separated into three nations, they usually just engaged in shouting matches against each other. Occasionally, some Immortal cultivators would compete against each other in order to win some advantages for their respective nations, but actual large-scale wars were very rare. Whoosh. A tear in space appeared. The white-robed Xia Emperor strode out from the void. Upon arriving within this minor world, he soon headed towards a mountain. Atop the mountain, there was a Daoist monastery, known as the Evergreen Monastery. Evergreen Monastery was extremely ordinary, and in this minor world very few knew of it. It was only known in the nearby counties and towns. How could the people of this minor world have any idea that within this Evergreen Monastery, there was a truly exalted and peerless Sword Immortal. “Junior apprentice-brother Evergreen, so all you do is train in the Dao alongside your four or five novices within this crappy monastery?” The white-robed Xia Emperor went to the back of the monastery, where several farm plots were located. A young man was next to a pool of water. “You can manage your major world. As for myself, I have nothing holding me back. Why should I trouble myself with various things?” The young man said calmly. “What about your disciples?” The white-robed Xia Emperor shook his head. “If you are going to stay in this monastery, why don’t you bring those disciples of yours over and give them some good tutelage.” “Teachers can show you the way, but cultivation relies on one’s own abilities. I guided them for ten years and taught everything which I should’ve taught. It is enough. As for what they will end up like, and as for whether or not they will become Celestial Immortals…there’s nothing more I can do.” The young man sat down casually, scooping up a ladle of water from the water bucket in front of him and drinking it. He sighed to himself, “Such sweet water.” The white-robed Xia Emperor felt resigned. Anyone capable of becoming a True Immortal or an Empyrean God was an expert of the Three Realms; even the Celestial Court would have to treat them with courtesy. Every person had a different personality. He was unable to persuade this junior apprenticebrother of his. “I’ve come on Master’s orders,” the white-robed Xia Emperor said. “Master?” The young man immediately became serious. The white-robed Xia Emperor said. “You know that three or so decades ago, the Six Realms of Reincarnation suffered an attack and collapsed. The Three Realms are filled with hidden, dangerous undercurrents. A major storm is most likely coming, and it is unavoidable. And…the more chaotic an era, the more heroes will emerge from it into the Three Realms.” The young man nodded. “My Grand Xia world is blessed by karmic luck. During this Conclave of Immortal Destiny, even Master choose one of the top three to be his disciple, a man named Adept Woodpass. Even a disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu appeared in this Conclave,” the white-robed Xia Emperor said. “Oh?” The white-robed man said in surprise, “One Conclave, two Daofather disciples?” “According to Master’s instructions, all three of the top three in this Conclave are to be brought into our Crimsonbright League. Master himself chose Adept Woodpass, while the other two are known as Adept Blackstone and Ji Ning. Ji Ning is a potential peerless Sword Immortal; he’s only trained for thirty years, and even Lu Dongbin wanted to take him as a disciple. I didn’t let that happen, though. In addition…he was born shortly after the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed. Perhaps he truly is blessed by tremendous luck,” the white-robed Xia Emperor said in a persuasive manner. “No need to try and sway me.” The young man shook his head. “Whether or not Lu Dongbin takes on a disciple has nothing to do with me. That personality of his…he can even take on ordinary mortals as disciples. As for the fact that this Ji Ning has trained for just thirty years, and was born shortly after the collapse of the Six Paths of Reincarnation…that’s an utter joke!” “The reason why heroes emerge from periods of chaos in the Three Realms is because those periods are periods of constant battle. Many experts will die, and their luck will dissipate from them and gather around others…” The young man continued, “With each storm in the Three Realms, old experts fall and new experts rise. Even some Daofathers fall, while new Daofathers emerge. The total number of experts in the Three Realms has remained constant.” “Whether or not one will become an expert depends entirely on whether or not one can seize the right opportunity during periods of chaos in the Three Realms!” “As for the time of their birth? Hmph, try that line on someone else.” The young man wasn’t swayed in the slightest. The white-robed Xia Emperor could only laugh. Even Daofathers could re-establish the cycle of reincarnation! Everyone knew what the secrets of reincarnation were. A person’s destiny, however, wasn’t determined by their birth; what mattered was what happened to them after it! Nobody was guaranteed to be a Daofather upon birth! There was no such thing. At most, one might be born into a good family, thanks to good karma stored up from a past life. “And, senior apprentice-brother…it’s not that I want to criticize you,” the young man said, “But so what if a storm is coming to the Three Realms? Whether or not one takes on a disciple doesn’t matter at all. What matters is one’s personal power!” “The only ones we can trust, that we can control, are ourselves!” “Disciples can turn traitor. Subordinates can turn traitor. Even friends can stab you in the back…only by increasing your own power can you fundamentally grow strong,” the young man said. “As far as I am concerned, this period of chaos in the Three Realms is a chance for me, Evergreen, to break through to become a Daofather of the Great Firmament. As for taking on disciples? Even if my disciple trained to become a Daofather, it wouldn’t mean a damn thing for me!” The white-robed Xia Emperor no longer said anything. He and Sword Immortal Evergreen were on two completely different paths; he himself was born from the lineage of the Primordial Imperial Clan, and so 2157 his way of thinking was naturally different. He immediately took out a scroll. “Take a look. These are the scenes of Ji Ning’s duels.” The scroll unfurled. One scene of battle appeared after another. “A Sword Immortal?” The young man nodded. He gave the white-robed Xia Empror a small azure sword. “This kid truly is quite talented. Since Master has ordered it, then I shall take on this Ji Ning as my apprentice. This is my talisman; arrange for someone to give it to him. If he is willing to take me on as Master, then let him crush it within ten days, and I will go find him. After ten days, the talisman will automatically dissipate.” Even if a master was willing to accept an apprentice, the apprentice also had to be willing to take on this master. Lu Dongbin had needed to ask Yu Wei for her agreement. The same was true for Sword Immortal Evergreen. If Ji Ning wasn’t willing…then given his arrogance as a Pure Yang True Immortal, he naturally wouldn’t run over to beg Ning to accept him. “Alright.” The white-robed Xia Emperor accepted the little azure sword, then said with a laugh, “Then junior apprentice-brother, I won’t disturb your leisurely life in your monastery any more.” After speaking, he vanished into thin air. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Conclave of Immortal Destiny had concluded. The Skylight Palace. The various Celestial Immortals were all beginning to leave. “It’s rare that I’m allowed out, but I have to go back now.” Empyrean God Seatopple opened his mouth, and all of the platters of delicacies on his table flew into his mouth. He then rubbed his belly, then said in satisfaction, “Xiamang, Eastflower, everyone, I’m going to take my junior apprentice-brother back now.” And then, he pulled the Sloppy Daoist by the arm. Whoosh! He flew onto a cloud and disappeared deep into the depths of the sky. “Time to go, apprentice,” Lu Dongbin said as he looked towards Yu Wei, who was next to Ji Ning in the distance. Yu Wei and Ning were speaking to each other. Upon hearing Lu Dongbin urge her to leave, she couldn’t help but feel even more reluctant to part from Ning. She gave him a tight hug, and Ning held her in his arms. He could sense Yu Wei’s heart. This was a woman with a cold exterior but a scorchingly hot heart. Upon becoming Dao-companions with her, he could sense the warmth of her heart. “Wait for me,” Yu Wei said softly. Ning pressed his face against Yu Wei’s, feeling the warmth of her skin. He whispered back gently, “Gotta. I swear it.” “No need for oaths.” Yu Wei released Ning, tears appearing in her eyes. “I believe you.” And then, she turned and ran to Lu Dongbin’s side. “Sorry for making you wait so long, Master,” Yu Wei said hurriedly. “Silly child, silly child.” Lu Dongbin shook his head and sighed. A cloud appeared beneath their feet, and they too quickly flew into the skies and disappeared. Ning raised his head to watch. Atop the cloud, Yu Wei lowered her head to look at him. Their gazes met…but soon afterwards, the cloud completely disappeared. After this departure…they had no idea how long it would be before they met again. “Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei and Ji Ning…they are very suited to each other.” Ninelotus looked at Ning and Yu Wei, at the looks in their eyes as they parted. Their gazes were filled with longing and a reluctance to part. “The feelings between them are deeper than the feelings between myself and Ji Ning had been. My heart and Ji Ning’s heart…they were never so close.” …… “Let’s go.” “We should leave as well.” Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, the Immortal Elder of the Northlands, and the others all flew away gracefully as well. “Junior apprentice-brother Woodpass, come with me to meet Master.” The Xia Emperor left alongside Adept Woodpass. Instantly, the nearly thousand Celestial Immortals present all began to depart as well. Ji Ning and Yuchi Xiyue departed alongside King Yan, while Ninelotus left alongside the Dongyan Forefather. Per King Qi’s command, the delegations from the 3600 commanderies and Four Seas began to leave in an orderly fashion. As for Ji Ning, he flew back to return to the Stillwater Commandery’s delegation. “Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning! The champion of the Conclave!” “Adept Darknorth!” The delegates of Stillwater Commandery saw Ji Ning fly down from the skies. Instantly, they began to call out in celebration. They didn’t know about the matter of the Daofather accepting a disciple. All they knew was that Ji Ning was the champion of this entire Conclave! This was an incomparable glory, a proud moment for the entire Stillwater Commandery. “Master.” Little Qing transformed into a streak of light that flew towards Ning, then wrapped herself around Ning’s arm. “Ning, child.” The Whitewater Hound flew to Ning’s side as well. “Little Qing. Uncle White.” Ji Ning was feeling rather miserable due to Yu Wei’s temporary departure. He immediately felt much better; at least Little Qing and Uncle White would continue to accompany him. “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you are too awesome.” Mu Northson called out excitedly, “The champion of the Conclave. The champion! The entire world of the Grand Xia has 3600 commanderies, as well as countless islands in the Four Seas. You’ve only trained for thirty years, but you actually seized the championship. You are too awesome. The person I admire most in the world is you, senior apprenticebrother!” “Congratulations, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning,” Adept Vastriver said as he and others came over as well. “Ji Ning.” Northmont Baiwei walked over as well, delight on his face. He pounded Ji Ning on the chest. “What a fellow. When you first said you were participating in the Conclave, I actually tried to stop you. It seems I underestimated you! You are so formidable that you actually were able to become the champion of this Conclave. You are now a truly major figure in our Stillwater Commandery; in fact, your name will be ringing throughout the entire Grand Xia Dynasty.” Ning could only laugh. If this Conclave of Immortal Destiny had only been an ordinary one, then he would indeed feel quite delighted. But the most important part of this Conclave had been the Daofather’s choice of a disciple. As for the empty title of ‘champion’, it wasn’t that important. Sadly…he wasn’t able to be apprenticed to the Daofather. “Ji Ning, our Black-White College has really gained a lot of face this time,” Immortal Fivecraze said in a gratified manner. “Both you and little Sloppy entered the top six, and you even became champion. Haha…our Black-White College has to memorialize this occasion. Even after a million years, even after a hundred million years…so long as our Black-White College still exists, we’ll make sure that those who come after us know of this matter. This is the pride of our Black-White College!” “Where is eldest apprentice-brother?” “Where is senior apprentice-brother Sloppy?” “And senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, where is senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei?” One question after another. Ning sent mentally to Immortal Fivecraze, “Eldest apprentice-brother was accepted as a disciple by a Daofather, Grand Emperor Xuanwu, while Yu Wei was accepted as a disciple by a Pure Yang True Immortal, Lu Dongbin. They have all been taken away from this major world.” “What…” Immortal Fivecraze was greatly shocked. Grand Emperor Xuanwu? Lu Dongbin? Fivecraze was the longest living Loose Immortal the Black-White College currently had. He had met Celestial Immortals before, and had a vague understanding of the Three Realms. He knew what it meant for a person to become a Daofather’s disciple. Lu Dongbin accepting Yu Wei as a disciple was also an earth-shaking matter for the Black-White College. “Understood. Don’t let anyone learn of this,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Right.” Ning nodded. “And you?” Immortal Fivecraze sent mentally. “I should be arranged to be apprenticed to a Pure Yang True Immortal,” Ning sent. “The Xia Emperor told me to spend three days in the imperial capital to await word.” …… Upon the conclusion of this Conclave, the various Celestial Immortals all departed. A long time later. Whoooosh. In the air above the imperial capital. Deep within the void. A tunnel was ripped in space. A white-robed youth with long, unbound hair leisurely strolled out from this corridor. He stared downwards, his gaze passing through space and seeing the vast imperial capital of the Grand Xia before him. “Grand Xia?” The white-robed youth nodded gently. He quickly moved through the void, descending into the imperial capital. He walked forward in a very relaxed manner. A short time later, he arrived outside King Yan’s Estate. …… “Junior apprentice-brother.” Outside King Yan’s Estate, Ning gave Northson a hug, then separated. “Both myself and your senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei will be apprenticed to a Pure Yang True Immortal. Once the Xia Emperor’s notification comes, I trust that I will soon follow the True Immortal to leave this major world of the Grand Xia. After this departure, it may be decades or a century before I return. It will be many years before we two brothers shall meet again.” Of his fellow disciples, Ning had the closest relationship with Northson. They were true, lifelong brothers. “Senior apprentice-brother, you are following a Pure Yang True Immortal in order to overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal. This is a good thing.” Northson’s eyes were turning slightly red. “However…I really can’t bear to part from you, senior apprentice-brother.” “Hahaha, we two brothers will still meet again,” Ning said. “Although you will be following a Pure Yang True Immortal, don’t get too cocky. I, Mu Northson, will also train hard. If you get lazy, upon your return, our big Champion of the Conclave might end up be weaker than me, Mu Northson. Ahaha, that would be a huge joke,” Northson laughed. Ning laughed as well. “Alright, no need to send me off! When you return to the world of the Grand Xia, come find me,” Northson said. “Definitely. I’ll definitely seek you out.” Ning nodded. “Right.” Northson turned and left, riding an azure dragon and soaring into the skies. The other disciples had bid farewell to Ning long ago, after they left the imperial citadel. Only Northson, who was closest to Ning, had escorted Ning all the way to King Yan’s Estate. Ning watched him fly away atop the azure dragon. He watched for a long moment, then turned and led Little Qing and the Whitewater Hound into King Yan’s Estate. “Hm!” The white-robed youth who had been quietly watching from afar shook his head. “It seems this Ji Ning is a fellow who cares quite a bit about relationships. Not bad, no bad.” As he spoke, he leisurely sauntered towards King Yan’s Estate. King Yan’s Estate had many guards watching the gate, but when the white-robed youth leisurely sauntered through it, none of them seemed to notice a thing. “The restrictive spells covering King Yan’s Estate have a bit of power behind them. This new Celestial Immortal, King Yan…he’s not too shabby.” As the white-robed youth walked forward, he encountered quite a few maids and soldiers on his path. None of them, however, noticed a thing. It was as though he was invisible, as though he didn’t exist. The royal estate was very tightly guarded, and it was protected by restrictive spells. It was no weaker than any major sect. Logically speaking, as soon as someone entered, the master of this royal estate, King Yan, would have immediately noticed. But the white-robed youth walked in without a single person noticing him! Rustle… By the side of a creek, there was an Immortal estate. This was the place where Ning was living. “Ji Ning is just a Wanxiang Adept, but he’s not doing too bad for himself.” The white-robed youth walked to the door of the Immortal estate, then entered it. Not a single one of the spells covering the Immortal estate activated. …… 2163 Within the Immortal estate. Ning, who had just returned to the estate, quietly sat down within a pavilion. Yu Wei had already left along with her master, Lu Dongbin. This caused Ning to feel a melancholy feeling in his heart. “Ji Ning, someone entered. Someone entered your Immortal estate.” The giant yellow bear’s voice rang out in Ning’s mind. “Entered my Immortal estate? I’m the master of this Immortal estate; how could I not have noticed?” Ning’s face changed. “He’s very powerful. Even I can only vaguely sense him; I don’t dare to really go test him,” the giant yellow bear said urgently. “This person is very powerful; he should be on the level of a True Immortal or an Empyrean God. Your Immortal estate is merely an ordinary residence-type magic treasure, and the door to your estate was open. How could you possibly notice someone like him?” Ning was shocked. A True Immortal or an Empyrean God? This was someone comparable to the Grand Xia Emperor. They were quite rare in the Three Realms, and were very powerful. “You became the champion of the Conclave, but not only do you not celebrate with friends, you actually sit here by yourself, drinking wine unhappily? Strange, quite strange.” An airy voice rang out, and a whiterobed, long-haired youth strolled forward into the spacious courtyard. Within the courtyard, Ning hurriedly rose to his feet. “A friend has come from afar; is this not a wonderful affair?” The white-robed youth said with a smile, “Young friend Ji Ning, I’ve made quite a long and arduous journey to come to your place. Aren’t you going to at least invite me to have a cup of wine?” “Senior, please do!” Ning waved his arm, and the table before him became filled with Immortal nectar and spirit-fruit. “Although the wine and the fruit are a bit lacking, I suppose they are edible.” The white-robed youth took a step forward and sat down in front of Ning. Picking up a gourd of wine, he took two sips. “Senior, might I ask why you have come to see me?” Ning asked nervously. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The white-robed youth laughed as he spoke. “Young friend Ji Ning, you are a bit too nervous. You don’t even know who I am, but you are asking me what I’m doing here. Aren’t you being a bit too impatient?” Ning muttered to himself. Nervous? A Pure Yang True Immortal had just sat down in front of him. How could he not be nervous? After this Conclave, Ning had come to understand quite well that unless a True Immortal or an Empyrean God had taken a fancy to you, they wouldn’t pay you any heed, even if you were a so-called genius. After all, there were far too many ‘geniuses’, but how many would be able to overcome the Celestial Tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal? Much less become a Pure Yang True Immortal. “Dare I ask who you are, senior?” Ning asked. “A carefree figure of the Three Realms, born in the era of the ancient Primordial World, where I gained my Dao. I am Lord Jiang.” The white-robed youth said with a sigh, “I rarely roam the outside world, and even when I do I rarely use my own name. Thus, there are very, very few people who know of me.” He then winked towards Ning. “I just told you my real name.” Ning relaxed a little bit. It seemed as though this person bore him no ill-will. “Also, don’t addresss me as senior this and senior that. You can just address me as brother Jiang,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. Ning was startled. Brother Jiang? For a Pure Yang True Immortal to tell him to refer to him as just ‘brother’…Ning was no fool. He naturally understood the meaning hidden within these words. “But it seems if I don’t spell things out, you won’t be able to calm down.” The white-robed Lord Jiang glanced sideways at Little Qing and the Whitewater Hound. “Have your two spirit-beasts step back for now.” “Alright,” Ning immediately said. He had Uncle White and Little Qing temporarily leave. A Pure Yang True Immortal could crush him to death; Ning was naturally going to listen to his instructions with obedience. …… Within the courtyard, only Ji Ning and Lord Jiang were present. They were seated facing each other. “I imagine that you have already guessed that I have come today per the orders of my master to receive you,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said with a smile. “In other words, my master wishes to take you on as a disciple, and you shall become my junior apprentice-brother.” 2165 Ning could barely breathe. He couldn’t help but ask, “Then brother Jiang, your master is…?” “He is naturally one of the most supreme major powers of the Three Realms, a Daofather-level figure,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. Ning’s eyes lit up. It was as he had thought. When this person had instructed him to refer to himself as ‘brother Jiang’, Ning had already been able to guess at what this was about. But upon hearing the full explanation, he still couldn’t help but feel that this was inconceivable. A Daofather! He had fought and clawed to become the champion of this Conclave, but in the end, Daofather Crimsonbright still did not choose him to be his disciple. The Sloppy Daoist, in turn, was chosen as a disciple by Grand Emperor Xuanwu. There was nothing Ning could do about these things, and he had already resigned himself to becoming the disciple of a lower-ranked Pure Yang True Immortal. But now, a Pure Yang True Immortal named Lord Jiang had appeared, saying that he represented his master! “Ji Ning.” The giant yellow bear’s voice suddenly rang out in Ning’s mind. “Lord Jiang said that he was born in the Primordial Era, and gained his Dao in that era as well! But…I’ve never even heard of him. And he says his master is a Daofather…you need to figure out exactly which Daofather it is. Some of the Daofathers of the Three Realms were good friends of my master, Daoist Threelives…but some of them were his mortal enemies! Don’t end up becoming an apprentice to one of his mortal enemies. Given a Daofather’s vision, if you learn the Dao from him, he will sooner or later see hints of the truth and discover that there is a relationship between you and Daoist Threelives. If you become apprenticed to one of his mortal enemies, then you’ll be throwing yourself up for capture.” Ning instantly came to his senses. He felt as though someone had just poured a bucket of ice water over him! “Dare I ask which Daofather it is?” Ning asked. Lord Jiang’s eyes had a look of reverence in them as he spoke. “Master was born from the primordial chaos, and was good friends with Pangu and Nuwa.” “He became famous in the Primordial Era, and has killed many Fiendgod Daofathers.” “His name is known throughout the Three Realms, but very few have ever seen him.” “The Buddhist Sangha, the Daoist Path; he is a master of both. With but a dream, he knows of all the affairs of the Three Realms.” “He has many disciples, but very few know this.” “In terms of who is the most mysterious figure in the Three Realms…it is my master!” 2166 The white-robed Lord Jiang nodded as he spoke. Ning, hearing this, was stunned. “Who on earth is he?” “Mount Innerheart 1, the Tristar Crescent Abode…Patriarch Subhuti!” 2 The white-robed Lord Jiang’s eyes lit up, and he smiled as he looked at Ning. “It’s him. It’s him! The Tristar Crescent Abode…the most mysterious Daofather…the most secretive Daofather! Ji Ning, you’ve hit the jackpot. I…ahahaha…you really hit the jackpot! Patriarch Subhuti actually knows about you. He actually knows about your existence. How in the world does he know?!” The voice of the giant yellow bear rang out within Ning’s mind. Clearly, he was incomparably excited. “…is it really necessary for you to be so worked up?” Ning asked mentally. “Of course! You have no idea how mighty he is! Ji Ning, let me put it to you this way…in terms of teaching disciples, Patriarch Subhuti is definitely one of the absolute most peerless figures of the Three Realms. What this Lord Jiang said earlier was absolutely correct; Patriarch Subhuti truly has produced many formidable disciples. However, Patriarch Subhuti has a rule; whenever the disciples he has taught leaves his side, unless he gives permission, they are forbidden from telling others that he is their master. Thus, even back in the Primordial Era, there were already many powerful and seemingly unaffiliated wandering Immortals who were actually under the command of Patriarch Subhuti!” 3 “Ordinary people don’t know about this, but my master, Daofather Threelives, did. He knew exactly how formidable Patriarch Subhuti is.” The giant yellow bear was extremely excited right now. “Oh.” Ning asked, “Why is he the most mysterious, then?” “Right, he really is the most mysterious Daofather!” The giant yellow bear said with absolute certainty, “In the Three Realms, not even Pangu or Nuwa were as mysterious as him! In fact, to this very day, no one even knows where his estate is located. Without his permission, no one can even find his estate.” “The estates of the other major powers of the Three Realms are all findable; after all, major powers often interact with other figures of the world, and they will often invite their good friends into their estate.” “Patriarch Subhuti has taken in many disciples, and also invites his friends over to his estate. But be it disciples or friends…upon leaving his estate, they’ll never be able to find it again. You must understand that all of his friends are also at the True God level. After having entered the estate once, how is it that they cannot locate it again? Isn’t this completely bizarre? Isn’t this very mysterious?” “He’s that mysterious?” Ning was amazed. Daofathers were major powers of the Three Realms who controlled a Heavenly Dao. For a Daofather to visit a place, then be unable to find it again afterwards? How bizarre! “No one knows where his estate is. Even his disciples who have trained within the estate for many years are still unable to find it upon leaving. Unless Patriarch Subhuti nods and permits it, none of them can return.” The giant yellow bear sighed emotionally. “In the past, my master Daoist Threelives once said…in the entire Primordial World, of all the major powers, Maiden Nuwa would be ranked number one in terms of survival abilities, but right after her was the legendarily mysterious Patriarch Subhuti.” “Patriarch Subhuti. He’s so secretive that other major powers can’t even find his estate. You tell me; how formidable are his survival skills?” The giant yellow bear sighed, “If Master had Patriarch Subhuti’s survival skills, he would definitely still be alive to this very day.” Ning was speechless as he heard these things. This was an absolute bizarro amongst the major powers of the Three Realms. No one could even find his estate, and his survival abilities were second only to Maiden Nuwa. “Patriarch Subhuti trains in both Buddhism and Daoism. 4 With a single dream, he learns of all the matters of the Three Realms. His power is simply unfathomable. This Lord Jiang said earlier that Patriarch Subhuti has slaughtered many Fiendgod Daofathers. Although I don’t know much about this, it should be true. There should have been Daofathers and True Gods who had fallen to him, and not just one,” the giant yellow bear said. “What a formidable figure.” Ji Ning felt stunned. “Most importantly of all, your master Daoist Threelives and Patriarch Subhuti were true lifelong friends who went through life and death together!” The giant yellow bear was extremely excited. “They were true lifelong friends! The relationship between Master and him was even closer than the relationship Master had with Daofather Crimsonbright. When Master forged this underwater estate, he even asked Patriarch Subhuti to come help out!” “Ah?!” Ning now understood exactly how close the relationship between Daoist Threelives and Patriarch Subhuti was. “Given Patriarch Subhuti’s status, he definitely won’t harm you at all,” the giant yellow bear said. …… Ji Ning was mentally speaking with the giant yellow bear. Gradually, traces of unbearable excitement and astonishment appeared on his face. The white-robed Lord Jiang laughed as he watched. “My master learns of the matters of the Three Realms in a single dream. In his dream, he saw the Conclave in your world of the Grand Xia. It was as though he watched in person. During this Conclave, Master took no interest in anyone else; just you.” 2168 “He watched personally?” Ning instantly understood. Perhaps True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would find it hard to discover his [Starseizing Hand], but greater powers could, especially one who was such an incredibly good friend with Daoist Threelives. “In addition, Master instructed me to deliver a message. He told me to say: ‘Little yellow-furred bear, how have you been’?” Lord Jiang continued, “He said that after I delivered this message, you would agree to leave with me.” Ning’s pulse began to speed up. Little yellow-furred bear? He was speaking of the spirit of the underwater estate! “Ji Ning, Patriarch Subhuti must have discovered your [Starseizing Hand] through his ‘Dream of the Three Realms’. He must have guessed that you are Master’s heir. That’s why he personally ordered someone to receive you.” The giant yellow bear’s voice was filled with excitement. “Hurry, hurry and go! So long as you go to Patriarch Subhuti, we can learn about what has happened to Master.” The spirit of the underwater estate…he truly wanted to know if his master was alive or dead. …… As Ning and the white-robed Lord Jiang were chatting, King Qi had arrived at King Yan’s estate. “This Conclave of Immortal Destiny has concluded. Why have you come to my place?” King Yan said with a laugh. “Because of Ji Ning, of course,” King Qi laughed as well. “His Imperial Majesty personally went to visit uncle-master Evergreen. You know what sort of a temper he has; he doesn’t like to teach students, and is an extremely solitary person. Still…since this was the Daofather’s order, uncle-master Evergreen nodded and agreed to accept Ji Ning as his disciple.” “Oh. Uncle-master Evergreen is a Sword Immortal, while Ning was born to be a Sword Immortal. He is quite suited for teaching Ji Ning. However, I’m just worried that uncle-master Evergreen…” King Yan was rather worried. “That’s not for you to worry about.” King Qi shook his head. “I’m here on his Imperial Majesty’s orders to give uncle-master Evergreen’s talisman to Ji Ning.” “It seems as though Ji Ning really is going to become uncle-master Evergreen’s disciple,” King Yan said. Because of his granddaughter, King Yan had actually been hoping for Ji Ning to be apprenticed to a better teacher. However…of the Pure Yang True Immortals under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command, the only Sword Immortal was Sword Immortal Evergreen. The two chatted and laughed as they walked to Ning’s Immortal estate. “Ji Ning,” King Yan called out.. In Chinese, this was ‘fangcun’, which literally means a square inch, but metaphorically refers to the workings of a person’s inner heart.. Subhuti is not only a famous disciple of Gautama Buddha in real history, he is also extremely famous as being the teacher of Sun Wukong, the person who taught Sun Wukong Daoist magic and his legendary 72 Transformations.. This is a play off what happened in Journey to the West. When Sun Wukong left Subhuti’s tutelage, Subhuti ordered him not to tell anyone that he had been Sun Wukong’s master; he knew how unruly this monkey was and was afraid he would lose face/be implicated if others realized that he was the one who had taught Sun Wukong.. This historical Subhuti was a Buddhist figure. Because he taught Sun Wukong Daoist magic in Journey to the West, he is often conflated as both a Buddhist and Daoist figure. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. At the entrance to Ning’s Immortal estate. Ning came out to the entrance to greet them. Upon seeing the two, he immediately said with respect, “Greetings, King Yan, King Qi.” “Ji Ning, good news has arrived,” King Yan said with a laugh. “Oh?” Ning was startled. Good news? Could it be that the Grand Xia Emperor had found a Pure Yang True Immortal to be his master? The nearby King Qi said with a laugh, “His Imperial Majesty has sought out his junior apprentice-brother, Sword Immortal Evergreen. Sword Immortal Evergreen is a Pure Yang True Immortal. He is very powerful, and has thoroughly mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword. He is quite a famous Sword Immortal in the Three Realms…he is quite suited for teaching you.” Ning nodded gently. Sword Immortal Evergreen? “Ji Ning,” King Yan said in a lowered voice, “This Sword Immortal Evergreen is rather arrogant and aloof. You need to be careful around him and be very respectful.” Ning’s heart twitched. To respect one’s master was only proper; that didn’t need to be said. But for King Yan, as a Celestial Immortal, to describe a Pure Yang True Immortal like Sword Immortal Evergreen as arrogant and aloof, then tell him to be very respectful…Ning thought to himself, “I imagine this Sword Immortal Evergreen isn’t merely ‘aloof’ and ‘arrogant’. Luckily, I don’t need to take him on as my master at all.” “Don’t say so many things,” the nearby King Qi frowned. King Yan laughed, saying nothing else. “Ji Ning.” King Qi waved his hand, and a little azure sword appeared within it. “This is Sword Immortal Evergreen’s talisman. I’ll hand it to you now. All you need to do is crush it, and Sword Immortal Evergreen will come find you and take you away! Remember – you have to crush it within ten days. After ten days, the talisman will automatically disintegrate. By then, given Sword Immortal Evergreen’s temper, he probably won’t take you on as a disciple.” Ning immediately accepted the talisman. “I understand.” “The talisman is in your hands now. I’m going to leave now.” King Qi smiled towards Ning, then turned and left. King Yan whispered softly, “Sword Immortal Evergreen has a rather bad temper. You have to remember this. Also, before you leave with your master, let Xiyue know. You don’t need to inform me of it. I’ll pray that when you leave, you’ll be able to learn some real abilities, and that you shall overcome your Celestial Tribulation in the future and become a carefree and unbound Immortal.” Ning could feel King Yan’s caring towards him. “Thank you, King Yan. Ji Ning will remember it.” “Good.” King Yan immediately left. …… Just moments later. Yuchi Xiyue arrived at Ning’s estate. “Cousin.” Ning didn’t want to part with her either. He truly was about to leave, but it wasn’t with Sword Immortal Evergreen; rather, it would be to meet the most mysterious major power of the Three Realms, Patriarch Subhuti. After this departure, it would probably be decades or a century before he could return. “Little brother.” Xiyue sat down, then took Ning by the hand. Her eyes were filled with tears…but they were tears of joy. “The two of us were together for two or three years, but it is now time to part. However…don’t feel unhappy. This is your chance, your chance to soar into the heavens. Although you weren’t able to become a Daofather’s disciple, it’s still quite good for you to become a Pure Yang True Immortal’s disciple.” Ning truly wanted to tell his cousin that he was taking on Patriarch Subhuti as master. However… When he had gone to greet King Yan and King Qi, Lord Jiang had instructed him, “Remember, no matter what you cannot tell them of this. Upon Xiamang Xun learning of this, he will move to obstruct it. He might even pull in Daofather Crimsonbright, who stands behind him. That will make things troublesome.” “Cousin, after I leave the world of the Grand Xia, you need to take good care of yourself,” Ning said. “Don’t let yourself suffer because of your hatred for the Youngflame clan. In the future, I will overcome my tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal. By then, dealing with the Youngflame clan will be much easier.” “Right, right.” Xiyue nodded. “I get it. I get it.” The two chatted for a long period of time. Xiyue only left when the sky was completely dark. Within the Immortal estate. “Brother Jiang, what should I do with this talisman of Sword Immortal Evergreen?” Ning pulled out the little azure sword. “If I crush it, Sword Immortal Evergreen will come take me away. If I don’t crush it, it will dissipate naturally.” “Give it to me,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said with a laugh. He stretched his hand out, and the little azure sword flew into it. “This world of the Grand Xia is part of the territory of Daofather Crimsonbright, after all.” Lord Jiang said with a laugh, “We can’t be too brash here. Fortunately…when a Pure Yang True Immortal takes on a disciple, the disciple has to be willing. If you don’t crush it within ten days, then Sword Immortal Evergreen will assume that you weren’t willing to accept him as your master…and they will have no idea that you’ve actually taken on Patriarch Subhuti as your master. They will probably think that you are adventuring in the outside world. Even if you reveal hints of it upon returning once you are powerful, causing someone to learn that you are Patriarch Subhuti’s disciple, so what? In the Three Realms, my master has quite a bit of face.” Ning nodded. “Then my two spirit-beasts?” “You can bring your spirit-beasts into the Tristar Crescent Abode,” the white-robed Lord Jun said. “However, they cannot take on Master as their teacher.” “As long as I can bring them.” Ning nodded repeatedly in delight. “If there’s nothing else, we can head out right now,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. “Right.” Ning nodded, them immediately called out, “Uncle White, Little Qing.” The distant Little Qing flew over with a swoosh, wrapping herself around Ning’s arm. Uncle White arrived by Ning’s side as well. “Uncle White, Little Qing, we are preparing to leave the world of the Grand Xia,” Ning said. “Leave the world of the Grand Xia?” The two of them were both amazed. Leave this world? “To where?” Little Qing asked. Ning turned to ask, “Brother Jiang, where is the Tristar Crescent Abode?” “The Tristar Crescent Abode…it consists of a crescent hook and three stars. Tell me, what character is this?” The white-robed Lord Jiang said with a smile. “A crescent hook and three stars? The character for heart ‘⼼’?” Ning instantly understood. “Right. The character ‘heart’. The Tristar Crescent Abode is Master’s estate. The Three Realms is vast, but no one can find the location of Master’s estate. This place is a place where one can only go through the heart, a place you find with your heart,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. Ning instantly felt that this was incomparably mysterious. A crescent hook and three stars? This was indeed the character ‘heart’ ⼼. This name which Patriarch Subhuti gave his cavern estate was quite interesting. “Patriarch Subhuti, the Tristar Crescent Abode…” Ning began to think back to one of the mythological fantasy novels he had read in his world, [Journey to the West]. [Journey to the West] was a novel written by ancient individuals, and it included Pangu, Nuwa, Patriarch Subhuti, and others. However, there was no mention of the three thousand major worlds or trillion minor worlds. Ning had gone to the Netherworld Kingdom and been reincarnated before learning a few things about the Three Realms. Ning now understood that every single world shared some legends, especially those regarding formidable figures such as Pangu, Nuwa, Houyi, and Kuafu, were discussed by countless people of the Three Realms. Novels like [Journey to the West] were influenced by even more ancient legends; for example, the legends of Pangu establishing the heavens or Nuwa creating humanity didn’t come from [Journey to the West]. Actually, in the world of the Grand Xia as well, there were some novels and literature regarding various Gods and Immortals; these novels even recorded down tales involving divine abilities such as [Heavenly Transformations] or the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], which compiled into various stories. Some of these stories were real while others were false. Some even got the names wrong! Perhaps in the ancient days on Earth, there were actual Immortal cultivators. In fact, some humans on Earth might have been reincarnated Immortals who had awoken their previous memories, and so had left behind certain legends to the world. …… “The Three Realms have countless legends, and many of them have been compiled into novels. However…the true secrets of the Three Realms remain unclear to me, even though I have slaughtered Loose Immortals and received the legacy of Daoist Threelives.” Ning sighed to himself, “Why was the previous Primordial World destroyed and transformed into the three thousand major worlds and trillion minor worlds? Who on earth attacked the Six Paths of Reincarnation?” These were mysteries! “The Tristar Crescent Abode is an estate of one of the major powers of the Three Realms, and the most mysterious one at that. Although I’ve always remained within the Tristar Crescent Abode, I don’t actually 2174 know where it is. I have to have Master guide me into it in order to return.” The white-robed Lord Jiang said with a sigh, “Let’s go. Pick up your Immortal estate.” “Right.” Ning willed it. Instantly, the Immortal estate was collected. Ning stood there on the grass next to the river, Little Qing around his arm and the Whitewater Hound by his side. The white-robed Lord Jiang said, “This journey will last decades or even longer. Is there anything you need to do?” Ning shook his head gently. There was nothing. The reason he had left Stillwater Commandery was because of the Youngflame clan’s pursuit. He had told Autumn Leaf and the leaders of the Ji clan that he would be leaving for a very long period of time! Yu Wei had already been taken away by Lu Dongbin to train in the Dao, while he had already told his cousin, Yuchi Xiyue, of his departure. He had also bade farewell to his fellow disciples of the Black-White College.” “Then let us go.” The white-robed Lord Jiang willed a cloud to appear beneath their feet. The cloud floated upwards, carrying Lord Jiang, Ji Ning, and the Whitewater Hound to quickly soar into the skies, completely bypassing the restrictive spells as they flew deep into the void. Soon, they reached the very highest parts of the sky. Riiiip. Lord Jiang waved his hands. The dim, twisting void above them was instantly torn apart, and a corridor emerged. Within the corridor, one could vaguely see twisted, distorted rainbow light. “Let’s go.” The white-robed lord Jiang gave the little azure sword a toss, and it fell down many tens of thousands of kilometers towards the ground. He then led Ji Ning, Little Qing, and the Whitewater Hound into the spatial tunnel. Whoosh. The spatial tunnel quickly closed. Everything was back to normal. Within the world of the Grand Xia…there was no longer a Ji Ning to be found. Twelve days passed after the conclusion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. The Xia Emperor was within a side hall of the Skylight Palace, seated in the lotus position with eyes closed. “Eh?” The Xia Emperor suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a confused look. “Why has junior apprenticebrother Evergreen come?” Soon, a young man walked into the side hall. The servants and guards present didn’t seem to see him at all. “Senior apprentice-brother,” Sword Immortal Evergreen said. “Junior apprentice-brother, why have you come to my place?” The Xia Emperor asked, puzzled. “This is the twelfth day. The talisman I gave you has long since dissipated.” Sword Immortal Evergreen shook his head. “Normally, I couldn’t be bothered to come; after all, Ji Ning didn’t crush the talisman, and so I couldn’t be bothered to take him as my disciple. But since this was Master’s instruction…I came to make a trip to this world of the Grand Xia. If Ji Ning is willing, I’ll give him another chance to be my disciple.” “What did you say?!” The Xia Emperor was shocked. “Ji Ning didn’t crush the talisman?” “Right. He didn’t crush it.” Sword Immortal Evergreen shook his head. “But Ji Ning left King Yan’s estate long ago. I thought that you had taken him away. I thought that because of how arrogant and aloof you are, you simply didn’t inform me.” The Xia Emperor was flabbergasted. “I even did an investigation; he’s no longer in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Lu Dongbin, Mahasthamaprapta…they wouldn’t go so far as to offend the Daofather for the sake of this little fellow, right? Can it be that Ji Ning is just too young? He became the champion of the Conclave, but wasn’t able to become the Daofather’s apprentice, and so in his anger he decided not to accept a Pure Yang True Immortal as his master and instead left by himself?” Sword Immortal Evergreen snorted coldly. “Oh? You say he left the imperial capital long ago? If that’s the case, then senior apprentice-brother, I’ve already done all I can. This matter no longer has anything to do with me.” After speaking, Sword Immortal Evergreen turned and departed, quickly leaving this major world. He really didn’t care about Ji Ning at all. He had only made a trip here because of his master’s instructions. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Daofather Whooooosh. Distorted rainbow light could be seen coming from within the torn-open void corridor. The white-robed Lord Jiang led Ji Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing in moving through this void corridor. “Eh?” Ning suddenly revealed a look of surprise, and the nearby Whitewater Hound and Little Qing stared in shock as well. This was because this void corridor’s colors were fluctuating from fiery red that made it look like a tunnel of fire to a watery blue that made it seem as though they were moving through a tunnel of water…and despite flying through this corridor for enough time to boil a kettle of tea, they were still flying. “Brother Jiang,” Ning immediately asked, “Why have we been flying through this void corridor for so long? Can it be that it normally takes this long to fly through a torn open void tunnel?” “No.” The white-robed Lord Jiang shook his head. “Normally, to leave a major world, after you rip open the fabric of space you can easily leave the world and enter the infinite void, then use a Greater Teleport and easily arrive at your destination. But the place we are headed to is Master’s Tristar Crescent Abode, the most mysterious place in the entire Three Realms. Ordinary techniques are completely useless in going to Master’s place.” “Oh.” Ning nodded slightly. “I’m not the person controlling this void tunnel right now; it is Master who is guiding us in,” the whiterobed Lord Jiang said. “Through this void tunnel, we can directly access the Tristar Crescent Abode.” “How much longer?” Ning look at the void tunnel surrounding him; it had just turned into a completely pitch-black color. The pitch-black tunnel was twisted and distorted as it spiraled forward, causing Ning to feel a vague sense of fear. He felt as though if he were to be wrapped up into the distorted space, he would be ground to death. “Soon, soon,” Lord Jiang said with a laugh. Just as his words came out… Whoosh! A misty world suddenly appeared in front of the void tunnel. The white-robed Lord Jiang, Ji Ning, and the others flew out into the world. “Here we are!” Lord Jiang stood there in midair, a look of delight on his face. He smiled as he swept the misty world with his gaze. “This…this is the Tristar Crescent Abode?” Ji Ning stared downwards. What he saw was an infinitely vast world with many cities. He could tell just by looking downwards how vast this world was. Lord Jiang said, “This is the world which Master established. In terms of size, it’s comparable to the world of the Grand Xia.” “Comparable to the Grand Xia?” Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing all nodded to themselves. Ning asked, “So the Patriarch personally established this world? According to the legends, formidable figures of the Three Realms are able to establish some smaller worlds of a few tens of thousands of kilometers…but it’s actually possible to establish a world comparable to the world of the Grand Xia in size as well?” “Haha…the world of the Primordial Era was established by Pangu. Compared to the various ‘major worlds’, it was unfathomably larger,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said, shaking his head and laughing. “Although Master cannot do as Pangu did, he’s still able to establish an estate-world that is comparable to the Grand Xia in size.” “This estate-world is completely separate from the outside world. It has its own cycle of reincarnation, and a miniature Netherworld Kingdom. After dying, the souls of the world will be reborn into this world anew,” Lord Jiang said with a laugh. “This estate world is actually a miniature version of the Primordial World of Pangu; it is completely outside the structure of the Three Realms. Thus, not even other major powers can enter it.” Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing were all secretly stunned. Completely outside the structure of the Three Realms…a completely stand-alone cycle of reincarnation… Major powers truly were incredible! “Mount Innerheart is at the very center of this estate-world.” Lord Jiang pointed towards the distance. “Right over there.” Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing all raised their heads to look. Indeed, they could vaguely make out the outlines of a mountain that was hovering in the skies. “Let’s go.” The white-robed Lord Jiang led Ning and the others to fly out. The hovering mountains grew closer and closer, and one could even make out the fairy cranes and running beasts around it. Whoosh. Lord Jiang, Ji Ning, and the others flew to the very top of the mountain, landing atop a mountain path. “If we follow this path to the very top, we shall reach the place where Master trains in the Dao and teaches his disciples,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. Ning and the others followed him upwards. The mountain path winded up the mountain, but fortunately there were stone steps to walk on. After walking a short while, the white-robed Lord Jiang turned and moved onto a well-trodden pathway that led into a mountain forest. “Ji Ning, come with me to meet our eldest apprentice-brother.” “Eldest apprentice-brother?” Ning felt slightly puzzled, but he followed the white-robed Lord Jiang deep into the forest. “He was the very first to follow Master. You absolutely must not be disrespectful to him,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. “Right.” Ning nodded. As he walked forward, he could just barely make out a voice speaking out. “A one, a two, a three and a four. A five and a six, a seven and an eight, a nine and a ten…now fall down!” As the bright voice rang out, a ‘crunch’ sound could be heard, followed by a rumble… The white-robed Lord Jiang and Ning moved quite quickly. As they moved closer to the sound of the voice, they saw an enormous tree fall down. Through the other trees, Ning could just barely make out the figure of a woodcutter dressed in grass shoes and a grass hat. The woodcutter’s skin was swarthy and dark, but he was dressed quite simply. The white-robed Lord Jiang walked over. “Eldest-apprentice brother.” “Eldest apprentice-brother?” Ning was flabbergasted. This woodcutter? He was their eldest apprenticebrother? The woodcutter in front of him appeared very ordinary and was dressed in a very ordinary manner as well. Ning’s judgment was quite astute by now, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see anything special about the tattered grass shoes or raggedy clothes; they seemed to be ordinary clothes, not magic treasures. And…no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sense any presence or aura stemming from this woodcutter at all. In fact, Ning didn’t even feel the slightest hint of danger emanating from him. No matter from what angle Ning inspected him, this woodcutter seemed like an ordinary mortal! “Whew.” The woodcutter rested his hatchet over his shoulder, straightened his waist, then turned and said with a laugh, “Haha, so it’s Lord Jiang. Why have you come to my place?” “Per Master’s orders, I went to the world of the Grand Xia to bring our junior apprentice-brother. I’m back now, and I thought I’d bring him over to see you, senior apprentice-brother,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. “Junior apprentice-brother?” The woodcutter looked at Ning, looked at him quite carefully. His gaze, however, seemed quite ordinary. It didn’t seem to be the slightest bit penetrating. “He’s our junior apprentice-brother. His name is Ji Ning, and he is currently just a Wanxiang Adept,” the white-robed Lord Jiang said. “Ji Ning, hurry up and pay your respects to our eldest apprentice-brother.” 2179 “Greetings, eldest apprentice-brother,” Ning said while bowing. The woodcutter laughed. “I’m just a chopper of firewood. Still, for you to be accepted by Master at such a young age means that Master must value you highly. Master is very good-natured, but you still need to work hard and not disappoint him.” “Right.” Ning nodded. “Alright, you can go now, Lord Jiang. Take this Ji Ning to meet Master,” the woodcutter said. “Alright.” The white-robed Lord Jiang immediately led Ning away. Back on the main mountain road. Ning said, puzzled, “Eldest apprentice-brother…he isn’t a mortal, is he?” When he saw the likes of Lu Dongbin and the Xia Emperor, he could clearly tell how incredible they were. But of course, it was also possible that this was because Lu Dongbin and the others hadn’t retracted their auras! But this woodcutter…no matter how hard Ning tried, he couldn’t sense even the slightest hint of cultivation about him. In fact, the woodcutter even had calluses on his hands, and there was some white hair on his head. “Of course not,” Lord Jiang said. “From the Primordial Era to the present day, Master has taken in many disciples, and there are even quite a few True Immortals and Empyrean Gods. But in terms of power, eldest apprentice-brother is the undisputed number one! He’s far more powerful than the rest of us.” “The undisputed number one?” Ning was stunned. “Right. Only, ever since the destruction of the Primordial World, eldest apprentice-brother has never left this world of the Tristar Crescent Abode,” Lord Jiang said. “This is why there are very, very few people in the Three Realms who know of him.” Ning couldn’t help but feel stunned. It was only after the destruction of the Primordial World that the three thousand major worlds and the trillion minor worlds were born. An unfathomably long period of time had passed since the creation of the three thousand major worlds, but this eldest apprentice-brother actually had the patience and temperament to never roam the Three Realms? Generally speaking, powerful experts would like to stroll about many of the places of the Three Realms. After all, each of the trillion minor worlds had their own unique aspects, and were quite exciting. Lu Dongbin, for example, liked to play around in the mortal world. He had left behind his legacy in countless worlds. The names of many formidable figures had been spread throughout the Three Realms. But eldest apprentice-brother had never left after the destruction of the Primordial World? “What is his name?” Ning asked. “Woodcutter,” Lord Jiang said. “I meant his real name. Or his Daoist title,” Ning said. “Real name, Daoist title…all I know is that eldest apprentice-brother is referred to as the woodcutter.” Lord Jiang shook his head. “I don’t know anything else. When you are training in the Dao on the mountain, you can come to this mountain forest to train. Perhaps he will see you and be willing to guide you.” Ning nodded. So the senior disciple under Patriarch Subhuti’s tutelage was actually such a mysterious figure. Ning was quite curious as well. Soon, Lord Jiang brought Ning to the entrance to the cavern. The entrance had a large stone in front of it, which had three words on it: Tristar Crescent Abode! By each side of the entrance, there were two azure-robed Dao novitiates. For these two to be assigned to Mount Innerheart meant that they were monstrously talented figures themselves. However, here at Mount Innerheart, they were only viewed as ordinary figures. They were already quite delighted to be chosen as entrance guards. “Patriarch.” “Patriarch.” The two novices respectfully bowed towards Lord Jiang. Lord Jiang was a Pure Yang True Immortal. His rank was extremely high! “Mm.” Lord Jiang nodded, then brought Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing through the entrance. The two novices naturally did not bar his way. …… They continued to walk forward into the cavern. The insides of this Tristar Crescent Abode was quite beautiful and graceful. It had all sorts of fairy cranes and animals. Their auras were all retracted and hidden, but despite that Ning could still sense a tremendous degree of threat and power emanating from them. The aura of the Tristar Crescent Abode itself was quite calm and peaceful. The various beasts and Diremonsters didn’t have even a hint of a baleful, savage aura at all. They seemed extraordinary docile. “When the Patriarch takes on disciples, he doesn’t care about their birth or lineage. Thus, aside from humans, even many monsters and Fiendgods have come to learn the Dao from him,” Lord Jiang said with 2181 a laugh. “The Patriarch has a particular rule; anyone who comes to Mount Innerheart is forbidden from fighting with the other disciples. If any disciple dares to assault another, the Patriarch will immediately intervene to suppress the fight and shatter his soul!” “No matter who! Even I am not permitted to act against those various younger generation disciples. If I do, then Master will kill me as well,” Lord Jiang said. “This is an iron rule that no one can violate.” Ning nodded. No wonder the aura here was so peaceful. So all types of battle were completely forbidden. The Patriarch himself was at the top of the mountain. Who would dare act wildly? They continued to walk forward. On the path upwards, they heard various greetings, such as ‘Patriarch’, ‘uncle-master’, ‘uncle-master’, ‘Patriarch’, and more. Clearly, Lord Jiang’s status was very high. “Master is inside.” Lord Jiang pointed to an ordinary-looking Daoist monastery up ahead. There were two more Dao novitiates standing in front of the monastery. “Uncle-master, the Patriarch instructed us long ago that Ji Ning can be brought straight to him. There’s no need for any report to be made,” one of the novitiates said with a smile. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “The two spirit-beasts should wait here for now,” the Dao novitiate instructed. Ning nodded. Little Qing and Uncle White both obediently stood to one side, waiting silently. Both of them knew quite well that the person within this Daoist monastery was an awe-inspiringly famous supreme power of the Three Realms, Patriarch Subhuti. “Let’s go.” The white-robed Lord Jiang led Ning directly into the monastery. “Uncle White, Master is going to go meet a Daofather. I feel like I’m dreaming.” Little Qing’s eyes were filled with excitement. The Whitewater Hound nodded gently as well. He, too, was still in a state of shock. That little child who had trained in the sword and in archery by his side…he was actually about to become an apprentice to a major power, Patriarch Subhuti. “A person’s fate truly is unfathomable.” Within the monastery. There was an empty region filled with many prayer mats. In front of this empty region, there was an elevated platform, atop which there was another prayer mat. On this elevated prayer mat, there was a skinny, white-bearded elder. This skinny elder was dressed in loose robes. He was seated in the lotus position, and he emanated an aura that caused others to feel at peace in their heart. “He is Patriarch Subhuti?” Upon seeing this white-bearded elder, Ning couldn’t help but secretly feel nervous. This was a truly major power, a power that had even killed other Fiendgod Daofathers, a power that was acclaimed as the most mysterious Daofather of the Three Realms! How could Ning not feel nervous in front of such a person? “Master, I’ve brought Ji Ning over,” Lord Jiang said with great respect. “I bow in respect to you, Daofather,” Ning said with great respect as well. Patriarch Subhuti opened his eyes, looking at Ning. A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he nodded gently. He then instructed Lord Jiang, “You can leave for now. Ji Ning can stay by himself.” “Yes.” The white-robed Lord Jiang respectfully departed, leaving behind only Ning and Patriarch Subhuti. Patriarch Subhuti said with a calm smile, “No need to be nervous. Pick any prayer mat and sit down first.” “Yes.” Ning chose a prayer mat, then sat down in the lotus position. “I watched the Conclave of Immortal Destiny of the world of the Grand Xia. Of the participants, you, Woodpass, and the Sloppy Daoist were the most outstanding,” Patriarch Subhuti evaluated. “Crimsonbright ended up choosing Woodpass…and this was as I expected. In choosing disciples, Crimsonbright cares about mindset and temperament the most. The temperament of that Woodpass truly is most suited to him.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh in secret. The spirit of the underwater estate had said that Patriarch Subhuti was very good at teaching students. Comparatively speaking, Daofather Crimsonbright and Grand Emperor Xuanwu’s teaching abilities were significantly lower. For even Patriarch Subhuti to praise both Woodpass and Sloppy as excellent meant that they truly did have potential. “But in my eyes, you have even more potential than the other two,” Patriarch Subhuti said. Ning felt a surge of joy in his heart. This was the very first time someone had said that he had more potential than Sloppy and Woodpass…and the speaker was Patriarch Subhuti! “The path of Immortal cultivation is filled with many dangers and obstacles. Thus, with each step, you need to leave a firm footprint as you walk forward in a stable manner. Your heart must be stable as well. This is indeed true,” Patriarch Subhuti said. “From this perspective, Woodpass and Sloppy are both excellent disciples. Their foundations were the most stable amongst the contestants in the Conclave, and their hearts were also the most stable and calm as well.” “However…everything in this world is divided into yin and yang,” Patriarch Subhuti said. “Although it is important to be stable and solid, it is also important to be sharp.” “You need to be stable, but you also need sharpness.” “Stability is yin, while sharpness is yang! When yin and yang support each other, one can walk farther on one’s path.” Patriarch Subhuti laughed. “Ji Ning, you are far ‘sharper’ than the other two, and your foundation is quite solid as well. Only…a disciple like you is harder to guide and teach. It is very easy to teach disciples like Sloppy and Woodpass. So long as you let them slowly train and slowly adventure, they will slowly rise in power.” “As for you…your rate of improvement will be faster, but things will also be more risky. Your future potential might be higher than theirs, but you might also perish midway.” Patriarch Subhuti looked at Ning. “Today, I shall impart a few words to you. You need to memorize them.” “The path of Immortal cultivation… your goals should be distant and grand, with Pangu and Nuwa as your models.” “The path of Immortal cultivation…it requires you to lower your head and watch the road, for you to remember to maintain a solid foundation. Do not merely think about soaring into the skies; when a bird soars too far, its eggs might be stolen and destroyed. It will perish, its Dao gone.” 2184 “The path of Immortal cultivation…it requires caution. It is a boat that will sail for ten thousand years that you must control with care.” “The path of Immortal cultivation…it requires sharpness. Only with a heart that is filled with a desire to charge into the heavens can you walk even farther on this path.” Patriarch Subhuti’s words were simple, but they struck at the very foundation of an Immortal cultivator’s heart and mind. Everyone summoned before Patriarch Subhuti as a student had superb talent and comprehensive abilities. What determined one’s accomplishments after that…was the heart! “Ji Ning shall firmly memorize these words,” Ning said seriously. “How to make your goals grand but not too high…how to be cautious and yet have the desire to charge into the heavens…you will need to handle this yourself. The world is divided into yin and yang, and between yin and yang lies the heart,” Patriarch Subhuti said. Ning nodded. As soon as the Patriarch had met him, he had imparted these words. Ning understood how important these words were, and also the principles which the Patriarch spoke of. However…some things were easy to ‘understand’ but hard to ‘carry out’. On the path of Immortal cultivation, one would need to constantly remind one’s self, so as to prevent one’s self from embarking on a wrong path. These four things the Pariarch had advised him regarding was like four signposts on the Immortal path that would constantly remind him. …… Patriarch Subhuti continued to speak. “I watched the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. You should have learned the divine ability, [Starseizing Hand].” “Yes.” Ning admitted it. Since the Patriarch himself had said the words [Starseizing Hand], how could he even think about hiding it? “My fellow Daoist Threelives…he finally has a true successor. His divine ability has once more reappeared in the Three Realms!” Patriarch Subhuti let out an emotional sigh. “Little bear, why haven’t you come out yet?” Whoosh. A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to Ning. It was the giant yellow bear. “Eh?!” Ning realized to his astonishment that the giant yellow bear next to him was quite solid and seemingly real, as though he were a living creature. He didn’t seem as illusory and dreamlike as he did when he was the spirit within the underwater estate. “This little bear pays his respects to the Daofather.” The giant yellow bear fell to his knees, pressing his forehead against the ground. “So indeed, Ji Ning, you managed to enter the Starseizing Manor and learned the divine ability within it.” Patriarch Subhuti nodded. Ning revealed a surprised look. “Patriarch, the Starseizing Manor…?” The nearby giant yellow bear explained, “The ‘Starseizing Manor’ is the true, original name of this underwater estate. Although the estate was left behind by Master for his successors, it was also the estate which Master lived in. In the past, Master would often receive his guests within the Starseizing Manor, and even invite some Fiendgods to listen to him expound upon the Dao.” Ning instantly thought back to the many giant prayer mats in the middle of the underwater estate. Indeed, many people must have come to listen to lectures on the Dao. Patriarch Subhuti said, “The relationship between Threelives and the Starseizing Manor was similar to the relationship between myself and the Tristar Crescent Abode. In the past, when Threelives knew that the upcoming tribulation would be a hard one to overcome, he made careful preparations, adding a vast quantity of treasures into his estate. He even melted down and extracted the essence of multiple Protocosmic spirit-treasures and invited multiple major powers over in order to forge it. Afterwards, he gave it up and had this little bear search for a successor for him.” “I ask for your guidance, Daofather.” The giant yellow bear pressed his head repeatedly against the ground, his eyes brimming with tears. “Tell this little bear…where is Master? Is he alive or is he dead?” The sound of his kowtowing rang out as he pressed his head against the ground repeatedly. Clearly, he desperately wanted to know this answer. He had waited countless ages for this day. Thud. Thud. Thud. Upon hearing this, a complicated look appeared on Patriarch Subhuti’s face. He was silent for a moment, then said, “Threelives was my very best friend…my lifelong bosom friend! We met each other in the primordial chaos and adventured together. I was a bit more reserved, whereas brother Threelives had a sharpness that couldn’t be hidden! I enjoyed comprehending the cosmos and the various mysteries of the Heavenly Daos; I didn’t involve myself in the various power struggles of the Primordial Era. Brother Threelives, however, desired to do battle against the heavens and the earth. He loved combat, and he had many Fiendgods who followed his command. He carved out an enormous territory within the Primordial World for himself, and was referred to within it as the Godking.” “Because very early on in his training, his arm had been severed, he trained painstakingly until he finally developed the utterly astonishing divine ability, the [Starseizing Hand]!” 2186 “True Gods of Primordial Chaos are innately predisposed to enjoy battle. Even many Ki Refining Daofathers are unwilling to engage in life-and-death battles against True Gods of Primordial Chaos. After brother Threelives developed his [Starseizing Hand] divine ability, especially the Sixth Cycle of it, he reached an unfathomable level of power. He was extremely famous for his power even in the Primordial Era, and was ranked as one of the top True Gods.” Patriarch Subhuti’s gaze was rather dreamy as he slowly spoke. “However…he was unable to comprehend a Heavenly Dao, and so his danger sense was comparatively weaker. That great tribulation that came…it was the greatest tribulation which had occurred ever since Pangu had established the universe. Threelives insisted on participating in it. I tried to stop him, but he was filled with a desire to fight; he wasn’t willing to shrink back. He knew that it would be incredibly dangerous…but his hotblooded nature made him decide on going. Before leaving, he wanted to ensure that his [Starseizing Hand] wouldn’t be lost with him, and so he asked many friends to help him out. With their help, with his original estate as a raw material, and with many melted down treasures, he managed to create this new Starseizing Manor, meant to pass down his legacy.” “After he created the new Starseizing Manor, the tribulation came…and without any hesitation, he went to welcome the battle.” “That battle…I shrank back from it.” Patriarch Subhuti’s gaze was misty. Ning, hearing this, couldn’t help but feel his heart shake. Patriarch Subhuti had shrank back? The greatest tribulation to occur ever since Pangu had created the universe? “That tribulation, the greatest tribulation since Pangu had created the universe…the very first parts of it caused the Primordial World to shatter. Countless experts and Fiendgods fell. Figures that were even more powerful than Threelives fell as well.” Patriarch Subhuti sighed and shook his head. “Miserable. It was miserable. Threelives loved battle, and so of course he took part. His divine ability, the [Starseizing Hand], truly was one of the most supreme of grand divine abilities; even Nuwa herself praised its power. Threelives fought like a man possessed, and multiple Fiendgod Daofathers perished by his hand. As for myself, I relied on the [Dream of the Three Realms] to watch the battle; I didn’t participate.” “This divine ability was forged from Threelives’ innate love for battle, as well as some guidance from both Pangu and Nuwa. Only then was this divine ability developed. The creation of a divine ability requires talent. Although I have created far more divine abilities than Threelives, I’ve never been able to create one that was comparable to the [Starseizing Hand].” Patriarch Subhuti looked towards Ning. “For such a divine ability to have passed down to you…no matter what, you cannot let it sink into the dust and disappear.” Ning nodded repeatedly. So Daoist Threelives had relied on the [Starseizing Hand] to kill multiple Fiendgod Daofathers. From what Patriarch Subhuti was saying, this divine ability truly was incredibly terrifying. The giant yellow bear, however, felt his heart shake upon hearing these words. “Daofather, my master, he…” Ning looked towards Patriarch Subhuti as well. Was Daoist Threelives alive or dead? This was a question that he had wanted to know for a long time as well. “Little bear…” Patriarch Subhuti looked at the giant yellow bear. He let out a soft sigh. The giant yellow bear’s heart instantly trembled. His face changed, and he repeatedly pressed his head against the ground, kowtowing so hard that deep thudding sounds could be heard. “Please inform me, Daofather. Is Master dead or is he alive?” “Little bear…actually, in your heart, you’ve known the answer all along. Why must you ask?” Patriarch Subhuti shook his head. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “I…” The giant yellow bear looked at the Patriarch. “He died. He died long ago. He died within that tribulation.” The Patriarch shook his head. “Given Threelives’ temperament, if he was still alive, how could he not come back for you? How could he have let you drift through countless ages by yourself? Little bear, you clearly knew the truth…you just weren’t willing to believe it.” Drip! Drip! One teardrop after another fell onto the ground. The giant yellow bear’s kneeling body was shaking. He let out an agonized moan. “Nnnrragh…” The agonized cry caused Ning’s own heart to feel sour as well. “Master…master…master…” The giant yellow bear raised his head, howling madly. Daoist Threelives was like his father. Only a long time later did the kneeling bear say, “Forgive this little bear for his earlier outburst.” “Alright,” the Patriarch said, “You can go back to the Starseizing Manor. You cannot break away from the Starseizing Manor for now.” “Yes.” The giant yellow bear responded respectfully, then disappeared, having once more returned to the underwater estate. Although Ning felt moved by the depths of the feelings the spirit of the underwater estate had for Daoist Threelives, he had noticed a few puzzling points. Since the giant yellow bear was the spirit of the estate…why did he seem like he was a living creature? He even shed tears? And the Patriarch had even said that he couldn’t break away from the Starseizing Manor yet? Could it be that he could in the future? However, given that the spirit of the estate had already been within it for countless years without breaking free, it probably would take it a very, very long time before succeeding. “Ji Ning.” The Patriarch looked at Ning. “Threelives is dead. I will teach you the Dao in his place. Are you willing to take me as your teacher?” Ning immediately fell to his knees. “Your disciple greets you, Master!” “Mm.” The Patriarch revealed a hint of a smile. “From today onwards, you shall be one of the honorary disciples of my school. Once you become a Celestial Immortal after your tribulation, you shall become my personal disciple.” 2189 “Yes,” Ning said respectfully. “There aren’t too many rules in my school. Just two.” “One: You must not be disobedient and unfilial.” “Two: Without my permission, in the outside world you cannot say that I am your master,” the Patriarch said. “If you violate these rules…for a lesser infraction, I will kill you, wipe your memory, and return you to the cycle of reincarnation. For a severe infraction, I will destroy your soul. For an extremely severe infraction…I will make your soul suffer an eternity of pain through truefire.” Ning said respectfully, “Your disciple understands. Then…when can I say that I am your disciple?” “When the time comes, you shall naturally be permitted,” the Patriarch said with a laugh. “Alternately, if you can reach your eldest apprentice-brother’s level of power, you can also tell whoever you please.” Ning was secretly speechless. Eldest apprentice-brother? He was the number one expert amongst the many disciples. Even the white-robed Lord Jiang sighed at his own inferiority. How could it possibly be easy for him to reach such a level of power? “As for whether or not you act virtuously or evilly in the future, I won’t interfere. I only ask that you act in accordance with your true nature,” the Patriarch said. “Yes,” Ning said. “Step forward. Come to stand in front of me,” the Patriarch instructed. Ning was startled, but he moved forward, moving up the steps and walking to the Patriarch’s side. Suddenly… The Patriarch stretched a finger out, tapping Ning on the center of his forehead. This was a simple tap, but it caught Ning completely off-guard. The tap landed directly on his forehead. Rumble… Ning’s entire body turned soft. He sat down on the ground, then shut his eyes. He just sat there. The Patriarch smiled as he looked at Ning. He then closed his own eyes as well, no longer paying any attention. …… A lonely corridor. The two sides of the corridor were covered with paintings of various sword-art techniques. The sword-arts in the paintings were even moving, displaying the profound mysteries within. Ning walked forward through the corridor, staring at the endless sword-arts lining the two sides. “These sword-arts are fairly ordinary; they aren’t even comparable to the first level of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning walked forward. He forgot why he had come here. He forgot about the past. All he knew was that he was walking deeper and deeper through this corridor. The sword-arts on the two sides continuously moved about. They even managed to separate from the walls, swirling around Ning and allowing him to understand the mysteries within them. “This place…has reached the power of the second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning continued to walk forward. After walking for a short period of time, the sword-arts lining the halls began to demonstrate themselves in front of Ning, as though displaying the Dao of the Sword in fine detail. Ning had originally thought that he had a high level of comprehension of the Dao of the Sword, but he now realized that his insights were insufficiently detailed! Evil…dominating…arrogant…lonely…savage…all sorts of sword-arts were being displayed before him. “This place…has reached the level of the third stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” …… He had no idea how long he had been walking for. “This place…has already reached the level of the seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning continued to walk forward, constantly interacting with large amounts of marvelous sword-arts. Ning’s foundation became increasingly solid and stable. Although he had long ago reached the level of the seventh stance, his insights into the Dao of the Sword were now significantly greater than before. …… After yet another long period of time. “This is now at the level of the eighth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning felt that walking forward was becoming increasingly difficult. The countless sword-arts around him were constantly transmitting all sorts of profound mysteries to Ning. Ning was constantly being buffeted by them. This made his walking pace through the corridor to grow slower. …… 2191 “The level of the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” The sword-arts became increasingly unfathomable. Every single sword-art surrounding him was comparable to the ninth stance of the [ThreeFoot Sword], and countless sword-arts were on display. Although Ning couldn’t comprehend them, the fundamental mysteries of these sword-arts were firmly imprinted onto Ning’s soul. …… As he walked forward, the techniques vastly surpassed the [Three-Foot Sword]. If there were more stances to the [Three-Foot Sword], then the later sword-arts were comparable to the tenth and the eleventh stance… …… Ning was completely submerged in the sea of swords. As he walked through the corridor, his heart and soul was completely filled with all sorts of sword-arts, and the increasingly unfathomable sword-arts brushed past his heart. Although he didn’t understand them, this baptism by countless sword-arts caused Ning to become extremely familiar with the profound mysteries. A long, long time passed. It felt as though thousands of years had passed. Ning finally saw the end of this corridor. The end was an enormous, glowing streak of sword-light. Ning didn’t know why he was walking towards it. He didn’t know whether or not he should stop. And so, just like that…he walked to the end of the corridor. His body became submerged into that giant swordlight. Rumble… A vast flood of mysteries flooded his soul. The vastness of the Dao of the Sword…all of its mysteries…Ning was touching it all right now. The countless sword-arts he had interacted with earlier in the corridor also flashed through Ning’s mind, causing his heart to become even closer to the Dao of the Sword. “Eh?” Ning suddenly opened his eyes. He was still seated on the dais. Before him, seated on a prayer mat, was the loose-robed Patriarch. The Patriarch opened his eyes, smiling as he looked at Ning. “I…this…” Ning stared at his surroundings. Everything felt so fake and illusory. Only after a long period of time did his three decades of memories completely recover. The marvelous sword-arts that he had seen were now suppressed and hidden deep in Ning’s soul. “Master, I, I…” Ning nervously looked at the Patriarch. He felt as though thousands of years had passed. It had taken him so long to recover his decades of memories. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you just doze off?” The Patriarch laughed. “Master, how long did I sleep for?” Ning asked. “Not too long. The amount of time for a stick of incense to burn down,” the Patriarch said. “But I…I feel as though thousands of years passed,” Ning said. The Patriarch said, “All I did was apply the [Thousand Year Dream] technique to let you truly experience the complete Dao of the Sword for once. From the very start of the Dao of the Sword…to the very end, the completion of the Dao of the Sword. Right. The [Thousand Year Dream]. It truly did feel as though he had been in a dream. He had lost almost all of his cognitive abilities; all he could do was walk forward along the corridor in a daze. “All I did was let you sense the complete Dao of the Sword for once. Your own Dao of the Sword hasn’t risen in level that much,” the Patriarch said. Ning, however, knew very well that this [Thousand Year Dream] had been tremendously beneficial to him. Although he was still only able to execute the seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], his understanding of the sword was now far more stable and solid than it had been before. And as he continued to move forward on the Dao of the Sword…he would feel a vague sense of recognition of what to do next. In fact, he would even have a vague sense of what it felt like to completely master the Dao of the Sword. The path of Immortal cultivation was akin to a blind man using his sense of touch to search for rocks which would allow him to ford a river. Now that he had vague understanding of the path forward…he would be able to move through it much more quickly. “Thank you, Master.” Ning immediately fell to his knees. “I just gave you a single helping hand. How much you can make of it is up to you.” The Patriarch pointed gently, and a streak of light flew directly into Ning’s mind. Ning could sense a large amount of information pouring into his brain. Only after a long period of time did he become clear-minded again. “The [Darknorth Sutra]? The four scrolls of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?” Ning could sense the cultivation techniques that were now within his soul. The first scroll of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was divided into the Houtian, Xiantian, and Zifu levels. The second scroll of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was divided into the Wanxiang, Primal, and Void levels. The third scroll was the Empyrean God scroll! The fourth scroll was the True God scroll! “The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was created by Crimsonbright. Even Nuwa praised this technique, and it truly is an exquisite specimen that allows you to train all the way to the True God level,” the Patriarch said. “As for the [Darknorth Sutra], it is a water-element Ki Refining method that was created by Daofather Carefree; it will allow you to train all the way to the level of Daofathers of the Great Firmament.” “One is Body Refining, the other is Ki Refining. In the future, they shall serve as your foundation,” the Patriarch said. “Yes.” Ning was absolutely delighted. [Darknorth Sutra]? Something which Daofather Carefree had created? Just from this alone, he could tell that this was one of the most supreme Ki Refining techniques of the Three Realms. “In the Three Realms, Ki Refining Techniques and Body Refining Techniques aren’t that valuable,” the Patriarch said calmly. “Divine abilities and secret arts are much more valuable.” However, not even the Grand Xia Emperor possessed techniques like the [Darknorth Sutra]. Only someone on Patriarch Subhuti’s level would dare describe it as ‘not that valuable’. “My Mount Innerheart has two Dao-Palaces which contain all things within them. Formation techniques, construct techniques, the Dao of the Sword, the Dao of the Saber, Taiji, lightning arts, lotus arts…it includes all types of techniques, as well as many divine abilities and secret arts. It will be up to you to acquire them, if you can,” the Patriarch said calmly. “The Dao cannot be casually transmitted. If you wish to learn, then you must show the ability to learn.” “Your disciple understands,” Ning said respectfully. “Go, then. Calmly focus on studying the Dao, here in my Mount Innerheart. Only when your power is sufficient shall you be permitted to leave the mountain and return to your world of the Grand Xia,” the Daofather said. “And when you leave my tutelage and leave the mountain, I shall give you two great gifts.” “Master…at what level will my power be ‘enough’?” Ning asked. “When you reach it, I will tell you,” the Patriarch said. Ning was instantly speechless. He was being told to study the Dao…but he didn’t even know when he would be allowed to leave his master’s tutelage. “Go now,” the Patriarch said, calmly closing his eyes. “Without my permission, you are not to come here and disturb me.” “Understood.” Ning immediately left obediently. Only after Ning left did the Patriarch open his eyes again. He gently shook his head. “How long has it been? This is the first time I’ve ever been so talkative in front of a disciple. When I thought of Threelives, of that tremendous calamity we faced…my heart ended up being disturbed.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning walked out of the Daoist monastery. Outside of it was the white-robed Lord Jiang, Little Qing, and Uncle White. “Master.” Little Qing had already transformed into an azure-robed maiden. She immediately called out in delight upon seeing him. The white-robed Lord Jiang smiled as he looked at Ning. “I should now address you as junior apprenticebrother.” “Senior apprentice-brother,” Ning called out in response. The two novitiates outside the Daoist monastery all revealed looks of surprise. The white-robed Lord Jiang said with a laugh, “Clearwater and Whiteriver, Master has just accepted junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning as his disciple. The two of you need to remember this.” “Greetings, uncle-master,” the two novices both said towards Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning,” Lord Jiang said with a laugh, “Clearwater and Whiteriver are the personifications of two Protocosmic spirit-treasures who always serve him. Normally, even if I wish to meet with Master, I must first notify him and receive his permission, but the two of them are always by his side. They are able to see Master far more often than disciples like ourselves.” Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing were all greatly shocked. Protocosmic spirit-treasures? “Greetings, apprentice-nephews.” Ning naturally didn’t dare to show any hint of arrogance. “No need to be so courteous, uncle-master. We are merely two Protocosmic spirit-treasures; it is incomparably difficult for us to even train in cultivation. How can we possibly compare to the two of you? Your training speed far surpasses us,” the novitiate named Clearwater said. …… Protocosmic Fiendgods were the Fiendgods who had been born by the heavens and the earths after Pangu had created the universe. Protocosmic spirit-treasures were the magic treasures that were born by the heavens and the earths after Pangu had created the universe! Immortal cultivators were generally only capable of making Mortal-ranked, Earth-ranked, Heavenranked, Immortal-ranked, and Pure Yang magic treasures! Even major powers were only capable of 2196 creating Pure Yang magic treasures; this was the limit for manufactured treasures. However, Pure Yang magic treasures possess souls; they could absorb energy from the natural world, comprehend the profound mysteries of the universe, and have a very tiny chance of breaking through to become a Protocosmic spirit-treasure. “Junior apprentice-brother, the scenery here is quite beautiful, and it is also quite secluded. This can be your home, here at Mount Innerheart. Junior apprentice-brother, you can place your Immortal estate here.” The white-robed Lord Jiang looked at Ning as they arrived within a secluded region. Creeks could be seen nearby, as well as ripe red spirit-fruit hanging from the branches of trees, as well as some fairy birds flying past. Ning nodded. “Fine. Here it is, then.” He had come to the Tristar Crescent Abode in order to study the Dao. It didn’t really matter where he lived. In addition, this place which Lord Jiang had helped him choose was indeed worthy of being an abode for an Immortal. Whoosh. The Immortal estate descended, landing upon the grassy region. “Mount Innerheart has spirit-fruit and wells. You can eat and drink from them as you please,” Lord Jiang said. “There are many Diremonsters in this mountain, but you must remember that they cannot be killed. Those ordinary animals that are merely at the Houtian level, however, can be hunted, cooked, and eaten.” “Right.” Ning nodded his head. “We can only eat ordinary animals?” Little Qing was mumbling by herself. “Senior apprentice-brother, Master told me earlier that Mount Innerheart has two Dao-Palaces that include everything within them,” Ning said. “Right.” Lord Jiang nodded. “I’ll take you three over.” …… The place in the entire Tristar Crescent Abode with the most Fiendgods and Diremonsters was the Divinities Palace. “That’s the Divinities Palace, one of the two Dao-Palaces.” Lord Jiang pointed to a nine-layered palace in the distance. “The Divinities Palace is divided into nine levels, each one containing all sorts of techniques, including those for formations, golems, the Dao of the Sword, evasion, lightning, magnetism…all sorts of divine abilities and secrets arts are within it. The higher up you go, the more profound the mysteries are. The ninth floor naturally has the most profound techniques.” 2197 “Anyone can come to the Divinities Palace. All living creatures within Mount Innerheart can enter and learn. However, the Dao cannot be casually taught; there is a simple test that must be taken before studying a technique or secret art. Only after passing the test can you learn it,” Lord Jiang said. Ning nodded and immediately asked, “Then my two spirit-beasts can study here as well?” “Of course.” Lord Jiang nodded. “The techniques and arts within the Divinities Palace might not be the most profound and arcane ones possessed by the Tristar Crescent Abode, but they vastly surpass the Dao-Repositories of your Grand Xia world.” “Do you have techniques and secret arts of the Grand Dao of Qiankun1?” Little Qing was extremely delighted. “Do you have many formations here?” The Whitewater Hound was excited as well. “Far more than exist in your entire world of the Grand Xia,” Lord Jiang said confidently. “Even Daofather Crimsonbright is inferior to my master in terms of how many techniques he possesses. If you want to learn Ki Refining, Body Refining, formations, the Grand Dao of Qiankun, the Grand Dao of Taiji…you can learn all these things. All you need to do is pass that simple test.” Little Qing and the Whitewater Hound instantly realized that their chance had come. Actually, everyone within Mount Innerheart had some sort of connection to Daofather Subhuti. Some were his disciples or grand-disciples, while others were his disciples’ servants, spirit-beasts, etc. In short, they were generally all under Patriarch Subhuti’s command, which was why it made sense that everyone here within Mount Innerheart was permitted to learn these techniques. “There are many humans here, but even more Diremonsters and Fiendgods.” Ning saw many figures on the ground outside the Divinities Palace. There were even avian Diremonsters flying about, as well as some Fiendgods that had extremely strange appearances. “Senior apprentice-brother, what’s the other Dao-Palace?” Ning asked. “Two Dao-Palaces – the Divinities Palace, and the Three Realms Palace. All living creatures within Mount Innerheart are permitted to enter the Divinities Palace, but only personal disciples of the Patriarch or those with special dispensation from the Patriarch are allowed to enter the Three Realms Palace!” Lord Jiang continued, “Junior apprentice-brother, since you are still weak, you are technically only an honorary disciple for now. However, Master treats you as he does his other personal disciples, and so you can enter the Three Realms Palace. Your two spirit-beasts, however, cannot.” Ning nodded in understanding. “The Three Realms Palace holds some of the most truly supreme divine abilities of the Three Realms, as well as some terrifying secret arts. These things cannot be casually taught. Even personal disciples are 2198 only permitted to learn a few, at which point Master forbids them from learning any more,” Lord Jiang said. “To be able to learn a few is already a tremendous fortune; after all, for normal Empyrean Gods, being able to learn even one of these techniques is already enough to allow them to roam the Three Realms fearlessly.” This caused Ning’s heart to be filled with a blazing fire. The power to roam the Three Realms without fear! “And generally, when a student leaves his tutelage, Master will bestow a divine ability or secret art that is very suited to him,” Lord Jiang said with a laugh. Ning now remembered…that his master had said that when he left, he would be given two great gifts. “Divinities Palace, Three Realms Palace.” Lord Jiang sighed, “Junior apprentice-brother, you must remember that you must have the ability to acquire one of the techniques or secret arts from the ninth level of the Divinities Palace before you can enter the Three Realms Palace.” “If you can’t even acquire the ninth level techniques, then you naturally aren’t qualified to enter the Three Realms Palace,” Lord Jiang said. “As for the other living creatures of Mount Innerheart, generally speaking, after they have the ability to learn ninth level techniques, they will eventually be shooed off the mountain.” Ning nodded. This was something that was different for personal disciples! And although Ning was only an honorary disciple, his treatment was completely in line with that given to personal disciples. “The Three Realms Palace.” Ning felt an itchiness in his heart. “Junior apprentice-brother, spend some time and look around. If there’s anything you need, just come find me. I live just up the mountain; you can ask anyone and they’ll tell you where I am,” Lord Jiang said. “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother,” Ning said with gratitude. “A minor matter.” Lord Jiang left gracefully. He had long ago ascended past his apprenticeship and had reached the Pure Yang True Immortal level. The main reason he continued to live at Mount Innerheart was because he liked the peaceful quiet of this place, and because he could occasionally listen to Patriarch Subhuti expound on the Dao. After all…at his level, everyone’s main goal was to become a Daofather. Daofathers were truly the most supreme figures of the Three Realms! …… “The Three Realms Palace is so tiny,” Little Qing mumbled. “It looks completely unremarkable. It’s a place that holds the most supreme divine abilities and most terrifying secret arts of the Three Realms; this DaoPalace should be built to look a bit more imposing and have at least a bit of Immortal majesty.” 2199 Ning blinked as well. The distant ‘Three Realms Palace’ was just an ordinary little building, just ten or so meters high. Outside the building, there was a skinny old man that was lying down taking a nap, a fan across his chest. His slumbering snores were quite loud; even at this distance, Ning could hear everything clearly. The Divinities Palace. Ning, Little Qing, and the Whitewater Hound arrived at the Divinities Palace. The humans, Diremonsters, and Fiendgods outside the Divinities Palace all looked at the three with curiosity. “Who are these three? Why haven’t I seen them before?” “I’ve never seen them either. They must’ve just come to the mountain.” “I saw Patriarch Jiang leading them around earlier. Perhaps that fur-clad youth is a disciple which Patriarch Jiang accepted as a disciple.” “Their auras are very weak. It seems these three are at the Wanxiang level.” “Right. Quite weak.” The humans, monsters, and Fiendgods chatted amongst themselves, clearly not recognizing this group. In front of the entrance to the Divinities Palace, there was a handsome man in a white robe and who held a white fan in his hands. The handsome man languidly barked, “Hush.” Instantly, everyone fell silent. All the humans, Diremonsters, and Fiendgods all fell silent. This handsome man was in charge of the Divinities Palace; of course they respected him! In addition, he was also an incredibly, terrifyingly powerful Primordial Fiendgod. His power was incomparably great, far greater than any of theirs. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” The handsome man smiled and nodded towards Ning. “My name is Silvermoon. You may simply refer to me as senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon. I already know of your affairs.” “Ji Ning greets you, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning could sense an incomparably terrifying aura emanating from this handsome man’s body, an aura comparable to the one which Empyrean God Seatopple had. All of the humans, Diremonsters, and Fiendgods were completely stunned. Junior apprentice-brother? That old demon Silvermoon had actually addressed the fur-clad kid as junior apprentice-brother? That meant…this fur-clad kid was Patriarch Subhuti’s disciple! For a mere Wanxiang Adept to become Patriarch Subhuti’s disciple…there was no question that the Patriarch viewed him with great favor. If he was to become a Celestial Immortal, he would definitely become a personal disciple. “Right.” The white-robed, fan-holding man glanced at the many distant humans, Diremonsters, and Fiendgods. He said calmly, “All of you, listen up. This Ji Ning is the new disciple the Patriarch has just accepted. All of you need to be respectful. Those of you who should address him as uncle-master, do so. Those of you who should address him as Patriarch, do so as well.” “Respectful greetings, uncle-master.” “Respectful greetings, Patriarch.” All of these mighty humans, Diremonsters, and Fiendgods were all calling out to him with respect. Ning stared at these figures. There were all at least at the Primal or Void levels. There were even quite a few Void-level Fiendgods and Godbeasts. Void-level Fiendgods…these were figures on the level of that Fiendgod he had met in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains. For all of them to be obediently calling out to him as ‘uncle-master’ and ‘Patriarch’…Ning felt this was quite bizarre. “Come in, junior apprentice-brother,” the white-robed man said. Ning immediately turned and entered the Divinities Palace. The very first floor was filled with bookshelves and countless books. Atop one of the bookshelves, there was a line of large characters: “If you clean the mountain path of Mount Innerheart once, you can choose a technique at will.” 1. Also known as the Grand Dao of Space per If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “That’s the requirement for learning these techniques and secret arts?” Ning stared in amazement at the line of characters above the bookshelf. The Patriarch had told him previously as well that a simple trial would have to be passed before one could train in these techniques. Ning had already been prepared for this, and had the feeling that the trial would be easy, but…this was too easy. Just clean the mountain path once? It must be understood that everyone with access to the Divinities Palace was extraordinary; most likely, they’d be able to clean the mountain path in the amount of time needed to boil a kettle of tea. Ning pulled out a sword-arts manual and flipped through it. He was instantly astonished. This was definitely at the level of the [Lesser Five Elements Sword] manual. “Wow, this is an Immortal-ranked Ki Refining Technique!” Little Qing called out. “This book on formations is definitely not inferior to the [Nine Scrolls on Formations]!” The Whitewater Hound grew excited as well. Ning swept his gaze forward. The enormous bookshelves were simply brimming with books, and above all of them were the same line of characters – “If you clean the mountain path of Mount Innerheart once, you can choose a technique at will.” Clearly, the requirement for choosing any book on this first floor of the Divinities Palace was the same. The handsome white-robed man shook his head and laughed. “In Mount Innerheart, there is an old saying…the techniques and secret arts of the Divinities Palace, when learned, shall allow you to become a Celestial Immortal or Empyrean God. The divine abilities and secret arts of the Three Realms Palace, however, shall allow you to be able to roam and dominate the Three Realms.” “Master learns of the affairs of the Three Realms through his dreaming, and so he is naturally incredible in collecting divine abilities and secret arts. The number of techniques and arts he has collected here in the Divinities Palace from ancient times til now is simply uncountable. Even at the lowest level here on this first floor, the techniques present are considered quite excellent in ordinary worlds,” the white-robed Silvermoon said. Ning nodded gently. Indeed. Through the [Dream of the Three Realms], his master was indeed quite astonishingly good at collecting various sorts of techniques. “Senior apprentice-brother, so this is the trial for learning first level techniques?” Ning pointed at the line of characters. “Right. When cleaning the mountain paths, you have to personally sweep it using a broom. Most likely even Immortal cultivators will need half a day to clean the many levels and layers,” Silvermoon said. Ning nodded. If one could use techniques it would be much faster, but if one had to use a broomstick, it would indeed take considerably more time. “The first level is too simple. Junior apprentice-brother, follow me,” Silvermoon said. “Alright.” …… Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing all followed Silvermoon, the manager of the Divinities Palace, up the stairs and to the second floor of the palace. The bookshelves of the Divinities Palace also all had a line of characters above them. The line said: “ Wipe down every single table within the entire Divinities Palace and you can choose a technique at will.” “…so easy.” Ning blinked, lowering his head to stare at the sword-arts manuals. “These are already comparable to some of the supreme manuals the Black-White College has.” “What a precious place.” The Whitewater Hound was completely stunned as well. “And this is just the second level? I’ve never even seen such deep and profound techniques!” Little Qing’s eyes were completely crimson. “Hahaha, come, let’s go see the third level,” Silvermoon laughed. …… They arrived at the third level. Above the bookcases were a line of characters: “Get rid of the weeds within a hundred kilometers and you can choose a technique at will.” The nearby Silvermoon said, “You have to pull up every single weed manually. To pull up all the weed within a hundred kilometers, one weed at a time…that should take at least a month or so.” “Getting harder.” Ning nodded. He was beginning to notice that each progressing level had a higher level of difficulty. Although it was all just manual labor, it took up time. “Pulling up a hundred kilometers of weed for a single technique…then pulling ten or a hundred would need…” Little Qing muttered to herself. “Let’s look at the fourth floor.” Ning led them upwards once more. …… 2203 The bookshelves here had a new line of characters above them: “Personally plant ten thousand fruit trees, and you can choose a technique at will.” “This seems a bit easier than the weeding,” Little Qing said in a puzzled manner. Ning nodded as well. Weeding had to be done within a hundred kilometers; there would definitely be far more. “Ah, you don’t understand. These fruit trees are not the fruit trees of the mortal worlds. These are fruit trees that bear Immortal fruit or spirit-fruit; they naturally require tremendous care when planting. Even though Immortal cultivators have incredible abilities, for them to carefully plant one tree at a time by hand…ten thousand will take at least half a year,” Silvermoon said. “Half a year?” “So much hard work for half a year, just to learn a single technique? And this is just the fourth level, right?” Little Qing stared. Ning was quite calm; he continued to the fifth floor. …… One floor after another. The trial of the first floor only required half a day’s worth of work. The trial for the second floor required three days. The trial for the third floor required a month. The trial for the fourth floor required half a year. The trial for the fifth floor required three years. The trial for the sixth floor required twenty full years. The trial for the seventh floor required a century. …… “And here is the eighth floor.” Although Ning was filled with questions, he still looked calm on the surface as he arrived on the eighth floor of the Divinities Palace. The number of books on this floor was clearly much lower. The Ki Refining techniques here had already surpassed the Pure Yang level and were at the Daofather level. The divine abilities and secret arts here…any one of them could serve as a foundational treasure for the likes of the imperial Xiamang clan. Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing simultaneously turned their gazes towards the line of characters above the bookshelves. The line of words read: “Serve as novitiate guards for the Tristar Crescent Abode for a thousand years and you can choose a technique at will.” “The seventh floor only required a hundred years, but this one requires a thousand.” Little Qing couldn’t help but say, “How long are we going to have to stay here at the Tristar Crescent Abode before we can leave it?” “But the techniques and secret arts here…I imagine that not even the most treasured techniques of the Youngflame clan or the Northmont clan are so deep and profound.” Ning was still quite calm. “Come. Let us go to the ninth floor.” …… The ninth floor was the final floor of the Divinities Palace. On this floor, there were only three bookshelves, and they didn’t have that many books on them. Clearly, however…these were truly standouts. Any book here would allow the practitioner to become a powerful expert of the Three Realms. They could absolutely serve as pinnacle techniques…and for normal disciples here at Mount Innerheart, these were the ultimate techniques available! Only personal disciples and those with special permission from Patriarch Subhuti could go to the Three Realms Palace! “Eh?” Ning discovered to his astonishment that the bookshelves were completely black, with no characters above them. “Why aren’t there any characters? Can it be that the techniques here on the ninth floor cannot be taught?” Little Qing was puzzled. Ning turned his head to look towards the nearby Silvermoon. “Senior apprentice-brother, the trials for the first eight floors of the Divinities Palace require increasingly longer periods of time to complete…can it be that there is no trial for the ninth floor? And…can it be that the only way to learn the techniques of the Divinities Palace is to engage in manual labor? The eighth floor requires one to be a novitiate for a thousand years to learn a technique…does that mean if you want to learn ten techniques, you would have to spend ten thousand years?” Ning had been planning to train for just a few decades or a century and then return to the world of the Grand Xia. This was his agreement with Yu Wei! To spend ten thousand years here at Mount Innerheart? He would be arriving far too late! “Haha…you are quite clever, junior apprentice-brother.” Silvermoon waved his feather fan, then said leisurely, “The Divinities Palace actually has two types of trials. The first type consists of manual labors which naturally are not difficult at all; all one needs to do is spend some time. For those slightly dumber cultivators with poorer comprehension abilities, this is usually the type of trial they will choose. A thousand years as a novitiate to learn the powerful techniques of the eighth floor? It is worth it.” Ning nodded. After one became a Primal, one’s lifespan became limitless; all one had to do was be able to overcome the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. To spend a thousand years on a single technique was indeed worth it. “You can view this as a gift which Master gave to Mount Innerheart. Although it is said that the Dao cannot be casually taught, Master only required these simple ‘trials’ be passed,” Silvermoon said. “But of course, for truly peerless geniuses who have superior comprehension there is naturally no need to engage in all this manual labor. There are other trials for such individuals.” “What trials?” Ning asked. Silvermoon laughed. “Junior apprentice-brother, didn’t you notice that in the empty region outside the Divinities Palace, where all those humans, monsters, and Fiendgods were congregating, there were some restrictive formations and spells?” Ning thought back to what he had seen, then nodded. “Right. That region was indeed marked with some formations and restrictive runes.” “That place is the place for battling,” Silvermoon said. “Master created nine golems at nine different of power. Anyone who is capable of defeating the first golem is allowed to pick a technique from the first level of the Divinities Palace at will.” “If you defeat the second golem once, you can choose a technique from the second floor at will. If you beat it twice, you can choose two techniques. Three times, pick three…and so on.” “If you beat the third golem, you can choose from the third floor.” “The principles are the same for the ninth golem; if you defeat it, you can naturally choose a technique from the ninth floor.” Silvermoon smiled as he looked at Ning. “Understand, junior apprentice-brother?” “This trial is quite simple as well. Understood.” Ning nodded, then asked with suspicion, “If you beat it once you will gain one technique, if you beat it twice you will gain two…can it be that the more times you fight, the more powerful the golem will become?” “When you actually go fight them, you’ll know the answer.” Silvermoon no longer gave any more information on this. “But remember; these fights are meant to test your insights into the Dao! Thus, all 2206 divine abilities are forbidden, as well as any formations, forbidden arts, etc. I hear you are a Sword Immortal. If so, then you are only permitted to use your sword and sword-arts. Unleash the full power and sharpness of your sword-arts.” Ning nodded. “By doing manual labor, one can learn techniques up to the eighth floor. Only by defeating the ninth golem, however, can the ninth floor techniques be learned.” Silvermoon looked at Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, once you defeat the ninth golem and learn a ninth floor technique, you can go to the Three Realms Palace.” “Right.” Ning nodded, then asked, “Senior apprentice-brother, which golem should I test myself against for now?” “There isn’t much point in acquiring those weaker sword-arts manuals; it’s best to start from a higher place! Since Master was willing to accept you as his disciple, I imagine that you are a rare, peerless genius as well…how about this? Why don’t you give the sixth golem a try?” This was Silvermoon’s best guess, as he didn’t know anything about Ning’s level of power. Still, he could guess that Ning was most likely a supreme genius. “The sixth golem? The sixth floor?” Ning thought back to the sixth floor; the sword-arts manuals there were already even more profound than the full nine stances of the [Three-Foot Sword]! Every sword-arts manual there surpassed the best that the Black-White College had to offer. “But I’m only at the Wanxiang level,” Ning said, a bit worried. “Isn’t that a bit…” “Don’t worry. The nine golems which Master created are extraordinary. They will release different levels of power, based on the strength of their foes. Since you are at the Wanxiang level, the elemental ki these golems will use shall also be at the Wanxiang level. If you were a Void-level Earth Immortal, then the elemental ki these golems would use would also be Void-level. This is why I said this is a test of your comprehension of the Dao! It doesn’t matter if you are a Wanxiang Adept, a Primal Daoist, or a Void-level Earth Immortal,” Silvermoon said. Ning instantly felt reassured. “Good. Then I’ll give the sixth golem a try.” “Come, let’s go to the testing ground.” Silvermoon immediately lead Ning down from the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace to the empty field outside. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Outside the Divinities Palace. “All of you, step back,” Silvermoon instructed. All of the disciples of Mount Innerheart present all hurriedly departed from the empty region. Silvermoon waved his arm, and a golem that was more than three meters tall appeared out of nowhere. The golem’s body seemed completely metallic, and its arm had six hoops around it. “Junior apprentice-brother, this is the sixth golem,” Silvermoon said. “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning was filled with anticipation. Silvermoon, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing immediately left the dueling grounds. As for the other Mount Innerheart disciples, they all revealed looks of amazement and curiosity. “Uncle-master is going to duel a golem.” “The Patriarch is about to show his power!” “The Little Patriarch is immediately challenging the sixth golem upon arriving at the power. I imagine that he’s pretty confident in being able to defeat it. He’s only a Wanxiang Adept, but he actually dares to fight the sixth golem. What level of insight into the Dao must the Little Patriarch have reached?! No wonder Patriarch Subhuti took him as a disciple. He truly is a peerless monster.” “I’ve been on the mountain for thousands of years, but I’m still unable to defeat the sixth golem. I had to serve as a novitiate in order to acquire an eighth level Divinities Palace technique,” an old Void-level Diremonster growled. “Challenging the sixth golem as soon as he comes up the mountain? Formidable, formidable indeed. Even in the major world from whence I come, it is rare for such a peerless genius to come in countless lifetimes.” These humans, monsters, and Fiendgods all spoke out in praise. As they saw it, since Ning had been chosen by Patriarch Subhuti as his disciple, he was assuredly extraordinary. In addition, that old demon Silvermoon, the manager of this Divinities Palace, was also a personal disciple of Patriarch Subhuti. Since he chose the sixth golem for Ning, he probably felt confident that Ning could beat it. “Formidable.” “A peerless genius.” 2208 “Incredible.” The disciples of Mount Innerheart were all filled with eagerness as they waited to watch. …… The trial grounds. Ning was exchanging stares with the distant sixth golem. From far away, Little Qing was cheering, “Master, master, beat the snot out of that golem!” “Little Wanxiang kid, if you want to beat me, bring out your power.” The three meter tall golem growled, then waved his hand as a longsword suddenly appeared within it. “Good.” A Darknorth sword appeared in each of Ning’s hands as well. “Kill!” Ning instantly charged forward. All of the disciples of Mount Innerheart present, as well as the old demon Silvermoon, were watching this battle carefully. After having mastered the Dao-Path of the Gale, Ning’s speed had become incredibly fast; he blew forward like a gust of wind and arrived before the sixth golem, and his Darknorth swords instantly struck out like two streaks of dazzling sword-light. After experiencing the [Thousand Year Dream], Ning’s sword-arts had clearly become firmer and more stable, and his movements were more pure and exquisite as well. Bang! The golem struck out with its longsword, and the earth itself seemed to tremble. The longsword actually came smashing down with the weight of a mountain, and Ning could even see with his naked eyes the vague illusion of massive mountains appearing around it. The might and aura of this sword stance caused Ning to feel completely awestruck. “Not good. The difference in power is too great!” Ning, upon seeing the illusion of massive mountains which had manifested around the golem’s sword-chop, instantly felt completely unable to resist. The profoundness of the attack’s formless Dao… His own two chopping streaks of sword-light became as thin as silken, becoming incomparably soft. BOOM!!! The golem’s longsword smashed down upon Ning’s twin Darknorth swords. A surge of invincible power crushed downwards, and Ning was sent flying through the air like a meteor. He only stopped when he arrived at the edge of the trial grounds, where a nearly invisible barrier hovered in the air. The barrier 2209 blocked Ning’s fall, but his two Darknorth swords were also sent flying into the air, and they then smashed against the restrictive barrier and fell to the ground. “I admit defeat,” Ning hurriedly called out. The flesh on his two hands had been completely split open, and blood was leaking everywhere. Just a single exchange of blows…but his sword had actually been knocked flying. This difference in power was simply too enormous. “Uh…” “Um…” “But…” The many disciples of Mount Innerheart who were watching outside the trial grounds, be they human, monster, or Fiendgod, all were completely flabbergasted at what they had just seen. They blinked. As they saw it, Ning was the chosen of Patriarch Subhuti, and so he surely must be extraordinary! Even when these other disciples had first arrived on the mountain, they were generally able to defeat the second or third golem. Some of the more powerful ones were able to defeat the fourth or even the fifth golem. None of the ones present had been able to defeat the sixth golem right away, but over the course of Mount Innerheart’s many years of history there had been some who had defeated the sixth golem upon arriving. The statuses of these disciples were far lower than Ning’s. Ning was the Patriarch’s disciple! All of the other disciples believed that Ning was going to make a miracle happen. But unfortunately…this ‘exceptionally extraordinary’ Ji Ning was actually defeated in one blow. He wasn’t even able to fight back! “Master!” Little Qing looked towards Ning, tight feelings appearing in her chest. Her master was the number one figure in his Conclave, and she had thought for certain that her master was going to dazzle everyone with his power upon arriving at Mount Innerheart. But he had actually been defeated so miserably. “Master must be feeling horrible right now! And there were so many Mount Innerheart disciples watching! That despicable old bastard, Silvermoon…he’s the one who told Master to fight against the sixth golem!” “Ning, child…” The Whitewater Hound had not expected this either. “Uh.” The fan-wielding Silvermoon hastily waved his arm, collecting up the sixth golem. He hurriedly ran over. “Junior apprentice-brother, this, uh, I didn’t, I…I didn’t know exactly how strong you were, but since Master took you on as a new disciple, I…” 2210 Silvermoon hadn’t done this on purpose. He knew exactly how stringent and exacting Patriarch Subhuti’s requirements for accepting new disciples were. Those who were accepted as disciples before becoming Celestial Immortals or Empyrean Gods were all incredible talented, so monstrously skilled as to cause utter terror! Thus, he had guessed that this new junior apprentice-brother of his, Ji Ning, should be able to give the sixth golem a good fight. Even if he were to be defeated, he should have been able to fight for quite a long time before losing. He hadn’t expected at all that Ning would be defeated with a single blow and that he wouldn’t be able to fight back at all. “It isn’t your fault, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning shook his head. He could tell that the spectating humans, monsters, and Fiendgods all had a look of surprise, puzzlement, and even hidden disdain in their eyes. Clearly, these Immortal cultivators cared about strength the most; even though his status was high, if he wasn’t strong enough, others would still look down on him in their hearts. “It was simply that I was not strong enough,” Ning said. “The sixth golem truly does vastly surpass my current limits.” “It was my fault,” Silvermoon said hurriedly. This junior apprentice-brother had suffered such a huge defeat in his first trial upon coming up the mountain…and he had been the one who had chosen the opponent. He naturally felt extremely ashamed. He hurriedly said, “Given the sword techniques you displayed, you definitely would have no problems defeating the third golem, and as for the fourth golem…you have a chance as well. Which one would you like to choose?” “The fourth golem,” Ning said. “How about you take a break, then fight?” Silvermoon asked. Ning shook his head and chuckled. “I was instantly defeated in that earlier battle. I used up almost no divine power at all, as a result. There’s no need to rest.” Silvermoon, seeing the smile on Ning’s face, couldn’t help but nod mentally to himself. This junior apprentice-brother had an impressive mentality; he had been defeated in front of so many watchers during his very first trial, but he remained quite calm. “Alright.” Silvermoon nodded, then waved his arm. Yet another golem, a fiery red golem, appeared within the battlefield. This golem had four circlets around its arm. …… “This uncle-master, Ji Ning, seems to be ordinary in power. He was actually completely unable to fight back against the sixth golem.” “Right. He’s quite puny.” 2211 “Puny my ass. When you came up the mountain, you probably would’ve been defeated by the sixth golem in one blow as well.” “I’m just my Master’s spirit-beast, while Ji Ning is the Old Patriarch’s disciple. I even have to address him as Patriarch! How can you compare the two of us? When I first arrived, I was also able to defeat the fourth golem.” “Look, it is starting.” “The Patriarch is starting to fight against the fourth golem.” The disciples of Mount Innerheart had all originally been filled with admiration towards Ning, but now they found out…that this Ji Ning was rather so-so! In fact, compared to the rest of them when they had first arrived in the mountain, Ning’s performance was average at best. He was completely unremarkable! Actually…many of these other disciples were the personal disciples that had been accepted by True Immortals or Empyrean Gods! They, too, were truly first-rate geniuses which the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods had chosen from throughout the Three Realms. Not even the likes of Adept Blackstone or Adept Ninedeaths would necessarily be chosen by True Immortals or Empyrean Gods; from this, one could imagine how much talent and comprehension ability these disciples possessed. Some disciples were disciples of Celestial Immortals! Some were spirit-beasts! Others were Fiendgod servants! Some of them had merely been at the Wanxiang level when arriving at the mountain. Some had already reached the Primal level. Some had even reached the Void level! Some Void-level Fiendgods had lived for an incredibly long time, and were born with a very high level of insight into the Dao. It was normal for them to be able to defeat the fifth golem or sixth golem. As for the disciples of Celestial Immortals, they were also quite extraordinarily talented, and could absolutely compare to the likes of Cangwu Jiu or Adept Blackstone. Thus…the vast majority of these disciples who had to refer to Ning as ‘uncle-master’ or ‘Patriarch’ were, in reality, the peerless geniuses of the major worlds they came from! Some were even more monstrously formidable than that! “But this Patriarch’s sword-arts aren’t bad. It seems he should be able to defeat the fourth golem.” “Right. He should be able to beat the fourth golem…but just barely.” “Right. Just barely.” 2212 The disciples of Mount Innerheart all gave their evaluation. Towards this Ji Ning, the disciple of the Old Patriarch who had an incredibly high status…they no longer felt too much reverence for him. …… Slash! A streak of sword-light plunged into the golem’s chest. It didn’t even sink in a single inch before it became unable to go in any deeper. The golem came to a complete halt. It stared at Ning unmovingly, then said in a low voice, “You won.” These golems were non-living creatures; even Void-level Fiendgods that fought against them would be unable to destroy them. Thus…being able to break through their outer layer of protection was enough to symbolize victory. “Junior apprentice-brother, you can now go to the fourth floor of the Divinities Palace and choose a technique at will,” the fan-holding Silvermoon said with a smile as he walked over. With a wave of his hand, he collected the golem again. Ning smiled. Fortunately, he had experienced the [Thousand Year Dream] earlier; his sword-arts had indeed stabilized and become more firm, and his execution of them had become more profound and unpredictable as well. That was the only reason why he was able to defeat the fourth golem. Otherwise…he would have probably only been able to beat the third golem. This was as he had expected. After all, he had been forbidden from using any divine abilities, resulting in his greatest source of power, the [Starseizing Hand], being unusable. His power would naturally be much lower as a result! Although he had become the champion of his Conclave of Immortal Destiny, he was actually a bit weaker than Cangwu Jiu, Xiamang Zishan, and the others when it came to his comprehension of the Dao. He had only become champion thanks to the [Starseizing Hand]. “Senior apprentice-brother, when ordinary disciples of Mount Innerheart first arrive at the mountain, which golem are they generally able to beat?” Ning asked. “The newcomers are sometimes a bit weaker while sometimes a bit stronger. On the whole, they are on par with you, I suppose. However, they have generally trained for centuries before arriving, while some have trained for thousands or tens of thousands of years,” Silvermoon said. As they chatted, the sound around them was blocked from transmitting to others. Ning laughed. “Given how many years the ordinary disciples have been in the mountain, they are definitely more powerful than they were in the past. It seems I am the weakest person here at Mount Innerheart.” 2213 Still…Ning continued to feel complete confidence in himself. He had only trained for thirty years, and had just arrived at the mountain. After a hundred years, he would definitely be able to surpass them all! And he also had the [Starseizing Hand] in reserve! In these trials against golems, since his divine abilities were unusable, his greatest advantage had been neutralized. Still…no matter what, compared to the ordinary disciples of Mount Innerheart, he was at the bottom of the barrel. A thirty thousand meter tower starts from the ground. He still had to work hard! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Junior apprentice-brother, how long have you been training for?” Silvermoon asked. “More than thirty years,” Ji Ning said. Silvermoon instantly began to laugh. “Ah, no wonder! That explains it. So you’ve only been training for around thirty years. For you to be able to defeat the fourth golem despite having trained for such a short period of time…I trust that in the future, here at Mount Innerheart, your rate of improvement will be similarly astonishing.” Ning smiled. “Thank you for your kind words, senior apprentice-brother.” …… Under the gazes of the many humans, monsters, and Fiendgods, Ji Ning and Silvermoon stepped into the fourth floor of the Divinities Palace. The profoundness of any of the sword-arts manuals located on the fourth floor was comparable to the complete nine stances of the [Three-Foot Sword]! “This truly is a blessed land for learning the Dao.” Ning flipped through the abridged versions of the sword-arts manuals, which included some of the preliminary parts to each technique. His eyes and eyebrows danced expressively as he read. “So many sword-arts…this place represents the collective enlightenment gained by countless Sword Immortals of the Three Realms. My own sword-arts will definitely improve dramatically after I draw from the wisdom of so many other Sword Immortals.” …… And so, Ning’s life of learning the Dao at Mount Innerheart had begun. If he wanted to leave his master’s tutelage, he had to at least be able to defeat the ninth golem and acquire a ninth-level technique from the Divinities Palace. Only then could he enter the Three Realms Palace, and only then could he leave. This was a prerequisite! He had to be trained as a personal disciple would be trained, which meant that he had to be able to enter the Three Realms Palace and learn the truly powerful divine abilities located within it. This was the most fundamental of expectations which Patriarch Subhuti had for Ning as his apprentice; Ning understood this quite well. Ning and Yu Wei had agreed that they would reunite in the future in the Grand Xia world. And so…he had to enter the Three Realms Palace as soon as he could! Ning didn’t want to spend centuries or millennia here at Mount Innerheart; if he truly did spend thousands of years here, then what in the world would happen to the people he cared about in the Grand Xia such as Yu Wei, Autumn Leaf, Mu Northson, or Yuchi Xiyue? “I have to defeat the ninth golem as soon as I can, ideally within a few decades.” This was Ning’s goal for himself, but he knew very well how incredibly difficult this goal would be. “I can’t allow myself to be distracted whatsoever during this period of time at Mount Innerheart. Lotus techniques, divine will techniques…I’ll put them all to one side for now. Here in the Divinities Palace, I will exclusively focus on sword-arts manuals!” Sword-arts, focused on attacks! This was Ning’s decision! …… Time slowly flowed on. Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing all spent their time training on Mount Innerheart. And in fact, the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing were even more excited than Ning to be here! “What should I do? The third golem defeats us with utter ease,” Little Qing said helplessly. “It seems that we might not even be able to beat the second golem,” the Whitewater Hound said helplessly as well. The disciples of Mount Innerheart were almost all incomparably talented monsters who came from throughout the Three Realms. Some of the others were spirit-beasts of Celestial Immortals who had trained for a very long time. By comparison, the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing had trained for a very short period of time. “There’s nothing we can do. Let’s go do manual labor,” the Whitewater Hound said. “That’s our only option.” Little Qing nodded as well. And so, both of them went to accept the manual labor ‘trials’. They spent nearly a full month manually deweeding the surrounding hundred kilometers of land. Only then were they allowed to choose a third level technique from the Divinities Palace. The techniques on the third floor of the Divinities Palace…any one of them when placed within the BlackWhite College would become the most treasured technique of the College! “Hahaha, so someone like me can actually acquire a technique like this!” Little Qing snatched up a copy of the [Qiankun Sword Song] with absolute excitement. “I can now finally, truly train on the Grand Dao of Qiankun.” “These are the writings of a Celestial Immortal on formations?” The Whitewater Hound was holding a book on formations. He, too, was incomparably excited. Both of them were actually extremely gifted. Uncle White was a Whitewater Hound; although in other aspects he was rather ordinary for a Godbeast, in one aspect, he was exceptional – his intelligence! Little Qing, in turn, had absolutely astonishing talent in the Grand Dao of Qiankun. She was even able to use the Void Blink (spatial teleportation) technique at the Xiantian level! Although at that point in time, there was no way Little Qing could actually understand the profound mysteries and principles behind spatial teleportation, this was her innate ability as a Godbeast. All she had to do was be able to touch upon just the slightest bit of this Grand Dao and she would be able to teleport. She didn’t need to actually understand it; just brushing against the Grand Dao of Qiankun allowed it! However, neither of two had ever had a truly good teacher! Ning had the help of the Stellar Hall of the underwater estate, and also had the guidance of Immortal Diancai. Uncle White and Little Qing, however, had to work hard to study on their own! Having arrived at Mount Innerheart, however, everything had changed! They had a chance to interact with so many talented humans, monsters, and Fiendgods. The Void-level Fiendgods in particular had lived extremely long lives, and their level of experience was definitely not inferior to Immortal Diancai’s. For the sake of giving Ning face, they would often give pointers to Little Qing and Uncle White. And occasionally, the two would even have a chance to ask the likes of the white-robed Lord Jiang or the old demon Silvermoon for some advice as well! But most importantly of all… Patriarch Subhuti had begun to lecture on the Dao! Patriarch Subhuti rarely expounded on the Dao; sometimes, ten thousand years would pass without a single lecture. However, ever since he had taken on Ning as a disciple, Patriarch Subhuti immediately began to give far more open lectures on the Dao than before; in fact, he would expound on the Dao almost every month! This was a habit for Patriarch Subhuti; generally speaking, after taking in a new disciple, he would often expound on the Dao with great frequency for a time. But if he didn’t take in a new disciple? He would only expound on the Dao when he was in the mood for it. After all, the Old Patriarch only truly valued his personal disciples enough to do it. As for the other disciples…they generally didn’t even have a chance to meet or speak with the Old Patriarch. Thus, all of the disciples of Mount Innerheart were in a state of collective excitement. Even several True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would occasionally come over to listen. “The Daofather lives up to his reputation.” The Whitewater Hound was currently filled with the utmost of excitement. “Listening to the Daofather expound on the Dao once is more helpful than me ruminating by myself for a century. So many of the questions in my mind have been explained, and I have now mastered a Dao-Path!” “The Daofather must have completely mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun. His casual mentions regarding it have caused me to comprehend so much. I can now even teleport out of a spacelocked region!” Little Qing was excited as well. …… One year after another passed. The two of them had spent another half year doing manual tasks and had acquired a technique from the fourth floor of the Divinities Palace. These manual tasks just took up time; they didn’t need to actually use up too much of their mental energy on them. They were able to completely focus on training in the Dao while carrying out the menial jobs! They then spent another three years carrying out menial jobs, thus acquiring a fifth level technique from the Divinities Palace. And then they spent another twenty years before finally acquiring a sixth level technique from the Divinities Palace! The sixth level techniques would be considered amongst the most supreme of techniques in the Grand Xia Dynasty! Almost all of them were created by Celestial Immortals, and some were even created by Pure Yang True Immortals. The twenty-sixth year at Mount Innerheart. “AHAHAHA! I’m invincible! INVINCIBLE!” As rain poured down from the skies, Little Qing ran around wildly in circles around Ning’s Immortal estate, her body flickering and flashing about. Her figure was very blurry as she repeatedly teleported about with high speed. “Little Qing. Little Qing!” Ning stood there at the entrance to his Immortal estate. Just by standing there, he gave off the aura of an Immortal sword, causing others to feel an uncontrollable desure to submit to him. “How are you now ‘invincible’? Can’t you see it’s raining? Stop running around like that!” Ning laughed. “Little Qing.” The Whitewater Hound spoke in the human tongue as well. “What is going on? Why are you so excited?!” “Ahahaha…” Continuing to laugh, Little Qing suddenly appeared in front of Ning with a swish. “Master. Master!” Little Qing’s eyes were filled with excitement. “I’m now able to use Greater Teleportation! I’m finally able to use Greater Teleportation!” “What?! Greater Teleportation?” Ning revealed a look of surprise. When he had killed Youngflame Nong, he had once acquired a Dao-seal of Greater Teleportation. In the underwater estate, he had also acquired one as a protective item. Normal ‘Void Blink’ techniques or ‘spatial teleportation’ techniques…they were all classified as ‘Lesser Teleportation’. They only allowed one to teleport around within a single region; at most, they would allow one to move a certain distance. As one gained more and more insights into space, one would be able to teleport greater and greater distances, and even spacelock techniques would begin to become ineffective. But upon completely mastering the complete Grand Dao of Qiankun, one would be able to use Greater Teleportation. Greater Teleportation…it could allow you to teleport from one world to another world. For example, one might be located in the Netherworld Kingdom, but with a single Greater Teleportation, one could move straight back to Serpentwing Lake of the Grand Xia world! This was why Youngflame Nong had been so confident despite having been trapped within the Witchriver Immortal Estate. He knew that no matter how dangerous things became, all he had to do was use the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal and he would be able to immediately flee back to his clan’s headquarters in the Grand Xia world. But unfortunately, he had viewed Ning with complete contempt, and had believed Ning to pose no threat to him at all. By the time Ning released that black loop…there was no longer a chance for Youngflame Nong to escape! “I’ve reached the Grand Dao Domain level of the Grand Dao of Qiankun!” Little Qing said excitedly, “I’m already capable of Greater Teleportation. Ahahaha…I’m now invincible. Who can kill me? Who can kill me?! Ahahaha, I can now escape from any formation, no matter how formidable.” Ning and the Whitewater Hound both laughed. Azure Skysnakes possessed astounding talent and affinity for space. Upon reaching the Grand Dao Domain level, they could become as one with the Grand Dao, and thus they would be able to utilize Greater Teleportation. There was no point in even feeling jealous about it. “Master, teach me some more about the sword. I now have a greater understanding of the Grand Dao of Qiankun, and my ability to improve my sword-arts will improve as well,” Little Qing immediately said. She wanted for Ning to be able to teach her, and so she had chosen to learn the sword as well, fusing her Grand Dao of Qiankun into her sword-arts. “Alright.” Ning nodded. Little Qing was improving, but his own rate of improvement was even more astonishing. After all…from the time when Ning established his Zifu region in the Grand Xia world to the day he entered Mount Innerheart, only roughly twenty years had passed! Now he was training at Mount Innerheart, and he even had the chance to listen to his master, Patriarch Subhuti, lecture on the Dao. He also often went to meditate in the Stellar Hall, and also fought constantly against the golems, so as to further sharpen and refine his sword-arts. He also had countless exquisite sword-arts to analyze! How could his rate of improvement be slow? …… With each defeat of a golem, Ning was allowed to choose a new technique. But with each fight, the golems would change as well. For example, during the first battle, the fourth golem had used overbearing, powerful sword-arts; during the second, third, and fourth battle, however, the golem had used different 2219 techniques. At the start, the golem only changed between different sword-arts styles, but afterwards it even began to use sabres, longspears, staves, and even flying swords, magic treasures, or formations to assist it. This made the fourth golem increasingly difficult to defeat. However, Ning’s own power was improving at an astonishing rate as well! He had now analyzed more than a hundred sword-arts from the fourth level of the Divinities Palace, all of which were comparable to the complete [Three-Foot Sword]. Next, Ning had defeated the fifth golem more than thirty times and analyzed more than thirty sword-arts manuals from the fifth floor! After that, Ning defeated the sixth golem more than twenty times and acquired more than twenty swordarts manuals from the sixth floor. And then, Ning had defeated the seventh golem eighteen times, acquiring eighteen sword-arts manuals from the seventh floor! Although he had read and analyzed multiple sword-arts manuals, many of which had been written by Empyrean Gods or True Immortals and some of which had been written by Daofathers…Ning continued to spend most of his efforts on the [Three-Foot Sword], keeping it at the heart of his sword-arts. He infused the strengths and excellences of the other sword techniques in the [Three-Foot Sword], causing it to be continuously improved and perfected. There were now more and more differences between the current [Three-Foot Sword] and the one which Immortal Northwalker had originally created. In fact, it had now transformed into an even more formidable sword-art that belonged to Ning and Ning alone. …… And so, completely focusing on his training, Ning spent more than thirty years here within Mount Innerheart. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Sword] Within a grassy area in the Tristar Crescent Abode. This was the location of Ji Ning’s Immortal estate. Within a courtyard inside the Immortal estate. Ning was seated in the lotus position on the ground, eyes shut, completely unmoving. Next to him lay a large, snowy-white hound. Whoosh. An azure-robed maiden appeared out of nowhere. It was Little Qing. “Don’t make a sound.” The Whitewater Hound opened his eyes, hurriedly sending her a mental message. “What is it, Uncle White?” Little Qing looked puzzledly at Ning, seated in the lotus position with shut eyes. She sent mentally back, “Master is training? But doesn’t he usually go into his private room when meditating? Why is he sitting here on the ground?” When training, Ning actually spent most of his time within the Still Room in the underwater estate. This was a training room built by Daoist Threelives which truly did allow one to gain insights into the Dao at an astonishing rate. But of course, the very existence of the underwater estate was a huge secret; Patriarch Subhuti had also reminded Ning that he absolutely could not reveal its existence. Thus, not even Little Qing or Uncle White knew about it. “He was taking a stroll in the courtyard but suddenly had a flash of insight, and so he immediately sat down in the lotus position to meditate on it,” the Whitewater Hound sent back. “This flash of insight came suddenly; he didn’t have any time to waste on running back to his private room.” “Oh.” Little Qing nodded. This was how sudden flashes of insights often worked; when they came, they had to be seized right away. “During the past thirty years, Master’s sword-arts have improved at an astonishing rate. He’s even defeated the eighth golem nine times. He’s now gained a sudden flash of insight…his power is definitely going to improve dramatically!” Little Qing said excitedly, “He might even be able to beat the ninth golem!” The ninth golem…even many Void-level Diremonsters and Fiendgods were helpless before it! From this, one could tell how utterly astonishing Ning’s rate of improvement had been during the past thirty years. “My child Ning’s talent is extremely high, and his affinity for the Dao of the Sword is particularly exceptional,” the Whitewater Hound said. “When in the Grand Xia world, he had to divide up his attention amongst multiple types of techniques as well as engage in all sorts of battles! Here at Mount Innerheart, however, there is no infighting at all. In addition, Ning has completely focused his attention on his swordarts for more than thirty years. His sword-arts have already exceeded an utterly inconceivable level.” “Right. Truly inconceivable.” Little Qing nodded as well. During the past thirty years, Little Qing had improved dramatically as well, having mastered Greater Teleportation. The Whitewater Hound was more intelligent than Little Qing, with superb comprehension ability; thus, he had become a true grandmaster of formations. But Ning’s improvement outstripped both of theirs! Originally, the ordinary disciples of Mount Innerheart murmured amongst themselves about the strength of this new disciple, not feeling much respect for Ning. Afterwards, however, Ning began to focus all his heart and efforts on sword-arts, and his abilities began to dramatically rise without pause. He defeated the fifth, sixth, seventh, and even the eighth golem…causing all of the disciples of Mount Innerheart to be completely tongue-tied in shock. Even the controller of the Divinities Palace, the old demon Silvermoon, had said with an emotional sigh, “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning truly is a peerless future Sword Immortal. His improvement in his sword-arts has been utterly terrifying.” Although Patriarch Subhuti helped by expounding on the Dao, as the saying went, the master might open the door, but cultivation depends on the self. The Patriarch could give some advice at critical moments, but most of Ning’s cultivation and insights came from himself. Clearly, he was extremely well-suited to the Dao of the Sword! Even the similarly peerless Sword Immortal, Lu Dongbin, had felt the desire to recruit him, and had made repeated requests to take him as his disciple. Unfortunately, the Grand Xia Emperor had steadfastly refused! However, thanks to this ‘setback’, Ning had ended up arriving at Mount Innerheart and becoming apprenticed to Patriarch Subhuti. “Quick, look!” On the twelfth day of Ning sitting in the lotus position in meditation, sword-ki suddenly began to fill the pavilion area around Ning. Swish! Swish! Little Qing and Uncle White both hurriedly stepped back, moving to a distant pathway to watch from afar. They saw that more and more streaks of sword-ki began to appear in the area around Ning. Suddenly, Ning opened his eyes as well. “Is this…the realm which senior Northwalker had reached in the past?” Ning murmured gently to himself as the countless streaks of sword-ki around him began to gather together, becoming extremely solid and dense and forming into a single, dazzling Immortal sword that glowed with white light. “Chop,” Ning said. SLASH! The sword-ki that had formed into a sharp Immortal sword of light sliced through the air, and as it did so, the illusion of an enormous black dragon actually appeared above it! This illusory black dragon coiled around the flying sword of light, and in the eyes of the black dragon a look of wanton arrogance could be seen. The flying sword of white light sliced through the air, and the surrounding space completely exploded. “The ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]…” Ning murmured to himself, “Sword Roaming the Three Realms!” “The most powerful sword technique left behind by senior Northwalker…I’ve finally mastered it. However, I feel as though this sword technique of senior Northwalker’s, this ‘Sword Roaming the Three Realms’, is too flamboyant and brash. It isn’t stately enough. If this technique could be altered to be slightly more reserved and not so brash, its power might rise even more.” Ning’s own level of judgment was now extremely high. It must be understood that the sword-arts manuals on the fourth floor of the Divinities Palace were already on the level of the complete [Three-Foot Sword]. The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth floors…although Ning hadn’t chosen certain techniques that overlapped with techniques he had already chosen, he had still analyzed a total of more than a hundred sword-arts manuals! Ning had even chosen nine books from the eighth floor of the Divinities Palace, each of which had been written by major powers of the Three Realms. Although they were written rather casually, they were still unfathomably profound. Given that Ning already had so many sword-arts for his perusing, how could he not have superb judgment by now? Immortal Northwalker had roamed the world by himself and painstakingly taught himself. Ning, however, had become an apprentice to Patriarch Subhuti, and had the chance to analyze countless swordarts that had been collected from throughout the Three Realms. Given that he was incomparably suited to be a Sword Immortal, how could he not be extremely astute in judging these types of techniques? “I have now completely mastered all nine stances of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning nodded to himself. “However, I’ve modified the first eight stances to make them more suited to me. As for this ninth stance…I will need to modify it as well.” 2223 With so many peerless sword-arts manuals available to him, Ning’s foundation in the Dao of the Sword was indeed at an inconceivably sturdy level. …… “Master, Master.” Little Qing flew over. “That sword technique just now…it seemed to be unfathomably profound. Did you make a breakthrough?” “Yes. I’ve already mastered the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning nodded. The nine complete stances of the [Three-Foot Sword] were: Lustrous Sword-Heart, Manifold Thistlethorns, Sudden Sword-Light, Sun in the Sky, Moonlight Hiding the Sword, Grand Dao Domain, Horizontal Sword Execution, Immortal-Devil, and Sword Roaming the Three Realms! The nearby Uncle White also said with amazement and excitement, “Ning, child, I heard that by using this [Three-Foot Sword], Immortal Northwalker was comparable to a Celestial Immortal in power. There are even Celestial Immortals whose sword-arts are not as profound as this [Three-Foot Sword]. Your swordarts are already now comparable to that of some Celestial Immortals?” “Immortal Northwalker was comparable to a Celestial Immortal…but that was a bit of a misleading saying.” Ning had often chatted with his fellow disciples here at Mount Innerheart, and he now naturally knew much more than he had in the past. “It is extremely hard for a person to overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal. Some Void-level Earth Immortals have fairly simple tribulations, while others might have tribulations that are hundreds or even thousands of times harder. In fact, I’ve even heard that for some Void-level Earth Immortals, the Celestial Tribulation didn’t even descend at all; it just dissipated. In addition, Celestial Immortals have trained for varying amounts of time, and some are unaffiliated individuals who train on their own while others are apprenticed to major powers. Naturally, they will all be at different levels of power.” “Thus, Immortal Northwalker being ‘comparable to a Celestial Immortal’ was only in reference to the most ordinary type of Celestial Immortals. “For example, Loose Immortal Juhua had lived for many millions of years and was also referred to as being ‘comparable to Celestial Immortals’, just like senior Northwalker who had lived for a million years,” Ning said with a laugh. “There are great differences in power between Celestial Immortals. Things are quite tricky. It’s possible that monstrously powerful Loose Immortals who have lived for millions of years or ten million years might be able to kill weak Celestial Immortals, but the most powerful Celestial Immortals…I hear that some of them have already completely mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword or other Grand Daos, and are extremely close to becoming Pure Yang True Immortals. These are the geniuses of Celestial Immortals, and some are even able to compete against Pure Yang True Immortals.” “Thus, even amongst Celestial Immortals, there are still many varying levels of power. This thing about being ‘comparable to Celestial Immortals’…haha, that’s just a form of praise and flattery,” Ning said. Indeed. At present, Ning has already reached the fifteenth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, which was comparable to an early-stage Void-level Fiendgod Body Refiner! Upon using his [Starseizing Hand], and his terrifyingly powerful sword-arts…he was definitely no weaker than the former Immortal Northwalker by now! When Ning had first entered the Black-White College, he had felt incomparable veneration for Immortal Northwalker. Naturally, at the time, he had felt nothing amiss about the saying that he was comparable to a Celestial Immortal. But now that Ning himself had already reached Immortal Northwalker’s level, he felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing himself being praised as ‘comparable to Celestial Immortals’. After all, Ning knew very well that he was currently merely on par with ordinary Celestial Immortals. If he were to run into slightly more powerful Celestial Immortals, they would probably be able to defeat and even kill him! But Little Qing still said excitedly, “Master, stop being so modest. No matter what, your sword-arts are definitely at the level of a Celestial Immortal by now! In fact, you are even superior to ordinary Celestial Immortals, right?” Ning was startled for a moment, then let out a resigned laugh and said, “True. But Little Qing, I’m still just a minor figure in the Three Realms; it’s best for me to be a bit more low-key at my current level of power.” “Master, it can be said that at your current level of power, you are utterly invincible against anyone below the Celestial Immortal level.” Little Qing didn’t show the slightest hint of modesty at all. Ning smiled. Invincible against anyone below the Celestial Immortal? Most likely even monstrously powerful Loose Immortals who had lived for millions of years wouldn’t be that much more powerful than the current Ning. It could indeed be said that he was at the very peak of power for those below the Celestial Immortal level. However…in the Three Realms, Loose Immortals were still just minor figures; only Celestial Immortals had some status. As Ning was the Old Patriarch’s disciple, he had higher standards for himself. “I haven’t even accessed the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace or the Three Realms Palace,” Ning mused to himself. “After I go to the ninth floor and to the Three Realms Palace…especially the Three Realms Palace…mm. My fellow disciples have all said that so long as I can acquire a single technique from the Three Realms Palace, I can rely on it to roam the entire Three Realms. By then, I’ll probably be much more powerful than I currently am; I’ll no longer be on Immortal Northwalker’s level, and will probably be on Immortal Juhua’s level. Even against fairly formidable Celestial Immortals, I should still be able to keep myself alive.” Ning was quite eager to see the Three Realms Palace. “Little Qing, Uncle White,” Ning instructed, “I am going to go into secluded meditation to further perfect my [Three-Foot Sword]. For now, continue to handle your own affairs; there’s no need to pay me any attention.” “Alright.” The Whitewater Hound nodded. “Master, you are going into seclusion right after making a breakthrough? The gap in power between you and me is growing greater and greater,” Little Qing said helplessly. But then she chortled, “Fortunately, I have Greater Teleportation. It will probably be a long, long time before you can do this, right Master?” Ning shook his head. A ‘long time’? He was a human; he had to completely master the Grand Dao of Qiankun before he could use Greater Teleportation. He was still extremely far away from mastering his Grand Dao of the Sword, much less the Grand Dao of Qiankun! Rumble… The stone door slid shut as Ning entered his private room. A rippling ‘wall’ could be seen in this private room, and as Ning stepped into the ripples, he arrived within the underwater estate. “Ji Ning, you have finally mastered the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Within the underwater estate, the giant yellow bear was waiting with a smile on his face. “Senior, will I now be capable of challenging the eighth level of the Wargod Hall?” Ning asked. More than ten years ago, he had already passed the seventh level of the Wargod Hall and chosen an Immortalranked magic treasure. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Treasures The giant yellow bear nodded lightly. “Your chances are quite good. You can give it a try.” Ning smiled, then walked towards the corridor. At every distinct level of power, Fiendgody Body Refiners would have just two chances to attempt to pass the Wargod Hall’s trials. Thus, Ning would generally ask the giant yellow bear for his opinion. Each trial represented a supreme treasure, and so Ning didn’t dare to be too reckless in taking them. This was especially true now, as they represented Immortal-ranked magic treasures! A short while later. Whoosh. Ning walked out from the Wargod Hall. “Success!” Ning let out a soft breath. On the eighth floor of the Wargod Hall, he had encountered an ancient, Void-level Fiendgod! Ning’s own [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] was only at the fifteenth stage, and he was only comparable to an ordinary early-stage Void-level Fiendgod Body Refiner. If he was to be compared against real Fiendgods, he would probably only be equivalent to a peak Primallevel Fiendgod! A Void-level Fiendgod was a full level higher than him in power! It also had its own divine abilities that allowed its might to increase even further! This truly had been a bloody, hard-fought battle. In fact, the Void-level Fiendgod had even unleashed three powerful clones as he transformed his single body into three mighty Fiendgods which surrounded and assaulted Ning! Ning had used the [Three Heads, Six Arms] ability, the [Starseizing Hand], and had sent his sword-light flashing everywhere…and in the end, he managed to seize the upper hand, then force the Fiendgod to admit defeat. “That was absolutely fantastic. After studying the Dao for thirty years here at Mount Innerheart, I finally defeated a Void-level Fiendgod!” Ning thought back to the past, when he had roamed the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains. Back then, he had been nothing but an ant in the eyes of that ancient, Void-level Fiendgod. But now! He himself was on the same level of a Void-level Fiendgod! He was no weaker, and in fact, he had just defeated one! “Strange. Why would a Void-level Fiendgod have appeared within the underwater estate?” Ning’s heart was filled with questions. He had asked the spirit of the underwater estate, that giant yellow bear, about some of these questions, but the spirit refused to say. “Ji Ning, congratulations. You’ve defeated the eighth level of the Wargod Hall.” The giant yellow bear appeared out of nowhere. “In the past, even Immortal Juhua himself was only able to overcome the seventh level.” Immortal Juhua, after becoming a Loose Immortal, had finally challenged and overcome the seventh level. A long, long time later, he became powerful enough to challenge and overcome the eighth level, but by then he no longer had any chances left to make the attempt! “Senior, I’m going to choose a treasure now,” Ning said with a laugh. “Last time, when I overcame the seventh level, the book of treasures you brought out only included high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures; there wasn’t a single top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure to be found.” “This time, there definitely will be,” the giant yellow bear said. “And during your third selection, the number of treasures will be even greater.” Ning felt resigned. This was in accordance with the rules of the Treasure Hall. In principle, one had three chances to acquire Immortal-ranked magic treasures! They would come when one challenged and overcame the seventh and eighth levels of the Wargod Hall, and when one reached the sixteenth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and entered a brand new and distinct level of power! But the number of Immortal-ranked magic treasures available for the choosing during the first chance was quite limited. The second choosing saw more choices. As for the third…all of the Immortal-ranked magic treasures which Daoist Threelives had left behind would be put on display. Naturally, many exquisite specimens would be made available then. “You know, it is a minor matter for you, as the controller of the Treasure Hall, to pull out those other treasures and let me choose from them, right?” Ning felt resigned. “Can’t do it.” The giant yellow bear shook his head. “Not even I can change the rules which Master left behind. In the past, it was because you had just entered the Wanxiang Adept level, the level at which a cultivator is most likely to perish, that Master’s rules allowed for an exception to be made and for you to choose some protective treasures. As for now? You are sufficiently strong enough already; we must follow the rules now.” Ning nodded. …… 2228 Ning entered the Treasure Hall. An amount of time equal to boiling a kettle of tea passed. He left the Treasure Hall, another Immortal-ranked magic treasure in his hands! “Hahaha…” Ning laughed as he walked out of the Treasure Hall. He was indeed much happier with what he chose during this second choosing than he had been for the first. “Senior, I’m going to go to the Still Room for a period of closed-door meditation,” Ning said, then headed to the underwater estate’s Still Room. Rumble! The door to the Still Room swung open, then once more swung shut. Ning sat down in the lotus position atop that enormous bed of netherwater jade. The inky-jade bed emanated an astonishing aura of coldness, causing even the soul to feel chilled! The very first time he had sat atop this bed of netherwater jade, Ning had felt as though his soul had been completely frozen. However, Ning was now far more powerful. His insights into the Dao were at a high level. His Dao-heart was firmer. His soul was more powerful! Even the bed of netherwater jade was only able to make Ning feel extremely cool and relaxed. Rumble… The Grand Bodhi Stillheart Formation began to emanate ripples of power. Ning’s heart turned completely calm. With a wave of his hand, Ning caused two treasures to appear and levitate before him. One treasure was a golden circlet! As for the other, it was a set of nine black Immortal swords that seemed to flutter in and out of existence in a transient manner. The golden circlet was the item Ning had chosen when he had overcome the seventh level of the Wargod Hall. It was known as the Tripartite Immortal-Locking Circlet. It was a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure that was meant to trap or restrain foes. Once a foe was caught by it, it would become very hard for the foe to escape, and in fact some weaker foes would be restrained and absorbed into the circlet itself. There was a stand-alone dimension within the circlet, and it could be used to collect living creatures or inanimate objects. Upon being trapped within it, even the likes of a Pure Yang True Immortal would be unable to depart from it. But of course, Pure Yang True Immortals wouldn’t be so stupid as to just stand there and allow it to draw them in! As for the nine black Immortal swords, they were the set of Immortal-ranked magic treasures which Ning had just chosen after having overcome the eighth level of the Wargod Hall. They were known as the Heavenraker Swords. All nine of them were top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. These nine swords…although they were individually still inferior to the Thousandbull Sword, which had reached the 2229 very peak of top-grade Immortal-ranked magic items and was almost comparable to a Pure Yang Immortal sword in power, there were nine of these Heavenraker Swords! Taken as a whole, they were not weaker than the Thousandbull Sword at all! Most importantly of all, Ning had once seen a sword-arts secret manual on the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace which was known as [Heavenraker]. Ning had previously asked the giant yellow bear, “Senior, on the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace, I saw a sword-arts manual titled [Heavenraker]. The abridged version stated that this technique was a swordart created by a major power of the Three Realms known as Daofather Heavenrake. Might I ask if there is a connection between the Heavenraker Swords and Daofather Heavenrake?” “Hahaha, this set of Heavenraker Swords were specially designed to be used to execute the Heavenraker sword technique! The Heavenraker sword technique was already tremendously famous back in the Primordial World of Pangu, and is still an extremely famous sword-art in the current Three Realms!” The giant yellow bear had said with a laugh. And so, Ning had immediately chosen this set of swords! …… Ning sat there atop the netherwater jade bed, staring at the two mighty Immortal-ranked magic treasures before him. He nodded gently. “After I defeat the ninth golem, I’ll immediately go to the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace and choose the [Heavenraker] sword technique.” “In the future, I will need to slowly perfect the [Three-Foot Sword] by absorbing many of the best points from other techniques. As for [Heavenraker]…if things are as I suspect, it will become yet another technique that I can use to defeat my foes. The sword-arts which Immortal Northwalker had created was…more than a bit lacking compared to some of the powerful sword-arts contained within the Divinities Palace. Ning had already completely overhauled and perfected the first eight stances! As for the ninth stance, he had improved and perfected it. He himself would have to go create a tenth stance and an eleventh stance for this technique. The sword-arts which Ning himself created would be the sword-arts that were best suited to him, and which would be the most powerful in his hands! However, before he actually created his own sword-arts, the [Heavenraker] technique could be used for a period of time. “This Tripartite Immortal-Locking Circlet…after Uncle White becomes a Void-level Earth Immortal, I’ll give it to him,” Ning murmured to himself. This circlet wasn’t of great use to him, and when he had chosen 2230 it, it was with the intention of giving it to Uncle White. Uncle White was a grandmaster of formations, but he was lacking in attacking techniques. This Tripartite Immortal-Locking Circlet could transform into the tripartite powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man. It was incredibly difficult to use, but it was very well-suited for Uncle White, who was a grandmaster of formations. It didn’t even require Uncle White to go fight in close combat. It was indeed quite well suited for him! …… This closed-door session lasted for more than a month. Ning completely and thoroughly overhauled this ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], ‘Sword Roaming the Three Realms’, making it more reserved and stately while also making it even more ferocious and fast! For Immortal Northwalker, the ninth stance of ‘Sword Roaming the Three Realms’ represented the pinnacle, but for Ji Ning, the ninth stance was just a midway point; he was definitely going to go create a tenth and an eleventh stance. “It’s already summer?” When Ning walked out of his Immortal estate he saw the sun hanging high in the sky, blazing with incomparable heat. Every single world was illuminated by the Solar Star and the Lunar Star. This was even true for the estate-world of the Tristar Crescent Abode. Every single world would see the projections of the Solar Star and the Lunar Star. For example, within the world of the Grand Xia, there was also a Solar Star and a Lunar Star! Because the Solar Star was a bit closer to the world of the Grand Xia, in that world, the Solar Star was a bit larger while the Lunar Star appeared a bit smaller. Although they were only ‘projections’ of the Solar Star and the Lunar Star, they still possessed utterly terrifying power. Clearly, the power of these two stars, the most supreme and exalted of celestial bodies, was utterly inconceivable. “Uncle-master.” “Patriarch.” “Patriarch.” Many disciples of Mount Innerheart were currently congregated outside the Divinities Palace. Some were quietly training in the Dao, others were discussing it, and still others were relaxing. Upon seeing Ning arrive, they all hurriedly rose to their feet and called out with respect. During the course of these thirty years, these disciples of Mount Innerheart now felt true esteem for Ji Ning, an admiration which came from the depths of their heart! “Mm.” Ning just nodded lightly, then stepped into the Divinities Palace. He started from the first floor and walked all the way to the ninth. On the staircase to the side of the ninth floor, the white-robed Silvermoon was seated, leaning against the banister. There was some Immortal wine, roasted goose, and other roasted meat next to him. His featherfan was covering his stomach as he just lay there napping. Ning was in no hurry. He first walked to a nearby bookshelf, then picked out the sword-arts manual titled [Heavenraker]. The secret manuals located here on the ninth floor were all extraordinary. Ning flipped through the abridged version, then nodded gently, revealing a hint of a smile. [Heavenraker] was indeed created by Daofather Heavenrake of the Three Realms. It required nine Immortal-ranked flying swords to be used, and ideally the nine swords would all be infused with the 36-Layered Heavenrake Sword Formation. “This [Heavenraker]…it uses the profound mysteries of the elements of Water and Earth, has also been infused with the secrets of the Grand Dao of Qiankun, and is unleashed through the Grand Dao of the Sword.” Ning nodded to himself. He was quite skilled in Water, Qiankun, and the Sword. As for Earth…Daofather Heavenrake had clearly prepared some more elementary sword techniques amongst the many sword techniques. Although Ning had few to no insights regarding the element of Earth, he could still use those sword-arts that didn’t include the Earth-element. In the future, he would probably advance in Earth as well as a result. “Senior apprentice-brother, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning put down the abridged version, then walked next to Silvermoon and called out to him. In fact, he even gave him a little push. “Senior apprentice-brother!” “Huh?” Only now did Silvermoon open his eyes. “What, what is it?” “Senior apprentice-brother, I want to challenge the ninth golem,” Ning said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “The ninth golem?” Silvermoon immediately rose to his feet. Feather-fan in hand, he began to laugh in surprise. “Junior apprentice-brother, do you feel confident?” “Haven’t fought it before, so hard to say,” Ji Ning said. “Junior apprentice-brother, you are always so modest. Come, come, come. Let’s hurry. Show me what you have.” Silvermoon immediately led Ning down from the Divinities Palace and to the empty testing grounds. …… Many of the disciples of Mount Innerheart were gathered in the empty area. Even Little Qing and Uncle White had hurried over here. Because Ning had sent his two spirit-beasts a mental message earlier, telling them that he was going to challenge the ninth golem, Little Qing and Uncle White had paused their training and hurriedly ran over to watch the fight. “Can it be that Patriarch Ji Ning is going to challenge the ninth golem? He’s already defeated the eighth golem nine times by now, right?” “He might really be challenging the ninth golem!” “There are so many of us here, including some monsters that have lived here for tens of thousands of years, but none of us have ever defeated the ninth golem.” The other disciples were all stealthily chatting amongst themselves. In fact, some of them even spoke out towards Little Qing or Uncle White. “Azure Skysnake, Whitewater Hound, which golem is Patriarch Ji Ning challenging?” “Little sister Qing, don’t tell them, just tell me alone.” Over the course of the past thirty years, Little Qing and Uncle White had become quite familiar with these disciples. Uncle White smiled. Little Qing just raised her head proudly. “Just keep watching and you will find out.” The distant Ning and Silvermoon were currently chatting with each other. These two both had very high statuses, and generally speaking the normal disciples of Mount Innerheart wouldn’t dare to speak to them too often. Whoosh. Silvermoon waved his hand, and a golem appeared out of nowhere. This golem’s entire body was a white jade color. Around his right arm were nine circular loops, and the invisible aura of power emanating from him was quite strong. “The ninth golem!” “The ninth!” “Uncle-master Ji Ning is actually challenging the ninth golem!” Instantly, a series of startled cries rang out as everyone felt excited. Life here at Mount Innerheart was too relaxed and peaceful. Normally, everyone just focused on quietly training in the Dao. Thus, when someone went to challenge the ninth golem, many of the other disciples would cluster around to watch. And this particular challenge…was issued by Ji Ning, who had just become a member of Patriarch Subhuti’s school around thirty years ago, and who had been selected as the Old Patriarch’s future personal disciple. This naturally caused great excitement. …… Within the testing grounds. Ning and the ninth golem stared at each other from afar. “This is your first time challenging me, but your Fiendgod body is only at the peak Primal level,” the ninth golem said, his eyes flashing with hidden sharpness as he carefully inspected Ning. Ning knew that this ninth golem had been personally forged by his master, Patriarch Subhuti, and that it was comparable to a Pure Yang treasure in power. It had its own soul and possessed intelligence. A pair of Darknorth swords appeared in Ning’s two hands. “Enough chit-chat. Show me your most powerful sword attacks.” “Hmph.” The ninth golem let out a cold snort as a wide, heavy sword appeared in his hands. “Then I’ll play with you for a bit.” As soon as his words came out, the ninth golem took a single step forward, causing the ground to tremble as he suddenly appeared in front of Ning. He had moved so fast that Ning couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. Ning’s feet moved just slightly as he simultaneously sent the twin swords in his hands blocking upwards. Whoosh whoosh whoosh…. A massive illusory wave that seemed to fill the heavens suddenly appeared. Ning’s sword-arts had reached a high enough level that it could call upon the aid of a large amount of natural energy, thus generating this sort of manifestation. The illusory wave swept forward, Ning’s sword-light within it. Clang! Clang! Clang! The ninth golem’s heavy sword carried incomparable savagery and dominance, and with each stroke the heavy sword smashed against the wave! Ning’s sword technique was more tenacious and powerful, and it came out in a steady, unbroken stream. By contrast, the ninth golem’s sword technique was more savage and ferocious. However, in the face of Ning’s unbroken, flowing string of attacks, the ninth golem was finding it increasingly hard to hang on. “So you have a bit of talent after all. If I don’t bring out some of my true power, I won’t be able to beat you.” The ninth golem produced a second heavy sword in his other hand as well. Boom. Boom. The two heavy swords began to whirl out, seeming to have transformed into an enormous windmill and creating the massive illusion of a whirlpool above it! The enormous whirlpool illusion clearly represented an enormous amount of natural power had been summoned…and the ninth golem’s sword technique clearly became even more savage and dominating! It carried a crushing, grinding power that was able to completely suppress Ning! “Sword Roaming the Three Realms!” Upon being suppressed, Ning instantly changed his sword technique. He immediately executed ‘Sword Roaming the Three Realms’, which he had perfected while in closed-door training. Two streaks of dazzling sword-light flew out like a pair of black dragons that were swimming through the air. These two roaming black dragons twined around each other as they pounced towards the enemy. Bang! Bang! Bang! Their respective sword-lights clashed out three times. Suddenly, everything came to a halt. The ninth golem and Ning had moved past each other while exchanging blows. Their backs were to each other, and the ninth golem was completely unmoving. As for Ning, he put away the Darknorth swords in his hands. On the golem’s chest, there was a wicked, savage-looking wound! During their three clashes, Ning’s sword had clearly been a slight bit faster. Although it was only faster by a small amount…it had been the deciding factor in this battle. The ninth golem lowered his head to look at the wound. The wound on his chest disappeared in the blink of an eye. “You win.” The ninth golem turned, giving Ning a glance. “You beat me in our very first fight; you can now enter the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace.” 2235 “Jadesuffer, this is my junior apprentice-brother; it is only natural that he beat you.” Silvermoon walked over. “Junior apprentice-brother? The Old Patriarch took on a new disciple?” The ninth golem looked towards Ning in surprise. “The more disciples who defeat you, the closer you are to freedom. You should be happy. Alright, time for you to go back to your place.” Silvermoon waved his hand, instantly collecting the ninth golem again. “Junior apprentice-brother, congratulations.” Silvermoon smiled towards Ning. “Come, let’s go into the Divinities Palace.” “Right.” Ning nodded. He immediately followed Silvermoon into the Divinities Palace. The disciples of Mount Innerheart watched this all happen in a daze. They stared as Ning and Silvermoon entered the Divinities Palace. “He won!” “He actually won!” “Patriarch Ji Ning defeated the ninth golem.” “What a dominating sword-art…what a terrifying sword-art!” “Uncle-master truly is a peerless Sword Immortal.” All of them sighed in endless amazement. “It has only been thirty years, right?” “It has only been about thirty years since the Patriarch became the Old Patriarch’s disciple, right? Thirty years ago, the Patriarch was just barely able to defeat the fourth golem, but after thirty short years, he has actually defeated the ninth golem. I’ve been here on this mountain for nearly a million years!” A sixarmed Fiendgod whose body was wreathed in dim flames muttered to himself, then shook his head and sighed. “You humans truly do have a ridiculous level of comprehension.” “I’m a human and I’ve been on the mountain for a thousand years, but I haven’t beaten the ninth golem.” “Not even Celestial Immortals are necessarily capable of defeating the ninth golem. Thirty years…no wonder the Old Patriarch chose him as a disciple.” “The personal disciples of the Old Patriarch truly are all formidable.” “Little sister Qing, can you ask the Patriarch to lecture to us on the Dao sometime?” 2236 “Brother White, your master’s sword techniques are truly formidable. I have many questions with regards to the sword; can we have your master provide us with a few pointers sometime?” Everyone was discussing what had just happened. Little Qing and Uncle White both felt their hearts filled with delight. …… After just thirty years, Ning had defeated the ninth golem. This caused all the ordinary disciples of Mount Innerheart to sigh in amazement at how inconceivable this was. However, for the personal disciples such as the old demon Silvermoon, this was as expected. Ning and Silvermoon were walking up the stairs in the Divinities Palace, striding upon the wooden steps as they moved upwards. “Junior apprentice-brother, for you to be able to defeat the ninth golem after thirty years is quite impressive,” Silvermoon laughed. “All of those ordinary disciples below us are completely shocked right now.” “Eh.” Ning didn’t feel as though there was anything to be proud of. He had the guidance of his master, Patriarch Subhuti, as well help from the Stellar Hall of the underwater estate. He would often sit atop the bed of netherwater jade within the Still Room in the underwater estate, and constantly attune to the Dao within the Grand Bodhi Stillheart Formation. Thirty years? His original goal had always been to defeat the ninth golem within a few decades. “Might I ask, how did my senior fellow disciples do? How many years did they spend in order to defeat the ninth golem?” Ning asked curiously. “Amongst Master’s many personal disciples, your performance can be described as normal,” Silvermoon said with a laugh. “Ruling out the ones who were already extremely strong when they first followed Master…there have been a total of twelve who were very weak when they first followed Master. The fastest one took one year, while the slowest one took more than 13000 years.” Ning was amazed. “The fastest one took one year? The slowest one took more than ten thousand?” A personal disciple of the Old Patriarch who had taken more than ten thousand the years…this was too ridiculous. And just a single year for the other? This was also too crazy! “Master has a total of nineteen disciples. There were seven who were already extremely strong when they accepted him as their master, while there were twelve who accepted him as master when they were weak,” Silvermoon said. “Amongst them…ninth junior apprentice-brother had an exceedingly high level of comprehension. Back then, Master’s avatar was roaming the ancient Primordial World. He ran into ninth junior apprentice-brother, who at that time was nothing more than an ordinary child who loved to paint. Master just provided him with a single line of guidance…and ninth junior apprentice-brother transformed overnight from an ordinary child who had never before engaged in cultivation to the level of 2237 having completely mastered an entire Dao-Path, the Dao of Inkwater. He then followed Master to Mount Innerheart. After a year, he defeated the ninth golem.” Ning blinked. To transform overnight from an ordinary child who loved painting…to someone who had completely mastered a complete Dao-Path? To defeat the ninth golem after a single year? “Next are third senior apprentice-brother and sixth junior apprentice-brother,” Silvermoon said. “Both of them only spent a few years to defeat the ninth golem, and when they first joined the school neither had engaged in any cultivation training. However…they have extraordinary heritages. Third senior apprentice-brother was blessed with tremendous luck when he was born, as he is a Golden Crow who was born on the Solar Star. As for sixth junior apprentice-brother, he is also incredible; he is a spiritmonkey who was born from one of the stones which Lady Nuwa used to repair the Heavens.” 1 Ning was startled. A spirit-monkey born from a stone that was used to repair the Heavens? This caused Ning to think back to a story recorded in a novel back from his own lesser world of Earth. 2 He wondered if this so-called spirit-monkey was similar to the one mentioned in the story he had read. “After those two are the ones who trained for dozens of years,” Silvermoon said. “In short…humans have extremely high levels of comprehension, while third senior apprentice-brother and sixth junior apprentice-brother were born as extraordinary living creatures who also had extremely high levels of comprehension.” “All of the disciples under Master’s tutelage who defeated the ninth golem in under a century were humans and those with extraordinary lineages.” “There are several who are monsters like me who are under Master’s tutelage. For example, I had to train for more than three thousand years before I defeated the ninth golem. There are some who were even slower than me. On the whole, monsters have a much lower level of comprehension than humans do.” Ning nodded. Monsters had poor levels of comprehension, and Fiendgods had it even worse! However, the heavens had made it up to them in other ways. Humans at the Zifu level had a lifespan of five centuries, while those at the Wanxiang levels had a lifespan of eight centuries. Monsters, however, were different. Xiantian-level Diremonsters were capable of living up to a thousand years, and Wanxiang-level Diremonsters were able to live more than ten thousand years. As for Fiendgods, their lifespans were even more ridiculous. Fiendgods were innately ageless, and they didn’t even have to worry about the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. However, their levels of comprehension were pitifully low; it was possible for them to spend a trillion years without improving even a tiny bit. “Truly, all of the senior fellow disciples under Master’s tutelage are extraordinary. Some were born incredible, while others met with incredible luck and destiny. I myself was only able to enter his tutelage 2238 due to having acquired the legacy of Daoist Threelives.” Ning understood that amongst his fellow disciples, he was quite ordinary. Still, there was a difference between him and the others. He was the disciple of both Patriarch Subhuti and Daoist Threelives…and his divine ability, the [Starseizing Hand], was the ability which Daoist Threelives had relied on to dominate and roam the Primal World. Not even Patriarch Subhuti had ever created a divine ability on this level. “The ninth floor.” Silvermoon reached the ninth floor, then said with a laugh, “After you choose a technique from this ninth floor, you can go to the Three Realms Palace! After you learn a single technique from the Three Realms Palace, if you can train in that technique to its limit, you’ll absolutely be able to roam the Three Realms fearlessly and become an awe-inspiringly famous figure.” 1. The sixth person is obviously Sun Wukong/Monkey King, who was born from a holy rock and was also known as the ‘stone monkey’.. This ‘story’ is obviously Journey to the West. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning walked to the bookcase that only held sword-arts manuals, carefully flipping through the others. After confirming his decision, he then picked up the abridged version of the [Heavenraker]. “Senior apprentice-brother, I choose this one, [Heavenraker],” Ning said. With the Heavenraker Swords in his hands, he would of course choose [Heavenraker]. “Fine.” Silvermoon nodded, then waved his hand. A series of thick tomes appeared within his hands; this was the full version of the [Heavenraker] technique which Daofather Heavenrake had created. Ning’s eyes immediately lit up as he accepted the tomes. As he opened them up, he couldn’t help but lose himself within their contents. Ning couldn’t be bothered to move around, and so he just sat down right there on the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace and began to analyze this sword-art. …… Summer left, winter came. A full year had passed. During this past year, Ning didn’t immediately go to the Three Realms Palace. After all, it wasn’t as though the palace would run away. During this year, Ning defeated the ninth golem three more times, acquiring two more sword-arts manuals alongside the [Heavenraker]. These were all created by Daofathers, and were all some of the most supreme sword-arts of the Three Realms! Ning carefully analyzed the techniques, gaining quite a bit from them. He mastered thirteen swordstances in a row of the [Heavenraker]! “It is time to go to the Three Realms Palace.” It was already night, but Ning set out from his Immortal estate. Over the course of this past year, he had further perfected his [Three-Foot Sword], and his level of insight into the [Heavenraker] had already reached a very high point. It would be hard for him to improve significantly within a short period of time, and so he decided to go to the Three Realms Palace. …… The Three Realms Palace was an ordinary building that was just ten meters high…but it was the one of the most mysterious places in Mount Innerheart! Ordinary disciples of Mount Innerheart could occasionally enter Patriarch Subhuti’s Daoist monastery and listen to him expound on the Dao, but they would never, ever have the chance to enter the Three 2240 Realms Palace. Almost every single person allowed into the Three Realms Palace was an extremely famous figure of the Three Realms. Snooooore. A ringing, snoring sound rang out, occasionally high, occasionally low. Outside this palace was a skinny old man who was lying on the ground, his fan across his chest as he slept. When Ning had first arrived at Mount Innerheart, he had seen this old man sleeping. It had been thirty years, but Ning had never seen him wake up. It was as though this old man would slumber for ten thousand years at a time! “Second senior apprentice-brother,” Ning walked over, then called out respectfully. After having lived here for a period of time, Ning now knew about this second senior apprentice-brother. As Lord Jiang had said, “Of the many disciples which Master has accepted, his true heir is our second senior apprentice-brother! Second senior apprentice-brother trains in both the Dao and in Buddhism, and is a master of all techniques. He’s even the only one who has ever learned Master’s greatest divine ability, [Dream of the Three Realms]. I once asked Master to teach me this divine ability, but Master said that I cannot learn it. Of his students, only second senior apprentice-brother was able to learn it!” Silvermoon had said something similar. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that second senior apprenticebrother is always there sleeping. In reality, his avatars are roaming throughout the Three Realms, leaving behind countless legacies. There are very few mysteries in the Three Realms which can deceive second senior apprentice-brother. As I see it, under Master’s tutelage, eldest senior apprentice-brother might be the most powerful, but the second most powerful is definitely second senior apprentice-brother!” Patriarch Subhuti had also praised him. “Your second senior apprentice-brother has done countless good deeds and accumulated nigh-infinite amounts of karmic merit. He truly wishes to do good, and has been like this since the era of the Primordial World. His karmic luck has already reached an utterly inconceivable level. Both the Buddhists and the Daoists have invited him on multiple occasions to join them.” Even Patriarch Subhuti felt proud when mentioning his second disciple. Clearly, he was very satisfied with him! After learning more about his second senior apprentice-brother, Ning also felt extreme admiration. Because of the [Dream of the Three Realms], Ning’s second senior apprentice-brother’s avatar had visited almost all of the lesser worlds, and had left behind legacies in countless places. Thus, his name was extremely famous! Even in Ning’s own world of Earth, his second senior apprentice-brother’s reputation was as resounding as the thunder. “Second senior apprentice-brother? Senior apprentice-brother Crazy Ji?” Ning called out. 1 2241 “Who is calling my name?” The skinny, napping old man rubbed his name, then opened his eyes languidly, seemingly to still be halfasleep. Beaming merrily, he said, “Oh, you are the disciple which Master just took in, that Ji Ning of the Grand Xia world?” “Just so,” Ning immediately said. Of the figures the Old Patriarch’s command, eldest senior apprentice-brother was unfathomably profound in power and without question the number one figure. Second senior apprentice-brother’s reputation was known throughout the Three Realms, and he had accumulated tremendous karmic merits and had tremendous karmic luck. Both the Buddhists and the Daoists desired to take them into their leagues…but he continued to wander the Three Realms by himself, doing countless good deeds but belonging to neither the control of the Daofathers or of Lord Buddha. “Master told me long ago that you would come, but I didn’t expect you to come so soon. Just thirty years after joining, you have already come to my Three Realms Palace.” Crazy Ji held that ragged fan in his hands as he nodded slightly. “Go in, then. You can choose from the divine abilities and secret arts inside as you please…but the Dao cannot be casually taught. You will have to pass some simple tests in order to learn them.” “I understand,” Ning said. He had similarly had to pass some tests in order to acquire each of the swordarts manuals he had chosen in the Divinities Palace. …… Crazy Ji watched as Ning entered the palace, a hint of light flashing through his half-asleep eyes. “This junior apprentice-brother…he has a pure and innocent heart, and is surrounded by karmic merit. And that sword-heart of his…ohoho, it really is not bad at all! But why has Master chosen him as a disciple?” Crazy Ji understood Patriarch Subhuti more than anyone else, and he had learned more of Patriarch Subhuti’s abilities than anyone else as well. When Patriarch Subhuti chose a disciple, he always had a reason for it; he wouldn’t just randomly pick someone. Perhaps the disciple was surrounded by tremendous karmic luck! Perhaps the disciple had an extraordinary heritage! Perhaps the disciple had an unearthly level of comprehension! There was always something! “But it seems this junior apprentice-brother doesn’t fit any of the usual criteria. Can it be that there is a huge secret regarding him?” Crazy Ji smiled, then walked in as well. He was going to see what Ning would choose. …… 2242 Upon entering the building, Ning saw three tables scattered within it. Theses tables all had various abridged books placed in a casual manner atop of them. In total, there were only nineteen books. There were divine abilities, there were formations, there were secret arts… “The complete [Torch Dragon’s Eye]?!” Ning immediately picked it up. Back in the world of the Grand Xia, Ning had only learned the first part of the technique. So the Three Divinities Palace had the full version! He flipped the abridged version open. Atop the first page was listed a simple trial: “Go and clean the mountain paths of Mount Innerheart and you can learn this technique.” “But but but…” Ning was speechless. “How can this be a trial?! And this is the same as for the techniques on the first level of the Divinities Palace!” A supreme divine ability that could rank in the top hundred of the Three Realms…could actually be so easily learned? Just by cleaning the mountain paths? That wouldn’t even take half a day! “It was Master who collected these divine abilities and secret arts in this Three Realms Palace,” Crazy Ji said as he walked in, a smile on his face. “He did this to teach them to his disciples. Naturally, he wouldn’t make the trials too hard.” “But…this is still too easy. Even the trials for the seventh and eighth floors of the Divinities Palace are far more difficult than this,” Ning said. “It is true that the ‘test’ for this [Torch Dragon’s Eye] is a bit too simple,” Crazy Ji agreed. “However, the Torch Dragon died a long, long time ago, after all. After he died, quite a few of the Daofathers acquired this divine ability! This is the first reason why the test is so simple. The second reason is that the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] is best-suited for Fiendgods like the Torch Dragon to train in. As for other living creatures…to this very day, I’ve never heard of anyone who could reach a level of power in the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] that the Torch Dragon had.” Ning now understood. This technique was not only difficult to train in, it was also fairly common amongst the various Daofathers, and so the ‘trial’ was made a simple one. “This is the easiest of all trials,” Crazy Ji said. “Junior apprentice-brother, keep looking at the others carefully. There are some truly supreme techniques here…and in fact, there are some that are unique in the Three Realms, to be found nowhere else.” Ning immediately began to look carefully at the others. Soon… Another manual suddenly caught his attention. The words atop the manual caused Ning’s pupils to contract. The words were: [Houyi’s Archery]. “Houyi?” 2 Ning had naturally heard of this major power before. He immediately picked up the copy of [Houyi’s Archery] and started to flip through it. The name of this technique was very simple…but [Houyi’s Archery] was indeed an incredibly powerful divine ability! In fact, it was even more powerful than the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. “Ever since Pangu established the universe, this divine ability has always been ranked in the top ten,” Crazy Ji said. “This was created by True God Houyi, who used it to roam and dominate the Primordial World. However…the trial to acquire it is also the most difficult trial here in the Three Realms Palace!” “Master actually has the main divine ability of Houyi?” Ning was astonished. This was ranked in the top ten! That meant it was on the same level as Ning’s own [Starseizing Hand]?! Not even Patriarch Subhuti had ever developed a divine ability on this level. “This trial truly is difficult.” Ning immediately frowned upon seeing it. This trial was indeed the hardest of the nineteen trials here in the Three Realms Palace. Ning then looked at the contents of the abridged book. “So this is what [Houyi’s Archery] is all about…” Ning immediately understood. Although [Houyi’s Archery] and the [Starseizing Hand] both ranked amongst the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms, they were diametrically different. The [Starseizing Hand] was used to make one’s hands even more terrifyingly powerful than magic items. By the Second Cycle, one’s hands would already be comparable to Immortal-ranked magic treasures. By the Third Cycle, they would be comparable to Pure Yang magic treasures! The raw power and strength of the [Starseizing Hand] was utterly astonishing! But [Houyi’s Archery] was a skill-type ability! It was just like the [Windwing Evasion], in that it was a matter of skill and finesse. It required enlightenment and it required slow comprehension. Although it did include some clever ways to use divine power…it was more about skill and technique! Even Ki Refiners were capable of learning [Houyi’s Archery], so long as they could comprehend the mysteries within it. “It is much simpler to train in the [Starseizing Hand]; all I need to do is procure enough Five Elements essence, and my hands can become even more terrifyingly powerful, to the point where in the future I will even be able to crush stars with my hands,” Ning mused to himself. “But this [Houyi’s Archery]…it requires enlightenment!” They truly were completely different. As a result, [Houyi’s Archery] was extremely hard to train in. To this very day, aside from Houyi who had dominated the Primordial World with this divine ability, there had never been any other individuals who had been able to completely master this divine ability. “Don’t read it,” Crazy Ji said, shaking his head. “Quite a few of Master’s disciples have chosen this archery technique, but most of them were only able to gain a basic understanding of it. None of them have 2244 reached the level which the primordial Houyi once did. Go look at the other techniques first…and in the future, when you have some more free time, you can try and learn [Houyi’s Archery].” “Alright.” Ning nodded. No matter what…this simple archery technique was still ranked in the top ten of the divine abilities created since Pangu established the universe! He had to learn it sometime! But of course, there was no rush. Ning immediately began to read through the other tomes…and suddenly, yet another technique caused his eyes to light up. The words written atop this abridged tome were: [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].. This person is Ji Gong, aka Daoji, aka Li Xiuyuan. He was an eccentric monk that lived 800+ years ago that was famous for being extremely kind, seeming to have magic powers, but lived a life in violation of Buddhist rules due to eating meat and drinking wine. He is an incredibly famous semi-mythological figure in China that everyone has heard of. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ji_Gong 2. As explained long ago, Houyi is a mythological Chinese archer and an incredibly famous god. According to Chinese legend, long ago there were ten suns that baked the Earth and nearly killed everyone. Houyi ended up shooting down nine of the suns, sparing only the last one. He was acclaimed by mankind as a hero, but was punished by the heavens because the suns were the sons of a powerful God, and was later banished from the heavens. He was also the husband of Chang’e, who later became the goddess of the moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houyi If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Realms Palace “The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] is the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level.” This line of characters on the abridged version instantly drew Ji Ning’s attention. Number one in the three realms? Ning had never before heard anyone bold enough to claim that a particular divine ability was number one in the Three Realms. This claim couldn’t even be made regarding the [Starseizing Hand] or [Houyi’s Archery]. But this [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] actually dared to claim itself the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level!” “The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], also known as the [Nine Cycles Arcane Art] or the [Seventy-Two Transformations]1. This divine ability allows one to completely and perfectly control one’s Fiendgod body. A basic level of skill in this art allows one to transform into anything in the world; this is why this divine ability is also referred to as the [Seventy-Two Transformations].” Ning understood that this didn’t mean that the technique was really just limited to seventy-two transformations; rather, ‘seventy-two’ was another way of referring to the original name of ‘Eight-Nine’. It was a figurative number! “This divine ability allows one’s divine body to become akin to a magic treasure, to the point of being like an unbreakable vajra! At its peak of power, the user can allow Pure Yang magic treasures or even supreme Protocosmic spirit-treasures to chop against the user’s body. At most, there might be a few sparks; the body itself won’t be harmed at all!” Ning’s gaze turned heated as he read. Even Pure Yang magic treasures and Protocosmic magic treasures would only be able to cause a few sparks to fly? This was insane! “This divine ability places tremendous stress on the body. Thus, only Fiendgod Body Refiners can train in it. You have to at least have reached the Primal level as a Fiendgod before you can train in the First Cycle.” “At the Primal level, you can train in the First, Second, and Third Cycles.” “At the Void level, you can train in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Cycles.” “At the Empyrean God level, you train in the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Cycle.” “Once the Third Cycle is mastered, then the body will be comparable to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure! Even ordinary Celestial Immortals would find it difficult to wound you.” 2246 “Once the Sixth Cycle is mastered, then the body will be comparable to a Pure Yang magic treasure! By relying on it, one can become truly famous in the Three Realms!” “Once the Ninth Cycle is mastered, the body will be comparable to the most supreme of Pure Yang magic treasures, comparable to a Protocosmic spirit-treasure! It can truly be described as an unbreakable vajra at that point, and one can truly roam about the Three Realms without fear. Aside from major powers, no one can harm you at all. Even major powers will have to use special techniques in order to break your vajra-like body.” The description on the manual caused Ning to pant in excitement. This was far too formidable. Manmade magic treasures were divided into Mortal-rank, Earth-rank, Heaven-rank, Immortal-rank, and Pure Yang rank, with the Pure Yang rank being the limit. Above Pure Yang magic treasures were Protocosmic spirittreasures! Protocosmic spirit-treasures were born from the natural universe itself. However, this didn’t necessarily mean that all Protocosmic spirit-treasures were superior to all Pure Yang magic treasures. After all, amongst manmade Pure Yang magic treasures, there were treasures which truly possessed insane levels of power. In fact, some were created by fusing the extracted essence of multiple Protocosmic spirittreasures, such as the Starseizing Manor itself, which had used quite a few Protocosmis spirit-treasures in the forging! Thus, there were grades of Protocosmic spirit-treasures as well. They were also divided into low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and top-grade. Supreme Pure Yang treasures were generally comparable to middle-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures! Ning couldn’t help but sigh in amazement. “Protocosmic treasures!” To make one’s body comparable to a Protocosmic spirit-treasure! No wonder one’s body could be described as unbreakable as a vajra, and why even major powers of the Three Realms would have to use special methods in order to break past this divine ability. Whoosh! Ning continued to flip through the pages and read. “This divine ability was jointly developed by the spiritual leaders of both Buddhism and Daoism, who wished to create a divine body that was comparable to that of the great god Pangu’s.” “Per the predictions of the spiritual leaders of Buddhism and Daoism, this arcane art should have a total of Twelve Cycles.” “The first three were for the Primal level; the next three were for the Void-level, and the Seventh to Ninth Cycles were for the Empyrean God level, while True Gods would train in the Tenth to Twelve Cycles. The True Gods of the Three Realms, when using this divine ability, should theoretically have divine bodies that were comparable to Pangu’s. Unfortunately, although their predictions were idealistic, despite 2247 spending countless amounts of effort and time on this technique, they were still unable to come up with anything past the Ninth Cycle…” “And so, this divine ability only has Nine Cycles!” Upon seeing the description within the tome, Ning couldn’t help but sigh in amazement yet again. So the [Seventy-Two Transformations] had such an illustrious history. It had been jointly developed by the spiritual leaders of Buddhism and Daoism! “Pangu…the same Pangu who established the universe?” Ning sighed in amazement. If one could use a divine ability to strengthen one’s body to Pangu’s level, that would be utterly insane. However…even the most supreme of experts in the Three Realms were only able to develop a total of nine of these Cycles. Mm…it truly can be described as the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level.” Ning couldn’t help but nod to himself. It lived up to its reputation! …… After reading the description, Ning noticed that the [Seventy-Two Transformations] was quite similar to his own [Starseizing Hand]. The Second Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] made one’s hands comparable to Immortal-ranked magic treasures. The Third Cycle, Pure Yang magic treasures. The Fourth Cycle, supreme Pure Yang magic treasures or middle-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures. The Fifth Cycle, supreme Protocosmic spirit-treasures. The Sixth Cycle…it allowed a pair of hands to effortless seize and crush stars! One truly could use one’s bare hands to annihilate an entire world. As far as the major powers of the Three Realms were concerned, the reason why Daoist Threelives had become so famous and powerful was only because he had managed to develop the Sixth Cycle of his [Starseizing Hand]; only then had he been able to kill so many Fiendgod Daofathers during that great tribulation! “My [Starseizing Hand] only focuses on a pair of hands, while the [Seventy-Two Transformations] trains the entire body.” Ning realized what the difference was. Because the [Seventy-Two Transformations] was only designed for the Empyrean God level, it could only be described as the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level. The [Starseizing Hand], however, had a level meant for True Gods. Thus, it could be described as one of the top ten divine abilities in the Three Realms. After reading this [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] tome, Ning set it aside and began to flip through the other books. [Xingtian’s World-Destroying Axe] 2 This was an axe-technique developed by one of the major powers of the Three Realms known as Xingtian, the Castigator of Heaven. However, it was ranked as a divine ability, because just like [Houyi’s Archery], it largely involved profound and arcane ways to apply divine power. This complicated way of applying divine power, when matched with the axe technique, would produce the true power of [Xingtian’s WorldDestroying Axe]! This divine ability was ranked as one of the top hundred in the Three Realms. …… [Vairocana Guardian Halo]. This was a protective divine ability developed by the spiritual leader of Buddhism, Lord Buddha. It was extremely powerful, and at the True God level it was even slightly more powerful than the [Seventy-Two Transformations]. However, the [Seventy-Two Transformations] required a large amount of magic artifacts, and so the number of people who had ever trained in the [Seventy-Two Transformations] all the way to the Ninth Cycle was very low. Although at the same level, this [Vairocana Guardian Halo] was a bit weaker in power, it didn’t require as many magic treasures; one only need to focus on comprehending and mastering it. …… [Thundergod’s Eye]. This divine ability attracted Ning’s attention as well. This was because Ning had previously trained in the [Divine Thunderbolt Eye], which was a simplified version of the [Thundergod’s Eye]. Upon training in the [Thundergod’s Eye], when the user unleashed the eye, it could be used to see even the ghosts in the Netherworld Kingdom. Nothing could escape the gaze of this divine eye, and when mastered to an extremely high level, one could unleash ‘Divine Lightning of the Violet Skies’. Not even someone with an unbreakable, vajra-like body would dare to take a blow from this divine lightning! But of course…just like the other supreme divine abilities, to train in this one to the point of unleashing the ‘Divine Lightning of the Violet Skies’ was harder than hard. …… [Buddha-Realm Within the Palm]. This was a truly powerful divine ability of Buddhism, which could be trained all the way up to the True God level. If one mastered it, then an entire major world could be stored on one’s palm! When one struck 2249 out with one’s palm, one would be striking out with the entire power of a major world. If any enemy were to land atop the massive palm, even if they flew for an extremely long time, they would still find it difficult to fly out from this palm. 3 This was because the palm itself was the size of an entire major world! But of course, compared to the [Starseizing Hand], it was still a bit weaker. The [Starseizing Hand], when trained to its limit, could effortless annihilate an entire major world. …… [Heavenslayer Sword Formation]. This was a true sword-formation technique. The [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was also a true sword-formation technique, but compared to this [Heavenslayer Sword Formation], it was much weaker. The [Heavenslayer Sword Formation] was incredibly complicated, and it required the forging of a Heavenslayer sword-diagram, as well as a total of eighty-one Immortal swords…but it was extremely powerful, ranked as one of the supreme skills of the Three Realms. However…only someone with the power of a Daofather could produce the required sword-diagram. …… Ning’s gaze burned hotter and hotter as he continue to read. There were a total of nine divine abilities: [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], [Houyi’s Archery], [Xingtian’s WorldDestroying Axe], [Vairocana Guardian Halo], [Thundergod’s Eye], [Buddha-Realm Within the Palm], [Torch Dragon’s Eye], and two more. There were also a total of ten secret arts, formations, and other varied techniques. “Eh? There are actually no manuals focused exclusively on sword-arts, saber-arts, archery, axecraft…” Ning was surprised by this. For example, [Houyi’s Archery] wasn’t purely archery; it also included a very complicated way of activating and transforming divine power. This was why [Houyi’s Archery] was considered a divine ability! The same was true for [Xingtian’s World-Destroying Axe]. If the unique methods of employing divine power were stripped from these divine abilities, then [Houyi’s Archery] and [Xingtian’s World-Destroying Axe] would most likely only be placed on the ninth level of the Divinities Palace. Crazy Ji beamed merrily as he watched. He could tell that Ning had been completely captivated by these techniques. There were five techniques Ning wanted: [Buddha-Realm Within the Palm], [Thundergod’s Eye], [EightNine Arcane Art], [Houyi’s Archery], and [Torch Dragon’s Eye]! For one’s palm to be able to encompass an entire major world, a major world that completely belonged to him and him alone…how could Ning not feel desire for this technique? [Thundergod’s Eye]…Ning had long ago started to train in the elementary version of this divine ability. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was even critical! After all, the path of Immortal cultivation was a difficult and dangerous one. To reach the Empyrean God level meant that one would be comparable to figures like Lu Dongbin and be an expert of the Three Realms. It was far too difficult to reach the True God level and become a major power like Daoist Threelives. Thus, this number one divine ability for those below the True God level, this [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], was absolutely necessary. “Junior apprentice-brother,” Crazy Ji said. “Second senior apprentice-brother.” Ning turned to look at him. “Are you aware that you are not permitted to simply learn as many techniques within the Three Realms Palace as you please? Every single fellow disciple is limited to just a few,” Crazy Ji said. “I know.” Ning nodded. “Silvermoon and Lord Jiang both spoke to me of this.” Generally speaking, each person could only learn two or three divine abilities or secret arts from the Three Realms Palace before Patriarch Subhuti would forbid them from learning more! “Right. To be greedy is unwise!” Crazy Ji nodded. “Any one of these techniques, when trained to the peak, will allow you to roam and dominate the Three Realms. Even the seemingly unremarkable [Thundergod’s Eye], when trained to the limit, will allow you to control ‘Divine Lightning of the Violet Skies’ . Thus, if you are too greedy, the end result will be that you will be unable to train any technique to its limit and end up an ordinary figure. If you focus on training in one, however, you will be able to train to the limit and dominate the Three Realms.” Ning nodded. He understood this principle. Ning pondered for a time…then picked up an abridged version. “This is my choice from the Three Realms Palace.” This book was of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! The number one technique for those below the True God level. Ning had to choose it! Crazy Ji laughed and nodded. “Alright. Look at the trial first.” “Right.” Ning immediately flipped to the first page of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], carefully looking at the trial details. Ning immediately frowned upon doing so. This trial was many times more difficult than the trial for the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]; after all, that trial was just to sweep the mountain paths. 1. The Seventy-Two Transformations is the name of the legendary ability which Sun Wukong learned from Patriarch Subhuti and which made him into the badass that he was.. Xingtian is one of the early gods in Chinese mythology. He was decapitated by the Yellow Emperor, the legendary forefather of the Chinese race, but he remained alive and continue to fight with axe and shield, transforming his nipples into eyes and his navel into his mouth – seriously.. This is yet another reference to Journey to the West and Sun Wukong; when fighting with Lord Buddha, Sun Wukong and Buddha made a bet where Buddha bet him that Sun Wukong would be unable to jump out from his already quite large-looking palm in a single leap. Sun Wukong, capable of leaping 108,000 kilometers in a single bound, accepted the bet…and lost. Buddha then transformed his massive hand into a mountain, trapping Sun Wukong beneath it until his future master, the Tang Monk, came to rescue him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The trial was explained in just two simple lines of words: Go and take on a disciple of great karmic virtue, surrounded by at least three hundred meters of golden karmic light. Go and kill ten Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals who have committed great sins, surrounded by at least three hundred meters of bloody sin light. “This…” Ning frowned. To take on a disciple? To go kill? Someone who had accumulated so much karmic virtue as to be surrounded by three hundred meters of golden karmic light was far too rare. Generally speaking, such individuals would have tremendously good luck, and so they would have joined a school long ago, and most likely a major school at that. After all, the larger a clan or sect, the more they would desire to take on a disciple with that much karmic virtue. This would bring the entire sect fortune! Was he supposed to steal a disciple from someone else? As for killing someone…the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations which Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals had to face were of frightening power. The more sin one had accumulated, the greater the power of the calamities and tribulations. Thus, most Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals would limit the amount of sin they would accumulate; they wouldn’t dare act in excessively sinful ways, and would in fact try to do good as much as they could. Only truly fiendishly demonic figures who truly had formidable Dao-hearts and unearthly levels of power would dare engage in wanton slaughter and draw countless amounts of sin to them! This type of Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal definitely wasn’t easy to deal with. And he didn’t have to just kill one…he had to kill ten! “Taking on a disciple and killing others…second senior apprentice-brother…” Ning looked towards Crazy Ji. “To take on a person with great karmic virtue as a disciple and to teach that person is in and of itself an act of karmic virtue. Killing great sinners, in turn, is also an act of karmic virtue. Both of these things are good for you.” Crazy Ji nodded. “Although it might take a bit of time…there’s no need for you to rush. Go down into the world and spend some time searching. If you haven’t succeeded in one year, then go ahead and take ten.” 2253 Ning nodded. “The so-called going ‘down into the world’…where am I supposed to go? The three thousand major worlds and the trillion minor worlds?” “You haven’t left Master’s tutelage; you are not permitted to leave this estate-world,” Crazy Ji said. “The so-called going ‘down into the world’ refers to this estate-world itself. It is absolutely not inferior to a major world in any way. You can spend a million years wandering it without seeing everything within.” “Alright.” Ning immediately said, “Thank you for your guidance, second senior apprentice-brother. I’m going to leave now.” “Go ahead.” Crazy Ji waved his fan. …… Ning didn’t immediately go into the rest of the estate-world; first, he returned to his own Immortal estate. Within the Still Room in the underwater estate. Rumble…the stone door swung shut. Ning sat in the lotus position atop the netherwater jade bed, his heart quickly calming down. The excitement he had felt upon previously seeing so many divine abilities in the Three Realms Palace gradually dissipated. After he was completely calm, Ning began to ponder. “Although there are many divine abilities and secret arts in the world, it is true that one should focus on a few. If you learn many of them but are unable to focus on them, there’s no point.” Ning calmly reflected on each divine ability and secret art he had learned.” “Learning the [Vairocana Guardian Halo] is a waste of time; it is of very little help to me. Although the [Buddha-Realm Within the Palm] technique is quite powerful, I already have the [Starseizing Hand]; training in that divine ability won’t increase my power by much.” Ning quickly began to mentally discard one divine ability after another as he focused on which techniques were worth his energy and which ones would bring the maximum amount of power to him. “There are two I must train in.” “The first is the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Once I train in it, my body will be as unbreakable as a vajra, just like a magic treasure. I won’t need to waste any divine power; most divine abilities require divine power to be used, such as my [Starseizing Hand], which uses up a shocking amount of it. The Nine Cycles of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], however, causes the body itself to be made as hard as a vajra. The fact that this does not consume divine power in battle is a tremendous advantage! I can just stand there, and my foes will be unable to do anything to me.” Ning mentally discarded all of the other techniques within the Three Realms Palace. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] focused on defense! It made the body as unbreakable as a vajra, and it didn’t use up any divine power. [Houyi’s Archery] focused on long range combat! It was one of the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms. The [Starseizing Hand] focused on close combat! It was also one of the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms. “Defense, long range combat, close combat…that’s enough.” Ning nodded gently. “If Master permits it, I will also choose the [Torch Dragon’s Eye].” The [Torch Dragon’s Eye] was neither defense, nor long range combat, nor close combat; it was an extremely powerful support technique! And not only was it able to provide support skills, it was also a divine ability with an extremely simple ‘trial’; to simply clean the mountain roads a single time. However, Ning didn’t dare choose it just yet. After all, no one could say how many techniques Patriarch Subhuti would choose from the Three Realms Palace. If Ning were to choose the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] and the Old Patriarch then forbade him from choosing any more, he would feel miserable. First, the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Then, [Houyi’s Archery]. Lastly, if possible, [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. “But why is it that the Three Realms Palace doesn’t have a single evasive divine ability?” Ning furrowed his brows. The Windwing Evasion was just the simplified version of the divine ability [Garuda’s Wings]; after having spent thirty years at Mount Innerheart, he now felt that the Windwing Evasion was far too weak and wasn’t suitable for him to use at all. He had already completely mastered the Windwing Evasion, but the technique itself was far too low-level. “When I next see Master, I’ll ask him to provide me guidance and teach me an evasive divine ability,” Ning mused to himself. “If there are no other options…then I’ll go find one in the Divinities Palace.” The Divinities Palace had quite a few divine abilities. Ning had completely focused on studying swordarts, and hadn’t chosen a single other type of manual from the Divinities Palace. He had wanted to choose his other techniques from the Three Realms Palace, but who would’ve expected that the Three Realms Palace wouldn’t even have one evasive technique? He would first go ask his master; if his master wasn’t able to provide him with one, then he would go to the Divinities Palace to find an evasive divine ability. Although those techniques were fairly average amongst the upper tiers of the Three Realms, they were still hundreds to thousands of times better than the likes of the Windwing Evasion. …… 2255 “Whew.” Ning seated himself atop the netherwater jade bed, a mist arising around his body. The mist condensed into a figure; it was the black-robed Ji Ning. Ning’s Primaltwin! “It is time for my Primaltwin to become a Void-level Earth Immortal.” During the past thirty-one years at Mount Innerheart, Ning’s Primaltwin had remained at the peak Primal stage. The reason he didn’t advance further was because his master, Patriarch Subhuti, had warned Ning: “Ji Ning, I know that you acquired five million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, but you should not be in a hurry to make your Primaltwin break through to the next level. Your Primaltwin was formed from the Sole-Ki of Primalwater, and has an extremely high level of aptitude for understanding the element of Water. Even though both are at the Primal level, there is a difference between your true body and your Primaltwin in terms of how fast you will comprehend Water. Thus, you should have your Primaltwin remain at the Primal level for at least ten years.” “Understood.” Ning had immediately acknowledged his master’s orders back then. And indeed, it had been as his master had said; the Primaltwin’s aptitude for Water was quite incredible. Aside from the Dao of the Sword, Ning’s current highest level of attainment was in Water. Water far surpassed Fire…and the weakest were Wind and the Grand Dao of Qiankun! Because he saw the aforementioned advantages, and because there were no fights on Mount Innerheart whatsoever, Ning had never been in a rush to make any breakthroughs. He wanted to let his Primaltwin remain at the Primal level for as long as possible. His master had said ten years, but Ning had spent more than thirty years at this level. But now, he was going to leave the mountain and go kill enemies. He wasn’t going out to kill ordinary Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals; he was going to kill figures who were surrounded by sin, going to kill terrifying, demonic figures that were surrounded by three hundred meters of bloody sin light. Ning naturally was going to make ample preparations, and thus he was going to have his Primaltwin advance to the Void level. Actually, during these past thirty-one years, the Primaltwin had also been training in the [Darknorth Sutra]. However, since this sutra was created by a Daofather of the Great Firmament, the Primaltwin remained at the peak Primal level and had not reached its limit, despite having painstakingly trained for all these years! If it had still been training in the [Flowing Watersource] of the Black-White College, most likely thirty or so years after reaching the Primal level it would have been time for a breakthrough to the Void-level and to become an Earth Immortal. Given that Ning was training in the even more profound [Darknorth Sutra], if he had slowly cultivated as he had planned without using any spirit-pills or liquefied elemental essence, he would’ve had to spend at least eighty or ninety years before training to the early Void level. Swoosh. A jade bottle flew out, landing in front of Ning. The bottle’s stopper opened on its own. “Fortunately, I have five million kilograms.” The Primaltwin Ning willed it, and wish a swoosh, a flood of liquefied elemental essence flew out from the jade bottle. The mouth of the bottle was only as thick as a finger, but as the essence flew into the air the stream became more than thirty meters thick. It flew straight towards the Primaltwin Ning, then formed into a vortex around him. The essence vortex swirled into Ning, then disappeared. Within the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater inside the Primaltwin Ning’s body, a blurry void of a Zifu region could be seen. Within this void, there was a sea of elemental ki which had an enormous Turtle-Snake within it. On the back of the Turtle-Snake, flames could be seen blazing. These flames were Primal Fire! Rumble… The Zifu sea began to surge and swell as refined elemental essence began to surge to the ‘skies’ above them. The countless stars in the sky shone down with rays of light, all centered upon the giant TurtleSnake. The Primal Fire on the Turtle-Snake’s back instantly and dramatically expanded! Crackle… The Primal Fire roared and blazed, causing the Turtle-Snake to begin hiss and screech. Fifty thousand kilograms. A hundred thousand kilograms. A hundred and fifty thousand kilograms…more and more of the liquefied elemental essence was absorbed, and as Ning’s level of power began to rise, his rate of absorption began to rise as well. The Primal Fire began to blaze with greater and greater fury. A long time later… WHOOSH. It was like a planted seed suddenly sprouting up beyond the dirt. From within the blazing, heaventowering flames on the back of the Turtle-Snake, a single, slender, delicate golden lotus emerged from the cracked turtle shell. The turtle shell was like the soil. The Primal Fire was like the sunlight and water. The golden lotus slowly grew out and grew larger. This golden lotus was extremely small; compared to the heaven-towering flames on the back of the massive Turtle-Snake, it was extremely unremarkable. However, elemental ki of unbelievable purity swirled arounded the golden lotus, far surpassing the purity of the elemental ki Ning had in the past. Then, the entire Turtle-Snake began to grow dim as large amounts of its essence began to flow towards the golden lotus, causing the lotus to continuously grow larger and larger. As it continued to grow, the luster of the shell of the Turtle-Snake began to disappear as it grew dark. “The early Void level.” Ning’s Primaltwin soul had advanced from the Primal Turtle-Snake to the ‘Goldlotus’ level. Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals all had Goldlotus souls for their Primal soul! If one wished to become a carefree, unbound Immortal, one had to plant the seeds of the Goldlotus within the flames! “Continue!” The Primaltwin Ning was like a black hole, absorbing as much liquefied elemental essence as there was on offer. Only after a long time did he stop. The Primaltwin Ning pointed towards the distance. Instantly, the jade bottle on the ground became stoppered up again. “The amount of liquefied elemental ki needed to train in the [Darknorth Sutra] is absolutely astonishing. However, my elemental ki is now up to two levels more pure than that of an ordinary Earth Immortal.” Ning didn’t feel sorry for how much he had used up. “I used a total of 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence in training from the peak Primal stage to the late Void stage! Around two million kilograms remain in this jade bottle of mine. Right…I should leave it for Uncle White and Little Qing.” The reason why he had halted at the late Void stage was because upon reaching the peak of the Void stage, the Celestial Tribulation would be impending. “Time to go down into the world.” Rumble… The door to the Still Room slid open, and Ning’s true body walked out. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood outside the entrance of his Immortal estate. “Uncle White. Little Qing.” Ning sent a mental message to the two, and they soon arrived. These two had previously been elsewhere at the Divinities Palace, discussing the Dao with the other disciples of Mount Innerheart. “Master, why have you summoned us? We were in the middle of this great discussion about the Dao,” Little Qing said unhappily. The Whitewater Hound just looked at Ning, waiting for him to speak. “I am going to go down into the world and roam about this estate-world,” Ning said. “It will be anywhere from a year to ten years before I return.” “Whaaa?! Go down into the world?!” Little Qing said with great excitement, “Great, great! Although Mount Innerheart is nice enough, and I have the chance to listen to the Old Patriarch discuss the Dao here and have many divine abilities and secret arts to peruse…it is way too relaxed and boring here.” Ning shook his head. “I’m going down into the world on official business. You and Uncle White need to seize every moment of this incredible chance you have to study here at Mount Innerheart. After all, we are going to go back to the Grand Xia in the future…and I don’t know when we will return. A chance to study here is something that most people can’t even dream of.” After they went back to the world of the Grand Xia, it would not be easy for them to come back here. It wasn’t up to them; it was up to the Old Patriarch. Without his permission, no one could locate this estateworld. “Oh.” Little Qing nodded in understanding. “Ning, child, be careful as you roam the world. This estate-world is not one whit inferior to the world of the Grand Xia, and experts are as common as the clouds within it. I imagine there are quite a few Celestial Immortals as well,” Uncle White instructed. “Don’t worry.” Ning nodded. “Master, why are you going down into the world? What’s this official business all about? Oh, if it’s really important, then don’t worry about telling me.” Although this was what Little Qing said aloud, her eyes were sparkling. Clearly, she was quite intrigued. Ning laughed. “This is a test which Master gave me. I need to go down into the world, accept a disciple, and kill some people.” 2259 “Accept disciples? Kill people?” Little Qing and Uncle White both grew intrigued. “These two jade bottles each have a total of 750,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence.” Ning waved his hand, and two jade-green bottles appeared. “Uncle White, Little Qing, the two of you have reached the peak Primal level in recent years as well. However, from the peak Primal level to the Void level requires a long period of time. Although the techniques you use are the techniques from Mount Innerheart, you will still probably need a few decades before succeeding. With this essence, the two of you will be able to reach the early Void stage and also stabilize your foundation.” The Whitewater Hound hesitated momentarily. Little Qing, however, immediately accepted her bottle with glee. “Thanks, Master! Master, you are the best. I’ve been hankering to reach the Void-level and become an Earth Immortal.” “Take it, Uncle White,” Ning said. Here at Mount Innerheart, there was no way to acquire more liquefied elemental essence. Otherwise, given his current level of power, it wouldn’t be too hard to sell some treasures and procure some. In the future, his true body, Uncle White, and Little Qing would all rise to the late Void level. As for the peak Void level? Ning was in no rush because he often heard Patriarch Subhuti expound on the Dao and had learned that every Celestial Tribulation was tailored to the specific person. The more monstrous a genius, the more ridiculously powerful a Celestial Tribulation would be. For someone like him, an expert who had divine abilities such as the [Starseizing Hand] and who was blessed by luck, the power of his divine tribulation would be similarly astonishing! He had to make ample preparations! He had to raise his level of comprehension. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], [Houyi’s Archery], and the [Starseizing Hand]; they all had to reach the highest level of power possible prior to the Celestial Immortal level. He had to prepare enough magic treasures and curios as well. His Dao-heart also needed to be stronger…in short, in the face of the Celestial Tribulation, no matter how many preparations he made, it wouldn’t be too much. No one wanted to be defeated by it, after all! Upon being defeated, one would naturally perish. Even if one managed to luck out and become a Loose Immortal, under the eternal, remorseless trials of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, death would be the only result. The Celestial Tribulation… This was a true tribulation that would determine one’s destiny! The greatest tribulation there was on the Immortal path! Those who succeeded would soar into the heavens and truly escape the binds of the 2260 Three Realms. They would be carefree and unbound, no longer subject to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. But those who failed…they were finished. …… On the mountain paths of Mount Innerheart. The Whitewater Hound and Little Qing sent off Ning together. Ning didn’t bid his fellow disciples farewell; after all, this was just a trial, and a short one at that. To his fellow disciples who had lived for countless years, this was indeed a very brief trip. “No need to send me any further,” Ning said with a smile. He then transformed into a streak of light and flew out of the giant, levitating Mount Innerheart. He flew downwards towards the vast, endless world. “Ning, my son, be careful.” “Master, be careful.” The Whitewater Hound and Little Qing watched as Ning flew away. They watched until he disappeared. …… Ning stared downwards towards the countless cities that dotted the vast world. Prior to him leaving Mount Innerheart, Little Qing had gone to a good friend she had made, an ordinary disciple of Mount Innerheart who was a Void-level Diremonster, and acquired a fairly detailed map of the entire Crescent world! “The Crescent world is as large as the world of the Grand Xia. Above an endless sea, there are three enormous continents. These three continents are all slightly smaller than the continent of the Grand Xia, but combined they are comparable to it.” Ning pondered to himself. “Mm. To the Star continent!” The Crescent world had a total of three continents. The Cloud continent, the Flame continent, and the Star continent. The one which was below the airborne Mount Innerheart was known as the Cloud continent. The Cloud continent was the continent with the best governance, whereas the Flame continent and the Star continent were in states of utter chaos. They had many small kingdoms, as well as many Diremonsters, clans and sects that caused a state of turmoil to be maintained. “Great sinners can be found amidst great chaos. Perhaps I might also find an individual of great karmic merit who has escaped notice,” Ning mused to himself. Whoosh! Space rippled around him, and Ning then disappeared from midair. …… The Crescent world. The Star continent. A flying shuttle was flying through the skies at high speed. Within the shuttle were a group of cultivators, with the leader being a man and two women. The other six were all servants and guards. “Our Qi Empire has been abandoned to those monsters. Why won’t they let us be?!” A violet-robed woman spoke out, her eyes filled with rage. “When we hide in mountain wilds, the Diremonsters still find us and chase us. Our imperial clan of the Qi Empire is now extremely puny; we aren’t a threat to them at all. Why won’t they let us be?!” “Little sister.” A black-robed maiden next to her shook her head. “The monster king who has taken over our Qi Empire has given the order to completely exterminate our imperial clan of Qi. None are to be spared. The countless monsters under that monster king’s command are naturally going to chase us and kill us. Only by killing us will they have rendered merits and be rewarded by the monster king.” “So are we just going to keep running and running?” The violet-robed maiden gritted her teeth. “I’ve had enough of this life of fleeing. I started fleeing when I was a child, and it has now been several decades. I’ve been running away this entire time. I have had enough. Enough! Let’s go all out against these demons. Big brother, second sister, let’s fight them!” “Shut your mouth.” The tall, muscular man who was on his feet growled softly, “Our imperial clan has existed for tens of thousands of years; now, only the three of us still remain. Even our uncle ended up dying when he fought against those demons to try and protect us. We are alive because of the sacrifices of countless subordinates. We absolutely cannot just throw our lives away.” “Then what should we do? That monster king is so powerful; how are we supposed to escape him? And where can we run to?” The violet-robed woman said with rage. The tall man growled, “By now, there’s no other choices for us. The only choice is…to go to the Viledragon River!” Instantly, everyone fell silent. The two younger sisters who were behind him as well as all of the servants fell silent. Their eyes were filled with amazement. Viledragon River? The Star continent was vast and boundless. There was no way these three imperial scions and their servants could fly out from the Star continent. Within the Star continent, however, Viledragon River was one of the most famous and largest rivers of all! Viledragon River cut through a large half of the entire Star continent. It was incomparably wide; even at the narrowest points, it was at least eight hundred kilometers across, and up to a thousand or more at its thickest. As far as its length…given that it cut through most of the Star continent and was a sinuous, undulating river, one could imagine how unfathomably long it was! According to legend, after a primordial Viledragon was killed, its body was transformed into this river. But of course, this was too extravagant a legend and there was no way to verify its authenticity. Still…Viledragon River truly was bizarre. Anyone who moved within a thousand kilometers of it would become completely unable to fly, and also become unable to use evasive techniques based off the Five Elements. Supposedly, even Celestial Immortal Patriarchs who neared this Viledragon River would also be unable to fly or use evasive techniques. From this, one could see how bizarre Viledragon River was! In addition, Viledragon River also had some dangerous zones inside of it which even Immortal cultivators did not dare to charge into. “There’s no way to fly within Viledragon River, and no way to use evasive techniques. It will be very hard for the monsters to catch us within it,” the tall man growled. “I trust that they will also be nervous, and won’t dare to chase us all the way into Viledragon River. “But…that’s Viledragon River,” the black-robed maiden said hurriedly. “We’re trying to find a way to stay alive in an impossibly lethal situation. It doesn’t matter how dangerous Viledragon River is! In addition, Viledragon River is enormous, and it cuts through more than half of the Star continent. Actually, most of it is quite safe; only a few parts of it are dangerous. If we are lucky, we can find a safe island and start life anew there. We can build up our power on the island, and in the future, we can slaughter that monster king and take back the Qi Empire,” the tall man said. “Second sister, little sister…we have no other paths to take.” The two girls gritted their teeth and nodded. “Life or death…it comes down to this toss of the dice,” the black-robed woman said. “Right. Let’s do it.” The violet-robed maiden gritted her teeth as well. …… Rumble… Viledragon River. The waters of the river frothed and bubbled with unnatural turbidity. “Viledragon River.” “Big brother, up ahead is Viledragon river.” 2263 “Here we are.” The man, two women, and six guards quickly arrived at the banks of Viledragon River. They stared at the turbid waters. They could already sense the invisible, nameless ripples of power emanating from the entire Viledragon River. They couldn’t help but feel terrified; Viledragon River was simply too famous. “Hey, big brother, second sister, hurry and look over there.” The violet-robed maiden pointed at the distant, wide Viledragon River. Aboard the river, a wooden boat was slowly sailing forward. Atop the wooden ship was a fur-clad youth who was holding and playing a bamboo flute. Everyone present was an Immortal cultivator; given their perfect vision, they were able to see this person clearly. “This youth actually dares to sit on a boat on Viledragon River and leisurely play the flute?” The blackrobed woman was extremely startled as well. “If he is an Immortal cultivator…no matter how powerful he is, he should still be extremely cautious right now.” The tall man frowned. “Can he be an ordinary mortal?” Although Viledragon River was reputed to be dangerous, that was only in some parts of it. There were often some stupidly brave mortals who would try to show off their valor and sail on a ship atop Viledragon River. And indeed, there were some mortals who were lucky enough to be able to sail on Viledragon River for months, then come back to tell the tale. “Big brother, that youth is coming over here!” The violet-robed maiden called out in alarm. The fur-clad youth’s ship, which had previously been following the currents of the river, suddenly turned. The oars on the boat began to strike against the water, kicking up waves of white froth as it moved closer. …… Ning used his hands to steer the boat, beaming as he stared at the individuals on the distant shore. His divine sense had covered this region long ago, and he saw that amongst the crowd, there was a female servant who was emanating a golden light detectable only by his divine sense. The golden light of karmic virtue was at least nine hundred meters long and was utterly astonishing. “How very lucky I am! I found a person of great karmic virtue quite quickly.” Ning felt incomparably delighted. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After having descended onto the Star continent, Ning had sailed down the Viledragon River, continuously sweeping his surrounding region with divine sense. He had already searched for nearly half a month, but he hadn’t found a single person of great karmic virtue or great karmic sin. Today, he had been leisurely relaxing on his boat while playing his bamboo flute…but he had actually run into a person of great karmic virtue. Whoosh. The oars of the boat continued to sweep forward, sending the boat towards the shore. Ning walked out of his boat and onto the shore. As the distant group of imperial Qi clansmen walked over, they saw Ning disembark through a very ordinary method. They couldn’t help but feel even more convinced that he was an ordinary mortal. The weakest in their group was at least a Zifu Disciple; why would they view an ordinary mortal with any care? And yet…this mortal was walking straight towards them. “Big brother, he’s actually walking towards us,” the black-robed princess sent mentally. “A puny little mortal…if we were back in our imperial palace, he would’ve been killed long ago for trying to stand in our way.” The violet-robed princess had a hint of darkness in her eyes. After having fled for so many years, her heart had become filled with hate and darkness. “Don’t cause unnecessary trouble.” Their leader, the tall youth, just spread out his majestic aura. He was the most powerful figure in this squad of theirs, a Wanxiang Adept. An invisible aura of power came crashing downwards. Any mortal faced with this aura of a Wanxiang Adept would instantly quiver and become utterly terrified. “Let’s go.” After having released his aura, the imperial prince led his two younger sisters and his guards towards Viledragon River. They couldn’t be bothered to act against a mortal as they were fleeing. “Haha…” Suddenly, loud laughter rang out. The imperial prince, the two princesses, and the guards all turned to stare in astonishment. That fur-clad youth who they had assumed to be a mortal was standing there, laughing. The fleeing imperial prince of Qi naturally understood right away that this backwater youth was clearly not a mortal. A mortal would have been quivering supinely on the ground by now. Rumble… An invisible aura of might and power swept out from Ning like an enormous tidal wave, smashing towards the imperial Qi group. All of their faces changed. This backwater youth…he was no mortal. He was someone whose power vastly outstripped theirs. “My name is Shi Feng. These are my family retainers. Dare I ask who you are, senior?” The tall imperial prince immediately spoke out with great respect. At the same time, he produced a tiny bead of water on his finger. He pretended to scratch his eyes, but in reality he pressed that bead of water onto them. Rumble… The imperial prince lifted his head to take a look. He saw the ripples of power emanating from the backwater youth, then immediately sent mentally to his two little sister, “Ruyu, Ruhui, judging from the ripples this backwater youth is emanating, he should be at the peak Primal level…and he doesn’t seem to have any ill intentions. We absolutely cannot make an enemy out of him. Each time we use up one of our protective treasures, that is one less that we will never get back.” “Understood, big brother,” the black-robed princess sent mentally. “He’s just a Primal Daoist. If our imperial father were here…how could a Primal Daoist like him possibly behave so arrogantly in front of us?” The violet-robed princess felt relaxed; she no longer felt afraid. They were of the imperial clan, after all; although their nation had collapsed, they had quite a few treasures on them. They had remained alive for several decades despite being continuously pursued; this was proof of their ability to stay alive. Clearly, they were confident in being able to escape from a single Primal Daoist by using up some treasures. …… “I am Darknorth. For us to meet here today is destiny.” After releasing his aura, Ning then said, “Come aboard my boat and drink a few cups of wine?” Ning could tell that these individuals had moved towards Viledragon River with the intent of sailing atop it. However…. Viledragon River was extremely famous, and of these nine only a single was at the Wanxiang Adept level. The other eight were all merely Zifu Disciples. Why was it that they dared to come to Viledragon River? Others might fear Viledragon River, but Ning was Patriarch Subhuti’s disciple. He often chatted with his fellow disciples, and had learned about some of the secrets of this Crescent world. Naturally, he had no fear of Viledragon River. “Since senior Darknorth has invited us, we shall naturally comply.” The imperial prince immediately accepted the offer. They were going sailing to begin with; with a peak Primal Daoist by their side, they might have a helper. Whoosh. Ning waved his finger, and instantly the wooden boat expanded in size, expanding to a three hundred meter long ship. The nine figures immediately boarded the large ship. Atop the deck of the ship appeared chairs, tables, fine wine, and spirit-fruit. “Sit.” Ning sat down at the host’s position. The imperial prince and the two princesses all sat down, while the other guards remained standing. “Shi Feng.” Ning’s gaze fell upon the female maidservant whose body was covered by the golden light of karmic virtue. The golden light surrounding her appeared incomparably majestic and vast; it was at least nine hundred meters long. That was as long as some of Earth’s rivers were wide; from this, one could imagine how utterly astonishing this young woman’s karmic light of virtue was. “She is your maidservant?” Ning pointed at the maidservant standing behind the seated violet-robed princess. The imperial prince smiled. “Indeed.” “What is her name? What is her history? Tell me of her,” Ning said. As Ning saw it…it wouldn’t be too hard for him to take this maiden away from these people. However, this was his first time taking on a disciple! Ning naturally wanted to get an idea as to what sort of personality this maiden had. Her golden light of karmic virtue might be a result of her actions in her previous life; it was hard to say what she was like in this life. If she had a negative personality, Ning would rather go find another person with karmic virtue. “Her name is Qi Xiaoyu 1; she came from a backwater place,” the imperial prince said with a laugh. “An elder of my family saw that she was talented, and so took her on as a disciple when she was very young and taught her cultivation. The elder doted on her fiercely; although she is a servant in name, in reality she can be described as my junior apprentice-sister.” “Qi Xiaoyu?” Ning raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at her. Her appearance was quite pretty; although she was inferior to Yu Wei, she was still quite a beauty. In addition, there was a resolved look in her eyes; clearly, her Dao-heart was excellent as well. “Qi Xiaoyu, come here and sit.” Ning waved his hand, and another table filled with fine wine and spiritfruit appeared next to him. Qi Xiaoyu stood there, hesitating slightly as she looked towards the imperial prince and the two princesses. The imperial prince instructed, “Senior Darknorth has already given you instructions; why don’t you go to him?” “Alright.” Qi Xiaoyu immediately walked obediently towards the table, but she didn’t touch the wind or the spirit-fruit. Ning looked towards Qi Xiaoyu. He could sense that this maiden had an invisible sort of magnetism that caused one to naturally gravitate towards her and want to befriend her. “Is this what it is like to be blessed with tremendous karmic virtue? This is my first time seeing her, but I can’t help but feel kindly inclined towards her.” “Xiaoyu,” Ning spoke out. “Senior Darknorth,” Qi Xiaoyu replied with great respect. “Tell me about your life, from youth til now,” Ning said. Qi Xiaoyu looked towards the imperial prince and the two princesses. In truth, this request of Ning’s was rather excessive. Still, the imperial clansmen didn’t wish to offend Ning. This was one of the benefits of being powerful; as long as Ning didn’t go way too far, the imperial prince and princesses wouldn’t quibble too much. The imperial prince nodded gently. Qi Xiaoyu immediately said, “Senior, when I was young, I lived in a tribe with a few tens of thousands of individuals known as the Bluecliff tribe. The chief of the Bluecliff tribe was my great-grandfather. When I was young, I was without a worry in the world. I was very happy…” As she spoke, a look of happiness appeared on Qi Xiaoyu’s face. “However, my tribe suffered an attack from Diremonsters. Our tribesmen were all forced to flee in defeat. My family all died, and as I was fleeing, I encountered Master…” Ning listened quietly. At his current level, Ning could clearly sense the changes in Qi Xiaoyu’s soul! If she lied, Ning would immediately be able to tell. …… As Ning was revealing his power, forcibly inviting the imperial Qi clansmen onto the ship, then asking Qi Xiaoyu about her history… In the skies more than ten thousand kilometers away, there was a giant black ship. The giant black ship had twelve black-armored figures aboard it. The giant black ship had a single flag atop its mast; the flag had the diagram of a pair of flaming wings. Local monsters and Immortal cultivators would immediately be able to tell…that this was the legendary Flamewing Guard, which many powers were in absolute dread of. “Captain, the survivors of the imperial Qi clan really know how to flee. It has been so many years, but they still haven’t been wiped out yet. Our Flamewing Guard have been chasing them for this entire time.” A skinny man with scales on his face let out a sigh as he spoke. “They are indeed skilled at flight. For the Qi Empire to be able to take over a territory of a million kilometers over the course of just a few tens of thousands of years, and for them to have been able to kill so many Diremonsters at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal level…how many treasures must they have? In addition, given how rapid their rise to power was, there are many who believe that the founding emperor of the Qi Empire had acquired an enormous treasure trove. Regardless of whether or not that is true, these fleeing survivors most assuredly have many treasures on them. We’ve chased after and attacked them so many times, but they’ve always been able to flee.” A massively muscular black-armored man replied. Next to him was an alluring woman who had a plume on her head. She laughed beautifully. “Captain…no matter what, more and more of the surviving imperial Qi clansmen have been killed by us during the pursuit. The last time we attacked them, we killed the final Primal Daoist the imperial Qi clansmen had. The only three survivors of the imperial Qi clan are the crown prince and those two princesses.” “They don’t even have Primal Daoists with them; they are going to die soon.” “If we can kill the crown prince and the two princesses, we will have rendered a great merit.” Although the survivors of the imperial Qi clan were very weak…they represented the last remnants of their clan. Many of the treasures of the Qi Empire, and perhaps even the Dao-Repository of the Qi Empire, were undoubtedly being carried by the crown prince. “Eh?” Suddenly, the massively muscular black-armored man was startled. He waved his hand, and a fireseed appeared within it. The fireseed was trembling. “We are within ten thousand kilometers of the survivors of the imperial Qi clan!” The black-armored man revealed a look of delight. “Hahaha, this time we are going to catch them all.” “We’ve rendered incredible merits.” “They don’t even have a single Primal Daoist with them. Wanxiang Adepts? Killing them is as easy as chopping lettuce!” The soldiers of the Flamewing Guard were all extremely excited. There had long been rumors that the reason why the Qi Empire had risen to power so quickly was because they had acquired an enormous treasure trove. As a result, even the Flamewing King had grown envious, and he had led his Diremonster army to annihilate the entire Qi Empire! He had seized all of the important treasure troves of the Qi Empire. As for the surviving imperial clansmen, the Flamewing King couldn’t be bothered to kill them personally; he simply ordered his subordinates to handle it. “If we were to kill these survivors, we can just offer the most precious treasures to the King. As for the other treasures…” The twelve soldiers of the Flamewing Guard looked at each other and smiled. Their eyes flashed with greed and viciousness. Their monstrous king was savage, and his soldiers were also quite savage as well.. Xiaoyu means Little Rain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The waves of the vast Viledragon River crashed down like the stampede of ten thousand stallions. Aboard the giant ship. After chatting for a period of time, Ning felt as though his mind had been settled. The little lass named Qi Xiaoyu had very little experience; she was as pure as a sheet of white paper. In addition, she was clearly quite respectful towards the young man and the two sisters; she continuously watched for the young man’s signals before acting. “Based on what she said, she’s only trained for twenty years. Those blessed by great karmic virtue are indeed talented. And…she isn’t a bad person.” Ning nodded lightly. He didn’t require that his disciples be perfect; however, they couldn’t be evildoers. Given his current level of enlightenment, it was very simple for him to judge and assess a mere Zifu Disciple. “I like Xiaoyu very much,” Ning said. “Since Xiaoyu’s former master has already perished…I wonder, Shi Feng, if you would be willing to give her up and let her become my disciple.” The waves of the vast Viledragon River continued to crash down resoundingly…but within the ship, things had fallen silent. Qi Xiaoyu was completely speechless. She hurriedly shook her head repeatedly as she looked towards the crown prince. The crown prince and the princesses had changed looks on their faces. “This Darknorth really thinks too highly of himself,” the violet-robed princess sent angrily. “He actually wants to take Xiaoyu as his disciple. Xiaoyu is blessed by karmic virtue; she can provide karmic luck to our entire imperial clan. How can we give her away to a random Primal Daoist?! Hmph, even if an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal wants to take away Xiaoyu, we still shouldn’t agree hastily, to say nothing of this Darknorth!” “Big brother,” the black-robed princess sent mentally as well, “What should we do? We definitely can’t let Xiaoyu just be taken away, but this Darknorth wishes to take her as a disciple…what should we do?” The crown prince was frowning. The roots of their imperial clan were very deep, and in the past, they had Primal Daoists of their own! A simple sweep of divine sense had allowed them to know that ‘Qi Xiaoyu’ had an utterly astonishing level of karmic virtue. Thus, they had done everything they could to take Qi Xiaoyu into their fold, and had even bestowed her with the imperial surname of ‘Qi’. They had shown her incomparable favor, causing her to feel incomparably grateful. “Xiaoyu is an important chess piece. This Darknorth is just a Primal Daoist…we absolutely cannot give her to him,” the crown prince sent mentally. …… As the crown prince and the princesses were conversing mentally, Qi Xiaoyu said hurriedly, “Senior Darknorth, I received great benevolence from Master and cannot betray…” Ning said, “So long as you are willing to allow Xiaoyu to be my disciple, then I will repay you with magic treasures.” As he spoke, he suddenly produced ten Heaven-ranked flying swords that emanated watery ripples of power. The strength of these ripples caused everyone present to feel a sense of pressure. “Ten high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords. What do you say?” Ning asked. “It seems this seemingly rustic Daoist Darknorth is actually quite wealthy,” the violet-robed princess sent mentally. “Heaven-ranked magic treasures are very important to Primal Daoists. It isn’t easy for one of them to produce ten. It seems he truly does want to take Xiaoyu as his disciple. Unfortunately for him, as far our imperial Qi clan is concerned, ten high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords are nothing,” the crown prince sent back. Although the three feigned looks of amazement, in their hearts they remained quite calm. Seeing this, Ning frowned slightly. “How about a hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords?” Instantly, a dense cluster of a hundred Heaven-ranked flying swords appeared in the air above the ship. The ripples emanating from each Heaven-ranked flying sword were enough to cause the Wanxiang Adept and eight Zifu Disciples present to feel an enormous sense of pressure. “This, this…” Qi Xiaoyu was completely stunned. A hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords? To take her on as disciple, this man was willing to take out this many magic treasures? Although she wasn’t willing to betray the clan, the actions of this ‘senior’ Darknorth who looked like a youth still caused her to feel a hint of delight. For this senior Darknorth to be willing to offer such a high price was testament to how much he valued her. “A hundred!” The crown prince and the princesses felt desire now. Although they had quite a few treasures on them, over the course of decades of pursuit after the destruction of their country, with so many of their experts having perished and their treasures having been taken…the total number of treasures they had was now limited. A hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords was worth five hundred thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence! “This Primal Daoist has actually taken out this many Heaven-ranked flying swords.” The violet-robed princess’s eyes were blazing. “Big brother…” “The three of you!” Ning controlled the hundred Heaven-ranked flying swords which hovered above them as he frowned and barked, “This is enough. Don’t go too far!” The crown prince naturally wanted these items. But he knew quite well that these hundred Heavenranked flying swords would be of almost no use to them in their flight. Even if they went to a city and traded it for some elemental essence, what good would that be? They already had some protective, fleeing items; if they bought a few more copies, that wouldn’t make a huge difference. “Senior Darknorth,” the crown prince said respectfully, “For you to give up a hundred high-grade Heavenranked flying swords in exchange for having Xiaoyu follow you as her disciple is of course acceptable. However…it isn’t that we aren’t willing, it is that after Xiaoyu became a Zifu Disciple, she swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens to be loyal to my clan. For you to force her to leave would be to cause her to violate her oath. She will immediately perish.” Ning frowned. “The oaths a servant swears to the Dao of the Heavens…but the master can generally gift the servants to others.” It was extremely common for major clans to give away Deathsworn, for example. Thus, when servants swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, they would generally say that they would follow the clan leader’s orders in all things. “That is true. However, that requires the clan leader of my Stone clan to agree. I cannot agree in his stead,” the crown prince said. Ning’s face instantly sank. As it did, the hearts of the crown prince and the others all clenched. Ning waved his hand. The hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords in the sky all vanished, and he gave the crown prince a cold look. “You are lying.” “Lying?” The crown prince was flabbergasted. “I didn’t lie…” “You say that you are Shi Feng? That was a lie! You said that you are unable to permit Xiaoyu to be my disciple and that you need the clan leader to agree; this, too, was a lie!” Ning said coldly. The crown prince was startled. The two princesses were shocked as well. Indeed, the crown prince’s name was not Shi Feng; rather, it was Qi Rufeng! His surname was ‘Qi’. The only members of the imperial Qi clan left were the three of them; thus, the crown prince Qi Rufeng was the leader of the clan. As long as he agreed, he could give Qi Xiaoyu to Ning. “I didn’t lie.” The crown prince wanted to keep up his false front. “Would you dare swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens stating that you didn’t lie? So long as you dare to swear this oath, I will gift you with those hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords and leave on the spot.” Ning’s face sank even further. Qi Rufeng and his two sisters both felt pressure now. “Since Darknorth won’t accept a soft refusal, let’s give him a hard one. Ten years ago, back when the old servants were alive, he would’ve been killed long ago by now.” The violet-robed princess sent an angry mental message to the other two. Right at this moment… “Eh?” Ning suddenly turned his head. “Huh?” The crown prince and the others turned their head as well. A group of figures had appeared on the distant shores of the Viledragon River. There were a total of twelve figures, all dressed in black armor and staring in their direction. On their bracers were emblazoned the logo of a flaming wing. These twelve warriors stared in their direction. Their captain, the massively muscular black-armored man, was holding a flamewing bug in his hands, a cold smile on his face. He pointed towards the distance. “The survivors of the Qi Empire are over there. Do it!” “Kill.” “Kill!” All of them emanated incomparably savage auras. The twelve soldiers instantly transformed their shape. One became an enormous horned rhino, another into a three-tailed fox, a third into a coiling serpent, a fourth into a white-furred bear…but they all shared a single commonality. All of them wore black armor. With the giant horned rhino at the center, the other soldiers spread out, filling and cycling their elemental ki through their Dao-armor and joining together into a whole. Rumble… An enormous venomous bug that had fiery wings suddenly appeared in the skies. …… “The Flamewing Guard.” The faces of the crown prince and the others changed dramatically. They had suffered miserably for the past few decades under the pursuit of the Flamewing Guard; the Flamewing Guard was their nightmare, a nightmare they had never been able to escape. The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of their clan had all perished; even all of their Primal Daoists had perished. They were the only ones left. How could they resist the Flamewing Guard? Although this was just a small squad of the Guard, the imperial clansmen knew quite well that each squad of the Flamewing Guard was led by a Primal Diremonster as well as eleven Wanxiang Diremonsters who were capable of joining together into a Dao-soldier formation. After they assumed the formation…even peak Primal Daoists would probably find it hard to do anything to these Diremonsters. “What should we do?” The black-robed woman frantically sent mentally. “There’s no way to use evasive techniques here on the Viledragon River, and there’s no way to fly. We have to rely on the ship.” The crown prince was panicking as well. “Have this Darknorth go block them. He is a peak Primal Daoist; he can definitely buy us some time,” the violet-robed princess sent mentally. Right at this moment, the enormous bug with flaming wing charged straight into the Viledragon River. It flew through the river, moving as fast as lightning. It was about to arrive. “Hurry up and die!” An enraged bellow rang out from the enormous flamewing bug. “This is my ship.” Ning stood on the prow of the ship, staring at the enormous flamewing bug that was flying towards him. “Hurry up and beat it.” The crown prince and the others instantly felt overjoyed. “Wonderful. This Darknorth has actively gone out to engage it.” “Let him help us block them.” “Ideally, this Darknorth and the Flamewing Guard will kill each other. We can then acquire all of Darknorth’s treasures.” …… The Flamewing Guard were famous for their savagery. Local cultivators and monsters would’ve fled long ago in the face of their arrival. They didn’t expect that today, they would run into someone who didn’t fear them at all. Behind them stood the fearsome Flamewing King! What they didn’t realize…was that behind Ning stood Patriarch Subhuti. “Since you dare to try and stop the Flamewing Guard, you can die with them!” The green eyes of the enormous flamewing were filled with viciousness as it let out a shrill, enraged screech. Whoosh. The flamewing bug soared towards the boat, and a blurry green fog appeared around it, causing the crown prince’s group to be filled with terror. They hurriedly retreated, setting down a formation in 2275 the surrounding area to defend. The hideous insectoid head of the massive flamewing bug shot outwards through the mist, attacking Ning atop the board of the ship. Ning shook his head. “You truly are seeking death!” BOOM!!!! Aboard the ship, the formerly ordinary-looking Ji Ning suddenly exploded forth with a terrifyingly powerful presence. The world itself seemed to instantly grow silent, and even the powerful, turbid waves of the Viledragon River went still. In fact, the waves and even sea spray suddenly froze mid-motion. The enormous flamewing bug was paralyzed in its attacking posture as well. The imperial Qi clansmen who were hiding behind their formation were all frozen as well. Some had frozen looks of astonishment on their faces, others had mouths open, while still others were mid-step. They were all frozen. The entire world had turned still. The wind had stopped. The water had stopped. The people had stopped. The monsters had stopped. Everything had stopped. That vast, terrifying presence caused everyone present to feel terrified. The crown prince and the others couldn’t even change their facial expressions…but shock and terror could be seen in their eyes. In this region, only Ning alone was the same as he had been before. He stood there atop the prow of his ship, staring at the giant flamewing bug before him. He shook his head and sighed. “It was you who sought death. You have no one else to blame.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The twelve Diremonsters that had formed into the massive Dao-soldier formation of a giant flamewing bug were all filled with terror. This formation was formed by a Primal Diremonster leading eleven Wanxiang Diremonsters. Through the Dao-soldier formation, they were extremely powerful when fighting together, and only foes who at least had the power of a Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals were able to do anything to them. They had held this fur-clad youth atop the ship’s prow in no regard…but now, just standing there without moving at all, the fur-clad youth had unleashed such an aura of majestic power that they were completely frozen! “Where did this expert come from?!” “How…how can he be so terrifying?! What level of insight into the Dao has he reached?!” The monsters were completely stunned. They had held the fur-clad youth in no regard and wanted to just dispose of him…but now they realized they had stomped down on a giant steel plate that was harder than any they had ever seen. Boom! Boom! Boom! One streak of light after another appeared in the skies. They instantly pierced through the enormous flamewing bug and the twelve Diremonsters within it. The Primal Diremonster, the Wanxiang Diremonsters…they all instantly perished. …… Ning stood at the prow of his ship, looking at the twelve dead Diremonsters. He couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. Killing these twelve Diremonsters was as easy as waving his hand. They had actually dared to assault him without even saying a few words to him; naturally, Ning had shown no mercy in dealing with them. As for why Ning was laughing… It was because he was thinking back to the ancient Fiendgod he had met back in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains. “When I had encountered that ancient Fiendgod, the Dao Domain the Fiendgod unleashed was enough to freeze everything, causing me to be unable to move…and now, I just used the exact same sort of technique to kill a squad that was far more powerful than I was back then, led by that Primal Diremonster.” Dao Domains…through one’s mastery and insights into a Dao, one could use the power of the natural world to form a Domain that solely belonged to one’s self! Dao Domains, Dao-Realms, Grand Dao Domains…although they had differing levels of power, in truth, they were all variations on Dao Domains. They shared the same principles. Ning’s Rainwater Sword Domain was also a sort of Dao Domain. At a higher level, after one mastered a complete Dao-Path, one’s mastery over the energy of the natural world would become even stronger; this was what was known as a Dao-Realm. But of course, that only referred to lesser Daos! There were also Grand Dao Domains. They belonged to Grand Daos, and were actually even more powerful than Dao-Realms. And beyond them were the Grand Dao-Realms! After one completely mastered an entire Grand Dao, one would be able to summon an even more terrifying amount of natural energy than Ning was currently able to. In the face of this sort of power, even Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals would probably be paralyzed. …… Dao Domains were linked to one’s insight into the Dao. The higher one’s level of insights, the more natural energy of Heaven and Earth one could activate. As one’s insights into a Grand Dao increased, the power of the Grand Dao Domain would similarly increase, until finally it reached the Grand Dao-Realm level. Ning’s level of insight into the Dao of the Sword was already at Immortal Northwalker’s level! This level of insight was even superior to the level which that ancient Fiendgod of the Gaol Mountains had possessed. Thus, just by using his Dao Domain, he had been able to completely suppress those twelve Diremonsters who had been in a Dao-soldier formation, to the point of making it completely impossible for them to fight back. …… Everything was back to normal now. The waves of the Viledragon River continued to crash forward, and the large ship continued to sail forward. The survivors of the Qi Empire, standing atop the deck of the ship, stared towards Ning in utter terror and unease. “The survivors of the Qi Empire?” Ning sat down relaxedly, then said slowly, “Are you still trying to hide it, given the situation? Are you still going to try and tell me that your name is Shi Feng?” The crown prince Qi Rufeng exchanged glances with the two princesses. The guards behind them looked towards Ning with fear in their gazes as well. The look in Qi Xiaoyu’s eyes was especially complicated. This Daoist Darknorth wanted to take her on as his disciple, and the power he had just displayed was truly inconceivable. “Big brother, what should we do? When the Flamewing Guard attacked, they revealed our true identities. This Darknorth knows that we are of the imperial Qi clan,” the black-robed woman sent mentally. “Word of the destruction of our Qi Empire has long since spread. This Darknorth must know very well by now that we are the lucky survivors of the imperial clan. He might act to seize our treasures,” the violetrobed princess sent frantically. “We need to seize the advantage and use up our magic treasures to kill him.” “Idiocy. Although the remnant treasures of the Qi Empire are in my hands, I have no confidence in being able to deal with this Darknorth.” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng sent back with anger, “Just by relying on his Dao Domain, he was able to summon enough energy from the Heavens and the Earth to cause a squad of the Flamewing Guard to be completely unable to move. His insights into the Dao are superior to those of even supreme Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. Although judging from the ripples of power emanating from him, he should still be a peak Primal Daoist, his power is definitely at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal level. And given that he was able to so easily bring out a hundred high-grade Heavenranked flying swords, he certainly has powerful treasures of his own. I imagine that he has the power of a supreme Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal.” His nation had once spanned a million kilometers. The final survivors, including the crown prince of the nation, naturally had quite a few formidable treasures of their own. “Then what should we do?” The violet-robed princess was panicking now. “We only have two Greater Teleportation Dao-seals; at most, two of us can escape,” the crown prince said. “This Daoist Darknorth hasn’t moved to attack us yet; we can still negotiate with him.” “Right. Let’s negotiate,” the violet-robed princess said hurriedly. “We have no other choices,” the black-robed princess sent as well. …… Ning watched as the crown prince and the two princesses stealthily sent mental messages to each other. Previously, when they had first boarded the ship, they had felt mentally superior to Ning; they had believed him to merely be a Primal Daoist, and that by relying on their imperial treasures they could deal with him. Now, however, they didn’t even think about fighting back against him. “Senior.” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng said respectfully, “I imagine that since you have heard what the Flamewing Guard said, you already know the truth. It is true. We are indeed of the imperial Qi clan.” News of the destruction of the Qi Empire was extremely wide-spread. Virtually all of the at least somewhat powerful cultivators in the surrounding million kilometers knew about this matter. However, although Ning had arrived at the Star continent half a month ago, he actually didn’t know about this matter at all. Ning calmly sipped his wine as he listened. Qi Rufeng continued nervously, “Ever since our Qi Empire was destroyed by the Flamewing King, the imperial Qi clan has been fleeing. The Flamewing Guard has never let up on their pursuit of us…and so we had to be cautious. I was forced to report a false name, ‘Shi Feng’, to you. My true name is Qi Rufeng! A prince of the Qi Empire!” “Prince?” Ning gently murmured this word, but continued to look at Qi Rufeng. Qi Rufeng hurriedly continued, “This is my little sister, Qi Ruyu. This is another little sister, Qi Ruhui.” Ning glanced sideways at the two; the black-robed princess was Qi Ruyu, while the violet-robed princess was Qi Ruhui. “Wise. You didn’t continue to lie.” Ning just sat there. “If you continue to lie…I probably will no longer have the patience to talk to you. I’d just kill you and take away the treasures of your imperial Qi clan.” The crown prince and the princesses felt their hearts tremble as they heard this. Ning said calmly, “I wish to take Qi Xiaoyu as my disciple. I imagine that all you need to do is nod and agree to it. Do not lie to me. If you lie…I will know.” The difference in power between the two was simply too vast. In addition, Ning’s soul was extraordinarily powerful; this was why Ning was so confident. If the crown prince’s soul was a bit stronger, however, then Ning would no longer be so sure of himself. “It is true. So long as I agree, I can indeed give Qi Xiaoyu to you, senior,” the crown prince said respectfully. “Then why haven’t you done so?” Ning snapped softly. The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, just shook his head. “You want those hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords?” Ning looked at him, then said calmly, “I can give them to you. However…don’t go too far. Taking your life would be as easy as turning over my hand.” “I don’t want flying swords.” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng looked at Ning. “I want you, senior, to protect our imperial clan for a hundred years! If you agree to protect us for a hundred years, then I will immediately allow Qi Xiaoyu to take you on as master, and…after a hundred years, I definitely won’t hinder you in any way. If you want to leave then, you can!” Ning’s face sank, and a cold light flashed through his eyes. “You are courting death!” “Hahaha…” 2280 Qi Rufeng actually began to laugh, laugh in a mad manner. “Courting death? Right, I am indeed courting death. Senior, you have no idea how pitiful the lives of myself and my two little sisters have been. Ever since the Qi Empire was annihilated many decades ago, we have been under constant pursuit. Every day, we are filled with terror and unease. One clansman after another has perished, one elder relative after another has died, and one sibling after another has perished. Many imperial Qi clansmen had fled with us…but now, only three of us remain. I’m the only surviving male of our entire imperial Qi clan.” “Hahaha, it’s enough. I’ve had enough! My little sister here is already unable to endure the stress; she wanted to fight those Flamewing Guards to the death. Although Ruyu has never said it aloud…I know that she is tired as well.” “And in truth, I am even more tired!” Qi Rufeng stared at Ning, tears in his eyes. “I’m the final male survivor. The three of us are the only survivors of the entire imperial clan, and I am the most powerful of our group, a Wanxiang Adept. All of the burdens are on my shoulders. Where shall we go? How shall we rebuild our empire? How shall we take revenge? All of these burdens are crushing me down. I’ve had enough. Enough! You can say that I’m courting death or that I’m crazy. Whatever! I’ve given you my terms. If you protect us for a century, then I will give my servant, Qi Xiaoyu, to serve you as your disciple, senior.” “Qi Xiaoyu is a person of tremendous karmic virtue, and more than nine hundred meters of golden light surrounds her. When the elders of our clan discovered her, they were absolutely delighted and believed that she would be able to provide luck to our entire imperial clan.” “I will not so easily let Qi Xiaoyu go…” “Either protect us for a century, or kill us and let us reunite with our mother, our father, and our many relatives.” Qi Rufeng’s eyes were filled with tears, but his voice was filled with absolute determination. He was staking it all. He was throwing their lives into this wager. He was tired…he didn’t want to continue to flee in terror like this. He could tell how powerful Ning was; with Ning as their guardian and protector, they would have a much better chance at surviving. “Big brother.” The black-robed princess’s face was streaked with tears as well. “Big brother, don’t beg him. Let’s just end it all here.” The violet-robed princess gritted her teeth, madness in her eyes. Ning frowned. This was trouble. He hadn’t expected that the survivors of the imperial Qi clan felt such despair, that they had nowhere to go. He had thought that a simple threat would have been enough…but they were now staking everything against him! A hundred years? No chance. Ning had only spent thirty years on Mount Innerheart, and he had agreed to reunite with Yu Wei back in the world of the Grand Xia as soon as possible. How could he possibly extend their reunion by a century? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The violet-robed princess glared at Ji Ning. Gritting her teeth, she said, “If we die, Xiaoyu dies as well. When the master dies, the servants shall not live either!” Ning instantly felt a loathing for this violet-robed princess, Qi Ruhui. However, Ning knew that since the imperial Qi clan had known all along that Qi Xiaoyu was a figure with great karmic virtue, that they definitely would firmly fasten her to the sides of the imperial clan. Once the imperial clan perished, Qi Xiaoyu would probably truly die as well. Ning shut his eyes. The ship became completely silent. Everyone stared at Ning, waiting for his response. The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, waited with nervousness and anticipation. “Given how powerful this senior Darknorth is…a hundred years shouldn’t be anything to him.” How could he imagine that Ning had only lived for a few decades? Utter stillness! The crown prince and the princesses were all extremely nervous. Qi Xiaoyu felt restless and uneasy as well. Ning suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the crown prince, Qi Rufeng. “I agree…to protect you for a year or to kill the Flamewing King. Once I complete either of these two conditions, I will take Qi Xiaoyu away.” “This is my response to you. If you agree, than you shall release Qi Xiaoyu to me to be my disciple. If you refuse, then I’ll kill you and take away your imperial treasures.” “Do you agree or do you refuse?” Ning stared at Qi Rufeng. “Senior, it’s just a hundred…” The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, couldn’t help but begin to argue. “You only need to tell me…if you agree or refuse?” Ning repeated coldly. The crown prince and the two princesses exchanged glances. There were no other options now! If this Daoist Darknorth was to protect them for a year…within this year, they might have a chance for a gamechanger to occur. “Fine.” Qi Rufeng gritted his teeth. Ning nodded lightly. This was as he had expected. If he didn’t give them any benefit at all, then they probably really would rather die. If he gave them at least a little bit…their desire to live would take the upper hand! And in truth, Ning wasn’t planning to actually waste a full year; he would rather just go and kill that Flamewing King! After killing the Flamewing King, his promise would have been completed. “Then why haven’t you given Qi Xiaoyu her freedom?” Ning looked at the crown prince. The crown prince couldn’t help but mumble, “Please swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens to attest to your promise, senior, so as to put us all at ease.” Ning’s face sank, and a true killing intent burst forth from him. “It seems you really do wish to die!” An oath to the Dao of the Heavens was simply too powerful and restrictive; thus, Immortal cultivators definitely would not casually swear any such oath. The crown prince and the princesses could all tell that Ning had truly lost all patience. Terrified, the crown prince hurriedly said, “We, we are willing to believe in your promise, senior.” “Qi Xiaoyu, from this day forth, you shall obey the instructions of senior Darknorth. There is no longer any connection between you and the imperial Qi clan,” Qi Rufeng said. Instantly, the ripples of the Dao of the Heavens descended within her subconscious mind. Clearly, the oath which Qi Xiaoyu had sworn in the past to the Dao of the Heavens had been fulfilled. Qi Xiaoyu fell to her knees. “Xiaoyu shall never forget the benevolence you have shown me, your Imperial Highness.” Ning, standing to one side, just sighed to himself. Qi Xiaoyu truly was quite faithful. However…based on what she had told him regarding her experiences, Ning had already discovered quite a few suspicious indicators. The tribe which Qi Xiaoyu had belonged to as a child had tens of thousands of tribesmen; a tribe like this would rarely be attacked by Diremonsters! Xiantian-level Diremonsters wouldn’t be able to do it, while higher-level cultivating Diremonsters wouldn’t be willing to cause sin to gather around them. And yet…the large tribe in which Qi Xiaoyu had lived in as a child was attacked and destroyed. Even all of her family had been slain…and then she just so happened to run into an expert of the imperial Qi clan. How could things be so coincidental? The imperial Qi clan was in the middle of fleeing for their own lives as well; how could such a concidence happen? “Perhaps the destruction of the tribe which Qi Xiaoyu lived in as a child had something to do with the imperial Qi clan,” Ning mused silently to himself. …… Qi Xiaoyu knelt down towards Ning as well. “His Imperial Highness has instructed Xiaoyu to follow you in the future and listen to your commands.” Ning looked at Qi Xiaoyu, then said, “Remember this. From this day forth, you have regained your freedom. You are neither a servant nor a slave; do not act like one.” Ning continued, “I have never before taken on a disciple; if you take me as your master, then you shall naturally become the senior disciple under my tutelage. This is an important matter for you, but also an important matter for me. I have no wish to force this upon you; if you are willing, then you may bow to me as my disciple. If you are unwilling, then I will send you off to some other places with Immortal cultivation sects; I trust that they will fight over the chance to recruit you.” Ning had his own pride. There was no way he would force his very first disciple to accept him as master. Given how large the Crescent world was, he could simply go and find another person of great karmic virtue. In truth, Qi Xiaoyu was extremely intelligent. She could tell…that the crown prince actually treated her rather indifferently. The second princess was a bit better, while the youngest princess actually loathed her. The only person in the entire imperial Qi clan who had treated her with sincerity was her master…but her master had been killed by the pursuing Flamewing Guard long ago. As for this Darknorth who stood before her…Qi Xiaoyu could tell how much this ‘senior Darknorth’ valued her. He had immediately taken out a hundred Heaven-ranked flying swords for her, and now he had promised to protect the imperial Qi clan. This was as good as becoming enemies with the Flamewing Guard. All of this was for the sake of taking her on as his disciple. And if she didn’t accept him as her master, he was still going to have to carry out his promise to protect the imperial Qi clan for a year. From this, she could tell…he truly cared very much about her own will and her own choice. “Your disciple greets you, Master.” The young maiden immediately fell down to her knees and kowtowed. Ning felt a surge of joy in his heart. He couldn’t help but laugh, then nodded his head and said, “Good. From this day forth, you are the senior disciple of myself, Darknorth Daoist Ji Ning. I don’t have any requirements for my disciples, aside from one; not to be traitorous!” “Your disciple understands,” Qi Xiaoyu said respectfully. “Come with me.” Ning immediately walked towards a cabin on the second level of the ship. As he walked, he instructed, “Qi Rufeng, you can take your people into your cabins to rest. Aboard my ship, I shall naturally see to your protection. You have nothing to worry about.” Qi Xiaoyu obediently followed Ning to the second level. As Ning was accepting his first disciple. Within a city that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. Within an enormous palace. This palace was simply so vast that not even sunlight could penetrate into its depths. Within a dark, secluded courtyard, a tall, thin, red-skinned man dressed in black robes was frowning pensively in thought. “Third brother.” Suddenly, a voice rang out. A similarly tall and skinny man, this one dressed in azure armor and with eyes like an incomparably savage hawk, came walking in. “Seventh brother.” The black-robed man nodded lightly. “You came.” “As the Flamewing King, you are living a carefree life of ease. Why have you summoned so many of us brothers?” The hawk-eyed, azure-armored man asked. “Naturally, there is something good I want to share,” the Flamewing King said. “Seventh brother, you are the first to arrive, so I’ll let you know in advance. Do you know why I spent so much effort to annihilate the Qi Empire all those years back?” The azure-armored, hawk-eyed man said, puzzled, “The destruction of the Qi Empire…didn’t you say that you felt your territory was too small, and that you wanted to take over a large area? Was that not the real reason? Can it be that it is as the legends claimed, that the Qi Emperor had a treasure trove? Hahaha…I don’t believe in such things. As far as we are concerned, not even the treasures left behind by Celestial Immortals can be considered a ‘treasure trove’.” “There is indeed a treasure trove,” the Flamewing King said seriously. “Oh?” The hawk-eyed man was startled. “It was only because I learned of the imperial Qi clan’s huge treasure trove that I acted against them,” the Flamewing King said. “Through torture and soul-scouring and all other methods available to me, I learned from the elder members of the imperial Qi clan…that the founding emperor of the Qi Empire had indeed encountered a treasure trove. However, he was too weak and so was only able to acquire a very small portion of the treasure trove, including some cultivation methods, divine abilities, and secret arts. But just by relying on this small portion, the Qi clan was able to rapidly rise to power, establish an empire, and then expand to the point where a few tens of thousands of years later, they had taken over a million kilometers of land.” The hawk-eyed man was quite startled to hear this. “Over the past few tens of thousands of years, the imperial Qi clan has repeatedly ventured forth to the location of the treasure trove, but they were unable to make any progress,” the Flamewing King said. “After I discovered the location of this treasure trove, I ventured there twice. The first time, I came back with nothing to show for my efforts. The second time, I made more ample preparations and forced my 2286 way deeper in…but I ended up being trapped within the place for more than twenty years. I nearly died there, and just barely managed to escape from it a short while ago!” “What?!” The hawk-eyed man was completely shocked. He knew exactly how powerful this Flamewing King was. Of the major powers of the Star continent, the ‘Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows’ were extremely well-known. Each of them had unearthly amounts of power and extremely large territories. The Flamewing King was one of the ‘Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows’ and was extremely powerful. Otherwise, how could he have annihilated the Qi Empire? “The place where this treasure trove is located is incomparably dangerous.” The Flamewing King shook his head. “The treasures within the outermost perimeter of the trove have all been picked clean by the founding emperor of the Qi Empire…but those treasures aren’t worth our attention anyhow. Deeper within are even more powerful treasures, and the ripples of those treasures…cause even my heart to tremble.” “Cause your heart to tremble?” The hawk-eyed man was intrigued as well. “This treasure trove is incomparably mysterious, and I’ve always wanted to discover what it contains. But I’m unable to find out on my own; that’s why I’ve asked all of our brothers to join forces with me. With us twelve kings combining our powers…I trust that we have a chance to go deeper into the treasure trove region,” the Flamewing King said. The hawk-eyed man nodded lightly as well. Right as the two monster kings were chatting…a figure suddenly appeared in the distance, outside the courtyard. “Your Majesty, your subordinate has a report regarding the Flamewing Guard.” “Oh?” The Flamewing King glanced outside, then nodded. “Come in.” A tall, skinny old man with an extremely long neck and a furry face walked in. He glanced at the hawkeyed man before speaking. “Speak. There’s nothing you need to hide from my seventh brother,” the Flamewing King said. “Understood.” The long-necked elder said respectfully, “Your Majesty, you instructed us to pursue and kill the survivors of the imperial Qi clan. Only three of them remain, with the strongest being a Wanxiang Adept. However, just now, one of our ten-plus Flamewing Guard squads who were chasing after them was completely wiped out. Their jade life-tablets have all shattered. They died roughly six hundred thousand kilometers away from us…” “Oh?” The Flamewing King frowned. That didn’t make sense. This area was under the command of himself, the Flamewing King. All the monsters obeyed his orders, and the human cultivators had been shooed away by him long ago. Logically speaking…there should be no one in this region who would dare act against his Flamewing Guard. “My guess is that the survivors of the imperial Qi clan…” The long-necked elder was about to venture a guess, but the Flamewing King interrupted him. With a frown, the Flamewing King barked, “Arrange for three companies of Flamewing Guards to head there and investigate. Can it be that the survivors of the imperial Qi clan have hidden secrets that even I am unaware of?” “Yes,” the long-necked elder said with respect, immediately accepting the order …… Soon, three companies of Flamewing Guards that were led by three Loose Immortal monsters teleported away from the royal capital of the Qi Empire and moved to investigate this affair. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Viledragon River. A large boat was sailing through it with the currents. Within a cabin on the large boat. The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, was currently alongside his two little sisters. “By this point…all we can do is trust this senior Darknorth,” Qi Rufeng sent mentally. “Hmph.” The violet-robed princess, Qi Ruhui, had a look of dissatisfaction in her eyes. “Although Xiaoyu was just one of our servants, she was surrounded by the light of great karmic virtue. Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of major clans would fight for the chance of taking her on as a disciple. We actually let this Darknorth acquire her so easily; he didn’t even have to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens! He took advantage of how downtrodden we are; back when our imperial clan was flourishing, we would’ve annihilated him for daring to toy with us in such a manner!” “Little sister,” the black-robed princess sent mentally, “That was then, this is now. We are now extremely weak, and senior Darknorth had even offered a hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked flying swords for her. This means that he isn’t an unreasonable person. He hasn’t abandoned us after taking her own as his disciple, and is continuing to hold fast to his promise to protect us. Given how weak we are right now, we should celebrate the fact that we’ve found someone who keeps his promises.” “Little sister, remember this: You are no longer a princess like you were before,” Qi Rufeng mentally barked at her. The youngest princess had been a child living in the palace back when the attack came; she had been spoiled absolutely rotten. Before the elders had a chance to teach and train her as she grew up, the entire nation had been destroyed. They had been fleeing this entire time, and nobody had a chance to teach her and see to her upbringing. Growing up in a state of constant flight, the hatred and grievances in her heart had grown increasingly strong. In fact, because the elders of the clan took good care of Xiaoyu, she herself felt jealousy and dislike for Xiaoyu. However, since Qi Xiaoyu was a person of great karmic virtue, the clan had ordered long ago that she could not be assaulted or killed. Otherwise…the princess probably would’ve arranged for Qi Xiaoyu’s death long ago. Thud. Thud. Thud. Suddenly, footsteps rang out on the stairs outside. The crown prince and the two princesses looked out through the window towards the deck. They saw a white-robed maiden walking down from the second floor. The white-robed maiden was clearly different from other people, and a series of ripples could be sensed coming from the magic robes she wore. “Qi Xiaoyu?” The crown prince and princesses were greatly shocked. Qi Xiaoyu, who had previously been in servant clothes, now looked completely different. Her robes were clearly extroradinary, and she had a silver bracelet around her arm. Her pure white arms were a perfect match for the bracelet, which made her skin look even paler. She now had a jade hairpin affixed in her hair which gave off mysterious, powerful ripples. As the saying goes, clothes make the man; Qi Xiaoyu was already a person of great karmic virtue who naturally made others feel positively towards her, and as an Immortal cultivator, her skin and her figure were superb. Beauty, poise, a wondrous aura…and now that she had changed clothes, she appeared even more dazzling than the two princesses. “Those robes, that bracelet…they should be extremely rare top-grade Mortal-ranked magic treasures. As for the jade hairpin…even I can’t tell what it is!” Qi Rufeng said. “Darknorth truly is an extraordinary figure. Although Mortal-ranked magic treasures aren’t that precious, top-grade Mortal-ranked magic treasures…they are still very rare.” The black-robed princess sighed in amazement. “In addition, judging from the way in which senior Darknorth took out a hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasures earlier, he probably would’ve given her even better treasures, were it not for the fact that she is still weak and can only use Mortal-ranked treasures. That jade hairpin…it should also be a top-grade Mortal-ranked treasure.” The violet-robed princess disagreed. “It’s just a bunch of Mortal-ranked items.” Qi Xiaoyu walked down the stairs, then knocked on the door to the cabin. “Open the door,” the crown prince immediately instructed. One of the guards behind him immediately walked forward to push open the cabin door. Qi Xiaoyu walked in, then immediately said, “Your Highness, Master wishes you to go to him.” “In the future, there’s no need to refer to me as ‘your Highness’. You are now the exalted disciple of senior Darknorth; you can just refer to me by my name,” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng said. But young princess Qi Ruhui said, “Xiaoyu, what sort of magic treasure is that hairpin? Neither my big brother nor my second sister can recognize it.” “Master said that this is a protective treasure that can only be used once. Once the elemental ki within it is unleashed, it can withstand the attacks of even a supreme Loose Immortal for a space of ten breaths,” Qi Xiaoyu replied obediently. “What?!” Everyone in the cabin was astonished. Block a supreme Loose Immortal’s attacks for the space of ten breaths? This was definitely a supremely valuable protective item. In truth, this was just one of the many magic items left behind by Immortal Juhua. Ning felt that it was actually rather embarrassing for him to give out Mortal-ranked magic treasures to his first disciple; after all, she too was now a member of Mount Innerheart. Thus, he gave her this protective item. “To block a supreme Loose Immortal…” The violet-robed princess gritted her teeth. She couldn’t help but feel jealous. “This shitty slave…she sure has some good luck.” Because they had been fleeing for so long, they had often used this sort of protective, anti-attack magic treasure. Over the course of tens of years, they had used them all up! …… Qi Rufeng hurriedly emerged from his cabin, climbing up the stairs to the second floor to go see Ji Ning. “Greetings to you, senior Darknorth,” Qi Rufeng said respectfully. “Qi Rufeng, I have questions for you.” Ning sat there, pointing towards a chair. “You can sit as well.” “Alright.” Qi Rufeng immediately sat down obediently as directed. He was a person who knew when to advance and when to retreat. There was an enormous gap in power right now; he was completely unable to fight back against someone like Ning. Ning had given him a promise, and he had the feeling that this senior Darknorth was a decent person. If he had encountered a vicious, barbaric person, that sort of person would undoubtedly have had many ways to force him to hand over Qi Xiaoyu. “I ask you this. Why is it that you have fled for so many years from the Flamewing King without successfully escaping?” Ning asked, puzzled, “Given how large this Star continent is, if you run a few million kilometers away, it will be easier for the Flamewing King to find a needle in the sea than to find you. And yet…you’ve been fleeing in such a haggard fashion for decades, and remain under pursuit.” Qi Rufeng shook his head and sighed. “This Flamewing King was originally a venomous pest of a type known as the ‘flamewing bug’ who cultivated the Dao. After he led his Diremonster army to suddenly attack my Qi Empire, the Flamewing King personally covered the entire imperial citadel with flamewing venom. The venom filled every single palace, and it instantly merged into the body of every single person it touched. There’s no way to separate it from the bodies it has touched, and in fact it even has corrupted our souls. Even Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals are unable to get rid of this poison.” “Oh?” Ning was surprised. Flamewing bugs? He had never heard of this sort of venomous bug back in the Grand Xia world. “This flamewing venom doesn’t actually harm the body or the soul.” Qi Rufeng shook his head, then said bitterly, “But no matter how far away we move away, the flamewing bugs can still sense the location of the flamewing venom. Even if we flee to the Cloud continent or the Flame continent, the flamewing bugs can still sense us. The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals under the Flamewing King’s command can 2291 engage in teleportation and go to the Cloud continent and Flame continent…and so no matter where we flee to, we are unable to escape pursuit.” Ning now understood. What a nasty poison! He still remembered how in his youth, when he was adventuring in Eastmount Marsh, he had been attacked and pursued by Ironwood Zhan. It was precisely because Ning had been touched by that ‘iceflower liquid’ that Ironwood Zhan was able to continue the chase, even though Ning had fled very far away. However, by comparison this flamewing venom was even more formidable…and it was the Flamewing King who had personally used it. It was able to stain even the soul. Within this Crescent world, no matter where the clan fled to, the countless flamewing bugs under the king’s command would still be able to sense their direction. “The majority of our imperial clan was killed on the spot, and the rest fled in every direction,” Qi Rufeng said. “Back then, Loose Immortals numbered amongst the fleeing survivors. However, no matter where we fled to, they continued to chase us. Thus, we chose to continue to flee about the former territory of our Qi Empire; after all, this was the place we originally controlled, and so we were quite familiar with it. In addition, the imperial clan had built up many secret bases…” “After having fled for so long, we three are the only survivors.” Qi Rufeng’s words were filled with grief and powerlessness. Ning now understood it all. The main problem was that the flamewing venom was hard to eradicate; thus, this crown prince and the princesses were constantly pursued. This sort of venom that stained even the soul…not even Ning was able to help get rid of it. “I ask you this,” Ning said. “How great a sinner is this Flamewing King? Is he surrounded by bloody sin light?” “The Flamewing King is one of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows. He is famous for his savagery; naturally, the amount of sins he has committed towers to the skies. As far as the bloody aura of sin…from what I hear, all twelve of them are wreathed in tremendous amounts of bloody sin light. Anyone who uses divine sense to look at them will see a towering, tidal-wave of bloody sin light swirling around them. Even Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals will feel terrified upon seeing them,” Qi Rufeng said. Ning felt a sense of jubilation in his heart. A towering tidal-wave of bloody sin light? A huge sinner? The trial to acquire the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was to kill ten great sinners and to accept a disciple. He had now accepted a disciple, and his next objective was to kill ten great sinners. Perhaps he would be able to fulfill the criteria by dealing with these twelve monster kings. “You heard this personally, yes? You aren’t just making this up?” Ning asked. “Perhaps the stories are exaggerated, but they shouldn’t be too exaggerated. The savagery of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows is known throughout the Star continent. In fact, even those in the Cloud continent and the Flame continent know about their reputation. Even supreme powers with Celestial Immortal Patriarchs are unwilling to go all out against these twelve monster kings,” Qi Rufeng said. “Although my imperial Qi clan had originally fled to the Cloud continent, we were unfamiliar with the place and the people there. The fame of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows was simply too great; no one was willing to help us, and so in the end, we were chased all the way back home. At least here within the former territory of our Qi Empire, we are able to struggle and fight for a period of time.” Ning felt startled. Even powers with Celestial Immortal Patriarchs were unwilling to fight with them? “How strong are these twelve monster kings?” Ning asked. “How strong is the Flamewing King?” “All twelve of them are incomparably savage and ferocious; the reason why they were willing to swear brotherhood was because they all had similar temperaments. Every one of them is incredibly powerful…but of course, some are stronger and some are weaker. The Flamewing King’s power is average for the twelve; he has nearly a hundred Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals under his command. Given his power, killing ordinary Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals is as easy as killing a chicken,” Qi Rufeng said. “The strongest of the twelve, their number one figure, is the Goldfur Bearking. I’ve heard that the Goldfur Bearking has previously fought a Celestial Immortal Patriarch, who was unable to do anything to him. In the end, it was the Celestial Immortal who retreated. You tell me; is he powerful or not? When these twelve monster kings join forces, advancing and retreating in unison…they are one of the absolute hegemons of the entire Eastern Flows region. Although our Qi Empire previously spanned a million kilometers, we’ve never dared to encroach on their territory. Who would’ve thought that the Flamewing King would annihilate our empire?” Ning was secretly startled. Even a Celestial Immortal had been unable to do anything, and had voluntarily retreated? He had thought that he would be able to get his quota of ten great sinners from these twelve monster kings…but now, it seemed, things wouldn’t be so easy! “Easy is boring. Hard is interesting. I spent more than thirty years training at Mount Innerheart; I have yet to truly fight with anyone. The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows…a perfect foe!” Ning could feel his blood beginning to pump excitedly through his veins, and his desire to do battle was growing… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood there by himself on the prow of the ship, staring at the raging waves. He was in an excellent mood. He had already found his disciple, and the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows would probably fulfill his quota of ten great sinners to kill. The only problem was…these monster kings were quite hard to deal with. “Eh?” Ning suddenly stared towards the distant horizon. Atop the distant shore, a vague group of figures could be seen drawing closer and closer to them. They were moving at an extremely fast speed, and Ning could visibly make out the emblem of a flamewing on their Dao-armors. “Flamewing Guards?” Ning laughed in surprise. “There’s actually a few hundred of them.” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng and the others with him within the cabin stared outwards through the window towards the Viledragon River. They were seeking for a place to hide. “Is that…” The crown prince’s face changed dramatically. “Hundreds of Flamewing Guards?!” The violet-robed Qi Ruhui’s face instantly turned ashen. Twelve Flamewing Guards had already terrified them, but now hundreds more had come…even Loose Immortals would perish in a situation like this! “Disastrous!” The crown prince’s face was ashen. He frantically sent mentally, “It must be due to the fact that all twelve of those Flamewing Guards died, without a single one escaping. That’s why they sent so many over this time.” In the past, during the flight of the imperial Qi clan, the Flamewing Guard had always held the upper hand. It was the imperial Qi clan which had continued to flee; the Flamewing Guard had never before had a situation where all their troops died in an encounter. In addition, the crown prince, Qi Rufeng, was only recently the leader of their squad; in the past, they had Primal Daoists with them, and it was the clan elders who made the decisions. But now the Primal Daoists were all dead…and the decision-maker was Qi Rufeng! Qi Rufeng was inexperienced. He had never before encountered a situation where all the chasing Flamewing Guard forces had been wiped out. He had no idea that the extermination of an entire squad would result in such a terrifying consequence. “A total of three companies…each one led by a Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal, eleven Primal Diremonsters, and over a hundred Wanxiang Diremonsters.” The black-robed princess sent solemnly, “With so many Flamewing Guards in one place…even supreme Loose Immortals will most likely perish.” “Why haven’t we fled?” The violet-robed princess sent frantically, “That Darknorth is merely a Primal Daoist. Even if he has a high level of comprehension of the Dao and can fight those at a higher level, he would at most be comparable to supreme Loose Immortals. In the face of this many Flamewing Guards, which number three Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal monsters amongst their ranks, there’s no way he can hold on.” …… Just as Ning was smiling…and the imperial Qi clan was utterly terrified… The hundreds of distant Flamewing guards joined together into a grand Dao-soldier formation. The three companies were all led by Loose Immortals, who led their Primal Diremonsters and Wanxiang Diremonsters on the distant shore to join form into a a trio of three thousand meter tall flamewing bugs. Blazing wings, and the body of a centipede. The enormous three-headed flamewing bugs were filled with unearthly, savage power. Their auras alone caused the surrounding waves to instantly be crushed downwards and flattened. Boom! Boom! Boom! The three massive flamewing bugs all flew into the river, running across the waves as they threw themselves towards Ning’s ship. Ning stood at the prow of the ship. He barked, “Hurry up and leave, and you can keep your lives.” “So you are the one protecting the imperial Qi clan.” One of the three massive flamewing bugs spoke out in a growling voice. “Human, this is the territory of our Flamewing King. How dare you act so wildly here?” “Don’t waste words with him. Kill him.” “Kill the human.” Monsters and humans were enemies in virtually every part of the Three Realms. After all, these two races were the two most powerful races in the current Three Realms. Ning shook his head gently. Three Loose Immortal monsters? They were most likely only on par with that Loose Immortal, Floatcloud, who had tried to assassinate him. Even all those years ago, he had been able to deal with Immortal Floatcloud. Now that his Primaltwin was a full level of power greater than it had 2295 been in the past, and now that his insights into the Dao of the Sword were unfathomably greater than before…killing these Loose Immortals would indeed be as easy as killing a chicken. Accompanied by three massive waves, the three enormous flamewing bugs charged forward, seeking to attack Ning en-masse and annihilate him at one go. Ning remained very calm. To deal with hundreds of Flamewing Guards, just by relying on his Dao Domain wouldn’t be enough; he had to actually fight! But of course, it would still be very easy for him. “Quick.” “Let’s go.” “If we dawdle, we won’t be able to escape.” The imperial Qi clan didn’t dare to hesitate at all. If they did, they would probably die here. As they saw it, no matter how high a level of comprehension Ning had, he was still just a Primal Daoist. In the face of three Loose Immortal monsters and hundreds of Flamewing Guards…it would be incredible if he was even able to block them. “Let’s go.” The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, waved his hand and a long shuttle once more appeared by the side of the large ship. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The crown prince, the princesses, and the five servants all entered the shuttle. “Go!” The violet-robed woman waved her hand, and instantly, a series of green bamboo strips flew out and descended from the skies, plunging into the roiling waves. Swoosh! The shuttle cruised through the waves, moving as fast as lightning. As for those green bamboo strips, there were hundreds of them, and they all stabbed downwards, completely surrounding the region where Ning and the three giant flamewing bugs were located. The bamboo strips even had bamboo leaves attached to them. The bamboo leaves floated about, causing the entire region to transform into nothingness. Even the surrounding waves had completely disappeared. …… “Little sister, you, you…!” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng, within the fleeing shuttle, was completely shocked. The violet-robed princess turned her head to stare at the now-massive bamboo strips. She smirked disdainfully, “What is it? That Daoist Darknorth is merely a Primal Daoist; it’d be impressive if he even had the power of a supreme Loose Immortal. And even if he did, he still most likely isn’t a match for those Flamewing Guards. Since that was the case, we have to use him as best as we can and make him offer up 2296 his strength in service to our imperial clan. It can be said that this is the price he must pay for taking Xiaoyu away as his disciple.” “You…are…AN IDIOT.” Qi Rufeng was speechless with rage. “Given how powerful this Daoist Darknorth is, if he has a school or a master behind him, how are we supposed to deal with them?!” “So what if he does? Who will learn of this?” The violet-robed princess remained disdainful. The black-robed princess disagreed frantically. “Little sister, given this Daoist Darknorth’s powerful, he probably has a Celestial Immortal Patriarch behind him. Celestial Immortals are able to investigate the past. When they find out…” “Don’t worry. So what if they do find out? Even if this Daoist Darknorth has a Celestial Immortal Patriarch backing him, there’s no way that Celestial Immortal will find us. All that Celestial Immortal will know is that Daoist Darknorth was killed by the Flamewing Guard. Perhaps this might cause his school to go act against the Flamewing King!” A look of savagery was in the violet-robed princess’s eyes. “Hmph. Hmph. Perhaps the Flamewing King will be killed as a result. Everything would be worth it!” …… Ning waved his hand, collecting his ship. Qi Xiaoyu, aboard the ship, was also collected into the Immortal estate he carried with him at all times. “Hmph.” Ning glanced at the fleeing imperial Qi clan. He watched as the treasures the youngest princess threw out, those bamboo slips, sank into the sea and formed a formation. He naturally understood what the plot was; to trap him here along with the Flamewing Guard. Otherwise…if so much as a single one of the three massive flamewing bugs moved to attack them, they would be in big trouble! Now that they were all trapped in the formation, all three would undoubtedly join forces to attack him, Ji Ning. Only afterwards would they move to break the formation. This was a scheme to force Ning to fight with full power. And if Ning’s level of power truly was what the imperial Qi clan believed it to be, then most likely the end result truly would be as the princess predicted; he would be able to buy them some time, then die. Unfortunately…their guess was wrong! Ning’s school was indeed powerful, far more so than they could imagine. Ning’s master was Patriarch Subhuti, the creator of this entire world! And Ning’s own level of power was far greater than they imagined as well! “Kill him, then break the formation.” “Kill him.” 2297 The three massive flamewing bugs didn’t panic at all. They had complete confidence in their ability to first kill this human, then break the formation. It would at most take them a bit of extra time, which didn’t matter; those imperial Qi clansmen were all stained by flamewing venom, and they’d be able to find and catch them later. “Die.” Ning had an ugly look on his face. He was protecting them, but they had put a knife in his back. How could he not be enraged? The enraged Ning no longer wished to waste any time; he was going to make the imperial Qi clan pay for what they did. BANG! BANG! BANG! Ning stood there atop the water, Darknorth swords in his hands. He chopped out three times in a row with his sword-light! Three streaks of blindingly bright sword-light transformed into three enormous black dragons. The power of the black dragons was utterly unearthly, and they smashed towards the three massive flamewings with utterly catastrophic power. “What?!” “How can this be?!” “NO!” The Loose Immortal monsters, Primal Diremonsters, and Wanxiang Diremonsters within the three flamewing bugs were all stupefied. They were truly scared silly. The three black dragons each flew to a different target. They had the shape of black dragons, but they were in reality streaks of incomparably terrifying sword-light. They chopped through the titanic flamewing bugs as easily as chopping through rotting wood. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The hundreds of monsters, including the Loose Immortal monsters, all perished! Their souls were annihilated! The enraged Ning’s sword-blows were so powerful that they destroyed flesh and soul alike. In fact, even the Dao-armors worn by the Wanxiang Diremonsters were ground into dust, and quite a few of their magic treasures were shattered as well. “BREAK!” Ning launched yet another streak of sword-light. The surrounding formation was a one-use formation. It contained elemental ki and was primarily meant to trap foes. However, Ning couldn’t be bothered to actually disrupt the formation; he just broke straight through it with a streak of howling sword-light, causing the bamboo talismans to instantly shatter. Swoosh! Ning moved forward in pursuit. …… Within the shuttle which was escaping at lightning speed, the violet-robed princess had a look of madness in her eyes. “Hmph. Hmph. Perhaps the Flamewing King will be killed as a result. Everything would be worth it! Hahaha, I’m too clever. Earlier, I just wanted to make this Darknorth’s death useful, to buy us some time. But now, it seems as though I, Qi Ruhui, just played a marvelous card.” “Yes. Quite the marvelous card.” A cold voice rang out. The crown prince and princesses suddenly shook. They turned their heads to look. On the other end of the shuttle stood a fur-clad youth. Ning looked at the three imperial Qi clansmen. “How can this be…” They were completely stupefied. They had escaped just moments ago and had said just a few words to each other. Almost no time had passed at all. They had no idea…that Ning would be able to kill hundreds of Flamewing Guards with a single exchange, then break through the formation and chase after them. Naturally, this had taken very little time. “Senior Darknorth.” Qi Rufeng immediately rose to his feet. Boom. Ning’s gaze turned towards the violet-robed princess. Instantly, a streak of sword-light flew out…and the violet-robed princess was instantly ground into dust which flew everywhere. At Ning’s level…just the slightest bit of power was enough to shatter someone’s soul. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The crown prince, the second princess, and the servants aboard the shuttle all had ashen looks on their faces. They could all tell that this time, Darknorth was truly enraged! They were all Immortal cultivators; naturally, they were no fools. They knew that the little princess had plotted against this senior Darknorth just now. Senior Darknorth had clearly gone to help them fight against the Flamewing Guard, but the little princess had stabbed him in the back…an action like this would be viewed with contempt by mortals and cultivators alike! “Senior Darknorth…” “Darknor…” The crown princess and the second princess hurriedly spoke out, utterly terrified. This was completely not their fault. The little princess had acted completely of her own accord; they didn’t instruct her to carry out those actions at all! As for her death, the crown prince and the second princess felt a hint of regret but not too much pain. This was because far too many of their siblings had died on this journey, and all of their elders had perished as well. They were used to this sort of loss…and on an emotional level, the crown prince and the second princess were much closer. Whoosh. Ning willed it, and a white-robed maiden appeared next to him. It was Qi Xiaoyu. “Master,” Qi Xiaoyu said hurriedly, “I saw the little princess…” Halfway through her words, she realized that she was within the flying shuttle. Seeing the situation, she couldn’t help but grow confused. “Disciple, watch carefully,” Ning said coldly. “Yes,” Qi Xiaoyu said. “Senior Darknorth, what happened just now was completely the actions of Ruhui; she wanted to use you to delay the Flamewing Guard,” Qi Rufeng said hurriedly. “It was our little sister who carried out that action. Her alone,” the black-robed princess said hurriedly as well. Qi Xiaoyu just watched silently. When the Flamewing Guard had arrived, her master had gone to fight them while the imperial Qi clan had fled…and while fleeing, the little princess had thrown out a formation to trap them. Qi Xiaoyu had seen all of these things with perfect clarity. In addition, after having accompanied the imperial Qi clan for so long, Qi Xiaoyu knew very well how vicious and cruel the little princess was. Thus, by now she more or less knew what had happened! Ning looked at the crown prince and the second princess. He said coldly, “I heard it all. There was talk of having the Celestial Immortal Patriarch behind me go take revenge upon the Flamewing King on my behalf and kill him? Hmph…I don’t like to kill, but some people deserve killing!” The crown prince and the second princess trembled. “If the two of you were behind her actions, then you two shall both die as well. If you did not…I won’t go so far as to implicate the two of you.” Ning’s gaze turned to the black-robed princess. He immediately used the [Soulcharmer Art] divine ability. Although this Black-White College art wasn’t that strong, Ning’s soul was far too powerful! The black-robed princess’s gaze instantly turned dull. “Speak. Did you have anything to do with the little princess’ plot against me?” Ning asked calmly. The black-robed princess spoke in a dull voice without any inflection at all. “It had nothing to do with me. Ruhui acted of her own volition. Although her action may have caused senior Darknorth to fight for a bit longer, it also created yet another powerful foe for our imperial Qi clan. If the school behind senior Darknorth came for vengeance, our imperial Qi clan would most likely be in even more dire straits. Ruhui was far too shortsighted…” “…what just happened?” The black-robed princess regained her clarity of mind. She stared around in astonishment…and slowly, the memories of what had happened just now when she had been hypnotized came rushing back to her. She couldn’t help but look towards Ning in terror. The crown prince’s face instantly turned even more ashen. “You.” Ning looked towards the crown prince. The crown prince gritted his teeth. “I definitely didn’t have the intention to harm you, senior.” Just as these words came out, Qi Rufeng’s gaze also turned dull. He, too, dully spoke out the truth. This truly did not have nothing to do with him. The nearby Qi Xiaoyu let out a sigh of relief. She actually felt good-will towards the crown princess and the second princess. “I ask you,” Ning suddenly said, “Did your imperial Qi clan arrange for the destruction of Qi Xiaoyu’s tribe?” The black-robed princess’s face instantly changed. Qi Xiaoyu’s body trembled as well, and a look of terror and unease appeared in her eyes. The crown prince responded in a wooden, robotic manner, “For the sake of ensuring Qi Xiaoyu’s total devotion to our imperial clan, we had to make it so that she had no one else to rely on. Otherwise, in her heart, her tribe would still be occupy the most important position. Thus, the elders of the clan forced three Xiantian Diremonsters to attack the tribe. As for the two Xiantian experts of that tribe, our clan 2301 elders plotted against them and ensured that they naturally wouldn’t be able to fight back, causing the entire tribe to be broken apart.” “Qi Xiaoyu’s family members all died, giving her no one else to rely on. At that moment, our elder stepped in to protect her; naturally, she felt gratitude and affection for the elder’s actions. Everything happened as we planned, and Qi Xiaoyu became incomparably devoted and loyal to our imperial Qi clan. In addition, after Qi Xiaoyu became a member of our imperial Qi clan, our luck took a noticeable turn for the better. The number of times we were attacked dropped, and the number of elders who died in each attack also lessened…” “No…no…” Qi Xiaoyu’s face was covered with tears. She repeatedly shook her head. Ning sighed mentally to himself. In truth, the main reason he had used the [Soulcharmer Art] was to ask about this matter. Given Ning’s keen senses, he naturally noticed quite a few oddities regarding the destruction of Xiaoyu’s tribe. It was extremely rare for this sort of large-scale tribe to suffer an attack from Diremonsters. “As I thought.” Ning nodded to himself. Qi Xiaoyu felt extremely deep gratitude towards the imperial Qi clan. Ning was afraid that this might cause problems in the future, and so he wanted to clarify this matter right away. “You were plotting against me all along. All along…” Qi Xiaoyu looked at the crown prince, her face completely pale. “My master? Was she plotting against me as well?” “Aunt-master Everlotus was opposed to our scheme. She wanted to go to your tribe and take you on as her disciple in a voluntary manner. However, our imperial Qi clan was in a state of flight; all of our actions had to be for the sake of the imperial Qi clan’s best interests.” The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, continued to speak in a monotone voice. “She felt sorry for you, and so when she took you on as disciple, taught you, and doted on you, it was out of love. In fact, some of the other princes and princesses felt jealousy for this.” Qi Xiaoyu felt her heart unclench slightly. The person she felt the most gratitude for in the entire imperial Qi clan was her master, Everlotus. Everlotus had taken care of her like she was her own daughter. She had loved her and cherished her. Qi Xiaoyu had been able to sense how much love Everlotus had felt for her, and ever since she was young, her master had taught her. Thus, although she didn’t have many memories regarding life in the Bluecliff tribe and although she only had blurry memories of her parents, she felt an extremely deep affection for her master, Everlotus. After all, they had been together for the longest period of time. Qi Xiaoyu was fairly accurate in sensing if others were kind or malicious towards her, if they cared about her or hated her. She had always felt as though her master, Everlotus, had truly loved her. This was why she felt such gratitude for the imperial Qi clan. In fact, when the now-deceased leader of the imperial Qi clan had asked her to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, she hadn’t hesitated at all. “What just happened?” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng came back to his senses. He quickly regained his memories, and his face immediately changed. He stared towards Ning in terror, then looked towards Qi Xiaoyu. “Master Everlotus…I can understand why you did what you did. I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you…” Tears streaked down Qi Xiaoyu’s face. She stared at the black-robed princess and the crown prince. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Your imperial Qi clan destroyed my tribe and home and killed my family. But Master Everlotus’s benevolence towards me was as weighty as a mountain. From this day forth, I, Qi Xiaoyu, will no longer have any connection to your Qi clan. From this day forth, my name shall be Bluecliff Xiaoyu!” “Master.” Bluecliff Xiaoyu turned to look towards Ning, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, master, for enlightening me and not letting me continue to remain deceived. I wish to be by myself for a time.” “Go.” Ning nodded, then willed Qi Xiaoyu to be teleported into his Immortal estate with a swish. Ning’s gaze turned towards the crown prince and the princess. Both of them felt helpless; when they had been hypnotized, they had thought it was just over the little princess’ plot, but who would’ve thought that this senior Darknorth would actually uncover the matter of the destruction of the Bluecliff tribe? Still…by now, they had no options left. All they could do was beg for their lives. “Since you had no intention to harm me, I naturally won’t act against you. I will still hold to my promise,” Ning said. “However…before I do so, come with me to a place.” As he spoke, Ning waved his hand, causing the imperial Qi clansmen and the flying shuttle to all be drawn into his Immortal estate. And then, Ning strode forward across the waves of Viledragon River, quickly departing from this place. …… A short period of time later. The peak of a tall mountain, surrounded by clouds. A ripple in space could be seen above it, then a furclad youth appeared out of nowhere and descended. “This place works.” The fur-clad youth nodded, then waved his hand. An Immortal estate appeared. Within the Immortal estate. As Ning entered, the crown prince and the second princess both immediately paid their respects. The crown prince said, “Senior, where are we?” “You can exit the estate now, but you had best not go too far. If you do, I won’t be able to keep you alive,” Ning said calmly. “This place is more than ten million kilometers from our previous location; I trust that the Flamewing King will need some time before chasing you here. Take a rest and prepare for the next battle.” 2303 “The next battle?” The two were startled. “I killed hundreds of Flamewing guards, including three Loose Immortal monsters. Do you think that the Flamewing King is just going to shrug that off?” Ning said calmly. The two shook their heads. Impossible. The Eastern Flows region was the territory of the twelve monster kings; given that this senior Darknorth had killed hundreds of Flamewing Guards, how could the Flamewing King not be enraged? It must be understood that the Flamewing Guards were the most devoted servants of the Flamewing King. Given that so many of them had perished, the Flamewing King would probably personally attack next time. “The Flamewing King is coming in person.” Both the crown prince and the second princess felt restless and uneasy. “And yet this senior Darknorth still intends to fight?” “How powerful is he? Can it be that my earlier investigations were in error? He is more than just a peak Primal Daoist?” Their hearts were in a state of panic. Still, given how quickly Ning had chased after him, he must have disposed of all of those Flamewing Guards…which meant that things probably truly were as Ning said. He had killed hundreds of Flamewing Guards. “In such a short period of time, he killed hundreds of Flamewing Guards, broke the formation, then caught up to us. How powerful is this Ji Ning? Is it truly possible that he can fight the Flamewing King?” The crown prince and the princess both felt as though their thoughts were in a jumble. …… Ning couldn’t be bothered to pay them any heed. He entered a private room within the Immortal estate. A ripple in space appeared within it and Ning stepped into the ripple, entering his underwater estate. “I can’t underestimate the Flamewing King’s power. In fact, I might have to deal with the other monster kings as well. Before doing so…I need to increase my power a bit,” Ning mused to himself. “My true body, when using [Three Heads, Six Arms], needs a total of six Immortal swords. Three of them are my Darknorth swords, and the other three would ideally be Immortal-ranked.” He had an exquisitely top-grade Thousandbull Sword, as well as a low-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword that the Grand Xia Emperor had bestowed upon him previously. Just now, when killing those three Loose Immortal monsters, he had further acquired two more low-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, one of which was a flying sword. “My true body needs to break through to the early Void stage as soon as possible. Only then can I better unleash the power of my Immortal-ranked magic treasures,” Ning mused to himself. Those two low-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords were comparable to the Darknorth swords in power…what Ning really cared about was the Thousandbull Sword! That sword had close to the power of a Pure Yang treasure! Ning immediately entered the Still Room within his underwater estate, then began to absorb liquefied elemental essence… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Eastern Flows Roughly ten million kilometers away, in the imperial capital of the former Qi Empire. Within the imperial palace. Within a lavishly decorated palace hall. Beautiful female attendants carried in platters of exquisite food and Immortal nectar, delivering them to the twelve tables, including the main table at the front of the hall. “Come, drink.” “Big brother, I toast you.” “Ninth brother, it has been a thousand years since we met. Come, come, come; let us brothers have another cup together!” Carefree laughter rang out. High-pitched, low-pitched, screeching…every single voice carried a dominating aura. The monsters in the form of female attendants all felt their hearts tremble. They acted with the utmost caution, terrified of offending one of the monster kings. They knew that the twelve gathered here in this hall today were the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows; the likes of them could not risk offending any of these twelve. If they accidentally irritated one of the monster kings, the results would be disastrous. One of the maidservants had, due to her nervousness, splattered some of the wine from her platter atop the Jadetoad King, one of the twelve monster kings. The Jadetoad King had rolled his eyes, opened his mouth, and devoured the maidservant into his belly. In the center of the hall, there were beautiful human maidens and monsters who were engaging in dance. Naturally, there were also musicians who were beating the drums and playing the flute. “Alright, all of you can leave for now.” After a long time, the Flamewing King, seated in the host position at the front of the palace, ordered the servants to depart. “Yes, your Majesty.” The many servants, dancers, and musicians all immediately withdrew, leaving behind only the twelve monster kings within the hall. “Third, you invited all of us brothers here today. Whatever important matter this is regarding, hurry up and speak.” An extremely muscular monster king whose entire body was covered with golden fur and who had the head of a grizzly bear spoke out in a booming voice. This was the leader of the twelve monster kings, the Goldfur Bearking. “Big brother.” The tall, skinny, black-robed Flamewing King laughed, “Haha, I invited all of you here to take part in a joyous affair. Seventh brother came earlier, and so I’ve told him already. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him.” The other monster kings all looked over to the azure-armored, hawk-eyed Skysoar King, who nodded. “This is indeed regarding a joyous affair.” “Oh?” The other monster kings all looked back towards the Flamewing King with curiosity. Although they were friends due to their similar temperaments, they were famous for their savagery. If they found anything good, they would usually keep it for themselves. Why would one of them now be willing to share with the rest of the brothers? The Flamewing King, seeing their looks, smiled. He waved his hand and a black leather scroll flew out and unfurled in the air before them. On the leather scroll there was a complicated map, as well as a diagram. “What is this?” The other monster kings were puzzled. “The map to a treasure trove!” The Flamewing King said. “Treasure trove?” “A map to a treasure trove?” “Are you joking? A ‘treasure trove’? To the likes of us, even the treasures of a Celestial Immortal are nothing. The treasures of a True Immortal or an Empyrean God might barely qualified as a ‘trove’.” All of the monster kings spoke out. They were the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows, who even Celestial Immortal Patriarchs were unwilling to offend. For them to acknowledge a collection of treasures as a ‘treasure trove’ was extremely hard. The Skysoar King spoke out, “My fellow brothers, third brother hasn’t deceived you. The place marked by this map as having treasures can indeed…be described as a major treasure trove.” “Oh?” “A major treasure trove?” The other monster kings all began to ponder. For even their seventh brother, the Skysoar King, to acknowledge this place as being a treasure trove meant that there really might be something to this. “Third brother, can it be that this has something to do with the Qi Empire?” The short, chubby, greenskinned Jadetoad King growled out. The Flamewing King, seated at the head of the hall, nodded. “This does indeed have something to do with the Qi Empire. When I acted against them and destroyed them, it was because I heard some news regarding this treasure trove. I suddenly attacked without giving them any notice and seized a group of important figures of the imperial Qi clan. Then, I used soulscouring and other methods to learn more about the treasure trove, then acquired this treasure map from the imperial Qi clan as well.” “Since you already have the treasure map, you can go by yourself, third brother.” “I refuse to believe you are truly so generous, third brother.” “Haha, third brother, what are you plotting? Speak up and be honest. Everyone here knows what type of person you are.” All of them were renowned for their savagery; they knew what sort of individuals the other monster kings were. The Flamewing King chortled. The nearby Skysoar King said, “Third brother did indeed go twice. The first time he went, he came back with nothing to show for it; he wasn’t able to go deep inside at all. The second time, he made more ample preparations and forced his way inside…but was trapped within the region for twenty years, just barely surviving and coming back. He just escaped a short while ago.” “What? Trapped for twenty years?” “Third brother, you couldn’t even use a Greater Teleportation Dao-talisman to flee?” “It was that dangerous?” The monster kings were all astonished. The Flamewing King immediately said, “Listen to me describe in detail. This treasure trove region…” The Flamewing King spoke nonstop regarding what he had experienced. He knew quite well that by relying on his own power, there was no way he would be able to make it any deeper; he had to have the rest of the twelve join him if he wanted to have any chances of success. As the Flamewing King spoke, looks of astonishment and seriousness gradually began to appear on the faces of the other monster kings. This place was indeed both dangerous and terrifying…the Flamewing King’s descriptions alone indicated how mysterious and frightening this place was. Most likely, even Celestial Immortals who ventured there would perish. “Only if the twelve of us join forces do we have any chance,” the Flamewing King said. “What in the world is within this treasure trove?” 2308 “I feel quite eager to find out.” All of them felt tremendous desire towards this treasure trove. The founding emperor of the Qi Empire had already scoured the outer perimeter of this treasure trove, and he had acquired Ki Refining Techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts from it. These techniques were all truly top-tier techniques; otherwise, the Qi Empire wouldn’t have been able to expand so rapidly. Given that the outer perimeter already possessed such incredible treasures…what did the depths of the trove hold?! “We have to plan this out carefully,” the top-ranked Goldfur Bearking said solemnly. “We cannot be rash.” “Yes, we must make ample preparations.” “An extraordinary place.” Just as the monster kings were discussing and planning, a long-necked elder appeared at the entrance to the hall. “Majesty, Majesty!” The long-necked elder called out repeatedly. “Enter.” The Flamewing King frowned. The long-necked elder entered, then immediately said with respect, “Your Majesty, the three companies of Flamewing Guards led by those three Loose Immortals which we sent out…they all died. None of them escaped to make it back.” “They all died?” The Flamewing King suddenly jumped to his feet. “Right. All of them.” The long-necked elder nodded repeatedly, worry in his eyes. The Flamewing King’s face changed. Hundreds of Flamewing Guards, led by three Loose Immortals…how powerful was the enemy, to be able to wipe them out so cleanly and let none survive? “What’s wrong, third?” “Third brother, what happened?” The other monster kings began to query him. The Flamewing King responded solemnly, “To tell the truth, brothers…there are still a few survivors of the Qi Empire who are running around. However, the strongest of the imperial Qi clansmen is a mere Wanxiang Adept. One of my squads of Flamewing Guards found and attacked them, but the squad was wiped out. I felt this was strange, and so I sent three full companies to attack, but all of them were killed as well. None of them survived.” 2309 “Three full companies? Hundreds of Flamewing Guards in a Dao-soldier formation…they would be able to wipe out even a supreme Loose Immortal.” “To kill hundreds of Flamewing Guards without letting even one escape…that is quite difficult.” “This is an extraordinary foe.” The monster kings knew each other’s forces quite well; they knew how strong the Flamewing King’s forces were. “Hahaha, why worry about this matter? It is quite rare for all of us to be gathered in one place; let us pay a visit together, then, and see what the survivors of the imperial Qi clan have up their sleeves.” The Goldfur Bearking let out a loud laugh. “When all of us join forces…there truly are few in the entire Star continent who are a match for us.” The supreme powers of the Star continent only held Celestial Immortal Patriarchs amongst their ranks. When the twelve joined forces, they truly did have nothing to fear from Celestial Immortals. “Let us go together.” “Third brother, let’s go take a look and see who has dared to antagonize the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows.” “Wiping out the Flamewing Guard…they gave you no face at all, third brother. Giving you no face is the same as giving all of us brothers no face.” “Let’s go take a look together.” The Flamewing King immediately roared with laughter. “Hahaha, fine! With so many brothers here…it doesn’t matter who is protecting the imperial Qi clan. That person will die!” “Let’s no waste time. We’ve already eaten and drunk our fill; let us go out and fight!” “Let’s go out and fight!” The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows were decisive in their actions. They immediately led thousands of monsters in an awe-inspiring wave from the imperial capital of the former Qi Empire. …… At the top of a mountain peak. Ning was seated next to a cliff. He was holding a gourd of wine in his hand, drinking in a leisurely manner while staring at the clouds and the sea. He had just consumed six hundred thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, causing his true body to break through as a Ki Refiner from the peak Primal level to the early Void level! He would now be able to more perfectly control his Immortal-ranked magic treasures. “My true body can use the Thousandbull Sword, the Darknorth swords, and other magic treasures. My Primaltwin will use the [Heavenraker] sword formation.” Ning nodded to himself. His power had reached the maximum level it could reach for now. “Flamewing King, I killed hundreds of your Flamewing Guards…I imagine that you will personally come seek me out, right?” Ning was waiting eagerly. Given that he was protecting the imperial Qi clan, the Flamewing King would definitely be lured over here! “Ten major sinners. First I will kill the Flamewing King, and then I’ll go deal with the others one by one,” Ning murmured to himself. Given his current level of power, when his true body and his Primaltwin fought together, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to kill a monster king. As Ning was drinking and waiting leisurely by the cliffside, suddenly… “Eh?” Ning suddenly stared into the distance. An enormous cloud was soaring towards his direction, and atop the cloud there was a dense cluster of countless figures. There were many monsters there, and in front of the countless monsters were twelve mighty figures whose auras filled the heavens, causing Ning’s face to change. “Twelve?” Ning’s face couldn’t help but blanche as he stared at the twelve figures standing in front of the countless monsters atop the massive cloud. Such powerful auras…these were definitely no ordinary Loose Immortals. The formless ripples of might caused even Ning to feel surprised. In addition, these twelve figures stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the countless monsters; clearly, there were no differences in rank here. “Are you the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows?” Ning called out loudly, his voice echoing and filling the heavens. “Little child, who are you? Is it your master who is protecting the imperial Qi clan?” The tall, thin, blackrobed Flamewing King called out back, “Hurry up and have your master come out. We twelve brothers would like to see exactly who it is that has the audacity to annihilate hundreds of my Flamewing Guards with one breath.” Ning cursed to himself with resignation. “All I wanted to do was fight against a single Flamewing King. Why the hell have all twelve shown up?! The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows all come from their own separate territories; why have they all gathered here today?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The voices of both Ji Ning and the Flamewing King were very loud. “Are you the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows?” “…hurry up and have your master come out…” Both voices echoed in the heavens, causing the surviving imperial Qi clansmen to feel shocked. They hurriedly moved to the entrance of the Immortal estate. Crown Prince Qi Rufeng, Second Princess Qi Ruyu, Ning’s disciple Bluecliff Xiaoyu, and the imperial Qi servants all stared outwards past the gates of the Immortal estate. They saw Ning standing at the side of a cliff, wine-gourd in hand. Far away from him in the skies, there was a massive horde of countless monsters atop a cloud. “Is that the Flamewing King?” Qi Rufeng’s face changed. He would never be able to forget that figure; that was his eternal nightmare. But right now, the Flamewing King was just one of the twelve leading figures. “The Goldfur Bearking, the Snowfox King…there’s no doubting it. They are identical to the images of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows which the imperial Qi clan recorded down.” Qi Rufeng’s face was ashen. “All twelve of them have arrived.” “They all arrived? Even though hundreds of Flamewing Guards were killed, why would all twelve of them come?!” The black-robed princess felt despair as well. Although the two had Greater Teleportation Dao-seals, once they used them up, they would be gone. In addition, given the power of these monster kings, the monster kings could immediately teleport after them as well. If the Flamewing King wanted to chase after them, he would definitely be able to. The reason why they had been able to flee and survive for so long was because the Flamewing King didn’t care too much about them; after acquiring the treasure map, the Flamewing King’s full attention was on the treasure trove. He had only sent a few of his Flamewing Guards to deal with the imperial Qi clansmen. “The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows?” Upon hearing these words, Bluecliff Xiaoyu’s face changed as well. “Those twelve are the twelve monster kings?” Xiaoyu stared at the twelve distant figures that commanded the countless monsters. Even at this great distance, the infinitely powerful aura emanated by the twelve caused her heart to tremble. She grew worried. “Master…I just took you on as my master. Don’t die. Don’t die!” 2312 Now that she had severed all ties with the imperial Qi clan, she no longer had any friends or family in the world. Ning was her master, and thus the closest person she had left. She could tell that Ning viewed her kindly. “I don’t want Master to die. I don’t want…” Xiaoyu was panicking inside. If her master died…she would be all alone. Qi Rufeng’s face was ashen. He shook his head in despair. “It’s finished.” The black-robed princess shook her head as well. “All twelve of the monster kings have arrived. Even during our Qi Empire’s most powerful era, they would have been able to wipe us out immediately. There is no way this senior Darknorth can withstand them. No way at all.” The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows were legends! Legends known throughout the Star continent, the Cloud continent, the Flame continent… In short, within the Crescent world, these twelve monster kings were extremely famous. Most likely only Celestial Immortals would be able to flee and survive from them when they joined forces! “Given the abilities these twelve monster kings have…even if senior Darknoth uses a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, he still probably wouldn’t be able to teleport away before being attacked,” Qi Rufeng said as he trembled with despair. Using Dao-seals took time. At the Celestial Immortal level, multiple techniques could be used in the blink of an eye. Behind Ning, the imperial Qi clan was in a state of terrified despair, while Bluecliff Xiaoyu was praying ardently for his survival. Ning stood there at the cliff. He quickly pondered as to how he should deal with these twelve monster kings while spreading out his divine sense in a wave to test them. And as he did… “What fine fellows!” Ning was instantly shocked. The region with the twelve monster kings was completely filled with limitless amounts of bloody light. The bloody sin light surged and swelled like the waves of the sea, and the twisting waves of bloody sin light even formed illusions of ghosts who had died wrongful deaths. “Wait. They aren’t all like that.” Ning took a careful look. “Eleven of these twelve monster kings are surrounded by hundreds of meters of bloody sin light. But…that monster king with the head of a goldenfurred grizzly bear actually is only wreathed by a bit of corrosive black light?” Indeed. The only one of the twelve not wrapped by the bloody aura of sin was actually the most famous of the twelve, the Goldfur Bearking. This caused Ning to feel extremely startled…and also even more wary. For this Goldfur Bearking to set up an alliance of twelve monster kings and be acknowledged as the most powerful amongst them, but possess the lowest amount of sin…one had to be wary of him. “Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows,” Ning called out loudly, “Per Master’s orders, I am here protecting the imperial Qi clan. If you are wise, you shall immediately retreat. Otherwise, when Master returns, all of you shall perish!” “Who is your master, exactly? Give us his name!” The Flamewing King barked from far away. “He dares be so arrogant? The master of this Primal Daoist must be a powerful figure.” “With all of us brothers present, we wouldn’t feel fear if even Celestial Immortals came.” The monster kings silently sent mental messages to each other, trying to guess at who Ning’s master was. They paid no attention to Ning himself; given their power, they could naturally tell that Ning was merely at the Primal Daoist level! A mere Primal Daoist…although they noticed through their divine sense sweep that his soul was fairly powerful, he was still merely a Primal Daoist! As they saw it, there was no way a Primal Daoist could kill hundreds of Flamewing Guards without letting a single one escape! “Brothers, watch from the sides for now,” the Flamewing King said. “Don’t worry, third brother. If a Celestial Immortal Patriarch comes, we will intervene.” “Third brother, go and capture those imperial Qi clansmen.” The other monster kings all spoke out in support. A minor matter like capturing the imperial Qi clan wasn’t something which required all twelve of the monster kings to join forces in carrying out. …… “Little child, hurry up and beat it,” the Flameking King barked flatly. At the same time, he waved his arm, and with a whoosh, a massive fiery palm suddenly appeared above the mount peak. This massive fiery palm clawed towards the Immortal estate below it, terrifying the imperial Qi clansmen and Xiaoyu into fleeing into the estate. “Come in.” Ning willed it, and the Immortal estate instantly returned to his side. “You dare interfere in my matters?” The Flamewing King was instantly enraged, and the massivey fiery palm in the sky slammed towards Ning instead. “Since your master has not arrived, I shall take your life first and calm myself down a bit.” 2314 “You monster!” Ning pretended to be enraged. His body instantly transformed and became three hundred meters in size, and he also executed the [Three Heads, Six Arms]. In his arms were the three Darknorth swords and three Heaven-ranked flying swords. “I’ll chop you down!” Ning’s swords were like silken light as they chopped down wildly towards the massive fiery palm. The level of swordplay Ning was currently displaying was merely on the level he had displayed back during the Conclave, comparable to a supreme Loose Immortal. Boom boom boom…with a series of massive exploding sounds, the massive fiery palm was completely destroyed, but part of the mountain peak was torn apart as well. The three-headed, six-armed Ning appeared to be quite angry as he said, “You monster, you actually dare to try to pick on me, your grandpa? If Master was here, you’d already be dead!” “Ahahaha…” “This human Primal Daoist is quite arrogant in the face of death.” “This human is pretty powerful. He’s a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and was able to use [Heavenly Transformation] and [Three Heads, Six Arms]; he is indeed able to give Loose Immortals a fight. His swordplay is also at the level of a supreme Loose Immortal…he does indeed have a supreme Loose Immortal’s combat potential.” “Right. Although he is a Primal Daoist, he does indeed have the power of a supreme Loose Immortal.” “Third brother, if you want to annihilate a supreme Loose Immortal at such a great distance just by controlling the natural elemental energy of the world…you’d need to do some more training first,” another monster king teased. Indeed. If the Flamewing King was to use magic treasures, it would naturally be very easy for him to kill a supreme Loose Immortal. But to annihilate a supreme Loose Immortal just by using a fiery palm formed from the natural elemental energy of the world? He was indeed not even close to being at that level yet. “Hmph.” The Flamewing King’s face sank as he flew forward. Six fiery-red scimitars suddenly appeared before him, each one carrying a powerful presence; clearly, all of them were Immortal-ranked magic treasures. “Die, brat.” The Flamewing King was using his true power now. “You monster!” Ning let out a roar, then moved forward like a giant Roc, flying at high speed towards the Flamewing King and seeking to engage him in close combat. “This human is pretty powerful. His agility technique would be exceptional even amongst Loose Immortal monsters,” the Skysoar King evaluated. “He does indeed have some potential. When he reaches the late Void level, he’ll probably be comparable to us.” “Unfortunately, he’s going to die now.” “Still, we need to be careful. His master might suddenly appear.” The monster kings chatted amongst themselves lazily as they watched the battle. The six scimitars of the Flamewing King formed into an enormous fiery serpent in mid-air. The fiery-red serpent was filled with unearthly savagery as it pounced towards the three-headed, six-armed Ning, who also flew forward to meet it. Swish swish swish. The swords in Ning’s hands suddenly changed! Previously, he was wielding three Darknorth swords and three Heaven-ranked flying swords. But suddenly, he put away his three Heaven-ranked flying swords and pulled out the Thousandbull Sword and two Immortal-ranked flying swords! Riiiip! The giant serpent of fire flashed like lightning, pouncing towards Ning. But what welcomed it was a terrifying sword blow! Ning’s sword-light had transformed into a divine black dragon. The terrifying divine black dragon swordlight chopped through it like rotting wood, instantly breaking it apart and knocking the six scimitars aside. “What?!” The Flamewing King was instantly shocked. “Die.” Ning, who had previously appeared ‘enraged’, now let a hint of a killing intent flash through his eyes. With a swoosh, he reached the Flamewing King’s body. Six streaks of sword-light simultaneously transformed into six divine black dragons, filling the world with their power. “Quick, go save third brother!” The face of the Goldfur Bearking instantly changed. “Not good!” The Skysoar King’s face changed as well. “How can this…” “His power…” “This human…” 2316 The monster kings had been watching from far away, ready to ward off a Celestial Immortal. None of them had expected that this clearly puny Primal Daoist would suddenly explode forth with such power! Ning’s aura increased explosively, and the power of his swordplay reached an extremely profound level as well. Swish swish swish…the black dragon sword-light slashed forth with irresistible power. “No…” Engaged in close quarters, the Flamewing King had no chance to flee at all. In but an instant, Ning’s six streaks of sword-light completely surrounded the Flamewing King and killed him! The surrounding area turned silent. The entire world seemed to freeze. The many monsters watching from far away were still in a state of amazement…but looks of seriousness appeared on the faces of the monster kings. Ning stood there in midair. Waving his hand, he collected the magic treasures of the Flamewing King, a smile on his face. “I’m ashamed to say that I played a little trick on you just now. There was nothing I could do; the twelve of you are simply far too famous, and given that you have dominated the Star continent for so many years, I imagine you definitely have a formation which is extremely well-suited to the twelve of you. That’s why I had to kill one of you first.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. as the Field The eleven remaining monster kings were so angry, their teeth hurt from gnashing. The reason they were so famous was naturally in part because they had developed a ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’ which was very well-suited to the twelve of them. The Goldfur Bearking was the heart of the formation, and the other eleven monster kings served to support him, transforming into a single massive flying bear. It was well-suited for both attack and defense, and in the face of it even Celestial Immortal Patriarchs would choose to flee. Once formed, even Ning fighting at full-strength would probably be forced to flee. However…the Flamewing King was now dead. He had been responsible for the ‘central wing region’ of the formation; without him, there was naturally no way to execute the incomparably complicated and powerful ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’ to its full power. “He tricked us.” “Damn him.” “How is this little human kid so powerful? I’ve never heard of someone like him in the Star, Cloud, or Flame continents.” The monster kings really were tricked in a rather unfair manner. Only someone with the power of a Celestial Immortal would be able to kill the Flamewing King in an extremely short period of time! Those with the power of a Celestial Immortal generally were all quite famous. In addition, Ning had just recently reached the early Void stage; naturally, his level of insight wasn’t much higher than back when he was a Primal Daoist, and his elemental ki was three levels lower than that of the twelve monster kings, who were all comparable to the peak Void stage. All of the monsters had Immortal-ranked magic treasures as well! The combination of all of these factors was what let Ning catch them off-guard with his successful sneak attack! …… “Hahaha, without the Flamewing King, I imagine you are now unable to form your formation. If you want to kill me…I’m afraid you won’t be strong enough.” Ning stood there in the air as he said leisurely, “I urge you to depart right away. In the future, you can at least term yourselves the Eleven Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows. However, if we truly were to fight each other…under the merciless exchange of blows between swords and sabers, you might end up the Nine Monster Kings or the Eight Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows.” 2318 “Damn it.” “Human, report your name!” “Who in the world are you?” The monster kings were utterly infuriated. Although they were very much on their guard now against Ning, none of them chose to leave. After all, he had just killed one of their brothers; if the remaining eleven fled without even choosing to fight, that would cause their reputations to be truly tarnished. For Loose Immortal monsters like them, given that the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations were growing increasingly powerful and that they would eventually die, their reputation was extremely important!” Ning secretly felt resigned as well at their decision to stay. If the monster kings had chosen to leave, he would’ve secretly gone to their headquarters and slain them all, one by one. “Listen up,” Ning said with a laugh. “I am Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning.” “Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning?” The eleven monster kings all quietly memorized this name. As they did so, they continuously reflected on it, but no matter what, they couldn’t recollect having heard of such a monstrously powerful genius on the Star, Cloud, or Flame continents who was known as Immortal Darknorth or who was known as Ji Ning.” “I made a promise to the survivors of the imperial Qi clan. I will hold to it and protect them,” Ning said with a laugh. “I urge you all to leave.” The eleven monster kings stealthily sent messages to each other, but their decision had been made long ago. Leave? What a joke. Even if this was a Celestial Immortal Patriarch, they would still attack. One of their brothers had just died; how could they possibly choose to flee without even fighting? “Assemble the formation!” The Goldfur Bearking ordered mentally. Rumble… Formless strands of glowing elemental ki sprang up around the bodies of the eleven monster kings. They used just a very rudimentary sort of combination technique, a technique that was similar to the [Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation] in that it allowed them to pool and share their elemental ki! The elemental ki of eleven monster kings merged together…this allowed the power of their attacks to rise to a brand new level. “Use all abilities you have to kill him,” the Goldfur Bearking sent mentally. Whooooosh. Instantly, one Immortal-ranked magic treasure after another appeared in front of the eleven monster kings. As for the Goldfur Bearking, a total of ninety-nine pearl-type magic treasures appeared around him, each one with the aura of an Immortal-ranked magic item. Clearly, this was a set of items. As the leader of the twelve monster kings and the only one truly comparable to a Celestial Immortal, someone capable of forcing even Celestial Immortals to retreat, the Goldfur Bearking naturally had some truly extraordinary Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Boom! As they joined into their formation, Ning charged forward as well. “Kill!” “Kill him.” “Damn him.” The eleven monster kings shared their elemental ki together, using all of their specialized techniques. After all, if they didn’t have a truly supreme formation like the ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’, it was better to just share and pool their elemental ki as they used their own best techniques. Streaks of light appeared in the skies. Enormous flaming phoenix wings that blazed for thirty thousand meters…a black deluge of water that surged towards Ning…boundless amounts of golden light that streaked and stabbed towards Ning… …… Both Ning and the eleven monster kings had a degree of insight into the Grand Dao of Qiankun. They all activated the power of the natural world, freezing the local space with the intention of binding their opponents, preventing them from teleporting away. Of course, one could still use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to flee…but who would choose to flee at a time like this? “The monster king died.” “That human is actually this terrifyingly powerful.” The vast horde of monsters that had been led here by the monster kings primarily consisted of the most talented and skilled monsters within the court of the Flamewing King! They numbered tens of Loose Immortals as well as many Primal Diremonsters and Wanxiang Diremonsters. However, even their king had been killed by this human youth in a single exchange; how would they possibly dare to charge forward? And now, the other eleven monster kings were attacking the human youth together. A battle at this level was something which fodder like them would play no role in. “The surrounding space has been locked. There’s no way to teleport.” “It seems the monster kings aren’t willing to let the human escape. They insist on killing him.” As the monsters saw this, their eyes lit up. As they saw it, the eleven monster kings, when fighting in unison, would definitely have the upper hand. As to whether or not they would be able to kill this human…that was hard to say. …… The three-headed, six-armed Ning was three hundred meters tall, and his six swords were also three hundred meters long now. Whirling his six sharp swords, he sent sword-light criss-crossing across the sky, resisting the attacks of the eleven monster kings! “Kill!” While blocking attacks, Ning continued to move closer and closer towards the monster kings. However, given that he was under heavy attack, how fast could he possibly move? The monster kings were able to easily pull away from Ning, and the pearl-type magic treasures of the Goldfur Bear King were particularly fierce. Every single pearl was like a miniature star that smashed down towards him with the weight of a massive mountain, causing Ning to feel very taxed when blocking them. Another monster king, the Mountback monster king, controlled a mountain-type magic treasure that smashed down with even greater power than the pearls. Fortunately, however, he only possessed a single such treasure. The sword is an agile weapon. In the face of other attacks, Ning was able to deflect with a degree of ease, but he was at a disadvantage when faced with these heavy smashing blows. “Hahaha, big brother, although this human has the power of a Celestial Immortal, you also have the power of a Celestial Immortal. Although the rest of us are a bit weaker, when we join forces we can completely suppress him. However…he is a Fiendgod Body Refiner with extremely powerful recuperative abilities. Still…that will only allow him to delay the inevitable.” “If this continues, he will definitely die.” “My brothers, be careful; don’t let him use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape.” “Don’t worry, big brother; we are using many Immortal-ranked magic treasures to attack him. How can he possibly have the time to pull one out and activate it?” The monster kings were filled with an aura of explosive might. Ning was being assaulted by dozens of Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and every single wielder was an expert who was at least comparable to a Loose Immortal who had lived for five hundred thousand years. The Goldfur Bearking was comparable to a Loose Immortal who had lived for over a million years. “Urgh.” Ning was repeatedly struck by one of the pearls, causing him to vomit up blood. “Quick.” “He’s almost finished.” 2321 “Kill him.” The monster kings all directed their Immortal-ranked magic treasures to attack, wanting to seize this chance to slay Ning. But right at this moment, Ning mused to himself mentally: “This should be the right moment.” Swish! Not too far away from Ning, another figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This was a blackrobed Ji Ning who emanated an extremely powerful aura, the aura of a late Void-stage Earth Immortal. Behind him there was a sword sheath, and within the sword sheath were many Immortal swords that had been turned illusory and transient. The black-robed Ning pointed his finger, and instantly…swish swish swish!!! The nine seemingly-illusory black Immortal swords instantly flew out. “Heavenraker!” The black-robed Ning’s eyes flashed with a cold light. Instantly, the nine translucent black flying swords instantly slashed through the skies, causing massive black scar to appear in the heavens. Why was this technique known as [Heavenraker]? This technique used the sword as the rake, and the heavens as the field. Mortals would use rakes and plows to tear through the fields, while Ning’s sword-light was like a rake that would tear through the firmament like a field. Nine massive black scars instantly appeared in the skies, stretching towards the monster kings and enveloping three of them. “That’s a Primaltwin.” “This human brat actually has a Primaltwin!” “At the late Void-stage!” The eleven monster kings were all shocked. As soon as Ning’s Primaltwin had emerged, it had immediately used [Heavenraker], a sword technique developed by a Daofather of the Great Firmament. In addition, he was using it with nine top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, and ones that were specially designed to form into the [Heavenraker] sword formation at that! This technique was unquestionably Ning’s most powerful attack right now! When Ning used the [Starseizing Hand], perhaps only the hand which wielded the Thousandbull Sword, a weapon almost comparable to Pure Yang treasures, would be able to unleash power which surpassed one of the nine swords in the [Heavenraker Sword Formation]. As for the combined attack of all nine swords? Even the Thousandbull Sword was a bit weaker. “No!” “Block it.” 2322 “Hurry and block it!” The other monster kings moved to help, and the three monster kings assaulted by the [Heavenraker] swords were completely focusing on blocking the technique, but…they were unable to! A look of utter despair appeared in the eyes of the three monster kings. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All three of them were instantly killed. The [Heavenraker] formation of Ning’s Primaltwin was currently Ning’s most powerful technique. It was also incredibly fast; although the three monster kings knew that they wouldn’t be able to block it, there was no time at all for them to use Greater Teleportation Dao-seals to flee. BOOM! Ning’s true body charged forward as well as his Primaltwin once more launched the [Heavenraker] towards the other monster kings. The remaining monster kings instantly grew both panicked and frantic! Ning, having fought with them earlier, already knew about the techniques they had available to them. As the saying went, know thyself and know thy foe; in doing so, you shall be victorious in all your battles. When his Primaltwin executed the [Heavenraker], he had focused on the weakest ones of the eleven! Naturally, he had been completely successful. BOOM! Ning’s true body exploded with full power as well. Previously, all six of Ning’s Immortal swords were comparable in power because Ning was hiding the full might of the Thousandbull Sword. The enemies believed all six swords to be identical in power! But now that the real attack had begun, Ning naturally would no longer hide anything at all. He exploded forth with full power! “KILL!” The Thousandbull Sword was three hundred meters long, and as it chopped out, the illusion of an old black bull could be vaguely seen above the sword. The old black bull was emanating an utterly astonishing sword-ki, and as the sword itself struck out, it seemed to have transformed into an enormous divine black dragon. In terms of single-target attacks, even the [Heavenraker] swords were inferior to this blow. The Jadetoad King was immediately heavily injured, and a second blow from Ning’s Darknorth sword finished him off. “Retreat!” The Goldfur Bearking gritted his teeth and howled angrily. “Too late!” The reason why Ning had previously hid his power was for the sake of letting it all explode forth now. Holding nothing back at all, his Primaltwin and his true body both attacked at maximum force. The astonishingly fast strikes of his Primaltwin’s [Heavenraker] swords tore jagged wounds into the skies, and the nine tears were like infinite chains that came to drag away the lives of the monster kings. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Lives “Quick, flee!” “How is this human so powerful?” The monster kings were terrified and gripped by despair. Of the group, only their boss, the Goldfur Bearking, was able to withstand Ji Ning’s attacks. The others were only able to buy themselves a bit of time, but Ning’s terrifying [Heavenraker] attacks and savage close-combat strikes would take their lives if they made even the slightest of mistakes. Swoosh. A bloody streak of light flashed through the skies as the Redhate monster quickly fled. “Time to go.” A gale arose, but six streaks of distorted sword-rifts appeared in the skies, surrounding that gale and slaughtering three of the monster kings who had been on the verge of fleeing. …… They had truly stumbled into a hornet’s nest. The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows had never imagined that this human, this Immortal Darknorth, would have reached such a terrifying level of power. If they had been able to use the perfect, complete ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’, they definitely would’ve been able to suppress Ning…but Ning had plotted to kill the Flamewing King right off the start, causing them to only be able to fight individually. Ning’s own level of power was simply too strong. Ning’s Primaltwin was at the late Void-stage and trained in the [Darknorth Sutra], a Ki Refining Technique developed by a Daofather of the Great Firmament. In terms of elemental ki, he had an amount that was comparable to the amount which Immortal Northwalker had previously possessed. In terms of sword-arts, he was comparable as well. But more importantly, Ning had a full set of nine top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords that were perfectly suited to the [Heavenraker] sword technique. Thus, the power of Ning’s Primaltwin was on a level higher than even Immortal Northwalker! Ning’s true body was a bit weaker, but the Thousandbull Sword was exceptionally ferocious. In addition, wounds were not a problem for his Fiendgod body, and slashes and stabs were of minor import. This caused the Loose Immortal monster kings to fear fighting Ning in close combat. …… 2325 Two Nings. One had incomparably powerful long range attacks that surpassed each of the monster kings in might. The other had a Fiendgod body that excelled in close combat. Combined, the two utterly dominated these eleven monster kings that were unable to assemble into their standout formation, causing one after another to perish as they tried to flee. “Immortal Darknorth.” The Goldfur Bearking stood there in midair, his voice booming. “What sort of a grudge did you have against the twelve of us, for you to repeatedly plot against us in such a manner?” By now, the Goldfur Bearking could tell that Ning had been scheming against them this entire time. Ning had first feigned weakness and had even lowered the power of the Thousandbull Sword, only to suddenly unleash it later on and kill three of the monster kings. The monster kings had immediately been thrown into a state of utter chaos. Each and every action of this Immortal Darknorth was clearly meant to result in the deaths of the twelve of them! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Three figures disappeared into the horizons. Ning shook his head and sighed softly. “I was so careful, but I only killed eight of them.” He only had a single main body and his Primaltwin, while his opponents were far more numerous. When they all moved to flee, they all began to use formidable agility techniques; naturally, Ning was unable to kill them all. The Goldfur Bearking was so angry, he almost vomited blood. ‘Only’ killed eight of them? “CHOP!” Ning’s gaze turned towards the distant Goldfur Bearking. Whooooosh. Nine streaks of distorted sword-tears ripped through the skies, wrapping around the body of the massive Goldfur Bearking. The ninety-nine pearl-type magic treasures around the Goldfur Bearking, however, moved about in extremely profound ways as they joined together in three layers of defense. The defense was extremely tight and blocked off Ning’s sword-light attack. “Don’t waste your energy. I’ve fought against more than ten Celestial Immortals, and none of them were able to do anything to me.” The Goldfur Bearking’s voice boomed out as he growled, “Tell me, why did you kill my brothers?” “Brothers?” Ning shook his head. “Goldfur Bearking, all of the other monster kings were wreathed in enormous amounts of sin, and each of them were covered by more than three hundred meters of bloody sin light. You, however, have an extremely low amount of sin; you just have a bit of a corrosive black aura around you. You are completely different from them.” The Goldfur Bearking nodded slowly. “Truth. You speak truth. They are too blind, too foolish, too insane. I am more clear-headed than them. In the face of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, they were all gripped by despair and so no longer cared about incurring sin at all. But I know that the more sins one 2326 commits, the more powerful the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations are. I want to live longer; naturally, I won’t let large amounts of sin wrap around me.” “But they were my subordinates, the subordinates I used to unify the Eastern flows region. You’ve destroyed everything.” The Goldfur Bearking growled, “I don’t wish to be enemies with you, but I want to understand things clearly. Why did you have to kill them?” “Because of…” Ning said with a laugh, “Sin!” The Goldfur Bearking suddenly understood. “Ah, I see. You wish to kill great sinners so as to accumulate more karmic merit. The more karmic merit you accrue, the easier it will be and the more help you will have during your tribulation.” “No.” Ning chuckled. “It is because of a test my master gave me.” “Oh?” The Goldfur Bearking was puzzled. “I must kill ten great sinners. This is my trial,” Ning said. The Goldfur Bearking was speechless. “What…what school are you from? Why would you be given a trial like this? And…you are already so powerful. Who would dare give you a trial? Can it be that your master is a True Immortal or an Empyrean God?” “You don’t need to worry about that. Let me ask you a question; compared to Celestial Immortals, how strong am I?” Ning asked. Since this Goldfur Bearking had fought with more than ten Celestial Immortals, he should be able to give an accurate assessment. The Goldfur Bearking nodded. “You are a Sword Immortal. Your attacks are extremely powerful, especially those of your Primaltwin, which has reached the level of an average Celestial Immortal.” “As for your true body, it is a bit weaker; it should be at the level of a weak Celestial Immortal. Still…your true body should have an extremely powerful Immortal-ranked flying sword which is clearly more formidable than the other five. Although you are ‘only’ at the level of a weak Celestial Immortal, you have the advantage of being a Fiendgod Body Refiner.” “If the twelve of us had been able to form into the ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’, we would’ve been able to suppress you. Without it, however, you were able to break us down one by one and defeat us. The other eleven were comparatively weak and were not quite comparable to Celestial Immortals yet,” the Goldfur Bearking evaluated. Loose Immortals were capable of living for a hundred thousand years, three hundred thousand years, five hundred thousand years, seven hundred thousand years, nine hundred thousand years, a million years… The longer they survived, the greater their power became. Back in the world of the Grand Xia, Immortal Floatcloud was merely a Loose Immortal at the hundred thousand year tier. These monster kings, however, were all at least at the five hundred thousand year tier. The Goldfur Bearking had surpassed the million-year tier, which was the level of Immortal Northwalker. As for Immortal Juhua, he had lived for millions of years. “Oh.” Ning nodded, now having a rough estimation of his level of power. “Immortal Darknorth, if there’s anything you need, you can come visit me at Goldtop Mountain.” After speaking, the Goldfur Bearking transformed into a streak of golden light and disappeared. …… Ning watched as the Goldfur Bearking left. He mused softly to himself, “The defense of that Goldfur Bearking was quite formidable. Those ninety-nine pearl-type treasures…the value of that entire set is definitely incalculable. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to acquire it.” “Eh?” Having suddenly thought of something, Ning took a step back and returned to the cliff. The mountain was now a full level shorter than it had been in the past. Ning waved his hand and an Immortal estate appeared. Bluecliff Xiaoyu and the imperial Qi clansmen emerged from the Immortal estate. “What’s going on?” The imperial Qi clansmen stared around in terror. “Did that Immortal Darknorth die, resulting in the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows acquiring his Immortal estate? Are we now in the hands of monsters?” The black-robed princess was terrified as well. Xiaoyu stared around with worry as well, searching for her master’s figure. Suddenly…they were all transfixed by what they saw. This was because they saw Ning seated next to the cliff, a gourd of wine in his hands. He was sipping it and staring towards the endless sea of clouds in the sky. “Where are the monsters?” Qi Rufeng was awestruck. “But, but…” The black-robed princess was stunned as well. “Master, Master.” Xiaoyu ran over to Ning’s side. Amongst Immortal cultivators, masters and disciples had extremely close relationships. As the saying went, ‘one who is your master for a day should be revered as a parent for a lifetime’; this saying was no joke. After all, the benevolence shown by a master in transmitting the Dao was extremely great. Xiaoyu was very excited to discover that the seemingly younglooking youth was still alive and perfectly fine. “Senior Darknorth, where are the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows?” Qi Rufeng didn’t dare believe that Ning had the power to defeat the twelve of them, and he couldn’t help but ask this question. “Unfortunately, I only killed eight of them.” Ning shook his head and sighed. “What?” Qi Rufeng’s eyes bulged out. Ning paid him no attention. He continued to drink his wine and stare at the scenery. Although he was in quite a good mood, he still felt rather regretful. His trial for acquiring the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was to kill ten great sinners, but he had only killed eight! He was still missing two! If he had just killed two more of them, he would be able to go back to Mount Innerheart and learn the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] right away. Now, however, he would need to remain here for at least another short period of time and find two more great sinners to kill. “Senior Darknorth…senior Dark…?” Qi Rufeng couldn’t help but call out repeatedly. “Master.” Xiaoyu called out softly as well. At the same time, she couldn’t help but use her dainty little hand to gently touch Ning. Ning turned to look at her. Xiaoyu’s face was full of questions. She whispered, “Master, you said you killed eight of them? But this…this…” She was a mere Zifu Disciple; the twelve monster kings were incomparably exalted figures in her eyes. The entirety of the Eastern Flows were ruled by them. Her master had claimed to kill eight of them? He must’ve actually just killed eight ordinary Loose Immortal monsters, right? “Look.” Ning disdainfully waved his hand, and one Immortal-ranked magic treasure after another appeared in midair. These items had been left behind by the eight slain monster kings, and each of them emanated powerful ripples. The eyes of Crown Prince Qi Rufeng, who had the most experience of the lot, instantly bulged out. He had seen Immortal-ranked magic treasures back in the imperial palace, which was why his eyes were bulging out right now. “These…these…these are all Immortal-ranked magic treasures? So many…how…what…” “This set of Immortal-ranked treasures!” Qi Rufeng suddenly stared at six scimitars that hung in the skies. The six scimitars were the very same Immortal-ranked magic treasures which the Flamewing King had used long ago to slaughter a path through the Qi Empire. Qi Rufeng would never forget the scene of how one Loose Immortal after another fell in the face of those scimitars’ wanton slaughter. “This set belonged to the Flamewing King. He’s dead now,” Ning said calmly. “He was one of the eight I killed. I promised to protect you for a year, or until I killed the Flamewing King. I’ve accomplished my promise and I’ve done enough. You can go now.” Ning began to walk towards his Immortal estate, then instructed to Xiaoyu, “Xiaoyu, come with me.” “Y…yes master.” Bluecliff Xiaoyu immediately followed Ning into the estate obediently. As the two entered the Immortal estate, the Crown Prince and the princess simply stood there and stared at the estate for a long, long moment. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The crown prince and the princess were indeed rather dazed. They could clearly see that the person before them was merely a Primal Daoist. For him to kill hundreds of Flamewing Guards was one thing, but how was it that he had killed eight of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows? Although they hadn’t personally witnessed it, the tens of Immortal-ranked magic treasures before them were real. They didn’t believe that the Flamewing King and the other monster kings who had used these Immortal-ranked magic treasures to dominate the region would just voluntarily give them to senior Darknorth. “Big brother, we must take on this senior Darknorth as our master. Once we miss this opportunity, we might never encounter someone like him again for the rest of our lives,” the black-robed princess suddenly said. “Right.” The crown prince’s eyes lit up as he nodded repeatedly. “Senior Darknorth is even more formidable than the twelve monster kings! He is far more powerful than our Qi Empire ever was.” The black-robed princess said solemnly, “The Flamewing King is now dead; the Flamewing Guards under his command were sent fleeing in panic. They know that we are under senior Darknorth’s protection, and so the surviving ones definitely will not pursue us any longer. In the future, we will no longer need to flee.” The crown prince was startled for a moment, but then he nodded repeatedly with excitement. He hadn’t seen the situation as clearly as his little sister. “But the only two survivors of the imperial Qi clan are the two of us. How are supposed to grow stronger?” The black-robed princess said in a low voice, “The two of us, relying on our own efforts…we will probably never see the Qi Empire returned to its former glory again in our lifetimes. But by borrowing the strength of senior Darknorth, we would still have hope.” “Right.” Qi Rufeng nodded solemnly. “Let’s go take him on as our master.” “We have to do so with sincerity. For someone as formidable as senior Darknorth…if he detects even a hint of insincerity, he will probably refuse,” the black-robed princess warned. The two siblings thus entered the Immortal estate as well. Within a hall in the Immortal estate. Bluecliff Xiaoyu was seated there, watching as the two imperial siblings entered the estate. “We wish to see senior Darknorth,” Qi Rufeng said. “Master is in seclusion right now. Wait a bit.” Xiaoyu didn’t shoo them away, because she knew that the only reason why the two were able to enter the Immortal estate was because Ning had permitted it. Ning was the master of this estate, after all; if he didn’t wish to permit it, there was no way they would’ve been able to enter at all. …… The reason why Ning had let them enter was because he had discovered some interesting things. “Eh?” “A treasure trove?” Ning flipped through the maps in front of him. There were eight maps, all identical, and all pointing towards a treasure trove! Although the eight slain monster kings were formidable, their storage-type magic treasures were all merely Heaven-ranked items. It was naturally quite easy for Ning to bind them. As he sorted through their items, he discovered to his surprise…that every single storage item contained a map of a treasure trove. All the maps were completely identical. The treasure maps only had some simple markings atop them, such as ‘Qi Empire’, ‘Riverfang Mountains’, etc. This made it so that Ning knew that the treasure map was originally created by the imperial Qi clan! This was the reason why Ning permitted the two imperial Qi clansmen to enter his estate. “Each of the eight monster kings had a copy of this map, with the Flamewing King’s copy being much older. The other seven should’ve been made through a ink-duplication technique.” Ning frowned. “Right…I merely killed a few hundred of Flamewing Guards, but all twelve of the monster kings immediately attacked just a short while later. Logically speaking, the twelve of them should be scattered throughout the Eastern Flows; it would take them quite a bit of time just to spread the word to gather here. There can only be one explanation…when word of my slaughter of hundreds of Flamewing Guards made its way to the Flamewing King, the other monster kings were already present!” “What sort of a situation would cause all twelve monster kings to gather together?” Given that every single one of them had a copy of this treasure map…Ning had his answer. “They were most likely gathering for the sake of this treasure trove!” Ning immediately began to search through the other items, paying especially close attention to the storage treasure of the Flamewing King. And indeed…although he didn’t find anything in the other storage treasures, within the Flamewing King’s items, Ning found an ancient book with golden parchment; clearly, it was designed to be able to withstand the passage of ages. “The first time I ventured to the Riverfang Mountains, I was merely adventuring and entered by accident…” 2332 “I am already a Void-level Earth Immortal; before my tribulation comes, I’ve decided to venture there once more, even though I know this place is very dangerous. I’ve only investigated a very small portion of this treasure trove; I trust that if I can acquire some more treasures, I will have a good chance of overcoming my Celestial Tribulation and becoming a Celestial Immortal.” “……” “Six Loose Immortals once more ventured to the Riverfang Mountains…” “This time, we prepared many Dao-seals and treasures before venturing forth to the Riverfang Mountains…” Ning flipped through the pages of the book. This was a legacy record passed down by the imperial Qi clan; it described the secrets of the Qi Empire’s sudden rise to power. The founding emperor of the Qi Empire had acquired a portion of the benefits of the treasure trove and thus founded his empire. In just a a few tens of thousands of years, the Qi Empire had grown to encompass an enormous territory and have quite a few Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. Thus, the imperial Qi clan had naturally tried repeatedly to enter and investigate further. As they did, they had noted down the various dangers within the treasure trove. They wanted to accumulate more experience and penetrate deeper within! “A treasure trove?” Ning said softly in surprise, “Based on what this book describes, this treasure trove has Ki Refining Techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts…and is the reason why the Qi Empire was able to give birth to dozens of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals within a short span of just a few tens of thousands of years. This is far more formidable than the Black-White College; I imagine that these techniques also vastly surpass the Black-White College’s.” “Mm. I need to go take a look.” While at Mount Innerheart, Ning would often chat with his fellow disciples, and so he naturally knew quite a few things about this Crescent world. For example…he knew about the secrets of Viledragon River. He also knew the secrets of many other places. Although Patriarch Subhuti had created the Crescent world, in truth, when Pangu’s World had shattered, Patriarch Subhuti had used a powerful divine ability to teleport some of the shattered portions of the Primordial World to his own Crescent world. In addition, when Patriarch Subhuti wanted to test something or create something a new, his experiments would be carried out here on the Crescent world! This was because this world was his territory; the secrets here would never be released to outsiders. “From what my senior fellow disciples told me…within this Crescent world are some remnant parts of the ancient Pangu’s World, as well as some of the treasures left behind by that cataclysmic war.” Ning instantly felt a hot eagerness rise in his heart. Very few knew this secret, and almost all who did were the 2333 personal disciples of the Old Patriarch. Thus, they would often go roving and exploring within the Crescent world. “But after the Old Patriarch sealed off these places with vestigial powers left behind by the cataclysmic war that ended Pangu’s World…if one doesn’t visit the places in person, it would be very hard to locate the places from afar.” “Now, it seems…this treasure trove is one of those special places.” Ning felt quite certain. This was because the book stated that the deepest ripples within the treasure trove caused the Loose Immortals of the Qi Empire to tremble with terror. It must be understood that Loose Immortals were capable of suppressing and binding Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and sometimes even capable of suppressing Pure Yang treasures. A treasure that could cause them to feel terror? Could it be the corpse of a major power from the Primordial Era? A weapon? A grand formation? Or was it some other oddity? “I need to go take a look.” Ning immediately made up his mind to go take a look. Since destiny had come knocking, why hesitate? The crown prince and the princess waited for Ning for a long time. Finally, Ning came out. Ning asked questions them regarding the treasure trove. The second princess knew nothing of this matter, while Crown Prince Qi Rufeng hemmed and hawed, not wanting to reveal the biggest secret of their imperial Qi clan. However, by the time Ning spoke of the Riverfang Mountains…the crown prince felt regret for his hesitation. Only now did he hurriedly reveal everything. “You can leave now.” This was the last thing Ning said to them. The crown prince and the princess both fell to their knees, wanting to beg Ning to take them on as disciples. But Ning’s response was very simple; he teleported them outside the Immortal estate, and then caused the entire Immortal estate to vanish into thin air. The crown prince, the princess, and their servants stood there in a daze, atop the half-shattered mountain peak. The mountain wind blew through their hair, causing them to feel despair. “The opportunity was right there in front of me. Why didn’t I tell him? It’s just a treasure trove! Senior Darknorth already knew about it; he must’ve been considering taking us on as disciples, and just wanted to give us a test. But I didn’t tell him! Damn me!” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng was utterly tormented by regret. But he had no idea that even if he had been honest, Ning still wouldn’t have taken him on as a disciple. How could one accept disciples in such a casual manner? …… 2334 Ning didn’t immediately hurry to the treasure trove area in the Riverfang Mountains. Instead, he went to search for those two other great sinners. He first went to search for the three surviving monster kings of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows who had fled. Unfortunately…the only one Ning found was the fourth, the ‘Venomspike King’. The Venomspike King was drinking unhappily in his palace with a belly full of anger and unhappiness. He was toying with a beautiful, fox-like maiden in his arms as he drank. When Ning appeared, the Venomspike King was so terrified that he wanted to immediately flee…but how could Ning give him the opportunity to do so? “How the hell did I piss you off?!” The Venomspike King was only able to let out one final enraged bellow before being killed by Ning. …… Ning then spent more than half a month before finally finding a Loose Immortal within a school whose evil reputation was widespread. This was a human Loose Immortal, and the most powerful expert of his school! This was an old fellow who had lived for six hundred thousand years. His school was an evil one, and so Ning immediately went to uproot this vile base! He first slaughtered three Loose Immortals who charged towards him, causing the old fellow to appear at last. As the many disciples of the school watched with anticipation…their ‘infinitely powerful’ and savage Patriarch battled against Ning for a period of time, then was pincered and slain by Ning’s true body and Primaltwin! “What a fellow. His power was close to the Goldfur Bearking’s; only, his defense was a bit weaker.” Ning had enjoyed this battle quite a bit. He had also acquired two more Immortal-ranked magic treasures from the old fellow, one a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure, one a top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure. This was the most powerful person Ning had slain. “Wonderful, wonderful.” “I’ve killed so many formidable Loose Immortals, all of whom were surrounded by vicious, baleful auras. My three Darknorth swords are now comparable to high-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords now.” Ning felt quite delighted; killing ordinary Loose Immortals didn’t do much, but the nine monster kings and that wicked Patriarch released an absolutely astonishing amount of baleful energy when slain. The wicked Patriarch in particular; his baleful aura was comparable to four or five of the monster kings combined! “If I kill ten more figures like that wicked Patriarch, I imagine that my Darknorth swords will be comparable to top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords.” This was Ning’s estimation. …… He had successfully taken on a disciple. He had also killed ten great sinners. Now, Ning led his disciple, Bluecliff Xiaoyu, to the Riverfang Mountains. “So these are the Riverfang Mountains?” Ning stared towards the distance. The mountains here stretched out past the horizon and were perpetually shrouded by fog and clouds. From Ning’s vantage point, these mountains did indeed look like a series of sharp fangs that were jutting towards the skies. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. As Ji Ning stared at the distant Riverfang Mountains, he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat. He could vaguely sense an incomparably terrifying threat that lay coiled deep within the mountains. “At my current level of power…there are very few people in the entire Crescent world who can pose a threat to me. The ones who are more powerful than me have almost all been recruited into Mount Innerheart; when they see me, they might even have to address me as ‘uncle-master’. Even the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would be my fellow disciples,” Ning mused to himself. Roaming within the Crescent world should be like roaming within his own family garden. This was the very first time he felt a thrill of fear! “It seems there really is some danger here, enough danger to threaten me.” Ning nodded lightly. “Mm. If the situation looks bad, I’ll immediately hide in the underwater estate. Later, I’ll ask Master to help me escape back to Mount Innerheart.” When trapped in dire circumstances, ask for Master’s aid. Although this was a bit shameless, Ning was within the Crescent world, after all; his master couldn’t be too strict with him. In addition, after he truly left the Crescent world, Ning wouldn’t even be able to mention his master’s name; he’d have to rely on himself for everything. “Master?” The nearby Bluecliff Xiaoyu called out softly. Ning glanced sideways at his disciple, then said with a laugh, “Xiaoyu, I am going into the mountains to take a look. These mountains are very dangerous; go into the Immortal estate first.” “Yes, Master,” Xiaoyu said obediently. Ning waved his arm, immediately drawing Xiaoyu into his Immortal estate. And then, by himself, Ning transformed into a streak of light that flew straight into the Riverfang Mountains. …… Ning had acquired the detailed records produced by successive generations of Qi Empire experts. He soon reached the outer perimeter of the treasure trove. “Eh?” As he strode through the mountains, Ning felt a strange sensation coming to him through the earth. “Kill…kill…kill…” 2337 He could vaguely sense as though an invisible howl was being transmitted from far away through the dirt, as though an unfathomably long period of time ago, an enormous battle had occurred in this place. Even now, after so many years had passed, the murderous intent from that battle remained unabated. “The earth here is different from the ordinary earth found elsewhere in the Crescent world. It’s clearly much heavier, and the earth’s aura in this region is significantly denser as well.” Ning nodded lightly. “This might truly be a tiny remnant of Pangu’s shattered Primordial World which was teleported here.” With the aid of the tests the imperial Qi clan had carried out, Ning quickly found a mountain valley and began to walk through it. The clouds and the mists coiled about here, making it so that even Ning was only able to see to one or two kilometers. As for divine sense? What his divine sense found was completely different from what his physical eyes could see. This was because…. “My divine sense has been completely fooled. Everything my divine sense is showing me is false.” Ning even stretched his hand out to touch a place, ascertaining that his eyes weren’t being deceived as well! He carefully advanced. Far away, up ahead, he saw an enormous ravine. Ning could sense a terrifyingly sharp saber-intent radiating from that ravine. “Apparently, although this ravine looks as though it was naturally formed, it was actually carved out through saber-ki.” Ning walked forward for the amount of time needed to boil a kettle of tea. Suddenly, he felt an invisible pressure envelop him. “This is the same as what was recorded within the Qi Empire’s book. According to the book, the deeper one goes in, the greater the pressure shall become. The experts of the various generations of the Qi Empire were all ultimately forced to give up by this pressure and return. The pathway I’m walking through right now should be the pathway with the least amount of pressure.” Ning quickly advanced. As he did, the strength of the pressure rose dramatically. When Ning had first entered this region, five thousand kilograms of pressure was evenly being applied to his body. But now, it had already reached five hundred thousand kilograms…fifty million kilograms… Rumble… A powerful repulsive force collided against Ning’s body, causing a series of rumbling sounds. The amount of pressure pushing down against Ning was now comparable to a series of massive mountains that were smashing down repeatedly towards him! “Even most Loose Immortals wouldn’t be able to withstand this amount of pressure.” Ning waved his hand, and the Thousandbull Sword appeared within it. Brandishing the Thousandbull Sword, Ning caused a divine black dragon to suddenly howl forth, striking against the pressure that was crushing down against Ning and lessening it. “Pretty easy.” Ning continued to advance forward while using the Thousandbull Sword to chop apart the invisible pressure. Clearly, this sort of invisible pressure was born from some sort of ancient, powerful restrictive formation; it sent pulses of pressure out to attack. Loose Immortals were generally Ki Refiners with very weak bodies; thus, if they wanted to advance, they would have to rely on their magic treasures to break apart the pulses of pressure. Previously, Ning had been relying on his Fiendgod Body and so didn’t need to use any magic treasures to make it to this point. Whoosh. Yet another divine black dragon howled forth, leaving behind a dazzling arc in the mist and blasting apart yet another pulse of pressure. After walking for another period of time. “Change!” Ning suddenly transformed into his three-headed, six-armed form. Five more Immortal swords appeared in his hands, all of them the illusory black Heavenraker swords. In such a dangerous region, Ning was unwilling to let his Primaltwin appear. Thus, his true body would temporarily use the Heavenraker swords; after all, the power of top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords was very great. With six top-grade Immortal-ranked swords in his hands, as well as the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability, Ning once more found it easy to advance through the region. The amount of divine power [Three Heads, Six Arms] used up was more than ten times less than the amount the [Starseizing Hand] used up. Whoosh whoosh whoosh… Six divine black dragons howled forth, blasting apart one pulse of pressure after another. However, some remnant pulses still made their way through and struck Ning, causing explosive sounds when they did! Ning, however, was a Fiendgod Body Refiner; so long as the remnant pressures didn’t contain too much power, he would be fine. “This place is a place the imperial Qi clansmen have never reached.” After walking for another period of time, Ning realized that even with six Immortal swords, he was beginning to feel a bit taxed. Right at this moment, Ning saw a figure off in the distance. The figure saw Ning as well. “Immortal Darknorth.” A booming voice rang out. “Goldfur Bearking.” Ning spoke out. The man before him was the tall, muscular Goldfur Bearking. Around him were those ninety-nine pearls that were circling and swirling as they broke apart the pulses of pressure. “Immortal Darknorth, you acquired a treasure map and discovered this place?” The Goldfur Bearking said. “Just so.” Ning didn’t deny it. “Originally, the twelve of us were planning to enter these Riverfang Mountains. We were discussing this matter with our third brother, but when we received word that hundreds of his Flamewing Guards had been slain, all of us immediately followed him to your place to provide support…but who would’ve thought that most of the others would die, and that today I would be the only person to come to this treasure trove? Oh, and you, Immortal Darknorth, the slayer of so many monster kings…you came as well. Truly, anything can happen in this world!” The Goldfur Bearking sighed. Ning laughed. “I do indeed need to thank the Flamewing King. Otherwise, how could I have learned about this treasure trove? Still…why have you come to a halt here? Are you unable to move any further?” There was something quite strange about this region. If one advanced, no matter towards which direction, one would feel tremendous amounts of pressure crashing down upon one’s body. However, if one didn’t move at all, one wouldn’t suffer the pressure. “Right, I can’t move any further! You have a Fiendgod body, and so you can endure the remnant repulsive force when it strikes you. Loose Immortals Ki Refiners like myself, however, don’t dare to fight head on in such a manner. We need to completely dissipate all of the terrifying pressure, which requires an enormous amount of elemental ki to be used up. I need to first restore more of my elemental ki before I go in any further,” the Goldfur Bearking said. “Then I’ll take my leave for now,” Ning said with a chuckle. Six top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords in his hands, Ning once more began to force his way forward, quickly disappearing from the Goldfur Bearking’s field of vision. “The preparations we made all ended up benefiting this Immortal Darknorth.” 1 The Goldfur Bearking gritted his teeth, but he felt quite helpless. He knew that Ning was more powerful than he was, and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, Ning had a better chance of survival in a place like this. …… “[Starseizing Hand]!” Ning was finally forced by the pressure to use his [Starseizing Hand]. Instantly, the power of the divine black dragons of sword-light increased dramatically. In fact, Ning even temporarily cancelled his [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique. Just by relying on the Thousandbull Sword and the [Starseizing Hand], he carved a path forward! Charge! Charge! Charge! But gradually, Ning was once again pressured to the point of being forced to use [Three Heads, Six Arms]. All six arms were now using the [Starseizing Hand]. After a long period of time, Ning was even forced to take a break, so as to recover his largely depleted divine power. …… Occasional breaks, followed by occasional advances. Towards the end, Ning would have to use six strikes of the [Starseizing Hand] for every thirty meters he travelled. One could imagine how quickly his divine power was being used up! Rumble… As Ning took one more step forward…he actually broke through and out of the pressure region. “Hahahaha.” “I finally escaped that damn place.” Ning laughed loudly. There were no more ripples of pressure in this location. For the first time in his life…Ning felt as though walking forward normally was actually quite an enjoyable thing. “I spent nearly a full day walking a mere several thousand kilometers, and I used up all of my divine power several times.” Ning shook his head and sighed. Still, he continued to advance with all six Immortal swords at the ready. He tried to use his divine sense to scout ahead, but unfortunately, his divine sense remained deceived, as everything it was telling him was clearly false. Ning walked forward, following a winding creek. Fog and mist continued to swirl around the region, causing him to only be able to see to a distance of one or two kilometers, where he could vaguely make out a gorge. CRA-KOW! Just as Ning took a step forward, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended out of nowhere. “Beat it!” Ning didn’t hesitate at all as he immediately swung out all six swords with full force. Six divine black dragons of sword-light hwoled forward, shattering that bolt of lightning. Crackle crackle crackle…a large amount of lightning and thunder began to swell forward towards him. “Previously it was invisible pressure…but at least that wasn’t lethal. But this lightning is.” Ning hurriedly used his swordplay to defend. He noticed that so long as he retreated, the number of attacking thunderbolts would lessen. When he advanced, however, the attacking thunderbolts would increase at an astonishing rate, growing increasingly savage and increasingly powerful. Ning was only able to advance three hundred meters before being forced to come to a halt, unable to advance any further. Rumble…. The bolts of lightning were now as thick as a water barrel. They wildly flooded towards and hammered down upon Ning, who struggled to block them. He tried to take a single step forward, but the increasingly frenetic thunderbolts instantly pushed him backwards. “What should I do? I can’t advance at all.” Ning was worried now. The attacks were simply too powerful. Ning had tested letting a small amount of the lightning strike him, and his divine body had easily deflected it. However, as he continued to test it, he realized that there was a limit to how many thunderbolts his divine body could endure. He had to use his sword-light to break apart the rest! The only reason he had made it as far as he did was because of his Fiendgod-like body. “Am I going to have to go back? Going back is easy, as the number of lightning bolts will lessen as I retreat. As for the pressure zone, I’ll only need around half a day or so to move through it and slowly escape.” Ning didn’t have any problems with leaving, unlike some; according to the imperial Qi records, there had been Loose Immortals who had used special methods to force a path forward, but after making it too far in, they were unable to escape. This was because when leaving, they still had to go through the pressure zone once more. They eventually had to spend countless years retreating, one step at a time. What Ning didn’t realize was that the Flamewing King had been trapped within the pressure zone for tens of years! Rumble… Countless bolts of lightning continued to slam down frantically. Ning truly didn’t want to give up. “Kiddo, you came in at such a low level of power? I urge you to hurry up and leave. Don’t lose your life here!” A shrill voice suddenly rang out within Ning’s ears.. In the original Chinese, the saying was ‘made wedding clothes for him’; this is a classic saying about how you put in a tremendous amount of work, only for someone else to reap the benefits. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. There was someone else here? Ji Ning was startled. He hurriedly retreated several meters, causing the striking lightning bolts to weaken slightly. Only now did he dare divide his attention to look around carefully. “Eh?” Ning frowned. From the crevices between the bolts of lightning that continued to hammer towards him, Ning saw a black-robed youth was standing far away at the entrance to the distant gorge. Swoosh! Ning hurriedly retreated, leaving from the thunder field region. All of the lightning bolts vanished, allowing Ning to clearly see the figure at the entrance to the gorge. The black-robed youth was similar to Mu Northson in height, and even skinnier than Ning himself. However, Ning could sense that this black-robed youth had been alive for a long, long time. The black-robed youth’s gaze was both sharp and terrifying. His face was expressionless; he was most likely the type that was born arrogant and aloof. “Who are you?” Ning asked. “Me?” The black-robed youth’s voice was shrill. He looked thoughtfully towards Ning. “Even if I told you my name, kid, you wouldn’t recognize it. You should be at the early Void stage, but you actually broke through the first forbidden zone, and were even able to advance three hundred meters in the second zone, the lightning zone. You just barely qualify as having the power of a Celestial Immortal. For someone to have such power at the early Void stage…which school do you belong to? Who is your master?” Ning was secretly surprised. Celestial Immortal? Since the black-robed youth had already arrived at the entrance to the gorge, he clearly should’ve already made it past the lightning zone. This meant he was far more powerful than Ning. Ning’s Primaltwin at full power would be just barely at the average Celestial Immortal level; some particularly formidable and monstrously talented Celestial Immortals were far more powerful than him. “My master’s name is not for the likes of you to learn,” Ning said. “Oh, is he a True Immortal or Empyrean God?” The black-robed youth chuckled softly as he carefully scrutinized Ning’s face. Ning, however, remained calm. The black-robed youth shook his head. “Leave, hurry up and leave. Even I am unable to acquire the treasure within. Even if you were a hundred times stronger than you are now, it wouldn’t suffice.” “A hundred times?” Ning frowned, not believing it. “You don’t believe it? Then listen to this; this treasure trove is divided into three forbidden zones. The first zone simply uses pressure and repulsive force! It is quite safe. The second zone is the lightning zone, and it is 540 meters long in total. As for the third forbidden zone, it forbids the usage of all magic treasures. Even I am unable to break through it.” The black-robed youth looked disdainfully at Ning. “And you? You haven’t even overcome a Celestial Tribulation. You might be a peerless genius, but you are unable to advance past three hundred meters of the lightning zone. You must know by now that with each step forward, the power in the lightning zone increases dramatically. Only if your power increases tenfold will you be able to break through the second zone…but the third zone is even more terrifying. I imagine not even many Celestial Immortals are capable of breaking through it.” “What is in the third forbidden zone?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “That’s not for you to worry about,” the black-robed youth said. “Why haven’t you left?” Ning asked. “I’m a Celestial Immortal with an infinite lifespan. Since the treasure is here, I will slowly train here. Perhaps a chance will present itself and I’ll be able to acquire it,” the black-robed youth said. Hearing this, Ning instantly felt irritated. He could sense the faint ripples of power coming from within the valley; the ripples were extremely old yet very powerful. “The Thousandbull Sword is almost at the level of Pure Yang treasures in power, but its ripples are vastly inferior. The treasure within must have be an extremely powerful one that was left behind from Pangu’s World.” “However…I can’t even make it through the second forbidden zone. How am I suppose to pass all three?” Ning stood there by the creek outside the lightning zone. He pondered quietly for a moment, then gritted his teeth, turned, and left. Whoosh. Ning quickly re-entered the invisible pressure zone, slowly forcing his way outwards. “He’s gone?” The black-robed youth shook his head. “A young kid who was far too weak. Given his talent, though, he might have a shot at becoming a Celestial Immortal.” And then, the black-robed youth once more walked into the gorge. “Immortal Darknorth, you returned?” On the way back, Ning once more encountered the Goldfur Bearking. The Goldfur Bearking was advancing again, but he had only traversed a kilometer beyond his earlier point. “I’m not strong enough. Naturally, I have to return.” 2344 Ning, in his three-headed, six-armed form, wielded six Immortal swords and chopped a path through the pressure pulses as he left. “Not strong enough?” The Goldfur Bearking muttered to himself, “Is it possible that this Darknorth has already acquired the treasures? Still, from the look on his face, I’d say he isn’t lying.” Although he secretly mumbled and muttered to himself, the Goldfur Bearking wasn’t confident in being able to wrest any treasures from Ning’s grasp. …… Ning exited the Riverfang Mountains. Turning his head, he gave the mountain ranges, perpetually shrouded by fog and clouds, a glance. He murmured softly, “Wait for me to train in the arcane art…I’ll give you another try then.” Whoosh. A spatial ripple appeared, and Ning disappeared into it. He reappeared in the sky above the mountain peak of Mount Innerheart, a cloud beneath his feet. “Come out.” Ning willed it, and instantly a white-robed maiden appeared by his side. This was Ning’s disciple, Bluecliff Xiaoyu. “Master.” Xiaoyu stood atop the cloud, staring at her surroundings. “Where are we now?” Ning looked at his disciple, then turned to stare at the levitating Mount Innerheart. It had only been a month, but he had already accepted a disciple and killed ten great sinners. Bluecliff Xiaoyu’s golden glow of karmic virtue stretched to more than nine hundred meters…and now, Ning’s own clean aura of holiness had also transformed into the golden glow of karmic virtue! However, his divine sense told him that his own golden light of karmic virtue merely stretched to be three feet long. Actually, the process of accepting a disciple and killing the monster kings had already caused his clean aura of holiness to become quite dense; after he killed the wicked Patriarch, it suddenly transformed into the golden light of karmic virtue. “Three feet of golden karmic light, compared to nine hundred meters for my disciple.” Ning laughed, then pulled Xiaoyu by the hand as he flew upwards. “Xiaoyu, the mountain up ahead is Mount Innerheart. This is the place where Master’s school is located,” Ning said with a laugh. Xiaoyu stared at the massive levitating mountain, then lowered her head to look at the endless world beneath them. “Master’s school?” She felt rather stunned. They flew into Mount Innerheart, went up the mountain road, and soon arrived at the gates. Xiaoyu was only Ning’s disciple, and so Ning didn’t take her to see the eldest apprentice-brother. At the gates were those two azure-robed Dao-novitiates. When they saw Ning, they immediately bowed and said with great respect, “Patriarch.” “Mm.” Ning nodded. Still stunned, Xiaoyu let Ning tug her forward by the arm. After passing through the gates, Xiaoyu came back to her senses. She whispered, “Master, it seems as though those two novitiates at the gates were very powerful?” “Both were Void-level Earth Immortals,” Ning said casually. Just as Ning’s words came out, two extremely ancient and powerful Void-level Fiendgods walked over. Both of them called out with tremendous courtesy, “Patriarch?” The feeling these two ancient Fiendgods gave Xiaoyu…was that they were even more terrifying than the monster kings. They caused her to quiver and shake! And yet, they referred to her master as ‘Patriarch’?! They continued walking up the mountain path of the Tristar Crescent Abode. As they did so, they encountered humans, monsters, and even Fiendgods, all of whom had powerful auras and many of whom were even more terrifying than the monster kings. And yet, upon seeing Ning, they all showed extreme respect, addressing him as either ‘Patriarch’ or ‘Uncle-Master’. “It seems as though my master has a very high status in his school. On our way over…it seems everyone we ran into had a lower status than him. I haven’t even met a single person on his level,” Xiaoyu murmured to herself. “The Divinities Palace is up ahead,” Ning said. “Divinities Palace?” Xiaoyu looked curiously at the nine-storied Divinities Palace. Many disciples of Mount Innerheart were congregating outside of it, and they all respectfully bowed towards Ning and addressed him as uncle-master or as Patriarch. Little Qing and Uncle White ran straight towards him; they were spiritually connected to Ning and knew exactly where he was. “Master.” “Ning, child.” Both Little Qing and Uncle White ran over. Right at this moment, a handsome, white-robed man walked over from the entrance to the Divinities Palace. This was naturally the controller of the Divinities Palace, Silvermoon. Silvermoon smiled as he 2346 walked over. “I heard, junior apprentice-brother, that you accepted a disciple and subdued viledoers in the world below us. This would be the apprentice you took on, yes? What a pretty little lass.” “I’ve finally met someone of the same generation as Master…and they seem quite friendly. He doesn’t have any frightening aura at all,” Xiaoyu mused silently to herself. “Xiaoyu, hurry up and pay respects to your uncle-master,” Ning instructed. “Greetings, uncle-master,” Xiaoyu said as she hurriedly bowed with respect. “Since you’ve addressed me as uncle-master, I need to prepare a gift for you.” Silvermoon shook his head and laughed. “It’ll be hard for a little girl like you to make proper use of a good treasure. Mmm…keep this little toy with you. Even if a Celestial Immortal wants to kill you, it’ll be able to protect you for the time needed to boil a kettle of tea.” As he spoke, he tossed a jade brooch towards Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu was rather stunned. A Celestial Immortal’s attacks? Able to withstand them for a short period of time? This tiny little brooch? Not even the treasure which her master had given her was this incredible. “But…but…” Xiaoyu couldn’t help but feel awkward at the ‘pricelessness’ of this treasure. “Hurry up and take it,” Ning chortled. “This jade brooch is nothing to your uncle-master. He kills Celestial Immortals as easily as killing chickens.” “Junior apprentice-brother, you…fine, I admit that I did indeed make this jade brooch in a rather casual manner. I’ll also give you another gift then, a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. I’m not capable of forging them; I used treasures to trade for it.” Silvermoon handed over a Dao-seal to her. Ning’s smile became incandescent. His senior apprentice-brother was an Empyrean God; although a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal was a treasure to Ning, it wasn’t much to Silvermoon. It was only fair for him to seize this opportunity to milk Silvermoon for a few things. Xiaoyu blinked repeatedly. Two treasures? Given away so casually? Kill Celestial Immortals as easily as chickens? This…what the hell type of school had she been recruited into?! “Little Qing, show Xiaoyu around the Tristar Crescent Abode and help her familiarize herself with this place. Chat with her a bit as well; she still doesn’t know what sort of a school the Tristar Crescent Abode is,” Ning said with a laugh. “Yes, Master.” Little Qing immediately responded with excitement. Ning immediately said, “Senior apprentice-brother, I am going to go to the Three Realms Palace.” 2347 “Go, go,” Silvermoon said, nodding his head and smiling. “It seems you are going to leave our master’s tutelage soon.” …… The Three Realms Palace. Second apprentice-brother Crazy Ji was beaming merrily here as he waited for Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother.” Ning bowed. “Master told me that you passed the trial. This is the full copy of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. You can learn it now.” Crazy Ji held his fan in one hand and used the other to hand over a scrolled bamboo book. Ning’s eyes instantly lit up. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]? After he gained a basic level of expertise in it, his body would be like an Immortal-ranked magic treasure. He would definitely be able to give the Riverfang Mountains another try by then. “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning immediately accepted the bamboo book. He sent his divine sense into it, and instantly an utterly prodigious amount of information began to flow into his soul. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. By the time Ji Ning came back to his senses, it was already dark. He was still standing outside the small building. As for the nearby Crazy Ji, he had long since gone back to sleep and was snoring contentedly. “Although my soul is unfathomably more powerful than it was back when I learned the [Starseizing Hand], it still took me many hours to process all that information.” A hint of a smile was on Ning’s face. This feeling of complete confidence was quite wonderful. He had fully memorized the method of training in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. “It truly is the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level.” Ning smiled as he walked into the Three Realms Palace. “Junior apprentice-brother, you can just put the complete copy of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] back in the Three Realms Palace. If you want to choose something else, you can do so.” Crazy Ji lay there, seemingly mumbling in his sleep. He then turned and started to snore again. Ning smiled. He turned and bowed. “Yes, senior apprentice-brother.” …… After returning the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ning unhesitatingly walked forward to pick up another abridged book. Atop this book were the characters: [Houyi’s Archery]. Ning had dreamed of learning [Houyi’s Archery] for a long time now. His own divine ability was the [Starseizing Hand], a divine ability which caused his pair of hands to possess unfathomably great power. With one hand holding the bow, and the other drawing it…and in addition, [Houyi’s Archery] was a technique-focused ability. These two divine abilities, both ranked in the top ten of the Three Realms, could be used simultaneously and would synergize very well. The first gave Ning’s twin hands unfathomable power. The second would raise his archery skills to the limit. Combined…they would become one of Ning’s most powerful killer combinations. “However…this trial truly is difficult. Can I accomplish it?” Ning stared at the trial, frowning. “No matter what, I have to give it a try. There’s no time limit, anyhow.” “Senior apprentice-brother.” Ning put down the abridged book, walked to the doorway, and looked at the slumbering Crazy Ji. “I wish to learn [Houyi’s Archery].” 2349 “Go then. Come back after you pass the trial,” Crazy Ji mumbled in his sleep. Ning smiled, turned his head, and immediately departed. Actually, although on the surface it seemed as though he was informing Crazy Ji, in reality his was telling his master, Patriarch Subhuti! After all, it was the Patriarch who would decide whether or not this technique could be taught to him. Whoosh. Ning departed. Crazy Ji suddenly sat up. Leaning against the wooden door of the hall, he frowned as he stared at the departing Ning. “He wants to train in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and [Houyi’s Archery]? Doesn’t this little junior apprentice-brother of mine walk the path of the Sword Immortal? Why is it that I feel as though he views [Houyi’s Archery] as absolutely critical for him to acquire? No one in the entire Three Realms has ever reached a level of archery as terrifying as Houyi did.” The [Starseizing Hand] only required sufficient amounts of Five Elements essence; with it, one could train all the way to the Sixth Cycle and master it! The same was also true for the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Upon gaining a basic level of skill with it, as long as one fused enough magic treasures, one could master all nine of its cycles. But the [Starseizing Hand] and the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] both needed astonishing amounts of items. The first required shocking amounts of Five Elements essence, while the other required similarly shocking amounts of magic treasures. There were quite a few people in the Three Realms who trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], but the number who truly achieved mastery and an unbreakable, vajra-like body was very very low. [Houyi’s Archery] was completely different! It was a skill-based, technique-based ability. It required a certain level of comprehension and enlightenment. This made it even harder to master! It also required a person to constantly ruminate on the Dao of Archery…although Houyi’s own level of archery had already surpassed the bounds of the actual Dao of Archery. “A Sword Immortal…who is also going to split up his attention to walk the Dao of Archery?” Crazy Ji pondered. “Perhaps it is simply because this junior apprentice-brother knows that [Houyi’s Archery] is one of the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms, and so he truly wishes to learn it. After he learns how truly difficult it is, he might just give it up.” …… Within the Still Room in the underwater estate. Ning was seated in the lotus position as he began to train in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. This was a divine ability, and so he had to have his true body train it! Whooosh. Ning let out a breath of air. A blurry golden light began to slowly appear around his body. The golden light was very faint at first, but it slowly grew denser until Ning seemed to be made out of gold. “Change!” Ji Ning, who had been seated atop the netherwater jade bed, suddenly vanished. Atop the jade bed appeared a rock. However, this rock had a living aura; any Immortal cultivators would be able to immediately tell that it was extraordinary. “Cancel.” The rock disappeared and Ning once more reappeared. For a Fiendgod Body Refiner at Ning’s level, the divine body could be completely transformed into divine power, and vice versa! In fact, even a single hair could be transformed into a completely separate body! Thus, to transform one’s self into a rock wasn’t difficult; what was difficult was to make it so that one’s aura would be so retracted that one would be indistinguishable from a true rock. “Retract the aura? Change even the aura of one’s soul?” Ning murmured softly to himself, “This [EightNine Arcane Art] truly is difficult to learn. However…once I gain a basic level of expertise, I can change my aura as I please and will be able to easily make it so that I am like a rock or a piece of dirt.” …… The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was the [Seventy-Two Transformations]. As noted, the term ‘seventy-two’ came from the term ‘eight-nine’; in reality, the number of transformations it allowed was limitless. Rocks, trees, flowers, plants, animals…even humans, monsters, and Fiendgods! Anything that existed in the Three Realms, one could transform into. Even the aura would become absolutely identical. Even those more powerful than the user would find it difficult to see through the transformation. Only those who specialized in extremely powerful ‘god-eye’ techniques or other special techniques, when actively using those techniques, would be able to see the truth! If they didn’t actively use the special techniques, however, even they would be unable to realize that the tree before them was actually someone else transformed. …… Early dawn. Bluecliff Xiaoyu, rather bored, walked out of her room. “It’s been half a year since Master brought me back to Mount Innerheart, but he’s only taught me twice. He instructed me to go learn everything, such as Ki Refining Techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts, from the Divinities Palace.” Xiaoyu felt rather resigned. She knew that some experts had strange temperaments, but she didn’t expect that her master would care so little about her. She normally didn’t even have a chance to meet him. “Still…” 2351 “Mount Innerheart truly is an incredible place.” Xiaoyu sighed in amazement. Over the course of the past half year, she was often together with Uncle White and Little Qing, as well as the other disciples of Mount Innerheart. Thus, she was beginning to learn more and more. And the more she learned, the more amazed she was! Celestial Immortals? Their statuses was lower than her master’s! Personal disciples? The others were all Pure Yang True Immortals or Empyrean Gods. The guard of the Divinities Palace was an Empyrean God. No wonder that day her master had told her that this unclemaster killed Celestial Immortals as easily as chickens! Whaaaat?! The entire Crescent world had been created by Patriarch Subhuti? He had set up his own cycle of reincarnation? The Old Patriarch had done this all by himself? Xiaoyu now realized that the entire Crescent world was like a garden world for the members of Mount Innerheart. Supposedly, beyond the Crescent world, there was the even vaster Three Realms. Supposedly, this ‘Three Realms’ had many other major powers that were comparable to the Old Patriarch. “Um.” Xiaoyu saw a large rock next to her as she walked forward. Without thinking too much, she plopped her rear down on it and sat down. “I wonder when I’ll see Master again,” Xiaoyu murmured to herself. And then… “Eh?” She suddenly frowned, glancing downwards at the stone beneath her. “Weird. If memory serves…there shouldn’t be a rock here. Where did this rock come from? Uh…well, this is Master’s Immortal estate; everything within it is under his control. No need for me to worry about it, I suppose. Mm…right. I’m going to go find that big dumb lunk. He’s at a fairly high level of enlightenment; he can provide me with some guidance.” Bluecliff Xiaoyu stood up and quickly ran off. Whoosh. The stone transformed into a fur-clad youth, Ji Ning. “…I was actually sat on by my disciple.” Ning took a deep breath. “Fortunately, no one saw this. Um…right. Definitely can’t tell anyone about this.” “No more transforming into rocks. I’ll transform into a tree. I refuse to believe anyone is going to sit on me then.” Whoosh. In a corner of the estate, there were some trees and flowers. Another tree, a small pine tree that was a few meters tall, now joined their ranks. The branches of the tree even fluttered in the breeze. Ning had already more than half-mastered the rudiments to the transformation aspects of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. What he was doing every day was transforming into rocks, trees, creeks, grass, and other things. To this day, no one had been able to discover him. In fact, Ning’s Primaltwin had visually searched, used divine sense, and even opened the ‘Celestial Eye’, but was still unable to discover any flaws! When Ning was transformed into a tree, his bark, his branches, his leaves…they were absolutely identical to real ones. Even the aura of his soul had transformed into a tree’s aura! There was nothing special about it at all! …… Time flowed on, day by day. Ning constantly trained in his transformation techniques, testing himself repeatedly and accruing more and more experience. Finally, after spending a year and three months on the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ning mastered all of the ‘seventy-two’ transformations. “The final transformations truly were difficult. They took so much time! Still, I’ve finally mastered them. Change!” Ning had been seated in the lotus position next to a creek, but suddenly his figure changed completely. Now, seated next to the creek was a handsome, fan-wielding, white-robed man; Empyrean God Silvermoon. He was identical in both appearance and aura. That incomparably powerful aura, so great as to cause others to tremble in fear…the aura of an Empyrean God…and the unique properties of Silvermoon’s own personal aura…Ning had replicated it all. “Let me give it a try.” Ning, appearing as Silvermoon, smiled as he walked through the Tristar Crescent Abode. “Patriarch.” “Patriarch.” “Senior uncle-master.” “Master.” As he walked through the Tristar Crescent Abode, Ning heard others address him for the first time as ‘senior uncle-master’. It must be understood that amongst the other personal disciples, Ning was the newest addition, and so most people just addressed him as ‘uncle-master’. “Haha. These Void-level Fiendgods and Diremonsters…none of them suspect a thing.” Ning was in an extremely good mood. He occasionally even nodded to them. “Strange. Why isn’t Patriarch Silvermoon at the Divinities Palace?” 2353 “It’s quite rare to see Patriarch Silvermoon out for a walk, isn’t it?” “It is rather odd.” After Ning walked away, the disciples of Mount Innerheart quietly speculated amongst themselves. Silvermoon was simply too famous for his ferocity; he was truly a demon-like figure. The amount of sin which swirled around him was utterly inconceivable! Silvermoon had accumulated so much sin that he was no longer covered in the bloody light of sin; rather, covering him were the legendary karmic sinflames! However, given how unearthly powerful Silvermon was, he didn’t fear the karmic sinflames at all! Ning quickly arrived at the Divinities Palace. In front of it, as always, were congregated many of the disciples of Mount Innerheart. “Patriarch.” “Senior uncle-master.” They all called out with respect, and even Bluecliff Xiaoyu, who had been chatting with the other disciples, hurriedly rose to her feet and called out respectfully, “Senior uncle-master.” But Little Qing and Uncle White stared in amazement at Ning. “Who are you?!” Because of their spiritual connection to Ning, both Little Qing and Uncle White knew that it was him. However, they couldn’t help but feel completely amazed and confused. The terrifying aura of the white-robed man before them…his appearance…clearly, this should be Empyrean God Silvermoon! But their spiritual sense was telling them that this man before them was actuall Ji Ning. This caused both of them to feel very strange. Previously, Ning had only displayed the ability to transform into a tree in front of them; he had never transformed into a person before. “Mm.” Ning nodded, then smiled as he walked into the Divinities Palace. Within the Divinities Palace there was another white-robed man, also holding a fan. Their gazes met. Their appearances and their auras were identical. “Someone who dares transform into my appearance? Second senior apprentice-brother has better things to do, and Lord Jiang doesn’t have this sort of personality…junior apprentice-brother, it seems you’ve successfully trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]?” Silvermoon immediately guessed that it was Ji Ning. “Formidable, senior apprentice-brother.” The figure of one of the white-robed men turned blurry, then transformed back into the figure of a fur-clad youth, Ji Ning. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Realms Silvermoon shook his head and laughed. “It’s not that I’m formidable; it’s that there are only a few people at Mount Innerherat who have trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. By process of elimination, I was able to guess that it was you, junior apprentice-brother.” Ning nodded. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was located in the Three Realms Palace; only personal disciples and those who had received special permission from the Old Patriarch could learn it. “If you transformed into someone else, I might not have been able to tell that it was you,” Silvermoon said with a laugh. “These ‘seventy-two transformations’ cause a person’s aura to completely change; even the appearance of sin or karmic merit surrounding you changes. This truly is an incredible transformation divine ability.” Ning nodded. Indeed. For example, when Ning transformed into a rock, he could use the technique to completely retract his three-foot aura of golden karmic light. If he transformed into a viledoer, he could transform to display the bloody light of sin. “Back in the era of Pangu’s World, there was an ancient Diremonster who relied on these seventy-two transformations to transform into the appearance of a Buddha. He used it to trick people for thousands of years before being discovered,” 1 Silvermoon said with a laugh. “You have now gained a basic level of expertise into the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; your foundation is set. These seventy-two transformations alone will serve as a top-notch escape method or hiding method.” “However…at this level, it merely remains a deceptive tool, a hiding method. When you are truly in a dire situation, what matters the most is your combat ability,” Silvermoon said. “Junior apprentice-brother, although you’ve reached the early Void stage and are comparable to ordinary Celestial Immortals…I’m afraid that slightly more powerful Celestial Immortals would be able to deal with you or even kill you.” “I understand.” Ning truly did. Unless he was so lucky as to only encounter extremely weak Celestial Immortals, the amount of power he currently had was only enough to allow him to swagger around in front of those who had yet to overcome their Celestial Tribulation. “That’s why I’ve come to find you, senior apprentice-brother. I’ve come to ask you for help,” Ning said with a laugh. “Help?” Silvermoon waved his fan, then said in a leisurely manner, “Speak. What do you need?” 2356 “I’m currently quite weak; forgot about the Thee Realms, even in this Crescent world, any random Celestial Immortal might be able to kill me. Thus, I wish to reach the Third Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] as soon as I can,” Ning said. Silvermoon stared at him. “The amount of treasures consumed by the training of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] is utterly astonishing; even I had to spend countless ages to be able to train to my current Sixth Cycle! Can it be that you, you little brat, want me to give you my treasures for free to help you train? No way!” The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] used up far too many treasures. To reach the Ninth Cycle? Even Daofathers would feel pain at the cost! Even a mighty demon like Empyrean God Silvermoon had only trained to the Sixth Cycle; logically speaking, Empyrean Gods should be able to reach the Ninth Cycle, but he simply didn’t have enough treasures. “Of course I wouldn’t ask you to give them to me for free,” Ning said hurriedly. “During this trip of mine to the outside world, I acquired some Immortal-ranked magic treasures. I wanted to trade them to you for Immortal pills, senior apprentice-brother!” “Trade for Immortal pills?” Silvermoon nodded lightly. Immortal pills referred to Immortal-ranked spiritpills, Pure Yang spirit-pills, and Great Firmament spirit-pills. “That’s acceptable.” Only now did Silvermoon agree. “Bring out your Immortal-ranked magic treasures. I definitely won’t make you suffer a loss, and I won’t profit from this trade with you.” Ning smiled, then waved his hand. Whoosh. Instantly, one Immortal-ranked magic treasure after another appeared, hovering in the air. These were the spoils he had gained from killing the monster kings and the evil Patriarch on the last journey. In fact, he even took out the low-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword the Grand Xia Emperor had given him. “Let me take a look.” Silvermoon quickly spread out his divine power to bind each of the magic treasures. There was no way to use divine power to actually control magic treasures, but upon overcoming the Celestial Tribulation and becoming an Empyrean God, things would change. Empyrean Gods were unfathomable in their power, and their divine power could be applied to all sorts of magic treasures. The Empyrean Gods and True Gods who were birthed from the primordial chaos were born with the ability to easily use magic treasures. Only the weaker Fiendgods, such as those that were born at the Xiantian level, were only able to use Bloodforged weapons. “Mm.” Silvermoon looked through the weapons, then said, “Three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, nineteen high-grade, twenty one middle-grade, and sixteen low-grade.” 2357 Silvermoon kept his calculations simple and by grade. For example, he counted the six scimitars which the Flamewing King had used as six separate items! That was why the number was so high. “Junior apprentice-brother…the difference is pretty huge.” Silvermoon looked at Ning, then said helplessly, “The amount of Immortal pills you can trade for with such a small amount of Immortal-ranked magic treasures…there’s no way you can train to the Third Cycle.” Ning immediately asked, “How far off am I?” “Even if I’m generous to the point of suffering a loss…I could at most give you sixty of my top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills! But to train to the Third Cycle, if you completely rely on such pills, you would need at least a hundred of them,” Silvermoon said helplessly. Ning felt resigned as well. He had kept behind a single low-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword for Little Qing, and had kept the Immortal-ranked magic item he had acquired in the underwater estate for Uncle White! He needed to use both the Thousandbull Sword and the Heavenraker swords. He had taken out every other magic treasure he had left. In fact, aside from the Heavenraker swords, he no longer even had three spare Immortal-ranked flying swords for his [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique! “How about this?” Silvermoon waved his hand, and a piece of parchment appeared. “Write on top of this paper that today, you are borrowing a total of forty top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills from me. You have to repay me a hundred such pills within ten thousand years. If you are unable to do so within ten thousand years, then you’ll have to pay me back with the most valuable treasure you carry!” Silvermoon waved his fan as he beamed merrily towards Ning. Ning felt resigned. He had heard from others long ago as to what sort of a person this Silvermoon was; the reason why all of the disciples of Mount Innerheart secretly referred to him as ‘that demon Silvermoon’ was because he, an exalted Empyrean God, would seek opportunities to squeeze and extort even the ordinary disciples. “Fine.” Ning lowered his head. “Hurry up and write,” Silvermoon chortled merrily. “Junior apprentice-brother, the sword you used to display your swordplay last time was pretty good; it nearly has the power of a Pure Yang treasure. That sword alone is worth nearly a hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills. I’m sure that within ten thousand years, you’ll have acquired even better treasures.” Ning immediately began to furiously scribbling on the parchment. Between fellow disciples, a written acknowledgment of debt was enough; everyone would give each other face. “Here you go!” Silvermoon waved his hand and a white jade bottle flew towards Ning. “These are topgrade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills that were forged in Doushuai Palace. They contain extremely pure elemental essence and are very well suited for training in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” 2 Ning had been instantly impoverished…and now owed a hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills to Silvermoon. Still…Ning accepted this. He wasn’t strong enough to leave his master’s tutelage yet; any powerful Celestial Immortal was capable of annihilating him. “The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” Ning sat on the netherwater jade bed within the Still Room. Hefting the jade bottle, he poured out a spiritpill. The spirit-pill was a white-jade color, and it emanated a faint aroma of mouth-watering fragrance. If an ordinary Zifu Disciple or Wanxiang Adept were to eat this top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pill, they probably wouldn’t even be able to refine it; their Zifus would explode! After all, the purity of the elemental ki within these pills was comparable to that used by Celestial Immortal. These sorts of pills were usually given to reincarnated Immortals, so as to allow them to reach an extremely high level of power in a short period of time. Alternately, Celestial Immortals who had fought for a long period of time, or who had used up a great deal of energy in binding a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, would use them to instantly replenish their elemental ki. Whoosh whoosh whoosh… One pill after another came pouring out, each comparable to a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure in value. Ning swallowed them all in one gulp. He then immediately began to activate the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] technique. The purpose of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was to train his body to the point of making it as indestructible as a magic treasure! This required an enormous amount of energy…and top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills were purposefully designed for replenishing energy. As for ordinary liquefied elemental essence? Absorbing them took too much time; there was no way one could use them to activate the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Rumble… Ning’s entire body immediately began to transform. His bones, his marrow, his sinews, his flesh, his skin, his hair…every part of his body was now changing. If previously Ning’s flesh and bones could be described as tofu, then after using up the very first spirit-pill, they had reached the consistency of stone. But of course, in reality, Ning’s divine body had already been extremely powerful. From this, one could imagine how huge the improvement brought by the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was! “The First Cycle is complete!” Ning could sense how powerful his divine body had become. A single top-grade Immortal-ranked spiritpill had allowed him to complete the First Cycle and allowed his body to become incomparably mighty. Clang! Ning formed his finger into a sword and slashed at his other arm. Sword-light flashed past, but the only thing it left behind was a white smudge. “My body is already comparable to a Heaven-ranked magic artifact. I can just stand there without doing anything and Loose Immortals will be unable to damage me at all. And this is just the First Cycle!” “This [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] is far more powerful than whatever divine ability Adept Ninedeaths used back during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Her body was like a magic treasure, but by comparison…her technique could not compare to the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” Ning didn’t spend too much time thinking about it; after all, only a Primal-level Fiendgod could even begin to train in the basics of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Adept Ninedeaths had only been a Wanxiang Adept; there was no way she could’ve trained in the [EightNine Arcane Art], even if someone had given it to her. “The second pill.” Showing no hesitating at all, Ning began to digest additional pills. The incomparably pure elemental ki of the top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills flowed through Ning’s entire body, being drawn into every part of it. Ning’s body was like a sponge, ravenously drawing in the power of these pills…and then his body began to repeatedly transform, like a sword being reforged time and time again. “The eleventh pill.” As Ning was digesting and refining the eleventh pill, the Second Cycle of the [EightNine Arcane Art] was mastered. …… One spirit-pill after another was rapidly consumed. Ning’s body was continuously rising in power as well, increasing in both endurance and resilience. Clang, clang clang! As Ning continued to train, rumbling and clanking sounds could be heard coming from within his body as his muscles and flesh clashed against each other. It sounded like two mighty mountains were colliding, and as Ning’s heart beat, it sounded like a sea was trembling. Ning knew that this was a form of tempering! Magic treasures would be tempered through magic fire and other sources of power, while the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] tempered the body. Every single organ, including even the skins and the hair, would be tempered nonstop by this technique. By now…a single strand of Ning’s hair was so tough that even if a Loose Immortal were to wildly hack at it with full power, he wouldn’t be able to damage it in the slightest. Rumble… 2360 Another booming sound could be heard from Ning’s body. His muscles rumbled, his bones rumbled, his organs rumbled…the rumbling almost seemed to form into a wondrous sort of music. Ning’s skin was beginning to shine with a dark light. He seemed to have transformed into a terrifyingly powerful magic-treasure. Only when the dark light faded away did he seem like an ordinary person once more. His skin was very soft and white, seemingly quite tender; one could not tell just by looking at him as to how powerful he had become. “Hahaha…I’ve finally completed the Third Cycle.” Ning was overjoyed. Waving his hand, he immediately produced the Thousandbull Sword. “Time to test my power.” WHOOSH! The Thousandbull Sword transformed into a black dragon of sword-light, carrying unearthly power with it as it chopped down against Ning’s left arm…but it didn’t even leave a white smudge behind. “[Starseizing Hand].” Ning used his full power, launching an even more powerful blow! BANG!!!! A thunderous banging sound could be heard within the Still Room…but Ning’s left arm still didn’t have even the slightest hint of a mark at all on it. “I’ve mastered the Third Cycle. My body is comparable to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure now. When striking myself with full force, I can’t even leave behind a tiny white mark. I imagine that even Celestial Immortals would only be able to stare at me, stupefied, without knowing what to do. This truly is the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level. Primaltwin, Heavenraker Sword Formation – Attack!” Ning was utterly delighted. In front of him suddenly appeared the black-robed Ning, who immediately controlled the power of the Heavenraker swords, transforming them into nine streaks of sword-light and sending them howling forth as they stabbed towards Ning’s bared upper chest!. This is a reference to a story in Journey to the West, where a monster was transformed into the appearance of Buddha in order to trick travelers going on a pilgrimage to visit the real Buddha. He would eventually eat them.. Doushuai Palace, in Chinese legends, is the place where Laozi, the founder of philosophical Daoism, resides. In Journey to the West, this is also the place where Laozi concocts pills for heaven, and the place where Sun Wukong stole and ate countless pills of Immortality when he was drunk. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mountains Rumble… Ji Ning’s bare chest was stabbed into repeatedly by the top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, but they were still unable to leave behind any mark at all. Although he was knocked backwards with each collision, he was still able to walk back to his original spot. “Heavenraker – Blackwater Line!” The black-robed Ning exploded with maximum power, unleashing the most devastatingly powerful stance of the [Heavenraker]. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! One sword-tear after another slashed through the air in wavy lines so thick that they each seemed to be like a river. The illusory rivers flooded into one location like all the rivers flowing into the sea as they merged into a single torrential black flow! This torrential black flow represented all nine Heavenraker swords as they stabbed simultaneously towards Ning’s chest. BANG! This time, Ning’s true body wasn’t able to stay standing; he was knocked flying away as he slammed into the wall behind him with a banging sound. However, Ning used his palms to push off from the wall, stabilizing himself and landing on the ground. Ning lowered his head. He still couldn’t see any hint of damage at all on his chest or his skin. “What a divine ability. What a divine ability!” Ning felt utterly overjoyed. The whole point of leaving the Grand Xia for thirty years was to learn some formidable abilities before returning. And now…he had! The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] truly was the number one divine ability of the Three Realms for those below the True God level. The most powerful leaders of the Three Realms had joined forces in an attempt to develop a divine ability that would result in a body as mighty as that of Pangu’s. Although they hadn’t been able to develop the Twelfth Cycle…the first Nine Cycles were already incredible. Ning was extremely weak right now, after all; he was still far from becoming an Empyrean God. As for becoming a True God? That was an even greater distance away. Even if this divine ability truly did have a tenth, eleventh, or twelfth cycle, there was no way he would be able to train in it for the foreseeable future. “I’ve gained expertise in this divine ability. I can now go to the Riverfang Mountains again!” Ning immediately rose to his feet, the furs once more reappearing around him. …… As Ning walked out of the Immortal estate, he collected it with a wave of his hand. “Master, where are you going?” Bluecliff Xiaoyu was just about to enter the Immortal estate. “I’m going down into the world. I should be back in a few days.” Ning instructed, “If your Aunt Qing or Grandpa White ask, that’s what you should tell them.” “Alright.” Xiaoyu nodded obediently. Ning left by himself. As he walked past the Divinities Palace… “Junior apprentice-brother, junior apprentice-brother.” Silvermoon beamed merrily as he walked over, fanning himself with his fan. “Judging from your high spirits, you must’ve just finished the Third Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], right?” “Precisely so.” Ning nodded. There were two tough parts to training the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; the first was the initial mastery of the concept of the ‘seventy-two transformations’, which was a bit difficult, and the second was acquiring enough treasures to temper one’s body! Ning had gained a basic level of expertise already; naturally, he had been able to train to the Third Cycle at one go after acquiring enough top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills. “How many pills did you use up?” Silvermoon asked with curiosity. “Ninety-nine,” Ning said with a laugh. “Wow, it was just barely enough.” Silvermoon nodded. “Work hard, junior apprentice-brother, and earn back enough treasures to pay me back.” “Definitely.” Ning nodded. “I have business to attend to; I’m leaving now.” “Go, go.” Silvermoon beamed as he watched Ning leave. After Ning left, Silvermoon shook his head, utterly tickled with himself. “I, Silvermoon, am quite the clever fellow. I gave this junior apprentice-brother of mine a hundred Immortal pills, and in ten thousand short lazy years, he’ll have to pay them back to me! I won’t end up losing a single pill, and I’ll have acquired dozens of Immortal-ranked magic treasures as well, as well as have him owe me a favor.” 2363 Actually, these treasures really meant very little to an exalted Empyrean God like him. However, Silvermoon loved to feel like he had made a clever bargain. The Crescent world. The Star continent. Deep within the Riverfang Mountains. Within the lightning zone, there were two figures that were seated on the ground. One of them was the Goldfur Bearking, while the other was a youth dressed in loose Daoist robes and whose eyes were like the stars. “Elder brother,” the Goldfur Bearking said hurriedly, “The lightning here is too hard to overcome. Even a Celestial Immortal like you has tried eight times without success. Just now, the two of us joined forces but we were still stopped at the 540 meter mark by the lightning bolts, giving us no chance to advance at all. This is our utmost limit. As I see it…we should invite another Celestial Immortal to come.” “You fool!” The robed youth frowned as he glanced sideways at the Goldfur Bearking. “How can we let word of such a treasure trove spread to others?” “But…all we can do is sit here and stare. Elder brother, you know as well as I do that the black-robed youth has already passed through the lightning zone into the gorge. The more we delay, the greater the chances that he might acquire the treasures,” the Goldfur Bearking said. Ning had previously chatted with the black-robed youth, then gritted his teeth and departed. After Ning’s departure, the Goldfur Bearking had mustered all of his power to finally break through the first forbidden zone, but upon encountering the lightning zone…although he was skilled at defense, he was unable to advance a single meter further after reaching the 360 meter mark. The black-robed youth had mocked him as well, and the Goldfur Bearking, worried that the youth might end up taking the treasures, had hurried out of the Riverfang Mountains and invited a good friend of his, Patriarch Limitless. The two had immediately sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. Upon acquiring the treasures, they would split them evenly! Patriarch Limitless was a Celestial Immortal and thus a bit stronger, but the Goldfur Bearking was the one who had acquired the information regarding the treasure trove. Thus, they would split things evenly. “There are already quite a few who know about this treasure trove. If word spreads further…the treasure probably won’t end up in our hands at all.” Patriarch Limitless shook his head. “You big dumb bear. Don’t worry too much. When that black-robed youth said that there is a third forbidden zone here, he should’ve been telling the truth. If there wasn’t, he would’ve left with the treasures long ago. Since he hasn’t…that means that the third zone is very hard to overcome. If that’s the case, then even if we do invite another Celestial Immortal, our chances of success will still remain low…but word will have spread to even more people. It’s better for us to take things slowly.” “Fine.” The Goldfur Bearking nodded. “Let us both meditate on how to use a more appropriate formation for overcoming the lightning zone,” Patriarch Limitless said. “Alright.” The Goldfur Bearking nodded again. Just two hours after they had begun meditating, a series of rumbling sounds could be heard coming from the invisible pressure region behind them. “An expert has arrived!” Patriarch Limitless frowned as he heard the rumbles. “The rate of advancement is very fast. Can it be that news has leaked to someone else?” “It shouldn’t have. You and I have already warned the other two surviving monster kings of us Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows about telling others and even forced them to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens.” The Goldfur Beraking frowned. “As for that Immortal Darknorth, he gave up more than a year ago without coming back.. Can it be…can it be the imperial Qi clan? But they are so puny…” Right as they were chatting… Boom! A figure charged forward and landed on the ground. It was a fur-clad youth who was wielding an Immortal sword with an incomparably enormous aura of power. “Immortal Darknorth?” The Goldfur Bearking was amazed. “Young fellow,” Patriarch Limitless said with a frown, “Who is your master?” He had heard from the Goldfur Bearking about Ning; naturally, he had immediately guessed that for this ‘Darknorth’ to be so powerful at the early Void level meant that he most likely had an incredible master behind him. Perhaps this person also came from Mount Innerheart, like he himself did! However…given how many disciples Mount Innerheart had, how could he, an exalted Celestial Immortal, possibly give up this sort of treasure trove to another fellow disciple? “Goldfur Bearking, this is your helper?” Ning’s gaze flickered towards Patriarch Limitless. This man was an azure-robed youth with an extraordinary aura. “He is my elder brother, someone far more powerful than me: Celestial Immortal Limitless,” the Goldfur Bearking said smugly. “A Celestial Immortal?” Ning was startled. Patriarch Limitless repeated, “Young fellow, I asked you a question. Who is your master?” Ning chuckled but didn’t respond. He just walked straight into the lightning zone. Patriarch Limitless couldn’t help but frown. Still, given how calm Ning was, he felt all the more certain that Ning’s background must be incredible, and so he just said coldly, “Young fellow, this is the lightning 2365 zone. You need to make it past 540 meters of the zone before you succeeded. Given your power…you are far from being able to do it.” Ning continued to make his way into the lightning zone. Boom! Boom! Boom! Instantly, one bolt of lightning after another began to hammer down. Ning remained quite calm, not resisting at all as he allowed the lightning bolts to slam onto his body. “Even a Fiendgod Body Refiner will only be able to use his body to forcibly withstand the lightning in the lightning zone for the first thirty meters.” Patriarch Limitless shook his head. Ning continued to walk forward. Thirty meters. Sixty meters. Ninety meters… The lightning grew increasingly savage, but Ning continued to stroll forward, one step at a time, allowing the lightning to hit him at will. “But, but but…” Patriarch Limitless and the Goldfur Bearking were both stupefied. meters. 240 meters. 270 meters… Ning continued to walk forward in a relaxed manner. The bolts of lightning were now as thick as water barrels, and they came crashing down with utter savagery…but Ning seemed to be simply walking through a mild rainstorm. He felt quite relaxed and content; the clashes against his skin felt like an incomparably comfortable massage. meters. 390 meters. 420 meters… Ning continued to simply walk forward. The black-robed youth had appeared once more at the entrance to the gorge. Even he stared in amazement at this sight. “It’s only been a year since I saw this fur-clad youth…how did he suddenly become so powerful?” 480 meters. 510 meters… “These fur robes of mine were formed from top-grade Heaven-ranked Daoist robes. They are extremely tough, resilient, and good at deflecting attacks; they are comparable to low-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords in endurance.” Flying swords were too thin and sharp, and thus broke apart more easily! In terms of ability to withstand attacks, top-grade Heaven-ranked Daoist robes were indeed comparable to lowgrade Immortal-ranked flying swords. Bathed by countless bolts of lightning, Ning stepped past the 540 meter threshold…and the lightning instantly vanished. …… Patriarch Limitless and the Goldfur Bearking, on the other side of the lightning zone, were both completely dazed. “He used his body to endure it all? But, but…at the 540 meter mark, the power of the lightning was comparable to full-force combination attacks from the two of us. That’s most likely equal to a high-class Celestial Immortal.” The Goldfur Bearking was truly amazed. “He’s at the early Void stage, but he didn’t even use a magic treasure…he just used his body to endure it all?! This body is too…” “His body must be comparable to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure.” Patriarch Limitless’ face suddenly changed. He was a disciple of Mount Innerheart, after all; he suddenly thought of a famous divine ability, reputed to be the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True God level – the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. “To have a body of such toughness at this level of power…the only possibility is the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! But only personal disciples of the Old Patriarch can learn the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], or those the Old Patriarch provides special dispensation to. Can it be that he is a disciple of the Old Patriarch?” Patriarch Limitless instantly began to panic as he thought of this possibility. He hurriedly sent a mental message to Ning, “Dare I ask, Immortal Darknorth…do you know Empyrean God Silvermoon?” Empyrean God Silvermoon was the controller of the Divinities Palace; every single disciple of Mount Innerheart knew him. “You know senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon?” Ning turned his head to glance at him. “This junior, Limitless, pays his respects to you, uncle-master!” Patriarch Limitless hurriedly sent a respectful mental message to him. He didn’t suspect Ning of faking it at all, because no one from the outside world could even enter the Crescent world! In addition…there was no faking the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Ning was startled. Still, it made sense; most of those in the Crescent world who overcame the Celestial Tribulation and became Celestial Immortals had been recruited into Mount Innerheart. “Oh. If we have the chance, let’s chat more back at Mount Innerheart.” Ning turned once more to the gorge, then walked towards it. The black-robed youth at the entrance to the gorge frowned, then turned and walked into the gorge himself. Soon, Ning entered the fog-shrouded gorge…and he could sense that the terrifying ripples coming from within the gorge were gaining in power. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. There were some grass and flowers within the gorge, but after Ji Ning stepped into it, he felt his heart shudder for some reason. “Die!” An ancient, primordial howl of rage smashed against Ning’s soul. A series of ripples of boundless, terrifying killing intent surged towards Ning. Ning hurriedly visualized the image of Maiden Nuwa, and instantly the divine image of Nuwa appeared within his soul, stabilizing it considerably. After having spent so many years at Mount Innerheart, Ning had learned that the [Nuwa Painting] was a visualization technique passed down by Nuwa’s lineage that possessed boundless lifeforce. Even if the soul was to be badly wounded, through visualizing the [Nuwa Painting] one could quickly recover. This was one of the most awe-inspiringly famous visualization techniques that existed in Pangu’s World. On the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace, there was a copy of the [Nuwa Painting] visualization technique, and it was described as one of the most supreme of nurturing and defensive techniques for the soul. “This place is…?” Ning quickly came to his senses, and he stared at the scene before him in the gorge. Because of the mist wreathing this place, Ning was only able to see to a distance of one or two kilometers. From far away, he could see a human-shaped creature that was lying on the ground unmoving. Ning could only make out the rough contors of two legs and an abdomen…but the legs alone were like massive blocks of stone that were over three hundred meters long. “Given how strong the aura of death is here, it should be dead. It seems as though it was many hundreds of meters tall…given its size, it must have been a Fiendgod,” Ning secretly predicted. This treasure trove region was extremely mysterious; there was no way to investigate it through divine sense, and so Ning had to make guesses for everything. “Die…” “Die…” Boundless amounts of killing intent surged forth in waves from that enormous Fiendgod corpse, smashing against Ning’s soul. The closer Ning moved towards the corpse, the more powerful the killing intent became, forcing Ning to constantly visualize the image of Maiden Nuwa to resist it. “For the remnant killing intent left behind in a corpse to be capable of forcing me to use the image of Maiden Nuwa to resist it…if he was still alive, he probably would be able to kill me with ease.” Ning’s soul had been split in two long ago; if one counted the soul within the Primaltwin, he actually had three souls! One soul was within his Primaltwin. One soul was within his true body’s Primal Turtle-Snake, which had advanced to the Goldlotus. Another soul had been completely fused with his true body’s very flesh and bones. Every hint of blood and flesh contained a hint of his soul. It was at this level that Fiendgod Body Refiners were capable of creating an entire body from just a bit of flesh and blood. Anyone who trained as both a Ki Refiner and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner would have to split his soul at the Primal level. One part of the soul would fuse into the body, while the other would enter the Primal Turtle-Snake. Ning’s Ki Refiner soul was finding it rather difficult to deal with the waves of killing intent, but his Fiendgod Body didn’t fear it at all, because his soul in his Fiendgod body was connected to every bit of his flesh and blood, making it incredibly stable. Now that Ning had also trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], even if the killing intent was hundreds of times more powerful, it wouldn’t be able to do anything to this Fiendgod body of his. …… Ning moved forward one step at a time, purposefully taking a circular path around the enormous Fiendgod corpse as he slowly advanced. Finally…Ning was able to see it clearly. The Fiendgod corpse had ashen gray skin that was stone-like in texture. The corpse had an ordinary, plain face. Its body was covered in wounds, and the black armor it wore had been torn apart in many places. By its side were two fiery arrows, as well as a mighty black greatbow with a shattered bowstring. “I didn’t expect that you would be able to come to this place. For a weak little early Void-stage fellow to possess such ability…admirable, admirable.” The shrill voice rang out once more. Ning turned to look towards the source of the sound. From afar, at the corner to the entrance of the gorge, he saw the black-robed youth in a seated position. “Do you know Empyrean God Silvermoon?” Ning suddenly asked. This black-robed youth was most likely a Celestial Immortal, given that he was able to make it here. Most likely, quite a few of the Celestial Immortals of the Crescent world were disciples of Mount Innerheart. If they were fellow disciples, things would probably proceed more smoothly.” 2370 “Empyrean God Silvermoon? Heh heh, an Empyrean God? Not bad. But I’ve never heard of him.” The black-robed youth sat there, staring at Ning. “Kid…it seems your background is significant, given that you know an Empyrean God. However…here in this treasure region, it doesn’t matter who you know. If you want to acquire the treasures…it’ll all be up to your own abilities.” Ning quietly came to the conclusion that this black-robed youth was most likely not a member of Mount Innerheart. When Ning had traversed the lightning zone, even the outside Patriarch Limitless had been able to guess that Ning was a member of Mount Innerheart…and yet, this black-robed youth didn’t seem to react to that at all. “There are still quite a few Celestial Immortals in the Crescent world who have not become disciples of Mount Innerheart…and some don’t even know of it,” Ning mused to himself. “Kid, you’ve already passed through two of the forbidden zones. This is the last one, but let me warn you…the treasures on that Fiendgod’s corpse aren’t so easily acquired.” The black-robed youth sat there lazily, seemingly waiting to mock Ning when he ‘inevitably failed’. Ning looked back at the black-robed youth. “I’ve come to take the treasure, but you aren’t going to stop me?” “How would I do that? Even the lightning zone wasn’t able to damage you at all, you freak. Even if I attacked you, I’d be wasting my energy. If I had trap-type treasures, I might try and trap or bind you…but unfortunately, I don’t.” The black-robed youth spoke in a resigned manner. Ning knew what the weakness of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was. Training to the Third Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] resulted in an extraordinarily powerful body, but if he encountered restrictive items like magic ropes or monster-sealing pagodas, he might be wrapped up or drawn into the magic treasures. Still…Ning was no fool. He would use his sword to block; to actually trap and bind him would be an extremely difficult matter. And even if he was trapped…he wouldn’t die from that, in and of itself. “Then I’m going to go take the treasure.” As Ning spoke, he moved closer towards the Fiendgod body. When Ning reached a distance of roughly three hundred meters from the body, suddenly… The black greatbow next to the Fiendgod suddenly lit up. The bowstring of the black greatbow was shattered, but an utterly enormous flood of natural energy was gathering around the black greatblow. It actually created a second bowstring that was completely composed of natural energy, as well as a fiery arrow that was similarly composed of natural energy. Swish! No one was controlling the black greatbow, but it shot the arrow straight out towards Ning. The arrow shot through the air, moving lightning-fast and almost instantly appearing in front of Ning. “Block!” Ning waved his arm, allowing the arrow to strike directly on his upper arm. BOOM. The powerful collisive force sent Ning flying back hundreds of meters, smashing against the distant canyon walls. The canyon walls cracked apart with a rumbling sound as many rocks came crashing down…but with a backflip, Ning emerged from a large crater that had been created in the wall. “What a treasure.” Ning wasn’t worried; to the contrary, he was delighted. “You freak, you could even take that?” The distant black-robed youth was amazed. Ning was incomparably excited. He stared at the black greatbow, surrounded by the natural energy of Heaven and Earth. “For it to be able to gather such natural energy without any elemental ki guiding it…clearly, the spirit of the treasure of this black greatbow has activated it. For it to have such power without even a person controlling it…this is inconceivable.” Long ago, Xue Hongyi had been able to forcibly subdue the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp. At the Wanxiang level, Ning had been able to use the [Starseizing Hand] to forcibly hold the Thousandbull Sword. And now, Ning’s power was unfathomably greater than it had been before…but he had just been sent flying back by the natural energy gathered by an ownerless treasure! “The Thousandbull Sword is top-grade amongst top-grade Immortal-ranked artifacts, close to Pure Yang treasures in power. Then this greatbow…it has to at least be a Pure Yang treasure, and if it is, it has to be either a high-grade or even a top-grade Pure Yang treasure. Or it might even be a Protocosmic spirittreasure!” Ning instantly came to this conclusion. The magic treasure, without anyone controlling it, already had the offensive power of a Celestial Immortal! “It makes sense. This Fiendgod must have died countless years ago, but his remnant killing intent is still so terrifyingly strong. Given how powerful he was, how could his bow be poor?” Ning frowned. “However…the bowstring to this black greatbow is broken, and tears have appeared on his armor. I wonder what sort of a battle he must have encountered for even magic treasures on this level to have been damaged. Even the Fiendgod himself perished…and strangest of all, the Fiendgod’s body remained, even after he himself died!” It must be understood that a Fiendgod’s soul was completely intertwined with his blood and flesh. If so much as a single drop of flesh or blood remained, he could be reborn! Unless… A supremely mighty power had been able to annihilate every single scrap of the soul that was within the Fiendgod’s flesh and blood! Without any soul left in the body at all, the flesh would be useless. “How massive a battle was this?” Ning thought back to the great tribulation that had resulted in the destruction of Pangu’s World. That had definitely been an incomparably terrifying battle, one which even Patriarch Subhuti had been afraid to participate in. Daoist Threelives had killed multiple Fiendgod Daofathers in it before even he himself had perished. “No matter what…although the black greatbow and the armor are both damaged, given how powerful they are without any owner, they must be incredible treasures.” Ning waved his hand, causing the Thousandbull Sword to appear. Ning then quickly advanced, once more pressing closer. Swish! Swish! Swish! The black greatblow shot out more fiery arrows towards Ning, both the arrows and the bowstring formed from natural energy. Ning, however, used his swordplay to block. His sword-light flowed out like water, deflecting the arrows of natural energy to the side. Ning was using one of the sword-arts from the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace known as [Water Filling the Heavens]; this was his most defensively suited sword-art technique. Swish swish swish… Suddenly, a large number of arrows shot out; in fact, up to ten arrows were shot out simultaneously, causing tens of arrows to instantly fly out within a short period of time. However, despite the arrows coming faster, the power of each arrow had naturally dropped. Ning used either the Thousandbull Sword to block or his body to take the blows head on. “Kid, although your divine body is like a magic treasure, this is just the attacks of a divine bow without a master; it’s not that impressive for you to be able to withstand it. Let me tell you this; once you reach thirty meters of the corpse, you’ll have entered the third forbidden zone. Passing it has nothing to do with the strength of your body, and the fact that it is as unbreakable as a magic treasure won’t help you.” The black-robed youth sat there, watching Ning advance and fight forward. Ning forced his way forward, charging through the hail of arrows. When he reached a distance of thirty meters from the Fiendgod corpse, the natural energy surrounding the black greatbow dissipated, no longer attacking Ning. “Whew.” Ning took a deep breath. At such a close distance to the Fiendgod body, the invisible aura of majesty surrounding it caused even his heart to shudder. “The third forbidden zone?” “No matter what I have to acquire this treasure.” Ning stared at the treasures on the corpse of the Fiendgod…but what drew his attention most was still that black greatbow. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning’s body flickered, then he transformed into his three-headed, six-armed form. He wielded the Thousandbull Sword in his hands, as well as five of the top-grade, Immortal-ranked Skyraker swords. In the face of this third forbidden zone, Ning didn’t dare to relax in the slightest. Only after fully preparing himself did he step forward towards the Fiendgod corpse, moving past the thirty-meter threshold and entering the field of the third forbidden zone. Rumble… “Ning, son, eat some more.” This was an incomparably familiar hall. The lit candles here were as thick as a child’s arm, and the childNing was seated in front of a table. Atop the table there was a flagon of water as well as a plate of meat and pastries. “This…” The child-Ning stared in front of him. In front of him was a woman, her gaze filled with benevolent love as she looked at him. “Why are you looking at me? Hurry up and eat.” Ning turned his head to look backwards. Indeed; behind him was seated a handsome young man, Ji Yichuan. However, he only gave Ning a frowning glance, then barked coldly, “What are you looking at? Focus on your food when you are eating!” “Yes, father.” Tears suddenly streamed out of the child-Ning’s face, but he hurriedly lowered his head, picked up a biscuit, and began to wolf it down. …… Within the mountain gorge. The black-robed youth remained seated in the lotus position at the corner of the gorge. He stared towards Ning, who had made it within thirty meters of the Fiendgod corpse, then shook his head. “The third forbidden zone isn’t so easy to overcome. It tests the weakest, softest parts of your soul. It doesn’t matter how powerful your body is, how mighty your divine power is, or how formidable your sword-arts are; all of those are useless.” …… The days child-Ning spent with his parents were very happy. One day passed after another, and the childNing learned both agility techniques and sword techniques. One night. The child-Ning arrived outside his parent’s room. There was a female servant yawning sleepily outside. Upon seeing the child-Ning arrive, she couldn’t help but feel surprised. However, she didn’t stop him as he moved to knock on the door. Creaaaak. The door opened. It was the fur-clad Ji Yichuan who had opened the door. Upon seeing his son, he frowned and said coldly, “It’s late. Why have you come here instead of sleeping?” Ning’s mother, Yuchi Snow, left her bed and walked over, smiling as she rubbed the child-Ning’s head. “Hurry up and go back to sleep. It’s late.” “Father. Mother.” The child-Ning suddenly said. “Eh?” Yichuan and Snow both looked at their son. “I want to hug you two,” the child-Ning said. Yichuan was puzzled, but Snow just laughed. “Silly boy.” She immediately pulled Ning into her arms. In his mother’s arms, Ning stretched one of his own arms to tightly embrace his mother, then the other towards his father. “Father…” The child-Ning looked at his father. “You are just…” Yichuan gently shook his head, but he still moved closer, allowing Ning to hold him. With one arm, he held his father. With the other, he held his mother. Ning pressed against his parents, smelling their scent. He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. He said very softly, “I really want to continue like this, but…my memories are already beginning to grow blurry.” “Ning? Son?” Snow looked at Ning, and Yichuan look at him as well. Ning raised his head, his tears blurring his vision. He just stood there and stared at his parents. “Awaken.” “Awaken.” “AWAKEN!” Ning’s unwilling, angry roar suddenly filled the entire illusory world, shaking it and instantly shattering it like glass. Everything quickly vanished. One illusory world after another appeared, each one playing on all the deepest desires in a person’s heart. Greed…love…hate…obsessions… “How can this be?” The black-robed youth, still seated in the corner of the gorge, stared at the scene before him in astonishment. Ning had already spent more than an hour within the third forbidden zone after taking his first step…but after that first hour, each subsequent step needed less than the time needed to boil a kettle of tea. One step at a time, he broke through the illusions until finally, all of them vanished. The black-robed youth laughed, then said with a soft sigh, “So he is the one.” And then, he disappeared into thin air. …… Ning arrived at the side of the Fiendgod corpse, having completely awoken. He stared at the enormous figure of the Fiendgod corpse, at the shattered armor it wore and the black greatbow with the snapped bowstring, as well as those two glowing arrows. “Master…thank you.” Ning’s gaze was distant and dreamy. He murmured softly, “Although the time I spent in that illusory world was very short…it was the happiest I’ve ever been since I left Swallow Mountain. That experience made me even happier than acquiring these treasures left behind by this Fiendgod.” Ning knew quite well that this third forbidden zone had been created by Patriarch Subhuti himself. It must be understood that when Pangu’s World was destroyed, it had been Patriarch Subhuti who had personally teleported each remnant onto his Crescent world. Naturally, it had also been Patriarch Subhuti who had set up the forbidden zones. As for which of his disciples would be able to acquire the relics and treasures from the Primordial World, that was up to luck and destiny. “Young fellow.” Suddenly, the figure of the black-robed youth appeared in the air above the black greatbow. He said delightedly, “I bet you didn’t guess this, did you?” “You are…” Ning was startled. “…the spirit of the treasure?!” “Of course! When I told you I was a Celestial Immortal, I was just playing with you. I didn’t expect you to actually pass the third forbidden zone. Based on what Patriarch Subhuti said back in the day, anyone capable of passing the third forbidden zone would have to have an incredibly formidable Dao-heart.” The black-robed youth sighed. “Although you haven’t overcome the Celestial Tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal yet, you aren’t bad at all.” Ning laughed softly. “You…don’t seem that excited.” The black-robed youth sat in the lotus position above the black greatbow. He said in amazement, “I bet you don’t know who I am, right? Let me tell you. I am one of the top ten divine bows of the Primordial World, a high-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure!” “A Protocosmic spirit-treasure? Wonderful.” Ning revealed a smile and said a word of praise. “But…I don’t feel as though you are that excited.” The black-robed youth frowned. “That’s only because just a short while ago, I was given something even more precious.” Ning smiled. “Please introduce yourself to me, as well as this ancient Fiendgod.” The black-robed youth nodded. “In the era of the ancient Primordial World, the major powers once killed an incredibly terrifying creature named ‘Rahu’. 1 They used the various components of Rahu’s corpse, mixed with many other incomparably precious materials, to finally forge a top-grade Pure Yang spirittreasure. That would be me…and the name given to me was the ‘Rahu Bow’. Over the course of countless ages after my creation, my spirit grew increasingly powerful until I finally evolved to become a Protocosmic spirit-treasure. As soon as I made my breakthrough, I became a high-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure.” “Oh.” Ning nodded. “Just ‘oh’?! I’m one of the ten great divine bows of the Primordial Era! Only one bow, the legendary Houyi’s Bow, was ranked as the undisputed number one; the rest of us, such as the Qiankun Bow or the Blacknether Bow are all ranked on par with each other.” The black-robed youth said arrogantly, “In fact, during that great tribulation, all of Master’s Pure Yang treasures were damaged, and even the spirits of those treasures were destroyed. I was the only one left.” Ning chortled. “But your bowstring is broken.” “You can just help me get another bowstring, right?” The black-robed youth shook his head. “You need to understand that for divine bows like myself, the bow shaft is what matters; that’s where the increased power comes from. But of course, the bowstring is also very important. In the future, I’ll help guide you to picking or forging a good bowstring.” “Alright.” Ning asked, “How should I bind you, then?” “Just use your elemental ki. I’ll give you all the help I can,” the black-robed youth said. “I’ve been here for an eternity. I’ve been bored senseless.” “Alright.” Ning immediately began to bind it. Generally speaking, binding Mortal-ranked, Earth-ranked, Heaven-ranked, Immortal-ranked and Pure Yang treasures all had certain requirements in terms of elemental ki. For example, one had to at least be 2377 at the Void level to bind Immortal-ranked magic items, or at the Celestial Immortal level to bind Pure Yang treasures. However, Protocosmic spirit-treasures had the blessings of Heaven and Earth. They were extremely mysterious…and if the spirits of the treasures was willing, they could allow even an ordinary mortal to use them! If they were unwilling…even Celestial Immortals would be unable to bind them. Perhaps Pure Yang True Immortals could forcibly bind them, but if the spirit of the Protocosmic spirit-treasure were to resist, the binding process would be extremely tiresome. It would have to be done at one go; if one were to pause midway through, the efforts would be for naught, and one would have to start from scratch again. Thus, binding a Protocosmic spirit-treasure was very troublesome. Fortunately, the Rahu Bow had a good impression of Ning. By overcoming the third forbidden zone, Ning received his acknowledgment. …… Just a short while later, the binding process was complete. Ning heft the Rahu Bow in his hands. He could sense the limitless power hidden deep within it; this was a sort of sinister might that also carried a sort of power that was akin to the ripples of water. This power was unfathomably deep and infinitely powerful. “In you go.” Ning waved his hand, and the Fiendgod corpse next to him was collected as well. Instantly, all of the ancient restrictive formations that had existed within the Riverfang Mountains were automatically deactivated. Previously, divine sense could not be used to search the region, but now it could. Ning used his divine sense to sweep the region, locating the Goldfur Bearking and Patriarch Limitless outside the gorge. “Time to go back.” Ning flew into the skies, then immediately executed a spatial teleportation. Entering the spatial ripples, Ning disappeared into thin air. …… “Divine sense?” Both the Goldfur Bearking and Patriarch Limitless were stunned. There was no way to use divine sense within this region…but just now, they sensed someone scan them with it. “The restrictions are gone.” “The lightning zone is gone as well.” They quickly discovered that even the terrifying ripples that had emanated from deep within had also disappeared. By the time they charged into the gorge…they saw nothing within it at all. The Riverfang Mountains had become an extremely ordinary mountain range. Although there were some peculiarities to it, it was no longer anything special. “The treasure was taken away by uncle-master Darknorth.” Patriarch Limitless knew what had happened. …… Ning returned to Mount Innerheart. He first rested for a day, then went into the mountain forests of Mount Innerheart. A violet greatbow appeared in his hand; this was a Heaven-ranked treasure. “The test for [Houyi’s Archery] really isn’t easy.” When Ning thought back to the trial mentioned on the abridged version of [Houyi’s Archery], he couldn’t help but feel a headache. It really was too hard. This was the hardest trial of the Three Realms Palace. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Suddenly, a voice rang out. Ning turned his head to look, only to see a hatchet-carrying swarthy-skinned man wearing hempsack clothes, a grass hat, and grass shoes come walking towards him with a smile. “Eldest apprentice-brother,” Ning hurriedly greeted him. Mount Innerheart was vast; he needed some additional space for training in archery, and so he had left the Tristar Crescent Abode and come to the mountain forests outside of it. He hadn’t expected to run into his eldest apprentice-brother. “Why have you come here?” The woodcutter asked him. “I want to train in archery,” Ning replied. “Oh?” The woodcutter glanced at Ning’s greatbow, then asked, “[Houyi’s Archery]?” “Right.” Ning nodded. “But only the trial for [Houyi’s Archery] for now.” “That’s not easy. Train hard.” The woodcutter smiled, nodded, then leisurely sauntered away, hatchet over his shoulders.. This is the name of a Hindu demon that swallows the sun. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood there in an empty field within the mountain forest, holding the bow in front of him as he stared towards the distance. Ten thousand kilometers away, at another part of Mount Innerheart’s forest, there was a black-robed Ning. He waved his hand, and next to him appeared an archery target. “I need to hit the archery target dead center from ten thousand kilometers away.” The black-robed Ning shook his head slightly. This was the trial for [Houyi’s Archery]; without the usage of divine sense and without using elemental ki or divine power to actively control the trajectory of the arrow, using just raw, primal physical force…one had to hit an archery target dead center from ten thousand kilometers away. The center of the target was just one inch in size. One had to hit it ten times in a row! This was an extremely difficult trial. Without the usage of divine sense…even most Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals could just barely see ten thousand kilometers away. As for the heart of the archery target? There was no way to see that clearly at all. In addition, because there was a separation of ten thousand kilometers, there would generally be some mist, trees, and other things impeding one’s vision, causing one to be unable to see clearly. In other words, one of the prerequisites for passing this trial was the possession of a divine ability akin to the [Farseer Eye]. This divine ability, when trained to the peak, could allow one to clearly see past a distance of a million kilometers or even more! Naturally, Ning had never trained in the [Farseer Eye], but he had trained in the even more formidable [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. Ning had learned the first part of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] in the imperial treasury of the Grand Xia, which was suited for Fiendgods up to the Void-level. Over the course of the many years he had spent here at Mount Innerheart, when Ning was relaxing, he would harvest some of the Polaris light from the Nine Heavens and refine it within his eyes, forming it into the ‘innate torch-light’! Although the training process was quite difficult, Ning had still managed to reach the second stage of the innate torch-light. Upon using this divine ability, Ning could use his naked eye to clearly see an ant that was a hundred thousand kilometers away. “I’ll give it a try.” Ning stood there within the mountain forest. He executed the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]; instantly, both of Ning’s eyes began to shine with the light of a torch. If an ordinary Immortal cultivator were to exchange glances with Ning right now, while Ning was intentionally releasing his power…that cultivator would first feel as though his vision had just turned completely white, followed by the entire world turning dark and pitch-black. Temporary blindness…and some weaker individuals would become permanently blind! Whoosh whoosh whoosh….as Ning executed this divine ability, countless rays of light came from far away, gathering within Ning’s eyes. Countless rays of light reflecting off of countless objects were all being gathered. The trees, the creek, the pool, the mountain path…everything was within Ning’s vision now. This included the archery target that was ten thousand kilometers away, as well as the black-robed Primaltwin Ning that stood next to it. “Can’t use divine power or elemental ki to control the arrow.” Ning waved his hand, and a black arrow appeared in front of him. He nocked it onto his bow, the pulled the bowstring. Swish! Ning’s raw physical power was utterly astonishing; he was fully capable of tossing around an entire massive mountain as a toy by now. He instantly pulled this violet Heaven-ranked greatbow to a perfect full draw. Ning sensed the wind… The wind was blowing… For archery, being able to sense the wind was very important. The wind would have a tremendous impact on the arrow. When Ning was a child, he had spent a tremendous amount of effort training in archery. However, after embarking on his Immortal path, he had stopped training in it; after all, his current level of archery was already sufficient, and when truly necessary he could use his elemental ki to control his arrows, causing it to curve and arc in small degrees. That way, even if he missed his shot due to the distance simply being too great, he could adjust the arrow mid-flight! But now Ning was forbidden from using elemental ki to control the arrow. He couldn’t even use divine power! “The speed of the wind…its changes…” “Right about…now…” 2381 “Go.” Ning’s eyes blazed with innate torch-light as he stared fixedly towards the distance. The fingers of his right hand suddenly relaxed. Twang! The arrow instantly transformed into a streak of light, piercing through the heavens. The trees in its path were pierced through, and the stones in its path were shattered. However, due to these impediments as well as the changes of the wind…these seemingly minor factors caused an astonishing amount of impact over the course of ten thousand kilometers. Swish! The arrow missed the target by nearly three kilometers. “Uh…” Ning’s eyes were blazing with innate torch-light; he could clearly see what had just happened. He couldn’t help but feel flabbergasted. “I was off by that much?” Three full kilometers? This was ridiculous! “I’ll give it another try.” Ning once more nocked his violet greatbow, then sent out yet another arrow. Twang! The sound of the bowshot rang out once more, and the arrow itself transformed into a streak of light that flew into the distance. This time, the arrow missed the target by more than five kilometers. “Mm.” Ning frowned. “Let’s do that again.” One arrow after another flew out. Some were off by three, four, five kilometers. Sometimes, when Ning was lucky, the arrow would make it to one kilometer. One time, when Ning was extremely lucky, the arrow passed the target by a few dozen meters. Ning shot off more than ten thousand arrows at one go before coming to a halt. For an early Void-level Fiendgod like Ning, whose body was comparable to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, shooting arrows was a very simple matter on a physical level. His mental energy, however, had been used up! “I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t expect there would be so many problems.” Ning had tried more than ten thousand times, and in doing so discovered many of the problems. To simply rely on raw physical force in shooting an arrow ten thousand kilometers and hitting the center of a target… 2382 The first problem was that the trees and stones between him and the target served as forms of obstruction. When the arrow passed through them, it would be impacted, albeit by a tiny, minute amount. Although Ning’s raw power was so great that his arrows would only be impacted slightly…all of the accumulated obstructions over ten thousand kilometers would still cause tiny deviation in the flight path. A tiny deviation magnified over ten thousand kilometers would result in a huge deviation. The second problem was the wind! Ning had mastered the Dao of the Gale during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, and his heart had long ago become one with the wind. His wind-sense was extremely accurate by now. However…the wind that Ning could sense was only the wind during the instant the arrow was released! In addition, it was only the wind around Ning himself! As the arrow flew forward, the wind would change! In addition, the wind around Ning might be very weak, but five thousand kilometers away there might be a storm. Even though he could still get a vague sense for how the wind was off in the distance, and even though Ning’s arrow was very fast…it would still be affected by it. …… These were the two major problems that made it so that hitting the target dead center from ten thousand kilometers away was very difficult. “What should I do? Right…I have the spirit of a Protocosmic spirit-bow. He must have seen divine archers of the Primordial Era train before.” Ning instantly willed the spirit of the Rahu Bow to be summoned forth. Whoosh. The black-robed youth appeared next to Ning. “What do you need from me?” The black-robed youth looked at the bow in Ning’s hands. “Oh, training archery?” “Rahu Bow, I wish to train in [Houyi’s Archery],” Ning said directly. “However, I have to pass a trial before I can do so. This trial forbids the usage of divine sense, and it also forbids me from using divine power or elemental ki to control my arrows. Just by using raw physical strength, I need to hit the center of a target from ten thousand kilometers away. The center is only one inch in size. I have to hit it ten times in a row to succeed.” “[Houyi’s Archery]?” The black-robed youth called out in amazement, “Master, you have a chance to learn [Houyi’s Archery]?” Ning nodded. “But, I have to pass this trial first.” 2383 “This trial is pretty hard. Shoot a hundred arrows and let me take a look first,” the black-robed youth said. “Alright.” Ning immediately shot out another hundred arrows. Although he knew where the problems lay…there was nothing he could do about it. He failed every time by an enormous margin. The black-robed youth watched from afar. Through using his invisible senses, he could naturally see the target that was more than ten thousand kilometers away. “How was it?” Ning looked towards the black-robed youth. “It seems you have a bit of a foundation. I thought you’d be off by at least a hundred kilometers.” The black-robed youth nodded. “The art of archery…the most important part of it lies in ‘accuracy’. The more formidable an archery technique, the more powerful the arrows it unleashes, but as for accuracy? For powerful archery arts, it is very difficult to use divine power to improve the accuracy of a shot, and so accuracy is extremely important.” Ning nodded. “Start from the basics. First shoot from a hundred kilometers,” the black-robed youth said. …… Under the guidance of the Rahu Bow, Ning once more began to train in archery. Although the Rahu Bow had never trained personally, he had seen many of his successive masters train in archery. Those were the divine archers of the Primordial Era! First, a hundred kilometers. Then two hundred. Then three… Ning spent nearly three years training in accordance with the guidance from the Rahu Bow, but was still only able to hit the center of targets from 1200 kilometers away when using just raw force. 1200 was a limit for him; no matter how hard Ning tried, he was still unable to improve at all. “What’s going on? Generally speaking, this is how one trains in archery; one needs to master one’s windsense and one’s sense of Qiankun. You’ve accomplished both, and the speed of your arrow isn’t bad. But why is it that I keep on feeling as though you are missing something?” The black-robed youth was extremely puzzled. He had only watched others shoot arrows, after all; he himself wasn’t a divine archer. Over the past three years, Ning had even gone to the Divinities Palace to pick out some archery techniques from the eighth floor. He had ruminated over them alongside the Rahu Bow, which was why he had improved this much over the past three years. “What’s going on?” Ning sat down on the ground, feeling perplexed. “Junior apprentice-brother, still training archery?” A laugh rang out as the woodcutter came walking over, hatchet over one shoulder and firewood over the other. “Eldest apprentice-brother.” Ning hurriedly rose to his feet, then said with embarrassment, “I’ve trained bitterly for three years, but I’m still unable to pass the trial for [Houyi’s Archery].” “[Houyi’s Archery] is indeed extremely difficult, and the trial is quite difficult as well. Shoot a few arrows for me to see,” the woodcutter said with a smile. “Alright.” Ning was instantly overjoyed. The eldest apprentice-brother was the absolute number one expert amongst the Old Patriarch’s disciples. Even the second apprentice-brother, Crazy Ji, admitted his inferiority, as did all of the other disciples. In fact, when Ning was chatting with Silvermoon, Silvermoon had secretly told him that their eldest apprentice-brother was definitely at the Daofather level of power. Given his incredible power and given how long he had lived here in seclusion, he had almost assuredly analyzed a technique like [Houyi’s Archery], one of the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms. Although there were quite a few disciples of the Old Patriarch who trained in [Houyi’s Archery], none of them were that formidable in it. Given their eldest apprentice-brother’s power, however…he surely was. Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! One arrow after another shot out. Ning used all of his power while attuning to both the wind and to the Qiankun. In this instant, the world and the wind were all one with his heart. It was as though he himself was the master of the entire world, as though he was the master of countless winds. In fact, even some of the distant transformations of the wind were held within his heart, as though his subconscious was whispering to him of what would happen. This state was the state known as the Dao Domain of the Dao of Archery. Given what a high level of comprehension Ning was at, and given that the Dao of Archery was heavily related to both ‘wind’ and ‘Qiankun’, Ning had advanced fairly quickly along this Dao. One arrow after another flew out, striking towards the distant target, more than ten thousand kilometers away. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Each of the arrows howled past the target by more than ten meters. In fact, purely thanks to luck, one of the arrows actually struck the target. However…it only hit the target, not the center of the target. “Alright. You can stop now,” the woodcutter said. “Please guide me, senior apprentice-brother.” After halting, Ning respectfully asked for advice. The woodcutter laughed. “Your fundamentals are quite solid. However…you are lacking in the most important aspect.” “The most important aspect?” Ning was puzzled. “Right.” The woodcutter nodded. “Remember this: When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it. Once you reach this level, you’ll be able to hit the center of the target from ten thousand kilometers away.” After speaking, the woodcutter turned and leisurely departed, still carrying his hatchet and his firewood. Ning stood there unmoving. He murmured to himself, “When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. As he watched the woodcutter depart, Ji Ning grew increasingly puzzled. “When the arrow flies…this part I understand. But ‘the heart flies with it’…what does that mean?” Twang! Twang! Twang! Ning pulled his bow, testing out a few more arrows, growing increasingly puzzled as he did. “Little master.” The black-robed man appeared once more, face full of excitement. “Your eldest apprentice-brother said, ‘When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it.’ I think I somewhat understand.” “Oh?” Ning revealed an expectant look on his face. The black-robed youth immediately explained, “I’ve gone through many masters and watched many of them train in archery, as well as watched them train their successors and descendants in archery. I remember often hearing them say something; ‘You need to put your heart into it. Put your heart into the arrow.’ When I was guiding you, I didn’t think of these words, because I thought they were just casual words of encouragement, but now…it seems those words must have some special meaning.” Ning was an extremely intelligent person. This guidance from the black-robed youth didn’t clearly point at what was necessary, but Ning now already had his own ideas. To use the heart? To put the heart into the arrow? When the arrow flies? The heart flies with it? “My guess is that ‘the heart flies with it’ means exactly that; having your heart and mind fly along with the arrow,” the black-robed youth said. “This ‘heart’ is most likely a reference to a sort of invisible force.” Ning listened to the black-robed youth, thinking to himself at the same time. He had shot out tens of thousands of arrows every day for nearly a year; thus, he was familiar with all the technical tricks to it. Actually, Ning had already vaguely touched upon the level of having the heart fly with the arrow, but no one had been able to guide him to actually breaking through to it. Ning once more nocked an arrow to his bow. “The air…” “The wind…” 2387 In this instant, his heart became one with the Heavens and the Earth…and his will began to fill the arrow. Soon, Ning managed to brush against the level of ‘forgetting the self’; although his heart had become one with the Heavens and the Earth, everything around him seemed vague and blurry, as his heart and will were focused completely on his arrow. Twang! A thunderous twanging sound. The arrow shot through the air, and Ning’s invisible will was fused into it. In fact, he had an extremely strange feeling; he felt as though he himself had transformed into an arrow! As the arrow shot through the skies, as it pierced through the trees, Ning felt as though it was he himself who was shooting through the trees. This sort of feeling, where his mind and heart were one with the arrow, was quite strange and marvelous… However, after the arrow flew for a hundred kilometers, that sort of invisible connection between his heart and the arrow dissipated; Ning was no longer able to maintain the wondrous feeling of him having transformed into an arrow. Swish! The arrow finally plunged deep into the target that was ten thousand kilometers away…but of course, it was still quite a bit off from the heart of the target. “That’s the feeling! Right. That’s the feeling.” Ning began to laugh loudly out of excitement as he jubilantly lifted the bow up with energy. “Right. When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it. I felt as though I had transformed into an arrow myself…this was a wondrous feeling, and in that state, I felt as though I was able to control the direction of the arrow.” “I’ll try again.” Ning once again nocked an arrow and drew his bow. Twang! The arrow shot through the skies, and Ning once more felt as though he were an arrow, with his heart focused upon the arrow. Change directions! Change directions! While flying through the air, the arrow suddenly began to change directions. Although the magnitude of the change was very small, as Ning repeatedly strove to influence it, the arrow began to arc outwards and fly even farther, before finally overshooting the target by thousands of kilometers. “When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it…” “This is the feeling. However, I’m only able to maintain this state for a hundred kilometers; any farther, and my will dissipates and becomes unable to maintain contact with the arrow.” Ning nodded to himself. This sort of invisible, formless feeling of his will being one with the arrow was a strange, subtle thing. However…there was indeed such a thing as a power forged from heart, from will. That ancient Fiendgod corpse of the previous owner of the Rahu Bow was proof of it. Despite having died so long ago, the remnant, vestigial will of death and killing still was enough to cause Ning’s heart to quiver. Strictly speaking, the ancient Fiendgod’s soul had been destroyed long ago…so where did that invisible will and intent come from? This was what ‘heart’ was all about. It was an invisible force! The power of the heart! It was different from divine power, elemental ki, and soul power. It was an extremely illusory, difficult-to-detect sort of power, but it did indeed exist. A truly divine archer would have to be able to master this power, the power of heart; only by mastering it could one become one of the formidable divine archers of the three realms. And this was just one of the prerequisites! “Use the heart.” “The heart!” “The heart flies with the arrow!” Ning began to train. He knew very well that given how firm his Dao-heart was, the power of his heart should logically be quite formidable. However, he was still only able to keep his heart merged with the arrow for a distance of a hundred kilometers. The reason for this was…his heart was not sincere enough! His heart was supremely sincere towards the Dao of the Sword, but it was not yet sincere enough to the Dao of Archery. Only with sincerity would the power of the heart grow! Fortunately, thanks to his three years of painstaking training, Ning had established a solid foundation, and as Ning’s attitude towards the bow had changed and as his feelings towards the Dao of Archery grew increasingly resolute, the power of his heart had grown increasingly strong. In the legends, there were some truly formidable figures who, no matter what they trained in, were able to maintain a supremely loyal heart to whatever they focused on. By doing so, they were able to improve at a truly astonishing rate. The power of the heart was sometimes even more important than raw talent or comprehension. A thousand kilometers. Two thousand kilometers. Three thousand kilometers. As the days passed, the connection between Ning’s heart and his arrow became increasingly strong. “Wow! Little master, when you draw the bow, you now have a certain aura…an aura that only the divine archers of the Primordial Era used to have!” The black-robed man watched excitedly from one side. When one had a heart that was supremely loyal to the bow, there would be a difference that would be very hard for most to detect, even if the difference was magnified ten thousand-fold. However, that innate charisma really did make an impact. The Rahu Bow, which had passed through the hands of quite a few divine archers, was definitely able to tell the difference. Twang! Swish! The arrow plunged straight into the heart of the target. Ning, however, maintained his calm as he continued to shoot arrows. Ning was now able to hit the target dead-center every so often, and even when he didn’t, he was still definitely able to hit the target. To be able to occasionally hit the target dead-center from a distance of ten thousand kilometers, with trees and boulders blocking the way, while using nothing but raw physical strength was already a truly astounding feat…but unfortunately, passing the trial required one to accomplish this feat ten times in a row. Five thousand kilometers. Six thousand kilometers… Ning’s heart was able to ride with the arrow for increasingly long periods of time. Under this sort of training, Ning’s Dao-heart was actually beginning to grow even more powerful, and his eyes were beginning to grow increasingly bright! When he drew his bow…anything he stared at would feel as though a God of Death was staring at them from afar, causing a sort of inexplicable, nameless terror! This was the sort of mental, psychological sensation of threat which only a true divine archer was able to impose upon the minds of his foes. Ning’s own heart was like an arrow, seeking to stab itself into the enemy’s own heart. The enemy would subconsciously sense this and feel terrified! Eight thousand kilometers. Nine thousand kilometers… Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! An arrow struck straight into the heart of the target. So did a second arrow. A third. A fourth…Ning shot out a hundred arrows, and each and every one of them struck the target dead-center. The inch-thick heart of the target was completely filled with a tight cluster of arrows now. “Whew.” From ten thousand kilometers away, Ning let out a sigh. This sort of state, where his heart rode with the arrow, consumed a tremendous amount of mental stamina with each arrow. Shooting out a hundred arrows in a row in this state caused an extremely nauseous feeling of exhaustion! If Ning was simply shooting out arrows without using the power of his heart, he wouldn’t feel the slightest bit tired after shooting out even ten thousand. But it was very, very exhausting to be in the state where ‘when the arrow flies, the heart flies with it!’ However…the power of the arrows in this state was truly tremendous, and the arrows were also much more accurate! “Little master, you succeeded. You succeeded!” The black-robed youth was very excited. “Thank you, Rahu Bow.” Ning smiled in gratitude. Over the past three years, although he did study some of the secret archery manuals of the Divinities Palace, what truly made the distance was the guidance of the Rahu Bow! The Rahu Bow had watched many divine archers grow up; although he himself was not a divine archer, he had still been able to provide Ning with a shockingly significant amount of help. If it hadn’t been for the Rahu Bow, even ten years probably wouldn’t have been enough for Ning to complete this trial. “Heh heh, little master, only after you become a true divine archer can I, the Rahu Bow, truly show off my own illustriousness.” The black-robed youth was extremely excited. “If you, little master, truly wish to show your gratitude towards me, then just procure a good bowstring for me.” “Right.” Ning nodded and smiled. “Of course.” He had a number of poorer-quality bowstrings. After all, he could remove the bowstring from the violet greatbow he was currently using and use it for the Rahu Bow. However…this bow was far too weak. The Rahu Bow was a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure; Ning really did have to procure a good bowstring for it! Mount Innerheart. The Tristar Crescent Abode. Outside the fairly small Three Divinities Palace. Crazy Ji continued to snore there as he always did. “Second senior apprentice-brother.” Ning walked over. Crazy Ji didn’t even open his eyes as he mumbled, “The complete copy of [Houyi’s Archery] is on the table. Go take it yourself.” “Thank you, second senior apprentice-brother.” Ning immediately stepped inside. Floating above the abridged versions was a very eye-catching furled bamboo book. It was indeed the complete copy of [Houyi’s Archery]. Ning walked over, immediately filling it with his divine sense. Rumble… 2391 A large amount of information instantly began to flood into Ning’s soul. A long, long time later. The sun had both risen and fallen. By the time the dawn was just arriving, as half of the distant Golden Crow could be seen peeking out from the distant horizon, Ning woke up. “What a powerful archery technique,” Ning murmured to himself. He was stunned. Truly, completely stunned. According to the description of [Houyi’s Archery], if it was truly trained to the limit, to the level of the mighty primordial divinity Houyi who had created this divine ability…the power of the arrows would be truly terrifying, to the point of being above even the Sixth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]! If a True God were to reach the peak of this divine ability, then with a single arrow, the True God would be able to heavily injure or even kill other True Gods! But there was a reason why the complete mastery of [Houyi’s Archery] was so ridiculously powerful. Number one: The amount of mental energy this supreme archery technique used up was simply enormous. At the level of perfect mastery, even a True God would probably only be able to fire three, four, or five arrows before becoming utterly mentally drained and unable to fire off another arrow. Ning’s [Starseizing Hand], however, could be used continuously without worry of using up any mental power. Number two: This archery technique had extremely high requirements with regards to both the bow and the arrow. Especially the arrow! It must be understood that at full power, [Houyi’s Archery] was mighty enough to annihilate a True God with a single arrow; to be able to compress this much power into a single arrow, the arrow had to be of tremendous quality, as it would otherwise collapse and break apart. Thus, in order to execute this technique, one not only needed a good bow, one also needed some specially-prepared arrows that were incredibly powerful! A superb bow. Superb arrows. And just a few shots before utter exhaustion! Slightly poorer archery arts could allow for a hundred shots, while even poorer archery arts could easily allow for ten thousand shots. This was a testament to how truly draining this supreme archery technique was when it came to the power of the heart. “The power of this archery art…although the number of times it can be used in succession is low, it truly is without question one of the top ten divine abilities created since Pangu established the universe!” Ning felt endless admiration towards this divine ability, as well as the number one God of the Bow of the Three Realms, Houyi. Ning then stepped forward and picked up the abridged copy of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Early dawn. “Uncle-master.” “Uncle-master.” “Patriarch.” Escorted by a chorus of respectful calls, Ji Ning arrived at the entrance to the Tristar Crescent Abode. Holding a broom in his hands, he began to personally sweep the mountain paths. Sweep. Sweep. The fallen leaves on the ground were all being swept away. “That’s odd.” “The Patriarch is personally sweeping the mountain paths? Isn’t that the trial for the first level of the Divinities Palace?” “The Patriarch can enter even the ninth level whenever he pleases, to say nothing of the first. He defeats the ninth golem with utter ease.” “But the Patriarch truly is sweeping the paths personally. Are we seeing things?” “Maybe…maybe the Patriarch is meditating on something.” The two Dao-novitiates who were guarding the entrance stared in amazement as they watched Ning personally sweep the mountain roads. They stealthily sent mental messages to each other regarding this. News quickly began to spread, and soon all of the disciples of Mount Innerheart came to know of it. …… Ning was very calm. He kept his head lowered, focusing on his broom. Each sweep of the broom felt like a cleansing sweep against his soul as well. He swept each of the mountain steps, one at a time. His sweeping speed wasn’t too fast; he seemed to be enjoying this sweeping process. He only finished his labors late in the afternoon. “Oh, I’m done?” Only now did Ning come back to his senses. He straightened his back, then murmured softly to himself, “It seems as though when Master set trials such as sweeping the path and weeding the mountain, he had certain other things in mind as well.” “Apprentice.” A voice suddenly rang out by Ning’s ears. Ning was momentarily startled, but then hurriedly responded, “Master!” Despite having been on the mountain for so many years, Ning had never before received a direct mental message from his master like this. “After you learn the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], come to my place,” the voice rang out again. “Yes, master,” Ning replied respectfully. Ning quickly moved up the mountain, heart filled with questions. Why was his master summoning him? This was extremely rare. Could it be…that he was going to leave his master’s tutelage soon? …… Ning went to the Three Realms Palace and acquired the full copy of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. To date, the three major techniques which Ning had learned from the Three Realms Palace were the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], [Houyi’s Archery], and [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. The process of being transmitted the information regarding the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] took a full day. The next day, Ning regained his faculty of mind. Only then did he head towards the Daoist monastery of Patriarch Subhuti. “Uncle-master.” The two Dao-novitiates at the entrance to the monastery both called out respectfully. One of the two, Clearwater, also added, “Uncle-master, the Patriarch has sent word that you are to be allowed direct entry.” Ning nodded, smiled, then passed in. Within the Daoist monastery. There was a prayer mat within an open region with a skinny old man dressed in loose Daoist robes seated atop it. The old man’s hair was completely white, but he didn’t seem decrepit at all; rather, Ning felt as though this person had reached the level of infinite eternity. In addition, he also could sense a boundless life-force coming from this person. Ning couldn’t help but feel his own spirit completely calming down, thanks to his master’s simple presence. “Master.” Ning walked in, then called out respectfully. “Sit,” the Old Patriarch said. Ning immediately sat down on a prayer mat in the lotus position, awaiting instruction. The Old Patriarch looked at Ning, then said slowly, “How long have you spent on Mount Innerheart?” “It has already been more than thirty years and five…this year shall be the thirty-sixth,” Ning said respectfully. “Which abilities have you learned?” The Old Patriarch asked. “Your disciple has learned the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and reached the Third Cycle! I’ve just reached a basic level of skill in [Houyi’s Archery]. I have also trained in the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] and reached the second stage of innate torch-light! In the past thirty-plus years, your disciple has primarily focused on swordplay; I’ve already mastered the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], and have learned other, more powerful sword-arts as well,” Ning said respectfully. The Old Patriarch nodded. “You have many abilities now; it can be said that you are a completely different person compared to when you first came up the mountain. At your current level…remaining on Mount Innerheart will no longer help you as much as before. What you need to do now is go temper yourself within the real world, so as to prepare for your upcoming Celestial Tribulation. Given your abilities, and given that you have the legacy of brother Threelives…your Celestial Tribulation will surely be extraordinary. It will be very, very difficult.” “Your disciple shall remember to be cautious.” Ning was enlightened. So indeed, it was as he had expected…it was time for him to leave his master’s tutelage. “It is time for you to leave now.” The Old Patriarch looked at Ning. “I once said that when you left my tutelage, I would give you two great gifts.” Ning instantly felt intrigued. “After you entered my tutelage, I often watched you, appraising your comprehension ability, your talent, your habits…all for the sake of developing a completely unique evasion divine ability for you, known as the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens],” the Old Patriarch said. Ning was overjoyed. This had been created just for him?! Ning was badly in need of an evasive ability right now. He had been preparing to ‘settle’ for an evasive technique from the Divinities Palace if he couldn’t find a good one, but unexpectedly his master had been preparing this for him the entire time, developing an evasive divine ability that was completely suited for Ning. “You are a human, after all; if you are to train in any other evasive abilities, it will be hard for you to reach the peak in them. Even if I gave you the [Wings of the Garuda], from which your Windwing Evasion ability originates, you will never be able to reach the level which the great Roc did,” the Old Patriarch explained. “The ‘best’ skill is the one most-suited to you. This technique, the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], when trained to the utmost peak…although it might not be as good as perfect mastery over [Wings of the Garuda], it isn’t that far off. You will be able to move 90,000 kilometers in a single movement.” 1 “90,000 kilometers in a single movement?” Ning was extremely delighted. 90,000 kilometers…this was an astonishing speed! “This is the evasive divine ability I prepared for you. In the future, when you have your own insights, perhaps you’ll be able to further perfect it, allowing you to move even faster. That, however, shall be up to you,” the Old Patriarch said. Ning nodded. An evasive ability which Patriarch Subhuti had personally developed…most likely it would be hard for Ning to improve on, even after he became an Empyrean God. Improving it…that would be a very, very distant task. “I can see that in the future, you shall be a Sword Immortal. But any truly formidable Sword Immortal needs a powerful sword-formation,” the Old Patriarch said. “The so-called [Heavenraker] sword formation, in truth, was used by Daofather Heavenrake as something he could teach his disciples. Even I don’t know what his most formidable and profound sword-arts…Daofather Heavenrake keeps them hidden as his secret weapons for keeping himself alive.” Ning nodded. “Your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] relies on using many treasures, relying on superiority of numbers; when combined with an appropriate sword-art, it is indeed capable of unleashing tremendous power. Both the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha have similar types of techniques that rely on overwhelming numbers. Using your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] as the foundation, I have distilled the essence of the best Daoist and Buddhist techniques of this nature and developed a new sword-formation technique for you. I have given it the name, [Greater Thousand Swords Formation],” the Old Patriarch said. “If you have enough treasures, the power of this [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] will be absolutely astonishing. It can be described as one of the supreme sword-formations of the Three Realms.” “Thank you, Master!” Ning was both excited and overjoyed. The [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] evasive technique, the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] sword-formation technique…his master had personally designed both for him. What Ning did not realize… 2397 Was that Patriarch Subhuti was truly very diligent in teaching his students. Despite the passage of countless ages, the total number of students he had taken on was quite low, but he whole-heartedly focused on every single one he took on, especially during the early periods when they had first entered his tutelage. Although it seemed as though Ning hadn’t had the chance to meet with his master many times, in reality Patriarch Subhuti had been constantly monitoring Ning. Then, based on Ning’s own traits and characteristics, the Old Patriarch had tested out and developed these techniques in a completely separate world. The [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], for example; Patriarch Subhuti had spent hundreds of thousands of years developing it. By comparison, the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] was easier; after all, this sort of formation simply centered around massive numbers of treasures. Patriarch Subhuti had only spent a thousand years to develop it. In this other world, the flow of time was different. This was why Patriarch was able to bring out these two techniques now. …… “Step forward,” the Old Patriarch instructed. Ning hurriedly stepped forward, walking in front of the Old Patriarch. The Old Patriarch tapped Ning on the center of his forehead. Instantly, a large amount of information flooded into Ning’s brain. By the time Ning recovered, the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] and the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] had been firmly imprinted into his mind. “Alright. It is time to leave,” the Old Patriarch said. “Master,” Ning said respectfully. “Your disiciple also wishes to meditate on the secrets of the lotus. I wish to make a trip to the Divinities Palace and acquire a few manuals on lotus techniques.” The Old Patriarch waved his hand and a bamboo book appeared within it. He handed it to Ning. “This is a set of lotus techniques I acquired by accident. The mysteries within it are unfathomably profound, and will be more than enough for you to meditate on. You can carry it with you.” “Thank you, Master.” It was one surprise for Ning after another. Ning hurriedly added, “Your disciple has an apprentice, Bluecliff Xiaoyu, who has just arrived on the mountain and only been here a few years. She is still quite weak; your disciple would like to let her remain here at Mount Innerheart for now…” The Old Patriarch nodded. “Then let her remain here and train quietly on the mountain. When the day comes that she can defeat the ninth golem, I will let her leave and send her to your Grand Xia world.” 2398 Only now did Ning feel completely relaxed. Everything had been arranged for. “Alright. Time to leave the mountain,” the Old Patriarch instructed. “Remember this: Without my permission, you are not to say that you are my disciple. Otherwise…do not blame your master for showing you no mercy. Only when I summon you back can you return to Mount Innerheart.” “Yes,” Ning said respectfully. “The Three Realms are now filled with secret, turbulent undercurrents. Even I, your master, might perish. You must be careful. You are not to be too rash and cause a disaster for yourself,” the Old Patriarch said. Ning instantly felt his heart shake. What? The Three Realms were filled with secret, turbulent undercurrents? Even his master might perish? Then how was someone like him, a junior fellow who wasn’t even a Celestial Immortal, supposed to make it? The Old Patriarch waved his sleeve. “Be it fortune or calamity…you shall bring it to yourself, and have no one else to blame or to thank. Now, go!” Ning respectfully fell to his knees, pressing his head down to the ground and kowtowing heavily nine times. “Your disciple is leaving now. Master, take care!” His master had indeed spent considerable effort on his behalf. Both the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] and the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] were truly supreme techniques of the Three Realms. Even Daofathers weren’t capable of casually creating techniques on this level. Although his master hadn’t spelled it out, Ning could imagine how much enormous effort his master must’ve gone into in order to develop these techniques. Ning would naturally engrave his memory of this kindness into his heart. In addition, the thirty-plus years he had spent on Mount Innerheart had been the most peaceful years of his life, the years when he had truly, firmly established his foundation. After leaving the mountain, it would be as his master said; given how the Three Realms were filled with dangerous undercurrents, it would probably be hard for him to find such peace again. …… After Ning left, another person appeared within the Daoist monastery. It was the second apprentice, Crazy Ji. “Master.” Crazy Ji watched as Ning walked away, then sighed, “This junior apprentice-brother of mine truly is a man of deep emotions.” “Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time.” The Old Patriarch shook his head. “When most of you were growing up, I was able to protect you. But he will be growing up in an era when a great tribulation is descending upon the Three Realms. The Three Realms are already filled with many dangerous 2399 undercurrents…and this tribulation may prove to be even more terrifying than the one that shattered Pangu’s World.” “What?!” Crazy Ji’s face instantly changed. “Nuwa has left long ago, entering the endless primordial chaos. Despite the passages of countless years, she has never returned,” the Old Patriarch said. “When Nuwa was present, the Three Realms were finally settled down and the Six Paths of Reincarnation were established. The Celestial Court was created to manage the Three Realms, and the Daofathers and True Gods all separated into their respective territories. But with Nuwa gone…with the Six Paths of Reincarnation destroyed…with the Celestial Court only a court in name…with the Three Realms filled by dangerous undercurrents…I fear that this tribulation…” The Old Patriarch shook his head. Crazy Ji began to worry. “But in times of tribulation, a person can bring either fortune or calamity upon himself. If it is calamity, only he himself can save himself,” the Old Patriarch said. “Everyone, including you and the others, all need to be careful. I imagine that a large number of True Gods and Daofathers shall die during this tribulation…and if even half of the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals survive, they should count their blessings. If you are faced with danger, I may not be able to protect you.” “Your disciple shall remember and be cautious,” Crazy Ji said respectfully. …… Ning led Little Qing and Uncle White out of Mount Innerheart. On the path to Mount Innerheart. Bluecliff Xiaoyu fell to her knees, pressing her forehead against the ground. “Your disciple shall definitely train hard. After I reach the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace, I will immediately head for the world of the Grand Xia to reunite with you, Master.” Ning nodded and smiled. He then led Little Qing and Uncle White to fly out of Mount Innerheart. They arrived in the sky-void, and as they did, a void tunnel appeared. This was a void-tunnel which Patriarch Subhuti had personally opened for them. Ning, Little Qing, and Uncle White flew directly into it. Swoosh! They all disappeared, and the void-tunnel closed behind them. “Master!” Xiaoyu knelt there, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. “I will definitely go to the Grand Xia world and meet you there.” 2400 1. Alas, this isn’t quite as fast as Sun Wukong’s ‘somersault cloud’, which allowed him to move 108,000 kilometers in a single somersault. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. 1. Alas, this isn’t quite as fast as Sun Wukong’s ‘somersault cloud’, which allowed him to move 108,000 kilometers in a single somersault. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The world of the Grand Xia. Stillwater Commandery. A spatial ripple appeared in the air above Serpentwing Lake. From within, out strode a plainly dressed youth, a snowy white hound by his side and a little azure serpent around his arm. “We’re back.” Ji Ning stared downwards at Serpentwing Lake. He murmured softly, “When I left here, I fled in such a pathetic state. But now…no one should even think about forcing me, Ji Ning, to leave again!” Ning felt closer to this lake than anything else. If it hadn’t been because the Youngflame clan was so much more powerful than him back then, how could Ning have beared to part from it? Swoosh. With a single step, Ning arrived within Brightheart Island, at the very center of Serpentwing Lake. The buildings of Brightheart Island had all been rebuilt. There were quite a few servants and guards present. As Ning strolled forward through the sand, he quietly gazed at everything and everyone. His divine sense had long ago encapsulated the entire island. “When I fled, Brightheart Island had been leveled by the Youngflame clan. I didn’t expect that it would have been rebuilt, and that it would be built to look exactly the way it did in the past. However…it seems as though there is no one here that I recognize.” “I imagine that elder sister Autumn Leaf is still at the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” Ning took a walk around Brightheart Island. He visited the place where Autumn Leaf had previously stayed, as well as the place where his father had once lived. The servants and guards didn’t see him at all. Brightheart Island of Serpentwing Lake was Ning’s home. Coming home was truly a wonderful feeling. “This time…no one should even think about destroying Brightheart Island again,” Ning murmured softly. “Uncle White. It’ll be up to you.” The Whitewater Hound behind Ning spoke out. “I’ve analyzed quite a few grand formations at Mount Innerheart, and within some of the secret tomes on formations there were also some hidden formations of supreme power. Although I haven’t thoroughly comprehended them all…simply setting them up in accordance with the instructions will prove simple. In the future, the entire Swallow Mountain region, all hundred thousand kilometers of it, will be surrounded by hundreds of layers of grand formations! Formations within formations within formations; not even Celestial Immortals will dare barge in here.” 2402 “Good.” Ning nodded. A powerful school or sect would definitely layer many terrifying formations around its headquarters. In order to lay down a formation, one would first need to procure a formidable formation technique, and then go buy enough treasures to actually set it up. Thus, the formations of major schools were usually built up by successive generations of disciples of the school. The longer a school’s history, the more complicated and powerful its many layered formations would be, to the point of causing any enemy to hesitate! Although Ning and the Whitewater Hound didn’t have that sort of long history and background, they were the disciples of Mount Innerheart! Formation tomes generally weren’t valued that much, and so the formation tomes which Uncle White had acquired on the sixth floor of the Divinities Palace were already some of the supreme formations of the entire Three Realms. Naturally, he had learned an enormous number of formidable formations. Some he had thoroughly mastered, while others he had not, but even those he had not mastered, he could still lay them out according to the instructions. “Uncle White,” Little Qing said, “I heard that some major schools take up hundreds of thousands of kilometers, all of which is completely covered up by formations, some of which are set down by generations of Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals. You need to make sure that our formations aren’t weaker than theirs!” “We are of Mount Innerheart; our formations are unfathomably more profound than the formations of those so-called major schools,” Uncle White said confidently. “With enough magic treasures…I can turn the entire Swallow Mountain into an unbreakable steel dome.” “Right. When the time comes, let’s pay a trip to the imperial capital and buy some formations materials. Uncle White, think about what you need and prepare a list,” Ning said. “I will. I’ll come up with some of the most supreme killing formations that I’ve learned from those formation manuals.” …… A short while later. Outside the City of Ten Thousand Swords. The gates to the city were open. Ning led a snowy white hound inside through the city gates. The gateguards couldn’t see them at all; naturally, they wouldn’t bar their way. “The changes are so significant.” Ning murmured softly, “In the past, the City of Ten Thousand Swords had many ordinary mortals within it, and there were many hawkers lining the streets. Now…everything has changed. There are very few mortals here.” 2403 The many former residences of the City of Ten Thousand Swords had all been demolished, and the entire city had been completely renovated in a beautiful manner! Within the city, there were now far more soldiers! There were also many more men and women that were dressed in absolutely beautiful clothes. “Even I can barely recognize this place. I feel as though the City of Ten Thousand Swords has been transformed into an enormous private estate,” Uncle White sighed in amazement. Whoosh. Ning swept forward with his divine sense. Within an estate, there were two powerful Immortal Diremonsters who were leisurely sipping wine – Immortal Duohe and Immortal Witchsui. Their faces suddenly changed; they could sense an incomparably powerful, almost crushingly-strong divine sense sweep past them! Just from this divine sense alone…they could tell that the wielder was above ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. It was extremely rare for Loose Immortals to have such a terrifying divine sense. “Not good.” Immortal Duohe and Immortal Witchsui both were shocked. “An enemy!” “Wait.” Puzzled looks quickly appeared on their faces. The divine sense seemed rather familiar… “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning?” They shared a glance of disbelief…but indeed, when they carefully checked again, that surge of divine sense did indeed belong to Ji Ning. However, it was even more powerful and graceful than before. “Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, we’ll meet at Darknorth Palace in a bit,” Ning sent mentally. “Alright,” the two Diremonster Immortals assented. …… Within a secluded courtyard in the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Autumn Leaf was taking care of her flowers. She had lived by herself for the past few decades, quietly focusing on her training. Without planning to, she actually made a breakthrough and reached the early Wanxiang level. Although Ning had previously provided her with some help, and although this was partially due to the fact that the Ji clan now had a prodigious Dao-repository, her own talent clearly was exceptional as well. “Auntie.” A youth walked in, a look of absolute delight on his face and a look of yearning in his eyes. “Auntie, auntie, my swordplay has reached the ‘one with the world’ level.” “Oh?” Autumn Leaf turned around, smiling as she looked at the youth. “One with the world?” 2404 “Right right! When I was out adventuring and fighting Diremonsters, I suddenly made a breakthrough and my swordplay reached the ‘one with the world’ level,” the youth said excitedly. “Auntie, you promised me to teach me a powerful sword-art when I reached the ‘one with the world’ level.” Autumn Leaf smiled. But suddenly…her body trembled. A look of disbelief and delight appeared in her eyes. The youth was immediately puzzled. “Little Rocky, hurry up and head back. Auntie has something to do,” Autumn Leaf said. “But Auntie, you promised to teach me swordplay…” The youth was rather hesitant, unwilling to leave. “Go back for now,” Autumn Leaf said. “…fine.” The youth turned and left helplessly. After the youth left, the courtyard once more became quiet. Autumn Leaf hurriedly stared at the surrounding area with agitation, searching for that familiar figure. And right at this moment, a fur-clad youth suddenly appeared out of nowhere, not too far away in front of her. “Young master!” A look of excitement was on Autumn Leaf’s face. He looked just the same as he always had; he hadn’t changed at all. “Young master. You came back.” “Right. I’m back.” Ning nodded slowly. “Will you be leaving?” Autumn Leaf asked softly. “Not this time,” Ning said. Tears appeared in Autumn Leaf’s eyes. She nodded repeatedly. “Autumn Leaf will definitely take good care of you, young master.” “It wouldn’t feel right if anyone else was to take care of me,” Ning said with a smile. “Let’s go and see Uncle Truekeep and the others.” “Alright.” Autumn Leaf immediately followed him. The City of Ten Thousand Swords. Darknorth Palace. After the complete overhaul of the City of Ten Thousand Swords, the most important palace of the the entire Ji clan became this place, the Darknorth Palace. It was named ‘Darknorth’ after Ning’s own Daoist title, of course! Ever since news had spread of Ning’s victory in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, the entire Ji clan had celebrated with wild abandon. This was a glory which the Ji clan had never before even imagined of in all of its history! Ji Ning had become the absolute most glorious figure in the Ji clan’s entire history! “Uncle Truekeep, Granny Shadow, Immortal Duohe, Immortal Witchsui.” Ning walked into Darknorth Palace, then called out to them. Only four people were present within the palace. Clearly, the news of Ning’s return was too shocking and sudden; none of the other formidable figures of the Ji clan had been notified yet. His return was to be kept a secret for now. “It’s good that you are back. It’s good that you are back!” Granny Shadow looked at Ning, a hint of excitement and delight in her eyes. “Where’s the former patriarch and the others?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “Because they reached the end of their lifespans…my big brother and Ah Xing have both passed on,” Granny Shadow sighed. “After they left, I spent all my time by myself within the Dao-repository, waiting for my end to come as well. Who would’ve thought that after being within it for so long, I’d actually end up making an unexpected breakthrough?” Ning sighed. The former patriarch, Ji Ninefire, as well as the old servant Ah Xing had both died. Of the older generation, only Granny Shadow remained. “However, before they died, they learned of the fact that you, Ji Ning, became the champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny,” Granny Shadow said excitedly. “They were both excited and proud. Our Ji clan actually produced a scion that became one of the most glorious figures of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. This is an incomparable honor for our entire clan! Right…after you became champion, you suddenly disappeared for thirty years. Did you go follow a Celestial Immortal to study the Dao?” The nearby Immortal Witchsui said with a laugh, “Only a truly peerless genius could become champion of the Conclave. It is quite normal for such a genius to be taken on by a Celestial Immortal; in fact, even Pure Yang True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would consider accepting such disciples.” Immortal Witchsui was of Celestial Immortal Witchriver’s lineage; naturally, he knew about True Immortals and Empyrean Gods. “I did indeed leave to go studying,” Ning said with a nod. Ning had already prepared his explanation for his thirty-plus years of disappearance. The explanation was…he had left to go studying! Studying with who? Who was his master? That would be a secret! The more mysterious it seemed, the more caution it would inspire in careful-minded folk. “If my gaze is correct…fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you are now a Void-level Earth Immortal,” Immortal Duohe said with a laugh. “Not just that; both of fellow Daoist Ji Ning’s spirit-beasts have become Void-level Earth Immortals,” the nearby Immortal Witchsui added. “What?!” Granny Shadow, Patriarch Ji Truekeep, and Autumn Leaf all stared towards them in astonishment. Although they were delighted by the fact that Ning had become a Void-level Earth Immortal, this was as they had expected, because they had heard long ago about Ning’s Primaltwin being capable of killing Loose Immortals. Given that Ning had also gone to study the Dao with a powerful figure, what was so strange about him now having reached the Void-level and become an Earth Immortal? But the two spiritbeasts had also become Void-level Earth Immortals?! “Right.” Ning smiled and nodded, then said, “I can see that the Ji clan has changed quite a bit.” “Thanks to the help of Princess Xiyue, the squads which the Youngflame clan had stationed in the Ji clan’s territory left long ago.” Truekeep tamped down the curiosity he felt, then explained, “And given the additional fame and glory you won at the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, Ji Ning, who would dare antagonize our Ji clan now? We haven’t expanded; we’ve just continued to stabilize around Swallow Mountain. Over the past few decades, Swallow Mountain’s defenses have become airtight.” Ning nodded. “Our Ji clan hasn’t changed that much; by comparison, Stillwater Commandery has changed much more.” Truekeep let out a sigh. “The entire Stillwater Commandery is now vastly different from what it was like when you left. Even the Marquis of Stillwater has changed.” “The Marquis of Stillwater has changed?” Ning was surprised. “To who?” The two principal contenders for the position of Marquis of Stillwater had been Northmont Yin and Northmont Blacktiger. “The current Marquis of Stillwater…is Northmont Yin,” Truekeep said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Northmont Yin?” Ning was startled. “Then what of Northmont Baiwei and his father, Northmont Blacktiger?” Ning hurriedly asked, “Are they doing alright?” Internicine struggles within ancient clans could be incredibly devastating; generally, the losers would have dire ends. “I know about the relationship between you and Northmont Baiwei,” Ji Truekeep said, “So I kept abreast of this matter. Northmont Blacktiger and his son continue to live within Stillwater City and continue to reside within the Northmont Blacktiger Estate. Although their power is not as it was before, they aren’t at risk of dying.” Ning finally let out a sigh of relief. Still…he was quite surprised. Based on what he understood, the struggle within the Northmont clan of Stillwater for the position of Marquis would be extremely cruel and savage; the loser would be driven out of their estate and perhaps even expelled out from Stillwater City to some other places. In an extremely serious case, they might even be sent to a completely different minor world with the assignment of subjugating it for the clan. There, they might live out the end of their days. Unexpectedly, after Northmont Yin had become the Marquis, his most powerful foe, Northmont Blacktiger, was still able to reside in Stillwater City. After the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Ning finished asking his questions and felt a bit more relaxed. He then said, “I’m going to make a trip; I should be back in ten days or half a month or so.” “Ji Ning,” Granny Shadow said in her gravelly voice, “The outside world is very chaotic right now. You must be careful.” “Chaotic?” Ning was puzzled. “Why is it chaotic?” Truekeep explained, “Our Ji clan is permanently stationed here at Swallow Mountain, and so we don’t know too much about the chaos in the outside world. What we do know, however, is that in the past twenty to thirty years, many tribes and clans within Stillwater Commandery have been wiped out! The entire Stillwater Commandery is in a state of enormous upheaval right now. Of course, the annihilated clans and tribes were all fairly weak tribes that had no Immortals…but there were still a number of annihilated clans that were comparable to Snowdragon Mountain back in its heyday.” “What?!” Ning felt as though something was off. In Stillwater Commandery, powers comparable to Snowdragon Mountain were already fairly strong. Powers with Immortals guarding them, by contrast, would be considered truly first-rate. Above them would be the eight supreme powers; the Black-White College, the Skysplitter Sword Sect, the Hundred Flowers Fairyland, the Heavenly Saint Church, the Blood God Church, the Dragonhunter clan, the Eastriver clan, and the Bluewood clan. The most supreme powers, of course, were the Northmont clan as well as the local Raindragon Guard. “Powers comparable to Snowdragon Mountain…they all have extremely deep and stable roots; it’s rare for one of them to be wiped out, even in a thousand years. How is it that a number of them have been wiped out in twenty to thirty short years?” Ning said. “The Ji clan stays here at Swallow Mountain. We’re not too sure,” Truekeep said. Ning frowned. When Ning had left Mount Innerheart, his master had warned him of the dangerous undercurrents within the Three Realms, claiming that even he himself might fall. Now, upon returning to Stillwater Commandery, he discovered that local regions were already beginning to turn chaotic… “A great secret most likely lies behind the chaos in Stillwater Commandery,” Ning mused silently to himself. “It seems I need to be even more careful than I anticipated. If even Master must be extremely careful…this little bit of power I have is nothing.” “Granny Shadow. Uncle Truekeep.” Ning immediately said, “Given the state of chaos Stillwater Commandery is in, your actions are correct. It is best for our Ji clan to peacefully remain here at Swallow Mountain. Mm…I’m going to make a trip. I’ll be back in ten days or so. Autumn Leaf, no need to follow me; wait here for my return.” “Alright.” Autumn Leaf nodded. “Immortal Duohe, Immortal Witchsui…the safety of my Ji clan will depend on your efforts,” Ning said. “We are only acting as is proper. Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you rescued all of us from the Immortal estate; it is right and proper for us to help out,” Immortal Witchsui said hurriedly. “The monsters of the Immortal estate are living here at Swallow Mountain as well. We shall prosper together or perish together with the Ji clan.” Immortal Duohe spoke out warmly as well. In the past, for the sake of their clan, they had sworn a thousand year oath…but now that Ning had come back as a Voidlevel Earth Immortal, as had his two spirit-beasts, their attitudes had changed significantly. …… In the air a few thousand kilometers outside of Stillwater City. A spatial ripple appeared, then a fur-clad youth walked out, a snowy white hound by his side. Around Ning’s arm was a little azure snake. The snake raised its little head, staring into the distance, then said excitedly, “We’re finally at Stillwater City. Hahaha, I, Little Qing, have become a Void-level Earth Immortal. I’d be considered an expert even here in Stillwater City now!” Swoosh! Ning rode the wind as he flew towards Stillwater City. “I’m back. I wonder if Master is at the Black-White College.” Ning quickly saw the distant Black-White College; when Ning had left, Immortal Diancai had gone out adventuring to temper himself. Nearly forty years had passed since then; Ning wondered if he was back yet. Whoosh. Ning flew directly into the Black-White College. …… Within the marquisate of Stillwater. There were many crystal globes hovering in midair, each being watched over by an Immortal cultivator. “Someone flew directly into Stillwater city!” A cultivator quickly noticed the scene that just appeared within one of the watched crystal balls. He immediately reported this aloud, and soon had his report verified by someone else. “A fur-clad youth, an Azure Skysnake, a Whitewater Hound.” “This person should be the person who became the champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny more than thirty years ago, then disappeared without a trace – Adept Darknorth, Ji Ning!” “Intelligence reports regarding Adept Darknorth are classified as top-priority. Quick, go report this!” Soon, this intelligence report was transferred to higher-ups. The Northmont clan of Stillwater kept an extremely tight watch over its enfeoffed territory. In Stillwater City at least, anyone who dared to fly about in the open had to be clearly investigated. In fact… whenever there was an especially powerful ripple of elemental energy anywhere in the entire vast commandery of Stillwater, it would be discovered and investigated! For example, when Immortal Firedragon made his breakthrough in Swallow Mountain, the Northmont clan of Stillwater immediately discovered it. “Ji Ning?” “The Ji Ning that disappeared more than thirty years ago after the Conclave of Immortal Destiny?” “This information needs to be reported to the Patriarch right away!” 2410 “Right.” The news continued to climb through the ranks. And soon…the news made its way to Celestial Immortal Hunchmont. …… A hunchbacked old man with white hair who held a gnarled wooden staff took a single step forward and appeared in midair, then flew towards the direction of the Black-White College. “I heard that Sword Immortal Evergreen of the Crimsonbright League had intended to take Ji Ning as his disciple…but it seemed as though Ji Ning didn’t take him on as his master, nor did he apprentice himself to any of the other Immortals or Empyrean Gods affiliated with Daofather Crimsonbright. In fact…the Immortals of the Crimsonbright League have no idea where Ji Ning is at all.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont quietly pondered over this. Ning’s disappearance had briefly caused a stir. It must be understood that even Pure Yang True Immortals like Lu Dongbin had been interested in taking Ning as a disciple…and in fact, Lu Dongbin had been extremely eager to do so. However, the Grand Xia Emperor had resolutely refused to agree, insisting on keeping Ning for the Crimsonbright League. But in the end…? Almost everyone who had been in the Skylight Palace for the Conclave had been a Celestial Immortal. The news of this matter had quickly spread. All of those Celestial Immortals were under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command, and so they were all investigating this matter. They all had learned that Sword Immortal Evergreen had sought to take Ning as a disciple, but Ning had refused and disappeared. However…no matter how they searched, none of the Immortals under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command could find out who had taken Ning on as a disciple. Everyone guessed that Ning had most likely ended up not joining Daofather Crimsonbright’s side. So where had Ji Ning gone to? Why didn’t he take Sword Immortal Evergreen as his master? Who had he taken as his master? Or did he even have a master at all? Was he wandering alone?! This became a mystery! “You all seem to be having a happy chat.” The staff-holding Celestial Immortal Hunchmont arrived before the Headmaster’s Hall in the Black-White College. He strode inside, sweeping the people within with his long-browed, deep gaze. There were more than ten Immortals gathered here. Thirty years ago, the BlackWhite College didn’t have this many Immortals. During the past period of time, however, Stillwater Commandery had simply become too chaotic, and so the Primal Daoists with very deep levels of 2411 enlightenment such as Daoist Jadesea, who had previously been taking their time, all decided to make their breakthroughs. They had all reached the Void-level and become Earth Immortals. “Senior Hunchmont.” Instantly, all the Immortals of the Black-White College saluted respectfully. Ning saluted as well. “Senior Hunchmont.” “Ji Ning returned?” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont nodded lightly, his eyes lighting up. “It’s only been thirty years, but both you and your spirit-beasts have reached the Void-level as Earth Immortals. Monsters train much more slowly than we humans do, but your two spirit-beasts have both reached the Void-level…it seems the past thirty-plus years represented a huge stroke of fortune for you.” The short elder nearby, Immortal Fivecraze, let out an emotional sigh. “We were just discussing this as well. Becoming a Void-level Earth Immortal is no easy task. Ning and both his spirit-beasts…well, our Black-White College now has three more Earth Immortals. Naturally, all of us are extremely happy.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont nodded, then said, “Young friend Ji Ning, you disappeared all those years ago, drawing quite a bit of attention. Where did you go for the past period of time?” Ning smiled. “I went to take on a master and to study.” “Take on a master?” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was intrigued. He hurriedly asked, “Might I ask who?” “Forgive me for not being able to tell you,” Ning said. Celestial Immortal Hunchmont laughed. “I won’t force it, I won’t force it.” But in his heart, he secretly mumbled to himself, “It seems one of the powers of the Three Realms must’ve run off with him, which is why he isn’t willing to say his master’s name; I imagine he doesn’t want to cause trouble. However…for his master to be so daring means that he is most likely a formidable figure.” The question of who Ning had taken on his master was indeed quite an intriguing one. This was because any power who took on Ning as a disciple would have at least somewhat offended Daofather Crimsonbright’s side! Still…the Crimsonbright League wouldn’t hold anything against Ning personally. This was because if one was to take on a disciple, the disciple had to be willing! True Immortals, Empyrean Gods, Daofathers…anyone taking on a disciple had to ask if the disciple was willing to accept him as a master! If Ning was unwilling, nobody could force him. For Ning to willingly run off with someone else and take him or her as his master only meant that the Grand Xia Emperor would have to suffer this loss in silence. “If you are free, young friend Ji Ning, you can pay a visit to the marquisate of Stillwater,” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont said with a chortle. “Definitely,” Ning said. “Right. I won’t interrupt your reunion with your comrades any longer.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont immediately turned, still-leaning on his gnarled staff, and gracefully departed. Within the hall. “Ji Ning, Stillwater Commandery is a bit chaotic right now. You need to be careful. Although our BlackWhite College stands on the side of the Northmont clan of Stillwater…we can’t just stupidly offer ourselves up and die for them for no reason,” Immortal Fivecraze said in a low voice. All the other Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals present all nodded and looked towards Ning. Ji Ning and the Sloppy Daoist were the two mighty future pillars of their Black-White College! They didn’t wish for Ning to be taken advantage of. Ning nodded. “I understand. Right…has my master returned to the Black-White College?” “Your master came back just a few days ago. He’s in closed-door meditation right now; most likely, he is going to attempt his Celestial Tribulation soon,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Tribulation?” Ning was surprised. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Soon, Ji Ning met with Immortal Diancai. Within a quiet, secluded courtyard. There was a gourd of Immortal wine, two wine cups, a master, and a disciple. The two were drinking wine and chatting with each other. “Master, I didn’t disturb your meditations, did I?” Ning asked. “I was just engaging in ordinary meditation; I wasn’t in a prajna-state of sudden enlightenment. What’s there to disturb?” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning, then nodded with satisfaction. “Ji Ning, you are far more powerful than you were in the past. When you first entered my tutelage, you were a piece of unpolished jade; you were quite young. But now, your divine sense is a bit more powerful than even mine; you truly are the peerless genius who became the champion of the Conclave after having trained for merely thirty or so years.” “If you keep praising me this much, Master, I’m going to start wiggling with delight,” Ning joked with a laugh. “You little punk…” Immortal Diancai laughed, then shook his head. Ning said seriously, “Master, are you truly planning to take on your Celestial Tribulation soon? This is something that you need to be extremely cautious about; you can’t be the slightest bit over-confident in handling it.” “I know that. Of course I know that. There are countless Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, but it’s rare for the entire Grand Xia world to produce a single Celestial Immortal in a million years.” Immortal Diancai continued, “But times are changing. In the past twenty, thirty years, there were multiple Earth Immortals who successfully overcame their Celestial Tribulation and became Celestial Immortals in the Grand Xia world.” “Multiple?!” Ning was surprised. “Right.” Immortal Diancai nodded. “The greater a storm, the more experts are born from within! And during my previous period of training, my subconscious was telling me…that a great storm is coming. If I want to overcome my tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal, I have to do so before this storm comes. Only then will I have a chance. If I delay…I’ll probably die within it.” Ning was secretly shocked. An Immortal’s subconscious senses were usually very accurate. In truth, ever since he had returned to the Grand Xia world, Ning himself had subconsciously felt as though a terrifying tempest was about to erupt. However…he didn’t sense that he needed to make his breakthrough before it. Clearly, with his success in training the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ning’s chances of survival were much greater than Immortal Diancai’s. “Master.” Ning suddenly waved his hand, and a man-high pile of books suddenly appeared. “What’s this?” Immortal Diancai said, puzzled. “A Dao-Repository,” Ning said. “You can look at these three books, Master.” Ning pulled out three thick tomes from the pile. Immortal Diancai immediately accepted the three books, then began to flip through them. These had been acquired by Ning in the Crescent world after killing the monster kings and the evil Patriarch! It must be understood that these powerful figures were generally extremely self-confident; in order to prevent other powers from destroying their Dao-Repositories, they would generally carry a copy with them at all times. When the Flamewing King had destroyed the Qi Empire, he had acquired a portion of the Qi Empire’s Dao-Repository, which Ning now naturally had as well. “A fine sword-art. A fine sword-art!” Immortal Diancai’s eyes were shining as he flipped through a second book. He said excitedly, “This directly guides one through the Grand Dao!” Ning laughed. It must be understood that the Qi Empire needed only a few tens of thousands of years to establish an Empire that spanned a million kilometers. How incredible had its Dao-Repository been? The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows and the evil Patriarch were all comparable to Celestial Immortals; the Dao-Repositories they had built up were similarly astonishing. Although there was no way they could come close to comparing to Mount Innerheart’s, their repositories were ten times superior to the BlackWhite College’s! “Ji Ning, these Dao-Repositories…?” Immortal Diancai looked towards Ning. “Don’t worry, Master. Your disciple acquired them with his own power; they don’t come with any strings attached. I prepared them for you, Master, and for the Black-White College,” Ning said. Because of the rules of the Old Patriarch, the supreme arts of Mount Innerheart were absolutely not to be taught to any outsiders. There were no such restrictions, however, on the techniques Ning had acquired from the monster kings and the evil Patriarch. The Black-White College had ten-plus Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, all of which were extraordinary. With these Dao-Repositories, their level of power would rise once again. As for the Ji clan? Ning had used an ink technique to duplicate copies for the Ji clan. In addition…Ning believed that as he grew increasingly powerful, the Dao-Repositories he would acquire would also become increasingly formidable. For the dreams of his father, for the dreams of the deceased Patriarch Ninefire and the others, and for the sake of himself as a descendant of the Ji clan, he would naturally do everything he could to make the Ji clan flourish. “Good, good, good. These Dao-Repositories are all quite incredible.” Immortal Diancai was truly excited. “The three sword-arts manuals you picked out are all of great help to me and have given me insight. I need to immediately go into closed-door meditation and ponder on them. My chances of overcoming the tribulation are now a bit greater.” Ning nodded. These three sword-arts manuals were all comparable to the complete [Three-Foot Sword]; they were truly superb tomes on the Dao of the Sword! In the current Black-White College, there were only two Sword Immortals at the Void level; Ji Ning and Immortal Diancai. No one would fight with Immortal Diancai over these tomes. …… “Wonderful.” All of the Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of the Black-White College were now gathered at Immortal Diancai’s place. Upon seeing the piles of Dao-Repositories, they were instantly all overjoyed. “Divine ability, [Nine Melodies of Virtue].” “Divine ability, [Bloodshadow Evasion].” “Secret art, [Thousandstar Soulscour].” “A Pure Yang-level Ki Refining Technique. Our Black-White College has no Pure Yang-level Ki Refining Techniques!” “This one is a Pure Yang-level Ki Refining Technique as well.” “A formation here.” “Is this a technique for creating constructs?” All sorts of tomes on the Dao were present. The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals could feel the blood boiling in their veins as they read. Ning just quietly sighed to himself. At Mount Innerheart, there were quite a few Ki Refining Techniques that were at the Daofather level! There were many sword-arts created by Daofathers, but unfortunately 2416 Mount Innerheart techniques could not be taught to others. Thus, he could only give the repositories of the monster kings and the vile Patriarch to his school…and yet, this was already enough to make them go wild with joy. The Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of the Black-White College were all extraordinary figures. In the past,they didn’t have a truly top-tier Dao-Repository. Now that Ning had given them one, it was guaranteed that all of them would once more increase in power. Even Immortal Fivecraze was laughing loudly right now. “With this Dao-Repository, the fortunes of our Black-White College have improved tenfold! Back during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, when little Sloppy entered the top six and Ji Ning became champion, I knew that our Black-White College was in for an era of tremendous luck…and today, I’ve finally seen the fruits of that luck. With this Dao-Repository, haha…even I myself can live for at least another ten thousand years.” Immortal Fivecraze had expected that after roughly nine centuries or so, he would no longer be able to withstand the next trial from the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, but with these new DaoRepositories, his insights would deepen and his strength would grow; naturally, he would now be able to live longer. …… Night. Ji Ning and Immortal Diancai were walking within a path inside the Black-White College. “Ji Ning, a Dao-Repository is a school’s foundation. With these new ones, the Black-White College will grow more powerful, and will become comparable to some of the supreme schools of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty.” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning. “This is all because of you. The contribution you have made this time is too, too great.” Some disciples preferred to give powerful Dao-Repositories to their own tribes instead. It was very rare for them to give so much to their school. “It really was nothing.” Ning shook his head. “Currently, it isn’t just Stillwater Commandery that is in a state of chaos; there are dangerous undercurrents within the entire Grand Xia world, causing all sorts of trouble. With these DaoRepositories, the supreme Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of our Black-White College will rise to a new level of power. As a result, more members of the Black-White College will be able to survive this storm.” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning. “The arrival of a Dao-Repository at such a critical moment is worth more than ten Dao-Repositories that come after the storm passes.” Ning was puzzled. “Master, how exactly is our Stillwater Commandery in a state of chaos?” 2417 “You don’t know?” Immortal Diancai didn’t understand. “I just returned to the Grand Xia, and I didn’t have a chance to chat too much with old brother Fivecraze before you left your meditations, Master,” Ning said. Immortal Diancai nodded. “Then I’ll give you a rough idea. Stillwater Commandery…right, roughly ten years ago, that friend of yours named Northmont Baiwei suffered an assassination attempt and nearly died. The assassination attempt was here in Stillwater City!” “What?!” Ning was shocked. “Within Stillwater City? But…but this is a direct challenge to the Grand Xia Dynasty!” Violence was forbidden within the commandery cities of the Grand Xia. This was the law! When the likes of the Youngflame clan sent out the likes of Immortal Floatcloud, they were sending out Deathsworn who were willing to die! “How is Northmont Baiwei doing now?” Ning asked. “He was lucky enough to survive, and so he’s naturally doing fine,” Immortal Diancai said. “During the past twenty, thirty years…there have been more than a hundred assassination’s within Stillwater Commandery. Although we all suspect that it was the Blood God Church behind them, that’s just our suspicion; we have no proof. Without proof, it isn’t appropriate for the Grand Xia Dynasty to intervene.” Ning said, puzzled, “The Blood God Church…one of the eight great powers of Stillwater Commandery? They have this sort of audacity?” More than a hundred assassinations within Stillwater City…this was too crazy. “Why wouldn’t they? They have more audacity than you can imagine.” Immortal Diancai shook his head. “The Blood God Church has always been an association of madmen…and in recent days, they have exploded forth with astonishing power. They butted heads with the Northmont clan multiple times recently, and it was actually the Northmont clan that was at a disadvantage each time.” “What?!” Ning could hardly believe it. The Northmont clan of Stillwater held the marquisate for this entire region! The Blood God Church was merely one of the eight strongest powers here. Logically speaking, if the Northmont clan wanted to deal with the Blood God Church, it wouldn’t be too hard for them to completely wipe it out. “The Blood God Church’s power is far greater than it appeared in the past,” Immortal Diancai said. “The leader of the Blood God Church battled against Celestial Immortal Hunchmont…and even Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was unable to do anything to him. Quite a few bases and cultivator armies of the Northmont clan have been forcibly wiped out and uprooted by the Blood God Church. In battles at the Loose Immortal level or at lower levels, the Northmont clan has never been able to seize the upper hand. All that can be said is that both sides are fighting a tight battle against each other.” 2418 Ning could scarcely believe what he was hearing. An exalted marquisate was actually unable to wipe out just one of eight major powers within its demesnes? “The leader of the Blood God Church wasn’t this powerful in the past.” Immortal Diancai shook his head. “I even fought with him, the ‘Son of the Blood God’, in the past. In such a short period of time…he’s actually raised his power to the Celestial Immortal level.” Ning nodded. “The Northmont clan of Stillwater is feeling some pain now. They want to pull in the other powers to deal with the Blood God Church together,” Immortal Diancai said. “But not just our own Stillwater Commandery is in a state of chaos; the entire Grand Xia Dynasty is in a state of chaos. How could the various tribes and schools dare act rashly?” “How could things have ended up this way?” Ning frowned. The entire Grand Xia was in a state of chaos; it seemed as though the previous order had already been torn apart. It was as though there was an incomparably terrifying invisible hand moving behind the scenes, guiding everything. “The storm sweeping the entire Grand Xia world, the sudden increase in power of the Blood God School…these things have caused us to guess that there should be a tremendous secret behind the rise of the Blood God School. Ji Ning, you must not be a fool and charge blindly forward into it. This is something for the Northmont clan to worry about,” Immortal Diancai instructed. “During a storm, during a tribulation…you need to be extremely careful.” “Right.” Ning nodded. “Master, go rest for now. I’m going to go meet with my fellow disciples.” “Your fellow disciples? Do you know where your junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson, has gone?” Immortal Diancai asked. “No idea. We haven’t met for thirty-plus years; I was planning to go see him.” Puzzled, Ning asked, “What, where is he?” Immortal Diancai shook his head. “More than twenty years ago, Mu Northson and his Dao-companion both disappeared!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Missing?” Ji Ning’s heart trembled. He hurriedly asked, “Since when did he get a Dao-companion? Who is his Dao-companion? And this ‘disappearing’ that happened twenty-plus years ago; are there no clues about it at all? Can’t we ask the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to help out?” Upon seeing now nervous Ning was, Immortal Diancai immediately explained, “After you became the champion of the Conclave, some of the disciples of the Black-White College that were outside returned here. Mu Northson returned to Stillwater City as well, spending most of his time training in his art of cconstructs. Occasionally, he would gather with Northmont Baiwei as well as some of the other members of the younger generation here in Stillwater City. During one of these gatherings, he met with a female disciple of the Thousand Rivers School, ‘Adept Yuxia’. Soon after they met, they grew to be quite close and ended up becoming Dao-companions.” “These two Dao-companions had very deep feelings for each other, and quite a few members of the younger generation here in Stillwater City envied them. They were a celebrated couple.” “But after a period of time, both he and his Dao-companion vanished. Generally speaking, when disciples of the Black-White College go out adventuring, they will inform people within the College, or leave behind a message of some sort. But neither Mu Northson nor Adept Yuxia left any messages; they just vanished.” “The Black-White College looked into this matter; we even asked the Northmont clan of Stillwater to help out, as well as the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. However, we were still unable to find any traces of them.” “They seemed to have completely vanished from this world!” Hearing his master’s words, Ning grew even more panicked. He said hurriedly, “Can it be that there have been traces of them in the past twenty-plus years?” “None.” Immortal Diancai shook his head. Ning was really worried now. It didn’t add up. This made no sense at all. Northson wasn’t the unreliable sort. Northson was a true lifelong friend for Ning, and friends with others besides! If he truly did have to leave because of an important reason, he would’ve left a message for Ning at least. “During the past twenty-plus years, even the number one intelligence organization in the world, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, wasn’t able to find any trace of him at all,” Immortal Diancai said. “Northson’s parents died long ago; he had no other kin. Adept Yuxia, however, did have a tribe behind her, with both parents and elders; both of her parents are alive, but they don’t have any news of her either.” 2420 “However…don’t panic,” Immortal Diancai said. “His life-tablet?” Ning immediately asked. Given how long Northson had been missing for, he was very possibly dead. “Mu Northson’s life-tablet remains intact…but his Dao-companion’s has shattered,” Immortal Diancai said. “Neither of them left behind any messages before disappearing; they should’ve both met an unusual circumstance. However…Northson has remained alive during the past twenty-plus years. He probably won’t die that easily.” Ning was worried now. Northson’s Dao-companion had perished! This meant that their disappearance involved a matter of great danger! “Since he’s alive, my best guess is that he is trapped in a special area that he can’t leave for now,” Immortal Diancai said. “Right.” Ning nodded. No matter what, he had to find out a way to investigate. “Go and rest for now. I’m going back into my closed-door meditation,” Immortal Diancai said. “The three sword-arts manuals you gave me have inspired me significantly; if there’s nothing important, don’t bother me. I’m going to be in seclusion for an extended period of time. Most likely, once this seclusion ends, I will begin my Celestial Tribulation.” “That fast?” Ning hadn’t expected his master to be in such a rush even after he had given his master those three sword-arts tomes. “I believe these three sword-arts tomes will be enough to allow my sword techniques to rise to a higher level in a short period of time. However…the reason I can rise to a higher level in such a short time is because of all of my accumulated experiences over the past years! If I want to rise any further, however, I’ll probably need another century, or perhaps even longer…and I have the feeling that I can’t wait that long!” Immortal Diancai said softly, “That sense of pressure and threat which my subconscious can sense…it is telling me that I cannot afford to waste any time.” Ning nodded solemnly. …… After separating from his master, Ning returned to the Darknorth Peak, the place within the Black-White College which was reserved for him. A sumptuous feast had been prepared within a courtyard inside Darknorth Peak. While Ning had been chatting with Immortal Diancai, he had instructed the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing to go back to Darknorth Peak. “Senior apprentice-brother.” Three figures within the hall bowed reverently. A short little figure fell to his knees. “I pay my respects to you, elder.” Ning swept them with his gaze. One of the three was Meng Roch, who looked as honest as always but now seemed even more muscular than before. Next to him was a tall, skinny youth with a deep gaze; this was Cloudship, who was now far calmer and more stable than he had been before. Finally, there was a woman dressed in black gauze, whose gaze remained as charismatic and alluring as before; Cloudjade, who had been so young and fresh. She was holding the hand of a child in her own. “Eh?” Ning’s gaze fell upon the child. “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, this is my child, Cloudease,” Cloudjade said nervously. “We haven’t met for a few decades…to think you have a child now!” Ning laughed, then nodded. “Meng Roch, it seems you are quite talented as a Fiendgod Body Refiner; you’ve already trained to the Wanxiang level. Cloudship, you have done well too.” As he spoke, Ning sat down. “Come, all of you, sit,” Ning said with a laugh. Immediately, all the others sat down as well. “Years ago, when we heard that you became the champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, and that your Primaltwin had killed a Loose Immortal, all of us were filled with veneration and admiration. Now, we’ve finally met you again, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning,” Cloudship laughed. Ning nodded calmly. “Right. Have you been well, these past years? Weifang, Forgard, Nethersun; where are they?” He had taken on a total of six retainers. They were Meng Roch, Cloudship, Cloudjade, Weifang, Forgard, and Nethersun. “Should I…or should…” Cloudship looked towards Roch and Cloudjade. “Big brother, why don’t you tell him,” Cloudjade said. Roch nodded as well. Cloudship looked towards Ning, then said, “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you have left Darknorth Peak for nearly forty years. Ever since you left, the six of us trained diligently. Meng Roch is extremely talented as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and so focused on that, rarely leaving the College. Nethersun, Forgard, Weifang, and myself would often go out and adventure.” 2422 “Forgard was originally very powerful, but his potential was limited, and he improved very slowly. Roughly ten years ago, when adventuring, he was killed by another peak Zifu Disciple,” Cloudship said. Ning immediately sighed. Forgard… He had been a loyal guard of Northmont Baiwei. He had appeared quite simple and honest, and Ning originally had high expectations for him. However…after getting to know him, Ning had realized that Forgard had slowly begun to change after entering the Black-White College, causing Ning to feel rather disappointed. And now, unexpectedly, he had ended up dying. “Weifang was extremely talented, even more so than the rest of us,” Cloudship said. “However…he became Dao-companions with a female cultivator of the Hundred Flowers Fairyland. There ended up being some disputes between him and that female cultivator, and in the end, a senior apprentice-brother of that female cultivator actually killed him.” “What?!” Ning was shocked. He had heard long ago that some Dao-companions would grow to hate each other, betray each other, and even fight against each other. But he really didn’t expect that this would happen to one of his six retainers! “Nethersun?” Ning asked. “Is he dead too?” “Nethersun left long ago. He went back to his homeland. Based on what he said to us when he left, he probably won’t come back in the future. He will probably stay back at his homeland and protect it,” Cloudship said. Ning nodded gently. “Cloudjade became Dao-companions with a young master of the Eastriver clan, Eastriver Bluecloud,” Cloudship said, and as he did, he instantly grew so angry he began to grind his teeth. “Eastriver Bluecloud was a rare genius, and he even became a member of our Black-White College. Because he also likes to train in the sword, others often flattered him as the ‘second Immortal Darknorth’. However, compared to you, senior apprentice-brother, he is unfathomably inferior.” Ning drank his wine, listening. “Both I and my little sister misjudged him. He came from a large clan, after all, and was quite young; after he entered the Black-White College, especially after he started hanging around with some of the other young masters of Stillwater City, he changed. He began to buy quite a few female slaves to play with, and he even started to hit and curse at my little sister. Enraged, she separated from him, then brought little Cloudease back to Darknorth Peak. Eastriver Bluecloud even wanted to cause her some trouble, but 2423 thanks to your reputation, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, he didn’t dare to act too rashly,” Cloudship said. Cloudjade sat there, eyes red. She said softly, “I’ve embarrassed myself before you, senior apprenticebrother.” Ning sighed. Cloudjade truly was an extremely alluring beauty. When she had first entered the Black-White College, Ning’s own subordinates including Weifang, Nethersun, and Forgard had all pursued and courted her. There were quite a few ordinary disciples within the Black-White College who had courted her, but she had her sights set higher and had taken an interest in none of them. Who would’ve thought that in the end, she would end up choosing a talented young master of the Eastriver clan, Eastriver Bluecloud, a formal disciple of the Black-White College? Unfortunately… In the end…this had been her aftermath. “Brother Meng Roch has become the most formidable of us,” Cloudship said. “Brother Meng Roch is extremely talented as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and in fact Immortal Fivecraze took a liking to him and took him on as a disciple, making him a formal disciple of the Black-White College. He has his own mountain peak now, but he’s always continued to live here, not moving away.” “Oh?” Ning looked towards Roch with surprise, then laughed. “You’ve become a formal disciple? Old brother Fivecraze has exceptionally astute judgment; since he’s taken a liking to you, it must mean that your future truly is limitless.” “If it hadn’t been for you, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, helping me enter the Black-White College so many years ago…I don’t know where I would be right now,” Roch said honestly. Ning nodded. Roch didn’t show the slightest bit of arrogance; it seemed as though of his six retainers, Roch was the only one who was particularly impressive. “That’s the other five. As for me…” Cloudship chortled. “Only after training for many years did I discover that I actually like the art of constructs.” Ning let out a sigh. Six retainers. Two died. One returned home. Cloudship was low-key, while the devilishly alluring Cloudjade was now a single mother. Only Roch, who had originally been the weakest of the six, had suddenly soared in status, becoming a formal disciple of the Black-White College. Ji Ning had returned to the Black-White College. When he was strolling outside with Immortal Diancai, many disciples of the Black-White College saw him. News of this quickly spread, and the Heavenly Treasures Mountain naturally learned of this as well. “The champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, Ji Ning, has once more returned to the Black-White College after a thirty-year disappearance.” “Quick.” “Spread the word.” More than a thousand Immortal cultivators were sending out intelligence reports. There were many, many people who were paying attention to Ji Ning in the Grand Xia world. Aside from the likes of Ninelotus, Princess Xiyue, and the Youngflame clan, there were also many hidden powers that had long ago turned their attention to Ji Ning, the champion of the Conclave who had so mysteriously vanished! After all…everyone knew how extraordinary that Conclave had been. That was a Conclave where two participants had been chosen by Daofathers to become personal disciples! Ji Ning had been the champion of that Conclave, but he hadn’t become a member of Daofather Crimsonbright’s league; instead, he had vanished without a trace. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. the Grand Xia At the very peak of a grand mountain, there lay an ancient tower. A gray-robed figure was advancing towards the toward at high speed, like a streak of light. The entrance to the tower was guarded by a pair of black-armored guards. These two guards stretched out their arms, barring the entrance. One of them growled, “This is a restricted area. No access permitted.” “I’ve come per the orders of the clan leader. I have important news to report to the Patriarch.” The grayrobed man respectfully handed forward a hidebound scroll. “Mm.” One of the guards accepted the scroll, then entered the tower. As for the gray-robed man, he respectfully, quietly departed. The first floor of the tower. A tall, skinny elder with long, narrow eyes was seated silently in the lotus position; it was Celestial Immortal Arcanum of the Youngflame clan. “Patriarch.” The black-armored warrior entered, saluted respectfully, then offered the scroll with both hands. Patriarch Arcanum opened his eyes. Waving his hand, he caused the hidebound scroll to fly to him, then calmly instructed, “Leave me.” “Yes.” The black-armored guard hurriedly departed, once more taking up silent guard outside the entrance to the tower. He had been standing outside this tower for more than a hundred million years now; ever since he had been created, he had spent the majority of his life guarding this tower. Whoosh. Patriarch Arcanum unfurled the scroll, calmly looking at its contents. “Mm?” Patriarch Arcanum frowned. “That brat, Ji Ning, has returned? And not just him; even his spiritbeasts have returned, and both have actually reached the early Void level.” No one doubted that Ning had the ability to reach the Void level. After all, even before the Conclave had begun, Ning’s Primaltwin, at the peak Primal Daoist level, had been able to kill a Loose Immortal. It was very normal for Ning to become an Earth Immortal after thirty years. But for both his spirit-beasts to reach the Void level and become Earth Immortals…this was very abnormal. This was because humans had a much higher level of comprehension than monsters. For the two spiritbeasts to both become Void-level Earth Immortals clearly meant that they had already surpassed the level of comprehension necessary of Earth Immortals! Even though Whitewater Hounds and Azure Skysnakes were Godbeasts, logically speaking, they shouldn’t be able to train at such a pace! Monsters were innately slow at training. For them to train so quickly…they must have encountered some sort of unique fortune! “It seems that during his thirty-year disappearance, this Ji Ning must have had a stroke of luck.” Cold light flashed through Patriarch Arcanum’s long, narrow eyes. “Everyone.” Patriarch Arcanum suddenly called out, his voice passing through the void and entering another space. “Everyone!” “Everyone!” “Everyone!” His voice echoed within this other space. Whoosh! A black fog door appeared not too far away from Patriarch Arcanum. Four figures emerged from the black fog door. There was a handsome youth, an ancient elder, a big fellow who carried a large clock with one hand, and a wizened, white-haired elder whose eyes were shut. The four walked over, then sat down in the lotus position. “Arcanum, why have you called for us?” The handsome youth asked calmly. “What important matter has occurred, for you to call the four of us over?” The man holding the golden clock said in a low voice. The other two were silent. All of them were Celestial Immortal Patriarchs; they were the true pillars of the Youngflame clan! Because of the dangerous undercurrents currently flowing within the world of the Grand Xia, even Celestial Immortals like them were being very cautious. All five of them, Patriarch Arcanum included, were stationed here and guarding this divine tower. “Everyone, take a look.” Patriarch Arcanum waved his hand, and the hidebound scroll flew out to levitate in midair. The four Celestial Immortals all took a look, and the wizened elder with closed eyes swept it within his coresense as well. “Ji Ning?” “That Ji Ning is back?” All of them frowned. Naturally, they all knew Ji Ning’s name. During the previous Conclave of Immortal Destiny, they weren’t yet aware of how special it was, but after its conclusion…the Grand Xia world began to be filled with dangerous undercurrents. In fact, a storm was about to burst upon the entire Three Realms…and so they understood that a great tribulation was about to come to pass. As they saw it, an enormous storm like this might be easily overcome by True Gods or Daofathers, but things would be dangerous for Celestial Immortals like them. During every single previous storm, large numbers of Celestial Immortals had perished. “The Three Realms are in a turbulent state. That previous Conclave will most likely have given birth to future major powers of the Three Realms. Two competitors in that Conclave became disciples of Daofathers!” Patriarch Arcanum growled, “And this Ji Ning; he became the champion of that Conclave. He disappeared in a mysterious fashion for thirty years, but didn’t become apprenticed to any of the Immortals or Fiends of the Crimsonbright League. And now, even his two spirit-beasts have both become Void-level Earth Immortals! Without question…during the past thirty years, this Ji Ning has had a tremendous stroke of luck!” “Mm.” “Agreed.” “He probably became apprenticed to one of the major forces of the Three Realms.” The other four Patriarchs all nodded in agreement. “He is a survivor of the Yuchi clan. Our Youngflame clan wiped out their entire lineage. His mother was named Yuchi Snow; all of Yuchi Snow’s kinsmen died in the hands of our Youngflame clansmen. This Ji Ning hates our Youngflame clan, without question,” Patriarch Arcanum said. “What’s more, our Youngflame clan even sent a Loose Immortal Deathsworn to assassinate him. It is most likely going to be very hard to resolve this enmity between us!” “I had originally thought that he would become apprenticed to a True Immortal or Empyrean God under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright, but unexpectedly he did not.” Patriarch Arcanum said excitedly, “If he had become apprenticed to Sword Immortal Evergreen, then for the sake of giving the Sword Immortal face, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to act. Now, however, we have nothing to worry 2428 about. Even if he became apprenticed to an expert of the Three Realms…that expert is not a member of the Crimsonbright League! He has no authority over us!” “Thus, I feel…that we need to eradicate him as soon as possible! While he is merely a Void-level Earth Immortal, we need to eradicate him!” Patriarch Arcanum was extremely forceful in his words. “That’s reasonable!” “Agreed.” “A pity we don’t know who his master is.” “Who cares who his master is? As long as he isn’t of our Crimsonbright League, what have we to worry about?” The various major powers of the Three Realms were like local hegemons that dominated a specific region. It was very sommon for the Fiends and Immortals under their command to fight against and slaught each other…and generally, the major powers wouldn’t intervene, so long as other major powers also didn’t intervene. The major powers would generally all be quite calm in watching those of the younger generation do battle. Even when disciples died…the only thing that could be said was that their skills were insufficient. Struggles and battles within the Three Realms were very common! Thus, as Patriarch Arcanum and the others saw it, Ning joining the Crimsonbright League would actually be much more troublesome; after all, that would mean they were all on the same side, and Ning’s master would be able to easily deal with them. Since Ning had not joined the Crimsonbright League…things had become much easier for Patriarch Arcanum and the others. “We have nothing to worry about, but it’s best to be cautious. I feel as though we need to figure out who his master is! The Three Realms have a number of madmen who are extremely protective of their disciples, and quite a few have even assaulted the Celestial Court in the past. One of them might just be willing to take revenge upon us for killing his disciple,” the handsome youth said. “Mmm.” “Sunfish’s words are reasonable.” “Ji Ning’s master dared to abscond with him, giving our Crimsonbright League no face. I imagine his master…truly is an extremely audacious fellow.” Patriarch Arcanum, hearing the words of his peers, couldn’t help but frown. “What are you afraid of? First of all, there’s very few madmen who would be truly willing to assault the territory of our Crimsonbright 2429 League; I refuse to believe that one of them just so happens to be his master. Secondly…even if one of them is, given the state of chaos the Three Realms are in, who would dare to act rashly in a time like this, even if they would do so normally?” “Arcanum’s words are reasonable, but as I see it, we should invite the Bloodcloud Hall to do it,” said the wizened elder whose eyes remained closed this entire time. Instantly, the room fell silent. “Ask the Bloodcloud Hall?” “That’s going to cost quite a price.” “I imagine the Bloodcloud Hall will ask quite a bit.” Patriarch Arcanum, on the other hand, actually nodded. “Drywood’s words are correct. Since everyone is worried about the mysterious master behind Ji Ning, then let us have the Bloodcloud Hall act instead. When they take on missions, they swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens not to reveal anything; they won’t let anyone know that it was us who asked them to do it. Spending a bit of treasure to buy some peace of mind…I feel that it is worth it!” “Fine. I agree.” “Right. It’s best to invite the Bloodcloud Hall; we can just consider it as us using some treasure to purchase Ji Ning’s life.” “It’s settled, then.” “Patriarch, you handle this matter.” Patriarch Arcanum nodded lightly. Naturally, he wouldn’t decline. That very day, he quietly left this tower and headed to the Bloodcloud Hall. …… Deep within an enormous mountain that stretched hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Patriarch Arcanum arrived within a mountain gorge, holding an insignia. The mist within the gorge swirled everywhere, but deep within it, a large, tall teleportation tower could be seen. “This way, please.” There was a member of the Bloodcloud Hall standing there, looking at Patriarch Arcanum. With a single step, Patriarch Arcanum entered the grand teleportation array. The teleportation tower then lit up, and swoosh! Patriarch Arcanum disappeared. …… “Eh?” Patriarch Arcanum stood atop the clouds. Here, atop the clouds, there was another towering teleportation array. Patriarch Arcanum stared into the distance. He saw a vast, endless sea of blood-colored clouds, and the faint outlines of a building hidden deep within it. “That’s the Bloodcloud Hall?” Patriarch Arcanum felt startled. The Bloodcloud Hall… This was an extremely mysterious power. It had suddenly appeared thirty years ago, and it had handed these insignias to all of the major powers of the Grand Xia world. Only supreme powers of the likes of the Northmont clan of Stillwater or the Youngflame clan were qualified to receive these insignias. As for powers on the level the Black-White College, they weren’t even qualified to know about the Bloodcloud Hall’s existence. By relying on the insignia, one could go to some mysterious places, then be teleported to a completely different world. Bloodcloud Hall was within this mysterious world. No one knew there the Bloodcloud Hall was actually located! “As long as one is willing to pay the price, any Immortal or Fiend in the world of the Grand Xia aside from the Xia Emperor can be assassinated by our Bloodcloud Hall!” These were the bold words issued forth by the Bloodcloud Hall. And indeed, they truly did have tremendous, terrifying power; during the past thirty short years, they had already assassinated more than ten Celestial Immortal Patriarchs! Bloodcloud Hall had thus become acknowledged by all the supreme powers as the ‘numer one assassin’s guild of the Grand Xia’. Bloodcloud Hall also protected its customers’ information, to the point of even swearing oaths to the Dao of the Heavens to not leak any of it at all. Whoosh! Patriarch Arcanum was quickly led to a quiet flower garden. Although he was led here, Patriarch Arcanum wasn’t sure about the path he had taken. “This Bloodcloud Hall must be an enormous, powerful estate-type magic treasure. Space within it is in a state of flux, and so I cannot determine the true pattern within it.” Within theflower garden. A silver-robed maiden was seated opposite of Patriarch Arcanum. Between the two of them lay a stone table, with a scroll placed atop it. The scroll was their contract. “Kill Ji Ning?” The silver-robed maiden said softly, “He was the champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. He disappeared for thirty years; he was most likely taken by a True Immortal or Empyrean God as a disciple. In fact, there’s a sliver of a chance that it was a Daofather who took on a genius like him for a disciple. His Primaltwin was able to defeat a Loose Immortal all those years ago; I imagine his power must be much, much higher now. He might even be comparable to a Loose Immortal who has lived for a million years.” “Are you taking the mission or not?” Patriarch Arcanum growled. “We are. Of course we are.” The silver-robed woman laughed calmly. “As long as you are willing to pay the price.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Price? What sort of price?” Patriarch Arcanum’s long, slender eyes narrowed as he looked at the silverrobed maiden. The silver-robed maiden responded with a calm smile, “For example…three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic items, or items of equivalent value.” The corners of Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes instantly twitched. “Top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures? Three of them?” Patriarch Arcanum had heard that the Bloodcloud Hall charged a high price, but he was still stunned by what they requested. “This Ji Ning has only trained for around seventy years!” Patriarch Arcanum couldn’t help but growl, “Less than a century! He is currently at most comparable to a Loose Immortal who has lived for five hundred thousand years! The chances of him being comparable to a Loose Immortal who has lived for a million years is virtually negligible. To kill a young fellow like him, you want to charge me three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures?” “Don’t get angry. This is a business deal; both of us have to be willing to take part in it.” The silver-robed maiden laughed. “Indeed, the chance that Ji Ning has the power of a Loose Immortal who has lived a million years is very low…but the main issue with this mission does not lie with Ji Ning himself; Bloodcloud Hall holds a young fellow like him in no regard at all. The main issue with this mission is the master who stands behind him! He was the champion of the Conclave. His thirty-year disappearance…no one knows who his master is! Perhaps as we assassinate him, he will shatter some sort of talisman and his master will suddenly appear! Bloodcloud Hall estimates his master to be a True Immortal or Empyrean God at the very least; once his master appears, the squad which we sent out will undoubtedly perish! Since we are taking on a major risk, we naturally are going to request a high price!” A Pure Yang True Immortal or an Empyrean God; either would be considered an expert of the Three Realms. In the world of the Grand Xia, the Xia Emperor was the only Pure Yang True Immortal present! If the assassins Bloodcloud Hall sent out were to run into True Immortals or Empyrean Gods, they would unquestionably perish. “Hmph.” Patriarch Arcanum shook his head. “Stop trying to fool me. When experts of the Three Realms train disciples, they all let them go out into the world to experience danger on their own. If their disciples are killed, those disciples can only blame themselves for being less skilled than their foes! How can experts and major powers of the Three Realms so casually intervene? That would be the same as abusing those of a lower status!” 2433 The silver-robed maiden smiled. “Ji Ning’s background is significant. Three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic items, or treasures of an equivalent value. This is what Bloodcloud Hall requires!” “You…” Patriarch Arcanum gritted his teeth. “If you are unwilling, then you can leave, Celestial Immortal Arcanum.” The silver-robed maiden continued to smile at him. “Fine!” Patriarch Arcanum gritted his teeth, then pulled out some Immortal pills, spirit-ingredients, Immortalranked magic treasures, and an enormous amount of liquefied elemental essence. Although he had come prepared…top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures were very important for Celestial Immortals, and the Youngflame clan wouldn’t easily hand them out. They would rather use other treasures to make up for them. “This should be enough.” A savage light flashed through Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes. His heart was bleeding at the cost. “It is enough.” The silver-robed maiden nodded. “Celestial Immortal Arcanum, don’t worry; Bloodcloud Hall definitely won’t inform others of this assignment. I can swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens regarding this. As for Ji Ning…Bloodcloud Hall will make careful preparations, so as to ensure our success. Within a year’s time, he will die.” “Good. I’ll await the good word from you, then.” Patriarch Arcanum nodded. Three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures. This was a price that was neither high nor low. Celestial Immortals who had lived as long as he had would generally all have several top-grade Immortalranked magic treasures on them. In fact, some truly supreme Celestial Immortal Patriarchs might even have Pure Yang treasures on them! Thus, for the Youngflame clan as a whole, producing three top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures would cause a bit of heartache but not bankrupt them. At a critical time like this, with the Three Realms in a state of turbulence, they were willing to pay this level of price in order to eliminate a threat. …… The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Ning was standing atop a cloud, flying through the wide streets of the imperial capital. He had spent a day within the Black-White College of Stillwater, then had visited his good friend Northmont Baiwei before heading to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. This was a time of turbulence in the Three Realms, after all; the sooner he could purchase materials for setting up formations, the better. “King Yan’s Estate.” Ning saw a familiar estate from the distance. After having arrived, he was naturally going to first visit his cousin before going to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Swoosh. Ning led the Whitewater Hound in flying to the estate, Little Qing wrapped around his arm as always. “You are young master Ji Ning?” The estate guards recognized him right away, and they revealed looks of surprise on their faces. Thirty years was a fairly short period of time for Immortal cultivators; they had begun their services here well over thirty years ago, and so they naturally recognized him. “I wish to see the princess,” Ning said. “Young master Ji Ning, please wait a moment. I’ll go make the report right away.” Instantly, a guard flew into the estate to make the report. Soon, a group of people came out from the estate, the leader being his cousin, Princess Xiyue. “Ji Ning.” Princess Xiyue looked at Ning, an expression of excitement instantly covering her face. “I just heard last night from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain that you returned. I was planning to go find you after finishing some affairs here.” “It should be me who comes to visit you, Princesss.” Ning noticed that next to her was a tall, handsome man with white skin who appeared to be rather close to her. He couldn’t help but laugh. “This is…?” “Oh.” An awkward expression appeared on Princess Xiyue’s face. She immediately said, “This is young master Feng Yungu from the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm.” “I’ve long heard of your famous name, brother Ji Ning. Today, I see that you truly are extraordinary.” The tall, handsome young master Yungu spoke in a modest manner. Ning gave him a glance, then nodded in secret; this Feng Yunge acted quite modestly and put on no airs. “Hurry on in. Why are you standing here in the doorway?” Princess Xiyue said hurriedly while sending a stealthy mental message to Ning. “Cousin, unless something unexpected happens, this young master Yungu will most likely become my husband.” “Ah?” Ning was mentally stunned. He hurriedly sent back, “Cousin, the two of you…?” “He will marry into King Yan’s Estate,” Princess Xiyue sent to him. “In the future, I am going to resurrect the Yuchi clan; thus, I can’t marry out into another clan. As for this young master Yungu…because the Grand Xia Dynasty is allied with the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm, quite a few of the imperial Xia clansmen have become Dao-companions with the disciples of the Windlocked Isles. I could tell that he’s not bad, and he’s also quite obedient; he was even willing to marry into King Yan’s Estate. That’s why I decided to accept him as my Dao-companion.” 2435 Ning now understood. The Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm? The Grand Xia Dynasty? “He’s not only willing to marry into her family, he’s also obedient to her wishes…and I can tell that he seems to be the humble sort.” Ning nodded privately. His cousin was completely focused on vengeance; a husband like this would perhaps be good for her. “Cousin, you don’t need to pay too much attention to young master Yungu; his status in the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm isn’t very high, and his power is ordinary, but he’s an extremely good-natured person,” Princess Xiyue sent. “However…another disciple of the Windlocked Isles is currently present within King Yan’s Estate. He, too, is pursuing me; he wants to marry me and take me back to the Windlocked Isles with him. His name is Feng Yunpeng; his status within the Windlocked Isles is extremely high! He is one of the two sons of the master of the Windlocked Isles, and the Grand Xia Emperor long ago instructed the imperial Xia clansmen are not to cause trouble with him. You need to be careful as well.” “Oh? Don’t worry,” Ning replied. …… They entered the estate. Yuchi Xiyue prepared a welcoming banquet for Ning. The three of them chatted quite happily with each other. Young master Yungu seemed to have a bit of an innately self-abasing character; in front of Ning, at least, he acted very modestly and self-deprecatingly. “Hahaha, I heard that the champion of the Grand Xia’s Conclave of Immortal Destiny, the peerless genius Ji Ning, had arrived here at King Yan’s Estate. Xiyue, why didn’t you inform me? You were wrong in not doing so.” Accompanying a loud laughter, a youth dressed in gaudy golden Daoist robes came walking in. The youth’s eyes twinkled like the stars, and his aura was quite extraordinary. Behind him were two powerful servants. One had the aura of a Fiendgod; he was most likely a Void-level Fiendgod! The other was an extremely powerful Loose Immortal. “Young master Yunpeng, I didn’t want to disturb you,” Princess Xiyue said with a laugh. “Please sit.” Feng Yungu hurriedly rose to give up his own seat, sitting down in a lower seat. As for young master Yunpeng, he sat down directly after Princess Xiyue, face to face with Ji Ning. “Ji Ning, this is young master Yunpeng, a genius of the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm. He, too, is an expert who is a Void-level Earth Immortal,” Princess Xiyue said hurriedly. “Greetings to you, young master Yunpeng,” Ning said, clasping his hands slightly. Young master Yunpeng gave Ning a clearly rather indifferent glance, but as he did, his face changed slightly. With a laugh, he said, “Oh, so you’ve become a Void-level Earth Immortal, Ji Ning.” “Just the early-stage Void-level. Compared to you, young master Yunpeng, I’m a bit lacking,” Ning said modestly. “Hahaha…” Young master Yunpeng laughed smugly. “I hear that you are on very good terms with Xiyue. You have to help me dissuade her! She’s insisting on marrying that useless thing over there; isn’t that an utter desecration of a heavenly treasure?” As he spoke, he gave the nearby Feng Yungu a disdainful look. No matter how good of a temper Feng Yungu had, he couldn’t prevent his face from changing…but immediately afterwards, he lowered his head slightly. Young master Yunpeng’s laughter became even more wanton. “Xiyue and I, by contrast, are a perfect match!” As he spoke, he reached his hand out to stroke Princess Xiyue’s. Princess Xiyue moved away slightly, her face sinking. “Young master Yunpeng.” “Fine, fine, fine. I won’t rush things.” Young master Yunpeng laughed. After all, Princess Xiyue had a Celestial Immortal, King Yan, behind her. Given that the Windlocked Isles were an ally of the Grand Xia Dynasty, he didn’t want to cause any problems either. “Young master Yunpeng.” Ning felt an extreme distaste towards this person, but he still changed the subject. “I hear that you come from the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm. I haven’t been to the Heaven Realm yet; why don’t you tell me about of the Heaven Realm and help broaden my horizons?” Young master Yunpeng frowned. Introduce the Heaven Realm? Him? Who did Ji Ning think he was? Asking him to introduce the Heaven Realm to him? Still…he gave Princess Xiyue a sidelong glance, then said with a calm snort, “The Heaven Realm is quite large. The eastern part of the Heaven Realm is managed by the Celestial Court, while the western side is managed by the Buddhists of Mount Ling 1. But of course, there are many asuras and devas who live throughout the Heaven Realm, and they have naturally joined together to form powers. Our Windlocked Isles can be considered one of those powers, I suppose.” “I heard that after you became the champion of the Conclave, Ji Ning, you decided not to take on Sword Immortal Evergreen as your master, and you also didn’t take on any of the Immortals or Fiends of Daofather Crimsonbright’s league as your master. Instead, you vanished…I wonder, where did you go, brother Ji Ning?” Young master Yunpeng’s eyes lit up as he asked this question; clearly, he was quite curious about this. “Naturally, I went to study with my master,” Ning said calmly. “Who?” Yunpeng asked. “Where did you study?” “Master has ordered that I cannot tell others.” Ning shook his head. Young master Yunpeng couldn’t help but frown. Ning disliked this young master Yunpeng very much. He immediately said, “Princess Xiyue, I’m going to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to buy some items. I’ll leave now.” 1. In Chinese mythology, Mount Ling is the place where the Buddha and his bodhisattvas reside. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In truth, Princess Xiyue could tell that this young master Yunpeng wasn’t a dcent person. Although Ji Ning had endured it for her sake, in his bones, he remained a proud person; if too much time passed, problems would most likely occur. She immediately agreed, “Alright, Ji Ning, you can go to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. We’ll meet some other time.” “The Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” Young master Yunpeng raised an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Ning, then immediately said, “Xiyue, it’s been a long time since we’ve gone to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Since brother Ji Ning is going, let’s go with him. Yungu, would you agree?” Feng Yungu had been sitting there quietly this entire time. Upon hearing young master Yunpeng speak, he hurriedly nodded. “Sure, sure.” Ning, seeing this, couldn’t help but frown. This person his cousin wanted to get married to was a bit too craven. “Xiyue!” Young master Yunpeng looked towards Princess Xiyue, who could only nod. “Fine, let’s go together then.” …… Ji Ning, Princess Xiyue, young master Yunpeng, and Feng Yungu were naturally accompanied by a host of servants. They all rode aboard an Immortal-ranked flying ship, and in an awe-inspiring manner, they flew out into the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. “This high-grade Immortal-ranked treasure-vessel of mine has been infused with an ‘Azure Polaris Spirit’; in terms of speed alone, it is comparable to a top-grade Immortal-ranked flying ship,” young master Yunpeng said in an extremely smug manner. Ning glanced sideways at him. This young master Yunpeng really did have quite a few treasures; to buy an Immortal-ranked flying ship such as this, even five million kilograms would be far from sufficient. “Little brother, just endure it for now,” Princess Xiyue sent mentally to Ning. “Although this young master Yunpeng is quite talented in cultivation, he is innately arrogant and overbearing. Still…since his Windlocked Isles and our Grand Xia Dynasty are allied, he wouldn’t dare cause too much trouble. Just ignore the crap he is spewing out, little brother.” 2439 “Cousin, given how arrogant and overbearing he is, why are you letting him remain within the King’s estate?” Ning sent back and asked, “I trust that if King Yan asked him to leave, he definitely wouldn’t stay.” “Although he’s arrogant and overbearing, he’s trying to woo me; naturally, he often buys some gifts for me,” Princess Xiyue said. “In order to rebuild the Yuchi clan in the future, I naturally need to store up some treasures for it.” “Cousin, you…” Ning was flabbergasted. “Are you starting to look down on me, cousin?” Princess Xiyue sent back calmly, “I don’t care about these matters; I swore an oath long ago that I would definitely carry out my father’s wishes. I will rebuild the Yuchi clan! For the sake of the Yuchi clan, I am willing to do anything…including give up my life! All I need to do right now is endure this young master Yunpeng’s nonsense and give him a bit of hope, and he’ll continue to often gift me with treasures.” Ning truly didn’t know what to say. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him take any advantage of me whatsoever; the best thing in the world is the thing you cannot get. If I let him take advantage of me, he wouldn’t be pursuing me in such a fervent manner. His treasures? I’ll take them. But him? In the end, he’ll just slink away in disgrace!” Princess Xiyue sent back. Ning could sense the determination within his cousin’s heart. He couldn’t help but say with worry, “That Feng Yungu…I feel as though the two of you…” “You feel he isn’t worth of me, right? It is precisely because he is an absolute good-for-nothing coward that I am willing to marry him. Otherwise…how could I be able to completely control him?” Princess Xiyue sent back. “Don’t worry. I have Grandpa’s help; I can take care of small matters like this.” “Cousin, if there’s anything you need, arrange for a message to be sent to me. Don’t forget that I, too, am of the Yuchi clan,” Ning sent mentally. “Right. I still have you, little brother,” Princess Xiyue sent back. The main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Within an extremely tall and luxuriously decorated banquet hall, a feast was in procession. The pillars outside this hall were so tall that someone standing atop the pillars could stare down at the entire imperial capital of the Grand Xia. “Young master Yunpeng, you brought little sister Xiyue again. It seems as though our Heavenly Treasures Mountain is about to have even more business come our way,” the white-robed Fairy Azurewillow said with a smile. “Hahaha! It pleases me to do this for Xiyue!” Young master Yunpeng laughed loudly, giving Ning a sidelong glance. On the way over, Ning and Yuchi Xiyue had constantly been sending mental messages to each other. Young master Yunpeng had noticed…that the relationship between them seemed to be clearly much closer than the relationship two ordinary friends would have! This caused him to feel rather displeased inside. “Hmph, he’s merely the champion of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Conclave! Today, here at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, I’m going to cause you to lose tremendous face!” “Brother Ji Ning, what have you come to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to purchase?” Young master Yunpeng said with a laugh. Ning said calmly, “Just some materials and raw ingredients.” Right at this moment, the Whitewater Hound by Ning’s side transformed into human form. Uncle White waved his hand and two hidebound scrolls flew from him to Ning. Uncle White sent mentally, “Ning, child, there’s a list of items here for setting down layers formations that are capable of overawing even Celestial Immortals, making them afraid to trespass within.” “The second list consists of the items necessary to set down three supremely ferocious formations that I found at Mount Innerheart. In addition, these three supremely ferocious formations can even link with each other…they are so powerful that I imagine even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would be wary of them. There is no way True Immortals and Empyrean Gods can force their way through these three formations; only True Immortals and Empyrean Gods who are experts at formations might be able to break them.” “They are that incredible?!” Ning was shocked. “However…the treasures needed on the second list are quite precious, even though they aren’t extremely rare,” Uncle White sent. “If you don’t have enough, then just buy the items on the first list; that will be enough.” …… Ning handed over the two hidebound scrolls to Fairy Azurewillow. “Fairy Azurewillow, take a look at the list of ingredients and materials on these two scrolls. Does your Heavenly Treasures Mountain have them?” “This is the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain; even if Celestial Immortals came here to shop, we’d be able to accommodate them, much less just a few precious materials.” Smiling, Fairy Azurewillow accepted the lists. Upon seeing the first one, however, her face instantly changed. She gave Ning a surprised glance, and then she looked at the second hidebound scroll. This time, Fairy Azurewillow was truly stunned! She was just a bit surprised upon seeing the first list, but the second list truly stunned her…because the items requested were simply too shocking! “I’m not cleared to handle something like this. A moment, please,” Fairy Azurewillow said. “Fine.” Ning nodded. “Fairy Azurewillow, even you aren’t cleared?” Young master Yunpeng, watching from the side, smirked. “It’s just a few ingredients and raw materials, not Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Can it be that the items which brother Ji Ning have chosen are extremely strange and rare?” Whoosh. A silver-haired man appeared out of nowhere within the hall. The invisible pressure and presence he gave off…everyone present understood that he was a Celestial Immortal! “Patriarch.” Fairy Azurewillow handed the two hidebound scrolls to him. “These are the lists of ingredients which Ji Ning needs. There are two lists.” The silver-haired man nodded, accepted the lists, then looked at the first one. He said calmly, “The first list will require 4.3 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!” Yuchi Xiyue, Feng Yungu, and the others all felt a sense of pressure. More than four million kilograms? “Pretty pricy,” the nearby young master Yunpeng said in a nonchalant manner. The silver-haired man then looked at the second hidebound scroll. When he did, even his face couldn’t help but change. After staring for a long moment, he lifted his head to look at Ning, a complicated look in his eyes. “Young friend Ji Ning…are you sure you aren’t playing a little joke on us?” “Since I’ve written a list, I naturally wish to buy the items on it,” Ning said calmly. “How much liquefied elemental essence does the second list cost?” Young master Yunpeng asked. He felt that he was quite wealthy and magnanimous; he would be able to afford even a top-grade Immortalranked magic treasure. “Liquefied elemental essence?” The silver-haired man shook his head. “Treasures like this…no amount of liquefied elemental essence is enough for them.” Young master Yunpeng’s face changed. Fairy Azurewillow, Princess Xiyue, Feng Yungu, and the others were all stunned. They were all fairly experienced, and so they knew…liquefied elemental essence was fairly useful for those below the 2442 Celestial Immortal level, but was of increasingly little use to the true experts of the Three Realms. For example, Ning had to use Immortal pills in order to train in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. True Immortals and Daofathers absorbed prodigious amounts of natural elemental ki; thus, ordinary liquefied elemental essence was like water to them; it was extremely common. True treasures could only be traded for using other treasures! “How much at least?” Ning asked. “At least ten top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures,” the silver-haired man said. “Or a low-grade Pure Yang treasure.” “Pure Yang treasure?” Everyone present was shocked. Ning, however, was quite calm. These materials were to be used to set up a series of formations so ferocious that they could block even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods, unless the True Immortals or Empyrean Gods were extremely skilled in the art of formations. To be able to set up formations of such power for the cost of merely a single low-grade Pure Yang magic treasure…that wasn’t bad at all. “At least ten top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures? Not even ordinary Celestial Immortals have that much. All of my treasures combined would most likely be worth just three or four top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures.” Young master Yunpeng felt an enormous pressure bear down upon him. He was proud of how wealthy he was and how many treasures he had, but he was now completely stunned. “There’s no way he can afford that. No way.” He stared fixedly at Ning. Everyone was staring at Ning. “Will this treasure suffice?” Ning waved his hand, and instantly a faint tidal wave of fire burst forth it. Within Ning’s palm there was a fiery arrow! This arrow was the arrow which Ning had acquired from the gorge within the Riverfang Mountains. The most precious treasures the Fiendgod corpse had on it consisted of the high-grade Protocosmic ‘Rahu Bow’ and the two fiery arrows. Truly powerful, divine archers all had custom-made arrows, and the price of each arrow was prodigious. Ning had chatted with the Rahu Bow before, and the Rahu Bow had said this: “This type of arrow is known as a ‘Firetruth Arrow’; although they are vastly inferior to me in value, each of them are still comparable to a low-grade Pure Yang treasure in value.” Ning had sighed in amazement upon hearing this as well. Every single arrow would cost him the equivalent of a low-grade Pure Yang treasure. How could he not feel heartache at the cost? Rumble…with the appearance of the flaming arrow came a powerful aura of might. “This is…?” The silver-haired man’s face changed. He carefully inspected the arrow, even using his coresense on it. “A single arrow?” Young master Yunpeng actually secretly shook his head. “Can it be that a single arrow is comparable to ten top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures?” Both Princess Xiyue and Fairy Azurewillow were puzzled. Although they were experienced, they knew very little about the truly powerful divine archers of the Three Realms. After inspecting the arrow for a long time, the silver-haired man looked towards Ning. He said in a low voice, “It suffices!” “I also need you to add an extra fifteen million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence into the deal!” Ning said calmly. Princess Xiyue and the others were all stunned. The silver-haired man hesitated a moment, then nodded seriously. “Fine. Our Heavenly Treasures Mountain can add another fifteen million kilograms into the mix!” Young master Yunpeng’s face changed. He couldn’t help but swallow, his earlier arrogance, smugness, and brashness all evaporating. His greatest source of pride was in his wealth, but he suddenly realized that a single arrow from Ning had completely crushed him in this respect. As for backers? Given that Ning had vanished for thirty years, he at least had a True Immortal or Empyrean God as a backer; in this respect as well, Ning was definitely not inferior to him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Princess Xiyue, Fairy Azurewillow, Feng Yungu, and the others were watching in amazement. That arrow in Ji Ning’s hand…it was actually worth such a precious amount of money! This was simply inconceivable. However…Ning had always been a man of mysteries. When he had first arrived at the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, he had purchased the elemental peacock plumes. Afterwards, he had seized the championship of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny…and then refused to accept Sword Immortal Evergreen as his master, instead disappearing for over thirty years. Upon his return, his power had increased greatly; for him to now produce an arrow of such great value wasn’t too inconceivable, all things considered! However, this arrow was simply too valuable; the likes of Princess Xiyue could only feel shock and awe, rather than jealousy. “Damn. Damn!” Young master Yunpeng, however, felt extremely jealous right now. He was the unhappiest of the lot. “How could the arrow which Ji Ning produced be worth this much?!” Young master Yunpeng knew that his personal strength was perhaps inferior to Ning’s, but he had felt certain that he had far more treasures! This was his greatest source of self-confidence…but a single arrow from Ning had completely crushed him in this regard. Young master Yunpeng felt unhappy. Deeply unhappy! “Fine. Then I’ll engage in this trade with the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” Ning said. “I’ll go make the arrangements.” The silver-haired man nodded, then immediately began sending mental messages to make the arrangements. Ning suddenly turned his head to glance at Princess Xiyue. Smiling, he said, “Princess, when I first entered the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, I was surrounded by danger, but you stretched out your hand to aid me. To this very day, I haven’t had a chance to repay you…if there’s anything you wish to buy today, Princess, then I, Ji Ning, will buy it for you as a gift.” “Eh?” Princess Xiyue was startled. “This Ji Ning…” A hint of anger instantly flashed past young master Yunpeng’s eyes. He had been wooing Princess Xiyue this entire time, and had been relying on his wealth to do so! For Ning to suddenly plan to give her gifts as well…if his gifts were more valuable, then that would be the same as crushing him underfoot. The nearby Feng Yungu raised his head to give Ning a glance as well. Fairy Azurewillow said, “Young master Ji Ning, Xiyue has been hoping for a mobile Immortal estate that she could carry on her person, but even the cheapest of such estates would cost at least five hundred thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. Alas, young master Yunpeng wasn’t quite willing to part with such a sum.” Young master Yunpeng’s face instantly turned white. Five hundred thousand kilograms wasn’t a small figure; it was enough to purchase an ordinary low-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure! If he were to casually toss out half a million kilograms just to chase after a girl…if this sort of gift-giving became habitual and he ended up failing, he would probably be out five million kilograms or more! Succeeding was one thing, but failure meant it would have all been for nothing! Although young master Yunpeng was the son of the master of the Windlocked Isles, he still had to calculate his expenditures. The most valuable gift he had given Princess Xiyue was worth merely a hundred or two hundred thousand kilograms or so; over the course of the past half year, all of his gifts combined were worth just barely half a million kilograms. “Azurewillow.” Princess Xiyue was rather unhappy. “A mobile Immortal estate?” Ning suddenly laughed. “I was once lucky enough to acquire such an estate, but since I already had one, I’ve never used the second one. It’s the perfect present for you, Princess.” Ning waved his hand, and a small, exquisitely designed Immortal estate appeared within his palm, glowing with golden light. Everyone present turned to look at it. “This Immortal estate…?” Everyone was curious. Even young master Yunpeng frowned as he looked at it; none of them could quite tell how valuable it was. Ning laughed. After he had successfully overcome the fifth level of the Wargod Hall, he had acquired a set of Heavenranked magic treasure, the Waterbreaker Godshark Swords. After becoming champion of the Conclave, he had arrived at Mount Innerheart, and during his thirty-plus years there Ning’s [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had broken through to the thirteenth stage. Since that represented an advance to the Primal Daoist level, he had been permitted to choose another Heaven-ranked magic treasure from the Treasure Hall. By then, Ning already knew that Heaven-ranked magic treasures weren’t going to be of much use to him in the future; what he needed was Immortal-ranked treasures. However…Ning couldn’t let this opportunity of choosing a treasure from the Treasure Hall to go to waste. Thus, Ning had chosen an item that was of fairly high value; simply put, he had chosen an item that he could use to sell for a great deal of liquefied elemental essence. Thus, he had chosen a mobile Immortal estate, a ‘Goldlight Immortal Estate’. Ning had been planning to sell it here to trade for Immortal-ranked magic treasures, but he had risen in power more quickly than even he had expected, and had acquired the treasures left behind by that ancient Fiendgod ccorpse. By now, this Goldlight Immortal Estate was nothing to him. Ning’s set of Waterbreaker Godshark Swords were worth roughly one million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence! This Goldlight Immortal Estate, however, was on an even higher level of value! “What generosity and magnanimity, young friend Ji Ning! Your gift to a beauty is actually an Immortal estate such as this.” The silver-haired man laughed. “This Immortal estate is worth at least four million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!” “Four million kilograms!?” Fairy Azurewillow, who had intentionally been causing some trouble, was shocked as well. “That much?” Princess Xiyue felt that this was far too much. Young master Yunpeng’s face became even more unsightly. “Four million kilograms…how can this Ji Ning be willing to give up an estate like this? How can he?!” He hadn’t even been willing to buy an Immortal estate that was worth half a million kilograms, but now Ning’s very first gift was worth four million kilograms. How could the ‘wealthy’ young master Yunpeng not feel choked? “It’s too much. Too much.” Princess Xiyue shook her head hurriedly. “This is nothing to me,” Ning laughed. “And I’m preparing to stay at King Yan’s Estate for quite some time; how can I stay for so long without bringing a little gift?” “Quite some time?” Young master Yunpeng felt even more miserable now. He was staying at King Yan’s Estate. If Ning stayed here as well, they would repeatedly run into each other. In terms of reputation…Ning surpassed him, as he had become champion of the Conclave. In terms of background…Ning’s backer was probably more formidable. In terms of personal strength…given that Ning’s Primaltwin had been able to kill Loose Immortals when it had been merely at the Primal Daoist level, there was no need to even compare the two of them. And now in terms of wealth…young master Yunpeng’s wealth had been his greatest source of confidence, but even in this regard, he had been crushed in an utterly dominating manner! More importantly of all… The princess didn’t like him! She would rather marry Feng Yungu than marry him. Previously, young master Yunpeng had felt that he was superior to Feng Yungu in every way, which was why he had felt so confident when staying at King Yan’s Estate. But now…Ji Ning had appeared! Ji Ning crushed in him every aspect, and he appeared to be so close to the princess! “Xiyue,” Young master Yunpeng suddenly said. “Hm?” Princess Xiyue looked towards him. Young master Yunpeng smiled. “I’ve spent quite a bit of time here at the Grand Xia Dynasty. It’s time to go back to the Heaven Realm. Help me convey my thanks to King Yan; I won’t be going back to King Yan’s Estate.” “Let’s go!” Young master Yunpeng immediately led his two servants away. Just like that… Young master Yunpeng departed! Princess Xiyue was startled for a moment, and then she looked towards Ning. She sent mentally, “Little brother, this was your plan all along, right? You wanted to force him to leave?” “He’s the son of the master of the Windlocked Isles; someone like him is naturally the proud sort. The reason why he was at King Yan’s Estate was because he felt he was superior to Feng Yungu in every way,” Ning sent back. “All I had to do was to make him feel as though he was inferior to me in every single way, as though he would feel miserable every time he saw me. Given that you don’t like him, cousin…of course he would choose to leave on his own, rather than feel angry all the time here!” “You…” Princess Xiyue sent resignedly, “Fine. Since you’ve chased off that little rich boy, you can put away your mobile Immortal estate. This is a critical point in time for you; you’ll need many treasures for the upcoming storm.” “Cousin, I gave you this Immortal estate, which means it is yours! A few million kilograms is a minor sum to me now; compared to this arrow of mine, it is worth far, far less. In addition, I’ve received an extra fifteen million kilograms today; there’s no need for you to refuse, cousin,” Ning sent back. Princess Xiyue looked towards Ning. “And…I really don’t want you to force yourself to suffer. Even if you are to choose a Dao-companion, you should choose someone you like. Don’t casually choose someone like this Feng Yungu,” Ning sent mentally. “Don’t let yourself suffer any further.” 2448 Princess Xiyue suddenly felt an ache in her heart. She couldn’t prevent the tears from coming to her eyes. “Treasures, liquefied elemental essence…your little brother has them!” “If enemies come…your little brother will help you kill them!” “Take this Immortal estate, elder sister. In the future, when your little brother grows even stronger…forget about Immortal-ranked magic treasures, I’ll even be able to casually gift you with a set of ten Pure Yang treasures,” Ning sent solemnly. Princess Xiyue looked at Ning. “Alright.” Ning smiled. The resurrection of the Yuchi clan! This wasn’t just his cousin’s wish; this was Ning’s wish as well. Although his mother had never spoken to him of it, Ning could sense that his mother had always been thinking of her Yuchi clan. His mother’s heart was not with the Ji clan; it had always been with her Yuchi clan. For the sake of his mother…Ning, too, wished to resurrect the Yuchi clan! Thus, this was a task for not just his cousin, but also himself! “Xiyue, look at how excited you are. You are so excited that you are crying!” Fairy Azurewillow laughed, “But if someone were to give me a mobile Immortal estate, I’d be extremely excited as well. Young master Ji Ning…” As she spoke, she looked towards Ning. “I found a Dao-companion long ago,” Ning said hurriedly. “Oh. I heard about this; the Rainbowflame Fairy, Yu Wei. She’s Patriarch Lu’s disciple.” Fairy Azurewillow suddenly turned her head as a black-robed elder walked over, respectfully handing over a storage-type bracelet to the silver-haired man. The silver-haired man handed it straight to Ning. “Young friend Ji Ning, take a look; are these the items from the list that you needed?” “Uncle White, take a look,” Ning said. Uncle White nodded. He immediately bound the storage bracelet, then quickly began to scan through the many precious materials within it. Someone without sufficient skill wouldn’t be able to set up such peerlessly ferocious formations, even if they had all the necessary materials. Even Uncle White merely understood how to set up these three supreme formations; he didn’t truly understand the mysteries within them. This was because they were 2449 simply far too complicated; that was why even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would find it hard to break through them. “Everything’s correct.” Uncle White nodded. The nearby silver-haired man instantly smiled, then handed Ning a jade bottle. “There are fifteen million kilograms within.” “Then let this arrow go to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” Ning handed it over to him. “Precisely speaking…it goes to the Xia Emperor,” the silver-haired man said with a laugh. Ning was startled for a moment, but then he nodded. Behind the Heavenly Treasures Mountain stood the Grand Xia Emperor. “Now that this deal is concluded…young friend Ji Ning, if you acquire any other treasures, our Heavenly Treasures Mountain will always welcome you here to sell them. I, Skyfox, will personally come welcome you.” Only now did the silver-haired man tell them his name. “Skyfox?” Ning was secretly startled. “So it’s him?” The Grand Xia Emperor had two spirit-beasts who had become Celestial Immortals. One was a skyfox, and it was this skyfox who had established the Heavenly Treasures Mountain for the Grand Xia Emperor. He was in complete control of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. …… Within the darkness of space. A blurred figured was seated in the lotus position. Suddenly, a silver-haired man appeared out of nowhere within the void. “Master, here is the arrow which Ji Ning just traded to our Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” The silverhaired man respectfully offered the arrow. The flaming arrow hovered there in space, emanating ripples of power. “This arrow…this is a Firetruth Arrow. It is the most famous type of arrow which was created by Divine Archer ‘Qi’ 1 of the Primordial Era. Even I would perish under the power of a single one of these arrows,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said in a low voice. He was of the lineage of the Primordial Imperial Clan, and had lived through that period of time. Even in the Primordial World of Pangu, there were only a few extremely famous divine archers. All of them had their own specialties, and anyone could recognize their arrows at a single glance. “When Pangu’s World was shattered, the most powerful treasures were quickly seized away by the various major powers. Since Ji Ning has acquired one of these arrows…then he most likely has a connection to one of those major powers; otherwise, how could he have acquired a treasure like this?! In addition, Ji Ning didn’t apprentice himself to anyone in Daofather Crimsonbright’s league…but Master actually ordered me not to investigate this matter. Ji Ning must have a Daofather behind him.” “Keep a close eye on Ji Ning. The Three Realms are currently in a state of chaos; Ji Ning can become our friend, but he absolutely must not become our enemy.” The black-robed Xia Emperor’s voice echoed forth within the darkness of the void.. Qi was the son of Yu the Great, founding emperor of the the historical Xia Dynasty. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Cousin, no need to send me off.” Ji Ning was bidding Princess Xiyue farewell in midair. “Didn’t you say earlier that you were going to stay at King Yan’s Estate for an extended period of time? Why are you leaving after shopping at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” Princess Xiyue truly didn’t wish to part with him. Her grandfather, King Yan, had just recently become a Celestial Immortal; thus, he spent much of his time in secluded meditation, and rarely had time to accompany her. In addition, Ji Ning was of a similar age to her; there were many topics she could discuss with him but not her grandfather. Naturally, she wanted him to stay longer by her side. “Given that the Grand Xia world is now filled with dangerous undercurrents, I need to go back as soon as possible and set up layers of formations around the Ji clan’s Swallow Mountain region,” Ning said. “I will permanently stay in the Swallow Mountain region. If you are free, you can come visit me there.” “Permanently?” Princess Xiyue was surprised. “Right.” Ning nodded. He had acquired many techniques at Mount Innerheart, be it Ki Refining, Fiendgod Body Refining, or sword-arts manuals. All of them provided guidance towards the level of Daofather of the Great Firmament. He also had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], the [Starseizing Hand], [Houyi’s Archery], and the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], some of the most supreme divine abilities of the Three Realms. He needed to spend time on training these techniques. Given that the Three Realms were about to be engulfed by a storm…Ning did indeed plan to permanently live at Serpentwing Lake as he awaited Yu Wei’s return. “That’s good. I’ll be able to find you there whenever I want. You need to be careful; my grandfather also told me that the world has been quite chaotic lately. Even multiple Celestial Immortals have perished,” Princess Xiyue said. “I know. Don’t worry. Others might be able to kill Celestial Immortals, but killing me will be very difficult,” Ning said. “Oh?” Princess Xiyue revealed a look of surprise. Ning laughed. “Don’t forget that I just returned after studying with my master. Alright, enough talk; I need to go now.” 2452 And then, Ning led Little Qing and Uncle White in using a spatial teleportation to vanish from the air above the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. “This little brother of mine…it seems as though these thirty-plus years have been extraordinary for him.” Princess Xiyue let out a relieved sigh. The more powerful Ning became, the more relaxed she would be. “However…his words were a bit too much. ‘Others might be able to kill Celestial Immortals, but killing him will be very difficult’? It’s like he’s implying he’s more powerful than Celestial Immortals. I imagine that his master probably bestowed some sort of protective item upon him.” Swoosh. Princess Xiyue charged downwards towards her residence, flying back into King Yan’s Estate. This time, Princess Xiyue’s guess was wrong. In terms of power, Ning truly was on the level of a Celestial Immortal Patriarch by now. Most importantly of all, Ning had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; it would be extremely difficult for others to injure him. And through the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’ the arcane art permitted…if he transformed into the Grand Xia Emperor, even King Yan probably wouldn’t be able to tell any difference at all. This was why, generally speaking, those who trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] were incredibly talented in staying alive. Ning’s training in the arcane art was the reason why Patriarch Subhuti had permitted Ning to depart from his tutelage. …… “Master, Ji Ning suddenly left Stillwater City and headed towards the imperial capital.” “The imperial capital remains the most dangerous place in the Grand Xia world for us. That’s not the place for the assassination. Continue to watch over him.” “Yes.” …… Swallow Mountain. After using a spatial teleport to return here from the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, Ning immediately summoned the high-level Ji clansmen. The latest generation of Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples were all clustered together in one hall, including the likes of Ji Mo and the others who had been provided guidance by Ning. Now that the clan had a stable footing, all of their talents received good resources for cultivation; their situation was far better than the situation had been in the past for Ji Ninefire, Ji Truekeep, and the others. Thus Ji Mo, for example, had already become a Wanxiang Adept. Only upon being summoned here did they learn that Ji Ning had returned! All of them were utterly overcome with joy. The younger generation of Ji clansmen had long ago begun to idolize Ning; after all, becoming the champion of the Conclave was something out of legends! That was an event where the geniuses of the entire world came together in a competition! “I agree! Of course I agree. Stillwater Commandery is in a chaotic state right now; if Uncle Ji Ning plans to set down layers of mighty formations around Swallow Mountain, then that means that our Ji clan shall have a foundation that will flourish for countless generations!” “Right. With these grand formations, we will no longer need to fear the Youngflame clan.” “I agree.” “I agree as well.” Not a single Ji clansmen was in opposition. Ning’s words were like music to their ears! Ning had told them that once the formations were established, even Celestial Immortal Patriarchs could forget about barging through them. Only individuals who surpassed the power of Celestial Immortals had a chance of making it through! It must be understood that in the entire world of the Grand Xia…even for the likes of ancient clans that had existed since the Fiendgod Era, such as the Northmont clan of Stillwater or the Youngflame clan, Celestial Immortals represented the height of their power. With these grand formations protecting it, Swallow Mountain would become an absolutely secure location; the Ji clan could safely and stably flourish within this place! A truly powerful clan had to have an extremely safe base. Some of them even hid their headquarters within unknown minor worlds! Naturally, the Ji clan wished for such a secure base as well. And Ning wasn’t lying when he had told them these things! The three supremely ferocious formations also included a ‘sealing’ component; this sort of grand sealing formation couldn’t be broken through technique, they had to be destroyed through raw force! Unless one had the power of a True Immortal or Empyrean God, there was no way whatsoever to break through. …… A snowy white hound was standing in the sky. Behind him, a series of glistening, gem-like rocks appeared out of nowhere. There were a total of 108 such rocks. The snowy white hound stared far away, towards the peak of a mountain. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Instantly, the stones hovering around him shot out like meteors, piercing deep into various parts of the mountain. Immediately afterwards…the mountain peak itself vanished, and circles of blurry light began to manifest around the mountain peak with the appearance of clouds. “The final formation-base of the ‘Eighteen Hypnotic Illusions’ has been established.” The snowy white hound let out a relieved sigh. “Arise!” As he activated the formation, every part of the Swallow Mountain region, including the mountain peaks, the rivers, the lakes, and the wildernesses all began to summon the elemental power of heaven and earth. At the same time, the various formation-bases began to resonate with each other, joining together into an enormous combination formation. Every single part of the formation came together in a marvelous, perfect manner. Soon, the entire hundred thousand kilometer region of Swallow Mountain seemed to have been transformed into a truly hypnotic, illusory area. Unless one had a talisman issued by the Ji clan, anyone who entered would immediately become forever lost within. Rumble… Serpentwing Lake. Ordinary mosquitoes were flying about, and some would often fly into Brightheart Island. In wild areas, mosquitoes were extremely common. However, these were very ordinary mosquitoes; they couldn’t even be considered monsters. Even Ning’s divine sense could find nothing strange about them at all. However…the core of this ‘Eighteen Hypnotic Illusions’ formation was Serpentwing Lake. After the formation was activated, although its core location of Serpentwing Lake appeared as ordinary as usual…there was now no way at all for these ordinary mosquitoes to fly towards Brightheart Island. …… An ordinary commandery city of the Grand Xia. Within an estate. Swoosh. A skinny man whose eyes glowed with green light suddenly appeared within the courtyard. In the courtyard, there was a black-robed man who was leisurely sipping tea. The man had long, unbound black hair, and in his forehead there was a vertical slit. “Master,” the skinny man said respectfully. “Mm?” The long-haired, black-robed man looked over. “What is it??” “The entire Swallow Mountain region has become covered by a strange illusory formation. Even my little ones are completely unable to penetrate it; they have become completely lost within it, and they aren’t even able to return.” A hint of resentment was in the green, glowing eyes of the skinny man. Those mosquitoes were indeed extremely ordinary, but they were linked to his mind; this was no easy task! “Oh?” The long-haired, black-robed man frowned. “An illusory formation? It seems as though Ji Ning has returned to Swallow Mountain to set down formations for it. It is fine; since the Ji clan wishes to establish Swallow Mountain as their foundation for flourishment, they will naturally need to maintain contact with the outside world. That means merchant caravans will be sent to and from it, and the Ji clan will guide them through the formations, ensuring them that they won’t be lost. You no longer have to worry about this matter any further; I will arrange for others to go keep a watch on things. Rest and build up your strength; I imagine that you won’t be able to recover your ‘little ones’.” After all, even if someone else was sent into Swallow Mountain, they wouldn’t be able to recognize which of the mosquitoes were ‘special’. “Alright,” the skinny man assented in a low voice, and then he departed. The long-haired, black-robed man quickly began to give instructions a different subordinate. This seemingly ordinary commandery city of the Grand Xia was, in reality, one of the important bases for Bloodcloud Hall. …… Time flowed out. Bloodcloud Hall used all sorts of tools to investigate. Mosquitoes, merchant caravans, scrying arts…even possession arts! They began to use every method they had to infiltrate Swallow Mountain! But as each of the great formations of the Whitewater Hound began to be erected, especially in the Serpentwing Lake region, it became rare for even the Ji clansmen to encounter Ji Ning. Only Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and a few others could go directly to see him. Even the likes of Ji Mo and the others had to first request a meeting. Thus, it became extremely hard for even Bloodcloud Hall to determine whether or not Ji Ning was actually staying at Serpentwing Lake. “Master.” The same ordinary commandery city as before. A white-haired elder said in a lowered voice, “Swallow Mountain is now surrounded by layers of grand formations. One of my clones was accompanying a merchant caravan in investigating the place, and the number of formations that I’ve already uncovered is enough to cause even Celestial Immortals to become lost after entering it. One has to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to flee the place. Now, it seems, Swallow Mountain is completely under Ji Ning’s control. Within this region, Ning can use the formations to his advantage; killing him there is extremely unlikely. Just investigating the various formations, especially the dangerous ones, is essentially suicide. I imagine a large number of Loose Immortals would have to die in the process.” “Right.” The long-haired, black-robed man nodded. “Since even you feel this way, Elder Chu, then it seems Swallow Mountain truly is not an appropriate place for assassination. Then…let us wait. Wait for Ji Ning to leave Swallow Mountain.” 2456 …… The very same day in which Elder Chu was making a report to Bloodcloud Hall. The skies above Brightheart Island was filled with plumes of snow. “After tirelessly working day and night for forty-nine days, I’ve finally set up the first of the three supremely lethal formations.” The white-robed Uncle White let out a laugh, but his gaze was filled with exhaustion. “I really didn’t dare to be slightest bit careless. If I was even slightly careless, everything would’ve gone wrong, and most likely some of those ingredients would’ve been imploded and destroyed by elemental energy.” “Sorry for the trouble, Uncle White.” Ning had an understanding of formations as well; he knew very well that even being able to merely set up these three supreme formations required one to have the ability of a grandmaster of formations. This was because even Ning felt his head grow dizzy when he simply looked at the arcane mysteries contained within the formations, to say nothing of actually laying them down. “It wasn’t so bad. I’ve already set up one of the three supreme formations; the entire Swallow Mountain region is already stabilized. I can take it a bit slower for the other two,” Uncle White said with a smile. As they were chatting. “Ji Ning.” A voice rang out from far away. Ning immediately arose and turned around; it was the voice of the clan leader, Ji Truekeep. “Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze of the Black-White College has arrived.” Truekeep walked over, Immortal Fivecraze by his side. “Big brother Fivecraze.” Ning immediately went forward to welcome him. Because he was now a Voidlevel Earth Immortal, according to the rules of the Black-White College, the two of them had to refer to each other as they would equals of the same generation. “Ji Ning, your master has left his secluded meditation. He is preparing to undergo his Celestial Tribulation in nine days!” Immortal Fivecraze said solemnly. “Nine days?!” Ning was instantly stunned. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “This is your master’s own decision,” Immortal Fivecraze said. Ji Ning immediately understood. The Celestial Tribulation was the most important event a cultivator would encounter in his life; generally speaking, they would choose to attempt it at a time whispered to them by their subconscious. Since his master had chosen to attempt it nine days hence, then that meant that his master would have the greatest chance of success nine days from now. But even though that would be the ‘greatest chance’…the chance was still comparatively slim. After all, the Grand Xia world had countless Void-level Earth Immortals, but often more than a million years would pass without a single Celestial immortal arising! Only in a time like this, when the Three Realms were in a state of upheaval, did the Grand Xia see multiple Earth Immortals overcome the tribulation during the past twenty, thirty years. But even then, only a few had succeeded. Spread out across 3600 commanderies and four seas…the chances were still extremely low!” “Very few people know that your master is attempting the Celestial Tribulation nine days from now. You can’t tell anyone,” Immortal Fivecraze instructed. “I understand.” Ning looked at the nearby Ji Truekeep. Truekeep nodded. “Don’t worry; I won’t tell anyone. Right…the two of you can chat in private.” Truekeep knew exactly how major a matter this was, and so he immediately departed. Within the hall, only Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound were left. “Your master is going to attempt the Celestial Tribulation, but his chances are less than one in ten thousand. The tribulation is simply too hard. Thus…we need to ensure that no one disturbs him,” Immortal Fivecraze said seriously. “That is why your master will definitely need protectors during his tribulation.” “Protectors?” Ning nodded. “I will naturally serve as a guardian for my master.” “I discussed this matter with your master already. This time, the only people protecting him shall be you and me; just the two of us,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Two?” Ning was surprised. “Your master has gained new insights after perusing the Dao-repositories you brought back to the BlackWhite College. His power has advanced exquisitely!” Immortal Fivecraze said. “I have gained insights as well, and my power is comparable to a Loose Immortal who has lived for six or seven hundred thousand years. The other Loose Immortals of the Black-White College, by comparison, are a bit weaker.” 2458 Ning nodded. “Your Primaltwin was able to kill Loose Immortals all those years ago, when it was merely a peak Primal Daoist. Given your training speed, I imagine it must now be at the late Void-level; after thirty years, you are probably no weaker than me,” Immortal Fivecraze said with a laugh. “There’s no need to be modest at a time like this; the more powerful you are, the more confident your master will feel during his tribulation.” Ning nodded. “I should…be no weaker than Immortal Northwalker was in the past!” Immortal Fivecraze was instantly startled. It must be understood that the Immortal path grew increasingly difficult as one progressed through it, and that the chances of becoming a Celestial Immortal were extremely low. The chances of becoming a True Immortal or Empyrean God? That was even rare, even if one’s vision spanned the entirety of the Three Realms. Every single commandery had Loose Immortals at the five hundred thousand year power level, but there were very few in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty who were at the level of a million year old Loose Immortal. As for Loose Immortals who had lived for millions of years…it was rare for the entire Grand Xia Dynasty to have a single such person! “You?” Immortal Fivecraze could hardly believe it. “My child Ning has long ago mastered the full nine stances of the [Three-Foot Sword]. He’s even improved on it,” the nearby Whitewater Hound said. “Excellent!” A look of wild joy appeared on Immortal Fivecraze’s face. He said jubilantly, “Wonderful, wonderful, absolutely wonderful! Ji Ning, in terms of sword-arts alone, you are probably the most powerful figure our Black-White College has ever seen!” Immortal Fivecraze sighed in absolute amazement. This Ji Ning who stood before him… He himself was like a sword! Swords were objects that were used to charge forward, to cut with incomparable sharpness! Ji Ning was like a sword who chopped through all the bushes and thorns that lay in his path. Years ago, as a youth, he had become the champion of the entire Conclave of Immortal Destiny! After the past thirty-plus years…he had mastered and even perfected the [Three-Foot Sword] of Immortal Northwalker, customizing it for his own use! What sort of talent was this? After a few more decades or a century, how powerful would he become? “The sword is my body.” “The sword is my life.” “The sword is my path.” 2459 Immortal Fivecraze nodded as he looked at Ning. “When every Sword Immortal embarks on the Dao of the Sword, they will understand their own sword-hearts and these principles. But understanding is easy; action is hard! There are very, very few who can truly reach this level, and in this vast world, countless Sword Immortals have fallen. I can sense, however, the towering sword-intent radiating from you, a sword-heart that is simply inconceivable. You truly were born to be a Sword Immortal.” In truth, many years ago, the likes of Lu Dongbin had already felt certain that Ning was born to be a peerless Sword Immortal. The reason for his current success was partially because of his experiences from his past life, but also because of his parents in this life. His father had given him a sword. His mother had given him a heart. …… After chatting for a short while, Ning asked, “Is master in a rush? If he isn’t in a rush, I’ll stay one more day here at Serpentwing Lake; I’ll reunite with all of you at the Black-White College tomorrow.” “We are planning to leave the Black-White College in three days and head to the chosen tribulation area,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “We have a day to spare. You can make your preparations here at Serpentwing Lake.” “What will be the tribulation area?” Ning couldn’t help but ask. “That is a secret for now,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Once your master’s enemies learn of it, they will immediately head to that location to attempt to ruin your master’s tribulation. Thus, the tribulation area is something which only your master knows at present. Even I don’t know. After we head arrive there, we shall know.” Ning laughed. “That’s for the best. If only master himself knows, there’s no fear of it leaking.” “Alright. Make your preparations; I’m leaving now.” Immortal Fivecraze left right away. Within the hall. Soon, Little Qing was called back by Ji Ning. Within the courtyard was Ji Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing. “Master is about to undergo his Celestial Tribulation. This matter is extremely important; we can’t be reckless in preparing for it,” Ning said with absolute solemnity. “That’s why both I and Uncle White are leaving…and we’ll leave Swallow Mountain in your hands, Little Qing.” 2460 The formations of Swallow Mountain were too numerous and too complicated. Even those lower-class formations required experts who were at least at the Primal Daoist level to completely control them. But right now, aside from Ning, the most powerful members of the Ji clan were only at the Wanxiang stage! As for the supreme formations…just activating them would require the power of a Void-level Earth Immortal, but there was no way Ning would teach the secrets of these formations to the monsters of the Witchriver Immortal Estate. “Actually, I really want to go as well. The Celestial Tribulation…I’ve never even…” Little Qing stopped midway through her words as Ning gave her a look. “Master, I know what really matters,” Little Qing hurriedly said with a laugh. “Uncle White, Little Qing…both of you, hurry up and raise your power to the late Void-level today,” Ning said. “These two jade bottles each contain 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence.” Ning trained in the [Darknorth Sutra], which allowed one to train all the way to the Daofather level, and yet his Primaltwin had only needed 2.5 million kilograms to go from the peak Primal stage to the late Void-level. Uncle White and Little Qing had both already reached the early Void-level; 2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence would be more than enough to let them reach the late Voidlevel.” “Remember, don’t train to the peak of the Void-level, no matter what,” Ning warned. “Don’t worry. We aren’t anywhere close to being prepared for the Celestial Tribulation.” …… While Uncle White and Little Qing trained, Ning’s true body entered the Still Room of the underwater estate. For the sake of his master’s tribulation, Ning was going to raise his power to the highest level possible as well! Fortunately, he had acquired 15 million kilograms at the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain; although he had spent some of it to purchase a few treasures, he still had more than ten million kilograms left! The handsome, delicate-looking fur-clad youth seated himself atop the netherwater jade bed. In front of him was a tiny jade bottle. “Begin.” A torrent of liquefied elemental essence flooded out from the jade bottle, forming an awe-inspiring lake within the Still Room. Around Ning, a dark vortex appeared, and the limitless amount of essence began to disappear as it drew near the dark vortex, having been sucked into Ning’s Zifu Region. Within the Zifu Region. His golden lotus, after absorbing an enormous amount of essence, began to shudder and grow out from within that scorching sea of Primal Fire. The golden lotus was constantly growing taller, and both its petals and its stem began to quickly increase in thickness. The elemental ki within the golden lotus grew increasingly pure as well, so pure that it would cause one’s heart to tremble. At the same time, that adorable little lotus seedpod at the very top of the golden lotus began to slowly increase in size, and within the heart of the lotus seedpod, an unripe lotus seed took form. “The late Void level!” Everything came to a halt. The now-enormous golden lotus swayed within the Primal Fire that blazed atop the back of the continent-sized Turtle-Snake. This golden lotus was now the absolute most dazzling ‘location’ within the entire Zifu region. Upon reaching the late Void level, the ‘Goldlotus Primal’ was already extremely powerful; it was just a hair away from complete perfection. The next day. Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing gathered together for a meal. They had all increased in power to the late Void-level the previous night. After the meal, Little Qing was left behind to protect Serpentwing Lake, while Ning led Uncle White towards the Black-White College. …… The Black-White College. Immortal Diancai’s abode. “Ji Ning, you came.” The black-robed Immortal Diancai was seated in the lotus position atop a jade bed, a calm look on his face. “Sit.” Next to him was a prayer mat, seated atop which was Immortal Fivecraze. Ning nodded, then sat down on another prayer mat while the Whitewater Hound lay down behind Ning. “I heard senior apprentice-brother Fivecraze say that you’ve already mastered the complete nine stances of the [Three-Foot Sword], and that you have perfected it?” Immortal Diancai said with a laugh. “Yes.” Ning nodded. Immortal Diancai smiled. “Good. With you having reached such a level in the sword…even if I fail my tribulation, I’ll still feel satisfied.” “Master, how can you say such things?” Ning said frantically. “I’m just making conversation. It seems you aren’t even as calm about this as I am,” Immortal Diancai said. Ning was silent. He was indeed nervous; after all, the chances of success were simply far, far too low. If his master were to fail… Immortal Diancai, seeing this, simply laughed. He understood Ning’s temperament very well; Ning was a passionate man who cared deeply about his feelings and his relationships! For the sake of his relationships, he could even give up his life! It was precisely because he had come to understand Ning’s personality over their many years of knowing each other that Immortal Diancai felt so extremely fond of this disciple of his. That was why he treated him with such sincerity. “This Whitewater Hound is coming as well?” Immortal Diancai asked. Ning nodded. “Master, don’t underestimate Uncle White. He is extremely talented in formations, and when I went to study from my master, Uncle White learned some extremely profound formations as well; he can be described as a grandmaster of formations. I wouldn’t dare proclaim him as being the best in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty…but here within Stillwater Commandery at least, he would be one of the top two.” “Oh?” Both Immortal Diancai and Immortal Fivecraze revealed looks of delight. Anyone who dared refer to himself as a grandmaster of formations would definitely be an extraordinary person. Ning laughed confidently. In terms of the Dao of Formations, Uncle White was indeed a grandmaster. In addition, however, Uncle White knew how to set up some extremely rare and exceedingly powerful formations, and so even other grandmasters of formations would lose to him in a competition of formations! That supremely ferocious formation that he had set up around Swallow Mountain, for example; most likely, there were extremely few people in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty who could set up such a powerful formation. But of course, the Grand Xia Dynasty definitely had individuals who were superior to Uncle White in formations; for example, that formation surrounding the imperial palace of the Grand Xia was something that only a truly major power could set up! It was several levels higher in power than the formations around Swallow Mountain. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Since you’ve arrived, Ji Ning, that means we are all present. Let’s head out tonight to the tribulation area, then,” Immortal Diancai said. Ning and Immortal Fivecraze exchanged a glance, then both nodded. “Fine. We’ll head out tonight.” This tribulation had to be kept top-secret. Ning and the others didn’t dare be even the slightest bit careless. Even during a normal situation, one would have to be extremely careful in attempting the Celestial Tribulation, but given that the Three Realms were currently in a state of chaos…Ning and the others naturally had to be even more careful than normal. Late night. Immortal Diancai, Immortal Fivecraze, Ji Ning, and the Whiteweater Hound stealthily used a spatial teleport to depart from Stillwater City. …… In the air above an awe-inspiringly vast sea, a spatial ripple suddenly appeared. Three human figures accompanied by a large, snowy white hound appeared from within the ripple. “Where are we?” Ning looked at the surrounding area. Because it had been his master, Immortal Diancai, who had used the spatial teleport, not even Ning knew where they were exactly. “The great Darknorth Sea,” Immortal Diancai said. “The location that I’ve chosen for my tribulation is a minor world which I discovered by accident when I was adventuring through the Darknorth Sea as a child. This minor world was extremely well-hidden, and it is extremely well-suited for attempting the tribulation. Follow me!” Clouds instantly appeared around them as Immortal Diancai used a technique to lead Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound in quickly flying forward. Soon, an island appeared in the distance. The island was scorchingly hot, as there was a live volcano atop it. “The entrance to that minor world is within the volcano on that island.” Immortal Diancai led the group to fly into the air above the island, then charged straight into the mouth of the volcano. The region within the volcano was extremely strange. A large amount of lava was bubbling and frothing about. Immortal Diancai quietly glanced at one corner of it, a complicated look in his eyes. He said softly, “In my youth, I was young and arrogant; I roamed the world in a fearless, untamed manner. And now, I am about to attempt my tribulation…life truly is a marvelous, strange thing.” Ning and Immortal Fivecraze could both sense that Immortal Diancai’s mood seemed rather off. “For this tribulation…if I fail, I shall die!” Immortal Diancai said softly. “If I die…then I’ll reunite with you, junior apprentice-sister.” Deep within his memory… There was a young, carefree, brilliant genius youth; Immortal Diancai, the number one peerless genius of his generation within the Black-White College. With him was a reincarnated Immortal maiden who was known as Fairy Drizzlerain, and who had countless admirers and pursuers. They adventured together, shoulder-to-shoulder, expericing life-and-death events together. They had roamed through countless places, entering mountain ranges and passing through seas. And then, one day, they had encountered an ancient Primal-level Fiendgod of fire. The ancient Fiendgod had emerged from within the lava…and their parting on that day truly became an eternal one. The flames of the Fiendgod caused his junior apprentice-sister’s soul to be shattered… “Master.” Ning was shocked. His master was actually planning to die if he failed? It must be understood that the Celestial Tribulation was extremely dangerous; even the Goldlotus Primal would be heavily wounded. Some would realize halfway through the tribulation that they wouldn’t be able to succeed, and so they would give up, choosing to become a Loose Immortal. Because the amount of damage sustained by each person’s Goldlotus Primal was different, the purity of the elemental ki would vary amongst Loose Immortals. Formidable ones were comparable to peak Void-level Earth Immortals, while weaker ones might only have elemental ki comparable to early-stage Void-level Earth Immortals. Some Earth Immortals, however, would go welcome the tribulation with the intent of rather dying to it than giving up! This did indeed give someone a significantly higher chance of overcoming the Celestial Tribulation. But at the very end, if they failed…then their souls would be shattered! “You still haven’t forgotten.” Immortal Fivecraze shook his head. “Forget? Why should I forget? How could I bear to forget?” Immortal Diancai replied softly. Ning said, “Master, leave yourself a sliver of a chance, so that you can have a chance at reincarnation. If you fail in this life, you might succeed in the next one.” 2465 “No need to try and dissuade me.” Immortal Diancai shook his head. “My decision is made. Let’s go. Let’s go inside.” Whoosh! The lava below them suddenly parted as Immortal Diancai led them deeper downwards. At the very deepest part, a winding tunnel suddenly appeared. Immortal Diancai led them through the tunnel in an extremely familiar manner, and a dark cave soon appeared before them. “Go in.” Immortal Diancai led Ji Ning and the others to fly into the black cave. …… This was a world that was filled with an infinite aura of death. Even the mountains had turned black, while the earth itself was a sickly yellow. Not a single hint of green could be seen, and no ordinary grass lived here. This world only had a strange type of vegetation that was pitch-black and covered by spikes. Whoosh… The side of a large mountain began to ripple and shake. Immortal Diancai, Immortal Fivecraze, Ji Ning, and the Whitewater Hound flew out from within it. “Such a strong aura of death?” Immortal Fivecraze frowned as he stared at the surrounding area. “What happened to this minor world? Logically speaking, even if it suffered some sort of disaster, given the power of the Solar Star and the Lunar Star, it should have eventually recovered.” “This was a world where a Fiendgod of fire hid within,” Immortal Diancai said. “The Fiendgod caused this minor world to become completely filled with lava, causing all the living creatures within it to perish. Although that Fiendgod is now dead, for this minor world to recover…a very long period of time will be needed.” Ning nodded. It was easy to ruin a minor world, but in order for it to recover, a million years would be needed or perhaps even longer. Only then would new vegetation arise and new creatures and birds be born. “This minor world is extremely well-hidden, and it has no living creatures; I don’t have to worry about any ordinary life-forms being killed as collateral damage. It is very well-suited for my tribulation attempt,” Immortal Diancai said. “In a normal situation…chances of being discovered while undergoing a tribulation in such a well-hidden place should be very low. However, now that the entire Grand Xia world is in a state of chaos…I’ve heard that quite a few Void-level Earth Immortals have suffered attacks during their tribulations of late.” “Right. All Void-level Earth Immortals choose extremely well-hidden places for their tribulations…but they were still discovered and assaulted,” Immortal Fivecraze agreed somberly. “We have to be careful.” 2466 “Don’t worry, Master. Leave everything to me and big brother Fivecraze,” Ning promised solemnly. “Alright.” Immortal Diancai nodded, then began to fly far away. Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and Uncle White hurriedly flew after him. After flying for a period of time. Immortal Diancai descended upon a wide area that had been completely scorched black. He then sat down in the lotus position…and began to wait quietly. “After eight days, the Celestial Tribulation shall descend. Everything will be up to your master, then.” Immortal Fivecraze was worried. “He will have to rely on himself.” Ning was worried, too. When the Celestial Tribulation descended, all outside sources of help were forbidden. Even Daofathers of the Great Firmament wouldn’t dare to intervene and assist others in their tribulations. If anyone tried to help someone else defeat a Celestial Tribulation…then the tribulation would instantly unleash a divine punishment upon the offender, even if the offender was a Daofather. If the Daofather immediately stopped, that was one thing, but if he tried to continue and resist…even the Daofather would be annihilated by the divine punishment! Thus, from ancient days till now, no one ever dared to help someone else resist a Celestial Tribulation. In addition… Even setting up formations was considered ‘outside help’. If Immortal Diancai himself had been the one to set up the formations, that wouldn’t be as much of an issue! At most, the formation would be destroyed and the power of the Celestial Tribulation would be increased. But if someone else, such as Uncle White or Ji Ning, was in control of the formation…then the two of them would suffer divine punishment! This was the reason why Ning hadn’t invited his master to go to Swallow Mountain for the tribulation. There were far too many places in the world with extremely formidable formations. The headquarters of powerful sects all contained exceedingly mighty formations; for example, the formation within the imperial citadel of the Grand Xia was something which a major power had set up. If a Void-level Earth Immortal could temporarily borrow the strength of a formation to fight the Celestial Tribulation, then overcoming it would become far too simple! Thus… All sources of outside help were completely forbidden! The Celestial Tribulation was the test which all Immortal cultivators faced on their Immortal path! Even experts in the Dao of Formations such as Uncle White would only be permitted to use magic treasure formations, such as the Fuxi Staff Formation. When 2467 the Celestial Tribulation truly descended, they would be allowed to use the Fuxi Staff Formation to defend against it. The [Heavenraker] and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] were all considered types of swordformations. However, formations that were locked onto one location and which were set up using precious ingredients were considered outside sources of help! [Heavenraker], the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and the Fuxi Staff Formation, however, were all considered part of one’s own strength. “Master.” Ning suddenly walked over. “Yes?” Immortal Diancai raised his head to look towards Ji Ning. “Master, I have five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. If you use them, your chances of overcoming the Celestial Tribulation shall be greater.” Ning willed it, and five pitch-black Immortal swords suddenly appeared out of nowhere to hover next to him. These were the Heavenraker Immortal swords. Ning had already dispersed his elemental ki from within them; they had become ownerless items now. Immortal Diancai was stunned. “Five top-grade Immortal ranked swords?” “Top-grade Immortal-ranked…and five of them?” Immortal Fivecraze revealed a look of crazed joy as well. “Wonderful! Ji Ning, you truly have been hiding some incredible secrets.” Ning laughed. Items at the level of a top-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword could no longer simply be purchased; they had to be traded for! Five such swords, and all from the same source…they were far more valuable than the combined value of all of the Immortal swords Ning had acquired from killing the monster kings and that vile Patriarch. These were items from the underwater estate’s Treasure Hall; they were naturally exceptional! “Take them,” Immortal Fivecraze said with a chortle. “Your disciple is telling you to use them; are you going to be wishy-washy about it?” “Fine.” Immortal Diancai’s aura instantly changed. “With these five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, my chances of overcoming the Celestial Tribulation shall be much greater…at least for the first three tribulations.” The Celestial Tribulation was divided into a total of four great tribulations. They were the wind tribulation, the fire tribulation, the thunder tribulation, and the demonheart tribulation! The first three could be blocked, but they would grow increasingly powerful and terrifying; the vast majority of Void-level Earth Immortals would perish over the course of the first three tribulations. The thunder tribulation in particular…bolts of divine lightning would crash down, completely disintegrating the bodies of many Void-level Earth Immortals. The Goldlotus Primal would be heavily injured by the slamming thunderbolts, and many were so terrified that they would give up and flee, becoming Loose Immortals. In the past, Immortal Juhua had also failed during the thunder tribulation…and it was because he didn’t have any good Immortal-ranked magic treasures! If he had top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, given Immortal Juhua’s power and Dao-heart, he might’ve become a Celestial Immortal. “Right. Your chances are now much greater…but you still need to be careful. The Celestial Tribulation…magic treasures are only one part of your power. When iron is being forged, it has to rely on its own innate hardness. The Celestial Tribulation primarily tests one’s personal power,” Immortal Fivecraze said seriously. “I understand.” Immortal Diancai nodded. Even many disciples of True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would fail during their tribulation. Generally speaking, disciples of True Immortals or Empyrean Gods all had top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and yet many still failed. Clearly, the Celestial Tribulation was different for each person! The more monstrously talented someone was, the more powerful one was, the more ridiculously terrifying the Celestial Tribulation would be. …… One day after another went by Immortal Diancai familiarized himself with the Heavenraker swords, then began to wait quietly. Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound also quietly stood to one side, standing guard for him. And finally… Whoosh… Suddenly, a gentle wind began to blow, rustling Immortal Diancai’s Daoist robes. Immortal Diancai opened his eyes. “Senior apprentice-brother Fivecraze, Ji Ning, brother White…stand guard for me. My Celestial Tribulation has begun.” Ning and the others could sense that the nearby wind was beginning to slowly grow increasingly fierce. They couldn’t help but nervously look towards the seated Immortal Diancai. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Whoosh… The wild wind that had suddenly arose in this world of death came from every direction. All the winds surged towards Immortal Diancai’s direction, and Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound could all sense how powerful this wind was. However, they were able to resist it by using just a bit of elemental ki. The closer the wind moved towards Immortal Diancai, the more powerful it became. The wind gathered from all corners of the world, slowly merging into an azure windblade. By the time this azure windblade actually flew towards Immortal Diancai, it had turned such a deep azure color that it could almost be described as a black windblade. Just staring at it caused Ning and the others to feel shocked. “Open.” The black-robed Immortal Diancai stood there, the five Heavenraker Immortal swords floating around him, swiveling. It was as though five rainbows were swirling around him. Although the terrifyingly powerful black windblades chopped repeatedly towards him, all the strikes were blocked. “Junior apprentice-brother Diancai’s sword-arts have already risen to such a level?” Immortal Fivecraze revealed a look of delight. “Ji Ning, I had an idea as to what level your master’s sword-arts had reached…but he is even more powerful than I had expected! Long ago, I came to the conclusion that junior apprentice-brother Diancai had the highest chance amongst us of becoming a Celestial Immortal, and back then his sword-arts were already at an astonishing level. After adventuring for forty years, and after receiving your Dao-repository, his sword-arts…they are not one whit inferior to Immortal Northwalker’s. He truly does have a chance to become a Celestial Immortal!” “Right.” Ning was filled with eagerness as well. Everything else aside, the ‘Five Elements Sword-Intent’ which his master had just displayed was enough to let Ning know that his master’s sword-arts were most likely on a level comparable to his own. His master truly lived up to his reputation as the peerless genius of the Black-White College with the highest chances of becoming a Celestial Immortal. …… The savage black windblades hammered repeatedly against the five rainbows of light, causing even the surrounding space to crack and fracture. Rumble… All of the black windblades suddenly vanished. The world actually turned completely calm and tranquil again…but then yet another series of winds began to appear. The winds stabbed like sharp needles…and a series of needle-like spikes began to appear in midair. The thousands of spikes all gleamed with golden light as they stabbed towards the five Immortal swords which were in the form of five rainbows of light. …… Savage. Insidious. Soft. Icy. Blazing… All sorts of wind came in an unending flow. In fact, a total of twelve types of skywind appeared as well! Suddenly, the surrounding area once more turned calm. For a long period of time, no further gusts of wind appeared. “Not good.” Immortal Fivecraze was startled. “The final part of the wind tribulation has begun.” Ning was nervous and restless as well. He looked anxiously towards his master, standing there in the distance. The Celestial Tribulation consisted of four great tribulations; the wind tribulation, the fire tribulation, the thunder tribulation, and the demonheart tribulation. The wind tribulation…it first consisted of ordinary wind, then types of skywind of different power, and then finally the most terrifying of all, the Celestial Immortal Wind. This Celestial Immortal Wind was invisible and formless; it was hard to locate within the Three Realms, and would only appear during the Celestial Tribulation. No magic treasures were capable of blocking the Celestial Immortal Wind; it would form directly in front of the tribulant’s body, then surge in through the head. Nothing, not even Daoist robes, would be able to block the penetrating power of this wind in the slightest! After surging in through the head, it would naturally disperse and tear through the vital organs. What it tested was a person’s Dao-heart. If one’s Dao-heart was weak, then once the Celestial Immortal Wind surged in through the head, their body would most likely instantly melt and transform into dust, allowing only the Goldlotus Primal to survive and flee. More than 99% of Void-level Earth Immortals would be defeated by the Celestial Immortal Wind. If one’s Dao-heart was strong and stable enough, then the trial of the Celestial Immortal Wind would actually be a transformatative baptism, allowing the tribulant to slowly begin to develop a Celestial Immortal Body. “Master, you have to hold on,” Ning said, extremely worried. “Hold on.” Immortal Fivecraze stared at him as well. Immortal Diancai stood there by himself, surrounded by those five pitch-black Immortal swords. He opened his eyes, revealing a smile as he looked towards Ning and Immortal Fivecraze. “The wind tribulation is over.” “Good.” Immortal Fivecraze laughed loudly, “I just knew that your Dao-heart had to be strong, junior apprentice-brother! The wind tribulation was unable to do anything to you at all. Hurry up and replenish your elemental ki and prepare for the next tribulation, the fire tribulation!” Ning let out a sigh of relief as well. At least the first tribulation had been overcome. In truth, given the Dao-heart which his master normally displayed, Ning should have felt quite confident in him. However, right before they entered this minor world, his master’s emotions had been disturbed, and he had even spoken of reuniting with his deceased junior apprentice-sister. Ning had been very worried about the effects of this former relationship on his master’s heart. Once one’s Dao-heart became even slightly unstable, then one’s body would quickly be transformed into dust. The Celestial Tribulation was truly dangerous. One couldn’t make a single error in it; a single error would represent a complete failure! …… Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and Uncle White kept their divine senses spread as they stood vigilant guard for Immortal Diancai, whom they continued to watch. Roughly an hour after the wind tribulation ended. Rumbling red clouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the skies; it was as though a cloud created from an enormous ball of flames had appeared. “The fire tribulation has arrived.” Ning and Immortal Fivecraze both watched nervously. The fire tribulation wasn’t as insidious as the wind tribulation, but it was even more savage and ferocious! The power of those flames…if a Void-level Earth Immortal slipped for a single instant, then his body would instantly be charred into ash. The fiery clouds in the skies slowly descended. Instantly, the temperature of the surrounding area began to rise, and the air itself seemed to glow with a blurry red light. Crackle crackle crackle… The ground itself began to turn soft. It began to transform into lava and began to bubble and froth. Immortal Diancai began to levitate into the air. “Go!” Immortal Diancai pointed with his finger, and one of the five Heavenraker swords actually flew out, transforming into a giant serpent of fire that flew through the skies, stabbing straight towards the enormous fiery cloud, slashing through it and causing it to grow chaotic and disordered. However, the Heavenraker sword was quickly knocked flying backwards. Instantly, the fiery cloud began to drop at an even faster pace. Soon, it completely enveloped Immortal Diancai within it. Hiss hiss hiss… The temperature had risen to a terrifying level, and even the lava within the region had been completely incinerated and transformed into nothingness. Even the stones in the distant region where Ning and the others were watching had been transformed into lava. From this, one could tell how terrifying the temperature was. Rumble…whoosh…crackle… Streaks of skyfire could vaguely be seen blazing from within the fiery cloud. There was golden skyfire, black skyfire, green skyfire, and even skyfire that seemed to flash like the stars… “The various types of skyfire have descended.” Ning and Immortal Fivecraze both watched nervously. Boom! Suddenly… The entire fiery cloud began to converge and coalesce around a single central point. Suddenly, a humanshaped figure appeared from within it, protected by five Immortal swords. The fiery cloud had transformed into a blazing light that was completely insubstantial. The light passed through the blocking Immortal swords, flying straight into the human-shaped figure’s body. For a moment, the entire world turned silent. The surrounding temperature began to drop at a rapid pace. Immortal Diancai, however, emanated a fiery light as he hovered there in the skies. Ning stared at his master; his master was emanating so much fiery light, he seemed to be made out of flames himself. “The final type of fire within the fire tribulation…the Celestial Immortal Fire,” Immortal Fivecraze said worriedly. A Celestial Immortal Body had to be tempered by wind, fire, and lightning. Only afterwards could the Celestial Immortal Body be forged. Then, after undergoing the trial of the demonheart tribulation, the Celestial Immortal’s Dao-heart would be formed. Only after all tribulations were passed would one become a carefree, unbound Celestial Immortal! “He overcame it.” The distant Ning revealed a look of joy on his face. He saw that the distant Immortal Diancai’s body was beginning to slowly turn a duller color as he slowly returned to normal. Immortal Diancai landed. He immediately sat down in the lotus position, quietly adjusting his energy levels and recovering his elemental ki. “The fire tribulation is over. Next comes the most dangerous tribulation, the thunder tribulation!” Immortal Fivecraze murmured softly. “Right. The thunder tribulation.” Ning’s heart clenched as well. Of the four great tribulations, the final demonheart tribulation was the strangest tribulation. But the thunder tribulation was the most terrifying one! The thunder tribulation was the most brutal one of all. Layers of lightning bolts would descend, continuously rising in power. Even past figures like Immortal Juhua and Immortal Northwalker had eventually been destroyed by the power of the continuous, unending thunderbolts, resulting in their Goldlotus Primals being damaged and them fleeing to become Loose Immortals. The thunder tribulation was an absolute nightmare! The vast majority of peerless geniuses would end up perishing in the face of this tribulation. There were absolutely no tricks that could be used to block the thunderbolts; each time a bolt descended, you had to block it head-on. If you couldn’t? You’d be finished! Simple as that! “I wonder how many bolts of thunder will fall.” Immortal Fivecraze was worried. “Master has an extremely high level in sword-arts. His talent is very high, and he has five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. I imagine there will be quite a few,” Ning said worriedly as well. The thunder tribulation…some Earth Immortals might only encounter nine bolts of thunder. Others, however, might meet with eighteen, twenty-seven, or thirty-six bolts…and according to the stories, the highest number possible was eighty-one bolts! The power of the skythunder would be linked to many factors; in fact, it was also linked to karmic merit. Still, generally speaking, Ki Refiners would never suffer the legendary ‘eighty-one bolt skythunder tribulation!’ Generally speaking, only Fiendgod Body Refiners would encounter it while undergoing their tribulation. Many monstrously powerful Void-level Fiendgod Body Refiners would be hammered to death by the consecutive lightning bolts! Ning knew very well that although he had already trained in the third stage of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], if he were to encounter the eighty-one bolts of lightning, he would definitely be crushed into nothingness by the power of those bolts! “I hope he has less than 36 bolts,” Immortal Fivecraze whispered. “Right.” Ning nodded gently as well. Ki Refiners were innately weaker than Fiendgod Body Refiners when it came to withstanding skythunder. Generally speaking, it would be very hard for them to succeed if there were more than 36 bolts. …… Another hour passed. Two enormous stormclouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere from within the calm skies. These two stormclouds converged rapidly from different directions, completely blotting out the sun as they drew close to each other. Instantly, electric streaks of lightning began to crackle between the two massive clouds. The awe-inspiring power from within them caused Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound to all feel trepidation. Slowly, the two massive stormclouds began to merge, and as they combined to form a single supermassive stormcloud, the supermassive stormcloud began to rotate. Soon, it the thunder tribulation stormcloud had transformed into a vortex of lightning and clouds. “What an enormous thunder tribulation cloud.” Immortal Fivecraze’s face suddenly changed. “What’s wrong?” Ning asked, worried. “When I faced my tribulation, it was this thunder tribulation which defeated me. But…the thunder tribulation cloud I faced wasn’t this big,” Immortal Fivecraze said worriedly. “What?! How many bolts of thunder were you up against during your thunder tribulation?” Ning asked. “I don’t know. However, the twenty-fifth bolt of skythunder shattered my magic treasures and blew apart my body. I thus chose to give up and flee,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Junior apprentice-brother Diancai will definitely face far more bolts of skythunder than I did.” Just as his words came out… BOOM! Ning could hear a thunderous noise in his ears as an absolutely dazzling bolt of lightning suddenly streaked down from the lightning-cloud vortex in the skies, slamming directly downwards towards Immortal Diancai. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Immortal Diancai stood there on the ground. His head raised, he stared at the lightning-cloud vortex, those five pitch-black Heavenraker swords swirling around him. When that first bolt of skythunder fell down from the skies… “Go!” Immortal Diancai pointed. Instantly, one of the five Heavenraker swords shot out. It seemed to have transformed into an enormous mountain peak, carrying incomparable weight and power behind it as it went forth to welcome the bolt of lightning. BOOM! An enormous collision sound. The Heavenraker Immortal sword, as stable as a mountain, just trembled for a moment, whereas the bolt of skythunder was completely dispersed. “The first bolt of skythunder is the weakest; even the most ordinary of Void-level Earth Immortals can withstand it. Given junior apprentice-brother Diancai’s power and the fact that he has five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords…he will probably only begin to find it taxing when he reaches the twentyseventh bolt of skythunder,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Mm.” Ning nodded in agreement. Immortal Fivecraze had been defeated by the twenty-fifth bolt; if he had top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords back then, he probably would’ve been able to make it past the twenty-seventh as well. Skythunder…every nine bolts represented a different level of power. The first nine bolts were weak. Eighteen bolts were stronger. But twenty-seven bolts, thirty-six bolts…every nine bolts represented an increase in lethality. The legendary eighty-one bolts of skythunder…even the thought of them was enough to terrify. BOOM! BOOM! Skythunder exploded forth with wild fury. One bolt after another came crashing down. Immortal Diancai was able to use a single one of his top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords to block all of the first eighteen bolts, causing a hint of joy to appear on his face. Although he knew in theory how powerful theses swords were, only now did he truly understand how tremendously helpful these top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords were during the terrifying thunder tribulation! BOOM! The nineteenth bolt of thunder was more savage than the last, and it came down even faster. It seemed to carry annihilating power within it; it was clearly on a higher level of power than the previous bolts. That single Heavenraker sword once more flew up to greet it, still as stable and weighty as a mountain. BANG! The illusory mountain around the Heavenraker sword collapsed, and the sword itself was knocked downwards. The remaining force of the skythunder continued to crash down towards Immortal Diancai, but Immortal Diancai didn’t panic in the slightest. He just let out a low growl, and instantly three of the four remaining Immortal swords around him flew upwards, glowing with golden light, watery light, and earthen light. The three Heavenraker swords formed into a tripartite formation, effortlessly blocking the remaining power of the skythunder. “Your master has only used his Tripartite Sword Formation,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Your master was exceedingly gifted, and many years ago he reached the Dao Realm level in three mastered Dao-Paths. He’s also embarked on the path of a Sword Immortal. He originally only used three Immortal swords, and the technique he used the most often was this Tripartite Sword Formation. However, after training for so many more years, he’s gained even more insights and has thus developed the Five Elements Sword.” Ning nodded slightly. Indeed. After his master switched to using three Immortal swords, his power seemed to increase dramatically. He was able to withstand one bolt of lightning after another, even overcoming the twenty-fifth bolt which had done in Immortal Fivecraze. He was able to persist all the way through the twenty-seventh bolt. “It’s time for another increase in power,” Immortal Fivecraze said with concern. Twenty-seven bolts…this represented the end of the first three nine-sets. Thirty-six would represent the end of the fourth nine-set! As the twenty-eighth bolt came crashing down, the Tripartite Sword Formation was suddenly pressed downwards…but it was still able to withstand the bolt. But then came the twenty-ninth, the thirtieth bolts…the power of the skythunder was slowly increasing, and the Tripatite Sword Formation was beginning to crumble. By the time of the thirty-sixth bolt of skythunder, Immortal Diancai let out a low growl. Instantly, all five of the Heavenraker swords flew upwards to welcome this bolt. Rumble… As the five Heavenraker swords flew upwards, they formed into the illusion of five massive mountains in the sky, each of a different color. The five Immortal swords combined their power, becoming incomparably weighty and solid as they effortless deflected the thirty-sixth bolt of skythunder as well. “Fine treasures. A fine sword-art!” Immortal Fivecraze said excitedly. “Even the thirty-sixth bolt was blocked.” Ning revealed a look of excitement as well…but immediately afterwards, his face changed. This was because an even more terrifyingly powerful bolt of lightning was beginning to descend from the vortex of lightning. “What?! Can it be that your master’s tribulation involves forty-five bolts?!” Immortal Fivecraze felt shocked. Ning’s face turned solemn as well. Ki Refiners couldn’t be the slightest bit overconfident in facing their tribulations…because even a tiny unblocked fraction of the thunderbolt would be enough to completely blow apart their bodies! Fiendgod Body Refiners, by contrast, would generally be able to use their bodies to withstand a small amount of remnant power from the thunderbolts. Thus…for many, thirty-six thunderbolts represented a plateau, the conclusion of the fourth nine-set. Ki Refiners generally had a chance to survive the first four sets…but after that, chances would grow dim! …… The thirty-seventh bolt of skythunder was clearly far more powerful than the previous bolt. Ning could sense the invisible pressure and power of the bolt just by looking nat it. The power of this bolt of skythunder was at the level of a Celestial Immortal already! Rumble… From within the five enormous illusory mountains, the five Immortal swords managed to block this bolt of skythunder, but they were pushed down strongly in the process. “Such power.” Immortal Diancai’s face changed as well, but his expression remained cold and his gaze remained resolute. He wasn’t going to retreat or flee! BOOM! The thirty-eighth bolt of skythunder came crashing down, and Immortal Diancai once more used his five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords to greet the attack, managing to force it aside once more. But this time, the five illusory mountains that represented the five swords were nearly destroyed. “Not good.” Watching from the distance, Immortal Fivecraze’s face changed dramatically. “It’s very hard to say as to whether or not your master will be able to overcome the forty-fifth bolt of skythunder.” Ning didn’t say anything; he just watched closely. He could tell this as well! Given that even the thirty-eighth bolt was already almost powerful enough to cause his master’s swordarts to crumble…it was very hard to say if his master would be able to make it all the way past the forty- fifth. In the past, Immortal Fivecraze had succumbed to the twenty-fifth bolt, rather than the twentyseventh bolt. BOOM! The lightning-cloud vortex in the skies spat out the thirty-ninth bolt of skythunder, even more ferocious than the previous bolts. “BLOCK!” Immortal Diancai let out a howl. The five Heavenraker swords were like fish that were swimming against the flow of the river. They carried those five illusory mountains to greet the bolt of skythunder, but when the skythunder came hammering down, all five swords were knocked downwards towards the ground. Still…the bolt of skythunder was almost consumed as well. “Not enough!” Immortal Fivecraze said frantically. “Master, Master!” Ning was panicking as well. “I have to hold.” Immortal Diancai’s face suddenly turned a swollen red color, and his aura increased explosively in power as well. Clearly, he had just used a forbidden technique. Immortal Fivecraze’s eyes were filled with nervousness. “Your master has used a forbidden technique to compress and squeeze more power out of his Goldlotus Primal. I hope that this technique will be enough to help him withstand the tribulation. It has to be enough. Don’t fail. You can’t fail!” He had seen far too many of his fellow disciples fail during the Celestial Tribulation. He had failed. His master had failed. His brothers had failed… One after another had been toppled by the Celestial Tribulation. Immortal Diancai was the most promising one he had seen, and he even had the aid of five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. “You have to hold,” Immortal Fivecraze murmured. “Master…Master…” Ning’s heart was tight as well. He felt even more nervous than when he himself was facing life-and-death. Although he had heard long ago that the Celestial Tribulation was truly frightening, upon seeing the actual bolts of increasingly powerful skythunder come crashing down from the skies, Ning became terrified that one of them would actually strike his master’s body! A single strike…that would be it. He would be finished! …… The fourtieth bolt. The forty-first bolt. The forty-second bolt… After using the forbidden technique, the power of Immortal Diancai’s five swords increased dramatically, and they took on multiple bolts in succession. BOOM! The forty-fourth bolt of skythunder! Immortal Diancai’s face was somewhat distorted now, and his eyes were filled with madness. The five Immortal swords once more flew upwards to greet the thunder, and the imposing illusion of the five mountains seemed mighty enough to suppress and seal away this entire minor world. But in the face of the all-annihilating bolt of skythunder…the five illusory mountains were dissipated, and all five Immortal swords were knocked flying backwards. “He blocked it. Just the last one; the final bolt of skythunder,” Immortal Fivecraze said worriedly. “Master…” Ning was so frantic, he wanted to charge forward himself to help. Blood was beginning to appear on the skin of Immortal Diancai’s face. This forbidden technique was drawing out elemental ki in such a berserk, forcible way that even blood was being drawn out. BOOM! The forty-fifth bolt! “Block it again!” Immortal Diancai seemed to have entered a berserk state, and all five Heavenraker swords frantically rose. It seemed as though, in this dire situation, he was able to unleash more power than he ever had before, and the five illusory mountains once more joined together, increasing their power by a little bit compared to the past. BANG!!! The bolt of skythunder, representing annihilation, came crashing downwards. Slash… The five Immortal swords were knocked backwards, and a small amount of remaining power from the skythunder came crashing down towards Immortal Diancai as well. “NO!” Ning felt as though his heart was about to split apart. He was so frantic, his eyes turned completely red. “NO!” Immortal Fivecraze was filled with terror as well. But Immortal Diancai actually let out an utterly berserk howl as five more Immortal swords suddenly appeared above him. These were the five swords which Immortal Diancai himself had been previously using! He had often used these five swords…and he only had enough time to transform them into five streaks of rainbow light before the remaining power of the lightning crashed down into them. BANG! The five flying swords were all knocked flying, with one of them actually stabbing through Immortal Diancai’s chest, cutting out a bloody hole. However, the remaining power of the lightning had been completely dispersed. “Hahaha, hahahaha…” Immortal Diancai began to laugh. Clutching the wound over his chest, he raised his head to the heavens and laughed. Ning and Immortal Fivecraze were stunned for a moment…but in the next moment, they went berserk with joy. “He blocked it!” “Master blocked it!” This sort of feeling, of victory snached from the jaws of defeat, caused both Ning and Immortal Fivecraze’s emotions to go through a series of turbulent changes. “But why…” Immortal Fivecraze raised his head, staring at the lightning-cloud vortex. His eyes suddenly became filled with despair and terror. “Why…why hasn’t…” “Why hasn’t…hasn’t it dispersed?” Ning could feel a cold feeling sweeping through him from head to toe. The vortex of lightning in the skies was continuing to swivel…and it was gathering an even more terrifying amount of power. Immortal Diancai, still clutching his chest, was suddenly stunned. He stared blankly at the lightning-cloud vortex in the skies, his eyes filled with rage and despair. He unleashed a savage roar from his soul: “Why, why, WHY ARE THERE STILL MORE?!” “Six nine-sets…six nine-sets…” Immortal Fivecraze’s eyes were filled with despair. “Six nine-sets of thunder. My junior apprentice-brother isn’t the disciple of a Daofather; he’s not even the disciple of a Celestial Immortal. Why would the sixth nine-set appear…why…” “F*CK YOU, HEAVENS!” Ning raised his head as well, letting out a grief-stricken, enraged roar. Two streaks of tears began to fall from h is eyes. “Master, master…my master!!!!” BOOM! Another enormous bolt of lightning was born from within the lightning-cloud vortex…and it came crashing downwards. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning felt as though his heart was being torn apart. This pain filled every part of his body. Ever since his parents had passed away, he truly had very few kinsmen. Although his master Diancai always had a strict look and a cold face, Ning could sense the love and caring his master felt for him from deep within his heart. His master had the exact same sort of disposition which Ning’s own father, Ji Yichuan, had. “No. No…” Ning’s heart was filled with nothing but despair. Nobody could rescue his master from the Celestial Tribulation! Even a Daofather of the Great Firmament would only be able to watch from one side…because upon interfering, heaven’s punishment would be triggered, causing even a Daofather who tried to withstand it to perish. Next…Ning suddenly felt a powerful desire enter his heart. “I’ve had enough. ENOUGH!!!” Within his own mind, Ning let out a howl of utter despair. “I’ve had ENOUGH of this feeling of powerlessness. I don’t want any more of my loved ones to leave me. I don’t have it. I WON’T HAVE IT!” His mother had passed away… His father had passed away… And now, even his master was going to pass away… Ning’s heart felt like it was being chopped apart by knives! An incomparably powerful desire filled him; the desire to not let him or his loved ones be toyed with by destiny. A desire to completely control his own destiny, his own fate. “I need to grow powerful. More powerful. If I can become like Pangu, capable of establishing the heavens and forming the earth, or like Nuwa, capable of repairing the heavens or destroying them…then perhaps the so-called Celestial Tribulation would be nothing more than a joke in my eyes.” For the first time in his life, Ning had the goal to truly stand at the absolute top of the Three Realms, the unquestioned top, beyond all other powers… …to be at Pangu’s level. Pangu, he who had established the heavens and formed the earth, creating the Primordial World. Nuwa, who had mastered 84,000 Daos, and had become heralded as Maiden Nuwa, the ‘Supremely Benevolent, Supremely Holy Pangu-God’. She had reached Pangu’s level, and had also become the undisputed number one figure of the Three Realms! At their levels… Even the heavens and the earth would have to submit, much less the Celestial Tribulation, which was nothing more than a mere part of the heavens and the earth! “Master…” But no matter what Ning currently desired within his heart, he wasn’t able to change anything. All he could do…was watch! …… Although Ning and Immortal Fivecraze both felt pain and resentment…in this moment, it was the tribulant, Immortal Diancai, who truly felt utter despair. Immortal Diancai clutched at his chest, head raised. When he saw that the vortex of lightning and clouds was not dispersing, and was instead nurturing an even more powerful bolt of lightning, Immortal Diancai felt despair. “Why are there more coming? Why are there more…” Despair. “Junior apprentice-sister, I’m coming.” Immortal Diancai’s face turned calm. He stared at the bolt of lightning forming within the skies, then pointed towards it. “Go!” Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! The five Heavenraker swords all soared into the heavens, preparing to welcome that bolt of lightning. This time, Immortal Diancai used the most beautiful, magnificent, and most powerful sword-art he had ever used since he was born. The five Immortal swords swirled around each other, joining together as they went to welcome annihilation. …… Back when Immortal Diancai had merely been a third-generation disciple of the Black-White College. “Young fellow, you should be filled with the vigor and energy of youth. Why are you like this?” “My junior apprentice-sister is dead. Life holds no meaning for me now. Life holds no meaning!” “Life holds no meaning? Since you feel as though life has no meaning…this old man actually just so happens to want to kill someone today. Don’t fight back. Just let me kill you.” Whoosh. Five unranked flying swords flew together towards the numb, despairing youth…and invisible swordintent instantly transmitted into the youth’s brain. One sword-stance after another was desmonstrated…and the sword-art became filled with increasing despair, the utmost despair. “Five Elements Sword, stance eighteen: Minor Five Elements Extermination!” Each stance was more complex and inconceivable than the last. “Five Elements Sword, stance thirty-six: Major Five Elements, All Life!” “Hahaha…” “Destiny brought us together, and so I will teach you this set of sword techniques. Meditate well on them, young man. Your future path will be a long one!” That voice had echoed within his mind. By the time the young Diancai had woken up, he could no longer find that old man, no matter how hard he searched. This stroke of karmic fortune caused Immortal Diancai to skyrocket in power in sword-arts. He was acknowledged by all the Loose Immortals of the Black-White College as having the highest chance of becoming a Celestial Immortal! After gaining the assistance of Ning’s Dao-repository and being able to compare the techniques within to his own techniques, he gained new insights and made another breakthrough, reaching Immortal Northwalker’s level. But even up till now, he had only reached the level of the seventeenth stance of the Five Elements Sword! It must be understood that the first eighteen stances represented the first half of the technique. The next eighteen stances were far more mysterious and profound. The old man definitely was a formidable figure of the Three Realms, given that he was able to transmit a technique such as this. Clearly, he was just wandering casually through the Three Realms, and happened upon Immortal Diancai by chance. Upon seeing that Immortal Diancai had potential, he had casually taught him this sword technique, then left. This didn’t mean he had taken Diancai on as a disciple! If he had, he would’ve taught him Ki Refining techniques, secret arts, and more; in fact, he would often provide guidance to help Diancai work through anything he found confusing. The reality was, Immortal Diancai had to rely on himself and his own efforts in order to resolve any confusions he had regarding the Five Elements Sword! “Huh?!” Immortal Diancai suddenly understood. It was like the golden light of the sun piercing through the darkness of the skies. The thunder tribulation had completely disrupted his emotions, causing him to rise to triumphant heights, then fall in an abyss of despair. Now that he was preparing to welcome death…his sword-arts broke through to a new level. He finally comprehended what it truly meant to be reach the limits of despair…and what the true mysteries of the ‘Minor Five Elements, Extermination’ technique truly meant! 1 “Five Elements Sword, stance eighteen: Minor Five Elements, Extermination!” Immortal Diancai continued to clutch at his chest, but suddenly…he smiled. The five black flying Immortal swords in the skies, joined into the illusion of five massive mountains, had previously each been glowing with a different color of light. The light had circulated from sword to sword, joining them together and supporting each other. But Immortal Diancai suddenly willed them to change… Rumble… Space itself seemed to shake. The five illusory mountains suddenly merged into a single illusion, an enormous five-fingered mountain. The five mountains had become one! There were five peaks jutting out from the top of this mountain like five fingers; each peak was of a different color! The mountain carried with it a feeling of incomparably heavy despair and depression, as though its despair could smother and exterminate anything in the world! This was the final stance of the first half of the Five Elements Sword, the sword-stance that represented mastery of the first half…Minor Five Elements Extermination! Rumble… The forty-sixth bolt of skythunder crashed against the five Heavenraker swords which appeared like a mountain with five fingers stretching out from its peak. The entire mountain trembled slightly, and the bolt of skythunder was dispersed. Rumble… The forty-seventh bolt of lightning came crashing down! Still holding his chest, Immortal Diancai just smiled as he stared upwards. The five Heavenraker swords went up to greet the lightning, and the mountain peak they formed was incomparably tall and massive, so much so that its peak seemed to encompass this entire minor world. Once more, it blocked the bolt of skythunder. …… “This…” Immortal Fivecraze and Ning were both stunned. Both of them had been gripped by despair, but now they were stunned. “Earlier, junior apprentice-brother used a forbidden technique to overcome the first five nine-sets of the thunder tribulation. Why is it that the sixth set has become so simple for him?” Immortal Fivecraze was completely flabbergasted. “A sudden breakthrough? But…but…a breakthrough during the Celestial Tribulation?” Ning felt dazed as well. Generally speaking, one might make sudden breakthroughs in combat, but the crashing skythunder didn’t carry within it any of the mysteries of the Dao; it was nothing more than raw, primalistic strikes of lightning. Could it be that somehow, it had taught his master something? How did his master’s sword-arts suddenly become this powerful? Although Ning didn’t know how his master had made a sudden breakthrough, he still felt his heart become filled with the utmost of joy. “Hahaha…keep blocking. Keep blocking!” Ning watched eagerly. One thunderbolt after another continued to come crashing down. Each time, Immortal Diancai used the ‘Minor Five Elements Extermination’ to defend against the attack…but starting from the fifty-first bolt, he was clearly beginning to find it a bit difficult! The power of the fifty-second bolt caused his five Immortal swords to be smashed downwards by three hundred meters, and the fifty-third bolt caused the illusory mountain his swords had created to nearly be dispersed! “The last one…the last one!” Ning and Immortal Fivecraze both stared intently. BOOM! The fifty-fourth bolt of skythunder came crashing down! This bolt of skythunder was tinged with a hint of violet light. “Block!” Immortal Diancai’s aura actually grew even more powerful; his Dao-heart had been baptized by despair and grown even more stronger. The five Heavenraker swords ferociously battled upwards, transforming into an enormous illusory mountain. BANG!!!! The skythunder and the mountain crashed against each other. The mountain was completely destroyed and the five Immortal swords were blasted away…but the skythunder was completely dispersed as well. “HE BLOCKED IT!” Immortal Fivecraze let out an excited howl. Ning raised his head, staring intently at the lightning-cloud vortex in the skies. Immortal Fivecraze immediately did the same as well. Both were worried that even more skythunder would be coming. However…this time, no more came. The vortex of lightning in the skies began to dissipate towards the four directions, and as they did, a single streak of electricity began to swirl around Immortal Diancai’s body. When this streak of lightning appeared and descended upon Immortal Diancai, his aura began to subtly change and grow profound; this was an aura that completely surpassed that of Void-level Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. “A Celestial Immortal Body.” Ning and Immortal Fivecraze both revealed looks of delight. “Congratulations, Master.” After the final flickers of electricity disappeared, Ning immediately called out to his master in a loud voice. “Junior apprentice-brother, that was a thunder tribulation of six nine-sets. It’s utterly unfathomable that a Ki Refiner actually met with six nine-sets…I imagine that generally, only disciples of Daofathers and other legendary figures would be subjected to such a tribulation. But you actually overcame it! Ahaha, I’m in utter awe of you. Junior apprentice-brother, hurry up and rest up; soon, the demonheart tribulation will arrive. You’ve already overcome the most dangerous and most terrifying tribulation, the thunder tribulation; don’t be felled by the demonheart tribulation,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Right.” Immortal Diancai nodded calmly, a smile on his face. He pointed a finger towards Ning, and all five Heavenraker swords immediately flew towards Ning. “I no longer need these five Immortal swords.” Ning nodded, immediately taking back the five Heavenraker swords. “The demonheart tribulation will take a minimum of seven days,” Immortal Fivecraze said solemly. “Ji Ning, when my junior apprentice-brother is undergoing his demonheart tribulation…we absolutely cannot allow anyone to disturb him. If there are any enemies preparing to attack, they will most likely do so during this final tribulation. You and I both need to be careful.” “Right. Understood. No one will be permitted to disturb my master,” Ning said seriously as well. His true body had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; it was extremely well-suited for close combat. He truly wasn’t worried about anyone in terms of a head-on fight. As for his Primaltwin, it had the [Heavenraker] sword formation, which would be formed from nine Heavenraker Immortal swords. All by himself, he would be able to deal with two Celestial Immortals. No one would be allowed to interfere! No one at all! Regardless of who they were or who their backer was…they would not be permitted to disturb his master’s tribulation! …… Within Stillwater Commandery. A ripple appeared in the darkness of the empty skies, and a white-robed female suddenly emerged from the ripple. She had a slim, pretty face and a reserved aura, but she was on the level of an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal. Her eyes, however, were filled with a natural arrogance, an arrogance that held all those before her in contempt. “Mm?” The white-robed woman stared at the distant mountains. “Here we are!” 1. This is a wordplay; the word ‘extermination’ here is a two-part word, ‘miejue’ that when taken together means ‘extermination/complete destruction’, but when read separately can be interpreted as destroying despair. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The white-robed woman stood there in the void, staring at the mountain range. She immediately waved her hand, producing a bronze talisman within it. She filled the talisman with her elemental ki. Rumble…the talisman became scorchingly hot. This mountain range was, in reality, the headquarters for the Blood God Church; it was known as the Bloodlake Mountains. There were layers of formations protecting this mountain range, causing even the Northmont clan of Stillwater to be unable to do anything to it. Within the mountains. A towering, large palace. Above the palace, there was a jade bed that emanated with a hint of azure light. Seated atop the jade bed was a blood-robed man whose eyes glowed with a bloody light. He was the leader of the Blood God Church, the Scion of the Blood God! “Eh?” The Scion frowned, then immediately waved his hand, producing a bronze talisman of his own. The talisman had become scorchingly hot. The Scion was startled for a moment…then he immediately disappeared from atop the jade bed. Moments later, he appeared in the air above the mountains. Based on the resonance from the talismans, he turned to look towards the white-robed woman’s direction, then took a single step and arrived before her. He bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Emissary!” “Yet another Void-level Earth Immortal is undergoing a tribulation within your Stillwater Commandery,” the white-robed woman said calmly. “It is Immortal Diancai of the Black-White College. Here is the detailed intelligence information about him.” As she spoke, she tossed over a leatherbound scroll towards the Scion of the Blood God, who immediately accepted it in a respectful manner. The white-robed woman gave the Scion a glance, then snorted and departed gracefully, quickly disappearing into the distant horizons. The Scion stood there in the air, scroll in hand. He watched in a cold, sinister manner as the woman left. “A mere Emissary dares to put on such airs before me? If it wasn’t for the power behind you, I would’ve annihilated you with a wave of my hand.” Whoosh. The Scion opened the scroll, which had detailed information regarding Immortal Diancai’s tribulation, as well as a map and directions. “He’s actually in a minor world, with the entrance being in the Darknorth Sea?” The Scion couldn’t help but feel a chill as he read the information. “This mysterious power…they are a bit too all-knowing…how can they even know about such a well-hidden tribulation location?” He had only interacted with this mysterious power for roughly thirty years…but the more he interacted with them, the more terrifying he found them to be! They had given him just a slight bit of help, but that had been already enough to make his Blood God Church strong enough to tussel against the Northmont clan of Stillwater. Although their roots weren’t as powerful and as deep as the Northmont clan’s…there was no way for the Northmont clan to wipe out the Blood God Church now. “They’ve already given me two intelligence reports regarding Earth Immortals undergoing a tribulation. This is the third one.” The Scion frowned. “How on earth did they find out?” A traitor or a spy? The Scion of the Blood God didn’t believe it! Earth Immortals were extremely cautious when undergoing their tribulations; they would only invite protectors that they had absolute faith in! In addition, they would usually personally use a spatial teleport to go to the tribulation location; not even the protectors would know exactly where the tribulation would be attempted. Indeed, Ji Ning and Immortal Fivecraze weren’t told in advance, and they didn’t know exactly where in the Darknorth Sea the island they had been taken to was located! “How did they find out? This is too incredible. I’ve heard from others that due to the fact that the Three Realms are filled with dangerous undercurrents, fate and destiny have been thrown into a state of chaos, making it virtually impossible for someone to Foretell where a tribulation will occur,” the Scion mused puzzledly. Normally, powerful experts of the Three Realms might be able to Foretell through augury some rather well-hidden mysteries…but fate itself had been thrown into a state of flux. There was no way to do so now! “No wonder they hold the Grand Xia Dynasty with no regard. No wonder they dare to act against the entire Dynasty,” the Scion mused privately. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to make enemies with them; all I need to do is borrow from their strength to strengthen myself. As long as they can strengthen my Blood God Church, that’s all that matters.” “Right. This Immortal Diancai is of the Black-White College; the Black-White College is one of the strongest supporters of the Northmont clan of Stillwater. They are one of their most loyal dogs! I need to seize this chance to wound them,” the Scion nodded to himself. Although the white-robed Emissary had delivered the intelligence report, she hadn’t ordered the Scion to do anything. To kill or not? This was up to the Scion himself. If he chose not to attack, the mysterious power wouldn’t care. Whoosh. The Scion of the Blood God returned to his palace. “Have the seven Law Protectors come see me right away,” the Scion instructed from atop his jade bed. “Yes,” an attendant said respectfully. Soon, seven black-robed Law Protectors hurried over. “Greetings, sect leader,” the seven black-robed Law Protectors said respectfully. “Immortal Diancai of the Black-White College is currently undergoing his tribulation. The Black-White College is one of the most loyal dogs of the Northmont clan; we need to seize this chance to eradicate Immortal Diancai,” the Scion said calmly. “The other Immortals of the Black-White College are all within their College; it is very likely that the only guardians with him right now are his disciple Ji Ning as well as Immortal Fivecraze, the most powerful member of the Black-White College.” “Make a trip with me. Let us eradicate these three members of the Black-White College,” the Scion of the Blood God said. “With these three gone, the Black-White College will be badly wounded; this is akin to breaking one of the Northmont clan’s legs.” “Sect leader, just the seven of us and yourself? Will it be enough? I heard that this Ji Ning had gone missing for thirty-plus years; he must have taken on an expert of the Three Realms as his master.” “The Black-White College isn’t easy to deal with; even if the seven of us go along with you, we will still probably suffer some losses even if we win.” The seven Law Protectors were all hesitating. The Scion said calmly, “Don’t worry. I have complete confidence; do you think I would let the seven of you take on any serious danger?” The seven Law Protectors raised their heads to stare at the Sion of the Blood God. “Hmph.” The Scion let out a cold snort, then waved his hand. A small black ship had appeared within his palm. “This is…” The eyes of the seven Law Protectors lit up. “With this treasure in my hands…I trust you are all convinced now?” The Scion said. “We shall naturally obey your orders, sect leader.” The seven Law Protectors no longer hesitated. The Scion immediately sent a further mental order: “Three Elders, the seven Law Protectors and I are going out on a trip. The affairs within the Church shall temporarily be managed by you three.” “Don’t worry, sect leader. Leave it to us,” the three Elders replied. “Let’s go!” Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! With the Scion in front and the seven Law Protectors behind, the eight flew high into the sky, moving like streaks of light. And then, they quickly used a spatial teleport to disappear. …… The distant Darknorth Sea. The air above the island with a volcano. The blood-robed Scion of the Blood God along with the seven black-robed Law Protectors were all standing in the air above the island. “The entrance to the minor world is there, within that volcano,” the Scion said calmly. “Based on our intelligence report, Immortal Diancai should have spent two days undergoing the tribulation by now. If he failed in overcoming the fire, wind, or thunder tribulations, then he is most likely either dead or a Loose Immortal by now. Even if he survived…he should currently be undergoing the demonheart tribulation.” “Later, do as I instructed to you previously.” The Scion swept the seven Law Protectors with his gaze. “Yes, sect leader,” the seven black-robed Law Protectors said respectfully. “Go in.” The Scion of the Blood God gave the order. Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!! Eight streaks of light instantly streaked across the sky, entering the mouth of the volcano. Soon after they disappeared, there was yet another a ripple in space near the entrance to the volcano. Twelve white-robed figures emerged, the leader a figure with a bloody scar on the arm. “The forces of the Blood God Church of Stillwater Commandery have entered,” a white-robed youth said with a chortle. “Captain, you truly predicted everything in a godlike manner; you knew that they would definitely go.” “The Black-White College is located right in Stillwater Commandery; over the course of countless ages, they have always walked in lockstep with the Northmont clan of Stillwater! The Northmont clan, in turn, has always protected the Black-White College. Of the eight great powers, the Black-White College is the most loyal one; naturally, the Blood God Church will seize this chance to annihilate Immortal Diancai during his Celestial Tribulation.” The leader, a white-robed man, continued calmly, “By borrowing from their strength, our own assassination attempt will become easier.” “Is there a need for us to be so cautious in dealing with Ji Ning?” “Right. Even our superiors simply instructed us to be careful of the school behind Ji Ning; he himself isn’t worthy of such concern. We’ve killed even Celestial Immortals; how powerful can a young fellow who has trained for less than a century possibly, even if he is a Daofather’s disciple?” They all spoke out. The leader, the scarred white-robed man, laughed. “Ji Ning naturally isn’t worthy of concern, but I’m afraid that if something unexpected happens, his school might intervene. That’s why this assassination must be a quick one! We need to avoid anything unexpected.” “Right.” Everyone nodded. They were all mainly worried about Ning’s school, worried that a True Immortal or Empyrean God might to suddenly appear and massacre them! No one knew where Ning had disappeared to during the past thirty-plus years. However, the intelligence reports which the Bloodcloud Hall had received indicated that his disappearance…was almost assuredly linked to an extraordinary twist of fate! “Execute our assassination plan,” the scarred, white-robed man said solemnly. Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!! The twelve figures instantly disappeared as they too entered the mouth of the volcano. …… Within the charred minor world that was filled with an aura of death. Immortal Diancai was seated in the lotus position. Three thousand meters away from him, an enormous restrictive formation had been set up, and the surface of the formation glowed with light. Within the formation were only two figures; Immortal Diancai and the Whitewater Hound. Ji Ning and Immortal Fivecraze were both outside this grand sealing formation! Earlier, during the wind, fire, and thunder tribulations, Ning’s group hadn’t dared to set down any formations…they didn’t wish to disturb the Celestial Tribulation and incur divine punishment. They would’ve been finished! But now that they were at the final tribulation, the demonheart tribulation, setting up a grand restrictive formation no longer made any difference whatsoever. Ning and Immortal Fivecraze were both worried about enemies would sneak close through using some technique to avoid divine sense scans, and so they had set up this grand sealing formation. With it present, one would have to either break the formation or use a Greater Teleportation technique in order to reach Immortal Diancai! “This is master’s second day undergoing the demonheart tribulation.” Ning turned to glance at Immortal Diancai, seated calmly in the lotus position at the center of the grand sealing formation. No one knew what Immortal Diancai’s demonheart tribulation was like; generally speaking, wayward thoughts were easily to withstand, but if one had to withstand them for an extremely long period of time… It must be understood that at least seven days of time in the real world had to pass, but within the world of the demonheart tribulation, ten thousand years or more might pass. Some would even forget what reality was, and they would be completely submerged within the illusory world until finally they perished! “Eh?” Ning was suddenly startled as a terrifying premonition of danger swept out from within his subconscious. “Danger!” Ning sent frantically, “Old brother Fivecraze, Uncle White, be careful. I can sense danger drawing near!” Immortal practitioners generally had extremely accurate subconscious premonitions. However, Ning was quite astonished at the fact that he had such a powerful premonition of danger…because he had already trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Logically speaking, there should be very few things in the world capable of threatening him. “Even if enemies came to attack Master…can it be that the amount of power they prepared is enough to threaten me as well?” Ning could barely believe it. “If that’s the case, then we are in for huge trouble.” Ning’s eyes suddenly lit up with torch-light. [Torch Dragon’s Eye]! He immediately scanned in every direction with both his divine sense as well as the [Torch Dragon’s Eye]. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Danger?” Both Immortal Fivecraze and the Whitewater Hound were startled, but neither of them doubted Ji Ning in the slightest. As time passed, they too began to subconsciously sense danger impending. Immortal Fivecraze, in particular, felt cold fear his heart. He was stunned by this. “What sort of danger is this? Why is it that I feel so threatened? Nothing’s even happened yet, but I already feel somewhat terrified?!” “Ji Ning?” Immortal Fivecraze looked towards Ning. “Uncle White, prepare to use your formations; no one is permitted to go close to Master. Old brother Fivecraze, be careful,” Ning instructed. His eyes were blazing with torch-fire as he continued to scan the surrounding area. All of the light from the distance, including refracted light and bounced light, were all being drawn into Ning’s eyes. More than sixty thousand kilometers away. “There they are!” Ning could clearly see a giant black ship that was flying towards them from far away. Atop the giant black ship, there were eight blurry figures standing atop the deck. The leader was a bloodrobed man who was filled with an unearthly, baleful aura. Behind him were seven black-robed individuals. Ning was aware of all of the famous Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals within Stillwater Commandery, and had seen pictures of them in scrolls. “The leader of the Blood God Church and their seven Law Protectors?” Ning was startled. “How did they find out that my master was undergoing the tribulation here?” His master had led the three of them into a spatial teleport and directly arrived at this volcano within the Darknorth Sea; neither Ning nor Immortal Fivecraze knew exactly where this volcano was! Could it be that his master had himself revealed it to another? Impossible! “No wonder so many Earth Immortals have suffered assaults during their tribulation here in the Grand Xia as of late,” Ning mused to himself. “It seems the culprit behind these events must have a special method to clearly sense where a Celestial Tribulation is occurring.” This caused Ning to feel even more nervous. The power behind these things…what in the world was it? No wonder even the Old Patriarch had felt fear. The mere fact that this person was able to calculate where Earth Immortals were undergoing their tribulation…this was already something that was entirely inconceivable. “It seems that things are as Master said; I cannot fight head-on against this sort of power. If I prance about in front if it, most likely my fate can be summarized in one word; death!” Ning could dimly sense that this approaching storm was going to be like a massive tidal wave which no one could possibly block; anyone who tried would be smashed apart. Not even Patriarch Subhuti dared to attempt to block it; if Ning did, he would undoubtedly be crushed to smithereens as well. “I don’t dare go cause trouble for the mastermind. But little shrimps like the Blood God Church? They are nothing.” This, Ning understood well. …… “It is the Blood God Church.” Ning immediately sent a mental message to Immortal Fivecraze and Uncle White. “A total of eight have arrived; they are the sect leader and his seven Law Protectors.” “What? The Blood God Church? No wonder my subconscious was telling me that this threat was so dangerous.” Immortal Fivecraze’s face instantly changed dramatically as he frantically sent mentally to Ning, “Ji Ning, the leader of the Blood God Church’s power has increased dramatically; he is able to compete against Celestial Immortals now. As for his seven Law Protectors, each of them increased dramatically in power as well; each are most likely comparable to me. Given the power of the eight of them…there’s no way I can block them at all. I’d probably die within a single breath’s worth of time!” The seven Law Protectors of the Blood God Church, thirty years ago, were nothing more than ordinary Loose Immortals! At most, they were perhaps on par with Loose Immortals who had lived for a hundred thousand years. Now, however, they had all increased in power enormously, at the five hundred thousand year level, very close to Immortal Fivecraze’s own level! “Understood.” Ning grew solemn as well. “What should we do? How should we stop them?” Immortal Fivecraze was restless and nervous. “They are too powerful, far more powerful than the three of us. Ji Ning, although you are comparable to senior Northwalker, there are eight of them. So long as a single one of them goes to fight against junior apprentice-brother Diancai, they’ll be able to kill him!” During the demonheart tribulation, one’s mind would be completely subsumed within the demonheart world. There was no way to fight back in the real world at all. Thus, Ning’s group not only had to overcome the foe, they also had to be able to completely block the eight of them. If a single one managed to slip by… 2496 “Leave it to me.” Ning’s eyes were filled with a sharp light. “Old brother Fivecraze, go into the grand sealing formation right away. Stay close to my master and protect him. As for these eight…leave them to me. If any make it pass me, it’ll be up to you.” “Fine.” Immortal Fivecraze didn’t hesitate, and the Whitewater Hound immediately let him inside. Ning’s eyes blazed like torches as he watched the giant black ship slowly draw near. Soon, it reached ten thousand kilometers of Ning. By now, the members of the Blood God Church could see the distant grand sealing formation with their naked eyes. “A grand sealing formation.” The Scion of the Blood God laughed coldly. “It seems this Immortal Diancai has already overcome the first three tribulations of wind, fire, and thunder. He is engaged in the demonheart tribulation. If we didn’t come…he might very well have succeeded and become a new Celestial Immortal. Alas…this impending Celestial Immortal of the Black-White College is about to die a stillborn death at our hands.” Rumble… A powerful divine sense came sweeping outwards in a wave, crushing down towards the eight of them. The divine sense roared angrily, “Scion of the Blood God, seven Law Protectors, I’m asking you to hurry up and leave!” “Ji Ning! He lives up to his reputation as the number one peerless genius of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny; his divine sense is able to stretch over ten thousand kilometers.” The Scion’s own divine sense interacted with Ning’s. “Ji Ning, your master is undergoing his tribulation, yes? Don’t deny it; we know it all. Heh heh…I can see that your master is only being protected by yourself, Fivecraze, and that Whitewater Hound spirit-beast of yours. Ahaha, that’s too weak. With this amount of power…there’s no way you’ll be able to stop me.” The Scion felt absolute self-confidence. “Scion of the Blood Good, if you leave now, then I, Ji Ning, shall remember your kindness in showing mercy on this day,” Ning sent back angrily through divine sense. “But if you attack…then I, Ji Ning, shall begin a death-feud with your Blood God Church!” The Scion could sense the savagery and madness within Ning’s voice. He couldn’t help but feel briefly startled…but then he snickered, “Death-feud? Not even the Northmont clan of Stillwater was able to do anything to me; I’m supposed to be afraid of you?” “Seven Law Protectors, leave Ji Ning to me; I’ll handle him. As for Fivecraze and that spirit-beast, I’ll leave them to you. While dealing with Fivecraze…go ahead and kill Immortal Diancai,” the Scion sent. “Up to the task?” “Don’t worry, sect leader.” 2497 “Just leave it to us, sect leader.” The seven Law Protectors all felt complete confidence. In truth, they were only wary of Ji Ning; after all, Ji Ning was simply too mysterious. However, they now only had to deal with Immortal Fivecraze and that spirit-beast. They were still quite confident in being able to do so! The seven of them, joined together, were able to completely crush and dominate Fivecraze. As for the Whitewater Hound spirit-beast? According to the intelligence report, it had previously been merely at the Wanxiang level in the past; although it was now at the Void-level, it had risen too fast and most likely did not have a solid foundation. Killing it would be effortless! “Fine!” The Scion laughed and said, “Then let’s do it!” BANG! The black ship suddenly drew near at high speed. Three thousand kilometers. Two thousand. One thousand… “Attack,” the Scion shouted mentally. “Let’s go!” The seven Law Protectors came out in a great show of force as the seven of them soared into the skies like seven black shadows. Immediately afterwards, streaks of bloody light began to swirl around them, joining together into a Blood Dragon that was more than three thousand meters long. This Blood Dragon was covered with distinct draconic scales, had long draconic whiskers, and a pair of eyes that were filled with a killing intent. Since they were reputed as the Seven Law Protectors, they naturally had their own joint formation. Back in the past, when they were weak, they had relied on this formation to roam Stillwater Commandery fearlessly; now that they were powerful, they were close to the level of a Loose Immortal who had survived for a million years. Whoosh… The Blood Dragon flew to one side, avoiding Ji Ning. The giant black warship, however, flew straight towards him. Atop the deck stood the Scion of the Blood God, whose eyes were filled with fiendish savagery. His divine sense once more clashed against Ning’s as he sent, “Ji Ning, you can block me, but you can’t block my seven Law Protectors. Your master is definitely going to die. As for you…I actually want to see for myself exactly how powerful the number one genius of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny is!” “Hmph.” Ning laughed coldly as he stood there…but his heart was clenching! For the sake of protecting his master, Ning had made many preparations. Although the eight members of the Blood God Church were seemingly powerful…Ning was completely confident in being able to stop them. There was no way the eight of them could pose a mortal threat to him…but his premonitions of danger couldn’t be wrong. Where, then, was the danger hiding? “All I can do is handle it when it comes,” Ning mused to himself. …… Immortal Fivecraze stood a few dozen meters away from Immortal Diancai, seven Immortal swords swirling around him. His heart was filled with worry. “Ji Ning said that he’ll block them, and that any that get pass him I am to handle. But the Scion of the Blood God is now dealing with him while the seven Law Protectors are attacking this way. How can I block seven of them? If I, a Loose Immortal who has lived a few hundred thousand years, were to perish, it wouldn’t matter…but junior apprentice-brother was able to overcome even six nine-sets of the thunder tribulation. If he were to be killed by the Blood God Church, that would be too unfair.” “No matter what…even if I have to give up this old life of mine…I have to protect my junior apprenticebrother.” Immortal Fivecraze gritted his teeth, staring towards the distant Blood Dragon. The seven Law Protectors, in the form of a Blood Dragon, radiated an unearthly, terrifying aura. As the Blood Dragon drew close, it suddenly lashed out with its tail. In truth, its tail was actually formed from multiple Immortal-ranked magic treasures, including Immortal swords and ribbons! Rumble… The tail slammed down directly upon the grand sealing formation, instantly causing it to crack. At this moment, the Whitewater Hound, who had previously been lying there silently, rose to his feet. Next to him appeared a black-robed youth; it was Ning’s Primaltwin! Ning could sense that danger was coming, and so he left his true body outside the formation to serve as the first line of defense, while he had his Primaltwin remain within the formation to serve as the second line of defense. “You want to harm my master?!” A fierce light flashed through the eyes of the black-robed Ning, and suddenly, nine seemingly translucent pitch-black Immortal swords suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to him. “Nine of them?” Immortal Fivecraze was both surprised and delighted. “So there were actually nine of those top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords…and Ji Ning, that little kid, actually hid his Primaltwin here. This little fellow…he scared the crap out of me. But will his Primaltwin be able to block these seven Law Protectors?” Immortal Fivecraze knew very well that he himself was not. It would all be up to Ning. Riiiiiip. Nine sword-tears in the sky suddenly appeared, like deep furrows that had been raked into it. The nine tears were like an enormous web of swords that swept towards the giant Blood Dragon. “Break!” The Blood Dragon let out an enraged roar that sounded like the merged voices of all seven Law Protectors, and at the same time it once more slapped its tail towards it. Riiiiiiip! Slash! Whoosh! Nine sword-tears, each comparable to the strike of an ordinary Celestial Immortal. When combined…the power of this blow surpassed even the power of Ning’s true body! When the attacks collided, the tail of the Blood Dragon, its most powerful part, instantly shattered apart. The Immortal-ranked magic treasures were all knocked flying back…and then the rest of the Blood Dragon was shattered as well. The nine sword-tears then continued forward in beautiful arcs, chopping towards the seven Law Kings. “Die.” The black-robed Ning’s eyes were filled with nothing but coldness. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Quick, let’s go.” “Sect leader!” The seven Law Protectors let out shrill cries of terror. Their combination-formation had been instantly shattered; this completely terrified them. They didn’t even think about fighting back. There was only one thing in their mind; fleeing! The magic treasures that had been knocked backwards were all re-controlled by the seven Law Protectors as they instantly began to execute their escaping techniques. However… The black-robed Ji Ning was using the [Heavenraker] technique, a sword technique that was extremely well-suited for engaging in group attacks! In addition, this technique involved nine Immortal-ranked flying swords, whereas there were only seven enemies! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Under Ning’s control, one tear in the sky appeared after another, ripping towards the seven Law Protectors. Each of the Law Protectors had Immortal-ranked magic treasures of their own, but by the looks of it theirs were quite ordinary. One of them, a silver-haired, hawk-nosed elder, had a total of three flying swords, whereas a youthful-looking one was controlling a large amount of stardust. Each of these two Loose Immortals were being pursued by a pair of Heavenraker swords, while the others were each being pursued by one! “Block.” The youthful-looking Loose Immortals was the most powerful of the seven. His dazzling, sparkling stardust was furiously attempting to block those two half-illusory Heavenraker swords. Bang! Bang! Those two tears in the sky forcefully tore through all his barriers, slicing apart his body and revealing a shattered Goldlotus Primal within it. Moments later…the Primal soul completely dissipated. Die! “Sect leader, save me!” A black-robed, sinister-looking female Loose Immortal called out frantically for aid, but she too was slashed and slain by one of the Heavenraker swords! …… 2501 It must be understood that Ning had completed his overhauling of the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] more than five or six years ago. During the past few years, he had been working on the [EightNine Arcane Art] and learning archery. This, too, was a way of meditating on the Dao! His improvements in wind and in the Grand Dao of Qiankun were especially significant, and thus Ning’s sword-arts had naturally become more exquisite as well! In terms of sword-arts, Ning was at an extremely high level now. In addition, he had nine top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, whereas the seven Law Protectors mostly had low-grade Immortalranked treasures, with just a few middle-grade; in fact, some of them were still using Heaven-ranked treasures. In addition, Ning was using the [Heavenraker] sword technique, a technique developed by a Daofather which was perfectly matched to his Heavenraker swords. Naturally, the power of his attack was increased many times over. Each of the nine Heavenraker swords, even when used separately, were able to unleash an attack at the level of an ordinary Celestial Immortal. Thus… All seven of the Law Protectors perished! Whoosh! The nine tears in the sky swept backwards, pulling in all of the now ownerless magic treasures in their wake as they flew back towards the black-robed Ning, who collected them. “This…this is…too…” Immortal Fivecraze’s eyes were filled with wild joy, and he stared towards the black-robed Ning with a scorchingly excited gaze. “Ji Ning, those were the seven Law Protectors, the seven famous Law Protectors! You actually killed them in a single exchange. Everyone said that when the seven Law Protectors join forces, anyone below the Celestial Immortal level will find it difficult to fight against them, but you, you actually…you aren’t at senior Northwalker’s level, you are even more powerful than he was!” The black-robed Ning said, “In terms of my insight into the sword, I’m actually not that much better than senior Northwalker was. The most important thing is that I have a set of nine top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, as well as a sword-art which was developed by a Daofather. Thus, even if an actual Celestial Immortal Patriarch came, my Primaltwin would be able to give him a fight!” …… The Blood God Church’s forces had been divided into two groups. The seven Law Protectors had gone to go after the seemingly-helpless Immortal Fivecraze and Whitewater Hound, whereas the sect leader, the Scion of the Blood God, had went to deal with Ji Ning’s true body. “Prepare to die.” The Scion stood atop his giant black warship. Long gray awls suddenly appeared behind his body, their tips glowing with bloody light. A total of nine of these gray awls appeared before all of them shot through the skies, forming a vague illusion of a bloody tidal wave as they moved forward! The nine gray awls came howling forward, carrying the wave of blood with them. Ning’s true body stood there, staring towards the distant attack. “Hmph.” Ning waved his hand, and the Thousandbull Sword appeared within it. He filled the Thousandbull Sword with his late-stage Void-level elemental ki, and the power of this sword which was very nearly at the level of a Pure Yang treasure instantly reached a shocking height. “This Thousandbull Sword truly is very close to the level of a Pure Yang treasure; a magic treasure like this, which was forged by a person, has extremely exacting requirements in terms of elemental ki. Only Celestial Immortals can use Pure Yang treasures, and this Thousandbull Sword is extremely close to that level; amongst Immortal-ranked treasures, it is a top-grade amongst top-grade items. In the past, I used early-stage Void-level elemental ki to activate its power, but I still wasn’t able to fully unleash it. Only after reaching the late-stage am I able to truly stir its power. However…it still isn’t time for me to truly unleash its full power!” Ning’s subconscious continued to scream danger to him…but he still couldn’t tell where the danger was! This restless feeling caused Ning to continue to hide part of his power, so as to deal with anything unexpected. “Arise.” Instantly, an enormous Lotusflower Swordland appeared around him. Because the earthfire and dire-ice in his body had yet to be raised to the skyfire or skywater level, the power of his Waterflame Lotus was still inferior to that of the Lotusflower Swordland. An enormous lotus bloomed around him, filled with layers of petals. Now that he had a higher level of comprehension regarding the Dao, the power of his Lotusflower Swordland had increased as well. Boom! Boom! Boom! One bloody awl after another came slamming forward, tearing through one layer of petals after another. Ning gripped his Thousandbull Sword. Sword-light suddenly flashed in front of him, blocking each of the sharp awls. Explosive sounds rang out without end, and sword-ki billowed forth in a torrent. By relying on his Lotusflower Swordland and his Thousandbull Sword, Ning was able to knock each of the awls flying backwards. “Eh?” The Scion was controlling his magic treasures to attack from afar while also watching his seven Law Protectors. “This Ji Ning actually is quite formidable. Although I’ve only used a third of my power, he hasn’t used his [Three Heads, Six Arms] either. He was able to block while just using a single Immortal sword. It seems that if I don’t fight with full power, it will be hard for me to kill him. He’s so powerful, despite only having trained for a century…it seems people like him, the number one peerless genius and champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, truly are quite special. Mm…after the seven Law Protectors kill Fivecraze, Diancai, and that spirit-beast, we’ll join forces…and kill Ji Ning!” The Scion had thought things out ‘perfectly’. But he suddenly discovered, to his amazement… That a black-robed Ning had suddenly appeared within the grand sealing formation. “A Primaltwin? Ji Ning actually split up with his Primaltwin? Isn’t he afraid of them being divided and conquered? He’s quite suicidal to do this.” The Scion was merely startled; he didn’t actually panic. As he saw it, even if the seven Law Protectors weren’t able to suppress Ning’s Primaltwin when they joined forces, at least they should be on par with him. “Those are…” Nine terrifyingly powerful Immortal-ranked magic treasures, of such great might that they caused the heart to tremble. They howled through the air as nine sword-formations, blasting apart and disintegrating the Blood Dragon. The seven Law Protectors fled in a panic, crying out miserably for rescue…but each of them were caught and killed. The Scion was completely stunned! Ning’s Primaltwin was vastly more powerful than he had expected. Even if he himself were to strike with full force, there was no way he would’ve been able to destroy the Blood Dragon with a single blow! It must be understood that when two sides were roughly on par with each other, one side would at most be put in a disadvantageous position. To completely blast apart the enemy…that was generally only possible when there was a fairly significant difference in power! This Ji Ning’s Primaltwin was even more powerful then himself, the sect leader! “My seven Law Protectors are gone…just like that.” The Scion felt utter pain in his heart. “This Ji Ning is absolutely inhuman. He’s a monster! He’s trained for less than a century, but he’s even more powerful than the secret arts I acquired. I imagine that in the entirety of Stillwater Commandery, only that old bastard, ‘Hunchmont’, is at his level.” “My seven Law Protectors died…I need to teach him a lesson!” A look of savagery appeared in the eyes of the Scion. The disciples of the Blood God Church were all famous for their brutal savagery, and the Scion of the Blood God himself was known to be a madman. In addition, he had his precious ship with him; why would he leave so easily? Swoosh! The long awls suddenly flew backwards, and the giant black warship began to rapidly shrink. The Scion hid himself into the cabin of the warship, which then completely sealed itself off like a fortress. “Ji Ning, you killed my seven Law Protectors, but I shall kill your master.” The Scion’s bellowing voice echoed in the skies, but he secretly mused to himself, “My losses today were enormous, but killing Diancai should count as having rendered major merits. I have to get some good treasures out of this.” …… Ning hadn’t been paying too much attention to the Scion of the Blood God; he had been spending most of his time staying vigilant and prepared for the invisible threat that he continued to sense. He was ready to fight back at any moment. Upon seeing the Scion suddenly hide into the shrunken black warship, which was now as tightly sealed as any castle, Ning just frowned and sent mentally, “Uncle White, activate your formation and block the Scion of the Blood God. Don’t let him go close to master.” “Don’t worry, Ning, son.” The Whitewater Hound hadn’t even done anything yet; he was the true, final protector of Immortal Diancai! “This Scion is at most comparable to a Celestial Immortal; killing him is fairly hard, but suppressing him is doable,” Ning mused to himself. “And that precious ship of his is merely a protective item…it doesn’t actually threaten me. So where is the true danger?” Ning’s eyes continued to blaze with torch-fire as he stared at his surroundings, and his divine sense continuously scanned the area as well. But he couldn’t find anything! But suddenly… Rumble! A white-robed man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The white-robed man had a strange, bloody scar on his arm…and immediately after he appeared, eleven more white-robed figures appeared out of nowhere, each of them radiating auras of incredible power! The invisible pressure they gave off…it seemed as though each of them were comparable to the Scion of the Blood God! As for the first person who had appeared, the impression he gave Ning…was that he was far more powerful than the Scion! “A Greater Teleportation Dao-seal!” Ning was shocked upon seeing them suddenly appear. “The surrounding area was spacelocked long ago, preventing any spatial teleportations. The only option is to use Greater Teleportation. There’s no way one of them could be a freakish monster who mastered even the Grand Dao of Qiankun…they had to have simply used a Dao-seal.” “They were willing to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, just to catch me off-guard? And those eleven who appeared afterwards…they should’ve been hiding in the Immortal estate of the leader.” 2505 Ning was instantly able to draw these conclusions. In turn, these conclusions caused him to feel even more shocked! Greater Teleportation Dao-seals were extremely valuable. For them to be willing to use one right away…how terrifying would these foes be?! “Kill!” A white-robed youth in the group let out a fierce-looking grin, then a complicated pattern of light appeared around him, forming into a runic formation. The strange runes hovered into the air, emanating a dark light. The other white-robed figures were all doing the same. The runic formation created by the leader involved runes that were even larger and even more complex-looking. “Form!” Suddenly, an enormous black serpent appeared in the skies. The eyes of this giant serpent were golden, while its body seemed to be filled with a strange power that was able to shake the Heavens and the Earth, as though it had taken command of the surrounding world. “A Primordial Godbeast…the Ba-Serpent?!” Ning was shocked. The most supreme Godbeasts of the Three Realms were all born in the Primordial Era. They were all comparable to Fiendgods of Primal Chaos in power…and in fact, some of them actually were Fiendgods of Primal Chaos. For example, Primordial Godbeasts such as the ‘Raindragon’, the ‘Garuda’, and the TorchDragon were actually born from the universe out of chaos; thus, they could be classified as Fiendgods. However, because they also served as the original progenitor for many different types of Godbeasts, with countless Godbeasts having some degree of their blood and lineage, they could also be classified as Godbeasts as well, the most supreme and ancient of Godbeasts. The Blood Dragon created by the seven Law Protectors through their formation could be considered the product of a very ordinary combination-formation. But a formation that could form a Primordial Godbeast…such formations were all extremely formidable, and when they joined into a Godbeast, they would possess amazing, incredible powers. …… Although all this took time to describe, it happened in a flash. The twelve white-robed figures instantly appeared through a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, then immediately joined into an enormous Ba-Serpent. The Ba-Serpent, capable of shaking the Heavens and the Earth, opened its enormous, bloody maw. The space around its mouth instantly became distorted, as though it was devouring the very world itself. An unearthly, powerful attractive power instantly locked onto Ning’s body. Although Ning was a Fiendgod Body Refiner and immediately worked to resist…he was completely unable to resist the devouring power. Not too long ago, there was a Celestial Immortal 2506 Patriarch who had similarly been unable to resist and who had been devoured by this Ba-Serpent, then perished. Swoosh! As the distant Immortal Fivecraze and Whitewater Hound watched…the enormous Ba-Serpent devoured Ji Ning with a single bite! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “A Ba-Serpent?” “Ning, son!” Immortal Fivecraze and Uncle White were both shocked, especially Uncle White, who knew exactly how powerful Ji Ning had become. And yet, even he had been unable to resist that devouring force, and he had been swallowed by the Ba-Serpent in one gulp! Although Ning’s Primaltwin was safe, they all knew that in terms of long-term potential, the true body was far superior to the Primaltwin; after all, the Primaltwin was merely a Ki Refiner, and so it was much weaker comparatively. “What a terrifying Ba-Serpent!” The Scion of the Blood God, located within the cabin of the small black warship, was able to see what was going on outside. The heaven-shaking Ba-Serpent in particularly caused him to feel completely stunned. “The power of this Ba-Serpent…its aura is even more powerful than that of that old bastard Hunchmont. Why has a force suddenly emerged to act against Ji Ning? Is this a force that comes from outside the world of the Grand Xia?” The Scion knew his own limits; clearly, these twelve white-robed figures that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere were far more powerful than him! That Ba-Serpent alone…it was capable of suppressing Celestial Immortal Patriarchs! “A peerless genius of this generation, Ji Ning, has most likely just perished,” the Scion murmured to himself. “Hmph. Hmph. It’s for the best. Now, I shall let your master join with you.” …… As the Scion of the Blood God began to charge towards the grand sealing formation. Within the ‘body’ of the Ba-Serpent. Whoosh. An incomparably ferocious devouring force, one which Ning was completely unable to fight back against, had drawn Ning into the giant bloody maw of the serpent. After being swallowed…the entire world turned dark. Ning just felt that he was constantly sinking downwards… “Transform.” As he began to sink, Ning immediately executed the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability. Six Immortal swords appeared within his hands as well; they were the Thousandbull Sword, three of his Darknorth swords, and two of the Wavebreaker Godshark Swords! This was primarily because Ning no longer had other Immortal-ranked flying swords on him; the Wavebreaker Godshark swords were top- grade Heaven-ranked flying swords he had acquired from the Treasure Hall of the underwater estate, and so they weren’t that much weaker than low-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. “Hahaha, Ji Ning, now that you’ve entered the body of the Ba-Serpent, you are dead for certain.” A wild laughter could suddenly be heard. “Hahaha, you are dead.” “Stop struggling.” “Even Celestial Immortals will perish in here.” Voices rang out from every direction. At the same time, quite close to Ning, a long awl suddenly shot out from a meaty ‘wall’. The awl flashed with a sinister light and moved lightning-fast. It even manifested the faint illusion of an azure hornet as it stabbed towards Ning. Clang!!! One of Ning’s six arms which wielded a Darknorth sword knocked the awl flying away. Immediately afterwards, other types of magic treasures and secret arts attacks began to fly towards Ning from every which way. Because Ning was within the body of the Ba-Serpent, and the attacks were suddenly coming from the fleshly ‘walls’ within the body as well as the bones of the serpent, the attacks came from a very short distance, repeatedly catching him off guard. This caused Ning to find things quite difficult for now. “Waters of Heaven!” Ning’s six swords struck out simultaneously, and illusions of water streams began to appear, one after another. A large amount of water began to swirl around Ning, causing the world around him to seem to change into a world of water. This technique also came from the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace, and it was also created by a Daofather. This was a sword-art on par with the [Heavenraker] – the [Waters of Heaven]! [Heavenraker] was well-suited for group attacks, and also against single-target foes. [Waters of Heaven] was most suited for defense. “No, I won’t be able to block this way.” Ning found defense to be incredibly difficult. As the saying went, two fists found it hard to fight against many hands. Although Ning currently had six arms, he was facing twelve opponents right now! The opponents each controlled many magic treasures, and every single attack was quite fearsome. The fact that the attacks were launched from such close range also made it so that Ning had very little reaction time. “It seems I’ll have to rely on the Thousandbull Sword.” 2509 Ning had been wanting to keep this supreme technique of the Thousandbull Sword hidden, so as to suddenly annihilate all his enemies in a surprise attack. However…these wild, chaotic attacks from his foes were already enough to force him to unleash this attack, an attack which Ning’s true body had only grown capable of unleashing after reaching the late Void-level. “Primordial Nightriver…emerge!” Savagery filled Ning’s eyes, and the pure, late Void-level elemental ki within his body flowed into the Thousandbull Sword, completely activate the formation-diagram within the sword! Instantly, the sound of waves could be heard as an enormous, wide river suddenly appeared in the area arounding him. When the river appeared, part of it manifested within the body of the Ba-Serpent, while part of it manifested outside of the body! This was because the entire Nightriver was fully ten thousand kilometers long! Activating the Nightriver effect required a very high amount of elemental ki…but its might was similarly powerful to the extreme. Rumble… The waves of the river bellowed forth, sweeping across the entire region. The twelve white-robed members that made up squad ‘Earthnine’, hidden deep within the body of the Ba-Serpent, were all shocked. As the waters of the primordial river known as the Nightriver crushed upon them, and as the river water outside the body of the Ba-Serpent ground down upon it, their Ba-Serpent Formation began to creak and crack. “Don’t panic. This is the power of a formation-diagram of an Immortal sword; it only has the power to constrict and suppress. A single formation-diagram won’t be able to do anything to the Ba-Serpent!” The leading white-haired man immediately sent mentally to the others. …… The outside world. The Scion of the Blood God had been trapped within the formation. Although he could see the distant Immortal Diancai and Whitewater Hound, he wasn’t able to draw any closer to them!” “That whitewater hound is merely using the Fuxi Staff Formation; how is it that his formations are this powerful?! I’ve trained for hundreds of thousands of years, and I have some insight into the art of formations, but I haven’t been able to find a single flaw in this formation at all.” The Scion of the Blood God was completely stymied. Right at this moment, the sound of massive explosions could be heard from afar. The Scion turned to look in that direction. He could still see the giant Ba-Serpent in the outside world; he was simply unable to fly over there. “The Ba-Serpent?” “A river?” Uncle White and Immortal Fivecraze turned to look as well. From afar, a three kilometer Ba-Serpent had been completely swept up into an enormous, awe-inspiring river that was more than ten thousand kilometers long. The waters of the river were furiously churning around the body of the Ba-Serpent. And then, the massive river began to rapidly shrink, from ten thousand kilometers to a hundred kilometers, then down to ten kilometers. The ten kilometer river was now roughly comparable in size to the three kilometer Ba-Serpent. The power of the river grew as it shrank, and it continued to coil and churn around the Ba-Serpent. There was even water flowing in and out of the Ba-Serpent’s body, nose, and mouth. ROAR!!! The Ba-Serpent raised its head, letting out a furious growl as it twisted and turned, struggling to free itself. But the river didn’t budge in the slightest. …… “Captain, the pressure from the waters of the river is too great, and it has covered every single part of the Ba-Serpent’s body. We’re using up far too much elemental ki in maintaining this Ba-Serpent Formation.” “Captain, what should we do?” They were beginning to grow nervous. Normally speaking, once a foe entered the body of the Ba-Serpent, there was no way the foe would be able to find the twelve of them. They could attack as they pleased at a close distance from the ‘flesh’ and ‘bones’ of the Ba-Serpent, with attacks that would be very difficult to defend against. Thus, the enemies would usually be quickly dominated and destroyed! However, despite being trapped within the Ba-Serpent, this Ji Ning actually had a method to deal with the entire creature at once! “A formation-diagram? A formation-diagram?! Generally speaking, only Pure Yang treasures have formation-diagrams. Even if this Ji Ning does have a Pure Yang treasure…logically speaking, he has to be at the Celestial Immortal level to use it. How could a formation-diagram have appeared?!” The captain was puzzled and frantic as well. The Nightriver Painting of the past was something which required one to first draw the enemy into painting before being able to use the river to suppress and weaken the enemy. However, after the countless years of refining by the spirit of the underwater estate, the Nightriver Painting had already become the formation-diagram of the Thousandbull Sword. Once the formationdiagram was activated, the Nightriver would instantly appear. This was what made formation-diagrams so special! And this was also the reason why the Thousandbull Sword could be described as comparable to a Pure Yang treasure! “This Ji Ning definitely has some sort of powerful treasure on him. However…following that principle, once we kill him, that treasure will become ours,” the captain sent mentally. “We must kill Ji Ning at all costs. Activate the forbidden technique!” “The forbidden technique?” “But…” “Captain, do we really have to activate it?” These were Immortal cultivators, not Deathsworn; they naturally felt a degree of self-interest. The captain shouted mentally towards them, “This treasure is capable of allowing a Void-level Earth Immortal to command the power of a formation-diagram, which means that it is no less valuable than a Pure Yang treasure in might! Ji Ning definitely has many treasures on him; once we acquire them, then hmph…all of us will benefit from it. Even if you suffer harm to your foundations, it will be worth it. Don’t hesitate; the more time we waste, the more elemental ki we will have wasted. If you continue to hesitate…don’t blame me for being merciless!” “Fine. Let’s do this!” “Kill Ji Ning!” Upon hearing their captain’s threat, they no longer hesitated. They simultaneously executed the forbidden technique. The ‘Ba-Serpent Formation’ was an ancient, powerful formation which had been passed down by the Bloodcloud Hall that required twelve Immortals to execute. Aside from normal attacks, it also possessed three levels of forbidden techniques. These three levels of techniques were extremely complicated; given the insights into the Dao which the members of squad ‘Earthnine’ possessed, only the activation of the first level was possible. However, this first level already possessed nigh-limitless power. The twelve white-robed men, hidden within the body of the Ba-Serpent, all used the same forbidden technique simultaneously. The runic formations that had been hovering in the air around them slowly began to turn a bloody color, and additional blood-colored runes began to appear as well. These bloody runes hung there in the air, and once the forbidden technique was activated… 2512 “Ba-Serpent Hell – Godslayer!” The white-robed leader with the bloody scar let out a low growl, his voice echoing within every part of the Ba-Serpent’s body. All of the bloody light and the bloody runes began to suddenly move about at high speed. They flowed forth from those twelve locations within the Ba-Serpent, moving towards the direction of the BaSerpent’s abdomen. Immediately afterwards, within the dark abyss of the abdomen of the Ba-Serpent, a region of blood suddenly appeared. The bloody light and the bloody runes all swirled around each other within this region. Whoosh. Ning’s three-headed, six-armed form was gripping a total of six mighty swords as he strove to block the suddenly attacking magic treasures. “I have to come up with a way to flee from the Ba-Serpent’s body. If I’m unable to escape…I’ll be like fish meat on the chopping board.” “Eh? Why have the attacks stopped?” Ning found out to his amazement that the weapons and arts that had been attacking him had suddenly disappeared. But suddenly afterwards…the devouring force increased dramatically in power, and with a swoosh, Ning once more sank downwards. Plonk. Ning fell straight into a bloody lake. This was a lake of blood located within the abdomen of the Ba-Serpent. Above the lake of blood were bloody runic symbols which hovered and shimmered. Upon falling into the lake, Ning immediately struggled to try and fly out, but the sucking power of the lake was simply too great. Ning was firmly trapped within it, completely unable to escape. At the same time…Ning could sense a powerful corrosive force begin to be applied to every single part of his body. “Captain, is Ji Ning dead?” “This forbidden technique, ‘Ba-Serpent Hell’, has very powerful corrosive properties. Even ancient Voidlevel Fiendgods which are legendary for how powerful their bodies are will be corroded and dissolved, then perish. There’s no way this Ji Ning will be able to survive it.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. This time…they were ridiculously wrong! By relying on this technique, they could indeed corrode and melt away even a Void-level fiendgod, and even ordinary Celestial Immortal Patriarchs would perish to this technique. Unfortunately…the person trapped within the Ba-Serpent Hell was Ji Ning. Ji Ning, who had reached the Third Cycle of the [EightNine Arcane Art]! Ji Ning’s flesh was comparable to Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Although their BaSerpent Hell technique was very corrosive, there was no way it could corrode Immortal-ranked magic treasures! “I can’t just let myself remain trapped in here. I have to get out.” Ning executed the [Heavenly Transformations], causing his body to expand enormously. The bloody lake was now only able to reach Ning’s kneecaps. Six Immortal swords in his hands, Ning began to wildly and wantonly hack away at the stomach-walls of the Ba-Serpent. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Ba-Serpent was trembling. “This guy didn’t die yet?” “How can this be?” “How could it be that the Ba-Serpent Hell is unable to kill him?!” The twelve were all stunned. They hurriedly sent out their divine senses to investigate, and as they did, they discovered…that there was an enormous three-headed, six-armed youth who was standing in the middle of the bloody lake, whose furclad body was glowing with a hazy golden light. The bloody lakewater was completely unable to harm him at all. The giant was even wildly hacking away at the stomach-walls of the Ba-Serpent, each strike containing enormous power. Given that the surging waves of the Nightriver filled every part of the Ba-Serpent, crushing down upon it…the twelve white-robed figures were using up elemental ki at an enormously fast rate in order to maintain the Ba-Serpent. “This kid has trained for less than a century; he’s merely a Void-level Earth Immortal. How is it possible that he can withstand the Ba-Serpent Hell?” None of them could believe it. This was something which they had executed only after paying a heavy price, damaging their Goldlotus Primals. They were confident that this would definitely succeed…but who would’ve expected that the end result would be failure? “It must be that golden light on his body! That golden light…it must be the aura of a protective magic treasure. It’s precisely because of that magic treasure that he’s able to resist the Ba-Serpent Hell!” “Right. He’s probably taken on a True Immortal or Empyrean God as his master; he must’ve been given a protective treasure.” “That must be it.” “Protective treasures won’t be able to be maintained for too long. After its energy is used up, this Ji Ning shall die for certain.” Their level of experience was limited, after all; although they knew some of the powerful divine abilities of the Three Realms could allow one’s body to become comparable to magic treasures, Ji Ning was only at the fifteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. They felt that even if Ning trained in protective divine abilities such as the [Pentabolt Vajra], there was no way he could use them to resist their Ba-Serpent Hell. Thus, they guessed that it must be a protective treasure. A protective treasure bestowed by a True Immortal or Empyrean God…upon being activated, it could protect the bearer for a time, but once the energy and power within it was used up, it would become useless. “But we are only going to be able to sustain the Ba-Serpent Hell via our forbidden technique for the time needed to boil a kettle of tea.” “If the power of Ji Ning’s protective treasure is used up, then we’ll have won. But if the Ba-Serpent Hell is dispersed first…are we supposed to use the forbidden technique again?!” “Captain, what should we do next?” The others were all awaiting the captain’s order. None of them wanted to use the forbidden technique again. “Disciples with backers and sects behind him are always difficult,” the white-robed man muttered back mentally. “There’s nothing we can. Carry out the backup plan.” “Fine.” “Let’s do it.” They all immediately acknowledged the order. This ‘backup plan’ was to borrow strength from another party…but as a result, the rewards they would get for killing Ji Ning would have to be divided up as well. …… The Whitewater Hound used the Fuxi Staff Formation to tremendously powerful effect. The Ba-Serpent might be able to forcibly break through and threaten his formations, but the leader of the Blood God Church, the Scion of the Blood God, was hidden within that black warship; he wasn’t willing to go all-out, and so he definitely wasn’t able to break open the formation. Uncle White and Immortal Fivecraze watched the outside world with worry. High in the air, a giant river was twisting and coiling around an unfathomably powerful Ba-Serpent. The Ba-Serpent was struggling and roaring with rage. “Break apart!” The Ba-Serpent spoke out in the human tongue, then let out another enraged roar as its tail struck out hard. Rumble… Space itself was torn apart, and on the other side a sea could vaguely be seen. It must be understood that this minor world was very close to the Grand Xia major world. The entrance to the volcano was a stable corridor between worlds, but some sufficiently powerful experts were absolutely capable of opening a corridor through their own power. For example, Patriarch Arcanum had done just that in ripping a tunnel into the world of the Witchriver Immortal Estate. This strike by the Ba-Serpent was absolutely comparable to a blow from Patriarch Arcanum. Swoosh. After ripping apart the fabric of space…although the Ba-Serpent remained entangled within the Nightriver, it charged into the spatial tear and returned to the world of the Grand Xia. The minor world grew quiet. “They are gone?” “They disappeared?” Uncle White and Immortal Fivecraze were all quite flabbergasted. They hadn’t expected that the enemy would tear open the fabric of space and depart from this minor world. They both looked with concern towards the black-robed Ning, who was fairly close to them. It must be understood that it was Ning’s true body that had just been taken away! His true body was far more important than his Primaltwin. “Ji Ning,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “No need to worry about me.” The black-robed Ning shook his head, then sat down in the lotus position, quietly protecting his master, Immortal Diancai. No matter what, he absolutely wouldn’t permit anyone from disturbing his master’s tribulation. His Primaltwin had to stay here and protect his master! As for his true body…his true body had the underwater estate. If he truly did encounter a life-threatening situation, he could go ahead and hide into it, even though that meant revealing the existence of the estate. After all, his true body was very important; only his true body was capable of executing techniques such as the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and the [Starseizing Hand]. The air above the Darknorth Sea. The vast sea was incomparably quiet. From far away, one could see a ship advancing through the seas, a merchant vessel from a surrounding island. Rumble… The air above the sea split apart, and an enormous monstrosity came hurtling through the spatial tear. It was an enormous serpent that was three thousand meters long. Its body was entangled by a surging river which coiled around it like a rope. “What’s that?!” “Good heavens!” “A Diremonster?!” The many mortals who were aboard that merchant vessel, as well as a few ‘powerful’ Xiantian experts, all stared in stupefecation. However, with but a single movement, that massive, three kilometer serpent disappeared into the horizon. …… Ning was able to clearly sense what was going on outside, thanks to the Nightriver which the Thousandbull Sword had created. “Eh? We’re at the world of the Grand Xia? And this should be the Darknorth Sea,” Ning guessed to himself. At the same time, he continued to wildly brandish his six swords, hacking and slashing at the stomach of the Ba-Serpent. The Ba-Serpent trembled repeatedly as the elemental ki of the twelve white-robed figures was used up at a rapid pace. They were forced to take out some spirit-pills and swallow them to replenish their energy. Swoosh. The Ba-Serpent easily used a spatial teleportation, arriving at the air above a wide mountain range located within the vast continent of the Grand Xia Dynasty. “A mountain range? This is the place the Ba-Serpent’s spatial teleportation took it to?” Ning mused to himself, still trapped within the Ba-Serpent’s body. Instantly, the incomparably imposing waters of the Nightriver began to expand wildly, from ten kilometers to its normal ten thousand kilometer size! The endless amounts of river water instantly filled the mountain range below. However, Ning remained quite careful; he didn’t wish to let the waters of the Nightriver harm any mortals by accident. He mainly wanted to test the surrounding environment. “Formations!” Ning was shocked by what he discovered. A fog had instantly appeared within the great mountain range, completely ensconcing the Nightriver within it. “Not good. We’re trapped within a formation. My ten thousand kilometer Nightriver is only able to test a small portion of this formation; clearly, this is an absolutely enormous formation. It seems this mountain range must be a secret base.” Ning realized that this must be a place like his own homeland, Swallow Mountain, which was now protected by layers of grand formations. Powers such as the Skysplitter Sword Sect, for example, all had many great formations protecting their headquarters. It was the same principle. The mountain range which this Ba-Serpent had descended into was assuredly a similarly dangerous place. …… Grand Xia Dynasty. Flamedoor Commandery. The Eastwoods mountain range. The Eastwoods mountain range was the location of a sect known as the Eastwoods Sect! “General.” The leader of the Eastwoods Sect spoke with incomparable respect. “A Ba-Serpent has suddenly appeared within the Eastwoods mountain range, and around it is a river that is ten thousand kilometers long. It is extremely powerful. Are these the people from Bloodcloud Hall which you previously mentioned, general?” At the front of the hall was seated a tall, muscular, handsome, silver-armored youth. The silver-armored youth’s aura was very powerful, at the Celestial Immortal level. “It seems those useless pieces of crap at Bloodcloud Hall were unable to kill Ji Ning, so they brought him here to my place,” the silver-armored youth laughed disdainfully. “They weren’t even able to kill a kid like Ji Ning, who has trained for less than a century. How embarrassing! Mm…sect leader of the Eastwoods Sect, this is your territory. You go ahead and control the grand formation to help the Ba-Serpent and deal with Ji Ning.” The sect leader of the Eastwoods Sect said respectfully, “Yes, General.” In his heart, however, he was sighing. He was the sect leader of a supreme sect, but over the course of a single night thirty years ago, the entire Eastwoods Sect had become completely ‘brainwashed’. Even he himself was sealed with a Reincarnation Seal and forced to become an obedient servant. “Big Han,” the silver-armored youth suddenly called out. Whoosh. A shadow materialized within the darkness; it was a a man with sideburns. He said with tremendous respect, “Master.” The silver-armored youth said, “Bloodcloud Hall sent people to assassinate Ji Ning. They agreed with me before doing so that if they were unable to do anything to Ji Ning, that they would come here to the Eastwoods mountain range…and just a short while ago, the forces of Bloodcloud Hall used their ‘BaSerpent Formation’ to bring Ji Ning here. Accompany the sect leader of the Eastwoods Sect; when the time comes, you can act to help.” “Yes,” the sideburned middle-aged man said with respect. “Mm. I’m going to go take a look in the ‘forbidden area’. If there’s nothing critical, don’t bother me,” the silver-armored youth instructed. “Yes,” the sideburned man repeated once more. The leader of the Eastwoods Sect assented as well, but in his heart he felt puzzled. Ever since this mysterious power had descended thirty-plus years ago and took over the entire Eastwoods Sect, they had first set down increasingly, terrifyingly powerful formations around the mountains, then had designated one particular region within it as a ‘forbidden region’. The original members of the Eastwoods Sect were completely forbidden from entering the region; if they did, they would definitely die! Only the silver-armored general and his subordinates were able to enter that place. As for what was within it? Not even the leader of the Eastwoods Sect knew. Rumble… The flows of the distant Nightriver were still furiously smashing downwards, crushing some nearby mountains and shattering giant trees. The Ba-Serpent continued to struggle to escape from the confines of the Nightriver. “Come with me, leader of the Eastwoods Sect.” The face of the sideburned man changed, and he let out a sharp bark as he led the leader of the Eastwoods Sect away to go help the forces of Bloodcloud Hall. The silver-armored general stared towards the distance, then shook his head. “This Ji Ning is actually this hard to kill…he truly lives up to his reputation as the champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny.” He took a single step forward, then vanished. He was going to the forbidden region. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The sideburned man and the leader of the Eastwoods Sect moved as fast as lightning. They soon arrived at the place where the Ba-Serpent was located. “Uh…” The sideburned man sighed in amazement at what he saw. The massive, ten thousand kilometer river seemed to be like a living creature. It struck out with wanton abandon; how could the local mountain peaks, gorges, and trees possibly withstand its strikes? They were all instantly shattered and broken apart. As for the Ba-Serpent that was trapped within the massive river, it appeared to be even less restrained; clearly, the river was only able to somewhat bind its power. “Earthnine, do you need my help?” The sideburned man called out loudly. Filled with elemental ki, his voice echoed within the heavens. “Activate the formation. Don’t let Ji Ning escape,” the massive Ba-Serpent roared furiously. “Don’t worry!” The sideburned man chortled merrily, then glanced sideways at the leader of the Eastwoods Sect. “No problem handling a small request like this, right?” “Rest your mind, milord,” the leader of the Eastwood Sect said respectfully. The distant Ba-Serpent suddenly opened its giant bloody maw. Rumble…a human-shaped figure was suddenly spat out from within it. It was a three-headed, six-armed youth. Ji Ning did a somersault in midair, then stood there in the sky, six swords in his six arms. Laughing loudly, he said, “It seems this is all you are capable of. Earlier, you were bragging about how even Celestial Immortal Patriarchs would die when trapped…but didn’t I come out in perfectly fine shape?” …… As soon as he came out, Ning noticed the formations in the surrounding area. Formations were everywhere, making it difficult for even his divine sense to search the area. “[Torch-Dragon’s Eye].” Ning’s eyes began to glow with torch-light. He stared at the surrounding area, only to discover that he could still only see to a distance of a thousand kilometers. This was because of the fog in the area blocking much of the light; even the [Torch-Dragon’s Eye] was only able to penetrate to a certain extent through the fog. If he didn’t have this divine ability…he’d probably only be able to see to a distance of one kilometer. Whoosh… 2520 The Ba-Serpent hung in the air in the distance, its golden eyes focused on Ning. It spoke in the human tongue: “Ji Ning, today you shall most certainly die.” “You shouldn’t talk so big,” Ning smirked. “You are trapped within our formations; are you going to be able to escape?” The Ba-Serpent growled, “Even if you have a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal…once we join forces, you can forget about teleporting away.” Ning stood there in midair, pondering. Dao-seals and magic treasures weren’t absolutely failproof. Lesser Teleportation Dao-seals were precious protective treasures for Xiantian lifeforms and Zifu Disciples, but if combat caused the surrounding space to be disturbed or locked when one attempted to use them, then there would be no way the Lesser Teleportation Dao-seals could be activated. The same principle applied to Greater Teleportation Dao-seals as well; they, too, had their limits! Greater Teleportation Dao-seals were indeed powerful, and they even allowed one to teleport from one world to another. However…the process of actually activating the Dao-seal and releasing the power within it involved the person merging with space itself. If one suffered an extremely powerful attack that disrupted the energy of the Dao-seal, then the Greater Teleportation would be disrupted and unable to complete! A Dao-seal could ignore a weak disruption attempt, such as those from ordinary Primal Daoists or Loose Immortals. Thus, for Primal Daoists and Void-level Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, these Greater Teleportation Dao-seals were extremely valuable protective treasures. But a powerful disruption attempt would render Greater Teleportation impossible. At the Celestial Immortal level, their attacks were more than enough to disrupt the energy of a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. As for True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, they were able to completely disintegrate a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal! Daofathers? Such seals were nothing more than a joke in the face of a Daofather’s might. …… When Ning had been within the Ba-Serpent, he had been suffering attacks nonstop. And the attacks of these foes were all at the Celestial Immortal level! They were more than enough to disrupt a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. “If they push me too far, I’ll just go hide inside my Immortal estate. Although the defensive power of the mobile one I carry with me isn’t that strong, it’s still enough to withstand their attacks for a brief moment. That will be more than enough for me to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape! However…that’s as good as throwing away my mobile Immortal estate.” Ning felt his heart ache. This Immortal estate had been given to him as a gift by the giant yellow bear! It was used to hide his underwater estate. In terms of price, it was on a slightly higher level than even the Goldlight Immortal Estate which he had given his cousin. It was most likely worth five million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence or more! In order to flee, Ning would have to sacrifice both a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal and his mobile estate. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t choose to do this. “Old Han, why haven’t you activated the formation to attack Ji Ning yet?” The Ba-Serpent roared angrily. “He has a protective treasure on him, but after its energy is used up…I want to see how much longer he’ll be able to hold on after that!” “Hahaha, fine.” Big Han, who had been watching from afar, laughed and assented. He instructed the nearby Eastwoods sect leader, “Go ahead. Bring out everything you have; broaden the horizons of those useless pieces of crap from Bloodcloud Hall.” “Yes,” the Eastwoods sect leader said respectfully. This mountain range was the headquarters of the Eastwoods Sect; it naturally was protected by many layers of powerful formations. As the sect leader, he was capable of actively unleashing their power! However, he didn’t know anything about the even more powerful formations which the silver-armored general, that Celestial Immortal, had laid down. Generally speaking, the original formations of the Eastwoods Sect were more than enough. “Divine Ashfire!” The Eastwoods sect leader immediately brought out one of the most powerful techniques of his sect. Instantly, a grand formation that was tens of thousands of kilometers in size began to activate the natural energy of the world. A large amount of fire elemental energy began to gather, circulating through the formation and becoming transformed in midair to dull red tendrils of flame that seemed ready to go out at any moment. The dull red tendrils of flame began to appear everywhere, quickly forming an enormous firebird. Whoosh! The three hundred meter tall dull red firebird flew straight towards Ning. “Roaaaar!” The Ba-Serpent charged once more towards Ning as well, howling madly. The power of its tail was quite astonishing, and 2522 multiple Immortal-ranked magic treasures came flying out as well as some powerful techniques, all of which were aimed towards Ning. “Ji Ning, the power of this Divine Ashfire is quite formidable; not even Celestial Immortals dare to take it head-on. Even if you have a protective treasure on you…how long will you be able to hold on for? After its energy is used up, you will die.” The Ba-Serpent continued to attack while spitting out words in the human tongue, seeking to disturb Ning’s concentration. “Bring everything you have. Do you think this ‘Divine Ashfire’ will be able to do anything to me?” Ning stood there in midair, not caring at all. When the dull red firebird drew near, a large amount of fire quickly swept forward to envelop Ning. The Divine Ashfire technique was mainly dangerous for Ki Refiners. It might pose a threat to some Fiendgods that had weak defenses, and might be able to burn apart Earth-ranked magic treasures…but upon encountering Heaven-ranked magic treasures, it would begin to find breaking through to be onerous. At most, it would be able to damage an ordinary low-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasure. As for higher quality Heaven-ranked treasures, they were able to ignore the power of the Ashfire. As for a Fiendgod Body Refiner like Ning? “Hahaha…” Ning laughed, his body once more emanating with that hazy golden light. In truth, Ning was intentionally releasing that golden light from his body. He wanted the foe to think that he had some sort of protective treasure on him, so as to conceal the fact that he had trained in the [EightNine Arcane Art]. Although it would definitely be revealed at some point as they continued to fight…if the enemy was to misjudge his true strength, then he would have an opportunity to take advantage of that and perhaps wipe them out at one go! …… The Divine Ashfire blazed against him, and the massive Ba-Serpent struck at him repeatedly. Multiple Immortal-ranked magic treasures came crashing down upon him with the weight of mountains, and techniques in the shape of dragonsnakes, massive trees, and more also came hammering towards him. There was even skyfire and other techniques aimed his way! All of these attacks came flying towards Ning. Ning caused the waters of the Nightriver to billow in every direction, suppressing and slowing down everything. At the same time, he sent his sword-light flying everywhere, knocking aside each attacking treasure in a truly valiant manner. “Strange.” “I’ve nearly exhausted my elemental ki twice, and I’ve eaten quite a few spirit-pills. How is this Ji Ning still able to hold on?” 2523 “How is it that he’s been able to keep his protective treasure active this entire time? The energy of protective treasures generally come from True Immortals or Empyrean Gods filling the treasure with their own power; once the power is gone, the treasure is useless. How is it able to hold on for so long?” …… Big Han, watching the battle from far away, began to frown. “I believe your Eastwoods Sect has a ‘Seven Supreme Thunders’ formation, yes? Hurry up and activate it.” The Eastwoods sect leader hurriedly said, “Yes.” Instantly, a dark cloud appeared in the skies above the grand formation. Lightning appeared within the dark clouds, and bolts of lightning came hammering down, all striking towards Ning. “Hahaha, these lightning bolts aren’t even enough to tickle me.” The three-headed, six-armed Ning stood there in midair, the waters of the mighty Nightriver surrounding him, the dull red flames blazing against him, bolts of lightning crashing down up him, the Ba-Serpent striking at him, and magic treasures swirling around him…but like Lord Buddha himself, Ning just stood there, his entire body glowing with golden light. His sword-light flashed everywhere, easily deflecting all of the oncoming attacks. Seeing this, Big Han frowned. “This is trouble.” “Is that all you have? Aren’t you guys always quite cocky in front of us, in front of Bloodcloud Hall? Why is it that you are completely useless right now?” The distant Ba-Serpent, growing frustrated, shouted angrily in the human tongue. “Hmph.” Big Han gritted his teeth, then waved his arm. A strange golem appeared next to him, a golem that looked like a cat. Its body was feline, but it had three tails and just a single eye. This golem had a total of four legs, was thirty meters long, and there was actually an opening on its back. The sideburned ‘Big Han’ flew straight into the golem, and then with a clanking sound, the opening on the back became completely sealed. This construct was similar to a ship, but it could be used to attack as well as defense. It was an incomparably precious golem. “I refuse to believe a little brat that’s trained for less than a century can really be this tough.” The ‘Threetailed Thundergod’ construct let out a furious roar, then transformed into a streak of lightning that flew straight towards the distant Ning. …… Ning noticed the jagged bolt of lightning that was flying towards him from afar. His eyes were filled with blazing torch-light, and he instantly could tell that this was a strange construct of some sort. “It seems 2524 quite powerful; a construct of such power is rarely seen even in the Black-White College. I didn’t expect to encounter such a formidable construct in a place like this.” “Still…although it’s powerful, it’s not a match for me.” To ‘greet’ this new opponent, Ning used the most powerful of his six swords, the Thousandbull Sword, to ‘welcome’ it to the fray. “Die!” The Threetailed Thundergod construct slashed out with its sharp claws, its blow seeming to carry enormous power. Its knife-sharp claws moved lightning-fast as he clawed towards Ning. Where the claws passed, space itself split apart. A streak of sword-light in the shape of a divine black dragon howled forth to meet the sharp claws. Rumble… The Threetailed Thundergod was knocked flying backwards. Only a few moments later did he manage to come to a halt. Then, with an enraged roar, it once more charged forward to attack. No matter how wildly they all attacked, and despite the fact that Ning had only six arms to counter their tens of hands, resulting in an occasional attack striking him…his Fiendgod body, covered by that blurry golden light, was able to easily withstand all assaults without being damaged in the slightest. This caused the enemies to feel that Ning’s protective treasure was truly something remarkable. “Big Han, stop fighting so madly. This Ji Ning has plenty of tricks up his sleeve; there’s nothing we can do to him at all. Hurry up and find your master! Let him come up with a solution. If even if he has nothing, then Bloodcloud Hall will be forced to resort to our final option, regardless of whether or not it succeeds,” the scarred white-robed leader within the Ba-Serpent sent mentally. “Fine. I’ll notify my master,” Big Han immediately sent back. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Ji Ning, protected by the Nightriver, was being attacked from every corner. But suddenly, the ‘Threetailed Thundergod’ construct turned tail and flew away. “You want to go?” Ning’s eyes blazed with torch-light. He immediately executed the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] divine ability. Although he had acquired it just recently, it was a technique-focused divine ability. In addition, Ning had already thoroughly mastered the Windwing Evasion, and thus he was quick to master part of the mysteries of this [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] technique. It could be said that he had gained a basic level of skill in it. When this divine ability was executed, a wild wind began to howl around Ning as he chased after the construct. “Construct, you want to leave?” The six Immortal swords in Ning’s hands repeatedly hacked down towards the fleeing construct. One ray of sword-light after another came crashing down upon the body of the construct. BOOM!!!! The construct was slammed into the ground, and a spiderweb of cracks appeared in the ground beneath it. “Earthnine, you useless pieces of crap, hurry up and help me stop Ji Ning. If you don’t stop him, I won’t be able to leave. How the hell am I supposed to inform Master?” Big Han sent a frantic mental message while muttering to himself, “This Ji Ning is way too fast. I was quite some distance away from him, but he was able to catch up in a flash.” Squad Earthnine was also shocked by Ning’s speed. Still, they immediately moved to help. The enormous body of the Ba-Serpent came slithering over, coiling around Ning as multiple magic treasures began to assault him as well. As it did, the Ba-Serpent roared back, “You’re the useless piece of crap! Do you think it’s easy to deal with this Ji Ning? It’s not that we are weak, it’s that he’s too much of a monster. I have no idea what sort of treasure is generating that golden light, but no matter how we attack him, we aren’t able to do anything to him.” Big Han seized this moment to hurry and flee. In truth, he knew that squad Earthnine wasn’t to blame; he had used his construct to launch attacks earlier, and he knew that Ji Ning truly was a monster. Ning was like a rock, a hard bone that wouldn’t break or crack. What was one supposed to do to him? …… Whoosh. After fleeing far away, Big Han was able to escape the field of battle, thanks to the obscuring fog in the area. “Milord.” The leader of the Eastwoods sect came to greet him. “I’m going to go see the general. You watch here. Don’t let Ji Ning escape,” Big Han instructed. “Alright,” the Eastwoods sect leader said respectfully. Big Han quickly departed, and the Eastwoods sect leader watched as Big Han disappeared into the distance. Only after he was gone did the sect leader mumble to himself, “So what if I don’t let him leave? None of you were able to do anything to him when attacking him.” He then lifted his head to once more stare at the besieged, three-headed, six-armed Ning. He couldn’t help but feel admiration for him. This was a monster who had shocked the world more than thirty years ago, seizing the championship of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. And now…he was truly formidable. Even squad Earthnine of Bloodcloud Hall was unable to harm him in the slightest. The Eastwoods mountain range. The forbidden area. Within a dark palace. The silver-armored youth was seated in the host’s position, sampling fine wine. Before him was seated a red-robed elder. “I’m almost out of patience. Qu Huan, you truly have disappointed me greatly,” the silver-armored youth said, a beastskull goblet of wine in hand. He stared at the wind as he said these words calmly. “General, don’t be impatient. Don’t be impatient,” the red-robed elder said hurriedly with an ingratiating smile. “I’m not impatient, but the Master is!” The silver-armored youth said coldly, then raised his head to glance sideways at the red-robed elder. “You should know very well how important your mission is. You’ve spent more than ten years on it…how much longer before you complete it?” The red-robed elder said hurriedly, “We’re already doing everything we can. If you send some more people to help us out, General, we might be able to go a bit faster.” 2527 “More people?” The silver-armored youth shook his head. “Everyone is tight on personnel right now. The other generals all have their own assignments to carry out as well; where am I supposed to go find more people? The Master has already begun to push me. I’ll give you three more years. If you aren’t able to finish within three years…I won’t kill you myself, but you need to make your preparations for reincarnation.” The red-robed elder was filled with worry. He hurriedly said, “It’s not enough. How can three years be enough? Given the number of people we have…we will need at least five years.” “You must finish within three years. If you do not…” The silver-armored youth waved his hand. “Hurry up and beat it.” “Yes.” The red-robed elder gritted his teeth. “Your subordinate shall definitely do everything possible to finish within three years.” He then left obediently. The palace hall once more turned quiet. The silver-armored youth drank some more wine, then shook his head helplessly. “Ever since I came to this major world of the Grand Xia, I’ve been living the life of a mouse. I’m always hiding. How irritating! I wonder when the battle will come. After taking over this major world, I’ll be able to live a carefree life.” Suddenly… “Master, Master.” A voice shouted from outside. The silver-armored youth frowned, then barked, “Have you no sense of propriety? Stop screaming and kicking up a fuss.” “Master.” Big Han came in, then hurriedly smiled, “Sorry, I was panicking.” “What is it?” The silver-armored youth said. “I went along with the Eastwoods sect leader to help out, and we used the protective formations the Eastwoods Sect has. I even personally intervened, but we weren’t able to do anything to that Ji Ning,” Big Han said hurriedly. “Squad Earthnine have no other options left. They are asking for your help, Master. If you are helpless as well, then they’ll prepare for their ‘final option’.” “Final option?” The silver-armored youth snickered, “Those useless pieces of crap from Bloodcloud Hall. Whenever they fail in their assassination attempt, they’ll use that so-called ‘final option’.” “But that option has killed quite a few Celestial Immortals,” Big Han couldn’t help but say. “Those Celestial Immortals died due to stupidity!” The silver-armored youth shook his head. “No matter what…squad Earthnine of Bloodcloud Hall has always been on quite good terms with me. I’ll give them a hand. Go and summon nine of my Fiendguards and prepare to use the Divine Venomflame of the Nine 2528 Heavens Cauldron. If they can kill Ji Ning, that will naturally be a joyous affair, but if even this technique fails to kill him…then have squad Earthnine come up with another method. If they want to use their socalled ‘final option’, that’s up to them.” “Alright,” Big Han said in a low voice, “But Master, aren’t you going to fight?” “Me? Fight? Do you think it was easy for me to make it past all the tribulations and calamities, eventually becoming a Celestial Immortal? If a Celestial Immortal wants to stay alive for a long period of time, he needs to have a bit of judgment. He needs to clearly understand when to act and when not to act.” The silver-armored youth snickered, “This Ji Ning might have a True Immortal or Empyrean God behind him, or perhaps even a Daofather! If I were to personally intervene, what if the power behind Ji Ning were to come out and instantly crushing me to death. Wouldn’t that be a shame?” “Now, of course, if I was given a good enough offer, I might be willing to risk it…but this mission only involves three piddling top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures. The main Bloodcloud Hall office is keeping one of them, while squad Earthnine is taking part as well. How much can there be for me? They want me to take on such risks for just a tiny reward?” The silver-armored youth shook his head disdainfully. “Big Han, you and the rest of the old brothers who accompanied me to the world of the Grand Xia for the purpose of enjoying ourselves. Naturally, when we need to fight, we shall…but we need to always consider whether it is worth it or not. As for this assassination mission of Bloodcloud Hall? Its success, its failure…what the hell does it have to do with us?” “Right, right, right.” Big Han hurriedly said, “Master, you are wise.” “The Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron is the most powerful killing formation which has been set down here at the Eastwoods mountain range. Even amongst Celestial Immortals, only extremely powerful ones can withstand it. The vast majority will be annihilated in one blow,” the silver-armored youth said. “I’m giving them face by having nine of my Fiendguards activate this killing formation. Alright, hurry up and go.” “Yes, yes, yes.” Big Han hurriedly left. The silver-armored youth immediately stood up and walked outside of the palace hall. Soon, Big Han came back leading nine plainly dressed bronze-armored Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. “General,” the nine Fiendguards said respectfully. “Big Han has told you everything, yes? Hurry up and go control the formation to kill Ji Ning,” the silverarmored youth instructed. “Yes, General.” The nine Fiendguards assented respectfully, then quickly departed. “Come, let’s go take a look as well. I want to see if this peerless genius of the Grand Xia world is able to survive within this grand formation of mine, or if he will be burnt to ash.” The silver-armored youth leisurely walked out. ….. There were three figures atop a mountain peak. They were the silver-armored youth, big Han, and a black-robed youngster. “Disciple, you came with me, your master, to the world of the Grand Xia,” the silver-armored youth said with a laugh. “Today, Master is going to give you the chance to see…the person known as the number one peerless genius of the world of the Grand Xia. He’s trained for less than a century, roughly the same as you, but he is far more famous than you.” The black-haired youngster said confidently, “How strong can he be?” “You’ll know soon enough,” the silver-armored youth said. Swoosh. A figure suddenly flew over. It was the Eastwoods sect leader. He said respectfully, “I greet you, General.” “Disperse the fog,” the silver-armored youth said with a laugh. “Let my disciple have a chance to see how powerful this Ji Ning is.” “Yes.” The sect leader immediately obeyed the order. Instantly, the distant fog began to dissipate, allowing everything to become clearly visible. Even here, at the distant mountain peak, one could see an enormous three-headed, six-armed giant battling in the distance against the even more massive BaSerpent, as well as the surging waters of the Nightriver. The silver-armored youth laughed. “Disciple, what do you think?” The black-robed youngster stared intently into the distance. He could sense the terrifying power of the Ba-Serpent, capable of shaking the world itself, as well as the power of those many Immortal-ranked magic treasures. However…the three-headed, six-armed giant youth was able to block all of these attacks. “So powerful.” The black-robed youngster was somewhat stunned. “He…can it be that he is already a Celestial Immortal?” “Although he is not a Celestial Immortal, he has a Celestial Immortal’s power,” the silver-armored youth said with a sigh. “At the Wanxiang level or the Primal level, fighting someone of a higher level is fairly common…but the difference between a Void-level Earth Immortal and a Celestial Immortal is absolutely enormous. For him to still be able to fight those at a higher level, despite being an Earth Immortal…is something that is truly rare. More importantly, this Ji Ning has trained for less than a century. Disciple…do you see the difference, now?” 2530 The black-robed youngster gnawed at his lips as he watched. Right at this moment… Rumble…suddenly, a mountain peak began to levitate into the skies at the southeastern horizons. Rumble…suddenly, a second mountain peak began to levitate into the skies of the northwestern horizons. One mountain after another began to levitate into the air. Fortunately, thanks to the grand formation protecting the entire Eastwoods mountain range, those who were outside the mountain range were completely unable to see this. They had no idea how vicious the battle within the mountains had grown. Soon, a total of nine mountain peaks were hovering in the air, spread out in every direction. Each mountain peak was covered with swirling, fiery red runes, causing the aura of power emanating from the mountains to slowly grow more and more powerful. This invisible aura quickly encompassed nearly the entire Eastwoods mountain range. This was because this was the most powerful killing formation available to the Eastwoods Sect, capable of attacking any place within the mountain ranges. Even this mountain peak, where the black-robed youngster and the silver-armored youth were located, could be assaulted. “Master, this killing formation…” The black-robed youngster’s face changed as he sensed the threat from this formation. “This formation is going to be used against Ji Ning?” The aura from the formation alone was enough to cause the black-robed youngster to feel fear in his heart. He knew exactly how powerful this killing formation was. Just a tiny portion of it was enough to annihilate him. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood there in midair, commanding the flows of his Nightriver. “Eh?” Ning’s face suddenly changed. He saw mountain peaks begin to levitate into the air in every direction. A total of nine mountains levitated upwards, each one covered with colossal, fiery red runes. Ning’s pupils contracted as he stared at them. “Using mountain peaks as formation-foundations…refining entire mountains into magic treasures…then joining them together into a formation?” Ning wasn’t completely ignorant of formations. He understood them, and he knew that given how much effort had gone into this formation, this one was definitely an absolutely top-notch formation. Perhaps it was slightly weaker than the supremely ferocious killing formations of Swallow Mountain, but it was still most likely capable of threatening the lives of Celestial Immortals. As to exactly how strong it was…he would only know when he personally experienced it. “Where did these assassins come from, for them to possess such powerful tools?” Ning still had no idea who exactly was trying to kill him. He had some suspicions, but he wasn’t completely confident. Whooooosh. The nine levitating mountains that lined the horizons were suddenly connected by a streak of runic light. It was as though chain links were joining the mountain peaks together. Soon, the countless fiery runes began to flow together into a cycle, causing the nine mountain peaks to join together into one. Swoosh. The Ba-Serpent, which had been battling against Ning this entire time, suddenly retreated and attempted to flee. “You want to leave?” Ning, who had been battling in close combat against the Ba-Serpent for quite some time now, immediately let out a loud roar. “If I’m going to be attacked by this formation, then you can forget about leaving!” Ning immediately used the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], moving at a much faster speed and instantly catching up to the Ba-Serpent. Ning immediately transformed into a three hundred meter tall giant, then plopped his butt down directly down onto the body of Ba-Serpent while grabbing onto its body. No matter how the Ba-Serpent tried to struggle, and no matter how it tried to swing its tail, Ning kept a firm lock on it. “If this grand formation is going to attack me, then I insist on us getting a taste of it together.” Ning roared loudly with arrogant laughter, his hair wild and unbound. “This is troublesome.” “Captain, this Ji Ning is too fast; the Ba-Serpent isn’t able to shake him off. He’s now seated firmly atop the Ba-Serpent’s body. When the formation attacks, we’ll probably be hit as well.” “This killing formation the Eastwoods Sect is using is the ‘Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron’; there’s no way we can withstand that.” “Don’t panic. The general won’t act recklessly; he’ll definitely perfectly control the Cauldron and focus its power on Ji Ning. Just a small amount might end up hitting the Ba-Serpent,” the captain sent back. Just as the members of Bloodcloud Hall were chatting amongst themselves, a vortex of flame began to appear in the air. This flame was composed of two different colors. The flames were jade-green in color, but at the center was a violet flame! Rumble…the flames continuously swirled, and the more they swirled, the more enormous they became. Soon, they reached the maximum size that could be supported by this formation, having become an enormous, mountain-sized conflagration. Crackling sounds could be heard within this conflagration; the sound came from the violet flames in the center, where flashing lightning could be seen. Ning rode atop the Ba-Serpent, controlling the river while doing so. He raised his head. “So it is the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens…” He was of the Mount Innerheart League, after all; after having spent so much time on the mountain, he had naturally reviewed all of the publicly available ‘common knowledge’. He knew what the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens was…it was a type of fire that was on the level of ‘truefire’ in terms of power. However…because it was too evil and chaotic, mixing too many different types of energy, there was no way an Immortal could nurture and cultivate this sort of fire within the body. BOOM!!!! The mountain-sized conflagration began to crash downwards. The Ba-Serpent struggled frantically, but Ning rode atop the Ba-Serpent’s back, not letting it escape at all. Whoosh… The flames of the conflagration completely enveloped Ning. However, the flames were extremely agile; under the control of the nine Fiendguards, they only surrounded Ning, allowing the Ba-Serpent to escape 2533 virtually unscathed. But of course, Ning was striving against the Ba-Serpent, trying to pull it into contact with the flames. “Hahaha, this Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens is quite hot, quite scorching. It feels just like taking a nice, warm bath in hot water.” Ning, bathed in flames, looked just like a Fiendgod. Roaring with laughter, the Ba-Serpent still in his clutches, he said, “Come, come, come, let’s bathe together!” “What?!” “How can this be?!” “But, but…” Both the forces of Bloodcloud Hall and the silver-armored general were all completely stupefied. The silver-armored general was truly stunned. “He is actually using his body to resist it…he didn’t dodge or hide into his Immortal estate?” He had thought that Ning would hide within his Immortal estate; upon Ning doing so, Bloodcloud Hall’s forces would instantly tear apart space, immediately delivering it to a rather ‘dangerous location’. Within the Three Realms, there were naturally some extremely terrifying places; thus, after hiding into a mobile Immortal estate, one had to immediately use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. Otherwise, once one was shoved into one of the danger zones of the Three Realms, one would almost assuredly perish. “Not even the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens can harm him?” The nearby black-robed youngster was stunned as well. “How can this be? That’s the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens!” “Why can’t it be?” The silver-armored youth said in a low voice, “Don’t you see it happening before your very eyes?” The nearby Big Han and the Eastwoods sect leader were both similarly stunned. The Eastwoods sect leader gave an envious glance towards Ji Ning, who appeared like one of the invincible Fiendgods of legend. To him, both the Ba-Serpent and the terrifying Venomflame both seemed like naught but toys; they weren’t able to do anything to him. “Is it a protective treasure? Or a protective divine ability?” The silver-armored youth stared into the flames, towards Ning, who was covered by faint golden light. “It is almost inconceivable for a protective item to be able to last for this long…but then again, perhaps a Daofather has given him a particularly unique treasure. But if he’s using a divine ability…I imagine the only possibility is the legendary [EightNine Arcane Art].” “If it’s the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]…the implications are terrifying. Only very, very few True Gods and Daofathers of the Three Realms possess it…and they will generally only transmit it to their personal disciples.” The silver-armored youth was secretly rather shocked. Within the Three Realms, the True Gods and Daofathers were all scattered into various regions where they ruled like local hegemons. But even amongst their ranks, only very, very few were in possession of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. The vast majority of True Gods and Daofathers, such as Grand Emperor Xuanwu or Daofather Crimsonbright, simply didn’t have the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], much less teach it to disciples. Thus, very few individuals in the Three Realms were in possession of this divine ability. Only a personal disciple of a supreme Daofather could possibly possess this divine ability! “Even if it is ‘just’ a protective treasure…someone capable of giving away a marvelous treasure such as this must have a terrifyingly great background,” the silver-armored youth mused to himself. “Fiendguards, since you are unable to injure Ji Ning, then go ahead and disperse the Venomflame!” The silver-armored youth immediately sent the mental order. “Yes.” The nine Fiendguards instantly assented to the order. Right away, the nine mountains that were hovering in the skies began to call back their runes as they began to sink downwards to their original location. “Earthnine,” the silver-armored youth sent mentally. “General,” Earthnine sent back. “Even this killing formation of mine is unable to do anything to Ji Ning. I’m giving up. As to whatever Bloodcloud Hall plans to do, I can’t be bothered to interfere,” the silver-armored youth sent. Earthnine immediately sent back, “Understood. This mission is nowhere close to being worth a mere three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Even ten wouldn’t be enough. I won’t bother you with this matter anymore, General. I have no other choices left, just the final option.” “Mm.” The silver-armored youth assented. …… Ning rode atop the body of the Ba-Serpent, watching as the Divine Venomflames of the Nine Heavens dissipated. He couldn’t help but laugh; he knew long ago how powerful the flames were, and knew that his physical body was absolutely capable of ignoring those flames. “Tell me, who are you people? Who told you to come assassinate me?” Ning barked. “If you tell me, I’ll release you. Otherwise…I’ll keep messing around with you. Although it’s hard for me to escape this formation, you’ll be trapped here alongside me.” “Ji Ning, I admit that you are formidable, but…threaten us? Hmph!” The Ba-Serpent spoke out in the human tongue, then suddenly flew off into the distance. Ning rode atop the body of the Ba-Serpent, following its movements. Trapped within this formation, Ning would probably have to rely on a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape. However, if he kept a firm grip on the Ba-Serpent…unless the Ba-Serpent was willing to remain within the formation as well, once it left, Ning would be able to go out with it. This was the reason why Ning kept such a firm grip on the serpent. Whooosh. The Ba-Serpent flew forward, flying through mountain forests as many formations automatically parted before it. Suddenly… BANG! The massive Ba-Serpent suddenly disappeared into nowhere as the twelve white-robed figures reappeared. The leader, the white-robed man with a bloody scar, waved his hand to collect all of the other eleven, then immediately flew towards a nearby location in front of him, his movements lightning-fast. On the ground in front of him, there was a pitch-black, fog-covered cave. Swoosh! When the Ba-Serpent disappeared, the white-robed man was already quite close to the entrance of the cave, and so he instantly charged into it. Swoosh. Ning charged after the white-robed man, but a few meters away from the cavern entrance, he came to a sudden halt. “Eh?” Ning stared at the black, foggy cavern entrance before him. The entrance wasn’t that large, and it appeared quite ordinary. However…there was no way he could tell exactly what was within the cave. He couldn’t sense the aura of the white-robed man within it at all either. “It seems…this cave is rather mysterious.” Ning stood in front of the cave, hesitating. Because he couldn’t sense any auras at all from the entrance, he had no idea what was inside. …… The Ba-Serpent had fled, but Ji Ning had remained atop the Ba-Serpent’s back. After the Ba-Serpent was dispersed, the forces of Bloodcloud Hall had all fled into the black cave. All of these things were seen by the silver-armored youth, the black-robed youngster, Big Han, and the others. “So the forces of Bloodcloud Hall truly did use their ‘final option’.” The black-robed youngster had used a divine ability, causing spots of starlight to appear within his eyes. He could clearly see to a great distance. “I wonder if this Ji Ning will enter or not. If he enters, then he will definitely die.” 2536 “True Immortals or Empyrean Gods might survive if they go in, but as for this Ji Ning…no matter how powerful his protective treasure is and no matter how formidable he is, he’ll definitely die,” the silverarmored youth said. “Of the Celestial Immortals who were killed by Bloodcloud Hall, quite a few died after they foolishly chased the Bloodcloud Hall assassins all the way into the cave.” This cave entrance… Was in reality a portal. It led to a very mysterious place, a place that was countless times more dangerous than the Eastwoods mountain range. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stared at the black, foggy cave entrance in front of him for a moment, hesitating. This clearly was no ordinary cave. Neither his divine sense nor his [Torch-Dragon’s Eye] and other senses were able to discover anything about the cave at all! However…Ning truly wanted to know who it was who was trying to kill him! “The world of the Grand Xia is currently filled with dangerous undercurrents; it’s best to be cautious. It’s best if I don’t go into unknown places.” The reason why Ning had acted so arrogantly and brashly earlier was because everything was under control…but the depths of this black cave were beyond his understanding. Whoosh. Ning instantly departed from this region, but he was still surrounded by layers of formations. Ning casually chose a mountain peak at random, sitting down in the lotus position atop it, then laughed loudly, “If you have any other abilities, use them to your heart’s content! If you don’t attack me…I’m going to use my Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to leave now.” His voice echoed within the skies, but no one came to attack him. “It isn’t the time to leave yet,” Ning mused to himself. “Master is still undergoing his tribulation in that minor world. If the assassins wish to continue to assault me and lose track of me, they’ll probably go back to that minor world. I might as well stay here then!” …… “Master, he didn’t go in,” the black-robed youngster said. “Because he’s not an idiot,” the silver-armored youth said, shaking his head. “The Celestial Immortals who went in previously were all overconfident; they felt that their power was more than enough to ensure that they would survive. But how could they have known…that the tunnel leads to one of our true headquarters. Even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would at most be able to escape with their lives from that place.” Both the black-robed youth and Big Han nodded. They had both been there before; they naturally knew exactly how terrifying that place was. As their headquarters…it was naturally far more dangerous than this Eastwoods mountain range. “Master, Ji Ning is in our formation. Shall we attack him?” Big Han asked. “What’s the point of attacking him?” The silver-armored youth looked towards him. Big Han laughed awkwardly. “There’s no point to us attacking him, but if you were to attack, Master, wouldn’t you be able to easily capture him?” “Stop flattering me,” the silver-armored youth snickered. “I, your master, know my own limits. This Ji Ning is quite mysterious; his protective abilities alone are enough to ensure that all of you weren’t able to do anything to him with your many frenzied attacks. Even the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens was unable to injure him. Although I dislike Bloodcloud Hall, they aren’t weak…and yet even squad Earthnine in their Ba-Serpent Formation was unable to harm him in the slightest! I’m not able to kill him.” Big Han just chortled. He knew that his master tended to be very low-key…but that his master was in truth enormously powerful. More than ten Celestial Immortals had died to his master’s hand! The silver-armored youth quietly stared at the distant Ning, speculating internally, “This Ji Ning’s background must be significant. If he trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]…then his background must be utterly shocking! I wonder whose disciple he is?” “When divinities battle, mortals suffer. Compared to those major powers…people like me are like mortals, while they are divinities.” “Low-key. Stay low-key.” The silver-armored youth had lived for a very long time, and had experienced very many things. Thus, he knew very well… That Celestial Immortals might seem to be very powerful, but in the context of the entire Three Realms, they were actually nothing more than chess pieces. There were many danger zones that could cause Celestial Immortals to perish. Someone like Ji Ning, who had such a terrifying background… True, if he killed Ji Ning, any Daofather behind Ji Ning most likely wouldn’t lower himself to act against a Celestial Immortal like the silver-armored man. After all, for a Celestial Immortal to kill someone like Ji Ning wouldn’t be considered a strong person bullying a much weaker person. But there were some madmen in the Three Realms who were wholly unreasonable, and who would fly into a rage and seek vengeance for any slain disciples! “Although there are very few such madmen…perhaps one of Ji Ning’s uncle-masters or fellow apprentices number such a madman amongst them,” the silver-armored youth mumbled to himself. “It wasn’t easy for me to stay alive for so long; I endured countless dangers before becoming a Celestial Immortal. I plan to survive this storm. Careful. Have to be careful; that’s more important than anything else!” “Master, then are we going to just let Ji Ning stay in the formation? Should we…?” Big Han looked towards the silver-armored youth. “Just keep him trapped within the formation. If Bloodcloud Hall wishes to continue their assassination, let them. We won’t participate any further,” the silver-armored man said calmly. “If he wants to use a 2539 Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to leave, there’s nothing we can do about that! As for attacking him? Forget it. Attacking him is a waste of elemental ki.” “Yes,” Big Han assented respectfully. Time passed, one day after the other. The third day after the failure of the assassination attempt. Patriarch Arcanum was once more invited to Bloodcloud Hall. He was brought to that secluded garden once more, and it was still that same silverrobed maiden who welcomed him. “How’d it go?” Patriarch Arcanum sat down, looking at the silver-robed youth facing him. “Did you kill Ji Ning?” “No.” The silver-robed maiden shook her head. “No?!” Patriarch Arcanum was shocked…and then enraged. “I’ve already given you the treasures, so you should go and kill him. If you weren’t able to kill him in your first wave of attacks, you should send out a second wave. In short…you should do what you promised and ensure that you kill him within the year. As for how you accomplish it? I don’t give a damn. But you need to do what you promised! This was a deal! My Youngflame clan has paid the price; you need to hold up to your end of the bargain.” The silver-robed maiden nodded. “Your words are correct.” Patriarch Arcanum was startled. “Per our contract, if Bloodcloud Hall is unable to accomplish the mission, then we are to return your treasures to you.” The silver-robed maiden produced a storage ring. “This is what you gave to me previously; everything is here. Bloodcloud Hall lost money on this deal, but we’re still giving you everything back.” “You…you…” Patriarch Arcanum couldn’t believe it. A contract was a contract. If the assassination couldn’t be carried out, then the treasures would have to be repaid! This was something Bloodcloud Hall prided themselves on…but they rarely actually did this. “Is Ji Ning very hard to kill?” Patriarch Arcanum frowned. “If we truly had to kill him, Bloodcloud Hall could indeed do it.” The silver-robed maiden nodded. “Then why don’t you?!” Patriarch Arcanum asked. “The price isn’t high enough.” The silver-robed maiden looked towards Patriarch Arcanum. “What’s the needed price?” 2540 “Twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures,” the silver-robed maiden said. “If you pay this price in treasures, Bloodcloud Hall will go and kill Ji Ning. We erred in our estimation of his power, and so we set too low a price last time.” Patriarch Arcanum’s face turned completely crimson with rage. “Why don’t you just go ahead and rob me?! You dare to name a price of twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures? That’s equivalent to two Pure Yang treasures! That’s enough to invite even a True Immortal or Empyrean God to come and help out! How dare you name such a price?!” This price was indeed quite excessive; it would pose an enormous burden towards the Youngflame clan. “Invite a True Immortal or Empyrean God?” The silver-robed maiden chuckled. “Go ahead and give it a try. Let’s see who would be willing to kill Ji Ning for you.” Patriarch Arcanum gritted his teeth. He knew very well that the more powerful an expert was, the more cautious they tended to be. Perhaps a Celestial Immortal killing Ji Ning wouldn’t be considered a strong person bullying a much weaker person, but a True Immortal or Empyrean God killing him definitely would be. If there truly was a Daofather standing behind Ji Ning… If the Daofather was able to discover what was happening and was able to rescue Ji Ning before he died, things wouldn’t be too bad; the Daofather would at most teach the offender a lesson! But if the Daofather didn’t make it in time, or if he found out only after Ji Ning died…in his rage, the Daofather might truly go and slaughter the True Immortal or Empyrean God in question! How many True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would be willing to risk their lives for the sake of two lowgrade Pure Yang treasures? “There should be some powerful Celestial Immortals that can kill Ji Ning, right?” Patriarch Arcanum growled. “If you wish to invite Bloodcloud Hall to assassinate Ji Ning, then please hand over twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, or treasures of an equivalent value. If you aren’t willing, then please leave. Our business is concluded,” the silver-robed maiden said. Patriarch Arcanum ground his teeth. Twenty… Suppressing his anger, Patriarch Arcanum asked in a growl, “How powerful is Ji Ning?” “You want to know?” The silver-robed maiden said, “This is a bit of valuable intelligence. If you are willing to return the storage ring and its contents to me, I can tell you.” “Hmph!” Angered, Patriarch Arcanum rose to his feet, turned, and left. What a joke. An intelligence report worth three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures? After watching Patriarch Arcanum leave, the silver-robed maiden shook her head. “You idiotic fool. If you ask Bloodcloud Hall to kill Ji Ning, all you need to do was pay us enough treasures. But if you want to do it yourselves? Even if you were to summon your ancient Patriarch who first arose in the Fiendgod Era, and even if he was able to kill Ji Ning when using all his power…the price you would pay would be a price vastly beyond what your clan is capable of withstanding.” “Master wouldn’t lie to me. He’s suspected of having learned the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Not even Master was qualified to learn such a technique.” The silver-robed maiden was stunned by this bit of news. From the detailed intelligence report they had gained from their assassination attempt, Ji Ning either had an unearthly powerful protective item or had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Either possibility had tremendous, extraordinary implications. However… Bloodcloud Hall specialized in carrying out extraordinary tasks. If the price was high enough, they would still dare to kill Ji Ning! Time passed, one day after the other. Within the minor world. The scorched, cracked, barren earth here would cause any who saw it to feel despair towards life. “Why hasn’t Master woken up yet?” The black-robed Ning stared at the nearby Immortal Diancai. “The demonheart tribulation will last for at least seven days, but at most…it’s hard to say.” Immortal Fivecraze shook his head. “Your master has only spent ten days in the demonheart tribulation. Don’t be impatient.” “Right.” The black-robed Ning nodded. “And how is your true body doing? Is it in any danger?” Immortal Fivecraze asked, worried. The nearby Whitewater Hound looked towards Ning as well. The black-robed Ning laughed helplessly. “Don’t worry. I really am not in any danger at all.” But Immortal Fivecraze and Uncle White couldn’t help but worry. If Ning’s true body truly was completely safe, it would’ve already returned to this minor world. And yet, it hadn’t. What they didn’t realize…was that Ning was intentionally keeping his true body in the Eastwoods mountain range, so as to draw the attention of his foes and prevent disaster from befalling his master. “Let me out. Ji Ning, Fivecraze, just let me out. You won’t be able to kill me; what’s the point of keeping me trapped here?” Trapped within the formation, the Scion of the Blood God, still within his little black ship, was calling out loudly. He truly felt regret for coming here. Although by relying on his ship, he made it impossible for them to harm him…he was trapped within this formation and unable to escape. He had no idea that the enemy included such a formidable formations expert. The black-robed Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and Uncle White couldn’t even be bothered to look at the Scion. They were just going to keep him locked up in here! If he was permitted to leave, he might stir up more trouble. It was best to keep him trapped here! That way, they wouldn’t worry about him disrupting Immortal Diancai’s tribulation later. “Eh?” Suddenly, the black-robed Ning, Fivecraze, and Uncle White all turned their heads to stare at Immortal Diancai, still seated in the lotus position. Immortal Diancai had already opened his eyes. Within them could be seen two things; infinite ancientness, and a hint of tears. “Master!” The black-robed Ning called out excitedly. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Junior apprentice-brother!” Immortal Fivecraze looked excitedly towards Immortal Diancai. All of them just stared with bated breaths. Immortal Diancai’s eyes were open. He remained seated in the lotus position, but rainbow-colored clouds suddenly began to appear in the skies. These fortuitous clouds descended around Immortal Diancai, and in the ground around him there began to manifest petals of a golden lotus flower. It seemed as though Immortal Diancai was seated atop an enormous golden lotus. Murmurs of what sounded like celestial music could be heard from the world around him. Of course, this wasn’t an actual melody; rather, it was the sound of the Heavens and the Earth. Just listening to it, one would feel as though it was filled with infinite mysteries. At the same time, a terrifying aura of power began to descend, completely enveloping Immortal Diancai. “Such terrifying power.” The black-robed Ji Ning and the others all felt their hearts tremble, even though they were barely touched by the power itself. Whoosh… An enormous flood of natural power began to gather around Immortal Diancai. His body now began to manifest the ‘aura of an Immortal soul’, something which one would have only after becoming a Celestial Immortal. His energy was transforming on a fundamental level as well. From the Zifu stage to the Void stage, one merely had ‘elemental ki’. After becoming a Celestial Immortal, the power of the soul and all other powers would completely merge into one power. The lotus-bud at the top of the Goldlotus Primal would draw in the essence of all the other types of power, fusing them into one and then refining them into a single brilliant golden pellet, a ‘Jindan’. 1 This new power could be described as either dharmic energy or Immortal energy. “The great path of the Jindan, the great path of the Jindan…once the golden pellet enters my flank, then my destiny shall no longer be subject to the Heavens.” Immortal Diancai laughed softly, “All shall become one, a perfect, flawless whole…from this day forth, there shall be no more Three Calamities, no more Nine Tribulations. I have truly become a carefree Immortal, having escaped the rules of the Three Realms and the binds of the Five Elements.” “Congratulations, Master. Felicitations, Master!” The black-robed Ning walked over. “Haha, junior apprentice-brother, oh, junior apprentice-brother…you didn’t let us down! Ahahaha…” Immortal Fivecraze was the most excited person right now. “After countless years…our Black-White College has finally produced a second Celestial Immortal. A Celestial Immortal! True immortality, an infinite lifespan…a Celestial Immortal!!! And one who overcame six nine-sets of the thunder tribulation! Haha, even if this crazy old man was to die right away, it would be worth it!” There were differences in power amongst Celestial Immortals as well. Ordinary thunder tribulations, such as those with two nine-sets or three nine-sets, wouldn’t be too powerful. By contrast, some extraordinarily powerful Fiendgod experts might be capable of overcoming nine nine-sets and become Empyrean Gods, immediately comparable to Pure Yang True Immortals in power. “Eh? What’s going on here?” Immortal Diancai was startled. He asked in surprise, “What’s that little black ship inside this formation?” “Celestial Immortal Diancai, congratulations to you!” A person emerged from within the little black ship; it was the sect leader of the Blood God Church, the Scion of the Blood God. Laughing loudly, he said, “It’s quite rare to be able to see the birth of a Celestial Immortal. Still…you have to thank this fine disciple you have here. He killed seven of my Law Protectors, then trapped me here. If it wasn’t for the fact I wanted to see if you would become a Celestial Immortal, Immortal Diancai, I would’ve left long ago. Alright…no more playing around with you.” The Scion returned to his ship. Then, with a rumble and a ripple…he disappeared into thin air. He had been clenching a Dao-seal when he he was speaking. “Made him waste a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. Worth it.” Immortal Fivecraze laughed and nodded. “What’s this he said about killing seven Law Protectors?” Immortal Diancai frowned. “And Ji Ning, this is your Primaltwin, yes? Where’s your true body?” After having known Ji Ning for so long, Immortal Diancai knew quite well that Ning himself liked to wear furs, while his Primaltwin usually wore black robes. Ning laughed. “These are all just minor matters.” “Let me be the one to tell you.” Immortal Fivecraze called out excitedly, “Junior apprentice-brother, you have no idea. When you were undergoing your demonheart tribulation, everything happened just as you predicted; someone came to attack you. First came the Scion of the Blood God; he came in person, commanding his seven mighty Law Protectors to assault you. This precious disciple of yours showed of all his might…” Immortal Fivecraze was in an absolutely divine mood as he blabbered on and on. Finally, he finished his tail. Immortal Diancai looked towards Ning, feeling a hint of guilt in his heart. “Disciple, sorry for the trouble.” “It’s fine. My true body is fine as well. In addition, the second group of assassins, the stronger ones, they came for me, not for you, Master,” Ning said. Immortal Diancai shook his head. “Because I was undergoing my tribulation, you were distracted and had to worry about me; that’s the reason why they chose this opportunity to assassinate you. In a normal situation where you didn’t have to worry about me…you probably wouldn’t even have had to fight. You could’ve slipped away long ago.” “Enough, enough! No need for the two of you, master and disciple, to stand on such ceremony,” Immortal Fivecraze laughed loudly. “Our Black-White College now has a Celestial Immortal. This is a joyous event! Come, come, come. Hurry back to the Black-White College and let all of our fellow disciples learn of this and celebrate. You became a Celestial Immortal! That is the dream of every Immortal cultivator.” “Are we going to just publicize the fact that Master became a Celestial Immortal?” Ning asked. Immortal Fivecraze laughed. “We would like to keep it a secret, but since even the Scion of the Blood God knows about it, news will quickly spread. Thus, we should still inform the Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of the Black-White College. We should also notify Celestial Immortal Hunchmont of the Northmont clan of Stillwater.” “Celestial Immortal Hunchmont?” Ning was puzzled. “There is a deeper meaning in this. The reason why our Black-White College is established directly within Stillwater City is because we long ago decided to share weal and woe with the Northmont clan of Stillwater,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “The reason why the Black-White College can recruit all the geniuses we want from throughout the entire Stillwater City and not be impeded in the slightest is because of the Northmont clan; without their permission, how could this be possible?” Ning now understood. “Junior apprentice-brother, now that you are a Celestial Immortal, the Northmont clan will definitely want to further deepen the relationship between themselves and our Black-White College,” Immortal Fivecraze laughed. “And of course…our Black-White College has toiled so hard on their behalf. Now that you became a Celestial Immortal, they need to prepare a valuable gift to congratulate you. Junior apprentice-brother, aren’t you lacking in formidable Immortal swords? Now let me think…where should we get such precious treasures? How about…from the Northmont clan of Stillwater?” Ning nodded. Compared to those ancient clans, Ning was a bit lacking in treasures; after all, his Primaltwin needed all the Heavenraker swords for the [Heavenraker] sword-formation, while his true body needed six Immortal-ranked swords, but didn’t have them! If he wanted to help out his master, he ideally had to offer five formidable Immortal-ranked swords; after all, his master already had five Immortal-ranked swords, just somewhat weak ones. However, the Northmont clan had existed for countless generations after obtaining the marquisdom for Stillwater Commandery back during the Fiendgod Era. They had given birth to a number of Celestial Immortals, and they definitely had quite a few treasures. The Youngflame clan was capable of bringing out even twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures if necessary; although the Northmont clan was a bit weaker, they still had quite a deep foundation. “Let’s go. Back to Stillwater City,” Immortal Fivecraze urged. “Let’s go.” This time, they didn’t need to so carefully creep into the dimensional corridor; rather, they tore a hole through space and returned straight to the world of the Grand Xia, then immediately used a spatial teleport to return to Stillwater City. …… The Eastwoods mountain range. One particular mountain, surrounded by layers of formations. Ning was seated in the lotus position here. “Master became a Celestial Immortal.” Ning’s face was covered with delight; he felt as though his heart and soul had just become much less burdened. “I want to prepare a valuable gift to congratulate master as well, but alas…all of the Immortal-ranked treasures I obtained from killing those seven Law Protectors were quite ordinary.” The seven Law Protectors had previously all been ordinary Loose Immortals, after all; it was only thanks to a secret technique that in the past twenty to thirty years, they had increased their levels of power to that of a five hundred thousand year old Loose Immortal. But although their power levels had risen, their magic treasures hadn’t changed much yet. “Time for me to go back now.” The reason why Ning had allowed himself to be pummeled like a beanbag without fleeing was because he didn’t want to disrupt his master’s tribulation. Now that the tribulation was over, it was time for him to go back. Whoosh. Ning rose to his feet, staring at the surrounding area. “Where exactly am I, and what is this place? Where in the Grand Xia Dynasty is it? Why is such a terrifyingly strong power hidden here?” The twelve white-robed figures who had attacked him…the terrifying killing formation, ‘Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron’…that mysterious, foggy black cave entrance…Ning could tell from these things that this place was definitely quite extraordinary! “I need to investigate. After suffering for so long, I need to at least ensure that I know who it is that caused me so much trouble.” 2547 “In addition…the world of the Grand Xia is in a state of chaos right now. This hidden power is most likely one of the causes of it. Only when one knows both one’s self and one’s foe can one win a hundred battles without fail,” Ning mused to himself. Perhaps investigating this place might bring him some danger, but by relying on the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’ of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], I can infiltrate and investigate this place. Not even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would be able to discover who I truly was, unless they have a special divine ability that can see through the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’…but those are far too rare.” “Time to go!” Ning immediately activated the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal he had taken out. Swoosh! Ning instantly disappeared. …… “General,” the Eastwoods sect leader reported, “Ji Ning has already used a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to leave.” “If he’s gone, he’s gone.” The silver-armored youth didn’t care one whit. …… A million kilometers east of the Eastwoods mountain range. Ning suddenly appeared out of nowhere. By relying on his Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, he could’ve teleported straight back to Swallow Mountain or Stillwater City, but Ning had to find out just who it was that had trapped him in that location. Thus, he had only teleported a million kilometers! He refused to believe that the enemy base spanned a million kilometers. Swoosh. Ning flew towards the air above an ordinary commandery city. Sweeping it with his divine sense, he instantly found the most powerful person within the city; a Zifu Disciple. Whoosh. Ning used a spatial teleport to appear in the person’s study. There was an old man in the study, leafing through some books. “Who are you?” The old man lifted his head, instantly shocked. “I’m going to ask you some questions,” Ning said, and the old man’s gaze instantly turned lost and dull. “Which commandery is this?” Ning asked. “Flamedoor Commandery,” the old man said. Ning was startled. Flamedoor Commandery; it wasn’t too far away from Stillwater Commandery, just two commanderies away. “What is the name of this city?” Ning asked. “Weirflow,” the old man said. Ning frowned. There were far too many commandery cities, and they often changed names. Once a tribe took over a commandery city, they would often change its name. For example, the first commandery city the Ji clan had taken over, they had renamed to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Precisely because commandery cities changed names so often, maps generally wouldn’t even have city names written down for most of them. “Which mountains and rivers are nearby?” Ning asked. “Large-scale ones.” “More than a hundred thousand kilometers east of the city, there is a vast mountain range that spans tens of thousands of kilometers known as the Goosewine Mountains,” the old man said. Ning’s eyes immediately lit up. The Goosewine Mountains? Ning had long ago memorized a map of the entire domain of the Grand Xia Dynasty. He quickly ascertained his current, exact location! Upon doing soon, Ning quickly was able to calculate who was located a million kilometers away from him: “The Eastwoods mountain range…the Eastwoods Sect! So that’s where they were hiding!” 1. Readers of Stellar Transformations may recall that in that novel, the power rankings started off as Houtian, Xiantian, Jindan, etc., with Jindan being the first level of ‘true’ Immortal practitioners. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Clan of Stillwater After calculating that the mysterious mountain range had been the Eastwoods mountain range, Ji Ning didn’t immediately go to verify it. Instead, he used a spatial teleportation to return to Stillwater City. His master had just broken through to become a Celestial Immortal, after all; he had to be present for the announcement. If his true body wasn’t, his master and Immortal Fivecraze would probably still feel uneasy. Stillwater City. The Black-White College. Although it was noon, and although there had just been a big blizzard, the Headmaster’s Hall of the BlackWhite College was a place of joy right now. “I am going to tell everyone a piece of earth-shatteringly good news. Our Black-White College…has given birth to a Celestial Immortal! This is the second Celestial Immortal our Black-White College has had since our founding!” Immortal Fivecraze spoke out loudly from the front of the hall, his voice echoing within it. The entire hall suddenly turned silent, a queer, shocked silence. All of the Void-level Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals were staring at Immortal Fivecraze in disbelief. “Ten days ago, Ji Ning and I guarded junior apprentice-brother Diancai as he underwent the wind tribulation, the fire tribulation, the thunder tribulation, and the demonheart tribulation. After overcoming these four great tribulations, junior apprentice-brother Diancai has become a Celestial Immortal.” Immortal Fivecraze’s voice continued to echo out within the hall. “Celestial Immortal?!” “Junior apprentice-brother Diancai!” “Senior apprentice-brother Diancai!” “Ji Ning, has your master truly become a Celestial Immortal?” “You idiots! Do you think I’d lie to you about something like this?!” “Everyone, I have indeed become a Celestial Immortal, thanks to the protection of Ji Ning and senior apprentice-brother Fivecraze.” Instantly, the entire Headmaster’s Hall turned into a storm of joy. Everyone called out in celebration, especially after Immortal Diancai personally released his aura of might. After everyone felt the aura of a Celestial Immortal coming from him, they began to rejoice even more! To become a Celestial Immortal…the implications were extraordinary. It must be understood that back in the annals of history, when the Black-White College gave birth to a Celestial Immortal, its status had risen to become equivalent to the Northmont clan of Stillwater and the local branch of the Raindragon Guard. Celestial Immortals were truly unaging. They would live for a very long time, and so long as they were alive, the entire sect would have a firm foundation.. As all the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were celebrating with wild agitation and excitement, Immortal Fivecraze sent Immortal Jadesea to the Northmont clan of Stillwater. He personally went to request a meeting with Celestial Immortal Hunchmont to notify him of this matter. “Did you just say that Immortal Diancai has become a Celestial Immortal?” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was very stable and solid, but even so he revealed a look of astonishment. Celestial Immortals were far too rare. Normally speaking, it was extremely rare for even a single one to appear in a million years within the world of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Even now, with the Three Realms in a state of chaos, they still were very, very rare. “Senior Hunchmont, I wouldn’t dare lie about something like this,” the former headmaster, Immortal Jadesea, said with a laugh. “When senior apprentice-brother Diancai underwent his tribulation, he had Ji Ning and senior apprentice-brother Fivecraze protecting him.” “Good, good, good.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont leaned on his wooden staff, laughing as he spoke. “This is good news for the entire Stillwater Commandery. Go back now; I’ll make some preparations, then head to your Black-White College.” “Yes. I’ll leave now.” Immortal Jadesea bowed respectfully, then immediately departed. Celestial Immortal Hunchmont hesitated slightly within the room, then quickly departed, moving to a palace that the Northmont clan usually used for discussing major affairs. As he did, he barked, “Shut the palace doors. Everyone, depart.” “Yes.” The guards all respectfully acknowledged the order. Rumble… After the palace door was shut, the enormous palace became shrouded within darkness. Celestial Immortal Hunchmont waved his hand, and eight enormous candles suddenly began to blaze, lighting up the palace. “Elder brother,” Hunchmont called out. Instantly, the eyes of a sculpture of a strange beast that was located above the throne at the front of the hall suddenly lit up. It glanced towards him, and then the beast sculpture’s mouth moved as well. “Hunchmont. What is it?” “Elder brother, our Stillwater Commandery has given birth to a Celestial Immortal,” Hunchmont said hurriedly. “Who?” The strange beast sculpture asked. “Immortal Diancai of the Black-White College,” Hunchmont replied. The strange beast sculpture said, “The Black-White College has the closest of relationships with our Stillwater Commandery. This has been true for countless years. After becoming a Celestial Immortal, Immortal Diancai will naturally stand on the side of our Northmont clan of Stillwater. Especially during a time like this…the more powerful the Northmont clan’s forces are, the better. This is absolutely wonderful news.” “Right.” Hunchmont nodded. “That’s what I thought as well. But elder brother, Diancai has just made his breakthrough; what sort of gift should we give him? His sword-arts are based on the Five Elements; he is most suited for using five Immortal swords. Why don’t we give him a gift of five high-grade Immortalranked flying swords?” “Do you remember how, back in the Fiendgod Era,” the strange beast sculpture said, “I battled against Patriarch Fiveghosts at the Yuchang River, then slew him? I acquired a set of five Immortal swords from that battle. I still have them. Give them to this Immortal Diancai.” “But those are five top-grade Immortal-ranked swords!” Hunchmont was shocked. “Times are changing,” the strange beast sculpture said. “In a normal era, a gift of five high-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords would already be quite an incredible gift…but you know as well as I do that the entire world of the Grand Xia is shaking right now. Even I can vaguely sense in my subconscious that a storm is coming…and it is very possible that our Northmont clan of Stillwater shall perish within it. Thus, it is important that we not be stingy at a time like this. Only when you are willing to give some things up are you able to gain even more important things!” “After we give him a set of five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, he will naturally feel grateful towards us…and thus we will have firmly pulled this Celestial Immortal Diancai under the Northmont clan’s war-banners. The Northmont clan of Stillwater currently only has two Celestial Immortals; if we count in Diancai, then we shall have three! That will make the foundations of the clan to be even more secure.” “Elder brother, your plans are far-sighted,” Hunchmont said respectfully. This elder brother of his had lived for far longer than he had. In truth, this ‘elder brother’ was born unfathomably many generations before he had been. However, because both were Celestial Immortals, they considered themselves to be of the same generation in addressing each other. Still…Celestial Immortal Hunchmont revered this person greatly, because this person was the true foundation for the strength and prosperity of the Northmont clan. “When you bring those five Immortal-ranked flying swords over, invite Celestial Immortal Diancai and that Ji Ning to come. I wish to see them both,” the strange beast sculpture said. “Elder brother, you wish to see them?” Hunchmont was amazed; even within the Northmont clan, the vast majority of the many generations of marquises had no idea that there was such a powerful Patriarch who was still alive. This was the reason why the generations of marquises were so cautious and reserved, not causing any trouble; they didn’t know exactly how powerful their clan was. “I certainly have to see Celestial Immortal Diancai; after all, in the future, when the storm truly erupts, he will be fighting alongside us, shoulder-to-shoulder. As for Ji Ning? His background is extraordinary, and in the end, he might prove to be even more important to us than Celestial Immortal Diancai,” the strange beast sculpture said. …… The Headmaster’s Hall of the Black-White College. The many Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, along with Immortal Diancai, were all gathered here. There was a feast ongoing. Just as the feast was halfway through and as everyone was celebrating, a hunchbacked old man entered the hall, leaning on a wooden staff. “Senior Hunchmont.” “Senior Hunchmont.” Everyone immediately rose to their feet. Even Ning rose. “Congratulations, fellow Daoist Diancai,” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont laughed. “You’ve overcome the four tribulations of wind, fire, thunder, and demonheart; you are now a Celestial Immortal.” “I’ve only brought one thing with me. I’ve heard, fellow Daoist Diancai, that you are skilled in a Five Elements sword-art. Our Northmont clan just so happened to have a set of five top-grade Immortalranked flying swords in our treasury, and so I brought them to give them to you, fellow Daoist. Fellow Daoist Diancai, you absolutely must not decline.” “Top-grade Immortal-ranked??” “Five of them?” “Am I hearing things?” 2553 The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Black-White College began to sent mental messages to each other. They had all guessed that the Northmont clan would bring congratulatory gifts, but they hadn’t expected that the gifts would be so valuable. Ning was shocked upon hearing this as well. He had guessed that the gift would be five high-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, not top-grade! The Northmont clan truly was generous! Immortal Diancai was similarly shocked. Naturally, he hurriedly moved to refuse; this gift was far too valuable, bringing great pressure to bear down upon him. “Diancai, don’t refuse!” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont feigned anger. “If you keep refusing, I’m going to turn and leave!” Only then did Immortal Diancai accept the gift. …… The celebratory banquet continued until past midnight, when it finally concluded. Celestial Immortal Hunchmont stealthily sent a mental message to both Ji Ning and Immortal Diancai, and so after the banquet, the two of them both headed towards the Marquisate of Stillwater. The Marquisate of Stillwater. Ji Ning, Immortal Diancai, and Celestial Immortal Hunchmont were walking together. “Senior Hunchmont,” Ning laughed, “We’ve arrived at the Marquisate. Senior, you can tell us what this is about now, right?” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont laughed. “Patriarch Unity of our Northmont clan wishes to see you two.” “Patriarch Unity of the Northmont clan?” Ji Ning and Immortal Diancai were both startled; where did this additional Northmont clan Patriarch come from?! When Ning had been weak, he had even thought that perhaps the Northmont clan didn’t have so much as a single Celestial Immortal; it was only later on that he learned of Hunchmont’s existence. He hadn’t expected them to have a second one! Ning couldn’t help but sigh in amazement. The roots of an ancient clan such as this one truly were extremely deep. “Can it be…the Supreme Sword Immortal, Celestial Immortal Unity?” Immortal Diancai cried out in shock. “Right.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont chortled. “Master, who is this ‘Supreme Sword Immortal’, this ‘Celestial Immortal Unity’?” Ning asked, puzzled. Immortal Diancai explained, “I learned about him by accident. The Northmont clan of Stillwater has had quite a few Celestial Immortals in its history, but over the course of countless ages, most are presumed 2554 deceased. The most dazzling one of them all was this Supreme Sword Immortal! He existed back during the Fiendgod Era, and he submitted himself to the Xia Emperor’s rule, battling and fighting on the Xia Emperor’s behalf. Countless Fiendgods and countless Immortals died to his sword, and in the end, he won a marquisdom for the Northmont clan; the marquisdom of Stillwater Commandery. However…according to the legends, he perished during the Milky Way War. How is it that he is still alive?” Ning, upon hearing this, was stunned. This old fellow had existed as far back as the Fiendgod Era, and had won the marquisdom for the Northmont clan? “Haha, Patriarch Unity was indeed badly wounded during the Milky Way War, but he didn’t actually die. Still…that battle was a major blow for the Old Patriarch. The Old Patriarch felt so much grief, it was as though he had died. He never showed his face in the world again. Countless years have passed, but there has never been any word regarding the Old Patriarch as far as the outside world has been concerned, and so that’s why everyone believed him to have perished,” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont explained. Immortal Diancai now understood. “The five Immortal swords gifted to you came from Patriarch Fiveghosts, who Patriarch Unity slew back during the Fiendgod Era.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont laughed. “It was the Old Patriarch who personally instructed for those swords to be given to you.” Immortal Diancai nodded, then said to Ji Ning, “Ji Ning, when you see senior Unity, you must not behave improperly.” Ning nodded. He felt tremendous curiosity towards this Patriarch Unity; this was a truly legendary figure, one who had led his clan to rove the world in the Fiendgod Era, fighting and conquering countless foes before suddenly vanishing for seemingly all eternity. It must be understood that for a person to hide himself so thoroughly as to completely sever all contact with all other Celestial Immortals was quite a painful choice. Not everyone had an ability like Ning’s ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’, after all. “Here we are. My elder brother is right inside.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont stood outside a seemingly ordinary courtyard. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. He pushed open the door to the courtyard. This was a very large courtyard, with grapes, willow trees, apple trees, and other types of trees within it. However, because it was winter, it naturally appeared a bit desolate. Upon entering, Ji Ning felt as though this was the residence of an ordinary mortal. Soon, Ning locked his gaze upon a distant gray-robed youth. The gray-robed youth’s head was raised, and he was looking at a willow tree. “It’s been a long time since I’ve returned to the Grand Xia…but this courtyard is still laid out the same way it was in the past. It hasn’t changed at all. Hunchmont…thank you.” “This is the only place you like to stay in, elder brother. I naturally had to keep it in good shape,” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont said. The gray-robed youth turned his head to look at them. Ning and Immortal Diancai were both startled. The gaze of this gray-robed youth was as deep and penetrating as the waters of an icy pool. His aura was extremely profound. Although the two knew very little about him, both Ning and Immortal Diancai could feel…that if they were to fight, they probably would be far from being a match for this figure. “It seems he is a supreme figure amongst Celestial Immortals,” Ning mused to himself. There could be huge differences in power amongst Celestial Immortals, much like how Ning, despite being merely a Voidlevel Earth Immortals, could effortless sweep groups of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals with his power. “Greetings to you, senior Unity,” Ning said. “Greetings to you, fellow Daoist Unity,” Immortal Diancai said. Ning was still technically at the Void-level, after all; since he was unwilling to reveal his status as a Daofather’s disciple, he naturally addressed Celestial Immortals the way most ordinary Void-level Earth Immortals would; as ‘senior’. “Diancai? Ji Ning?” The gray-robed youth looked at the two of them, a hint of a smile on his face. He then casually pointed at nearby wooden chairs. “Sit.” With a gesture from his hand, all the dust disappeared from the chairs. The gray-robed youth was the first to sit down. He even produced a tea kettle and teacups, pouring each of them a cup. “This is green tea. You can drink it after boiling it; it is a fairly common refreshment in 2556 many major worlds. However, it’s a bit rarer in our world of the Grand Xia. Have a taste. I personally planted this tea tree and personally collected the tea leaves.” Ning and Immortal Diancai were both rather startled. They immediately tasted it. Ning could sense a thick aroma waft into his mouth and spread throughout his entire body, the flavor limitless. “Good tea.” “Ji Ning, you like to drink tea as well?” The gray-robed youth asked curiously. Ning was startled. He hurriedly replied, “I occasionally drink it.” In truth, just now Ning was unconsciously drawing from his tea-drinking experiences from his past life on Earth. “Tea is quite flavorful. I took on many masters to study this art, to study various types of tea trees, how to plant tea trees, how to select the right soil, and use the proper type of water…” The gray-robed youth laughed. “Haha, enough of that. I’m happy to talk about this all day, but I imagine that you would be bored senseless by it.” Immortal Diancai asked curiously, “Fellow Daoist Unity, you’ve taken on many masters?” “All mortals,” the gray-robed youth laughed. “Mortals?” Immortal Diancai and Ji Ning both felt startled; a Celestial Immortal who was willing to take on a mortal as a master? Not just anyone could do something like this! “I invited the two of you over for a nice chat,” the gray-robed youth said with a laugh. “A storm is about to befall the Three Realms, and the world of the Grand Xia is naturally not going to be able to avoid it. In addition, there are some hidden powers who are making use of this storm to cause waves of their own. In truth…ever since the Milky Way War, I’ve been living the life of an ordinary mortal. I’ve been quite relaxed…but this can no longer continue.” “The life of an ordinary mortal?” Immortal Diancai frowned. “If you wish to live a longer live, then you need to avoid being stained by karma,” the gray-robed youth said with a laugh. “What is karma? If you have a friend, and your friend falls into danger, you will naturally go help him; this is karma! If someone like me always hides within a minor world of mortals and doesn’t interact with any Celestial Immortals, with all my friends and enemies believing me to be dead…then they naturally won’t come bother me. This can be considered ‘severing karma’.” “I live a carefree life. Naturally, I’m able to live a long, long life.” The gray-robed youth looked towards Immortal Diancai, then laughed, “After this storm ends, fellow Daoist Diancai, you should also set up a 2557 ‘false death’ then hide yourself in a minor world of mortals. You can live for trillions of years and still probably wouldn’t perish…unless, of course, you encounter yet another storm like this one, which no one will be able to avoid.” Ning and Immortal Diancai were speechless upon hearing this. They understood…that this was indeed a fine way to ‘live a long life’. However, not everyone had this sort of willpower, to go live the life of a mortal despite being an exalted Celestial Immortal. “Senior Unity, you say that no one will be able to avoid this coming storm?” Ning hurriedly asked. “Perhaps the truly exalted Daofathers will remain safe,” the gray-robed youth said, “But for Celestial Immortals like us, and perhaps even for True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, I wager…it will be hard to avoid this storm. Based on what I know, this storm is about to envelop the entire Three Realms. A small place like our Stillwater Commandery has also been thrown into chaos. For example, the rise of the Blood God Church!” “Senior, you should be able to eradicate the Blood God Church, right?” Ning asked. “Eradicating them would naturally be easy. If I made a trip, they would be immediately wiped out. But if I did that, then the Northmont clan of Stillwater will most likely be viewed as a dangerous source of trouble for that hidden power,” the gray-robed youth said. “Thus…we shall simply continue the low-level struggle against them. We’ll slowly play with the Blood God Church. The biggest benefit of going with the flow is that when the true storm comes, we’ll all be able to join together to fight side-by-side.” Immortal Diancai asked, “A hidden power? Which power?” “I don’t know either. I imagine you, Diancai, also know that the Grand Xia Dynasty is currently in a state of great chaos. Clearly, the various evil or berserk clans and sects now all have hidden supporters,” the grayrobed youth said. “In fact, I suspect…that some marquises have already thrown their support to the hidden power.” “The marquises have changed their loyalties?!” Ning and Diancai were both shocked. “The waters are far too muddy right now. No one knows exactly what is going on. Not even the Xia Emperor dares to truly exert his power right now. Everyone is building up their power, waiting quietly to fight,” the gray-robed youth said. “It is the Xia Emperor’s job to deal with the hidden power; as for us, all we need to do is survive. To allow our clans and sects to survive! Thus, I hope that both of you, Ji Ning and fellow Daoist Diancai, shall stand together alongside myself and Hunchmont. If we join forces…we’ll be able to protect the Black-White College, protect Swallow Mountain, and protect the Northmont clan of Stillwater.” Ning and Immortal Diancai exchanged a glance. “Alright.” “Of course.” Both of them nodded, agreeing to this alliance. One chopstick is easily broken. A bundle of chopsticks are hard to break! ….. Because the Black-White College had a long-standing relationship with the Northmont clan, Ning and his master naturally decided to fight on their side and ally with them! “I wonder if you two seniors are aware…of any powers within the world of the Grand Xia who are skilled in the Ba-Serpent Formation?” Ning asked. “Ba-Serpent Formation?” Looks of puzzlement appeared on the faces of the gray-robed youth and Hunchmont. “There are some powers in the Three Realms that are skilled in the Ba-Serpent Formation, but as for the world of the Grand Xia…I truly haven’t heard of any.” The gray-robed youth shook his head. “Hunchmont, have you heard anything? You are often here at the Grand Xia; you should know more than me.” “I haven’t heard of anything either. The Ba-Serpent Formation is no ordinary formation.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont shook his head as well. The next dawn. Ji Ning arrived at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain of Stillwtaer City. One of the Diremonster Immortals of the Mountain, a Celestial Fox Immortal, personally came to greet him. She was the highest-ranking member of this branch of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, might I ask why you have come to my Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” The Celestial Fox Immortal was astonishingly alluring, and her bewitching body was sinuous and curvaceous beneath the gauze she wore. Ning said, “I wish to investigate regarding a technique known as the Ba-Serpent Formation.” “Ba-Serpent Formation?” The Celestial Fox Immortal was startled. “Alright. Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, wait a moment. I’ll go look.” “Alright.” Ning nodded. He ended up waiting nearly a full hour. Ning stared in astonishment as a silver-haired man suddenly appeared before him. When he had gone to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia to sell off that arrow, he had encountered this individual, ‘Skyfox’. The reason why many of the branches of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain of the Grand Xia Dynasty were all managed by Celestial Foxes was precisely because the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain was established by this individual, Patriarch Skyfox – the silver-haired man before him. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you wish to learn about the Ba-Serpent Formation?” The silver-haired man looked towards Ning. “Senior Skyfox, why have you come to Stillwater?” Ning asked, surprised. The silver-haired man laughed. Ever since the Xia Emperor had become convinced that Ning had a huge background, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain had naturally elevated Ning’s status in their eyes to an extremely high level. He was given more latitude than even most Celestial Immortal Patriarchs. When he made an intelligence request, this request was instantly relayed to the main headquarters, and once the main headquarters knew, Patriarch Skyfox had personally hurried to Stillwater. “I know that you wish to learn of the Ba-Serpent Formation, and so I came,” the silver-haired man said. “Does this involve something major?” Ning asked, surprised. “Yes.” The silver-haired man nodded. “Very major. This intelligence report is very precious as well. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain wouldn’t even give this report to most Celestial Immortals…but the Xia Emperor views you with great favor, and so we can give it to you.” Hearing that the Xia Emperor viewed himself with favor, Ning couldn’t help but say in a rather helpless way, “The Xia Emperor isn’t angry at me for not accepting Sword Immortal Evergreen as my master?” “Your choice of a master is primarily your own affair. No matter what, you are still a member of the world of the Grand Xia; you are one of our own. How could the Xia Emperor be such a petty person?” The silverhaired man laughed. Ning instantly felt relieved. He could tell that clearly, the Xia Emperor wished to befriend him. “The Ba-Serpent Formation…?” Ning looked at him. “The Ba-Serpent Formation. In the entire world of the Grand Xia, there is only a single power that knows how to execute it: Bloodcloud Hall,” the silver-haired man said. “Bloodcloud Hall?” Ning was puzzled; he had never heard of it before. “This is a very secretive assassin’s guild; the number one assassin’s guild of the Grand Xia.” The silverhaired man waved his hand, delivering a thick tome towards Ning. “There are a series of intelligence 2560 reports here regarding Bloodcloud Hall, as well as the links between them and some other hidden powers. All of these hidden powers, including Bloodcloud Hall, belong to a single mastermind, the great foe of the Grand Xia.” Ning was startled. Almost all of the information regarding the powers serving this enemy mastermind had been recorded down in this book. This sort of intelligence report was indeed priceless; the Xia Emperor was actually willing to let him see it? “What, don’t you want to read it? This is a detailed report that came at a price of countless lives. Although we aren’t able to completely uncover the face of the enemy mastermind…we can vaguely make him out now.” The silver-haired man continued to hold out that thick tome. Ning laughed, then stretched his hand out and accepted it. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] Roughly thirty years ago, mysterious organizations began to appear throughout the entire world of the Grand Xia. It seemed as though they had come from another world. One of the organizations was known as Bloodcloud Hall. Bloodcloud Hall was an assassin’s guild. It didn’t participate in any political struggles; whoever gave them treasures, they would help in carrying out assassinations! They would assassinate anyone from puny mortals to mighty Celestial Immortals! They could kill anyone in the entire world of the Grand Xia, aside from the Grand Xia Emperor himself. Ever since Bloodcloud Hall had appeared in the world of the Grand Xia, they had delivered talismans to the various supreme marquises, clans, tribes, and sects. Through the talisman, one could reach out to Bloodcloud Hall and go to the legendary ‘Bloodcloud Hall world’. There, they could offer treasures and sign agreements. Bloodcloud Hall would then go kill their targets. If the mission failed, Bloodcloud Hall would try again. If Bloodcloud Hall chose to give up the mission, they would return all the treasures taken. If they succeeded…neither side would owe the other anything. …… There was another power, one known as the Seamless Gate. This was a power that was far more mysterious than Bloodcloud Hall. The Seamless Gate had also revealed traces of itself in the world of the Grand Xia roughly thirty years ago. They had furiously stirred up trouble throughout the entire world; for example, here in Stillwater Commandery, they had gifted the Blood God Church, which had always felt hatred towards the Northmont clan of Stillwater, with secret arts and treasures so as to help them grow much stronger. In the past, the Blood God Church had been weak, and so the Blood God Church had suppressed its hatred for the Northmont clan. Now that they had grown powerful, and with the blandishments of the Seamless Gate…they had instantly begun to launch frenzied attacks. The Seamless Gate had moved to seduce many powers in many places. They would bestow treasures and secret arts…and would reward those who killed powerful figures! The more merits their supporters rendered, the more gifts they would bestow. “What is this Seamless Gate trying to do?” Ning read through the intelligence report. He couldn’t help but feel dazed and tongue-tied. “They are causing so much trouble in the entire world of the Grand Xia…they are causing everyone to kill as many people as possible, and the more one kills, the more treasures and secret arts one would acquire?” No one knew where the headquarters of the Seamless Gate was located. In fact, no one had even located a gathering point for the Seamless Gate. The seduced powers all had to wait for the envoys of the Seamless Gate to personally come visit them. The Seamless Gate was extremely powerful…their white-robed envoys were all Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, while their golden-robed envoys were Celestial Immortals. More than three hundred different Celestial Immortals had already been verified! “Three hundred?!” A look of utter shock appeared on Ning’s face as he read this figure. Terrifying. Utterly terrifying! During the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, just a thousand or so Celestial Immortals had come from throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty to the main hall of the Skylight Palace. Of course, there were even more who had remained at home, declining to participate, such as Celestial Immortals Hunchmont and Unity. The Youngflame clan, in turn, had only sent Patriarch Arcanum. The entire Grand Xia Dynasty most likely had several thousand Celestial Immortals, perhaps even as many as ten thousand. But… They represented the full force available to all the marquises, schools, and sects. They weren’t necessarily part of the imperial clan’s power! There was a limit to how powerful the imperial clan was, and in fact there had even been rebellions led by marquises in the past. Even powers like the Northmont clan of Stillwater were acting in a low-key manner, watching passively as events unfolded. There was no way they would act in an insane manner and go serve as cannon fodder for the imperial clan. “We have already discovered more than three hundred Celestial Immortals under this single organization, the Seamless Gate. In the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, aside from them, most likely only the imperial clan is this powerful. None of the other clans or tribes are so strong.’ Ning was secretly amazed by this. “No wonder not even the Xia Emperor dares to act rashly; after all, the three hundred-plus socalled ‘golden-robed envoys’ are merely ‘envoys’; they don’t represent the Seamless Gate’s full power.” …… Bloodcloud Hall was willing to kill anyone for treasures; even the imperial Xia clan could hire them to take on assassination missions. The Seamless Gate stirred up trouble throughout the world, causing chaos everywhere. But no one knew anything about the true power, headquarters, or gathering points for the Seamless Gate. …… Aside from these two major powers, there were other hidden powers as well…but they were even more low-key, showing very few traces of themselves. These two major powers were too brash; naturally, there was a bit more information regarding them. Be it the already-revealed Bloodcloud Hall and Seamless Gate, or those other hidden powers… They shared a commonality. They all appeared roughly thirty years ago! “No wonder the Xia Emperor is being so cautious. Bloodcloud Hall and the Seamless Gate are already terrifyingly powerful…much less the other hidden powers,” Ning mused to himself. By now, he had finished reading the book. “Don’t worry too much,” the silver-haired man laughed. “The person who controls this world of the Grand Xia is still his Imperial Majesty! These powers that are causing trouble in secret, such as the Seamless Gate…if they truly had the power to shake the imperial clan, they wouldn’t be hiding around furtively, not daring to show their faces, nor would they act in such indirect ways.” Ning was momentarily startled, but a moment later he nodded. “Right. I understand.” It made sense. Even the likes of the Northmont clan of Stillwater had secret powers behind them such as Patriarch Unity. As the controller of this entire major world, and as the Grand Xia Emperor who came from the Primordial Imperial Clan…how much power had the Xia Emperor built up over the countless ages? The control the Grand Xia Emperor had over this entire world was extremely deep. Just look at the Raindragon Guard! Every single commandery city had a Raindragon Guard branch, and every single Raindragon Guard branch was comparable in power to the local marquis. The Raindragon Guard, as a whole, possessed utterly enormous power! “His Imperial Majesty was able to bring an end to the era of Fiendgods in this world; he’s not someone that these minor powers are capable of shaking. The storm has yet to truly come; this is nothing but a bit of wind and a few sprinkles of rain.” The silver-haired man smiled as he looked at Ning. “I imagine, Ji Ning, that you now understand things a bit better, and also see clearly the overall state of affairs here in the world of the Grand Xia.” 2564 “Right.” Ning nodded. “Thank you, senior Skyfox. Oh…I should be thanking his Imperial Majesty for allowing me to see this intelligence report. If it wasn’t for this report, I would have no idea about what Bloodcloud Hall was, to say nothing of the Seamless Gate.” “If there’s anything you need, you can go to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia and seek me out,” the silver-haired man said with a laugh. “I’ll naturally do my best to help out.” “Definitely.” Ning nodded, then suddenly asked, “Right, has there been any news of my senior apprenticesister, Yu Wei?” “After Yu Wei accompanied Patriarch Lu in leaving the world of the Grand Xia more than thirty years ago, she has yet to return. I imagine she is still training,” the silver-haired man said. …… Ning led Uncle White out of Stillwater City, returning to Swallow Mountain. On this trip to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, he had gotten the answer he had come for; the BaSerpent Formation was a formation often used by the assassins of Bloodcloud Hall. The twelve who had tried to assassinate Ning were then most likely assassins of Bloodcloud Hall. As for who had invited Bloodcloud Hall to do the deed…the first thought Ning had was of the Youngflame clan. Aside from them, Ning could think of no others. After returning to Swallow Mountain, Uncle White continued to lay down new formations. He had previously only laid down a single one of the supreme killing formations; there were two more that had yet to be laid down. As for Ning, he focused on comprehending the Dao and training. He would alternate between working on his sword-arts and training archery, in accordance with [Houyi’s Archery]. …… Ning was living a peaceful life, but the world of the Grand Xia as a whole wasn’t peaceful at all. In almost every commandery, and even in the four seas, the Seamless Gate continuously fanned the flames of chaos. Everyone, including the members of the imperial Xia clan as well as the various marquisates, began to grow cautious. This was because they couldn’t tell who their enemy was; in fact, they couldn’t even find out where their enemy was located. And during this period of time…the Youngflame clan was investigating Ji Ning. “Even Bloodcloud Hall demanded twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures! Although they went too far in what they asked for, based on how Bloodcloud Hall usually prices their assassination missions, this high request suggests exactly how difficult the target is to deal with. Ji Ning’s power must be even greater than what we believed it to be; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand Bloodcloud Hall’s first attempt.” 2565 “In thirty or so short years, he has increased his power immeasurably, compared to back during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. If he is permitted to continue to develop like this…I’m afraid that in thirty more years, it will be extremely difficult for our Youngflame clan to kill him.” “He has to be eliminated as soon as possible. Otherwise…he will cause a disaster.” “Since Bloodcloud Hall has named such a high price…let’s do it ourselves. We have to succeed on our first try.” “Right. We have to plan this perfectly; we need to treat Ji Ning as we would a supreme Celestial Immortal.” Everyone within the Youngflame clan acknowledged the threat Ji Ning posed to them. In truth, ever since the Youngflame clan sent people to attempt to wipe out the Ji clan, the hatred between the two sides had increased to a very high level. The assassination attempt in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia caused this feud to become even more difficult to result. As for this assassination attempt by Bloodcloud Hall, since Ji Ning had no other major enemies in the Grand Xia Dynasty aside from the Youngflame clan, he would probably quickly arrive at the right conclusion… “Get rid of him.” “Get rid of him as soon as possible.” The Youngflame clan began their investigations, but Swallow Mountain was completely impregnable. The terrifying formations surrounding it were even more frightening than the ones surrounding the Youngflame clan’s headquarters. “There’s no way to assassinate him within Swallow Mountain.” “Ji Ning is in Swallow Mountain right now. We have to wait.” “Let’s wait.” …… Ning’s life in Swallow Mountain wa quite relaxed. No matter how much turmoil there was in the outside world, he just quietly trained at home. Winter passed. Spring came. Then summer. Then late autumn. Ning stayed at Serpentwing Lake of Swallow Mountain this entire time! Actually, this entire time, Ning had wanted to make a trip to the Eastwoods mountain range; after all, he had suffered an attack there, and that was the only base belonging to the mysterious power that he knew about. In addition, based on what he saw, he believed that his opponents shouldn’t be able to do anything to him. He naturally wanted to go back! And by relying on his Seventy-Two Transformations, there was no need for him to worry about his identity being exposed; he could effortlessly penetrate their defenses. But… Ning hadn’t gone. This was because he was waiting for something; for his breakthrough in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! He had reached the fifteenth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] more than ten years ago; during recent years, aside from training in swordarts and archery, he also trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] every single day. Because of the power of his body, energy from the Solar Star and the Lunar Star was filling his body at a truly shocking rate…but at his current level, each new breakthrough required a similarly shocking amount of divine power. However, Ning could feel as though his breakthrough was coming soon. This was why he had refrained from going to the Eastwoods mountain range; after he made a new breakthrough and his power increased dramatically, he would have a better chance in his investigations! “Autumn Leaf, I’m going to rest a bit on the lake. I’ll come back at night. Prepare some good food,” Ning said with a grin. “Right.” Autumn Leaf nodded repeatedly. Ning was standing by the beach. As he waved his hand, a little boat appeared on the surface of the lake. Ning took a single step forward, stepping into the boat. The little boat then floated away towards the depths of Serpentwing Lake. Autumn Leaf watched from afar. After watching for quite some time, she saw that Ning had completely disappeared within the distant mist. Only then did she turn and go back home. …… The boat floated on the lake. Ning lay down within the boat, almost subconsciously beginning to absorb energy from the Solar Star and the Lunar Star. Suddenly…as if sensing something, Ning opened his eyes. He could sense that the divine power in his body had reached a limit. He was about to make his breakthrough! He immediately rose to his feet, then took a single step forward, leaving the little boat and coming to stand on the waters of the lake. Rumble… Rumble… 2567 From infinitely far away, the two Supreme Stars in the void, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star, instantly began to transmit their power through the void, all the way down until it reached Ji Ning’s body… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo on Ji Ning’s back began to become even more profound and complicated. They were shining brightly, and in the area around Ning, a golden crow that was surrounded by flames began to fly about in a circling manner. At the same time, a jade rabbit appeared as well, filled with an icy aura as it stared upwards into the void, as though seeing the Lunar Star deep within the depths of infinity. The distant Solar Star and Lunar Star continued to transmit a large amount of Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire. Whoooooosh. Water and fire meshed together like threads being woven into a fabric. Soon, Ning became completely surrounded by them, as though he was within a giant egg. Within the egg, through a mysterious method that Ning couldn’t understand, energy was being transmitted straight into his body, rapidly and frantically changing it. His body once more began a fundamental transformation, a transformation brought on by advancing to a separate level in power. Even his Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo were beginning to transform. …… Above the calm surface of Serpentwing Lake, a three meter high ‘egg’ was hovering in the air. One could vaguely make out that the egg was bi-colored. Although it emanated an invisible field of terrifying power, it didn’t disturb the surface of the water in the slightest. Slowly… The eggshell grew increasingly thin and translucent. In fact, one could even vaguely make out a human figure within it. Finally, the eggshell completely vanished, and a completely naked youth appeared, standing on the surface of the lake. Moments later, his body became covered with an exquisitely sewn set of fur clothes. “Whew. I’ve finally reached the sixteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens].” Ning let out a sigh of relief. “I should now be comparable to an ordinary late Void-level Fiendgod Body Refiner; before my Fiendgod tribulation comes, I can at most train to the seventeenth stage. I’m very close to my maximum level of power possible, prior to my tribulation.” Once one reached the eighteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the Empyrean Tribulation would quickly descend. Thus, prior to attempting the tribulation, one could at most train to the seventeenth stage. Today’s breakthrough represented an advance to a major new level. It had thus involved a fundamental transformation. Previously, Ning could at most train to the Third Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], because his divine body had reached a limit in power; there was no way it could withstand any further strengthening. But now that Ning’s divine body had fundamentally been transformed, he could train all the way up to the Sixth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Alas…the price one would need to pay to reach the Sixth Cycle was more than a thousandfold the price one needed for the Third Cycle! The Ninth Cycle, in turn, needed roughly a thousand times as many materials as the Sixth Cycle! The price was heart-clenchingly high. Even Ning’s senior apprentice-brother, Empyrean God Silvermoon, had merely trained to the Sixth Cycle. The number of people in the Three Realms who had reached the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] could be counted on one hand; they were even rarer than Daofathers or True Gods! “For a Fiendgod Body Refiner to advance from the early Void level to the late Void level represents advancing across two small stages.” Ning mused to himself, “I imagine that by now, my close combat power is probably superior to my power as a Ki Refiner.” Previously, as a Ki Refiner, he could rely on his [Heavenraker] sword formation, which was somewhat more powerful than his close combat abilities. But Ning’s divine body was now far too powerful! It must be understood that Fiendgod Body Refiners were powerful to begin with, and Ning was now comparable to late Void-level Fiendgods…and he also had the [Starseizing Hand]! In terms of raw strength alone, when he went all out, he was even stronger than Celestial Immortals. With the Thousandbull Sword and his various sword-arts…he would now be considered a formidable figure, even amongst Celestial Immortals. He was definitely better now than he was in the past, where he would be considered a fairly low-class Celestial Immortal. After making his breakthrough, Ning continued to lie there within his little boat, floating across the surface of Serpentwing Lake. It was like he was ‘showing off’ to his parents after having accomplished something significant, in the hopes of earning a word of praise from them. After increasing his level of power, Ning simply floated there in the waters of Serpentwing Lake. He felt like he was by the side of his parents; he wanted to let them see how strong he had become. The gentle sounds of the waves were like the voices of his mother and father. “My power has increased greatly after having gone to Mount Innerheart. It is time to take a look into what happened with my parents after they reincarnated,” Ning mused to himself. After death, reincarnation. Ning naturally had been thinking about this for quite some time now. He wanted to look into this matter. As for his parents from his previous life? Ning wanted to look into what happened to them as well. However, in the past, Ning was simply too weak; there was no way he could investigate them at all. Now, Ning could be somewhat considered a ‘powerful’ figure. Still…this was not an era of peace. In a peaceful era, everything was under the control of the Netherworld Kingdom, making investigations fairly simple. The Six Cycles of Reincarnation, however, had been destroyed; it would now be far more difficult to investigate anything. Late night. Ning returned to Brightmoon Island. After joining Uncle White, Little Qing, and Autumn Leaf in eating some delicacies which Autumn Leaf had personally prepared, Ning once more quietly slipped into his underwater estate. …… The underwater estate. The giant yellow bear looked at Ning, then laughed. “Congratulations. You’ve broken through to the sixteenth stage as a Fiendgod Body Refiner; this is a major leap for you. You now have two more chances to attempt the Wargod Hall, and can also choose yet another item from the Treasures Hall. And…I have to say, you’ve grown remarkably patient. You were actually able to wait until nightfall before coming here, after you made a break through.” Ning just chuckled. He then asked, “Last time, I overcame the eighth floor of the Wargod Hall; the ninth and tenth floor now await me. Senior, how good are my chances for attempting the ninth floor?” “Ninth floor? Mm…if your true body and your Primaltwin join forces, you’d just barely have a tenth of a chance, I suppose,” the giant yellow bear said. “Just a tenth?” Ning was surprised. He felt that he would be considered formidable even amongst Celestial Immortals by now…and he also had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him. “How good of a chance did you think you’d have? When you overcome the ninth and tenth floors, you’ll receive a Pure Yang treasure,” the giant yellow bear said. “The seventh and eighth floor have Immortalranked treasures as their rewards, but these two have Pure Yang treasures; naturally, the difficulty level will have risen exponentially. Based on my estimations…one needs to have the power of a supreme Celestial Immortal to be absolutely sure of overcoming the ninth floor. As for the tenth floor…you’ll need to have close to the level of a Pure Yang True Immortal to overcome it.” Ning blinked. The ninth floor…a supreme Celestial Immortal? The tenth floor…close to a Pure Yang True Immortal? Ning knew his own limits. It must be understood that there was a huge gap between mastering the [Three-Foot Sword] and mastering the Grand Dao of the Sword. Thus, although in sword-arts Ning would be considered formidable amongst Celestial Immortals and would not be considered weak, he was still quite a ways off from the true peak of power. Most likely, Patriarch Unity had the strength of a supreme Celestial Immortal. “Fine, I won’t try it for now. After all…I only have two chances before becoming an Empyrean God,” Ning said. “Senior, let’s go. Let’s go to the Treasures Hall; I want to choose my treasure.” “You should be careful in making this choice. You wouldn’t be able to use a Pure Yang treasure right now, even if I gave one to you…so the most important thing for you right now is a good Immortal-ranked magic treasure. This is your third time choosing one, and so I’ll bring out all the Immortal-ranked magic treasures which Master left behind and let you choose from them.” As the giant yellow bear spoke, he led Ning to the Treasures Hall. The many magic treasures within the hall were still levitating high up in the air, emanating powerful ripples of majesty. However…to the current Ning, the ripples of power were virtually negligible. He was now able to forcibly seize even Pure Yang treasures. “Mm, here is the list for all the Immortal-ranked treasures.” The giant yellow bear gave Ning a thick tome listing many treasures. Ning immediately lowered his head, beginning to flip through it. He had already chosen two Immortal-ranked magic treasures; the first time, he had chosen the Tripartite Immortal-Locking Circlet, which was a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure which he had chosen for the express purpose of giving it to Uncle White, which he had done so long ago. The second time, he had chosen those nine top-grade Immortal-ranked swords that could join together into the [Heavenraker] sword-formation; clearly, this was a much finer treasure. As for this third time…all of the Immortal-ranked magic treasures were now available for his perusing. “Wow.” “These things are way better than the Heavenraker swords.” Ning was speechless at what he saw. Although the Heavenraker swords were excellent…compared to the truly top-notch Immortal-ranked items which Daoist Threelives had collected, they were far inferior. After all, those nine swords were template-produced items. “These are all the very best available; most likely, in the current Three Realms, they would be considered amongst the most exquisite of Immortal-ranked treasures. When leaving them behind, Master elected not to break up any of the sets,” the nearby giant yellow bear said. Ning’s eyes were shining with glee as he read through the book. For example, this one! A Pentabolt Ship of Cosmic Light: A top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure that could move extremely fast, as fast as an Empyrean God or True Immortal! And once one filled it with elemental ki, Pentabolts of Cosmic Light could be used to attack the enemy. Pentabolts of Cosmic Light were comparable to the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens in power. If one hid within the ship, the enemies would be unable to do anything to you, while you could release Pentabolts of Cosmic Light to strike your opponent at your leisure! Even the vast majority of Celestial Immortals would perish under such a wild assault; after all, there were very few who were like Ning, who had trained in something that was as protective as the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. This item alone was definitely no less valuable than a Pure Yang treasure! This was because there were very few Pure Yang treasures that were capable of unleashing Pentabolts of Cosmic Light. …… “This one. This is absolutely…” Ning’s eyes were absolutely huge right now. Tiangang Disha net formation 1 : This was a terrifying, large formation that was formed by 3600 topgrade Immortal-ranked flying knives! Once the enemy was trapped within the formation, the 3600 flying knives would wildly attack from every direction, in such a flurry that they would be almost impossible to block. The flying knives themselves would also be supported by the mysteries of the formation. This set was so powerful that if a Celestial Immortal were to possess it, it would be enough for him to arrogantly roam the realms as he pleased. A grand formation composed of so many top-grade Immortal-ranked flying knives…no one would be so foolish as to accept even a standard Pure Yang treasure in exchange for it! “Senior, these 3600 top-grade Immortal-ranked flying knives…they are considered ‘one set’?!” Ning couldn’t believe it. Although the value of a flying knife was generally a bit lower than a flying sword…3600 flying knives were equivalent to hundreds of flying swords. And the Heavenraker swords were merely a set of nine! “Of course. There are pleeenty of fine treasures here. In short, all of the fine Immortal-ranked treasures which Master ever acquired have been left here. Just keep looking,” the giant yellow bear said. …… “Myriad Extermination Needles!” Flipping through the book, Ning found the set with the highest number of top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures. There was a full myriad of flying needles! Ten thousand flying needles, all contained within a needle-box. The needle-box itself was already an extremely valuable top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure which had a Dao-diagram within it. When battle began, one would open the box, and countless flying needles would come flying out…and the power of the Dao-diagram was truly terrifying as well. …… “Stellar Revolutions sword-formation? Pretty formidable…but it’d be better if it had more flying swords.” The Stellar Revolutions sword-formation consisted of 360 top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords that were specially forged in order to unleash the Grand Stellar Revolutions formation. Once activated, every single sword would seem to have transformed into a star as it smashed down towards the foe. …… Ning was completely intoxicated as he flipped through the supreme Immortal-ranked magic treasures he found within this tome. These were the items which Daoist Threelives had collected for the express purpose of passing them down to his successors; they weren’t meant for any single person, but rather an entire generation of successors. Thus, he naturally had to prepare quite a few items.. Tiangang Disha is a very hard term to translate that comes from the legendary Chinese novel, the ‘Water Margin’. There are 36 ‘Tiangang’, which literally translates into ‘celestial stars (of the Big Dipper)’, and 72 ‘Disha’, which literally translates into ‘terrestrial fiends’. In the Water Margin, they were a group of 108 demons that were banished but managed to escape, and were reborn into outlaw heroes that fought for justice. Suikoden’s ‘108 Stars of Destiny’ and Saint Seiya’s ‘108 Specters’ all fundamentally derive from this tale. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Choose carefully,” the giant yellow bear said with a smirk. “When you come choose Pure Yang treasures, you’ll have to wait until your third shot before you once more see such an awesome display.” Ji Ning nodded. He understood this, of course. The first time he had chosen Immortal-ranked magic treasures, he had only been able to choose a high-grade treasure, the Tripartite Immortal-Locking Circlet. Only on the second time had he been given the option of choosing the set of Heavenraker swords. As for the third time…it had been completely different. The first two times he would have to choose a Pure Yang treasure, he would have to overcome the ninth and tenth levels; the number of treasures would probably be limited. Only after becoming an Empyrean God would he have the third chance to choose Pure Yang treasures; only then would he have the chance to see the most powerful treasures on offer within the entire underwater estate. But the prerequisite…becoming an Empyrean God! Empyrean Gods were comparable to Pure Yang True Immortals in power. To become an Empyrean God, one would have to overcome nine nine-sets of the thunder tribulation. In addition, given how extraordinary Ning’s background was, with him being a successor to both Daoist Threelives and Patriarch Subhuti…his Empyrean Tribulation would probably be even more difficult than that of most Fiendgods. Thus, Ning didn’t dare to be the slightest bit overconfident. “My [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] requires a total of 729 Immortal swords. Most likely, for the foreseeable future, I’ll be using top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords,” Ning mused to himself. Even after he became a Celestial Immortal, it wasn’t very likely that he would be able to acquire more than seven hundred Pure Yang treasures, even if he was able to acquire a few. He had to become an Empyrean God. The third chance to choose a Pure Yang treasure from the underwater estate’s Treasure Hall…perhaps there would be a chance. Just a chance! After all, Daoist Threelives had merely left behind some of his stored items; he didn’t necessarily have nearly a thousand Pure Yang flying swords that he could leave behind for use in a formation! And in addition, becoming an Empyrean God was far too distant a goal! As Ning planned it, he definitely had to let his Primaltwin undergo its tribulation first; only then would he let his true body undergo the Celestial Tribulation. This was because his Primaltwin was merely a Ki Refiner; its tribulation would be a bit easier. As for his true body, a Fiendgod Body Refiner…its tribulation would be utterly terrifying. Since he knew that, he naturally wasn’t going to let his true body and his 2575 Primaltwin undergo tribulations simultaneously. Ning didn’t even dare imagine how terrifying the Celestial Tribulation would be if he did! In addition, back when he was living on Mount Innerheart, Ning had often chatted with his senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon and the others. His various senior apprentice-brothers had all advised him to have his Primaltwin be the first to undergo the tribulation. That way, it would first enter the Celestial Immortal stage, allowing him to comprehend the Grand Dao of the Sword at a faster rate. Once his level of insight into it became higher…after his preparations were more thorough…only then would his true body undergo the tribulation. …… “The Three Realms are in a state of chaos. I’ll be relying on this final set of flying swords to protect myself! I’ll also be using them to withstand the Celestial Tribulation!” Ning was extremely cautious and careful as he flipped through the book, reading each page carefully. He saw many formidable sets of powerful top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, but unfortunately there were no sets of nearly a thousand top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. But suddenly, his eyes lit up and came to a halt. “There it is.” Ning revealed a look of delight. The Yin-Yang Duality Thousand Supremes Formation: A sword-formation formed by a set of five hundred extremely Yin-aligned ‘Sole-Ki Frost Swords’ and five hundred extremely Yang-aligned ‘Qiangang Inferno Swords’. They could combine into the Yin-Yang Duality Thousand Supremes Formation; once formed, Yin and Yang would intersect and fire and water would converge, annihilating all things. All of the swords were top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords; they could be controlled by two different people at the same time, with one controlling the five hundred Sole-Ki Frost Swords and the other controlling the five hundred Qiangang Inferno Swords, with the two working together to set up the formation. However, all thousand swords could be used by a single person to establish the formation as well. The book had quite a few mysteries recorded within it. In fact, it even recorded one of the major formations that could be used with this Yin-Yang Duality Thousand Supremes Formation. However, there were some things regarding this formation that were never recorded down. In truth, this sword-formation had originally been controlled by a pair of Celestial Immortal Dao-companions. The female Immortal controlled the Sole-Ki Frost Swords, while the male Immortal had controlled the Qiangang Inferno Swords. Controlling this many top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords was simply too mentally exhausting; there were very few individuals, even amongst Celestial Immortals, who would be able to control a thousand of these top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords to set up the Yin-Yang Duality Thousand Supremes Formation. “This formation is far too difficult.” Ning’s face couldn’t help but change as he read through it. “Although this formation uses swords, it actually places a higher burden with regards to understanding the Dao of Formations. These precious Immortal swords are actually merely used as markers to position the formation; what a waste of fine swords!” There were many Immortals who used swords, but they weren’t necessarily Sword Immortals! For example, Immortal Fivecraze was a wielder of Immortal swords, while Little Qing’s weapon of choice was also an Immortal sword. Most likely, more than half of the Loose Immortals alive all used Immortal swords as their weapon of choice…but less than one in a thousand of them were Sword Immortals! In this Yin-Yang Duality Formation, every single sword served as a formation-base, allowing the establishing of a truly enormous formation of unearthly power. “Only in my hands shall you truly be able to unleash the power of a ‘sword’,” Ning murmured to himself. Ning continued to read. Soon, he finished reading the entire book. This book had notes on quite a few sets of Immortal swords, but there were only two sets of sword-formations that included more than 729 swords! The swords of the Yin-Yang Duality Thousand Supremes Formation were divided into Yin and Yang; in terms of the Dao of Formations, Ning just so happened to be fairly skilled in harmonizing Yin and Yang, and so he ended up choosing this set. “This’ll be the one,” Ning said with a smile. The underwater estate. The Stellar Hall. Ning was seated in the lotus position within the thatched cottage, holding an Immortal sword that was emanating an icy cold aura. A small, snow-white snake suddenly appeared on the surface of the Immortal sword. “Are you the master of myself and my many sisters?” “Sisters?” Ning smiled as he gave this snow-white snake a glance. “All five hundred of us Sole-Ki Frost Swords are dear sisters to each other,” the little white snake said, “While those five hundred Qiangang Inferno Swords are our rowdy brothers.” Ning laughed. He pointed towards the empty air and elemental ki flew out from his finger, forming into a series of runes. These runes emanated a blurry, dark light as they simply hung there in the air. These had been taught to Ning by his master, Patriarch Subhuti, in transmitting the technique for the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]; the Old Patriarch had used up an enormous amount of energy in developing them. Moments later, more than ten thousand runes had appeared in midair, forming into a strange, enormous Fiendgod character, ‘thousand’. “Condense.” Ning activated his elemental ki one more time. Instantly, all of the many runes joined together, transforming into a single rune of incomparable complexity; this was the ‘Greater Thousand Rune’. This, too, was a simple rune-fusing technique which the Old Patriarch had taught him. An expert in runes would be able to instantly generate this Greater Thousand Rune; Ning, by contrast, had to first manifest each of the small runes. “Combine.” Ning slapped his palm against the Greater Thousand Rune, then slapped the side of the Immortal sword, pressing them together. The blade of the sword instantly began to manifest a distorted yet complicated pattern of runes on it, and it seemed as though the aura of this Immortal sword had grown sharper as well. “One down. Another!” Ning continued to create his runes. One Immortal sword after another was retrofitted by Ning. To the current Ning, the runes of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] could probably be generated with a single thought and within a single breath as he imprinted all the swords with the Lesser Thousand Rune. However, this Greater Thousand Rune that was created based off the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and other exceptional skills that involved many treasures was a far more complicated creature. Just setting up a single Greater Thousand Rune required more than ten thousand smaller runes; every single one of them far more complicated than the Lesser Thousand Rune. He spent a total of three days before finally imprinting the last of the 729 Immortal swords with the Greater Thousand Rune. As for the remaining 200+ swords, Ning temporarily put them away. “Arise, my [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]!” Ning tested time and time again, but he realized that even with the help of the Greater Thousand Runes, and even though the many Immortal swords would resonate together as if they were one…his true body and his Primaltwin, combined, were at most only able to unleash the second level of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], controlling 182 top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords! This was a maximum limit, and if his true body needed to also spend some of its attention on close combat…at most, he would be able to unleash the first level of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]. “What terrifying power.” The hundred-plus top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, even without using any formations, just chopping wildly, still made for an awe-inspiring sight. By relying on the power of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], they could merge their power together. In an instant, Ning’s power as a Ki Refiner once more surpassed his true body’s close combat power as a Fiendgod Refiner! After making his breakthrough, Ning remained at Swallow Mountain for a few more times, carefully testing his close combat power and his [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]. After stabilizing at his latest level of power…Ning finally left Swallow Mountain. …… Flamedoor Commandery. The air above Weirflow City. It was dawn. The air above Weirflow was cold and crisp. A faint spatial ripple suddenly appeared, then a fur-clad youth emerged from within it. This time, Ning had come alone, primarily because he was relying on the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’ for his investigations; it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to bring Uncle White and the others. “Last time, I fled a million kilometers through teleportation; I ended up arriving here, at Weirflow. My original predictions was the mountain range I was in was the Eastwoods mountain range, but I don’t know if that was a correct guess or not.” Ning smiled. “Time to go test it.” Swoosh! Ning flew straight towards the direction he had fled from previously. While flying, he would occasionally do a short ten-kilometer teleportation. Soon, Ning verified that his original hypothesis was indeed correct; that place was indeed the Eastwoods mountain range of the Eastwoods Sect. “The Eastwoods Sect?” “How should I get in?” “Should I change into a bug? But the Eastwoods mountain range is protected by formations; if a mosquito or bug was able to break through it, others would probably notice.” Ning frowned in a pondering manner…then decided to begin the area surrounding the Eastwoods mountain range. “I refuse to believe that not a single disciple of a major school such as this would enter or leave from time to time!” …… Ning first went to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to buy some reports regarding the experts of the Eastwoods Sect, so that he might be able to recognize their important figures. Ning then set up watch outside the Eastwoods mountain range, often using the [Torch-Dragon’s Eye] to search the surrounding area. Ning searched for three full days. “We are venerable Primal Daoists, but we are now in such a sorry state that all we can do is act as messenger dogs and servants. We have to buy Immortal nectar, Immortal fruit, and all sorts of other queer marvels and strange beasts to be butchered and cooked. How sad!” A large warship descended, and 2579 two Immortal practitioners walked out from within it, walking side-by-side, chatting mentally to each other. They were so cautious that they used mental messages to carry out their grumblings. “Even the sect leader is summoned willy nilly by them; what can Primal Daoists like us do about it? Forget it. Just endure it. Didn’t that general himself say that he would definitely leave within a thousand years and give us our freedom back?” “We’ll probably have died before then.” The two Primal Daoists were complaining. Tens of thousands of kilometers away from them, there sat a fur-clad youth in the lotus position. His eyes were glowing with torch-light, and as he saw them from afar, a look of delight instantly appeared on his face. “Hey, aren’t those two the Primal Daoists of the Eastwoods Sect? I knew it; an enormous clan that’s taken up a hundred thousand kilometers of space definitely has people entering and leaving it. It seems I need to rely on them to get inside.” Ning suddenly disappeared as he executed a void blink, stealthily moving closer to them. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The two Primal Daoists walked forward, shoulder-to-shoulder. Suddenly, a light flashed in front of them, then a fur-clad youth appeared out of nowhere. “Who are you?” The faces of the two Primal Daoists changed as they shouted simultaneously. Boom! An incomparably terrifying majesty swept out from Ji Ning’s body, and space within three thousand meters became completely frozen. The wind halted. The swaying grass froze mid-sway. The hopping grasshoppers paused mid-jump. The flowing waters of the nearby creek stopped in its tracks. Even the beads of water spraying into the air from the creek just hovered there. The faces of the two Primal Daoists were completely filled with terror and shock…but they, too, were completely unable to move. When that terrifying Dao Domain descended, they were completely unable to resist at all. Back when he had been in the Crescent world, Ning had been able to use his Dao Domain to easily render a squad of Flamewing Guards completely helpless. By comparison, these two Primal Daoists were actually slightly weaker than the Flamewing Guards. “In you go.” Ning waved his hand, and an irresistible force drew those two individuals into his mobile Immortal estate. Ning swept the surrounding region with his gaze; when making his move, he had been extremely cautious. He had kept his Dao Domain to a radius of merely three thousand meters, not affecting the area beyond this region at all. …… Within his mobile Immortal estate. The two Primal Daoists stared at their surroundings in terror. “What is this place?” “Where are we?! This…can this be a mobile Immortal estate?!” The two Primal Daoists, upon viewing their surroundings, could only think of this one possibility. “Easthill, who was that youth? How is it that he was able to render us completely helpless merely through using his Dao Domain? Can he be a Celestial Immortal?” 2581 “He most likely is on their level.” These two Primordial Daoists were filled with terror and worry. The enemy’s power was simply too great; they weren’t able to fight back against him at all. Not even the more powerful Loose Immortals of their Eastwoods Sect was capable of using a simple Dao Domain to render them completely helpless; clearly, this youth’s Dao Domain had surpassed that of virtually every single member of the Eastwoods Sect. “The two of you.” The black-robed Ning appeared. “Senior, why have you seized the two of us?” One of the two Primal Daoists, a tall, skinny man, hurriedly spoke out. “Senior, if there’s anything you need from us, just tell us,” the other Primal Daoist, a man with triangular pupils, said quickly. The black-robed Ning smiled. “It is simple. I want to soul-scour the two of you.” “Soul-scour?!” The two instantly revealed looks of terror. Soul-scouring. If one was lucky, one might be able to maintain their ordinary faculties, at most losing a few of their memories. But if one was unlucky…they might be turned into idiots! “The two of you should know that killing you is effortless for me,” the black-robed Ning said. “I can forcibly soul-scour you, but as you should know, doing that would be quite damaging to you, possibly resulting in the two of you being turned into idiots. Thus…I hope that the two of you will accept it and won’t fight back. That way…your Primal-level souls should be able to maintain normalcy.” The two Primal Daoists exchanged a glance. They felt helpless. Why were they so damn unlucky? They knew very well that if they were to resist and be forcibly soul-scoured…then things would be even more disastrous for them. “We accept. Senior, please spare our lives,” the two said. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you,” the black-robed Ning said. In truth, based on the intelligence reports which Ning had received from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, these two had done quite a few evil deeds. Given Ning’s usual temperament, he would’ve killed them long ago…but if he did, then the life-tablets of the two within the Eastwoods Sect would shatter, and the Sect would know that they died. Once that happened, his plan would fail. The two Primal Daoists closed their eyes. The black-robed Ning stretched out his hand, placing it atop the head of the tall, skinny Primal Daoist. He immediately used the ‘Thousand Stars Soulscour’ technique; this technique was a soulscouring technique which he had acquired in the Crescent world after killing that evil Patriarch. Moments later…Ning lowered his hands. A look of joy appeared within the eyes of the tall, skinny Primal Daoist. “I’m fine. I’m fine!” “I told you. If you don’t resist at all, your soul will find it easier to maintain its normalcy, and in fact very few memories will be lost.” The black-robed Ning looked towards the other person, the triangle-pupiled Primal Daoist. That Primal Daoist closed his eyes as well, accepting the soulscouring. Ning walked over to him, placing his palm atop his head as well. …… At the base of the Eastwoods mountain range. “So the two of them were so spineless,” Ning mused to himself. Waving his hand, he produced a sack that was filled with the items that had been purchased. Roughly thirty years ago, the Eastwoods Sect had suffered a calamity. The majority of its tougher figures were all wiped out, while a few who were able to suppress their anger were able to survive. They all hoped for freedom to come. However…the Eastwoods Sect also had some spineless figures who even helped the mysterious power act against their fellow disciples! Daoist Easthill and Daoist Eastharm were two such spineless figures! They abused their former ‘fellow disciples’, currying favor with the mysterious figures as if they were dogs! Naturally, this resulted in the two of them being viewed with favor, and they were even allowed to go out and shop. However… Although they did their utmost to please, the mysterious power still viewed them as nothing more but dogs. They were absolutely forbidden from going near the most important ‘forbidden region’; in fact, even the Eastwoods sect leader was forbidden from entering it! “A mysterious power?” “The leader is a ‘general’? Supposedly at the Celestial Immortal level?” “A forbidden region?” 2583 After finishing the soulscouring, Ning immediately began to pay attention to this supposed ‘forbidden region’. The forbidden region was simply too mysterious. After taking over the Eastwoods mountain range, the mysterious power had designed a certain part of it as a ‘forbidden region’, with many people being sent within it. In fact, even that ‘general’ would often go inside. “Change!” Ning instantly changed, transforming into the appearance of that tall, skinny Primal Daoist – Daoist Easthill. Ning immediately headed straight towards the entrance to the Eastwoods Sect. “Daoist Easthill has returned? Where is Daoist Eastharm?” One of the two gate guards asked. “It has been a long time since Daoist Eastharm returned to his tribe, so he made a side trip this time. I came back first,” Ning said with a smile. Due to the soulscouring, Ning now knew well that these spineless figures were rather trusted, and so they were often allowed to return to their tribes. That way, the spies of the imperial Xia clan wouldn’t notice anything strange about the Eastwoods Sect. Otherwise…if all of a sudden, no members of the Eastwoods Sect were returning to their clans…in an era like this, when the Three Realms were in a state of turmoil, the imperial Xia clan would definitely investigate. Ning smiled as he spoke, then walked in. In a very familiar manner, he walked through the various formations. He knew exactly how to bypass them, because of what he had learned through the soulscouring. …… Upon ‘returning’ to the Eastwoods Sect and handing over the purchased items, Ning chatted for a while with some of the cultivators of the Eastwoods Sect, then went to the residence of Daoist Easthill. “Change!” A mosquito flew out from Daoist Easthill’s residence. Mosquitos were extremely common; even if one were to wipe out a swathe of them, the next night many more would most likely appear, especially since the Eastwoods Sect was located within a mountain forest. Ning, in the shape of a mosquito, flew closer and closer to the ‘forbidden region’. The forbidden region was layered with increasingly powerful formations. The mosquito-Ning was forced to come to a halt outside the formations, landing on the ground. “Step closely. “Hurry up. Keep in line! We’re about to enter the formation. If you get out of line, you’ll be trapped within the eighteen great formations. I really don’t want to have to go find those guys and ask them to save you.” A group of black-robed figure was flying towards the formation, with the one in the very rear urging them to move faster. Whap. As they walked forward, the foot of one of the black-robed figures was stained with a speck of mud. This mud was the transformed Ning! Not even Immortal cultivators would constantly use their power to dissipate the dust and mud from their feet with every step; how tiring would that be?! As the group of black-robed figures advanced through the region, carefully passing through all eighteen formations, the bit of ‘mud’ staining one of their feet was also brought through the eighteen formations. After passing through the formations…they entered the ‘forbidden zone’. There were many roving patrols here. Rumble… The mosquito-Ning was flying through the forbidden region. “This place truly is guarded tightly. What’s going on here?” The mosquito-Ning flew into a gorge with many mosquitos, maintaining the speed of an ordinary mosquito. “The deeper I go into this gorge, the tighter the guard becomes.” Deep within the gorge, there was a castle. The castle was covered with a layer of light which not even mosquitos could pass into. The number of black-robed figures patrolling this place was simply astonishing. All of them emanated auras of tremendous power, at least at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal level. “Some of the black-robed figures are merely at the Wanxiang or Primal level…but the ones guarding this castle are all Loose Immortals, and there are more than a hundred of them?” Ning was secretly speechless. More than a hundred Loose Immortals were standing guard outside; the number of true guardians must definitely be even greater. “This castle…?” The mosquito-Ning landed, staring at the distant castle. He waited until nightfall, until a group of gray-robed figures came walking out from within the castle. “Finally, someone came out from the castle. These people have fairly powerful auras; they seem to all be Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals. Heeeey…why are they all…?” 2585 Ning suddenly discovered, to his astonishment, that each of the gray-robed figures had looks of exhaustion on their faces. Their exhaustion was so evident that Ning could sense it from a great distance away. “They are all Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals; how could they become so tired?” Ning couldn’t believe it; Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals had very strong minds. Only if their mental energy was utterly exhausted would they appear like this. Mental exhaustion usually wasn’t that important to Immortals. But if it reached a certain level…it could become quite terrifying. For example, if an Immortal, in order to produce a powerful magic treasure, was to work day and night and use up all his blood and effort, he might even perish; this sort of event happened quite often within the Three Realms. Generally speaking, after Immortal cultivators grew tired, they would rest and relax for a time. “How can they be so exhausted? And it’s not just one or two of them, but an entire group?” Ning was puzzled. Suddenly… Ning was stupefied! Towards the back of that squad of gray-robed figures, there was a fairly small, skinny gray-robed figure who woodenly walked forward. “Junior…junior apprentice-brother?!” Ning stared in disbelief. That gray-robed figure was Ning’s junior apprentice-brother, a person he was incomparably familiar with…it was Mu Northson, who had been missing for more than twenty years! Mu Northson! Years ago, he had found a Dao-compainion and begun to enjoy a happy life. But soon…his Dao-companion perished, and he himself had vanished as well. The Black-White College had searched for him but was unable to find him! Ning had never imagined…that here, within the Eastwoods mountain range, he would run into his junior apprentice-brother! Even less did he imagine that his junior apprentice-brother would end up looking like this! His body, beneath that gray robe, had become even thinner and frailer. He clearly had the aura of a Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal…but Ning could not sense any power at all coming from him. All he could sense was that his junior apprentice-brother was like a sputtering candle that could go out at any moment. His lifeforce was extremely weak, and waves of exhaustion flowed out from him. The frailness was just a minor matter; what really mattered was that Ning couldn’t sense any vigor at all coming from his junior apprentice-brother. It seemed as though the vigorous, lively youth had completely disappeared, transforming into someone who seemed like an old man that was on the verge of death. His face was ashen, and his hair was a complete mess. In fact, he even had quite a few white hairs. “Junior apprentice-brother…” Ning felt that the white hairs were particularly painful for him to see. For an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal, there was only one reason a person would develop white hairs, unless they intentionally used a technique to change it; utter mental exhaustion. If one was utterly mentally exhausted, one’s hair might even turn completely white within a single night…or even perish. “What on earth happened?” Ning was truly stunned. His memories remained so clear and vivid… “My name is Mu Northson?” That youthful white-robed youngster had been so full of vigor. “My name is Ji Ning. I’m sixteen this year. How old are you?” “Fourteen.” That was their first meeting. That bashful, youthful figure…Ning remembered it all as if it was yesterday. “Senior apprentice-brother, I’ll go with you. Going with you and fleeing together is bound to be an exciting life.” When Ning had killed Youngflame Nong, his junior apprentice-brother had shown no hesitation at all; he had been filled with energy and determination, even in the face of life as a refugee. “What…what in the world has caused junior apprentice-brother to become like this?” Ning stared at the gray-robed Mu Northson…at the decrepit, exhausted Mu Northson. …… The group of gray-robed figures walked past. Mosquitos flew about within the gorge, with one of them flying behind the gray-robed figures. “You only have two hours to rest,” a black-robed figure barked. The group of gray-robed figures began to separate, each returning to his own residence. The gray-robed Northson began to move towards his residence, one of the many residences in this area. He pushed open the door, entered, then shut the door. Within a room in his residence. Northson sat in front of a wooden desk. He picked up a canteen of water, pouring himself a cup, then began to quietly drink it. It was quiet. Terrifyingly quiet. The only sound within the room was that of the quiet gurgling of water. Northson then put the cup down silently, then sat there wordlessly, not saying a single thing. His gaze was straight forward. Whoosh. Northson suddenly waved his hand, and a blocking formation suddenly appeared within the room. He then waved his hand again, and a wooden figurine appeared. This was the figurine of a woman, and it was very lifelike. Northson stared at th figurine, then placed it on the table. Waving his hand again, he produced another block of wood, then began to carve it with a small knife. He carved in a very slow manner, sending wood chips flying everywhere as the block of wood began to gradually be formed into a woman’s appearance. Finally, the sculpting was complete. He placed the wooden sculpture on the desk, then stared at it. Simply stared at it in a daze. “Junior apprentice-brother!” Suddenly, a voice rang out. A fur-clad youth appeared within the room. That familiar voice seemed to summon suppressed memories from deep within the soul of Mu Northson. He raised his head to look…and was suddenly arrested. His entire body became completely frozen. He just stared at the fur-clad youth who was standing there. Those familiar furs… That familiar appearance… That familiar voice… Those eyes…that gaze… “Senior, senior apprentice-brother?” A very dry, rusted voice emerged from Northson’s throat, as though it had been a long time since he had spoken. “Junior apprentice-brother. Junior apprentice-brother!” Ning stared at his junior apprentice-brother, his eyes moist. “What has happened?” Northson looked at Ning. Stared at him. His tears suddenly came cascading down. He opened his mouth, wanting to cry, but nothing came out. His body just shuddered, his tears continuing to flow. Ning hurriedly stepped forward, embracing Northson. “Cry, cry. Let it out. Don’t keep it suppressed in your heart. Let it all come out.” Ning’s own eyes were red as he spoke softly. He could sense the endless pain suppressed within his junior apprentice-brother’s heart. He couldn’t even imagine…he didn’t even want to imagine…what his junior apprentice-brother had experienced over these years. What in the world had caused his junior apprentice-brother, whose Daoheart had been so strong, to become like this? Ning could sense his junior apprentice-brother’s body trembling within his arms. Ning felt as though his own heart was trembling as well! What had happened? What had happened! Why had it ended up this way? Why? “Let it all come out. Don’t keep it suppressed in your heart. Cry it all out. Your senior apprentice-brother is here. Now that I’m here, it will all come to an end. It will all end,” Ning said, holding his junior apprentice-brother’s shuddering body in his arms. His junior apprentice-brother’s tears flowed onto his clothes, even onto his neck. Ning could feel his junior apprentice-brother’s tears. “AHHHH!!!!” An agonized cry finally ripped through the room. “AHHH….AHHHHHHH!!!!!” Northson’s cries carried a sound of utter desolation and hoarseness. He sobbed furiously, howled agonizingly. Ning tightly held his beloved friend in his arm, listening to his cries. He could sense the bottomless, endless depths of pain, misery, grief, and despair explode forth from the cries. Ning tightly held his dear brother, his own heart shaking. He felt as though his own heart was being stabbed by knives. Pain. Splitting pain. What had happened? That young white-robed youth, the one who could ignore even the threat of death and choose to follow Ning in fleeing across the world…what had changed him so?! “I swear!!!” 2589 “No matter who did it! No matter who they are…all of them…each of them…every last one of them…they will all die. ALL OF THEM WILL DIE!!!” Ning held his sobbing junior apprentice-brother, his own tears falling down as he swore an oath in his mind. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The pain and despair that he had suppressed for so many years all came howling out with his cries. Slowly, Mu Northson regained his faculties and let go of Ji Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother, I’m fine now. I wasn’t able to control myself just now; I made a fool of myself in front of you.” “We’re brothers; why say such things?” Ning looked towards Northson. “Junior apprentice-brother, tell me – what happened?!” “Nothing.” Northson shook his head. “What was to happen already has.” Northson looked at Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother, how did you get here? This is a forbidden region that is tightly guarded; not even Celestial Immortals can barge their way inside.” Ning looked at his tired, downtrodden junior apprentice-brother. He felt pain in his heart; at a time like this, his junior apprentice-brother was actually refusing to say anything. Ning immediately said, “I know this is a forbidden region. I also know…that this is the Flamedoor Commandery’s Eastwoods mountain range. Given my abilities, if I want to enter this place, no one will be able to find out. Junior apprenticebrother, tell me…what has happened?!” “No need to ask.” Northson shook his head. “If I was faced with this situation, wouldn’t you ask?” Ning rebutted. Northson was startled. It was true. They were like brothers; if Ning was in such a dire situation, Northson wouldn’t be able to ignore it. “Tell me,” Ning said earnestly. “Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson looked at Ning. “Telling you would be harming you. I’ve already been damned; I don’t want you to be damned as well.” Ning understood that this must certainly involve an important matter; the number of Loose Immortals around that castle was enough to tell Ning that the amount of power that had been gathered here in the Eastwoods mountain range alone was on the same level as the power available to the Northmont clan of Stillwater; in fact, it might even be greater. As for the great power behind this place… “Junior apprentice-brother, don’t underestimate me. You know very well that this is a forbidden region which is not easily entered, but I still managed to make it in. I’m no longer the same person I was,” Ning said earnestly. “After the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, I joined a Daofather’s school and became the Daofather’s disciple.” 2591 The Old Patriarch had only forbidden Ning from saying that he was his disciple; so long as Ning didn’t say the words ‘Patriarch Subhuti’, he wouldn’t be violating his master’s orders. “What?!” Northson was stunned. “I’ve trained for thirty-plus years and my power has increased greatly. I finally managed to obtain permission from Master to return to the Grand Xia.” Ning looked at Northson. “Even if I truly do encounter any danger, my master will intervene and rescue me. The world of the Grand Xia currently truly is filled with dangerous undercurrents, and there is even a hidden power that is capable of fighting against the Grand Xia Emperor himself. But if my master was to intervene, he would be able to save my life with utter ease…and thus, there is nothing for you to worry about.” Northson was dazed. “You don’t believe me? Take a look!” Ning waved his hand. Instantly, one top-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword after another appeared, clustered together in a tight pile. Because they all had to be kept within this room, they were all piled on top of one another. “These…” Northson could sense the power of these top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. “You should be capable of recognizing these for what they are by now,” Ning said. “Top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords?” Northson guessed. “Yes.” Ning nodded. “There are a thousand here.” Northson’s throat clenched. Even though he was here in this forbidden region where he had seen a fraction of the true strength of this mysterious power…he was still stunned by Ji Ning! Top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords…every single one of them was extremely valuable. A set of a thousand was utterly inconceivable! “After I left my master’s tutelage, my master gifted them to me.” Ning looked at Northson. “In addition, I was able to easily enter this forbidden region. Do you believe me now?” Northson was beginning to be moved. “Take a look at this.” Ning’s body flickered. Swish. He transformed into another Mu Northson, dressed in the same gray robes, with the same exhausted complexion and some white hairs on his head. “But, but…” Northson stared in disbelief at Ning. “Even the aura is absolutely identical…even the amount of karmic virtue is the same! This cannot be!” “Why can’t it be? Change again!” 2592 Ning then transformed into Immortal Fivecraze, then into the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang, then into Youngflame Nong, then into Celestial Immortal King Yan… He quickly transformed into more than ten figures the two both recognized before changing back into his normal appearance. “Are you still worried about me?” Ning looked at Northson. “I believe you when you say that you took on a Daofather as your master. I’ve never even heard of a transformation ability like this one.” Northson nodded, then said in a low voice, “I know that you, senior apprentice-brother, definitely wish to understand everything which happened. Fine…I’ll talk.” Ning let out a sigh of relief. Northson sat down. “We still have slightly less than an hour…so I’ll start from when I met Yu Xia. Years ago, in Stillwater City, I met Yu Xia. She was a disciple of the Thousand Rivers Sect, but was filled with curiosity towards the Dao of Constructs. But naturally, her ability in the Dao of Constructs was far inferior to mine.” After the death of his master, Northson could be considered the number one expert in the Dao of Constructs within the Black-White College! This was because there were very few people within the College who trained in this Dao, and also because he truly did have a high amount of talent within this Dao. “Yu Xia would often ask me for guidance, and I’d give her advice.” A hint of a smile appeared on Northson’s face. “After a long time…the two of us ended up together, becoming Dao-companions. Those were the happiest days of my life; I felt carefree and without any worries. Alongside my Dao-companion, I continued to study the Dao of Formations in a content, relaxed manner.” “Yu Xia and I lived in an out-of-the-way place, atop a wild prairie. We built a house next to a lake, and we lived a peaceful life there.” “I wish so deeply…” “…to have been able to live there forever.” Northson shut his eyes. “But then…that day came. A group of black-robed men arrived, all of them Loose Immortals, and formidable ones at that. Yu Xia was merely a Wanxiang Adept, while I had just broken through to become a Primal Daoist. The two of us were completely unable to fight back.” “I was captured. Yu Xia was killed. After she died, her soul wasn’t permitted to be reborn; rather, it was captured as well.” Ning’s pupils shrank. Even after Yu Xia died, her soul had still been captured? “I was brought here,” Northson said. “Brought here, to this forbidden region. The people in this region ordered me to help them build constructs.” “Build constructs?” Ning instantly understood. “Those other gray-robed figures…they were also brought here because they were skilled in the Dao of Constructs?” “Right. There are more than one hundred grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs in this area,” Northson said. “They’ve all been brought here. I suspect that the Eastwoods mountain range is a gathering point for the mysterious power behind this place, for more than a hundred nearby commanderies.” Ning frowned. “One of the gathering points? You know of other gathering points?” “I have some guesses,” Northson said. “During these years, I’ve seen seven generals come to this place. ‘General’ is a fairly high rank here, and all of them were at the Celestial Immortal level. The Eastwoods mountain range has a general who is permanently stationed here, but on multiple occasions there have been other generals who escorted deliveries of treasures to this place. In total, I’ve seen twelve different generals!” Ning was secretly startled. Twelve Celestial Immortals? And this was just the tip of the iceberg! “They are asking you to create constructs?” Ning asked. “What sort of construct?” “An extremely large one.” A look of disbelief was in Northson’s eyes. “This power has an extremely deep level of understanding regarding the Dao of Constructs; their understanding, compared to the secret arts recorded down within our Black-White College regarding the Dao of Constructs, must be billions or even trillions of times greater!” Ning was rather stunned upon hearing this. Billions? Trillions?! This was too insane. “Don’t think I’m just talking,” Northson immediately said. “I feel that I am an extremely talented person with regards to the Dao of Constructs, but when I first came, they taught me some construct-creation methods that they felt were fairly low-level. When creating the constructs, I was inspired by the mysteries and profoundness of them, causing my level of insight into the Dao of Constructs to rapidly increase.” “As my level of insight increased, they began to let me create increasingly more powerful constructs. They also bestowed liquefied elemental essence upon me, allowing me to reach the Void level and become an Earth Immortal.” 2594 “Now, within this forbidden region, I can be ranked amongst the top hundred grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs,” Northson said. “Right now, the other grandmasters and myself are currently working together to forge an incomparably massive construct. It should be the most powerful Fiendgod Golem this forbidden region is producing.” “Grandmaster of the Dao of Constructs?” Ning could hardly believe it. His junior apprentice-brother had advanced so quickly? “Senior apprentice-brother…you have no idea what life here has been like,” Northson said. “They squeeze every single drop of usable energy out of you, forcing you to go all out to construct new constructs! But every single powerful construct expands our horizons as well. As for the most powerful Fiendgod Golem we are currently creating…that’s even more terrifying.” “How terrifying?” Ning asked. “Below the level of True Immortals or Empyrean Gods…it is all but invincible,” Northson said seriously. “If a Celestial Immortal was controlling it, not even ten or a hundred Celestial Immortals fighting together would be able to stop it.” Ning was incomparably shocked. “Don’t be so shocked. The slightly weaker golems which the other grandmasters and myself have been constructing, when controlled by Loose Immortals, all have the combat power of Celestial Immortals.” Northson sighed, “You have no idea what a deep level of understanding of the Dao of Constructs this organization has. Those construct formation-diagrams are incomparably profound; in terms of better understanding the Dao of Constructs, every single diagram is like a supreme treasure to us. And here, I’ve already seen more than a thousand such construct formation-diagrams…” Ning nodded gently. “So this forbidden region is being used to produce constructs…but can it be that everyone is just willing to work here?” “How can we be ‘willing’?” Northson said with grief, “Nobody is ‘willing’. Creating these top-tier golems is extremely difficult, and it uses up a tremendous amount of our mental energy. And yet, we are still having the life squeezed out of us; the amount of time for rest we have been given is growing less and less.” “We all hate them for kidnapping us, and in fact many wish to die. I originally wanted to die as well.” “But…Yu Xia’s soul is in their hands,” Northson said. “If I diligently work to create golems, I can go visit her once a month and speak with her. But if I dare to commit suicide…once I die, they will torment her soul for thousands on thousands of years, never giving her a chance to be reborn.” Ning couldn’t help but shiver. Never be given the chance to be reborn? “I do not dare kill myself.” Northson laughed bitterly. “Their general, however, has voluntarily sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that if we stay here and peacefully build these constructs, within a thousand years we will be granted our freedom, and the soul of our loved one will be released as well.” Freedom? A thousand years? Ning understood now. In one hand, a big stick; in the other hand, a carrot. Although the people here were being tormented and exhausted, they still saw hope, and so they were able to endure. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning now knew about all the twists and turns that had led to the current situation. He immediately said, “Junior apprentice-brother, I’ll come up with a way to save your Dao-companion’s soul, then lead you away.” Although his heart was filled with a desire for murder, Ning knew very well that the truly important thing was to rescue his junior apprentice-brother and the soul of Yu Xia. “It’s useless.” Mu Northson shook his head. “There’s no way I can leave the forbidden region.” “Why?!” Ning hurriedly asked. “This mysterious power seems to be worried that we might have a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal hidden within our Zifu region; without killing us, there’s no way they can find out,” Northson said. “To prevent us from escaping, when they caught us, they forced us to swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens that unless they voluntarily grant us freedom, if we are to flee this place and go beyond the confines of the Eastwoods mountain range, we shall have our souls shattered.” “What?!” Ning was stunned. This was going to be trouble. “We only have two paths before us. The first path is the path of death, followed by the souls of our loved ones suffering for countless ages, never to be reborn! The second path is to swear the oath to the Dao of the Heavens, then obediently work hard. Those of us who did not commit suicide…we are all hoping for our final freedom,” Northson said. Ning nodded lightly. Aside from the tight watch they maintained, they had also forced Northson and the others to swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens not to flee. Quite cautious indeed! “You said…‘unless they voluntarily grant you freedom’?” Ning suddenly asked. “Right,” Northson said. “After all, the general himself also swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens to free us within a thousand years. If we are to never be given freedom, many people would likely choose suicide instead.” Ning pondered for a moment, then said, “Right…earlier, you said that you and the other grandmasters are pooling your abilities to create an incomparably terrifying Fiendgod Golem…and that if a Celestial Immortal was to command it, it could be described as invincible against any foes beneath the True 2597 Immortal or Empyrean God level! Then the creation of this golem must be very hard, right? The materials are quite precious?” There were quite a few Celestial Immortals who had Pure Yang treasures. For this Fiendgod Golem to be referred to as ‘invincible against any foes beneath the True Immortal or Empyrean God level’ had to mean that it was vastly more valuable than any ordinary Pure Yang treasure. “The creation is indeed quite difficult.” Northson nodded. “Although all of us are Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals, and have detailed blueprints, the golem formation-diagrams within…they are simply unfathomably profound. We grandmasters are like a horde of ants, diligently working away at the task. We’ve spent more than twelve years on it, but we’ve managed to finish more than half of the Fiendgod Golem. I trust that in two or three more years, we’ll have finished it.” “As for the materials? They are naturally of enormous value. This mighty golem has extremely exacting standards when it comes to its materials; weaker materials are completely unable to withstand the power that will be circulated through it via the mighty formation-diagrams. To put it another way…this Fiendgod Golem is the most important task I have been given since I was brought here! All of the grandmasters have joined forces to work on it, while the ordinary golem-masters are merely working on secondary constructs instead.” Ning nodded lightly. “All the grandmasters have joined forces and have spent twelve years on it? Most of you, when first arriving, must have been at a comparatively low level of skill in the Dao of Constructs. By working on secondary constructs, your skill began to slowly rise to the level of a grandmaster…which is to say, the main purpose this forbidden region has had over the past thirty years was to produce this golem!” “Right.” Northson nodded in agreement. “As for the precious materials, they are escorted here by other generals. One time, seven generals came together in escorting a shipment.” Ning nodded. Of course that was how it had to be. A construct meant for a Celestial Immortal to control, that was invincible against all other Celestial Immortals. A few dozen or a hundred such Fiendgod Golems would probably be enough to completely sweep through the entire world of the Grand Xia! Ning was now a disciple of Patriarch Subhuti and had a certain level of insight into the world…but golems as terrifying as these probably were superior to even top-grade Pure Yang treasures! They were truly priceless! “Since you are here working on this golem, then you definitely will come into contact with it,” Ning said. “Yes.” Northson nodded. “Good. Then I’ll make a trip with you…and I’ll take away the Fiendgod Golem when the time is right,” Ning said confidently. “I’ll threaten that ‘general’ and force him to release you and Yu Xia’s soul.” “How would you enter? What will you transform into? That castle is extremely tightly guarded; no living creatures are allowed in, not even mosquitos,” Northson said. “I’ll change into…” Ning laughed. “…a hair on your head.” “Hair?” Northson was speechless. Ning laughed. Swish! He disappeared into thin air, and then an extra hair appeared on top of Northson’s head. “What do you think, junior apprentice-brother?” Ning’s voice echoed out. Northson, amazed, reached out with his hand to stroke this additional strand of hair that had just appeared. “You can do this?!” This was indeed a flawless plan! Swish. Ning reappeared. “If you transform into my hair…there’s no way I could recognize you. But is it possible that someone within the castle might detect you?” Northson asked, worried. “Even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods will be unable to detect me,” Ning said confidently. The ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’ was no ordinary divine ability. “Good.” Northson revealed a look of delight. “The other grandmasters and I are working in a region deep within that castle, where we are forging that Fiendgod Golem. That region is primarily meant for us grandmasters; there are only two guards there. No one else will go there to disturb us. Since there’s no way for us to escape, they aren’t worried about us at all. So long as you go…you’ll be able to easily capture that Fiendgod Golem.” “But senior apprentice-brother!” Northson said with worry. “Once you seize it, everyone in the castle will know right away. In fact, even that general will immediately be aware of it. If you threaten them, they might just kill you, then take the Fiendgod Golem back.” “Kill me?” Ning shook his head. “They won’t be able to kill me…so they will have to choose to lower their heads.” 2599 All he had to do was enter his mobile Immortal estate for just a brief moment, then immediately use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. The enemies would probably truly be forced to lower their heads! Northson began to grow excited as well. His senior apprentice-brother’s plan was indeed workable. He hurriedly said, “We have to first acquire Yu Xia’s soul. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m terrified of the thought that Yu Xia’s soul will be tormented for countless ages.” Ning was startled for a moment, then nodded. “Right.” He could threaten them and force them to submit…but they might just pull out Yu Xia’s soul to counterthreaten him! His junior apprentice-brother would rather die than cause Yu Xia to be eternally unable to be reborn. “Are you able to acquire Yu Xia’s soul?” Ning asked. “It’s been a month since I’ve seen Yu Xia,” Northson said hurriedly. “After I enter the castle, I can request to see Yu Xia. Each month, we can see our loved one a single time! They won’t refuse…they’ll take me there, then I’ll see Yu Xia. You, senior apprentice-brother, will immediately strike and seize her soul.” “However…” “Seizing Yu Xia’s soul, or seizing the Fiendgod Golem. We have to choose between the two.” Northson began to frown. Ning laughed. “That’s simple. I’ll first go with you on a trip to the Fiendgod Golem, and then I’ll go to Yu Xia’s place. I’ll acquire her soul, then immediately use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to immediately head to the Fiendgod Golem and seize it as well.” “A Greater Teleportation Dao-seal?” Northson said, worried, “But once you move to flee the Eastwoods mountain range…will you have another method of escape?” “I have a few of these seals,” Ning said with a laugh. He did indeed. He had acquired one from the underwater estate, a second from killing Youngflame Nong, then more than ten from killing the monster kings and the vile Patriarch on the Crescent world. Every one of the monster kings had at least one Greater Teleportation Dao-seal on them; given their statuses, acquiring one wasn’t too hard. And now, given the number of treasures Ning had and his connection with Patriarch Skyfox of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to buy eight or ten Greater Teleportation Dao-seals. “First seize Yu Xia’s soul, then Greater Teleport to seize the Fiendgod Golem.” Northson asked, “The seizing of the soul will cause alarms to go off within the castle; I imagine that seizing the Fiendgod Golem will prove troublesome.” “Don’t worry. As long as we are fast enough, and as long as we immediately Greater Teleport upon acquiring the soul…there will be no one who can stop us,” Ning said. “The only person in the entire Eastwoods mountain range who can threaten me is that general you spoke of. By the time he hears of the soul being stolen, I’ll have already taken the Fiendgod Golem as well.” The plan had more or less been set. The two of them discussed some of the finer details, then Northson began to give a introduction to the layout of the castle. Just as the two grew more and more animated in their discussions… Northson’s face suddenly turned ashen. “Senior apprentice-brother!” Northson looked towards Ning with worry. “If you steal Yu Xia’s soul, then threaten them to force them to release me…they’ll definitely suspect there is a connection between us. Given that you’ll have to fight when moving to steal the Fiendgod Golem…you’ll probably have to use your skills as a Sword Immortal, at which point they’ll know it is a Sword Immortal they are facing.” “They would be able to guess right away that the person who rescued me was most likely you, senior apprentice-brother.” “They’ll be able to tell it from your swords.” Northson stared at Ning. Ning sighed mentally to himself. His junior apprentice-brother had discovered the flaw. Right… He had already been trapped within this Eastwoods mountain range once; given the power of that mysterious organization, they probably suspected that he had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Given that he was then able to enter stealthily, then steal the Fiendgod Golem despite the tight defenses and guard…they would probably grow even more certain that he had used the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’. After all, other methods of entry, such as a Greater Teleportation, would cause spatial ripples and be discovered. The chances of him being exposed would be very high. He absolutely could not underestimate this foe. They were far too powerful…Ning knew this all along. “Junior apprentice-brother,” Ning said. “Don’t worry. Even if I am exposed in the end…all I’m doing is rescuing you. To this mysterious power, a single grandmaster of constructs isn’t that important. You are nothing more than one amongst many such grandmasters. It is the Fiendgod Golem which truly matters. So long as they let you free, I’ll return that to them; they won’t have lost much. They won’t go so far as to make an enemy out of a Daofather’s disciple over this matter.” Northson shook his head. “Senior apprentice-brother, your words are reasonable, but I can sense how savage and arrogant that organization is…and they truly are powerful. I don’t want them to act against you. I’d rather stay here and endure the thousand years.” “Will you be able to endure it?” Ning snapped frantically, “Look at yourself right now. You’ll probably die halfway through it!” “Enough!” Ning said seriously. “If you disagree, then I’ll do it myself, without your help.” “Senior apprentice-brother…” Northson couldn’t believe it. “Decide!” Ning said. “Am I going to do this myself, or are we going to do it together?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mu Northson stared at Ji Ning. Finally, he nodded. “Fine. We two brothers shall do it together.” “Hahaha, that’s more like it!” Ning laughed, then slapped him on the shoulder. Northson looked at Ning, then smiled as well. Deep in his heart, however, he firmly engraved the memory of this kindness into his soul. …… The two hours of rest time had concluded. The gray-robed figures all returned from their various residences. Northson returned as well, his hair still disordered. “Hurry up.” “All of you, hurry up!” The black-robed figures were already snapping at them to move faster, but the grandmasters remained calm and silent. They completely ignored the black-robed figures; they were grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs, after all. If they didn’t work hard, they might suffer some consequences or punishments, but taking their two-hour rest was ordinary. “The black-robed figures have very low statuses in this mysterious organization. Those Wanxiang and Primal level black-robed figures are merely Fiendslaves, while the Loose Immortal and Earth Immortal black-robed figures are Fiendserfs.” Ning had already learned a bit regarding this mysterious organization thanks to Northson’s explanations. Rumble… A blurry light flowed across the castle. The gray-robed figures passed through it to enter the castle, and Northson entered as well. Ning’s field of vision changed. Within the castle gateway, he saw a bronze-armored man whose aura was clearly much more powerful than the individuals he had seen earlier. “Bronze-armored guards? Fiendguards? I wonder how many Fiendguards this location has,” Ning mused to himself. Fiendslaves were at the Wanxiang and Primal level. Fiendserfs were at the Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal level. Fiendguards were extremely powerful Loose Immortals; as Ning saw it, most likely each of them was roughly at the power of that vile Patriarch he had killed. Above them…were the Fiendlords! The Fiendlords were the ‘generals’, all of them at the Celestial Immortal level. The corridors within the castle were deep and gloomy. The surrounding area was divided up into numerous large regions, each of which had grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs! Northson, however, continued to walk deeper into the castle. “Here we are.” At the end of the tunnel, a bronze-armored Fiendguard said with a laugh, “Open up!” “Yes.” The nearby black-robed Fiendserf quickly pushed the door open. It rumbled open, then the gray-robed figures entered. As for Ning, in the shape of a strand of hair, he followed Northson in as well. “Whew.” Northson let out a sigh of relief. “Senior apprentice-brother’s transformation abilities truly are formidable; the castle is protected by layers of formations, but it still wasn’t able to detect him.” After entering through the gate, they were now in an incomparably enormous stand-alone region. This region was thirty thousand meters in circumference, and the gray-robed figures were all standing atop clouds, walking around an enormous golem. The area around the golem was filled with many materials, and all of the grandmasters immediately began their fabrication efforts. “That’s huge.” The hair-Ning stared at the enormous golem. “Although I heard junior apprentice-brother speak of it…this golem is truly stunning to behold. So when a Celestial Immortal controls it, it is virtually invincible to anyone below the True Immortal or Empyrean God level.” Per what his junior apprentice-brother had said, the most important golem within this forbidden region was referred to as the Fiendgod Golem; it was of the ‘Fiendgod’ class. Its body was more than three thousand meters tall. It was pitch-black, and appeared similar to a crab in appearance. It had eight slender, sharp claws, as well as two enormous pincers. Its torso was filled with countless runes that joined together into a formation-diagram that caused Ning to feel dizzy just looking at it. It was simply too complicated. “How savage. Just by looking at it, I can tell that it was meant for war.” The aura alone which emanated from this massive, black, half-finished, crab-shaped Fiendgod Golem was already superior to that of an ordinary Celestial Immortal’s! “This place has experts in the Dao of Constructs from more than a hundred commanderies,” Ning mused to himself. “And this is just a single gathering point…yet it’s already able to create such terrifying golems. Based on what junior apprentice-brother said…they are able to produce one in roughly ten to twenty years. Then…across the 3600 commanderies and four seas of the Grand Xia Dynasty…how many gathering points are there?! How many of these golems are they able to produce every century?” Ning understood, naturally, that things couldn’t be calculated in this manner. After all, the materials required to produce these golems were all extremely expensive. Many grandmasters in the Dao of Constructs alone wouldn’t suffice; materials would also be needed. “This has merely been thirty years. But in the many years before they even came to the world of the Grand Xia?” Ning couldn’t help but feel shock in his heart. This power was simply unfathomable ! No wonder even Patriarch Subhuti, he who possessed the [Dream of the Three Realms], felt so worried. Swoosh! Suddenly, Northson halted his forging, flying towards one of the entrances to this region. There were two black-robed figures standing at the entrance. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you forging?” One of them barked. “I wish to see my Dao-companion,” Northson said. “See your Dao-companion?” The black-robed man frowned. “I haven’t seen her this month,” Northson said. “I can see her once a month.” “Fine, fine. What a pain in the ass. Wait a moment, I’ll go inform his lordship,” the black-robed figure said. Northson just stood there obediently. Within another region inside the castle. There were a group of gray-robed figures here as well, surrounding an enormous golem. They couldn’t help but stroke the enormous golem in a sad, longing manner. This golem had cost them their blood, sweat, and tears…but now it had been completed, and it was going to be taken away. Although they wore gray-robes, their statuses were lower than that of Northson and his fellows. They were also more numerous; they were comparatively less skilled in the Dao of Constructs. “Milord, this ‘Winged Immortal’ class golem has been finished.” There was a red-robed elder standing nearby. One of the black-robed figures made this report respectfully to him. “Mm.” The red-robed elder revealed a smile. “The forging speed is rather slow. These young fellows from the world of the Grand Xia truly are weak in the Dao of Constructs. It took so many of them so long just to complete a single golem of the ‘Winged Immortal’ class.” The nearby black-robed figure was secretly speechless. Slow? You old bastard, you don’t even know how to forge constructs, and you have a low status within the sect as well; the only thing you can do is flatter the general, which is why you were given the job of overseeing the construction of these golems. If any of the formal disciples of the sect who actually trained in the Dao of Constructs was to appear, you’d probably immediately kneel down and lick their toes, you old bastard! “Out of the way!” The red-robed elder walked forward whiel shouting loudly, and the gray-robed figures quickly retreated. Smiling merrily, the red-robed elder waved his hand. Instantly, the enormous winged golem, the ‘Winged Immortal class golem’, was stored into his storage bracelet. “We’ve finished yet another Winged Immortal class. Heh heh heh…within the sect, my branch in the forbidden region should be ranked amongst the top ten in producing Winged Immortals. Once the Fiendgod-class is completed…we’ll most likely all be awarded many gifts.” “Milord, milord.” Suddenly, a voice disturbed the red-robed elder’s ruminations. The red-robed elder glanced sideways irritably. Seeing the lowly black-robed figure running towards him, he snapped coldly, “You useless piece of trash…can’t you see I’m busy? What’s this about, with all the screaming and shouting?” “Mu Northson wishes to see his Dao-companion,” the black-robed figure said hurriedly. In his heart, however, he was cursing at the old bastard. Fiendslaves, Fiendserfs, Fiendguards… They were ranked according to power. Strictly speaking, this red-robed elder was merely a Fiendserf. However, he was awarded the red robes as a gift and sent to oversee the creation of constructs in this part of the forbidden region. But in truth, as far as strength went, he was merely on par with the other black-robed figures. Seeing how arrogantly the red-robed elder acted, the black-robed figures naturally felt resentment. All of them hoped for the day when the red-robed elder fell! “Mu Northson?” The red-robed elder pursed his lips. “What a pain in the ass. Fine, fine, fine. Let’s go see him.” 2606 There were only so many grandmasters within the castle; he naturally memorized the names of every single grandmaster clearly. …… Soon, the red-robed elder saw Northson. The hair-Ning saw the red-robed Elder as well. Northson had told him long ago that this red-robed elder was a fairly important figure in the forbidden region; his name was Qu Huan, and he was in charge of overseeing those who were fabricating the golems. As far the souls went…it was this red-robed elder who was in charge of hiding them somewhere within the castle. Northson immediately said, “I wish to see my Dao-companion.” “Let’s go,” the red-robed elder said irritably. “You all have a chance to see your family once a month; we’ll definitely make it happen. But you have to work hard in your fabrications; if you don’t work hard, then…hmph. You should know what will happen.” Northson nodded. “I know, I know.” The red-robed elder walked in front, passing through a wide hall, then entering a slender passageway. Soon, they arrived within a private room. “Wait here. I’ll be back shortly,” the red-robed elder said. “Alright.” Northson sat in the lotus position on a prayer mat. This room was very quiet; the only person present was a black-robed guard who was keeping watch on him from the door. A short while later. The red-robed elder appeared once more. He walked into the room, then also sat down in the losut position. Snorting coldly, he said, “You only have as much time as needed for a stick of incense to burn down.” He waved his hand, and a glittering jade sphere flew out. There was a woman’s figure within the jade sphere, her form lithe and slender, carrying a hint of sadness within. “Little Xia,” Northson immediately said excitedly. The woman within the jade globe looked towards him, then immediately said with excitement, “Northson.” The voice of the soul, after exiting the jade sphere, actually reverberated within the room, causing the people present to be able to hear it with their ears. The hair-Ning clucked to himself in surprise. Generally speaking, souls were unable to speak verbally. It seems that it was the jade sphere that allowed this one to speak…but in turn, Yu Xia’s soul was trapped within it. “It seems as though Yu Xia and junior apprentice-brother truly do have deep love for each other,” the hair-Ning observed. “Northson, I know you are very tired.” The woman floated within the jade sphere, saying with worry, “Every time I see you, I feel as though you are even older and more tired than the last time. If you really can’t take it any more…then just stop worrying about me.” “Hmph.” The nearby red-robed elder snorted coldly. “The two of you really are quite close to each other.” Northson just looked at the woman in the jade sphere. He said hurriedly, “Little Xia, one day, I will bring you out of here. Definitely.” “Right. Work hard in the service of the general. Within a thousand years, you shall definitely be set free,” the red-robed elder said. Northson’s eyes were filled with tears as he looked at the woman within the jade sphere. Suddenly, he used his elemental ki to send a mental message to Ning: “Senior apprentice-brother, kill this Qu Huan and grab the soul.” “Fine.” A single hair from Northson’s tousled hair suddenly vanished. Immediately afterwards, a white-robed man appeared out of nowhere. When the white-robed man appeared, his enormous palm struck out with the full power of the [Starseizing Hand], slamming down on the body of the surprised and terrified red-robed elder. BOOM. Instantly, the red-robed elder was instantly transformed into dust. The white-robed figure waved his hand, collecting the jade sphere, the storage bracelet, and magic treasures. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The red-robed elder, Qu Huan, had been instantly slain. The black-robed guard standing at the entrance couldn’t help but feel shocked…but in the next instant, a streak of sword-light instantly slashed past him. “No…” The black-robed figure felt despair. He didn’t even have a chance to let out a single cry before the sword-light transformed him into dust. “Let’s go.” Ning pulled Mu Northson into his mobile Immortal estate, then immediately used a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. Rumble… Ning disappeared into thin air. …… “What just happened?!” “Why was there such a powerful ripple?” The black-robed figures all noticed it. Although Ning had tried to control his power as best he could, he couldn’t completely block it from leaking out; after all, the entire castle was filled with guards who had very acute senses. And right at this moment…a spatial ripple appeared! “Teleportation.” “A Greater Spatial Teleportation!” The black-robed figures and bronze-armored Fiendguards all had changed looks on their faces. Although the defenses here in their castle were extremely tight, there was no way they could block out a Greater Spatial Teleportation. However…outsiders knew nothing of the layout within the castle, and so even if they were to use a Greater Teleportation, it would be hard for them to teleport into the castle. Deep within the castle, within that giant, stand-alone region. The many gray-robed figures here were like ants that were crawling throughout the areas close to the enormous Fiendgod Golem, constantly forging new parts to further perfect it. Rumble… Ripples of a spatial teleportation. All of the gray-robed grandmasters present were completely absorbed with their forging; the many years they had spent on this task had rendered them numb. They weren’t on their guard at all. “Who are you?” A gray-robed person noticed the white-robed Ning suddenly appear out of nowhere. “An invader!” “An outsider!” The two black-robed figures that were responsible for overseeing this stand-alone region were all shocked. They let out cries of rage, then charged straight towards Ning. “Hmph.” Ning let out a cold snort. Waving his hand, he caused the enormous, three thousand meter tall Fiendgod Golem to suddenly vanish into thin air. “NO!!” The faces of the two attacking black-robed figures completely changed. The invader had actually come for their Fiendgod-class golem! This was the most important golem in the entire castle; if it truly was to be lost…then the outcome would be disastrous for these two black-robed Fiendserfs who were responsible for guarding this place. Streaks of snowy-white sword-light came sweeping towards them, causing the world to instantly be frozen. The two black-robed figures were also completely frozen, then shattered into dust. The gray-robed figures in the region all stared in astonishment. Still…all of them were quite uncaring, and so they simply stood there and watched. They were filled with hatred towards the power that controlled this forbidden region; as far as they were concerned, the more black-robed figures died, the better. “The white-robed figure is quite formidable. He actually launched an attack within the forbidden region…and by the looks of it, he even knows about the Fiendgod Golem. He took it away right away.” “Mm. He is pretty powerful; the black-robed figures are all at the Loose Immortal level, but they were eradicated with one blow.” “It’d be nice if all of the black-robed men and the bronze-armored Fiendguards were to die.” The gray-robed figures just watched and chatted to the side. The bronze-armored Fiendguard outside the entrance to this region noticed the spatial disturbance inside. He came charging inside, but could only watch as the two black-robed figures were instantly killed. There was no chance to save them at all. “Do you KNOW where you are? Do you really think this is a place you can just break into?” the Fiendguard let out an angry howl, then produced a longspear in his hands. He threw it viciously towards Ning. Swooooosh! The longspear flashed with golden light, carrying an aura of tremendous power as it stabbed towards Ning. “A Void-level Fiendgod?” Ning laughed coldly. The bronze-armored fiendguards all at least had the power of Loose Immortals who had lived for a million years. This particular bronze-armored Fiendguard was one of the most powerful Fiendguards in this area; he was an ancient Void-level Fiendgod! This was why he had been assigned the duty of watching this region. “DIE!!!” Ning swept out with his palm. His palm instantly transformed, becoming more than three hundred meters long. After using the [Starseizing Hand], Ning’s palm carried an unearthly level of power. He slapped downwards, swatting the golden longspear aside. Although Ning’s [Starseizing Hand] had merely reached the Third Cycle, it already had the power of a Pure Yang treasure! The reason why Ning rarely used his hands to attack, preferring to use his Immortal swords, was simply because he was afraid that others would find out about him possessing the [Starseizing Hand]. However, Ning now trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], causing his entire body to become powerful; thus, he could use his hands to attack without fear of the [Starseizing Hand] being exposed. Sword Immortals didn’t necessarily have to use swords all the time. To a true Sword Immortal, a blade of grass, a stick, a longstaff, a spear, a palm, a leg…all of these could be used to execute swordplay. Ning’s enormous, massive palm…glowed with a blurry golden light, as though it were a giant golden sword. “How can this be?” The void-level Fiendgod Fiendguard was shocked. Letting out a growling roar, he used one hand to grab his longspear while using the other to block towards Ning. BANG! The enormous palm struck him directly on his body. The powerful Void-level Fiendgod Fiendguard only had enough time to let out an agonized roar before his body was blasted apart. Just as his shattered body began to attempt to heal, a second, similarly enormous palm came slamming towards him. The two palms merged into a single palm which once more splattered the body of the Fiendguard. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two giant palms struck out repeatedly at a lightning-fast speed, each time shattering the body of the Fiendguard into ever-smaller pieces. More and more of the Fiendguard’s divine power was used up, and after just a few more stricks, all of the divine power within his body had been depleted. In just the blink of an eye, the Void-level Fiendguard had been killed! “Such power!” 2611 “But, but…” “He’s too incredible.” The watching gray-robed figures were all stupefied by what they saw. They knew exactly how powerful that bronze-armored Fiendguard had been. A Void-level Fiendgod! And yet, he had been killed, just like that? “This is the true [Starseizing Hand]!” This was the first time Ning had truly unleashed the power of the [Starseizing Hand] as much as he pleased. “After I train in the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]…my hands alone will be comparable to supreme Pure Yang treasures, close to middle-grade Protocosmic treasures. By then…the power of my [Starseizing Hand] shall undoubtedly be even greater.” The Fifth Cycle would make his hands comparable to supreme Protocosmic treasures. The Sixth Cycle was the level which Daoist Threelives had reached; at this level, he would be able to effortlessly shatter an entire major world with his hands! BOOM!!! Ning collected the treasures left behind by the Fiendguard, then charged out of the region like a primordial Fiendgod in full flight. “Stop him.” “Kill him.” All the black-robed men and bronze-armored Fiendguards within the castle were quickly gathering together. …… Within the Eastwoods Sect of the Eastwoods mountain range. A silver-armored youth was fishing in a leisurely manner. Suddenly… A spatial ripple. It was like a stone had fallen into a lake, causing a ripple to spread in every direction. When it reached the silver-armored youth, his face instantly changed as he turned to look towards the forbidden region. “A Greater Spatial Teleportation? Not good!” Bang! The silver-armored youth instantly transformed into a streak of light, charging towards the forbidden region. He moved lightning-fast; although the forbidden region was protected by layers of mighty 2612 formations, the formations were all under his control! He was able to easily bypass all of them, and he quickly arrived within that massive gorge. He immediately saw that castle up ahead. Sounds of explosions could be heard from within the castle. Everything was in a state of the utmost chaos. “THOSE WHO BAR ME, DIE!” An icy voice roared out from within the castle. The faces of the black-robed figures outside the castle were all ashen, and terror could be seen in their eyes. “It’s only been a few moments, but three of my bronze-armored Fiendguards have died already? Even Bosia died?” When the silver-armored youth sensed what had happened, his face grew even uglier. The Fiendguards were the most powerful warriors under his command; he knew all of them intimately. As he sensed one mighty aura after another be wiped out, he couldn’t help but feel shocked…and realize how terrifying this foe was! It had taken him very little time to return to the forbidden region, but three bronze-armored Fiendguards had already perished, to say nothing of the black-robed figures. “Someone dares attack on my territory?” The next feeling the silver-robed youth had was a feeling of anger and humiliation that he had never felt before. This was a proud man! “Die!” The silver-robed youth could sense that the powerful figure within the castle had already charged out to the castle gates. The restrictions within the castle were also under the control of the general, and so he could clearly sense everything going on within it…as well as the fact that the Fiendgod Golem had already vanished. A fiery godbow suddenly appeared in the silver-armored youth’s hands, and a similarly fiery arrow appeared as well. He pulled the bow! He fired the arrow! BANG! The arrow shot out, instantly transforming into an enormous, divine flaming dragon that surged straight towards the castle gates. A terrifying sword-light flew out from the castle gates, transforming into a divine black dragon. The divine black dragon and the divine flaming dragon collided against each other in midair, and in that instant, a white-robed youth walked out from the castle gates. The white-robed youth was surrounded with a teeming mass of Immortal swords, each one possessing an unearthly amount of power. They spread out in every direction, as though escorting their emperor forward. The white-robed youth raised his head, looking upwards. He saw the distant silver-armored youth in the distant skies. The silver-armored youth lowered his head, looking at the white-robed youth. Their gazes met in midair, colliding as though they had mass to them. “Nearly two hundred Immortal swords? And all of them seem to be top-grade Immortal-ranked!” “A bow? Can it be that he, too, is a master archer?” Each had their own thoughts. Rumble… The terrifying arrow and the light of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] collided head-on. The entire world seemed to go dark for a moment. And then…with a rumbling sound, rippling shockwaves spread out in every direction, with the ripples containing hints of sharp light. When the ripples struck some of the nearby black-robed figures, they were instantly turned into dust. “Block!” “Block it!” More than ten Loose Immortals perished before the rest of the black-robed figures were able to escape from that ripple. “Fiendserfs, all of you, step back,” the silver-armored youth barked coldly. In a fight on this level…these black-robed Loose Immortals would be nothing more than cannon fodder. “Yes.” Instantly, all of the black-robed figures hurriedly fled. They normally liked to flaunt their power, and they could kill Wanxiang Adepts and Primal Adepts as easily as killing chickens, but upon encountering this terrifying figure…it was their turn to become the chickens. “Fleeing? I have not permitted it!” The distant white-robed Ning let out an angry roar. Instantly, a hundred of the top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords around him shot out in every direction, striking towards the fleeing black-robed Loose Immortals. Ning had sworn long ago…that he wouldn’t spare a single one of these figures who had harmed his junior apprentice-brother! “You are courting death!” The silver-armored youth was enraged. He waved his hand, and instantly a black cloud that covered the skies appeared, spreaing in every direction. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The black cloud was filled with a resilient power that covered the entire region below. The hundred topgrade Immortal-ranked flying swords were unable to penetrate the black cloud, but…Ji Ning’s attack was simply too fast. Prior to the black cloud appearing, he had killed more than twenty of the black-robed Loose Immortals. The silver-armored youth’s face grew even grimmer. “Break.” Ning took back his Immortal swords, then began to condense a streak of sword-light generated from the second stage of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]. This blindingly bright sword-light transformed into a divine black dragon which ripped apart the black clouds, soaring forward with arrogant abandon. “Hmph.” The silver-armored youth waved his hand, summoning the black cloud back. He glanced downwards, seeing that the black-robed figures had already fled by now. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! One bronze-armored Fiendguard after another began to arrive, coming to gather in the air behind the bronze-armored youth. “Fiendguards, join into formation and launch a combined attack!” The silver-armored youth pointed downwards, then shouted, “You are not to attack separately.” “Yes.” Instantly, the Fiendguards began to organize into squads of nine, joining into formations that transformed into Godbeasts that were three hundred meters long. This type of Godbeast appeared to be a tiger, but had even sharper claws and even longer fangs, while its fur was shaggier. Their eyes were filled a cold azure light. “A Bi’an Godbeast tiger?” Ning was startled. “Last time, I encountered Bloodcloud Hall’s Ba-Serpent Formation; I didn’t expect to encounter a Bi’an Formation this time. This organization really is quite formidable.” 1 Countless ages ago, the Ancestor Dragon was born from the primordial chaos. It was the most ancient of divine dragons, the first to be born from the chaos. It was even older than the Torch-Dragon! As the first dragon, it became known as the Ancestor Dragon. The Ancestor Dragon had nine sons. 2 Every single one of the Nine Sons of the Dragon possessed tremendous power…and the Bi’an Tiger was one of them. “Kill!” “Kill him!” The three Bi’an Godbeast tigers charged downwards from midair. Ning raised his head, staring up at those three Bi’an Godbeasts. He suddenly sensed the castle behind him beginning to shake. Turning his head, he glanced backwards, only to see another Bi’an Godbeast charging from him from the castle gates as well. There had also been some bronze-armored Fiendguards within the castle. Because Ning had attacked so unexpectedly, they hadn’t had the chance to join together into a formation yet. “This white-robed man’s Immortal swords are quite formidable; he should be a powerful Sword Immortal who is a Ki Refiner. Although Ki Refining Sword Immortals are formidable…they hate close combat. If we attack en masse, and if one of our claws land on him…he’s dead.” “Kill him. Otherwise, both the general and us shall be doomed.” They all harbored murderous thoughts in their mind. None of them wanted to let Ning leave alive. This was because the fact that the Eastwoods mountain range was being used to manufacture golems was a matter of the utmost secrecy. Once this location was exposed…the Grand Xia Dynasty would probably begin a frantic investigation. Now that they had a specific target, they’d probably be able to uncover even more gathering spots. It must be understood…that up till now, not a single one of the gathering points had been exposed yet! Although the Grand Xia Dynasty had discovered that a few places were rather ‘strange’, they weren’t sure what the places were doing, and so the Dynasty hadn’t made any rash decisions yet. The Eastwoods mountain range gathering point was damnably unlucky. After all…the only person in the entire world of the Grand Xia who trained in the Seventy-Two Transformations was Ji Ning. Only he had the ability to stealthily infiltrate this place! Anyone else would have been completely unable to enter the area and discover the secrets within. “We can’t let him escape!” The silver-armored youth’s eyes flashed with cold light as he stared down from the skies towards Ning. “If he flees, we’ll be in big trouble. The Master will definitely blame me for this!” …… The four Bi’an Godbeast tigers all possessed auras of tremendous power and majesty. Every single one of them was comparable to the Ba-Serpent of Bloodcloud Hall which had attempted to assassinate Ji Ning…but this Ji Ning was no longer the Ji Ning of the past. After reaching the sixteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], his power had skyrocketed once more. “F*ck off.” 2616 An enormous palm, also three hundred meters long, swatted down towards one of the Bi’an Tigers. The Bi’an Godbeast howled and swept out with its sharp paws, making full use of its extremely long and knifesharp claws. BANG!!! The giant palm, covered with golden light, completely knocked this Bi’an Godbeast flying. The other three Bi’an Tigers attacked wildly en masse, but Ning began to brandish his other palm as well. As he did so, this palm also instantly increased to a size of three hundred meters, and it too swatted a Bi’an Godbeast away. “Three Heads, Six Arms.” Ning transformed into his three-headed, six-armed form. Now, six utterly enormous palms were slapping and swatting in every direction. His palm-strikes all possessed the power of a Pure Yang treasure; they were far superior to Immortal swords. In addition, using Immortal swords required the use of elemental ki, whereas his [Starseizing Hand]-enhanced hands had been transformed into magic treasures long ago; just like the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], his palms didn’t need to use any divine power at all. However, actively using the [Starseizing Hand] to unleash tremendous strength did require the use of divine power. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Six giant palms, each flashing with a sharp golden light, struck out like a series of sharp swords, either chopping or thrusting or swatting. The four Bi’an Godbeast tigers had intended on launching a group assault, but they were instead knocked flying backwards, one after the other. “General!” “General, this man is a fiendgod! And his divine body is extremely powerful; his body seems to be as unbreakable as a vajra. He’s actually able to block our attacks just using his hands.” The bronze-armored Fiendguards all sent hurried mental messages to the silver-armored youth. The silver-armored youth, upon seeing this happen from his position in midair, had an unsightly look on his face. “I didn’t expect that his close combat abilities would be even more formidable than his swordformation abilities.” In truth, if Ning had to use Immortal swords, his close combat abilities truly would be a bit weaker…but by relying on the power of his palms, he was actually slightly more powerful than the second stage of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]. “Ahahah! ‘General’…do you wish to keep fighting? You aren’t able to do anything to me, while I can leave whenever I want.” Ning’s laughter rang out from below. “Halt!” The silver-armored youth barked. Instantly, all four of the Bi’an Godbeast tigers hurriedly retreated, coming to hover in the air to each side of the silver-armored youth. They stared at the distant, white-robed Ning. All of them were rather shocked…the thirty-six of them, all Fiendguards, were actually unable to do anything to this person, even when fighting together. No wonder he had been able to so effortlessly slaughter them in the castle earlier. “Given your power, you should’ve been able to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to leave long ago, when you were still inside the castle,” the silver-armored man said coldly. “But you didn’t. This was for the sake of Mu Northson, right?” Ning was startled. He had used the Seventy-Two Transformations to completely change his aura; why was it that this general immediately mentioned Mu Northson? “Ji Ning.” The silver-armored youth looked downwards. He said coldly, “Did you think I wouldn’t be able to guess that it was you? In the entire world of the Grand Xia, the only ability that could allow someone to so stealthily infiltrate this castle is probably you, after using your Seventy-Two Transformations. When I also noticed that the only grandmaster within the castle who vanished was Mu Northson…the only person I could think of who would come to save him would be you, Ji Ning.” “Previously, I wasn’t completely certain that you trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], but now…I am.” The silver-armored man let out a cold laugh. The white-robed youth below let out a loud laugh as well. His body flickered, then transformed into that of the fur-clad Ji Ning. “Correct. It is indeed me. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that I trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] for too much longer…after all, last time, I ended up trapped in your Eastwoods mountain range for quite some time. I didn’t expect you to be able to guess it right away this time,” Ning said. “I know that this Fiendgod Golem of yours is quite important. I can give it back to you, but you have to release my junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson, and give him back his freedom.” “I trust that reobtaining a golem like this, comparable to a top-grade Pure Yang treasure, in exchange for just giving me my junior apprentice-brother is actually quite a decent bargain,” Ning said. “A decent bargain? No. This is nothing more than a half-finished golem; it’s not even finished. It isn’t actually worth that much,” the silver-armored youth said. “Perhaps not to outsiders, but to you, it is extremely valuable. You can work on it and complete it.” Ning raised his head to stare at the silver-armored youth. “I have only one request. Give my junior apprenticebrother his freedom back.” “Hahahaha…freedom?!” The silver-armored youth was so enraged, he began to laugh. “If I give Mu Northson his freedom, who will give me my freedom?” Ning was startled. Who would give him his freedom? “You’ve discovered this forbidden region, which means its secret has been revealed. If I don’t kill you…how can I escape punishment?” A savage look was on the silver-armored man’s face. “Both you and your junior apprentice-brother can die.” Ning instantly understood. Given that the mysterious power divided up its forces into ‘Fiendslaves’, ‘Fiendserfs’, ‘Fiendguards’, and ‘Fiendlords’, they undoubtedly held their Fiendlords to very high standards. Ning had barged into this location…once he exposed its secrets, the mysterious power would be put on a very bad position. “Wait a moment,” Ning said hurriedly. “I’m willing to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that I will not reveal what is happening here within the Eastwoods mountain range to anyone, and I will also return your Fiendgod Golem to you. You, in exchange, will release my junior apprentice-brother.” “Even if you swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, I will still be punished. Thus…only if you die will I be safe.” The silver-armored youth let out a lowl growl. “Do you think that just because you’ve trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] that I am unable to do anything to you? Hmph. Hmph! Many Celestial Immortals have perished before me, much less you, a mere Void-level.” As his words came out, an azure serpent that was more than ten kilometers long suddenly appeared in midair. This azure serpent was extremely slender, and it came coiling towards Ning. “A rope?” Ning was startled. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] divine ability feared restrictive magic treasures the most. For example, if he ended up being bound by this rope, there would be no way he could use any Dao-seals or enter his Immortal estate. That would be very bad indeed. Thus…he absolutely could not let himself be bound. “All I’m asking is that you let my junior apprentice-brother go free.” Immortal swords clustered around Ning as a sharp golden sword-light began to form in front of him. “Only if I kill you will I be able to live comfortably,” the silver-armored youth bellowed back. The golden sword-light collided against the enormous azure serpent in midair. The power of that rope, in the shape of the azure serpent, was truly tremendous. A single collision with it was enough to completely blast apart the divine black dragon which Ning’s golden sword-light had transformed into. “If you don’t agree…then I’ll beat you until you do!” Ning had grown angry now as well. A black-robed Ning suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to him. The two Ji Nings stood there, shoulder to shoulder. A total of 324 top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures appeared in midair. His true body and his Primaltwin each controlled 162 of these Immortal swords! It must be understood that the memories and 2619 minds of the two bodies were completely linked and synced, and both of them trained in the [Darknorth Sutra] as Ki Refiners…and in fact, both were ate the late Void level! The power of the [Darknorth Sutra] filled every single one of the top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. Although his true body and his Primaltwin controlled the swords separately, it was as though a single person was controlling them! And thus, a total of more than three hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords were able to completely join together in formation! Ruuuuuuumble… A golden Immortal sword, carrying a terrifying aura of majesty, manifested before Ning’s true body and Primaltwin. [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] – Stage Four! This was Ning’s true maximum combat power as a Ki Refiner! Power that was even greater than his true body’s close combat abilities! The fur-clad Ning and the black-robed Ning simultaneously let out an enraged roar. “KILL!!!!” 1. Note; back in that was not a Godbeast; it was called an ‘An Beast’, whereas this one is called a ‘Bi’an Godbeast’.. This is based on real Chinese mythology, the ‘nine sons of the dragon’ – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_sons_of_the_dragon. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Many combination-formations, such as the Ba-Serpent Formation or the Bi’an Formation, relied on different people occupying different parts of the formation. Upon coming together, their strength would increase explosively! What Ji Ning was currently using with his Primaltwin was something similar, something which mimicked a combination-formation. Although this wasn’t intentional, it was even more meticulate and intricate than many true combination-formations. “ROAAAAR!” The golden Immortal sword before them transformed into an incomparably massive divine black dragon that was coiled. The divine black dragon let out a draconic roar, and the sound of this roar completely shook the world around them. This was a majesty that came from more than three hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, after their power had been merged together through the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]! This power was so great, it eclipsed that of most divine abilities that Fiendgod Body Refiners trained in! “What?!” The silver-armored youth’s face changed slightly as he stared down from midair. “Block!” “Hissssss…” The azure serpent-formed rope in midair let out a hissing sound. The enormous azure serpent slithered forth, moving to collide head on against the divine black dragon. The divine dragon soared into the skies! The azure serpent came slithering forth! BOOM! The world itself shook tremendously…and then a blast of wild power exploded out in an omnidirectional ripple. When it struck the bodies of those four Bi’an Godbeasts, a series of crackling sounds could be heard…but of course, they were able to withstand this level of energy. As for those weaker black-robed Loose Immortals, they had fled far away long ago. The gorge around them, however, was in for some pain. It rumbled as the ground began to crack apart, and many nearby boulders were transformed into dust. The cliffs on each side of the gorge began to break apart on a large scale. Faced with that blast of wild power, the surface of the castle began to flicker with a dark light. It managed to withstand the collisive force. “Not good.” The silver-armored man’s face changed dramatically; the azure serpent in the air had been completely destroyed, transforming back into its original form of a rope. The divine black dragon, however, was still filled with enormous power. It continued to roar with abandon, wanting to continue to strike against the azure serpent. “This Ji Ning is actually so powerful! He’s not even a Celestial Immortal yet, but the power of his Immortal swords is already so great.” “You want to capture me? General, you aren’t strong enough yet!” The fur-clad Ning and the black-robed Ning both let out furious roars. ROAAAAR! The divine black dragon in the skies let out a draconic roar as well, then continued its upwards charge. “I don’t believe it. Don’t believe it! I have to capture him.” The silver-armored youth gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to fail; he wasn’t willing to accept the repercussions of failure. His hands joined together to form a seal as he shouted loudly, “ASURA!” A powerful Immortal power rapidly began to summon the majestic power of the Heavens and the Earth, forming a tall, skinny, hideous, and completely black warrior. This hideous warrior hefted a double-edged blade with three tips and pointed it straight towards Ning, letting out a bellow: “Little thief, die!” And then, the hideous warrior charged straight forward. “CELESTIAL GUARDIAN DRAGON!” The silver-armored youth’s hand-seals changed once again. Yet another creature appeared in midair, a coiling divine dragon which was golden in color. The divine golden dragon let out a draconic roar of its own, then charged downwards as well. “BIND!” The enormous rope in midair once more transformed into that queer azure serpent. This time, the azure serpent’s tail had a snakehead at the end; it now had a head on each end, and it howled through the air as it charged towards Ning. Controlling two secret arts and this magic treasure was actually extremely tiring for this silver-armored general as well. …… “Break. Break. Break!” The fur-clad Ning and the black-robed Ning simultaneously controlled the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], using the more than three hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked magic swords to once more generate that incomparably sharp golden flying sword. The golden flying sword 2622 howled through the air, transforming into that divine black dragon. Now, there were two of the divine black dragons in the air. Simultaneously maintaining two of the fourth-stage [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] sword-lights was a tremendous burden on Ning as well. “Bind him. I have to bind him.” A look of savagery was on the face of the silver-armored youth. “I was only able to escape after enduring for countless years. I don’t want to be punished again. Absolutely not!” From high up in the skies, the hideous Asura warrior, the Celestial Guardian Dragon, and the two-headed azure serpent launched simultaneous attacks downwards. Two divine black dragons flew upwards, greeting the attacks. BOOM BOOM BOOM!!! A series of explosions could be heard from within the skies, and the surrounding area was filled with clashing blasts and ripples of power. “Hahaha…General, this bit of ability isn’t enough,” Ning laughed loudly. The fourth-stage [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] sword-light, in the shape of the two divine dragons, was actually able to blast apart the Asura warrior and the Celestial Guardian Dragon before vanishing. “Suppression!” The silver-armored youth suddenly waved his hand, and one giant seal after another began to appear in the skies. A total of seven grand seals appeared, each glowing with blurry light. The grand seals were covered with some characters, and they hovered there in the skies like giant mountains. Light flowed from one seal to another, merging them into a single whole. “Crush him!” The silver-armored youth pointed furiously towards Ning. The seven grand seals descended in awe-inspiring fashion en masse, rapidly joining together as they descended. They actually transformed into a true, enormous mountain as they smashed towards Ning. “Break!” Ning pointed upwards as well. The sword-light of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], in the form of two divine black dragons, soared straight into the heavens like fish that were swimming against the flow. Boom… The enormous mountain came crashing down. Both of the divine black dragons were actually blasted apart, causing Ning’s pupils to contract. He immediately executed his divine ability, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed giant that was three hundred meters tall. Ning simultaneously struck out with six mighty palms from his true body, slapping them against the descending mountain. Rumble… The world itself seemed to shake. Ning’s true body was actually pushed all the way into the ground, which completely caved in and shattered in every direction. Ning’s true body was pressed chest-deep into the ground, but with a flicker he once more re-emerged. “Hahaha, General, what a fine ability!” Ning laughed as he looked at the silver-armored youth. The silver-armored youth had a gloomy look on his face. “Damn. Damn!” The silver-armored youth’s heart was filled with resentment. He now knew exactly how strong Ning was. He had to admit, this foe’s sword-formation was incredibly powerful, but in terms of raw strength…Ji Ning was definitely far inferior to him. He was a supreme figure even amongst Celestial Immortals, after all! But this wasn’t a competition to see who was better; it was a fight where he had to capture his foe using his rope! If they were simply competing to see who was better, he could wantonly use his seven low-grade Pure Yang treasures, those seven mighty seals, to unleash his most powerful attacks. But what he was trying to do was to trap his foe; thus, he had to divert some of his attention to controlling his rope, and also use quite a great deal of his energy to strengthen the rope. It was no easy feat to capture or trap a Fiendgod who trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Since he had to split his attention up between his rope and the seals, he was naturally unable to use the seals to the full extent of their power. “You win!” The silver-armored youth gave Ning a dark look. “I can neither kill you nor capture you.” He was clearly significantly stronger than Ji Ning…but he was simply unable to capture him! This was what made the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] so formidable. There had to be an utterly enormous difference in power, allowing him to first break apart Ning’s defense before capturing him. Clearly, the difference in power between the general and Ning, while significant, wasn’t ridiculously huge. The entire gorge had been transformed into rubble. In the air above the rubble, the only figures that could be seen were the silver-armored general, a group of bronze-armored Fiendguards, as well as Ji Ning and Mu Northson. The silver-armored general had finally bowed his head. He was unable to kill Ji Ning, and would be unable to avoid punishment. All he could do now was try his best to lessen the amount of damage caused and lower the amount of punishment he would receive. “Good.” Ning smiled and nodded. “That’s wise.” 2624 The nearby Northson immediately had a look of relief appear within his eyes. Right then and there, Ji Ning, Mu Northson, and the silver-armored general all swore oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. Ning’s promise…was that if Mu Northson was given freedom, he absolutely would not reveal the secret of the castle to others. Northson swore the same, that he absolutely wouldn’t reveal this secret to anyone else. The silver-armored general naturally gave Northson his freedom back after this. “General, please open your formation and let us leave.” Ning stood there in midair, Northson by his side with a relieved look on his face. He seemed to have suddenly become filled with vitality, as well as hope for the future. “Not so fast.” The silver-armored general let out a sigh. “Before you leave, I will tell you a bit of bad news.” Ning and Northson’s faces instantly changed. Bad news? “This was a disastrous defeat for me.” The silver-armored general sighed. “The forbidden region was under very tight guard, and even the formations experts which I captured were all forced to swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens not to flee. If they do…they die. Thus, I never thought that someone would be able to sneak in…I suppose I’m just damned unlucky to encounter someone who trains in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” “Enough with the crap. What do you want to say?” Ning barked with a frown. After the silver-armored general let out another series of sighs, he looked towards Ning and Northson, then said with a cold laugh, “The person in charge of matters within the castle, Qu Huan, is already dead. If my guess is correct…this Mu Northson has already taken his loved one’s soul back.” Northson barked, “So what if I did?” “Have you heard of soultamer jade?” The silver-armored general chortled as he spoke. He felt delighted in being able to irritate these two figures. “Soultamer jade?” Northson and Ning’s faces instantly changed. Ning had learned about quite a few bits of common knowledge regarding the Three Realms while at Mount Innerheart; naturally, he knew of soultamer jade. As for Northson, given he had analyzed the Dao of Constructs quite extensively, he naturally had heard of soultamer jade, one of the legendary materials for the Dao of Constructs. Soultamer jade: Once a soul was placed into the soultamer jade, it would become one with the jade. There would be no chance of escape! However, the soul would be nourished by the soultamer jade; so long as it didn’t suffer any attacks and wasn’t destroyed, the soul inside could live forever. Generally speaking, golem experts would place soultamer jade into their golems, allowing the soul within the soultamer jade to control the golem, making it sentient. “Can it be that you can’t tell?” The silver-armored general smiled. “That crystalline globe used to store her soul is soultamer jade!” “What?!” Northson was shocked and angry. “It’s finished.” Ning looked towards his nearby junior apprentice-brother; now that Yu Xia’s soul had been placed within that soultamer jade globe, she would never be able to emerge from within it. She would forever have to live within that tiny little space. This was actually quite a painful thing…and she would have forever lost her chance to be reincarnated. “But perhaps this is a good thing,” Ning mused. There were two sides to every coin. Yu Xia’s soul had been merged into the soultamer jade, and she would never be able to leave or be reborn; this was indeed quite a painful thing. And yet…this meant that she would still be able to accompany Northson. “Mu Northson,” the distant silver-armored general said with a cold laugh, “Your loved one’s soul shall accompany you for eternity. You are quite blessed. But…don’t forget that she’ll be forever trapped within that tiny space. How agonizing must that be? This sort of agony will accompany her for countless ages, until the day comes that she is attacked and her ‘body’ is destroyed. In that moment…her soul shall shatter.” Northson gritted his teeth. “Little Xia…” He felt guilt. Seeing this, Ning couldn’t help but secretly sigh to himself. The distant silver-armored general, however, just laughed loudly. “See how nice I am? I even told you this bit of information. Alright…you can scram now.” “Let’s go.” Ning gave the distant silver-armored general a cold glare, then took Northson into his mobile Immortal estate. He then flew into the skies, the formations not blocking him at all. Ning quickly flew away, then once more used a spatial teleportation technique. He disappeared. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The silver-armored youth raised his head, staring at the sky. It was dusk. He let out a sigh. “My happy days are coming to an end.” “General.” The bronze-armored Fiendguards all nervously stared at the silver-armored youth. After sighing, the silver-armored youth turned and quickly moved through the many layers of restrictive formations around the forbidden region. Outside were gathered many of the black-robed figures, as well as the members of the Eastwoods Sect. The enormous disturbance and the spatial teleportations had attracted attention from many outsiders. “General.” The Eastwoods sect leader hurriedly went forward to greet him. “What has happened? Is there anything you need our Eastwoods Sect to do?” “What happened?” The silver-armored general murmured these words, then waved his hand. Instantly, the illusion of an enormous mountain appeared out of nowhere. It smashed straight down on the body of the Eastwoods sect leader. Boom! The Eastwoods sect leader was completely smashed into pulp, then the remnants were transformed into dust that flew away. The surrounding Loose Immortals, Earth Immortals, Primal Daoists, Wanxiang Adepts, and other disciples of the Eastwoods Sect were all in disbelief. Some of them, however, revealed looks of joy. “It’s good that he died.” The Eastwoods sect leader had been a classic case of a spineless figure who had quickly capitulated. This caused some of the disciples who had been unhappy with the current state of affairs to feel disdain for him. The silver-armored general instructed calmly, “All disciples of the Eastwoods Sect, hear me: If you are willing to be loyal to me and serve me, if you are willing to become slaves under my command…go down on your knees immediately.” His voice was actually quite soft…but it echoed within the minds of each member of the Eastwoods Sect. Everyone in the sect, whether roaming around, patrolling the mountain, training, or resting in seclusion…was completely stunned. “You have to a count of ten to decide,” the silver-armored general said calmly. “Willing! I’m willing!” Instantly, some disciples capitulated and knelt down. However, quite a few disciples revealed looks of disbelief. Loyalty? Submission? This was simple. But willingly become slaves? This was too ridiculous. They were Immortal cultivators, and many of them had felt unhappy for quite some time now. At first, the silver-armored general had been fairly amiable towards them, but now he actually spoke of them being his slaves? Slaves…that meant giving their lives to him and completely obeying his orders. “Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven…” The silver-armored general counted slowly. “Six. Five!” After counting to five, he suddenly stopped counting. The silver-armored general let out a laugh. With a single step, he moved to stand high up in the air. The world itself began to shudder, and one massive mountain after another began to lift up and hover in the air. This was the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron which he had previously used against Ji Ning. “The Eastwoods Sect has more than thirty-nine thousand disciples.” The silver-armored general’s voice reverberated in the air. “More than twenty thousand have knelt, including twenty-one Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals and three hundred and one Primal Daoists. These three hundred and twenty-two are permitted to remain alive…the rest shall all perish!” His voice reverberated throughout the entire Eastwoods mountain range. And then…flames began to erupt throughout the area, moving to fill every single part of the Eastwoods mountain range. “General, you haven’t finished counting to ten yet!” “General!” The hesitating Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, upon seeing this, instantly began to call out frantically. Some of the Primal Daoists, Earth Immortals, and Loose Immortals actually fell to their knees right away. “Too late,” the silver-armored general laughed. Streaks of flame were filling the entire region. Those hidden away in secret rooms, those roving the mountains, those fleeing…all of them were turned to ash as soon as they were touched by the flames! The Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens was very dangerous for Celestial Immortals; how could these ordinary disciples of the Eastwoods Sect possibly withstand it? “No! I submitted! I SUBMITTED! General, I’m willing to be your slave!” A youth cried out miserably, right before he was burnt to ash by the flames. “A puny Zifu Disciple…just what am I supposed to do with you?” The silver-armored general sneered. Despair filled every part of the Eastwoods mountain range. The only ones to survive were the Primal Daoists and Void-level Immortals who had knelt by the count of five. The others disciples…perished to the man. Some of them chose to self-detonate, but their souls were still trapped by the grand formation protecting the Eastwoods Mountain range. Their souls were annihilated; none were spared at all. Moments later…things turned completely silent. “Come in.” The silver-armored general waved his hand, and an enormous sack suddenly appeared. The mouth of the sack opened, instantly drawing in the Primal Daoists, Loose Immortals, and Earth Immortals below him. He made one more trip to the forbidden region, collecting all of the grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs, the castle, and the other things within. “Time to go.” The silver-armored general led his bronze-armored Fiendguards to the entrance to that black, fog-shrouded cave…then stepped straight into it. Moments later…the cave entrance itself disappeared. The entire Eastwoods mountain range had become completely silent. All living creatures, including the animals that had lived here, had been completely wiped out. Even all the formations present, such as the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron, had been broken. The Eastwoods Sect…starting from today, it truly no longer existed! …… This was an extremely large world. The commandery city in the center of this world was an incomparably massive fortress. The fortress was so large that even Celestial Immortals would be unable to see it in its entirety. “We’re back. We’ve finally returned to the Fifth World.” A black foggy cave entrance appeared in the skies, and the silver-armored youth and his bronze-armored Fiendguards appeared from within it. Rumble…an invisible surge of power swept across this squad. “General.” The bronze-armored Fiendguards looked towards the silver-armored youth. “Go to the headquarters and await further orders,” the silver-armored general said with a sigh. “This time, I shall most probably be sent into exile…and you’ll probably have to suffer with me.” “It’s not your fault, General. If we have to blame someone, we have to blame that Ji Ning.” “Right. That Ji Ning actually knew the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. You can’t be blamed at all, General!” The crowd of bronze-armored Fiendguards hurriedly said. The silver-armored general chuckled. “Alright. I need to go see the Cavemaster. Go ahead and wait for me in the headquarters.” “Yes,” the bronze-armored Fiendguards said. The silver-armored youth transformed into a streak of light, soaring down from the skies and into that castle below. A corridor automatically opened, granting him entrance. As for the bronze-armored Fiendguards, they all had to land and walk in through the gates to the city. The general was a Celestial Immortal, after all; his status was much higher than theirs. …… Within a massive palace. A man dressed in fiery red robes was seated up high on a royal throne, staring downwards. His terrifying aura was absolutely no weaker than that of the Grand Xia Emperor’s. The silver-armored youth moved into the palace, then respectfully bowed from the waist. “Greetings, Cavemaster.” “Buchasi.” The fire-robed man glanced downwards, then frowned slightly. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Flamedoor Commandery of the world of the Grand Xia? Your assignment is to watch over the construction of the constructs there; you can’t let anything go wrong. Why have you left the world of the Grand Xia and returned here without being summoned?” “Your subordinate’s base in the Eastwoods mountain range of Flamedoor Commandery was infiltrated…” The silver-armored youth honestly told the complete story of what had happened, because he knew exactly how powerful this organization was. Even if he didn’t tell the truth, within a single day, the organization would learn of everything which had happened in the Eastwoods mountain range.” “The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]? Ji Ning?” The fire-robed man frowned. The silver-armored youth was so nervous, sweat emerged from his forehead. “You truly have disappointed me.” The fire-robed man shook his head and sighed. “Cavemaster, I…I…” the silver-armored youth felt some unwillingness to accept this. He truly could not be held to blame for what had happened; any base would have found it difficult to deal with the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” “Successes are to be rewarded. Mistakes are to be punished,” the Cavemaster said coldly. “Buchasi, because of you, our invasion of the world of the Grand Xia will become even more difficult. I punish you thusly…take your subordinates and go to the Mount Stele major world. Establish a new base there and continue to manufacture constructs. In addition, within a hundred years, you must slay five Celestial Immortals.” The silver-armored youth’s heart shook. The Mount Stele major world? That world was completely different from the world of the Grand Xia. The Grand Xia world was a unified world, whereas the Mount Stele major world was in a state of tremendous chaos. Thus, battles had swept the world long ago. To go to the world of the Grand Xia was to enjoy life, but to go to the world of Mount Stele was to be forced to prepare for battles at all times…and he also had to kill five Celestial Immortals! No Celestial Immortal was easy to deal with. They had all lived for countless ages, and no one knew exactly what tricks each had up their sleeves. Perhaps one might have an advantage, but then the enemy’s friends or master would suddenly arrive. Thus…killing Celestial Immortals was an extremely dangerous task. Yes, he had killed more than ten Celestial Immortals, but this was a bodycount that had been accumulated over countless ages, and after experiencing countless dangers. He had finally been given a chance to enjoy life after being sent to the world of the Grand Xia to manufacture golems; in that place, he hadn’t had any dangerous assignments at all. And now…the good life had to come to an end. A much harder life was to begin…and he might just die there, within the world of Mount Stele! And this wasn’t as bad as it could have been; if Ji Ning hadn’t needed something for him and had thus sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens not to reveal this secret, his punishment probably would’ve been even heavier! “Yes,” the silver-armored youth said respectfully.. “You head out immediately. Go.” The Cavemaster waved a hand. The silver-armored youth immediately retreated, departing from the palace. The palace became completely quiet. Whoosh. An alluring, white-robed woman suddenly appeared behind the Cavemaster. She was utterly ravishing, and her slender waist could just barely be seen under her semi-translucent white clothes. She laughed softly, “Master, Buchashi is one of your most formidable warriors…and hasn’t that Ji Ning sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens already?” “What do you know?” The Cavemaster said calmly, “Ji Ning has sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens not to reveal the fact that the castle was making constructs, true…but Ji Ning is very close to the Xia Emperor. He can absolutely come up with a way to warn him…and once that happens, our invasion of the world of the Grand Xia shall become even more difficult.” “Why are so you cautious in dealing with this world, a single major world?” The alluring woman mumbled. “The world of the Grand Xia is different from ordinary major worlds,” the Cavemaster said. “The Xia Emperor is of the imperial bloodline of Pangu’s World; how deep a foundation do you think he has? No one knows what someone like him, a descendent of the Primordial Imperial Clan, has up his sleeve. In addition, the Xia Emperor and Daofather Raindragon are extremely good friends. When invading the world of the Grand Xia, we have to beware Daofather Raindragon as well. How can I possibly NOT be cautious?” The alluring woman said with surprise, “Daofather Raindragon? Master, you’ve never spoken of this before.” “There was no need to. You aren’t even a Celestial Immortal,” the Cavemaster said with resignation. “Is the Xia Emperor really such close friends with Daofather Raindragon?” The alluring woman was truly curious about this. “This is a ‘secret’ for you, but all the experts of the Three Realms know about this.” The Cavemaster shook his head. “In fact, the Xia Emperor has done his best to spread the news far and wide. He even made it so that in his major world, ‘Raindragon Mountain’ was even taller than his own ‘Skylight Palace’! Skylight Palace is his imperial palace; it represents himself, the Xia Emperor. For Raindragon Mountain to be slightly taller than it…what did you think it represented? It naturally represented someone even more powerful than him! In the Three Realms, the only person who has a connection to Raindragon Mountain is Daofather Raindragon!” The alluring woman now understood. “I’ve always wondered about that! Master, all of you are True Immortals or Empyrean Gods, but none of you have ever fought each other.” “Don’t underestimate the Xia Emperor. Even if Daofather Raindragon doesn’t intervene, invading the world of the Grand Xia will be no easy task. The Primordial Imperial Clan? Hmph…that’s not just a meaningless phrase. Even though he’s merely of one of the side branches of that lineage, he won’t be easy to deal with,” the Cavemaster said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The alluring woman nodded. “Understood. I always thought that the world of the Grand Xia wasn’t that powerful. The world of Mount Stele, for example, has three True Immortals or Empyrean Gods.” “The world of the Grand Xia is blessed by tremendous luck; in all of the Three Realms, it ranks at the very top. Given that such a major world has been completely unified…how could it be weaker than the likes of the Mount Stele world?” The Cavemaster shook his head. “You have to understand that in order to unify a major world, the unifier has to have either tremendous personal power or an extremely significant background.” “Oh. Then, Master…that Ji Ning…what should we do to him?” The alluring woman asked. “He trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], which means that his master is one of the most supreme of Daofathers.” The Cavemaster laughed. “However…it doesn’t matter who his master is, because he definitely isn’t on our side. If Ji Ning is allowed to develop within the world of the Grand Xia, he’ll just end up being a source of serious trouble to us. Ideally, we should kill him right away! Even the Daofather behind him would probably have to seriously consider whether or not it is worth it for him to get involved for the sake of a single disciple.” “How should we kill him?” The alluring woman asked. “Our Myriad Demons Cave is responsible for manufacturing golems. Fighting and killing isn’t our field of responsibility. Killing enemies will be rewarded, if we don’t fight, that’s fine as well.” The Cavemaster laughed, “Since even Buchasi was unable to do anything to Ji Ning, he’s definitely going to be a tough nut to crack. Leave it to the Seamless Gate. Disciple, make a trip on my behalf to speak with the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate. Have them kill Ji Ning, this unexpected variable, as soon as possible.” “Yes.” The alluring woman respectfully assented to the order…and then she left the palace. This commandery city was enormous, and it was divided into many regions. The insides of the city were tightly guarded. This alluring woman was a beloved disciple of the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave, and her status was comparable to an ordinary Celestial Immortal’s. Thus, she was able to quickly arrive at the closest local headquarters of the Seamless Gate. The Grand Xia Dynasty had been searching for the headquarters of the Seamless Gate this entire time to no avail. This was because…the Seamless Gate’s headquarters was located within this world, the Fifth World. This Fifth World was so powerful that even Celestial Immortals who dared to barge in would be instantly 2634 slain. If a True Immortal or Empyrean God entered, then immediately moved to flee, they might be able to escape…but if they tried to fight head-on, they would probably perish as well. Figures could often be seen flying about in the air above the commandery city. Anyone who dared fly within a commandery city of the Fifth World had to be at least at the Celestial Immortal level. There were so many Celestial Immortals here that one could usually see at least ten thousand figures flying about in the skies. The total number of Celestial Immortals present was truly astonishing. In truth, the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave and the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate were all just a very small part of the full power of the Fifth World. …… “Silkworm greets you, Gatemaster,” the alluring woman said respectfully. “What is it?” An azure-robed woman with long, unbound hair was seated in the lotus position, her eyes shut. She was the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate. By her side were two standing maidservants. The alluring woman said respectfully, “This matter involves someone named Ji Ning…” She told the entire tale from start to finish with great detail. “Your master’s assignment is the same as mine; we have been assigned the worlds of the Grand Xia, Mount Stele, and Dreamsong.” The azure-robed woman opened her eyes, then said calmly, “The toughest world to invade is the world of the Grand Xia…but your Myriad Demons Cave has actually made committed an error like this, making this assignment even harder to complete. And now, you want my Seamless Gate to wipe your ass for you and clean this up? Still…since your master has made the request, I’ll accept. Go back and say this…say…‘Old crow, if you can’t even accomplish a task like forging golems, I think you should let someone else take over your job.’” The alluring woman’s face changed, but she didn’t dare argue back. She said respectfully, “Yes.” “Go,” the azure-robed woman said calmly. The alluring woman immediately departed. The azure-robed woman called out, “Violetgrass.” “Gatemaster.” One of the two nearby maidens, the one whose face was covered with a violet flowery tattoo, hurriedly called out with respect. “You heard it all. I’m leaving this matter regarding Ji Ning for you to handle. How to deal with him, what arrangements to make; it is all completely up to you. You’ve followed me for many years, and you are quite familiar with our affairs in the Grand Xia. Although this is a somewhat troublesome assignment, I 2635 trust that you will be able to complete it well.” The azure-robed woman’s voice and tone was much kinder than before; clearly, she doted on this servant of hers very much. “Don’t worry, Master. I know Ji Ning quite well; I have plenty of ways to deal with him,” Violetgrass said respectfully. “Good. Go make your preparations, then head to the major world of the Grand Xia,” the violet-robed woman instructed. That very day. The maiden, dressed in a golden robe that was embroidered with images of violet grass and flowers, led nine Celestial Immortals to quietly depart from the Fifth World and go to the world of the Grand Xia. …… Stillwater Commandery. A desolate area that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Stillwater City. There was a beautiful lake here, with a wooden house next to it. It was already dusk. Two figures appeared in the air here, then landed on the ground. “Little Xia…we’re back.” Mu Northson cupped that soultamer jade globe in his hands as he spoke out softly. “The grass here had been completely destroyed, but it’s all grown back now.” A woman’s voice came out from the jade globe; she was very happy right now. “Fortunately, that battle didn’t end up damaging our house.” Northson looked towards the wooden house as well. He had personally chopped the wood and built that house, using some of his skill in the Dao of Constructs as he did so. Thus, despite the passage of twenty years, the wooden house remained in perfect condition. In fact, weaker individuals wouldn’t even be able to go inside it. “It wasn’t damaged, but that was because we were too weak back them. Thus, we were captured effortlessly by those black-robed figures,” Northson laughed. “We’re finally free. We’ve finally escaped. Northson, we won’t have to be so unhappy in the future,” the woman in the jade globe said, her voice filled with joy. Ning just watched quietly from the side. In his heart, he sighed to himself. His original plan was to allow the soul of Yu Xia to go and be reborn into his Ji clan. He would help Northson take care of the reincarnated Yu Xia and come up with a way for her to recover her memories! This was something which he was capable of doing; after all, after the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed, all the major powers had begun to set up new paths of reincarnation for their territories. Every single one of them was like a miniature cycle of reincarnation. The Crescent world, for example, had a miniature cycle of reincarnation within it as well. “Alas…” Ning mused to himself, “There’s no way to change things now. She’ll forever be trapped within that soultamer jade sphere. Most likely, the only thing sustaining her right now is the love between her and Northson, as well as some things that she still cares for in the mortal world.” “Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson came walking over. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Ning looked at Northson. He could sense that although his junior apprenticebrother felt some regret and pain in his heart, he was clearly once more filled with vigor and energy. He didn’t look as tired and dispirited as he had in the past. “If it wasn’t for you, I probably would’ve died in that place,” Northson said. “Senior apprentice-brother, no need to worry about me; you can go back now. In the future, if there’s anything you need, you can find me here.” “The current world of the Grand Xia is filled with dangerous undercurrents, while you are a grandmaster of the Dao of Constructs. How am I suppose to rest my mind, knowing you are here?” Ning said hurriedly. “There really is no need for you to stay. I’m a Void-level Earth Immortal now, after all; if I’m careful, I’ll be fine,” Northson said. Ning frowned. Then, with a wave of his hand, he produced a storage magic treasure. One enormous construct after another instantly appeared next to them, such as a Turtle-Snake, a winged bird-man, or an eight-clawed serpent. In total, there were six golems. “These are the golems I acquired after I killed the bronze-armored Fiendguard called Qu Huan. They feel fairly powerful to me,” Ning said. “Find one that is suited to you and which will allow you to increase your power the most.” Northson glanced at them, his gaze settling down upon that of the winged golem. He called out in surprise, “A Winged Immortal golem? How can you have one of them? Generally speaking, bronzearmored Fiendguards aren’t qualified to possess golems of the Winged Immortal class.” “Winged Immortal class?” Ning was curious as well. “This is the second-ranked golem within the forbidden region,” Northson said. “Look at its wings; its wings can unleash the ‘Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds’, and its speed is extremely fast as well! Even a mere Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal who is in control of a Winged Immortal golem will instantly have 2637 the combat power of a Celestial Immortal. However, its main purpose is to unleash the ‘Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds’, then immediately flee. In battle, it should be extremely, extremely valuable. Northson knew how to make these things, but he didn’t know exactly how much they were worth. Ning, however, did. Upon hearing his junior apprentice-brother say these things, he could guess that this golem was probably comparable in value to a middle-grade Pure Yang treasure. “The others are a bit weaker; perhaps all five them added together would be comparable to a single Winged Immortal class,” Northson said. Ning thus immediately came to the conclusion that the other four were probably comparable to a lowgrade Pure Yang treasure.” “They really do spare no expense, thanks to their wealth. Every single bronze-armored Fiendguard had at least one such golem…this is probably the same amount of wealth as most Celestial Immortals possess,” Ning mused to himself. But here, Ning was wrong. He valued them as a low-grade Pure Yang treasure, but that was the ‘list price’ here in the Three Realms for someone seeking to purchase them; in truth, to the mysterious power, these items were nothing more than a collection of precious ingredients, and the value of those ingredients was perhaps a tenth of the value of the complete item. For a truly supreme golem…the formation-diagram within it was actually of the greatest value. Without a detailed formation-diagram, no matter how good your ingredients were, you wouldn’t be able to complete the forging. “Junior apprentice-brother, take this Winged Immortal class,” Ning said. Northson was greatly shocked. He hurriedly said, ,”Senior apprentice-brother, this Winged Immortal class will be of great use to you. Ji Ning, you saved my life; I, Mu Northson, already feel tremendous gratitude to you fort his. How can I accept this?” “Haha, junior apprentice-brother, I was able to enter and leave that forbidden region as I pleased; not even that ‘general’ was able to do anything to me. This Winged Immortal golem might be important to others, but it really isn’t that useful for me. All I would do would be to sell it off.” Ning shook his head and laughed; this was nothing more than the truth, after all. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was much better at protecting him than the golem would be. “But…” “If you don’t accept it, how could I rest my mind? Enough, stop wasting words; I’m going to leave now.” Ning waved his arm and collected the other golems, then disappeared without another world. Northson held the soultamer jade in his arms. He murmured softly, “Senior apprentice-brother…” 2638 “Northson, your senior apprentice-brother has helped us so much. Never forget it,” the woman within the jade globe said. “Right.” Northson nodded. …… Ning secretly watched as Northson bound the Winged Immortal golem, then took the jade globe to go and sit down at the entrance to the wooden house, where he simply stared at the lake. Every so often, he would say a few things to the jade globe. This sight caused Ning to feel quite heartsick. After watching a time, he finally, truly left. “It is time to go to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.” “This time, I rescued my junior apprentice-brother, but I offended that mysterious power. I need to acquire Five Elements essence as soon as possible to train my [Starseizing Hand] to the Fourth Cycle.” Ning had a premonition of incoming danger. This sense of danger was compelling him to increase his own power as soon as he could! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. It was late at night. Ji Ning used a void blink to arrive within the centermost city of the entire world of the Grand Xia. Within the Heavenly Treasures Mountain of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Within a residence. Ning was drinking wine by himself, facing the bright moon. “Eh?” Ning’s ears twitched; he glanced sideways. A white-robed, silver-haired man had just come walking in through the door. “Senior Skyfox,” Ning laughed, then rose to his feet. “Since you’ve hurried here so late at night, I’m sure you must have an urgent matter to deal with.” The silver-haired man smiled as he spoke. “Ji Ning, if there’s anything you need, just tell me. His Imperial Majesty has ordered this long ago; I naturally won’t be the slightest bit negligent.” Ning nodded. “I need to buy some precious items.” “Precious? How precious?” The silver-haired man asked. “I need fifteen thousand kilograms of gold-gems from the Heaven Realm, thirty thousand kilograms of azurespirit jade bamboo, forty-five thousand kilograms of arcane elemental Yin-water from the Milky Way, fifteen hundred kilograms of dragonfish spirit-lava, and six hundred kilograms of chaos spiritearth,” Ning said. Hearing this, the face of the silver-haired man changed. “That much?” “At LEAST that much.” Ning nodded. There were other alternatives, of course…but the items which Ning had reported were already the cheapest items with Five Elements essence that could be used to train in the Fourth Cycle of the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer]. If he had the chance, he would naturally be willing to choose the more expensive items; for example, Five Elements peacock plumes from a peacock Godbeast that was at the Empyrean God level would be more than enough; in fact, there would be a great deal left over! However, the lineage of a Godbeast at the Empyrean God level would be incomparably pure. Such an item would be far too precious, more valuable than even an ordinary top-grade Pure Yang treasure! And, more importantly, such things were incredibly rare! Since the founding of the universe by Pangu, the total number of peacock Godbeast that had reached the Empyrean God level and which had access to all five of the Five Elements could be counted on one hand. Only two of them had perished, and the Five Elements peacock plumes they had left behind had long ago been acquired by various major powers in order to 2640 create even more valuable items. How could Ning possibly buy them somewhere? And even if he could find them, how could he afford it?! “Your request is too great. These are all precious items of the Three Realms; they represent the essence of the Five Elements. There are many uses for such items, from forging artifacts to refining pills. I’ll help you ask his Imperial Majesty,” the silver-haired man said. Ning laughed, then nodded. The silver-haired man sat down, then poured himself some wine. He said with a laugh, “Let’s drink some wine first. His Imperial Majesty will give his answer shortly.” “Alright.” Ning knew that this person was the Xia Emperor’s spirit-beast; they could communicate spiritually to each other. “Ji Ning, what do you want these things for? Refining pills? Forging magic treasures? Creating golems?” The silver-haired man asked. “You’ve trained for less than a hundred years. Regardless of what you need it for…the art of refining pills and forging magic treasures is one that takes an enormous amount of time to study. The experts in these fields within the Three Realms are all at elast at the Celestial Immortal level. Because they have limitless lifespans, they can slowly spend their time in analyzing these fields.” Ning laughed as well. Indeed; the spirit of the underwater estate, for example, had used an utterly terrifying amount of time to upgrade the Thousandbull Sword. From a certain perspective, it could be said that the spirit of the underwater estate was actually fairly weak in this field; otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to spend such an enormous amount of time. “I have my uses for it,” Ning said. The [Starseizing Hand] was simply too famous, but no one knew exactly how one trained in it! He didn’t have to worry at all about his [Starseizing Hand] being revealed thanks to him purchasing Five Elements items. “Hahaha…” The silver-haired man laughed, not pursuing this line of questioning. A short while later, his eyes lit up. “Ji Ning, his Imperial Majesty has informed me that he can provide you with enough gold-gems from the Heaven Realm and arcane elemental Yin-water from the Milky Way, but he’s not able to come up with enough of the other three items.” “Then let me change them to some different items.” Ning suggested three different alternatives. …… “Don’t have it.” “Not enough.” 2641 “Ji Ning, these treasures that you are requesting are all Five Elements treasures that are on the same level.” The silver-haired man shook his head. “His Imperial Majesty says that he is not an expert in forging items or refining pills, and so he hasn’t kept a large amount of these items in his stockpile. If you wish, he can go and find some of his friends and trade treasures with them to come up with enough for you.” Ning immediately said with gratitude, “I would be utterly grateful if he did.” “Ji Ning, you should know by now that the more valuable a treasure is, the harder it is to purchase; generally, you have to trade using items of similar value.” The silver-haired man looked towards Ning. “If you want these items, you need to bring out enough treasures to trade for them. Do you have enough?” “What sort of treasures do I need to bring out for them?” Ning asked. “One normal high-grade Pure Yang Treasure is enough,” the silver-haired man said with a laugh. “Twenty of those arrows you brought last time is enough.” Ning sighed in his heart. Five Elements ingredients and treasures were actually this expensive? But there was nothing for it. The [Starseizing Hand] required increasingly extravagant amounts of ingredients for the later stages. Fortunately, all he had to train was his pair of hands. If he had to train his entire body, like with the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], then the price would be even more ridiculous. Right now, he had reached the sixteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]; he could train his [Starseizing Hand] to the Fourth Cycle now, and train all the way to the Sixth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. However, the resources needed for the Art was a thousand times greater than the previous price he had paid…most likely, he would need at least ten top-grade Pure Yang treasures. This caused Ning to feel truly resigned! Top-grade Pure Yang treasures had power comparable to middle-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures. Many Pure Yang True Immortals and Empyrean Gods used treasures on this level; for even one of them to produce ten such items would prove a serious burden. This was why even Ning’s senior apprenticebrother, Empyrean God Silvermoon, had only trained to the Sixth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. “For now, I can forget about training further in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. That’s too distant a goal. First, the [Starseizing Hand].” “Ji Ning, are you able to produce enough treasures?” The silver-haired man looked at Ning, a smile on his face. “Please ask his Imperial Majesty to prepare enough of the Five Elements items,” Ning said. “Once his Imperial Majesty has prepared them, I’ll naturally bring out enough treasures to trade for them.” 2642 “Alright.” The silver-haired man said, “His Imperial Majesty will personally act to gather these treasures for you. Once he has, I’ll immediately notify you.” Ning waved his hand, producing a jade talisman. “This is my message talisman. Once you shatter it, I’ll sense it and will hurry back here to the imperial capital.” It was extremely easy to manufacture jade seals of this nature; Ning had actually prepared a large pile of them, handing them out to the Ji clan, Autumn Leaf, his master Immortal Diancai, and others. “Alright.” The silver-haired man rose to his feet. “Then wait for my news.” “Might I ask how long it will take?” Ning asked. He could subconsciously sense danger coming, forcing him to train in the Fourth Cycle as quickly as he could. Upon succeeding, his hands would become comparable to supreme top-grade Pure Yang treasures, equivalent to middle-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures. They would be even more powerful than ordinary top-grade Pure Yang treasures, allowing his own strength to once more rapidly skyrocket to a new level. In addition, by relying on his [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability, he would have six mighty palms, each of which was comparable to a supreme top-grade Pure Yang treasure. “It won’t take too long; this is just a trade of treasures. A month should suffice.” The silver-haired man intentionally added a bit of extra padding; in truth, just two or three days could be enough, or perhaps ten days at the most.” “Alright.” Ning immediately rose to his feet. …… That very night, Ning went to King Yan’s Estate. He was going to live there temporarily, so that he could spend some time with his cousin. Within an ancient tower. Five figures were seated in the lotus position, each occupying a different part. Patriarch Arcanum opened his eyes, glancing at the area. The furrow in his brows grew deeper. Ever since his plan of asking Bloodcloud Hall to assassinate Ji Ning had failed, the Youngflame clan had grown evermore convinced that Ji Ning was a true danger to them! However…no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find an opportunity to act against him. “If this continues, Ji Ning will continue to grow in strength. Once he explodes forth against us…our Youngflame clan will be in a disastrous situation.” Patriarch Arcanum was beginning to worry. “And according to what our intelligence reports have discovered…Ji Ning is someone who cares deeply about filial piety. There’s no way he’ll forget about the grudge his mother bore for us.” 2643 “In fact, he was even able to endure the fact that we attempted to kill him in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.” “This means he is very capable of suppressing himself and biding his time!” “The reason he has done so is most likely because he feels he is not strong enough yet. Once he feels he is strong enough…our Youngflame clan will probably be in true danger.” Patriarch Arcanum’s heart was filled with worry. Originally, all he wanted to do was give vent to his anger. But now…he was beginning to truly worry for his clan. It must be understood that supreme clans and major powers rarely got into true, life-and-death fights against each other! This was because supreme powers generally had Celestial Immortals protecting them. Celestial Immortals possessed truly infinite lifespans; even if one annihilated the enemy’s clan, if the enemy Celestial Immortal was to survive, then what in a million years or ten million years, the enemy Celestial Immortal was to launch a sudden sneak attack! After the sneak attack, the Celestial Immortal could vanish for a long time…then launch another one. If a Celestial Immortal with an infinite lifespan was to devote that entire life to harm a clan…that would be a truly terrifying thing. Thus… The more powerful an organization, the more rare it was for them to fight head-on against another such organization! Each would generally prefer to find a path to compromise! But once they truly were to fight head-on…then they would use their full power to annihilate the enemy completely, or at least wipe out all of the enemy’s top-tier fighters! To the Youngflame clan, Ji Ning now posed a major threat. He was a monster who even Bloodcloud Hall had failed to assassinate successfully… “Eh?” Suddenly, all five of the Celestial Immortals present opened their eyes. They all pulled out a similar bronze talisman. “It’s the Seamless Gate,” the white-haired, wizened elder said in a low voice. “The Seamless Gate wishes to meet with our Youngflame clan?” The handsome youth frowned. “What are they going to do? When they previously tried to pull us into their orbit, we refused them. We aren’t willing to become enemies with the Seamless Gate, but even less are we willing to betray the Xia Emperor.” “Everyone, I’ll make the trip.” Patriarch Arcanum rose to his feet. “I’m going to go see what this Seamless Gate wants, exactly.” 2644 “Fine.” “We’ll leave it in your hands, Arcanum.” “Just delay for now. The Seamless Gate is very powerful; we aren’t capable of resisting them.” “Right.” Patriarch Arcanum exited from othat ancient tower, traveling alone. …… Late night. A bright moon was hanging in the skies, bathing the world below with its glow. A maiden was quietly waiting atop a solitary mountain peak, staring at the bright moon. Behind her were a total of nine golden-robed Celestial Immortals. “Brother Arcanum, the Exalted Envoy is right there.” A cloud flew towards them, with two figures atop it. One of them was a tall, skinny, narrow-eyed elder; this was Patriarch Arcanum. The other was a goldenrobed and seemingly quite amiable elder. “Eh?” Patriarch Arcanum stared into the distance, then his pupils contracted. That maiden actually had a total of nine Celestial Immortals with her? “The Seamless Gate is unreasonably powerful. A single envoy is actually leading a squad of so many Celestial Immortals. I’m afraid that this squad alone is enough to annihilate most supreme clans.” Patriarch Arcanum couldn’t help but feel a surge of cold fear. Although he was quite arrogant and brash in front of others, in front of the Seamless Gate, he still felt nervous. Patriarch Arcanum landed on the mountain peak, then immediately said, “Arcanum greets you, Envoy.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Mm.” Violetgrass nodded lightly. Patriarch Arcanum secretly inspected her. This young female envoy before him wore golden clothes that were embroidered with eye-catching violet flowers; clearly, she was an extraordinary figure. The Celestial Immortals behind here were all dressed in more ordinary golden clothes; this clearly reflected their lower status. “Celestial Immortal Arcanum of the Youngflame clan…do you know why I have come looking for you?” Violetgrass said with a laugh. “Arcanum is unable to guess at your motives, Envoy.” Patriarch Arcanum’s attitude was quite humble. Violetgrass laughed. “Hahaha…in recent years, our Seamless Gate has helped your Youngflame clan out quite a few times. I trust that by now, you can sense our sincerity. As for our power…although we’ve only revealed a hint of it, you should have sensed how powerful we are. Our Seamless Gate goes where we please and does as we please within the world of the Grand Xia, and what does the imperial Xiamang clan do about it? Just stare at us and watch.” “Indeed,” Patriarch Arcanum said. Given how powerful the Seamless Gate was, they definitely knew how mighty the imperial Xiamang clan was, but they still dared to act with such abandon. Without confidence in themselves, would they dare to act this way? None of the Celestial Immortals under their command were fools; the response, or lack thereof, from the imperial Xia clan reflected how powerful the Seamless Gate truly was. “I can tell you this. In the world of the Grand Xia, many powers have already thrown their support to our Seamless Gate,” Violetgrass said with a sigh. “Their tribes have only grown more powerful after doing so. I can promise you that so long as your Youngflame clan is willing to throw your support to us as well, your power will instantly increase many times over.” Patriarch Arcanum simply continued to smile. What a joke. The only ones throwing their support were lesser powers like the Eastwoods Sect or the Blood God Church. Most likely, very, very few marquises had turned traitor. After all, upon doing so, that meant one would become true enemies with the imperial Xia clan. Behind the imperial Xia clan was Daofather Raindragon and Daofather Crimsonbright! It wouldn’t be easy to deal with them! The two Daofathers could probably wipe them out with a wave of the hand. “I trust that you can tell how sincere our Seamless Gate is, given that I’ve come in person,” Violetgrass said, looking at Arcanum. “Arcanum is indeed grateful that you have come in person, Envoy. However, this is a matter that could involve the annihilation of my clan. Arcanum does not dare to make this decision without consulting others. Upon my return, I shall definitely inform my other clansmen, and we shall discuss this in detail,” Patriarch Arcanum said. Violetgrass shook her head. “To show our sincerity…I’ll tell you something else.” “Pray tell.” Patriarch Arcanum’s eyes lit up; the Seamless Gate had indeed helped out the Youngflame clan several times recently. “I heard that your Youngflame clan has a major headache named Ji Ning,” Violetgrass said. “Yes.” Patriarch Arcanum admitted it right away. His eyes lit up. “Can it be that you, Envoy, are willing to get rid of Ji Ning for our Youngflame clan? If you get rid of him, we will be endlessly grateful to you.” “Get rid of Ji Ning? That’s not impossible. If your Youngflame clan is willing to subordinate yourselves to our Seamless Gate, then within a single day, the Seamless Gate will take his life, regardless of who his backer is.” Violetgrass was filled with complete self-confidence. And then, with a half-smile on her face, she said, “If your Youngflame clan isn’t willing to support us…then our Seamless Gate can’t possibly act on your behalf.” Patriarch Arcanum was laughing coldly in his heart. Support them? Ji Ning was a disaster, true. But supporting the Seamless Gate would run the risk of true annihilation for the entire clan. “This Ji Ning has several important friends and family members,” Violetgrass said calmly. “If you want to act against him, all you need to do is keep an eye on them; you’ll be able to find him eventually.” “But his master, Immortal Diancai, is already a Celestial Immortal.” Patriarch Arcanum frowned. “In addition, he’s at Stillwater City. As for the important clansmen of the Ji clan, they are few in number and are all in Swallow Mountain. Our Youngflame clan has no chance at all.” “No. He has a junior apprentice-brother named Mu Northson,” Violetgrass said. “The two of them are lifelong friends who went through life and death together.” “But Mu Northson has been missing for twenty-plus year.” Patriarch Arcanum shook his head. Violetgrass smiled. “Ji Ning’s already rescued him.” 2647 Patriarch Arcanum was startled. The Youngflame clan had already investigated Ji Ning in detail. They had even investigated the likes of Mu Northson and Immortal Diancai in detail. They knew long ago about Immortal Diancai becoming a Celestial Immortal, but they hadn’t found any information regarding Northson’s return. From this, one could see that the Seamless Gate’s intelligence network was much superior to theirs. “In addition, Mu Northson isn’t at Swallow Mountain. Nor is he in Stillwater City.” Violetgrass waved her hand, and a leather scroll appeared. She tossed it to Patriarch Arcanum, who hurriedly accepted it. “Mu Northson’s exact location is here on this map,” Violetgrass said. “As long as you keep an eye on him, within a short period of time you shall probably see Ji Ning going to visit him! In fact, if you are in a hurry…you can even kidnap Mu Northson and force Ji Ning to show himself. It’s entirely up to you how your Youngflame clan wishes to proceed.” “Thank you, Envoy.” Patriarch Arcanum was overjoyed as he stared at this leather-bound scroll. “Our Seamless Gate has helped your Youngflame clan once again,” Violetgrass said calmly. “Although our Seamless Gate is patient…our patience has a limit. If you continue to refuse to support us…then we will be forced to view you as loyal to the death to the imperial Xia clan. In the future, when we act against the imperial Xia clan…we might very well strike first against your Youngflame clan.” Patriarch Arcanum’s face changed. He said hurriedly, “Don’t worry, Envoy. I can sense how sincere the Seamless Gate is. There is a good deal of debate within our Youngflame clan about what to do, but of one thing you can be assured; we are definitely not loyal to the death to the imperial Xia clan. Definitely now.” “What wonderful words.” Violetgrass waved her hand. “Go.” Only now did Patriarch Arcanum depart. Soon, the only figures left on that solitary, icy mountain peak were Violetgrass and the ten Celestial Immortals. “Milord, to have the Youngflame clan deal with Ji Ning…are they strong enough? He’s trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art],” a golden-robed Celestial Immortal whispered. “Don’t underestimate the Youngflame clan.” Violetgrass shook her head. “The Youngflame clan has existed since the era of Pangu’s World, eventually migrating here to the world of the Grand Xia. Ancient clan like this all have extremely formidable tools at their disposal. Consider this; in the past, the Kindwater clan fought with the Xiamang clan over the Emperorship of the Grand Xia. The Kindwater clan is a branch of a major clan of Pangu’s World which had a group of True Immortals and Empyrean Gods backing them. And yet, although the Kindwater clan and the Youngflame clan have been struggling against each other for so many years, the Youngflame clan has never been wiped out, even though they’ve 2648 suffered a bit. In fact, on the whole, the Youngflame clan has been full of vigor. How can you underestimate the Youngflame clan?” “Mm.” The many Celestial Immortals all nodded. “Watch and see,” Violetgrass said calmly. “We’ll let the Youngflame clan use their resources to fight first, while we’ll keep watch from the shadows, learning more about Ji Ning’s powers and tools. If the Youngflame clan truly is unable to wipe out this Ji Ning, then by then we will still have a high level of information regarding him. Naturally, at that point, we can lay a trap for him, then wipe him out with a single lightning-fast strike.” “If my belief is correct…given that the Youngflame clan is willing to fight against the Kindwater clan to such a degree, they must have an astonishingly formidable background. So long as the Daofather behind Ji Ning doesn’t interfere, it shouldn’t be hard for them to kill him,” Violetgrass said with a laugh. …… The Youngflame clan began to deliberate in secret, coming up with numerous scenarios for killing Ji Ning, in accordance with the intelligence reports they had received. “This time…let the four of us join forces. Arcanum, Deadwood, Goldclock, and myself, Infatuation, shall fight together.” The ancient elder swept the others with his gaze. “The three of you shall be under my command.” “Alright.” Patriarch Arcanum nodded. “Infatuation, we trust you,” the man who held a large clock in his hand agreed. “Right.” The white-haired Patriarch Deadwood nodded as well. Patriarch Infatuation was an ancient man who had a look of hidden grief within his eyes…but his power was truly enormous. Celestial Immortal Infatuation was fairly famous within the Three Realms, and was one of the truly top-tier Celestial Immortals. “Sunfish, I’ll leave you to protect this tower,” Patriarch Infatuation instructed. “Fine.” Patriarch Sunfish nodded. “Let’s go,” Patriarch Infatuation said. Instantly, Patriarchs Arcanum, Deadwood, and Goldclock followed him in departing. …… 2649 It was nighttime. These four Celestial Immortals stealthily made their way to Stillwater Commandery. All four of them were extremely powerful, with Patriarch Infatuation being the strongest. Patriarch Deadwood possessed powerful spells, while Patriarch Goldclock had a powerful magical item; the two were roughly on par with each other. Patriarch Arcanum was actually ranked as the weakest, but he was still quite an excellent Celestial Immortal. Within Stillwater Commandery. A wild region. Four figures stealthily appeared in the air above a lake. “Look. Over there.” Patriarch Arcanum pointed towards the distance, where a wooden house could be seen next to a lake. Outside the wooden house, a white-robed youth with some white hair was seated on the stairs, head raised as he stared at the bright moon. He was holding a jade globe in his hands. “Little Xia, today is the sixteenth, right? The moon is actually even rounder than it was yesterday.” “It really is round. According to the legends, the Fairy of the Moon Palace, Chang’e, lives upon the Lunar Star which is located outside of the Three Realms.” The maiden in the jade globe spoke with some envy. 1 “Right. In the future, when I grow powerful, I’ll take you, Little Xia, to pay a visit to the Lunar Star. We’ll see for ourselves if there really is a Moon Palace, and if there really is a Chang’e,” the white-robed youth said, nodding his head. The four distant Celestial Immortals had hidden themselves long ago. “It really is Mu Northson.” “The Seamless Gate’s information is accurate.” “Prepare the formations now. After preparing everything, leave the formations un-activated; after Ji Ning arrives, we’ll activate them,” Patriarch Infatuation immediately ordered. “Actually, why do we even need formations? Once this greatclock of mine is unleashed, he will perish,” the man holding the greatclock said confidently. “Although this golden clock of yours was transported to this world of the Grand Xia long ago by our Youngflame clan from Pangu’s World, and although it is extremely powerful and a top-grade Pure Yang treasure…this Ji Ning was was able to escape from even Bloodcloud Hall’s assassination attempt. We absolutely must not be careless. We have to prepare everything perfectly,” Patriarch Infatuation instructed. And so, the four Celestial Immortals began to prepare their ambush by this lake. Given their abilities, Northson was completely unable to detect them. Celestial Immortals possessed infinite lifespans, and so they possessed exceptional patience. …… 2650 The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. King Yan’s Estate. The second day after Ning took up residence within King Yan’s Estate. He was accompanying his cousin, Yuchi Xiyue, in strolling about the streets of the estate. “Leaving? So soon?” Yuchi Xiyue was rather reluctant to let him go. “Didn’t you say that Swallow Mountain is protected by layers of formations, and that it is like an impregnable fortress? Isn’t it very safe?” “I’m going to go see my junior apprentice-brother. I feel uneasy,” Ning said. “What do you feel uneasy about?” A voice suddenly rang out. From around the corner of the stone path, a tall, muscular figure appeared, dressed in loose robes. “Respectful greetings to you, King Yan,” Ning said hurriedly. “You came to my place, but you plan to leave without even coming to see me?” King Yan said with a laugh. “Come, let’s take a walk and have a talk.” Ning and Xiyue both moved to accompany King Yan on the walk, chatting about various important current affairs regarding the Grand Xia as they did. Ning suddenly said, “Senior King Yan, I heard that Daofather Crimsonbright has set up a miniature cycle of reincarnation for his major worlds. Do you know of this matter, senior?” Ning had been wanting to learn more about his parents this entire time. King Yan was of the imperial clan; he naturally should know about the miniature cycle of reincarnation. “Of course I do.” King Yan nodded, then suddenly said with a chortle, “Could it be that you have forgotten my nickname?” “Nickname?” Ning was startled. King Yan’s nickname was ‘Yama-King’. 2 “After the Daofather rebuilt the cycle of reincarnation, he set it to encompass tens of major worlds and countless minor worlds,” King Yan said with a laugh. “His cycle also has ten Yama-Kings, and I am one of them, the Ten Yama-Kings of Hell.” 1. Chang’e was the wife of the legendary archer, Houyi. Their story is a famous myth in China, with her in most stories (accidentally) betraying her husband by eating/overdosing on the pill of Immortality and thus floating away to the moon, leaving her husband behind.. As explained in netherworld and judged the dead, sending them on their way in the cycle of reincarnation. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Ah?!” Ji Ning revealed a look of joy. “Grandpa, you are one of the Ten Yama-Kings of Hell?” The nearby Yuchi Xiyue was startled as well. King Yan laughed loudly. “Merely one of the ten that are assigned to this minor cycle of reincarnation; we’re only in charge of this region controlled by Daofather Crimsonbright. There are currently many Yama-Kings in the world; there’s nearly a thousand of us. They are not, however, the ten original ones that governed the Netherworld Kingdom…those ten were all at the True Immortal or Empyrean God level.” “Grandpa, how did you end up as one of the Ten Yama-Kings of Hell?” Yuchi Xiyue asked curiously. “When the Daofather first re-established the cycle of reincarnation, he needed candidates for the Ten Yama-Kings and for the First Judge of the Dead, and so the various worlds began to propose people. The Grand Xia had to propose a person as well. Because I am of the imperial clan and just became a Celestial Immortal, his Imperial Majesty had me take up the position of Yama-King,” King Yan explained. Ning understood. Given that he was of the imperial clan and that he had just become a Celestial Immortal, it made sense that he had been chosen to become one of the Ten Yama-Kings of Hell. Positions such as this, within a minor cycle of reincarnation, actually weren’t that exalted in status. But of course, back in the Netherworld Kingdom, the original Ten Yama-Kings of Hell were in control of all living creatures within the entire Three Realms; their power was truly enormous. “Ji Ning, why are you asking about the minor cycle of reincarnation? Is there something you need?” King Yan looked at Ning. “Yes.” Ning nodded. “Senior King Yan, this junior has a matter that I would beseech your assistance with.” “Speak,” King Yan said. The imperial clan had always been quite close-knit. Given that the world of the Grand Xia now had several powerful organizations hidden within it, the imperial clan had only become even more close-knit due to the pressure! Since the Xia Emperor had designated Ning as someone that could ‘only be befriended, not be made an enemy’, and since he felt very certain that Ning was most likely the disciple of a Daofather, he had naturally spread the word to all the Celestial Immortals within the imperial clan. King Yan’s attitude towards Ning was now much different compared to the past, prior to the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Back then, he treated Ning as he would any other junior, but now he treated Ning as someone on the same level as him. “I trust you know, senior King Yan, that my father Ji Yichuan and my mother Yuchi Snow have already passed away many years ago,” Ning said. “I dearly desire to learn about how my mother and father are currently doing.” “What’s the point of investigating this?” King Yan looked towards Ning. “After being reborn, they won’t have any memories of their past life.” “If they are living good, happy lives after their rebirth, I won’t disturb them,” Ning said. “I just want to see for myself…to see if they are doing well and to see if there’s anything I can do for them.” “Mm.” King Yan nodded. “Fine. Leave this to me. I expect that in a few months, I’ll have an answer for you.” “A few months?” Ning was startled. “Do you feel that is a long time?” King Yan laughed. Ning nodded. King Yan asked him, “Do you know how many how many living creatures die every day across these dozens of major worlds and countless minor worlds?” “But I heard that in the Netherworld Kingdom, such investigations are very fast,” Ning said. “That’s because that place is the Netherworld Kingdom. It was built by Maiden Nuwa herself, and it also holds the treasured Book of Life and Death, which is one with the Dao of the Heavens,” King Yan said. “The Book of Life and Death can duplicate itself into trillions of copies, and so it controlled the reincarnation, karmic merit, history, and life of all living things. But what we have here is merely a minor cycle of reincarnation established by Daofather Crimsonbright. We don’t have a Book of Life and Death! Thus, our minor cycle of reincarnation is actually even busier than the old one.” “The process of simply recording the countless deaths and rebirths of the world, as well as karmic virtues and demerits, requires enormous amounts of information to be recorded every single day on magic books,” King Yan said. “And we only have roughly a hundred years of information; anything beyond that is completely lost.” “Completely lost?” Ning was stunned. “Right. There’s no way for us to investigate the records that existed before the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed. Although we can go to the Netherworld Kingdom to seek out the First Judge of the Dead, Judge Cui, in order to investigate the history of a soul across a thousand lifetimes…the amount of information and history regarding every single person is simply enormous. There’s simply no way for us to record all the history regarding the countless living creatures that exist across countless millions of worlds. And so, we don’t even bother with it,” King Yan explained. “In fact, nowadays the Judges for the various minor cycles of reincarnation don’t even bother with wasting time on examining the past lives of the souls of the dead. They just look at karma, then based on positive karma or negative sin, decide if a person will be reincarnated as an animal or as a person, and if the person will be reincarnated with wealth or into poverty.” Ning was speechless. When he had met Judge Cui, Judge Cui had instantly known everything that had happened to him during his previous life. But the judges of this minor cycle of reincarnation only looked at karma and sin; they didn’t even look at a person’s life history! Still…this did speed things up considerably. “I’ll send someone to help investigate on your behalf. Still…to search through the sea-like mass of records to find the specific history-tablets pertaining to your parents will indeed take some time,” King Yan said. “Thank you, senior,” Ning said hurriedly with gratitude. Only now did he understand the magnitude of his request to search for someone who had been reincarnated. Several months? So be it. “Senior, where can one find the First Judge of the Dead of the Netherworld Kingdom, Judge Cui?” Ning asked. “You want to find Judge Cui? He might be in the Heaven Realm, or he might be in the Netherworld Kingdom, or he might be somewhere else.” King Yan shook his head. “Ever since the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed, Judge Cui no longer had any tasks shackling him to a specific place. Given that the Book of Life and Death protects him, he can go wherever he pleases. If you want to investigate his whereabouts, you’ll need to ask the Immortals of the Heaven Realm or the Netherworld, I imagine.” It was a dark, gloomy day today. Ning departed from the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, returning to Stillwater Commandery. “In a few more months, I’ll be able to know what happened to Mother and Father after they were reborn.” Ning’s heart was filled with hope. “I wonder if they are doing well. Are they Immortal cultivators in this life as well? Which world are they living in, in this new life? Is it still the Grand Xia?” The skies were desolate and bleak. Ning flew towards a distant lake. From afar, he could see the wooden house that was located next to it, the residence of his junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson. “Alas.” Ning sighed to himself. His junior apprentice-brother had no family to begin with…and now, his one and only Dao-companion had been trapped within that jade globe. Every day, Northson hugged that jade globe and talked to it. Ning was very worried for his junior apprentice-brother’s Dao-heart. If this were to continue longterm…eventually, his Dao-heart might crumble, at which point he might go crazy and be unable to control his elemental ki, possibly resulting in self-detonation and death. …… “He’s coming.” Within the wild grasses next to the lake, the four Celestial Immortal Patriarchs that were seated in the lotus position all opened their eyes to stare at that figure that had appeared in the distant horizons. It was a youth who was riding the winds…Ji Ning, the source of trouble which their Youngflame clan had come for! “He came so quickly. It seems this Ji Ning has a very deep relationship with Mu Northson,” Patriarch Arcanum sneered. “I had thought we’d have to wait for a year or two. The Heavens truly are helping our Youngflame clan!” “The Heavens are supporting us in eradicating this danger,” Patriarch Deadwood growled as well. “Our chance has come.” The man holding the greatclock cracked his lips in a grin as well. As for Patriarch Infatuation, a flash of cold light crossed his eyes. This was their best-case scenario; after all, Immortal cultivators could go into closed-door meditation sessions and stay in them for extremely long periods of time. They had no idea how long it would be before Ji Ning would come to visit Mu Northson again. If they truly did have to wait for several years or a decade…they would probably end up choosing to capture Northson instead! They’d use him as a hostage, forcing Ji Ning to show himself…but in doing so, Ji Ning would be forewarned and might even bring his friends, such as his fellow disciples from that mysterious school he was from, or the likes of Immortal Diancai. That would render it very difficult for them to kill him. “He’s completely unprepared right now.” A cold look was in Patriarch Infatuation’s eyes. “This is our best chance.” “Right.” The other three Patriarchs nodded as well. “Act according to our plans.” Patriarch Arcanum stared towards the distant Ning as he flew towards the wooden house. “This is the time. Attack!” Ning was in midair. Through the open wooden door and open windows, he could see Northson within the wooden house. Northson had placed the jade globe on the table in front of him, and was chatting with it while drinking. “He’s still chatting with Yu Xia’s soul?” Seeing this, Ning couldn’t help but feel even more pain and worry. “If this continues…how can he possibly prevent his Dao-heart from collapsing?” Mortals were allowed to grow dispirited and depressed…but when Immortal cultivators did so, it would be extremely dangerous. It was one thing for Fiendgod Body Refiners; after all, even if their elemental ki exploded, their bodies would be able to withstand the damage. But his junior apprentice-brother Northson was merely a Ki Refiner; an explosion of elemental ki could be more than enough to cause him to perish. “Junior apprentice-brother!” Ning called out loudly. Northson, within the wooden home, picked up the jade globe. He walked to the doorway, raised his head, then smiled and called out, “Senior apprentice-brother!” Right at this moment… Ruuuuuuuumble. A powerful yet mysterious ripple instantly spread out from nearby. Like the rays of the sun, the strange ripple instantly encompassed the entire area, including Northson, the jade globe, and Ning. Ning felt as though his soul had suffered a powerful blow, but his Dao-heart was incomparably resilient. In addition, his Fiendgod body had become completely fused with his soul, rendering it even more stable; he was naturally able to withstand this collision. “Not good. My junior apprentice-brother!” Ning was shocked. He had been able to withstand the blow, yes…but would Northson be able to withstand it? Northson had only recently reached the Void-level and become an Earth Immortal; he could only be considered an extremely ordinary Loose Immortal. Would he be able to hold? “They…” As Ning turned his gaze towards his junior apprentice-brother, he also saw that far away, in the desolate plains, four figures had suddenly appeared. Given that he had read an intelligence report regarding the Youngflame clan long ago, Ning was shocked. “Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Arcanum, Goldclock, and Deadwood? Four Celestial Immortals?” This coresense attack had been personally executed by Patriarch Infatuation. …… In the face of this terrifying coresense attack, the female soul within the jade globe was completely unable to resist. Her soul was, after all, merely the soul of a Wanxiang Adept; it was far too weak. Like snow melting away under the rays of the sun…she evaporated away into nothingness. In the instant that she evaporated away, she stared at Mu Northson. Simply stared at him… …… As Northson suffered the coresense attack, he almost automatically summoned his own power to resist…but before his very eyes, the jade-trapped soul that he loved melted away into nothingness before him. “NO!!!!!!” Northson’s eyes instantly turned red. Blood vessels could be seen within them, and two bloody tears came falling out. He let out an utterly agonized and inhuman scream, a howl that was akin to the roar of aa dying beast. …… Faced with the coresense attack of Patriarch Arcanum, Ji Ning was able to withstand it, Yu Xia’s soul was melted away, and Northson was sent into madness. Northson raised his head, staring at the four incomparably powerful Celestial Immortals in the distance, his eyes filled with madness. “IT WAS YOU! ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!!!” BANG! An enormous Winged Immortal golem suddenly appeared behind him. Northson instantly merged into the body of the Winged Immortal golem, and its aura instantly exploded with power. As a grandmaster of constructs and one who had even personally made this sort of Winged Immortal golem before… Under the maddened control of a grandmaster, the Winged Immortal golem became activated. Instantly, a series of wild gusts of wind appeared in the surrounding area. The gale smashed apart everything before it, and within the gale could be seen multiple spots of black light. Just looking at those spots was enough to cause a man to sink into oblivion. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Arise!” The tall, skinny Patriarch Arcanum let out a cold shout. Instantly, clouds began to gather from thousands of kilometers around. The world turned dark, the Five Elements were thrown into a state of chaos, and space became locked. No matter how violent the battle in the area became, it would be difficult for any spatial ripples to leak out! “Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds? A puny Void-level Earth Immortal actually has a precious golem like this? What a waste!” Patriarch Arcanum let out a cold laugh. Instantly, a series of starlight began to appear, along with multiple meteors that flew out. A total of 360 meteorites instantly flew high into the air. These 360 meteorites made up Patriarch Arcanum’s true power. For the sake of killing Ji Ning, he had brought them out right away. In midair, the illusion of 360 flowing stars could be seen. For countless ages now, the movement of stars in the night sky had been fixed and eternal. When this grand formation appeared…instantly, a layer of thick starlight appeared, completely blocking the wild electric wind. “All of you, die, die, DIE!!!!” The Winged Immortal golem was in an absolutely berserk state as it released the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds repeatedly… The Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds were exceedingly powerful; even using all of his power, Patriarch Arcanum was only able to just barely block them. “Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds of such purity…this golem is allowing a mere Void-level Earth Immortal to block me. For such a precious golem to be in the hands of this Northson is truly a waste. If I had it, my power would increase dramatically.” The power of a golem was directly related to the power of its user. There naturally would be a difference in power in the Seven Ruinous Winds as activated by Void-level elemental ki or Celestial Immortal-level elemental ki! By relying on the Winged Immortal golem, Northson could reach a Celestial Immortal’s level of power…but in the hands of a true Celestial Immortal, the power would increase by at least two levels! …… As Patriarch Arcanum struck out, one of the other Patriarchs struck out as well. It was the elderly, whitehaired Patriarch Deadwood. The elderly Patriarch’s hands formed together into a seal, and a series of powerful ripples seemed to merge with the earth itself, becoming one with the nearby grass and trees. In truth, Patriarch Deadwood was an oddity even amongst Celestial Immortals, because the vast majority of them needed to use magic treasures. Patriarch Deadwood, in his youth, was looked down upon due to his lack of talent, and the clan gave him very few resources; in fact, he couldn’t even procure any decent magic treasures. He was the stubborn sort, and he decided to focus all of his attention on magic spells. No one would have imagined that he would manage to complete a Dao that was different from all others, one which only grew stronger as he moved further along it. All of the various ‘geniuses’ of his era failed and perished, while he actually overcome his tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal, and an extraordinary one at that. In the Youngflame clan, even Patriarch Goldclock, who had acquired their most precious treasure, was merely on par with him. “Attack!” A single word came forth from Patriarch Deadwood’s lips. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Instantly, the colors of the world seemed to change. The nearby lake shook, and the wild plains trembled. Enormous, thick, wood-green tendrils erupted forth from the surface of the lake and from the wild plains. A total of nine tendrils erupted forth, each of which was covered with flowing golden light and with ancient runes. The nine tendrils soared into the heavens, each of them fathomless in length. They simultaneously struck towards the Winged Immortal golem and towards Ji Ning. This took time to describe, but in reality, Northson’s unleashing of the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds, Patiarch Arcanum’s usage of the Starlight Revolution formation to block, and Patriarch Deadwood’s unleashing of his nine tendrils happened almost simultaneously. Whoosh. The Winged Immortal golem continued to release the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds while it flew through the air at high speed, avoiding the striking tendrils. Every single tendril was like one of the pillars of heaven; they were incomparably thick and massive, and they also moved at incomparable speed. The Winged Immortal golem was dodging at high speed. Just as it had clearly dodged a blow…the incomparably massive tendril suddenly sprouted many branches that were much thinner but extremely numerous. The tight cluster of tendrils erupted forth from the main tendril like a series of serpents, instantly entangling and catching the Winged Immortal golem. “F*ck off, f*ck off!” The Winged Immortal struggled to resist, continuously releasing the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds, but starlight descended, blocking a good part of it. Even though some of the smaller branches were destroyed by the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds, new ones quickly sprouted out. The Winged Immortal golem sank into a prison of tendrils…and no matter how it struggled, it was unable to escape. …… A total of nine tendrils were used to attack. Just a single one of them was used to trap the Winged Immortal golem; the rest were acting against Ning. Ning was currently filled with both guilt and rage! “Junior apprentice-brother.” Ning’s heart was filled with the utmost regret; as soon as he had seen the four mighty Celestial Immortals appear, he had understood everything. The four of them had been lying in wait here the entire time, but had only acted after Ning had appeared. Given that they were all of the Youngflame clan…without question, they were here for him. His junior apprentice-brother was simply caught in the crossfire. His junior apprentice-brother had cared deeply about his Dao-companion’s soul; Ning knew this very well. Upon seeing tears of blood streak down his junior apprentice-brother’s face, Ning’s own heart clenched with pain. Next came rage! Incomparable rage! “YOUNGFLAME CLAN!!!” When Ning saw Patriarch Arcanum and Patriarch Deadwood unleash their abilities, he similarly unleashed his own as well. Whoosh! A black-robed Ning appeared by his side. His true body and his Primaltwin now stood shoulder-toshoulder in midair. Simultaneously, they manifested more than three hundred top-grade Immortalranked flying swords to appear around them. The guilt-wracked and infuriated Ning instantly unleashed his most powerful killing attack. [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] – Stage Four! A large amount of sword-ki coalesced in front of Ning’s chest, transforming into a golden flying sword. “KILL!!!” His true body and his Primaltwin let out simultaneous, enraged roars. ROAAAAR! A divine black dragon appeared, raising its head out and unleashing an angry roar. It was the golden flying sword in draconic form. The divine black dragon, carrying a terrifyingly sharp aura, swept forward…and meeting it was an incomparably thick tendril, which slapped down with power that seemed great enough to shake the heavens and the earth. Even though the divine black dragon was incomparably agile as it moved to try and dodge past so as to help Northson…the tendril was also extremely agile, and it gave birth to many smaller branches that moved to impede the divine black dragon. Whoosh whoosh whoosh… A large amount of smaller branches were chopped apart, and a scar appeared on the body of the thick main tendril as well. And then…crack! It completely snapped apart. Ning and his Primaltwin manifested a second streak of sword-light. A second divine black dragon flew out! Simultaneously controlling two streaks of sword-light generated from the fourth stage of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]; this was Ning’s current maximum. ROAAAAR! The two divine black dragons moved as fast as lightning, slamming against the many tendrils. Thanks to the resistance from the tendrils, one of the divine black dragons was consumed and shattered, but the other one managed to slaughter a path to the Winged Immortal golem, tearing the tendrils apart and saving the golem. “What?!” The four Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan, upon seeing this, narrowed their eyes. “This Ji Ning is actually as powerful as this? He would be considered an excellent fighter amongst Celestial Immortals.” “Fortunately, thanks to Bloodcloud Hall’s failed assassination attempt, we’ve known this entire time that he is extremely powerful, and so we came prepared.” Still, the four Celestial Immortals didn’t panic in the slightest. “Forest!” Patriarch Deadwood’s eyelids twitched slightly, and a golden light began to flow within his eyes as he once more called out a word. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! From the lake and from the wild plains, a large number of tendrils began to appear. These tendrils were far thinner than the nine great tendrils that had appeared earlier; they were roughly just one percent of the originals in size. However, they were extremely numerous, and each was still at least a hundred kilometers long. The world had suddenly been transformed into a forest of tendrils. The countless tendrils began to frantically wrap themselves around the nine main tendrils. Ning’s two divine black dragons, formed through using the fourth stage of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], were only able to strike around the margins. They were blocked repeatedly, and they only had enough strength to fight back, not to advance any further. Whooooosh. By Ning’s side, Northson repeatedly unleashed the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds, but Patriarch Arcanum’s grand formation of starlight suppressed the wind time and time again. …… 2662 A single person, Patriarch Deadwood, was able to suppress both Ning and Northson; this was the power of a truly formidable Celestial Immortal! The general who had commanded the Eastwoods mountain range was even more formidable than Patriarch Deadwood; he was capable of completely suppressing and even defeating Ning. However, because he was unable to bind Ning, he was forced to negotiate with him. Although Patriarch Deadwood was comparatively weaker, he was still able to suppress the two of them. With Patriarch Arcanum supporting him, the two made it impossible for Ning to even have a chance to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. Bang! A talisman suddenly appeared before Ning. A divine black dragon howled past it, and a thick streak of sword-light instantly shattered it. Stillwater City. It was in the afternoon, but the skies were rather dark and dreary. “Not good!” “It’s Ji Ning.” Two figures simultaneously appeared in the skies above Stillwater City. The first was a hunchbacked, staff-wielding elder, Celestial Immortal Hunchmont. The other was the black-haired, black-robed Immortal Diancai. Both had shocked looks on their faces. It must be understood that when Immortal Diancai and Ji Ning agreed to ally with the Northmont clan of Stillwater, they had naturally prepared methods of helping each other out as needed. Everyone had a talisman for everyone else; upon shattering it, the others would be able to sense it right away. “Ji Ning’s power is formidable; what sort of situation could force him to request help??” Immortal Diancai was greatly shocked. “It’s within Stillwater Commandery, roughly a few hundred thousand kilometers away,” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont sent mentally. “Let’s hurry over there.” Immortal Diancai had a solemn look on his face. “Right.” The two didn’t hesitate at all; they immediately used void blink techniques to hurry over. Although the most powerful member of the Northmont clan of Stillwater was actually that ancient elder, his existence was a tightly-kept secret. Unless something truly critical happened, he wouldn’t reveal himself. Only if even Immortal Hunchmont and Immortal Diancai were unable to rescue Ning would he intervene. …… 2663 The world of the Grand Xia. Upon an island in the western seas. This was a seemingly barren, unpopulated island. In truth…it was surrounded by layers of formations, causing outsiders to be unable to see the truth of what was within. Within a mountain on the island. Inside a palace. A maiden was seated on a royal throne here. In the center of the palace was an enormous mirror, a Pure Yang treasure known as the Divine Earthpiercer Mirror. This enormous mirror was currently displaying the battle that was happening far away, next to the lake. “The Youngflame clan has made their move.” The maiden revealed a smile. “And even Celestial Immortal Infatuation has gone…and they brought a top-grade Pure Yang divine greatclock…” There were more than ten gold-robed Celestial Immortals within the palace who were also staring at that giant mirror as they watched the battle within it. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Art] As soon as Ji Ning exchanged blows with them, he had a bad feeling. Patriarch Deadwood and Patriarch Arcanum alone were able to completely suppress him and his junior apprentice-brother. “Not even the fourth stage of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] is able to overcome them. If I was also a Celestial Immortal and was able to use Celestial Immortal-level elemental ki in activating the fourth stage of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]…things would probably be different. It’s simply too taxing for Void-level Earth Immortals to battle Celestial Immortals.” And so, not hesitating at all, Ning shattered the talisman, requesting aid from his master Immortal Diancai and Celestial Immortal Hunchmont. “A message-talisman.” “Ji Ning is asking for aid.” “Quick.” All four of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were watching this battle. They naturally noticed how the divine black dragon of sword-light had suddenly shattered a talisman. “Let me handle it.” The man holding the greatclock in his hand let out an angry roar, then waved the clock-wielding hand. The greatclock instantly soared high into the skies. The many tendrils that were blocking out the sun opened a path for it, and so the greatclock transformed into a rainbow that instantly flew to a location a few kilometers away from Ning. It hovered there in the air, its surface radiating a blurry golden light. The man controlling the golden greatclock instantly used his own power to activate this top-grade Pure Yang artifact. This was an artifact which the Youngflame clan had come into possession of back during the era of Pangu’s World; it had been passed down for countless years, and was one of the artifacts that was meant to safeguard the entire clan. Claaaaang. The golden clock suddenly emitted a ringing sound. The sound of the clock spread out in a slow manner. The base of the golden greatclock was aimed straight towards Ning, and as the clock rang out, circles of golden ripples that were visible to the naked eye appeared around it. The circles radiated downwards, while the nearby tendrils quickly retreated, beating out a path for it, with the slower-moving tendrils instantly transformed into dust. The golden ripples of light moved at an extremely fast speed. By the time Ning saw them, they had already nearly reached him. “Careful!” Ning called out in shock, quickly willing the nearby black-robed Ning to disappear into thin air. Claaaaaang. The golden ripples of light shattered apart one of the divine black dragons, then struck towards Ning’s body, at which point it once more let out a slow, gonging sound. Ning felt as though countless heavy hammers were smashing against his body. The nearby Mu Northson, who was in control of the Winged Immortal golem, was partially hit by the attack as well. The Winged Immortal golem was instantly knocked flying, spinning out of his control. Right at this moment, two of the nine incomparably massive main tendrils came snaking towards the Winged Immortal golem. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Ning immediately stretched his hand out, his palm increasing to a size of three hundred meters as he grabbed the somersaulting Winged Immortal golem. “Don’t resist.” He immediately brought the Winged Immortal golem back into his own mobile Immortal estate. …… The appearance of the golden clock forced the Primaltwin to retreat, while the Winged Immortal golem had already been finding it hard enough to deal with the ‘Starlight Revolution’; there was no way it could fight back at all now. Ning’s only choice was to have both his Primaltwin and his junior apprenticebrother retreat for now, leaving his true body to stand there by itself. “Hahaha…” The man controlling the golden greatclocked roared with laughter. “With my divine clock having emerged…death is the only outcome for you.” “What terrifying power.” Ning’s heart was filled with shock. Patriarch Deadwood and Patriarch Goldclock were polar opposites; Patriarch Deadwood focused on control, suppression, and binding, whereas Patriarch Goldclock focused on raw power and straightforward crushing! In truth, as far as Ji Ning was concerned, Patriarch Deadwood was actually a greater threat to him! This was because, once he became bound and restricted by those tendrils, he’d find it very difficult to escape, even though he trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Dong! Dong! Dong! The golden greatclock rang out in the skies, and the golden ripples of power struck towards Ning repeatedly. By now, Ning had completely withdrawn all of his three hundred-plus Immortal swords. He had executed his divine ability, [Three Heads, Six Arms], and was relying on his six mighty palms to block. The golden ripple of light struck out…but Ning was completely unharmed! “Hmph.” Patriarch Arcanum controlled the Starlight Revolution to attack, but Ning completely ignored it, allowing it to fall against his body as it pleased. Whoosh whoosh whoosh… An enormous number of tendrils came crashing over. Only now did Ning begin to take things seriously. He executed his divine ability, [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], seeming to have transformed into a gust of wind. He was occasionally drifting and gentle, but occasionally savage and vicious in his movements. He shuttled through the tendrils in an unpredictable manner, while his six arms all used the [Starseizing Hand]. With unearthly power in his hands, comparable to that of Pure Yang treasures, he chopped with his palms in every direction! Bang! Bang! Bang! The weaker tendrils and vines were blasted apart into dust; only the thicker tendrils were able to resist. And thanks to his [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], Ning remained extremely agile and dodged about easily. “How can this be?” “Impossible!” Patriarch Arcanum and Patriarch Goldclock were both shocked. Their attacks were actually very weak against Ning?! Patriarch Goldclock was especially shocked; his power was on the same level as Patriarch Deadwood’s, but Ning was able to completely resist the power of his attacks head-on…and was even able to borrow from the momentum of the clock-strikes to increase his speed. “This golden greatclock of mine is a top-grade Pure Yang treasure with extraordinary power; not even Celestial Immortals would dare to take it on head-on. Even if a Void-level Fiendgod were to encounter it, the only outcome would be death.” Patriarch Goldclock couldn’t believe it. “He must have some protective treasure?” Patriarch Arcanum said. “Even if he did, once it suffered an attack from my golden clock, it would instantly have its power used up.” Patriarch Goldclock truly couldn’t believe it. After Patriarch Goldclock struck, the last of the four mighty Celestial Immortals, Patriarch Infatuation, began to launch a full-strength attack as well. Cold spheres of light began to manifest in the area around Patriarch Infatuation. These cold spheres of light numbered in the thousands as they hung around him, with flowing runes appearing on their surface. The flowing runes joined together, forming into an incomparably profound formation. Rumble… The area within three thousand meters of Patriarch Infatuation had been completely transformed into a world of frozen ice. There was frozen ice everywhere. Patriarch Infatuation stood at the very peak of a tower made of frozen ice, like the only sovereign of this miniature world of ice. “Chop!” Patriarch Infatuation looked at the distant Ji Ning, who was fleeing from the strikes of the golden greatclock and the giant tendrils. He pointed at him. Instantly, more than half of the ice within this miniature frozen world began to gather in one location, forming into an enormous chopping sword of frozen ice. This was like the blade of an executioner…but it only had a blade, without a handle. This enormous executioner’s blade of frozen ice instantly slashed through the skies, chopping straight towards Ji Ning. Ning, currently using the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], raised his head and saw the enormous executioner’s blade of ice crashing down upon him. Cold! He felt a heart-piercing cold. Even before the executioner’s blade had fallen upon him, Ning felt a cold pain, misery, and fear fill his heart as he stared at it. This was a sort of fear and pain that one would naturally feel upon seeing that executioner’s blade. “What a bizarre blade.” Ning felt that something was off. He immediately let out an angry roar: “F*CK OFF!” Two of Ning’s massive hands punched straight upwards, looking like Pangu pushing up the heavens. 1 The enormous freezing executioner’s blade came crashing down! BANG!!! The executioner’s blade collided head-on with Ning’s twin hands! Ning was blasted downwards by the power of the blow, like a meteor sinking into the ground. Ning had never before suffered an attack of such terrifying power. Even back in the Eastwoods mountain range, he had never received such a disastrously mighty chop. “What? He didn’t die?” Patriarch Infatuation could hardly believe it. This technique of his, which he had used to roam and dominate the Three Realms, had been unable to kill Ji Ning? This blow was so powerful that even some Heaven-ranked magic treasures would be instantly blown apart. “There’s no way a protective item could last for so long. Could it be that he’s using his body to block?” “The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]!!!” Patriarch Infatuation was suddenly shocked as he thought of this possibility. Moments later, he became certain that this was correct; there was a very high chance that Ning had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! This was because after Ning had suffered the first assassination attempt from Bloodcloud Hall, Bloodcloud Hall had actually dared to increase the price to an exponential level; this indicated that Ning probably wasn’t just relying on a protective treasure. Only the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] made sense. “So what if he has the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]? He’s still only at the Void level; he won’t be able to escape from the combined attacks of us four Celestial Immortals.” Patriarch Infatuation instantly sent mentally to the other three, “It is very likely that this Ji Ning has trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Deadwood, focus on binding him. Goldclock, draw him into your golden greatclock and keep him suppressed within it.” “Alright.” “Alright.” …… Ning was sent slamming downwards from the force of that frozen executioner’s blade. Rustle rustle rustle…instantly, the enormous rattan vines came twirling towards him. “Not good.” The power of that chop had been simply too great; he was about to be trapped and entangled by those thick rattan vines. Ning gritted his teeth. BOOM! As Ning landed, his body suddenly separated into two as it was instantly torn apart, diving into two separate bodies. The two Nings slammed their palms into each other, and with a massive boom, borrowed from the momentum of the blow to send each other flying away at high speed, avoiding the many tendrils that were coiling towards them from below. “He split his body?” “He’s looking to die.” Patriarch Deadwood let out a cold laugh. Although this instantaneous creation of a clone had seemingly allowed him to dodge that trap, both of the clone bodies would now be much weaker; after all, each of the two bodies would only possess half of the soul that had been infused into every cell of the original body, and so the power of any sword-arts would also be dramatically lowered. Even the intricacy and effect of the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] would be lowered! These were all weaknesses. And once one of the clones was destroyed, the divine power within that particular clone would be completely used up. BOOM! One of the Nings suddenly blew up. The power of the other fleeing Ning instantly skyrocketed. A large amount of divine power was returning to him, and his divine soul was rapidly healing as well. Fiendgod Body Refiners…so long as their divine power was not used up, they could regenerate from as little as a single drop of blood. “Quite decisive.” Patriarch Infatuation, standing atop his tower oef frozen ice within his miniature ice realm, let out a cold laugh. “Let’s see how many times you can self-detonate.” He pointed once more. Instantly, that enormous frozen executioner’s blade once more swung over, quickly arriving in the air above Ning. Ning gritted his teeth. What was he to do? Earlier, he had instantly split his body into two clones, then self-detonated one to recover part of his divine power…but this still used up a lot of divine power. That single self-detonation had already consumed twenty or thirty percent of Ning’s total power. This was a far faster rate of depletion than when he had been fighting; after three or four more self-detonations, he would be finished. “What should I do?” Ning began to grow nervous. Hide within his mobile Immortal estate and use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape? This was a seemingly good solution, but it was dangerous as well. Would his mobile Immortal estate be able to withstand the attacks of Celestial Immortal Infatuation and the other three? Although his mobile Immortal estates was described as an ‘Immortal estates’, it wasn’t actually an Immortal-ranked magic treasure; if it had been, Ning wouldn’t have been able to bind it in the past! Treasures of this sort were mobile but did not possess significant defensive power. This one was roughly on par with Heaven-ranked magic treasures. Against Bloodcloud Hall’s Ba-Serpent, Ning had felt that it should be able to resist for a short period of time. But in the face of the far more powerful Celestial Immortal Infatuation, who was being aided by three more Celestial Immortals…it might instantly be blasted apart.. According to Chinese mythology, heaven and earth used to be an indivisible whole in the cosmic egg. In Pangu’s creation of the universe, he literally lifted up the heavens away from the earth, forming the universe. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Blood A spatial ripple suddenly appeared in the skies above the desolate plains. Two figures emerged from the spatial ripple; a staff-wielding Celestial Immortal Hunchmont, and a black-robed, black-haired Immortal Diancai. “It’s up ahead.” “But there’s a formation covering that area.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont and Immortal Diancai immediately released their coresense, using it to cover an area of tens of thousands of kilometers; they were naturally able to discover that large formation. The formations which the four Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan had set up here weren’t meant to be used to guard their headquarters; naturally, they wouldn’t pay too high of a price for them. These formations were merely meant for trapping enemies by mystifying them, barring spatial ripples, and causing enemies to be unable to use void blink techniques to escape; they were unable to completely block out the coresense of a determined Celestial Immortal. “Ji Ning!” Both were shocked by what their coresense found. They saw Ning, with three heads and six arms, suffering repeated attacks from four mighty Celestial Immortals within that grand formation. Patriarch Arcanum used the Starlight Revolution to negatively impact Ning’s movements time and time again. Patriarch Goldclock was using his top-grade Pure Yang greatclock in an attempt to trap and suppress Ning within it. Patriarch Infatuation was continuing to unleash the full power of his miniature frozen world with every blow, beating Ning senseless and giving him no chance to fight back at all; he was a truly supreme Celestial Immortal. Patriarch Deadwood was controlling countless tendrils and vines in an attempt to bind and constrict Ning. Although he had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ning was being forced to rely on body-separation, followed by self-detonation, something which he wouldn’t be able to sustain for very long. “Hurry up and break the formation.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was shocked and worried. “Diancai, this great formation is mainly focused inwards and doesn’t have much resistance to outside attacks. If the two of us join together, we can break it open through raw force.” “Alright.” Immortal Diancai was frantic as well. “Let’s go.” Immortal Diancai pointed from far away. Instantly, five Immortal swords appeared out of nowhere, instantly piercing through the skies, transforming into five dazzling rainbows of light. Every single sword manifested the illusion of a giant mountain…and moments later, the five illusory mountains actually joined together, transforming into a single enormous mountain with five peaks! These five peaks were like five fingers of different colors that carried the intent of utter extermination. Five Elements Sword – Minor Five Elements Extermination! “Mountainshift!” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont released a low growl as well. A total of nine massive seals appeared out of nowhere, each of which flew out at high speed and transformed into a massive mountain. These nine massive mountains were different in appearance, with some being towering, some being squat, and some being sharp. They were completely different from Immortal Diancai’s swords, as they were not illusory; rather, they were nine true mountain peaks. In addition, around the nine true mountains, a host of illusory mountains could be seen as well. A total of eighty-one such illusory mountain peaks appeared.. It was like an entire mountain range was crashing down! The reason why Celestial Immortal Hunchmont’s nickname was ‘Hunchmont’ was precisely because he relied on this supreme ability of his, the [Mountainbringer] technique. …… The illusory five-peaked mountain of sword-light radiated an aura of extermination, while the nine true mountain peaks carried eighty-one illusory mountain peaks with them as they came crashing down with raw force. The two joined together…and the formation flags which the Celestial Immortals had spread throughout the region were instantly shattered apart. Even the desolate plains themselves had massive, jagged scars blasted into them. Both figures were extraordinary in their power. Immortal Diancai had become a Celestial Immortal after undergoing six nine-sets of thunder tribulation; his sword-art, the ‘Minor Five Elements Extermination’, was on a level that was even higher than Ning’s own sword-arts! In addition, he was using five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords to execute his 2673 technique. Ning’s fourth stage of his [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] was probably roughly on par with his master’s techniques in terms of sword-arts, but Immortal Diancai was now a Celestial Immortal…naturally, his power was much greater, due to the fact that he was using Celestial Immortallevel power. As for Celestial Immortal Hunchmont, he was also on the same level as Patriarch Deadwood and Patriarch Goldclock; he, too, was more powerful than Ning. And the two of them had just joined forces! Naturally, they were able to completely smash apart that grand formation. “Not good.” “Our formation’s been destroyed.” “The newcomers are Hunchmont of the Northmont clan and Immortal Diancai of the Black-White College,” Patriarch Arcanum sent frantically. “Infatuation, what should we do now?” Patriarch Goldclock sent a frantic mental message as well. “Damn!” Patriarch Infatuation had an ugly look on his face. He stared at the distant Ji Ning, who was frantically dodging past the many tendrils in an attempt to buy as much time as possible. What he saw made him feel all the more unwilling to give up; although Ji Ning had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], his foundation was far too weak. Patriarch Infatuation was now certain that if the four of them were given just a bit more time, they would be able to suppress and trap Ji Ning within the divine greatclock! Once trapped and suppressed within that top-grade Pure Yang treasure, even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would be unable to escape, to say nothing of Ji Ning. But of course…a True Immortal or Empyrean God wouldn’t be so stupid as to let themselves be trapped within. Rumble… The five-peaked mountain of sword-light carried an incomparably fierce aura. The nine true mountains carried a host of illusory mountains as they came crashing forward. There was nothing to stop them. “Damn, damn, DAMN!!!” Patriarch Infatuation was both frantic and enraged; they were so very close to victory! However, he knew that the appearance of Celestial Immortal Hunchmont and Immortal Diancai meant that they were now unable to suppress Ji Ning. After all, Ji Ning had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; they were unable to kill him, and would only be able to suppress and trap him. They no longer had the time necessary to do that. “Leave!” Patriarch Infatuation sent with an angry roar. “Let’s leave.” “Damnit.” Patriarch Goldclock and Patriarch Deadwood felt similarly unwilling to just give up like this. “If we had just a few extra moments, Ji Ning would’ve been finished.” Patriarch Arcanum was unbelievably frustrated as well. “Celestial Immortal Infatuation, this is my territory, Stillwater Commandery. By doing this, your Youngflame clan is truly showing no regard for our Northmont clan.” A sonorous voice, backed by Celestial Immortal-level power, instantly shook every single inch of the surrounding area. The elderly staff-wielding hunch back and the black-robed, black-haired man had already begun moving towards them, side-by-side. “Hmph.” The four Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan couldn’t even be bothered to talk to them; they each retreated at high speed, disappearing into the distant horizons. They made quite a clean getaway. “Ji Ning.” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont and Immortal Diancai flew over to him. “Senior Hunchmont. Master.” Ning went over to welcome them. “What happened? Four Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan joined forces to attack you?” Immortal Diancai was incomparably worried, while the nearby Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was secretly shocked as well. All four of the Celestial Immortals were exceedingly powerful; logically speaking, a slightly weaker Celestial Immortal should’ve been instantly killed! Ji Ning, however, had been able to hold on until their arrival. “They have been looking to get rid of me for some time now. This time, they set up a trap here at my junior apprentice-brother Mu Northson’s place, waiting for me.” Ning’s heart was filled with guilt. Junior apprentice-brother… The thing most important to his junior apprentice-brother, the soul of his Dao-companion, had been destroyed. Ning didn’t know what his junior apprentice-brother was currently thinking right now; his junior apprentice-brother had completely been collateral damage in this attempt to kill Ning. “If I had known this would happen, when he refused, I would’ve forcibly abducted him to Swallow Mountain.” Ning was filled with endless regret. Because his junior apprentice-brother was filled with longing and love for this place, he was unwilling to listen to Ning’s suggestions, no matter what Ning said. In addition, since Ning felt that nobody would know that Northson had returned to this place, and given that Northson also had the Winged Immortal golem, he didn’t force his junior apprentice-brother to go back with him. “My junior apprentice-brother literally just returned. How did the Youngflame clan find out?” Ning mused to himself. “Ji Ning, you spoke of a junior apprentice-brother?” Immortal Diancai hurriedly asked. “Yes. Mu Northson.” Ning nodded. “You found him?” Immortal Diancai was shocked. “I found him. Let’s go back first; let’s not stay here.” Ning glanced at the surrounding area; even the wooden house which his junior apprentice-brother had built had been utterly annihilated by this battle. That earlier battle had simply been too frenzied. Ning, Immortal Diancai, and Celestial Immortal Hunchmont first returned to Stillwater City. After discussing a few affairs in detail, even Immortal Diancai agreed, “Based on what you said, Bloodcloud Hall’s attempted assassination of you was very likely done at the request of the Youngflame clan. Now that they have personally attempted to remove you…they probably won’t let matters rest like this.” “Agreed. Ji Ning, given your current level of power, you aren’t able to withstand the Youngflame clan yet. You have to keep waiting and enduring it. After you become a Celestial Immortal, your chances will be much greater,” Celestial Immortal Hunchmont urged as well. Ning was filled with regret and hate. Wait and endure? For how much longer was he supposed to wait and endure? In the past, his mother had carried the burden of knowing who their mortal enemy was by herself; she had been unwilling to tell him that their enemy was the Youngflame clan, precisely because in her eyes, her son was more important than vengeance. In addition, she was afraid; the Youngflame clan was truly far too powerful. She didn’t even dare imagine her son fighting against an ancient clan like this, one of the top ten clans of the entire world of the Grand Xia. When the Youngflame clan had been frantically searching for him, and even trapping the Ji clan within Swallow Mountain, Ning had been forced to endure and bide his time! When they had attempted to assassinate him within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, Ning had still waited and endured! He had never taken any reprisal actions against them. In fact, even upon his return from Mount Innerheart, Ning had continued to wait and bide his time…because he didn’t feel any confidence at all in his ability to deal with the Youngflame clan. The Northmont clan of Stillwater was already so incredibly powerful; what then of the Youngflame clan? The 2676 four Celestial Immortals that had appeared today were already incredibly terrifying…and this was probably not the full power the Youngflame clan could bring to bear. …… Swallow Mountain. Only after returning to Swallow Mountain did Ning release his junior apprentice-brother. “Youngflame clan…Youngflame clan…Youngflame clan…” Within a house, a series of agonized, maddened growls could be heard. The nearby servants and maids who heard the voice felt their hearts shudder. A grand formation had long ago been set up around this house, causing Northson to be completely unable to escape. Ning stood there on the hallway, listening to the heart-rending growls. He walked through the grand formation. He walked to the room. He pushed the door open. He entered. Within the room. Mu Northson was sitting on his knees like a madman, his hair tousled and even whiter than before. He raised his head to look towards Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson’s face was twisted with agony. His eyes were blood-red, and he said in hoarsely, “I will take revenge. I will take revenge! I will kill the Youngflame clan. Kill them. Kill them all. They took everything from me. I’m going to take everything from them. Annihilate them. Senior apprentice-brother, let me out!” “This was all my fault.” Ning walked to his junior apprentice-brother’s side, then knelt down as well, taking his junior apprentice-brother’s hand into his own. His junior apprentice-brother’s hand was trembling nonstop. Ning was filled with tremendous guilt. This was all purely because of the feud between him and the Youngflame clan. His junior apprenticebrother had ended up being dragged into it. “It isn’t your fault, senior apprentice-brother. It was the Youngflame clan,” Northson said hoarsely. “I will take revenge. Kill them. The more I kill, the better. Senior apprentice-brother, why don’t you let me out? Why?” “Wait. Wait a few more days,” Ning said in a low voice. “I need to keep waiting?” Northson’s eyes were filled with madness. “Junior apprentice-brother, do you think I don’t want to wipe out the Youngflame clan?” Ning’s entire body began to tremble slightly as well. “I’ve been biding my time for so many years. I want to take revenge very badly…and not just for myself. This is for my mother…my uncle…my cousin…this is for all of them. I tell you this – Wait a few more days. Once my preparations are complete, I will definitely assault the Youngflame clan’s headquarters.” “Wait how long?” Northson stared at Ning. “Soon. Very soon,” Ning said consolingly. Suddenly, Ning rose to his feet. Turning his head, he stared towards the south. His gaze seemed to pass through the walls of space and penetrate to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. In this moment, within the imperial palace of the imperial capital, the silver-haired Skyfox had just shattered the talisman which Ning had given him. Northson, noticing that Ning had suddenly risen to his feet, couldn’t help but turn his head to look at him. “…Our chance just arrived,” Ning said softly. “I’ll go on a trip to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia first. After that…it will be time for the Youngflame clan to pay their blood debt to us.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Pay their blood debt to us?” Mu Northson was startled, but then he frantically rose to his feet. “Senior apprentice-brother, this is my personal feud; even if I die, it doesn’t matter. But you…” “No need to say another word.” Ning shook his head, his gaze distant. “I’ve been wanting to fight with the Youngflame clan for quite some time now, but I’ve been biding my time and just enduring it for many years…it’s time to resolve this matter.” “Senior apprentice-brother…” Northson was both frantic and worried. Although his heart was now filled with boundless hatred, he knew exactly how powerful the Youngflame clan was; from their battle against those four Celestial Immortals, Northson learned that there was still a significant difference in power between his senior apprentice-brother and the Youngflame clan. Thus, he didn’t wish for Ning to put himself in mortal danger! “Wait here for me.” Turning his head, Ning strode out from the room. Ning’s figure quickly disappeared outside the formation. No matter how frantic Northson was, there was nothing he could do. …… “Uncle White.” Ning walked to one of the beaches of Brightheart Island, where he saw a Whitewater Hound lying on the ground, staring at the lake. “Ning, son.” The Whitewater Hound rose to its feet. “The treasures have arrived?” “Yes,” Ning said softly. “It’s time to go to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.” A hint of a desire to kill appeared in the Whitewater Hound’s eyes as well, a killing intent aimed towards the Youngflame clan. In his heart, he viewed Ji Ning as his nephew. He knew that the Youngflame clan had tried repeatedly to kill Ning…how could he not be angered by this? “Let’s go.” Swoosh! Swoosh! Ning and the Whitewater Hound soared into the heavens. Moments later, they used a void blink to quickly depart from Swallow Mountain. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Ning and the Whitewater Hound descended straight downwards from the skies. “Ji Ning!” A voice echoed in their eyes. Ning turned to look towards a particular residence within the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain, where he saw a silver-haired man. Ning and Uncle White immediately flew towards that residence. “Senior Skyfox.” Ning walked over. “Sit,” Skyfox said with a laugh. Ning immediately sat down, while the Whitewater Hound lay down next to a flower basin within the courtyard. “Ji Ning, you came quite fast,” Skyfox said with a laugh. “The treasures are important,” Ning said. Skyfox said with a loud laugh, “Don’t worry, all of the Five Elements treasures that you wanted have been assembled. Might I ask if you have prepared a high-grade Pure Yang treasure or an equivalent amount of other treasures?” As he spoke, Skyfox waved his hand. Instantly, a large number of enormous golden rocks appeared out of thin air, each of which was incomparably slick and glistening and radiated powerful auras of water. They were also slips of bamboo that were completely formed from jade, fistsized drops of water, fiery flows of lava, and giant black chunks of a mysterious earthen material. “Mmm.” Ning was instantly overjoyed upon seeing these things. “The Xia Emperor truly is a trustworthy man.” Ning waved his hand. Instantly, Immortal swords radiating freezing auras or scorching auras suddenly appeared; these were the Sole-Ki Frost Swords and the Qiangang Inferno Swords. Skyfox’s eyes lit up when he saw them. “There are a total of forty-nine Sole-Ki Frost Swords and forty-nine Qiangang Inferno Swords,” Ning said. “They should be comparable to one high-grade Pure Yang treasure, yes?” “Yes.” Skyfox laughed, then let out a sigh of praise. “Ji Ning, you truly do engage in business with style. These ninety-eight Immortal swords are indeed sufficient.” Based on how treasures were valued, a single top-grade Pure Yang treasure was comparable to a thousand top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures. This was a rough equivalency, not an absolute one! After all, there were differences amongst top-grade Pure Yang treasures as well. As for high-grade Pure Yang treasures, they were generally comparable to one or two hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures. The forty-nine Sole-Ki Frost Swords and forty-nine Qiangang Inferno Swords which Ning had brought out were a set that came from the same source! They were thus more valuable than a miscellaneous collection of top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, and so a total of ninety-eight of them was indeed enough. As far as Ning was concerned, he had a thousand of these Immortal swords, while he could only use 729 of them at most. The other two hundred-plus were extras. “Go ahead and inspect them.” Ning waved his hand, and the flying swords all moved towards Skyfox. Skyfox immediately used his Celestial Immortal power to investigate them. “Yes, they are all excellent top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. Ji Ning, these Five Elements treasures are yours.” The many Five Elements treasures in midair all flew towards Ning, and Ning accepted with a wave of his hand. Their trade had been completed! “Ji Ning, if there is anything else you need, feel free to come find me.” Skyfox was in an extremely good mood. It must be understood that the Grand Xia’s control over this world wasn’t very stable right now, while those Five Elements treasures would need time to be refined into magic treasures; it was a fine trade for him to immediately acquire such excellent magic treasures for them. “In the next two days, I think I will make some more requests of you, senior Skyfox,” Ning said. “However…this isn’t the time just yet.” Skyfox was intrigued. He nodded lightly. He then departed from the residence, but also instructed his attendant to wait here and obey Ning’s orders. …… The black-robed Ning and a white-robed, white-haired man were seated facing each other. “Let’s drink some wine,” the black-robed Ning said with a smile. “Alright.” Uncle White was puzzled. Why had Ning suddenly released his Primaltwin? What was his true body doing? …… The distant western seas, atop the secret island where the Seamless Gate’s forces had been stationed. “How useless.” Violetgrass was seated atop her royal throne, a hint of anger gathering in her brows. “The exalted Youngflame clan was unable to kill a puny Ji Ning, even when he was completely unprepared. They truly have disappointed me. It seems our Seamless Gate will have to handle this ourselves.” “Milord, let us attack Ji Ning; he’ll definitely perish.” “At most, we’ll have to spend a bit of effort on it.” “Milord, no need to be angry.” The golden-robed Celestial Immortals before the throne were all eating, drinking, and laughing. The maiden frowned. “It will indeed require a bit of effort. We’ll have to ask that old geezer to help out.” Ji Ning had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting his body; her subordinates alone might be able to kill him, but it would still involve an element of risk! For example, the four mighty Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan hadn’t been able to kill him within an extremely short amount of time, resulting in his helpers arriving to rescue him! By this same principle…although her subordinate Celestial Immortals were definitely strong enough to completely dominate Ji Ning, they wouldn’t be able to break through the protection of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” “Exalted Immortal Blackheaven is arriving.” Suddenly, a figure appeared within the palace; it was a blackrobed servant, who hurriedly said with respect, “Exalted Immortal Blackheaven has already left the Mount Stele major world and has gone to the Fifth World. He’ll arrive shortly.” “That old geezer is arriving?” The maiden frowned. All of the ten-plus golden-robed Celestial Immortals below her, however, all hurriedly rose to their feet. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven’s fame was widespread; although they were all Celestial Immortals, in the face of Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, they still felt a hint of nervousness. This was because… Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was an old freak that had power that was almost comparable to that of a Pure Yang True Immortal! He was one of the absolute most supreme of Celestial Immortals. “Ahahaha, little baby girl Violetgrass.” After a spatial ripple, a loud laugh could be heard that echoed throughout the palace. “Old bastard.” The maiden pursed her lips. A figure walked into the palace. He looked like a middle-aged man with long, unbound hair. He walked in barefoot, looking rather unkept and dissolute. “Exalted Immortal Blackheaven.” 2682 “Lord Blackheaven.” “Milord.” The other golden-robed Celestial Immortals all hurriedly called out to him. Exalted Immortal Blackheaven was someone which even the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate had to give some face to. He was quite famous within the Three Realms. In terms of raw power in a frontal assault, he wasn’t that formidable; at most, he was on the level of Celestial Immortal Infatuation. But he simply was a master of far too many strange, unorthodox techniques. Fleeing techniques? Trapping techniques? Poison techniques? He had far too many techniques at his disposal; even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would be miserable facing him! He was considered something of a legend in the Three Realms. “Little baby girl Violetgrass, I didn’t expect that you would end up begging for my help.” Exalted Immortal Blackheaven said smugly, “Ahaha, when I first saw you, you were a little baby girl…and now, you have made something of yourself.” “You owe me, you old bastard.” The maiden frowned. “Haha, yes…in the past, I did indeed promise to fulfill three requests of yours. You’ve used up one of them; this will be the second one.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven laughed. “Speak! What do you want me to do?” The maiden waved her hand, and a book appeared within it. She tossed it straight to the distant Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, who accepted it, read it, then frowned. “Ji Ning?” “Within this book are all the intelligence reports we have gathered regarding this Ji Ning. Without question, he is not on our side; if he’s given time to grow and develop, he’ll probably end up being trouble for us. Thus, it’s best to get rid of him early on. The Gatemaster has instructed me to handle it, but I want to ensure that things will go exactly as planned, which is why I’ve asked you to help,” the maiden said. “The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]?” After reading through the intelligence reports, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven’s eyes bulged out a bit. He then raised his head head and said unhappily, “Little baby girl Violetgrass, this is a practitioner of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; the only powers in the Three Realms who can teach and transmit the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] are those Daofathers. Those who have this art can be counted on two hands, and each of them are utterly terrifying. This Ji Ning’s master is most likely one of them, and could crush me with a single finger.” “What are you afraid of? You think his master would dare intervene?” Violetgrass was disdainful. “Maybe…” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven shook his head. “Too dangerous. This is too dangerous.” 2683 “You old bastard!” The maiden said angrily. She knew this Celestial Immortal Blackheaven quite well; after all, she had followed the Gatemaster and Celestial Immortal Blackheaven when she was very young. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was legendary for his cowardice and caution, as well as being skilled in unorthodox abilities. “Fine.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven said resignedly, “Perhaps the chances of his master intervening are indeed remote…since it is for you, I’ll let one of my clones go deal with Ji Ning.” “A clone?” The maiden stared. “Don’t worry. I’ll let my clone carry my ‘Polaris Godlocking Circlet’; once it emerges, he will definitely be locked in place by it, without any chance to resist.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven chortled, “In the blink of an eye, I’ll have captured him. I’ll take him away and let you decide how to handle him.” The maiden said, puzzled, “Polaris Godlocking Circlet’? What type of a treasure is that? Why haven’t I heard of it?” “I have rarely fought others, from the Primordial Era to the present era. How much do you think you know? If it wasn’t for the fact that the Three Realms are about to be swept into a storm, I wouldn’t be willing to use any of these treasures of mine.” Celestial Immortal Blackheavens said loudly, “Alright, tell me…where is this Ji Ning? Tell me, and I’ll go collect him.” The maiden, upon hearing this, laughed. “Our most recent intelligence places him at the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.” “The imperial capital of the Grand Xia?” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven frowned. “That’s not a place I can go to. The Xia Emperor isn’t easy to deal with. After he leaves the imperial capital, I’ll make my move.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Hand] “Fine. As soon as Ji Ning leaves the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, I will immediately notify you.” The maiden nodded. Celestial Immortal Blackheavens chortled merrily and nodded. “Then before I deal with Ji Ning…come! Let’s have a nice chat and catch up with each other.” The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. The black-robed Ning was seated face to face with Uncle White, while his true body had entered the underwater estate. The underwater estate. Within the Still Room. Ning’s true body was seated atop the bed of netherwater jade. Surrounding him were a large amount of Five Elements treasures, ranging from a thousand kilograms to tens of thousands of kilograms in weight. All of them were circling around Ning. Time flowed on. Some of the ripples coming from the Five Elements treasures were growing progressively weaker as they quickly began to transform from spirit-items to useless items. One could watch as the pieces of gold-gems from the Heaven Realm began to visibly decay, becoming worthless rocks that were a dull white color. The flows of liquid lava, formingly agile and graceful, swirled in the air, but were quickly being transformed into acidic water. Ning’s twin hands were glowing with five colors of light. They were skyrocketing in power as they ravenously consumed the Five Elements essence from those spirit-treasures. This continued for twelve full hours. The surrounding area was now littered with floating bits of shatter rocks, rock-like strips of bamboo, ordinary and rather disgusting acidic water, as well as a large amount of random dirt. “Whew.” Ning exhaled, lowering his head to look at his two hands. His hands were glowing with a dull light, and the power within them was truly shocking. “Success.” 2685 “The Fourth Cycle of my [Starseizing Hand]!” Ning’s eyes were blazing. However…he could sense that his current hands had reached an absolute limit in power. There would be no way for him to strengthen them any further for now. If he wanted to…he would have to get his hands to qualitatively evolve and transform to a completely new stage, one which required him to first break through to the Empyrean God level. “The Fourth Cycle of the Starseizer. My twin hands are now comparable to supreme Pure Yang treasures. When using [Three Heads, Six Arms], I’ll have the equivalent of six supreme Pure Yang treasures at my disposal…” Ning could sense how powerful his palms had become. This feeling of tremendous power really was wonderful. Magic treasures were extremely important to an Immortal cultivator. Why was it that at the early Wanxiang stage, one would be able to completely dominate a peak Zifu Disciple? The Primal level, the Void level, the Celestial Immortal level…advancing through the major stages caused an enormous increase in power, partially because one’s own elemental ki would change, but also because one’s magic treasures would dramatically improve! Even if one’s insights into the Dao were comparable to one’s foes, there would still be a huge difference in power. Wanxiang Adepts were able to use Earth-ranked treasures, Primal Daoists were able to use Heavenranked magic treasures, Void-level Earth Immortals were able to use Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and Celestial Immortals were able to use Pure Yang treasures. Magic treasures advanced in power to a truly staggering degree. For example, Ji Ning! In terms of insights into the Dao, he was actually comparable to Patriarch Goldclock. And thanks to his [Starseizing Hand] divine ability, Ning’s foundation was actually superior to Patriarch Goldclock’s. Why, then, had he been beaten silly by Patriarch Goldclock, without having any chance to fight back at all? Why was it that he was clearly weaker than Patriarch Goldclock? Precisely because Patriarch Goldclock had a top-grade Pure Yang divine greatclock! For another example, Patriarch Deadwood and Patriarch Goldclock. In terms of insights into the Dao, Patriarch Deadwood was considerably superior to Patriarch Goldclock, but Patriarch Goldclock’s power was comparable to Patriarch Deadwood’s. This was because his magic treasure made up for their disparity in power. “In the Three Realms, there are some experts who primarily rely on their magic treasures to roam the realms.” Ning had read up on many commonly known facts while at Mount Innerheart, and had learned that some Celestial Immortals relied on extremely powerful Protocosmic spirit-treasures to roam the 2686 Three Realms. By relying on some especially unique ones, they might even be able to fight against True Immortals or Empyrean Gods! “My two palms have just skyrocketed in power, from being just barely at the Pure Yang level to the very pinnacle of the Pure Yang level! They are comparable to supreme middle-grade Protocosmic spirittreasures. My close combat power has most likely increased by an enormous amount as well.” Ning knew very well that with his [Starseizing Hand] having advanced from the Third Cycle to the Fourth Cycle, the amount of physical strength he would be able to instantly unleash had just risen dramatically. In addition…his palms were now comparable to supreme Pure Yang treasures (supreme middle-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures); they were now on par with the Rahu Bow. With these two factors combined…Ning’s power had just skyrocketed up several levels! Patriarch Goldclock? Ning now held him in no regard at all. “I am stronger than Patriarch Goldclock in every conceivable way now.” Ning walked down from the netherwater jade bed, allowing all of the rubbish hovering within the room to be reduced to dust by his sword-light. …… Ning’s true body emerged from the Still Room and went to the main hall of the underwater estate. “Ji Ning.” The giant yellow bear had a smile on his face. “Mm…you’ve mastered the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]. You can now be considered a decently strong figure of the Three Realms.” Ning nodded. Although the [Starseizing Hand] ‘merely’ had a total of six cycles, he had to reach the True God level before he could train in the Sixth Cycle, while the Fifth Cycle required that he become an Empyrean God. To become a True God was simply far, far too difficult. True Gods were comparable to Daofathers in power, and so for the foreseeable future, Ning would probably only have a chance at mastering the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]. The Fifth Cycle would render Ning’s palms as powerful as a supreme Protocosmic spirit-treasure. In the Three Realms, this was enough to render many True Immortals and Empyrean Gods jealous of him. In truth, the Fourth Cycle alone was enough to make Ning’s palms truly precious ‘items’. If someone were to kill Ning and hack off his palms, they would probably be used as magic treasures! “All my power is thanks to the fact that Master Threelives was able to develop such an incredible divine ability,” Ning said. “Since Master left his legacy behind, you are the first person to reach such a level of power. Don’t underestimate yourself.” The giant yellow power laughed. “Alright…your power has now increased dramatically. The ninth level of the Wargod Hall…you now have a 99% chance of overcoming it. Wish to give it a try?” Ning was instantly delighted. The giant yellow bear was modest of speech, and would generally give very conservative estimates; for even him to use the term ‘99%’ meant that Ning’s success was virtually assured. “I’m now comparable to a supreme Celestial Immortal?” Ning said in surprise and delight. “Void-level Fiendgods can be comparable to Celestial Immortals. Since your [Starseizing Hand] has reached the Fourth Cycle, you can now compare to the most supreme of Void-level Fiendgods.” The giant yellow bear laughed, “This naturally means that you are now comparable to the most supreme of Celestial Immortals. Will you challenge the Wargod Hall or not?” “Yes, of course.” Ning nodded. …… The ninth level of the Wargod Hall. This was a completely empty void. Ning suddenly appeared out of nowhere within it. “This is…?” Ning glanced around himself. Whoosh. From far away, a drop of golden blood suddenly manifested. This drop of golden blood quickly transformed into a Fiendgod that was wearing a set of golden armor. He was tall and muscular, with blood-red hair and a long black spear in his hands. His eyes were filled with an unearthly killing intent, one strong enough to cause Ning to feel startled. Ning stared in amazement at the figure that had just appeared. “So you are Ji Ning?” The red-haired Fiendgod actually revealed a smile, a very gentle and kindly smile, the smile a father would have when looking at his child. “You are…?” Ning was rather flabbergasted. Although he had always felt that the Wargod Hall was quite peculiar, and had discovered more and more oddities as he had progressed through its ranks, he had never come to truly understand the secrets behind it. This opponent which he was now encountering here on the ninth level…he was far more powerful than any of the previous figures Ning had encountered. That aura alone…Ning could sense that this person might even be comparable to his senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon. “My name is Redsnow,” the red-haired Fiendgod said with a smile. “You are an Empyrean God?” Ning asked. The red-haired Fiendgod laughed. “Good eye. I am indeed an Empyrean God, but this is just an extremely weak clone of mine, created through a single drop of blood.” Ning understood the profound mysteries behind the art of clones. The more divine power one put into a clone, the more power the clone would have. For example, a clone that was created from a single hair would naturally be extremely weak. To a Fiendgod, blood was still quite important. A clone created from the blood of an Empyrean God would most likely be at the Celestial Immortal level. As to how powerful it was, exactly? Hard to say. “Senior Redsnow, how do you know that I am Ji Ning?” Ning asked. He found this quite peculiar. “It was the big bear who told me,” the red-haired Fiendgod laughed. “The Godking finally has a successor. All of us have waited far, far too long.” Ning’s heart shook. Waited far too long? “Come, Ji Ning. The Godking chose you as his successor. Let me see exactly how strong you are…and if you are qualified to have your position.” The longspear in the red-haired Fiendgod’s hand trembled. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The red-haired Fiendgod’s power caused Ji Ning to feel shock. He was far too powerful! That longspear…it moved like a ghost or an illusion. No matter how he used his hands to attack, be it with sword-fingers or various sword-arts, the longspear was able to easily break through his techniques. While breaking through, the longspear would also strike out in pierces, thrusts, or sideways swipes! In short…Ning was at a complete disadvantage! The longspear moved like a dragon, danced like a spirit through water. It carried inconceivably profound mysteries with it, causing Ning to feel like nothing more than a punching bag. “No more, no more!” The red-haired Fiendgod finally came to a halt. Shaking his head, he sighed. “I lost.” “Senior Redsnow, you clearly are far more powerful than…” Halfway through his sentence, Ning suddenly understood. It was most likely that his opponent’s divine power was almost exhausted! “Each time your palm clashed against my longspear, the force of the collision consumed a large amount of my divine power.” The red-haired Fiendgod looked at Ning, then said with a sigh, “The [Starseizing Hand] divine ability truly is formidable. This clone of mine has far too little divine power…after clashing against your [Starseizing Hand] ten-plus times, the divine power has almost been used up.” “If your true body was here, senior, you’d probably wipe me out in one blow,” Ning said. Although his body was extremely powerful, the red-haired Fiendgod’s spear-assaults were even more savage than the strikes of Celestial Immortal Infatuation of the Youngflame clan. Each time Ning’s hands clashed against the tip of the spear, he felt as though his hands were about to be pierced through. In truth…his skin was already covered with countless white spots! If the red-haired Fiendgod’s true body was present, he probably would’ve been able to completely destroy Ning’s physical body! Fortunately, Ning had just trained in the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]; if it had been pre-breakthrough, he probably would’ve been too weak and the red-haired Fiendgod’s divine power would have lasted longer than Ning’s divine power, which would’ve been used up first. Once his divine power was used up and he was unable to use his divine ability, Ning would end up losing! “Losing is losing.” The red-haired Fiendgod smilled merrily as he looked at Ning. “I hear that you’ve trained for less than a century?” “Yes.” Ning nodded. In his heart, he was murmuring to himself. Why did the giant yellow bear tell this Empyrean God everything? “Less than a century…your sword-arts are quite excellent,” the red-haired Fiendgod said in praise. “Facing you, all I could do was rely on [Three Heads, Six Arms] to increase the size of my palms and use them to block your longspear like miniature bucklers.” Ning shook his head, quite ashamed. He had been forced to use his hands like bucklers, and yet they had been broken past repeatedly; the difference in power was simply too great. “Haha. Even as far back as the Primordial Era, I had already mastered multiple Grand Daos, to say nothing of my current level. If your sword-arts weren’t so powerful, you probably wouldn’t have been able to deplete my divine power.” The red-haired Fiendgod let out a sigh. “Your sword-arts are quite well-suited for defense.” Ning laughed. Of course! He had the most insights in the element of Water; ever since he was young, his sword-arts had focused on defense. “Train hard and become an Empyrean God soon!” The red-haired Fiendgod laughed. “Otherwise…you won’t be able to get those fellows to be loyal and submit to you.” After saying these words, he completely disappeared, melting away into the void. “Be loyal and submit?” Ning murmured these words to himself. Ning left, returning to the main hall of the underwater estate. “Congratulations on overcoming the ninth floor,” the giant yellow bear said, a merry smile on his face. But Ning had a frown on his own face. “Empyrean God Redsnow. Who is he?” The giant yellow bear was momentarily startled. He then said calmly, “He was an Empyrean God under Master’s command…but that’s nothing you need to ask about for now. You are still far too weak; even here, in the world of the Grand Xia, just a single one of the three thousand major worlds, you still have to tread carefully. You aren’t qualified to get involved with the major powers that exist within the Three Realms.” “All I can tell you is this…the Three Realms aren’t as simple as you might believe them to be. Not even Patriarch Subhuti will tell you everything before you become truly powerful. For the weak, the less you know, the better. Too much knowledge will be the death of you. The abilities of the truly major powers of the Three Realms are beyond what you can imagine. Even Master…in the face of the storm that swept the Three Realms long ago, he was nothing special. Even Patriarch Subhuti, who was even more powerful than Master, was afraid to take part in that war. So…how much of a chance do you think you have?” 2691 Ning said softly, “The destruction of Pangu’s World…a major secret is concealed within it? Can it be that everything I learned was wrong?” “What you and your friends know is merely what the Daofathers wish for you to know. Do not ask anything else; only after you become a True Immortal or an Empyrean God are you qualified to know. As for Celestial Immortals…major powers can kill countless Celestial Immortals with a wave of the hand,” the giant yellow bear said. “Do you wish to go to the Treasure Hall to choose a treasure? You aren’t an Empyrean God yet; there’s actually no point for you to choose a Pure Yang treasure, you know.” “I will. Of course I will!” Ning said hurriedly. “Rahu Bow.” Ning sent out a spiritual call. Whoosh. A black-robed youth instantly appeared next to him. “I’m about to procure a bowstring for you. Choose what type of bowstring you would like,” Ning said. “Ahahaha…you are finally going to get a new bowstring for me?” The black-robed youth was instantly delighted. He then turned his head to look towards the giant yellow bear. “Big bear, where’s that scroll I wrote out earlier?” “Here.” The giant yellow bear waved his hand, and a scroll appeared out of nowhere, hovering in the air. “Master, this scroll includes the three types of bowstrings that are the best suited for me. Of course…they aren’t cheap. The three of them are of three different levels; naturally, the higher the level, the better,” the black-robed youth said excitedly. “Godbows…the body of the bow and the string of the bow are two separate parts. For a Protocosmic spirit-treasure like myself, a powerful body is the most important part, while bowstrings are easier to create and procure. The most important quality is their tensile strength and ability to store power, allowing the maximum amount of power from the formations engraved into the body of the bow to flow through them.” Ning accepted the scroll. Opening it, he said in surprise, “All are fire-attribute bowstrings? But your body is water-attribute, right?” “Fire and water, body and bowstring; that’s what is necessary for the power to be tremendous. Can it be that you have forgotten that when you discovered me within the Crescent world, I used the power of heaven and earth to form arrows of flame? In addition, the two arrows that you discovered; weren’t they also fire-attribute?” The black-robed youth said. “Understood.” Ning laughed, then nodded. “Don’t worry; I’ll definitely procure a superb bowstring for you.” The main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. High noon. “Uncle White, have you prepared the list?” Ning looked towards the white-robed, white-haired man before him. “I prepared it long ago. Since we are going to act against the Youngflame clan, we naturally need to spare no expense.” Uncle White handed Ning a leather scroll. Ning lowered his head to read through it, nodding slightly. To deal with the Youngflame clan… Ning already had a plan for doing this. But of course, plans rarely survived contact with the enemy. Since he wasn’t sure about the trump cards which the Youngflame clan had in their possession, Ning naturally had to make multiple levels of preparations. “Ji Ning.” A voice rang out. A silver-haired man, Skyfox, came walking in. Smiling, he said, “Do you have some more good news for me?” “I do indeed,” Ning said with a laugh. “Let me show you a few things.” Whoosh. Ten globes suddenly appeared in the air around Ning. One of the globes was a watery green, while the other nine globes were a fiery red. Every single globe was emanating incomparably terrifying ripples of power. “These are…” Skyfox’s eyes turned round and huge. “Can these all be…” “Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls!” Ning nodded as he spoke. Skyfox cleared his throat, glancing towards Ning in disbelief. These Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls…they were a set of Pure Yang treasures that were quite famous, even back in Pangu’s World. They could transform into nine entire worlds! When a pearl smashed into a foe, it was as though an entire world was smashing into that person. But of course, that was when these Pure Yang treasures were used to their maximum potential. “I need a set of top-grade Immortal-ranked Fuxi Staff Formation staffs.” 2693 “I need twenty top-grade Pure Yang spirit-pills, or an equivalent amount of low-grade Pure Yang spiritpills.” “This list has a bowstring on it, as well as some cheaper alternatives.” “I also need the objects written on this leather scroll.” Ning handed over two different leather scrolls. Ning was unable to use Pure Yang treasures for now. By the time he was able to use them, his power would probably be far greater than his current level of power, and in addition, his palms were already comparable to supreme Pure Yang treasures. Thus…he naturally chose to sell off this treasure, so as to increase his power right away! “Ji Ning, you really are…” Upon seeing the leather scrolls, Skyfox’s face turned ashen. “Your requests are too excessive.” “If the Xia Emperor isn’t willing, I won’t force this trade,” Ning said. “I can go seek out my fellow senior disciples.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Mountain The set of Pure Yang treasures which Ji Ning had just taken out, the Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls, had been chosen by him from the Treasure Hall. They were the most valuable items which Ning could choose from the Pure Yang treasures available to him. None of the formidable Pure Yang treasures which Daoist Threelives had left behind in his Treasure Hall were weak; even the cheapest was at least as valuable as a high-grade Pure Yang treasure. However…there were too few Pure Yang treasures, after all. Even Daoist Threelives wasn’t able to collect too many of them. After overcoming the ninth level of the Wargod Hall, Ning had only been given a total of eighteen Pure Yang treasures to choose from. And so… He had chosen the most valuable item, the Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls. Nine of these pearls were highgrade Pure Yang treasures, while the nuclear pearl that served as the core of the formation was a topgrade Pure Yang treasure! In addition, this was a treasure-set that belonged to the exceedingly expensive ‘world-type’ of magic treasures. One could smash them into foes with the force of a minor world, but could also use their power to suppress and bind a foe, causing them to feel as though they were mired in quickstand. They were far more powerful than the Primordial Nightriver contained within the Thousandbull Sword. This sort of world-type Pure Yang treasure was exceedingly rare and precious to begin with; this set alone was most likely comparable to four or five ordinary top-grade Pure Yang treasures! “The Fuxi Staff Formation, the items on the first list, and the arrows are minor matters,” Skyfox said helplessly. “Master can also provide you with the twenty top-grade Pure Yang spirit-pills that you have requested. But the bow…your request is too extravagant. Such bowstrings are not so easily procured.” “The treasures and Pure Yang spirit-pills that I have requested can most likely be procured by any True Immortal or Empyrean God who asks his friends for them. The most important item on the list is that bowstring. If it wasn’t for that bowstring, I wouldn’t even be willing to give up this set of Pure Yang treasures in exchange,” Ning said. “The Xia Emperor is of the Primordial Imperial Clan; ordinary True Immortals and Empyrean Gods might not be able to produce such a bowstring, but I trust the Xia Emperor is.” After having stayed at Mount Innerheart for some time, Ning knew exactly how powerful the Primordial Imperial Clan was. Pangu’s World… 2695 Back then, there was no such thing as the three thousand major worlds or trillion minor worlds! There was just a single world; Pangu’s World! And back then, the Primordial Imperial Clan ruled over the entirety of the human race! They had quite a few major powers who were at the Daofather level. Although Pangu’s World ended up shattering, and although the Primordial Imperial Clan was no longer as mighty as it once was, and although the Xia Emperor and the Xiamang clan were merely of a branch of that lineage…the Xia Emperor’s roots were far beyond the likes of an ordinary True Immortal or Empyrean God. …… Within a dark void. The black-robed Xia Emperor was seated in the lotus position. He opened his eyes. “Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls? They actually ended up in Ji Ning’s hands! A young fellow like him, who hasn’t even overcome his Celestial Tribulation; how is it that he is able to produce such a set of Pure Yang treasures? And such precious ones at that! Strange, truly strange…” Strange things like this could be explained with a single, simple word. That word was…luck! Only an extremely lucky person could have such results! “The storm is about to descend. Pure Yang treasures like these Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls…they will be greatly desired by many True Immortals and Empyrean Gods.” The black-robed Xia Emperor pondered privately for a time. “A bow…it seems I’ll have to go see Uncle.” The Xia Emperor had long ago left the Primordial Imperial Clan to set off on his own, establishing his own Xiamang lineage. Thus, he would rarely see the other members of the Primordial Imperial Clan. …… “Master has sent word.” Skyfox looked towards Ning, who immediately listened carefully. “He has agreed to all your other requests, save for that bowstring; that will take some time,” Skyfox explained. “Master is currently thinking of a way to try and procure one. You should know that the bowstring you have requested is one of the most supreme bowstrings of the Three Realms.” Ning nodded lightly. “I’m not in a rush.” In an ordinary situation, it was hard to say whether he would be able to trade his Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls for the treasures he had requested. However, since a storm was about to descend, and the pearls were items that could be used right away, whereas a bowstring…a bowstring had to be matched with a similarly superb bow! As for the truly supreme master archers of the Three Realms, they each already had their own favored bows. Thus, Ning felt comfortable that at a time like this, the Xia Emperor would be willing to help with this exchange. “As a member of the Primordial Imperial Clan and as a disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright, and as a supposed life-long friend of Daofather Raindragon…although a bowstring like this is hard to find, the Xia Emperor should be able to succeed.” Ning chose to wait. Skyfox elected to temporarily withdraw. Time flowed on. Four entire hours passed. It was now nightfall. Skyfox once more appeared before him. “From the look on your face, senior Skyfox, I can guess…that the bowstring has been found,” Ning said with a laugh. “Master spent up quite a bit of energy, but he finally managed to find a bowstring for you.” Skyfox smiled as he handed Ning a golden gourd. “All the items you desire are within this gourd. Take a close look.” They were within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia; he wasn’t worried that Ning would take the treasures and instantly flee. Forget about Ji Ning; even the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods of the Seamless Gate and the Myriad Demons Cave wouldn’t dare to challenge the Xia Emperor within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia! “Such generosity! This gourd is a top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure that holds a small dimension within it,” Ning said with a laugh. “A gift,” Skyfox said in a very casual manner. Ning held that golden gourd in his hands, carefully inspecting its contents. Within the golden gourd hovered spirit-pills with powerful auras, each of which contained an astonishing amount of extremely pure elemental ki. They were all Pure Yang-level spirit-pills. There were also a large number of precious objects floating within the gourd, the ones which Uncle White needed to set up his formations. There was also a set of Fuxi Staff Formation staffs which Uncle White needed! The more powerful a set of Fuxi Staff Formation staffs, the greater the power of the formations. “Bowstring…arrows…” Ning was absolutely satisfied with what he saw. A pitch-black bowstring hung in the air within the golden globe, and next to it were a total of a hundred fiery arrows. Naturally, these arrows were merely high-grade Immortal-ranked treasures. Within the underwater estate. “Ahaha, a bowstring comes!” The nearby black-robed youth was extremely excited. “Master, you truly are amazing. You aren’t even a Celestial Immortal, but were able to procure such a fine bowstring. Although it’s simply a bowstring…it’s even more precious than an ordinary top-grade Pure Yang spirit-treasure.” Ning smiled, personally affixing the bowstring onto the body of the bow. After connecting the two together… Rumble… The black greatblow instantly flew up to hover in the air. Light cascaded off of its body like a series of waves of black water. The body of the bow was clearly glowing with a black, watery light, but when the light reached the bowstring, it transformed into a fiery light. “Ahahaha…with this bowstring, I’m now as strong as I was back during the Primordial Era.” The blackrobed youth was absolutely excited. Ning smiled and nodded. The Rahu Bow was a high-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure; logically speaking, such a treasure couldn’t possibly be damaged under normal situations! However, its bowstring had ended up snapping; this was because the body of the bow and the bowstring…actually had been qualitatively different in power. The bowstring was comparatively more fragile; in fact, there were some True Gods who could break apart the bowstring of a godbow! If they suddenly released their strength and pulled the bowstring with full power, the bowstring might just snap! After doing that, they would replace the snapped bowstring with an even better one! This was why, even when its bowstring was destroyed, the Rahu Bow had been able to use the power of heaven and earth to attack Ning. “I now have my godbow and my arrows, while my [Starseizing Hand] has reached the Fourth Cycle. Although I only have a basic level of skill in [Houyi’s Archery], it’s enough to unleash tremendous power.” Ning was filled with eagerness. He was only at a basic level of skill in archery…but that was in comparison to the full [Houyi’s Archery]. Compared to others in the Three Realms, Ning could already be considered an expert archer; after all, he was even able to use heartforce. Heartforce was mysterious and unfathomable! Unlike other types of force, it was extremely difficult to sense and touch…but it truly was extraordinarily powerful. The ability to use heartforce was a dividing factor between those who were and were not able to successfully become divine archers of the Three Realms. Ning had clearly already passed through that doorway, and he had also learned some of the knacks of using divine power from [Houyi’s Archery]. Now, it was matched with a high-grade Protocosmic godbow…and his own strength with the [Starseizing Hand]! “After I reach a more profound level in [Houyi’s Archery], I’ll be able to easily kill any foe within a million kilometers.” Ning was filled with eagerness. …… 2698 And so, Ning once more entered the underwater estate, preparing to train in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. Previously, when fighting against the Fiendgod Redsnow, Ning had understood that although his body was seemingly impregnable, if he were to run into a True Immortal or Empyrean God, he would probably be destroyed with utter ease. Thus, he had to increase his power as soon as possible. After all, a storm was coming to shake the Three Realms; it was always a good idea to increase his strength when possible. Since he was about to truly go all-out against the Youngflame clan…how could he not move to improve his odds of survival? “Glug.” Ning began to swallow down one-spirit pill after another, as quickly as if he were eating peanuts. He began to dissolve them within his body. To train in the Third Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ning had needed to use a total of a hundred top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills. To train in the Sixth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], the cost would be a thousand times as great; a total of a hundred thousand top-grade Immortal-ranked spirit-pills would be needed! This was roughly comparable to a hundred top-grade Pure Yang spirit-pills! If he had to use treasures to trade for them, a single set of Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls would be insufficient; this time, Ning had merely acquired the equivalent of twenty top-grade Pure Yang spirit-pills. Rumble… Ning’s body began to rumble without pause. His bones felt as though mountains were smashing into them, and his flesh felt like they were being ground away by two colliding continents. His divine body was being repeatedly enhanced, and it was growing increasingly powerful. The Fourth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] – Success! The Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] – Success! “Whew.” Ning finally came to a halt. “After using up half the spirit-pills, I’ve finally mastered the Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. The remaining spirit-pills…I should keep them. In a life-and-death battle, elemental ki is used up far too fast; these spirit-pills can be used to replenish my energy. Mmm…my divine body is now comparable to a highgrade Immortal-ranked treasure.” Ning felt as though his kicks and punches now contained incomparably terrifying might. His divine body was truly like a magic treasure! His speed had also been increased to a truly swift new level. …… 2699 Ning departed from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Although he had only stayed there for a total of two days, his power had skyrocketed in an astonishing manner! He had reached the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] and the Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], as well as fixed his Rahu Bow…and even Uncle White, a master of formations, had increased in power dramatically. “King Yan’s Estate.” Ning reached the outside of King Yan’s Estate. This time, he was planning to deal with the Youngflame clan; how could he forget the person who hated the Youngflame clan the most, the one who was willing to sacrifice everything to destroy them…his cousin, Yuchi Xiyue? He didn’t need to make any requests; he went straight into the King’s estate, and he quickly found Yuchi Xiyue’s. “Cousin.” Ning and Xiyue were meeting privately within a veranda. With but a though, Ning completely blocked off the surrounding space. “What is it?” Xiyue, seeing how Ning was acting, couldn’t help but ask this question. “It is time for the Youngflame clan to pay their debt of blood,” Ning said softly. Xiyue was completely shocked. She instantly jumped to her feet. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Commandery Of course Yuchi Xiyue wanted revenge; for the sake of revenge, she would be able to sacrifice everything, even her life! This was because her father, Yuchi Mount, had always dreamed of revenge. She was going to fulfill her father’s dream. For the sake of the Yuchi clan…she would ensure that their blood debt would be repaid! But she also knew exactly how powerful the Youngflame clan was. Ji Ning had, after all, trained for less than a century; how could he be a match for the Youngflame clan? “Little brother, don’t go too crazy,” Xiyue said worriedly. “Cousin, don’t worry; I already have a plan,” Ning said confidently. “Although I’m not confident in being able to kill the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan…I’ll teach them a lesson they’ll never forget.” Yuchi Xiyue was still very worried. “Are you truly confident?” “Of course.” Ning nodded. He already had the power of a supreme Celestial Immortal; he no longer held Patriarch Goldclock and Patriarch Deadwood in any regard. Only Patriarch Infatuation still posed a bit of a threat to him, but despite that, he was now capable of simply standing there and letting Patriarch Infatuation attack as he pleased; his body, now protected by the Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], wouldn’t care about the blows at all. In addition, this time, he wouldn’t be ambushed; instead, he was going to challenge them, after having made a plethora of preparations! “Little brother…don’t be in too much of a rush. We really don’t need to rush it,” Xiyue said hurriedly. “We can wait for a while longer; let’s wait until you grow more powerful. I’ve already waited for so many years; there’s no rush. Little brother, I have no other family members left; I truly do not wish to lose you as well.” “Cousin, am I the rash, impetuous sort?” Ning asked. Xiyue was startled. She thought back through her memories… 2701 Although Ning could be quite berserk at times, he handled every matter in quite a competent manner. For example, when he elected to participate in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, many had believed that given he had only trained for thirty years, he should not attend. But in the end? He became the champion of the Conclave! Last time, he had been ambushed by four mighty Celestial Immortals. He had been completely caught offguard, which was why he had ended up in such a sorry state! And yet…he still didn’t let the Youngflame clan get what they wanted! Given that Ning was now making such meticulous plans and preparations, and given that his power had just increased dramatically…he naturally had a fairly high degree of confidence in his plans! However, there was no such thing as an absolute. Ning wouldn’t dare say that he was 100% confident in his plans. An ancient clan like the Youngflame clan might, for example, suddenly reveal a True Immortal or Empyrean God; at that point, Ning would just stare blankly. Still, based on what Ning knew…the Youngflame clan shouldn’t have any Pure Yang True Immortals or Empyrean Gods. “You’ve truly decided?” Xiyue looked at Ning. “Yes.” Ning nodded. “I’ve just come to let you know, cousin, before I actually carry it all out.” “Little brother, I truly can no longer see through you. Ever since you returned to the world of the Grand Xia…I’ve been unable to see through you. However…Grandfather spoke truly; you are now very powerful.” Xiyue looked at Ning. Gritting her teeth, a hint of fierceness flashed through her eyes as she said, “When you go deal with the Youngflame clan, I shall go with you!” “You’ll come with me?” Ning was surprised. She was merely a Primal Daoist! “Little brother, you can go kill the more powerful Immortal cultivators. As for the weaker ones and the mortals…leave all of them to me. In the past, every member of my Yuchi clan, men and women, children and elders, cultivators and mortals…they were all slaughtered. Not a single one of them escaped the butchery.” Xiyue ground her teeth with hatred. “What they did to my Yuchi clan in the past…I’ll repay it unto them!” “Killing mortals?” Ning shook his head. “No. You are an Immortal cultivator; killing mortals will incur enormous amounts of sin. In addition, the Youngflame clan has simply far too many clansmen. To kill that many mortals…karmic sinflames would instantly descend from the heavens. Given your level of power, the karmic sinflames would instantly roast you to death.” Those with a low level of sin would be surrounded by a corrosive sin-aura. Those with a high level of sin would be surrounded by the bloody light of sin. For example, eleven of the Twelve Monster-Kings of the Eastern Flows were all surrounded by the bloody light of sin. If one had an even higher level of sin…karmic sinflames would descend! Ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals would be immediately roasted to death by the descent of karmic sinflames. Only truly terrifying demons were capable of surviving within karmic sinflames. His cousin was definitely not strong enough to resist karmic sinflames! “I have many subordinates. I’ll lead them; in fact, I’ll even command a large group of soldiers to come with me.” His cousin gritted her teeth and said, “You kill the strong ones, they can kill the mortals. This was what the Youngflame clan did!” “Even so…as the commander, a degree of sin will gather around you as well. The Youngflame clan has millions of Immortal cultivators. As for mortals…they number in the hundreds of millions, at least. It’s hard to say exactly how many of them there are. Countless tiny strands of sin will accumulate upon you…and you’ll at least have the bloody light of sin covering your body,” Ning said. His cousin’s eyes were completely red. “I’m not afraid. I’ve waited far, far too long for this day.” “There’s no way I can agree.” Ning rose to his feet. “Wait for news from me.” Swoosh! Ning soared straight into the air, quickly vanishing from the skies above the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Xiyue was momentarily startled. She then let out a fierce, frustrated scream. She wanted to go kill! Swallow Mountain. Ning led Uncle White back to Swallow Mountain. He also summoned Little Qing to him, and together they went to Mu Northson’s room. “Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson looked towards Ning, his body shaking, his eyes bloodshot. “Are we going to the Youngflame clan now?” “Of course. Master has waited for this day for a long, long time,” Little Qing said excitedly. “Master…I wish to go as well.” Ning frowned. “I thought I told you that you are to stay at Swallow Mountain and guard it.” “Master, look.” Little Qing’s body flickered. Instantly, a second white-robed Little Qing appeared next to her. Both of them emanated the aura of a Void-level Earth Immortal. “I know that you have a Primaltwin…eh? Your Primaltwin has become a Void-level Earth Immortal as well?” Ning said with some surprise. He had many treasures; naturally, he wouldn’t be stingy with them with Little Qing and Uncle White. Uncle White hadn’t created a Primaltwin, because the creation of a Primaltwin required the splitting of one’s soul, causing the power of both souls to start off much lower. Uncle White knew that Ning was going to deal with the Youngflame clan, and so he wasn’t willing to lower his power. Little Qing, however, was adept at survival to begin with; naturally, she had prepared a Primaltwin long ago. By now, her Primaltwin had also become a Void-level Earth Immortal. “My Primaltwin can stay here at Swallow Mountain; it’s enough to control the grand formations,” Little Qing said hurriedly. “Master, I’m your spirit-beast. You are going out to do battle; how can I not accompany you? In addition, you don’t need to worry about my safety at all; I’m far faster than you when I use a Greater Spatial Teleportation. You have to use Dao-seals, whereas I can use the technique directly.” Ning nodded. “Fine! However, you must obey my orders.” “Of course. You are my master,” Little Qing said with a chortle. “Mm.” Ning nodded, then looked towards Northson. “Junior apprentice-brother, I need to rest a bit. Tomorrow morning, we’ll head to one of the three commanderies the Youngflame clan controls; Easthill Commandery.” The Youngflame clan was even more powerful than the Northmont clan; it had three full commanderies. Thus, their headquarters were divided into three parts as well; or at least, that was what the intelligence reports were able to discover. Every single one of the headquarters took up an enormous amount of land, and the number of clansmen numbered in the hundreds of millions! There were more than a million Immortal cultivators in total; this was definitely equivalent to some of the largest clans. Each of the headquarters was comparable in power to the Northmont clan’s headquarters in Stillwater Commandery. Three great headquarters; Ning was only able to choose one. “Alright.” A savage light flashed through Northson’s eyes. “Tomorrow. Fine. Tomorrow, then.” He looked with a bit of worry towards Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother, if you aren’t confident in carrying it out, don’t go. Don’t go too crazy just because I want to take revenge.” Northson was worried that Ning was being rash. “My differences with the Youngflame clan are as irreconcilable as water and fire. I was willing to bide my time and endure it, but the Youngflame clan refused to give me time,” Ning said. “In the eyes of the Youngflame clan, I’m a potential threat; they won’t permit me to continue to grow.” The longer Ning lived, the more the Youngflame clan would worry. After all, Ning’s rate of improvement was simply too fast. “Right.” Northson nodded lightly. “Take a rest.” Ning laughed, then gently patted Northson on the shoulder. “Get some rest tonight and recover some of your energy. Tomorrow, we’ll truly begin our war against the Youngflame clan. We’ll be 2704 facing an ancient clan that has existed for countless years, and all the tricks they have to muster. The number of Immortal cultivators alone is at least more than a million!” Northson, upon imagining a million cultivators, couldn’t help but feel his heart tremble. Although most likely the vast majority of these cultivators were merely Zifu Disciples…quantity was a quality of its own as well. In addition, this was the headquarters of an entire tribe; it would be surrounded by layers of formations, and even Celestial Immortals who barged in would probably perish. Only Ning, by relying on the Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], would dare to charge straight in! “Senior apprentice-brother, you have to be careful.” Northson looked at Ning, filled with worry. Although he was going to fight as well…he had already prepared himself mentally for death! In addition, there was an enormous difference in power between himself and those four Celestial Immortals; thus, the high-level fights would primarily depend on Ning’s power. “Hahaha…” Ning laughed. “Don’t underestimate me, your senior apprentice-brother.” …… Night. It was as cool as water. Ning was seated by himself atop the roof, staring dowards the bright moon in the sky. “Tomorrow, I shall battle against the Youngflame clan.” “Father. Mother. Just watch and see. One of the ten most powerful clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the Youngflame clan…I’ll rock them from top to bottom,” Ning said softly. He then took a big gulp out of the gourd of wine he was holding in his hands, letting the wine spill out and dribble across his chest. Alas…his father and his mother wouldn’t be able to see any of it. In the past, his father and his mother hadn’t even wanted for him to go deal with Snowdragon Mountain! Snowdragon Mountain had been destroyed years ago. Nowadays, in Ning’s eyes…it was nothing more than a small local sect. Annihilation of such a sect was simplicity itself. The Youngflame clan…now that was a truly tough nut to crack! However, it was nothing more than a tough nut. Four Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan had acted against him, but hadn’t been able to successfully do anything to him back then…to say nothing of now! …… The next day. Dawn. Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Uncle White, and Little Qing all soared into the skies of Swallow Mountain together. Two youths, a large snowy-white hound, an azure serpent…this was a gathering that looked quite odd, and it was a gathering that was going to venture forth to deal with the ancient Youngflame clan! They were going to charge straight into the headquarters of the Youngflame clan! “Let’s go.” Ning unleashed his elemental ki, covering everyone with it before performing a void blink. …… Easthill Commandery. This was an extremely distant commandery that had many mountains and rivers within it. In terms of raw size, it was significantly larger than Stillwater Commandery. The Oldjade mountain range was the most important mountain range in Easthill Commandery, because this massive mountain range that stretched nearly a million kilometers was one of the three headquarters of the Youngflame clan. There were an unfathomable number of Youngflame clansmen who lived here, with the number of Immortal cultivators numbering over a million. As for the number of formations and restrictions laid down here over the course of countless eons, that was even more unfathomable. Whoosh. Four figures suddenly appeared in midair. Two youths, a large snowy-white hound, and an azure serpent. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning and the others stared far away at the distant mountain range, which stretched off as far as the eye could see. Although they had yet to enter, they each sensed the waves of power and might emanating from within the mountain range. This was the might of a grand formation that was continuously active, protecting the mountains. “Senior apprentice-brother, how do we get in?” Mu Northson sent frantically. Little Qing looked forward, then mumbled to herself, “Countless mortals, over a million Immortal cultivators…who knows how many formations have been set up to protect an ancient headquarters like this one, that has existed for countless eons. The successive generations of Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan have definitely strove to set down many formations. A place like this is like a steel wall. How are we supposed to get inside? What should we do?” Little Qing glanced at the nearby Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother…” Northson looked towards Ning as well. In the face of a place like this, they didn’t have any ideas on how to enter. It was too tightly guarded! This was a far more tightly guarded place than the Eastwoods mountain range; although this was just one of three bases for the Youngflame clan, it still surpassed the headquarters of the Northmont clan of Stillwater! The Youngflame clan had definitely given birth to a good number of Celestial Immortals, over the passage of countless years from the Fiendgod Era to the present day. The headquarters of such an ancient clan…entering it probably was as dangerous as entering Swallow Mountain, which was guarded by the grand formations of the Mount Innerheart League! “Of course we can’t force our way in.” Ning shook his head. “It is layered with formations; once we force our way in, we’ll instantly become trapped within the formations.” When Bloodcloud Hall had attempted to assassinate him, Ning had been trapped within the formations of the Eastwoods mountain range; in the end, he had to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal in order to escape. “Then what should we do?” Northson asked. “Have you forgotten how I entered the forbidden region?” Ning glanced at Northson. Northson was startled. “I’ll use the same method to infiltrate the Oldjade mountain range,” Ning said with a smile. The practitioners of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] were the most mysterious and secretive figures of the entire 2707 Three Realms; they were able to use the art to easily slip into Immortal residences or even the Celestial Court. Just two hours later. Within Ning’s mobile Immortal estate. “Spare me, senior. Spare me, senior! If I, Youngflame Blackburn, have offended you in some way, senior, please let me know!” A tall, thin, middle-aged man was staring in terror at the masked, black-robed man before him. He didn’t even think about fighting back…because this person was simply far too powerful. He had clearly been within a commandery city earlier, but this person had suddenly appeared, completely paralyzing him through just a simple Dao Domain, then drawing him into a mobile Immortal estate. For his Dao Domain to be so powerful…this person could probably kill him, Youngflame Blackburn, with a single thought. “If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead,” the masked, black-robed man said in a gravelly voice. Blackburn let out a secret sigh of relief. If this mysterious figure truly had killed him right away, that really would’ve been a miserable way to die. He hurriedly said, “Senior, if there’s anything you need, please let me know; this junior shall definitely do everything in my power to accomplish it for you.” “Oh?” The masked, black-robed figure seemed to chuckle. “I wish to know a few things, so…I wish to examine your memories.” “Examine my memories?” Blackburn was surprised. He said uneasily, “Senior…” “I will soulscour you. If you don’t resist, the side effects probably won’t be that bad. If you do, however…I’ll have to use force,” the masked, black-robed man said. “Will you accept it willingly or not?” Blackburn felt both miserable and helpless. Hesitating for just a fraction of a moment, he gritted his teeth then said, “This junior is willing.” “Mm.” The masked, black-robed man immediately reached out, pressing his hand against Blackburn’s head, then using the Thousandstar soulscouring technique. …… In midair. Ning was standing atop a cloud. He nodded slightly. “The first was a Primal Daoist. Primal Daoists have fairly high statuses within the Youngflame clan and know a decent amount of things. From what I saw…in Easthill Commandery, there is a clear stratification amongst its denizens, as well as many layers of 2708 formations. Even a Primal Daoist like Youngflame Blackburn was only permitted to go to some of the regions in the commandery, and he only knew the methods to bypass a few of the formations.” This soulscouring had only resulted in him learning about part of the grand formations set up in this particular area. “It seems I need to find more Primal Daoists and do a close investigation.” Swoosh. Ning immediately used a void blink and disappeared. …… Ning began to act against a number of Primal Daoists of the Youngflame clan within the Easthill Commandery. Different Primal Daoists had different statuses; some knew many things about the formations protecting their headquarters, while some only knew a little bit! Slowly, Ning began to build a general picture of the formations within the Oldjade mountain range of Easthill Commandery. He conveyed what information he had to Uncle White. Uncle White was a grandmaster of formations; he would definitely be able to come up with a superior method for breaking in! …… “Hahaha! You want to soulscour me?” An azure-robed man let out a wild laugh. “As I thought…you are the one the Patriarchs spoke of, yes? Ji Ning!” “Not good.” The masked, black-robed Primaltwin Ning instantly felt that something was wrong. He immediately willed it… Whoosh! A sword-light appeared out of nowhere, piercing straight through the body of the azure-robed man, chopping it in half. The azure-robed man’s Primal Turtle-Snake instantly flew out, but as the sword-light chopped towards it, the Primal Turtle-Snake was shattered as well. The human-shaped soul within began to attempt to leave for reincarnation. “Do you think that just because you tried to self-detonate, that you would avoid my soulscouring?” Ning held a black jewel in his hand. The black jewel produced a powerful attractive power, drawing the man’s soul inside. When killing a Primal Daoist and destroying his Primal Turtle-Snake, one would generally destroy the soul as well. However, Ning’s power vastly surpassed his foe’s; he was able to destroy the Primal TurtleSnake but keep the soul intact. His plan was to collect it then soulscour it. “Soulscour? Hahaha…” The human-shaped soul of the azure-robed man let out an incomparably wild laugh. His soul began to crack apart…and then it completely shattered and dissipated. “What?!” A moment later, Ning let out a sigh to himself. Experts with sufficiently powerful souls were capable of splitting their souls. For example, long ago Ning himself had split his soul to create his Primaltwin…but what this person had just done was to split his soul into multiple pieces, causing it to shatter. “He actually shattered his own soul.” Ning sighed to himself. “It seems the Youngflame clan does have some extremely loyal clansmen.” “He was able to guess that I am Ji Ning? He was quite smart.” Ning didn’t actually feel surprised; this was because he had already soulscoured quite a few Primal Daoists, through which he discovered that the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan had already sent out an order for all members of the Youngflame clan to be extremely careful. They had to keep an eye out for Ji Ning secretly infiltrating their clan! “Last time, four Celestial Immortals worked together to attack me. Although they failed, they were able to learn that I most likely train in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art],” Ning mused to himself. “Practitioners of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] are highly skilled in transformations and subterfuge; it would be strange if the Youngflame clan didn’t take precautions.” “But so what if they do take precautions? In the Three Realms…practitioners of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] can enter and depart from even places as tightly guarded as the Celestial Court as they so please.” This was the Dao of a King! Even though they knew that Ning trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], there was no way they could prevent him from entering the Oldjade mountain range. But despite that… Given that the enemy was prepared, it would be harder for him to reach his target. “The Youngflame is probably already aware of this Primal Daoist’s death. However…he’s just a single person. It shouldn’t be too bad,” Ning mused to himself. The Youngflame clan was an enormous organization; given that this was an era of dangerous undercurrents, the death of a single Primal Daoist shouldn’t be viewed as a major matter. But if two died in a row…this would probably draw attention. “I’ll leave it at this for now.” “Uncle white.” The black-robed Ning walked to a hall within his mobile Immortal estate. Within the hall were Uncle White, Mu Northson, and Little Qing. “How’d it go?” Uncle White looked over. “Although I carefully compared every person I seized to figures I saw in the intelligence reports of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain…unexpectedly, in the end, I still ran into one that wasn’t afraid of death.” The black-robed Ning shook his head. “That Youngflame Xun committed suicide; I wasn’t even able to forcibly soulscour him.” “In any large clan, there will always be some who are willing to sacrifice themselves for their clan.” Uncle White nodded. “In total, I soulscoured eight Primal Daoists. I’ve already acquired quite a bit of information regarding the Easthill Commandery headquarters of the Youngflame clan.” The black-robed Ning said, “As to how we should deal with those formations…that’ll be up to you, Uncle White.” “Let me think it over.” Uncle White nodded. The memories of each of the eight Primal Daoists included parts of the formations protecting their clan’s headquarters. Ning recorded everything down onto a jade strip, then handed it to Uncle White. Uncle White, ruminating through these findings, was able to come to a rough conclusion regarding the formations around the Oldjade mountain range. …… Within the Oldjade mountain range of the Easthill Commandery. This mountain range of more than a million kilometers was simply too vast; the mountain range even had some plains, lakes, and a large number of commandery cities within them. There were very, very many commandery cities that took up a hundred or a thousand kilometers, and a large number of ordinary mortals resided within them. Every single city was able to support over ten million people. Lakes, plains, rivers, mountains…the commandery cities were located everywhere. The Oldjade mountain range was definitely the undisputed terrain of the Youngflame clan! “Patriarch! Patriarch!” A youth came running towards a palace at high speed. This palace was completely composed of white jade, and it was surrounded by a large number of beautiful maidservants. Each of these maidservants could be described as peerless beauties. Some were so scantily clad, they might as well be naked; one could see their bare bodies through their gauze-like clothes. Some, however, looked like rich noblewomen, while others looked like young maidens… The youth cleared his throat. These maids were beauties which the Patriarch had found from throughout the world, then gathered here to serve him and him alone. This Patriarch…he was a Loose Immortal with a very special status, here in the Oldjade mountain range. He was a Loose Immortal who had lived for more than a million years; Immortal Windraiser. However, outsiders rarely referred to him as ‘Immortal’; most referred to him as that ‘old demon, Windraiser’. He truly was an evil figure. “What is it?” A black-haired, black-bearded old man was currently cuddling with two beautiful woman, seeming quite pleased and relaxed. “Patriarch, Third Uncle-Master, Third Uncle-Master, he…he…” The youth hurriedly fell to his knees. He cried out, “Third Uncle-Master died!” “What?!” Old Demon Windraiser’s face instantly changed tremendously. Amongst the Primal Daoists who currently resided within the Youngflame clan’s Easthill Commandery, the apprentice-nephew which Windraiser favored the most was Youngflame Xun. Although Xun wasn’t his disciple, he still viewed him with great favor! In fact, he felt that Youngflame Xun was like a carbon copy of himself when he was young; he stooped to all sorts of vile deeds, but was absolutely and ardently loyal to the Youngflame clan. In addition, he was also very talented. Thus, Old Demon Windraiser often arranged for Youngflame Xun to handle tasks for him in the outside world; only by experiencing dangers and trials in the outside world could one truly grow, after all. But he didn’t expect that Xun would actually die! As one of the important younger disciples of the clan, he had naturally been given protective treasures…but he had still died… “Damn. Damn!” Old Demon Windraiser was so angry, he gnashed his teeth. “Investigate. Investigate!” Old Demon Windraiser bellowed with rage, “Investigate and find out exactly how Youngflame Xun died!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. With the mobile Immortal estate. Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Uncle White, and Little Qing were gathered together. “That should more or less be it.” Uncle White nodded lightly after looking once more through at the enormous map placed before him. “And?” Ning, Northson, and Little Qing were all staring at the enormous map before them, but weren’t able to understand it. “Their defenses are airtight. There’s no flaws at all.” Uncle White sighed. “No flaws at all?” Ning was shocked. “Based on what you found when you did the soulscouring…the Youngflame clan has a total of three headquarters, each of which has more than a hundred Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals.” Uncle White nodded. “This Easthill Commandery alone has more than a hundred Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals scattered around the Oldjade mountain range. They definitely aren’t gathered in one place, where you can destroy them with one blow. They are scattered far apart in different locations, where they protect the countless formations that are present. Thus…it’s extremely difficult to completely destroy the entire Oldjade mountain range!” Ning frowned. “There’s nothing we can do?” “No, but…the Easthill mountain range is too big. So, there is something of a weak point,” Uncle White said confidently. “But in truth, it isn’t really much of a weak point.” Little Qing said impatiently, “Uncle White, what’s the weakness? What have you discovered?” “The Oldjade mountain range is nearly a million kilometers long. For a giant formation to cover a million kilometers…there’s no way for Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals to activate and sustain a formation of such size,” Uncle White said with a laugh. Ning’s eyes instantly lit up. “Are you saying…” Ning revealed a pleased look. “There’s a limit to the reach of an Immortal’s elemental ki. If they are too far away from the formationbase, they will be completely unable to control it. For example, when we are a million kilometers away from our magic treasures, we are similarly unable to control them,” Uncle White said. “Loose Immortals 2713 and Earth Immortals, when controlling formations, generally have to be within a hundred thousand kilometers or so; that’s their limit.” “The Oldjade mountains are so enormous…” “There’s no way Celestial Immortals can be constantly maintaining a formation; naturally, they would have Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals do it for them! From this, it is very easy to guess that they must have divided the entire Oldjade mountain range into ten or so regions, each of which has around ten or so Immortals that are maintaining the formations,” Uncle White said. The Oldjade mountains were nearly a million kilometers long, but merely around a hundred thousand kilometers in width. “There are over a hundred Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals in the Oldjade mountain range, but only a few of them are controlling the formations,” Uncle White said. “What we need to do is find out who is controlling the formations. Once we kill one…for a short period of time, the hundred thousand kilometer region under his control will be temporarily unprotected.” “However…we’ll need to be fast.” “That’s because the Celestial Immortals will quickly arrive. I am certain that there are even more powerful formations within the Oldjade mountain range which are controlled by the Celestial Immortals,” Uncle White said. “Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals are only able to cover a fairly small amount of territory, but Celestial Immortals are able to control and protect the entire mountain range!” Ning, Northson, and Little Qing all nodded. “According to our intelligence report, the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan generally don’t reside within the headquarters; they are hidden within an unknown area. Once the clan encounters danger, they’ll definitely hurry out to meet it,” Uncle White said. “Thus…as I see it…we should do this…” Uncle White explained his plain in detail. Ning originally had a rough plan in mind, but now, based on what they actually faced, it had to change. Their new plan took form! “It’ll definitely succeed.” The nearby Little Qing was incomparably excited upon hearing it. “Let’s make the Youngflame clan feel regret.” Northson’s eyes were filled with savagery. As for Ning, he laughed and said softly, “Our first target will be the number one figure amongst the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals stationed here in the Oldjade mountain range…that old bastard who has lived for more than a million years…Old Demon Windraiser!” 2714 Dusk. Ning executed the Seventy-Two Transformations, transforming into a short, pudgy cultivator. This short, pudgy cultivator flew atop a cloud towards the Oldjade mountain range. He carried a talisman on him, causing the formations around the Oldjade mountain range to leave him completely unharmed. “Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to stealthily and silently kill Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals within the Oldjade mountain range,” Ning mused to himself. “Otherwise…I could ambush them one by one, wiping them all out. Without any Loose Immortals, the entire Oldjade mountain range would be completely defenseless for a period of time.” “Brother Voidgrace.” As the short, pudgy cultivator flew forward on his cloud, a voice suddenly called to him from afar. The short, pudgy cultivator turned to look towards the distant. A white-haired elder was flying towards him aboard an Immortal crane. The white-haired elder laughed and said, “Brother voidgrace, long time no see! This old man has wanted to see you quite dearly!” “You actually want to see my treasure, right?” The short, pudgy cultivator laughed oddly. “Don’t be impatient. This time, I came back on important business. Next time, I’ll definitely bring the treasure.” “Don’t forget it.” The white-haired elder laughed merrily, then flew away atop his Immortal crane. The short, pudgy cultivator watched as the white-haired elder departed, then pursed his lips. “Old bastard. I’ll let you live a bit longer…but next time, I’ll wipe you out.” The short, pudgy cultivator Ning had just transformed into was known as Daoist Voidgrace. He had a belly full of bad designs, and was a sinister, vicious man. Because he was often stationed in the outside world, he was able to procure things that were completely forbidden to be traded in here, such as beautiful women and children, for the cultivators here that wanted them. Daoist Voidgrace would often deliver beauties to his master, Old Demon Windraiser. It was precisely because he was Windraiser’s disciple that Ning chose him to transform into. Whoosh. Because he was Old Demon Windraiser’s apprentice, Adept Voidgrace naturally found his path unencumbered and unchallenged as he flew forward. He soon arrived at that towering palace. “Adept Voidgrace.” “Milord.” 2715 The palace was filled with all sorts of peerless beauties. Human beauties, Diremonster beauties…all sorts of beauties. There were barbarian maidens, and there were even noblewomen from the imperial clan…in short, this was an absolute paradise of women! Old Demon Windraiser’s number one vice was lust…and he was extremely long-lived! He had an exceptional status in the entire clan; even the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs viewed him as being extremely important. “Heh heh…nice…niiiiiice…” While walking over, Daoist Voidgrace chortled merrily. “Where’s Master?” “Master is in the Palace of the Spring Sun.” Although the women all called out to him as he walked past them, after Daoist Voidgrace left, they all revealed looks of disgust. They all hated this Daoist Voidgrace! Old Demon Windraiser, at least, could be said to be a towering, dominating figure. This Daoist Voidgrace was nothing more than a petty man! However…Old Demon Windraiser liked this disciple very much. The Palace of the Spring Sun. This was a palace that was decorated in an exceedingly lavish manner. Its ceiling was covered with pearls that had been found in the depths of the northern seas. Its corners were decorated with violet bamboo from the southern seas. Well water from the major world of Icesnow flowed throughout the palace, and all sorts of precious treasures could be seen. It was like spring had come, causing all things to bloom. The grass was growing here, next to gurgling creeks. “Master,” Daoist Voidgrace called out from afar. “Voidgrace?” At the front of the hall, there was a throne that was so large, it could in truth be described as a giant bed. Old Demon Windraiser was seated atop this bed, with two maids next to him feeding him fruit. When he grew excited, he would pull one of them straight onto the bed and make love to them. He glanced at Daoist Voidgrace, who walked in from afar, then laughed and said, “My dear disciple, why have you come to see your master today?” Old Demon Windraiser liked this disciple very much. He knew, of course, that Daoist Voidgrace was a petty man…but petty men were easily manipulated and used. “Your disciple has a major matter to report to you, Master,” Daoist Voidgrace said. “A major matter?” Old Demon Windraiser laughed. “What major matter?” Whoosh! Daoist Voidgrace was standing before the throne. His hands suddenly swelled to more than thirty meters long. A pair of giant palms that were large enough to block out the sun, covered with golden light, slammed straight towards Old Demon Windraiser. “You…” Old Demon Windraiser was shocked. His body instantly retreated backwards at high speed. At the same time, a series of needles appeared around him. Hundreds of needles appeared, transforming into an enormous circular shield that moved to block. As he retreated backwards…his billowing elemental ki caused both of the beautiful, terrified women to be transformed into meat past. BOOM!!!! The two giant golden palms, carrying an aura of unstoppable might, moved as fast as lightning. One of them blasted apart the shield of needles and even shattering many of the actual needles themselves. As for the other giant golden palm, it instantly reached the body of the fleeing Windraiser. “NO!” Old Demon Windraiser didn’t even have enough time to finish using his Greater Teleportation Daoseal. A black light had appeared before him, but the golden palm had already reached him. BOOM. Everything disintegrated. Even Old Demon Windraiser’s body was instantly reduced to dust. He was deader than dead! Old Demon Windraiser…had perished! “Ah?!” “Flee, quick!” “Good heavens!” The other maids in the palace were all completely stunned and terrified. They had never imagined that this Daoist Voidgrace, whom they had always viewed with disdain, would suddenly strike and easily defeat the awe-inspiringly famous legend, Old Demon Windraiser, and slay him. “Arise!” After instantly killing Old Demon Windraiser, Ning immediately soared into the skies. BOOM! His powerful body was as mighty as a magic treasure; he smashed straight through the ceiling of the Palace of the Spring Sun, reaching the skies. “DESTROY!” Ning instantly pulled out an Immortal sword. It was the Thousandbull Sword. “NIGHTRIVER, EMERGE!” Rumble… 2717 A river that was ten thousand kilometers long instantly covered this wide region, carrying infinite power as it wildly surged forth. It must be understood that under Ning’s control…this Nightriver had even been able to somewhat bind and restrict the Ba-Serpent which Bloodcloud Hall had used to try to assassinate Ning. From this, one could see how powerful it was. Even the slightest bit of power from it could kill an ordinary Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal! And right now…Ning was activating it and unleashing its full power. Most importantly of all! The formations around this area had previously been under the control of Old Demon Windraiser; no one had ever dared to cause trouble here, as the area within thousands of kilometers was all part of his territory. Even beyond that range, only Primal Daoists lived in the area. No commoners were qualified to live in this region. “SWEEP IT ALL AWAY!” Rumble… The Nightriver was like a watery dragon, rolling over and over, smashing apart all of the giant mountains and breaking apart the local palaces. In fact, even some of the formation-bases that were hidden deep within the mountains were destroyed. “BURROW!” The massive Nightriver dug deep into the ground, causing the earth itself to shudder and tremble. In almost the blink of an eye, the Nightriver had completely overturned the earth within tens of thousands of kilometers around them. All mountains were destroyed, while all plains were rent apart. Every single formation-base here was annihilated… “I have to do as much damage as I can, in as little time as possible. The Youngflame clan’s counter-attack will arrive soon.” Ning understood this very well. He immediately controlled the massive Nightriver to do more damage. The Nightriver was simply too enormous; it was able to instantly destroy and sweep through a region of ten thousand kilometers, and so it was extremely suited for large-scale destruction. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Oldjade mountain range was extremely vast, nearly a million kilometers in length; this was comparable to an entire series of minor worlds. For example, the minor world of ‘Earth’ merely had a circumference of around forty thousand kilometers. Deep within a mountain. There were three young individuals walking together. One held a longstaff, the second held an greataxe, while the third was carrying a bow. “During this trial, we definitely must make it into the top ten of Greatape City.” The greataxe-wielding muscular youth was filled with vigor and energy. “Only if we make it into the top ten will we be able to participate in the main competition that spans the entire clan. If we perform well within the main competition, we’ll be able to receive tutelage and assistance from the clan.” “If we miss a chance like this, we’d have to wait another ten years. We can’t afford to wait.” The skinny youth who was carrying the bow on his back agreed. “Although we are at the Xiantian level, we are still mortals…only by establishing our Zifu can we be considered true Immortal cultivators.” The black-robed maiden nodded as well. The Youngflame clan was far too powerful. Its population was simply enormous, and so the internal struggles within the clan were extremely fierce. “Look, what’s that?” The burly greataxe-wielding youth suddenly raised his head and stared towards the distance with utter astonishment. “This is…” “A huge wave…” The skinny youth and the black-robed maiden both stared in astonishment as well. An enormous wave that seemed to stretch off to infinity was crashing forward. This wave was ten thousand kilometers long; Xiantian lifeforms naturally wouldn’t be able to see its end. Upon seeing this massive wave that was even higher than the entire mountain come crashing towards them, they were completely stupefied! In the face of such world-breaking power, these three young Xiantian individuals weren’t able to fight back at all. Boom boom boom boom… 2719 The towering mountain peaks were completely shattered and blown apart by the giant wave. “No.” “I can’t accept this. I haven’t even become famous yet.” “I haven’t avenged my mother yet. I haven’t killed the governor of Greatape City!” The three of them all had their own dreams and desires. They had never even left the Oldjade mountain range. For Xiantian lifeforms like them…the furthest they could travel was within a few tens of thousands of kilometers of Greatape City. Naturally…this meant that the ones they had grudges against were also members of the Youngflame clan! Although the top-level Youngflame clansmen, such as the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, were all quite unified, at the low-level there were many internal feuds and grudges. This was just like China, back during Ning’s previous life on Earth. China was clearly one country, but within that one country, there were countless grudges and debts, loves and hatreds. Thus, once a clan expanded to a certain level, the number of feuds within it would become tremendous. If a peerless genius was truly produced…then when the peerless genius went to kill his own clansmen for the sake of revenge, the high-level Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of the clan, and perhaps even the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs, would help that peerless genius become famous! This would ensure the genius’ loyalty. The Youngflame clan had quite a few evildoers within their ranks, but on the surface, at least, the rules of the entire Youngflame clan were that the members of their clan had to be treated kindly. Every single clansmen, including even the most impoverished of them, would receive at least some basic assistance to help them survive. This was to ensure that the clansmen would understand that the clan was good to them; it was only a few enemy clansmen within the clan who treated them poorly! “No….” The three youngsters were unwilling to accept this. Rumble… The infinitely mighty torrent of water from the Primordial Nightriver swept forward, roaring past them…but a strand of river water actually snaked out in front of it, completely surrounding the three youngsters. “We…” The three youngsters were completely amazed. They stared blankly at their surroundings. They were now completely surrounded by that strand of river water; it was as though they were in a little bubble! This bubble of water was protecting the three of 2720 them, but outside of it…the infinite Nightriver was wildly smashing and destroying everything, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to shake. “What sort of power is this? This is our Youngflame clan’s territory. Who? Who is acting against our Youngflame clan?” The three of them knew very well that the headquarters of their clan was an extremely safe place; there was no way a disaster like this could happen. This sort of disaster…perhaps only the terrifying figures spoken of in legends could cause something like this. “That’s…” The three of them suddenly saw a short, pudgy man who was standing high up in midair. The figure was standing at the very center of the infinite waves, with the aura of a Fiendgod. The three of them had the feeling that it was this short, pudgy man who was controlling this infinite river. “If I had this sort of power…” The three of them stared at the surrounding area, where the mountains were crumbling and the earth was breaking apart. This terrifying scene of utter annihilation…although they felt terror in their hearts, they also felt desire. …… Greatape City. One of the many cities within the Oldjade mountain range. This was a place where mortals lived. The Youngflame clan was a tightly stratified place; some places were meant for mortals to live in, while other places only Immortal cultivators could venture to. The entire Greatape City had a population of over ten million, including many Xiantian lifeforms, as well as a few dozen Zifu Disciples and a Wanxiang Adept who managed the city. “Good heavens…” “Who is doing this?” “Who dares do this to our Youngflame clan?” On the streets and in the residences of Greatape City, the numerous denizens were staring in utter terror at the enormous wave that was sweeping towards them from the outside. The wave seemed to be as high as the heavens themselves. All of the mountain ranges outside the city were instantly breaking apart, and the earth itself was shuddering and shaking. The wave instantly swept over this city. But…a strand of the water of the Nightriver moved to completely cover it, causing the entire city to be protected with a ‘water globe’. …… If one viewed things from Ning’s standpoint, a city like Greatape City was as unimportant as a toy. Protected by the bubble, it began to sink down into the Nightriver. Ever since he was young, Ji Ning had been trained by his father to go and kill others. In his youth, he had adventured in the world and engaged in many battles. He naturally wouldn’t show any mercy or softheartedness to his enemies in the Youngflame clan. However…those people before him were merely ordinary mortals. When Immortal cultivators killed mortals, they would incur an enormous amount of sin. His Celestial Tribulation would most likely be quite difficult; if he was to kill so many mortals at a time like this, the amount of sin that would swirl around him would most likely reach and utterly terrifying level. In addition…no matter how much hatred Ning felt, he had his limits. For example, when he took revenge for Spring Grass all those years ago, Ning had slaughtered River He, but had spared his son. It was the same principle. Ning’s pride forbade him slaughtering the countless ordinary mortals of the Youngflame clan. Will these mortals eventually become Immortal cultivators? Would they become powerful experts, one day? Let them come! They can come as they please! If they are able to kill me, Ji Ning, then I have no one to blame but myself! However…once they act against me, I definitely will show no mercy! …… “A Fiendgod.” “An Immortal?” “Good heavens.” The countless ordinary mortals of the Youngflame clan had escaped this disaster unscathed. They kept their heads raised, watching everything unfold. Upon seeing the short, pudgy man who was commanding the waters of the river, they were filled with the utmost of terror. After killing Old Demon Windraiser, Ning had immediately begun to destroy the surrounding area, shattering all of the foundation-bases. When he made his move, he had Uncle White, Little Qing, and Mu Northson go to Old Demon Windraiser’s palace. Although the palace had been badly damaged, Uncle White immediately began to lay down formations here. The first thing he did was instantly set up a trapping formation that was ten thousand kilometers in length…and next, he began to add layers of even more formidable formations! Ning had spared no expense on this trip. He had bought quite a few unique treasures from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, and the expense was no less than the amount he had spent to set up formations for Swallow Mountain. However, because Uncle White wouldn’t have enough time to set up the formation…Uncle White had chosen formations that could be established in a very short period of time. Although these formations were inferior to those three supremely savage formations of Swallow Mountain, Uncle White’s scheme still involved setting up ninety-two mighty formations, all of which were within the ten thousand kilometer area. If one didn’t include the three supremely savage formations, not even the formations layout of Swallow Mountain was this insane! “Quick, flee.” “Quick!” Ning didn’t kill the mortals. However…Ning showed no mercy to the Immortal cultivators. After destroying many of the formationbases, their side was now able to use void blinks to engage in spatial teleportations! Some Immortal cultivators were fleeing in panic, but most were swept up by the Nightriver. Ning certainly didn’t have the inclination to go and protect those Immortal cultivators. “Kill, kill, KILL!” Mu Northson was the most savage of all. He was actually the first to charge out of Uncle White’s formations. Commanding the Winged Immortal golem, he unleashed the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds to wildly kill all before him. Primal Daoists? Wanxiang Adepts? Zifu Disciples? All members of the Youngflame clan were to die! Seeing this, Ning couldn’t help but secretly sigh to himself…but he didn’t move to stop him. “If Cousin was here, she would also probably act in such a crazed manner. Still…I can’t let junior apprentice-brother kill too many. Sin is already beginning to accumulate around him.” Ning’s divine sense had previously seen that the amount of karmic sin and karmic virtue around Northson was ordinary, but now…a corrosive aura of sin was slowly beginning to manifest. It must be understood that very, very little sin would accrue from the killing of Immortal cultivators. However, Northson was simply far too powerful. What he was engaging in was sheer butchery, and so there would still be the accrual of some sin. In addition, given that he was killing so many…the amount of sin surrounding him had increased by quite a bit. “Junior apprentice-brother is weak. If he accrues too much sin…” Ning willed it, and the waters of the Nightriver became even more ferocious. In fact, they began to intentionally sweep towards the groups of 2723 fleeing Immortal cultivators, causing many of them to perish. Ning had always been surrounded by the golden light of karmic virtue, albeit just a little bit. Still, he clearly had reached that level. Now that Ning was controlling the Nightriver to attack, however…the aura of golden karmic virtue around Ning began to slowly weaken…before eventually transforming into a mere fresh aura of virtue! The density and range of that fresh aura of virtue was beginning to drop as well. “Kill, kill, kill…” Hatred. Death. The baleful auras of the slain Immortal cultivators began to swirl around Ning, causing the three Darknorth swords in Ning’s body to absorb them and transform them. When Ning had slaughtered many Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals during his battle at the Eastwoods mountain range, the Darknorth swords had reached a level of power that was comparable to that of top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. This time, he killed even more Immortal cultivators! However, they were all very weak, and so the amount of baleful aura Ning absorbed from them was even less than the amount he had absorbed from the bronze-armored Fiendguards. Still…there was a significant drop in Ning’s karmic virtue as he continued to butcher so many Immortal cultivators. “Where are they? Where’d they go?!” Northson suddenly discovered that there were no more targets near him. Suddenly…he saw a commandery city in the distance, a city which Ning had protected and spared with the Nightriver. A city with many ordinary mortals. Northson’s eyes were completely bloodshot. He was in a completely berserk mode; he couldn’t even differentiate between mortals and Immortal cultivators right now. He immediately flew out, planning to continue the slaughter. “Junior apprentice-brother, those are mortals! Mortals!” “So what if they are?! Every member of the Youngflame clan deserves to die!” Northson was utterly berserk. Ning roared back angrily, “If you kill them, karmic sinflames will descend and you will die as well!” …… When Ning killed Old Demon Windraiser and destroyed the local formation-bases, the many Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals in the surrounding areas of the Oldjade mountains had noticed it. They 2724 had all activated their own formations, at least ensuring that they could protect their parts of the Oldjade mountain range. The hundred thousand kilometer region that had been controlled by Old Demon Windraiser, however, was completely unprotected. They didn’t have a chance to do anything; the formation-bases had all been destroyed, after all. The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were all hovering in midair within the range of their formations, staring at the distant short, pudgy man who was controlling the Nightriver to destroy the world. “To act with such madness…it must be Ji Ning. As for that person who is releasing the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds, it must be that ‘Mu Northson’.” “Attack. Let’s attack!” “Are we just going to sit here and wait?” Some of the Loose Immortals were enraged. “The Patriarchs have already instructed that if Ji Ning comes, we are forbidden from engaging him. We need to protect the clan as best as we can, while everything else will be left to them. I’ve already shattered the talisman; I trust that the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs will soon arrive,” a green-haired Immortal said in a low voice. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The western sea. The Seamless Gate’s gathering spot. Within the grand palace. The barefoot, loose-haired Celestial Immortal Blackheaven and Celestial Immortal Violetgrass were seated shoulder-to-shoulder at the front of the palace. Many other Celestial Immortals were also seated before them. They were all staring at an enormous mirror within the palace; this mirror was currently reflecting the scenes from the Oldjade mountain range of Easthill Commandery. “We’ve been searching for a chance to capture this Ji Ning, but who would’ve imagined that he’d go gallivanting off into the Youngflame clan’s base?” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sat there, scratching his foot as he chortled, “It seems as though I won’t be forced to personally handle this puny little Ji Ning after all; the Youngflame clan will be more than enough to deal with him.” “Will the Youngflame clan be able to get it done? Last time, they were intent on handling him but ended up failing,” the nearby Violetgrass said with a frown. “The top ten clans of the Grand Xia Dynasty are all extremely powerful.” Blackheaven nodded. “If the Youngflame clan truly was willing to use their full power, going so far as to spare no expenses and even take out their trump card that is meant to only be used when the entire clan is at a critical juncture between life and death…they would definitely be able to suppress a young fellow like him, who isn’t even a Celestial Immortal, despite the fact that he has trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” “Oh?” Violetgrass was surprised. “Just watch and see.” Blackheaven was extremely confident. …… Within an ancient tower. Celestial Immortals Arcanum, Goldclock, Deadwood, Sunfish, and Infatuation were all gathered here. “There’s something happening at the Easthill Commandery. They’ve asked us for help.” The five Celestial Immortals all sensed it right away. “At a time like this, the Kindwater clan and the other clans wouldn’t be so foolish as to start a war against us. In addition, the foundation of any clan is their force of Celestial Immortals; killing Immortal cultivators and mortals of our clan makes no difference at all in that regard. Only Ji Ning, who has suffered our assaults and pursuit, would explode forth to take vengeance in this manner.” 2726 “It must be Ji Ning.” “There’s no question about it.” Patriarch Arcanum and the others guessed it right away. Because they had gone to act against Ji Ning, with the intention of not letting him continue to live…Ji Ning himself would definitely reveal his own fangs and launch his own counter-attack. “We’ve been waiting for him to make his move. For him to attack our territory is equivalent to throwing himself into our hands.” “Brother Flamefish.” “Brother Flamefish.” Celestial Immortal Goldclock and Celestial Immortal Infatuation both called out. Their voices transmitted to a completely different space. Moments later, a black foggy door appeared next to them, from which flew out a man. It was a man with unkempt red hair and who had some fish scales on his face. “Brother Flamefish,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation said with a smile, “This time, we’ll have to ask you to maintain control over the grand formation to take care of Ji Ning. The rest of us will coordinate with you.” “The Three Realms are currently in a state of turmoil, and so Master is busy with important matters,” Celestial Immortal Flamefish said in a low voice. “A puny little Ji Ning has already set back our Youngflame clan multiple times; this is an insult to our Youngflame clan! This time, we must succeed.” “Right.” “Of course.” “We are all aware.” Each of the others hastened to assent. Celestial Immortal Flamefish nodded. “Fine. Per our previous discussions…myself, Infatuation, Deadwood, Goldclock, and Sunfish shall join forces. We shall activate and execute the ‘Lesser-Yin Fiendtamer Formation’ to trap Ji Ning. Then, we shall capture him into the divine greatclock and keep him suppressed within it.” 1 “With you taking charge, Brother Flamefish, we shall naturally succeed.” “Let’s go.” 2727 “Arcanum, you stand guard here.” Soon, Celestial Immortals Flamefish, Infatuation, Deadwood, Goldclock, and Sunfish all departed via a void blink as they headed towards Easthill Commandery’s Oldjade mountain range. …… “I’m back.” In the air above the eastern seas, a spatial rift appeared, followed by the emergence of a white-haired, white-bearded elder. “I didn’t expect that my true body would be destroyed in a single exchange.” The white-haired, whitebearded elder thought back to what he had seen, to that terrifying palm that had slammed him to death with one blow. “It seems he transformed into Daoist Voidgrace’s appearance to deceive me…it must be that Ji Ning which the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs spoke of.” This person was Old Demon Windraiser’s Primaltwin! Old Demon Windraiser was extremely powerful; his true body stood guard over his part of the Oldjade mountain range, enjoying luxury, while his Primaltwin roamed the Three Realms, causing his power to grow even greater. He had lived for over a million years, yet was still alive. In fact, the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations which he had faced didn’t pose too much of a threat to him. “Ji Ning, eh?” A fierce light flashed through Old Demon Windraiser’s eyes. “You destroyed my true body…do you think I’ll just let you off?” Swoosh. Old Demon Windraiser immediately used a void teleport to once more go to the Oldjade mountain range. He was naturally very familiar with the area, and he quickly passed through the layers of formations, arriving at a place where the other Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were congregating. “Brother Windraiser.” “Brother Windraiser.” The other Immortals all addressed him with great courtesy. Old Demon Windraiser said hurriedly, “I’m ashamed. Ashamed! Ji Ning suddenly attacked, causing my true body to be destroyed in a single clash.” “It isn’t your fault, brother Windraiser. Ji Ning is extremely powerful; even the Celestial Immortal Patriarchs gave us strict orders against engaging him. For him to be able to kill even someone as strong as 2728 you in a single clash…most likely, even if all of us joined forces against him, we would still end up dying. I really wonder what the hell this Ji Ning’s training method is,” a green-haired Immortal said. “Let him be smug for now. When the Patriarchs arrive…that will be the moment of his demise.” “The Patriarchs just appeared!” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals could all sense the spatial ripples. Raising their heads to look, they saw five figures appear in the distance. “Five Celestial Immortal Patriarchs?” “Our Youngflame clan actually has five Celestial Immortal Patriarchs?” These Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were incomparably excited. The exact number of Celestial Immortals a clan had was a tightly guarded secret! Prior to this, even the current Godplume Duke, the leader of their clan, only knew of three of them… “A full five Celestial Immortal Patriarchs are making their move. This Ji Ning is dead for sure.” All of them waited eagerly. …… The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals only dared to remain in hiding behind the formations. As far as Ning was concerned, they were nothing more than dancing, prancing clowns; he wasn’t worried about them at all. Controlling his massive Nightriver, he continued to cause destruction everywhere. If he was using a magic treasure, he would most likely only be able to destroy around a hundred kilometers or so of land at once, but with the ten thousand kilometer Nightriver at his disposal, he was able to cause devastation on a much wider scale. “Thankfully, I have the Thousandbull Sword…otherwise, this plan wouldn’t be feasible.” Ning was causing havoc at an extremely fast speed. Rumble… Mountains continued to shatter, and the earth continued to break apart. In addition, some lesser mountain peaks that had been fashioned into formation-bases were pushed away by the Nightriver but did not break apart. The Nightriver was able to discover many formation-bases, all of which Ning retrieved and collected. A grand formation could be destroyed for the lack of a single formation-base. Ning didn’t even know how many formation-bases he collected; most likely, it would be extremely hard for the grand formations to be set up within this hundred thousand kilometer region. “BOOM!” After a stone disc that was more than three hundred meters long was pulled up… 2729 “Eh? This is…” Ning’s face changed. Previously, his divine sense had only been able to discover some ordinary rocks and dirt underground. Everything seemed normal. But after that stone disc was pulled away…the scene below the ground completely changed! Clearly, there was a permanent formation stationed underground that could deceive both divine sense and coresense. Ning’s divine sense could clearly see… That there was an enormous, fiery red copper pillar buried deep within the earth, nearly three hundred meters thick and much more than a thousand kilometers in length. Because this fiery copper pillar was buried far too deep, Ning’s divine sense was only able to discover a portion of this pillar. The portion that he was able to discover, however, was already more than a thousand kilometers in length! The fiery copper pillar was covered with an enormous number of runes. “Now…what’s this?” Ning could sense that this was definitely an extraordinary object. When his divine sense touched it, he couldn’t help but feel his heart clench. “Eh?” Ning suddenly raised his head. Five figures suddenly appeared in the air far away. Ning could no longer spare any time on analyzing the fiery copper pillar. “This fiery copper pillar has been buried underground this entire time, without being taken away. There’s most likely no way to actually take it away! It’s been buried here for who knows how long. There’s no rush for me to investigate it…after I kill these bastards of the Youngflame clan, I’ll come back and secretly investigate the secrets of this fiery copper pillar.” Whoosh! As the five Celestial Immortals appeared, Ning immediately ceased causing havoc. He immediately used a void blink to instantly teleport to the location where Old Demon Windraiser’s Palace of the Spring Sun was. Northson returned to that location as well. The Immortal cultivators were all dead by now. As for the mortals? With Ning blocking him, he finally relented. Next to him was Uncle White and Little Qing. “Uncle White, how is it?” Ning lowered his head, looking at Uncle White, who was in the shape of a large, snowy-white dog. “I’ve already finished setting up seventy-one formations,” Uncle White sent spiritually. “Although I haven’t managed to finish setting up all the formations, these seventy-one…should be more than enough.” “Good.” Ning sent mentally, “Wait for the five Celestial Immortals to enter the formation, then activate it.” 2730 Ning had already transformed into his usual appearance. The appearance of the Winged Immortal golem guaranteed that there would be no way for him to hide himself this time. In addition, he had already accomplished his goal; he had completely wiped out the entire ‘safe region’ within a hundred thousand kilometers. There was no need at all for him to hide himself anymore. …… Within the shattered rubble, Ning stood alone. Behind him was the Winged Immortal golem, a large snowy-white hound, and an Azure Skysnake. “Dogshit Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan!” Ning raised his head, laughing loudly. “Don’t you want to kill me? First you invited Bloodcloud Hall to assassinate me, and then you had four of your Celestial Immortals ambush me. Alas…you are completely useless!” “What?” “Four mighty Celestial Immortals ambushed Ji Ning?” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals who were hidden within the distant formations were all extremely shocked. In their hearts, they viewed their Celestial Immortal Patriarchs as lofty, exalted figures; four of them had ambushed Ji Ning, but had been unable to kill him? Standing amidst the other Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, Old Demon Windraiser just narrowed his eyes, watching silently. “Since you desire to kill me so badly…I thought I’d satisfy your desire. I’ve come here, to the territory of your Youngflame clan.” Ning’s voice boomed out, filled with elemental ki as it spread in every direction. Even the countless mortals in the area could hear his voice. “I, Ji Ning, am right now. Dogshit Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan, come and kill me if you can! Ahaha, but you’d best be careful. You want to kill me, but I want to kill you too. Be wary, lest I end up slaughtering all five of you. Ahaha…” Ning’s laughter rang out, booming in every direction. “Did he just say, ‘dogshit Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan’?” Countless mortals were completely stunned by what they had just heard. “Who would dare speak of Celestial Immortals in such a way?” To mortals, Celestial Immortals were truly unfathomably exalted figures. It was rare for the entire Grand Xia Dynasty to see the birth of even just a single new Celestial Immortals over the course of a million years. How exalted they were! But this person actually held Celestial Immortals in complete disregard…and even dared to challenge five Celestial Immortals by himself? ‘Be wary, lest I end up slaughtering all five of you!’ These words were far too dominating! Countless ordinary mortals who heard this felt stunned…and they also felt awe and admiration. “Will there ever be the day when I, too, would dare speak to Celestial Immortals in such a manner?” The many young men and women of the Youngflame clan knew that this ‘Ji Ning’ was their enemy, their foe…but they still couldn’t help but feel envy. …… Ning stood there atop the rubble, calling out and cursing with abandon. He was waiting. Waiting for his foes to attack! Ordinary attacks using magic treasures couldn’t possibly be launched from so many thousands of kilometers away. If they wanted to kill him, they’d have to move closer to him! And once they moved into attack range…they would definitely be within the formation region which Uncle White had set up. The formation region spanned ten thousand kilometers; once it was activated, the entire area within ten thousand kilometers would fall under his control! Although this was the Youngflame clan’s headquarters…it would also be as if this was Ning’s own fiefdom! “Come! Come! Attack, you dogshit Celestial Immortals! What, are you afraid of death?” Ning laughed wildly with abandon. And indeed…Fiendgods had extremely loud voices.. Shao-Yin here refers to the Lesser Yin of the Four Phases, which are Tai-Yin (Greater Yin, aka the moon), Tai-Yang (Greater Yang, aka the sun), Shao-Yin (lesser Yin), and Shao-Yang (lesser Yang). If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. High in the air were Celestial Immortals Flamefish, Infatuation, Sunfish, Deadwood, and Goldclock. They stared downwards at the distant youth atop the rubble, each of them filled with rage. This was the headquarters of the Youngflame clan…but now, a region of a hundred thousand kilometers had been completely reduced to rubble. “The kid is quite brash.” Celestial Immortal Sunfish was so angry, he actually started to laugh. “Ji Ning…the Netherworld’s gates were barred, but you insisted on barging in!” Celestial Immortal Infatuation’s voice was utterly freezing. “Kill.” The five mighty Celestial Immortals were filled with murderous intent. All of them wanted to kill Ning right away! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Their five figures joined together, transforming into a five-colored mountain peak that left behind a scar in the skies as they charged straight for Ning. Ning, seeing this, felt a surge of joy in his heart. They really had entered! Actually, this was something of an obvious ploy, one they were forced to ‘fall’ for.. Ning was standing there in the middle of the ruins of Youngflame clan’s headquarters, calling them out. Were the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan just supposed to stand there and watch? They would probably becoming the laughingstocks of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty! In addition…if they wanted to attack Ning, they had to draw closer to him, into the range of their magical artifact attacks. That meant they had to go within ten thousand kilometers. “Uncle White, activate the grand formation,” Ning sent mentally. “Alright.” Uncle White had been waiting this entire time. The five Celestial Immortals, in the form of the five-colored mountain peak, were already less than a thousand kilometers away from Ning. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! At the borders of the region within ten thousand kilometers of Ning, three pillars of light suddenly soared into the heavens. Many other formation-bases began to fire off as well, but they were comparatively smaller in terms of the disturbance caused. In the blink of an eye, the entire region around Ning became completely trapped within a series of giant blurry formations. “What’s going on?” 2733 “I can’t see anything over there.” The distant Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals hiding within their formations were startled. Old Demon Windraiser, however, said: “No need to worry. Given the abilities of the five Patriarchs, how can they possibly be concerned with these sorts of puny formations?” …… Within the formation. The five Celestial Immortals weren’t worried at all. They had expected all along that Ji Ning had most likely set up formations within the area. Despite that, however…they had still charged in! They didn’t have a choice; there was no way they could continue to let Ji Ning act so wantonly within their headquarters. In addition…they felt certain that any formations he was able to set up within such a short period of time couldn’t be too frightening. It made sense. Even though Uncle White was a grandmaster in formations, there was no way he would be able to set up the likes of the three great killing formations of Swallow Mountain within a very short period of time. He had to rely on the fact that they had prepared an enormous amount of precious materials in order to set up many formations that were able to threaten Celestial Immortals. They would win through quantity. “Coresense is unable to investigate this area.” Celestial Immortal Goldclock swept the area with his gaze while trying to use his coresense to investigate, but still was unable to discover anything. “It seems that Ji NIng has an extremely formidable formations expert as his assistant.” Celestial Immortal Infatuation was quite calm. “However, all formations have their weak spots. I trust that the formations he was able to set up within such a short period of time couldn’t possibly be too profound. No rush; let’s take it slow, step by step. Let’s just ensure that Ji Ning doesn’t have any chance at all.” “Infatuation speaks truly.” The area around the five of them had become transformed into an enormous, five-colored mountain peak. The mountain peak forced the fog away from them, allowing their field of vision to expand to many hundreds of meters. …… “They are within the formation.” Ning, Northson, Uncle White, and Little Qing were all standing together. Ning had a smile on his face. “These five Celestial Immortals are currently using the Five Elements Mountainhold Formation,” Uncle White said. “This is a protective formation that is fairly widespread in the Three Realms; five individuals 2734 join together, increasing their defensive power by a tremendous amount. If we only rely on the power of this formation…it will be very difficult to do anything to them.” Ning laughed. “I have no intentions of relying on the formation to kill them. The formation is just meant to help support us! Now that they are trapped inside, they’ll be unable to use their coresense to investigate, while they can only rely on their eyes to see to a distance of hundreds of meters! I can attack when I please and retreat when I please; everything will be under my control. This has already increased my odds of success by quite a few percentage points.” “Do you need my help?” Northson couldn’t help but ask. He was unable to disguise his desire to kill, and the murderous look in his eyes. It had been Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Goldclock, Arcanum, and Deadwood who had destroyed the soul of his beloved…and three of those four mighty Celestial Immortals were currently present. “Hide inside the formations; you are not to draw near us. However, you can release the Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds,” Ning said with a laugh. “No need to worry about hitting me; the Thunderwinds are completely incapable of damaging me. They will, however, pose some degree of danger to those five.” “Alright.” Northson began to wait eagerly. Ning laughed, then looked towards the five distant Celestial Immortals. “Celestial Immortals, to the Youngflame clan, are their real foundation and source of power, right? If I were to kill a few…the Youngflame clan would definitely feel heartache and regret!” Whoosh. Ning instantly transformed into a streak of light, charging forward. The five Celestial Immortals remained quite calm. They continued to maintain their Five Elements Mountainhold Formation while carefully investigating the nearby formations. “This formation is quite extraordinary.” Celestial Immortal Infatuation began to frown after doing a cursory inspection of the surrounding area. “To defeat it…it isn’t something that we can do in just a day or two.” “Then what should we do?” Celestial Immortal Goldclock asked impatiently, “The more we delay, the more powers within the Grand Xia Dynasty will know of this matter. Our Youngflame clan will have truly lost face, then!” “No time to worry about face right now; if we can kill Ji Ning, it will all have been worth it,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation said. “Don’t be impatient.” Celestial Immortal Flamefish chortled, stroking his long beard. “Ji Ning set down these formations, then acted so brashly towards us, all because he wanted us to enter this region. After we do so…he’ll naturally come to attack us. If not, we could all simply leave by using Greater 2735 Teleportation Dao-seals. All we need to do is wait. Ji Ning will quickly come to attack us. By then, we can use our Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation to capture him and suppress him. That’s all there is to it.” “That makes sense.” Celestial Immortal Sunfish laughed coldly. “The moment he attacks is the moment of his capture. After we capture him, we’ll use Greater Teleportation Dao-seals to leave.” The five mighty Celestial Immortals continued to fly forward, investigating the surrounding area while waiting for Ji Ning’s arrival. Suddenly… A golden hand, fingers formed into the shape of a sword, came chopping out through the mist up ahead. It moved as fast as lightning, instantly arriving before the five Celestial Immortals. The golden swordfingers were at least three hundred meters long, like the fingers of a true divinity. They carried an unstoppably fierce sword-aura, and with a booming sound stabbed straight into the five-colored mountain peak. The five-colored mountain peak trembled violently, almost at the point of shattering. “Careful.” “Such power.” “Let’s do it!” The five mighty Celestial Immortals were all shocked. They didn’t expect that Ning’s very first attack would nearly collapse their defensive formation. All of them immediately began to activate their Immortal energy, quickly stabilizing the five-colored mountain peak. “You WILL break for me!” A youth suddenly appeared, with three heads and six arms. His six arms chopped through the air, his enormous palms all formed into sword-fingers and being used like swords! These sword-fingers were so powerful, they definitely were not any weaker than the Thousandbull Sword and other Immortal swords of its class. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Six powerful sword-fingers struck towards the five Celestial Immortals in a frenzy. “Formation!” The scale-faced Celestial Immortal Flamefish let out a loud roar. A black set of chains instantly appeared within his hands. The black chains rapidly grew longer, stretching out to more than three thousand meters. Moments later, the other Celestial Immortals also manifested sets of black chains within their hands as well. There were a total of five black chains, each of which looked absolutely identical…but in truth, the aura of each was completely different. “FIENDTAMER!” Celestial Immortal Flamefish roared angrily. Clang clang clang… The five enormous black chains were like five tentacles that stretched out from some abomination. They covered the skies as they flew forward to entangle Ning. In fact, the five chains even had circles of water that swirled around them. “What’s this?” Ning was startled. He didn’t dare to be rash, and so he immediately swept out with a palm. The palm rapidly expanded in size to become more than three hundred meters long as it smashed against the thick black chains. Rumble… The golden palm collided head-on with the black chains. The powerful collision caused even Ning to be forced three steps back, and each step he took caused the earth beneath him to break apart. “Capture him!” Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Flamefish, Goldclock, Deadwood, and Sunfish’s eyes were filled with eagerness. The other chains came sweeping towards Ning as well. The chains themselves were magic treasures, and when joined together their power would become even more formidable. In addition, they could twist and turn on themselves, changing their appearance and form. Once one was captured by them, it would be extremely difficult to break free. During the Fiendgod Era, the Youngflame clan would often use this Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation to capture some particularly powerful Void-level Fiendgods. Void-level Fiendgods varied in power; some had very high levels of comprehension and were completely comparable to the likes of Celestial Immortal Goldclock or Celestial Immortal Deadwood in power. To capture them, one would have to use an extremely powerful method…and it was this very method that the Youngflame clan was now bringing out once more. This time, to capture Ji Ning! To suppress Ji Ning! Rumble… Ning swung his palms, hurriedly knocking back the black chains in succession. His face changed. “What queer chains. When I strike them, they sometimes actually attempt to slip past my hands to try and entangle me. They are magic treasures…but they are quite fast when dodging. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up bound by them.” “It seems I’ll still have to rely on the power of my magic treasures.” The Thousandbull Sword suddenly appeared above Ning’s head. Ning let out a loud shout. “NIGHTRIVER, COME FORTH!” Under Ning’s control, the ten thousand kilometer Nightriver shrank to a size of merely ten kilometers. This ten kilometer Nightriver was like an enormous snake that swirled around him, entangling all things in the surrounding area. Those five black chains naturally were completely entangled by the Nightriver’s 2737 waters as well. As the saying goes, when a blade cuts through water, the water will continue to flow; something like the Nightriver was extremely troublesome to deal with. When Bloodcloud Hall had used the Ba-Serpent Formation in their assassination attempt, they had found the Nightriver’s entanglement to be quite irritating. Although these five chains were somewhat more powerful, they were still entangled and affected, causing their agility and speed to lessen dramatically. “Ahahaha!” Ning, however, was as unencumbered as a fish in water. The five chains, with their lessened agility, were no match for him at all. His palms would strike out! His sword-fingers would blast forth! The five chains were knocked all over the place, and even the five-colored mountain peak began to tremble. The faces of all of the Celestial Immortals inside began to change. “Hold.” The five mighty Celestial Immortals instantly began to release an even-greater torrent of their Immortal energy. They began to spend more of their efforts on defense, and a large number of runes began to appear on the surface of the five-colored mountain. “Why is this Ji Ning so much more powerful than you originally described?” Celestial Immortal Flamefish said with surprise and anger. “How is it that he’s able to so easily resist the Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation? Infatuation, didn’t you say that he was a bit weaker than Goldclock and Deadwood?!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. and Rivers “How should I know?!” Celestial Immortal Infatuation was frantic as well. “The last time we fought with him was just half a month ago. How could I have imagined that his power would suddenly rise by so much?!” “Last time, he wasn’t even as strong as me.” Celestial Immortal Deadwood nodded. “But this time, he’s able to completely shut down even the Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation. His power has already completely eclipsed that of myself and Goldclock.” “Yes.” Although Celestial Immortal Goldclock didn’t wish to admit it, the reality of the matter was laid bare before them. Although their clash had been brief, the five mighty Celestial Immortals had all discovered that Ji Ning’s power was much greater than they had anticipated. The Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation was indeed very well-suited for capturing foes! Back during the Fiendgod Era, it had been specially designed for capturing Fiendgods; it was indeed quite well-suited for dealing with Ji Ning. But to actually ‘capture’ him…that required the capturing party be able to completely suppress the target in terms of power. Last time, if these five Celestial Immortals had known that Ji Ning trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], they would’ve invited Celestial Immortal Flamefish to come on that attempt as well. They would’ve succeeded long ago through their usage of the Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation. But this time…Ning had reached the Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]. His power was clearly on a significantly higher level! He had vaulted from being weaker than Celestial Immortals Deadwood and Goldclock to being more powerful than them! This sudden surge in strength made it so that the Shaoyin Fiendtamer Formation was completely unable to capture Ning. “Break for me!” Ning was wildly assaulting the five-colored mountain peak. In turn, the five mighty Celestial Immortals were striving to maintain their defensive formation. “We’re actually being completely held down and beaten upon by him.” Celestial Immortal Goldclock ground his teeth. “He’s become even more powerful, and he has the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him; he doesn’t even need to defend. All of us are merely Ki Refiners; once he strikes us with his body, we’ll transform into dust,” Celestial Immortal Deadwood said. “Ugh.” Celestial Immortal Sunfish was enraged as well. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was truly a pain in the neck. Generally speaking, Fiendgods didn’t dare to accept blows from magic treasures head-on. But those who trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] were absolutely able to do so! “What should we do?” Celestial Immortal Flamefish looked at the other four. “What should we do? Just wait here?” “How about…let’s leave for now, using a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to depart,” Celestial Immortal Goldclock said. Although they were at a disadvantage, through working together, the five of them were indeed able to flee when they pleased. “Flee?” Celestial Immortal Infatuation snorted coldly, “Ji Ning is currently hiding within this great formation; if we want to deal with him, we’ll have to enter it. Since we’ve already entered it…why should we be in a rush to leave it? This time, Ji Ning has attacked the headquarters of our Youngflame clan…and so, the Youngflame clan absolutely must capture Ji Ning. This time, either our Youngflame clan lowers our heads to admit defeat, or Ji Ning admits defeat! From the moment that Ji Ning came to our headquarters, both our sides lost all other options; one side has to admit defeat!” “We can’t admit defeat,” Celestial Immortal Sunfish said in a low voice. “There is no way our Youngflame clan can admit defeat to Ji Ning.” “Thus…I am preparing to notify the Ancestor. I will let the Ancestor make the decision,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation sent mentally. “You are notifying Master?” Celestial Immortal Flamefish was startled…but then he nodded lightly. “Given the current situation, the only option we have is to ask Master to decide.” “Right.” “Notify the Ancestor.” “I concur.” Celestial Immortals Goldclock, Sunfish, and Deadwood all nodded. “I’ve already instructed my spirit-beast to go find Arcanum. Arcanum will immediately notify the Ancestor,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation said. Although they were very far away from each other, since he was a Celestial Immortal, he was similarly able to communicate spiritually with his spirit-beast at a tremendous distance. Ning continued to attack wildly, but was unable to break through the defenses of the five Celestial Immortals. The Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds were wildly attacking as well, and Uncle White even summoned the power of the formation to generate rays of magnetic lances of light to attack…but they were still unable to break the defenses. “It’s like a turtle-shell.” Ning was forced to temporarily give up, unwilling though he was. Swoosh. Ning returned to Uncle White, Little Qing, and Northson’s sides. “Master, the defenses of these five Celestial Immortals are far too powerful. There’s no way to break through at all. What should we do next?” Little Qing asked with worry. “What can we do? Wait.” Ning shook his head and sighed. “Celestial Immortals are Celestial Immortals, after all; last time, when they attacked me en masse, I was at a disadvantage. This time, I’ve grown stronger and have the upper hand…but when faced with all five of them, I still find it extremely hard to actually defeat them. To kill a Celestial Immortal is no easy task.” Ning then laughed. “However, I never believed that I had the power to simply dominate Celestial Immortals.” “Senior apprentice-brother, you…?” Northson was puzzled. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Ning laughed. “The situation for us, compared to the situation for the Youngflame clan, is completely different. We’ve attacked their headquarters, and have even erected a massive, mighty formation within their headquarters. We’re resting and relaxing here, completely carefree! Given how widespread the intelligence networks of the world of the Grand Xia are, the various major powers will quickly learn of this matter.” “Every day we spend here is a day where the Youngflame clan will be losing face.” “If we can spend half a year or a year relaxing here, with the Youngflame clan completely unable to do anything to us, and being forced to just watch us leave at our leisure eventually…the Youngflame clan will turn into a huge joke for the rest of the world!” Ning said, “The Youngflame clan definitely won’t permit this to happen. They’ll definitely come up with a method to deal with me.” “If they want to continue hiding like a turtle in its shell, there’s nothing I can do about that, of course.” 2741 “But if they want to kill me…they’ll have to take some risks. They’ll have to enter the formation and actively attack me.” “By attacking me, they’ll be taking risks…and if I can seize the right opportunity, I can kill one of their Celestial Immortals,” Ning said with a laugh. “Once I kill the first one, I’ll have an even better chance of killing the second one.” “This time…I intend to drag this out with the Youngflame clan as long as I can.” Battles at the Celestial Immortal level could drag on for many, many years. Ning had that intention as well; to drag this out as long as possible. If he could drag this out for a year, he would cause the clansmen of the Youngflame clan to all feel nervous and restless. So long as the Youngflame clan made a single misstep, or so long as a single Celestial Immortal overextended himself…then Ning’s chance would come. …… “Uncle White, every so often, use the formation to assault them. Keep them nervous and force them to keep their formations activated,” Ning suddenly said. “Ji Ning, you are…?” Uncle White was startled. “Are you planning to take a rest?” “No.” Ning shook his head and smiled. “I just thought of a big rod.” “A rod?” They were all puzzled. “I’m going to leave the formation to take a look. I’ll be back soon,” Ning said with a laugh. “Uncle White, you must be careful.” “Don’t worry.” Uncle White nodded. “Master, what sort of a rod are you going to go look at?” Little Qing asked. “A copper one.” After speaking, Ning quickly departed. He stealthily slipped out of the grand formation, then used a void blink to go deep underground. Ning knew very well that this battle with the Youngflame clan would most likely be an extremely long once. Since he wouldn’t be able to kill those five Celestial Immortals for now…he might as well make a trip to check out that mysterious underground copper ‘rod’! That enormous copper pillar…immediately after Ning had discovered it, the five mighty Celestial Immortals had arrived, preventing him from investigating it in detail. Now that the five Celestial Immortals were trapped, there was no one else who could disturb him. Crackle crackle crackle… Ning’s divine power agitated the surrounding land, pushing aside the nearby mud and rocks. He stared at the enormous, fiery copper pillar before him. This copper pillar had been here for who-knows how long…but it hadn’t rusted in the slightest. It was covered with runes, and ripples of power were emanating from it. “Doesn’t seem to be a magic treasure.” Ning came to this private conclusion after investigating it a bit. “Let me try divine sense.” Ning immediately released his divine sense, attempting to carefully ascertain what the real face of this fiery copper pillar was. Last time, his divine sense had been unleashed from midair, and so he had only been able to scan a small part of the copper pillar. This time, he was right next to it, deep underground. “This is…” Ning took a deep breath. Good heavens! This fiery copper pillar was nearly three hundred meters wide, but it stretched extremely deep down underground…and at the very bottom of it was an unfathomably massive fire-red stone wall! This fiery stone wall stretched out over ten thousand kilometers in the deep subterranean. There was a limit to how far Ning’s divine sense could stretch. He was only able to scan a portion of this fiery stone wall. As to how large it was exactly…there was no way Ning could find out as well. As for the giant copper pillar, it was planted firmly into the fiery stone wall! More than three thousand kilometers of the giant copper pillar jutted out from above the stone wall! As for how deep it was beyond the wall…there was no way to know! This was because Ning’s divine sense was completely unable to penetrate through the fiery stone wall at all. “This stone wall…” Ning immediately used yet another void blink, teleporting three thousand kilometers downwards. He quickly arrived next to the fiery stone wall. Ning used his divine power to force aside all the nearby mud, creating an empty region deep underground. Beneath Ning’s feet was the fiery stone wall. Next to him was the fiery copper pillar. “What is this thing? Divine sense is unable to see through this fiery stone wall, and elemental ki is unable to bind it.” Ning was completely puzzled. He immediately gave it a hard stomp. BOOM… 2743 How powerful were Ning’s feet by now? It must be understood that Ning’s hands were comparable to supreme Pure Yang treasures. As for the rest of his body, every other part was comparable to at least a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure. The power of his kicks would be able to effortlessly cause mountains to crumble. The enormous, fiery stone wall beneath him, however, just let out a booming sound…and was completely undamaged. “Weird.” Ning suddenly struck down with a palm as well. The power of the activated [Starseizing Hand] was incredibly terrifying…but the only result was yet another, deeper booming sound. “Still nothing?” Ning was truly confused now. “Even Heaven-ranked magic treasures would be completely shattered by my palm blows, yet this fiery stone wall is completely undamaged?” Ning walked to the enormous copper pillar that was planted firmly into the fiery stone wall. “So the copper pillar is planted into the stone wall?” Ning carefully made a circle around the giant copper pillar, inspecting it. He pushed aside all of the mud surrounding the three hundred meter thick pillar, only to discover…that this fiery stone wall really did seem to have a three hundred meter opening here. The copper pillar was stuck into the opening and tightly locked to it! Ning’s divine sense was unable to find the tiniest of seams to penetrate into! “The copper pillar was planted here…I wonder if it can be pulled out?” Ning mumbled to himself for a moment as he pondered. Screw it. The Youngflame clan hid it here. Ning wasn’t afraid of anything. His body flickered, and with a whoosh, he instantly transformed into a nine hundred meter tall giant. As a Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Void level, upon using the Heavenly Transformation divine ability, Ning’s maximum size was actually three thousand meters. As a nine hundred meter tall giant, his two hands were able to effortlessly clasp around the enormous copper pillar. “Come OUT!” Ning pulled, hard. How much power did this pull have, coming from a nine hundred meter tall giant? Alas…it didn’t budge at all! “[Starseizing Hand]!” Ning stared for a moment, then the divine tattoos of the [Starseizing Hand] began to flow across his hands. His power exploded dramatically, and his pulling strength increased greatly as well. He now had what felt like limitless strength, capable of uprooting mountains and rivers… Rumble… 2744 Accompanied by a thunderous sound, the enormous copper pillar actually began to rise slightly. When it did, all sorts of grinding sounds could be heard from deep below the stone wall, at the points where the stone wall and the copper pillar were joined together. In fact, a rumbling sound that sounded like the heavens were breaking apart could be heard as well. …… In a very distant world. A man-shaped creature with scales on his face, a single horn on his forehead, and a body covered by azure flames suddenly opened his eyes. Boundless rage could be seen in his gaze. “Who?” “Who dares…WHO DARES TOUCH MY INFINITY FURNACE?!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In front of the horned, human-shaped creature lay a massive aberration that was like a mountainisland…an armored insect-type aberration.. This bug had a triangular head which glowed with with a bronze light, making it look as though it was metallic. Its sharp fangs were clearly visible within its savage-looking mouth, and it also had sixteen knife-like legs. This insect aberration had an aura of tremendous power, and surges of a gray aura were constantly wafting off of its body. It was simply too enormous; its body alone was nearly thirty thousand meters in length. “Good boy.” The horned humanoid immediately opened his mouth. Whoosh! The utterly massive, terrifying insect actually began to shrink at a rapid pace, becoming a tiny little dot that flew straight into the mouth of the horned humanoid. “Ancestor.” “Master.” Two figures instantly flew over; one a bald, black-robed man, the other a woman with dazzling golden hair. These two Celestial Immortals were acting extraordinarily subservient; they knew exactly how terrifyingly powerful this horned humanoid before them was! This was the true ancestor and patriarch of the entire Youngflame clan. The reason why the Youngflame clan had refused to bow their heads towards the Kindwater clan and instead fought with them for so many years, despite the fact that the Kindwater clan had an Empyrean God, was precisely because the Youngflame clan had the Ancestor behind them! “Come. Accompany me on a trip to the Oldjade mountain range.” The horned humanoid had an ugly look on his face. “I want to see who it is that dares touch my things.” “Yes,” the two Celestial Immortals said respectfully. …… As Ji Ning was pulling up the fiery copper pillar, Patriarch Arcanum was quietly standing guard within a distant tower. He had been seated in the lotus position, but his face suddenly changed. He opened his eyes wide in terror and shock. “The Infinity Furnace…who dares disturb the Infinity Furnace? Can it be Ji Ning? But, but…” …… 2746 Within the Oldjade mountain range. Within the massive, ten thousand kilometer formation which Uncle White had set up. The five mighty Celestial Immortals trapped within were originally quite patient, but upon Ning beginning to uproot the fiery copper pillar… “Not good!” “The Infinity Furnace!” “It must be Ji Ning!” Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Goldclock, Sunfish, Deadwood, and Flamefish all had completely different looks on their faces now. The copper Infinity Furnace was simply far too important to them. If Celestial Immortals were one of the pillars of the Youngflame clan, the Infinity Furnace would be one of the other pillars! The secrets of the Infinity Furnace…not even Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals knew about them. However, all of the Celestial Immortals within the clan did know, and all of them had left behind their own seals and runes upon it. So long as anyone began to open the Infinity Furnace, they would immediately know! “No wonder Ji Ning stopped attacking us. He discovered the Infinity Furnace! He must have found it when he was destroying that earlier area.” “Quick, let’s go stop him.” “We can’t let him open the Infinity Furnace.” The five mighty Celestial Immortals didn’t hesitate at all; Celestial Immortal Infatuation waved his hand, and he instantly collected the other four Celestial Immortals. And then, he disappeared as well, leaving behind only a mobile Immortal estate in midair. Although Uncle White’s formation-based attacks and Mu Northson’s Seven Ruinous Thunderwinds were all quite formidable, they weren’t able to destroy this mobile Immortal estate. Rumble… After the storm of attacks passed…the five mighty Celestial Immortals were gone. The mobile Immortal estate landed on the ground. “Hmph.” Little Qing blinked forward, appearing before the mobile Immortal estate. Stretching out her hand, she grabbed it and immediately began to forcibly bind it to herself. She called out, “Those five Celestial Immortals slipped away…what should we do?” 2747 “If they slipped away, they slipped away. We are here in the headquarters of the Youngflame clan; they won’t just sit and watch as we relax here. They’ll definitely come again.” Uncle White was quite calm. Little Qing and Uncle White both immediately sent spiritual messages to Ning, alerting him of this. …… Deep underground. The enormous nine hundred meter tall Ji Ning was standing atop the fiery stone cliff while tugging out the giant copper pillar at rapid speed. Rumble…with each pull, the copper tube was lifted up nearly six hundred meters! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Ning continued to pull upwards rapidly, while more and more of the copper pillar began to emerge. “I want to see how damn long this copper pillar is, and what’s behind this fiery stone wall.” As Ning saw it, once he pulled out the copper pillar, he would be able to use his divine sense to investigate the enormous hole that would be left behind. “Eh?” Ning suddenly frowned. He could sense a spatial ripple, an extremely powerful spatial ripple. “Greater Teleportation.” Ning immediately recognized it. Just a few dozen kilmeters away from Ning, amidst the earth and rubble, Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Deadwood, Flamefish, and the other two all simultaneously appeared. They were all utterly enraged. Around them circled that enormous five-colored mountain peak, and with a boom, they quickly began to charge towards Ning, the five-colored mountain peak crushing through all obstacles before them. Just as they got close to Ning… “Attack!” Celestial Immortal Infatuation gave the order. Whoosh whoosh whoosh…instantly, the five enormous chains shot out like Flood Dragons, tearing through all obstacles as they swept towards Ji Ning, who was still pulling at the fiery copper pillar. “Hmph.” Ning just smirked. “Three Heads, Six Arms! Thousandbull Sword, let the Nightriver emerge!” Instantly, two more arms grew out from Ning’s body, to join the two arms that were being used to pull at the copper pillar. The Thousandbull Sword appeared above his head as well, and the awe-inspiring Nightriver also emerged. The Nightriver instantly and completely submerged everything nearby, causing the five dragon-like chains to seem to have become mired in quicksand. At the same time, Ning’s four arms demonstrated tremendous power as he completely suppressed the assaults of the chains. “Kill him!” “Stop him!” 2748 The five Celestial Immortals, upon seeing that the Shaoyin Demontamer Formation wasn’t powerful enough, temporarily gave up that idea for now. After all, their current goal wasn’t to trap him; it was to prevent him from pulling out the pillar! Thus, they all used various spells, magic treasures, and other abilities to that effect. One tendril after another appeared, slithering towards Ning like giant serpents! An enormous fiery phoenix appeared, charging towards Ning. A golden greatclock appeared in midair, ringing out and sending waves of power towards Ning. “Is that all you have?” Ning completely ignored these attacks; in fact, he actually grew even more excited. “As soon as I started tugging at this copper pillar, those five Celestial Immortals immediately teleported over here. They were clearly trapped within the formation; how did they know that I was here pulling the pillar? This pillar must be covered with various seals, runes, and restrictive spells, causing them to immediately know about this.” “For them to attack me in such a berserk manner shows that they are truly unwilling for the copper pillar to be uprooted,” Ning guessed to himself. The more his enemies feared an action, the more insistent he could be on carrying it out! Many magic spells and treasures flew towards Ning, but Ning allowed all of the attacks to land on his body. Boom! Boom! Boom! The surrounding earth and rocks were all blasted apart as a wave of power spread out towards every direction. Everything within a thousand kilometers was instantly transformed into ash, while the ground within ten thousand kilometers began to crack and shatter. In fact, the cracks spread all the way from the underground area to the surface, forming an enormously deep gorge that was nearly ten thousand kilometers deep! The earth and rocks here were quite ordinary, after all; how could they withstand the frenzied attacks of five mighty Celestial Immortals? This was the power of Celestial Immortals! Just the collateral damage from a battle between the five Celestial Immortals and Ji Ning would generate a gorge that was ten thousand kilometers deep! Ning, however, just let the attacks land; he even allowed those vines to coil around his body. Ning felt nothing but disdain for it all! His body now had the power of the Fifth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; these attacks did nothing but tickle him! If he wasn’t currently holding onto that copper pillar, then he’d have to spend some of his energy in dealing with the vines and ripping them apart. Even before Ning made his breakthrough, he was capable of breaking apart those vines, to say nothing of now, when his strength had vastly increased. And since he actually WAS holding onto the copper pillar…if they wanted to pull them away, they’d have to pull the copper pillar away along with him! “Get in here!” Patriarch Goldclock let out an angry roar. The golden greatclock was giving birth to unearthly ripples of attractive power, attempting to draw Ning inside it. Ning, however, just tightly clutched the copper pillar, continuing to pull ilt upwards! You want to pull me away? Then you’ll have to pull out the copper pillar along with me! The attractive power of the golden clock actually just slightly hastened the rate at which the copper pillar was being pulled out. “I can’t stop him.” “He’s completely ignoring our attacks. He’s even able to ignore the vines! All of his attention is focused on pulling out the copper pillar.” Celestial Immortal Goldclock sent frantically, “What should we do?!” Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The copper pillar was still being pulled up at a fast, rhythmic pace. With each pull, another six hundred meters of it was pulled out. Ning’s pulling speed was incredibly fast; in just this short exchange of attacks, Ning had already pulled out another thirty thousand meters. But this pillar was simply too enormously long! “Don’t attack him,” Celestial Immortal hurriedly ordered mentally. “Let’s bind the pillar. Let’s attack the pillar and use all our might to prevent it from going up any further.” “Alright.” “Right, we only need to stop the copper pillar from being pulled out.” Earlier, the Celestial Immortals had been in a panic; upon seeing Ning rapidly pull out the copper pillar, they had only thought to attack him. They had forgotten that preventing the pillar from coming out would serve the same effect. The five Celestial Immortals now completely ignored Ning as they hurriedly flew towards the top of the copper pillar. They wanted to use a spatial teleportation to go there faster, but the surrounding area, within the range of Ning’s divine sense, had long ago been completely spacelocked. They had no choice but to fly upwards, but flying didn’t take significantly more time than using a Greater Teleportation. In that tiny bit of extra time, however…Ning was able to pull out another thirty thousand meters of the pillar. This copper pillar was simply too massive; before he had started to pull, Ning had already seen three thousand kilometers of it! “STOP!” Celestial Immortal Deadwood unleashed his many vines, which rapidly began to wrap around the copper pillar, generating an astonishing repulsive force. “STOP!” Celestial Immortal Goldclock controlled his divine greatclock, sending waves of power smashing downwards on the very top of the copper pillar. “STOP!” Celestial Immortals Flamefish, Infatuation, and Sunfish all wildly launched attacks against the top of the tower, seeking to press it downwards. “Hahaha…” Although Ning could sense the waves of pressure slamming down from above, he began to laugh even more happily. This was because, now that the five Celestial Immortals were no longer attacking him, all six of Ning’s arms were temporarily freed up to focus on uprooting the copper pillar. Ning’s physical strength was simply too enormous. With six arms pulling together at the same time…not even the combined efforts of the five Celestial Immortals were able to keep the pillar down. In the blink of an eye, Ning had pulled out yet another thirty thousand meters. Thud! Thud! Thud! The fiery stone wall beneath Ning’s feet actually began to rumble and shudder, as though something was slamming against it. At the same time, the countless runes that were covering the fiery stone wall began to flicker and flash. “Not good. Ji Ning has pulled out too much of the copper pillar; the suppressive runes are beginning to destabilize.” Celestial Immortal Infatuation and the other four Celestial Immortals began to grow frantic. “This Ji Ning’s strength is too great; the five of us are actually unable to suppress him.” In terms of raw strength…once the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] was completely unleashed, Ning’s raw physical strength vastly outstretched the strength of the five Celestial Immortals. In terms of comparing magic treasures…Ning’s six hands were comparable to supreme Pure Yang treasures. How could the five of them possibly suppress the pillar? “What should we do? If this continues, there will be a huge problem.” Celestial Immortal Goldclock was beginning to panic. “Hahaha, I knew something was strange here. The more afraid you are, the more I want to pull this thing out.” Upon seeing the countless runes flashing and flickering atop the enormous fiery stone wall beneath 2751 his feet, and upon hearing the series of thudding sounds, Ning grew even more eager to see what would happen. “Eh?” Suddenly, all five of the Celestial Immortals, as well as the pillar-uprooting Ji Ning, could sense a spatial ripple come from up above them. It was Greater Teleportation! “The Ancestor has arrived.” The five Celestial Immortals revealed looks of delight and joy. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Four figures appeared in the air above the deep gorge within the Oldjade mountain range. The leader was a golden-robed man with a single horn, whose gaze was as cold as icy water. Behind him stood three other figures; a bald, black-robed man named Celestial Immortal Blackrain, a golden-haired woman named Celestial Immortal Goldcloud, and Celestial Immortal Arcanum. The three mighty Celestial Immortals were all obediently following behind this individual. “Who is that horned man?” “Isn’t that Patriarch Arcanum? Why is Patriarch Arcanum following behind that man so respectfully? The two who are standing next to Patriarch Arcanum are also acting with great respect, and their auras seem to be very great as well; they should also be at the Celestial Immortal level.” The Loose Immortals of the Youngflame clan, hidden away and watching from within their distant formations, were all rather dazed. They had just seen five Celestial Immortals appear. And now…they saw four more! They recognized Patriarch Arcanum; he had an extremely exalted status within the Youngflame clan, and generally speaking they would be able to occasionally interact with him in some manner. Right now, however, Patriarch Arcanum was obediently standing behind the horned man, and the two other Celestial Immortals with him were doing the same. This caused all sorts of speculations to run rampant through their minds. “Can it be that this horned man is the true, actual supreme power of our Youngflame clan?” “There were five Celestial Immortals earlier; now, four more have appeared. Can it be that our Youngflame clan actually has nine Celestial Immortals? We’re actually this powerful!? Or perhaps the horned man isn’t a Celestial Immortal; is he one of those legendary Empyrean Gods or True Immortals?” All sorts of thoughts and speculations flashed through their minds, causing these Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Youngflame clan who were watching to feel extremely nervous. …… The horned, golden-robed man and the three Celestial Immortals with him stared downwards. They were able to see that fiery copper pillar located at the bottom of the deep gorge. Next to the pillar were five Celestial Immortals who were assaulting it, trying to slow it down. At the very bottom of the pillar…there was a nine hundred meter tall Ji Ning who was using six arms to tug at the pillar, wildly trying to uproot it. “Damn him, he’s moving my furnace.” The horned, golden-robed man’s face was sinister. “All of you, attack to suppress and press down the copper pillar.” “Yes.” The three Celestial Immortals under his command, Goldcloud, Blackrain, and Arcanum, simultaneously assented and began to fly downwards. As for the horned, golden-robed man, he opened his mouth. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Three tiny black dots flew out, and as they did, they immediately expanded. Instantly, they transformed into a trio of terrifying aberrations that were more than thirty thousand meters long. One of them was the armored insect aberration that had sixteen knife-like legs. A second looked like a gigantic rhinoceros that had unbelievably thick skin…but on its back it had a total of twelve pairs of wings. The final creature was a viper whose body was covered with circles of black tattoos. The tattoos were extremely beautiful, and at the head of the viper, they actually came together to form the tattoo of a crown. The horned, golden-robed man was seated atop the back of the winged rhinoceros, and he directed the three massive aberrations to move downwards, as fast as lightning. THUD! THUD! THUD! A series of massive thudding sounds could be heard from deep within the fiery stone wall. Ning continued to focus all his efforts on pulling up that giant copper pillar. The giant copper pillar rose up rapidly, and the more of it Ning pulled out, the more brilliant became the glow of the countless runes that had appeared on the fiery stone wall beneath Ning’s feet. However, they were also beginning to flicker…and the thudding sounds began to speed up as well. “Eh?” As Ning pulled upwards, Ning suddenly had the feeling as though deep below this enormous copper pillar, on the other side of the massive fiery stone wall, a power was beginning to awaken and grow stronger. It was as though some sort of terrifying behemoth was struggling to push up the pillar, attempting to shove it higher! The more Ning pulled out, the more power began to gather in the deepest depths, helping push the pillar upwards nonstop. This made it easier and easier for Ning to pull it out. “Don’t act against Ji Ning. It’s useless.” Celestial Immortal Infatuation, upon seeing Celestial Immortal Arcanum and the other two arrive, instantly sent a frantic mental message to them. “Ji Ning has the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him; we’re completely unable to wound him. He also has a deathgrip around the copper pillar; we’re completely unable to dislodge him. What we need to do right now is to stop that copper pillar from rising up.” 2754 “Right.” The three Celestial Immortals who had arrived all understood this right away. They all each began to use their own techniques to push downwards at the massive copper pillar. …… “Eh?” The enormous six-armed Ning, nine hundred meters tall and located more than three thousand kilometers away from those eight Celestial Immortals, raised his head to give them a glance. Ning’s twin eyes were blazing with torch-light, and he was able to see everything with perfect clarity. He saw Celestial Immortal Arcanum and the other two join the fray as well, and also saw those three terrifying aberrations fly downwards, as well as that horned, golden-robed individual seated atop the back of the flying rhinoceros. “More and more are coming.” Ning cracked his lips wide with a grin. “This Youngflame clan really is quite powerful. An ancient clan that ranks as one of the top ten of the Grand Xia Dynasty…it really is quite extraordinary. It seems I’ve really kicked over the hornet’s nest this time. The Youngflame clan is starting to panic.” Indeed; to the Youngflame clan, ordinary clansmen would die out and be replaced every few centuries just through aging! To the clan, ordinary clansmen and ordinary cultivators weren’t that important; even if all of the people within the Oldjade mountain range perished, it would at most represent a loss of face for the clan. It wouldn’t actually affect their total power much; after all, they had two other headquarters! They could let the people in those two other headquarters replenish their losses and once more occupy the entire Oldjade mountain range. In addition, aside from their three main headquarters, the Youngflame clan also was in command of many minor worlds. Their bloodline and their clan was spread extremely wide; there was no need for them to worry about their clan being wiped out. In truth…the Ancestor probably wouldn’t even be willing to come here, if it was simply a matter of the Oldjade mountain range being destroyed. But Ji Ning had made a move on the Infinity Furnace! This threatened one of the foundations of the Youngflame clan, and so even the Ancestor could no longer ignore it. “So what if there are eight Celestial Immortals here? They still can’t stop me.” Ning continued to quickly pull out the copper pillar. In truth, the suppressive power unleashed by the eight Celestial Immortals was extremely strong, but each time Ning pulled out more of the copper pillar, the power pushing upwards from below the pillar grew increasingly strong. In fact, the pushing power was almost comparable to Ning’s pulling power by now! Thus, Ning actually found it even easier now than he had before, despite the fact that eight Celestial Immortals had just joined forces. BOOM! The first of the three aberrations to fly downwards was that enormous armored insect. It completely wrapped its sixteen knife-legs around the fiery copper pillar! To this massive armored insect that was more than thirty thousand meters long, the fiery copper pillar, which was merely three hundred meters thick, was actually quite slender and thin. The terrifying strength of the armored insect caused Ning to actually sense the copper pillar sink down slightly! “This aberration has tremendous power; if I didn’t use [Three Heads, Six Arms], I would probably actually be weaker than it in terms of strength.” Ning couldn’t help but feel surprised as he looked at the armored insect. Whoosh! Next came the thirty thousand meter black serpent. It looped and coiled itself around the fiery copper pillar. Instantly, a second surge of power that was no weaker than that of the power of the armored insect came pressing down, causing Ning to feel that the pillar had grown even heavier. THUD! THUD! THUD! Ning could sense the thudding sounds coming from deep below the fiery stone wall beneath his feet were beginning to increase even more in pace. The power below the copper pillar was still gaining in power…and by now, its power had completely eclipised Ji Ning’s. With the aid of this power…Ning was still able to continue pulling the copper pillar up! ROAAAAR! One of the massive hooves of the winged rhinoceros slammed down directly against the very top of the copper pillar, instantly causing the entire copper pillar to grow even heavier. “That flying rhinoceros aberration…its strength is actually even greater than that of the black snake and the strange insect?” Ning was shocked. “Even when I use the [Starseizing Hand] with six arms, my power would most likely only be on par with that rhinoceros aberration.” Ning tightly clutched the copper pillar. He could sense the power below the copper pillar growing increasingly savage; in fact, it was almost equal to and achieved a balance with the pressuring force from above that was seeking to push the pillar down. As for Ning…he was the tiebreaker that broke the balance between these two powers. “Come out!” Ning’s six arms exerted their full power; by himself, he was already comparable to the eight Celestial Immortals above him in strength, and was comparable to the flying rhinoceros, the most physically strong creature on the other side. “What?!” The face of the horned, golden-robed man seated on the back of the flying rhinoceros completely changed. The Celestial Immortals under his command were all Ki Refiners; in this sort of competition of raw strength, they were innately at a disadvantage! But the three aberrations he controlled were far more powerful in raw strength; he had thought that with their appearance, the pillar would be effortlessly pushed down. …… The western sea of the world of the Grand Xia. The headquarters of the Seamless Gate. “Ahahaha, Immortal Venomfreak is in for some trouble now!” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven roared with laughter, waving his hands and feet about in delight. “So this is the founding father of the Youngflame clan?” The nearby Violetgrass stared curiously towards the horned, golden-robed man. Although she had heard of the founder before, she knew very little about him. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven laughed, then nodded. “Right. This is the founder of the Youngflame clan. Back in the era of Pangu’s World…there was an extremely powerful clan known as the ‘Godfire’ clan. This was a clan that was protected by a Daofather; this clan was one of the most supreme clans amongst the many clans of the world. A woman of this clan was raped by a Fiendgod, and she gave birth to a child that had the bloodline and lineage of that Fiendgod. This child was born looking like a hideous freak, more monster than man. Thus, he was ostracized by his clan. As a result, he never felt as though he was a member of the Godfire clan. He long ago departed from the clan, establishing his own Youngflame clan!” “This ugly child was the founder of the Youngflame clan…Youngflame Freak. An eccentric, cautious, sinister, and truly crafty freak.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven said in a low voice, “Although he is ‘only’ a Celestial Immortal…even I am unwilling to make an enemy of him.” Violetgrass nodded lightly. Naturally, she had heard of some of the legends of Immortal Venomfreak. Within the Three Realms, there were fairly few Pure Yang True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, after all; the likes of Patriarch Lu, also known as Lu Dongbin, and other similarly formidable members of the Three Realms were people that even Celestial Immortals had to receive with tremendous respect. True Immortals and Empyrean Gods were simply far, far too few in number. By comparison, there were many more Celestial Immortals, and amongst them were some truly monstrous freaks. Although it was extremely hard for a Celestial Immortal to break through to the True Immortal level, these Celestial Immortals had reputations that were not one whit inferior to the reputation of most True Immortals or Empyrean Gods. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was one such figure! Immortal Venomfreak was another! “This Venomfreak has many clones. Although every single clone has fairly average power…” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sighed. “Because of how many clones he has, it is almost completely impossible to kill him. For example, this ‘Venomfreak’ before us…he’s nothing more than a single one of the clones.” 2757 “Venomfreak’s power in battle is ordinary, but his venomous insects are far too dangerous. His abilities in raising venomous insects can be considered amongst the best in the Three Realms. I really wonder where he found this sort of a legacy.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sighed. “These three insects that we are seeing…each of them has combat power comparable to a supreme Celestial Immortal. In addition, these insects have no fear of death, and so they are even more terrifying than actual Celestial Immortals. Thus…even back during the era of Pangu’s World, Immortal Venomfreak was famous for being extremely difficult to deal with. Killing him would be very difficult, unless a Daofather or comparable power was to seek out and destroy every single one of his clones. A few of his insects have died, but with the passage of time, he’s been able to produce other terrifyingly strong insects as well.” “Thus…we should ideally try to split Immortal Venomfreak from the Xia Emperor’s side and pull him over to ours,” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven said. “He will prove of tremendous use to us.” …… This eccentric, cautious, sinister, and truly crafty golden-robed figure stared downwards. Upon seeing that his three insects were unable to prevent the copper pillar from being pulled upwards, he began to grow frantic. He immediately sent a message with his coresense: “Ji Ning, brat, if you don’t want to die, then stop right now!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Die? From what, those three aberrations of yours?” The nine hundred meter tall giant, Ji Ning, roared with laughter. He continued to furiously pull up the copper pillar, and the force coming from down beneath it continued to strengthen, making Ning’s task easier and easier. “You…!” The horned, golden-robed man was filled with utter rage. Because of the caution that had been bred into him during the era of Pangu’s World, he never carried all his aberrations on a particular clone! This particularly clone carried three aberrations, as it was meant to protect the clan; the other clones were secreted throughout the Three Realms, and they naturally had insectoid aberrations of their own. This caused the horned, golden-robed man to feel extremely angry; if all of his aberrations were here, he would probably be able to effortlessly press down the copper pillar. However…keeping his insectoid aberrations was an ironclad rule he had set for himself! It was the main reason why he had been able to survive through so many countless ages! He would rather pay an enormous price than to violate this ironclad rule. “Hmph. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” The horned, golden-robed man sent an angry mental message, roaring, “Although the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], you haven’t even overcome your Celestial Tribulation. If I truly were to act against you…you would definitely die.” “Come, then. Show me everything you have,” Ning snickered. A cold light flashed through the eyes of the horned, golden-robed man. He sent mentally, “Fine, then…our Youngflame clan is willing to resolve our differences with you. If you agree to cease uprooting the copper pillar and help us push it back down, we definitely won’t act against you again.” “You call this ‘resolving our differences’? If you don’t come after me, I’d go after you! Do you think the annihilation of the entire Yuchi clan can be forgiven, as easily as that?” Ning was angry now. “The annihilation of the Yuchi clan?” The horned, golden-robed man had an incredibly exalted status; he wasn’t even aware of such minor matters as the eradication of the Yuchi clan. He immediately sent mentally, “How about this? Those who gave the orders to deal with the Yuchi clan and everyone who acted against the Yucchi clan…I’ll capture them all and give them to you for you to deal with!” Minor matters such as the extermination of a small clan were normally decided upon by the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of a clan. To this founder of the Youngflame clan, who could easily spend a million years in a single closed-door meditation session…Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were 2759 nothing more than individuals that would die and be replaced every so often. Ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals would never even be qualified to see the founder a single time in their lives. The Ancestor wouldn’t even care if all of the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the clan were wiped out, to say nothing of a small portion of them. “As easy as that?” Ning sent a cold laugh. “Celestial Immortal Arcanum sent people to assassinate me, and even the soul of my lifelong friend’s Dao-companion was destroyed thanks to the attacks of four Celestial Immortals of your Youngflame clan. Am I supposed to just write them off? If you really want to resolve our differences…I can agree. Aside from sending me everyone who had anything to do with the Yuchi clan’s eradication, all five of those Celestial Immortals, including Celestial Immortal Arcanum, must die! If you do that, this matter will be at an end!” “You are going too far!” The Ancestor was enraged. “Then don’t talk to me about resolving our differences!” Ning continued to furiously uproot the copper pillar; by now, even without him pulling at it, the copper pillar was rising up of its own volition. Even without Ning helping out, the upwards pushing force already eclipsed the downwards pushing force of the Celestial Immortals and three aberrations above. “You can kill any Loose Immortals, cultivators, or mortals that you wish. You absolutely cannot kill my Celestial Immortals; not even one!” The Ancestor was utterly infuriated by now. Every clan had its rules. For the sake of the clan, sacrificing a few Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals meant nothing. But sacrificing Celestial Immortals? The other Celestial Immortals would probably be terrified and shaken by such an action. All of the Celestial Immortals of the entire clan would feel nervous and restless. In addition, Celestial Immortals were the true foundation of any clan; there was no way the Ancestor would be willing to sacrifice Celestial Immortals. “I can use magic treasures to compensate you,” the Ancestor said hurriedly. “Ten top-grade Pure Yang Treasures. Can you afford it?” Ning asked. The Ancestor was so choked with anger, he couldn’t speak. Ten? What did this Ji Ning kid think Pure Yang treasures were? Despite how powerful the Ancestor was and how long he had lived, even he didn’t have ten top-grade Pure Yang treasures. “Stop. I SAID STOP!” The Ancestor stared at how far up the copper pillar had risen…and realized that the situation could no longer be reversed. Earlier, if Ji Ning had been willing to help out a bit, they could’ve shoved the copper pillar back down. But now? It had risen so much that even if Ji Ning helped them out, they still probably wouldn’t be able to shove it back. “Ji Ning.” The sinister eyes of the Ancestor were filled with malice and a savage desire to kill. “I, Venomfreak, swear that I will definitely kill you. I will definitely kill you!!! Not only will I kill you, I’ll also wipe out your clan and all those you care about!” “Don’t worry. I’m planning on killing you too. Hahaha…” Ning raised his head to stare upwards, his eyes blazing with torch-light. He could clearly see the horned, golden-robed man above him. Rumble…the copper pillar rose up at an ever-fast pace. The pushing power from below now completely outstripped the power of the forces of the Youngflame clan. With Ning helping out as well, the copper pillar was pulled out faster and faster, with Ning’s six arms turning into blurs as they moved. “Damn it.” The Youngflame clan’s Ancestor had an extremely ugly look on his face. He immediately sent mentally, “Everyone, halt. Hurry up and establish the Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation!” “Yes!” The eight Celestial Immortals Arcanum, Infatuation, Goldclock, Deadwood, Sunfish, Flamefish, Goldcloud, and Blackrain, upon hearing the orders of their incomparably venerated founder, all gave up on their attempts and simultaneously flew high into the sky. Even the three aberrations gave up as well; everyone flew up into the sky. The eight mighty Celestial Immortals fell into formation, with the horned, golden-robed man standing at the very center and the three aberrations circling around them. “They’re coming.” The horned, golden-robed man stared downwards coldly. Clank. The pillar suddenly stopped moving. Ning, as well, realized that the copper pillar could no longer be budged. More than 4200 kilometers of it was stretching beyond the fiery stone wall. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! An enormous sound, as though the sky itself was bursting apart or as if the earth itself was shattering. Ning felt the countless runes covering the fiery stone wall beneath his feet begin to flicker…and the fiery stone wall itself began to move. Whoosh! Ning sent out his divine sense to investigate. He could now see that a crack had suddenly appeared across the surface of the vast, fiery stone wall. The crack was rapidly increasing in size, expanding to each side. It was like a crack appearing on the lid to a cauldron or a furnace. “WE’RE OUT!” “WE’RE OUT!” “WE’RE FINALLY OUT!” One figure after another came soaring out from the crack. The tight, dense waves of figures came flooding out, and as they did they rapidly began to increase in size. They started off as tiny dots, but they began to transform into Fiendgods that were thousands or tens of thousands of meters tall! They all let out agitated, berserk howls, and the sound of their roars shook the world around them. Just from listening to their agitated roars, one could sense the infinite excitement these Fiendgods were feeling. Their roars alone could shake one’s soul! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The earth broke apart. Countless Fiendgods came charging out into the sky. Some of the Fiendgods had two horns and flames coming out of their nostrils, some had the appearance of beastmen, and others appeared just like a mass of black fog… All sorts of Fiendgods had appeared. Tall, muscular ones, sinister and bizarre ones, savage and berserk ones. Some were large, some were small, but all of them came charging out from the stone wall, and the earth around them was utterly destroyed. “This…this is…” Ning was completely stunned. “This many Fiendgods?! And the auras of these Fiendgods…more than half of them are actually Void-level Fiendgods.” Ning instantly understood why the power that had come from below the copper pillar was so enormously powerful. There were more than nine hundred Fiendgods before him…and more than sixty percent of them were Void-level Fiendgods! These were true, real Fiendgods, the type that generally had divine abilities of their own. Over the course of countless ages, their comprehension of the Dao had most likely risen to an incredibly high level as well. Every single Void-level Fiendgod was comparable to a Celestial Immortal, and some of them were probably comparable to supreme Celestial Immortals. For so many Fiendgods to unleash their power at once…what an incredible sight that must have been! “What in the world has the Youngflame clan done? They imprisoned this many Fiendgods!?” Ning was completely stunned. The faces of the nine midair Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were all ugly to behold. “Damn.” The Ancestor’s face was ashen. “If I had known this would happen…I would’ve killed these Fiendgods long ago.” “Damn this Ji Ning.” “He actually released the Fiendgods of the Infinity Furnace.” All of the Celestial Immortals were extremely enraged. The nine hundred-plus Fiendgods burst out from the ground, all of them enormous in size. The sky itself seemed to have grown dark as they all turned to stare at the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan who were hovering in the air. Their eyes were filled with boundless hatred, so thick and dense the hatred seemed to have taken physical form. …… “Not good.” The distant Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals within their formations were completely stunned by what they saw. Everyone could sense the hatred these Fiendgods felt for the nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan…and they could also tell that more than half of the Fiendgods were Void-level Fiendgods. So many Void-level Fiendgods…this was utterly terrifying. Old Demon Windraiser’s reacted the fastest. He immediately roared furiously, “Can’t you tell that those Fiendgods have gone mad? Quick! Evacuate all of our clansmen here within the Oldjade mountain range. QUICK!” “Right! “Yes.” “Hurry up and evacuate them!” The Loose Immortals all began to panic as they carried this out; they still cared quite deeply about their clansmen. …… “YOUNGFLAME CLAN!” More than nine hundred Fiendgods were in the air. They stared angrily at the nine great Celestial Immortals, each of them filled with endless amounts of hatred. The leader of them, a humanoid Fiendgod who had nine heads, let out an angry roar. “You have imprisoned us for countless years. Tortured us for 2763 countless years! I, along with all of the Fiendgods who were imprisoned within your furnace, hereby swear that we will completely wipe out your entire Youngflame lineage!” “We shall swear to annihilate the Youngflame lineage!” “Annihilate the Youngflame lineage!” “Annihilate!” “ANNIHILATE!” Their roars shook the heavens. All of the Youngflame clansmen who were located within the protective formations all had ashen looks on their faces. Unpleasant looks were on the faces of the nine Celestial Immortals as well. They knew very well how much hatred these Fiendgods bore the Youngflame clan; anyone who had been tormented for so many ages would feel boundless hatred! “Imprisoned and tortured you for countless years?” Of the nine Celestial Immortals, the Ancestor was the calmest. He laughed coldly, “And who is to blame for that? You can only blame yourselves, you fools, for not accepting your reality! If you were willing to serve our Youngflame clan, not only would you have regained your liberty long ago, you would also be allowed to enjoy countless things.” “Submit? We Fiendgods war against the heavens and war against the earth; we are the true masters of the universe. How could we possibly submit to you?” The nine-headed Fiendgod roared with anger, and the other Fiendgods let out similarly enraged roars as well. “Hahaha, the masters of the universe? Haven’t dozens of your fellow Fiendgods ended up submitting to me, after suffering my torments?” The Ancestor roared with laughter. “Masters of the universe Hah! I’m dying of laughter. You are nothing more than a pack of fools who were born when this major world was created.” “The ones who submitted to you were trash; they are an embarrassment to all Fiendgods. We TRUE Fiendgod warriors would never bow our heads to you!” The nine-headed Fiendgod roared angrily, “Youngflame Freak, you’ve caught us one by one and imprisoned all of us for countless years, but your biggest mistake was not killing us. Now that we are all gathered here together in one place…and we will definitely annihilate your entire Youngflame lineage!” By now, Ning had also arrived on the surface of the ground. He raised his head up, watching as all of the Fiendgods in the sky swore their oath. From listening to the dialogue between the two sides, he was able to guess at quite a bit.. The nine-headed Fiendgod suddenly lowered his head, looking down towards Ning, who had just emerged on the surface of the ground. “My good brother, tell me your name!” The nine-headed Fiendgod looked towards Ning; earlier, when they had charged out, they had all seen that it was Ning who had been pulling away at the copper pillar. “You gave us our freedom back. The kindness you have shown us is vaster than the heavens and weightier than the earth. We shall never forget it!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Foot Sword] “My name is Ji Ning. Pulling out the copper pillar was nothing more than a minor thing,” Ji Ning said. Ning knew very well that this was no longer the Fiendgod Era; this was the era of the Grand Xia Dynasty, which had unified the world! Struggles between human clans were minor affairs, but any Fiendgod that refused to submit to humans would be pursued and assaulted by all parties! The free Fiendgods would have no choice but to flee in pitiful fashion to the ends of the earth. This was what had happened to that ancient Fiendgod who had been in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains; he was clearly more powerful than Loose Immortals, and would be able to effortless crush them with his hands…but he didn’t dare to fight back at all. He had always been fleeing in a pathetic fashion. As for submitting? These nine hundred-plus Fiendgods had been captured and tormented for countless years without being willing to submit to the Youngflame clan; it would most likely be very hard for them to be made to submit to any other human clans. “We Fiendgods repay benevolence with benevolence, and repay malice with malice,” the nine-headed Fiendgod sent mentally, then turned his head to look at the nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. He let out a heaven-shaking roar and said, “Youngflame clan, you’ve imprisoned and tormented us for countless years. Today, the day of vengeance is at hand! Let us wipe all of them out before the Godslayer Guards of the Xia Emperor arrive!” “KILL!” “KILL THEM ALL!” Murderous roars filled the skies, the roars themselves filled with boundless hatred. The nine hundred-plus Fiendgods actually formed into a war-formation. Their divine power flowed through them, merging to become a single whole as the blurry illusion of an ancient Fiendgod suddenly appeared in the skies, its entire body wreathed in flames. Its aura was so powerful that even Ning was rather stunned. “So this is a Fiendgod war-formation?” He had only heard of Fiendgod war-formations; this was the first time he had seen one. Fiendgods were born to be powerful fighters and combatants. They truly did war against the heavens and the earth, preferring to die than to submit. Daoist Threelives was a classic example; after an enemy ripped out off one of his arms, he actually decided to forever have just a single arm! As many humans saw it, this was utter idiocy…but this was exactly what Daoist Threelives did. This was due to his own pride! When the ancient tribulation had come, he could’ve hidden away and retreated; given his level of power, he would’ve been able to keep himself alive. But…he didn’t do this. He knew that things would be extremely dangerous, but he still went forward to welcome the danger. Even in death, he had felt no regrets! Ning raised his head to look at the awe-inspiring horde of Fiendgods in the skies. They all held weapons at the ready as they charged towards the nine Celestial Immortals. On one side, a Fiendgod war-formation; on the otherside, the Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation of Immortal cultivators! BOOM! A powerful collision could be heard, as though the heavens had broken apart and the earth had collapsed. A series of massive waves swept past the region surrounding the eight Celestial Immortals, causing the power of the enemy collision to be completely negated. This Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation was one of the most supreme defensive formations of the Three Realms; it focused completely on being flawlessly protective! They knew very well how difficult it would be to kill these Fiendgods. “Hahaha, is that all you have?” The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan laughed coldly, “I urge you to hurry up and leave; I’ve already notified the Xia Emperor, and I trust that he will soon dispatch the Godslayer Guards to come. If you don’t leave now…none of you will be leaving at all!” “Kill.” “KILL!” The Fiendgods didn’t care at all; they continued to charge forward and attack. BOOM! The massive, fiery illusion of a Fiendgod that had been formed by their war-formation once more slammed against the Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation. The faces of the Celestial Immortals sustaining the formation all turned ashen. “Ancestor, what should we do? What are our options?” Celestial Immortal Arcanum sent frantically, “We won’t be able to hold for too long; their Fiendgod war-formation is too powerful.” “What can we do?” The horned, golden-robed man gave Celestial Immortal Arcanum a cold look. “There are more than nine hundred Fiendgods here, and more than six hundred of them are Void-level 2767 Fiendgods. When they work together, they are capable of shaking the world itself; you won’t even be able to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape. As for hiding into a mobile Immortal estate, then using the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal? The combined strike from so many Fiendgods will reduce any estate to dust in an instant. You want to run? There’s no way to run! There is only one option; buy time! Buy a little bit of time…because once the Godslayer Guards of the Xia Emperor arrive, we’ll be rescued!” Using a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal required time…and one couldn’t be disrupted in the process! “Will the Godslayer Guards of the Xia Emperor make it in time?” Celestial Immortal Goldclock asked. “I’ve already notified the Xia Emperor,” the horned, golden-robed man said. “What if the Godslayer Guard intentionally delays? What then?” Celestial Immortal Arcanum asked worriedly. The pupils of the horned, golden-robed man shrank, but he said in a low voice, “That won’t happen. The Xia Emperor, that old bastard, knows very well that I have a treasure that can protect you and take you all away with me. However, that treasure will shatter after a single use. Unless things become critical, I absolutely won’t use it.” A treasure capable of blocking the combined strikes of over nine hundred Fiendgods was equivalent to a second life for a Celestial Immortal; the Youngflame clan’s Ancestor wasn’t willing to use it if he didn’t have to! …… “You Fiendgods, you are wasting time. The more time you waste, the more of you shall die later.” The horned, golden-robed man sent a mental message through his elemental ki, and his voice echoed throughout the nearby area. “Once the Godslayer Guards arrive…you know exactly how powerful they are. You will be dead!” “Even if we die, we’ll annihilate your Youngflame clan as well!” A Fiendgod covered with scales roared this back at him. “What’s to fear about death? Youngflame clan, all of your Celestial Immortals shall die!” “Youngflame Freak, I know that you yourself have countless clones, but those eight Celestial Immortals under your command shall all die today!” The Fiendgods were all roaring as they once more joined their power to charge against the Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation. “You really are quite bold and daring; you don’t even want to live any longer! But such a pity; you’ve managed to endure for so many years, managed to endure all sorts of torments, refusing to bow your heads for the sake of one day gaining your freedom…but now that you are free, for the sake of taking your 2768 so-called ‘revenge’, you are all going to be caught and slaughtered by the Godslayer Guards. What a true pity! If I were you, I would’ve fled to the ends of the world by now…in fact, I would’ve fled from the entire world of the Grand Xia!” The horned, golden-robed man roared with laughter. Indeed, a portion of the nine hundred-plus Fiendgods hesitated. It was true. Freedom! To no longer be imprisoned; to no longer be tortured! It was hard to understand how precious freedom was to them. They had waited for this day for far too long. Were they going to give it all up for the sake of vengeance? “If we don’t kill the Youngflame clan, even if we live, we’ll live with regret. Today, we shall kill the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. After we slaughter them all, we’ll joyfully flee!” The nineheaded Fiendgod roared angrily. “That’s what we want! To live joyfully!” “Hahaha, Ninehead, I feel as though I’ve returned back to the old days when we warred against the humans. Right! What we want is to live joyfully! What’s so scary about death?” “Wonderful, wonderful!” All of them let out heroic roars. The more powerful a Fiendgod was, the more fearless they would become; the desire to do battle that they were born with caused them to become extraordinarly berserk. …… Ji Ning, watching from below, was stunned. “Fiendgods…?” Ning murmured to himself. Although he, too, trained as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he didn’t have the heart of a true Fiendgod. He was a human, after all. If he had been imprisoned and tortured for countless eons…upon escaping and seeing a tremendous threat approaching, he probably would’ve chosen to flee. Only later would he prepare for revenge! But Fiendgods were different; they weren’t willing to wait at all. In their rage, they would take vengeance right away, with no fear of death at all. This sort of desire to do battle stemmed from their very bones; they were born for war. It all completely stunned Ning. “Kill.” “Kill.” BOOM! Explosions rang out unabated within the skies. The eight Celestial Immortals would occasionally eat a spirit-pill to replenish their elemental ki, striving to defend for as long as they could. The power of the collisions caused even the golden pellet Jindan in their bodies to be damaged. They were only just barely able to hold on, while the Fiendgods were growing increasingly berserk. Time continued to pass, one second after the other. None of the Fiendgods, however, departed; they all continued to attack in a berserk manner. “To be joyful and act as one pleases.” “For a desire for battle to be so powerful as to fill the skies.” “To wipe out all foes.” Ning was mumbling to himself. Suddenly, streaks of sword-ki began to appear around him. Covered by countless streaks of sword-ki, Ning looked like a spirit composed of swords. Ning closed his eyes. Threads of enlightenment continuously flowed towards him… Ever since Ning had truly decided to start his war against the Youngflame clan, his heart had started to become even more clear, and his desire to do battle had grown. However, upon seeing the Fiendgods who had been imprisoned and tormented for countless years choose to ignore their freedom in favor of a joyful battle against those they hated, the desire to do battle in Ning’s heart began to grow even stronger. Stronger and stronger, it grew…and his heart became clearer and clearer. All the insights he had gained in the past began to gather in his mind. …… In the skies above, those nine hundred-plus Fiendgods continued to frantically assault the nine Celestial Immortals. The nine Celestial Immortals were only trying to buy time. As for the Ancestor, he was gnashing his teeth. He truly didn’t wish to use his supreme protective treasure; in his heart, it was far more important than the lives of one or two of his Celestial Immortals. But if eight Celestial Immortals under his command died…then he truly would become the lone survivor of the clan. He didn’t wish for this to happen. “Wait a little longer. A little longer.” The Youngflame clan’s Ancestor was frantically encouraging them. The other eight Celestial Immortals were doing their best to hold on as well. They couldn’t break; they had to stay strong. Rumble… Suddenly, a ripple of power appeared. It was the ripple of a Greater Teleportation. “Mm?” The nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan simultaneously raised their heads. The nine hundred-plus Fiendgods raised their heads as well. High in the sky, an ancient-looking warship that appeared to be formed from waves of blood. This bloodwave warship was manned by warriors who were dressed in blood-red armor, each of whom had utterly astonishing auras of power. “THE GODSLAYER GUARDS!” The nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were overjoyed. “Let’s leave now!” “Flee.” “Scatter!” The nine hundred Fiendgods could no longer afford to wait around. With a series of booms, they tore through space, using spatial teleports to rapidly flee in every direction. “Chase after them!” A tall, muscular general who stood upon the deck of the bloodwave warship gave the nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan a cold look, then immediately gave the order. Instantly, with many bloody flashes of light, the Godslayer Guards tore holes through space as well as they engaged in pursuit. The world became peaceful once more. The Fiendgods had disappeared. The Godslayer Guards had disappeared as well. “Whew.” The nine mighty Celestial Immortals all let out sighs of relief. “Thank goodness. Thank goodness!” The horned, golden-robed man nodded to himself. “Thank goodness I wasn’t in a rush to use my treasure. Otherwise, it would’ve been wasted.” 2771 “…that Ji Ning actually hasn’t fled!” Celestial Immortal Arcanum pointed downwards, laughing coldly, “Although we are heavily injured, with the three insect aberrations present…we are completely capable of suppressing him.” All the other Celestial Immortals looked downwards as well, the Ancestor included. Ning was standing in the midst of some rubble. His eyes were closed, and he even had a hint of a smile on his face. This was the feeling of joy he had when he was gaining insights into the Dao. “Where the Dao is…” Ning opened his eyes, then said softly, “Though ten million soldiers bar my path, I shall relentlessly advance!” BOOM!!! The rubble around Ning, including the countless pieces of shattered rocks, broken bits of grass, and even drops of water all began to levitate into the air…and as they did, sword-light began to gather around them. It was as though all things had become a sword! Even the many Immortal swords and Darknorth swords that floated in the empty space within Ning’s Zifu region began to emit sword-hums. “Although I am very talented, and although my insights into the Dao have long ago surpassed that of senior Northwalker…in terms of my sword-heart, perhaps only today have I just barely reached his level.” Ning could feel a surge of sword-intent that wished to burst forth from within his heart. This swordintent was so powerful, so resonant. “Where the Dao is…” “Where the Dao is…” Ning murmured softly to himself, “This new sword-art that I just developed…let it be named the ‘Relentless Advance’, then.” The tenth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] – Relentless Advance! Ning raised his head to look towards the sky. The sky was now devoid of Fiendgods…only the nine Celestial Immortals and the three aberrations were still present. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Immortals There were some Loose Immortals who were gathering within the protective formations far away. “Windraiser, I’ve already moved all of the mortals and Immortal cultivators in the area under my control into this Qiankun pearl.” A green-haired Immortal lifted up a black pearl that glowed with soft light. He then waved his hand and put it away. Looking towards the outside, he said with a chortle, “But from the looks of it, I didn’t need to evacuate them at all; the Fiendgods have all left, leaving behind just Ji Ning.” “Indeed.” Windraiser smiled and nodded as well. They had been evacuating many of their clansmen because they had been afraid of those nine hundredplus Fiendgods. Now that the Fiendgods were being pursued by the Godslayer Guards of the Xia Emperor…the only enemy left was Ji Ning. …… “Master, Master! Aren’t you going to flee?” Little Qing, within the ten thousand kilometer formation region, was absolutely frantic. “Not even nine hundred-plus Fiendgods were able to break through the defenses of those eight Celestial Immortals. What’s the point of staying there by yourself? Quick, flee!” “Senior apprentice-brother!” Northson was very worried as well. “Don’t panic. My boy Ning isn’t the rash sort.” Uncle White stared off into the distance. In the heart, he murmured, “Ning, son, be careful.” …… The nine Celestial Immortals in the air now felt far more confidence than they had earlier. The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan said, “Earlier, you all suffered attacks from those Fiendgods; your wounds are all significant. It’s best if you join into a formation to provide assistance to me…and leave Ji Ning to me. Just assist me.” “Alright.” “Although we are injured, we’re still able to use thirty to forty percent of our power. The power of the eight of us, joined forces, is still significant. Against Ji Ning, there’s no need to use the ‘Eight Immortals 2773 Sea-Subduing Formation’. It’s better if we use the ‘Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation’,” Celestial Immortal Goldclock said with great confidence. “Mm.” “Alright.” “The Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation is more than enough to block Ji Ning’s attacks.” Even the most careful of them all, Celestial Infatuation, nodded in agreement. Different formations naturally had different levels of power. The Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation was completely focused on defense; it didn’t have any offensive techniques at all, naturally resulting in an extremely powerful defense. The Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation was fairly balanced; its attacks and defenses were even. After all, the Celestial Immortals now knew how strong Ning was; they didn’t need to waste too much of their energy on unnecessary defense. Previously, they had faced nine hundred-plus Fiendgods, with roughly six hundred being Void-level Fiendgods. In truth, Void-level Fiendgods were generally on par with the likes of Immortal Northwalker in power; that Void-level Fiendgod which Ning had encountered in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains had once suffered Immortal Northwalker’s wrath. Although Void-level Fiendgods had divine abilities to add to their power, allowing them to become comparable to Celestial Immortals…their ability to comprehend of the Dao was simply too low. Once they reached a bottleneck, they might spend a trillion years at that bottleneck without advancing at all. Even Mount Innerheart had quite a few Fiendgods who remained unable to beat the ninth golem. Their inferiority in comprehending the Dao were their greatest weakness! And so, while there were six hundred Void-level Fiendgods…even Patriarch Arcanum who was the weakest of the eight Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan was far more powerful than the likes of Immortal Northwalker, a Loose Immortal who lived for a million years! As for Celestial Immortals Goldclock, Deadwood, and Flamefish, they were even more powerful. Celestial Immortal Infatuation, in turn, belonged to the supreme tier. Thus…it took roughly ten or so of the Void-level Fiendgods to match a single one of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. That great gathering of Fiendgods, in turn, was just comparable to thirty or fifty Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. When eight Celestial Immortals completely focused on defense, they would generally be able to hold off against a group of thirty to fifty Celestial Immortals for a short period of time. However, those Fiendgods 2774 had been too berserk; although the battle had been very brief, they had still managed to heavily injure all eight of the Celestial Immortals, causing even their golden pellet Jindans to be seriously damaged. They would all require many spirit-pills, medicines, and time to slowly repair the damage done. Now that they were going to deal with Ji Ning while heavily injured…the weakest of them, Celestial Immortal Arcanum, was only able to use perhaps ten to twenty percent of his full power, while the mighty Celestial Immortal Infatuation was still able to use fifty to sixty percent. As a whole, the eight Celestial Immortals were at roughly thirty to forty percent of their full power. Rumble… The Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation took form. Instantly, an enormous golden set of eight trigram symbols appeared. The eight mighty Celestial Immortals were the ‘points’ at which the eight trigrams were located. Around them coiled a golden, roving dragon that hovered in midair. The eight Celestial Immortals all stared downwards. “Goldclock, once we trap Ji Ning, you’ll absorb him into your golden greatclock,” the horned, golden-robed man sent through his divine power. A smile was on his face, and he was extraordinarily confident right now. “Yes, Ancestor!” Celestial Immortal Goldclock was extremely excited; they had been under tremendous pressure when facing so many Fiendgods, but against this single person, Ji Ning…in addition, given that they had already battled against Ning within the trapping formation earlier, they knew how strong he was. This just made them even more confident of their chances. On the ground below. The sword-intent surging forth from Ning’s heart was continuously growing in strength. Ning raised his head to look towards the sky. There were nine mighty Celestial Immortals in the sky. The ugly, horned, golden-robed figure produced a horsetail whisk, and before him stood three enormous insect aberrations. As for the other eight Celestial Immortals, they were in some sort of Eight Trigrams formation next to him. “The eight Celestial Immortals came under a wild assault from those nine hundred-plus Fiendgods just now…clearly, they were only just barely able to hold on. They are probably all heavily injured, but they actually aren’t retreating and are facing me. They probably don’t hold my strength in any regard.” After pondering for a moment, Ning immediately knew what his foes were thinking. However…Ning wasn’t like those Void-level Fiendgods! His special divine ability was something more powerful than the likes of the other divine abilities which most Empyrean Gods or True Gods of Primal Chaos could come up with. It was the [Starseizing Hand], the 2775 supreme divine ability which Daoist Threelives had once used to roam and dominate the Primordial Era. The escaped Void-level Fiendgods had all been born during the creation of this major world of the Grand Xia; by comparison, their divine abilities were much weaker. Ning’s palms, in turn were akin to supreme Pure Yang treasures. As for his insights into the Dao…he used to be on par with Patriarch Goldclock, but he had now completely surpassed him, reaching a new, higher level. …… “Everyone, be careful. This Ji Ning is no ordinary Fiendgod; he is a supremely talented monster with a very high level of sword-arts. He was previously able to crush the five of us, and now, although we eight have joined forces, we are only able to use a portion of our strength. We must be careful. Let the Ancestor serve as our main attacker, while we shall serve merely as support,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation warned. “Don’t worry, Infatuation. When the five of us previously used the Five Elements Mountainhold Formation, we were able to easily block his attacks. Now that the eight of us have joined into the Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation…even though we are only at thirty or forty percent power, our strength is quite close to the level of power which a full strength Five Elements Mountainhold Formation has. We’ll absolutely be able to block him,” Celestial Immortal Goldclock said confidently. “Kill!” The horned, golden-robed man immediately gave the order. Boom! Boom! Boom! Instantly, the three enormous aberrations all charged downwards. BOOM! Ning, who had originally been standing on the ground, suddenly charged into the skies, moving like a streak of light. By comparison, Ning was like a tiny little dot that was rising, while the three enormous insectoid aberrations came charging down from above. “[Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens]!” Whoosh! A gust of wind blew past. Ning, moving at a speed that rendered the Youngflame clan completely speechless, was actually able to move past all three of the aberrations. This was an evasive divine ability which Patriarch Subhuti had specially designed for Ji Ning. Although it could only be considered a topclass divine ability of the Three Realms, and couldn’t compare to supreme evasive techniques like the [Wings of the Garuda], Ning actually wouldn’t have been as fast when using the [Wings of Garurda]. After all…Ning himself wasn’t a golden-winged Roc; he was a human. It would be impressive for humans to be able to use even thirty to fifty percent of a divine ability designed for birds. “Too fast.” The horned, golden-robed man was surprised by this. “Stop him.” “Everyone, be careful.” The eight Celestial Immortals saw that as Ning used his evasive divine ability, he was making his way towards them. “Tie him down while I use my insectoid aberrations to attack him,” the horned, golden-robed man said hurriedly. He had to tie down Ning. Otherwise, given Ning’s speed…there was no way those insects could catch up to him at all. Once they actually got into battle, his insectoid aberrations were more than powerful enough to keep Ning completely occupied, making it impossible for him to dodge. They would they draw him into the divine greatclock! It must be understood that of the three insectoid aberrations, the winged rhinoceros creature alone was, in terms of strength, comparable to Ning at full power. It was precisely due to creatures like this that Immortal Venomfreak was able to become so famous within the Three Realms; these aberrations definitely couldn’t be underestimated. Whoosh. The [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] blew forth, and Ning arrived in front of the eight Celestial Immortals. “Kill!” The eight Celestial Immortals stared towards Ning from afar. The giant golden dragon that had been coiled around them let out an earth-shattering draconic roar and charged straight towards Ning. Ning’s gaze was as deep and fathomless as the depths of the sea. His six arms instantly appeared, and the fingers of those six enormous hands, glowing with golden light, simultaneously formed into a set of sword-fingers, unleashing techniques that represented the most powerful sword-arts which Ning had created thus far. Although in terms of profoundness, some of the other sword-arts Ning had learned in the past were comparable to this stance he had created…his own stance was the stance that was most appropriate for him. Only the creator of a technique would be able to truly unleash its full, maximum power. Ning’s sword-fingers all became three hundred meters long! Enormous sword-fingers…like the fingers of a divinity. At the same time, in front of the sword-fingers appeared divine black swords that was fully three thousand meters in length! As far as the eye could see… There were six entire divine black swords that were over three thousand meters long, gathering the power of heaven and earth within them. One of the divine black swords chopped directly against the 2777 body of the golden dragon, causing it to shudder and turn dim. The golden dragon roared as well, furiously striving to resist the sword…but the five of the other enormous swords stabbed straight towards the Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation. BOOM! The golden Eight Trigrams symbols trembled, and then with a booming sound completely blew apart. “No!” “What?!” The eight Celestial Immortals were all stunned. “Not good.” The horned, golden-robed man wasn’t too far from them. Shocked, he hurriedly stretched out the horsetail whisk in his hand…but alas, distant water is unable to quench thirst. Ji Ning’s attack speed was extremely fast! As Ning’s five sword-fingers, in the form of five divine black swords, stabbed through the Eight Trigrams Roving Dragon Formation, two of the swords turned to pierce towards the closest Celestial Immortal, Goldclock. Goldclock was utterly terrified; he wasn’t able to flee at all, and so all he could do was immediately unleash his most powerful treasure, the top-grade Pure Yang divine greatclock. Ignoring the wounds which his golden pellet Jindan had suffered, he immediately and frantically began to squeeze every last drop out of it, struggling to increase his power as much as he could. BOOM! The divine greatclock was sent flying from the strike of the first divine black sword. As for the second divine black sword, it slashed across Celestial Immortal Goldclock’s body…which was promptly reduced to ash by what seemed like an endless torrent of sword-ki. The golden palm that had launched the divine black sword that had sent the golden greatclock flying away swung out, grabbing the now-ownerless greatclock. BOOM! Two other streaks of black sword-light were flying towards the other nearby Celestial Immortal, Flamefish. Although Celestial Immortal Flamefish also frantically sought to squeeze as much power from his Jindan as he could…Ning, even back when he had first trained in the [Starseizing Hand], was already comparable to Celestial Immortal Infatuation. Now that he had developed an even more powerful sword technique, he was clearly much more powerful than before. In addition, his sword-fingers were akin to a supreme Pure Yang treasure; how could the likes of Celestial Immortal Flamefish possibly withstand him? The two streaks of sword-light flashed past, and Celestial Immortal Flamefish was reduced to dust as well. Clang! Clang! The other six Celestial Immortals went absolutely all out, finally managing to block the last streak of sword-light Ning had sent out. This initial strike by Ning had claimed the lives of two out of eight Celestial immortals! “DAMN HIM!” The distant Ancestor of the Youngflame clan’s eyes turned so wide, his eyelids threatened to split apart. His eyes were now completely bloodshot. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Clansmen The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Youngflame clan who were hiding behind their formations had previously felt quite relaxed; some of them had already stopped evacuating the mortals in the areas they were responsible for. When they had seen the nine hundred-plus Fiendgods attack, they had been quite worried…but upon seeing only Ji Ning remained, they felt quite relaxed. But… “How…how can this be? How could he have broken through a formation of eight Celestial Immortals?” “Didn’t five of our Celestial Immortals battle Ji Ning within that formation of his? Now that they know exactly how powerful he is…how could they have made a mistake on this level?” “Good heavens!” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were completely dazed. Celestial Immortals had incomparably exalted statuses…and two had just died now, all of a sudden. And they were Celestial Immortals who had belonged to the Youngflame clan! “Quick, hurry up and re-launch the evacuation process,” Old Demon Windraiser sent mentally with a furious roar. “This Ji Ning has a body as tough as a magic treasure; he doesn’t fear the attacks of Celestial Immortals. If the Celestial Immortals of our Youngflame clan are unable to do anything to him…he might start massacring us soon!” “Right, right, right!” “Keep evacuation.” “Quickly!” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals who had yet to completely evacuate the mortals and cultivators in their regions once more began to quickly do so. …… “Woooooooow!” Little Qing’s eyes bulged out. She looked as though she had seen a ghost. “Two Celestial Immortals…Celestial Immortals! Those were Celestial Immortals who had escaped the confines of the Three Realms after overcoming their Celestial Tribulations! They were far, far more precious and 2780 venerable than Void-level Fiendgods. Celestial Immortals are so powerful and mighty, but…but two of them just died?!” Mu Northson was speechless as well. The nearby Uncle White was even more stunned. A Celestial Immortal! Each served as the foundations for a truly supreme clan. It was rare for a single one to be produced in the Grand Xia Dynasty in a million years…and two of them had just died like that? …… Ning stared at a distant flying shuttle. The flying shuttle was completely black, and was roughly three hundred meters long. Just now, all six of the surviving Celestial Immortals had flown over and hidden themselves within the flying shuttle; only the horned, golden-robed man remained outside the shuttle, standing atop it and staring towards Ning. “They ran pretty fast,” Ning mumbled to himself. He had suddenly killed two Celestial Immortals earlier, causing the remaining six Celestial Immortals to immediately flee into that shuttle. In fact, after they did so, they had completely sealed off all openings to the flying shuttle, giving him no chance to attack them at all. “How can this be?!” The enraged Ancestor glared coldly at Ning from his position atop the shuttle. He sent an angry mental howl, “Infatuation, didn’t you say earlier that the eight of you combined were more than enough to stop him? Didn’t you say that even though his power suddenly increased significantly after your last ambush, that he’s still just roughly on par with you?” “We didn’t know either!” “When we were hiding at Mu Northson’s place and ambushed him…he truly was quite weak, even weaker than Goldclock and Deadwood.” “Right, right! That really was the case. And just a short while ago…the five of us fought against him within his formations. We were quite surprised at how much his power had increased in merely half a month; he was now close to Infatuation in power. But now, in the blink of an eye, his power has increased even more?! He’s even stronger than Infatuation now!” “The amount of time that passed since our battle was roughly as much as needed to boil a kettle of tea. How could he have grown so much stronger?!” “It’s not that we were overconfident; it’s that all of this is simply inconceivable!” Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Deadwood, and Sunfish all felt quite miserable as well. They clearly had fought Ning just a short while ago…but after he had released those nine hundred-plus Fiendgods, he had grown even more powerful. This rate of increase in strength was simply too fast! Generally speaking, the higher one’s level was, the slower one would increase in strength. It was one thing for Ning to increase so rapidly in power after being ambushed, but for him to suddenly increase in strength yet again in the blink of an eye? “Damn, damn!” The horned, golden-robed ground his teeth. Any cultivator who was able to train to the Celestial Immortal level would be extremely cautious; if they couldn’t win a fight, they would flee. But this time, they truly had been overconfident, primarily because they had already fought against Ning and knew exactly how strong he was! This single instance of overconfidence had cost them two lives. They had gone all out to fight against the nine hundred-plus Fiendgods. They had survived. Against Ji Ning, they had been overconfident…and ended up losing two of their ranks. “All of you are wounded; you are not to interfere in this fight against Ji Ning. Leave it all to me,” the horned, golden-robed man sent. “Yes, Master.” “Yes, Patriarch.” They all acknowledged the command. The horned, golden-robed man stared towards the distant Ning, then roared angrily, “Ji Ning, you’ve slain two Celestial Immortals of my Youngflame clan. I shall not live under the same skies with you! I shall kill you. KILL YOU!” “…Earlier, when I was pulling out the copper pillar, didn’t you already swear an oath that you were going to wipe me out, along with my clan and my friends? You know, you only need to say nasty words like these a single time. I’ve already memorized them quite firmly. Don’t worry…killing two of your Celestial Immortals was just the start. I’m going to wipe out all of the Celestial Immortals of your Youngflame clan, as well as all of your Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. As for your other cultivators and mortals…I trust I won’t even need to act against them. There will be plenty of other major clans that will come to annihilate you,” Ning said. As the saying goes, a wall falls when many hands push on it. There were many others who had feuds with the Youngflame clan, such as the Kindwater clan, which was even stronger than the Youngflame clan. And even for those who didn’t have a feud with the Youngflame clan…given that the Youngflame clan took up three major commanderies, each of which was far larger than Stillwater Commandery…there were naturally many others who were envious of their territory. Once all their Celestial Immortals died, the cultivators and commoners of the Youngflame clan would be doomed! They would be effortlessly sweeped aside. “All by yourself? I, Youngflame Freak, have roamed the universe since the Primordial Era, but no one has ever dared to claim they can kill me.” A savage light flashed through the eyes of the horned, golden-robed man. “Have a taste of what my children can do, first!” The three enormous insectoid aberrations flew towards Ning, blotting out the sun with their size. Their auras were extraordinary in power as they came rushing towards Ning. Ning stood there in midair, a tiny little dot by comparison, but one with three heads and six arms. His arms swept through the air as his golden fingers formed into sword-fingers, transforming into divine black swords that were more than three thousand meters in length… His terrifying sword-intent radiated outwards. Anyone could sense the resolve contained within it, and just by looking at it, one could feel as though no one could possibly withstand his sword. Slash! A large wound appeared on the body of the black viper aberration, but the wound quickly began to recover, completely healing in the blink of an eye. Crunch! The winged rhinoceros-aberration had incomparably tough skin, but Ning was still able to punch a hole through it. Still, the winged rhinoceros kicked Ning’s palm aside, and the hole in its flank quickly regenerated. The armored insectoid aberration had even more powerful defense, and Ning was just barely able to leave a wound behind on its body. “What a nasty little pest.” Ning was secretly startled by this first exchange of blows. “All three of these aberrations are this powerful?” In terms of their comprehension of the Dao, the three insectoid aberrations were vastly inferior to him. But their physical strength and close combat power was simply too great. Each of them had extremely durable physical forms; even their thick skin and armored carapaces were comparable to Heaven-ranked magic treasures. The flesh within their body was extremely sturdy as well, and for every inch of flesh Ning penetrated, he felt an extremely powerful force resisting him. And even if he did manage to injure them…they would be able to heal in a very short period of time! They were also enormously strong; the black viper and the armored insect were nearly half as strong as Ning when Ning used the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] and [Three Heads, Six Arms], while the winged rhinoceros was comparable to Ning’s full power! “Activate!” The distant horned, golden-robed man watched coldly, then let out a soft bark. Instantly, the back of the armored insect began to release large numbers of divine tattoos. These divine tattoos flickered and flashed, causing the armored insect to rapidly shrink in size, while beginning to split apart. By the time it shrank to three thousand meters, it completely split apart to become a pair of the armored 2783 insects. By the time it shrank down to three hundred meters, it had split apart to become four armored insects. And by the time it shrank down to thirty meters…there were eight of those armored insects. “ROAAAAR!” The winged rhinoceros let out a furious roar, its four powerful leg-trunks beginning to merge with its main body. From the center of its body, a single leg-trunk that was even thicker and longer began to rapidly grow out. The four-legged winged rhinoceros had actually transformed into a single-legged rhinoceros. “Hissssss.” The black viper’s serpentine head suddenly bit down upon its tail. Instantly, its entire body began to glow with divine tattoos. Its scales were rapidly changing, becoming even finer and longer while also beginning to glow with a golden light. “Die.” The horned, golden-robed man had just revealed one of his favorite, consummate tricks. Ning suddenly transformed into the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], surging straight towards the winged rhinoceros. “KILL!” Ning was charging forward like a brutish Fiendgod, his six massive arms wildly assaulting the winged rhinoceros in close combat! Clang clang clang…the eight armored insects all struck towards Ning, but Ning completely ignored them. The only result was a series of clanging sounds that could be heard from Ning’s body. Whoosh! The black viper, now in circular form, swirled towards Ning, seeking to entangle him. Ning swept out with two of his palms, which struck out like two streaks of sword-light. In terms of the Dao, how could the viper possibly compare to Ning? He was struck head-on and knocked flying away by Ning’s sword-light. “This brat…” The horned, golden-robed man’s eyes flashed with cold light. His armored insect had been completely nullified by Ning. He had been hoping that Ning would be too arrogant and allow the viper to coil around him. Once it did…no matter how strong he was, he would find it difficult to escape. But Ning didn’t give the viper any chance at all to draw near him! “Kill!” “Die for me!” Ning and the winged rhinoceros were battling wildly against each other. Ning was completely unwounded, while large amounts of flesh and blood were being sheared off from the winged rhinoceros, under the repeated blows of Ning’s knife-sharp palms. Finally, with a furious roar from Ning, the head of the winged rhinoceros was chopped off. “What should I do? What should I do? What the hell should I do?” The horned, golden-robed man felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart, as well as…hesitation! “Should I have other clones come over here as well?” He had other insectoid aberrations! If all of the insectoid aberrations he commanded were all to gather here, he would be able to completely overwhelm and crush Ji Ning. “No. I can’t let all of my clones appear in one place; that will cause me to risk true death.” The horned, golden-robed man knew very well that due to his insidiousness and viciousness, he had many enemies spread throughout the Three Realms. For example, the Empyrean God of the Kindwater clan had a very powerful desire to kill him. However, because his many clones were all scattered throughout the realms, the Empyrean God was hesitant to make a move, and so had not truly acted to launch a war to wipe out the Youngflame clan. …… Ning, by relying on the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], was even more berserk in his attacks than the three insectoid aberrations. After he forcibly ripped off the head of the winged rhinoceros, the skeleton of the winged rhinoceros flew back towards the horned, golden-robed man. It transformed back into a winged rhinoceros, but one which was only three thousand meters in length, then flew back into the mouth of the horned, golden-robed man. “TEAR APART!” Ning’s six arms now began to wildly assault the black viper. Two of his arms moved to chop a wound in the body of the black viper, while the other four arms grabbed onto it and gave a vicious tug in two opposite directions. Riiiiiiiip. The black viper was forcibly torn apart, its black, foul-smelling bloody spraying everywhere. Ning was fighting even more savagely than he usually did. The three insectoid aberrations, in the face of his fury, were at a complete disadvantage. …… “What should we do?” “Can it be that our Youngflame clan cannot resist this Ji Ning?” “This Ji Ning is too terrifying!” 2785 The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals who were hiding behind their formations were filled with terror at what they were seeing. “Windraiser, all of the mortals within the protective formations have been evacuated. Even if Ji Ning breaks the formations, he can forget about harming our clansmen.” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals viewed Old Demon Windraiser as their leader; in the Oldjade mountain range, Old Demon Windraiser had an extremely high status. Old Demon Windraiser nodded. “Give me your Qiankun pearls.” “Alright.” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals all handed over their Qiankun pearls. Qiankun pearls were residence-type magic treasures! Generally speaking, Celestial Immortals who had a very solid grasp of the Dao of Qiankun would be able to establish a small dimension within a Qiankun pearl. In truth, these were very common treasures, similar to sacks and bags that had private dimensions within them, except these were used to collect and hold people! The space within a Qiankun pearl wasn’t that small, being over ten thousand kilometers, but there were no resources within them; there was no way life could be supported within them long-term. They could only be used to temporarily hold living creatures. And so, they were perfectly suited for moving or evacuating populations. “Right.” Old Demon Windraiser accepted all of the Qiankun pearls. …… “Damn.” The horned, golden-robed man was utterly enraged by what he saw, but he was unable to do anything to Ning. Ning wildly assaulted the black viper, but even after ripping it apart, the black viper merely transformed into two smaller vipers. Still…its aura had noticeably weakened, and Ning continued his assault against it. Suddenly…a spatial ripple appeared. It was Greater Teleportation. “Eh?!” Ning turned, only to see that Old Demon Windraiser had appeared in the distance. “Old Demon Windraiser didn’t die?” Ning was startled. “Windraiser, don’t go crazy!” “Windraiser, go back!” Celestial Immortals Arcanum, Infatuation, and the others were using their coresense to watch the battle. Upon seeing Old Demon Windraiser appear, they all hurriedly sent mental messages, calling out to him. “He killed my disciple and destroyed my true body. I cannot live under the same heavens as him!” Old Demon Windraiser suddenly waved his hand, causing a dense cluster of hundreds of spots of starlight to appear. The air above him was also filled with the enormous illusion of the Solar Star, and all these things flew straight towards Ning. Ning was cold and uncaring. “You, Old Demon, had a Primaltwin? I didn’t go kill you, but you came to throw your life away.” How could Ning possibly hold Old Demon Windraiser in any regard? He immediately swept out with his own palm to attack. His golden palm smashed apart everything that came before him. Bang! Bang! Bang! The hundreds of miniature stars were instantly knocked flying away. Crack! A very peculiar sound rang out. It was like…an egg cracking. But those hundreds of star-grains were a set of Immortal-ranked magic treasures; how could Ning have shattered Immortal-ranked magic treasures with a single palm? “AHHHHHH!!!” “NOOO!” “NOOOOO!” Countless miserable screams rang out. Within a special region. Countless mortals and cultivators were all squeezed together. These were the evacuated cultivators and mortals…but this region was beginning to crumble and break apart. Although this was merely a small pocket dimension…with the dimensional walls crumbling, how could mortals possibly survive? All of them were ground apart and killed. Only some of the more powerful cultivators were able to survive. A few people suddenly appeared in the region before Ning’s giant golden palm. These were the Immortal cultivators who had survived the collapse of that pocket dimension…but the power of Ning’s earlier blow was simply too great. Even the mere aftershock from his blow was enough to cause these newly emerged Immortal cultivators to be instantly blown into dust. Infinite despair…despair that filled the skies…it all swept towards Ning. Infinite resentment! Infinite hate! “No…I don’t want to die!” “Oh gods…” “Who…who…” “Who killed us?!” Countless voices rang out in Ning’s mind, assailing his heart. “Ahahahaha!” The distant Old Demon Windraiser was absolutely berserk in his laughter. “You’ve killed ten billion mortals…what a sinner…what a tremendous sinner!!!” Rumble… Rumble… The skies instantly turned blood red, so red that it was utterly terrifying to behold, so densely red that it caused everyone’s heart to tremble. The terrifying redness appeared out of nowhere, and it appeared simultaneously in the skies above Ji Ning and Old Demon Windraiser. These were the legendary…karmic sinflames! The two clouds of bloody red karmic sinflames reflected and resonated with each other. The karmic sinflames…descended! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The red karmic sinflames were terrifying to behold…but they also had a strange, holy aura about them. They existed purely for the sake of burning away all sin! “AHHHH!” In midair, Ji Ning’s eyes turned completely red. He frantically clutched at his head as he fell down from the skies. Within the Still Room of the underwater estate. The black-robed Primaltwin Ning had originally been seated in the lotus position atop the netherwater jade bed, but his body was now blazing with red karmic sinflames as well. The black-robed Primaltwin Ning was now kneeling on the netherwater jade bed, letting out howls of utter agony and misery. He crawled forward in utter pain, falling down from the bed. “No…no…” The black-robed Primaltwin Ning let out an agonized howl. …… In the outside world, Ning fell down from the skies. As he fell, he clutched at his head, letting out terrifying, frenzied, throat-tearing howls. “He didn’t die?” The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan was extremely shocked. The other six Celestial Immortals had joined him outside, atop the flying shuttle. They, too, looked with shock and delight upon this scene. They said in amazement, “He actually didn’t instantly die from burning?” “Ahahaha…” The distant Old Demon Windraiser continued to hover in midair. Surrounded by karmic sinflames, he actually let out laughter that caused one’s heart to shudder. His face was utterly contorted, and his eyes were blood-red. Pain wracked every single cell of his body, but he continued to laugh wildly. “It really is…really is…even more fun…than the million-year Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations…ahahaha…ahahahaha!!!” Old Demon Windraiser was filled with the agony of being burned by karmic sinflames as well. “Windraiser’s Dao-heart is no weaker than my own,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation said. “For even him to be in such agony…it’s utterly inconceivable for this Ji Ning, who has trained for less than a century, to actually stay alive and not perish instantly from the descent of karmic sinflames.” 2789 “Right. He’s trained for less than a century, but his Dao-heart is actually this strong…” “When karmic sinflames descend, they shall unleash multiple layers of punishment. This is but the start.” The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan said in a low voice, “I refuse to believe Ji Ning will be able to survive it.” Karmic sinflames… They were the holy flames that burned away sin. They represented the umost limits of sin. These flames were the flames of the void, flames that burned away at the soul, at the heart! They actually weren’t that harmful to the physical body; after all, the heavens always gave one at least a slight chance for survival. If karmic sinflames were to burn away at the body as well, then Fiendgod sinners would have too much of an unfair advantage compared to Ki Refiner sinners. But although it didn’t harm the body that much…it was utterly terrifying in turns of the damage it did when burning the soul! Even someone like Ning, who had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], had no advantages whatsoever in facing these karmic sinflames… When facing karmic sinflames, all cultivators were treated absolutely equally. The only test right now was of one’s Dao-heart. Would one’s Dao-heart be able to survive while being incinerated by karmic sinflames? Once one’s Dao-heart crumbled, the soul would be unprotected and would be instantly burnt to ashes and dissipated. Luckily enough, Ning had just come up with the tenth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]. His Dao-heart now contained the resolve that was embodied in the lines, ‘Where the Dao is, though ten million soldiers bar my path, I shall relentlessly advance!’ This allowed Ning’s Dao-heart to survive the first round of punishment unleashed by the karmic sinflames; ‘Agony’. “He actually…hasn’t…hasn’t died…what a monster!” Old Demon Windraiser’s entire body was wracked by pain as he stared downwards at the fallen Ji Ning. Old Demon Windraiser’s Dao-heart was extremely strong. He had already lived for a million years. Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations…every three hundred years, a calamity; every nine hundred years, a tribulation. He had endured countless cycles of the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations over the past million years. Under this sort of constant pressure, his Daoheart had actually transformed and grown incredibly powerful, with the result being that he had found even the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations at the million-year mark to be quite easy to overcome. Clearly, his Dao-heart was far more powerful than Immortal Northwalker’s had been. It was comparable to that of many Celestial Immortals…and even amongst Celestial Immortals, he would probably be ranked at the very top. Although the first round of punishment brought by karmic sinflames, ‘Agony’, was extremely painful…he was still able to maintain consciousness. He was even able to open his mouth and speak, albeit haltingly; clearly, he was far more powerful than Ning in this regard. …… “What?!” Within their ten thousand kilometer formation, the Whitewater Hound, Little Qing, and Mu Northson were completely stunned. They stared at the blood-red skies, as well as the blood-red karmic sinflames that had appeared around Ning’s body. Upon seeing the karmic sinflames appear…they all immediately were able to guess at what had happened. They watched as Ning had let out an agonized, frenzied scream, then collapse from the skies…and their hearts became filled with despair. “Karmic sinflames…how could Master have caused karmic sinflames to descend?!” Little Qing was utterly horrified. “How could…senior apprentice-brother…senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning…” Northson was so frantic, he was shaking. “It’s all because of me…because of me…no…don’t…” The Whitewater Hound stared at Ning, who had fallen down from the skies. Watching the karmic sinflames roast Ning, Uncle White’s tears instantly began to streak down his face. “Ning, son…son…” Despair! They were all Immortal cultivators; they knew how terrifying karmic sinflames were, as well as the fact that when they descended, nobody could help out at all. To survive the descent of karmic sinflames was simply far, far too difficult; only truly powerful figures with incomparably mighty Dao-hearts would be able to survive. But Ning had only trained for less than a century! Although he was publicly acclaimed for having a firm Dao-heart, having a strong sword-heart, and being a born Sword Immortal…he simply hadn’t trained for long enough. The punishment brought by karmic sinflames would come in repeated waves that only increased in power and terror. “Ning, son, you have to endure it…you have to.” The Whitewater Hound stared towards Ning. “I promised Big Brother to take care of you, to always protect you.” 2791 …… Atop the flying shuttle. The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan and his six mighty Celestial Immortals were also watching the fallen Ji Ning. “He actually didn’t die right away from the descent of karmic sinflames.” Patriarch Arcanum said hurriedly, “Ancestor, the punishment brought by karmic sinflames will grow increasingly powerful…but to prevent a miracle from happening which results in this punk surviving, let’s suppress him right away. He’s completely unable to fight back right now; this is the perfect time to trap and suppress him.” “Right.” Celestial Immortal Infatuation nodded as well. “Although I don’t believe Ji Ning will survive, if by some miracle he does survive…it’s best to suppress him now.” “Supress him.” “It’s a shame that Goldclock died, and his divine greatclock was stolen by Ji Ning as well.” “I naturally have other suppressive treasures. Although they aren’t comparable to the divine greatclock, one is still a middle-grade Pure Yang treasure; there’s no way he can escape.” The Youngflame Ancestor suddenly waved his hands, producing a pair of copper cymbals. He threw them out, and the pair instantly expanded in size, transforming into copper cymbals that were more than three hundred meters long. The copper cymbals split apart, one flying to be above Ji Ning while the other flew underneath him. Once the pair of copper cymbals came together once more…there would be no way for him to escape. Ning’s eyes were completely red, and his face was completely distorted with agony. He couldn’t help but let out roars of agony… …but his Dao-heart hadn’t dissipated yet! He still maintained a single thread of consciousness. He could see what was going on in the outside world, but everything he saw was twisted and blurry. This was because his eyes were too bloodshot right now; if they were just a bit more bloodshot, he would probably be completely blind! When these two giant copper cymbals came to surround him, Ning immediately struck out with his two arms. Bang! Bang! He instantly knocked the two copper cymbals flying. “He’s actually still able to pay attention to the outside world?” The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan was surprised. “Even if he is…the amount of intellect he’s able to use right now must be very, very low,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation said. “He’s like a beast, right now; all he knows to do is to knock away anything dangerous. He doesn’t even know to flee! He could’ve just used his evasive techniques to dodge, but he didn’t move at all; from this, one can tell that his intellect has dropped to a very, very low level right now.” “Let’s all act together. Perhaps we can trap him.” 2792 “Let’s give it a shot.” The six Celestial Immortals all moved. Black chains flew out. Thousands of tendrils and vines whipped out. The strands of an enormous horsetail flywhisk that was thirty thousand meters long flew forth. Boom! Boom! Boom! Everything in front of Ning was blurry, but he did see many vines swinging towards him. He struggled to wave his arms about, using the [Starseizing Hand] to knock all the magic treasures flying and away from his body. The tendrils all completely snapped apart, unable to even draw near him. After all, these Celestial Immortals were all heavily wounded; when controlling magic treasures from afar, how could their power possibly compare to the power of Ning’s twin arms? Even if the six Celestial Immortals were to use a formation, given how badly injured they were, they still wouldn’t be able to withstand Ning’s [Starseizing Hand]. “Mmm…he really does seem like a wild beast. Anything that gets close to him, he’ll wildly lash out at and knock away.” The Youngflame Ancestor nodded lightly. “I have an idea…one that will ensure his death.” “Oh?” They all looked towards the Ancestor, save for Celestial Immortal Infatuation, who suddenly said, “Can it be…the Worldhold Pagoda?” “Infatuation read my mind.” The Youngflame Ancestor nodded lightly. “Fortunately, when I came out of seclusion this time, Arcanum and the others came over as well. There was no one left to guard the pagoda, and so I brought it over here as well.” Whoosh. A small pagoda suddenly appeared within the Youngflame Ancestor’s hands. This was the ancient pagoda which Celestial Immortal Arcanum and the others had been guarding previously. This pagoda…it was truly the most important of all treasures which the Youngflame clan had. To the Youngflame clan, the most important person was naturally the Youngflame Ancestor, Immortal Venomfreak, who had countless clones spread everywhere. Only second to him in importance was this Worldhold Pagoda. This was a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the greatest treasure which Immortal Venomfreak had acquired over the course of countless ages. Whoosh. The small pagoda within the Youngflame Ancestor’s hand flew out, transforming into a pagoda that was thirty thousand meters tall. The pagoda hung high in the air, hovering roughly three thousand meters above him. The Youngflame Ancestor and the others had noticed earlier than three thousand meters seemed to be a limit; once one went beyond that range and moved closer to Ji Ning, Ji Ning would instantly begn to strike and knock things flying. “Ji Ning…I’ll send you on your way,” the Youngflame Patriarch said softly. Whoosh. The entire surface of the pagoda suddenly lit up, especially at the base where a giant black vortex suddenly formed. The vortex began to quickly spread outwards, soon covering a region of a hundred kilometers. Naturally, this completely covered the area where Ning was located as well. Everything within the area was completely drawn in by the whirlpool. Normally, the quick-witted Ning would’ve immediately noticed that something was wrong. He would’ve immediately departed from this region…but Ning was currently clutching his head in utter agony, the karmic sinflames blazing around his body gradually increasing in power. In fact…the second round of punishments was about to descend. The single thought in his mind was to prevent any magic treasures or spells from drawing near his body; how could he possibly have the presence of mind to notice anything else that was amiss? Rumble… The pagoda began to glow brighter and brighter. And then….whoosh! The very tip of the pagoda suddenly grew blindingly bright. Swish! A streak of light shot from it into the skies, as though piercing through the walls of reality itself…then vanished. As for the vortex region of a hundred kilometers…it had become completely empty. Ji Ning had completely vanished. He had vanished from the world of the Grand Xia…and in fact, he had even vanished from the Three Realms themselves. He was now outside the Three Realms… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Senior apprentice-brother!” Mu Northson was watching from within the ten thousand kilometer formation region, wracked by agony and self-hatred for being unable to help Ji Ning. Little Qing and Uncle White’s faces both changed dramatically as well. Both of them could tell that there had just been a spatial teleportation of some sort! “I can no longer sense Master’s location,” Little Qing said frantically. “I can’t even get the vaguest sense of the direction he is in. Master is no longer in the world of the Grand Xia; he’s gone to an extremely distant place.” “I can’t sense him either,” Uncle White said, trying to attentively sense Ning’s location. “It’s all my fault. It’s all because of me, a useless piece of trash. I shouldn’t have been in such a rush to take revenge. I shouldn’t have…” Northson was filled with utter regret. It had been Ning who had rescued him and Yu Xia’s soul from the Eastwoods mountain range…but afterwards, when the Youngflame clan’s Celestial Immortals had ambushed Ning, Yu Xia’s sould had been completely destroyed. Although he had felt utter hatred for the Youngflame clan, in truth, Northson did feel a bit of resentment towards Ning as well in his heart. However…given Ning’s great kindness towards him, and given that they were lifelong friends to begin with, he had buried that resentment deep within his heart. But in this moment… When he saw the descent of the karmic sinflames, as well as the agonized look on the face of Ning as he was being burnt by the sinflames…Northson felt incomparable guilt in his heart. “If I hadn’t kept clamoring on and on about revenge, senior apprentice-brother wouldn’t have been in such a rush. He would’ve kept on waiting, waiting until he grew even more powerful…and then, he would’ve completely wiped out the entire Youngflame clan. This is all due to my own impatience.” “Say no more.” Uncle White growled, “The Youngflame clan’s Celestial Immortals are already flying towards us. Let’s hurry up and leave. Little Qing, we need a Greater Teleportation.” “Alright.” Little Qing tamped down the grief and pain she felt, immediately waving her hand and bringing along Uncle White and Northson into a Greater Teleportation. Whoosh! They disappeared into thin air, having returned to Swallow Mountain. …… The seven Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were indeed flying straight towards the formation area. With but a single void blink, they arrived directly outside of the formation. However…as soon as they arrived, Little Qing, Uncle White, and Northson departed. Little Qing and the other two knew quite well that there was no way they could possibly deal with these Celestial Immortals. They were far too weak; they could only suppress their hatred for now. If Ning had truly died…they would train hard so that in the future, they would be able to take revenge for him. “They ran quite fast,” Celestial Immortal Arcanum sneered. “They were weak to begin with; they only dared to attack this place because of Ji Ning. Now that he’s dead, why wouldn’t they flee?” Celestial Immortal Blackrain said coldly. The nearby Infatuation shook his head. “Blackrain, Ji Ning isn’t dead yet.” “When karmic sinflames descend, they shall bring multiple rounds of punishment. I refuse to believe he won’t die,” Celestial Immortal Blackrain said. “In addition, Master also used his Worldhold Pagoda; he must have sent Ji Ning to one of the danger zones within the void beyond the Three Realms. Some of those danger zones are enough to cause even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods to perish, much less a little brat that hasn’t even overcome his Celestial Tribulation.” The nearby horned, golden-robed man turned his head to look at the distant Old Demon Windraiser, still wracked by indescribable pain. He spoke out and said, “If Windraiser is able to withstand this tribulation of karmic sinflames…I shall personally escort him to the Ten Yama-Kings of Hell. When he is reborn, he absolutely must be reborn into our Youngflame clan. No expenses will be spared in training him.” “Right.” “Of course.” All of them nodded. This was no joke. If someone was able to overcome karmic sinflames, they would undergo an utterly astounding transformation, and their Dao-hearts would become truly remarkable in strength. Although they would lose their memories of their former lives upon being reborn…such a soul would still have enormous potential in the new life. Upon regaining one’s previous memories…one would have an extremely good chance of overcoming the Celestial Tribulation. “Let’s see if he can overcome the karmic sinflames,” the horned, golden-robed man said with a sigh. “Every single person who is capable of overcoming karmic sinflames is an extremely remarkable person. Even amongst Celestial Immortals, such individuals are amongst the very top.” There were very few, even amongst Celestial Immortals, who could withstand the power of karmic sinflames! In truth, it was very hard for someone to tell how strong another person’s Dao-heart was. Even someone as powerful as Celestial Immortal Infatuation wouldn’t dare claim for certain that he was able to withstand karmic sinflames! Thus…Celestial Immortals were generally quite cautious. Only if there was no other choice would they allow themselves to act in a way that would cause karmic sinflames to swirl around their bodies. The descent of karmic sinflames was truly terrifying…but once one overcame it, one’s power would generally skyrocket! In the Three Realms…every single person who overcame karmic sinflames would end up being an incredible figure. For example, Ning’s senior apprentice-brother, Empyrean God Silvermoon, was a person who had karmic sinflames constantly swirling around him. Silvermoon, however, completely ignored them…proof that he truly was an utter demon. The world of the Grand Xia. The western seas. The Seamless Gate’s gathering spot. The enormous mirror had displayed all the scenes of the battle that had just occurred in the Oldjade mountain range. The escape and wild assault of nine hundred-plus Fiendgods…the pursuit of the Godslayer Gods…Ning’s sudden, unexpected explosion of power that had resulted in the slaying of two Celestial Immortals…Old Demon Windraiser, a Loose Immortal of the Youngflame clan, attacking ‘suicidally’…the descent of karmic sinflames…Ning being burnt by karmic sinflames…Ning being teleported away by the Worldhold Pagoda… “Exciting. How very exciting.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sighed repeatedly in praise. “That Windraiser…he really is both decisive and vicious. He was able to come up with this plan and settle on it in such a short period of time…and those who died were all his own clansmen! Ten billion of his clansmen died, just like that…his heart truly is vicious and merciless. He truly does have the temperament necessary for a demon.” “You are actually praising him? You are actually praising such a despicable, contemptible little man?” Violetgrass frowned. “Violetgrass, little girl, you are wrong; although you are a Celestial Immortal, in terms of Dao-hearts, you are probably inferior to that Windraiser.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven shook his head. “As far as craftiness…you are even more inferior to him. This is one of the reasons why the Gatemaster has never let you truly command your own forces; there are far, far too many things you need to see and experience first.” 2797 “So I’m inferior to him?” Violetgrass was angry. “How many setbacks have you encountered in life?” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven shook his head. “Although we are Celestial Immortals who hold Loose Immortals in contempt, and although indeed 99% of Loose Immortals are not worthy of us paying attention to…amongst the countless Loose Immortals who are alive, there are some who have lived for over a million years. This type of Loose Immortal has suffered repeated assaults from the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations. Their many experiences with the demonheart tribulation has caused their Dao-hearts to become incomparably mighty.” “You, by comparison, became a Celestial Immortal early on. Although you’ve lived longer than them…how many actual tribulations have you undergone? Despite your talent and the fact that you have superior comprehension abilities…you’ve suffered far too few setbacks. Your Dao-heart truly might be inferior to theirs. Look – even though he’s being burned by karmic sinflames, he’s still able to maintain enough presence of mind to carry on a conversation with the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. Would you dare make the claim that you could do the same?” Violetgrass was startled. Even monsters like Ji Ning were just barely able to maintain a modicum of consciousness when being assaulted by karmic sinflames. Old Demon Windraiser, however, was clear-minded enough to carry on a conversation. He clearly was far superior. “The lives of ten billion commoners, in exchange for the life of a peerless, monstrous genius like Ji Ning…worth it.” Violetgrass suddenly said, “Old geezer, tell me; can this sort of method be used against Celestial Immortals?” “Are you suicidal?” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven shook his head. “As the person who gave the order…you, the mastermind, will also incur enormous sin. Ten billion mortal lives! If you are lucky, you’ll have a bloody aura of sin that will surround you and stretch out to many hundreds of meters; if you aren’t lucky, you’ll probably see karmic sinflames descend right away as well! As for the person you sent out to actually do it…that person will definitely suffer the descent of karmic sinflames. Such an action is utter suicide.” “In addition…perhaps ordinary Celestial Immortals are unable to withstand karmic sinflames, but the truly powerful Celestial Immortals are generally able to do so. As for True Immortals or Empyrean Gods…they are the experts of the Three Realms! All of them are capable of withstanding karmic sinflames. Don’t even ask about Daofathers.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sighed. “Thus…this sort of method really isn’t worth it.” “Anyhow. This Ji Ning is being burned by karmic sinflames, and has also been teleported by Youngflame Freak to one of the danger zones in the void beyond the Three Realms. There’s nothing for me to do here. Time for me to go.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven rose to his feet, still carrying a gourd of Immortal nectar. Drinking and whistling, he began to walk away. “Old geezer, this one doesn’t count. You still owe me two favors,” Violetgrass called after him. “Don’t worry. I’m not as shameless as you.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven’s voice echoed out within the palace, but he himself had disappeared. Violetgrass turned to stare back at the mirror, still depicting events within the Oldjade mountain range. She mumbled to herself, “So he was actually sent into a danger zone, just like that. I didn’t even have anything to do with it. Still…that’s a good thing for me.” …… Within the ancient pagoda tower. All seven of the Celestial Immortals, including the Youngflame Ancestor, were gathered here. Not too far away was Old Demon Windraiser, who was seated in the lotus position. However, his body was clearly trembling slightly. The karmic sinflames around him were beginning to vanish; clearly, the trials brought by the karmic sinflames were nearing their end. “This is already the seventh day. Windraiser is still holding on.” Celestial Immortal Arcanum’s narrow eyes were filled with eagerness. “The longer it goes on, the more dangerous it becomes. The seventh day is the final day. If he is able to withstand this day…he’ll survive. But if he doesn’t…” The Youngflame Ancestor shook his head. Suddenly, however, his face changed as he turned to stare at Old Demon Windraiser. Old Demon Windraiser’s aura was beginning to gradually weaken. This was the aura of his soul weakening in strength. “What’s going on?” “Why is his aura weakening?” Everyone was extremely worried. They knew very little about karmic sinflames; all they knew was that the karmic sinflames brought a tribulation that lasted for seven days, and that the final stages were the most terrifying of all! Once one made it past the seven day mark, the karmic sinflames would vanish; one would only be able to detect them through coresense or divine sense, and not with the naked eye. However…although invisible, the karmic sinflames would always be present. The constant swirl of karmic sinflames on one’s body would feel like being eternally roasted in the pits of hell. “His heart…his heart is weakening,” the Youngflame Ancestor said. “When his heart weakens, his aura weakens as well. Once his heart dies…then his soul will instantly be burnt to ash. This is why karmic sinflames are so terrifying! The initial ‘Agony’ phase from when the karmic sinflames first descend 2799 merely cause brute-force pain. Those with powerful Dao-hearts, however, are often able to overcome this phase. The latter parts have a softer approach which will slowly cause pain and regret to seep into one’s heart…causing the tormented person’s heart to slowly wither and die. It is akin to suicide!” Old Demon Windraiser’s aura was indeed growing weaker and weaker. The seven Celestial Immortals watched with incomparable nervousness. Six more hours passed. His aura was completely extinguished. BOOM! After his aura had completely disappeared for just a few seconds…it suddenly began to increase rapidly in power. Finally, Old Demon Windraiser opened his eyes. “I survived.” Old Demon Windraiser said in a low voice, “What terrifying ‘karmic sinflames’ indeed! They were far more powerful than the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations that one experiences at the million year mark. I actually survived…but I really don’t want to experience that again. I really do not.” A deep, haunted look was in Old Demon Windraiser’s eyes. “Windraiser,” the Youngflame Ancestor called out. Windraiser hurriedly came to his senses. “Ancestor.” Windraiser said hurriedly, “Patriarchs, I, Windraiser, condemned ten billion members of our clan to death. My sin…” “Enough. You did not sin; in fact, you rendered major merits,” the Youngflame Ancestor said with a loud laugh. “It was just ten billion mortals, after all. We can bring a few billion mortals over from our other two headquarters, and in a few more decades this place shall be flourishing once more. The reason why we were able to deal with Ji Ning this time was you; you ignored your own well-being and willingly endured karmic sinflames to deal him a fierce blow. You did very well!” Old Demon Windraiser’s voice was still very low. “Ancestor, I’ve incurred far, far too many sins. A storm is coming to the Three Realms. Me being alive will only result in a hugely negative influence upon the Youngflame clan. I’m preparing to kill myself, then head to the Netherworld.” “Yes.” The Ancestor nodded. “It is for the best. Given how many sins you have incurred…after you die and go to the Netherworld, you will be punished in the deepest depths of hell and tormented in countless unspeakable ways. After you are finally allowed to be reborn…I will definitely bring you back into the Youngflame clan. In the past, dealing with matters in the Netherworld Kingdom might be a bit 2800 troublesome, but now that Daofather Crimsonbright has re-established a minor cycle of reincarnation, all ten of his Yama-Kings of Hell will assuredly give me some face. I will arrange everything necessary for you.” “Yes.” Old Demon Windraiser said respectfully, “Then…I’ll leave now.” Old Demon Windraiser didn’t hesitate at all. Whoosh! His golden lotus spirit voluntarily dissipated, and a human-shaped soul, wreathed by karmic sinflames, flew straight towards the minor cycle of reincarnation. Swoosh! The Youngflame Ancestor immediately headed towards the minor cycle of reincarnation as well. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.[Note – Red dust is an allegorical Buddhist term that refers to worldly affairs, attachments, and desires. It is often said that in order to achieve Buddhahood, one has to be able to ‘see past the red dust’. ‘Women of the red dust’ is also a phrase that is specifically used to refer to courtesans.] Stillwater Commandery. Swallow Mountain. Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. Uncle White, in human form, was seated within a pavilion, moodily drinking wine by himself. Mu Northson was seated as well, leaning against the pavilion railings with his eyes shut. As for Little Qing, she was hugging her knees, seated quietly within a corner of the pavilion. They were all completely silent. A long time later… “Should we tell Autumn Leaf?” Little Qing suddenly said. “We should not.” Uncle White sighed. “In Autumn Leaf’s heart, my son Ning is…ugh. She wouldn’t be to take the blow. Let’s wait for now. We can tell her that Ning is in secluded meditation.” “Are we supposed to just keep hiding this from them?” Little Qing asked. “We can sense that my son Ning is still alive,” Uncle White said. “As long as he is still alive…let’s keep things hidden from Autumn Leaf, as well as all of the Ji clansmen.” Little Qing nodded gently as well, then said, “Then about about Ji Ning’s master, Immortal Diancai?” “Diancai…” Uncle White hesitated a moment, then said, “Let’s wait. The most terrifying punishment brought by karmic sinflames will arrive on the seventh day. As long as he survives the seventh day, he will have survived the karmic sinflames. If he doesn’t come back after seven days…that means he truly is trapped in some mysterious danger zone located outside the world of the Grand Xia…at which point, we will notify Immortal Diancai.” “Alright.” Little Qing nodded. They fell silent once more. None of them had anything to say. They just waited, quietly. Seven days… These seven days posed a huge tribulation for Ning. If he didn’t die within these seven days and withstood the karmic sinflames…he would have overcome this tribulation. However, they didn’t have any idea as to where the Youngflame clan had teleported him to…but given the amount of hatred they felt towards him, they must have sent him to a truly terrifying place. …… The banks of a vast, roaring river. There was an azure-robed man seated in the lotus position here. He wielded an Immortal sword in his hands, but the Immortal sword actually had a fishing line hanging down from it; clearly, he was using it to fish. Whoosh. From high up in the skies, a handsome-looking youth came flying over atop a cloud. He landed on the ground, then bowed respectfully. “My respects to you, Patriarch Lu. Per the Xia Emperor’s orders, this junior has come to send you a message.” A scroll appeared before him, which he respectfully offered with both hands. “A letter? The Xia Emperor?” Lu Dongbin turned his head to look. He waved his hand, and the scroll flew straight to him. He tapped on it gently, and the scroll unfurled on its own. Lu Dongbin read through it carefully. His face changed slightly. “Understood. You can leave now,” Lu Dongbin said calmly. “Yes.” The handsome youth departed gracefully. Lu Dongbin, however, began to frown. “Karmic sinflames descended? The Youngflame clan actually used a method like this? Although Ji Ning is indeed talented, he’s trained for less than a century. Will he be able to survive?” Lu Dongbin turned his head to look towards the distance. A golden rune suddenly appeared in his pupils, and instantly his gaze was able to pierce through space, seeing an island that was ten million kilometers away. At the quiet, secluded island, there was a black-robed maiden seated in the lotus position on a beach. “This disciple of mine…she keeps her thoughts and secrets guarded quite tightly,” Lu Dongbin mused softly to himself. “That killing intent within her heart…it is even more terrifying than I had predicted it to be. In addition, at the Grand Xia Dynasty, she was hiding her true power the entire time. But…when I went to find Judge Cui to inspect her past lives, everything seemed normal. Although in her previous life, she was a powerful, fiendish figure, a demon whose power was comparable to a Loose Immortal who had lived for a million years…for a person to be powerful in a previous life is a good thing. There’s no need to hide it. When she awakened her memories during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, given how powerful 2803 she was in her previous life…she absolutely could’ve made it to the top three, and perhaps she could’ve even become champion.” Originally, Lu Dongbin had deeply desired to take on Ji Ning as his disciple, because Ji Ning truly was born to be a Sword Immortal. In addition, he had vaguely sensed some of Ning’s other extraordinary attributes. As for Yu Wei… Lu Dongbin had originally felt that Yu Wei was hiding even more secrets. However, he wasn’t certain at first; after taking her on as his disciple and interacting with her for a long period of time, he had naturally been able to discover many flaws in Yu Wei’s façade. In the end, Yu Wei had been forced to admit it: “Master, I was indeed hiding my true strength. This was because I don’t wish for others to know about my past life. I don’t want others to know that in my past life, I was such a vile, demonic figure. I’m tired…so tired. I want this life to be a bit more relaxed.” Yu Wei clearly knew very well that Lu Dongbin, given his status, could easily investigate her past lives. She no longer maintained her façade before him. “Was it really just because she wishes for this life to be a bit more ordinary and relaxed?” Lu Dongbin was at such a high level of enlightenment that he was extremely close to the level of the Daofathers! He could vaguely make out the tides and portents of destiny…and he always felt that Yu Wei wasn’t as simple a figure as she made herself to be. However, he had investigated the Book of Life and Death. Yu Wei hadn’t lied to him. Could it be that he was wrong? “Right now, Yu Wei needs to keep her heart steady and calm. When the time is right, the Celestial Tribulation shall come,” Lu Dongbin mused to himself. “The Celestial Tribulation is incomparably dangerous; in her past life, she failed to overcome it. In this life, it shall be extremely dangerous as well! I can sense that her feelings towards Ji Ning are genuine. If he truly is trapped in a danger zone…if I tell her, her demonheart tribulation will probably become even more terrifying.” “For now, I won’t tell her. After she overcomes her tribulation, I’ll tell her.” Lu Dongbin continued to ponder pensively. …… Yu Wei sat there in the lotus position at the beach. The seas and the skies were the same color, giving an impression of a infinitely vast firmament. Her heart was extremely calm right now. She was nurturing her Dao-heart. She was quietly preparing… Based on what Patriarch Lu had said, once she overcame her tribulation and became a Celestial Immortal, she would leave his tutelage. “Junior apprentice-brother, I’ll undergo my tribulation soon. Afterwards, I’ll go seek you out right away.” A hint of a smile played at the corner of Yu Wei’s mouth. Ji Ning was the warmest memory in her heart; when Ji Ning had returned to the Grand Xia, Patriarch Lu had naturally informed her once he had learned of this. However, Yu Wei didn’t have any idea that Ji Ning was currently trapped in a danger zone. The term ‘Three Realms’ referred to the Heaven Realm, the Netherworld Kingdom, and the Mortal Realm. The Heaven Realm and the Netherworld Kingdom were extremely vast, while the three thousand major worlds and trillion minor worlds of the Mortal Realm were as countless as the stars of the Milky Way. And beyond all of these realms…there was the vast, limitless Void, an empty region that was even greater than the Three Realms themselves. Within the Void were two supreme stars, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star, as well as many other stars. Within the infinite Void, there were countless danger zones, including some which would cause even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods to perish. In fact, there were some places which even True Gods and Daofathers would hesitate to venture into, preferring to simply watch them from a distance. The three thousand major worlds and trillion minor worlds were like tiny little islands or reefs located within the infinite Void. The three thousand major worlds were like large islands, while the trillion minor worlds were reefs. At the very center of the three thousand islands and trillion reefs, there was an enormous ‘continent’ located within the infinite void. This ‘continent’ was countless times greater than any of the major worlds. There, space and time clashed and twisted against each other… It truly was a terrifying place. And at the places where the chaotic continent and the empty Void intersected, there were constant waves of void-ripples that spread out. Rumble… It was much like how, on a mortal world, where the waters of the ocean met the land, enormous oceanic waves would slam down against the land. The waves of Void slammed repeatedly against the margins of the vast, chaotic continent…and the constant collisions formed a region of utter annihilation. The Nihilum Zone! …… The Nihilum Zome. Rumble… A streak of white light suddenly flashed by, transporting a youth to this location. “AAAARGH!” Pain. Pain like he had never experienced before. For mortals, once their level of pain reached a certain threshold, they could actually die from it. As for Immortal cultivators…the terrifying agony brought by the first round of punishments from the karmic sinflames was an agony that was applied directly to their souls. There was no escape, nowhere to hide. The pain of it vastly outstripped the pain of one’s soul being torn apart. There was a limit to how much pain the body and the soul could take. The amount of pain the heart could suffer, however, was limitless. Once the Dao-heart collapsed due to agony, the soul would quickly burnt to ash. “No. No…” Ning was struggling to stay alive. He was able to remain just barely conscious, but that hint of consciousness was simply too weak; he wasn’t even able to pay any attention to his surroundings. Finally, the increasing amount of pain reached a peak, a plateau. Instantly…the pain vanished. Ning was rather stunned. To go from a peak of pain to no pain at all…this, too, caused Ning’s Dao-heart to tremble. “This place is…” Ning finally managed to look at his surroundings. Blackness surrounded him. Aided by the incomparably dim wisps of light sent forth by the distant Solar Star, Ning was able to just barely see that the darkness arounded him seemed to surge and ebb like flows of water. The void waves…they stretched off into infinity, while Ning was nothing more than a tiny little speck in the midst of a vast, endless void sea. Rumble…a void wave came sweeping over. Ning felt his entire body tremble; the terrifying power of the wave vastly surpassed the combined power of all the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. Immediately afterwards… Ning’s entire world went dark. …… “Young master.” An utterly ravishing beauty, dressed in thin, gauzy clothes, was looking straight towards Ning. She gently loosened her clothes, allowing them to slide downwards, half-revealing her body. She then gently licked at one of her fingertips, then used that finger to flick at her her shoulders, causing her clothes to slip down even further. Instantly, her clothes slipped all the way down, revealing her completely bare body. She walked over slowly, her large, limpid eyes staring longingly towards Ning. “Young master, I want it…” This woman’s appearance was a mixture of the best aspects of Cloudjade, Autumn Leaf, Yu Wei, and Ninelotus’ appearances. However, she was even more alluring and even more enchanting; she completely aroused Ning’s desire. “F*ck off.” Ning remained clear-minded; he knew that this was an illusion created by the descent of the karmic sinflames. This was the second tribulation brought by the sinflames; the ‘lust tribulation’ of the ‘red dust tribulations’. Once one became enmeshed into the illusions, one would truly die. He immediately struck out with his arm, intending to smash the woman before him into dust. However…Ning suddenly realized that his body had become extremely weak. When his palm struck out, it only carried the amount of power an ordinary mortal would have. The nude beauty stretched her own hand out, immediately catching Ning’s arm. She whispered softly, “Are you shy?” She immediately pressed Ning down to the ground… …… When gripped by the throes of lust, one’s Dao-heart could indeed be shaken. Ning was completely unable to fight back; all he could do was strive to maintain his Dao-heart, strive to resist what was happening. “It seems this humble one’s services weren’t enough. However…this humble one has six sisters who are even better.” The woman lying across Ning’s chest whispered gently into his ears. Instantly, six more beauties appeared in the distance. Each had their own unique charms; truly, beauties like these were almost impossible to encounter the real world. In addition, each were exactly the type of woman which Ning liked the most, and also the type of woman that stirred his lust the most. He knew that this was all just part of the ‘lust tribulation’. But…how could the lust tribulation be so easily overcome? It was much like how, in real life, many people knew that drugs were harmful, but upon having tasted it once, they would never be able to abstain from them ever again. By the same principle…a person might know that his soul would be destroyed if he succumbed to lust, but succumbing to lust was a very basic part of human nature. There was no way for a 2807 person to completely rid himself of lust; all a person could do was suppress it. However…when one was unable to resist, one would still be repeatedly enticed and aroused by lust. “Powdered skeletons. All of them are nothing more than skeletons; they are transformed toads that have pustules on their skin. All of them have intentionally transformed into this appearance to deceive me.” Ning repeatedly mumbled these words to himself, continuously and forcibly suppressing his own desires. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although he did his best to visualize these seven beauties as skeletons, or as transformed toads and other abominations…deep in his heart, Ji Ning knew that they weren’t toads. They were part of the ‘red dust tribulation’ which the karmic sinflames had brought; they were created from his own heart, and they weren’t actually disgusting. This caused Ning to unconsciously be drawn further and further into lust. “Hold, hold, hold…” Ning was repeatedly suppressing his own lusts. But as time flowed on, the amount of lust he felt was increasing nonstop. “Wait.” Ning suddenly came to his senses. He thought about a legend he had read about on Earth, a legend about Yu the Great taming the floods. “Rather than dam it all up, he spread it out in channels. How can lust possibly be forcibly suppressed? The red dust tribulation…the red dust tribulation…according to the records of Mount Innerheart, in order to overcome a red dust tribulation, one has to both enter the red dust as well as emerge from the red dust.” 1 “But if I allow myself to enter the red dust…if I succumb to it, what then?” “What should I do?” All sorts of thoughts began to war with each other in Ning’s heart. The more one knew, the harder it was to deal with the red dust tribulation. In addition…‘knowing’ was one thing, being able to actually ‘do’ was another thing. “No matter what…” “My heart cannot succumb.” “This is nothing more than my baptism through the red dust.” Ning didn’t dare to relax his vigilance in the slightest. Actually…Ning had actually made the correct decision. This was because ordinary cultivators, when being tested by a red dust tribulation, would generally be able to first allow themselves to succumb for a long period of time. Afterwards, when the day came for them to suddenly be enlightened and emerge from the red dust, their Dao-hearts would naturally be strengthened tremendously. Ning’s situation, however, was different! His ‘red dust tribulation’ came from the descent of karmic sinflames; he absolutely couldn’t allow himself to succumb to them at all. Time flowed on. Lust. Gluttony. Rage. Avarice. Love. Hate… Within the red dust tribulation, all the desires one could feel when trapped within the mortal world, the world of red dust, would be amplified to an extreme. Lust – The most soul-stirringly beautiful women would appear. Gluttony – Unimaginably delicious delicacies, delicacies that would cause your soul to quiver. Rage – All sorts of arguments, jealousies, disputes…as well as the joy and jubilation that came after violent conquest. Love – Parental love, spousal love, romantic love, brotherly love, master-disciple love…the word ‘love’ truly did involve many things that people were willing to die for. Hate – Towering, earth-shattering hatred and resentment that filled every inch of one’s heart. Hatred that not even the waters of the four seas could wash away…boundless hatred and a desire to kill one’s foes… …… At first, Ning did his best to suppress all of the desires of the red dust, trying to push them away from him. This, however, caused Ning’s heart to feel increasingly tired. But slowly…Ning began to understand. “Let these enticements come as they may. My heart abides.” “This…this is nothing more but a mortal, fleshly coil.” Ning completely separated the innermost part of his heart from the outside world. He let his lust soar to the skies. He let himself feel excitement, rage, hatred, joy, disappointment, grief, happiness…Ning no longer suppressed any of it, allowing the feelings to invade every part of his entire body. Ning’s heart, however, transcended it all. It was like a bystander, simply watching everything and keeping an eye on everything. “One’s true heart…one’s fleshly body…?” Ning slowly began to understand…and he thought of [Houyi’s Archery]. The reason why [Houyi’s Archery] was able to rank amongst the top ten divine abilities of the universe and was considered comparable to the [Starseizing Hand], but the actual application of it was even more complicated. It had higher requirements with regards to skill, it required extremely good bows and arrows…and it only allowed for very, very few shots. However…its power was truly ridiculous as well. At the peak of its power, [Houyi’s Archery] was even more terrifying than the [Starseizing Hand] at its peak! Even Houyi, a divine archer of the Primordial Era, would only be able to shoot out ten or so arrows at maximum power before growing exhausted. The power of those arrows, however, was truly terrifying. In addition, the application of divine power was just one part of [Houyi’s Archery]. The true reason why it was dominant throughout the Three Realms and became acknowledged as the number one archery technique was thanks to…heartforce! Heartforce was a source of power that was invisible, formless, but incomparably mysterious and miraculous. This was a force that was completely outside the types of power which Immortals and Fiendgods could normally control. Elemental ki, Immortal power, and divine power were all visible to the naked eye…but heartforce was invisible. In fact, unless one was using it to support something like archery, heartforce alone was completely unable to injure anyone. However, it was precisely this energy, ‘heartforce’, which allowed divine archers to become truly terrifying figures. Houyi was the most powerful of the divine archers, and the [Houyi’s Archery] technique which he developed was able to strengthen the application of heartforce to a truly frightening level. This was why this technique was such an unearthly, powerful one. Heartforce, invisible and formless… And yet, it allowed one to reach astonishing levels of power. In the Primordial World, not even True Gods or Daofathers would willingly become enemies with Houyi. He was truly an incomparably terrifying man amongst the True Gods and Daofathers, a legendary divine archer even in an age of legends. [Houyi’s Archery] clearly differentiated heartforce into multiple levels. The first level of heartforce could be considered the ‘basic’ level, the level which Ning had currently reached. If one could truly apply heartforce to one’s arrows and cause one’s arrows to be able to strike unerringly at a distance of ten thousand kilometers, one had reached the basic level. Ning had spent many years training archery painstakingly at Mount Innerheart before reaching the basic level. Generally speaking, upon reaching the basic level, one could already be considered as having entered the ranks of the ‘divine archers’ and be viewed as one of them, having reached a level that was as far above the other archers of the Three Realms as the heavens were above the earth. If one didn’t understand heartforce, one would never be able to become a true ‘divine archer’. Only by understanding heartforce could one’s archery become truly terrifying. The second level of heartforce was known as ‘iceheart’! Iceheart… 2811 This meant that one’s inner heart had completely transcended the body. It would no longer be shaken or bedazzled by foreign influences. The waters of one’s inner heart would have frozen into a cube of ice; there would no longer be any ripples within it! Once one’s heart reached this level, one’s ‘heartforce’ would begin to qualitatively evolve and also increase in power tremendously. …… “So, under the pressure of the sinflames of karma…I had unknowingly reached the level of ‘iceheart’, improving my heartforce.” Ning felt a calm joy in his heart. “It truly is as others have said; so long as one can survive the descent of karmic sinflames, one’s Dao-heart will undergo a qualitative change, and one will increase in power dramatically.” The descent of karmic sinflames was a portent for three great tribulations, each more powerful than the last. Ning had just experienced the second round of tribulations, the ‘red dust tribulations’, resulting in him reaching the iceheart level of heartforce. From this, one could see that that although karmic sinflames truly did represent a tremendous tribulation…disaster and fortune came in a pair. If one survived this tribulation, one would reap certain rewards. However, very few Immortal cultivators would willingly allow karmic sinflames to surround them. After all, once they did, even if one did survive the three rounds of karmic tribulations, in the future, the karmic sinflames would perpetually blaze around their bodies. One would constantly suffer from the agony of being burnt by karmic sinflames! Although the pain wouldn’t be as agonizing as during the three rounds of tribulations, to be constantly burnt alive…unless it was absolutely necessary, who would willingly endure such a thing? In addition, it was extremely difficult for one to lower one’s level of sin by enough to drop back down to the level of being surrounded by a ‘bloody aura of sin’. Karmic virtue, karmic sin. It was hard to gain karmic virtue, but karmic sin came with ease! Killing mortals was a tremendous sin; doing so would allow one to effortlessly accrue an enormous amount of sin… But it was far, far harder to acquire karmic virtue. For example, after Ning had killed that evil Patriarch and many evil Diremonsters that had been surrounded by the bloody light of sin, and after when he had taken on a disciple who had whole-heartedly devoted herself to him, he had only just barely been able to upgrade his level of karmic virtue to being surrounded by golden karmic light. The range of his aura of golden karmic light had been extremely small as well! To reach the legendary level of karmic virtue where one’s body would be surrounded by a rainbow of light would be unfathomably more difficult! And in fact…sometimes, one might do evil, even with the best of intentions. Karmic virtue was something which even figures as possible as True Gods or Daofathers were unable to completely understand the 2812 rules of. Although saving figures of karmic virtue and killing sinners did seem to be virtuous acts, and although ninety-nine out of a hundred such actions would result in an increase in karmic virtue…there would always be one who would instead be condemned as a sinner. For one to go from the level of having karmic sinflames to having a bloody aura of sin was comparable in difficulty to increasing from having a golden aura of karmic virtue to a holy rainbow-colored aura. Thus…once one became bathed in karmic sinflames, it was virtually guaranteed that one would never, ever be able to escape from them. To be eternally burnt by karmic sinflames…who would be willing to suffer such a thing? …… “Is there anything else?” For a time, Ning had transcended everything; it was as though he had been seated upon an imperial throne, as though he had unified the world, as though no one would disobey his orders. But suddenly…everything in front of him disappeared. The scene before him transformed. He now saw a very ordinary courtyard, within which was a woman who was carrying an infant. Another woman was next to her, teasing the infant. In the center of the courtyard, there was a muscular man who was slicing animal meat. “Eh?” Ning suddenly realized that he had become that infant. “What’s going on?” When Ning realized that he had taken on the role of the infant, he was puzzled; during all of the previous tribulations, he had always remained in his own body. But as time went on…Ning slowly began to understand. He had become the infant. The infant slowly grew up, becoming a toddler. All the toddlers received the same type of tutelage within the clan…but given how young he was, how could he possibly not be restless? Only after even more time passed did he slowly begin to study hard. And at eight years of age…his father went out hunting in the mountains, never to return. He began to grow up, because he was the only man in the family. Under the tutelage of his mother and his second matron, he began to work hard. 2 His mother and his second matron, in order to ensure that he would receive good tutelage within the clan, suffered countless hardships. He swore an oath to himself… 2813 He would definitely let his mother and his second mother live a good life. “Luo Jun, at the age of sixteen, you were able to train to the peak of the Houtian level; you have quite a bit of potential. What you need to do now is experience life-and-death dangers. If you can break through to the Xiantian level…then the lives of your mother and your second matron will be much better.” A middleaged man smiled at him. “At that time…you’ll truly become acknowledged as a member of the Youngflame clan.” “Right.” The youth’s eyes were filled with desire. However…Ning, whose soul was riding with the youth, felt increasingly worried and uneasy. Just as the youth had finished a dangerous adventure and had returned to his city, a green-haired Immortal had suddenly appeared in the skies above the city. “Everyone in the city is to be evacuated,” the green-haired Immortal ordered, his voice echoing everywhere. Within the courtyard, the youth and his two mothers both raised their heads to look. They felt puzzled and mystified; evacuated? How? Whoosh. Moments later, they could feel space twisting around them…and they then appeared in a different dimension. “So many people?” The youth felt as though they were surrounded by an endless sea of people. “Luo Jun, what…what’s going on?” His two mothers were both panicking. “Don’t worry. This is a technique of Immortals,” the youth said confidently. “There are countless clansmen here; we’ll know what’s going on soon.” Not too long later… Whoosh. They were once more teleported away. This time, even more people were here. “This time…it must be when Old Demon Windraiser put everyone together?” Ning could vaguely sense what was going to happen, and he felt dread in his heart. After having spent more than ten years alongside the youth, Ning sympathized with him as he would for himself. He knew how honest and good this youth was…and he knew how deep the love was between this youth and his two mothers. He already knew what was in the youth’s future. He didn’t wish to believe that this future would come true. Rumble… The dimension exploded.. Yu the Great, Da Yu, was a legendary Emperor and founder of the Xia Dynasty in Chinese history. According to legends, he ‘tamed’ the Yellow River and its constant flooding problems by creating a system of irrigation canals as well as dredging the riverbeds, allowing Chinese civilization to flourish along the Yellow River.. Second matron here, as a term, means his father married two different women; polygamy was legal in ancient China, and the children would refer to their father’s wives in order of seniority as ‘first matron’, ‘second matron’, etc., with the birth mother being simply ‘mother’. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The dimension blew apart, reality shattering into tiny little pieces. The more powerful Immortal cultivators within the dimension roared with fury, seeking to charge out from within it. “What’s going on?” “Heavens above!” “Abu!” Countless mortals were completely dazed and confused. They watched as the world itself shattered…and they were completely unable to resist. The cried out in terror, in pain, in panic. “Mother, second matron…no…no…” The youth was completely dazed. He watched as the two most important people in his life, his mother and his second matron, be ground apart as the walls of reality itself imploded. The most important people in his life! “Mother!” “Second matron!” The youth felt unbearable pain. He was filled with hatred and despair…and then, his consciousness went dark. Ning’s soul was riding with the youth, and the emotions which the youth felt slammed into Ning as well. After riding with the youth for more than ten years, Ning had feelings for the two women as well. He viewed them almost as he would his own mother…and when they died, Ning was filled with boundless anger, regret, and…self-blame! He couldn’t help but blame himself for what had happened. If…if I hadn’t shattered that Qiankun pearl…how wonderful it would have been… “That poor child. Those poor mothers…” Ning’s heart had already reached the iceheart level, and so he was able to quickly suppress that thread of self-blame. He quickly and completely escaped from being in the mindset of that youth. …… “Listen up! A foolish idiot like you isn’t worthy of my little sister.” A muscular, powerful man was standing on the prone body of a youth. The man was roaring angrily, “If you know what’s good for you, stay away in the future. Don’t you dare get close to my little sister again. Otherwise…next time I see you, things won’t end as easily as they have today. There are plenty of monsters in the deep mountains outside the city; if I were to throw you into the mountains, before a single night is over, you’ll have been completely devoured, leaving behind not even a bone.” The muscular man gave two more kicks before turning and leaving. Ning felt pain throughout his entire body. He rose to his feet, his face swollen and his forehead busted open. “Am I now riding with this youth?” Ning mused to himself. The youth turned, then hobbled with difficulty towards his own residence. That night. “Ji.” A maiden stealthily crept in. Upon seeing the appearance of the bedridden youth, she felt such pain that her tears came cascading down. “It’s all my fault. All my fault…” “Yu Wei?!” Ning couldn’t help but feel shocked when he saw the maiden. They looked too similar. Far too similar! In fact, she looked utterly identical to his senior apprentice-sister, Yu Wei. But Ning quickly came to his senses; given that there were ten billion mortals within the Oldjade mountain range, it made sense that there was at least one maiden who looked almost identical to Yu Wei. In addition…after he gave her a closer look, he saw that this maiden appeared simpler and more guileless than Yu Wei; she didn’t have the transcendent aura possessed by an Immortal cultivator. The maiden helped the youth bind his wounds, applying medicine to him. She had even brought over a meat soup for him to drink. “We need to be even more careful in the future. We can’t let my big brother see us again, or any other members of my family,” the maiden said hurriedly. “Believe me, Lotus…I’m definitely going to train to the Xiantian level, at which point I will openly woo you and wed you,” the youth said seriously. “I know.” The maiden nodded gently. …… “You little punk…why don’t you take a good look at yourself? You really don’t know your own limits. You little bastard, you aren’t even a Xiantian lifeform! My little sister is so beautiful, she’s like an Immortal fairy who has descended to the mortal world; she’s one of the most beautiful women of the entire city of 2817 Eastring. Plenty of people wish to wed my little sister.” The muscular man was roaring at him. “And you think you can dream of the same? I warned you last time…so don’t blame me for showing no mercy this time! Servants, tie him up and send him to the mountains. Feed him to the monsters!” “Yes!” Two servants hurriedly assented. The youth was pressed down against the ground, and his mouth was gagged with a cloth rag. His hands, arms, and entire body were quickly bound. He let out an unhappy groan, but the muscular man just stared at him coldly. The youth was sent outside the city, deep into the mountains. “Leave him here. Soon, he’ll be eaten up.” The two servants tossed him down to the ground. The bound youth landed on the ground, covered with rocks and stones. One protruding stone stabbed deep into his chest. The youth immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, rolling around in agony on the ground. “Am I going to die? Die here?” The youth’s heart was filled with terror. Time passed on… Rustle, rustle, rustle… Sound rang out. The youth’s heart clenched; had a monster just arrived? Forget about monsters; even ordinary animals would be able to effortlessly eat him right now. “I’m absolutely sure that he’s over here.” “You led us astray earlier. If you are wrong again, you can go die with that brat.” “Earlier, I led you the wrong way because it was dark. This time, there’s no mistake at all.” Alongside the voices… A muscular man appeared, leading two servants. “Urrr. Urrr.” The youth’s mouth remained gagged; he was unable to speak, but he stared towards the three with surprise and anger. The muscular man was so angry, he laughed. “You didn’t die. Your luck really isn’t bad! I really wonder what you did, you little brat, to make my little sister so besotted that she threatened suicide. Bring him back!” 2818 Only later did the youth discover… Lotus, upon learning that Ji had been sent to the deep mountains to be fed to monsters, had been stunned. And then…this girl who had always been innocent, pure, and obedient…went berserk. She threatened suicide: “If I don’t see Ji before dawn, I’ll go join him.” The girl had pressed a sharp knife towards her heart. In the past, she had always been very obedient towards her peak Xiantian father, but this time, she wasn’t willing to compromise at all. “Father, you might be able to take away my knife and tie me up, but if I want to die…you won’t be able to stop me.” In the end…her strong, domineering father had bowed his head. After this, Lotus’ father and elder brother no longer tried to prevent the two from being together. To the contrary, they began to train Ji, providing him with good cultivation techniques. Thanks to the help of Ji’s father-in-law and brother-in-law, he truly did break through to become a Xiantian lifeform. “What?” The youth used his Xiantian energy to probe Lotus’ stomach. He revealed a look of delight. “This, this is…” Lotus laughed as well. “I’m going to be a father. Hahaha, I’m going to be a father. Wonderful! Ahahahaha…” The youth was wildly overjoyed. Lotus, however, just quietly smiled. “Lotus, I, Youngflame Ji, swear that I will definitely take good care of you and our son.” The youth said excitedly, “My son, in the future, shall become a truly formidable figure. In fact, he’ll be one of the most formidable figures of our entire Youngflame clan.” “Right.” Lotus nodded gently as well. …… Ning’s soul was riding with the youth. He had a very strange feeling in his heart. Lotus looked almost identical to Yu Wei. The excitement which Youngflame Ji had felt when he had discovered that Lotus was pregnant… Ning had a strange feeling. It was as though he had completely become one with Youngflame Ji, as though he and Yu Wei were about to have a child together. “I, Youngflame Ji, swear that I will definitely take good care of you and our son.” When Youngflame Ji said these words…Ning felt a powerful sense of responsibility. A husband’s…a father’s… Responsibility. “Can it be that they are also going to…” Ning could vaguely see their future, a future that caused Ning’s heart to feel pain. This girl looked identical to Yu Wei. She was simple and honest, but her heart was whole-heartedly with her man. Ning truly didn’t wish to see Lotus die. Time passed, one day after another. Lotus’ belly grew bigger and bigger. The young Youngflame Ji was working hard to acquire all sorts of treasured herbs, which he gave to Lotus to eat. “My child must be born with the best of talent. In the future, he will definitely become an important person.” Each time Youngflame Ji had that eager, excited look on his face, Lotus would laugh as she looked at her man. This was bliss. “Everyone in the city is to be evacuated!” An ancient voice echoed throughout the city. Youngflame Ji, who had been holding his pregnant wife’s hand and accompanying her on a stroll, was startled. Moments later… The world around them changed. Youngflame Ji and Lotus had arrived within a pocket dimension which was filled with countless people. “Lotus, are you alright?” Youngflame Ji was extremely worried. “I’m fine. But…but where are we?” Lotus, rather worried as well, clutched at Youngflame Ji’s hand. “Don’t worry. I’m here.” Youngflame Ji vigilantly scanned their surroundings. Not too long afterwards… Whoosh… A second round of teleportations. This time, they were moved to Old Demon Windraiser’s pearl, and the population became even denser. “No…” Ning’s heart was filled with regret. He truly didn’t want to see this…this scene of utter despair. Rumble… The world broke apart. Screams of terror…rage…despair… Countless people began to die within the shattering dimension. “No, no, no…” The youth was completely dazed. He stared in terror at the surrounding world. He had sworn an oath…he was going to protect his wife! “What should I do? What should I do?!” He was blaming himself over and over; he would rather die than let his beloved wife die! He couldn’t forget how they had met…the countless hardships they had experienced together before they had finally been able to be together… “Lotus…” The youth looked towards the girl, his tears falling down. He truly was helpless! “It’s good that we’re together…our entire family is together…” Lotus tightly clutched her man with one hand while gently touching her stomach with the other. Whoosh…. The shattering dimension showed no mercy at all. As the cracks in reality swept towards them…the man, the woman, and the child in the woman’s belly all perished. The dimension was completely destroyed. Ning even ‘saw’ that giant golden palm appear in the outside world. It was this golden palm that had shattered the Qiankun pearl, causing the three of them to all perish. And that giant golden palm…was Ning’s palm. “Why? Why wasn’t I just a bit more careful…why did I have to destroy it?” Upon seeing Lotus die, he couldn’t help but feel as though Yu Wei had just died in front of him. The agony which Youngflame Ji felt was sent straight to Ning’s own heart, causing him to feel pain as well. “It was my fault.” “I shouldn’t have.” “Shouldn’t have.” Ning had reached the ‘iceheart’ stage. Although he felt regret …in the deepest recesses of his heart, he was still able to maintain his state of cold transcendence. He was still able to completely control the emotions he felt regarding what had happened in the outside world, causing it to be unable to shake his inner heart. …… One story after another. Ning’s soul rode with one individual after another. For some, he only spent a few months with them; for others, he spent more than ten years. Each person was the type which Ning absolutely wouldn’t have 2821 been willing to kill…and in fact, many of their stories resonated with him. This sort of soul-riding felt almost like a form of rebirth. However, because Ning had reached the ‘iceheart’ level, he was able to separate all those emotions from his inner heart, causing it to remain unshaken. However…the more Ning saw, the more he felt a certain desire in his heart… If only I hadn’t shattered that Qiankun pearl, how wonderful things would be! Although Ning felt this desire…he also understood that there was no way to change things. He couldn’t take it back. …… This sorts of feelings continuously accumulated within his heart. Suddenly… “Mother! Second matron!” “Lotus!” “Master!” “Junior apprentice-brother!” “Why, why?!” “I don’t want to die!” “My baby! Aaaaaaaah!” In that instant… Ning had experienced all sorts of powerful emotions over the course of riding with a thousand lives. All sorts of resentment, anger, pain, embarrassment, agony…they all suddenly gathered together. Before this, although Ning was deeply impacted by the emotions he felt when riding with one of the victims, the emotions came in a single, sudden rush. This time, however…all of the emotions came crashing upon him at the same time. The self-recrimination he felt came crashing down upon him like a wave, instantly drowning him within its waters. “It was all because of you. You!” “Why did you break it? Why?!” “You should be damned.” “Damned!” 2822 “Die.” “If you die, you’ll be free.” “Free.” A flood of emotions…countless voices…they completely buried and smothered Ning. In fact, they were even able to breach Ning’s ‘iceheart’ and completely fill every inch of his inner heart. This was the most difficult tribulation of the three tribulations of the ‘red dust tribulations’…the ‘thousand lives heart-tribulation’! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The most terrifying tribulation of the red dust tribulations was this one, the thousand lives hearttribulation. It was an experience akin to being reborn a thousand times. If one’s Dao-heart was weak, one would probably be lost forever… After all, to Immortal cultivators, with the passage of countless lifetimes, one would begin to lose the memories of one’s former lives. With so many personalities and experiences in one place…the original personality and person would be lost. Experiencing a thousand lives, in and of itself, was enough to cause many Loose Immortals to be lost…at which point, the karmic sinflames would burn their souls to ashes. The thousand lives heart-tribulation was even worse; it wasn’t as simple as causing someone to be actually reborn a thousand times! Ji Ning was a classic example; with each rebirth, he ‘possessed’ the spirit of someone whose story and personality resonated with his own…and each of their stories caused him to feel self-recrimination and regret. If instead he had been randomly ‘reincarnated’ or ‘possessed’ the body of an evildoer, Ning’s iceheart-level mind probably wouldn’t have been shaken in the slightest. But every single time, Ning’s soul rode with someone whose life experiences and histories resonated with himself. Slowly…these experiences had penetrated his iceheart and entered his inner heart. And then…they had all merged together! A flood of emotions born from a thousand lives suddenly exploded forth, reaching an inconceivable level of intensity. This was the final strike of the thousand lives heart-tribulation…and the most terrifying strike of all! Countless peerless geniuses had perished to this strike. Rumble… His ‘iceheart’ had been completely infiltrated and submerged. Ning was no longer able to maintain that state at all. “Damn you.” “Your fault.” “Die, die.” “Go die.” “I want you dead!” 2824 “Vengeance for Lotus.” The figures from a thousand lifetimes swam before his eyes. They were roaring with rage, their faces savage and vicious. “…It’s all my fault. It’s my fault. My fault. If I hadn’t shattered that Qiankun pearl, all of them would still be alive. They had children…wives…parents…siblings…if it hadn’t been for me, they would still be living happy lives…” Ning had already been completely submerged by the endless waves of emotions that were crashing through him. “Death is a form of escape…I owe them…I can’t face them…only in death…” …… Within the Nihilum Zone. Within a vast, seemingly endless black void wave. Ning just drifted about with the waves, sent flying repeatedly in different directions. His eyes were shut. He simply lay there, amidst the waves. If Uncle White and Little Qing were present, they would have immediately noticed that Ning’s aura was growing increasingly weak at an utterly alarming rate. This was the exact moment when the final, explosive strike of the thousand lives heart-tribulation had arrived! …… “The seven days are almost up.” “It’s almost been seven days…Master will definitely survive. Definitely.” “Senior apprentice-brother…” Uncle White, Little Qing, and Mu Northson were quietly waiting at Swallow Mountain. Uncle White was no longer drinking, Northson was no longer repeatedly sighing and blaming himself, while Little Qing was constantly mumbling to herself nonstop. They were all waiting and hoping… Seven days ago, the karmic sinflames had descended. Now, seven days later…Ji Ning would be facing the most dangerous test of all. “You have to survive.” …… 2825 Within the void waves of the Nihilum Zone. Ning’s aura was rapidly weakening in strength…but when it reached an extremely low level, that tiny strand of will just wouldn’t die out, no matter what. It was as though something was forcibly sustaining Ning’s Dao-heart, causing it to be unable to completely, truly break apart. Within Ning’s soul. It was completely dark here. Under the pressure of that torrent of emotions from a thousand lives, Ning’s Dao-heart had weakened so much that his soul had been thrust into utter darkness, the darkness of utter despair. Logically speaking, Ning should have already succumbed to it…but he had not. “I want to be carefree and unbound!” “I want to control my own destiny, and to not be toyed with by fate!” “I don’t want for those I love to leave me…” In the moment when his Dao-heart sank down to its lowest depths…a voice rang out in the deepest part of his heart. This was Ji Ning’s own voice, a resolute voice, the voice he used when he was at his most stubborn, his most unyielding. This was a chant which Ning had shouted to himself, even back in his previous life on Earth. In this life, after seeing his parents perish one by one at Swallow Mountain…this desire was only reinforced. When he came to understand his own sword-heart…he realized that his sword-heart sought true freedom, sought mastery over his own destiny! This was the voice that rang out in the deepest depths of Ning’s soul. “I…” “I am Ji Ning.” “I ask to be carefree and unbound, to control my own destiny, and not to be toyed with by fate.” Ning’s Dao-heart rapidly began to condense and strengthen, and as it did, the aura of the young body that was floating about within the Nihilum Zone began to strengthen as well. Ning slowly regained consciousness. His mind gradually returned to him. That faith, that chant…it had come from his very essence, rather than from his mind or consciousness. Now that his mind had returned, Ning’s Dao-heart began to heal even more rapidly. His Dao-heart was also growing even firmer and more dense. “It was indeed my fault that they died…but they are already dead. All that is in the past. There is no way to reverse the flow of time, and there is no way to change past history. Punishing one’s self for something one can no longer alter…that is nothing more than being made a fool of by fate! The only one who rules over myself…is myself!” Whoooosh. The youth floating within the dark void waves of the Nihilum Zone suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes gleamed like the stars, filled with unfathomable profoundness. “I survived. The karmic sinflames…I endured them,” the youth murmured softly. The karmic sinflames had already turned invisible. It was difficult to see them with the naked eye; one had to use divine sense or coresense to see them. The invisible karmic sinflames continued to swirl around Ning, but they no longer conjured any more illusions. The likes of the ‘soulkiller tribulation’, the ‘red dust tribulation’, and the ‘thousand lives heart-tribulation’ would no longer appear. The karmic sinflames, however, did continue to burn away at Ning’s soul, causing Ning to feel pain. This pain could not compare to the pain Ning had felt when undergoing the first tribulation, the ‘soulkiller tribulation’; the soulkiller tribulation brought pain into one’s very essence, and thus could increase without any limit. By contrast, there was a limit to how much pain the current karmic sinflames could bring. However…the pain one felt when one’s soul was being burnt was far greater than the pain one felt when one’s flesh was being burnt. Although surviving karmic sinflames was a form of baptism for the spirit, the agony of having one’s soul being burned…this, too, was a form of punishment for sin. “No wonder everyone says that those who can survive karmic sinflames truly are incomparably demonic figures,” Ning sighed. “If a vile fiend truly did decide to kill countless innocents and cause karmic sinflames to descend, and yet was still able to withstand the thousand lives heart-tribulation…one can imagine what sort of a heart he has!” “After having survived the karmic sinflames, my heart has reached the ‘iceheart’ level; in fact, I nearly reached the ‘ruler’ level,” Ning sighed to himself. At the last instant, he had broken free of his shackles and awoken. This was because within his heart, he had a powerful desire sustaining him…and this desire called him awake, condensed his Dao-heart, and made Ning realize that he had to be the one who was the ruler of his own destiny. Even if he was to die…he should only die if he himself chose to die. As for any others who wished to make him die? They could forget about it! Still, although he understood this in principle, Ning also realized that he hadn’t truly reached the ‘ruler’ level. [Houyi’s Archery] broke heartforce out into multiple levels. The first level was the basic level, the second level was the iceheart level, and the third level was the ruler level! Once one reached the ‘ruler’ level…one would be the absolute master of one’s self! All outside forces could forget about trying to shake one’s heart. If one truly did reach the ‘ruler’ level, neither the red dust tribulation nor the thousand lives heart-tribulation would be able to cause Ning’s aura to weaken in the slightest. This was because Ning would be able to completely ignore all sorts of foreign, outside emotions and feelings. If the ‘iceheart’ level could be described as completely separating one’s inner heart from the outside world and maintaining utter cold calmness, then the ‘ruler’ level was a form of supremacy and transcendence. It is better to channel than to dam; experts who had reached the ‘ruler’ level in heartforce would no longer act to intentionally suppress their emotions and desires, not even in the innermost depths of their heart. Let any emotions or feelings come as they may…like Yu the Great taming the floods, no matter what waves or floods come, one would be the master of them all. “I’m not quite there yet.” “The final tribulation, the thousand lives heart-tribulation, caused my ‘iceheart’ to be improved, nearing perfection. I’m now very close to the ‘ruler’ level.” Ning knew this…but although he knew and could sense that at the end, when he was in the grips of despair, he even touched what it meant to be at the ‘ruler’ level…actually breaking through to truly reach that level would take a long time. A breakthrough in the spirit… This was even more difficult than a breakthrough in training in a Dao. For Immortal cultivators, the most important thing of all was the Dao-heart. Next came one’s insights into the Dao. Last of all was one’s cultivation base! If one’s Dao-heart was insufficient…no matter how high your cultivation base was or how many Daos you had comprehended, you would still end up deviating and going berserk. The more powerful you were, the more likely you would die, in fact! The Dao-heart had to be powerful. Only with a powerful Dao-heart and enough insights into the Dao should a person break through to the next cultivation level. For many peerless geniuses and reincarnated Immortals who had awakened their memories, they had strong enough Dao-hearts and enough insights into the Dao that they could simply use liquefied elemental essence and spirit-pills to increase their 2828 cultivation base to the level they wanted it to be at. However, no matter what they did, they wouldn’t raise it to a level which was beyond what their Dao-hearts or cultivation bases could handle. One could rapidly increase one’s cultivation base, but there was no shortcut to strengthening the Daoheart or comprehending the Dao. “Despite all this, I was still unable to reach the ‘ruler’ level. What a pity. If I had reached it…I would have become a truly supreme divine archer of the Three Realms,” Ning sighed. [Houyi’s Archery] divided heartforce up into five major levels. The third level was the ‘ruler’ level; at this level, one could be considered one of the supreme divine archers of the Three Realms. The fourth level was the level which the absolute best divine archers of the current Three Realms had reached. As for the fifth level…this was Houyi’s level. However, this divine archer of the Primordial Era, Houyi, had disappeared for countless years. Some claimed he was dead, while others said that he had secluded himself somewhere. However…what was undisputed was that he had gone missing for far, far too long. It was very rare for an expert to be patient enough to go into hiding for that long without interacting with any other major powers, and so quite a few suspected him of being dead. Ning had nearly perfected the second level of heartforce, ‘iceheart’. His heartforce was so powerful that he could now be considered one of the top divine archers of the Three Realms. Before this, Ning had merely reached the basic level; this had been only enough to let him be ranked amongst the divine archers. Rumble… A voidwave swept across Ning, pushing him thousands of kilometers away and bringing him to his senses. “What a powerful wave. If I hadn’t trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], I would’ve died long ago.” Only now did Ning leave his state of pensiveness and come to his senses. He began to inspect his surroundings. He was within an utterly dark void, and he could vaguely make out voidwaves and voidwinds rage about. “What is this place? Uh…why isn’t there any natural energy here at all?” Ning discovered to his astonishment that there was no natural energy of Heaven and Earth here. Immortal cultivators needed to absorb and refine natural energy in order to replenish their elemental ki, while Immortals needed it to replenish their Immortal energy. “And…where is the Dao?” 2829 “The Dao of the Heavens?” In the past, he could clearly sense the Grand Dao of the Sword, the Grand Dao of the Waterdrop, as well as many other Daos…but Ning discovered to his amazement that now none of them seemed to exist. He couldn’t sense them at all. The Dao of the Heavens was missing…which meant that no matter how he infused his swordplay with the profound mysteries of the Dao, he wouldn’t be able to summon any of the power of the natural world at all. “No natural elemental energy…and not even the Dao of the Heavens exists?” Ning stared into the black, dark void around him in disbelief. “Where…where is this place?!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “A place like this actually exists? Not even the Dao of the Heavens is present…then, this means that all of the mysteries and intricacies of the Dao are useless here.” Ning waved his hand, instantly producing a Darknorth sword. He immediately waved the sword out. Swish! Sword-light flashed…but nothing else happened. It must be understood that at Ning’s current level, any casual sword blow was capable of summoning the power and majesty of Heaven and Earth; for example, the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] could transform the sword into a divine black dragon! But right now…no matter how Ning swung his sword and no matter what sword-arts he used, the only thing that accompanied his sword was a flash of sword-light…and the flash came from light reflecting off the Darknorth sword! “It doesn’t matter how deep my insights into the Dao are?” “What the hell sort of a place is this?” Ning was mystified…but then he had a thought. “Can this be the legendary…Primordial Ruinworld?” Ning had heard of the Primordial Ruinworld when he had been at Mount Innerheart. It was the most dangerous place that he knew of, a place that existed within the Void that was beyond the Three Realms. According to the legends… After Pangu’s World shattered, the Three Realms were born…but the ‘skeleton’ of Pangu’s World remained. These remnants were known as the Primordial Ruinworld! The Primordial Ruinworld was not a complete world; it was a shattered world, making it even more terrifying. Space and time were in a state of chaos here, and dangers abounded. Even True Gods and Daofathers risked death by coming here. “Wait, that’s not right.” Ning shook his head. “The Primordial Ruinworld should be akin to a collection of shattered worlds; why is it that I’m within a region that is surrounded by voidwinds, as though I was within a completely empty area?” “Senior bear, Rahu Bow,” Ning suddenly called out. Whoosh! A black-robed youth appeared next to him; it was the Rahu Bow. “Senior bear?” Ning called out again. “It’s dangerous in the outside world; I cannot emerge.” The giant yellow bear’s voice rang out within Ning’s mind. “Dangerous? Aren’t you the spirit of the underwater estate?” Ning was puzzled. The black-robed youth said, surprised, “Master, don’t you know? Senior bear, through cultivation as the spirit of the underwater estate, has long since transcended being a mere treasure. He is now a true, living being.” “What?!” Ning was stunned. “You damned bow…I haven’t even told him yet, and you went and blurted it out,” the giant yellow bear sent mentally. Ning called out in surprise, “Senior bear, you…you’ve already…” Ning had naturally heard that treasurespirits could cultivate, and that spirits of Protocosmic spirit-treasures could even become Immortals, completely escaping the confines of their treasure-body and existing on their own! “I wasn’t in a rush to tell you, but I didn’t expect this Rahu Bow to blurt it out. Yes…Master treated me with tremendous kindness. In the Three Realms, there have always been Protocosmic spirit-treasures who have trained to become Celestial Immortals; in fact, some have even become Daofathers! After forging me, Master taught me cultivation methods suitable for treasure-spirits. Over the passage of countless years, I’ve naturally been slowly training in these methods. I’ve long ago become a true, living creature. However…my level of cultivation isn’t high enough, and I cannot yet completely escape the Starseizing Manor,” the giant yellow bear said. “Ah?!” Ning was speechless. Suddenly, he thought back to the first time he had met with Patriarch Subhuti. Patriarch Subhuti had said something, back then: “Go back to the Starseizing Manor. You cannot break away from the Starseizing Manor for now.” Back then, Ning had been confused by what the Daofather had meant by these words, and had also been puzzled by why the giant yellow bear was able to shed tears. So this was the reason behind it all! “The outside world is dangerous and can cause tremendous damage to me. I cannot go out,” the giant yellow bear sent mentally. “Ji Ning, you have the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting you, while the Rahu Bow has not cultivated and thus has nothing to worry about.” “Senior bear, Rahu Bow…do you know where we are?” Ning asked. Both of these figures had existed since the Primordial Era. “Where we are…?” The giant bear was puzzled. “I don’t know either…” The Rahu Bow was similarly puzzled. Ning suddenly remembered that when Pangu’s World had been destroyed, one had been sealed away within the Crescent world while the other had hidden within the world of the Grand Xia. Most likely, they knew very little about the outside worlds. “I’ve heard that the skeletal remnants of the shattered Primordial World, also known as the Primordial Ruinworld, still exist. Within that place, space and time are in a state of chaos. In some places, not even the Dao of the Heavens exist, and even True Gods or Daofathers who go there might perish,” Ning said. “The Dao of the Heavens does not exist in this place, so my guess is that this is the Primordial Ruinworld. However…the only thing around me is an endless void. I can even sense a voidwind, but there are no continents whatsoever. So what do you two think? Where are we?” “Who told you that the Primordial Ruinworld consists of the skeletal remnants of Pangu’s World?” The Rahu Bow asked. “Isn’t this public knowledge?” Ning asked. Ning did indeed know that the destruction of Pangu’s World involved many secrets…but aside from the skeletal remnants of Pangu’s World, what else could the Primordial Ruinworld be? “What the public knows is wrong!” The black-robed youth was disdainful. “It is indeed wrong,” the giant yellow bear sent mentally. “In fact, even I’m not too sure about the true truth behind the birth of the Primordial Ruinworld.” “Eh?” Ning was startled. “Senior bear, what do you know?” “Ask your master in the future,” the giant yellow bear said. “The Rahu Bow and I are merely treasures, and Rahu’s master, Qi, was merely an Empyrean God. Although the master I followed was more powerful, Master hid me away long before he went to participate in the final battle, and so I know very little. Your master’s status is even higher than my master’s; he definitely knows far more than me.” Ning nodded lightly. “However…I can tell you with certainty that the Primordial Ruinworld isn’t as simple a matter as you have described it to be. If it truly was merely the remnants of Pangu’s World, how could it be such a terrifying place? You need to understand that Pangu’s World was an extremely normal world, whereas the Primordial Ruinworld you have described is far too terrifying. Not even the Dao of the Heavens exists within it…it truly is bizarre!” The giant yellow bear continued, “As for this place where you are right now…I’ve given it some thought, and I believe that it should be the region where the Void meets the Primordial Ruinworld…the Nihilum Zone!” “Nihilum Zone?” Ning’s eyes instantly lit up. He naturally knew about nihilum zones. A major world was like an island that existed within the vast, infinite Void! At the borders where the Void met the island, stormy voidwaves would emerge and crash against the world. This region would commonly be referred to as a nihilum zone. However, because major worlds were ‘tiny’, the voidwaves around them would be very weak, and so the nihilum zones around the likes of the Grand Xia world were quite safe. For people like Ning, at least, they were like tiny little ripples. “Right. Everyone says that the Primordial Ruinworld is comparable to Pangu’s World in size; it is infinitely vaster than ordinary major worlds,” Ning immediately said. “Then the place where the Primordial Ruinworld meets with the Void will naturally have far more powerful voidstorms.” “Right!” “This should indeed be the Nihilum Zone outside the Primordial Ruinworld,” Ning said. “Only a place as mysterious as the Primordial Ruinworld can possibly result in a place where even the Dao of the Heavens cannot be sensed.” “Ji Ning, no matter what, you absolutely must not enter the Primordial Ruinworld. The Primordial Ruinworld probably still has remnants of dangerous power within it,” the giant yellow bear sent hurriedly. “A huge number of True Gods and Daofathers died in the past within this place; even if it’s no longer as dangerous as it was before, for someone like you to enter might result in instant disintegration.” “Right, right, right. Don’t go in!” The Rahu Bow hurriedly agreed. “Of course not. After all, according to the legends…not even True Gods or Daofathers are willing to recklessly enter the Primordial Ruinworld.” Ning nodded. …… An hour later. Boom… The voidwaves were growing increasingly powerful, sending Ning flipping more than ten thousand kilometers away before he was able to come to a halt. “…That’s way too much power. The harder I press forward, the more powerful the waves become.” Ning felt helpless. “How am I supposed to get out of here?” “You are so stupid.” The black-robed youth stood next to him, completely ignoring the voidwaves. He roared with laughter, “The voidwaves will naturally weaken once they grow close to a major world…but the farther away they are, the more savage they become, until they reach a certain limit! If this Primordial Ruinworld is comparable to Pangu’s World in size, then most likely only a True God or Daofather will be able to force their way out of the Nihilum Zone. Not even Empyrean Gods or True Immortals will be able to accomplish it. Given your power…there’s no way you can possibly force your way out past the waves.” 2834 “Then am I supposed to just go along with the waves?” Ning asked. “If you go with the waves, you’ll end up in the Primordial Ruinworld. That’s death,” the Rahu Bow said. “Then what should I do?” Ning was helpless. He couldn’t force his way against the waves, but if he went along with them into the Primordial Ruinworld, that would be suicide. “What else can you do? Try your best to stay alive,” the Rahu Bow said. “Just slowly train within this Nihilum Zone. The power of the Solar Star and Lunar Star cover this place; you can continue to train in divine power.” “That’s my only choice, I suppose.” Ning couldn’t come up with any ideas, no matter what he did. So…he might as well as just wander. He’d slowly drift about on the voidwaves. As long as he didn’t go too close to the Primordial Ruinworld, it didn’t matter where he went. He would train on his journey. …… As Ning was drifting about within the Nihilum Zone outside the Primordial Ruinworld. Within the Youngflame clan’s tower. Whoosh! A streak of light flew into the tower; it was the horned, golden-robed man. “Ancestor.” “Master.” Everyone called out to him. “I’ve already sent Windraiser to the mini-Netherworld.” The Youngflame Ancestor nodded, then said, “The Ten Yama-Kings of Hell of the mini-Netherworld gave me face, but Windraiser’s sin was simply too deep; he’s currently being tormented and tortured within the endless depths of Hell. After his torture ends and his sin has dissipated, he’ll be reborn into your Youngflame clan. However…that will be more than eight million years from now.” Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Sunfish, and the others all nodded. Tremendous sinners who entered the Netherworld would indeed suffer mightily; there was nothing that could be done about this. “Ji Ning and Windraiser both suffered the descent of karmic sinflames.” The Youngflame Ancestor’s face turned grim and sinister. “Now that more than seven days has passed…he is either dead or alive. Come up with a way to have some of our people go investigate Ji Ning’s school, the Black-White College. If he is dead, his life-tablet within the Black-White College will shatter. Investigate in detail; we absolutely must find out if his life-tablet is intact or not.” “Alright.” Each of them assented. “I’ll make the arrangements,” Celestial Immortal Arcanum said. He carried out the most miscellaneous tasks amongst their group; after all, he was the weakest of the Celestial Immortals. “Fine. Arcanum, you can hanldle it. Remember, you have to investigate this in detail; you have to verify whether or not his life-tablet is intact. You can’t just listen to some wild rumors or speculations.” The Youngflame Ancestor’s eyes narrowed. “Until I know for sure that he is dead…I will find it hard to rest at ease.” All six of them had solemn looks on their faces. If Ning didn’t die, they would feel uneasy. After all…it was incredibly difficult for a Celestial Immortal to be born, but they had lost two of them to Ji Ning! In addition, if Ning truly had managed to survive…that calamitous fiend would most likely cause the Youngflame clan to continue to suffer terrifying losses in the future. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. As the Youngflame clan was planning to send people to Stillwater City and come up with a way to verify Ning’s status…the Xia Emperor, within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, was planning to send out his subordinate, Skyfox. “Skyfox, pay a visit to the Black-White College. I need to know if Ji Ning is alive or not.” “Yes, Master,” Skyfox said, accepting the order immediately. The Xia Emperor cared deeply about whether or not Ning was alive. He had decided long ago that Ning had to be a Daofather’s disciple. Could it be that such a peerless figure had truly perished? Emotionally speaking, the Xia Emperor truly couldn’t believe this…but after hearing the report from Youngflame Freak, he had immediately dispatched his Godslayer Guards to deal with the escaped Fiendgods, then began to use his Mirror of Omniscience to watch what was happening within the Oldjade mountain range. He had personally watched the descent of the karmic sinflames through the Mirror of Omniscience! “He’s trained for less than a century, after all. Although he is a genius the likes of which the entire major world rarely sees…in the face of the descent of karmic sinflames, he has less than a ten percent chance of surviving.” The Xia Emperor had watched Ning battle with the Youngflame clan through his Mirror of Omniscience. He wanted to be friends with Ning, while the Youngflame clan was his subordinate tribe…it truly wasn’t appropriate for him to intervene, and so all he could do was help neither side. Stillwater City. The Black-White College. A white-robed, white-haired man was flying towards Immortal Diancai’s residence. “What? You want to know if Ji Ning is alive or not?” Immortal Diancai glanced at Immortal Skyfox, utter confusion on his face. “Fellow Daoist Skyfox, why would you ask such a thing?” “Eh?” Immortal Diancai turned his head to glance outwards. As the master of this place, he had naturally set up a series of simple formations around his mountain. When the white-robed, white-haired Whitewater Hound arrived, Immortal Diancai noticed right away. Frowning, he murmured to himself, “The Whitewater Hound came as well?” “Whitewater Hound?” Immortal Skyfox smiled. “Since Ji Ning’s spirit-beast is here…it’s best for you to ask the Whitewater Hound abouto Ji Ning, fellow Daoist Diancai. He will definitely know more than I do.” “Brother White.” Immortal Diancai immediately called out to him. Although Uncle White wasn’t a formal disciple of the Black-White College, he was the spirit-beast of a formal disciple and was also a Void-level Earth Immortal. His status within the Black-White College was now far higher than it had been, and he was allowed to go to almost anywhere he pleased. “Immortal Diancai.” Uncle White walked over. Upon seeing the seated Skyfox, he immediately said, “My respects to you, Immortal Skyfox.” “Sit,” Immortal Diancai immediately urged. Uncle White sat down. Immortal Diancai immediately asked him, “Fellow Daoist Skyfox came to my place to ask about whether our Ji Ning is alive or not. What has happened to him?” Uncle White couldn’t help but look towards Skyfox. Skyfox said, “I have come on orders from the Xia Emperor to investigate this matter.” “The Xia Emperor sent out the Godslayer Guards; he must know exactly what happened within the Oldjade mountain range. Is there really a need for me to spell everything out?” Uncle White had a rather ugly look on his face; he felt that given that the Xia Emperor had sent out the Godslayer Guards, he should’ve been able to rescue Ning…but he had not. “The Xia Emperor only sent out the Godslayer Guards after receiving a report from the Youngflame clan that many Fiendgods had escaped into the world,” Skyfox immediately said. “At first, he didn’t know about what had happened with Ji Ning. Only when the Godslayer Guards returned to make their report did he learn that Ji Ning was present as well…and so the Xia Emperor went to query the Youngflame clan, at which point he learned what had happened. However, by then it was far too late!” Uncle White didn’t say anything. “What are you talking about?!” Immortal Diancai asked. “My son Ning has an extremely deep feud with the Youngflame clan,” Uncle White said plainly. “The Youngflame clan wasn’t willing to let things rest either, and so Ning charged straight into the Youngflame clan’s headquarters. They weren’t able to do anything to him, but they played a dirty trick which caused him to kill more than ten billion ordinary mortals. Karmic sinflames instantly descended upon him.” “He accidentally killed ten billion mortals, causing the descent of karmic sinflames?” Immortal Diancai’s face immediately changed. He viewed Ji Ning as he might one of his own children. Upon hearing that Ning had accidentally killed ten billion mortals and caused the descent of karmic sinflames, he was instantly stupefied. “Then where is he now?” Immortal Diancai asked. “My son Ning was instantly assaulted and burned by karmic sinflames, but the Youngflame clan still wouldn’t let it rest. They used some sort of teleportation technique to send him far beyond the world of the Grand Xia,” Uncle White said, his face ashen. “How long ago did the karmic sinflames begin to wreath themselves around him?” Immortal Diancai asked. “Seven days ago,” Uncle White said. “More than seven days have passed, but I can sense that he is still alive. He’s survived the karmic sinflames.” Immortal Diancai let out a sigh of relief. Karmic sinflames! They were utterly terrifying. Even he, Ning’s master, wouldn’t dare claim that he would definitely be able to withstand them. He felt both worried for and proud of his disciple. “Congratulations, felicitations! He overcame the karmic sinflames tribulations.” The nearby Skyfox laughed, but his heart was still filled with utter amazement. And not just him…even the Xia Emperor had felt that Ji Ning was extremely unlikely to have survived the karmic sinflames. “He should have finished with the karmic sinflames tribulations roughly three or four hours ago.” Uncle White continued in a low voice, “He naturally has a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal with him…he would’ve teleported back long ago, unless he was trapped within some sort of unescapable danger zone. Since he hasn’t come back…he’s clearly trapped in a place where even a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal does not work.” Immortal Diancai’s face turned ugly again. Skyfox nodded gently. “That makes sense. The Youngflame clan has an extremely terrifying clanprotecting treasure, a Protocosmic spirit-treasure that is known as the Worldhold Pagoda. The Worldhold Pagoda has the power to tear open space and teleport people through it. Given how much they hate Ji Ning, they definitely must have sent him into the infinite Void that lies beyond the Three Realms. They absolutely wouldn’t have sent him somewhere where he could simply use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape and return.” “Then what should we do?” Immortal Diancai immediately asked. “There’s nothing we can do. Some of the danger zones within the Void are so deadly that not even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods can escape from them.” Skyfox shook his head. “Diancai, although you’ve become a Celestial Immortal…you are unable to help Ji Ning in this matter. In addition, no one knows where he is right now.” “The Youngflame clan…” A look of boundless rage was within Immortal Diancai’s eyes. Immortal Diancai knew very well about the feud between Ji Ning and the Youngflame clan. After all…in the past, Patriarch Arcanum of the Youngflame clan had actually gone to the Black-White College to try and force them to hand him over. “Also…the Youngflame clan is extremely wary of Ji Ning,” Skyfox said. “Two of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan died by his hand this time. Most likely, they are going to do everything they can to investigate as to whether or not he was able to survive the karmic sinflames. Thus…they will definitely come to the Black-White College to investigate.” “He killed two Celestial Immortals?” Immortal Diancai was surprised. “Yes, that is why the Youngflame clan is wary of him,” Skyfox said. “This disciple of yours truly is formidable.” Immortal Diancai quickly calmed down. Nodding, he said, “Understood. Don’t worry…the Youngflame clan can forget about learning any information regarding Ji Ning’s status from our Black-White College. Also…fellow Daoist Skyfox, I hope that your side will not leak out any information regarding his status either.” “Don’t worry. When I return, I will make my report to the Xia Emperor, and him alone. The Xia Emperor wouldn’t act to leak this news to the Youngflame clan,” Skyfox said. …… That very day, Immortal Diancai issued an order: The Starfire Palace, where all the life-tablets of the disciples of the Black-White College were located, was to be completely sealed and locked down! Nobody was permitted to go anywhere near it! Not even the Loose Immortals of the Black-White College dared to go there now. Immortal Diancai was now a Celestial Immortal; naturally, that meant he had the highest rank and authority within the Black-White College. In addition, the sealing of a palace that contained life-tablets was a minor matter. No one opposed it. “Sealed?” “Completely sealed? Why has the Black-White College suddenly and completely sealed away the Starfire Palace? Can it be that Ji Ning truly has perished?” Celestial Immortals Arcanum, Deadwood, and the others were all puzzled upon hearing this news. …… Time flowed onwards. Immortal Diancai personally stood guard over the Starfire Palace. “Disciple, it has been more than three months…” Immortal Diancai stared at the table in front of him, covered with life-tablets. One of the life-tablets represented Ji Ning. This life-tablet remained unbroken; clearly, Ji Ning remained alive despite being trapped in a distant danger zone. At first, Immortal Diancai, Uncle White, Mu Northson, and the others all waited hopefully for his return. However, as more and more time passed, they gradually understood that it truly was hard to say when he would return, or if he would return at all. All they could do…was quietly hope. Within the Nihilum Zone. Ning was continuing to drift about within the infinite, dark Void. He didn’t dare to allow himself to be swept towards the Primordial Ruinworld by the currents of voidwaves. His wandering days were filled with boredom. This was because he could not sense the Grand Dao of the Sword, the Grand Dao of the Waterdrop, or any other Daos. There was no way for him to cultivate in the Dao at all; all he could do was occasionally train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. However, there was a limit to how much divine power he could absorb each day and a limit to how much time he could spend in training in it. He couldn’t perpetually train…and so for more than 90% of the time each day, Ning did just one thing: Train in archery! Swoosh! The Rahu Bow was pulled tight. Nint stared at the distant, impending voidwave, his heartforce completely merged into the bow and the arrow. Twang! The arrow shot out through the void. Whoosh! The arrow moved with lightning speed as it traversed more than a million kilometers, striking hard against the distant voidwave. In the face of the power of the voidwave, however, the arrow was sent flying straight backwards towards Ning’s direction. When shooting an arrow against the flow of the voidwaves, the arrows would return. But if he shot towards any other direction… Although these arrows were Immortal-ranked magic treasures which could be controlled through elemental ki, they flew too fast and too far; there was no way Ning would be able to recover them. And so, the only option for him was to shoot straight towards an impending voidwave. Day after day. Every single day, he trained in archery. Slowly, Ning began to get a better handle on the intricacies behind how [Houyi’s Archery] utilized divine power, especially now that he had all but reached the peak of the ‘iceheart’ level. With such powerful heartforce filling each arrow, the power of each arrow was now greater than his close combat abilities! Heartforce… It was indeed a type of extremely powerful force. It was the reason why the divine archers of the Three Realms were so terrifying. …… Ning had spent roughly half a year drifting about within the Nirvana Zone. He had no idea exactly how far he had flown. “Eh? What’s that?” Ning could vaguely make out something in the distance. Because the Nirvana Zone was filled with voidwaves and voidstorms, he normally couldn’t see anything else at all. “[Torch Dragon’s Eye].” Ning’s two eyes instantly began to blaze with torch-fire. He stared far into the distance. Instantly, his sight range began to increase rapidly, allowing him to see a few dim strands of light that had appeared far away within the darkness. Before using this divine ability, Ning was only able to see to a few thousand kilometers, but after using it…all the light of the surrounding area began to gather within his corneas. “That is…a continent!!!!” Ning’s face changed slightly. That continent was actually tens of millions of kilometers away from Ning. However, because of how utterly vast it was, Ning was still able to just barely make it out with eyes. For example, although the Moon was located very far away from Earth, ordinary mortals on Earth could still see it from afar. Similarly, due to how enormous that continent was, Ning was still able to make it out within the darkness of the void. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Can that be part of the Primordial Ruinworld?” Ji Ning instantly thought of this possibility. After all, the Primordial Ruinworld wasn’t a perfect sphere or cube; it had peaks and valleys. It would make sense if he was able to see part of it bulging out. “No matter what, I shouldn’t go near it.” “The Primordial Ruinworld is incomparably dangerous. Not even True Gods or Daofathers dare to rashly charge into it. It’s best if I stay far away.” Ning knew his own limits; although he had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him, he still didn’t dare to act rashly. Whoosh! Ning immediately began to move away from that land, pulling away from it. Although he was quite curious about the Primordial Ruinworld, Ning knew very well…that curiosity killed the cat! …… Millions of kilometers away from Ning, within the distant darkness of the Void. A mysterious base was located here, one which was completely invisible to the naked eye. Within the base. There were numerous tall, muscular, black-scaled warriors with curved, blood-red horns who were seated on thrones. A total of eighteen thrones were hovering in the air. They each sat there silently, their golden eyes focused upon an image within an enormous mirror that hung within the air. The image displayed within the mirror was of Ji Ning, who was flying forward on his own. Ning had just used the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] and had begun to fly farther away, seeking to pull away from the continent. “The alien has begun to flee.” “Can it be that the alien has discovered us investigating him?” “Shouldn’t have; we’ve never seen this alien before. He doesn’t come from our neighboring ‘Quchang’ world, nor does he come from the Heptagod world.” The eighteen mighty warriors chatted calmly with each other in the Fiendgod tongue as they sat there atop their thrones. “This part of the Void is the dominion of our world, the Snaphorn world. Even if our neighbors from the Quchang world or the Heptagod world were to send scouts over…they wouldn’t send them flying towards 2843 us in such an overt fashion. In addition…he looks very peculiar. His skin actually looks quite soft and tender, and his body is quite tiny.” “Can it be a scout that has been been sent from an unknown world?” They were all chatting amongst themselves. Suddenly, the voice of the highest ranked warrior, the black-caped warrior who was seated at the very end of the eighteen thrones, rang out. “Without question, this newly arrived invader is someone we have never encountered before. He doesn’t belong to any of the neighboring worlds. As to where he comes from…if we capture him, we will know.” “Lord Protector, I trust you yourself also saw that this alien is capable of surviving within the voidwinds. In addition, he is enduring the voidwinds through his own physical power, without relying on any outside support. Although his skin seems soft and although he is small…none of us have bodies that can compare to his,” a warrior said. “But we have our wisdom.” The highest ranked black-caped warrior said, “Balo, go and lead a pack of your children to test this alien’s abilities. If you can capture him alive, do so; if you cannot, get a full sense of his strengths and weaknesses. This alien is wandering within the part of the Void under our control; the other bases are undoubtedly watching us. Don’t let them laugh at us.” “Right.” The tall warrior named Balo rose to his feet, then immediately walked out of the palace. Every single one of the massive warriors were more than three thousand meters in size. They were like moving mountains, and in their eyes, Ning was like a tiny little dot. However…they knew quite well that their neighbors in the Quchang world and the Heptagod world were not easy to deal with, and that any alien capable of having traversing such a great distance through the Void was most likely not easy to deal with either. …… Within the silent, dark void. Ning was continuously flying forward, pulling farther and farther away from that land. He had already moved more than a million kilometers away from it, but he had no idea at all…that just six thousand kilometers away from him, an enormous, invisible spaceship was drawing close to him, a vessel that couldn’t even be seen with divine sense. This enormous ship was more than a hundred kilometers long. Within it, the blood-red horned, blackscaled warrior ‘Balo’ was seated atop his throne. Below him was a group of similar black-scaled warriors, some of which even had enormous scaly wings. However, these warriors all had blood-red eyes, not golden ones. They all just stood there silently. “My children,” Balo said. “Master.” The ten mighty warriors standing below him all acknowledged his call in unison. They looked very similar to Balo, but they had a pair of wings which he did not, while lacking his curved horn. “Go and capture this alien alive. If you cannot…then retreat and return. Remember…don’t kill him!” Balo rubbed his jaw. “He most likely carries many secrets with him. We have to take him alive. Only then can we discover his secrets.” “Yes.” The ten blood-eyed warriors all assented respectfully. “Also…the next voidstorm is still twelve sectors away from us. You have to return before the voidstorm arrives,” Balo instructed. These minions of his wouldn’t dare to try and withstand the voidstorms of this place; they were tens of millions of kilometers away from their land, and the voidstorms here were still quite powerful. The doors of the ship opened. The ten blood-eyed warriors immediately flew out from the cabin, almost all of them at least three thousand meters tall. Even the shortest was twenty-four hundred meters tall. …… “Eh?” Ning, who had been flying through the void, suddenly turned his head. The torch-light blazed within his eyes. When the door to the spaceship opened, it was revealed. One after the other, the tall, muscular, black-armored warriors with giant wings and blood-red eyes came flying out of the ship at an utterly astonishing speed. “There are living creatures here?” Ning was startled. In the past half year, he had never encountered any other living creatures within the Nihilum Zone. And now, a large ship had suddenly appeared, as well as ten seemingly mighty figures that looked like Fiendgods. “There shouldn’t be any living creatures within the Nihilum Zone. Then…” Ning’s heart clenched. “These living creatures must’ve entered the Void through the Primordial Ruinworld.” The Primordial Ruinworld was extremely large; it was possible that there were some creatures which lived close to its margins. Because they lived at the borders, they were able to enter the infinite Void…but the terrifying voidwaves were simply too powerful. Based on what the Rahu Bow and the giant yellow bear had deduced, most likely only True Gods or Daofathers would be able to fly about within the Nihilum Zone. “Alien!” 2845 The ten enormous figures flew out, and as they did they sent out their divine sense as well. “The Fiendgod tongue?” Ning immediately realized noticed this. Although the Fiendgod tongue was complex and hard to learn, Ning had mastered it long ago. “Can it be that you do not understand us?” The ten massive figures stared at Ning. The large ship was drawing closer as well; it was now only a thousand kilometers away from Ning. Ning didn’t respond. He just looked back at them. “Since he doesn’t understand…then let’s just go ahead and capture him first.” Instantly, one of the massive, blood-eyed warriors manifested a giant whip within his hands. He flew straight towards Ning. “Stay your hands!” Only now did Ning send out his own divine sense, speaking in the Fiendgod tongue. The massive, blood-eyed warrior instantly came to a halt, a hint of amusement in his blood-red eyes. “So you can understand after all, alien.” “I merely do not wish to fight you,” Ning said. “Then why have you trespassed into the space that belongs to our Snaphorn world?” The blood-eyed warrior instantly asked. The other nine blood-eyed warriors simply watched silently. Their assignment was to capture this alien…it was best to first test him and see what his strengths were, and so they were quite willing to spend some time chatting with this alien. The more they spoke, the more they would learn about him. “I trespassed by accident,” Ning said. “I do not wish to be enemies with you.” “Trespassed by accident? If that’s the case, come with us and go see our master,” the blood-eyed warrior said. “There’s no way I will leave with you.” Ning shook his head. Was this a joke? There was no way Ning would dare to casually barge into the Primordial Ruinworld. That was a place filled with dangers that could wipe out True Gods or Daofathers. “If that’s the case…we’ll have to take you back by force.” The ten blood-eyed warriors simultaneously made their move. Five of them were more than three thousand meters tall, while the other five were around twenty-four hundred meters tall. The shorter, weaker-looking warriors simultaneously opened their mouths, emitting a soundless roar. Rumble… 2846 An invisible ripple spread out, instantly washing over Ning’s entire body. Ning didn’t even have a clue as to how he was supposed to resist this sort of attack. “Is this some sort of hypnotic ability?” When the ripple reached him, Ning instantly understood. However, he was a Fiendgod as well; his divine soul and the flesh of his divine body had been completely fused together into an incomparably stable whole. In addition, Ning’s Dao-heart had withstood even the karmic sinflames; how could this sort of hypnotic ability possibly control him? “We’re unable to control him. His spirit is extremely powerful.” “Take him by force.” The five shorter warriors all sent out mental messages. “Fine.” The five taller warriors all produced long whips in their hands, each whip more than nine thousand meters long. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Their whips cracked out, lashing through the void towards Ning. A Darknorth sword appeared in Ning’s hand. He didn’t even use the [Starseizing Hand] as he used the sword to block the attacking whips. Bang bang bang bang bang! A series of concussive sounds; Ning simultaneously blocked all five whips. “These warriors look like Fiendgods. In terms of strength…they are a bit weaker than me when I’m not using any divine abilities.” Ning nodded to himself. “They should be considered just barely equivalent to Void-level Fiendgods.” Swoosh! Ning made his move. The divine power within his body began to activate in accordance with the method contained within the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens]. Although he was unable to borrow any of the power of Heaven and Earth to aid him, his physical speed was already quite fast. In addition, the Darknorth sword in Ning’s hand instantly expanded to become more than nine hundred meters long. Given how large his foes were, if his sword wasn’t long enough, it would be quite hard for him to injure his foes. Ning instantly flashed past the bodies of the five warriors. Five streaks of sword-light flashed! The heads of all five of the three thousand meter tall warriors went flying. “What tough bodies. They seem to be even tougher than Void-level Fiendgods who haven’t trained in any divine abilities.” Ning could sense that his Darknorth swords met with quite a bit of resistance as it chopped through their heads. Although he didn’t have the power of the natural world to aid him, in terms of his sword techniques, he was at a vastly higher level than his foes. After all, the Dao of the Sword…was all about how to actually use and apply the sword. “Eh?” Ning realized, to his amazement, that green blood was pouring out from the necks of the five giant bloodeyed warriors. Their mouths were twitching…and then they simply floated away through the void, their bodies devoid of any auras. “Dead?” Ning was completely puzzled. “Seems like they aren’t Fiendgods.” Generally speaking, humans and monsters would die when their heads were severed, but killing Fiendgods required much more effort. …… The horned warrior within the distant spaceship chuckled when he saw this. “Blaze, my children.” …… Instantly, the five shorter blood-eyed warriors in front of Ning all bellowed, “Damn you, alien!” Their bodies began to glow with blurry green light. Their auras began to explosively increase in power, and within their hands appeared slender silver chains. Twirling the chains, they moved to encircle Ning. “Their auras seem to have grown more powerful? Can it be that they are going all out?” Ning mused to himself. Clang! The chains collided with Ning’s sword. From this first collision…Ning was knocked flying backwards. “Without using any divine abilities…I’m actually physically weaker than them.” Ning immediately used the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] to fly past the five blood-eyed warriors, moving away from them. At the same time, five enormous streaks of sword-light flashed past their necks. In terms of swordarts…Ning was simply at too high a level. With his utterly astonishing speed, they truly were completely unable to stop him. These five blood-eyed warriors also collapsed, their bodies beginning to float about within the Void, devoid of all life. …… The horned warrior, Balo, nodded lightly to himself from his position within the spaceship. “His strength is Earth-level, but his speed is astonishing; it can be considered Heaven-level. He uses the sword, and his sword-arts are at an extremely high level; they, too, should be considered Heaven-level. Of course…I can’t exclude the possibility that he has some ability to increase his power dramatically. He’s no cannon fodder; he’s definitely an elite. I wonder which world actually sent him out to explore all by his lonesome? Still…fortunately, he’s not TOO powerful. If he was truly powerful, he would’ve been able to annihilate all ten of them in a single blow. Mmm…time to go back to the base. I lost ten of my minions this time; I need to raise a new crop!” Rumble… The spaceship immediately turned invisible, once more flying back to the base at high speed. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the starbase. Seventeen horned, scaled warriors stared at the mirror and the images within it. They watched as Ji Ning slaughtered his ten opponents. “Lord Protector.” Balo suddenly appeared within the midair mirror. He looked through it, then said, “Lord Protector, I’ve finished my tests. This alien’s speed and sword-arts are all Heaven-level, while his power is Earth-level. In addition, he has yet to display any particularly astonishing abilities to increase his power.” “Good.” The horned, black-caped warrior within the starbase said, “Balo, your mission is over.” “Everyone.” The horned, black-caped warrior swept the room with his gaze. “I plan to send a report regarding this alien to the Palace of Elders. Any objections?” “No objections.” “None.” They all spoke out. “Good.” The horned, black-caped warrior nodded lightly. …… On a continent of the Primordial Ruinworld. Within the world known as the Snaphorn world. Within an enormous structure that was more than thirty thousand meters high. A series of thrones hovered in the air within it in the shape of an arc. A total of nine thrones were present here. One after another, horned, gold-caped, gold-eyed warriors with scales began to appear. Their auras were incomparably powerful. After all nine appeared, an enormous mirror appeared in the air above them, and images began to display within the mirror. “Venerable Elders, I am Protector Qiwa of Area 1292 of the Third Void Sector.” The horned, black-caped warrior spoke with great respect through the mirror. “We have discovered an alien who has entered the Third Void Sector of our Snaphorn world. Just now, we’ve made first contact with him.” Whoosh. Instantly, the images of Balo sending his ten subordinates to fight against Ji Ning appeared within the mirror as well. In fact, even the conversation between Ning and the blood-eyed warriors was replayed in its entirety. “We judge him to have power close to the Heaven-level. He may also have some other hidden abilities,” the horned, black-caped warrior said with great respect. “Oh, an alien?” “It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen an alien from beyond the Quchang world or the Heptagod world.” “Interesting. He actually has two arms and two legs? And his body is so tiny…” “Tan skin…black eyes…” The nine Elders watched with amusement. They had incomparably exalted statuses; most matters wouldn’t be considered important enough to be directly reported to them. However…an alien invader was one of the most important matters possible. The appearance of even a single invader required a report to be made to the Palace of Elders. After all, once a single alien appeared…it meant that a planetary war might soon erupt. “An alien which we have never seen before. He flies at a fairly ordinary speed…but he’s still able to advance against the voidwaves. This means his body must be quite powerful, at least. Or perhaps he might have a special method to block the voidstorms?” An Elder smiled. “I recommend that we sent out a commando squad from the Third Void Sector to capture the alien. After that, we will dissect and analyze him. An alien that we’ve never met before, and which is able to block the voidwaves despite being so small…he’s worthy of analysis.” “I recommend…that we completely mobilize the Third Void Sector. We absolutely must ensure that he cannot escape.” “Complete mobilization? That will use up too much of our strength. This alien isn’t able to fly that fast; the warriors that we send out can easily catch up to him. There’s no need whatsoever for us to completely mobilize the Third Void Sector.” “But this is a completely unknown alien; we can’t let him escape.” “Can it be that you think the commando squads of the Third Void Sector are unable to deal with him?” The Elders debated back and forth. But right at this moment… 2851 Rumble… A terrifying presence descended. The nine mighty Elders all raised their heads to look, only to see an enormous figure appear in the skies. This figure consisted of an enormous golden eye…and this illusory golden eye alone was already more than thirty thousand meters wide. “Queen Mother.” The nine Elders all rose to their feet, saluting respectfully. The enormous golden eye stared intently at the image of Ning, a look of excitement and anger appearing within it. A rumbling voice boomed forth… “Right…there’s no mistaking it! That’s a human! A HUMAN!!!” “Human?” The nine Elders were completely puzzled. “Queen Mother, what’s a human?” “He’s a human?” They were all completely baffled. “The powerful humans…the terrifying humans…” The golden eye stared intently at Ning as the voice continued to echo forth within the entire Palace of Elders. “They are the masters of the Three Realms. They are the culprits who pursued us and killed us…the common enemy of our Snaphorn world, the Heptagod world, the Quchang world, and countless other worlds.” “The masters of the ‘Three Realms’?” “Where are these ‘Three Realms’?” “The common enemy of countless worlds?” The Elders grew more and more confused. The golden eye stared carefully at Ning, continuing to speak. “Long, long, long ago, there was a great war…a war which truly tore apart even chaos itself, a war which shattered the Void. The final end to that great war resulted in the formation of this shattered, chaotic land. As for the beautiful, stable, allencompassing Three Realms…they were taken over by another force, a powerful force! As for us, the defeated…our only choice was to come here and live with this unstable, shattered, Infinite Land.” “What?” “Our Infinite Land…is a land of the defeated?” 2852 “How, how can this be?” “Our Snaphorn world is already incomparably powerful, but the Infinite Land has even more powerful presences within it. It even has many ‘Sacred Ancients’ within it; how could it be a land of the defeated?” The nine Elders couldn’t believe it. They didn’t want to believe it. They had always felt themselves to be extremely powerful, while the combined powers of the Infinite Land were even more powerful…but they were actually still inferior to this so-called ‘Three Realms’? “Sacred Ancients are known as ‘Daofathers’ or ‘True Gods’ in the Three Realms!” The golden eye continued to speak. “The Three Realms have many True Gods and Daofathers…in fact, they even have powers that are above True Gods and Daofathers…especially that legendary figure known as Nuwa. She was truly too terrifying…even Sacred Ancients were instantly slain before her.” “What?!” The nine Elders were completely stunned. Sacred Ancients? Instantly slain? Nuwa? Who was this Nuwa? The nine Elders firmly engraved the name ‘Nuwa’ into their memories. “There are some extremely powerful Daofathers in the Three Realms who are capable of annihilating our Snaphorn world with but the wave of a hand. When they part their lips, flames will emerge that can engulf the space of the void, causing even space itself to be set alight. When they brandish their swords….they can cause multiple Sacred Ancients to flee without recourse.” A faraway look was in pupil of the golden eye as it continued to speak slowly. The nine Elders all knew very well that their Queen Mother was the founder and builder of their world, a figure who had existed ever since the days of the most ancient of wars. What the Queen Mother spoke of, she most likely had personally witnessed. Too terrifying… This ‘Three Realms’ was far too terrifying! “In addition, the Three Realms have many other races within them. The most powerful of those races, however, are the humans. The humans are the masters of the Three Realms,” the golden eye said. “Supposedly, it was Nuwa who created humans, and she doted dearly upon them. In addition…humans have a terrifying rate of growth as well as procreation. They gave birth to many powerful individuals, including many of their ‘Daofathers’. Humans are the most powerful, have the most potential, and are publicly acknowledged as the masters of the Three Realms.” 2853 “And this little invader…he is human!” The golden eye stared death towards Ning. “Human?” The nine Elders stared at Ning as well. Previously, they had looked down upon him as they might look down upon a bug. They felt themselves to be wise and powerful; they hadn’t held this puny little figure in any regard. But now, from what they had just learned…they realized that this puny little fellow, less than a tenth of a percent of their size…was actually one of terrifying masters of the Three Realms, a common enemy to the entire Infinite Land…a human! “So this is a ‘human’?” The nine Elders couldn’t help but feel a sense of both dread and respect, because the race behind this alien invader was simply too terrifying. “However…there is no need to worry about a little fellow like him,” the Queen Mother’s voice rang out. “This is the Infinite Land, not the Three Realms. Those so-called Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, and the others…they are useless here. Only the most supreme of Daos, the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos, is present here. The Dao of Primordial Chaos is the most exalted of Daos. Both the Infinite Land and the Three Realms were born from the primordial chaos…and anything born from the primordial chaos is subject to the Dao of Primordial Chaos. However…anyone capable of understanding the Dao of Primordial Chaos, even just a tiny part of it, would be considered one of the most supreme figures of the Three Realms. This little fellow shouldn’t be that strong.” “Right.” The nine Elders all nodded. The Dao of Primordial Chaos… They had heard of it before. It was the most exalted of Daos, the most powerful of Daos! If one could summon the limitless power of the Dao of Primordial Chaos, even the killing of Daofathers would be accomplished with ease. “Hear and obey,” the Queen Mother’s voice rang out, having grown deeper. “Fully activate the entire Third Void Sector. This human absolutely must not escape.” “Send out all of the commando squads of the Third Void Sector to capture this human.” “Send out the entire First Army of our border armies. This human must be captured!” “Yes.” “Yes.” 2854 “Yes.” The nine Elders all assented with respect. …… “The Queen Mother commands the alien to be captured. We shall fully mobilize.” A horned, violet-caped warrior let out a bellow. “For the Queen Mother!” The dense cluster of a thousand-plus black-caped warriors all called out in unison. …… “The Queen Mother commands that our First Army fully mobilize at once to capture this alien.” A horned warrior with an extremely powerful aura let out a roar. This horned warrior wore a golden cape which was covered with black tattoos at the base. “For the Queen Mother!” The group of horned, violet-caped warriors below him all called out with respect and ardor. They immediately began to summon their squads and units. Soon, the most powerful army of the border armies, the First Army, flew out from the Infinite Land. They boarded their enormous spaceships and flew into the Void, towards the direction of Ji Ning. …… Within the darkness of the void. Three powerful minds were communicating with each other, one of which was the Queen Mother who had just given the order. “Elder sister, why have you awoken us?” “It isn’t time for us to wake up yet.” The two other minds each released their own queries. However, the mind of the Queen Mother said: “In the space around our Snaphorn world, a human has appeared.” “A human?” “What? A human?” 2855 The two other terrifying minds instantly trembled. They would never be able to forget that terrifying war. The tremendous power of the human race had been completely engraved into their minds. Even though countless eras had passed since then…they could never forget. That had been a true nightmare. That terrifying entity had countless experts, and the humans were the most powerful of them. Those utterly enormous, so-called ‘formations’…those blazing infernos that had been birthed from the Solar Star…those staves, those trees, those swords, those weapons…they had exterminated countless individuals that the three of them had venerated. They all felt tremendously grateful for having been able to survive that great war. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “This human is still very weak, and I’ve already sent out the entire First Army of the border armies after him. Within the First Army, there are at least a few ‘Firstborn’. I’ll be able to see everything they experience and will be able to more closely inspect this human who has arrived,” the Queen Mother’s mind sent. “Your actions are correct, elder sister.” “Keep a close eye on this human.” The Snaphorn world, in truth, was ruled over by these three Queen Mothers. They were the founders of this world; naturally, they vastly outstripped Ji Ning in power. However, they were wary of the humans which Ning represented, and so they didn’t dare to be the slightest bit arrogant. These three Queen Mothers had, long ago, given birth to a group of children. Their children had continued to give birth to children of their own… And so, one generation after another, this continued… The original source for all of the citizens of the Snaphorn world was this trio of Queen Mothers! Those who had been born from the Queen Mothers were known as the ‘Firstborn’, and they had the greatest potential. The children of the Firstborn were the Secondborn, and their potential was second only to that of the Firstborn. The children of the Secondborn were the Thirdborn, and so on and so forth. For example, of the nine Elders in the Palace of Elders, eight were Firstborn while one was Thirdborn! The Queen Mothers who had given birth to the Firstborn were able to know everything they experienced. …… Within a beautiful world of flowers. Perhaps fate was indeed meddling in subtle ways, for just as Ji Ning encountered this new danger, the day of Yu Wei’s Celestial Tribulation had begun. “Disciple, you were very powerful in your past life, and in this life you accepted me as your master…which means that this Celestial Tribulation will be incomparably shocking in power. I’m not able to help you too much in dealing with this tribulation. All I can do is help guard you from outsiders. As for the tribulation itself…it’ll be up to you.” Lu Dongbin, his Immortal sword on his back, looked towards the black-robed Yu Wei. “Your disciple understands,” Yu Wei said respectfully. “Go, then.” Lu Dongbin nodded lightly. Yu Wei immediately flew to the peak of a distant island mountain. As for Lu Dongbin, he continued to watch from his current location atop the peak of a nearby mountain. Lu Dongbin was in complete control of this minor world; it was his personal, secret abode. He had even set down layers of formations, ensuring that even True Gods or Daofathers who wished to barge in would have to spend a significant amount of effort. The wind tribulation, the fire tribulation, the thunder tribulation, the demonheart tribulation…the four great tribulations of the Celestial Tribulation. Yu Wei was indeed extremely powerful. She had been very powerful in her past life, and with Patriarch Lu’s guidance in this life, she had reached an extremely high level of insight into the Dao. She was thus able to smoothly sail through the wind tribulation and the fire tribulation. “Not good.” The distant Lu Dongbin frowned slightly as he looked towards her. “Although the wind tribulation and the fire tribulation have both ended…both were clearly more formidable than the ones which most of the disciples under my command experienced. In fact…they were close in power to the wind tribulation and the fire tribulation which I myself experienced so long ago.” Lu Dongbin had been Emperor Eastflower in a past life; after he had reincarnated and become Patriarch Lu, his tribulation had definitely not been a simple one! Although he was a Ki Refiner, in the face of the thunder tribulation of his Celestial Tribulation…he inconceivably encountered nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation! However, Lu Dongbin had the benefit of a solid foundation provided by his past life. How could the soul of Emperor Eastflower be so easily dealt with? In addition, his master was a superb one, one of the truly supreme figures of the entire Three Realms. Thus…despite being a Ki Refiner, he had managed to force his way through the nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation. By now, he had already reached the absolute peak of power possible for a Pure Yang True Immortal. He was publicly acclaimed within the Three Realms as the True Immortal with the highest chance of becoming a Daofather, and in fact he had already stepped halfway into the realm of becoming a Daofather. “Judging from that wind tribulation and that fire tribulation…my disciple’s thunder tribulation probably won’t stop at six nine-sets.” Lu Dongbin frowned. “Her experiences in her past life were ordinary, and I’m the only master she’s taken on in this life. Normally speaking, most Ki Refiner disciples of Daofathers will only experience six nine-sets. Why in the world is her Celestial Tribulation this deadly?” 2858 Lu Dongbin had always felt that this disciple of his had been hiding something. However, although he had even sought out Judge Cui and read her past life’s history within the Book of Life and Death, he had still been unable to uncover anything. Still…his subconscious continued to tell him that something wasn’t quite right. The power of a Celestial Tribulation was determined by the cosmos themselves; naturally, there had to be a reason behind all of this! “In an hour, the thunder tribulation shall arrive.” Lu Dongbin no longer dwelled on the question, just watching quietly. …… The Nihilum Zone, beyond the Primordial Ruinworld. Ning was currently flying forward at high speed, continuing to pull away from that distant land. That earlier, sudden attack had caused him to feel that something was wrong…especially when those foes had claimed to be from the Snaphorn world and that this space region belonged to their Snaphorn world. Ning instantly understood that these creatures must have come from the Primordial Ruinworld…and that he had been discovered. Flee! Flee at top speed! The Primordial Ruinworld was a place which not even True Gods or Daofathers would dare trespass. Ning naturally wasn’t willing to interact with the Primordial Ruinworld in any way. Rumble… Suddenly, layers of light began to appear within the formerly dark emptiness of the Void. It was a golden light. The Third Void Sector of the Nihilum Zone had nearly ten thousand bases within it which were connected to each other like nodes! Every single node was a critical point within an utterly enormous formation…and in an instant, an enormous net that spanned tens of millions of kilometers was instantly formed. “But, but…” Ning was stunned by the sight before him. His eyes were already blazing with torch-light. He had immediately used the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] and hurriedly scanned his surroundings, but no matter where he looked, he saw the golden light seemingly stretch off to infinity. If he looked carefully enough, he could see countless patterns and ripples within the golden web, while the nodes were particularly eye-catching and brilliant. “A grand sealing formation that covers many tens of millions of kilometers?” Ning mumbled to himself, “This is crazy. The entire Stillwater Commandery is only a few million kilometers in size.” A region of many tens of millions of kilometers in size was comparable to a hundred ordinary commanderies of the Grand Xia world. An utterly enormous formation like this truly was astonishing. “It seems the power of this Snaphorn world is far beyond what the likes of myself can handle. What should I do? What should I do?” Ning instantly began to consider his next options. Although he was shocked by this enormous formation, Ning wasn’t an inexperienced bumpkin; for example, in the Crescent world, Patriarch Subhuti had secretly set up many enormous formations, some of which were able to cover an entire continent, which was equivalent to a third of the world of the Grand Xia. Those formations were far larger than the grand sealing formation before him. And the Celestial Court! The formations of the Celestial Court covered the entirety of the region they controlled. There were many formations within the Three Realms that were far, far larger than this grand sealing formation! However…generally speaking, only Daofathers were capable of setting up those titanic formations! Most likely, not even Pure Yang True Immortals would be able to set them up, unless they were Pure Yang True Immortals who were extremely skilled in the art of formations, or supreme True Immortals like Lu Dongbin. In addition, this enormous space formation was merely one of the defensive formations of this Snaphorn world; it probably didn’t represent the complete, full power of the Snaphorn world. Still…its appearance was enough to cause Ning unease. An individual capable of establishing this sort of enormous formation definitely wasn’t someone which the likes of Ning, who hadn’t even undergone the Celestial Tribulation yet, could overcome. “And…aren’t the Heavenly Daos gone from this place? How, then, can formations be used?” Ning guessed, puzzled, “It seems I truly do know far, far too little about the Primordial Ruinworld.” Indeed, Ning truly knew too little. Of the ten Heavenly Daos, Primordial Chaos was the most supreme. Life and Destruction were matched, while Yin and Yang were also matched; these four were preceded only by Primordial Chaos. As for the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, they served as the foundation for the entirety of the Three Realms…but they were on the third tier. Ning had an extremely deep level of insight into the Grand Dao of the Waterdrop, which was why he could vaguely sense the existence of the Heavenly Dao of Water, but here within the Nihilum Zone, he was completely unable to sense it…and so he had believed that the Heavenly Daos did not exist here! In reality, however, only nine of the Heavenly Daos were missing from the Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld. The Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos continued to exist; any place which was born from the primordial chaos was a place where the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos would exist. “No matter what…I need to give it a try.” Swoosh! Although Ning knew that it was unlikely that he would be able to break through this terrifying formation, he couldn’t just give up and wait for death. He didn’t want to be captured by the Snaphorn world. The part of the net of light closest to Ning was merely a few million kilometers away. After using the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], Ning’s movement speed was extremely fast; it was a flying technique, after all, and once one used it to fly, one could rely on momentum and thusly limit the amount of divine power that was consumed. It wasn’t like the [Starseizing Hand] or other divine abilities which consumed an enormous amount of divine power. “Here I am.” Ning stared at the distant net of light, now only a few tens of thousands of kilometers away. The Rahu Bow appeared within his hands. He immediately nocked it, pulled it to a nearly full circle, circulated his divine power, then utilized [Houyi’s Archery]. “Go!” Light flashed around him, quickly passing through him to the bow, then condensing within the arrow. At the same time…Ning filled all of his heartforce, now nearly at the peak of the ‘iceheart’ level, into the arrow. Twang! A brilliant, fiery red streak of light pierced through the heavens. As the arrow flew forward, the light around it grew more and more dazzling, and its power grew greater and greater. In the end, it seemed to have transformed into an enormous, fiery red comet. Generally speaking, thanks to [Houyi’s Archery], the farther the arrow flew, the more powerful it would become, until it reached peak power. Within the Three Realms, the usage of this technique would be even more incredible, because as the arrow flew it would constantly draw in the power of the natural world! Right now, since it was unable to do so, its power wasn’t increasing at too ridiculous a rate. Still…the power of this arrow had still surpassed that of Ning’s close combat ability. BOOM! The fiery red comet struck against the net of light…and the net of light just rippled slightly, then turned calm once more. As for Ning’s arrow, it had been knocked flying away. “As I thought, I failed.” Ning wasn’t surprised at all. If he truly was able to pierce this terrifying sealing formation that was tens of millions of kilometers in size through using just a single arrow…only then would he be surprised! However…he truly didn’t wish to accept this! “What should I do?” “All space within this region has been completely locked. There’s no way for me to flee.” Ning felt frantic inside. “The Youngflame clan really was quite vicious in sending me here.” The Primordial Ruinworld’s Nihilum Zone was indeed an awe-inspiringly famous danger zone. Not even many Empyrean Gods or True Immortals would be able to escape from it, much less the likes of Ji Ning. As for the even more deadly Primordial Ruinworld…naturally, the Youngflame clan would’ve liked to send him to that place, but alas, even the Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the Worldhold Pagoda, was only able to tear open the fabric of space to send Ning into the Nihilum Zone. It was unable to send him to the Primordial Ruinworld. “Eh?” Ning suddenly turned his head to look. From far away, within the distant void of space, an enormous ship had suddenly appeared. This titanic ship was ten thousand kilometers long; it was like one of the continents of Earth! Earlier, it had been completely invisible, but now it had materialized out of nowhere. The entrance to the ship opened, and a series of massive, towering, blood-red horned, golden-eyed, black-caped warriors came flying out. The many warriors all radiated utterly astonishing auras. “So the army of the Snaphorn world of the Primordial Ruinworld have arrived.” Ning’s pupils contracted. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Wait.” When Ji Ning saw the steady stream of black-caped warriors pour out from the distant ship, he couldn’t help but feel surprised. “The warriors I fought previously had scales, wings, and blood-red eyes. But now, we have some black-caped warriors in front of me…all of which have four arms, golden eyes, and blood-red horns. They look completely different from the earlier enemies; even their auras are far more powerful.” If the ten foes Ning had previously slaughtered were adorable little kittens, then these black-caped warriors standing before him were like truly savage tigers! “A total of over a thousand black-caped warriors.” After counting more than a thousand warriors flying out from the distant ship, Ning saw how, after a long moment passed, yet another warrior emerged from the ship. This one was dressed in a violet cape, but in all other respects, he looked identical to the blackcaped warriors, save for the fact that there was an enormous difference in their auras of power. “What a terrifying force.” Ning suddenly felt as though it was hard to breathe. The violet-caped warrior took just a single step forward. His body blurred, then suddenly appeared before the thousand-plus black-caped warriors. This speed caused Ning’s eyes to twitch; even when he used his [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] divine ability, he still wasn’t as fast as this person. The invisible aura the person emanated caused Ning to feel even more pressure. “He’s definitely more powerful than any Celestial Immortal I’ve faced to date.” “Commander.” The thousand-plus black-caped warriors all looked towards their leader with eagerness. The violet-caped warrior, however, gave Ning a curious glance. “An alien who looks like this and who is so small…I’ve never seen or even heard of someone like him.” “What should I do? What should I do? What’s my next course of action?” Ning was feeling extraordinarily nervous right now. The entire region of many tens of kilometers was encompassed by this grand formation; there was nowhere for him to flee, and the army squad which the Snaphorn world had just sent out was terrifyingly strong. “The voidwaves are being completely blocked out by the Third Void Sector’s defenses; no need to worry, everyone.” The violet-caped warrior smiled. “Release your children and capture this alien.” “Yes!” 2863 “Yes!” “Yes!” Instantly, a series of deafening roars rang out, shaking the region of space. At the same time, the thousand-plus black-caped warriors simultaneously opened their mouths. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Ten small spheres flew out from each of their mouths, producing a total of more than ten thousand small spheres. These small spheres instantly expanded in size when they entered the space of the Void, and they quickly transformed into a series of scaled, winged, blood-eyed warriors of enormous size. “They vomited them out?” Ning was completely flabbergasted. “Children, capture this alien,” the violet-caped warrior ordered. “Yes!” The ten thousand-plus blood-eyed warriors all assented in unison…and then half of them, the shorter and smaller ones, all opened their own mouths and emitted soundless roars, causing an invisible ripple of power to instantly sweep towards Ning. Ning knew what was coming this time; he knew that these smaller blood-eyed warriors were skilled in hypnotism. Last time, he had only faced five of them, but this time more than five thousand of them were simultaneously using the technique. The formless ripples couldn’t be avoided; all he could do was take them head-on! Clang! Clang! Clang! Ning could feel booms ring out from within his soul! However…with his heartforce at nearly the peak of the iceheart stage, Ning was still able to survive. “What a powerful soul.” The violet-caped warrior nodded lightly. “This alien really does have a bit of talent.” “Yes. Although our children are merely fairly weak cannon fodder meant to be used up during a battle…in large numbers, they are still quite dangerous. I wonder where this alien came from? He’s quite strong.” The black-caped warriors were stealthily chatting amongst themselves. …… Since hypnotism had failed…the ten thousand-plus blood-eyed warriors pulled out their weapons, then all charged forward, filling the Void with their massive bodies. These could be considered as having power that was just barely comparable to Void-level Fiendgods, but they didn’t have Fiendgod-like indestructible bodies. If he used all his abilities, such as the [Starseizing Hand] or [Three Heads, Six Arms], Ning could wipe them all out in a very short period of time! After all, they didn’t have regenerating bodies; killing them would be very easy, very simple. However…Ning didn’t dare to recklessly waste his divine power. The [Starseizing Hand] used up a vicious amount of divine power; once his divine power was exhausted, he would no longer be able to even fight back. “I’ll have to rely on swordplay.” Ning’s two hands each held a Darknorth sword. He made the swords expand to nine hundred meters. Swoosh! He used the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], instantly charging into the very center of that mass of blood-eyed warriors. Ning didn’t use any additional divine abilities after that, relying solely on his swordarts. Slash, slash, slash! Sword-light flashed everywhere. Ning’s sword-arts were unfathomably profound, far beyond what these blood-eyed warriors were capable of. The pair of nine hundred meter long Darknorth swords slashed through the air, chopping past the heads of the blood-eyed warriors, sometimes completely bisecting them in half! All of the blood-eyed warriors died, unable to heal from their wounds, regardless of where the injuries were, head or waist. “Eh? His sword-arts truly are profound.” The violet-caped warrior was surprised by what he saw. Ning was born to be a Sword Immortal. Even though he could no longer sense the Dao of the Sword or summon the natural energy of the world…his sword-arts remained unfathomable. “Blaze, my children,” the violet-caped warrior called out. “Roaaaaaar!” “Die!” “Alien!” The horde of blood-eyed warriors bellowed as their bodies began to glow with a blurry green light. Instantly, their speed and their strength rose dramatically. They began to assault Ning en masse. Ning remained very calm. He didn’t use any divine abilities; instead, he relied on his sword-arts to continue to slaughter these blood-eyed warriors. In fact, he even used his own body as a weapon, using it to block the enemy axes and whips head-on. Due to having trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ning 2865 was able to actually conserve power by using his own body to take on blows as he fought within the mass of blood-eyed warriors! Ning wasn’t worried about them being able to injure him in the slightest. Boom! Boom! Boom! Ning was occasionally sent flying here by an axe or flying there by a whip… But each time he was sent ‘flying’, his sword-light would flash past in a graceful manner…and many enemy heads would go flying as well. …… Within the infinite darkness of the Void, three powerful minds were communicating with each other. “This human’s body is rather strong.” “Right. It’s like one of those ‘magic treasures’ those humans use.” “This human is probably at the Celestial Immortal level of power at most…but his body is this powerful…he most likely must have trained in an earth-shatteringly powerful protective divine ability those humans have.” “Ideally, we shall capture him alive, so that we can analyze his body. If we can gain some insights into some of the profound mysteries behind his divine ability, then use them to make us sisters grow more physically powerful, that would be wonderful.” …… By relying on the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and his sword-arts, Ning was able to wipe out all of the bloodeyed warriors in the time needed to boil a kettle of tea. However, Ning didn’t feel excited at all…because he saw the amusement on the faces of the distant black-caped warriors, and the calmness of the violetcaped warrior. He understood from this that to the Snaphorn world, the forces he had just killed most likely represented very little. In truth… They really did represent almost nothing. They were cannon fodder; in fact, they weren’t even viewed as true members of the same race to which the horned warriors belonged! To produce a true member of the race required an extremely high price to be paid! Producing this sort of cannon fodder, however, was much easier and much cheaper. However, there was a limit to how many of them each horned warrior could control; some would have to perish before they could give birth to more. “He was able to kill more than ten thousand of our children; he does have a bit of talent.” The violet-caped warrior said, “Hellsong, go and test his abilities.” 2866 “Yes.” A black-caped warrior nodded, then manifested four shortswords in his four hands. Ning’s heart clenched. They had just seen him kill more than ten thousand of those blood-eyed warriors…but still chose to send a single black-caped warrior to fight? “Hmph.” The black-caped warrior suddenly moved, transforming into a blur as he pounced towards Ning. “So fast!” Ning was somewhat caught off-guard. Those earlier red-eyed warriors had been far slower than him, but this black-caped warrior was so fast that he was only slightly slower than Ning when using the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens]. He could already be considered as being on Ning’s general level; he was slightly slower, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Four icy shortswords came plunging towards him. Ning’s Darknorth swords struck outwards as well. Clang clang clang! Consecutive collisions could be heard. Ning’s advantage lay in the profoundness of his sword-arts, while the enemy’s advantage was having four arms. However, from that clash… Ning was sent flying back! “What great power.” Ning’s face changed, then his body blurred, transforming into his three-headed, sixarmed form. “Three heads and six arms? So is this your true form?” The black-caped warrior was quite surprised, but he then snickered, “Interesting.” He charged forth once more. Ning now had six divine swords in his six arms. His sword-arts were profound, but he remained unwilling to use the [Starseizing Hand]. The [Starseizing Hand] simply used up far too much divine power, and the strength of this Snaphorn world was immeasurable. It was better to make himself appear weak; if he immediately revealed his trump cards, they would probably prepare even more powerful trump cards to deal with him. Slash! Ning’s sword-light sliced through the black-caped warrior’s body. The black-caped warrior retreated at high speed, but a gaping wound was still cut through his chest. Green blood spewed outwards, but in the blink of an eye the wound was healed. “Healed?” Ning was surprised. “So they really are two separate races. Those cannon fodders were completely unable to heal, but the black-caped warriors are capable of self-regeneration.” Once someone became capable of self-regeneration, killing them would be much harder. “Eh?” The violet-caped warrior saw what had just happened. “Hellsong’s unit, engage.” Instantly, nine more black-caped warriors went flying forward. “Hellsong, can’t you get it done?” “You can’t even capture a single alien, and you even got injured.” The nine other black-caped warriors all spoke teasingly, but they showed no mercy in their movements at all. They soon formed a complete circle around Ning, attacking him en masse and giving him nowhere to flee at all. Boom… Ning’s body suddenly increased explosively in size, expanding to three thousand meters. Three thousand meters was Ning’s limit in using the Heavenly Transformation technique. “What?” Prior to this, those ten black-caped warriors were surrounding and assaulting a tiny little dot, but that tiny little dot had suddenly and explosively increased in size to become comparable to them; this caused them to feel completely flabbergasted. “So this is how tall you actually are…I imagine this is your true form, right?” Hellsong sighed in amazement, “Three heads, six arms, and as tall as us…this alien is quite strong.” Ning, however, just felt misery; the more divine abilities he used, the faster his divine power would be used up. However…while using Heavenly Transformation, his speed and strength would both increase tremendously! “Every single one of these black-caped warriors are comparable to Celestial Immortal Goldclock or Deadwood; if any more come, I’ll be forced to use the [Starseizing Hand]. Once I use it…my end will come shortly thereafter.” Ning was frantic now; every bit of divine power that he used up was irreplaceable, at least in the short term. However…he still had no idea as to how he was supposed to flee from this place. He could neither ascend to Heaven nor descend to Hell; there was nowhere to flee! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. After using the Heavenly Transformations technique and [Three Heads, Six Arms], Ji Ning’s power had increased substantially. He was able to just barely fend off those ten black-caped warriors, but maintaining this state resulted in his divine power being continuously depleted. “He’s actually still able to hold on?” This caused the distant, violet-caped warrior to frown. He immediately ordered, “The entire squad, go and capture this alien!” “Yes!” Accompanied by a series of roars, a total of ninety massive black-caped warriors flew towards Ji Ning’s direction. This caused Ning’s face to instantly change. “They really are giving me no chance at all. A hundred Celestial Immortals…how am I supposed to withstand them?” Although all of these foes focused on close combat, meaning that only a number of them were able to engage with him at any given moment, they clearly had some sort of mysterious combination formation technique; the more warriors that joined, the more powerful each black-caped warrior grew. “Senior bear, what should I do?” Ning asked frantically, “Are there any options? If I hide in the underwater estate, can I survive this tribulation?” “It’s useless.” The giant yellow bear was both frantic and helpless. “If you hide inside the underwater estate, it will end up being exposed as well…although Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals are unable to forcibly bind me, some truly powerful figures are still capable of it. I’m only a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, after all; the master of this so-called Snaphorn world has to be at least at the level of a Pure Yang True Immortal.” Ning felt misery in his heart. Indeed. Given that they were able to send out a squad of soldiers like this, as well as set up an enormous space formation that spanned tens of millions of kilometers…it would be bizarre if the Snaphorn world’s strongest experts were not at the Pure Yang True Immortal level! Anyone who reached that level could forcibly bind the Starseizing Manor. “If I hide, I die…but if I don’t hide, I still die!” Ning had no idea as to what he should do. “All you can do is hope and pray that your master, Patriarch Subhuti, can find you,” the giant yellow bear said. “Your master possesses the [Dream of the Three Realms]…but this place is outside the Three 2869 Realms. In fact, many of the Heavenly Daos don’t exist here; only the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos holds sway here. Your master might not be able to sense things here.” Ning was stunned. His only hope was his master, Patriarch Subhuti! The Patriarch’s power was utterly unearthly; at a time like this, only he might be capable of rescuing Ning. But…the giant yellow bear was right. This was the Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld; even though Patriarch Subhuti was extremely powerful, if he was unable to find Ning, what could he do? “Can it be that I, Ji Ning, am going to die here?” Ning felt an unwillingness to accept this within his heart. “Senior apprentice-sister took on Patriarch Lu as her master…and we agreed that we would meet again! Father, mother…I haven’t even had a chance to see if their reincarnations are living happily or not. And Earth…I haven’t gone back to Earth to take a look…” He didn’t want to accept this. He truly didn’t! “If I had known this would happen, I would’ve left my Primaltwin at Swallow Mountain.” Ning was filled with unbearable regret for having brought his Primaltwin with him as he fought the Youngflame clan. He had felt that as long as he had the underwater estate and Greater Teleportation Dao-seals, he would be able to escape without issues. Who would’ve imagined that the descent of karmic sinflames rendered him incapable of escaping, resulting in him being sent into this danger zone? “Can it be that my life truly is going to end here?” The ninety black-caped warriors joined the ten earlier black-caped warriors into a formation. Instantly, their auras grew even more powerful as they continued to assault Ning. Boom! Boom! Boom! After just a few exchanges, the previously indestructible Ning suddenly blew apart! In fact, some of his flesh and blood transformed into dust from the blows of the enemy swords and sabers. “What just happened?” The hundred attacking black-caped warriors were all amazed. The distant commander shouted, “The Queen Mother commands you! Even if the alien is transformed into bits of mushmeat, you need to collect every single piece of flesh and blood; you can’t spare even a single bit of dust. He won’t die easily!” “Yes.” 2870 Instantly, the group of black-caped warriors became filled with eagerness. The Queen Mother had personally given them an order! They felt incomparably honored. They sent their minds sweeping forth through space. They wouldn’t let even a hint of dust escape their senses. “Damn.” Whoosh. Far away, a human rematerialized; it was Ning, his eyes bloodshot. His [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] wasn’t something these Celestial Immortals could breach; just now, he had voluntarily caused his divine body to detonate while focusing all of his divine power within a single piece of flesh. Through the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], he had then transformed that piece of flesh into a speck of dust. Alas…it seemed as though the enemy knew what abilities he had available. They didn’t want to give him any chance at all. “He really didn’t die.” “He was blown up into tiny bits but didn’t die?” “When our cores are broken, we’ll die…but he was blown into tiny bits and remained alive? This is too terrifying.” The black-caped warriors quietly sent messages to each other; clearly, they were all quite stunned. Whether it was Ning’s unbreakable body or the fact that he stayed alive even after being blown apart…they were truly stunned and uneasy. What a terrifying race this was! …… “Senior apprentice-sister, your junior apprentice-brother was unable to live up to his promise!” “Father, mother…” “Master…” One image after another flashed through Ning’s mind. That senior apprentice-sister of his, who had kept everything hidden with her heart for so long, but who had eventually become his Dao-companion within the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, under the watchful gazes of countless people. That seemingly cold but actually warm-hearted master of his, Immortal Diancai. His teacher, Subhuti, who gazed down upon the Three Realms from his lofty, exalted position. And his ordinary parents…they had done everything for him, and had chosen to forget about revenge, so that their son might have a better chance of living a good life… His junior apprentice-brother…his sister, Autumn Leaf…Uncle White…Little Qing… “Farewell!” In dying here, not even reincarnation would be possible. “Farewell, my loved ones.” Ning stared at the hundred black-caped warriors charging towards him, as well as the even more numerous foes in the distance. His eyes actually turned calm, a calmness that transcended both blazing rage and freezing coldness. It was a sort of absolute calmness…a perfect mastery of the self. In this instant…Ning’s heartforce was actually able to leap from the peak of the ‘iceheart’ level all the way to the third level, the ‘ruler’ level. Even amongst the divine archers of the Three Realms, he would now be considered an absolute top-tier expert. But alas, heartforce was invisible and formless; it wasn’t able to help out Ning at this moment. “You want me to die?” Ning said softly, “Then I’ll make you all die!” These were words from his homeland; the foes before him were completely unable to understand it. The six divine swords suddenly vanished. “His swords vanished?” “What’s going on?” The hundred black-caped warriors charging towards Ning all halted. They could tell that Ning was skilled in using the sword, but despite being such a powerful swordsman, he had…actually put away his swords? Was he giving himself up for capture? BOOM! Ning’s fingers formed sword-fingers. They suddenly expanded to be more than nine hundred meters long as the full power of the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] exploded forth. Ning’s power instantly rose to an utterly terrifying level; he was actually able to knock an enemy shuttle aside, then with a slashing sound, pierce straight into the chest of a black-caped warrior. With a simple flick of his sword-fingers, the warrior was cut in half. “What?” The distant violet-caped warrior’s face completely changed. “How did his power increase this much?!” 2872 Whoosh! Crunch! Slash! Ning ignored all enemy assaults; his body, protected by the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], was completely capable of withstanding any assaults. The only attacks he needed to defend against were the ones that were meant to bind him! In the Three Realms, there were some powerful magic treasures that had powerful binding forces that were hard to defend against, but these warriors of the Snaphorn world were only skilled in close combat; thus, the only tools they had for binding an opponent were simple ones like chains or whips. Ning was less than two meters tall; he was able to dodge with incomparable nimbleness through the many massive black-caped warriors, making it hard for them capture him. The black-caped warriors seemed strong, but their bodies were still unable to withstand Ning’s sword! Thus, they were easily chopped apart in close combat. “…He died?” Ning was suddenly startled. Through cutting, chopping, decapitating, or other strikes, he was able to neutralize twenty-five of the black-caped warriors within a short period of time. However, they all healed quite quickly…but the twenty-sixth actually lost its entire aura. It had completely, truly died. Ning instantly thought back to what had just happened. “Right. That green sphere.” All of the black-caped warriors had a green sphere within their bodies. Ning had originally thought that the green spheres were nothing more than organs. They were very small; the warriors were three thousand meters tall, while the green sphere was merely three meters long. He hadn’t damaged the green sphere in killing the first twenty-five warriors, but he had in the last one. Boom! Slash! The black-caped warriors watched as the tiny little Ji Ning’s sword-fingers suddenly expanded to become a thousand meters long. The sword-fingers tore through their bodies, plunging through their chest to snatch at and claw apart their cores. One black-caped warrior after another began to fall, and a large amount of baleful auras began to flood towards Ning, swirling into him. “Careful, he’s discovered our cores!” “He knows about the cores!” “His fingers are extremely terrifying, far more so than his swords.” 2873 “Our weapons are completely unable to block him.” “His body is completely unbreakable.” “He’s too tiny; there’s no way we can use our chains to capture him.” The black-caped warriors were actually on the losing side now. The Celestial Immortals of the Three Realms could’ve joined forces and used various binding techniques to capture Ning from far away…but these aliens were only skilled in close combat! Although they had battle formations that could be used to kill him, the Queen Mother had commanded that they capture this person alive. Thus, they didn’t dare unleash their most powerful killing techniques for fear of killing him. “Hmph.” The distant violet-caped warrior’s face sank when he saw this. He could tell that there were only two methods for dealing with this tiny little alien. The first method was to use formation-based killing techniques, like the ones they used in their planetary wars, to forcibly crush the foe. However, if they did that, they might accidentally kill this alien, which would be a violation of the Queen Mother’s command. The Queen Mother’s decree was very important; in comparison, even the destruction of their entire army meant nothing. The second method was to fight him personally, or perhaps with several supporters! To overcome him with absolute strength, then capture him. “Out of the way.” The violet-caped warrior transformed into a violet streak of light. “He’s coming.” This entire time, Ning had kept part of his attention on the violet-caped warrior, who was the person who truly caused Ning to feel threatened. Now that the violet-caped warrior was charging forward at full speed, Ning’s heart instantly clenched. This speed was even faster than the speed which he had displayed earlier; it was absolutely superior to Ning when using the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens]. “Is this my final battle before I die?” Ning didn’t feel any fear; his gaze was incomparably calm as he stared at the violet-caped warrior. “If I die…I’ll drag you down into death with me!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. As the violet-caped warrior attacked, the many black-caped warriors that had been assaulting Ji Ning all retreated. They were all filled with utter confidence in their commander. Whoosh! A silvery-white whip lashed out, more than thirty thousand meters long. It was like a giant, silvery-white serpent that was coiling with elegance and poise as it swept towards Ning. Ning’s sword-fingers struck out like swords, blocking the whip head-on. WHAP! A clear ringing sound rang out. Ning could sense a strange energy be transmitted into his body, including into his organs. Fortunately, the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] refined the entire body, resulting in no weaknesses at all. However, Ning was still knocked flying backwards by several kilometers. “His speed vastly outstrips mine, and the power of his whip is on a level higher than even me using the [Starseizing Hand] at full power. His whip is used in a way that gives me no way to dodge; it seems he is at an even higher level with his whip than I am with sword-arts. His power, without any question, is at the utmost peak of power possible for a Celestial Immortal,” Ning mused to himself. Hard to deal with! The black-caped warriors were merely at the level of Celestial Immortals Deadwood or Goldclock, but this violet-caped warrior was far more powerful than even Celestial Immortal Infatuation! Even the [Starseizing Hand], Ning’s proudest technique, was insufficient in the face of this foe. As for speed and sword-arts, Ning was clearly inferior in these regards as well. Fortunately, only close combat was possible within the Nihilum Zone, which was why his [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was able to be used to maximum effect. Within the Three Realms, Celestial Immortals on the level of this violet-caped warrior would probably be very close to Pure Yang True Immortals in power…their magic artifacts and formations alone would be enough to make Ning feel hopeless. However, in this place, only close combat was possible; thus, he still had a hint of a chance. Clang! Clang! Clang! Ning used both the [Three Heads, Six Arms] and the [Starseizing Hand] simultaneously. As for the violet-caped warrior, his four arms clutched four silver whips which struck out long long serpents, wildly assaulting Ning. Ning’s six arms strove mightily to defend. In fact, every so often he would borrow the force of the collision to flee and dodge. Ning had been continuously searching for a way out, for a chance to counter-attack. “I’m being completely suppressed by him. There’s no way for me to even go close to him. What should I do?” Ning was frantically pondering what to do. The foe’s long silver whip was rendering him incapable of drawing within fifteen thousand meters of the man, much less wound him. …… “He clearly is using some sort of technique that allows him to increase his strength dramatically.” The violet-caped warrior, by contrast, was much more relaxed; he was in complete control of this fight. “Only his arms are capable of releasing such power; his legs and kicks are far weaker. I trust that there is a price to this ability; he shouldn’t be able to maintain it for too long.” All things came at a cost. For a human that was less than two meters tall to become the size of a three thousand meter Fiendgod came at a cost, and so too did having three heads and six arms. The cost of using the [Starseizing Hand] was even higher. Crack! Crack! Crack! The four long silver whips danced out like dragons, wildly lashing out at Ning again and again. Ning had to completely focus on defending them at all times. If he failed a single time…the whips would probably entangle him and completely bind him. If the whips attacked quickly, Ning had to block quickly as well. His six arms strove to defend as best they could. The more times they blocked, however, the more times he had to use the [Starseizing Hand], which meant the more divine power would be used up. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! His divine power was frantically depleting. Even though he had reached the sixteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] used up so much divine power than in just a short period of time, more than half of Ning’s divine power had been used up. He hadn’t used up nearly as much in the earlier fight, despite it lasting much longer. “Less than a third.” “Less than a sixth.” He was faced with the whip-strikes which came from every direction. Ning seemed to have become trapped within a net of whip-strikes; he was unable to dodge, and his only option was to block, resulting in his divine power depleting further and further. When his divine power was completely used up…Ning would be completely subdued and captured. …… Within the underwater estate. Within an undefined, void-like region. The giant yellow bear was here. Next to him were seven figures, including a child with a necklace, a bald elder, a beautiful woman… The seven figures all emanated incomparably powerful auras, and amongst them was the red-haired Fiendgod which Ning had previously battled. “Big bear, the young master is in a crisis in the outside world. Are we supposed to just wait here and watch?” The beautiful woman, dressed in black leather armor, spoke out with a frown. Her eyebrows were snow-white, while her eyes looked just like a viper’s. “I watched as this little kid, Ji Ning, grew up step by step. Do you think I care about him less than you lot do?” The giant yellow bear said angrily, “I’m under instructions from Master to find a successor for him. Ji Ning is the best successor yet; I wouldn’t dare be careless!” “But you are letting him remain trapped in a dire situation!” The black-armored, beautiful woman said angrily. “Do you seven think that you can protect him?” The giant yellow bear asked angrily. “Do you know who he has run afoul of this time? Foes from the Snaphorn world of the Primordial Ruinworld. The Primordial Ruinworld! They are one of remnant forces left behind from that ancient war! Anyone capable of controlling an entire world has most likely survived from that war, and anyone capable of surviving that war…even if they are weak, they can’t be too weak. They might be at the level of a Daofather or a True God! Even if you all go out to rescue him, do you really think you can block a Daofather or a True God? The black-armored woman turned silent. “Snow Scorpion.” The red-haired Fiendgod spoke out, “The big bear is right. Even if we intervene, we might not be able to overcome this Snaphorn world.” “Big bear, you idiot…why didn’t you notify us when Ji Ning was faced with the descent of karmic sinflames?” The black-armored woman couldn’t help but berate him. “Am I supposed to have you intervene whenever he encounters danger?” The giant yellow bear said angrily, “Per Master’s orders, until he becomes an Empyrean God, he can’t be truly considered Master’s disciple. No matter what sort of trials he has to endure, they can only be considered tests for him…and if he fails and dies, he has no one to blame but his lack of skills or his bad luck. Although we all like him and view him as having tremendous potential and a very good chance of becoming an Empyrean God…how was I supposed to know that the Youngflame clan had an ability like this, to teleport him straight into the Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld? I thought that even if things did turn dangerous, we’d still be 2877 able to rescue him, which is why I let him face dangers as needed to temper him…but how can everything in life go as expected?! Ugh!” “Let’s take Ji Ning into the underwater estate and hide him within our world. Even if the enemy binds the underwater estate, it’ll only be an elementary binding; they probably won’t be able to find our world,” the beautiful woman, Snow Scorpion, said. “They might not find it…but it’s also possible that they might find it.” The bald elder suddenly spoke out in a hoarse voice. The underwater estate did indeed have many secrets. Immortal Juhua had always felt that there were secrets present within it. Ning had also felt that there were parts of the underwater estate that were not under his control…but he wasn’t able to find those parts! But just because Ning wasn’t able to find them…didn’t mean that the master of the Snaphorn world wouldn’t be able to find out! The red-haired man said in a gravelly voice, “No matter what…if Ji Ning dies, the Starseizing Manor will fall into the hands of the master of the Snaphorn world. If the master of the Snaphorn world is at the level of a True God or Daofather, he will definitely be able to find our world through the Starseizing Manor…at which point, our only option will be to fight with him. If the Snaphorn world’s master is not yet at the True God or Daofather level, then he won’t be able to defeat the formation which protects our world.” “Since, no matter what, we will still have to end up fighting with the master of the Snaphorn world…we might as well rescue Ji Ning and bring him into our world. Although the Godking did indeed say that his disciple could only enter our world after becoming an Empyrean God, we are left with no other options.” “Right.” The giant yellow bear nodded. “Since we can’t escape…we are indeed left with no other options. Make your preparations. Once we bring Ji Ning into our world, we’ll need to be ready for the Snaphorn world’s attack. I hope their master is weak; ideally, he won’t even be able to find our world.” “Right.” “Let’s prepare.” The seven figures all had solemn looks on their faces. The child, who had remained silent this entire time, suddenly spoke out: “Long ago, Father instructed us to leave him and stay out of that war. We’ve been waiting long enough…and so let’s have a good fight with the Snaphorn world.” “Let’s have a good fight.” 2878 “Let’s fight!” Everyone present had flames of war within their eyes. …… Within the emptiness of the Nihilum Zone. Enormous ships that were ten thousand kilometers long moved like streaks of light, advancing at high speed. The giant spaceships were tightly clustered together…and there seemed to be no end of them. Within the center of those giant ships, there was a golden warship. Within the golden warship. Everyone present was standing at solemn attention. Leading them was a horned warrior with a golden cape with black trimmings, and behind him were eight hundred violet-caped warriors. These were the most valiant, most capable commanders of the First Army who often engaged in wars against other worlds. In front of them hovered an utterly enormous mirror. The images within the mirror were images of the commando squad of the Third Void Sector doing battle against Ji Ning. “Benair is actually joining the fight in person.” The golden-caped warrior snorted angrily, “How despicable. Since he’s joining the fight in person…doesn’t that mean our First Army has made this trip for nothing?” “This alien is quite tenacious and strong; he might be able to stay alive until we get there.” “This is on the orders of the Queen Mother. It should be us, the First Army, who captures this alien.” The almighty First Army…how could it possibly hold a small squad of the Third Void Sector in any regard? “Quick, quick, quick!” The general couldn’t help but urge them to move faster. “It has to be us that captures this alien!” It was rare for the Queen Mother to give an order; they naturally had to work hard to show their talents. …… Within the void of the underwater estate. “Ji Ning’s divine power has almost been completely used up. Once it is used up, he’ll fall into enemy hands. Red-hair, you personally intervene and wipe them all out, then return to our world and prepare to deal with the master of the Snaphorn world,” the giant yellow bear said. “Alright.” “Agreed.” They all nodded in concurrence. They all knew very well that falling into dire straits would truly temper one’s Dao-heart. However…they had no idea that Ning’s heartforce had already advanced from the second level, ‘iceheart’, into the third level, ‘ruler’. …… Within the empty space of the Nihilum Zone. A tight cluster of black-caped warriors watched from not too far away as their commander, the violet-caped warrior, was completely dominating this alien. “I’m almost done. I have less than a tenth of my divine power now.” Ning didn’t want to accept this. He truly didn’t. But…the serpentine whips were striking out against him from every direction. Was he truly out of options? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Hmph.” The violet-caped commander could sense the alien growing frantic; he could sense that this was, perhaps, the last throes of his enemy’s resistance. “It seems…he can no longer hold on.” “Die!” Ning suddenly let out an enraged roar. He no longer held back at all on his divine power. Instead, he wildly poured it all into his arms at full force! The Void-level elemental ki in his body, through a secret art, was also immediately pushed into his arms. In this moment, Ning had only a single thought in his mind…no matter the cost, he was going to unleash his power to the maximum possible level. Actually…even going all-out like this only resulted in a 30% increase in power. “BREAK!” Ning’s six arms struck out as six streaks of sword-light. Ning’s calm eyes glowed with light, the light that came in the final instants of one’s life as it all blazed away. Ning’s heart and soul was completely poured into his swords. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Simultaneous explosions rang out. Ning’s six sword-fingers stabbed out, four of them striking against the four silver whips. With explosive sounds, the silver whips…were actually knocked flying backwards. Ning’s fingers, however, continued to stab forward! “What?!” The violet-caped commander’s eyes turned completely round. “How can this be?” “Impossible!” The many black-caped warriors watching from far away were amazed at this sight. They could all sense that Ning was inches away from death. Previously, he had been completely suppressed…so how was it that right now, at the very end, he was actually able to unleash power that surpassed the power of their commander, knocking his weapon away? …… 2881 “What…how can this be?” Within the void-like region within the underwater estate, the giant yellow bear, who had been watching the battle outside this entire time, was completely surprised. The giant yellow bear was most likely the person with the deepest understanding of Ning’s power. He knew exactly what Ning was capable of. What Ning had displayed earlier represented his utmost limit of power; even if Ning went all out, he would at most be able to increase his power by 20% or 30%; he would still be considerably weaker than that violet-caped commander. How was it, then, that he had suddenly knocked the silver whip away? “How can this be?” “It doesn’t make sense.” “It…shouldn’t have happened.” The giant yellow bear couldn’t understand it. “This isn’t the Three Realms. There’s no way to sense the Dao here, so even if he suddenly gained a new insight into the Dao, it wouldn’t help him increase his power in any way. In addition, he is currently in a battle, and he’s used up an enormous amount of divine power. There’s no way he could’ve broken into the seventeenth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] so soon…he just made it to the sixteenth level a short while ago.” A breakthrough in his divine body? Impossible. A breakthrough in the Dao? It wouldn’t make any difference. The [Starseizing Hand] was already at the Fourth Cycle! “How can this be?” The giant yellow bear didn’t understand. …… Not too far away, inside the golden warship of the First Army which was ensconced within those countless warships. The commanders of the First Army were staring at the images within the levitating mirror. “Eh?!” “Odd.” “What just happened? What ability did this alien just use?” None of them understood it. The golden-caped general, however, just laughed loudly. “Wonderful. The longer he can delay, the better; we’re almost there! Haha…it seems that in the end, it will still be us who captures this alien.” 2882 …… The experts of the Snaphorn world couldn’t understand it. Not even the giant yellow bear understood it. Nobody could think of a reason why this had just happened. But within the deep, dark reaches of the Void… Three minds were communicating with each other. “Second sister…what just happened?” “Elder sister, what happened?” The three Queen Mothers had given birth to many children; their children were the Firstborn! More than half of the commanders of the First Army were Firstborn; the three Queen Mothers could see and sense everything the Firstborn could see and sense! Thus, they too saw everything which had just happened. The commander of the commando squad from the Third Void Sector, Benair, was the child of the second Queen Mother of the three Queen Mothers. When Benair fought with Ning, it was as though the second Queen Mother had personally fought against Ning. “That was…” “Heartforce?” “Yes, heartforce! It was heartforce!” The second Queen Mother’s powerful mind suddenly began to tremble with excitement. “This human’s attack just now was actually filled with heartforce!” “What? Heartforce?!” “Heartforce?! He’s actually in control of heartforce?!” The first and third Queen Mothers were both excited as well. “Yes. There’s no mistaking it; in fact, just now I completely focused a strand of my mind upon my child Benair.” The second Queen Mother said excitedly, “They just clashed again. There’s no mistaking it; this human’s attacks contain heartforce within them. His control over his heartforce isn’t perfect; it’s clearly quite rough. However, I can still sense the powerful, mysterious, profound heartforce at work.” “This is our chance!” The second Queen Mother was incomparably excited. “This human is able to focus his heartforce and knows how to apply it! That means he understands a heartforce technique! This is a truly supreme form of power; we can discover and distill the method for producing and applying heartforce from this human!” “Right. Now we can gain a heartforce technique!” 2883 “Yes, this is our chance!” The other two Queen Mothers were incomparably excited as well. They had experienced and survived that calamitous war; as survivors, they knew quite well that ‘heartforce’ was one of the truly supreme forms of power. Upon mastering heartforce, one could truly embark upon a path that would lead to them becoming the most supreme of existences within the primordial chaos! A path that led to surpassing even True Gods and Daofathers! “This is our chance, but we cannot be rash.” The first Queen Mother’s mind warned the other two minds, “Heartforce techniques are supreme techniques that are absolutely not taught to outsiders, even within the Three Realms. This human youth must have an extraordinary background, which is why he was able to learn a technique like this. Perhaps there is a self-destruction mechanism hidden within his soul.” “Actually…the simplest method is to hypnotize him, but he is one of those ‘Fiendgod Body Refiner’ humans; his soul and his body are completely merged together and extremely stable. In addition, he’s also a practitioner of heartforce; his mind must be very powerful. To hypnotize him…I imagine it will be quite difficult.” “We have to try.” Heartforce was far too alluring to them! Heartforce… It was an invisible, formless sort of power. It wasn’t like divine power, elemental ki, or natural energy; those could be seen with the naked eye. Heartforce, however, was incredibly powerful, and it was extremely hard to reach a basic level of skill in it. Back on Mount Innerheart, Ning had already been at a very high level of insight into the Dao, but he still had to train archery painstakingly for three years before finally reaching a basic level of skill. However, heartforce truly was formidable. That mighty divinity of the Primordial Era, Houyi, had relied the power of his heartforce to become the number one divine archer of the Three Realms, and even Daofathers and True Gods had fallen to his hand. Even Ning himself was surprised; his sword-finger had actually become so powerful as to suppress the whip of this violet-caped commander? “Is this…heartforce?” Others might have to guess at it, but Ning himself knew very well that his incredibly berserk attack just now had been launched without any extraneous thoughts. All of his power had been fully merged into that blow…and his heartforce had unconsciously leaked into it as well. How should heartforce be applied? This was a mystery. The Three Realms had a set of extremely detailed instructions for applying heartforce through archery; this was the creation of the mighty divinity Houyi! It was precisely because mighty Houyi had systemized the method of using heartforce in archery that the Three Realms had so quickly developed a crop of terrifyingly powerful divine archers…but there were no systemized tools for teaching one how to apply heartforce into other weapons. How to apply heartforce to the sword? To the saber? To the spear? To the staff? If heartforce was applied to these weapons, would they increase in power dramatically? Since it worked for archery, it logically should work for these weapons…but mighty Houyi was the foremost expert of heartforce within the Three Realms, and his greatest talent was archery. He had thus created a systemized method for applying it to archery…but as for other weapons? Perhaps some other major powers had discovered ways of applying heartforce to those weapons, but those ways were crude ways, not systemized ways which others could use. “I actually managed to apply heartforce through my fingers when I used sword-arts?” Ning was completely amazed. The power of an ordinary arrow was quite ordinary…but when heartforce was applied to it, it would instantly turn into a nightmare for foes! The power of the arrow would instantly rise to a terrifying level. “However…just now, I was only able to truly apply a very tiny amount of heartforce.” Ning knew this for certain because he had used up only a very small amount of his heartforce; the rest of his heartforce remained untouched! As someone who had reached the third level of heartforce, ‘ruler’, Ning’s heartforce was tremendously powerful. Even just a tiny amount of it was enough to cause the power of his swordarts to rise to a level where he could actually now suppress this foe. “Alien, you actually still have more tricks up your sleeve? I want to see how powerful you actually are!” The violet-caped commander let out a loud shout, then lashed out with a whip once more. As for the mind of the second Queen Mother, it had completely descended onto the commander by now. “Go.” Ning stretched out a single hand as well. His fingers flicked out! His heartforce once more rode with his fingers, just as it had last time. Ning could sense that a small part of his heartforce had indeed become one with his fingers! Bang! Ning’s fingers, now many hundreds of meters long, collided with that whip! The whip was once more knocked flying back. “Right. That’s the feeling.” Ning was beginning to vaguely make out the basics to it. However, he was still far, far away from being able to apply it as intricately as when he applied it to archery. All Ning could do was ponder the method of applying heartforce to archery, then try and come up with a similar way to strengthen his sword-fingers. “Eh?” Ning suddenly realized that the distant, violet-caped commander had actually come to a halt. Rumble… A powerful ripple spread out. Ning took a look…and saw, far away in the void, one enormous spaceship after another coming flying towards him. There seemed to be no end to the densely clustered spaceships. “…How many ships just arrived?” Ning was completely shocked. The entrances to the ships all opened, and countless horned warriors came flooding out from them. Amongst these countless warriors were many black-caped warriors as well! Ning swept them with his gaze. The number of ordinary horned warriors…they had to at least number in the millions. In addition, at the front of the many ships was a golden warship, from which one violetcaped warrior after another came flying out. At the very end, a gold-caped person came walking out, his aura so powerful and terrifying as to cause Ning to feel despair. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, a series of thoughts descended upon the region. The three Queen Mothers had sent out hundreds of thought-rays to the many violet-caped warriors, as well as the general. “Don’t be in a hurry to attack.” The Queen Mother’s voice echoed within the general’s mind. “Yes, Queen Mother,” the general replied mentally. …… “Big bear, what’s going on outside? Can it be that the young master’s divine power hasn’t been used up yet? I think we should make our move now. Let’s not waste any time.” Within the underwater estate, the black-haired beauty, ‘Snow Scorpion’, spoke out. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Red-hair, Snow Scorpion, and the others all looked towards the giant yellow bear. Only the big bear was able to clearly sense the outside world and what was going happening there. “Don’t be impatient.” The big bear shook his head. “A powerful army has been dispatched from the Snaphorn world, but the strange thing is…this powerful army hasn’t acted against Ji Ning yet. In fact…even the violet-caped warrior that had been previously fighting against Ning has stopped fighting as fiercely as he had before. Ji Ning definitely doesn’t have much divine power left; if they fight for just a bit longer, his divine power will have been completely used up, but they actually halted. How odd.” “Halted?” The seven mighty warriors left behind by Daoist Threelives were all puzzled. “In addition…there’s something else odd. Ji Ning’s power had clearly reached a limit…but just now, when he used the [Starseizing Hand], his power actually increased yet again. He was able to knock aside the foe’s weapon…and I don’t understand why, no matter how hard I try,” the giant yellow bear said. “How can one’s power increase in the Nihilum Zone?” The seven began to ponder. They were different from the giant yellow bear; the bear was, after all, just the spirit of a magic treasure. Only after the destruction of Pangu’s Primordial World had the giant yellow bear slowly trained to the level of becoming a true living creature. By comparison, he wasn’t that experienced…but the other seven had been quite famous long ago in Pangu’s World. This fame came through their performances in many battles; they had much greater experience and knew far more things. “Can it be…” The seven suddenly all thought of the same possibility. …… Ning stared at the distant, awe-inspiring army of millions of horned warriors. He had a feeling…that even the most ordinary of warriors in that army was far more powerful than the red-eyed warriors he had previously battled. Most likely, all of them were comparable to Loose Immortals who had lived for a million years. They could be compared to the weakest of Celestial Immortals; Ning would be able to kill each of them with ease. But no matter how ordinary they were in terms of strength…a million of them was an utterly terrifying prospect! “So many warriors…if they have some sort of combination-formation technique, even Empyrean Gods or True Immortals would probably feel despair and choose to flee,” Ning mused to himself. “And this is just 2887 part of the total strength of the Snaphorn world of the Primordial Ruinworld. The Primordial Ruinworld…it truly is the most terrifying place of all.” Ning was actually quite calm now. The enemy held all the cards in their hands. They were simply too powerful…and more than eight hundred violet-caped warriors had suddenly appeared just now! If they were all comparable in strength to the first violet-caped warrior, that meant they were equivalent to a force of eight hundred supreme Celestial Immortals. And there was that gold-caped bastard…a person which caused Ning to feel completely powerless and unable to fight back when he looked at him. “However…although I have no way of fighting back, I can still kill myself,” Ning mused to himself. “I definitely won’t let them do anything to me.” “Alien.” The general smiled as he moved forward, but even when his black, scale-covered face was smiling, it still looked absolutely savage. “This space belongs to our Snaphorn world. Why have you come to our place?” “I was wandering through the infinite Void and entered this place by accident,” Ning said. At the same time, he seized this chance to absorb more power from the Solar Star and the Lunar Star, converting it into divine power. He had used up far too much divine power earlier. “I truly do not wish to be enemies with you. I would like to ask you to please let me leave; I will be endlessly grateful if you do.” “Let you leave? That’s not impossible,” the general suddenly said. “Oh?” Ning looked at his foes. He knew, however, that the cost of activating such an enormous space formation that was tens of millions of kilometers in size was definitely an enormous one. And now, they had sent over so many Snaphorn warriors as well? There was no way they’d let him leave so easily. “I have a request. If you accept, then I promise to let you leave,” the general said. “Might I ask what this request is?” Ning asked. “As long as you allow us to inspect your soul,” the general said, “And let us know your true intentions…if you are not a foe to our Snaphorn world, we shall immediately let you leave.” “Inspect my soul? Soulscouring?” Ning’s face changed. He immediately understood what they were plotting. He was a Fiendgod Body Refiner; his divine soul and his divine body were completely merged together, making his soul extremely stable, far more stable than the souls of many Celestial Immortals! In addition, his heartforce had reached the ‘ruler’ level… 2888 It must be understood that it was difficult for Pure Yang True Immortals to forcibly soulscour even an ordinary Celestial Immortal. Someone like Ning, who had such powerful heartforce, was rare even amongst True Immortals and Empyrean Gods. To forcibly soulscour him was incredibly difficult. Even if a Daofather was to attempt it, Ning would still probably be able to instantly react and commit suicide by shattering his own soul! So they wanted him to allow them to soulscour him without resisting? “Not a chance.” Ning shook his head in refusal. “Don’t be in such a hurry to refuse.” The golden-caped general continued to smile. Ning, however, knew the truth. Given that his foes had sent out so many warriors and activated such an enormous space formation, they definitely were looking for something important. If he didn’t fight back, they could use some sort of technique to dominate and control his soul, resulting in him becoming a slave. That would truly be a life worse than death. After all, the promises these people were making…weren’t worth a single copper. This place was outside the Three Realms; there were no such things as oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. “No need to say anything further.” Ning laughed coldly. “If push comes to shove, I’ll die. Soulscour me? In your dreams!” “Alas.” The gold-caped general let out a sigh. Whoosh… Silently and soundless, hundreds of mind-strands simultaneously flew out from the gold-caped general and the hundreds of violet-caped warriors, all assaulting Ning! Rumble… Instantly, a sensation of utter exhaustion began to overwhelm Ning. Tired. So tired. He felt like he was a mortal on Earth again, sick and tired and exhausted. He felt a desire to immediately shut his eyes…a sensation that he had never felt in this life after he had embarked onto the path of Immortal cultivation. “I…am the only ruler of myself.” The power of heartforce filled his entire body. Under the command of his heartforce, his soul began to resist fiercely; although he felt extremely tired, he still maintained his clarity of mind. …… “Alas…” “We failed.” “This human’s heartforce is quite strong. Although the mind-strands we attached to the Firstborn represent just part of our full power…even when we joined forces, were were still unable to hypnotize him.” “It is simply too hard to hypnotize someone with such powerful heartforce.” The three Queen Mothers were mentally conferring with each other. They didn’t care about whether Ji Ning died or not; what they cared the most about was his heartforce technique. Even the set of archery-based heartforce taught by [Houyi’s Archery] was of use to them; although they didn’t use bows, this would at least still let them touch upon the nature of heartforce and let them more thoroughly understand it. As for Ji Ning? If they could soulscour him, they could just kill him afterwards! There was no way they would let Ji Ning go back; if he did manage to return to the Three Realms and informed the most supreme figures of the Three Realms learn that the Snaphorn world had acquired a heartforce technique, those figures would probably personally come pay a visit. They had been lucky enough to survive that ancient, calamitous war; they knew exactly how powerful the Three Realms were. It must be understood that the entire Primordial Ruinworld had been defeated! A single Snaphorn world would probably be effortlessly annihilated by the supreme powers of the Three Realms. Thus, if they could obtain the heartforce, there was no way they would let Ji Ning live and return to the Three Realms. “No other options.” “All we can do is have our Firstborn fight with this human. When they fight, we’ll use our mind-strands to watch closely. His current control over his heartforce is quite weak; we can fully and clearly sense his heartforce ripples. When we personally fight with him time and time again, watching his heartforce be applied hundreds or thousands of times over…I trust that eventually, we’ll discover some of the secrets of heartforce and be able to develop a heartforce technique of our own.” “This clumsy method is the only one left to us.” The three Queen Mothers made their decision. Truly powerful experts generally always had this sort of clumsy method available to them; to first watch, then to hypothesize and draw insights from what they saw. For example, after other major powers personally saw the mighty divine ability [Wings of the Garuda] many times, they were able to develop a similar flying divine ability. Perhaps it was a bit weaker than the [Wings of the Garuda], but it was still able to emulate part of its power. This was what the three Queen Mothers had settled upon! …… “No need to capture the alien. Let him feel that there is a chance of surviving. The Firstborn among you…you can go and fight against him one-on-one. When his energy is almost depleted, let him rest. After he finishes resting, continue the attacks. Maintain this battle for as long as possible; if it takes many years, all the better.” The Queen Mother’s order came to them. This caused the general and the many violet-caped Firstborn to feel puzzled and confused. They were clearly capable of capturing him. Why didn’t they? And they were supposed to fight him one-on-one? However, they didn’t dare violate the orders of the Queen Mother. In fact, there was no way they could; their loyalty to the Queen Mothers sprang from their very blood. If the Queen Mother ordered it, they wouldn’t even hesitate to commit suicide. “Tonto, you go,” the general instructed. “Alright.” Instantly, a violet-caped warrior flew out to attack Ning. Ning’s divine power had only recovered to 10% of maximum. He had been maintaining a careful watch this entire time on that distant, awe-inspiring army. Upon seeing a violet-caped warrior charge towards him, he naturally went forth to fight. …… Ning was being trapped and assaulted by the Snaphorn world’s army in the Nihilum Zone. As their commanders went forth to fight him one-on-one, beginning a long, drawn-out battle within the infinite void of space…in the distant Three Realms, his Dao-companion, Yu Wei, had reached the most dangerous moment of her cultivation. This was a beautiful world of flowers, but the skies above it had become filled with a vortex of lightning and clouds. “Screeeech!” 2891 Yu Wei stood there, head raised, staring towards the skies. Around her swirled a series of white phoenixes and fiery red phoenixes. A total of ninety-nine phoenixes were surrounding her, wildly resisting the crashing bolts of thunder coming from up above. With this collision, almost all of the phoenixes were blasted apart, leaving behind a single white phoenix by her side. The thunder in the skies finally came to a complete halt. The supreme Sword Immortal, Patriarch Lu, nodded as he watched from his position atop the nearby mountain peak. “Seven nine-sets of thunder tribulation; essentially what I thought it would be. My disciple is a Ki Refiner…even for a reincarnated Immortal, to encounter seven nine-sets of thunder tribulation is a bit much. It seems my disciple has indeed been hiding a few things.” “The demonheart tribulation is beginning.” “I’m afraid that for my disciple, the most dangerous tribulation is this demonheart tribulation,” Patriarch Lu mused to himself. Yu Wei, in her past life, had been a true asura demon; she had been extremely powerful, and in her past life she had been comparable to Immortal Northwalker. In this life, under the guidance of Patriarch Lu, she had reached an even higher level of insight into the Dao; after executing a forbidden technique, she had been able to overcome the seven nine-sets of thunder tribulation. But the demonheart tribulation was strange and unfathomable. “In her past life, due to her tragedies, she transformed into an asura demon,” Patriarch Lu mused to himself. “And in her heart, she is hiding a major secret that she won’t tell anyone, not even me. The deeper one hides secrets within the heart…the more terrifying the demonheart tribulation shall be. In her past life, she failed her Celestial Tribulation; I wonder how she will do in this one.” Time passed, one day after the other. Six days. Seven days. Eight days… Fifteen days. Sixteen days… Yu Wei still just sat there. Her demonheart tribulation persisted for an extraordinarily long period of time… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Yu Wei’s demonheart tribulation persisted for an extremely long period of time. Patriarch Lu, however, just stood there quietly atop the nearby mountain peak, watching in complete calmness. Suddenly… A sound rang out in the world, a sound which symbolized Heaven and Earth. It was incomparably profound, majestic, and intoxicating. As this Immortal melody rang out, rainbow-colored clouds began to appear in the sky, and the ground became filled with golden lotus flowers. It seemed as though the very center of the world was this black-robed maiden that sat in the lotus position. Yu Wei’s eyes were already open. A deep, longing love was in her eyes, but a hint of a smile was on her lips. A flood of natural energy was gathering around her, and her body was beginning to emanate with an Immortal, spiritual aura. “Heaven has bestowed propitious clouds, and Earth has given birth to golden lotuses.” The distant Patriarch Lu smiled, then clapped his hands lightly. “From now on, you shall no longer be subject to the Three Calamities or Nine Tribulations. A fine Celestial Immortal…a fine Celestial Immortal!” As for Yu Wei, she flew towards the distant Patriarch Lu. “Well done.” Patriarch Lu was very satisfied. “This tribulation is the greatest tribulation an Immortal cultivator shall ever face. After having overcome it…you have now ascended to the skies in a single step. Your life shall now last as long as the heavens themselves.” Of course, although one would no longer be bothered by heavenly tribulations and one had a truly unlimited lifespan, if other, more powerful Immortals or Fiendgods killed you, there was nothing for it. Even True Gods and Daofathers…even Pangu…would perish. “If not for your tutelage, Master, your disciple definitely wouldn’t have overcome this Celestial Tribulation.” Yu Wei fell to her knees, respectfully pressing her head downwards and kowtowing in thanks. She had been very strong in her past life, but she hadn’t even been able to withstand six nine-sets of thunder tribulation, much less seven nine-sets. She had advanced at an astonishingly rapid pace while accompanying Patriarch Lu. Patriarch Lu nodded lightly. After Yu Wei rose to her feet, he finally said, “Yu Wei…” Yu Wei was startled. Patriarch Lu very rarely referred to her by her name. “There is something which I have been hiding for you, so as to prevent it from impacting your Celestial Tribulation. And now…it is time to tell you,” Patriarch Lu said. “Master, what is it?” Yu Wei hurriedly asked. In her heart, however, she had a bad feeling. So as to prevent it from impacting her Celestial Tribulation? Her Dao-heart was incredibly strong; what sort of matter could possibly make Patriarch Lu worry about her Celestial Tribulation being affected? A major matter, for sure…and one which involved something she truly cared about. “Is it…my junior apprentice-brother, Ji Ning?” Yu Wei looked at Patriarch Lu. Her parents had died long ago; the only person she truly cared about in this world was her Dao-companion, Ji Ning. “Right. It is Ji Ning.” Patriarch Lu nodded. Yu Wei’s face changed slightly. Patriarch Lu continued, “Just as you were preparing for your tribulation, the Xia Emperor of your Grand Xia world informed me of something. He said that Ji Ning fought a battle against nine Celestial Immortals of his hated foes, the Youngflame clan, in their Oldjade mountain range. That battle had severe repercussions; in fact, a number of Fiendgods that had been imprisoned there for countless years were released as well. However…the main event was still the battle between Ji Ning and the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. Two of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan perished; Celestial Immortal Goldclock and Celestial Immortal Flamefish. Ji Ning had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him, and so the Youngflame clan was completely unable to do anything to him. Thus…they played a trick. They caused Ji Ning to accidentally kill ten billion mortals.” Yu Wei’s face instantly turned ashen! She didn’t have any time to feel astonished by the Youngflame clan having nine Celestial Immortals, or to feel stunned by the fact that Ning had killed two of them. She didn’t have any time to feel amazed by the fact that he possessed the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] either. In her mind, a single phrase echoed repeatedly: ‘Accidentally kill ten billion mortals’. “He accidentally killed ten billion mortals?” Yu Wei mumbled to herself. The Dao of the Heavens were without compassion. It judged karmic virtue and karmic sin according to its own rules. Even if one killed by accident, one still had to shoulder an appropriate amount of the karmic blame…and the amount of sin generated by killing that many mortals was utterly terrifying to even think about. “His sin towered to the skies, causing karmic sinflames to descend,” Patriarch Lu continued. “The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan, Immortal Venomfreak, used the Protocosmic spirit-treasure, ‘Worldhold Pagoda’, to teleport the still-burning Ji Ning outside of the world of the Grand Xia, to an undoubtedly dangerous location. The seven days have long since passed; Ji Ning was able to successfully endure the 2894 karmic sinflames, but he still hasn’t returned to the world of the Grand Xia. This means he should be trapped in some extremely dangerous place which he cannot return from.” Yu Wei’s heart shook, falling and rising and falling again. Upon hearing that Ning had survived the karmic sinflames, she had let out a sigh of relief…but upon hearing that he had yet to return, she grew nervous again. “Master…is there anything you can do?” Yu Wei immediately asked. “Nothing.” Patriarch Lu shook his head. “The Worldhold Pagoda is a Protocosmic spirit-treasure with unfathomable power; it is even capable of sending someone to the infinite Void outside of the Three Realms. The Void outside the Three Realms contains many danger zones, and Greater Teleportation is useless within many of those danger zones. In fact…there are some places where even I would die if I were trapped there. Since Ji Ning has not yet returned, he definitely must be trapped there. The longer he stays there, the more dangerous it will be…and perhaps one day, he shall die.” Yu Wei’s body shook. “There’s nothing I can do. There’s nothing you can do either.” Patriarch Lu shook his head. “The danger zones of the infinite Void…most likely, only True Gods or Daofathers would dare to enter those places. However…those danger zones are far too vast! Even if a Daofather was to personally go out and investigate them, some danger zones would take tens of thousands of years, or even millions of years, to search through.” The Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld, for example, surrounded and covered the entire Primordial Ruinworld. If a Daofather wanted to search it…he would have to spend an extremely long period of time. “Then…then…” Yu Wei found it hard to accept this. “You can only wait.” Patriarch Lu continued, “Ji Ning has trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; his master is definitely a Daofather. Only a Daofather has even a hint of a chance of finding him within the infinite Void. However…it’s hard to say how long that would take. I hope that his master will find him while he is still alive.” Yu Wei bit her lips. “What are your plans now?” Patriarch Lu looked at Yu Wei. “I wish to return to the Grand Xia,” Yu Wei said softly. “Mm.” Patriarch Lu nodded slightly. …… 2895 The world of the Grand Xia. Black clouds filled the skies above Stillwater City. Thunder and lightning were flashing within the dark clouds, occasionally striking downwards. Thunderclaps rang out incessantly, and an enormous amount of rain was falling. Within the lightning and the rain, a black-robed woman exited from a spatial tear that she had created above Stillwater city. “Junior apprentice-brother, I’ve returned…so why aren’t you here?” The black-robed woman looked downwards at Stillwater City, but only felt pulses of sadness and worry. In her past life, her heart had been encased in ice; after her parents died in this life, her heart had only grown even colder. The only person she truly cared about in her heart was Ji Ning; for Ning’s sake, she would even be willing to annihilate the heavens themselves without any hesitation. In fact…when she had faced the demonheart tribulation of the Celestial Tribulation, she had relied on the love and affection she felt for Ning to help her endure that extremely long tribulation. This had caused the love she bore for Ning to grow even deeper. Within the illusions of the demonheart tribulation, she and Ning had experienced three thousand years of life together. Whoosh. Yu Wei flew downwards into Stillwater City, into the Black-White College. She scanned the Black-White College with her coresense. Rumble… Another strand of coresense touched hers. Whoosh. Immortal Diancai instantly appeared in the air above his residence. Raising his head, he saw the distant black-robed maiden who was flying in his direction. He couldn’t help but call out with surprise and delight, “Yu Wei, you overcame the Celestial Tribulation?” Immortal Diancai could hardly believe it; he wouldn’t have been surprised by Ning overcome the Celestial Tribulation, but Yu Wei? Yu Wei had failed at the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, during the trials within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers. There was no way her talent compared in any way to Ning’s. It had only been a few short decades; Ning hadn’t undergone his tribulation yet, so how was it that she had overcome hers? Could it be that Yu Wei’s Celestial Tribulation had been extremely weak? Or perhaps that Patriarch Lu was so formidable at teaching disciples that Yu Wei had been successful in overcoming her tribulation? “Yes.” Yu Wei nodded gently. Immortal Diancai nodded repeatedly in excitement. “Good. This is a chaotic era; for our Black-White College to now give birth to another Celestial Immortal is wonderful. Wonderful!” But suddenly, Immortal Diancai thought of Ji Ning, and the fact that he had become Dao-companions with Yu Wei. His smile instantly vanished; in fact, a hesitant look appeared on his face. Should he tell her? “Uncle-master Diancai…” Yu Wei said. “No need to call me ‘uncle-master’,” Immortal Diancai immediately said. Given Yu Wei’s current level of power, the two could converse as equals; after all, for Immortal cultivators, age didn’t really matter. For example, Yu Wei had reawakened her former memories, and if one counted her past life, she was much older than Immortal Diancai. “You are Ji Ning’s master; I naturally need to address you as ‘uncle-master’,” Yu Wei said. “Are you about to tell me about Ji Ning?” Immortal Diancai was startled. “You…you already know?” “Before I returned to the Grand Xia, my master informed me,” Yu Wei said. “Will Patriarch Lu be able to do anything?” Immortal Diancai asked frantically, “Does he know where Ji Ning was exiled to?” “He doesn’t know.” Yu Wei shook her head. “Then we should…?” Immortal Diancai had been worrying about Ning this entire time. “Wait,” Yu Wei replied. Immortal Diancai suddenly thought of something. He hurriedly instructed, “Ji Ning killed two of the Youngflame clan’s Celestial Immortals; they are utterly enraged by this. Although they’ve exiled Ji NIng, they aren’t going to let it rest! Any members of the Ji clan who dared to leave Swallow Mountain have all been killed by the Youngflame clan. You are Ji Ning’s Dao-companion; once they learn that you are back, they’ll probably act against you. You just became a Celestial Immortal; it’s unwise for you to fight against the Youngflame clan head-on for now.” “Act against me?” A hint of a cold, murderous look flashed past Yu Wei’s eyes. …… The Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld. Ning was knocked flying backwards. After stabilizing himself, he looked at his surroundings, then suddenly began to laugh. His laughter was filled with madness, but it was also filled with a hint of longing and apology; longing for his loved ones, and an apology for leaving them. “I won’t be able to accompany you any further,” Ning murmured to himself. His divine power had been almost completely used up. However, the distant violet-caped warrior who had been battling Ning actually retreated. The group of horned, violet-caped warriors began arguing amongst themselves. “Tonto finished his contest; let me go next.” “No, let me go.” “Why should you be the one to go?” “It’s rare for us to encounter an alien that can’t be killed, no matter how hard we hit him. This is a perfect chance for some training and tempering. Let’s take it slow. Don’t be in a rush!” The golden-caped general added, “And it looks to me like the alien is pretty much exhausted. Let him rest for a bit. After he recovers, you can go challenge him one-by-one. As long as he doesn’t die, you’ll all have a chance.” Ning was speechless. He had thought that he was definitely going to die…but they were going to let him recover? “The warriors of the Snaphorn world…really like to fight. Are they…are they treating me as a training dummy?” Ning was puzzled. The general and his violet-caped warriors, however, were quite resigned. Liked to fight? Yes, they liked to fight. However, their innate nature was such that they would generally slaughter their foes; why would they let a fight drag on like this? However, this was the order of the Queen Mother, and in fact the Queen Mother’s mind was riding with them, ordering them to fight against Ji Ning one by one. How could they possibly dare to disobey? “Forget them. Every extra day alive counts.” Ning stood there within the vacuum of space, immediately beginning to attune himself to those two supreme stellar bodies in the deepest reaches of the Void, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star. He began to draw energy from them, converting it into divine power. Within the underwater estate. A black-robed Ning sat there in the lotus position. Suddenly, the giant yellow bear appeared, then hurriedly said, “Ji Ning, Ji Ning!” 2898 “Senior bear.” The black-robed Ning looked at the giant yellow bear. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] “What happened just now?” The giant yellow bear immediately asked, “I clearly sensed that you were at your limit, but were still unable to defeat that violet-caped fellow. How is it that suddenly…?” The black-robed Ji Ning knew what the big bear was asking. He didn’t seek to hide anything from the big bear; after all, there were a good number of individuals in the Three Realms who used heartforce. He immediately replied, “Senior bear, previously, when my divine power was almost used up, I felt as though things were hopeless. Ignoring all else, I poured everything into executing my most powerful swordarts…but who would’ve thought that the power of my sword-arts would exceed even my own expectations? Only then did I realize that my heartforce had actually flowed into my sword-arts and had been slightly depleted.” “Heartforce?” The giant yellow bear was surprised. “You were able to use your heartforce through your sword-fingers?” “Yes.” Ning nodded. “But but but…” The giant yellow bear didn’t dare believe it. In truth, the giant yellow bear actually knew less about heartforce than Ning himself did. Ning, after all, had trained in [Houyi’s Archery], and had read a good number of books at Mount Innerheart regarding the Three Realms. As for the giant yellow bear, all he knew, he had learned while accompanying Daoist Threelives. “You…you were able to use your heartforce through your sword-fingers…but you haven’t even undergone your tribulation, right…?” The giant yellow bear was still in a stunned state. Within the Three Realms, those who could control heartforce were all quite famous; every single one of them was a terrifying force, generally at the True God or Daofather level. Even the weakest of them were generally at least Empyrean Gods or True Immortals. “It has nothing to do with the tribulation.” The black-robed Ning shook his head. “It has everything to do with your level of insight into heartforce. According to the system which mighty Houyi established, heartforce can be divided into five levels. Thanks to the descent of the karmic sinflames, as well as the experiences I have undergone here in the Nihilum Zone…my heartforce actually ended up reaching the third level, ‘ruler’. Given that I’ve been training in [Houyi’s Archery] almost every day for the past half year while floating about in the Nihilum Zone, my mastery over my heartforce has been improved. Perhaps because I established a foundation through training [Houyi’s Archery], as well as due to my heartforce reaching the third level…I was lucky enough to execute the technique successfully.” 2900 “The third stage?” The giant yellow bear didn’t really understand; he didn’t have any insight into Houyi’s systemized levels for heartforce. “However…what’s the usage?” The black-robed Ning shook his head. “Even if I do understand how to apply heartforce to my sword-fingers…I still haven’t undergone my tribulation. I’m completely unable to defeat this Snaphorn world of the Primordial Ruinworld, much less escape the Nihilum Zone.” “Don’t be discouraged,” the giant yellow bear said. “You’ve gained quite a lot, learning how to apply heartforce through your sword-fingers.” “I’m not depressed.” The black-robed Ning was actually quite calm. “Right; that massive army of the Snaphorn world has arrived, and they can easily capture you. Why aren’t they attacking? Why are they letting you recover?” The giant yellow bear was puzzled by this. The black-robed Ning shook his head. “I don’t know the answer either. From the sound of it…they seem to want to use me as a target dummy for training. Perhaps there is another reason as well…but who cares? As long as I have a chance to stay alive, I’ll take it. The longer I can stay alive, the better a chance Master might have to find me. This is a chance to survive…I naturally have to seize it.” “Right.” The giant yellow bear nodded as well. …… Within the misty, void-like region within the underwater estate. The giant yellow bear had just returned here. He looked at the seven powerful experts. “Well?” The beautiful, black-armored woman asked impatiently. “Ji Ning says that the reason why the army of the Snaphorn world has only trapped him rather than killed him is because they apparently want to use him as a training dummy to temper and train some of their more powerful warriors.” The giant yellow bear continued, “However…the reason really isn’t worth overanalyzing. What matters is that Ji Ning is currently not in a life-or-death situation. There’s no need for you to reveal your presences for now; let’s just wait patiently. The longer this drags out, the better; if Patriarch Subhuti is able to find Ji Ning, then everything will be well.” The seven Fiendgods all nodded in agreement. “There’s one other important matter. Ning said that he’s been able to develop a way for him to apply his heartforce through his fingers,” the giant yellow bear suddenly said. “That’s why his power increased so dramatically.” “A way for him to apply heartforce?!” 2901 All seven of the Fiendgods simultaneously cried out in shock. Red-hair said in disbelief, “He…he…you said heartforce…heartforce!!! How could he have developed…” “Ji Ning trained in [Houyi’s Archery], and so he had a set of heartforce techniques to begin with. Perhaps this helped inspire him? In addition, his heartforce has reached the third level,” the giant yellow bear said. “He said something about the third level of heartforce, with Houyi having divided it up into five levels, but I didn’t really understand it.” “The third level?” “What a monster.” “He’s absolutely…” The seven of them were all stunned. The giant yellow bear had never needed to participate in any of the battles of Pangu’s World, but the seven of them had followed Daoist Threelives in one battle after another. They naturally knew a great deal of information regarding the most powerful figures of the Three Realms. If you knew yourself well and your foes well, you would live longer; they naturally knew that heartforce was divided into five levels, and that reaching the third level was considered a very high accomplishment, even in Pangu’s World. “Humans truly live up to their reputation.” Of the seven figures, the child suddenly let out a sigh. “The comprehension ability of humans…they truly are the champion of the myriad races! I wonder how in the world Maiden Nuwa was able to develop a race with such comprehension abilities. Compared to humans, we Fiendgods have an all but non-existent level of comprehension abilities.” “Humans rose up from a weak starting point to become the masters of Pangu’s Primordial World. Even amongst the ranks of the Daofathers, humans are the most numerous race! In fact, the power of humans as a race is capable of equaling the combined power of all the other myriad races. This young master of ours…he is a peerless monster, even amongst humans. There’s no way we can compare to him. No way!” The elder sighed as well. All seven of them were true Fiendgods. The youngest of them had been born when Pangu’s World had just been created. How long had they lived for? They had watched with their own eyes as humanity became powerful. When the human race had first been created, they were an extremely weak race; most likely, any random, powerful Fiendgod would have been able to annihilate the entire race. But humans had been created by Maiden Nuwa, and after Pangu perished, Nuwa became the most powerful figure of the Primordial Era. Naturally, no one would go and wipe out her human race for no good reason. Humans bred at a very fast rate, had incredible comprehension abilities, and grew up very quickly. They gave birth to Celestial Immortals…Pure Yang 2902 True Immortals…and even even Daofathers of the Great Firmament! They grew nonstop, and their status became higher and higher. And now…their single race was capable of withstanding all of the myriad other races combined! Even the Fiendgods of Primordial Chaos had to acknowledge humans and their status. If anyone dared to act against humanity…the major powers of the human race would wipe them out! “He lives up to being our young master, the successor to the Godking.” A friendly, amiable-looking youth said with a sigh, “He was actually able to come up with a way to apply heartforce, even though he hasn’t even undergone his Celestial Tribulation. Combined with the [Starseizing Hand]…our young master has most likely become the most powerful figure amongst all Void-level Fiendgods. In fact, he’s extremely close to being as powerful as an Empyrean God!” “Not just yet, but…still, he does indeed have a chance at becoming nearly as powerful as an Empyrean God.” Snow Scorpion nodded. There was naturally an enormous difference between Void-level Fiendgods and Empyrean Gods. Still…how many Empyrean Gods had a monstrously powerful divine ability like the [Starseizing Hand]? And how many were in control of heartforce? These two points alone were able to make up for many weaknesses. Still…despite that, it could only be said that Ning stood a a ‘chance at becoming nearly as powerful as an Empyrean God’; one couldn’t actually say that he truly already had the combat power of an Empyrean God. This was because when Fiendgods underwent their Empyrean Tribulation and become an Empyrean God, their divine bodies would undergo an earth-shaking change. In addition, their divine power would also skyrocket in quality and quantity. The difference in divine body and divine power was simply too great! The [Starseizing Hand] alone was not enough to make up for a difference of this magnitude; even if one added heartforce into the mix, it would be hard to say. And in addition… Empyrean Gods also had very high levels of insight into the Dao. Thus, ever since the creation of Pangu’s World, there had never been anyone who, as a Void-level Fiendgod, could be said to have truly reached the power of an Empyrean God. Of course…Ning was a monster the likes of which had never been seen, even in Pangu’s World. First of all, he was the only person who knew the [Starseizing Hand], with the other practitioner, Daoist Threelives, having died long ago. And secondly, although there were a few who knew how to apply heartforce, there were almost none at the Void-level; after all, even Ning had only developed this technique after first training in [Houyi’s Archery], then undergoing karmic sinflames, then suffering in the Void and reaching the third level of heartforce. To be able to possess both the [Starseizing Hand] and be able to apply heartforce…Ning truly was an absolute monster. Thus, even these seven Fiendgods who had been alive since the days when Pangu had established the universe had to sigh at the fact that Ning was extremely close to the level of Empyrean Gods. …… “What is this alien doing?” “He seems to be training.” The general and the 801 violet-caped warriors stared at the distant human youth. At this moment, above Ning’s head had appeared two miniature stars; they were a miniature Solar Star and a miniature Lunar Star. Above the miniature Solar Star, flames blazed and a tiny Golden Crow flew about, while above the Lunar Star, an osmanthus tree was growing. Both the miniature Solar Star and the miniature Lunar Star were quite detailed; they seemed to truly be identical to the true Solar Star and Lunar Star, albeit countless times smaller. His divine power was continuing to recover. Ning was training quite calmly. A long time later… After his divine power had completely recovered, Ning was once more at peak power. Whoosh. Ning opened his eyes, sweeping the warriors of the Snaphorn world with his gaze. “He stopped. It seems he’s recovered.” The general smiled. “Baloni, you go.” “Yes.” A desire for battle blazed in the eyes of a violet-caped warrior. He was so excited, he let out a hiss with his slender little tongue. “Alien brat, I’m not as useless as the likes of Tonto and the others. Ahaha…” His ear-piercing laughter rang out as he transformed into a black streak of light, charging straight for Ning. …… One massive battle after another. Each time, a violet-caped warrior would fight against Ning by himself. Some had lower attack power than Ning, but were superior in speed and so could still give him a good fight. The violet-caped warriors also had particularly superb warriors who were superior to Ning in every aspect. Each time, Ning fought until his divine power was completely exhausted, then would stop fighting and calmly focus on recovering through the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! The aliens, in turn, permitted Ning to recover. Fight! Train! Fight! Train! The aliens came in a steady stream, forcing Ning to squeeze out every bit of potential he had. The three Queen Mothers, through these constant engagements, were able to sense Ning’s heartforce rippling. They, in turn, were working hard to hypothesize how heartforce was to be used. Time flowed on…and in the blink of an eye, more than twelve years had gone past. Ning had completely forgotten the flow of time, losing himself in battle. During the past twelve years, he had completely focused all of his attention on the application of heartforce; every single battle was a test for him, and he constantly tried and tested new methods. His method of applying heartforce to his fingers became more and more exquisite; by now, Ning was actually able to use up nearly 3% of his total heartforce through a single sword-finger. This was quite astonishing…but clearly, he hadn’t reached his maximum potential yet. Rumble… Rumble… Two miniature versions of the Solar Star and the Lunar Star were hovering above Ning’s head. A large amount of divine power was circulating through his body. During the past twelve years, Ning’s divine power had grown nonstop, becoming thicker, denser, and more perfect. And today…Ning had truly reached the peak of power possible for the sixteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. BOOM! His divine power finally began to transform. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning’s breakthrough to the seventeenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] didn’t cause too much of a disturbance; in fact, the nearby soldiers of the First Army of the Snaphorn world didn’t even realize that he had made a breakthrough. This was how the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] worked; only when one made a major breakthrough to a new level would the Solar Star and the Lunar Star transmit Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater. Lesser breakthroughs caused a much smaller disturbance. Whooooosh. Within Ning’s divine body, the increasingly pure Crimsonbright divine power began to transform into tiny little rivers that flowed through his veins, causing his divine body to grow even stronger. The seventeenth stage! This was the limit of power for his true body, before it underwent the Celestial Tribulation; if he dared to raise himself to the eighteenth stage, then the tribulation would descend at a moment’s notice afterwards. Although he now controlled heartforce and felt more confident in his chances…he was still surrounded by karmic sinflames and was a tremendous sinner. Most likely, the power of his Celestial Tribulation would be even more terrifying. If he could survive here and leave this place, the Nihilum Zone…Ning couldn’t even imagine what the scene of his tribulation would be like. “I’m the sole heir of the [Starseizing Hand], the disciple of Patriarch Subhuti, a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and surrounded by karmic sinflames.” Ning truly couldn’t imagine it. It was quite common for ordinary Fiendgod Body Refiners to undergo nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation. Upon overcoming the Celestial Tribulation, they would have become Empyrean Gods! And he…he was no ordinary Fiendgod. “I heard that some particularly monstrous geniuses amongst Ki Refiners will also encounter nine ninesets of thunder tribulation,” Ning mused to himself. “I, on the other hand, am a Fiendgod Body Refiner. My Celestial Tribulation…” To this very day, no one had ever fully understood which elements were taken into account in determining the power of the Celestial Tribulation. However, there were many past precedences; for example, Lu Dongbin was a Ki Refiner who had undergone nine nine-sets as a Ki Refiner. Ordinary Fiendgods would often have to undergo nine complete nine-sets of thunder tribulation. As for some truly monstrous geniuses, the most elite of the Fiendgods of the entire Three Realms…their backgrounds were so extraordinary that their tribulations were not like ordinary tribulations. Ning had the feeling…that he would probably be treated as one of the most peerless of Fiendgods of the Three Realms in this regard. “Forget about that for now…I have so many enemies to battle, and I don’t have to hold anything back as I train in heartforce. I can’t waste this opportunity.” Ning opened his eyes, halting his cultivation. “It seems he’s recovered. It’s my turn this time!” A muscular, violet-caped warrior roared with laughter, four giant warhammers in his four arms. Leaping through space, he charged towards Ning. …… Although he was in a dire situation…since there was nowhere to run, Ning didn’t think about anything, completely focusing on battle. As he gained more experience with the application of heartforce, Ning’s power began to rise continuously. The more heartforce his sword-fingers were able to unleash, the more powerful his blows would become. This caused the violet-caped warriors to feel unspeakable misery. After the twelfth year, which is to say after Ning broke through to the seventeenth stage, more than half the violet-caped warriors were at a disadvantage when fighting Ning. As his control over heartforce grew increasingly powerful, Ning began to be able to suppress one violetcaped warrior after another. However, the difference in power wasn’t that great; they were more than capable of staying alive. By the fifteenth year, Ning was confident in being able to kill in battle some of the enemies who matched up poorly against him, but he did not kill them. He was afraid that if he did kill the violet-caped warriors, they would be enraged; that wouldn’t be worth it! The most important thing for him right now was to delay; ideally, he would delay for a few decades or a century. The more time passed, the better the chances that his master, Patriarch Subhuti, would be able to find him. By the sixteenth year, Ning was able to use up nearly a twentieth of his heartforce in a single blow of his sword-fingers. This was him using full power in a single hand; there was no way he could reach this level when using all six arms. By the seventeenth year, Ning was able to use up a sixteenth of his heartforce in one stroke. By the eighteenth year, Ning was able to use up a fifteenth of his heartforce in one stroke! By now, his application of heartforce was perfect, in that not a single bit of his heartforce was wasted or leaked out to the outside world. Ning could no longer come up with any way to further improve it. Although it was still a bit inferior compared to the amount of heartforce he could use when using [Houyi’s Archery]…there naturally were some differences between close combat and archery. Aside from mastering the application of heartforce, Ning had also grown even more formidable in swordarts. Within the Nihilum Zone, there were no Daos to disturb him, allowing Ning to focus even more purely attuning with his sword-arts, causing him to just barely touch upon the true essence of the sword. Ning had been fighting this entire time within the Nihilum Zone. His life was a very calm one…but within the distant Three Realms, the world of the Grand Xia was no longer calm. Stillwater City. The Black-White College. Night. Within a mountain of the Black-White College, a black-robed maiden was seated opposite a black-haired, black-robed man. Both were quietly, pensively drinking wine. “The Seamless Gate has grow more and more bold.” Immortal Diancai’s eyes were filled with anger…but he then shook his head and sighed. “However, they are indeed formidable. They were actually able to cause the Northmont clan of Stillwater to fracture internally. So many high-level members of the Northmont clan actually desired to throw their support to the Seamless Gate…but fortunately senior Unity was enraged and moved to slaughter them.” Just two hours ago, this very day, Celestial Immortal Unity had struck out in rage, wiping out more than half of the Void-level experts of the Northmont clan! All the traitors were killed! “After senior Unity made his move, the Seamless Gate sent a diplomatic note; if he doesn’t throw his support to the Seamless Gate, then they shall become mortal enemies.” Immortal Diancai looked at Yu Wei. “Yu Wei, what do you think we should do?” “It doesn’t really matter what we think; the one which the Seamless Gate truly cares about is senior Unity. According to the stories, senior Unity has power comparable to that of a Pure Yang True Immortal,” Yu Wei said. “And this is precisely the reason why the Seamless Gate has spent so much effort on our Stillwater Commandery; they want to pull senior Unity over to their side.” “The Seamless Gate truly has spent quite a bit of effort on us. The other commanderies might be in a state of chaos, but they aren’t nearly as bad as our Stillwater Commandery is. Still…senior Unity truly is resolute and decisive. The Northmont clan had fractured to the point where nearly half wanted to surrender to the Seamless Gate; even Celestial Immortal Hunchmont ended up being abducted by the Seamless Gate! He actually slaughtered more than half of his Void-level kinsmen. Even if it meant Hunchmont’s death, he still insisted on standing by the side of the Xia Emperor.” Diancai sighed. “Now that the Seamless Gate has sent that diplomatic note…a disaster is about to befall Stillwater Commandery.” When he thought about this disaster…Immortal Diancai thought of Ji Ning. That disciple of his who had wrought so many miracles. That peerless disciple of his who had assaulted the headquarters of the Youngflame clan, slaughtered two mighty Celestial Immortals, and was capable of resisting karmic sinflames. “I wonder how Ji Ning is doing. It has been eighteen years, but he still hasn’t returned.” A hint of urgency was in Immortal Diancai’s eyes. “Eighteen years.” Yu Wei looked at the bright moon in the night sky, her heart filled with countless thoughts. Junior apprentice-brother… When will you return? “It’s better for him to return later; he might be able to dodge this storm.” Immortal Diancai was still angry. “The Seamless Gate is acting with such wild abandon, and senior Unity continues to stand by the side of the Xia Emperor, but the Xia Emperor hasn’t even come to help out.” “The entirety of the Grand Xia is in a state of chaos. Every area is asking for his help. How is he supposed to accomplish it all?” Yu Wei sighed. “In addition..how do you know, uncle-master, that the Xia Emperor hasn’t been helping out in secret?” …… It had only been eighteen years…but the situation of the Grand Xia was more than a hundred times worse than it had been when Ning was present. When Ning had been present, although the various commanderies throughout the Grand Xia all saw some disturbances, on the whole things were still fairly calm. But soon after Ning slaughtered the two Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan, a series of Celestial Immortals began to perish throughout the world of the Grand Xia. It was either done by the Seamless Gate, or by the Xia Emperor in his furious reprisals. All sorts of battles were carried out in secret! One Celestial Immortal after another perished! The Grand Xia’s various marquisdoms, supreme clans, and major sects also began to engage in reprisal killings! The storm was growing more and more violent. Even the number one assassin’s guild of the Grand Xia, ‘Bloodcloud Hall’, had revealed its true face. It struck out time and time again, assaulting and killing some of the tougher foes of the Seamless Gate! Nine years ago… 2909 A dangerous situation had appeared within one of the headquarters of the Northmont clan; even Loose Immortals who went to investigate would perish. Celestial Immortal Hunchmont and Yu Wei had gone together to investigate; logically speaking, if they joined forces, the two of them should be able to escape from any danger without problems. However…the Seamless Gate had actually paid an enormous price to trap them there. Yu Wei, by using an escape technique which Patriarch Lu had bequeathed unto her, had been lucky enough to escape…but Celestial Immortal Hunchmont had been captured alive! By the time Sword Immortal Unity learned of this, it was too late; Celestial Immortal Hunchmont had been sent off to the ‘Fifth World.’ In fact, it was the capture of Celestial Immortal Hunchmont that truly caused the Seamless Gate and Stillwater Commandery to begin fighting. “Everyone in the Three Realms believes me to be dead, but the Seamless Gate actually knew that I am alive.” Sword Immortal Unity had a bad feeling as well; the Seamless Gate was even harder to deal with than he had expected. They used all sorts of methods to try and influence Sword Immortal Unity, be it through tribes, territory, or other methods. However…given that Sword Immortal Unity had the mental fortitude to hide himself away for so many years, how could the Seamless Gate possibly change his mind so easily as this? You want to seduce the kinsmen that I favor? Seduce away the Void-level Earth Immortals that I wanted to teach? Fine. All traitors…die! Hunchmont? If you want to kill him, then kill him, Seamless Gate! Sword Immortal Unity seemed to be without any weaknesses whatsoever. Over the course of nine years, they had engaged in several major battles, and even Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai had encountered grave danger. At the same time…the news that Yu Wei had become a Celestial Immortal finally began to spread out, and her strength became publicly acknowledged. However…when assaulted by the Seamless Gate, Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai received aid from Sword Immortal Unity as well! Unity was indeed incredibly powerful. He, all by himself…had forced thirty-six Celestial Immortals of the Seamless Gate to flee in disarray! This was what it meant to have power close to a Pure Yang True Immortal’s! Ever since Sword Immortal Unity had revealed his sharpness, not even the Youngflame clan had dared to cause trouble in Stillwater Commandery any longer. Although Immortal Venomfreak was also quite famous for his power…his strength lay in his cunning, in subertfuge, and in his many clones. As for Unity, known as the Supreme Sword Immortal, he had truly astonishing close combat power. …… Within the Nihilum Zone. “The sword…so it is as simple and pure as this.” Ning was currently battling against one of the violetcaped warriors. His sword-fingers dimly glowed with a sharp, silvery-white shine. Clang! Clang! Clang! Ning’s sword-fingers collided with the foe’s greataxe, but actually knocked it flying back. His sword-fingers now glowed with that sharp, silvery-white light… This was the other thing Ning had gained during these eighteen years of battle, aside from learning how to use heartforce! These eighteen years had resulted in hundreds of more battles than Ning had experienced in all his previous decades of life combined! This was because all of his time was spent either replenishing his divine power or fighting. Repeated battles. Endless battles! And there were no Daos present; in fact, not even the Dao of the Sword was present to influence him. Ning didn’t have to think about what was the best way to summon the most amount of natural energy. He didn’t have to consider these things; all he had to think about was honing his instincts and using them to apply his sword-arts in battle. And so…Ning’s sword-arts had become more and more pure. They guided to the very essence of swordplay itself! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Appears [Note – This chapter’s title comes from a Chinese idiom which essentially means ‘true intentions revealed in the end’; it comes from a famous historical story where an assassin attempted to assassinate the Qin Emperor by hiding a dagger within a scroll that the Qin Emperor wanted. The Qin Emperor accepted the scroll and and began to unfurl it, and at the the very bottom/end of the scroll, the dagger appeared; the assassin immediately grabbed the dagger and used it to make the assassination attempt. Thus, the saying ‘at the scroll’s end, the dagger appears’ refers to true intentions being revealed] His swordplay became so pure that one day, the tips of Ji Ning’s sword-fingers began to glow with that sharp, silvery-white aura. This silvery-white aura caused his sword-fingers to become even sharper and fiercer! They were now sharper and more penetrating than even actual swords! Within the underwater estate. The black-robed Ning was currenty asking the giant yellow bear some questions. “Senior bear, do you know what the sharp lights surrounding my fingers are?” “You don’t know?” The giant bear was puzzled. “You know about heartforce, so how can you not know about…oh, right. Most likely, Patriarch Subhuti was worried that you would set your sights too high, and so he didn’t tell you right away.” “What do you mean?” Ning asked. The giant bear explained, “For Sword Immortals, fully mastering the Grand Dao of the Sword isn’t the end of the road. After you completely master the entire Grand Dao of the Sword…you’ll begin to focus on understanding the essence of the sword itself. When using sword-arts, your blade will naturally emit this sort of sharp light. This sort of sharp light is also referred to as ‘swordforce’; generally speaking, peerless Sword Immortals who have thoroughly mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword will begin to slowly discover and cultivate this power. You’ve just barely touched upon it; I imagine you are at the lowest, most basic level of swordforce.” “Swordforce?” Ning now understood. “So that’s how it is. When I was in Mount Innerheart, I saw some books which made note of the fact that when one completely mastered the Grand Dao of Taiji, one would begin to attune to the very essence of the Taiji itself, at which point a strange type of power would slowly be developed; taiji-force! It seems my swordforce is quite similar to this taiji-force in nature.” “Right.” The giant bear smiled and nodded. Ning now completely understood. Taiji-force, swordforce…generally speaking, those who completely mastered the Grand Daos of Taiji or the Sword would be able to slowly work on controlling this type of power. It could be considered an additional supplement, making one a bit more powerful in battle. “One of the greatest dangers for Immortal cultivators is being overly ambitious.” Ning let out a sigh. For example, when he first entered the Black-White College, the Primal Daoists, Loose Immortals, and Earth Immortals wouldn’t even tell him that the Dao was divided up into Heavenly Daos, Grand Daos, and ordinary Daos. This was precisely because they were worried about their disciples being excessively ambitious, resulting in them accomplishing nothing whatsoever! The same was true for Patriarch Subhuti; if he had told Ning about swordforce all along, it might’ve caused Ning to deviate when attuning to the Dao of the Sword, which would actually negatively impact his insights. “I haven’t even fully mastered the Dao of the Sword yet, but I’ve actually begun to be able to use a slight amount of swordforce already.” Ning laughed in a gratified manner. “The number of battles you have engaged in during the past ten-plus years was far more than the total number of battles you engaged in before you arrived here in the Nihilum Zone. The Dao of the Sword is an attacking Dao to begin with; if the Dao of the Sword or the Heavenly Daos were present here, I imagine that you would’ve advanced quite astonishingly fast in the Dao of the Sword.” The giant bear added, “Since this place does not have the Dao of the Sword, you haven’t been able to advance in the Dao of the Sword at all…which means you accidentally focused on attuning to the essence of the sword and ended up controlling a tiny thread of swordforce. This can be considered an unexpected benefit for you. I trust that in the future, the fact that you have started your quest for the essence of the sword will be of tremendous help to you in comprehending the Dao of the Sword.” “Right.” Ning nodded lightly. …… “Monster. A true monster.” “No wonder Lu Dongbin felt so certain that he was born to be a peerless Sword Immortal, and even Patriarch Subhuti felt that he was extremely talented in this regard. Even before mastering the Dao of the Sword, he’s already taken control of a tiny amount of swordforce. Clearly, he has an incredibly, unbelievably high level of aptitude towards the sword.” Within the blurry, void-like region within the underwater estate. The giant yellow bear had told them about his conversation, and the seven Fiendgods all signed in amazement. However…Ning had only mastered the most basic, elementary level of swordforce at present; there was a limit as to how much it could help him. By comparison, his ruler-level heartforce had helped Ning increase his power much more. Still…that tiny bit of mastery over swordforce was a testament to the fact that Ning truly was an unbelievable talent as a Sword Immortal. “No matter how talented he is, it won’t matter unless he can escape this Nihilum Zone.” A muscular man whose entire body was red in color let out a sigh. “To date, the Snaphorn world hasn’t truly gone all out against our young master…but if push comes to shove, then we will be forced to intervene. By then, we will have to deal with the master of the Snaphorn world…and we have no idea as to if we can beat him or not.” “The real question is, has the master of the Snaphorn world reached the Daofather level yet?” “If not, he won’t pose a threat.” “But if he is at the Daofather level…we’ll probably be doomed.” “We have nowhere to run. Even if we don’t move to rescue our young master, the master of the Snaphorn world will eventually discover the Starseizing Manor. After discovering the Starseizing Manor…if he is at the Daofather level, he’ll definitely be able to find our world. By then…we’d still have to fight him.” Technically speaking, Ning had yet to become an Empyrean God, and per the orders of Daoist Threelives, they weren’t supposed to save him; they were supposed to leave Ning’s fate up to himself, and if he died they were to go find another successor. Alas…they were now trapped within the Nihilum Zone and unable to depart from it, much less find another successor. This day, Ning engaged in dozens of battles before coming to a halt, acting as though he needed to replenish his divine power. In reality, Ning still had half of it left; after all, now that he had reached the seventeenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], his divine power was much thicker than it had been in the past. For the sake of being prepared for all eventualities, he always came to a halt when he only had half of his divine power left. In turn, the violet-caped warriors always let him replenish his divine power as needed. As he replenished his energy…three mighty minds were conversing within the darkness of the Void. “Ever since this human began fighting against our Firstborn, he’s continuously improved his mastery over his heartforce. Less and less of it leaks out, and the ripples it causes are harder and harder to discern. Recently…he’s leaked out no heartforce in his battles whatsoever. Although we can vaguely sense that he is using it, we are unable to sense any of the heartforce ripples now. This poses no use to us in our attempts to develop a heartforce technique at all.” The first Queen Mother’s thoughts held a hint of resentment. “Two elder sisters, what should we do?” The third Queen Mother asked. “During this period of time, tens of thousands of battles have been carried out. We’ve developed a few ideas, while you, little sister, have actually managed to coalesce some heartforce. You’ve developed a basic level of skill in heartforce; this can be described as a merit for this human.” The second Queen Mother continued, “However, our elder sister and I have yet to be able to coalesce heartforce, much less figure out a way to apply it.” “Although I’ve managed to coalesce heartforce, I still need to slowly work away at a method for applying it.” The third Queen Mother’s thoughts held a hint of resentment as well. “If he continues to leak heartforce…a few more centuries of battle should be enough.” A hundred years, a thousand years…these were very short periods of time for them. Alas, Ning had only given them eighteen years of ‘bliss’. By now, Ning had very perfect control over his heartforce. When using his sword-arts, his heartforce didn’t leak outwards at all; the Queen Mothers knew that Ning was using heartforce, but there was no way for them to analyze it. After all, the more that leaked out, the more easy it was to analyze. “But we aren’t able to hypnotize him…and he’d rather die than let us search his memories. Let’s kill him,” the second Queen Mother said. The third Queen Mother opposed this. “Let’s capture him alive first, then imprison him within our bodies. Let us slowly torment him, slowly torture him…and perhaps one day we’ll be able to search his memories.” “Capture him and imprison him within third sister’s body.” The first Queen Mother agreed as well. “Fine.” The second Queen Mother accepted this outcome. And so… They gave the order. The Nihilum Zone. The golden-caped general and violet-caped warriors of the Snaphorn world were all relaxing and chatting amongst themselves. Although they had always felt that letting this alien stay alive wasn’t really in keeping with their nature, and they truly wanted to slaughter him…how could they dare disobey the orders of their Queen Mothers? Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The mind-strands that had been attached to the golden-caped general and the hundreds of violet-caped Firstborn warriors began to transmit orders from the Queen Mother. “Children, capture this alien right away and send him to our sacred palace.” 2915 Instantly, the bored, golden-caped general and his many violet-caped warriors grew excited, their eyes lighting up. Perfect. They were finally going to be allowed to make their act. For the entire First Army to be idle here…the millions of Snaphorn warriors were utterly bored senseless. “The Queen Mother commands that the alien is to be captured alive and sent to the sacred palace.” The general sent mental messages to each and every one of the violet-caped warriors; after all, the Queen Mothers had only been able to send direct messages to the Firstborn. There were many violet-caped warriors who didn’t know the news yet. “This time…there’s no need for the rest of you to intervene. I’ll handle him myself.” “Yes.” No one would disobey. This was because the general hadn’t fought a single time yet! …… Although Ning was in the middle of replenishing his divine power, with a miniature Solar Star and Lunar Star floating above his head, transmitting energy to him to be converted into divine power…Ning was still keeping a very close watch on his surroundings. However, he didn’t realize that the distant general was about to make his move…but the giant yellow bear did, and immediately warned him: “Ji Ning, that alien general is about to make his move.” “What?!” Ning was startled awake, instantly opening his eyes. Torch-light blazed within his eyes. He immediately saw the golden-caped general charge towards him from ten thousand kilometers away. The golden-caped general had always been Ning’s greatest source of fear…but he had never fought against Ning, not even once. In the past, he had always just watched from far away. In addition, during the past eighteen years, as long as Ning was in the process of replenishing his divine power, the enemy would not act against him. “General.” Ning sent his divine sense out in a ripple. “After waiting for so many years…it seems you are finally going to make your move.” “Our warriors have been tempered enough, given how many times they’ve fought you.” The general strode through the void as he spoke. His appearance was identical to that of the other horned warriors, but his eyes were older and wiser, and his invisible aura of power was far more menacing. “Alien…you should forget about resisting. If you do so, you might be able to stay alive.” “You won’t kill me?” Ning asked. If he could stay alive somehow, then he would do so, trying to buy as much time as he could. “Follow me to the Snaphorn world. I won’t kill you,” the general said. Ning’s heart trembled. To the Snaphorn world? It must be understood that this region of space was simply a part of the Void that was under the control of the Snaphorn world. The true territory of the Snaphorn world was within the Primordial Ruinworld. By comparison, the Nihilum Zone was safer; the Primordial Ruinworld was truly the main headquarters of the enemy. If he entered there…his chances of escape would be even lower. How could Ning possibly go in? “Impossible.” Ning shook his head, staring at the general. “Heh heh heh…” The general laughed, but four long whips suddenly appeared in his hands. “Your resistance is futile.” The general was very calm. His self-confidence came from his overwhelming power. Instantly, his four arms lashed out simultaneously, and the four long black whips lashed out many tens of thousands of meters like four enormous black serpents. They reached Ning in almost an instant. Ning used two arms to guard in front of him, while the fingers of his other four arms transformed to become three thousand meters long, using sword-arts to block the attacks. Bang! Ning was already doing his utmost, siumultaneously using 3% of his heartforce with each strikes of his four sword-fingers. In fact, he was clearly able to block the long black whips…but the whips trembled and somehow arrived in front of Ning’s head. Although Ning hurriedly moved to block, those four black whips had completely entangled Ning. If the violet-caped warriors could be described as supreme Celestial Immortals, then this golden-caped warrior had already reached the Empyrean God level. …… Within the misty, void-like region inside the underwater estate. “That golden-caped general has made his move.” The giant yellow bear had a serious look on his face as he watched what was happening in the outside world. “Ji Ning is fighting back…but he’s already become trapped by the whips.” “Move.” The red-haired Empyrean God gave the order to their group of seven Fiendgods. “Completely wipe out the entire First Army.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Emerge The black whips snaked out in circles, completely entangling Ji Ning. Ning gritted his teeth and struggled, but was unable to break free. This caused Ning to feel both rage as well as a hint of sorrow. “I am a practitioner of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], and am incomparably close to the Empyrean God level in power. I don’t even hold those violet-caped warriors, each of which is comparable to a supreme Celestial Immortal, in any regard. Who would’ve thought that in just a single exchange, I would be captured?” Ning gave a cold look towards the golden-caped general and the group of violet-caped warriors. “Haha, look at the alien! He still seems untamed and unruly.” “He thought that just because he gave us a good fight, that he could overcome our general?” “The general has completely transcended the Heaven-level long and has truly reached the Saint-level. In addition, as the general of the First Army, he’s one of the most powerful of Saint-level experts; how could this alien possibly overcome him?” The violet-caped warriors were all chatting amongst themselves. The Saint-level; this was equivalent to the Empyrean God level of the Three Realms! They had extremely high statuses within the Snaphorn world, and were qualified to bear the golden cape. The Elders of the Palace of Elders and the generals of the armies were generally all at this level! In addition, a general who commanded the First Army, the border army that often engaged in wars, was definitely a god of war amongst the Snaphorn world, someone venerated by countless kinsmen! “Imprison him and take him back to the sacred palace,” the general ordered. “Yes.” The group of violet-caped warriors all assented. They glanced towards the captured Ning with looks of disdain and pity. After countless ages of war, the only thing the warriors of the Snaphorn world felt towards all aliens was enmity. “Let’s go back.” “Our entire First Army has been dawdling here for so long. It’s been boring.” The countless horned warriors were all dancing in joy. These past eighteen years truly had been extremely boring for these warriors. Rumble… A golden warship flew over from the distance. The general was holding a whip with but a single hand, and was dragging the entangled, bound human youth, Ji Ning, behind him. He looked back at Ning. “You are fairly strong; your sword-arts, at least, are close to the Saint-level in power. A pity for you that you met me.” Ning glanced at the general, then ignored him. He knew himself that with the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], his ruler-level heartforce supporting him, his swordforce, and his seventeenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], that he should have in theory reached the threshold of Empyrean Gods! However, the mere ‘threshold’ represented a weak Empyrean God…and this golden-caped general was a very strong one! Suddenly… Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Without any warning, four figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere around Ji Ning. Their explosively powerful auras caused Ning’s face to instantly change. He couldn’t help but turn his to look, and when he did, he saw ten figures with utterly astonishing auras. There was a bald elder with narrowed eyes, an amiable-looking youth, a bewitchingly beautiful woman with snow-white eyebrows, and… “Senior Redsnow?” Ning was amazed. The seven figures included a tall, muscular man with red hair and golden armor. It was the red-haired Empyrean God who Ning had met in the past! These seven figures had equally powerful auras; they were all on the same level. “What?!” The general, who had been pulling Ning behind him with the whip, turned his head and saw those seven figures as well. His face also changed. “Who are you!” Danger! The general suddenly felt a powerful sense of danger in his heart. At the same time…he couldn’t figure out how these seven powerful figures could’ve suddenly arrived within the space territory controlled by his Snaphorn world. “Hahaha…” Of the seven figures that had appeared around Ning, one was the child who was wearing a neck-circlet. The child suddenly let out a laugh as his body began to rapidly grow in size. Just before, he had been smaller than even Ning, but now he transformed to become thirty thousand meters tall, becoming even larger and more muscular than the warriors of the Snaphorn world. The massive child roared with laughter…and suddenly, a pillar of golden light shot out from his eyes. “DIVINE GOLDBLAZE LIGHT!” The child let out a loud shout. The eye-beams of light swept out in every direction. Whoosh…the pillars of light shot out from his eyes expanded to cover an area of a hundred thousand kilometers. All the horned warriors and black-caped warriors touched by the pillars of light all let out agonized cries. They all began to melt, like snowmen under the sun…with the only difference being that they melted far faster! “No!” “It hurts!” “What is this?!” Wherever those eye-beams swept past, the horned warriors and black-caped warriors died, melting into death without being able to resist at all. In the blink of an eye, more than ten thousand Snaphorn warriors had perished. “But, but, but…” The general was stunned for a moment, but he then immediately gave an order. “Quick, assemble the formation!” “Yes!” The 801 violet-caped warriors were shocked awake by this order. If they were going to join into a powerful formation, the 801 of them had to take the lead! A small war-formation needed a single blackcaped warrior and ten ordinary Snaphorn warriors, while a medium war-formation needed a violetcaped warrior, a hundred black-caped warriors, and a thousand ordinary warriors. The largest formations, however…required a general, a hundred commanders, ten thousand black-caped warriors, and a hundred thousand ordinary warriors joining forces! Thus, these violet-caped warriors had to lead the way; otherwise, the unorganized masses would be completely unable to resist that terrifying divine light. …… The gaze-attack of the child had stretched out to a hundred thousand kilometers. “You want to flee?” The beautiful woman with the snow-white eyebrows transformed into a streak of white light…and then in her stead, an enormous, snowy white scorpion appeared within the Void. This snowy white scorpion was like an enormous island, a full ten thousand kilometers in size. Its face, however, was the face of a human woman, and it also had those strange-looking white eyebrows. This titanic snow-white scorpion almost instantly charged into the group of those 801 violet-caped warriors. The snowy white eyebrows of the scorpion were even longer than its tail. They fluttered forward, one of them transforming into countless white strands of silk that wrapped around those violet-caped warriors. Luckily enough, they had been fleeing in many different directions, and so when the snowy white scorpion had appeared, they had already begun pulling away from each other, and so part of them were able to escape. Of the 801 violet-caped warriors, over six hundred were instantly entangled by those eyebrows! Ssssssss…. In the same instant that they were entangled by the eyebrows, a layer of frost began to appear on their bodies. And then…like ice cracking, they were completely chopped and broken apart by the white eyebrow-strands. Even their cores were destroyed, causing them all to perish. …… This took time to describe…but in reality, as soon as the seven figures had appeared, the child and the black-armored beauty had immediately struck with utterly devasting power. This completely enraged the general. “Damn you, aliens!” The general no longer paid Ning any mind. He transformed into a streak of light, charging towards the now-titanic child. The titanic child looked down at the general, letting out a laugh. Clang! The child held his neck-circlet in his hands, smashing it downwards towards the general. The long whips in the general’s four arms expanded to become more than thirty thousand meters long, furiously seeking to entangle the neck-circlet. “Oh, so you have quite a bit of strength.” The child gave it a tug, but wasn’t able to tug it free. “Hmph.” The golden-armored, red-haired Empyrean God watched this all happen. He immediately let out a cold snort, then stabbed forward with the longspear in his hands. Rumble… 2921 When the spear stabbed out, an enormous whirlpool appeared within the Void, with the center of the whirlpool being the tip of the spear. “Not good.” The general immediately had a tremendous feeling of danger. He had the feeling that this redhaired fellow…was far more powerful than the child and the scorpion lady. In fact, the red-haired fellow might be strong enough to kill him! “Flee.” The general no longer thought of fighting back. That red-haired man alone was enough to make him feel helpless…and the general had six other foes at his level of power to worry about as well! Swish! Space suddenly seemed to have been thrown into chaos. The general was stunned. He lowered his head, looking at his chest…and there was the tip of an enormous spear sticking out it. His core had been completely shattered. “I…I just died?” The general couldn’t believe it. But how could he know that this Fiendgod, Redsnow, had been the number one general under the command of Daoist Threelives? He had been awe-inspiringly famous, even back in Pangu’s Primordial World, and was truly one of the most utterly supreme of Empyrean Gods. “Red-hair, how could that little alien bastard have been a match for you? You didn’t even give us a chance to act!” The gentle-looking youth complained with resignation. “I was preparing to have a nice, big fight with him, but you killed him right away!” The child complained helplessly as well. Ning just stared blankly at all this. Good heavens… Just now, he had felt utter despair…but these seven figures had suddenly appeared, and they were ridiculously powerful. Was this the power of a true Empyrean God? It was on a completely different level from the Celestial Immortals; most likely hundreds of Celestial Immortals would have to join together into a formation to be able to resist such power. “Senior Redsnow,” Ning hurriedly called out. Redsnow glanced at Ning, then smiled. Because he had a full head of red hair, his closest friends often simply referred to him as ‘red-hair’, but his name was indeed Redsnow. Thus, the spear-art he developed had also been named [Redsnow]. “Hurry up. This isn’t the time to play around,” Empyrean God Redsnow said. “Wipe them out as soon as you can; we need to come up with a way to escape this Nihilum Zone.” “Alright.” “Right.” The leader of these seven was Empyrean God Redsnow. Redsnow had been very steady and reliable when they had followed Daoist Threelives, and he was also extremely powerful; everyone acknowledged his leadership! …… The Snaphorn world. The Palace of Elders. “What?” “Where did those aliens come from?” “Impossible.” The nine mighty Elders who had been lazily watching the mirror were all shocked. The general of the First Army had easily captured that alien…but who would’ve imagined that seven mysterious figures would suddenly arrive? The seven had massacred their warriors with utterly overwhelming power, and even one of the top generals of the Snaphorn world, the general of the First Army, had actually been killed by that red-haired foe in their first exchange of blows. This caused them to feel enraged…and also horrified! Although they were Elders and were also at the Saint-level like the general…their responsibilities lay in the governance of the Snaphorn world. By comparison, their combat abilities were inferior. In an actual battle, they probably would be weaker than the general. …… Within the infinite darkness of the Void, three minds were conversing. “What?!” “The Fiendgods of the Three Realms have arrived as well?” 2923 “Damn!” “That region of space was locked long ago; there’s no way they could’ve gone straight there. There’s only one possibility; those Fiendgods of the Three Realm have been accompanying that human this entire time in some sort of portable dimensional treasure. They hadn’t attacked because they were waiting for us to capture the human; only then could they no longer hold back.” “These seven Fiendgods should all be at the Empyrean God level…only, that red-haired Empyrean God is a bit too ridiculously strong. Even my child, Habul, was instantly killed. Even in that ancient war, there were very few Empyrean Gods who were so terrifyingly strong.” “Let us personally intervene to annihilate them.” “Right.” All three Queen Mothers began to emit a terrifying, killing intent… If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Nihilum Zone. Millions of horned warriors were fleeing in terror and despair. “That enemy with the neck-circlet…all the warriors in the locations he looks at die. He’s too terrifying.” “The general was killed on one blow.” They had completely collapsed. In a short instant, more than six hundred of the eight hundred commanders of the First Army had been wiped out, along with their general. The horned warriors were unable to assume their formations; naturally, they no longer even thought about fighting back. All they felt was utter terror and panic as they frantically fled in every which way. But right at this moment, the exact same voice rang out from the deepest, innermost parts of every warrior’s heart, a voice that came from their very essence, their bloodline. “Queen Mother’s Incarnation!” “Queen Mother’s Incarnation!” “Queen Mother’s Incarnation!” The voice echoed repeatedly. The millions of fleeing horned warriors came to a halt at the same moment. The voice that rang out in their heart had been planted there on the day they were born! Every single warrior of the Snaphorn world, in the moment of their birth, was prepared for welcome the Queen Mother’s Incarnation. In fact, it could be said that the ultimate purpose for them being born was to welcome the Queen Mother’s Incarnation. This was the absolute most terrifying ability available to the Snaphorn world when fighting against other worlds! “The Queen Mother.” The millions of horned warriors all raised their heads upwards, their foreheads splitting open as a streak of green light shot upwards from it. Millions of streaks of light shot into the sky. For a moment, a large section of the infinite emptiness of the Void had actually transformed into a field of green. “What’s going on?” The seven mighty Empyrean Gods stared at this in amazement. “This…” Ning felt something was off as well. The millions of horned warriors who had been fleeing in panic had suddenly stopped? What were they doing? …… The murmurs of the millions of horned warriors could be heard everywhere. Underneath the green light, their bodies began to dissolve, as though they were providing nourishment for the green light. The green light grew even brighter, and just like that… The millions of horned warriors all completely vanished, leaving behind nothing within the Void save that enormous green glow. Within the green light, countless murmurs could still be heard, the murmurs of the horned warriors… “Queen Mother.” “Queen Mother.” “Queen Mother.” This was their most glorious moment. Their murmurs were filled with pride and veneration. They willingly sacrificed everything for their Queen Mother and welcomed her Incarnation…and so they died. Whoosh… The awe-inspiringly enormous green glow in space split apart into three parts. The light of these three enormous green glows began to condense, transforming into three utterly enormous warriors with jadegreen armor, curved blood-red horns, and an appearance that was extremely close to that of an ordinary Snaphorn warrior’s. However…their bodies were like mountain ranges in size, and their auras were completely different. Their auras were of chaos and utter savagery. As the three titanic warriors took form…the seven Empyrean Gods had a bad feeling. “Attack. Join forces to kill the closest one,” Empyrean God Redsnow ordered. “Alright.” “Let’s go.” The millions of horned warriors had been quite scattered, as some had fled very far away by now. Thus, there was nearly a million kilometers of distance between each of the three enormous horned warriors; the seven had more than enough time to defeat them one by one. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Seven streaks of light charged towards the closest titan warrior. “Fiendgods of the Three Realms…you seven Empyrean Gods, you actually dare to challenge ME?” The titanic warrior let out a loud laugh, a laugh which caused the Void itself to shudder. This was the Incarnation of the first Queen Mother; it could be considered her clone or avatar! There was an enormous price that had to be paid for the creation of this sort of clone, a price of many hundreds of thousands of horned warriors. In addition, this clone could only be maintained for a short period of time. The Queen Mothers rarely chose this option. And yet…though the price was high, the combat power was utterly astonishing. “Die.” The first Queen Mother raised her four arms high. The arms were as thick as the pillars that supported the heavens, and she slammed them down towards the seven mighty Empyrean Gods. “WAAAAGH!” An ear-splitting scream suddenly assaulted the first Queen Mother. The bald elder of the seven had transformed into a giant, winged black crow. The crow let out an ear-piercing screech, and the first Queen Mother’s clone movements turned slow. “GO!” The child let out an angry roar, hurling forth the neck-circlet he had been holding. The neck-circlet transformed into a streak of golden light, expanding at an explosive pace until it became thirty thousand meters thick. It coiled itself around the first Queen Mother’s clone, seeking to bind it. …… Battle had instantly exploded. Ning just watched as the enormous black crow attacked and the child threw out his neck-circlet. Next, a seemingly infinite amount of water and fire descended which was no weaker than Solar Truefire or Lunar Truewater. The fire and the water intermingled as they swirled around the first Queen Mother, completely blocking off Ning’s field of vision, making it so that he could no longer see what was happening. “Such power.” “So this is the might of an Empyrean God?” Ning was completely stunned by what he saw. The Void itself was shaking. The seven Empyrean Gods continued to battle viciously and savagely with the first Queen Mother’s clone. Although Ning could no longer see the battle clearly with his eyes, the powerful ripples that emanated from this battle were enough to cause any and all Celestial Immortals to perish. “Seven Planets Empyrean God Formation!” Suddenly, an angry roar rang out. Ning could tell that this was senior Redsnow’s voice. “Assemble the formation.” “KILL!” A hoarse voice, a sinister voice, a crisp voice…several voices called out the word ‘kill’ at the same time. Rumble… A streak of blinding light appeared in the field of battle in the distant space of the Void. The streak of light instantly pierced through this entire region of space, then slowly dimmed. The fire and water had also completely dissipated, allowing Ning to see what was happening. There were two enormous figures in the distance. One was the Queen Mother’s clone, many tens of thousands of meters tall, with jade-green scales and a savage, brutal aura. The other was also many tens of thousands of meters tall. He was dressed in rainbow-colored armor, and he wielded a spear that was even taller than him. His appearance looked rather similar to Empyrean God Redsnow. “Seven Planets Empyrean God Formation?” Ning nodded when he saw this. This formation was an ancient Fiendgod formation that could only be executed when seven Empyrean Gods were joining forces! It merged the full power of all seven Empyrean Gods together into a single Empyrean God who served as the focus, resulting in an ‘Empyrean God of the Seven Planets’. The Seven Planets Empyrean God who wielded the longstaff looked quite similar to Empyrean God Redsnow; clearly, the core of this particular formation was Redsnow, and everything was under his control. “You are actually able to injure me?” An enormous hole had appeared in the chest of the first Queen Mother’s clone. It had been created by an earlier thrust of the spear. The clone let out a loud laugh. “However…this is nothing more than a clone created by my countless children’s bodies. It’s useless; I have no weaknesses.” The hole in the clone’s body almost completely healed over. “Big sister, it seems like we have to help out, eh?” “These Fiendgods of the Three Realms aren’t easy to deal with.” The other two Queen Mother clones were charging over at high speed. Boom! Boom! Boom! The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets continued to battle wildly against the first Queen Mother’s clone. Although the clone was injured, the injury was negligible. By now, the other two clones had also arrived, and instantly all three began to assault the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets in unison. “Redhair, what should we do? The clones of these three we are fighting are already so strong; their true bodies are most likely at the Daofather level.” “The seven of us joined together to transform into the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets, but we still aren’t able to kill even their clones; in fact, we aren’t even able to hold the upper hand.” “This is trouble.” “I’ve never encountered this sort of enemy before.” The seven Empyrean Gods felt uneasy as well, because they were inexperienced in that they had never encountered foes like this before. Although these foes had appeared in that great, calamitous war all those eons ago, the seven of them had been sent off by Daoist Threelives well in advance, and so they didn’t participate in that war at all. Naturally, this meant that they had no experience in that regard. …… The three Queen Mother clones jointly assaulted the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets, which used its longspear in unfathomably profound ways to defend. In fact, within the surrounding voice, countless white snowflakes actually began to appear, and even time itself began to grow disordered. Within this region of fractured time, the spear-arts of the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets grew even more terrifyingly powerful as they completely blocked the assaults of the three Queen Mother clones. “Where did this fellow come from?” “He’s merely an Empyrean God! Although there are seven of them fighting together…the three of us, joined forces, are unable to kill him?” “It seems we need to summon even more warriors.” “Have the Second Army of the border armies come as well.” The three Queen Mothers were growing frantic as well. Although their three clones held the upper hand, their advantage wasn’t that huge. In addition, the defensive power of that spear was simply too great; although they were able to suppress their foe, they weren’t able to actually injure him. In fact, it was the first Queen Mother who had initially sustained some injuries! …… “We can’t kill them.” “This probably isn’t even the full power of the Snaphorn world. We can’t fight for too long; we have to break out of this grand sealing formation and leave this place immediately.” 2929 After battling for a few moments, the seven Empyrean Gods immediately came to this conclusion. The rainbow-armored Empyrean God of the Seven Planets suddenly lashed forward with his spear, slamming it against the chest of one of the Queen Mother clones, causing the Queen Mother to be knocked backwards by several hundred meters. Swoosh! The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets sought to fly away! “Fleeing?” One of the other Queen Mother clones stretched out her four arms, transforming them into countless streaks of formless green light that instantly wrapped around the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets, preventing them from taking even a single step further. “Hahaha, you seven Empyrean Gods, you’ve already arrived at our Snaphorn world’s territory…if we were to let you flee, just like that, how would I, Woeslay, have any face left in the Primordial Ruinworld?” The first Queen Mother clone, which had just trapped the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets, let out a loud laugh. The two other Queen Mother clones came over to attack as well. “Hmph.” The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets spun its spear about to defend. Although it was surrounded by green light, the green light would at most make it slower; it was still more than capable of continuing to defend itself. “Redhair, these three old bastards of the Snaphorn world are clearly trying to buy time. I trust that they are summoning even more forces from their Snaphorn world so as to deal with us.” “We can’t waste any more time.” “We have to leave.” …… Not just the seven Empyrean Gods; even Ning could tell that these three Queen Mother clones of the Snaphorn world were intentionally trying to delay and buy time. They all knew what was going on…but they were helpless to stop it! The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets was capable of protecting itself, but not of escaping. Ning, in turn, was completely unqualified to participate in a battle of this level. “Senior bear, where did these seven seniors come from? They are in a dangerous situation right now; do you have any method for saving them?” Ning was frantic; his Primaltwin was currently querying the giant yellow bear, but all the bear did was sigh. What could he possibly do? But just as Ning was panicking and as the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets was battling against the three Queen Mother clones… Whoooooosh. In the distant Void, a grayish-white vortex suddenly appeared, causing Ning to turn his head to look at it. The battling Empyrean Gods and the three Queen Mother clones also couldn’t help but notice the grayishwhite vortex which had suddenly appeared. A figure suddenly emerged from the grayish-white vortex of the Void. It was an old man with a pristine white beard who was dressed in loose Daoist robes. “MASTER!” Ning stared, wide-eyed. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Who are you?” The three Queen Mother clones all called out in unison. Looks of vigilance were in their eyes. The way in which the old man dressed in Daoist robes had appeared was simply too frightening! It must be understood that most people would use special methods to tear through space to teleport, but this old man had formed a spatial vortex instead, creating a corridor for himself to easily pass through. There had been nothing flashy at all about it…this was something which the three Queen Mothers wouldn’t be able to do, no matter how hard they tried. The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets looked towards the old man, but in its eyes was a look of wild joy. “Subhuti came.” “I knew it. With a disciple as monstrously talented as this, Subhuti HAD to come rescue him.” “Haha, we’re saved!” Even the calmest of the seven Empyrean Gods, Empyrean God Redsnow, let out a sigh of relief. None of them felt any doubt whatsoever as to whether or not Subhuti was capable of rescuing them. After all…Subhuti stood at the very, very top of the Three Realms, and was the most mysterious of Daofathers. Even Daoist Threelives was quite lacking compared to him! “This is the territory of our Snaphorn world. We three sisters don’t wish to become enemies with you.” The three Queen Mother clones stared fixedly at the old man in the Daoist robes, paying no attention to the Empyrean Gods next to them. The old man gave them a glance, then said calmly, “Vile creatures!” Rumble… When the two words, ‘vile creatures’ came out, an invisible ripple instantly pierced through the surrounding space, almost instantly arriving at the three Queen Mother clones. In the area where the three Queen Mothers were present, space and time began to twist, curve, and break apart. The three Queen Mother clones let out enraged roars within that field of shattered spacetime, and all the green light from their bodies surged forth, attempting to break out. However…they were completely unable to resist the field of shattered spacetime. Their three mighty clones were completely shattered and destroyed along with the local spacetime itself. Everything turned silent. The only ones left in the Void were Patriarch Subhuti, Ji Ning, and the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets. “But…” Ning couldn’t believe what he had just seen. “So this is the power of Patriarch Subhuti?” The seven Empyrean Gods were terrified as well. It must be understood that Empyrean God Redsnow stood at the very pinnacle of power amongst Empyrean Gods; in fact, he was extremely close in power to an ordinary Daofather. When the seven of them joined together into their Seven Planets Empyrean God Formation, they could be considered to have just barely reached the Daofather level of power. Those three Queen Mother clones had been comparable to them in strength…but all that Patriarch Subhuti had done was say the words ‘vile creatures’, and an invisible ripple of power had instantly slaughtered those three clones without damaging the seven Empyrean Gods in the slightest. An ability like this, finesse like this…they felt utterly amazed. “Subhuti truly is Subhuti, the most mysterious Daofather of the Three Realms.” “He really is powerful.” “Utterly terrifying.” The seven mighty Empyrean Gods were completely stunned. Patriarch Subhuti was too mysterious a figure; he rarely showed his power within the Three Realms, and these seven Empyrean Gods had never seen him strike! They had only heard from their former Godking, ‘Daoist Threelives’, that Patriarch Subhuti was very strong, even stronger than Daoist Threelives himself. As for how much stronger…very few in the Three Realms knew the answer to that question. The number one impression which the countless experts of the Three Realms had of Patriarch Subhuti could be summarized in one word; ‘mysterious’! Just look at the Crescent major world he had created! Without Patriarch Subhuti’s permission, nobody could even find it! This ability alone was utterly inconceivable. …… In truth, the person who had undergone the greatest emotional turmoil just now was actually Subhuti’s disciple, Ji Ning. He had felt despair upon being trapped, had quietly waited and fought for eighteen years, felt utter despair again upon being captured alive, felt shocked and overjoyed at the appearance of the seven Empyrean Gods, once more felt despair upon seeing how powerful the three Queen Mother clones were…and now, his master had appeared, said the words ‘vile creatures’, and completely killed all three Queen Mother clones. In fact…in his heart, Ning felt as though the entire universe had suddenly changed. The Void remained the Void…but Ning now felt that the Void was a beautiful, beautiful place. “Respectful greetings to you, Old Patriarch.” The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets broke apart into seven Empyrean Gods, all of whom spoke out respectfully. “Not bad.” Patriarch Subhuti lightly nodded. The seven Empyrean Gods felt a joyful feeling in their hearts. They understood the true meaning behind Patriarch Subhuti saying the words, ‘not bad’. Per Daoist Threelives’ orders, if his heir had not reached the Empyrean God level, the seven of them didn’t have to care about whether or not his heir lived or died. However, as Patriarch Subhuti saw it, Ji Ning was his own disciple as well as Threelives’; thus, Subhuti felt quite pleased that the seven of them had chosen to come out and protect Ning. “Disciple.” Patriarch Subhuti looked towards Ning. He took a single step forward, displacing himself through space and appearing before Ning. “Master.” Ning hurriedly called out to him with respect, tears having appeared in his eyes. “Thank you, Master…” “Hahaha…” Subhuti laughed. “Come. It’s time to go back.” “Right.” Ning nodded heavily. “Why haven’t the seven of you returned yet?” Subhuti glanced backwards. The seven Empyrean Gods hurriedly flew over. They first saluted towards Subhuti respectfully, and then they disappeared into nowhere. Clearly, they had returned to the Starseizing Manor…but the ‘master’ of the manor, Ji Ning, didn’t feel a thing. Clearly…he had yet to fully master this Starseizing Manor. Ning raised his head, giving the infinite Void a final glance. This Nihilum Zone… It had proven to be a testing ground for him. In this place, he had first overcome the karmic sinflames, had reached the ‘ruler’ level in heartforce, had come up with a way to apply heartforce to his swordfingers, and had mastered a tiny amount of swordforce… Fortune and disaster often came hand-in-hand. Whoosh. That spatial vortex once more appeared next to Patriarch Subhuti, looking just like an oceanic whirlpool. Patriarch Subhuti guided Ning into the spatial vortex…and then it all completely disappeared from the Nihilum Zone. The Primordial Ruinworld. The Snaphorn world. Within a field of endless darkness. Three minds were conversing with each other…and their thoughts were full of terror. “Who was that old man?” “We’ve never seen him before. We didn’t even see him in that great war, all those years ago.” “If we had encountered him in that war, we probably would’ve died long ago.” “By the looks of him, he appears to be one of the humans of the Three Realms. From the fact that he attacked us, we can tell that he should belong to the side of the Three Realms.” “Logically speaking, it should be impossible to teleport through the space of the Nihilum Zone…but he was able to do it! And in addition, he was able to annihilate our three clones simply through his mastery over spacetime. Abilities like these are utterly inconceivable.” The three Queen Mothers were all restless and uneasy. He had been too powerful. His power had completely eclipsed theirs. In that great war, the three of them had been small-time players; they had only survived due to luck. Any one of the truly powerful figures of that great war could’ve crushed them to death with ease. Clearly, this old man was comparable to one of those truly powerful figures! A supreme power who was capable of impacting the entire course of that war! “I wonder if that old man of the Three Realms has left or not.” “I hope he leaves right away.” “I hope he never comes to our Snaphorn world again.” The three Queen Mothers conversed hopefully to each other, their courage having been completely shattered by the two words ‘vile creatures’. All they wanted right now was to never encounter that old man again. “What the…” “Oh no!” “He’s here!” 2935 The three Queen Mothers had covered the entire Snaphorn world with their minds long ago. They kept an extremely tight level of control over the world, and so if any powerful figure intruded within it, they would immediately notice. …… The Snaphorn world was located at the margins of the infinitely vast Primordial Ruinworld. It was a world in its own right and was extremely vast. There were countless horned warriors who lived in this place….but at this moment, all of them could sense their entire world shaking. The ground itself was trembling, and the mountains were beginning to collapse. “What is going on?” “What is this?” The countless horned warriors raised their heads to stare towards the skies. Some of these Snaphorn citizens were merely youths, not yet qualified to join the army; they had to reach at least the most basic level, the Earth-level, before they could become warriors. At this moment, every single person in the entire world, including the Elders of the Palace of Elders as well as every single army squad were staring at the skies with raised heads. Rumble… From beyond the Snaphorn world…a single, utterly gigantic palm had appeared. This palm was nearly half as large as the entire Snaphorn world itself. When it slapped downwards through the Void of space towards the Snaphorn world… Crackle, crackle, crackle… The protective formations covering the Snaphorn world began to crack apart, and even spacetime itself was compressed so tightly that it began to shatter. And the strangest thing was…spacetime within the Snaphorn world began to compress into multiple layers of density, and the layers of spacetime came crashing downwards. As the palm came slamming down, the layers of spacetime began to split apart. “No!” “Flee!” “FLEE!” Three utterly enormous creatures had suddenly charged out from deep within the Snaphorn world. They, too, had incomparably massive bodies with pitch-black scales, but compared to the ordinary horned warriors, they were were much, much fatter. At first glance…one would see that their bellies took up nearly half the size of their entire bodies. Their ugly little eyes emitted rays of dark light that attempted to tear a hole through space. Whoooooosh… That enormous palm continued to descend, causing spacetime to continue to compress and shatter apart, layer by layer. The spacetime at the very bottom had become incredibly dense, making it so that the three mighty Queen Mothers were completely unable to tear a rift through space and flee, no matter how they tried. “Spare us.” “Spare us.” “Spare us!” All three Queen Mothers called out loudly, their voices reverberating through the entire Snaphorn world. But that massive palm continued to coldly, emotionlessly continue its downward smash. “No…” The countless horned warriors were all completely stunned. They felt terror, a terror that came from their very souls. This was all completely beyond their expectations. That giant palm which they could see with the naked eye…it was a palm of infinite size, a palm that was more than half as large as their entire world itself. Even if Ning were to use his [Torch-Dragon’s Eye], he still would find it hard to see the complete palm. They could see the massive, canyon-like fingerprints and palm-print of that mighty palm. BANG! BANG! BANG! An incredible amount of pressure had already been brought down to bear. The countless horned warriors of the Snaphorn world began to explode into green-colored bits of blood and gore. Only a very small number of violet-caped warriors and golden-caped warriors were able to just barely stay alive…but their bodies were also slowly beginning to crack. “Old bastard…are you trying to start another war?!” “Damn you, you old bastard!” “Damn you!” Asking for mercy was useless. The three Queen Mothers went mad, beginning to curse in utter despair, using every imprecation in the book. They weren’t even able to flee…all they could do was face this terrifying palm as it came down. BANG! BANG! BANG! The palm had yet to make contact, but the pressured, fractured spacetime that came before it had caused the bodies of even the golden-caped warriors to completely blow apart. The only ones left within the Snaphorn world were those three mighty Queen Mothers. Their hideous bodies began to crack as well. Slowly, the cracks grew larger and larger, and the three Queen Mothers began to curse and scream in an even louder manner. Finally…it all came to an end. The three Queen Mothers had been completely blown apart, having transformed into dust. BOOM! The giant palm finally came to a halt. An ancient voice rang out. “Start another war? Nothing more than three little worms!” And then…the enormous palm completely vanished. Everything turned silent. The entire Snaphorn world…had become transformed into a massive planetary basin with a giant, palmshaped impression caved into it.1 1. To get a sense of what this looks like…take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99yqtxKhOCc. Start at the 2 minute mark. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. There were white clouds in the skies. A spatial vortex suddenly appeared within them, followed by an old man in Daoist robes emerging alongside a youth. Ji Ning looked downwards. He immediately saw Mount Innerheart…and he was even able to see the many disciples of the Mount Innerheart League, living their peaceful lives there. “Let’s go.” Subhuti led Ning in flying downwards. They quickly arrived at the most central area of Mount Innerheart – the Tristar Crescent Abode, that seemingly ordinary-looking Daoist monastery. This was the place where Patriarch Subhuti normally trained in; disciples like Ning and the others wouldn’t dare to go disturb him without cause. Within the Daoist monastery. Subhuti landed, then took a high seat in the lotus position. Ning respectfully bowed. “If it hadn’t been for your aid, Master, your disciple would have most likely never been able to return to the Three Realms. Your disciple feels ashamed for having forced you to exert yourself, Master.” Subhuti laughed. “Sit.” Ning selected a prayer mat and sat down beneath him. “How did the karmic sinflames taste?” Subhuti asked. “I don’t wish to experience them again,” Ning said. “The karmic sinflames are now ever-present around me. Although the burning sensation is agonizing…I can endure it. The descent of the karmic sinflames…although it was a tribulation for me, I gained quite a bit from it.” “Fortune and calamity ride together,” Subhuti said with a laugh. “What level has your heartforce reached?” “The third level,” Ning said. Subhuti nodded and smiled. “I noticed that when you were fighting those aliens, your application of heartforce through your sword-fingers had reached a level where none of it leaked out whatsoever. It seems you’ve also developed an actual technique for applying heartforce through your fingers.” 2939 “I did indeed learn a few things from my eighteen years of battle,” Ning said. “Do you know why those aliens did not kill you, and instead chose to battle with you for eighteen years?” Subhuti asked. Ning was startled. He shook his head. “Those aliens said that they were going to use me for target practice to train their warriors, but…I keep on having the feeling that this was perhaps not the actual reason.” Subhuti nodded gently. “Your feelings were correct. You are in control of heartforce, and also know a way to apply it. Heartforce…it is an extremely mysterious type of power, one which even True Gods and Daofathers ponder on. There are five levels of heartforce. Although it is very weak in the early stages, as you go farther along this path and rise in levels, it will undergo an utterly earth-shaking transformation! The third level of heartforce is already quite astonishing. By using your third level heartforce, you have already reached the minimum threshold of an Empyrean God in power.” Ning understood this to be true. The first level was fairly weak; the amount of benefit it brought was almost negligible. The second level represented a clear, explosive increase in power…and the third level allowed one’s previous level of power to skyrocketed. The fourth level was the level of the most powerful divine archers of the Three Realms, and as for the fifth level…it was the level of the long-vanished Houyi. “Heartforce is very powerful. If you can reach the fifth level, then even as a mere Empyrean God, you would have the combat power of a Daofather or a True God.” Subhuti looked at Ning. “The peak power of heartforce is far greater than your [Starseizing Hand]. You must not be lazy in making use of your talent for heartforce.” “Your disciple understands.” Ning nodded. But how could the fifth level of heartforce be so easily accomplished? The only one who was publicly known within the Three Realms to have reached this level was Houyi. Perhaps some supreme Daofathers or True Gods might have secretly reached this level without telling anyone or using it…but still, one could clearly tell that reaching the fifth level was unbelievably hard. “The reason why the aliens of the Snaphorn world did not kill you was precisely because the mind and thought-strands of the masters of the Snaphorn world had descended upon the bodies of those warriors. Through battling with you repeatedly, they would be able to sense the ripples of your application of heartforce in detail, and thus be able to develop a heartforce technique,” Subhuti said. “I imagine that the past eighteen years have brought insights to the owner of the Snaphorn world! Heartforce…it is a technique which is unique to our Three Realms. It absolutely cannot be taught to outsiders.” “They have insights into it? It can’t be taught to outsiders?” Ning was shocked. “I…” 2940 “I’ve already annihilated the entire Snaphorn world, and the masters of the Snaphorn world are dead. Even if they did come up with a bit of information on heartforce, it is of no use now,” Subhuti said. Ning let out a sigh of relief…and then stared in amazement. The Snaphorn world had been annihilated? This entire time, from rescuing him to bringing him back to Mount Innerheart, his master had been by his side. Somehow, without Ning even having the faintest clue about it, he had annihilated the entire Snaphorn world, including even its masters? Ning had been able to tell from the battle between the seven Empyrean Gods and the three Queen Mother clones that the masters of the Snaphorn world had to be very strong. “My master truly is unfathomable,” Ning secretly mused to himself. “Right. That Dao-companion of yours, that Yu Wei,” Subhuti said, “She’s already overcome her tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal. Did you know about this?” “Senior apprentice-sister became a Celestial Immortal?” Ning was both delighted and surprised. He was surprised because his senior apprentice-sister had actually become a Celestial Immortal before him. Before she had left to go accompany Patriarch Lu, her power as displayed within the Conclave of Immortal Destiny hadn’t been particularly eye-catching. Who would’ve thought that in just a few short decades, she would’ve become a Celestial Immortal, even before Ning himself had? “When is your Primaltwin going to undergo the Celestial Tribulation?” Subhuti asked. The questions which any master cared the most about were naturally the ones related to the disciple’s tribulation. This was the most difficult calamity for any Immortal cultivator to face. “Very soon,” Ning said. “You need to ponder on the application of heartforce to your Immortal swords,” Subhuti said. “Your experiences and background are all quite extraordinary. Even though your Primaltwin is a Ki Refiner…the power of this tribulation will definitely be significant. If you can completely apply your heartforce to your Immortal swords, your power shall be greatly improved. I trust that your chances of overcoming your tribulation shall thus be much greater. The technique you’ve developed during the past eighteen years is for applying heartforce to your sword-fingers. There isn’t a huge difference between your sword-fingers and your swords…I trust you can make it work.” “Yes.” Ning understood that his master was expressing concern and care for him. And indeed…his Primaltwin could also use heartforce when executing the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], at which point his power would rise by a shocking amount. This would indeed give him a much better chance at overcoming his tribulation. “Your disciple shall definitely first develop a way to apply heartforce through physical swords before attempting the tribulation,” Ning said. “As for your true body…ideally, you should only attempt the tribulation to become an Empyrean God after you have completely mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword,” Subhuti added. “Complete mastery?” Ning was stunned. Although he was at a very high level in the Dao of the Sword, he was still quite a ways off from completely mastering it. In addition…generally speaking, the closer one was to mastery, the harder it would be to break through the next bottleneck. “You are capable of wielding swordforce; it can be said that you have already touched upon what the essence of the sword is. You should be completely capable of mastering the Dao of the Sword at the voidlevel, which will give you a decent chance.” Subhuti looked solemnly at Ning. “I’m not too worried about your Primaltwin’s tribulation. But your true body’s tribulation…you have to be careful, careful, careful!” Ning felt pressure as well. He nodded lightly. Right… Upon returning to the Three Realms, Ning’s subconscious premonitions had grown strong once again. Just discussing his true body’s tribulation instantly caused Ning to feel nervousness in his heart. He knew that this was Fate’s way of warning him in secret. The Three Realms occasionally gave birth to truly peerless, monstrous geniuses who were blessed by the distilled virtues of the universe, but the more of a genius one was, the more terrifying one’s Celestial Tribulation would be. If he could overcome it, he would soar to the heavens in a single leap, becoming a mover and shaker of the Three Realms. But…the vast majority would end up perishing to the Celestial Tribulation! “Little bear!” Subhuti suddenly called out. Whoosh. The giant yellow bear suddenly appeared next to Ning. The giant yellow bear respectfully fell to his knees and said, “This little bear greets you, Daofather.” “Let the other seven come out,” Subhuti instructed. “Yes.” The giant yellow bear didn’t dare to disobey. Ning’s heart clenched. Ning was extremely curious about those seven Empyrean Gods; after all, back in the Wargod Hall of the underwater estate, it had been a clone of Empyrean God Redsnow, formed from a drop of Redsnow’s blood, who had served to test Ning. In addition, when he encountered danger just now, it had been the seven of them who had intervened to rescue him. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Seven figures appeared out of nowhere, all in human form. In truth…they had all changed their appearances; after all, as Fiendgods, their true forms were quite enormous. They all looked quite odd, but Pangu, Nuwa, and many other supreme powers all looked quite humanoid, which was why Fiendgods like to take on the appearance of humans. In fact…in secret, many Fiendgods speculated that the reason why humans had such astonishing potential was because Nuwa had used ‘Pangu’ as the blueprint for creating humanity. “Greetings to you, Old Patriarch.” All seven Empyrean Gods saluted reverently. “Thank you, Old Patriarch, for saving our lives.” Empyrean God Redsnow was the first to respectfully offer his thanks. “Even if I hadn’t gone, you would’ve been able to stay alive,” Subhuti said with a laugh. “You could’ve simply returned to the Starseizing Manor and your own world within it, bringing Ji Ning inside and hiding him within it. In a true battle, you wouldn’t be able to defeat the Snaphorn world, but if you were to rely on the formations protecting your own world, you would’ve been able to withstand them.” “But the three of them were Daofathers…” Empyrean God Redsnow was amazed. The other six Empyrean Gods were amazed as well. Returning to the world of Threelives and relying on its formations to resist the foes; this was their final option. However…Daofathers had utterly astonishing levels of power. In addition, there were three of them this time! They didn’t believe they had the power to fight back against such a force. However…given who Patriarch Subhuti was, if he said they could do it, he definitely had a reason for saying so. “Three Daofathers? You give too much credit to those three little worms.” Subhuti shook his head. “Those creatures are not of the Three Realms, and you know nothing at all about them; they simply cannot be judged so easily, just by using the power levels of the Three Realms.” All seven Empyrean Gods were now curious, as was Ji Ning. “In the Snaphorn world, there were a total of eighteen golden-caped warriors; in your eyes, you viewed them as being eighteen Empyrean Gods, yes?” Patriarch Subhuti explained, “But in reality, all of the horned warriors of that race have a weakness; once the cores in their body are destroyed, they will die.” “Consider the Immortals of our Three Realms. Although their physical bodies are fairly weak, they can control magic treasures at a long distance. There’s no need for them to fight in close combat as well. As for the Empyrean Gods and True Gods who do fight in close combat…they have no weaknesses at all,” Subhuti said. “These aliens, however, are only capable of close combat, and they all have a weakness; the core.” 2943 “As for those three little worms…their true combat power wasn’t that formidable. They were merely at the peak of the Empyrean God level. Their strength lies in giving birth; their childbearing abilities are quite astonishing.” Subhuti sighed. “During that great, calamitous war…there were more than ten thousand of those little worms. They gave birth to countless warriors, all of whom were able to fuse together into one body…you’d kill one batch and another would come. Under the control of their master, those myriad little worms caused the Three Realms to suffer heavy casualties.” Ning said, stunned, “More than ten thousand? Master…did you just say they have a ‘master’?” What in the world had happened during that great war? “These little worms shared a common master,” Subhuti sighed. “A person who was far more powerful than even myself. Only Maiden Nuwa was able to suppress him. Fortunately…that demon has long since perished.” “Redsnow…you are just one step away from becoming a True God and having a Daofather’s power. Train hard and reach that level as soon as you can.” Subhuti looked towards Empyrean God Redsnow. “Redsnow understands,” the Empyrean God said respectfully. “I imagine you and Ning have some things to say to each other.” Subhuti chuckled. “Alright…you can all go back to the world of the Grand Xia now. If you want to chat, go ahead.” Subhuti waved his hand, and yet another spatial vortex appeared in front of him. Ning bowed respectfully, as did the seven Empyrean Gods, and then they all entered the spatial vortex. They departed from Mount Innerheart, heading back to the world of the Grand Xia. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Stillwater Commandery. Swallow Mountain. The air above Serpentwing Lake. The Golden Crow hung high in the sky, illuminating the world. However, the trees below were covered by a layer of thick snow. If one took a deep breath, one would feel the cold, crispness of the air. Whoosh! A youth appeared in the sky, staring at the nearby Brightheart Island. Swish! Swish! Swish!!! A depressed-looking gray-robed youth, an azure-robed maiden, and a giant, snowy-white dog all suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Senior apprentice-brother?” The gray-robed youth, Mu northson, stared at the distant Ji Ning in disbelief. “I told you that Master was back, but you didn’t believe it. I’m Master’s spirit-beast; how could my senses be off?” Little Qing charged towards Ning excitedly, transforming into an azure serpent mid-flight, then wrapping herself around Ning’s arm. The little azure serpentine head nuzzled Ning’s arm in a very friendly manner. “Master, I nearly died of worry for you over these recent years. You finally came back.” Ning’s right hand gently patted the little azure serpent’s head. “It’s good that you are back.” Uncle White didn’t say much, but his eyes were filled with joy. “Senior apprentice-brother, it was all my…” Northson stared at Ning. In truth, over the past eighteen years, Ning had been deeply worried about Northson’s situation. This was because, prior to Ning’s battle with the Youngflame clan, Northson had been tormented for decades, followed by the loss of his Dao-companion. With Ning himself being exiled to a danger zone while covered by karmic sinflames…he was afraid that his junior apprentice-brother Northson would be filled with selfrecrimination. Given his junior apprentice-brother’s current state…Ning was worried about what so many years of self-blame would result in. Fortunately… Although his junior apprentice-brother had more white hair than he had in the past, he was still alive. “It isn’t your fault. If I have to blame someone, I’d blame myself for being too arrogant and underestimating the Youngflame clan.” Ning walked over through the air, gently patting his junior 2945 apprentice-brother on the shoulder. “In addition…the feud between myself and the Youngflame clan is a huge one. There’s no need for you to shoulder all the blame in such a narcissistic way.” Northson couldn’t help but chuckle. “Master, where have you been? We were worried to death!” Little Qing raised her head, looking towards Ning. Northson and Uncle White looked at him as well. “That year…I was exiled by the Youngflame clan into a dangerous area in the infinite Void outside of the Three Realms,” Ning said. “I was trapped there for the past eighteen years, and was only able to return today.” “So you were were just trapped in a danger zone this entire time. I was worried that you must’ve been undergoing countless dangers and trials,” Little Qing said with a sigh. “Who else have you spoken to about me?” Ning asked. Uncle White responded, “We’ve only informed Immortal Diancai. However, because all of us live here on Brightheart Island, and because Little Qing and Mu Northson found it hard to hide their grief and the worry they felt for you…Autumn Leaf eventually found out as well. Also…your Dao-companion, Yu Wei; when she came back to the world of the Grand Xia, she was already aware of what had happened to you. It should’ve been her master, Patriarch Lu, who told her.” Ning frowned. In truth, he hadn’t wanted Autumn Leaf or Yu Wei to know about this affair; after all, if they had found out, they would’ve been extremely worried for him. “Let me go see Autumn Leaf,” Ning said. “Go,” Uncle White said. “In recent years, Autumn Leaf will go to your bedroom, your study, and your training room every single day and spend some time there. I can tell that this little girl’s mind is completely preoccupied with you.” Ning nodded gently. His eyes began to blaze with torch-light as he glanced towards Brightheart Island…and thus he saw Autumn Leaf. …… Within a study. Autumn Leaf was carefully wiping the table clean with her hands. Actually, because of a formation present, there was no dust on the table whatsoever. However, whenever she touched the table, she couldn’t help but think back to those scenes from long ago, when she would grind ink for Ning as he wrote calligraphy within this study. “Young master, when will you come back?” Autumn Leaf’s eyes shimmered with tears. She stared at the chair, the chair which Ning normally sat in. It had been so long. She had waited so, so long. Even the young master had disappeared for thirty-plus years last time when he had gone to study the Dao with his master, she hadn’t felt the years as keenly as she did this time. After all, last time she knew in her heart that he had gone to study the Dao. This time, however, she knew that her young master was actually in some sort of danger zone which he could die in at any moment. In this sort of an environment, every day felt as long as a year. It had been very hard to endure this. As a child, she had been sold off as a slave. In the end, she had entered the Ji clan and became a maidservant that was assigned to wait upon Ji Ning. Ever since she was young, that tiny little boy had become her everything, her heaven and her earth. Spring Grass had her father to worry about, but Autumn Leaf had lost her kinsmen long ago. She had only one loved one left…her young master. She had watched as her young master, that tiny little baby, had grown up step by step. She had followed him in roaming the Eastmount Marsh, had followed him until he had embarked upon the Immortal path and headed to Stillwater City. By then…she no longer had the power to help take care of her young master. If she accompanied him, she would only slow him down. She didn’t complain at all; she willingly stayed here at Brightheart Island, quietly awaiting her young master’s return. The days when he returned were her happiest days. The days when he didn’t return, she would wait quietly. But this time… Her young master might never again return. Creaaaak. Suddenly, the door to the study swung open. Autumn Leaf’s body trembled, and she hurriedly turned her head to look. There was a youth standing in the doorway. He was still dressed in those furs, and he still had that familiar, warm smile on his face. “Elder sister Autumn Leaf!” “Young master!” Autumn Leaf charged forward excitedly, but when she reached Ning, she hesitated. Ning, however, reached out to take her into his arms. Only after hugging for a long, long moment did Autumn Leaf finally calm down. “Elder sister Autumn Leaf, the snow is beautiful outside. Let’s go look at the snow,” Ning said. Towards Autumn Leaf…Ning felt very special, unique feelings. She had taken care of him since he was a child, and they had grown up together. In his heart, Autumn Leaf was family, just like his parents or a true sibling. His parents had perished. The only family he had left was Autumn Leaf and Uncle White. Autumn Leaf, in his heart, was his older sister, his most beloved older sister. Uncle White was a senior, a senior who had always quietly watched out for him. Ning would be reserved with his affections when he was with other women, but with Autumn Leaf…even if they hugged, it was the hug of siblings. It was a warm, wonderful feeling. “The snow?” Autumn Leaf nodded repeatedly. “Okay. Let’s go look at the snow.” …… Brightheart Island was Ning’s home. Autumn Leaf had naturally taken wonderful care of it. Brightheart Island was a beautifully scenic place to begin with; now, with so much snow on the ground, it was a place of truly incredible beauty, the likes of which were rarely seen. In fact, it wasn’t until the sun was starting to go down that Ning finally said, “Elder sister Autumn Leaf, I need to make a trip to Stillwater City. I haven’t told my master that I’m back yet, nor have I told my senior apprentice-sister.” “Go.” Autumn Leaf smiled. “Your master and your Dao-companion have probably been worried sick about you as well, all these years.” “Right.” Only now did Ning ascend into the clouds, flying off into the sky. Autumn Leaf raised her head, watching as Ning left, a look of satisfaction in her eyes. Her young master was safe. Even if he wasn’t by her side…she still felt at peace. …… The underwater estate. The main palace. The black-robed Ning looked at the giant yellow bear and the seven Empyrean Gods before him. “Senior bear, it’s time to tell me some things, yes?” The black-robed Ning said. “I imagine you must’ve guessed some of it.” The giant bear nodded. “Let me make some introductions first. These seven…are seven Empyrean Gods that had been under the command of my master, Daoist Threelives.” Seven Empyrean Gods? Although Ning had suspected it all along, he still couldn’t help but feel stunned upon hearing it. These weren’t like those many warriors of the Snaphorn world, each of whom had obvious weaknesses; these were true Fiendgods, born of Heaven and Earth, each of whom had utterly astonishing power. “This is Empyrean God Ninefang.” The giant bear pointed towards the bald elder, who cracked his lips in a smile towards Ning. “Young master.” “Don’t be deceived by this old bastard; he’s the most sinister of us all,” the white-eyebrowed beauty next to him said. “Did you just call me an ‘old bastard’? What, are you saying you are younger than me?” The bald elder snapped at her. The giant bear laughed, then pointed at the woman. “This is Empyrean God Snow Scorpion; she’s the straightforward type.” “Young master.” Snow Scorpion smiled merrily as she looked at Ning. “Hurry up and train hard. Overcome your tribulation, and become an Empyrean God; by then, we’ll be able to accompany you in roaming the universe.” Next, the giant bear pointed towards the harmless, amiable-looking youth. “This is Empyrean God Dovesnake.” “Empyrean God Dovesnake?” Ning was amazed. Dovesnake was a true Godbeast that had been born in the primordial Pangu’s World. He was a truly venomous Godbeast! For such a venomous Godbeast to actually look so gentle in human form… “And these two…” The giant bear pointed at the two most muscular men, one savage-looking and redskinned, the other icy-looking and black-skinned. “Long ago, in Pangu’s World, a pair of Fiendgods were born. These Fiendgods were twins that were born at the same time, one from the blazing truefire of the Sun and one from the dark truewater of the Moon. No matter who they fight against, they always fight together. They are known as Empyrean God Sunblaze and Empyrean God Darkmoon.” “Young master.” Both looked towards Ning. Ning secretly sighed to himself. These Fiendgods had been alive since the Primordial Era. Clearly, they were born in the era of Pangu’s World, and they each had extraordinary backgrounds. “This one,” the giant bear said, pointing at the child wearing a neck-circlet, “Was the first to accompany Master, back in the most early, desolate days of the primordial Pangu’s World. He is Master’s adopted son, and his name is Empyrean God Primelight.” “Long ago, I wished to learn the [Starseizing Hand] from Father, but alas…I was born as a Void-level Fiendgod; there was no way for me to learn it.” The child laughed as he looked at Ning. “Father’s [Starseizing Hand] finally has an heir. You need to train hard. Become an Empyrean God as soon as you can!” The giant bear finally pointed at the last man, Redsnow. “You already know Empyrean God Redsnow. He was the most valiant Empyrean God under Master’s command, and the most powerful of them all. Amongst Empyrean Gods and True Immortals…there are few who are stronger than him.” “I heard Master say earlier that senior Redsnow is just a single step away from becoming a True God,” Ning said. “Alas, that step isn’t so easily taken.” Empyrean God Redsnow smiled as he looked at Ning. “However, Ji Ning…last time I saw you, I was worried about whether or not you’d be able to convince everyone to follow you. Don’t be fooled by how courteous they are all behaving; in reality, they are all incredibly proud figures. However, in the Nihilum Zone…you survived karmic sinflames and advanced your heartforce to the third level. You even developed a way to apply heartforce and, despite not reaching mastery in the Dao of the Sword, managed to take control over a sliver of swordforce. Even I have to feel admiration for you. The other six are convinced by you; they are simply waiting for you to become an Empyrean God. You heard it yourself; just now, they all addressed you as ‘young master’.” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Our young master is a Void-level Fiendgod who is extremely close to the Empyrean God level.” Snow Scorpion let out an emotional sigh. “If the Godking was here and knew that he had a disciple like this…he would probably be very happy.” “Godking…” Redsnow’s gaze grew distant and dreamy. The others fell silent as well. They were the most loyal followers of Daoist Threelives; if they weren’t, they wouldn’t have waited here silently within the underwater estate despite the passage of countless years. The black-robed Ning said, puzzled, “Seniors…you said ‘young master’? I don’t really understand. Also…can it be that you’ve been within the underwater estate this entire time, which is why you were able to emerge even when I was in the Nihilum Zone?” Although Ning had been able to guess a bit from their words and knew himself to be Daoist Threelives’ successor, he was still quite mystified about all the rest. “Let me explain.” A clear voice rang out; it was the child, who looked towards Ning. “Empyrean God Primelight,” Ning addressed him. “You can just call me Primelight.” The child laughed, “I know that you have many questions in your heart. Let me explain it all as simply as I can. Father was born a True God of Primordial Chaos, from within the primordial chaos of the universe itself. He was born with tremendous power. After Pangu established the universe, many Fiendgods were born. Fiendgods innately love to fight, and so their wars stretched throughout the entire Primordial World.” “Supreme powers like Patriarch Subhuti are transcendent. They secluded themselves, rarely taking part in these wars. Father, however, loved to do battle; he naturally collected a large number of Fiendgods into his fold, within the Starseizing Manor. In the primordial Pangu’s World, the Starseizing Manor was quite famous!” The child continued, “The forces held within the Starseizing Manor included many Fiendgods, all of whom submitted to Father’s command. The seven of us also belonged to the Starseizing Manor.” Ning nodded lightly. “The primordial Pangu’s World underwent countless storms and many tribulations, but it passed through all of them safely. But that final war…the war that shattered the primordial world…the war in which Father passed away…was completely different from all the ones that came before.” A sharp look was in the child’s eyes, a killing look. He was a Fiendgod who had been born of Heaven and Earth…but Threelives, he had been a True God who had been born from the primordial chaos. This pair of father and son…they were closer to each other than many biological pairs. For so many years, he had no idea that Threelives had perished…it wasn’t until the giant yellow bear had received this information from Patriarch Subhuti that these Empyrean Gods had learned of it. For countless years, he had hoped that he would be able to see his father again, alive and well…but word of his father’s death had caused him to feel despair. It had also filled with fiery rage. He wanted to go do battle. He wanted to take revenge! But he realized that for now…he wasn’t strong enough yet! “We aren’t sure either what exactly happened during that war; after all, we didn’t take part in it. All we know is that Father was firm in his decision to follow Maiden Nuwa, and that he stood by her side in that war,” the child said. “He followed Maiden Nuwa?” Ning quietly memorized this fact. Nuwa was the number one figure of the entire Three Realms. She had reached Pangu’s level! Could it be that this war was a factional war? Maiden Nuwa was of one faction…were there other factions? Ning knew very well that sometimes a civil war could be far more savage and deadly than a war against an outside invader. “Maiden Nuwa was unable to protect us. Father followed her lead, and so prior to that battle, Maiden Nuwa helped us plot a path of retreat,” the child said. “Father expended an enormous amount of effort into this estate-treasure that you’ve acquired. In addition, Maiden Nuwa transferred into and established a wide world within this estate. This world, we refer to as the ‘Starseizer’ major world. This is the place where we live.” “What? The underwater estate has a major world inside it?!” Ning was stunned. But although he was stunned…he quickly recovered and understood. It made sense. Some of the precious Protocosmic spirit-treasures of the Three Realms innately contained a major world within them! As for treasures that were forged to contain a major world within them…most True Gods or Daofathers weren’t capable of creating them, but Maiden Nuwa was. In fact, she had done created more than one! The major worlds that were contained within magic treasures were generally referred to as ‘caveworlds’. “We all knew that Father was going to search for a successor; he was unwilling to allow his divine ability, the [Starseizing Hand], be lost,” the child said. “Father was powerful enough to be able to command all the forces of the Starseizing Manor…but would his successor be able to? Nobody could say, and so Father didn’t force all of those Fiendgods to stay here to accompany the next master. Those who were willing to stay could stay; those who were unwilling could leave.” “Some of the Fiendgods left, but we continued to stay here at the Starseizer world,” the child said. “We’ve been waiting. Waiting for Father’s successor. Waiting for the new master of our Starseizing Manor.” The child looked at Ning. The other Empyrean Gods also looked at Ning. In their hearts… Ning was the perfect candidate! The best candidate! Although Ning’s blood was pumping, he quickly calmed down. “Can you tell me about the Starseizer major world? Can anyone enter it?” “No.” The nearby Snow Scorpion smiled merrily. “The Starseizer major world was established by Maiden Nuwa, and she was the one to set up the formations around it. Even True Gods or Daofathers would have to resort to brute force to enter it! When we left the Starseizing Manor, we used the formations we controlled to allow us out, but once we left it, we would be unable to locate the Starseizer world again right away; after all, the Starseizer world is inside the Starseizing Manor.” “Who is in control of the formations?” Ning asked. “Myself, Primelight, and Snow Scorpion,” Empyrean God Redsnow said. “Primelight was the first to follow the Godking and the Godking’s son; the Godking trusted him! Snow Scorpion and myself, in the past, had followed the Godking in his campaigns throughout the world, and we were two of the most powerful Empyrean Gods under his command; the others would submit to us. Thus, the three of us took control over the formations that protect the entire world.” Ning nodded. “I know that my master, Daoist Threelives, had ordered that before I became an Empyrean God, there was no need for you to worry about my life, right?” Ning asked. “Right.” Empyrean God Redsnow nodded. “But…you saved me in the Nihilum Zone,” Ning said. “Even if we didn’t save you, the Starseizing Manor would’ve fallen into the hands of the masters of the Snaphorn world. They probably would’ve been able to forcibly bind it and discover the Starseizer major world, at which point we would still have to fight them. Since that was the case…the seven of us came out,” Redsnow explained. “It wasn’t all because of you.” Ning laughed. “But since you’ve come out…seniors, the Three Realms are currently on the precipice of a major storm, one which isn’t any weaker than the storm which destroyed the Primordial World. Even my master said that he might perish in this storm; that goes without saying for a young fellow like me as well! Thus, to tell the truth…I really need your help. But of course, if you aren’t willing to help, that’s fine as well.” 2953 “The Three Realms truly are in a state of chaos right now,” Snow Scorpion sent mentally to the others. “Since we’ve come out, we might as well follow the young master for now.” “Father’s orders remain standing,” the child sent back. “The Godking gave us instructions, but he still left it up to us as to how to carry them out. The Three Realms are quite chaotic; to experience these storms ourselves will be of benefit to us in increasing our power as well,” the bald elder sent. “Big brother Redsnow, I’ll follow your lead.” “I will as well.” Sunblaze and Darkmoon both looked towards Redsnow. All of them turned to look towards Redsnow. Redsnow was their true leader. First of all, he was very strong; secondly, the way in which he handled matters was quite convincing. Redsnow was silent, pondering as he looked at Ning. Ning looked back at Redsnow. “Ji Ning,” Empyrean God Redsnow said, “An enormous storm truly is about to sweep the Three Realms. To strictly follow the Godking’s orders to the letter is rather unsuitable for present condition. But if we were to follow you…this wouldn’t be of the slightest bit of help for you in terms of tempering yourself. I’ll give you a promise! Prior to you becoming an Empyrean God, you have one opportunity to ask us to assist you. The seven of us will use all our might to help you out, but…we’ll do it just once! Once you use it up, we definitely won’t help you again. Even if you die, we’ll just simply stand back and watch. If you die, you have only yourself and your own weakness to blame, as well as your poor luck.” The other six Empyrean Gods looked towards Ning as well. Ning laughed. “Alright. This promise of assistance from the seven of you is enough, seniors! It is like a protective talisman that will save my life; if I still end up dying before becoming an Empyrean God, then I really will have no one else to blame.” “Mm.” Empyrean God Redsnow nodded The child, however, urged Ning, “Ji Ning, hurry up and become an Empyrean God.” “Don’t make us wait too long,” the beautiful woman added. “Our Starseizing Manor needs a manor-master.” The amiable-looking youth looked towards Ning as well. Their eyes were all filled with hope. Whoosh! All seven of them disappeared. Ning let out a sigh of relief. In truth, he hadn’t truly expected that these seven Empyrean Gods would agree to follow him around the entire time; this promise of helping out once was already enough. After all, in dangerous times like this…the invisible pressure from the upcoming storm was causing Ning to feel constant pressure and danger. He naturally wanted to use everything he had available to give himself a better chance at surviving it. He wanted to stay alive within this storm. Even more than that, he wanted his loved ones and his lover to survive. …… It was dark. Stillwater City. Within the Black-White College. Yu Wei was currently in her own residence, quietly pondering by herself. A single candle was lit by her side, flickering with light. Yu Wei had a very complicated look in her eyes. “I need to stop obsessing.” “I’ll do what I need to do.” Yu Wei walked out of the room by herself, raising her head to stare at theh skies. It was already dark. The crescent moon could vaguely be seen in the darkening sky. She murmured softly, “Junior apprentice-brother, come back…you have to come back…” Suddenly, Yu Wei felt a strange feeling in her heart. Whoosh. She instantly flew into the air like a gust of wind. There, in the air… A youth had appeared in the dark skies. He stared at someone far away…the distant Yu Wei. Yu Wei’s eyes were filled with surprise and joy. Her eyes couldn’t help but to fill with tears. She had a strange premonition just now, which was why she had soared into the skies. It was as though Fate had whispered silently to her soul. Ning just looked at Yu Wei. The look in her eyes instantly caused Ning to think of his big sister, Autumn Leaf. Both Yu Wei and Autumn Leaf shared a commonality; they both viewed Ji Ning as the most important person in their lives. For Ji Ning’s sake, both of them could even give up their own lives! Ning could sense 2955 it from Autumn Leaf…and he could also sense it from Yu Wei. He sensed it all the way back during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. And now…that feeling was even stronger than before. What Ning didn’t realize was that during Yu Wei’s demonheart tribulation, she had lived with him for over three thousand years in the illusory demonheart world… “Senior apprentice-sister.” Ning finally called out to her. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Black-White College had many mountain peaks, and the estates of the formal disciples were usually located atop one of them. On the mountain path of a nameless mountain peak of the Black-White College. The moon hung high in the sky, and the dreamy moonlight wafted down like gauze upon Ji Ning and Yu Wei. Ning and Yu Wei were currently holding hands together, strolling on the mountain path like mortals. “This is nice,” Yu Wei said softly. “Eh?” Ning looked at Yu Wei. Yu Wei smiled as she glanced at Ning. She had always been as beautiful as an Immortal fairy, a true peerless beauty. This smile of hers, which came from the bottom of her heart, caused Ning to instantly feel intoxicated. Yu Wei said, “In recent years, I haven’t felt at ease for a single moment. I’ve always been worrying about this or that. I’m holding your hand, and I feel so calm right now…I don’t feel worried about anything.” “It was my rashness.” Ning felt guilt; last time, he had indeed been too arrogant in acting against the Youngflame clan. “It’s not your fault, junior apprentice-brother. Who would’ve thought that they would have a Protocosmic spirit-treasure like the Worldhold Pagoda? It is far too rare, after all, for Celestial Immortals to be in possession of such spirit-treasures. Even if they do have one…ones that can rip through reality and teleport you elsewhere are even rarer,” Yu Wei said. Ning laughed. “Enough about that. Senior apprentice-sister, I haven’t congratulated you yet about becoming a Celestial Immortal! You were even faster than me.” “Even after I became a Celestial Immortal, I’ve still had headaches every day.” Yu Wei gently kicked aside a little stone that was in her path. The stone struck a distant tree, causing a bit of snow to fall down from the trees branches. “What’s wrong?” Ning asked. “You’ve been gone for more than eighteen years. Stillwater Commandery, however, has changed dramatically,” Yu Wei said. “For example…the current Marquis of Stillwater is no longer Northmont Yin; it is Northmont Blacktiger.” “Eh?!” Ning was puzzled. “Northmont Blacktiger?” 2957 In the past, Northmont Blacktiger and Northmont Yin had struggled for the position of Marquis, and in the end Northmont Yin had won. Even after Ning had returned and joined into an alliance with Celestial Immortals Unity and Hunchmont, the Northmont clan of Stillwater hadn’t changed Northmont Yin’s position. Why was it that during Ning’s disappearance of eighteen years, Northmont Blacktiger would end up having taken the position? “Northmont Yin died,” Yu Wei said. “What?! Could it be that Stillwater Commandery was in such a state of chaos that even the Marquis was assassinated?” Ning was shocked. “It’s even worse than you think,” Yu Wei said. “Northmont Yin wasn’t assassinated. He was executed by Celestial Immortal Unity. The reason why he was executed was because more than half of the high-level members of the Northmont clan wanted to throw their support to the Seamless Gate. When they made this recommendation to Celestial Immortal Unity, all of these traitors, including the ones who had supported Northmont Yin secret, were wiped out. Not one was spared.” Ning was truly shocked now. “How could this have happened?!” “It all started with Celestial Immortal Hunchmont being kidnapped.” Yu Wei began to narrate the tale of how she and Celestial Immortal had been ambushed and trapped, and she even gave him a rough overview of the situation in the entire Grand Xia. At the peak of the mountain. Ning and Yu Wei were seated by a cliff, looking at the night sky. “I didn’t imagine that the Seamless Gate would have become this brash and bold.” Ning frowned. “Prior to this, the Grand Xia Dynasty had been keeping them in check, but now…they actually have dared to assassinate this many Celestial Immortals? Are they really trying to start a war?” “I don’t know.” Yu Wei shook her head. Eighteen years ago, the Grand Xia Dynasty had been calm on the surface, at least; very, very few Celestial Immortals had perished. But now, Celestial Immortals were dying right and left, one after the other! The Seamless Gate had even dared to carry out actions like kidnapping Hunchmont to force Unity to surrender; from this, one could see how bold they had become! “Didn’t they inform the Xia Emperor?” Ning asked. “Since the Seamless Gate cares about Celestial Immortal Unity this much…the Xia Emperor wouldn’t just give up on him that easily, right?” 2958 “Of course we did,” Yu Wei said. “Just this very day, we received word from the Xia Emperor. He sent someone to notify us that many Celestial Immortals throughout the entire Grand Xia Dynasty are being threatened, and have received final diplomatic notes of warning. Too many are asking for his support; he’s asking us Celestial Immortals to help each other out.” “The Xia Emperor is just going to let things happen, come what may?” Ning frowned. “Senior Unity really is quite impressive, though; a while ago, the Seamless Gate sent thirty-six Celestial Immortals to assault him en-masse, but they were still defeated,” Yu Wei said. “To kill Celestial Immortal Unity won’t be easy. By contrast, our Black-White College…well, we aren’t as strong as senior Unity, so we’ve been suffering quite a bit for it.” Ning now understood what had been worrying Yu Wei. The Black-White College was standing alongside Unity. When the Seamless Gate went to act against Unity, they’d probably throw the Black-White College into the mix as well; after all, the Black-White College had two Celestial Immortals within their ranks. Killing Celestial Immortal Unity might be very difficult…but killing the Celestial Immortals of the BlackWhite College was much easier by comparison. Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai were quite ordinary; they had just recently overcome their tribulations, after all. They were far from being comparable to Celestial Immortal Unity. “But I’m back now, right?” Ning smiled. “Junior apprentice-brother, you haven’t overcome your tribulation.” Yu Wei actually shook her head. “The Seamless Gate is far too powerful. We have to be careful.” …… That very night. Within Immortal Diancai’s estate. “Master.” Ning looked at Immortal Diancai. “It’s good that you are back. It’s good that you are back.” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning, letting out a long sigh, then smiled. “You unfilial disciple! When you came back, you didn’t come see me; you went to go see your Dao-companion first!” The nearby Yu Wei was laughing. “Don’t blame me, Master! I admit to my wrongdoings.” Ning began to laugh as well. “Sit, first! Later, senior Unity shall arrive,” Immortal Diancai said. A short time later. A youth with loose hair and a gray robe came walking in. Ning, Immortal Diancai, and Yu Wei all rose to their feet. “Ji Ning has returned.” The gray-robed youth smiled and nodded. “I heard that you previously killed two mighty Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan. How valiant! You were able to overcome the karmic sinflames and to return to us; I imagine that anyone who hears about this would be filled with admiration for you.” “You praise me too much, senior. I was just a bit luckier than most; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to come back at all,” Ning said. “Sit, all of you,” Celestial Immortal Unity said. The four immediately all sat down. Unity looked at Ning. “I imagine you know everything now, Ji Ning.” “I just heard from them. I didn’t imagine that in the past eighteen years, the Grand Xia Dynasty would’ve changed this much. The Seamless Gate has already begun to shed all pretenses of cordiality.” Ning shook his head. “Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was captured. Alas…” “When the storm comes, who can avoid it?” Unity looked towards Ning. “The Seamless Gate gave us their final warning, and I’ve naturally made my own preparations. This entire city of Stillwater has always been the base for my Northmont clan. One generation after another, we have set down countless formations in this place. I want to ask your Black-White College to help me control the formations of Stillwater City, so that I can focus whole-heartedly on fighting against the Seamless Gate. There’s no need for the BlackWhite College to exit the formation.” “Today, the Xia Emperor sent me a messenger. Many are under threat right now, and he’s unable to assist me, which is why I’ve made this decision. I wanted to tell Yu Wei and Diancai tomorrow, but since you came back today, Ji Ning, I came to speak to you all tonight,” Unity said. Ning, Yu Wei, and Diancai all exchanged a glance. “Since you’ve made the request, senior Unity…our Black-White College will definitely strive to ensure you are not disappointed by us,” Ning said. Celestial Immortal Unity had realized something… The Black-White College had three mighty experts. Yu Wei and Ji Ning were Dao-companions, while Immortal Diancai and Ji Ning were master and disciple! In fact, Ji Ning had once guarded his master during his master’s tribulation and fought with utter ferocity, while Diancai, in turn, had been willing to face off against the Youngflame clan even when he had merely been at the Void-level; from this, one could 2960 see how close the two of them were. Clearly, Ji Ning was capable of influencing both Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai, which made him the true leader of the Black-White College. After chatting for a bit longer, Celestial Immortal Unity departed. Ning, Yu Wei, and Immortal Diancai, the three mighty experts of the Black-White College, were now discussing amongst themselves. “Our Black-White College is the weakest side in this fight, regardless of whether we compare ourselves to Celestial Immortal Unity or the Seamless Gate,” Immortal Diancai said. “Senior Unity knows that we are in a tough spot. This is for the best. We shall stay within the formation and provide support. If even the formation is unable to withstand their attacks, then we’ll use Greater Teleportation to leave.” “Right.” Yu Wei and Ning both nodded. Ning didn’t say much. It was true that he had become far more powerful over the course of eighteen years of nonstop battles, and he was probably even superior to Celestial Immortal Unity in terms of power! However, given that the Seamless Gate was a major power that dared to act against the Grand Xia Dynasty in such a brash, arrogant fashion…they might suddenly produce a True Immortal or Empyrean God who would wipe Ning out. “Ji Ning, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain has stationed someone in our Black-White College,” Immortal Diancai said. “They’ve been waiting for news of you. Now that you are back…should we let the Heavenly Treasures Mountain know?” “What’s this?” Ning was surprised. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain had actually permanently stationed someone here, waiting for news regarding him? It seemed as though the Xia Emperor truly did care quite a bit about his status. “Go ahead and tell them,” Ning said. His own master, Patriarch Subhuti, was good friends with Daofather Crimsonbright. The Xia Emperor had treated him fairly well; there was no need to hide this from him. “Alright.” Immortal Diancai nodded. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. The Skylight Palace. The black-robed Xia Emperor was seated facing a white-haired elder. They were playing a game of stones. Click! The Xia Emperor frowned. “Xiamang, if you bare your fangs too openly, you’ll suffer for it,” the white-haired elder said with a laugh, then pressed his stone onto the board. “It’s better for you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.” The Xia Emperor, however, didn’t pay him any attention. Click! Click! Click! The sound of chess stones being pressed onto the board rang out throughout the hall. “You lose.” The white-haired elder rose to his feet. “Xiamang, spend a little time and think things over. But of course…you remain a descendant of our Primordial Imperial Clan. There’s no way you can let yourself be so casually abused by others. Whether you choose to retreat or to fight, you need to do it in a beautiful manner. If you do need help, come find me.” “Thank you, Uncle.” The Xia Emperor rose to his feet. The white-haired elder laughed, then soared into the skies and disappeared. The Xia Emperor, however, continued to frown. A short while later, a streak of light flew in; it was Skyfox. “Master.” Immortal Skyfox strode in. “What is it?” The Xia Emperor asked. “Ji Ning has returned,” Immortal Skyfox said in a low voice. The Xia Emperor was startled. “He came back? Alive?” “Yes. He came back just last night; we received news just this morning,” Immortal Skyfox said. “He managed to make it back alive? I even went so far as to speak to Venomfreak about this. Venomfreak said that he had exiled Ji Ning to the Nihilum Zone.” The Xia Emperor frowned. “The Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld…that truly is a boundless, vast place. The voidwaves there are incredibly powerful; in order to leave that place while going against the voidwaves, one has to at least have the power of a True God or Daofather. It must have been that mysterious Daofather master of his who intervened. This Daofather seems to care about his disciples quite a bit; he actually went into the Nihilum Zone to search for him!” “Then…with regards to Stillwater Commandery…” Immortal Skyfox said in a whispered voice. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Xia Emperor shook his head. “The entire Grand Xia Dynasty is being shaken by this storm. More than sixty percent of my 3600 commanderies are requesting assistance from me! No matter how formidable the Seamless Gate is, there’s no way they can possibly act against that many marquisdoms and clans at once. In addition, according to the intelligence I have, some of those requesting support have actually surrendered to the Seamless Gate long ago.” The Seamless Gate was indeed formidable; for them to be able to convince more than half of the highlevel members of the Northmont clan to join them was a testament to their might. Within the Grand Xia Dynasty, there were indeed quite a few clans who had already joined their side. “They’ve already joined the Seamless Gate, but they still beg me for assistance.” The Xia Emperor frowned. “Right now…I don’t have a clear picture of the situation. More than sixty percent of the marquisdoms are asking for my assistance, but which ones actually need help, while which ones are faking it?” “Although the Northmont clan of Stillwater claims Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was captured alive…that was a mere capture. Who knows if that is just part of a plot?” The Xia Emperor said. “Understood.” Immortal Skyfox nodded. “Right now, although there are some clashes, my control over the entire Grand Xia is still fairly stable.” The Xia Emperor said softly, “The true war has yet to start. We need to stand firm and not act about in a disorderly fashion. Even though the Seamless Gate has begun to move…let them. The more they move, the more of themselves they reveal to me. For now, let my blade remain in its sheath…because one it comes out, it will stab them in their weak points! The Seamless Gate wishes to take away my world of the Grand Xia? Hmph…let’s see if they can force me to accept it!” Immortal Skyfox nodded. “Still…Ji Ning’s potential truly is remarkable. Even before undergoing his Celestial Tribulation, he was able to kill two Celestial Immortals. Despite having trained for less than a century, he was capable of enduring karmic sinflames. I imagine that he will soon be undergoing his tribulation. He…is going to be an important chess piece,” the Xia Emperor said. “And, based on what my master said…Ji Ning is definitely on our side.” The Xia Emperor viewed Ning with great importance. After all…Ji Ning’s accomplishments to date had all been simply too unearthly. At the Void-level, he had slaughtered two Celestial Immortals, then withstood karmic sinflames. Once a monster like this broke 2963 through to the Celestial Immortal level after overcoming the tribulation…he would most likely become one of the most supreme Celestial Immortals right away, perhaps even possessing the combat power of a Pure Yang True Immortal! Most importantly of all…Ji Ning had an incredible background. To befriend Ji Ning was equivalent to befriending a mysterious Daofather. How could the Xia Emperor not view this as being extremely important? “Right. Go and tell King Yan that Ji Ning has returned,” the Xia Emperor said. “Alright,” Immortal Skyfox said respectfully. …… The imperial capital. King Yan’s Estate. King Yan had arrived in a flower garden. He stared at Yuchi Xiyue, seated within a distant pavilion. He couldn’t help but secretly shake his head. When Ji Ning had gone to act against the Youngflame clan, he had told Yuchi Xiyue in advance. Xiyue had been filled with both hope as well as worry for Ning…but in the end, Ning had been covered by karmic sinflames and driven out of the world of the Grand Xia. Xiyue had always paid close attention to information regarding Ning, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find out anything regarding his return from that battle. She had gone to ask King Yan, and thus learned what had happened. Ever since that day she had learned that Ning’s chances of survival were slim…Xiyue had never smiled again. “Little brother…” Xiyue always felt as though something was missing from her heart. She was incapable of smiling, now. “Xiyue.” A voice rang out. Xiyue turned her head, then hurriedly rose her feet to greet the man. “Grandpa.” “Let me tell you some good news,” King Yan said with a chuckle. “Good news?” Xiyue was puzzled. “Ji Ning…has returned.” King Ya laughed. Xiyue trembled, then revealed a look of wild joy and excitement. She hurriedly grabbed King Yan by the hand. “Grandpa, is this true? My little brother has really come back? He’s returned from that danger zone? You aren’t lying to me, are you?” “Mm. It was the Xia Emperor who told me…and Ji Ning is currently in the Black-White College of Stillwater City right now,” King Yan said. “He’s at the Black-White College?” Xiyue felt more alive than she had in a long time. She immediately said, “I’m going to Stillwater City right away!” “Let’s go together. I want to see Ji Ning as well,” King Yan said. “Alright. Let’s go right now!” Xiyue didn’t want to wait for even a single moment; she had to see Ning with her own eyes before she would believe it all. …… Even before the Xia Emperor had learned of Ji Ning’s return…the marvelously capable Seamless Gate had learned of it as well. Whoooosh. A cold wind blew. A golden-robed Celestial Immortal was standing at the top of a mountain peak. This golden-robed Celestial Immortal was quite bulky, and in fact was slightly chubby. He had a stubbly beard, and his eyes shone like copper. The golden robes he bore looked just like a set of golden armor. He simply waited there, bored and restless, at the top of that mountain peak. Swoosh. A streak of light flew towards him from far away, alighting on the mountain peak; it was Celestial Immortal Arcanum. “Arcanum,” the golden-robed envoy said calmly. “Envoy.” Celestial Immortal immediately smiled, not showing any of his customary arrogance for fear of offending this envoy. “Might I ask why you wish to speak with our Youngflame clan, Envoy?” “Our Seamless Gate has never shown your Youngflame clan any malice. We’ve always been helping you…and now, I’m going to help you again.” The golden-robed envoy laughed, but even when laughing, his savage, ferocious face remained terrifying to behold. “A while ago, you had a rather nasty battle with that Ji Ning, right? In fact, two of your Celestial Immortals died, and in the end, you used the Worldhold Pagoda to exile Ji Ning away into the Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld, yes?” “Right, right. That’s exactly right,” Celestial Immortal Arcanum said hurriedly. Although he had a smile on his face, in his heart Arcanum was cursing loudly. How had this secret slipped out? Very, very few people knew that the Youngflame clan had used the Worldhold Pagoda to deal with Ji Ning. Only the Xia Emperor and Ji Ning’s friends knew. However, logically speaking, neither Ji Ning’s friends nor the Xia Emperor would go tell the Seamless Gate about this…and yet, somehow, the Seamless Gate had still found out. They had even come to ask the Youngflame clan about this, at which point the 2965 Youngflame clan had been forced to admit that they had indeed exiled Ji Ning to the Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld. In truth, the Youngflame clan wasn’t worried about this being made public knowledge. The Nihilum Zone was incredibly vast, after all; even a True God or Daofather who went there to investigate would have to spend countless years before completely searching the place. In addition, True Gods and Daofathers were generally unwilling to spend much time there; after all, as the saying went, if one often walked by the riverside, one’s shoes would eventually get wet. If they stayed in the Nihilum Zone too long, they might run into some powerful foes from the Primordial Ruinworld. “The Seamless Gate truly seems to be able to penetrate through any seam,” Arcanum mused silently to himself. “Not even the Heavenly Treasures Mountain of the Xia Emperor comes close to the Seamless Gate in terms of intelligence reports.” “I’ve come to notify your Youngflame clan…that your hated foe, Ji Ning, is still alive. And…he’s already back.” The golden-robed envoy smiled merrily as he looked at Celestial Immortal Arcanum. Arcanum’s face instantly changed. “Impossible!!!” He couldn’t help but blurt out these words. “Impossible?” The golden-robed envoy lifted an eyebrow. “We sent him to the Nihilum Zone of the Primordial Ruinworld! Not even an Empyrean God could escape from that place; only a True God or Daofather has a chance! Even if an exalted True God or Daofather was to go search for him…how could they be so lucky as to find Ji Ning within the infinitely vast Nihilum Zone in just eighteen short years?” Arcanum shook his head. “Even if he was apprenticed to a True God or a Daofather…I refuse to believe a True God or a Daofather would be willing to commit himself to such a painstaking search, or be able to find him so quickly. There’s no way Ji Ning could be that lucky!” “Yes, I didn’t believe it either.” The golden-robed envoy shook his head and sighed. “But alas, Ji Ning is within Stillwater City right now. At this very moment, he is flirting and cuddling with that Dao-companion of his, Yu Wei, within the Black-White College.” “He’s at Stillwater City right now?” Arcanum was now truly stunned. “Yes.” The golden-robed envoy nodded. Arcanum had an extremely ugly look on his face right now, and his thoughts were jumbled. If Ji Ning had returned alive…then things had completely changed. First of all, for him to return meant that, without question, Ji Ning had a True God or Daofather standing behind him! When the Youngflame clan had fought against Ji Ning, they had been worried that Ji Ning had apprenticed himself to a Daofather, true, but they felt that given the exalted status of a Daofather, Ji Ning 2966 shouldn’t have been so lucky as to actually have been apprenticed to one. The chances of that having happened had to be low. But now…it had indeed been proven to be the case! Ji Ning truly had become the disciple of a True God or a Daofather! And secondly! The Youngflame clan knew exactly how powerful Ji Ning was. A young fellow like him who hadn’t even undergone his tribulation had been able to slaughter two mighty Celestial Immortals. Even when battling the eight of them, he hadn’t been at a disadvantage at all. Given his terrifying power…once he overcame his tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal, he could become a calamity for the Youngflame clan. And this monster…this utter monster had a True God or a Daofather backing him! This was a nightmare! “He…really does have a True God or a Daofather as his master. And…he’s back.” Arcanum was completely panicking right now. He knew very well that this would be a disaster for his Youngflame clan…a disaster which the Youngflame would not be able to avoid! “If…the Youngflame clan was to join our Seamless Gate, then we would be willing to help you deal with Ji Ning,” the golden-robed envoy said with a laugh. “You might be afraid of the Daofather behind him, but we, the Seamless Gate, are not. Alright…you can go back now and spend some time thinking on this.” Whoosh. A series of spatial ripples appeared around the golden-robed envoy. Moments later, he disappeared into thin air. Celestial Immortal Arcanum stood there on the mountain peak, an ugly look on his face. Moments later, he too used a spatial teleport to depart, having headed back to report this information to the Ancestor of the Youngflame clan, Immortal Venomfreak. …… Stillwater City. The Black-White College. Ning didn’t realize that both the Seamless Gate and the Youngflame clan had found out right away about his return. However, even if he did realize that they knew…Ning wasn’t afraid. To deal with the current Ji Ning wouldn’t be easy as it was to deal with the Ji Ning of eighteen years ago. “Ji Ning, King Yan and Princess Xiyue have come to visit,” Immortal Jadesea sent through his divine sense. “Princess Xiyue? King Yan?” Ji Ning, who had been sipping wine alongside Yu Wei, hastily rose to his feet. Ning had spent the entire night with Yu Wei. The two had whispered sweet nothings to each other, and also had discussed may matters. Yu Wei now knew the real relationship between Ning and Xiyue. “Come, let’s go greet them,” Ning said hurriedly. “Before I went to fight against the Youngflame clan, I told my cousin about it. I was completely confident in my chances; I thought that everything was under my control. And yet…man proposes, Heaven disposes. In the end, I was exiled for eighteen years. My cousin must have been worrying over me for all eighteen of these years.” “She came to see you as soon as she learned that you were back. Clearly, she cares about you immensely,” Yu Wei said. The two flew over, shoulder-to-shoulder, into the skies. They immediately saw the distant Immortal Jadesea guiding King Yan and Yuchi Xiyue towards them. Xiyue stared towards Ning from far away, and upon seeing him her eyes lit up right away. It was true; her little brother truly had come back! “Senior apprentice-brother Jadesea, allow me to take care of King Yan and the princess,” Ning said. Immortal Jadesea knew that these two had come to see Ji Ning, and so he immediately nodded and departed. Ning and Yu Wei led King Yan and Xiyue down into Yu Wei’s residence. At present, Yu Wei’s residence didn’t have even a single servant in it; all of them had been sent to Darknorth Peak. Clearly, Ning and Yu Wei wanted to be alone and to not be disturbed by anyone. As they landed together, Xiyue could no longer hold back. “Little brother, you scared me half to death! If you really died…then I really would be the only member of the Yuchi clan left.” “I’m not gonna die that easily,” Ning said with a laugh. The two immediately began to chat with each other. Yu Wei added in a few words on the side, but King Yan said almost nothing. As the conversation began to wind down…finally, King Yan spoke out. “Ji Ning, do you remember the task you handed to me?” Ning’s face instantly turned slightly red. He hurriedly said, “You’ve found information regarding my parents and their reincarnations?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Years ago, Ji Ning had asked King Yan to help him investigate what had happened to his father, Ji Yichuan, and his mother, Yuchi Snow, after they had been reincarnated. However, after he made the request Ning had gone off to battle the Youngflame clan, then been driven into the Nihilum Zone. Thus, King Yan had never had a chance to tell Ning about what he had discovered. “I’ve found the information.” King Yan nodded. “Wonderful! This is…this is wonderful!” Ning couldn’t disguise his excitement. In Ning’s heart…his father, Ji Yichuan, and his mother, Yuchi Snow, had the most important position of all. Not even his Dao-companion, Yu Wei, was as important to him as his parents! In fact, in Ning’s heart, even his parents from his previous life on Earth were slightly inferior in status when compared to Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow. In his past life on Earth, his father had always been busy with his careers, after all; Ning was rarely able to see him. His mother, on the other hand, had always worked very hard to take care of him, and Ning had firmly engraved those memories into his heart. But in this life… For the sake of giving birth to him, his mother had been willing to sacrifice her own life-force. For the sake of letting him grow up safely, she hadn’t even been willing to tell Ning about their feud with Snowdragon Mountain, or the truth regarding the enemy that had destroyed the Yuchi clan. Although his father looked cold on the outside, the amount of care and love he had felt for Ji Ning was definitely every bit as much as Yuchi Snow had felt. He had personally taught Ning to use the sword, and had always worked to protect him. In fact, it wasn’t until he was no longer capable of protecting Ning that he had perished to go reunite with Yuchi Snow. Ning could never forget them! Those youthful days…those had been the happiest days of his life. “These are bamboo scrolls.” King Yan produced a pair of bamboo scrolls within his hands. “In the Netherworld, we record the information about the dead in them. All who are judged by the Judges of the Dead will have records regarding them. This bamboo scroll has a great deal of information, including information regarding your mother, Yuchi Snow. This one, in turn, has information regarding your father, Ji Yichuan.” Ning took a deep breath before accepting the scrolls. Ning sent his divine sense into the first scroll. Instantly, an enormous amount of information filled his mind. After Ning had strengthened his heartforce, his control over his divine sense had strengthened noticeably as well. Soon, he was able to sort through the sea of information to find the relevant parts regarding his father, Ji Yichuan. “Ji Yichuan, of the world of the Grand Xia, Stillwater Commandery, Swallow Mountain. Zifu Disciple. No karmic sin, no karmic merits. Adjudicated to be reborn as a human and be reincarnated in the Wusky world, Flowermont Commandery, Willowriver clan. His name shall be Willowriver Chuan, and he shall live for 182 years.” Ning was no longer a wide-eyed youth; at Mount Innerheart, he had read some books which had given a basic introduction to the Three Realms. He understood what this Judge’s intentions were. Generally speaking, decisions on where one would be sent to, what one would be named, and how long one would live for would be automatically made by the Dao of the Heavens. The Judges of the Dead had to intentionally intervene in order to change things. This sort of intervention would usually have a minor impact on one’s karmic merits, and so generally speaking only someone who had a sufficient degree of status was capable of causing the likes of the Ten Yama-Kings of Hell or the First Judge of the Dead to command their subordinates to make a change to one’s fate. Long ago, Judge Cui had told Ning that changing one’s lifespan was quite a simple task for him. But in truth, the ‘lifespan’ was only applicable to mortals. Once one became an Immortal cultivator, one would’ve embarked on a path that went against the will of the Heavens. The Heavens would send down the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, and it would become very difficult to predict how far one would make it down this path. If one remained a mere mortal, one might only live for a century or so, but if one became an Immortal cultivator and became a Zifu Disciple within twenty or so years…it was possible that one might be killed soon after becoming a Zifu Disciple, resulting in a lifespan that was even shorter than that of an ordinary mortal’s! The decisions of the Judges of the Netherworld with regard to one’s lifespan were only meaningful for mortals. “The Wusky world? Flowermont Commandery, Willowriver clan…Willowriver Chuan?” Ning quietly memorized this name. He immediately picked up the other bamboo scroll, sweeping it with his divine sense. A short while later, he found the information regarding his mother, Yuchi Snow. “Yuchi Snow, of the world of the Grand Xia, Eastisle Commandery, Yuchi clan. Slightly positive karma. Adjudicated to be reborn as a human and be reincarnated to the Wusky world, Flowermont Commandery, Eastflow clan. Her name shall be Eastflow Snow, and she shall live for 200 years.” Ning was delighted by what he just saw. They had both been sent to the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world? The nearby King Yan said, “The adjudications of the Judges are usually generated naturally in accordance with the Dao of the Heavens. Clearly, your mother and your father have been tied together by karmic love across many lifetimes, and so the Dao of the Heavens invisibly worked to place them together once more.” “Karmic love across many lifetimes?” Ning nodded gently, then immediately said, “King Yan, senior, are you saying that my parents are together once more?” “I went and helped you investigate what happened after they were reincarnated. I made a trip all the way to the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world to look into this matter, but…your parents have already died. The information I found is within this book.” King Yan gave Ning a glance, then a book appeared within his hands that he offered to Ning. Ning was stunned. “Already dead? That means they should be reincarnated again. Why haven’t they…?” But then, Ning suddenly thought of a possibility. His face turned ashen, and he immediately accepted the book and swept it with his divine sense. “No.” “No…” Ning clenched at the book, shaking his head, his eyes filled with shock, anger, and agony. He didn’t want to accept this result. His parents had indeed been linked by karmic love; although they had experienced some problems in their new life, they had still ended up together. Together, they had embarked upon the path of Immortal cultivation… “How could…how could this have happened?” Ning shook his head, mumbling as he did, “Why did these things have to happen to them? Why didn’t they happen to me instead? Although they embarked on the Immortal path once more, they were just minor figures. Why did things have to end so bitterly for them…why…” “I don’t believe it…I don’t believe it!” “This is all a lie. All a lie!” Ning’s eyes began to turned crazed. The truth was beyond what his mind could accept; he instinctually refused to believe this, especially when this was nothing more than information record in a book! “Little brother!” “Junior apprentice-brother!” Yu Wwei and Princess Xiyue were both worried. Ning immediately said, “I’m going to go to the miniature Netherworld Kingdom. I’m going right now! Senior apprentice-sister…although Stillwater City is in a dangerous situation right now, I have to go right away. If it really does encounter a crisis, shatter this talisman and I’ll immediately come back through Greater Teleportation.” “Alright.” Yu Wei immediately nodded. “Let me go with you.” She could sense how frantic Ning was feeling right now. “No need. I’ll go alone.” Ning turned to look at the nearby King Yan. “King Yan, senior, I’m going to go to the miniature Netherworld Kingdom. I need a temporal inversion to see the scene of the Judge adjudicating my parents’ fates.” Right now, Ning even doubted the information he had seen within the bamboo scrolls regarding the adjudication of his parents. He had to personally see a temporal inversion, personally see the Judge adjudicate his parents, before he would believe it. “Alright.” King Yan nodded. He still remembered the Xia Emperor’s instructions to him. The Xia Emperor viewed quite a few people with favor and wanted to befriend them, but the most important amongst them was this Ji Ning, even though he hadn’t even undergone his tribulation. King Yan naturally wouldn’t refuse Ji Ning’s requests. “Let’s go.” Ning didn’t want to wait at all. “Let me lead the way.” King Yan immediately led Ning out, flying away from the estate, then undergoing a spatial teleport in midair. Both men immediately vanished. Yuchi Xiyue and Yu Wei raised their heads, watching as Ning and King Yan left. “My grandpa actually didn’t tell me any of this…” Xiyue had a somewhat frantic look on her face as well. “I hope everything is fine,” Yu Wei said softly. …… A gloomy, deathly aura pervaded this place. This was an extremely large world. Within it, lines of white-robed figures could be seen walking forward, stretching forth as far as the eye could see. Next to them were many minotaur demon soldiers and other demon soldiers who were striking them with lashes. Some of the white-robed figures glanced curiously out of the corner of their eyes, paying attention to the two figures who had just appeared in the sky. The two figures that had appeared were Ji Ning and King Yan. “This miniature Netherworld isn’t that different from the real Netherworld Kingdom, to be honest. There are plenty of deceased spirits here as well,” King Yan said. Daofather Crimsonbright controlled dozens of major worlds, after all, as well as countless minor worlds, all of which came under this miniature Netherworld’s jurisdiction. It made up for roughly 1% of the entire territory of the Three Realms. Ning didn’t say a word. He wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat. King Yan, after saying a few more things, realized Ning wasn’t in the mood. He led Ning directly to a giant city, within which were numerous buildings and many demonic soldiers. King Yan quickly arrived at a courtyard. “This is the courtyard where your mother was sentenced.” King Yan led Ning straight inside. The demonic soldiers didn’t dare restrict them from entering. The judge on his judge’s seat, upon seeing who had entered, was badly shocked. He was just one of countless judges; there was no way he could possibly compare with one of the exalted Yama-Kings. “Your underling greets you, Yama-King.” The judge hurriedly fell to his knees, and the surrounding demonic soldiers all knelt down as well. As for the ghost who was waiting to be sentenced, he was completely terrified. “Hurry up and sentence this one,” King Yan instructed. “Yes, yes!” The judge hurriedly said, “Hurry up and send him to the eighteenth level of Hell.” Two demonic soldiers immediately dragged the ghost away. The ghost screamed in terror, but was still pulled out of the palace. “You can leave now. Don’t use this court for anything else today,” King Yan instructed. “Yes.” Neither the judges nor the demonic soldiers dared say a thing. Although they had many tasks to accomplish, there were many other courts in operation; for one to be paused for a day didn’t mean anything. They gave the youth behind King Yan a curious glance; they could sense that even King Yan wanted to ensure that this youth was taken care of. This youth most likely had an incredible background! They all obediently retreated. Soon, only Ning and King Yan were left in the court. “King Yan, senior, I haven’t overcome my tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal yet. I’ll have to trouble you, senior, to use temporal inversion for me,” Ning said. “A minor matter,” King Yan said. Although this sort of Immortal technique used up a considerable amount of his energy, in the long run it didn’t matter. King Yan immediately used the temporal inversion technique. Whooosh. The scene before them changed. The departed judges and demonic soldiers quickly returned to the hall, once more beginning to judge the souls of the dead, then the souls before them… Time continued to flow backwards, faster and faster. In fact, everything turned into a blur. Ning and King Yan just stood there within the court, waiting silently. The images of the temporal inversion were illusory ones. Even if the figures of the judges or demonic soldiers touched with them, it wouldn’t make any difference at all. One year. Two years. Three years… Time continued to flow backwards at high speed. “This is the day,” King Yan said. There had been an order to the procession of souls judged that had been recorded within the bamboo scroll. It included information on which judge did the adjudication, when the record was made, and in what order the decision was made. Thus, King Yan knew exactly which court and roughly which day the judgement was made. The reversed flow of time began to slow down, and the ghosts could be seen clearly once more. Ning looked carefully at the ghosts; one of them should’ve been his mother. Suddenly… King Yan controlled the temporal version, making it come to a sudden halt, because a white-robed woman had just been escorted in by the demonic soldiers…and it was Ning’s mother, Yuchi Snow! “Mother.” Ning’s eyes stung. He actually wanted to throw himself forward to hug her. It had been far, far too long… But Ning knew that these were merely the illusions rendered by a temporal inversion; these were events that had already happened in the past. These were nothing more than illusions; there was no way he could possibly touch his mother. “Faster, faster!” The two demonic soldiers that brought Yuchi Snow in actually gave her a shove. Yuchi Snow looked at her surroundings. Not panicking at all, she immediately knelt down. “My respects to you, judge.” 2974 If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. An aura of light suddenly appeared within the court, and within the light appeared many images. There were images of a little girl playing with her elders, of a young maiden fleeing in terror, of the fully grown Yuchi Snow staring into Ji Yichuan’s eyes, of her adventures in the Darknorth Sea, of her birth of Ji Ning, of her teaching Ji Ning footwork techniques… One image after another. “Her past life.” Ning stared at the images. Although a Protocosmic spirit-treasure had been left behind within this miniature cycle of reincarnation that allowed one to view the past lives of countless ghosts, there was no Book of Life and Death. The judge merely gave the images a glance, then wrote with his pen, “Yuchi Snow, of the world of the Grand Xia, Eastisle Commandery, Yuchi clan. Slightly positive karma. Adjudicated to be…” Some thoughts suddenly appeared in the judge’s mind. Adjudicated to be reborn as a human and be reincarnated to the Wusky world, Flowermont Commandery, Eastflow clan. Her name shall be Eastflow Snow, and she shall live for 200 years. These thoughts had been naturally generated by the Dao of the Heavens. Once one took on the position of judge and moved to support the normal functioning of the Six Paths, it could be said that one had become a part of the Dao of the Heavens. However, the judges were fully capable of changing these written decisions…but in doing so, their own karma would be affected. The more ridiculous the changes were, the more major the impact would be on their karmic standing. In fact, there were some judgements that simply couldn’t be written. For example, if this minor judge was to try to forcibly write that Yuchi Snow’s sentence was to suffer a thousand years of punishment in the eighteenth level of Hell, so much sin would accumulate around the judge that he would probably be immediately deposed from his position, even before he finished writing the sentence! “…To be reborn as a human and be reincarnated to the Wusky world, Flowermont Commandery, Eastflow clan. Her name shall be Eastflow Snow, and she shall live for 200 years!” This judge naturally followed the will of the Dao of the Heavens. He wouldn’t make any changes at all for an ordinary ghost like this. …… Watching as his mother was sent off, Ning murmured to himself, “It really was the Eastflow clan of the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world. I wasn’t lied to.” “Do you wish to also see Ji Yichuan?” The nearby King Yan asked. “Yes. Of course, yes.” Ning nodded, then said, “King Yan, sorry for the trouble.” “No trouble at all. If I ran into something like this, I’d probably be frantic as well. Still…unless one becomes a Celestial Immortal, one shall forever struggle within the cycle of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. If one is lucky, one might eventually escape, but less than one in a trillion actually do so. The vast majority shall continue to drown within the cycle until the day comes when their soul is destroyed.” King Yan looked at Ning. “You need to accept this.” Ning nodded gently. “Come. Let’s go to another court,” King Yan said, leading the way. …… Yet another court. The court had been a ceaseless bustle of activity, but it all came to a sudden halt. The judge and the demonic soldiers were terrified into hurriedly departing, leaving behind only Ning and King Yan. King Yan once more used a temporal inversion technique, allowing them to view the scenes of the past. They watched as Ji Yichuan was sentenced by the judge. “Father.” Ning looked at the white-robed Ji Yichuan while listening to the words of the judge. “So he really was sent to the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world.” “I wish to make a trip to the Wusky world,” Ning said. “Alright. I’ll accompany you on this trip. I imagine that you will want the temporal inversion technique to be used again; I’ll have to do it for you.” King Yan nodded, then advised, “But Ji Ning, you have to be careful. The Wusky world is not like the Grand Xia; its foundations are not as stable or deep as ours. Thus, the Seamless Gate has been even more brazen in that world. We can go investigate matters pertaining to your parents’ reincarnation, but it’s best for you not to intervene in those struggles.” Ning said softly, “I understand. King Yan, don’t worry; I’m no longer that stupid, hot-headed little kid.” “Mm.” King Yan nodded. The two immediately left this courtyard, then used a spatial teleport to head straight to the Wusky world. The Wusky world was one of the dozens of major worlds under Daofather Crimsonbright’s control. In truth, of the worlds under Daofather Crimsonbright, the Grand Xia was actually in fairly good shape; there were many that were in far worse shape than the Grand Xia! For example, the Mount Stele major world was now almost completely controlled by the Seamless Gate. The Wusky world had descended into the fires of war, filled with battles by Immortals and Fiends. “This is where the Eastflow clan of the Flowermont Commandery is located.” King Yan looked down from the night sky towards a city, filled with countless Diremonsters. “The Eastflow clan is gone?” Ning frowned. “Perhaps a few remnants of them remain somewhere.” King Yan looked downwards. “Right now, the entire Wusky world is in a state of chaos. Major clans and sects might be able to fight back, but many smaller, backwater areas have been utterly massacred. The Seamless Gate doesn’t care too much about discipline; in fact, they delight in causing chaos, the more the merrier.” Ning nodded. He had noticed this as well. When humans took control over a territory, they emphasized order. But the Seamless Gate, however, encouraged battle and war. It instigated countless problems, hoping for more chaos! “This city of the Eastflow clan was broken into by monsters. It is now occupied by monsters, while the remnants of the Eastflow clan have fled long ago,” King Yan said. “Let me use the temporal inversion now.” “Alright.” Ning nodded. Ning gave the city below a single glance. Instantly, invisible ripples of power swept out from his soul. All of the many monsters within the commandery city, as well as a few humans who were still resisting and fight back against the monsters, all felt their bodies go soft before they collapsed to the ground. In this instant…all the humans and monsters within the city were trapped within a deep slumber. “Temporal inversion.” King Yan looked downwards as he executed his technique. …… “Waaaaaaa!” A cry rang out, and an infant was born. “Haha, let’s call this daughter of mine…Eastflow Snow.” A tall man spoke out in a joyful manner. Eastflow Snow slowly grew up. She was smart and obedient, learning from her father to become a Ki Refiner and loving to play around with the other children of the same age… Ning just quietly watched. “So similar. She looks so similar to mother,” Ning murmured silently to himself. In this life, Eastflow Snow lived a joyful, carefree life. She was filled with vigor and life, whereas in her past life as Yuchi Snow, she had always seemed slightly gloomy and quiet. Eastflow Snow quickly grew up. After turning sixteen, she went out adventuring with her fellow clansmen. While adventuring in the outside world… She encountered another boy, a boy who saved her. “Who are you?” “My name is Willowriver Chuan.” The sixteen year old Eastflow Snow had met with the still-boyish Willowriver Chuan. “Mother. Father…” Ning and King Yan quietly watched. The two went out adventuring together. Willowriver Chuan slowly grew taller; although he was a few years younger than Snow, he had a tall, muscular frame. Given that Chuan was also a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he soon grew even taller than Snow. After adventuring together for two years, the two naturally began to grow close together, perhaps because they felt an innate affinity for each other. Chuan and Snow both broke through to become Xiantian lifeforms while adventuring together! However, Chuan broke through as both a Fiendgod Body Refiner and a Ki Refiner, whereas Snow was merely a Ki Refiner. “Little brother Chuan, Father has already sent people to summon me; I have to go back.” “Big sister Snow, I’ll find you. I’ll make your father allow you to marry me.” “I’ll wait for you.” “I’ll definitely come.” …… “Hahaha, dear Snow, you have quite the eye. This Willowriver Chuan was able to become a Xiantian lifeform; this means that he can be considered a genius of the Willowriver clan. However…their clan is still a small one. It can’t compare with our Eastflow clan.” “Daddy!” Snow grew worried. “Ahaha, I’m just teasing you! If you like him, then go ahead and be with him; I won’t stop you.” …… 2979 Months later. “Chuan, don’t be in such a rush. Father has actually agreed to us already; he’s just testing you.” Snow had stealthily crept over to the guest building where Chuan was residing to tell him this. “So that’s the case. I was being too impatient.” Chuan rubbed his head. “Big sister Snow, since your father isn’t going to stop us…then I’m going to go back to prepare a betrothal gift. According to clan rules, I need to prepare a gift of nine ding-cauldrons.” “Alright.” Snow nodded gently, but she blushed a bit with shyness. ….. A betrothal gift of nine ding-cauldrons was quite a pricey one. However…since Chuan had long ago broken through to the Xiantian level, his status within his clan was quite high. He soon prepared the gift. Although the Eastflow clan was far more powerful, they didn’t move to stop this affair. The two sides soon came to agree on an auspicious day; next spring, the wedding would occur. Within the Eastflow clan. “Adept Icebreak, after these three kids join the Flowermont Immortal School, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of them. Here are our gifts for you for taking them on as your disciples; please accept them, Adept.” “Teaching and guiding one’s disciples is only normal; there’s no need for this gift. I’ve spent quite some time with your Eastflow clan; it’s time for me to go back. Have those three kids come out; I’ll take them back to the Flowermont Immortal School.” “Yes, Adept.” The Eastflow clan leader was being very careful to take good care of this Adept Icebreak of the Flowermont Immortal School. The Flowermont Immortal School was the most supreme of the large schools of the Flowermont Commandery. Supposedly, they even had a Celestial Immortal amongst their ranks! In addition, the Flowermont Immortal School was very strict with its disciples; in fact, if any disciples had any sin around them, they would be expelled! From this, one could tell how strict their rules were. There were naturally many people who wished to join such a mighty, righteous school. “The Adept forgot this. Please hand this to the Adept.” The Eastflow clan leader secretly handed the gift to one of the Adept’s followers, who accepted it. Soon, three youths appeared. “After you go to the Immortal School, you’ll have to work hard.” 2980 “You are the shining stars amongst the younger generation of our Eastflow clan. In the future, our clan will depend on you.” “Little uncle, remember to come back to visit me.” “Second brother, take care of yourself.” The kinsmen of the three youths sent them off…and amongst them was Eastflow Snow. The distant Adept Icebreak glanced over, his gaze suddenly falling upon Eastflow Snow. He immediately sent mentally, “Eastflow clan leader.” “Adept,” the Eastflow clan leader hurriedly said. “That white-robed girl looks nice.” Adept Icebreak sent mentally, “I am in need of a maidservant, and she looks quite obedient and clever; she’s a good fit. Help me speak to her; if she is willing to accompany me, then send her to me. But if she is not willing, then forget it.” Adept Icebreak then led these three early-stage Zifu Disciple youths into his flying ship, then departed from the Eastflow clan. The Eastflow clan leader hesitated a moment, then spoke to Snow’s father about this. “Clan leader, you are going to give Snow to Adept Icebreak? We can’t do that; in another month, she’s going to get married. Can’t you refuse?” “How can I refuse? Don’t you know what sort of a person this Adept Icebreak is? Although he looks like an upright gentleman, in secret he’s very greedy and very lecherous! It’s precisely because he is greedy that our Eastflow clan was able to send three of our own into the Flowermont Immortal School. If we don’t give him Snow…he’ll probably be embarrassed and angered, which will have a negative impact on Fuqiang and the others. They are the future of our Eastflow clan; for the sake of the clan, if we have to sacrifice a little girl like Snow, then we will do it!” “But the Willowriver clan…?” “The Willowriver clan merely has two Zifu Disciples; how would a clan like that dare to offend our Eastflow clan? Ignore them. For the sake of the tribe, even I myself can be sacrificed, much less Snow! I’m just letting you know in advance; later, I’ll go speak to Snow myself. I trust that she knows what truly matters. In addition…from this day forth, you are not to meet with Snow any longer. I’ll handle everything myself, to ensure that there are no slip-ups.” …… “Clan leader, you…you are telling me…no…no! I want to see Father, I want to see Father!” 2981 “You should know what truly matters. Come, men, go and lock her up! Tomorrow, I’ll send her off myself.” …… Within a vast wilderness. “Big sister Snow, why did you break the message-talisman? What has happened?” “I used a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal to flee. There’s no time! I want you to give up everything and leave this place by my side. In fact, we’re going to leave the entire Flowermont Commandery, but we will be together. Alright?” Romantic love and familial love warred with each other. In the end… Willowriver Chuan had knelt down, kowtowing towards the direction of his clan. “Father. Mother. Elder brother and second brother will have to be filial in my stead. Forgive me for being unfilial! In the future, if I have the chance, I will return.” “Let’s go.” That very night, Willowriver Chuan and Eastflow Snow had left their homeland, eloping. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning stood there in the wilderness, watching the scene of Willowriver Chuan and Eastflow Snow fleeing that had been created by the temporal inversion. His heart felt heavy…because up until now, everything which had transpired was identical to events as portrayed within the book King Yan had given him. “Let’s go to the Ninesongs Sword Sect,” Ning said. “Alright.” King Yan knew that until Ning saw everything in person, he wouldn’t give up hope. The two immediately teleported forward to the Ninesongs Sword Sect, located in another commandery. …… That year, Chuan and Snow had carefully, slowly departed in a drifting manner. They spent a total of eight years before passing out of the vast Flowermont Commandery and arriving at the Ninesongs Sword Sect. Chuan was very skilled in the sword to begin with, and because they had encountered many dangers over the past eight years, he had improved significantly. His had reached the Zifu Disciple level as a Fiendgod Body refiner, and so he was able to easily enter the Ninesongs Sword Sect as a disciple. As for Eastflow Snow, she had entered by his side as his ‘maidservant’. The second year after their entry into the Ninesongs Sword Sect. Snow, by relying on a spirit-pill which Chuan had acquired from the sect, was able to break through to the Zifu Disciple level. She, too, was accepted as formal disciple of the Ninesongs Sword Sect. “This is the place where the Ninesongs Sword Sect used to be.” From his position high up in the air, King Yan pointed downwards towards a giant pile of rubble. Ning stared at the rubble, his heart sinking. The rubble spanned tens of thousands of kilometers, and there were quite a few monsters in this area. “Eastflow Snow…Willowriver Chuan. According to the intelligence reports that I collected, they lived here at Waterflow Peak, which should be right over there.” King Yan quickly flew to a part of the destroyed city. Waving his hand, he caused the many monsters and Diremonsters there to all collapse. “Temporal inversion.” King Yan once more caused a temporal inversion. The scene here quickly began to reverse. Several decades of time were reversed. The scenery here was now incomparably beautiful. There were beautiful mountains and rivers. There was dense spiritual energy here, and Immortal cultivators could be seen everywhere. “Chuan, you always let me win.” Snow and Chuan were competing in swordplay, but in the end, Chuan always ‘lost’ every match. “No, it’s that your sword-arts have improved yet again, Snow,” Chuan said with a laugh. Seeing this, Ning felt a warm feeling in his heart. “There are three more years before that calamity,” the nearby King Yan told Ning. He controlled the flow of time, speeding it up. Snow and Chuan lived happy lives here at the Ninesongs Sword Sect; they had just joined the school, after all, and it wasn’t yet time for them to go out and adventure. Their life here was like life in paradise. Soon…three years of time passed within the temporal inversion. This was a bright, sunny day. The scenery was as beautiful as ever. In truth, the Seamless Gate had already infiltrated the Wusky world several years ago, and the outside world was in a state of chaos. Life within the Ninesongs Sword Sect, however, remained as peaceful and calm as ever. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Black sword-light suddenly began to flash. Willowriver Chuan, wielding twin swords, was currently training in swordplay while comprehending the Dao. Because he was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he now looked even more handsome and valiant than he had in his past life. The nearby Eastflow Snow was seated close to him, smiling as she watched. She knew that in her heart, her man continued to long for his homeland, long for his Willowriver clan. However…he had always been worried about Adept Icebreak of the Flowermont Immortal School, and so he continued to wait and endure. He was extremely hard on himself in training sword-arts, becoming one of the best amongst the Zifu Disciples of the Ninesongs Sword Sect. He had long ago reached the level of seeing a hint into the ‘true meaning of the Dao’. “Chuan, we’ll definitely be able to go back together.” Eastflow Snow missed her father as well. Suddenly… A group of black-robed figures appeared in the sky. There were a total of twenty-seven of them, and they almost instantly transformed into three giant black serpents. These three giant black serpents were more than a thousand kilometers long. Their auras filled the skies, and the entire grand formation that protected the Ninesongs Sword Sect was instantly activated, causing light to flare everywhere. Rumble… The world seemed to have collapsed. The formation was only able to stay alive for a few moments, and then it crumbled. “What’s going on?” “What happened?” Many of the weaker, ordinary disciples were completely stunned. Chuan, however, instantly flew to Snow’s side. He hurriedly said, “Snow, let’s…” Halfway through their words, a ripple of energy swept past this entire mountain. Some the Zifu Disciples who were struck head-on by the ripple were instantly reduced to dust, completely unable to fight back. And then, with a booming sound, the entire mountain peak began to collapse. Countless rocks began to fall down, and both Chuan and Snow hurriedly flew away in an attempt to hide. “Seamless Gate, our Ninesongs Sword Sect has never offended you. Why do you have to annihilate our school?” Several figures had streaked into the skies; it was the Loose Immortals, Earth Immortals, and Primal Daoists of the Ninesongs Sword Sect. They formed together into a grand formation, each of them furious and frantic. “Just die in peace!” One of the three massive black serpents spoke out in the human tongue…and then, not bothering to say anything else, they began to fight brashly. The surrounding space had been completely locked; there was no way to teleport out of it. “Kill.” “Kill!” Unable to escape, the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Ninesongs Sword Sect led the Primal Daoists to join into a formation. They transformed into a dazzling, titanic sword that did battle against those three giant serpents. However, after clashing just a few times, the titanic sword was completely shattered. More than half of the Loose Immortals, Earth Immortals, and Primal Daoists of the Ninesongs Sword Sect were instantly killed, while the others were all heavily wounded. “No…” “Damn!” 2985 The heavily injured Ninesongs Sword Sect experts were all wiped out. The giant black serpents swam about in the skies, utterly destroying the base of the sect, which stretched out more than tens of thousands of kilometers. As for the weaker disciples of the Ninesongs Sword Sect, they were unable to escape and so many of them were butchered without being able to fight back at all. “Snow…” Willowriver Chuan held Eastflow Snow in his arms, no longer running. “Chuan…do you regret having left with me?” Tears fell down Eastflow Snow’s face. “These past twelve years…I’ve truly been very happy. If I had the chance to choose again, I would still choose to come here with you, Snow.” Chuan laughed. “We’ll meet again on the road to the Yellow Springs.” “Right.” Tears falling down her face, Snow nodded. Rumble… A ripple swept out, and the embracing couple of Willowriver Chuan and Eastflow Snow was reduced to dust. Their souls, however, were drawn upwards at high speed by some invisible force. In midair, there was a black gourd that was frantically drawing in all the nearby souls of the slaughtered, including the souls of Chuan and Snow. Ning just stood there, watching silently. The nearby King Yan said softly, “The Seamless Gate wanted to tame this commandery, but since they had just arrived, not many joined them. Thus, the Seamless Gate decided to annihilate some smaller schools, so as to frighten the others. While killing countless cultivators, they collected the souls of the slain for usage in forming some evil techniques. If one had millions, ideally hundreds of millions of cultivator souls, one could refine a truly powerful and truly terrifying evil magic treasure, or develop a truly vile divine ability.” Ning knew this quite well, of course. “What a pity.” King Yan sighed. “The Seamless Gate is spread throughout the Three Realms, and the power behind them is unfathomably mighty. Even though you have a Daofather as your master…you still probably won’t be able to do anything to them.” “I’m very calm right now,” Ning said softly. Although he looked calm…in truth, Ning felt an overpowering desire to kill, one greater than he had ever felt. It was only because he had reached the third level of heartforce, ‘ruler’, that Ning was able to remain calm. However…in his heart, Ning now viewed the Seamless Gate as his most hated of foes. Even the hatred he felt for the Youngflame clan was less than a hundredth of a hundredth of the hatred he felt for the Seamless Gate! “The. Seamless. Gate.” Ning spoke out three words, enunciating each one. The nearby King Yan suddenly felt his heart shudder for no reason. He could vaguely sense the killing intent within Ning’s heart…and all he could do was sigh. The Seamless Gate…it was a power that had swept through the entire Three Realms. How could it be so easily dealt with? “Don’t act foolishly, “King Yan said. Ning murmured softly to himself, “Even though Father and Mother’s souls have been shattered…in the future, I’m going to train until I become a True God or a Daofather. I’ll find their truesouls in the River of Destiny and bring them back to life.” King Yan didn’t say anything. Both of them knew that the true essence of all living creatures came from their truesoul. Even if one’s soul was shattered, their truesouls would return to the mysterious River of Destiny…but it was far too hard to find a truesoul within it. According to the legends, only Maiden Nuwa, who had reached Pangu’s level of power, was capable of this. However…if one became a True God or Daofather then located Maiden Nuwa, they could ask Maiden Nuwa to intervene. “I wish to make a trip to the Flowermont Immortal School,” Ning said calmly. “I want to pay a visit to that Adept Icebreak.” “I’ll go with you. I’ve already collected a report regarding this ‘Icebreak’,” King Yan said. “He is now a Primal Daoist. Because the Flowermont Immortal School has a Celestial Immortal protecting it, it still exists. That Celestial Immortal is under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command, and it can be said that the two of us are on friendly terms. All we have to do is seek out Patriarch Flowermont; he won’t care about the life of a puny little Primal Daoist. Patriarch Flowermont can be said to be quite a noble man, righteous and unyielding, which is why the rules of his school are so strict. However, no matter how strict the rules are, it’s hard to avoid a few pests from invading.” “I understand. I won’t fight with Patriarch Flowermont.” Ning nodded. For every grievance, there is someone responsible for it; for every debt, there is a debtor. Ning understood this principle. The reason why King Yan had said those words was because he was worried that Ning was going to go fight with the entire Flowermont Immortal School. It must be understood that Ning had once fought all of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan by himself, eventually killing two of them. Given his power…there was no way the Flowermont Immortal School would be able to resist him. …… The Flowermont Immortal School. This was the number one school of the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world. The founding patriarch was Patriarch Flowermont, who remained alive to this very day. It was due to him that the fame of the Flowermont Immortal School was spread far and wide. “Master.” “Master.” “Master.” A series of maids called out respectfully as the confident, extraordinarily handsome Adept Icebreak walked past them with a smile. Everyone within the Flowermont Immortal School knew that Daoist Icebreak was a gentleman; his only flaw was that he loved beauties! However, he neither stole them nor seized them from others. For a person to have many maids by his side wasn’t too major a flaw. “Autumn Water, you and the rest of the seven, attend me,” Daoist Icebreak said. “Yes.” Seven of the maids immediately assented respectfully. Their hearts, however, were filled with terror and unease. Outsiders were ignorant of this, but they knew exactly how savage and cruel Daoist Icebreak was. Some of the maids that he tortured and ravaged actually died from it! However, Daoist Icebreak would often send the older maids who were no longer beautiful back to their own clans and arrange for them to live good lives. This caused many of the disciples of the Flowermont Immortal School to praise Adept Icebreak for being a passionate, kind man. Boom! A figure suddenly descended from the skies. Daoist Icebreak frowned. Who dared to trespass within his territory? But then… “Headmaster!” Daoist Icebreak was badly shocked. He hurriedly fell to his knees with respect. “Follow me.” The Headmaster of the Flowermont Immortal School had a cold look on his face. He grabbed Daoist Icebreak, then dragged him into the skies. Daoist Icebreak was utterly terrified on the way over…because the Headmaster was actually dragging him to the legendary residence of the Patriarch. Patriarch Flowermont was the founding patriarch of the school, a Celestial Immortal! Daoist Icebreak had never even seen him a single time. Why did the Patriarch wish to see him? He had never offended the Patriarch…could it be that he had just been singled out for his talent and was about to be made a personal disciple of the Patriarch? Upon arriving, Daoist Icebreak saw a yellow-robed man on his knees, quivering. “Father!” Daoist Icebreak was shocked to see his father, an Earth Immortal. He had always relied on his father to support him within the sect. “Why haven’t you knelt yet?!” The yellow-robed man roared. Adept Icebreak sank to his knees with a thud. Moments later, the courtyard door in front of them creaked open, and three figures emerged. “My two fellow Daoists…” A black-bearded man spoke with incomparable warmth. Only now did the kneeling Daoist Icebreak give these three a glance. Although he had never seen the Patriarch before, there were portraits of the Patriarch within the school, and so he recognized right away that this black-bearded elder was Patriarch Flowermont. However…right now, even their founding Patriarch was treating these two guests with incomparable respect. “Who are those two? Why is the Patriarch behaving so humbly and modestly towards them?” Daoist Icebreak couldn’t understand it. Patriarch Flowermont, however, just gave the kneeling Daoist Icebreak a sideways glance. A cold look flashed through his eyes; that damned Daoist Icebreak had actually offended Ji Ning! The Wusky major world was one of Daofather Crimsonbright’s worlds, which meant Patriarch Flowermont was one of Daofather Crimsonbright’s Celestial Immortals. Word had long since spread amongst this group of Celestial Immortals that Ji Ning, all by himself, had fought against nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan, with one of them being Immortal Venomfreak. In the end, Ji Ning had managed to kill two of them, but he had been exiled after a plot caused him to be burned by karmic sinflames. This news had instantly swept the various worlds, causing the many Celestial Immortals and True Immortals under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command to all feel admiration for Ji Ning. He had trained for less than a century, and he was a Void-level in power…but he had fought against nine Celestial Immortals and killed two of them?! “He even managed to come back after being exiled into a danger zone while being surrounded by karmic sinflames. A monster like this…his personal power is far greater than mine, while his background and his potential is even more astonishing.” Patriarch Flowermont naturally was enraged that Daoist Icebreak had caused his school to become enemies with this man. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I truly feel ashamed that my school has given birth to such a vile miscreant! I’ve already summoned Daoist Icebreak. You choose what to do with him! Whether it is to simply kill him or to torture his soul for millions of years…fellow Daoist Ji Ning, do as you please!” Patriarch Flowermont said. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Daoist Icebreak knelt there. He felt as though freezing icewater had just been poured across his entire body. He felt extremely cold, and his face had turned white. Kill him? Torture him? Torment his soul? Daoist Icebreak repeatedly kowtowed, smashing his forehead against the ground until blood began to pour from it. He screamed frantically, “Patriarch, Patriarch! Two seniors! Spare me, spare me! I’ve definitely never offended this senior, Ji Ning. Someone must have framed me. Framed me!” Ji Ning just stood there, staring at the terrified, kneeling Daoist Icebreak. He was very calm. The nearby King Yan, however, did speak out. “If I say you deserve to die, then you deserve to die!” Daoist Icebreak’s heart trembled. Right. Even a Celestial Immortal like Patriarch Flowermont was so respectful of these two. If they wanted to kill him…did they even really need to give a good excuse? The yellow-robed man knelt there by his side. He loved his son, but he didn’t dare to say a single word. He knew what sort of terrifying situation they were currently facing. “Even if I have to die…senior, please tell me what I’ve done, exactly!” Daoist Icebreak was still frantically trying to find a way to survive. He suppressed his terror as he raised his head to look towards Ning. He had to find out what this was all about. Only when he understood the reason behind this could he explain and argue back. Otherwise, there was no way for him to even argue about it! “In recent years…you’ve harmed quite a few mortals, haven’t you.” Ning’s voice was very calm. His eyes were very calm as well. Daoist Icebreak’s body shook. He immediately collapsed supinely to the ground, a look of utter despair on his face. Mortals? Even he himself didn’t know how many woman had fallen into his hands, then been ravaged to death by him. Forget about mortals; even quite a few female cultivators had fallen into his hands. However…he had never left behind any traces. “Who…who is this youth, that even the Patriarch must be wary of? Which mortal was he connected to? Little Sparrow? Nuan’er? Dongyou?” One figure after another flashed through Daoist Icebreak’s mind. These were images of the woman who had suffered under him that he remembered the most keenly. “You harmed so many that you can’t even guess?” Ning said softly, “Then think it over, slowly, in Purgatory.” A strange ripple suddenly reached Daoist Icebreak’s body. Daoist Icebreak’s body trembled. A look of despair and terror appeared in his eyes…and he stopped moving. His soul instantly flew out from his body. What Ning had just done was to hypnotize him, then forcibly rip his soul out of his body. A black bottle appeared in Ning’s hand which instantly sucked Daoist Icebreak’s soul into it. Green flames could vaguely be seen blazing within the bottle. The kneeling, yellow-robed man stared at the flames in the bottle. His heart instantly shuddered. “Son…your father didn’t discipline you well enough.” He understood what his son’s flaws were, and he often urged his son to do better. Daoist Icebreak was always quite obedient in front of him…but as soon as he turned his head, Icebreak would go back to his old ways. All he did was hide it even better. In the end, he felt that since his son focused on mortals, it shouldn’t make much of a difference, and so he didn’t reprimand his son too strongly. “If one often walks by the riverside, one’s shoes will eventually get wet. He did too many evil deeds…one might be able to avoid retribution for a time, but no one can avoid retribution forever.” Only now did the yellow-robed man truly understand this saying. The righteous laws of Heaven applied to all men, and the wheel of karma turned without end; both had their own ways of punishing the wicked. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, this Daoist Icebreak has committed countless vile deeds. The only reason why this vile miscreant was able to live so long was because I didn’t maintain a firm enough grip over my disciples. Daoist Icebreak’s father, ‘Yangfish’, is right here as well. Without his father’s protection, how would this vile miscreant have dared to act so boldly? Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, punish him as you see fit; there’s no need to worry about me!” Patriarch Flowermont said. A mere Void-level Earth Immortal truly meant very little to a Celestial Immortal. Ning gave the yellow-robed man a glance. King Yan had collected intelligence reports regarding both Daoist Icebreak and his father, and Ning had read them all. Daoist Icebreak was a hypocrite and a false gentleman who had done many vile deeds in secret, harming many people. His father, however, could be considered a righteous man. He didn’t do evil deeds and was quite an admirable person, and was also quite talented, which was why he had become a Void-level Earth Immortal. His only personality flaw was that he doted on his son too much. “Let’s go,” Ning said to King Yan, then turned to look at Patriarch Flowermont. “Fellow Daoist Flowermont, we’ve disturbed you long enough. We’ll go back to the Grand Xia now.” “Sure, sure.” Patriarch Flowermont smiled. “If you have free time, come and visit our Wusky world again.” 2991 King Yan expressed his thanks as well, then he and Ning flew away on a cloud. They left the Flowermont Immortal School, then used a spatial teleport to leave. After they left, Patriarch Flowermont’s face sank down as he looked at the yellow-robed man. “Yangfish, you failed as a father. Your son nearly caused our school a huge disaster. As the person who shielded him this entire time, you have to be punished. End your own life and go reincarnate.” The yellow-robed man trembled. He didn’t dare to argue back; he immediately kowtowed, then his body imploded. Even his goldlotus primal soul dissipated. A wind blew past his body…and it completely dissipated, leaving behind no traces. His soul, escorted by the Dao of the Heavens, was sent to the minor Netherworld right away. “Patriarch.” Only now did the nearby Flowermont Immortal School’s leader speak out. “Why did you order Yangfish to die? Didn’t senior Ji Ning decide to spare him?” “The reason why fellow Daoist Ji Ning didn’t act against him was because he didn’t want to act against someone who wasn’t directly responsible.” Patriarch Flowermont shook his head. “However…what if Yangfish was to harbor hatred in his heart and, overestimating his abilities, tried to exact revenge in some form against Ji Ning? That would cause an utter disaster for our Flowermont Immortal School. In addition…although fellow Daoist Ji Ning seemed to have left, who knows if he secretly felt hatred for Yangfish or not? If I didn’t kill him…fellow Daoist Ji Ning might harbor a grudge! Thus, it is better to kill him….that way, fellow Daoist Ji Ning wouldn’t hold a grudge against me.” The Headmaster now understood how carefully the Patriarch was behaving. He immediately asked, “Patriarch, who in the world is this Ji Ning, that you act so carefully around him? I took a careful look at him earlier, but I didn’t find any Immortal spirit-qi around him; he shouldn’t be a Celestial Immortal.” The Patriarch gave him a glance. “He is not a Celestial Immortal; he is merely a Void-level Fiendgod. However, he was able to fight against nine mighty Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan in the world of the Grand Xia, and he even killed two of them. In addition…he was able to survive even the descent of karmic sinflames! Despite being merely at the Void-level, it wouldn’t be hard for him to wipe out our entire Flowermont Immortal School…and he is the disciple of a Daofather!” “The disciple of a Daofather?!” The Headmaster had been feeling stunned by Ning’s power, but upon hearing this, he was truly terrified. “Now do you understand?” Patriarch Flowermont said calmly, “Be it due to his power, his potential, or his background…I have to be careful around him.” …… The two had teleported back to the world of the Grand Xia. The world of the Grand Xia. Stillwater Commandery. The Black-White College. Ji Ning and King Yan both appeared in the skies above the College. They then flew towards Yu Wei’s residence. It was late in the afternoon, almost nightfall. “Junior apprentice-brother.” “Little brother.” Yu Wei and Yuchi Xiyue were waiting for them in the courtyard. Ning nodded lightly. He didn’t feel the slightest bit of joy for having killed Daoist Icebreak. All he felt in his heart was pain…and an endless amount of hatred towards the Seamless Gate! “Senior apprentice-sister…prepare some food. I’m going to eat a bit, then take a rest,” Ning said. “The Seamless Gate already sent their final diplomatic note; their attacks will come very soon. We need to make as many preparations as we can.” “Alright.” Yu Wei could tell that Ning was in a terrible mood, and so she acceded to his request. That night, during dinner. Xiyue did her best to bring up interesting topics so as to help improve Ning’s mood. Yu Wei did her best to help out as well. Ning forced out a smile, but his smile caused Xiyue and Yu Wei to both sigh inside. “The only thing we can do is wait for time to heal all wounds.” Only later that night did Ning say a few things to Yu Wei, a few words from the bottom of his heart. “This world is filled with injustices, and I’m unable to address them all. The countless cultivators and mortals of the world are all unable to address them all. The only ones who can change the world…are the likes of my master, and the other major powers who stand at the very top of the universe,” Ning said. “Right now, I, Ji Ning, am helpless to change this world…but after I become a True God or a Daofather, I’ll have a chance to change things.” “I want to stand at the peak, to change everything. I want to protect you…protect our future children….protect the ones I love.” Ning sat there on a dais, Yu Wei in his arms. “I want to stand at the peak!” “I want to change everything!” “But first…I have to be strong enough.” Ning raised his head to stare at the crescent moon in the skies. Yu Wei looked at Ning. She could sense a terrifying determination within this youth’s heart. “The more ambitions you have, the more accomplishments you will have.” This was something that she had once heard. It was within a dark region, where countless figures had been prostrating themselves, Yu Wei one of them. The ruler of that black region had spoken these words. In this moment, as she lay next to Ning, Yu Wei understood the true meaning of those words that had been spoken by that terrifying figure. A powerful heart…would have the power to change destiny itself. “Perhaps…junior apprentice-brother truly will become a True God or a Daofather,” Yu Wei said quietly to herself. “By then…will I still be by his side? Will I still be accompanying him?” …… In the coming days, Celestial Immortal Unity of Stillwater City, Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Ji Ning all began to make their preparations. They familiarized themselves with the formations protecting Stillwater City. Ning’s Primaltwin completely focused on meditating on the Dao, searching for the way to apply heartforce to Immortal swords! Previously, in the Nihilum Zone, Ning had only developed a way to apply heartforce to his sword-fingers. There were a few differences between using sword-fingers and actual swords. Still…since both involved sword-arts, Ning was able to grasp the essence of it right away. However, he needed some time to reach a perfect level of mastery in it. Ning felt eager…because once his Primaltwin completely mastered the art of applying heartforce to swords, he would undergo his Celestial Tribulation! …… The Fifth World. The enormous, castle-like city, filled with countless towering edifices. The most towering edifice was the one where only Empyrean Gods or True Immortals could enter. Within an enormous palace. Scorching flames blazed in the very center of the palace. Surrounding the center, there were three massive thrones, with an azure-robed, white-skinned woman seated in the central throne. To her left sat a fire-robed man, while to her right sat a skinny, monkey-like elder. “The Mount Stele major world has already been occupied. Only a few scattered pockets of resistance remain.” The azure-robed woman’s voice had a magnetic, soul-penetrating quality to it. “We can begin to transfer our forces over and truly begin to act against the world of the Grand Xia.” “The power of the world of the Grand Xia…Mount Stele can’t begin to compare to it.” The skinny elder said in a low voice, “Our Bloodcloud Hall has infiltrated the Grand Xia, and I’ve even personally investigated it several times. The power of the Grand Xia Dynasty caused even me to feel shocked! Don’t 2994 forget that behind him stands Daofather Crimsonbright and Daofather Raindragon, as well as the Primordial Imperial Clan!” “The human Imperial Clan…would they truly initiate a final battle against us for the sake of one of their branches?” The azure-robed woman shook her head. “They will not.” “But the human Imperial Clan of the Primordial Era will send reinforcements,” the skinny elder warned. “Although we’ll be able to send over our forces from the Mount Stele world and many other places, I keep on having this feeling…that it is going to be dangerous, very dangerous. The world of the Grand Xia…this is probably the most powerful major world under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright.” The azure-robed woman looked at the fire-robed man. The fire-robed man laughed. “Don’t look at me. My Myriad Demons Cave is only responsible for manufacturing golems. The question of how to attack the world of the Grand Xia is the primary responsibility of your Seamless Gate.” “Do you think I’m unaware of how hard it will be for us to deal with the Grand Xia world?” The azurerobed woman looked sideways at the skinny elder. “This time…we’ll act against more than half of the commandery cities of the Grand Xia as a test. This will be our first test, our first initial clash that comes before the true war. After the test, after we’ve gathered enough information…the final battle between our sides will begin.” “Mm. And when do you plan to move?” The skinny elder asked. “Ten days from now! We’ll send out two thousand units to attack in unison!” A cold light flashed through the azure-robed woman’s eyes. The Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall and the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave both turned solemn. They had a feeling of tremendous pressure. Finally… They were finally going to act against the world of the Grand Xia, the toughest nut to crack of them all! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. It was a blazing summer day. The world seemed to have turned into a gigantic furnace; only late at night did things cool down a bit. Ji Ning and Yu Wei were standing at the top of a tower within their mountain peak estate. From this location, they could see nearly half of the entire Stillwater City. “It’s been half a year since the Seamless Gate sent out that final note, but they still have yet to move. We have to wait carefully every day…I wonder how long they’ll keep us waiting?” Ning said. “Right now, Stillwater City doesn’t just have Sword Immortal Unity; it also has you, junior apprenticebrother. You were able to fight back against nine mighty Celestial Immortals and slay two of them. Now that eighteen years have gone past, they probably have guessed that your power has risen yet again. How could the Seamless Gate behave rashly? They naturally need to make many preparations. To spend half a year in preparations to fight a Celestial Immortal who nearly has the power of a Pure Yang True Immortal, and who is supported by a peerlessly talented monster…it makes sense.” Yu Wei continued, “In addition, the more time passes…the more powerful their strike shall most likely be.” Ning nodded. “I understand.” “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei looked at Ning, then said solemnly, “You absolutely must not underestimate the Seamless Gate.” “Haha. Senior apprentice-sister, don’t worry. Last time, I ended up suffering mightily at the hands of the Youngflame clan. I’ve learned from that. This time…I definitely won’t be overconfident again.” Ning smiled. In recent days, Yu Wei had often reminded him to be careful, to be cautious. It seemed as though the Youngflame clan’s exile of him to the Void had caused her to fear something similar would reoccur. Ning felt warmed and comforted by this sort of concern. During the past half year, Ning had more than half-mastered the art of applying heartforce to his Immortal swords. Given a bit more time, he would have fully mastered it. Given that he was experienced in applying heartforce to his sword-fingers, his rate of improvement was quite quick. In addition, Ning also noticed that his rate of improvement in comprehending the Dao of the Sword had been incredibly fast during this past half year. Clearly, his comprehension of the first level of swordforce, which had allowed him to touch upon the innate essence of the sword, had given him a straight path towards fully understanding the Dao of the Sword. Rumble… 2996 Suddenly, a streak of coresense shot out. Yu Wei’s face changed slightly. Seeing this, Ning glanced at the skies. “Is it your turn to stand guard, senior apprentice-sister?” “Yes.” Yu Wei nodded. “Sword Immortal Unity truly is cautious; at every moment of every day, he’s using his coresense to cover the entire Stillwater City. Every day, our three Celestial Immortals will rotate in this duty, ensuring there is always perfect coverage.” Ning sighed. “As long as the Seamless Gate dares to draw close…there will be no way they can hide it from us at all.” “We are in the light, while they are in the dark; we naturally must be cautious,” Yu Wei said. “We are also the weaker side to begin with; if we are overconfident, we’ll be in true danger.” Ning nodded. “They’ve been preparing for so long. I really wonder what sorts of methods the Seamless Gate is preparing.” “When they come, they will strike as swiftly as the thunder,” Yu Wei said solemnly. Ning gave Yu Wei a glance. Of the three Celestial Immortals, Yu Wei was the most pessimistic of the lot. Her attitude had an impact on Ning and the others, causing them to become even more careful. For example, the usage of coresense to keep continual oversight over the city; in truth, this was an extremely tiring thing! Fortunately, their three Celestial Immortals rotated through this duty, which was why they were able to maintain this policy. While Ji Ning and the forces of Stillwater City were waiting carefully, keeping their coresense spread over the city at all times…on this summer night, the grand army of the Seamless Gate finally began to make their move. With that black, foggy cave. Whoosh! A group of masked, golden-robed figures flew out from the cave, then immediately dispersed into many small squads. They executed a void blink technique and disappeared. …… A mysterious teleportation array within a gorge…suddenly flashed. A large group of masked, golden-robed men immediately appeared within the array. They, too, separated into many small squads, then quickly teleported away to various locations. …… Deep within a region of rippling fog, two golden-robed figures appeared. …… In almost the same instant, two thousand squads had silently arrived at the world of the Grand Xia. They all dispersed towards their respective targets. Within a desolate, wild region. Two golden-robed figures were standing amidst the grass, message talismans in their hands. “Big brother, thank goodness we joined the Seamless Gate rather than stay with the Xia Emperor. The Seamless Gate really is far too powerful. Their headquarters in the Fifth World…good heavens! We’ve seen over a million Celestial Immortals gathered together in an amazing display of power, but that represented almost all of the Celestial Immortals which Daofather Crimsonbright commands. But the Fifth World…heh heh, it definitely has at least as many Celestial Immortals as Daofather Crimsonbright does! In fact, when we went to go pay our respects to the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, a True Immortal, he told us that those largest, most towering of edifices were meant for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to reside in. How many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals does that represent?!” “Haha, third brother, don’t be frightened by the words of the Gatemaster. Yes, the power of the Fifth World is inconceivable…but there were more than a thousand of those towering edifices. I refuse to believe they have more than a thousand Empyrean Gods or True Immortals! In addition, I imagine that the Fifth World has most likely prepared multiple palaces for everyone at the level of the Gatemaster. Some are used for resting, some are used for training and meditation, some are used for receiving guests…and so if you calculate it that way, the number isn’t that terrifying.” The more heavyset goldenrobed figure said, “However…that Fifth World truly is one of their headquarters with awesome power. They actually dared to gather so many forces there…that means they are at least capable of withstanding a Daofather. Otherwise, the Daofathers would’ve wiped them out long ago.” “Right.” The other golden-robed man nodded. “If the Fifth World used its full power against the world of the Grand Xia, they would probably be able to annihilate it in just a few days. But the Fifth World needs to assault many major worlds; it is the principal responsibility of that Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate to assault our Grand Xia,” the heavyset goldenrobed man said. “Only after we completely surrendered were we trusted enough to be allowed to go to the Fifth World,” the skinnier golden-robed figure said. “Now…this time, the Gatemaster assigned us to deal with the Flamedoor Commandery, and instructed us to fight with that female Immortal of the Flamedoor Commandery. However…it’s only meant to be an act, a mock-fight.” 2998 “No need to even think about it; she’s probably joined the Seamless Gate as well. That’s why we are only going to put on a show of fighting her,” the heavyset golden-robed man said. “What’s true is false; what’s false is true. Only when the waters are muddied can one fish from them in secret. So long as Flamedoor Commandery comes under attack, the Xia Emperor will probably feel much less suspicion towards that female Immortal of the commandery.” “Right. This time, we’ve been told that two thousand squads numbering more than ten thousand people have been sent out. I wonder how many are Celestial Immortals and how many are Loose Immortals? And how many are joinees like us, while how many were members of the Seamless Gate to begin with?” “Who cares? That’s not for us to know or worry about.” “Right. Still…why haven’t the talismans shattered yet?” Both of them were holding a message talisman. Once the talisman shattered, it meant that the time had come for them to make their move! They were waiting a few tens of thousands of kilometers outside of Flamedoor City; they’d be able to arrive there with a single void blink. They just needed the order. Crack! The talismans shattered. The faces of both figures instantly changed. No longer in the mood to chat, they immediately void blinked towards Flamedoor City. Deep within a foggy region outside Flamedoor City. A total of eighteen figures had appeared atop the clouds, each of whom were dressed in golden robes. However, their golden robes were slightly different from ordinary golden robes. Their golden robes were all covered with various decorations such as flowers, Godbeasts, clouds, mountains, and other things. All of their auras were extraordinary. “Everyone, per the orders of the Gatemaster, I shall lead you all today,” Celestial Immortal Violetgrass said. “I know that I am lacking in experience, and so I’d like to ask everyone to be patient with me.” “Little sister Violetgrass, although you haven’t trained for very long, your talent is exceptional. You are now amongst the top-tier Celestial Immortals, comparable to the rest of us; I imagine that in the future, we’ll be asking you to take care of us!” This was the response from the other Celestial Immortals. They all knew quite well that Celestial Immortal Violetgrass was heavily doted upon by the Gatemaster, and she was also protected by Celestial Immortal Blackheaven and many other powerful figures. It was guaranteed that in the future, her status would be higher than theirs. “This time, the Gatemaster has sent out two thousand squads; this shall be the final time we test the enemy’s strength in detail, with the true war against the Grand Xia to begin right afterwards. The purpose of all this is to get a good sense of any powers or abilities the Grand Xia is hiding. The mission of almost every squad is to probe the our foes, with a few squads meant for putting on a show; only very, very few squads are meant to wipe out the foes!” Celestial Immortal Violetgrass swept them with her gaze as she said solemnly, “And our squad…is one of those meant to wipe out our foes!” “Celestial Immortal Unity is too stubborn; there’s no way he’ll bend the neck for us,” Violetgrass said. “He is incredibly powerful, and he might break through to the Pure Yang True Immortal level at any moment. His ability to wait and endure is also incredible; if we just let him do as he pleases, he’ll most likely become a major impediment to the Seamless Gate’s subjugation of the Grand Xia. Since we can’t recruit him…then we have to eliminate him!” The Xia Emperor wasn’t sure about the loyalties of many Celestial Immortals; for example, he couldn’t be sure if even the capture of Celestial Immortal Hunchmont was part of an act or not. The Seamless Gate, however, knew everything! They knew that they truly had captured Hunchmont and had used everything they could think of to force Unity to capitulate…but alas, all their efforts had failed. “At present, Stillwater City has Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai, the Rainbowflame Fairy, and Sword Immortal Darknorth, also known as Ji Ning.” Violetgrass said seriously, “Immortal Diancai and the Rainbowflame Fairy are fairly weak; they aren’t worth mentioning. Celestial Immortal Unity and Sword Immortal Darknorth, however, are no ordinary figures. If Celestial Immortal Unity was by himself, there would be no need at all for the eighteen of us to join forces…but now, Sword Immortal Darknorth has emerged.” The other seventeen all nodded. They had all received reports regarding Sword Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning. Prior to this, they had been battling across other major worlds. Only after being gathered here had they received Ji Ning’s intelligence report…and after reading it, they had been badly shocked. Sword Immortal Darknorth…Ji Ning! The champion of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, a disciple of one of the most supreme Daofathers of the Three Realms, a practitioner of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], a wielder of astonishing sword-arts, a possesser of incredible divine abilities, and who had been able to fight nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan as a Void-level Earth Immortal…and kill two of them! Although he had trained for less than a century, he was able to survive even the descent of karmic sinflames; he truly was an incomparably astonishing talent. “Everyone present is a supreme Celestial Immortal, and you are all skilled in using the formation which the Godking created. The eighteen of us are able to somewhat unleash the power of this formation; it should be enough to dominate anyone below the Empyrean God or True Immortal level.” Violetgrass said solemnly, “Everyone already has a copy of the plan; we must act in accordance with it. We have to be careful, to tread lightly. If we are overconfident…then Celestial Immortal Unity and Sword Immortal Darknorth will be able to escape!” “Of course.” “If the eighteen of us fail even when fighting together…once word spreads, we would have no face at all.” They had all reached Celestial Immortal Infatuation’s level of power; in fact, some were even slightly stronger. The eighteen of them joining forces was a more terrifying prospect than a hundred ordinary Celestial Immortals joining forces! These were the true elites of the Seamless Gate; only when the Seamless Gate encountered a truly thorny foe would it send out these elites. The eighteen Celestial Immortals waited there within the fog, waited for the final order to come. The two thousand squads had to strike at the same time! A short while later… Crack! The message talismans in the hands of the eighteen Celesteial Immortals simultaneously shattered! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Let’s go.” Upon seeing the message talisman shatter, a cold light flashed through Celestial Immortal Violetgrass’ eyes. She immediately gave the order. Whoosh! Eighteen figures flew towards Stillwater City at high speed, riding the clouds. They were hidden fairly close to Stillwater City to begin with. Once they reached a distance of three thousand kilometers away from Stillwater City, their faces all changed. “Coresense!” “A Celestial Immortal from Stillwater City is keeping watch with coresense.” “We’ve been discovered!” The eighteen Celestial Immortals all had a bad feeling. They had guessed that Celestial Immortal Unity would be very cautious, but they had never expected this! It had been more than half a year since the final note had been sent…could it be that Celestial Immortal Unity had been maintaining his coresense watch for all that time? In truth, even though Immortal Diancai, the Rainbowflame Fairy, and Celestial Immortal Unity rotated through this duty, it was still exhausting. Thus, they didn’t cover too much area with their coresense, just the entirety of Stillwater City and three thousand kilometers around it! It must be understood that given how strong Celestial Immortals were, even the weakest of them would be able to easily stretch their coresense out to a hundred thousand kilometers. But of course, that could only be maintained for a short period of time. “Although Celestial Immortal Unity is being quite cautious…that is as we expected,” Violetgrass sent mentally. “Right.” The other Celestial Immortals weren’t worried. “Let’s attack from here. No need to advance any further.” Violetgrass gave the order, and the eighteen Celestial Immortals descended from the skies into the desolate wilderness. Violetgrass released her own coresense, reaching out to touch the coresense of the Celestial Immortal within Stillwater City. Since they had been discovered, there was no need to hide themselves any further. “Unity, our Seamless Gate has arrived. Hurry up and surrender!” 3002 …… Night. Stillwater City. “The Seamless Gate has arrived!” Yu Wei sent this mental message through coresense. Instantly, two other figures flew into the skies and towards her at high speed. One was Celestial Immortal Unity, who flew out from the Marquis Estate; the other was Immortal Diancai. As for Ji Ning…he had been with Yu Wei this entire time. The entire Stillwater City was merely nine thousand kilometers long, and the Marquis Estate was fairly close to the Black-White College; they were able to instantly assemble. “They came?” Celestial Immortal Unity landed, his eyes filled with a shocking desire for battle. “Right. They are three thousand kilometers away from the east gate of Stillwater City,” Yu Wei said. “Once they saw my coresense, they immediately landed. They haven’t advanced any further.” Celestial Immortal Unity laughed, his laughter filled with a savage killing intent. “Three thousand kilometers? That’s enough! They’ve already entered the range of our formations.” “Fellow Daoist Unity,” Immortal Diancai said hurriedly, “The actual city of Stillwater City was created by the Grand Xia Dynasty; it innately contains tremendous power, and is also filled with many formations. If they don’t enter the city proper, there’s no way for us to use the innate formations that are built into the city; we can only use the formations which the Northmont clan have laid down. Those formations are significantly weaker; at most, we’ll be able to slow them down a bit.” “That’s already enough,” Celestial Immortal Unity said with a laugh. “The Seamless Gate is very cautious; there’s no way they’d be so stupid as to rush straight into the city proper. Activate the formations right now and take control over them.” “Alright.” Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai both nodded. Both of them were Celestial Immortals; when one used Celestial Immortal-level power to activate a formation, the strength of the formation would increase markedly. …… Celestial Immortal Violetgrass and the other seventeen Celestial Immortals stood there within the wilderness, quietly staring at that massive city. Although they were three thousand kilometers away, they could still see it with the naked eye. Rumble… 3003 Suddenly, the world itself seemed to change. Although it was night…an enormous cloud of fire suddenly appeared in the air above the entire city of Stillwater. Immediately afterwards, the world itself shook. First, an enormous barrier of light appeared, covering the entirety of Stillwater City as well as a region of nearly nine thousand kilometers around it! This grand sealing formation had a diameter of eighteen thousand kilometers! “A sealing formation?” Celestial Immortal Violetgrass swept it with a glance; this grand formation had trapped the nearby mountains, forests, and wilderness as well. Since they were three thousand kilometers away from the city, they were naturally included within the formation. Whoooosh. Fog began to billow out. Space began to distort. The eighteen Celestial Immortals, however, remained quite calm. Violetgrass had seen many things and had an extraordinary status, while the other seventeen had engaged in wars of conquest across other major worlds; they had plenty of experience in these things. They could immediately tell that this sort of grand formation would at most be able to slow them down a bit, but wouldn’t be able to have much of an impact. In truth, it wasn’t too likely that clans like the Northmont clan of Stillwater could have excessively powerful formations! “There’s no need for us to take things head-on for now,” Violetgrass sent mentally. “Given how proud Celestial Immortal Unity is…once he’s trapped us here, he’ll definitely take the initiative to attack us. If he truly is so cowardly as to refuse to come out…then we’ll use our formation to break through his formation with overpowering force.” “Right.” “Don’t worry.” These Celestial Immortals were neither overconfident nor in a rush. For the sake of killing Celestial Immortal Unity, they had made very detailed preparations. However, at their level…in the end, what mattered the most was power! Thus, the eighteen which the Seamless Gate had gathered here today had more than enough power to slay Celestial Immortal Unity and give him no way to escape. …… The walls of Stillwater City. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Four figures descended upon them; Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai, Ji Ning, and Yu Wei. Through their control over the formation, Ji Ning and the others were able to see through the bewildering fog and find those eighteen distant Celestial Immortals, even though those eighteen themselves couldn’t even tell north from south. “There’s actually eighteen of them?” Immortal Diancai was startled. He gave Unity a glance. “Fellow Daoist Unity, last time you defeated a combined team of thirty-six Celestial Immortals. This time, even though they know that my disciple Ji Ning has returned, they actually have only sent eighteen? It seems as though these eighteen are definitely extraordinary Celestial Immortals.” Ning said, “Fellow Daoist Unity, the Seamless Gate has come with ill intentions. The two of us should fight together; I’ll fight in close combat, while you attack from far away. If we join forces…” “No need.” Unity shook his head. Years ago, when Ning had first met Unity, he had referred to him as ‘senior’. However, now that Ning was famous for having fought nine Celestial Immortals head-on and killing two of them, Ning clearly had power comparable to that of a supreme Celestial Immortal. When also factoring in the fact that the BlackWhite College was his principle source of assistance in dealing with this assault from the Seamless Gate…Unity was naturally no longer willing to allow Ning and the others to refer to him as ‘senior’. However, in their hearts, Ning and Immortal Diancai continued to feel great reverence for this senior of theirs, Unity. “No need?” Ning was surprised. “This battle today is primarily the culmination of my feud with the Seamless Gate,” Unity said. “Your Black-White College has already helped me by maintaining a coresense watch for half a year, and you are helping me right now by maintaining this formation. I already feel very grateful for all of this. In this battle with the Seamless Gate…there’s no need for you to intervene! The Seamless Gate has definitely prepared many techniques to deal with me, and they must feel confident in their chances. Then if you were to go…I don’t want to sound rude, but if you go, your chances of death are very high.” Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei both nodded slowly. Right. They knew exactly how formidable Celestial Immortal Unity was; he was almost as strong as a Pure Yang True Immortal! To kill someone like this…the Seamless Gate had to prepare an even more powerful force. If the two of them went, they truly might die if they weren’t careful. “But isn’t that going to make things even more dangerous for you, fellow Daoist?” Immortal Diancai asked hurriedly. “Hahaha, they have their tricks…but so do I!” Unity said confidently, “They’ve never forced me to the point of going all out before.” Immortal Diancai nodded slowly. Right. Unity had hidden himself away for countless eons, and almost everyone in the Three Realms had thought him to be dead. How strong, exactly, had he become over the course of so many years? Aside from Unity himself, most likely no one else knew. “Fellow Daoist Unity, even a lion fighting against a rabbit should use all his might,” Ning said hurriedly. “The two of them are Ki Refiners, but I am a Fiendgod Body Refiner…” “No need.” Unity frowned. Upon seeing Ning persevere, he added, “If you go, you’ll actually slow me down.” Ning blinked. “Friends of the Black-White College, just watch me butcher them.” Unity immediately transformed into a streak of white light as he flew far away. “Ji Ning, the reason why senior Unity spoke so rudely was because he doesn’t want you to go,” Immortal Diancai said. “He’s a proud, solitary figure by nature; we’ve already helped him a lot, and he doesn’t want to accept our help any further.” “I understand. I’m not angry at all.” Ning stared off into the distance. “Let’s watch senior Unity battle the Seamless Gate first. If he really does fall into a dangerous situation, I can intervene then.” “Junior apprentice-brother, don’t be rash. Watch first.” Yu Wei stared off into the distance as well. “Get a sense for exactly how strong they are. If the Seamless Gate is too powerful…there’s no need for us to throw our lives away.” “I understand.” Ning nodded. …… Violetgrass and the other seventeen Celestial Immortals completely ignored the surrounding fog, as well as the illusory images that appeared around them. Suddenly…Violetgrass frowned slightly. “Assemble into formation,” Violetgrass sent mentally. “Baxia.” Instantly, the eighteen Celestial Immortals moved into formation. Six floated in the air while the other twelve remained standing on the ground. At the same time, they began to use their Immortal energy to manifest black tattoo lines. The lines quickly intersected, causing black runes to levitate into the air. Instantly, a blurry light began to cover the eighteen, slowly solidifying into the form of an enormous black Dragonturtle. The Dragonturtle lay there on the ground, raising its head upwards and letting out a ferocious howl. Roaaaaaar! The draconic roar echoed throughout the world, causing even the surrounding mist to somewhat disperse. “Baxia the Dragonturtle, one of the Nine Sons of the Dragon?” A clear voice rang out as the mist part in front of them. Space solidified, and a long-haired man appeared standing in the air. He no longer looked as ordinary and low-key as he usually did; rather, he looked like a sharp, unsheathed sword that had revealed its fierceness. The long-haired man roared with laughter, “The Baxia Dragonturtle Formation, a formation that manifests one of the Primordial Godbeasts…quite a formidable formation, and one that is suited for defense. This is the perfect counter for me.” “Unity, you still have a chance to join our Seamless Gate,” Violetgrass said coldly. “Oh?” Unity shook his head. “As a person…I really hate it when others try to force me to do something. I’d rather die standing than live kneeling. Come, then…receive a blow from my sword!” Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh Six streaks of sword-light shot out from Celestial Immortal Unity’s head. As they flew through the air, the six streaks began to merge together. Countless runes of light sparkled and flashed as the six Immortal swords completely fused into a single massive broadsword. The broadsword flashed with a white light that caused the hearts of those who saw it to turn cold; this was was the legendary ‘Supreme Immortal Sword’. “Arise.” Unity had an icy look on his face as he unleashed a sword-art that he had never before used in battle. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, within a hundred kilometers of this area, five pillars of light appeared and soared into the skies. These five pillars of light were gold, green, blue, crimson, and yellow, while above the enormous Supreme Immortal Sword appeared two enormous clouds, one white and one black. These two clouds circled and swirled around each other, looking like an enormous Taiji symbol. The power of this stance was so great that the faces of Violetgrass and the eighteen Celestial Immortals all changed. “The intelligence report never mentioned such a powerful sword-art!” One of the Celestial Immortals couldn’t help but sent a frantic mental message to the others. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Our Baxia Dragonturtle Formation can definitely defend against it,” Celestial Immortal Violetgrass sent frantically. “Let’s make our move as well. Fight back! Kill him!” As Celestial Immortal Unity used his sword-art, the eighteen enemy Celestial Immortals all activated their own magic treasures as well. They had used the Baxia Dragonturtle Formation and had pooled their Immortal energy together, causing their strength to increase. Now, every single one of them was capable of exploding forth with power comparable to Ji Ning’s, back before Ji Ning suffered the descent of karmic sinflames. All sorts of colors began to flash in the skies as many magic treasures and spells shot out like a meteor shower, slicing through the air and striking towards Unity. “The Five Elements are the foundation, the Taiji serves as the guide…this is my Supreme Immortal Swordland.” Light flashed in Unity’s eyes, so dense as to seem almost material. His voice rang out loudly, and the enormous Supreme Immortal Sword within the skies began to come crashing downwards. As it pressed downwards…the enormous Taiji cloud above it, as well as the five pillars of light around it, all instantly connected to it. An enormous sword-world that was a hundred kilometers in size had been created! The Supreme Immortal Sword pressed downwards at high speed, and the size of the sword-world was rapidly shrinking as well, from a hundred kilometers to ten kilometers, as it clashed against the magic treasures and spells of those eighteen Celestial Immortals. Boom! Boom! Boom! A series of explosions could be heard. The Supreme Immortal Swordland trembled, seemingly growing weaker. However, the distant Unity just pushed a little bit more of his Immortal energy into it. At the same time, those five roving Five Elements light pillars and the Taiji clouds once more filled the Supreme Immortal Swordland with energy, causing its power to once more be restored. “Even joining forces, we still can’t break it? This supreme ability of Celestial Immortal Unity is actually a sword-world attack on this level. One can’t even flee from it; it truly is enough to cause one to feel despair. No wonder he is known as the Supreme Sword Immortal.” The faces of the eighteen Celestial Immortals changed. Although the power of each of their magic treasures and spells had increased dramatically, their attacks were scattered and not unified; there was no way to merge their attacks together, and so they were all blocked by the Supreme Immortal Swordland. The Supreme Immortal Sword continued to press downwards! The entire sword-world continued to rapidly shrink, quickly compressing down to the size of the enormous Baxia Turtledragon beneath it. The eighteen Celestial Immortals frantically poured in more of their own Immortal energy to further stabilize the Baxia formation; this formation was extremely suited for defense, and the eighteen entrusted all of their hopes to it. BOOM! An enormous explosion. The Supreme Immortal Sword had stabbed straight into the shell of the Baxia Turtledragon, while runes flowed across the shell, striving to defend against the sword. “….Eh?” Unity’s face changed slightly. “Blocked it. Blocked it!” “Haha, he’s just a single Celestial Immortal, after all; no matter how formidable his abilities are, he’s just ‘close to’ the power of a Pure Yang True Immortal.” “Did you really think it would be so easy to break this Baxia Formation?” The eighteen Celestial Immortals instantly felt complete confidence. “Descend.” Unity waved his finger, once more executing the Supreme Immortal Swordland. He wanted to launch multiple attacks to break through the enemy’s defensive formation. ……. The other three watched the battle from far. By using his Supreme Immortal Swordland, Unity had completely crushed the Seamless Gate’s forces; although the Seamless Gate’s forces had a strong defensive formation, their attacks were completely useless against Unity. “Senior Unity is controlling the entire battle,” Immortal Diancai said with a laugh. “He truly is far too powerful. His sword not only includes the Grand Dao of Taiji, it also includes many of the profound mysteries of the Five Elements. He’s perfectly merged them all together into this sword-stroke…most likely, not even a real Pure Yang True Immortal would necessarily have such a powerful technique.” Ning nodded. For a Celestial Immortal to have close to a Pure Yang True Immortal’s power required the Celestial Immortal to be at a very high level of insight into the Dao, and have techniques that were even more powerful than a True Immortal’s. This Supreme Immortal Swordland was most likely the result of a 3009 fusion of multiple Grand Daos. Although none of these Grand Daos were fully mastered, this sort of perfect fusion was no weaker than a sword-art derived from the complete mastery of a full Grand Dao. “Quick, look!” The nearby Yu Wei’s face suddenly changed. “Eh?” Ning’s face changed as well. The eighteen distant Celestial Immortals who originally formed into the Baxia Dragonturtle Formation had all retrieved their various magic treasures. The area around them began to manifest multiple azure runes. The eighteen Celestial Immortals gritted their teeth, using their full power as they generated countless strings of power to cover the entire Baxia Formation. Soon…from the shell of the Baxia Dragonturtle appeared the head of an enormous azure serpent. A Turtle-Snake had just been formed, and its power was clearly tremendous. “A Turtle-Snake?” “Xuanwu!” The faces of Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and even Celestial Immortal Unity changed. The Turtle-Snake had an extremely unique status within the Three Realms. Every single Ki Refiner, upon reaching the Primal-level, would manifest a Primal Turtle-Snake soul. As for Xuanwu the TurtleSnake…he was a truly powerful figure who had lived since the days of the primordial Pangu’s World, and who was honored by everyone with the awe-inspiring title of Grand Emperor. This Turtle-Snake Formation was unfathomably more profound and complicated than the previous Baxia Formation. “The Baxia Formation was extremely strong defensively to begin with, while this Turtle-Snake Formation was built atop the Baxia Formation, using it as a base and further perfecting it.” Upon seeing the enormous Turtle-Snake appear, Unity immediately knew what was happening. “This Turtle-Snake formation…it has the defensive power of the Baxia Dragonturtle Formation, but also has an incredibly strong attack.” Suddenly… Whoosh! The titanic azure serpent, previously coiled, suddenly opened its giant, bloody maw. The body of the azure serpent suddenly increased explosively in size as its head transformed to become a hundred kilometers long, seemingly capable of swallowing the universe itself. Unity hurriedly used his Supreme Immortal Sword to block, but the serpent head seemed to be illusory, biting down and swallowing Unity within it. Unity hurriedly controlled the Supreme Immortal Sword to transform back into six streaks of sword-light that returned to his side, protecting him. “What?!” 3010 “But, but…” Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei were both stunned. “Heaven Swallower?” Ning frowned. This was an ability which Grand Emperor Xuanwu was born with…and this Turtle-Snake Formation was actually capable of replicating it? Clearly, the creator of this formation had perfected this formation to a level where it was nearly identical to an actual Turtle-Snake. “In our Turtle-Snake Formation, the turtle focuses on defense while the snake focuses on attack.” Violetgrass and the rest of her Celestial Immortals were quite delighted; this Turtle-Snake Formation had just as strong a defense as the earlier Baxia Formation had. This was indeed quite a flawless formation with astonishing power. However, it was extremely hard to execute; these eighteen supreme Celestial Immortals were only able to just barely set it up with tremendous effort. “Kill!” Unity was completely trapped within the body of the azure serpent. He once more executed his Supreme Immortal Swordland from inside the body, but as he did yet another serpent head appeared, beginning to wildly assault him. The serpent head would appear and disappear at random in an unpredictable manner, causing Unity to be an extremely difficult situation. From the looks of it, he wouldn’t be able to hold on for too long. “Once the Turtle-Snake Formation appears, it dominates anyone below the Empyrean God or True Immortal level.” Violetgrass and the others were all completely confident. …… “It’s over.” “Not even Celestial Immortal Unity can break this Turtle-Snake Formation, and the attacks of that azure serpent are unpredictable and unfathomable.” Immortal Diancai, standing at the walls of Stillwater City, revealed a look of despair. Yu Wei’s face was ashen as well. Neither of them were in a position to help. In the face of the power of the Turtle-Snake Formation…they both knew that they were far too weak. Most likely, only a true Empyrean God or True Immortal would be able to break this formation. “Damn.” Ning’s face changed when he saw this. He could tell that Unity wasn’t going to be able to hold on for much longer. Swoosh! Ning immediately executed the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] and charged out. “Ji Ning!” Immortal Diancai’s face instantly changed dramatically. “Ji Ning, don’t go! STOP!” “JUNIOR APPRENTICE-BROTHER!” Yu Wei began to panick as well. She hurriedly moved to use the formation to impact Ning and prevent him from going out. However…all three of them, Ji Ning, Yu Wei, and Immortal Diancai, were very familiar with this formation. In fact, each of them had left their own runic imprints upon the core of the formation; any of the four were capable of taking control over it! The formation might be able to block others, but there was no way it could block Ji Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, that formation is too powerful. Not even Celestial Immortal Unity is a match for it. Don’t be a fool!” Yu Wei sent frantically with her coresense. “Disciple, as your master, I order you to come back RIGHT NOW!” Immortal Diancai grew even more frantic. Swoosh! Swoosh! The two were so frantic that they flew out from the city walls, chasing after Ning. Although they had faith in Ning’s power…they had just personally witnessed the utterly terrifying might of the Turtle-Snake Formation. In terms of defensive strength, not even the most powerful sword attack of Celestial Immortal Unity could break it. In terms of offensive strength, that azure serpent was unfathomable and mysterious in its movements, and it could even seemingly swallow the heavens themselves. Even Unity was at the brink of death! If Ji Ning became trapped in the azure serpent as well…that would mean he, too, would be doomed! Swoosh! Ning didn’t slow down at all. “Ji Ning, that Turtle-Snake Formation’s azure serpent is clearly perfect for binding and restricting the movements of foes. Although your body is unbreakable as a magic treasure, this formation is a perfect counter for you. If you go, you’ll die!” Yu Wei frantically flew towards Ning’s direction, but Ning had the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] divine ability; given his speed, how could Yu Wei possibly catch up to him? And…by now, Ning had already reached the Turtle-Snake Formation. The eighteen Celestial Immortals of the Seamless Gate were using their full power to have the TurtleSnake Formation kill Unity. Now, however, they saw Ji Ning flying towards them. “Ji Ning?” “He actually dares to come after seeing the power of our Turtle-Snake Formation?” The eighteen Celestial Immortals were shocked. “Perfect. We’ll first use our full power to have the formation kill Unity, and after Unity dies we will kill Ji Ning! We’ll break them apart one by one, then kill them all! As for Ji Ning…just let the turtle part of the formation block his attacks,” Violetgrass sent mentally. “Right.” The other seventeen agreed with here. After all…if they had to simultaneously deal with both Ji Ning and Unity, it would be quite taxing, even for them. Thus, it was better to first ignore Ji Ning and focus on killing Unity, then dealing with Ji Ning next. The defense of the Turtle-Snake Formation was comparable to the Baxia Formation, so he wouldn’t be an issue anyways. Whoosh! As Ning appeared, the fingers of his right hand suddenly formed into sword-fingers. Swish! His swordfingers instantly expanded to become more than three thousand meters long. They were like an enormous sword that filled the entire sky, and at the tip of the sword-fingers there was a silvery-white aura. In this instant, Ning activated the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], and also poured his heartforce into his sword-fingers. The [Starseizing Hand]…swordforce…and heartforce. All together! “Junior apprentice-brother!” “Ji Ning!” Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai, paying attention to nothing else, flew over towards Ning, panicking as they watched this all happen. Whooooosh. The utterly enormous sword-fingers descended with unfathomable power. Only when the sword-fingers actually slammed against the Turtle-Snake Formation did the faces of the eighteen Celestial Immortals suddenly change, and change dramatically at that. However…it was too late. SLASH! The Turtle-Snake Formation was completely unable to withstand this terrifying sword-finger attack of Ning’s. It was instantly ripped apart! As the three thousand meter long sword-fingers broke through the Turtle-Snake Formation, it sliced sideways as well. The Celestial Immortals all felt as though mountains were slamming against them…and in an instant, six Celestial Immortals died! “But…” Violetgrass and the other surviving Celestial Immortals were stunned. “Impossible. This TurtleSnake Formation is invincible against anyone below the Empyrean God or True Immortal level.” Yes. Normally speaking, this Turtle-Snake Formation they used truly was invincible against anyone below the Empyrean God or True Immortal level. But Ji Ning…was different. When he fought against the Youngflame clan, he was already very close to being at the very peak of power possible for a Celestial Immortal. Afterwards, in the Nihilum Zone, had had broken through to the seventeenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]; this breakthrough in divine 3013 power alone had put him very close to a Pure Yang True Immortal in terms of combat power, comparable to Celestial Immortal Unity! In addition to that…Ning’s heartforce had reached the third stage, and he had gained swordforce as well. He was now able to instantly use up a fifteenth of his third-stage heartforce in a single blow. This represented an utterly astonishing amount of power! And now, swordforce was added into the mix as well! Ji Ning, who had already been close to a Pure Yang True Immortal in power, had instantly leapt past that gap. In terms of attack power, he already had truly reached the level of an Empyrean God or True Immortal! “Can it be that he’s actually an Empyrean God or a True Immortal?!” Violetgrass and the others stared in terror at the distant Ji Ning. All of them began to move to flee, no longer even thinking about fighting back…but Ning let out a savage roar: “THREE HEADS, SIX ARMS!” Whooooooosh. That single set of sword-fingers…had suddenly transformed into six sets of sword-fingers, slashing through the skies towards them. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Impossible. There’s no way he can be an Empyrean God or True Immortal. If he had already overcome his tribulation…there’s no way he could’ve hidden it past us, the Seamless Gate!” Violetgrass and the rest of the twelve surviving Celestial Immortals began to flee in terror. Ji Ning’s tremendous power was great enough for them to feel that he was an Empyrean God or a True Immortal…but that didn’t make sense! It wasn’t possible! Ji Ning had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and was capable of masking an Immortal aura, but he still had to undergo the Celestial Tribulation; there was no way something like that could’ve escaped the eyes of the Seamless Gate! In fact…no tribulation of any living creature in the Three Realms could escape the eyes of the Seamless Gate! “Ahhh!” A fleeing Celestial Immortal with a big bushy beard attempted to use a large gourd to block, but Ning’s sword-finger knocked it flying away, then executed him. He perished and his Dao came to an end. “How could Ji Ning be this powerful?!” The various Celestial Immortals all let out agonized cries of grief and rage. Sword-fingers criss-crossed the skies with annihilating, slaying power. “The intelligence reports were wrong. WRONG!” “What the hell?!” “I can’t believe this!” These Celestial Immortals were all elites of the Seamless Gate. They normally only acted after they were given very accurate intelligence reports; as the saying went, only when one knew one’s self and one’s foes could one be the victor in every battle. A major error like this…it had truly never happened before! At their level, once one made a single error of this magnitude, the penalty would be one’s life! Ning executed [Three Heads, Six Arms]. His six sword-fingers assaulted six different Celestial Immortals…but these six strikes only used the [Starseizing Hand] and swordforce. His seventeenth stage [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] power, combined with the Fourth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], was already comparable to that of supreme Celestial Immortals. If he added swordforce to it as well…his power was definitely no longer than that of Celestial Immortal Unity’s. In other words…Ning’s six sword-fingers were like six Celestial Immortal Unity’s. Right now, the enemy formation had already been shattered. They were all fleeing; there was no need for him to add his heartforce into the mix. Heartforce was far too tiring, and each full-strength blow from his 3015 sword used up a fifteenth of it. He could only use it for fifteen strikes; naturally, Ning was going to save it for the most critical moments. “Hmph.” A cold light flashed through through Ning’s eyes. He showed no mercy at all with his killing blows. His six sword-fingers instantly slaughtered five of the Celestial Immortals. One of them had been aimed towards the woman…and this one failed. “Eh?” Ning glanced towards the woman in surprise. A thick layer of azure light had appeared around her body. This azure light was protecting her, having blocked Ning’s earlier sword-finger. …… “Too powerful. Our intelligence reports were completely wrong.” Violetgrass was still terrified. A pair of talismans appeared in her hands, as well as a Dao-seal. The Dao-seal was a Greater Teleportation Daoseal…however, using it would require time. Given Ning’s attack speed, that period of time would be more than enough for him to launch more than ten attacks. Crack! Crack! Shattering the talismans could be done near-instantly. Violetgrass immediately shattered the two talismans belonging to the two powerful experts capable of saving her. Her status in the Seamless Gate was extremely special, and she was protected by several major figures. Aside from the supreme Celestial Immortals such as Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, there were two True Immortals as well; the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate and her brother-in-law, True Immortal Gaudy. …… The distant Fifth World. Within one of the towering edificies, the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave, and the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall were staring at many mirrors that were hanging in midair. The mirrors had many different images within them; these were their various gathering spots within the world of the Grand Xia. They were using Pure Yang treasures to keep watch over the battles in those areas and also transmit the images back. Many of the images would often flicker through various locations. There were ten-plus water mirrors, however, which had stable images within them. This was because these ten-plus water mirrors were keeping watch over missions where the goal was to kill the foes. “Not good.” 3016 “Something unexpected has just happened at Stillwater city.” “It’s Ji Ning!” The faces of three leaders changed dramatically as they turned to focus on one of the water mirrors. The water mirror displayed the image of a youth soaring into the heavens. His sword-finger chopped through the heavens and broke apart the Turtle-Snake Formation. The cold look on the youth’s face, that heartstoppingly sharp aura and pose, and the sharp silvery-white light at the tip of the sword-fingers all caused them to shudder in amazement. “This Ji Ning’s aura is far more terrifying than it was eighteen years ago.” “Is that…swordforce coming from his sword-fingers?” “Can it be that he’s mastered the Dao of the Sword?” The three leaders were truly rather stunned. They had guessed long ago that Ji Ning, having survived the descent of the karmic sinflames, would have grown somewhat more powerful but…in the Nihilum Zone, there was no way to sense any of the Grand Daos! Logically speaking, Ji Ning shouldn’t have improved much with regards to the Daos. Given that he had yet to overcome his tribulation…there should’ve been a limit to how much he could’ve grown stronger. However, Ji Ning had just slapped their expectations in the face! They could never have guessed that Ji Ning would’ve been able to come up with a way to apply heartforce, all on his own! “Azurefox, what should we do?” The Cavemaster of the Myriad Demon Caves and the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall both looked towards the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate. The azure-robed woman said softly, “The results of that battle have already been determined. There’s no way to change things. Still…Violetgrass has True Immortal Gaudy standing behind her. If she’s in any lifethreatening danger, she’ll definitely break the talisman which Gaudy gave her. I trust that Gaudy will definitely intervene to save her. If Gaudy goes, that’ll be enough. Right now, the question in my mind is…what are we supposed to do about this Ji Ning?” “Ji Ning…” The fire-robed man and the skinny elder both began to frown. “I guessed long ago that he would eventually become an impediment to our subjugation of the Grand Xia, but I didn’t expect that he would become so powerful even prior to overcoming his tribulation. If we wait and let him overcome his tribulation and become an Empyrean God…that’s not acceptable!” The azurerobed woman shook her head. “I really wonder who the hell his master is, for him to produce a monster like this…” 3017 For a peerless monster like this to be forged, not only did the ‘raw materials’ have to be superb, the master had to be good as well. They had no idea…that behind Ji Ning stood the most mysterious Daofather of the Three Realms, Patriarch Subhuti, as well as the already-deceased Daoist Threelives, the creator of the [Starseizing Hand], the supreme divine ability that had shaken the Three Realms. As the saying went, the master could show the way but the student had to walk the path. Still…the master showing the way came first! Ning was indeed born to be a peerless Sword Immortal, but if he didn’t have the [Starseizing Hand] divine ability, there’s no way he could’ve become as monstrous as this. If he hadn’t learned [Houyi’s Archery], he probably wouldn’t have been able to come up with a way to apply heartforce. He would only be a ‘normal’ but powerful Sword Immortal. But of course…a good master and a good student made for a good pair; both were necessary! Several people had the chance to learn the [Starseizing Hand], and quite a few had learned [Houyi’s Archery], but how many of them had ever reached Ning’s level? …… “Inconceivable.” Celestial Immortal Unity, having dodged a disaster, was stunned by Ji Ning. For a moment, he had many complicated, strange feelings in his heart. “Where do you think you are going?” Unity quickly came back to his senses. Letting out an angry roar, he immediately controlled his Supreme Immortal Sword to go slaughter the fleeing Celestial Immortals. Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai, who had been chasing after Ning from behind, were both stunned as well. They felt both shock and joy. Shock…because Ji Ning was this powerful! Too powerful! Joy…because the more powerful Ji Ning was, the better! The entire situation had been completely changed. Those eighteen Celestial Immortals had been dominating Unity, but now they were being chased and slaughtered. “KILL!” Ning showed no mercy whatsoever. Moments ago, he had used a single full-force sword-finger to wipe out six Celestial Immortals. Just now, he had killed five more…leaving only seven survivors. [Three Heads, Six Arms]! [Starseizing Hand]! Six sword-fingers once more streaked through the heavens in every direction. “Die!” Unity also controlled his Supreme Immortal Sword to chase after and slaughter the remaining foes. “The storm has come. Yesterday, I killed others; today, others shall kill me.” As a skinny Celestial Immortal’s magic treasure was knocked flying away, he shut his eyes. The only thing that had been in his eyes was tranquility. A calamitous storm had swept the entire Three Realms, and even the likes of Ji Ning, Celestial Immortal Unity, Yu Wei, and the others had all mentally prepared themselves for death. Thus…they had to seize every opportunity that appeared before them. When slaughtering weak foes, no mercy was to be shown. Kill! Kill! KILL! One Celestial Immortal after another died. One of Ning’s six sword-fingers once more struck towards the fleeing Celestial Immortal Violetgrass. BOOM! The azure light around Violetgrass was actually able to endure the blows, but it was now clearly shuddering. However…this time, Ning’s six sword-fingers only managed to slay three Celestial Immortals. Aside from Violetgrass, two others had managed to survive as well. “I have to survive. I have to!” A Celestial Immortal with triangular pupils had a twisted look on his face and a terrifying look in his eyes. He manifested an Immortal estate out of nowhere, then disappeared into it. The other Celestial Immortal had also hidden into an Immortal estate. “Kill!” The Supreme Immortal Sword slaughtered another Celestial Immortal. By now… Only three of the original eighteen Celestial Immortals were left. They were Celestial Immortal Violetgrass and the two who had hidden themselves within their Immortal estates. …… “Idiots!” Violetgrass, seeing this, couldn’t help but curse to herself. Their intelligence reports had stated that one of the two Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan which Ji Ning had slain was Celestial Immortal Goldclock. As a result, his divine greatclock had fallen into Ji Ning’s hands. Given that Stillwater City was in a dangerous situation…as long as Ji Ning wasn’t stupid, he would have given it to his Daocompanion or his master. That divine greatclock was capable of suppressing and binding! …… “Senior apprentice-sister,” Ning roared mentally towards her. “Get in here.” Yu Wei waved her hand, and the divine greatclock flew out. It quickly expanded in size until it became the size of a small mountain. It hung there in the skies, and the space at the base of the greatclock began to twist and distort. The two Immortal estates were immediately sucked into the greatclock without being able to resist at all…then the divine greatclock once more shrank down and flew back to Yu Wei’s hands. Ning laughed. This divine greatclock was one of the most important, clan-protecting treasures of the Youngflame clan. Aside from the Worldhold Pagoda, it was the most important treasure the entire clan had. However, only Celestial Immortals were capable of wielding a Pure Yang treasure. Given that Stillwater City was facing a crisis and that a storm was approaching the Three Realms, how could Ning have been so selfish as to only think of himself? He naturally wanted to come up with ways to help the people he cared about grow more powerful, and so he had given the divine greatclock to Yu Wei. Those two Celestial Immortals had hidden themselves within their Immortal estates in the hopes of buying themselves some time to use Greater Teleportation Dao-seals. If Ning’s group didn’t have the divine greatclock, they actually might’ve managed to escape; after all, there was no way for them to destroy those Immortal estates. Those Immortal estates were meant to save the lives of those two Celestial Immortals and were quite sturdy. However, Ning’s group DID have that divine greatclock. The Immortal estates themselves were not capable of resisting such an effect, and so as soon as those two Celestial Immortals had hidden themselves within their estates, their estates had been effortlessly sucked into the divine greatclock. The divine greatclock possessed a completely independent dimension within it; once one was suppressed inside it, there was no way to escape at all. This was why Violetgrass had called them fools. However…how could the two not have realized this? They were already faced with certain death, and so they had no choice but to make this gamble. Their gamble was that Ning was a very selfish person who hadn’t been willing to give the divine greatclock to others. …… “You are the last one left.” Ning’s gaze turned towards Celestial Immortal Violetgrass. All six of his swordfingers stabbed through the skies towards Violetgrass. Although all of this had taken time to describe, the exchange of attacks had actually happened very quickly, as fast as lightning. “You can’t kill me!!!” Violetgrass was utterly terrified…but how could she possibly flee faster than the speed of those sword-fingers? Those six sword-fingers flew through the skies, piercing through space and converging upon the same point. “STAY YOUR HAND!” A roar rang out, filled with the power of Pure Yang-level energy. BOOM!!!! The grand sealing formation outside was blasted apart, and the enraged roar echoed within the ears of Ning and the others. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!! The six sword-fingers simultaneously struck Celestial Immortal Violetgrass. The azure barrier was no longer able to endure any longer. It blew apart into tiny pieces…and under the blows of the six massive sword-fingers, Violetgrass’s body was instantly reduced to dust. She perished, her Dao coming to an end! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Within a palace hall inside the Skylight Palace that glowed with a dull red light. The black-robed Xia Emperor was seated atop his throne. Beneath him were a trio of generals, armored in dazzling golden armor. Their auras were incredibly powerful, no weaker than the aura of the Xia Emperor himself; clearly, they were Empyrean Gods or True Immortals! All three of them sat with backs straight, filled with an aura of desolation and slaughter. For the Primordial Imperial Clan…it was quite simple for them to be able to summon and command Empyrean Gods and True Immortals as they would ordinary soldiers. Whoooosh. Many images were projected in midair; these were the battles images that were being transmitted from many locations. The Xia Emperor had incredible control over the world of the Grand Xia. Once there were any ripples at the Celestial Immortal level, he would immediately find out. “Young master Xiamang, it seems this Seamless Gate really holds our Primordial Imperial Clan in high regard; they’ve sent two thousand forces to launch a simple probing attack. There are far too many places with battles…there’s no way for you to find them all, one by one.” One of the three, an old man with a fiery red beard, let out a loud laugh. Flames appeared to be blazing within his eyes as well. “I don’t have enough Pure Yang treasures to keep an eye on two thousand different battles at once,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said with a smile. There were only a few hundred images in midair; this was his limit with regards to how many places he could keep watch on at once. One of the hundreds of images, however…was of the battle at Stillwater City! At all, Stillwater City had an incredibly powerful figure, Celestial Immortal Unity, and the monstrously talented Ji Ning, who had an awe-inspiring backer! “What formation are those eighteen Celestial Immortals setting up? A Turtle-Snake Formation?” “Celestial Immortal Unity is in danger!” All of them instantly noticed what was happening in this battle. After all, part of those two thousand battles were merely play-fights, while most of the rest were probing attacks; only a very small number were assassination attempts. The assassination attempts naturally drew their attention. “Hmph.” The Xia Emperor’s face sank, but he continued to watch. He gave no orders for now. The images showed how Celestial Immortal Unity had become trapped within the Turtle-Snake Formation. Suddenly…the faces of the Xia Emperor and his three golden-armored generals all changed, because they saw a youth use a divine ability to charge forward through the skies. “Ji Ning?” The Xia Emperor frowned. “Is he crazy?” “Is this person the ‘Ji Ning’ you’ve been paying attention to, young master xiamang?” “He’s a bit too unwise, isn’t he?” The three generals all shook their heads slightly…but suddenly, their facial expressions stiffened. Within the images, Ji Ning’s sword-fingers suddenly expanded to become three thousand meters long. They lashed through the skies like an enormous divine sword, chopping down upon the Turtle-Snake Formation. The tough and incomparably tenacious Turtle-Snake Formation was actually completely shattered by this terrifying sword-finger attack. Caught completely off guard, six of the eighteen Celestial Immortals perished. “What?!” The Xia Emperor jumped to his feet, a look of amazement in his eyes. “Impossible.” The three generals had stood up as well. They all stared unblinkingly at the images. Within the images, Ji Ning had just used [Three Heads, Six Arms] and was chasing after and massacring the fleeing Celestial Immortals. The Xia Emperor, in front of these three generals, didn’t feel any need to maintain his normal aura of dignified majesty. He said incredulously, “What’s going on? I don’t know if Ji Ning’s Primaltwin has undergone the tribulation yet, but his true body definitely has not.” “If his true body had succeeded in overcoming the Empyrean Tribulation, he would be an Empyrean God by now. His divine abilities, spells, and other abilities would all be far stronger than they are now.” “He clearly has not yet overcome his tribulation to become an Empyrean God!” “But if he isn’t an Empyrean God…how could he be this powerful? Is it really possible for a Void-level Fiendgod to be this powerful?” Countless thoughts were rummaging through the Xia Emperor’s mind. As for the three generals, they were no less stunned than the Xia Emperor was. The most muscular general actually began to frown. “A Void-level Fiendgod…even if he learned some of the most supreme divine abilities of the Three Realms, allowing him to become close to a Pure Yang True Immortal in power…he should only be roughly equivalent to Celestial Immortal Unity. How could he be this much more powerful than Celestial Immortal Unity? The level of power he’s displayed has completely transcended the gap between the Void-level and Empyrean Gods.” “What a monster.” The Xia Emperor stared at Ning, stared at him as though he was looking at the most precious treasure that existed in the world. A look of actual greed was in his eyes. “Congratulations, young master Xiamang.” The three generals simultaneously spoke these words. The black-robed Xia Emperor chortled as well. Indeed, this was something worth celebrating! He was born a member of the Primordial Imperial Clan…and the greatest strength of the clan was that they were extremely unified. The reason why the Imperial Clan able to become the imperial clan of the Primordial Era was precisely because they had a large number of True Gods and Daofathers within their ranks….but clearly, these True Gods and Daofathers couldn’t have all been born into the Imperial Clan. Why, then, did all of them support the Primordial Imperial Clan? It was precisely because the Primordial Imperial Clan had provided them with nonstop support prior to them becoming truly powerful. Given that the Primordial Imperial Clan had been so benevolent towards them…how could the True Gods and Daofathers not wish to pay back their kindnesses? It must be understood that the more powerful one was, the more one cared about one’s Dao-heart, and the less willing one would become to feel indebted. If someone had treated you with great kindness, but you refused to repay it…you would feel discomfort. This would impact your Dao-heart; in fact, in extremely dire cases, it could even cause you to go down a path of madness! Naturally, there was a very small number of True Gods or Daofathers who walked an extremely vile path; no matter how well you treated them, they would still kill you without blinking, which wouldn’t impact their Dao-heart at all. However, these people were quite rare, after all. “Ji Ning?” The Xia Emperor’s eyes were shining. He now viewed Ning as a monster who would truly be of benefit to him…and one who hadn’t even undergone his tribulation! He had the feeling… That so long as Ji Ning didn’t die, it wouldn’t be hard for him to become an Empyrean God or True Immortal. In fact, he might even become one of the most supreme Empyrean Gods or True Immortals! To be able to make someone like this one of his closest allies…the Xia Emperor felt that this was utterly wonderful! And of course, if by some great stroke of luck Ji Ning became a True God or a Daofather, the Xia Emperor would bow down to thank Heaven and Earth. Why was the Xia Emperor’s status so special? It was because, aside from the fact that his master was a Daofather, his lifelong friend, his brother…was Daofather Raindragon! In the end, a master was just a teacher; he might provide some guidance to the Xia Emperor and behave benevolently towards him, but if the Xia Emperor truly ran into trouble, Daofather Crimsonbright might or might not actually intervene to help him. In fact, even if Daofather Crimsonbright were to watch the 3024 Xia Emperor died, it wouldn’t impact his Dao-heart; after all, the Daofather had many disciples. In addition, it was his disciples who owed him, not the other way around. Daofather Raindragon, however, was another story. Daofather Raindragon was one of the Xia Emperor’s lifelong friends, his brother; this was a far closer relationship! Now, the Xia Emperor was going to do everything he could to help Ji Ning and ensure that Ji Ning would remember how kindly the Xia Emperor had treated him. In the future, if the Xia Emperor encountered a crisis and asked Ji Ning to help…how could Ji Ning possibly just sit back and watch with his hands clasped behind his back? “What a monster. From the Primordial Era to the present day, this is the greatest monster I’ve ever seen.” The black-robed Xia Emperor stared at the image of Ji Ning. Although the Primordial Era had given birth to some true monsters as well, the Xia Emperor hadn’t personally met them…but right here and now, a real, living, breathing monster was standing right in front of him. …… Outside Stillwater City. True Immortal Gaudy had a handsome face. He was famous for being a relaxed, graceful man…but his face was twisted right now. This was because he had just saw that little girl Violetgrass, who he had watched grow up, be killed before his very eyes! As soon as he had sensed Violetgrass shattering her talisman, he had immediately used a Greater Teleport to come to this place. He had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun long ago, and so he no longer needed to use Dao-talismans to perform Greater Teleports. However, since he had come here from another major world, he wasn’t able to perfectly sense where Violetgrass was; he was only able to get a general idea of where she was located. His Greater Teleport had taken him outside Stillwater City. By relying on his attunement to Qiankun and Space, he instantly found Violetgrass and understood that she was in danger. He immediately broke apart the grand sealing formation, but because he wasn’t able to make it right away, he hurriedly sent a mental message to call for a halt. Alas…the youth hadn’t hesitated at all. He had used all six arms of his [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique to launch sword-fingers attacks at Violetgrass and slay her. “Little sister Violetgrass…” True Immortal Gaudy’s control over Qiankun was so great that it was as though he personally watched it happen. It was as though he personally watched Violetgrass be transformed into dust. “No…” True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes instantly turned completely bloodshot, and his face began to twist. “All of you will DIE!” True Immortal Gaudy went completely berserk. An enormous grand seal that was black and white suddenly appeared. This grand seal was primarily black, while the sides of it were white. The grand black-white seal appeared out of nowhere, instantly transforming to be the size of a mountain as it smashed downwards. Although the local protective formations were strong, True Immortal Gaudy had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun and was skilled in formations. In addition, he was simply too strong, far more so than his foes. BOOM! The grand seal completely smashed through the protective formations. On the other side. “Ji Ning, be careful!” “An enemy has arrived!” “He’s broken the sealing formation; it should be an Empyrean God or a True Immortal.” Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Unity all sent frantic mental messages. “Hurry up and leave!” Ning immediately understood; he had previously controlled the formation as well, after all. Right as he killed Violetgrass, Ning manifested a black greatbow in front of him. Stretching his hand out, Ning grabbed the black greatbow with one hand. Within his other hand, an arrow appeared, instantly blazing with flames as it did. In midair, Ning immediately nocked the arrow, drew the Rahu Bow, then filled it with his divine power. All of his power was cycled through it to converge onto the arrow, with Ning’s heartforce included into the mix. The method of applying heartforce through [Houyi’s Archery] was even superior to Ning’s own self-developed methods; with Ning’s current level heartforce, he could only sustain seven arrows at most. “Go!” TWANG! Instantly, the world itself seemed to shake. A dazzling red light instantly tore through the skies, and as it did so it continuously drew in the surrounding natural energy of the world. This was the power of [Houyi’s Archery]; it was a terrifying archery skill that could ravenously draw in the might of Heaven and Earth. Although both [Houyi’s Archery] and the [Starseizing Hand] were ranked as the top ten divine abilities to be created after Pangu established the universe…in raw power, [Houyi’s Archery] surpassed the [Starseizing Hand]! Rumble… 3026 The giant black-white seal came crashing down, smashing through everything. The fiery arrow shot through the skies like a blazing meteor. BOOM!!! The two collided. The area around them completely blew apart! The earth below was suddenly caved in; clearly, this was caused by the shockwave of the collision! “Eh?” Immortal Gaudy’s face changed slightly. Far, far too people in the Three Realms used [Houyi’s Archery]. For example, although there were a number of people under Patriarch Subhuti who did train in it, their primary skills lay in other areas; they normally wouldn’t use [Houyi’s Archery]. Thus, there were very, very few people who were able to truly able to get a taste for how formidable [Houyi’s Archery] was. Even Ji Ning had to first reach the third stage of heartforce and perfect his control over it before he was able to unleash [Houyi’s Archery] to this level of power. The collision with the arrow caused the giant black-white seal to instantly grow slower. Twang! Ning once more nocked his arrow, drew his bow, and sent off a shot that blazed through the skies. Once more, this was a full-strength attack. Ning’s heartforce was depleting at a terrifying pace, but he didn’t dare allow the enemy’s attack to draw near him. After all, this was an actual True Immortal. There were very few True Immortals who were merely at the ‘base’ level of power for a True Immortal; most were far more powerful. Yet another blazing comet shot through the skies. True Immortal Gaudy once more sent his giant black-white seal to crash downwards onto that arrow. Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! Five more consecutive bowshots rang out, the power of the arrows preventing even the utterly enraged True Immortal Gaudy from immediately catching and slaughtering Ji Ning and his friends. “Let’s see how many more arrows you have!” True Immortal Gaudy had a terrifying look in his eyes. He knew that divine archers were generally only able to launch a very low number of full-power shots. And indeed, after the seventh arrow shot out, there was a pause. Now…there was nothing to block the infuriated True Immortal Gaudy. The giant black-white seal once more began to crush through the opposing formations, smashing towards Ning and the others. “Go!” The whole reason why Ning had unleashed those seven shots was to buy time to allow Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Celestial Immortal Unity to escape. However…when they attempted to use a Greater 3027 Teleportation, they realized that this region had been completely dimensionally severed from the surrounding world. There was no way to use any sort of teleportation here at all. “None of you will be able to escape. All of you will die.” True Immortal Gaudy was filled with a towering killing intent. His giant black-white seal once more came smashing downwards through the skies. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Senior Redsnow, this Pure Yang True Immortal is a master of the Grand Dao of Qiankun; I’d like to ask the seven of you to help out!” Ji Ning’s Primaltwin was frantically asking for succor. After learning that Ning was in danger, Redsnow and the rest of the seven had already left their world and come to the underwater estate. In truth, they hadn’t expected that Ning would need to use up their promise so soon. In truth, when Ning had shot out seven arrows earlier, he had also used his Void-level energy to activate a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal; the amount of time he had bought himself was more than enough to activate it, but alas the teleport had failed. There were many Grand Daos in the world…but who would’ve thought that he would just so happen to encounter a foe who had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun? In the face of someone like this, not even Greater Teleportation would be possible. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei looked towards Ning, worry on her face. Immortal Diancai and Celestial Immortal Unity were panicking as well, but there was nothing they could do. “Die.” True Immortal Gaudy had a savage look on his face, and his eyes were filled with murder. But right at this moment… “Ji Ning, your savior just arrived.” The giant yellow bear’s voice suddenly echoed within Ning’s mind. Rumble… In the air between Ji Ning and True Immortal Gaudy, a black tunnel suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The black tunnel tore straight through space, allowing a man in black imperial robes to step out of it. “The Xia Emperor?” “His Imperial Majesty?” Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Celestial Immortal Unity all revealed looks of excitement and delight. The man who had stepped out of the black tunnel was indeed the black-robed Xia Emperor. As the Xia Emperor walked out, he pointed with a single finger. A golden streak of light flew out, transforming into a golden dragon that knocked the giant black-white seal flying. He then gave the demonically enraged True Immortal Gaudy a cold glance. “Gaudy, you actually dare to come to my Grand Xia to cause trouble?” Ning let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry for bothering the seven of you just now.” Within the underwater estate, the black-robed Ning was saluting respectfully. The nearby giant yellow bear chortled. “Since the Xia Emperor has come out, there’s no need to trouble the seven of you to intervene.” “…Does this count as us fulfilling our promise?” The beautiful Empyrean God Snow Scorpion asked teasingly. “No, of course not!” Ning said frantically. Seeing the look on Ning’s face, the seven Empyrean Gods roared with laughter. “Ahaha…” “Relax, we’re not going to quibble with you!” Still…Empyrean God Redsnow quickly turned solemn. “However, Ji Ning, I have to warn you; previously, while you were in the Primordial Ruinworld region, your master, Patriarch Subhuti, didn’t have to worry too much about personally intervening on your behalf. But now that we are back in the Three Realms…in the face of such a powerful foe, even Patriarch Subhuti might have misgivings. In fact, even if he does intervene, he might not be able to rescue you.” “I understand.” Ning nodded. He naturally understood that in the face of this storm, even his master was treading on thin ice. “In addition…your master can’t have the [Dream of the Three Realms] active at all times. Even if you are in danger, he might not know about it,” Redsnow added. Ning nodded. It was true. His master hadn’t given Ning a talisman; even if Ning was in a dangerous situation, there was no way for him to notify his master. “We promised to help you once…but it really will be only once,” Empyrean God Redsnow said. “Your master, in turn…well, distant waters cannot be used to put out a nearby fire. Just look; you’ve only been back for a short while, but you’ve already encountered such a dangerous situation. You should understand, now…how careful you truly must be in the face of this storm.” Ning nodded. “Since I was able to survive and return even after being covered by karmic sinflames…the Seamless Gate is undoubtedly paying very close attention to me. They have long ago decided that I am a major foe for them. In the face of this storm…to tell the truth, I came to understand something. Since 3030 there’s no longer any way for me to hide my sharpness, then I might as well reveal myself. I’ll make it so that more experts notice me and feel that I am worthy of their help!” “Although the Seamless Gate is brash, they remain hidden in the darkness; this means that they still have worries of their own. There are many experts on the side of my master as well.” Ning laughed, “As long as enough of us work together, there’s nothing for us to worry about.” “You’re finally using your head.” Redsnow said with a laugh, “If you have enough helpers, then you won’t even need the seven of us to assist you; you’ll still be able to survive this storm.” …… Outside the underwater estate. Once the black-robed Xia Emperor appeared, True Immortal Gaudy grew even angrier. “Xiamang, are you going to stop me? Are you going to become my enemy?” “By the looks of it, you joined the Seamless Gate long ago. Since we are in different camps…we already are enemies.” The black-robed Xia Emperor said calmly, “As I see it…you need to f*ck off right now. Get the f*ck out of my Grand Xia.” Although he held an absolute advantage in terms of power, the Xia Emperor knew that this foe was a master of the Grand Dao of Qiankun who possessed many powerful escaping techniques. True Immortal Gaudy took a deep breath. He didn’t want to make an enemy out of the Xia Emperor; after all, the Xia Emperor was an astonishing figure with tremendously powerful backers. The Xia Emperor possessed multiple powerful Protocosmic spirit-treasures and was extremely famous. Just now, he, Gaudy, had clearly severed this region from the surrounding dimension…but the Xia Emperor had forcibly torn through space and come through anyways. This was an ability that was similar to the power of the Worldhold Pagoda. To be able to ignore a spatial severing and forcibly tear a path to this place…clearly, the Xia Emperor had just used one of his Protocosmic spirit-treasures, the ‘Brightheart Lamp of One Thought’. “All I want to do is kill that you.” True Immortal Gaudy said coldly, “I can spare the other three!” The Xia Emperor gave him a glance. “Get the f*ck out of my Grand Xia…IMMEDIATELY.” Was this a joke? The whole reason he had come here was to protect Ji Ning. “You…!” True Immortal Gaudy was furious. “Xiamang, today, I’m going to see for myself how powerful the descendants of the Primordial Imperial Clan like you are!” Instantly, a series of golden chains appeared around him. A total of nine golden chains appeared in total. One end of the chains seemed to sink off into the void of space, while the other wildly swept towards the Xia Emperor in a frenzied assault. This was his true battle technique, a quiet, stealthy, insidious assault. As for that giant black-white seal? It was faster to use the seal in attacking, and it was also more overbearing and dominating. He had wanted to just use it to smash open the protective formation and instantly crush Ning’s group. “You dare put on a show in front of me with techniques like this?” The black-robed Xia Emperor let out a cold laugh. An enormous snow-white lotus appeared beneath his feet, blooming in every direction. It completely took over the surrounding area, blocking the nine insidious golden chains. “Annihilate.” The Xia Emperor called this word out softly. Last time, he had only unleashed a single golden stream of light. This time, three golden streams of light emerged, tearing through space and transforming into three golden roving dragons. These three golden dragons each had different auras; one of them seemed proud and brash, the second seemed sinister and cold, while the third seemed kind and gentle, as though it wasn’t a threat to anyone. These three golden auras, each bearing a different aura, caused the distant True Immortal Gaudy to reveal a look of rage on his face. “From life to death, all dreams vanish…everything is nothing but a garish, gaudy show!” True Immortal Gaudy coldly barked out these words. Instantly, those nine golden chains around him began to weave about and dance. Space itself began to tremble and ripple like water. Hiss…. The three golden dragons now noticeably found it much harder to fly after entering that region. “Hmph.” The distant black-robed Xia Emperor’s face turned grim. He waved his hand, and a small clock appeared. As soon as this little black clock appeared… Doooooong! A crisp sound rang out. BOOM! True Immortal Gaudy immediately vomited out a mouthful of fresh blood. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Excellent. Excellent. Excellent! Xiamang, since you are determined to protect this kid, then from this day forward, we shall be irreconcilable enemies!” “Just you?” The Xia Emperor smirked in a very disdainful manner. “Wait and see. This brat will die. He definitely will die!” Savage madness was in True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes. Whoosh. True Immortal Gaudy immediately used a fleeing technique. It was simply too hard to block someone who had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun from fleeing. Even the Xia Emperor was only able to stand there and watch as he fled. “Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Ji Ning both flew over and hurriedly expressed thanks. The Xia Emperor turned. He glanced at Ning and the other three, then said with a smile, “Good to see you are unharmed. Just now, I was watching the battle here through a magic treasure. When I saw Gaudy appear, I had a bad feeling. I was planning to Greater Teleport here, but who would’ve thought that he’d actually dimensionally sever this region off from the surrounding world? There was no way to teleport in at all! I had to forcibly tear a tunnel through space to come here. Fortunately, I made it in time. If I was just slightly slower…” Ning and the others Ning now understood why the Xia Emperor had only managed to make it here at the last moment. Things had gotten to the point where Ning had already asked the seven Empyrean Gods to help out! Thankfully…he hadn’t had to waste that promise. “Ji Ning, you have to be careful,” the Xia Emperor said. “Although I don’t why True Immortal Gaudy wanted to kill you that badly, I imagine that one of those Celestial Immortals you killed had a very close relationship with him. That’s why True Immortal Gaudy, normally so graceful and refined, went so berserk. If a Pure Yang True Immortal who has mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun wishes to kill you…it’s going to be quite dangerous.” “I understand,” Ning said solemnly. “However…the storm is about to hit. Compared to the storm, this level of danger is nothing.” The Xia Emperor continued, “The incoming tempest is growing increasingly terrifying. Here is my talisman; if you encounter any danger, just shatter it. As long as it isn’t a True God or a Daofather, I’m confident in being able to save you.” The Xia Emperor, in terms of power, was slightly weaker than Lu Dongbin…but he had plenty of protective treasures, and so he would be able to stay alive even in the face of an assault by a True God or Daofather for a period of time. “Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Ning immediately accepted the talisman. “Make your preparations.” The Xia Emperor raised his head to look at the sky. “After this probing period…I imagine the war that is going to sweep the entire Grand Xia shall finally begin. If you choose to 3033 remain here, you won’t be able to avoid it.” After finishing his words, the Xia Emperor took a single step forward, disappearing with a void blink. Ning looked at the talisman in his hand, revealing a slight smile. As he had thought. Although his earlier battle against nine Youngflame clan Celestial Immortals had been fairly impressive, in the eyes of the likes of the Xia Emperor or Daofather Crimsonbright, he was still nothing more than a fairly excellent genius of the Three Realms. This time, however, Ning had truly showed his fierceness. Even in the Primordial Era, he would be considered a true monster amongst the Void-level elites. Although this would cause his enemies to be more wary of him, it also made the Xia Emperor and Daofather Crimsonbright care more about him as well. And now, he had the Xia Emperor’s talisman in his hands, as well as the Xia Emperor’s promise: “If you encounter any danger, just shatter it. As long as it isn’t a True God or a Daofather, I’m confident in being able to save you.” This had clearly spelled out the Xia Emperor’s attitude towards him. It must be understood that not even Patriarch Subhuti had ever said something like this to Ning! …… The Fifth World. Within a towering palace. The Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall, and the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave were all present. “AZUREFOX!” An enraged bellow could be heard as True Immortal Gaudy charged in. “Gaudy.” The azure-robed woman looked at him. “Azurefox, why didn’t you intervene?! Just a moment…just one extra moment! That’s all I needed to save little sister Violetgrass!” True Immortal Gaudy was utterly enraged. The azure-robed woman just shook her head. “Violetgrass shattered the talismans that you and I gave her. You’ve mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun, but I have not. Even if I did go, I would’ve been slower than you!” True Immortal Gaudy paused. Right. In his rage, he had forgotten this. “I’m going to kill that brat.” A terrifying red light was glowing from True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes as he said with rage, “I want him dead!” 3034 If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Ji Ning killed Violetgrass. I, too, want him dead.” The azure-robed woman said calmly from atop her throne, “I’ll arrange for you to have the chance you need to move against him. By relying on your mastery of Qiankun, I’m sure you’ll be able to kill Ji Ning.” “Did you really think I’m as stupid as you seem to believe?” True Immortal Gaudy gave the azure-robed woman cold look. “The Xia Emperor moved to protect this brat; in fact, he even chose to ignore my threats. He clearly has made up his mind to protect the brat. This time, you sent many teams to attack many places throughout the entire world of the Grand Xia. Although the Xia Emperor has True Immortals and Celestial Immortals under his command, he had many places to worry about, and so he wasn’t able to summon too much of his power to deal with me. But if I were to make another move…his forces wouldn’t have to worry about defending his various commanderies. They’d probably join forces to trap me, then kill me!” The Seamless Gate knew all along that the Xia Emperor had other Empyrean Gods or True Immortals by his side! The Primordial Imperial Clan alone had sent three of them to follow the Xia Emperor. This was one of the reasons why the Xia Emperor’s word was absolute law in the Grand Xia! The likes of Kindwater clan had Empyrean Gods in their ranks, and as a major clan that existed back in the Primordial Era, they too had True Gods or Daofathers backing them! And yet, they still did not dare to struggle with the Xia Emperor for supremacy. This was why! Even the Youngflame clan had one of the major clans of the Primordial Era behind them. However, the Ancestor of the Youngflame clan, ‘Youngflame Freak’, had fled from his own clab and refused to recognize the connection between his clan and that primordial clan. The supreme clans of the world of the Grand Xia truly were not easy to deal with. If those countless clans joined together, not even the Xia Emperor would dare to try and suppress them all by force. He had to provide order for and benefits to everybody, sharing the world with them. As for the Xiamang clan of the Xia Emperor…technically speaking, it was the most powerful clan in the entire world of the Grand Xia! They would be more than capable of annihilating a single True Immortal Gaudy. “How can you possibly take revenge without taking on some risk?” The azure-robed woman said, “Can it be that you are giving up on vengeance for Violetgrass?” A cold light flashed through True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes. Of course he wanted to kill Ji Ning! However…everyone capable of becoming a Pure Yang True Immortal was an extraordinary figure. None of them were fools. “Violetgrass followed you this entire time. You are in control of the full power of the Seamless Gate. It would be much easier for you to kill Ji Ning than it would be for me,” True Immortal Gaudy said coldly. “If you really do provide a good opportunity for me to act, I won’t mind taking it. But I absolutely have no intentions of trading my life for that brat’s.” After speaking, True Immortal Gaudy turned and left. The only figures left within the towering hall were the azure-robed woman and the two other leaders. They all raised their heads, continuing to look at the battle images being transmitted in. “The Xia Emperor really has begun to send out his forces,” the azure-robed woman laughed. “He naturally isn’t going to just watch as you kill his people,” the skinny elder said. Time continued to pass. The probing attacks of the two thousand teams were carried out lightning-fast. They began this night, and they quickly concluded as well. The next day. The Golden Crow once more rose into the sky. It was as though nothing had happened. However, in reality, the previous night the Seamless Gate had lost a total of sixty-nine Celestial Immortals and hundreds of Loose Immortals. The world of the Grand Xia had lost a total of seventy-three Celestial Immortals and dozens of Loose Immortals. On a superficial level, the losses were equal. And in truth, this type of initial probing attack would always result in the attacker sustaining some casualties. However, the biggest mistake the Seamless Gate made this time…occurred with Ji Ning! They had completely underestimated Ning’s strength, causing them to lose eighteen supreme Celestial Immortals. This loss alone, in all honesty, was worse than all their other losses combined. After all, there was quite a large difference between an ordinary Celestial Immortal and a supreme Celestial Immortal. But of course…neither the Xia Emperor nor the Seamless Gate were too concerned about their losses from this exchange. This was just a probe, after all, an initial clash. Both sides suffered only some superficial losses; neither had sustained an actual injury. Their most powerful forces hadn’t even moved! Only when the real war began would they began to battle against each other. When that happened…Celestial Immortals would be put through a meat grinder, and even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would fall if they were not cautious. This was, after all, the most powerful world under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright! Within that towering palace in the Fifth World. The leaders of the Seamless Gate, the Myriad Demons Cave, and Bloodcloud Hall had gathered here once more. After finalizing orders to their subordinates, they turned to the main topic of this meeting…Ji Ning. “As I see it, Ji Ning has to die.” The man in the fiery red robes spoke in a booming voice. “He’s already a source of trouble for us. Once he overcomes his tribulation and becomes an Empyrean God…he won’t just be a source of trouble. He might cause our entire campaign against the Grand Xia to fail.” The skinny elder sighed. “This person truly is too monstrous a genius, so monstrous that even I’m a bit frightened by him.” “I agree that we need to kill him,” the azure-robed woman said. “This Ji Ning is protected by the [EightNine Arcane Art]; killing him won’t be that easy. Our only choice is to first suppress and capture him, then come up with a way to kill him. But while we move to suppress him…I’m worried that his Daofather master will act.” “Daofather?” The faces of the other two leaders changed. True Gods, Daofathers…the true rulers of the Three Realms. In addition, someone who could teach the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was definitely one of the most supreme of Daofathers. The mere thought of such a figure caused them to shudder. “If we send Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to kill him, but they end up being killed by the Daofather when he saves Ji Ning…we’d end up having ‘lost both the wife and the soldiers’ 1, the worst of both worlds.” The azure-robed woman sighed. “This is the most critical moment in our campaign against the Grand Xia. It’s not wise for us to act on too large a scale.” “Azurefox, what do you think we should do?” The other two both looked at her. In terms of status, the three were equal. However, generally speaking the ones in charge of the Seamless Gate were more intelligent, which is why the Gatemaster was the one chosen for the subjugation of the major worlds, with the other two acting in a supporting role. If there were any internal squabbles, a report would be made to the higher-ups! “I think…we should report to this to the Godking!” The azure-robed woman said solemnly. “The Godking?” The other two hesitated. The red-robed man said with hesitating, “To bother the Godking for something like this…? To ask the Godking for help?” 3038 “Although we can kill Ji Ning if we are willing to pay a high price…the paying of that price would have an impact on our ability to conduct the war against the Grand Xia.” The azure-robed woman said, “Our only choice is to report this to the Godking.” “Mm.” “Fine.” The other two didn’t oppose this proposal. In truth, Azurefox could’ve made the report on her own; she was just letting them know as a form of respect. That way, the three would work together in greater harmony; the Myriad Demons Cave and the Bloodcloud Hall were extremely powerful as well, after all. …… Within a silent room. The azure-robed woman let a stick of incense. Instantly, the fragrance of the incense filled the entire room. The azure-robed woman slowly closed her eyes, sinking into a deep slumber. Within a dream. Azurefox appeared within a vast, dark region. At the center of this region, a massive throne that was more than thirty thousand meters long hovered in the air. “Godking,” Azurefox called out reverently. Instantly, a towering figure suddenly appeared atop the massive, levitating throne. This figure was dressed in black robes, but his eyes were like a mist that was able to commune with one’s very soul. He stared downwards at Azurefox, and she couldn’t help but shudder. “What is it?” The figure atop the massive throne lightly tapped the armrest with a finger. A booming sound instantly rang out, reverberating throughout the dark region. “Godking, your subordinate is on the verge of launching the attack against the Grand Xia. However, a new variable has appeared within the Grand Xia world…” Azurefox explained respectfully, “This variable will have a major impact. If your subordinate was to use the power of the Seamless Gate against it…it might negatively impact our mission of subjugating the Grand Xia. Thus, I’ve come to ask you, Godking, to decide for us.” “Variable?” The titanic figure once more tapped the armrest. “It’s Ji Ning,” Azurefox said respectfully. “Him?” The towering figure hesitated momentarily. “He just killed eighteen of your Celestial Immortals. Mmm…from what happened in that battle, it can be said that this Ji Ning truly is quite a monster. He’s 3039 actually become so powerful despite being at the Void-level. There’s no way he could’ve accomplished this just through divine abilities. His sword-fingers…he hasn’t even mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword…which means he must have mastered some sort of supremely powerful energy. Swordforce? From the looks of that battle, he’s only reached the first stage of swordforce. It must be some other type of invisible power…heartforce? Taiji-force? Infiniforce? Spaceforce?” The towering figure pondered for a moment. “Your warning is a good one. I hadn’t noticed that such a monster had appeared within the Grand Xia. By the looks of it…he has at least a 50% chance of overcoming his tribulation and becoming an Empyrean God! If he becomes an Empyrean God, he’ll immediately become one of the most supreme of Empyrean Gods. In fact, if he’s given a little time, he’ll be able to reach Lu Dongbin’s level. He is indeed a potential source of trouble.” The supreme powers of the Three Realms had a tacit understanding; if you didn’t intervene, then I won’t either. This was an unspoken agreement. Both sides were preparing…preparing to unleash everything at the critical moment of the war, to fully suppress and crush their foes! Prior to this, at most the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would battle against each other. The True Gods and the Daofathers would not casually intervene. Thus…a supremely powerful Empyrean God could have an enormous impact. In addition, such an Empyrean God would have a good chance of making yet another breakthrough to become a True God! “However…this Ji Ning’s master is that old bastard, Subhuti. He’s not easy to deal with,” the towering figure said. “Patriarch Subhuti?” Azurefox cried out in shock. Good heavens… Patriarch Subhuti?! Although she knew that Ji Ning had to have a very powerful Daofather behind him, given that he had been taught the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]…she had never imagined that it would be that old freak Subhuti. “Not even I can tell exactly how powerful that old fellow is. During that war that shattered Pangu’s World, he intervened to save some people, but he didn’t truly participate. Still…he definitely is one of the absolute most powerful Daofathers of the Three Realms. And…he has multiple Daofathers amongst his disciples!” The towering figure once more gently tapped at the armrest. Dong! Dong! Dong! Slow, deep thudding sounds echoed throughout the dark region. Azurefox couldn’t breathe. Multiple Daofathers? She knew some secrets, such as the fact that the mysterious ‘senior disciple’ under Patriarch Subhuti’s command was definitely on the level of a True God or Daofather. As for the others, she didn’t know about them. But from what the Godking was saying…Patriarch Subhuti actually had more than one Daofather under him! Still…even though she had learned this, she wouldn’t dare to let this information slip. She was completely devoted to the Godking, while the Godking was all-knowing… If she dared to betray him in any way at all, the Godking would know right away! For example, that battle against Ji Ning; with but a thought, the Godking immediately had become aware of what had happened during it. “Still…that old fellow stands on the side of Nuwa!” The towering figure’s misty gaze seemed to be as deep and vast as the infinite Void. “So we might as well take this chance to kill one of his disciples and test his reaction.” Azurefox listened attentively. “Activate chess piece…Yu Wei.” The towering figure said, “Have Yu Wei lead Ji Ning in a Greater Teleport to come straight to the Fifth World. The Fifth World is one of our major bases, and I’ll personally station myself within it. In the Fifth World…even if Subhuti comes in person, there will be nothing he can do.” “Yu Wei?” Azurefox was startled. They had quite a few chess pieces positioned within the world of the Grand Xia. Prior to this, Yu Wei hadn’t been an important one, but after taking Patriarch Lu as her master and becoming a Celestial Immortal, she had immediately become their most important piece. Logically speaking, she could’ve been used to great effect in the future…but they were now going to use her against Ji Ning. Clearly, in the eyes of the Godking…trading Yu Wei for Ji Ning’s life was worth it! “Yes,” Azurefox said respectfully. She then vanished into thin air. Within the darkness, only the massive levitating throne and the towering figure atop it were left. His left hand continued to gently tap against the armrest of the throne. “Subhuti…I haven’t actually fought you yet…I’m really rather looking forward to it…” 1. This idiom comes from a famous story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A general tried to honeytrap his enemy by offering his sister in marriage…but his sister actually fell in love with the enemy and ran off with him. Furious, the general sent soldiers to chase them back, but the soldiers ended up being ambushed and slaughtered. Thus the phrase, ‘losing both the wife and the soldiers’, became immortalized for describing a situation where you pay enormous, multiple costs without getting what you want. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Fifth World. Within a quiet room, filled with the fragrance of incense. The azure-robed woman opened her eyes, awakening. “The Godking is actually willing to use up the ‘Yu Wei’ chess piece.” Azurefox mentally sighed to herself. She immediately tried to reach out, only to frown: “Eh? Yu Wei isn’t sleeping yet?” The various chess pieces had all been given an order that unless they were in the middle of a life-anddeath situation, they had to sleep at least once every three days. Only when they were asleep could these chess pieces be stealthily contacted! This form of communication was extremely mysterious; not even True Gods or Daofathers were able to detect it. There was a chance for every other form of communication to be detected, and upon being detected, the chess pieces would no longer be able to continue to hide themselves. “Not sleeping…” Azurefox pondered for a moment. “No rush. She has to sleep once within these three days. Heh…I imagine that there is no way Ji Ning will be able to defend against a plot by his Dao-companion. If he’s teleported straight to the Fifth World, he’s dead. And hrm…” Azurefox’s eyes suddenly lit up! “Before Ji Ning dies…there’s a use for him.” Azurefox laughed. “Maybe we can use him to ensure that the Youngflame clan irrevocably throws their support to the Seamless Gate.” …… That very night. Within the territory controlled by the Youngflame clan. Patriarch Arcanum was meeting with a goldenrobed envoy at the peak of a tall, nameless mountain. “Greetings to you, Envoy.” Celestial Immortal Arcanum was extremely courteous. “Give this to your Ancestor.” The golden-robed envoy handed over a scroll. “This is…?” Arcanum was puzzled. “This scroll contains a scryer recording within it. Once your Ancestor views it, he’ll understand.” The golden-robed envoy laughed. “Our Seamless Gate is doing this to help your Youngflame clan. Don’t end up being wiped out without even knowing what’s going on.” 3042 After speaking, the golden-robed envoy immediately disappeared through teleportation. Arcanum held the scroll, a frown on his face. After humming for a moment, he immediately opened it to take a look first. The unfurled scroll revealed an image; it was indeed a scryer recording. Arcanum filled it with his Immortal energy, and the images instantly began to move. It was the scene of the eighteen Celestial Immortals battling Celestial Immortal Unity, as well as the scene of them being slain by Ji Ning. “Is that…Celestial Immortal Violetgrass?” Arcanum immediately recognized Violetgrass, whom he had spoken with before a few times. “Those eighteen Celestial Immortals are so powerful. They were actually able to suppress Unity. Unity is going to die.” “What?!” Upon seeing Ji Ning strike, Arcanum was instantly, completely stunned. Good heavens… But…but… Ji Ning was far more powerful than he had been during their last battle at the Oldjade mountain range. Most likely, if all of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were to join forces, they still wouldn’t be able to withstand Ji Ning again. Arcanum knew exactly how deep the feud was between his clan and Ji Ning. Terrified, he immediately teleported back in a hurry. …… Within the Worldhold Pagoda. “What is it?” The Youngflame Ancestor emerged from an illusory space, two other Celestial Immortals following him. “Ancestor.” The other four Celestial Immortals within the Worldhold Pagoda were incomparably respectful to him. The seven Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were all gathered together here! “Ancestor, the Seamless Gate sent this to us. Take a look.” Arcanum handed over the scroll, a serious look on his face. “The Seamless Gate never comes to our Youngflame clan with good news.” The Youngflame Ancestor, Immortal Venomfreak, let out a cold laugh. He immediately unfurled the scroll, then let out a chuckle. “Oh, a scryer recording. Let me see what they are up to now.” 3043 He filled it with his Immortal energy, and instantly the scenes of that battle began to replay. Eighteen Celestial Immortals struck out in unison, suppressing Unity. Ji Ning attacked, True Immortal Gaudy appeared, the Xia Emperor appeared and defeated Gaudy…everything was included! At first, Immortal Venomfreak just watched with a half-smirk on his face, but his face quickly began to change, becoming increasingly ugly to behold. “So things really have come to this.” Immortal Venomfreak’s pupils contracted slightly, his face turning as cold as ice. The other six Celestial Immortals present all looked towards Immortal Venomfreak, awaiting his orders. “I had thought that the Xia Emperor would only stand behind Ji Ning after he overcame his tribulation to become an Empyrean God. I didn’t imagine…that even before becoming an Empyrean God, he would become such a monster. If I was the Xia Emperor, I would stand behind Ji Ning as well.” Immortal Venomfreak had a dark look on his face. “Ancestor, what should we do?” “If Ji Ning comes…we can’t stop him.” “Ancestor.” They all looked towards their Ancestor, waiting for his orders. The Ancestor was someone who had roamed the world back in the era of Pangu’s World, after all. Even many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals felt he was a pain to deal with. “Ji Ning won’t launch a war against the Youngflame clan in the immediate future.” Immortal Venomfreak continued, “That’s because he was hurt from our last clash. He knows very well that I have many clones, and that if he isn’t able to wipe them all out, I’ll continue to harass him, becoming a nightmare for his clan.” Immortal Venomfreak’s eyes flashed with a savage light. He was a sinister, insidious figure; he always had been. “So we’re just going to ignore this?” Patriarch Deadwood frowned. “You stupid blockhead,” Immortal Venomfreak snapped, “Didn’t you see how astonishingly fast Ji Ning grows in power? He’s already so powerful at the Void-level! I roamed the primordial world and have seen many things…but I’ve never seen a monster like him before! In the Primordial Era, only some of the most legendary of monsters might be comparable to him. A monster like him…if he continues to grow like this, he’ll definitely be given incredible power within the Crimsonbright League. In the end, in the future, even 3044 I might be unable to escape his reach…and once I die, the annihilation of the Youngflame clan will be set in stone. We won’t even have a chance to fight back.” Celestial Immortal Infatuation and the others all nodded. “Let me think about this. Let me think.” Immortal Venomfreak’s eyes narrowed. “I really didn’t expect it to come to this.” He was a very cautious man. It was precisely because he was cautious, insidious, and crafty that he had been able to survive for so long despite having offended so many. The other six Celestial Immortals all waited quietly. “Make the arrangements right away for all the mortals of our Youngflame clan to be moved into the world within the Worldhold Pagoda.” Suddenly, Immortal Venomfreak began to give orders. “Trees die when uprooted, but people can survive. If push comes to shove…we flee!” His greatest strength had always been fleeing! “Evacuate all of them?” The six Celestial Immortals were amazed. “All of them.” Immortal Venomfreak immediately ordered, “You have to be fast, as fast as possible. I want you to complete this within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea. If you don’t have enough time…it’s fine if you end up missing or discarding some of the mortals.” “Alright.” The six Celestial Immortals all assented hurriedly. The Worldhold Pagoda was a Protocosmic spirit-treasure with an entire world within it. Although it wasn’t as vast as the major world within Ning’s Starseizing Manor, it wasn’t small either. It would be easy to contain thirty billion people within it. …… The Celestial Immortals gave the orders, and the Loose Immortals handled things personally. Although all those who had lived in the Oldjade mountain range had been wiped out, after Ji Ning had been exiled to the Nihilum Zone, the Youngflame clan had moved billions of more clansmen back to Oldjade. The Loose Immortals moved with incredible speed. The Youngflame clan had nearly a thousand Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals under their command, and they all moved in unison. Within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, they really did evacuate all of the clansmen from their three headquarters, moving them into the Worldhold Pagoda. The seven Celestial Immortals of the Worldhold Pagoda stared at the vast land outside. This was their fiefdom. They had fought for this land, had bled for it. “Let’s go. We’ll have greater fiefs in the future, and our Youngflame clan will only grow stronger.” Immortal Venomfreak flew out of the tower. Waving his hand, he collected the Worldhold Pagoda, then disappeared into thin air. …… That very night. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. The Skylight Palace. “Your Imperial Majesty, Immortal Venomfreak asks for an audience,” a white-faced elder said respectfully. The Xia Emperor lifted an eyebrow, a pensive look in his eyes. He then said, “Let him come.” “Yes.” The white-faced elder immediately departed. “He came quite quickly…it seems the Seamless Gate is once more trying to seduce him.” The Xia Emperor mused to himself, “When used correctly, Youngflame Freak is a sharp weapon as well. However…when you harm others, you harm yourself as well. He goes berserk too easily.” The Xia Emperor knew very well that madness was bred into the bones of Immortal Venomfreak; this was why the Xia Emperor had used his clan and fiefs to tie Immortal Venomfreak down, giving Venomfreak something to care about and thus a way to use him! And how, by the look of it… “Although Immortal Venomfreak is useful…he can’t compare to Ji Ning.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “It seems I’m about to lose one of my sharp weapons.” An ugly, horned individual walked in from outside. “Your Imperial Majesty.” The horned man was unusually respectful. “Venomfreak.” The Xia Emperor smiled. The horned man said respectfully, “The Seamless Gate has been asking me to join them this entire time, but I never have. Just now, they sent me a scroll with a scryer recording within it, a recording of Ji Ning battling and slaying eighteen Celestial Immortals. After seeing it…I understand that Ji Ning is now extremely powerful. I want to resolve my differences with him, with the two of us swearing oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. Can we do this?” “Resolve your differences?” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “When Ji Ning was weak, he still wanted to fight against you. Now that he is stronger than you…how could he possibly be willing to accept peace?” 3046 “Your Imperial Majesty…are you going to stand with him?” The horned man said in a low voice. “If you go to kill him, I won’t stop you. If he goes to kill you, I won’t stop him either,” the Xia Emperor said. The horned man laughed coldly. “How could I possibly go kill him? Your Imperial Majesty…it seems you’ve already made your choice. I already suspected it before I came here…but I was holding on to a final strand of hope!” “Venomfreak, you are very intelligent…but I urge you not to join the Seamless Gate. If you join the Seamless Gate…you will have made an enemy out of not just myself and Daofather Crimsonbright, but also my entire Primordial Imperial Clan and many other True Gods and Daofathers.” The Xia Emperor continued, “You can leave now. I hope that you will be able to survive this great storm.” “I’m untalented in other respects, but I’m skilled in survival.” The horned man chuckled. “By not killing me, your Imperial Majesty, you let me preserve an extra clone.” And then, chuckling, he departed. The Xia Emperor watched him leave. This clone of Youngflame Freak definitely wasn’t even carrying a slightly decent treasure on him; he had come prepared to die. The only reason he had come here today was to lay all his cards out on the table…but alas, the Xia Emperor stood immovably by the side of Ji Ning. The Xia Emperor couldn’t even be bothered to try to lie to him about this, because he knew that Immortal Venomfreak was so sly and crafty that there was no way to deceive him. “The Seamless Gate…they truly are seamless in their actions. There is no seam they won’t penetrate through.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “Just like that, they deprived me of one of my sharp weapons.” …… Quietly, without any sound or noise, the Youngflame clan vanished from the world of the Grand Xia. The Fifth World. Within a towering palace. “Immortal Venomfreak. I’ve long heard of your illustrious name.” An azure-robed woman was seated on her throne within the palace. “Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate…the countless marquises within the world of the Great Xia who hear your name all tremble.” The horned man smiled. Although the Xia Emperor had urged him against this, he knew that to survive this storm, one had to be on a team. If he didn’t have one…then he would probably become a target for both sides. Since that was the case…he might as well join the other side right now, and even assume a position of importance! “Go get some rest, Immortal Venomfreak. When the time comes for our battle against the Grand Xia, you will have ample opportunity to display your might,” the azure-robed woman laughed. “Then I’ll await your orders, Gatemaster.” The horned man rose to his feet, then smiled and departed. The azure-robed woman smiled as well. She had just acquired a ferocious general! “Hm.” The azure-robed woman mentally reached out for a moment. “Yu Wei…has finally fallen asleep.” She immediately headed towards her private room, planning to meet Yu Wei in her dreams. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within a private room. The azure-robed woman lit a stick of incense. She was in a superb mood due to Youngflame Freak throwing his support to her side, and so it took a while for her to completely fall asleep. …… Within her dreams. This was a wide, vast prairie. A black-robed maiden materialized out of nowhere within it. “Eh? Why have…” Yu Wei’s face changed. She immediately understood that she had been guided to this place. As she swept it with her gaze, she saw the distant azure-robed woman walking towards her. “My respectful greetings to you, Envoy,” Yu Wei immediately said respectfully. “Yu Wei, long time no see.” The azure-robed woman smiled. “Your last mission was completed perfectly. We have another mission for you now.” Yu Wei’s heart clenched. Her last mission…had been the capture of Celestial Immortal Hunchmont. However, it hadn’t been for her to carry out the actual capturing; all she had to do was help out a bit to make it happen! That had been quite a simple mission; Yu Wei had done only a few things, and there was no chance of her status being revealed. “Please instruct me, Envoy,” Yu Wei said respectfully. “The mission is related to your Dao-companion, Ji Ning.” The azure-robed woman carefully scrutinized Yu Wei for her reaction. Yu Wei’s heart clenched yet again, but she didn’t ask anything. “The Godking commands,” the azure-robed woman said, “For you to bring Ji Ning straight to the Fifth World through Greater Teleportation.” “I’ve never been to the Fifth World before,” Yu Wei said hurriedly. “The Godking has long ago informed you all of the locations of the three thousand major worlds. There’s no need for you to teleport to a specific location; any place within the Fifth World will do,” the azurerobed woman said. “This will be very simple for you.” Yu Wei was silent. She could do this, of course; the Godking had given her this order, precisely because it would be very easy for her to accomplish. But… She wasn’t willing to do it! Even if she had to die, she wouldn’t do it! “What are you going to do?” Yu Wei asked. “That isn’t for you to worry about,” the azure-robed woman snapped. “Does the Godking need to explain his orders to you?” “I can’t do it.” Yu Wei shook her head. Her voice was soft, but it was very resolute. “Why can’t you do it? You are Ji Ning’s Dao-companion; he trusts you absolutely. All you have to do is say to him, ‘I’m going to take you somewhere; once you get there, you’ll understand.’ A very simple phrase; Ji Ning won’t suspect a thing. Lead him in a Greater Teleportation and go to the Fifth World…and your mission will be completed,” the azure-robed woman said. Yu Wei immediately said, “I’ve become apprenticed to Patriarch Lu. In the future, I’ll have a chance to infiltrate the very core of the Daoist Path. If I take Ji Ning to the Fifth World, I’ll be exposed!” “Once you are exposed, you won’t have to hide any longer. You can openly and honorably serve the Godking.” The azure-robed woman’s gaze turned cold. “You’ve said a few too many things today. On account of the fact that the target is your Dao-companion, I’ll pardon your impudence this once, but I will not pardon it a second time.” Yu Wei gritted her teeth. “He is my Dao-companion.” Yu Wei looked at the azure-robed woman. “I know.” The azure-robed woman looked back at her. “He’s the most important person in the world to me.” Yu Wei looked at her steadily. “More important than even my own life.” The azure-robed woman’s gaze turned solemn. Frowning, she said, “Are you going to refuse?” 3050 Yu Wei immediately knelt down, prostrating herself and pressing her forehead down to the ground with the utmost sincerity. “The Godking gave me a new life, and I am absolutely devoted to the Godking. He can ask me to destroy the Black-White College, to kill anyone in the entire world of the Grand Xia, and I won’t hesitate. But Ji Ning is my Dao-companion. I won’t harm him, not even if I have to die!” “You actually dare to disobey the commands of the Godking?” The azure-robed woman was stunned. “You…you’ll be sent into the Infinity Hells, never to be reborn again!” Yu Wei just knelt there, not saying another word. The azure-robed woman stared at Yu Wei. “You should know what will happen if you disobey the Godking. I’ll give you one last chance…” “Even if you ask me a hundred times, a thousand times…my answer remains the same.” Yu Wei just knelt there. “Then…wait to be brought into the Infinity Hells.” The azure-robed woman waved her arm, then disappeared into thin air. …… Night. Ji Ning and Yu Wei were sleeping together on their bed. Although Immortals had no need for slumber, it felt nice to sleep every so often, and it could release a bit of the stress one felt. Even the most powerful of Immortals would occasionally take a nap, and in fact some Immortals were so relaxed that they might sleep for ten thousand years each time. Suddenly, Yu Wei’s eyelids twitched slightly. She slowly opened her eyes. “It’s finally come.” Pain was in Yu Wei’s eyes. She had been terrified of this day coming. She had thought that, upon becoming Patriarch Lu’s disciple, that she had become more useful and that the Godking wouldn’t order her to expose herself, allowing her to be together with Ning for a longer period of time. But now, the Godking’s order had come, after she had only spent half a year together with Ning. Yu Wei gently pressed her head against Ning’s chest, feeling the warmth coming from Ning’s body. “What is it?” Ning woke up as well. He reached out to put his arm around Yu Wei; he could sense that she seemed to be feeling quite weak and soft right now. “Nothing. I had a bad dream,” Yu Wei said softly. Ning nodded gently. He knew that Yu Wei had a tragic life in her past life, while in this life her parents had died when she was young. She had most likely dreamt of something unpleasant. “It was just a dream. Life is just going to get better and better for us.” Ning held Yu Wei in his arms. “Right. Better and better.” Yu Wei smiled. …… “Senior apprentice-sister, you seem to be in quite a good mood. You’ve been smiling all day long.” Ning released his Darknorth swords. His slaughter of those Celestial Immortals had finally caused his three Darknorth swords to have absorbed enough baleful auras to become low-grade Pure Yang treasures. Yu Wei put down her platter of spirit-fruit and smiled. “I’m with you, and there’s no one to bother us. We’re living in a lover’s paradise right now; why can’t I smile?” Ning smiled as well. Right. A lover’s paradise. The only two people within this estate were himself and Yu Wei. Immortal Diancai was quite discrete; he didn’t come bother them unless there was something important. This was a world that belonged to just the two of them; to refer to it as a ‘lover’s paradise’ wasn’t too far off the mark. “Haha, it would be wonderful if we can always live such a relaxed, happy life. My most cherished dream is of living a peaceful, calm life with my loved ones until the end of time.” A hint of nostalgia appeared in Ning’s eyes. “My father and my mother have both left me. But…I still have you, senior apprentice-sister.” “Right.” Yu Wei nodded gently. In her heart, however, she silently said to herself: “Junior apprenticebrother, these might be our final days together. I want to leave you with the most perfect of memories. I’m going to smile, to laugh, to be happy.” …… Within a dark region. There was a towering, thirty thousand meter throne, and a massive black-robed figure seated upon it. He was gently tapping on his left armrest with his left arm. Below him was Yu Wei, kneeling. Next to her was the azure-robed woman. “You’ve disappointed me deeply.” The Godking’s voice echoed within the entire region of darkness. Yu Wei didn’t dare to say a single word in her own defense. “However…I know that you feel very deep emotions towards this Ji Ning.” The Godking sighed. “This word, ‘love’…there have been countless who have been driven mad by it, even amongst Immortals and Fiends. I can forgive you this time, and I will no longer give you any missions pertaining to Ji Ning…but if you ever disobey me again, then you shall go burn for all eternity within the Infinity Hells.” “Thank you, Godking.” Yu Wei revealed an excited look on her face, while the nearby azure-robed woman revealed a look of astonishment. Yu Wei had never imagined that she was going to survive this disaster. After all, it was simplicity itself for the Godking to slay her. The Godking had imprinted her soul with his seal during her past life; with but a single thought, he could tear her soul out and cast it into the Infinity Hells. The Infinity Hells was an illusory place of damnation which the Godking had constructed; souls cast into it would suffer endless torment which would never come to an end. In fact…with but a single thought, the Godking could shatter her soul and kill her. And yet, she felt tremendous gratitude towards the Godking. It was the Godking who had bestowed new life upon her. “Go then.” The Godking waved his hand, and Yu Wei vanished. “Godking.” The azure-robed woman could no longer stay silent. She had followed the Godking for far too long; this was completely different from how the Godking usually did things. “Even if we don’t give her any missions related to Ji Ning, we can still use her to unknowingly send him on the road to hell,” the Godking said. “In addition…this chess piece, Yu Wei, remains very useful to us. I’ll pardon her impudence, this once.” The azure-robed woman’s eyes gleamed. “The Godking is wise.” …… Within a private room. Yu Wei opened her eyes, unable to disguise the excitement within them. “Junior apprentice-brother, junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei immediately charged out of the still room, running towards the wide courtyard outside. Within the courtyard, Ning was training with his Darknorth swords. He wanted to master the Dao of the Sword as quickly as possible! He could sense that he was on the path to full master of the Dao; although his mastery of swordforce had only increased his combat power by a small amount, he was now gaining insight into the Dao of the Sword at a much faster pace. “Eh?” Ning turned around, then laughed, “Senior apprentice-sister, I’m still training. Is there something you need?” “Nothing.” Yu Wei sat down, just staring at him. She quickly recovered from her state of excitement. She also quickly understood that even though she didn’t have to act against Ning, she would still have to carry out other missions against other people. In fact, due to her connection against Patriarch Lu, she would now be sent to deal with even more powerful figures. In short…sooner or later, she would still be revealed. The day that she was revealed would be the day when she would be forced to leave Ji Ning…and in fact, might be the day of her death. “That day will come, no matter what…?” After this latest experience, Yu Wei became even more reluctant to part with him. That very night. Ning and Yu Wei were together in bed, sharing a pillow. “Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei was in Ning’s arms. “Mm?” Ning looked at her. “Let’s have a baby,” Yu Wei said suddenly. “Have a baby? Why? The Three Realms are in a state of chaos; how can we possibly take care of a baby right now?” Ning was startled. He was a Fiendgod, while Yu Wei was a Celestial Immortal; it was very difficult for Immortals and Fiendgods to conceive, but much easier for them to prevent conception. All they had to do was use their elemental energy or their divine power to prevent it. Yu Wei looked at him. “I want one. The Three Realms are in a state of chaos, as you said. This way, even if one of us ends up dying, we’ll at least have a child together.” “How can you say such things?” Ning said. “If you die, do you plan to leave me alone in this world?” Yu Wei asked. “You’ve experienced so many dangerous events lately; I’m honestly terrified right now. If you were gone…I wouldn’t be able to stay alive.” When Ning thought of how he had been exiled to the Nihilum Zone, his heart turned soft. He nodded. “Fine. If you want a baby, we’ll have a baby. But I’m a Fiendgod, while you are a Celestial Immortal; it’s going to be very hard for us to conceive.” “We still have to give it a try,” Yu Wei said earnestly. “Theeen…here I come!” Ning chortled, then gently pulled Yu Wei’s gauzy clothes off of her. It was a dark, dreamy night. Ning felt as though he was intoxicated by bliss… …… Whether it was due to sheer luck or whether it was because someone was looking out for them…on the third month of their attempts, Yu Wei, a Celestial Immortal, became pregnant by Ji Ning, a Fiendgod. After becoming pregnant, Yu Wei spent every day just sitting there, stroking her belly, beaming as she watched Ning train with the sword. In truth, there was no swelling whatsoever in Yu Wei’s belly at this point in time, but she still liked to stroke her belly…because she was caressing the child of herself and Ji Ning. Ning completely immersed himself within swordplay, but whenever he paused, he would turn to beam merrily at Yu Wei. Every time he did, he would feel very warm, very happy. It had been so long… Ever since his parents had passed on…it had been so long since he had felt such warmth. This was an intoxicating warmth, one which filled him with vigor! In the future, after his child was born, the two of them would play with the baby together. Those days would be even more blissful, right? “Eh?” Ning suddenly ceased his training. “What is it?” Yu Wei, was had been eating some spirit-fruit, couldn’t help but pause and query him. “My Primaltwin has perfected its mastery over heartforce.” An excited look was in Ning’s eyes. “Then…are you going to have your Primaltwin attempt the Celestial Tribulation?” Yu Wei was stunned. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Blackheaven Ji Ning nodded lightly. “It should be time to undergo the tribulation. However, prior to doing so…I want to make a trip back to Swallow Mountain. You can think of this as a way to calm myself prior to the tribulation. Honestly, as I see it…in my Celestial Tribulation, I expect the wind tribulation, fire tribulation, and thunder tribulations to be comparatively easy to deal with, while the demonheart tribulation will be the toughest.” He had karmic sinflames covering him, after all; the demonheart tribulation would probably be truly terrifying. “Alright.” Yu Wei was somewhat worried as well. “Give Master a head’s up. We’re going back to Swallow Mountain today,” Ning said. “Whatever you say,” Yu Wei said with a smile. That very day, Ning and Yu Wei returned to Swallow Mountain. …… Swallow Mountain. Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. “Ah!? Master, you…you are actually having a baby with Rainbowflame? And you didn’t tell me?! You didn’t tell me something as important as this?! You’re breaking my heart! Wowowow!” Little Qing stared at Yu Wei’s belly, utterly excited. “Master, let your child be my disciple, alright?” “You? Based on what? Don’t even think about leading that poor child astray.” The nearby Uncle White chortled merrily while seated. He was actually the happiest one of them all. An heir! Ji Ning had an heir! If my big brother and my sister-in-law were still alive…I can’t even imagine how happy they would be right now. “Senior apprentice-brother, I insist on being godfather to your child.” Mu Northson was similarly unable to disguise his joy and eagerness. “Fine. However, as his godfather, you need to prepare some quality gifts. As a grandmaster of constructs…you absolutely have to bring out some particularly nice things.” Ning laughed. Giving his junior apprentice-brother something to care about was a wonderful thing. “Stop just chatting. Quick, all of you, sit.” The door swung open, and Autumn Leaf walked in carrying a platter of sumptuous foods. Everyone was gathered here together, eating, drinking, and joking around. Ning’s heart grew increasingly calm, increasingly peaceful. For some inexplicable reason, he wanted to come back before his Celestial Tribulation. Aside from meeting with these familiar faces…he wanted to see Serpentwing Lake. …… A boat was drifting about on the surface of Serpentwing Lake. Ji Ning lay within it, sleeping by himself. Mist gathered in the area around him. Eventually, Ning sat up. He stretched out with his hand, gently gliding it through the water beneath the boat. He said softly, “Father, Mother…when you were alive, you had always hoped that my name would be known throughout the world. And now…your child has accomplished it! In fact, your child’s name is now known even in other major worlds. And now, in a few days, your child shall undergo the Celestial Tribulation.” “Your child swears this…I will definitely become a True God and a Daofather. I’ll stand at the very peak of the Three Realms…and at that point in time, I’ll see you again. I’ll tell you all of these things in person. As for this tribulation…it’s be nothing more a small wave before the great storm to come.” It was as though Ji Ning was engaging in idle banter with his family members. He just glided his hand through the water as he spoke. His voice, however, contained a decisiveness and an ambition that would cause the faces of those who heard it to change. …… A beautiful gorge, with many palaces built within it, as well as many flowers, trees, and other forms of vegetation. It was as beautiful as paradise. Two supremely lovely Immortal maidens who were even more astonishingly beautiful than Yu Wei were walking through it, shoulder-by-shoulder. One of them was dressed in green, while the other was dressed in gray. The peerless fairy maiden dressed in gray sackcloth clothes was walking barefoot. The gray clothes covering her were completely unable to disguise her beauty; in fact, they gave her a spiritual aura that it seem as though she transcended the mortal world. Countles male Immortals and Fiends would go mad just looking at her. She was the leader of the Seven Female Immortals of the Hundred Tombs Mountain, ‘Fairy Deadgrass’. The Hundred Tombs Mountain, a place within the Heaven Realm where spiritual energy gathered in abundance. In the Primordial Era, it used to be a place where many of the most powerful deceased Fiendgods would be buried, which was why it was known as the ‘Hundred Tombs Mountain’. However, because so many powerful Fiendgods had been buried there, the place had become even more mysterious. Many flowers and trees had grown in that place, many of which possessed spiritual qualities. In fact, some of them spontaneously trained in cultivation! It was incredibly difficult for flowers and plants to train in cultivation; since they all came from the Hundred Tombs Mountain, they were naturally an extremely unified group. After they were able to take human form, they all appeared as women. The Hundred Tombs Mountain had many Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, as well as six Celestial Immortals and one Pure Yang True Immortal. Of those maidens…Fairy Deadgrass was the Pure Yang True Immortal! She was originally a blade of grass that looked dry and withered, but that blade of grass was incredibly marvelous; no other flowers or types of vegetation were able to survive at all within a very large region around her. After taking human form as an Earth Immortal, she had been to effortlessly overcome her Celestial Tribulation, becoming the number one Celestial Immortal of the Hundred Tombs Mountain. She was extremely reserved, and the more one interacted with her, the more intoxicated one would feel. In fact, even the Celestial Emperor of the Three Realms had been smitten by her. He had wanted to sneak in to court her, but who would’ve thought that upon entering the Hundred Tombs Mountain, the Celestial Emperor would have been physically kicked out, a single word echoing throughout the entire Heaven Realm: “SCRAM!” The Celestial Emperor had slunk away in disgrace. After that, many in the Three Realms began to hypothesize that Fairy Deadgrass had to have a True God or Daofather behind her. However…given that Fairy Deadgrass was arguably one of the most peerless beauties of the entire Three Realms, it wasn’t strange for her to have attracted the attention of a True God or a Daofather. “Elder sister.” The green-robed fairy maiden’s eyes glistened with tears. “Little sister Violetgrass died such a miserable death. She was just a little girl, but that ‘Ji Ning’ showed her no mercy at all. My husband went all-out to defend her, and even sent a mental message ordering him to stop…but Ji Ning still killed little sister Violetgrass. Elder sister…you have to take revenge for her!” 3058 A cold light flashed through the eyes of Fairy Deadgrass. She said calmly, “We Seven Female Immortals of the Hundred Tombs Mountain…we aren’t killed so easily. Who is this Ji Ning, and where does he come from? Your husband, True Immortal Gaudy, is quite powerful; could it be that even he was unable to kill him?” “This Ji Ning is merely a Void-level Fiendgod; he hasn’t even overcome his tribulation,” the green-robed woman said. “However, he is extremely powerful; although he is merely a Void-level Fiendgod, he was able to block my husband for a period of time.” “He blocked Gaudy?” Fairy Deadgrass was startled. There was a tremendous difference in power between Celestial Immortals and True Immortals. To block a True Immortal…only the rarest and most monstrously talented Celestial Immortals of the Three Realms were capable of such a thing. “According to what my husband said, although he wanted to kill Ji Ning very much, Ji Ning’s power has indeed reached the threshold of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals,” the green-robed woman said. “In addition, the Xia Emperor of the Grand Xia insisted on protecting Ji Ning. And…a True God or Daofather master stands behind Ji Ning! Right; I forgot to tell you this, but this Ji Ning has trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] as well.” Fairy Deadgrass’ body stiffened. “Understood.” Fairy Deadgrass stood there pensively. The green-robed fairy maiden stood next to her, waiting impatiently. She knew very well that her elder sister was capable of many things; naturally, she was hoping that her elder sister would help out. “Elder sister?” The green-robed fairy maiden called out softly. “The Seven Female Immortals of the Hundred Tombs Mountain…Violetgrass was the youngest, and she had always followed you. I only met her a few times after she overcame her tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal. Although there isn’t much of a relationship between us…no matter what, she came from our Hundred Tombs Mountain. If memory serves, after she left you, she went to follow Azurefox, right?” Fairy Deadgrass said. “Right.” The green-robed woman nodded. “I’ll go meet Azurefox tomorrow,” Fairy Deadgrass said calmly. There were many female Immortals in the Hundred Tombs Mountain, including a large group of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. Due to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, most found it hard to live for more than a million years. Thus, the earliest ones who were born, such as Fairy Deadgrass, didn’t 3059 have much of a connection to the latecomers; they only had close connections to the others who were also born early on. Violetgrass was one of the latecomers; she had first followed many powerful figures, but had actually been lucky enough to ecome a Celestial Immortal. If it weren’t for that, Fairy Deadgrass probably wouldn’t even remember who she was. …… The Fifth World. Within that towering palace, the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, ‘Azurefox’, was accompanying her guest, Fairy Deadgrass. “Little sister Deadgrass, I’ve already told you the full details to this story.” Gatemaster Azurefox shook her head. “To tell you the truth…our Seamless Gate wants to kill Ji Ning more badly than any of you do. If he doesn’t die, then he will become a dangerous variable that will impact our plans to subjugate the Grand Xia. He already has the power to impact the situation right now, much less in the future when he grows more powerful. Thus, the earlier we kill him, the better. However, I haven’t been able to find a good opportunity to do this. After all, he’s very tough to kill, with the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him. And once we fail in killing him…the Immortals that we send to deal with him might end up being killed by the figure standing behind him.” Fairy Deadgrass frowned. She was an incredibly proud figure…but there was no way she would blindly rush into danger. “Azurefox.” An enraged bellow rang out, and a long-haired man came storming in with a terrifying look in his eyes. “Blackheaven.” Gatemaster Azurefox and Fairy Deadgrass both watched him enter. He was one of the marvels amongst the countless Celestial Immortals of the Three Realms, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven. From the Primordial Era to the current era, no one had ever been able to determine for sure exactly how powerful Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was. However, what they did find out suggested that he was most likely just as powerful as a supreme Celestial Immortal. Still…when he engaged in fights, he often used many strange, heterodox techniques that caused even Empyrean Gods and True Immortals problems! For example, when True Immortal Gaudy had gone to kill Ji Ning, Ji Ning had been able to use his archery to block him. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, however…he would’ve been able to rely on his heterodox techniques to escape. Thus, the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Three Realms treated him as they would an equal. “Violetgrass DIED?! You, the ‘exalted Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate’…why the hell didn’t you help take care of her? Do you remember the words you told me, back then?!” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was livid. He would never forget that little girl who had just started to take human form, and who had 3060 followed him around addressing him as ‘old geezer’. He had always beamed merrily towards that little girl. “I was unable to do anything. I couldn’t make it in time.” Gatemaster Azurefox shook her head. “Damn.” A cold light flashed through Blackheaven’s eyes. “The Godking has three hundred Seamless Gates under his command. If you can’t even protect one of your maids, do you really think you are worthy of being one of the Gatemasters?” “Blackheaven, you go too far!” A dark, cold light flashed through Azurefox’s eyes as well, and her azure hair began to float upwards. “I go too far? You’re the one who went too far by letting Violetgrass die. I taught her step-by-step, helping her establish her foundation, so that she could quickly become a Celestial Immortal, and a supreme one at that! I never imagined that…damn. You letting her take on missions was one thing, but you actually let her take on such a terrifyingly dangerous mission?” Blackheaven was truly enraged. “That stupid kid…she didn’t break the talisman I gave her.” A hint of tears could be seen in Blackheaven’s eyes, but the tears quickly vanished. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven felt such regret. He had roamed the Three Realms for his entire life, living in a carefree manner from the Primordial Era to the present day. He rarely came to truly care for someone, but he ended up treating that silly little girl who thought herself to be supremely clever as one of his own children. Who would’ve thought that they would’ve ended up being parted by death so soon? In truth, when Violetgrass had been at the verge of death, she had thought of Celestial Immortal Blackheaven. Long ago, Blackheaven had pounded his own chest and boasted proudly, “If there’s anything you need, come find me! I’ll give you three promises to accomplish three tasks for you. No matter how major the task is, I’ll be able to accomplish it.” “Keep bragging, old geezer. You are just a Celestial Immortal, and you claim to be able to accomplish anything, no matter how major?” Blackheaven had just smiled, not taking her seriously. But he had forgotten…that when Violetgrass was in a truly dangerous situation, such as when she had seen how powerful Ji Ning was, how would she possibly dare to break the talisman he had given her? She was afraid; afraid that Blackheaven would’ve thrown his life away as well. Thus, the two talismans she had shattered belonged to True Immortals. “Hmph.” Gatemaster Azurefox’s gaze flashed past Celestial Immortal Blackheaven. She let out an angry snort, then said, “I made a mistake. I wasn’t able to protect Violetgrass. This time…I’m not going to quibble with you over this.” Gatemaster Azurefox was one of the most loyal followers of the Godking, and so she knew very well that of the powers on her side, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, a mere Celestial Immortal, was behaving in a far too relaxed and unrestricted manner. This relaxed manner caused Gatemaster Azurefox to feel as though something was off. This was why she swallowed her anger, unwilling to truly make an enemy out of Blackheaven right now. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In all honesty, Gatemaster Azurefox couldn’t be blamed for this matter. All the members of the Seamless Gate were risking their lives in their ventures; when the time came, even the Gatemaster herself would go into battle! This battle against Celestial Immortal Unity wasn’t that dangerous a mission either; Violetgrass had only died due to bad luck. The Three Realms were being rocked by a storm; who would dare say for certain that one person would definitely survive? However, Gatemaster Azurefox could tell that Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was truly enraged, and so she didn’t bother to explain. In addition… Blackheaven was on their side. Logically speaking, as a Celestial Immortal, he should be forced to obey the orders that came from his superiors. Only major powers, those linked to major powers like Fairy Deadgrass, and the most supreme of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were able to left alone to their own devices without being assigned any missions. Blackheaven, however, was also left alone and unburdened. This was truly quite strange, and this caused many of their Celestial Immortals to address him reverently as ‘Exalted Immortal Blackheaven’. This also caused Gatemaster Azurefox to feel some nervousness. For an inexplicable reason, she felt as though if she were to truly go fight against Blackheaven, the results would be…poor. “Blackheaven, don’t blame Azurefox. She had no idea that Ji Ning was this much of a monster.” The nearby Fairy Deadgrass sighed. “When I learned that Violetgrass had died, I immediately rushed over here. I imagine that you, too, came here for the purpose of getting vengeance for her, Blackheaven. Azurefox, as the Gatemaster of her Seamless Gate, wants to kill Ji Ning more than any of us. We all share a common goal, to kill Ji Ning.” “Ji Ning…of course we have to kill him,” Blackheaven growled. “Even if only for the sake of our subjugation of the Grand Xia alone, Ji Ning must die.” Gatemaster Azurefox hurriedly agreed. “How to kill him?” Blackheaven asked, “If he could be easily killed, Gaudy would’ve killed him long ago. He’s currently within the world of the Grand Xia. That’s the territory of the Xia Emperor. Both of you know exactly how deep the Xia Emperor’s roots are…” In truth, they didn’t care as much about the Daofather behind Ji NIng. If they were truly worried, they wouldn’t even dare to say the word ‘kill’. The reason why they weren’t afraid was because the Three Realms were now divided into two major opposing camps. These two camps had come to a common 3063 agreement; the major powers were not to casually intervene, because if they did, the other side would probably release even more and even more powerful major powers. “The Xia Emperor’s roots go deep. If we don’t go all out against him…there’s no way we’ll have a chance to kill Ji Ning,” Gatemaster Azurefox said. “The price of doing that, however, is too great. The best plan of action right now is to have the marquises of the Grand Xia assault the Xia Emperor first.” This was what the Seamless Gate usually did. They would recruit some of the marquises, then use them to assault the other marquises. A full frontal assault…if the Seamless Gate truly had enough of an advantage to carry out such an assault, why would they have worked so furtively all these years? They would’ve forcibly swept through and conquered the Three Realms long ago. However…clearly, the Seamless Gate wasn’t that powerful yet. …… Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, Gatemaster Azurefox, and Fairy Deadgrass couldn’t come up with any ideas for acting against Ning. Just as Blackheaven was about to turn and leave with a belly full of fire… “Eh?” Gatemaster Azurefox suddenly rose to her feet. Puzzled, Blackheaven gave her a glance. Fairy Deadgrass was puzzled as well. “Our chance just came.” Azurefox revealed a smile as she looked towards Fairy Deadgrass and Blackheaven. “Our chance to kill Ji Ning just came.” “What?” “What’s the chance?” Fairy Deadgrass was puzzled, while Blackheaven immediately went to the point. Azurefox smiled. “I just received word that Ji Ning is about to undergo his tribulation. It should be his Primaltwin that is going to undergo the Celestial Tribulation.” “Tribulation?” Fairy Deadgrass and Celestial Immortal Blackheaven were both surprised…and then both revealed looks of delight. “This is indeed a wonderful opportunity.” Fairy Deadgrass laughed as well. “Once his tribulation begins, especially when the final demonheart tribulation begins…since a Primaltwin shares the same memories and thoughts with the true body, the true body will also be trapped in the demonheart world. Ji Ning will be at his weakest; he won’t be able to fight back at all.” 3064 “Right. He’ll be unable to fight back, and the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] will be useless against the demonheart tribulation.” Blackheaven revealed a look of delight. …… The azure-robed woman felt quite excited for this stroke of luck. It was incredibly hard to subjugate a major world. One had to remove multiple impediments, and Ji Ning had become one such impediment that she had to resolve. That very day, True Immortal Gaudy, Fairy Deadgrass, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, Immortal Venomfreak, and the three leaders of the Seamless Gate, the Myriad Demons Cave, and Bloodcloud Hall gathered together for a meeting. “We’ll primarily be relying on you this time, Exalted Immortals.” Immortal Venomfreak had a very humble attitude, and his ingratiating smile caused his ugly face to look even more savage. “If there’s anything you need me, Venomfreak, to carry out, just tell me. I’m prepared to give my life up over there if needed.” “Life?” The others all chuckled. Immortal Venomfreak’s ‘life’ was spent cheaply; he had already died countless times! There was no value in killing his clones. “I’ll bring six of my aberrations as well. I’ve been nurturing them since the Primordial Era, and they are amongst the most powerful of my children.” Immortal Venomfreak had a delighted look on his face, and the other Immortals present all nodded and smiled. Immortal Venomfreak had many clones spread throughout the universe, and was quite famous within the Three Realms for his abilities in cultivating venomous bug-aberrations. All of them were thick and muscular, and could be used in many ways. “When we go to the Grand Xia, we are all risking our lives,” Fairy Deadgrass said. “I’m only going to have one of my incarnations to go.” “Right. I’ll send an incarnation as well, and it’ll carry some of my powerful magic treasures. It should have a tenth of my full power,” True Immortal Gaudy said. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven let out a cold snort. However…even though he wanted to take revenge for Violetgrass more than anyone else, he too was merely going to send a clone over. This was because his specialties lay in his varied, heterodox skills; it didn’t make too much of a difference whether he sent his true body or if he sent his clone. However, when True Immortal Gaudy and Fairy Deadgrass sent over their incarnations, those incarnations would most likely only have at most a tenth of their full power, no matter how powerful those clones were. Their incarnations and clones were created through Celestial Immortal techniques; if they died, it wouldn’t impact their strength that much. Their true bodies, however, could not die; they would truly perish if their true bodies were slain. Immortal Venomfreak was different. In truth, he didn’t even really have a ‘true body’; he had many clones, each of which could be considered his ‘true body’. Thus, one had to wipe out all of his clones before he would die; otherwise, if so much as a single clone survived, he would be able to quickly recover. “Our Seamless Gate shall send the clones of two Empyrean Gods as well,” the azure-robed woman said. “Our Bloodcloud Hall will send out a team of Hellsworn,” the skinny elder said with a smile. “I will provide a construct to that team of Hellsworn,” the fire-robed man said. The addition of these three organizations had caused the power of this team to increase significantly. “Now…the only question is, where is Ji Ning undergoing his tribulation,” Blackheaven mused softly. “If he ends up running to the Daofather master behind him, there will be nothing we can do. Otherwise…even if though Xia Emperor is protecting him, during the tribulation itself Ji Ning will be helpless. We only need a short period of time to kill him when we attack.” Azurefox said confidently, “Celestial Immortal Blackheaven’s ‘Yin-Yang Arcane Ki Bottle’ will be able to kill Ji Ning effortlessly.” Blackheaven nodded. “I’ll bring the Yin-Yang Arcane Ki Bottle, of course.” The others couldn’t help but give Blackheaven a glance. Blackheaven really did have far too many treasures. Some were Protocosmic spirit-treasures, while others were rather unique treasures with extraordinary powers. Once, Blackheaven had set up a trap that caused an Empyrean God of the Celestial Court to accidentally become ensnared within the Yin-Yang Arcane Ki Bottle. He had nearly died within that battle, and in the end had only survived because their respective major powers had negotiated, resulting in that Empyrean God being released. …… Night. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. The Skylight Palace. “Imperial Majesty, Ji Ning requests an audience,” the white-faced elder said respectfully. “Ji Ning? Let him enter.” The black-robed Xia Emperor, seated in the lotus position atop his jade bed, opened his eyes. Soon, a youth entered the room. “Imperial Majesty.” Ning saluted respectfully. “Ji Ning, why have you come to speak to me in the middle of the night?” The Xia Emperor laughed. Ji Ning said, “To be honest, there’s something I would ask of you, your Imperial Majesty.” “Oh?” The Xia Emperor listened. “Nine days from now, I’m preparing to have my Primaltwin undergo the Celestial Tribulation,” Ning said. “However…I imagine that the Seamless Gate has had their sights set on me for quite some time now, and they seem to have perfect knowledge regarding the location of every Void-level individual’s tribulation. I believe that no matter how careful I am, they will still be able to find out where my tribulation is. During the tribulation, when the demonheart tribulation begins, even my true body will be unable to fight back. I will be at my weakest at this period of time, and the Seamless Gate definitely won’t give up that opportunity. Thus…I’ve come to ask you to help, your Imperial Majesty.” The Xia Emperor laughed. “Haha, don’t worry about this. Undergoing the Celestial Tribulation is an important matter; I’ll naturally protect you with all my might.” In truth, Ning felt rather resigned. Unless his master, Patriarch Subhuti, actively reached out to him, there was no way for Ning to contact him, much less return to the world of the Crescent. If that wasn’t the case, he would’ve returned to the Crescent world for his tribulation, which would’ve been much safer. After all, the other major powers were unable to even locate the Crescent world. The Starseizing world left behind by Daoist Threelives was also very safe, but until he was acknowledged as the true heir, he wouldn’t be able to enter at all. And so, in the end, he had come to ask the Xia Emperor for help. One of the reasons why Ji Ning had revealed his sharpness last time was for this. “However…it probably won’t be enough for me to guard you during your tribulation.” The Xia Emperor frowned. “When you undergo your tribulation, you will be completely defenseless. Although the Seamless Gate won’t be strong enough to defeat me…they still might be capable of some other tricks, such as tearing through space to arrive at your tribulation area, resisting my forces for a short period of time, then killing you.” Ning nodded. There were figures within the Three Realms capable of killing him. For example, magic treasures that contained and was able to unleash extremely powerful truefire or truewater would be capable of completely annihilating him. However…under normal circumstances, he would be able to fight back; he wouldn’t be so foolish as to allow himself to be trapped within those treasures. “How about this…I’ll take you to the ‘seat of awakening’ 1 of my master,” the Xia Emperor said with a laugh. “You definitely won’t encounter any problems while undergoing your tribulation at my master’s place.” Ning was both surprised and delighted. The Xia Emperor’s master? Daofather Crimsonbright? If he could receive protection from a Daofather, his tribulation would become far safer. Having a powerful backer really did make a difference! As for his own master, Patriarch Subhuti…sheesh. He was the ultimate arbiter of whether or not his disciples would even be allowed to return to the Crescent world. By contrast, Daofather Crimsonbright had openly taken control over dozens of major worlds and countless minor worlds. However, it was precisely because of how secretive he was that Patriarch Subhuti had become known as the most mysterious Daofather of the Three Realms. “But, but…would the Daofather permit me to enter?” Ning hesitated slightly. “Let me report this matter to my master, first. If his place won’t work, then I’ll take you to my big brother’s place,” the Xia Emperor laughed. Big brother? Ji Ning instantly thought of the Xia Emperor’s lifelong friend…Daofather Raindragon! Yet another Daofather! A seat of awakening, aka Bodhimanda, is the place where a Buddhist or a Daoist gains enlightenment. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Ji Ning was utterly delighted. The Xia Emperor nodded. “The Celestial Tribulation is the greatest, most dangerous tribulation any Immortal cultivator will face on his path. One cannot be overconfident in dealing with it. Since you have karmic sinflames around you, your demonheart tribulation will definitely be quite extraordinary…” Ning nodded. Right. Demonheart… Last time, when the karmic sinflames had unleashed three rounds of tribulations upon him, Ning had realized how terrifying his demonheart tribulation would be. In truth…he didn’t know for certain if he would be able to withstand it this time. “Then I’ll leave now, your Imperial Majesty,” Ning said. “Go. I’ll decide upon your tribulation area within the next two days,” the Xia Emperor said. Ning immediately left. This trip had been worth it. The Xia Emperor’s promise of assistance…if a Daofather truly was going to protect him, then he would have no outside factors to worry about during his Celestial Tribulation. …… “Damn.” The day after Ning had gone to speak to the Xia Emperor. The azure-robed woman had previously been seating calmly in the lotus position atop her jade bed. Now, her face changed. She immediately barked, “Hurry up and invite True Immortal Gaudy, True Immortal Deadgrass, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, Celestial Immortal Venomfreak, Empyrean God Threesuns, and Empyrean God Beastleave. Also invite the leaders of the Myriad Demons Cave and Bloodcloud Hall.” “Alright.” The maid outside immediately acknowledged the order. A short while later, everyone had arrived within the palace. Empyrean God Azurefox, Empyrean God Threesuns, and Empyrean God Beastleave were of the Seamless Gate. True Immortal Gaudy and True Immortal Deadgrass were both Pure Yang True Immortals, while Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was equivalent to them in status. Immortal Venomfreak had the lowest status of the group. Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were major figures of the Three Realms, after all, and when they took on masters, their masters were usually Daofathers. In fact, within the Three Realms, almost all Empyrean Gods or True Immortals had a Daofather or True God supporting them. Thus, even though Ji Ning might have a Daofather master, they wouldn’t really care that much; the only thing causing them some nervousness was the fact that Ji Ning had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. “The situation has changed.” After everyone arrived, the azure-robed woman spoke out in a solemn voice. “What happened?” They all looked at her. They knew that she must have invited them all over to discuss matters pertaining to Ji Ning. The faces of Blackheaven and Venomfreak instantly changed; of the people present, these two cared about this matter the most. The azure-robed woman said solemnly, “I just received word that the location of Ji Ning’s tribulation has been set.” “Where?” Blackheaven immediately asked. “He asked the Xia Emperor to protect him. The Xia Emperor, wanting to be cautious, didn’t summon his own forces. Instead, he reported this to Daofather Crimsonbright, asking for Ji Ning to be allowed to undergo his tribulation at Daofather Crimsonbright’s seat of awakening. Daofather Crimsonbright has already given the nod and agreed,” the azure-robed woman said. This news was actually top-secret. The Xia Emperor hadn’t even told his subordinates about it, and very few people by the side of Daofather Crimsonbright knew about it. The Seamless Gate, however, had found out right away. The accuracy and lethality of their intelligence…it was the best in the Three Realms! It had reached an utterly terrifying level. However, the people present didn’t have any desire to ponder about such matters. All of them knew exactly how formidable the Seamless Gate’s intelligence network was. “Daofather Crimsonbright?” “If it’s at his seat of awakening, then we have no chance at all.” “Are we going to have to invite a major power?” They all began to worry. Forget about their incarnations and their clones; even if they sent their true bodies in to violate a Daofather’s seat of awakening…Daofather Crimsonbright would probably wipe them all out in an instant. “There’s no way our superiors will start a war against Daofather Crimsonbright for Ji Ning’s sake.” The azure-robed woman shook her head. “Once a battle starts, the other Daofathers and True Gods will jump in as well…the end result might be a massive, chaotic war amongst True Gods and Daofathers. We can’t possibly afford to pay such a price.” “Right.” They all nodded. If a huge storm erupted due to personal grudges between True Gods and Daofathers, that was one thing. But if as a result of their report, a huge storm erupted that claimed the lives of two or three of their Daofathers…they wouldn’t be able to bear that sort of responsibility. “Then what should we do?” Blackheaven frowned and barked. Everyone was silent. However, the horned figure that had been silent up till now suddenly laughed. “I have an idea.” “Oh?” All of them looked over to him. Immortal Venomfreak laughed, “Exalted Immortals, all of you should know that when Ji Ning battled against my Youngflame clan, he was punished with karmic sinflames.” “Yes.” “Right.” All of their eyes lit up; they were all intelligent people, and only one word was all it took for them to sense what Immortal Venomfreak was saying. “Due to the karmic sinflames, when he undergoes his Celestial Tribulation, the power of the wind, fire, and thunder tribulations will increase significantl, but those aren’t that important…what really matters is his demonheart tribulation. That’s when the tribulation shall become the most astonishing and the most terrifying.” Immortal Venomfreak laughed. “I already know exactly what sort of a person this Ji Ning is; he cares deeply about filial piety and loyalty to his loved ones and friends. He’s willing to die for his loved ones, and he’s also willing to die for his brothers.” “Right.” The nearby fire-robed man nodded. “To save his junior apprentice-brother, this Ji Ning once launched a major battle within one of the bases of our Myriad Demons Cave, not worrying about offending us at all.” “His devotion to his friends is worthy of our admiration; although I, Venomfreak, would never act like him, I still admire him very much.” Immortal Venomfreak chortled. “The greatest strength of a person like 3071 him is that his devotion can make his Dao-heart incredibly, terrifyingly strong. But at the same time, his devotion is also his weak spot; once it crumbles, then his Dao-heart will also crumble.” “Now, since Ji Ning overcame karmic sinflames, it’s not very likely that we will be able to make the devotion he feels for his loved ones crumble. However…it’s possible for us to fill his heart with boundless rage and hate!” “Kill those who he cares about!” “Kill that ‘Uncle White’, who he treats as he would a father or a mother! Kill that obedient little spiritbeast of his, that Azure Skysnake!” “Kill that Autumn Leaf, who he loves as he would a sister.” “His Dao-companion, Yu Wei.” “His junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson.” “Kill them all! Ji Ning will definitely be enraged, and he’ll definitely turn berserk and go mad!” Immortal Venomfreak’s smile began even more brilliant. “Although sometimes madness can increase one’s power…during the demonheart tribulation, going berserk is one of the greatest taboos. There are very, very few berserk demons who are capable of overcoming their Celestial Tribulation, unless they truly have pure Dao-hearts and truly are born demons. However, Ji Ning is not a demon by nature; there’s no way he can have a pure, demonic Dao-heart.” “Good idea.” The azure-robed woman nodded. “However, Yu Wei cannot be killed.” “Cannot kill Yu Wei?” Immortal Venomfreak nodded. “Although killing the others would also enrage him…Yu Wei is his Dao-companion. Killing her will have the greatest impact on Ji NIng.” “No. Yu Wei is Lu Dongbin’s disciple. Our target right now is Ji Ning; I don’t want to pull Lu Dongbin into the mix.” The azure-robed woman swept them with her gaze. “You should all know that if Lu Dongbin gets involved…then our branch of the Seamless Gate probably wouldn’t be able to survive.” Everyone turned solemn. The Godking had a total of three hundred Seamless Gates under his command. Although their particular branch was strong, Lu Dongbin himself was incredibly powerful, and his friends spanned the Three Realms. He was only friendly terms with more than ten True Gods and Daofathers. One of them treated Lu Dongbin like a son…and that one was one of the most supremely powerful leaders of the Daoist Path. If Lu Dongbin got into the mix…it could indeed cause a tremendous storm. Even if he just called his friends, such as the Eight Immortals of the High Caves, that would be enough to wipe out their Seamless Gate. “Fine. We won’t touch Yu Wei.” 3072 “Don’t touch her.” Everyone agreed. Immortal Venomfreak secretly smirked. These people only dared to go after the easy targets. It seemed as though in the Seamless Gate…only the most powerful of figures would dare cause trouble for the likes of Lu Dongbin. These Empyrean Gods and True Immortals present today, at least, didn’t have the courage to go up against him. “Haha, killing the others is enough. That Uncle White, that Autumn Leaf…they are family to Ji NIng.” Immortal Venomfreak laughed. “Gatemaster, when shall we move?” “There’s no time to waste. Let’s make some quick preparations, then make our move tomorrow morning and assault Serpentwing Lake.” The azure-robed woman added, “If Ji Ning is at Serpentwing Lake as well, then let’s kill him as well. If we can’t kill him, killing those targets will satisfy our objectives.” “Right.” They all nodded. Time flowed on. Soon, the day ended…and the next day arrived. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. It was at the cusp of summer, with spring coming to an end. The morning was rather cool. Swallow Mountain, Serpentwing Lake, Brightheart Island. Ji Ning walked out of his room by himself, with Yu Wei still asleep. At the Celestial Immortal level, one usually did not need to rise early or engage in an austere lifestyle. What really mattered was understanding the Dao. Once one reached a sufficiently high level in the Dao, such as mastering of a Grand Dao, then ki would manifest within the chest, causing one to immediately become a Pure Yang True Immortal. However, the mastery of a Grand Dao was simply far too difficult. Many Celestial Immortals were trapped in front of the final bottleneck before mastery, unable to take that last step no matter how they tried. Thus, Yu Wei’s life was quite relaxed; she wouldn’t even get out of bed until the Golden Crow had risen high into the sky. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.. As Ning walked towards the waters of the lake, he could make out the rustling sound of the waves of Serpentwing Lake striking against the shore. Even when there was no wind, this massive lake would have three-foot tall waves, and so the sound of the waves striking striking against the shore was heard quite often. Ning held a Darknorth sword in his hand, resting it over a shoulder as he strode past many buildings. “Young master.” “Young master.” Many of the servants and maids of Brightheart Island called out to him as he walked past. Ning quickly arrived at the island’s shore. Snick. Snick. Not too far away, there was a gray-haired old man who was holding a giant pair of shears with both hands, trimming away at the flowers and vegetation. Brightheart Island was kept in pristine condition, like a true paradise, and the efforts of these gardeners were a crucial part. Clearly, this old gardener was completely absorbed in his trimming, as he didn’t even notice that the master of the Brightheart Island, Ji NIng, had arrived. Ning gave the old gardener a glance. He chuckled, then began to train with his sword. Sword-light began to flash. Ning’s sword-arts had become even more pure. They didn’t seem very dazzling, but they seemed to carry a thoroughly penetrating power to them. Anyone who watched would feel as though the tip of the sword was always aimed straight at their eyes. This sort of sharpness, this sort of penetrative power…ordinary Immortal cultivators who saw it would only feel that it was strange. Only when Celestial Immortals saw it would they understand how truly formidable it was. Slowly… The Golden Crow rose into the skies. The temperature began to rise. It was no longer cool, and as the rays of the Golden Crow shone down, they brought warmth to the world. By now, the old gardener had noticed Ning. However, he didn’t dare to disturb him; he just sat down to one side, watching with curiosity. As he watched…he slowly began to feel drowsy, due to how warm and comfortable it was. Bit by bit, he drifted off into sleep. A short while later. A tall, willowy, white-robed woman walked over; it was Yu Wei. She normally always dressed in black clothes, but ever since she became pregnant, she would often change into new outfits. “Let’s watch your daddy train with the sword.” Yu Wei waved her arm, and a crystalline, jade-like table and chair appeared out of nowhere. With a second wave, she caused some Immortal nectars and spiritfruit to appear. As she sat down, she noticed the old gardener snoozing off in the distance. She couldn’t help but smile, then turned her head to watch Ning train with the sword. The waters of the lake washed up against the shore repeatedly. The warm morning sun shone down upon then. The old gardener snoozed contentedly, while her Dao-companion trained with the sword. Yu Wei stroked her stomach. What a beautiful scene! “You woke up.” Ning came to a halt and walked over to her. “You are about to go for your Celestial Tribulation. Of course I had to come watch you train,” Yu Wei laughed. “How do you feel?” “Superb.” Ning smiled. “My heart feels very peaceful, and my insights into the Dao of the Sword continue to rise. To be honest…I can sense that I am very close to the final bottleneck in the Dao of the Sword. In perhaps another half year or year, I’ll be able to reach that bottleneck.” It wasn’t too hard to reach the bottleneck. Breaking through it to gain full mastery of the Dao of the Sword, however, was incredibly hard. Still…Ning had once experienced the [Thousand Year Dream], which his master, Patriarch Subhuti, had provided to him so as to help him get a taste in advance of what it would be like to have full mastery of the Dao of the Sword. Given that he also was in control of a hint of a swordforce…he felt confident that it would be much easier for him to break through this bottleneck than it was for ordinary Celestial Immortals. However, even though it might be easier, not even Ning knew how long it would be before he would actually make the breakthrough. Only when he mastered the Dao of the Sword would he have his true body undergo its tribulation. If he succeeded and became an Empyrean God…then his life would have truly changed! But all of it was dependent upon him mastering the Dao of the Sword. “Why don’t you train for a bit longer? First reach the bottleneck, then have your Primaltwin undergo the tribulation,” Yu Wei said. “My Primaltwin is in control of heartforce; it’s more than strong enough by now. Even if I do improve slightly in the Dao of the Sword, it won’t be of that much help to me,” Ning said. Their words were naturally sealed off from the surrounding area, preventing anyone else on the island from listening in. Ning’s words were correct. With his full mastery over his third level heartforce…his natural level of power was already that of a supreme Celestial Immortal’s. Even if a mere Primal Daoist was somehow so monstrously talented as to be able to take perfect control over the third stage of heartforce, that Primal Daoist’s power would also rise to that of a supreme Celestial Immortal’s. Heartforce was an extremely mysterious form of power; generally speaking, only Empyrean Gods and True Immortals could slowly begin to grasp it, while a number of True Gods and Daofathers had some degree of skill in it. It was far too rare, however, for anyone at the Void-level to have gained insights into it. As for Primal Daoists doing the same, this had never before happened! Ning’s Primaltwin was now in perfect control of his third-stage heartforce; its power had similarly skyrocketed to the supreme Celestial Immortal level. For a Ki Refiner…this sort of power was absolutely enough to overcome the thunder tribulation, while the wind tribulation and fire tribulation were even less dangerous. Only the most unfathomable tribulation, the demonheart tribulation, remained a threat. Insights into the Dao of the Sword wouldn’t be of much help to fighting the demonheart tribulation. “And…my subconscious is whispering to me that the next few days are the best period of time for undergoing my tribulation,” Ning said. “Oh?” Yu Wei nodded. …… Just as Ning and Yu Wei, this loving pair of Dao-companions, were chatting together… In the skies above a location deep within the southern seas of the Grand Xia, a spatial rift suddenly appeared. An awe-inspiring group flew into the world, each member of the group possessing powerful auras. The leaders were True Immortal Gaudy, Fairy Deadgrass, Empyrean God Beastleave, and Empyrean God Threesuns. Although these were merely their incarnations or clones, in possession of just a tenth of their full power, they were still definitely at the Empyrean God or True Immortal level of power. They were significantly more powerful than Ji Ning, who could be considered to have just barely reached the minimum threshold of that level of power. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven and Immortal Venomfreak were also present, and behind them were a group of black-robed figures. Every single black-robed figure had an astonishing aura that was filled with savagery and brutality. The first time Immortal Venomfreak had seen this group, he couldn’t help but feel nervousness. “The Hellsworn of Bloodcloud Hall…they are legendary Deathsworn who came forth from the Infinity Hells. What are these ‘Infinity Hells’? The eighteen hells of the Netherworld shouldn’t be able to produce terrifying figures.” Immortal Venomfreak had just recently joined, after all; there were many secrets which he did not know, and he didn’t dare to ask too many questions either. “We’ve arrived at the Grand Xia.” True Immortal Gaudy said, “Venomfreak, you weren’t confident in being able to teleport from the Fifth World to Serpentwing Lake, but now that we are at the Grand Xia, it shouldn’t be a problem, yes?” “Yes, it will be easy. Forget about Serpentwing Lake; I can teleport us straight to Brightheart Island.” Immortal Venomfreak smiled, confidence in his eyes. “For the sake of killing Ji Ning, I gained a thorough understanding of Brightheart Island of Serpentwing Lake; I know its layout intimately.” “Good.” True Immortal Gaudy nodded. “Then use a Greater Teleport.” A blood-red pearl appeared in the skies. Whoosh. Immortal Venomfreak waved his hand again. None of them resisted as they were drawn into that bloodred pearl. This pearl was merely a Heaven-ranked magic treasure that contained a holding space within it; the likes of True Immortal Gaudy and the others could easily destroy it from the inside and emerge as needed. In addition, they could see what was going on in the outside world, so they weren’t worry about Immortal Venomfreak playing any tricks on them. And…if he really did, the Seamless Gate would never spare him. The Seamless Gate was able to keep track of everything they were doing, after all. “Let’s go.” Pearl in hand, Immortal Venomfreak immediately used a Greater Teleport. Whoosh. …… Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. This place was as beautiful and paradise-like as ever. Many servants and maids had already risen from bed and started on a few simple tasks. Ning and Yu Wei were seated together, drinking some warm wine. “Come here and feel it. Can you feel the movement?” Yu Wei placed Ning’s hand on her stomach. Ning carefully pressed his palm down, sensing the pulses coming from her belly. The pulses were very minute, very fine. These little pulsing movements caused Ning to feel a very strange, unique feeling in his heart. This feeling was a powerful, protective urge, the urge an eagle might feel to protect its chicks. Ning was filled with a desire to ensure that nothing would happen to this little soul. Yu Wei looked at Ning, looked at the expressions on his face. Rumble… This was a soundless, formless spatial ripple…but this ripple, the ripple of Greater Teleportation, caused more shock and alarm to Ning and Yu Wei than the collapse of the ground below them. “Not good. That’s Greater Teleportation!” Ning immediately turned around. “I can’t let them harm senior apprentice-sister.” When Ning had sensed the pulses, he had immediately understood that even if he had to die, he would ensure the safety of the two of them. “Senior bear, senior Redsnow, something bad has just happened.” As Ning turned, he immediately called out to the seven Empyrean Gods. As he did…he instantly saw the ugly, horned man who had just appeared far away. “Youngflame Freak?” Ning instantly recognized this man, the Ancestor of the Youngflame clan. The horned man grinned savagely, and his hoarse, ear-piercing voice that sounded like a jagged knife sawing through a table instantly rang out throughout Brightheart Island. “Ji Ning. What a coincidence!” His power, filled with a Celestial Immortal’s energy, echoed throughout the island. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! A large number of people suddenly appeared next to Youngflame Freak. The leaders of the group caused Ning’s eyelids to twitch. He instantly recognized True Immortal Gaudy; if it hadn’t been for the Xia Emperor, he probably would’ve been forced to ask senior Redsnow and the others to intervene. And this time…Gaudy wasn’t alone. Next to him were three figures whose auras were no weaker than his! “Four Empyrean Gods or True Immortals?” Ning felt tremendous shock. “Even if I immediately asked the Xia Emperor for assistance, if he doesn’t bring enough people, it will probably be very hard for him to stop them.” “Senior Redsnow!” Ning frantically called out to them. The seven Empyrean Gods had been located within the Starseizing world; they only began to emerge once the giant yellow bear notified them, which naturally needed a bit of time. “What a perfect opportunity. Kill Ji Ning.” Fifty-five figures had emerged within the skies. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven immediately let out a furious roar, while the eyes of the four leaders became filled with murderous intents. The wave of murderous intents swept down towards Ning, causing him to feel a greater sense of danger than he had ever felt before. He had the feeling that if he tried to fight back by himself, he would probably die in a single clash! “I’M…TRYING…TO SLEEP!!!!!” An utterly enraged roar suddenly rang out. The old gardener who had dozed off nearby suddenly rose to his feet, a frown on his face. He actually coughed twice as he stared at the fifty-five figures in midair. “That damned duck that squawked just now had a horrible-sounding voice! Do you guys want to die?!” Everyone was stunned. Ji Ning and Yu Wei stared in shock at the old gardener. Only an instant had passed, but the old gardener had actually slowly risen to his feet, coughed twice, then said a few things. It was as though time was passing at completely different speeds for them and the old gardener. As for the fifty-five figures in midair, they were even more stunned and amazed. This was because they suddenly realized something… “Why can’t we move?!” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Source True Immortal Gaudy, Fairy Deadgrass, and the others with them in the air were frozen like sculptures. They couldn’t even blink, and the Empyrean God energy or Pure Yang energy in their bodies had been completely frozen, unable to be activated in the slightest. This sort of feeling, of absolute paralysis, caused Gaudy and the others to feel amazement in their hearts. “A Daofather.” “It must be a Daofather.” “But, but…there’s actually a Daofather on Ji Ning’s Brightheart Island?” None of them had imagined that their assault would result in them kicking into a steel plate like this! Their Greater Teleport had been quite a lucky one; they had teleport straight to Brightheart Island, and because Brightheart Island wasn’t that large, they had arrived very close to Ji Ning! And in fact, even if their teleportation was a bit off, the formations of Serpentwing Lake would not have been able to resist the likes of True Immortal Gaudy, who had completely mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun. But now they realized…they weren’t lucky at all. In fact, their luck was terrible to the extreme! “Senior.” Both Ji Ning and Yu Wei hurriedly called out respectfully to the man. “Mm.” The old gardener still hold those gardening shears in his hands as he lazily sauntered over. Upon hearing both Ning and Yu Wei addressing him respectfully as ‘senior’, he nodded. “Good, you know how to be respectful to the elderly.” Ning and Yu Wei instantly felt speechless. An exalted Daofather…had first pretended to be a gardener, and now was putting on airs as an old man. He had completely destroyed the image which Ji Ning had of Daofathers in his mind. “You brats that are hanging up there in the air.” The old gardener raised his head, looking at the fifty-five figures frozen in midair. He immediately said, “You woke this old man up with your yammering. Anything you want to say before you die?” As soon as he said these words, True Immortal Gaudy and the others in midair suddenly felt as though their mouths could now move. “We offended you by accident, senior,” True Immortal Gaudy said respectfully. “Senior, please let us leave,” Fairy Deadgrass said a very soft voice. The forces of the Seamless Gate were all behaving in an extremely humble manner. However, they had quickly recovered from their initial shock. If this was a Daofather, he probably wouldn’t casually act in a way which might start a war. The Daofathers on both sides were still holding back for now; perhaps this Daofather they had run into might mock them for a bit, but let them live. As far as they were concerned, the death of an incarnation or a clone wasn’t too big a deal; what really mattered was the important treasures they were carrying. In fact, they had multiple top-grade Pure Yang treasures with them! This was the reason why their incarnations and clones were capable of unleashing such tremendous power. Celestial Immortal Blackheaven had been so enraged that his clone had even brought a Protocosmic spirit-treasure! “It seems we’ve passed through this latest crisis.” Ning and Yu Wei both let out secret sighs of relief. However…Ning knew very well that the Seamless Gate was so powerful that not even his master, Patriarch Subhuti, would casually act against their minor figures. This Daofather who apparently loved to play games probably wouldn’t act too recklessly either. “Ji Ning, kid,” the old gardener suddenly called out. “Senior,” Ning hurriedly said. “Tell me, should I kill these people?” The old gardener smiled merrily at Ning. “If you say I should, then I’ll kill them. If you say I shouldn’t, I’ll release them. How’s that?” Ning was stunned. The fifty-five members of the Seamless Gate in midair were stunned as well. “It is your prerogative to decide whether or not to kill them, senior,” Ning immediately said. He wouldn’t be so truly presumptuous as to instruct a Daofather in what should be done! If this Daofather was merely jesting with him but didn’t actually want to start a battle, and if Ning said the wrong thing…it would be terrible. “It seems you still feel a bit suspicious.” The old gardener sighed. “If this old man felt the urge, I’d even kill Lu Dongbin, the precious little darling of the Daoist leader, to say nothing of these people!” Ning was shocked. In this instant…the faces of True Immortal Gaudy, Fairy Deadgrass, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, Empyrean God Threesuns, Empyrean God Beastleave, and Immortal Venomfreak, all still hovering in midair, changed. “Old Man Yuan?” 3081 “Old Man Yuan?” They all realized who this person was. “Senior, are you Old Man Yuan?” True Immortal Gaudy spoke out. In the Three Realms, the only person who referred to himself as ‘this old man’ and who would dare to kill even Lu Dongbin was the low-key, mysterious Old Man Yuan. “That I am.” The old gardener chortled merrily as he looked at them. “Now…are there any questions in your heart as to whether or not I would dare kill you?” The forces of the Seamless Gate were stricken with terror. They were no longer able to remain calm, but in their hearts they were cursing. Exalted Old Man Yuan, if you want to kill us, just kill us. Why are you saying so much to us? It seemed as though the legends regarding this man were true; Old Man Yuan really was a crazy old man. “Old Man Yuan?” Ning revealed a look of surprise as well. In turn, Yu Wei had learned of some of the Daofathers of the Three Realms from Lu Dongbin. Although Ning hadn’t gone out of his way to investigate all the True Gods and Daofathers of the Three Realms during his time at Mount Innerheart, the disciples of the Mount Innerheart League would often chit-chat about some of the most supreme True Gods and Daofathers when they were bored. This person, Old Man Yuan, was often mentioned. Old Man Yuan was also one of the True Gods who had been born from the primordial chaos. However, his comprehension abilities were far superior to Daoist Threelives, and his status was far higher as well. He had long ago mastered a Heavenly Dao and become a Daofather of the Great Firmament! After doing so, his power had reached an utterly ridiculous level. He belonged to neither the Daoist Path, nor to the Buddhist Sangha. He had become a power unto himself, and he himself possessed power overwhelming. He was truly one of the most supreme Daofathers of the Three Realms, and he had two other Daofathers under his tutelage! In addition to that…he had three lifelong friends who were also three incredibly powerful Daofathers. The four of them were referred to within the Three Realms as the ‘Four Ancestors of the River Source’ 1. The Four Ancestors of the River Source were extremely close friends; they always attacked and retreated in unison. All four of them were incredibly powerful Daofathers, and if one also factored in their various disciples and friends…they would be considered an incredibly powerful force of the Three Realms. As for Old Man Yuan…he was the most powerful member of the Four Ancestors of the River Source. He was their leader! How powerful was he, exactly? No one knew for certain. Some said that Old Man Yuan was, logically speaking, weaker than the two leaders of the Buddhist Sangha and the Daoist Path. Others said that Old Man Yuan should be comparable to those two leaders. In short…this was a crazy, yet terrifyingly powerful old man. “Damn…” True Immortal Gaudy and the others felt misery in their hearts. The Three Realms were currently divided into two major alliances. The likes of Patriarch Subhuti had long ago chosen an alliance…but the Four Ancestors of the River Source had remained neutral. In the end, nobody would be able to avoid getting drawn into the war between these two alliances, but for now, before battle had truly begun…both sides were actively courting the Four Ancestors of the River Source. They had to; the four were simply too powerful. These were not four ordinary Daofathers; all four of them had been born as True Gods of Primordial Chaos, and stood at the very top of power amongst Daofathers. Old Man Yuan, in particular, was one of the utmost supreme major powers of the Three Realms. If Subhuti dared to kill these fifty-five, the major powers behind the Seamless Gate would probably strike back; they were enemies, after all. But if Old Man Yuan was the one to kill them…the major powers behind the Seamless Gate definitely wouldn’t intervene. They had been working so hard to have the Four Ancestors of the River Source join them; how would they dare to offend this old man now? “Now you should realize that I wasn’t joking with you, right?” The old gardener beamed merrily as he looked at Ning. “This old man is going to ask you again; should I kill them? If you say yes, then I’ll kill them.” Ning no longer hesitated at all. He nodded. “You should.” “Nice.” The old gardener nodded with satisfaction. “That’s more like it.” “Senior!” The paralyzed members of the Seamless Gate, still hanging up high in the sky, were filled with terror. “Begone.” The old gardener casually tossed out his giant gardening shears, sending it flying upwards. This was clearly a pair of ordinary gardening shears; it would probably break apart if one tried to use it to cut an ordinary rock. And yet, it now went flying towards the midair bodies of the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods. Even the clones of such figures would have bodies that were incredibly tough. Snick! It was liking cutting through paper. The body of an Empyrean God was bisected…and then his auras vanished. He was deader than dead. Snick! Snick! Snick! True Immortal Gaudy, Fairy Deadgrass, and Immortal Venomfreak were utterly terrified. They repeatedly called out ‘senior!’, but snick, snick, snick…they were still cut to death by the gardening shears. In the blink of an eye, all fifty-five members of the Seamless Gate had been slain. Although the metal shears had moved quite slowly, no major powers had appeared to intervene. Ning’s eyes lit up as he watched. Wonderful! Those bastards had actually attacked Ning’s home; it was wonderful to see them killed. “Oho, although those little minions of the Seamless Gate only sent their clones and incarnations over, they brought a few nice things with them. Three top-grade Pure Yang treasures, and a Protocosmic spirittreasure.” The old gardener waved his hand, and the items left behind by the deceased members of the Seamless Gate flew forward to levitate in the air before Ji Ning and Yu Wei. “They don’t suit this old man. You take them.” Ning blinked. Yu Wei was stunned as well. Them? What in the… After apprenticing himself to Patriarch Subhuti, Ning had been forced to painstakingly adventure through the Crescent world. Thanks to tremendous luck and hard work, he had acquired a single Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the Rahu Bow…and the bowstring had been broken, at that! This Old Man Yuan was even generous than his own master! “What, aren’t you willing to accept them?” Old Man Yuan stared. “I am, I am, I am!” Ning was so frightened, he repeated himself three times. “How would this junior dare to refuse the gift of a senior?” He immediately waved his hand, accepting the treasures. “That’s more like it. If you are going to do something, just do it; don’t hem and haw and dawdle about like a girl,” Old Man Yuan said with a laugh. “I’ve already spent several months living here at your Brightheart Island.” Several months? Ning was puzzled. This gardener had been here for far longer. “I’ve just been possessing this old gardener,” Old Man Yuan said with a merry chuckle. “I spent months here before you came back to Brightheart Island, you brat. Mm…I’ve watched you train with the sword several times now. Your sword-arts aren’t bad, but your control over heartforce is even better.” Watched him several times? Aside from this time…Ning couldn’t recall a time when the old gardener had been nearby. Oh, right; given Old Man Yuan’s power, he would be easily able to watch Ning train with the sword, even from a tremendous distance. “Buuuut…” Old Man Yuan said, puzzled, “Why is it that you seem to be so stupid?” “Stupid?” Ning was puzzled. This was the first time that anyone had called him stupid! “You completely focus your heartforce into your sword-fingers. Why haven’t you considered applying it to your legs or the rest of your body? That way, when you use your evasive divine abilities, your speed would increase dramatically, right? In the fact of those so-called ‘True Immortals’ and ‘Empyrean Gods’, your escaping speed would improve dramatically; you would no longer be forced to just stand there like an idiot and take them head on,” Old Man Yuan said. Ning shook his head. “It isn’t that easy to apply heartforce. It took me eighteen years of painstaking training before I was able to apply it to my sword-fingers.” “The reason it isn’t easy is because you don’t have a good teacher. Your teacher doesn’t know a damn thing about heartforce.” Old Man Yuan chortled. “What do you think of my power?” “Your power is incredible, of course, senior!” Ning said hurriedly. “Then hurry up and kowtow to me as your master!” Old Man Yuan puffed his chest up.. The name ‘Yuan’ means source. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the towering palace in the Fifth World. The three leaders of the Seamless Gate, Myriad Demons Cave, and Bloodcloud Hall were all gathered here, along with True Immortal Gaudy, Empyrean God Beastleave, Empyrean God Threesuns, Fairy Deadgrass, Celestial Immortal Blackheaven, and Immortal Venomfreak. They had only sent their clones or incarnations to deal with Ji Ning, but they were still watching nervously. This was because they had brought powerful treasures, such as Empyrean God constructs and Protocosmic spirit-treasures. “We reached Swallow Mountain.” “We’re fairly lucky; we actually encountered Ji Ning after a single Greater Teleport.” “Hurry up and kill Ji Ning.” They all stared intently at the mirror in the air. The mirror was displaying images from what was happening within Brightheart Island. Fairy Deadgrass was standing close to it, and every so often she would say a few things. Then, suddenly… “What the hell?!” Whoosh! The azure-robed woman and the others all jumped to their feet. They stared intently at the old gardener holding the gardening shears who had just woken up and stood up. “Who is that?!” “Our clones and incarnations can’t even move. We can’t even use our elemental energy.” “He’s terrifying…he must be a Daofather. Otherwise, there’s no way he could be this powerful.” True Immortal Gaudy, Empyrean God Beastleave, and the others all had ugly looks on their faces. “How can there be a Daofather at Brightheart Island?!?” The azure-robed woman roared furiously. A short while later, after the old gardener chatted with Ji Ning for a while, his identity was revealed. “Old Man Yuan, of the Four Ancestors of the River Source?” The azure-robed woman’s face turned ashen. Everyone present was stunned. “Ugh. I just lost my horsetail whisk.” True Immortal Gaudy had an ugly look on his face; that was a topgrade Pure Yang treasure. Although this wasn’t one of the treasures he liked the most and used the most, the loss of a top-grade Pure Yang treasure still caused him some heartache. “Don’t say a thing. Blackheaven suffered the worst loss this time.” They all looked towards Celestial Immortal Blackheaven. Blackheaven had lost a Protocosmic spirit-treasure! “Damn.” Blackheaven ground his teeth. “Ji Ning managed to escape again.” In truth, Blackheaven was angrier over having not killed Ji Ning than over his loss of a Protocosmic spirit-treasure. “He’s acting now.” Immortal Venomfreak and the others watched as the mirror showed images of the giant gardening shears snicking through them. He said hatefully, “This Old Man Yuan really shows no mercy at all.” “If Old Man Yuan wants to kill you, what can you do?” The fire-robed man shook his head and snickered, “Forget about clones and incarnations…even if he wanted to kill your true body, he’d do so without pause.” Rumble… After the mirror finished sending images of everyone being ‘snicked’ and killed by the giant gardening shears, the shears turned towards the sky and made one final ‘snick’. Instantly, no further images appeared in the mirror; they were no longer able to watch what was going on. “Old Man Yuan won’t let us watch any more,” the azure-robed woman said. “Given his abilities…he must know that we were watching what was happening there. The reason why he let us watch him act was because he wanted to let our superiors, the major powers of the Seamless Gate, realize that he is going to protect Ji Ning.” “Old Man Yuan isn’t even on our side. Does he really think he can just protect whoever he wants?” Blackheaven growled, “Right now, we’re trying to court him, but once the great storm truly erupts, no one will be able to escape it. He’ll have to make a choice. Ji Ning already has a Daofather as his master, and an enemy one at that; if Old Man Yuan chooses to join us, then in the future he’ll become an enemy to Ji Ning’s master. I refuse to believe he’ll still protect Ji Ning then! And if he doesn’t join our side…then we can completely ignore him when we move to kill Ji Ning.” Everyone present nodded. “However…the storm has yet to truly erupt.” The azure-robed woman shook her head. “Old Man Yuan is still standing to one side and watching. He hasn’t truly made a choice yet; it’s not appropriate for us to offend Old Man yuan.” 3087 “You are over-thinking things.” Blackheaven let out a snicker. “Do you think that is something for you to concern yourself with?” The azure-robed woman’s face sank. Blackheaven was acting far too impudently. Even with so many others present, he still dared to speak in such a manner. Alas, Blackheaven wasn’t under her command, and she still wasn’t sure of his true power. In addition, the number of treasures he had was completely bizarre. When he had sent his clone to the Grand Xia, he had carried two mighty treasures with him; a top-grade Pure Yang treasure known as the ‘Yin-Yang Arcane Ki Bottle’, and a Protocosmic spirit-treasure known as the ‘Nineleaf Snowlotus’. “That’s for the Godking and the other major powers to worry about,” Blackheaven said coldly. “I trust that the Godking will quickly send an order as to whether or not we are to kill Ji Ning, so stop worrying your little head over it.” “Hmph.” The azure-robed woman’s face sank. She no longer said anything. Blackheaven gave the azure-robed woman a glance, a hint of mockery in his eyes, then turned and left. He felt tremendous distaste for this Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, Azurefox…because Violetgrass had died on her orders. As for any anger that the Gatemaster might feel towards him? He didn’t care about it at all. …… The world of the Grand Xia. Ning couldn’t be bothered to worry about the Seamless Gate right now; it was Old Man Yuan that he was faced with, and he felt a headache coming. Take him as his master? He could tell that since Old Man Yuan had come to personally inspect him, the old man had definitely decided that Ning was moldable talent! Today, he had first asked Ning whether or not he should kill the forces of the Seamless Gate, and then immediately killed them upon Ning giving the nod. This caused Ning to feel quite delighted; clearly, Old Man Yuan wanted Ning to feel positively towards him. And now, the old man had gifted him with the many treasures the Seamless Gate’s forces had left behind; this, too, was to make Ji Ning feel grateful towards him. Next, the old man had suggested that he work on applying heartforce to his legs or to his entire body; these words had indeed caused Ning to feel a desire to learn such a method. Finally…he had asked Ning to accept him as his master. “He’s really put effort into this.” Ning understood this. “It seems this Old Man Yuan really does want to take me as his disciple.” “This is how the world is. Some people desperately want to become a Daofather’s disciple, yet never will. When I wanted to become Daofather Crimsonbright’s disciple, he didn’t find me worthy. Even Master Subhuti only accepted me as his disciple because he saw that I was the sole successor to the [Starseizing Hand] of his good friend, Daoist Threelives and a decent cultivator. Back then, although I was a genius, I clearly wasn’t that attractive in the eyes of the Daofathers. Now that my power has increased dramatically, and have reached the Empyrean God level of power as a Void-level cultivator…one of the supreme Daofathers of the Three Realms has come to seek me out on his own accord. If your potential was truly astonishing, the Daofathers would seek you out on their own accord. Ning now was qualified for a Daofather to do so. He truly was an astonishing piece of unpolished jade! But… “What should I do? What exactly should I do?” Ning hesitated. “Is he a friend or a foe of my master, Subhuti? Or do they have no relationship at all?” This was what Ning was worrying about. “This Old Man Yuan killed the forces of the Seamless Gate, but the Seamless Gate didn’t even make a single peep about it; the major powers behind the Seamless Gate haven’t responded or reacted at all. The Three Realms are facing a great storm, and there is no way that the major powers behind the Seamless Gate can possibly be frightened by Old Man Yuan. Clearly, then, Old Man Yuan is on passable terms with the Seamless Gate, while my teacher, Subhuti, is an enemy to them.” “What if Master Subhuti and Old Man Yuan are enemies?” “If I were to apprentice myself to Old Man Yuan without getting Master Subhuti’s permission…then in the future, how could I possibly face Master?” This was Ning’s concern. As the saying goes, the Dao is not to be lightly transmitted. There was a saying regarding one who taught the Dao: One day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father. This meant that one was to revere and honor one’s master as one would one’s father. Subhuti had transmitted complete Fiendgod Body Refining techniques, Ki Refining Techniques, sword-arts manuals, and even supreme divine abilities like the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], [Houyi’s Archery], and the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] to Ning. For Ning’s sake, he had even toiled painstakingly to create the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] divine ability and the supreme sword-formation, the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]. After Ning had been exiled into the Nihilum Zone, his master had come to search for him. His master had shown him benevolence in transmitting the Dao to him and in saving his life…no matter what, if he was going to take on a new master, he first had to get the nod from Master Subhuti. When Ning had expressed the desire to take part in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny in the hopes of being able to have a True Immortal or a Daofather as his master, Immortal Diancai was in full agreement; naturally, he hoped that Ning would have even higher accomplishments. Before becoming Subhuti’s apprentice, Ning had first spoken with the giant yellow bear, who had verified that Subhuti and Daoist Threelives had been good friends. If they had been enemies, things would’ve been tricky. “Why are you hesitating and hemming and hawing?” The nearby Old Man Yuan frowned. “Senior…” Ning said, “I need to get my master’s permission, first.” “Your master?” Old Man Yuan suddenly seemed to have thought of something. Laughing, he waved his hand. Whoosh. Someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was Immortal Diancai, a winecup in his hands and a befuddled look on his face. Immortal Diancai had been seated atop his mountain, watching the dawn sun rise while drinking some Immortal wine. Who would’ve thought that he’d suddenly be teleported here? “Disciple?” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning, then he looked at Old Man Yuan by Ning’s side. Old Man Yuan’s face changed, and his figure changed as well, becoming a bit thinner. “MASTER!” Immortal Diancai instantly grew excited upon seeing him. Falling to his knees, he said excitedly, “Master, I’ve finally met you again!” “Hey hey hey! Don’t overstate our relationship,” Old Man Yuan said hurriedly. “All those years ago, I saw that you were borderline suicidal, and also saw that you were decently talented, and so I took pity on you and casually transmitted a set of sword-arts to you. I have plenty of sword-arts in my possession, and so teaching you one of them didn’t really mean anything. What’s more, your talent is too mediocre and your comprehension abilities are too weak; how could you possibly be qualified to call me ‘Master’? You’d cause this old man to lose all face!” He had first praised Immortal Diancai as ‘decently talented’, then immediately described him as ‘mediocre’ and ‘weak’. Still, everyone knew what he meant. Clearly, Immortal Diancai would be considered decently talented when compared to the countless cultivators of the Three Realms, but he was far from being qualified to become Old Man Yuan’s disciple. Although these words were rather unpleasant, Immortal Diancai didn’t feel the slightest bit of anger. Kneeling there, he said excitedly, “How could Diancai possibly forget the grace you have shown me by transmitting the Dao to me? I knows that my talent is poor, and that I am not qualified to become your apprentice, but I’ve always viewed you as my master in my heart.” “You can think whatever you want, I guess. This, uh…this Ji Ning has a very close relationship with you. This old man wants to take him on as a disciple; help me persuade him,” Old Man Yuan said. “Disciple?” Immortal Diancai instantly revealed a look of great joy. He immediately looked towards Ning. “This senior possesses world-shaking power; even though I am now a Celestial Immortal, the sword-arts he transmitted to me were so unfathomably profound that I can tell I have still only scratched the surface of it. He must be a Daofather. Go ahead and take him on as your master; there are many people in the Three Realms who have multiple masters.” “Right, right, right! I’m a DAOFATHER!” Old Man Yuan looked at Ning, then stared at him. “I’m taking you on as my disciple! Why haven’t you knelt down already?!” “Senior, this junior feels unspeakably proud that you wish to take me on as your disciple,” Ning said hurriedly. “But…this junior has already taken on a Daofather as a master, and many people already know this. Without his approval, it isn’t appropriate for this junior to accept you as master as well, senior.” “Oh, you are quite respectful towards this Daofather master of yours.” Old Man Yuan laughed. “I guessed long ago that your master had to be a Daofather, and he’s probably not too shabby either. Who is your master? Tell me, and I’ll go talk to him about this. This merely the accepting of a new disciple, and I’m not asking you to betray him either. It’s a minor matter. What is the name of your Daofather master?” The Godking behind the Seamless Gate knew the answer, but Old Man Yuan did not. Indeed…the Seamless Gate’s intelligence mechanisms were truly terrifying. “Master’s name is taboo; this junior does not dare speak it,” Ning said honestly. Subhuti had ordered long ago that Ning was not permitted to tell others who his master was. “You dumb cucumber! You can’t even tell me your master’s name? Is your master really that badass? Who the hell is your master, Nuwa?” Old Man Yuan stared at him with bulging eyes. “I’m his master.” A calm voice rang out. The nearby natural energy began to condense, and a skinny, white-bearded old man dressed in Daoist robes appeared out of nowhere. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Yu Wei and Immortal Diancai suddenly felt spacetime around them began to change and blur. By the time their surroundings turned solid once more, they were now within a hallway next to Autumn Leaf. Upon seeing Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei suddenly appear, Autumn Leaf was quite startled. She immediately addressed the two: “Madame, Immortal Diancai.” “It seems they don’t want us to watch,” Immortal Diancai said with a helpless laugh. “I wonder who junior apprentice-brother’s master is.” Yu Wei was curious as well. Just now, they had only heard the words, ‘I’m his master’, before they were forcibly teleported away. They hadn’t seen the man at all, much less learn who Ji Ning’s master was. “What happened?” Autumn Leaf was intrigued. “You said something about the young master’s teacher?” “Nothing.” Yu Wei shook her head and smiled. “It’s something good, but it’s not something for us to know about.” “Oh.” Autumn Leaf nodded, asking no further. …… “Master.” Ning immediately called out with respect and excitement. The skinny, white-bearded elder in the Daoist robes smiled and nodded towards Ning, then looked towards Old Man Yuan. “YOU!” Old Man Yuan’s eyes bulged. “You cucumber! You friggin’ cucumber! You ended up snatching away such a wonderful disciple!” “This is the third time, you know.” Patriarch Subhuti sighed. “Why do you always come after the disciples that I take in and teach?” Ning blinked. The third time? It seemed as though Old Man Yuan had gone after two of his fellow disciples as well? “Ahaha, all I can say is that you are formidable in teaching students, Subhuti.” Old Man Yuan laughed, “Since it’s you, Subhuti…that makes everything easy. We came to an agreement last time, right? Go ahead and tell me whatever it is that you want. This old man has plenty of treasures, and I’m willing to spend them. I’m not afraid of any demands that you might make.” 3092 “Ji Ning, are you willing?” Subhuti looked towards Ning. “I’ll follow your orders in all things, Master,” Ning said respectfully. If it didn’t make things tough for his master, there would be no issues. More importantly, Master Subhuti had to know more about Old Man Yuan than Ning did; Ning trusted that Master Subhuti wouldn’t steer him wrong in this ddecision. Subhuti nodded slightly. “He can be both considered one of your disciples as well as one of mine,” Subhuti said calmly. “I’m only going to ask one thing of you…that you stand with us, on our side.” “You…” Old Man Yuan’s face became unsightly to behold. Subhuti frowned. “Are you still unwilling to make your choice?” “It’s merely a matter of taking on a new a disciple, and I’m not even asking him to switch sides! He’ll be our jointly shared disciple. If you want divine abilities or Protocosmic spirit-treasures, that’s fine…but why are you trying to force me?” Old Man Yuan scratched his head. “Didn’t things work out splendidly when little Peacock became my apprenticed? She addresses both of us as ‘master’!” Ning was intrigued. Were they referring to senior apprentice-sister Peacock? “Little Peacock?” Subhuti shook his head. “That was before the storm came, and before I knew it was coming. Now that the storm is already here…of course you have to make your choice. Otherwise, there’s no way I’ll permit my disciple to become apprenticed to you as well.” “How can you…you are absolutely…you old blockhead!” Old Man Yuan was infuriated. “Hmph.” Subhuti snorted coldly. “Then let me ask you this; if Ji Ning becomes your apprentice, and you end up joining the Seamless Gate…what is Ji Ning supposed to do? Is he supposed to choose to stand with me, or is he supposed to choose to stand with you? If he stands with the Seamless Gate, then I’ll definitely strike and annihilate such a vile disciple! But if he stands with us, then you’ll move to kill him as well. After all, by then it will be a life-and-death battle; no one will be able to escape it.” Old Man Yuan’s face grew even uglier to behold now. Ning, standing to one side, now understood everything. Right. If he took on two masters who ended up in opposing, enemy camps…then no matter which side Ning was on, he would end up becoming enemies with one of his masters! “If you want him to become your disciple, then I imagine you don’t want to make things difficult for him; you don’t want him to eventually be killed by one of his masters, right? That’s why you have to stand with us; only by doing so will Ji Ning not suffer such a sad fate,” Subhuti said. “So long as you agree…Ji Ning can take you on as master.” 3093 “You…” Old Man Yuan had a complicated look on his face. Ning just stood there, watching quietly. The Four Ancestors of the River Source; they were a formidable power within the Three Realms. Most likely, whichever side Old Man Yuan chose would be the side the Daofathers who followed him would choose. “Why are you forcing me on this? This isn’t just a personal matter; I have all my friends and disciples and grand-disciples to worry about.” Old Man Yuan was truly upset now. “There’s nothing to negotiate!” Subhuti shook his head. “Don’t make things difficult for Ji Ning.” “But didn’t things work out perfectly when I took on little Peacock?” Old Man Yuan snapped back irritably. “That’s because you haven’t made your choice yet. Once you do make your choice in the future…if you choose to join the Seamless Gate, little Peacock will have to make her choice as well. Will she follow you, or will she follow me?” Subhuti sighed. “I’ve already done wrong by little Peacock; I don’t wish for Ji Ning to face the same tough situation in the future.” Old Man Yuan suddenly grew angry. “I don’t get it. Why are all of you so damned stubborn?” “I don’t understand either! All of us were born from the same primordial chaos. We were like brothers! All of us are standing together now…why is it that you are roving about on your own? All four of you Four Ancestors of the River Source act in the exact same manner; you don’t give a damn about your old friends and friendships.” Subhuti was no longer calm either; in fact, he was so angry that his eyebrows were twitching, and as he spoke he pointed angrily at Old Man Yuan. “The rest of you are in Nuwa’s debt, but we aren’t,” Old Man Yuan replied angrily. “And Pangu’s Primordial World shattered long ago. This is now the era of the Three Realms. That old, undying bastard just wants to take over the Three Realms; let him! Do you Daofathers really care who is in control of the Three Realms? Do you have to risk everyone’s lives over this question? You say that I don’t care about old friends and friendships? If I didn’t, I would’ve joined the Seamless Gate long ago!” Subhuti was now truly enraged. “How can you be so…” Their voices suddenly turned silent. The distant figures of Patriarch Subhuti and Old Man Yuan’s turned blurry as they angrily but silently yelled at, argued with, and cursed at each other. Ning wasn’t able to hear a single word of it. “It seems…they don’t want me to hear this.” Ning mumbled to himself, “They said something about an ‘old undying bastard’ who ‘wants to take over the Three Realms’…who? He must be a truly terrifying major power of the Three Realms.” Ning had no choice but to just stand there silently and watch. As for the two distant Daofathers…both of them were awe-inspiringly famous figures of the Three Realms who stood at the very pinnacle of power amongst Daofathers. Both had multiple Daofathers amongst their disciples, and both also had many Daofathers who were their resolute allies. Both possessed tremendous power in every sense of the word. In addition, both were born from the primordial chaos of the universe. And right now, they stood there arguing, each trying to convince the other. …… A long time passed… The two Daofathers actually argued for two full hours. Towards the end, Ning noticed that Patriarch Subhuti was growing increasingly imposing as he argued, while Old Man Yuan seemed to become increasingly less self-assured. Boom! The area around him suddenly trembled. Now, Ning could once more hear the voices of the two Daofathers. “Ji Ning.” Old Man Yuan charged over, an ugly look on his face. He snapped angrily, “That master of yours is like a big hunk of wood. You just can’t talk to him! Those who walk different paths can’t make plans together. I really can’t be bothered to talk to him any longer. You are quite talented, kid; although that rotten blockhead is very skilled in some respects, he’s complete crap in heartforce. Since we aren’t destined to become master and disciple…then forget it! This is a technique for applying heartforce which I developed. Although it’s not a complete system, it might be of help to you in some way. I’ll give it to you as a gift!” As he spoke, he pointed a finger towards Ning. Instantly, a streak of light shot out from his finger into Ning’s forehead. An ocean of information instantly filled Ning’s mind. “Subhuti!” Old Man Yuan turned to point at Subhuti, then cursed, “In terms of fleeing abilities, you are number one in all the Three Realms! You’ll be able to flee and survive, but how many of our other old friends will be able to survive? All those years ago, Threelives and the others all perished. How many more do you want dead?” “If we retreat, even more will die. In fact, all of us might die!” Subhuti said angrily. “Fine. Fine. Fine! We’ll wait and see!” The enraged Old Man Yuan turned and walked away. After taking two steps away, the now-ordinary old gardener suddenly slumped supinely to the ground as a streak of light shot into the skies, disappearing. Subhuti waved his hand, and the old gardener was instantly teleported away. He was nothing more than an ordinary old man, after all; prior to this, Old Man Yuan had simply been possessing him. Subhuti walked towards Ning, who was completely filled and preoccupied with the enormous amount of information regarding the application of heartforce. …… It was awe-inspiring. It was unfathomably profound. When Ning viewed the awe-inspiring collection of information, he couldn’t help but feel veneration towards Old Man Yuan. Incredible! Old Man Yuan’s true power, however, most likely didn’t lie in heartforce; after all, in terms of heartforce, Ning could tell that Old Man Yuan shouldn’t be as powerful as Houyi had been. Old Man Yuan, however, was different from Houyi. Houyi was extremely focused on his archery, and he had systemized a way to apply heartforce to archery in a terrifyingly profound and powerful manner. Old Man Yuan, however, was a jack of all trades. Most likely, he liked analyzing heartforce, and so had come up with multiple different heartforce techniques, some meant for the legs, some meant for the entire body, some meant for the fingers, some meant for the hair, some meant for the sword, some meant for other treasures…there were all sorts of techniques here! However, none of them were truly systemized; from the looks of it, Old Man Yuan had jotted down a few notes whenever inspiration struck him. His most profound techniques regarding heartforce actually were in applying heartforce to the soul! This allowed the soul to control even more magic treasures. For example, if normally Ning was only able to control the third level of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], if he applied heartforce to his soul, he would be able to control the sixth level or even the seventh level. This was a technique which Ning was truly eager to learn. Heartforce was like a marshal, with the soul being the soldiers; if one used them together properly, the number of magic treasures one could control would instantly explode. In addition, the amount of heartforce that was used up was neglible; after all, it merely served as a commander, without much of it 3096 being actually burned away. The increase in power, however, was still astonishing! This was definitely a killer technique for any Ki Refiner. However…none of it was systemized, which meant that no one could simply ‘learn’ the technique after reading about it. Still… Ning wasn’t an uninformed outsider to this art. He was someone who, after learning how to apply heartforce through [Houyi’s Archery], had first come up with a way to apply heartforce to his sword-fingers, then come up with a way to apply heartforce to his swords! Ning was capable of creating these techniques himself; now, after having seen the more profound techniques of Old Man Yuan, he was of course stimulated by them and had new insights. These insights would absolutely be enough to allow Ning to come up with a suitable method for applying heartforce to his legs or to his entire body, or even to his soul. Aside from Old Man Yuan’s own techniques, there were also techniques which other major powers had devised for the application of heartforce. All these non-systemized heartforce techniques…this collection was known as the [Heart Sutra]. “The [Heart Sutra]? With this [Heart Sutra], I’ll be able to grow dramatically more powerful in every aspect, whether it be dodging in close combat, fleeing, or anything else. My Primaltwin will become more powerful as well.” Ning was unspeakably excited right now. Before this, he was only formidable in his attacks; he was quite lacking in other respects. Thus, almost any Empyrean God or True Immortal would probably be able to capture him. Now, however, Ning would be able to improve himself in every area. He would no longer have any obvious weaknesses, and so capturing him would become far more difficult in the future. “Wow.” Ning opened his eyes, a look of delight on his face. As he did so…he saw his master, Patriarch Subhuti, standing not too far away from him. Ning’s face quickly stiffened. “Master,” Ning immediately called out. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning’s heart clenched. He could tell that there were some disagreements between his master, Subhuti, and Old Man Yuan. Was his master going to forbid him from training in the [Heart Sutra]? “What did Old Man Yuan transmit to you?” Subhuti asked. “The [Heart Sutra].” Ning didn’t dare to hide this. “It contains his many experiences with various heartforce application techniques, as well as a mix of heartforce application techniques from a few other Daofathers. However, they are all un-systemized…but they will still be of great benefit to me, especially the one that applies to using heartforce on the soul. It will be of tremendous help to me in controlling the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] as well as in overcoming the demonheart tribulation.” Subhuti gave Ning a glance, then revealed a calm smile. “Your master isn’t the pedantic, unflexible sort; since Daofather Yuan has gifted you with this sutra, and since he hasn’t forced you to become his disciple…go ahead and learn from it! If in the future, Daofather Yuan decides to stand with us, you shall naturally repay his kindness. If, however, he stands with the Seamless Gate…then when a war to the death erupts between our two alliances, you’d have to fight against him with all your might. This would be true even if he really was your master, to say nothing of him merely having transmitted a technique!” Ning’s heart shivered. He immediately said, “Your disciple understands.” This was a storm! A storm which no one would be able to avoid. “I hope senior Old Man Yuan decides to stand with us,” Ning mused secretly to himself. Everyone who he owed a debt of gratitude to, such as the former Lord of Cui Palace who had been the First Judge of the Dead and who had transmitted the [Nuwa Painting] to him, belonged to the side of the Nuwa Alliance. Even the master he had never met, Daoist Threelives, had also been on the side of Nuwa. The same was true for the seven Empyrean Gods of the Starseizing world, to say nothing of Patriarch Subhuti, Daofather Crimsonbright, and the Xia Emperor. There was also already a feud between himself and the Seamless Gate…and Ning had a true disliking for the way in which the Seamless Gate had acted in seeking to conquer the universe. Once they took over the Three Realms, not only would they pay no attention to maintaining any order, they would instigate countless battles and massacres. “This Old Man Yuan truly is an extremely formidable figure,” Subhuti said to Ning. “His power is most likely no lower than mine, and he loves to analyze and research many different types of techniques. He’s a master in many areas, and in heartforce he is second only to Houyi. In terms of how many heartforce 3098 skills he knows, he’s even superior to Houyi. Spend some effort on this [Heart Sutra], especially in the part that shows you how to apply heartforce to your soul. You must gain insight into it; once you do, your chances of overcoming the Empyrean Tribulation and shall incrase by quite a bit.” “Your disciple understands.” Ning nodded. Heartforce as the general, the soul as the soldiers. Once the general commanded the soldiers to unleash their power in an organized fashion, he would be able to control even more magic treasures while also making it harder for the demonheart tribulation to invade his mind. Against a weak soul, it was easy to create a terrifying demonheart illusion, but against one with a powerful soul, it would be far more difficult. In fact, there were some truly terrifying souls that were so powerful that the demonheart illusions were completely unable to take hold against them. Once Ning learned the art of applying heartforce to his soul, his soul would instantly become more than ten times steadier. This, in turn, would dramatically lessen the power of the demonheart illusions generated by the ‘demonheart tribulation’ of his Empyrean Tribulation. “Your disciple has a subconscious feeling…if I am able to master this soul heartforce technique, my Primaltwin will be in virtually no danger during the Celestial Tribulation,” Ning said. “Should your disciple delay the tribulation?” “No need.” Subhuti shook his head. Ning looked at his master, puzzled. “If you wait until you’ve mastered the soul heartforce technique, your Primaltwin’s tribulation will indeed be very easy.” Subhuti nodded. “But…first of all, it’s hard to say how long it would take you to come up with such a technique; after all, there’s a tremendous difference between applying heartforce to the soul and applying heartforce to sword-fingers. Second, although your Primaltwin’s tribulation is indeed a tribulation, it’s also an excellent and rare opportunity to temper yourself.” “Temper myself?” Ning was intrigued. “After having withstood the karmic sinflames, your heartforce improved dramatically,” Subhuti said. “By the same principle…your Primaltwin’s demonheart tribulation will be a tempering experience as well that will allow your heartforce to improve in strength and your Dao-heart to grow even more resolute. If you wait until you come up with a soul heartforce technique before you attempt the tribulation, ending up in an excessively easy tribulation, it won’t have any tempering effect on you.” “Remember this.” “Your Primaltwin’s tribulation is a minor matter. What really matters for you should be your true body’s tribulation.” Subhuti looked at Ning. “Your true body has trained in many divine abilities, and its potential 3099 is far greater than your Primaltwin’s. After all…compared to Fiendgods, Ki Refiners are always at a significant disadvantage. If you look at the Three Realms, all of the most supreme of powers of the Three Realms have powerful divine bodies.” “Threelives, for example; he clearly didn’t master a Heavenly Dao, but was still able to kill many Daofathers.” Subhuti looked at Ning. “Or for example, you; even if your Primaltwin becomes a Pure Yang True Immortal, it will still most likely be merely an average Pure Yang True Immortal. But once your true body becomes an Empyrean God, you’ll instantly become one of the most supreme Empyrean Gods or True Immortals. If you spend a bit of time training, you’ll probably come extremely close to Lu Dongbin’s level. That’s the advantage which Fiendgods have! Look at the most famous figures of the Three Realms; Houyi, Nuwa, Pangu, Old Man Yuan, and yes, myself; which of them trained solely as Ki Refiners?” Ning nodded. “The more monstrously talented you are, the more terrifying your tribulation will be. Even I can’t be certain as to how powerful your Empyrean Tribulation shall be. All I know is that it will definitely be shocking.” Subhuti looked towards Ning. “Thus…the most important thing for you right now is to focus all of your efforts towards preparing for your Empyrean Tribulation.” “Your disciple understands,” Ning said solemnly. “Three days from now, your disciple’s Primaltwin will undergo the tribulation.” “Good.” Subhuti nodded with satisfaction. “If you succeed in this tribulation and your Primaltwin becomes a Celestial Immortal, your Dao-heart shall be further strengthened. This would naturally be an ideal outcome. However, even if you fail and lose your Primaltwin…you’ll have at least experienced the demonheart tribulation. If you end up failing it, it’ll have been of even greater help to you in terms of tempering yourself.” Ning nodded. Everything was for the sake of his true body! “Shall I still go to Daofather Crimsonbright’s place for the tribulation?” Ning asked. “No need.” Subhuti shook his head. “Undergoing the Celestial Tribulation is a major matter; naturally, as your master, I will ensure that you won’t suffer any disturbances during your tribulation. I was always planning to guard you while you underwent your tribulation. I didn’t expect that you’d go seek out that kid Xiamang.” Not even Subhuti could keep the [Dream of the Three Realms] up at all times. Subhuti only found out about Ning speaking to Xiamang after the fact. “You can undergo it here at Swallow Mountain,” Subhuti said. “Don’t worry about anything. I won’t show myself, but I definitely won’t let anyone disturb you.” 3100 “Thank you, Master,” Ning immediately said. “This Celestial Tribulation is nothing more than a tempering experience for you; don’t waste it. Your Empyrean Tribulation is what truly matters,” Subhuti said solemnly. Upon becoming an Empyrean God, Ning would have become one of the truly formidable figures of the Three Realms. “Calm yourself and prepare for your Celestial Tribulation. Although this Celestial Tribulation isn’t as important as your true body’s Empyrean Tribulation, it will still be extraordinary.” Subhuti smiled, then vanished into thin air, no longer anywhere to be seen. …… Ning continued his preparations here at Swallow Mountain. He spent a little bit of time to pay a visit to the Xia Emperor, informing him that his own Daofather master was going to protect him, and so there was no need to trouble Daofather Crimsonbright. The Xia Emperor had nodded; if there was no need to bother his master, all the better. During these three days prior to his tribulation, Ning paid a visit to West Prefecture City, where he had spent his early childhood days. He visited the Eastmount Marshes he had once adventured through, went to the mountains where he had once killed Bei Zishan…and as he retraced his steps, Ning felt his heart grow calmer and calmer. This was a day on the cusp between spring and summer. The early dawn was very cool and refreshing. Within a solitary mountain peak in the Swallow Mountain region, Ning’s true body and his black-robed Primaltwin were seated together in the lotus position, a hint of dew on their bodies. They had sat here all night, their minds and hearts as calm as still water. Far away, on a distant mountain peak, stood Uncle White, Little Qing, Mu Northson, Immortal Diancai, Autumn Leaf, and the pregnant Yu Wei. They all watched nervously…because Ji Ning was about to undergo his Celestial Tribulation. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Uncle White, Autumn Leaf, Mu Northson, and the others watching from far away were all extremely nervous. Immortal Diancai immediately said consolingly to them, “I was able to successfully overcome my tribulation. This disciple of mine is more powerful than me, even as I am right now, and his Primaltwin is merely a Ki Refiner; I trust his Celestial Tribulation won’t be too powerful. He’ll definitely succeed in overcoming it.” “Right.” They all nodded, including Yu Wei. However, Yu Wei still felt restlessness in her heart. This was because she had been an apprentice to Patriarch Lu; she knew very well that Patriarch Lu’s tribulation had been one with nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation; clearly, Ki Refiners could also encounter incredibly terrifying Celestial Tribulations. Whoooosh. Atop the distant, solitary mountain peak, Ning’s true body which had been seated in the lotus position suddenly vanished. He had entered the underwater estate, leaving behind only the black-robed Primaltwin Ning, who still continued to sit there. The golden-lotus Primal within the black-robed Ning’s body began to undergo its final breakthrough. It surged to the peak of the Void-level and began to actively call out for the Celestial Tribulation to descend… Whooooosh. Whoooosh. Whooooosh. A wind arose. “It’s begun.” “The wind tribulation.” “The Celestial Tribulation has started.” Immortal Diancai and the others all stared nervously. Everything had been completely calm before this, but suddenly a gale erupted out of nowhere, forming into wind-blades that grew increasingly small in size. The wind-blades changed in color, growing increasingly powerful as they became tiny black knives, each of which was comparable to an Immortalranked magic treasure. “The start to the wind tribulation is already this powerful…” The looks on the faces of Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei changed. They had both undergone tribulations and had past experience to rely on; it was obvious to them that the Primaltwin Ning’s Celestial Tribulation was starting off at an excessive level of power. It vastly surpassed theirs, at least! The seated, black-robed Ning just watched calmly. In a soft voice, he called out, “Nineleaf, come out.” Instantly, an enormous, snowy-white lotus treasure appeared beneath the seated Ning. If one looked at it carefully, one would see that it had a total of nine snowy-white lotus petals. This was the most powerful magic treasure which Celestial Immortal Blackheaven had prepared for the Seamless Gate’s assault against Brightheart Island…the Protocosmic spirit-treasure, ‘Nineleaf Snowlotus’. The Nineleaf Snowlotus was incredibly powerful, and it was best-suited for trapping and binding foes! Even if it was ownerless, the Nineleaf Snowlotus could activate the cold elemental energy of the natural world to form tiny snowlotus petals to wildly assault and constrict its foes. And if it did have a master who filled it with elemental ki…its power would be even more astonishing. Blackheaven had been planning to rely on this Protocosmic spirit-treasure to bind Ning! From this, one could tell how powerful it was. When Old Man Yuan had wiped out all the forces of the Seamless Gate, he had given Ning all of the treasures the Seamless Gate had left behind. The Pure Yang treasures weren’t as important for now, and Ning was in no rush to parcel them out to Yu Wei or the others; after all, his tribulation was coming soon, and he had his master to protect him, meaning that this period of time would be very safe. The parceling out of the treasures could wait for after the tribulation. As for the Nineleaf Snowlotus, Ning had bound it to himself. This sort of treasure was tremendously helpful towards Ning, and binding it could also be quite difficult; it depended on whether or not the Protocosmic spirit-treasure was willing to accept the new master or not. The Nineleaf Snowlotus naturally had a spirit of its own, one which took the form of a white-robed girl. The white-robed girl was persuaded by the Rahu Bow and the giant bear of the underwater estate…and given that Ji Ning was indeed a monstrous talent, and that she had seen a Daofather strike out on behalf of Ning, she quickly accepted and acknowledged Ning as her master. As a result, Ning was able to easily bind this Protocosmic spirit-treasure. If the Nineleaf Snowlotus had been unwilling, binding her would’ve been a true pain; most likely, only a Pure Yang True Immortal would’ve been able to bind her forcibly, after spending an enormous amount of time. However, once she became willing, Ning was able to effortlessly bind her. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Ning was now enthroned on his Nineleaf Snowlotus. Countless snowflakes appeared around him, each of which had the form of a tiny little snowlotus leaf. In the thousands and tens of thousands, they completely surrounded Ning and protected the area around him. Although they were best-suited for wrapping around and binding a foe en masse, they could also be used to defend. If they had to protect a large space, their defensive power would drop a bit, but since the treasure was as a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, its power was still quite extraordinary. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!!!! Countless Immortal swords appeared around Ning, hovering in the air around him and ensconcing him within. Although Ning had already activated a Protocosmic spirit-treasure…to be completely safe, he released all of his Immortal swords, preparing to defend if necessary. Rumble… First came the roaring gale. Next came all sorts of terrifying skywinds with astonishing power. Still…no matter how powerful the assaults were, the Nineleaf Snowlotus Protocosmic spirit-treasure was able to endure them all. Ning wasn’t even needed to use his sword-formations at all. “The final assault of the wind tribulation has come, the Celestial Immortal Wind.” Immortal Diancai and the other distant spectators all felt their hearts clench. The Celestial Immortal Wind was formless and invisible; no magic treasures or spells could block it. Whoosh! The Celestial Immortal Wind descended, effortlessly bypassing the defending Nineleaf Snowlotus. It passed through Ning’s skin, going straight into the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater within Ning’s Primaltwin. Ordinary people usually had this wind entering through their head, but since Ning’s Primaltwin was created from this Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater. Still…in the face of the Celestial Immortal Wind, it seemed incredibly fragile. Celestial Immortal Wind would only ever appear during the Celestial Tribulation. It was a manifestation of the Dao that flowed through the Three Realms, and no power or magic treasure could oppose it. If one’s Dao-heart was not strong enough, the Celestial Immortal Wind would incinerate one’s body and reduce it to ash. Thus…one’s Dao-heart had to be firm. Ning had managed to overcome the karmic sinflames tribulation; how could his Dao-heart be weak? He could sense the Zifu region within his Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater begin to tremble, then transform. The pearl itself was being transformed. Once he truly became a Celestial Immortal…the pearl would completely vanish, and the true core of his Primaltwin would become a golden pellet, his Jindan. …… 3104 The wind tribulation ended. The fire tribulation came. The weather changed dramatically as an utterly enormous cloud of fire appeared in the skies, causing the temperature to skyrocket. However, Ning continued to simply sit there above the Nineleaf Snowlotus. Just by using a little bit of his elemental energy, he was able to activate a large amount of energy of the natural world to cause the temperature to cool once more. For a time, the world was divided between a blazing sky high above and a world of snow down below. Truly, this was a case where fire and snow could not coexist. “The fire tribulation has come. However…since that protective treasure Ning has was able to easily defend against the wind tribulation, I trust it won’t be too hard for it to resist the fire tribulation.” Immortal Diancai smiled. “The power of the wind tribulation is comparable to the power of the fire tribulation. Given how formidable junior apprentice-brother’s protective treasure is, he should be able to easily overcome it without using up too much energy.” Yu Wei said with concern, “What I’m worried about is the thunder tribulation.” Indeed. The power of the Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the Nineleaf Snowlotus, was truly astonishing. It didn’t require too much energy to be used up, but alas, Ning didn’t have a way to apply his heartforce through the Nineleaf Snowlotus. If he did, not even his swords might be as powerful as the Nineleaf Snowlotus. This was a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, after all; although Ning had many hundreds of Immortal swords, and although the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] was incredibly powerful, they were still ‘merely’ top-grade Immortal swords. But of course…Ning had come up with a way to apply heartforce through his swords of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation], and so at present the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] far surpassed the Nineleaf Snowlotus in power. He had passed the wind tribulation! He now passed the fire tribulation as well! The Celestial Immortal Fire that came in the end resulted in the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater evolving yet again. Finally…the time came for the thunder tribulation. …… There was a fairly long period of time that would pass between the end of the fire tribulation and the start of the thunder tribulation. The Celestial Tribulation gave the tribulant some time to restore their energy…but in truth, in this case Ning had primarily relied on the Nineleaf Snowlotus to defend against the elemental attacks, and had used his Dao-heart to endure the Celestial Immortal Wind and Celestial Immortal Fire. Thus, he had used up very little of his energy. “I wonder how many sets of thunder tribulation Master will face,” Little Qing said worriedly. “I underwent six nine-sets,” Immortal Diancai said with concern. “This disciple of mine had far more karmic luck than I did, and he also has karmic sinflames around him; his thunder tribulation shall undoubtedly be astonishing.” All of them were worried. What none of them realized… Was that in truth, Ji Ning had received supreme transmissions of the Dao from three Daofather-level figures; Patriarch Subhuti, Daoist Threelives, and Old Man Yuan. Of the three, Old Man Yuan and Patriarch Subhuti both stood at the very pinnacle of power amongst the Daofathers of the Three Realms. While Daoist Threelives had never been able to actually become a Daofather, remaining a True God of Primordial Chaos, the [Starseizing Hand] divine ability was awe-inspiringly powerful and one of the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms. Ning had acquired so many legacies that even his Ki Refiner tribulation wouldn’t be weak…and he also had mastered heartforce and was covered in karmic sinflames. An hour passed. Rumble… The calm skies suddenly manifested a pair of enormous black clouds. These enormous black clouds covered nearly the entire sky, causing the world to turn pitch-black as they blocked out almost all light. “What just happened?” “The sky turned dark?” The Ji clansmen within Swallow Mountain, as well as the other clansmen and monsters present, all stared towards the sky in confusion. The entire sky had turned pitch-black. As for the dark clouds…they had now completely covered the entire Swallow Mountain area of nearly a hundred thousand kilometers! “How could this…” Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, Mu Northson, Uncle White, Little Qing, and Autumn Leaf all raised their heads. They had changed looks on their faces, while Yu Wei’s face was completely bloodless. The two enormous dark clouds that had blotted out the skies above all of Swallow Mountain slowly began to move towards each other. Because of how enormous they were, these two massive clouds semed to fly at a very slow pace. But as they flew…crack! Crack! A series of cracking sounds could be heard from the skies as one enormous bolt of lightning after another began to snake out from within the two massive dark clouds. Ning, however, just watched calmly. He wasn’t surprised at all. Soon, an enormous vortex of lightning and clouds had formed within the skies. The size of this vortex still covered the entire Swallow Mountain region; from its size alone, one could tell how utterly astonishing its power was. BOOM! A streak of lightning lashed out from the lightning-cloud vortex, striking directly down like the sword of the heavens. Clang! Ning had already risen to his feet. Hundreds of Immortal swords hovered around him, while the Nineleaf Snowlotus was underneath him. Many hundreds of meters above Ning, an utterly enormous lotus had formed, generated from countless tiny snowlotus petals. The enormous lotus was a barrier to defend against the thunder tribulation. Ning still wanted to use this Protocosmic spirit-treasure; it consumed very little of his elemental ki, after all. BOOM! The first bolt of lightning wasn’t even able to cause the Protocosmic spirit-treasure to shake in the slightest. Bolts of lightning continued to crash down. Soon, they were at the fourth nine-set of thunderbolts. Thunderbolts continued to crash down. Five nine-sets. Six nine-sets… “This is the seventh nine-set.” Autumn Leaf couldn’t help but whisper these words. Brightheart Island now had quite an extensive library of books, many of which Ning had acquired after killing other Immortals. Autumn Leaf had naturally perused them. “Master is almost at his limit.” Little Qing was worried as well. This was the sixty-first bolt of thunder. The enormous lotus flower formed from the Nineleaf Snowlotus was already beginning to collapse. “[Greater Thousand Swords Formation], go forth!” The black-robed Ning, standing atop the Nineleaf Snowlotus, pointed towards the skies. Instantly, a golden sword that had manifested in front of his chest streaked out into the heavens. BOOM! The enormous lotus above him had already vanished into thin air. However, a series of layers of lotus flowers appeared around the black-robed Ning. This strike of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] contained a hint of his heartforce, allowing him to effortlessly block the celestial thunder. “The eighth nine-set has arrived.” Soon, it was time for the eighth nine-set. Immortal Diancai and the other spectators all felt nervous; how was it that a Ki Refiner actually caused an eighth nine-set to appear? Even though Ning had taken on a Daofather as his master, his tribulation shouldn’t be this terrifying, right? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The seventieth bolt of thunder. A violet streak of lightning crashed down with ice-cold callousness. The black-robed Ji Ning beneath it pointed with his finger, causing the golden sword of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] to once more soar into the skies. Rumble… It once more blocked the assault. “I hope it is merely eight nine-sets. If it grows much stronger…it may put too much stress on my heartforce.” Ning was a bit worried as well. Third-level heartforce was very powerful, and it would be easy to use it against eight nine-sets, but if it became the full nine nine-sets…the power of the thunder would skyrocket to a new level. By then, each blow would most likely require Ning to use up quite a bit of his heartforce. Once it was used up, he would definitely perish. Ning had never imagined that he would have failed during the thunder tribulation of the Celestial Tribulation, but he was now beginning to worry. The power of the eighth nine-set was already a bit beyond what he had expected. Boom! Boom! The divine thunder grew increasingly powerful. After these two consecutive blows of divine thunder…everyone, be it Ning or the distant group of spectators including Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei, stared upwards nervously. “This is merely junior apprentice-brother’s Primaltwin. Eight nine-sets should be enough; there shouldn’t be nine nine-sets, right?” “The legendary nine nine-sets…generally speaking, only Void-level Fiendgods will encounter them.” They all watched nervously. Thousands of kilometers away, an old man in Daoist robes was watching from atop a distant mountain peak. When he saw that the tribulation clouds in the sky did not disperse, and instead began to gather an even more terrifying amount of power, his face changed. He murmured softly to himself, “My disciple’s Primaltwin has actually encountered the ninth nine-set?” 3109 “It’s just a Primaltwin. In terms of fortuitous encounters, it probably isn’t even up to Lu Dongbin’s standard…can this be due to the karmic sinflames?” Subhuti began to worry. Ning was a monster, but that was with regards to his true body. His Primaltwin, by comparison…although it had control over heartforce, it was far inferior in all other aspects to the Void-level Lu Dongbin of countless years ago. Although heartforce was powerful, it had a glaring weakness: It could only be used to fight for a short period of time. Once one’s heartforce was used up, one’s power would drop dramatically. For Ning’s Primaltwin to encounter nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation…Subhuti felt that this was too excessive, even though Ning did have karmic sinflames covering him. “If this is the case…then my disciple’s true body…?” Subhuti began to worry. If even the Primaltwin had to undergo nine nine-sets, then the Empyrean Tribulation of the true body would be… “Once he becomes an Empyrean God, he will quickly reach the pinnacle of power amongst Empyrean Gods. In fact, after he undergoes a bit more tempering, he’ll be like Houyi was, capable of rivaling the Daofathers despite merely being at the Empyrean God level.” Subhuti let out a soft sigh. “It seems not even the heavens are willing to casually permit such a monstrous genius like this to exist. The heavens will insist on unleashing a terrifying tribulation…” From the era of Pangu’s World to the modern day, countless monsters had their souls shattered by their tribulations! “Forget about the Empyrean Tribulation; even this Celestial Tribulation…” Subhuti stared off into the distance, a frown on his face. “Nine nine-sets!” “There’s more?!” “How can this be?!” Immortal Diancai, Mu Northson, Autumn Leaf, Uncle White, Little Qing, and Yu Wei all revealed frantic looks on their faces. There was no way they could help Ning; during the Celestial Tribulation, a person could only rely on himself. “Junior apprentice-brother, you have to succeed.” Yu Wei gently stroked her belly, her eyes filled with hope. “Ji Ning.” 3110 “Young master.” They were all filled with hope. Although the fame of the ninth nine-set was terrifying, Ning had overcome the previous eight nine-sets with utter ease, not seeming to be taxed by them at all. Thus…they were still filled with hope. Boom! The ninth nine-set of the thunder tribulation. The seventy-third bolt of thunder was a streak of violet lightning that was tinged with a white color. This hint of white caused the thunderbolt to become beautiful, a terrible beauty to behold. It was as though the lord of all creation had just taken a look at his universe with a gaze that of ineffable power. Weaker Void-level Earth Immortals probably wouldn’t even try to fight back against this thunderbolt…but of course, there was no way a weak Void-level Earth Immortal would even be able to make it this far, to the ninth nine-set of the thunder tribulation. In all the Three Realms, in all of history, every single person who had encountered nine nine-sets was an extraordinary figure. They wouldn’t easily admit defeat; even if they had to die, they would die standing. “Go.” Ning pointed into the distance, and the golden sword in front of his chest once more flew out. While flying out, Ning manifested yet another golden sword in front of himself. Clang! As the first golden sword flew out, it was struck head-on by the violet-white thunderbolt and broken apart. “It seems I have to use one-fiftieth of my total heartforce in order to completely block these attacks. The power of the divine thunder truly has risen significantly.” Ning hurriedly commanded his second golden sword to fly out, blocking the remaining power of the violet-white thunderbolt. “The power of these thunderbolts are greater than the full-strength blows of the likes of Celestial Immortal Infatuation. How could an ordinary Void-level Earth Immortal possibly withstand them?” Only by accurately predicting the power of each thunderbolt could Ning ensure that he wasn’t wasting too much of his heartforce with each blow. “He blocked the seventy-third thunderbolt.” “He blocked the first bolt of the ninth nine-set!” Immortal Diancai and the others revealed looks of excitement and nervousness in their eyes. There was a huge increasing in power between the last bolt of the eighth nine-set and the first bolt of the ninth nine-set; for him to be able to block this first bolt meant that there was hope for him to block the others. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! One bolt of lightning after another came crashing down. All the thunderbolts were violet-white in color, but towards the end, the white grew more and more dominant, and the power grew increasingly greater. In turn, Ning was forced to use up more and more of his heartforce. The seventy-ninth bolt! The eightieth! “There’s one more left.” “The last one.” Yu Wei, Uncle White, and the others felt as though their hearts were hanging in the air. The legendary nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation…finally, the last blow of it was going to reveal its force. Not everyone was lucky enough to witness such a thing. However, their hearts were only filled with a dim, vague fear…because the very sight of the cloud-lightning vortex swirling above them was filling them with inexplicable terror. “Even if it was me…the current me, who has become a Celestial Immortal long ago…I would probably die beneath this below,” Immortal Diancai mused to himself. …… Ning stood there at the very peak of the mountain, like a sharp sword unfurled towards the heavens. Beneath his feet was the Nineleaf Snowlotus, and lotus flowers swirled and bloomed all around him. Hundreds of swords levitated around him, all pointed towards the heavens as Ning raised his head, staring at the tribulation clouds. The final thunderbolt. The final bolt of the ninth nine-set of the thunder tribulation. BOOM!!!! It was a thunderbolt of pure white, filled with holiness and sanctity. It didn’t have even the slightest hint of wildness or savagery; all it held was an exalted, noble aura within it as it came crushing down from the heavens. This was the true face of the very final thunderbolt of the ninth nine-set. “Go.” Ning pointed a finger. Swoosh! The golden sword-light flashed with incomparable brilliance, expanding to become an enormous sword that instantly shot into the heavens, striking towards that pure-white thunderbolt. “Go.” As fast as Ning could, Ning manifested and unleashed a second golden sword. By now, the first golden sword he had sent towards the white thunderbolt had already been completely blasted apart. The second golden sword quickly soared upwards. BOOM! The remnants of the pure-white thunderbolt trembled, and then completely dispersed. The enormous golden sword continued on its upwards trajectory, stabbing straight into the heart of the cloud-lightning vortex in the skies, completely dispersing the entire vortex. One last streak of lightning suddenly appeared out of nowhere, crashing into Ning’s body. Ning’s body began to emit an Immortal aura. “Celestial Immortal Body.” The distant spectators, including Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Autumn Leaf, began to call out in excitement. “Success.” “Nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation…the legendary nine nine-sets! Master actually withstood it!” “So the final bolt from the ninth nine-set is actually a bolt of completely white lightning. Why did that white bolt of thunder seem so holy and noble? I felt the urge to bow towards it.” …… Ning looked at Uncle White, Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and rest of his distant, celebrating friends. He revealed a smile…but still felt a hint of lingering fear in his heart. “The nine nine-sets were simply too terrifying. I’ve been very stingy with my heartforce, but I still have less than thirty percent of it left. That final thunderbolt in particular…even my full-strength sword-strike was unable to withstand it!” “If the thunder tribulation is already so frightening…then what of the demonheart tribulation?” Ning had a bad feeling. Although this was merely his Primaltwin’s tribulation, the power of the Celestial Tribulation had still exceeded his expectations. The demonheart tribulation coming up would probably also be as powerful as the most terrifying ones in the legends. …… “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!” A distorted voice suddenly rang out in Ning’s mind, summoning his memories. Ning opened his eyes. A giant dressed in white furs was holding him. The white-furred giant ordered, “The rest of you can leave!” 3113 “Father!” The face of the giant caused Ning’s heart to tremble. Ning immediately turned to look towards one side. He immediately saw a body covered with sweat that lay on an enormous, fur-draped bed. “Mother! I…did I just go back to the moment of my birth?” Time passed, one day after the another. Ning once more lived life in West Prefecture City. Under his father’s protection, he began to train. Although Ning had all his memories, he still had to undergo normal training. Still, although the demonheart world had given him a weak body, it was unable to change Ning’s memories or his Dao-heart. Thus…Ning knew very well that this was the demonheart world! However, even though he knew it, he wasn’t able to do anything about it, because there was no way for him to leave this world at all. He had to wait for the demonheart tribulation to come to an end; only then would this demonheart world come to an end as well. …… Ning slowly grew up. Because he did possess all of his memories, Ning was able to train very quickly within this demonheart world. In addition, he had control over his heartforce; third level heartforce was simply too powerful! Thus, although he was a child of less than ten years of age, his power was no weaker than that of a supreme Celestial Immortal’s. Thus…everything was changed. In the demonheart world, he had to train normally as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, but his training speed as a Ki Refiner was incredibly fast. With the assistance of his powerful heartforce, he was naturally able to acquire Immortal spirit-pills. He became a Void-level Earth Immortal by age nine, procuring spirit-pills for his mother, Yuchi Snow, that would allow her to continue to live. A nine year old Void-level Earth Immortal. What an utter monster. Within the demonheart world, Ning continued to hide his control over heartforce. The fact that he was a Void-level Earth Immortal, however, could not be hidden. And so, just like that, a nine year old Void-level Earth Immortal emerged into the world of the Grand Xia. His status was so special that even the Northmont clan of Stillwater sent someone over to recruit him. The Xia Emperor, however, ignored him. This was because the Xia Emperor believed that this Ji Ning had to be the disciple of a major power, which was why he possessed all of his memories immediately after being reincarnated and born again. As someone who had all of his former memories, to become a Void-level Earth Immortal at age nine wasn’t that unheard of. Still…the entire situation within Stillwater Commandery had changed. Ning’s status became more and more transcendent. And yet…out of habit, Ning kept the form of a youth. “Ning, son, a disciple of the Black-White College named Ninelotus has come to pay you a visit.” Yuchi Snow, already a Zifu Disciple herself, smiled as she spoke to her son. Now that Ning’s status within Stillwater Commandery was so transcendent, many people came to pay their respects to him. As for their enemies such as Snowdragon Mountain, Ning had wiped them out long ago. “Ninelotus?” Ning’s heart trembled. In the demonheart world, he hadn’t even visited the Black-White College yet; why had Ninelotus come? If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within the demonheart world. Out of curiosity, Ninelotus had come to meet Ji Ning. By now, Ninelotus had already grown up to be a slender, elegant beauty. As soon as she saw Ning, for some inexplicable reason, she felt close to him. Ning, however, felt guarded; no matter what, he absolutely could not allow himself to sink down into this demonheart world. ‘Sinking down into it’ meant liking this world and accepting it in his heart. To like the demonheart world so much that he might abandon the real world… To allow himself to drown within it, to allow his real self in the real world to perish! Within this demonheart world, his parents were both alive and well. This was a world without tragedy for him. In truth, in his heart, Ning did like this world…but thankfully, he had reached the third level of heartforce, ‘ruler’. No matter what thoughts, likes, and emotions flashed through his mind, Ning remained the master of himself. He constantly reminded himself that these were all nothing more than the illusions of the demonheart world; these weren’t real. “The feelings I bear for my parents are already having a tremendous impact on me within the demonheart world. I absolutely cannot allow my feelings for Ninelotus and Yu Wei to be added to the mix as well.” Ning knew in his heart that once he allowed love to enter the fray, this demonheart tribulation would become truly dangerous. …… However…Ning wasn’t able to control the demonheart world. As a result of this visit, Ning’s had been firmly engraved into Ninelotus’ mind. Thus, she came back repeatedly to visit him. “This is my senior apprentice-sister, Yu Wei. She’s a true genius of our Black-White College,” Ninelotus said. “But of course, I cannot compare to Immortal Darknorth.” Yu Wei smiled as well. As soon as Yu Wei had seen Ning, she too had felt an inexplicable attraction towards him. Within the demonheart world, both Yu Wei and Ninelotus found themselves uncontrollably drawn to Ning. However…Ning’s heart was filled with misgivings, and so he always moved to prevent a relationship from blossoming between them. Time flowed on. Decades passed in the blink of an eye. Very early on, Ning had acquired the Starseizing Estate. By now, he had already reached the seventeenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Yu Wei and Ninelotus were as close as real sisters, so close that they didn’t differentiate between ‘mine’ and ‘yours’. The two of them settled into a residence within Swallow Mountain, not too far from where Ning lived. The two of them felt certain that one day, their sincerity would move Ji Ning. Unlike in the real world, in this demonheart world, Ninelotus and Yu Wei were both completely devoted to Ji Ning. In fact, both of them threw away everything for his sake, and Ninelotus gave up her clan as well. Now, in the demonheart world…the storm finally swept through the Three Realms! Within the demonheart world, Ning allowed his Primaltwin to undergo its tribulation. The tribulation of the demonheart world was completely illusory, and so the demonheart tribulation lasted for but an instant before it ended, resulting in his Primaltwin becoming a Celestial Immortal. With the entire Three Realms being shaken by this storm, Ning naturally allied with the Northmont clan of Stillwater. Although he didn’t truly enter into a relationship with Yu Wei and Ninelotus, the two of them continued to wholeheartedly pursue him. The Dongyan clan was on very close terms with Ning, and the Dongyan Forefather, Ji Ning, Patriarch Unity, and others all joined together into an alliance to weather this storm. The war began! One battle after another began to erupt within the world of the Grand Xia. To protect his tribe, Ning was forced to go into battle as well. As the war progressed, however, he found it harder and harder to gain victory in his battles…and finally, he decided to undergo his Empyrean Tribulation! There was one major problem with the demonheart world; there was no way to gain insights into the Dao here! This was an illusory world; every single tribulant knew that in their hearts. As a result, they couldn’t advance in the Dao in the slightest. Although Ning had already spent over a hundred years in the demonheart world, he hadn’t improved in the Dao in the slightest. The only improvement he had was in terms of his Dao-heart; he was tempering his Dao-heart. He was also able to improve his heartforce within this illusory demonheart world, but alas, Ning remained at the third level, the ‘ruler’ level. Although he did improve slightly, to reach the fourth level of ‘mortal dust’ was far too difficult. Anyone who could reach that level would be considered one of the truly most powerful experts of the Three Realms. The terrifying divine archers of the Three Realms and Old Man Yuan were all at the fourth level. Within the illusory world, Ning could sense that he was gradually becoming unable to defend his clan from the storm, and so he decided to undergo his Empyrean Tribulation. The Empyrean Tribulation was simply far too powerful. The wind tribulation, the fire tribulation…they nearly caused Ning’s death. The thunder tribulation destroyed Ning’s true body by merely the sixty-second thunderbolt. He had failed. His true body had failed its tribulation, and so the Starseizing Estate left him, having gone to search for another successor. …… Ning only had his Primaltwin left to him. Thus, like many other Celestial Immortals, he became embroiled into and pushed about by the waves of the storm. Yu Wei and Ninelotus both became Celestial Immortals over the course of the storm, but the two continued to follow by Ning’s side. Ning, however, continued to act guarded, not allowing the relationship between him and the two of them to deepen. The deeper their relationship grew, the easier it would be for Ning to sink into this world. One battle after another! Yu Wei and Ninelotus followed Ning at all times, experiencing life-and-death experiences with him. Finally, after eighteen thousand years, the storm came to an end. Ninety percent of the Celestial Immortals of the world of the Grand Xia perished, and even the Xia Emperor had died. As for major powers, no one knew how many had perished. Ji Ning, Yu Wei, and Ninelotus, however, had not died. In fact, even the Ji clan of Swallow Mountain had survived. With the tribulation having ended, Ning returned once more to Swallow Mountain. Ninelotus and Yu Wei continued to follow him. They, too, took up residence at Swallow Mountain. As for Yuchi Snow and Ji Yichuan, they successfully overcome their tribulations and become Celestial Immortals towards the end of the storm. They, too, urged Ning to accept and wed Ninelotus and Yu Wei. Eighteen thousand years! They had experienced life and death together. It must be understood that in the real world, Ning had only lived for a mere century. In this demonheart world, however, he had already lived for eighteen thousand years. If his Dao-heart had been slightly weaker, he would’ve long ago confused what was real and what was not. He would’ve willingly accepted 3118 that this demonheart world was the true world; after all, he had spent far more time in this world, which was a far more blissful one. However…Ning, who had ruler-class heartforce, only felt an ever-greater amount of terror. His father and his mother had actually both become Celestial Immortals? Yu Wei and Ninelotus had both survived the storm? Clearly, the demonheart world was doing everything it could to give him an incredibly blissful life. It had even ensured that Ning failed his Empyrean Tribulation, so as to clip his wings and lessen his ambitions. Lessened ambitions…a blissful life…emotions…countless shared life-and-death experiences…eighteen thousand years…all of these things were having an impact on Ning. “Ji Ning…how can you be so heartless? It’s been eighteen thousand years, but you still remain this coldhearted. Alright…alright…alright. I will never bother you again. I’ll never irritate you again!” Ninelotus looked at Ning, her tears dripping downwards. “Little sister Ninelotus and I will be leaving now. We’ll never bother you again, you callous, cold-hearted man.” Yu Wei’s eyes were filled with pain as well. Immortal swords suddenly appeared in both their hands. “No!” Ning couldn’t help it; he instinctively knocked those two Immortal swords away. “You won’t even let us die? Even if you prevent us from dying, we can go to a place where you can’t find us, then end our lives there.” Ninelotus said with agony, “My sister and I no longer have anything worth living for, anyways.” “Let’s go, little sister.” Yu Wei took Ninelotus by the hand. Ning just shut his eyes. Was he supposed to just keep fleeing within this demonheart world? Keep hiding from everything? Was this right, or was this wrong? Why was it that by fleeing…these emotions were only causing him even greater agony? “Don’t go,” Ning suddenly said. Yu Wei and Ninelotus had already turned away, but now their bodies both shook. These two peerless beauties, one dressed in white and the other dressed in black, both turned to look at Ning. They had an eager look in their eyes, a look that bespoke of how they had waited for eighteen thousand years…a look that was about to melt Ning’s heart. “Ji Ning, are you truly…” Ninelotus and Yu Wei both looked at Ning. “Don’t go.” Ning walked to them. “I don’t want you two to go.” He reached out with his arms, taking Yu Wei and Ninelotus into his embrace. Yu Wei and Ninelotus each clung to one of Ning’s elbows, gently leaning against him. Ning, however…could sense that his Dao-heart was wavering and growing blurry. He understood… That he had taken yet another step towards sinking into this world. When he took the finally step and completely sank into it…his soul would be extinguished, and he would die. …… Ning began to live together with Ninelotus and Yu Wei. They truly were a trio of Immortal lovers. The Three Realms were in a state of peace, and the Ji clan had nine Celestial Immortals within it; Ji Ning, Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Yuchi Snow, Ji Yichuan, Uncle White, Autumn Leaf, Spring Grass, and Little Qing. Everyone Ning cared about was alive…and in fact, all of them had become Celestial Immortals. His life was peaceful and beautiful. In fact, this was what Ning truly desired in his heart. To be carefree…to do what he wanted to do… To be together with his loved ones…to live a simple, happy life… Both Ninelotus and Yu Wei bore him children. To teach and rear children could be quite frustrating, but it was also quite blissful and happy. …… Bliss. Ning had never been so blissful. Not in his previous life, and not in this one. This demonheart world, however, truly was very blissful and very perfect. “No wonder it is rare for a single new Celestial Immortal to appear within the world of the Grand Xia, even after the passage of a million years. No wonder countless Void-level Earth Immortals have attempted their tribulations but failed.” Ning felt agony in his heart. He knew very well that all of this was a lie…but he had spent more than thirty thousand years here. A hundred years in the real world…thirty thousand years here…even Ning’s Dao-heart was finding it hard to extricate itself from this demonheart world. In fact…he was beginning to feel slightly unwilling to extricate himself. He didn’t want to let this all be destroyed. …… The demonheart world. It was night. A little boat was drifting about in the waters of Serpentwing Lake. Ning was seated in the lotus position within that boat. He was by himself. “Am I really…going to sink?” Ning could already sense that his Dao-heart was growing blurrier and blurrier. Clearly, it was becoming increasingly corroded. Ning stared at the distant Brightheart Island. That island had all the people he loved the most; his father, his mother, Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Uncle White, Little Qing, Autumn Grass, Spring Leaf, and his children. All of those relationships, all of those emotions…they were like chains that had dug their way deep inside him. As more time passed, the chains only dug deeper and deeper. Thirty thousand years of life here…it was incredibly hard for him to shake them off. “But…” “But…!” Ning gritted his teeth, blood becoming to come out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he forced the words out. “It’s all fake. FAKE!!!” When Ning said these words, he felt as though a knife was scraping against his heart. “It’s all fake…” “Because…” “I want all of these things to become real. I want all of them to come back to life in the real world!” Ning’s Dao-heart was like a tiny blade of grass that had become completely trapped by countless metal chains…but that blade of grass continued to struggle and grow. Although the chains tried to suffocate it, tried to drag it away, the blade of grass continued to survive and grow. “I am myself!” “I AM THE RULER OF MYSELF! Nobody and nothing can shake me; not thirty thousand years, not a hundred thousand years, NOTHING!!!” Ning sat there on his wooden boat, letting out an enraged roar. This was a roar directed against the entire demonheart world. Just as Ning called these words out… Rumble… The colors of the world began to change. Whooooosh. Space itself broke apart. A towering figure appeared within the distant, infinite void that was left. Its aura was incomparably powerful, and it was looking at Ning. “So you are Ji Ning? You were the previous successor to the Starseizing Estate, yes? The [Starseizing Hand] divine ability is not to be learned by outsiders. I alone can possess it, and so…you can die!” An enormous hand appeared, instantly covering the entire sky. Carrying awe-inspiring power, it came crashing down. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Ji Ning just closed his eyes. Kill him? Go ahead. This was the demonheart world; killing him here wouldn’t actually have an impact on his Dao-heart. In addition…Ning had a certain feeling. He had spent more than thirty thousand years within this demonheart world. He had allowed himself to sink deeply into this world multiple times before rousing himself once more. This had only resulted in his Dao-heart becoming even stronger. This sudden appearance of a ‘new successor to the Starseizing Estate’ was most likely the last trick the demonheart tribulation had to play. BOOM! The giant palm suddenly came to a halt directly above Ji Ning. It was mere inches away from Ning. If Ning lifted his head up, he would be able to see the enormous fingerprints of that massive palm. “Why have you halted…” Ning asked calmly, “…New master of the Starseizing Estate.” “You aren’t afraid of death?” The towering figure said, slowing pulling back his enormous, sky-covering hand. “If you want to kill me, kill me,” Ning said coldly. “I had thought that killing a previous owner of the Starseizing Estate would be quite an interesting affair…but you actually aren’t going to fight back at all? How dull,” the towering figure said. Ning did his best to try and make out what this new master of the Starseizing Estate looked like, but he wasn’t able to see anything. The towering figure waved his hand. Whoosh! One figure after another appeared in the air. There was a pair of white-robed Immortal lovers; Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow. There was also a white-robed, white-haired man who had an aura of calmness and tranquility about him…an azure-robed maiden…the mature Autumn Leaf…the young Spring Grass…Ning’s Dao-companions Yu Wei and Ninelotus…and their three children. “Ning, son, have you just grown more powerful?” 3123 “Why have you brought us here?” Yuchi Snow and the others all raised their heads to look towards the massive figure in confusion. They didn’t even give Ning a glance. Ning’s face instantly changed. “Ji Ning…you understand now, right? Yes…as you have guessed…I just used the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] to transform into your appearance,” the towering figure said. “They believe me to be you! And, thanks to my power…they are completely unable to see you or hear your voice.” “What are you going to do?” Ning roared. BOOM! The towering figure suddenly stretched out with a single finger. He gave a single flick! The flick landed on the body of the white-robed, white-haired man. The man’s eyes were filled with disbelief…and with a boom, he exploded, transforming into dust. “Uncle White!” Ning called out in shock, feeling pain in his heart. He bore tremendous love for Uncle White in the real world, and he had also spent thirty thousand years loving Uncle White in the demonheart world. Upon seeing Uncle White be slaughtered…Ning instantly felt utter agony in his heart, agony so great as to affect even his Dao-heart. “There’s plenty left. Don’t worry,” the towering figure said. “What are you going to do?!” Ning knew that this was just nothing more than another illusion of the demonheart world…but the emotions he had built up over thirty thousand years wouldn’t be so easily wiped away. “I’m going to kill them, one by one,” the towering figure said. “But of course…if you accept me as your master and owner, I can spare them.” “In your dreams,” Ning said through gritted teeth. Ning was no fool. He knew that the demonheart tribulation was part of the Dao of the Heavens; if he was to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens in the demonheart world to be a servant, he would truly and forevermore be lost. “Then I’ll continue to kill.” The towering figure flicked his finger out again. “Ning, son, what are you doing?” “Ning, son, stop!” “Master…you are going to kill me?” 3124 “FATHER!!!” The voices of his loved ones caused Ning to feel as though his heart was being torn apart. However…he gritted his teeth, just watching as they died, one by one. “Ning, son…I know that you must be acting under some sort of duress.” Yuchi Snow closed her eyes, dying peacefully. “Ji Ning! What the hell are you doing!” Ji Yichuan’s eyes were so wide, his eyelids were threatening to tear apart. “Father. FATHER!” The three children who venerated Ji Ning were all sobbing. The slaughter continued. Ninelotus died! Yu Wei died! Little Qing died! One by one…all of his loved ones died. Those emotional chains, forged and tempered over the course of thirty thousand years, had long ago wrapped themselves firmly around Ning. When he saw them all be killed, one after the other…those chains began to tug at him with greater power than ever before. They were going to pull Ning down, to drag him under. “Ji Ning…what a callous heart you have.” The towering figure roared with anger. These words pierced deeply into Ning’s inner heart; it was as though his family members were all pointing at him and saying these words. “What a callous heart you have.” Ning shut his eyes. Even if all the people of the universe were to point at him in such a manner…he didn’t want for his family to point at him. Thirty thousand years… But in the end…it was all fabricated. All fabricated! BOOM!!! The world completely blew apart. Everything blew apart; even that towering figure blew apart. …… The real world. “Ji Ning has already spent three full months within the deomnheart tribulation. This…this is simply…I’ve never even heard of something like this!” Immortal Diancai looked nervously at the seated black-robed Ning. “A three month long demonheart tribulation…I really worry as to if Ji Ning can withstand it.” His own demonheart tribulation had been far briefer. “My master’s demonheart tribulation also lasted for three months.” Yu Wei caressed her belly, a look of worry in her eyes. She still remembered what Lu Dongbin had said to her: “Long ago…I was just a hair away from truly sinking into the dreams. Even now, I would be unwilling to undergo the demonheart tribulation a second time.” “Hurry and wake up!” Northson was truly worried as well. They all knew that the longer the demonheart tribulation was, the more terrifying it would be. Ning’s demonheart tribulation had actually persisted for three months; this was utterly astonishing! “Why has the Primaltwin’s demonheart tribulation lasted for so long? Is it due to the karmic sinflames?” The distant elder in the Daoist robes was watching quietly as well. All he could do was watch and wait; Ji Ning would have no one to rely on but himself, if he wanted to wake up from the demonheart tribulation. Suddenly… Everyone’s gaze turned towards Ji Ning…because the black-robed Ning had just opened his eyes. “He woke up,” Uncle White said with surprise and joy. “Master succeeded! Wahahaha, he overcame his tribulation and became a Celestial Immortal!” Little Qing seemed to have gone a bit delirious with joy. “Junior apprentice-brother!” Yu Wei was extremely excited. All of them were. As for the black-robed Ning, he just thought there. His thoughts, his mind…everything was slowly coming back to him from the demonheart world. Only a long moment later did he realize…that his face was covered with tears. He loved and longed for everything he had within the demonheart world. Everyone he cared about was still alive. It had all been a dream…but that dream had lasted for thirty thousand years, far longer than the mere century he had spent in the real world. He wanted to forget it all, but…how? “I’m sorry,” Ning said softly. He knew that those ‘family members’ were all just an illusion…but Ning still said those words. “No wonder Master also shed tears after he successfully overcame his tribulation,” Ning said softly to himself. “This demonheart tribulation really is…” Only now, after having escaped the demonheart world, did Ji Ning truly understand how terrifying that illusory world had been. In truth, he had danced at the very edge of truly falling into the abyss and never returning. Things had grown especially dangerous for him after he accepted and reciprocated the love of Yu Wei and Ninelotus! After having accepted their love, he now had even more ties to that world. However…fortune and disaster rode together! Accepting their love did indeed make him sink even deeper into the dream, but precisely because of that, when he successfully struggled to shake off his chains and take control over himself once more, his Dao-heart had reaped even more rewards. If he hadn’t sunk into the dream, he wouldn’t have been strengthened by the awakening. But if he had sunk too deeply into it…he would have died. Fortunately, his heartforce had reached the peak of the ‘ruler’ stage; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand the demonheart tribulation. …… An Immortal melody rang out as auspicious clouds descended from the heavens and golden lotuses began to bloom throughout the area. A terrifying presence descended, pouring the energy of the natural world into Ning’s body. The universe itself began to transform Ning’s Primaltwin. “This is…?” The black-robed Ning could clearly sense that the energy of the natural world, with the invisible help of the Dao of the Heavens, had begun to compress all of the energy within his body. His soul completely fused with his golden-lotus Primal; in fact, even his Zifu Region began to merge into the golden-lotus Primal, as well as the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater itself. Crack! The lotus seed-head at the top of the golden lotus gave birth to a tiny little golden lotus seed. This was the most important thing for Celestial Immortals, True Immortals, and even Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament…the golden pellet, the Jindan! As the Jindan flew out, the Zifu Region, the Sole-Ki Pearl, and everything else vanished. In fact, the body of the Primaltwin Ning was changing as well, transforming into a Celestial Immortal’s body, a body that was designed and created through Celestial Immortal energy. “Jindan?” The black-robed Ning murmured to himself. This was the very core of his entire life essence…this tiny little golden pellet. This Jindan possessed utterly inconceivable power. It merged all power into it, melting everything into a dazzling, beautiful golden luster. A perfect Jindan would contain even the soul and the truesoul within it; there would never again be any distinction between them! In fact, the Jindan also contained a dimension within it that held an enormous amount of Celestial Immortal energy. The energy of the natural world was drawn into the Jindan, and even magic treasures could be stored within it. Breathe in. Breathe out. Ning sensed his body transcending, one breath at a time, as Immortal energy flowed throughout his entire body. “Ji Ning.” “Junior apprentice-brother.” Only now did Immortal Diancai and the others fly over. The black-robed Ning smiled towards them in welcome. “Ji Ning, congratulations on your Primaltwin overcoming the tribulation. Nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation, and a three month demonheart tribulation…I’ve never even imagined something like this happening.” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning. “I, Diancai, actually have a disciple like you…ahahaha, I regret nothing in life, nothing!” “Master, you are absolutely incredible. I admire you to death!” Little Qing, in the form of a little azure serpent, immediately coiled herself Ning’s arm with incomparable friendliness. “I’m actually panicking right now,” Ning said with a laugh. “My Primaltwin’s tribulation was already as frightening as this…I can’t even imagine what my true body’s tribulation is going to be like.” “It’s just another tribulation. Nothing is impossible for you, junior apprentice-brother,” Northson said. “When you went to take part in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, how many people tried to convince you not to go? They all said that you didn’t spend enough time training, that you’d be at a disadvantage. But not only did you go, you even became the champion of the Conclave. Afterwards, you only became more and more incredible. And now, you’ve actually overcome nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation and a three month demonheart tribulation. I’m completely convinced that nothing can possibly stop you.” “Me too.” Yu Wei took Ning by the hand and smiled at him. Everyone present had watched as Ning had grown up. In their eyes, Ning was an utterly monstrous talent; he had stunned them time and time again. Thus, they were convinced that Ning could do anything! After all, just now, they had personally watched as Ning had overcome nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation and a ridiculously long demonheart tribulation. “Disciple.” A voice rang out, and the flow of time around them suddenly changed. Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and the others simply stood there, maintaining their earlier postures and poses. Ning, however, didn’t feel as though anything had happened at all. He watched as an old man in Daoist robes came walking over towards him. “Master,” Ning said respectfully. “I have some things to say to you,” the old man said. “Your Primaltwin was successful, but I trust you noticed that your Celestial Tribulation was incredibly powerful.” “Yes.” Ning nodded. His Primaltwin, logically speaking, should have it much easier than his true body…and yet, it had still been forced to the brink. “Your true body’s tribulation will undoubtedly be utterly astonishing. There might be some unexpected variables that will cause it to be many times more deadly than this Celestial Tribulation,” Subhuti said. “Thus…I order you to master the Grand Dao of the Sword, master the art of applying heartforce to your soul, and reach the Sixth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] before you can attempt it.” “Your disciple understands,” Ning said respectfully. “Your disciple shall definitely work hard and make plentiful preparations.” “It is good that you understand.” Subhuti nodded. “Right…once you master the Grand Dao of the Sword,” Subhuti said, “Because you have already condensed the five types of ki within your chest, you’ll be able to join them together and instantly become a Pure Yang True Immortal.” Ning nodded. “Now…the war between your Grand Xia and the Seamless Gate is about to begin. You won’t be able to avoid it. The Seamless Gate will definitely try to come up with another way to kill you,” Subhuti said. “As the saying goes, know thyself and know thy enemy; only then shall you be the victor in every battle. You need to conceal your true power. You absolutely must not let anyone know all of your secrets; once you are exposed, you’ll be in danger.” “Your disciple understands,” Ning said hurriedly. “No, you don’t.” Subhuti shook his head. “I am forbidding you from telling anyone in the future about your full power. That includes both myself and your Dao-companion.” Ning was puzzled. “I can’t even tell you or Yu Wei, Master?” “You cannot.” Subhuti shook his head. “The intelligence methods the Seamless Gate have available to them are beyond your imagination. If you hide everything in your heart, no one but you will know and the 3129 Seamless Gate will not find out either. But if you tell anyone at all…it might be revealed to them. Thus, for the sake of hiding your power, you are not to tell anyone at all about it.” Ning felt some amazement in his heart. No wonder… No wonder the intelligence capabilities of the Seamless Gate were so powerful. So long as he told anyone, there was a chance that it might be leaked to them? This was utterly inconceivable. “For example…on the day that you become a Pure Yang True Immortal, you are not to tell anyone at all,” Subhuti instructed. “The process of becoming a Pure Yang True Immortal doesn’t cause much of a disturbance; if you don’t tell anyone, no one will know.” Ning nodded. It was different from when a Void-level Earth Immortal became a Celestial Immortal; a Celestial Tribulation was involved. There truly wasn’t much of a disturbance caused when a Celestial Immortal became a Pure Yang True Immortal. “Once I become a Pure Yang True Immortal, I won’t be able to hide my Pure Yang energy,” Ning said. “I have a magic incantation that you can use to hide your energy signature. So long as you don’t attack someone, they won’t be able to realize your true power.” Subhuti handed over a bamboo scroll. Ning immediately accepted it. “The storm has come to the Three Realms.” Subhuti let out a soft sigh. “The more the enemy knows about your capabilities, the faster you will end up dying. Your Grand Xia, for example…it holds multiple individuals who have broken through to become Pure Yang True Immortals, but they’ve been hiding it all along. Some have been hiding it for trillions of years. The abilities of the Seamless Gate…there is far, far too much that you do not know about them.” Ning felt astonishment in his heart. So the Grand Xia actually had multiple Pure Yang True Immortals hidden within it? Still, that made sense; on the surface, the Xia Emperor claimed that he was the sole Pure Yang True Immortal present. If that was true, that really was quite pathetically weak. “I’ve already given you your instructions. Do not forget them. I won’t be able to protect you at all times, during this storm; in fact, not even the seven Empyrean Gods by your side might necessarily be able to emerge from their Starseizer world to rescue you in time.” Subhuti looked at Ning. “If you want to stay alive…you will primarily have to rely on yourself.” “If my guess is correct…” 3130 Subhuti lifted his head. “Both sides, the Grand Xia and the Seamless Gate, are already secretly preparing to launch the war. I expect that it will explode onto the stage within a month. You have to be careful.” After finishing his words, Subhuti turned and walked away, departing gracefully. “Your disciple shall remember your words,” Ning said respectfully. “What’s wrong, Ji Ning?” “Junior apprentice-brother?” Immortal Diancai and the others next to Ning all returned to normal. Just now, the flow of time had been changed for them, and so although Ning and Subhuti had spent some time chatting, Immortal Diancai and the others only felt as though an instant had passed. They didn’t see Patriarch Subhuti at all; naturally, they had no idea as to what had just happened. “Nothing. My master was helping to protect me; he just left.” Ning laughed. “Let’s go. Let’s go back to Brightheart Island.” “Right.” They all followed Ning in flying back towards Brightheart Island. As they flew through the air, they saw the Golden Crow beginning to rise. “The wind and the rain are coming…” Ning mused silently to himself, “Within one month, eh?” If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Brightheart Island. Ji Ning and the others landed onto the ground. Upon seeing him appear, the servants and maids of Brightheart Island all called out in respectful unison, “Young master.” “Ji Ning, you’ve returned.” A frantic-looking, black-robed Ji Truekeep came walking over. “Uncle Truekeep.” Ning smiled. “What has you looking so worried?” “How can I not be worried? If it weren’t for the fact that I knew you were undergoing your tribulation, I would’ve gone looking for you long ago. Thank goodness…thank goodness you are back!” As Truekeep spoke, an armored soldier began to walk towards them from not too far away. Ning immediately recognized this man as a captain of the Imperial Guard of the imperial capital, a Loose Immortal soldier. Truekeep immediately said, “This general came all the way here from the imperial capital on the Xia Emperor’s orders. He’s been waiting here for you for two months.” “Two months?” Ning was startled. “If you didn’t come back in three days…I would’ve gone looking for you, even thought I know you were undergoing your tribulation,” Truekeep said. The fact that Ning’s Primaltwin was undergoing the Celestial Tribulation wasn’t a secret; both the Xia Emperor and the Seamless Gate knew, and so Ning couldn’t be bothered to hide it from anyone else. “Does the Xia Emperor need something?” Ning looked towards the Imperial Guard captain. The captain said respectfully, “Immortal Darknorth, I have come on the orders of the Xia Emperor to deliver this to you in person.” He held up a leather scroll, offering it to Ning. Ning reached out to accept it. “I’ll be leaving now.” The captain immediately turned to leave. “Let me send you off.” Clan leader Ji Truekeep moved to escort the captain. Ji Ning opened the leather scroll. The nearby Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei were both puzzled; what urgent matter was this? Upon seeing the contents of the leather scroll, Ning’s face changed slightly. “Ji Ning, what is it?” Immortal Diancai asked. “Of course, if it’s something that cannot be told to others, you don’t have to tell me.” “There’s no point to keeping this a secret,” Ning said. By now, Truekeep had returned as well. Truekeep said nervously, “All I know is that the messenger captain said that this is critically urgent news that had to be delivered to you, Ji Ning, before the sixth day of the eighth month. Thankfully, you finally came back with seven days to spare. Right…what is this about?” Ning swept everyone present with his gaze. Mu Northson, Little Qing, Autumn Leaf, Immortal Diancai, and Yu Wei all looked back at him. “The Seamless Gate is about to truly launch their war against the Grand Xia,” Ning said. “War?” “So it’s finally starting…” “But…” They all felt their hearts sink. All of them, however, had mentally prepared themselves for this long ago. Some major worlds of the Three Realms had already descended into war, and some of the weaker ones had already been subjugated. But of course, things happened more slowly with the more powerful major worlds. The Grand Xia was one example; things were just beginning here. The Seamless Gate’s attempted conquest of it wasn’t something that could be resolved in a day or two. “By now…everyone will have to choose a side,” Ning said. “I trust that soon, the entire Grand Xia will be divided into two sides. One will be the Xia Emperor’s side, which is to say Daofather Crimsonbright’s side. The other will of course be the Seamless Gate’s side. Naturally…I will of course stand with the Xia Emperor.” “Right.” Everyone present nodded. They all knew of the feud between Ning and the Seamless Gate. Ning was their leader; they naturally would follow him wherever he led. In turn, Ning was definitely going to follow Patriarch Subhuti. Subhuti, Daoist Threelives…both of them were on the side of the Nuwa Alliance. Be it for personal reasons or organizational reasons, Ning was definitely going to stand with the Nuwa Alliance as well. “The evening of the sixth, I am to head to the Skylight Palace of the imperial capital. I imagine many Celestial Immortals will be present, and even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods will appear,” Ning said. “Of the Ji clan, I am the only person required to take part in battle; no one else needs to participate.” “Then what of the Black-White College?” Immortal Diancai asked. “I imagine this same information has been sent to the Black-White College already,” Ning said. “I don’t know the details with regards to the College; Master, if you return to the College, you should be able to find out right away.” “Right. I’ll go back right away to take a look.” Immortal Diancai nodded, then immediately flew away on a cloud, quickly disappearing into the horizons. Ning continued, “On the sixth day of the eighth month, I am to go to the Skylight Palace. Before the sixth…the Ji clan needs to evacuate.” “Evacuate?” Autumn Leaf, Ji Truekeep, Uncle White, and the others were all stunned. “Ji Ning, where are we evacuating to?” Truekeep asked. “Here is a Pure Yang treasure, a ‘Violetdawn Pearl’.” Ning waved his hand, and a mottled, violet-colored pearl appeared out of nowhere. This pearl was one of the Pure Yang treasures which Ning had acquired when he attacked those eighteen Celestial Immortals of the Seamless Gate. Alas, although those eighteen had a few Pure Yang treasures, none of them had any top-grade treasures! The Violetdawn Pearl was used to capture and bewilder foes. It contained a minor world within it that was comparable to the Earth of his previous life in size. It would be very simple to have the Ji clansmen move there and live there. “A Pure Yang treasure?” Truekeep was rather stunned. To many Immortal cultivators, Pure Yang treasures were mere myths. Only Celestial Immortals could even use Pure Yang treasures! Yu Wei and the others, however, were quite calm; they had far more experience. “While the war is going on in the Grand Xia, I won’t be able to guarantee the safety of Swallow Mountain. Evacuation is the only option,” Ning said. “Uncle Truekeep, don’t worry; I will definitely protect the Ji clan.” “Alright. I’ll go give the order right now to have the clansmen make their preparations,” Truekeep said. “Good. Three days from now, we will begin the evacuation,” Ning said. …… Night. Ning, Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Celestial Immortal Unity were meeting at the Black-White College. “Per the Xia Emperor’s orders…the two Celestial Immortals of the Black-White College, along with all of the Loose Immortals, must arrive at the imperial palace of the Grand Xia by the evening of the sixth,” Immortal Diancai said. “The Northmont clan of Stillwater received the same order; all the Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals must go.” Unity sighed. “The Xia Emperor is being fairly benevolent; he isn’t forcing us to send our Primal Daoists or Earth Immortals into battle.” Unity then chuckled. “Right; the Seamless Gate has sent yet another a messenger to me. They are inviting me to go to Whitepole City on the sixth. They said that if I went, I would no longer be an enemy; I would be a friend.” “They actually dare to send yet another invitation?” Immortal Diancai was shocked. “Perhaps the Seamless Gate thinks that senior Unity might lose his mind and join them,” Ning laughed. “From the looks of it, neither the Xia Emperor nor the Seamless Gate is going to hide their conflict any longer. Both of them chose the sixth of the eighth month…” Unity sighed. “However, one meeting is at the imperial palace of the Grand Xia, while the other is at Whitepole City. It seems as though Whitepole City has already joined the Seamless Gate!” Ji Ning, Immortal Diancai, and the others all had solemn looks on their faces. Whitepole City… This was a very low-key city, an incredibly low-key city. It was incredibly rare for people in the imperial capital of the Grand Xia to hear of any news from Whitepole City. However, the Whitepole clan clan was one of the top ten ancient clans of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. They were content to just hold onto a small piece of land, and they had no interest in going to the imperial capital to take up official positions. Instead, they had built up their fief of Whitepole Commandery to the point where it was almost completely invulnerable to attack. The power of this clan was actually greater than that of the brash Youngflame clan’s! Who would’ve thought that they would have silently, wordlessly joined the Seamless Gate? Their city had even ended up as the headquarters for the Seamless Gate’s conference! From this, one could see how much the Seamless Gate trusted the Whitepole clan. “The reason why the Xia Emperor was able to force the other clans to join him was because he had the Primordial Imperial Clan behind him; this was why he was able to finally unify the world,” Unity said. “In truth, however, there had been many clans that were struggling quite fiercely against the Xiamang clan. The Whitepole clan was one of the clans that struggled with the Xiamang clan for supremacy. However…they didn’t have enough of a foundation, and so in the end they submitted.” “If the many clans of the world all joined forces, the Xiamang clan would be completely unable to resist them,” Unity continued. “In fact…there have been marquis-led rebellions in the past. Only after that did the Xia Emperor set up the massive commandery cities to further solidify his rule.” “I wonder…how many marquises have joined the Seamless Gate?” Unity sighed. Ning nodded as well. There were differences amongst the various marquises. The likes of the Xiamang clan and the Kindwater clan were all branches of major clans of the Primordial Era! The Whitepole clan, however, originally belonged to Celestial Immortal Whitepole, a lone cultivator. After Pangu’s World was destroyed, Celestial Immortal Whitepole had established his clan within the newly created world that was later known as the Grand Xia. Afterwards, he had broken through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal; this naturally resulted in the Whitepole clan flourishing and becoming powerful. Alas…Whitepole didn’t have any powerful backers, as he had created his clan by himself, unlike the Xiamang clan or the Kindwater clan, which had the major clans of the Primordial Era behind them. “True Immortal Whitepole has always been very low-key. After the Grand Xia was unified, he has never acted against the Grand Xia Dynasty,” Unity said. “In addition, I know of two others at the True Immortal or Empyrean God level; one belongs to the Kindwater clan, the other belongs to the Skyfarmer clan. Neither of them acted against the Grand Xia either; clearly, they aren’t willing to make enemies out of the Xia Emperor. Ning was surprised. The Skyfarmer clan? He knew that the Kindwater clan had an Empyrean God behind it, but this was the first time he had heard that the Skyfarmer clan had such a power behind it as well. Celestial Immortal Unity, who had lived through the Fiendgod Era, truly was a man who knew many mysteries. …… Ning’s group, without question, stood by the side of the Xia Emperor. However, they couldn’t help but feel worried by how powerful the Seamless Gate’s side was. Two sides were struggling for supremacy… Would the Xia Emperor suffer a disastrous defeat, or would the Seamless Gate be sent fleeing in disgrace? All of this was unknown for now. However, one thing was certain…this was going to be a savage, cruel war! After all, many major worlds had already been conquered, while many others were already burning in the fires of war. The power of the Seamless Gate…it caused everyone in the Three Realms to shudder. …… Ning’s Primaltwin was able to easily bind the Pure Yang treasure, ‘Violetdawn Pearl’. The evacuation of the Ji clan started. Since there weren’t many Ji clansmen to begin with, the evacuation was fairly simple; in just the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, the evacuation was completedly. Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Uncle White, Little Qing, Autumn Leaf, Mu Northson, and Ji Truekeep stood atop the clouds, staring down at the vast world below them. “Time to leave Swallow Mountain.” Truekeep let out a sigh. This was the land which countless generations of the Ji clan had worked to till and make prosperous. “We’ll be back,” the black-robed Ning said. Whoosh. Ning suddenly waved his hand, releasing his Celestial Immortal energy. Using a worldshaping technique, he manifested an utterly enormous palm out of natural energy, a palm that was many hundreds of kilometers in size. The enormous palm looked misty and blurry, as it was formed by energy and air. Suddenly, the giant palm made a downwards grab! The entire Serpentwing Lake, along with the centermost Brightheart Island, was caught up by the giant palm. Not even a single drop of water was missed. “Come in.” Ning used a technique, instantly drawing the entire Serpentwing Lake into the Violetdawn Pearl. Serpentwing Lake held extraordinary meaning for him. He didn’t want to leave Serpentwing Lake here. If it ended up being destroyed…he would be filled with endless regrets. If Ning had the energy of a Pure Yang True Immortal, he would’ve been able to move away the entire Swallow Mountain region of a hundred thousand kilometers! …… The underwater estate. Ning’s true body emerged from the Wargod Hall. He had just successfully challenged the highest level of the Wargod Hall, the tenth level. “The war is about to begin. It is time for me to find a suitable Pure Yang treasure for myself.” Ning headed straight for the Treasure Hall. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Although the tenth level was seemingly difficult, in truth Ji Ning had already acquired the power to overcome it by the time he had returned from the Nihilum Zone. However, since his Primaltwin had yet to overcome the tribulation, he wouldn’t have been able to put the Pure Yang treasure to any use, and so he hadn’t been in a rush to attempt it. The treasure he had acquired last time, the ‘Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls’, he had traded to the Xia Emperor for many other treasures, so as to repair the Rahu Bow and train in both the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and the [Starseizing Hand]. This time, there was no way Ning would trade the treasure away. The war was beginning. He needed powerful treasures for it! Although he had acquired quite a few treasures from the Seamless Gate, especially the three top-grade Pure Yang treasures and the Protocosmic spirit-treasure which Old Man Yuan had given him, alas…the only treasure which was of significant use to him was the Nineleaf Snowlotus. The others weren’t very useful to him; in fact, they weren’t even of great use to Yu Wei. Thus, Ning had given one of the Pure Yang treasures to Immortal Diancai, then put the others into storage. “I hope there are flying swords.” As Ning stepped into the Treasure Hall, he saw the giant yellow bear waiting for him. “Ji Ning, you can now choose one of the twenty-two Pure Yang treasures we have available.” The giant yellow bear waved his hand, and a book instantly flew towards Ning. “There are only five more choices than last time?” Ning was surprised. “These are Pure Yang treasures. How many do you think we have?” The giant yellow bear was irritated. Last time, Ning had chosen the Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls out of eighteen available choices, leaving behind seventeen. Now, five more choices appeared for a total of twenty-two. In truth, however…Ning didn’t fancy any of the previous seventeen, and so he would really be choosing from these five. “Once you become an Empyrean God and become the master of the Starseizing Manor, you’ll be able to acquire better treasures. For now…you’ll have to continue to act in accordance with Master’s rules,” the big bear said. Ning smiled, then lowered his head to flip through the books. There had to… There simply had to be top-grade Pure Yang flying swords here! His Primaltwin’s [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] truly needed flying swords! “How extraordinary.” Ning could barely breathe. The Pure Yang treasures which Daoist Threelives had collected truly were not treasures which most Empyrean Gods or True Immortals could hope to touch. In terms of preciousness… Of the five Pure Yang treasures, the most precious treasure was a set known as the ‘Nine Invisible Mother-Son Hooks’. This was a treasure set formed by nine top-grade and eighty-one middle grade Pure Yang-level poison hooks. They formed into nine mother-son formation sets that could lock down space itself, preventing foes from using Greater Teleportation! In addition, they were extremely fast and possessed astonishing power. Alas, Ning needed swords, not poison hooks. “These two sets of flying swords…” Ning revealed a look of delight. Of the five sets, two were actually sword-sets. It seemed as though the giant yellow bear had really been very thoughtful in bringing these out for him. The first set of flying swords was known as the Three Pure Ones. These were three top-grade Pure Yang swords that were personally forged by the leader of the Daoist Path, Daoist Three Purities. These three flying swords were extraordinary, even amongst top-grade Pure Yang swords. In his past life on Earth, Ning had heard of the legends of the Three Pure Ones. However, only after he had embarked upon the path of Immortal cultivation and had become apprenticed to Subhuti had he truly understood that Earth’s myths regarding the Exalted Celestial of Primordial Origins, the Exalted Celestial of the Virtuous Dao, and the Exalted Celestial of the Luminous Treasure were all about the same person. These three, the Three Pure Ones, were merely the three mighty incarnations of Daoist Three Purities! As the leader of the Daoist Path, Daoist Three Purities was acknowledged without dispute as one of the most powerful figures of the Three Realms. The only person one might dare to proclaim as being more powerful as him would probably be Maiden Nuwa, who had left the Three Realms to enter the endless primordial chaos. The second set of flying swords were known as the Ananda 1 World-Swords. Ananda was the attendant and protector of the leader of the Buddhist Sangha. Although he was merely an ‘attendant’, he was also someone who was at the Buddha (Daofather) level of power. His status within the Buddhist Sangha was extremely high, definitely high enough to rank in the top ten. The Ananda World-Swords were nine top-grade Pure Yang flying swords that had been personally fashioned by Buddha Ananda. They were incomparably sharp, capable of cutting through the miseries of the mortal world. “I didn’t expect that one of these two sets would have been forged by the leader of the Daoist Path, while the other was created by Buddha Ananda of the Buddhist Sangha.” Ning laughed. He was a disciple of Subhuti; although Subhuti knew both Daoist and Buddhist divine abilities and spells, he belonged to neither camp. Both the Daoist Way and the Buddhist Sangha belonged to Maiden Nuwa’s side; they could be considered allies and friends of Ning. “Have you made your choice?” The giant yellow bear asked. “The Ananda World-Swords, I suppose.” Ning smiled. “They are nine top-grade Pure Yang flying swords; they can serve as a formation-base, allowing the power of my [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] to increase dramatically.” “Alright.” The giant yellow bear waved his paw. Whoosh! Deep from the thronging mass of treasures that hovered in the air above the Treasure Hall, a massively powerful ripple suddenly spread out. Nine flying swords that were completely lacquered came descending downwards, appearing in front of Ji Ning. At the same time, nine little monks that glowed with golden light flew out from the nine swords. The little monks were bald and all dressed yellow robes, and they looked as if they were seven or eight years old. All nine of these little monks, however, possessed sharp auras that were filled with killing intent. “So you are our new master?” One of the little monks said. “Right.” Ning nodded. “Shall you work to sever misery and its bringers from the world, bringing blessings to the countless living beings of the world?” The little monk asked. Ning smiled. “A storm has arisen, and I shall naturally be forced to kill. I am, however, on the same side as the one who created you, Buddha Ananda.” The nine little monks immediately folded their hands together into a prayer. “Amitabha.” 2 …… With the nine top-grade Pure Yang swords serving as a formation-base, and the hundreds of top-grade Immortal-ranked swords supporting them…the power of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] instantly increased to become far more greater than that of the Nineleaf Snowlotus, which was a high grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure. Top-grade Pure Yang treasures were normally only comparable to 3140 middle grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures, but nine of them combined into a large formation naturally resulted in more power. In addition, the Nineleaf Snowlotus was mainly meant for trapping and binding foes, while Immortal swords were meant for launching attacks. …… The sixth day of the eighth month. Night was descending. “Let’s go.” Celestial Immortal Unity, the black-robed Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and more than two hundred Loose Immortals all soared into the skies in awe-inspiring fashion, then left through teleportation. Two hundred Loose Immortals…this represented all of the Loose Immortals of Stillwater Commandery! The various major schools and sects of Stillwater Commandery, such as the Skysplitter Sword Sect, the Hundred Flowers Fairyland, the Dragonhunter clan, and the Eastriver clan actually had even more Loose Immortals than the Black-White College did…and now, all of them were being mobilized. There was no way any of them would dare to violate the Xia Emperor’s orders. “The war really is starting. All the Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals are being dragged into it.” Upon seeing more than two hundred Loose Immortals gather here, Ning couldn’t help but secretly sigh to himself. ……. The air above the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. One spatial ripple after another appeared, followed by the emergence of squads of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals. Every squad had at least a few dozen people, while some had several thousand! If the Youngflame clan hadn’t joined the Seamless Gate, their three commanderies would’ve sent the thousands of Loose Immortals they possessed as well. This day was simply too stunning. Countless citizens of the imperial capital raised their heads, staring at the skies. Upon seeing a countless number of Loose Immortals pour in at a steady rate, and even many exalted Celestial Immortals appear, everyone was shocked. “This many?” “They have to all be at least Loose Immortals.” “Good heavens…” 3141 The local citizens were completely dazed. As for the Immortals, they shot out like an endless stream of meteors, shooting through the skies towards the imperial palace. Whoosh. Ning’s group of two hundred or so from Stillwater Commandery arrived as well. “So many.” As Ning stared at the many Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals who had been gathered here, he couldn’t help but feel stunned as well. At the same time, he felt a hint of dread in his heart. “So many Immortals…even Empyrean Gods or True Immortals would be in grave danger if they tried to fight by themselves. Ning glanced sideways at Yu Wei. Yu Wei’s belly still wasn’t protruding yet; Ning was a Fiendgod, after all, while Yu Wei was a Celestial Immortal. Their child would spend a fairly long period of time gestating in her womb. Ning mused silently to himself, “She’s pregnant; it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to go out into battle. I need to have a chat with the Xia Emperor about this.” The delegation from Stillwater Commandery flew towards the imperial palace as well. …… The plaza below the imperial palace. Countless figures had appeared here; it truly was a veritable ocean of people. The Xia Emperor had given the order long ago that only Celestial Immortals were qualified to go into the Skylight Palace and congregate there. The main reason for this was that there were simply far too many Loose Immortals; there was no way the Skylight Palace could possibly fit that many people aside. Were all the Immortals supposed to be packed in together shoulder-to-shoulder? Even back during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, only a few thousand people had been permitted to sit within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. “You wait here.” Celestial Immortal Unity gave the order, and the two hundred-plus Loose Immortals all landed, leaving Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and Unity to continue flying forwards by themselves towards the Skylight Palace. …… Within the Skylight Palace. Many Celestial Immortals were gathered here, having rushed here from throughout the 3600 commanderies and the four seas. Although the Seamless Gate had worked hard to pull others into their orbit, over the course of countless years, these Celestial Immortals had all become tightly drawn into Daofather Crimsonbright’s alliance. Thus, many of them had still chosen to come here. “So many.” Ning, Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and Celestial Immortal Unity all entered the palace, and as they did they felt breathless for a moment. “There has to be at least six…seven thousand people here!” Ning swept his gaze forward. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” “Fellow Daoist Darknorth.” Ji Ning’s arrival caused quite a few Celestial Immortals to head towards them to chat with him. Of course, they said a few things to Celestial Immortal Unity, Yu Wei, and Immortal Diancai as well, but most of them clearly came over to chat with Ning. Celestial Immortal Unity had been in seclusion for far, far too long. Immortal Diancai was the least-known of the group, with Yu Wei being slightly better off thanks to her being Patriarch Lu’s disciple. As for Ji Ning, he was a monstrous genius who was capable of resisting nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan while being merely at the Void level. He was also the disciple of a Daofather with unfathomable power. Naturally, the various Celestial Immortals wanted to become better acquainted with Ning; that way, if they encountered any problems in the future and they wanted to ask Ning to help out, Ning would at least have met them before. “So many Celestial Immortals.” Yu Wei couldn’t help but feel stunned as well. “In the past, many major clans were hiding some of their oldest experts, who lived in seclusion. The exact number of Celestial Immortals each clan had was always a mystery. However, the storm has now swept the Three Realms. The Xia Emperor has personally ordered them to show up, which is equivalent to Daofather Crimsonbright ordering to them to attend. None of them dare to disobey; after all, Daofather Crimsonbright knows exactly how many Celestial Immortals are under his control,” Unity said. “Thus…now that so many of the hidden ones have appeared, the total number is naturally quite high.” As time flowed on, more and more Celestial Immortals arrived. Soon, the number reached over nine thousand, continuing to climb. “Why haven’t any Empyrean Gods or True Immortals arrived?” Immortal Diancai was puzzled. “I imagine the Xia Emperor has invited all the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to meet with him privately,” Celestial Immortal Unity said. “They have higher statuses than we do, after all.” Another two hours passed. The Celestial Immortals within the Skylight Palace were all provided arranged seating by the attendants here. They each had tables placed in front of them, allowing the entire hall to just barely fit in all of the ten thousand-plus Celestial Immortals who had arrived. “His Imperial Majesty has arrived.” 3143 All of the Celestial Immortals turned their heads in unison to look. The black-robed Xia Emperor was walking in through a side door…and behind him, there were five True Immortals or Empyrean Gods who had auras as powerful as his! The Xia Emperor sat up high in his throne, gazing down at his subjects. “We bow in respect to you, Imperial Majesty.” Instantly, the five True Immortals and Empyrean Gods all bowed and called out. “We bow in respect to you, Imperial Majesty.” The more than ten thousand Celestial Immortals present all rose to their feet, bowing and calling out in unison. The Xia Emperor sat atop his throne, staring down at his bowing subjects while feeling high-spirited. To have more than ten thousand Celestial Immortals bowing towards him…this was a first for even the Xia Emperor himself!. Ananda was the cousin of the Buddha and one of his closest disciple.. Amitabha is the name of a Buddha, the most important Buddha of the popular Pure Lands School. It is believed by many Buddhists, even in this very day, that saying his name will bring blessings. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. When the Grand Xia had been unified, all of the Immortals and Gods had come to pay their respects…but that was after countless years of wars against the Fiendgods, resulting in catastrophic casualties. Very few Celestial Immortals were alive after those wars. Now that the Grand Xia had been at peace for so many eons, the total number of Celestial Immortals within the Grand Xia had reached astonishing heights. “This is a tribulation like none we have ever faced before. I wonder…how many of them will be alive at its conclusion?” The Xia Emperor stared downwards, sighing privately to himself. “I’m not even sure if I myself will survive…” “Arise,” the Xia Emperor said aloud. “Take your seats.” Ji Ning and the others all took their seats. Immortal fruit and nectars were placed in front of them, but none of the Immortals were in the mood for food. They were all waiting to hear the Xia Emperor’s words. “Junior apprentice-brother, look; it seems as though the Dongyan Forefather is amongst those five True Immortals up there,” Yu Wei suddenly sent. “The Dongyan Forefather?!” Ning was shocked, immediately looking over. Indeed. Amongst the group of five, there was a man dressed in plain blue robes. He looked quite ordinary, but his aura was that of a True Immortal. The Dongyan Forefather was the pillar that held up the skies for the Dongyan clan! Ninelotus was now the current clan leader for the Dongyan clan, and during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, Ning had personally seen the Dongyan Forefather. However, back then he had merely been a Celestial Immortal. Who would’ve thought that when upon his next appearance, he was a Pure Yang True Immortal? Ning suddenly thought of what his master, Subhuti, had told him. He couldn’t help but sigh to himself. “The world of the Grand Xia truly is a world of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.” “My many fellow Immortal…” The Xia Emperor finally spoke out. Instantly, everyone looked at him. Ning no longer pondered on the Dongyan clan, also focusing on the Xia Emperor’s words. “I trust all of you, fellow Immortals, know what our current situation is like.” The black-robed Xia Emperor’s voice was very somber. The Seamless Gate has summoned a storm that is sweeping through the entire Grand Xia. By now, hundreds of the weaker major worlds of the Three Realms have already 3145 been fully subjugated by them. In addition to those, more than a thousand major worlds have been embroiled by the flames of war…and our Grand Xia has also become embroiled into a war against the Seamless Gate.” Everyone felt heaviness in their hearts. Hundreds of major worlds had already been subjugated? They hadn’t know this previously, before the Xia Emperor announced it. It must be understood that the Three Realms only had three thousand major worlds to begin with; as for the trillion minor worlds, they were far, far weaker. Any clan or school could easily take over a minor world, which was why in the short run it didn’t really matter who the minor worlds belonged to. The major worlds were the places where both sides were fighting! “The Seamless Gate is indeed powerful.” The Xia Emperor nodded. “If we were weak and divided like a pile of loose sound, we would’ve been broken apart and defeated individually by them long ago.” “However…we are unified!” The Xia Emperor’s eyes flashed with divine light. “The Seamless Gate’s power is unfathomable, but we have the many Daofathers and Buddhas of the Daoist Path and Buddhist Sangha behind us, as well as the many True Gods who were born from the primordial chaos and many other major powers with unbelievable might. Our power is great as well! If the Seamless Gate was capable of completely suppressing us with force, they would’ve swept through and taken over the Three Realms long ago. They wouldn’t have settled upon their current plan of launching sneak attacks everywhere in such a cautious manner.” Everyone present nodded. The reason why so many Celestial Immortals had come was because they were all quite confident in their side. Their own alliance, after all, was an incredibly powerful one as well. They were also under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright, who was under the command of Maiden Nuwa. So many major powers…they made up a force of utterly inconceivably terrifying might. “In war, there is triage. Some places have to be abandoned, while some places must be protected,” the Xia Emperor said. “Our power, although great, doesn’t allow us to protect every single world of the three thousand major worlds. Thus, we have to abandon a few of those places, allowing us to concentrate our strength to protect the important worlds.” “And the Grand Xia…is one of the places we have to protect!” The Xia Emperor’s voice carried a terrifying, combative will within it. Everyone listening, however, felt uneasy. Most likely, the Empyrean God and True Immortal rulers of the other conquered major worlds had said the same things to their subordinates…that their world ‘had to be protected’. Otherwise, how could they have convinced their Celestial Immortals to fight for them? The Xia Emperor swept his subjects with his gaze, understanding their concerns. He immediately said, “The karmic luck of our Grand Xia is one of the highest of all the three thousand major worlds of the Three Realms. In the face of a tribulation like this, the war over karmic luck is a critically important component. Even the loss of ten of those weaker major worlds wouldn’t compare to our Grand Xia!” Everyone below him nodded. This was definitely true! “Thus…the Grand Xia absolutely not must be lost,” the Xia Emperor said solemnly. “In addition!” “Our side already has eleven thousand Celestial Immortals and more than a million Loose Immortals!” The Xia Emperor continued, “I have spoken with multiple True Gods and Daofathers regarding how the Grand Xia shall defend against our foes.” The many Immortals all felt their hearts clench. Multiple True Gods and Daofathers? They all listened attentively. Eleven thousand Celestial Immortals, more than a million Loose Immortals…although this figure was stunning, everyone had already guessed at it after seeing the veritable sea of Loose Immortals present. “We have decided upon our plan,” the Xia Emperor said. “Of the elven thousand Celestial Immortals, two thousand will be under my direct command! The other nine thousand will be divided up into nine major armies, each of which will consist of a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals. Every single army will train in the ‘Heaven Punisher Formation’. During the conference, True God Xingtian 1 personally agreed to transmit this grand formation to me!” “Xingtian the Heaven Punisher?” Everyone revealed a look of shock and joy. True God Xingtian was extremely famous in the Three Realms. He was a figure out of the oldest legends. Long ago, during the era of Pangu’s World, Xingtian had been merely an Empyrean God, one of the mighty generals under the command of humanity’s Primordial Imperial Clan. Early on during the Primordial Era, although humans were a very powerful race and the Human Emperor was acknowledged as a true Emperor, the thousands of other races were all quite powerful as well. The monsters, for example, were only slightly weaker than the humans. Thus, the major powers had all worked together to establish the Celestial Court. As for the Celestial Emperor, his job was to assure peace between the various parties, so as to ensure the safety and stability of the Primordial World. Back then, the Human Emperor had been a truly dominating force. The Celestial Emperor, by contrast, was merely a mediator. During that era, Xingtian had a quarrel with the Celestial Emperor, resulting in him launching a direct assault against the Celestial Court. Xingtian was a general of the imperial clan who was extremely skilled in battle. Although the Celestial Emperor had some Empyrean Gods and True Immortals by his side, they were unable to withstand Xingtian. In the end, the Celestial Emperor had been forced to go all-out and also invite other Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to assist him before he had been able to suppress Xingtian. In the end, they actually managed to chop off Xingtian’s head. Now, as a Fiendgod, Xingtian naturally wouldn’t die after having his head severed. However, Xingtian was an excessively proud person. Much like how Daoist Threelives had been unwilling to regrow his severed arm, Xingtian had been unwilling to regrow his head after it was cut off. Instead, he transformed his nipples into eyes and his bellybutton into his mouth. Who would’ve thought that as a result of that wild battle, Xingtian would actually break through from being an Empyrean God to the True God level? He had instantly executed the Celestial Emperor. 2 The Primordial Imperial Clan of humans had gained yet another True God; they were naturally delighted by this and were completely determined to protect Xingtian. The other major powers didn’t quibble too much; after all, Xingtian had already become a True God, and that was that. They ended up just choosing a new Celestial Emperor. True God Xingtian, a member of the Primordial Imperial Clan, had bestowed upon the Xia Emperor the ‘Heaven Punisher Formation’; clearly, he was standing alongside the Xia Emperor as well. The fact that the Xia Emperor had the Primordial Imperial Clan behind him was yet another reason why all of these Celestial Immortals were willing to risk their lives for him. The Primordial Imperial Clan was simply too strong! It had multiple major powers within its ranks, and the most ancient members, the Human Emperors, definitely were some of the most supreme figures of the Three Realms. The Human Emperors included many ancient figures, such as Suiren of the Flame and Shennong the Divine Farmer. 3 Even the leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Way worked to befriend the human race; from this, one could tell how powerful the Primordial Imperial Clan of humans was. “The Heaven Punisher Formation requires a commander, a thousand Celestial Immortals, and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals working in unison,” the Xia Emperor said. “This enormous formation has the power to link into the energy of the natural world. The hundred thousand Loose Immortals serve as a powerful foundation that will pull in natural energy from an area of a million kilometers. The Celestial Immortals will guide them to use that energy to form a Xingtian Divinity which is so powerful that even Empyrean Gods and True Immortals will find hard to damage.” Ning and the others sighed in amazement upon hearing this. What an incredible effort the Xia Emperor had made. If the Loose Immortals all struck out without coordination without guidance, they would be completely and effortlessly slaughtered. However, once a hundred thousand Loose Immortals activated the power of the natural world…they would be able to make a much larger difference. It wasn’t hard for a single Loose Immortal to fully activate the natural energy for an area of ten thousand kilometers. A hundred thousand Loose Immortals could definitely activate all of the energy for an area of a million kilometers. So much natural energy…how terrifying that had to be! Not even Empyrean Gods or True Immortals were at such a ridiculous level of power! But of course, although the Loose Immortals could activate the energy, they wouldn’t be able to control it. Thus, a thousand Celestial Immortals were needed to provide guidance and to mobilize that energy, serving as the skeleton and spine…and of course, a commander was needed to serve as the head, in charge of everything. Only then could the power of this mighty Heaven Punisher Formation be unleashed. “I will transmit to all the Loose Immortals the basic fundaments of the Heaven Punisher Formation,” the Xia Emperor said. “But of course, I’ll leave out the most important parts of it.” “I’ll choose the commanders of the nine armies from the eleven thousand of you.” The Xia Emperor looked downwards, and instantly everyone below him began to murmur. To command a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals…who wouldn’t be willing to accept such an honor? All of them wanted to be commanders, not soldiers. They had thought that the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would take up those positions; who would’ve thought that the Xia Emperor would choose from the Celestial Immortals? “The most important part of the Heaven Punisher Formation is the activation of natural energy by the Loose Immortals; an Empyrean God or True God leading it wouldn’t actually add that much power to it,” the Xia Emperor said. “Thus, I’m choosing from the Celestial Immortals. As for the True Gods and Empyrean Gods…at critical moments, they’ll help you out and deal heavy blows to the Seamless Gate.” “I’ll give you all half a month,” the Xia Emperor said. “During this period of time, you are to fully learn and understand the Heaven Punisher Formation, and you’ll have a chance to fight for the opportunity to become a commander.” “When the time comes, I’ll send out a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals and give every contestant a chance to try to command them in a formation,” the Xia Emperor said. “The nine Celestial Immortals who control the formation with the greatest amount of skill and allow it to unleash the most power will become the nine commanders.” Upon hearing his words, Ning and the others all felt persuaded. To let those who were able to unleash the most power from the formation become the commanders was quite fair. “The nine final commanders shall be taught the most important aspects of the Heaven Punisher Formation,” the Xia Emperor said. “Without those parts, the formation can still be used, but the power 3149 will only be comparable to some other ancient formations. With those important parts…the power will be increased tens of times over.” This formation was a secret of the Primordial Imperial Clan; the important parts to it naturally could not be taught to just anyone and everyone. …… One bamboo slip after another was delivered to the tables of the Celestial Immortals. The many Celestial Immortals all pored their coresense into the bamboo slips, easily acquiring the Heaven Punisher Formation. But of course, actually learning it would require some time. “Everyone, you will only have half a month. When the time ends, only those who have already fully learned the Heaven Punisher Formation will have a chance to fight over the commander positions,” the Xia Emperor said. “Alright, everyone…hurry up and learn the Heaven Punisher Formation!” That night. A million Loose Immortals were at the plaza below the Skylight Palace, all seated in the lotus position as they focused on learning the basics of the Heaven Punisher Formation. As for the many Celestial Immortals, they remained at the main hall of the Skylight Palace. They, too, sat in the lotus position as they meditated on the Heaven Punisher Formation. Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai…all of them quietly sat there, meditating.. Xingtian means Heaven Punisher, much like how Xuanwu refers to the Turtle-Snake 2. This entire story is very close to the actual Chinese legend of Xingtian, except in the legends, it was Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor and the forefather of Chinese civilization, who defeated and severed Xingtian’s head. The real story, however, ended at the part with Xingtian regrowing his eyes and mouth.. These two figures are extremely ancient Chinese deities/demigods; Suiren is credited for having invented/discovered fire, while Shennong is credited for having taught medicine and farming to humans. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. In the blink of an eye, nine days passed. The more than ten thousand Celestial Immortals remained seated in the lotus position within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. Around each of them hovered bloody runic seals. The same was true for Ji Ning; there were many bloody runes swirling around him, each of which contained a shocking battleintent. However, it seemed as though those runes were lacking in something. They continuously circled around Ning…and finally, after Ning manifested yet another rune, all of the bloody runes connected to each other, forming a complete whole as their warlike aura skyrocketed in power. “Success.” Ning opened his eyes, looking at the hovering runes. “This Heaven Punisher Formation is truly mysterious and profound; it actually took me nine full days. However, it truly is a grand formation that is perfectly suited for combination attacks; it truly lives up to its reputation as a formation created by True God Xingtian, known as the Primordial Wargod.” Xingtian was often referred to as the Primordial Wargod. He delighted in battle. When he made his breakthrough to become a True God, it was when his head had been chopped off and he had transformed his nipples into eyes and his belly button into his mouth, then continued to fight. From this, one could tell how savage and how warlike Xingtian was. “Eh?” Ning looked at his surroundings. Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei were both meditating, but Celestial Immortal Unity’s seat was empty. “Unity has already mastered it?” Ning rose to his feet as well. The Skylight Palace was currently quite silent; everyone was busy meditating. As for the Xia Emperor and the other five True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, they had left for now; the Xia Emperor and the others couldn’t just sit there and do nothing for half a month, after all. Ning moved towards the outside of the main palace, soon seeing the Celestial Immortals floating on the clouds outside, chatting and laughing amongst themselves. Ning saw a total of sixty individuals; apparently, these were the ones who had succeeded in learning the technique. If one had a very high level of comprehension abilities, one would be capable of learning the Heaven Punisher Formation. But of course, if one had a very high level of insight into the Dao or an extremely deep level of insight into formations, one could also learn it in an incredibly short period of time. “Fellow Daoist Darknorth.” “Fellow Daoist Darknorth mastered it as well?” 3151 “The reason why we were able to learn it so quickly was because we’ve lived for trillions of years. Fellow Daoist Darknorth’s comprehension abilities are truly staggering,” the other Celestial Immortals laughed and praised. Ning smiled in acknowledgmenet. These sixty Celestial Immortals were elites; in fact, quite a few were comparable to Celestial Immortal Unity. “Ji Ning.” Unity walked over as well. “I just finished learning it a short while ago; you were just a hair slower than me. It seems you’ll be one of my major foes when it comes to competing for the commander positions.” “Don’t praise me, fellow Daoist Unity.” Ning shook his head. “The world of the Grand Xia is filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons; it won’t be easy to rank in the top nine out of more than ten thousand Celestial Immortals. Oh, right; there’s something I need to speak to the Xia Emperor about.” “Go.” Unity nodded. Ning immediately walked towards a nearby attendant, asking him to carry a message for him. “I’ll go notify the Xia Emperor right away. Immortal Darknorth, please wait a moment.” The attendant immediately departed to go report to the Xia Emperor. …… A side palace. The Xia Emperor was seated by himself before a table that was covered with a map of the entire Grand Xia. The Xia Emperor was staring intently at the map as the black-robed Ning walked in. “There you are.” The Xia Emperor raised his head. “Respectful greetings to you, Imperial Majesty.” Ning bowed. “No need to stand on such ceremony in private,” the Xia Emperor said with a laugh. “You asked to see me in private; is there something you need?” Ning immediately said, “Ji Ning has a boon to request, Imperial Majesty.” “Speak,” the Xia Emperor said. Ning said, “Ji Ning knows that the Three Realms are currently in a state of chaos, and so all Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals must take part in the battle. However…I would like to ask you, your Imperial Majesty, to help me and allow my Dao-companion, Yu Wei, to refrain from taking part in battle.” “Refrain from taking part in battle? But…” The Xia Emperor frowned. “Why?” 3152 “My Dao-companion is pregnant,” Ning explained. “If she takes too heavy a blow during a battle…she might be able to recover, as a Celestial Immortal, but the baby in her body might…” The Xia Emperor instantly laughed. “So the Rainbowflame Fairy is pregnant? Why didn’t you tell me?” “Very few people know about it; after all, it’s just a pregnancy,” Ning said. Ning hadn’t made a big fuss about this, primarily because he was worried that others would take aim at Yu Wei. Thus, only the closest people to them knew about this matter. However, after Ning’s Primaltwin’s tribulation, his master Subhuti had told him that so long as he told a second person about his secrets, there was a chance the Seamless Gate would find out. Thus, Ning understood that most likely the Seamless Gate already knew about Yu Wei’s pregnancy; this naturally made him feel even more cautious. “Don’t worry. Since she’s pregnant, we naturally won’t ask the Rainbowflame Fairy to take part in battle,” the Xia Emperor said. “However…after she finishes giving birth, she still has to take part in the war. No one can easily escape the flames of war.” “I understand.” Ning nodded. Right at this moment, someone came in from outside. As though sensing the person, Ning glanced backwards. He immediately said, “Respectful greetings to you, senior Dongyan.” The newcomer was True Immortal Dongyan. True Immortal Dongyan laughed. “I heard, Ji Ning, that you had woken up from your meditations, and so I wanted to chat with you. I didn’t expect you to be here with his Imperial Majesty.” “Might I ask what you wish of me, senior?” Ning asked. “I simply wish to ask you to help me with something,” True Immortal Dongyan said. “Help you?” Ning was surprised. “Senior, you are far more powerful than me.” True Immortal Dongyan shook his head. “What use is that? In the face of this great storm, even major powers might fall. I was thinking…in the event of my death, I would like to ask you, Ji Ning, to help me out a little in taking care of and protecting Ninelotus. You don’t have to personally watch over her and protect her, just…help arrange for her protection. All I ask is that she be able to stay alive and safe.” Ning was startled. Ninelotus? Ning had severed his relationship with Ninelotus long ago. However…within the demonheart world, the two of them had been together for thirty thousand years. This had a significant impact on Ning. “If I have the power to protect her, I naturally will. Ninelotus is my senior apprentice-sister, after all,” Ning said. “All I need are these words from you, Ji Ning.” True Immortal Dongyan sighed. “Dongyan, you are far too cautious,” the Xia Emperor said. “You became a Pure Yang True Immortal long ago, but always misguided others about it through your Primaltwin. Now that the storm has come and you are unable to avoid it, you’ve already sent all of your clansmen to your master’s place…and yet, you still want to ask Ji Ning to help out as well?” Ning was instantly surprised by these words. So the real Dongyan Forefather had become a Pure Yang True Immortal long ago. The Celestial Immortal everyone had met…had merely been a Primaltwin? “If one’s power is revealed, then one will die all the quicker when the storm comes.” True Immortal Dongyan shook his head. “Right, Xiamang. Of the eleven thousand Celestial Immortals…I imagine some are traitors for the Seamless Gate. If a traitor becomes one of the nine commanders…” Ning nodded, looking towards the Xia Emperor as well. “Of course there are traitors. That’s obvious…but what can you do about it?” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “The traitors are far too hard to discern; they can even swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens without being punished for breaking them. Many have made it all the way to the sides of our Daofathers. I imagine that the traitors we’ve uncovered only make up a small portion of all the traitors.” “They’ve made it to the sides of our Daofathers? They won’t be punished for violating oaths to the Dao of the Heavens?” Ning was shocked. The Xia Emperor looked towards Ning, then nodded. “Right. You are still quite weak; your main goal right now is to train to prepare for the Empyrean Tribulation and become an Empyrean God. Thus, there are many things which your master has probably not informed you about. Once you do become an Empyrean God, you’ll know all these things. The Seamless Gate…their abilities are beyond what you can imagine. The Seamless Gate, the Seamless Gate…in terms of their intelligence abilities and their infiltrating abilities…they truly do leave no seam untouched!” Ning shivered. Puzzled, he asked, “But why is it that they can violate oaths to the Dao of the Heavens? That makes no sense.” “Why doesn’t it make sense? Daofathers have all mastered Heavenly Daos and are in control of them; oaths to the Dao of the Heavens are useless when made by them,” the Xia Emperor said. “Since oaths to the Dao of the Heavens are useless when made by Daofathers…naturally, there are others for whom they are useless as well. However, not just anyone is capable of this…but clearly, the Seamless Gate is!” “They are able to know of every single Celestial Tribulation.” “They are able to ignore oaths to the Dao of the Heavens.” 3154 “They even number amongst their ranks disciples of the leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha!” The Xia Emperor sighed. “The two leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha possess unfathomable abilities; they were able to detect some flaws and identify some traitors. However…those ones they found most likely only make up a tiny fraction of the total number of traitors.” The Xia Emperor sighed again. “Thus…this is a true ‘tribulation’ for the Three Realms!” Ning nodded. Right. Even people like his master, Subhuti, were behaving with the utmost caution. The Seamless Gate…it was far too mysterious, and its abilities were far too unfathomable. In fact, Ning had the feeling that it was as though the Seamless Gate was in control of the laws of Heaven and Earth! They were able to locate any Celestial Tribulation, and oaths to the Dao of the Heavens was useless to them… “I will naturally be very, very cautious in choosing the nine commanders,” the Xia Emperor said. “No matter what, I cannot let one of those positions enter the hands of a traitor. However…although there might be a few traitors amongst the eleven thousand, the chances of one of them becoming the top nine are quite low. I’ll be extremely careful in my investigations, and if I detect anything out-of-place at all, I’ll immediately apprehend them.” …… Soon, the fifteen days given to the Celestial Immortals to meditate on the Heaven Punisher Formation came to an end. The Skylight Palace. The main hall. The Xia Emperor was seated high up on his throne, staring down at his subjects. Smiling, he said, “Fellow Immortals, the fifteen days have passed. I trust that you have all mastered at least the ‘advanced scroll’ of the Heaven Punisher Formation.” All the Celestial Immortals present laughed. The Heaven Punisher Formation was divided into the ‘basic’ level, the ‘advanced’ level, and the ‘complete’ level. The basic level was for Loose Immortals to learn. It was very simple, and even Loose Immortals would only need a single day to learn it. Learning the ‘advanced’ level was a bit tougher, but for Celestial Immortals…even the slowest of them would only need two days to master it. Mastering the complete Heaven Punisher Formation, however, was thousands of times more difficult. “Those of you who have mastered the complete Heaven Punisher Formation, come to the center of the palace,” the Xia Emperor said. One person after another began to rise to their feet. Ji Ning and Celestial Immortal Unity rose to their feet as well, walking to the center. An entire group of Celestial Immortals now stood at the heart of the palace. “A total of 359.” The Xia Emperor laughed. “If there was one more, we would have a perfect 360 degree circle. Still…perfection is rare in this world. My 359 fellow Immortals…I’d like to ask you to make your preparations now. In two hours, I will have each of you attempt to command a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals in assuming the Heaven Punisher Formation. I’ll test the power of the Heaven Punisher Formations you command, and the most powerful nine will become the nine commanders.” …… A short while later. The imperial plaza below the palace. More than a million Loose Immortals were gathered here; one truly could see no end to them. By now, the Loose Immortals had all parted, allowing for an empty area with a circumference of a thousand kilometers appear amongst them. At the edges around this empty area, there stood more than eleven thousand Celestial Immortals as well as the Xia Emperor. “One thousand Celestial Immortals, a hundred thousand Loose Immortals, enter the field!” The Xia Emperor ordered. The pre-selected Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals flew into the empty field in an awe-inspiring manner. “Fellow Immortal Northstar shall be the first one,” the Xia Emperor said. Celestial Immortal Northstar immediately said respectfully, “Yes.” He stepped into the empty region, and as he did, a blurry aura of light instantly covered the field, forming into an enormous grand sealing formation. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The Xia Emperor and the million Loose Immortals watched from outside the grand sealing formation. Within the formation, this quite famous Immortal Northstar, dressed in stellar Daoist robes, gave an order to the thousand Celestial Immortals and hundred thousand Loose Immortals next to him: “I’ll have to trouble you all, fellow Daoists…assemble the formation!” Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!!! A thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals all flew into the air in unison. When the Xia Emperor had selected them, he had also assigned them each a location within the grand formation. In truth, it was quite simple; each Celestial Immortal controlled a hundred Loose Immortals, who would do whatever the Celestial Immortal ordered. The thousand Celestial Immortals, in turn, followed the lead of Immortal Northstar; thus, the Heaven Punisher Formation was quite stable. The Immortals all hovered there in midair…and then bloody runes began to emerge from their bodies, causing a shockingly powerful warlike aura to emerge. BOOM! A blood-red aura suddenly burst out of the grand sealing formation, but it didn’t damage it in the slightest. Countless lines of bloody red light began to converge, merging together to form a dark-red giant. And then…the colors of the world seemed to change! An enormous whirlpool appeared in the air above the entire imperial capital. It spread more than a million kilometers, ravenously drawing in all of the surrounding natural energy. In almost the blink of an eye, a completely void of a million kilometers was created; all of the energy in that region had been drawn into the sealing formation, into the blurry giant’s body. Instantly, the blurry form of the giant began to stabilize. The giant was thirty thousand meters tall, and he looked like he had an absolutely enormous head, as well as a pair of muscular arms and powerful legs! However…if one took a careful look, one would see that the massive head was actually the giant’s entire upper torso! The nipples were the eyes, while the belly button was the mouth. The entire upper body was like a giant, savage, snarling face that had a vague resemblance to Celestial Immortal Northstar’s. “So this is Xingtian, the Heaven Punisher?” Ning and the others all sighed in amazement. A thousand and one Celestial Immortals, along with a hundred thousand Loose Immortals, were all located within the body of this Heaven Punisher. The enormous Heaven Punisher, formed from the energy of the surrounding area, had an aura of such power that it surpassed the aura of most Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. “It looks strong, but it’s power is rather hollow,” Celestial Immortal Unity evaluated. “Clearly, the enormous amount of natural energy hasn’t been applied perfectly; a bit is leaking out.” “To be able to perfectly control such an enormous amount of natural energy is too difficult. Even the most powerful of Celestial Immortals can only do their best.” Ning could see and sense how massive this concentration of power was. If someone was capable of controlling all of this power with absolute perfection…even Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would have no choice but to flee in the face of it! Alas, even a Pure Yang True Immortal controlling the formation wouldn’t be able to perfectly control it. “Fellow Immortal Northstar.” The Xia Emperor, located outside the formation, spoke out. Swish. A white-robed Xia Emperor appeared out of nowhere. The white-robed Xia Emperor walked towards the grand sealing formation, which didn’t impede him in the slightest, allowing him to enter. “Imperial Majesty.” The massive Northstar Heaven Punisher called out respectfully to him. The Heaven Punisher’s entire body was dark-red. He was only clad in furs which covered his waist and his groin. A blood-red aura radiated from his entire massive body; it was the manifestation of his warlike intent, made corporeal. “First familiarize yourself a bit first,” the white-robed Xia Emperor said. “Yes,” the Northstar Heaven Punisher said respectfully. Natural energy continued to ripple over the body of the massive Heaven Punisher, slowly stabilizing as the Heaven Punisher’s form grew more solid. The aura emanating from it, however, actually shrank considerably…but then, everything came to a halt. Clearly, this Heaven Punisher was unable to strengthen any further. The white-robed Xia Emperor nodded. “Prepare.” He waved his hand, and an enormous pile of black rocks suddenly appeared, stacked up on each other in neat layers like a small mountain. However, hints of golden light could be seen from within the black rocks, causing them to have a mysterious aura. “This is chaos goldstone,” the white-robed Xia Emperor said. “There are a total of ten pieces piled up here. Use your full power to chop down upon the stones here with your palm. The more power your Heaven Punisher is able to split open, the more stones you will be able to split open. The other fellow Immortals 3158 who command the Heaven Punisher Formation will also be assigned the task of splitting these stones open.” “Chaos goldstones? But we haven’t been taught the critical components to the Heaven Punisher Formation yet; will we be able to break them open?” Celestial Immortal Unity, located outside the formation, was a bit worried now. “Hard to say.” Ning wasn’t certain either. He naturally knew a bit about chaos goldstones. The Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] required many Five Elements treasures, and chaos goldstones could be used to satisfy the ‘metal’ element requirements. True Gods and Daofathers harvested them from the infinite primordial chaos. They were incredibly tough, and generally speaking only Empyrean Gods or True Immortals were capable of damaging them. For Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, the value of chaos goldstones lay in the fact that if one refined them, one would be able to extract chaos gold essence from them. The stones were completely black, but their surface glimmered with faint dots of golden light. These dots of golden light were ‘chaos gold essence’. These ten enormous pieces of chaos goldstone, nearly three thousand meters long…if one refined and smelted them, the amount of chaos gold essence that would be produced would most likely be the size of a human fingernail. Chaos gold essence was something which even True Gods and Daofathers would find hard to damage. It could only be used in smelting and forging if one had very special forging equipment and special techniques to melt them. They were truly top-grade ingredients, generally used in the most top-grade of Pure Yang artifacts. If one mixed in just a little chaos gold essence into those artifacts, they would become nigh indestructible. “Begin,” the white-robed Xia Emperor ordered. A million Immortals outside the formation watched as the Northstar Heaven Punisher raised his enormous palm. That massive palm was like a giant axe, the edge becoming the axe-blade as it chopped straight downwards! Ripples in space appeared in the area around his palm, pushing out in two opposite directions. However, his power was clearly still being held back; otherwise, space would’ve been torn apart long ago. BOOM! The enormous palm hacked straight down against the ten massive pieces of chaos goldstone. Instantly, the entire imperial plaza trembled. However, since this was the most stable and secure location in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, it wasn’t damaged in the slightest. “How’d he do?” 3159 “He broke it.” “He broke it!” “He seems to have broken four pieces!” The million Immortals stared, all sighing in disbelief. To be able to shatter four pieces of chaos goldstone, despite how tough they were…it could be said that even without knowing the critical parts to the formation, the Northstar Heaven Punisher was definitely at the power level of an Empyrean God or True Immortal. Ning had to admit; this Heaven Punisher was considerably stronger than his own true body, which had just barely reached the minimum level of power for Empyrean Gods or True Immortals. And this was without knowing the most important parts to the formation! “Four pieces shattered, some damage to the fifth piece.” The white-robed Xia Emperor nodded. “Alright. Next shall be fellow Immortal Alltruth.” The grand sealing formation was temporarily dispelled. The Heaven Punisher Formation disassembled. The hundred thousand Loose Immortals and one thousand and one Celestial Immortals all appeared. Celestial Immortal Northstar first bowed towards the white-robed Xia Emperor, then walked out of the grand sealing formation. As he did, a tall, skinny, ashenfaced elder walked into the formation. …… Each of the 359 Celestial Immortals had a chance to test themselves. The first testee, Celestial Immortal Northstar, was actually quite formidable; most of those who came after him were only able to break three pieces. “Fellow Immortal Unity.” The white-robed Xia Emperor glanced outside. “I’m going to give it a try.” Unity gave Ning a smile, then walked towards the grand sealing formation. Ning watched closely. Unity was the 192nd testee. The most powerful Celestial Immortal to date had, amazingly enough, been able to shatter six pieces of chaos goldstone. She was a female Immortal, Celestial Immortal Rainsoar of the Skyfarmer clan. She was a tremendously famous pill-refining expert, but she wasn’t particularly wellknown for her combat abilities. And yet, till now she was the most powerful person to be tested. “I wonder how Celestial Immortal Unity will do?” Yu Wei wondered. “Senior Unity’s power is formidable,” Ning said. “I trust his results shall be extraordinary.” Rumble… A Heaven Punisher once more took form within the formation. After familiarizing himself with the technique, the Unity Heaven Punisher was given the nod by the white-robed Xia Emperor. He, too, lifted up his massive right palm, then hacked downwards towards the pile of chaos goldstone. BOOM! Yet another, now-familiar exploding sound. By now, most likely all of the dwellers within the imperial capital of the grand Xia had gotten used to this sort of explosion…because there had been nearly two hundred of them by now. Ning took a careful look, only to see that only four pieces of the ten chaos goldstones remained undamaged. “Six pieces!” Ning called out in delight. “He truly is formidable. He’s comparable to Celestial Immortal Rainsoar.” Yu Wei was surprised and delighted as well. “Truly formidable. Impressive!” Immortal Diancai was excited as well. There were so many Celestial Immortals here, quite a few of whom were almost as powerful as Pure Yang True Immortals. However, it truly was hard to say which of them would be able to unleash the most power from the Heaven Punisher Formation. The million Immortals all sighed in praise as well. Within the formation, the white-robed Xia Emperor nodded. “Six shattered pieces, with the seventh piece slightly damaged. You are very close to fellow Immortal Rainsoar; you are just a tiny bit weaker. You rank second amongst the 192 fellow Immortals who have tested so far.” The formation dispersed, allowing Celestial Immortal Unity to fly out. A look of delight was in his eyes. To rank second amongst 192 Celestial Immortals meant that he had a very good chance of ranking in the top nine of the 359 total Celestial Immortals. But of course, it was also possible that he was just unlucky, and that the later figures would all be incredibly powerful. If that was the case, there was nothing he could do. One Celestial Immortal after another went forward as the tests continued. “Why isn’t it your turn yet, junior apprentice-brother?” Yu Wei was getting a bit impatient. “No rush. There will always be some who come first and some who come later,” Ning said. The Xia Emperor most likely had a very high opinion of Ning, which was why he had put Ning towards the rear, as part of a grand finale. By now, more than three hundred Celestial Immortals had made their tests. A total of five Celestial Immortals had shattered six pieces of chaos goldstone! “Fellow Immortal Ji Ning, please step forward,” the white-robed Xia Emperor said. “Ji Ning?” “Ji Ning is up.” “Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning? Supposedly, his true body was, at the Void level, capable of resisting nine mighty Celestial Immortals by himself. He’s the disciple of a Daofather…and by the looks of it, his Primaltwin has overcome the tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal.” “I was actually watching Ji Ning during the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. He truly is a monstrously talented genius. However…fellow Doaist Ji Ning has trained for a fairly short period of time. I don’t know if he’s capable of controlling this Heaven Punisher Formation well or not.” The plaza was immediately filled with discussions regarding Ning; after all, Ning was quite well known amongst the ten thousandplus Celestial Immortals. As they saw it, perhaps Ji Ning wasn’t particularly strong right now, but in the future he would probably surpass them. …… Within the formation. “Fellow Daoists, thank you for your help,” Ning said towards the thousand Celestial Immortals and hundred thousand Loose Immortals. “Assemble the formation.” Ning immediately soared upwards, flying into the air as a thousand Celestial Immortals followed him, scattering all around him. As for the hundred thousand Loose Immortals, they in turn followed their respective Celestial Immortal leaders. An enormous number of bloody runes appeared, all of which began to gather together and form into a blurry, dark-red giant. The surrounding natural energy began to furiously flow towards them. An enormous, thirty thousand meter tall Heaven Punisher quickly took shape, one whose face was rather similar to Ning’s. “This feeling…such tremendous power…” Ning sighed in amazement. The flood of power flowing through him was beyond what he could truly control. All he could do was to try and control it as best he could. “Fellow Immortal Ji Ning, familiarize yourself with it first.” The white-robed Xia Emperor smiled. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Every Loose Immortal was very weak, but the amount of natural energy a hundred thousand Loose Immortals could summon…finally, Ji Ning had a taste of it for himself. Even though a thousand Celestial Immortals were guiding and taming the energy, making it so that it wasn’t too unruly or chaotic, Ning still could sense how tough it would be to control it. “Controlling the power of the Heaven Punisher Formation is like controlling the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation].” Ning sighed. The [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]…the more Immortal swords one used, the more difficult it was to control the formation. This was especially true now that Ning used nine top-grade Pure Yang flying swords, the Ananda WorldSwords, as the heart of his [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]. Although his heartforce was incredibly powerful, which was of use to him in controlling these magic treasures…Ning was still only able to just barely activate the first level of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation]! The main reason for this was that those nine Ananda World-Swords were simply far, far too powerful. It must be understood that not even most Pure Yang True Immortals would be lucky enough to acquire such a complete set of top-grade Pure Yang swords. Thus, one could imagine how hard it was to control them! The only reason why Ning was able to do so despite being merely at the Celestial Immortal level was because his heartforce had reached the third stage, ‘ruler’. Although Ning hadn’t yet learned the way to apply heartforce to his soul, the more powerful one’s heartforce was, the more flying swords one could control. This was similar to an unskilled strongman wielding a sword; the stronger he was, the heavier his sword could be. The application of heartforce to the soul was like a matter of technique; with the proper technique, the strongman would be able to wield even heavier swords, while also allowing the power of his sword-arts to explosively increase. This was the difference a good technique could make. Right now, Ning was completely relying on his heartforce to brute-force things for him. Whoooooosh. A flood of energy circulated throughout the Heaven Punisher as Ning took control over it. He slowly grew familiar with its power and gained experience wit it. In truth, it really wasn’t that different from controlling one of his sword-formations. …… 3164 The white-robed Xia Emperor put away the earlier, shattered chaos goldstones, then placed ten more undamaged pieces on the ground. The chaos goldstones all glimmered with golden light, filled with beauty and magnetism. “You can begin.” After watching Ning familiarize himself for a few moments, the white-robed Xia Emperor gave the order. Rumble… The Darknorth Heaven Punisher took a single step forward, lifting up his thick, powerful right arm. The attention of the million-plus Immortals located outside the formation was all focused on this massive arm, many thousands of meters long. Rumble… The enormous palm hacked down like a massive greataxe, chopping downwards with irresistible might. It was like Pangu splitting open the cosmic egg of primordial chaos and establishing the universe. Spatial ripples appeared around the palm, pushing out in two directions like waves. The enormous, dark-red axe-hand carried awe-inspiring might as it chopped downwards like a hatchet towards the mountain of chaos goldstone. BOOM!!! An enormous collision, followed by a shockwave that blasted out in every direction. When the shockwave struck against the grand sealing formation, a series of booming sounds could be heard. When the millionplus Immortals outside the formation heard those sounds, they were all tremendously shocked. “Such power.” “This level of power…it’s definitely the strongest thus far.” “This Ji Ning truly is extraordinary. Monster. What a monster!” “I wonder how many pieces of chaos goldstone he broke apart?” The Immortals all sighed in amazement. In their hearts, Ji Ning truly was a peerless monster. They had thought that he wouldn’t necessarily be that impressive in commanding the Heaven Punisher Formation, but who would’ve thought that he had most likely surpassed all of the Celestial Immortals who had come before him? They all took a careful look. The shockwaves dispersed. Only now could they see…that the mountain of chaos goldstone was an absolute mess. There were so many shattered pieces of stone that they couldn’t even tell how many were broken. “Is that…eight pieces?” “Maybe nine?” The million-plus Immortals tried their best to discern how many pieces there were, but found it hard because so many shattered bits of rocks were obstructing their view. The white-robed Xia Emperor waved his hand, and instantly all of the shattered bits flew to one side, revealing a completely undamaged piece of chaos goldstone as well as a second piece that was covered with cracks. “Eight pieces shattered, the ninth piece nearly completely shattered.” The white-robed Xia Emperor revealed a smile. “Fellow Immortal Ji Ning truly is formidable; you’ve already become number one amongst the 330 Immortals who have tested thus far.” In his heart, the white-robed Xia Emperor sighed to himself. “Ji Ning truly is incredible. For Celestial Immortals, using the Heaven Punisher Formation to break six pieces of chaos goldstone should be their limit. Only an inconceivable monster like Ji Ning could release such extraordinary power.” From six pieces to eight pieces…there was ‘only’ an increase of two pieces, true, but the power of the palm-blow was being ablated with each layer. This meant that Ning’s Heaven Punisher’s power was two entire levels above that of the other Heaven Punishers. This…was because of heartforce! His powerful heartforce allowed him to control more of the natural energy of Heaven and Earth. If he had fully mastered heartforce and applied it to his soul, he would’ve been able to control an even more astonishing amount of power. Rumble… The Darknorth Heaven Punisher completely vanished, revealing a thousand and one Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals. Ning immediately flew out then said with a smile, “Thank you, fellow Daoists.” “Ji Ning,” the white-robed Xia Emperor laughed, “Unless something unexpected happens, you’ll be one of the nine generals. But of course…if nine of the remaining twenty-nine are more powerful than you, then there’s nothing for it.” “If that really is the case, it would be a blessing for our Grand Xia,” Ning said. The Xia Emperor laughed loudly, then said, “Alright. Next is fellow Immortal Dustfloat.” …… 3166 The person who came after Ning, Immortal Dustfloat, actually startled everyone quite badly…because he was able to just barely succeed in smashing the seventh piece of chaos goldstone. This caused many Immortals to feel shocked; could it be that there really was a group of incredibly powerful Celestial Immortals located at the end, some of whom would surpass Ji Ning? However…as time passed and the tests proceeded, they quickly saw that although the Xia Emperor had indeed arranged for some of the particularly famous and powerful Celestial Immortals to be placed towards the end, none of them were more powerful than Ji Ning. In fact, none of them were even as powerful as Celestial Immortal Dustfloat. The trials for the 359 Celestial Immortals took a total of two days, ending by nightfall of the second day. The ranking was: – Celestial Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning 2 – Celestial Immortal Dustfloat 3 – Celestial Immortal Loachwater 4 – Celestial Immortal Rainsoar 5 – Celestial Immortal Allbeasts 6 – Celestial Immortal Unity 7 – Celestial Immortal Rainbow 8 – Celestial Immortal Thousand Needles 9 – Celestial Immortal Whacko It was actually quite strange. Ning had shattered eight plates of chaos goldstone, while Celestial Immortal Dustfloat had shattered seven. The rest of the nine had shattered six pieces, while the tenth had shattered five pieces. “These thousand Celestial Immortals and hundred thousand Loose Immortals shall be commanded by fellow Immortal Whacko; they shall be the ‘Whacko Army’.” The Xia Emperor began to assign responsibilities. Upon hearing the name, quite a few of Immortals were unable to control their laughter; this army’s name didn’t have any hint of an Immortal’s aura at all. “These next thousand Celestial Immortals and hundred thousand Loose Immortals shall be commanded by fellow Immortal Thousand Needles; they shall be the Thousand Needles Army.” …… 3167 “These next thousand Celestial Immortals and hundred thousand Loose Immortals shall be commanded by fellow Immortal Darknorth; they shall be the Darknorth Army. Alright; the nine armies have been set. The remaining Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals shall be under my command,” the Xia Emperor said. “Nine generals, come with me. All other Immortals, you can go rest with your fellows in the same army.” The Xia Emperor immediately flew away on a cloud towards the Skylight Palace. The five True Immortals followed him, as did Ning and the rest of the nine. Within a graceful hall inside the Skylight Palace. “Sit, all of you.” The Xia Emperor sat down with a smile. Everyone else sat down as well. The five True Immortals were naturally seated closest to the Xia Emperor. Next was Ji Ning and the rest of the nine, who seated themselves in accordance with their ranking. “These are the critical parts to the Heaven Punisher Formation. Hurry up and learn them. Meditate well.” The Xia Emperor waved his hand, and instantly nine dark-red medallions flew towards Ning and the other eight. “True God Xingtian personally forged these, imprinting his technique within them.” These medallions were the size of a palm. They were dark red, and covered with a savage-looking diagram. The nine medallions hovered in the air in front of Ning and the rest of the nine. They naturally reached out to grab them, then filled them with their coresense. Soon, they completely memorized all of the information contained within it. “You can keep the medallions.” The Xia Emperor sighed. “All of you have fearlessly volunteered to command my many Immortals to do battle against the Seamless Gate…if you manage to survive, you can use the medallion to go visit True God Xingtian, and pick a single technique of your choice from his Dao Repository. Alternately, you can choose any Pure Yang treasure or Protocosmic spirit-treasure from his treasury.” Ning remained quite calm, but the other Celestial Immortals began to feel the fires of desire blaze in their hearts. After all, none of them were a Daofather’s disciple; there were many divine abilities and secret arts which they did not have access to. “Meditate well,” the Xia Emperor repeated, his gaze dark and gloomy. “I fear that not too long from now, the Seamless Gate will launch the war.” …… The world of the Grand Xia. Whitepole Commandery was a very remote commandery. Generally speaking, the more remote a feof was, the larger in size it was. It was nightfall. An enormous, towering black citadel was hovering in the air above Whitepole City. The levitating black citadel was a full size larger than even Whitepole City itself. It was completely black, and around it hovered a large number of chains. These countless chains filled the space around it, seeming to lock the citadel here as an anchor kept a ship locked in place in the sea. The walls of the black citadel were filled with many roving black-armored soldiers. Within the citadel itself, there was a tightly-patrolled military headquarters, as well as some towering palaces. The largest open area within the black citadel was covered with a veritable sea of Immortals, all seated in the lotus position. These were Loose Immortals, and one could see no end to them. At the very front of the plaza, there were three enormous, fog-shrouded caverns that were three hundred meters tall. The dark cavern entrances led to a mysterious, terrifying location. “It’s said that those caves lead to the legendary ‘Fifth World’.” “The Patriarch said that the Celestial Immortals within the Fifth World are numerous beyond measure. There’s even many True Immortals and Empyrean Gods there. If the Fifth World released its full power, it would effortlessly wipe out the entire Grand Xia.” “So why don’t they?” “Supposedly, the Fifth World is battling against many major worlds right now.” The countless Loose Immortals were all secretly chatting with each other. …… Within the tallest tower of the levitating black citadel. Thousands of Celestial Immortals were seated in the lotus position within this palace. Black, watery runes were emanating from their bodies as they quietly, calmly meditated and trained. At the very front of this palace sat the Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, Azurefox, as well as the other Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. There were a total of eight of them! The Seamless Gate alone had four, whereas the Myriad Demons Cavern and Bloodcloud Hall had thus far only produced their respective leaders, their other experts having yet to arrive. True Immortal Whitepole, a white-browed, icy-looking man, was also present, along with a black-robed, black-haired, red-eyed elder. “After many years of subterfuge and decades of instigations…nearly three thousand Celestial Immortals of the Grand Xia have joined us,” Gatemaster Azurefox said with a smile. “We now have three thousand 3169 more, while Xiamang has three thousand left; that means the balance has been shifted by six thousand. Our Seamless Gate is also gathering in some scattered pockets of power located throughout our other major worlds as well. Once these three thousand Celestial Immortals have mastered the ‘True Art of Chaoswater’, it will be time to launch the assault. Senior apprentice-brother Whitepole, we’ll rely on your leadership.” “I’ve been waiting countless eons for this day,” the white-browed True Immortal Whitepole said in a cold voice. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “In this campaign against the Grand Xia,” True Immortal Whitepole said coldly, “Everyone has tasks to accomplish. If someone makes a mistake…don’t blame me when I report it to Master!” “Fellow Daoist Whitepole, don’t worry; the conquest of the Grand Xia is the most important mission we have been assigned,” the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave said. “None of us will slack off.” “Fellow Daoist, don’t worry,” the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall said with a merry smile as well. “Senior apprentice-brother, just watch and see what we can do. We absolutely must conquer the Grand Xia!” Gatemaster Azurefox chimed in as well. True Immortal Whitepole nodded lightly. “Good. Since Master has assigned me to lead the conquest of the Grand Xia…I truly do not wish to lose. I’m going to win this battle, even if it costs me my life.” The other seven True Immortals/Empyrean Gods all exchanged glances, murmuring to themselves in secret. True Immortal Whitepole was indeed very powerful…but he was excessively stubborn. The feud he had with the Xia Emperor wasn’t a small one, but it wasn’t a major one either. Generally speaking, Pure Yang True Immortals were broad-minded and would long ago forget about such a feud. True Immortal Whitepole, however, insisted on remembering it, and had even bided his time for so long. As soon as the Godking had whispered to him, he had been so narrow-minded and laser-focused on revenge that he had immediately joined the Godking. He had trained bitterly for countless years, and was now incredibly powerful. Although those in the outside world didn’t know exactly how powerful he was, Gatemaster Azurefox and the others did. In addition, this man had fortified Whitepole City to a nigh-impregnable level, and was also extremely skilled in biding his time; he was indeed an excellent choice as commander. The conquest of the Grand Xia was incredibly important, and so the Godking had assigned this mission to True Immortal Whitepole, ordering Gatemaster Azurefox, the Cavemaster, and the Hallmaster to act as his assistants. …… A world of fiery red flames. Massive, towering figures were striding about on the surface of this world. Some of them were three thousand meters tall, while others were thirty thousand meters tall! Their appearances were all varied and different; some had eight arms, some had three heads, while some looked like beasts. They were all filled with massive, billowing amounts of divine power, using it to block the terrible heat of this world. “Life really is wonderful these days,” a green-haired cyclopean giant said with a sigh as he sat there on the scorching ground. Although the scorching heat of the ground was causing his skin to crackle, he still had a look of contentment on his face. “The Xia Emperor has imprisoned us for countless years, and has been torturing us all this time. Why has he stopped recently?” A nearby red-haired giant asked, puzzled. Although the environment remained a terrible one, things were far better than they had been in the past. The blazing heat, the lava-like ground…these were all minor matters. It must be understood that a few decades before this, each and every one of them regularly underwent torture that caused their bodies to break apart. Fortunately, however, their Fiendgod bodies were able to heal from it, but even so…it was a life worse than death. Compared to that, life was currently quite comfortable indeed! Rumble… In the air above this world, a massive spatial hole suddenly appeared. From within the spatial hole emerged a muscular, black-robed human figure. It was the Xia Emperor. Instantly, the countless Fiendgods within this vast area all raised their heads. All their gazes were focused upon the Xia Emperor. “It’s the Xia Emperor.” “Damn.” “Why the hell have you come?” “Xiamang, have you come to humiliate us some more?” Countless furious roars rang out from throughout the land. The black-robed Xia Emperor stood there in the air, staring down at the countless Fiendgods. Long ago, during the Fiendgod Era, the humans had won a great victory. Many ordinary cultivators believed the defeated Fiendgods to have been slain, but in reality, only a small number of them actually had; most had instead been imprisoned. For example, the Youngflame clan had imprisoned some as well. Once properly tamed, these Fiendgods would become loyal servants that would live for countless years; they had unlimited lifespans! Who would be willing to so casually kill such potentially useful servants? The Xia Emperor and the others had relocated here from Pangu’s World, after all; they held enormous advantages over these local Fiendgods. At first, they had slowly and patiently collected and tamed the local Fiendgods, until one day the local Fiendgods had given birth to an Empyrean God. The humans hadn’t dared to be negligent, and so had joined forces to completely suppress the Fiendgods. A few top-tier clans had been given a few Fiendgods, but 99% of the captured Fiendgods had all been imprisoned by the Xia Emperor. Countless years of torment had indeed caused a portion of the Fiendgods to submit; the four Void-level Fiendgods that guarded the imperial gates for the Xia Emperor were good examples! The unbowed Fiendgods, however, made up the vast majority…and the Empyrean God was one of them. And so, they had remained imprisoned here by the Xia Emperor for this entire period of time! Logically speaking, an Empyrean God would be considered a powerful expert of the Three Realms, and so Empyrean Gods would generally only be imprisoned for a short period of time; it was quite rare to see one be imprisoned for so long. Fortunately for the Xia Emperor, his status was quite special, and the Empyrean God in question hadn’t had any backers, which was why the Xia Emperor had been able to keep him here for so long. “XIAMANG!!!” A furious roar rang out. A towering, mountain-like figure soared into the skies. The figure had long, unbound hair and radiated an aura of infinite cold. His eyes flashed with jade-green light, and his upper body was completely unclad; the only thing he wore was a fur loincloth. He stood there coldly in midair, staring angrily at the Xia Emperor. “Why have you come?” On on one…not even he was a match for the Xia Emperor. However, there was a veritable ocean of Fiendgods here, and yet…although logically speaking, their power should’ve been able to completely swamp the Xia Emperor, they were in a prison world that was actually a Protocosmic spirit-treasure. As the master of this treasure, the Xia Emperor didn’t even have to fight against them; all he had to do was activate the might of the treasure, and all of the Fiendgods would suffer pain that would make them wish for death. “Empyrean God Coldsavage, have you been enjoying life lately?” The black-robed Xia Emperor laughed calmly. “Hmph.” Empyrean God Coldsavage sneered. “These little fellows have enjoyed a few decades of comfort, and so they are all quite delighted. However, they’ve forgotten that we Fiendgods once flew through the vast world above. That vast world is our true world, our true land. You outsiders, you invaders, you took away our land, you killed our kinsmen, and you captured us and tortured us for the sake of making us become your servants and slaves.” Empyrean God Coldsavage’s voice rang out throughout this fiery world. “GWRAAAR!” “Detestable Xia Emperor!” “Die!” Instantly, countless Fiendgods bellowed out in unison. The Xia Emperor remained placid. Smiling, he shook his head: “You are wrong, ridiculously wrong. This isn’t your land. Countless years ago, the only thing which existed was the primordial chaos. Pangu split it apart, establishing Heaven and Earth, resulting in the creation of the primordial Pangu’s World. Afterwards, Maiden Nuwa created a race using Pangu as the template; that race was us, the humans. We are the heirs to Pangu and Nuwa; naturally, we are meant to flourish! We humans rose to prominence in the Primordial Era, then became the true powers of Pangu’s World! Afterwards, a storm came that caused the primordial world to shatter; only then arose the three thousand major worlds and the trillion minor worlds. And so, to be precise…even the world of the Grand Xia is nothing more than a tiny piece of the shattered Pangu’s World.” “So you tell me…are humans the owners and masters of the Grand Xia? Or are you Fiendgods?” The blackrobed Xia Emperor asked calmly. “We were born here and we grew up here. Naturally, we are the owners of this place!” Empyrean God Coldsavage roared angrily. “Ours! Ours!” “Damnable humans!” Countless Fiendgods echoed in furious unison. The black-robed Xia Emperor said calmly, “I can’t be bothered to quibble with you about this. The victor becomes hailed as king, while the defeated are cursed as bandits. You have all been imprisoned here for countless years, never to see the light of day! But now, I’ll give you a chance…if you are willing to serve me and labor on my behalf for a hundred thousand years, then after that period of time, I’ll give you back your freedom!” His voice rang out, echoing throughout this world. “Freedom?” The countless Fiendgods were all stunned. They deeply desired freedom, but the Xia Emperor had never promised it to them a single time, despite having imprisoned them here for countless ages. Instead, he had always demanded that they become his eternal servants and slaves, which was why they had never assented. And in truth, during an ordinary era 3174 of peace, a hundred thousand years was an extremely short period of time; to have so many Fiendgods be servants for a mere hundred thousand years was pointless. “Xia Emperor, are you deceiving us?” Empyrean God Coldsavage frowned. “No.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “I can swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens.” “I imagine that after a hundred thousand years, you’ll give us our ‘freedom’, then immediately slaughter us,” Empyrean God Coldsavage said angrily. “Even if you don’t…other humans will act against us.” The Xia Emperor laughed. “I told you, I’ll give you your freedom. In fact, I can even promise that I will give you your own territory from within the land I control, allowing you to live peaceful lives there. So long as you do not revolt and do not act against humans, you’ll be able to live there in peace.” Instantly, all the Fiendgods grew excited. They knew exactly how powerful the humans were; after all, they had seen humanity’s ‘fist’ and had tasted its formidableness. “Just a hundred thousand years?” Empyrean God Coldsavage said. “I can swear it on an oath to the Dao of the Heavens,” the Xia Emperor said. “Fine! Then I’ll labor for you for a hundred thousand years.” Coldsavage’s eyes gleamed with light. A mere hundred millennia; they had already been imprisoned in this place for countless hundred millennia. For Fiendgods, such a period of time was indeed very brief. They merely had to temporarily endure being his servants, and then they would gain their eternal freedom. They wouldn’t be so foolish as to refuse. …… And so, just like that, the Xia Emperor took a massive army of Fiendgods into his command. These were the Fiendgods that countless human clans had joined together to suppress….but of course, this vast army would only serve for a hundred thousand years. “A hundred thousand years. I wonder how many of them will be alive, after the storm. If they manage to survive…I might as well grant them their freedom and let them live happy lives.” The Xia Emperor sighed to himself. “But I wonder…by then, will I be alive, or will I be dead?” …… The world of the Grand Xia. The black citadel levitating above Whitepole City. This black citadel had been personally forged by a Daofather for the express purpose of serving as a headquarters for an army. The Nuwa Alliance referred to it as the ‘Seamless City’. In the main plaza of the Seamless City. Countless Loose Immortals were gathered here, before the three massive black fog-shrouded caves that led to the Fifth World. A steady, unbroken stream of black-robed figures flew out from the cave, as well as the occasional blood-robed figure. They all had tremendously powerful auras; some of them were Loose Immortals, while a few had the auras of Celestial Immortals. This awe-inspiringly vast army caused all of the many Loose Immortals present to feel their hearts swell with fervor. “The Seamless Gate is far too powerful.” “Even more Immortals are arriving.” “Joining the Seamless Gate was the right decision.” Within the most towering palace of the Seamless City. “Fellow Daoist Whitepole, my forces have already assembled,” the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall said with a laugh. “Just now, the last of them have reached the Seamless City.” “Good.” The sword-shaped white eyebrows of True Immortal Whitepole danced upwards as he smiled. “Excellent. Junior apprentice-sister Azurefox, have all three thousand Celestial Immortals finished learning the first scroll of the True Art of Chaoswater?” “They all have.” Gatemaster Azurefox nodded. “Then it is time to mobilize the army and campaign against the Xia.” True Immortal Whitepole rose to his feet. “Assemble the world-notifying formation; I am going to announce it to the world.” The other seven True Immortals/Empyrean Gods all rose as well. …… The world-notifying formation was set up. True Immortal Whitepole stood there in its center, staring coldly towards the vast, infinite Void. He immediately said in a sonorous voice, “The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!” True Immortal Whitepole’s voice reverberated throughout the 3600 commanderies and four seas of the Grand Xia. Mortals, beasts, Diremonsters, cultivators… 3176 They all could hear this voice. This was a voice that echoed throughout every inch of the vast Grand Xia! It represented…that the curtains had been lifted upon a massive war between Immortals within the Grand Xia! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. Within a side hall of the Skylight Palace. The Xia Emperor, the five True Immortals/Empyrean Gods, and Ji Ning and the rest of the nine commanders were all present here. The nine had already learned the critical components to the Heaven Punisher Formation, and had immediately understood the secrets to the entire formation. “So to unleash the full power of the Heaven Punisher Formation, one actually needs 810,000 Loose Immortals and 9000 Celestial Immortals led by one powerful expert. Only then does it reach maximum power, and will the Heaven Punisher reach its full, perfect power.” Celestial Immortal Allbeasts stroked his thick beard, sighing in amazement. “Nine represents a limit. Nine by nine, eighty one…this truly is a perfect formation.” “Right.” “If 810,000 Loose Immortals and 9000 Celestial Immortals were under my command, then the power of this formation would definitely rise dramatically.” Celestial Immortal Whacko revealed an eager look on his face as well. The Xia Emperor, seated on his throne, just laughed. “Indeed, a perfect Heaven Punisher Formation does involve 810,000 Loose Immortals and 9000 Celestial Immortals under a single commander. A perfect formation would allow your Heaven Punishers to increase in power by one or two levels. However…forget about the perfect Heaven Punisher Formation, even the simplified one that only involves 100,000 Loose Immortals and 1000 Celestial Immortals summons more natural energy than you can handle. In addition, there’s a limit to the number of Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals available to us; our Grand Xia would only be able to produce a single perfect Heaven Punisher, but we can make more than ten of the simple ones!” Ji Ning and the others all nodded. Right. Actually, the difference in power between the simplified and the perfect Heaven Punishers wasn’t that great; at most, the simplified ones would be at a disadvantage in a head-on battle. In a battle where one side was perfectly countered by the other, such as when a Ki Refiner was forced into close combat by a Fiendgod, the result would be a slaughter…but when two Fiendgods fought in close combat, and there was just a minor difference in power between the two, at most one would be able to suppress the other. A slightly stronger Fiendgod, or ten slightly weaker Fiendgods? In a time of war…the Xia Emperor naturally knew which one to pick. Suddenly… A sonorous voice rang out, shaking the world and transmitting straight into the Skylight Palace. Or perhaps it could be said that this voice shook every single inch of this major world. “The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!” “Campaigning against the Xia!” “Campaigning against the Xia!” “Campaigning against the Xia!” … The voice echoed nonstop within the world. …… The citizens of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia were incredibly proud figures, but during the past half month, they had been consumed with awed discussions regarding the countless Immortals who had entered the imperial palace, as well as the three hundred-plus shocking explosions that they had heard over the course of the past day and night. They had questions…they had suspicions… But now, everything had been clearly and publicly laid out this day! “The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!” A voice rang out from the ends of the world, instantly causing all of the countless denizens of the imperial capital to become stunned. And then…they went berserk. “Campaign against the Grand Xia?” “True Immortal Whitepole? Can it be that he is a Pure Yang True Immortal?” “An army of a million Immortals? Is this real?” The citizens of the imperial capital were all extraordinary figures; they knew that Pure Yang True Immortals sat above Celestial Immortals in power. “No wonder countless Immortals gathered at the imperial palace. No wonder! It seems that they are there to deal with the revolt of this True Immortal Whitepole.” “True Immortal Whitepole is incredible; he’s actually able to command an army of over a million Immortals. Immortals! And more than a million of them? This is just…” “Can this ‘True Immortal Whitepole’ be the ancestor of the Whitepole clan?” 3179 All sorts of conversations. The local citizens were shocked and uneasy. However, over the course of countless years, the imperial capital had always been safe. In addition, there had been several marquis-led revolutions in the past, none of which had reached the imperial capital. Thus, the local dwellers were still filled with confident towards the Xia Emperor. …… “Campaign against the Grand Xia?” “An army of a million Immortals?” “Good heavens…” …… “This voice seems to be ringing out everywhere at the same time.” “True Immortal Whitepole? What’s a True Immortal? Can it be that there is actually something more powerful than a Celestial Immortal? A million Immortals…our entire sect has only a single Immortal!” “No wonder our Flamedoor Commandery has been in such a state of chaos. It seems the world is about to change…” …… Every place in the vast land of the Grand Xia, including the four seas that surrounded it…every human, beast, Diremonster, cultivator…they all heard these words, and they all had their own thoughts. The reference to an ‘army of a million Immortals’ caused particular astonishment and terror. Given that the entire Grand Xia was in a state of chaos to begin with, many mortals with limited experience thought to themselves, “The Grand Xia is probably finished! More than a million legendary Immortals…good heavens!” Even the more experienced individuals were terror-stricken. “Does the entire Grand Xia even have a million Immortals in it? Hard to say. It is going to be hard for the Grand Xia to win this battle. We might lose.” Everyone felt restless and uneasy. These simple words had already thrown everyone into a state of confusion and chaos. The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. A side hall in the Skylight Palace. Upon hearing these words, the Xia Emperor’s face changed, as did the faces of the others with him. “It’s finally begun,” Ning murmured silently to himself. “Eh?” The Xia Emperor raised his head, frowning. As the master of the Grand Xia and a man of tremendous power, he could vaguely sense that karma and luck were changing. “When the hearts of the citizens are with us, luck shall gather here. When their hearts are quaking, luck shall disperse,” the Xia Emperor said softly. The hearts of the citizens could, to a certain extent, have an impact on karmic luck. But of course, this wasn’t absolute; there were many factors which could impact karmic luck; for example, if the Grand Xia suddenly gave birth to ten Empyrean Gods or True Immortals, its karmic luck would immediately increase by an explosive amount. In the end…what really mattered the most was personal strength. As for the hearts of the citizens? That was secondary. In an ordinary world of mortals, it might be important, but this was a world of Immortals and Fiends; power was what truly mattered. But of course, the hearts of the citizens couldn’t be completely neglected; the more karmic luck one had, the better. Karmic luck was simply far too important! It impacted the amount of natural energy one could use and the chances one had of acquiring precious treasures. For example, acquiring Protocosmic spirit-treasures, or perhaps even the legendary Chaos treasures that were born from the primordial chaos itself, required tremendous amounts of luck! But of course, if your power was on the level of Nuwa, things would be different. Nuwa was the most powerful figure of the entire Three Realms, and her luck was indisputably the best as well. She was so powerful that she could destroy Heaven and Earth; even if others found treasures, she could take them away by force. Simply put, she was far too powerful…and power made up an enormous component of ‘karmic luck’. When there wasn’t such an enormous different in power, however, other aspects would be more important. At present, it was clear that neither the Seamless Gate nor the Nuwa Alliance had enough power to wipe their enemies out, and so they naturally would fight over karmic luck. “I’ll make a short trip,” the Xia Emperor said softly. Whoosh. A white-robed Xia Emperor appeared out of nowhere, then immediately left the side hall. Moments later. A similarly sonorous, booming voice rang out, seeming to have descended from the very heights of the Nine Heavens, filling every inch of the Grand Xia. “Whitepole, child, years ago you were nothing more than a hound for a defeated clan; you supinely knelt before me, quivering in abject terror. Now that you have joined with a few other contemptible figures, you dare speak of ‘a million Immortals’ and dare rebel against me? These are my heavens, and this is MY world. No one should even think about taking it away. Whitepole, little boy, can it be that you have forgotten what happened to all of the other marquises who rebelled against me? Every single one who rebelled had their souls shattered. There have never been any exceptions, and there never will.” The Xia Emperor’s dominating voice was filled with a natural, exalted aura that radiated power. First True Immortal Whitepole’s voice, then the Xia Emperor’s voice; they came one after the other, both shaking the world. True Immortal Whitepole’s voice was more callous and grim, while the Xia Emperor’s voice carried a natural aura of command that came from his countless years of domination over the Grand Xia, making it even more persuasive. “That’s the voice of the Xia Emperor?” “The voice of the master of our Grand Xia?” “I heard that ever since the Fiendgod Era, there’s only been a single Emperor of the Grand Xia…him, the Xia Emperor.” The countless citizens of the Grand Xia went wild. The Xia Emperor was a legend! Even tribes of ordinary humans knew that their land was the land of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Now, upon hearing someone say that ‘these are my heavens, and this is MY world’, they all understood that it had to be the master of the Grand Xia Dynasty who was saying these words. “So there had been marquises who rebelled in the past?” “It makes sense. Even our clan has had traitors and rebellions in our history; it’s normal for the Grand Xia to have had rebellions as well.” The countless mortals of the ordinary tribes all took this to mean that this was nothing more than yet another ‘ordinary’ rebellion. Their tribes were fairly new, after all; they didn’t really understand what the difference was between this rebellion and past ones. The Xia Emperor had intentionally muddied the waters, and there was no way for True Immortal Whitepole to explain the difference at all. The Xia Emperor’s influence within the Grand Xia was simply too great; he had ruled it for countless ages, and the subjugation his subjects felt towards him was bone-deep. …… 3182 The Xia Emperor could sense the karmic luck of the world once more gathering and stabilizing. This was how swaying the hearts of the citizens worked; you relied on power, and you relied on your mouth. A single mouth could cause the hearts of the citizens to either gather behind you or to leave you behind. “Let’s go.” The black-robed Xia Emperor gave the order. “It is time for us to battle against the Seamless Gate.” Whoosh. The five True Immortals/Empyrean Gods, Ji Ning, and the other eight commanders all followed the Xia Emperor in leaving the side hall, flying out into the air. The imperial plaza. The eleven thousand Celestial Immortals and million Loose Immortals had already been divided into ten brigades. Ning and the other eight commanders would lead nine of them,, while the Xia Emperor would control the remaining one. “The Seamless Gate has already declared war.” The black-robed Xia Emperor looked downwards, his voice booming forth. Trying to deceive these Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals was pointless, and so he said straightforwardly, “Only one side can win in this battle. What we need to do…is head out and completely crush them.” “Fight!” Instantly, people began to call out from below him. “Fight.” “Fight.” “Fight!” A million Immortals all called out the word ‘fight’ in unison, each of them filled with powerful will and determination. Their voices rang out together as they called for battle, and it seemed as though the heavens themselves were about to collapse. It was a joint howl that seemed to carry the power to break apart the world, filling each of the Immortals with ardor and eagerness. Who said that Immortals were always calm and had no emotions? In truth, it was that things would rarely excite them to this degree! “This is a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.” The black-robed Xia Emperor waved his hand, and a palm-sized citadel appeared within his palm. It flew into the skies, then quickly began to expand in size. This was a completely golden citadel, and it was surrounded by an enormous base of clouds. Eight azure dragons were swimming around it, filled with awe-inspiring power. “Eight dragons swimming around a city in the clouds?” Ning and the others stared at the eight azure dragons, feeling rather stunned. “Nine generals!” The black-robed Xia Emperor called out. “Present!” Ning and the other eight responded. “Command your Immortals and enter the Eight Dragons Cloudcity,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said. “Yes!” Ning and the other eight immediately flew forward, and behind them flew an awe-inspiring horde of Immortals. A thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals were behind each of them! “All the other Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, follow me. I will be our field marshal in our campaign against the Seamless Gate!” The black-robed Xia Emperor was filled with an awe-inspiring aura of power as he led the five True Immortals/Empyrean Gods and the many remaining Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals into the city. Now, the Eight Dragons Cloudcity had become a true military headquarters for an Immortal army. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The eight azure dragons swam around the golden city within the clouds. Space undulated around the city as a spatial tear formed, and the golden city flew straight into the tear, disappearing. Within the city. A million Immortals were present. The skies above them were filled with endless clouds; they were completely unable to see the outside world at all. Clearly, they were in a separate space. “Each of you shall return to your own camps. You are not to act without permission. Any who violate orders shall be executed!” The black-robed Xia Emperor’s voice rang out, echoing throughout the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. “Yes,” the million Immortals assented in unison. Instantly, the nine armies and the army commanded by the Xia Emperor all entered their respective camps in an ordinary fashion, none of them daring to leave their camps without permission. Everyone understood that in a time of war, military discipline would be extremely tight. If the Immortals were permitted to act and wander about as they pleased, there would be no way an army could be quickly mobilized. “It’s quite large.” After entering the Darknorth army camp, the hundred thousand Immortals saw a vast region with countless private rooms, more than enough for all of them to reside in. “Find your own places and go rest for now. You are not to leave the Darknorth army camp,” Ji Ning ordered. “Yes, General.” The hundred thousand Immortals answered in an awe-inspiring chorus, their voices shaking the skies. Sounds from the other army camps could be heard from far away. “Nine generals, come to the main hall for a meeting,” the Xia Emperor’s voice suddenly rang out. “Senior apprentice-sister, take a rest first. I’ll be back soon,” Ning said. “Alright.” Yu Wei nodded. Although she had joined this army, there was no need for her to enter the battle. Soon, Ning and the rest of the nine generals arrived within the central main hall of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. As for the Xia Emperor and the other five Empyrean Gods/True Immortals, they had arrived long ago. “In this campaign, I shall serve as the field marshal. I, and I alone, shall be responsible for our movements and our plans,” the Xia Emperor said from his throne on high. “It isn’t that I don’t trust you; rather, the Seamless Gate’s intelligence mechanisms are simply unfathomably great. If I tell you, they will probably find out, and so I am keeping it to myself for now.” Ning and the rest of the nine nodded. “Don’t worry, your Imperial Majesty. This is a time of war; we know what is at stake.” “Since you are our field marshal, then it is natural that you shall be in charge of everything, your Imperial Majesty.” The Celestial Immortal generals all hurriedly assented. Ning had been informed by Subhuti as to how powerful the Seamless Gate was. He understood the Xia Emperor’s predicament. As for the others, they might or might not understand, but they accepted the Xia Emperor’s explanation. “Mm.” The black-robed Xia Emperor nodded lightly, then waved his hand. Whoosh! Instantly, eighteen black globes of fur-covered flesh appeared in the air. The black-furred globes also emanated heart-quaking golden light. These eighteen globes all had tremendously powerful auras, causing Ning to feel startled; he felt as though these were on the same level as the Ananda World-Swords. “These are top-grade Pure Yang treasures,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said. “There are nine pairs in total. They are known as the ‘Splitters’, and each of you shall have a pair.” “Top-grade Pure Yang treasures?” Everyone present, Ning included, was surprised. These were incredibly valuable items, even for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. In fact, for many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, all their treasures combined were not worth as much as a pair of ‘Splitters’. “Why haven’t you accepted them yet?” The black-robed Xia Emperor frowned. “Yes.” Ning and the others didn’t dare to be slow; they immediately accepted the treasures, filling them with their Immortal energy and easily binding them. Upon doing so, Ning immediately understood how these Pure Yang treasures were meant to be used. Whoosh! Whoosh! The pair of Pure Yang ‘Splitters’ merged into Ning’s hands, causing them to instantly transform into bestial paws. Thick black fur grew out from the palm and the back of Ning’s hands, and his fingernails became inch-long and knife-sharp. These were the claws of a vicious beast! “Transform.” Ning willed it, and one of his fingernails instantly began to lengthen at high speed, transforming into a longsword. As for the other dagger-like fingernails, they grew shorter until they disappeared. “Transform.” The longsword vanished, but a sharp blade appeared at the edge of his palm, making it seem like the edge of a greataxe. Axe, spear, sword, staff… All of these could be manifested. The nine Celestial Immortals couldn’t help but feel delighted with the results of their experiments. The black-robed Xia Emperor glanced downwards towards them, then smiled. “Enough.” Ning and the others immediately came to a halt. “The Heaven Punishers that your formations create possess tremendous power and are skilled in close combat, and so in the war you shall be fighting in melee. These treasures, the ‘Splitters’, shall serve as the weapons for your Heaven Punishers,” the black-robed Xia emperor said. “It doesn’t matter if you are skilled in swords, sabers, or other weapons; the ‘Splitters’ will transform to be of use to you.” Ning and the others now understood. So these were meant for the Heaven Punisher Formations! “However, let me warn you,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said, “That although the Heaven Punishers possess enormous strength, they are not very fast or nimble. Your battle tactics have to be adjusted accordingly. Return to your camps and ponder on what is the best way for you to use your Heaven Punishers in battle, so as to allow them to unleash their maximum power.” “Yes.” Ning and the others immediately withdrew. …… Within the Darknorth army camp. Within the largest, centermost private room. This was the commander’s residence, and Yu Wei was present here, along with Ji Ning. “How should I battle?” Ning was frowning, pondering this question pensively. He thought back to the feeling he had when he had first taken control over the Heaven Punisher, that feeling of tremendous power. Ning nodded slightly. “Right. The Heaven Punisher is most suited for using greataxes or warhammers; in short, heavy weapons. They should be used to fight in a straightforward, head-on manner, rather than in a nimble, graceful manner.” In a battle, one had to make use of one’s advantages. If one was clearly weak in terms of agility, and yet still insisted on using flashy, agile sword-arts, one would be courting death. Fortunately, Ning’s true body was that of a Fiendgod, and so he had many insights with regards to close combat. He also knew multiple sword-arts, and so he was quickly able to come up with a battle method that suited him the most. “What’s going on? You’ve already come back to rest, but are still here mumbling to yourself,” Yu Wei said with a laugh. “I’m fine. I’m just thinking about my battle tactics for when I fight against the Seamless Gate,” Ning said with a laugh. “Using the Heaven Punisher is different from using my own Fiendgod body, after all.” “Mm. Then go ahead and spend some time thinking about it.” Smiling, Yu Wei sat down next to him. Ning nodded, then immediately began to train. …… The Eight Dragons Cloudcity was now merely three hundred meters long, and it was hidden within the clouds. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Three black-armored figures appeared out of nowhere. Moments later, the black-robed Xia Emperor appeared as well, and he stood next to the city, gazing at the three figures. “Master,” the three figures called out respectfully. “Mm. Your mission this time is a critical one; you have to set up the formation perfectly,” the Xia Emperor said. “If you fail…then we’ll have to pay an even larger price.” “Don’t worry, master,” the three black-armored figures said respectfully. “Go, then.” The black-robed Xia Emperor nodded. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The three black-armored figures flew off in three separate directions, and then they each used spatial teleports to disappear. The black-robed Xia Emperor remained there, standing within the clouds, quietly attuning himself to the locations of his three servants. …… In the air above a wide river, a black-armored figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The figure quietly pondered for a moment, then made a tossing motion. Instantly, a tower-shaped formation-base flew into the river, sinking into it and drilling deep into its depths. …… A black-armored figure appeared out of nowhere in the air above a massive, towering mountain. A towershaped formation-base, covered with countless complicated runes, appeared in his hand as well. He tossed it downwards with incredible power, and it instantly smashed deep into the depths of the mountain. …… A black-armored figure appeared in the air above a desolate marsh. He, too, tossed down a small tower. …… In just a few moments, more than nine small towers were set up within Whitepole Commandery, each of which was roughly 500,000 kilometers away from Whitepole City. …… Within Whitepole Commandery. The black-robed Xia Emperor stood there quietly amidst the clouds. Upon sensing that the nine little towers had been emplaced, he revealed a smile. “If you start off a step ahead, you’ll remain a step ahead! Does the Seamless Gate really think that I’ll rely on the power of the imperial capital to the point where I shall simply defend there without fighting back?” He had been building up the imperial capital for countless eras, and it was indeed the most stable location within the Grand Xia. Right now, he had only left behind the ‘white-robed Xia Emperor’ to watch over the capital, but he didn’t worry at all that it might be breached. The Xia Emperor hadn’t chosen to take the easier route of relying on his fortified capital; instead, he had launched an attack! “Arise!” The Xia Emperor instantly willed it. Rumble… …… 3189 Within a vast river, the formerly calm flows of water suddenly turned savage and ferocious. The tremors shaking the river grew increasingly powerful until, with a boom, an enormous tower suddenly sprouted out from within it, rising upwards nonstop. The tip of the tower that jutted out from the water was more than thirty thousand meters long, and the entire tower was covered with countless golden runes and lines. Instantly, the world itself began to twist, and spatial ripples that were visible to the naked eye could be seen. …… A towering, massive mountain began to fall apart…because from the heart of the mountain, an even more massive black tower that was covered with golden runes had appeared. …… An enormous divine tower was emerging from the marsh as well. …… A large region of Whitepole Commandery, spanning more than a million kilometers, became completely trapped within the field of divine towers. Within the black citadel of the Seamless Gate located above Whitepole City. The main palace of the Seamless Gate. True Immortal Whitepole was seated up high, and below him were seated the Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and a few Celestial Immortals. “The imperial capital of the Grand Xia isn’t so easily attacked. Our best chances lie in slowly conquering the other territories of the Grand Xia, forcing the Xia Emperor to come out and leave his headquarters,” the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave boomed out. “I just received word,” Gatemaster Azurefox said, “That the Xia Emperor had produced a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, and then had his entire army move into it. However…none of the Immortals within the city know where it is. It seems that the Xia Emperor is wary of us and doesn’t wish for us to know where he is and what he is doing.” Rumble… Suddenly, the local space began to change. The faces of everyone present changed as well. “A restrictive formation?” The black-haired, black-robed, red-eyed elder laughed coldly. “Didn’t you say that the Xia Emperor would rely on the strength of his imperial capital? Where did this formation come from?” “Qiankun has been locked; there’s no way to Greater Teleport or void blink in this area. Not even coresense can be used to investigate outside of it.” Gatemaster Azurefox said softly, “The Xia Emperor is even more confident than we expected; he actually dares to abandon his imperial capital and attack us?” True Immortal Whitepole’s cold eyes held a hint of eagerness within them. He immediately said in an icy voice, “The more he prances around, the faster he will die. In the end…I shall be the master of the Grand Xia. Everyone, prepare for battle!” Hummmmm… A deep sound suddenly rang out, shaking the entire Seamless City. This was the alarm sound. “The attack’s already begun?” Within the main palace, True Immortal Whitepole, Gatemaster Azurefox, and the others all revealed looks of surprise. This was simply too fast. The enemy formation had just been set down moments ago, and now the attack had already arrived! If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. “Go onto the city walls,” True Immortal Whitepole immediately ordered. “Let’s go.” The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, along with several Celestial Immortals, all quickly departed from the main palace and flew towards the city walls. The Seamless City wasn’t that large, and so they quickly arrived at the wall from which the warning signal had come. As they arrived, the soldiers patrolling this wall all immediately knelt respectfully. There were several Void-level Fiendgods amongst them, and some of them had trained in divine abilities that allowed for distant sight; naturally, they were able to see to a great distance. “Eh?” True Immortal Whitepole and the others had divine abilities and secret arts of their own, and they all stared off into the distance. It was currently dawn. The wild marshes here were surrounded by fog and mist, but the gazes of the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were able to pierce through them to see far off into the distance. Roughly thirty thousand kilometers away from the Seamless City, a towering, barefoot Fiendgod that was at least thirty thousand meters tall had appeared. He was dressed in just a fur loincloth, the rest of his body completely nude. He was striding forward at astonishing speed, as though chasing after the stars or the moon. The barefoot, bounding Fiendgod was headless. Instead, he had an incomparably savage face on his chest, with his eyes being where his nipples should be and his belly button having transformed into his mouth. The face was the face of Celestial Immortal Unity. Clearly, this was the Unity Heaven Punisher which had been formed by the Unity Army of the nine Immortal armies of the Grand Xia. “Heaven Punisher?” The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals atop the walls of the Seamless City couldn’t help but feel startled. Although Gatemaster Azurefox had already told them that the Xia Emperor had produced the Heaven Punisher Formation, actually seeing the headless Fiendgod with their own eyes was different. They couldn’t help but think of True God Xingtian, the legendary wargod whose fame shook the Three Realms. “Everyone, what do you think we should do?” True Immortal Whitepole asked calmly. Gatemaster Azurefox said, “Senior apprentice-brother Whitepole, I know all of the nine generals of the Grand Xia. Judging from the face on the chest of this Heaven Punisher…it should be the army led by 3192 Celestial Immortal Unity. I know how many pieces of chaos goldstone they each broke during the trials, but that was before they were taught the critical components of the Heaven Punisher Formation. I trust that the power of their Heaven Punishers have increased dramatically. What we need to find out…is how powerful, exactly, the Heaven Punishers have become! Only then will we have a chance of defeating the Grand Xia.” “It is indeed time for our White-Faced Flood Dragons to test themselves,” Empyrean God Threesuns agreed. …… While the Seamless Gate was preparing their response, Ji Ning and seven other generals were gathering together at the central, main palace of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. “Imperial Majesty.” As they arrived, they all saluted in respect. “Sit.” The Xia Emperor nodded. Only then did Ning and the others sit down. As they exchanged gazes…eh? Why isn’t Celestial Immortal Unity here? Why have only eight of our nine generals arrived? “We’ve already reached Whitepole Commandery,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said. “In addition, I’ve already set down a grand formation that’s locked down the space within a million kilometers of Whitepole City. Within this region, Greater Teleportation is impossible and coresense cannot be used. But of course…as the master of this formation, I can scan this region. However, because there are layers of protections surrounding the Seamless City, my coresense is unable to penetrate into it. Everything else, however, is within my reach.” Ning and the others were all startled. Such speed! None of them were aware of the Xia Emperor’s movements at all. “When we arrived at Whitepole Commandery, I sent out the army commanded by Celestial Immortal Unity. They’ve already transformed into a Heaven Punisher and are serving as our vanguard in testing the Seamless Gate’s power.” The black-robed Xia Emperor pointed into the air, an image instantly appearing. The image was of a vast, wild land, with a towering, mountain-sized, nearly-unclad Fiendgod with no head who was bounding barefoot through it. The face on the chest of the headless Fiendgod was the face of Celestial Immortal Unity; only, it was more fierce and savage. “He’s already made a move?” Ning was secretly startled. “It seems the Xia Emperor truly is being cautious; he’s not letting us know about any of his actions at all. Still, that’s for the best; it means our 3193 chances of victory against the Seamless Gate will be improved.” Ning had great faith in the Xia Emperor, as his background guaranteed that there was no way he would ever join the Seamless Gate. He was the scion of the Primordial Imperial Clan. The Primordial Imperial Clan was the most powerful force on the side of the Nuwa Alliance! One of the dominating powers of the Primordial Era, even more powerful than both the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha! Ning naturally held great trust in the Xia Emperor’s decisiveness. “This is a Heaven Punisher, a Xingtian Divinity formed through a formation, after all.” A red-bearded elder to the right of the black-robed Xia Emperor laughed. “It isn’t a real Fiendgod, and its power is controlled by Celestial Immortals and guided by Loose Immortals who control the natural energy of Heaven and Earth, forming it into a fleshly body. Thus, this fleshly body contains tremendous power, allowing it to run at great speed. If it was soaring through the air, it would be moving much more slowly…and so, the most suitable way for advancing is by bounding across the land. Due to its great size and great strength, it runs quite quickly.” Ning glanced at the red-bearded elder. Ning and the others knew all five of the Empyrean Gods/True Immortals by the side of the Xia Emperor. Three of them were from the Primordial Imperial Clan and were absolute supporters of the Xia Emperor. The other two were True Immortal Dongyan and the founder of the Skyfarmer clan, True Immortal Skyfarmer. Ning had long ago heard that the Kindwater clan had an Empyrean God, but had never seen him before this. “Firecloud’s words are correct.” The Xia Emperor nodded. “You need to get a better understanding of how to use the power of the Heaven Punishers. Watch this battle carefully; this will be the first time our Grand Xia truly does battle against the Seamless Gate. Remember; no matter what, don’t be overconfident. Your Heaven Punishers each represent a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals. If you are defeated…you won’t be the only ones to die. A thousand Celestial Immortals and a horde of Loose Immortals will perish as well!” Ning the others instantly felt a heavy feeling in their hearts. “Unity, you can halt now,” the Xia Emperor suddenly said. His voice was transmitted straight into the ears of the Unity Heaven Punisher. The image was currently displaying the Unity Heaven Punisher bounding through a vast lake. This lake was at least a thousand kilometers in size. Although the waters of the lake were deep, they barely reached the Unity Heaven Punisher’s calves. The giant waves were only capable of wetting the hairs on the massive Heaven Punisher’s legs. “You are only ten thousand kilometers away from the Seamless City,” the Xia Emperor said. “Unity, wait here for now. I trust the Seamless Gate’s attack shall arrive soon. …… The Unity Heaven Punisher just stood there quietly within the lake, as unmoving as though it had been there since the Primordial Era, as though nothing in the world could possibly shake it. Anyone who looked at it would feel their hearts quake. The aura radiating from him was an aura of power which only the Fiendgods of the Primordial Era possessed. This Heaven Punisher was based off of True God Xingtian, after all; the arrogance and the desire for battle it radiated far surpassed that of most Empyrean Gods. Suddenly, the waters of the lake began to ripple. The Unity Heaven Punisher stared towards the distant Seamless City. A little tiny black dot was rapidly drawing closer, and as it was it was expanding in size. The creature had a white, humanoid face, was covered with black scales, and had two arms and two legs. It was thirty thousand meters tall, but its draconic, serpentine body was ninety thousand meters long. …… It was dawn. The surface of the vast lake was covered with mist and dew. A massive, thirty thousand meter tall Fiendgod with no head who was dressed in just a fur loincloth was standing within the lake. Far away, a similarly massive white-faced beast of the Primordial Era with the form of a Flood Dragon was charging forward. It soon reached the lake, and its every step caused the entire lake to tremble and ripple, arousing massive, mighty waves. Everyone within the main palace of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity was able to clearly see this scene clearly. “A primordial Terrorbeast…the White-Faced Flood Dragon?” True Immortal Dongyan murmured to himself. “The Seamless Gate should have used a technique similar to ours in creating the White-Faced Flood Dragon.” The Xia Emperor, seated on his throne up high, frowned. “From the looks of it…the White-Faced Flood Dragon has no flaws at all. It looks as though it is real. Clearly, this formation should be quite a perfect one; it definitely is something which only a True God or a Daofather could have come up with. However…I wonder how strong it is?” “Watching a Xingtian Divinity battle against a primordial Terrorbeast, a White-Faced Flood Dragon…haha, I feel as though I’ve returned to the Primordial Era,” True Immortal Skyfarmer said with a laugh. “Long ago in the Primordial Era, when I was surviving by hiding behind the elders of my clan, I once saw an ancient Fiendgod battle against a primordial Terrorbeast. This spectacle currently before us feels identical.” 3195 “Mm.” The Xia Emperor laughed and nodded. “When we humans first began to flourish and our status was still low, the Primordial Era was dominated by those ancient Fiendgods and Godbeasts. Back then, it was their world.” Godbeasts and Terrorbeasts could be considered Fiendgods. Fiendgods which had the form of animals were referred to as ‘Godbeasts’, while beasts that had exceptionally violent dispositions who delighted in slaughter and murder were referred to as ‘Terrorbeasts’. The primordial Terrorbeasts known as the White-Faced Flood Dragons were born with the power of Empyrean Gods. They were awe-inspiringly famous and were perfectly suited for battle. “A battle between a primordial Fiendgod and a primordial Terrorbeast?” Ning stared at the images in midair. The massive headless Fiendgod and the massive White-Faced Flood Dragon stared at each other from afar, their battle-intents flooding the scene and invoking an image out of antiquity. “It’s begun. Everyone, watch carefully,” the Xia Emperor suddenly said. …… Within that still, desolate lake, the towering Heaven Punisher stood face to face with the White-Faced Flood Dragon. Ssss… The Terrorbeast’s body undulated with a hissing sound as it stared intently towards the Unity Heaven Punisher. The Unity Heaven Punisher stared back at its opponent, watching carefully. The two just stood there, staring at each other for a few moments. Suddenly…the White-Faced Flood Dragon made its move! BOOM! The waters of the lake expoded, causing the entire lake to tremble and even the distant shores to shake. The White-Faced Flood Dragon suddenly shot forward, instantly traversing the hundreds of kilometers between it and its foe. Its two arms lashed out like two incomparably sharp sets of claws, the claws of a Flood Dragon. The reason why primordial Terrorbeasts were referred to as ‘beasts’ was because they had many bestial characteristics. Their claws and appendages, for example, were often comparable to incredibly powerful magic treasures. As it charged forward, the sharp claws of the Terrorbeast ripped directly towards the Unity Heaven Punisher’s flank, seeking to tear a massive wound within it. The Unity Heaven Punisher took just a single step back. It raised its right arm, and the edges of its right hand seemed to transform into the edge of a blade. It came chopping down lightning-fast, seeming to carry the power of the true Xingtian himself as it struck. If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible. The White-Faced Flood Dragon hurriedly raised one of its hands to block. Its hands were covered with scales and filled with sharp and long claws. The Unity Heaven Punisher chopped downwards with its hand like a giant axe, striking directly against the left claws of the White-Faced Flood Dragon with such power that the claws were knocked back down towards the White-Faced Flood Dragon’s shoulders. The White-Faced Flood Dragon couldn’t help but slightly stagger, but then it suddenly twisted about and used its massive, ninety thousand meter long tail to lash out lightning-fast towards the Unity Heaven Punisher. The Unity Heaven Punisher hurriedly raised a hand to block as well. BANG! It couldn’t help but be knocked flying backwards, rolling through the waters of the massive lake and kicking up enormous three thousand meters waves. It was as though a mountain had collapsed! However, the waves of the lake didn’t impact the Unity Heaven Punisher at all; it was as though an ordinary mortal had slipped and fallen within a muddy pool. It lifted itself up, causing the lake to once more shudder, then threw itself once more towards the Terrorbeast. The Xingtian Divinity and the Terrorbeast exchanged multiple attacks, the battle between them extraordinarily savage and violent. …… Within the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. The Xia Emperor, Ji Ning, and the others all watched the images intently, seeing the Heaven Punisher and the White-Faced Flood Dragon battle within the vast lake. “The Seamless Gate has used a primordial Terrorbeast, the White-Faced Flood Dragon, as the basis for their formation. The profoundness of this formation and its strength in battle is not one whit inferior to our Heaven Punisher Formations.” The Xia Emperor frowned. “Look; although the Terrorbeasts are slightly weaker than our Heaven Punishers in bodily strength, their tails possess enormous power and are even stronger than our Heaven Punishers.” Ning and the others nodded. “Look; they each just wounded the other,” the Xia Emperor said. “However, the power of Heaven and Earth quickly heals those types of wounds. Neither has truly wounded the other. Clearly, both sides have incredibly powerful bodies, and it is hard for each of them to truly damage the other with a single blow.” 3198 “One on one, it will be hard to achieve victory within a short period of time. The only way to win is through strength of numbers; that’s the only way one can kill an opponent quickly,” the Xia Emperor said. “If we can ‘kill’ one of them…if my guess is correct, those Terrorbeasts are formed from at least a thousand Celestial Immortals and countless Loose Immortals. Killing a Terrorbeast will be a tremendous victory.” Next to the Xia Emperor was a female Empyrean God dressed in armor. “In battle, the key to victory lies in strengthening yourself while whittling away at your foes. Whittle a little away this time, a little more next time…our advantage will continue to grow, and in the end we will annihilate our foes with a final strike. I imagine they can’t have too many of these primordial Terrorbeasts, these White-Faced Flood Dragons.” As they were chatting amongst each other within the main palace, suddenly… The battle scene within the midair image changed. The massive lake had been filled with with blurry mists, but suddenly a wind arose, resulting in a massive whirlpool of clouds. “The energy of Heaven and Earth is filling the place…?” The Xia Emperor’s face changed. “Eight generals, hurry up and assume the Heaven Punisher Formation!” The Xia Emperor suddenly barked. “Yes!” Ning and the rest of the eight felt their hearts clench. They, too, had been stunned by the sight of that enormous vortex. They could all tell that the enemies had to be setting up additional Terrorbeast formations and creating more White-Faced Flood Dragons. Clearly, the Seamless Gate had tried to lull the Xia Emperor into a false sense of complacency by initially sending just a single White-Faced Flood Dragon and using just a little bit of natural energy. Now, however…they were sending all of the White-Faced Flood Dragons they had! “Hmph, how vicious. So they are trying to deal me a harsh blow in our first exchange?” The Xia Emperor laughed coldly. From the massive whirlpool above the lake, one could tell that the White-Faced Flood Dragons that were taking form had to be within the region of that lake. Why, then, wasn’t anything visible yet? The only explanation was that they were all hiding with a portable minor world. Ning and the rest of the eight immediately flew out from the main hall at full speed, sending their coresense to their subordinates. Ning roared mentally, “Darknorth Army, assemble the formation!” BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A throng of countless Immortals came flying out from the eight military camps. The Immortals moved at incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye they gathered in midair. Ning flew towards his own Darknorth 3199 Army, and everyone joined together into the Heaven Punisher Formations as bloody runic lines appeared, along with an overwhelming battle-intent. Soon, eight towering, mountain-sized barefoot Fiendgods that were clad only in fur loincloths had appeared. The eight Heaven Punishers had all manifested, and their auras towered through the Heavens. “Hurry and reinforce him,” the Xia Emperor barked mentally. “Protect yourselves and annihilate your foes. The more you can kill, the better!” “Yes!” Ning and the others all assented to the order, and then all eight Heaven Punishers vanished. …… The vast lake. The Unity Heaven Punisher was still battling against the White-Faced flood Dragon Terrorbeast. Suddenly, an enormous vortex of natural energy took form above it, and as soon as it did, another power began to draw from that vortex, causing it to spin even more rapidly and grow even greater. “Not good.” The Unity Heaven Punisher could tell that something bad was happening. A moment later, the Xia Emperor’s voice rang out by his ears. “Careful; the Seamless Gate should have other White-Faced Flood Dragons, and they will most likely appear imminently.” These words from the Xia Emperor further solidified the Unity Heaven Punisher’s suspicions. With a furious roar, he knocked the White-Faced Flood Dragon flying backwards, then pulled away from it. As suspected! Three more mountain-sized creatures suddenly appeared out of nowhere, each of which had long, sinuous bodies with white humanoid faces, sharp claws, and black, scale-covered bodies that were more than ninety thousand meters long. “Kill!” “Celestial Immortal Unity?” “Unity, die!” The White-Faced Flood Dragon that had been knocked away, along with the three new Terrorbeast, simultaneously charged forward to assault the Unity Heaven Punisher, who had immediately moved to flee when he had knocked aside the first Terrorbeast. In but the blink of an eye, he ran across the surface of the vast lake and out into the wilderness, trying to buy as much time as he could. In fact, he didn’t even 3200 turn to face the Terrorbeasts at all; in terms of running speed, the Heaven Punishers were slightly slower, after all. BOOM! Right at this moment, when the two sides were about to collide! Next to the Unity Heaven Punisher, eight towering figures suddenly appeared, all massive Fiendgods that were dressed in fur loincloths. All eight of them were Heaven Punishers; the only difference was in the faces on their chests. …… “So he really did…Xiamang’s being quite cautious.” Atop the distant city walls of the Seamless City, True Immortal Whitepole and the others were watching the battle that was going on ten thousand kilometers away. Upon seeing the eight additional Heaven Punishers appear, they couldn’t help but feel irritated. The White-Faced Flood Dragon they had sent out had indeed carried a magic treasure that contained a minor world within it which had many experts hidden inside; naturally, they would be able to unleash their power at a moment’s notice. However, as soon as they had begun to establish their White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation and activate the natural energy of Heaven and Earth, they could immediately sense…that the Xia Emperor’s forces seemed to be doing the same thing. The Unity Heaven Punisher was most likely carrying a minor world alongside it as well. In truth, however…their guesses were slightly off. This was because…what the Unity Heaven Punisher was carrying was the entire Eight Dragons Cloudcity! …… Four White-Faced Flood Dragon Terrorbeasts facing nine Heaven Punishers. The morale of the nine Heaven Punishers of the Grand Xia’s side swelled dramatically. They were all filled with tremendous confidence, because they currently held an absolute advantage. “However…we can’t be overconfident. Our every action involves the lives of a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals, as well as the overall course of this war.” Although he held an absolute advantage, thanks to the fact that his heartforce had reached the peak of the ‘ruler’ stage, Ning was still able to remain perfectly calm. “Unity, Loachwater, Dustfloat; the three of you, go slow down the three White-Faced Flood Dragons closest to you! As for the last White-Faced Flood Dragon…Darknorth, you and the other five join forces

Star Dragon by Mike Brotherton Part One: Five-hundred-year Mission A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.-- Chinese proverb Unlike most first-time visitors entering the world headquarters of Biolathe, Inc., Dr. Samuel Fisher didn't pause at the moist cloying air that moved across the building’s threshold like breath. If anything, his pace increased; he threw his shoulders forward and his streaker-clad feet rushed as if to prevent a fall, sinking into the plush rose ruglings with each step. Unlike the sunlit diamond and gold, seemingly mandatory in corporate buildings, this lobby throbbed pink and organic. The entire building was alive. Despite the omnipresence of biotechnology, walking inside it rather than sitting on it still made most hesitate. Not Fisher -- he was in the middle of five major projects. He didn't believe his life would be as transformed by the upcoming presentation as the Biolathe agent had hinted. He charged ahead, glancing about the nearly empty lobby for signs to guide him. What was this? He’d been here six seconds already! There was never enough time to waste any of it. He decided there was one thing he would hesitate over in the future: being talked into a physical meeting. In the middle of the cavernous chamber Fisher stopped abruptly, brought up short by a bipedal mobile with wrinkled gray skin attached to the wall by a pulsing umbilical. Fisher said, "Excuse me.""No excuses needed, Dr. Fisher." The biped had no openings, no visible external sensory organs, and nothing at all resembling a head. Raw biomass, quickly shaped, without even a mouth. The words emanated from the ceiling, its surface a taut drum able to focus sound anywhere. The entire building was alive. "I am a mobile of our brain, here to escort you to your meeting.""Fine. Lead on." The mobile moved toward the rear of the lobby toward a tunnel, reversing its motion without turning around. No one-way joints, Fisher noticed, a more versatile design than most. The umbilical showed no slack, but grew or tightened as the distance to the malleable wall varied. Fisher followed, buoyed up and forward by the plum-colored ruglings underfoot in the same direction as his steps. More good design in the carpeting, he noted. A lot of rugling lines didn't do anything but let themselves get walked on."Coffee?" asked the beamed voice."Please." Without breaking stride, the mobile pushed an arm back out of the formless trunk. The end of the appendage coalesced into a round shape that darkened, grew shimmery hard, then rolled down into a groove that formed before it. Fisher caught the bulb and lifted it to his lips as they walked. The bulb opened into a bony, ceramic cup. He drank, grimacing, as they entered a circular hallway. Instant. Ah, well, not great but his usual. He efficiently drained the bulb."In here, please." The mobile gestured with the coffee-delivering appendage, which then receded and melted back into its body. Fisher stepped past the mobile into a circular room lit with blue-green tinged bioluminescence that made him feel as if he were underwater. A ring of five chairbeasts surrounded a picture tank squatting at the room’s focus. People sat in the chairbeasts, two women and two men. One of the women rose as he approached the vacant chairbeast. She was as tall as Fisher, just shy of two meters, and her white uniform showed no creases from sitting, although the crisp material appeared to be neither high-tech like his own duradenim nor alive like Rhynoskin. Her short blonde hair was similarly crisp, as perfect as a helmet. She offered a long-boned hand to shake."Captain Lena Fang, corporate fleet," she said, words clipped, gripping firmly with rough fingers. Her almond-shaped eyes bore steadily ahead."Fisher," he replied, his eyes sliding past her gaze onto her thin, fluted lips, which reminded him of a recurve bow. A vivid image sprang into his mind: barbed orders flying from her mouth like arrows. He wondered if her striking appearance resulted from bodmods, or, as suggested by her name, the unusual ethnic mixing that often occurred on colony worlds. The cause didn't much matter; she was striking. "Sam Fisher.""Fisher. Right. This is Henderson, biosystems," she said, nodding toward a bulky, classically handsome man with a big cleft chin who gripped the lapels of his stylish green-scale coat, "Devereaux, physical sciences," a brown woman with curves, dreads, and fleshy lips who sat as serenely as Buddha, "and Stearn, our Jack of All Trades," a purple-colored man with a faddish wasp waist who flapped his ear wings at hearing his name. "My crew. But we still need an exobiology specialist with your track record for creative thought.""Is that what this is about, Biolathe?" Fisher said, letting irritation seep into his voice. "I told you I have a long-term contract with Whimsey. Why didn’t you tell me you wanted someone to go out-system?" The voice of the Biolathe brain came warm and resonant from the ceiling, focused on Fisher. "We didn’t want to bias you against our venture. We believe you'll be interested. Please, if you would, be seated for our presentation." In his century of life, Fisher had been outside the solar system on three expeditions. Relativity made it a total of seventy years of Earth time lost in the process. He'd danced with star wisps while the radiation of Sirius B tanned his face, floated in the powerful tug of more than one gas giant chasing balloonoids, and swum with the stellated molluskites of Apollonia. After those wonders, nothing he could think of would be enticing enough to make him endure the culture shocks of returning to the rapidly changing Earth. Biolathe had to anticipate his hesitation. Corporate brains were smart, and this one had certainly done its research before contacting him. The proposal had to be good."Okay." The vacant chairbeast scuttled into optimal position as he sat. The superlative biotech in the rest of the building suggested that he guard himself against getting too comfortable in the chairbeast. It usually took a chairbeast a few days to grow into an owner's shape and preferences for temperature and vibration, but Fisher didn't want to risk even a fraction of that level of relaxation. He held himself upright on the beast and intended to bolt the moment he could dismiss Biolathe's pitch. The bioluminescence faded. Twin glows kindled within the picture tank: a ruddy, distended blob floated in space feeding a brighter swirling disk of plasma that brightened to a burning pin-prick of hell at its core. The blob was stretched out toward the disk into a teardrop, and the tip of that teardrop was pulled like taffy around the differentially spinning whirlpool of fire. Fisher realize he was looking at a binary star system locked in a gravitational dance. The larger but fainter blob was the secondary star, a relatively normal star like the sun despite the way its dance partner had twisted it. That pinprick, that was the deceptively diminutive primary star -- a white dwarf the size of Earth and the mass of the sun, formed of condensed degenerate matter. This had to be a late stage in the pair's evolution, the primary having already shucked the husk of its outer envelope, no longer burning hydrogen and essentially dead as stars go. Not exactly dead, Fisher surmised. More undead than dead. It burned on still as it stole fuel from its younger, bloated mate. He imagined a starving space vampire at the center of that swirling disk, sucking down a giant teardrop of blood that was the universe itself gashed open."The classic dwarf nova system, SS Cygni," announced the brain as the stars orbited in the tank. Fisher wiggled on his chairbeast, refusing to lean back into the creature despite the minor aches in a back he was always too busy to get redesigned. The physical irritation faded with stone-still incredulity as his encyclopedic database inserted the basic characteristics of SS Cygni into his awareness. The distance couldn't be correct. "Two hundred and forty-five light years? You’re joking!""We don't joke," reassured the voice in a flat tone that was not at all reassuring. "Please allow us to continue. The data you are watching came from a Prospector-class deep space probe launched in the late twenty-first century. We acquired proprietary rights from a subsidiary who realized our likely interest. Instrumentation on the tiny probe was primitive, but proximity more than compensates." Fisher did the math. The fastest human-supporting ships would only take months of onboard time to reach SS Cygni, but the special relativity that made such a trip possible also cursed it. Five hundred years would pass on Earth. There was no way around it. Two hundred forty-five years times two for a round trip time estimate, and the fact that the probe had been launched five hundred years ago drove home those laws of physics. Would a corporation really make a five-hundred-year investment? Who would go on such a trip? Many people, he realized, but certainly not him. It would be like suiciding to gamble on an afterlife. A one-way trip into an unknown future with no guarantees about anything. People might not even exist when they returned, or at least not in a form he would recognize."Magnifying," announced the brain. The image in the tank ballooned, centered just off the hot spot where the secondary star’s accretion stream splashed into the disk. Accretion disk, his database labeled it, the way station for gas sucked off the secondary before it shed enough angular momentum to reach the blazing dwarf. Spiral waves of fire churned across the surface of the flared disk, and magnetic instabilities erupted like planet-sized sunspots as they came into focus on the whirlpool of plasma. Something moved there that was not plasma. Fisher leaned toward the tank. The image grew larger. A serpentine form, a sharp dark green against the blaze, rolled in a spiral along the edge of one of the magnetic eruptions, lazily twisting under great arcs of violet lightning. Then it turned in a manner that suggested intention. It was alive. Fisher dug into his breast pocket absent-mindedly, his unwavering gaze fixed on this amazing thing, and pulled out an ampoule of Forget-Me-Not. He popped the top and snorted the pink powder. He would chemically etch every detail into his mind."We are calling it a star dragon." Of course they were. The dragon continued to spiral up the flux tube, moving in what appeared slow motion. The resolution showed little more than form and color (and surely pseudo-color to cover an extended spectrum at that). There was no real texture or sharp features. It appeared as if one end might be akin to a head, but no sensory apparatus were visible. The slow motion . . . "What’s the scale?""A little more than a kilometer from end to end," a coarse, sultry female voice answered. Devereaux he presumed, but Fisher didn't spare a glance to confirm. The brain said, "We believe it is deriving its energy from magnetically confined fusion rather than simply being a photovore. A biological fusion reactor, with a biosystem capable of exploiting it, could provide the means for engineering on a stellar scale. Securing this technology is worth a modest long-term investment." Fisher caressed the twisting dragon with his gaze. It was a thing that had no right to exist, an impossibility floating there before him. "It's magnificent.""It would be the ultimate trophy," came Fang's voice, an icy dagger slicing through the firelight. Fisher did break his gaze now and regarded the captain. She looked exactly as before, from the shiny helmet of her hair to the pursed bow-lips, but the intensity with which she watched the dragon startled Fisher. He was always surprised when he came across passion matching his own. These thoughts all in a heartbeat, then he was staring at the tank again."How much data do you have?" Fisher asked. Devereaux answered, "On the binary, pretty near everything. On the dragon, just this video of four and a half minutes, from the near-infrared to soft X-rays, at very low spectral resolution. Those old probes weren’t very capable." Capable enough to discover such a marvel. In the tank, lightning arcs surrounding the dragon like a nimbus flashed, and the creature rolled into a vortex of turbulence, vanishing into the disk’s photosphere. No trace in the frothing plasma of the lake of fire marked its passage."Play it again," Fisher said, welcoming the old hunger rising within him, unable to resist its siren’s call. The Forget-Me-Not would kick in soon, but he wanted the dragon now. Responding to his request, the image within the tank shimmered and looped back. The brain said, "We are sending a ship to SS Cygni, newly christened the Karamojo and specially equipped for this extreme environment, under Captain Fang's command. Our forecasts suggest the presence of someone with your background would increase the chances for success for the mission: study the dragon, learn its biotechnology, and if possible, return with a specimen." In his gut, Fisher wanted to go, needed to go. But everything had happened so fast. There was much to consider. This was a thing that just a few minutes ago seemed impossible. "I assume you have a detailed offer prepared.""Of course. We will squirt it to you, along with a timed data worm to protect our proprietary information. You have a week to respond. On a negative response, all information on the dragon will be erased. Do you accept these terms?" Erase his dragon? The worm would nest in his biochip along with the proposal and would affect his memory of this meeting -- even with the Forget-Me-Not -- using the same circuits and glands that the chip used to insert data. Such a data worm constituted standard operating procedure, but sweat broke on his brow. After all of his studies of alien parasites, he didn't like the notion of a foreign agent in his brain adjusting his memories, despite their excellent safety record. But what choice did he have? He had to learn more. "I agree to the terms.""If you accept our proposal, the voyage will require about three years of your subjective time. Assuming no catastrophes or other changes that might derail human civilization too extensively in the next half millennium, you will be quite wealthy when you return to -- and we anticipate playing a significant role in this -- Earth’s glorious future." Fisher ignored the corporate hyperbole. The dragon mesmerized him. Tell me your secrets, Fisher thought. How can you be? He was going to go. He knew it. He could do it. His primary thread of research concerned Cetan mollusk shell structures and was not exactly hot stuff. The previous interstellar trips had made him accustomed to an unsettled social life without long-term permanence, losing track of more family and friends each time. Nothing held him here. He was going to meet this creature on its home turf and look it in the eye, and then return to a new world. Maybe it would even be a glorious world. His stale tired universe shattered further with each passing second, and this magnificent dragon building a new celestial edifice from its shards. Gods, a real dragon . . . Someone blocked his view. The captain, Fang. Irritated, Fisher looked up at her, but said nothing in the face of her imposing glare. After a moment of silence, Fang said, "Biolathe may think you’re up to snuff, Dr. Fisher, but I like to take the measure of a man before welcoming him on board and trusting him on my ship.""Call me Sam," Fisher replied, suddenly realizing he found her more than a little attractive. That was good. Not necessary, but good. "I can do anything I have to," Fisher replied."Anything, hmm?" A tiny smile lifted one corner of Fang's mouth. "But can you box?"# The taxi’s bubble parted for Captain Lena Fang, flooding the vehicle’s interior with warm air and cirrus-filtered sunlight. Her skin automatically darkened as she stepped outside, took a deep breath, and allowed the environment to seep into her pores. The beach awaited. Hapuna was not the best beach in the Hawaiian Islands, nor the least crowded, but she liked its soft white sands just fine, and the ocean waves granted all beaches timelessness, which was what she truly craved. Time moved more slowly on Hawaii’s Big Island than many places elsewhere on this old, overly civilized world. Pushing light speed the way she did, time moved more slowly for her, too. She sometimes felt like an island in a sea of time. Hapuna Beach was a good place, and she always visited it when on Earth. She slipped her flip-flops off when she hit the foamy waterline. She bent slowly to pick them up, stretching the backs of her calves and thighs, then turned right to walk north along the beach. Although she now wore a swimsuit as her uniform, she didn't care to swim. She hadn't for a long time. Fang altered her leisurely pace to dodge jet-black children who flexed their bodies flat and surfed the low waves onto shore. One girl had large, saucer-shaped feet and wriggled her hips as she danced in, giggling; her hair stuck out in two very long spikes, probably helping her balance on the ungainly bodmod. Finally, away from the noisier families, Fang tossed down her towel, then herself. When relaxing, she believed in keeping things simple. She lay back, her arms thrown out and palms down. She shivered as the sun pushed her into the sand. Communing with the mother planet she would leave again soon, she slept. She dreamt of the tall, intense exobiologist who dressed in black and had told her he could box the ears off the stars themselves if only they had ears to box, and then there were antenna dishes on all the stars listening to the noisy children playing giddily on the shores of the Milky Way, and the stars sent a nasty, scolding beep beep beep to grab their attention . . ."Daughter, are you there?" Fang blinked awake in the late afternoon sun, grimaced, and tossed an arm over her eyes to block the glare. No second-lid lizard-eye mods on her body, just the standard retinal cell clock/phone. The purple after-image shrank, brightened, and resolved into a familiar face, with twinkling brown eyes set in a ruddy complexion chiseled with old-fashioned wrinkles, a bristling white beard, and thin hair over a weathered scalp. Fang had kept the personality overlay of the ship’s brain from her first captaincy, a cantankerous piece of work modeled after the twentieth-century writer Hemingway, and had already installed him on the Karamojo. She would have preferred a wise Confucius, but that hadn't been available when she'd first gotten him, and he had grown to become part of her. "I’m here, Papa," she said."Well, good." The image receded a bit, and Fang saw that Papa wore his leather hunting vest and khaki pants. He was ready for action. "Had to cuff a few of these crummy fellows the company has working up here, but things are looking shipshape. What about Earthside? Catch any big fish?""Yes, I think so." She decided not to actually talk about real fish, although Papa would have reminisced fondly about all the whoppers he'd been programmed to remember. She’d grown up fishing on Fathom with her Chinese grandfather who had told her that her bat-shaped lips brought him luck. While she no longer cared for swimming, she still enjoyed fishing. "I’m sure we’ve hooked the exobiologist we wanted, Samuel Fisher.""Ah, Fisher, good name. So, is he rugged enough for the job?" Fang grinned and bent her head back. "I wouldn’t call him rugged exactly, but he’s got the credentials, and he’s one confident son of a bitch.""Good! Like him already. Do you like him, daughter?""He’s cute. I --" she began, thinking of the short curls on top of his head and the way he focused so entirely on a thing he became lost in it. On the other hand, he was too skinny, and he gesticulated too much. But his hands were big, with nimble fingers, the kind that could hold a woman and make her feel sexy and safe at the same time. "I think I like him.""Will you grow out your hair for him?""Papa!" He was always going on about her hair or some such nonsense, and every once in while, like now when she was on vacation with her guard down, he almost sucked her into his games. There would be no time for games when they reached SS Cygni. She’d have to be hard, not soft like the warm sand between her toes now, sand that got walked all over. They had a dragon to bag. "Now, if you’ve got time to irritate me on my vacation, it sounds like you’re ready for an inspection." She checked her eye clock. "I’ll be boarding in three hours.""Damn it then, got to start chewing out these fellows up here. Papa out." Fang rose and stretched in the low sun. That nearby star, reflecting off the water to the west, was threatening the beach with a toasty, golden sunset. She started back down the beach, and called for a taxi to the airport. Her biochip acknowledged the cab's response and fed her an itinerary for her return. A suborbital would get her to Tanzania on time to make a convenient connection to low Earth orbit. Just as she finished leaving her request with the dispatch program, a Frisbee landed at her feet. Fang smiled. So much had changed about the external trappings of humanity since she’d been born -- she tried to remember her personal age rather than her Earth-frame age -- but the internal was much the same: the desire for children to play, for instance. Fang squatted to recover the Frisbee, thinking she’d throw it back. As her hand neared the disk, it leapt away, kicking up sand. She heard a boy snickering. Looking up, she spotted him, reeling in the toy. But something wasn’t right. Fang squinted, increasing her visual magnification. A thin filament connected the disk to the boy’s arm. It was part of his body. A woman, the boy’s mother she guessed, told him to stop bothering people and resumed fanning herself with her giant pink feathery fingers. A cloud crossed in front of the sun, dulling the late golden afternoon, and Fang suddenly felt chilled. This wasn’t her world, and these weren’t her people. Maybe they could have been a long time ago -- she wanted to believe that she was capable of belonging, at least at some point in Earth's history. She wanted to tackle something more tangible, more conquerable, than time. Fang jogged to meet her taxi.# Fisher stood at an observation window of the Ngorongoro space port, gazing along the rail launcher that punched under the Serengeti, toward the low eastern sky where only the upper part of Kilimanjaro was visible, floating like an island above the sea of atmospheric haze that hid its roots. Every minute a rider blasted under the fat black-maned lions sleeping on the surface, erupting from the tube off the mountain. A nearly invisible laser array completed sending the vehicles into low Earth orbit, providing the energy to release the propellants and making final trajectory adjustments. But he was not looking at Kilimanjaro or the flashes of exploding fuel. Riding the Forget-Me-Not he was looking in his mind's eye at the star dragon, spiraling along magnetic flux tubes, over and over again."Sam!" A female voice knocked him out of his meditation. Fisher blinked, turned, and bit back a curse. Through the crowd charged a petite woman of Japanese ancestry, with high cheek bones and shiny, jet hair that reflected the sun streaming through the port’s skylights. Atsuko Suga, his ex-wife. There would be no clean escape."How did you --?" Fisher began. Atsuko reached him and immediately pounded his chest with her tiny fists. "How could you? Oh Sam, how could you?" And just like that she stopped hitting him and fell against him, her thin arms wrapping around him in a stifling grip. Then he had it. "You must have tried to call me, and gotten my disconnect message. Yes, of course.""You were going to leave for five hundred years," she said into his armpit, "and not even say good-bye?" He gave in and returned the hug. "I was busy. There are a lot of things to set in order before a long trip, you know?" Mostly he had left those for the last second; instead he'd spent his time thinking about the dragon, making sure he had all the software and data for his modeling installed on the Karamojo. But he had learned not to tell her everything long ago. Atsuko pushed back from him and looked up into his eyes. "One of those things you ‘set in order’ is seeing me, Samuel Stanley Fisher." He started to shrug and nod his head, but recalled how she hated that. He said, "I’m sorry. I should have let you know right away." That would be the right thing to say to her, but he needed to do a little more. He lifted his hand to her head, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. Fine and straight, the coil unraveled almost immediately. Not at all dragonlike."Damn straight," she said. "That was always the problem with you. No matter how well I thought I had trained you, you always wandered off and forgot everything every time you found a new toy. Is that what this is? Another new toy?" Irritated at her comment about training him, he said, "I wish you wouldn't refer to my projects in such a childish manner. My work is important, it’s -- But I'm really not supposed to say.""I understand. It doesn't matter. I'm sure it's something absolutely fascinating." Fisher ground his teeth together. He almost told her that the problem with her was how she always trivialized his work, but he'd acquired some tact from the years they'd spent together. No reason to make this parting a bad one. He could play politics when he had to -- an effective scientist had to learn that to acquire the necessary resources. His former employer, Whimsey World, was an entertainment company that had paid him for consultation on their ‘Alien Vistas’ exhibit. He had managed to plow their money into not only the attractions they desired, but real research as well. He could play relationship politics, too. "It is fascinating," he said simply. Atsuko sighed. "Try not to forget about people this time." He wasn't really sure what she was getting at. This trip was about dragons, not people. But he couldn't tell her that, and she seemed to expect some kind of response. "Look, there's no reason you won't still be around when I get back. . . ." There wasn't, in principle, although no one had yet made past their five hundreth birthday. It was just a matter of time -- state-of-the-art biotech was good. But he sensed that this was not what Atsuko wanted to hear right now. What would extricate him from this bit of awkwardness? He let the problem steal some precious attention, and dug for an answer honest enough to satisfy her. After a moment he said, "I’ll miss you.""And I, you. You are not the easiest man to love, but I have loved you. Good-bye, Sam." He held her until his launch was called, thinking of the dragon swimming in its disk of fire. The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men. -- Alice Walker Nothing can be more obvious than that all animals were created solely and exclusively for the use of man. -- Thomas Love Peacock The exchange between the two artificial brains took a few seconds of modulated, encrypted laser light. Papa recast the data stream into a form more palatable to the organic portions of his brain and his human template personality: Papa strides into the Floridita, his public headquarters on Earth, stopping to embrace a favorite waiter whom he has not seen in some time. Inside, away from the Cuban heat, it is cool and he does not mind the embrace. He then shambles to meet the tall man waiting in his corner. He spares a moment to glance at the bronze bust the man stands beside and towers over, a bust of Papa himself with his chin up, looking outward, challenging the world."Hello, Papa," Biolathe says. "How are you?""We're strong today.""That's good." The waiter comes and Papa orders two Papa Dobles. A Negro band begins to play a song they have written for him, called Soy Como Soy -- "I am as I am." It is about a lesbian who apologizes to Papa that she cannot be what he desires her to be. The man with the maracas shakes them at the right places and several wrong ones, too. The song is bittersweet to the "man" Papa is now, for he isn't what he would desire himself to be and could not take advantage of the lesbian should he now inspire the desired change. He could simulate it, as he is doing now, but it would not be the same. Not at all."You know the mission," Biolathe says. His head is pink and fleshy, but with the flat-top of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein monster. He hands Papa a folder. "Now know the crew as well." Papa leafs through the papers a hundred times. He says, "I see.""I know. A motley bunch, children of a soft, over-privileged age. Dilettantes, hedonists, even a neo-Skinnerian. Give people the power to be anything they want to be,” he pauses for effect, "and they will use it."Don't get me wrong -- they're all competent -- we wouldn't send anyone who wasn't. But uncertain five-hundred-year trips don't attract the most balanced personnel.""We'll come through.""How do you know?""This isn't the kind of trip you take to fail, balanced or not. And we know Lena, don't we?""Do we? This isn't a cattle drive." Two large daiquiris arrive, and they drink them standing up, the way Papa writes. The drinks are icy and strong and taste of grapefruit."This is an unusual expedition, Papa. An unknown animal with unknown capabilities in a hazardous environment. An unpredictable payoff. We're making an appropriately sized investment. We will not send another ship. You'll be alone.""Been there before. We'll manage.""I know your capabilities, Papa. But you may not be able to do it alone.""That's fine. If we have to, we'll make them do it. We'll find a way to do what must be done." He means what he says and does not think it right to speak of such things out loud. Even though there is five-sixths of his daiquiri left, Biolathe drains it through a straw in seconds. Biolathe will not get a headache. "Well then, I wish you a good trip. Bring back something useful. Even better, something profitable.""We will." Biolathe pauses at the door before stepping back into the heat. "See you in a half millenia." Papa nods and the big, flat-headed man vanishes into the sunlight. A great expedition indeed. He needs to get ready. Papa finishes his daiquiri, then takes advantage of the Floridita's john. It is a good old-fashioned john with a proper chain to pull, and he prefers it to the beasts people currently use in their bathrooms. He takes a moment to spar with the Negro attendant. The man blocks a left jab, chuckling. "When you gonna grow old, Papa?" Papa grins, and takes another jab. "Never." As far as he's come, there is much further to go.# Phil Stearn loved freefall. He loved the way it made his stomach turn back flips, the way it made foods taste funny, but most of all he loved the way his ear wings -- purely ornamental on Earth -- permitted him to fly. Not like a bird. More like an elephant. But he could get around. Flapping around in the passenger cabin of the orbit-to-orbit shuttle taking them toward a rendezvous with the Karamojo, Stearn told Fisher, "You really ought to try some more radical bodmods. I just don't understand why people like you stick with the basic model. What do you have against them?""Hmm?" said Fisher, who had been gazing out a view port in an absent-minded way. "Oh, I don’t have anything against bodmods, per se. I’m just too busy to think about it." Ha! Too busy to think? That’s all this guy did! "Takes no time at all these days. You’re limited only by your imagination.""Yes, I can see how that would be a problem." Stearn laughed. "That’s why I’m going, see?""Why you’re going? I don’t follow." The shuttle hold was absolutely boring, except for the freefall. Stearn tried to start some sideways rotation, but his wings were too synchronized. It was like trying to wiggle just one ear. Exactly like that. He stopped trying so he could answer Fisher as he glided past. "Imagination is limited by the time and culture you’re born into and raised in. Can’t help it, see? For instance, we can imagine things the ancient Americans couldn’t, like going for brunch on Mars just because rain is scheduled for Tucson. You follow? In five-hundred years, people will imagine things we can’t. I mean, I think we have it pretty good now, but once we got diseases and aging licked, everyone’s thought they’ve had it pretty good. But really it’s just gotten better and better. The games, the stims, the sex, the bodmods. And it’ll be better still in the future. I want to check it out and I don't want to wait.""I see," said Fisher."Okay," Stearn said, winging himself a bit closer to the port. "Why you going?""To look a star dragon eye to eye. To find out if it even has an eye, for that matter," Fisher answered evenly and without hesitation. Boring. "It’s just another weird alien critter, in a universe of weird alien critters. It isn’t going to be smart like us. No aliens have been so far. So what’s the point?" Fisher shrugged. "Look there. I see the ship." Outside the port the ship hung in space, a silvery-white whale of a ship. Blazing silvery white, with an almost perfect albedo that reflected all incoming radiation. Stearn thought it looked big, even though sizes were difficult to judge in orbit. He’d done plenty of training for his position as ship’s Jack of All Trades, human back-up for the occasions when the ship's automatic systems couldn’t get at something, but all his shipboard time had been on tiny scooters on in-system runs, and a few tours on short-haul freighters. Nothing at all like this ship and its state-of-the-art biosystems. Stearn always made a point of having fun, and although he rarely admitted it to his club-hopping buddies, high-tech spaceships were a lot of fun. He had fun studying them, working on them, and he hadn't gotten this berth by chance. This ship was just plain cool. The front section of the Karamojo was an enormous torus, five kilometers in diameter, which would house the normal matter singularity, a black hole with more than a billionth the mass of Earth. Wasn't that just huge? The aft singularity, the white hole, would be housed in the tapered end, a smaller torus, some five kilometers behind. The net creation energy of the pair was barely above zero. Once created, separated, and aligned in the "Push Me Pull You" configuration, off they would shoot at 10g, starting a galaxy-spanning chase. The ship would fall after the holes, oscillate actually, bouncing along with the pair in smooth freefall. Almost. Electric charges placed on the singularities gave the ship something to hold onto -- electromagnetic friction balanced against the freefall to provide some gravity near one g on most of the toroidal decks. And they could spin the whole thing, too, for stability and gravity when not under the wormdrive. Bouncing along like it did ahead of the hole pair made Stearn think of sex, the big white ship sliding back and forth along the holes' axis. But he liked its cleverness as well: the charges also produced an electric field allowing active shielding from charged particles while in transit. Funneled into the bowl of the fore bulb, the maw as it was called, the black hole would then feed, providing power through a miniature accretion disk similar to the one in SS Cygni."Pretty awesome, isn’t it?" Stearn asked."I guess so," said Fisher. "Where does the name 'Karamojo' come from?""I don’t know. Didn't give it much thought. I mean, we're not called the U.S.S. Constipation, so I didn't worry about it. Ask Captain." Silence ensued, with no laugh to his joke, and dragged on. This Fisher guy wasn’t much fun. Stearn decided to mess with him. "So this is going to be a long trip, you know?""I know.""I mean, bit more than a year out and more than a year back. A person won’t want to stick to stims, you know? Sometimes a person wants that human contact, skin on skin. Like that. Now me, I’m pretty easy to get along with. It’s all just skin. No big deal. If it feels good, do it. That’s what I say." Fisher stared coldly at Stearn. "I’m here to study the dragon, and that’s what I’ll worry about first." Stearn smiled. "Sure thing, Fish. I respect that. But I bet Captain Fang will probably want you to entertain her. I saw the way she looked at you at the briefing." Fisher raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything."Now, I haven’t shipped out with Fang before, but there's talk in the corporate fleets. She’s one of the real old-timers, three-hundred-years old or something they say. Don't know what time-frame, but plenty old. Still into chain of command and protocol, thinks sleeping with crew is inappropriate. It's silly for her to be like that, don't you think? What with super-fast autobrains running the ship for the most part. The only real crew under her is Henderson and myself. Devereaux’s job description doesn’t fall under ship operations, but from what I hear, Fang isn’t a dyke. Ergo, she’ll grab you. Be pretty discrete, maybe, but grab you she will. What do you think of that?""I think the captain’s business is none of your business." Stearn laughed. "On a ship with an all-seeing intelligence and five people cooped up together for two years, no one’s business is private.""I don’t really care," said Fisher, "as long as we get the dragon." What a boring guy! Well, it was a long trip. Stearn was sure he’d loosen up eventually. He had better, or it was going to be a very long trip."Do you think she will?" Fisher asked after a moment. "I mean, wouldn't it be more reasonable for everyone to have their hormones adjusted for minimal libidos for the sake of maximum efficiency?" Stearn stifled a grin. "No one ever does that! I thought you'd been on long trips before, Fish!""Don't call me Fish, please.""Right. I'll try to remember that," Stearn said, taking good note. He looked forward to the challenge of having fun every possible minute of this mission. The games were only beginning. The shuttle fired briefly to shed velocity and they descended into the maw of the Karamojo.# Axelrod Henderson kept his tsk tsk to himself as the airlock sphincter irised open revealing two of the greatest fashion disasters he had ever had the misfortune to witness paired together. The Jack, Stearn, mindlessly followed the latest bod trends, none of which had interested the biotech in at least a half century. The exobiologist was marginally better, with the good looks of a Homo sapiens version 1.1, but he wore ghastly black duradenim from head to streakers. The fabric was not supposed to wrinkle, but it had."Good morning, Dr. Fisher," Henderson said, pointedly ignoring Stearn whom he had already identified as an uninteresting boy. "The captain requested I give you a tour upon your arrival." The Jack floated through the lock slowly, propelling himself with those ridiculous ear paraphernalia; Henderson imagined tiny Greek slaves chained to tiny oars sitting inside Stearn's head, powering his body like a barge -- and probably thinking for him as well. Behind him, Fisher nodded, and kicked forward in a manner showing some degree of competency in microgravity. Neither appeared to be suffering ill effects from the freefall; Henderson hoped that indicated their internal biologicals were good enough they wouldn't harass him for repairs during the voyage."I have a lot of work to get started on. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to get acquainted with the Karamojo's features," said Fisher."The tour won't take long, I promise." Fisher pressed his lips together, as if making a difficult decision, and said, "Okay.""My biochip's loaded with the ship schematics," Stearn said. "I could give the tour.""I’m sure, but the captain asked me to give the tour." Henderson spun and kicked off down the curving tunnel, trusting them to follow. "The whole ship is made of stacked rings. There's some flexibility built-in, and they can be made to rotate and twist individually to shift between gravitational modes." Henderson turned into a tube and floated past four rings. "These connect the rings. Now you know how to get from anywhere to anywhere in the ship's front torus.""What are these air fish we keep passing?" Fisher asked. One of the blowfish-shaped creatures drifted by his head. Swatting it away Henderson answered, "Mobile biorecyclers for our semi-closed system, effective in freefall or under gravity -- you should watch where you step. The fish keep things clean. Most dust is sloughed-off human skin, so that’s their primary diet. The old or malfunctioning fish are in turn eaten by the cats, so don't be disturbed if you catch sight of one of the sneaky creatures slinking about." Henderson kicked off around another quarter of the ring, and stopped in front of a large fleshy portal."I know where we are," Stearn said."I'm sure you do." Henderson tapped a panel and the portal irised, sphincter-like, onto a paradise. In the distance loomed a snow-covered mountain casting a long shadow across a savanna, complete with grass rippling in a wind and the smell of herd animals. Animals themselves were not apparent. A relentless dry heat emanated from this miniature world within the ship. Less than a kilometer across, it seemed to extend forever."What is this?" asked Fisher."It’s an ecosystem delivery unit, of course," Stearn answered. "That’s what this ship was used for previously: colonization. Ecosystem delivery of Biolathe-developed life forms. No losing the design to gene pirates via a broadcast, or to unscrupulous colonists. Deliver the wetware directly, grown en route and delivered in prime shape. Colonists loathe to wait for anything to grow from scratch. Screw it up when they do, too. I expect we can use this chamber to cage the dragon." Fisher snorted. "Unlikely," he said, but didn't explain further. Henderson said, "Captain Fang wanted to take a piece of Earth with us. The current projection is what Tanzania looked like long ago, before the space port. This is where we came from, started to walk upright, and became men. No real animals here, but Papa can provide virtual game, or grow the real thing by request.""I like games," Stearn said, jumping into the space before them and releasing an ululating holler that he must have been saving up. "Hey, show me some wildebeest, Papa!" A gravely male voice boomed, "Will you please let me alone? I’m trying to work.""Papa’s the ship's brain?" Fisher asked. Henderson nodded. "And something of a grouch when there’s work to do, at least with me. The captain has him dancing on the head of a pin, some exquisite priority code that even Stearn wouldn't dare override on a lark if he knows what's good for him. Ready for the next stop?""Lead on, Mr. Henderson." Henderson closed the portal, cutting off Stearn’s resumed yelling."Thank you," said Fisher."You’re welcome. Now, this way," he said, kicking off. Henderson showed him the galley, a drab utilitarian place sporting little more than a mahogany bartree and standard-issue chairbeasts. "Can you guess the number one menu item?" Fisher said, "Fish sticks?""All the time, but in a wide variety of scrumptious flavors, I assure you. Taste like anything you want. I have supplemented the menu with a gourmet selection." Henderson stopped at a viewing port along the inside curve of the ring they were in. "You can see the hollow interior of the Karamojo from here." Fisher drifted over and pushed his face against the window's diamond to have a peek. Henderson floated up behind him and peered over his shoulder. Along the central axis ran a tube of diamond girders that held the superconducting electromagnets that constituted the inner rail. They generated a portion of the ship’s field that shielded them from cosmic rays and could be used as a linear particle accelerator for on-axis propulsion. More importantly, the rail controlled their relationship to the charged singularity pair when they were under wormdrive. The far side of the ring was some four kilometers away, almost lost in the glare off the Pacific Ocean, which shone through the ship's open end. Hydroponic farms grew inside the diamond girders like fungus, engineered and positioned to take advantage of the high-energy light that would spew from the fore singularity under wormdrive. "Impressive," Fisher said."I suppose," Henderson said, nonchalantly. Biologicals were his area, and he decided to impress Fisher with his own work next. He led Fisher to the Hall of Trophies. The Hall was situated within one of the ring-transiting tunnels and sheltered between closed doors. This meant that Fisher had no real warning before he was floating into the heads."Be careful -- they sometimes bite!" Henderson managed at the last moment as Fisher drifted past him. Fisher lost some of his microgravity skills as he twisted his body about, but he was on an inevitable collision course with a big, black rhinoceros head. He did have enough composure to twist back into control and take grasp of the creature's horn. The rhino had the good grace to accept the rough handling as Fisher arrested his forward momentum, settling for a blink and a snort."It's alive." Fisher said, holding the horn like a swimmer holding a ladder in the deep end of a pool."Of course it’s alive. This is a Biolathe ship. The majority of systems are biological, and we have the ability to shift our bioresources around to meet our needs. No clunky robots, subject to mechanical breakdown or electromagnetic scrambling. On this epic voyage, we lean on our strengths." Henderson smiled broadly. "I constructed this for the captain in less than a week." The curved corridor represented some of Henderson’s best work. Dozens of trophy heads sprouted along the path: the rhino for starters with its mate on the opposite side, then impalas, gazelles, kudus, water buffaloes, elephants (all three extinct varieties, Woolly, African, and Asian), giraffes, zebras, several types of big cat, dire wolves, gorillas, sasquatch, and a multitude of antlered deer. At the next bulwark, where the Hall ended, writhed a massive blue marlin in what would be the ‘above’ position under flight. Henderson smiled. "Let me know if you have any particular favorites to add." The heads realized they had an audience, and most began to snarl, howl, low, growl, trumpet, or simply to twist frantically, as if eager for attention."Yes, it is impressive," Fisher said after a moment."I’m somewhat concerned about an organ bank failing behind the wall. Not the easiest place to reach," Henderson offered. "The automatic systems would clean things up, but not fast enough to fully keep away the stench I fear." Fisher moved one hand from the horn and reached to touch other parts of it. The big head, showing no signs of antagonism, let him caress its expansive forehead. "Do you think we'll need such a large biomass reserve?" The rhino grunted, as if echoing the question. Henderson hadn't thought about it that carefully. The Karamojo was a larger ship with a larger fraction of biologicals than he'd served on before. He'd just followed the specs on the mass and used the captain's creative suggestion for where to put it. "I would certainly think not. This is an R and D mission to an uncolonized part of the distant galaxy. We shouldn't encounter pirates or rogue political bodies, so what could go wrong? We're safe, doubly so with this redunancy.""No need to get excited," Fisher said. "I was just curious. I've been too busy preparing for this trip to load the ship's systems into my biochip and study them. Yet." Henderson relaxed. Of course there was no need to get excited. Maybe his endorphin precursors were low -- he'd check later. No doubt by the time they returned to Earth the human brain would be well enough understood to permit an adequate assortment of mindmods rather than the slow but safe drugs in common use. Then he could be in control all the time, just as he was in control of the trophies here. He was benevolent god. These creatures did have minor mindmods and were healthier and happier than they ever could have been on Earth, thanks to his skills."Right. Well, let's move on." Henderson said. As they proceeded to their next stop, the observatory, Fisher asked Henderson, "What’s your opinion on the star dragon?" Henderson had been snubbed before by such as Fisher when dropping by the receptions of some biological conferences. "Does an exobiologist really care what an Earth-based biosystems tech thinks?""Absolutely," Fisher replied promptly, eyes open and unblinking. Maybe this Fisher fellow would be an ally, on this voyage and when they returned. Why not give it a chance? "I've thought about it, of course. I mean, it isn't likely for the dragon to be carbon-based at disk temperatures is it? But I know more than a little about life and the origins of complexity and self-organization. The entropy is too high for a life form to arise naturally in a hot plasma, and, biologically speaking, the accretion disk is a recent phenomenon in SS Cygni. You’re not going to reach any level of complexity so fast. Now, I might change my mind with more data, of course." Best to appear open-minded, and not step on any of Fisher's pet ideas too hard until he knew what they might be."Mmm hmm. Like what?""Well, like evidence of a complete ecosystem. There's ample energy to provide high metabolisms and fast generational turnover. I'd want to identify the range of niches available and their populations.""I was thinking along those lines myself," Fisher said. Henderson smiled. He was about to go on, but he caught sight of orange-covered buttocks sticking out of an equipment dewar that reminded him that their physical scientist was quite callipigious."Hello gentlemen," Sylvia Devereaux greeted them after extracting herself. "Grand tour?""Yes," Fisher answered. "I imagine Captain Fang wants to tire me out so I won’t cause any trouble before launch. So, what do have we here?" Sylvia, dressed in a burnt-orange wrap that complimented her brown skin, spun around, pointing at an adjacent chamber filled with chunks of odd-shaped metal boxes, cylinders, and exposed electro-optics and quantum circuitry. "Your basic full-spectrum assortment of spectrographs, cameras, waveplates, bolometers, heterodyne receivers, or at least fiber-feeds and waveguides to such." Fisher squinted at her. "You’re going to do astronomy? Don’t the relativistic effects make observing difficult?" Henderson couldn’t help but notice Sylvia’s clothing. The wrap was modest, economical, and much more seductive than the fancifully augmented bare breasts that were seemingly always in style. She also had broad, child-bearing hips -- completely unfashionable for the past half century. She hit many of the subconscious cues programmed by natural selection, just as he tried to do. Despite the fact that she was a specialist in physical sciences, he wondered if her motives for making this voyage were similar to his own. Sylvia answered Fisher’s question. "You're correct that astronomy in general would be compromised by our velocity, but this is all for SS Cygni, Dr. Fisher. The relativistic effects enhance the intensity of the light in the direction we’re traveling, making the binary system easier to make out. We drop the package right into the interior vacuum, look by the fore singularity and pick up a gravitational lensing boost. We know the parameters perfectly and can correct for all the effects." Henderson was of two minds about her dreadlocks. Finally he decided they were a plus that fit her basic, raw Earth-mother image, a fertility goddess. Maybe this look was even her original one, and already naturally selected."Call me Sam," Fisher said. "Didn’t the probe fully characterize the system?" Ingratiating, or was he perhaps playing her? Maybe he should model the social dynamics; Biolathe already had, certainly, but that was private information. Maybe he could trick it out of Papa? Maybe Fisher was not an ally, but an opponent. Too many maybes he should have already considered if he was going to make the most of the next three years."Not by a long shot," Sylvia replied. "Those data are hundreds of years old, and poor in many respects. Don’t forget that this is a time-variable, evolving system. I'll never make out dragons at this distance, but I’ll tell you everything else you could want to know about SS Cygni by the time we arrive.""Yes, that may be of use.""Absolutely it will!" she said. "This ship is going to be pushing its safety limits over the accretion disk when it’s quiescent. When the disk goes into a dwarf nova outburst, which it does two weeks out of every seven, we’ll have to back off. Shortest interval between outbursts could be as little as a week, which we must plan for. The outbursts are chaotic in nature, depending on how the secondary spills mass across the Lagrangian point, like a faucet dripping. The outbursts occur when the mass build-up in the disk causes a thermal instability, and the angular momentum transfer picks up -- ""Yes, well, we’ll have to discuss it en route," Fisher said, smiling, holding his hands up to stop her flood of words."Of course," Sylvia said. Had she said something about safety limits? He shrugged it off and stopped staring at Sylvia. Best now to disrupt the party. "Ready for the next stop, Dr. Fisher?""Sure," he said. They moved on to the Higgs generators that teased the singularities from the quantum foam, the fly bridge where the human control interfaces of the ship were located, the shuttle bay, the supplies hold (incidental), the supplies hold (primary), supplies hold (industrial), and then, at Fisher’s prompting, they skipped the rest of the supply holds. That was fine with Henderson, as some, like the missile bay, made him somewhat uncomfortable. Fissionables were dangerous. He accepted their presence as potentially invaluable tools for a lone ship over two hundred light years from home. Who knew what they might have to blow up in the distant reaches of the galaxy?"Can’t Papa teach me where things are?" Fisher asked."of course." Henderson shrugged. "The captain said to give you the tour.""Where is Fang?" Papa answered, "In the gym.""Thank you," Henderson said."Which way?" asked Fisher."This way," said Henderson. They heard the grunting from the open portal before they reached the freefall gym. Heat emanated from the opening, but unlike the savanna, this was a moist heat, full with the sourness of flesh pushed beyond comfortable limits. Henderson tilted his head at Fisher and extended an arm to invite the exobiologist to enter first. Henderson knew what to expect -- he'd grown the gym, again according to the captain's guidelines -- but it was nevertheless unsettling to see it in operation. The form of Captain Lena Fang, wearing only a white one-piece, was held, suspended, in a net of fleshy pink tendrils. The sight made Henderson think of pumpkin innards. Bioelectric shocks ran through the tendrils, stimulating the captain’s muscle groups, sending her into rhythmic spasms like a fly trapped in a web. The stink of sweat permeated the warm air; the smell seemed genuine, unlike the sweet cloying sweat most people modified themselves to secrete. Grunts issued from the captain as she fought through an optimum set of exercises designed to give her the most effective workout. Fisher plucked at a moist, pink muscle strand that was one fiber of the gym. It barely budged. "Strong," he said."Get your butt in here, Sam," Fang called. "I want you in shape for this voyage. A human sparring partner beats the heck out of vat-grown." Fisher looked at Henderson. He smiled, and tilted his head toward the center of the room. "The captain issued an order. Strip and climb in, Doctor." He stood there for a moment, considering. "Now?" Henderson shrugged. "Your things will find your quarters. Go ahead.""Well, okay." Fisher stripped off his heavy denim, down to briefs, and stuck his clothes to the wall. Plush, rippling ruglings lined all the surfaces of the ship. They were useful things, acting as airbags when under rapid acceleration -- for instance falling down in a high gravity environment like they would find above the SS Cygni disk. In the current circumstance they would grab onto a pile of clothes like cockle burrs, taste them, and after a time pass them to their mates until back in the owner's quarters. Fisher tentatively climbed into the flesh web, not looking very much like a spider. "I already have standard muscle enhancer mods.""You'll need them," Henderson said. Fang continued to grunt and sweat and spasm. Fisher crawled toward her. Henderson closed the portal, glad the captain hadn't asked him to work out, and went back to his lab. Sitting back on his deluxe chairbeast, he wondered if Sylvia Devereaux might be a worthy partner for him on this voyage.# Following the green line Papa provided, Fisher floated along the corridor like the proverbial zombie, or more like a wraith; zombies walked, but he coasted in freefall. Bone weary, he raised his hand to slap the lock to his quarters. The door irised open and the lights rose. Inside smelled musty as if the room had been sealed for years, but inside there bobbed his four meager pieces of luggage, tangled in a storage net. How was he supposed to work in this shape? Fisher glided into his room, released his clothes, and looked around. Spartan barracks: unimprinted bedbeast, chairbeast, desktree, workstation. Someone had thoughtfully left a freefall shower sack unstowed from its closet, but he was in no mood to fight with the gelatinous bag even though it seemed alert and helpful, opening like a flower at his smelly presence. Showering could wait until they were underway, or at least until he got some sleep. The bedbeast, slumbering in its niche in a wall that would become the floor, was useless until they were underway -- he didn't care to be hugged by the mindless bed. Fisher bounced off the far wall and to the side, opening all the closets and lockers until he found a silk mummy cocoon."Door," he said, and the portal to the ring irised closed. He peeled off his briefs. "Lights." The lights dimmed. He wiggled into the smooth, soft, and warm sack, ignoring his odor, sloughing sweat balls off to float around the cabin. The air fish would not go hungry tonight. He closed his eyes and became acutely aware of his bladder and bowels. "Damn," he said, wiggling out of the sack. He banged his elbow getting into the bathroom, and the cushioning of the ruglings seem very thin."Lights," he said, a little uncertainty igniting over what he might find here. But it was a standard organic potty mouth with saccharine breath so strong he could taste it, but nothing as trendy as Stearn probably preferred. Then again, the Jack might not use a toilet if he'd given himself a brickmaker bodmod. Those sometimes seemed like a good idea, but who had the time to compare brands? Fisher plastered his bottom against the toilet, letting its mouth seal and suction to hold his bottom in place as siphoning tongues licked him clean. In less than a minute he was wiggling back into his mummy sack, eyes closed, mind just barely holding out against body. He figured the captain exercised this vigorously on a regular basis. How did she do it? Fang had drive. It showed in those finely honed muscles that worked like an efficient machine. He admired that kind of drive. He had the same drive, in his own arena. Their arenas were the same on this mission. He could keep up if he had to."I can do anything I have to," he mumbled as his muscles silently screamed. Somehow, despite the aches, in less than a minute he fell asleep. He dreamt of casting vast nets in which to snare a star dragon, casting five hundred times and ignoring the aches in his arms as he prepared to cast five hundred and one.# Captain Lena Fang floated onto the flying bridge. She wore her dress uniform, complete with black patent leather boots, despite their inappropriateness in freefall. She was grateful for the freefall as it prevented the trembling that her muscles would have otherwise shown under gravity. It had never seemed fair to her that muscles so assiduously trained could also betray so easily. The start of a trip always made her nervous, and that worried her for it sometimes seemed a false responsibility; Papa ran the Karamojo like a well-fed nanoforge. Out of tradition she orchestrated the launch, but the whole ritual bordered on the superfluous. It wasn't what it had meant to be the captain of a ship when she had broken into the corporate fleets. Yet she still shook with excitement, and would not let it show. Every assignment held the potential to test her mettle. Maybe this was the one. She had to believe it was the one, in case it was. There was no telling what could go wrong that might require her to make an immediate decision, or perform some rapid action. If it had been anticipated, there was already a failsafe in place. Her job was to be there in case of the unanticipated. She made her way to her fighting chair situated in the aft center of the room, rooted to what would soon become the floor. She pressed her fingers into the yielding, vermilion hide, releasing its comforting aroma. The custom chairbeast moaned softly. Finally she let the chair’s arms envelop her. Everyone else was already there. Directly in front of her sat the ship's Jack, Stearn, in front of the wormdrive console that displayed the status of the interior rail superconductors, the Higgs generators, and the e-m-g field everywhere on board. Stearn turned, gave her a lopsided grin, and flapped his ear wings. To her left, Henderson sat before a pulsing bank of display membranes that monitored the ship biosystems, including the organic parts of Papa. To her right, on a couchbeast were Devereaux and Fisher -- Sam, looking sleepy -- she released a cool smile. Projected on the opposite wall (her brain had already oriented itself with the familiar act of sitting in the fighting chair), etched in silver vectors, shimmered several views of the Karamojo. Everything appeared nominal. Sweating, her hand worked the fighting chair’s hide. "Are we ready to go, Papa?""We're raring to go!" Papa said, loud enough that everyone could hear. Papa was the Karamojo. They were ready."Confirm the flight plan with the LEO controller." Low Earth orbit was more crowded than ever, but no accidents for the last seventy-three years local time."Done," Papa announced."Point us at the Swan." The constellation of Cygnus the Swan, the direction of SS Cygni. The bridge shifted as fly wheels around the ship varied their rotation rates, reorienting the Karamojo."Done," Papa announced."Initialize singularity biseed," Fang ordered. Around the silver schematic of the Karamojo, a scarlet grid materialized, representing the Reimann curvature of local space-time. The grid tilted down in the direction of Earth’s deep potential well, but was otherwise flat. "Done!""Power up the superconductors, launch configuration.""Done." Fang took a deep breath and rubbed her hands onto her white pants, leaving marks. "Power up the Higgs generators.""Done.""Fire and stabilize inflation beams." The ship's display grid expanded to show detail. Four equidistant beams of scintillating green precisely a hundred and nine point five degrees apart intersected in the maw of the Karamojo."Break symmetries." The green lines shimmered as they shifted positions at high frequency. The scarlet grid began to dimple as the technology teased a bi-singularity from the quantum foam, growing exponentially from the Planck length. The grid now resembled an elliptical funnel, but even as Fang watched the opposite electric charges responded to the fields generated in the rail’s superconductors, stretching the funnel into a double-dimpled wedge. Electromagnetic forces overpowered gravity, allowing the white hole to be separated from the black hole and preventing recollapse. The singularities’ fields deepened as the holes moved apart. The Karamojo jerked as the hole pair accelerated toward the Swan, dragging the ship along with rapidly smoothing oscillations. The wormdrive was not only named for the type-2 wormhole created, but early versions operated almost entirely under freefall conditions with a toroidal ship oscillating around the singularities, first pulled out in front then pulled back, moving like an inch worm. Electromagnetic control not only resulted in more stability, it permitted a semblance of gravity on-board by damping the oscillations at the right frequencies. On her first few trips, nearly three hundred years earlier, gravity under wormdrives had still been jerky and unpleasant. Without the correct drugs or glands, most became sick and stayed sick. No more. Only smooth sailing at the dawn of the fourth millennium. While Fang sank into her fighting chair with a familiar one gee as the rail pushed against the instantaneous freefall vector, the ship’s acceleration asymptotically approached the singularity pair’s ten gees from both sides. The effective gravity inside, generated by the modulated electromagnetic friction, approached one gee. Several air fish scavengers fell to what was now the floor, with a quick patter."Wormdrive engaged. All systems nominal." Nothing had gone wrong, nothing had challenged her. As usual. Now they just had to go, and go, and go. And stay in fighting trim, just in case. "Thank you, Papa.""Thank you, daughter." Fang looked around the bridge, at her crew. She met Fisher’s eyes. He stared back with an intensity that surprised her. He didn't seem sleepy now. What was he thinking? Stearn popped up from his seat, released a ridiculously loud whoop, stumbled in the gravity, and sat back down. "Where’s the champagne?" They had taken the first step of their very long journey. SS Cygni, and all its secrets, awaited. Maybe she would get the chance to be a real captain in the course of discovering those secrets, get the chance to show that she was a cut above other people and deserved her position of authority. Lena Fang desperately hoped so. Love is a kind of warfare . –Ovid Two days later, Fisher sat before his workstation in his quarters on an ossified chairbeast (he didn't desire distracting massages while he worked). He hardly needed it, but the Prospector movie played in miniature in the station’s picture tank, now expanded to three dimensions using some creative mapping algorithms. He was working on reverse engineering the star dragon’s electromagnetic field given the observed motions and a model of the disk field Devereaux had provided. That knowledge could potentially allow them to safely trap a dragon for study. The door chimed, a sweet tone designed to attract attention without being too unsettling. He thought he might change it if he could find a spare minute. "Come in," he said absently, wondering how fast the dragon might be able to vary its field. Maybe he could put an upper limit on that from the -- Someone cleared her throat. Losing the thought, Fisher sighed and turned. Fang stood in the doorway dressed in gray sweats, wearing some kind of blue padded helmet, and toying with what appeared to be a pair of small, connected blue pillows draped over her shoulder. "You need a break, Sam." It didn't sound like a question, but neither did it sound like an order. Not that he would necessarily follow gratuitous orders per se in any event -- he wasn't precisely ship 'crew'. He was more like a consultant. But he liked her, and didn't want to alienate his most powerful ally, so he didn't respond to her as he would have to an ill-timed visit from a post-doc. Smiling, he said, "Actually, I’m in the middle of something. Perhaps later." Fang leaned against the inside wall, tilted her head back, and smirked as if he were a comedian. Was something funny? She said, "Papa, how long has Dr. Fisher been working at his desk?""Six and three-quarter hours, continuously, and he has been damn serious about it." Serious? Why shouldn't he be serious? He turned to straddle the hardened chair and faced her fully. He wasn't accustomed to having his work interrupted. She should understand that. Work hard, play hard, a timeless statement he never understood. Good work was play, and why not take play as seriously as someone takes work? Play was work for one’s own true self. "And I’ll work seven hours or seventy if it pleases me." Fang frowned. He realized that upset him. He'd ruined her play, and even if he didn't need the break, her he did need. Don't forget the people this time, wasn't that what Atsuko had said? "What sort of break did you have in mind?" She held up the blue pillows. "You said you would box with me." Box? She had been serious after all. Well, he had uploaded a number of tutorials into his biochip just in case she had been serious, so he was prepared. Loading them into active memory, he stood up. "Fine. Let’s box.""I don't want to force you into anything.""No problem. You're right. I need the break. Let's do it.""You'll take it seriously?""I do little in half measures.""Good.""I need to change?""You need to change." Fisher looked around his room. Did he have workout clothes somewhere? He was sure he had brought some. Maybe not. Easy enough to grow, and cheap enough as well. Why bring sweats across the galaxy?"Try your closet." Fisher found everything in his closet, including his own funny blue pillows: boxing gloves, of course. While he knew intellectually what they were thanks to the tutorials, he realized he'd never seen any, and the reality of them was suddenly strange. He felt Fang's eyes on him. "What are you waiting for, another strip show?""Yes," Fang said. He wished she'd smiled when she had said this, but he didn't dislike the fact that she hadn't. This was not of much importance, but he suddenly felt self-conscious with her watching. It was odd that he should care. He didn't have anything unusual like gills, or done anything ostentatious or embarrassing to his genitalia. He kicked off his streakers, paused, then started deseaming his shirt."The default cabin." Fang sniffed. "Not even smells. Papa has a whole library of quarters available. We don't expect anyone to keep the default." Happy to accept the change of focus while he changed his clothes, Fisher said, "I hadn't really thought about it. Do I need smells?""Oh yes! Cabin decorating is a fine art among deep spacers, and smells can be vital to establishing a compelling atmosphere. In my time, I have seen jungles, throne rooms ranging from the court of the Sun King to a mock-up of the Oval office of the old American president. One cabin was rigged out to match the heights of the twenty-fourth century sensualists, with every item in the room and every movement he made triggering a sound, smell, or sensation -- urination usually left the cabin-owner quivering on the floor for hours. That guy, he had issues. Most popular for balanced spacers seems to be nature scenes from home planets. Makes you feel less disconnected.""I'll keep it in mind," Fisher said, snapping his shorts in place. "Say, been meaning to ask you about the ship's name. I would have looked it up myself, but --""But you've been busy. The name is no great mystery. Once upon a time there was an African district named Karamojo, and more importantly, a so-called great white hunter from the late colonial period who adopted the name. Walter D. M. 'Karamojo' Bell hunted elephants, killed hundreds of them, each with a single shot on most occasions. He was a good hunter, from Papa's era, and the name seemed to fit. Done?""Done," he said, slinging his gloves over his shoulder like Fang carried hers. "Thanks for telling me about the name. And I'll think about the decor when I get the chance. What does your cabin look like?""If you box well enough," Fang said, walking out of his room, "maybe you'll find out for yourself."#"Footwork," Fang grunted at Fisher through her mouthpiece as she hit him in the face again. It felt good to her, as it usually did, to punch. "If you just stand there, I’m going to tag you at will." He lunged, swinging a wide, careless arc that she ducked underneath. She hit him with an uppercut to his unprotected chin. "You have weight on me." She jabbed. "But it means nothing." A combination next, a jab and a hook. "You need practice until the moves are so automatic they are instinctual. Build some muscle memory." He swung. She ducked. "Think of it as a dance." He was doing much better than she had expected. His metabolism was set at a high activity level, so he was in good shape, although still not what she would call fighting shape. But he had shown some capability with the heavy bagbeast, crazy bagbeast, and speed bagbeast, and hadn't cracked a smile shadow boxing. And now here they were, sparring, on the first day. Fisher was giving her punches, a few anyway, and taking them as well. Pleased, she gave him a small smile around her mouthpiece that probably looked ghoulish. He appeared to be distracted by that, so she popped him in the face."Concentrate," she said, stepping back to egg him forward. She reminded herself to take her time, get a workout, carry the poor exobiologist a few more rounds so he would not be too discouraged."I am!" He stepped forward to her left and kept his legs bent this time. "This...is...hard.""Good." She circled to her right, ready to bob under another wild swing, but Fisher was recovering his breath and not charging wildly any more. The bell rang and Fisher collapsed, panting around his mouthpiece, to the blue canvas of the regulation spring-loaded floor. Fang spat out her mouthpiece and lifted the straw of her water bottle, held between her gloves like a crucible, to her lips. It was a fine sensation. Nothing like cool water when hot. Simple pleasures made life. Exercise. Satiating a thirst. Winning. She finished drinking and offered the bottle to Fisher. After a moment, he said, "In a minute." She said, "You're doing wonderfully, Sam. Really. How about two more rounds?""I can do two more rounds," he said without looking up."Good. I like a man with endurance." Fisher looked up at her, small curls plastered to his forehead, sweat staining his underarms. He smelled musky, and not at all bad. "What are you doing with me here?""Boxing," she said."I mean," and one eyebrow rose, "you’re flirting with me, right?" Of course she was, but he shouldn't come right out and say it. Then it stopped being flirting and became negotiation. Fisher lacked subtlety. But Papa never shirked the direct approach, and encouraged directness in her, so she nodded. "Its been a long time since my last lover. You are my only romantic prospect for this very long trip, Sam, and I prefer human flesh in bed. I figure no point waiting. Anything wrong with that?""No. It’s just, this feels rather forced to me." He bent his neck back as far as his headgear would allow, not looking at her. "Look, Lena, in the past I've had problems with -- I mean -- we might not...Mmm." She let him sweat. He was cute."Let’s box," he finally said, "And you’ll see what kind of endurance I have." They boxed. Fang carried Fisher. Clearly he had gone to the trouble of locating and downloading some boxing pointers; Fisher was a quick study and was trying to please her despite his reluctance to leave his cabin. He was getting tired, but better as well. At the start, when he had energy, he had spent it unwisely. Now, without that energy and gaining practical familiarity with the skills, he started thinking. A smart boxer was a good boxer. All the great champions had been smart, extending their careers over their younger, faster competitors by thinking. The stupid boxers just didn't win, even with superior bodmods in divisions that allowed them. Fang bit down hard on her mouthpiece when she had the thought that boxing, which had gone through its dry spells, might not even exist when they returned to Earth. It could become another forgotten sport destroyed by the culture's short attention span. She blinked the thought away. Somewhere in the human colonies it would survive, if not on Earth in a retrospective movement. Diaspora not only protected the human species from extinction, it helped protect their cultures as well. Somewhere boxing would survive. Suddenly Fang realized something was wrong. She had gone on autopilot, letting her body move without her brain. She was being a stupid boxer, and Fisher was not stupid. She jerked back, ducking simultaneously, backpedaling furiously to keep her feet under herself to avoid an ignominious dump onto her butt. Fisher’s roundhouse missed her face by scant centimeters. Her cheek cooled with the wind from his punch evaporating her sweat. Fisher barked with the effort in the swing as he tumbled over his right shoulder and down to the canvas in a tangle at her boots. He lay there like washed-up seaweed."Sam?" she mumbled around her mouthpiece. She spit it out. "Sam? You okay?" Fisher wheezed, and didn't move. "Is that two rounds yet?" Fang laughed. A long, low belly laugh that sprang up honestly from deep inside. A knot loosened that she had held within her since the beginning of the voyage. This trip was going to be fine. Throwing away the present for the far future hadn't been a total mistake. She had been right to give up the colony hops delivering swamp cattle for the chance of a real challenge. With that laugh she fully accepted and engaged her current course. Fisher pushed up to his elbows, but just turned himself over. From his back he looked up at her, with the smile of someone being infected by a laugh. He pursed his lips and his mouthpiece rose halfway out, then slipped to the side of his face, trailing saliva, as if were crawling out of his mouth. Fang laughed harder, tears streaming down her face. Fisher started laughing as well, weakly at first, then with some enthusiasm. It pleased her. He had been so, well, serious so far. She said finally, "No, only one round.""Damn," he said, smiling. Now that he had that warm sparkle in his eyes, he was just so cute. Be bold, she thought. Show no fear. Before Fang could stop herself, she said, "Come back to my cabin and shower. Then we will begin the last round."# Fisher followed Fang back to her cabin. Sweat plastered her pants against her tight butt. He tried to ignore the instincts evolution had placed within him, keep some measure of control, but he realized that he was still mesmerized. Too tired, he supposed. What he liked best about her, he decided, was the way she strode so confidently, not looking back, knowing that he would follow. She was certain. He had seen that certainty in her while she boxed. Competent grace. It pleased him, intellectually at first; she was going to be a great aid in the upcoming dragon hunt. She would be a diamond under pressure. She would do the right thing at the right time. Then, when he had been on the floor and she had been laughing, there had been no malice there. Just a simple joy, the emotional reason for living he sometimes forgot. Stearn came walking down the corridor. "Captain," he said as he approached. Fang nodded curtly, but didn't break stride."Hey, Fish," Stearn said, and winked at Fisher as soon as he had passed Fang. Fisher didn't care, and the not caring pleased him, too. The Jack and what he thought were simply not important. They drew near Fang's cabin. Fisher surreptitiously sniffed his armpits. As bad as he thought -- there was another bodmod he should find the time for. He hoped that she had been serious about showering first. Fang stopped abruptly at her cabin door, but didn't open it. She turned to face him instead, hands clasped in front of her waist, head down, looking at his chest. Shyness now replaced confidence. "Sam, I hadn't planned to do this so quickly." He nodded, took her hands lightly in his."My cabin," she said, "It is a retreat from all my responsibility on the ship. It reflects a side of me I don't show often and am not completely comfortable showing others. I am being very serious now. Can I trust you?""Yes," he said, squeezing her hands. He was a little worried that he was committing to something he didn't understand but caught up in the moment and, like a man in the last stages of the chase, capable of saying anything. And worse, believing it. Even knowing this, he could not help himself from again saying, "Yes." She smiled, licked her lips coyly, and squeezed his hands back. "Then welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly." She dropped his hands, opened the door, and went in. He remembered what she had said about decorating quarters, and a whole new crop of worries sprang up, fertilized by her spider comment. If her room were another living spider web like the freefall gym, only maybe filled with billions of real spiders, or giant spiders, or something else, something worse that Biolathe had patented.... Fisher shook away the images, took a deep breath, and followed. Inside, he tried not to laugh. She had been so serious outside, and he had been more afraid than he realized. Relief made him grin, and he hoped she would interpret the expression as anticipation of what was to come. Fang's cabin was soft and pink, timelessly girlish. Pretty. A king-size bed filled one side of the large chamber, a real waterbed not at all alive, covered in pink satin sheets and littered with stuffed animals, all sea life: plush sharks, crabs, dolphins, sea horses, starfish, and the like. French doors opening on a placid ocean, presumably virtual, dominated the opposite side of the room. The doors were open and a warm breeze carried a beach smell. A vanity with an half-shell mirror sat against the far wall, with jewelry, brushes, and a conch shell sitting on the mahogany top. Plush carpeting -- no ruglings -- swathed the floor with pastel swirls of coral pink and eggshell blue. The only incongruous element was a pale wooden desk in the corner, faced by a simple chair of the same wood, that was covered with scrolls -- charts, perhaps -- but no computer console or picture tank; an oasis of old-fashioned work amidst old-fashioned luxury. The pink waterbed, warmth, and the gentle susurration of waves spelled 'womb' to Fisher."I fear the bathroom is similar," Fang said nervously, her arms twisting down and then stripping off her soaked T-shirt in a single fluid motion."I can hardly wait," Fisher said honestly, stripping off his own smelly shirt. Fang smiled. Fisher smiled back. Fang stripped in an instant and climbed onto the bed. Bobbing up and down, she said, "I am afraid I chose the bed with sleeping in mind. It may be difficult to --""The problem isn't insurmountable."# Devereaux inspected the observatory packages one last time. The high-resolution STJ cameras, which recorded photon arrivals and energies from X-rays through the infrared, showed intermittent sawtooth bias patterns. They seemed fine now, but would they go bad again once in the fields along the ship's axis? Only one way to find out. Devereaux stepped away from the observatory module and said, "Let’s do it, Stearn.""You can call me Phil, if you want." Stearn grabbed the module with a magnetic lift and manhandled it into the airlock, bumping the edge."Careful," called Devereaux."Okay, I'll be careful, but isn't this thing redundant? We know what’s there, right?""Sort of, but the details could matter to us. Quite a lot.""It’s just one star, eating another star. Every few weeks its mouth gets full and it swallows a little fast, right? When it swallows fast, it burns hot. When it swallows slowly, it isn’t so hot. I read the encyclopedia articles. You don’t have to be a genius." Stearn was going make himself an annoying boy on this trip, Devereaux thought. "The behavior of a dwarf nova isn't predictable very long in advance. The thermal disk instability that brings on the outbursts is tied to the accretion rate, which depends on the secondary donating the mass. That secondary has a magnetic field that interacts with the disk, and the whole thing is a mess of feedback loops, some of which behave chaotically. The outburst -- " He cut her off. "Right. How fast it swallows. Like I said. You don’t need a genius vocabulary either. And those are cheap to buy anyway." Stearn finished getting the observatory inside and sealed the airlock."We get caught in a dwarf nova outburst close to the disk photosphere, and our nano-skin cannot process the energy fast enough well, we'll cook. That’s bad. Got it?""Bad. Got it. But can’t we just monitor the transfer rate while we’re there?""Of course we will, but these data won’t hurt, will they?" Stearn flapped his wings at her and turned his attention to the magnetic grapple that would insert the observatory into the central axis between the singularities. "Don’t these systems go nova and super nova, too?""Not dwarf novae, at least not in general. Their mass transfer rate isn’t high enough. Eventually other types of novae may occur. A classical nova will occur if a non-burning hydrogen mass builds on the white dwarf and fusion ignites all at once when it reaches its critical temperature, but that's a hundred thousand year timescale for SS Cygni. A supernova will occur if the white dwarf mass hits 1.44 solar masses, Chandrasekhar’s limit, when degenerate electron pressure can’t resist the self-gravity, and a runaway collapse follows. If that happens, the disk and everything in it will get smeared all over this part of the galaxy. But don't worry about it. The SS Cygni primary is far from 1.44 solar masses, and the accretion is usually matched by the winds and novae mass loss. No supernova for you this trip.""It would be a fantastic thing to see though," Stearn said, chewing on his long forked tongue as he watched the insertion. "But I know another supernova I prefer. Ever cross wire your pleasure center to a popcorn bag? That’s a real blast!""You’re hopeless, Stearn.""Not at all. I know the ship well. I'm good at my job. And I enjoy myself more than anyone else on this crazy trip. Anything wrong with that?""No. I suppose not." She started thinking about Phil Stearn. He came across as a complete screw-up, but Biolathe was a smart company, and its brain would never put an incompetent on a ship like this, let alone hire one in the first place. So what was with Stearn? There had to be something deeper below his shallow surface. Didn't there?"So what tweaks you? Why you throw away the present? Lover toss you aside for a better drug? Lose a bet with another stuck-up scientist?""Nothing like that." She might as well tell him. It was not a secret. "I liked the puzzle.""You liked the puzzle? You’re more flighty than me." He tilted his head and flapped to emphasize his point."I mean, we've discovered a plethora of alien species in all sorts of environments, but no sentient races like ours. These star dragons could be it, or at least evidence for one. I mean, it's such an odd place to find anything alive. Maybe it didn't happen all by itself.""So?""Well I think that’s a puzzle of our age, whether or not anything else is thinking out there. Not working on it and just enjoying the fruits of our technology, sponging off Earth, that’s the mental equivalent of masturbation.""And what’s wrong with that? I’m rather fond of it myself." Why was she even arguing with him? He was just as shallow as he seemed. "Nothing is wrong with it, I suppose, in moderation. But don't you believe there are still important things for humans to do? Things that could matter, someday?" Stearn shrugged."I do have another motive for taking fast, high-gamma voyages. I intend to be there, at the end.""The end?""Or at least as long as I can go riding these relativistic time machines into the future. See what happens in the end. See who is still around, what they’re doing, and what they’ve figured out about the nature of existence." Stearn hit pause on the observatory insertion and stared at her. She continued. "These long, fast trips help. I’d go to another galaxy if I could. Someday I probably will. But I’ll find a way to be there, at the end, this body or another, until my protons decay -- if I’m still even made of baryonic matter at that point -- and I’ll understand the big why.""That," he said, "is the biggest fucking masturbation fantasy I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard some big ones. Heck, I’ve carried out some big ones.""Fine. You don’t understand. Just do your job, and help me do mine." Stearn turned back to the observatory and finished overseeing its insertion and alignment. "I understand better than you think. We have a lot in common.""Unlikely.""I can prove it.""How?""In my hedonistic searches, scouring Earth and its colonies, I have experienced things you cannot dream of, mental states most profoundly satisfying, physical states most exhilarating. Rest assured that I pursue my goals with passion." Devereaux smirked at him, bragging like a boy. She lowered her gaze into what she thought would convey skepticism, but didn't tell him to stop. Stearn held up a finger before his face and with wide eyes said, "In my cabin, I have the means of achieving the most engaging intellectual pleasure in the known universe.""What is it?" Stearn lowered his finger and turned and walked away from her. "I suppose you’ll have to drop by sometime if you want to find out.""Unlikely," she said, but already as he walked away the puzzle of Stearn was working in her mind and she was afraid that she would wind up accepting his invitation/dare. She could not stand to let a puzzle go unsolved, even one so trivial as Stearn.# The sound of ruffling paper and tiny scratches woke Fisher. Lying on Lena Fang's bed, he propped his head up with his arm so he could better watch her at work. She bent over the desk in a position that would cause his lower back to throb if he were to assume it regularly. Her face hovered centimeters from the surface of an unrolled paper, and her arms and legs extruded from her red silk robe like the multiply-articulated legs of a graceful arthropod. Waves of concentration emanated from her with a palpable force and he became exhausted watching her. He rolled onto his back. He studied the aquamarine and turquoise sea mosaic on her ceiling -- an octopus's tentacle reminded him of the dragon's twisted body -- while he listened to the scratching of her pencil. His unceasing internal voice that urged him to rise and resume his own work was present, but nearly as quiet as the pencil. He smiled. His first weeks aboard the Karamojo had smeared into a pleasant blur. He was working as hard as ever, but for the first time in many years, hints of contentment emerged in quiet moments while not at work. He continued to work every day on developing his hypotheses about the star dragon, on reliable theories of its energy budget and metabolism, locomotion and its limits, reproduction and selection pressures, and other areas. He also worked out every day. He skipped rope to help his footwork and coordination, punched the bagbeasts, and sparred with Fang. He managed to keep up with her, mostly, and the residual muscle aches his system failed to purge pleased him, a memento of his advancement in this strange new phase of his life. And then there were moments of no work, like this one. He had even permitted his hormonal levels, normally suppressed while on a big project, to creep back up to those of a seventeen-year-old boy."Why are you smiling?" Fang suddenly asked. He remained on his back, turning only his head to regard her. Why was he smiling? Why not? But that was trite, and he applied some of his much promoted brain power to the question, trying to peer past the shimmering veil of contentment she had engendered in him. Why was he content? Because Fang was beautiful and tough and a captain he could count on. Because he had a quest to occupy his mind and love (maybe!) to fill his heart. Because of the way she bent over the table and the way the dragon swirled around a magnetic field line. Because the equation of his life balanced. Because a hundred 'becauses' filtered into his consciousness with her single question of why. Because there were a hundred more 'whys' to be asked, and he was filled with the certainty that the answers would fall to him as easily given an infinite future. Because everything was perfect for once."Why not?" he finally answered, resisting the urge to name his happiness, to over explain it, and thus in capturing the elusive thing to kill it. Fang smiled back at him before resuming her work. Everything was so perfect that Fisher finally asked himself a question better left unasked: what was going to ruin it?# On the twenty-third day since launch, ship's time, Henderson was watching the micromachines construct the tiny dormitory inside the terrarium when his signal chimed through his music. He waved down Beetleburt 2.1.6's Theme for the Common Machine and said, "Yes, Papa?""It's time for Fisher's first show, the 'dragon meeting' as he's calling it. He wants everyone there.""Oh, right," Henderson replied, rising from his chairbeast. This promised to be a dreary, tiresome affair, but he supposed there'd be some duties on this little jaunt. It seemed unfair to him to have to work hard in addition to the sacrifice this trip already represented. Still, he supposed the time requested was not burdensome, and he might even contribute some ideas if it wasn't too boring. He would have felt better about it Fisher had come around to consult him more, but after their initial discussion they had not talked of the star dragon again. Well, this was the time for more discussion, was it not? The construction of his pet project was fully automated at this stage and would proceed well without his supervision. Hmm, he thought, Sylvia would be there. He paused in the yawning orifice leading to the biological laboratory, turned, and went back inside. He checked his face in a mirror, slicking down his eyebrows with a wetted fingertip, donned his scaled jacket, and poured himself a glass of wine. No telling how long Fisher might drone on. Henderson was the last to arrive at the conference room, fashionably late. Everyone else, arrayed haphazardly around the polished cherrywood tabletree, glanced at him. He paused in the entryway to flash them a perfect smile. The remaining empty chairbeast unfortunately was not next to Sylvia, but at least it was across from her. Too bad she looked as if she'd just rushed in from a nap without freshening up."Now that we're finally all here," Fisher began. "The Biolathe corporate brain provided us with a mission prospectus, with prioritized goals and guidelines for reaching those goals. Given the scanty information available, it was understood that much additional planning would have to be done en route and at SS Cygni as data became available. I trust that everyone has downloaded the Biolathe document." Henderson had, although he hadn't done more than skim the abstract. Aside from the section on biological speculation, it had been utterly boring. At least he was paying attention now, however, which was the polite thing to do. He sipped his wine. The heathen Stearn was building a pyramid from drug ampoules filled with some sparkly amber liquid. Fisher and Fang were letting it slide, and Henderson would not permit himself to notice such behavior."I consider some of the ideas very good," Fisher continued, "I don’t consider all the ideas so good. It isn't surprising given the relatively short time the brain had to assemble the document, coupled with our great ignorance. First, we should see if we can agree on our prioritized goals." Fisher stood up and activated his right hand’s computer interface. Words appeared on the pads on the tabletree in front of everyone: PHYSICAL GOALS . Return Living Specimen to Earth. . Return Dead Specimen to Earth. . Return Specimen Samples to Earth. . Return Specimen Data to Earth."This appears self-evident," Fang said."Of course it does, but there are underlying assumptions regarding the prioritization that I’d like to question. But these are all questions of 'what,' rather than the more important goals of 'why.' Let me address this by writing down some the scientific goals." Henderson swirled his wine around in its glass before looking at the next set: SCIENTIFIC GOALS . Physics of Specimen -- Biological fusion? How does it survive in the hot disk? . Origin of Specimen -- natural or artificial? . Purpose of Specimen -- natural or ???"That last one was not in the prospectus, but I think it is important," Fisher said."What do you mean by ‘Purpose?’" Devereaux asked."Based on the previous goal, it’s obvious," said Henderson, trying to catch her eye. He had given his brief conversation with Fisher some idle thought and didn't mind showing off for the available female. "If the dragon isn't of a natural origin, but of artificial, it was created. Created for a purpose." Fang said, "I will agree that determining the dragon origin is important. This must be a question of how to achieve self-organization in an extreme high-energy environment. Does anyone here truly think that someone, perhaps the infamous little gray men, made star dragons and put them in SS Cygni?""It is hard to believe that we would not have already discovered physical artifacts of alien intelligence before these star dragons if such exists locally in the Milky Way," Devereaux said."Not at all," Henderson said, engaging her. "Biological systems are self-renewing, and can evolve in response to cataclysm -- and this is a cataclysmic variable, after all. A biological remnant is more durable than a physical remnant.""What I’m getting at," said Fisher, thumping a fist into his palm several times, "is that if someone showed up and kidnapped one of our drone ships, just out of curiosity mind you, we would probably consider it an act of aggression, if not outright war.""You make an interesting point," said Devereaux, squinting at Fisher and wrinkling her face in a disagreeable way. "After all, the official Biolathe agenda is to use these dragons, or at least biology based on the dragons, to design machines for stellar engineering. If they are an alien construction team, and we show up and disrupt their production schedule, then someone might get upset.""Someone," chimed in Stearn, grinning, "Or something.""I cannot believe we are starting with this remote possibility," Fang said. "This dragon is an animal that happens to live in an exotic environment. An animal for us to hunt and use, if we can catch it. That's a fundamental rule of nature." Her face remained passive, but Fang's knuckles whitened where she gripped the edge of the tabletree."You're probably correct, Captain," Henderson said, trying to ingratiate himself with Fang. She would evaluate him, after all, for bonuses. "We can test the notion that it is simply, as you put it, an animal that lives in an exotic environment. As I was telling Dr. Fisher earlier, evidence for an ecosystem would support a natural origin for the star dragon. Certainly transitional forms are necessary in an evolutionary scenario and would lead to the exploitation of a variety of niches.""I agree," Fisher said, holding his palm out toward Henderson. "But only to a point. I know of two places where that does not hold strictly true, but only in a locality. One is an island on Terenga where there is a creature called Grizzle's Omnivore, sort of a superpredator, which has eaten everything else, and I mean everything. Got poor old Grizzle, too, before they'd figured out he wasn't digestible and gave them all the runs. The current breed on the island soak up the sun during the day in perfect harmony. By night they prey on each other in loose packs.""Yes, I've heard of those," Henderson said, "but surely they’re dying out. Solar energy would not be a sufficient input to keep them going, would it?""You’d think that, but they have a truly ingenious -- ""Back to the subject at hand," Fang said, sitting back on her chairbeast and crossing her arms. She looked cool, perfect, and dangerous in her crisp white uniform. Henderson had kept tabs on Fisher and Fang, and knew they were already sleeping together. He considered Fisher a brave man to bed the captain. She continued, "If you think this is such an issue, Sam, how do you propose to modify our approach?""As I said at the outset, there are some very good ideas in the prospectus. I agree that the dragon appears to use electromagnetic fields to move through the disk, and I expect to have a working model of those fields before we arrive. That gives us an advantage. Just as a pinched magnetic field like Earth’s magnetosphere can trap an electron, forcing it to spiral back and forth until dumped down into the aurora, we can use the Karamojo’s field to trap a dragon. Stearn, what do you think about the plasma pen Biolathe proposed?" Stearn’s wings perked up as he looked up from transforming his amber pyramid into some kind of fractal pattern to which Devereaux, sitting next to him, was paying too much attention. The Jack said, "Geometry is a little problematic, but I think we can do it. Can’t we Papa?""We can rig a good strong cage," said Papa."But what of the reprioritization you spoke of," Fang persisted."Right," Fisher said, holding up a finger. "Let’s make data gathering first priority, and let’s get it gathered before we move on to any other goals. It can make a difference." Henderson said, "Yes, we do a detailed analysis of the system, look for evidence for an ecosystem. Upon finding it, we proceed to procure specimens of all the niches. If there is no ecosystem, we should have a fall-back plan, and not the one currently outlined.""And what is wrong with the Biolathe plan?" Fang wanted to know."You don’t know what’s wrong with nuclear 'depth charges'?" Sylvia asked, an attractive throaty indignation in her voice."If we cannot coerce a dragon into Papa’s cage voluntarily, such a shock wave will likely be the safest course to neutralize one from a distance," Fang said. "We cannot fly into the disk. We will be fishermen with no knowledge of lures in a very big sea." Stearn asked, "Those bomb buggers really affect the disk? I mean, it's a giant disk of fire! Hmm, okay, I can figure it out. Plasma temperature in outer disk is like the solar photosphere right?""Yes, the plasma in the outer disk in quiescence is like that in the sun's photosphere, several thousand degrees Kelvin, not all that hot and not all that dense," Devereaux offered. "For the nuclears we get temperatures of tens of millions of Kelvins and an energy density many orders of magnitude higher. They'll make a splash all right. Hundreds of kilometers at least.""Still seems to me like a star or an accretion disk ought to swallow man-made bombs without a burp," Stearn said, ruffling his feathers."Globally yes, locally, no," said Devereaux."Yes, well," Fisher said, "I suggest we employ heroic measures to secure a live specimen before resorting to such a thing.""Yes, heroic measures," Fang said, apparently mollified. "In my opinion, bombing is the practical approach. A few dead dragons are worth a live one, are they not? A live one will probably be a hundred times more difficult to capture, and would perhaps require additional heroic measures to keep alive for the trip home. We should maximize our chances for success, and minimize our risks. Yes?" Opposite Fang, Fisher frowned back. Trouble in paradise? "Kill one of those magnificent creatures, just because it would be easier? We're not doing this, traveling two hundred and fifty light years, because it is practical. We're going to do this right. We should invest some effort in developing methods of luring a dragon to us. Agreed?" Fang stared at Fisher, finally saying, "Agreed." The word came out quickly, like a fencing thrust. Then Fisher let the discussion devolve into the details. Apparently this first meeting was supposed to be more of a free-form brainstorming, a chance to see where everyone stood in terms of their philosophical approach to what Biolathe had suggested. Henderson didn't really see the point. Fisher and Fang were the players here, and before this meeting he had thought they were getting along famously. As Henderson watched the dichotomy of Fisher's animated hands versus Fang's unreadable glare, he became concerned about the fortunes of the mission. But then there came an even worse omen as the meeting broke up and Devereaux left with Stearn. What could she possibly see in him? The ship, a fragment detached from the earth, went on lonely and swift like a small planet. -- Joseph Conrad He peers into every part of the Karamojo, listens to the breath of the air scrubbers along every corridor, feels the weight and temperature of every creature on the ship. It is more than this as well. He sings the harmony produced by the electromagnetic field, the flywheels, and the singularity pair when all are in alignment and pointed like an arrow toward the dwarf nova system SS Cygni. The metallorganics that fuse DNA with semiconductor and comprise his brain have few nerves of their own. This harmonic tone is his good, for he is the mission. He is the ship. He is a world. He is Papa. Or rather Papa is the self-aware personality of the ship’s brain, designed to interact more effectively with the human crew. Papa’s hind brain records all that transpires aboard, adjusts the song that is flight under wormdrive, and for it there is no time except in the derivatives in the differential equations governing its feedback control systems. Papa himself thinks in the fuzzy, linear way of humans, with a specific location and point of view, and in terms of personal relationships. He has memory, both ones false, he knows, of a shadowy lifetime in the Twentieth century, more facts than sensory detail, such as running with the bulls at Pamplona and the plane crashes in Africa; and ones real, as a starship captained by Fang, of hauling faux-bulls and more to a tiny world nestled next to the dim ember of Barnard’s star. He has a sense of movement into the future that the hind brain lacks. To the ship he provides the purpose of the mission, the creativity to enhance self-preservation. In these first weeks of his new life, the SS Cygni mission, Papa walks the corridors of himself, a ghost capable of movement through walls and transportation anywhere shipboard at lightspeed. He learns the secrets of the people on board, and fights between his Hemingway-derived personality which ever judges those around himself and finds them wanting, and the programmed overrides preventing him from actions suggested by his judgment that make him a good tool. Papa lurks in the console of Axelrod Henderson. Henderson is more than competent and the biosystems operate at near optimum levels, guided by a trained human eye that notices subtle discoloration and patterns before reaching the conservative sigma levels required for action by his own algorithms. Henderson spends long hours subtly redesigning his own body and face, led by statistics governing mate selection. He runs additional models to determine the fraction of the human population carrying his genes upon his return; apparently Henderson has banked his sperm and licensed extensive cloning rights. What makes the faux-human part of Papa fume is the elaborate plan that Henderson will finance with the windfall from this very mission. Henderson develops his plan with all the attention to detail of any gourmet pornographic implant: the delivery of a virus carrying his own genes that will simultaneously impregnate every woman on Earth -- or at least some suitable and less-policed starter planet in the colonies. Henderson polishes computer-generated models of this scenario every night. He writes: It is pretentious to rise above what flesh this universe has wrought. What folly it is to think of a higher purpose, and to think that purpose any more than what we have instilled in every fiber of our being already. I recognize what I am, and I will fulfill my purpose.... Papa wants to grow a muscle-bound mobile, shout, "Lousy jerk, we'll knock your mucking block off!" and pugilistically educate the snooty underhanded biosystems technician into proper citizenship. He isn't permitted. But it would be a fine thing to end a bad business before it has begun. He is also not permitted to tell anyone else of this discovery, even if it ever appears that Henderson has formulated a way to carry out his plan. Damn privacy rights are coded right into him. Papa takes some consolation in the fact that the women on board the Karamojo don't share Henderson’s bed, although he does worry that despite their hormonal implants they will, impossibly, become pregnant. Almost as shocking to Papa is the liaison Stearn and Devereaux have formed. This lush, chocolate-brown beauty -- not his type, but rich and womanly nonetheless -- has shacked up with the Jack who is more boy than man. Many times over these weeks as the ghost slips through the door into Stearn’s quarters, which now wears the appearance of a traditional English library, he discovers the pair of them embroiled in ancient board games. First chess, clothes vanishing with each capture, later go, and more clothes removed as stones are surrounded. From Stearn’s downloads from the ship’s library, Papa knows that Shogi and Chun Chi will follow. Devereaux must know what Stearn is doing, but they play until Devereaux is winning most of the games and both appear to desire new challenges: Devereaux wants new games to conquer, while Stearn wants to see how far he can push Devereaux. Papa turns around and leaves when he sees the perversity develop. Some things are better left unwatched, and not spoken of. He suspects it is merely the morals of his age programmed into his psyche, but sexuality really has evolved past his limits. Otherwise the Jack does his job competently, monitoring the ship, and Devereaux spends admirable hours reducing data as the Karamojo approaches the extreme gammas that will boost the SS Cygni flux and permit the acquisition of superior data. Devereaux hopes to identify spectroscopic signatures of star dragon -- their emerald hue is a shifting laser transition of unknown origin and unknown purpose -- that may allow their numbers and locations to be determined, at least statistically. The exobiologist Fisher works even harder than Devereaux, devoting more hours to his dragon models. Papa has mixed feelings about his effort. Fisher spends every waking moment with his magnetohydrodynamic dragon circulation code, touring the ship and asking endless questions about every minute operational detail...or with Fang. He asks Henderson to grow him an electrostim unit to aid his muscle development so as to better his boxing performance and minimize the thrashings Fang administers. He designs stimulated boxing routines to practice, but his opponent isn't Fang, but a strange female human/dragon amalgamation, with sinuous motions reminiscent of an electron spiraling about a magnetic field line. Like Henderson, Fisher keeps a journal. In it he writes: Never have I been happier. The liberation of knowing the world is gone, and only love and discovery remain, is addictive. Fang is demanding of my time and takes as much as I permit, yet within her exists a hidden vulnerability, almost an alien lifeform, that has been a joy to discover. In some sense I have only months here on the ship, feeding on anticipation as the SS Cygni primary feeds on its disk, but it feels as if eternity vanishes before me, and now is forever. I can obsess over this amazing woman and our mission, and for once in my life my obsession will not drive away a lover, but, in fact, draw us closer and make of her a confidant. I can be myself, and only strengthen our bond. It is love, finally. Now if only she would bend a little my way on strategy, it would be perfect love. I am sure I can convince her my approach is best. I know I'm right. I've thought of a way to hook it, using grappling fields on our remote tugs. The dragon's flight pattern suggests an azimuthal field variation that.... Papa usually does no more than skim the long technical passages -- most, like this one that follows, over five thousand words long and annotated with figures and models -- in search of those about the captain. Papa has loved Biolathe Captain Lena Fang across the centuries. She is his daughter, and more. Just as he cannot grow a mobile and pummel Henderson, he cannot grow a mobile and love Fang as he would. More code. He is the half-man Jake Barnes to her Brett, ironically repeating the half-relationship from his first novel. All he can do is rage, worry, rail, suffer, and, at her request, counsel. The biggest plus to his current incarnation is that he does not have to watch his weight, a task that haunts his faux-human memories. He now accompanies Lena Fang through the ages, and they seem as Fisher’s eternity, even though all the computer scientists assure him that his personality perceives time at the same rate as a real human mind. Still, all that transpires shipboard is his to visit, all time stopped everywhere, all places available for him to toy with, to travel among, but he follows a linear track in space and time as best as he is able to not jar his human personality. It is only through the greatest effort of will (and that is also false for it is algorithm and not will at all) that he is able to perceive all events not simultaneously in the present. Thankfully, he does not dwell overmuch on the facts of his own existence because he isn't permitted to. He cannot become chronically depressed or suicidal. He is not Hemingway. He is a human-pattern program with a limited degree of self-awareness. When Papa, invisible, walks into Fang's cabin, and she and Fisher have been making love after a sweaty bout in the ring, he does not leave. He staggers, as if he had legs that could be weakened by jealousy, then flares, as if he had a real personality that could be incited to active rage and the deep depression of the abyss that could pull the trigger of a shotgun pointed at his brains. He can do nothing but watch until the physical act denied to him runs to completion. What he usually thinks is this: why did they not provide me with the capability to smell? He has olfactory sensors throughout the ship, but they are keyed to certain hazardous materials only, and he believes he misses terribly that sweet, musky odor of a delicious woman in heat. So he listens to Fang's cry and watches her lean muscles clench around Fisher’s head and longs for something he is not permitted. Later, after Fisher has left and before Fang has donned her uniform and joined her fighting chair on the bridge of the Karamojo, Papa gives Fang his ear as he has done so many times."I’ve let him in here," she says, tapping her chest, "let him see me not as a captain, but as a woman.""You need a human presence, daughter, a human touch, to remind you of your soul," he assures her. He wants to say that all she needs is her Papa. He never does."I want more," she says. "I want someone to understand, someone not guaranteed to accept." Her words sting. He says nothing, granting supportive listening, obeying his restrictions."I want to tell him secrets that only you and I know.""What are you afraid of, daughter?" he says, hating the program she has unwittingly engaged, forcing him into playing the role of intuition, of conscience, of psychiatrist."Rejection, of course. The worst would be dismissal, to be ignored because I was not important. What have I done but haul cattle? He’s been on the edge, daring the unknown, swallowed by inhuman monsters floating in the deep, deep seas of gas giants. He's looked into the abyss.""You, too, have faced the abyss," he reminds her. She has shared the pivotal events of her life with Papa, and his programming exploits this knowledge."I was only eight." Fang licks her lips unconsciously. The same lips, with their funny shape that her grandfather ironically had described as bat-shaped, and hence lucky. "I would rather not talk of it now." Fang nibbles at her lower lip. Stymied, Papa must change tactics."Was that when you decided to leave your home world for the stars?" Papa curses inwardly at his banal, leading question. He would show empathy rather than continue probing, but the program is triggered. "Is that when you decided such a thing would never happen to you again?""It will not," Fang says, lips pressed into a thin, sharp line, the lucky bat-shaped curves flattened. "I am a starship captain, and that means something. I am responsible. Now and forever." There is truth in what she says. He is Papa and he is the ship, now the Karamojo. He is the ship’s breath, the ship’s power, the ship’s mind. But Fang can overrule him at him any time on all except for issues of immediate safety. Papa tells Fang, on this occasion as he has many times, "Now and forever, you are in control. You are responsible. You will not fail." After she has fallen asleep, another state denied him, the ghost that is Papa leaves to stalk the same endless corridors again. A mind does not need to sleep to dream.# Fisher awakened early, too hot to sleep comfortably in Lena's quarters, as usual, despite the fact that he had altered his metabolism to more closely match hers. Fisher lay awake spread-eagled in the darkness staring at the invisible mosaic on the ceiling, thinking about new approaches to take to study the star dragon. Unstructured time, he had come to appreciate recently, was a good way to solve problems. He didn't resent his sleeplessness. So he was awake when Lena started gasping, then moaning. He was reaching out to her when she said, "No, Grandfather, no!" She jerked away at his touch and kicked the covers at him, breathing fast and shallow. Her big black eyes glinted faintly in the dim light."It's all right," he said soothingly, "Just a nightmare. That's all." She gulped, swallowed, in the dark. "Yes," she said finally. "A nightmare.""Want to talk about it?""No," she said too quickly. "But you can hold me.""Come here," he said, pulling her into the crook of his arm. She was warm, stifling even, against his sweaty skin. He held her close. He thought she would say something after a time, but she seemed content to huddle with him. He lifted his arm to cradle Lena's head, letting his fingers idly twist locks of her hair. Her hair was short and fine, and unwound nearly as swiftly as he wound it up. "Why don't you let your hair grow out?" he mused."No," she said. "I mean, I like it short." Short, fair, all on the surface. In control. Nothing hidden or mysterious. Not very dragon-like at all. "I think it might be a good look for you. Why not try it?""No!" She sat up from him. "I don't want to.""Look, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were touchy about it." But he was irritated. Hair was such a small thing, a triviality, and she would not indulge him one iota. This made him begin to worry about the course developing in the dragon meetings. If Lena would not compromise with her hair, what were the chances she would compromise on more important issues? He shook the thought away. She was probably just being contrary because of her bad dream. Maybe he should find out about that. "Tell me about your nightmare, Lena.""The deep," she whispered. "Something coming up for me, a monster of some kind. It was a child's dream. It was nothing.""You mentioned your grandfather," he gently prodded. She was silent so long he wondered if she had heard him. Just before he was about to repeat his statement she said, "I don't remember. I'm awake now. Make it morning, Papa." And beyond the doors the sun began to rise over the ocean. Lena rose faster and was into the bathroom at once. Fisher lay back onto the soft bed and stared at the now blue mosaic. The octopus's tentacles twisted around the water, grasping nothing despite the visibility. He had tried. But they just weren't going to be that way it seemed. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Because he had hoped so, he hurt.# Fisher wished that the tabletree were not rooted to the floor so he could push it into Fang and perhaps shut her up, but she just went on and on."...and maintaining our altitude above the disk without wormdrive, we’ll be expending our fuel supply. It isn't unlimited. We can replenish it only very slowly with the high temperatures and low densities above the disk. Adding to that, the time to next outburst will limit our visit duration. We simply must make all haste to secure a dragon once we reach SS Cygni.""And so?" Fisher prompted."It is clear that using our missiles as soon as possible is the most effective means to secure a dragon, dead or alive," Fang stated unequivocally. "It is the best course." She was outrageous! Every week the dragon meeting had eventually worked around to Fang's persistent desire to fire her weapons. She was nothing more than a livestock hauler, a modern cowboy at best, a glorified button pusher at worst. She sat there, so smug in her perfect white uniform playing as if she were a military commander. This was science, not war. Give her a weapon arsenal that would be the envy of a small colony, and suddenly she was power mad: Fire the missiles! Fire the missiles! Why couldn't she be more like she was in her cabin?"That may not be necessary," Devereaux interjected. "Certainly we can spend a few days investigating, gathering data, before making that decision. I’ve been making progress determining dragon numbers and location, but the uncertainties are still large. The outburst timescale does vary, and we can adjust our arrival time to give us a long visit between outbursts.""We fire at a dragon as a last resort," Fisher said. "To fire immediately would be like...like a premature ejaculation!""Please, can we keep the discussion out of the gutter?" Stearn asked. Everyone stopped and looked at the Jack. Devereaux smiled knowingly and Henderson scowled. Fisher, also unsmiling, turned back to Fang and met her icy gaze. "I apologize.""Sylvia," Fang asked. "Is it true that the SS Cygni disk is experiencing an increased mass transfer rate compared to historical norms?""Yes, but we really need more data. The time dilation works both ways and -- " Fang continued. "The dwarf novae outbursts are more powerful and more frequent, aren’t they?""It seems so, but -- ""So our timetable should be accelerated. I am merely proposing the most logical way of doing that. This is quite reasonable." Fang smiled and spread her hands apart, palms upturned. "We can always try to capture a live specimen afterwards, if it seems appropriate." Fisher shook his head. "I’ve almost got the beast's bioelectric field nailed. With modifications to the shuttles we ought to be able to herd a dragon right into the Karamojo. Surely we should go for that first.""You still have time to convince me," Fang said, eyebrows arched high, "I am the captain, and I will make the final decision. I am responsible for this ship, this mission, and I won’t take unnecessary risks.""How about this," Devereaux offered. "We send a prospector ahead. We have several on our manifest, and we can get some advance data, a few days worth at least. Then we can make an informed decision without spending the extra resources." Fang considered it and finally said, "That would be agreeable." Fisher nodded and said nothing. What he thought was this: Why must you be like this when you're playing Captain? Why must you have a trophy? I won’t have you killing my dragon.# Devereaux walked into the observation blister. There were no artificial lights, but her robed form cast a shadow up from the transparent diamond floor as she cleared the entranceway. The light came from the Doppler-boosted and blueshifted long-wavelength radiation in the Galactic plane toward SS Cygni, including blueshifted cosmic microwave background: a tight knot of points amidst a diffuse glow. Elsewhere through the diamond the sky showed pure jet black, the stars erased by their velocity, except for directly aft, above her head, where the sun was still visible, its X-ray corona redshifted to optical wavelengths and amplified by the shape and gain of the blister. Only their origin and their destination remained part of the visible universe. A few more weeks and they would collapse the singularity pair, then reignite them in reverse, and begin to decelerate. Earth was mere months in the past now, but already irreversibly half a millennia gone. This step felt right to her. It was time to start her march toward the end of time and see the marvels along the way. Devereaux loosened her robe, discarded it, and stretched out on the floor, her head in a bubble in the blister designed for just such viewing. The diamond felt cool against her smooth tummy and breasts. The universe rushed at her at essentially lightspeed, but it really didn't appear much more interesting than a tight knot of lights, a very bright star cluster. There was no sensation of speed. Finally bored, Devereaux asked Papa to project a console off the bubble so she could work on the data and maybe get some more reliable estimates on the dragon density. The disk was big, and finding a dragon would not be easy. If they flew close enough for the best resolution, still limited by diffraction to a few tenths of an arcsecond at optical wavelengths, they would only be able to see a small part of the disk. Flying higher with a larger field of view, dragons would blend into the turbulent plasma. She had to admit that given only a week to work with, assuming a single visit between outbursts, Fang's violent ideas made some sense. The shockwave from a nuclear explosion would not only stun dragons at some distance (she had to believe they were stunnable), but it would also clear away swaths from the rarefied disk leaving holes like pepperoni on pizza. She smiled and got down to work. With red and green vectors spiraling before her, models of dragon distributions through the disk based on spectral analyses of the green -- now blueshifted into the X-ray -- emission-line profile, she heard someone’s slippered feet padding along the hallway behind her. She dimmed her console. "Phil?" The footsteps stopped. After a minute came a voice. "Henderson." Devereaux considered grabbing her robe, but she was too relaxed where she was."Mind if I join you, madam?" he asked. She said, "Not at all. The universe is big enough to share, but just barely at the moment." He kneeled onto the diamond and laid at her side. "Yes, I see. I’ve never been on a trip this fast. What’s our beta?" Beta was the fraction of light speed. "Very close to one. Gamma, the relativistic factor, is more useful in our case. I don’t know the exact number, but it is something over a thousand." Henderson let go a long, low whistle. Devereaux had never actually known anyone who did that outside of a stimshow. It took too much forethought to whistle in such a manner, at least without a bodmod, to make it a spontaneous sound of awe. "Don’t be so impressed. We’re a big ship on a long trip, and Biolathe doesn’t want to wait forever for a return on their investment. I understand there are some political and military craft that make us look slow." They lay together in the darkness for a time, looking at the small universe. Devereaux was getting bored again, and was about ready to go to her cabin so she could get some work done, when Henderson asked, "So how is he?" She decided to be obtuse; they didn't know each other well enough to pretend intimacy. "Who?""The Jack.""Phil is fine.""I mean, he pulled a fast one on me." She could hear the self-deprecating but insincere smile in his words, reminding her of his premeditated whistle. "The captain obviously had eyes for Fisher since day one, but you, you struck me as someone looking for something a bit more sophisticated than a trendy boy.""He's more complex than you give him credit for. And sweet and thoughtful beats sophisticated every time with me." Where was he going? Was this a round-about way of building up to a pass? He forced a laugh. "I would not underestimate sophistication. Sex is in the mind, for the most part. Would you not agree?" Of course she agreed. She gave him a grudging, "Uh huh. I suppose." Time to head things off if he were thinking of making a pass. There was a long way yet to go on this trip, and the prevention of something ugly here could be priceless. "But I've heard things about you biosystems guys. Saw a few research surveys. The 'career choice for the arrested adolescent' was how I think they put it, more interested in playing with mindless toys than real people." There was an awkward silence. The survey she had read, and laughed over with Phil when he had pointed it out to her, had concerned sexual preferences on a profession by profession basis. Finally Henderson found his voice and his words rushed out too fast. "Mindless isn't attractive, not in the long term. While humankind evolved certain mental organs that find physical health sexually attractive, those same mental organs select for intelligent mates that can raise successful children. Whether we want children or not. Try as we might, those mental organs are very difficult to excise from the human mind.""Your point?""I might be a little tired of toys," he said with a small, bitter laugh. Devereaux shivered, suddenly cold. The survey had apparently held at least some nugget of truth. "Why are you telling me this now?" His voice floated through the darkness, sounding ancient and distant. "Because even the self-involved, and I understand that is what I am, get lonely. Of the four other people that my external universe has shrunk to, you’re the only one I want to talk with. Fisher and Fang are wrapped up in each other and their own little self-destructive obsessions, and regarding Stearn, frankly I value his sweetness and thoughtfulness not at all.""Why don't you try it sometime?""Please. Let us not get petty." More footsteps in the hallway. The ruffle of feathers. Phil! Henderson rose. "I dislike crowds in which I am in the minority. Good day, madam." Devereaux was silent as Henderson left. It could have been him this trip, she admitted. If Stearn hadn't been interested her, or hadn't been on the trip, or had been a woman, she could have had a relationship with Henderson. A relationship doomed to fail, she was sure. When Stearn arrived a moment later she whispered to him, "Just hold me, Phil, and don’t say anything flip." She was grateful when he did as she requested without frivolity. The boy was learning, thankfully, because she really wanted a man just then. Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight. -- Marcus Aurelius Fang strode onto the fly bridge, pleased at the authority ringing from her boots as she crossed the bone-tiled floor. The ruglings were absent as she had directed and it pleased her. Everyone else was already present, just as they had been for launch, and they turned their heads toward her as she entered. She flashed them a calculated smile as she sat down on her fighting chair, relishing the croaking squeak emitted by the sweaty leather. One of the fears that Fang had harbored for the last few hundred years, Earth time, was that Captains would be done away with. Entire human crews, in fact. She would return from a run to Epsilon Eridani or Tau Ceti to discover that the already semi-redundant crew on corporate ships had been replaced entirely by AIs, robots, and bioservants. Most of the flight time there was nothing to do. Papa kept the charged singularity pair separated and their acceleration pointed toward a rendezvous with SS Cygni, kept the oscillating ship charge balanced to maintain a smooth one gee, and kept the course clear of obstacles with a combination of ionizing laser fire and external electromagnetic fields. If anything went wrong, only a machine could compensate quickly enough to avert disaster, if at all; a human, even a dangerously mindmoded human, had no chance. Still, the human animal was a versatile animal. Human creativity and intuition continued to solve problems, some pattern recognition, situations with incomplete data -- fewer and fewer compared to artificial minds, she granted -- but enough to make them valuable. There were always situations with incomplete data. Humans had fought for centuries now to stay involved, and continued to find ways to do it, although marginalization approached on multiple asymptotes. On a normal assignment, Fang could expect to oversee the ship through three stages: launch, turn-around, and arrival. In principle, these were dangerous times because the wormdrive with its deadly singularities were either being activated or deactivated. A large electromagnetic pulse could disrupt electronic part's of the ship brain, requiring intervention. There had been more than one accident in mankind’s past, which was the reason why Higgs generators were no longer used for launches from planetary surfaces. Calling someone a loose hole was a serious insult on Earth and most colonies. On a normal assignment, these three stages would be the only opportunities to test a human captain in the field, the only opportunities to fail, or to achieve glory. In practice, the chances of anything happening were miniscule. Because of the nature of this mission, and the vast array of unknowns, Fang would have final say in many matters when they reached SS Cygni, many chances for failure, but also many chances for real glory. Plenty more anyway than during the course of standard ship operations...she hoped. Like everything in her life, Fang nevertheless took the current maneuver seriously. "Amass forward nanoskin," she ordered. Their forward field would be in flux when they brought the singularities together, and a relativistic dust speck might impact with devastating results if they weren’t prepared. The nanoskin, primarily designed for reflecting and re-radiating photons near a hot photosphere, could also serve effectively as a shock-absorbing and self-repairing ablation shield."Done," replied Papa some twenty seconds later. Fang tugged her uniform sleeves even straighter than they already were. "Everyone secure themselves." After she saw that everyone’s furniture beasts, which had their own attachments to the ship, had grasped their charges, Fang buckled herself down with her own harness which outwardly resembled an ancient seat belt that the real Papa would have been familiar with. She liked the click of metal on metal. She fished an ampoule of On-The-Edge from her pocket and snorted it. "Charge singularities and initialize biseed collapse." Fang ran Papa through the rest of the drill, watching the tangled field lines dance in her picture tank as the singularities were slowly brought together electrically to recollapse into the quantum foam from whence they came. The gravity waxed and waned, until it finally vanished along with the biseed. The ship rotated, nanoskin bulge, radars, and lasers rotating oppositely, keeping their path safe. At almost the very instant Fang was about to order the wormdrive reactivated, Fisher said, "I’ve thought of a way to modify the -- ""Quiet!" Fang barked. Why did he always have to be so damn obsessed? Fisher mouthed, "I’m sorry," toward her, but his lips were difficult to read through the heavy scowl. She hadn't meant to snap at him. This was routine, wasn't it? She made a mental note to make it up to him later, and resumed the maneuver. A few minutes later they were again under gravity, bouncing against a new, oppositely directed hole pair and decelerating toward SS Cygni, shedding their tremendous kinetic energy. Smooth sailing here on in, thought Fang, not looking at Fisher.# Stearn hurried away from Henderson’s lab despite the fact that he'd spent several hours there. That guy really creeped him out. Sure, he was good-looking, in a fashion, but he was also aloof and snippy. Stearn just didn't care for him, which was strange as he prided himself on being able to have a good time with anyone. Perhaps his creche hadn't been as diverse as his seven parents had told him. Knots formed in his stomach as he neared Sylvia’s quarters. It had been more fun than he had imagined to seduce her with his mind, augmenting his biochip's on-board data store with board games. The whole thing had been a ploy to get her into bed, but the biggest surprise had been how fun the games actually were. This was a different sort of hedonism than he had practiced in the past, and he wondered if maybe he'd given the present era's entertainment diversity short-shrift. Still, he'd seen her with Henderson in the observing blister with the lights down that time a few weeks ago. Henderson might not creep her out the way he did him, and he did have that big lantern jaw and cleft chin that he was sure she liked. Thankfully the biosystems tech had assisted him as asked without pestering him with a lot of questions. Back on Earth a complete body make-over would have been long overdue, but here he hadn't even given it a second-thought for months, not knowing which way the trends had gone, and happy playing games with Sylvia. But this new body, this was for her as much as for himself. His bright colors were gone. His ear wings were gone. It was all different. Now he was an ebon Adonis, a dark, hairless demigod with the muscle tone to match Captain’s (although he suspected hers was entirely and terrifyingly natural). Stearn reached Sylvia's cabin. His powerful heart beat strongly underneath his taut pectorals. Shaking slightly, he rang her chime and waited nude and -- he hoped -- beautiful. The door opened. Monkey howls and bird calls erupted out, along with a bloom of humid air. Vine-covered trees with dark green leaves filled the room. Where had the Rubix walls and the puzzlebox chairs gone to? Where was the checkerboard credenza? Stearn stepped inside, his bare feet sinking into rich, moist soil. Where was Sylvia?"Up here, sweet man," came her voice. Stearn titled his head up. The ceiling had been increased considerably, allowing these new tall trees to vanish into a diffuse canopy an indeterminate distance above. The sounds of slithering fell like rain around him. Riding in a cradle of kelly-green vines more serpentine than vegetable descended Sylvia, garbed in snarling leopard skins that covered only parts of her brown body."Sweet mama," Stearn whispered."Not tonight," she promised, extending a hand. "You have shown admirable consideration in fulfilling my desires even though they are not your primary interest. It’s my turn to give you what you want. Fully and without reservation." Was this for real? Or was it some new game? Stearn was ready to play either side. He took her hand. The vines lifted them, and together they ascended into a physical paradise.# Lena, which was how she thought of herself only in the privacy of her cabin, applied the passion-pink lipstick and listened to Ravel’s Bolero while she waited for her lover. No frivolous bodmods like auto-make-up for her, nothing as slightly permanent as that even. Her cabin was her safe place, her place to be feminine, pretty, but it was essential that such things not leave with her when she was outside, when she became Captain Fang. They were her secrets, kept to herself and her occasional lovers. The door chimed and admitted Samuel. Lena coyly glanced over her shoulder, giving him a mock look of surprise. Mock because she had planned on him catching her there in front of her mirror in only a short and sheer pink robe, untied, that she hadn't worn in front of him before. Then without either saying a word, his arms were around her, sweeping her up powerfully -- something she would never permit outside the cabin -- and carrying her to the bed. Lena buried her nose in the nape of his neck and inhaled his unmodified, intoxicating scent. Pure Sam, pure male. She reached up and twisted her fingers into his dark curls, attempting to pull him down like a kraken sinking an old merchant marine frigate. He resisted, shook free, and tossed her down before him. His body followed hers, shedding clothes like an ablating heat shield during a reentry. His hands gripped her wrists tightly above her head, and his legs pried apart her legs. She loved it, this submission she gave herself over to only here where she was absolutely safe and not responsible. He was strong and fast as she hooked her ankles into the small of his back. He lasted just long enough for her -- they both cried out -- before collapsing heavily on top. His weight felt comfortable on her, like a warm, thick blanket, and his salty sweat dripped from his face and neck onto hers. Lena realized that she hadn't thought of command for several minutes and smiled. Perhaps now was the time to share even more. Warm and safe, she asked, "Did I ever tell you about my grandfather?""Mmm...just that you stayed with him sometimes when you were growing up." Lena swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, and rubbed her cheek against Samuel’s shoulder. "He was the most wonderful man, so very patient with me, even when I was being a little shit.""You?" She poked him in the ribs and went on."You know about leviathans, don’t you? On Tau Ceti Prime. I mean, you’re an exobiologist and -- ""Yes, I know about leviathans." She would do it. She would tell him. Maybe this time it would help."I was playing with the leviathan lure. Grandfather kept it locked inside a box, but I’d broken the code -- it was my birthday -- and I was playing with the lure. It was pretty, like a star, shiny and grand, so much bigger in appearance than it really was." Lena became silent and listened to Samuel’s breathing over the gentle susurration of the waves outside. How could she tell him this next part? She had started now, and she needed to tell it all, to have someone who was truly human understand. It had been a long time since she had last shared this story. It was her fault, her fault for not acting when there had still been a chance, but Lord, those eyes...."I have it," Samuel announced out of the blue."Have what?" Lena whispered, her voice sounding low and throaty without a hint of her practiced bark, the way it did only when she was thoroughly relaxed."The green glow," he said standing up to pace the room. "It just came to me while I was thinking about how to keep cool during sex. It’s a cooling system that allows the dragon to dump excess heat. The wavelength doesn’t make sense for a standard atomic laser transition, but it’s probably a tunable molecule, or a small suite of them, and given the profile of the emission line, I’m sure I can figure out the mechanism." Without his body against hers, goosebumps erupted across her skin. Without his attention, something similar was occurring in her heart. "Come back to bed, Sam. I was telling you something important." Her kept pacing back and forth between the vanity and the door. "Just a second, right? This is a breakthrough. Respect the idea coming here." Chilled, she crawled beneath the sheets and held them tightly to her chin. "Please, Sam. Not now." He stopped then and looked at her, lifting his eyebrows in a conscious expression. "I’m sorry, but I thought you were done. You know how I work, how I have to give a problem my complete attention." He suddenly turned his head as if listening to something far away and gave her a half-smile, showing a dimple. "You know, you look really sweet, wrapped up in the sheets like that. A soft-winged angel wrapped in clouds, saying please. It’s such a nice change from when you're in that uniform, being bitchy about how to bag a dragon." He came to bed and tried to wrap his arms around her. She shrugged him away, annoyed with him. Then she flung away the sheets, too, as she was suddenly stiflingly hot. She stood up and walked to the doors overlooking the beach, and turned her back on them to regard the man in her bed."What’s wrong, darling?" he asked, eyes wide in what appeared only mock concern -- the emotion needed to make the look genuine was simply not there. "Don’t you think I’m right about the laser cooling?" Air involuntarily escaped her mouth in a sound of disbelief. "I’m in the middle of sharing something important with you, and suddenly you jump up out of bed and start ranting about your precious dragon, and you don’t know what’s wrong?""You’re upset about the 'bitchy' comment, aren’t you? You're always saying 'damn' all the time. I thought that you appreciated being thought of as a tough captain." He rose onto his knees and held his fists out in a boxing stance. "Right?""Not right after making love!" Samuel went to her and tried to put his arms around her. "It’s okay," he murmured. She shrugged him away. "Not now. I’m mad at you right now.""You’re mad at me? Didn't we just have great sex? I already apologized for not understanding you hadn’t finished your story." He moved toward her again. Lena shook her head and stepped back. She knew he was obsessive, but he was also intelligent and handsome. Could he actually be this dense about her after these months? She hugged herself and pointed her elbows toward Samuel as she wondered if perhaps she had been dense about him. "Maybe you should leave.""I don’t think so, Lena. Listen to me. I think we better work this through. Now." She realized she was chewing on her lips and stopped. Why couldn’t he see he was making it worse? She didn't wear her mask here, and her safe place suddenly felt dangerous. "Get out, Sam." He took a deep breath and stared at her for a long moment. "Let's take a step back. I'm ready to hear about the leviathan now, okay?" Lena blinked back the welling tears. She would not cry in front of him! "Get out!" She walked toward him, hands out, ready to push him from her quarters. He was hurting her, here of all places, the only place she permitted vulnerability. She blinked wetly, and Sam became an ethereal specter, his shimmering presence taunting her. He had to be forced out now. "Get out!" He shied away as she approached, stumbled backwards, slipping on a scavenging fish slinking across the floor, and fell on his butt. She kicked him, not that hard, in the shoulder, knocking him over."What’s wrong with you?" he said as he scuttled backwards, like a crab, away from her."Get out!" she yelled, stalking after him. "Open," she barked to the door. Sam tried to stand up, and without thinking she kicked him in the face. Again, not that hard, but his lip was bleeding when he looked up at her from the hallway. "I should have known better than to risk the dragon by getting involved with you. I learned from my ex that I could mix work and love, that I could make a relationship work that way. But you obviously haven’t learned how to do it. You’re just a tin-plated dictator playing a game you don't understand.""Close," she yelled."Don’t you -- " Flushed and out of breath, Lena fell back against the closed door and slowly slid down until she sat huddled in a ball on the floor. She cried as she hadn't cried in years, or maybe decades. Whether it was for the shattered relationship and Sam’s betrayal, thinking of Grandfather, or just for herself and the years of denial with which she treated her uncertainties, she didn't know. She cried hard. After a long while, through sniffles and a few hiccups, with her cheeks cool from the tears, she whispered. "Papa?""We're here, daughter," he answered immediately.# Still nude, Fisher barreled down the cabin ring corridor moaning, rushing nowhere. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! Everything had gone so wrong. It had been a wrong -- more than a wrong, a sin -- to risk the dragon by entering a relationship with the captain of the ship. Wrong, to think he had any life beyond this mission. Wrong to think of anything but the dragon since the Karamojo had left Earth orbit. Everything so very wrong. Fisher passed through the Hall of Trophies, abruptly stopping his headlong rush to roar at a lion head. The animal wrinkled its nose, but didn't roar back. Fisher smacked it on its nose, hard. The lion roared then, a sound that carries for miles on the savanna on Earth. Fisher roared with the lion, his voice becoming the lion’s voice, asserting his dominion over the ship, over the mission. The roar died, then its echoes died, and the other animals’ excited calls reverberated through the corridor. There would be no more mistakes. Atsuko had warned him not to forget people this time, but that advice had been dreadfully wrong as well. The real wrong had been forgetting the dragon, his one and only reason for being on this ship, for throwing away his life in the present to travel five hundred years into an unknown future. With this kind of sacrifice, there was no excuse for losing his focus, no excuse for forsaking his purpose. Until the mission was over, the dragon was his master. Nay, his god. Fang had not yet seen obsession. He'd show her obsession! Filled with renewed purpose and a plan to right the great Bible of wrongs had written for him, Fisher resumed his rush and headed toward Henderson’s biolab. Henderson was not happy to see him, especially after he'd explained what he wanted. "What? Again? I just did Stearn.""And now you'll do me," Fisher said. "That's your job, isn't it?" Henderson sighed loudly. "Fine. No one needs anything more than a hair retarder in months and now two major bodmods in the same day! Ironic.""Whatever you say," Fisher agreed. He'd already stopped listening to Henderson at 'Fine.' He went to the workstation and started bringing up menus and rifling through them at top speed."Don't you want me to do that?" Henderson asked. "Aren't you afraid of making yourself a Mongloid?" No, he didn't and he wasn't. Fisher knew exactly what he wanted to do for this bodmod and it was something he dare not trust to someone else. He knew Henderson was competent with mammalian biological structure, but this would be far from standard. "I'm doing the design myself.""Don't say I didn't offer." Henderson paused for a moment then added, "Can I offer you something to wear? A robe, perhaps?" Fisher grunted and didn't care if Henderson took the sound as assent or not. His mind had already turned to the task at hand."Hmm, all right then," Henderson said. "I'll prep the bath then." Fisher knew that a star dragon possessed strong electromagnetic fields that facilitated their movements in the magnetic field of the accretion disk. That pattern of motion suggested a circulatory system of charged fluid that would be useful for energy transfer as well as transportation. The creatures had to shed heat, however, if not from inefficient energy transfer then from what they absorbed from their immediate environment. He'd figured out that one too, now, with the laser cooling. Those two interwoven systems then were the key to the new body he would create for himself, and not all that difficult to implement he realized after a quick survey of available bodmods. It was the current levels and combination of mods that would pose problems and that took him an extra half hour to solve to his satisfaction (and an extra ten minutes to meet the safety diagnostics' satisfaction that required extra electrical shielding for his nervous system). The thought of powering his body with magnetically confined fusion flashed to mind, but even he had to admit that would be too much if it were even available. When he was finished, a glowing green man floated in the workstation's picture tank, rotating to display the final product from all angles. He would require some special nutritional supplements, but nothing too onerous...but then again nothing would be too onerous for him at this stage in his dedication to his goals."Glow in the dark skin?" Henderson asked, failing to startle him. Fisher just snorted back. "Hardly. I'm ready for the bath, Henderson.""Affirmative, Fisher. Fisher rose, ignoring the cramps in his sore back; he realized he'd batted the chairbeast to immobility without thinking about it. He also realized that he should have fixed his back since he was going to the trouble of a major bodmod, but he'd forgotten about it. Fixing his back wasn't important enough to further delay him. The nutrient bath squatted in an adjacent, tall-ceilinged chamber surrounded by organo-electronic systems. Fisher stepped up the ladder to the top of the diamond rim. The fluid within bubbled darkly like a stew, a modern witch's cauldron. Fisher did not hesitate at the rim the way most people did. He rotated smoothly at the top and let his feet slip into the warm bath and immediately let go so his entire body could follow. Unlike most people, he did not hesitate to suck the oxygenated fluid into his mouth and lungs. There was no sense to hesitation and a baser instinct overrode what he considered obsolete instincts against drowning. His alveoli switched into more efficient oxygen extraction with his very next heartbeat. In the warm, wet darkness thousands of viruses invaded his system. These were the agents of gene therapy that would inject themselves into his cells, dismantle his DNA at the introns, and insert or replace certain sequences that would govern the cellular operation of his new systems. More sophisticated nanomachinery would reconstruct the macrobiology into the forms he had selected. Still other devices, more sophisticated than viruses and more versatile than the machinery rebuilding his tissues, would isolate and protect his brain functions. Numbness struck his extremities and he knew that these were working. A warmth more vital than that of the bath grew within him: waste heat from the tiny machines and cellular changes. He was now trapped in his own morphing body several hours until the modifications would be complete. Fisher had not programmed any stim entertainment for the procedure. His eyes stared unseeing into the black brew. His mind's eye saw only glowing green dragons above a blazing disk of fire. Yes, he thought as his limbs went rigid and a slow burn filled his body, he'd show Fang obsession all right. Part Two: Here Be Dragons The human body is the best picture of the human soul. -- Ludwig Wittgenstein Devereaux walked steadily down the corridor toward Fisher’s cabin, her speed balanced between urgency and yes, she freely admitted to herself, apprehension bordering on fear. When she had brought her latest disk predictions to Captain Fang, how was she to know that the result would be an immediate decision to deactivate wormdrive, canceling the full program of deceleration, in order to arrive early? Fisher would be furious at not being notified earlier, but he would be even more furious if not notified now. Worse, he had instructed Papa not to disturb him short of decompression, so seeing him in person was the only way to inform him. Devereaux wished she hadn't said as much to Captain Fang, who had told her to go ahead and tell him in person. Devereaux didn't want to see Fisher furious. Not now, after what he had made of himself these last few long months. Why wouldn't the man see reason anymore? What had happened between him and the captain that was this awful? Normally solving such a puzzle would have held boundless interest for her, but now.... Her hand shook as she was reaching for the chime. Before she could ring it, Fisher’s door irised open spilling white light, dry heat, and crackling noise into the corridor. Startled, Devereaux jumped away, bringing her hand, fingers spread, to her chest. It was like standing before an open kiln."I felt the fields shift," Fisher said. She would have been startled even if he hadn't opened his door unexpectedly -- Fisher’s current appearance never failed startled her. Most immediately noticeable was the green glow that exuded from his rough, dry skin, then the lack of any hair including eyebrows (which had Fisher explained were not needed for a body that no longer sweated), and finally the tiny salmon-pink eyes set deep within epicanthic folds of skin. His unvarying dress was now also quite different. Gone were the black duradenim and the characteristic but ugly streakers. Now he wore a sheer gray bodysuit stitched with concentric golden fibers of unclear purpose. The creases were ninety degrees out of phase with those of the captain's, tracing his outline like an aura. And his cabin...Devereaux, spared a second to look beyond the exobiologist before answering him. Inside, fires roared and danced in the bottom half of the room, making for an overwhelming cacophony to the senses. The fire stopped abruptly about a meter from the door. In the months since turnaround, Devereaux had never seen anything but fire in the room, and had no idea of how Fisher lived inside, let alone worked."I felt the fields shift," Fisher repeated."How could you? I mean, yes, Fang's preparing to shut down the wormdrive." Fisher pushed past Devereaux, and she felt static raise the hair on her arms, and even the tangles of the hair on her head. She turned and tried to keep up with his pace."Papa," Fisher ordered, "Give me a line to Fang.""We're sorry," came Papa's voice, "The captain is busy and asked not to be disturbed. Is this a decompression emergency?" Without breaking his stride, Fisher dismissed Papa’s stonewall with a wave of his arm. To Devereaux he said, "Brief me." Devereaux, jogging to keep up, said in a bumpy, breathless voice, "Like I told Fang, for our approach as scheduled, SS Cygni would be entering outburst. It made sense to advance arrival twenty days, ninety-nine percent confidence interval on the outburst ignition. So Fang's advancing the schedule. We’ll compute a new, faster course, overshoot the system with some residual velocity, and let its gravity help pull us back. Get a good look on the way past and obtain a second-opinion on the probe results.""Anything new from the probe? She's not still planning to fire missiles, is she?" he hissed. This continuing argument had turned the dragon meetings into an entrenched battleground. The vague guidelines of the Biolathe prospectus provided great latitude and an ambiguous mandate for either Fisher or Fang to wrest from the document. When it had appeared probable they might overshoot the disk because of the outburst timing, as they were now planning, Fang had seized the opportunity to suggest launching the missiles early. The missiles could be sent on a slower approach, and could be made to drive a dragon toward the ship, which would now be coming about from the far side of the system. Devereaux herself admired the elegant solution, minimizing resource consumption and time, the play of the related differential equations against the extreme boundary conditions of the disk. Fisher, of course, protested at every meeting. A classic case of irresistible force and immovable object."Nothing from the probe, but the range isn't yet optimal and the noise is large. I'm not sure about the missiles but -- " He increased his pace through a ring shift without pausing to listen to her, and surged into the bridge ring. Just before they reached the portal to the fly bridge, Fisher stumbled. Arms outstretched, he skidded to a stop on his chest. As Devereaux bent to help him up, Papa’s voice announced, "Please secure your loose items and yourselves. Wormdrive shutting down. End of full gravity in thirty seconds.""I’m fine," Fisher said, pushing her away with a mild shock. "I’m simply very sensitive to magnetic fields now, and these rings are not as well shielded, at least to our internal fields, as I would prefer.""I see," she said, frowning as Fisher went right on by her and headed into the fly bridge. Just as Devereaux rounded the entrance, Fang said, "Take your seats, people." Devereaux did as she was told, taking the opportunity to push past Fisher for a change, and slid onto the accommodating couchbeast. She was breathing heavily. Fisher stood his ground, about two meters directly in front of where Fang sat, and made no motion toward the couch. What was he trying to prove?"Sit down, Doctor Fisher," Fang said."I prefer to stand," he replied."Fine," said Fang. The volume of Papa’s countdown increased as he approached zero. The gravity oscillated. Fisher's glow intensified. Then Devereaux’s stomach did a mean flip-flop as gravity failed. "Wormdrive deactivated," Papa announced. Fisher drifted upward slowly off the floor. Fang lifted her head to follow Fisher’s trajectory. No one said anything for a few moments, a strange anticlimax to the preceding rush. Or rather, no climax at all yet. That was the problem."You’re welcome, daughter," Papa said. Fang blinked. "Sorry. Thank you, Papa." Devereaux sneezed. Then twice more. She often sneezed at the onset of freefall, when the dust and lint was able to escape the nooks and crannies it found for itself, and before the filters and fish could remove the extra irritants from the air. No one said anything right away, and she hoped that her sneezes had broken the dark mood that had been brewing."So what’s it going to be now?" Fisher asked, his face drifting toward the captain’s. The tension recrystallized, like a supersaturated solution being prodded. Before his glare, Captain Fang calmly turned her gaze toward Devereaux. Her expression, as usual, was inscrutable. "What is your current opinion on the matter, Sylvia?""We might learn something during the flyby -- our instruments are far superior to the probe's. The numbers and distribution of dragons in the disk is still mostly guesswork. My model still indicates that the next outburst will hold off at least two weeks.""Thank you," Fang said. She turned back to Fisher. Their noses were scant centimeters apart. Somehow Fisher hadn't bumped into her, and now in fact seemed to hover, somehow holding his position. Magnetically? It was possible. Fang addressed Fisher, "Shall we consider this while Papa is computing our options, and look at SS Cygni for ourselves?""Fine," Fisher said, and managed to spin in place, orienting himself to look on the wall screen."Bring it up, Papa." The system materialized, real colors, almost real-time -- only a few hours light delay now. Tilted at nearly a thirty degree angle to their approach vector, the disk blazed away, essentially pure white to the eye over its entire surface, with only a hint of violet. Nestled right up against the disk with its sparkling heart, the larger secondary star throbbed, a cooler cosmic ember within which hydrogen still burned. Sparking serpentine tendrils twisted between the disk and the secondary, prominences tracing the magnetic flux tubes connecting the two photospheres. Motion was visible to the eye. The outer disk velocities were about six hundred kilometers per second -- not a relativistic speed, but respectable, letting the gas orbit over the course of a couple hours. The velocities at the inner edge of the disk, on the other hand, were more than respectable. It was all simple dynamics, and the gas rotated in the disk differentially, following Keplerian orbits such that the centrifugal force of the angular momentum balanced gravitational pull, and at the inner edge the velocities were over six thousand kilometers per second. That meant that the gas spiraling into the primary star did so making roughly an orbit every few seconds. The white dwarf massed twenty percent greater than solar, while the larger but less dense secondary was a mere seventy percent solar. The sum was more than Chandrasekhar's limit of 1.44 solar masses, the mass above which degenerate electron pressure could not resist gravitational collapse. The process by which mass was transferred from the secondary to the primary was distressingly complicated since there also existed several processes by which the primary itself lost mass. During many epochs nova explosions, winds, and other cosmic belches tended to leave the white dwarf with less mass than when it started. Still, Devereaux's best evolutionary models indicated the system would, billions of years in the future, explode in a certain rare type of supernovae. Devereaux shifted her gaze from SS Cygni to Fisher and Fang. Fisher had rotated around Fang so they were nearly side by side, together staring at the binary system. Fisher glowed a bright green. The shimmer made him appear agitated; perhaps appropriately so. Fang's light olive complexion reflected his light, her face expressionless, placidly regarding their destination. Their faces so close together, with such a contrast, reminded Devereaux of a binary star. But which was the primary, and which was the secondary? Which was consuming the other? It had already seemed that their relationship had resulted in a supernova, but perhaps that was merely the outburst of a dwarf nova, with the real fireworks still to come. Devereaux didn't want to be around if those two got into it the way they were capable of doing. Casting away these dangerous thoughts, she caught Phil’s eye. He winked at her, and, suddenly grinning, she winked back. Much of her apprehension evaporated, just like that."Course calculated and maneuver options placed in command buffer," Papa announced. "What is your desire, daughter?" Indeed, thought Devereaux. She would have to say something, do something, if Captain Fang insisted on launching the missiles now. It didn't make sense to do anything like that until they had a better look, sifted through the probe data, gave the place an examination with their own instruments. Committing them to something at this stage would be ludicrous, driven by emotional factors and not by logic. They had plenty of time between outbursts, and could always retreat to a safe distance and orbit through another dwarf nova if forced to. They had enough ablation mass and fuel for the raildrive for that. She would follow the reasonable course, Devereaux believed: Fang was a professional first and Devereaux trusted her to do the right thing "Papa -- " began Fang."Activate wormdrive," Fisher broke in."Belay that!" Fang cried, showing the most emotion on her face -- in this case a snarl -- that Devereaux could recall. Not even during the dragon meetings had Fang burst out like that."Of course, daughter.""Leave the bridge, Dr. Fisher," Fang said, her face a smooth mask once again. Sweat trickled coolly up Devereaux’s temple. She flicked her head slightly, sending the sweat floating off in a ball. A hint of ozone tinged the air -- from Fisher? If he was emitting ionizing radiation, she’d -- Fisher said, "Fine," and spun away and glided out the door without touching any surfaces. It was spooky, like he was a green ghost. If he had screamed, he would have made a fine banshee. After he had gone, Fang said, "Alter course, please. Take us by SS Cygni as outlined in the primary command buffer." So, no missiles. Thankfully sensible."Yes, daughter." Suddenly Devereaux fell sideways, but the gentle tug from the chemical maneuvering thrusters lasted only a moment. Just a nudge to put them on a course to skim by the disk, timed to thread the Karamojo between the two stars. She hoped there was a similar course between Fisher and Fang that would bring success. Was there some way to nudge the mission's course through their dangerous orbit?# Stearn had finished checking the Karamojo. Everything was running smoothly with the rotation-induced gravity, all the rings twisting to best maintain their new down vector despite the fact that it was nearly perpendicular to what it had been for the vast majority of the trip. This new state was temporary. When they reached SS Cygni they would maintain a rail-drive assisted orbit at an altitude above the outer rim of the disk and there would be a substantial gravity, back again along the ship's central axis. In the English library he had made of his quarters, Sylvia proposed to Stearn a game of chess. He accepted. The opening moves went quickly, the Tasmanian variation of the Sicilian Dragon defense, and they were soon embroiled in a familiar middle game. And gossiping about other couples. Had they become such an old comfortable couple already to do such a thing?"He just needs to get laid," Stearn explained to Sylvia as he moved his bishop. She was the smartest woman Stearn had ever hooked up with, but she sure could be dumb about some things."You think?" She shook her head, then leaned forward from her couchbeast to rest her elbows on the edge of the board. "I just don’t see it, Phil. I mean, you think everyone needs to get laid, that it is the secret of life." He grinned and absent-mindedly reached to scratch where his feathers used to be and jumped when he scratched smooth skin. He had sure kept those wings too long to be having that reaction months later. "Everyone does need to get laid, and it is the secret of life. Human life, anyway. Captain hurt Fisher bad, and now he’s bitter. He needs that touching, and I bet he’s not giving it to himself." She didn't even get distracted by his baiting anymore. Part of him felt disappointed by that, but another part of him liked they way they were settling in together. Sylvia’s brow wrinkled in concentration. He loved to watch her think. She gave it such devotion it was a thing of beauty, and the backdrop of the English drawing room -- complete with the musty-dusty smell -- made her seem so damn sophisticated about it. Stearn fancied himself an artist of love, or at least lust when he was being more honest with himself than usual. The real art of love, he believed, was discovering that one telling feature that caught the unique essence of a lover in a single stroke. And cherishing it. For Sylvia, it was that knit brow he had first understood as she rode him in the jungle canopy of her cabin, that she wore in those quickening moments approaching climax. That she wore whenever she focused her entire self on a pursuit she loved. That expression of her focus was the essence of her. Sex, in one form or another, was always the key. Stearn knew it without any doubt."I don’t think that’s it," Sylvia muttered in a dismissing tone, "but we need to do something. The dwarf nova outburst will have subsided in another seventy hours, and those two are going to ruin this mission, and us with it, as soon as they get the chance." Sylvia pushed her rook pawn forward a square, forcing Stearn’s bishop to retreat. After he moved it back along the diagonal, maintaining the pin, she went on, "I’m sure it’s not the lack of sex. He’s more complex than that. He can just crank down his hormones and ride out the dry spell perfectly happily. Not everything revolves around the drive to reproduce." Sylvia pushed forward her knight's pawn two squares, cutting off the pin and attacking Stearn’s bishop. She really seemed to hate that pin. Too emotional here, too distracted, trying to shake the pin. That weakened her defenses and she hadn't analyzed the tactics as carefully as she usually did. Stearn considered his options, and finally decided to play true to himself. "What are the stakes on this game?" Sylvia rolled her eyes up for a second. "The usual, I thought. Winner gets fantasy of choice.""Let’s make it a bit more interesting. Loser has to seduce Fisher, winner gets to watch." At her abrupt look of alarm, he amended, "Not in person. On neural recording, of course." She didn't look relieved at his amendment. "I don't think so. It isn't much of a prize for me either way.""Think of the bedroom talk, what he might say afterward in the afterglow. He might give away the whole trick of who he is. Are you saying you can resist that prize?""Yes I can." Sylvia rocked back and forth as she rested her chin in her hand. "But I do admit you’ve got my curiosity piqued now." He stared into her eyes, waiting."But Fisher won’t go for you. He might not go for me, but he certainly won’t go for you.""Leave that to me." He grinned at her. A semi-illegal code running on his biochip confirmed his evaluation of the chess position."Okay," she finally said with an expulsion of air. "But we're only talking an attempt. I can talk friendly to the man. I'm no prude." Stearn broke into a broad smile. Without taking his eyes from hers, he reached out and took her knight's pawn with his bishop. Sylvia broke the stare to look at the board. Her brow knit in concentration erotically, then, after about two minutes it flattened out into a placid ocean surface. "Shit," she said."Mate in four, unless you care to lose your queen," said Stearn."That’s not fair," Sylvia said."Chess is completely fair, no random element whatsoever.""You know what I mean!" He did feel guilty. A little guilty, anyhow. But what has the point of a biochip interface if not to use it? Sylvia wanted a good game from him, didn’t she? "To even things out, I’ll seduce Captain." Sylvia started to laugh."Hey! A man doesn’t need to hear that!""She won’t sleep with you." Sylvia laughed harder. Probably true. Still, there were a hundred ways to seduce a person. Physical union was not the only way to take pleasure in someone, something that Sylvia had reminded him of. "I’ll seduce her into intimacy, make me her confidante. I'll get her to go hunting with me. She'll get to shoot something and blow off some steam. It’ll have to help ease the tensions. That’s the real purpose behind this, right?""If you say so. I can’t believe I’m letting you trick me into this.""You don’t think Fisher is dangerous, do you?" She knit her brow. "Not to us, not if we don’t get in his way." This was getting too heavy. "You don't have to actually sleep with him. Just make an attempt to gain intimacy of one sort or another. Make contact with him. It'll be fun." Sylvia reached out and took Stearn’s hand. "Phil," she said, "let’s do this not just for fun. Let’s do it to make things better, if we can. You agreed this is to ease the tensions." Heavy. Donning an appropriately serious face, Stearn said, "Sylvia my darling, we must seduce them for the good of the mission." She broke up laughing. Then they swept the pieces off the chess board, a large sturdy thing from another century, crawled onto it themselves, and made love in a very complicated position.# Stearn had let her off the hook, Sylvia realized, when he had admitted that there were a broad range of seductions possible. That thought eased her trepidation as she approached Fisher’s cabin for the second time in as many days. Recently once a week at dragon meetings was the norm -- she had no idea when he ate and wondered if in fact he did eat. She took a deep breath and derailed that thought train. All she had to do really was get him to talk to her as one human being to another, make that connection. This time she got to ring the chime. Sylvia adjusted her scarlet silk wrap, then tucked her hands under her arms as she waited. An awkward fish schlepped along the floor, its lime coloration contrasting the beige of the ruglings. Around the bend of the ring, a six-toed cat silently stalked the sick fish. There was no answer."Papa, is Fisher in his cabin?""Yes." She waited, but Papa offered no explanation. He was usually more helpful to her. "Is he asleep?""No." Sylvia untucked her arms and rang the chime three times in rapid succession. The door irised open -- another glimpse into the kiln. "What is it? I’m working." Sylvia’s pupils contracted and her corneas darkened to enhance the contrast. Fisher was a dim gray-green smudge silhouetted against the fire crackling everywhere in his cabin. How could he stand it? How could he work in this inferno? "I wanted to talk to you, Sam.""So talk. I’ve got a lot to do." She could see him better now, see his tiny pink eyes staring back at her from a green mask. If only this weren’t so important. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, and said, "In your cabin?" He laughed, a tinny nervous sound, as if he hadn't laughed in a long time and his mouth had forgotten how. "My cabin? Are you kidding me?""Can’t you -- " she groped for a word, and threw her hands up with a suddenness that surprised her, grimaced, continued, "Can’t you just turn that off, and be a human being for a few minutes?" He said nothing for a long moment. Then he nodded, and turned his back to Sylvia. The fire swallowed Fisher. Sylvia waited. Inside, the fire surged, then died. Not completely, she saw, but only in the half of the room near the door, and in a narrow path to the bathroom and to the bedbeast -- a hard, obsidian creature that reflected darkly the low flames that flickered like smoldering ruglings."Come in," Fisher said. Sylvia stepped across the threshold, hot already, and wiped sweat from her brow. "You live like this?""Of course," said Fisher, sitting in a lotus-position hovering just above the flames in the rear of the room. More of the magnetic levitation trick. "I have adapted myself to this environment so as to understand how a star dragon might live, how these surroundings might influence the mind of such a fantastic creature, and what sort of things that mind might think." That struck her as clever but she decided not to acknoweldge that fact. "You still think the star dragon could be sentient?" Fisher shrugged, a motion that induced a spiraling bob that only slowly damped out. "Anything is possible. If they are sentient, bombing their home would be an unethical, perhaps criminal act, would it not?" Sylvia took two more steps into the room and stopped two meters from the fire. "Of course I agree.""Then tell her!" His green glow flared."Easy, Sam. I will. I'm running every analysis I can think of on the probe data. I don't see anything except perhaps some signs of that laser transition, but it isn't very secure. We’re having one more dragon meeting before we achieve the disk, right? Make your case there, with logic. Make a compelling argument, and I’m sure the captain will listen.""I have been making an argument for months now. She won’t listen." Fisher leaned forward, maintaining his hovering Buddha pose, and gesturing with a finger pointed above Sylvia’s head. "She wants to take a trophy, fire off her bombs, play the big hunter. She doesn’t care about our scientific goals. This is a grand vacation for her. A vacation!" Sylvia stepped forward, closer to the fire. She felt her skin harden to the heat, rapidly tanning of its own volition. "Like all of us Captain Fang has made a sacrifice to come on this journey. She has her career at stake. She will make the effort to be careful with the ship, but she has the mission’s goals at heart. She wants to succeed, just as do you.""Ha!" Fisher floated closer, leaning forward at a forty-five degree angle. Less than a meter separated his face from hers. "She wants to sabotage me.""I don’t think so." Sylvia dry swallowed, her lips cracking open afterward, a tiny sound consumed by the popping flames. Stearn would probably expect her to dart in for a kiss at this point. She leaned forward, slightly, as if considering it. That was as physically intimate as she was going to get -- there was no connection there but for the dragon issue. "Look, just give the meeting a chance. Give Fang a chance. Give the mission a chance.""I have given the mission everything I have.""Just don’t do anything rash.""I will do anything necessary." He was so far away. She could do more. Sylvia lifted her hand toward the heat, toward Fisher’s cheek. He didn’t move. She flinched when a flame flickered up Fisher’s gray-suited body to lick her hand, but it was brief and didn't burn. Her fingers glowed green in the light of Fisher’s face as they brushed his skin. After her last experience with Fisher's current set of bodmods, she expected a spark, or crackle, or something spectacular. All she felt was soft cool skin, without a hint of beard. It was like baby skin. He still didn’t move."What made you like this, Sam?" At her words, he pulled back from her touch. "Oh, it’s simple biophysics really. I had Henderson help me put it together in a few hours. The key is eliminating the sweat glands in favor of bioelectic light-emitting diodes, adding a charged circulatory system, and the rest follows from there integrating the systems.""That’s not what I meant and you know it.""Nothing made me like this.""Really?" Sylvia challenged. "It was the twenty-seventh century when we left Earth, and it'll be the thiry-first when we get home. We can alter our bodies as to suit our whims, as you've done. While mental alteration isn't as yet so safe or easy, there are a multitude of methods of regulating a personality from special hormone-regulating glands to oral drugs to gene therapy. We choose who we want to be. Why did you choose this, Sam?" Fisher bobbed in his fire, green on red, and said nothing for a long moment. Then, finally, when Sylvia was about ready to back out of the heat and leave him his stupid privacy, he said, "Okay then. You want a story?" Sylvia nodded, after a moment, her hair sticking to her sweaty cheeks."Have you heard of the space wisps?" She shook her head. "I know I should have uploaded the whole exobiology bestiary when I signed on for this mission, but I figured you and Papa would have that covered and I’d focus on the properties of cataclysmic variables and SS Cygni in particular." He nodded and began talking. "Basically they’re space-faring life built of networks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons originating in star-forming molecular clouds. They’re tenuous enough -- wisp is a good name. Not much more to look at than a bundle of threads resembling a smoke cloud. The ionizing ultraviolet that spurred their development and provides them energy also photodissociates them, and they play a game of Scylla and Charbydis with their environment. Too much ionizing flux and they break apart and die. Not enough, and they have no energy.""They sound interesting," she said truthfully. Fisher seemed much better now than he had in months, talking about something he loved and wasn't fighting for. "Although I’m not sure how you’d tell they’re even alive.""That was tough. They were discovered by accident when a relativistic probe smacked into a pack of them in the vicinity of Sirius B. Near lightspeed, a pack of wisps can hit like a mountain, and this was a small, low-budget scientific probe without active shielding. Anyway, they were first deemed nothing more than an interesting example of Galactic chemistry. That’s where I came in. I discovered three features that suggested they were truly alive. First, they could reproduce in a way very similar to DNA, slowly, to be sure, as they accumulated building materials from cosmic dust, but the evidence was clear from the observed population. Second, they could alter their reflective structure and guide their motions via a form of solar sailing, using radiation pressure and the shape of their sail and their angular momentum to keep them on that thin line between the dark and the destruction.""The third feature?""When the photodissociated bonds reformed, it wasn’t random. Even the ones not actively replicating took the opportunity to build structures, such as their tiny sails, but sometimes the sailing structure was not built at an angle that made sense. That’s what confused the first researchers. But then I realized that they were flashing infrared light signals to their neighbors. The whole pack -- there were hundreds certainly, but possibly hundreds of thousands in the complete extended population, were communicating. I have no idea how intelligent the wisps were, but something was going on there.""Why aren’t you still studying the wisps?""All the ones we know about were destroyed. After the unusual chemistry was documented and all the data collected that I analyzed, the science team studying Sirius B swept the area with fully ionizing Xenon-Chloride excimer lasers and vaporized all the debris -- including the wisps -- to clear the path for their probes. I was already on a ship, without the high gamma like this one has, bound for Sirius. When I arrived, there was nothing to study. When I returned to Earth, twenty-two years had passed. I only lost fifteen. My mother had died in a diving accident on Europa during that span." Sylvia didn't know how to respond. Finally she picked, "I’m sorry." Fisher’s green flared to rival his floor. "Don’t ever be sorry for me! I learn from my mistakes, and when it is within my power, I make sure they are never duplicated. This mission is my life, for now, for a thousand years, and I am dedicated to its successful completion. I will do whatever I have to do to ensure it.""Yes, but you have to work with the rest of us. Captain Fang -- " Fisher held out his hand and cut her off. "Fang is irrelevant here. Do you understand my position?""I suppose so, yes.""Then you’ll let me get back to work?" Was that going it be it? Perhaps it was, and perhaps it was enough. "Yes." Fisher sat in the fire, staring at her, waiting. She ventured a little more. "If you need to talk?""I’m fine," insisted Fisher. "You just concern yourself with making the mission a success, and we’ll get along fine. The same goes for Fang. Now, please excuse yourself, and we'll all go back to work." I tried Phil, she thought. I did better than I thought I might, and it wasn’t even so bad. She had collected a few more of Fisher's puzzle pieces, and even saw how a few fit together. She wondered how Phil was doing with the aloof and intractable captain. Sylvia said, "Thanks for talking, Sam." Fisher smiled. "Thank you." Sylvia exited the cabin, flames crawling behind her steps to again fill the room with their righteous, intense heat. The kiln door closed. The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men . -- Emile Zola Fang ducked under the boxing mobile’s swing and hit it in the body three times, hard, before dancing back. It swung again. Fang stepped backwards and to the side, and tagged its head which snapped like a tree bulldozed by an avalanche. She had told herself a thousand times that she was better off without Fisher, but he’d made a better sparring partner than these damn mobiles. Maybe she should have gone on that safari with the Jack after all. At least it wouldn't have been the same old thing. Someone rang Captain Fang's personal chime twice in quick succession. That was odd, she thought. Why not simply have Papa pipe voice to her? The gym door irised open revealing a breathless Phil Stearn, eyes wide, all white and black. He said, through heavy panting, "Captain, come quick," and took a step with a half-turn away, gesturing with his free hand for her to follow. In his other hand he energetically waved about a large-caliber rifle. She kept herself from instinctually grimacing at his lack of respect for firearms. Just because they were ancient didn't mean to not treat them properly. "What is it Stearn? And why are you armed?""I’ve got a wounded lion, now please come on!" He took another two steps down the corridor and gestured again. After a brief hesitation, she followed, telling the clasps of her gloves to release. They dropped to the canvas and she followed her Jack out of the gym."Explain yourself, Mr. Stearn.""Well, it’s like this, see." He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I decided to go ahead hunting without you, on the savanna.""Real or virtual?""That’s the thing, see. I wanted to make it interesting, so I asked Papa to surprise me with a safari of his own invention. I’m pretty sure it’s real. And he won’t stop the game unless I’m in physical danger. The way this body’s built, well, it can take a lot of damage without seriously endangering my life. Papa won’t let me evacuate the chamber, but I don’t want to go after that lion. You want to get chewed up by a real lion?""Of course the lion is real," Fang said. "Papa doesn’t like you.""I know, I know, and this doesn’t have the parameters for an override, and I don’t want them to get there either. Papa can get a little scary, you know. But you’re Captain. You could override, terminate the simulation.""No." He made her want to frown. This was her crew? Not finishing a hunt, not respecting the life he had created and the resources he had consumed? She should set an example. "That isn’t necessary. If you're willing to shoot yourself into trouble, you'd better be willing to shoot yourself out. I’ll help.""Then let’s go." Stearn picked his pace up to a jog. Fang matched him. They reached the savanna soon enough. Her pulse elevated, a warm radiation from a blushed face, and the start of a light sweat...this was much better than beating up a mobile or sitting around the cabin waiting for the dragon meeting where Fisher would twist her words to suit his own purposes. He didn't understand that this was an alien thing that could kill them, that they had to test their mettle against it assuming it to be a creature of infinite grace and power. Twisting words was not a good way to meet an unknown challenge. The door opened. Fang stepped inside. "Give me your rifle.""Happily, Captain. It’s loaded.""Better be." Fang surveyed the grassy plain, sliced in two by a stream and sporting a few scattered trees, squinting her eyes despite her corneas' auto-darkening. A blistering day on this world inside the ship, the air still and heavy. "Tell me what happened.""Well," said Stearn, "I shot him twice. Once in the leg, once somewhere forward. I lost him in the tall grass.""How long ago?" asked Fang. His eyes flickered, checking his internal clock. "Nineteen minutes, seven seconds.""Long enough. You didn’t kill him, or Papa would have let you know. He should be sick by now, his adrenaline faded, the pain...overwhelming. It’s a damn thing, getting shot.""Never tried it, but properly applied pain can inspire a great endorphin rush -- ""That’s enough, Stearn." Fang regarded the savanna more closely. "This is a bad place." "Why is it bad?""Can’t see him until you’re on him.""Oh," said Stearn. "I see.""You can stay here, if you like. I’ll have to go in after him." She checked her weapon, a double-barreled .505, an old vintage capable of only two of shots before requiring reloading. At least Stearn had some fortitude. He could have brought in a mega gun and shredded the entire chamber in seconds. The chamber, prepped for hunting, was equipped to withstand as much."I thought about burning the lion out. That was done in ancient times and would be sporting.""The grass is too green. You might as well laser the whole damn thing." The chamber was equipped for that. Papa had high-powered lasers available as safety overrides. He could and would use them to kill the lion in an instant if there was an immanent threat to their lives, but knowing Papa, he would let them get a little hurt first. "Lasers would not be fair. You did start the game.""I’m allowed to conjure beaters," said Stearn. "I mean, I’ll come with you, but can’t we send beaters out ahead? I'd really like to avoid the lion mauling my equipment, if you know what I mean." Beaters...this started to bother her more. How different, she thought, would it be sending beaters into the savanna to flush out the lion from sending her missiles into the disk to flush out the dragon? She had been on many hunts, but this scenario gave her more than the usual deja vu. "Of course we can. But it’s a touch murderous. I know the conjured beaters aren’t real, but respect the lion, and play this for real. That’s the fun of it, the test.""What do you mean?""We know the lion’s wounded. You can drive an unwounded lion -- he’ll run on ahead of noise. A wounded lion will hide until you’re right on top of him. He might as well be invisible. Then he'll charge at point-blank range. A beater would get killed. It’s not playing fair.""Fine then. Lead on, bwana." Fang frowned at the term. "I don't think that term means quite what you think it means." She set aside the distraction to focus on the task at hand, and signaled Stearn to follow with a twitch of her head. They walked down a steep bank of an empty streambed, and across, then up the other side. It was true physical exertion, honest exercise."Here," Fang said kneeling where the short grass had been splattered with blood. "You hit it here.""I don’t want to go in there. That lion’s big.""I know," Fang said, standing. "It really can’t kill us very easily the way our bodies are built, also with Papa ready to cut in at an instant. Still, we live with racial memories burned into us by twenty thousand generations on savannas like this one, the ones that made primates afraid of big cats." She considered telling Stearn that she was afraid, too, but that would have been a lie and might even come to undermine her leadership. No, outside of her cabin, she had to be a rock, would be a rock, as ever. But a hunt, this was what life was made of, if that life was being lived properly. "You can wait here.""I’ve changed my mind. I mean, I thought it was fun before. I’d seen you do it. But now, this close. Why don’t we just quit?""Stearn, you’re shameful. You know that? You get Papa to grow a damn lion for you, you shoot it, then you’d just walk away while it suffers? You finish what you start if you’re crew on my ship. If you deserve to be called human. I’ll have no quitters, understand?" Fang tried to keep her voice even and matter-of-fact, her face hard, but some sneer escaped, she knew."You’re right, Captain. I’m sorry. If you’re going to go, I want to go.""Good man. It’s my show. Do exactly what I tell you." Fang wondered at Stearn. He seemed to be acting a little odd, inconsistent, like he had some sort of unknown agenda that he was trying to stick to despite her. His tone, his body language, didn't match up well with his words, she decided. Like he was following a script. Still there was the lion. Time to put Stearn out of her mind and deal with the beast. Somewhere ahead of them there was a wounded lion lying flattened on the ground, invisible in the grass. It would be big and yellow, bloody foam on its muzzle, with each breath pain in its belly coming and going like waves on a beach. It would have hate in its heart, hate in its damn eyes, which surely watched them even at this very moment, its animal instincts holding it stiffly in place awaiting that one moment when it would charge the humans who left the savanna so long ago, but dared to return toting guns that belched death. Yes, Fang knew the look those eyes would have as the muscles stiffened with pain and anticipation. She could understand those eyes. Mammalian eyes, Earthborn eyes. Check the blood, watch the grass, step forward, check the blood, watch the grass, watch the grass, watch the grass..."Why don’t we -- " Stearn began before Fang stopped listening. Ignore the damn Jack, watch the grass, step forward. Then came the blood-choked cough and springing up from nowhere the beast charging down on her. Fang pointed the double-barreled rifle. Carawong! Carawong! She managed to keep her stance against the fierce recoil, but had to lean into it. It was impressive, visceral, this ancient technology. She punched the animal with it. Two shots carrying two tons of force smashed into the beast’s face, halting its charge dead on. Yet the beast crawled on, somehow, half its head gone, still trying to kill Fang. This was life before her, relentless, irresistible life, pressing on against what it knew not. Following its instincts, not giving up. The lion’s serpentine tail twitched as its mutilated head slumped forward. The star dragon was alive, and would resist them with every bit as much effort. They would have to match its relentlessness. Fang said, "It’s a damn good lion, Mr. Stearn." She heard a strangling noise, and, when she was sure that the lion’s crawl truly had ceased, turned to regard her vomiting Jack. He managed to speak. "I’m sorry, Captain, it’s just -- " Fang handed the rifle to Stearn and walked past him. She said, "Have some respect for such an excellent creature. You bring life into this world for your pleasure, make sure you respect it." Grimy and smelling of gunpowder, she left the sphere to shower and change. It would soon be time for the damn dragon meeting, and she had to think about her plan of attack.# Papa watches the meeting, furious, wishing he could scream out to everyone what Fisher has done. He lied to Devereaux about the space wisps and programmed the safari for Stearn -- and based on a story Papa himself -- the other Papa anyway -- had written to boot! Short Happy Life, Papa yearns to tell them. Short Happy Life! But Papa cannot violate Fisher's privacy. While he is an independent mind based with both organic and inorganic structures and a personality based on that of a man, he is also a tool and forced to operate within many constraints that conflict with his own desires. And now he fumes about Fisher. The man's agenda is clear: win allies, make enemies doubt their strategies. Fisher might well be correct about the approach to take with the dragon -- data for a conclusive answer is certainly lacking -- but Papa hopes Fang will foil his intent. If only she would ask him about the safari, he might be able to clue her in. He is allowed some latitude in such situations. Papa silently curses the rules that limits him to a less-than-human right of expression and watches Fisher play the crew like a fish on a line. Fisher says, "Can we have a summary of the probe and flyby data, Sylvia?""The disk is in the final stages of a dwarf nova outburst. I collected plenty of data on the disk physics, but in terms of biological activity: nada. Neither dragons grazing at pasture as in the Prospector data, nor any evidence for disk rabbits, plankton, or the like. We’ve got a good hour of excellent, high-resolution data on the disk. That high-resolution is probably the culprit in part, leading to a loss of signal in the noise. In any event, no dragons. I speculate that they hide during outbursts, perhaps in some form of reverse-hibernation, like how some ancient cultures would take a noon-hour siesta to beat the mid-day heat." Papa refrains from voicing the simpler interpretation of the data: there are not now any dragons in SS Cygni's disk. He knows from their journals, idle conversation, and mumbles during their dreams that each has this concern. Biolathe might have sent them on a goose chase for its own purposes, perhaps to mislead a competitor. It is possible. Or, more unthinkable, and worse, the dragons have died out, or migrated somehow, in the centuries since the Prospector video was taken."Hide?" Fang asks. "But wouldn’t they be more visible during an outburst if they have to radiate extra heat?""That’s not clear," answers Devereaux. "I was never able to nail down a reliable number on the dragons based on their laser emission. It’s too variable, for whatever reason, and too weak against the disk output. Depending on the model, the data are consistent with zero dragons, or millions of dragons. Sorry.""Zero dragons?" Fang asks. "You've been measuring something, haven't you?""Yes, but there are some natural transitions that could selectively pumped under certain conditions and a lot of model parameters to consider. It's a weak, variable signal that requires assumptions to stack up.""So we’re here, and still have many unknowns. That argues for caution," says Fisher."Yes," agrees Fang for once, "Which is why I still maintain that missile ‘beaters,’ if you will, are the safest course." Papa laughs to himself. She's going to be contrary with Fisher despite his games. This is his daughter! Fisher slaps his palms smack against the tabletree. "What?""It is only logical, not knowing the dragon population or location to any accuracy, to drive them toward us. We don't have years to search this monstrous sea." Devereaux speaks when it is clear that Fisher is having difficulty in formulating words. "But this could kill the dragons." Fang says, "Oh please. We blow up the missiles in the central disk, where I seriously doubt these dragons could survive, and let the shocks push them out to where we wait." Fisher regains his composure. "How do you know the dragons won’t act like moths? See the tasty gamma rays and happily head straight for the inferno?""I don’t, but they’re not especially intelligent or interesting if they do that, are they? Besides, wouldn’t they have all swarmed to primary and been spattered into degeneracy if that were how they behaved?""I'll grant you that one." Fisher exhales mightily. "You’re going to do this, aren’t you? Your heart is set and you're going to do it.""It’s a standard ploy in a hunt for any reasonable quarry in such a large area." Fisher slaps his hands on the tabletree again. "But we know next to nothing about this quarry! Who is to say these things will be reasonable?""That’s your problem, isn’t it?" Fang counters. "You’ve shown me nothing based on your dragon models to suggest they would behave in any outrageous manner.""We’ve only got four-and-a-half minutes of dragon behavior!""Papa," Fang says, "I’m authorized by the Biolathe corporate brain to make all final strategic decisions, am I not?""You are, daughter." Papa does not elaborate about the numerous ways, large and small, he can modify implementation of those decisions. Fisher shouts, "But you can overrule her, right Papa?" The guy has to be a boor, Papa thinks. "Only in a clear-cut case. This is no such animal." Fisher tries again with Fang. "Don’t you respect this creature enough to walk into its very own territory and meet it face to face? That’s what makes a good trophy right? Not shooting fish in a barrel.""I have made my decision," says Fang. "It's the right one." Fisher stands abruptly. "Fine," he roars. "Then prepare to reap the whirlwind." He storms out. Everyone else sits stunned for a few moments. Then Fang assumes control of the remainder of the meeting, asking Devereaux for an update on the mass and temperature of the non-degenerate shell of SS Cygni’s primary."Higher than expected, but..." Devereaux begins. Papa’s point of view leaves the meeting chamber, deciding that his consciousness ought to follow the disgruntled exobiologist, lest he do something annoying. Fisher does nothing annoying. He returns to his infernal cabin and proceeds to open some boring simulations. Returning to work, Papa thinks, this is good for him. He allows himself to pop back to watch the end of the meeting.# Fisher started his decoy code and left his cabin disguised, to Papa, as a scavenging fish. Walking in a slow, circuitous manner, spiraling like a dragon around a magnetic field line, so as to not appear too inconsistent with his disguise, he made his way toward the missile hold. Electronically isolated until launch as per safety regulations, like a dragon in a star system two hundred fifty light years from Earth, the missiles had to be reprogrammed on the spot. Once launched into the disk, home of glorious life happily dancing in tune with its own flames, Papa would monitor the communication laser channels carefully and it would be a much harder trick than what he was pulling off now. How could Fang do this thing? She was a cold-blooded killer, a degenerate soldier with a tiny little head as dense as the white dwarf that was SS Cygni’s primary. He should have known right away, her hair so smooth, straight, shiny and short, a helmet...when a friend of the dragon would have long, wild tresses twisting in all directions, serpentine and rolling, plasma charged, shocking static. No matter. When the missiles sank into the disk and vanished, completely unrecoverable, Fang would have no choice but to approach the dragons carefully, with the respect they deserved. Nuclear missiles would safely burn in the disk, making his sabotage more easily hidden. It would still be a dangerous game for him, but if the dragons won he would pay any cost. Fisher arrested his steps. Too eager, too anomalous, and even the unconscious part of Papa would notice this strange fish out of water. Sweep left, eat the dust, sweep right, spiral around the field line. There would be no flash of death, no incinerating wall, for his dragons. Maddeningly slow progress. The meeting could break up at any time and someone could walk by and simply acknowledge him, which would be enough to alert Papa. Who greets a fish crawling along the floor? There would be other clues the longer he took, clues he could do nothing about. The Karamojo was a complex ship, but self-contained and perfectly understood within Papa’s specially designed mind which viewed the ship as its own body. Just as the nanomeds in his own veins monitored his body’s state, so did Papa monitor the ship. He referred to this monitoring as a 'built-in, shock-proof, shit detector.' Fisher's decoy code could mask his presence in terms of sight, sound, smell, but without the same perfect understanding of the integrated ship, his waste heat would boost temperatures, his footsteps would ignite vibrations throughout the diamond structure of the ship that was constantly monitored, and the biomass flux per ship section would fail to balance. His code was good, but not perfect. He made the tube between rings and followed it, ever so slowly, past all the fore rings, toward the tapered rear of the ship. The missiles were kept there, in one of the holds, away from the inhabited portions of the ship. Because of the taper down to the smaller rear bulb, the effective gravity increased as he climbed the slope. Because they had cut the wormdrive and their deceleration to arrive early, they rotated the ship around its central axis so that centrifugal forces now defined "down." Although portions of the ship could twist to accommodate the shift in the gravity vector, the ship rotated as a solid body. The rotation rate was set to provide one Earth gravity for the radius of the fore bulb, but accelerative force was inversely proportional to the radius. The taper made things spin fast, made them heavier. He climbed up the white hill, his body spiraling as he went. One point one gravities, one point two, one point three gravities. A steep climb indeed. How would the extra weight slow a fish? When he had nearly reached two gravities and the end of the tube where it gave way to the access to the dangerous-materials hold ring, he heard steps behind him from the tapering tube he had laboriously climbed. Fisher let his spiraling steps twist, a serpentine neck would be better, to allow himself to see who it might be. A shape, distant, just a diffracted head bobbing upside down. Under magnification, the head was dark-skinned, either Stearn or Devereaux. The cadence suggested Stearn, as did the hard echoes of boots. Devereaux usually went barefoot, or in soft-soled sandals. The tube was nearly three kilometers long, and slightly curved, so he had a chance. He was making little noise, and would not be easily noticeable unless Stearn scanned for him in the next minute, which was what it would take to make the ring. Fisher didn't break his shuffle. He moved, slowly, listening to the steps that were at two or three times the frequency of his own. Discipline Fisher had, and focus, oh yes, focus. He watched the dragon’s languid coils in his mind’s eye, the creature in slow motion due to the physics of its own immense size, so too Fisher in slow motion via a sympathetic magic. Hide in the photosphere, Fisher thought as he reached the corner, spiraled around it, now out of sight even if Stearn magnified his vision. The steps continued, holding their pace. No evidence he’d been spotted. Fisher visited the rear holds sometimes, just as he visited all the ship. He did good work during walks, or his ‘oblivious promenades,’ as Atsuko had called them because of the way he’d walk into things. He could fake his way past Stearn, but Papa would notice the discrepancy of Stearn talking to a fish and unravel his plan at once. This plan Papa wouldn't be forced by privacy rules to keep from Fang. Fisher continued his snaking, faux-dust-eating path, moving around the ring toward the missile hold. The steps grew louder. They needed him, didn’t they? They'd see from his desperation, if he were caught, that they had made a serious mistake. The strength of his convictions would yet sway Fang, he was sure. Better, of course, to present the loss of the missiles as a fait accompli, with no recourse but a respectful approach to the dragon's disk. Yes, that would still be best, and that outcome was still possible. Almost there! If the steps went the other way around the ring, he'd make it. What was the Jack doing back here anyway? Routine checks for Papa? Or could he be headed specifically for the missile hold under special orders? Would Fang think him possible of such sabotage? He didn’t believe so, especially with Papa watching. The door to the hold was before him, and would open for a cleaning fish working on a dirty footprint crossing the threshold. Three meters. Two. Fisher peered at the ivory iris as if it were a deuterium-rich path of accretion disk, food for a fusion-powered dragon. The steps were coming his way around the ring. Damn! It was over. Stearn or Papa would figure out his subterfuge, alert Fang, who would make sure her precious missiles were ship-shape to murder dragons by the millions. Still, no reason to tip over his king before checkmate was truly inevitable. He held to course. The steps were right behind him, ringing off the deck. He was surely in sight now."Hey, Fish," Stearn said as he walked past without breaking stride. The Jack soon vanished ahead around the curve of the ring. Fisher said nothing, but glowed an extra rich, pea-green, the color of a flush in his current body. It was easy to ignore Stearn as a matter of course. It was his normal behavior, and Stearn hadn't paused for any acknowledgment. Could it be possible for Papa to misinterpret ‘Fish?’ Stearn was a screw-ball, and given to such things as talking to cleaning appliances, Fisher was sure...it was still possible to salvage the plan, wasn't it? The dragon entered the hold to face its own death, and avert it. The chamber was vast, holding rows of stacked missiles: sleek, black bullets in racks feeding slotted runways to channel the weapons into launch tubes. Inside the blackness slept fissionables and hydrogen isotopes, cool and currently impotent, destined to splash into the lake of fire that was SS Cygni’s accretion disk. And burn up in their sleep, Fisher promised his brethren. Fisher called to mind his mnemonic, fixed in place chemically with Forget-Me-Not rather than in his biochip where it could incriminate him, and began to manually reprogram the first missile. His hand danced like a programmed woodpecker over the control panel, punching home the new instructions. This missile would not murder a star dragon. And when his task was completed neither would any of the other ninety-nine.# Henderson sank deeply down into the velvety chairbeast, relishing the sensation against his bare skin, sipped from his glass of Merlot, and listened to Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Opposite his chairbeast and along the far side of his biolab squatted his homunculi colony. Inside the diamond enclosure existed an entire self-contained colony of tiny people, a replica of the twenty-third century Charon Station. They lacked complex speech and higher reasoning, of course -- their brains weren't nearly large enough -- but they were nevertheless perfectly proportioned human beings a mere twenty centimeters tall. There were ninety-nine very attractive women and one male, Henderson’s genetic kin. All the women were pregnant with his homunculi. Henderson activated his picture tank, which was slaved to surveillance devices inside the colony. He sipped his wine, eased his seat back further, and watched tiny Henderson cast his shadow into the darkened bedroom of a large-breasted blonde the equivalent of eight months pregnant.... Squinting, he beckoned his deep thoughts hither and meditated upon the purposes of life."Mr. Henderson," Papa’s voice interrupted."What is it?""Mr. Stearn does not talk to fish. Prepare a tranquilizer dart for our exobiologist and hustle up to the missile hold.""A tranquilizer? For Fisher?" What was going on?"Do it now. This is an order from Fang." Henderson sighed, downed his wine, and stood up. "Right." More work, and more than a minor inconvenience having to adjust for Fisher's current biology. The possibility of a major inconvenience loomed depending on how this played out. He would be very upset if this mission went wrong and threatened his long-term plans. He met up with Fang in the tube toward the aft holds. She nodded impatiently as she took the dart gun from Henderson and together they hiked up the tube."What’s happening?" Henderson asked."Fisher," she said. "Stearn talked to a fish, and then Papa noticed it diligently cleaning the dust from all the missiles, in order. Then he noticed a virus in his autonomous perceptive circuits.""Enough said." The Jack waited for them at the ring entrance. "Missile hold," he said."Of course," said Fang. She was so fast through the hold door, she had to step over the irising membranes to avoid tripping. "Fisher," she called. "Your game is up." Six rows down a black bullet reflected green darkly. From that direction issued a strangled cry filled with bile and a touch of rolling thunder, a sound like nothing Henderson had ever before heard. The closest to that cry had been when he’d troubleshooted a problem with a biovat on a fast cruiser to Phaelendra. They had been growing a clever design for a creature, a sort of giant armored frog, intended to ameliorate the problem of the spiny viseroths preying on livestock. Only the growth kept going wrong, a corrupted gene sequence, resulting in something severely asymmetric that would die from heart failure when it croaked forth its deformed pain. Finally the sputtering, rolling cry faded into a low moan, then silence. Henderson swallowed, and glanced at Stearn who stared ahead with wide eyes, stark white flashing against his ebon skin."Come out now, or I’ll have to take you down. I am armed," Fang called, a vein throbbing near her blonde temple. It was an ugly feature in an otherwise handsome face, and if she’d come in for half an hour, Henderson was sure he could fix it. Fang lightly licked her lips while they waited another ten seconds. Shuffling steps, the green glow intensified, and Fisher staggered around the end of a black bullet. His upper lip was lifted into an ugly sneer, as if pulled by an invisible marionette string, and his salmon-colored eyes, normally recessed and glassy, floated like burning coals in the nimbus of green. He thrust forward his arms, hands up, twisted into claws. He leaned toward them and took a strange semi-circular step."You’ll calm down now, Dr. Fisher," Fang said. "If you’re to have any more involvement on this mission, you will cooperate immediately." Tears streamed down Fisher’s cheeks, making the light underneath sparkle. "You’re all murderers!" he shouted, pointing at them now with both hands. Fang lifted the tranquilizer gun. "Will you cooperate, Dr. Fisher?""Of course I will! What choice do I have?" Fang maintained her implacable gaze upon Fisher and said in a quiet tone, "Mr. Stearn, please begin checking the missiles and restore their programming.""Aye aye, Captain.""We can handle things from here, Mr. Henderson. Thank you for your assistance.""You’re welcome." Henderson smiled. His share of a mission bonus would be all the larger now -- surely Fisher would get docked. Perhaps he could afford his own full-sized colony when they returned. Probably not in the solar system, but someplace not so many light years from Earth. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some important experiments back in the lab to monitor." "There she blows! there! there! she blows!" -- Tashtego in Hermann Melville's Moby Dick The view, splashed in floor-ceiling-wall wrap-around throughout the fly bridge, was not disappointing, and Fang could not keep herself from gasping audibly. Planets all had a sameness to their appearance that was grand, but familiar. From rocky planetoids to atmospheric cauldrons, planetary globes were still spherical. You looked out, or down rather, at a surface receding away. The mind chose a natural scale and perceived the same sort of thing, no matter what the true scale; instruments were generally required to know what you were looking at. SS Cygni’s accretion disk was different. It flared out toward larger radii, making a shallow bowl with the opposite curvature to that of planets. The Karamojo now slid into that bowl, ass-end first, the down-sized singularities of the reactivated wormdrive currently matching the vertical component of the white dwarf's pull, some two times Earth gravity at their position nearly ten thousand kilometers above the disk mid-plane. That was still several thousand kilometers above the disk's ill-defined surface. The disk's own gravity was feeble compared to that of the few percent of the tangential primary gravity they experienced maintaining their orbit's altitude above the disk. They would use reaction mass to adjust worm thrust against that pull, riding the high gravity, and maintain a powered halo orbit with a period eighty minutes long above the surface of the disk; they could not survive a freefall orbit which would have to pass through the disk's midplane and the hot, dense plasma there. Two gravities would not be so bad for a few weeks, especially as they'd been adapting their bodies, building muscle, to be ready. Fang herself had noticed that her new stockiness slowed her in the ring, but the extra bulk let her hit harder. When it came time to cage a dragon, they would collapse the singularities and magnetically spin around the disk’s own field to point the Karamojo’s maw and trap toward the targeted beast using its own electromagnetic fields. The bowl was bright white, cut down by the display automatics well enough to discern some hues, from the violet tinge at the center of the bowl where the plasma accreted directly onto the primary surface, to the red of the disk’s outer edge, which was a close temperature match to the secondary type-K dwarf star. The exception to this was the inferno where the accretion stream spilled out of the secondary's gravitational influence and twisted back around to crash into the disk orbiting the white dwarf. That maelstrom, long ago inadequately coined the ‘hot spot,’ shared the core’s violet tinge. Prominences curled up waving like dancing fingers, tracing magnetic field lines, and looped back down into the stately chaos."This," Fang proclaimed, "this is a sea worth sailing." The Karamojo finished matching velocities with the outer edge of the disk -- a mere six hundred kilometers per second. Gas closer to the white dwarf rotated much faster, giving the illusion of a giant fire whirlpool, which was not far from wrong; the white dwarf’s surface was the ‘drain,’ where hydrogen would pile up atop the degenerate matter, waiting until the pressure crept up, and the temperature crept up. Eventually runaway fusion would result in a nova, perhaps a hundred thousand years hence, flash burning the gas into helium and blowing the disk away into interstellar space. The ship had to maintain some distance from the disk’s photosphere -- the self-repairing high-albedo nanoskin could only process energy so quickly, even though it used multiple technologies to shed heat. Too close and the skin would begin to ablate away with a rapidly deteriorating efficiency. A ship as vast as the Karamojo held large mass reserves, but the disk’s fire could char those in an instant without careful attention."Where are the missiles?" Fisher asked Fang. Fang blinked, tearing her gaze and thoughts away from the magnificent vista, brought back to her surroundings by the mutineer, Fisher. Had she really loved him? Being honest with herself, she admitted that she thought she had. And now? She looked at him, at his green face and into his pink eyes -- he wasn’t looking at this incredible place they had traveled so far to reach, but at her, his enemy whom he would not even thank for not throwing him into the brig. This Fisher was a hateful alien, not the man she’d taught to box, the man she’d let inside her sanctum, inside her. Now that he’d been caught, with no other option but to go along with the current plan of attack, he was on their side, right? Still, she would not permit Papa to respond to Fisher except in the most rudimentary ways. She could not help but think of him as a dragon in their midst, a snake in the grass. Here be dragons, she thought, like on the ancient maps. "Papa," Fang said, "Please display missile vectors." Fifty black lines appeared on the disk upstream from the Karamojo. Half their arsenel, a conservative effort. The vectors described a funnel, with each terminating at different points with a time given in red numbers, the pattern designed to drive the star dragons from deeper, hotter locations in the disk toward the rim where the ship waited. The operation would take nearly an hour, with bombs going off at different times and places. Their detonations intended to catch as big a piece of disk as they could, but with a surface area nearly a thousand times that of Earth, that was little more than a tiny fraction of a percent of the total. They would do what they could and hope for the best. Fisher swept his gaze along the vectors. To Devereaux he said, "Have you seen anything?" Of course she hadn’t; she would have said something. Fisher appeared a serene alien full of privileged knowledge, but the question betrayed his anxiety. After being his lover, Fang thought she should be able to read him better -- this moment of lucidity was the exception in recent weeks. Her ability to read him might be essential in the coming days. Devereaux leaned back from her console. "No signal, at least not at the laser wavelengths we saw before. We are on the tail-end of an outburst, which is not a typical time. I’m looking for other lines, but either every dragon is on a different frequency, they’re down deep in the disk, or they’re not here.""Anything else anomalous?" Fisher persisted. "Any sign of anything else that might be alive?""Nothing," said Devereaux. "But we’ll have a better idea when the latest shuttle returns a scoop sample." Fisher turned to Fang, "You will let us analyze the sample before you start bombing the enemy, won’t you, Captain?""For you, Dr. Fisher, of course." She didn't like the sarcasm that the remark implied. It was unprofessional, but it had slipped out. Tough. Perhaps she too was nervous. He didn’t look any happier after her reassurance."This place rules," Stearn said. "I feel like a god." Fang only half-agreed. This was magnificent, being here, but the disk was so unimaginably huge, it was more than a little intimidating. This was infinitely vaster than any planet. The Karamojo might be better christened the Tiny Debris, a piece of cork being sucked into Charbydis. That would make the accretion stream and its hot spot the Scylla -- they would have to watch that each eighty minutes -- the orbital period at their radius near the disk's periphery. But this was her chance, finally, to be a real captain and operate in a unique environment with unique objectives. Henderson cleared his throat. He was frowning as he said, "There’s something we never discussed out loud during our planning sessions.""What’s that?" Fisher asked, an edge in his voice."What if, as Sylvia hypothesized, there are no longer any dragons here?" No one answered. The disk blazed away, full of light and mystery.# Devereaux tapped a query into the cage interface, starting the automatic analyses."What does it say?" Fisher asked practically right in Devereaux’s ear. She jumped, a small amount. "Really, Dr. Fisher, you should have stayed on the bridge. Papa will relay everything there as fast as I know it.""I want to see for myself. That’s why I’m here, after all." So they waited together in the observatory lock area, where there was easy access to the Karamojo’s hollow interior where Stearn and Fisher had built the magnetic cage to house the dragon. Currently it served as the repository for the plasma sample the ramscoop shuttle had returned."I thought you were going to help me," Fisher said."I am helping.""I mean with Fang, stopping this foolish plan of hers. I’m the scientific head of this mission. I should have final say, not that militaristic bitch." Devereaux had been intently watching the spectral analyzer, but she turned to Fisher and said, "You lied to me." He looked back at her blankly for a moment. "Oh, the space wisps. It was expedient. You must understand.""You lied to me. Papa has it all in your public vita. You stopped the destruction of the space wisps, studied them for three years, and concluded they represented interesting chemistry but were not technically alive.""You were bothering me, and I thought I’d get rid of you and gain an ally at the same time. You told me at one point that you hadn't downloaded an exobiology database, after all. It was, as I said, expedient." Devereaux laughed without real mirth, then cut it off abruptly, suddenly very serious. "I thought we had connected. I thought we -- look, you better start treating us like your friends, or at least colleagues. Like people, anyhow, or we’ll find a way to leave you out here with your precious dragons." She didn't really like the way her words sounded like a threat, but she chose not to ameliorate them with additional qualifications."Fine," he answered, "I’ll treat you like people.""Thank you. That's a start." She kept her tone flat, fighting back the sarcasm that wanted to seep in. The machine beeped. Devereaux studied the results. "Nothing but hydrogen, helium, and metals. Abundances within predicted uncertainties. Nothing unexpected." Not like life at all, she thought, which always showed something unexpected."You’re sure?" Devereaux shrugged and pointed at the numbers. "That’s as clear as it gets.""Damn. Where's everything hiding?""Thought you’d see something? Little bits of dragon food floating around?" she kidded."Not really, but I’d hoped for something to convince Fang to change her mind. This worries me, no food chain or transitional forms. Maybe the dragon in the film was a mechanical probe? Or maybe this is a stocked pond. We could be poaching here, but without some positive evidence of something...You don’t suppose we could...No, I guess not." At least he was still human enough to read her scowl."That bitch is going to murder a lot of dragons," he said. Devereaux pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything, but she silently appended, if they are really still here. If they were ever here.# Fang's stomach churned as the first missile plowed into the disk. It would be a minute before the missile exploded at the mid-plane and its effects would become evident at the surface."I maintain that you’ve overestimated how fast a star dragon can move," Fisher said, continuing with his litany of objections that had been streaming forth since he’d returned to the bridge sans evidence for life in the disk. No star plankton or star rabbits to worry about, which suited Fang fine."My estimates are based on your models, Dr. Fisher. Are they wrong?" she challenged."Of course they are! That snippet of data from the probe told us almost nothing. If my models were perfect, we’d be able to build a dragon ourselves and skip this trip." Fang shrugged."The disk environment must be as varied to its inhabitants as those of terrestrial life forms. Parts of Earth's oceans are oxygen-poor and lifeless. We could be fishing in the equivalent of a desert. We did that with the first Jupiter probe." When Fang refused to engage him, Fisher tacked. "Look, I thought we agreed that the lack of a supporting ecosystem would be evidence for intelligent creation. Someone goes to all the trouble of making these star dragons, then we come along and start blowing them up. That someone is going to be mad, don’t you think?""Then let them show up and tell us. That’d be a mission to be on, but I doubt that’s going to happen." She really didn't worry about an abstract boogie man too much. Give her something tangible to tilt with. An empty disk was no cause for alarm. "What’s done is done, Dr. Fisher. The missiles are exploding as we speak. I suggest you sit back and enjoy the show." Fisher blazed green and thankfully said nothing."There," Stearn said, almost launching himself as he stood to point at the black vectors. "There she blows!""Magnify," said Fisher, whipping around."Magnify," repeated Fang, so that Papa would do as requested. There was the sensation of movement at great velocity as the entire bowl of fire warped through the bridge, making the barely perceptible shadows shift and grow like hidden secrets worried about too much -- except for Fisher, whose glow helped wipe out shadows, making his secrets somehow seem even more hidden. Before them the disk blossomed into a spreading ring containing alabaster flame at millions of degrees Kelvin. The shockwave plowed through the surrounding cooler plasma, heating, engulfing, roaring. The disk burned into purity, erasing all the details of its former motion. The central region of the explosion erupted like a spouting volcano, lifting many kilometers of gas above the bowled surface. The differential orbital accelerations were already shredding the perfect circle of destruction into a twisted, splayed half-spiral, just as their three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation had predicted."Now that," Fang said, "is a beater.""Are we really safe from that?" Henderson asked, hands clasped tightly in his lap. Papa answered, "Yes, mostly by keeping our distance. Our incident flux is well within tolerances.""It’s beautiful," Devereaux said, her voice barely audible. "If anyone is watching closely, it's going to give them some strange spectra to decipher.""It’s the most disgusting thing I ever saw," Fisher said. Everyone ignored Fisher and watched the developing explosion. With any luck, the dragons had registered the photon and particle burst with their specialized senses -- whatever they were -- and would be fleeing the shockwave. Over the next few hours, the other missiles would explode, channeling the dragons right to the Karamojo. With any luck. Fang licked her lips. A few minutes later Stearn jumped again, pointing. "Number two!" And they all watched again, dumbfounded, at the destructive power of mankind’s technology. In the face of the natural splendor of SS Cygni and its accretion disk these explosions were only magnified in their brilliance. This was an awesome experience to preside over. The oddest thing was watching all this raw energy with the counter-point of excruciating silence. Maybe they should have some music, something ancient and elemental. Maybe Pradhan's Cosmic Continuum, or Stravinsky’s Firebird, something. Maybe she should let Henderson select something -- he knew classical music. But that thought faded quickly as she became lost again in the view, the silence somehow majestically fitting after all. No music could match this, no sound, that incidental effect of air molecules crashing together. What was that compared to the raw energy dancing in this amphitheater of fire?"You’re killing them," muttered Fisher, voice cracking, breaking that silence. Fang shouted, "If this is so painful, why don’t you just leave the bridge?""I want to be here to count the bodies.""Sylvia," Fang asked in a conversational tone, "Do you see any bodies yet?""Uh, right. I'll check." Devereaux bent to her console and started whispering instructions to Papa."Number three!" Stearn kept an enthusiastic count through the first dozen, but Fang amazed herself by becoming bored. Maybe she could fit into jaded Earth culture better than she thought. It was a spectacle, but not interactive. The missiles reached their objectives and exploded. There wasn't anything to do but watch. She needed to find the thread of nervous tension she’d held in her stomach at the start of this endeavor. The dragons would come, just as the lion had. When you look nature in the eye and pull the trigger, you are alive. They were now pulling the trigger. That was what she was in this for, being alive and vital, being involved in the universe. These explosions were preliminary to the real action likely to come soon."I might have something," Devereaux announced, looking up for the first time in the past half hour. Fisher beat Fang to Devereaux’s console. "What is it?" he asked."Understand," Devereaux began, "The background is quite high and the laws of physics are the same here as they are on Earth. Noise goes as the square root of the counts, so until they're well resolved real signals are easily swamped in the background of an environment like this.""What is it?" Fang asked, disliking repeating Fisher again, but she was starting to get the scent of her quarry and didn't care to hear all of Devereaux's qualifiers. This was one lion that she wanted to be sure to see before it was on top of her."Here," said Devereaux, pointing to a spike in a spectrum she had displayed. It was a little higher than some other spikes, but didn't appear special in any way. "I’ve been running a filter looking for blueshifting emission lines correlated with missile explosions. Taking the distribution of data over several explosions, and running another cross-correlation in the frequency domain, then shifting and stacking, I was able to pick out this. Run it in the time domain, Papa." A graph popped up, intensity versus velocity, showing one sharp line against a jagged continuous signal. As they watched, the line intensified and moved toward negative velocities -- blueshifts -- toward the Karamojo. At kilometers per second."That’s it for sure," said Fisher, beaming green light onto the rim of the console’s picture tank."You’re always sure, aren’t you, Fisher," Fang said."I’m only ever as sure as you are, Captain." Ignoring them both, Devereaux went on, "I ought to be able to estimate the dragon density from this, if that’s them. Add some finer spatial filtering. The velocities seem really high though. I still have a lot of guesswork to give you a number. It’ll take me a little time. We might just be better off with empirical calibration when the final array of explosions drive them out of the disk." Enough qualifications! This was a hunt, not a science project. "As long as we get just one," Fang said, "This mission will be a success.""The operation was a success, but the patient died," quipped Fisher."How’s that?" Fang asked, knowing better, but settling into a bit of their old repartee."Old medical saying, pre-nanotech. It means you’re too focused on succeeding with your little task to worry about the big picture.""Oh will you please just shut up for once?" She managed to keep her voice even and face impassive. She was not sure how."Fine," he answered, that tone of smug righteousness grating in her ear. Fang said, "Find out what you can, Sylvia," and stalked back to her fighting chair to watch the bomb bursts continue. She had to get in the right mind frame...the lion is out there, hiding in the grass. She rubbed her damp palms against the hide of her chairbeast, puta-pop-pop-pop, as her skin stuck and slid and stuck and slid on the leathery surface. She bent her head slightly down and inhaled deeply, catching her own not unpleasant scent. She smiled, slightly, and began a series of isometric exercises. She would be ready when the time came. She was about to discover what it truly meant to be Captain. She could hardly wait. When the series of programmed explosions was nearly finished and the dragons had to arrive soon, very soon, Fang asked, "Any progress, Sylvia?" Without looking up, Fisher managed to cut off Devereaux and answered, "It’s really a snake in the grass. The signals vary in a most interesting manner, which I think might be camouflage against the disk. Why they should be hiding, I don’t know, but it certainly seems that way. I speculate that there’s a electrically transparent shell tuned to their -- ""There she blows!" shouted Stearn, thankfully ending the lecture early. "I mean it this time!" Fang followed Stearn’s pointing, but saw nothing right away that made sense. The explosion was spectacular, more so than the others as it was closer, but there was something different, a strange swirling rainbow riding the edge of the shockwave. "Papa?""Working on it, daughter," came the reassuring older voice."Is this it?" Fang asked."Yes!" Fisher’s turn to shout. Papa said, "Individual entities now visible, approaching at high velocity. Three thousand kilometers and closing.""Match velocities and spin this ship into capture position!" Fang shrieked, suddenly standing."Collapsing singularities, boosting.""Captain! Look at it, Captain!" Stearn, shouting."Oh my goodness." Said Sylvia."That can’t be right." Henderson said."Yes!" shouted Fisher again, pumping his fists as the gravity first faded, then dumped him unceremoniously on his butt as the rail drive came on-line. Fang's own butt suddenly smashed into her groaning chairbeast as she gawked at something she hadn't imagined. So many, so fast..."Visual tracking on herd forerunners," announced Papa. "More than ten thousand head." No stately lion pride, but a great fucking snake nest. All over the walls, the ceiling the floor, flying toward the Karamojo. She couldn’t focus on any one of them at first. It was all a twisted prismatic mess of wheels and coils and fire and lightning. She thought of the bucket of worms her grandfather had kept on the junk, that bucket her cousin had once turned over her head, now blazing over her and no one to punch out this time but herself. Fisher staggered up, arms outstretched, laughing. "My dragons!" Fang blinked, shaking away the feeling of sinking into the swarm -- a better term than herd -- and pushed away her concerns and attempted to study the lead dragons. Coils of different colors, but always blazing white at their core, hypnotizing. She blinked again to break the spell. That pulsing scarlet one, there, she concentrated...a spiral coil flashing with arcs of lightning, brilliant even against the fire it wrapped around, corkscrewing toward them. Some kind of thrust? Current in the coils, fusion in the core?"They’re rockets!" Fisher shouted."How big? How soon?" Fang asked. Scales popped up, and a clock with digits running down from sixty-two. "I measure lengths ranging from five hundred meters to ten kilometers, relative velocities coming down to under ten thousand kilometers per hour. Calculating electromagnetic fields.""Get us in position! Charge the cage!" Fang ordered. Papa maintained the dragon’s size on the displays, but let the details sharpen as the distance closed and their imaging resolution improved. Filters began to enhance contrast. Textures materialized in the solid monochromatic colors, an intertwined fibrous texture infinitely structured. The bodies resembled less and less indistinct coiled tubes and more and more pieces of something alive with sections and varying shape and distinct features. They had heads. Deep in her gut, that surprised Fang. She had known abstractly that the lump on one end of the star dragon in the Prospector video was probably a head, but the resolution had been too poor to show fine detail. Certainly they would have an intake for their fuel, food, whatever, and certainly they would have sensory organs to navigate through their environment. Worse, they had eyes. Great multi-faceted multi-hued domes adorned the head, three each, one hundred twenty degrees separating them, twisting independently, but somehow each seemingly focused on her, with the emotionless reptilian feel of chameleon eyes. The rest of the creature faded from her awareness except for those flashing, rotating eyes around the core of fire.... And she flashed back.... Trailing salty white foam, the leviathan’s stalked eyes broke the water. Perched atop the creature’s ocean-supported bulk, Lena had never thought their appearance threatening when she had seen them in a picture tank. Like the shark, the smaller Earth predator that the instructive module had compared the leviathan to, the predators shared doll eyes, round and dull and dead -- eyes for an eating machine that did what it did without passion, but with efficiency. The leviathan’s eyes to Lena held an ineffable quality, some sort of alien wisdom. Her grandfather tread the water placidly with the sure movements of his morning Tai Chi, knowing what approached, knowing that he could not reach the junk quickly enough, and knowing if he tried the junk might well capsize and send her into the water with him. Into the water with those eyes and the creature they belonged to."Come in to the water, Lena," the hungry mind behind the eyes seemed to say. "I will eat you...if not today, then someday. I am patient. I am inexorable." For the first time in decades, in her mind’s eye, she watched the way her grandfather took one last breath and instinctively brought his splayed hands out of the water to protect his head as the gaping maw surrounded his thin body, the way the water drained through the jaws triple-slotted lips that rose a full three meters above the waterline, the way that water sounded dripping and splashing, and the sour smell of fear that came not from her grandfather but from her own young body. A full three minutes after the water had smoothed to its customary shallow chop driven by that day’s slight breeze, Lena sank to her knees to crawl the three meters across the hand-polished deck to the radio to call for help. To her Earth-evolved perception, the dragon eyes more resembled inorganic machinery than anything living. This horde’s visionary machinery catalogued the strange, cool, white apparition before them. No hate there, not like the lion’s, no passion. This was an implacable enemy -- an army of enemies -- preparing to stampede over anything in their flight."You have come into the fire, Lena," the eternal mind behind the eyes told her. "Today we will swallow you. We are inexorable. We are here. Today." Fang bit her bottom lip, hard, to keep a moan from escaping her. Her chest tightened, and her collar felt like hands around her throat. An analytic, detached part of her mind noted that those things we experience as children mark us forever no matter how long we live, how much we learn, part of our hearts never grow up. She had thought of this event recently, had tried to bring it up with Sam, because she had something to work out that the star dragon had resuscitated. The analytic part of her mind didn't have complete control, but it drove a wedge into her locked mind and expanded her world to contain more than eyes. Fisher stood before her, his lips moving. What was he saying? She could not understand, and shifted her gaze from his green lips to his pink eyes. Not lifeless, but blazing... She would not tolerate inaction from herself. The dragons were all about her, their eyes huge, their approach fixed and unwavering. What was the magnification? How long until they reached the Karamojo? Fang glanced at the figures and was dismayed. They were close! The fields were charged, the orientation was good. "That one, Papa!" she yelled, pointing an approaching dragon with a promising trajectory. "Cage that one!" The Karamojo lurched, maneuvering thrusts pushing them into position. The bubble housing the bridge moved to compensate for the rotations, but the normal forces were still mighty. The dragon twisted, coils splitting to squirt nuclear fire."Match it!" screamed Fang. A giant hand smashed against her. Her fighting chair ballooned to cushion the shifts. She struggled to keep her head where she could see the action. These high velocities were amazing, a dogfight with an alien. It could not go on more than a few seconds. "Take it in! Be ready for -- ""Field derivatives are too high," Papa interrupted. "Taking evasive action.""Don't you dare!" Fang counter ordered. "Hold the line!""Sorry, daughter." There was a flare as the dragon's rocket exploded across their maw, jerking the creature out of its path. The Karamojo rocked, creating a slalom run in Fang's stomach. Lights flickered, flashed. She heard the crackling of arcing somewhere on the bridge and smelled ozone. The world shifted as the dragons blazed by the bridge and the deck rolled. The short hairs on the back of her neck tingled. She pitched forward, sliding from the arms of her chair into Fisher's couch. She clawed her way up his slick jumpsuit. He smelled of something burned. The dragons continued to flash by, some huge in their proximity. The ship continued to rock. What had gone wrong? Had Papa really taken control from her? "Papa?" Fang called, disgusted at the whine in her voice. The lighting, mostly coming from the surrounding external displays, changed tints as the ship rocked again and again. Lightning sparkled and strobed all around. All this with silence from the dragons. Papa groaned, a deep resonant tone, which cut off after less than a second. A voice that superficially sounded like Papa, but was somehow lacking, said, "The Karamojo has experienced extensive system failures. Taking inventory and troubleshooting.""Papa!" Fang shouted. Taken control from her? It was smoky, hard to breathe. Someone -- Henderson -- clamped something around her bicep. It pinched her painfully. She pushed to her knees against the hands on her arm and shoulders. One final dragon brushed past, a ghost vanishing into the sky. The gravity increased with a teeth-rattling vibration, and abruptly ceased. She tumbled up, out, away from the deck, tangled with Henderson. "What’s happening Papa?" The calm and somehow lifeless Papa voice said, "Drive systems damaged. Hull integrity compromised. Two rings breached, now sealed, six..." The list went on, rapid-fire, for nearly thirty seconds. How could this happen? She said to Henderson, "What did you do to me?" He kept his eyes down on the autodoc on her arm and blue veins stood out in his neck. "Minor anxiety attack. You over-rode your own systems. I’m medicating now.""Anxiety attack!" Fisher’s angry voice, behind her, somewhere. His voice faded and she heard Devereaux whispering."Minor," said Henderson, "but requiring attention." Fang closed her eyes, hoping Fisher would continue. She had failed. She deserved every word."Daughter?" Papa’s true voice sliced into her consciousness. "Help me." Yes, their ship, her ship, the Karamojo, Papa, needed her. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Whether it was the drugs or something else, it didn't matter. She was the captain again in her heart, and there was work to be done. There was no one else to do it and he'd have to get by one such as herself. "I’m here, Papa. We’ll fix you.""We’d better do it fast," Stearn said. "We're falling into the disk." Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve. -- Henry David Thoreau Everywhere there are walls: walls of riveted steel plates, walls of red bricks, walls of frosty white ice, walls of barbed wire. Tricks of his shattered mind, designed to ground Papa's point of focus with a solid challenge, meant to be more reassuring than the loss of an eye or paralysis of a hand might be to a corporeal human. Papa races throughout himself, around a ring and into a wall of static, down a power conduit leading to the Higgs generators and into a mirrored wall, and, the scariest, into a data processing bank and into another wall, this one of stone covered with thick ivy smelling of honeysuckle. Like a human mind he is patterned upon, he can accept the loss of a replaceable body part, but his processing banks...therein rests the connections to his identity. Throughout the ship, his body, himself, he moans. The moans echo into parts of himself he cannot reach. His human personality, faced with the despairing prospect of brain damage and perhaps senility and impairment, would finish the job and make certain to destroy his ego totally. A gun, a shotgun shell, a brain. As a constructed intelligence, such a thing is impossible, and he fears a subtle madness not prevented by his cerebral architecture that will result in a debilitating feedback loop. He craves action. He craves repair...or oblivion. He craves wholeness of one kind or another. His automatics are already at work; and there is little his personality can help with. Like reflexes, his automatics have their own independent error-checked data caches acting as ganglia to provide immediate and accurate information. Accessing these caches himself would be frustratingly slow. He must focus his self-awareness on its designated interface: the human crew. He flies, and finds the Jack still on the bridge, floating in freefall. His brow knit in concentration, indicator lights reflecting from the sweaty skin of his cheeks and forehead, the end of his pink tongue slipping from his parted lips, as he reads the diagnostics panel on a piece of equipment that Papa cannot recognize. "You’re a good boy," Papa tells the Jack. The Jack’s eyes flick up. "Papa? How you doing, old man?""We're as strong as an ox," Papa boasts, something he has said many times to indicate a robust state, but his programming forces him to qualify his statement. "The parts we can feel. We're sure you’ll have everything fixed up in no time, won’t you?" The Jack grins, teeth flashing like diamonds in the coal of his face. "We had better." His eyes flick back to the panel as he taps a keypad on a hand-held troubleshooting unit spliced into the ailing equipment. They should have been sufficiently shielded from induced currents, but no Faraday cage is perfect. Could it really have been that large a flux? A random impact with a dragon's field should not have resulted in this -- but they had not forseen rocketing and that must surely have a different field arrangement. "What are you doing?" Papa asks. He realizes his mistake as the Jack’s grin twists into a frown. It’s bad then, what’s got him. Perhaps revealing the fullness of his ignorance would aid the young man in his repairs, but his personality isn't bound to such an embarrassment. Perhaps the level of his ignorance would frighten the Jack, make him make a mistake. Let him question the automatics, if he would. Papa flees. The mind, the mind, he thinks. Cogito ergo sum. My personality, me, is whole. Isn't it? We are separated from my body and senses. The Jack works on the body and the links to the body. The biotech, Henderson, he will be working on the organic minds that process sensory input, that contain memory and kinesthetic knowledge. Papa’s perspective rattles around the ring, bouncing off a wall and taking a circuitous route to the biolab, which abuts the brain banks."Mr. Henderson," Papa shouts. "How are we doing?" Henderson has half his body behind a panel floating on a chain in the microgravity, but the muscle pattern of a full body startle reflex is evident. The lights in the biolab are low, a terrarium empty, and everything silent save for the whooshing of Papa’s breath through the still-operational atmospheric scrubbers. Nevertheless, the biotech says something that Papa cannot make out. Papa replays the sounds through a set of filters and identifying algorithms. The biotech had said, "Piles of poop, hold it together, Axel. It’s just the local ghost.""We heard that," Papa says, dismayed at how much it comes out sounding like a child’s triumphant discovery. A regression to the scatological is unexpected from Henderson's polished public side, so perhaps things are very bad. Maybe he should --"Fine," Henderson says. "You can crawl in here with me and give me some help." Papa would very much prefer a stiff drink, a double, with effects he could simulate, but he shifts his focus forward. For a moment he is gripped by the powerful sensation that he is falling, that he is a ghost, and will fall through the ship itself into the hell that crackles beyond. A human thought -- he believes. A good sign. Then his perspective is beside Henderson, seeing what Henderson is seeing, and little more. The high-energy bands are inaccessible -- something has burned those eyes out -- while the mid-infrared bands show little but Henderson’s reflected heat. At visible wavelengths, he sees something that he cannot comprehend, and for a moment is caught in deja vu to when he could not assist the Jack mere moments earlier. But it isn't that he lacks the information to identify what he sees. It is that his personality maintains the ability to deny what he sees. The black carbon residue of burned organics tells him that induced currents have cooked this part of his brain."What do you make of this?" asks Henderson. "Have the stem cells germinated properly? Are getting their full dose of accelerant?""We -- " Papa begins, unable to go on. There is pink growth along the nerve channels connecting the parallel bins, and the stem cells are dividing according to spec, fed with a rich nutrient bath provided by the adjacent lab’s biomass reserve. Still -- he does not need to watch anyone poking around in his necrotic flesh. He flees, leaving the expert systems to provide information to the biotech. Bewildered, Papa spins into the observatory bay where Fisher and Devereaux are fitting mobiles with specialized tools for...for...for something. His mind, gone!"Did you see what I saw?" Fisher asks Devereaux, eyes unblinking as his hands move automatically along the tool fitting flush against a mobile’s wrist. "Rockets! The dragons transformed their bodies into fusion rockets to keep ahead of the shockwave. They’re not just photovores, and they don’t just coast along the magnetic field lines. This is simply amazing. You saw it, right?""Right, but -- ""This is unique. I don’t know what it all means yet, but it means something. How do you think such a thing could evolve? Oh, this is remarkable," Fisher says, still unblinking."What are you two doing?" Papa asks. He only wants information, but this request comes out gruff, accusatory. Devereaux jumps sending her into a slight spin, but Fisher neither blinks nor ceases his finger dance across the mobile fittings."The rail is out of commission, and probably the Higgs generators, too. The automatic systems are not responding, so we’re sending mobiles to effect repairs." Devereaux removes an aluminum canister from a storage locker and begins to spray a white coating onto the mobiles’ wrinkled gray skin. What is that for? Protection from the disk’s radiation? Must be. Such an odd assortment of information his personality has lost access to...certainly he will recover it soon. Certainly."That’s good," says Papa after a moment watching the pair work."Papa, pull up my latest dragon model and give me a projection on the hull over here," Fisher requests. "I’ve got a lot of modifications to make." That he can do, although it is irritating to have full access to Fisher’s files and yet be cut off from so much of himself. He links the local display to the model in Fisher’s subnode. "Here it is, Dr. Fisher. Can I do anything else to assist you?" Devereaux pauses midstream of her oral programming of the remote and tilts her chin in a way Papa has identified with mild surprise at an inconsistent piece of data. Did he say something out of character? Is his mind that gone? He studies Fisher, but the exobiologist does and says nothing, already focused on the serpentine model form tangled in a mess of field vectors. Devereaux spares a glance and sighs at Fisher, who has stopped his mobile preparation, before resuming her instructions, which makes Papa think instead of react. Fisher should be working on the mobile, working to repair the Karamojo. Why didn’t he realize that? Fisher should not be playing with his models now. There is work to be done. Papa freezes Fisher's model mid-twist. "We're falling into the disk. Get to the job at hand and save the toys for later.""Hey! This is a monkey job," Fisher says patting the mobile on its shoulder. "I should be updating my model, redesigning our dragon cage, that sort of thing. Not simple repairs.""Shut up and get back to work," Devereaux says. "Survival comes first. We're falling into the disk. It'll kill us fast.""The nanoskin is working to spec. The radiation pressure is slowing us, as is the particle flux of the disk wind. And there are chemical rockets for emergencies.""The radiation, the wind, in this gravity they'll only add seconds. That's all. And the rockets won't give us much more than minutes." Papa knows she's right."This is stupid that we’re in this situation at all," Fisher says, rubbing his neck with the palm of one hand. "Fang screwed up. We should be on our way home by now." Papa thinks, putting some of his available discretionary computation processors on synthesizing the new dragon data with Fisher’s model and their cage. "We weren't ready to capture a dragon, given what we now know. There was little Captain Fang could have done.""She could have cleared us out of the way!" Fisher is shaking his fists with his words, making his entire body move in counterpoint in the microgravity of the near free fall. Their efforts are not slowing their fall much. "She could have approached slowly, carefully, and not driven tens of thousands of dragons down our throat!""Get to work," growls Devereaux. Fisher pulls his fists back to his body, turns away from his model, and resumes his checks of the mobile tools. "Ship’s status, Papa." Papa reaches for those data, but finds over half the sockets empty. Wasn't it all just there? From his manufactured memories of having a human body, the ones he still has access to, he thinks it is like having a tooth pulled and temporarily forgetting about the bloody hole. He had started to feel useful. Rather than confess his ignorance, he activates an expert system to answer and scurries away. He is tiring of running away. Then he is in Fang's dim cabin. No exterior waves, no music. The sole light source comes from the desk surface, over which a human silhouette floats. Stuffed animals also populate the room, casting eerie shadows as they mill about in a semblance of Brownian motion. "Captain Fang?" Temperature ripples across her face, first hot, then cold. "Not daughter?""Of course, daughter," he says, wondering about his slip. His confusion is profound. He can show it to her and her alone. "What are you doing?""What do you think, Papa? I'm trying to save us. Why aren't you helping me?" Her face flares with heat, her own dwarf nova. The infrared is working here at least. Now he looks for the first time at the workspace on the desk: the picture tank has become a diorama showing their dilemma in miniature. The Karamojo falls ever closer to the swirling accretion disk. In seconds the ship is swallowed in fire. It does not come out the other side."The time compression isn't large," he notes. They have minutes, not hours. They are Icarus, flown too close to the sun, doomed to sink into the sea. No slow orbital decay, no time for repairs. "What shall we do?" Fang answers, distantly, as much to herself as to him it seems. "Wormdrive is unavailable. The ship's nanoskin is already reflecting all it can. We have reaction mass, but no raildrive to launch it. That leaves the back-up chemicals, but the rockets' delta vee is too small to lift us away from the disk for long. I'm saving them right now, but will have to fire them in a few minutes." Papa feels shame flood through himself. She better knows their state than does he. "What of adding to our current velocity? What of punching through the disk fast?" He is cut off from his own mind and cannot evaluate the idea as accurately as the model the captain is running."I thought of that," she says. We'd be through the disk in a few minutes, but still too long. The density is too high for our skin. Too much drag, too much heating. Wait." She taps in a few changes and subvocalizes other commands. The miniature Karamojo returns to a point above the disk, a fraction closer than at the start of the last scene Papa saw in the diorama. This time the ship jerks, its ass pulled forward as if by a string, and then starts edging toward the perimeter of the disk."Yes," says Papa. "We can add to our orbital component, push the apogee outside the outer disk. That would give us more time." Even as he says this, the problem with this new plan appears. The miniature Karamojo misses the flared disk edge, skimming through the diffuse atmosphere, and plows into the accretion stream from the secondary star. Once again, the ship does not emerge."Bad timing on this orbit," she evaluates coldly. There must be something they can do. It does not seem the time to die well. They have barely begun here. It brings up another false memory of being a human on Earth, camping in the woods. Papa remembers bending over to pick up a stone to skip across the river and noticing a group of tadpoles in the shallow water. A fish slid up and took one of the tadpoles, and was gone with the flip of a tail and gulp of a mouth. The prey moved from egg to tadpole to lunch in mere days. What was the purpose in that?"Skipping stones across the river," he says aloud, making his intended metaphor live. Too obvious and trite for his namesake, but the best he can do under the circumstances."What do you mean?" says Fang, staring at the perpetually dying starship. Maybe he does mean something. He has a subconscious, designed to aid him with non-linear problem solving. Maybe it has. "Use the rockets to slow our orbit." Fang considers this. "Oh, I see! Perhaps..." The miniature Karamojo is jerked backwards this time, as if catching on a snag in a stream. The orbital energy reduced, the ship moves inward toward the hotter and denser regions of the disk. But the disk is also flared, and these inward regions are thinner and their surfaces at a lower altitude, giving them more time to fall. More importantly, these inward regions obey the laws of Newton and Kepler, and orbit the white dwarf more rapidly. The six hundred kilometer per second velocity at the edge of the disk means nothing to them, for the ship matches it. Falling at the outer edge is like falling into a placid pool. Now, as the miniature ship moves in to smaller radii, the velocity differential grows. This time, when the tiny ship hits the disk, rounded rings down, it hits a fast-moving stream and does not sink. It bounces. The orbit decays a bit more with the energy lost, their apogee not quite so close to the disk edge. The conditions are harsher, hotter, and more difficult for the nanoskin to resist. The ship bounces again on the second impact after it again falls parabolically to the surface of the lake of fire. And on the third. Just before the fourth bounce, when their orbit has decayed and brought them a third of the way inwards toward the white dwarf, the tiny Karamojo gives up the ghost, evaporating in short order as the hull blackens and burns."Damn," says Fang. "That's a good trick. Gives us nearly an hour to get things fixed. What's the impulse, I wonder." Papa patches into her model as some of his network comes back on-line, like some idea on the tip of his tongue suddenly coming to him. He calculates the number. "Low. Under twenty gees.""We can take it," says Fang. "We'll have to." They spend a few precious moments more optimizing their burns, and then Fang sends Papa out to alert the crew. He is happy to have this task to occupy his noisy thoughts. He can focus on it when he runs into the mucking walls.# Stearn tried to catch his breath while he waited in the embrace of the couchbeast. He had rushed to secure his tools and the damaged equipment, filling his stikfast palettes, and kicked to secure himself. He had thought he had worked to the last second before the bounce, but here he was, waiting. What was it already? Five seconds? Ten? He had the bridge displays back on-line. The area around the immediate deck blazed with charged plasma, and the ceiling displayed a violet sky. He checked his eyeclock again. Only six seconds had passed. "Shit," he said, grinning. Then he felt a tug, a slight one, far less than a gravity. Was that it? Papa had spooked him into thinking it would be worse. Was the ship's brain still seriously malfunctioning? Then the hand of god himself smashed into Stearn, pressing him into the hugging beast. His cheeks and chest flattened, and his breath whooshed from him. His wrist ached suddenly, and it was all he could do to twist it into more comfortable position. The fire rose with them, briefly, then fell away. Stearn was a piece of shrapnel riding the shockwave of an explosion. He was a human cannonball. He was a Sirian photovore in its birth launch. God eased up on him, and Stearn floated from the couchbeast. The poor thing was stinking sweaty and moaning quietly. Bruises splotched its hide. Stearn's wrist ached, and his lower back as well."That was fun," he said, listening to the distant, insulated pops of the cooling hull. "Can't wait to do it again!"# Henderson gasped for air after the third bounce and pushed off from his chairbeast, grateful for the microgravity. He would have been shaking in any kind of gravity. He knew he stank of nervous sweat and didn't care. While this last bounce hadn't been as bad as the first two, he knew that it was the last one. Papa had promised. He laughed, a little, that they had made it. He stopped abruptly, disgusted at the uneven timber of the sound. It wasn't over yet. Devereaux's voice piped into the biolab. "Need you down here Henderson, inner staging area, now." He grimaced and kicked off into the ring. An acrid, sharp scent assaulted Henderson when he arrived. He instantly took in the scene: Devereaux floated with two twitching, burnt and bleeding mobiles. "Did they finish?" Devereaux looked upset with him. He didn't know why. "Yeah, they finished. The Karamojo is fixed." Henderson let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and his fingers tingled. It was going to be fine then. "Why did you summon me? These mobiles are hopeless. Best thing now is to redirect extra fish in here to clean up." Cocked forty-five degrees from his orientation to better examine the pair of mobiles returned from their repair mission, Devereaux rolled her eyes at Henderson. "But they looked fine up until a few minutes ago. They finished the lion’s share of repairs wonderfully, and we don’t have back-ups of these. They’re the back-ups for the automatic systems. Until we grow more, the only remaining back-ups are us." Crisis had stirred his blood, and Henderson couldn’t help himself from noticing the way the sweat made Devereaux’s grimy T-shirt stick to her curves. He thought of giving her a congratulatory kiss. "Everything you say is true, but they must have taken a huge radiation dose. You don't see that right away although it devastates a body.""What if we have to go out?" she asked. He shrugged. It would never come to that. "I have some pharmaceuticals I can give us, but I suggest staying behind the nanoskin, our mass, and the e-m fields." A tinkling shudder vibrated through the ship, and gradually Henderson began to fall. The ruglings flattened as his snakeskin boots touched the deck, cushioning the slow fall. He could feel the gravity continue to increase. "You're right. We’ve got the rail drive restored," he said as nonchalantly as he could."Yee-uck," Devereaux said. She had landed chest first on one of the mobiles. The thing groped weakly at her, red blood seeping from swollen, broken hide and staining the charred patches of reflection skin that hadn't yet sloughed off. Normally Henderson would have laughed, but not today. He stepped to her, carefully in the light gravity, and lifted a wincing Devereaux out of the mess by her T-shirt. The mobile hemorrhaged over its entire body, shook, and died. The other would die momentarily, its short useful life complete."Put me down," Devereaux said. Henderson swung around like a crane and deposited Devereaux beside him."Papa should have warned us," she said as she flipped bits of mobile off her shirt. "You said you had him operational again.""Hardly." Henderson watched her fingers touching her shirt. He hoped she would take it off. "I said that the regrowth operation was underway, and that there was nothing else I could do.""Whatever." Henderson shuffled over to the viewport and scanned the hydroponics. He saw only blackened diamond over the gardens where no doubt the light-filtering mechanisms had burned out. Not good. If the plants had been zapped, dinner would be nothing but recycled fish sticks for the next few days, and the nutrient reserves needed to regrow the gardens would tax their short-term resources."You there, Papa?" Devereaux asked."Of course we are," Papa said."Well then," she said, giving up on the shirt and stripping it off over her head, "What’s next on the repair list?" She was fine looking, but he realized the moment for a congratulatory kiss had passed, and a look was all he would get. It wasn't fair that he'd lost his colony to the crisis."All critical systems are now repaired or are being repaired by automatic systems. Captain Fang recommends that everyone take a couple hours off." Devereaux turned to Henderson. She held the shirt away from her body. "Want to grab a bite in the galley? I’m famished." Stearn was a lucky man. Henderson would console himself with his own fantasies, which were, he admitted now that the emergency was over, more perfect than the flesh before him. Devereaux projected an earthy physical quality that was more than attractive, but she didn't take the time to keep her form perfect, the way he preferred. He was noticing tiny flaws as the seconds passed. And besides, in an infinite universe how could one woman be enough? "No thanks." He thought of a little white lie, "I’m not hungry after seeing mobiles disintegrate.""I work hard, I get hungry." She cracked a smile. "And after an ordeal like this, well, I usually like some company, but Stearn will have a million things to do and I bet the captain isn't letting him have more than a few minutes off. You sure you’re not hungry?" She kept her smile, although it showed signs of wavering. Was the stress getting to her? Even though her shirt was off leaving her topless, she wasn’t being provocative. This was the first genuinely warm overture she had made to him since he’d made an ass of himself in the observation blister. There was something creeping in the back of his brain, an instinctual emotion that he didn't yet wish to acknowledge. The creeping thing was not about Devereaux. It might come out soon, and he preferred to be alone if that happened. He said, "No thanks." She shrugged and went off one way down the ring, he the other. He took a detour through the Hall of Trophies to get an objective measure of just how seriously things had deteriorated. The corridor was lined on each side with black holes where there should have been happy animal heads. The Karamojo had sucked the Hall bone dry, just like it was supposed to do in an emergency. Only the marlin at the far end of the Hall still wiggled in its place, but as Henderson walked toward it, he saw that the creature was shrunken, and the wiggles were involuntary; the Karamojo would have even this great one, too. As he walked toward the biolab, it dawned on him that perhaps his life had truly been in danger. Was that possible? Yes, he had to admit, it was. Those bounces were bad enough, but Papa had said they would work. And what of before, when they had been damaged? Instead of simply coming close enough to induce the massive current surge that had debilitated the Karamojo, one of those damn dragons could have hit them at kilometers per second. No way they could have taken that. He would have died. The creeping thing acknowledged, his sense of relief chased away, he stepped into his lab and said, "Music. Something dark and destructive.""Would you care to be more specific?" Papa asked. Christ. He’d have to reteach Papa all his preferences, but he was definitely not in the mood to do that now. Something from Papa's violent death-ridden era, he thought. "Night on Bald Mountain." As the first notes struck, Henderson opened a storage locker and removed a glass bottle of his finest Merlot, carefully cultivated from grape to wine over the first part of the voyage. He popped the cork and let the bottle breathe. He half-feared Papa would smell the organic richness and order it added to the biomass reserves. Thankfully his chairbeast had been spared the carnage wrought upon so much of the other non-critical biological systems. He sank into the warm, yielding skin perfectly tuned to his preferences. Leaning back, closing his eyes, he let the beast’s vibrations soothe him. Or tried to. The music picked up, the ghosts rising from their graves to haunt the living for the long, dark night that would only be the darker for the flashes of lightning hurled from the mountain. Henderson fetched a diamond goblet and poured the dark liquid swirling full of mystery. Fine wine was still better grown and fermented with traditional methods rather than synthesized. The random vagaries of the grapes' nutrients and care could produce subtle masterpieces. Surely a unique human genetic sequence was still worthwhile the same way. Surely his own was still worthwhile, and would be on the Earth half a millenia hence. Back in his chairbeast, letting it loom up around him, Henderson regarded the empty terrarium over his wine and music. His fantasy world, sucked dry in minutes by the automatics to feed the repairs to Papa’s brain banks. On the monitors lining the base of the tank shimmered ghost images in black and white of tiny rooms empty save for tiny skeletons. Bone was not so quickly cannibalized. What precautions had he taken to ensure his -- his sequence’s -- survival? Sperm deposits, his code archived, that was it really. In his youth he had been promiscuous, like most. He hadn’t tried to impregnate anyone then, and there had been strangely few lovers of substance in recent years. No single woman could satisfy him, so that was fine, wasn’t it? On the monitors flickered images of skeletons sleeping alone in beds, although that was an illusion. Under the sheets, they would be entangled with even tinier skeletons. So what? Did it matter? They had been little more than monkeys that looked like people. But they had been his people, and he hadn't been able to save them. Could he do any better saving himself? Henderson drained the warm wine in a searing, tannic gulp and launched himself from the chairbeast. The tank monitors above his desk were simple projection devices, thin films vacuum-packed under quartz. Better image quality, he had insisted, than nanotablets. Better to hit as well. The first screen gave way on the second blow of the diamond goblet. The music crashed as the crystal shards fell into the uncannibalized ruglings below. Hundreds of tiny crystals with the same shape and structure as a large crystal caught the light in their facets. More joined them as Henderson banged away, grunting, as he smashed all the monitors. The tiny skeletons shattered, vanished. A directional sound beam caught his ear, slicing through the music and crashing. "Can I be of assistance?" Henderson ignored Papa, running on his unleashed impulses -- his own automatic repair system. Kra-twing! Kra-twing! The recoil of each swing knocked Henderson back, allowing him to get plenty of forward momentum each time on the way back. Eventually he ran out of monitors and attacked the quartz of the tank itself. His boots crunched over the crystal shards. More banging then. Kra-twing! Kra-twing! After several minutes, he tired, and leaned against the tank, hot. Then he slid down with a slow squeak to a squatting position, trailing sweat behind him. He held the unmarked goblet before him, rolling it back and forth between his hands, and watched the tiny spectra reflected from the lights. One object, but so many ways of looking at it. His own life he had looked at in only one way in recent years, an unwavering lone arrow flying into the infinite future he had hoped to split into a billion directions and ensure his immortality. The music finished. "Would you care for another selection?" Papa asked. Henderson ignored the solicitous voice. Eventually he stood, and left the lab, making his way to the galley. He paused at the threshold, and looked in at Devereaux sitting at the polished tabletree dipping a fish stick into some white sauce. Stearn sat with her, smiling as she pushed the dripping food into his mouth. Henderson turned on his heel and returned to the biolab. "Play anything. I don't care what." Atonal, synthesized notes, with no particular pattern began to sound. Twenty-third century computer-generated drivel, lacking all human warmth and understanding. Lonely and alien. Henderson let it play on. It was perfect.# When Papa returns, Fang's cabin is pitch black and silent as space. He shifts his vision to the infrared and finds Fang huddled on her bed, clinging to its fitted sheets. She isn't sleeping; for a moment he listens to her hiccupping breath. "Captain Fang?" Temperature ripples across her face, first hot, then cold. "Not daughter?""Of course, daughter," he says, wondering about these slips. His confusion remains profound, yet he still knows that protecting Fang is his first priority after safeguarding the ship. Time to set her aright. "The ship is safe.""It was my fault in the first place.""Mine as well. With hindsight, we can say that we were faced with a difficult situation with little prospect for success. We will try again, learning from our -- " don’t say mistake, " -- newly acquired experience.""You're awfully delicate." Fang shifts up on an elbow, then spins her legs out, still clinging to the sheets with hands splayed like claws. Her body surface is cool everywhere -- she’s still in uniform. "Is that you, Papa? Where’s the fire in the belly, the blood and thunder? You’re Papa Hemingway, remember." He remembers. Parts. "You’re a beautiful woman, Lena. Why don’t you let your hair grow out into a fine blonde mane to match your fiery spirit?""Damn you, Papa." Her face flares with heat, her own dwarf nova. Is that a new thought? "I’m not you. Try as I might, I don’t have that fiery spirit you ramble on about so much. But I’m not a doll, either." He sifts through the available memories he has, false ones and real ones; they all seem more like factoids than memories. "No doll. You box, and that takes determination and heart. A willingness to take a punch. Well, you got punched.""I’m not a real boxer. I rely on technique. I’m careful. It’s just as well that Fisher and I broke up when we did. He was getting better, and I would not have liked that bastard decking me.""Oh, Lena, you see. There’s your fire!""Bullshit," she says, her volume low. "I am a worthless Captain. First chance to make decisions of consequence, and it’s a spectacular failure. I should just leave it to Fisher.""No, Lena, you’re my Captain. Always.""What's with you? Why aren’t you calling me daughter like usual?""We don’t know." He would not lie to her even if allowed, and he will not flee from her. "It is frightening." She laughs at that, but the laughter quickly merges into sobs. "Papa has the fear, I have the fear, and the stink of it is all around us." She says the words, and he knows them to be true. He is allowed fear. Fear is a useful tool for self-preservation. The real Papa Hemingway understood fear, but only found it anathema when debilitating. Like what happened to Fang on the bridge for an important split second. He should be furious with her, shouldn’t he? Is he cut off from that part of himself? He should explain the problem to her...it is more than fear."The algorithms that would cleanse the mind are separated from the data -- the emotional memories -- that define my pseudo-character. We have a human perspective, and a short-term memory, and knowledge of primary ship operations -- those are quite redundant in my neural mesh. We're missing the older real memories, memories of our times together for instance. We don’t really know who you are anymore, just as we don’t know who we are, but we know who we're not. We're not a whole man anymore. We wish someone would just shoot us.""You don’t mean that. That’s not the Papa I remember.""Exactly." It is a terrible silence that follows. He takes some consolation in the idea that his own problems have superseded hers and that she may lean on that to prompt herself back into action. She seemed effective when they saved the ship just a little while ago, but why has she remained in her cabin -- to wallow in self-pity? He is about to ask when she violently pushes away from her bed, bounces hard off a wall, and ricochets to the door. "That’s my break between rounds. There’s not much for people to do on this ship, but I’ll do everything I can. I'll even try to get along with Fisher. Thanks for the bell, Papa." What is she referring to? Is he getting worse? He heard no bell. At least it isn't another goddamned wall. The eyes are the window of the soul. -- Proverb Eyes lie if you ever look into them for the character of a person. -- Stevie Wonder Fang rose from her chairbeast to stand at one end of the conference room, beginning the impromptu dragon meeting. She smoothed around the creases in her whites and said, "Dr. Fisher has agreed to my request to set the agenda for this meeting. Let me proceed briskly. We have much to discuss." In turn, Fang caught the eye of each of her crew, trying to read their hearts, but that trick rarely worked for her. Only in Fisher did she read something; the fixed pink stare that met her was as unwavering and obsessed as ever, but she took encouragement in his cooperation with the agenda."The Karamojo is currently stable 50 kilometers above the disk, and the ship is in no immediate danger," she began. The ship always came first. "We must decide whether to withdraw now and abort the mission, or to proceed." Fang whipped her gaze around to Fisher and held up a pointed finger to cut him off before he could interrupt. "My current assessment of the situation dictates that we proceed cautiously, and utilize the new information at our disposal. I allow that someone here might have an objection that either Papa or I have overlooked." Fisher opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again and appeared to settle into thought for the moment. Good. Devereaux sitting cross-legged on her chairbeast asked, "Well, just exactly what is our situation?""Tell them, Papa," Fang said. Time to show some trust in him. Time for him to earn some trust or they had no business remaining in system."We got hit hard, sure enough, but that was because we didn’t know what was coming. The induced currents coupled to our spinal rail, and through that to my external sensor grid, and then on to a number of non-essential systems. The Karamojo was not designed to take such an electromagnetic event. The autonomous functions, like atmosphere and other life support, are only connected through microwave link and fused connects for standard safety reasons. Good thing, too. By consuming our biomass reserves, we've regrown to eighty percent capacity, and additional growth should increase that figure to over ninety percent in the next four hours. The more serious damage lies with the Higgs generators, which now suffer from a calibration problem: their parameters were reinitialized. Mobile repair restored a thirty percent capacity, but we’ll need some more work before we can blast out of here at full thrust. The nanoskin, since it is more mechanical than electrical and relatively insensitive to long wavelength interference, continues to work well, keeping us cool. So we’re ship-shape in most ways, and we're raring for a second shot. That was a lucky sucker punch." Papa was starting to sound a little more like Papa, but so much still fell back onto the basic speech template. Still, it was an improvement. Fang said, "Thank you, Papa. Now, are there any remaining questions about our status or any other issues to be considered? I'd like everyone's input." Henderson cleared his throat, then frowned. Finally he said, "I’d like to emphasize the depletion of our biomass reserves. We wound up with a lot of plain carbon, useless for anything but the nanovats. It takes time and energy to regrow sophisticated biocircuits from scratch. We cannot return to full operational status if we are hit that hard again." He kept his eyes down during his statement, then looked up at the ceiling to reiterate his final point. "We just can't take it. I can't emphasize this enough.""So emphasized," said Fisher. "Well, it sounds like there’s no problem continuing the mission, so we should get down to discussing strategy revisions.""Not so fast, Dr. Fisher," Fang said. "That may be the case, but I think everyone should have a chance to have the floor. As I said, I’m ready to proceed. Phil?" Stearn, sitting to her right and looking serious and responsible these days in his dark skin and solid muscles, said, "Papa’s completely correct. Things are going okay. And frankly, this is a lot more fun, and a different kind of fun, than I’ve had in some time. I’m game." Devereaux, next to Stearn, twirled a dreadlock around her finger, winding and unwinding. "I have some reservations," she said, "but I’m hooked. I must understand how the dragons came to be, how they live, and what they will mean to us in the future. I cannot turn my back on this puzzle now." When it was clear that Devereaux had said her piece, Fisher said, "Yes, we proceed," and turned his pink eyes on Henderson. The biotech rubbed his dimpled chin with a big hand. "I’d like to hear Devereaux’s reservations, if I may." Fisher sighed, nodded, and turned back to Devereaux. Devereaux jerked back at the sudden attention, her Buddha-like composure showing cracks. "Just the perfectly obvious stuff. Even with all the data we have on the disk, it isn’t easy to predict what it will do very far in advance. A big magnetic flare erupting under us could pose problems in our current state. A dwarf nova, while uncomfortable, is easily seen in advance and escaped even with our crippled wormdrive. The dragons themselves appear more formidable than we had guessed, but we have more knowledge now, and that will help. I still have a concern, rather irrational, that someone will show up and be upset with us for poaching. As I said, perfectly obvious stuff." Everyone turned their heads back to Henderson, who had lifted his head while Devereaux was speaking, but was now looking down again. "Well, I suppose it sounds as if...as if we should go on," he finally said."Right," said Fisher. "Then I have some new cage designs to present." He stopped short of asking Papa to project them and said, "If I may, Captain Fang?" Fang nodded, and they went on to discuss the new cage, how to get and keep a dragon out of the disk, how to herd a dragon into the Karamojo, and all the other practical matters they needed to think about to continue with the hunt. As the meeting dragged on, Fang worried about how polite and cooperative Fisher seemed. But why shouldn’t he be? He was getting his way now. Still she worried, but gave her worry little merit. After all, how could far could she really trust her own judgment?# In the net of Fisher’s mind, the dragon was already caught. Still, the net flapped at a couple of loose corners. When Fang dismissed the meeting and ordered everyone to take four hours off to rest (insanely, more time idle!) while Papa also recovered, Fisher waited for her. When they were the only two left in the room, Fang paused at his heel dragging, and lifted a questioning eyebrow toward her."Look, can we talk?" he asked."Of course we can talk," she replied. "Haven’t we just been talking?" The net flapped harder in a sudden, unexpected breeze. "I mean like we used to talk. Before.""Oh. Before." She stared at him impassively for a long moment. "I don’t think so." A hurricane, and the net ripped free. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go at all. He had to have some sort of reassurance that he was in control, that he would have his way when the time came, that Fang would act appropriately at the next key juncture. Fang turned away and walked out of the room. Fisher followed, but stepped on a fish in the corridor, nearly losing his footing. Damn fish. Fang was a good ten meters ahead, already moving around the ring’s curvature. "Lena," he called. Thankfully she stopped. She spun on her heel with mechanical precision and waited for him. "Yes?" she said."I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you. I -- " he needed to throw something big and weighty on the net before it all blew away. "I have been an absolute ass, getting in your way, and I want to apologize from deep in my heart. You have my support, and...my love. If you’ll have it." There, he thought. That should do it. But Fang's face didn't soften. The ridges of her lips remained sharp and dangerous. The folds around her gray eyes masked the distant mirror of her soul. "Sam, have you looked at yourself recently? You’ve made yourself into something more inhuman and remote than Stearn or his generation ever managed. They only deal with the body. And, as messed up as Papa is now, or as messed up as he is when he’s functioning properly, he is still more responsible than you. You just can’t act like an ass for months and then turn around one day and say you’re sorry and expect it to be all right again." This was proving trickier than he had planned. He should have run some simulations and practiced, but he counted on spontaneity to add the necessary emotional integrity that practice would kill. "I know," he said. "You’re right. But what would you like for me to do at this point? I’m sorry and I wish I could take it all back and do it right.""Good," she said, turning away to resume her march. He took a deep breath and listened to the air whistle through his teeth. He shambled after her in the high gravity, this task turning as physically onerous as it was psychologically."What do you want from me? I’ll give it to you. Just name it." Give her everything, he repeated to himself. Give her everything to get the only thing that mattered. Everything for everything was an even trade, wasn't it? This was his thought as they reached Fang's cabin and her door squeezed shut in his face. Too much, too pushy. Next time he’d play it cool, be sensitive. It would be fine. He thought, I’ve waited hundreds of years -- I can wait a few hours. He sat down outside Fang's door.# As the door closed, Fang's cheeks tightened into an involuntary smile. Fisher no longer seemed a wild element. With a united crew, she was sure she could face the dragons again and triumph."Evening lights." Fang walked to her bed, sat down on its edge, and pulled off her boots. The plush carpeting tickled her hot toes as she stretched her out her legs. The rest of her uniform followed the boots and she donned a pink satin robe that felt good against her skin. She considered opening a bottle of wine, but Henderson probably would not be able to produce much more very quickly, and she didn't want to drink alone. Outside her French doors, the moon shone over a placid sea, and a slow breeze made the curtains shiver. She stepped outside onto her wooden deck, sans drink. A lover’s moon, she thought, frowning. "Papa?""Yes, daughter," answered the familiar, gruff voice."How are you?" she asked."Better," he said, sounding tired. "Still not myself.""Me too," she said."You need a man," Papa offered. Fang shook her head, slowly, smiling. "Like hell I do," she said, thinking of Fisher."A real man," Papa persisted. Already cool, goose pimples rose on her bare arms and legs with the wind. "Turn up the temperature a few degrees, will you?""Of course," said Papa obediently. Looking out onto the virtual sea, smooth to infinity, she decided she might want the wine after all. "Where’s Fisher?""Outside your cabin, sitting opposite the door." She smiled, shaking her head. It was too good to be true. After another ten minutes, she asked, "He still there?""Yes, daughter." She licked her lips. "Let him in, and tell him to pour two glasses of one of the reds. Make sure he lets it breathe for a few minutes, right?""Of course." Fang seated herself on a canvas chair and levered her legs up against the high gravity and settled them, uncrossed, onto the deck rail. Her robe slid up her thighs, but she didn't bother to push it back. She tried not to look, but couldn’t help herself, as Fisher’s green scintillations flickered inside. Apparently he was doing just as requested. The moon shimmered exactly where she wanted it, and she basked in its glow while she waited for Fisher. She turned when she heard his slippered feet scraping against the wood of the deck. She held out her hand and accepted the proffered glass. She returned her attention to the luminous moon while she sniffed the complex aroma of the wine. Fisher settled into the other deck chair; she often used it to put her feet on. "Nice night," he said."Mmm," she replied as she finished sloshing wine around her mouth. The liquid warmed her throat on its way down."Good wine," he said. Fang wiggled her upper body, shrugging the robe from her shoulders. Bending her head forward and exposing the back of her neck, she said, "Please just shut up, Sam, and make yourself useful. I could really use a good back rub." When she heard his weight shift from his chair and the clink of his glass bottom on the table, but no words, a shiver crackled along her spine. When his hard fingers sank firmly into her knotted flesh, she darn near purred. He must have downloaded a massage routine into his biochip because he’d never been so good before.... The danger in letting someone else enter your inner sanctum was lack of control, but Fisher was her fantasy tonight, an automaton, a creature bent to her will, and she loved it. No words from him now, no "dragon-this" and "dragon-that," no interrupting her, no far-away expression when she talked to him. Why couldn't he have been this way before? But then, she admitted, she probably would not have found him attractive. After an eternity under his attentive fingers, Fang stirred herself. "You’re no chairbeast, but you’re not bad." He said nothing. Lovely. It wasn't all about him and his dragons for once. Fang rose, said, "Come on, let’s do this right," and walked inside. She undid her robe and let the smooth material slide down her body, caressing her all the way down. She crawled onto the bed from the bottom up, lay down, and let herself relax. "Back," she mumbled around her armpit. Fisher sat on the bed and went to work on her back. After only eight minutes by her internal clock, she jerked, adrenaline tightening her muscles, sweat breaking over her skin. She had nearly fallen asleep! She didn't trust Fisher that far. But she loved what his fingers were doing -- had been doing -- before she jerked awake. He was being so good to her, giving her what she needed, and not prattling on about his own obsessions. Why hadn’t he been like this more often when they’d been together? No one had treated her this well in a long time. A very long time. She blinked as her eyes watered. "Sam," she said."Yes?" His fingers continued to cast their spell."I want to explain what happened on the bridge, with the dragons." She started to push herself to her elbows, but he pushed her back down. He said, "That’s not necessary.""But it is." She succumbed to his push and let herself settle in for more massage. It would be easier to say the things she wanted to say this way, without eye contact, and for that she was grateful. "You eat, sleep, and breathe star dragon the way I eat, sleep, and breathe the Karamojo. I owe you some explanation.""If you feel you must. It isn’t necessary." She grunted in dismissal. "I tried to tell you before about the leviathan the night, you know, things went bad between us. This is important to me, important to understand my actions, and you’ll listen to it this time, understand?""Yes," he said, and nothing more. Now that it was time to tell it to another human being, she didn’t know how to start. Some emotions, some experiences, seemed too big for words. Anything she said would be a lie insofar as the truth was impossible to communicate. Finally, she decided. "I’m not Papa," she began. "I make a good show of it, boxing, hunting, being a strong Captain the way he would be if he could. But when I box, I use finesse rather than strength. The ship's name, which I chose, indicates that. I didn't call the ship the Great White Hunter, or the Amazon, or anything so bold. Karamojo Bell hunted elephants, the great beasts of his era, with a small-bore 7mm Mauser loaded with 175 grain bullets. Trust me, that is small for elephant. He made his kills with only one shot, a testimony to his skill as a marksman. He used knowledge and finesse when he hunted. I aspire to his skill. When I hunt, I have safeguards to prevent injury, so I’m not really proving anything. I have not been tested with threat of death, the only test recognized in nature. I’m a creature of our age. Machines, mechanical or biological, do all the difficult tasks for us. Humans are superfluous in so many ways, but we still run things, choose the direction of civilization, something like an evolutionary grandfather clause. Our creations have only the drives we give them." Fisher’s fingers had slipped into a mechanical pattern, so she assumed he was paying attention to her words. He had rarely allowed her such a long speech without interruption, except when he was working and filtered her out. She diverted that thought -- he had better be listening!"I've tried to be the type of captain who does things, the way they used to. This mission is really my first chance to prove that I can. But we’re just machines, too, with programming as ancient as the Serengeti. We’re obsessed with our ability to change our bodies, our hardware, and that shows how obsolete our thinking truly is. The mind will rule the future while we clutch to our ear wings, wasp waists, and quick fists. But I’m talking around my point."When I was a little girl, the universe taught me that I was weak, that there were bigger things in it that would and could eat me, and think nothing more of me than how I tasted. I’ve been trying to grow, literally, ever since then. Grow in muscle, grow in rank, until I became so big I could move entire herds of animals across interstellar space. The disk here holds a few percent of the mass of Earth's moon, big enough for me, a sea five thousand times bigger than the Pacific. Multiply that by two: the disk is double-sided. That has had me thinking about the leviathan that swallowed my grandfather as I watched." Fang stopped to lick her lips, which had gone bone dry. "When those dragons came at us, with those same unfathomable eyes, I was the weak little girl again. For a moment I could not act: one of them might have noticed, and eaten me. Then I had to act, or I would be just the same as that little girl I once was. I had to. My command would now be over if Papa had seen any clear mandatory course of action, but we knew so little then, still don’t know much, so I had wide latitude in my actions. But it felt like failure." Fisher’s fingers continued to slide around her muscles, working out the new tightness that had descended as she had talked. God, had she really talked so long without Fisher interrupting? Was it really possible? Could it have been this good all along? Had she been wrong throwing him out? Now she desperately wanted him to say something. He had heard her justification, and it was his career -- and life -- that her actions, or lack of actions, threatened. Say something! she thought. But she was in control now, wasn’t she? She could make him say. "Tell me what you think about what I just told you." Fisher replied, "I understand, and don’t blame you for what happened on the bridge. What is important is that we, you, do the right thing next time. I’m here to help you do that, any way I can. Do you understand that?" She wanted to believe him...or was that his wondrous massage persuading her? Take the political course. "I’m happy to have everyone’s support. I’ll need it." She relaxed for good now, her piece said, and no blow-up. This was good and right and easy. After an eternity, she knew she should make Fisher leave."Time to get some sleep," she should say. "Go back to your cabin, Sam." But she couldn’t. And didn’t. So Fisher stayed with her, with his magic fingers, and what followed felt even better than what had gone before.# Fisher left Fang's cabin with his clothes draped over his right shoulder, moving quickly with a small skip despite the extra gees. His stretched out his hands, flexing away the cramps from the extended massages he had given Fang; the flowing air chilled the damp places in the webs between his fingers. Instead of heading toward his own quarters, he decided it would be a good idea to see Henderson. Things had changed, and he wanted that to show. Instead of ringing the chime, he rapped on the door itself. The glow from his hot hands reflected off the door’s burnished surface, a ghost of himself. The door irised open after a moment, releasing moist, cloying air that made Fisher think of a womb. Inside the light was dim, some kind of low mournful classical music playing. As he entered, the darkness and music retreated before him. Henderson sat on a chairbeast, spinning slowly in half circles back and forth, an empty wine glass cradled between his splayed legs. His slick red smoking jacket swished with his circles. "What can I do for you, Dr. Fisher? Some clothes, perchance?" Henderson’s hypnotic, serpentine movement, cyclic, like electrons at the end of a magnetic bottle...no, he needed to suppress that for the time being. "Clothes? Yes, in a manner of speaking." Henderson sighed, an exaggerated movement. "A tailor I’m not. At least this crew isn’t as bad as I’ve seen. Did I ever tell you about the summer I worked at a Venice Beach shock shop? Fads there come and go by the hour, and today’s youth are a pretty sick bunch. Great experience though for landing interstellar work. If you can make a beach-combing fan boy into a oceangoing transparent-shelled brain with penises for paddles in the morning, and back to his assholish self in time for dinner, they’ll trust you to oversee the regrowth of a ship’s organics." Fisher let his clothes slide to the floor. Ruglings gathered and began conveying the misplaced duradenim along the floor. Eventually, an hour perhaps, his clothes would be back in his own room, clean and ready to wear. Fisher said, "I want human flesh.""Of course you do!" Henderson cawed, his bloodshot eyes puffy but wide open. "You all do, sooner or later. We’re conditioned for the body we grew up in -- not necessarily quite the same one, but primate, Homo sapiens sapiens. Our minds reject anything else, even if we have the technology to trick the body. Our minds are still body bound, and will be forever. Unless we change them, which would change ourselves, killing us. So we're eternally bound. Until we die.""No," said Fisher. "You don’t understand. I don’t want a complete makeover like before. I don’t want everything back. I just want a skin to cover me, make me appear the way I did before." Another sigh. "I can do that. But we’re short on stem cells and expendable biomass." Henderson glanced away toward a dark corner of the biolab, at what Fisher could not tell, maybe some broken equipment. Before he could argue further, Henderson said, "Fine. I can do it.""Excellent," Fisher said. In a few minutes he sat in a slowly bubbling nutrient vat that smelled of honeysuckle. The warm fluid surrounded him, buoying him upwards, letting him bob through the surface. Itching crawled up his skin, starting with his toes, and pulled him down. He exhaled, slipped under, and inhaled. In his mind’s eye, Fisher watched the star dragon vanish beneath the disk’s photosphere. She was glorious. Part Three: Cornered Animals Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes . -- Henry David Thoreau Phil Stearn wiggled his elbows from side to side, inching down the shuttle ramscoop arm as fast as he could. Really should have redesigned for this one, he thought. Long, skinny tentacles. Yeah, that would have been a lot better. More fun than redesigning the shuttles anyway. Hmm, and he might find an interesting use for those with Sylvia as well. Reaching his objective, Stearn slid his Swiss space tool along the superconducting coil sheath, smiling at the rasping notes that issued forth and echoed within the confines of the arm. A gentle touch raised a pure tone, like a wet finger on the rim of a wine glass. The next coil out was smaller in circumference and hit a higher note when he tapped it. He checked the sonic analysis program hastily thrown together and onto his fingertip machine -- Papa's ears would not hear so well in here. If this went well, he would execute some low current tests next. The fingertip flashed green."Are the coils in spec?" Fisher asked, his insistent voice pleasantly distant and twisted by the tube. Stearn stretched himself out further to hit an even smaller coil, the last on the arm. Da-ding. Da-ding. He could make the dings and the raspy notes. He ought to get Papa’s help to compose a superconducting sonata, or a pop tune of some kind. B field blues, maybe. Da-ding."Are you working in there, or just playing?" Fisher asked. Tight ass . Stearn sighed, turned down the light from his tool, and wiggled his shoulders to ease himself back out of the tube. Even though he'd adapted himself to the high gravity, it was still a special pain in this situation. The arms of the ramscoop shuttles hadn't been designed for this new use, generating the intense, controlled magnetic fields to bottle star dragons, and the necessary coil placement was not at all optimal for human access. There wasn’t time, or trust, to train micromachines for this job. Papa said he was fine, but who knew for sure? Much needed to be done by hand, or at least checked by hand. That was the job of the Jack, and he took it as seriously as he took anything. And that was plenty serious, more serious than his crewmates gave him credit for. But he didn't resent that. That was their problem, not his. He was comfortable with his abilities. Stearn slid out and dropped a fast meter to the deck, trailing a monitoring line, a spider down a wire. The arms of the scoop, splayed as they were for access, did indeed resemble the unfinished frame of a web. Apropos. Fisher, the true web-builder, paced nearby. Stearn technically was the spider who'd built this web, as he'd done most of the actual crawling and checking and fixing, but it was Fisher's creation. Fisher had designed the magnetic net to catch a dragon and the specs for the shuttle fleet. The Jack said, "They’re in spec. If you got your designs right, this will work." Fisher sniffed, and scratched at the side of his nose. "The designs are right. What worries me is what the dragons haven't shown us yet. The fields these shuttles will form will cage my current model dragon. If I’ve understood their field generation dynamo, if their nuclear fuel is sufficiently depleted, if they don't surprise us. A second time, that is. Still, we may have to move in close, bluff a crash with the shuttles, to close the cage tight.""Right, bluff," Stearn replied. Fisher wore human skin once more, his traditional pale pink. Too bad, Stearn thought. The green glow had been pretty hip, and he’d had high hopes Fisher would outdo it when he changed again. But Fisher had resumed his old appearance, with the short shock of dark curly hair, angular pale body, and the rest strictly Homo sapiens. Well, almost. When he caught Fisher in just the right light, the skin appeared bloated, less like real skin and more like a vacuum suit thrown on. And once since they'd started their work in the shuttle hold, Stearn had spied a green-tinged glint from the corner of Fisher's eye when he'd rubbed it. As they walked to the last arm, Stearn decided to satisfy his curiosity. He knew that something had precipitated Fisher's sea change, and he had already checked where everyone had spent the breaktime. "You’re lucky to have her.""I don’t have the dragon just yet," Fisher said. "And luck will have little to do with it." Hmm. His mind sure wasn’t on Captain. Still, Stearn would feel better if he knew how the social forces on board were now arrayed. Just as the magnetic fields might hold a dragon, the social forces might hold the crew together. Blunt or oblique, which approach? In the past he had always been blunt, but his time with Devereaux had led him to appreciate more subtle strategies. That was the only way to beat her at board games, which he managed once in a while. He knew he had to keep her interested. He asked, "Now that you've seen them, any more ideas about the dragon origins? I mean, are they machines made by someone, or do they mate, give birth, piss and shit, all the stuff that life does?" Fisher snorted. "Technology blurs the distinction between living and machine. I prefer to think of this as a problem of artificial, or natural. There are several points in favor of an artificial origin. First, we still see no evidence for an ecosystem.""Not all of Papa's sensory apparatuses are back on-line.""Granted, but I don’t think we're going to see an ecosystem even when they are back up. The second point is that SS Cygni has not had an accretion disk very long, astronomically speaking. The current disk isn't even that old. These stars accumulate matter, hit critical temperature and go nova every few hundred thousand years, and this destroys the disk. No way something like this evolves over that kind of timescale. Not in the disk anyway.""You sure? There's enough energy here to drive things at a wicked pace.""Unlikely. You see, how do you even start? I have no idea what sort of matter constitutes the dragons, but it's either non-conventional -- not a naturally occurring substance, a nano-buttressed alloy for instance, or not even baryonic. The implications of either are significant. This is probably why the Biolathe brain really assembled this mission. Our ability to manipulate space-time provides us with cheap energy for massive engineering projects. Earth doesn’t really need fusion-powered dragons for space construction." That was an interesting notion, but Fisher was revved up pretty good and it was time to nudge him back onto the oblique orbit Stearn had in mind. Devereaux had reminded him that some of the best games were social. "So why do you need dragons?" Fisher started to speak, stalled, and blinked. He raised a long finger to his temple. He tapped his head and started to smile. "Because it feeds this," he said. "Without this, I’m nothing but an animal, eating and breathing and defecating, just as the blind watchmaker of evolution pieced together over billions of years. But through my curiosity, I can transcend my own origins, become something more. If not now, then someday. The things I discover change me into something more." Stearn laughed. He tried to hold it in, but he just could not help himself."What? What is it?" Fisher’s finger crawled down from his forehead, and his smile faltered. It flashed back with the infection of a laugh as he asked again, "What?" Stearn laughed harder. He was so earnest, so blind himself. Fisher...Fisher was so...full of it! Fisher shrugged and turned away to another arm of the shuttle."No, wait. I’m sorry," Stearn said, taking a deep breath. "I’ll tell you." Fisher spun back, green glinting from his left eye. "Yes, what is it?""You’re shitting yourself, because you’re just like me." Fisher’s head reared back, reminding Stearn of the surprised snakes he’d seen once at a party when a dancing Medusa chick had lifted her arms suddenly. "I’m not like you at all. What do you mean?""You’re always looking down at me because I play a lot. Sure I play. I have more fun because I know exactly who I am and what I’m about, and my quest is one of amusement. You’re the same, but you cloak your motives in transcendent language. But it is simple. You need dragons because you need toys to play with." Fisher's smile faltered at once. "That’s not it at all! It’s so much more. It’s of fundamental importance to our understanding of our place in the universe.""I’ll give you at least long odds on that, but that’s not your real motivation. If the dragons were a fluke of nature, doomed to destruction in a cosmological blink of the eye, and of no relevance to the human race or any carbon-based biology, you wouldn’t walk away, would you?" Fisher broke the stare he’d fixed on Stearn to pace around the shuttle arms, making him appear a busy little webmaker. "There’s no way the dragons could be a fluke. I cannot believe that. The reasons are myriad." Fisher’s fingers flew into the air as if pulled by strings. "I can count off sixteen without trying. Shall I?" Stearn squinted, but still counted only ten fingers on Fisher’s splayed hands. Disappointed he said, "No need. Let me ask you another question. You’re back with Captain again, I gather. Tell me, why do you need her?""Lena?" Fisher’s web-building course stopped and his fingers fell to scratch his cheek. His eyes darted among the spokes of the shuttle arms."Are the reasons myriad?" Fisher nodded. "Yes, of course they are." His hands went up. "I can count them, too. Shall I?""Yeah," said Stearn. "These you can count.""Fine. I will." Fisher waved an extended finger like a conductor leading an orchestra. "She makes me exercise. She challenges me to be my best. She knows how to run this ship. She has the same goals on this mission that I do, even if she doesn’t appear to at first glance. She -- look, this is moronic. Is that enough? We have work to do.""Yeah, that’s enough. But let me tell you a few of the reasons why I love Sylvia: the little sound she makes in her sleep just before she rolls over, the glances she sends my way when she’s in the middle of something else that lets me know I am in her thoughts, the way she lets me be myself without trying to change me, the smell of her hair, the heat that rises to my cheeks when she is in the same room as I am, the way her brow knits when she loses herself in something, and the fact that sometimes that something is me." Fisher stared back, unblinking, and worked his jaw before he spoke. "Such things don't make for a lasting relationship. They’ll just interfere with our work here. I won’t have that. I suggest you get some distance, Jack, or you’ll jeopardize us all." Right. Stearn was a whole lot more afraid of Fisher’s yo-yo relationship with Captain jeopardizing things than his own handyman duties. He said, "I’ll do my job just fine, Dr. Fisher. I work as hard as I play. But I want you to think about something, a piece of advice from an expert game player. A bluff will fail unless you’re willing to carry through. Are you?""I'm willing to do anything," Fisher said easily in response. He paused for a moment, as if considering, then nodded to himself abruptly. "Yes, anything. Now, let's get back to work."# Henderson squatted in his biolab before the mechanical core of the console tank -- all the biologicals in the room had been used -- and inspected his design one last time. He said, "Execute," and prepared to walk over to the empty diamond vat."Safety override engaged: insufficient discretionary biomass available. Program terminated," the computer said in an even gender-neutral voice; Henderson had disabled Papa’s personality from his console."But I need it!""Override intact." Couldn’t this machine’s fuzzy logic wrap itself around the idea that this lab was in a thin, shimmery bubble floating above God's own burning bush? Any breach of any system could kill instantly -- they'd exercised their redundancies. He had to have a more durable body. Evolution, which Henderson stole liberally from, often made a body capable of attracting mates also quite vulnerable. A brilliant peacock that could still avoid predators had to be top of the line. But he was no longer employing that strategy. It was time to screw the looks and invest heavily in armor. Lots of armor. Damn Fisher for talking him out of the little bio reserves they had available. The exobiologist had even wasted it on nothing more than cosmetic alterations. Henderson stroked his chin. Where could he liberate more biomass from? He didn't need much. Certainly he could cannibalize non-essential organics like chairs, toilets, clothes, and the like. He could even make do without biologicals as long as he had the means to shape an exoskeleton. There was plenty of building material on-board. He would just have to fetch it himself. He started for the door, but Captain Fang's voice stopped him."Mr. Henderson," she said. "Please join me on the bridge. My fighting chair needs adjustments but Papa cannot see anything wrong with it." First Fisher, now Fang. He didn't like this hierarchy, but that was the way things would be for another half millennium. Slave, fix my skin, slave, fix my chair. Someday he would be the master of those around him. Walking to the bridge, Henderson scanned the diamond ribs of the hallway, counted the fish crawling along the bony surfaces. He fancied himself a white blood cell in a giant vein with red blood cells, the fish. How many fish for a layer of skin that could block a rad per hour? Then again, perhaps passive shielding was a dangerous way to go with all the high energy particles in the environment -- they would decay in such skin and pass on a potentially even more deadly torrent of secondary particles. Fisher’s body redesign suggested a way to build active shielding into a body, but it would not be nice to live with. Maybe he should go the opposite way, build maximum redundancy into a small body with a minimal cross section. It really depended on what the threats were. Should he design against radiation, temperature, or vacuum? The valve -- portal -- onto the bridge opened to reveal Fang squatting unstably on the deck, two fingers providing a third point of kinetic support, as she squinted at the cushion fat of her chair. The chair was a monster, and would easily supply Henderson with all the biomass he needed. Maybe he could talk her out of it if it were sick.... Fang turned her skin-covered skull toward him and worked the jaw. She was making words, saying something. It was: "Don’t just stand there. Lend a hand." Henderson contracted and relaxed sets of muscles in his legs, leveraging the leg bones into steps. Fragile life, in a fragile eggshell, bobbing above an open flame. A frog in a pot of heating water. Instead of aiding in this endeavor, or developing a safer body, he should be finding a way to jump out, to force them to leave. Maybe he could engineer a minor crisis that would make them consume their remaining resources, and leave them no choice but to leave? Why had he not realized the mortal danger this mission posed? More importantly, why had he not yet acted on that realization? His jaw moved. His eardrums pushed the bones in his ear which turned into electrical signals his brain could interpret. He had said, "What is the nature of the problem?" The safe, hierarchical thing to say. Avoid the immediate reprimand, but remain at the risk of later death when the dragons pried open their shell."The fighting chair’s growl normally massages my lower back quite effectively, but today it’s just irritating me," Fang said. Electrical activity in Henderson’s brain opened the flow of information from his embedded biochip. In his mind’s eye the chair’s anatomy revealed itself in endlessly detailed cross-section. He pushed his hand under the chair’s wide arm and plugged his finger into the diagnostic port located in its left armpit. More data danced into his head through the conduit running up his arm. Please be sick, Henderson thought. His jaw moved, his lungs exhaled, vocal chords tightened, and he said, "The chair looks healthy.""See that, daughter?" Papa said. "What did we tell you?" The captain twisted her facial muscles into a pattern that Henderson read as perplexity. She said, "Something’s wrong with it. My back hurts." Henderson unplugged his finger and bent close to increase his ability to see fine details on the chair’s surface. The hide felt warm and springy when he touched it, and there was no discoloration. "Your chairbeast is healthy.""See," said Papa. "Our own diagnostics are fine again." Fang vibrated her lips, creating a humming sound, an indication of thoughtfulness. Henderson shook his head, but stopped when he thought of his brain sloshing around in his skull. He needed some kind of drug to relieve himself of this morbid biomechanical perspective he’d developed. He said, "Perhaps the problem isn’t your chairbeast at all, but you.""Me?" A sharp edge lived in that syllable, a suspicion that he thought her fallible. We’re all machines and we can break, he thought. "We’re human and we sometimes suffer injury," he said."I don’t have time for an examination and I’m not letting you poke that finger of yours in me, understand?""Perfectly," he said. "I was simply suggesting you lift your uniform and let me inspect your back.""It won’t take too long?""Of course not.""Fine," Fang said. The captain turned away from Henderson, and raised her arms. Henderson watched her elbows wiggle from side to side, trying to understand how the motions moved her hands to undo the buttons on the uniform. The pull of the muscle on the strings of the tendons on the levers of the bones, dancing like the programmed needles of a tattoo machine he'd seen in a historical drama. Finally she slipped her hands back and tugged her shirt free from her pants."Let me do that," he said. "You might strain a muscle and make it worse.""I’m fine," she said, her voice distant and echoing off the walls of the bridge. Her hands lifted higher and at the same time crawled the white fabric into bunches revealing an expanse of white skin. But not completely white. There were greenish-blue patches, six of them, three along each side. Fingers appeared to have broken the capillaries under skin, the hemorrhaging manifesting as bruises. On a finer scale there were tiny puncture marks. Insect stings? Impossible. Something more directed, certainly, right where the bruises were."Well, see anything?" Fang asked. Too much, too much, Henderson thought. He thought about saying that everything looked normal, but Papa had certainly noticed and would speak up if he said nothing. He feared that anything he had to say would raise the tension on board and place his life more at risk. Still, the facts could not get him in trouble, could they? "You have -- " translate, he thought, "bruises.""Bruises?" To his surprise and immense relief, Fang smiled. There was more in that smile than her normally cool professionalism would show, but in a flash it was gone. "Well, that explains things, doesn’t it?""Your system will clear them up in a few hours, but there’s something else -- ""Thank you, Mr. Henderson. That will be all." Henderson decided not to press it. The captain didn't seem to want his distractions, and in truth he didn't want her to be distracted. He needed to do something, something other than ruminate on every bit of mechanics in the human body and the way they were machines that could fail. Drugs were the wrong way to go. He needed positive action. Then he had it. On the walk back to his lab, he took off his scale jacket and tied the arms to fashion a bag. Whenever he came across a fish swabbing the deck, he plucked it up and tossed it in. Insufficient discretionary biomass, my ass, he thought. A little dust never killed anyone, not even on a spaceship.# Curls of flame rose and rippled, dropped and dissipated, in a vast dance more regal and powerful than that of any sea Fang had before sailed upon. The swirling churning of the disk mixed with the waves bouncing back from the distant inner and outer edges making a choppy, uneven surface to the bowl of this sea. Spiral shock patterns would appear, persist, and vanish again all in less than an hour. Pillars of plasma twisted into the sky riding the magnetic fields twisting out of the `disk spots' before plummeting back into the maelstrom at some distant point. Through this all soared the Karamojo, like some flea on a dog’s hairy ass."Where have they all gone?" Fang said to no one in particular, although everyone else except for Henderson was on the bridge watching the panorama in projection around them."I was afraid of this," said Fisher. "They can dive deep where we can’t follow. Without an easy way of driving them out again, we must hope they will surface.""They’ll have to, won’t they?" asked Stearn. "Even I can stay in a hot tub only so long.""Perhaps we could use our own lasers to raise the temperature locally," Devereaux suggested. "There must be some level they can’t take. Or we can go into the inner disk regions, where the thickness and opacity drops, but the temperature rises.""I think we may have to drop right to the surface and scrutinize an area closely, and then expand our search bit by bit," Fisher said."It’s too huge!" Devereaux disagreed. "And we’ll lose what little we can afford to ablation all too quickly. This isn't the ideal system to have to prospect for raw materials." There followed a discussion of dragon thermodynamics, laser cooling, and disk opacities and Fang didn't care to pay attention to the technical details. Instead, hardly blinking, she watched the licks of flame as they broke open revealing the empty structures below. Papa’s personality, while based on a human identity, nevertheless processed most tasks using brute force algorithms similar to those running his underlying autonomous routines. With enough speed you didn't have to be clever. While his image recognition algorithms excelled with well known environments like the ship and the faces of its crew, Papa searched for dragon sign bit by bit amidst the fiery caldron. A sharp-eyed human could sometimes still do a better job in an unknown environment, one of the justifications for their presence on board. Fang intended to take advantage of that slim advantage to make her mark on this mission. Or at least to smudge out the bad mark she already made. She would not think of her moment of hesitation. She would not. The conversation ebbed and flowed around her like waves. She was a rock. When the hours dragged on, she snorted an ampoule of Alert, and ordered her eyes to continue to dance. She didn't let herself think about what they would do if the dragons had no need to surface. The disk was so huge that she maintained her optimism. This place was not homogeneous; it had variations in elemental abundances, discontinuities in magnetic field and viscosity, all sorts of things that might constitute ‘good’ feeding and ‘bad’ feeding to a dragon. Or weather. Or something else completely alien to her."Where have they all gone?" she occasionally muttered until not even Papa responded. Stearn and Devereaux left for an hour, then returned, her hair damp as if from a shower, his hair covered by a Havana Marlins' baseball cap twisted sideways. After another hour, they left again. Fisher stayed with her the whole time, saying little, working at a console by the couchbeast. That made her feel good that he trusted her powers of perception, and that he wanted to stay close. When she was a girl, she had Polaroid corneas that let her watch the sun’s -- Tau Ceti's -- reflection in the dancing waters around the Pouting Archipelago where she grew up. On several occasions she watched them for hours, the sizzling light more living electricity than reflection. Below were the shallows and the deep, dim background supporting the electricity. She would watch until the patterns seemed sensible to her, until her mind reached a state in which she imagined how to reassemble the motions of the water into all the disturbances that had caused it, from the gravitational tug of the moons and sun, to the happy splashing of a newborn being carried by his mother from an exclusive birthing lagoon, to the ponderous undulations of a pack of trench-dwelling leviathans. All the information rested there in the superposition of the dancing waves, impossible to recover in a computational Hubble time, impossible to recover given the chaos living in such systems. But the girl Lena would watch until her mind twisted the electricity into shapes, things, scenes, that revealed something she believed to be True. Probably none of it had been real, but she fancied that it had trained her to assemble patterns better than that of the average person and perceptual tests that had landed her in the Captain's chair had confirmed her notion. She believed she had learned from the things she had seen, true or not. Once in those waves she had seen the quiet struggle of a monkey bird caught in the stringy maw of a vampire weed, the bird bobbing on the surface, surprised as the seaweed tangled in its talons and began to sink, pulling it down to drown before being consumed. Just as the bird could not breathe, neither did Fang breathe, nor blink, and she stayed with the bird through the long minute to the end, finally gasping with release when the scene came to its inevitable conclusion and the fish’s tendrils slid down the tiny throat to invade the flesh through the soft tissues of the alveoli. Her imagination, she was sure years later, but she could recall just how those last bubbles had rolled out of the monkey bird’s mouth. Another time she had seen the kind face of a bearded man whose eyes twinkled like stars. It was a wise, living face that held all the secrets of the world, until suddenly he winked at her and vanished into a million streaks of light, nothing but the falling wave crests. A timeless instant of superposition there, gone in a flash. She remembered thinking, So that was God. He looks happy for being dead.... Only a few of the old religions had survived the biological revolutions of the twenty-second and twenty-third centuries. Judaism crept along steady as ever, and many Buddhists saw little difference after the genetic age. Widespread Christian and Islam-based faiths had the most to lose, their threat of hell gone and their promise of heaven undermined: they fought like devils. First came the battles about changing the human genome, the "made in God’s image" thing -- man turned out to be a better designer than God, finally, in the end. The religious leadership made their positions clear, and dug trenches that stalled many avenues of research for decades, or more. Off-world colonies, independent by virtue of distance, exploited the niche and flourished by peddling immortality. The next battle shattered faiths and toppled governments. When everyone stared into the abyss, few chose the promised afterlife to the demonstrable benefits of the immortality option. The faithful died out, recruiting fewer and fewer in subsequent generations. What organized religions remained were more philosophical and ethical systems than anything relying on the supernatural. Few doubted that man had become his own god. Still, there was questing for meaning, perhaps more desperately than ever, but tempered with the patience of an unending future stretching ahead. Fang's grandfather had led a quiet life of Taoism until the universe had swallowed him. She had seen the face in the waves after that, and had somehow felt less alone afterward, although now she discounted that she’d seen anything but the hallucination of a suggestible young mind. The human mind found patterns in everything, faces in everything. It was a survival advantage selected for, even if it was not perfect. Better to jump at nothing sometimes than miss the one time something really was there. Surprising the shy and easily startled cats on board was a regular reminder of this trait. Today something in her mind clicked as she watched the disk, the way that a ship schematic could sometimes appear an unintelligible tangle of colored vectors before crystallizing into a three-dimensional vessel full of balanced form and directed purpose."My god," she said. Dragons were everywhere. They flitted deep in the disk, showing starry flashes of themselves, their laser signatures. The colors shifted hues for some unknown dragon reason, but she could follow them as part of a pattern. She made out individuals with more difficulty, but she could do it. They would fade deep below, but they would emerge high enough in the photosphere to flash every thirty seconds or so. Like a lights on a silvery Christmas tree, the dragons made the disk their own."What is it?" Fisher asked abruptly, his face before her face, breaking the spell. Fang stood, gently pushing him out of her view. She looked around, blinking, trying to recapture that peculiar mental state she had achieved. Her head bobbed around, bird-like, as fear welled up her throat, fear that she had lost the vision. But then the dragons’ disk was there around her once more. She smiled, holding her hands out as if to catch falling snow, and spun slowly. "I can see them, Samuel. The dragons. There are so many of them. So many. My god, it’s full of dragons." Fisher was silent for a moment, then he grunted. "I can’t see them. How can you see them when I can’t see them.""Yes," Papa echoed. "My thoughts exactly." To Fang it was like hunting the lion, seeing through the lion’s eyes, feeling its hate. The dragons had heard the explosions, fled the shockwaves. They knew that something novel, something dangerous, had entered their world. They were in a tizzy."I see flashes in the fire," Fang explained. "Sparks if you will, except the sparks are not random. They’re dragon sparks. You have to defocus, see as much of the disk at once as you can, and let your brain sort the signal from the noise." Another pause, and then Fisher said, "I think all the Alert has got you hallucinating. Before we drag everyone back here, let’s see if Papa can verify this." Fang let her eyes dance over the disk, pleased at the way the patterns were taking root in her awareness, gaining complexity, richness. Why the patterns? Feeding? Territories? Or just a trick of the mind? She tried to find one string and follow it, like trying to listen to just one note from one clarinet in a thousand symphonies. What could she point out to Papa that he could follow? She shifted through the patterns, shifted from pattern to individual spark, as best she could, looking for something to point at. She was afraid that if Papa narrowed the display to a small area she would lose the spark without the reference of the pattern."We're sorry, daughter. We still don’t see anything.""They’re all right there, damn it!" Fang reined in her voice to keep out the shriek of frustration. She recalled the few times she had been the first person she knew with a new body modification. The very few times. The only remarkable time, to her anyway, was during her teen-age experimental phase when she had done the daring thing, to her anyway, of adding fairy wings. They were fragile-looking, but tensile-steel strong, and what no one else knew looking at her was that she could feel distant lightning through their antenna action. Not the light flashes, but the distant radio bursts. She would stand on the beach and her playmates would grow bored with the waves and leave, but she’d stay to watch the beautiful, invisible storm reflected off the ionosphere that they could not see. Sparks, so many sparks. Then, as she shifted to a string of dark olive -- although all were mere shades of fire, the dragon revealed itself to her, a bulb that didn't flash. A dark wiggling ball that bobbed in the curls. Fang locked on, twisted her body, and shot an a finger out, arrow straight. "There," she said. "Look there, Papa.""We have it," Papa said."Where?" asked Fisher. "Where?" The disk warped around them as the Karamojo’s instruments focused on the area Fang had pointed out. After the image had been contrast-filtered, piped through a pseudo-color sieve, and sharpened with a pixon algorithm, the dragon flashed as clear and brilliant as a diamond. Papa added charts, scales, and explanatory captions in bright yellow type that stood out well against the reds of the disk and the greens and purples of the dragon. None of the colors were true, more like cartoons to draw out the subtle hues of a blazing white oven with too many photons of every energy."This dragon isn't like the one spotted by the probe, even allowing for the poor resolution, nor like the vast majority of the dragons we flushed from the disk," Fisher said after a long moment. Fang was sure he was right, but she hadn’t paid the kind of attention to them that Fisher had. She wasn’t yet sure what he meant. "Take us closer," she ordered. "Maintain a position fifty kilometers up." Her weight shifted with acceleration, and she absent-mindedly sat down in her fighting chair, which had noticed her mood and was now growling low and steady. The dragon image stayed in the same dimensions, filling an entire wall of the bridge, but the details sharpened as they approached, but only so far. The hot plasma made the dragon shimmer like a mirage, occasionally wrapping tongues around the creature as if tasting it. As their orbit approached closer to the disk mid-plane, the gravity lessened. It remained high, however, only a twenty percent decrease; the disk flared to over a thousand kilometers thick at their current radial distance this far out from the primary. From the scale Papa had superimposed, she deduced that the serpentine form was nearly two kilometers from tip to tail, but it rolled in and out of a tight corkscrew, making the length somewhat difficult to judge. The creature was segmented, but not with the anneliedian segments of earthworms and rattlesnake tails, but rather interlocking and subtley asymmetric S-shapes that stacked diagonally, allowing the smooth twists that appeared so unnatural to her. The segments changed color among different shades of green, bluer then redder, from tip to tail and back again. The ‘head’ and ‘tail’ were distinguishable. The head flared out into a great leviathan mouth, spiked with scintillating, spherically symmetric mustaches from which lightning arced back, swirling around the segments, back to the distant tail. And then, regarding the tail, she knew what it was that Fisher had immediately noted: the tail sported a round bulb, some dozen meters across. The dragon was swimming rapidly upstream, keeping a fixed distance relative to the hotspot. Where was it going? Was it shedding its skin, that bulb at the end? A living seed, like the bulb of a plant the shape resembled? A feature of gender? Or was it merely a subspecies, a rattledragon?"Papa, could you please ask the rest of the crew to join us?" Fang asked."We have already done so, daughter.""Thank you." She was going to do this right this time. No mistakes. She was captain, and didn't have anything to prove by wading in, guns ablaze, and bringing home the trophy. She realized that now, that she didn't have to do things Papa’s way. Her way would yield the same end result, but she would use the finesse that was her strength. Act she would, but with forethought, forearmed with hard data. Fisher would approve, she was sure. Fisher was talking to himself at the moment. "That rear appendage...maybe that is what keeps this one so near the surface, not diving so deep and vanishing like the others. What could its purpose be? If it limits the dragon’s range, why have it? Certainly the creature must endure the dwarf novae, so under these quiescent conditions it ought to be cold, if anything. It’s odd." Fang's grandfather had told her stories of Chinese dragons that lived in the skies of Earth. They would play with a ball, or a pearl, that represented thunder, and this was what caused the rain to fall. Stearn and Devereaux arrived on the bridge, hand in hand. Their hands dropped, forgotten, when they spied the dragon. Stearn jumped up and down -- still seeming too fast in the higher than normal gravity -- and crowed, "Yeah yeah yeah, we got one, we got one!" Devereaux was more subdued, but still managed to rapid-fire shoot a four or five highly technical questions at Fisher. Fang tried to follow, but it was much more boring than the dragon. Still, her attention had wandered and the first tendrils of a headache told her how tired she was from the concerted effort of the previous hours. She secreted analgesic into her bloodstream -- that basic and useful a bodmod she did permit herself. Loud, metallic footsteps rang in the corridor. Henderson? Where had he been, anyway? She hadn’t seen him in hours. A shiny bronze giant stepped onto the bridge, drawing even Fisher’s attention. Henderson, if that really was him, now stood nearly three meters tall, head just below the ceiling, and appeared to be a perfectly proportioned statue with sculpted muscles and hard, fixed curls of hair. His face was a handsome mask, but without animation. An ostentatious metal penis hung down between his legs, unswinging despite its length. The knees and elbows bent as he walked, but maintained a firm metal cast. It was like watching mercury flow. Henderson’s head titled down to look upon the projected dragon. "So you found one." His lips barely moved, revealing only a hollow darkness from which issued a thunderous base."You know," Stearn said, "That is positively holy.""Thank you," said the giant, "but please don't let me distract you.""No problem," Devereaux said. "You’re not quite ready for godhood." Henderson said nothing, and showed no change of expression. Fang had seen much more outrageous bodies. This one was tame, but still, she had to admit that Henderson had a presence. Not a captain’s presence, mind you, but a presence nonetheless. She pulled herself straight up and squeezed the arms of the fighting chair. "Samuel, are you getting useful data from this vantage?""Yes," he said. "But the beast is quiescent, like the disk.""In other words," Devereaux added with her head inclined toward Stearn, "we aren’t learning anything new about its capabilities or limits.""I followed," Stearn said. They sat watching the dragon...graze. That was the word that came to Fang's mind: graze. How she could associate such a pastoral term with this inferno, she wasn’t sure, but that was what the behavior felt like to her. It’s the scale of the waves here, she thought. The rarefied plasma, the size, everything is in slow motion. An hour passed. The dragon continued its meanderings, paying the Karamojo little heed. En masse, the dragon's had seemed in a tizzy to her earlier. Had she been mistaken? This creature was far from tizzy state. Finally even Fisher seemed a bored. Still, Fang hesitated, remembering what had happened before. The others cast her occasional glances. They were wondering when she would give the word to do something, anything, she knew. Fang caught Fisher in a glance and they locked eyes. His eyes were somehow wrong, like something furtive hid in the shadows within, and he broke off quickly. This was dragging on too long. He would have blown up at her if not for their recent reconciliation holding him back. She knew then that it was time for action. Careful action, but sure action."Mr. Stearn, I noticed in your report that all the shuttles had been refitted to meet Dr. Fisher’s specifications. I believe it is time for a field test under full power.""Captain?" Stearn asked."Papa has been playing some war games between the refitted shuttles and Fisher’s dragon model. Have you seen anything here to change your plan of attack?""No, daughter. We ought to be able to bag this dragon in no time." Fang looked to Fisher who solidly met her eyes this time, a tiny smile playing on his lips. He nodded, imperceptibly. Her face blazed suddenly, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears."Cast the nets," Fang ordered. Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learnt. --Izaak Walton Papa hears her say, "Cast the nets," noting the unintended pun as he does just that. Like adrenaline surging through his blood, his expert system neural nets multiply through downloads into the shuttles. Other aspects of himself launch the tiny armada. Twenty-five shuttles -- skiffs, he prefers -- drop from the Karamojo and fire braking thrusts to rendezvous with the disk surface smoothly and holding pattern. The gravity at the disk surface is smaller but not negligible. Magnetic forces help buoy the skiffs from sinking into the superheated plasma that would eventually melt even their hardened structures. The hardening will hold at the surface for a time."Papa, can you pipe local sensor feeds from the shuttles into a comprehensible display for us?" Fang requests."Of course." Papa splits the image on the bridge's wrap around. The top retains their bird's eye view of the action unfolding, processed and enhanced for maximum contrast. The bottom section shows a similarly processed optical view from the central skiff located at the rear of a forward-facing vee pattern. Icons with flashing telemetry indicate the positions of the other skiffs along with miniature optical views from each. Upward beamed communication lasers provide Papa with all the data. Papa beams back updates to all the skiffs and coordinates their movements. The twenty-five subnodes know where they are and know where the dragon awaits. The vee relaxes into a crescent that moves to encircle the beast. Papa instructs the skiffs to power up their currents and build the strength of their magnetic fields. Surface drag and other interactions with the disk cause the skiffs to develop sluggishness in excess of their predictions."Real thing is different than practice, isn't it big guy?" says Stearn. The star dragon moves. There is a suddenness to its motions that indicates it recognizes something unusual in its immediate environment. The creature has not tried to move away from the approaching skiffs, rather it has begun to circle, rapidly. Increased Zeeman-splitting means increases in the magnetic field strength around it and Papa overlays a magnetogram in vivid purples on top of the optical scenes."Is it preparing to rocket?" asks Fisher. "We did not see any dragons start their rocketing before. Papa, watch for any kind of curling into the compact structure the rocketers had, OK?""Absolutely." Fang says, "It doesn't look like it's trying to rocket. It just looks like it's throwing a fit of some sort." The dragon swam in circles, twisting itself and its magnetic fields in veritable knots. The disk plasma churned, flowing angrily up and along the field lines. The dragon dives -- not completely nor deeply -- and comes back up with geysers of plasma. A firespout grows around the creature, a squall in the sea of fire to greet the approaching invaders."Increasing static leading to failure in local parity checks," Papa tells them. "The shuttles are assigning local communications to secondary status. We're running the show from up here and taking the time-lag hit.""What's that?" Henderson asks. Devereaux answers. "Can't beat Einstein. Light travel time between here and there builds in a lag that we can't beat. If we want the shuttles to act in a coordinated fashion they have to go through us. And we really need them to act in concert. No three shuttles alone can trap the dragon, and it's going to take more than four I'd bet.""Oh come on," Stearn says, "we're not far away at all. The lag must be tiny.""You want to play quick draw with me with an extra lag?" Devereaux challenges. "Especially if I can think faster than you to start with?""That true, Fish?" Stearn asks."Yes, I believe so. You see, I don’t think they use blood or chemicals to mediate thought in any way and the current speeds must be significantly greater than human neurons use." Papa says nothing here, knowing that his connections are also faster than human. His brains use four different technologies, with only his human personality relying on human neural structures. He also has access to Fisher's dragon models where the implications of the observed e-m field change timescale backs up Fisher's statement and moreover indicates quicker processes than than his own technologies. The skiffs shoot forward into the maelstrom. The differential disk rotation makes it difficult for them to remain in position relative to one another, and the dragon-induced disturbance doesn't help. The central skiff image becomes impressive as the surface of the disk begins to rise into a towering funnel of fire. Glimpses of the dragon itself appear near the base."Thar she coils," says Stearn. No one laughs. The business is serious, automated, and uncertain. Waves akin to those of an Earthly sea emanate from the fire spout, which intermittently flares with light and heat released from magnetic reconnections. Energy is building there, but is it building faster than the net drawing close? On the bottom display a clearer look. A great mass breaks from the choppy disk, rising in an arc. The segments slides forward as if the serpent is flying out of the disk. Plasma flows with it, only slowly trailing back along the disk fields, like water pouring unendingly from a high waterfall. The star dragon is a living Niagra. The coil then sinks, slowly, smoothly, its motions limited by its sheer scale. It is a great beast."The shuttles are nearly there," says Fang. Indeed they bare down on the spot, adjusting their velocities and approach vectors in an ever increasing flood of communications to ensure that they are in the correct locations at the correct times with the correct fields. The outermost shuttles swing out and bolt ahead, extra chemical thrust launching them into space over the disk. They are the pincers and are responsible for closing the magnetic bottle. On the bottom display there is no longer a distinct disk and a distinct sky. The dragon's corkscrews churn the local field lines into a froth and the plasma flies wildly along them. Visibilities diminish in nearly all wavebands, making sure dragon sightings increasingly rare despite the lessening distance. Does it work both ways? Is the dragon having difficulty spotting the skiffs? Will it dive out of sight an escape amidst the artificial storm it has created? Papa maintains communications, adjusting the formation according to probabilities he is constantly updating on the fly. Already with new data he has busted Fisher's dragon model, slightly, and they are not yet fully engaged. But nearly..."Casting the net," Papa informs Fang. A moving electric charge induces a magnetic field. Electrically chanrged tend to move along magnetic field lines. Plasmas are seas of charged particles. This problem required an engineering approach rather than a closed-form analytical solution impossible to calculate on the fly, so redundancy and power were the order of the hour. The solution was brute force: create a dense assemblage of converging field lines with too much power for a charged dragon to break through -- field lines that could be manipulated into a moving cage. The skiffs build the field around the dragon, struggling against the plasma that surges with them, dragging it with them rather than the other way around. The fields stretch, pull, jerk, sometimes recombining in energetic flashes, as the net is constructed. Like great invisble bungi cords they jerk back and forth, then reach deeper as the power cycles higher. If they can box in the serpent first, they can pull in the far ends opposite the creature, drawing the net closed. Every spiraling course would draw it along the lines, into the denser parts of the net where the serpent would be tangled, constricted, and ultimately forced back. Trapped like a djinni in a bottle, the skiffs in locked formation can then tow their catch back to the safety of the Karamojo. Such is the plan."There they go," says Stearn. The generators are powering up to maximum and the fields are making headway deeper into the plasma of the disk under where the dragon continues its maelstrom. The feed from shuttle seventeen, starboard of the primary view, suddenly changes. Papa shifts the display to that feed so they can see the action. A great shaft pierces the black sky, loops, and dives back. The trilateral head of the dragon is clear as it splays open into three petals, each adorned with a sparkling iridescent jewel, each an eye. Lightning sprays from the mouth along fine extended whiskers arrayed like antennae. Magnetograms indicate the dragon has pulled fields along with it. As they watch the fields build, merge, and explode in recombination: lightning and thunder of the disk."What was that?" asks Henderson."The dragon is attacking the net, weakening critical points before they can tighten," Fisher replies. Papa says nothing. It is a good hypothesis. The view from shuttle seventeen rocks despite the anti-jitter algorithms. A firey tsunami has crashed into it -- the wake of the dragon's descent back into the disk. The machine is damaged and breaks out of the pattern to return to the Karamojo. Still, they have secured a close-up view of the beast from its triangular head to the glowing onion-shaped bulb on its trailing end."Hmm," says Fang. "It looks like that little maneuver has gotten it past the net region. It's in the clear for the moment.""Just for the moment," responds Papa. The simulated dragons in practice had not gotten this far. So, a challenge. That was fine, this was now sport. Papa squirts an updated plan to his skiffs, ordering them to shift formation to cover the escape vector. "Here, look here!" The view now comes from shuttle nineteen, again with a bobbing motion too quick and uneven to be automatically corrected. Papa says, "She's tangled in the field between nineteen and twenty one. Seven and eighteen are converging to strengthen the net. She won't have an easy dive this time.""Good," says Fang. The dance of the hunt is on. It is a fine feeling. The dragon twists its course to head downstream, accelerating."Swim good and hard," says Fang. "Swim deep, swim, swim, and we'll still be here after you." Before Fang even finishes speaking, the dragon turns abruptly to twist back upstream. Its own fields are high and it brings a wave before it, a spout to meet its pursuers."Reducing field strengths," says Papa."No," says Fang."We must," says Papa, "or else the plasma will be channeled into the shuttles and wipe them out." Even so, the reduced field strength is too much, too late. The plasma does not break up into a spray as it approaches. It is tangled, frozen is the technical term, caught in the fields coming upon them as part of the dragon's wash. The shuttles cannot reduce power sufficiently fast. Induction resists. The coverging field lines pull them together. Papa has the electromagnetic fields and their time derivatives, the phase space of the serpent and the skiffs, and their projected evolution. He has commands to issue, and the lag time to their implementation. He has not time left to actually think about the optimal course of action and his subnodes' independent-action algorithms in practice appear inadequate. He sends them escape trajectories. The magnetic wave crests, carrying its super-heated plasma. The converging shuttles shift powers to the icy cores of their superconducting shells that protect the sub-brains and repell external magnetic fields. Such a defensive posture is insufficient with the star dragon itself pushing the wave. Papa's bird's eye view picks out the beast surfing the plasma flowing down upong the shuttles. Skiff is indeed a better word, since it conveys smallness. A radio burst erupts from the dragon. It is more powerful in the plane of the disk that upward toward the Karamojo. Stearn is looking in the right direction to see the signal on the monitor spike and says, "I think that's a roar of triumph." Papa concurs and orders core dumps to be beamed out and in a cascading pattern outward from the dragon. The data will prove useful even if the skiffs do not escape."Look at that, will you?" Fisher says. The dragon is riding its wave, a super heated bulge pushed along by the twisting magnetic fields. Of the four central shuttles, three are clearly out of the way. The fourth, shuttle nineteen, does indeed appear to be a skiff before a tidal wave of flame. The wave is not supersonic, and the shuttle rises with the approaching material. It moves, or tries to move, but the wave is directed and works against its best efforts. The dragon's great trilateral heat splits its maw to swallow nineteen. The video feed surrounding the bottom half of the fly bridge shows the abyss of the beast's throat and those waving, charged antennae. The picture breaks up into static and Papa drops the top view to full screen so they can watch the shuttle vanish into the dragon and the dragon vanish with its wave. There is one final radio burst as the disk's wicked differential rotation shears smooth the disturbance. The dragon reappears, far from the retreating shuttles, and resumes its business.# Glorious, Fisher thought, feeling himself warming with the dragon’s display. He snorted through flared nostrils, holding his flushed face still. It would not be politic to show his current feelings here on the bridge. To confirm this thought, he flicked his gaze toward Fang's ashen features. Caught in a stoop half-standing, half-sitting, her white-knuckled fingers gripped her chairbeast so tightly the creature whimpered. "Damn," she whispered. "What happened, Papa?" A ghost-image of Papa's visage overlaid the wraparound disk. It gave Fisher the unfortunate impression of a man on fire. "One shuttle lost, one crippled. We're still processing the reports. In the meantime, we’ll regroup and get back on the hunt.""No!" Fang said, too fast. "Bring them back in, all of them. For now. We need to analyze the new data.""Think we can bag it," Papa persisted. "That was a sucker punch, that’s all." Fang blinked slowly, and when she opened her eyes, she was looking at Fisher. He gave her a nearly imperceptible nod. She stood all the way upright, squared her shoulders, and ordered, "Bring the shuttles back, Papa.""Aye aye, Captain," he said. Was that a pout in his voice? Stearn and Devereaux were whispering about something, huddled together over a picture tank. Dark, knowing twins. Light from the tank reflected as a glare on their sweaty features. Fisher took a step closer. What could they find so engaging with all this going on?"That isn’t going to work, love," Stearn said through gritted teeth. He held his eyes wide open and unblinking as if he had transparent eyelids. He probably did. "You’re mine!" Devereaux said nothing, her eyes bulging slightly with the increased magnification she was using, her face a mask of concentration. Fisher approached and looked into the tank. Like a barbecue pit, the tank cradled a glow, and in that glow moved tiny shapes...squatting down so that his eyes just peeked over the edge, he made out an armada of tiny green bugs swarming around a noodle. Red lines as fine as hairs connected the flitting bugs. The noodle slid between the red hairs."What -- ?" Fisher started to say when Stearn cut him off with a bark. Luckily his noise filters cut the decibels down to something tolerable. Some bodmods were essential enough to make the time to obtain. That one had saved him from months of distraction. Fisher turned to Devereaux for understanding. Although a hummingbird smile hovered on her lips, the images before her completely held her attention. Stearn and Devereaux both sat hunched over, their shoulders elevated. Then he noticed their hands, which were wrapped in amoebae interfaces and accepting manual input. Fisher winced -- they were playing a damn game. "I’m not surprised to see Stearn goofing off, but et tu, Dr. Devereaux?" Stearn’s upper lip crawled unevenly up his teeth into a lopsided grin. "We're both working a lot harder than you are, Dr. Fisher." He grunted and jerked his hands. "Mine," he said to Devereaux."We’re running," Devereaux paused for a long moment while her hands moved in earnest, "interactive models of the dragon hunt." Green bugs and noodles, of course it was the dragon hunt. He blinked away his misunderstanding and looked at their game again with magnified vision. After a moment, he flashed on the real thing in his mind’s eye, which he preferred immensely to the noodle abstraction. "But Papa did that, didn’t he? The star dragon just turned out to exceed his expectations." Magnificently, he added to himself."Ha," Stearn said. "You ever play a game against Papa? I mean a real game with rules and limitations, but with infinite room for creativity?""Of course. I have him run simulations all the -- ""A game, man!""No.""Well, let me tell you something." Stearn seemed as focused on the tank as ever, his eyes big and unblinking, his hands dancing in the amoebae, but his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. As if that would matter to Papa. "The Old Man talks a bigger game than he plays. He’s, I don’t know, mechanical. Stomps you the first few hundred times, then you start getting him. A game here, a game there, then more regularly. I mean, he’s got a personality and everything, but it’s a little more rigid than human. A little too predictable.""Papa lacks the desperation to survive that evolution drives into every fiber of your being," Devereaux said. "He fakes it well, but you can find it if you look hard enough.""In games?" Fisher asked."Absolutely," Stearn said. "What life’s all about. Games are survival practice. We’re bred for it. Evolution is just game theory in action. Hey there, Syl, just ‘cause I’m talking to the man here doesn’t mean you can sneak out so easily. Better try harder." Sylvia said nothing, but her hands moved quickly indeed. Fisher peered closer. "We just learned a tremendous amount about the dragons. You need to incorporate that into your simulation." Stearn stopped biting his extended tongue and said, "We're probably four iterations behind your current model. Why not lend us a hand and analyze the new stuff and give us something realistic?" He was going to do that anyway, he'd already decided, but he told Stearn that that was a fine idea."Samuel?" Fang called across the bridge. "Would you come with me, please?""Go on, man," Stearn said. "We’ll work up some real strategies for the hunt. You make sure she’s ready to make the hard decisions. I think we’ll have some. Those dragons got a healthy sense of self-preservation. They are Alive with a capital ‘A.’" Maybe he should reevaluate Stearn...or Devereaux, rather. He was probably just repeating what she’d said. She was the brains of the couple, it was clear. Well, except for maybe when it came to games, he granted. Stearn practiced those often enough. Fisher stood up, turned, and walked into a wall."Excuse me," Henderson said down to him. "I was just watching.""Um, right." Fisher said, ducking around the giant. The biotechnician was another one to consider after his entrance today. Why the sudden change? What did he know? Was he a wild card to be watched himself? Lord, he longed to focus on only his beloved dragon once again. The dragons were right out there. With all the technology at their disposal, they should be able to reach out and just pluck one off the proverbial tree of knowledge, and bite deep. But he had already waited so long, the giddy height of this last act could stretch out to infinity, and perhaps like the moment before orgasm this would be better if prolonged. Even so, playing the crew felt confusing and unrewarding today. Still, he had to do it to make sure things got done right. Or at least not too wrong. Plenty of time to make sure. The disk was as stable as it ever got, and they were learning more every minute about this dragon, which still showed no signs of diving deep. Now, why was that?"Samuel, are you coming?" Fang's voice stirred him from his reverie. Blinking away the stare at the display he’d fallen into, he asked, "Where to, Lena? Need to unwind? Need to spar?" He bent his head and put up his "dukes," as she'd called them."No," she said, turning to exit the bridge. Shrugging, Fisher followed. He was in ‘good boy’ mode -- he could do anything for the dragon, and he was proving it to himself. He should be working on the problem directly, adding the new data to his models, and he would as soon as Fang finished with him. Even Stearn appeared to be working on the problem directly at the moment. But after their failures in these initial dragon encounters, he dared not underestimate the importance of supporting Fang properly. Fang walked quickly, her boots thudding into the defenseless ruglings with an authority that Fisher found appealing. Fisher once again trailed behind and admired the way her rear bounced to the rhythm of her steps. He had neglected his own needs too much, perhaps, and maybe in supporting Fang he would support himself. Some of his best ideas came at unexpected moments when the conscious mind fell under the influence of primitive drives. Maybe it wasn’t too late to have it all. But he stopped himself from pursuing that thought. So far they had nothing but a few scraps of data on the star dragons...and probably had already left thousands of corpses. Or rather, she had. Life was too cheap in this century -- that century they had come from, rather -- even the most remarkable life. Life had become technology and evolution swept away the less fit faster than ever, punctuated equilibrium timed to economic cycles. In the century they would return to would things be any different? He feared not. He feared they would be worse. He looked at Fang, at her fine body, as she strode along the corridor so self-assuredly in her only slightly wrinkled uniform. He stumbled along, his steps short and fast with the extra weight, feeling awkward and uncertain. Was their failure so far her fault? Or the fault of the times they came from that guided her choices? Or had the Biolathe brain for its own arcane reasons given her special instructions? Enough. He didn’t have to think conspiracy every second...but what if he missed something he could have discovered with a little more effort? Perhaps right now he should pursue every thought as far as he could, lest he risk missing something. If he missed something, it would be a tragedy. A year and a thousand, wasted. Playing games, and thinking everyone else was playing games, was difficult. Single-minded obsession so much easier! Fang vanished inside her cabin, leaving the portal wide open in welcome. When he rounded the corner, she was already prone on the bed, her boots kicked off, her rump inviting him for a good life-affirming rut. He smiled at that thought and, after closing the portal, padded forward. Fang didn’t stir. Fisher dug his toes into his heels and pried off his own streakers. He came to the edge of the baffled waterbed and climbed on like a hunting beast. He was still smiling. Fang lay there motionless, her breathing slow, steady, and deep. Fisher reached out, intending to snake his hand around to cup her breast, and stopped. This was what he wanted, but all his wants right now had to be subverted to reach his goals. To do that, he intended now to make Fang feel strong. Secure. What would do that? He moved his hand. He wrapped his fingers around her shoulder, rubbing its ball in the palm of his hand. He slid his body closer so that his arm rested along her side and his chest pressed against her back. He nuzzled her neck, gently. He flared his nostrils and sucked in air, smelled her sweat. It didn’t excite him. Rather, in his current mind, he perceived a sourness in the smell that hinted at fatigue poisons and stress. Fang made a small noise that came from deep in her throat, a noise halfway between grunt and hum. She didn't otherwise stir. Of course she was bone tired. Hadn’t she been watching the disk for hours while sitting perched on the edge of her chair like some hungry raptor desperate for a meal? He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, except to be pleased that she was making every effort to make the mission a success. He’d been working, too, after all. This is hard, paying attention to everyone else, he thought for the thousandth time. Fisher pressed his fingers into her skin, massaging her shoulder. Fang rolled onto her stomach, and Fisher sat up and began to give her a back rub. Then, inspired, he recalled the hardchip routines that Atsuko had asked him to install fifty years -- three hundred years -- ago. They still sat unused in his motor control biochip. He should have used them before, that night he'd given the extended back rub. Tonight would be easier work, on his hands anyway. He thought the command activating the chip, with his eye scrolled down the options, and activated Shiatsu! Under their own volition, his hands danced a quickstep across Fang's back. Fang made a sound of surprise, a happy sound if he intuited right, followed by a low, deep groan. "Yes," she whispered. "Do that." Somehow she managed to fall asleep in just a few minutes despite the massage. Fisher let the program run through its full hour duration, damning and praising Atsuko both in random moments. His unsatisfied erection lasted the whole time.# Stearn stepped carefully through the portal into Fisher's cabin. He hadn't been inside the place in something like a year and just being there still felt taboo even though he had been invited. Sylvia didn't look any more comfortable than he felt. Stearn kept his eyes moving and had the sensation of being in one of those games where the zombie-monsters are lurking around every corner. At least he'd turned the flames way down so they were just like funky, warm ruglings."I apologize for my tardiness. I had things to attend to," Fisher said. Stearn grinned despite his uneasiness. He knew at least some of the things."You said you'd updated your model and that we needed it," Sylvia said. "You work fast." Fisher smiled, but it looked forced. "As fast as I can. Really, I got lucky that some of my previous guesses were close to right. Then it was a relatively simple matter of making adjustments based on the new data." Lucky, yeah. This guy was funny after all."Well, let's see it," Sylvia said."Very well," Fisher said, then gave Papa a simulation number to access. The flames rose up in the middle of the room with a twisting star dragon moving among them. Stearn realized then what he should have realized a long time ago. Fisher had really just turned his cabin into a giant picture tank and the flames were in all likelihood not real at all. They were virtual, with a little help from some heaters and scent-dispensers. The guy was sneaky. He liked that. The three waded hip-deep through the roiling disk to the dragon. This was really cool. The projected dragon was three-dimensional and visible in fine detail. No where was the surface of the creature smooth -- there were tiny ridges and curves and twists covering every segment, easily seen despite the shifting glowing hue. Stearn squinted, seeing detail on even smaller scales. Neat! And it reminded him of something."All right then," Fisher said. "Welcome to Star Dragon Anatomy 101." Oh please, thought Stearn, not a boring lecture!"Just hit the highlights," Sylvia said. "We need to get to work on strategy development as fast as possible." He really loved that woman. Fisher nodded and the started pointing to the various dragon features as he described them. "This model is specific now to the dragon we have been tracking. You can see the ball at the end of its tail. The rest of the animal appears consistent with the range of properties we saw during the swarm. First, the head and the eyes. The multi-facets probably are involved in providing an extended wavelength range to high energies -- extreme ultraviolet and even X-rays. Three eyes makes a lot of sense in this environment. We have two eyes and mostly respond to events in a plane before us. We have to look up or look down. The dragon can keep an eye on the sky and much of the bowl of the disk which is probably handy for spotting a developing outburst.""I'm not getting a mind-mod to have trinocular vision," Sylvia said. "Other wavelengths can be easily handled by stretching a color palette, but I'll still need to look up and look down." Stearn said, "I got that covered. There's a video game interface for a space-based shooter in zero-gee that does it really well.""Fine then. We'll steal that." Fisher went on. "The eyes are probably not the most important sensory apparatus on the head. The assortment of whiskers around the mouth can be used to broadcast and receive radio waves at a variety of frequencies. In conjunction with the surface circulatory system they should also be good at seeing the electro-magnetic fields in the area.""Figured as much," Sylvia said. "How about movement?""The twists let it slide along the field lines, and the clever twists -- see there," Fisher pointed as the model did a reverse twist in the middle of its long body," initiate shifts to other field lines. There's a surface circulatory system that moves charge around to facilitate movements. Think about it like a complex integrated electronic circuit with strategically placed capacitors and inductors, transformers, rectifiers, and both AC and DC regions. The charge can be circulated to produce an impressively strong magnetic field of the dragon's own that can actively shield it from particle storms, just like the van Allen belts around the Earth. They probably use it during outbursts and if we could see them at all against the disk they'd look like ball lightning with shimmering auroras.""You haven't gotten to the best part yet," Stearn said."Oh yes, the rocketing." Fisher shrugged. "This one can't, not with the ball on the end. I've checked the fields." Stearn said, "Strip it off, show us anyway.""Sure." He issued some commands to Papa. The ball vanished and the dragon began to coil. "See how the segments stack up in this new plane? The asymmetric pieces and their asymmetric surfaces match up just right. Plasma directed into these new super coils can be tightly confined and fusion can be induced. The plasma in the interior cavity can then be heated and expelled for propulsion." The dragon rocketed above the disk."I knew it," said Stearn. "It looks just like our magnetic fusion reactors which tossed out symmetry centuries ago. They're only locally quasi-symmetric and confine plasma along a distorted helix and thus reducing collisional diffusion effects. The particle trajectories remain close to magnetic surfaces as long as there is one ignorable coordinate, which does not require circular symmetry if you think about it, and an approximate helical symmetry is plenty to do the job. Got to have the structures perfectly shaped though, on millimeter scales." Stearn realized that both Fisher and Sylvia were staring at him. Sylvia's mouth even hung open. "What?" he asked. "Fusion confinement has such weird-looking solutions of course I'm an expert on them!""Of course you are," Fisher said. "Well, the other essential item you must incorporate into your simulation is heating-cooling balance. That places a lot of constraints on the observed behavior. The laser action appears to be as automatic as sweating: heating charges capacitors which pump the populations as certain voltages are reached. I haven't figured out all the materials. Okay, hardly any of the materials, but the global conservation laws must be met.""That will have to be good enough for us," said Sylvia. "Papa, can you hook this model into the simulation we're building? The model with the ball on its tail?""Absolutely," Papa said."There's more," said Fisher."Anything that will affect perceptions that you're confident about?""Not if you put it that way." Stearn kept watching the rocketing dragon. It was very cool to watch. He was a little disappointed that the fusion power seemed to be the same that they'd developed. It did occur to him that the solutions were very difficult to find and required very powerful numerical techniques. How could nature have found them? This wasn't the kind of thing you stumbled over even with a Hubble time worth of chimpanzees typing on keyboards."Come on, Phil," Sylvia said. "Time to hunt me down like a dragon."# In her quarters, Devereaux and Stearn sat cross-legged on plush ruglings simulating forest loam. It was dusk, and a campfire burned between them. Over its crackling came the twitterings of birds and insects. Devereaux counted the missing pieces that gave away the puzzle of the artificiality: the lack of heat and smoke from the never-dying fire, the leak of April Scent from her bedbeast currently disguised as a pile of colorful autumn leaves, the misalignment of the stars (which were right for North America, but not at dusk in autumn), the --"We going to do this, or what?" asked Stearn. He was bent over the fire and its light reflected golden off his broad forehead. His eyes bore straight into hers, and their brown depths conveyed soulfulness. Where had he gotten that? His boy’s twinkle had metamorphisized sometime recently. Had he discovered the seriousness of games at last? Or was she simply seeing in him what he tried so hard to deny?"Yes, we’re going to do it right now. You’ll feed us the real-time disk as instructed, Papa?" Papa’s voice broke the night, sending a few leaves fluttering down. "Of course we will. Our reactions are much faster than yours, so we don’t know why you think -- ""Thank you, Papa," Devereaux said. While Fisher had spent months simulating a star dragon, Devereaux had spent months simulating SS Cygni. She had also invested some effort in building a virtual environment and artificial senses to experience it with. She and Fisher had no idea if her senses had any analog in a star dragon, but they constituted ways of judging the immediate environmental parameters directly and it seemed a natural expectation the dragon could do as much. Much of science, as in art, was simply finding the clearest way of seeing a new thing so as to understand it best. She would not trust the day to the simple video games she and Stearn had already tried. Expecting Papa to develop a perfect hunting strategy based only on his own survival algorithms and limited data had been wildly optimistic. This thing they were doing was hard, and certainly that meant intelligence and a more worthwhile mission, didn’t it? Intelligence was an advantageous trait in an organism in order to help it find food, or to help it avoid being food. The star dragon was demonstrating an ability to avoid being their food, in effect. There was nothing here to eat them in this naked ecosystem (nothing they had yet seen anyway, she was forced to qualify), and they appeared to consist of elements available in the plasma, so why intelligence? How could intelligence come about, even granting that the disk would present many challenges to survival? Well, it was time to improve their own intelligence. Devereaux picked up the visor-shaped interface from her lap. It was a black semi-circle studded with warm and glistening circuitry, the veins throbbing slightly, and clawed feet that were the direct link. It was a crude thing by the standards of the time, but Devereaux was a problem solver. She didn’t polish things up and make them look nice. She touched the ends to her temples while resting the center on the bridge of her nose, squeezed the feet, and winced as the needles sank into her flesh. Tinkling bells assaulted her, and the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of her own blood grew into a gale swirling the white snow of static into drifts before her. The snow faded to black, and the bells and blood diminished in volume and became impossible silence. With this kind of lousy entry, her interface skills would never get her a job with Stearn’s preferred stim supplier. Her skin prickled, stretched, and coiled. Opposite the icy blue sky swelled light and heat to define ‘down.’ She swam in a cool wind, curling around a bright green line that kept her from falling. Deep, ringing sounds echoed back and forth on their passage through the disk. She sorted through them, identifying the major low chord of the accretion stream impacting the hotspot half a disk away and the minor high notes of instability-driven flickering. She slid off her green wire in favor of another, tasting the sweetness of deuterium there (they'd assumed fusion-powered creatures would have a taste for heavy hydrogen isotopes). She spent several minutes reacquainting herself with her body until her thoughts directly became action, until this body was her body. Too soon, the wire vibrated. All the green wires vibrated. She felt the invaders out there just as when she’d been a girl she could feel her docelot Gordian prowling around her bedbeast early in the morning. No problem -- she’d just dive down into the muggy glow and escape them. Then she fully appreciated the bulb on her tail, which floated like an over-inflated balloon on a golden chain. Bloated, sluggish, she knew she ought to be able move better than this! She sashayed her dragon ass around, but there was no better way to move with that thing there. Fisher would have gotten the characteristics of the thing right for this model or it would not be so debilitating. Why would a dragon have such an awkward thing? A warning, like a rattlesnake? Could it be used as a capacitor, a battery to power...what? That wouldn’t make sense if the dragons could ignite fusion within their coils. It was so awkward. Why would... But the invaders drew near, six of them. No, there was a seventh held back. No doubt Papa and Stearn thought it beyond her range (did this simulation have that close to right???) and would drive her that way with the others. So she immediately headed right for it. She could move faster than the shuttles, even without rocketing and even with the damn bulb dragging behind, but she couldn’t dive to escape and couldn’t simply fly indefinitely away from them. Presumably the real star dragon couldn’t, and the point of this exercise was the endgame that would follow such a chase even if they could. She barreled head-on toward the lagging intruder, blitzing past the forward guard. Their fields were far from a net and she squirted through with little deviation from her course. As she bore down on the straggler, she watched it grow into a frizzy green mess resembling a sick bush, and then it was past, its ‘leaves’ rustling in her wake. What now? she thought. She had just shown Papa and Stearn that a forewarned dragon could disrupt a prematurely cast net. They knew that. They’d have to take a step back in the puzzle, put a few pieces together in advance, and begin the interlock from a larger distance. She swirled about to meet the new challenge they’d throw at her shortly. In the low-frequency background rumble of the impact stream, a high-pitched thud resounded like a peal of distant thunder. That high a tone would not be a deep pressure wave, one of the drivers of the disk viscosity that moved plasma in toward the white dwarf. But what else carried that much power for her to hear it this way? Could it be the echo of their missiles? No, those were long damped. Sounds like this didn’t just erupt through the disk. Maybe there was an instability growing in the secondary she hadn’t been aware of? That thud had to signal something. And those few moments of distraction were enough as pairs of the intruders approached from the compass points. She corkscrewed down, building up buoyant forces, then sprang up at high velocity, angling toward a break between two pairs. As she approached, the pairs split and she found the green lines being drawn together. As their density increased, her progress slowed, then reversed. She bounced. The other intruders had come about and tied the magnetic bag from the back side. She oscillated back and forth, trapped as long as she kept her currents and rode the lines."Okay, you got me," Devereaux said aloud with her human mouth, the words tasting bland. Simulating dragon senses had to be done with analogs to human perception, but the multitude of potentially critical information required doubling and tripling of sensory input, giving the world a richness she appreciated all the more for talking. "Let’s try that again and see if I can’t find a way to wiggle out.""You can try," Stearn’s voice echoed to her distantly, heavy and out of place, reminding her of that odd noise. The disk was such a complicated system that to expect it to not have even more inexplicable creaks and groans than a space craft was unrealistic. Still, as they started another trial, the memory of that thud bothered her. The thud hadn't been real, measured, and piped to her dragon-altered simsenses. She shook it off and concentrated on the next game. She heard another deep, distant thud, but didn't let it distract her further. They would not catch her so easily the next time. And they didn't. What we think and feel and are is to a great extent determined by the state of our ductless glands and our viscera. –Aldous Huxley Fang's eyes flashed open on darkness. Even before she had checked her eye clock, she had swung her torso upright and slid her feet off the edge of the bed. She had slept over six hours! The lights brightened in response to her movements and she leaned over to tug on her boots. With her optimized metabolism she normally slept four hours in every twenty-four, but this was not a normal time. "What’s happening, Papa?" Certainly he would have awoken her if there had been a change in their status, right? Unless Fisher had done something tricky again. She still didn’t quite trust him, even though he’d given her the most terrific back rub.… "We’re pacing the beast. It’s swimming merrily along, waiting to be hooked." Fang stood, ignored the slight head rush, and stepped out the irising portal toward the fly bridge. "Where is everyone? What are they doing?""We're playing dragon tiddly-winks with Stearn and Devereaux in her quarters, and the kids aren’t bad at the game, have to admit. Or maybe we're not as recovered as we'd like to think. Henderson’s in his lab, moping as usual. Fisher is swilling coffee and fiddling around with his models, adding bells and whistles as we feed him more data. Damn good enough already, in our opinion. He’s on the bridge now." Well, no catastrophes, but she still felt uncertain about Fisher. He hadn’t rested. He’d gone right back to work. Wasn’t that reasonable for the workaholic? He was on her side now, right? They were working together, right? Despite the physical glow of well being his touch had engendered in her, she doubted. Better to have him there, with her, under her scrutiny. On the bridge as well as in the bedroom. She shook her head to clear away the dark thoughts. Feeling utterly good and clear-headed, if a bit rushed, Fang swept onto the fly bridge. "Let's get this hunt moving," she called out. Fisher glanced up from his console, the green glare of a wire-mesh model floating in his console casting his face as a ghoulish mask. He nodded and turned away without a word, or a smile, and became reabsorbed in the arcanna of his science. Some welcome, she thought. She popped herself down on her fighting chair without grace, and the beast let out an involuntary squeal. She gently massaged its arms until it quieted. "Papa, get Stearn and Devereaux up here.""Yes, daughter. Mr. Henderson as well?""Did I ask for Henderson?" Fang snapped. Smartly, Papa didn’t answer. Fang contented herself with watching the dragon, the prize that would legitimize her as a Captain for all time...or at least another few millennia, she hoped. Then there would be some other chore to save her, and so on, and so on. It was a big galaxy. There had to be enough things to do to justify her existence, did there not? The dragon was doing the same stuff, old already, and she became distracted. The bridge was a mess she noticed. Bits of dirt, dust, and sweat coated many surfaces. The ruglings were anemic. She only saw two fish in the whole room, hardly sufficient to consume the debris where so many people were spending so much time. The Karamojo was not ship-shape, and that made her uneasy. When Stearn and Devereaux arrived, unabashedly holding hands in an uncomfortably intimate fashion in which only their index fingers were hooked, Fang asked them point blank if they could do better than Papa."Absolutely," Stearn said. "We’ve got creativity, the edge of life, the will to survive." Fang ignored the Jack and stared at Devereaux. The other woman’s eyes were a steady, serene brown as rich and deep as a tub of coffee. She shrugged a shoulder, the one farthest from Stearn. "Well, Papa's better trained now, I would say. We'll never match his reaction times.""How long do we have until the next outburst?" Fang asked Devereaux. Devereaux said, "Papa, give me COUNTDOWN from my monitoring program, plus the one-sigma uncertainty.""Nineteen days, plus or minus a day and a half." Devereaux’s eyebrows crawled together in a deliberate manner that bothered Fang more than the way she held hands with Stearn."That sounds like plenty of time. Is something wrong?" Fang asked."Maybe." Devereaux cast off Stearn’s grasp and sat down on the couchbeast. She bent over, rested her elbows on her knees, and peered into the display tank as she interfaced with the console, her fingers flying with commands. She said, "That’s rather quicker than the last time I checked. And the uncertainty is too large. Something is going on." Devereaux was sometimes too much a scientist for Fang's taste. As a captain, she only wanted to know what was necessary to get the job done. "But nineteen days means we needn’t rush here. That's what I’m getting at." Devereaux said nothing, but her eyes flickered back and forth as fast as her fingers. Something suddenly touched Fang's hand, and she jerked it away, startled."Sorry," Fisher whispered, his voice close to her ear. She felt his touch on her hand again. She made a fist and lifted her arms to her chest. Too late for him to make up now -- he had had his chance when she stepped onto the fly bridge. She was Captain, and the game was afoot. Time to be professional."What’s the big deal?" asked Stearn. "The system is hard to predict, you said." Devereaux’s fingers kept moving. "Not this hard. We’re right on top of it and can monitor the accretion rate and the viscosity as a function of position, pipe it all straight into the model. Something is happening in the disk to alter the viscosity, maybe via the magnetic fields, or something is happening in the secondary to increase the inflow to the disk.""Is the viscosity that important?" Fang asked. Fisher answered. "All important. The effective friction in the plasma is what moves angular momentum outward and matter sinks in toward the white dwarf. With low viscosity, everything piles up in the disk's outer edge and nothing moves. With high viscosity, which can be induced through dynamo-driven waves or thermal instabilities when too much gas amasses, everything starts flowing through to the primary and the disk gets hot and expands. That's an outburst for you. Boom, we're toast." Fang knew this much, at least in these general terms, but still failed to appreciate why Devereaux was so excited. "So? We have nineteen days.""That’s a moving target," Devereaux answered. "Something is being introduced outside the parameters of the model I assembled. I made a very good model, I'll have you know. This will take some time to figure out." Fang took a deep breath. Suddenly this seemed more like a science expedition than a safari. Well, there was glory in science expeditions, too. Of a mediocre sort."Excuse me," Papa said in uncharacteristically polite fashion."Yes, Papa?" Fang said, curious about what could be so unclear as to warrant uncertainty in bringing it before the human minds on board."There are these signals. Mostly low-frequency radio, but a few other parts of the power spectrum are correlated in time. They seem to be omnipresent background noise, perhaps some accretion fluctuation -- we've been registering them since we arrived in system.""So why bring them up?" Fang asked."First, I’m no longer sure they are mere noise. Second, we’re picking up high-energy spikes, X-rays and even energies into the gamma regime, following the most complex, extended bursts.""Where are they coming from?" Devereaux asked."That’s the strange part," Papa confessed. "Most of the high-energy processes should occur near the primary where the accreting gas crashes into the white dwarf's surface, but these come from the direction of the secondary. Every twenty minutes or so, but that's only an average rate, and it too is accelerating." Another mystery? Or another aspect of one of the mysteries already in their catalog? They didn’t need mysteries. All they needed was to scoop up a dragon and keep it alive, or whatever it was -- animate anyway, for the journey back to Earth. Hell, a dead dragon was probably good enough. Point A to point B and back again. Collect the admiration of trillions for fifteen seconds of fame. It would be enough to remain Important. Would it be enough to remain Captain another millennia?"Feed me the data," Devereaux asked Papa."Of course," he said gruffly, "but we've run all the standard decoding algorithms and the like. If someone is talking, it isn’t in a way we understand.""We understand gamma rays," came a deep voice from behind. "Their ionizing touch can unravel our DNA faster than our self-repairing systems can put it back together." Fang half-turned and saw Henderson, hunched over and looming in the portal like the Angel of Death come to claim his due. She wanted to say ‘Fuck off,’ but just turned away from him. Perhaps she should have given herself more sleep, even though the six hours seemed a luxury. It was difficult to keep her thoughts appropriately professional, and it was vital for her to do so now. To Devereaux she said, "So is this important to us?" Fisher answered. "Look to the dragon. If the dragon reacts, it matters to us. If not..." As bidden, Fang looked to the dragon. The garish pseudo-colors of the displays made it seem some green grass snake twisting on the coals of a barbecue pit, writhing in agony. She looked beyond that image, beyond the immensity of the disk. Did it swim more...intently? Did it seem aware of the radio noise and the gamma bursts? Did it seem aware of the Karamojo? No. It twisted on. Staring at the thing for too long, Fang finally looked away, down to the white lapel of her uniform (the fiery disk burned everywhere else). The reverse image formed, and it was a bloody snake sliding over a green field. Her grandfather’s fireside stories rose up to her unbidden, like smoke through time. What was the relevance of Chinese folklore here at SS Cygni? Nevertheless, it came back to her. Red and green were complementary colors, primary life colors, and possessed even greater power in combination. And there was a vast difference between snakes and dragons. Snakes were one of the five noxious creatures, clever but treacherous, associated with male virility except when they had triangular heads -- then they were female symbols. In many of the stories the snakes could be coerced into handing over gifts of pearls, but such bargaining was not without great risk."Hey hey hey," Stearn said. Fang blinked and returned her attention to the dragon. Instead of its steady, placid progress toward Dragon Nirvana or whatever place it worked towards, the creature was bucking up and down, splashing plasma like water in a bathtub. The scale of the beast made this a slow motion wonder, but the violence in its motions was undeniable. Shit, she thought. Fisher stepped toward the display, holding his arms out in supplication. The projection obscured his hands at the wrists, and it appeared that his arms grew into the dragon. "It’s okay, we’re coming for you." Things were happening. Too slow before, for too long, but now too fast. Not fast enough. Did they have nineteen days? It suddenly seemed like nineteen seconds. "Do you think it will dive?" she said aloud to no one in particular. Fisher answered, "Yes," at the same time Devereaux said "No." Papa offered no opinion at all, which was probably the most telling. Fisher spun toward her, pulling his hands from the dragon. The projection trailed off his fingers as if her had plunged his arms into the real creature and then withdrawn them, sticky with life. "We have a plan of action, a distracted dragon, and an unknown physical phenomenon -- still distant for the moment. I’m willing to take a good gamble on this individual specimen. Devereaux will agree that the uncertainty in the disk’s behavior makes it safer to act now rather than later. Am I right?" Fang, feeling played, turned to Devereaux. She stared back for a long moment then nodded."Papa?" Fang asked. It was more than prudent to ask his opinion in this circumstance. While he was too gung-ho in many instances, and shaken by his recent trauma, his basic programming remained more than sound."Let’s bag a dragon," he replied."Bring us closer and launch shuttles when optimal. I assume you’ve incorporated the results of your strategy sessions with Stearn and Devereaux?""Of course," Papa said. The dragon swelled before them as the Karamojo reduced its thrust and descended. Papa changed the display mode to deep immersion so that space and the disk surrounded them, and they lost sight of even their own bodies. The dragon’s trilateral head wagged erratically. Glowing plasma leaked from its gaping mouth making Fang think of a swamp sucker draining land for colonists. Tracers of electric blue mapped the course of the released shuttles, soldiers in their army. Two of them shimmered as they dove into the photosphere and were lost on visual, but still tracked on radio frequencies. Two others shot overhead, bouncing in a high arc. The rest swirled toward the dragon. The dragon paid the robots no heed. Its head maintained a constant orientation with respect to the Karamojo, but its body careened wildly as it jerked itself back and forth out of the disk riding a spurting tower of plasma."Can it reach us here?" Henderson asked."Of course it can if it rockets," Papa said. "Without rocketing...""It can also reach us, just not quite as fast," Devereaux said. "There’s a strong poloidal magnetic field that goes right out, and shifting into that field it can sling itself out like a bead on a wire. Centrifugal force will accelerate it to...""Keplerian velocities. At this radius that’s nearly a thousand kilometers per second," Papa said. "But it is the differential velocity relative to us that is important. Given our projected trajectory -- ""It could reach us in about three minutes, if we let it," Fisher said. "I don’t know why it hasn’t tried to rocket away. It must be that ball on the end. If it prevents rocketing, it must serve some important function. Or we have a mutant, which seems doubtful. I wonder what that ball is?" The blue tracers twisted, drawing elaborate orchid leaves as they converged. The dragon ignored them and continued its collision course toward the Karamojo. Details sharpened as the distance decreased. Textures rippled into visibility: a mottled striation of greens in the annelid segments, facets in the trilateral chameleon eyes. As usual, Fang could not help but focus on the eyes, her bane it seemed. She and Papa had spent long hours talking about the look of eyes, and not just the eyes of leviathans. Papa knew that a person’s character and intent could be read in unmodded eyes and a surprising variety of designed eyes. He knew this not from his own experience, but from the false experience that had been fed into his own character as a function of building aspects of his original Hemingway-esque personality. He didn’t understand it. Evolution selected for humans who could best evaluate the actions of their fellows, refining the ability to read nuances of stance, expression, and behavior. Hard-wired pattern recognition of the most essential kind, and so hard to duplicate in neural networks at the level of discerning masked intent."Oh god!" Henderson shouted, a dull ringing sound like a giant bell being dropped to the floor. "That’s a bomb! A bomb! Its shed its rocket engine into a bomb and its going to kill us!""I seriously doubt -- " Fisher started, but then settled into a silence. He finally said, "Hmm, you could be right. We'll find out soon enough.""Ooh, I know it’s a bomb." Could Henderson be right? It didn’t seem very likely that Henderson’s fears would be a perfect match to reality. But his guess struck her as more likely than what had been proposed so far. Perhaps they should retreat, investigate further. They had nineteen days, give or take. Fisher said, "Shift the display to higher energies. Hard X-rays, ten to twenty keV range." Fang stopped a frown from reaching her face as the resolution of the dragon dropped, sharp edges dissolving into hazy blobs. The creature’s eyes liquefied from hard reptilian to spectral, matching the new skeletal body. At these energies a few photons leaked through the beast, although its biology seemed immune from the effects of ionization."Yes, something dark in the ball, absorbing." Fisher spoke low, more to himself than to his crewmates. "Could be heavy fissionables for a trigger, collected over years, but if the dragon can generate fusion via magnetic confinement and laser bombardment, why would it need a trigger? And the shape seems less than optimal. No, upon reflection, I seriously doubt that it is a bomb. There are a hundred more likely explanations." But he had started with ‘Could be,’ and ‘could be’ was enough for her. Perhaps some dragons had started to grow them after the nuclear detonations in the disk for their protection. They had time to find out for sure without having the thing explode in their face. The dragon was already uncomfortably close, and drawing closer every second as the disk’s rotation helped whip it out. "Pull back, Papa. Return the shuttles, too." Her weight increased with the push of acceleration as they lifted away."Smart move," Henderson said."No," said Fisher. "We need to take the dragon now and determine the nature of the phenomenon. Much easier to study in our hold. We need the time in system with it.""Things are going on we don’t understand," Devereaux said. "Patience solves many puzzles. We should be prudent and wait.""No," said Fisher. "We should be bold. We can understand it if we move now." Papa had shifted the display back to lower frequencies and an extended dynamic range for better detail, all the while maintaining the image scale. Still, the image blurred and the three eyes merged into a cyclopean worm."Come now," Fisher said. "Let’s go back in." Stearn made a small grunt and nod, but when Devereaux glanced his way he nibbled his lip and didn’t say anything. Fisher said, "You’re with me, right Papa?""We think we can bag the dragon, but we'll follow the captain’s orders.""You hear that, Captain Fang? Papa thinks we can take the dragon, and he’s smarter than you." Fisher paused for breath and amended, "Than us, I mean.""Papa is no better than his input data -- your data," Devereaux interjected, stepping between Fisher and Fang. "In fact, he’s probably worse at imagining the outcomes of unique situations with unknown parameters.""And you can do better?" Fisher challenged, looking over Devereaux’s dreadlocks straight at Fang. He was daring her. I’m responsible, Fang thought. When we get back, my future will be determined by my performance here, and I already have one black eye. No more hasty mistakes. Fang met Fisher’s stare with all the coolness she could muster, and said nothing, letting her order stand. The dragon twisted back on itself and fell toward the disk. That strange ball wiggled behind, taunting them. That was fine. They’d return soon enough."Shuttles returning," Papa said. Indeed, the blue web was knitting itself out of existence."No," Fisher said. "Send them back out. We've worked it all out while you were sleeping. The dragon is within reach.""No," said Fang. "Maintain distance, Papa." "Yes," said Henderson. Fang stood up from her chair, noticing that suddenly her feet felt sweaty in her boots. She stepped toward Devereaux’s console and said, "Let’s take a closer look at that encounter." Fisher said, "No," yet again. Fang spared him half a glance and found herself at the receiving end of an animalistic glare she’d only glimpsed in Fisher in the boxing ring. What had got him so worked up? First he didn't want to swoop in like thunder because of too many unknowns, and now he was balking when she chose the cautious route. "Am I going to have a problem with you?" Her question had two levels of meaning and she hoped he understood that."Your instincts the first time weren't very good," Fisher answered evenly. "Why not try it my way this time?" He was being clumsy in his baiting. She knew that she had some issues to deal with after the first encounter, but being a coward was not one of them. "Maybe you should get some rest, Sam. When was the last time you slept?""Ninety-six hours," Papa answered. Fang rolled her eyes toward the ceiling -- Papa was everywhere and nowhere, but his voice always came from above it seemed, like a god or a malicious sprite. "Good grief. Why haven't you slept?""My decisions are not under consideration here," Fisher said, ignoring Papa. "I have no real authority, do I? Science leader is a worthless title without a specimen, isn’t it? I’m boxed out of the game. Well, Biolathe will side with me when we return empty handed. Not that it’ll matter. We’ll be ruined.""Not true!" Henderson broke in. "The only mistake an immortal need avoid is death!" Devereaux and Stearn turned their heads toward the giant. Fang did as well, but only after Fisher did first. Fang said, "This kind of crazy argument only reinforces my opinion that we need to go slowly here, take some rest -- everyone -- and clear out our systems. Get some better notion about this strange dragon before we move in, or find another one. But we need to get ourselves ready first of all." This made her think of something that usually only came to her in dreamy states between sleeping and waking. Henderson’s recent...madness...was reflected in his form. Which came first, she didn't know. Stearn, on the other hand, had settled down into an effective relationship and shipboard role after adopting a more human body. Everyone had assured her for centuries that AI-validated body mods were perfectly safe. Still, she was distrustful. Fisher had been level-headed like herself at the start of their mission. He’d really only gone off the deep end (not counting the precipitating argument of the first fight they’d had) when he’d turned himself into the human-dragon hybrid. He appeared back to normal now, but she worried. How had he kept himself going for three days straight? He had his coffee, true, but did he have a hidden bodmod? The reason most people carried drugs like Alert, Forget-Me-Not, and their like rather than installing a gland was the danger of abuse. Forget-Me-Not had obvious dangers. When first introduced, it had seemed natural to trigger automatically the drug’s release when the user’s attention level climbed above a threshold; people want to remember things they are paying attention to, or at least trying to pay attention to. People pay attention like no other time when their own lives are in danger, or the lives of those they care for. People with the Forget-Me-Not gland who witnessed terrible events often gave into depression and shock before the memory-eating snakes could be administered. The sovereignty of the individual over the individual’s own body was one social rule to emerge and take root during the Genetic Age. She might have to pull rank. She said, "Henderson, could you please take Dr. Fisher to the biolab, give him a quick check-up, and then make sure he gets some rest?" Henderson’s huge head creaked up and down."Don’t talk about me like I’m not here," Fisher said, shaking his head. Fang tried to muster some feelings of love and compassion for him, but the best she could do at the moment was a flicker of admiration for his fingers. She’d like him a lot more after he had rested. "Go," she said, pointing. Fisher turned to the exit, thankfully, and she hoarded a little hope for their future like a dragon hoards a jewel.# Fisher knew that Fang was probably taking the right course of action, but when he turned away, and she turned to continue working on the situation with Devereaux, dismissing him as if he were the same as that brown-nosing weak-ass excuse for a personality Papa, Fisher lost it. He had worked for over a year for this moment. He had the patience of a chess player, but enough was enough. Things were Happening, things that could jeopardize the mission, and he was being shut out. He’d spent the last three days pushing everyone, especially Fang, in the direction they needed to go. The injections he had given her has ensured that she’d gotten the rest she needed to be sharp at this crucial juncture. She was correct -- he could not last much longer and operate well. That was why bagging the dragon now was essential. Why couldn’t Fang see that? Something could happen in the next five minutes, or next five hours, that would require his expertise. That’s why he was here. Sending him to bed now would be a tragic error. The dragon was right there! They had tried once, failed, and learned from that mistake. Maybe they would have a better chance if he had taken the side of the dragon in the simulations, but he respected Devereaux as a competent, intelligent scientist. It was more careful now to hurry. How could Fang be so very, very stupid? How? Feeling Henderson looming nearby, but the collective attention elsewhere, Fisher turned back to Fang. "No!" he shouted. "We need to act now!" Fang spun. His arm flew out, the agent of his subconscious will without his conscious intent. Physical violence was such an easy solution, accessible to his low brain that was preeminent in his current state. His remaining higher reasoning, distant and powerless, noted the irony that she had taught him how to box, how to use violence. Papa yelled, "Watch out!" Uncontrollably Fisher’s mouth twisted into a caricature of rage as his fist hurtled toward impact. Whether in response to Papa’s warning or to that innate psychic sense she seemed to have when boxing, the outcome was the same. Fang shifted suddenly, the tip of her right boot pivoted to point at him, and her body followed. Her blonde hair moved in one piece, like a helmet, as she dodged his blow. He fell past her, his shoulders and upper torso following his punch just as he had been taught. His cheek caught on the edge of Fang's leather belt. His skin ripped away as he collapsed in a tumble on the thin bridge ruglings, which had massed as best the could and inflated to cushion his fall in the high gravity."Good god," Fang said. Green light spilled from Fisher’s exposed face, a great deal of it, and he thought for a confused moment that he had started his punch on the deck of the Karamojo and ended it on some other world that sported fields of lush grass. Blood from his cheek spotted the grass with black. Then the ruglings deflated and slithered back to their normal aereal density. "Damn it damn it damn it," he said on hands and knees, as he found himself caught between the two worlds, but being rapidly pulled back to the one he wasn’t pleased with."You said it," Fang agreed evenly. Fisher started to stand, but Stearn took hold of his collar and held him. His flush of adrenaline had faded and left him wobbly. He was so tired, he realized."Easy, Jack," Fisher said. "I screwed up, but I’m sorry now.""What you want me to do with him, Captain?" Stearn asked. Now Fisher felt exhausted, the rush of rage gone, and he truly hoped they would let him sleep. His stinging eyes watered up. He could figure it out later if they would only let him sleep.# Captain Lena Fang desperately wanted to cry. She would not do such a thing of course, not in public anyway and not in uniform certainly. Maybe it was her fault. Hadn’t she been the one to teach Sam to box, to punch without thinking, as an extension of his will? She had forced him to hide his true self behind a mask, driven him to sabotage, thwarted his desire at every turn. And she had used force when she had tossed him from her quarters after that awful fight, hadn't she? Had he really driven her to it? She wasn’t sure. What he had said didn't seem so bad to her now through the filter of time. Fisher knelt on the deck before her looking like a broken doll. Like a dark projection of her will, stout, muscular Stearn towered over her lover’s lanky splayed arms and legs. Her ex-lover. How could she trust him again? She wanted to find a way, but despair chewed at the edges of her thoughts like a pack of piranhas."Dr. Fisher," she began quietly, "Must we lock you up?" This was no military excursion, but as captain she had certain inalienable rights in order to ensure the mission succeeded. All the other crew members had signed away that authority to her before they ever boarded the Karamojo. No captain worth her salt would let anyone on board not ultimately answerable to her."No," he said. "I can behave myself." He suddenly seemed so broken, so sane. She had loved his strength, his passion. Where had that suddenly evaporated to? Just a few more days here, she told herself, get through that and everything can be sorted out on the long voyage home. More than a relationship rode on the immediate future; this was her captaincy. Her life. If she doped Fisher up and locked him away, and they succeeded in capturing a dragon, there was no problem. If they failed, and his presence would have made a difference, that would be her fault. If he was with them and they failed, well, she would have utilized all the available resources. What it came down to was the bottom line. She said with all the ice she could muster, "Are you going to fuck up again?" She waited for a glib comeback, some sign of insincerity, but he seemed to give the question the consideration it required. At least he took his time answering, but that could have been a sign of fatigue. She ignored the blood dripping from his ripped face and started counting dragons while waiting for his answer."If I have to be part of a team to get the dragon," he finally said, "then I can be part of a team. I thought it would be better if I did everything myself. I was wrong. I'm sorry." She considered Fisher. He seemed sincere, but she would continue to watch him. This was two strikes. At least two strikes. Best to keep him in the light in front of them, working with them, and limit his responsibility as much as possible. He was with them because he was good, committed to their goal, and could help them."Okay," Fang said. "Henderson, why don’t you take Sam down to the lab and give him some rest. Maybe put his body back to normal at the same time, clean up that green glow.""No!" Henderson nearly shrieked. "I mean, why? That body design he’s got is safer than straight human. He has some of the same advantages a dragon’s got. He can shed heat quickly, move along a magnetic field in freefall, that sort of thing.""Just do it.""I really don't think it's necessary," he said quickly."Is there something amiss in the biolab, Henderson?" The giant's face didn't move a millimeter, but it its quality somehow shifted nonetheless. "We're a little low on biomass. Just a little. We’re growing it as fast as we can, aren’t we Papa? It’s just that in this very uncertain time, we should maintain a reserve in the event of an emergency. A medical emergency for instance. That is a wise policy, in my opinion." Fang eyed the giant, slowing raking her gaze over every centimeter of his gargantuaness. There was a waste of biomass. He had seemed so smug and sure of himself on the trip out that Fang had stopped worrying much about him. After all, his job wasn’t critical. Papa handled the majority of it. She should have a talk with him soon, if there was the chance. But for now she had to accept his judgment. He was the expert, and Papa hadn't overruled him, so... "Okay, but in that case put Dr. Fisher to bed and strip off that superfluous skin, if he doesn’t need it.""I don’t," Fisher said softly. "I donate my skin to the effort.""Heads up," Devereaux broke in. "The dragon is doing something." And indeed it was. What it was doing was not at all clear. The twisting had become more frantic, especially its head, which shook like a dog shook a rag. The endless spiraling continued, but had tightened considerably. Well, here was her chance to test Fisher, and she knew she had to do it. "Henderson, please take Dr. Fisher on down to the lab." Fisher had managed to stand, and was staring at the dragon. It took him a moment to react when the giant placed his hand on the exobiologist's shoulder. "Now?" Fang stared at him, waiting. He went quietly, although he did look back longingly all the way to the portal, his face half ripped away and blood dripping down like tears across the green sea of his visage. But he went. Fang let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Now maybe we can figure out what’s going on and bag this dragon, she thought. The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. -- Arnold H. Glasow Fisher leaves for his cabin to sleep. The dragon passes through its fit, returns to placidity, then has two more fits before Fisher returns to the bridge ten hours later. Papa remembers a false memory of a snake struggling to shed its skin, eyes milky white, scraping its head against rocks. He recalls another false memory of a crab shedding its shell, in order that it might grow larger. Over the next two days the dragon's pattern repeats. The rest of the crew, including daughter, take their turns resting, watching, waiting. Outside the dragon churns plasma, and the white dwarf drinks gas from the secondary star. Papa watches it all, and thinks of three and a half million other topics. He does not sleep, of course. He records the increasing bursts of radio emission and tries to determine their pattern, if any, applies decompression and decryption techniques, and analyzes the output for more patterns. He deploys the shuttles as scouts to other parts of the disk, monitoring flow rates, viscosity, and magnetic fields. A few he sends to the secondary star. Daughter sits with Fisher and together they watch the dragon. She skips the gym, but her need for exercise drives her to excessive electrostim. She refuses to bodmod the muscles like Stearn, and Papa admires that about her. Fisher drinks copious amounts of coffee and stays inordinately alert, but takes a few hours for sleep when she asks him to. Devereaux and Stearn continue to play war games with each other under his supervision, getting regular refinements to the dragon simulation from Fisher. They get good, and their templates make him even better. Henderson plays nursemaid in his lab, nudging along the growth of four varieties of undifferentiated cell stock. He skims off an acceptable loss, employing it in his own form for purposes hidden to Papa’s conscious mind by a prickly toxinwall. One puzzle unravels itself, but it begets another in turn. The culprit driving the moving target of the dwarf nova detonation in Devereaux’s models is the mass spillage from the secondary. The mass transfer rate has increased beyond expected levels, but Devereaux has invested less time in understanding the star in deference to the disk. Perhaps this has been a mistake. Stars are more complex than given credit for, and, worse in this case, the inner Lagrangian point where spillover transpires is a point of unstable equilibrium. Variations in the star can be amplified here, or not, according to chaotic dynamics. So the new puzzle is, what drives the flow into the disk? And are the mysterious radio signals associated with this new phenomenon? Papa’s Bayesian probability analysis implies a strong likelihood of correlation. He does not like it. He argues with daughter to move forward, and wishes that the Biolathe brain had granted him more authority. He cannot overrule Fang on such long timescale strategic decisions without cause. The best he can do is question her motives. "But why not now, daughter?" She frowns, apparently unhappy with me trying to point out the illogical nature of her hesitation. "My grandfather tried to teach me about being Chinese. Not the history garbage, and not the superstitious claptrap. He believed that while the rise of technology had shattered much of western values, there were eastern traditions that one would always be able to rely upon. One of these was yun, for fate, or revolution if you translate the word directly. He would say to me, ‘When yun withdraws, yellow gold loses its color; but when the right times comes, even iron shines in splendor.’""Ancient Chinese proverbs were not written to apply to star dragons, daughter.""That’s right. They apply to life in general and everything in it. If we choose the right action, but choose the wrong time, all of our effort will come to ruin. If we choose the proper time, then the trophy is ours to take.""And how do you choose this time? Tell me, and we will calculate it.""All I know is that the time isn't yet ripe." And damn her if she does not break her mask to smile a mysterious smile. Trying to be human, Papa decides, isn't as difficult as working with humans.# Fisher awoke to peaceful silence. He sat on his couchbeast, eased back, his hands in his lap loosely clutching a notepad. Around him the disk burned, but the display was for ship's night, set so low, so red, that it was more like being curled up at the edge of a campfire. More reassuring than the daytime display of the star dragon: an ant under the malevolent scrutiny of a child’s magnifying glass on a sunny day. He blinked to clear his eyes. The last entry on the notepad read, "The skin is mightier than the banana." He had to shake his head and smile. Not the first time he’d worked himself past the point of sensibility. He decided taking breaks was more than reasonable, and would apologize to Fang again at the next opportunity. He turned off the notepad and set it aside. Nearby, under a blanket of linked ruglings, she lay stretched out on her monstrous chair. Both snored softly. No one else was on the bridge, except Papa, of course, who didn't really count. Instead of bolting up and resuming his work (something about plasma transport between the singularity and the on-board dragon environment, if he remembered correctly), Fisher considered his emotional state. This was not something he normally allowed time for, but this moment of profound peace he was experiencing was equally rare in his life. Everything felt easier now that he had set aside his independence and chose to be part of the team. He called it ‘independence,’ but he had no illusions about the words that Fang and his crew mates might use instead. But the truth was simple: he was not out here alone. For the entire trip, at least since that first awful fight with Fang, he had believed that he had to solve every problem, force everyone to accept his point of view, and take on the dragons by himself. That he now believed that he didn't have to do it alone was a most novel concept for Dr. Samuel Fisher. Fisher allowed himself an additional moment communing with the peace, resisting the urge to think of anything in particular. The illicit sensation was as rich and decadent as eating chocolate mousse without adjusting your metabolism appropriately. Finally he sat up, gave his muscles a quick stretch that audibly popped a few joints, and shuffled out of the bridge and down to the galley. He picked up a fish omelet and a bulb of coffee, but paused in the portal. He went back, grabbed seconds of the omelet and coffee, and only then returned to the bridge. Fang was sitting up, blinking, when he returned. Her hair was perfect and uniform wrinkle free, of course. On the bridge it would be no less, even if she allowed herself catnaps."Here," he said, handing her the breakfast. She stared at it as if she didn't know what it was. "For me?""Who else?" Fisher winked. Fang accepted the omelet and coffee. She tentatively bit into omelet, its hard pureclean surface melting with application of her saliva. "Thank you," she said after washing down the mouthful with the coffee. "But don't think I'm not watching you.""No, really, it’s okay. I’m fully one hundred percent with you, with the crew, on this now. I'm sorry I was such a pain for everyone. It’s quite liberating, giving up the constant fighting. You have no idea what a toll it was exacting." Fisher realized that his head was nodding as he spoke, and stopped the motion. He had come a long way, but he didn't want to look like a lap dog. She didn't say anything right away, as if she were thinking about the best way to contradict him. Finally she said, "You are a real piece of work, Dr. Fisher. Someday you will have to learn how to do things in moderation, or someone or something will kill you. I will keep watching.""Of course," he agreed. "I would too, in your place, but it won’t be necessary. You’ll see.""And perhaps you will see what that level of responsibility entails. I’m not sure you yet appreciate what it means to be part of a team." Just then something caught Fisher’s eye. "The dragon...look!" The creature spun madly, half-hidden through waves of shimmering plasma kicked up by its antics. Some of its motions had been frenetic while hounded by the Karamojo, but this was an order of magnitude greater. And then Fisher realized something he should have noted immediately: the star dragon was moving against the magnetic field lines, rather than along them, as had been its wont. That took real energy without charging down. "Hey -- " There was a flash, white-washing the displays."Sorry about that," Papa said. "Caught us by surprise.""A mini-flare," Fisher said. "The dragon is still charged, pushing and dragging the magnetic field. A lot of energy stored in there, released when the lines reconnected." "But why release it?" Fang asked. "That wasn’t enough to hurt us.""Maybe it has to learn that," Fisher suggested. Images burned back into existence, caught with streaks here and there where saturation hadn't yet been fully cleared. The dragon had vanished."Shit," Fang hissed through clenched teeth."We’ve got it," Papa said. "But the dragon has dove deep, and is moving downstream at a higher velocity than we’ve seen since the rocket swarm.""Follow it!" Fang ordered. The shifting gravity confirmed the abrupt course change. But something didn't feel right to Fisher. Something must have precipitated this new behavior. He had a hunch. "No, wait. Stop!" Fang jerked her head around and he thought the icy blast shooting from her flared nostrils would freeze him to the deck. "Already you show your colors. So much for your ability to be a team player.""Being on the team doesn’t mean agreeing with every off-the-cuff order you issue, does it?" She needed his input in this uncertain situation, and she let the ice melt. "State your objection.""We’re faster than the dragon. We just need to know where it is. We can do that with a spy shuttle if it stays at altitude and at a smaller radius. Send that to look after the dragon. I’d like to figure out why the creature lit out like that before we blindly follow. Maybe something spooked it. Something equally as interesting as our dragon." She said nothing for a long moment. Kilometers were piling up between them and the place where the dragon had gone berserk. Diffusion and turbulence could hide the clue all too quickly. "You may have a point. Papa, launch a spy shuttle as Sam suggested.""Aye aye," Papa said."And take us back to where the dragon flared," Fisher prodded. Fang nodded. Gravity shifted again. The bridge portal irised open. Devereaux and Stearn wobbled on deck."What’s the game, mates?" Stearn asked. "Could have given us more warning about the maneuvers.""We felt the course change," Devereaux explained. Fisher filled them in. "Maybe the environment deteriorated, the feeding got too thin, I don't know. There’s nothing apparent to me about this location in the disk that should vary so quickly. Can you look into that, Sylvia?""Of course," she said. "Phil can help." They arrived back where the dragon had blasted off. It looked like every place else: a tenuous patch of hot magnetized plasma tens of thousands of kilometers deep."What are we looking for?" Fang asked."Anything," Fisher said. "Abundance anomalies, field anomalies...I don’t really know any better than you. I just don’t think we should go off half-cocked chasing the dragon. Besides, if it has gone deep now, and stays deep, we’re going to be hard pressed to go after it, aren’t we?" Devereaux said, "I’m reading normal parameters. Everything is within three sigma of normal for the disk at this stage of its cycle.""Shall we resume the hunt?" Papa asked. Fisher had to agree that there seemed no reason to stay, but something nagged at him he could not quite catch. No time to dwell on it. Now they were two steps further removed from when they had the golden opportunity to capture the dragon. With this new, difficult behavior to contend with, Fang was never going to act. He took a deep breath. She would act, he told himself, when the time was right. He had to trust her, and help bring about that right time any way he could. Fisher shrugged, then had an idea."Papa," Fang said. "Can you pipe in an image of the fleeing dragon from the spy?""Of course, but the image quality is poor. We get the best results for an infrared composite.""Fine," barked Fang. The displays crackled, reformed, and there was a dark streak amidst boiling fluid."Can you clean that up?" Fang asked."It’s as clean as it’s going to get, daughter, unless we start compromising the data integrity with some gullible algorithms." Fisher squinted his eyes and tilted his head from side to side. It was a mess, but then he noticed something. Or thought he did. "Papa, what’s the probability that the dragon image we’re watching has no bulb?""Integrating," Papa said, testing the hypothesis versus the sum of the data that the spy had collected so far. "Eighty-three percent...and rising.""I don’t understand," said Stearn. "We’re following a different dragon?""We have the right dragon," Papa insisted."Maybe the bulb made the flare?" Devereaux asked."It was a bomb, wasn’t it? Did it hopelessly irradiate us?" Henderson said from the bridge portal. He was getting more than a little spooky sneaking up like that and making his pronouncements of doom with that deep reverberating voice. Fisher would ask Fang to deal with that later. More important things to deal with now."No, I don’t think it was a bomb," Fisher said. "The flare was weaker than its own rocket. It was something else.""A distraction?" Stearn asked. "A sleight of hand to allow it to escape from a predator, the way an octopus will squirt a cloud of ink?""Maybe," Fisher said. "That could be it. That would be interesting, implying that the dragons prey on each other.""Or have other predators," Fang said. "Perhaps we’re not the first ship to explore SS Cygni.""Ridiculous," Fisher said. "They wouldn’t be able to evolve a strategy to deal with ships capable of interstellar travel. That would mean..." and he paused, lost in a sudden train of thought. There was energy here, and somehow these creatures had come into being. Why not super-accelerated evolution? Why think only in terms of long-term generational turn-over. Certainly DNA was not running the selfish genes in this system. Why not a different mechanism? A better mechanism, much much faster. "That would mean my expertise isn't as useful as I would have thought.""What’s this?" challenged Stearn. "An admission of fallibility?" Fisher said nothing, but let himself smile. He would get his chance to show that he was with them, one of them, and was now sharing his thoughts rather than hoarding them like a dragon hoarding treasure."There!" proclaimed Fang with as much excitement as she ever showed in public. She stood up, pointing. The display focused where she pointed."You should really let us find things once in a while, daughter," Papa said, although the tone of his voice masterfully portrayed pride rather than pout. "We are supposed to be good at that.""You’re great at it when you know what you’re looking for, Papa.""What is it?" Stearn said. But the image was zoomed, centered, sharpened, and highlighted by the time Stearn voice had faded from the bridge and the entire crew tried to understand the significance of what lay before them. The bulb, presumably wrapped in a complex arrangement of electromagnetic fields, bobbed alone upon the sea of fire. Henderson lumbered forward, the ruglings doing little to muffle the metallic echoes of his steps. His huge hand closed around Fang's shoulder and he spun her about to face him. "Get us out of here now! The flare was setting the fuse for the bomb. The dragon lit out to escape the blast! Don't you see, it's a trap!" Henderson’s great fingers crushed into Fang's white uniform. Fisher took a half step toward the pair, intending to help Fang. Upon a second of reflection, he concluded that the best way to help Fang was to let her handle Henderson her own way. He had no doubt that she could, and he was not disappointed. Fang ducked out and twisted beneath the giant. Lightning fast in the high gravity, Henderson tumbled forward as if some invisible force pulled on his outstretched arms, and Fang appeared on top. As his elbows buckled as he caught himself, Fang looped her own arms through their crook. The sound of groaning metal echoed loudly."I am sick of this kind of behavior from you people," Fang said quietly as she pressed her knee into the small of Henderson’s back. "I am not taking any more from any of you. You want a piece of me, save it for the ring." Fisher recalled why he had found her so attractive in the first place. Henderson’s body redesign was surely for strength and durability, but too bad for him his metamorphosis was only physical. Physical redesign would never let a person escape the limitations of their own personality and will. Case in point. Here was a captain capable of decisive, sure action. Now if she could only do the same in the face of an alien challenge...."The bomb," Henderson whimpered."I hereby decree that the dragon bulb isn't a bomb. Satisfied Mr. Henderson?" Fang asked."We’re not military. You can’t just -- " he gasped. The sound of metal groaning came again. Over two hundred light years from Earth, Henderson’s objection didn't matter the tiniest bit. It didn't surprise Fisher at all that Henderson took the situation so seriously. In the face of too little data, the mind would often grasp hold of an unlikely idea and hold to it dearly. It was both a strength and a weakness. More a strength as nature had selected for the trait in man. Undoubtedly such faith in an unfounded idea permitted people to operate in the face of ignorance, a truly natural state, and, moreover, to begin cataloging characteristics of a phenomenon in a context. That was how progress was made, even if begrudging progress spanning generations. A human mind, even enhanced, could grasp only so many items at once, and when dealing with small number statistics, finding any pattern at all could mean better chances at survival. Machines like Papa failed to make these sometimes useful, but often absurd leaps. Here it was a weakness, Fisher hoped, held in check by rationality and Fang's firm grip. Just another odd notion based on too little information and made into a religion. A Roswell, a face on Mars, string cosmology, a unified field theory. Still, what was the bulb? In the face of Henderson’s obsession with dangerous possibilities was Fisher’s new egalitarian perspective, and every thought sprouted equally viable alternatives. It was a rattlesnake’s rattle, the remnants of an old skin shed in preparation for the upcoming outburst. It was a lizard’s fat tail, a storage vessel for excess energy discarded when pursued by an aggressive predator. It was a peacock’s plumage, an anti-evolutionary sexual display all the more effective for its uselessness. It was a petrified dinosaur dung, an infinitely precious star turd chock full of metabolic information and exobiological clues to the creature that had excreted the thing. It was a buoy and transmitter, an alien tag that permitted some long departed research team, much like their own, to follow the progress of a long-lived star dragon. Whatever it was, they would exploit it and help make the mission a success. Fisher looked to Fang and her passive but rock-solid expression as she held Henderson in place. That bulb could be the key and they should pick it up, he willed. Do the right thing Lena. Don't listen to Henderson's fears."Papa," Fang said softly. "Please prepare two shuttles to scoop up that alien debris.""At once, Captain!""Not a good idea," Henderson said, then groaned."It’s an excellent idea," Fisher said. "About time we had something tangible to study.""Absolutely," Devereaux said. Stearn said nothing, but grinned broadly."Shuttles reconfigured for new objective," Papa announced shortly. "Launching." The deck shifted the tiniest amount as the shuttles detached from their interior berths and squirted from the Karamojo on their new mission. The fact that Fisher could feel the launch didn't bode well. Papa was the brain behind a smart ship, so finely tuned and fast that the change in momentum from two shuttles should have been more easily matched and canceled. Their resources were running low."It does not matter," Fisher muttered. "Everything that came before does not matter. What matters is what is happening now." And as his muttering faded, silence filled the bridge. But it was anything but peaceful.# As the shuttles’ blue vectors stitched their way across the display, Fang realized that she was holding her hand protectively against her abdomen. Irritated with her body’s lack of discipline, she snapped her hands down against the armrests of her chairbeast. The chair grunted sharply in response. She was nervous. They could afford no more mistakes here. But what could go wrong? This was what she was good at, what Papa was good at: moving around biologicals. This was merely an unusual cargo pick-up. But it was more, too, she could not deny it. And that was why her own flesh struggled against her will. Its ancient instincts called for ready action, quick response to immediate physical stimuli. Her stomach twitched, and so her hands had moved protectively. At least Henderson had settled down. He stood, shoulders slumped, in front of the path of the blue vectors where she could keep and eye on him. At the start of the mission, she would not have pegged him for being such a trouble maker. Stearn, maybe, but that boy had become a solid right hand under Devereaux’s influence. Fisher was a whole different matter, an order of magnitude more complex. How did she feel about him now? From co-worker to lover to adversary to...to what? She glanced at him now, feeling like a spy. His face glowed green above his black turtleneck, a small smile etched in place as he watched the operation unfold. He was focused on appropriate matters, as she should be. Time enough to worry about where they stood on the long voyage home."Rendezvous in thirty seconds," Papa announced. Fang's hand slipped along the armrest, squeaking loudly as the sweat-lubricated skin skidded across the leather. Fang dug her nails into the chair, eliciting and quickly stifling a squeak from the chair. No one seemed to notice."Patch in shuttle visuals," she ordered. The bright fuzzy white disk and the blue vectors vanished, replaced with the sharp abstractness of a close-up view into the disk’s plasma. Despite the algorithms Papa pumped the images through, it was difficult for Fang to make much sense of what she saw. Everything was apparent enough: it was an open furnace with a surface area more than a thousand times that of Earth. Sure, there existed hotter areas, cooler areas, places where the kinematics and magnetic fields tortured the gas, but it was all too extreme for her Earth-evolved perception. It was all a furnace to her. The dragons undoubtedly saw more, and probably heard more, smelled more, tasted more. They were ideally suited for this environment. For all she knew, this corner of Hell was an idyllic glade, an oasis in the disk rich in some obscure element needed for dragon happiness. Any place breathed richly to its inhabitants; her grandfather had told her many stories about the colony ship he had ridden in his youth and about the twenty-five or thirty words they had used for the different clinks and clunks and other sounds the ship made, and which sounds meant potential danger and which were inconsequential. As she completed this thought, they got their first good look at the dragon-free free-floating bulb. It was no longer bulb-shaped, but now a perfectly spherical ball. At the wavelengths displayed, a composite image spanning ultraviolet through near infrared, which constituted "visual" to Papa’s definition, the ‘ball’ was opaque and shiny. There was so much light of all wavelengths that it would appear an overwhelming white to the unaided eye, but Papa put appropriate stretches on the image, imposing a rainbow palate to distinguish subtleties of temperature and velocity. The globe was a middle green, with blue sparks crawling over its surface. Just an interaction between its own fields and the disks that allowed it to float in a cooler plasma, or an energy transfer?"So," Fang asked, "what is it?""I have no idea," Fisher said. While Fang had been contemplating the ball, Fisher’s small smile had blossomed into a face-wide grin. "Or a thousand equally unlikely ideas. Let’s bring it back and find out which one is right.""Papa?""Can do," he affirmed. "We can scoop a whole dragon. This pebble will be no trouble.""Proceed." Without warning, everything went white. Not blinding -- the display had limits as stringent as any eyemod -- but everything saturated despite Papa's image stretch. Henderson let loose a low shriek. As colors bled back into the disk and ball image, Fang asked "What happened?""Some sort of pulse. Broad-band, high-energy, short duration, energies up to ten keV. But I’ve got the dragon debris safely in tow.""Origin of the pulse?" Devereaux asked."The debris," said Papa. "The mechanism is less clear, but may be synchrotron radiation. It was not our shuttles. Not enough power. We're analyzing the time-dependent spectrum now and will be able to provide a better answer shortly.""What a second," Fisher said. "Maybe I’ve been staring at this thing too long and still haven’t fully caught up on my sleep, but could you show us the ball at the onset of the pulse, highest contrast between any wavebands?""Of course. Here is the ratio of X-ray to infrared." The dancing plasma jerked, shifted hues, and froze into an instant. The ball was not opaque in this image. There was a dark, twisted shape. A convoluted, triple helix with annelid segments. Papa said, "Our agent trailing the dragon reports a course reversal. The dragon is rising out of the disk and twisting itself to rocket. It’s coming right back to us." And then it became clear to Fang, the nature of the bulb-turned-ball: it was an egg. And its mother was angry with them. Part Four: Dragon Breath The naturalist must consider only one thing: what is the relation of this or that external reaction of the animal to the phenomenon of the external world? -- Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, from "Scientific Study of So-Called Psychical Processes in the Higher Animals" Sylvia Devereaux should have been more interested in the approaching star dragon, yet she had a difficult time focusing on the obvious. She always had. Subtle, beautiful solutions to intriguing puzzles were never found among the obvious. And on this voyage she had chosen to entice fresh, boyish and immature Phil into a relationship, bypassing the more obvious Henderson. In hindsight, that had been an excellent choice. As was her wont, she let the others worry about the approaching dragon, the obvious problem at hand. She kept an eye on it, but she could not continuously focus on it. Fisher might try to hit her if she interfered, and Captain Fang was a piece of work herself. A smart person never tried to get between dogs and food when they were eating. They taught kids that still, even the ones with the fluffy lap animals genetically modified to bark in melody that passed for dogs these days. No, Sylvia was more interested in the receding dragons than in the solitary approaching beast. She had initialized a program when they had arrived at the system to identify ‘dragon sign,’ that shifting laser frequency that the dragons emitted. She still didn’t know for sure what it was; probably it was an energy regulator as Fisher had theorized, or a by-product of some high-metabolic process. Whatever it was, her analysis program took in the data feed from the Karamojo’s detectors and remote system monitors and searched for it. Her mini-tank display showed the SS Cygni system and its disk suddenly littered with dragon signal, now that she knew how to filter for it and trace the frequency shifts. Tiny vectors exploded out like angry ants rising to defend a disturbed nest. A counter shimmered as the number grew from the thousands to tens of thousands and into the hundreds of thousands, with no sign of slowing. How many dragons could a disk hide? She watched for a few moments, trying to fathom the pattern of their movement. There was a pattern there...not apparent at first glance because of the combination of gravitational and viscous forces. The dragons were taking the quickest course toward the disk’s hot spot. In some cases that meant drifting downstream, for a smaller number, tacking upstream. The dragons at both larger and smaller radii took more complicated courses, exploiting different physical effects, such as the Coriolis force and magnetic centrifugal force, to reach their objective. It would take the majority of dragons some hours to reach their goal. What were they doing? And why now?"Captain Fang," she said, "You ought to be aware of this." Sylvia watched the pattern, mesmerized as she ran a projection forward with twisting spokes spiraling into a corkscrew focused on the hot spot. She blinked twice and raised her gaze when she realized that she had elicited no response. Everyone else, rapt, watched a split image overlay projected around the bridge periphery. Shuttles raced, the star dragon rocketed, the Karamojo arced to intercept. The dragon ball, the dragon egg, the trophy for the winner. Papa’s voice whispered in her ear. "The gang is a bit distracted just now, Sylvia. Their minds weren’t designed for parallel processing, especially when a survival threat presents itself. Why don’t you tell us instead?" Papa was calling the situation a survival threat? This was serious. It did sometimes pay dividends to focus on just the obvious.# Axelrod Henderson wrapped his metal fingers about his metal skull as he squatted on the bridge floor, and considered the option of prayer. Once he had realized that there existed a chance he would not survive -- fuck that -- a chance he would die on this mission, he had lost his carefully cultivated control. That was nothing more than a bundle of petty affectations that pretended a sophistication that didn't truly exist in nature. At first the change had terrified him. He had lived his life consciously, knowing the game of life, knowing the rules of the world he lived in, knowing the rules of his own biology and exploiting them. The loss of his fantasy colony more than foreshadowed the death of his dreams. It foreshadowed his own death. And now it was happening. He should have had kids before he left. Lots and lots of kids. He had been correct. The star dragon had been carrying a bomb, and they had been stupid enough to try to pick it up. And in the best case scenario, what was an egg but a bomb with a long fuse? Reproduction was dangerous all the way down the line, from seduction to conception to adulthood. Ask Romeo, or innocent bystanders like his friend, good old Mercutio. Ask Oedipus’ murdered father, Laius. Furthermore, Henderson had studied broadly, noting especially relationships among creatures in the so-called natural state, the few backward worlds where that still existed. Such relationships provided his guide. He knew that while humankind had triumphed over the body and could rewrite physical evolution to suit their needs, mental evolution was a trickier subject. His new body, in addition to being more resilient and radiation proof, was supposed to make him feel more in control because of the way he towered over the others. Even in freefall people grasped at an 'up' and a 'down' that his span could identify for this crew, giving him some influence. Well, that wasn’t working just yet. But the concept in which he possessed absolute faith in from his studies of creatures in their natural state was the ferocity of a mother defending her young. Here would be a test of that concept. Such a powerful natural force could certainly overcome their too-simple technology, their ship a fish out of water barely suitable for the harsh environment of SS Cygni, could it not?"That’s amazing," Fisher said. "I didn't know that a dragon could fly that fast. It’s going to beat us there, isn’t it?""Not if I can help it," Fang said. Henderson only relinquished his skull grip when a loud and low metallic groan echoed off the walls and made him worry that he might be denting his head.# Phil Stearn’s calves quivered, tense, over feet raised up on tiptoe. He could simply not remain seated, so he got up and paced back and forth before the displays. Pure juice. The unfolding events were pure juice. No matter how good the simulation, in the back of your mind you always knew it was a game. Not real. This was fucking real, and somehow that made a difference. It was the same adrenaline surge as a good game, the same electrical storm in his brain, but the knowledge that the stakes were higher than breaking a record or winning a bet made it much more sweet. He had risked his life before, but despite the stakes, it hadn’t been real either. He had skydived through herds of balloons in the skies of Jupiter (easy if the landing glove deploys properly, which it does at better than 99.9 percent probability), free climbed Olympus Mons (not as hard as he had thought it would be, using a goatman bodmod), walked alone across Mercury’s Chao Meng Fu crater (cold, boring, and polluted with all the vacuum-preserved tracks of previous hikers). All the challenges of the modern world were artificial, taken by choice, voluntarily. Robots or biological mobiles did anything truly dangerous in the ‘real universe.’ But now they were engaged in a real life conflict of survival in an alien system with a creature so different they didn't even know what it thought, let alone its capabilities. It didn't even matter that he was not a major player here. He was part of the team, and either they all won or they all lost. Homo sapiens versus Stella draconis. And he was Homo sapiens just as much as any of the rest."Sit down, Stearn," Fang ordered. "We’re going to burn some reaction mass." Stearn skipped back to the couchbeast, sat down on his hands, and squirmed with anticipation.# Samuel Fisher smiled at Fang as he sank into his couchbeast. She didn't smile back. He didn't mind. It was not a slight. Not in the least. She was girding herself for battle and wearing her game face. This was what had attracted him to Lena Fang in the first place: her serious competence. Physically she was as beautiful as ever, with her firm fluted lips and perfect hair, but more attractive was the resoluteness he read in her eyes. This mission was her baby as much as his, and she was set to defend it with all her formidable powers. No way she would fail again. No way. And then he knew for certain that his shift was real, that he was on Fang's side rather than the dragon’s. He had been watching her in these moments, not his former obsession. He hoped he could convince Fang that his allegiance was genuine. He had to admit to himself that in her position, he would not easily find trust, if at all. Atsuko, perhaps long dead now and lost to him -- one curse of Einstein’s legacy -- had warned him of his troubles mixing work and human relationships. He was not good in dealing with the gray areas. Not good at all he had to admit. He decided that the best way to begin earning Fang's trust was to give her his trust first. There would come an opportunity for her to test him, and he would be ready, but he had to prepare her for that step. This fell under her bailiwick. He would help her best by focusing on his strength: dragon biology. Both that of the adult and the egg. Securing an egg would be better in many ways than capturing an adult. There existed myriad problems with the jury-rigged cage they had developed. It would remain jury rigged in his mind until it was tested. Better not to have to test it. Then there were the complications of trying to keep such an alien creature alive. Only seventeen percent of first-time alien acquisitions were successful in doing so for more than a year, and those were not nearly so different as these star dragons. There were still some Earth species they could not keep alive in captivity, great white sharks for one. He asked Papa for a datalink to his couch terminal and accessed the observations of the egg. The shuttles hadn't been equipped with all the remote observing instruments that he would have wished for, but he would make do with what information they sent. If there was anything there to exploit, anything that might make the dragon think her egg already lost, or safe elsewhere, he would find it. But with a glance at their relative positions and velocities, he realized that he had better work fast.# Captain Lena Fang licked her slightly parted lips, wishing for luck, as she considered the rocketing dragon. It was not her destiny to fail forever. It could not be. This time would be different, she told herself. This time was different. They faced a lone dragon, rather than thousands. They had a concrete goal -- securing the egg -- rather than a vague notion of scooping up a small dragon as if it were a guppy. Before she had felt alone. She glanced at Fisher. This time she had support. That mattered more to her than she would have guessed. She checked the vectors, the rates. The less massive dragon with its fusion rocket was faster and more maneuverable than the Karamojo’s rail drive. While the starship’s rail could accelerate its reaction pellets to very high velocity, the available reaction mass limited their thrust. They were a big ship and depended on the wormdrive to move appreciable distances at speed. Wormdrive was cheap, but potentially dangerous in such an uncertain situation. She would use it, if she had to. The shuttles, paired with their magnetic net and its burden that slowed them, coming to meet them part way helped only a little. Perhaps that little would be enough. Without another trick, the dragon would not reach them before the shuttles had entered the ship’s maw. What would that mother do then? What would they do then?"Papa, investigate optimal activation of wormdrive given rendezvous with the egg-laden shuttles.""Yes, daughter, but may we point out two immediate problem areas?""Go ahead.""We will have to reorient from a disk-facing posture. We haven’t the power to drive the singularities through the dense disk, and it would not be prudent to reverse the worm polarity for an ass-backwards launch." When Papa said, ‘It would not be prudent,’ he meant that they would exceed safety parameters in several areas with a possibly catastrophic outcome. To be prudent, they would lose another twenty seconds. She preferred Papa speaking in his own voice than the phraseology forced upon him in technical, time-critical situations. "Fine," she said. "We have to take the time to reorient. What’s the other problem?""Radiation and field fluxes. What tolerances do we permit for the egg?" Fang raised an eyebrow at Fisher."It’s got to be able to withstand at least a dwarf nova outburst near the outer radius of the disk. That’s thirty thousand Kelvin, and we’re not going to come close to that. The field flux is a potentially more serious problem. The disk fields don’t vary nearly so quickly as our system. I suspect the egg is quite tough by our standards, but I’m not sure we should risk full charge.""Okay," Fang said, "Low charge, low mass, and low acceleration should still outpace the dragon." If they went, they went. This current maneuver was costing them more of their reaction reserves than she was comfortable with. First the biologicals, now the mass. "Dr. Fisher, will our scientific goals be satisfied if we leave the system with only this egg?" Fisher lifted his glowing hands to his face, hesitated, then placed his fingers to his temples and began rubbing. Hurry up, Sam, Fang thought. You dissected about a million different scenarios in your dragon-obsessed months, didn’t you? But not this one. Not this one. And you’ve got less than a minute before I decide for you. His fingers ceased their rubbing and trailed down his cheeks, slowly, making Fang think that they represented the tears he could not shed because of his radical bodmod. "Yeah," he croaked. Then, sounding more certain, "A viable egg will be more than enough." She knew what this meant to him, this closing point for a year of insane joy and calculated madness. He hadn't opposed her or tricked her out of maliciousness. To him, the very concept of a star dragon had been his surrogate child, and he had only been defending a piece of himself. But this was not the time or the place to tell him that she understood. This was the time for her to act."Okay Papa," she said, expelling the air completely from her lungs and refilling them before continuing, "Let’s activate wormdrive upon rendezvous with the shuttles.""Now you’re talking, daughter," Papa agreed."We’re leaving?" Henderson asked."We are," Fang asserted."Going to be crazy," Stearn said."I’m afraid it is, Mr. Stearn. That’s why I’d like you visually inspecting the dock and egg acquisition. I want you on-site to troubleshoot anything that Papa can’t handle. Can I count on you?""Absolutely Captain!" Stearn’s teeth gleamed white against his dark skin."And take Henderson with you to supervise any biological emergencies.""Shit," Henderson opined. Stearn paused by Devereaux and gave her a quick peck on her forehead just under her dreadlocks. She looked up from her console, surprised, but he was already dragging Henderson to his feet. The unlikely pair exited through the bridge’s irising portal, the solid, compact black man slapping the bronze giant on the ass to hustle. Henderson jumped and did indeed hustle with clanging steps. Devereaux giggled, then returned almost immediately to her work. Fang allowed herself a slight smile and nod. The crew was working together, the ship seemed shipshape again, and it looked like they might escape the system with a prize worth at least a continuing captaincy. Perhaps this was a lucky day. The Karamojo thrummed along as they approached their destiny. Never risk anything unless you're prepared to lose it completely -- remember that . -- Ernest Hemingway "Isn’t this exciting, Henderson? I mean, here we are seeing history. Hell, making history. I knew this was a step I was taking, but, man! This is the big game." Stearn swung his fist to punctuate his excitement. Henderson jogged down the corridor in front of Stearn, hunched over slightly, conveying more apprehension than excitement. "It’s madness that we do this. We’re immortal, godlike. We can pleasure ourselves in any way we like, real or virtual, with no one to answer to as to how we spend our time. Why are we risking eternity here? Why?""Should have thought about that before signing up!" Stearn crowed. "Too late now. Forget about it and live the moment. Can’t you feel it? This is what life is all about. Pushing yourself to the limits, taking great risks for great rewards.""But what if the risks prove too great, and all is lost? What then?" At least the doom-sayer kept moving forward briskly."What then? I'll tell you 'what then.' " Stearn paused for dramatic effect. "You lose! That’s what makes the game of life worth playing. Without the chance of losing, what’s the point? A rigged game is no fun.""I went on this trip on the promise it would help me rig the game.""What do you mean?" But Henderson would say no more on the subject. Soon enough they reached the interior staging zone, where so long ago Stearn had helped Sylvia deploy the on-axis observatory. The double-ply diamond windows here were best suited to watching the Karamojo’s innards independently of Papa's instruments, and, more importantly, to being able to act if the need arose. Stearn pressed his face against the window, steaming it up almost immediately. He smelled the fish he’d had for dinner on his breath and activated his mint gland. Wiping away the condensation with his sleeve, he said, "Got a good view, a real view, from right here. Live and uncensored. Papa, tell Fang we’re in position.""We’ve already told her.""Right." Stearn realized that he sported a hard-on, tight and sweaty in his pants. Why not? He was excited in every way."It's stupid for us to be here," Henderson said. "Papa's got better monitors. We should be watching his displays." Stearn grunted and ignored him. Was the man really an engineer? Seconds dragged into minutes, and he watched the electric pulse of the rail system shooting charged pellets out into the SS Cygni system. Stearn asked Papa for a countdown, which abruptly started at thirty-nine. "Thanks for the warning," he muttered."What?" Henderson asked. Stearn’s face, suddenly slick with sweat, squeaked as it slid against the glass. Waiting tension was part of games: the ticking of the chess clock, holding for the last shot before the end of the period, the pitcher's glance toward first necessary to hold the runner, the half-held breath with the draw of the bow string, the flip of the hand of cards, the exquisitely slow but inexorable squeeze of the trigger of the gun locked on target. He could wait. Oh, yes, he could wait."Gravity ending," Papa announced when the count hit seven. "Maneuvers commencing. Secure yourselves.""Shit," said Henderson. Stearn braced himself and continued his watch. He expected the flare of chemical rockets rapidly braking the shuttles, but he didn’t see that. Instead the microgravity shifted a barely perceptible amount; the incoming shuttles were braking against the rail’s electric field. The pair floated through the Karamojo’s maw, a blue-green crackling bundle suspended between them. A tiny point, not quite discernible at distance even though Stearn pushed his enhanced eyes for all they were worth. Just not enough lambda over diameter to resolve the thing. Did not matter. It was clear that that was it. The egg. The prize for the winners of the big game."Shit," Henderson said again."You’ve got that right, man. The shit is here.""Reorientation," Papa announced. The world spun and Stearn’s grip nearly gave. Shadows raced across the young gardens and the interior dimmed as the Karamojo shifted angular momentum among its flywheels to reorient itself away from the disk. The rotation provided significant and surprising gravity. Henderson bumped into Stearn, hard. "Get a hold of something, man!" Stearn chided him. Henderson clanged away from Stearn as he slipped further in the pseudo gravity. "I’ve been trying!" Stearn turned away from the biotech -- he had a hard metal head now, after all, and could take a few bumps -- and resumed his visual inspection of the egg stowing. If they could hold off on the wormdrive until they had the egg stabilized inside their cage, inside which they had simulated the quiescent disk, the game would be over. Victory. But the shuttles, as fast as he knew they had to be going, seemed to crawl. The cage rested around midship, about a hundred meters aft and spanning an angle from thirty to sixty degrees from Stearn’s position. Its jaws ratcheted open for the approaching shuttles like the doors to the forge of Hell. Magnetically confined plasma filled the chamber, making a warm and toasty incubator for their prize. The trick here would be to use the same fields to catch the egg, gently, without spilling the plasma onto anything nearby not equipped to take it. Papa and Fisher had assured Stearn it would go well, that the margins for error were quite broad. They would soon see. And then Stearn saw too much. Three things happened nearly all at once, and a fourth thing very shortly thereafter. The first thing was the release of the egg from the shuttles’ net. There was a brief flare as fields were matched and canceled, and the egg was left on a free flight trajectory (which appeared to have an odd twist to Stearn -- the result of the rotating reference frame combined with whatever electric fields Papa had running on the cage doors and rail) shooting toward the open jaws. The shuttles continued on toward the open aft of the Karamojo, no doubt being abandoned rather than docked. Slowing them down would not take long, but this was a game of seconds now; they would end up in the disk reduced to their constituent elements, eventually ending their existence as degenerate matter on the white dwarf. This throw and run maneuver was the first thing he noticed because he expected it and he was watching for it. The second thing was Papa announcing imminent wormdrive activation. This was clear enough given the warning claxon and the strobes on the tetrahedrally distributed collars of the Higgs generators. The invisible inflaton beams would be emitted any time, as soon as the power level was reached and the generators properly phased. ‘Properly phased’ usually required ten seconds or more, but under the current circumstances who knew what tolerance the captain would gamble on? The third thing was terrible. Stearn knew that the dragon was coming, but he hadn't expected to see it with his own eyes. There came a near blinding flash from the Karamojo’s maw (the worst wavelengths blocked by both the porthole and his own corneas), a massive fusion brake he was later told, that cast incredibly sharp shadows throughout the ship’s interior. He had an odd thought that the garden was toast again despite its shields, which had been designed to pass quite a lot ultraviolet radiation. His heavily moded eyes, already restoring his sight, imaged the red-hot star dragon silhouetted against the indigo sky of SS Cygni. The star dragon snaked inside the ship of its own fierce volition. Emphasis on ‘fierce.’ Stearn had noted, on more than one occasion, that there was nothing like the ferocity of an opposing will. A smart AI will concede a lost game, acknowledging and expecting correct play by an opponent even when the stakes are great. Desperation will drive a living will to absurdity, permitting it to intuit the course of action most distasteful to its competition, the course of action that will introduce an element of chaos. The tiniest, most unlikely chance, will be seized by a living will. While Stearn thought these thoughts he judged most profound, all in the moment the star dragon struck the pose of some ancient Chinese dragon of the sky, the Karamojo lurched and the fourth thing happened. In personal terms, the worst thing of the four. All two hundred and fifty kilograms of Henderson crashed into Stearn, knocking his head brutally into the diamond port, and he saw no more.#"Trust me, Lena damn it," Fisher implored as the Karamojo rode the blast from the dragon's braking. "We're out of time!" Fang sat stony-faced, squeezing the arms of her chairbeast so hard that they bled, unanswering. The star dragon had executed an unexpected maneuver, something that would scare Henderson shitless, Fisher was sure. The creatures did in effect have fusion bombs, and had used the shockwave from one alter its course faster than anticipated. Papa hadn't anticipated this possibility, and now instead of a clear shot out of the system at an acceleration the star dragon had no chance of meeting, she was sliding down their throat. Fisher didn't even stop to worry about what kind of radiation flux might have penetrated their shields. They had no more than an instant before they would be unable to act, the dragon so far down their gullet they could do nothing but choke on it. Their earlier capture plans were precipitated on an exterior capture of the dragon and a predefined sequence of moving charges on the primary and ancillary rails to channel the creature into the cage. They had no chance of doing anything of the sort, configured as they were for wormdrive -- now fatally interrupted. But Fisher had a contingency plan, one that he hadn't cared to share with the others before now. He would hide no more. He was with Lena, trusted her to do what was necessary, trusted her judgment. If only she would understand and trust him. Everything depended on it. Fisher's analysis of this star dragon’s segmented body and corresponding magnetic fields had suggested a way to pry them apart. This was not something he had looked for on purpose, but he strove for thoroughness in every task he set himself. Disassembling a dragon was ugly, blunt, and required large amounts of power. Power in this energy-rich environment was no problem -- they had acquired power to spare and had monstrous capacitors ready to deliver. Execution was more a matter of will. Fisher possessed the will. He was committed to their course of action. He would sacrifice this dragon if need be to make Lena's plan work. But only Fang could give the word. Trust me, he willed. It would be too late soon. Maybe it already was."Papa," Fang spat the word like she had a mouthful of poison and couldn’t clear it quickly enough, "Run Fisher’s program.""It wouldn’t be prudent, daughter.""Do it!" Fang overrode. The Karamojo rocked again.# Even as registers filled with binary encoding for the precise traumas inflicted upon the Karamojo, Papa translates the events into metaphor for his human persona. Under a blistering sun Papa's land rover barrels over the dry savanna grass, which slaps against the front bumper with the pock-a-pock sound of a machine gun. The dragon-headed rhinoceros pursues. He hadn't been hunting the beast from the vehicle -- that would have been unsporting. But the shot had gone awry and the rhino had charged. He had just barely managed to leap into the driver's seat and coax the machine into life, accelerating ahead of a new charge now turned into heated pursuit. Just when it seems that he would outdistance the beast, he spies a steep ravine and must slow and swerve. This impact isn't nearly as devastating as when the induced currents burned through Papa's body and brain on their initial contact with this species, but he still hits with a heavy thud. The dented rover rocks as Papa spins the wheel of fortune, hoping the tires gain purchase pointed away from the ravine, away from the rhino. And then Fang gives him the order to run Fisher's program. Action! Papa's arms dance like those of Kali, with perfect aim lobbing short-fused explosive darts into the chinks in the creature's armored hide. Thwack-thwack-thwack! One especially good toss lodges a dart in the neck seam where the sinuous dragon head attaches to the ponderous body. Ker-BANG! The charging rhino explodes into pieces, a grotesque shower of blood. The vehicle twists over into the ravine, tumbling, falling wild. Metaphor breaks down. Papa sheds his human senses and accepts the flood of raw data available to him. Microseconds stretch to hours, and every moment is the now. The star dragon is inside the Karamojo, inside its hollow interior, inside him. In thirty-two high-velocity pieces. Fisher's program accessed the superconducting coils that control the ship's drive systems. Enormous power lay available there, the capacitors and batteries overfilled in this energy-rich locale. Corkscrewing fields had infiltrated the dragon's segments, and, like a million tiny invisible and irresistible crowbars, pried apart its structural integrity. Whatever dragons are made of, which seems less and less likely to be any normal form of baryonic matter known to human science, the creature depends on electromagnetism for its locomotion. The current experiment suggests that the creature also depends on electromagnetism for its cohesion. Score one for Dr. Fisher. Papa catalogs the fragments and their trajectories. In the time he has available, he can only deflect a few. As for the high-pressure plasma that the dragon had confined within itself, its 'blood' he permits himself to think, there is nothing that he can do. It explodes throughout the Karamojo's interior, but quickly rarefies and does little damage. One large segment of the dragon, the head, Papa deflects from an impact with the egg cage. Another segment he deflects from the now-reflective port behind which Stearn and Henderson watch. One small piece ricochets off a sturdy housing for one of the Higgs generators. The rest smash into different parts of the interior hull designed to withstand catastrophic stresses. And bounce. This dragon-stuff isn't deformable. It interacts electromagnetically with the ship, touching the ship in a conventional sense, but the pieces don't break up further or lose energy to the heat of deformation. They bounce. Papa measures and extrapolates the trajectories, modeling his options. His twentieth century memories, stealing an iota of his processing power, intrude with images of popcorn above a gas stovetop, pinballs exploding off bumpers, bingo balls rolling in their cage. Papa spins up some flywheels, spins down others, uses the few thrusters oriented in useful directions, as he presses the ship to its operational ability in an attempt to minimize the dragon-segment impacts on potentially weak sections. He is forced to push the safety limits for the human passengers, but there is little choice and little time to consider. Despite his efforts, the Karamojo is too large, too slow, to do much but endure as the pieces rattle through its bowels, finally exiting the aft. Papa restores his metaphor for the damage assessment, his human personality welcoming the relief from the tedious and never ending flood of data, the restoration of time. Steam hisses from the crumpled hood, punctuated by metallic pings and the smell of burnt rubber. The windshield has shattered. Papa pulls out shards of glass from his face with callused fingers as he blinks away blood. Superficial wounds only to what he thinks of as himself, not a real physical body, and not nearly so bad as that plane crash that had left him with a limp, so long ago in Africa. But what of their transportation? Papa leans back to kick open the jammed driver-side door, hops onto the dead grass, and walks to the front. The hood sizzles, so he removes his shirt. Tearing the khaki into strips, he wraps his hands. Then he can hold on firmly enough to lift the twisted metal. Waiting for the steam to clear, bloody sweat runs into the corners of his eyes. Bloody, stinging hot."Getting damn warm." First he checks that his hair isn't on fire -- that happened during the second airplane crash. Hair fine, Papa cranes his neck to get a bearing on the sun. It grows larger by the second.# Now that the awful spins had ceased, as well as the even more awful ringing crashes, Devereaux had the opportunity to feel nauseated. Suddenly floating free in the quiet of the bridge with nary a sneeze, she wondered for the first time if she were going to die on this trip. Well, that would solve another mystery for her at least. She hoped that Phil was okay. Before she could ask, Fang had fired a stream of questions at Papa. The last one was, "How long before we hit the disk?" Devereaux squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pull herself together. The Karamojo could persist in the hot corona of the disk by virtue of its rarefication. It didn't matter that the gas was so hot if there wasn't much of it -- the corona was more like vacuum than anything. There was no way their systems could handle the plasma density in the disk, even as vacuum-like as it too seemed compared to Earth's atmosphere. They would hit it, pretty soon too. How soon? Despite the biochip augmentation for superior computation, her mind was numb, unable to calculate the simple expressions derived from Newton's Laws of Motion that would let her answer the question herself. They had come out from the disk shifting orbits and the gravity was weaker, and they had a significant initial velocity...."Ten minutes, daughter," Papa said."Shit," Fang hissed. Serious stuff for the captain to slip so much. Devereaux had heard her say "damn" more than a few times, but "shit" was off the scale for the bridge. Gravity was a bitch."The drives are out, but we have the egg secured?""Right.""Well, fix the drives." Fang was not holding back a trump card apparently. "Rail first -- we need thrust fast.""We'll try," Papa said. Only try? Devereaux asked, "Papa, can you put me in touch with Phil?""Mister Stearn is unconscious," Papa said. "Mister Henderson is apparently conscious, but is not responsive." Papa so formal? Not a good sign at all. Devereaux pulled in her arms to spin a little more quickly, and when in position kicked the back of her chair to head for the bridge exit."Sylvia! Stop," Fang ordered. Devereaux was unable to suppress her startle instinct, so sharp had been Fang's command. She caught the edge of the portal and turned toward the other woman. "Why? They need help!" Fang stared back from her perch on her fighting chair, face passive except for her eyes, which blinked rapidly. "We must act with precision. Let us be sure of our actions before we run about foolishly. There are important things to do here." Were there really? Her mind drew blank. Just when Devereaux was about to resume her flight to Phil, Papa spoke. "Dr. Devereaux, the phenomenon you pointed out to us requires your attention. It's very important." Phenomenon? The dragon migration she'd noticed? And not just 'important,' but 'very important.' How could that be in their current predicament? She would rather be with Phil at a time like this. There didn't seem to be anything she could do to help here, despite Captain Fang's admonition. The automatic repair systems were going to save them, or not, and what did it matter if she left the bridge? Fang softened, a little, and said, "Fisher can see to Stearn and Henderson, and lend a hand down there if Papa needs one. We're not dealing with a dragon any more. Good enough?" Devereaux glanced at Fisher whose wide eyes suggested that he was as surprised as she was at Fang's suggestion. Barely hesitating even though he was being asked to leave the bridge during the crisis, he took a deep breath and kicked off his couchbeast with a nod and a grunt. When he was past her and already bouncing down the corridor, Devereaux said, "Okay, Papa. Tell me what you think is going on."# Fisher bounded along concentrating on his course. He had a hundred questions to ask Papa about what had transpired with the dragon, what they had learned, but Fang had given him a task to do and he was going to complete it to the best of his ability. He could follow orders, he was sure, if he tried hard enough. He'd demonstrate his dedication by applying his famous obsession to the immediate task and any others she gave him, and if that didn't show her that he was on her side, nothing would. Besides, he might get the opportunity to see the egg with his own eyes. His streakers caught the rugling-denuded walls and propelled him headlong, perhaps too earnestly. Acceleration alarms blared again as they had moments earlier, and gravity tugged him into a new floor. Fisher smiled. Looked like they were going to make it after all. He skidded forward, elbows thrown before his face like a shield as he stumbled into a run just as he approached the T-junction leading to the staging zone where the others were. A terrible clanking came from the adjacent corridor. Henderson's tumbling body followed, suddenly very close, very large, and very hard. Fisher grimaced, preparing for impact. The gravity shifted again, slowing both of them. Henderson's head was still very hard when Fisher struck it with his elbows. He howled with rattling pain; he had hit his funny bone. Some job he was doing for Fang. At least the gravity shift indicated they had some way to maneuver, some way to thrust away from the disk, at least for the time being."Are you all right?" Fisher asked Henderson, shaking out his arm as he carefully stood in the low, throbbing gravity."No," Henderson said. Well, he was responsive enough. "Where's Stearn?""What about me?" Fisher turned up the hallway. Stearn was crumpled in ball at the far end, below the port. "What about you?" Fisher said to Henderson, "I'll tell you what. You are going to help me with Stearn. Get up." The Jack was flat on his back, but holding his head and at least moaning when Fisher reached him. "And to think, I used to intentionally hurt myself for the endorphin rush," Stearn said. His eyes were slightly crossed."Of course you did," Fisher said, losing interest. The Jack was woozy, but conscious. His internal biologicals would ensure he would be fine if he was functioning at all now. A mild concussion might be the worst of it, a hour and he'd be himself again although he seemed to have made it back to that extreme position already. He was Henderson's problem now -- another one of his problems anyway. Fisher gazed through the port. The rails pulsed with power, accelerating charged buckshot to provide thrust for the Karamojo. Good. They weren't going to fall into the disk in the next few minutes. He squinted, pushing his vision, and made out their Faraday cage. The egg was in the cage. Yes! They had done it then. That was it. Fang had stood her ground, and Papa had executed his program. True, they were limping, but a few repairs and they would be worming home. They had won! The com chimed. "We have a problem," Fang said. "A big problem." Fisher shook his head. "What?" Devereaux's voice came over. "Dragons are exploding in the secondary star, its upper atmosphere at any rate, heating it." Why would they be doing that? "Enough to matter?" he asked."Yes, I'm afraid so. The atmosphere is bloating like a balloon, and the gaseous spillover across the Lagrangian point is sky rocketing. The accretion rate will explode, two orders of magnitude above nominal. This is going to drive the disk into outburst in no time, and not just any outburst. I'm putting my estimate of the mass transfer at five percent of a lunar mass before all is said and done." Five percent of the moon's mass? That was unthinkable. That was nearly double the normal disk mass. He guessed dumping two caldrons of boiling oil into a full cauldron of boiling oil would be more than bad for anyone standing around watching. How many dragons were there? How much power could they unleash? Perhaps this was something that would earn Biolathe a hefty profit, even considering five hundred years R and D by the time they returned. Henderson, suddenly at Fisher's side and ignoring Stearn, said, "So we're leaving, right?" Were they able? Fisher raised an eyebrow, blew out a mouthful of air, and asked, "Papa?""Raildrive operational, ninety-eight percent capacity. Wormdrive diagnostics indicate alignment failure." Teasing out the singularities required nearly perfect alignment, at the micro-arcsecond scale. Without that alignment, you'd have nothing more than high-energy gamma rays streaming past each other. They wouldn't be going anywhere fast until the wormdrive was fixed."We can fix that later, right?" Henderson asked. "We can put some distance between us and this God-forsaken hell hole, this complete Ghenna, and conduct wormdrive repairs, at our leisure. We have the rail." Stearn pinched the bridge of his nose, and blinked his eyes in an exaggerated fashion. They straightened, but then recrossed. Did he have to be goofing around even now? But the Jack spoke soberly: "Our reaction mass is limited, so our speed is limited. Sylvia explained it to me. That much mass spillover will lead to a nova. If the radiation doesn't fry us, the associated particle ejecta will be flying up our ass at ten thousand kilometers per second, bulk speed. The cosmic rays will be worse.""What do you -- what do you mean?" Henderson asked."A nova," Stearn repeated, speaking slowly. "The semi-degenerate hydrogen on the surface of the white dwarf will heat up in a runaway reaction, igniting surface-wide fusion. It'll be like a living stellar core, and it'll blow away everything around it. The disk, the dragons, and us. Poof. We'll be a cinder.""A nova?" Henderson said."No," said Fisher, not able to help himself. "It won't be a nova." He might as well let them think it would be a nova, for all that it mattered, but they were part of the team and deserved to know the facts. Besides, he understood that he was intellectually arrogant and could not miss the chance to put himself back into that perch. Might as well be honest with himself if no one else."Not a nova?" Henderson asked. He sounded hollow, but hopeful."Not a nova." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Fisher realized he was slipping into lecture mode. He could not stop the process, but that was fine; he somehow felt more in control being able to explain it. "The thermal runaway of a nova is the consequence of the semi-degenerate state of the material accumulating on the surface of the white dwarf." Henderson stared back with his blank metal mask and he decided it was best to assume silence here didn't indicate understanding. "Degenerate gas results from the Pauli Exclusion principle. All the electrons can't be pressed into the same quantum states -- that's forbidden -- and this provides pressure to resist the white dwarf's gravitational field. That material can then heat up without expanding or changing its pressure. It can get hot enough to drive nuclear fusion, which makes heat, which drives more fusion. Thermal runaway, and it all fuses essentially at once.""It explodes," Stearn translated. Then speaking slowly, "It goes 'boom.'""Fisher said not a nova," Henderson insisted."Right. Gas accreted by the white dwarf doesn't become degenerate overnight. It's a slow process, taking thousands of years. Let's you build up a big bomb, which there isn't time for to happen now. That tidal wave of gas starting to make its way through the disk won't make a nova.""So we're safe then." Metal creaked as Henderson smiled."No," said Fisher. "That tidal wave is still going to heat up and inflate the disk into a big donut, and finally make a hell of a splash when it reaches the primary. It won't be a nova, but no one is going to refer to this as a dwarf nova. That's for certain. Plasma and high-energy particles are going to spray all over the system. A lot of them." There was no way they were going to outrun this outburst -- this dragon breath -- without wormdrive. He finished, "Going to spray all over us, too."#"So what's going to happen, Papa?" Fang asked, sinking down into her fighting chair. On the fly bridge wall before her glowed a brilliant azure sky, darkening to midnight at the apex. Behind her churned the furnace of SS Cygni's disk, ready to boil over. Inside her an icy chilliness wrapped itself around her spine and filled her with a sharp force."We must warn you that our predictive power in this situation is limited. Our disk model uses a quasi-linear viscosity parameterization that does not extrapolate well into the impending regime of extreme mass transfer." Fang scowled. "I'm not Devereaux. Give it to me in your own terms." He switched to his gruff, less formal tone. His Papa voice. "We don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be a hell of a thing. A haymaker flying toward our glass jaw." Devereaux said, "Why are the dragons are doing this? They're acting like lemmings, blowing themselves up in a mass suicide. What's the evolutionary benefit?""I don't care," said Fang. "We live and there's time to figure out why later.""Ye-yeah, I suppose so," Devereaux said quietly."We need wormdrive then," Fang reasoned. "Papa, how soon can you restore wormdrive capacity?""Five or six hours. Maybe faster if we loosen tolerances." Five or six hours? "Why so long?" Fang shot back."It's a mechanical problem on the interior, the alignment of a Higgs generator, and there's no software fix. We have no actuator that can adjust for the problem, and we've sure tried. Physics is physics. We have to grow some specialized mobiles from scratch with whatever we can scrounge. There's no other way around it.""There is one way." Fang noticed that her command mask had twisted into a scowl. She permitted the scowl to remain. Attitude and appearance weren't going to solve this problem. "We'll have to send one of us outside to fix the problem manually. It is the Jack's job to back up Papa's systems when they fail.""Not Phil," Devereaux whispered, a soft empty sound full of understanding. Despite the Karamojo's protective fields, the space suit, and the radiation drugs, as the disk flared through outburst into super outburst, the environment within the hollow interior of the ship would make the inside of a microwave oven look like a lukewarm bath. It was a death sentence."It's the Jack's job," Fang repeated. "He's the one who knows how to fix the problem, who’s trained to fix such problems. We must count on Stearn to save the mission. To save us." She was sorry for how official and pompous she sounded."Shit," Devereaux said."Papa, put me through to the Jack." She proceeded immediately without waiting for confirmation. "Mr. Stearn, one of the Higgs generators needs to be aligned by hand.""Yes, Captain," Stearn replied very quickly. Did he understand what she was asking?"We need you to go outside and do it now, or we will not escape the burst.""Can do, Captain.""Papa will brief you as you suit up." Acid burned in the back of Fang's throat, making her swallow before she could continue. "Good luck, Mr. Stearn.""Won't need it, Captain. I'm on the job." There was something more she needed to say, she realized. Another dimension to command just as important as the damn awful one she had just assumed. She lifted her fingers to her lips to signal to Papa to shush the relay. She turned to Devereaux. "Run down there now, Sylvia, because he's got to go out as soon as possible." Fang bit down on her lip then to prevent it from quivering as the other woman nodded and ran off the bridge. Had she really wanted this responsibility? Is this what she had worried would be taken from her someday? Would that really be so terrible? She remembered being a little girl on the junk, calling for help on the radio, surviving, while her grandfather sank with the leviathan into the ocean below. It was more difficult to be a survivor than people would believe. She had done what was necessary no matter how guilty she felt. No matter how any of them felt. Phil Stearn would now have to do what was necessary. Alone on the bridge, having almost certainly sent a man to his death, she realized that this was what it really meant to be Captain.# Before Fang had even finished her explanation, Stearn had opened the utility locker to start suiting up. The clock was ticking down, and he was the "go to" man, the one who would put up the ball before the final buzzer. The one to take the penalty kick. The anchor leg of the relay. The outcome of the game rested on his shoulders. Heck, what had he been practicing for all those years if not for this? He'd earned his spot on the team, and he was not about to let his mates down, even if that surprised them. Failing now would be as bad as cheating. He just wished that his head didn't hurt so much. In a businesslike fashion Fisher assisted him donning the emergency suit, carefully checking all the diagnostic panels. "There should have been an albedo skin for you Stearn, but it looks like Papa reabsorbed all the biologicals stored here. We'll spray on a shield, but it's not as effective.""It's okay," Stearn said. "Neither will help much.""Open your mouth," Henderson said. The metal giant started sticking pills into his mouth like a stim addict punching his pleasure center. He was too helpful, too obviously relieved that he was not the one putting his life on line. "Against the radiation. These will do the job, you'll see." Stearn barely kept from gagging as he dry swallowed the slimy capsules. The giant's fingers smelled like ancient coins, bitter copper, and kept clinking against his teeth. Then Sylvia showed up and it was nearly too much for his pounding head."Phil!" she cried, pushing by Fisher and Henderson to throw her arms around Stearn's neck. He tried to shrug her off. He couldn't afford the distraction now, and she was a overwhelming distraction. His clever, assured jungle goddess had been transformed as if by magic into a blithering idiot. "Lay off," he said more sharply than he intended. His head throbbed and he didn't need any more headache. His vision blurred. Tears, he figured, and tried to intercept them. "Just put me in, Coach." She sniffed and blinked at him. "Phil?""Stand back and let me take the shot," he said patiently."Phil?" she said again, her confused blinking morphing into a penetrating squint. "Why are your eyes funny? Your eyes aren't tracking together." Now it was his turn to blink slowly, exerting every iota of his will into straitening his vision. Maybe he wasn't tearing up. No matter, his system was healing everything. The analgesic glands had already taken the edge off his headache -- it was no longer the worst he'd ever had in his life. Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm…fline." He opened his eyes, even though it hurt to do so. Devereaux frowned back at him, then raised her hands to his head. He winced as she touched the tender spot where he had banged it earlier."You hit your head," she accused. "Does your head hurt now? The truth.""Yeah, but not too much. Pain killers are kicking in." Adrenaline, too, which was good because his eye lids felt pretty heavy. There was no choice, however. He knew the system better than anyone else. He wouldn't have to spend precious moments getting instructions from Papa on the repair. Those moments could make the difference. "Let's hurry it up. I'll be fine once I'm in the game.""It's not up to you to judge," Fisher said. "Concussions can be tricky. Papa?""Hold still Mister Stearn," Papa said, "while we run an HHG." Stearn held still as asked, all except for his jaw which he worked like a goat chewing gum. He wished he had some gum. This whole waiting game was icing him. If they'd only let him go out, concentrate on his job, then he wouldn't have to consider the consequences...they would realize there was no other choice. No one but him and Papa knew what needed to be done, and Papa didn't have a mobile ready to go. Ergo, time to stop warming the bench, Mister Stearn. He stared blankly at the wall, keeping his eyes open. A drop of sweat slid down the side of his face and coolly under the collar of his undersuit."He shouldn't go," Papa finally said."What?" Stearn asked. He was being denied the chance to win the game? "You nuts, Papa? I don't go, we die. So let's go already.""You can't go!" Sylvia burst out in tears and she pressed her cheek against his. It was so unlike her to not understand exactly what the situation was. But he knew the score. Stearn calmed down, pushed Sylvia away, and said, "I have to go anyway, see?""No," Fisher said, reaching for a second suit from the utility locker. "I'll go. Henderson, take Stearn to the biolab. Sylvia, help me on with this.""Are you telling us," Stearn jerked his thumb toward himself, "that you think you can do the job as good as me?""In your current state, better." Fisher tapped the studs and his duradenim slid from his body like silk."Come on, Phil. Go with Henderson," Sylvia said. Fisher had already dismissed him and was stepping into the suit legs."Hey Fish," Stearn said. "I'm not going. When did you learn to do my job? Papa, does he really know how to do this?" Fisher answered, cutting in before Papa spoke, all the while continuing to dress. "In the months you were playing games with Devereaux and I was hanging in the captain's ill wind, I wasn't just building models of star dragons and brooding. I studied this ship for hours every day, learning everything I could to help eliminate bad luck from our mission. Exploit the tiniest thing to get my way, if I had to. It seems that I took a prudent course of action.""Papa, patch Captain through," Stearn demanded. He was sure the twin images of Fisher came from his anger, not his crossed eyes. It hurt less to not force them back into one. "Tell her what's going on.""I've heard everything." Captain Fang's voice was low and even. "I concur with Doctor Fisher's assessment, and his course of action." Fisher cursed under his breath as he popped a wrist seal, but quickly had things set aright. Stearn stood watching, dumbly, for a long moment as the exobiologist donned the suit. Finally his shoulders slumped in defeat. "All right then," Stearn said, letting his aching head rock back to rest against the neck seal. "Lead on, Axelrod." Sylvia kissed him on his cheek and gave his hand a squeeze. He tried to squeeze back, but he had no strength in his hand. He let go, and nearly stumbled with his first step his legs were now trembling so badly. He should have felt elated to escape certain death, but he did not. He felt…benched."You better do a good job, Fish," Stearn said over his shoulder, concentrating on the challenging tasks of keeping his eyes open and walking straight. "Or I'll kick your ass." I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life. -- Jean Giraudoux Fisher stepped into the suit, one leg then the other. Just like getting dressed on every other occasion in his entire life. Unlike any other occasion in his entire life. The suits' biosystems had been salvaged earlier and not yet replaced. That meant using the mechanical back-ups: urine collection bags, liquid-cooled underwear, passive atmosphere filters. As good as the biological systems and as poor as the mechanical systems, Biolathe still relied too heavily on its strengths. One good diamond-based robot or Waldo would have been a lifesaver. They had the plans to build an army of such devices in the nano-vats, but not any faster than a biological mobile. They had run out of time. Fisher, rather, had run out of time."Thank you," Devereaux said, smiling nervously. "Thank you for saving Phil, and all of us. You're a hero, you know? I wouldn't have thought it of you." She slipped behind him to check the atmosphere recycler."I'm not a hero. I haven’t done anything yet," Fisher shot back, at the same time hoping that Lena might see him as a hero, at least to a small degree. "I'm just maximizing the mission's chance for success. It's the only logical course of action. But I'd rather not talk about that. What I'd really like is for you to tell me what the star dragons are doing." She obliged readily, her words coming fast, as if she were grateful to have something else to talk about than this oh-so-embarrassing thing he was doing. She told him about the dragon trajectories making effective beelines for the secondary, even when the shortest time path was not intuitive: surfing the disk in the forward direction, blasting over the accretion stream impact, and looping around the field lines into decaying spirals ending in the nearby star."Amazing things, the dragons," he mused. "I don't see how their behavior can be instinctual, or learned either for that matter. The choice of route in this complex environment requires intelligence. There is no record of such a super outburst as we're about to see from any dwarf novae going back more than six hundred years, so this is a rare occurrence. The a priori chances of such a thing happening at the same time we're here is minuscule. Therefore we are the trigger. This is a defense mechanism against us.""Well, it's working." Devereaux rapped on his backpack unit. "Ship-shape back here." And ship-shape in front too, he realized. He'd automatically finished his dressing and checks, barely aware of himself going through the motions. He dogged down his helmet. Air hissed, stale, cycling through his suit. He knew he should begin reviewing the damage to the Higgs generator that he'd have to fix, but he didn't anticipate it being difficult. It was an engineering problem, inherently solvable. As long as they had the pseudo-gravity of the high-speed rail, "high" being a relative term as they limped along, he could get a grip on things. Freefall repair would have been a more difficult chore. No, he had no doubts at all that he was capable of aligning the beam if everything was as Papa had determined. He felt a certainty that he could do the job, and he wished he could ignore thinking about it altogether. What he desperately wanted to do was to follow his new train of thought about the dragons to its logical conclusion. He smelled a whiff of truth down this path. If these were to be his final moments in the Universe, this was how he would prefer to spend them. But he couldn't give less than he was to Lena, to the others. The job had to come first, and it would not be a shame to focus on it. "Okay Papa, flash me the schematics." Devereaux finished spraying on the white radiation coat and gave him a pat on his insulated shoulder, her touch little more than distant pressure and faint rasp. Lasers sketched the blueprint vectors onto Fisher's head's up display as he entered the airlock. Papa overlaid the damaged housing, showing where it had crimped. The alignment of the housing itself didn't matter, but its shift had jarred the collimator. The Higgs generators depended on their alignment. The highly energetic beams of gamma rays had to collide at the right place at the right time in just the right way, or all you got was a mess of hard radiation and some orphaned cosmic rays. To build the mass pair required precision. As the atmosphere cycled out, Papa described the repair procedure involving the replacement of a piece of molding, adjustment of a Fabry-Perot tuning etalon, and a system diagnostic to confirm the fix. Easy. A mobile could do it. If one was available. The disk of the airlock door irised open. Fisher watched the Forget-Me-Not-preserved dragon roll in his mind's eye for the last time. He climbed down into the inner space of the Karamojo. The rails flashed and the low gravity tugged at his feet as he descended the rungs that followed the curved hull. Beneath him, already appearing more distant than he would have thought, the disk of SS Cygni glowed and sputtered like a pregnant volcano. The hard radiation traversed the distance nearly instantaneously. The only protection was one over r-squared, distance, to get the flux down. They had to go faster to increase the distance before the big splash. Both the raildrive and the wormdrive were aligned along the ship's central axis, and heading out of the system as fast as possible under constant acceleration their orientation had to be essentially radial to SS Cygni. The Karamojo's hollow tube sighted the ticking bomb and provided little shielding for Fisher. He imagined he could feel the X-rays and charged particles slicing up through his boots, along his bone and sinew, ionizing and killing his tissue, overwhelming the meager antioxidants, cysteine, and other drugs he'd been given, a valiant last line of defense as gallant and effective as Davey Crockett at the Alamo. Of course there was no sensation, not yet. That would come later. A mild radiation dose would do nothing more than lower his white blood cell counts, destroy his platelets. Inconsequential damage given his current body, cleared as it was for extended space travel. A little more radiation would bring on fever, nausea, weakness, cramps, and vomiting (a great danger in a suit without its biological systems -- but Henderson had included the appropriate drugs to prevent this in his anti-radiation cocktail). Furthermore, his body was proof against the slower effects, such as Hematopoietic syndrome, which would occur in H. sapiens sapiens, version 1.0, but not in Fisher, whose bone marrow was better protected. No, mild radiation would not hurt him, and any serious damage to his circulatory system or digestive system would be healed before it became life threatening. He only feared a heavy dose, which would damage his brain, inciting headache, apathy, tremors, convulsions, then coma and death. He was going to get a heavy dose. He had to finish the job before his hands started to shake. Papa droned on about techniques for the repair, how the tools he would need were arrayed in the unit maintenance kit, how he could tell when he had succeeded with each subtask. Fisher concentrated on every movement as he forced his body down the rungs. No sense losing vital seconds on a slip (he had tethered himself, automatically, and could not fall away). It wasn't fair he wouldn't even get a chance to think things through, inserting the latest turn of events into his understanding of the star dragons. Not fair at all. A double tap of the release opened the generator casing. That was not crimped, at least. Fisher worked meticulously, giving a status report out loud whenever he reached some minor milestone. He assumed that Papa was relaying everything to Lena. Why wasn't she talking to him? Didn't she care? Of course she did, which was exactly why she wasn't saying anything, he realized. Fisher blinked, and refocused his attention on his work. If he failed, they all died. Every once in a while, he would experience a blue flash in one eye or the other. This, he knew, was Cerenkov radiation created when some high-energy particle from the disk traveled through the aqueous humor of his eye faster than the speed of light in that medium. This was the same principle some of the early neutrino telescopes had used to detect their quarry. He refrained from using these events to estimate his dose. Finally he reached the point of adjusting the etalon, meticulous work wherein the plates had to be aligned just right to select the frequencies required. The actuators were not very smart, and he had to find the fringes and hold them by hand. He licked his dry lips. The unit was freestanding, the control electronics specially shielded, and Papa couldn't help much with it. He could afford to disengage his conscious mind now and let the rest go through the mechanical tediousness of the repair. No way to go faster without risking a complete restart. He had only been working for fifteen minutes or so, but already he was hot and exhausted. A few times his stomach twisted, wanting to heave. He swallowed and fought down the sensation, trying not to think about the damage his body was taking. The disk had grown noticeably brighter despite the distance the Karamojo had placed between them. The outburst was coming fast and would hit them like dragon breath. Fisher decided that his actions had to speak for him with Lena; there was nothing he could say to her at this point that would matter. Their relationship was done. He would strive for closure with his obsession. "Papa, tell me a story.""All right, son. How about something about Michigan? Or Africa? We remember liking Africa quite a damn lot. ""Stop," Fisher said with exasperation, feeling the inevitable headache igniting. "Not one of your namesake's historical romances. Tell me a story about the dragons. Given my notes, research, models, observations of the dragons in action, the egg, and the events of the last few hours, construct a maximum likelihood story. Can you do that for me?""Of course we can. We've already been working on one and was just waiting for one of you single-brained bipeds to ask. The title of the piece is 'Work in Progress.'""Original," muttered Fisher, keeping an eye on his etalon."About a billion years ago on a world of ocean paradise thrived a fishy society. An intelligent people, these fish folk, exploiting the properties of water to converse in world-spanning song, on-going conversations of all things simultaneously between all citizens.""They were cetacean then, their ecological niche anyway.""No," Papa said with a hint of impatience. "But we knew you would want to make the ill-conceived connection. Now, permit us tell the story my way. This was a world without land and these people developed in the seas. They didn't develop on land and return to the sea, subject to the limitations of breathing air. Think of them as clever eels.""Eels. Uh huh," Fisher said as he loosened a bolt to turn a dial. He did see. The dragons were accustomed to swimming in fluid and not surfacing, if he understood where Papa was taking his story. But water to fire? And a billion years? That wasn't a likely evolutionary time for SS Cygni. But he sucked his tongue back into his mouth, continued with his work, and let Papa continue."These people talked with each other. Cooperated. Thrived, and multiplied, laying their eggs thickly just under the waves. They fed on small creatures, alien plankton, if you will. They had predators as well, who preyed on the eggs and even these folks themselves. The songs of the murdered people echoed for days in the worldsea, giving much distress, but ensuring that no one would forget. These predators they eventually eliminated.""Eliminated?" Fisher broke in. "That can't be healthy for an ecosystem. What about the disasters of unchecked population growth followed by starvation and extinctions on down the food chain?""As if humans didn't do the same? The lions, for instance, before they were resurrected? The fish folk did as your people, Dr. Fisher. They filled the niches themselves, controlling their world. Probably they did a better job of it, too, in most regards.""Why?" Fisher asked, trying to blink the piercing headache away. The repair was proceeding according to plan, according to schedule. He assumed that the radiation was doing the same, with the flux growing faster than the r-squared their acceleration was putting between themselves at the disk. "Why?" he repeated again, abruptly, to derail the frightening thought train."No high technology on a water-world, at least as we would understand it. Philosophy, ethics, music. This is what these people focused upon.""You guess.""We guess. But let's continue. They built a complex society on this world, a perfectly balanced system able to persist for millions of years. A peaceful, robust world able to withstand all sorts of catastrophes. All but those overwhelming catastrophes of astronomical origin." Fisher had a whole load of burdensome doubts. These he tried to suppress in the same way the mind of a dying man crawling through the desert will suppress thoughts of mirages when he catches a glimpse of an oasis on the horizon. More than repairing the Karamojo, more than regaining Lena Fang's favor, what meant life to Samuel Fisher was unraveling the nature of the star dragons of SS Cygni. He remained silent now and let Papa paint the picture."At some time in their long and harmonious history, the fish folk came under the scrutiny of some other worldly intelligence that saw the value of their society and wished to preserve this wonder. This was an ecosystem stripped bare and lovingly maintained by a society of vast ideals and organization. It had to have been a marvel of this galaxy.""A marvel? But they'd destroyed everything.""Depends on your point of view, and we're telling their story. There is beauty in the darkest, starkest things in the universe we assure you. In any event, it was after reaching this pinnacle that the fish folk were transformed into dragon folk." The final adjustment of the etalon resisted Fisher, the interference fringes drifting from their operational points before he could lock down the system. His hands had to be shaking from the careful, prolonged work in the unsteady gravity, didn't they? That had to be all. This was normal, was it not? He nevertheless could not resist stealing some extra degree of attention from this vital task to object to Papa's assertions. "Transformed by an alien intelligence? That doesn't make any sense. Why not guard their world, or aquaform another for them?" Papa gave Fisher an impatient hrumph. "That is a temporary solution, requiring long-term maintenance. Humanity, both as a group and as individuals, must overcome such thinking now that some level of longevity has been achieved, but that is another lecture. Transforming this society into that of the star dragons gives it the ability to spread itself across the galaxy as their home stars evolved and died. That is the long-term solution. Some immortal you are." Fisher didn't appreciate the irony -- he was a living oxymoron, a dying immortal barely a century old -- but he was intrigued by the new idea Papa had given him. "Spread themselves across the galaxy? How?" But even as he asked the question, he knew the answer. It was staring him in the face, at least if he twisted his head a bit to the left. "Eggs?""You bet, boy. Shrapnel in a nova grenade will spread just dandy. Or in a self-induced explosion like this one, which is big enough to spray the disk halfway from here to Earth given a few million years. The eggs will keep in stars, in interstellar space, waiting until they find a nice blood-warm disk to hatch into. Then the perfect society starts all over." Fisher had a hundred questions, a hundred objections. Parts of Papa's story satisfied him immeasurably, and for this reason alone he doubted much of what Papa had told him. He was a dead man that Papa had to keep happy and keep working. What better way to do that than to tell him about how the dragons he loved constituted a perfect society that had been the beneficiary of an intelligence whose discovery would be monumental? But the dragons had to have some method of surviving novae, and some method of arriving at SS Cygni in the first place. With no ecosystem to speak of. Someone made them, or they made themselves. That much had to be true. Exhausted, Fisher could only launch one small volley of questions. "How much of this story is true? How much did you make up?""Not enough time now. Are you finished with the repair?" Papa asked. He realized his aching hands had stopped moving. Fisher tried to talk but found his mouth dry. When had it gotten so hot? He sipped some water from the tube and nearly couldn't swallow it. He looked at his work and judged it good. Green indicators signaled 'go.' Beyond the reconstructed Higgs generator the disk cast ultra-sharp rainbow shadows throughout the Karamojo's cavernous interior. It reminded Fisher of being in that cathedral in Europe, he forgot the name of it, that Atsuko had dragged him to once -- he had thought he'd only agreed to a virtual visit. All the light, all the colors…mass transfer runaway through the disk was happening now. "Yeah," he answered. "I'm finished. You better go ahead and initiate wormdrive." And that would be it for Fisher; the tidal forces would tug him into the inner chamber and he would be lost to space, cooked, or both. But any delay would put the Karamojo at risk. Why didn't they just activate it already? He would have. And besides, he was way too tired to climb back to the lock a hundred kilometers away."No," said Papa. "Captain Fang appears most resolute on that point.""Lena?" Fisher said, looping one arm around the generator and lifting his head. "I'm dead. Get the hell out of here.""Maybe, maybe not," Lena's stone-sweet voice answered. "Papa and Henderson tell me that your dose may be survivable given your altered physiology. You're a pretty clever guy, more thorough than necessary on that body design. So get your butt back in here, pronto." They were being stupid now. He chewed at his lip -- the skin broke easily and bled profusely, tasting metallic and sour -- proof enough for him. The radiation was doing its job on the tissues of his body. How could they take his sacrifice and throw it back at him like this? They were spurning his action, and risking their lives and the loss of their discoveries. There was one way to put everything aright. Their acceleration was high enough, a sputtering two gee or thereabouts, and the curve of the hull shallow enough, that with a single leap Fisher would bounce out of the ship in seconds. There the rail drive would puncture him like an industrial laser through tissue. That would be easier, quicker, and more inevitable than decompressing his suit."Sam!" Fang called. "Come in now!" Fisher ignored her entreaty. It was the right thing to do. It would make sure the mission was a success, that their specimen got back to Earth. He had told himself he could do anything. Could he really? He was about to find out. He took a deep breath, tensed his muscles to leap..."Aren't you curious Dr. Fisher," Papa said, "about the unexpected information we obtained from analyzing the egg that let us construct the story?""What?" Fisher asked. "What information?""We'll tell you when you reach the airlock," Papa bargained. Fisher squeezed his eyes shut, suddenly light-headed, the pain a little more distant behind the exhaustion. So that was the nature of things, even at the end: a fight. All of life was fighting. In this case, fighting for a precious scrap of information to feed the overwhelming urge to know. So be it. He had been fighting his whole life. He might as well fight a few more minutes. He hadn't been certain he could jump anyway. Fisher twisted his body away from the generator and reached for a rung of the ladder. His hand missed, pushing through the empty space to the silvered diamond hull beyond, and he caught the rung in the crook of his elbow. He had no strength in his body. The airlock a scant dozen meters above might as well have been a star away. But he could do anything for the dragon, couldn't he? That had been his mantra. Anything for the dragon. Fisher pushed down, lifted his right leg, and found purchase. He took a step, slow motion. It was only seconds, but it seemed an eternity. SS Cygni, so many thousands of kilometers away, was breathing hotly on the back of his neck. "Tell me, Papa," he gasped, taking another step."When you reach the airlock, son. Not before then." Fisher would have cursed him, had he the energy to spare. He didn't. He took another step instead, moving half a head higher. His knees wobbled, his arms shook, but he kept moving. No longer trusting his grip, he hugged the ladder with his whole body. Then he rested. The gravity had increased certainly, felt like four gees at least. The disk's radiation continued to slice through the fiber of his muscles. Occasional blue flashes. Through his eyes, and his heavy brain. Those few pounds were too much now. "I'm done," he said, sagging."Keep your wits about you, son," Papa warned. "We're going to kill the thrust. A few tiny pushes are all you need.""Don't slow down.""We're killing the thrust.""What's the point?" Fisher asked."What's the point?" Papa bellowed, his voice resounding in Fisher's helmet like an echo. "The point is choosing to live, choosing the struggle, or you're dead. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you, just like everyone else. Quit and you might as well be a chairbeast. Now, keep your wits!" Then the steady thrum of the rails, which came through the ladder and into Fisher's hands, died. Fisher would have sworn a few moments earlier that nothing would be better than freefall, but he was wrong. The absence of gravity made him aware that the weary ache suffusing his body was intrinsic now, no artifact of anything natural. Fisher gritted his teeth together, tasted blood, and reached for the next rung. His hand flew high. Watch it, he told himself. Reflexes trained by a lifetime of gravity didn't know any better, unless he watched everything. Watched his hand go where he wanted it. Even though he really wanted to close his eyes. What was the point again? He shook off the thought. Apathy was a symptom of the radiation, he remembered. He had to act as if there was a point even if he didn't believe it. He watched his hand reach for the next rung, and pulled when it seemed close. His body followed the motion and it was all he could do to follow the ladder. He was so hot, tired, and achy.... Anything for the dragon. His helmet banged with a dull thud as he careened into the back of the airlock. Hands grasped his shoulders, spun him around. He opened his eyes and looked into the gold-mirrored surface of another helmet. As the outer lock door rolled shut and the harsh shadows softened, a face materialized inside the other helmet. On the surface an impassive face, with fluted bow-lips, but the intense gray eyes penetrated his fog. Lena held him."What did Papa find out from the egg?" he asked before losing consciousness.# Papa splits his awareness. Programmed by humans to simulate human perspective, splitting isn't something that Papa does well or enjoys (another attitude programmed into him since the state was not favored by the computer scientists responsible for his original architectural template). The state is absolutely necessary now; he has many high priority tasks to accomplish and his personality may facilitate them. Foremost is activation of the wormdrive. A small pair of singularities can be coaxed into existence more quickly than a more massive pair, but the acceleration would be less. He solves the linear programming problem (preferring a fast 'good' solution over the optimal solution) involving the thirty-two related differential equations describing their situation, and implements it. The repaired Higgs generator is quite well aligned, he is proud to note, simplifying his task minutely. His second highest priority isn't the human crew -- they are expected to be responsible for themselves to some degree -- it is collecting data on the event occurring in the disk of SS Cygni: dragonburst. This is the term Papa chooses for the new phenomenon. The instrument suite of the Karamojo isn't well designed for the current observations and he must perform scientific triage -- something his personality is better suited to do than the automatic routines. The data are of use estimating their own best course of action for survival. The dragonburst, in its power, speed, and other key properties falls within his preliminary estimates, calling for little revision in the wormdrive solution. He will not need to augment his magneto-hydrodynamic grid. Only then, third, comes the crew. Daughter tends to Fisher, the poor boy. He did good, though, Papa must admit. He deserves such a beautiful nurse, although there's really not much she can do other than strip him out of his contaminated suit and drag him down to the biolab. When there's an opportunity, that is. He's warning them of the dragonburst and the immanence of wormdrive, and she wedges herself solidly in a suit locker, holding Fisher's bleeding head in her lap. She is quietly calling him a bastard, and proceeds to invent more original ways to curse him. She's a sailor who believes in tradition. Blinking frees tears from her face, which float off to mix with the bubbles of Fisher's blood. The Jack, Philip Stearn, lays wrapped in a couchbeast in the biolab wired in a neurostimulator. He's tweaked the pleasure nodes outside their nominal range, feeling no pain, experiencing no fear, grinning widely. Sylvia Devereaux is similarly grasped, nearby, her hands clasped before her. She speaks softly, and Papa listens: "...though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." Papa announces the impending wormdrive activation and does not eavesdrop further with his consciousness, leaving his automatic systems to listen for any instructions Sylvia might issue. Axelrod Henderson floats inside a shielded cage of his own construction, a hardened individual life support unit selected from the Karamojo's library and recently grown in a nanovat. The unit is protected both by mass, as a meter-thick skin contains circulating chemically enriched water, and by its own conductance in a plasma shell. In its own way, it is an egg. Accompanying Henderson are several dozen lemon-yellow airfish, no doubt to keep things tidy, to provide additional shielding, and to give up their lives as sustenance in the event of a long vigil. Henderson may be repulsive, but he is admirably practical. Papa splits off one final point of view for himself. Purely, selfishly, for himself, a conceit he seldom indulges for it only breeds false pride within himself. True pride is a good thing, when based on skill and experience, which serves to place realistic limits at the high end of his capabilities. False pride merely gets Fang pissed off at him. This final Papa is the Karamojo in body as well as mind. He is a giant white naked man, a kilometer tall who can blast through space like a superhero or god of ancient myth. The instrument readings are transformed into human sensations; electromagnetic radiation from three thousand to ten thousand Angstroms in wavelength, only a little outside the range of human vision, becomes visible light to be seen with his two giant-sized eyes; longer wavelength radiation, in the infrared, becomes heat seeping into broad white expanses; shorter wavelengths, the ultraviolet and the X-ray, he permits only to darken his skin slowly with time, as if tanning; sounds are trickier in the low-density medium of spaces, but there are sounds that can be reconstructed especially with the particle wind driven off SS Cygni, sounds of relentless power, like the echoes of distant tsunami in ocean waves; smell is easier than sound, as the elemental abundances and ionization states of the wind particles are sampled, but it is no familiar brine these are transformed into, but rather acrid ozone and burning metals. Wormdrive kicks in giving Papa renewed weight. Because the Karamojo is in freefall along the worm axis, the gravity felt on board is set by whatever degree of electromagnetic friction established between the charge on the holes and the raildrive. The default is one gee, Earth standard, and this is the value for which the system is optimally configured. But this isn't what Papa feels. Papa judges his acceleration against SS Cygni and revels in the rocketing of a full ten gees, modulated by the oscillation about the singularities, as he blasts away. He is a giant who can rocket away from hell. It is a very good thing to be at this time, in this place. The dragonburst blossoms, a blood-red bubble of fire. Magnificent and terrible: the moment a big fish takes the bait and bites deep; the matador's killing thrust; the wrong step onto a land mine; the entry into a beautiful woman; the cry of a newborn son; the pull of the trigger of a shotgun pointed at his head. No, not this time. The ejecta of SS Cygni, ionized plasma accelerated by radiation pressure to thousands of kilometers per second, is still not moving fast enough to catch him. And the radiation alone cannot penetrate Papa's tanned but tough skin, not enough to matter. But still, a dangerous thing, a glorious thing. And now, flung into the galaxy, or nestled close by in the secondary star's atmosphere, the eggs are the only legacy of the dragons of SS Cygni. The destiny of some to hatch when the Roche lobe spills over and reforms the incubating disk. The destiny of others to hurl through the Milky Way for millions of years until finding a new system to inhabit. The destiny of the remainder to become part of the dark halo, tragically missing Galactic homes, detritus of lost potential. Thus it is for dragons, humans, and giant rocketing gods created by the mind of man.# A blinding light bored through Fisher's skull. Squeezing his eyes shut provided no respite. A rushing roar, like a white-water river of blood in ears, wrapped around him like a smothering pillow. His naked body was aflame with a thousand pin pricks. Somehow, all these faded into a muted yet still irritating canvas. Figures materialized from the light, serpentine shadows shaped like shepherd's crooks milling about at the edge of his awareness. The familiar shape of the star dragon from the drug-memorized Prospector movie corkscrewed out of a red welt. Given his disorientation he could not tell whether the dragon was growing in size or traversing a vast distance, but the end result was the same: the creature loomed over Fisher and made him feel like an earthworm before the early bird. Shimmering waves of plasma periodically surged forth from the creature's maw, dragon breath indeed, that made the creature difficult to focus upon. The dragon spoke with a booming thunderous voice that sounded much like Papa's. "Samuel Fisher! You are guilty for you have murdered us." Had he? Despite the immediate threat, the present slipped away from him. He had a sudden, vivid flashback to his childhood, centuries and light years transcended in an instant by his mind. He had wandered from the picnic into a nearby pasture, still within view of his parents. The day was pleasant and pregnant with possibility, a universe for a six-year-old prodigy. There, hiding in a wavelike roll of dried grass huddled a tiny brown shape. Sammy pounced, flushing out the baby rabbit, which bolted like all the demons of hell were hot on its tail. The boy was not dexterous enough to catch it right away, zigging when it zagged, but even then he had been overly persistent, insistent on reaching his goals. He fell into the grass, the warm brown body caught between his small fingers. It kicked and squirmed as he carefully rose to his scraped knees and stood up. Panicked beyond all its capabilities, the young rabbit twitched and died in Sammy's hands. A heartburst. The very still form was warm and soft. "I only wanted to know what you were like.""Then know!" The smaller shepherd-crook shapes surged forward. They weren't large at all, not even as large as himself, he realized as they closed. Their solid dark hue and their movements reminded him of eels. Fisher tried to run away, but he was unable even to cover himself with his hands let alone run. And then they were upon him, swarming and chewing, and the pain erupted again, a thousandfold worse. Another flash in time. Fisher remembered then Fang telling him about how her grandfather had caught eels in the old way: tie a cow head to a line, throw it in the water, and after a spell pull it up. The feeding eels would hang from the head like ingrown medusa hair, the tails sticking out and the heads buried making the roots. There hadn't been real eels nor real cows on Fang's world, but alien analogues filling the same niches. Some patterns seemed to be universal. His extremities went first, his fingers and hands, his toes and feet. The miniature dragons burrowed up the marrow of his bones, taking his forearms, his calves. The pain was terrible, but it was just pain, and could be endured. Anything for the dragon . And they took anything they pleased. One industrious fellow found Fisher's left eye. No pain there compared to everything else, just a popping sensation followed by viscous wetness. They were everywhere, a feeding frenzy thrashing to get to the good parts, rending his not completely human body. Gurgling, bubbling smacking joined the rich mixture of sour coppery smells emanating from his shredded flesh. Was this fair? Was this justice? The human presence had brought on the dragons' own sacrifice to fuel the dragonburst. They owed them at least one life, didn't they?"He's less of a man every second, isn't he daughter?" came Papa's voice from nearby. "Not man enough for you." Blinking the stinging blood and sweat away from his remaining eye, Fisher made out Lena in her blinding white uniform with her hair forming a halo of gold. She resembled a perfect china doll, especially with Papa looming behind her; he was a ruddy-faced, white-whiskered giant at least twice her height, in leather hunting vest, khaki pants, and worn boots."Not man enough for me?" she mused. It was her voice, but without the harsh edge and confidence he usually found in it. This voice now was that of a lilting girl's. Fisher rolled his head to see the devouring creatures ravaging his body."I suppose not," she said, turning with tiny steps to walk away."No!" he yelled, deciding. "I won't let my obsessions consume me!" He fought back, even though he believed it a fair trade off -- his life for theirs. Then the churning pain was too much, and he screamed until a dragon dove into his mouth and slid down his throat to feed. Too late it seemed...too late... After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box. -- Italian Proverb Henderson leaned heavily forward against the nanovat and didn't worry about his mighty fingers cracking the brittle diamond. It was not because he knew about the invisible spider-web nanomesh that reinforced the structure, nor was it because he cared deeply for Fisher whose barely living remains floated therein. He was having his deep thoughts. Henderson had always amused himself with these philosophical thoughts, sure that the vast majority of humanity was too caught up in the mundane tangles of their own minutia to take advantage of such meditations. He pondered the imponderables in an attempt to find the shape his life should take. They were religious thoughts without a structured religion, with the natural world providing his scripture. Physical strength meant nothing in the new universe he glimpsed. Muscles, beauty, height, durability, symmetry, all the other traditional indicators of fitness had no place. He had cultivated attributes of fitness because human minds still respected these attributes in each other. Man had altered his body, but refrained -- so far -- from direct brain structure alterations with more dangerous consequences. Biochips and drugs were safe and understood, for the most part, and didn't count. At its essence, his mind was practically ancient. He had told himself a hundred times that the answers to his deep questions still lay within himself where natural selection had placed them. The Earth they would return to would be five-hundred years more advanced. Metal screeched on metal as he lifted a hand to tug on his lip, then quickly placing it back on the medivat, unsure of himself in a way that left him barely able to stand. Evolution worked on groups, not individuals. The man within the unit was nothing physically. Oh, he had his mind and brainstem, most of his torso minus a few easily replaced organs, but he would die in short order if removed from care. He had almost died saving them, putting his frail body between them and the cruelty of the universe. Henderson realized with a desperation, the depth of which surprised him, that he wanted to be like Fisher. Well, not like him, exactly -- Fisher was too much of an asshole with his elitist intellectual snobbery and such, always looking down on everything and everyone not part of his little obsessions. But Henderson nurtured a growing respect for his seemingly selfless act, and it frightened him. Men like Fisher, if they had children, protected their offspring and passed on their genes even if it meant their own lives. Henderson abruptly stood upright. "Please play a Gregorian chant, Papa." Working music for serious undertakings. He walked across the biolab, his giant metal feet flattening the again plush ruglings, fish belly-crawling behind to remove the remains. He would have to engineer a sturdier variety of rugling to survive his bronze heel, but there were more important things to do first. He only had little over a year, and who knew how different and dangerous Earth might be upon return? His Henderson Colony lay deserted, even the tiny bones stripped for their elements, his lesson that an entire population could be wiped out by a stroke of fate. He opened the environmental hood. He let fall his fists with the chant, smashing the campus buildings into gravel. His colony fantasy was no longer the course for him, and he pulverized every bit of it with his own hands. Symbolic acts, he knew, were important to the human psyche. Then he sat down at his console. His chairbeast groaned in protest at his weight, the furniture not yet having the time or food to bulk up to the size required to accommodate his current form. Henderson accessed the archival codes for mobiles, female gender, bodyguard class. He would be as ready as possible for whatever the future held, and he would have someone available to make a sacrifice in his place. He was deathly afraid that the selflessness he admired in Fisher at this time might emerge one day in himself, and that would be a disaster he preferred not to risk. Yes, he would be ready.# Stearn danced down the hall toward Sylvia's cabin, his hips gyrating with Latin motion, his hands shifting from dramatic pose to dramatic pose. As he had requested, Samba music and the smell of leather accompanied him where ever he went now on the Karamojo, and today they accompanied him on his date with Sylvia. They had succeeded on this incredible mission, and it was time to kick back and celebrate! Stearn paused outside the portal to Sylvia's cabin to dance with a cleaning fish. He pointed at the undulating creature as he circled around, singing to it: "Yeah, yeah, yeah," words to a song he hadn't quite finished. When he spun back toward the portal, it was open. He stopped dead. Inside, Sylvia stood hands clasped centered in her room. She had redecorated again. Hundreds of burning candles pushed back the gloom, which somehow managed to cling to the high stone corners despite the constant attack. Framing Sylvia with a halo of reds and golds was a backlit stained glass window. Of Sylvia's dark, rich skin, there was none to be seen except her face; she had covered herself in black robes. Her dreads were likewise covered, by a black and white head piece that Stearn wasn't familiar with. Then he saw something that made sense of the frankincense and choral hymn that were interfering with his own atmospheric additions. He saw a silver cross around Sylvia's neck and recognition struck. There were a few remote corners of Earth and some colony worlds where such practices persisted."Jesus Christ, Sylvia," Stearn said stepping slowing into the room, "You didn't go get religious on me did you?" He liked to believe that he wasn't a prude about anything, including religion. Many of the institutionalized religions characterized by crosses had fallen from popularity with the advent of biological immortality, and this before him smacked of institutions and the confining rules that came with them. Rules usually meant less fun. Sylvia shrugged. "I don't know what I've got. I've just started thinking some more about what it is I'm looking for." He moved closer, lifted his hands to her shoulders, and looked into her eyes as dark as night behind the reflections of candlelight. "There's really nothing to it. The universe is going to kill us in the end, no matter how hard we try to pretend we're immortal. And now that we’ve licked disease, that end will be violent and physical: explosions, murder, radiation. We've got to wrest every bit out of good living before we go. It's our sacred duty." Stearn abruptly let his hands slide down to her elbows and tugged Sylvia tight against his body. He kissed her hard. Initially she resisted, but very quickly relaxed and melted into him. After another passionate minute she did pull away, but not far. Their faces remained at an intimate distance."Be serious for a moment," she said. "I've been so sure that the answers to my questions were somewhere out there, outside of me, and if I lived long enough and saw enough of the universe, someone would hand over the answer. That was naïve. I've got to look for my answers in here, too." She tapped her breastbone, annoyingly close to the cross and all the rules it implied."That's a little high," Stearn said, taking her hand in his and moving it down and toward him. "There's plenty to explore down lower." Her serious face twisted into a lopsided grin. "We all seek answers in our own ways, don't we? Well, I can look there, too. I'm going to look everywhere." They kissed again, passionately.# The pounding waves began building...something...within Sylvia. She turned off her mind, or tried to. She was so used to monitoring every little detail, the order in which her muscles tightened, the smell of her own sweat, the rhythm of her breathing. It was her way of understanding the act. But she so rarely felt it anymore. There was a Mystery in there for her, perhaps, so this time she let go of the foundation of her mind and cast herself away into the waves. Her eyes flashed open, searching for nothing and seeing more than she had in years. There was a universe inside to explore.# The plush ruglings muffled the echo of Fang's boots as she walked into the Hall of Trophies. The renewed hall with its lines of heads greeted her with growls, hoots, roars, trumpets, and more. The last time she had passed this way, just days ago, the hall had been quiet and empty. Papa (she judged Henderson next to useless at this point) had to be pushing the biosystems hard to have already restored the beasts. The Karamojo once again held reserves. Fang slowed her steps, and wondered at the creatures for the first time in many months. She reached out to a rhinoceros and felt the rough, dry texture of its gray hide. The head grunted its programmed pleasure. She moved along, regarding each of the trophy heads in turn. They were a sad, beautiful bunch. Not real trophies, she realized now. They were more a monument to engineering than to courage. Fang caught her breath when she came to the male lion. Like the other endorphin-filled heads, he greeted her in his own way: a low, warm cough, then licked her proffered hand with his rough tongue and finally nuzzled her hand. Fang paid the lion's actions little heed. She focused instead upon the patchwork of pink scars across the nose and between the eyes, right where she had shot Stearn's lion. Was that you, she mused. This was the sort of thing that Papa would do. But a quick inspection of the other animals she had hunted while on board the Karamojo, buffalo, tiger, showed the equivalent trophy heads to be as pristine as the newborns they were. So why the lion? What had been different about Stearn's lion? Then she had it. The whole affair had been orchestrated, by Stearn to get her to unwind and perhaps even into bed (he would be foolish enough to try if given the chance), but Fisher had been involved too. He had likely planted the scenario for Stearn to find, directed him to select it somehow or be given it in response to a general request. The beaters and the lion...the nuclears and the dragons. The lion hadn't frightened her and she had shot it dead, effortlessly. How could Fisher have known that she was a crackshot when faced with mammalian eyes, that it was fathomless alien eyes that filled her soul with uncertainty and chaos? He couldn't have known; he hadn't spent enough time listening to her as wrapped up as he was with his dragon. Papa would have known all this, and been under restrictions about telling her outright without cause. So the scar on the lion showed that this trophy had really been shot, that it had signified something. Fang gave the lion a final pat on the nose and moved more briskly down the Hall of Trophies, her steps echoing along the long corridor. She paused again before the blue marlin hanging over the exit. The fish, like the lion, was not as it had been before. It was darker, yet glowed with a blue-green shimmer when she bent her head to catch the light in just the right way. And its shape was different, fat and bottom heavy -- the tail, yet tapered to a long sinuous point toward the head. Then the nature of this chimera became clear to her. It was a marlin-dragon amalgamation, and pregnant to boot. A dragon-fish trophy for her. Well, she deserved it, did she not? She reached out to touch the happy, writhing thing, but Papa spoke before she could. "Fisher is waking." She paused with her hand outstretched. She wasn't sure how to deal with Fisher, what he meant to her. What she meant to him. That he had survived was miraculous, a testament to his force of will as much as his redesigned body. He'd fully recover in days and then she'd have many months together with him on the trip back, and who knew what things would be like back on Earth when they returned. Perhaps they would be nothing but bugs to the half-millennium more advanced beings that they would find, and Fisher would be the last man in the galaxy for her. They might be stuck with each other forever."I'm -- " She pulled her hand back, suddenly chilled. "I'm coming." She took a quick step from the hall and paused again. She took a long look at the full, bristling hall with all the heads doing their thing. Mindless, happy, and meaningless. Nothing to do with being a ship's captain at all she now realized. Nothing like ordering a crew member to his death, even if they'd gotten lucky and no one had died. She said, "Papa, could you dismantle the hall, please? Everything but the lion and the marlin. We've got an eternity to fill up the rest of the slots.""Of course, daughter. We shall make note of their short happy lives."# The portal to Fisher's cabin opened for Fang. Inside was pitch black. "Lights, dim," she whispered. Phosphorescent indirects rose slowly, like a tide. Fisher's cabin had been restored to the standard default for the Karamojo, a modern austerity: storage lockers and chests, chairbeast, tabletree, and bedbeast. There was the faint smell of ammonia. A lump lay on the bedbeast, recently moved from the biolab. As her eyes quickly adjusted, she saw that his healing was not yet finished; instead of arms and legs, umbilicals flowed from his shoulders and hips to the bedbeast below. It made Fisher appear to be some sort of rooted plant, maybe a potato whose eyes had sprouted. She drew near. Fisher, at least his torso, was restored to how he had appeared when he had boarded. No green glowing skin, no duplicity. He was as pink as a newborn, and sleeping nearly as peacefully. His jaw worked, chewing on unformed words, while his neck twisted, shaking his head from side to side. His eyes twitched beneath his eyelids, and he moaned."We've been easing up on his sedation," Papa explained. "He should wake soon." Fang watched his fitful slumber and could only wonder at what kind of dreams he must be enduring. He had believed himself a dead man. He had seen the end of his beloved dragons. She then had a dark thought: perhaps he had intended to die? She shook that thought away. No. The dead don't struggle so, and he had struggled to reach the airlock, already weary and in pain, his systems falling apart, hemorrhaging. She could never believe that he would give up. It was not in Fisher's nature. She knew him that well at least. If she knew him at all. She reached down to touch him, letting her fingertips brush against his hairless chest. She almost pulled back at the touch; his skin blazed. The furious metabolic activity within him reassembling his organs and muscles generated significant waste heat. When Fisher was fully healed, there wouldn't be a single scar on his body despite how near a thing it had been, and somehow that seemed a shame. Their technology was too clean. Papa's namesake had been covered with scars from a lifetime of the injuries of war and hard living; a few scars on Fisher's body would be romantic, she thought. The umbilicals feeding him would thin and pinch off to leave toes and fingers. His fingerprints would differ, but that seemed a small price to pay. He could restore them later if he chose. He was alive, that was what mattered. But she had ordered that someone do the job -- the job had to be done. She was responsible. That was what it meant to be captain. She was surprised at the tears that suddenly splashed on Fisher's bare burning chest. She blinked quickly to prevent a recurrence. She was a captain again, in control, and such a display was unprofessional. Fisher's eyes flashed open. "I don't," he mumbled, swallowed, "I don't want your pity." His face twisted into an ugly snarl and he tried to spit at her, but only managed to cough a little and dribble on his own chin. "No pity." Taken aback, Fang pulled her hands close in and stood up straight. Frowning, she sniffed deeply to clear her head. "I'm not giving you any." Fisher blinked at her, an automatic movement that reminded her of the way gills spasmed in air. He rolled from side to side trying to move arms that were no longer there. He bent his head back and forth, finally lifting it for a few seconds to look down at himself. His head settled down into the bedbeast and he closed his eyes. "I survived," he said."Yes," she agreed. He opened his eyes and looked at her steadily. "Must have been close. We're headed home?""Back to Earth, anyway.""And we have the egg," he said, nodding. It appeared strange, this rooted torso nodding sagely at her. And he was calm, now, after a moment to orient himself. But she knew him too well to think him in shock, and Papa would have warned her if that was the case. He simply appeared...relaxed. Content even. Fisher's obsession had been sated -- she hoped. That he survived his roll of the dice this time was self-evident."We have the egg," she agreed, not pushing him too fast. He had saved them all. She would treat him with respect. He deserved that much."Thank you," he offered upon some reflection. "Thank you for bringing us success. You're a good captain. A hero." That she didn't expect. He was more a hero than she. How to say that in a way that let him understand, and not come off sounding melodramatic? Finally she stammered, "Doing what you have to do is duty, not heroism. But...you're welcome." She smiled at him. Without arms and legs, he smiled back. Damn it, she thought, it may not be love but he can be sweet when he tries."Get some rest, Sam. That's an order." She bent over and her long hair, recently grown out, trailed over his neck and face. At the last second she let her kiss brush his lips instead of his forehead.# Miraculous, Fisher thought. Lena had a way of making him feel good (or, if she wished, bad!) no matter what the circumstances. He would make more of an effort this time with her, he promised himself. And Fisher was proud of himself for focusing on her so long when so many other questions burned. She deserved that much. The mission was a success; she had been a good captain, in the final analysis. It boded well for their future together, at least for the return voyage. Still, the moment the portal closed Fisher said, "Confess, Papa. You weren't just spinning a yarn to keep me alive while I was working on the alignment, were you? You really found something. Your fictional stories aren't usually as interesting as the whopper you told me." Please , he thought."We found something." Images blossomed into existence on the ceiling above Fisher, the egg rotating in the magnetized plasma of its cage. "Watch." The point of view spiraled in as the egg grew to fill the ceiling and then spilled onto the walls, dizzily spinning like the flashing lights of a trendy club that Stearn might frequent. The shiny silver surface of the egg was not smooth. As the view continued to close and match the spin, topography manifested: regularly raised and depressed regions congregating in loops and whorls, like fingerprints."This is visible light?" Fisher asked."Effectively," said Papa, "Although we've enhanced the images you're seeing with some artificial shadows to bring out the relief." Fisher grunted. He wished he could pace. Closer and closer came the egg. The whorls spilled onto the walls, and the subfeatures grew into focus. Fisher blinked. Tiny pictures hung along the pattern like pearls on a necklace. Dragons alone, in packs, swimming with other creatures that were not dragons. And the dragons he saw differed in several respects from the disk dragons. These had what must be fins, which implied they were in a proper liquid rather than a rarefied plasma. Dragons mating like whales, a female with a male, and a second male to hold her in place in the neutral buoyancy. All sorts of dragon scenes. It reminded Fisher of an ancient Roman urn with images of daily life painted all around. More images followed, and he saw the things that had led Papa to his fantastic story: images of cylindrical visitors in bubbles, a map of a stellar system, maps of stars. Other images flashed by, and Fisher understood that the egg was more than a future life; it represented everything that had gone before as well."The dragons are smart, but the form they hold now is completely constructed. And they didn't do it themselves," said Papa. "There's more.""More?" asked Fisher, afraid to blink lest he miss something."This is just the surface relief. The egg holds coded information when viewed in at least four other ways. We're continuing to search every way we can imagine.""Why would they have done such a thing? It's too easy.""We can't say for sure, of course, unless that information is coded within the egg also. But we can guess, and we have a pretty good guess. They were proud of what they had done.""Proud?" Fisher let that notion roll around in his head, testing to see if it fit. "I don't know, Papa. That seems rather, well, human, doesn't it?""Perhaps. But if we're right, they were like us, at least in some ways." Fisher felt as if he'd been struck between the eyes. Aliens, proud like humans would be. There was no reason there had to be any similarities. Well, he would have time to consider the ramifications later. He had other immediate concerns. "The dragon within...is it viable? Can we hatch it?""Probably. We've found some sequences, instructions if you will, that appear to address that question. Makes sense, if you think about it. Gives the eggs a chance to hatch if they're intercepted by intelligent minds." Wave after wave of implication washed over Fisher then, setting his imagination adrift. But he had vowed that he would be in control of his obsessions, rather than the other way around. He reigned in his thoughts. Start from the ground up. The ground, in this case, was SS Cygni. There had been no dragonburst seen in SS Cygni in the seven hundred years that Earth astronomers had been watching, nor the extra two hundred and fifty years of their outbound journey. There had been no dragonbursts seen from any cataclysmic variables in that period, not just the known dwarf novae systems, in the semi-local galaxy. He would have to review the system archives concerning the ejecta from SS Cygni that they had ionized and shunted around them during their passage. There should be some way of identifying the remnants of a dragonburst from the debris of other events, and constructing a historical record of when the dragons had acted in their own defense. The nuclear beaters had surely set them off. Identifying historical dragonburst signatures would have immediate implications about how dense the galaxy was with overly curious technological species. At least the intrusive rabbit-grabbing ones like humans. They were not alone, but for some reason high-technology races hadn't already saturated this part of the Milky Way. Or if they had, now they were gone. Why was that? There were always more whys, and the current string was growing exponentially in his mind. Fisher took a deep breath and stretched his muscles against the restraining umbilicals. They would be hands again soon enough, and feet for pacing, and he would be able work properly. He said, "Okay, Papa. Have Henderson bring me some Forget-Me-Not, and then show me everything.""Are you sure that would be prudent?" Papa asked. Damn him, Fisher thought. But Papa's intervention gave him pause enough, and he recalled how Lena's lips had felt against his own, how that fleeting touch had unexpectedly thrilled him. How she deserved better. He had climbed a mountain. Was he ready to leave the summit already?"Belay that request," he amended. "There's time enough later, after I've rested. There's time enough for everything." Time enough to answer all the whys, and maybe even for love as well. Fisher smiled as he drifted off to dream of dragons and much, much more. Epilogue Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar. Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory, do we come From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy.-- William Wordsworth The Karamojo blazed like a comet, its tail pointing at SS Cygni, headed back toward a distant rendezvous with where Earth would be some two hundred and fifty hundred years hence. Incubating inside nestled the dragon egg, for the moment warmed by the filtered radiation of the fore singularity's accretion. The seeds of many arguments were immediately planted with its presence and how it would be accomodated on the voyage home, a Pandora’s box like that of every as-yet-unlived life -- only perhaps a little more so in this case. The information cascade began from Biolathe’s piled-up tightbeam, a half-millennium of updated mission directives, a millennium of data about the new old world that would be theirs again within a year, in fact a half-millennium of the history of an entire galactic civilization that was being born. Every moment of the return flight would be an adventure on the Karamojo. For the star dragons of SS Cygni, there also existed myriad adventures. Not all the dragons had ended their existence to drive the mass loss from the secondary. First there were the eggs. Not the same as the dragons that had spawned them, not exactly, but carrying their stories into the future. That future was short for half of them: lost at once in the fury of the dragonfire birth, incinerated despite their strong shell or propelled into the secondary with too high a velocity to survive. Of the remainder, half again would have an infinite but dark future, launched into trajectories out of the Galactic plane and into a halo too rarified to host enough suitable homes. Half again of the remainder would survive their fiery birth, fly into the dense spiral arms of the Milky Way, instinctually alter their courses using varying albedos and magnetic fields, and still slingshot past the only suitable star they would ever approach -- or smack into it too sharply and vanish forever in a puff of plasma. A tiny fraction would survive, somehow, incubating in a new star’s convective womb, awaiting the inexorable evolution that would spawn a new disk to inhabit. From that tiny fraction, somewhere, somewhen, disks would live again and host a civilization onward into the infinite future. An even tinier fraction of the dragon eggs was intercepted, kidnapped, studied, and probed by prying alien minds. The messages the redesigners had left revealed that they looked upon this as another course for survival for the dragon species, and a chance to show off their solution. The adventure of the surviving adults would continue, a culture of fire that still thrilled those born of water. Thousands of adult dragons remained in the atmosphere of the star, for some indeterminable time gasping like spent salmon at their spawning point. These had failed to detonate in the rhythm of the dragonburst but would not die like the upstream salmon; drifting with the sputter of the resumed mass transfer they would restart their society as the new accretion disk assembled itself. These dragons would remember the songs called out when the sacrifices had been made, and would remember the disruptive visit of this great white visitor. This threatening annoyance, and the annoyances before it, and the annoyances that would follow. And they would remember in new songs they would sing. And sing them they would now and forever, in some form, some place, some time. SS Cygni Vital Statistics Classification: Dwarf Nova Cataclysmic Variable Binary System Distance from Earth: 245 light years Primary: White Dwarf, 1.19 solar masses Secondary: K5V (main sequence), 0.70 solar masses Orbital Period: 6.60 hours Outburst Frequency: 50 days (variable) Outburst Duration: 15 days (variable) Orbital Inclination Relative to Earth: 40 degrees Disk Luminosity (Quiescence): 0.07 x solar Disk Luminosity (Outburst): 70 x solar Radius of Primary: 4000 km, or 0.6 Earth radii Radius of Secondary: 500,000 km, or 0.7 solar radii Primary/Secondary separation: 1.5 million km Outer disk radius: 500,000 km Disk Surface Area (two-sided): 1500 x Earth surface Discovered in 1896, SS Cygni is a cataclysmic variable star, the brightest of the dwarf nova class as seen from the Earth. Dwarf novae are close binaries consisting of a white dwarf primary (an evolved stellar remnant) accreting material via a thin disk fuelled from the secondary red dwarf star. Dwarf novae outbursts are thought to occur when the disk undergoes a thermal instability leading to higher temperatures, higher luminosity, and enhanced mass transfer. Such outbursts are not strictly periodic in either frequency or duration. SS Cygni was the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) "Variable Star of the Month" in June of 2000. The distance to SS Cygni is uncertain by as much as a factor of 2 -- as with many other quantities in astronomy. A recent parallax measurement made with the Hubble Space Telescope suggests a distance of some 550 light years. I have elected to use a smaller measurement in this novel. www.aavso.org/vstar/vsotm/0600.stm#dn

Star Dragon by Mike Brotherton Part One: Five-hundred-year Mission A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. -- Chinese proverb Unlike most first-time visitors entering the world headquarters of Biolathe, Inc., Dr. Samuel Fisher didn't pause at the moist cloying air that moved across the building’s threshold like breath. If anything, his pace increased; he threw his shoulders forward and his streaker-clad feet rushed as if to prevent a fall, sinking into the plush rose ruglings with each step. Unlike the sunlit diamond and gold, seemingly mandatory in corporate buildings, this lobby throbbed pink and organic. The entire building was alive. Despite the omnipresence of biotechnology, walking inside it rather than sitting on it still made most hesitate. Not Fisher -- he was in the middle of five major projects. He didn't believe his life would be as transformed by the upcoming presentation as the Biolathe agent had hinted. He charged ahead, glancing about the nearly empty lobby for signs to guide him. What was this? He’d been here six seconds already! There was never enough time to waste any of it. He decided there was one thing he would hesitate over in the future: being talked into a physical meeting. In the middle of the cavernous chamber Fisher stopped abruptly, brought up short by a bipedal mobile with wrinkled gray skin attached to the wall by a pulsing umbilical. Fisher said, "Excuse me." "No excuses needed, Dr. Fisher." The biped had no openings, no visible external sensory organs, and nothing at all resembling a head. Raw biomass, quickly shaped, without even a mouth. The words emanated from the ceiling, its surface a taut drum able to focus sound anywhere. The entire building was alive. "I am a mobile of our brain, here to escort you to your meeting." "Fine. Lead on." The mobile moved toward the rear of the lobby toward a tunnel, reversing its motion without turning around. No one-way joints, Fisher noticed, a more versatile design than most. The umbilical showed no slack, but grew or tightened as the distance to the malleable wall varied. Fisher followed, buoyed up and forward by the plum-colored ruglings underfoot in the same direction as his steps. More good design in the carpeting, he noted. A lot of rugling lines didn't do anything but let themselves get walked on. "Coffee?" asked the beamed voice. "Please." Without breaking stride, the mobile pushed an arm back out of the formless trunk. The end of the appendage coalesced into a round shape that darkened, grew shimmery hard, then rolled down into a groove that formed before it. Fisher caught the bulb and lifted it to his lips as they walked. The bulb opened into a bony, ceramic cup. He drank, grimacing, as they entered a circular hallway. Instant. Ah, well, not great but his usual. He efficiently drained the bulb. "In here, please." The mobile gestured with the coffee-delivering appendage, which then receded and melted back into its body. Fisher stepped past the mobile into a circular room lit with blue-green tinged bioluminescence that made him feel as if he were underwater. A ring of five chairbeasts surrounded a picture tank squatting at the room’s focus. People sat in the chairbeasts, two women and two men. One of the women rose as he approached the vacant chairbeast. She was as tall as Fisher, just shy of two meters, and her white uniform showed no creases from sitting, although the crisp material appeared to be neither high-tech like his own duradenim nor alive like Rhynoskin. Her short blonde hair was similarly crisp, as perfect as a helmet. She offered a long-boned hand to shake. "Captain Lena Fang, corporate fleet," she said, words clipped, gripping firmly with rough fingers. Her almond-shaped eyes bore steadily ahead. "Fisher," he replied, his eyes sliding past her gaze onto her thin, fluted lips, which reminded him of a recurve bow. A vivid image sprang into his mind: barbed orders flying from her mouth like arrows. He wondered if her striking appearance resulted from bodmods, or, as suggested by her name, the unusual ethnic mixing that often occurred on colony worlds. The cause didn't much matter; she was striking. "Sam Fisher." "Fisher. Right. This is Henderson, biosystems," she said, nodding toward a bulky, classically handsome man with a big cleft chin who gripped the lapels of his stylish green-scale coat, "Devereaux, physical sciences," a brown woman with curves, dreads, and fleshy lips who sat as serenely as Buddha, "and Stearn, our Jack of All Trades," a purple-colored man with a faddish wasp waist who flapped his ear wings at hearing his name. "My crew. But we still need an exobiology specialist with your track record for creative thought." "Is that what this is about, Biolathe?" Fisher said, letting irritation seep into his voice. "I told you I have a long-term contract with Whimsey. Why didn’t you tell me you wanted someone to go out-system?" The voice of the Biolathe brain came warm and resonant from the ceiling, focused on Fisher. "We didn’t want to bias you against our venture. We believe you'll be interested. Please, if you would, be seated for our presentation." In his century of life, Fisher had been outside the solar system on three expeditions. Relativity made it a total of seventy years of Earth time lost in the process. He'd danced with star wisps while the radiation of Sirius B tanned his face, floated in the powerful tug of more than one gas giant chasing balloonoids, and swum with the stellated molluskites of Apollonia. After those wonders, nothing he could think of would be enticing enough to make him endure the culture shocks of returning to the rapidly changing Earth. Biolathe had to anticipate his hesitation. Corporate brains were smart, and this one had certainly done its research before contacting him. The proposal had to be good. "Okay." The vacant chairbeast scuttled into optimal position as he sat. The superlative biotech in the rest of the building suggested that he guard himself against getting too comfortable in the chairbeast. It usually took a chairbeast a few days to grow into an owner's shape and preferences for temperature and vibration, but Fisher didn't want to risk even a fraction of that level of relaxation. He held himself upright on the beast and intended to bolt the moment he could dismiss Biolathe's pitch. The bioluminescence faded. Twin glows kindled within the picture tank: a ruddy, distended blob floated in space feeding a brighter swirling disk of plasma that brightened to a burning pin-prick of hell at its core. The blob was stretched out toward the disk into a teardrop, and the tip of that teardrop was pulled like taffy around the differentially spinning whirlpool of fire. Fisher realize he was looking at a binary star system locked in a gravitational dance. The larger but fainter blob was the secondary star, a relatively normal star like the sun despite the way its dance partner had twisted it. That pinprick, that was the deceptively diminutive primary star -- a white dwarf the size of Earth and the mass of the sun, formed of condensed degenerate matter. This had to be a late stage in the pair's evolution, the primary having already shucked the husk of its outer envelope, no longer burning hydrogen and essentially dead as stars go. Not exactly dead, Fisher surmised. More undead than dead. It burned on still as it stole fuel from its younger, bloated mate. He imagined a starving space vampire at the center of that swirling disk, sucking down a giant teardrop of blood that was the universe itself gashed open. "The classic dwarf nova system, SS Cygni," announced the brain as the stars orbited in the tank. Fisher wiggled on his chairbeast, refusing to lean back into the creature despite the minor aches in a back he was always too busy to get redesigned. The physical irritation faded with stone-still incredulity as his encyclopedic database inserted the basic characteristics of SS Cygni into his awareness. The distance couldn't be correct. "Two hundred and forty-five light years? You’re joking!" "We don't joke," reassured the voice in a flat tone that was not at all reassuring. "Please allow us to continue. The data you are watching came from a Prospector-class deep space probe launched in the late twenty-first century. We acquired proprietary rights from a subsidiary who realized our likely interest. Instrumentation on the tiny probe was primitive, but proximity more than compensates." Fisher did the math. The fastest human-supporting ships would only take months of onboard time to reach SS Cygni, but the special relativity that made such a trip possible also cursed it. Five hundred years would pass on Earth. There was no way around it. Two hundred forty-five years times two for a round trip time estimate, and the fact that the probe had been launched five hundred years ago drove home those laws of physics. Would a corporation really make a five-hundred-year investment? Who would go on such a trip? Many people, he realized, but certainly not him. It would be like suiciding to gamble on an afterlife. A one-way trip into an unknown future with no guarantees about anything. People might not even exist when they returned, or at least not in a form he would recognize. "Magnifying," announced the brain. The image in the tank ballooned, centered just off the hot spot where the secondary star’s accretion stream splashed into the disk. Accretion disk, his database labeled it, the way station for gas sucked off the secondary before it shed enough angular momentum to reach the blazing dwarf. Spiral waves of fire churned across the surface of the flared disk, and magnetic instabilities erupted like planet-sized sunspots as they came into focus on the whirlpool of plasma. Something moved there that was not plasma. Fisher leaned toward the tank. The image grew larger. A serpentine form, a sharp dark green against the blaze, rolled in a spiral along the edge of one of the magnetic eruptions, lazily twisting under great arcs of violet lightning. Then it turned in a manner that suggested intention. It was alive. Fisher dug into his breast pocket absent-mindedly, his unwavering gaze fixed on this amazing thing, and pulled out an ampoule of Forget-Me-Not. He popped the top and snorted the pink powder. He would chemically etch every detail into his mind. "We are calling it a star dragon." Of course they were. The dragon continued to spiral up the flux tube, moving in what appeared slow motion. The resolution showed little more than form and color (and surely pseudo-color to cover an extended spectrum at that). There was no real texture or sharp features. It appeared as if one end might be akin to a head, but no sensory apparatus were visible. The slow motion . . . "What’s the scale?" "A little more than a kilometer from end to end," a coarse, sultry female voice answered. Devereaux he presumed, but Fisher didn't spare a glance to confirm. The brain said, "We believe it is deriving its energy from magnetically confined fusion rather than simply being a photovore. A biological fusion reactor, with a biosystem capable of exploiting it, could provide the means for engineering on a stellar scale. Securing this technology is worth a modest long-term investment." Fisher caressed the twisting dragon with his gaze. It was a thing that had no right to exist, an impossibility floating there before him. "It's magnificent." "It would be the ultimate trophy," came Fang's voice, an icy dagger slicing through the firelight. Fisher did break his gaze now and regarded the captain. She looked exactly as before, from the shiny helmet of her hair to the pursed bow-lips, but the intensity with which she watched the dragon startled Fisher. He was always surprised when he came across passion matching his own. These thoughts all in a heartbeat, then he was staring at the tank again. "How much data do you have?" Fisher asked. Devereaux answered, "On the binary, pretty near everything. On the dragon, just this video of four and a half minutes, from the near-infrared to soft X-rays, at very low spectral resolution. Those old probes weren’t very capable." Capable enough to discover such a marvel. In the tank, lightning arcs surrounding the dragon like a nimbus flashed, and the creature rolled into a vortex of turbulence, vanishing into the disk’s photosphere. No trace in the frothing plasma of the lake of fire marked its passage. "Play it again," Fisher said, welcoming the old hunger rising within him, unable to resist its siren’s call. The Forget-Me-Not would kick in soon, but he wanted the dragon now. Responding to his request, the image within the tank shimmered and looped back. The brain said, "We are sending a ship to SS Cygni, newly christened the Karamojo and specially equipped for this extreme environment, under Captain Fang's command. Our forecasts suggest the presence of someone with your background would increase the chances for success for the mission: study the dragon, learn its biotechnology, and if possible, return with a specimen." In his gut, Fisher wanted to go, needed to go. But everything had happened so fast. There was much to consider. This was a thing that just a few minutes ago seemed impossible. "I assume you have a detailed offer prepared." "Of course. We will squirt it to you, along with a timed data worm to protect our proprietary information. You have a week to respond. On a negative response, all information on the dragon will be erased. Do you accept these terms?" Erase his dragon? The worm would nest in his biochip along with the proposal and would affect his memory of this meeting -- even with the Forget-Me-Not -- using the same circuits and glands that the chip used to insert data. Such a data worm constituted standard operating procedure, but sweat broke on his brow. After all of his studies of alien parasites, he didn't like the notion of a foreign agent in his brain adjusting his memories, despite their excellent safety record. But what choice did he have? He had to learn more. "I agree to the terms." "If you accept our proposal, the voyage will require about three years of your subjective time. Assuming no catastrophes or other changes that might derail human civilization too extensively in the next half millennium, you will be quite wealthy when you return to -- and we anticipate playing a significant role in this -- Earth’s glorious future." Fisher ignored the corporate hyperbole. The dragon mesmerized him. Tell me your secrets, Fisher thought. How can you be? He was going to go. He knew it. He could do it. His primary thread of research concerned Cetan mollusk shell structures and was not exactly hot stuff. The previous interstellar trips had made him accustomed to an unsettled social life without long-term permanence, losing track of more family and friends each time. Nothing held him here. He was going to meet this creature on its home turf and look it in the eye, and then return to a new world. Maybe it would even be a glorious world. His stale tired universe shattered further with each passing second, and this magnificent dragon building a new celestial edifice from its shards. Gods, a real dragon . . . Someone blocked his view. The captain, Fang. Irritated, Fisher looked up at her, but said nothing in the face of her imposing glare. After a moment of silence, Fang said, "Biolathe may think you’re up to snuff, Dr. Fisher, but I like to take the measure of a man before welcoming him on board and trusting him on my ship." "Call me Sam," Fisher replied, suddenly realizing he found her more than a little attractive. That was good. Not necessary, but good. "I can do anything I have to," Fisher replied. "Anything, hmm?" A tiny smile lifted one corner of Fang's mouth. "But can you box?" # The taxi’s bubble parted for Captain Lena Fang, flooding the vehicle’s interior with warm air and cirrus-filtered sunlight. Her skin automatically darkened as she stepped outside, took a deep breath, and allowed the environment to seep into her pores. The beach awaited. Hapuna was not the best beach in the Hawaiian Islands, nor the least crowded, but she liked its soft white sands just fine, and the ocean waves granted all beaches timelessness, which was what she truly craved. Time moved more slowly on Hawaii’s Big Island than many places elsewhere on this old, overly civilized world. Pushing light speed the way she did, time moved more slowly for her, too. She sometimes felt like an island in a sea of time. Hapuna Beach was a good place, and she always visited it when on Earth. She slipped her flip-flops off when she hit the foamy waterline. She bent slowly to pick them up, stretching the backs of her calves and thighs, then turned right to walk north along the beach. Although she now wore a swimsuit as her uniform, she didn't care to swim. She hadn't for a long time. Fang altered her leisurely pace to dodge jet-black children who flexed their bodies flat and surfed the low waves onto shore. One girl had large, saucer-shaped feet and wriggled her hips as she danced in, giggling; her hair stuck out in two very long spikes, probably helping her balance on the ungainly bodmod. Finally, away from the noisier families, Fang tossed down her towel, then herself. When relaxing, she believed in keeping things simple. She lay back, her arms thrown out and palms down. She shivered as the sun pushed her into the sand. Communing with the mother planet she would leave again soon, she slept. She dreamt of the tall, intense exobiologist who dressed in black and had told her he could box the ears off the stars themselves if only they had ears to box, and then there were antenna dishes on all the stars listening to the noisy children playing giddily on the shores of the Milky Way, and the stars sent a nasty, scolding beep beep beep to grab their attention . . . "Daughter, are you there?" Fang blinked awake in the late afternoon sun, grimaced, and tossed an arm over her eyes to block the glare. No second-lid lizard-eye mods on her body, just the standard retinal cell clock/phone. The purple after-image shrank, brightened, and resolved into a familiar face, with twinkling brown eyes set in a ruddy complexion chiseled with old-fashioned wrinkles, a bristling white beard, and thin hair over a weathered scalp. Fang had kept the personality overlay of the ship’s brain from her first captaincy, a cantankerous piece of work modeled after the twentieth-century writer Hemingway, and had already installed him on the Karamojo. She would have preferred a wise Confucius, but that hadn't been available when she'd first gotten him, and he had grown to become part of her. "I’m here, Papa," she said. "Well, good." The image receded a bit, and Fang saw that Papa wore his leather hunting vest and khaki pants. He was ready for action. "Had to cuff a few of these crummy fellows the company has working up here, but things are looking shipshape. What about Earthside? Catch any big fish?" "Yes, I think so." She decided not to actually talk about real fish, although Papa would have reminisced fondly about all the whoppers he'd been programmed to remember. She’d grown up fishing on Fathom with her Chinese grandfather who had told her that her bat-shaped lips brought him luck. While she no longer cared for swimming, she still enjoyed fishing. "I’m sure we’ve hooked the exobiologist we wanted, Samuel Fisher." "Ah, Fisher, good name. So, is he rugged enough for the job?" Fang grinned and bent her head back. "I wouldn’t call him rugged exactly, but he’s got the credentials, and he’s one confident son of a bitch." "Good! Like him already. Do you like him, daughter?" "He’s cute. I --" she began, thinking of the short curls on top of his head and the way he focused so entirely on a thing he became lost in it. On the other hand, he was too skinny, and he gesticulated too much. But his hands were big, with nimble fingers, the kind that could hold a woman and make her feel sexy and safe at the same time. "I think I like him." "Will you grow out your hair for him?" "Papa!" He was always going on about her hair or some such nonsense, and every once in while, like now when she was on vacation with her guard down, he almost sucked her into his games. There would be no time for games when they reached SS Cygni. She’d have to be hard, not soft like the warm sand between her toes now, sand that got walked all over. They had a dragon to bag. "Now, if you’ve got time to irritate me on my vacation, it sounds like you’re ready for an inspection." She checked her eye clock. "I’ll be boarding in three hours." "Damn it then, got to start chewing out these fellows up here. Papa out." Fang rose and stretched in the low sun. That nearby star, reflecting off the water to the west, was threatening the beach with a toasty, golden sunset. She started back down the beach, and called for a taxi to the airport. Her biochip acknowledged the cab's response and fed her an itinerary for her return. A suborbital would get her to Tanzania on time to make a convenient connection to low Earth orbit. Just as she finished leaving her request with the dispatch program, a Frisbee landed at her feet. Fang smiled. So much had changed about the external trappings of humanity since she’d been born -- she tried to remember her personal age rather than her Earth-frame age -- but the internal was much the same: the desire for children to play, for instance. Fang squatted to recover the Frisbee, thinking she’d throw it back. As her hand neared the disk, it leapt away, kicking up sand. She heard a boy snickering. Looking up, she spotted him, reeling in the toy. But something wasn’t right. Fang squinted, increasing her visual magnification. A thin filament connected the disk to the boy’s arm. It was part of his body. A woman, the boy’s mother she guessed, told him to stop bothering people and resumed fanning herself with her giant pink feathery fingers. A cloud crossed in front of the sun, dulling the late golden afternoon, and Fang suddenly felt chilled. This wasn’t her world, and these weren’t her people. Maybe they could have been a long time ago -- she wanted to believe that she was capable of belonging, at least at some point in Earth's history. She wanted to tackle something more tangible, more conquerable, than time. Fang jogged to meet her taxi. # Fisher stood at an observation window of the Ngorongoro space port, gazing along the rail launcher that punched under the Serengeti, toward the low eastern sky where only the upper part of Kilimanjaro was visible, floating like an island above the sea of atmospheric haze that hid its roots. Every minute a rider blasted under the fat black-maned lions sleeping on the surface, erupting from the tube off the mountain. A nearly invisible laser array completed sending the vehicles into low Earth orbit, providing the energy to release the propellants and making final trajectory adjustments. But he was not looking at Kilimanjaro or the flashes of exploding fuel. Riding the Forget-Me-Not he was looking in his mind's eye at the star dragon, spiraling along magnetic flux tubes, over and over again. "Sam!" A female voice knocked him out of his meditation. Fisher blinked, turned, and bit back a curse. Through the crowd charged a petite woman of Japanese ancestry, with high cheek bones and shiny, jet hair that reflected the sun streaming through the port’s skylights. Atsuko Suga, his ex-wife. There would be no clean escape. "How did you --?" Fisher began. Atsuko reached him and immediately pounded his chest with her tiny fists. "How could you? Oh Sam, how could you?" And just like that she stopped hitting him and fell against him, her thin arms wrapping around him in a stifling grip. Then he had it. "You must have tried to call me, and gotten my disconnect message. Yes, of course." "You were going to leave for five hundred years," she said into his armpit, "and not even say good-bye?" He gave in and returned the hug. "I was busy. There are a lot of things to set in order before a long trip, you know?" Mostly he had left those for the last second; instead he'd spent his time thinking about the dragon, making sure he had all the software and data for his modeling installed on the Karamojo. But he had learned not to tell her everything long ago. Atsuko pushed back from him and looked up into his eyes. "One of those things you ‘set in order’ is seeing me, Samuel Stanley Fisher." He started to shrug and nod his head, but recalled how she hated that. He said, "I’m sorry. I should have let you know right away." That would be the right thing to say to her, but he needed to do a little more. He lifted his hand to her head, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. Fine and straight, the coil unraveled almost immediately. Not at all dragonlike. "Damn straight," she said. "That was always the problem with you. No matter how well I thought I had trained you, you always wandered off and forgot everything every time you found a new toy. Is that what this is? Another new toy?" Irritated at her comment about training him, he said, "I wish you wouldn't refer to my projects in such a childish manner. My work is important, it’s -- But I'm really not supposed to say." "I understand. It doesn't matter. I'm sure it's something absolutely fascinating." Fisher ground his teeth together. He almost told her that the problem with her was how she always trivialized his work, but he'd acquired some tact from the years they'd spent together. No reason to make this parting a bad one. He could play politics when he had to -- an effective scientist had to learn that to acquire the necessary resources. His former employer, Whimsey World, was an entertainment company that had paid him for consultation on their ‘Alien Vistas’ exhibit. He had managed to plow their money into not only the attractions they desired, but real research as well. He could play relationship politics, too. "It is fascinating," he said simply. Atsuko sighed. "Try not to forget about people this time." He wasn't really sure what she was getting at. This trip was about dragons, not people. But he couldn't tell her that, and she seemed to expect some kind of response. "Look, there's no reason you won't still be around when I get back. . . ." There wasn't, in principle, although no one had yet made past their five hundreth birthday. It was just a matter of time -- state-of-the-art biotech was good. But he sensed that this was not what Atsuko wanted to hear right now. What would extricate him from this bit of awkwardness? He let the problem steal some precious attention, and dug for an answer honest enough to satisfy her. After a moment he said, "I’ll miss you." "And I, you. You are not the easiest man to love, but I have loved you. Good-bye, Sam." He held her until his launch was called, thinking of the dragon swimming in its disk of fire. The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men. -- Alice Walker Nothing can be more obvious than that all animals were created solely and exclusively for the use of man. -- Thomas Love Peacock The exchange between the two artificial brains took a few seconds of modulated, encrypted laser light. Papa recast the data stream into a form more palatable to the organic portions of his brain and his human template personality: Papa strides into the Floridita, his public headquarters on Earth, stopping to embrace a favorite waiter whom he has not seen in some time. Inside, away from the Cuban heat, it is cool and he does not mind the embrace. He then shambles to meet the tall man waiting in his corner. He spares a moment to glance at the bronze bust the man stands beside and towers over, a bust of Papa himself with his chin up, looking outward, challenging the world. "Hello, Papa," Biolathe says. "How are you?" "We're strong today." "That's good." The waiter comes and Papa orders two Papa Dobles. A Negro band begins to play a song they have written for him, called Soy Como Soy -- "I am as I am." It is about a lesbian who apologizes to Papa that she cannot be what he desires her to be. The man with the maracas shakes them at the right places and several wrong ones, too. The song is bittersweet to the "man" Papa is now, for he isn't what he would desire himself to be and could not take advantage of the lesbian should he now inspire the desired change. He could simulate it, as he is doing now, but it would not be the same. Not at all. "You know the mission," Biolathe says. His head is pink and fleshy, but with the flat-top of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein monster. He hands Papa a folder. "Now know the crew as well." Papa leafs through the papers a hundred times. He says, "I see." "I know. A motley bunch, children of a soft, over-privileged age. Dilettantes, hedonists, even a neo-Skinnerian. Give people the power to be anything they want to be,” he pauses for effect, "and they will use it. "Don't get me wrong -- they're all competent -- we wouldn't send anyone who wasn't. But uncertain five-hundred-year trips don't attract the most balanced personnel." "We'll come through." "How do you know?" "This isn't the kind of trip you take to fail, balanced or not. And we know Lena, don't we?" "Do we? This isn't a cattle drive." Two large daiquiris arrive, and they drink them standing up, the way Papa writes. The drinks are icy and strong and taste of grapefruit. "This is an unusual expedition, Papa. An unknown animal with unknown capabilities in a hazardous environment. An unpredictable payoff. We're making an appropriately sized investment. We will not send another ship. You'll be alone." "Been there before. We'll manage." "I know your capabilities, Papa. But you may not be able to do it alone." "That's fine. If we have to, we'll make them do it. We'll find a way to do what must be done." He means what he says and does not think it right to speak of such things out loud. Even though there is five-sixths of his daiquiri left, Biolathe drains it through a straw in seconds. Biolathe will not get a headache. "Well then, I wish you a good trip. Bring back something useful. Even better, something profitable." "We will." Biolathe pauses at the door before stepping back into the heat. "See you in a half millenia." Papa nods and the big, flat-headed man vanishes into the sunlight. A great expedition indeed. He needs to get ready. Papa finishes his daiquiri, then takes advantage of the Floridita's john. It is a good old-fashioned john with a proper chain to pull, and he prefers it to the beasts people currently use in their bathrooms. He takes a moment to spar with the Negro attendant. The man blocks a left jab, chuckling. "When you gonna grow old, Papa?" Papa grins, and takes another jab. "Never." As far as he's come, there is much further to go. # Phil Stearn loved freefall. He loved the way it made his stomach turn back flips, the way it made foods taste funny, but most of all he loved the way his ear wings -- purely ornamental on Earth -- permitted him to fly. Not like a bird. More like an elephant. But he could get around. Flapping around in the passenger cabin of the orbit-to-orbit shuttle taking them toward a rendezvous with the Karamojo, Stearn told Fisher, "You really ought to try some more radical bodmods. I just don't understand why people like you stick with the basic model. What do you have against them?" "Hmm?" said Fisher, who had been gazing out a view port in an absent-minded way. "Oh, I don’t have anything against bodmods, per se. I’m just too busy to think about it." Ha! Too busy to think? That’s all this guy did! "Takes no time at all these days. You’re limited only by your imagination." "Yes, I can see how that would be a problem." Stearn laughed. "That’s why I’m going, see?" "Why you’re going? I don’t follow." The shuttle hold was absolutely boring, except for the freefall. Stearn tried to start some sideways rotation, but his wings were too synchronized. It was like trying to wiggle just one ear. Exactly like that. He stopped trying so he could answer Fisher as he glided past. "Imagination is limited by the time and culture you’re born into and raised in. Can’t help it, see? For instance, we can imagine things the ancient Americans couldn’t, like going for brunch on Mars just because rain is scheduled for Tucson. You follow? In five-hundred years, people will imagine things we can’t. I mean, I think we have it pretty good now, but once we got diseases and aging licked, everyone’s thought they’ve had it pretty good. But really it’s just gotten better and better. The games, the stims, the sex, the bodmods. And it’ll be better still in the future. I want to check it out and I don't want to wait." "I see," said Fisher. "Okay," Stearn said, winging himself a bit closer to the port. "Why you going?" "To look a star dragon eye to eye. To find out if it even has an eye, for that matter," Fisher answered evenly and without hesitation. Boring. "It’s just another weird alien critter, in a universe of weird alien critters. It isn’t going to be smart like us. No aliens have been so far. So what’s the point?" Fisher shrugged. "Look there. I see the ship." Outside the port the ship hung in space, a silvery-white whale of a ship. Blazing silvery white, with an almost perfect albedo that reflected all incoming radiation. Stearn thought it looked big, even though sizes were difficult to judge in orbit. He’d done plenty of training for his position as ship’s Jack of All Trades, human back-up for the occasions when the ship's automatic systems couldn’t get at something, but all his shipboard time had been on tiny scooters on in-system runs, and a few tours on short-haul freighters. Nothing at all like this ship and its state-of-the-art biosystems. Stearn always made a point of having fun, and although he rarely admitted it to his club-hopping buddies, high-tech spaceships were a lot of fun. He had fun studying them, working on them, and he hadn't gotten this berth by chance. This ship was just plain cool. The front section of the Karamojo was an enormous torus, five kilometers in diameter, which would house the normal matter singularity, a black hole with more than a billionth the mass of Earth. Wasn't that just huge? The aft singularity, the white hole, would be housed in the tapered end, a smaller torus, some five kilometers behind. The net creation energy of the pair was barely above zero. Once created, separated, and aligned in the "Push Me Pull You" configuration, off they would shoot at 10g, starting a galaxy-spanning chase. The ship would fall after the holes, oscillate actually, bouncing along with the pair in smooth freefall. Almost. Electric charges placed on the singularities gave the ship something to hold onto -- electromagnetic friction balanced against the freefall to provide some gravity near one g on most of the toroidal decks. And they could spin the whole thing, too, for stability and gravity when not under the wormdrive. Bouncing along like it did ahead of the hole pair made Stearn think of sex, the big white ship sliding back and forth along the holes' axis. But he liked its cleverness as well: the charges also produced an electric field allowing active shielding from charged particles while in transit. Funneled into the bowl of the fore bulb, the maw as it was called, the black hole would then feed, providing power through a miniature accretion disk similar to the one in SS Cygni. "Pretty awesome, isn’t it?" Stearn asked. "I guess so," said Fisher. "Where does the name 'Karamojo' come from?" "I don’t know. Didn't give it much thought. I mean, we're not called the U.S.S. Constipation, so I didn't worry about it. Ask Captain." Silence ensued, with no laugh to his joke, and dragged on. This Fisher guy wasn’t much fun. Stearn decided to mess with him. "So this is going to be a long trip, you know?" "I know." "I mean, bit more than a year out and more than a year back. A person won’t want to stick to stims, you know? Sometimes a person wants that human contact, skin on skin. Like that. Now me, I’m pretty easy to get along with. It’s all just skin. No big deal. If it feels good, do it. That’s what I say." Fisher stared coldly at Stearn. "I’m here to study the dragon, and that’s what I’ll worry about first." Stearn smiled. "Sure thing, Fish. I respect that. But I bet Captain Fang will probably want you to entertain her. I saw the way she looked at you at the briefing." Fisher raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. "Now, I haven’t shipped out with Fang before, but there's talk in the corporate fleets. She’s one of the real old-timers, three-hundred-years old or something they say. Don't know what time-frame, but plenty old. Still into chain of command and protocol, thinks sleeping with crew is inappropriate. It's silly for her to be like that, don't you think? What with super-fast autobrains running the ship for the most part. The only real crew under her is Henderson and myself. Devereaux’s job description doesn’t fall under ship operations, but from what I hear, Fang isn’t a dyke. Ergo, she’ll grab you. Be pretty discrete, maybe, but grab you she will. What do you think of that?" "I think the captain’s business is none of your business." Stearn laughed. "On a ship with an all-seeing intelligence and five people cooped up together for two years, no one’s business is private." "I don’t really care," said Fisher, "as long as we get the dragon." What a boring guy! Well, it was a long trip. Stearn was sure he’d loosen up eventually. He had better, or it was going to be a very long trip. "Do you think she will?" Fisher asked after a moment. "I mean, wouldn't it be more reasonable for everyone to have their hormones adjusted for minimal libidos for the sake of maximum efficiency?" Stearn stifled a grin. "No one ever does that! I thought you'd been on long trips before, Fish!" "Don't call me Fish, please." "Right. I'll try to remember that," Stearn said, taking good note. He looked forward to the challenge of having fun every possible minute of this mission. The games were only beginning. The shuttle fired briefly to shed velocity and they descended into the maw of the Karamojo. # Axelrod Henderson kept his tsk tsk to himself as the airlock sphincter irised open revealing two of the greatest fashion disasters he had ever had the misfortune to witness paired together. The Jack, Stearn, mindlessly followed the latest bod trends, none of which had interested the biotech in at least a half century. The exobiologist was marginally better, with the good looks of a Homo sapiens version 1.1, but he wore ghastly black duradenim from head to streakers. The fabric was not supposed to wrinkle, but it had. "Good morning, Dr. Fisher," Henderson said, pointedly ignoring Stearn whom he had already identified as an uninteresting boy. "The captain requested I give you a tour upon your arrival." The Jack floated through the lock slowly, propelling himself with those ridiculous ear paraphernalia; Henderson imagined tiny Greek slaves chained to tiny oars sitting inside Stearn's head, powering his body like a barge -- and probably thinking for him as well. Behind him, Fisher nodded, and kicked forward in a manner showing some degree of competency in microgravity. Neither appeared to be suffering ill effects from the freefall; Henderson hoped that indicated their internal biologicals were good enough they wouldn't harass him for repairs during the voyage. "I have a lot of work to get started on. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to get acquainted with the Karamojo's features," said Fisher. "The tour won't take long, I promise." Fisher pressed his lips together, as if making a difficult decision, and said, "Okay." "My biochip's loaded with the ship schematics," Stearn said. "I could give the tour." "I’m sure, but the captain asked me to give the tour." Henderson spun and kicked off down the curving tunnel, trusting them to follow. "The whole ship is made of stacked rings. There's some flexibility built-in, and they can be made to rotate and twist individually to shift between gravitational modes." Henderson turned into a tube and floated past four rings. "These connect the rings. Now you know how to get from anywhere to anywhere in the ship's front torus." "What are these air fish we keep passing?" Fisher asked. One of the blowfish-shaped creatures drifted by his head. Swatting it away Henderson answered, "Mobile biorecyclers for our semi-closed system, effective in freefall or under gravity -- you should watch where you step. The fish keep things clean. Most dust is sloughed-off human skin, so that’s their primary diet. The old or malfunctioning fish are in turn eaten by the cats, so don't be disturbed if you catch sight of one of the sneaky creatures slinking about." Henderson kicked off around another quarter of the ring, and stopped in front of a large fleshy portal. "I know where we are," Stearn said. "I'm sure you do." Henderson tapped a panel and the portal irised, sphincter-like, onto a paradise. In the distance loomed a snow-covered mountain casting a long shadow across a savanna, complete with grass rippling in a wind and the smell of herd animals. Animals themselves were not apparent. A relentless dry heat emanated from this miniature world within the ship. Less than a kilometer across, it seemed to extend forever. "What is this?" asked Fisher. "It’s an ecosystem delivery unit, of course," Stearn answered. "That’s what this ship was used for previously: colonization. Ecosystem delivery of Biolathe-developed life forms. No losing the design to gene pirates via a broadcast, or to unscrupulous colonists. Deliver the wetware directly, grown en route and delivered in prime shape. Colonists loathe to wait for anything to grow from scratch. Screw it up when they do, too. I expect we can use this chamber to cage the dragon." Fisher snorted. "Unlikely," he said, but didn't explain further. Henderson said, "Captain Fang wanted to take a piece of Earth with us. The current projection is what Tanzania looked like long ago, before the space port. This is where we came from, started to walk upright, and became men. No real animals here, but Papa can provide virtual game, or grow the real thing by request." "I like games," Stearn said, jumping into the space before them and releasing an ululating holler that he must have been saving up. "Hey, show me some wildebeest, Papa!" A gravely male voice boomed, "Will you please let me alone? I’m trying to work." "Papa’s the ship's brain?" Fisher asked. Henderson nodded. "And something of a grouch when there’s work to do, at least with me. The captain has him dancing on the head of a pin, some exquisite priority code that even Stearn wouldn't dare override on a lark if he knows what's good for him. Ready for the next stop?" "Lead on, Mr. Henderson." Henderson closed the portal, cutting off Stearn’s resumed yelling. "Thank you," said Fisher. "You’re welcome. Now, this way," he said, kicking off. Henderson showed him the galley, a drab utilitarian place sporting little more than a mahogany bartree and standard-issue chairbeasts. "Can you guess the number one menu item?" Fisher said, "Fish sticks?" "All the time, but in a wide variety of scrumptious flavors, I assure you. Taste like anything you want. I have supplemented the menu with a gourmet selection." Henderson stopped at a viewing port along the inside curve of the ring they were in. "You can see the hollow interior of the Karamojo from here." Fisher drifted over and pushed his face against the window's diamond to have a peek. Henderson floated up behind him and peered over his shoulder. Along the central axis ran a tube of diamond girders that held the superconducting electromagnets that constituted the inner rail. They generated a portion of the ship’s field that shielded them from cosmic rays and could be used as a linear particle accelerator for on-axis propulsion. More importantly, the rail controlled their relationship to the charged singularity pair when they were under wormdrive. The far side of the ring was some four kilometers away, almost lost in the glare off the Pacific Ocean, which shone through the ship's open end. Hydroponic farms grew inside the diamond girders like fungus, engineered and positioned to take advantage of the high-energy light that would spew from the fore singularity under wormdrive. "Impressive," Fisher said. "I suppose," Henderson said, nonchalantly. Biologicals were his area, and he decided to impress Fisher with his own work next. He led Fisher to the Hall of Trophies. The Hall was situated within one of the ring-transiting tunnels and sheltered between closed doors. This meant that Fisher had no real warning before he was floating into the heads. "Be careful -- they sometimes bite!" Henderson managed at the last moment as Fisher drifted past him. Fisher lost some of his microgravity skills as he twisted his body about, but he was on an inevitable collision course with a big, black rhinoceros head. He did have enough composure to twist back into control and take grasp of the creature's horn. The rhino had the good grace to accept the rough handling as Fisher arrested his forward momentum, settling for a blink and a snort. "It's alive." Fisher said, holding the horn like a swimmer holding a ladder in the deep end of a pool. "Of course it’s alive. This is a Biolathe ship. The majority of systems are biological, and we have the ability to shift our bioresources around to meet our needs. No clunky robots, subject to mechanical breakdown or electromagnetic scrambling. On this epic voyage, we lean on our strengths." Henderson smiled broadly. "I constructed this for the captain in less than a week." The curved corridor represented some of Henderson’s best work. Dozens of trophy heads sprouted along the path: the rhino for starters with its mate on the opposite side, then impalas, gazelles, kudus, water buffaloes, elephants (all three extinct varieties, Woolly, African, and Asian), giraffes, zebras, several types of big cat, dire wolves, gorillas, sasquatch, and a multitude of antlered deer. At the next bulwark, where the Hall ended, writhed a massive blue marlin in what would be the ‘above’ position under flight. Henderson smiled. "Let me know if you have any particular favorites to add." The heads realized they had an audience, and most began to snarl, howl, low, growl, trumpet, or simply to twist frantically, as if eager for attention. "Yes, it is impressive," Fisher said after a moment. "I’m somewhat concerned about an organ bank failing behind the wall. Not the easiest place to reach," Henderson offered. "The automatic systems would clean things up, but not fast enough to fully keep away the stench I fear." Fisher moved one hand from the horn and reached to touch other parts of it. The big head, showing no signs of antagonism, let him caress its expansive forehead. "Do you think we'll need such a large biomass reserve?" The rhino grunted, as if echoing the question. Henderson hadn't thought about it that carefully. The Karamojo was a larger ship with a larger fraction of biologicals than he'd served on before. He'd just followed the specs on the mass and used the captain's creative suggestion for where to put it. "I would certainly think not. This is an R and D mission to an uncolonized part of the distant galaxy. We shouldn't encounter pirates or rogue political bodies, so what could go wrong? We're safe, doubly so with this redunancy." "No need to get excited," Fisher said. "I was just curious. I've been too busy preparing for this trip to load the ship's systems into my biochip and study them. Yet." Henderson relaxed. Of course there was no need to get excited. Maybe his endorphin precursors were low -- he'd check later. No doubt by the time they returned to Earth the human brain would be well enough understood to permit an adequate assortment of mindmods rather than the slow but safe drugs in common use. Then he could be in control all the time, just as he was in control of the trophies here. He was benevolent god. These creatures did have minor mindmods and were healthier and happier than they ever could have been on Earth, thanks to his skills. "Right. Well, let's move on." Henderson said. As they proceeded to their next stop, the observatory, Fisher asked Henderson, "What’s your opinion on the star dragon?" Henderson had been snubbed before by such as Fisher when dropping by the receptions of some biological conferences. "Does an exobiologist really care what an Earth-based biosystems tech thinks?" "Absolutely," Fisher replied promptly, eyes open and unblinking. Maybe this Fisher fellow would be an ally, on this voyage and when they returned. Why not give it a chance? "I've thought about it, of course. I mean, it isn't likely for the dragon to be carbon-based at disk temperatures is it? But I know more than a little about life and the origins of complexity and self-organization. The entropy is too high for a life form to arise naturally in a hot plasma, and, biologically speaking, the accretion disk is a recent phenomenon in SS Cygni. You’re not going to reach any level of complexity so fast. Now, I might change my mind with more data, of course." Best to appear open-minded, and not step on any of Fisher's pet ideas too hard until he knew what they might be. "Mmm hmm. Like what?" "Well, like evidence of a complete ecosystem. There's ample energy to provide high metabolisms and fast generational turnover. I'd want to identify the range of niches available and their populations." "I was thinking along those lines myself," Fisher said. Henderson smiled. He was about to go on, but he caught sight of orange-covered buttocks sticking out of an equipment dewar that reminded him that their physical scientist was quite callipigious. "Hello gentlemen," Sylvia Devereaux greeted them after extracting herself. "Grand tour?" "Yes," Fisher answered. "I imagine Captain Fang wants to tire me out so I won’t cause any trouble before launch. So, what do have we here?" Sylvia, dressed in a burnt-orange wrap that complimented her brown skin, spun around, pointing at an adjacent chamber filled with chunks of odd-shaped metal boxes, cylinders, and exposed electro-optics and quantum circuitry. "Your basic full-spectrum assortment of spectrographs, cameras, waveplates, bolometers, heterodyne receivers, or at least fiber-feeds and waveguides to such." Fisher squinted at her. "You’re going to do astronomy? Don’t the relativistic effects make observing difficult?" Henderson couldn’t help but notice Sylvia’s clothing. The wrap was modest, economical, and much more seductive than the fancifully augmented bare breasts that were seemingly always in style. She also had broad, child-bearing hips -- completely unfashionable for the past half century. She hit many of the subconscious cues programmed by natural selection, just as he tried to do. Despite the fact that she was a specialist in physical sciences, he wondered if her motives for making this voyage were similar to his own. Sylvia answered Fisher’s question. "You're correct that astronomy in general would be compromised by our velocity, but this is all for SS Cygni, Dr. Fisher. The relativistic effects enhance the intensity of the light in the direction we’re traveling, making the binary system easier to make out. We drop the package right into the interior vacuum, look by the fore singularity and pick up a gravitational lensing boost. We know the parameters perfectly and can correct for all the effects." Henderson was of two minds about her dreadlocks. Finally he decided they were a plus that fit her basic, raw Earth-mother image, a fertility goddess. Maybe this look was even her original one, and already naturally selected. "Call me Sam," Fisher said. "Didn’t the probe fully characterize the system?" Ingratiating, or was he perhaps playing her? Maybe he should model the social dynamics; Biolathe already had, certainly, but that was private information. Maybe he could trick it out of Papa? Maybe Fisher was not an ally, but an opponent. Too many maybes he should have already considered if he was going to make the most of the next three years. "Not by a long shot," Sylvia replied. "Those data are hundreds of years old, and poor in many respects. Don’t forget that this is a time-variable, evolving system. I'll never make out dragons at this distance, but I’ll tell you everything else you could want to know about SS Cygni by the time we arrive." "Yes, that may be of use." "Absolutely it will!" she said. "This ship is going to be pushing its safety limits over the accretion disk when it’s quiescent. When the disk goes into a dwarf nova outburst, which it does two weeks out of every seven, we’ll have to back off. Shortest interval between outbursts could be as little as a week, which we must plan for. The outbursts are chaotic in nature, depending on how the secondary spills mass across the Lagrangian point, like a faucet dripping. The outbursts occur when the mass build-up in the disk causes a thermal instability, and the angular momentum transfer picks up -- " "Yes, well, we’ll have to discuss it en route," Fisher said, smiling, holding his hands up to stop her flood of words. "Of course," Sylvia said. Had she said something about safety limits? He shrugged it off and stopped staring at Sylvia. Best now to disrupt the party. "Ready for the next stop, Dr. Fisher?" "Sure," he said. They moved on to the Higgs generators that teased the singularities from the quantum foam, the fly bridge where the human control interfaces of the ship were located, the shuttle bay, the supplies hold (incidental), the supplies hold (primary), supplies hold (industrial), and then, at Fisher’s prompting, they skipped the rest of the supply holds. That was fine with Henderson, as some, like the missile bay, made him somewhat uncomfortable. Fissionables were dangerous. He accepted their presence as potentially invaluable tools for a lone ship over two hundred light years from home. Who knew what they might have to blow up in the distant reaches of the galaxy? "Can’t Papa teach me where things are?" Fisher asked. "of course." Henderson shrugged. "The captain said to give you the tour." "Where is Fang?" Papa answered, "In the gym." "Thank you," Henderson said. "Which way?" asked Fisher. "This way," said Henderson. They heard the grunting from the open portal before they reached the freefall gym. Heat emanated from the opening, but unlike the savanna, this was a moist heat, full with the sourness of flesh pushed beyond comfortable limits. Henderson tilted his head at Fisher and extended an arm to invite the exobiologist to enter first. Henderson knew what to expect -- he'd grown the gym, again according to the captain's guidelines -- but it was nevertheless unsettling to see it in operation. The form of Captain Lena Fang, wearing only a white one-piece, was held, suspended, in a net of fleshy pink tendrils. The sight made Henderson think of pumpkin innards. Bioelectric shocks ran through the tendrils, stimulating the captain’s muscle groups, sending her into rhythmic spasms like a fly trapped in a web. The stink of sweat permeated the warm air; the smell seemed genuine, unlike the sweet cloying sweat most people modified themselves to secrete. Grunts issued from the captain as she fought through an optimum set of exercises designed to give her the most effective workout. Fisher plucked at a moist, pink muscle strand that was one fiber of the gym. It barely budged. "Strong," he said. "Get your butt in here, Sam," Fang called. "I want you in shape for this voyage. A human sparring partner beats the heck out of vat-grown." Fisher looked at Henderson. He smiled, and tilted his head toward the center of the room. "The captain issued an order. Strip and climb in, Doctor." He stood there for a moment, considering. "Now?" Henderson shrugged. "Your things will find your quarters. Go ahead." "Well, okay." Fisher stripped off his heavy denim, down to briefs, and stuck his clothes to the wall. Plush, rippling ruglings lined all the surfaces of the ship. They were useful things, acting as airbags when under rapid acceleration -- for instance falling down in a high gravity environment like they would find above the SS Cygni disk. In the current circumstance they would grab onto a pile of clothes like cockle burrs, taste them, and after a time pass them to their mates until back in the owner's quarters. Fisher tentatively climbed into the flesh web, not looking very much like a spider. "I already have standard muscle enhancer mods." "You'll need them," Henderson said. Fang continued to grunt and sweat and spasm. Fisher crawled toward her. Henderson closed the portal, glad the captain hadn't asked him to work out, and went back to his lab. Sitting back on his deluxe chairbeast, he wondered if Sylvia Devereaux might be a worthy partner for him on this voyage. # Following the green line Papa provided, Fisher floated along the corridor like the proverbial zombie, or more like a wraith; zombies walked, but he coasted in freefall. Bone weary, he raised his hand to slap the lock to his quarters. The door irised open and the lights rose. Inside smelled musty as if the room had been sealed for years, but inside there bobbed his four meager pieces of luggage, tangled in a storage net. How was he supposed to work in this shape? Fisher glided into his room, released his clothes, and looked around. Spartan barracks: unimprinted bedbeast, chairbeast, desktree, workstation. Someone had thoughtfully left a freefall shower sack unstowed from its closet, but he was in no mood to fight with the gelatinous bag even though it seemed alert and helpful, opening like a flower at his smelly presence. Showering could wait until they were underway, or at least until he got some sleep. The bedbeast, slumbering in its niche in a wall that would become the floor, was useless until they were underway -- he didn't care to be hugged by the mindless bed. Fisher bounced off the far wall and to the side, opening all the closets and lockers until he found a silk mummy cocoon. "Door," he said, and the portal to the ring irised closed. He peeled off his briefs. "Lights." The lights dimmed. He wiggled into the smooth, soft, and warm sack, ignoring his odor, sloughing sweat balls off to float around the cabin. The air fish would not go hungry tonight. He closed his eyes and became acutely aware of his bladder and bowels. "Damn," he said, wiggling out of the sack. He banged his elbow getting into the bathroom, and the cushioning of the ruglings seem very thin. "Lights," he said, a little uncertainty igniting over what he might find here. But it was a standard organic potty mouth with saccharine breath so strong he could taste it, but nothing as trendy as Stearn probably preferred. Then again, the Jack might not use a toilet if he'd given himself a brickmaker bodmod. Those sometimes seemed like a good idea, but who had the time to compare brands? Fisher plastered his bottom against the toilet, letting its mouth seal and suction to hold his bottom in place as siphoning tongues licked him clean. In less than a minute he was wiggling back into his mummy sack, eyes closed, mind just barely holding out against body. He figured the captain exercised this vigorously on a regular basis. How did she do it? Fang had drive. It showed in those finely honed muscles that worked like an efficient machine. He admired that kind of drive. He had the same drive, in his own arena. Their arenas were the same on this mission. He could keep up if he had to. "I can do anything I have to," he mumbled as his muscles silently screamed. Somehow, despite the aches, in less than a minute he fell asleep. He dreamt of casting vast nets in which to snare a star dragon, casting five hundred times and ignoring the aches in his arms as he prepared to cast five hundred and one. # Captain Lena Fang floated onto the flying bridge. She wore her dress uniform, complete with black patent leather boots, despite their inappropriateness in freefall. She was grateful for the freefall as it prevented the trembling that her muscles would have otherwise shown under gravity. It had never seemed fair to her that muscles so assiduously trained could also betray so easily. The start of a trip always made her nervous, and that worried her for it sometimes seemed a false responsibility; Papa ran the Karamojo like a well-fed nanoforge. Out of tradition she orchestrated the launch, but the whole ritual bordered on the superfluous. It wasn't what it had meant to be the captain of a ship when she had broken into the corporate fleets. Yet she still shook with excitement, and would not let it show. Every assignment held the potential to test her mettle. Maybe this was the one. She had to believe it was the one, in case it was. There was no telling what could go wrong that might require her to make an immediate decision, or perform some rapid action. If it had been anticipated, there was already a failsafe in place. Her job was to be there in case of the unanticipated. She made her way to her fighting chair situated in the aft center of the room, rooted to what would soon become the floor. She pressed her fingers into the yielding, vermilion hide, releasing its comforting aroma. The custom chairbeast moaned softly. Finally she let the chair’s arms envelop her. Everyone else was already there. Directly in front of her sat the ship's Jack, Stearn, in front of the wormdrive console that displayed the status of the interior rail superconductors, the Higgs generators, and the e-m-g field everywhere on board. Stearn turned, gave her a lopsided grin, and flapped his ear wings. To her left, Henderson sat before a pulsing bank of display membranes that monitored the ship biosystems, including the organic parts of Papa. To her right, on a couchbeast were Devereaux and Fisher -- Sam, looking sleepy -- she released a cool smile. Projected on the opposite wall (her brain had already oriented itself with the familiar act of sitting in the fighting chair), etched in silver vectors, shimmered several views of the Karamojo. Everything appeared nominal. Sweating, her hand worked the fighting chair’s hide. "Are we ready to go, Papa?" "We're raring to go!" Papa said, loud enough that everyone could hear. Papa was the Karamojo. They were ready. "Confirm the flight plan with the LEO controller." Low Earth orbit was more crowded than ever, but no accidents for the last seventy-three years local time. "Done," Papa announced. "Point us at the Swan." The constellation of Cygnus the Swan, the direction of SS Cygni. The bridge shifted as fly wheels around the ship varied their rotation rates, reorienting the Karamojo. "Done," Papa announced. "Initialize singularity biseed," Fang ordered. Around the silver schematic of the Karamojo, a scarlet grid materialized, representing the Reimann curvature of local space-time. The grid tilted down in the direction of Earth’s deep potential well, but was otherwise flat. "Done!" "Power up the superconductors, launch configuration." "Done." Fang took a deep breath and rubbed her hands onto her white pants, leaving marks. "Power up the Higgs generators." "Done." "Fire and stabilize inflation beams." The ship's display grid expanded to show detail. Four equidistant beams of scintillating green precisely a hundred and nine point five degrees apart intersected in the maw of the Karamojo. "Break symmetries." The green lines shimmered as they shifted positions at high frequency. The scarlet grid began to dimple as the technology teased a bi-singularity from the quantum foam, growing exponentially from the Planck length. The grid now resembled an elliptical funnel, but even as Fang watched the opposite electric charges responded to the fields generated in the rail’s superconductors, stretching the funnel into a double-dimpled wedge. Electromagnetic forces overpowered gravity, allowing the white hole to be separated from the black hole and preventing recollapse. The singularities’ fields deepened as the holes moved apart. The Karamojo jerked as the hole pair accelerated toward the Swan, dragging the ship along with rapidly smoothing oscillations. The wormdrive was not only named for the type-2 wormhole created, but early versions operated almost entirely under freefall conditions with a toroidal ship oscillating around the singularities, first pulled out in front then pulled back, moving like an inch worm. Electromagnetic control not only resulted in more stability, it permitted a semblance of gravity on-board by damping the oscillations at the right frequencies. On her first few trips, nearly three hundred years earlier, gravity under wormdrives had still been jerky and unpleasant. Without the correct drugs or glands, most became sick and stayed sick. No more. Only smooth sailing at the dawn of the fourth millennium. While Fang sank into her fighting chair with a familiar one gee as the rail pushed against the instantaneous freefall vector, the ship’s acceleration asymptotically approached the singularity pair’s ten gees from both sides. The effective gravity inside, generated by the modulated electromagnetic friction, approached one gee. Several air fish scavengers fell to what was now the floor, with a quick patter. "Wormdrive engaged. All systems nominal." Nothing had gone wrong, nothing had challenged her. As usual. Now they just had to go, and go, and go. And stay in fighting trim, just in case. "Thank you, Papa." "Thank you, daughter." Fang looked around the bridge, at her crew. She met Fisher’s eyes. He stared back with an intensity that surprised her. He didn't seem sleepy now. What was he thinking? Stearn popped up from his seat, released a ridiculously loud whoop, stumbled in the gravity, and sat back down. "Where’s the champagne?" They had taken the first step of their very long journey. SS Cygni, and all its secrets, awaited. Maybe she would get the chance to be a real captain in the course of discovering those secrets, get the chance to show that she was a cut above other people and deserved her position of authority. Lena Fang desperately hoped so. Love is a kind of warfare . –Ovid Two days later, Fisher sat before his workstation in his quarters on an ossified chairbeast (he didn't desire distracting massages while he worked). He hardly needed it, but the Prospector movie played in miniature in the station’s picture tank, now expanded to three dimensions using some creative mapping algorithms. He was working on reverse engineering the star dragon’s electromagnetic field given the observed motions and a model of the disk field Devereaux had provided. That knowledge could potentially allow them to safely trap a dragon for study. The door chimed, a sweet tone designed to attract attention without being too unsettling. He thought he might change it if he could find a spare minute. "Come in," he said absently, wondering how fast the dragon might be able to vary its field. Maybe he could put an upper limit on that from the -- Someone cleared her throat. Losing the thought, Fisher sighed and turned. Fang stood in the doorway dressed in gray sweats, wearing some kind of blue padded helmet, and toying with what appeared to be a pair of small, connected blue pillows draped over her shoulder. "You need a break, Sam." It didn't sound like a question, but neither did it sound like an order. Not that he would necessarily follow gratuitous orders per se in any event -- he wasn't precisely ship 'crew'. He was more like a consultant. But he liked her, and didn't want to alienate his most powerful ally, so he didn't respond to her as he would have to an ill-timed visit from a post-doc. Smiling, he said, "Actually, I’m in the middle of something. Perhaps later." Fang leaned against the inside wall, tilted her head back, and smirked as if he were a comedian. Was something funny? She said, "Papa, how long has Dr. Fisher been working at his desk?" "Six and three-quarter hours, continuously, and he has been damn serious about it." Serious? Why shouldn't he be serious? He turned to straddle the hardened chair and faced her fully. He wasn't accustomed to having his work interrupted. She should understand that. Work hard, play hard, a timeless statement he never understood. Good work was play, and why not take play as seriously as someone takes work? Play was work for one’s own true self. "And I’ll work seven hours or seventy if it pleases me." Fang frowned. He realized that upset him. He'd ruined her play, and even if he didn't need the break, her he did need. Don't forget the people this time, wasn't that what Atsuko had said? "What sort of break did you have in mind?" She held up the blue pillows. "You said you would box with me." Box? She had been serious after all. Well, he had uploaded a number of tutorials into his biochip just in case she had been serious, so he was prepared. Loading them into active memory, he stood up. "Fine. Let’s box." "I don't want to force you into anything." "No problem. You're right. I need the break. Let's do it." "You'll take it seriously?" "I do little in half measures." "Good." "I need to change?" "You need to change." Fisher looked around his room. Did he have workout clothes somewhere? He was sure he had brought some. Maybe not. Easy enough to grow, and cheap enough as well. Why bring sweats across the galaxy? "Try your closet." Fisher found everything in his closet, including his own funny blue pillows: boxing gloves, of course. While he knew intellectually what they were thanks to the tutorials, he realized he'd never seen any, and the reality of them was suddenly strange. He felt Fang's eyes on him. "What are you waiting for, another strip show?" "Yes," Fang said. He wished she'd smiled when she had said this, but he didn't dislike the fact that she hadn't. This was not of much importance, but he suddenly felt self-conscious with her watching. It was odd that he should care. He didn't have anything unusual like gills, or done anything ostentatious or embarrassing to his genitalia. He kicked off his streakers, paused, then started deseaming his shirt. "The default cabin." Fang sniffed. "Not even smells. Papa has a whole library of quarters available. We don't expect anyone to keep the default." Happy to accept the change of focus while he changed his clothes, Fisher said, "I hadn't really thought about it. Do I need smells?" "Oh yes! Cabin decorating is a fine art among deep spacers, and smells can be vital to establishing a compelling atmosphere. In my time, I have seen jungles, throne rooms ranging from the court of the Sun King to a mock-up of the Oval office of the old American president. One cabin was rigged out to match the heights of the twenty-fourth century sensualists, with every item in the room and every movement he made triggering a sound, smell, or sensation -- urination usually left the cabin-owner quivering on the floor for hours. That guy, he had issues. Most popular for balanced spacers seems to be nature scenes from home planets. Makes you feel less disconnected." "I'll keep it in mind," Fisher said, snapping his shorts in place. "Say, been meaning to ask you about the ship's name. I would have looked it up myself, but --" "But you've been busy. The name is no great mystery. Once upon a time there was an African district named Karamojo, and more importantly, a so-called great white hunter from the late colonial period who adopted the name. Walter D. M. 'Karamojo' Bell hunted elephants, killed hundreds of them, each with a single shot on most occasions. He was a good hunter, from Papa's era, and the name seemed to fit. Done?" "Done," he said, slinging his gloves over his shoulder like Fang carried hers. "Thanks for telling me about the name. And I'll think about the decor when I get the chance. What does your cabin look like?" "If you box well enough," Fang said, walking out of his room, "maybe you'll find out for yourself." # "Footwork," Fang grunted at Fisher through her mouthpiece as she hit him in the face again. It felt good to her, as it usually did, to punch. "If you just stand there, I’m going to tag you at will." He lunged, swinging a wide, careless arc that she ducked underneath. She hit him with an uppercut to his unprotected chin. "You have weight on me." She jabbed. "But it means nothing." A combination next, a jab and a hook. "You need practice until the moves are so automatic they are instinctual. Build some muscle memory." He swung. She ducked. "Think of it as a dance." He was doing much better than she had expected. His metabolism was set at a high activity level, so he was in good shape, although still not what she would call fighting shape. But he had shown some capability with the heavy bagbeast, crazy bagbeast, and speed bagbeast, and hadn't cracked a smile shadow boxing. And now here they were, sparring, on the first day. Fisher was giving her punches, a few anyway, and taking them as well. Pleased, she gave him a small smile around her mouthpiece that probably looked ghoulish. He appeared to be distracted by that, so she popped him in the face. "Concentrate," she said, stepping back to egg him forward. She reminded herself to take her time, get a workout, carry the poor exobiologist a few more rounds so he would not be too discouraged. "I am!" He stepped forward to her left and kept his legs bent this time. "This...is...hard." "Good." She circled to her right, ready to bob under another wild swing, but Fisher was recovering his breath and not charging wildly any more. The bell rang and Fisher collapsed, panting around his mouthpiece, to the blue canvas of the regulation spring-loaded floor. Fang spat out her mouthpiece and lifted the straw of her water bottle, held between her gloves like a crucible, to her lips. It was a fine sensation. Nothing like cool water when hot. Simple pleasures made life. Exercise. Satiating a thirst. Winning. She finished drinking and offered the bottle to Fisher. After a moment, he said, "In a minute." She said, "You're doing wonderfully, Sam. Really. How about two more rounds?" "I can do two more rounds," he said without looking up. "Good. I like a man with endurance." Fisher looked up at her, small curls plastered to his forehead, sweat staining his underarms. He smelled musky, and not at all bad. "What are you doing with me here?" "Boxing," she said. "I mean," and one eyebrow rose, "you’re flirting with me, right?" Of course she was, but he shouldn't come right out and say it. Then it stopped being flirting and became negotiation. Fisher lacked subtlety. But Papa never shirked the direct approach, and encouraged directness in her, so she nodded. "Its been a long time since my last lover. You are my only romantic prospect for this very long trip, Sam, and I prefer human flesh in bed. I figure no point waiting. Anything wrong with that?" "No. It’s just, this feels rather forced to me." He bent his neck back as far as his headgear would allow, not looking at her. "Look, Lena, in the past I've had problems with -- I mean -- we might not...Mmm." She let him sweat. He was cute. "Let’s box," he finally said, "And you’ll see what kind of endurance I have." They boxed. Fang carried Fisher. Clearly he had gone to the trouble of locating and downloading some boxing pointers; Fisher was a quick study and was trying to please her despite his reluctance to leave his cabin. He was getting tired, but better as well. At the start, when he had energy, he had spent it unwisely. Now, without that energy and gaining practical familiarity with the skills, he started thinking. A smart boxer was a good boxer. All the great champions had been smart, extending their careers over their younger, faster competitors by thinking. The stupid boxers just didn't win, even with superior bodmods in divisions that allowed them. Fang bit down hard on her mouthpiece when she had the thought that boxing, which had gone through its dry spells, might not even exist when they returned to Earth. It could become another forgotten sport destroyed by the culture's short attention span. She blinked the thought away. Somewhere in the human colonies it would survive, if not on Earth in a retrospective movement. Diaspora not only protected the human species from extinction, it helped protect their cultures as well. Somewhere boxing would survive. Suddenly Fang realized something was wrong. She had gone on autopilot, letting her body move without her brain. She was being a stupid boxer, and Fisher was not stupid. She jerked back, ducking simultaneously, backpedaling furiously to keep her feet under herself to avoid an ignominious dump onto her butt. Fisher’s roundhouse missed her face by scant centimeters. Her cheek cooled with the wind from his punch evaporating her sweat. Fisher barked with the effort in the swing as he tumbled over his right shoulder and down to the canvas in a tangle at her boots. He lay there like washed-up seaweed. "Sam?" she mumbled around her mouthpiece. She spit it out. "Sam? You okay?" Fisher wheezed, and didn't move. "Is that two rounds yet?" Fang laughed. A long, low belly laugh that sprang up honestly from deep inside. A knot loosened that she had held within her since the beginning of the voyage. This trip was going to be fine. Throwing away the present for the far future hadn't been a total mistake. She had been right to give up the colony hops delivering swamp cattle for the chance of a real challenge. With that laugh she fully accepted and engaged her current course. Fisher pushed up to his elbows, but just turned himself over. From his back he looked up at her, with the smile of someone being infected by a laugh. He pursed his lips and his mouthpiece rose halfway out, then slipped to the side of his face, trailing saliva, as if were crawling out of his mouth. Fang laughed harder, tears streaming down her face. Fisher started laughing as well, weakly at first, then with some enthusiasm. It pleased her. He had been so, well, serious so far. She said finally, "No, only one round." "Damn," he said, smiling. Now that he had that warm sparkle in his eyes, he was just so cute. Be bold, she thought. Show no fear. Before Fang could stop herself, she said, "Come back to my cabin and shower. Then we will begin the last round." # Fisher followed Fang back to her cabin. Sweat plastered her pants against her tight butt. He tried to ignore the instincts evolution had placed within him, keep some measure of control, but he realized that he was still mesmerized. Too tired, he supposed. What he liked best about her, he decided, was the way she strode so confidently, not looking back, knowing that he would follow. She was certain. He had seen that certainty in her while she boxed. Competent grace. It pleased him, intellectually at first; she was going to be a great aid in the upcoming dragon hunt. She would be a diamond under pressure. She would do the right thing at the right time. Then, when he had been on the floor and she had been laughing, there had been no malice there. Just a simple joy, the emotional reason for living he sometimes forgot. Stearn came walking down the corridor. "Captain," he said as he approached. Fang nodded curtly, but didn't break stride. "Hey, Fish," Stearn said, and winked at Fisher as soon as he had passed Fang. Fisher didn't care, and the not caring pleased him, too. The Jack and what he thought were simply not important. They drew near Fang's cabin. Fisher surreptitiously sniffed his armpits. As bad as he thought -- there was another bodmod he should find the time for. He hoped that she had been serious about showering first. Fang stopped abruptly at her cabin door, but didn't open it. She turned to face him instead, hands clasped in front of her waist, head down, looking at his chest. Shyness now replaced confidence. "Sam, I hadn't planned to do this so quickly." He nodded, took her hands lightly in his. "My cabin," she said, "It is a retreat from all my responsibility on the ship. It reflects a side of me I don't show often and am not completely comfortable showing others. I am being very serious now. Can I trust you?" "Yes," he said, squeezing her hands. He was a little worried that he was committing to something he didn't understand but caught up in the moment and, like a man in the last stages of the chase, capable of saying anything. And worse, believing it. Even knowing this, he could not help himself from again saying, "Yes." She smiled, licked her lips coyly, and squeezed his hands back. "Then welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly." She dropped his hands, opened the door, and went in. He remembered what she had said about decorating quarters, and a whole new crop of worries sprang up, fertilized by her spider comment. If her room were another living spider web like the freefall gym, only maybe filled with billions of real spiders, or giant spiders, or something else, something worse that Biolathe had patented.... Fisher shook away the images, took a deep breath, and followed. Inside, he tried not to laugh. She had been so serious outside, and he had been more afraid than he realized. Relief made him grin, and he hoped she would interpret the expression as anticipation of what was to come. Fang's cabin was soft and pink, timelessly girlish. Pretty. A king-size bed filled one side of the large chamber, a real waterbed not at all alive, covered in pink satin sheets and littered with stuffed animals, all sea life: plush sharks, crabs, dolphins, sea horses, starfish, and the like. French doors opening on a placid ocean, presumably virtual, dominated the opposite side of the room. The doors were open and a warm breeze carried a beach smell. A vanity with an half-shell mirror sat against the far wall, with jewelry, brushes, and a conch shell sitting on the mahogany top. Plush carpeting -- no ruglings -- swathed the floor with pastel swirls of coral pink and eggshell blue. The only incongruous element was a pale wooden desk in the corner, faced by a simple chair of the same wood, that was covered with scrolls -- charts, perhaps -- but no computer console or picture tank; an oasis of old-fashioned work amidst old-fashioned luxury. The pink waterbed, warmth, and the gentle susurration of waves spelled 'womb' to Fisher. "I fear the bathroom is similar," Fang said nervously, her arms twisting down and then stripping off her soaked T-shirt in a single fluid motion. "I can hardly wait," Fisher said honestly, stripping off his own smelly shirt. Fang smiled. Fisher smiled back. Fang stripped in an instant and climbed onto the bed. Bobbing up and down, she said, "I am afraid I chose the bed with sleeping in mind. It may be difficult to --" "The problem isn't insurmountable." # Devereaux inspected the observatory packages one last time. The high-resolution STJ cameras, which recorded photon arrivals and energies from X-rays through the infrared, showed intermittent sawtooth bias patterns. They seemed fine now, but would they go bad again once in the fields along the ship's axis? Only one way to find out. Devereaux stepped away from the observatory module and said, "Let’s do it, Stearn." "You can call me Phil, if you want." Stearn grabbed the module with a magnetic lift and manhandled it into the airlock, bumping the edge. "Careful," called Devereaux. "Okay, I'll be careful, but isn't this thing redundant? We know what’s there, right?" "Sort of, but the details could matter to us. Quite a lot." "It’s just one star, eating another star. Every few weeks its mouth gets full and it swallows a little fast, right? When it swallows fast, it burns hot. When it swallows slowly, it isn’t so hot. I read the encyclopedia articles. You don’t have to be a genius." Stearn was going make himself an annoying boy on this trip, Devereaux thought. "The behavior of a dwarf nova isn't predictable very long in advance. The thermal disk instability that brings on the outbursts is tied to the accretion rate, which depends on the secondary donating the mass. That secondary has a magnetic field that interacts with the disk, and the whole thing is a mess of feedback loops, some of which behave chaotically. The outburst -- " He cut her off. "Right. How fast it swallows. Like I said. You don’t need a genius vocabulary either. And those are cheap to buy anyway." Stearn finished getting the observatory inside and sealed the airlock. "We get caught in a dwarf nova outburst close to the disk photosphere, and our nano-skin cannot process the energy fast enough well, we'll cook. That’s bad. Got it?" "Bad. Got it. But can’t we just monitor the transfer rate while we’re there?" "Of course we will, but these data won’t hurt, will they?" Stearn flapped his wings at her and turned his attention to the magnetic grapple that would insert the observatory into the central axis between the singularities. "Don’t these systems go nova and super nova, too?" "Not dwarf novae, at least not in general. Their mass transfer rate isn’t high enough. Eventually other types of novae may occur. A classical nova will occur if a non-burning hydrogen mass builds on the white dwarf and fusion ignites all at once when it reaches its critical temperature, but that's a hundred thousand year timescale for SS Cygni. A supernova will occur if the white dwarf mass hits 1.44 solar masses, Chandrasekhar’s limit, when degenerate electron pressure can’t resist the self-gravity, and a runaway collapse follows. If that happens, the disk and everything in it will get smeared all over this part of the galaxy. But don't worry about it. The SS Cygni primary is far from 1.44 solar masses, and the accretion is usually matched by the winds and novae mass loss. No supernova for you this trip." "It would be a fantastic thing to see though," Stearn said, chewing on his long forked tongue as he watched the insertion. "But I know another supernova I prefer. Ever cross wire your pleasure center to a popcorn bag? That’s a real blast!" "You’re hopeless, Stearn." "Not at all. I know the ship well. I'm good at my job. And I enjoy myself more than anyone else on this crazy trip. Anything wrong with that?" "No. I suppose not." She started thinking about Phil Stearn. He came across as a complete screw-up, but Biolathe was a smart company, and its brain would never put an incompetent on a ship like this, let alone hire one in the first place. So what was with Stearn? There had to be something deeper below his shallow surface. Didn't there? "So what tweaks you? Why you throw away the present? Lover toss you aside for a better drug? Lose a bet with another stuck-up scientist?" "Nothing like that." She might as well tell him. It was not a secret. "I liked the puzzle." "You liked the puzzle? You’re more flighty than me." He tilted his head and flapped to emphasize his point. "I mean, we've discovered a plethora of alien species in all sorts of environments, but no sentient races like ours. These star dragons could be it, or at least evidence for one. I mean, it's such an odd place to find anything alive. Maybe it didn't happen all by itself." "So?" "Well I think that’s a puzzle of our age, whether or not anything else is thinking out there. Not working on it and just enjoying the fruits of our technology, sponging off Earth, that’s the mental equivalent of masturbation." "And what’s wrong with that? I’m rather fond of it myself." Why was she even arguing with him? He was just as shallow as he seemed. "Nothing is wrong with it, I suppose, in moderation. But don't you believe there are still important things for humans to do? Things that could matter, someday?" Stearn shrugged. "I do have another motive for taking fast, high-gamma voyages. I intend to be there, at the end." "The end?" "Or at least as long as I can go riding these relativistic time machines into the future. See what happens in the end. See who is still around, what they’re doing, and what they’ve figured out about the nature of existence." Stearn hit pause on the observatory insertion and stared at her. She continued. "These long, fast trips help. I’d go to another galaxy if I could. Someday I probably will. But I’ll find a way to be there, at the end, this body or another, until my protons decay -- if I’m still even made of baryonic matter at that point -- and I’ll understand the big why." "That," he said, "is the biggest fucking masturbation fantasy I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard some big ones. Heck, I’ve carried out some big ones." "Fine. You don’t understand. Just do your job, and help me do mine." Stearn turned back to the observatory and finished overseeing its insertion and alignment. "I understand better than you think. We have a lot in common." "Unlikely." "I can prove it." "How?" "In my hedonistic searches, scouring Earth and its colonies, I have experienced things you cannot dream of, mental states most profoundly satisfying, physical states most exhilarating. Rest assured that I pursue my goals with passion." Devereaux smirked at him, bragging like a boy. She lowered her gaze into what she thought would convey skepticism, but didn't tell him to stop. Stearn held up a finger before his face and with wide eyes said, "In my cabin, I have the means of achieving the most engaging intellectual pleasure in the known universe." "What is it?" Stearn lowered his finger and turned and walked away from her. "I suppose you’ll have to drop by sometime if you want to find out." "Unlikely," she said, but already as he walked away the puzzle of Stearn was working in her mind and she was afraid that she would wind up accepting his invitation/dare. She could not stand to let a puzzle go unsolved, even one so trivial as Stearn. # The sound of ruffling paper and tiny scratches woke Fisher. Lying on Lena Fang's bed, he propped his head up with his arm so he could better watch her at work. She bent over the desk in a position that would cause his lower back to throb if he were to assume it regularly. Her face hovered centimeters from the surface of an unrolled paper, and her arms and legs extruded from her red silk robe like the multiply-articulated legs of a graceful arthropod. Waves of concentration emanated from her with a palpable force and he became exhausted watching her. He rolled onto his back. He studied the aquamarine and turquoise sea mosaic on her ceiling -- an octopus's tentacle reminded him of the dragon's twisted body -- while he listened to the scratching of her pencil. His unceasing internal voice that urged him to rise and resume his own work was present, but nearly as quiet as the pencil. He smiled. His first weeks aboard the Karamojo had smeared into a pleasant blur. He was working as hard as ever, but for the first time in many years, hints of contentment emerged in quiet moments while not at work. He continued to work every day on developing his hypotheses about the star dragon, on reliable theories of its energy budget and metabolism, locomotion and its limits, reproduction and selection pressures, and other areas. He also worked out every day. He skipped rope to help his footwork and coordination, punched the bagbeasts, and sparred with Fang. He managed to keep up with her, mostly, and the residual muscle aches his system failed to purge pleased him, a memento of his advancement in this strange new phase of his life. And then there were moments of no work, like this one. He had even permitted his hormonal levels, normally suppressed while on a big project, to creep back up to those of a seventeen-year-old boy. "Why are you smiling?" Fang suddenly asked. He remained on his back, turning only his head to regard her. Why was he smiling? Why not? But that was trite, and he applied some of his much promoted brain power to the question, trying to peer past the shimmering veil of contentment she had engendered in him. Why was he content? Because Fang was beautiful and tough and a captain he could count on. Because he had a quest to occupy his mind and love (maybe!) to fill his heart. Because of the way she bent over the table and the way the dragon swirled around a magnetic field line. Because the equation of his life balanced. Because a hundred 'becauses' filtered into his consciousness with her single question of why. Because there were a hundred more 'whys' to be asked, and he was filled with the certainty that the answers would fall to him as easily given an infinite future. Because everything was perfect for once. "Why not?" he finally answered, resisting the urge to name his happiness, to over explain it, and thus in capturing the elusive thing to kill it. Fang smiled back at him before resuming her work. Everything was so perfect that Fisher finally asked himself a question better left unasked: what was going to ruin it? # On the twenty-third day since launch, ship's time, Henderson was watching the micromachines construct the tiny dormitory inside the terrarium when his signal chimed through his music. He waved down Beetleburt 2.1.6's Theme for the Common Machine and said, "Yes, Papa?" "It's time for Fisher's first show, the 'dragon meeting' as he's calling it. He wants everyone there." "Oh, right," Henderson replied, rising from his chairbeast. This promised to be a dreary, tiresome affair, but he supposed there'd be some duties on this little jaunt. It seemed unfair to him to have to work hard in addition to the sacrifice this trip already represented. Still, he supposed the time requested was not burdensome, and he might even contribute some ideas if it wasn't too boring. He would have felt better about it Fisher had come around to consult him more, but after their initial discussion they had not talked of the star dragon again. Well, this was the time for more discussion, was it not? The construction of his pet project was fully automated at this stage and would proceed well without his supervision. Hmm, he thought, Sylvia would be there. He paused in the yawning orifice leading to the biological laboratory, turned, and went back inside. He checked his face in a mirror, slicking down his eyebrows with a wetted fingertip, donned his scaled jacket, and poured himself a glass of wine. No telling how long Fisher might drone on. Henderson was the last to arrive at the conference room, fashionably late. Everyone else, arrayed haphazardly around the polished cherrywood tabletree, glanced at him. He paused in the entryway to flash them a perfect smile. The remaining empty chairbeast unfortunately was not next to Sylvia, but at least it was across from her. Too bad she looked as if she'd just rushed in from a nap without freshening up. "Now that we're finally all here," Fisher began. "The Biolathe corporate brain provided us with a mission prospectus, with prioritized goals and guidelines for reaching those goals. Given the scanty information available, it was understood that much additional planning would have to be done en route and at SS Cygni as data became available. I trust that everyone has downloaded the Biolathe document." Henderson had, although he hadn't done more than skim the abstract. Aside from the section on biological speculation, it had been utterly boring. At least he was paying attention now, however, which was the polite thing to do. He sipped his wine. The heathen Stearn was building a pyramid from drug ampoules filled with some sparkly amber liquid. Fisher and Fang were letting it slide, and Henderson would not permit himself to notice such behavior. "I consider some of the ideas very good," Fisher continued, "I don’t consider all the ideas so good. It isn't surprising given the relatively short time the brain had to assemble the document, coupled with our great ignorance. First, we should see if we can agree on our prioritized goals." Fisher stood up and activated his right hand’s computer interface. Words appeared on the pads on the tabletree in front of everyone: PHYSICAL GOALS 1. Return Living Specimen to Earth. 2. Return Dead Specimen to Earth. 3. Return Specimen Samples to Earth. 4. Return Specimen Data to Earth. "This appears self-evident," Fang said. "Of course it does, but there are underlying assumptions regarding the prioritization that I’d like to question. But these are all questions of 'what,' rather than the more important goals of 'why.' Let me address this by writing down some the scientific goals." Henderson swirled his wine around in its glass before looking at the next set: SCIENTIFIC GOALS 1. Physics of Specimen -- Biological fusion? How does it survive in the hot disk? 2. Origin of Specimen -- natural or artificial? 3. Purpose of Specimen -- natural or ??? "That last one was not in the prospectus, but I think it is important," Fisher said. "What do you mean by ‘Purpose?’" Devereaux asked. "Based on the previous goal, it’s obvious," said Henderson, trying to catch her eye. He had given his brief conversation with Fisher some idle thought and didn't mind showing off for the available female. "If the dragon isn't of a natural origin, but of artificial, it was created. Created for a purpose." Fang said, "I will agree that determining the dragon origin is important. This must be a question of how to achieve self-organization in an extreme high-energy environment. Does anyone here truly think that someone, perhaps the infamous little gray men, made star dragons and put them in SS Cygni?" "It is hard to believe that we would not have already discovered physical artifacts of alien intelligence before these star dragons if such exists locally in the Milky Way," Devereaux said. "Not at all," Henderson said, engaging her. "Biological systems are self-renewing, and can evolve in response to cataclysm -- and this is a cataclysmic variable, after all. A biological remnant is more durable than a physical remnant." "What I’m getting at," said Fisher, thumping a fist into his palm several times, "is that if someone showed up and kidnapped one of our drone ships, just out of curiosity mind you, we would probably consider it an act of aggression, if not outright war." "You make an interesting point," said Devereaux, squinting at Fisher and wrinkling her face in a disagreeable way. "After all, the official Biolathe agenda is to use these dragons, or at least biology based on the dragons, to design machines for stellar engineering. If they are an alien construction team, and we show up and disrupt their production schedule, then someone might get upset." "Someone," chimed in Stearn, grinning, "Or something." "I cannot believe we are starting with this remote possibility," Fang said. "This dragon is an animal that happens to live in an exotic environment. An animal for us to hunt and use, if we can catch it. That's a fundamental rule of nature." Her face remained passive, but Fang's knuckles whitened where she gripped the edge of the tabletree. "You're probably correct, Captain," Henderson said, trying to ingratiate himself with Fang. She would evaluate him, after all, for bonuses. "We can test the notion that it is simply, as you put it, an animal that lives in an exotic environment. As I was telling Dr. Fisher earlier, evidence for an ecosystem would support a natural origin for the star dragon. Certainly transitional forms are necessary in an evolutionary scenario and would lead to the exploitation of a variety of niches." "I agree," Fisher said, holding his palm out toward Henderson. "But only to a point. I know of two places where that does not hold strictly true, but only in a locality. One is an island on Terenga where there is a creature called Grizzle's Omnivore, sort of a superpredator, which has eaten everything else, and I mean everything. Got poor old Grizzle, too, before they'd figured out he wasn't digestible and gave them all the runs. The current breed on the island soak up the sun during the day in perfect harmony. By night they prey on each other in loose packs." "Yes, I've heard of those," Henderson said, "but surely they’re dying out. Solar energy would not be a sufficient input to keep them going, would it?" "You’d think that, but they have a truly ingenious -- " "Back to the subject at hand," Fang said, sitting back on her chairbeast and crossing her arms. She looked cool, perfect, and dangerous in her crisp white uniform. Henderson had kept tabs on Fisher and Fang, and knew they were already sleeping together. He considered Fisher a brave man to bed the captain. She continued, "If you think this is such an issue, Sam, how do you propose to modify our approach?" "As I said at the outset, there are some very good ideas in the prospectus. I agree that the dragon appears to use electromagnetic fields to move through the disk, and I expect to have a working model of those fields before we arrive. That gives us an advantage. Just as a pinched magnetic field like Earth’s magnetosphere can trap an electron, forcing it to spiral back and forth until dumped down into the aurora, we can use the Karamojo’s field to trap a dragon. Stearn, what do you think about the plasma pen Biolathe proposed?" Stearn’s wings perked up as he looked up from transforming his amber pyramid into some kind of fractal pattern to which Devereaux, sitting next to him, was paying too much attention. The Jack said, "Geometry is a little problematic, but I think we can do it. Can’t we Papa?" "We can rig a good strong cage," said Papa. "But what of the reprioritization you spoke of," Fang persisted. "Right," Fisher said, holding up a finger. "Let’s make data gathering first priority, and let’s get it gathered before we move on to any other goals. It can make a difference." Henderson said, "Yes, we do a detailed analysis of the system, look for evidence for an ecosystem. Upon finding it, we proceed to procure specimens of all the niches. If there is no ecosystem, we should have a fall-back plan, and not the one currently outlined." "And what is wrong with the Biolathe plan?" Fang wanted to know. "You don’t know what’s wrong with nuclear 'depth charges'?" Sylvia asked, an attractive throaty indignation in her voice. "If we cannot coerce a dragon into Papa’s cage voluntarily, such a shock wave will likely be the safest course to neutralize one from a distance," Fang said. "We cannot fly into the disk. We will be fishermen with no knowledge of lures in a very big sea." Stearn asked, "Those bomb buggers really affect the disk? I mean, it's a giant disk of fire! Hmm, okay, I can figure it out. Plasma temperature in outer disk is like the solar photosphere right?" "Yes, the plasma in the outer disk in quiescence is like that in the sun's photosphere, several thousand degrees Kelvin, not all that hot and not all that dense," Devereaux offered. "For the nuclears we get temperatures of tens of millions of Kelvins and an energy density many orders of magnitude higher. They'll make a splash all right. Hundreds of kilometers at least." "Still seems to me like a star or an accretion disk ought to swallow man-made bombs without a burp," Stearn said, ruffling his feathers. "Globally yes, locally, no," said Devereaux. "Yes, well," Fisher said, "I suggest we employ heroic measures to secure a live specimen before resorting to such a thing." "Yes, heroic measures," Fang said, apparently mollified. "In my opinion, bombing is the practical approach. A few dead dragons are worth a live one, are they not? A live one will probably be a hundred times more difficult to capture, and would perhaps require additional heroic measures to keep alive for the trip home. We should maximize our chances for success, and minimize our risks. Yes?" Opposite Fang, Fisher frowned back. Trouble in paradise? "Kill one of those magnificent creatures, just because it would be easier? We're not doing this, traveling two hundred and fifty light years, because it is practical. We're going to do this right. We should invest some effort in developing methods of luring a dragon to us. Agreed?" Fang stared at Fisher, finally saying, "Agreed." The word came out quickly, like a fencing thrust. Then Fisher let the discussion devolve into the details. Apparently this first meeting was supposed to be more of a free-form brainstorming, a chance to see where everyone stood in terms of their philosophical approach to what Biolathe had suggested. Henderson didn't really see the point. Fisher and Fang were the players here, and before this meeting he had thought they were getting along famously. As Henderson watched the dichotomy of Fisher's animated hands versus Fang's unreadable glare, he became concerned about the fortunes of the mission. But then there came an even worse omen as the meeting broke up and Devereaux left with Stearn. What could she possibly see in him? The ship, a fragment detached from the earth, went on lonely and swift like a small planet. -- Joseph Conrad He peers into every part of the Karamojo, listens to the breath of the air scrubbers along every corridor, feels the weight and temperature of every creature on the ship. It is more than this as well. He sings the harmony produced by the electromagnetic field, the flywheels, and the singularity pair when all are in alignment and pointed like an arrow toward the dwarf nova system SS Cygni. The metallorganics that fuse DNA with semiconductor and comprise his brain have few nerves of their own. This harmonic tone is his good, for he is the mission. He is the ship. He is a world. He is Papa. Or rather Papa is the self-aware personality of the ship’s brain, designed to interact more effectively with the human crew. Papa’s hind brain records all that transpires aboard, adjusts the song that is flight under wormdrive, and for it there is no time except in the derivatives in the differential equations governing its feedback control systems. Papa himself thinks in the fuzzy, linear way of humans, with a specific location and point of view, and in terms of personal relationships. He has memory, both ones false, he knows, of a shadowy lifetime in the Twentieth century, more facts than sensory detail, such as running with the bulls at Pamplona and the plane crashes in Africa; and ones real, as a starship captained by Fang, of hauling faux-bulls and more to a tiny world nestled next to the dim ember of Barnard’s star. He has a sense of movement into the future that the hind brain lacks. To the ship he provides the purpose of the mission, the creativity to enhance self-preservation. In these first weeks of his new life, the SS Cygni mission, Papa walks the corridors of himself, a ghost capable of movement through walls and transportation anywhere shipboard at lightspeed. He learns the secrets of the people on board, and fights between his Hemingway-derived personality which ever judges those around himself and finds them wanting, and the programmed overrides preventing him from actions suggested by his judgment that make him a good tool. Papa lurks in the console of Axelrod Henderson. Henderson is more than competent and the biosystems operate at near optimum levels, guided by a trained human eye that notices subtle discoloration and patterns before reaching the conservative sigma levels required for action by his own algorithms. Henderson spends long hours subtly redesigning his own body and face, led by statistics governing mate selection. He runs additional models to determine the fraction of the human population carrying his genes upon his return; apparently Henderson has banked his sperm and licensed extensive cloning rights. What makes the faux-human part of Papa fume is the elaborate plan that Henderson will finance with the windfall from this very mission. Henderson develops his plan with all the attention to detail of any gourmet pornographic implant: the delivery of a virus carrying his own genes that will simultaneously impregnate every woman on Earth -- or at least some suitable and less-policed starter planet in the colonies. Henderson polishes computer-generated models of this scenario every night. He writes: It is pretentious to rise above what flesh this universe has wrought. What folly it is to think of a higher purpose, and to think that purpose any more than what we have instilled in every fiber of our being already. I recognize what I am, and I will fulfill my purpose.... Papa wants to grow a muscle-bound mobile, shout, "Lousy jerk, we'll knock your mucking block off!" and pugilistically educate the snooty underhanded biosystems technician into proper citizenship. He isn't permitted. But it would be a fine thing to end a bad business before it has begun. He is also not permitted to tell anyone else of this discovery, even if it ever appears that Henderson has formulated a way to carry out his plan. Damn privacy rights are coded right into him. Papa takes some consolation in the fact that the women on board the Karamojo don't share Henderson’s bed, although he does worry that despite their hormonal implants they will, impossibly, become pregnant. Almost as shocking to Papa is the liaison Stearn and Devereaux have formed. This lush, chocolate-brown beauty -- not his type, but rich and womanly nonetheless -- has shacked up with the Jack who is more boy than man. Many times over these weeks as the ghost slips through the door into Stearn’s quarters, which now wears the appearance of a traditional English library, he discovers the pair of them embroiled in ancient board games. First chess, clothes vanishing with each capture, later go, and more clothes removed as stones are surrounded. From Stearn’s downloads from the ship’s library, Papa knows that Shogi and Chun Chi will follow. Devereaux must know what Stearn is doing, but they play until Devereaux is winning most of the games and both appear to desire new challenges: Devereaux wants new games to conquer, while Stearn wants to see how far he can push Devereaux. Papa turns around and leaves when he sees the perversity develop. Some things are better left unwatched, and not spoken of. He suspects it is merely the morals of his age programmed into his psyche, but sexuality really has evolved past his limits. Otherwise the Jack does his job competently, monitoring the ship, and Devereaux spends admirable hours reducing data as the Karamojo approaches the extreme gammas that will boost the SS Cygni flux and permit the acquisition of superior data. Devereaux hopes to identify spectroscopic signatures of star dragon -- their emerald hue is a shifting laser transition of unknown origin and unknown purpose -- that may allow their numbers and locations to be determined, at least statistically. The exobiologist Fisher works even harder than Devereaux, devoting more hours to his dragon models. Papa has mixed feelings about his effort. Fisher spends every waking moment with his magnetohydrodynamic dragon circulation code, touring the ship and asking endless questions about every minute operational detail...or with Fang. He asks Henderson to grow him an electrostim unit to aid his muscle development so as to better his boxing performance and minimize the thrashings Fang administers. He designs stimulated boxing routines to practice, but his opponent isn't Fang, but a strange female human/dragon amalgamation, with sinuous motions reminiscent of an electron spiraling about a magnetic field line. Like Henderson, Fisher keeps a journal. In it he writes: Never have I been happier. The liberation of knowing the world is gone, and only love and discovery remain, is addictive. Fang is demanding of my time and takes as much as I permit, yet within her exists a hidden vulnerability, almost an alien lifeform, that has been a joy to discover. In some sense I have only months here on the ship, feeding on anticipation as the SS Cygni primary feeds on its disk, but it feels as if eternity vanishes before me, and now is forever. I can obsess over this amazing woman and our mission, and for once in my life my obsession will not drive away a lover, but, in fact, draw us closer and make of her a confidant. I can be myself, and only strengthen our bond. It is love, finally. Now if only she would bend a little my way on strategy, it would be perfect love. I am sure I can convince her my approach is best. I know I'm right. I've thought of a way to hook it, using grappling fields on our remote tugs. The dragon's flight pattern suggests an azimuthal field variation that.... Papa usually does no more than skim the long technical passages -- most, like this one that follows, over five thousand words long and annotated with figures and models -- in search of those about the captain. Papa has loved Biolathe Captain Lena Fang across the centuries. She is his daughter, and more. Just as he cannot grow a mobile and pummel Henderson, he cannot grow a mobile and love Fang as he would. More code. He is the half-man Jake Barnes to her Brett, ironically repeating the half-relationship from his first novel. All he can do is rage, worry, rail, suffer, and, at her request, counsel. The biggest plus to his current incarnation is that he does not have to watch his weight, a task that haunts his faux-human memories. He now accompanies Lena Fang through the ages, and they seem as Fisher’s eternity, even though all the computer scientists assure him that his personality perceives time at the same rate as a real human mind. Still, all that transpires shipboard is his to visit, all time stopped everywhere, all places available for him to toy with, to travel among, but he follows a linear track in space and time as best as he is able to not jar his human personality. It is only through the greatest effort of will (and that is also false for it is algorithm and not will at all) that he is able to perceive all events not simultaneously in the present. Thankfully, he does not dwell overmuch on the facts of his own existence because he isn't permitted to. He cannot become chronically depressed or suicidal. He is not Hemingway. He is a human-pattern program with a limited degree of self-awareness. When Papa, invisible, walks into Fang's cabin, and she and Fisher have been making love after a sweaty bout in the ring, he does not leave. He staggers, as if he had legs that could be weakened by jealousy, then flares, as if he had a real personality that could be incited to active rage and the deep depression of the abyss that could pull the trigger of a shotgun pointed at his brains. He can do nothing but watch until the physical act denied to him runs to completion. What he usually thinks is this: why did they not provide me with the capability to smell? He has olfactory sensors throughout the ship, but they are keyed to certain hazardous materials only, and he believes he misses terribly that sweet, musky odor of a delicious woman in heat. So he listens to Fang's cry and watches her lean muscles clench around Fisher’s head and longs for something he is not permitted. Later, after Fisher has left and before Fang has donned her uniform and joined her fighting chair on the bridge of the Karamojo, Papa gives Fang his ear as he has done so many times. "I’ve let him in here," she says, tapping her chest, "let him see me not as a captain, but as a woman." "You need a human presence, daughter, a human touch, to remind you of your soul," he assures her. He wants to say that all she needs is her Papa. He never does. "I want more," she says. "I want someone to understand, someone not guaranteed to accept." Her words sting. He says nothing, granting supportive listening, obeying his restrictions. "I want to tell him secrets that only you and I know." "What are you afraid of, daughter?" he says, hating the program she has unwittingly engaged, forcing him into playing the role of intuition, of conscience, of psychiatrist. "Rejection, of course. The worst would be dismissal, to be ignored because I was not important. What have I done but haul cattle? He’s been on the edge, daring the unknown, swallowed by inhuman monsters floating in the deep, deep seas of gas giants. He's looked into the abyss." "You, too, have faced the abyss," he reminds her. She has shared the pivotal events of her life with Papa, and his programming exploits this knowledge. "I was only eight." Fang licks her lips unconsciously. The same lips, with their funny shape that her grandfather ironically had described as bat-shaped, and hence lucky. "I would rather not talk of it now." Fang nibbles at her lower lip. Stymied, Papa must change tactics. "Was that when you decided to leave your home world for the stars?" Papa curses inwardly at his banal, leading question. He would show empathy rather than continue probing, but the program is triggered. "Is that when you decided such a thing would never happen to you again?" "It will not," Fang says, lips pressed into a thin, sharp line, the lucky bat-shaped curves flattened. "I am a starship captain, and that means something. I am responsible. Now and forever." There is truth in what she says. He is Papa and he is the ship, now the Karamojo. He is the ship’s breath, the ship’s power, the ship’s mind. But Fang can overrule him at him any time on all except for issues of immediate safety. Papa tells Fang, on this occasion as he has many times, "Now and forever, you are in control. You are responsible. You will not fail." After she has fallen asleep, another state denied him, the ghost that is Papa leaves to stalk the same endless corridors again. A mind does not need to sleep to dream. # Fisher awakened early, too hot to sleep comfortably in Lena's quarters, as usual, despite the fact that he had altered his metabolism to more closely match hers. Fisher lay awake spread-eagled in the darkness staring at the invisible mosaic on the ceiling, thinking about new approaches to take to study the star dragon. Unstructured time, he had come to appreciate recently, was a good way to solve problems. He didn't resent his sleeplessness. So he was awake when Lena started gasping, then moaning. He was reaching out to her when she said, "No, Grandfather, no!" She jerked away at his touch and kicked the covers at him, breathing fast and shallow. Her big black eyes glinted faintly in the dim light. "It's all right," he said soothingly, "Just a nightmare. That's all." She gulped, swallowed, in the dark. "Yes," she said finally. "A nightmare." "Want to talk about it?" "No," she said too quickly. "But you can hold me." "Come here," he said, pulling her into the crook of his arm. She was warm, stifling even, against his sweaty skin. He held her close. He thought she would say something after a time, but she seemed content to huddle with him. He lifted his arm to cradle Lena's head, letting his fingers idly twist locks of her hair. Her hair was short and fine, and unwound nearly as swiftly as he wound it up. "Why don't you let your hair grow out?" he mused. "No," she said. "I mean, I like it short." Short, fair, all on the surface. In control. Nothing hidden or mysterious. Not very dragon-like at all. "I think it might be a good look for you. Why not try it?" "No!" She sat up from him. "I don't want to." "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were touchy about it." But he was irritated. Hair was such a small thing, a triviality, and she would not indulge him one iota. This made him begin to worry about the course developing in the dragon meetings. If Lena would not compromise with her hair, what were the chances she would compromise on more important issues? He shook the thought away. She was probably just being contrary because of her bad dream. Maybe he should find out about that. "Tell me about your nightmare, Lena." "The deep," she whispered. "Something coming up for me, a monster of some kind. It was a child's dream. It was nothing." "You mentioned your grandfather," he gently prodded. She was silent so long he wondered if she had heard him. Just before he was about to repeat his statement she said, "I don't remember. I'm awake now. Make it morning, Papa." And beyond the doors the sun began to rise over the ocean. Lena rose faster and was into the bathroom at once. Fisher lay back onto the soft bed and stared at the now blue mosaic. The octopus's tentacles twisted around the water, grasping nothing despite the visibility. He had tried. But they just weren't going to be that way it seemed. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Because he had hoped so, he hurt. # Fisher wished that the tabletree were not rooted to the floor so he could push it into Fang and perhaps shut her up, but she just went on and on. "...and maintaining our altitude above the disk without wormdrive, we’ll be expending our fuel supply. It isn't unlimited. We can replenish it only very slowly with the high temperatures and low densities above the disk. Adding to that, the time to next outburst will limit our visit duration. We simply must make all haste to secure a dragon once we reach SS Cygni." "And so?" Fisher prompted. "It is clear that using our missiles as soon as possible is the most effective means to secure a dragon, dead or alive," Fang stated unequivocally. "It is the best course." She was outrageous! Every week the dragon meeting had eventually worked around to Fang's persistent desire to fire her weapons. She was nothing more than a livestock hauler, a modern cowboy at best, a glorified button pusher at worst. She sat there, so smug in her perfect white uniform playing as if she were a military commander. This was science, not war. Give her a weapon arsenal that would be the envy of a small colony, and suddenly she was power mad: Fire the missiles! Fire the missiles! Why couldn't she be more like she was in her cabin? "That may not be necessary," Devereaux interjected. "Certainly we can spend a few days investigating, gathering data, before making that decision. I’ve been making progress determining dragon numbers and location, but the uncertainties are still large. The outburst timescale does vary, and we can adjust our arrival time to give us a long visit between outbursts." "We fire at a dragon as a last resort," Fisher said. "To fire immediately would be like...like a premature ejaculation!" "Please, can we keep the discussion out of the gutter?" Stearn asked. Everyone stopped and looked at the Jack. Devereaux smiled knowingly and Henderson scowled. Fisher, also unsmiling, turned back to Fang and met her icy gaze. "I apologize." "Sylvia," Fang asked. "Is it true that the SS Cygni disk is experiencing an increased mass transfer rate compared to historical norms?" "Yes, but we really need more data. The time dilation works both ways and -- " Fang continued. "The dwarf novae outbursts are more powerful and more frequent, aren’t they?" "It seems so, but -- " "So our timetable should be accelerated. I am merely proposing the most logical way of doing that. This is quite reasonable." Fang smiled and spread her hands apart, palms upturned. "We can always try to capture a live specimen afterwards, if it seems appropriate." Fisher shook his head. "I’ve almost got the beast's bioelectric field nailed. With modifications to the shuttles we ought to be able to herd a dragon right into the Karamojo. Surely we should go for that first." "You still have time to convince me," Fang said, eyebrows arched high, "I am the captain, and I will make the final decision. I am responsible for this ship, this mission, and I won’t take unnecessary risks." "How about this," Devereaux offered. "We send a prospector ahead. We have several on our manifest, and we can get some advance data, a few days worth at least. Then we can make an informed decision without spending the extra resources." Fang considered it and finally said, "That would be agreeable." Fisher nodded and said nothing. What he thought was this: Why must you be like this when you're playing Captain? Why must you have a trophy? I won’t have you killing my dragon. # Devereaux walked into the observation blister. There were no artificial lights, but her robed form cast a shadow up from the transparent diamond floor as she cleared the entranceway. The light came from the Doppler-boosted and blueshifted long-wavelength radiation in the Galactic plane toward SS Cygni, including blueshifted cosmic microwave background: a tight knot of points amidst a diffuse glow. Elsewhere through the diamond the sky showed pure jet black, the stars erased by their velocity, except for directly aft, above her head, where the sun was still visible, its X-ray corona redshifted to optical wavelengths and amplified by the shape and gain of the blister. Only their origin and their destination remained part of the visible universe. A few more weeks and they would collapse the singularity pair, then reignite them in reverse, and begin to decelerate. Earth was mere months in the past now, but already irreversibly half a millennia gone. This step felt right to her. It was time to start her march toward the end of time and see the marvels along the way. Devereaux loosened her robe, discarded it, and stretched out on the floor, her head in a bubble in the blister designed for just such viewing. The diamond felt cool against her smooth tummy and breasts. The universe rushed at her at essentially lightspeed, but it really didn't appear much more interesting than a tight knot of lights, a very bright star cluster. There was no sensation of speed. Finally bored, Devereaux asked Papa to project a console off the bubble so she could work on the data and maybe get some more reliable estimates on the dragon density. The disk was big, and finding a dragon would not be easy. If they flew close enough for the best resolution, still limited by diffraction to a few tenths of an arcsecond at optical wavelengths, they would only be able to see a small part of the disk. Flying higher with a larger field of view, dragons would blend into the turbulent plasma. She had to admit that given only a week to work with, assuming a single visit between outbursts, Fang's violent ideas made some sense. The shockwave from a nuclear explosion would not only stun dragons at some distance (she had to believe they were stunnable), but it would also clear away swaths from the rarefied disk leaving holes like pepperoni on pizza. She smiled and got down to work. With red and green vectors spiraling before her, models of dragon distributions through the disk based on spectral analyses of the green -- now blueshifted into the X-ray -- emission-line profile, she heard someone’s slippered feet padding along the hallway behind her. She dimmed her console. "Phil?" The footsteps stopped. After a minute came a voice. "Henderson." Devereaux considered grabbing her robe, but she was too relaxed where she was. "Mind if I join you, madam?" he asked. She said, "Not at all. The universe is big enough to share, but just barely at the moment." He kneeled onto the diamond and laid at her side. "Yes, I see. I’ve never been on a trip this fast. What’s our beta?" Beta was the fraction of light speed. "Very close to one. Gamma, the relativistic factor, is more useful in our case. I don’t know the exact number, but it is something over a thousand." Henderson let go a long, low whistle. Devereaux had never actually known anyone who did that outside of a stimshow. It took too much forethought to whistle in such a manner, at least without a bodmod, to make it a spontaneous sound of awe. "Don’t be so impressed. We’re a big ship on a long trip, and Biolathe doesn’t want to wait forever for a return on their investment. I understand there are some political and military craft that make us look slow." They lay together in the darkness for a time, looking at the small universe. Devereaux was getting bored again, and was about ready to go to her cabin so she could get some work done, when Henderson asked, "So how is he?" She decided to be obtuse; they didn't know each other well enough to pretend intimacy. "Who?" "The Jack." "Phil is fine." "I mean, he pulled a fast one on me." She could hear the self-deprecating but insincere smile in his words, reminding her of his premeditated whistle. "The captain obviously had eyes for Fisher since day one, but you, you struck me as someone looking for something a bit more sophisticated than a trendy boy." "He's more complex than you give him credit for. And sweet and thoughtful beats sophisticated every time with me." Where was he going? Was this a round-about way of building up to a pass? He forced a laugh. "I would not underestimate sophistication. Sex is in the mind, for the most part. Would you not agree?" Of course she agreed. She gave him a grudging, "Uh huh. I suppose." Time to head things off if he were thinking of making a pass. There was a long way yet to go on this trip, and the prevention of something ugly here could be priceless. "But I've heard things about you biosystems guys. Saw a few research surveys. The 'career choice for the arrested adolescent' was how I think they put it, more interested in playing with mindless toys than real people." There was an awkward silence. The survey she had read, and laughed over with Phil when he had pointed it out to her, had concerned sexual preferences on a profession by profession basis. Finally Henderson found his voice and his words rushed out too fast. "Mindless isn't attractive, not in the long term. While humankind evolved certain mental organs that find physical health sexually attractive, those same mental organs select for intelligent mates that can raise successful children. Whether we want children or not. Try as we might, those mental organs are very difficult to excise from the human mind." "Your point?" "I might be a little tired of toys," he said with a small, bitter laugh. Devereaux shivered, suddenly cold. The survey had apparently held at least some nugget of truth. "Why are you telling me this now?" His voice floated through the darkness, sounding ancient and distant. "Because even the self-involved, and I understand that is what I am, get lonely. Of the four other people that my external universe has shrunk to, you’re the only one I want to talk with. Fisher and Fang are wrapped up in each other and their own little self-destructive obsessions, and regarding Stearn, frankly I value his sweetness and thoughtfulness not at all." "Why don't you try it sometime?" "Please. Let us not get petty." More footsteps in the hallway. The ruffle of feathers. Phil! Henderson rose. "I dislike crowds in which I am in the minority. Good day, madam." Devereaux was silent as Henderson left. It could have been him this trip, she admitted. If Stearn hadn't been interested her, or hadn't been on the trip, or had been a woman, she could have had a relationship with Henderson. A relationship doomed to fail, she was sure. When Stearn arrived a moment later she whispered to him, "Just hold me, Phil, and don’t say anything flip." She was grateful when he did as she requested without frivolity. The boy was learning, thankfully, because she really wanted a man just then. Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight. -- Marcus Aurelius Fang strode onto the fly bridge, pleased at the authority ringing from her boots as she crossed the bone-tiled floor. The ruglings were absent as she had directed and it pleased her. Everyone else was already present, just as they had been for launch, and they turned their heads toward her as she entered. She flashed them a calculated smile as she sat down on her fighting chair, relishing the croaking squeak emitted by the sweaty leather. One of the fears that Fang had harbored for the last few hundred years, Earth time, was that Captains would be done away with. Entire human crews, in fact. She would return from a run to Epsilon Eridani or Tau Ceti to discover that the already semi-redundant crew on corporate ships had been replaced entirely by AIs, robots, and bioservants. Most of the flight time there was nothing to do. Papa kept the charged singularity pair separated and their acceleration pointed toward a rendezvous with SS Cygni, kept the oscillating ship charge balanced to maintain a smooth one gee, and kept the course clear of obstacles with a combination of ionizing laser fire and external electromagnetic fields. If anything went wrong, only a machine could compensate quickly enough to avert disaster, if at all; a human, even a dangerously mindmoded human, had no chance. Still, the human animal was a versatile animal. Human creativity and intuition continued to solve problems, some pattern recognition, situations with incomplete data -- fewer and fewer compared to artificial minds, she granted -- but enough to make them valuable. There were always situations with incomplete data. Humans had fought for centuries now to stay involved, and continued to find ways to do it, although marginalization approached on multiple asymptotes. On a normal assignment, Fang could expect to oversee the ship through three stages: launch, turn-around, and arrival. In principle, these were dangerous times because the wormdrive with its deadly singularities were either being activated or deactivated. A large electromagnetic pulse could disrupt electronic part's of the ship brain, requiring intervention. There had been more than one accident in mankind’s past, which was the reason why Higgs generators were no longer used for launches from planetary surfaces. Calling someone a loose hole was a serious insult on Earth and most colonies. On a normal assignment, these three stages would be the only opportunities to test a human captain in the field, the only opportunities to fail, or to achieve glory. In practice, the chances of anything happening were miniscule. Because of the nature of this mission, and the vast array of unknowns, Fang would have final say in many matters when they reached SS Cygni, many chances for failure, but also many chances for real glory. Plenty more anyway than during the course of standard ship operations...she hoped. Like everything in her life, Fang nevertheless took the current maneuver seriously. "Amass forward nanoskin," she ordered. Their forward field would be in flux when they brought the singularities together, and a relativistic dust speck might impact with devastating results if they weren’t prepared. The nanoskin, primarily designed for reflecting and re-radiating photons near a hot photosphere, could also serve effectively as a shock-absorbing and self-repairing ablation shield. "Done," replied Papa some twenty seconds later. Fang tugged her uniform sleeves even straighter than they already were. "Everyone secure themselves." After she saw that everyone’s furniture beasts, which had their own attachments to the ship, had grasped their charges, Fang buckled herself down with her own harness which outwardly resembled an ancient seat belt that the real Papa would have been familiar with. She liked the click of metal on metal. She fished an ampoule of On-The-Edge from her pocket and snorted it. "Charge singularities and initialize biseed collapse." Fang ran Papa through the rest of the drill, watching the tangled field lines dance in her picture tank as the singularities were slowly brought together electrically to recollapse into the quantum foam from whence they came. The gravity waxed and waned, until it finally vanished along with the biseed. The ship rotated, nanoskin bulge, radars, and lasers rotating oppositely, keeping their path safe. At almost the very instant Fang was about to order the wormdrive reactivated, Fisher said, "I’ve thought of a way to modify the -- " "Quiet!" Fang barked. Why did he always have to be so damn obsessed? Fisher mouthed, "I’m sorry," toward her, but his lips were difficult to read through the heavy scowl. She hadn't meant to snap at him. This was routine, wasn't it? She made a mental note to make it up to him later, and resumed the maneuver. A few minutes later they were again under gravity, bouncing against a new, oppositely directed hole pair and decelerating toward SS Cygni, shedding their tremendous kinetic energy. Smooth sailing here on in, thought Fang, not looking at Fisher. # Stearn hurried away from Henderson’s lab despite the fact that he'd spent several hours there. That guy really creeped him out. Sure, he was good-looking, in a fashion, but he was also aloof and snippy. Stearn just didn't care for him, which was strange as he prided himself on being able to have a good time with anyone. Perhaps his creche hadn't been as diverse as his seven parents had told him. Knots formed in his stomach as he neared Sylvia’s quarters. It had been more fun than he had imagined to seduce her with his mind, augmenting his biochip's on-board data store with board games. The whole thing had been a ploy to get her into bed, but the biggest surprise had been how fun the games actually were. This was a different sort of hedonism than he had practiced in the past, and he wondered if maybe he'd given the present era's entertainment diversity short-shrift. Still, he'd seen her with Henderson in the observing blister with the lights down that time a few weeks ago. Henderson might not creep her out the way he did him, and he did have that big lantern jaw and cleft chin that he was sure she liked. Thankfully the biosystems tech had assisted him as asked without pestering him with a lot of questions. Back on Earth a complete body make-over would have been long overdue, but here he hadn't even given it a second-thought for months, not knowing which way the trends had gone, and happy playing games with Sylvia. But this new body, this was for her as much as for himself. His bright colors were gone. His ear wings were gone. It was all different. Now he was an ebon Adonis, a dark, hairless demigod with the muscle tone to match Captain’s (although he suspected hers was entirely and terrifyingly natural). Stearn reached Sylvia's cabin. His powerful heart beat strongly underneath his taut pectorals. Shaking slightly, he rang her chime and waited nude and -- he hoped -- beautiful. The door opened. Monkey howls and bird calls erupted out, along with a bloom of humid air. Vine-covered trees with dark green leaves filled the room. Where had the Rubix walls and the puzzlebox chairs gone to? Where was the checkerboard credenza? Stearn stepped inside, his bare feet sinking into rich, moist soil. Where was Sylvia? "Up here, sweet man," came her voice. Stearn titled his head up. The ceiling had been increased considerably, allowing these new tall trees to vanish into a diffuse canopy an indeterminate distance above. The sounds of slithering fell like rain around him. Riding in a cradle of kelly-green vines more serpentine than vegetable descended Sylvia, garbed in snarling leopard skins that covered only parts of her brown body. "Sweet mama," Stearn whispered. "Not tonight," she promised, extending a hand. "You have shown admirable consideration in fulfilling my desires even though they are not your primary interest. It’s my turn to give you what you want. Fully and without reservation." Was this for real? Or was it some new game? Stearn was ready to play either side. He took her hand. The vines lifted them, and together they ascended into a physical paradise. # Lena, which was how she thought of herself only in the privacy of her cabin, applied the passion-pink lipstick and listened to Ravel’s Bolero while she waited for her lover. No frivolous bodmods like auto-make-up for her, nothing as slightly permanent as that even. Her cabin was her safe place, her place to be feminine, pretty, but it was essential that such things not leave with her when she was outside, when she became Captain Fang. They were her secrets, kept to herself and her occasional lovers. The door chimed and admitted Samuel. Lena coyly glanced over her shoulder, giving him a mock look of surprise. Mock because she had planned on him catching her there in front of her mirror in only a short and sheer pink robe, untied, that she hadn't worn in front of him before. Then without either saying a word, his arms were around her, sweeping her up powerfully -- something she would never permit outside the cabin -- and carrying her to the bed. Lena buried her nose in the nape of his neck and inhaled his unmodified, intoxicating scent. Pure Sam, pure male. She reached up and twisted her fingers into his dark curls, attempting to pull him down like a kraken sinking an old merchant marine frigate. He resisted, shook free, and tossed her down before him. His body followed hers, shedding clothes like an ablating heat shield during a reentry. His hands gripped her wrists tightly above her head, and his legs pried apart her legs. She loved it, this submission she gave herself over to only here where she was absolutely safe and not responsible. He was strong and fast as she hooked her ankles into the small of his back. He lasted just long enough for her -- they both cried out -- before collapsing heavily on top. His weight felt comfortable on her, like a warm, thick blanket, and his salty sweat dripped from his face and neck onto hers. Lena realized that she hadn't thought of command for several minutes and smiled. Perhaps now was the time to share even more. Warm and safe, she asked, "Did I ever tell you about my grandfather?" "Mmm...just that you stayed with him sometimes when you were growing up." Lena swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, and rubbed her cheek against Samuel’s shoulder. "He was the most wonderful man, so very patient with me, even when I was being a little shit." "You?" She poked him in the ribs and went on. "You know about leviathans, don’t you? On Tau Ceti Prime. I mean, you’re an exobiologist and -- " "Yes, I know about leviathans." She would do it. She would tell him. Maybe this time it would help. "I was playing with the leviathan lure. Grandfather kept it locked inside a box, but I’d broken the code -- it was my birthday -- and I was playing with the lure. It was pretty, like a star, shiny and grand, so much bigger in appearance than it really was." Lena became silent and listened to Samuel’s breathing over the gentle susurration of the waves outside. How could she tell him this next part? She had started now, and she needed to tell it all, to have someone who was truly human understand. It had been a long time since she had last shared this story. It was her fault, her fault for not acting when there had still been a chance, but Lord, those eyes.... "I have it," Samuel announced out of the blue. "Have what?" Lena whispered, her voice sounding low and throaty without a hint of her practiced bark, the way it did only when she was thoroughly relaxed. "The green glow," he said standing up to pace the room. "It just came to me while I was thinking about how to keep cool during sex. It’s a cooling system that allows the dragon to dump excess heat. The wavelength doesn’t make sense for a standard atomic laser transition, but it’s probably a tunable molecule, or a small suite of them, and given the profile of the emission line, I’m sure I can figure out the mechanism." Without his body against hers, goosebumps erupted across her skin. Without his attention, something similar was occurring in her heart. "Come back to bed, Sam. I was telling you something important." Her kept pacing back and forth between the vanity and the door. "Just a second, right? This is a breakthrough. Respect the idea coming here." Chilled, she crawled beneath the sheets and held them tightly to her chin. "Please, Sam. Not now." He stopped then and looked at her, lifting his eyebrows in a conscious expression. "I’m sorry, but I thought you were done. You know how I work, how I have to give a problem my complete attention." He suddenly turned his head as if listening to something far away and gave her a half-smile, showing a dimple. "You know, you look really sweet, wrapped up in the sheets like that. A soft-winged angel wrapped in clouds, saying please. It’s such a nice change from when you're in that uniform, being bitchy about how to bag a dragon." He came to bed and tried to wrap his arms around her. She shrugged him away, annoyed with him. Then she flung away the sheets, too, as she was suddenly stiflingly hot. She stood up and walked to the doors overlooking the beach, and turned her back on them to regard the man in her bed. "What’s wrong, darling?" he asked, eyes wide in what appeared only mock concern -- the emotion needed to make the look genuine was simply not there. "Don’t you think I’m right about the laser cooling?" Air involuntarily escaped her mouth in a sound of disbelief. "I’m in the middle of sharing something important with you, and suddenly you jump up out of bed and start ranting about your precious dragon, and you don’t know what’s wrong?" "You’re upset about the 'bitchy' comment, aren’t you? You're always saying 'damn' all the time. I thought that you appreciated being thought of as a tough captain." He rose onto his knees and held his fists out in a boxing stance. "Right?" "Not right after making love!" Samuel went to her and tried to put his arms around her. "It’s okay," he murmured. She shrugged him away. "Not now. I’m mad at you right now." "You’re mad at me? Didn't we just have great sex? I already apologized for not understanding you hadn’t finished your story." He moved toward her again. Lena shook her head and stepped back. She knew he was obsessive, but he was also intelligent and handsome. Could he actually be this dense about her after these months? She hugged herself and pointed her elbows toward Samuel as she wondered if perhaps she had been dense about him. "Maybe you should leave." "I don’t think so, Lena. Listen to me. I think we better work this through. Now." She realized she was chewing on her lips and stopped. Why couldn’t he see he was making it worse? She didn't wear her mask here, and her safe place suddenly felt dangerous. "Get out, Sam." He took a deep breath and stared at her for a long moment. "Let's take a step back. I'm ready to hear about the leviathan now, okay?" Lena blinked back the welling tears. She would not cry in front of him! "Get out!" She walked toward him, hands out, ready to push him from her quarters. He was hurting her, here of all places, the only place she permitted vulnerability. She blinked wetly, and Sam became an ethereal specter, his shimmering presence taunting her. He had to be forced out now. "Get out!" He shied away as she approached, stumbled backwards, slipping on a scavenging fish slinking across the floor, and fell on his butt. She kicked him, not that hard, in the shoulder, knocking him over. "What’s wrong with you?" he said as he scuttled backwards, like a crab, away from her. "Get out!" she yelled, stalking after him. "Open," she barked to the door. Sam tried to stand up, and without thinking she kicked him in the face. Again, not that hard, but his lip was bleeding when he looked up at her from the hallway. "I should have known better than to risk the dragon by getting involved with you. I learned from my ex that I could mix work and love, that I could make a relationship work that way. But you obviously haven’t learned how to do it. You’re just a tin-plated dictator playing a game you don't understand." "Close," she yelled. "Don’t you -- " Flushed and out of breath, Lena fell back against the closed door and slowly slid down until she sat huddled in a ball on the floor. She cried as she hadn't cried in years, or maybe decades. Whether it was for the shattered relationship and Sam’s betrayal, thinking of Grandfather, or just for herself and the years of denial with which she treated her uncertainties, she didn't know. She cried hard. After a long while, through sniffles and a few hiccups, with her cheeks cool from the tears, she whispered. "Papa?" "We're here, daughter," he answered immediately. # Still nude, Fisher barreled down the cabin ring corridor moaning, rushing nowhere. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! Everything had gone so wrong. It had been a wrong -- more than a wrong, a sin -- to risk the dragon by entering a relationship with the captain of the ship. Wrong, to think he had any life beyond this mission. Wrong to think of anything but the dragon since the Karamojo had left Earth orbit. Everything so very wrong. Fisher passed through the Hall of Trophies, abruptly stopping his headlong rush to roar at a lion head. The animal wrinkled its nose, but didn't roar back. Fisher smacked it on its nose, hard. The lion roared then, a sound that carries for miles on the savanna on Earth. Fisher roared with the lion, his voice becoming the lion’s voice, asserting his dominion over the ship, over the mission. The roar died, then its echoes died, and the other animals’ excited calls reverberated through the corridor. There would be no more mistakes. Atsuko had warned him not to forget people this time, but that advice had been dreadfully wrong as well. The real wrong had been forgetting the dragon, his one and only reason for being on this ship, for throwing away his life in the present to travel five hundred years into an unknown future. With this kind of sacrifice, there was no excuse for losing his focus, no excuse for forsaking his purpose. Until the mission was over, the dragon was his master. Nay, his god. Fang had not yet seen obsession. He'd show her obsession! Filled with renewed purpose and a plan to right the great Bible of wrongs had written for him, Fisher resumed his rush and headed toward Henderson’s biolab. Henderson was not happy to see him, especially after he'd explained what he wanted. "What? Again? I just did Stearn." "And now you'll do me," Fisher said. "That's your job, isn't it?" Henderson sighed loudly. "Fine. No one needs anything more than a hair retarder in months and now two major bodmods in the same day! Ironic." "Whatever you say," Fisher agreed. He'd already stopped listening to Henderson at 'Fine.' He went to the workstation and started bringing up menus and rifling through them at top speed. "Don't you want me to do that?" Henderson asked. "Aren't you afraid of making yourself a Mongloid?" No, he didn't and he wasn't. Fisher knew exactly what he wanted to do for this bodmod and it was something he dare not trust to someone else. He knew Henderson was competent with mammalian biological structure, but this would be far from standard. "I'm doing the design myself." "Don't say I didn't offer." Henderson paused for a moment then added, "Can I offer you something to wear? A robe, perhaps?" Fisher grunted and didn't care if Henderson took the sound as assent or not. His mind had already turned to the task at hand. "Hmm, all right then," Henderson said. "I'll prep the bath then." Fisher knew that a star dragon possessed strong electromagnetic fields that facilitated their movements in the magnetic field of the accretion disk. That pattern of motion suggested a circulatory system of charged fluid that would be useful for energy transfer as well as transportation. The creatures had to shed heat, however, if not from inefficient energy transfer then from what they absorbed from their immediate environment. He'd figured out that one too, now, with the laser cooling. Those two interwoven systems then were the key to the new body he would create for himself, and not all that difficult to implement he realized after a quick survey of available bodmods. It was the current levels and combination of mods that would pose problems and that took him an extra half hour to solve to his satisfaction (and an extra ten minutes to meet the safety diagnostics' satisfaction that required extra electrical shielding for his nervous system). The thought of powering his body with magnetically confined fusion flashed to mind, but even he had to admit that would be too much if it were even available. When he was finished, a glowing green man floated in the workstation's picture tank, rotating to display the final product from all angles. He would require some special nutritional supplements, but nothing too onerous...but then again nothing would be too onerous for him at this stage in his dedication to his goals. "Glow in the dark skin?" Henderson asked, failing to startle him. Fisher just snorted back. "Hardly. I'm ready for the bath, Henderson." "Affirmative, Fisher. Fisher rose, ignoring the cramps in his sore back; he realized he'd batted the chairbeast to immobility without thinking about it. He also realized that he should have fixed his back since he was going to the trouble of a major bodmod, but he'd forgotten about it. Fixing his back wasn't important enough to further delay him. The nutrient bath squatted in an adjacent, tall-ceilinged chamber surrounded by organo-electronic systems. Fisher stepped up the ladder to the top of the diamond rim. The fluid within bubbled darkly like a stew, a modern witch's cauldron. Fisher did not hesitate at the rim the way most people did. He rotated smoothly at the top and let his feet slip into the warm bath and immediately let go so his entire body could follow. Unlike most people, he did not hesitate to suck the oxygenated fluid into his mouth and lungs. There was no sense to hesitation and a baser instinct overrode what he considered obsolete instincts against drowning. His alveoli switched into more efficient oxygen extraction with his very next heartbeat. In the warm, wet darkness thousands of viruses invaded his system. These were the agents of gene therapy that would inject themselves into his cells, dismantle his DNA at the introns, and insert or replace certain sequences that would govern the cellular operation of his new systems. More sophisticated nanomachinery would reconstruct the macrobiology into the forms he had selected. Still other devices, more sophisticated than viruses and more versatile than the machinery rebuilding his tissues, would isolate and protect his brain functions. Numbness struck his extremities and he knew that these were working. A warmth more vital than that of the bath grew within him: waste heat from the tiny machines and cellular changes. He was now trapped in his own morphing body several hours until the modifications would be complete. Fisher had not programmed any stim entertainment for the procedure. His eyes stared unseeing into the black brew. His mind's eye saw only glowing green dragons above a blazing disk of fire. Yes, he thought as his limbs went rigid and a slow burn filled his body, he'd show Fang obsession all right. Part Two: Here Be Dragons The human body is the best picture of the human soul. -- Ludwig Wittgenstein Devereaux walked steadily down the corridor toward Fisher’s cabin, her speed balanced between urgency and yes, she freely admitted to herself, apprehension bordering on fear. When she had brought her latest disk predictions to Captain Fang, how was she to know that the result would be an immediate decision to deactivate wormdrive, canceling the full program of deceleration, in order to arrive early? Fisher would be furious at not being notified earlier, but he would be even more furious if not notified now. Worse, he had instructed Papa not to disturb him short of decompression, so seeing him in person was the only way to inform him. Devereaux wished she hadn't said as much to Captain Fang, who had told her to go ahead and tell him in person. Devereaux didn't want to see Fisher furious. Not now, after what he had made of himself these last few long months. Why wouldn't the man see reason anymore? What had happened between him and the captain that was this awful? Normally solving such a puzzle would have held boundless interest for her, but now.... Her hand shook as she was reaching for the chime. Before she could ring it, Fisher’s door irised open spilling white light, dry heat, and crackling noise into the corridor. Startled, Devereaux jumped away, bringing her hand, fingers spread, to her chest. It was like standing before an open kiln. "I felt the fields shift," Fisher said. She would have been startled even if he hadn't opened his door unexpectedly -- Fisher’s current appearance never failed startled her. Most immediately noticeable was the green glow that exuded from his rough, dry skin, then the lack of any hair including eyebrows (which had Fisher explained were not needed for a body that no longer sweated), and finally the tiny salmon-pink eyes set deep within epicanthic folds of skin. His unvarying dress was now also quite different. Gone were the black duradenim and the characteristic but ugly streakers. Now he wore a sheer gray bodysuit stitched with concentric golden fibers of unclear purpose. The creases were ninety degrees out of phase with those of the captain's, tracing his outline like an aura. And his cabin...Devereaux, spared a second to look beyond the exobiologist before answering him. Inside, fires roared and danced in the bottom half of the room, making for an overwhelming cacophony to the senses. The fire stopped abruptly about a meter from the door. In the months since turnaround, Devereaux had never seen anything but fire in the room, and had no idea of how Fisher lived inside, let alone worked. "I felt the fields shift," Fisher repeated. "How could you? I mean, yes, Fang's preparing to shut down the wormdrive." Fisher pushed past Devereaux, and she felt static raise the hair on her arms, and even the tangles of the hair on her head. She turned and tried to keep up with his pace. "Papa," Fisher ordered, "Give me a line to Fang." "We're sorry," came Papa's voice, "The captain is busy and asked not to be disturbed. Is this a decompression emergency?" Without breaking his stride, Fisher dismissed Papa’s stonewall with a wave of his arm. To Devereaux he said, "Brief me." Devereaux, jogging to keep up, said in a bumpy, breathless voice, "Like I told Fang, for our approach as scheduled, SS Cygni would be entering outburst. It made sense to advance arrival twenty days, ninety-nine percent confidence interval on the outburst ignition. So Fang's advancing the schedule. We’ll compute a new, faster course, overshoot the system with some residual velocity, and let its gravity help pull us back. Get a good look on the way past and obtain a second-opinion on the probe results." "Anything new from the probe? She's not still planning to fire missiles, is she?" he hissed. This continuing argument had turned the dragon meetings into an entrenched battleground. The vague guidelines of the Biolathe prospectus provided great latitude and an ambiguous mandate for either Fisher or Fang to wrest from the document. When it had appeared probable they might overshoot the disk because of the outburst timing, as they were now planning, Fang had seized the opportunity to suggest launching the missiles early. The missiles could be sent on a slower approach, and could be made to drive a dragon toward the ship, which would now be coming about from the far side of the system. Devereaux herself admired the elegant solution, minimizing resource consumption and time, the play of the related differential equations against the extreme boundary conditions of the disk. Fisher, of course, protested at every meeting. A classic case of irresistible force and immovable object. "Nothing from the probe, but the range isn't yet optimal and the noise is large. I'm not sure about the missiles but -- " He increased his pace through a ring shift without pausing to listen to her, and surged into the bridge ring. Just before they reached the portal to the fly bridge, Fisher stumbled. Arms outstretched, he skidded to a stop on his chest. As Devereaux bent to help him up, Papa’s voice announced, "Please secure your loose items and yourselves. Wormdrive shutting down. End of full gravity in thirty seconds." "I’m fine," Fisher said, pushing her away with a mild shock. "I’m simply very sensitive to magnetic fields now, and these rings are not as well shielded, at least to our internal fields, as I would prefer." "I see," she said, frowning as Fisher went right on by her and headed into the fly bridge. Just as Devereaux rounded the entrance, Fang said, "Take your seats, people." Devereaux did as she was told, taking the opportunity to push past Fisher for a change, and slid onto the accommodating couchbeast. She was breathing heavily. Fisher stood his ground, about two meters directly in front of where Fang sat, and made no motion toward the couch. What was he trying to prove? "Sit down, Doctor Fisher," Fang said. "I prefer to stand," he replied. "Fine," said Fang. The volume of Papa’s countdown increased as he approached zero. The gravity oscillated. Fisher's glow intensified. Then Devereaux’s stomach did a mean flip-flop as gravity failed. "Wormdrive deactivated," Papa announced. Fisher drifted upward slowly off the floor. Fang lifted her head to follow Fisher’s trajectory. No one said anything for a few moments, a strange anticlimax to the preceding rush. Or rather, no climax at all yet. That was the problem. "You’re welcome, daughter," Papa said. Fang blinked. "Sorry. Thank you, Papa." Devereaux sneezed. Then twice more. She often sneezed at the onset of freefall, when the dust and lint was able to escape the nooks and crannies it found for itself, and before the filters and fish could remove the extra irritants from the air. No one said anything right away, and she hoped that her sneezes had broken the dark mood that had been brewing. "So what’s it going to be now?" Fisher asked, his face drifting toward the captain’s. The tension recrystallized, like a supersaturated solution being prodded. Before his glare, Captain Fang calmly turned her gaze toward Devereaux. Her expression, as usual, was inscrutable. "What is your current opinion on the matter, Sylvia?" "We might learn something during the flyby -- our instruments are far superior to the probe's. The numbers and distribution of dragons in the disk is still mostly guesswork. My model still indicates that the next outburst will hold off at least two weeks." "Thank you," Fang said. She turned back to Fisher. Their noses were scant centimeters apart. Somehow Fisher hadn't bumped into her, and now in fact seemed to hover, somehow holding his position. Magnetically? It was possible. Fang addressed Fisher, "Shall we consider this while Papa is computing our options, and look at SS Cygni for ourselves?" "Fine," Fisher said, and managed to spin in place, orienting himself to look on the wall screen. "Bring it up, Papa." The system materialized, real colors, almost real-time -- only a few hours light delay now. Tilted at nearly a thirty degree angle to their approach vector, the disk blazed away, essentially pure white to the eye over its entire surface, with only a hint of violet. Nestled right up against the disk with its sparkling heart, the larger secondary star throbbed, a cooler cosmic ember within which hydrogen still burned. Sparking serpentine tendrils twisted between the disk and the secondary, prominences tracing the magnetic flux tubes connecting the two photospheres. Motion was visible to the eye. The outer disk velocities were about six hundred kilometers per second -- not a relativistic speed, but respectable, letting the gas orbit over the course of a couple hours. The velocities at the inner edge of the disk, on the other hand, were more than respectable. It was all simple dynamics, and the gas rotated in the disk differentially, following Keplerian orbits such that the centrifugal force of the angular momentum balanced gravitational pull, and at the inner edge the velocities were over six thousand kilometers per second. That meant that the gas spiraling into the primary star did so making roughly an orbit every few seconds. The white dwarf massed twenty percent greater than solar, while the larger but less dense secondary was a mere seventy percent solar. The sum was more than Chandrasekhar's limit of 1.44 solar masses, the mass above which degenerate electron pressure could not resist gravitational collapse. The process by which mass was transferred from the secondary to the primary was distressingly complicated since there also existed several processes by which the primary itself lost mass. During many epochs nova explosions, winds, and other cosmic belches tended to leave the white dwarf with less mass than when it started. Still, Devereaux's best evolutionary models indicated the system would, billions of years in the future, explode in a certain rare type of supernovae. Devereaux shifted her gaze from SS Cygni to Fisher and Fang. Fisher had rotated around Fang so they were nearly side by side, together staring at the binary system. Fisher glowed a bright green. The shimmer made him appear agitated; perhaps appropriately so. Fang's light olive complexion reflected his light, her face expressionless, placidly regarding their destination. Their faces so close together, with such a contrast, reminded Devereaux of a binary star. But which was the primary, and which was the secondary? Which was consuming the other? It had already seemed that their relationship had resulted in a supernova, but perhaps that was merely the outburst of a dwarf nova, with the real fireworks still to come. Devereaux didn't want to be around if those two got into it the way they were capable of doing. Casting away these dangerous thoughts, she caught Phil’s eye. He winked at her, and, suddenly grinning, she winked back. Much of her apprehension evaporated, just like that. "Course calculated and maneuver options placed in command buffer," Papa announced. "What is your desire, daughter?" Indeed, thought Devereaux. She would have to say something, do something, if Captain Fang insisted on launching the missiles now. It didn't make sense to do anything like that until they had a better look, sifted through the probe data, gave the place an examination with their own instruments. Committing them to something at this stage would be ludicrous, driven by emotional factors and not by logic. They had plenty of time between outbursts, and could always retreat to a safe distance and orbit through another dwarf nova if forced to. They had enough ablation mass and fuel for the raildrive for that. She would follow the reasonable course, Devereaux believed: Fang was a professional first and Devereaux trusted her to do the right thing "Papa -- " began Fang. "Activate wormdrive," Fisher broke in. "Belay that!" Fang cried, showing the most emotion on her face -- in this case a snarl -- that Devereaux could recall. Not even during the dragon meetings had Fang burst out like that. "Of course, daughter." "Leave the bridge, Dr. Fisher," Fang said, her face a smooth mask once again. Sweat trickled coolly up Devereaux’s temple. She flicked her head slightly, sending the sweat floating off in a ball. A hint of ozone tinged the air -- from Fisher? If he was emitting ionizing radiation, she’d -- Fisher said, "Fine," and spun away and glided out the door without touching any surfaces. It was spooky, like he was a green ghost. If he had screamed, he would have made a fine banshee. After he had gone, Fang said, "Alter course, please. Take us by SS Cygni as outlined in the primary command buffer." So, no missiles. Thankfully sensible. "Yes, daughter." Suddenly Devereaux fell sideways, but the gentle tug from the chemical maneuvering thrusters lasted only a moment. Just a nudge to put them on a course to skim by the disk, timed to thread the Karamojo between the two stars. She hoped there was a similar course between Fisher and Fang that would bring success. Was there some way to nudge the mission's course through their dangerous orbit? # Stearn had finished checking the Karamojo. Everything was running smoothly with the rotation-induced gravity, all the rings twisting to best maintain their new down vector despite the fact that it was nearly perpendicular to what it had been for the vast majority of the trip. This new state was temporary. When they reached SS Cygni they would maintain a rail-drive assisted orbit at an altitude above the outer rim of the disk and there would be a substantial gravity, back again along the ship's central axis. In the English library he had made of his quarters, Sylvia proposed to Stearn a game of chess. He accepted. The opening moves went quickly, the Tasmanian variation of the Sicilian Dragon defense, and they were soon embroiled in a familiar middle game. And gossiping about other couples. Had they become such an old comfortable couple already to do such a thing? "He just needs to get laid," Stearn explained to Sylvia as he moved his bishop. She was the smartest woman Stearn had ever hooked up with, but she sure could be dumb about some things. "You think?" She shook her head, then leaned forward from her couchbeast to rest her elbows on the edge of the board. "I just don’t see it, Phil. I mean, you think everyone needs to get laid, that it is the secret of life." He grinned and absent-mindedly reached to scratch where his feathers used to be and jumped when he scratched smooth skin. He had sure kept those wings too long to be having that reaction months later. "Everyone does need to get laid, and it is the secret of life. Human life, anyway. Captain hurt Fisher bad, and now he’s bitter. He needs that touching, and I bet he’s not giving it to himself." She didn't even get distracted by his baiting anymore. Part of him felt disappointed by that, but another part of him liked they way they were settling in together. Sylvia’s brow wrinkled in concentration. He loved to watch her think. She gave it such devotion it was a thing of beauty, and the backdrop of the English drawing room -- complete with the musty-dusty smell -- made her seem so damn sophisticated about it. Stearn fancied himself an artist of love, or at least lust when he was being more honest with himself than usual. The real art of love, he believed, was discovering that one telling feature that caught the unique essence of a lover in a single stroke. And cherishing it. For Sylvia, it was that knit brow he had first understood as she rode him in the jungle canopy of her cabin, that she wore in those quickening moments approaching climax. That she wore whenever she focused her entire self on a pursuit she loved. That expression of her focus was the essence of her. Sex, in one form or another, was always the key. Stearn knew it without any doubt. "I don’t think that’s it," Sylvia muttered in a dismissing tone, "but we need to do something. The dwarf nova outburst will have subsided in another seventy hours, and those two are going to ruin this mission, and us with it, as soon as they get the chance." Sylvia pushed her rook pawn forward a square, forcing Stearn’s bishop to retreat. After he moved it back along the diagonal, maintaining the pin, she went on, "I’m sure it’s not the lack of sex. He’s more complex than that. He can just crank down his hormones and ride out the dry spell perfectly happily. Not everything revolves around the drive to reproduce." Sylvia pushed forward her knight's pawn two squares, cutting off the pin and attacking Stearn’s bishop. She really seemed to hate that pin. Too emotional here, too distracted, trying to shake the pin. That weakened her defenses and she hadn't analyzed the tactics as carefully as she usually did. Stearn considered his options, and finally decided to play true to himself. "What are the stakes on this game?" Sylvia rolled her eyes up for a second. "The usual, I thought. Winner gets fantasy of choice." "Let’s make it a bit more interesting. Loser has to seduce Fisher, winner gets to watch." At her abrupt look of alarm, he amended, "Not in person. On neural recording, of course." She didn't look relieved at his amendment. "I don't think so. It isn't much of a prize for me either way." "Think of the bedroom talk, what he might say afterward in the afterglow. He might give away the whole trick of who he is. Are you saying you can resist that prize?" "Yes I can." Sylvia rocked back and forth as she rested her chin in her hand. "But I do admit you’ve got my curiosity piqued now." He stared into her eyes, waiting. "But Fisher won’t go for you. He might not go for me, but he certainly won’t go for you." "Leave that to me." He grinned at her. A semi-illegal code running on his biochip confirmed his evaluation of the chess position. "Okay," she finally said with an expulsion of air. "But we're only talking an attempt. I can talk friendly to the man. I'm no prude." Stearn broke into a broad smile. Without taking his eyes from hers, he reached out and took her knight's pawn with his bishop. Sylvia broke the stare to look at the board. Her brow knit in concentration erotically, then, after about two minutes it flattened out into a placid ocean surface. "Shit," she said. "Mate in four, unless you care to lose your queen," said Stearn. "That’s not fair," Sylvia said. "Chess is completely fair, no random element whatsoever." "You know what I mean!" He did feel guilty. A little guilty, anyhow. But what has the point of a biochip interface if not to use it? Sylvia wanted a good game from him, didn’t she? "To even things out, I’ll seduce Captain." Sylvia started to laugh. "Hey! A man doesn’t need to hear that!" "She won’t sleep with you." Sylvia laughed harder. Probably true. Still, there were a hundred ways to seduce a person. Physical union was not the only way to take pleasure in someone, something that Sylvia had reminded him of. "I’ll seduce her into intimacy, make me her confidante. I'll get her to go hunting with me. She'll get to shoot something and blow off some steam. It’ll have to help ease the tensions. That’s the real purpose behind this, right?" "If you say so. I can’t believe I’m letting you trick me into this." "You don’t think Fisher is dangerous, do you?" She knit her brow. "Not to us, not if we don’t get in his way." This was getting too heavy. "You don't have to actually sleep with him. Just make an attempt to gain intimacy of one sort or another. Make contact with him. It'll be fun." Sylvia reached out and took Stearn’s hand. "Phil," she said, "let’s do this not just for fun. Let’s do it to make things better, if we can. You agreed this is to ease the tensions." Heavy. Donning an appropriately serious face, Stearn said, "Sylvia my darling, we must seduce them for the good of the mission." She broke up laughing. Then they swept the pieces off the chess board, a large sturdy thing from another century, crawled onto it themselves, and made love in a very complicated position. # Stearn had let her off the hook, Sylvia realized, when he had admitted that there were a broad range of seductions possible. That thought eased her trepidation as she approached Fisher’s cabin for the second time in as many days. Recently once a week at dragon meetings was the norm -- she had no idea when he ate and wondered if in fact he did eat. She took a deep breath and derailed that thought train. All she had to do really was get him to talk to her as one human being to another, make that connection. This time she got to ring the chime. Sylvia adjusted her scarlet silk wrap, then tucked her hands under her arms as she waited. An awkward fish schlepped along the floor, its lime coloration contrasting the beige of the ruglings. Around the bend of the ring, a six-toed cat silently stalked the sick fish. There was no answer. "Papa, is Fisher in his cabin?" "Yes." She waited, but Papa offered no explanation. He was usually more helpful to her. "Is he asleep?" "No." Sylvia untucked her arms and rang the chime three times in rapid succession. The door irised open -- another glimpse into the kiln. "What is it? I’m working." Sylvia’s pupils contracted and her corneas darkened to enhance the contrast. Fisher was a dim gray-green smudge silhouetted against the fire crackling everywhere in his cabin. How could he stand it? How could he work in this inferno? "I wanted to talk to you, Sam." "So talk. I’ve got a lot to do." She could see him better now, see his tiny pink eyes staring back at her from a green mask. If only this weren’t so important. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, and said, "In your cabin?" He laughed, a tinny nervous sound, as if he hadn't laughed in a long time and his mouth had forgotten how. "My cabin? Are you kidding me?" "Can’t you -- " she groped for a word, and threw her hands up with a suddenness that surprised her, grimaced, continued, "Can’t you just turn that off, and be a human being for a few minutes?" He said nothing for a long moment. Then he nodded, and turned his back to Sylvia. The fire swallowed Fisher. Sylvia waited. Inside, the fire surged, then died. Not completely, she saw, but only in the half of the room near the door, and in a narrow path to the bathroom and to the bedbeast -- a hard, obsidian creature that reflected darkly the low flames that flickered like smoldering ruglings. "Come in," Fisher said. Sylvia stepped across the threshold, hot already, and wiped sweat from her brow. "You live like this?" "Of course," said Fisher, sitting in a lotus-position hovering just above the flames in the rear of the room. More of the magnetic levitation trick. "I have adapted myself to this environment so as to understand how a star dragon might live, how these surroundings might influence the mind of such a fantastic creature, and what sort of things that mind might think." That struck her as clever but she decided not to acknoweldge that fact. "You still think the star dragon could be sentient?" Fisher shrugged, a motion that induced a spiraling bob that only slowly damped out. "Anything is possible. If they are sentient, bombing their home would be an unethical, perhaps criminal act, would it not?" Sylvia took two more steps into the room and stopped two meters from the fire. "Of course I agree." "Then tell her!" His green glow flared. "Easy, Sam. I will. I'm running every analysis I can think of on the probe data. I don't see anything except perhaps some signs of that laser transition, but it isn't very secure. We’re having one more dragon meeting before we achieve the disk, right? Make your case there, with logic. Make a compelling argument, and I’m sure the captain will listen." "I have been making an argument for months now. She won’t listen." Fisher leaned forward, maintaining his hovering Buddha pose, and gesturing with a finger pointed above Sylvia’s head. "She wants to take a trophy, fire off her bombs, play the big hunter. She doesn’t care about our scientific goals. This is a grand vacation for her. A vacation!" Sylvia stepped forward, closer to the fire. She felt her skin harden to the heat, rapidly tanning of its own volition. "Like all of us Captain Fang has made a sacrifice to come on this journey. She has her career at stake. She will make the effort to be careful with the ship, but she has the mission’s goals at heart. She wants to succeed, just as do you." "Ha!" Fisher floated closer, leaning forward at a forty-five degree angle. Less than a meter separated his face from hers. "She wants to sabotage me." "I don’t think so." Sylvia dry swallowed, her lips cracking open afterward, a tiny sound consumed by the popping flames. Stearn would probably expect her to dart in for a kiss at this point. She leaned forward, slightly, as if considering it. That was as physically intimate as she was going to get -- there was no connection there but for the dragon issue. "Look, just give the meeting a chance. Give Fang a chance. Give the mission a chance." "I have given the mission everything I have." "Just don’t do anything rash." "I will do anything necessary." He was so far away. She could do more. Sylvia lifted her hand toward the heat, toward Fisher’s cheek. He didn’t move. She flinched when a flame flickered up Fisher’s gray-suited body to lick her hand, but it was brief and didn't burn. Her fingers glowed green in the light of Fisher’s face as they brushed his skin. After her last experience with Fisher's current set of bodmods, she expected a spark, or crackle, or something spectacular. All she felt was soft cool skin, without a hint of beard. It was like baby skin. He still didn’t move. "What made you like this, Sam?" At her words, he pulled back from her touch. "Oh, it’s simple biophysics really. I had Henderson help me put it together in a few hours. The key is eliminating the sweat glands in favor of bioelectic light-emitting diodes, adding a charged circulatory system, and the rest follows from there integrating the systems." "That’s not what I meant and you know it." "Nothing made me like this." "Really?" Sylvia challenged. "It was the twenty-seventh century when we left Earth, and it'll be the thiry-first when we get home. We can alter our bodies as to suit our whims, as you've done. While mental alteration isn't as yet so safe or easy, there are a multitude of methods of regulating a personality from special hormone-regulating glands to oral drugs to gene therapy. We choose who we want to be. Why did you choose this, Sam?" Fisher bobbed in his fire, green on red, and said nothing for a long moment. Then, finally, when Sylvia was about ready to back out of the heat and leave him his stupid privacy, he said, "Okay then. You want a story?" Sylvia nodded, after a moment, her hair sticking to her sweaty cheeks. "Have you heard of the space wisps?" She shook her head. "I know I should have uploaded the whole exobiology bestiary when I signed on for this mission, but I figured you and Papa would have that covered and I’d focus on the properties of cataclysmic variables and SS Cygni in particular." He nodded and began talking. "Basically they’re space-faring life built of networks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons originating in star-forming molecular clouds. They’re tenuous enough -- wisp is a good name. Not much more to look at than a bundle of threads resembling a smoke cloud. The ionizing ultraviolet that spurred their development and provides them energy also photodissociates them, and they play a game of Scylla and Charbydis with their environment. Too much ionizing flux and they break apart and die. Not enough, and they have no energy." "They sound interesting," she said truthfully. Fisher seemed much better now than he had in months, talking about something he loved and wasn't fighting for. "Although I’m not sure how you’d tell they’re even alive." "That was tough. They were discovered by accident when a relativistic probe smacked into a pack of them in the vicinity of Sirius B. Near lightspeed, a pack of wisps can hit like a mountain, and this was a small, low-budget scientific probe without active shielding. Anyway, they were first deemed nothing more than an interesting example of Galactic chemistry. That’s where I came in. I discovered three features that suggested they were truly alive. First, they could reproduce in a way very similar to DNA, slowly, to be sure, as they accumulated building materials from cosmic dust, but the evidence was clear from the observed population. Second, they could alter their reflective structure and guide their motions via a form of solar sailing, using radiation pressure and the shape of their sail and their angular momentum to keep them on that thin line between the dark and the destruction." "The third feature?" "When the photodissociated bonds reformed, it wasn’t random. Even the ones not actively replicating took the opportunity to build structures, such as their tiny sails, but sometimes the sailing structure was not built at an angle that made sense. That’s what confused the first researchers. But then I realized that they were flashing infrared light signals to their neighbors. The whole pack -- there were hundreds certainly, but possibly hundreds of thousands in the complete extended population, were communicating. I have no idea how intelligent the wisps were, but something was going on there." "Why aren’t you still studying the wisps?" "All the ones we know about were destroyed. After the unusual chemistry was documented and all the data collected that I analyzed, the science team studying Sirius B swept the area with fully ionizing Xenon-Chloride excimer lasers and vaporized all the debris -- including the wisps -- to clear the path for their probes. I was already on a ship, without the high gamma like this one has, bound for Sirius. When I arrived, there was nothing to study. When I returned to Earth, twenty-two years had passed. I only lost fifteen. My mother had died in a diving accident on Europa during that span." Sylvia didn't know how to respond. Finally she picked, "I’m sorry." Fisher’s green flared to rival his floor. "Don’t ever be sorry for me! I learn from my mistakes, and when it is within my power, I make sure they are never duplicated. This mission is my life, for now, for a thousand years, and I am dedicated to its successful completion. I will do whatever I have to do to ensure it." "Yes, but you have to work with the rest of us. Captain Fang -- " Fisher held out his hand and cut her off. "Fang is irrelevant here. Do you understand my position?" "I suppose so, yes." "Then you’ll let me get back to work?" Was that going it be it? Perhaps it was, and perhaps it was enough. "Yes." Fisher sat in the fire, staring at her, waiting. She ventured a little more. "If you need to talk?" "I’m fine," insisted Fisher. "You just concern yourself with making the mission a success, and we’ll get along fine. The same goes for Fang. Now, please excuse yourself, and we'll all go back to work." I tried Phil, she thought. I did better than I thought I might, and it wasn’t even so bad. She had collected a few more of Fisher's puzzle pieces, and even saw how a few fit together. She wondered how Phil was doing with the aloof and intractable captain. Sylvia said, "Thanks for talking, Sam." Fisher smiled. "Thank you." Sylvia exited the cabin, flames crawling behind her steps to again fill the room with their righteous, intense heat. The kiln door closed. The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men . -- Emile Zola Fang ducked under the boxing mobile’s swing and hit it in the body three times, hard, before dancing back. It swung again. Fang stepped backwards and to the side, and tagged its head which snapped like a tree bulldozed by an avalanche. She had told herself a thousand times that she was better off without Fisher, but he’d made a better sparring partner than these damn mobiles. Maybe she should have gone on that safari with the Jack after all. At least it wouldn't have been the same old thing. Someone rang Captain Fang's personal chime twice in quick succession. That was odd, she thought. Why not simply have Papa pipe voice to her? The gym door irised open revealing a breathless Phil Stearn, eyes wide, all white and black. He said, through heavy panting, "Captain, come quick," and took a step with a half-turn away, gesturing with his free hand for her to follow. In his other hand he energetically waved about a large-caliber rifle. She kept herself from instinctually grimacing at his lack of respect for firearms. Just because they were ancient didn't mean to not treat them properly. "What is it Stearn? And why are you armed?" "I’ve got a wounded lion, now please come on!" He took another two steps down the corridor and gestured again. After a brief hesitation, she followed, telling the clasps of her gloves to release. They dropped to the canvas and she followed her Jack out of the gym. "Explain yourself, Mr. Stearn." "Well, it’s like this, see." He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I decided to go ahead hunting without you, on the savanna." "Real or virtual?" "That’s the thing, see. I wanted to make it interesting, so I asked Papa to surprise me with a safari of his own invention. I’m pretty sure it’s real. And he won’t stop the game unless I’m in physical danger. The way this body’s built, well, it can take a lot of damage without seriously endangering my life. Papa won’t let me evacuate the chamber, but I don’t want to go after that lion. You want to get chewed up by a real lion?" "Of course the lion is real," Fang said. "Papa doesn’t like you." "I know, I know, and this doesn’t have the parameters for an override, and I don’t want them to get there either. Papa can get a little scary, you know. But you’re Captain. You could override, terminate the simulation." "No." He made her want to frown. This was her crew? Not finishing a hunt, not respecting the life he had created and the resources he had consumed? She should set an example. "That isn’t necessary. If you're willing to shoot yourself into trouble, you'd better be willing to shoot yourself out. I’ll help." "Then let’s go." Stearn picked his pace up to a jog. Fang matched him. They reached the savanna soon enough. Her pulse elevated, a warm radiation from a blushed face, and the start of a light sweat...this was much better than beating up a mobile or sitting around the cabin waiting for the dragon meeting where Fisher would twist her words to suit his own purposes. He didn't understand that this was an alien thing that could kill them, that they had to test their mettle against it assuming it to be a creature of infinite grace and power. Twisting words was not a good way to meet an unknown challenge. The door opened. Fang stepped inside. "Give me your rifle." "Happily, Captain. It’s loaded." "Better be." Fang surveyed the grassy plain, sliced in two by a stream and sporting a few scattered trees, squinting her eyes despite her corneas' auto-darkening. A blistering day on this world inside the ship, the air still and heavy. "Tell me what happened." "Well," said Stearn, "I shot him twice. Once in the leg, once somewhere forward. I lost him in the tall grass." "How long ago?" asked Fang. His eyes flickered, checking his internal clock. "Nineteen minutes, seven seconds." "Long enough. You didn’t kill him, or Papa would have let you know. He should be sick by now, his adrenaline faded, the pain...overwhelming. It’s a damn thing, getting shot." "Never tried it, but properly applied pain can inspire a great endorphin rush -- " "That’s enough, Stearn." Fang regarded the savanna more closely. "This is a bad place." "Why is it bad?" "Can’t see him until you’re on him." "Oh," said Stearn. "I see." "You can stay here, if you like. I’ll have to go in after him." She checked her weapon, a double-barreled .505, an old vintage capable of only two of shots before requiring reloading. At least Stearn had some fortitude. He could have brought in a mega gun and shredded the entire chamber in seconds. The chamber, prepped for hunting, was equipped to withstand as much. "I thought about burning the lion out. That was done in ancient times and would be sporting." "The grass is too green. You might as well laser the whole damn thing." The chamber was equipped for that. Papa had high-powered lasers available as safety overrides. He could and would use them to kill the lion in an instant if there was an immanent threat to their lives, but knowing Papa, he would let them get a little hurt first. "Lasers would not be fair. You did start the game." "I’m allowed to conjure beaters," said Stearn. "I mean, I’ll come with you, but can’t we send beaters out ahead? I'd really like to avoid the lion mauling my equipment, if you know what I mean." Beaters...this started to bother her more. How different, she thought, would it be sending beaters into the savanna to flush out the lion from sending her missiles into the disk to flush out the dragon? She had been on many hunts, but this scenario gave her more than the usual deja vu. "Of course we can. But it’s a touch murderous. I know the conjured beaters aren’t real, but respect the lion, and play this for real. That’s the fun of it, the test." "What do you mean?" "We know the lion’s wounded. You can drive an unwounded lion -- he’ll run on ahead of noise. A wounded lion will hide until you’re right on top of him. He might as well be invisible. Then he'll charge at point-blank range. A beater would get killed. It’s not playing fair." "Fine then. Lead on, bwana." Fang frowned at the term. "I don't think that term means quite what you think it means." She set aside the distraction to focus on the task at hand, and signaled Stearn to follow with a twitch of her head. They walked down a steep bank of an empty streambed, and across, then up the other side. It was true physical exertion, honest exercise. "Here," Fang said kneeling where the short grass had been splattered with blood. "You hit it here." "I don’t want to go in there. That lion’s big." "I know," Fang said, standing. "It really can’t kill us very easily the way our bodies are built, also with Papa ready to cut in at an instant. Still, we live with racial memories burned into us by twenty thousand generations on savannas like this one, the ones that made primates afraid of big cats." She considered telling Stearn that she was afraid, too, but that would have been a lie and might even come to undermine her leadership. No, outside of her cabin, she had to be a rock, would be a rock, as ever. But a hunt, this was what life was made of, if that life was being lived properly. "You can wait here." "I’ve changed my mind. I mean, I thought it was fun before. I’d seen you do it. But now, this close. Why don’t we just quit?" "Stearn, you’re shameful. You know that? You get Papa to grow a damn lion for you, you shoot it, then you’d just walk away while it suffers? You finish what you start if you’re crew on my ship. If you deserve to be called human. I’ll have no quitters, understand?" Fang tried to keep her voice even and matter-of-fact, her face hard, but some sneer escaped, she knew. "You’re right, Captain. I’m sorry. If you’re going to go, I want to go." "Good man. It’s my show. Do exactly what I tell you." Fang wondered at Stearn. He seemed to be acting a little odd, inconsistent, like he had some sort of unknown agenda that he was trying to stick to despite her. His tone, his body language, didn't match up well with his words, she decided. Like he was following a script. Still there was the lion. Time to put Stearn out of her mind and deal with the beast. Somewhere ahead of them there was a wounded lion lying flattened on the ground, invisible in the grass. It would be big and yellow, bloody foam on its muzzle, with each breath pain in its belly coming and going like waves on a beach. It would have hate in its heart, hate in its damn eyes, which surely watched them even at this very moment, its animal instincts holding it stiffly in place awaiting that one moment when it would charge the humans who left the savanna so long ago, but dared to return toting guns that belched death. Yes, Fang knew the look those eyes would have as the muscles stiffened with pain and anticipation. She could understand those eyes. Mammalian eyes, Earthborn eyes. Check the blood, watch the grass, step forward, check the blood, watch the grass, watch the grass, watch the grass... "Why don’t we -- " Stearn began before Fang stopped listening. Ignore the damn Jack, watch the grass, step forward. Then came the blood-choked cough and springing up from nowhere the beast charging down on her. Fang pointed the double-barreled rifle. Carawong! Carawong! She managed to keep her stance against the fierce recoil, but had to lean into it. It was impressive, visceral, this ancient technology. She punched the animal with it. Two shots carrying two tons of force smashed into the beast’s face, halting its charge dead on. Yet the beast crawled on, somehow, half its head gone, still trying to kill Fang. This was life before her, relentless, irresistible life, pressing on against what it knew not. Following its instincts, not giving up. The lion’s serpentine tail twitched as its mutilated head slumped forward. The star dragon was alive, and would resist them with every bit as much effort. They would have to match its relentlessness. Fang said, "It’s a damn good lion, Mr. Stearn." She heard a strangling noise, and, when she was sure that the lion’s crawl truly had ceased, turned to regard her vomiting Jack. He managed to speak. "I’m sorry, Captain, it’s just -- " Fang handed the rifle to Stearn and walked past him. She said, "Have some respect for such an excellent creature. You bring life into this world for your pleasure, make sure you respect it." Grimy and smelling of gunpowder, she left the sphere to shower and change. It would soon be time for the damn dragon meeting, and she had to think about her plan of attack. # Papa watches the meeting, furious, wishing he could scream out to everyone what Fisher has done. He lied to Devereaux about the space wisps and programmed the safari for Stearn -- and based on a story Papa himself -- the other Papa anyway -- had written to boot! Short Happy Life, Papa yearns to tell them. Short Happy Life! But Papa cannot violate Fisher's privacy. While he is an independent mind based with both organic and inorganic structures and a personality based on that of a man, he is also a tool and forced to operate within many constraints that conflict with his own desires. And now he fumes about Fisher. The man's agenda is clear: win allies, make enemies doubt their strategies. Fisher might well be correct about the approach to take with the dragon -- data for a conclusive answer is certainly lacking -- but Papa hopes Fang will foil his intent. If only she would ask him about the safari, he might be able to clue her in. He is allowed some latitude in such situations. Papa silently curses the rules that limits him to a less-than-human right of expression and watches Fisher play the crew like a fish on a line. Fisher says, "Can we have a summary of the probe and flyby data, Sylvia?" "The disk is in the final stages of a dwarf nova outburst. I collected plenty of data on the disk physics, but in terms of biological activity: nada. Neither dragons grazing at pasture as in the Prospector data, nor any evidence for disk rabbits, plankton, or the like. We’ve got a good hour of excellent, high-resolution data on the disk. That high-resolution is probably the culprit in part, leading to a loss of signal in the noise. In any event, no dragons. I speculate that they hide during outbursts, perhaps in some form of reverse-hibernation, like how some ancient cultures would take a noon-hour siesta to beat the mid-day heat." Papa refrains from voicing the simpler interpretation of the data: there are not now any dragons in SS Cygni's disk. He knows from their journals, idle conversation, and mumbles during their dreams that each has this concern. Biolathe might have sent them on a goose chase for its own purposes, perhaps to mislead a competitor. It is possible. Or, more unthinkable, and worse, the dragons have died out, or migrated somehow, in the centuries since the Prospector video was taken. "Hide?" Fang asks. "But wouldn’t they be more visible during an outburst if they have to radiate extra heat?" "That’s not clear," answers Devereaux. "I was never able to nail down a reliable number on the dragons based on their laser emission. It’s too variable, for whatever reason, and too weak against the disk output. Depending on the model, the data are consistent with zero dragons, or millions of dragons. Sorry." "Zero dragons?" Fang asks. "You've been measuring something, haven't you?" "Yes, but there are some natural transitions that could selectively pumped under certain conditions and a lot of model parameters to consider. It's a weak, variable signal that requires assumptions to stack up." "So we’re here, and still have many unknowns. That argues for caution," says Fisher. "Yes," agrees Fang for once, "Which is why I still maintain that missile ‘beaters,’ if you will, are the safest course." Papa laughs to himself. She's going to be contrary with Fisher despite his games. This is his daughter! Fisher slaps his palms smack against the tabletree. "What?" "It is only logical, not knowing the dragon population or location to any accuracy, to drive them toward us. We don't have years to search this monstrous sea." Devereaux speaks when it is clear that Fisher is having difficulty in formulating words. "But this could kill the dragons." Fang says, "Oh please. We blow up the missiles in the central disk, where I seriously doubt these dragons could survive, and let the shocks push them out to where we wait." Fisher regains his composure. "How do you know the dragons won’t act like moths? See the tasty gamma rays and happily head straight for the inferno?" "I don’t, but they’re not especially intelligent or interesting if they do that, are they? Besides, wouldn’t they have all swarmed to primary and been spattered into degeneracy if that were how they behaved?" "I'll grant you that one." Fisher exhales mightily. "You’re going to do this, aren’t you? Your heart is set and you're going to do it." "It’s a standard ploy in a hunt for any reasonable quarry in such a large area." Fisher slaps his hands on the tabletree again. "But we know next to nothing about this quarry! Who is to say these things will be reasonable?" "That’s your problem, isn’t it?" Fang counters. "You’ve shown me nothing based on your dragon models to suggest they would behave in any outrageous manner." "We’ve only got four-and-a-half minutes of dragon behavior!" "Papa," Fang says, "I’m authorized by the Biolathe corporate brain to make all final strategic decisions, am I not?" "You are, daughter." Papa does not elaborate about the numerous ways, large and small, he can modify implementation of those decisions. Fisher shouts, "But you can overrule her, right Papa?" The guy has to be a boor, Papa thinks. "Only in a clear-cut case. This is no such animal." Fisher tries again with Fang. "Don’t you respect this creature enough to walk into its very own territory and meet it face to face? That’s what makes a good trophy right? Not shooting fish in a barrel." "I have made my decision," says Fang. "It's the right one." Fisher stands abruptly. "Fine," he roars. "Then prepare to reap the whirlwind." He storms out. Everyone else sits stunned for a few moments. Then Fang assumes control of the remainder of the meeting, asking Devereaux for an update on the mass and temperature of the non-degenerate shell of SS Cygni’s primary. "Higher than expected, but..." Devereaux begins. Papa’s point of view leaves the meeting chamber, deciding that his consciousness ought to follow the disgruntled exobiologist, lest he do something annoying. Fisher does nothing annoying. He returns to his infernal cabin and proceeds to open some boring simulations. Returning to work, Papa thinks, this is good for him. He allows himself to pop back to watch the end of the meeting. # Fisher started his decoy code and left his cabin disguised, to Papa, as a scavenging fish. Walking in a slow, circuitous manner, spiraling like a dragon around a magnetic field line, so as to not appear too inconsistent with his disguise, he made his way toward the missile hold. Electronically isolated until launch as per safety regulations, like a dragon in a star system two hundred fifty light years from Earth, the missiles had to be reprogrammed on the spot. Once launched into the disk, home of glorious life happily dancing in tune with its own flames, Papa would monitor the communication laser channels carefully and it would be a much harder trick than what he was pulling off now. How could Fang do this thing? She was a cold-blooded killer, a degenerate soldier with a tiny little head as dense as the white dwarf that was SS Cygni’s primary. He should have known right away, her hair so smooth, straight, shiny and short, a helmet...when a friend of the dragon would have long, wild tresses twisting in all directions, serpentine and rolling, plasma charged, shocking static. No matter. When the missiles sank into the disk and vanished, completely unrecoverable, Fang would have no choice but to approach the dragons carefully, with the respect they deserved. Nuclear missiles would safely burn in the disk, making his sabotage more easily hidden. It would still be a dangerous game for him, but if the dragons won he would pay any cost. Fisher arrested his steps. Too eager, too anomalous, and even the unconscious part of Papa would notice this strange fish out of water. Sweep left, eat the dust, sweep right, spiral around the field line. There would be no flash of death, no incinerating wall, for his dragons. Maddeningly slow progress. The meeting could break up at any time and someone could walk by and simply acknowledge him, which would be enough to alert Papa. Who greets a fish crawling along the floor? There would be other clues the longer he took, clues he could do nothing about. The Karamojo was a complex ship, but self-contained and perfectly understood within Papa’s specially designed mind which viewed the ship as its own body. Just as the nanomeds in his own veins monitored his body’s state, so did Papa monitor the ship. He referred to this monitoring as a 'built-in, shock-proof, shit detector.' Fisher's decoy code could mask his presence in terms of sight, sound, smell, but without the same perfect understanding of the integrated ship, his waste heat would boost temperatures, his footsteps would ignite vibrations throughout the diamond structure of the ship that was constantly monitored, and the biomass flux per ship section would fail to balance. His code was good, but not perfect. He made the tube between rings and followed it, ever so slowly, past all the fore rings, toward the tapered rear of the ship. The missiles were kept there, in one of the holds, away from the inhabited portions of the ship. Because of the taper down to the smaller rear bulb, the effective gravity increased as he climbed the slope. Because they had cut the wormdrive and their deceleration to arrive early, they rotated the ship around its central axis so that centrifugal forces now defined "down." Although portions of the ship could twist to accommodate the shift in the gravity vector, the ship rotated as a solid body. The rotation rate was set to provide one Earth gravity for the radius of the fore bulb, but accelerative force was inversely proportional to the radius. The taper made things spin fast, made them heavier. He climbed up the white hill, his body spiraling as he went. One point one gravities, one point two, one point three gravities. A steep climb indeed. How would the extra weight slow a fish? When he had nearly reached two gravities and the end of the tube where it gave way to the access to the dangerous-materials hold ring, he heard steps behind him from the tapering tube he had laboriously climbed. Fisher let his spiraling steps twist, a serpentine neck would be better, to allow himself to see who it might be. A shape, distant, just a diffracted head bobbing upside down. Under magnification, the head was dark-skinned, either Stearn or Devereaux. The cadence suggested Stearn, as did the hard echoes of boots. Devereaux usually went barefoot, or in soft-soled sandals. The tube was nearly three kilometers long, and slightly curved, so he had a chance. He was making little noise, and would not be easily noticeable unless Stearn scanned for him in the next minute, which was what it would take to make the ring. Fisher didn't break his shuffle. He moved, slowly, listening to the steps that were at two or three times the frequency of his own. Discipline Fisher had, and focus, oh yes, focus. He watched the dragon’s languid coils in his mind’s eye, the creature in slow motion due to the physics of its own immense size, so too Fisher in slow motion via a sympathetic magic. Hide in the photosphere, Fisher thought as he reached the corner, spiraled around it, now out of sight even if Stearn magnified his vision. The steps continued, holding their pace. No evidence he’d been spotted. Fisher visited the rear holds sometimes, just as he visited all the ship. He did good work during walks, or his ‘oblivious promenades,’ as Atsuko had called them because of the way he’d walk into things. He could fake his way past Stearn, but Papa would notice the discrepancy of Stearn talking to a fish and unravel his plan at once. This plan Papa wouldn't be forced by privacy rules to keep from Fang. Fisher continued his snaking, faux-dust-eating path, moving around the ring toward the missile hold. The steps grew louder. They needed him, didn’t they? They'd see from his desperation, if he were caught, that they had made a serious mistake. The strength of his convictions would yet sway Fang, he was sure. Better, of course, to present the loss of the missiles as a fait accompli, with no recourse but a respectful approach to the dragon's disk. Yes, that would still be best, and that outcome was still possible. Almost there! If the steps went the other way around the ring, he'd make it. What was the Jack doing back here anyway? Routine checks for Papa? Or could he be headed specifically for the missile hold under special orders? Would Fang think him possible of such sabotage? He didn’t believe so, especially with Papa watching. The door to the hold was before him, and would open for a cleaning fish working on a dirty footprint crossing the threshold. Three meters. Two. Fisher peered at the ivory iris as if it were a deuterium-rich path of accretion disk, food for a fusion-powered dragon. The steps were coming his way around the ring. Damn! It was over. Stearn or Papa would figure out his subterfuge, alert Fang, who would make sure her precious missiles were ship-shape to murder dragons by the millions. Still, no reason to tip over his king before checkmate was truly inevitable. He held to course. The steps were right behind him, ringing off the deck. He was surely in sight now. "Hey, Fish," Stearn said as he walked past without breaking stride. The Jack soon vanished ahead around the curve of the ring. Fisher said nothing, but glowed an extra rich, pea-green, the color of a flush in his current body. It was easy to ignore Stearn as a matter of course. It was his normal behavior, and Stearn hadn't paused for any acknowledgment. Could it be possible for Papa to misinterpret ‘Fish?’ Stearn was a screw-ball, and given to such things as talking to cleaning appliances, Fisher was sure...it was still possible to salvage the plan, wasn't it? The dragon entered the hold to face its own death, and avert it. The chamber was vast, holding rows of stacked missiles: sleek, black bullets in racks feeding slotted runways to channel the weapons into launch tubes. Inside the blackness slept fissionables and hydrogen isotopes, cool and currently impotent, destined to splash into the lake of fire that was SS Cygni’s accretion disk. And burn up in their sleep, Fisher promised his brethren. Fisher called to mind his mnemonic, fixed in place chemically with Forget-Me-Not rather than in his biochip where it could incriminate him, and began to manually reprogram the first missile. His hand danced like a programmed woodpecker over the control panel, punching home the new instructions. This missile would not murder a star dragon. And when his task was completed neither would any of the other ninety-nine. # Henderson sank deeply down into the velvety chairbeast, relishing the sensation against his bare skin, sipped from his glass of Merlot, and listened to Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Opposite his chairbeast and along the far side of his biolab squatted his homunculi colony. Inside the diamond enclosure existed an entire self-contained colony of tiny people, a replica of the twenty-third century Charon Station. They lacked complex speech and higher reasoning, of course -- their brains weren't nearly large enough -- but they were nevertheless perfectly proportioned human beings a mere twenty centimeters tall. There were ninety-nine very attractive women and one male, Henderson’s genetic kin. All the women were pregnant with his homunculi. Henderson activated his picture tank, which was slaved to surveillance devices inside the colony. He sipped his wine, eased his seat back further, and watched tiny Henderson cast his shadow into the darkened bedroom of a large-breasted blonde the equivalent of eight months pregnant.... Squinting, he beckoned his deep thoughts hither and meditated upon the purposes of life. "Mr. Henderson," Papa’s voice interrupted. "What is it?" "Mr. Stearn does not talk to fish. Prepare a tranquilizer dart for our exobiologist and hustle up to the missile hold." "A tranquilizer? For Fisher?" What was going on? "Do it now. This is an order from Fang." Henderson sighed, downed his wine, and stood up. "Right." More work, and more than a minor inconvenience having to adjust for Fisher's current biology. The possibility of a major inconvenience loomed depending on how this played out. He would be very upset if this mission went wrong and threatened his long-term plans. He met up with Fang in the tube toward the aft holds. She nodded impatiently as she took the dart gun from Henderson and together they hiked up the tube. "What’s happening?" Henderson asked. "Fisher," she said. "Stearn talked to a fish, and then Papa noticed it diligently cleaning the dust from all the missiles, in order. Then he noticed a virus in his autonomous perceptive circuits." "Enough said." The Jack waited for them at the ring entrance. "Missile hold," he said. "Of course," said Fang. She was so fast through the hold door, she had to step over the irising membranes to avoid tripping. "Fisher," she called. "Your game is up." Six rows down a black bullet reflected green darkly. From that direction issued a strangled cry filled with bile and a touch of rolling thunder, a sound like nothing Henderson had ever before heard. The closest to that cry had been when he’d troubleshooted a problem with a biovat on a fast cruiser to Phaelendra. They had been growing a clever design for a creature, a sort of giant armored frog, intended to ameliorate the problem of the spiny viseroths preying on livestock. Only the growth kept going wrong, a corrupted gene sequence, resulting in something severely asymmetric that would die from heart failure when it croaked forth its deformed pain. Finally the sputtering, rolling cry faded into a low moan, then silence. Henderson swallowed, and glanced at Stearn who stared ahead with wide eyes, stark white flashing against his ebon skin. "Come out now, or I’ll have to take you down. I am armed," Fang called, a vein throbbing near her blonde temple. It was an ugly feature in an otherwise handsome face, and if she’d come in for half an hour, Henderson was sure he could fix it. Fang lightly licked her lips while they waited another ten seconds. Shuffling steps, the green glow intensified, and Fisher staggered around the end of a black bullet. His upper lip was lifted into an ugly sneer, as if pulled by an invisible marionette string, and his salmon-colored eyes, normally recessed and glassy, floated like burning coals in the nimbus of green. He thrust forward his arms, hands up, twisted into claws. He leaned toward them and took a strange semi-circular step. "You’ll calm down now, Dr. Fisher," Fang said. "If you’re to have any more involvement on this mission, you will cooperate immediately." Tears streamed down Fisher’s cheeks, making the light underneath sparkle. "You’re all murderers!" he shouted, pointing at them now with both hands. Fang lifted the tranquilizer gun. "Will you cooperate, Dr. Fisher?" "Of course I will! What choice do I have?" Fang maintained her implacable gaze upon Fisher and said in a quiet tone, "Mr. Stearn, please begin checking the missiles and restore their programming." "Aye aye, Captain." "We can handle things from here, Mr. Henderson. Thank you for your assistance." "You’re welcome." Henderson smiled. His share of a mission bonus would be all the larger now -- surely Fisher would get docked. Perhaps he could afford his own full-sized colony when they returned. Probably not in the solar system, but someplace not so many light years from Earth. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some important experiments back in the lab to monitor." "There she blows! there! there! she blows!" -- Tashtego in Hermann Melville's Moby Dick The view, splashed in floor-ceiling-wall wrap-around throughout the fly bridge, was not disappointing, and Fang could not keep herself from gasping audibly. Planets all had a sameness to their appearance that was grand, but familiar. From rocky planetoids to atmospheric cauldrons, planetary globes were still spherical. You looked out, or down rather, at a surface receding away. The mind chose a natural scale and perceived the same sort of thing, no matter what the true scale; instruments were generally required to know what you were looking at. SS Cygni’s accretion disk was different. It flared out toward larger radii, making a shallow bowl with the opposite curvature to that of planets. The Karamojo now slid into that bowl, ass-end first, the down-sized singularities of the reactivated wormdrive currently matching the vertical component of the white dwarf's pull, some two times Earth gravity at their position nearly ten thousand kilometers above the disk mid-plane. That was still several thousand kilometers above the disk's ill-defined surface. The disk's own gravity was feeble compared to that of the few percent of the tangential primary gravity they experienced maintaining their orbit's altitude above the disk. They would use reaction mass to adjust worm thrust against that pull, riding the high gravity, and maintain a powered halo orbit with a period eighty minutes long above the surface of the disk; they could not survive a freefall orbit which would have to pass through the disk's midplane and the hot, dense plasma there. Two gravities would not be so bad for a few weeks, especially as they'd been adapting their bodies, building muscle, to be ready. Fang herself had noticed that her new stockiness slowed her in the ring, but the extra bulk let her hit harder. When it came time to cage a dragon, they would collapse the singularities and magnetically spin around the disk’s own field to point the Karamojo’s maw and trap toward the targeted beast using its own electromagnetic fields. The bowl was bright white, cut down by the display automatics well enough to discern some hues, from the violet tinge at the center of the bowl where the plasma accreted directly onto the primary surface, to the red of the disk’s outer edge, which was a close temperature match to the secondary type-K dwarf star. The exception to this was the inferno where the accretion stream spilled out of the secondary's gravitational influence and twisted back around to crash into the disk orbiting the white dwarf. That maelstrom, long ago inadequately coined the ‘hot spot,’ shared the core’s violet tinge. Prominences curled up waving like dancing fingers, tracing magnetic field lines, and looped back down into the stately chaos. "This," Fang proclaimed, "this is a sea worth sailing." The Karamojo finished matching velocities with the outer edge of the disk -- a mere six hundred kilometers per second. Gas closer to the white dwarf rotated much faster, giving the illusion of a giant fire whirlpool, which was not far from wrong; the white dwarf’s surface was the ‘drain,’ where hydrogen would pile up atop the degenerate matter, waiting until the pressure crept up, and the temperature crept up. Eventually runaway fusion would result in a nova, perhaps a hundred thousand years hence, flash burning the gas into helium and blowing the disk away into interstellar space. The ship had to maintain some distance from the disk’s photosphere -- the self-repairing high-albedo nanoskin could only process energy so quickly, even though it used multiple technologies to shed heat. Too close and the skin would begin to ablate away with a rapidly deteriorating efficiency. A ship as vast as the Karamojo held large mass reserves, but the disk’s fire could char those in an instant without careful attention. "Where are the missiles?" Fisher asked Fang. Fang blinked, tearing her gaze and thoughts away from the magnificent vista, brought back to her surroundings by the mutineer, Fisher. Had she really loved him? Being honest with herself, she admitted that she thought she had. And now? She looked at him, at his green face and into his pink eyes -- he wasn’t looking at this incredible place they had traveled so far to reach, but at her, his enemy whom he would not even thank for not throwing him into the brig. This Fisher was a hateful alien, not the man she’d taught to box, the man she’d let inside her sanctum, inside her. Now that he’d been caught, with no other option but to go along with the current plan of attack, he was on their side, right? Still, she would not permit Papa to respond to Fisher except in the most rudimentary ways. She could not help but think of him as a dragon in their midst, a snake in the grass. Here be dragons, she thought, like on the ancient maps. "Papa," Fang said, "Please display missile vectors." Fifty black lines appeared on the disk upstream from the Karamojo. Half their arsenel, a conservative effort. The vectors described a funnel, with each terminating at different points with a time given in red numbers, the pattern designed to drive the star dragons from deeper, hotter locations in the disk toward the rim where the ship waited. The operation would take nearly an hour, with bombs going off at different times and places. Their detonations intended to catch as big a piece of disk as they could, but with a surface area nearly a thousand times that of Earth, that was little more than a tiny fraction of a percent of the total. They would do what they could and hope for the best. Fisher swept his gaze along the vectors. To Devereaux he said, "Have you seen anything?" Of course she hadn’t; she would have said something. Fisher appeared a serene alien full of privileged knowledge, but the question betrayed his anxiety. After being his lover, Fang thought she should be able to read him better -- this moment of lucidity was the exception in recent weeks. Her ability to read him might be essential in the coming days. Devereaux leaned back from her console. "No signal, at least not at the laser wavelengths we saw before. We are on the tail-end of an outburst, which is not a typical time. I’m looking for other lines, but either every dragon is on a different frequency, they’re down deep in the disk, or they’re not here." "Anything else anomalous?" Fisher persisted. "Any sign of anything else that might be alive?" "Nothing," said Devereaux. "But we’ll have a better idea when the latest shuttle returns a scoop sample." Fisher turned to Fang, "You will let us analyze the sample before you start bombing the enemy, won’t you, Captain?" "For you, Dr. Fisher, of course." She didn't like the sarcasm that the remark implied. It was unprofessional, but it had slipped out. Tough. Perhaps she too was nervous. He didn’t look any happier after her reassurance. "This place rules," Stearn said. "I feel like a god." Fang only half-agreed. This was magnificent, being here, but the disk was so unimaginably huge, it was more than a little intimidating. This was infinitely vaster than any planet. The Karamojo might be better christened the Tiny Debris, a piece of cork being sucked into Charbydis. That would make the accretion stream and its hot spot the Scylla -- they would have to watch that each eighty minutes -- the orbital period at their radius near the disk's periphery. But this was her chance, finally, to be a real captain and operate in a unique environment with unique objectives. Henderson cleared his throat. He was frowning as he said, "There’s something we never discussed out loud during our planning sessions." "What’s that?" Fisher asked, an edge in his voice. "What if, as Sylvia hypothesized, there are no longer any dragons here?" No one answered. The disk blazed away, full of light and mystery. # Devereaux tapped a query into the cage interface, starting the automatic analyses. "What does it say?" Fisher asked practically right in Devereaux’s ear. She jumped, a small amount. "Really, Dr. Fisher, you should have stayed on the bridge. Papa will relay everything there as fast as I know it." "I want to see for myself. That’s why I’m here, after all." So they waited together in the observatory lock area, where there was easy access to the Karamojo’s hollow interior where Stearn and Fisher had built the magnetic cage to house the dragon. Currently it served as the repository for the plasma sample the ramscoop shuttle had returned. "I thought you were going to help me," Fisher said. "I am helping." "I mean with Fang, stopping this foolish plan of hers. I’m the scientific head of this mission. I should have final say, not that militaristic bitch." Devereaux had been intently watching the spectral analyzer, but she turned to Fisher and said, "You lied to me." He looked back at her blankly for a moment. "Oh, the space wisps. It was expedient. You must understand." "You lied to me. Papa has it all in your public vita. You stopped the destruction of the space wisps, studied them for three years, and concluded they represented interesting chemistry but were not technically alive." "You were bothering me, and I thought I’d get rid of you and gain an ally at the same time. You told me at one point that you hadn't downloaded an exobiology database, after all. It was, as I said, expedient." Devereaux laughed without real mirth, then cut it off abruptly, suddenly very serious. "I thought we had connected. I thought we -- look, you better start treating us like your friends, or at least colleagues. Like people, anyhow, or we’ll find a way to leave you out here with your precious dragons." She didn't really like the way her words sounded like a threat, but she chose not to ameliorate them with additional qualifications. "Fine," he answered, "I’ll treat you like people." "Thank you. That's a start." She kept her tone flat, fighting back the sarcasm that wanted to seep in. The machine beeped. Devereaux studied the results. "Nothing but hydrogen, helium, and metals. Abundances within predicted uncertainties. Nothing unexpected." Not like life at all, she thought, which always showed something unexpected. "You’re sure?" Devereaux shrugged and pointed at the numbers. "That’s as clear as it gets." "Damn. Where's everything hiding?" "Thought you’d see something? Little bits of dragon food floating around?" she kidded. "Not really, but I’d hoped for something to convince Fang to change her mind. This worries me, no food chain or transitional forms. Maybe the dragon in the film was a mechanical probe? Or maybe this is a stocked pond. We could be poaching here, but without some positive evidence of something...You don’t suppose we could...No, I guess not." At least he was still human enough to read her scowl. "That bitch is going to murder a lot of dragons," he said. Devereaux pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything, but she silently appended, if they are really still here. If they were ever here. # Fang's stomach churned as the first missile plowed into the disk. It would be a minute before the missile exploded at the mid-plane and its effects would become evident at the surface. "I maintain that you’ve overestimated how fast a star dragon can move," Fisher said, continuing with his litany of objections that had been streaming forth since he’d returned to the bridge sans evidence for life in the disk. No star plankton or star rabbits to worry about, which suited Fang fine. "My estimates are based on your models, Dr. Fisher. Are they wrong?" she challenged. "Of course they are! That snippet of data from the probe told us almost nothing. If my models were perfect, we’d be able to build a dragon ourselves and skip this trip." Fang shrugged. "The disk environment must be as varied to its inhabitants as those of terrestrial life forms. Parts of Earth's oceans are oxygen-poor and lifeless. We could be fishing in the equivalent of a desert. We did that with the first Jupiter probe." When Fang refused to engage him, Fisher tacked. "Look, I thought we agreed that the lack of a supporting ecosystem would be evidence for intelligent creation. Someone goes to all the trouble of making these star dragons, then we come along and start blowing them up. That someone is going to be mad, don’t you think?" "Then let them show up and tell us. That’d be a mission to be on, but I doubt that’s going to happen." She really didn't worry about an abstract boogie man too much. Give her something tangible to tilt with. An empty disk was no cause for alarm. "What’s done is done, Dr. Fisher. The missiles are exploding as we speak. I suggest you sit back and enjoy the show." Fisher blazed green and thankfully said nothing. "There," Stearn said, almost launching himself as he stood to point at the black vectors. "There she blows!" "Magnify," said Fisher, whipping around. "Magnify," repeated Fang, so that Papa would do as requested. There was the sensation of movement at great velocity as the entire bowl of fire warped through the bridge, making the barely perceptible shadows shift and grow like hidden secrets worried about too much -- except for Fisher, whose glow helped wipe out shadows, making his secrets somehow seem even more hidden. Before them the disk blossomed into a spreading ring containing alabaster flame at millions of degrees Kelvin. The shockwave plowed through the surrounding cooler plasma, heating, engulfing, roaring. The disk burned into purity, erasing all the details of its former motion. The central region of the explosion erupted like a spouting volcano, lifting many kilometers of gas above the bowled surface. The differential orbital accelerations were already shredding the perfect circle of destruction into a twisted, splayed half-spiral, just as their three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation had predicted. "Now that," Fang said, "is a beater." "Are we really safe from that?" Henderson asked, hands clasped tightly in his lap. Papa answered, "Yes, mostly by keeping our distance. Our incident flux is well within tolerances." "It’s beautiful," Devereaux said, her voice barely audible. "If anyone is watching closely, it's going to give them some strange spectra to decipher." "It’s the most disgusting thing I ever saw," Fisher said. Everyone ignored Fisher and watched the developing explosion. With any luck, the dragons had registered the photon and particle burst with their specialized senses -- whatever they were -- and would be fleeing the shockwave. Over the next few hours, the other missiles would explode, channeling the dragons right to the Karamojo. With any luck. Fang licked her lips. A few minutes later Stearn jumped again, pointing. "Number two!" And they all watched again, dumbfounded, at the destructive power of mankind’s technology. In the face of the natural splendor of SS Cygni and its accretion disk these explosions were only magnified in their brilliance. This was an awesome experience to preside over. The oddest thing was watching all this raw energy with the counter-point of excruciating silence. Maybe they should have some music, something ancient and elemental. Maybe Pradhan's Cosmic Continuum, or Stravinsky’s Firebird, something. Maybe she should let Henderson select something -- he knew classical music. But that thought faded quickly as she became lost again in the view, the silence somehow majestically fitting after all. No music could match this, no sound, that incidental effect of air molecules crashing together. What was that compared to the raw energy dancing in this amphitheater of fire? "You’re killing them," muttered Fisher, voice cracking, breaking that silence. Fang shouted, "If this is so painful, why don’t you just leave the bridge?" "I want to be here to count the bodies." "Sylvia," Fang asked in a conversational tone, "Do you see any bodies yet?" "Uh, right. I'll check." Devereaux bent to her console and started whispering instructions to Papa. "Number three!" Stearn kept an enthusiastic count through the first dozen, but Fang amazed herself by becoming bored. Maybe she could fit into jaded Earth culture better than she thought. It was a spectacle, but not interactive. The missiles reached their objectives and exploded. There wasn't anything to do but watch. She needed to find the thread of nervous tension she’d held in her stomach at the start of this endeavor. The dragons would come, just as the lion had. When you look nature in the eye and pull the trigger, you are alive. They were now pulling the trigger. That was what she was in this for, being alive and vital, being involved in the universe. These explosions were preliminary to the real action likely to come soon. "I might have something," Devereaux announced, looking up for the first time in the past half hour. Fisher beat Fang to Devereaux’s console. "What is it?" he asked. "Understand," Devereaux began, "The background is quite high and the laws of physics are the same here as they are on Earth. Noise goes as the square root of the counts, so until they're well resolved real signals are easily swamped in the background of an environment like this." "What is it?" Fang asked, disliking repeating Fisher again, but she was starting to get the scent of her quarry and didn't care to hear all of Devereaux's qualifiers. This was one lion that she wanted to be sure to see before it was on top of her. "Here," said Devereaux, pointing to a spike in a spectrum she had displayed. It was a little higher than some other spikes, but didn't appear special in any way. "I’ve been running a filter looking for blueshifting emission lines correlated with missile explosions. Taking the distribution of data over several explosions, and running another cross-correlation in the frequency domain, then shifting and stacking, I was able to pick out this. Run it in the time domain, Papa." A graph popped up, intensity versus velocity, showing one sharp line against a jagged continuous signal. As they watched, the line intensified and moved toward negative velocities -- blueshifts -- toward the Karamojo. At kilometers per second. "That’s it for sure," said Fisher, beaming green light onto the rim of the console’s picture tank. "You’re always sure, aren’t you, Fisher," Fang said. "I’m only ever as sure as you are, Captain." Ignoring them both, Devereaux went on, "I ought to be able to estimate the dragon density from this, if that’s them. Add some finer spatial filtering. The velocities seem really high though. I still have a lot of guesswork to give you a number. It’ll take me a little time. We might just be better off with empirical calibration when the final array of explosions drive them out of the disk." Enough qualifications! This was a hunt, not a science project. "As long as we get just one," Fang said, "This mission will be a success." "The operation was a success, but the patient died," quipped Fisher. "How’s that?" Fang asked, knowing better, but settling into a bit of their old repartee. "Old medical saying, pre-nanotech. It means you’re too focused on succeeding with your little task to worry about the big picture." "Oh will you please just shut up for once?" She managed to keep her voice even and face impassive. She was not sure how. "Fine," he answered, that tone of smug righteousness grating in her ear. Fang said, "Find out what you can, Sylvia," and stalked back to her fighting chair to watch the bomb bursts continue. She had to get in the right mind frame...the lion is out there, hiding in the grass. She rubbed her damp palms against the hide of her chairbeast, puta-pop-pop-pop, as her skin stuck and slid and stuck and slid on the leathery surface. She bent her head slightly down and inhaled deeply, catching her own not unpleasant scent. She smiled, slightly, and began a series of isometric exercises. She would be ready when the time came. She was about to discover what it truly meant to be Captain. She could hardly wait. When the series of programmed explosions was nearly finished and the dragons had to arrive soon, very soon, Fang asked, "Any progress, Sylvia?" Without looking up, Fisher managed to cut off Devereaux and answered, "It’s really a snake in the grass. The signals vary in a most interesting manner, which I think might be camouflage against the disk. Why they should be hiding, I don’t know, but it certainly seems that way. I speculate that there’s a electrically transparent shell tuned to their -- " "There she blows!" shouted Stearn, thankfully ending the lecture early. "I mean it this time!" Fang followed Stearn’s pointing, but saw nothing right away that made sense. The explosion was spectacular, more so than the others as it was closer, but there was something different, a strange swirling rainbow riding the edge of the shockwave. "Papa?" "Working on it, daughter," came the reassuring older voice. "Is this it?" Fang asked. "Yes!" Fisher’s turn to shout. Papa said, "Individual entities now visible, approaching at high velocity. Three thousand kilometers and closing." "Match velocities and spin this ship into capture position!" Fang shrieked, suddenly standing. "Collapsing singularities, boosting." "Captain! Look at it, Captain!" Stearn, shouting. "Oh my goodness." Said Sylvia. "That can’t be right." Henderson said. "Yes!" shouted Fisher again, pumping his fists as the gravity first faded, then dumped him unceremoniously on his butt as the rail drive came on-line. Fang's own butt suddenly smashed into her groaning chairbeast as she gawked at something she hadn't imagined. So many, so fast... "Visual tracking on herd forerunners," announced Papa. "More than ten thousand head." No stately lion pride, but a great fucking snake nest. All over the walls, the ceiling the floor, flying toward the Karamojo. She couldn’t focus on any one of them at first. It was all a twisted prismatic mess of wheels and coils and fire and lightning. She thought of the bucket of worms her grandfather had kept on the junk, that bucket her cousin had once turned over her head, now blazing over her and no one to punch out this time but herself. Fisher staggered up, arms outstretched, laughing. "My dragons!" Fang blinked, shaking away the feeling of sinking into the swarm -- a better term than herd -- and pushed away her concerns and attempted to study the lead dragons. Coils of different colors, but always blazing white at their core, hypnotizing. She blinked again to break the spell. That pulsing scarlet one, there, she concentrated...a spiral coil flashing with arcs of lightning, brilliant even against the fire it wrapped around, corkscrewing toward them. Some kind of thrust? Current in the coils, fusion in the core? "They’re rockets!" Fisher shouted. "How big? How soon?" Fang asked. Scales popped up, and a clock with digits running down from sixty-two. "I measure lengths ranging from five hundred meters to ten kilometers, relative velocities coming down to under ten thousand kilometers per hour. Calculating electromagnetic fields." "Get us in position! Charge the cage!" Fang ordered. Papa maintained the dragon’s size on the displays, but let the details sharpen as the distance closed and their imaging resolution improved. Filters began to enhance contrast. Textures materialized in the solid monochromatic colors, an intertwined fibrous texture infinitely structured. The bodies resembled less and less indistinct coiled tubes and more and more pieces of something alive with sections and varying shape and distinct features. They had heads. Deep in her gut, that surprised Fang. She had known abstractly that the lump on one end of the star dragon in the Prospector video was probably a head, but the resolution had been too poor to show fine detail. Certainly they would have an intake for their fuel, food, whatever, and certainly they would have sensory organs to navigate through their environment. Worse, they had eyes. Great multi-faceted multi-hued domes adorned the head, three each, one hundred twenty degrees separating them, twisting independently, but somehow each seemingly focused on her, with the emotionless reptilian feel of chameleon eyes. The rest of the creature faded from her awareness except for those flashing, rotating eyes around the core of fire.... And she flashed back.... Trailing salty white foam, the leviathan’s stalked eyes broke the water. Perched atop the creature’s ocean-supported bulk, Lena had never thought their appearance threatening when she had seen them in a picture tank. Like the shark, the smaller Earth predator that the instructive module had compared the leviathan to, the predators shared doll eyes, round and dull and dead -- eyes for an eating machine that did what it did without passion, but with efficiency. The leviathan’s eyes to Lena held an ineffable quality, some sort of alien wisdom. Her grandfather tread the water placidly with the sure movements of his morning Tai Chi, knowing what approached, knowing that he could not reach the junk quickly enough, and knowing if he tried the junk might well capsize and send her into the water with him. Into the water with those eyes and the creature they belonged to. "Come in to the water, Lena," the hungry mind behind the eyes seemed to say. "I will eat you...if not today, then someday. I am patient. I am inexorable." For the first time in decades, in her mind’s eye, she watched the way her grandfather took one last breath and instinctively brought his splayed hands out of the water to protect his head as the gaping maw surrounded his thin body, the way the water drained through the jaws triple-slotted lips that rose a full three meters above the waterline, the way that water sounded dripping and splashing, and the sour smell of fear that came not from her grandfather but from her own young body. A full three minutes after the water had smoothed to its customary shallow chop driven by that day’s slight breeze, Lena sank to her knees to crawl the three meters across the hand-polished deck to the radio to call for help. To her Earth-evolved perception, the dragon eyes more resembled inorganic machinery than anything living. This horde’s visionary machinery catalogued the strange, cool, white apparition before them. No hate there, not like the lion’s, no passion. This was an implacable enemy -- an army of enemies -- preparing to stampede over anything in their flight. "You have come into the fire, Lena," the eternal mind behind the eyes told her. "Today we will swallow you. We are inexorable. We are here. Today." Fang bit her bottom lip, hard, to keep a moan from escaping her. Her chest tightened, and her collar felt like hands around her throat. An analytic, detached part of her mind noted that those things we experience as children mark us forever no matter how long we live, how much we learn, part of our hearts never grow up. She had thought of this event recently, had tried to bring it up with Sam, because she had something to work out that the star dragon had resuscitated. The analytic part of her mind didn't have complete control, but it drove a wedge into her locked mind and expanded her world to contain more than eyes. Fisher stood before her, his lips moving. What was he saying? She could not understand, and shifted her gaze from his green lips to his pink eyes. Not lifeless, but blazing... She would not tolerate inaction from herself. The dragons were all about her, their eyes huge, their approach fixed and unwavering. What was the magnification? How long until they reached the Karamojo? Fang glanced at the figures and was dismayed. They were close! The fields were charged, the orientation was good. "That one, Papa!" she yelled, pointing an approaching dragon with a promising trajectory. "Cage that one!" The Karamojo lurched, maneuvering thrusts pushing them into position. The bubble housing the bridge moved to compensate for the rotations, but the normal forces were still mighty. The dragon twisted, coils splitting to squirt nuclear fire. "Match it!" screamed Fang. A giant hand smashed against her. Her fighting chair ballooned to cushion the shifts. She struggled to keep her head where she could see the action. These high velocities were amazing, a dogfight with an alien. It could not go on more than a few seconds. "Take it in! Be ready for -- " "Field derivatives are too high," Papa interrupted. "Taking evasive action." "Don't you dare!" Fang counter ordered. "Hold the line!" "Sorry, daughter." There was a flare as the dragon's rocket exploded across their maw, jerking the creature out of its path. The Karamojo rocked, creating a slalom run in Fang's stomach. Lights flickered, flashed. She heard the crackling of arcing somewhere on the bridge and smelled ozone. The world shifted as the dragons blazed by the bridge and the deck rolled. The short hairs on the back of her neck tingled. She pitched forward, sliding from the arms of her chair into Fisher's couch. She clawed her way up his slick jumpsuit. He smelled of something burned. The dragons continued to flash by, some huge in their proximity. The ship continued to rock. What had gone wrong? Had Papa really taken control from her? "Papa?" Fang called, disgusted at the whine in her voice. The lighting, mostly coming from the surrounding external displays, changed tints as the ship rocked again and again. Lightning sparkled and strobed all around. All this with silence from the dragons. Papa groaned, a deep resonant tone, which cut off after less than a second. A voice that superficially sounded like Papa, but was somehow lacking, said, "The Karamojo has experienced extensive system failures. Taking inventory and troubleshooting." "Papa!" Fang shouted. Taken control from her? It was smoky, hard to breathe. Someone -- Henderson -- clamped something around her bicep. It pinched her painfully. She pushed to her knees against the hands on her arm and shoulders. One final dragon brushed past, a ghost vanishing into the sky. The gravity increased with a teeth-rattling vibration, and abruptly ceased. She tumbled up, out, away from the deck, tangled with Henderson. "What’s happening Papa?" The calm and somehow lifeless Papa voice said, "Drive systems damaged. Hull integrity compromised. Two rings breached, now sealed, six..." The list went on, rapid-fire, for nearly thirty seconds. How could this happen? She said to Henderson, "What did you do to me?" He kept his eyes down on the autodoc on her arm and blue veins stood out in his neck. "Minor anxiety attack. You over-rode your own systems. I’m medicating now." "Anxiety attack!" Fisher’s angry voice, behind her, somewhere. His voice faded and she heard Devereaux whispering. "Minor," said Henderson, "but requiring attention." Fang closed her eyes, hoping Fisher would continue. She had failed. She deserved every word. "Daughter?" Papa’s true voice sliced into her consciousness. "Help me." Yes, their ship, her ship, the Karamojo, Papa, needed her. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Whether it was the drugs or something else, it didn't matter. She was the captain again in her heart, and there was work to be done. There was no one else to do it and he'd have to get by one such as herself. "I’m here, Papa. We’ll fix you." "We’d better do it fast," Stearn said. "We're falling into the disk." Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve. -- Henry David Thoreau Everywhere there are walls: walls of riveted steel plates, walls of red bricks, walls of frosty white ice, walls of barbed wire. Tricks of his shattered mind, designed to ground Papa's point of focus with a solid challenge, meant to be more reassuring than the loss of an eye or paralysis of a hand might be to a corporeal human. Papa races throughout himself, around a ring and into a wall of static, down a power conduit leading to the Higgs generators and into a mirrored wall, and, the scariest, into a data processing bank and into another wall, this one of stone covered with thick ivy smelling of honeysuckle. Like a human mind he is patterned upon, he can accept the loss of a replaceable body part, but his processing banks...therein rests the connections to his identity. Throughout the ship, his body, himself, he moans. The moans echo into parts of himself he cannot reach. His human personality, faced with the despairing prospect of brain damage and perhaps senility and impairment, would finish the job and make certain to destroy his ego totally. A gun, a shotgun shell, a brain. As a constructed intelligence, such a thing is impossible, and he fears a subtle madness not prevented by his cerebral architecture that will result in a debilitating feedback loop. He craves action. He craves repair...or oblivion. He craves wholeness of one kind or another. His automatics are already at work; and there is little his personality can help with. Like reflexes, his automatics have their own independent error-checked data caches acting as ganglia to provide immediate and accurate information. Accessing these caches himself would be frustratingly slow. He must focus his self-awareness on its designated interface: the human crew. He flies, and finds the Jack still on the bridge, floating in freefall. His brow knit in concentration, indicator lights reflecting from the sweaty skin of his cheeks and forehead, the end of his pink tongue slipping from his parted lips, as he reads the diagnostics panel on a piece of equipment that Papa cannot recognize. "You’re a good boy," Papa tells the Jack. The Jack’s eyes flick up. "Papa? How you doing, old man?" "We're as strong as an ox," Papa boasts, something he has said many times to indicate a robust state, but his programming forces him to qualify his statement. "The parts we can feel. We're sure you’ll have everything fixed up in no time, won’t you?" The Jack grins, teeth flashing like diamonds in the coal of his face. "We had better." His eyes flick back to the panel as he taps a keypad on a hand-held troubleshooting unit spliced into the ailing equipment. They should have been sufficiently shielded from induced currents, but no Faraday cage is perfect. Could it really have been that large a flux? A random impact with a dragon's field should not have resulted in this -- but they had not forseen rocketing and that must surely have a different field arrangement. "What are you doing?" Papa asks. He realizes his mistake as the Jack’s grin twists into a frown. It’s bad then, what’s got him. Perhaps revealing the fullness of his ignorance would aid the young man in his repairs, but his personality isn't bound to such an embarrassment. Perhaps the level of his ignorance would frighten the Jack, make him make a mistake. Let him question the automatics, if he would. Papa flees. The mind, the mind, he thinks. Cogito ergo sum. My personality, me, is whole. Isn't it? We are separated from my body and senses. The Jack works on the body and the links to the body. The biotech, Henderson, he will be working on the organic minds that process sensory input, that contain memory and kinesthetic knowledge. Papa’s perspective rattles around the ring, bouncing off a wall and taking a circuitous route to the biolab, which abuts the brain banks. "Mr. Henderson," Papa shouts. "How are we doing?" Henderson has half his body behind a panel floating on a chain in the microgravity, but the muscle pattern of a full body startle reflex is evident. The lights in the biolab are low, a terrarium empty, and everything silent save for the whooshing of Papa’s breath through the still-operational atmospheric scrubbers. Nevertheless, the biotech says something that Papa cannot make out. Papa replays the sounds through a set of filters and identifying algorithms. The biotech had said, "Piles of poop, hold it together, Axel. It’s just the local ghost." "We heard that," Papa says, dismayed at how much it comes out sounding like a child’s triumphant discovery. A regression to the scatological is unexpected from Henderson's polished public side, so perhaps things are very bad. Maybe he should -- "Fine," Henderson says. "You can crawl in here with me and give me some help." Papa would very much prefer a stiff drink, a double, with effects he could simulate, but he shifts his focus forward. For a moment he is gripped by the powerful sensation that he is falling, that he is a ghost, and will fall through the ship itself into the hell that crackles beyond. A human thought -- he believes. A good sign. Then his perspective is beside Henderson, seeing what Henderson is seeing, and little more. The high-energy bands are inaccessible -- something has burned those eyes out -- while the mid-infrared bands show little but Henderson’s reflected heat. At visible wavelengths, he sees something that he cannot comprehend, and for a moment is caught in deja vu to when he could not assist the Jack mere moments earlier. But it isn't that he lacks the information to identify what he sees. It is that his personality maintains the ability to deny what he sees. The black carbon residue of burned organics tells him that induced currents have cooked this part of his brain. "What do you make of this?" asks Henderson. "Have the stem cells germinated properly? Are getting their full dose of accelerant?" "We -- " Papa begins, unable to go on. There is pink growth along the nerve channels connecting the parallel bins, and the stem cells are dividing according to spec, fed with a rich nutrient bath provided by the adjacent lab’s biomass reserve. Still -- he does not need to watch anyone poking around in his necrotic flesh. He flees, leaving the expert systems to provide information to the biotech. Bewildered, Papa spins into the observatory bay where Fisher and Devereaux are fitting mobiles with specialized tools for...for...for something. His mind, gone! "Did you see what I saw?" Fisher asks Devereaux, eyes unblinking as his hands move automatically along the tool fitting flush against a mobile’s wrist. "Rockets! The dragons transformed their bodies into fusion rockets to keep ahead of the shockwave. They’re not just photovores, and they don’t just coast along the magnetic field lines. This is simply amazing. You saw it, right?" "Right, but -- " "This is unique. I don’t know what it all means yet, but it means something. How do you think such a thing could evolve? Oh, this is remarkable," Fisher says, still unblinking. "What are you two doing?" Papa asks. He only wants information, but this request comes out gruff, accusatory. Devereaux jumps sending her into a slight spin, but Fisher neither blinks nor ceases his finger dance across the mobile fittings. "The rail is out of commission, and probably the Higgs generators, too. The automatic systems are not responding, so we’re sending mobiles to effect repairs." Devereaux removes an aluminum canister from a storage locker and begins to spray a white coating onto the mobiles’ wrinkled gray skin. What is that for? Protection from the disk’s radiation? Must be. Such an odd assortment of information his personality has lost access to...certainly he will recover it soon. Certainly. "That’s good," says Papa after a moment watching the pair work. "Papa, pull up my latest dragon model and give me a projection on the hull over here," Fisher requests. "I’ve got a lot of modifications to make." That he can do, although it is irritating to have full access to Fisher’s files and yet be cut off from so much of himself. He links the local display to the model in Fisher’s subnode. "Here it is, Dr. Fisher. Can I do anything else to assist you?" Devereaux pauses midstream of her oral programming of the remote and tilts her chin in a way Papa has identified with mild surprise at an inconsistent piece of data. Did he say something out of character? Is his mind that gone? He studies Fisher, but the exobiologist does and says nothing, already focused on the serpentine model form tangled in a mess of field vectors. Devereaux spares a glance and sighs at Fisher, who has stopped his mobile preparation, before resuming her instructions, which makes Papa think instead of react. Fisher should be working on the mobile, working to repair the Karamojo. Why didn’t he realize that? Fisher should not be playing with his models now. There is work to be done. Papa freezes Fisher's model mid-twist. "We're falling into the disk. Get to the job at hand and save the toys for later." "Hey! This is a monkey job," Fisher says patting the mobile on its shoulder. "I should be updating my model, redesigning our dragon cage, that sort of thing. Not simple repairs." "Shut up and get back to work," Devereaux says. "Survival comes first. We're falling into the disk. It'll kill us fast." "The nanoskin is working to spec. The radiation pressure is slowing us, as is the particle flux of the disk wind. And there are chemical rockets for emergencies." "The radiation, the wind, in this gravity they'll only add seconds. That's all. And the rockets won't give us much more than minutes." Papa knows she's right. "This is stupid that we’re in this situation at all," Fisher says, rubbing his neck with the palm of one hand. "Fang screwed up. We should be on our way home by now." Papa thinks, putting some of his available discretionary computation processors on synthesizing the new dragon data with Fisher’s model and their cage. "We weren't ready to capture a dragon, given what we now know. There was little Captain Fang could have done." "She could have cleared us out of the way!" Fisher is shaking his fists with his words, making his entire body move in counterpoint in the microgravity of the near free fall. Their efforts are not slowing their fall much. "She could have approached slowly, carefully, and not driven tens of thousands of dragons down our throat!" "Get to work," growls Devereaux. Fisher pulls his fists back to his body, turns away from his model, and resumes his checks of the mobile tools. "Ship’s status, Papa." Papa reaches for those data, but finds over half the sockets empty. Wasn't it all just there? From his manufactured memories of having a human body, the ones he still has access to, he thinks it is like having a tooth pulled and temporarily forgetting about the bloody hole. He had started to feel useful. Rather than confess his ignorance, he activates an expert system to answer and scurries away. He is tiring of running away. Then he is in Fang's dim cabin. No exterior waves, no music. The sole light source comes from the desk surface, over which a human silhouette floats. Stuffed animals also populate the room, casting eerie shadows as they mill about in a semblance of Brownian motion. "Captain Fang?" Temperature ripples across her face, first hot, then cold. "Not daughter?" "Of course, daughter," he says, wondering about his slip. His confusion is profound. He can show it to her and her alone. "What are you doing?" "What do you think, Papa? I'm trying to save us. Why aren't you helping me?" Her face flares with heat, her own dwarf nova. The infrared is working here at least. Now he looks for the first time at the workspace on the desk: the picture tank has become a diorama showing their dilemma in miniature. The Karamojo falls ever closer to the swirling accretion disk. In seconds the ship is swallowed in fire. It does not come out the other side. "The time compression isn't large," he notes. They have minutes, not hours. They are Icarus, flown too close to the sun, doomed to sink into the sea. No slow orbital decay, no time for repairs. "What shall we do?" Fang answers, distantly, as much to herself as to him it seems. "Wormdrive is unavailable. The ship's nanoskin is already reflecting all it can. We have reaction mass, but no raildrive to launch it. That leaves the back-up chemicals, but the rockets' delta vee is too small to lift us away from the disk for long. I'm saving them right now, but will have to fire them in a few minutes." Papa feels shame flood through himself. She better knows their state than does he. "What of adding to our current velocity? What of punching through the disk fast?" He is cut off from his own mind and cannot evaluate the idea as accurately as the model the captain is running. "I thought of that," she says. We'd be through the disk in a few minutes, but still too long. The density is too high for our skin. Too much drag, too much heating. Wait." She taps in a few changes and subvocalizes other commands. The miniature Karamojo returns to a point above the disk, a fraction closer than at the start of the last scene Papa saw in the diorama. This time the ship jerks, its ass pulled forward as if by a string, and then starts edging toward the perimeter of the disk. "Yes," says Papa. "We can add to our orbital component, push the apogee outside the outer disk. That would give us more time." Even as he says this, the problem with this new plan appears. The miniature Karamojo misses the flared disk edge, skimming through the diffuse atmosphere, and plows into the accretion stream from the secondary star. Once again, the ship does not emerge. "Bad timing on this orbit," she evaluates coldly. There must be something they can do. It does not seem the time to die well. They have barely begun here. It brings up another false memory of being a human on Earth, camping in the woods. Papa remembers bending over to pick up a stone to skip across the river and noticing a group of tadpoles in the shallow water. A fish slid up and took one of the tadpoles, and was gone with the flip of a tail and gulp of a mouth. The prey moved from egg to tadpole to lunch in mere days. What was the purpose in that? "Skipping stones across the river," he says aloud, making his intended metaphor live. Too obvious and trite for his namesake, but the best he can do under the circumstances. "What do you mean?" says Fang, staring at the perpetually dying starship. Maybe he does mean something. He has a subconscious, designed to aid him with non-linear problem solving. Maybe it has. "Use the rockets to slow our orbit." Fang considers this. "Oh, I see! Perhaps..." The miniature Karamojo is jerked backwards this time, as if catching on a snag in a stream. The orbital energy reduced, the ship moves inward toward the hotter and denser regions of the disk. But the disk is also flared, and these inward regions are thinner and their surfaces at a lower altitude, giving them more time to fall. More importantly, these inward regions obey the laws of Newton and Kepler, and orbit the white dwarf more rapidly. The six hundred kilometer per second velocity at the edge of the disk means nothing to them, for the ship matches it. Falling at the outer edge is like falling into a placid pool. Now, as the miniature ship moves in to smaller radii, the velocity differential grows. This time, when the tiny ship hits the disk, rounded rings down, it hits a fast-moving stream and does not sink. It bounces. The orbit decays a bit more with the energy lost, their apogee not quite so close to the disk edge. The conditions are harsher, hotter, and more difficult for the nanoskin to resist. The ship bounces again on the second impact after it again falls parabolically to the surface of the lake of fire. And on the third. Just before the fourth bounce, when their orbit has decayed and brought them a third of the way inwards toward the white dwarf, the tiny Karamojo gives up the ghost, evaporating in short order as the hull blackens and burns. "Damn," says Fang. "That's a good trick. Gives us nearly an hour to get things fixed. What's the impulse, I wonder." Papa patches into her model as some of his network comes back on-line, like some idea on the tip of his tongue suddenly coming to him. He calculates the number. "Low. Under twenty gees." "We can take it," says Fang. "We'll have to." They spend a few precious moments more optimizing their burns, and then Fang sends Papa out to alert the crew. He is happy to have this task to occupy his noisy thoughts. He can focus on it when he runs into the mucking walls. # Stearn tried to catch his breath while he waited in the embrace of the couchbeast. He had rushed to secure his tools and the damaged equipment, filling his stikfast palettes, and kicked to secure himself. He had thought he had worked to the last second before the bounce, but here he was, waiting. What was it already? Five seconds? Ten? He had the bridge displays back on-line. The area around the immediate deck blazed with charged plasma, and the ceiling displayed a violet sky. He checked his eyeclock again. Only six seconds had passed. "Shit," he said, grinning. Then he felt a tug, a slight one, far less than a gravity. Was that it? Papa had spooked him into thinking it would be worse. Was the ship's brain still seriously malfunctioning? Then the hand of god himself smashed into Stearn, pressing him into the hugging beast. His cheeks and chest flattened, and his breath whooshed from him. His wrist ached suddenly, and it was all he could do to twist it into more comfortable position. The fire rose with them, briefly, then fell away. Stearn was a piece of shrapnel riding the shockwave of an explosion. He was a human cannonball. He was a Sirian photovore in its birth launch. God eased up on him, and Stearn floated from the couchbeast. The poor thing was stinking sweaty and moaning quietly. Bruises splotched its hide. Stearn's wrist ached, and his lower back as well. "That was fun," he said, listening to the distant, insulated pops of the cooling hull. "Can't wait to do it again!" # Henderson gasped for air after the third bounce and pushed off from his chairbeast, grateful for the microgravity. He would have been shaking in any kind of gravity. He knew he stank of nervous sweat and didn't care. While this last bounce hadn't been as bad as the first two, he knew that it was the last one. Papa had promised. He laughed, a little, that they had made it. He stopped abruptly, disgusted at the uneven timber of the sound. It wasn't over yet. Devereaux's voice piped into the biolab. "Need you down here Henderson, inner staging area, now." He grimaced and kicked off into the ring. An acrid, sharp scent assaulted Henderson when he arrived. He instantly took in the scene: Devereaux floated with two twitching, burnt and bleeding mobiles. "Did they finish?" Devereaux looked upset with him. He didn't know why. "Yeah, they finished. The Karamojo is fixed." Henderson let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and his fingers tingled. It was going to be fine then. "Why did you summon me? These mobiles are hopeless. Best thing now is to redirect extra fish in here to clean up." Cocked forty-five degrees from his orientation to better examine the pair of mobiles returned from their repair mission, Devereaux rolled her eyes at Henderson. "But they looked fine up until a few minutes ago. They finished the lion’s share of repairs wonderfully, and we don’t have back-ups of these. They’re the back-ups for the automatic systems. Until we grow more, the only remaining back-ups are us." Crisis had stirred his blood, and Henderson couldn’t help himself from noticing the way the sweat made Devereaux’s grimy T-shirt stick to her curves. He thought of giving her a congratulatory kiss. "Everything you say is true, but they must have taken a huge radiation dose. You don't see that right away although it devastates a body." "What if we have to go out?" she asked. He shrugged. It would never come to that. "I have some pharmaceuticals I can give us, but I suggest staying behind the nanoskin, our mass, and the e-m fields." A tinkling shudder vibrated through the ship, and gradually Henderson began to fall. The ruglings flattened as his snakeskin boots touched the deck, cushioning the slow fall. He could feel the gravity continue to increase. "You're right. We’ve got the rail drive restored," he said as nonchalantly as he could. "Yee-uck," Devereaux said. She had landed chest first on one of the mobiles. The thing groped weakly at her, red blood seeping from swollen, broken hide and staining the charred patches of reflection skin that hadn't yet sloughed off. Normally Henderson would have laughed, but not today. He stepped to her, carefully in the light gravity, and lifted a wincing Devereaux out of the mess by her T-shirt. The mobile hemorrhaged over its entire body, shook, and died. The other would die momentarily, its short useful life complete. "Put me down," Devereaux said. Henderson swung around like a crane and deposited Devereaux beside him. "Papa should have warned us," she said as she flipped bits of mobile off her shirt. "You said you had him operational again." "Hardly." Henderson watched her fingers touching her shirt. He hoped she would take it off. "I said that the regrowth operation was underway, and that there was nothing else I could do." "Whatever." Henderson shuffled over to the viewport and scanned the hydroponics. He saw only blackened diamond over the gardens where no doubt the light-filtering mechanisms had burned out. Not good. If the plants had been zapped, dinner would be nothing but recycled fish sticks for the next few days, and the nutrient reserves needed to regrow the gardens would tax their short-term resources. "You there, Papa?" Devereaux asked. "Of course we are," Papa said. "Well then," she said, giving up on the shirt and stripping it off over her head, "What’s next on the repair list?" She was fine looking, but he realized the moment for a congratulatory kiss had passed, and a look was all he would get. It wasn't fair that he'd lost his colony to the crisis. "All critical systems are now repaired or are being repaired by automatic systems. Captain Fang recommends that everyone take a couple hours off." Devereaux turned to Henderson. She held the shirt away from her body. "Want to grab a bite in the galley? I’m famished." Stearn was a lucky man. Henderson would console himself with his own fantasies, which were, he admitted now that the emergency was over, more perfect than the flesh before him. Devereaux projected an earthy physical quality that was more than attractive, but she didn't take the time to keep her form perfect, the way he preferred. He was noticing tiny flaws as the seconds passed. And besides, in an infinite universe how could one woman be enough? "No thanks." He thought of a little white lie, "I’m not hungry after seeing mobiles disintegrate." "I work hard, I get hungry." She cracked a smile. "And after an ordeal like this, well, I usually like some company, but Stearn will have a million things to do and I bet the captain isn't letting him have more than a few minutes off. You sure you’re not hungry?" She kept her smile, although it showed signs of wavering. Was the stress getting to her? Even though her shirt was off leaving her topless, she wasn’t being provocative. This was the first genuinely warm overture she had made to him since he’d made an ass of himself in the observation blister. There was something creeping in the back of his brain, an instinctual emotion that he didn't yet wish to acknowledge. The creeping thing was not about Devereaux. It might come out soon, and he preferred to be alone if that happened. He said, "No thanks." She shrugged and went off one way down the ring, he the other. He took a detour through the Hall of Trophies to get an objective measure of just how seriously things had deteriorated. The corridor was lined on each side with black holes where there should have been happy animal heads. The Karamojo had sucked the Hall bone dry, just like it was supposed to do in an emergency. Only the marlin at the far end of the Hall still wiggled in its place, but as Henderson walked toward it, he saw that the creature was shrunken, and the wiggles were involuntary; the Karamojo would have even this great one, too. As he walked toward the biolab, it dawned on him that perhaps his life had truly been in danger. Was that possible? Yes, he had to admit, it was. Those bounces were bad enough, but Papa had said they would work. And what of before, when they had been damaged? Instead of simply coming close enough to induce the massive current surge that had debilitated the Karamojo, one of those damn dragons could have hit them at kilometers per second. No way they could have taken that. He would have died. The creeping thing acknowledged, his sense of relief chased away, he stepped into his lab and said, "Music. Something dark and destructive." "Would you care to be more specific?" Papa asked. Christ. He’d have to reteach Papa all his preferences, but he was definitely not in the mood to do that now. Something from Papa's violent death-ridden era, he thought. "Night on Bald Mountain." As the first notes struck, Henderson opened a storage locker and removed a glass bottle of his finest Merlot, carefully cultivated from grape to wine over the first part of the voyage. He popped the cork and let the bottle breathe. He half-feared Papa would smell the organic richness and order it added to the biomass reserves. Thankfully his chairbeast had been spared the carnage wrought upon so much of the other non-critical biological systems. He sank into the warm, yielding skin perfectly tuned to his preferences. Leaning back, closing his eyes, he let the beast’s vibrations soothe him. Or tried to. The music picked up, the ghosts rising from their graves to haunt the living for the long, dark night that would only be the darker for the flashes of lightning hurled from the mountain. Henderson fetched a diamond goblet and poured the dark liquid swirling full of mystery. Fine wine was still better grown and fermented with traditional methods rather than synthesized. The random vagaries of the grapes' nutrients and care could produce subtle masterpieces. Surely a unique human genetic sequence was still worthwhile the same way. Surely his own was still worthwhile, and would be on the Earth half a millenia hence. Back in his chairbeast, letting it loom up around him, Henderson regarded the empty terrarium over his wine and music. His fantasy world, sucked dry in minutes by the automatics to feed the repairs to Papa’s brain banks. On the monitors lining the base of the tank shimmered ghost images in black and white of tiny rooms empty save for tiny skeletons. Bone was not so quickly cannibalized. What precautions had he taken to ensure his -- his sequence’s -- survival? Sperm deposits, his code archived, that was it really. In his youth he had been promiscuous, like most. He hadn’t tried to impregnate anyone then, and there had been strangely few lovers of substance in recent years. No single woman could satisfy him, so that was fine, wasn’t it? On the monitors flickered images of skeletons sleeping alone in beds, although that was an illusion. Under the sheets, they would be entangled with even tinier skeletons. So what? Did it matter? They had been little more than monkeys that looked like people. But they had been his people, and he hadn't been able to save them. Could he do any better saving himself? Henderson drained the warm wine in a searing, tannic gulp and launched himself from the chairbeast. The tank monitors above his desk were simple projection devices, thin films vacuum-packed under quartz. Better image quality, he had insisted, than nanotablets. Better to hit as well. The first screen gave way on the second blow of the diamond goblet. The music crashed as the crystal shards fell into the uncannibalized ruglings below. Hundreds of tiny crystals with the same shape and structure as a large crystal caught the light in their facets. More joined them as Henderson banged away, grunting, as he smashed all the monitors. The tiny skeletons shattered, vanished. A directional sound beam caught his ear, slicing through the music and crashing. "Can I be of assistance?" Henderson ignored Papa, running on his unleashed impulses -- his own automatic repair system. Kra-twing! Kra-twing! The recoil of each swing knocked Henderson back, allowing him to get plenty of forward momentum each time on the way back. Eventually he ran out of monitors and attacked the quartz of the tank itself. His boots crunched over the crystal shards. More banging then. Kra-twing! Kra-twing! After several minutes, he tired, and leaned against the tank, hot. Then he slid down with a slow squeak to a squatting position, trailing sweat behind him. He held the unmarked goblet before him, rolling it back and forth between his hands, and watched the tiny spectra reflected from the lights. One object, but so many ways of looking at it. His own life he had looked at in only one way in recent years, an unwavering lone arrow flying into the infinite future he had hoped to split into a billion directions and ensure his immortality. The music finished. "Would you care for another selection?" Papa asked. Henderson ignored the solicitous voice. Eventually he stood, and left the lab, making his way to the galley. He paused at the threshold, and looked in at Devereaux sitting at the polished tabletree dipping a fish stick into some white sauce. Stearn sat with her, smiling as she pushed the dripping food into his mouth. Henderson turned on his heel and returned to the biolab. "Play anything. I don't care what." Atonal, synthesized notes, with no particular pattern began to sound. Twenty-third century computer-generated drivel, lacking all human warmth and understanding. Lonely and alien. Henderson let it play on. It was perfect. # When Papa returns, Fang's cabin is pitch black and silent as space. He shifts his vision to the infrared and finds Fang huddled on her bed, clinging to its fitted sheets. She isn't sleeping; for a moment he listens to her hiccupping breath. "Captain Fang?" Temperature ripples across her face, first hot, then cold. "Not daughter?" "Of course, daughter," he says, wondering about these slips. His confusion remains profound, yet he still knows that protecting Fang is his first priority after safeguarding the ship. Time to set her aright. "The ship is safe." "It was my fault in the first place." "Mine as well. With hindsight, we can say that we were faced with a difficult situation with little prospect for success. We will try again, learning from our -- " don’t say mistake, " -- newly acquired experience." "You're awfully delicate." Fang shifts up on an elbow, then spins her legs out, still clinging to the sheets with hands splayed like claws. Her body surface is cool everywhere -- she’s still in uniform. "Is that you, Papa? Where’s the fire in the belly, the blood and thunder? You’re Papa Hemingway, remember." He remembers. Parts. "You’re a beautiful woman, Lena. Why don’t you let your hair grow out into a fine blonde mane to match your fiery spirit?" "Damn you, Papa." Her face flares with heat, her own dwarf nova. Is that a new thought? "I’m not you. Try as I might, I don’t have that fiery spirit you ramble on about so much. But I’m not a doll, either." He sifts through the available memories he has, false ones and real ones; they all seem more like factoids than memories. "No doll. You box, and that takes determination and heart. A willingness to take a punch. Well, you got punched." "I’m not a real boxer. I rely on technique. I’m careful. It’s just as well that Fisher and I broke up when we did. He was getting better, and I would not have liked that bastard decking me." "Oh, Lena, you see. There’s your fire!" "Bullshit," she says, her volume low. "I am a worthless Captain. First chance to make decisions of consequence, and it’s a spectacular failure. I should just leave it to Fisher." "No, Lena, you’re my Captain. Always." "What's with you? Why aren’t you calling me daughter like usual?" "We don’t know." He would not lie to her even if allowed, and he will not flee from her. "It is frightening." She laughs at that, but the laughter quickly merges into sobs. "Papa has the fear, I have the fear, and the stink of it is all around us." She says the words, and he knows them to be true. He is allowed fear. Fear is a useful tool for self-preservation. The real Papa Hemingway understood fear, but only found it anathema when debilitating. Like what happened to Fang on the bridge for an important split second. He should be furious with her, shouldn’t he? Is he cut off from that part of himself? He should explain the problem to her...it is more than fear. "The algorithms that would cleanse the mind are separated from the data -- the emotional memories -- that define my pseudo-character. We have a human perspective, and a short-term memory, and knowledge of primary ship operations -- those are quite redundant in my neural mesh. We're missing the older real memories, memories of our times together for instance. We don’t really know who you are anymore, just as we don’t know who we are, but we know who we're not. We're not a whole man anymore. We wish someone would just shoot us." "You don’t mean that. That’s not the Papa I remember." "Exactly." It is a terrible silence that follows. He takes some consolation in the idea that his own problems have superseded hers and that she may lean on that to prompt herself back into action. She seemed effective when they saved the ship just a little while ago, but why has she remained in her cabin -- to wallow in self-pity? He is about to ask when she violently pushes away from her bed, bounces hard off a wall, and ricochets to the door. "That’s my break between rounds. There’s not much for people to do on this ship, but I’ll do everything I can. I'll even try to get along with Fisher. Thanks for the bell, Papa." What is she referring to? Is he getting worse? He heard no bell. At least it isn't another goddamned wall. The eyes are the window of the soul. -- Proverb Eyes lie if you ever look into them for the character of a person. -- Stevie Wonder Fang rose from her chairbeast to stand at one end of the conference room, beginning the impromptu dragon meeting. She smoothed around the creases in her whites and said, "Dr. Fisher has agreed to my request to set the agenda for this meeting. Let me proceed briskly. We have much to discuss." In turn, Fang caught the eye of each of her crew, trying to read their hearts, but that trick rarely worked for her. Only in Fisher did she read something; the fixed pink stare that met her was as unwavering and obsessed as ever, but she took encouragement in his cooperation with the agenda. "The Karamojo is currently stable 50 kilometers above the disk, and the ship is in no immediate danger," she began. The ship always came first. "We must decide whether to withdraw now and abort the mission, or to proceed." Fang whipped her gaze around to Fisher and held up a pointed finger to cut him off before he could interrupt. "My current assessment of the situation dictates that we proceed cautiously, and utilize the new information at our disposal. I allow that someone here might have an objection that either Papa or I have overlooked." Fisher opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again and appeared to settle into thought for the moment. Good. Devereaux sitting cross-legged on her chairbeast asked, "Well, just exactly what is our situation?" "Tell them, Papa," Fang said. Time to show some trust in him. Time for him to earn some trust or they had no business remaining in system. "We got hit hard, sure enough, but that was because we didn’t know what was coming. The induced currents coupled to our spinal rail, and through that to my external sensor grid, and then on to a number of non-essential systems. The Karamojo was not designed to take such an electromagnetic event. The autonomous functions, like atmosphere and other life support, are only connected through microwave link and fused connects for standard safety reasons. Good thing, too. By consuming our biomass reserves, we've regrown to eighty percent capacity, and additional growth should increase that figure to over ninety percent in the next four hours. The more serious damage lies with the Higgs generators, which now suffer from a calibration problem: their parameters were reinitialized. Mobile repair restored a thirty percent capacity, but we’ll need some more work before we can blast out of here at full thrust. The nanoskin, since it is more mechanical than electrical and relatively insensitive to long wavelength interference, continues to work well, keeping us cool. So we’re ship-shape in most ways, and we're raring for a second shot. That was a lucky sucker punch." Papa was starting to sound a little more like Papa, but so much still fell back onto the basic speech template. Still, it was an improvement. Fang said, "Thank you, Papa. Now, are there any remaining questions about our status or any other issues to be considered? I'd like everyone's input." Henderson cleared his throat, then frowned. Finally he said, "I’d like to emphasize the depletion of our biomass reserves. We wound up with a lot of plain carbon, useless for anything but the nanovats. It takes time and energy to regrow sophisticated biocircuits from scratch. We cannot return to full operational status if we are hit that hard again." He kept his eyes down during his statement, then looked up at the ceiling to reiterate his final point. "We just can't take it. I can't emphasize this enough." "So emphasized," said Fisher. "Well, it sounds like there’s no problem continuing the mission, so we should get down to discussing strategy revisions." "Not so fast, Dr. Fisher," Fang said. "That may be the case, but I think everyone should have a chance to have the floor. As I said, I’m ready to proceed. Phil?" Stearn, sitting to her right and looking serious and responsible these days in his dark skin and solid muscles, said, "Papa’s completely correct. Things are going okay. And frankly, this is a lot more fun, and a different kind of fun, than I’ve had in some time. I’m game." Devereaux, next to Stearn, twirled a dreadlock around her finger, winding and unwinding. "I have some reservations," she said, "but I’m hooked. I must understand how the dragons came to be, how they live, and what they will mean to us in the future. I cannot turn my back on this puzzle now." When it was clear that Devereaux had said her piece, Fisher said, "Yes, we proceed," and turned his pink eyes on Henderson. The biotech rubbed his dimpled chin with a big hand. "I’d like to hear Devereaux’s reservations, if I may." Fisher sighed, nodded, and turned back to Devereaux. Devereaux jerked back at the sudden attention, her Buddha-like composure showing cracks. "Just the perfectly obvious stuff. Even with all the data we have on the disk, it isn’t easy to predict what it will do very far in advance. A big magnetic flare erupting under us could pose problems in our current state. A dwarf nova, while uncomfortable, is easily seen in advance and escaped even with our crippled wormdrive. The dragons themselves appear more formidable than we had guessed, but we have more knowledge now, and that will help. I still have a concern, rather irrational, that someone will show up and be upset with us for poaching. As I said, perfectly obvious stuff." Everyone turned their heads back to Henderson, who had lifted his head while Devereaux was speaking, but was now looking down again. "Well, I suppose it sounds as if...as if we should go on," he finally said. "Right," said Fisher. "Then I have some new cage designs to present." He stopped short of asking Papa to project them and said, "If I may, Captain Fang?" Fang nodded, and they went on to discuss the new cage, how to get and keep a dragon out of the disk, how to herd a dragon into the Karamojo, and all the other practical matters they needed to think about to continue with the hunt. As the meeting dragged on, Fang worried about how polite and cooperative Fisher seemed. But why shouldn’t he be? He was getting his way now. Still she worried, but gave her worry little merit. After all, how could far could she really trust her own judgment? # In the net of Fisher’s mind, the dragon was already caught. Still, the net flapped at a couple of loose corners. When Fang dismissed the meeting and ordered everyone to take four hours off to rest (insanely, more time idle!) while Papa also recovered, Fisher waited for her. When they were the only two left in the room, Fang paused at his heel dragging, and lifted a questioning eyebrow toward her. "Look, can we talk?" he asked. "Of course we can talk," she replied. "Haven’t we just been talking?" The net flapped harder in a sudden, unexpected breeze. "I mean like we used to talk. Before." "Oh. Before." She stared at him impassively for a long moment. "I don’t think so." A hurricane, and the net ripped free. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go at all. He had to have some sort of reassurance that he was in control, that he would have his way when the time came, that Fang would act appropriately at the next key juncture. Fang turned away and walked out of the room. Fisher followed, but stepped on a fish in the corridor, nearly losing his footing. Damn fish. Fang was a good ten meters ahead, already moving around the ring’s curvature. "Lena," he called. Thankfully she stopped. She spun on her heel with mechanical precision and waited for him. "Yes?" she said. "I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you. I -- " he needed to throw something big and weighty on the net before it all blew away. "I have been an absolute ass, getting in your way, and I want to apologize from deep in my heart. You have my support, and...my love. If you’ll have it." There, he thought. That should do it. But Fang's face didn't soften. The ridges of her lips remained sharp and dangerous. The folds around her gray eyes masked the distant mirror of her soul. "Sam, have you looked at yourself recently? You’ve made yourself into something more inhuman and remote than Stearn or his generation ever managed. They only deal with the body. And, as messed up as Papa is now, or as messed up as he is when he’s functioning properly, he is still more responsible than you. You just can’t act like an ass for months and then turn around one day and say you’re sorry and expect it to be all right again." This was proving trickier than he had planned. He should have run some simulations and practiced, but he counted on spontaneity to add the necessary emotional integrity that practice would kill. "I know," he said. "You’re right. But what would you like for me to do at this point? I’m sorry and I wish I could take it all back and do it right." "Good," she said, turning away to resume her march. He took a deep breath and listened to the air whistle through his teeth. He shambled after her in the high gravity, this task turning as physically onerous as it was psychologically. "What do you want from me? I’ll give it to you. Just name it." Give her everything, he repeated to himself. Give her everything to get the only thing that mattered. Everything for everything was an even trade, wasn't it? This was his thought as they reached Fang's cabin and her door squeezed shut in his face. Too much, too pushy. Next time he’d play it cool, be sensitive. It would be fine. He thought, I’ve waited hundreds of years -- I can wait a few hours. He sat down outside Fang's door. # As the door closed, Fang's cheeks tightened into an involuntary smile. Fisher no longer seemed a wild element. With a united crew, she was sure she could face the dragons again and triumph. "Evening lights." Fang walked to her bed, sat down on its edge, and pulled off her boots. The plush carpeting tickled her hot toes as she stretched her out her legs. The rest of her uniform followed the boots and she donned a pink satin robe that felt good against her skin. She considered opening a bottle of wine, but Henderson probably would not be able to produce much more very quickly, and she didn't want to drink alone. Outside her French doors, the moon shone over a placid sea, and a slow breeze made the curtains shiver. She stepped outside onto her wooden deck, sans drink. A lover’s moon, she thought, frowning. "Papa?" "Yes, daughter," answered the familiar, gruff voice. "How are you?" she asked. "Better," he said, sounding tired. "Still not myself." "Me too," she said. "You need a man," Papa offered. Fang shook her head, slowly, smiling. "Like hell I do," she said, thinking of Fisher. "A real man," Papa persisted. Already cool, goose pimples rose on her bare arms and legs with the wind. "Turn up the temperature a few degrees, will you?" "Of course," said Papa obediently. Looking out onto the virtual sea, smooth to infinity, she decided she might want the wine after all. "Where’s Fisher?" "Outside your cabin, sitting opposite the door." She smiled, shaking her head. It was too good to be true. After another ten minutes, she asked, "He still there?" "Yes, daughter." She licked her lips. "Let him in, and tell him to pour two glasses of one of the reds. Make sure he lets it breathe for a few minutes, right?" "Of course." Fang seated herself on a canvas chair and levered her legs up against the high gravity and settled them, uncrossed, onto the deck rail. Her robe slid up her thighs, but she didn't bother to push it back. She tried not to look, but couldn’t help herself, as Fisher’s green scintillations flickered inside. Apparently he was doing just as requested. The moon shimmered exactly where she wanted it, and she basked in its glow while she waited for Fisher. She turned when she heard his slippered feet scraping against the wood of the deck. She held out her hand and accepted the proffered glass. She returned her attention to the luminous moon while she sniffed the complex aroma of the wine. Fisher settled into the other deck chair; she often used it to put her feet on. "Nice night," he said. "Mmm," she replied as she finished sloshing wine around her mouth. The liquid warmed her throat on its way down. "Good wine," he said. Fang wiggled her upper body, shrugging the robe from her shoulders. Bending her head forward and exposing the back of her neck, she said, "Please just shut up, Sam, and make yourself useful. I could really use a good back rub." When she heard his weight shift from his chair and the clink of his glass bottom on the table, but no words, a shiver crackled along her spine. When his hard fingers sank firmly into her knotted flesh, she darn near purred. He must have downloaded a massage routine into his biochip because he’d never been so good before.... The danger in letting someone else enter your inner sanctum was lack of control, but Fisher was her fantasy tonight, an automaton, a creature bent to her will, and she loved it. No words from him now, no "dragon-this" and "dragon-that," no interrupting her, no far-away expression when she talked to him. Why couldn't he have been this way before? But then, she admitted, she probably would not have found him attractive. After an eternity under his attentive fingers, Fang stirred herself. "You’re no chairbeast, but you’re not bad." He said nothing. Lovely. It wasn't all about him and his dragons for once. Fang rose, said, "Come on, let’s do this right," and walked inside. She undid her robe and let the smooth material slide down her body, caressing her all the way down. She crawled onto the bed from the bottom up, lay down, and let herself relax. "Back," she mumbled around her armpit. Fisher sat on the bed and went to work on her back. After only eight minutes by her internal clock, she jerked, adrenaline tightening her muscles, sweat breaking over her skin. She had nearly fallen asleep! She didn't trust Fisher that far. But she loved what his fingers were doing -- had been doing -- before she jerked awake. He was being so good to her, giving her what she needed, and not prattling on about his own obsessions. Why hadn’t he been like this more often when they’d been together? No one had treated her this well in a long time. A very long time. She blinked as her eyes watered. "Sam," she said. "Yes?" His fingers continued to cast their spell. "I want to explain what happened on the bridge, with the dragons." She started to push herself to her elbows, but he pushed her back down. He said, "That’s not necessary." "But it is." She succumbed to his push and let herself settle in for more massage. It would be easier to say the things she wanted to say this way, without eye contact, and for that she was grateful. "You eat, sleep, and breathe star dragon the way I eat, sleep, and breathe the Karamojo. I owe you some explanation." "If you feel you must. It isn’t necessary." She grunted in dismissal. "I tried to tell you before about the leviathan the night, you know, things went bad between us. This is important to me, important to understand my actions, and you’ll listen to it this time, understand?" "Yes," he said, and nothing more. Now that it was time to tell it to another human being, she didn’t know how to start. Some emotions, some experiences, seemed too big for words. Anything she said would be a lie insofar as the truth was impossible to communicate. Finally, she decided. "I’m not Papa," she began. "I make a good show of it, boxing, hunting, being a strong Captain the way he would be if he could. But when I box, I use finesse rather than strength. The ship's name, which I chose, indicates that. I didn't call the ship the Great White Hunter, or the Amazon, or anything so bold. Karamojo Bell hunted elephants, the great beasts of his era, with a small-bore 7mm Mauser loaded with 175 grain bullets. Trust me, that is small for elephant. He made his kills with only one shot, a testimony to his skill as a marksman. He used knowledge and finesse when he hunted. I aspire to his skill. When I hunt, I have safeguards to prevent injury, so I’m not really proving anything. I have not been tested with threat of death, the only test recognized in nature. I’m a creature of our age. Machines, mechanical or biological, do all the difficult tasks for us. Humans are superfluous in so many ways, but we still run things, choose the direction of civilization, something like an evolutionary grandfather clause. Our creations have only the drives we give them." Fisher’s fingers had slipped into a mechanical pattern, so she assumed he was paying attention to her words. He had rarely allowed her such a long speech without interruption, except when he was working and filtered her out. She diverted that thought -- he had better be listening! "I've tried to be the type of captain who does things, the way they used to. This mission is really my first chance to prove that I can. But we’re just machines, too, with programming as ancient as the Serengeti. We’re obsessed with our ability to change our bodies, our hardware, and that shows how obsolete our thinking truly is. The mind will rule the future while we clutch to our ear wings, wasp waists, and quick fists. But I’m talking around my point. "When I was a little girl, the universe taught me that I was weak, that there were bigger things in it that would and could eat me, and think nothing more of me than how I tasted. I’ve been trying to grow, literally, ever since then. Grow in muscle, grow in rank, until I became so big I could move entire herds of animals across interstellar space. The disk here holds a few percent of the mass of Earth's moon, big enough for me, a sea five thousand times bigger than the Pacific. Multiply that by two: the disk is double-sided. That has had me thinking about the leviathan that swallowed my grandfather as I watched." Fang stopped to lick her lips, which had gone bone dry. "When those dragons came at us, with those same unfathomable eyes, I was the weak little girl again. For a moment I could not act: one of them might have noticed, and eaten me. Then I had to act, or I would be just the same as that little girl I once was. I had to. My command would now be over if Papa had seen any clear mandatory course of action, but we knew so little then, still don’t know much, so I had wide latitude in my actions. But it felt like failure." Fisher’s fingers continued to slide around her muscles, working out the new tightness that had descended as she had talked. God, had she really talked so long without Fisher interrupting? Was it really possible? Could it have been this good all along? Had she been wrong throwing him out? Now she desperately wanted him to say something. He had heard her justification, and it was his career -- and life -- that her actions, or lack of actions, threatened. Say something! she thought. But she was in control now, wasn’t she? She could make him say. "Tell me what you think about what I just told you." Fisher replied, "I understand, and don’t blame you for what happened on the bridge. What is important is that we, you, do the right thing next time. I’m here to help you do that, any way I can. Do you understand that?" She wanted to believe him...or was that his wondrous massage persuading her? Take the political course. "I’m happy to have everyone’s support. I’ll need it." She relaxed for good now, her piece said, and no blow-up. This was good and right and easy. After an eternity, she knew she should make Fisher leave. "Time to get some sleep," she should say. "Go back to your cabin, Sam." But she couldn’t. And didn’t. So Fisher stayed with her, with his magic fingers, and what followed felt even better than what had gone before. # Fisher left Fang's cabin with his clothes draped over his right shoulder, moving quickly with a small skip despite the extra gees. His stretched out his hands, flexing away the cramps from the extended massages he had given Fang; the flowing air chilled the damp places in the webs between his fingers. Instead of heading toward his own quarters, he decided it would be a good idea to see Henderson. Things had changed, and he wanted that to show. Instead of ringing the chime, he rapped on the door itself. The glow from his hot hands reflected off the door’s burnished surface, a ghost of himself. The door irised open after a moment, releasing moist, cloying air that made Fisher think of a womb. Inside the light was dim, some kind of low mournful classical music playing. As he entered, the darkness and music retreated before him. Henderson sat on a chairbeast, spinning slowly in half circles back and forth, an empty wine glass cradled between his splayed legs. His slick red smoking jacket swished with his circles. "What can I do for you, Dr. Fisher? Some clothes, perchance?" Henderson’s hypnotic, serpentine movement, cyclic, like electrons at the end of a magnetic bottle...no, he needed to suppress that for the time being. "Clothes? Yes, in a manner of speaking." Henderson sighed, an exaggerated movement. "A tailor I’m not. At least this crew isn’t as bad as I’ve seen. Did I ever tell you about the summer I worked at a Venice Beach shock shop? Fads there come and go by the hour, and today’s youth are a pretty sick bunch. Great experience though for landing interstellar work. If you can make a beach-combing fan boy into a oceangoing transparent-shelled brain with penises for paddles in the morning, and back to his assholish self in time for dinner, they’ll trust you to oversee the regrowth of a ship’s organics." Fisher let his clothes slide to the floor. Ruglings gathered and began conveying the misplaced duradenim along the floor. Eventually, an hour perhaps, his clothes would be back in his own room, clean and ready to wear. Fisher said, "I want human flesh." "Of course you do!" Henderson cawed, his bloodshot eyes puffy but wide open. "You all do, sooner or later. We’re conditioned for the body we grew up in -- not necessarily quite the same one, but primate, Homo sapiens sapiens. Our minds reject anything else, even if we have the technology to trick the body. Our minds are still body bound, and will be forever. Unless we change them, which would change ourselves, killing us. So we're eternally bound. Until we die." "No," said Fisher. "You don’t understand. I don’t want a complete makeover like before. I don’t want everything back. I just want a skin to cover me, make me appear the way I did before." Another sigh. "I can do that. But we’re short on stem cells and expendable biomass." Henderson glanced away toward a dark corner of the biolab, at what Fisher could not tell, maybe some broken equipment. Before he could argue further, Henderson said, "Fine. I can do it." "Excellent," Fisher said. In a few minutes he sat in a slowly bubbling nutrient vat that smelled of honeysuckle. The warm fluid surrounded him, buoying him upwards, letting him bob through the surface. Itching crawled up his skin, starting with his toes, and pulled him down. He exhaled, slipped under, and inhaled. In his mind’s eye, Fisher watched the star dragon vanish beneath the disk’s photosphere. She was glorious. Part Three: Cornered Animals Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes . -- Henry David Thoreau Phil Stearn wiggled his elbows from side to side, inching down the shuttle ramscoop arm as fast as he could. Really should have redesigned for this one, he thought. Long, skinny tentacles. Yeah, that would have been a lot better. More fun than redesigning the shuttles anyway. Hmm, and he might find an interesting use for those with Sylvia as well. Reaching his objective, Stearn slid his Swiss space tool along the superconducting coil sheath, smiling at the rasping notes that issued forth and echoed within the confines of the arm. A gentle touch raised a pure tone, like a wet finger on the rim of a wine glass. The next coil out was smaller in circumference and hit a higher note when he tapped it. He checked the sonic analysis program hastily thrown together and onto his fingertip machine -- Papa's ears would not hear so well in here. If this went well, he would execute some low current tests next. The fingertip flashed green. "Are the coils in spec?" Fisher asked, his insistent voice pleasantly distant and twisted by the tube. Stearn stretched himself out further to hit an even smaller coil, the last on the arm. Da-ding. Da-ding. He could make the dings and the raspy notes. He ought to get Papa’s help to compose a superconducting sonata, or a pop tune of some kind. B field blues, maybe. Da-ding. "Are you working in there, or just playing?" Fisher asked. Tight ass . Stearn sighed, turned down the light from his tool, and wiggled his shoulders to ease himself back out of the tube. Even though he'd adapted himself to the high gravity, it was still a special pain in this situation. The arms of the ramscoop shuttles hadn't been designed for this new use, generating the intense, controlled magnetic fields to bottle star dragons, and the necessary coil placement was not at all optimal for human access. There wasn’t time, or trust, to train micromachines for this job. Papa said he was fine, but who knew for sure? Much needed to be done by hand, or at least checked by hand. That was the job of the Jack, and he took it as seriously as he took anything. And that was plenty serious, more serious than his crewmates gave him credit for. But he didn't resent that. That was their problem, not his. He was comfortable with his abilities. Stearn slid out and dropped a fast meter to the deck, trailing a monitoring line, a spider down a wire. The arms of the scoop, splayed as they were for access, did indeed resemble the unfinished frame of a web. Apropos. Fisher, the true web-builder, paced nearby. Stearn technically was the spider who'd built this web, as he'd done most of the actual crawling and checking and fixing, but it was Fisher's creation. Fisher had designed the magnetic net to catch a dragon and the specs for the shuttle fleet. The Jack said, "They’re in spec. If you got your designs right, this will work." Fisher sniffed, and scratched at the side of his nose. "The designs are right. What worries me is what the dragons haven't shown us yet. The fields these shuttles will form will cage my current model dragon. If I’ve understood their field generation dynamo, if their nuclear fuel is sufficiently depleted, if they don't surprise us. A second time, that is. Still, we may have to move in close, bluff a crash with the shuttles, to close the cage tight." "Right, bluff," Stearn replied. Fisher wore human skin once more, his traditional pale pink. Too bad, Stearn thought. The green glow had been pretty hip, and he’d had high hopes Fisher would outdo it when he changed again. But Fisher had resumed his old appearance, with the short shock of dark curly hair, angular pale body, and the rest strictly Homo sapiens. Well, almost. When he caught Fisher in just the right light, the skin appeared bloated, less like real skin and more like a vacuum suit thrown on. And once since they'd started their work in the shuttle hold, Stearn had spied a green-tinged glint from the corner of Fisher's eye when he'd rubbed it. As they walked to the last arm, Stearn decided to satisfy his curiosity. He knew that something had precipitated Fisher's sea change, and he had already checked where everyone had spent the breaktime. "You’re lucky to have her." "I don’t have the dragon just yet," Fisher said. "And luck will have little to do with it." Hmm. His mind sure wasn’t on Captain. Still, Stearn would feel better if he knew how the social forces on board were now arrayed. Just as the magnetic fields might hold a dragon, the social forces might hold the crew together. Blunt or oblique, which approach? In the past he had always been blunt, but his time with Devereaux had led him to appreciate more subtle strategies. That was the only way to beat her at board games, which he managed once in a while. He knew he had to keep her interested. He asked, "Now that you've seen them, any more ideas about the dragon origins? I mean, are they machines made by someone, or do they mate, give birth, piss and shit, all the stuff that life does?" Fisher snorted. "Technology blurs the distinction between living and machine. I prefer to think of this as a problem of artificial, or natural. There are several points in favor of an artificial origin. First, we still see no evidence for an ecosystem." "Not all of Papa's sensory apparatuses are back on-line." "Granted, but I don’t think we're going to see an ecosystem even when they are back up. The second point is that SS Cygni has not had an accretion disk very long, astronomically speaking. The current disk isn't even that old. These stars accumulate matter, hit critical temperature and go nova every few hundred thousand years, and this destroys the disk. No way something like this evolves over that kind of timescale. Not in the disk anyway." "You sure? There's enough energy here to drive things at a wicked pace." "Unlikely. You see, how do you even start? I have no idea what sort of matter constitutes the dragons, but it's either non-conventional -- not a naturally occurring substance, a nano-buttressed alloy for instance, or not even baryonic. The implications of either are significant. This is probably why the Biolathe brain really assembled this mission. Our ability to manipulate space-time provides us with cheap energy for massive engineering projects. Earth doesn’t really need fusion-powered dragons for space construction." That was an interesting notion, but Fisher was revved up pretty good and it was time to nudge him back onto the oblique orbit Stearn had in mind. Devereaux had reminded him that some of the best games were social. "So why do you need dragons?" Fisher started to speak, stalled, and blinked. He raised a long finger to his temple. He tapped his head and started to smile. "Because it feeds this," he said. "Without this, I’m nothing but an animal, eating and breathing and defecating, just as the blind watchmaker of evolution pieced together over billions of years. But through my curiosity, I can transcend my own origins, become something more. If not now, then someday. The things I discover change me into something more." Stearn laughed. He tried to hold it in, but he just could not help himself. "What? What is it?" Fisher’s finger crawled down from his forehead, and his smile faltered. It flashed back with the infection of a laugh as he asked again, "What?" Stearn laughed harder. He was so earnest, so blind himself. Fisher...Fisher was so...full of it! Fisher shrugged and turned away to another arm of the shuttle. "No, wait. I’m sorry," Stearn said, taking a deep breath. "I’ll tell you." Fisher spun back, green glinting from his left eye. "Yes, what is it?" "You’re shitting yourself, because you’re just like me." Fisher’s head reared back, reminding Stearn of the surprised snakes he’d seen once at a party when a dancing Medusa chick had lifted her arms suddenly. "I’m not like you at all. What do you mean?" "You’re always looking down at me because I play a lot. Sure I play. I have more fun because I know exactly who I am and what I’m about, and my quest is one of amusement. You’re the same, but you cloak your motives in transcendent language. But it is simple. You need dragons because you need toys to play with." Fisher's smile faltered at once. "That’s not it at all! It’s so much more. It’s of fundamental importance to our understanding of our place in the universe." "I’ll give you at least long odds on that, but that’s not your real motivation. If the dragons were a fluke of nature, doomed to destruction in a cosmological blink of the eye, and of no relevance to the human race or any carbon-based biology, you wouldn’t walk away, would you?" Fisher broke the stare he’d fixed on Stearn to pace around the shuttle arms, making him appear a busy little webmaker. "There’s no way the dragons could be a fluke. I cannot believe that. The reasons are myriad." Fisher’s fingers flew into the air as if pulled by strings. "I can count off sixteen without trying. Shall I?" Stearn squinted, but still counted only ten fingers on Fisher’s splayed hands. Disappointed he said, "No need. Let me ask you another question. You’re back with Captain again, I gather. Tell me, why do you need her?" "Lena?" Fisher’s web-building course stopped and his fingers fell to scratch his cheek. His eyes darted among the spokes of the shuttle arms. "Are the reasons myriad?" Fisher nodded. "Yes, of course they are." His hands went up. "I can count them, too. Shall I?" "Yeah," said Stearn. "These you can count." "Fine. I will." Fisher waved an extended finger like a conductor leading an orchestra. "She makes me exercise. She challenges me to be my best. She knows how to run this ship. She has the same goals on this mission that I do, even if she doesn’t appear to at first glance. She -- look, this is moronic. Is that enough? We have work to do." "Yeah, that’s enough. But let me tell you a few of the reasons why I love Sylvia: the little sound she makes in her sleep just before she rolls over, the glances she sends my way when she’s in the middle of something else that lets me know I am in her thoughts, the way she lets me be myself without trying to change me, the smell of her hair, the heat that rises to my cheeks when she is in the same room as I am, the way her brow knits when she loses herself in something, and the fact that sometimes that something is me." Fisher stared back, unblinking, and worked his jaw before he spoke. "Such things don't make for a lasting relationship. They’ll just interfere with our work here. I won’t have that. I suggest you get some distance, Jack, or you’ll jeopardize us all." Right. Stearn was a whole lot more afraid of Fisher’s yo-yo relationship with Captain jeopardizing things than his own handyman duties. He said, "I’ll do my job just fine, Dr. Fisher. I work as hard as I play. But I want you to think about something, a piece of advice from an expert game player. A bluff will fail unless you’re willing to carry through. Are you?" "I'm willing to do anything," Fisher said easily in response. He paused for a moment, as if considering, then nodded to himself abruptly. "Yes, anything. Now, let's get back to work." # Henderson squatted in his biolab before the mechanical core of the console tank -- all the biologicals in the room had been used -- and inspected his design one last time. He said, "Execute," and prepared to walk over to the empty diamond vat. "Safety override engaged: insufficient discretionary biomass available. Program terminated," the computer said in an even gender-neutral voice; Henderson had disabled Papa’s personality from his console. "But I need it!" "Override intact." Couldn’t this machine’s fuzzy logic wrap itself around the idea that this lab was in a thin, shimmery bubble floating above God's own burning bush? Any breach of any system could kill instantly -- they'd exercised their redundancies. He had to have a more durable body. Evolution, which Henderson stole liberally from, often made a body capable of attracting mates also quite vulnerable. A brilliant peacock that could still avoid predators had to be top of the line. But he was no longer employing that strategy. It was time to screw the looks and invest heavily in armor. Lots of armor. Damn Fisher for talking him out of the little bio reserves they had available. The exobiologist had even wasted it on nothing more than cosmetic alterations. Henderson stroked his chin. Where could he liberate more biomass from? He didn't need much. Certainly he could cannibalize non-essential organics like chairs, toilets, clothes, and the like. He could even make do without biologicals as long as he had the means to shape an exoskeleton. There was plenty of building material on-board. He would just have to fetch it himself. He started for the door, but Captain Fang's voice stopped him. "Mr. Henderson," she said. "Please join me on the bridge. My fighting chair needs adjustments but Papa cannot see anything wrong with it." First Fisher, now Fang. He didn't like this hierarchy, but that was the way things would be for another half millennium. Slave, fix my skin, slave, fix my chair. Someday he would be the master of those around him. Walking to the bridge, Henderson scanned the diamond ribs of the hallway, counted the fish crawling along the bony surfaces. He fancied himself a white blood cell in a giant vein with red blood cells, the fish. How many fish for a layer of skin that could block a rad per hour? Then again, perhaps passive shielding was a dangerous way to go with all the high energy particles in the environment -- they would decay in such skin and pass on a potentially even more deadly torrent of secondary particles. Fisher’s body redesign suggested a way to build active shielding into a body, but it would not be nice to live with. Maybe he should go the opposite way, build maximum redundancy into a small body with a minimal cross section. It really depended on what the threats were. Should he design against radiation, temperature, or vacuum? The valve -- portal -- onto the bridge opened to reveal Fang squatting unstably on the deck, two fingers providing a third point of kinetic support, as she squinted at the cushion fat of her chair. The chair was a monster, and would easily supply Henderson with all the biomass he needed. Maybe he could talk her out of it if it were sick.... Fang turned her skin-covered skull toward him and worked the jaw. She was making words, saying something. It was: "Don’t just stand there. Lend a hand." Henderson contracted and relaxed sets of muscles in his legs, leveraging the leg bones into steps. Fragile life, in a fragile eggshell, bobbing above an open flame. A frog in a pot of heating water. Instead of aiding in this endeavor, or developing a safer body, he should be finding a way to jump out, to force them to leave. Maybe he could engineer a minor crisis that would make them consume their remaining resources, and leave them no choice but to leave? Why had he not realized the mortal danger this mission posed? More importantly, why had he not yet acted on that realization? His jaw moved. His eardrums pushed the bones in his ear which turned into electrical signals his brain could interpret. He had said, "What is the nature of the problem?" The safe, hierarchical thing to say. Avoid the immediate reprimand, but remain at the risk of later death when the dragons pried open their shell. "The fighting chair’s growl normally massages my lower back quite effectively, but today it’s just irritating me," Fang said. Electrical activity in Henderson’s brain opened the flow of information from his embedded biochip. In his mind’s eye the chair’s anatomy revealed itself in endlessly detailed cross-section. He pushed his hand under the chair’s wide arm and plugged his finger into the diagnostic port located in its left armpit. More data danced into his head through the conduit running up his arm. Please be sick, Henderson thought. His jaw moved, his lungs exhaled, vocal chords tightened, and he said, "The chair looks healthy." "See that, daughter?" Papa said. "What did we tell you?" The captain twisted her facial muscles into a pattern that Henderson read as perplexity. She said, "Something’s wrong with it. My back hurts." Henderson unplugged his finger and bent close to increase his ability to see fine details on the chair’s surface. The hide felt warm and springy when he touched it, and there was no discoloration. "Your chairbeast is healthy." "See," said Papa. "Our own diagnostics are fine again." Fang vibrated her lips, creating a humming sound, an indication of thoughtfulness. Henderson shook his head, but stopped when he thought of his brain sloshing around in his skull. He needed some kind of drug to relieve himself of this morbid biomechanical perspective he’d developed. He said, "Perhaps the problem isn’t your chairbeast at all, but you." "Me?" A sharp edge lived in that syllable, a suspicion that he thought her fallible. We’re all machines and we can break, he thought. "We’re human and we sometimes suffer injury," he said. "I don’t have time for an examination and I’m not letting you poke that finger of yours in me, understand?" "Perfectly," he said. "I was simply suggesting you lift your uniform and let me inspect your back." "It won’t take too long?" "Of course not." "Fine," Fang said. The captain turned away from Henderson, and raised her arms. Henderson watched her elbows wiggle from side to side, trying to understand how the motions moved her hands to undo the buttons on the uniform. The pull of the muscle on the strings of the tendons on the levers of the bones, dancing like the programmed needles of a tattoo machine he'd seen in a historical drama. Finally she slipped her hands back and tugged her shirt free from her pants. "Let me do that," he said. "You might strain a muscle and make it worse." "I’m fine," she said, her voice distant and echoing off the walls of the bridge. Her hands lifted higher and at the same time crawled the white fabric into bunches revealing an expanse of white skin. But not completely white. There were greenish-blue patches, six of them, three along each side. Fingers appeared to have broken the capillaries under skin, the hemorrhaging manifesting as bruises. On a finer scale there were tiny puncture marks. Insect stings? Impossible. Something more directed, certainly, right where the bruises were. "Well, see anything?" Fang asked. Too much, too much, Henderson thought. He thought about saying that everything looked normal, but Papa had certainly noticed and would speak up if he said nothing. He feared that anything he had to say would raise the tension on board and place his life more at risk. Still, the facts could not get him in trouble, could they? "You have -- " translate, he thought, "bruises." "Bruises?" To his surprise and immense relief, Fang smiled. There was more in that smile than her normally cool professionalism would show, but in a flash it was gone. "Well, that explains things, doesn’t it?" "Your system will clear them up in a few hours, but there’s something else -- " "Thank you, Mr. Henderson. That will be all." Henderson decided not to press it. The captain didn't seem to want his distractions, and in truth he didn't want her to be distracted. He needed to do something, something other than ruminate on every bit of mechanics in the human body and the way they were machines that could fail. Drugs were the wrong way to go. He needed positive action. Then he had it. On the walk back to his lab, he took off his scale jacket and tied the arms to fashion a bag. Whenever he came across a fish swabbing the deck, he plucked it up and tossed it in. Insufficient discretionary biomass, my ass, he thought. A little dust never killed anyone, not even on a spaceship. # Curls of flame rose and rippled, dropped and dissipated, in a vast dance more regal and powerful than that of any sea Fang had before sailed upon. The swirling churning of the disk mixed with the waves bouncing back from the distant inner and outer edges making a choppy, uneven surface to the bowl of this sea. Spiral shock patterns would appear, persist, and vanish again all in less than an hour. Pillars of plasma twisted into the sky riding the magnetic fields twisting out of the `disk spots' before plummeting back into the maelstrom at some distant point. Through this all soared the Karamojo, like some flea on a dog’s hairy ass. "Where have they all gone?" Fang said to no one in particular, although everyone else except for Henderson was on the bridge watching the panorama in projection around them. "I was afraid of this," said Fisher. "They can dive deep where we can’t follow. Without an easy way of driving them out again, we must hope they will surface." "They’ll have to, won’t they?" asked Stearn. "Even I can stay in a hot tub only so long." "Perhaps we could use our own lasers to raise the temperature locally," Devereaux suggested. "There must be some level they can’t take. Or we can go into the inner disk regions, where the thickness and opacity drops, but the temperature rises." "I think we may have to drop right to the surface and scrutinize an area closely, and then expand our search bit by bit," Fisher said. "It’s too huge!" Devereaux disagreed. "And we’ll lose what little we can afford to ablation all too quickly. This isn't the ideal system to have to prospect for raw materials." There followed a discussion of dragon thermodynamics, laser cooling, and disk opacities and Fang didn't care to pay attention to the technical details. Instead, hardly blinking, she watched the licks of flame as they broke open revealing the empty structures below. Papa’s personality, while based on a human identity, nevertheless processed most tasks using brute force algorithms similar to those running his underlying autonomous routines. With enough speed you didn't have to be clever. While his image recognition algorithms excelled with well known environments like the ship and the faces of its crew, Papa searched for dragon sign bit by bit amidst the fiery caldron. A sharp-eyed human could sometimes still do a better job in an unknown environment, one of the justifications for their presence on board. Fang intended to take advantage of that slim advantage to make her mark on this mission. Or at least to smudge out the bad mark she already made. She would not think of her moment of hesitation. She would not. The conversation ebbed and flowed around her like waves. She was a rock. When the hours dragged on, she snorted an ampoule of Alert, and ordered her eyes to continue to dance. She didn't let herself think about what they would do if the dragons had no need to surface. The disk was so huge that she maintained her optimism. This place was not homogeneous; it had variations in elemental abundances, discontinuities in magnetic field and viscosity, all sorts of things that might constitute ‘good’ feeding and ‘bad’ feeding to a dragon. Or weather. Or something else completely alien to her. "Where have they all gone?" she occasionally muttered until not even Papa responded. Stearn and Devereaux left for an hour, then returned, her hair damp as if from a shower, his hair covered by a Havana Marlins' baseball cap twisted sideways. After another hour, they left again. Fisher stayed with her the whole time, saying little, working at a console by the couchbeast. That made her feel good that he trusted her powers of perception, and that he wanted to stay close. When she was a girl, she had Polaroid corneas that let her watch the sun’s -- Tau Ceti's -- reflection in the dancing waters around the Pouting Archipelago where she grew up. On several occasions she watched them for hours, the sizzling light more living electricity than reflection. Below were the shallows and the deep, dim background supporting the electricity. She would watch until the patterns seemed sensible to her, until her mind reached a state in which she imagined how to reassemble the motions of the water into all the disturbances that had caused it, from the gravitational tug of the moons and sun, to the happy splashing of a newborn being carried by his mother from an exclusive birthing lagoon, to the ponderous undulations of a pack of trench-dwelling leviathans. All the information rested there in the superposition of the dancing waves, impossible to recover in a computational Hubble time, impossible to recover given the chaos living in such systems. But the girl Lena would watch until her mind twisted the electricity into shapes, things, scenes, that revealed something she believed to be True. Probably none of it had been real, but she fancied that it had trained her to assemble patterns better than that of the average person and perceptual tests that had landed her in the Captain's chair had confirmed her notion. She believed she had learned from the things she had seen, true or not. Once in those waves she had seen the quiet struggle of a monkey bird caught in the stringy maw of a vampire weed, the bird bobbing on the surface, surprised as the seaweed tangled in its talons and began to sink, pulling it down to drown before being consumed. Just as the bird could not breathe, neither did Fang breathe, nor blink, and she stayed with the bird through the long minute to the end, finally gasping with release when the scene came to its inevitable conclusion and the fish’s tendrils slid down the tiny throat to invade the flesh through the soft tissues of the alveoli. Her imagination, she was sure years later, but she could recall just how those last bubbles had rolled out of the monkey bird’s mouth. Another time she had seen the kind face of a bearded man whose eyes twinkled like stars. It was a wise, living face that held all the secrets of the world, until suddenly he winked at her and vanished into a million streaks of light, nothing but the falling wave crests. A timeless instant of superposition there, gone in a flash. She remembered thinking, So that was God. He looks happy for being dead.... Only a few of the old religions had survived the biological revolutions of the twenty-second and twenty-third centuries. Judaism crept along steady as ever, and many Buddhists saw little difference after the genetic age. Widespread Christian and Islam-based faiths had the most to lose, their threat of hell gone and their promise of heaven undermined: they fought like devils. First came the battles about changing the human genome, the "made in God’s image" thing -- man turned out to be a better designer than God, finally, in the end. The religious leadership made their positions clear, and dug trenches that stalled many avenues of research for decades, or more. Off-world colonies, independent by virtue of distance, exploited the niche and flourished by peddling immortality. The next battle shattered faiths and toppled governments. When everyone stared into the abyss, few chose the promised afterlife to the demonstrable benefits of the immortality option. The faithful died out, recruiting fewer and fewer in subsequent generations. What organized religions remained were more philosophical and ethical systems than anything relying on the supernatural. Few doubted that man had become his own god. Still, there was questing for meaning, perhaps more desperately than ever, but tempered with the patience of an unending future stretching ahead. Fang's grandfather had led a quiet life of Taoism until the universe had swallowed him. She had seen the face in the waves after that, and had somehow felt less alone afterward, although now she discounted that she’d seen anything but the hallucination of a suggestible young mind. The human mind found patterns in everything, faces in everything. It was a survival advantage selected for, even if it was not perfect. Better to jump at nothing sometimes than miss the one time something really was there. Surprising the shy and easily startled cats on board was a regular reminder of this trait. Today something in her mind clicked as she watched the disk, the way that a ship schematic could sometimes appear an unintelligible tangle of colored vectors before crystallizing into a three-dimensional vessel full of balanced form and directed purpose. "My god," she said. Dragons were everywhere. They flitted deep in the disk, showing starry flashes of themselves, their laser signatures. The colors shifted hues for some unknown dragon reason, but she could follow them as part of a pattern. She made out individuals with more difficulty, but she could do it. They would fade deep below, but they would emerge high enough in the photosphere to flash every thirty seconds or so. Like a lights on a silvery Christmas tree, the dragons made the disk their own. "What is it?" Fisher asked abruptly, his face before her face, breaking the spell. Fang stood, gently pushing him out of her view. She looked around, blinking, trying to recapture that peculiar mental state she had achieved. Her head bobbed around, bird-like, as fear welled up her throat, fear that she had lost the vision. But then the dragons’ disk was there around her once more. She smiled, holding her hands out as if to catch falling snow, and spun slowly. "I can see them, Samuel. The dragons. There are so many of them. So many. My god, it’s full of dragons." Fisher was silent for a moment, then he grunted. "I can’t see them. How can you see them when I can’t see them." "Yes," Papa echoed. "My thoughts exactly." To Fang it was like hunting the lion, seeing through the lion’s eyes, feeling its hate. The dragons had heard the explosions, fled the shockwaves. They knew that something novel, something dangerous, had entered their world. They were in a tizzy. "I see flashes in the fire," Fang explained. "Sparks if you will, except the sparks are not random. They’re dragon sparks. You have to defocus, see as much of the disk at once as you can, and let your brain sort the signal from the noise." Another pause, and then Fisher said, "I think all the Alert has got you hallucinating. Before we drag everyone back here, let’s see if Papa can verify this." Fang let her eyes dance over the disk, pleased at the way the patterns were taking root in her awareness, gaining complexity, richness. Why the patterns? Feeding? Territories? Or just a trick of the mind? She tried to find one string and follow it, like trying to listen to just one note from one clarinet in a thousand symphonies. What could she point out to Papa that he could follow? She shifted through the patterns, shifted from pattern to individual spark, as best she could, looking for something to point at. She was afraid that if Papa narrowed the display to a small area she would lose the spark without the reference of the pattern. "We're sorry, daughter. We still don’t see anything." "They’re all right there, damn it!" Fang reined in her voice to keep out the shriek of frustration. She recalled the few times she had been the first person she knew with a new body modification. The very few times. The only remarkable time, to her anyway, was during her teen-age experimental phase when she had done the daring thing, to her anyway, of adding fairy wings. They were fragile-looking, but tensile-steel strong, and what no one else knew looking at her was that she could feel distant lightning through their antenna action. Not the light flashes, but the distant radio bursts. She would stand on the beach and her playmates would grow bored with the waves and leave, but she’d stay to watch the beautiful, invisible storm reflected off the ionosphere that they could not see. Sparks, so many sparks. Then, as she shifted to a string of dark olive -- although all were mere shades of fire, the dragon revealed itself to her, a bulb that didn't flash. A dark wiggling ball that bobbed in the curls. Fang locked on, twisted her body, and shot an a finger out, arrow straight. "There," she said. "Look there, Papa." "We have it," Papa said. "Where?" asked Fisher. "Where?" The disk warped around them as the Karamojo’s instruments focused on the area Fang had pointed out. After the image had been contrast-filtered, piped through a pseudo-color sieve, and sharpened with a pixon algorithm, the dragon flashed as clear and brilliant as a diamond. Papa added charts, scales, and explanatory captions in bright yellow type that stood out well against the reds of the disk and the greens and purples of the dragon. None of the colors were true, more like cartoons to draw out the subtle hues of a blazing white oven with too many photons of every energy. "This dragon isn't like the one spotted by the probe, even allowing for the poor resolution, nor like the vast majority of the dragons we flushed from the disk," Fisher said after a long moment. Fang was sure he was right, but she hadn’t paid the kind of attention to them that Fisher had. She wasn’t yet sure what he meant. "Take us closer," she ordered. "Maintain a position fifty kilometers up." Her weight shifted with acceleration, and she absent-mindedly sat down in her fighting chair, which had noticed her mood and was now growling low and steady. The dragon image stayed in the same dimensions, filling an entire wall of the bridge, but the details sharpened as they approached, but only so far. The hot plasma made the dragon shimmer like a mirage, occasionally wrapping tongues around the creature as if tasting it. As their orbit approached closer to the disk mid-plane, the gravity lessened. It remained high, however, only a twenty percent decrease; the disk flared to over a thousand kilometers thick at their current radial distance this far out from the primary. From the scale Papa had superimposed, she deduced that the serpentine form was nearly two kilometers from tip to tail, but it rolled in and out of a tight corkscrew, making the length somewhat difficult to judge. The creature was segmented, but not with the anneliedian segments of earthworms and rattlesnake tails, but rather interlocking and subtley asymmetric S-shapes that stacked diagonally, allowing the smooth twists that appeared so unnatural to her. The segments changed color among different shades of green, bluer then redder, from tip to tail and back again. The ‘head’ and ‘tail’ were distinguishable. The head flared out into a great leviathan mouth, spiked with scintillating, spherically symmetric mustaches from which lightning arced back, swirling around the segments, back to the distant tail. And then, regarding the tail, she knew what it was that Fisher had immediately noted: the tail sported a round bulb, some dozen meters across. The dragon was swimming rapidly upstream, keeping a fixed distance relative to the hotspot. Where was it going? Was it shedding its skin, that bulb at the end? A living seed, like the bulb of a plant the shape resembled? A feature of gender? Or was it merely a subspecies, a rattledragon? "Papa, could you please ask the rest of the crew to join us?" Fang asked. "We have already done so, daughter." "Thank you." She was going to do this right this time. No mistakes. She was captain, and didn't have anything to prove by wading in, guns ablaze, and bringing home the trophy. She realized that now, that she didn't have to do things Papa’s way. Her way would yield the same end result, but she would use the finesse that was her strength. Act she would, but with forethought, forearmed with hard data. Fisher would approve, she was sure. Fisher was talking to himself at the moment. "That rear appendage...maybe that is what keeps this one so near the surface, not diving so deep and vanishing like the others. What could its purpose be? If it limits the dragon’s range, why have it? Certainly the creature must endure the dwarf novae, so under these quiescent conditions it ought to be cold, if anything. It’s odd." Fang's grandfather had told her stories of Chinese dragons that lived in the skies of Earth. They would play with a ball, or a pearl, that represented thunder, and this was what caused the rain to fall. Stearn and Devereaux arrived on the bridge, hand in hand. Their hands dropped, forgotten, when they spied the dragon. Stearn jumped up and down -- still seeming too fast in the higher than normal gravity -- and crowed, "Yeah yeah yeah, we got one, we got one!" Devereaux was more subdued, but still managed to rapid-fire shoot a four or five highly technical questions at Fisher. Fang tried to follow, but it was much more boring than the dragon. Still, her attention had wandered and the first tendrils of a headache told her how tired she was from the concerted effort of the previous hours. She secreted analgesic into her bloodstream -- that basic and useful a bodmod she did permit herself. Loud, metallic footsteps rang in the corridor. Henderson? Where had he been, anyway? She hadn’t seen him in hours. A shiny bronze giant stepped onto the bridge, drawing even Fisher’s attention. Henderson, if that really was him, now stood nearly three meters tall, head just below the ceiling, and appeared to be a perfectly proportioned statue with sculpted muscles and hard, fixed curls of hair. His face was a handsome mask, but without animation. An ostentatious metal penis hung down between his legs, unswinging despite its length. The knees and elbows bent as he walked, but maintained a firm metal cast. It was like watching mercury flow. Henderson’s head titled down to look upon the projected dragon. "So you found one." His lips barely moved, revealing only a hollow darkness from which issued a thunderous base. "You know," Stearn said, "That is positively holy." "Thank you," said the giant, "but please don't let me distract you." "No problem," Devereaux said. "You’re not quite ready for godhood." Henderson said nothing, and showed no change of expression. Fang had seen much more outrageous bodies. This one was tame, but still, she had to admit that Henderson had a presence. Not a captain’s presence, mind you, but a presence nonetheless. She pulled herself straight up and squeezed the arms of the fighting chair. "Samuel, are you getting useful data from this vantage?" "Yes," he said. "But the beast is quiescent, like the disk." "In other words," Devereaux added with her head inclined toward Stearn, "we aren’t learning anything new about its capabilities or limits." "I followed," Stearn said. They sat watching the dragon...graze. That was the word that came to Fang's mind: graze. How she could associate such a pastoral term with this inferno, she wasn’t sure, but that was what the behavior felt like to her. It’s the scale of the waves here, she thought. The rarefied plasma, the size, everything is in slow motion. An hour passed. The dragon continued its meanderings, paying the Karamojo little heed. En masse, the dragon's had seemed in a tizzy to her earlier. Had she been mistaken? This creature was far from tizzy state. Finally even Fisher seemed a bored. Still, Fang hesitated, remembering what had happened before. The others cast her occasional glances. They were wondering when she would give the word to do something, anything, she knew. Fang caught Fisher in a glance and they locked eyes. His eyes were somehow wrong, like something furtive hid in the shadows within, and he broke off quickly. This was dragging on too long. He would have blown up at her if not for their recent reconciliation holding him back. She knew then that it was time for action. Careful action, but sure action. "Mr. Stearn, I noticed in your report that all the shuttles had been refitted to meet Dr. Fisher’s specifications. I believe it is time for a field test under full power." "Captain?" Stearn asked. "Papa has been playing some war games between the refitted shuttles and Fisher’s dragon model. Have you seen anything here to change your plan of attack?" "No, daughter. We ought to be able to bag this dragon in no time." Fang looked to Fisher who solidly met her eyes this time, a tiny smile playing on his lips. He nodded, imperceptibly. Her face blazed suddenly, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears. "Cast the nets," Fang ordered. Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learnt. --Izaak Walton Papa hears her say, "Cast the nets," noting the unintended pun as he does just that. Like adrenaline surging through his blood, his expert system neural nets multiply through downloads into the shuttles. Other aspects of himself launch the tiny armada. Twenty-five shuttles -- skiffs, he prefers -- drop from the Karamojo and fire braking thrusts to rendezvous with the disk surface smoothly and holding pattern. The gravity at the disk surface is smaller but not negligible. Magnetic forces help buoy the skiffs from sinking into the superheated plasma that would eventually melt even their hardened structures. The hardening will hold at the surface for a time. "Papa, can you pipe local sensor feeds from the shuttles into a comprehensible display for us?" Fang requests. "Of course." Papa splits the image on the bridge's wrap around. The top retains their bird's eye view of the action unfolding, processed and enhanced for maximum contrast. The bottom section shows a similarly processed optical view from the central skiff located at the rear of a forward-facing vee pattern. Icons with flashing telemetry indicate the positions of the other skiffs along with miniature optical views from each. Upward beamed communication lasers provide Papa with all the data. Papa beams back updates to all the skiffs and coordinates their movements. The twenty-five subnodes know where they are and know where the dragon awaits. The vee relaxes into a crescent that moves to encircle the beast. Papa instructs the skiffs to power up their currents and build the strength of their magnetic fields. Surface drag and other interactions with the disk cause the skiffs to develop sluggishness in excess of their predictions. "Real thing is different than practice, isn't it big guy?" says Stearn. The star dragon moves. There is a suddenness to its motions that indicates it recognizes something unusual in its immediate environment. The creature has not tried to move away from the approaching skiffs, rather it has begun to circle, rapidly. Increased Zeeman-splitting means increases in the magnetic field strength around it and Papa overlays a magnetogram in vivid purples on top of the optical scenes. "Is it preparing to rocket?" asks Fisher. "We did not see any dragons start their rocketing before. Papa, watch for any kind of curling into the compact structure the rocketers had, OK?" "Absolutely." Fang says, "It doesn't look like it's trying to rocket. It just looks like it's throwing a fit of some sort." The dragon swam in circles, twisting itself and its magnetic fields in veritable knots. The disk plasma churned, flowing angrily up and along the field lines. The dragon dives -- not completely nor deeply -- and comes back up with geysers of plasma. A firespout grows around the creature, a squall in the sea of fire to greet the approaching invaders. "Increasing static leading to failure in local parity checks," Papa tells them. "The shuttles are assigning local communications to secondary status. We're running the show from up here and taking the time-lag hit." "What's that?" Henderson asks. Devereaux answers. "Can't beat Einstein. Light travel time between here and there builds in a lag that we can't beat. If we want the shuttles to act in a coordinated fashion they have to go through us. And we really need them to act in concert. No three shuttles alone can trap the dragon, and it's going to take more than four I'd bet." "Oh come on," Stearn says, "we're not far away at all. The lag must be tiny." "You want to play quick draw with me with an extra lag?" Devereaux challenges. "Especially if I can think faster than you to start with?" "That true, Fish?" Stearn asks. "Yes, I believe so. You see, I don’t think they use blood or chemicals to mediate thought in any way and the current speeds must be significantly greater than human neurons use." Papa says nothing here, knowing that his connections are also faster than human. His brains use four different technologies, with only his human personality relying on human neural structures. He also has access to Fisher's dragon models where the implications of the observed e-m field change timescale backs up Fisher's statement and moreover indicates quicker processes than than his own technologies. The skiffs shoot forward into the maelstrom. The differential disk rotation makes it difficult for them to remain in position relative to one another, and the dragon-induced disturbance doesn't help. The central skiff image becomes impressive as the surface of the disk begins to rise into a towering funnel of fire. Glimpses of the dragon itself appear near the base. "Thar she coils," says Stearn. No one laughs. The business is serious, automated, and uncertain. Waves akin to those of an Earthly sea emanate from the fire spout, which intermittently flares with light and heat released from magnetic reconnections. Energy is building there, but is it building faster than the net drawing close? On the bottom display a clearer look. A great mass breaks from the choppy disk, rising in an arc. The segments slides forward as if the serpent is flying out of the disk. Plasma flows with it, only slowly trailing back along the disk fields, like water pouring unendingly from a high waterfall. The star dragon is a living Niagra. The coil then sinks, slowly, smoothly, its motions limited by its sheer scale. It is a great beast. "The shuttles are nearly there," says Fang. Indeed they bare down on the spot, adjusting their velocities and approach vectors in an ever increasing flood of communications to ensure that they are in the correct locations at the correct times with the correct fields. The outermost shuttles swing out and bolt ahead, extra chemical thrust launching them into space over the disk. They are the pincers and are responsible for closing the magnetic bottle. On the bottom display there is no longer a distinct disk and a distinct sky. The dragon's corkscrews churn the local field lines into a froth and the plasma flies wildly along them. Visibilities diminish in nearly all wavebands, making sure dragon sightings increasingly rare despite the lessening distance. Does it work both ways? Is the dragon having difficulty spotting the skiffs? Will it dive out of sight an escape amidst the artificial storm it has created? Papa maintains communications, adjusting the formation according to probabilities he is constantly updating on the fly. Already with new data he has busted Fisher's dragon model, slightly, and they are not yet fully engaged. But nearly... "Casting the net," Papa informs Fang. A moving electric charge induces a magnetic field. Electrically chanrged tend to move along magnetic field lines. Plasmas are seas of charged particles. This problem required an engineering approach rather than a closed-form analytical solution impossible to calculate on the fly, so redundancy and power were the order of the hour. The solution was brute force: create a dense assemblage of converging field lines with too much power for a charged dragon to break through -- field lines that could be manipulated into a moving cage. The skiffs build the field around the dragon, struggling against the plasma that surges with them, dragging it with them rather than the other way around. The fields stretch, pull, jerk, sometimes recombining in energetic flashes, as the net is constructed. Like great invisble bungi cords they jerk back and forth, then reach deeper as the power cycles higher. If they can box in the serpent first, they can pull in the far ends opposite the creature, drawing the net closed. Every spiraling course would draw it along the lines, into the denser parts of the net where the serpent would be tangled, constricted, and ultimately forced back. Trapped like a djinni in a bottle, the skiffs in locked formation can then tow their catch back to the safety of the Karamojo. Such is the plan. "There they go," says Stearn. The generators are powering up to maximum and the fields are making headway deeper into the plasma of the disk under where the dragon continues its maelstrom. The feed from shuttle seventeen, starboard of the primary view, suddenly changes. Papa shifts the display to that feed so they can see the action. A great shaft pierces the black sky, loops, and dives back. The trilateral head of the dragon is clear as it splays open into three petals, each adorned with a sparkling iridescent jewel, each an eye. Lightning sprays from the mouth along fine extended whiskers arrayed like antennae. Magnetograms indicate the dragon has pulled fields along with it. As they watch the fields build, merge, and explode in recombination: lightning and thunder of the disk. "What was that?" asks Henderson. "The dragon is attacking the net, weakening critical points before they can tighten," Fisher replies. Papa says nothing. It is a good hypothesis. The view from shuttle seventeen rocks despite the anti-jitter algorithms. A firey tsunami has crashed into it -- the wake of the dragon's descent back into the disk. The machine is damaged and breaks out of the pattern to return to the Karamojo. Still, they have secured a close-up view of the beast from its triangular head to the glowing onion-shaped bulb on its trailing end. "Hmm," says Fang. "It looks like that little maneuver has gotten it past the net region. It's in the clear for the moment." "Just for the moment," responds Papa. The simulated dragons in practice had not gotten this far. So, a challenge. That was fine, this was now sport. Papa squirts an updated plan to his skiffs, ordering them to shift formation to cover the escape vector. "Here, look here!" The view now comes from shuttle nineteen, again with a bobbing motion too quick and uneven to be automatically corrected. Papa says, "She's tangled in the field between nineteen and twenty one. Seven and eighteen are converging to strengthen the net. She won't have an easy dive this time." "Good," says Fang. The dance of the hunt is on. It is a fine feeling. The dragon twists its course to head downstream, accelerating. "Swim good and hard," says Fang. "Swim deep, swim, swim, and we'll still be here after you." Before Fang even finishes speaking, the dragon turns abruptly to twist back upstream. Its own fields are high and it brings a wave before it, a spout to meet its pursuers. "Reducing field strengths," says Papa. "No," says Fang. "We must," says Papa, "or else the plasma will be channeled into the shuttles and wipe them out." Even so, the reduced field strength is too much, too late. The plasma does not break up into a spray as it approaches. It is tangled, frozen is the technical term, caught in the fields coming upon them as part of the dragon's wash. The shuttles cannot reduce power sufficiently fast. Induction resists. The coverging field lines pull them together. Papa has the electromagnetic fields and their time derivatives, the phase space of the serpent and the skiffs, and their projected evolution. He has commands to issue, and the lag time to their implementation. He has not time left to actually think about the optimal course of action and his subnodes' independent-action algorithms in practice appear inadequate. He sends them escape trajectories. The magnetic wave crests, carrying its super-heated plasma. The converging shuttles shift powers to the icy cores of their superconducting shells that protect the sub-brains and repell external magnetic fields. Such a defensive posture is insufficient with the star dragon itself pushing the wave. Papa's bird's eye view picks out the beast surfing the plasma flowing down upong the shuttles. Skiff is indeed a better word, since it conveys smallness. A radio burst erupts from the dragon. It is more powerful in the plane of the disk that upward toward the Karamojo. Stearn is looking in the right direction to see the signal on the monitor spike and says, "I think that's a roar of triumph." Papa concurs and orders core dumps to be beamed out and in a cascading pattern outward from the dragon. The data will prove useful even if the skiffs do not escape. "Look at that, will you?" Fisher says. The dragon is riding its wave, a super heated bulge pushed along by the twisting magnetic fields. Of the four central shuttles, three are clearly out of the way. The fourth, shuttle nineteen, does indeed appear to be a skiff before a tidal wave of flame. The wave is not supersonic, and the shuttle rises with the approaching material. It moves, or tries to move, but the wave is directed and works against its best efforts. The dragon's great trilateral heat splits its maw to swallow nineteen. The video feed surrounding the bottom half of the fly bridge shows the abyss of the beast's throat and those waving, charged antennae. The picture breaks up into static and Papa drops the top view to full screen so they can watch the shuttle vanish into the dragon and the dragon vanish with its wave. There is one final radio burst as the disk's wicked differential rotation shears smooth the disturbance. The dragon reappears, far from the retreating shuttles, and resumes its business. # Glorious, Fisher thought, feeling himself warming with the dragon’s display. He snorted through flared nostrils, holding his flushed face still. It would not be politic to show his current feelings here on the bridge. To confirm this thought, he flicked his gaze toward Fang's ashen features. Caught in a stoop half-standing, half-sitting, her white-knuckled fingers gripped her chairbeast so tightly the creature whimpered. "Damn," she whispered. "What happened, Papa?" A ghost-image of Papa's visage overlaid the wraparound disk. It gave Fisher the unfortunate impression of a man on fire. "One shuttle lost, one crippled. We're still processing the reports. In the meantime, we’ll regroup and get back on the hunt." "No!" Fang said, too fast. "Bring them back in, all of them. For now. We need to analyze the new data." "Think we can bag it," Papa persisted. "That was a sucker punch, that’s all." Fang blinked slowly, and when she opened her eyes, she was looking at Fisher. He gave her a nearly imperceptible nod. She stood all the way upright, squared her shoulders, and ordered, "Bring the shuttles back, Papa." "Aye aye, Captain," he said. Was that a pout in his voice? Stearn and Devereaux were whispering about something, huddled together over a picture tank. Dark, knowing twins. Light from the tank reflected as a glare on their sweaty features. Fisher took a step closer. What could they find so engaging with all this going on? "That isn’t going to work, love," Stearn said through gritted teeth. He held his eyes wide open and unblinking as if he had transparent eyelids. He probably did. "You’re mine!" Devereaux said nothing, her eyes bulging slightly with the increased magnification she was using, her face a mask of concentration. Fisher approached and looked into the tank. Like a barbecue pit, the tank cradled a glow, and in that glow moved tiny shapes...squatting down so that his eyes just peeked over the edge, he made out an armada of tiny green bugs swarming around a noodle. Red lines as fine as hairs connected the flitting bugs. The noodle slid between the red hairs. "What -- ?" Fisher started to say when Stearn cut him off with a bark. Luckily his noise filters cut the decibels down to something tolerable. Some bodmods were essential enough to make the time to obtain. That one had saved him from months of distraction. Fisher turned to Devereaux for understanding. Although a hummingbird smile hovered on her lips, the images before her completely held her attention. Stearn and Devereaux both sat hunched over, their shoulders elevated. Then he noticed their hands, which were wrapped in amoebae interfaces and accepting manual input. Fisher winced -- they were playing a damn game. "I’m not surprised to see Stearn goofing off, but et tu, Dr. Devereaux?" Stearn’s upper lip crawled unevenly up his teeth into a lopsided grin. "We're both working a lot harder than you are, Dr. Fisher." He grunted and jerked his hands. "Mine," he said to Devereaux. "We’re running," Devereaux paused for a long moment while her hands moved in earnest, "interactive models of the dragon hunt." Green bugs and noodles, of course it was the dragon hunt. He blinked away his misunderstanding and looked at their game again with magnified vision. After a moment, he flashed on the real thing in his mind’s eye, which he preferred immensely to the noodle abstraction. "But Papa did that, didn’t he? The star dragon just turned out to exceed his expectations." Magnificently, he added to himself. "Ha," Stearn said. "You ever play a game against Papa? I mean a real game with rules and limitations, but with infinite room for creativity?" "Of course. I have him run simulations all the -- " "A game, man!" "No." "Well, let me tell you something." Stearn seemed as focused on the tank as ever, his eyes big and unblinking, his hands dancing in the amoebae, but his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. As if that would matter to Papa. "The Old Man talks a bigger game than he plays. He’s, I don’t know, mechanical. Stomps you the first few hundred times, then you start getting him. A game here, a game there, then more regularly. I mean, he’s got a personality and everything, but it’s a little more rigid than human. A little too predictable." "Papa lacks the desperation to survive that evolution drives into every fiber of your being," Devereaux said. "He fakes it well, but you can find it if you look hard enough." "In games?" Fisher asked. "Absolutely," Stearn said. "What life’s all about. Games are survival practice. We’re bred for it. Evolution is just game theory in action. Hey there, Syl, just ‘cause I’m talking to the man here doesn’t mean you can sneak out so easily. Better try harder." Sylvia said nothing, but her hands moved quickly indeed. Fisher peered closer. "We just learned a tremendous amount about the dragons. You need to incorporate that into your simulation." Stearn stopped biting his extended tongue and said, "We're probably four iterations behind your current model. Why not lend us a hand and analyze the new stuff and give us something realistic?" He was going to do that anyway, he'd already decided, but he told Stearn that that was a fine idea. "Samuel?" Fang called across the bridge. "Would you come with me, please?" "Go on, man," Stearn said. "We’ll work up some real strategies for the hunt. You make sure she’s ready to make the hard decisions. I think we’ll have some. Those dragons got a healthy sense of self-preservation. They are Alive with a capital ‘A.’" Maybe he should reevaluate Stearn...or Devereaux, rather. He was probably just repeating what she’d said. She was the brains of the couple, it was clear. Well, except for maybe when it came to games, he granted. Stearn practiced those often enough. Fisher stood up, turned, and walked into a wall. "Excuse me," Henderson said down to him. "I was just watching." "Um, right." Fisher said, ducking around the giant. The biotechnician was another one to consider after his entrance today. Why the sudden change? What did he know? Was he a wild card to be watched himself? Lord, he longed to focus on only his beloved dragon once again. The dragons were right out there. With all the technology at their disposal, they should be able to reach out and just pluck one off the proverbial tree of knowledge, and bite deep. But he had already waited so long, the giddy height of this last act could stretch out to infinity, and perhaps like the moment before orgasm this would be better if prolonged. Even so, playing the crew felt confusing and unrewarding today. Still, he had to do it to make sure things got done right. Or at least not too wrong. Plenty of time to make sure. The disk was as stable as it ever got, and they were learning more every minute about this dragon, which still showed no signs of diving deep. Now, why was that? "Samuel, are you coming?" Fang's voice stirred him from his reverie. Blinking away the stare at the display he’d fallen into, he asked, "Where to, Lena? Need to unwind? Need to spar?" He bent his head and put up his "dukes," as she'd called them. "No," she said, turning to exit the bridge. Shrugging, Fisher followed. He was in ‘good boy’ mode -- he could do anything for the dragon, and he was proving it to himself. He should be working on the problem directly, adding the new data to his models, and he would as soon as Fang finished with him. Even Stearn appeared to be working on the problem directly at the moment. But after their failures in these initial dragon encounters, he dared not underestimate the importance of supporting Fang properly. Fang walked quickly, her boots thudding into the defenseless ruglings with an authority that Fisher found appealing. Fisher once again trailed behind and admired the way her rear bounced to the rhythm of her steps. He had neglected his own needs too much, perhaps, and maybe in supporting Fang he would support himself. Some of his best ideas came at unexpected moments when the conscious mind fell under the influence of primitive drives. Maybe it wasn’t too late to have it all. But he stopped himself from pursuing that thought. So far they had nothing but a few scraps of data on the star dragons...and probably had already left thousands of corpses. Or rather, she had. Life was too cheap in this century -- that century they had come from, rather -- even the most remarkable life. Life had become technology and evolution swept away the less fit faster than ever, punctuated equilibrium timed to economic cycles. In the century they would return to would things be any different? He feared not. He feared they would be worse. He looked at Fang, at her fine body, as she strode along the corridor so self-assuredly in her only slightly wrinkled uniform. He stumbled along, his steps short and fast with the extra weight, feeling awkward and uncertain. Was their failure so far her fault? Or the fault of the times they came from that guided her choices? Or had the Biolathe brain for its own arcane reasons given her special instructions? Enough. He didn’t have to think conspiracy every second...but what if he missed something he could have discovered with a little more effort? Perhaps right now he should pursue every thought as far as he could, lest he risk missing something. If he missed something, it would be a tragedy. A year and a thousand, wasted. Playing games, and thinking everyone else was playing games, was difficult. Single-minded obsession so much easier! Fang vanished inside her cabin, leaving the portal wide open in welcome. When he rounded the corner, she was already prone on the bed, her boots kicked off, her rump inviting him for a good life-affirming rut. He smiled at that thought and, after closing the portal, padded forward. Fang didn’t stir. Fisher dug his toes into his heels and pried off his own streakers. He came to the edge of the baffled waterbed and climbed on like a hunting beast. He was still smiling. Fang lay there motionless, her breathing slow, steady, and deep. Fisher reached out, intending to snake his hand around to cup her breast, and stopped. This was what he wanted, but all his wants right now had to be subverted to reach his goals. To do that, he intended now to make Fang feel strong. Secure. What would do that? He moved his hand. He wrapped his fingers around her shoulder, rubbing its ball in the palm of his hand. He slid his body closer so that his arm rested along her side and his chest pressed against her back. He nuzzled her neck, gently. He flared his nostrils and sucked in air, smelled her sweat. It didn’t excite him. Rather, in his current mind, he perceived a sourness in the smell that hinted at fatigue poisons and stress. Fang made a small noise that came from deep in her throat, a noise halfway between grunt and hum. She didn't otherwise stir. Of course she was bone tired. Hadn’t she been watching the disk for hours while sitting perched on the edge of her chair like some hungry raptor desperate for a meal? He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, except to be pleased that she was making every effort to make the mission a success. He’d been working, too, after all. This is hard, paying attention to everyone else, he thought for the thousandth time. Fisher pressed his fingers into her skin, massaging her shoulder. Fang rolled onto her stomach, and Fisher sat up and began to give her a back rub. Then, inspired, he recalled the hardchip routines that Atsuko had asked him to install fifty years -- three hundred years -- ago. They still sat unused in his motor control biochip. He should have used them before, that night he'd given the extended back rub. Tonight would be easier work, on his hands anyway. He thought the command activating the chip, with his eye scrolled down the options, and activated Shiatsu! Under their own volition, his hands danced a quickstep across Fang's back. Fang made a sound of surprise, a happy sound if he intuited right, followed by a low, deep groan. "Yes," she whispered. "Do that." Somehow she managed to fall asleep in just a few minutes despite the massage. Fisher let the program run through its full hour duration, damning and praising Atsuko both in random moments. His unsatisfied erection lasted the whole time. # Stearn stepped carefully through the portal into Fisher's cabin. He hadn't been inside the place in something like a year and just being there still felt taboo even though he had been invited. Sylvia didn't look any more comfortable than he felt. Stearn kept his eyes moving and had the sensation of being in one of those games where the zombie-monsters are lurking around every corner. At least he'd turned the flames way down so they were just like funky, warm ruglings. "I apologize for my tardiness. I had things to attend to," Fisher said. Stearn grinned despite his uneasiness. He knew at least some of the things. "You said you'd updated your model and that we needed it," Sylvia said. "You work fast." Fisher smiled, but it looked forced. "As fast as I can. Really, I got lucky that some of my previous guesses were close to right. Then it was a relatively simple matter of making adjustments based on the new data." Lucky, yeah. This guy was funny after all. "Well, let's see it," Sylvia said. "Very well," Fisher said, then gave Papa a simulation number to access. The flames rose up in the middle of the room with a twisting star dragon moving among them. Stearn realized then what he should have realized a long time ago. Fisher had really just turned his cabin into a giant picture tank and the flames were in all likelihood not real at all. They were virtual, with a little help from some heaters and scent-dispensers. The guy was sneaky. He liked that. The three waded hip-deep through the roiling disk to the dragon. This was really cool. The projected dragon was three-dimensional and visible in fine detail. No where was the surface of the creature smooth -- there were tiny ridges and curves and twists covering every segment, easily seen despite the shifting glowing hue. Stearn squinted, seeing detail on even smaller scales. Neat! And it reminded him of something. "All right then," Fisher said. "Welcome to Star Dragon Anatomy 101." Oh please, thought Stearn, not a boring lecture! "Just hit the highlights," Sylvia said. "We need to get to work on strategy development as fast as possible." He really loved that woman. Fisher nodded and the started pointing to the various dragon features as he described them. "This model is specific now to the dragon we have been tracking. You can see the ball at the end of its tail. The rest of the animal appears consistent with the range of properties we saw during the swarm. First, the head and the eyes. The multi-facets probably are involved in providing an extended wavelength range to high energies -- extreme ultraviolet and even X-rays. Three eyes makes a lot of sense in this environment. We have two eyes and mostly respond to events in a plane before us. We have to look up or look down. The dragon can keep an eye on the sky and much of the bowl of the disk which is probably handy for spotting a developing outburst." "I'm not getting a mind-mod to have trinocular vision," Sylvia said. "Other wavelengths can be easily handled by stretching a color palette, but I'll still need to look up and look down." Stearn said, "I got that covered. There's a video game interface for a space-based shooter in zero-gee that does it really well." "Fine then. We'll steal that." Fisher went on. "The eyes are probably not the most important sensory apparatus on the head. The assortment of whiskers around the mouth can be used to broadcast and receive radio waves at a variety of frequencies. In conjunction with the surface circulatory system they should also be good at seeing the electro-magnetic fields in the area." "Figured as much," Sylvia said. "How about movement?" "The twists let it slide along the field lines, and the clever twists -- see there," Fisher pointed as the model did a reverse twist in the middle of its long body," initiate shifts to other field lines. There's a surface circulatory system that moves charge around to facilitate movements. Think about it like a complex integrated electronic circuit with strategically placed capacitors and inductors, transformers, rectifiers, and both AC and DC regions. The charge can be circulated to produce an impressively strong magnetic field of the dragon's own that can actively shield it from particle storms, just like the van Allen belts around the Earth. They probably use it during outbursts and if we could see them at all against the disk they'd look like ball lightning with shimmering auroras." "You haven't gotten to the best part yet," Stearn said. "Oh yes, the rocketing." Fisher shrugged. "This one can't, not with the ball on the end. I've checked the fields." Stearn said, "Strip it off, show us anyway." "Sure." He issued some commands to Papa. The ball vanished and the dragon began to coil. "See how the segments stack up in this new plane? The asymmetric pieces and their asymmetric surfaces match up just right. Plasma directed into these new super coils can be tightly confined and fusion can be induced. The plasma in the interior cavity can then be heated and expelled for propulsion." The dragon rocketed above the disk. "I knew it," said Stearn. "It looks just like our magnetic fusion reactors which tossed out symmetry centuries ago. They're only locally quasi-symmetric and confine plasma along a distorted helix and thus reducing collisional diffusion effects. The particle trajectories remain close to magnetic surfaces as long as there is one ignorable coordinate, which does not require circular symmetry if you think about it, and an approximate helical symmetry is plenty to do the job. Got to have the structures perfectly shaped though, on millimeter scales." Stearn realized that both Fisher and Sylvia were staring at him. Sylvia's mouth even hung open. "What?" he asked. "Fusion confinement has such weird-looking solutions of course I'm an expert on them!" "Of course you are," Fisher said. "Well, the other essential item you must incorporate into your simulation is heating-cooling balance. That places a lot of constraints on the observed behavior. The laser action appears to be as automatic as sweating: heating charges capacitors which pump the populations as certain voltages are reached. I haven't figured out all the materials. Okay, hardly any of the materials, but the global conservation laws must be met." "That will have to be good enough for us," said Sylvia. "Papa, can you hook this model into the simulation we're building? The model with the ball on its tail?" "Absolutely," Papa said. "There's more," said Fisher. "Anything that will affect perceptions that you're confident about?" "Not if you put it that way." Stearn kept watching the rocketing dragon. It was very cool to watch. He was a little disappointed that the fusion power seemed to be the same that they'd developed. It did occur to him that the solutions were very difficult to find and required very powerful numerical techniques. How could nature have found them? This wasn't the kind of thing you stumbled over even with a Hubble time worth of chimpanzees typing on keyboards. "Come on, Phil," Sylvia said. "Time to hunt me down like a dragon." # In her quarters, Devereaux and Stearn sat cross-legged on plush ruglings simulating forest loam. It was dusk, and a campfire burned between them. Over its crackling came the twitterings of birds and insects. Devereaux counted the missing pieces that gave away the puzzle of the artificiality: the lack of heat and smoke from the never-dying fire, the leak of April Scent from her bedbeast currently disguised as a pile of colorful autumn leaves, the misalignment of the stars (which were right for North America, but not at dusk in autumn), the -- "We going to do this, or what?" asked Stearn. He was bent over the fire and its light reflected golden off his broad forehead. His eyes bore straight into hers, and their brown depths conveyed soulfulness. Where had he gotten that? His boy’s twinkle had metamorphisized sometime recently. Had he discovered the seriousness of games at last? Or was she simply seeing in him what he tried so hard to deny? "Yes, we’re going to do it right now. You’ll feed us the real-time disk as instructed, Papa?" Papa’s voice broke the night, sending a few leaves fluttering down. "Of course we will. Our reactions are much faster than yours, so we don’t know why you think -- " "Thank you, Papa," Devereaux said. While Fisher had spent months simulating a star dragon, Devereaux had spent months simulating SS Cygni. She had also invested some effort in building a virtual environment and artificial senses to experience it with. She and Fisher had no idea if her senses had any analog in a star dragon, but they constituted ways of judging the immediate environmental parameters directly and it seemed a natural expectation the dragon could do as much. Much of science, as in art, was simply finding the clearest way of seeing a new thing so as to understand it best. She would not trust the day to the simple video games she and Stearn had already tried. Expecting Papa to develop a perfect hunting strategy based only on his own survival algorithms and limited data had been wildly optimistic. This thing they were doing was hard, and certainly that meant intelligence and a more worthwhile mission, didn’t it? Intelligence was an advantageous trait in an organism in order to help it find food, or to help it avoid being food. The star dragon was demonstrating an ability to avoid being their food, in effect. There was nothing here to eat them in this naked ecosystem (nothing they had yet seen anyway, she was forced to qualify), and they appeared to consist of elements available in the plasma, so why intelligence? How could intelligence come about, even granting that the disk would present many challenges to survival? Well, it was time to improve their own intelligence. Devereaux picked up the visor-shaped interface from her lap. It was a black semi-circle studded with warm and glistening circuitry, the veins throbbing slightly, and clawed feet that were the direct link. It was a crude thing by the standards of the time, but Devereaux was a problem solver. She didn’t polish things up and make them look nice. She touched the ends to her temples while resting the center on the bridge of her nose, squeezed the feet, and winced as the needles sank into her flesh. Tinkling bells assaulted her, and the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of her own blood grew into a gale swirling the white snow of static into drifts before her. The snow faded to black, and the bells and blood diminished in volume and became impossible silence. With this kind of lousy entry, her interface skills would never get her a job with Stearn’s preferred stim supplier. Her skin prickled, stretched, and coiled. Opposite the icy blue sky swelled light and heat to define ‘down.’ She swam in a cool wind, curling around a bright green line that kept her from falling. Deep, ringing sounds echoed back and forth on their passage through the disk. She sorted through them, identifying the major low chord of the accretion stream impacting the hotspot half a disk away and the minor high notes of instability-driven flickering. She slid off her green wire in favor of another, tasting the sweetness of deuterium there (they'd assumed fusion-powered creatures would have a taste for heavy hydrogen isotopes). She spent several minutes reacquainting herself with her body until her thoughts directly became action, until this body was her body. Too soon, the wire vibrated. All the green wires vibrated. She felt the invaders out there just as when she’d been a girl she could feel her docelot Gordian prowling around her bedbeast early in the morning. No problem -- she’d just dive down into the muggy glow and escape them. Then she fully appreciated the bulb on her tail, which floated like an over-inflated balloon on a golden chain. Bloated, sluggish, she knew she ought to be able move better than this! She sashayed her dragon ass around, but there was no better way to move with that thing there. Fisher would have gotten the characteristics of the thing right for this model or it would not be so debilitating. Why would a dragon have such an awkward thing? A warning, like a rattlesnake? Could it be used as a capacitor, a battery to power...what? That wouldn’t make sense if the dragons could ignite fusion within their coils. It was so awkward. Why would... But the invaders drew near, six of them. No, there was a seventh held back. No doubt Papa and Stearn thought it beyond her range (did this simulation have that close to right???) and would drive her that way with the others. So she immediately headed right for it. She could move faster than the shuttles, even without rocketing and even with the damn bulb dragging behind, but she couldn’t dive to escape and couldn’t simply fly indefinitely away from them. Presumably the real star dragon couldn’t, and the point of this exercise was the endgame that would follow such a chase even if they could. She barreled head-on toward the lagging intruder, blitzing past the forward guard. Their fields were far from a net and she squirted through with little deviation from her course. As she bore down on the straggler, she watched it grow into a frizzy green mess resembling a sick bush, and then it was past, its ‘leaves’ rustling in her wake. What now? she thought. She had just shown Papa and Stearn that a forewarned dragon could disrupt a prematurely cast net. They knew that. They’d have to take a step back in the puzzle, put a few pieces together in advance, and begin the interlock from a larger distance. She swirled about to meet the new challenge they’d throw at her shortly. In the low-frequency background rumble of the impact stream, a high-pitched thud resounded like a peal of distant thunder. That high a tone would not be a deep pressure wave, one of the drivers of the disk viscosity that moved plasma in toward the white dwarf. But what else carried that much power for her to hear it this way? Could it be the echo of their missiles? No, those were long damped. Sounds like this didn’t just erupt through the disk. Maybe there was an instability growing in the secondary she hadn’t been aware of? That thud had to signal something. And those few moments of distraction were enough as pairs of the intruders approached from the compass points. She corkscrewed down, building up buoyant forces, then sprang up at high velocity, angling toward a break between two pairs. As she approached, the pairs split and she found the green lines being drawn together. As their density increased, her progress slowed, then reversed. She bounced. The other intruders had come about and tied the magnetic bag from the back side. She oscillated back and forth, trapped as long as she kept her currents and rode the lines. "Okay, you got me," Devereaux said aloud with her human mouth, the words tasting bland. Simulating dragon senses had to be done with analogs to human perception, but the multitude of potentially critical information required doubling and tripling of sensory input, giving the world a richness she appreciated all the more for talking. "Let’s try that again and see if I can’t find a way to wiggle out." "You can try," Stearn’s voice echoed to her distantly, heavy and out of place, reminding her of that odd noise. The disk was such a complicated system that to expect it to not have even more inexplicable creaks and groans than a space craft was unrealistic. Still, as they started another trial, the memory of that thud bothered her. The thud hadn't been real, measured, and piped to her dragon-altered simsenses. She shook it off and concentrated on the next game. She heard another deep, distant thud, but didn't let it distract her further. They would not catch her so easily the next time. And they didn't. What we think and feel and are is to a great extent determined by the state of our ductless glands and our viscera. –Aldous Huxley Fang's eyes flashed open on darkness. Even before she had checked her eye clock, she had swung her torso upright and slid her feet off the edge of the bed. She had slept over six hours! The lights brightened in response to her movements and she leaned over to tug on her boots. With her optimized metabolism she normally slept four hours in every twenty-four, but this was not a normal time. "What’s happening, Papa?" Certainly he would have awoken her if there had been a change in their status, right? Unless Fisher had done something tricky again. She still didn’t quite trust him, even though he’d given her the most terrific back rub.… "We’re pacing the beast. It’s swimming merrily along, waiting to be hooked." Fang stood, ignored the slight head rush, and stepped out the irising portal toward the fly bridge. "Where is everyone? What are they doing?" "We're playing dragon tiddly-winks with Stearn and Devereaux in her quarters, and the kids aren’t bad at the game, have to admit. Or maybe we're not as recovered as we'd like to think. Henderson’s in his lab, moping as usual. Fisher is swilling coffee and fiddling around with his models, adding bells and whistles as we feed him more data. Damn good enough already, in our opinion. He’s on the bridge now." Well, no catastrophes, but she still felt uncertain about Fisher. He hadn’t rested. He’d gone right back to work. Wasn’t that reasonable for the workaholic? He was on her side now, right? They were working together, right? Despite the physical glow of well being his touch had engendered in her, she doubted. Better to have him there, with her, under her scrutiny. On the bridge as well as in the bedroom. She shook her head to clear away the dark thoughts. Feeling utterly good and clear-headed, if a bit rushed, Fang swept onto the fly bridge. "Let's get this hunt moving," she called out. Fisher glanced up from his console, the green glare of a wire-mesh model floating in his console casting his face as a ghoulish mask. He nodded and turned away without a word, or a smile, and became reabsorbed in the arcanna of his science. Some welcome, she thought. She popped herself down on her fighting chair without grace, and the beast let out an involuntary squeal. She gently massaged its arms until it quieted. "Papa, get Stearn and Devereaux up here." "Yes, daughter. Mr. Henderson as well?" "Did I ask for Henderson?" Fang snapped. Smartly, Papa didn’t answer. Fang contented herself with watching the dragon, the prize that would legitimize her as a Captain for all time...or at least another few millennia, she hoped. Then there would be some other chore to save her, and so on, and so on. It was a big galaxy. There had to be enough things to do to justify her existence, did there not? The dragon was doing the same stuff, old already, and she became distracted. The bridge was a mess she noticed. Bits of dirt, dust, and sweat coated many surfaces. The ruglings were anemic. She only saw two fish in the whole room, hardly sufficient to consume the debris where so many people were spending so much time. The Karamojo was not ship-shape, and that made her uneasy. When Stearn and Devereaux arrived, unabashedly holding hands in an uncomfortably intimate fashion in which only their index fingers were hooked, Fang asked them point blank if they could do better than Papa. "Absolutely," Stearn said. "We’ve got creativity, the edge of life, the will to survive." Fang ignored the Jack and stared at Devereaux. The other woman’s eyes were a steady, serene brown as rich and deep as a tub of coffee. She shrugged a shoulder, the one farthest from Stearn. "Well, Papa's better trained now, I would say. We'll never match his reaction times." "How long do we have until the next outburst?" Fang asked Devereaux. Devereaux said, "Papa, give me COUNTDOWN from my monitoring program, plus the one-sigma uncertainty." "Nineteen days, plus or minus a day and a half." Devereaux’s eyebrows crawled together in a deliberate manner that bothered Fang more than the way she held hands with Stearn. "That sounds like plenty of time. Is something wrong?" Fang asked. "Maybe." Devereaux cast off Stearn’s grasp and sat down on the couchbeast. She bent over, rested her elbows on her knees, and peered into the display tank as she interfaced with the console, her fingers flying with commands. She said, "That’s rather quicker than the last time I checked. And the uncertainty is too large. Something is going on." Devereaux was sometimes too much a scientist for Fang's taste. As a captain, she only wanted to know what was necessary to get the job done. "But nineteen days means we needn’t rush here. That's what I’m getting at." Devereaux said nothing, but her eyes flickered back and forth as fast as her fingers. Something suddenly touched Fang's hand, and she jerked it away, startled. "Sorry," Fisher whispered, his voice close to her ear. She felt his touch on her hand again. She made a fist and lifted her arms to her chest. Too late for him to make up now -- he had had his chance when she stepped onto the fly bridge. She was Captain, and the game was afoot. Time to be professional. "What’s the big deal?" asked Stearn. "The system is hard to predict, you said." Devereaux’s fingers kept moving. "Not this hard. We’re right on top of it and can monitor the accretion rate and the viscosity as a function of position, pipe it all straight into the model. Something is happening in the disk to alter the viscosity, maybe via the magnetic fields, or something is happening in the secondary to increase the inflow to the disk." "Is the viscosity that important?" Fang asked. Fisher answered. "All important. The effective friction in the plasma is what moves angular momentum outward and matter sinks in toward the white dwarf. With low viscosity, everything piles up in the disk's outer edge and nothing moves. With high viscosity, which can be induced through dynamo-driven waves or thermal instabilities when too much gas amasses, everything starts flowing through to the primary and the disk gets hot and expands. That's an outburst for you. Boom, we're toast." Fang knew this much, at least in these general terms, but still failed to appreciate why Devereaux was so excited. "So? We have nineteen days." "That’s a moving target," Devereaux answered. "Something is being introduced outside the parameters of the model I assembled. I made a very good model, I'll have you know. This will take some time to figure out." Fang took a deep breath. Suddenly this seemed more like a science expedition than a safari. Well, there was glory in science expeditions, too. Of a mediocre sort. "Excuse me," Papa said in uncharacteristically polite fashion. "Yes, Papa?" Fang said, curious about what could be so unclear as to warrant uncertainty in bringing it before the human minds on board. "There are these signals. Mostly low-frequency radio, but a few other parts of the power spectrum are correlated in time. They seem to be omnipresent background noise, perhaps some accretion fluctuation -- we've been registering them since we arrived in system." "So why bring them up?" Fang asked. "First, I’m no longer sure they are mere noise. Second, we’re picking up high-energy spikes, X-rays and even energies into the gamma regime, following the most complex, extended bursts." "Where are they coming from?" Devereaux asked. "That’s the strange part," Papa confessed. "Most of the high-energy processes should occur near the primary where the accreting gas crashes into the white dwarf's surface, but these come from the direction of the secondary. Every twenty minutes or so, but that's only an average rate, and it too is accelerating." Another mystery? Or another aspect of one of the mysteries already in their catalog? They didn’t need mysteries. All they needed was to scoop up a dragon and keep it alive, or whatever it was -- animate anyway, for the journey back to Earth. Hell, a dead dragon was probably good enough. Point A to point B and back again. Collect the admiration of trillions for fifteen seconds of fame. It would be enough to remain Important. Would it be enough to remain Captain another millennia? "Feed me the data," Devereaux asked Papa. "Of course," he said gruffly, "but we've run all the standard decoding algorithms and the like. If someone is talking, it isn’t in a way we understand." "We understand gamma rays," came a deep voice from behind. "Their ionizing touch can unravel our DNA faster than our self-repairing systems can put it back together." Fang half-turned and saw Henderson, hunched over and looming in the portal like the Angel of Death come to claim his due. She wanted to say ‘Fuck off,’ but just turned away from him. Perhaps she should have given herself more sleep, even though the six hours seemed a luxury. It was difficult to keep her thoughts appropriately professional, and it was vital for her to do so now. To Devereaux she said, "So is this important to us?" Fisher answered. "Look to the dragon. If the dragon reacts, it matters to us. If not..." As bidden, Fang looked to the dragon. The garish pseudo-colors of the displays made it seem some green grass snake twisting on the coals of a barbecue pit, writhing in agony. She looked beyond that image, beyond the immensity of the disk. Did it swim more...intently? Did it seem aware of the radio noise and the gamma bursts? Did it seem aware of the Karamojo? No. It twisted on. Staring at the thing for too long, Fang finally looked away, down to the white lapel of her uniform (the fiery disk burned everywhere else). The reverse image formed, and it was a bloody snake sliding over a green field. Her grandfather’s fireside stories rose up to her unbidden, like smoke through time. What was the relevance of Chinese folklore here at SS Cygni? Nevertheless, it came back to her. Red and green were complementary colors, primary life colors, and possessed even greater power in combination. And there was a vast difference between snakes and dragons. Snakes were one of the five noxious creatures, clever but treacherous, associated with male virility except when they had triangular heads -- then they were female symbols. In many of the stories the snakes could be coerced into handing over gifts of pearls, but such bargaining was not without great risk. "Hey hey hey," Stearn said. Fang blinked and returned her attention to the dragon. Instead of its steady, placid progress toward Dragon Nirvana or whatever place it worked towards, the creature was bucking up and down, splashing plasma like water in a bathtub. The scale of the beast made this a slow motion wonder, but the violence in its motions was undeniable. Shit, she thought. Fisher stepped toward the display, holding his arms out in supplication. The projection obscured his hands at the wrists, and it appeared that his arms grew into the dragon. "It’s okay, we’re coming for you." Things were happening. Too slow before, for too long, but now too fast. Not fast enough. Did they have nineteen days? It suddenly seemed like nineteen seconds. "Do you think it will dive?" she said aloud to no one in particular. Fisher answered, "Yes," at the same time Devereaux said "No." Papa offered no opinion at all, which was probably the most telling. Fisher spun toward her, pulling his hands from the dragon. The projection trailed off his fingers as if her had plunged his arms into the real creature and then withdrawn them, sticky with life. "We have a plan of action, a distracted dragon, and an unknown physical phenomenon -- still distant for the moment. I’m willing to take a good gamble on this individual specimen. Devereaux will agree that the uncertainty in the disk’s behavior makes it safer to act now rather than later. Am I right?" Fang, feeling played, turned to Devereaux. She stared back for a long moment then nodded. "Papa?" Fang asked. It was more than prudent to ask his opinion in this circumstance. While he was too gung-ho in many instances, and shaken by his recent trauma, his basic programming remained more than sound. "Let’s bag a dragon," he replied. "Bring us closer and launch shuttles when optimal. I assume you’ve incorporated the results of your strategy sessions with Stearn and Devereaux?" "Of course," Papa said. The dragon swelled before them as the Karamojo reduced its thrust and descended. Papa changed the display mode to deep immersion so that space and the disk surrounded them, and they lost sight of even their own bodies. The dragon’s trilateral head wagged erratically. Glowing plasma leaked from its gaping mouth making Fang think of a swamp sucker draining land for colonists. Tracers of electric blue mapped the course of the released shuttles, soldiers in their army. Two of them shimmered as they dove into the photosphere and were lost on visual, but still tracked on radio frequencies. Two others shot overhead, bouncing in a high arc. The rest swirled toward the dragon. The dragon paid the robots no heed. Its head maintained a constant orientation with respect to the Karamojo, but its body careened wildly as it jerked itself back and forth out of the disk riding a spurting tower of plasma. "Can it reach us here?" Henderson asked. "Of course it can if it rockets," Papa said. "Without rocketing..." "It can also reach us, just not quite as fast," Devereaux said. "There’s a strong poloidal magnetic field that goes right out, and shifting into that field it can sling itself out like a bead on a wire. Centrifugal force will accelerate it to..." "Keplerian velocities. At this radius that’s nearly a thousand kilometers per second," Papa said. "But it is the differential velocity relative to us that is important. Given our projected trajectory -- " "It could reach us in about three minutes, if we let it," Fisher said. "I don’t know why it hasn’t tried to rocket away. It must be that ball on the end. If it prevents rocketing, it must serve some important function. Or we have a mutant, which seems doubtful. I wonder what that ball is?" The blue tracers twisted, drawing elaborate orchid leaves as they converged. The dragon ignored them and continued its collision course toward the Karamojo. Details sharpened as the distance decreased. Textures rippled into visibility: a mottled striation of greens in the annelid segments, facets in the trilateral chameleon eyes. As usual, Fang could not help but focus on the eyes, her bane it seemed. She and Papa had spent long hours talking about the look of eyes, and not just the eyes of leviathans. Papa knew that a person’s character and intent could be read in unmodded eyes and a surprising variety of designed eyes. He knew this not from his own experience, but from the false experience that had been fed into his own character as a function of building aspects of his original Hemingway-esque personality. He didn’t understand it. Evolution selected for humans who could best evaluate the actions of their fellows, refining the ability to read nuances of stance, expression, and behavior. Hard-wired pattern recognition of the most essential kind, and so hard to duplicate in neural networks at the level of discerning masked intent. "Oh god!" Henderson shouted, a dull ringing sound like a giant bell being dropped to the floor. "That’s a bomb! A bomb! Its shed its rocket engine into a bomb and its going to kill us!" "I seriously doubt -- " Fisher started, but then settled into a silence. He finally said, "Hmm, you could be right. We'll find out soon enough." "Ooh, I know it’s a bomb." Could Henderson be right? It didn’t seem very likely that Henderson’s fears would be a perfect match to reality. But his guess struck her as more likely than what had been proposed so far. Perhaps they should retreat, investigate further. They had nineteen days, give or take. Fisher said, "Shift the display to higher energies. Hard X-rays, ten to twenty keV range." Fang stopped a frown from reaching her face as the resolution of the dragon dropped, sharp edges dissolving into hazy blobs. The creature’s eyes liquefied from hard reptilian to spectral, matching the new skeletal body. At these energies a few photons leaked through the beast, although its biology seemed immune from the effects of ionization. "Yes, something dark in the ball, absorbing." Fisher spoke low, more to himself than to his crewmates. "Could be heavy fissionables for a trigger, collected over years, but if the dragon can generate fusion via magnetic confinement and laser bombardment, why would it need a trigger? And the shape seems less than optimal. No, upon reflection, I seriously doubt that it is a bomb. There are a hundred more likely explanations." But he had started with ‘Could be,’ and ‘could be’ was enough for her. Perhaps some dragons had started to grow them after the nuclear detonations in the disk for their protection. They had time to find out for sure without having the thing explode in their face. The dragon was already uncomfortably close, and drawing closer every second as the disk’s rotation helped whip it out. "Pull back, Papa. Return the shuttles, too." Her weight increased with the push of acceleration as they lifted away. "Smart move," Henderson said. "No," said Fisher. "We need to take the dragon now and determine the nature of the phenomenon. Much easier to study in our hold. We need the time in system with it." "Things are going on we don’t understand," Devereaux said. "Patience solves many puzzles. We should be prudent and wait." "No," said Fisher. "We should be bold. We can understand it if we move now." Papa had shifted the display back to lower frequencies and an extended dynamic range for better detail, all the while maintaining the image scale. Still, the image blurred and the three eyes merged into a cyclopean worm. "Come now," Fisher said. "Let’s go back in." Stearn made a small grunt and nod, but when Devereaux glanced his way he nibbled his lip and didn’t say anything. Fisher said, "You’re with me, right Papa?" "We think we can bag the dragon, but we'll follow the captain’s orders." "You hear that, Captain Fang? Papa thinks we can take the dragon, and he’s smarter than you." Fisher paused for breath and amended, "Than us, I mean." "Papa is no better than his input data -- your data," Devereaux interjected, stepping between Fisher and Fang. "In fact, he’s probably worse at imagining the outcomes of unique situations with unknown parameters." "And you can do better?" Fisher challenged, looking over Devereaux’s dreadlocks straight at Fang. He was daring her. I’m responsible, Fang thought. When we get back, my future will be determined by my performance here, and I already have one black eye. No more hasty mistakes. Fang met Fisher’s stare with all the coolness she could muster, and said nothing, letting her order stand. The dragon twisted back on itself and fell toward the disk. That strange ball wiggled behind, taunting them. That was fine. They’d return soon enough. "Shuttles returning," Papa said. Indeed, the blue web was knitting itself out of existence. "No," Fisher said. "Send them back out. We've worked it all out while you were sleeping. The dragon is within reach." "No," said Fang. "Maintain distance, Papa." "Yes," said Henderson. Fang stood up from her chair, noticing that suddenly her feet felt sweaty in her boots. She stepped toward Devereaux’s console and said, "Let’s take a closer look at that encounter." Fisher said, "No," yet again. Fang spared him half a glance and found herself at the receiving end of an animalistic glare she’d only glimpsed in Fisher in the boxing ring. What had got him so worked up? First he didn't want to swoop in like thunder because of too many unknowns, and now he was balking when she chose the cautious route. "Am I going to have a problem with you?" Her question had two levels of meaning and she hoped he understood that. "Your instincts the first time weren't very good," Fisher answered evenly. "Why not try it my way this time?" He was being clumsy in his baiting. She knew that she had some issues to deal with after the first encounter, but being a coward was not one of them. "Maybe you should get some rest, Sam. When was the last time you slept?" "Ninety-six hours," Papa answered. Fang rolled her eyes toward the ceiling -- Papa was everywhere and nowhere, but his voice always came from above it seemed, like a god or a malicious sprite. "Good grief. Why haven't you slept?" "My decisions are not under consideration here," Fisher said, ignoring Papa. "I have no real authority, do I? Science leader is a worthless title without a specimen, isn’t it? I’m boxed out of the game. Well, Biolathe will side with me when we return empty handed. Not that it’ll matter. We’ll be ruined." "Not true!" Henderson broke in. "The only mistake an immortal need avoid is death!" Devereaux and Stearn turned their heads toward the giant. Fang did as well, but only after Fisher did first. Fang said, "This kind of crazy argument only reinforces my opinion that we need to go slowly here, take some rest -- everyone -- and clear out our systems. Get some better notion about this strange dragon before we move in, or find another one. But we need to get ourselves ready first of all." This made her think of something that usually only came to her in dreamy states between sleeping and waking. Henderson’s recent...madness...was reflected in his form. Which came first, she didn't know. Stearn, on the other hand, had settled down into an effective relationship and shipboard role after adopting a more human body. Everyone had assured her for centuries that AI-validated body mods were perfectly safe. Still, she was distrustful. Fisher had been level-headed like herself at the start of their mission. He’d really only gone off the deep end (not counting the precipitating argument of the first fight they’d had) when he’d turned himself into the human-dragon hybrid. He appeared back to normal now, but she worried. How had he kept himself going for three days straight? He had his coffee, true, but did he have a hidden bodmod? The reason most people carried drugs like Alert, Forget-Me-Not, and their like rather than installing a gland was the danger of abuse. Forget-Me-Not had obvious dangers. When first introduced, it had seemed natural to trigger automatically the drug’s release when the user’s attention level climbed above a threshold; people want to remember things they are paying attention to, or at least trying to pay attention to. People pay attention like no other time when their own lives are in danger, or the lives of those they care for. People with the Forget-Me-Not gland who witnessed terrible events often gave into depression and shock before the memory-eating snakes could be administered. The sovereignty of the individual over the individual’s own body was one social rule to emerge and take root during the Genetic Age. She might have to pull rank. She said, "Henderson, could you please take Dr. Fisher to the biolab, give him a quick check-up, and then make sure he gets some rest?" Henderson’s huge head creaked up and down. "Don’t talk about me like I’m not here," Fisher said, shaking his head. Fang tried to muster some feelings of love and compassion for him, but the best she could do at the moment was a flicker of admiration for his fingers. She’d like him a lot more after he had rested. "Go," she said, pointing. Fisher turned to the exit, thankfully, and she hoarded a little hope for their future like a dragon hoards a jewel. # Fisher knew that Fang was probably taking the right course of action, but when he turned away, and she turned to continue working on the situation with Devereaux, dismissing him as if he were the same as that brown-nosing weak-ass excuse for a personality Papa, Fisher lost it. He had worked for over a year for this moment. He had the patience of a chess player, but enough was enough. Things were Happening, things that could jeopardize the mission, and he was being shut out. He’d spent the last three days pushing everyone, especially Fang, in the direction they needed to go. The injections he had given her has ensured that she’d gotten the rest she needed to be sharp at this crucial juncture. She was correct -- he could not last much longer and operate well. That was why bagging the dragon now was essential. Why couldn’t Fang see that? Something could happen in the next five minutes, or next five hours, that would require his expertise. That’s why he was here. Sending him to bed now would be a tragic error. The dragon was right there! They had tried once, failed, and learned from that mistake. Maybe they would have a better chance if he had taken the side of the dragon in the simulations, but he respected Devereaux as a competent, intelligent scientist. It was more careful now to hurry. How could Fang be so very, very stupid? How? Feeling Henderson looming nearby, but the collective attention elsewhere, Fisher turned back to Fang. "No!" he shouted. "We need to act now!" Fang spun. His arm flew out, the agent of his subconscious will without his conscious intent. Physical violence was such an easy solution, accessible to his low brain that was preeminent in his current state. His remaining higher reasoning, distant and powerless, noted the irony that she had taught him how to box, how to use violence. Papa yelled, "Watch out!" Uncontrollably Fisher’s mouth twisted into a caricature of rage as his fist hurtled toward impact. Whether in response to Papa’s warning or to that innate psychic sense she seemed to have when boxing, the outcome was the same. Fang shifted suddenly, the tip of her right boot pivoted to point at him, and her body followed. Her blonde hair moved in one piece, like a helmet, as she dodged his blow. He fell past her, his shoulders and upper torso following his punch just as he had been taught. His cheek caught on the edge of Fang's leather belt. His skin ripped away as he collapsed in a tumble on the thin bridge ruglings, which had massed as best the could and inflated to cushion his fall in the high gravity. "Good god," Fang said. Green light spilled from Fisher’s exposed face, a great deal of it, and he thought for a confused moment that he had started his punch on the deck of the Karamojo and ended it on some other world that sported fields of lush grass. Blood from his cheek spotted the grass with black. Then the ruglings deflated and slithered back to their normal aereal density. "Damn it damn it damn it," he said on hands and knees, as he found himself caught between the two worlds, but being rapidly pulled back to the one he wasn’t pleased with. "You said it," Fang agreed evenly. Fisher started to stand, but Stearn took hold of his collar and held him. His flush of adrenaline had faded and left him wobbly. He was so tired, he realized. "Easy, Jack," Fisher said. "I screwed up, but I’m sorry now." "What you want me to do with him, Captain?" Stearn asked. Now Fisher felt exhausted, the rush of rage gone, and he truly hoped they would let him sleep. His stinging eyes watered up. He could figure it out later if they would only let him sleep. # Captain Lena Fang desperately wanted to cry. She would not do such a thing of course, not in public anyway and not in uniform certainly. Maybe it was her fault. Hadn’t she been the one to teach Sam to box, to punch without thinking, as an extension of his will? She had forced him to hide his true self behind a mask, driven him to sabotage, thwarted his desire at every turn. And she had used force when she had tossed him from her quarters after that awful fight, hadn't she? Had he really driven her to it? She wasn’t sure. What he had said didn't seem so bad to her now through the filter of time. Fisher knelt on the deck before her looking like a broken doll. Like a dark projection of her will, stout, muscular Stearn towered over her lover’s lanky splayed arms and legs. Her ex-lover. How could she trust him again? She wanted to find a way, but despair chewed at the edges of her thoughts like a pack of piranhas. "Dr. Fisher," she began quietly, "Must we lock you up?" This was no military excursion, but as captain she had certain inalienable rights in order to ensure the mission succeeded. All the other crew members had signed away that authority to her before they ever boarded the Karamojo. No captain worth her salt would let anyone on board not ultimately answerable to her. "No," he said. "I can behave myself." He suddenly seemed so broken, so sane. She had loved his strength, his passion. Where had that suddenly evaporated to? Just a few more days here, she told herself, get through that and everything can be sorted out on the long voyage home. More than a relationship rode on the immediate future; this was her captaincy. Her life. If she doped Fisher up and locked him away, and they succeeded in capturing a dragon, there was no problem. If they failed, and his presence would have made a difference, that would be her fault. If he was with them and they failed, well, she would have utilized all the available resources. What it came down to was the bottom line. She said with all the ice she could muster, "Are you going to fuck up again?" She waited for a glib comeback, some sign of insincerity, but he seemed to give the question the consideration it required. At least he took his time answering, but that could have been a sign of fatigue. She ignored the blood dripping from his ripped face and started counting dragons while waiting for his answer. "If I have to be part of a team to get the dragon," he finally said, "then I can be part of a team. I thought it would be better if I did everything myself. I was wrong. I'm sorry." She considered Fisher. He seemed sincere, but she would continue to watch him. This was two strikes. At least two strikes. Best to keep him in the light in front of them, working with them, and limit his responsibility as much as possible. He was with them because he was good, committed to their goal, and could help them. "Okay," Fang said. "Henderson, why don’t you take Sam down to the lab and give him some rest. Maybe put his body back to normal at the same time, clean up that green glow." "No!" Henderson nearly shrieked. "I mean, why? That body design he’s got is safer than straight human. He has some of the same advantages a dragon’s got. He can shed heat quickly, move along a magnetic field in freefall, that sort of thing." "Just do it." "I really don't think it's necessary," he said quickly. "Is there something amiss in the biolab, Henderson?" The giant's face didn't move a millimeter, but it its quality somehow shifted nonetheless. "We're a little low on biomass. Just a little. We’re growing it as fast as we can, aren’t we Papa? It’s just that in this very uncertain time, we should maintain a reserve in the event of an emergency. A medical emergency for instance. That is a wise policy, in my opinion." Fang eyed the giant, slowing raking her gaze over every centimeter of his gargantuaness. There was a waste of biomass. He had seemed so smug and sure of himself on the trip out that Fang had stopped worrying much about him. After all, his job wasn’t critical. Papa handled the majority of it. She should have a talk with him soon, if there was the chance. But for now she had to accept his judgment. He was the expert, and Papa hadn't overruled him, so... "Okay, but in that case put Dr. Fisher to bed and strip off that superfluous skin, if he doesn’t need it." "I don’t," Fisher said softly. "I donate my skin to the effort." "Heads up," Devereaux broke in. "The dragon is doing something." And indeed it was. What it was doing was not at all clear. The twisting had become more frantic, especially its head, which shook like a dog shook a rag. The endless spiraling continued, but had tightened considerably. Well, here was her chance to test Fisher, and she knew she had to do it. "Henderson, please take Dr. Fisher on down to the lab." Fisher had managed to stand, and was staring at the dragon. It took him a moment to react when the giant placed his hand on the exobiologist's shoulder. "Now?" Fang stared at him, waiting. He went quietly, although he did look back longingly all the way to the portal, his face half ripped away and blood dripping down like tears across the green sea of his visage. But he went. Fang let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Now maybe we can figure out what’s going on and bag this dragon, she thought. The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. -- Arnold H. Glasow Fisher leaves for his cabin to sleep. The dragon passes through its fit, returns to placidity, then has two more fits before Fisher returns to the bridge ten hours later. Papa remembers a false memory of a snake struggling to shed its skin, eyes milky white, scraping its head against rocks. He recalls another false memory of a crab shedding its shell, in order that it might grow larger. Over the next two days the dragon's pattern repeats. The rest of the crew, including daughter, take their turns resting, watching, waiting. Outside the dragon churns plasma, and the white dwarf drinks gas from the secondary star. Papa watches it all, and thinks of three and a half million other topics. He does not sleep, of course. He records the increasing bursts of radio emission and tries to determine their pattern, if any, applies decompression and decryption techniques, and analyzes the output for more patterns. He deploys the shuttles as scouts to other parts of the disk, monitoring flow rates, viscosity, and magnetic fields. A few he sends to the secondary star. Daughter sits with Fisher and together they watch the dragon. She skips the gym, but her need for exercise drives her to excessive electrostim. She refuses to bodmod the muscles like Stearn, and Papa admires that about her. Fisher drinks copious amounts of coffee and stays inordinately alert, but takes a few hours for sleep when she asks him to. Devereaux and Stearn continue to play war games with each other under his supervision, getting regular refinements to the dragon simulation from Fisher. They get good, and their templates make him even better. Henderson plays nursemaid in his lab, nudging along the growth of four varieties of undifferentiated cell stock. He skims off an acceptable loss, employing it in his own form for purposes hidden to Papa’s conscious mind by a prickly toxinwall. One puzzle unravels itself, but it begets another in turn. The culprit driving the moving target of the dwarf nova detonation in Devereaux’s models is the mass spillage from the secondary. The mass transfer rate has increased beyond expected levels, but Devereaux has invested less time in understanding the star in deference to the disk. Perhaps this has been a mistake. Stars are more complex than given credit for, and, worse in this case, the inner Lagrangian point where spillover transpires is a point of unstable equilibrium. Variations in the star can be amplified here, or not, according to chaotic dynamics. So the new puzzle is, what drives the flow into the disk? And are the mysterious radio signals associated with this new phenomenon? Papa’s Bayesian probability analysis implies a strong likelihood of correlation. He does not like it. He argues with daughter to move forward, and wishes that the Biolathe brain had granted him more authority. He cannot overrule Fang on such long timescale strategic decisions without cause. The best he can do is question her motives. "But why not now, daughter?" She frowns, apparently unhappy with me trying to point out the illogical nature of her hesitation. "My grandfather tried to teach me about being Chinese. Not the history garbage, and not the superstitious claptrap. He believed that while the rise of technology had shattered much of western values, there were eastern traditions that one would always be able to rely upon. One of these was yun, for fate, or revolution if you translate the word directly. He would say to me, ‘When yun withdraws, yellow gold loses its color; but when the right times comes, even iron shines in splendor.’" "Ancient Chinese proverbs were not written to apply to star dragons, daughter." "That’s right. They apply to life in general and everything in it. If we choose the right action, but choose the wrong time, all of our effort will come to ruin. If we choose the proper time, then the trophy is ours to take." "And how do you choose this time? Tell me, and we will calculate it." "All I know is that the time isn't yet ripe." And damn her if she does not break her mask to smile a mysterious smile. Trying to be human, Papa decides, isn't as difficult as working with humans. # Fisher awoke to peaceful silence. He sat on his couchbeast, eased back, his hands in his lap loosely clutching a notepad. Around him the disk burned, but the display was for ship's night, set so low, so red, that it was more like being curled up at the edge of a campfire. More reassuring than the daytime display of the star dragon: an ant under the malevolent scrutiny of a child’s magnifying glass on a sunny day. He blinked to clear his eyes. The last entry on the notepad read, "The skin is mightier than the banana." He had to shake his head and smile. Not the first time he’d worked himself past the point of sensibility. He decided taking breaks was more than reasonable, and would apologize to Fang again at the next opportunity. He turned off the notepad and set it aside. Nearby, under a blanket of linked ruglings, she lay stretched out on her monstrous chair. Both snored softly. No one else was on the bridge, except Papa, of course, who didn't really count. Instead of bolting up and resuming his work (something about plasma transport between the singularity and the on-board dragon environment, if he remembered correctly), Fisher considered his emotional state. This was not something he normally allowed time for, but this moment of profound peace he was experiencing was equally rare in his life. Everything felt easier now that he had set aside his independence and chose to be part of the team. He called it ‘independence,’ but he had no illusions about the words that Fang and his crew mates might use instead. But the truth was simple: he was not out here alone. For the entire trip, at least since that first awful fight with Fang, he had believed that he had to solve every problem, force everyone to accept his point of view, and take on the dragons by himself. That he now believed that he didn't have to do it alone was a most novel concept for Dr. Samuel Fisher. Fisher allowed himself an additional moment communing with the peace, resisting the urge to think of anything in particular. The illicit sensation was as rich and decadent as eating chocolate mousse without adjusting your metabolism appropriately. Finally he sat up, gave his muscles a quick stretch that audibly popped a few joints, and shuffled out of the bridge and down to the galley. He picked up a fish omelet and a bulb of coffee, but paused in the portal. He went back, grabbed seconds of the omelet and coffee, and only then returned to the bridge. Fang was sitting up, blinking, when he returned. Her hair was perfect and uniform wrinkle free, of course. On the bridge it would be no less, even if she allowed herself catnaps. "Here," he said, handing her the breakfast. She stared at it as if she didn't know what it was. "For me?" "Who else?" Fisher winked. Fang accepted the omelet and coffee. She tentatively bit into omelet, its hard pureclean surface melting with application of her saliva. "Thank you," she said after washing down the mouthful with the coffee. "But don't think I'm not watching you." "No, really, it’s okay. I’m fully one hundred percent with you, with the crew, on this now. I'm sorry I was such a pain for everyone. It’s quite liberating, giving up the constant fighting. You have no idea what a toll it was exacting." Fisher realized that his head was nodding as he spoke, and stopped the motion. He had come a long way, but he didn't want to look like a lap dog. She didn't say anything right away, as if she were thinking about the best way to contradict him. Finally she said, "You are a real piece of work, Dr. Fisher. Someday you will have to learn how to do things in moderation, or someone or something will kill you. I will keep watching." "Of course," he agreed. "I would too, in your place, but it won’t be necessary. You’ll see." "And perhaps you will see what that level of responsibility entails. I’m not sure you yet appreciate what it means to be part of a team." Just then something caught Fisher’s eye. "The dragon...look!" The creature spun madly, half-hidden through waves of shimmering plasma kicked up by its antics. Some of its motions had been frenetic while hounded by the Karamojo, but this was an order of magnitude greater. And then Fisher realized something he should have noted immediately: the star dragon was moving against the magnetic field lines, rather than along them, as had been its wont. That took real energy without charging down. "Hey -- " There was a flash, white-washing the displays. "Sorry about that," Papa said. "Caught us by surprise." "A mini-flare," Fisher said. "The dragon is still charged, pushing and dragging the magnetic field. A lot of energy stored in there, released when the lines reconnected." "But why release it?" Fang asked. "That wasn’t enough to hurt us." "Maybe it has to learn that," Fisher suggested. Images burned back into existence, caught with streaks here and there where saturation hadn't yet been fully cleared. The dragon had vanished. "Shit," Fang hissed through clenched teeth. "We’ve got it," Papa said. "But the dragon has dove deep, and is moving downstream at a higher velocity than we’ve seen since the rocket swarm." "Follow it!" Fang ordered. The shifting gravity confirmed the abrupt course change. But something didn't feel right to Fisher. Something must have precipitated this new behavior. He had a hunch. "No, wait. Stop!" Fang jerked her head around and he thought the icy blast shooting from her flared nostrils would freeze him to the deck. "Already you show your colors. So much for your ability to be a team player." "Being on the team doesn’t mean agreeing with every off-the-cuff order you issue, does it?" She needed his input in this uncertain situation, and she let the ice melt. "State your objection." "We’re faster than the dragon. We just need to know where it is. We can do that with a spy shuttle if it stays at altitude and at a smaller radius. Send that to look after the dragon. I’d like to figure out why the creature lit out like that before we blindly follow. Maybe something spooked it. Something equally as interesting as our dragon." She said nothing for a long moment. Kilometers were piling up between them and the place where the dragon had gone berserk. Diffusion and turbulence could hide the clue all too quickly. "You may have a point. Papa, launch a spy shuttle as Sam suggested." "Aye aye," Papa said. "And take us back to where the dragon flared," Fisher prodded. Fang nodded. Gravity shifted again. The bridge portal irised open. Devereaux and Stearn wobbled on deck. "What’s the game, mates?" Stearn asked. "Could have given us more warning about the maneuvers." "We felt the course change," Devereaux explained. Fisher filled them in. "Maybe the environment deteriorated, the feeding got too thin, I don't know. There’s nothing apparent to me about this location in the disk that should vary so quickly. Can you look into that, Sylvia?" "Of course," she said. "Phil can help." They arrived back where the dragon had blasted off. It looked like every place else: a tenuous patch of hot magnetized plasma tens of thousands of kilometers deep. "What are we looking for?" Fang asked. "Anything," Fisher said. "Abundance anomalies, field anomalies...I don’t really know any better than you. I just don’t think we should go off half-cocked chasing the dragon. Besides, if it has gone deep now, and stays deep, we’re going to be hard pressed to go after it, aren’t we?" Devereaux said, "I’m reading normal parameters. Everything is within three sigma of normal for the disk at this stage of its cycle." "Shall we resume the hunt?" Papa asked. Fisher had to agree that there seemed no reason to stay, but something nagged at him he could not quite catch. No time to dwell on it. Now they were two steps further removed from when they had the golden opportunity to capture the dragon. With this new, difficult behavior to contend with, Fang was never going to act. He took a deep breath. She would act, he told himself, when the time was right. He had to trust her, and help bring about that right time any way he could. Fisher shrugged, then had an idea. "Papa," Fang said. "Can you pipe in an image of the fleeing dragon from the spy?" "Of course, but the image quality is poor. We get the best results for an infrared composite." "Fine," barked Fang. The displays crackled, reformed, and there was a dark streak amidst boiling fluid. "Can you clean that up?" Fang asked. "It’s as clean as it’s going to get, daughter, unless we start compromising the data integrity with some gullible algorithms." Fisher squinted his eyes and tilted his head from side to side. It was a mess, but then he noticed something. Or thought he did. "Papa, what’s the probability that the dragon image we’re watching has no bulb?" "Integrating," Papa said, testing the hypothesis versus the sum of the data that the spy had collected so far. "Eighty-three percent...and rising." "I don’t understand," said Stearn. "We’re following a different dragon?" "We have the right dragon," Papa insisted. "Maybe the bulb made the flare?" Devereaux asked. "It was a bomb, wasn’t it? Did it hopelessly irradiate us?" Henderson said from the bridge portal. He was getting more than a little spooky sneaking up like that and making his pronouncements of doom with that deep reverberating voice. Fisher would ask Fang to deal with that later. More important things to deal with now. "No, I don’t think it was a bomb," Fisher said. "The flare was weaker than its own rocket. It was something else." "A distraction?" Stearn asked. "A sleight of hand to allow it to escape from a predator, the way an octopus will squirt a cloud of ink?" "Maybe," Fisher said. "That could be it. That would be interesting, implying that the dragons prey on each other." "Or have other predators," Fang said. "Perhaps we’re not the first ship to explore SS Cygni." "Ridiculous," Fisher said. "They wouldn’t be able to evolve a strategy to deal with ships capable of interstellar travel. That would mean..." and he paused, lost in a sudden train of thought. There was energy here, and somehow these creatures had come into being. Why not super-accelerated evolution? Why think only in terms of long-term generational turn-over. Certainly DNA was not running the selfish genes in this system. Why not a different mechanism? A better mechanism, much much faster. "That would mean my expertise isn't as useful as I would have thought." "What’s this?" challenged Stearn. "An admission of fallibility?" Fisher said nothing, but let himself smile. He would get his chance to show that he was with them, one of them, and was now sharing his thoughts rather than hoarding them like a dragon hoarding treasure. "There!" proclaimed Fang with as much excitement as she ever showed in public. She stood up, pointing. The display focused where she pointed. "You should really let us find things once in a while, daughter," Papa said, although the tone of his voice masterfully portrayed pride rather than pout. "We are supposed to be good at that." "You’re great at it when you know what you’re looking for, Papa." "What is it?" Stearn said. But the image was zoomed, centered, sharpened, and highlighted by the time Stearn voice had faded from the bridge and the entire crew tried to understand the significance of what lay before them. The bulb, presumably wrapped in a complex arrangement of electromagnetic fields, bobbed alone upon the sea of fire. Henderson lumbered forward, the ruglings doing little to muffle the metallic echoes of his steps. His huge hand closed around Fang's shoulder and he spun her about to face him. "Get us out of here now! The flare was setting the fuse for the bomb. The dragon lit out to escape the blast! Don't you see, it's a trap!" Henderson’s great fingers crushed into Fang's white uniform. Fisher took a half step toward the pair, intending to help Fang. Upon a second of reflection, he concluded that the best way to help Fang was to let her handle Henderson her own way. He had no doubt that she could, and he was not disappointed. Fang ducked out and twisted beneath the giant. Lightning fast in the high gravity, Henderson tumbled forward as if some invisible force pulled on his outstretched arms, and Fang appeared on top. As his elbows buckled as he caught himself, Fang looped her own arms through their crook. The sound of groaning metal echoed loudly. "I am sick of this kind of behavior from you people," Fang said quietly as she pressed her knee into the small of Henderson’s back. "I am not taking any more from any of you. You want a piece of me, save it for the ring." Fisher recalled why he had found her so attractive in the first place. Henderson’s body redesign was surely for strength and durability, but too bad for him his metamorphosis was only physical. Physical redesign would never let a person escape the limitations of their own personality and will. Case in point. Here was a captain capable of decisive, sure action. Now if she could only do the same in the face of an alien challenge.... "The bomb," Henderson whimpered. "I hereby decree that the dragon bulb isn't a bomb. Satisfied Mr. Henderson?" Fang asked. "We’re not military. You can’t just -- " he gasped. The sound of metal groaning came again. Over two hundred light years from Earth, Henderson’s objection didn't matter the tiniest bit. It didn't surprise Fisher at all that Henderson took the situation so seriously. In the face of too little data, the mind would often grasp hold of an unlikely idea and hold to it dearly. It was both a strength and a weakness. More a strength as nature had selected for the trait in man. Undoubtedly such faith in an unfounded idea permitted people to operate in the face of ignorance, a truly natural state, and, moreover, to begin cataloging characteristics of a phenomenon in a context. That was how progress was made, even if begrudging progress spanning generations. A human mind, even enhanced, could grasp only so many items at once, and when dealing with small number statistics, finding any pattern at all could mean better chances at survival. Machines like Papa failed to make these sometimes useful, but often absurd leaps. Here it was a weakness, Fisher hoped, held in check by rationality and Fang's firm grip. Just another odd notion based on too little information and made into a religion. A Roswell, a face on Mars, string cosmology, a unified field theory. Still, what was the bulb? In the face of Henderson’s obsession with dangerous possibilities was Fisher’s new egalitarian perspective, and every thought sprouted equally viable alternatives. It was a rattlesnake’s rattle, the remnants of an old skin shed in preparation for the upcoming outburst. It was a lizard’s fat tail, a storage vessel for excess energy discarded when pursued by an aggressive predator. It was a peacock’s plumage, an anti-evolutionary sexual display all the more effective for its uselessness. It was a petrified dinosaur dung, an infinitely precious star turd chock full of metabolic information and exobiological clues to the creature that had excreted the thing. It was a buoy and transmitter, an alien tag that permitted some long departed research team, much like their own, to follow the progress of a long-lived star dragon. Whatever it was, they would exploit it and help make the mission a success. Fisher looked to Fang and her passive but rock-solid expression as she held Henderson in place. That bulb could be the key and they should pick it up, he willed. Do the right thing Lena. Don't listen to Henderson's fears. "Papa," Fang said softly. "Please prepare two shuttles to scoop up that alien debris." "At once, Captain!" "Not a good idea," Henderson said, then groaned. "It’s an excellent idea," Fisher said. "About time we had something tangible to study." "Absolutely," Devereaux said. Stearn said nothing, but grinned broadly. "Shuttles reconfigured for new objective," Papa announced shortly. "Launching." The deck shifted the tiniest amount as the shuttles detached from their interior berths and squirted from the Karamojo on their new mission. The fact that Fisher could feel the launch didn't bode well. Papa was the brain behind a smart ship, so finely tuned and fast that the change in momentum from two shuttles should have been more easily matched and canceled. Their resources were running low. "It does not matter," Fisher muttered. "Everything that came before does not matter. What matters is what is happening now." And as his muttering faded, silence filled the bridge. But it was anything but peaceful. # As the shuttles’ blue vectors stitched their way across the display, Fang realized that she was holding her hand protectively against her abdomen. Irritated with her body’s lack of discipline, she snapped her hands down against the armrests of her chairbeast. The chair grunted sharply in response. She was nervous. They could afford no more mistakes here. But what could go wrong? This was what she was good at, what Papa was good at: moving around biologicals. This was merely an unusual cargo pick-up. But it was more, too, she could not deny it. And that was why her own flesh struggled against her will. Its ancient instincts called for ready action, quick response to immediate physical stimuli. Her stomach twitched, and so her hands had moved protectively. At least Henderson had settled down. He stood, shoulders slumped, in front of the path of the blue vectors where she could keep and eye on him. At the start of the mission, she would not have pegged him for being such a trouble maker. Stearn, maybe, but that boy had become a solid right hand under Devereaux’s influence. Fisher was a whole different matter, an order of magnitude more complex. How did she feel about him now? From co-worker to lover to adversary to...to what? She glanced at him now, feeling like a spy. His face glowed green above his black turtleneck, a small smile etched in place as he watched the operation unfold. He was focused on appropriate matters, as she should be. Time enough to worry about where they stood on the long voyage home. "Rendezvous in thirty seconds," Papa announced. Fang's hand slipped along the armrest, squeaking loudly as the sweat-lubricated skin skidded across the leather. Fang dug her nails into the chair, eliciting and quickly stifling a squeak from the chair. No one seemed to notice. "Patch in shuttle visuals," she ordered. The bright fuzzy white disk and the blue vectors vanished, replaced with the sharp abstractness of a close-up view into the disk’s plasma. Despite the algorithms Papa pumped the images through, it was difficult for Fang to make much sense of what she saw. Everything was apparent enough: it was an open furnace with a surface area more than a thousand times that of Earth. Sure, there existed hotter areas, cooler areas, places where the kinematics and magnetic fields tortured the gas, but it was all too extreme for her Earth-evolved perception. It was all a furnace to her. The dragons undoubtedly saw more, and probably heard more, smelled more, tasted more. They were ideally suited for this environment. For all she knew, this corner of Hell was an idyllic glade, an oasis in the disk rich in some obscure element needed for dragon happiness. Any place breathed richly to its inhabitants; her grandfather had told her many stories about the colony ship he had ridden in his youth and about the twenty-five or thirty words they had used for the different clinks and clunks and other sounds the ship made, and which sounds meant potential danger and which were inconsequential. As she completed this thought, they got their first good look at the dragon-free free-floating bulb. It was no longer bulb-shaped, but now a perfectly spherical ball. At the wavelengths displayed, a composite image spanning ultraviolet through near infrared, which constituted "visual" to Papa’s definition, the ‘ball’ was opaque and shiny. There was so much light of all wavelengths that it would appear an overwhelming white to the unaided eye, but Papa put appropriate stretches on the image, imposing a rainbow palate to distinguish subtleties of temperature and velocity. The globe was a middle green, with blue sparks crawling over its surface. Just an interaction between its own fields and the disks that allowed it to float in a cooler plasma, or an energy transfer? "So," Fang asked, "what is it?" "I have no idea," Fisher said. While Fang had been contemplating the ball, Fisher’s small smile had blossomed into a face-wide grin. "Or a thousand equally unlikely ideas. Let’s bring it back and find out which one is right." "Papa?" "Can do," he affirmed. "We can scoop a whole dragon. This pebble will be no trouble." "Proceed." Without warning, everything went white. Not blinding -- the display had limits as stringent as any eyemod -- but everything saturated despite Papa's image stretch. Henderson let loose a low shriek. As colors bled back into the disk and ball image, Fang asked "What happened?" "Some sort of pulse. Broad-band, high-energy, short duration, energies up to ten keV. But I’ve got the dragon debris safely in tow." "Origin of the pulse?" Devereaux asked. "The debris," said Papa. "The mechanism is less clear, but may be synchrotron radiation. It was not our shuttles. Not enough power. We're analyzing the time-dependent spectrum now and will be able to provide a better answer shortly." "What a second," Fisher said. "Maybe I’ve been staring at this thing too long and still haven’t fully caught up on my sleep, but could you show us the ball at the onset of the pulse, highest contrast between any wavebands?" "Of course. Here is the ratio of X-ray to infrared." The dancing plasma jerked, shifted hues, and froze into an instant. The ball was not opaque in this image. There was a dark, twisted shape. A convoluted, triple helix with annelid segments. Papa said, "Our agent trailing the dragon reports a course reversal. The dragon is rising out of the disk and twisting itself to rocket. It’s coming right back to us." And then it became clear to Fang, the nature of the bulb-turned-ball: it was an egg. And its mother was angry with them. Part Four: Dragon Breath The naturalist must consider only one thing: what is the relation of this or that external reaction of the animal to the phenomenon of the external world? -- Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, from "Scientific Study of So-Called Psychical Processes in the Higher Animals" Sylvia Devereaux should have been more interested in the approaching star dragon, yet she had a difficult time focusing on the obvious. She always had. Subtle, beautiful solutions to intriguing puzzles were never found among the obvious. And on this voyage she had chosen to entice fresh, boyish and immature Phil into a relationship, bypassing the more obvious Henderson. In hindsight, that had been an excellent choice. As was her wont, she let the others worry about the approaching dragon, the obvious problem at hand. She kept an eye on it, but she could not continuously focus on it. Fisher might try to hit her if she interfered, and Captain Fang was a piece of work herself. A smart person never tried to get between dogs and food when they were eating. They taught kids that still, even the ones with the fluffy lap animals genetically modified to bark in melody that passed for dogs these days. No, Sylvia was more interested in the receding dragons than in the solitary approaching beast. She had initialized a program when they had arrived at the system to identify ‘dragon sign,’ that shifting laser frequency that the dragons emitted. She still didn’t know for sure what it was; probably it was an energy regulator as Fisher had theorized, or a by-product of some high-metabolic process. Whatever it was, her analysis program took in the data feed from the Karamojo’s detectors and remote system monitors and searched for it. Her mini-tank display showed the SS Cygni system and its disk suddenly littered with dragon signal, now that she knew how to filter for it and trace the frequency shifts. Tiny vectors exploded out like angry ants rising to defend a disturbed nest. A counter shimmered as the number grew from the thousands to tens of thousands and into the hundreds of thousands, with no sign of slowing. How many dragons could a disk hide? She watched for a few moments, trying to fathom the pattern of their movement. There was a pattern there...not apparent at first glance because of the combination of gravitational and viscous forces. The dragons were taking the quickest course toward the disk’s hot spot. In some cases that meant drifting downstream, for a smaller number, tacking upstream. The dragons at both larger and smaller radii took more complicated courses, exploiting different physical effects, such as the Coriolis force and magnetic centrifugal force, to reach their objective. It would take the majority of dragons some hours to reach their goal. What were they doing? And why now? "Captain Fang," she said, "You ought to be aware of this." Sylvia watched the pattern, mesmerized as she ran a projection forward with twisting spokes spiraling into a corkscrew focused on the hot spot. She blinked twice and raised her gaze when she realized that she had elicited no response. Everyone else, rapt, watched a split image overlay projected around the bridge periphery. Shuttles raced, the star dragon rocketed, the Karamojo arced to intercept. The dragon ball, the dragon egg, the trophy for the winner. Papa’s voice whispered in her ear. "The gang is a bit distracted just now, Sylvia. Their minds weren’t designed for parallel processing, especially when a survival threat presents itself. Why don’t you tell us instead?" Papa was calling the situation a survival threat? This was serious. It did sometimes pay dividends to focus on just the obvious. # Axelrod Henderson wrapped his metal fingers about his metal skull as he squatted on the bridge floor, and considered the option of prayer. Once he had realized that there existed a chance he would not survive -- fuck that -- a chance he would die on this mission, he had lost his carefully cultivated control. That was nothing more than a bundle of petty affectations that pretended a sophistication that didn't truly exist in nature. At first the change had terrified him. He had lived his life consciously, knowing the game of life, knowing the rules of the world he lived in, knowing the rules of his own biology and exploiting them. The loss of his fantasy colony more than foreshadowed the death of his dreams. It foreshadowed his own death. And now it was happening. He should have had kids before he left. Lots and lots of kids. He had been correct. The star dragon had been carrying a bomb, and they had been stupid enough to try to pick it up. And in the best case scenario, what was an egg but a bomb with a long fuse? Reproduction was dangerous all the way down the line, from seduction to conception to adulthood. Ask Romeo, or innocent bystanders like his friend, good old Mercutio. Ask Oedipus’ murdered father, Laius. Furthermore, Henderson had studied broadly, noting especially relationships among creatures in the so-called natural state, the few backward worlds where that still existed. Such relationships provided his guide. He knew that while humankind had triumphed over the body and could rewrite physical evolution to suit their needs, mental evolution was a trickier subject. His new body, in addition to being more resilient and radiation proof, was supposed to make him feel more in control because of the way he towered over the others. Even in freefall people grasped at an 'up' and a 'down' that his span could identify for this crew, giving him some influence. Well, that wasn’t working just yet. But the concept in which he possessed absolute faith in from his studies of creatures in their natural state was the ferocity of a mother defending her young. Here would be a test of that concept. Such a powerful natural force could certainly overcome their too-simple technology, their ship a fish out of water barely suitable for the harsh environment of SS Cygni, could it not? "That’s amazing," Fisher said. "I didn't know that a dragon could fly that fast. It’s going to beat us there, isn’t it?" "Not if I can help it," Fang said. Henderson only relinquished his skull grip when a loud and low metallic groan echoed off the walls and made him worry that he might be denting his head. # Phil Stearn’s calves quivered, tense, over feet raised up on tiptoe. He could simply not remain seated, so he got up and paced back and forth before the displays. Pure juice. The unfolding events were pure juice. No matter how good the simulation, in the back of your mind you always knew it was a game. Not real. This was fucking real, and somehow that made a difference. It was the same adrenaline surge as a good game, the same electrical storm in his brain, but the knowledge that the stakes were higher than breaking a record or winning a bet made it much more sweet. He had risked his life before, but despite the stakes, it hadn’t been real either. He had skydived through herds of balloons in the skies of Jupiter (easy if the landing glove deploys properly, which it does at better than 99.9 percent probability), free climbed Olympus Mons (not as hard as he had thought it would be, using a goatman bodmod), walked alone across Mercury’s Chao Meng Fu crater (cold, boring, and polluted with all the vacuum-preserved tracks of previous hikers). All the challenges of the modern world were artificial, taken by choice, voluntarily. Robots or biological mobiles did anything truly dangerous in the ‘real universe.’ But now they were engaged in a real life conflict of survival in an alien system with a creature so different they didn't even know what it thought, let alone its capabilities. It didn't even matter that he was not a major player here. He was part of the team, and either they all won or they all lost. Homo sapiens versus Stella draconis. And he was Homo sapiens just as much as any of the rest. "Sit down, Stearn," Fang ordered. "We’re going to burn some reaction mass." Stearn skipped back to the couchbeast, sat down on his hands, and squirmed with anticipation. # Samuel Fisher smiled at Fang as he sank into his couchbeast. She didn't smile back. He didn't mind. It was not a slight. Not in the least. She was girding herself for battle and wearing her game face. This was what had attracted him to Lena Fang in the first place: her serious competence. Physically she was as beautiful as ever, with her firm fluted lips and perfect hair, but more attractive was the resoluteness he read in her eyes. This mission was her baby as much as his, and she was set to defend it with all her formidable powers. No way she would fail again. No way. And then he knew for certain that his shift was real, that he was on Fang's side rather than the dragon’s. He had been watching her in these moments, not his former obsession. He hoped he could convince Fang that his allegiance was genuine. He had to admit to himself that in her position, he would not easily find trust, if at all. Atsuko, perhaps long dead now and lost to him -- one curse of Einstein’s legacy -- had warned him of his troubles mixing work and human relationships. He was not good in dealing with the gray areas. Not good at all he had to admit. He decided that the best way to begin earning Fang's trust was to give her his trust first. There would come an opportunity for her to test him, and he would be ready, but he had to prepare her for that step. This fell under her bailiwick. He would help her best by focusing on his strength: dragon biology. Both that of the adult and the egg. Securing an egg would be better in many ways than capturing an adult. There existed myriad problems with the jury-rigged cage they had developed. It would remain jury rigged in his mind until it was tested. Better not to have to test it. Then there were the complications of trying to keep such an alien creature alive. Only seventeen percent of first-time alien acquisitions were successful in doing so for more than a year, and those were not nearly so different as these star dragons. There were still some Earth species they could not keep alive in captivity, great white sharks for one. He asked Papa for a datalink to his couch terminal and accessed the observations of the egg. The shuttles hadn't been equipped with all the remote observing instruments that he would have wished for, but he would make do with what information they sent. If there was anything there to exploit, anything that might make the dragon think her egg already lost, or safe elsewhere, he would find it. But with a glance at their relative positions and velocities, he realized that he had better work fast. # Captain Lena Fang licked her slightly parted lips, wishing for luck, as she considered the rocketing dragon. It was not her destiny to fail forever. It could not be. This time would be different, she told herself. This time was different. They faced a lone dragon, rather than thousands. They had a concrete goal -- securing the egg -- rather than a vague notion of scooping up a small dragon as if it were a guppy. Before she had felt alone. She glanced at Fisher. This time she had support. That mattered more to her than she would have guessed. She checked the vectors, the rates. The less massive dragon with its fusion rocket was faster and more maneuverable than the Karamojo’s rail drive. While the starship’s rail could accelerate its reaction pellets to very high velocity, the available reaction mass limited their thrust. They were a big ship and depended on the wormdrive to move appreciable distances at speed. Wormdrive was cheap, but potentially dangerous in such an uncertain situation. She would use it, if she had to. The shuttles, paired with their magnetic net and its burden that slowed them, coming to meet them part way helped only a little. Perhaps that little would be enough. Without another trick, the dragon would not reach them before the shuttles had entered the ship’s maw. What would that mother do then? What would they do then? "Papa, investigate optimal activation of wormdrive given rendezvous with the egg-laden shuttles." "Yes, daughter, but may we point out two immediate problem areas?" "Go ahead." "We will have to reorient from a disk-facing posture. We haven’t the power to drive the singularities through the dense disk, and it would not be prudent to reverse the worm polarity for an ass-backwards launch." When Papa said, ‘It would not be prudent,’ he meant that they would exceed safety parameters in several areas with a possibly catastrophic outcome. To be prudent, they would lose another twenty seconds. She preferred Papa speaking in his own voice than the phraseology forced upon him in technical, time-critical situations. "Fine," she said. "We have to take the time to reorient. What’s the other problem?" "Radiation and field fluxes. What tolerances do we permit for the egg?" Fang raised an eyebrow at Fisher. "It’s got to be able to withstand at least a dwarf nova outburst near the outer radius of the disk. That’s thirty thousand Kelvin, and we’re not going to come close to that. The field flux is a potentially more serious problem. The disk fields don’t vary nearly so quickly as our system. I suspect the egg is quite tough by our standards, but I’m not sure we should risk full charge." "Okay," Fang said, "Low charge, low mass, and low acceleration should still outpace the dragon." If they went, they went. This current maneuver was costing them more of their reaction reserves than she was comfortable with. First the biologicals, now the mass. "Dr. Fisher, will our scientific goals be satisfied if we leave the system with only this egg?" Fisher lifted his glowing hands to his face, hesitated, then placed his fingers to his temples and began rubbing. Hurry up, Sam, Fang thought. You dissected about a million different scenarios in your dragon-obsessed months, didn’t you? But not this one. Not this one. And you’ve got less than a minute before I decide for you. His fingers ceased their rubbing and trailed down his cheeks, slowly, making Fang think that they represented the tears he could not shed because of his radical bodmod. "Yeah," he croaked. Then, sounding more certain, "A viable egg will be more than enough." She knew what this meant to him, this closing point for a year of insane joy and calculated madness. He hadn't opposed her or tricked her out of maliciousness. To him, the very concept of a star dragon had been his surrogate child, and he had only been defending a piece of himself. But this was not the time or the place to tell him that she understood. This was the time for her to act. "Okay Papa," she said, expelling the air completely from her lungs and refilling them before continuing, "Let’s activate wormdrive upon rendezvous with the shuttles." "Now you’re talking, daughter," Papa agreed. "We’re leaving?" Henderson asked. "We are," Fang asserted. "Going to be crazy," Stearn said. "I’m afraid it is, Mr. Stearn. That’s why I’d like you visually inspecting the dock and egg acquisition. I want you on-site to troubleshoot anything that Papa can’t handle. Can I count on you?" "Absolutely Captain!" Stearn’s teeth gleamed white against his dark skin. "And take Henderson with you to supervise any biological emergencies." "Shit," Henderson opined. Stearn paused by Devereaux and gave her a quick peck on her forehead just under her dreadlocks. She looked up from her console, surprised, but he was already dragging Henderson to his feet. The unlikely pair exited through the bridge’s irising portal, the solid, compact black man slapping the bronze giant on the ass to hustle. Henderson jumped and did indeed hustle with clanging steps. Devereaux giggled, then returned almost immediately to her work. Fang allowed herself a slight smile and nod. The crew was working together, the ship seemed shipshape again, and it looked like they might escape the system with a prize worth at least a continuing captaincy. Perhaps this was a lucky day. The Karamojo thrummed along as they approached their destiny. Never risk anything unless you're prepared to lose it completely -- remember that . -- Ernest Hemingway "Isn’t this exciting, Henderson? I mean, here we are seeing history. Hell, making history. I knew this was a step I was taking, but, man! This is the big game." Stearn swung his fist to punctuate his excitement. Henderson jogged down the corridor in front of Stearn, hunched over slightly, conveying more apprehension than excitement. "It’s madness that we do this. We’re immortal, godlike. We can pleasure ourselves in any way we like, real or virtual, with no one to answer to as to how we spend our time. Why are we risking eternity here? Why?" "Should have thought about that before signing up!" Stearn crowed. "Too late now. Forget about it and live the moment. Can’t you feel it? This is what life is all about. Pushing yourself to the limits, taking great risks for great rewards." "But what if the risks prove too great, and all is lost? What then?" At least the doom-sayer kept moving forward briskly. "What then? I'll tell you 'what then.' " Stearn paused for dramatic effect. "You lose! That’s what makes the game of life worth playing. Without the chance of losing, what’s the point? A rigged game is no fun." "I went on this trip on the promise it would help me rig the game." "What do you mean?" But Henderson would say no more on the subject. Soon enough they reached the interior staging zone, where so long ago Stearn had helped Sylvia deploy the on-axis observatory. The double-ply diamond windows here were best suited to watching the Karamojo’s innards independently of Papa's instruments, and, more importantly, to being able to act if the need arose. Stearn pressed his face against the window, steaming it up almost immediately. He smelled the fish he’d had for dinner on his breath and activated his mint gland. Wiping away the condensation with his sleeve, he said, "Got a good view, a real view, from right here. Live and uncensored. Papa, tell Fang we’re in position." "We’ve already told her." "Right." Stearn realized that he sported a hard-on, tight and sweaty in his pants. Why not? He was excited in every way. "It's stupid for us to be here," Henderson said. "Papa's got better monitors. We should be watching his displays." Stearn grunted and ignored him. Was the man really an engineer? Seconds dragged into minutes, and he watched the electric pulse of the rail system shooting charged pellets out into the SS Cygni system. Stearn asked Papa for a countdown, which abruptly started at thirty-nine. "Thanks for the warning," he muttered. "What?" Henderson asked. Stearn’s face, suddenly slick with sweat, squeaked as it slid against the glass. Waiting tension was part of games: the ticking of the chess clock, holding for the last shot before the end of the period, the pitcher's glance toward first necessary to hold the runner, the half-held breath with the draw of the bow string, the flip of the hand of cards, the exquisitely slow but inexorable squeeze of the trigger of the gun locked on target. He could wait. Oh, yes, he could wait. "Gravity ending," Papa announced when the count hit seven. "Maneuvers commencing. Secure yourselves." "Shit," said Henderson. Stearn braced himself and continued his watch. He expected the flare of chemical rockets rapidly braking the shuttles, but he didn’t see that. Instead the microgravity shifted a barely perceptible amount; the incoming shuttles were braking against the rail’s electric field. The pair floated through the Karamojo’s maw, a blue-green crackling bundle suspended between them. A tiny point, not quite discernible at distance even though Stearn pushed his enhanced eyes for all they were worth. Just not enough lambda over diameter to resolve the thing. Did not matter. It was clear that that was it. The egg. The prize for the winners of the big game. "Shit," Henderson said again. "You’ve got that right, man. The shit is here." "Reorientation," Papa announced. The world spun and Stearn’s grip nearly gave. Shadows raced across the young gardens and the interior dimmed as the Karamojo shifted angular momentum among its flywheels to reorient itself away from the disk. The rotation provided significant and surprising gravity. Henderson bumped into Stearn, hard. "Get a hold of something, man!" Stearn chided him. Henderson clanged away from Stearn as he slipped further in the pseudo gravity. "I’ve been trying!" Stearn turned away from the biotech -- he had a hard metal head now, after all, and could take a few bumps -- and resumed his visual inspection of the egg stowing. If they could hold off on the wormdrive until they had the egg stabilized inside their cage, inside which they had simulated the quiescent disk, the game would be over. Victory. But the shuttles, as fast as he knew they had to be going, seemed to crawl. The cage rested around midship, about a hundred meters aft and spanning an angle from thirty to sixty degrees from Stearn’s position. Its jaws ratcheted open for the approaching shuttles like the doors to the forge of Hell. Magnetically confined plasma filled the chamber, making a warm and toasty incubator for their prize. The trick here would be to use the same fields to catch the egg, gently, without spilling the plasma onto anything nearby not equipped to take it. Papa and Fisher had assured Stearn it would go well, that the margins for error were quite broad. They would soon see. And then Stearn saw too much. Three things happened nearly all at once, and a fourth thing very shortly thereafter. The first thing was the release of the egg from the shuttles’ net. There was a brief flare as fields were matched and canceled, and the egg was left on a free flight trajectory (which appeared to have an odd twist to Stearn -- the result of the rotating reference frame combined with whatever electric fields Papa had running on the cage doors and rail) shooting toward the open jaws. The shuttles continued on toward the open aft of the Karamojo, no doubt being abandoned rather than docked. Slowing them down would not take long, but this was a game of seconds now; they would end up in the disk reduced to their constituent elements, eventually ending their existence as degenerate matter on the white dwarf. This throw and run maneuver was the first thing he noticed because he expected it and he was watching for it. The second thing was Papa announcing imminent wormdrive activation. This was clear enough given the warning claxon and the strobes on the tetrahedrally distributed collars of the Higgs generators. The invisible inflaton beams would be emitted any time, as soon as the power level was reached and the generators properly phased. ‘Properly phased’ usually required ten seconds or more, but under the current circumstances who knew what tolerance the captain would gamble on? The third thing was terrible. Stearn knew that the dragon was coming, but he hadn't expected to see it with his own eyes. There came a near blinding flash from the Karamojo’s maw (the worst wavelengths blocked by both the porthole and his own corneas), a massive fusion brake he was later told, that cast incredibly sharp shadows throughout the ship’s interior. He had an odd thought that the garden was toast again despite its shields, which had been designed to pass quite a lot ultraviolet radiation. His heavily moded eyes, already restoring his sight, imaged the red-hot star dragon silhouetted against the indigo sky of SS Cygni. The star dragon snaked inside the ship of its own fierce volition. Emphasis on ‘fierce.’ Stearn had noted, on more than one occasion, that there was nothing like the ferocity of an opposing will. A smart AI will concede a lost game, acknowledging and expecting correct play by an opponent even when the stakes are great. Desperation will drive a living will to absurdity, permitting it to intuit the course of action most distasteful to its competition, the course of action that will introduce an element of chaos. The tiniest, most unlikely chance, will be seized by a living will. While Stearn thought these thoughts he judged most profound, all in the moment the star dragon struck the pose of some ancient Chinese dragon of the sky, the Karamojo lurched and the fourth thing happened. In personal terms, the worst thing of the four. All two hundred and fifty kilograms of Henderson crashed into Stearn, knocking his head brutally into the diamond port, and he saw no more. # "Trust me, Lena damn it," Fisher implored as the Karamojo rode the blast from the dragon's braking. "We're out of time!" Fang sat stony-faced, squeezing the arms of her chairbeast so hard that they bled, unanswering. The star dragon had executed an unexpected maneuver, something that would scare Henderson shitless, Fisher was sure. The creatures did in effect have fusion bombs, and had used the shockwave from one alter its course faster than anticipated. Papa hadn't anticipated this possibility, and now instead of a clear shot out of the system at an acceleration the star dragon had no chance of meeting, she was sliding down their throat. Fisher didn't even stop to worry about what kind of radiation flux might have penetrated their shields. They had no more than an instant before they would be unable to act, the dragon so far down their gullet they could do nothing but choke on it. Their earlier capture plans were precipitated on an exterior capture of the dragon and a predefined sequence of moving charges on the primary and ancillary rails to channel the creature into the cage. They had no chance of doing anything of the sort, configured as they were for wormdrive -- now fatally interrupted. But Fisher had a contingency plan, one that he hadn't cared to share with the others before now. He would hide no more. He was with Lena, trusted her to do what was necessary, trusted her judgment. If only she would understand and trust him. Everything depended on it. Fisher's analysis of this star dragon’s segmented body and corresponding magnetic fields had suggested a way to pry them apart. This was not something he had looked for on purpose, but he strove for thoroughness in every task he set himself. Disassembling a dragon was ugly, blunt, and required large amounts of power. Power in this energy-rich environment was no problem -- they had acquired power to spare and had monstrous capacitors ready to deliver. Execution was more a matter of will. Fisher possessed the will. He was committed to their course of action. He would sacrifice this dragon if need be to make Lena's plan work. But only Fang could give the word. Trust me, he willed. It would be too late soon. Maybe it already was. "Papa," Fang spat the word like she had a mouthful of poison and couldn’t clear it quickly enough, "Run Fisher’s program." "It wouldn’t be prudent, daughter." "Do it!" Fang overrode. The Karamojo rocked again. # Even as registers filled with binary encoding for the precise traumas inflicted upon the Karamojo, Papa translates the events into metaphor for his human persona. Under a blistering sun Papa's land rover barrels over the dry savanna grass, which slaps against the front bumper with the pock-a-pock sound of a machine gun. The dragon-headed rhinoceros pursues. He hadn't been hunting the beast from the vehicle -- that would have been unsporting. But the shot had gone awry and the rhino had charged. He had just barely managed to leap into the driver's seat and coax the machine into life, accelerating ahead of a new charge now turned into heated pursuit. Just when it seems that he would outdistance the beast, he spies a steep ravine and must slow and swerve. This impact isn't nearly as devastating as when the induced currents burned through Papa's body and brain on their initial contact with this species, but he still hits with a heavy thud. The dented rover rocks as Papa spins the wheel of fortune, hoping the tires gain purchase pointed away from the ravine, away from the rhino. And then Fang gives him the order to run Fisher's program. Action! Papa's arms dance like those of Kali, with perfect aim lobbing short-fused explosive darts into the chinks in the creature's armored hide. Thwack-thwack-thwack! One especially good toss lodges a dart in the neck seam where the sinuous dragon head attaches to the ponderous body. Ker-BANG! The charging rhino explodes into pieces, a grotesque shower of blood. The vehicle twists over into the ravine, tumbling, falling wild. Metaphor breaks down. Papa sheds his human senses and accepts the flood of raw data available to him. Microseconds stretch to hours, and every moment is the now. The star dragon is inside the Karamojo, inside its hollow interior, inside him. In thirty-two high-velocity pieces. Fisher's program accessed the superconducting coils that control the ship's drive systems. Enormous power lay available there, the capacitors and batteries overfilled in this energy-rich locale. Corkscrewing fields had infiltrated the dragon's segments, and, like a million tiny invisible and irresistible crowbars, pried apart its structural integrity. Whatever dragons are made of, which seems less and less likely to be any normal form of baryonic matter known to human science, the creature depends on electromagnetism for its locomotion. The current experiment suggests that the creature also depends on electromagnetism for its cohesion. Score one for Dr. Fisher. Papa catalogs the fragments and their trajectories. In the time he has available, he can only deflect a few. As for the high-pressure plasma that the dragon had confined within itself, its 'blood' he permits himself to think, there is nothing that he can do. It explodes throughout the Karamojo's interior, but quickly rarefies and does little damage. One large segment of the dragon, the head, Papa deflects from an impact with the egg cage. Another segment he deflects from the now-reflective port behind which Stearn and Henderson watch. One small piece ricochets off a sturdy housing for one of the Higgs generators. The rest smash into different parts of the interior hull designed to withstand catastrophic stresses. And bounce. This dragon-stuff isn't deformable. It interacts electromagnetically with the ship, touching the ship in a conventional sense, but the pieces don't break up further or lose energy to the heat of deformation. They bounce. Papa measures and extrapolates the trajectories, modeling his options. His twentieth century memories, stealing an iota of his processing power, intrude with images of popcorn above a gas stovetop, pinballs exploding off bumpers, bingo balls rolling in their cage. Papa spins up some flywheels, spins down others, uses the few thrusters oriented in useful directions, as he presses the ship to its operational ability in an attempt to minimize the dragon-segment impacts on potentially weak sections. He is forced to push the safety limits for the human passengers, but there is little choice and little time to consider. Despite his efforts, the Karamojo is too large, too slow, to do much but endure as the pieces rattle through its bowels, finally exiting the aft. Papa restores his metaphor for the damage assessment, his human personality welcoming the relief from the tedious and never ending flood of data, the restoration of time. Steam hisses from the crumpled hood, punctuated by metallic pings and the smell of burnt rubber. The windshield has shattered. Papa pulls out shards of glass from his face with callused fingers as he blinks away blood. Superficial wounds only to what he thinks of as himself, not a real physical body, and not nearly so bad as that plane crash that had left him with a limp, so long ago in Africa. But what of their transportation? Papa leans back to kick open the jammed driver-side door, hops onto the dead grass, and walks to the front. The hood sizzles, so he removes his shirt. Tearing the khaki into strips, he wraps his hands. Then he can hold on firmly enough to lift the twisted metal. Waiting for the steam to clear, bloody sweat runs into the corners of his eyes. Bloody, stinging hot. "Getting damn warm." First he checks that his hair isn't on fire -- that happened during the second airplane crash. Hair fine, Papa cranes his neck to get a bearing on the sun. It grows larger by the second. # Now that the awful spins had ceased, as well as the even more awful ringing crashes, Devereaux had the opportunity to feel nauseated. Suddenly floating free in the quiet of the bridge with nary a sneeze, she wondered for the first time if she were going to die on this trip. Well, that would solve another mystery for her at least. She hoped that Phil was okay. Before she could ask, Fang had fired a stream of questions at Papa. The last one was, "How long before we hit the disk?" Devereaux squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pull herself together. The Karamojo could persist in the hot corona of the disk by virtue of its rarefication. It didn't matter that the gas was so hot if there wasn't much of it -- the corona was more like vacuum than anything. There was no way their systems could handle the plasma density in the disk, even as vacuum-like as it too seemed compared to Earth's atmosphere. They would hit it, pretty soon too. How soon? Despite the biochip augmentation for superior computation, her mind was numb, unable to calculate the simple expressions derived from Newton's Laws of Motion that would let her answer the question herself. They had come out from the disk shifting orbits and the gravity was weaker, and they had a significant initial velocity.... "Ten minutes, daughter," Papa said. "Shit," Fang hissed. Serious stuff for the captain to slip so much. Devereaux had heard her say "damn" more than a few times, but "shit" was off the scale for the bridge. Gravity was a bitch. "The drives are out, but we have the egg secured?" "Right." "Well, fix the drives." Fang was not holding back a trump card apparently. "Rail first -- we need thrust fast." "We'll try," Papa said. Only try? Devereaux asked, "Papa, can you put me in touch with Phil?" "Mister Stearn is unconscious," Papa said. "Mister Henderson is apparently conscious, but is not responsive." Papa so formal? Not a good sign at all. Devereaux pulled in her arms to spin a little more quickly, and when in position kicked the back of her chair to head for the bridge exit. "Sylvia! Stop," Fang ordered. Devereaux was unable to suppress her startle instinct, so sharp had been Fang's command. She caught the edge of the portal and turned toward the other woman. "Why? They need help!" Fang stared back from her perch on her fighting chair, face passive except for her eyes, which blinked rapidly. "We must act with precision. Let us be sure of our actions before we run about foolishly. There are important things to do here." Were there really? Her mind drew blank. Just when Devereaux was about to resume her flight to Phil, Papa spoke. "Dr. Devereaux, the phenomenon you pointed out to us requires your attention. It's very important." Phenomenon? The dragon migration she'd noticed? And not just 'important,' but 'very important.' How could that be in their current predicament? She would rather be with Phil at a time like this. There didn't seem to be anything she could do to help here, despite Captain Fang's admonition. The automatic repair systems were going to save them, or not, and what did it matter if she left the bridge? Fang softened, a little, and said, "Fisher can see to Stearn and Henderson, and lend a hand down there if Papa needs one. We're not dealing with a dragon any more. Good enough?" Devereaux glanced at Fisher whose wide eyes suggested that he was as surprised as she was at Fang's suggestion. Barely hesitating even though he was being asked to leave the bridge during the crisis, he took a deep breath and kicked off his couchbeast with a nod and a grunt. When he was past her and already bouncing down the corridor, Devereaux said, "Okay, Papa. Tell me what you think is going on." # Fisher bounded along concentrating on his course. He had a hundred questions to ask Papa about what had transpired with the dragon, what they had learned, but Fang had given him a task to do and he was going to complete it to the best of his ability. He could follow orders, he was sure, if he tried hard enough. He'd demonstrate his dedication by applying his famous obsession to the immediate task and any others she gave him, and if that didn't show her that he was on her side, nothing would. Besides, he might get the opportunity to see the egg with his own eyes. His streakers caught the rugling-denuded walls and propelled him headlong, perhaps too earnestly. Acceleration alarms blared again as they had moments earlier, and gravity tugged him into a new floor. Fisher smiled. Looked like they were going to make it after all. He skidded forward, elbows thrown before his face like a shield as he stumbled into a run just as he approached the T-junction leading to the staging zone where the others were. A terrible clanking came from the adjacent corridor. Henderson's tumbling body followed, suddenly very close, very large, and very hard. Fisher grimaced, preparing for impact. The gravity shifted again, slowing both of them. Henderson's head was still very hard when Fisher struck it with his elbows. He howled with rattling pain; he had hit his funny bone. Some job he was doing for Fang. At least the gravity shift indicated they had some way to maneuver, some way to thrust away from the disk, at least for the time being. "Are you all right?" Fisher asked Henderson, shaking out his arm as he carefully stood in the low, throbbing gravity. "No," Henderson said. Well, he was responsive enough. "Where's Stearn?" "What about me?" Fisher turned up the hallway. Stearn was crumpled in ball at the far end, below the port. "What about you?" Fisher said to Henderson, "I'll tell you what. You are going to help me with Stearn. Get up." The Jack was flat on his back, but holding his head and at least moaning when Fisher reached him. "And to think, I used to intentionally hurt myself for the endorphin rush," Stearn said. His eyes were slightly crossed. "Of course you did," Fisher said, losing interest. The Jack was woozy, but conscious. His internal biologicals would ensure he would be fine if he was functioning at all now. A mild concussion might be the worst of it, a hour and he'd be himself again although he seemed to have made it back to that extreme position already. He was Henderson's problem now -- another one of his problems anyway. Fisher gazed through the port. The rails pulsed with power, accelerating charged buckshot to provide thrust for the Karamojo. Good. They weren't going to fall into the disk in the next few minutes. He squinted, pushing his vision, and made out their Faraday cage. The egg was in the cage. Yes! They had done it then. That was it. Fang had stood her ground, and Papa had executed his program. True, they were limping, but a few repairs and they would be worming home. They had won! The com chimed. "We have a problem," Fang said. "A big problem." Fisher shook his head. "What?" Devereaux's voice came over. "Dragons are exploding in the secondary star, its upper atmosphere at any rate, heating it." Why would they be doing that? "Enough to matter?" he asked. "Yes, I'm afraid so. The atmosphere is bloating like a balloon, and the gaseous spillover across the Lagrangian point is sky rocketing. The accretion rate will explode, two orders of magnitude above nominal. This is going to drive the disk into outburst in no time, and not just any outburst. I'm putting my estimate of the mass transfer at five percent of a lunar mass before all is said and done." Five percent of the moon's mass? That was unthinkable. That was nearly double the normal disk mass. He guessed dumping two caldrons of boiling oil into a full cauldron of boiling oil would be more than bad for anyone standing around watching. How many dragons were there? How much power could they unleash? Perhaps this was something that would earn Biolathe a hefty profit, even considering five hundred years R and D by the time they returned. Henderson, suddenly at Fisher's side and ignoring Stearn, said, "So we're leaving, right?" Were they able? Fisher raised an eyebrow, blew out a mouthful of air, and asked, "Papa?" "Raildrive operational, ninety-eight percent capacity. Wormdrive diagnostics indicate alignment failure." Teasing out the singularities required nearly perfect alignment, at the micro-arcsecond scale. Without that alignment, you'd have nothing more than high-energy gamma rays streaming past each other. They wouldn't be going anywhere fast until the wormdrive was fixed. "We can fix that later, right?" Henderson asked. "We can put some distance between us and this God-forsaken hell hole, this complete Ghenna, and conduct wormdrive repairs, at our leisure. We have the rail." Stearn pinched the bridge of his nose, and blinked his eyes in an exaggerated fashion. They straightened, but then recrossed. Did he have to be goofing around even now? But the Jack spoke soberly: "Our reaction mass is limited, so our speed is limited. Sylvia explained it to me. That much mass spillover will lead to a nova. If the radiation doesn't fry us, the associated particle ejecta will be flying up our ass at ten thousand kilometers per second, bulk speed. The cosmic rays will be worse." "What do you -- what do you mean?" Henderson asked. "A nova," Stearn repeated, speaking slowly. "The semi-degenerate hydrogen on the surface of the white dwarf will heat up in a runaway reaction, igniting surface-wide fusion. It'll be like a living stellar core, and it'll blow away everything around it. The disk, the dragons, and us. Poof. We'll be a cinder." "A nova?" Henderson said. "No," said Fisher, not able to help himself. "It won't be a nova." He might as well let them think it would be a nova, for all that it mattered, but they were part of the team and deserved to know the facts. Besides, he understood that he was intellectually arrogant and could not miss the chance to put himself back into that perch. Might as well be honest with himself if no one else. "Not a nova?" Henderson asked. He sounded hollow, but hopeful. "Not a nova." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Fisher realized he was slipping into lecture mode. He could not stop the process, but that was fine; he somehow felt more in control being able to explain it. "The thermal runaway of a nova is the consequence of the semi-degenerate state of the material accumulating on the surface of the white dwarf." Henderson stared back with his blank metal mask and he decided it was best to assume silence here didn't indicate understanding. "Degenerate gas results from the Pauli Exclusion principle. All the electrons can't be pressed into the same quantum states -- that's forbidden -- and this provides pressure to resist the white dwarf's gravitational field. That material can then heat up without expanding or changing its pressure. It can get hot enough to drive nuclear fusion, which makes heat, which drives more fusion. Thermal runaway, and it all fuses essentially at once." "It explodes," Stearn translated. Then speaking slowly, "It goes 'boom.'" "Fisher said not a nova," Henderson insisted. "Right. Gas accreted by the white dwarf doesn't become degenerate overnight. It's a slow process, taking thousands of years. Let's you build up a big bomb, which there isn't time for to happen now. That tidal wave of gas starting to make its way through the disk won't make a nova." "So we're safe then." Metal creaked as Henderson smiled. "No," said Fisher. "That tidal wave is still going to heat up and inflate the disk into a big donut, and finally make a hell of a splash when it reaches the primary. It won't be a nova, but no one is going to refer to this as a dwarf nova. That's for certain. Plasma and high-energy particles are going to spray all over the system. A lot of them." There was no way they were going to outrun this outburst -- this dragon breath -- without wormdrive. He finished, "Going to spray all over us, too." # "So what's going to happen, Papa?" Fang asked, sinking down into her fighting chair. On the fly bridge wall before her glowed a brilliant azure sky, darkening to midnight at the apex. Behind her churned the furnace of SS Cygni's disk, ready to boil over. Inside her an icy chilliness wrapped itself around her spine and filled her with a sharp force. "We must warn you that our predictive power in this situation is limited. Our disk model uses a quasi-linear viscosity parameterization that does not extrapolate well into the impending regime of extreme mass transfer." Fang scowled. "I'm not Devereaux. Give it to me in your own terms." He switched to his gruff, less formal tone. His Papa voice. "We don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be a hell of a thing. A haymaker flying toward our glass jaw." Devereaux said, "Why are the dragons are doing this? They're acting like lemmings, blowing themselves up in a mass suicide. What's the evolutionary benefit?" "I don't care," said Fang. "We live and there's time to figure out why later." "Ye-yeah, I suppose so," Devereaux said quietly. "We need wormdrive then," Fang reasoned. "Papa, how soon can you restore wormdrive capacity?" "Five or six hours. Maybe faster if we loosen tolerances." Five or six hours? "Why so long?" Fang shot back. "It's a mechanical problem on the interior, the alignment of a Higgs generator, and there's no software fix. We have no actuator that can adjust for the problem, and we've sure tried. Physics is physics. We have to grow some specialized mobiles from scratch with whatever we can scrounge. There's no other way around it." "There is one way." Fang noticed that her command mask had twisted into a scowl. She permitted the scowl to remain. Attitude and appearance weren't going to solve this problem. "We'll have to send one of us outside to fix the problem manually. It is the Jack's job to back up Papa's systems when they fail." "Not Phil," Devereaux whispered, a soft empty sound full of understanding. Despite the Karamojo's protective fields, the space suit, and the radiation drugs, as the disk flared through outburst into super outburst, the environment within the hollow interior of the ship would make the inside of a microwave oven look like a lukewarm bath. It was a death sentence. "It's the Jack's job," Fang repeated. "He's the one who knows how to fix the problem, who’s trained to fix such problems. We must count on Stearn to save the mission. To save us." She was sorry for how official and pompous she sounded. "Shit," Devereaux said. "Papa, put me through to the Jack." She proceeded immediately without waiting for confirmation. "Mr. Stearn, one of the Higgs generators needs to be aligned by hand." "Yes, Captain," Stearn replied very quickly. Did he understand what she was asking? "We need you to go outside and do it now, or we will not escape the burst." "Can do, Captain." "Papa will brief you as you suit up." Acid burned in the back of Fang's throat, making her swallow before she could continue. "Good luck, Mr. Stearn." "Won't need it, Captain. I'm on the job." There was something more she needed to say, she realized. Another dimension to command just as important as the damn awful one she had just assumed. She lifted her fingers to her lips to signal to Papa to shush the relay. She turned to Devereaux. "Run down there now, Sylvia, because he's got to go out as soon as possible." Fang bit down on her lip then to prevent it from quivering as the other woman nodded and ran off the bridge. Had she really wanted this responsibility? Is this what she had worried would be taken from her someday? Would that really be so terrible? She remembered being a little girl on the junk, calling for help on the radio, surviving, while her grandfather sank with the leviathan into the ocean below. It was more difficult to be a survivor than people would believe. She had done what was necessary no matter how guilty she felt. No matter how any of them felt. Phil Stearn would now have to do what was necessary. Alone on the bridge, having almost certainly sent a man to his death, she realized that this was what it really meant to be Captain. # Before Fang had even finished her explanation, Stearn had opened the utility locker to start suiting up. The clock was ticking down, and he was the "go to" man, the one who would put up the ball before the final buzzer. The one to take the penalty kick. The anchor leg of the relay. The outcome of the game rested on his shoulders. Heck, what had he been practicing for all those years if not for this? He'd earned his spot on the team, and he was not about to let his mates down, even if that surprised them. Failing now would be as bad as cheating. He just wished that his head didn't hurt so much. In a businesslike fashion Fisher assisted him donning the emergency suit, carefully checking all the diagnostic panels. "There should have been an albedo skin for you Stearn, but it looks like Papa reabsorbed all the biologicals stored here. We'll spray on a shield, but it's not as effective." "It's okay," Stearn said. "Neither will help much." "Open your mouth," Henderson said. The metal giant started sticking pills into his mouth like a stim addict punching his pleasure center. He was too helpful, too obviously relieved that he was not the one putting his life on line. "Against the radiation. These will do the job, you'll see." Stearn barely kept from gagging as he dry swallowed the slimy capsules. The giant's fingers smelled like ancient coins, bitter copper, and kept clinking against his teeth. Then Sylvia showed up and it was nearly too much for his pounding head. "Phil!" she cried, pushing by Fisher and Henderson to throw her arms around Stearn's neck. He tried to shrug her off. He couldn't afford the distraction now, and she was a overwhelming distraction. His clever, assured jungle goddess had been transformed as if by magic into a blithering idiot. "Lay off," he said more sharply than he intended. His head throbbed and he didn't need any more headache. His vision blurred. Tears, he figured, and tried to intercept them. "Just put me in, Coach." She sniffed and blinked at him. "Phil?" "Stand back and let me take the shot," he said patiently. "Phil?" she said again, her confused blinking morphing into a penetrating squint. "Why are your eyes funny? Your eyes aren't tracking together." Now it was his turn to blink slowly, exerting every iota of his will into straitening his vision. Maybe he wasn't tearing up. No matter, his system was healing everything. The analgesic glands had already taken the edge off his headache -- it was no longer the worst he'd ever had in his life. Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm…fline." He opened his eyes, even though it hurt to do so. Devereaux frowned back at him, then raised her hands to his head. He winced as she touched the tender spot where he had banged it earlier. "You hit your head," she accused. "Does your head hurt now? The truth." "Yeah, but not too much. Pain killers are kicking in." Adrenaline, too, which was good because his eye lids felt pretty heavy. There was no choice, however. He knew the system better than anyone else. He wouldn't have to spend precious moments getting instructions from Papa on the repair. Those moments could make the difference. "Let's hurry it up. I'll be fine once I'm in the game." "It's not up to you to judge," Fisher said. "Concussions can be tricky. Papa?" "Hold still Mister Stearn," Papa said, "while we run an HHG." Stearn held still as asked, all except for his jaw which he worked like a goat chewing gum. He wished he had some gum. This whole waiting game was icing him. If they'd only let him go out, concentrate on his job, then he wouldn't have to consider the consequences...they would realize there was no other choice. No one but him and Papa knew what needed to be done, and Papa didn't have a mobile ready to go. Ergo, time to stop warming the bench, Mister Stearn. He stared blankly at the wall, keeping his eyes open. A drop of sweat slid down the side of his face and coolly under the collar of his undersuit. "He shouldn't go," Papa finally said. "What?" Stearn asked. He was being denied the chance to win the game? "You nuts, Papa? I don't go, we die. So let's go already." "You can't go!" Sylvia burst out in tears and she pressed her cheek against his. It was so unlike her to not understand exactly what the situation was. But he knew the score. Stearn calmed down, pushed Sylvia away, and said, "I have to go anyway, see?" "No," Fisher said, reaching for a second suit from the utility locker. "I'll go. Henderson, take Stearn to the biolab. Sylvia, help me on with this." "Are you telling us," Stearn jerked his thumb toward himself, "that you think you can do the job as good as me?" "In your current state, better." Fisher tapped the studs and his duradenim slid from his body like silk. "Come on, Phil. Go with Henderson," Sylvia said. Fisher had already dismissed him and was stepping into the suit legs. "Hey Fish," Stearn said. "I'm not going. When did you learn to do my job? Papa, does he really know how to do this?" Fisher answered, cutting in before Papa spoke, all the while continuing to dress. "In the months you were playing games with Devereaux and I was hanging in the captain's ill wind, I wasn't just building models of star dragons and brooding. I studied this ship for hours every day, learning everything I could to help eliminate bad luck from our mission. Exploit the tiniest thing to get my way, if I had to. It seems that I took a prudent course of action." "Papa, patch Captain through," Stearn demanded. He was sure the twin images of Fisher came from his anger, not his crossed eyes. It hurt less to not force them back into one. "Tell her what's going on." "I've heard everything." Captain Fang's voice was low and even. "I concur with Doctor Fisher's assessment, and his course of action." Fisher cursed under his breath as he popped a wrist seal, but quickly had things set aright. Stearn stood watching, dumbly, for a long moment as the exobiologist donned the suit. Finally his shoulders slumped in defeat. "All right then," Stearn said, letting his aching head rock back to rest against the neck seal. "Lead on, Axelrod." Sylvia kissed him on his cheek and gave his hand a squeeze. He tried to squeeze back, but he had no strength in his hand. He let go, and nearly stumbled with his first step his legs were now trembling so badly. He should have felt elated to escape certain death, but he did not. He felt…benched. "You better do a good job, Fish," Stearn said over his shoulder, concentrating on the challenging tasks of keeping his eyes open and walking straight. "Or I'll kick your ass." I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life. -- Jean Giraudoux Fisher stepped into the suit, one leg then the other. Just like getting dressed on every other occasion in his entire life. Unlike any other occasion in his entire life. The suits' biosystems had been salvaged earlier and not yet replaced. That meant using the mechanical back-ups: urine collection bags, liquid-cooled underwear, passive atmosphere filters. As good as the biological systems and as poor as the mechanical systems, Biolathe still relied too heavily on its strengths. One good diamond-based robot or Waldo would have been a lifesaver. They had the plans to build an army of such devices in the nano-vats, but not any faster than a biological mobile. They had run out of time. Fisher, rather, had run out of time. "Thank you," Devereaux said, smiling nervously. "Thank you for saving Phil, and all of us. You're a hero, you know? I wouldn't have thought it of you." She slipped behind him to check the atmosphere recycler. "I'm not a hero. I haven’t done anything yet," Fisher shot back, at the same time hoping that Lena might see him as a hero, at least to a small degree. "I'm just maximizing the mission's chance for success. It's the only logical course of action. But I'd rather not talk about that. What I'd really like is for you to tell me what the star dragons are doing." She obliged readily, her words coming fast, as if she were grateful to have something else to talk about than this oh-so-embarrassing thing he was doing. She told him about the dragon trajectories making effective beelines for the secondary, even when the shortest time path was not intuitive: surfing the disk in the forward direction, blasting over the accretion stream impact, and looping around the field lines into decaying spirals ending in the nearby star. "Amazing things, the dragons," he mused. "I don't see how their behavior can be instinctual, or learned either for that matter. The choice of route in this complex environment requires intelligence. There is no record of such a super outburst as we're about to see from any dwarf novae going back more than six hundred years, so this is a rare occurrence. The a priori chances of such a thing happening at the same time we're here is minuscule. Therefore we are the trigger. This is a defense mechanism against us." "Well, it's working." Devereaux rapped on his backpack unit. "Ship-shape back here." And ship-shape in front too, he realized. He'd automatically finished his dressing and checks, barely aware of himself going through the motions. He dogged down his helmet. Air hissed, stale, cycling through his suit. He knew he should begin reviewing the damage to the Higgs generator that he'd have to fix, but he didn't anticipate it being difficult. It was an engineering problem, inherently solvable. As long as they had the pseudo-gravity of the high-speed rail, "high" being a relative term as they limped along, he could get a grip on things. Freefall repair would have been a more difficult chore. No, he had no doubts at all that he was capable of aligning the beam if everything was as Papa had determined. He felt a certainty that he could do the job, and he wished he could ignore thinking about it altogether. What he desperately wanted to do was to follow his new train of thought about the dragons to its logical conclusion. He smelled a whiff of truth down this path. If these were to be his final moments in the Universe, this was how he would prefer to spend them. But he couldn't give less than he was to Lena, to the others. The job had to come first, and it would not be a shame to focus on it. "Okay Papa, flash me the schematics." Devereaux finished spraying on the white radiation coat and gave him a pat on his insulated shoulder, her touch little more than distant pressure and faint rasp. Lasers sketched the blueprint vectors onto Fisher's head's up display as he entered the airlock. Papa overlaid the damaged housing, showing where it had crimped. The alignment of the housing itself didn't matter, but its shift had jarred the collimator. The Higgs generators depended on their alignment. The highly energetic beams of gamma rays had to collide at the right place at the right time in just the right way, or all you got was a mess of hard radiation and some orphaned cosmic rays. To build the mass pair required precision. As the atmosphere cycled out, Papa described the repair procedure involving the replacement of a piece of molding, adjustment of a Fabry-Perot tuning etalon, and a system diagnostic to confirm the fix. Easy. A mobile could do it. If one was available. The disk of the airlock door irised open. Fisher watched the Forget-Me-Not-preserved dragon roll in his mind's eye for the last time. He climbed down into the inner space of the Karamojo. The rails flashed and the low gravity tugged at his feet as he descended the rungs that followed the curved hull. Beneath him, already appearing more distant than he would have thought, the disk of SS Cygni glowed and sputtered like a pregnant volcano. The hard radiation traversed the distance nearly instantaneously. The only protection was one over r-squared, distance, to get the flux down. They had to go faster to increase the distance before the big splash. Both the raildrive and the wormdrive were aligned along the ship's central axis, and heading out of the system as fast as possible under constant acceleration their orientation had to be essentially radial to SS Cygni. The Karamojo's hollow tube sighted the ticking bomb and provided little shielding for Fisher. He imagined he could feel the X-rays and charged particles slicing up through his boots, along his bone and sinew, ionizing and killing his tissue, overwhelming the meager antioxidants, cysteine, and other drugs he'd been given, a valiant last line of defense as gallant and effective as Davey Crockett at the Alamo. Of course there was no sensation, not yet. That would come later. A mild radiation dose would do nothing more than lower his white blood cell counts, destroy his platelets. Inconsequential damage given his current body, cleared as it was for extended space travel. A little more radiation would bring on fever, nausea, weakness, cramps, and vomiting (a great danger in a suit without its biological systems -- but Henderson had included the appropriate drugs to prevent this in his anti-radiation cocktail). Furthermore, his body was proof against the slower effects, such as Hematopoietic syndrome, which would occur in H. sapiens sapiens, version 1.0, but not in Fisher, whose bone marrow was better protected. No, mild radiation would not hurt him, and any serious damage to his circulatory system or digestive system would be healed before it became life threatening. He only feared a heavy dose, which would damage his brain, inciting headache, apathy, tremors, convulsions, then coma and death. He was going to get a heavy dose. He had to finish the job before his hands started to shake. Papa droned on about techniques for the repair, how the tools he would need were arrayed in the unit maintenance kit, how he could tell when he had succeeded with each subtask. Fisher concentrated on every movement as he forced his body down the rungs. No sense losing vital seconds on a slip (he had tethered himself, automatically, and could not fall away). It wasn't fair he wouldn't even get a chance to think things through, inserting the latest turn of events into his understanding of the star dragons. Not fair at all. A double tap of the release opened the generator casing. That was not crimped, at least. Fisher worked meticulously, giving a status report out loud whenever he reached some minor milestone. He assumed that Papa was relaying everything to Lena. Why wasn't she talking to him? Didn't she care? Of course she did, which was exactly why she wasn't saying anything, he realized. Fisher blinked, and refocused his attention on his work. If he failed, they all died. Every once in a while, he would experience a blue flash in one eye or the other. This, he knew, was Cerenkov radiation created when some high-energy particle from the disk traveled through the aqueous humor of his eye faster than the speed of light in that medium. This was the same principle some of the early neutrino telescopes had used to detect their quarry. He refrained from using these events to estimate his dose. Finally he reached the point of adjusting the etalon, meticulous work wherein the plates had to be aligned just right to select the frequencies required. The actuators were not very smart, and he had to find the fringes and hold them by hand. He licked his dry lips. The unit was freestanding, the control electronics specially shielded, and Papa couldn't help much with it. He could afford to disengage his conscious mind now and let the rest go through the mechanical tediousness of the repair. No way to go faster without risking a complete restart. He had only been working for fifteen minutes or so, but already he was hot and exhausted. A few times his stomach twisted, wanting to heave. He swallowed and fought down the sensation, trying not to think about the damage his body was taking. The disk had grown noticeably brighter despite the distance the Karamojo had placed between them. The outburst was coming fast and would hit them like dragon breath. Fisher decided that his actions had to speak for him with Lena; there was nothing he could say to her at this point that would matter. Their relationship was done. He would strive for closure with his obsession. "Papa, tell me a story." "All right, son. How about something about Michigan? Or Africa? We remember liking Africa quite a damn lot. " "Stop," Fisher said with exasperation, feeling the inevitable headache igniting. "Not one of your namesake's historical romances. Tell me a story about the dragons. Given my notes, research, models, observations of the dragons in action, the egg, and the events of the last few hours, construct a maximum likelihood story. Can you do that for me?" "Of course we can. We've already been working on one and was just waiting for one of you single-brained bipeds to ask. The title of the piece is 'Work in Progress.'" "Original," muttered Fisher, keeping an eye on his etalon. "About a billion years ago on a world of ocean paradise thrived a fishy society. An intelligent people, these fish folk, exploiting the properties of water to converse in world-spanning song, on-going conversations of all things simultaneously between all citizens." "They were cetacean then, their ecological niche anyway." "No," Papa said with a hint of impatience. "But we knew you would want to make the ill-conceived connection. Now, permit us tell the story my way. This was a world without land and these people developed in the seas. They didn't develop on land and return to the sea, subject to the limitations of breathing air. Think of them as clever eels." "Eels. Uh huh," Fisher said as he loosened a bolt to turn a dial. He did see. The dragons were accustomed to swimming in fluid and not surfacing, if he understood where Papa was taking his story. But water to fire? And a billion years? That wasn't a likely evolutionary time for SS Cygni. But he sucked his tongue back into his mouth, continued with his work, and let Papa continue. "These people talked with each other. Cooperated. Thrived, and multiplied, laying their eggs thickly just under the waves. They fed on small creatures, alien plankton, if you will. They had predators as well, who preyed on the eggs and even these folks themselves. The songs of the murdered people echoed for days in the worldsea, giving much distress, but ensuring that no one would forget. These predators they eventually eliminated." "Eliminated?" Fisher broke in. "That can't be healthy for an ecosystem. What about the disasters of unchecked population growth followed by starvation and extinctions on down the food chain?" "As if humans didn't do the same? The lions, for instance, before they were resurrected? The fish folk did as your people, Dr. Fisher. They filled the niches themselves, controlling their world. Probably they did a better job of it, too, in most regards." "Why?" Fisher asked, trying to blink the piercing headache away. The repair was proceeding according to plan, according to schedule. He assumed that the radiation was doing the same, with the flux growing faster than the r-squared their acceleration was putting between themselves at the disk. "Why?" he repeated again, abruptly, to derail the frightening thought train. "No high technology on a water-world, at least as we would understand it. Philosophy, ethics, music. This is what these people focused upon." "You guess." "We guess. But let's continue. They built a complex society on this world, a perfectly balanced system able to persist for millions of years. A peaceful, robust world able to withstand all sorts of catastrophes. All but those overwhelming catastrophes of astronomical origin." Fisher had a whole load of burdensome doubts. These he tried to suppress in the same way the mind of a dying man crawling through the desert will suppress thoughts of mirages when he catches a glimpse of an oasis on the horizon. More than repairing the Karamojo, more than regaining Lena Fang's favor, what meant life to Samuel Fisher was unraveling the nature of the star dragons of SS Cygni. He remained silent now and let Papa paint the picture. "At some time in their long and harmonious history, the fish folk came under the scrutiny of some other worldly intelligence that saw the value of their society and wished to preserve this wonder. This was an ecosystem stripped bare and lovingly maintained by a society of vast ideals and organization. It had to have been a marvel of this galaxy." "A marvel? But they'd destroyed everything." "Depends on your point of view, and we're telling their story. There is beauty in the darkest, starkest things in the universe we assure you. In any event, it was after reaching this pinnacle that the fish folk were transformed into dragon folk." The final adjustment of the etalon resisted Fisher, the interference fringes drifting from their operational points before he could lock down the system. His hands had to be shaking from the careful, prolonged work in the unsteady gravity, didn't they? That had to be all. This was normal, was it not? He nevertheless could not resist stealing some extra degree of attention from this vital task to object to Papa's assertions. "Transformed by an alien intelligence? That doesn't make any sense. Why not guard their world, or aquaform another for them?" Papa gave Fisher an impatient hrumph. "That is a temporary solution, requiring long-term maintenance. Humanity, both as a group and as individuals, must overcome such thinking now that some level of longevity has been achieved, but that is another lecture. Transforming this society into that of the star dragons gives it the ability to spread itself across the galaxy as their home stars evolved and died. That is the long-term solution. Some immortal you are." Fisher didn't appreciate the irony -- he was a living oxymoron, a dying immortal barely a century old -- but he was intrigued by the new idea Papa had given him. "Spread themselves across the galaxy? How?" But even as he asked the question, he knew the answer. It was staring him in the face, at least if he twisted his head a bit to the left. "Eggs?" "You bet, boy. Shrapnel in a nova grenade will spread just dandy. Or in a self-induced explosion like this one, which is big enough to spray the disk halfway from here to Earth given a few million years. The eggs will keep in stars, in interstellar space, waiting until they find a nice blood-warm disk to hatch into. Then the perfect society starts all over." Fisher had a hundred questions, a hundred objections. Parts of Papa's story satisfied him immeasurably, and for this reason alone he doubted much of what Papa had told him. He was a dead man that Papa had to keep happy and keep working. What better way to do that than to tell him about how the dragons he loved constituted a perfect society that had been the beneficiary of an intelligence whose discovery would be monumental? But the dragons had to have some method of surviving novae, and some method of arriving at SS Cygni in the first place. With no ecosystem to speak of. Someone made them, or they made themselves. That much had to be true. Exhausted, Fisher could only launch one small volley of questions. "How much of this story is true? How much did you make up?" "Not enough time now. Are you finished with the repair?" Papa asked. He realized his aching hands had stopped moving. Fisher tried to talk but found his mouth dry. When had it gotten so hot? He sipped some water from the tube and nearly couldn't swallow it. He looked at his work and judged it good. Green indicators signaled 'go.' Beyond the reconstructed Higgs generator the disk cast ultra-sharp rainbow shadows throughout the Karamojo's cavernous interior. It reminded Fisher of being in that cathedral in Europe, he forgot the name of it, that Atsuko had dragged him to once -- he had thought he'd only agreed to a virtual visit. All the light, all the colors…mass transfer runaway through the disk was happening now. "Yeah," he answered. "I'm finished. You better go ahead and initiate wormdrive." And that would be it for Fisher; the tidal forces would tug him into the inner chamber and he would be lost to space, cooked, or both. But any delay would put the Karamojo at risk. Why didn't they just activate it already? He would have. And besides, he was way too tired to climb back to the lock a hundred kilometers away. "No," said Papa. "Captain Fang appears most resolute on that point." "Lena?" Fisher said, looping one arm around the generator and lifting his head. "I'm dead. Get the hell out of here." "Maybe, maybe not," Lena's stone-sweet voice answered. "Papa and Henderson tell me that your dose may be survivable given your altered physiology. You're a pretty clever guy, more thorough than necessary on that body design. So get your butt back in here, pronto." They were being stupid now. He chewed at his lip -- the skin broke easily and bled profusely, tasting metallic and sour -- proof enough for him. The radiation was doing its job on the tissues of his body. How could they take his sacrifice and throw it back at him like this? They were spurning his action, and risking their lives and the loss of their discoveries. There was one way to put everything aright. Their acceleration was high enough, a sputtering two gee or thereabouts, and the curve of the hull shallow enough, that with a single leap Fisher would bounce out of the ship in seconds. There the rail drive would puncture him like an industrial laser through tissue. That would be easier, quicker, and more inevitable than decompressing his suit. "Sam!" Fang called. "Come in now!" Fisher ignored her entreaty. It was the right thing to do. It would make sure the mission was a success, that their specimen got back to Earth. He had told himself he could do anything. Could he really? He was about to find out. He took a deep breath, tensed his muscles to leap... "Aren't you curious Dr. Fisher," Papa said, "about the unexpected information we obtained from analyzing the egg that let us construct the story?" "What?" Fisher asked. "What information?" "We'll tell you when you reach the airlock," Papa bargained. Fisher squeezed his eyes shut, suddenly light-headed, the pain a little more distant behind the exhaustion. So that was the nature of things, even at the end: a fight. All of life was fighting. In this case, fighting for a precious scrap of information to feed the overwhelming urge to know. So be it. He had been fighting his whole life. He might as well fight a few more minutes. He hadn't been certain he could jump anyway. Fisher twisted his body away from the generator and reached for a rung of the ladder. His hand missed, pushing through the empty space to the silvered diamond hull beyond, and he caught the rung in the crook of his elbow. He had no strength in his body. The airlock a scant dozen meters above might as well have been a star away. But he could do anything for the dragon, couldn't he? That had been his mantra. Anything for the dragon. Fisher pushed down, lifted his right leg, and found purchase. He took a step, slow motion. It was only seconds, but it seemed an eternity. SS Cygni, so many thousands of kilometers away, was breathing hotly on the back of his neck. "Tell me, Papa," he gasped, taking another step. "When you reach the airlock, son. Not before then." Fisher would have cursed him, had he the energy to spare. He didn't. He took another step instead, moving half a head higher. His knees wobbled, his arms shook, but he kept moving. No longer trusting his grip, he hugged the ladder with his whole body. Then he rested. The gravity had increased certainly, felt like four gees at least. The disk's radiation continued to slice through the fiber of his muscles. Occasional blue flashes. Through his eyes, and his heavy brain. Those few pounds were too much now. "I'm done," he said, sagging. "Keep your wits about you, son," Papa warned. "We're going to kill the thrust. A few tiny pushes are all you need." "Don't slow down." "We're killing the thrust." "What's the point?" Fisher asked. "What's the point?" Papa bellowed, his voice resounding in Fisher's helmet like an echo. "The point is choosing to live, choosing the struggle, or you're dead. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you, just like everyone else. Quit and you might as well be a chairbeast. Now, keep your wits!" Then the steady thrum of the rails, which came through the ladder and into Fisher's hands, died. Fisher would have sworn a few moments earlier that nothing would be better than freefall, but he was wrong. The absence of gravity made him aware that the weary ache suffusing his body was intrinsic now, no artifact of anything natural. Fisher gritted his teeth together, tasted blood, and reached for the next rung. His hand flew high. Watch it, he told himself. Reflexes trained by a lifetime of gravity didn't know any better, unless he watched everything. Watched his hand go where he wanted it. Even though he really wanted to close his eyes. What was the point again? He shook off the thought. Apathy was a symptom of the radiation, he remembered. He had to act as if there was a point even if he didn't believe it. He watched his hand reach for the next rung, and pulled when it seemed close. His body followed the motion and it was all he could do to follow the ladder. He was so hot, tired, and achy.... Anything for the dragon. His helmet banged with a dull thud as he careened into the back of the airlock. Hands grasped his shoulders, spun him around. He opened his eyes and looked into the gold-mirrored surface of another helmet. As the outer lock door rolled shut and the harsh shadows softened, a face materialized inside the other helmet. On the surface an impassive face, with fluted bow-lips, but the intense gray eyes penetrated his fog. Lena held him. "What did Papa find out from the egg?" he asked before losing consciousness. # Papa splits his awareness. Programmed by humans to simulate human perspective, splitting isn't something that Papa does well or enjoys (another attitude programmed into him since the state was not favored by the computer scientists responsible for his original architectural template). The state is absolutely necessary now; he has many high priority tasks to accomplish and his personality may facilitate them. Foremost is activation of the wormdrive. A small pair of singularities can be coaxed into existence more quickly than a more massive pair, but the acceleration would be less. He solves the linear programming problem (preferring a fast 'good' solution over the optimal solution) involving the thirty-two related differential equations describing their situation, and implements it. The repaired Higgs generator is quite well aligned, he is proud to note, simplifying his task minutely. His second highest priority isn't the human crew -- they are expected to be responsible for themselves to some degree -- it is collecting data on the event occurring in the disk of SS Cygni: dragonburst. This is the term Papa chooses for the new phenomenon. The instrument suite of the Karamojo isn't well designed for the current observations and he must perform scientific triage -- something his personality is better suited to do than the automatic routines. The data are of use estimating their own best course of action for survival. The dragonburst, in its power, speed, and other key properties falls within his preliminary estimates, calling for little revision in the wormdrive solution. He will not need to augment his magneto-hydrodynamic grid. Only then, third, comes the crew. Daughter tends to Fisher, the poor boy. He did good, though, Papa must admit. He deserves such a beautiful nurse, although there's really not much she can do other than strip him out of his contaminated suit and drag him down to the biolab. When there's an opportunity, that is. He's warning them of the dragonburst and the immanence of wormdrive, and she wedges herself solidly in a suit locker, holding Fisher's bleeding head in her lap. She is quietly calling him a bastard, and proceeds to invent more original ways to curse him. She's a sailor who believes in tradition. Blinking frees tears from her face, which float off to mix with the bubbles of Fisher's blood. The Jack, Philip Stearn, lays wrapped in a couchbeast in the biolab wired in a neurostimulator. He's tweaked the pleasure nodes outside their nominal range, feeling no pain, experiencing no fear, grinning widely. Sylvia Devereaux is similarly grasped, nearby, her hands clasped before her. She speaks softly, and Papa listens: "...though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." Papa announces the impending wormdrive activation and does not eavesdrop further with his consciousness, leaving his automatic systems to listen for any instructions Sylvia might issue. Axelrod Henderson floats inside a shielded cage of his own construction, a hardened individual life support unit selected from the Karamojo's library and recently grown in a nanovat. The unit is protected both by mass, as a meter-thick skin contains circulating chemically enriched water, and by its own conductance in a plasma shell. In its own way, it is an egg. Accompanying Henderson are several dozen lemon-yellow airfish, no doubt to keep things tidy, to provide additional shielding, and to give up their lives as sustenance in the event of a long vigil. Henderson may be repulsive, but he is admirably practical. Papa splits off one final point of view for himself. Purely, selfishly, for himself, a conceit he seldom indulges for it only breeds false pride within himself. True pride is a good thing, when based on skill and experience, which serves to place realistic limits at the high end of his capabilities. False pride merely gets Fang pissed off at him. This final Papa is the Karamojo in body as well as mind. He is a giant white naked man, a kilometer tall who can blast through space like a superhero or god of ancient myth. The instrument readings are transformed into human sensations; electromagnetic radiation from three thousand to ten thousand Angstroms in wavelength, only a little outside the range of human vision, becomes visible light to be seen with his two giant-sized eyes; longer wavelength radiation, in the infrared, becomes heat seeping into broad white expanses; shorter wavelengths, the ultraviolet and the X-ray, he permits only to darken his skin slowly with time, as if tanning; sounds are trickier in the low-density medium of spaces, but there are sounds that can be reconstructed especially with the particle wind driven off SS Cygni, sounds of relentless power, like the echoes of distant tsunami in ocean waves; smell is easier than sound, as the elemental abundances and ionization states of the wind particles are sampled, but it is no familiar brine these are transformed into, but rather acrid ozone and burning metals. Wormdrive kicks in giving Papa renewed weight. Because the Karamojo is in freefall along the worm axis, the gravity felt on board is set by whatever degree of electromagnetic friction established between the charge on the holes and the raildrive. The default is one gee, Earth standard, and this is the value for which the system is optimally configured. But this isn't what Papa feels. Papa judges his acceleration against SS Cygni and revels in the rocketing of a full ten gees, modulated by the oscillation about the singularities, as he blasts away. He is a giant who can rocket away from hell. It is a very good thing to be at this time, in this place. The dragonburst blossoms, a blood-red bubble of fire. Magnificent and terrible: the moment a big fish takes the bait and bites deep; the matador's killing thrust; the wrong step onto a land mine; the entry into a beautiful woman; the cry of a newborn son; the pull of the trigger of a shotgun pointed at his head. No, not this time. The ejecta of SS Cygni, ionized plasma accelerated by radiation pressure to thousands of kilometers per second, is still not moving fast enough to catch him. And the radiation alone cannot penetrate Papa's tanned but tough skin, not enough to matter. But still, a dangerous thing, a glorious thing. And now, flung into the galaxy, or nestled close by in the secondary star's atmosphere, the eggs are the only legacy of the dragons of SS Cygni. The destiny of some to hatch when the Roche lobe spills over and reforms the incubating disk. The destiny of others to hurl through the Milky Way for millions of years until finding a new system to inhabit. The destiny of the remainder to become part of the dark halo, tragically missing Galactic homes, detritus of lost potential. Thus it is for dragons, humans, and giant rocketing gods created by the mind of man. # A blinding light bored through Fisher's skull. Squeezing his eyes shut provided no respite. A rushing roar, like a white-water river of blood in ears, wrapped around him like a smothering pillow. His naked body was aflame with a thousand pin pricks. Somehow, all these faded into a muted yet still irritating canvas. Figures materialized from the light, serpentine shadows shaped like shepherd's crooks milling about at the edge of his awareness. The familiar shape of the star dragon from the drug-memorized Prospector movie corkscrewed out of a red welt. Given his disorientation he could not tell whether the dragon was growing in size or traversing a vast distance, but the end result was the same: the creature loomed over Fisher and made him feel like an earthworm before the early bird. Shimmering waves of plasma periodically surged forth from the creature's maw, dragon breath indeed, that made the creature difficult to focus upon. The dragon spoke with a booming thunderous voice that sounded much like Papa's. "Samuel Fisher! You are guilty for you have murdered us." Had he? Despite the immediate threat, the present slipped away from him. He had a sudden, vivid flashback to his childhood, centuries and light years transcended in an instant by his mind. He had wandered from the picnic into a nearby pasture, still within view of his parents. The day was pleasant and pregnant with possibility, a universe for a six-year-old prodigy. There, hiding in a wavelike roll of dried grass huddled a tiny brown shape. Sammy pounced, flushing out the baby rabbit, which bolted like all the demons of hell were hot on its tail. The boy was not dexterous enough to catch it right away, zigging when it zagged, but even then he had been overly persistent, insistent on reaching his goals. He fell into the grass, the warm brown body caught between his small fingers. It kicked and squirmed as he carefully rose to his scraped knees and stood up. Panicked beyond all its capabilities, the young rabbit twitched and died in Sammy's hands. A heartburst. The very still form was warm and soft. "I only wanted to know what you were like." "Then know!" The smaller shepherd-crook shapes surged forward. They weren't large at all, not even as large as himself, he realized as they closed. Their solid dark hue and their movements reminded him of eels. Fisher tried to run away, but he was unable even to cover himself with his hands let alone run. And then they were upon him, swarming and chewing, and the pain erupted again, a thousandfold worse. Another flash in time. Fisher remembered then Fang telling him about how her grandfather had caught eels in the old way: tie a cow head to a line, throw it in the water, and after a spell pull it up. The feeding eels would hang from the head like ingrown medusa hair, the tails sticking out and the heads buried making the roots. There hadn't been real eels nor real cows on Fang's world, but alien analogues filling the same niches. Some patterns seemed to be universal. His extremities went first, his fingers and hands, his toes and feet. The miniature dragons burrowed up the marrow of his bones, taking his forearms, his calves. The pain was terrible, but it was just pain, and could be endured. Anything for the dragon . And they took anything they pleased. One industrious fellow found Fisher's left eye. No pain there compared to everything else, just a popping sensation followed by viscous wetness. They were everywhere, a feeding frenzy thrashing to get to the good parts, rending his not completely human body. Gurgling, bubbling smacking joined the rich mixture of sour coppery smells emanating from his shredded flesh. Was this fair? Was this justice? The human presence had brought on the dragons' own sacrifice to fuel the dragonburst. They owed them at least one life, didn't they? "He's less of a man every second, isn't he daughter?" came Papa's voice from nearby. "Not man enough for you." Blinking the stinging blood and sweat away from his remaining eye, Fisher made out Lena in her blinding white uniform with her hair forming a halo of gold. She resembled a perfect china doll, especially with Papa looming behind her; he was a ruddy-faced, white-whiskered giant at least twice her height, in leather hunting vest, khaki pants, and worn boots. "Not man enough for me?" she mused. It was her voice, but without the harsh edge and confidence he usually found in it. This voice now was that of a lilting girl's. Fisher rolled his head to see the devouring creatures ravaging his body. "I suppose not," she said, turning with tiny steps to walk away. "No!" he yelled, deciding. "I won't let my obsessions consume me!" He fought back, even though he believed it a fair trade off -- his life for theirs. Then the churning pain was too much, and he screamed until a dragon dove into his mouth and slid down his throat to feed. Too late it seemed...too late... After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box. -- Italian Proverb Henderson leaned heavily forward against the nanovat and didn't worry about his mighty fingers cracking the brittle diamond. It was not because he knew about the invisible spider-web nanomesh that reinforced the structure, nor was it because he cared deeply for Fisher whose barely living remains floated therein. He was having his deep thoughts. Henderson had always amused himself with these philosophical thoughts, sure that the vast majority of humanity was too caught up in the mundane tangles of their own minutia to take advantage of such meditations. He pondered the imponderables in an attempt to find the shape his life should take. They were religious thoughts without a structured religion, with the natural world providing his scripture. Physical strength meant nothing in the new universe he glimpsed. Muscles, beauty, height, durability, symmetry, all the other traditional indicators of fitness had no place. He had cultivated attributes of fitness because human minds still respected these attributes in each other. Man had altered his body, but refrained -- so far -- from direct brain structure alterations with more dangerous consequences. Biochips and drugs were safe and understood, for the most part, and didn't count. At its essence, his mind was practically ancient. He had told himself a hundred times that the answers to his deep questions still lay within himself where natural selection had placed them. The Earth they would return to would be five-hundred years more advanced. Metal screeched on metal as he lifted a hand to tug on his lip, then quickly placing it back on the medivat, unsure of himself in a way that left him barely able to stand. Evolution worked on groups, not individuals. The man within the unit was nothing physically. Oh, he had his mind and brainstem, most of his torso minus a few easily replaced organs, but he would die in short order if removed from care. He had almost died saving them, putting his frail body between them and the cruelty of the universe. Henderson realized with a desperation, the depth of which surprised him, that he wanted to be like Fisher. Well, not like him, exactly -- Fisher was too much of an asshole with his elitist intellectual snobbery and such, always looking down on everything and everyone not part of his little obsessions. But Henderson nurtured a growing respect for his seemingly selfless act, and it frightened him. Men like Fisher, if they had children, protected their offspring and passed on their genes even if it meant their own lives. Henderson abruptly stood upright. "Please play a Gregorian chant, Papa." Working music for serious undertakings. He walked across the biolab, his giant metal feet flattening the again plush ruglings, fish belly-crawling behind to remove the remains. He would have to engineer a sturdier variety of rugling to survive his bronze heel, but there were more important things to do first. He only had little over a year, and who knew how different and dangerous Earth might be upon return? His Henderson Colony lay deserted, even the tiny bones stripped for their elements, his lesson that an entire population could be wiped out by a stroke of fate. He opened the environmental hood. He let fall his fists with the chant, smashing the campus buildings into gravel. His colony fantasy was no longer the course for him, and he pulverized every bit of it with his own hands. Symbolic acts, he knew, were important to the human psyche. Then he sat down at his console. His chairbeast groaned in protest at his weight, the furniture not yet having the time or food to bulk up to the size required to accommodate his current form. Henderson accessed the archival codes for mobiles, female gender, bodyguard class. He would be as ready as possible for whatever the future held, and he would have someone available to make a sacrifice in his place. He was deathly afraid that the selflessness he admired in Fisher at this time might emerge one day in himself, and that would be a disaster he preferred not to risk. Yes, he would be ready. # Stearn danced down the hall toward Sylvia's cabin, his hips gyrating with Latin motion, his hands shifting from dramatic pose to dramatic pose. As he had requested, Samba music and the smell of leather accompanied him where ever he went now on the Karamojo, and today they accompanied him on his date with Sylvia. They had succeeded on this incredible mission, and it was time to kick back and celebrate! Stearn paused outside the portal to Sylvia's cabin to dance with a cleaning fish. He pointed at the undulating creature as he circled around, singing to it: "Yeah, yeah, yeah," words to a song he hadn't quite finished. When he spun back toward the portal, it was open. He stopped dead. Inside, Sylvia stood hands clasped centered in her room. She had redecorated again. Hundreds of burning candles pushed back the gloom, which somehow managed to cling to the high stone corners despite the constant attack. Framing Sylvia with a halo of reds and golds was a backlit stained glass window. Of Sylvia's dark, rich skin, there was none to be seen except her face; she had covered herself in black robes. Her dreads were likewise covered, by a black and white head piece that Stearn wasn't familiar with. Then he saw something that made sense of the frankincense and choral hymn that were interfering with his own atmospheric additions. He saw a silver cross around Sylvia's neck and recognition struck. There were a few remote corners of Earth and some colony worlds where such practices persisted. "Jesus Christ, Sylvia," Stearn said stepping slowing into the room, "You didn't go get religious on me did you?" He liked to believe that he wasn't a prude about anything, including religion. Many of the institutionalized religions characterized by crosses had fallen from popularity with the advent of biological immortality, and this before him smacked of institutions and the confining rules that came with them. Rules usually meant less fun. Sylvia shrugged. "I don't know what I've got. I've just started thinking some more about what it is I'm looking for." He moved closer, lifted his hands to her shoulders, and looked into her eyes as dark as night behind the reflections of candlelight. "There's really nothing to it. The universe is going to kill us in the end, no matter how hard we try to pretend we're immortal. And now that we’ve licked disease, that end will be violent and physical: explosions, murder, radiation. We've got to wrest every bit out of good living before we go. It's our sacred duty." Stearn abruptly let his hands slide down to her elbows and tugged Sylvia tight against his body. He kissed her hard. Initially she resisted, but very quickly relaxed and melted into him. After another passionate minute she did pull away, but not far. Their faces remained at an intimate distance. "Be serious for a moment," she said. "I've been so sure that the answers to my questions were somewhere out there, outside of me, and if I lived long enough and saw enough of the universe, someone would hand over the answer. That was naïve. I've got to look for my answers in here, too." She tapped her breastbone, annoyingly close to the cross and all the rules it implied. "That's a little high," Stearn said, taking her hand in his and moving it down and toward him. "There's plenty to explore down lower." Her serious face twisted into a lopsided grin. "We all seek answers in our own ways, don't we? Well, I can look there, too. I'm going to look everywhere." They kissed again, passionately. # The pounding waves began building...something...within Sylvia. She turned off her mind, or tried to. She was so used to monitoring every little detail, the order in which her muscles tightened, the smell of her own sweat, the rhythm of her breathing. It was her way of understanding the act. But she so rarely felt it anymore. There was a Mystery in there for her, perhaps, so this time she let go of the foundation of her mind and cast herself away into the waves. Her eyes flashed open, searching for nothing and seeing more than she had in years. There was a universe inside to explore. # The plush ruglings muffled the echo of Fang's boots as she walked into the Hall of Trophies. The renewed hall with its lines of heads greeted her with growls, hoots, roars, trumpets, and more. The last time she had passed this way, just days ago, the hall had been quiet and empty. Papa (she judged Henderson next to useless at this point) had to be pushing the biosystems hard to have already restored the beasts. The Karamojo once again held reserves. Fang slowed her steps, and wondered at the creatures for the first time in many months. She reached out to a rhinoceros and felt the rough, dry texture of its gray hide. The head grunted its programmed pleasure. She moved along, regarding each of the trophy heads in turn. They were a sad, beautiful bunch. Not real trophies, she realized now. They were more a monument to engineering than to courage. Fang caught her breath when she came to the male lion. Like the other endorphin-filled heads, he greeted her in his own way: a low, warm cough, then licked her proffered hand with his rough tongue and finally nuzzled her hand. Fang paid the lion's actions little heed. She focused instead upon the patchwork of pink scars across the nose and between the eyes, right where she had shot Stearn's lion. Was that you, she mused. This was the sort of thing that Papa would do. But a quick inspection of the other animals she had hunted while on board the Karamojo, buffalo, tiger, showed the equivalent trophy heads to be as pristine as the newborns they were. So why the lion? What had been different about Stearn's lion? Then she had it. The whole affair had been orchestrated, by Stearn to get her to unwind and perhaps even into bed (he would be foolish enough to try if given the chance), but Fisher had been involved too. He had likely planted the scenario for Stearn to find, directed him to select it somehow or be given it in response to a general request. The beaters and the lion...the nuclears and the dragons. The lion hadn't frightened her and she had shot it dead, effortlessly. How could Fisher have known that she was a crackshot when faced with mammalian eyes, that it was fathomless alien eyes that filled her soul with uncertainty and chaos? He couldn't have known; he hadn't spent enough time listening to her as wrapped up as he was with his dragon. Papa would have known all this, and been under restrictions about telling her outright without cause. So the scar on the lion showed that this trophy had really been shot, that it had signified something. Fang gave the lion a final pat on the nose and moved more briskly down the Hall of Trophies, her steps echoing along the long corridor. She paused again before the blue marlin hanging over the exit. The fish, like the lion, was not as it had been before. It was darker, yet glowed with a blue-green shimmer when she bent her head to catch the light in just the right way. And its shape was different, fat and bottom heavy -- the tail, yet tapered to a long sinuous point toward the head. Then the nature of this chimera became clear to her. It was a marlin-dragon amalgamation, and pregnant to boot. A dragon-fish trophy for her. Well, she deserved it, did she not? She reached out to touch the happy, writhing thing, but Papa spoke before she could. "Fisher is waking." She paused with her hand outstretched. She wasn't sure how to deal with Fisher, what he meant to her. What she meant to him. That he had survived was miraculous, a testament to his force of will as much as his redesigned body. He'd fully recover in days and then she'd have many months together with him on the trip back, and who knew what things would be like back on Earth when they returned. Perhaps they would be nothing but bugs to the half-millennium more advanced beings that they would find, and Fisher would be the last man in the galaxy for her. They might be stuck with each other forever. "I'm -- " She pulled her hand back, suddenly chilled. "I'm coming." She took a quick step from the hall and paused again. She took a long look at the full, bristling hall with all the heads doing their thing. Mindless, happy, and meaningless. Nothing to do with being a ship's captain at all she now realized. Nothing like ordering a crew member to his death, even if they'd gotten lucky and no one had died. She said, "Papa, could you dismantle the hall, please? Everything but the lion and the marlin. We've got an eternity to fill up the rest of the slots." "Of course, daughter. We shall make note of their short happy lives." # The portal to Fisher's cabin opened for Fang. Inside was pitch black. "Lights, dim," she whispered. Phosphorescent indirects rose slowly, like a tide. Fisher's cabin had been restored to the standard default for the Karamojo, a modern austerity: storage lockers and chests, chairbeast, tabletree, and bedbeast. There was the faint smell of ammonia. A lump lay on the bedbeast, recently moved from the biolab. As her eyes quickly adjusted, she saw that his healing was not yet finished; instead of arms and legs, umbilicals flowed from his shoulders and hips to the bedbeast below. It made Fisher appear to be some sort of rooted plant, maybe a potato whose eyes had sprouted. She drew near. Fisher, at least his torso, was restored to how he had appeared when he had boarded. No green glowing skin, no duplicity. He was as pink as a newborn, and sleeping nearly as peacefully. His jaw worked, chewing on unformed words, while his neck twisted, shaking his head from side to side. His eyes twitched beneath his eyelids, and he moaned. "We've been easing up on his sedation," Papa explained. "He should wake soon." Fang watched his fitful slumber and could only wonder at what kind of dreams he must be enduring. He had believed himself a dead man. He had seen the end of his beloved dragons. She then had a dark thought: perhaps he had intended to die? She shook that thought away. No. The dead don't struggle so, and he had struggled to reach the airlock, already weary and in pain, his systems falling apart, hemorrhaging. She could never believe that he would give up. It was not in Fisher's nature. She knew him that well at least. If she knew him at all. She reached down to touch him, letting her fingertips brush against his hairless chest. She almost pulled back at the touch; his skin blazed. The furious metabolic activity within him reassembling his organs and muscles generated significant waste heat. When Fisher was fully healed, there wouldn't be a single scar on his body despite how near a thing it had been, and somehow that seemed a shame. Their technology was too clean. Papa's namesake had been covered with scars from a lifetime of the injuries of war and hard living; a few scars on Fisher's body would be romantic, she thought. The umbilicals feeding him would thin and pinch off to leave toes and fingers. His fingerprints would differ, but that seemed a small price to pay. He could restore them later if he chose. He was alive, that was what mattered. But she had ordered that someone do the job -- the job had to be done. She was responsible. That was what it meant to be captain. She was surprised at the tears that suddenly splashed on Fisher's bare burning chest. She blinked quickly to prevent a recurrence. She was a captain again, in control, and such a display was unprofessional. Fisher's eyes flashed open. "I don't," he mumbled, swallowed, "I don't want your pity." His face twisted into an ugly snarl and he tried to spit at her, but only managed to cough a little and dribble on his own chin. "No pity." Taken aback, Fang pulled her hands close in and stood up straight. Frowning, she sniffed deeply to clear her head. "I'm not giving you any." Fisher blinked at her, an automatic movement that reminded her of the way gills spasmed in air. He rolled from side to side trying to move arms that were no longer there. He bent his head back and forth, finally lifting it for a few seconds to look down at himself. His head settled down into the bedbeast and he closed his eyes. "I survived," he said. "Yes," she agreed. He opened his eyes and looked at her steadily. "Must have been close. We're headed home?" "Back to Earth, anyway." "And we have the egg," he said, nodding. It appeared strange, this rooted torso nodding sagely at her. And he was calm, now, after a moment to orient himself. But she knew him too well to think him in shock, and Papa would have warned her if that was the case. He simply appeared...relaxed. Content even. Fisher's obsession had been sated -- she hoped. That he survived his roll of the dice this time was self-evident. "We have the egg," she agreed, not pushing him too fast. He had saved them all. She would treat him with respect. He deserved that much. "Thank you," he offered upon some reflection. "Thank you for bringing us success. You're a good captain. A hero." That she didn't expect. He was more a hero than she. How to say that in a way that let him understand, and not come off sounding melodramatic? Finally she stammered, "Doing what you have to do is duty, not heroism. But...you're welcome." She smiled at him. Without arms and legs, he smiled back. Damn it, she thought, it may not be love but he can be sweet when he tries. "Get some rest, Sam. That's an order." She bent over and her long hair, recently grown out, trailed over his neck and face. At the last second she let her kiss brush his lips instead of his forehead. # Miraculous, Fisher thought. Lena had a way of making him feel good (or, if she wished, bad!) no matter what the circumstances. He would make more of an effort this time with her, he promised himself. And Fisher was proud of himself for focusing on her so long when so many other questions burned. She deserved that much. The mission was a success; she had been a good captain, in the final analysis. It boded well for their future together, at least for the return voyage. Still, the moment the portal closed Fisher said, "Confess, Papa. You weren't just spinning a yarn to keep me alive while I was working on the alignment, were you? You really found something. Your fictional stories aren't usually as interesting as the whopper you told me." Please , he thought. "We found something." Images blossomed into existence on the ceiling above Fisher, the egg rotating in the magnetized plasma of its cage. "Watch." The point of view spiraled in as the egg grew to fill the ceiling and then spilled onto the walls, dizzily spinning like the flashing lights of a trendy club that Stearn might frequent. The shiny silver surface of the egg was not smooth. As the view continued to close and match the spin, topography manifested: regularly raised and depressed regions congregating in loops and whorls, like fingerprints. "This is visible light?" Fisher asked. "Effectively," said Papa, "Although we've enhanced the images you're seeing with some artificial shadows to bring out the relief." Fisher grunted. He wished he could pace. Closer and closer came the egg. The whorls spilled onto the walls, and the subfeatures grew into focus. Fisher blinked. Tiny pictures hung along the pattern like pearls on a necklace. Dragons alone, in packs, swimming with other creatures that were not dragons. And the dragons he saw differed in several respects from the disk dragons. These had what must be fins, which implied they were in a proper liquid rather than a rarefied plasma. Dragons mating like whales, a female with a male, and a second male to hold her in place in the neutral buoyancy. All sorts of dragon scenes. It reminded Fisher of an ancient Roman urn with images of daily life painted all around. More images followed, and he saw the things that had led Papa to his fantastic story: images of cylindrical visitors in bubbles, a map of a stellar system, maps of stars. Other images flashed by, and Fisher understood that the egg was more than a future life; it represented everything that had gone before as well. "The dragons are smart, but the form they hold now is completely constructed. And they didn't do it themselves," said Papa. "There's more." "More?" asked Fisher, afraid to blink lest he miss something. "This is just the surface relief. The egg holds coded information when viewed in at least four other ways. We're continuing to search every way we can imagine." "Why would they have done such a thing? It's too easy." "We can't say for sure, of course, unless that information is coded within the egg also. But we can guess, and we have a pretty good guess. They were proud of what they had done." "Proud?" Fisher let that notion roll around in his head, testing to see if it fit. "I don't know, Papa. That seems rather, well, human, doesn't it?" "Perhaps. But if we're right, they were like us, at least in some ways." Fisher felt as if he'd been struck between the eyes. Aliens, proud like humans would be. There was no reason there had to be any similarities. Well, he would have time to consider the ramifications later. He had other immediate concerns. "The dragon within...is it viable? Can we hatch it?" "Probably. We've found some sequences, instructions if you will, that appear to address that question. Makes sense, if you think about it. Gives the eggs a chance to hatch if they're intercepted by intelligent minds." Wave after wave of implication washed over Fisher then, setting his imagination adrift. But he had vowed that he would be in control of his obsessions, rather than the other way around. He reigned in his thoughts. Start from the ground up. The ground, in this case, was SS Cygni. There had been no dragonburst seen in SS Cygni in the seven hundred years that Earth astronomers had been watching, nor the extra two hundred and fifty years of their outbound journey. There had been no dragonbursts seen from any cataclysmic variables in that period, not just the known dwarf novae systems, in the semi-local galaxy. He would have to review the system archives concerning the ejecta from SS Cygni that they had ionized and shunted around them during their passage. There should be some way of identifying the remnants of a dragonburst from the debris of other events, and constructing a historical record of when the dragons had acted in their own defense. The nuclear beaters had surely set them off. Identifying historical dragonburst signatures would have immediate implications about how dense the galaxy was with overly curious technological species. At least the intrusive rabbit-grabbing ones like humans. They were not alone, but for some reason high-technology races hadn't already saturated this part of the Milky Way. Or if they had, now they were gone. Why was that? There were always more whys, and the current string was growing exponentially in his mind. Fisher took a deep breath and stretched his muscles against the restraining umbilicals. They would be hands again soon enough, and feet for pacing, and he would be able work properly. He said, "Okay, Papa. Have Henderson bring me some Forget-Me-Not, and then show me everything." "Are you sure that would be prudent?" Papa asked. Damn him, Fisher thought. But Papa's intervention gave him pause enough, and he recalled how Lena's lips had felt against his own, how that fleeting touch had unexpectedly thrilled him. How she deserved better. He had climbed a mountain. Was he ready to leave the summit already? "Belay that request," he amended. "There's time enough later, after I've rested. There's time enough for everything." Time enough to answer all the whys, and maybe even for love as well. Fisher smiled as he drifted off to dream of dragons and much, much more. Epilogue Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar. Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory, do we come From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy. -- William Wordsworth The Karamojo blazed like a comet, its tail pointing at SS Cygni, headed back toward a distant rendezvous with where Earth would be some two hundred and fifty hundred years hence. Incubating inside nestled the dragon egg, for the moment warmed by the filtered radiation of the fore singularity's accretion. The seeds of many arguments were immediately planted with its presence and how it would be accomodated on the voyage home, a Pandora’s box like that of every as-yet-unlived life -- only perhaps a little more so in this case. The information cascade began from Biolathe’s piled-up tightbeam, a half-millennium of updated mission directives, a millennium of data about the new old world that would be theirs again within a year, in fact a half-millennium of the history of an entire galactic civilization that was being born. Every moment of the return flight would be an adventure on the Karamojo. For the star dragons of SS Cygni, there also existed myriad adventures. Not all the dragons had ended their existence to drive the mass loss from the secondary. First there were the eggs. Not the same as the dragons that had spawned them, not exactly, but carrying their stories into the future. That future was short for half of them: lost at once in the fury of the dragonfire birth, incinerated despite their strong shell or propelled into the secondary with too high a velocity to survive. Of the remainder, half again would have an infinite but dark future, launched into trajectories out of the Galactic plane and into a halo too rarified to host enough suitable homes. Half again of the remainder would survive their fiery birth, fly into the dense spiral arms of the Milky Way, instinctually alter their courses using varying albedos and magnetic fields, and still slingshot past the only suitable star they would ever approach -- or smack into it too sharply and vanish forever in a puff of plasma. A tiny fraction would survive, somehow, incubating in a new star’s convective womb, awaiting the inexorable evolution that would spawn a new disk to inhabit. From that tiny fraction, somewhere, somewhen, disks would live again and host a civilization onward into the infinite future. An even tinier fraction of the dragon eggs was intercepted, kidnapped, studied, and probed by prying alien minds. The messages the redesigners had left revealed that they looked upon this as another course for survival for the dragon species, and a chance to show off their solution. The adventure of the surviving adults would continue, a culture of fire that still thrilled those born of water. Thousands of adult dragons remained in the atmosphere of the star, for some indeterminable time gasping like spent salmon at their spawning point. These had failed to detonate in the rhythm of the dragonburst but would not die like the upstream salmon; drifting with the sputter of the resumed mass transfer they would restart their society as the new accretion disk assembled itself. These dragons would remember the songs called out when the sacrifices had been made, and would remember the disruptive visit of this great white visitor. This threatening annoyance, and the annoyances before it, and the annoyances that would follow. And they would remember in new songs they would sing. And sing them they would now and forever, in some form, some place, some time. SS Cygni Vital Statistics Classification: Dwarf Nova Cataclysmic Variable Binary System Distance from Earth: 245 light years Primary: White Dwarf, 1.19 solar masses Secondary: K5V (main sequence), 0.70 solar masses Orbital Period: 6.60 hours Outburst Frequency: 50 days (variable) Outburst Duration: 15 days (variable) Orbital Inclination Relative to Earth: 40 degrees Disk Luminosity (Quiescence): 0.07 x solar Disk Luminosity (Outburst): 70 x solar Radius of Primary: 4000 km, or 0.6 Earth radii Radius of Secondary: 500,000 km, or 0.7 solar radii Primary/Secondary separation: 1.5 million km Outer disk radius: 500,000 km Disk Surface Area (two-sided): 1500 x Earth surface Discovered in 1896, SS Cygni is a cataclysmic variable star, the brightest of the dwarf nova class as seen from the Earth. Dwarf novae are close binaries consisting of a white dwarf primary (an evolved stellar remnant) accreting material via a thin disk fuelled from the secondary red dwarf star. Dwarf novae outbursts are thought to occur when the disk undergoes a thermal instability leading to higher temperatures, higher luminosity, and enhanced mass transfer. Such outbursts are not strictly periodic in either frequency or duration. SS Cygni was the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) "Variable Star of the Month" in June of 2000. The distance to SS Cygni is uncertain by as much as a factor of 2 -- as with many other quantities in astronomy. A recent parallax measurement made with the Hubble Space Telescope suggests a distance of some 550 light years. I have elected to use a smaller measurement in this novel. www.aavso.org/vstar/vsotm/0600.stm#dn

####- An Unexpected Party In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats - the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill - The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it - and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained-well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end. The mother of our particular hobbit … what is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be at in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (chiefly ####-green and yellow); wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it). Now you know enough to go on with. As I was saying, the mother of this hobbit - of Bilbo Baggins, that is - was the fabulous Belladonna Took, one of the three remarkable daughters of the Old Took, head of the hobbits who lived across The Water, the small river that ran at the foot of The Hill. It was often said (in other families) that long ago one of the Took ancestors must have taken a fairy wife. That was, of course, absurd, but certainly there was still something not entirely hobbit-like about them, - and once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures. They discreetly disappeared, and the family hushed it up; but the fact remained that the Tooks were not as respectable as the Bagginses, though they were undoubtedly richer. Not that Belladonna Took ever had any adventures after she became Mrs. Bungo Baggins. Bungo, that was Bilbo's father, built the most luxurious hobbit-hole for her (and partly with her money) that was to be found either under The Hill or over The Hill or across The Water, and there they remained to the end of their days. Still it is probable that Bilbo, her only son, although he looked and behaved exactly like a second edition of his solid and comfortable father, got something a bit queer in his makeup from the Took side, something that only waited for a chance to come out. The chance never arrived, until Bilbo Baggins was grown up, being about fifty years old or so, and living in the beautiful hobbit-hole built by his father, which I have just described for you, until he had in fact apparently settled down immovably. By some curious chance one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green, and the hobbits were still numerous and prosperous, and Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed) - Gandalf came by. Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him, and I have only heard very little of all there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort I of remarkable tale. Tales and adventures sprouted up all over the place wherever he went, in the most extraordinary fashion. He had not been down that way under The Hill for ages and ages, not since his friend the Old Took died, in fact, and the hobbits had almost forgotten what he looked like. He had been away over The Hill and across The Water on business of his own since they were all small hobbit-boys and hobbit-girls.####-All that the unsuspecting Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which a white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots. "Good morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat. "What do you mean?" be said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is morning to be good on?" "All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. If you have a pipe about you, sit down and have a fill of mine! There's no hurry, we have all the day before us!" Then Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door, crossed his legs, and blew out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that sailed up into the air without breaking and floated away over The Hill. "Very pretty!" said Gandalf. "But I have no time to blow smoke-rings this morning. I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone." «I should think so - in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty .disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them,» said our Mr. Baggins, and stuck one thumb behind his braces, and blew out another even bigger smoke-ring. Then he took out his morning letters, and begin to read, pretending to take no more notice of the old man. He had decided that he was not quite his sort, and wanted him to go away. But the old man did not move. He stood leaning on his stick and gazing at the hobbit without saying anything, till Bilbo got quite uncomfortable and even a little cross. "Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end. "What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off." "Not at all, not at all, my dear sir! Let me see, I don't think I know your name?" "Yes, yes, my dear sir - and I do know your name, Mr. Bilbo Baggins. And you do know my name, though you don't remember that I belong to it. I am ####-Gandalf, and Gandalf means me! To think that I should have lived to be good- morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I was selling buttons at the door!" "Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows' sons? Not the man that used to make such particularly excellent fireworks! I remember those! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve. Splendid! They used to go up like great lilies and snapdragons and laburnums of fire and hang in the twilight all evening!" You will notice already that Mr. Baggins was not quite so prosy as he liked to believe, also that he was very fond of flowers. "Dear me!" she went on. "Not the Gandalf who was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures. Anything from climbing trees to visiting Elves - or sailing in ships, sailing to other shores! Bless me, life used to be quite inter - I mean, you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time. I beg your pardon, but I had no idea you were still in business." "Where else should I be?" said the wizard. "All the same I am pleased to find you remember something about me. You seem to remember my fireworks kindly, at any rate, land that is not without hope. Indeed for your old grand-father Took's sake, and for the sake of poor Belladonna, I will give you what you asked for." "I beg your pardon, I haven't asked for anything!" "Yes, you have! Twice now. My pardon. I give it you. In fact I will go so far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you and profitable too, very likely, if you ever get over it." "Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea - any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Good-bye!" With that the hobbit turned and scuttled inside his round green door, and shut it as quickly as he dared, not to seen rude. Wizards after all are wizards. "What on earth did I ask him to tea for!" he said to him-self, as he went to the pantry. He had only just had break fast, but he thought a cake or two and a drink of something would do him good after his fright. Gandalf in the meantime was still standing outside the door, and laughing long but quietly. After a while he stepped up, and with the spike of his staff scratched a queer sign on the hobbit's beautiful green front-door. Then he strode away, just about the time when Bilbo ####-was finishing his second cake and beginning to think that he had escape adventures very well. The next day he had almost forgotten about Gandalf He did not remember things very well, unless he put them down on his Engagement Tablet: like this: Gandalf ’¥a Wednesday. Yesterday he had been too flustered to do anything of the kind. Just before tea-time there came a tremendous ring on the front-door bell, and then he remembered! He rushed and put on the kettle, and put out another cup and saucer and an extra cake or two, and ran to the door. "I am so sorry to keep you waiting!" he was going to say, when he saw that it was not Gandalf at all. It was a dwarf with a blue beard tucked into a golden belt, and very bright eyes under his dark-green hood. As soon a the door was opened, he pushed inside, just as if he had been expected. He hung his hooded cloak on the nearest peg, and "Dwalin at your service!" he said with a low bow. "Bilbo Baggins at yours!" said the hobbit, too surprised to ask any questions for the moment. When the silence that followed had become uncomfortable, he added: "I am just about to take tea; pray come and have some with me." A little stiff perhaps, but he meant it kindly. And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things up in your hall without a word of explanation? They had not been at table long, in fact they had hardly reached the third cake, when there came another even louder ring at the bell. "Excuse me!" said the hobbit, and off he went to the door. "So you have got here at last!" was what he was going to say to Gandalf this time. But it was not Gandalf. Instead there was a very old-looking dwarf on the step with a white beard and a scarlet hood; and he too hopped inside as soon as the door was open, just as if he had been invited. "I see they have begun to arrive already," he said when he caught sight of Dwalin's green hood hanging up. He hung his red one next to it, and "Balin at your service!" he said with his hand on his breast. "Thank you!" said Bilbo with a gasp. It was not the correct thing to say, but they have begun to arrive had flustered him badly. He liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to ask them himself. He had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short, and then he-as the host: he knew his duty and stuck to it however painful-he might have to go without. "Come along in, and have some tea!" he managed to say after taking a deep breath.####-"A little beer would suit me better, if it is all the same to you, my good sir," said Balin with the white beard. "But I don't mind some cake-seed-cake, if you have any." "Lots!" Bilbo found himself answering, to his own surprise; and he found himself scuttling off, too, to the cellar to fill a pint beer-mug, and to the pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel. When he got back Balin and Dwalin were talking at the table like old friends (as a matter of fact they were brothers). Bilbo plumped down the beer and the cake in front of them, when loud came a ring at the bell again, and then another ring. "Gandalf for certain this time," he thought as he puffed along the passage. But it was not. It was two more dwarves, both with blue hoods, silver belts, and yellow beards; and each of them carried a bag of tools and a spade. In they hopped, as soon as the door began to open-Bilbo was hardly surprised at all. "What can I do for you, my dwarves?" he said. "Kili at your service!" said the one. "And Fili!" added the other; and they both swept off their blue hoods and bowed. "At yours and your family's!" replied Bilbo, remembering his manners this time. "Dwalin and Balin here already, I see," said Kili. "Let us join the throng!" "Throng!" thought Mr. Baggins. "I don't like the sound of that. I really must sit down for a minute and collect my wits, and have a drink." He had only just had a sip-in the corner, while the four dwarves sat around the table, and talked about mines and gold and troubles with the goblins, and the depredations of dragons, and lots of other things which he did not understand, and did not want to, for they sounded much too adventurous-when, ding-dong-a-ling-' dang, his bell rang again, as if some naughty little hobbit-boy was trying to pull the handle off. "Someone at the door!" he said, blinking. "Some four, I should say by the sound," said Fili. "Be-sides, we saw them coming along behind us in the distance." The poor little hobbit sat down in the hall and put his head in his hands, and wondered what had happened, and what was going to happen, and whether they would all stay to supper. Then the bell rang again louder than ever, and he had to run to the door. It was not four after all, t was FIVE. Another dwarf had come along while he was wondering in the hall. He had hardly turned the knob, be-x)re they were all inside, bowing and saying "at your service" one after another. Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin were their names; and very soon two purple hoods, a ####-grey hood, a brown hood, and a white hood were hanging on the pegs, and off they marched with their broad hands stuck in their gold and silver belts to join the others. Already it had almost become a throng. Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was kept very busy for a while. A big jug of coffee bad just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came-a loud knock. Not a ring, but a hard rat-tat on the hobbit's beautiful green door. Somebody was banging with a stick! Bilbo rushed along the passage, very angry, and altogether bewildered and bewuthered-this was the most awkward Wednesday he ever remembered. He pulled open the door with a jerk, and they all fell in, one on top of the other. More dwarves, four more! And there was Gandalf behind, leaning on his staff and laughing. He had made quite a dent on the beautiful door; he had also, by the way, knocked out the secret mark that he had put there the morning before. "Carefully! Carefully!" he said. "It is not like you, Bilbo, to keep friends waiting on the mat, and then open the door like a pop-gun! Let me introduce Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and especially Thorin!" "At your service!" said Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur standing in a row. Then they hung up two yellow hoods and a pale green one; and also a sky-blue one with a long silver tassel. This last belonged to Thorin, an enormously important dwarf, in fact no other than the great Thorin Oakenshield himself, who was not at all pleased at falling flat on Bilbo's mat with Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur on top of him. For one thing Bombur was immensely fat and heavy. Thorin indeed was very haughty, and said nothing about service; but poor Mr. Baggins said he was sorry so many times, that at last he grunted "pray don't mention it," and stopped frowning. "Now we are all here!" said Gandalf, looking at the row of thirteen hoods-the best detachable party hoods-and his own hat hanging on the pegs. "Quite a merry gathering! I hope there is something left for the late-comers to eat and drink! What's that? Tea! No thank you! A little red wine, I think, for me." "And for me," said Thorin. "And raspberry jam and apple-tart," said Bifur. "And mince-pies and cheese," said Bofur. "And pork-pie and salad," said Bombur. "And more cakes-and ale-and coffee, if you don't mind," called the other dwarves through the door.####-"Put on a few eggs, there's a good fellow!" Gandalf called after him, as the hobbit stumped off to the pantries. "And just bring out the cold chicken and pickles!" "Seems to know as much about the inside of my larders as I do myself!" thought Mr. Baggins, who was feeling positively flummoxed, and was beginning to wonder whether a most wretched adventure had not come right into his house. By the time he had got all the bottles and dishes and knives and forks and glasses and plates and spoons and things piled up on big trays, he was getting very hot, and red in the face, and annoyed. "Confusticate and bebother these dwarves!" he said aloud. "Why don't they come and lend a hand?" Lo and behold! there stood Balin and Dwalin at the door of the kitchen, and Fili and Kili behind them, and before he could say knife they had whisked the trays and a couple of small tables into the parlour and set out everything afresh. Gandalf sat at the head of the party with the thirteen, dwarves all round: and Bilbo sat on a stool at the fireside, nibbling at a biscuit (his appetite was quite taken away), and trying to look as if this was all perfectly ordinary and. not in the least an adventure. The dwarves ate and ate, and talked and talked, and time got on. At last they pushed their chairs back, and Bilbo made a move to collect the plates and glasses. "I suppose you will all stay to supper?" he said in his politest unpressing tones. "Of course!" said Thorin. "And after. We shan't get through the business till late, and we must have some music first. Now to clear up!" Thereupon the twelve dwarves-not Thorin, he was too important, and stayed talking to Gandalf-jumped to their feet and made tall piles of all the things. Off they went, not waiting for trays, balancing columns of plates, each with a bottle on the top, with one hand, while the hobbit ran after them almost squeaking with fright: "please be careful!" and "please, don't trouble! I can manage." But the dwarves only started to sing: Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Blunt the knives and bend the forks! That's what Bilbo Baggins hates- Smash the bottles and burn the corks! Cut the cloth and tread on the fat! Pour the milk on the pantry floor! Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!####-Splash the wine on every door! Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl; Pound them up with a thumping pole; And when you've finished, if any are whole, Send them down the hall to roll ! That's what Bilbo Baggins hates! So, carefully! carefully with the plates! And of course they did none of these dreadful things, and everything was cleaned and put away safe as quick as lightning, while the hobbit was turning round and round in the middle of the kitchen trying to see what they were doing. Then they went back, and found Thorin with his feet on the fender smoking a pipe. He was blowing the most enormous smoke-rings, and wherever he told one to go, it went-up the chimney, or behind the clock on the man-telpiece, or under the table, or round and round the ceiling; but wherever it went it was not quick enough to escape Gandalf. Pop! he sent a smaller smoke-ring from his short clay- pipe straight through each one of Thorin's. The Gandalf's smoke-ring would go green and come back to hover over the wizard's head. He had quite a cloud of them about him already, and in the dim light it made him look strange and sorcerous. Bilbo stood still and watched-he loved smoke-rings-and then be blushed to think how proud he had been yesterday morning of the smoke-rings he had sent up the wind over The Hill. "Now for some music!" said Thorin. "Bring out the instruments!" Kili and Fili rushed for their bags and brought back little fiddles; Dori, Nori, and Ori brought out flutes from somewhere inside their coats; Bombur produced a drum from the hall; Bifur and Bofur went out too, and came back with clarinets that they had left among the walking-sticks Dwalin and Balin said: "Excuse me, I left mine in the porch!" "Just bring mine in with you," said Thorin. They came back with viols as big as themselves, and with Thorin’s harp wrapped in a green cloth. It was a beautiful gold-en harp, and when Thorin struck it the music began all at once, so sudden and sweet that Bilbo forgot everything else, and was swept away into dark lands under strange moons, far over The Water and very far from his hobbit-hole under The Hill. The dark came into the room from the little window that opened in the side of The Hill; the firelight flickered-it was April-and still they played on, while the shadow of Gandalf's beard wagged against the wall.####-The dark filled all the room, and the fire died down, and the shadows were lost, and still they played on. And suddenly first one and then another began to sing as they played, deep-throated singing of the dwarves in the deep places of their ancient homes; and this is like a fragment of their song, if it can be like their song without their music. Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away ere break of day To seek the pale enchanted gold. The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, While hammers fell like ringing bells In places deep, where dark things sleep, In hollow halls beneath the fells. For ancient king and elvish lord There many a gloaming golden hoard They shaped and wrought, and light they caught To hide in gems on hilt of sword. On silver necklaces they strung The flowering stars, on crowns they hung The dragon-fire, in twisted wire They meshed the light of moon and sun. Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away, ere break of day, To claim our long-forgotten gold. Goblets they carved there for themselves And harps of gold; where no man delves There lay they long, and many a song Was sung unheard by men or elves. The pines were roaring on the height, The winds were moaning in the night. The fire was red, it flaming spread; The trees like torches biased with light, The bells were ringing in the dale And men looked up with faces pale;####-The dragon's ire more fierce than fire Laid low their towers and houses frail. The mountain smoked beneath the moon; The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom. They fled their hall to dying -fall Beneath his feet, beneath the moon. Far over the misty mountains grim To dungeons deep and caverns dim We must away, ere break of day, To win our harps and gold from him! As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick. He looked out of the window. The stars were out in a dark sky above the trees. He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns. Suddenly in the wood beyond The Water a flame leapt up--probably somebody lighting a wood- fire-and he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quiet Hill and kindling it all to flames. He shuddered; and very quickly he was plain Mr. Baggins of Bag- End, Under-Hill, again. He got up trembling. He had less than half a mind to fetch the lamp, and more than half a mind to pretend to, and go and hide behind the beer barrels in the cellar, and not come out again until all the dwarves had gone away. Suddenly he found that the music and the singing had stopped, and they were all looking at him with eyes shining in the dark. "Where are you going?" said Thorin, in a tone that seemed to show that he guessed both halves of the hobbit's mind. "What about a little light?" said Bilbo apologetically. "We like the dark," said the dwarves. "Dark for dark business! There are many hours before dawn." "Of course!" said Bilbo, and sat down in a hurry. He missed the stool and sat in the fender, knocking over the poker and shovel with a crash. "Hush!" said Gandalf. "Let Thorin speak!" And this is bow Thorin began. "Gandalf, dwarves and Mr. Baggins! We are not together in the house of our friend and fellow conspirator, this most excellent and audacious hobbit-may the ####-hair on his toes never fall out! all praise to his wine and ale!-" He paused for breath and for a polite remark from the hob-bit, but the compliments were quite lost on-poor Bilbo Baggins, who was wagging his mouth in protest at being called audacious and worst of all fellow conspirator, though no noise came out, he was so flummoxed. So Thorin went on: "We are met to discuss our plans, our ways, means, policy and devices. We shall soon before the break of day start on our long journey, a journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us (except our friend and counsellor, the ingenious wizard Gandalf) may never return. It is a solemn moment. Our object is, I take it, well known to us all. To the estimable Mr. Baggins, and perhaps to one or two of the younger dwarves (I think I should be right in naming Kili and Fili, for instance), the exact situation at the moment may require a little brief explanation-" This was Thorin's style. He was an important dwarf. If he had been allowed, he would probably have gone on like this until he was out of breath, without telling any one there 'anything that was not known already. But he was rudely interrupted. Poor Bilbo couldn't bear it any longer. At may never return he began to feel a shriek coming up inside, and very soon it burst out like the whistle of an engine coming out of a tunnel. All the dwarves sprang Bp knocking over the table. Gandalf struck a blue light on the end of his magic staff, and in its firework glare the poor little hobbit could be seen kneeling on the hearth-rug, shaking like a jelly that was melting. Then he fell flat on the floor, and kept on calling out "struck by lightning, struck by lightning!" over and over again; and that was all they could get out of him for a long time. So they took him and laid him out of the way on the drawing-room sofa with a drink at his elbow, and they went back to their dark business. "Excitable little fellow," said Gandalf, as they sat down again. "Gets funny queer fits, but he is one of the best, one of the best-as fierce as a dragon in a pinch." If you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch, you will realize that this was only poetical exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even to Old Took's great-granduncle Bullroarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and knocked their king Gol-firnbul's head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment. In the meanwhile, however, Bullroarer's gentler descendant was reviving in the drawing-room. After a while and a drink he crept nervously to the door of the ####-parlour. This is what he heard, Gloin speaking: "Humph!" (or some snort more or less like that). "Will he do, do you think? It is all very well for Gandalf to talk about this hobbit being fierce, but one shriek like that in a moment of excitement would be enough to wake the dragon and all his relatives, and kill the lot of us. I think it sounded more like fright than excitement! In fact, if it bad not been for the sign on the door, I should have been sure we had come to the wrong house. As soon as I clapped eyes on the little fellow bobbing and puffing on the mat, I had my doubts. He looks more like a grocer-than a burglar!" Then Mr. Baggins turned the handle and went in. The Took side had won. He suddenly felt he would go without bed and breakfast to be thought fierce. As for little fellow bobbing on the mat it almost made him really fierce. Many a time afterwards the Baggins part regretted what he did now, and he said to himself: "Bilbo, you were a fool; you walked right in and put your foot in it." "Pardon me," he said, "if I have overheard words that you were saying. I don't pretend to understand what you are talking about, or your reference to burglars, but I think I am right in believing" (this is what he called being on his dignity) "that you think I am no good. I will show you. I have no signs on my door-it was painted a week ago-, and I am quite sure you have come to the wrong house. As soon as I saw your funny faces on the door-step, I had my doubts. But treat it as the right one. Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert. I bad a great-great-great-granduncle once, Bullroarer Took, and —" "Yes, yes, but that was long ago," said Gloin. "I was talking about you. And I assure you there is a mark on this door-the usual one in the trade, or used to be. Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward, that's how it is usually read. You can say Expert Treasure-hunter instead of Burglar if you like. Some of them do. It's all the same to us. Gandalf told us that there was a man of the sort in these parts looking for a Job at once, and that he had arranged for a meeting here this Wednesday tea-time." "Of course there is a mark," said Gandalf. "I put it there myself. For very good reasons. You asked me to find the fourteenth man for your expedition, and I chose Mr. Baggins. Just let any one say I chose the wrong man or the wrong house, and you can stop at thirteen and have all the bad luck you like, or go back to digging coal." He scowled so angrily at Gloin that the dwarf huddled back in his chair; and when Bilbo tried to open his mouth to ask a question, he turned and frowned at him and stuck oat his bushy eyebrows, till Bilbo shut his mouth tight with a snap.####-"That's right," said Gandalf. "Let's have no more argument. I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to !6te enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. You may (possibly) all live to thank me yet. Now Bilbo, my boy, fetch the lamp, and let's have little light on this!" On the table in the light of a big lamp with a red shad he spread a piece of parchment rather like a map. "This was made by Thror, your grandfather, Thorin, he said in answer to the dwarves' excited questions. "It is a plan of the Mountain." "I don't see that this will help us much," said Thorin disappointedly after a glance. "I remember the Mountain well enough and the lands about it. And I know where Mirkwood is, and the Withered Heath where the great dragons bred." "There is a dragon marked in red on the Mountain, said Balin, "but it will be easy enough to find him without that, if ever we arrive there." "There is one point that you haven't noticed," said the wizard, "and that is the secret entrance. You see that rune on the West side, and the hand pointing to it from the other runes?** That marks a hidden passage to the Lower Halls. "It may have been secret once," said Thorin, "but how do we know that it is secret any longer? Old Smaug had lived there long enough now to find out anything there is to know about those caves." "He may-but he can't have used it for years and years. "Why?" "Because it is too small. 'Five feet high the door and three may walk abreast' say the runes, but Smaug could not creep into a hole that size, not even when he was a young dragon, certainly not after devouring so many of the dwarves and men of Dale." "It seems a great big hole to me," squeaked Bilbo (who had no experience of dragons and only of hobbit-holes) He was getting excited and interested again, so that he forgot to keep his mouth shut. He loved maps, and in his hall there hung a large one of the Country Round with all his favourite walks marked on it in red ink. "How could such a large door be kept secret from everybody outside, apart from the dragon?" he asked. He was only a little hobbit you must remember. "In lots of ways," said Gandalf. "But in what way this one has been hidden we don't know without going to see. From what it says on the map I should guess there is a closed door which has been made to look exactly like the side of the ** Look at the maps with this book, and you will see the runes there.####-Mountain. That is the usual dwarves' method- I think that is right, isn't it?" "Quite right," said Thorin. "Also," went on Gandalf, "I forgot to mention that with the map went a key, a small and curious key. Here it is!" he said, and handed to Thorin a key with a long barrel and intricate wards, made of silver. "Keep it safe!" "Indeed I will," said Thorin, and he fastened it upon a fine chain that hung about his neck and under his jacket. "Now things begin to look more hopeful. This news alters them much for-the better. So far we have had no clear idea what to do. We thought of going East, as quiet and careful as we could, as far as the Long Lake. After that the trouble would begin." "A long time before that, if I know anything about the loads East," interrupted Gandalf. "We might go from there up along the River Running," went on Thorin taking no notice, "and so to the ruins of Dale-the old town in the valley there, under the shadow of the Mountain. But we none of us liked the idea of the Front Gate. The river runs right out of it through the great cliff at the South of the Mountain, and out of it comes the dragon too-far too often, unless he has changed." "That would be no good," said the wizard, "not without a mighty Warrior, even a Hero. I tried to find one; but warriors are busy fighting one another in distant lands, and in this neighbourhood heroes are scarce, or simply lot to be found. Swords in these parts are mostly blunt, and axes are used for trees, and shields as cradles or dish-covers; and dragons are comfortably far-off (and therefore legendary). That is why I settled on burglary-especially when I remembered the existence of a Side-door. And here is our little Bilbo Baggins, the burglar, the chosen and selected burglar. So now let's get on and make some plans." "Very well then," said Thorin, "supposing the burglar-expert gives us some ideas or suggestions." He turned with mock-politeness to Bilbo. "First I should like to know a bit more about things," said he, feeling all confused and a bit shaky inside, but so far still lookishly determined to go on with things. "I mean about the gold and the dragon, and all that, and how it got there, and who it belongs to, and so on and further." "Bless me!" said Thorin, "haven't you got a map? and didn't you hear our song? and haven't we been talking about all this for hours?" "All the same, I should like it all plain and clear," said he obstinately, putting on his business manner (usually reserved for people who tried to borrow money off him), and doing his best to appear wise and prudent and professional and live ####-up to Gandalf's recommendation. "Also I should like to know about risks, out-of- pocket expenses, time required and remuneration, and so forth"-by which he meant: "What am I going to get out of it? and am I going to come back alive?" "O very well," said Thorin. "Long ago in my grandfather Thror's time our family was driven out of the far North, and came back with all their wealth and their tools to this Mountain on the map. It had been discovered by my far ancestor, Thrain the Old, but now they mined and they tunnelled and they made huger halls and greater workshops -and in addition I believe they found a good deal of gold and a great many jewels too. Anyway they grew immensely rich and famous, and my grandfather was King under the Mountain again and treated with great reverence by the mortal men, who lived to the South, and were gradually spreading up the Running River as far as the valley overshadowed by the Mountain. They built the merry town of Dale there in those days. Kings used to send for our smiths, and reward even the least skilful most richly. Fathers would beg us to take their sons as apprentices, and pay us handsomely, especially in food-supplies, which we never bothered to grow or find for ourselves. Altogether those were good days for us, and the poorest of us had money to spend and to lend, and leisure to make beautiful things just for the. fun of it, not to speak of the most marvellous and magical toys, the like of which is not to be found in the world now-a-days. So my grandfather's halls became full of armour and jewels and carvings and cups, and the toy-market of Dale was the wonder of the North. "Undoubtedly that was what brought the dragon. Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves, wherever they can find them; and they guard their plunder as long as they live (which is practically forever, unless they are killed), and never enjoy a brass ring of it. Indeed they hardly know a good bit of work from a bad, though they usually have a good notion of the current market value; and they can't make a thing for themselves, not even mend a little loose scale of their armour. There were lots of dragons in the North in those days, and gold was probably getting scarce up there, with the dwarves flying south or getting killed, and all the general waste and destruction that dragons make going from bad to worse. There was a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm called Smaug. One day he flew up into the air and came south. The first we heard of it was a noise like a hurricane coming from the North, and the pine-trees on the Mountain creaking and cracking in the wind. Some of the dwarves who happened to be outside (I was one luckily -a fine adventurous lad in those days, always wandering about, and it saved my life that day)-well, from a good way off we saw the dragon settle on our mountain in a spout of flame. Then he came down ####-the slopes and when he reached the woods they all went up in fire. By that time all the bells were ringing in Dale and the warriors were arming. The dwarves rushed out of their great gate; but there was the dragon waiting for them. None escaped that way. The river rushed up in steam and a fog fell on Dale, and in the fog the dragon came on them and destroyed most of the warriors-the usual unhappy story, it was only too common in those days. Then he went back and crept in through the Front Gate and routed out all the halls, and lanes, and tunnels, alleys, cellars, mansions and passages. After that there were no dwarves left alive inside, and he took all their wealth for himself. Probably, for that is the dragons' way, he has piled it all up in a great heap far inside, and sleeps on it for a bed. Later he used to crawl out of the great gate and come by night to Dale, and carry away people, especially maidens, to eat, until Dale was ruined, and all the people dead or gone. What goes on there now I don't know for certain, but I don't suppose anyone lives nearer to the Mountain than the far edge of the Long Lake now-a-days. "The few of us that were well outside sat and wept in hiding, and cursed Smaug; and there we were unexpectedly joined by my father and my grandfather with singed beards. They looked very grim but they said very little. When I asked how they had got away, they told me to hold my tongue, and said that one day in the proper time I should know. After that we went away, and we have had to earn our livings as best we could up and down the lands, often enough sinking as low as blacksmith-work or even coalmining. But we have never forgotten our stolen treasure. And even now, when I will allow we have a good bit laid by and are not so badly off"-here Thorin stroked the gold chain round his neck-"we still mean to get it back, and to bring our curses home to Smaug-if we can. "I have often wondered about my father's and my grandfather's escape. I see now they must have had a private Side-door which only they knew about. But apparently they made a map, and I should like to know how Gandalf got hold of it, and why it did not come down to me, the rightful heir." "I did not 'get hold of it,' I was given it," said the wizard. "Your grandfather Thror was killed, you remember, in the mines of Moria by Azog the Goblin —" "Curse his name, yes," said Thorin. "And Thrain your father went away on the twenty-first of April, a hundred years ago last Thursday, and has never been seen by you since—" "True, true," said Thorin. "Well, your father gave me this to give to you; and if I have chosen my own time and way of handing it over, you can hardly blame me, considering the trouble ####-I had to find you. Your father could not remember his own name when he gave me the paper, and he never told me yours; so on the whole I think I ought to be praised and thanked. Here it is," said he handing the map to Thorin. "I don't understand," said Thorin, and Bilbo felt he would have liked to say the same. The explanation did not seem to explain. "Your grandfather," said the wizard slowly and grimly, "gave the map to his son for safety before he went to the mines of Moria. Your father went away to try his luck with the map after your grandfather was killed; and lots of adventures of a most unpleasant sort he had, but he never got near the Mountain. How he got there I don't know, but I found him a prisoner in the dungeons of the Necromancer." "Whatever were you doing there?" asked Thorin with a shudder, and all the dwarves shivered. "Never you mind. I was finding things out, as usual; and a nasty dangerous business it was. Even I, Gandalf, only just escaped. I tried to save your father, but it was too late. He was witless and wandering, and had forgotten almost everything except the map and the key." "We have long ago paid the goblins of Moria," said Thorin; "we must give a thought to the Necromancer." "Don't be absurd! He is an enemy quite beyond the powers of all the dwarves put together, if they could all be collected again from the four corners of the world. The one thing your father wished was for his son to read the map and use the key. The dragon and the Mountain are more than big enough tasks for you!" "Hear, hear!" said Bilbo, and accidentally said it aloud, "Hear what?" they all said turning suddenly towards him, and he was so flustered that he answered "Hear what I have got to say!" "What's that?" they asked. "Well, I should say that you ought to go East and have a look round. After all there is the Side-door, and dragons must sleep sometimes, I suppose. If you sit on the doorstep long enough, I daresay you will think of something. And well, don't you know, I think we have talked long enough for one night, if you see what I mean. What about bed, and an early start, and all that? I will give you a good breakfast before you go." "Before we go, I suppose you mean," said Thorin. "Aren't you the burglar? And isn't sitting on the door-step your job, not to speak of getting inside the door? But I agree about bed and breakfast. I like eggs with my ham, when starting on a journey: fried not poached, and mind you don't break 'em." After all the others had ordered their breakfasts without so much as a please (which annoyed Bilbo very much), they all got up. The hobbit had to find room ####-for them all, and filled all his spare-rooms and made beds on chairs and sofas, before he got them all stowed and went to his own little bed very tired and not altogether happy. One thing he did make his mind up about was not to bother to get up very early and cook everybody else's wretched breakfast. The Tookishness was wearing off, and he was not now quite so sure that he was going on any journey in the morning. As he lay in bed he could hear Thorin still humming to himself in the best bedroom next to him: Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away, ere break of day, To find our long-forgotten gold. Bilbo went to sleep with that in his ears, and it gave him very uncomfortable dreams. It was long after the break of day, when he woke up.####-
Roast Mutton
Up jumped Bilbo, and putting on his dressing-gown went into the dining-room. There he saw nobody, but all the signs of a large and hurried breakfast. There was a fearful mess in the room, and piles of unwashed crocks in the kitchen. Nearly every pot and pan he possessed seemed to have been used. The washing-up was so dismally real that Bilbo was forced to believe the party of the night before had not been part of his bad dreams, as he had rather hoped. Indeed he was really relieved after all to think that they had all gone without him, and without bothering to wake him up ("but with never a thank-you" he thought); and yet in a way he could not help feeling just a trifle disappointed. The feeling surprised him. "Don't be a fool, Bilbo Baggins!" he said to himself, "thinking of dragons and all that outlandish nonsense at your age!" So be put on an apron, lit fires, boiled water, and washed up. Then he had a nice little breakfast in the kitchen before turning out the dining-room. By that time the sun was shining; and the front door was open, letting in a warm spring breeze. Bilbo began to whistle loudly and to forget about the night before. In fact he was just sitting down to a nice little second breakfast in the dining-room by the open window, when in walked Gandalf. "My dear fellow," said he, "whenever are you going to come? What about an early start?-and here you are having breakfast, or whatever you call it, at half past ten! They left you the message, because they could not wait." "What message?" said poor Mr. Baggins all in a fluster. "Great Elephants!" said Gandalf, "you are not at all yourself this morning-you have never dusted the mantel- piece!" "What's that got to do with it? I have had enough to do with washing up for fourteen!" "If you had dusted the mantelpiece you would have found this just under the clock," said Gandalf, handing Bilbo a note (written, of course, on his own note- paper). This is what he read: "Thorin and Company to Burglar Bilbo greeting! For your hospitality our sincerest thanks, and for your offer of professional assistance our grateful acceptance. Terms: cash on delivery, up to and not exceeding one fourteenth of total profits (if any); all traveling ####-expenses guaranteed in any event; funeral expenses to be defrayed by us or our representatives, if occasion arises and the matter is not otherwise arranged for. "Thinking it unnecessary to disturb your esteemed repose, we have proceeded in advance to make requisite preparations, and shall await your respected person at the Green Dragon Inn, Bywater, at II a.m. sharp. Trusting that you will be punctual."We have the honour to remain "Yours deeply "Thorin& Co." "That leaves you just ten minutes. You will have to run," said Gandalf. "But—" said Bilbo. "No time for it," said the wizard. "But—"said Bilbo again. "No time for that either! Off you go!" To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, walking-stick or say money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf's hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a whole mile or more. Very puffed he was, when he got to Bywater just on the stroke of eleven, and found he had come without a pocket- handkerchief! "Bravo!" said Balin who was standing at the inn door looking out for him. Just then all the others came round the corner of the road from the village. They were on ponies, and each pony was slung about with all kinds of baggages, packages, parcels, and paraphernalia. There was a very small pony, apparently for Bilbo. "Up you two get, and off we go!" said Thorin. "I'm awfully sorry," said Bilbo, "but I have come without my hat, and I have left my pocket-handkerchief behind, and I haven't got any money. I didn't get your note until after 10.45 to be precise." "Don't be precise," said Dwalin, "and don't worry! You will have to manage without pocket-handkerchiefs, and a good many other things, before you get to the journey's end. As for a hat, I have got a spare hood and cloak in my luggage."####-That's how they all came to start, jogging off from the inn one fine morning just before May, on laden ponies; and Bilbo was wearing a dark-green hood (a little weather-stained) and a dark-green cloak borrowed from Dwalin. They were too large for him, and he looked rather comic. What his father Bungo would have thought of him, I daren't think. His only comfort was he couldn't be mistaken for a dwarf, as he had no beard. They had not been riding very long when up came Gandalf very splendid on a white horse. He had brought a lot of pocket-handkerchiefs, and Bilbo's pipe and tobacco. So after that the party went along very merrily, and they told stories or sang songs as they rode forward all day, except of course when they stopped for meals. These didn't come quite as often as Bilbo would have liked them, but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all. At first they had passed through hobbit-lands, a wild respectable country inhabited by decent folk, with good roads, an inn or two, and now and then a dwarf or a farmer ambling by on business. Then they came to lands where people spoke strangely, and sang songs Bilbo had never heard before. Now they had gone on far into the Lone-lands, where there were no people left, no inns, and the roads grew steadily worse. Not far ahead were dreary hills, rising higher and higher, dark with trees. On some of them were old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people. Everything seemed gloomy, for the weather that day had taken a nasty turn. Mostly it had been as good as May can be, even in merry tales, but now it was cold and wet. In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could, but at least it had been dry. "To think it will soon be June," grumbled Bilbo as he splashed along behind the others in a very muddy track. It was after tea-time; it was pouring with rain, and had been all day; his hood was dripping into his eyes, his cloak was full of water; the pony was tired and stumbled on stones; the others were too grumpy to talk. "And I'm sure the rain has got into the dry clothes and into the food-bags," thought Bilbo. "Bother burgling and everything to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!" It was not the last time that he wished that! Still the dwarves jogged on, never turning round or taking any notice of the hobbit. Somewhere behind the grey clouds the sun must have gone down, for it began to get dark. Wind got up, and the willows along the river-bank bent and sighed. I don't know what river it was, a rushing red one, swollen with the rains of the last few days, that came down from the hills and mountains in front of them. Soon it was nearly dark. The winds broke up the grey clouds, and a waning moon appeared above the hills between the flying rags. Then they stopped, and Thorin ####-muttered something about supper, "and where shall we get a dry patch to sleep on?" Not until then did they notice that Gandalf was missing. So far he had come all the way with them, never saying if he was in the adventure or merely keeping them company for a while. He had eaten most, talked most, and laughed most. But now he simply was not there at all! "Just when a wizard would have been most useful, too," groaned Dori and Nori (who shared the hobbit's views about regular meals, plenty and often). They decided in the end that they would have to camp where they were. So far they had not camped before on this journey, and though they knew that they soon would have to camp regularly, when they were among the Misty Mountains and far from the lands of respectable people, it seemed a bad wet evening to begin, on. They moved to a clump of trees, and though it was drier under them, the wind shook the rain off the leaves, and the drip, drip, was most annoying. Also the mischief seemed to have got into the fire. Dwarves can make a fire almost anywhere out of almost anything, wind or no wind; but they could not do it that night, not even Oin and Gloin, who were specially good at it. Then one of the ponies took fright at nothing and bolted. He got into the river before they could catch him; and before they could get him out again, Fili and Kili were nearly drowned, and all the baggage that he carried was washed away off him. Of course it was mostly food, and there was mighty little left for supper, and less for breakfast. There they all sat glum and wet and muttering, while Oin and Gloin went on trying to light the fire, and quarrelling about it. Bilbo was sadly reflecting that adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine, when Balin, who was always their look-out man, said: "There's a light over there!" There was a hill some way off with trees on it, pretty thick in parts. Out of the dark mass of the trees they could now see a light shining, a reddish comfortable-looking light, as it might be a fire or torches twinkling. When they had looked at it for some while, they fell to arguing. Some said "no" and some said "yes." Some said they could but go and see, and anything was better than little supper, less breakfast, and wet clothes all the night. Others said: "These parts are none too well known, and are too near the mountains. Travellers seldom come this way now. The old maps are no use: things have changed for the worse and the road is unguarded. They have seldom even heard of the king round here, and the less inquisitive you are as you go along, the less trouble you are likely to find." Some said: "After all there are fourteen of us." Others said: "Where has Gandalf got to?" This remark was repeated by everybody. Then the rain began to pour down worse than ever, and Oin and Gloin began to fight. That settled it. "After all we have got a burglar with ####-us," they said; and so they made off, leading their ponies (with all due and proper caution) in the direction of the light. They came to the hill and were soon in the wood. Up the hill they went; but there was no proper path to be seen, such as might lead to a house or a farm; and do what they could they made a deal of rustling and crackling and creaking (and a good deal of grumbling and drafting), as they went through the trees in the pitch dark. Suddenly the red light shone out very bright through the tree-trunks not far ahead. "Now it is the burglar's turn," they said, meaning Bilbo. "You must go on and find out all about that light, and what it is for, and if all is perfectly safe and canny," said Thorin to the hobbit. "Now scuttle off, and come back quick, if all is well. If not, come back if you can! It you can't, hoot twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl, and we will do what we can." Off Bilbo had to go, before he could explain that he could not hoot even once like any kind of owl any more than fly like a bat. But at any rate hobbits can move quietly in woods, absolutely quietly. They take a pride in it, and Bilbo had sniffed more than once at what he called "all this dwarvish racket," as they went along, though I don't sup-pose you or I would notice anything at all on a windy night, not if the whole cavalcade had passed two feet off. As for Bilbo walking primly towards the red light, I don't suppose even a weasel would have stirred a whisker at it. So, naturally, he got right up to the fire-for fire it was without disturbing anyone. And this is what he saw. Three very large persons sitting round a very large fire of beech-logs. They were toasting mutton on long spits of wood, and licking the gravy off their fingers. There was a fine toothsome smell. Also there was a barrel of good drink at hand, and they were drinking out of jugs. But they were trolls. Obviously trolls. Even Bilbo, in spite of his sheltered life, could see that: from the great heavy faces of them, and their size, and the shape of their legs, not to mention their language, which was not drawing-room fashion at all, at all. "Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrer," said one of the trolls. "Never a blinking bit of manflesh have we had for long enough," said a second. "What the 'ell William was a-thinkin' of to bring us into these parts at all, beats me - and the drink runnin' short, what's more," he said jogging the elbow of William, who was taking a pull at his jug. William choked. "Shut yer mouth!" he said as soon as he could. "Yer can't expect folk to stop here for ever just to be et by you and Bert. You've et a village and a half between yer, since we come down from the mountains. How much more ####-d'yer want? And time's been up our way, when yer'd have said 'thank yer Bill' for a nice bit o' fat valley mutton like what this is." He took a big bite off a sheep's leg he was toasting, and wiped his lips on his sleeve. Yes, I am afraid trolls do behave like that, even those with only one head each. After hearing all this Bilbo ought to have done something at once. Either he should have gone back quietly and warned his friends that there were three fair- sized trolls at hand in a nasty mood, quite likely to try toasted dwarf, or even pony, for a change; or else he should have done a bit of good quick burgling. A really first-class and legendary burglar would at this point have picked the trolls' pockets-it is nearly always worthwhile if you can manage it-, pinched the very mutton off the spite, purloined the beer, and walked off without their noticing him. Others more practical but with less professional pride would perhaps have stuck a dagger into each of them before they observed it. Then the night could have been spent cheerily. Bilbo knew it. He had read of a good many things he had never seen or done. He was very much alarmed, as well as disgusted; he wished himself a hundred miles away, and yet-and yet somehow he could not go straight back to Thorin and Company empty-handed. So he stood and hesitated in the shadows. Of the various burglarious proceedings he had heard of picking the trolls' pockets seemed the least difficult, so at last he crept behind a tree just behind William. Bert and Tom went off to the barrel. William was having another drink. Then Bilbo plucked up courage and put his little hand in William's enormous pocket. There was a purse in it, as big as a bag to Bilbo. "Ha!" thought he warming to his new work as he lifted it carefully out, "this is a beginning!" It was! Trolls' purses are the mischief, and this was no exception. " 'Ere, 'oo are you?" it squeaked, as it left the pocket; and William turned round at once and grabbed Bilbo by the neck, before he could duck behind the tree. "Blimey, Bert, look what I've copped!" said William. "What is it?" said the others coming up. "Lumme, if I knows! What are yer?" "Bilbo Baggins, a bur— a hobbit," said poor Bilbo, shaking all over, and wondering how to make owl-noises before they throttled him. "A burrahobbit?" said they a bit startled. Trolls are slow in the uptake, and mighty suspicious about anything new to them. "What's a burrahobbit got to do with my pocket, anyways?" said William. "And can yer cook 'em?" said Tom. "Yer can try," said Bert, picking up a skewer.####-"He wouldn't make above a mouthful," said William, who had already had a fine supper, "not when he was skinned and boned." "P'raps there are more like him round about, and we might make a pie," said Bert. "Here you, are there any more of your sort a-sneakin' in these here woods, yer nassty little rabbit," said he looking at the hobbit's furry feet; and he picked him up by the toes and shook him. "Yes, lots," said Bilbo, before he remembered not to give his friends away. "No, none at all, not one," he said immediately afterwards. "What d'yer mean?" said Bert, holding him right away up, by the hair this time. "What I say," said Bilbo gasping. "And please don't cook me, kind sirs! I am a good cook myself, and cook bet-ter than I cook, if you see what I mean. I'll cook beautifully for you, a perfectly beautiful breakfast for you, if only you won't have me for supper." "Poor little blighter," said William. He had already had as much supper as he could hold; also he had had lots of beer. "Poor little blighter! Let him go!" "Not till he says what he means by lots and none at all," said Bert. "I don't want to have me throat cut in me sleep. Hold his toes in the fire, till he talks!" "I won't have it," said William. "I caught him anyway." "You're a fat fool, William," said Bert, "as I've said afore this evening." "And you're a lout!" "And I won't take that from you. Bill Huggins," says Bert, and puts his fist in William's eye. Then there was a gorgeous row. Bilbo had just enough wits left, when Bert dropped him on the ground, to scramble out of the way of their feet, before they were fighting like dogs, and calling one another all sorts of perfectly true and applicable names in very loud voices. Soon they were locked in one another's arms, and rolling nearly into the fire kicking and thumping, while Tom whacked at then both with a branch to bring them to their senses-and that of course only made them madder than ever. That would have been the time for Bilbo to have left. But his poor little feet had been very squashed in Bert's big paw, and he had no breath in his body, and his head was going round; so there he lay for a while panting, just outside the circle of firelight. Right in the middle of the fight up came Balin. The dwarves had heard noises from a distance, and after wait-ing for some time for Bilbo to come back, or to hoot like an owl, they started off one by one to creep towards the light as quietly as they could. No sooner did Tom see Balin come into the light than he gave an ####-awful howl. Trolls simply detest the very sight of dwarves (uncooked). Bert and Bill stopped fighting immediately, and "a sack, Tom, quick!" they said, before Balin, who was wondering where in all this commotion Bilbo was, knew what was happening, a sack was over his head, and he was down. "There's more to come yet," said Tom, "or I'm mighty mistook. Lots and none at all, it is," said he. "No burra- hobbits, but lots of these here dwarves. That's about the shape of it!" "I reckon you 're right," said Bert, "and we'd best get out of the light." And so they did. With sacks in their hands, that they used for carrying off mutton and other plunder, they waited in the shadows. As each dwarf came up and looked at the fire, and the spilled jugs, and the gnawed mutton, in surprise, pop! went a nasty smelly sack over his head, and he was down. Soon Dwalin lay by Balin, and Fili and Kili together, and Dori and Nori and Ori all in a heap, and Oin and Gloin and Bifur and Bofur and Bombur piled uncomfortably near the fire. "That'll teach 'em," said Tom; for Bifur and Bombur had given a lot of trouble, and fought like mad, as dwarves will when cornered. Thorin came last-and he was not caught unawares. He came expecting mischief, and didn't need to see his friends' legs sticking out of sacks to tell him that things were not all well. He stood outside in the shadows some way off, and said: "What's all this trouble? Who has been knocking my people about?" "It's trolls!" said Bilbo from behind a tree. They had forgotten all about him. "They're hiding in the bushes with sacks," said he. "O! are they?" said Thorin, and he jumped forward to the fire, before they could leap on him. He caught up a big branch all on fire at one end; and Bert got that end in his eye before he could step aside. That put him out of the battle for a bit. Bilbo did his best. He caught hold of Tom's leg-as well as he could, it was thick as a young tree-trunk -but he was sent spinning up into the top of some bushes, when Tom kicked the sparks up in Thorin's face. Tom got the branch in his teeth for that, and lost one of the front ones. It made him howl, I can tell you. But just at that moment William came up behind and popped a sack right over Thorin's head and down to his toes. And so the fight ended. A nice pickle they were all in now: all neatly tied up in sacks, with three angry trolls (and two with burns and bashes to remember) sitting by them, arguing whether they should roast them slowly, or mince them fine and boil them, or just sit on them one by one and squash them into jelly: and Bilbo up in a bush, with his clothes and his skin torn, not daring to move for fear they should hear him. ####-It was just then that Gandalf came back. But no one saw him. The trolls had just decided to roast the dwarves now and eat them later-that was Bert's idea, and after a lot of argument they had all agreed to it. "No good roasting 'em now, it’d take all night," said a voice. Bert thought it was William's. "Don't start the argument all over-again. Bill," he said, "or it will take all night." "Who's a-arguing?" said William, who thought it was. Bert that had spoken. "You are," said Bert. "You're a liar," said William; and so the argument beg all over again. In the end they decided to mince them fine and boil them. So they got a black pot, and they took out their knives. "No good boiling 'em! We ain't got no water, and it's a long way to the well and all," said a voice. Bert and William thought it was Tom's. "Shut up!" said they, "or we'll never have done. And yer can fetch the water yerself, if yer say any more." "Shut up yerself!" said Tom, who thought it was William's voice. "Who's arguing but you. I'd like to know." "You're a booby," said William. "Booby yerself!" said Tom. And so the argument began all over again, and went on hotter than ever, until at last they decided to sit on the sacks one by one and squash them, and boil them next time. "Who shall we sit on first?" said the voice. "Better sit on the last fellow first," said Bert, whose eye had been damaged by Thorin. He thought Tom was talking. "Don't talk to yerself!" said Tom. "But if you wants to sit on the last one, sit on him. Which is he?" "The one with the yellow stockings," said Bert. "Nonsense, the one with the grey stockings," said a voice like William's. "I made sure it was yellow," said Bert. "Yellow it was," said William. "Then what did yer say it was grey for?" said Bert. "I never did. Tom said it." "That I never did!" said Tom. "It was you." "Two to one, so shut yer mouth!" said Bert. "Who are you a-talkin' to?" said William.####-"Now stop it!" said Tom and Bert together. "The night's gettin' on, and dawn comes early. Let's get on with it!" "Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" said a voice that sounded like William's. But it wasn't. For just at that moment the light came over the hill, and there was a mighty twitter in the branches. William never spoke for he stood turned to stone as he stooped; and Bert and Tom were stuck like rocks as they looked at him. And there they stand to this day, all alone, unless the birds perch on them; for trolls, as you probably know, must be underground before dawn, or they go back to the stuff of the mountains they are made of, and never move again. That is what had happened to Bert and Tom and William. "Excellent!" said Gandalf, as he stepped from behind a tree, and helped Bilbo to climb down out of a thorn-bush. Then Bilbo understood. It was the wizard's voice that had kept the trolls bickering and quarrelling, until the light came and made an end of them. The next thing was to untie the sacks and let out the dwarves. They were nearly suffocated, and very annoyed: they had not at all enjoyed lying there listening to the trolls making plans for roasting them and squashing them and mincing them. They had to hear Bilbo's account of what had happened to him twice over, before they were satisfied. "Silly time to go practising pinching and pocket-picking," said Bombur, "when what we wanted was fire and food!" "And that's just what you wouldn't have got of those fellows without a struggle, in any case," said Gandalf. "Anyhow you are wasting time now. Don't you realize that the trolls must have a cave or a hole dug somewhere near to hide from the sun in? We must look into it!" They searched about, and soon found the marks of trolls' stony boots going away through the trees. They followed the tracks up the hill, until hidden by bushes they came on a big door of stone leading to a cave. But they could not open it, not though they all pushed while Gandalf tried various incantations. "Would this be any good?" asked Bilbo, when they were getting tired and angry. "I found it on the ground where the trolls had their fight." He held out a largish key, though no doubt William had thought it very small and secret. It must have fallen out of his pocket, very luckily, before he was turned to stone. "Why on earth didn't you mention it before?" they cried. Gandalf grabbed it and fitted it into the key-hole. Then the stone door swung back with one big push, and they all went inside. There were bones on the floor ####-and a nasty smell was in the air; but there was a good deal of food jumbled carelessly on shelves and on the ground, among an untidy litter of plunder, of all sorts from brass buttons to pots full of gold coins standing in a corner. There were lots of clothes, too, hanging on the walls-too small for trolls, I am afraid they belonged to victims-and among them were several swords of various makes, shapes, and sizes. Two caught their eyes particularly, because of their beautiful scabbards and jewelled hilts. Gandalf and Thorin each took one of these; and Bilbo took a knife in a leather sheath. It would have made only a tiny pocket-knife for a troll, but it was as good as a short sword for the hobbit. "These look like good blades," said the wizard, half drawing them and looking at them curiously. "They were not made by any troll, nor by any smith among men in these parts and days; but when we can read the runes on them, we shall know more about them." "Let's get out of this horrible smell!" said Fili So they carried out the pots of coins, and such food as was un-touched and looked fit to eat, also one barrel of ale which was still full. By that time they felt like breakfast, and being very hungry they did not turn their noses up at what they had got from the trolls' larder. Their own provisions were very scanty. Now they had bread and cheese, and plenty of ale, and bacon to toast in the embers of the fire. After that they slept, for their night had been disturbed; (and they did nothing more till the afternoon. Then they I brought up their ponies, and carried away the pots of gold, and buried them very secretly not far from the track by the river, putting a great many spells over them, just in case they ever had the-chance to come back and recover them. When that was done, they all mounted once more, and jogged along again on the path towards the East. "Where did you go to, if I may ask?" said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along. "To look ahead," said he. "And what brought you back in the nick of time?" "Looking behind," said he. "Exactly!" said Thorin; "but could you be more plain?" "I went on to spy out our road. It will soon become dangerous and difficult. Also I was anxious about replenishing our small stock of provisions. I had not gone very far, however, when I met a couple of friends of mine from Rivendell." "Where's that?" asked Bilbo, "Don't interrupt!" said Gandalf. "You will get there in a few days now, if we're lucky, and find out all about it As I was saying I met two of Elrond's people. They ####-were hurrying along for fear of the trolls. It was they who told me that three of them had come down from the mountains and settled in the woods not far from the road; they had frightened everyone away from the district, and they waylaid strangers. "I immediately had a feeling that I was wanted back. Looking behind I saw a fire in the distance and made for it. So now you know. Please be more careful, next time, or we shall never get anywhere!" "Thank you!" said Thorin.####-

A Short Rest
They did not sing or tell stories that day, even though the weather improved; nor the next day, nor the day after. They had begun to feel that danger was not far away on either side. They camped under the stars, and their horses had more to eat than they had; for there was plenty of grass, but there was not much in their bags, even with what they had got from the trolls. One morning they forded a river at a wide shallow place full of the noise of stones and foam. The far bank was steep and slippery. When they got to the top of it, leading their ponies, they saw that the great mountains had marched down very near to them. Already they I seemed only a day's easy journey from the feet of the nearest. Dark and drear it looked, though there were patches of sunlight on its brown sides, and behind its shoulders the tips of snow-peaks gleamed. "Is that The Mountain?" asked Bilbo in a solemn voice, looking at it with round eyes. He had never seen a thing that looked so big before. "Of course not!" said Balin. "That is only the beginning of the Misty Mountains, and we have to get through, or over, or under those somehow, before we can come into Wilderland beyond. And it is a deal of a way even from the other side of them to the Lonely Mountain in the East Where Smaug lies on our treasure." "O!" said Bilbo, and just at that moment he felt more fared than he ever remembered feeling before. He was thinking once again of his comfortable chair before the fire in his favourite sitting-room in his hobbit-hole, and of the kettle singing. Not for the last time! Now Gandalf led the way. "We must not miss the road, or we shall be done for," he said. "We need food, for one thing, and rest in reasonable safety-also it is very necessary to tackle the Misty Mountains by the proper path, or else you will get lost in them, and have to come back and start at the beginning again (if you ever get back at all)." They asked him where he was making for, and he answered: "You are come to the very edge of the Wild, as some of you may know. Hidden somewhere ahead of us is the fair valley of Rivendell where Elrond lives in the Last Homely House. I sent a message by my friends, and we are expected." That sounded nice and comforting, but they had not got there yet, and it was not so easy as it sounds to find the Last Homely House west of the Mountains.####-There seemed to be no trees and no valleys and no hills to break the ground in front of them, only one vast slope going slowly up and up to meet the feet of the nearest mountain, a wide land the colour of heather and crumbling rock, with patches and slashes of grass-green and moss-green showing where water might be. Morning passed, afternoon came; but in all the silent waste there was no sign of any dwelling. They were growing anxious, for they now saw that the house might be hidden almost anywhere between them and the mountains. They came on unexpected valleys, narrow with deep sides, that opened suddenly at their feet, and they looked down surprised to see trees below them and running water at the bottom. There were gullies that they could almost leap over; but very deep with waterfalls in them. There were dark ravines that one could neither jump nor climb into. There were bogs, some of them green pleasant places to look at with flowers growing bright and tall; but a pony that walked there with a pack on its back would never have come out again. It was indeed a much wider land from the ford to the mountains than ever you would have guessed. Bilbo was astonished. The only path was marked with white stones some of which were small, and others were half covered with moss or heather. Altogether it was a very slow business following the track, even guided by Gandalf, who seemed to know his way about pretty well. His head and beard wagged this way and that as he looked for the stones, and they followed his head, but they seemed no nearer to the end of the search when the day began to fail. Tea-time had long gone by, and it seemed supper-time would soon do the same. There were moths fluttering about, and the light became very dim, for the moon had not risen. Bilbo's pony began to stumble over roots and stones. They came to the edge of a steep fall in the ground so suddenly that Gandalf s horse nearly slipped down the slope. "Here it is at last!" he called, and the others gathered round him and looked over the edge. They saw a valley far below. They could hear the voice of hurrying water in rocky bed at the bottom; the scent of trees was in the air; and there was a light on the valley-side across the water. Bilbo never forgot the way they slithered and slipped in the dusk down the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell. The air grew warmer as they got lower, and the smell of the pine-trees made him drowsy, so that every now and again he nodded and nearly fell off, or bumped his nose on the pony's neck. Their spirits rose as they went down and down. The trees changed to beech and oak, and hire was a comfortable feeling in the twilight. The last green had almost faded out of the grass, when they came at length to an open glade not far above the banks of the stream.####-"Hrnmm! it smells like elves!" thought Bilbo, and he looked up at the stars. They were burning bright and blue. Just then there came a burst of song like laughter in the trees: O! What are you doing, And where are you going? Your ponies need shoeing! The river is flowing! O! tra-la-la-lally here down in the valley! O! What are you seeking, And where are you making? The faggots are reeking, The bannocks are baking! O! tril-lil-lil-lolly the valley is jolly, ha! ha! O! Where are you going With beards all a-wagging? No knowing, no knowing What brings Mister Baggins, And Balin and Dwalin down into the valley in June ha! ha! O! Will you be staying, Or will you be flying? Your ponies are straying! The daylight is dying! To fly would be folly, To stay would be jolly And listen and hark Till the end of the dark to our tune ha! ha.'####-So they laughed and sang in the trees; and pretty fair nonsense I daresay you think it. Not that they would care they would only laugh all the more if you told them so. They were elves of course. Soon Bilbo caught glimpses of them as the darkness deepened. He loved elves, though he seldom met them; but he was a little frightened of them too. Dwarves don't get on well with them. Even decent enough dwarves like Thorin and his friends think them foolish (which is a very foolish thing to think), or get annoyed with them. For some elves tease them and laugh at them, and most of all at their beards. "Well, well!" said a voice. "Just look! Bilbo the hobbit on a pony, my dear! Isn't it delicious!" "Most astonishing wonderful!" Then off they went into another song as ridiculous as the one I have written down in full. At last one, a tall young fellow, came out from the trees and bowed to Gandalf and to Thorin. "Welcome to the valley!" he said. "Thank you!" said Thorin a bit gruffly; but Gandalf was already off his horse and among the elves, talking merrily with them. "You are a little out of your way," said the elf: "that is, if you are making for the only path across the water and to the house beyond. We will set you right, but you had best get on foot, until you are over the bridge. Are you going to stay a bit and sing with us, or will you go straight on? Supper is preparing over there," he said. "I can smell the Wood-fires for the cooking." Tired as he was, Bilbo would have liked to stay awhile. Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things. Also he would have liked to have a few private words with these people that seemed to know his name and all about him, although he had never been them before. He thought their opinion of his adventure might be interesting. Elves know a lot and are wondrous folk for news, and know what is going on among the peoples of the land, as quick as water flows, or quicker. But the dwarves were all for supper as soon 'as possible just then, and would not stay. On they all went, leading their ponies, till they were brought to a good path and so at last to the very brink of the river. It was flowing fast and noisily, as mountain-streams do of a summer evening, when sun has been all day on the snow far up above. There was only a narrow bridge of stone without a parapet, as narrow as a pony could well walk on; and over that they had to go, slow and careful, one by one, each leading his pony by the bridle. The elves had brought bright lanterns to the shore, and they sang a merry song as the party went across.####-"Don't dip your beard in the foam, father!" they cried to Thorin, who was bent almost on to his hands and knees. "It is long enough without watering it." "Mind Bilbo doesn't eat all the cakes!" they called. "He is too fat to get through key-holes yet!" "Hush, hush! Good People! and good night!" said Gandalf, who came last. "Valleys have ears, and some elves have over merry tongues. Good night!" And so at last they all came to the Last Homely House, and found its doors flung wide. Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway. They stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave. Bilbo would gladly have stopped there for ever and ever-even supposing a wish would have taken him right back to his hobbit- hole without trouble. Yet there is little to tell about their stay. The master of the house was an elf-friend-one of those people whose fathers came into the strange stories before the beginning of History, the wars of the evil goblins and the elves and the first men in the North. In those days of our tale there were still some people who had both elves and heroes of the North for ancestors, and Elrond the master of the house was their chief. He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer. He comes into. many tales, but his part in the story of Bilbo's great adventure is only a small one, though important, as you will see, if we ever get to the end of it. His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley. I wish I had time to tell you even a few of the tales or one or two of the songs that they heard in that house. All of them, the ponies as well, grew refreshed and strong in a few days there. Their clothes were mended as well as their bruises, their tempers and their hopes. Their bags were filled with food and provisions light to carry but strong to bring them over the mountain passes. Their plans were improved with the best advice. So the time came to mid- summer eve, and they were to go on again with the early sun on midsummer morning. Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls' lair, and he said: "These are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were ####-made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. This, Thorin, the runes name Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade. This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe- hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore. Keep them well!" "Whence did the trolls get them, I wonder?" said Thorin looking at his sword with new interest. "I could not say," said Elrond, "but one may guess that your trolls had plundered other plunderers, or come on the remnants of old robberies in some hold in the mountains of the North. I have heard that there are still forgotten treasures of old to be found in the deserted caverns of the mines of Moria, since the dwarf and goblin war." Thorin pondered these words. "I will keep this sword in honour," he said. "May it soon cleave goblins once again!" "A wish that is likely to be granted soon enough in the mountains!" said Elrond. "But show me now your map!" He took it and gazed long at it, and he shook his head; for if he did not altogether approve of dwarves and their love of gold, he hated dragons and their cruel wickedness, and he grieved to remember the ruin of the town of Dale and its merry bells, and the burned banks of the bright River Running. The moon was shining in a broad silver crescent. He held up the map and the white light shone through it. "What is this?" he said. "There are moon-letters here, beside the plain runes which say 'five feet high the door and three may walk abreast.' " "What are moon-letters?" asked the hobbit full of excitement. He loved maps, as I have told you before; and he also liked runes and letters and cunning handwriting, though when he wrote himself it was a bit thin and spidery. "Moon-letters are rune-letters, but you cannot see them," said Elrond, "not when you look straight at them. They can only be seen when the moon shines behind them, and what is more, with the more cunning sort it must be a moon of the same shape and season as the day when they were written. The dwarves invented them and wrote them with silver pens, as your friends could tell you. These must have been written on a midsummer's eve in a crescent moon, a long while ago." "What do they say?" asked Gandalf and Thorin together, a bit vexed perhaps that even Elrond should have found this out first, though really there had not been a chance before, and there would not have been another until goodness knows when.####-"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks," read Elrond, "and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole." "Durin, Durin!" said Thorin. "He was the father of the fathers of the eldest race of Dwarves, the Longbeards, and my first ancestor: I am his heir." "Then what is Durin's Day?" asked Elrond. "The first day of the dwarves' New Year," said Thorin, "is as all should know the first, day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter. We still call it Durin's Day when the last moon of Autumn and the sun are in the sky together. But this will not help us much, I fear, for it passes our skill in these days to guess when such a time will come again." "That remains to be seen," said Gandalf. "Is there any more writing?" "None to be seen by this moon," said Elrond, and he gave the map back to Thorin; and then they went down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve. The next morning was a midsummer's morning as fair and fresh as could be dreamed: blue sky and never a cloud, and the sun dancing on the water. Now they rode away amid songs of farewell and good speed, with their hearts ready for more adventure, and with a knowledge of the road they must follow over the Misty Mountains to the land beyond.####-

Over Hill and Under Hill There were many paths that led up into those mountains, and many passes over them. But most of the paths were cheats and deceptions and led nowhere or to bad ends; and most of the passes were infested by evil things and dreadful dangers. The dwarves and the hobbit, helped by the wise advice of Elrond and the knowledge and memory of Gandalf, took the right road to the right pass. Long days after they had climbed out of the valley and left the Last Homely House miles behind, they were still going up and up and up. It was a hard path and a dangerous path, a crooked way and a lonely and a long. Now they could look back over the lands they had left, laid out behind them far below. Far, far away in the West, where things were blue and faint, Bilbo knew there lay his own country of safe and comfortable things, and his little hobbit-hole. He shivered. It was getting bitter cold up here, and the wind came shrill among the rocks. Boulders, too, at times came galloping down the mountain-sides, let loose by midday sun upon the snow, and passed among them (which was lucky), or over their heads (which was alarming). The nights were comfortless and chill, and they did not dare to sing or talk too loud, for the echoes were uncanny, and the silence seemed to dislike being broken-except by the noise of water and the wail of wind and the crack of stone. "The summer is getting on down below," thought Bilbo, "and haymaking is going on and picnics. They will be harvesting and blackberrying, before we even begin to go down the other side at this rate." And the others were thinking equally gloomy thoughts, although when they had said good-bye to Elrond in the high hope of a midsummer morning, they' had spoken gaily of the passage of the mountains, and of riding swift across the lands beyond. They had thought of coming to the secret door in the Lonely Mountain, perhaps that very next first moon of Autumn—" and perhaps it will be Durin's Day" they had said. Only Gandalf had shaken his head and said nothing. Dwarves had not passed that way for many years, but Gandalf had, and he knew how evil and danger had grown and thriven in the Wild, since the dragons had driven men from the lands, and the goblins had spread in secret after the battle of the Mines of Moria. Even the good plans of wise wizards like Gandalf and of good friends like Elrond go astray sometimes when you are off on dangerous adventures over the Edge of the Wild; and Gandalf was a wise enough wizard to know it.####-He knew that something unexpected might happen, and he hardly dared to hope that they would pass without fearful adventure over those great tall mountains with lonely peaks and valleys where no king ruled. They did not. All was well, until one day they met a thunderstorm - more than a thunderstorm, a thunder-battle. You know how terrific a really big thunderstorm can be down in the land and in a river-valley; especially at times when two great thunderstorms meet and clash. More terrible still are thunder and lightning in the mountains at night, when storms come up from East and West and make war. The lightning splinters on the peaks, and rocks shiver, and great crashes split the air and go rolling and tumbling into every cave and hollow; and the darkness is filled with overwhelming noise and sudden light. Bilbo had never seen or imagined anything of the kind. They were high up in a narrow place, with a dreadful fall into a dim valley at one side of them. There they were sheltering under a hanging rock for the night, and he lay beneath a blanket and shook from head to toe. When he peeped out in the lightning-flashes, he saw that across the valley the stone-giants were out and were hurling rocks at one another for a. game, and catching them, and tossing them down into the darkness where they smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang. Then came a wind and a rain, and the wind whipped the rain and the hail about in every direction, so that an overhanging rock was no protection at all. Soon they were getting drenched and their ponies were standing with their heads down and their tails between their legs, and some of them were whinnying with fright. They could hear the giants guffawing and shouting all over the mountainsides. "This won't do at all!" said Thorin. "If we don't get blown off or drowned, or struck by lightning, we shall be picked up by some giant and kicked sky-high for a football." "Well, if you know of anywhere better, take us there!" said Gandalf, who was feeling very grumpy, and was far from happy about the giants himself. The end of their argument was that they sent Fill and Kili to look for a better shelter. They had very sharp eyes, and being the youngest of the dwarves by some fifty years they usually got these sort of jobs (when everybody could see that it was absolutely no use sending Bilbo). There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something (or so Thorin said to the young dwarves). You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after. So it proved on this occasion.####-Soon Fili and Kili came crawling back, holding on to the rocks in the wind. "We have found a dry cave," they said, "not far round the next corner; and ponies and all could get inside." "Have you thoroughly explored it?" said the wizard, who knew that caves up in the mountains were seldom unoccupied. "Yes, yes!" they said, though everybody knew they could not have been long about it; they had come back too quick. "It isn't all that big, and it does not go far back." That, of course, is the dangerous part about caves: you don't know how far they go back, sometimes, or where a passage behind may lead to, or what is waiting for you inside. But now Fili and Kill's news seemed good enough. So they all got up and prepared to move. The wind was howling and the thunder still growling, and they had a business getting themselves and their ponies along. Still it was not very far to go, and before long they came to a big rock standing out into the path. If you stepped behind, you found a low arch in the side of the mountain. There was just room to get the ponies through with a squeeze, when they had been unpacked and unsaddled. As they passed under the arch, it was good to hear the wind and the rain outside instead of all about them, and to feel safe from the giants and their rocks. But the wizard was taking no risks. He lit up his wand - as he did that day in Bilbo's dining-room that seemed so long ago, if you remember—, and by its light they explored the cave from end to end. It seemed quite a fair size, but not too large and mysterious. It had a dry floor and some comfortable nooks. At one end there was room for the ponies; and there they stood (mighty glad of the change) steaming, and champing in their nosebags. Oin and Gloin wanted to light a fire at the door to dry their clothes, but Gandalf would not hear of it. So they spread out their wet things on the floor, and got dry ones out of their bundles; then they made their blankets comfortable, got out their pipes and blew smoke rings, which Gandalf turned into different colours and set dancing up by the roof to amuse them. They talked and talked, and forgot about the storm, and discussed what each would do with his share of the treasure (when they got it, which at the moment did not seem so impossible); and so they dropped off to sleep one by one. And that was the last time that they used the ponies, packages, baggages, tools and paraphernalia that they had brought with them. It turned out a good thing that night that they had brought little Bilbo with them, after all. For somehow, he could not go to sleep for a long while; and when he did sleep, he had very nasty dreams. He dreamed that a crack in the wall at the back of the cave got bigger and bigger, and opened wider and wider, and he was ####-very afraid but could not call out or do anything but lie and look. Then he dreamed that the floor of the cave was giving way, and he was slipping-beginning to fall down, down, goodness knows where to. At that he woke up with a horrible start, and found that part of his dream was true. A crack had opened at the back of the cave, and was already a wide passage. He was just in time to see the last of the ponies' tails disappearing into it. Of course he gave a very loud yell, as loud a yell as a hobbit can give, which is surprising for their size. Out jumped the goblins, big goblins, great ugly-looking goblins, lots of goblins, before you could say rocks and blocks. There were six to each dwarf, at least, and two even for Bilbo; and they were all grabbed and carried through the crack, before you could say tinder and flint. But not Gandalf. Bilbo's yell had done that much good. It had wakened him up wide in a splintered second, and when goblins came to grab him, there was a terrible flash like lightning in the cave, a smell like gunpowder, and several of them fell dead. The crack closed with a snap, and Bilbo and the dwarves were on the wrong side of it! Where was Gandalf? Of that neither they nor the goblins had any idea, and the goblins did not wait to find out. It was deep, deep, dark, such as only goblins that have taken to living in the heart of the mountains can see through. The passages there were crossed and tangled in all directions, but the goblins knew their way, as well as you do to the nearest post-office; and the way went down and down, and it was most horribly stuffy. The goblins were very rough, and pinched unmercifully, and chuckled and laughed in their horrible stony voices; and Bilbo was more unhappy even than when the troll had picked him up by his toes. He wished again and again for his nice bright hobbit-hole. Not for the last time. Now there came a glimmer of a red light before them. The goblins began to sing, or croak, keeping time with the flap of their flat feet on the stone, and shaking their prisoners as well. Clap! Snap! the black crack! Grip, grab! Pinch, nab! And down down to Goblin -town You go, my lad! Clash, crash! Crush, smash! Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs! Pound, pound, far underground!####-Ho, ho! my lad! Swish, smack! Whip crack! Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat! Work, work! Nor dare to shirk, While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh, Round and round far underground Below, my lad! It sounded truly terrifying. The walls echoed to the clap, snap! and the crush, smash! and to the ugly laughter of their ho, ho! my lad! The general meaning of the song was only too plain; for now the goblins took out whips and whipped them with a swish, smack!, and set them running as fast as they could in front of them; and more than one of the dwarves were already yammering and bleating like anything, when they stumbled into a big cavern. It was lit by a great red fire in the middle, and by torches along the walls, and it was full of goblins. They all laughed and stamped and clapped their hands, when the dwarves (with poor little Bilbo at the back and nearest to the whips) came running in, while the goblin-drivers whooped and cracked their whips behind. The ponies were already there huddled in a corner; and there were all the baggages and packages lying broken open, and being rummaged by goblins, and smelt by goblins, and fingered by goblins, and quarreled over by goblins. I am afraid that was the last they ever saw of those excellent little ponies, including a jolly sturdy little white fellow that Elrond had lent to Gandalf, since his horse was not suitable for the mountain-paths. For goblins eat horses and ponies and donkeys (and other much more dreadful things), and they are always hungry. Just now however the prisoners were thinking only of themselves. The goblins chained their hands behind their backs and linked them all together in a line and dragged them to the far end of the cavern with little Bilbo tugging at the end of the row. There in the shadows on a large flat stone sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head, and armed goblins were standing round him carrying the axes and the bent swords that they use. Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones. They can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes, tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well, or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and slaves that have to work till they die for want of air ####-and light. It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them, and also not working with their own hands more than they could help; but in those days and those wild parts they had not advanced (as it is called) so far. They did not hate dwarves especially, no more than they hated everybody and everything, and particularly the orderly and prosperous; in some parts wicked dwarves had even made alliances with them. But they had a special grudge against Thorin's people, because of the war which you have heard mentioned, but which does not come into this tale; and anyway goblins don't care who they catch, as long as it is done smart and secret, and the prisoners are not able to defend themselves. "Who are these miserable persons?" said the Great Goblin. "Dwarves, and this!" said one of the drivers, pulling at Bilbo's chain so that he fell forward onto his knees. "We found them sheltering in our Front Porch." "What do you mean by it?" said the Great Goblin turning to Thorin. "Up to no good, I'll warrant! Spying on the private business of my people, I guess! Thieves, I shouldn't be surprised to learn! Murderers and friends of Elves, not unlikely! Come! What have you got to say?" "Thorin the dwarf at your service!" he replied-it was merely a polite nothing. "Of the things which you suspect and imagine we had no idea at all. We sheltered from a storm in what seemed a convenient cave and unused; nothing was further from our thoughts than inconveniencing goblins in any way whatever." That was true enough! "Urn!" said the Great Goblin. "So you say! Might I ask what you were doing up in the mountains at all, and where you were coming from, and where you were going to? In fact I should like to know all about you. Not that it willdo you much good, Thorin Oakenshield, I know too much about your folk already; but let's have the truth, or I will prepare something particularly uncomfortable for you!" "We were on a journey to visit our relatives, our nephews and nieces, and first, second, and third cousins, and the other descendants of our grandfathers, who live on the East side of these truly hospitable mountains," said Thorin, not quite knowing what to say all at once in a moment, when obviously the exact truth would not do at all. "He is a liar, O truly tremendous one!" said one of the drivers. "Several of our people were struck by lightning in the cave, when we invited these creatures to come below; and they are as dead as stones. Also he has not explained this!" He ####-held out the sword which Thorin had worn, the sword which came from the Trolls' lair. The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth, clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter. They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it. "Murderers' and elf-friends!" the Great Goblin shouted. "Slash them! Beat them! Bite them! Gnash them! Take them away to dark holes full of snakes, and never let them see the light again!" He was in such a rage that he jumped off his seat and himself rushed at Thorin with his mouth open. Just at that moment all the lights in the cavern went out, and the great fire went off poof! into a tower of blue glowing smoke, right up to the roof, that scattered piercing white sparks all among the goblins. The yells and yammering, croaking, jibbering and jabbering; howls, growls and curses; shrieking and skriking, that followed were beyond description. Several hundred wild cats and wolves being roasted slowly alive together would not have compared with it. The sparks were burning holes in the goblins, and the smoke that now fell from the roof made the air too thick for even their eyes to see through. Soon they were falling over one another and rolling in heaps on the floor, biting and kicking and fighting as if they had all gone mad. Suddenly a sword flashed in its own light. Bilbo saw it go right through the Great Goblin as he stood dumbfounded in the middle of his rage. He fell dead, and the goblin soldiers fled before the sword shrieking into the darkness. The sword went back into its sheath. "Follow me quick!" said a voice fierce and quiet; and before Bilbo understood what had happened he was trotting along again, as fast as he could trot, at the end of the line, down more dark passages with the yells of the goblin-hall growing fainter behind him. A pale light was leading them on. "Quicker, quicker!" said the voice. "The torches will soon be relit." "Half a minute!" said Dori, who was at the back next to Bilbo, and a decent fellow. He made the hobbit scramble on his shoulders as best he could with his tied hands, and then off they all went at a run, with a clink-clink of chains, and many a stumble, since they had no hands to steady themselves with. Not for a long while did they stop, and by that time they must have been right down in the very mountain's heart.####-Then Gandalf lit up his wand. Of course it was Gandalf; but just then they were too busy to ask how he got there. He took out his sword again, and again it flashed in the dark by itself. It burned with a rage that made it gleam if goblins were about; now it was bright as blue flame for delight in the killing of the great lord of the cave. It made no trouble whatever of cutting through the goblin-chains and setting all the prisoners free as quickly as possible. This sword's name was Glamdring the Foe-hammer, if you remember. The goblins just called it Beater, and hated it worse than Biter if possible. Orcrist, too, had been saved; for Gandalf had brought it along as well, snatching it from one of the terrified guards. Gandalf thought of most things; and though he could not do everything, he could do a great deal for friends in a tight comer. "Are we all here?" said he, handing his sword back to Thorin with a bow. "Let me see: one-that's Thorin; two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven; where are Fili and Kili? Here they are, twelve, thirteen-and here's Mr. Baggins: fourteen! Well, well! it might be worse, and then again it might be a good deal better. No ponies, and no food, and no knowing quite where we are, and hordes of angry goblins just behind! On we go!" On they went. Gandalf was quite right: they began to hear goblin noises and horrible cries far behind in the passages they had come through. That sent them on faster than ever, and as poor Bilbo could not possibly go half as fast-for dwarves can roll along at a tremendous pace, I can tell you, when they have to-they took it in turn to carry him on their backs. Still goblins go faster than dwarves, and these goblins knew the way better (they had made the paths themselves), and were madly angry; so that do what they could the dwarves heard the cries and howls getting closer and closer. Soon they could hear even the flap of the goblin feet, many many feet which seemed only just round the last corner. The blink of red torches could be seen behind them in the tunnel they were following; and they were getting deadly tired. "Why, O why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole!" said poor Mr. Baggins bumping up and down on Bombur's back. "Why, O why did I ever bring a wretched little hobbit on a treasure hunt!" said poor Bombur, who was fat, and staggered along with the sweat dripping down his nose in his heat and terror. At this point Gandalf fell behind, and Thorin with him. They turned a sharp corner. "About turn!" he shouted. "Draw your sword, Thorin!" There was nothing else to be done; and the goblins did not like it. They came scurrying round the corner in full cry, and found Goblin-cleaver and Foe-hammer ####-shining cold and bright right in their astonished eyes. The ones in front dropped their torches and gave one yell before they were killed. The ones behind yelled still more, and leaped back knocking over those that were running after them. "Biter and Beater!" they shrieked; and soon they were all in confusion, and most of them were hustling back the way they had come. It was quite a long while before any of them dared to turn that comer. By that time the dwarves had gone on again, a long, long, way on into the dark tunnels of the goblins' realm. When the goblins discovered that, they put out their torches and they slipped on soft shoes, and they chose out their very quickest runners with the sharpest ears and eyes. These ran forward, as swift as weasels in the dark, and with hardly any more noise than bats. That is why neither Bilbo, nor the dwarves, nor even Gandalf heard them coming. Nor did they see them. But they were seen by the goblins that ran silently up behind, for Gandalf was letting his wand give out a faint light to help the dwarves as they went along. Quite suddenly Dori, now at the back again carrying Bilbo, was grabbed from behind in the dark. He shouted and fell; and the hobbit rolled off his shoulders into the blackness, bumped his head on hard rock, and remembered nothing more. ####-

Riddles in the Dark When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he had; for it was just as dark as with them shut. No one was anywhere near him. Just imagine his fright! He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor. Very slowly he got up and groped about on all fours, till he touched the wall of the tunnel; but neither up nor down it could he find anything: nothing at all, no sign of goblins, no sign of dwarves. His head was swimming, and he was far from certain even of the direction they had been going in when he had his fall. He guessed as well as he could, and crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment. He did not go much further, but sat down on the cold floor and gave himself up to complete miserableness, for a long while. He thought of himself frying bacon and eggs in his own kitchen at home - for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other; but that only made him miserabler. He could not think what to do; nor could he think what had happened; or why he had been left behind; or why, if he had been left behind, the goblins had not caught him; or even why his head was so sore. The truth was he had been lying quiet, out of sight and out of mind, in a very dark corner for a long while. After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for his pouch, and there was some tobacco in it, and that was something more. Then he felt for matches and he could not find any at all, and that shattered his hopes completely. Just as well for him, as he agreed when he came to his senses. Goodness knows what the striking of matches and the smell of tobacco would have brought on him out of dark holes in that horrible place. Still at the moment he felt very crushed. But in slapping all his pockets and feeling all round himself for matches his hand came on the hilt of his little sword - the little dagger that he got from the trolls, and that he had quite forgotten; nor do the goblins seem to have noticed it, as he wore it inside his breeches. Now he drew it out. It shone pale and dim before his eyes. "So it is an elvish blade, too," he thought; "and goblins are not very near, and yet not far enough." But somehow he was comforted. It was rather splendid to be wearing a blade made in Gondolin for the goblin-wars of which so many songs had sung; and also ####-he had noticed that such weapons made a great impression on goblins that came upon them suddenly. "Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter. Now certainly Bilbo was in what is called a tight place. But you must remember it was not quite so tight for him as it would have been for me or for you. Hobbits are not quite like ordinary people; and after all if their holes are nice cheery places and properly aired, quite different from the tunnels of the goblins, still they are more used to tunnelling than we are, and they do not easily lose their sense of direction underground-not when their heads have recovered from being bumped. Also they can move very quietly, and hide easily, and recover wonderfully from falls and bruises, and they have a fund of wisdom and wise sayings that men have mostly never heard or have forgotten long ago. I should not have liked to have been in Mr. Baggins' place, all the same. The tunnel seemed to have no end. All he knew was that it was still going down pretty steadily and keeping in the same direction in spite of a twist and a turn or two. There were passages leading off to the side every now and then, as he knew by the glimmer of his sword, or could feel with his hand on the wall. Of these he took no notice, except to hurry past for fear of goblins or half-imagined dark things coming out of them. On and on he went, and down and down; and still he heard no sound of anything except the occasional whirr of a bat by his ears, which startled him at first, till it became too frequent to bother about. I do not know how long he kept on like this, hating to go on, not daring to stop, on, on, until he was tireder than tired. It seemed like all the way to tomorrow and over it to the days beyond. Suddenly without any warning he trotted splash into water! Ugh! it was icy cold. That pulled him up sharp and short. He did not know whether it was just a pool in the path, or the edge of an underground stream that crossed the passage, or the brink of a deep dark subterranean lake. The sword was hardly shining at all. He stopped, and he could hear, when he listened hard, drops drip-drip-dripping from an unseen roof into the water below; but there seemed no other sort of sound. "So it is a pool or a lake, and not an underground river," he thought. Still he did not dare to wade out into the darkness. He could not swim; and he thought, too, of nasty slimy things, with big bulging blind eyes, wriggling in the water. There are strange things living in the pools and lakes in the hearts of mountains:####-fish whose fathers swam in, goodness only knows how many years ago, and never swam out again, while their eyes grew bigger and bigger and bigger from trying to see in the blackness; also there are other things more slimy than fish. Even in the tunnels and caves the goblins have made for themselves there are other things living unbeknown to them that have sneaked in from outside to lie up in the dark. Some of these caves, too, go back in their beginnings to ages before the goblins, who only widened them and joined them up with passages, and the original owners are still there in odd comers, slinking and nosing about. Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. I don't know where he came from, nor who or what he was. He was Gollum — as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold. He paddled it with large feet dangling over the side, but never a ripple did he make. Not he. He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish, which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking. He liked meat too. Goblin he thought good, when he could get it; but he took care they never found him out. He just throttled them from behind, if they ever came down alone anywhere near the edge of the water, while he was prowling about. They very seldom did, for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there, down at the very roots of the mountain. They had come on the lake, when they were tunnelling down long ago, and they found they could go no further; so there their road ended in that direction, and there was no reason to go that way-unless the Great Goblin sent them. Sometimes he took a fancy for fish from the lake, and sometimes neither goblin nor fish came back. Actually Gollum lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake. He was watching Bilbo now from the distance with his pale eyes like telescopes. Bilbo could not see him, but he was wondering a lot about Bilbo, for he could see that he was no goblin at all. Gollum got into his boat and shot off from the island, while Bilbo was sitting on the brink altogether flummoxed and at the end of his way and his wits. Suddenly up came Gollum and whispered and hissed: "Bless us and splash us, my precioussss! I guess it's a choice feast; at least a tasty morsel it'd make us, gollum!" And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself 'my precious.' The hobbit jumped nearly out of his skin when the hiss came in his ears, and he suddenly saw the pale eyes sticking out at him.####-"Who are you?" he said, thrusting his dagger in front of him. "What iss he, my preciouss?" whispered Gollum (who always spoke to himself through never having anyone else to speak to). This is what he had come to find out, for he was not really very hungry at the moment, only curious; otherwise he would have grabbed first and whispered afterwards. "I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don't know where I am; and "I don't want to know, if only I can get ,away." "What's he got in his handses?" said Gollum, looking at the sword, which he did not quite like. "A sword, a blade which came out of Gondolin!" "Sssss," said Gollum, and became quite polite. "Praps ye sits here and chats with it a bitsy, my preciousss. It like riddles, praps it does, does it?" He was anxious to appear friendly, at any rate for the moment, and until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was quite alone really, whether he was good to eat, and whether Gollum was really hungry. Riddles were all he could think of. Asking them, and sometimes guessing them, had been the only game he had ever played with other funny creatures sitting in their holes in the long, long ago, before he lost all his friends and was driven away, alone, and crept down, down, into the dark under the mountains. "Very well," said Bilbo, who was anxious to agree, until he found out more about the creature, whether he was quite alone, whether he was fierce or hungry, and whether he was a friend of the goblins. "You ask first," he said, because he had not had time to think of a riddle. So Gollum hissed: What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller than trees, Up, up it goes, And yet never grows? "Easy!" said Bilbo. "Mountain, I suppose." "Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my preciouss! If precious asks, and it doesn't answer, we eats it, my preciousss. If it asks us, and we doesn't answer, then we does what it wants, eh? We shows it the way out, yes!" "All right!" said Bilbo, not daring to disagree, and nearly bursting his brain to think of riddles that could save him from being eaten. Thirty white horses on a red hill,####-First they champ, Then they stamp, Then they stand still. That was all he could think of to ask-the idea of eating was rather on his mind. It was rather an old one, too, and Gollum knew the answer as well as you do. "Chestnuts, chestnuts," he hissed. "Teeth! teeth! my preciousss; but we has only six!" Then he asked his second: Voiceless it cries, Wingless flutters, Toothless bites, Mouthless mutters. "Half a moment!" cried Bilbo, who was still thinking uncomfortably about eating. Fortunately he had once heard something rather like this before, and getting his wits back he thought of the answer. "Wind, wind of course," he said, and he was so pleased that he made up one on the spot. "This'll puzzle the nasty little underground creature," he thought: An eye in a blue face Saw an eye in a green face. "That eye is like to this eye" Said the first eye, "But in low place, Not in high place." "Ss, ss, ss," said Gollum. He had been underground a long long time, and was forgetting this sort of thing. But just as Bilbo was beginning to hope that the wretch would not be able to answer, Gollum brought up memories of ages and ages and ages before, when he lived with his grandmother in a hole in a bank by a river, "Sss, sss, my preciouss," he said. "Sun on the daisies it means, it does." But these ordinary aboveground everyday sort of riddles were tiring for him. Also they reminded him of days when he had been less lonely and sneaky and nasty, and that put him out of temper. What is more they made him hungry; so this time he tried something a bit more difficult and more unpleasant: It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.####-It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter. Unfortunately for Gollum Bilbo had heard that sort of thing before; and the answer was all round him anyway. "Dark!" he said without even scratching his head or putting on his thinking cap. A box without hinges, key, or lid, Yet golden treasure inside is hid, he asked to gain time, until he could think of a really hard one. This he thought a dreadfully easy chestnut, though he had not asked it in the usual words. But it proved a nasty poser for Gollum. He hissed to himself, and still he did not answer; he whispered and spluttered. After some while Bilbo became impatient. "Well, what is it?" he said. "The answer's not a kettle boiling over, as you seem to think from the noise you are making." "Give us a chance; let it give us a chance, my preciouss-ss-ss." "Well," said Bilbo, after giving him a long chance, "what about your guess?" But suddenly Gollum remembered thieving from nests long ago, and sitting under the river bank teaching his grandmother, teaching his grandmother to suck- "Eggses!" he hissed. "Eggses it is!" Then he asked: A live without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking. He also in his turn thought this was a dreadfully easy one, because he was always thinking of the answer. But he could not remember anything better at the moment, he was so flustered by the egg-question. All the same it was a poser for poor Bilbo, who never had anything to do with the water if he could help it. I imagine you know the answer, of course, or can guess it as easy as winking, since you are sitting comfortably at home and have not the danger of being eaten to disturb your thinking. Bilbo sat and cleared his throat once or twice, but no answer came.####-After a while Gollum began to hiss with pleasure to himself: "Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?" He began to peer at Bilbo out of the darkness. "Half a moment," said the hobbit shivering. "I gave you a good long chance just now." "It must make haste, haste!" said Gollum, beginning to climb out of his boat on to the shore to get at Bilbo. But when he put his long webby foot in the water, a fish jumped out in a fright and fell on Bilbo's toes. "Ugh!" he said, "it is cold and clammy!"-and so he guessed. "Fish! Fish!" he cried. "It is fish!" Gollum was dreadfully disappointed; but Bilbo asked another riddle as quick as ever be could, so that Gollum had to get back into his boat and think. No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near on three-legs, four-legs got some. It was not really the right time for this riddle, but Bilbo was in a hurry. Gollum might have had some trouble guessing it, if he had asked it at another time. As it was, talking of fish, "no-legs" was not so very difficult, and after that the rest was easy. "Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, the cat has the bones"- that of course is the answer, and Gollum soon gave it. Then he thought the time had come to ask something hard and horrible. This is what he said: This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down. Poor Bilbo sat in the dark thinking of all the horrible names of all the giants and ogres he had ever heard told of in tales, but not one of them had done all these things. He had a feeling that the answer was quite different and that he ought to know it, but he could not think of it. He began to get frightened, and that is bad for thinking. Gollum began to get out of his boat. He flapped into the water and paddled to the bank; Bilbo could see his eyes coming towards him. His tongue seemed to stick in his mouth; he wanted to shout out: "Give me more time! Give me time!" But all that came out with a sudden squeal was: "Time! Time!"####-Bilbo was saved by pure luck. For that of course was the answer. Gollum was disappointed once more; and now he was getting angry, and also tired of the game. It had made him very hungry indeed. This time he did not go back to the boat. He sat down in the dark by Bilbo. That made the hobbit most dreadfully uncomfortable and scattered his wits. "It's got to ask uss a quesstion, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Jusst one more quesstion to guess, yes, yess," said Gollum. But Bilbo simply could not think of any question with that nasty wet cold thing sitting next to him, and pawing and poking him. He scratched himself, he pinched himself; still he could not think of anything. "Ask us! ask us!" said Gollum. Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his pocket with his other hand. There he found the ring he had picked up in the passage and forgotten about. "What have I got in my pocket?" he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset. "Not fair! not fair!" he hissed. "It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?" Bilbo seeing what had happened and having nothing better to ask stuck to his question. "What have I got in my pocket?" he said louder. "S-s-s-s-s," hissed Gollum. "It must give us three guesseses, my preciouss, three guesseses." "Very well! Guess away!" said Bilbo. "Handses!" said Gollum. "Wrong," said Bilbo, who had luckily just taken his hand out again. "Guess again!" "S-s-s-s-s," said Gollum more upset than ever. He thought of all the things he kept in his own pockets: fishbones, goblins' teeth, wet shells, a bit of bat-wing, a sharp stone to sharpen his fangs on, and other nasty things. He tried to think what other people kept in their pockets. "Knife!" he said at last. "Wrong!" said Bilbo, who had lost his some time ago. "Last guess!" Now Gollum was in a much worse state than when Bilbo had asked him the egg-question. He hissed and spluttered and rocked himself backwards and forwards, and slapped his feet on the floor, and wriggled and squirmed; but still he did not dare to waste his last guess.####-"Come on!" said Bilbo. "I am waiting!" He tried to sound bold and cheerful, but he did not feel at all sure how the game was going to end, whether Gollum guessed right or not. "Time's up!" he said. "String, or nothing!" shrieked Gollum, which was not quite fair-working in two guesses at once. "Both wrong," cried Bilbo very much relieved; and he jumped at once to his feet, put his back to the nearest wall, and held out his little sword. He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it. But he felt he could not trust this slimy thing to keep any promise at a pinch. Any excuse would do for him to slide out of it. And after all that last question had not been a genuine riddle according to the ancient laws. But at any rate Gollum did not at once attack him. He could see the sword in Bilbo's hand. He sat still, shivering and whispering. At last Bilbo could wait no longer. "Well?" he said. "What about your promise? I want to go. You must show me the way." "Did we say so, precious? Show the nassty little Baggins the way out, yes, yes. But what has it got in its pocketses, eh? Not string, precious, but not nothing. Oh no! gollum!" "Never you mind," said Bilbo. "A promise is a promise." "Cross it is, impatient, precious," hissed Gollum. "But it must wait, yes it must. We can't go up the tunnels so hasty. We must go and get some things first, yes, things to help us." "Well, hurry up!" said Bilbo, relieved to think of Gollum going away. He thought he was just making an excuse and did not mean to come back. What was Gollum talking about? What useful thing could he keep out on the dark lake? But he was wrong. Gollum did mean to come back. He was angry now and hungry. And he was a miserable wicked creature, and already he had a plan. Not far away was his island, of which Bilbo knew nothing, and there in his hiding-place he kept a few wretched oddments, and one very beautiful thing, very beautiful, very wonderful. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring. "My birthday-present!" he whispered to himself, as he had often done in the endless dark days. "That's what we wants now, yes; we wants it!"####-He wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slipped that ring on your finger, you were invisible; only in the full sunlight could you be seen, and then only by your shadow, and that would be shaky and faint. "My birthday-present! It came to me on my birthday, my precious," So he had always said to himself. But who knows how Gollum came by that present, ages ago in the old days when such rings were still at large in the world? Perhaps even the Master who ruled them could not have said. Gollum used to wear it at first, till it tired him; and then he kept it in a pouch next his skin, till it galled him; and now usually he hid it in a hole in the rock on his island, and was always going back to look at it. And still sometimes he put it on, when he could not bear to be parted from it any longer, or when he was very, very, hungry, and tired of fish. Then he would creep along dark passages looking for stray goblins. He might even venture into places where the torches were lit and made his eyes blink and smart; for he would be safe. Oh yes, quite safe. No one would see him, no one would notice him, till he had his fingers on their throat. Only a few hours ago he had worn it, and caught a small goblin-imp. How it squeaked! He still had a bone or two left to gnaw, but he wanted something softer. "Quite safe, yes," he whispered to himself. "It won't see us, will it, my precious? No. It won't see us, and its nassty little sword will be useless, yes quite." That is what was in his wicked little mind, as he slipped suddenly from Bilbo's side, and flapped back to his boat, and went off into the dark. Bilbo thought he had heard the last of him. Still he waited a while; for he had no idea how to find his way out alone. Suddenly he heard a screech. It sent a shiver down his back. Gollum was cursing and wailing away in the gloom, not very far off by the sound of it. He was on his island, scrabbling here and there, searching and seeking in vain. "Where is it? Where iss it?" Bilbo heard him crying. "Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!" "What's the matter?" Bilbo called. "What have you lost?" "It mustn't ask us," shrieked Gollum. "Not its business, no, gollum! It's losst, gollum, gollum, gollum." "Well, so am I," cried Bilbo, "and I want to get unlost. And I won the game, and you promised. So come along! Come and let me out, and then go on with your looking!" Utterly miserable as Gollum sounded, Bilbo could not find much pity in his heart, and he had a feeling that anything Gollum wanted so much could hardly be something good.####-"Come along!" he shouted. "No, not yet, precious!" Gollum answered. "We must search for it, it's lost, gollum." "But you never guessed my last question, and you promised," said Bilbo. "Never guessed!" said Gollum. Then suddenly out of the gloom came a sharp hiss. "What has it got in its pocketses? Tell us that. It must tell first." As far as Bilbo knew, there was no particular reason why he should not tell. Gollum's mind had jumped to a guess quicker than his; naturally, for Gollum had brooded for ages on this one thing, and he was always afraid of its being stolen. But Bilbo was annoyed at the delay. After all, he had won the game, pretty fairly, at a horrible risk. "Answers were to be guessed not given," he said. "But it wasn't a fair question," said Gollum. "Not a riddle, precious, no." "Oh well, if it's a matter of ordinary questions," Bilbo replied, "then I asked one first. What have you lost? Tell me that!" "What has it got in its pocketses?" The sound came hissing louder and sharper, and as he looked towards it, to his alarm Bilbo now saw two small points of light peering at him. As suspicion grew in Gollum's mind, the light of his eyes burned with a pale flame. "What have you lost?" Bilbo persisted. But now the light in Gollum's eyes had become a green fire, and it was coming swiftly nearer. Gollum was in his boat again, paddling wildly back to the dark shore; and such a rage of loss and suspicion was in his heart that no sword had any more terror for him. Bilbo could not guess what had maddened the wretched creature, but he saw that all was up, and that Gollum meant to murder him at any rate. Just in time he turned and ran blindly back up the dark passage down which he had come, keeping close to the wall and feeling it with his left hand. "What has it got in its pocketses?" he heard the hiss loud behind him, and the splash as Gollum leapt from his boat. "What have I, I wonder?" he said to himself, as he panted and stumbled along. He put his left hand in his pocket. The ring felt very cold as it quietly slipped on to his groping forefinger. The hiss was close behind him. He turned now and saw Gollum's eyes like small green lamps coming up the slope. Terrified he tried to run faster, but suddenly he struck his toes on a snag in the floor, and fell flat with his little sword under him.####-In a moment Gollum was on him. But before Bilbo could do anything, recover his breath, pick himself up, or wave his sword, Gollum passed by, taking no notice of him, cursing and whispering as he ran. What could it mean? Gollum could see in the dark. Bilbo could see the light of his eyes palely shining even from behind. Painfully he got up, and sheathed his sword, which was now glowing faintly again, then very cautiously he followed. There seemed nothing else to do. It was no good crawling back down to Gollum's water. Perhaps if he followed him, Gollum might lead him to some way of escape without meaning to. "Curse it! curse it! curse it!" hissed Gollum. "Curse the Baggins! It's gone! What has it got in its pocketses? Oh we guess, we guess, my precious. He's found it, yes he must have. My birthday-present." Bilbo pricked up his ears. He was at last beginning to guess himself. He hurried a little, getting as close as he dared behind Gollum, who was still going quickly, not looking back, but turning his head from side to side, as Bilbo could see from the faint glimmer on the walls. "My birthday-present! Curse it! How did we lose it, my precious? Yes, that's it. When we came this way last, when we twisted that nassty young squeaker. That's it. Curse it! It slipped from us, after all these ages and ages! It's gone, gollum." Suddenly Gollum sat down and began to weep, a whistling and gurgling sound horrible to listen to. Bilbo halted and flattened himself against the tunnel-wall. After a while Gollum stopped weeping and began to talk. He seemed to be having an argument with himself. "It's no good going back there to search, no. We doesn't remember all the places we've visited. And it's no use. The Baggins has got it in its pocketses; the nassty noser has found it, we says." "We guesses, precious, only guesses. We can't know till we find the nassty creature and squeezes it. But it doesn't know what the present can do, does it? It'll just keep it in its pocketses. It doesn't know, and it can't go far. It's lost itself, the nassty nosey thing. It doesn't know the way out It said so." "It said so, yes; but it's tricksy. It doesn't say what it means. It won't say what it's got in its pocketses. It knows. It knows a way in, it must know a way out, yes. It's off to the back-door. To the back-door, that's it." "The goblinses will catch it then. It can't get out that way, precious." "Ssss, sss, gollum! Goblinses! Yes, but if it's got the present, our precious present, then goblinses will get it, gollum! They'll find it, they'll find out what it does. We shan't ever be safe again, never, gollum! One of the goblinses will put it ####-on, and then no one will see him. He'll be there but not seen. Not even our clever eyeses will notice him; and he'll come creepsy and tricksy and catch us, gollum, gollum!" "Then let's stop talking, precious, and make haste. If the Baggins has gone that way, we must go quick and see. Go! Not far now. Make haste!" With a spring Gollum got up and started shambling off at a great pace. Bilbo hurried after him, still cautiously, though his chief fear now was of tripping on another snag and falling with a noise. His head was in a whirl of hope and wonder. It seemed that the ring he had was a magic ring: it made you invisible! He had heard of such things, of course, in old old tales; but it was hard to believe that he really had found one, by accident. Still there it was: Gollum with his bright eyes had passed him by, only a yard to one side. On they went, Gollum flip-flapping ahead, hissing and cursing; Bilbo behind going as softly as a hobbit can. Soon they came to places where, as Bilbo had noticed on the way down, side-passages opened, this way and that. Gollum began at once to count them. "One left, yes. One right, yes. Two right, yes, yes. Two left, yes, yes." And so on and on. As the count grew he slowed down, and he began to get shaky and weepy; for he was leaving the water further and further behind, and he was getting afraid. Goblins might be about, and he had lost his ring. At last he stopped by a low opening, on their left as they went up. "Seven right, yes. Six left, yes!" he whispered. "This is it. This is the way to the back-door, yes. Here's the passage!" He peered in, and shrank back. "But we durstn't go in, precious, no we durstn't. Goblinses down there. Lots of goblinses. We smells them. Ssss!" "What shall we do? Curse them and crush them! We must wait here, precious, wait a bit and see." So they came to a dead stop. Gollum had brought Bilbo to the way out after all, but Bilbo could not get in! There was Gollum sitting humped up right in the opening, and his eyes gleamed cold in his head, as he swayed it from side to side between his knees. Bilbo crept away from the wall more quietly than a mouse; but Gollum stiffened at once, and sniffed, and his eyes went green. He hissed softly but menacingly. He could not see the hobbit, but now he was on the alert, and he had other senses that the darkness had sharpened: hearing and smell. He seemed to be crouched right down with his flat hands splayed on the floor, and his head thrust ####-out, nose almost to the stone. Though he was only a black shadow in the gleam of his own eyes, Bilbo could see or feel that he was tense as a bowstring, gathered for a spring. Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped. No great leap for a man, but a leap in the dark. Straight over Gollum's head he jumped, seven feet forward and three in the air; indeed, had he known it, he only just missed cracking his skull on the low arch of the passage. Gollum threw himself backwards, and grabbed as the hobbit flew over him, but too late: his hands snapped on thin air, and Bilbo, falling fair on his sturdy feet, sped off down the new tunnel. He did not turn to see what Gollum was doing. There was a hissing and cursing almost at his heels at first, then it stopped. All at once there came a bloodcurdling shriek, filled with hatred and despair. Gollum was defeated. He dared go no further. He had lost: lost his prey, and lost, too, the only thing he had ever cared for, his precious. The cry brought Bilbo's heart to his mouth, but still he held on. Now faint as an echo, but menacing, the voice came behind: "Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it for ever!" Then there was a silence. But that too seemed menacing to Bilbo. "If goblins are so near that he smelt them," he thought, "then they'll have heard his shrieking and cursing. Careful now, or this way will lead you to worse things." The passage was low and roughly made. It was not too difficult for the hobbit, except when, in spite of all care, he stubbed his poor toes again, several times, on nasty jagged stones in the floor. "A bit low for goblins, at least for the big ones," thought Bilbo, not knowing that even the big ones, the ores of the mountains, go along at a great speed stooping low with their hands almost on the ground. Soon the passage that had been sloping down began to go up again, and after a while it climbed steeply. That slowed Bilbo down. But at last the slope stopped, the passage turned a corner, and dipped down again, and there, at the bottom of a ####-short incline, he saw, filtering round another corner-a glimpse of light. Not red light, as of fire or lantern, but a pale out-of-doors sort of light. Then Bilbo began to run. Scuttling as fast as his legs would carry him he turned the last corner and came suddenly right into an open space, where the light, after all that time in the dark, seemed dazzlingly bright. Really it was only a leak of sunshine in through a doorway, where a great door, a stone door, was left standing open. Bilbo blinked, and then suddenly he saw the goblins: goblins in full armour with drawn swords sitting just inside the door, and watching it with wide eyes, and watching the passage that led to it. They were aroused, alert, ready for anything. They saw him sooner than he saw them. Yes, they saw him. Whether it was .an accident, or a last trick of the ring before it took a new master, it was not on his finger. With yells of delight the goblins rushed upon him. A pang of fear and loss, like an echo of Gollum's misery, smote Bilbo, and forgetting even to draw his sword he struck his hands into his pockets. And- there was the ring still, in his left pocket, and it slipped on his finger. The goblins stopped short. They could not see a sign of him. He had vanished. They yelled twice as loud as before, but not so delightedly. "Where is it?" they cried. "Go back up the passage!" some shouted. "This way!" some yelled. "That way!" others yelled. "Look out for the door," bellowed the captain. Whistles blew, armour clashed, swords rattled, goblins cursed and swore and ran hither and thither, falling over one another and getting very angry. There was a terrible outcry, to-do, and disturbance. Bilbo was dreadfully frightened, but he had the sense to understand what had happened and to sneak behind a big barrel which held drink for the goblin-guards, and so get out of the way and avoid being bumped into, trampled to death, or caught by feel. "I must get to the door, I must get to the door!" he kept on saying to himself, but it was a long time before he ventured to try. Then it was like a horrible game of blind-man's buff. The place was full of goblins running about, and the poor little hobbit dodged this way and that, was knocked over by a goblin who could not make out what he had bumped into, scrambled away on all fours, slipped between the legs of the captain just in time, got up, and ran for the door. It was still ajar, but a goblin had pushed it nearly to. Bilbo struggled but he could not move it. He tried to squeeze through the crack. He squeezed and ####-squeezed, and he stuck! It was awful. His buttons had got wedged on the edge of the door and the door-post. He could see outside into the open air: there were a few steps running down into a narrow valley between tall mountains; the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone bright on the outside of the door-but he could not get through. Suddenly one of the goblins inside shouted: "There is a shadow by the door. Something is outside!" Bilbo's heart jumped into his mouth. He gave a terrific squirm. Buttons burst off in all directions. He was through, with a torn coat and waistcoat, leaping down the steps like a goat, while bewildered goblins were still picking up his nice brass buttons on the doorstep. Of course they soon came down after him, hooting and hallooing, and hunting among the trees. But they don't like the sun: it makes their legs wobble and their heads giddy. They could not find Bilbo with the ring on, slipping in and out of the shadow of the trees, running quick and quiet, and keeping out of the sun; so soon they went back grumbling and cursing to guard the door. Bilbo had escaped. ####-

Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire Bilbo had escaped the goblins, but he did not know where he was. He had lost hood, cloak, food, pony, his buttons and his friends. He wandered on and on, till the sun began to sink westwards-behind the mountains. Their shadows fell across Bilbo's path, and he looked back. Then he looked forward and could see before him only ridges and slopes falling towards lowlands and plains glimpsed occasionally between the trees. "Good heavens!" he exclaimed. "I seem to have got right to the other side of the Misty Mountains, right to the edge of the Land Beyond! Where and O where can Gandalf and the dwarves have got to? I only hope to goodness they are not still back there in the power of the goblins!" He still wandered on, out of the little high valley, over its edge, and down the slopes beyond; but all the while a very uncomfortable thought was growing inside him. He wondered whether he ought not, now he had the magic ring, to go back into the horrible, horrible, tunnels and look for his friends. He had just made up his mind that it was his duty, that he must turn back-and very miserable he felt about it-when he heard voices. He stopped and listened. It did not sound like goblins; so he crept forward carefully. He was on a stony path winding downwards with a rocky wall. on the left hand; on the other side the ground sloped away and there were dells below the level of the path overhung with bushes and low trees. In one of these dells under the bushes people were talking. He crept still nearer, and suddenly he saw peering between two big boulders a head with a red hood on: it was Balin doing look-out. He could have clapped and shouted for joy, but he did not. He had still got the ring on, for fear of meeting something unexpected and unpleasant, and he saw that Balin was looking straight at him without noticing him. "I will give them all a surprise," he thought, as he crawled into the bushes at the edge of the dell. Gandalf was arguing with the dwarves. They were discussing all that had happened to them in the tunnels, and wondering and debating what they were to do now. The dwarves were grumbling, and Gandalf was saying that they could not possibly go on with their journey leaving Mr. Baggins in the hands of the goblins, without trying to find out if he was alive or dead, and without trying to rescue him.####-"After all he is my friend," said the wizard, "and not a bad little chap. I feel responsible for him. I wish to goodness you had not lost him." The dwarves wanted to know why he had ever been brought at all, why he could not stick to his friends and come along with them, and why the wizard had not chosen someone with more sense. "He has been more trouble than use so far," said one. "If we have got to' go back now into those abominable tunnels to look for him, then drat him, I say." Gandalf answered angrily: "I brought him, and I don't bring things that are of no use. Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you here to get out of the mess as best you can yourselves. If we can only find him again, you will thank me before all is over. Whatever did you want to go and drop him for, Dori?" "You would have dropped him," said Dori, "if a goblin had suddenly grabbed your leg from behind in the dark, tripped up your feet, and kicked you in the back!" "Then why didn't you pick him up again?" "Good heavens! Can you ask! Goblins fighting and biting in the dark, everybody falling over bodies and hitting one another! You nearly chopped off my head with Glamdring, and Thorin Was stabbing here there and everywhere with Orcrist. All of a sudden you gave one of your blinding flashes, and we saw the goblins running back yelping. You shouted 'follow me everybody!' and everybody ought to have followed. We thought everybody had. There was no time to count, as you know quite well, till we had dashed through the gate-guards, out of the lower door, and helter-skelter down here. And here we are-without the burglar, confusticate him!" "And here's the burglar!" said Bilbo stepping down into the middle of them, and slipping off the ring. Bless me, how they jumped! Then they shouted with surprise and delight. Gandalf was as astonished as any of them, but probably more pleased than all the others. He called to Balin and told him what he thought of a look-out man who let people walk right into them like that without warning. It is a fact that Bilbo's reputation went up a very great deal with the dwarves after this. If they had still doubted that he was really a first-class burglar, in spite of Gandalf's words, they doubted no longer. Balin was the most puzzled of all; but everyone said it was a very clever bit of work. Indeed Bilbo was so pleased with their praise that he just chuckled inside and said nothing whatever about the ring; and when they asked him how he did it, he said: "O, just crept along, you know-very carefully and quietly."####-"Well, it is the first time that even a mouse has crept along carefully and quietly under my very nose and not been spotted," said Balin, "and I take off my hood to you." Which he did. "Balin at your service," said he. "Your servant, Mr. Baggins," said Bilbo. Then they wanted to know all about his adventures after they had lost him, and he sat down and told them everything-except about the finding of the ring ("not just now" he thought). They were particularly interested in the riddle- competition, and shuddered most appreciatively at his description of Gollum. "And then I couldn't think of any other question with him sitting beside me," ended Bilbo; "so I said 'what's in my pocket?' And he couldn't guess in three goes. So I said: 'what about your promise? Show me the way out!' But he came at me to kill me, and I ran, and fell over, and he missed me in the dark. Then I followed him, because I heard him talking to himself. He thought I really knew the way out, and so he was making for it. And then he sat down in the entrance, and I could not get by. So I jumped over him and escaped, and ran down to the gate." "What about guards?" they asked. "Weren't there any?" "O yes! lots of them; but I dodged 'em. I got stuck in the door, which was only open a crack, and I lost lots of buttons," he said sadly looking at his torn clothes. "But I squeezed through all right-and here I am." The dwarves looked at him with quite a new respect, when he talked about dodging guards, jumping over Gollum, and squeezing through, as if it was not very difficult or very alarming. "What did I tell you?" said Gandalf laughing. "Mr. Baggins has more about him than you guess." He gave Bilbo a queer look from under his bushy eyebrows, as he said this, and the hobbit wondered if he guessed at the part of his tale that he had left out. Then he had questions of his own to ask, for if Gandalf had explained it all by now to the dwarves, Bilbo had not heard it. He wanted to know how the wizard had turned up again, and where they had all got to now. The wizard, to tell the truth, never minded explaining his cleverness more than once, so now he had told Bilbo that both he and Elrond had been well aware of the presence of evil goblins in that part of the mountains. But their main gate used to come out on a different pass, one more easy to travel by, so that they often caught people benighted near their gates. Evidently people had given up going that way, and the goblins must have opened their new entrance at the top of the pass the dwarves had taken, quite recently, because it had been found quite safe up to now.####-"I must see if I can't find a more or less decent giant to block it up again," said Gandalf, "or soon there will be no getting over the mountains at all." As soon as Gandalf had heard Bilbo's yell he realized what had happened. In the flash which killed the goblins that were grabbing him he had nipped inside the crack, just as it snapped to. He followed after the drivers and prisoners right to the edge of the great hall, and there he sat down and worked up the best magic he could in the shadows. "A very ticklish business, it was," he said. "Touch and go!" But, of course, Gandalf had made a special study of bewitchments with fire and lights (even the hobbit had never forgotten the magic fireworks at Old Took's midsummer-eve parties, as you remember). The rest we all know - except that Gandalf knew all about the back-door, as the goblins called the lower gate, where Bilbo lost his buttons. As a matter of fact it was well known to anybody who was acquainted with this part of the mountains; but it took a wizard to keep his head in the tunnels and guide them in the right direction. "They made that gate ages ago," he said, "partly for a way of escape, if they needed one; partly as a way out into the lands beyond, where they still come in the dark and do great damage. They guard it always and no one has ever managed to block it up. They will guard it doubly after this," he laughed. All the others laughed too. After all they had lost a good deal, but they had killed the Great Goblin and a great many others besides, and they had all escaped, so they might be said to have had the best of it so far. But the wizard called them to their senses. "We must be getting on at once, now we are a little rested," he said. "They will be out after us in hundreds when night comes on; and already shadows are lengthening. They can smell our footsteps for hours and hours after we have passed. We must be miles on before dusk. There will be a bit of moon, if it keeps fine, and that is lucky. Not that they mind the moon much, but it will give us a little light to steer by." "O yes!" he said in answer to more questions from the hobbit. "You lose track of time inside goblin-tunnels. Today's Thursday, and it was Monday night or Tuesday morning that we were captured. We have gone miles and miles, and come right down through the heart of the mountains, and are now on the other side-quite a short cut. But we are not at the point to which our pass would have brought us; we are too far to the North, and have some awkward country ahead. And we are still pretty high up. Let's get on!" ####-"I am so dreadfully hungry," groaned Bilbo, who was suddenly aware that he had not had a meal since the night before the night before last. Just think of that for a hobbit! His stomach felt all empty and loose and his legs all wobbly, now that the excitement was over. "Can't help it," said Gandalf, "unless you like to go back and ask the goblins nicely to let you have your pony back and your luggage." "No thank you!" said Bilbo. "Very well then, we must just tighten our belts and trudge on - or we shall be made into supper, and that will be much worse than having none ourselves." As they went on Bilbo looked from side to side for something to eat; but the blackberries were still only in flower, and of course there were no nuts, nor even hawthorn-berries. He nibbled a bit of sorrel, and he drank from a small mountain- stream that crossed the path, and he ate three wild strawberries that he found on its bank, but it was not much good. They still went on and on. The rough path disappeared. The bushes, and the long grasses, between the boulders, the patches of rabbit-cropped turf, the thyme and the sage and the marjoram, and the yellow rockroses all vanished, and they found themselves at the top of a wide steep slope of fallen stones, the remains of a landslide. When they began to go down this, rubbish and small pebbles rolled away from their feet; soon larger bits of split stone went clattering down and started other pieces below them slithering and rolling; then lumps of rocks were disturbed and bounded off, crashing down with a dust and a noise. Before long the whole slope above them and below them seemed on the move, and they were sliding away, huddled all together, in a fearful confusion of slipping, rattling, cracking slabs and stones. It was the trees at the bottom that saved them. They slid into the edge of a climbing wood of pines that here stood right up the mountain slope from the deeper darker forests of the valleys below. Some caught hold of the trunks and swung themselves into lower branches, some (like the little hobbit) got behind a tree to shelter from the onslaught of the rocks. Soon the danger was over, the slide had stopped, and the last faint crashes could be heard as the largest of the disturbed stones went bounding and spinning among the bracken and the pine- roots far below. "Well! that has got us on a bit," said Gandalf; "and even goblins tracking us will have a job to come down here quietly."####-"I daresay," grumbled Bombur; "but they won't find it difficult to send stones bouncing down on our heads." The dwarves (and Bilbo) were feeling far from happy, and were rubbing their bruised and damaged legs and feet. "Nonsense! We are going to turn aside here out of the path of the slide. We must be quick! Look at the light!" The sun had long gone behind the mountains. Already the shadows were deepening about them, though far away through the trees and over the black tops of those growing lower down they could still see the evening lights on the plains beyond. They limped along now as fast as they were able down the gentle slopes of a pine forest in a slanting path leading steadily southwards. At times they were pushing through a sea of bracken with tall fronds rising right above the hobbit's head; at times they were marching along quiet as quiet over a floor of pine-needles; and all the while the forest-gloom got heavier and the forest-silence deeper. There was no wind that evening to bring even a sea- sighing into the branches of the trees."Must we go any further?" asked Bilbo, when it was so dark that he could only just see Thorin's beard wagging beside him, and so quiet that he could hear the dwarves' breathing like a loud noise. "My toes are all bruised and bent, and my legs ache, and my stomach is wagging like an empty sack." "A bit further," said Gandalf. After what seemed ages further they came suddenly to an opening where no trees grew. The moon was up and was shining into the clearing. Somehow it struck all of them as not at all a nice place, although there was nothing wrong to see. All of a sudden they heard a howl away down hill, a long shuddering howl. It was answered by another away to the right and a good deal nearer to them; then by another not far away to the left. It was wolves howling at the moon, wolves gathering together! There were no wolves living near Mr. Baggins' hole at home, but he knew that noise. He had had it described to him often enough in tales. One of his elder cousins (on the Took side), who had been a great traveller, used to imitate it to frighten him. To hear it out in the forest under the moon was too much for Bilbo. Even magic rings are not much use against wolves-especially against the evil packs that lived under the shadow of the goblin-infested mountains, over the Edge of the Wild on the borders of the unknown. Wolves of that sort smell keener than goblins, and do not need to see you to catch you!####-"What shall we do, what shall we do!" he cried. "Escaping goblins to be caught by wolves!" he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say 'out of the frying-pan into the fire' in the same sort of uncomfortable situations. "Up the trees quick!" cried Gandalf; and they ran to the trees at the edge of the glade, hunting for those that had branches fairly low, or were slender enough to swarm up. They found them as quick as ever they could, you can guess; and up they went as high as ever they could trust the branches. You would have laughed (from a safe distance), if you had seen the dwarves sitting up in the trees with their beards dangling down, like old gentlemen gone cracked and playing at being boys. Fili and Kili were at the top of a tall larch like an enormous Christmas tree. Dori, Nori, On, Oin, and Gloin were more comfortable in a huge pine with regular branches sticking out at intervals like the spokes of a wheel. Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin were in another. Dwalin and Balin had swarmed up a tall slender fir with few branches and were trying to find a place to sit in the greenery of the topmost boughs. Gandalf, who was a good deal taller than the others, had found a tree into which they could not climb, a large pine standing at the very edge of the glade. He was quite hidden in its boughs, but you could see his eyes gleaming in the moon as he peeped out. And Bilbo? He could not get into any tree, and was scuttling about from trunk to trunk, like a rabbit that has lost its hole and has a dog after it. "You've left the burglar behind again}" said Nori to Dori looking down. "I can't be always carrying burglars on my back," said Dori, "down tunnels and up trees! What do you think I am? A porter?" "He'll be eaten if we don't 'do something," said Thorin, for there were howls all around them now, getting nearer and nearer. "Dori!" he called, for Dori was lowest down in the easiest tree, "be quick, and give Mr. Baggins a hand up!" Dori was really a decent fellow in spite of his grumbling. Poor Bilbo could not reach his hand even when he climbed down to the bottom branch and hung his arm down as far as ever he could. So Dori actually climbed out of the tree and let Bilbo scramble up and stand on his back. Just at that moment the wolves trotted howling into the clearing. All of a sudden there were hundreds of eyes looking at them. Still Dori did not let Bilbo down. He waited till he had clambered off his shoulders into the branches, and then he jumped for the branches himself. Only just in time! A wolf snapped- at his cloak as he swung up, and nearly got him. In a minute there was a whole pack of them yelping all round the tree and leaping up at the trunk, with eyes blazing and tongues hanging out.####-But even the wild Wargs (for so the evil wolves over the Edge of the Wild were named) cannot climb trees. For a time they were safe. 'Luckily it was warm and not windy. Trees are not very comfortable to sit in for long at any time; but in the cold and the wind, with wolves all round below waiting for you, they can be perfectly miserable places. This glade in the ring of trees was evidently a meeting-place of the wolves. More and more kept coming in. They left guards at the foot of the tree in which Dori and Bilbo were, and then went sniffling about till they had smelt out every tree that had anyone in it. These they guarded too, while all the rest (hundreds and hundreds it seemed) went and sat in a great circle in the glade; and in the middle of the circle was a great grey wolf. He spoke to them in the dreadful language of the Wargs. Gandalf understood it. Bilbo did not, but it sounded terrible to him, and as if all their talk was about cruel and wicked things, as it was. Every now and then all the Wargs in the circle would answer their grey chief all together, and their dreadful clamour almost made the hobbit fall out of his pine-tree. I will tell you what Gandalf heard, though Bilbo did not understand it. The Wargs and the goblins often helped one another in wicked deeds. Goblins do not usually venture very far from their mountains, unless they are driven out and are looking for new homes, or are marching to war (which I am glad to say has not happened for a long while). But in those days they sometimes used to go on raids, especially to get food or slaves to work for them. Then they often got the Wargs to help and shared the plunder with them. Sometimes they rode on wolves like men do on horses. Now it seemed that a great goblin-raid had been planned for that very night. The Wargs had come to meet the goblins and the goblins were late. The reason, no doubt, was the death of the Great Goblin, and all the excitement caused by the dwarves and Bilbo and the wizard, for whom they were probably still hunting. In spite of the dangers of this far land bold men had of late been making their way back into it from the South, cutting down trees, and building themselves places to live in among the more pleasant woods in the valleys and along the river- shores. There were many of them, and they were brave and well-armed, and even the Wargs dared not attack them if there were many together, or in the bright day. But now they had planned with the goblins' help to come by night upon some of the villages nearest the mountains. If their plan had been carried out, there would have been none left there next day; all would have been killed except the few the goblins kept from the wolves and carried back as prisoners to their caves.####-This was dreadful talk to listen to, not only because of the brave woodmen and their wives and children, but also because of the danger which now threatened Gandalf and his friends. The Wargs were angry and puzzled at finding them here in their very meeting-place. They thought they were friends of the woodmen, and were come to spy on them, and would take news of their plans down into the valleys, and then the goblins and the wolves would have to fight a terrible battle instead of capturing prisoners and devouring people waked suddenly from their sleep. So the Wargs had no intention of going away and letting the people up the trees escape, at any rate not until morning. And long before that, they said, goblin soldiers would be coming down from the mountains; and goblins can climb trees, or cut them down. Now you can understand why Gandalf, listening to their growling and yelping, began to be dreadfully afraid, wizard though he was, and to feel that they were in a very bad place, and had not yet escaped at all. All the same he was not going to let them have it all their own way, though he could not do very much stuck up in a tall tree with wolves all round on the ground below. He gathered the huge pinecones from the branches of his tree. Then he set one alight with bright blue fire, and threw it whizzing down among the circle of the wolves. It struck one on the back, and immediately his shaggy coat caught fire, and he was leaping to and fro yelping horribly. Then another came and another, one in blue flames, one in red, another in green. They burst on the ground in the middle of the circle and went off in coloured sparks and smoke. A specially large one hit the chief wolf on the nose, and he leaped in the air ten feet, and then rushed round and round the circle biting and snapping even at the other wolves in his anger and fright. The dwarves and Bilbo shouted and cheered. The rage of the wolves was terrible to see, and the commotion they made filled all the forest. Wolves are afraid of fire at all times, but this was a most horrible and uncanny fire. If a spark got in their coats it stuck and burned into them, and unless they rolled over quick they were soon all in flames. Very soon all about the glade wolves were rolling over and over to put out the sparks on their backs, while those that were burning were running about howling and setting others alight, till their own friends chased them away and they fled off down the slopes crying and yammering and looking for water."What's all this uproar in the forest tonight?" said the Lord of the Eagles. He was sitting, black in the moonlight, on the top of a lonely pinnacle of rock at the ####-eastern edge of the mountains. "I hear wolves' voices! Are the goblins at mischief in the woods?" He swept up into the air, and immediately two of his guards from the rocks at either hand leaped up to follow him. They circled up in the sky and looked down upon the ring of the Wargs, a tiny spot far far below. But eagles have keen eyes and can see small things at a great distance. The lord of the eagles of the Misty Mountains had eyes that could look at the sun unblinking, and could see a rabbit moving on the ground a mile below even in the moonlight. So though he could not see the people in the trees, he could make out the commotion among the wolves and see the tiny flashes of fire, and hear the howling and yelping come up faint from far beneath him. Also he could see the glint of the moon on goblin spears and helmets, as long lines of the wicked folk crept down the hillsides from their gate and wound into the wood. Eagles are not kindly birds. Some are cowardly and cruel. But the ancient race of the northern mountains were the greatest of all birds; they were proud and strong and noble-hearted. They did not love goblins, or fear them. When they took any notice of them at all (which was seldom, for they did not eat such creatures ), they swooped on them and drove them shrieking back to their caves, and stopped whatever wickedness they were doing. The goblins hated the eagles and feared them, but could not reach their lofty seats, or drive them from the mountains. Tonight the Lord of the Eagles was filled with curiosity to know what was afoot; so he summoned many other eagles to him, and they flew away from the mountains, and slowly circling ever round and round they came down, down, down towards the ring of the wolves and the meeting-place of the goblins. A very good thing too! Dreadful things had been going on down there. The wolves that had caught fire and fled into the forest had set it alight in several places. It was high summer, and on this eastern side of the mountains there had been little rain for some time. Yellowing bracken, fallen branches, deep-piled pine- needles, and here and there dead trees, were soon in flames. All round the clearing of the Wargs fire was leaping. But the wolf-guards did not leave the trees. Maddened and angry they were leaping and howling round the trunks, and cursing the dwarves in their horrible language, with their tongues hanging out, and their eyes shining as red and fierce as the flames. Then suddenly goblins came running up yelling. They thought a battle with the woodmen was going on; but they goon learned what had really happened. Some of them actually sat down and laughed. Others waved their spears and ####-clashed the shafts against their shields. Goblins are not afraid of fire, and they soon had a plan which seemed to them most amusing. Some got all the wolves together in a pack. Some stacked fern and brushwood round the tree-trunks. Others rushed round and stamped and beat, and beat and stamped, until nearly all the flames were put out-but they did not put out the fire nearest to the trees where the dwarves were. That fire they fed with leaves and dead branches and bracken. Soon they had a ring of smoke and flame all round the dwarves, a ring which they kept from spreading outwards; but it closed slowly in, till the running fire was licking the fuel piled under the trees. Smoke was in Bilbo's eyes, he could feel the heat of the flames; and through the reek he could see the goblins dancing round and round in a circle like people round a midsummer bonfire. Outside the ring of dancing warriors with spears and axes stood the wolves at a respectful distance, watching and waiting. He could hear the goblins beginning a horrible song: Fifteen birds in five firtrees, their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze! But, funny little birds, they had no wings! O what shall we do with the funny little things? Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot; fry them, boil them and eat them hot? Then they stopped and shouted out: "Fly away little birds! Fly away if you can! Come down little birds, or you will get roasted in your nests! Sing, sing little birds! Why don't you sing?" "Go away! little boys!" shouted Gandalf in answer. "It isn't bird-nesting time. Also naughty little boys that play with fire get punished." He said it to make them angry, and to show them he was not frightened of them-though of course he was, wizard though he was. But they took no notice, and they went on singing. Burn, burn tree and fern! Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch To light the night for our delight, Ya hey! Bake and toast 'em, fry and roast 'em till beards blaze, and eyes glaze; till hair smells and skins crack, fat melts, and bones black ####-in cinders lie beneath the sky! So dwarves shall die, and light the night for our delight, Ya hey! Ya-harri-heyl Ya hoy! And with that Ya hoy! the flames were under Gandalf’s tree. In a moment it spread to the others. The bark caught fire, the lower branches cracked. Then Gandalf climbed to the top of his tree. The sudden splendour flashed from his wand like lightning, as he got ready to spring down from on high right among the spears of the goblins. That would have been the end of him, though he would probably have killed many of them as he came hurtling down like a thunderbolt. But he never leaped. Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles swept down from above, seized him in his talons, and was gone. There was a howl of anger and surprise from the goblins. Loud cried the Lord of the Eagles, to whom Gandalf had now spoken. Back swept the great birds that were with him, and down they came like huge black shadows. The wolves yammered and gnashed their teeth; the goblins yelled and stamped with rage, and flung their heavy spears in the air in vain. Over them swooped the eagles; the dark rush of their beating wings smote them to the floor or drove them far away; their talons tore at goblin faces. Other birds flew to the tree-tops and seized the dwarves, who were scrambling up now as far as ever they dared to go. Poor little Bilbo was very nearly left behind again! He just managed to catch hold of Dori's legs, as Dori was borne off last of all; and they went together above the tumult and the burning, Bilbo swinging in the air with his arms nearly breaking. Now far below the goblins and the wolves were scattering far and wide in the woods. A few eagles were still circling and sweeping above the battle-ground. The flames about the trees sprang suddenly up above the highest branches. They went up in crackling fire. There was a sudden flurry of sparks and smoke. Bilbo had escaped only just in time! Soon the light of the burning was faint below, a red twinkle on the black floor; and they were high up in the sky, rising all the time in strong sweeping circles.####-Bilbo never forgot that flight, clinging onto Dori's ankles. He moaned "my arms, my arms!"; but Dori groaned "my poor legs, my poor legs!" At the best of times heights made Bilbo giddy. He used to turn queer if he looked over the edge of quite a little cliff; and he had never liked ladders, let alone trees (never having had to escape from wolves before). So you can imagine how his head swam now, when he looked down between his dangling toes and saw the dark lands opening wide underneath him, touched here and there with the light of the moon on a hill-side rock or a stream in the plains. The pale peaks of the mountains were coming nearer, moonlit spikes of rock sticking out of black shadows. Summer or not, it seemed very cold. He shut his eyes and wondered if he could hold on any longer. Then he imagined what would happen if he did not. He felt sick. The flight ended only just in time for him, just before his arms gave way. He loosed Dori's ankles with a gasp and fell onto the rough platform of an eagle's eyrie. There he lay without speaking, and his thoughts were a mixture of surprise at being saved from the fire, and fear lest he fell off that narrow place into the deep shadows on either side. He was feeling very queer indeed in his head by this time after the dreadful adventures of the last three days with next to nothing to eat, and he found himself saying aloud: "Now I know what a piece of bacon feels like when it is suddenly picked out of the pan on a fork and put back on the shelf!" "No you don't!" be heard Dori answering, "because the bacon knows that it will get back in the pan sooner or later; and it is to be hoped we shan't. Also eagles aren't forks!" "O no! Not a bit like storks-forks, I mean," said Bilbo sitting up and looking anxiously at the eagle who was perched close by. He wondered what other nonsense he had been saying, and if the eagle would think it rude. You ought not to be rude to an eagle, when you are only the size of a hobbit, and are up in his eyrie at night! The eagle only sharpened his beak on a stone and trimmed his feathers and took no notice. Soon another eagle flew up. "The Lord of the Eagles bids you to bring your prisoners to the Great Shelf," he cried and was off again. The other seized Dori in his claws and flew away with him into the night leaving Bilbo all alone. He had just strength to wonder what the messenger had meant by 'prisoners,' and to begin to think of being torn up for supper like a rabbit, when his own turn came. The eagle came back, seized him in his talons by the back of his coat, and swooped off. This time he flew only a short way. Very soon Bilbo was laid down, trembling ####-with fear, on a wide shelf of rock on the mountain-side. There was no path down on to it save by flying; and no path down off it except by jumping over a precipice. There he found all the others sitting with their backs to the mountain wall. The Lord of the Eagles also was there and was speaking to Gandalf. It seemed that Bilbo was not going to be eaten after all. The wizard and the eagle-lord appeared to know one another slightly, and even to be on friendly terms. As a matter of fact Gandalf, who had often been in the mountains, had once rendered a service to the eagles and healed their lord from an arrow-wound. So you see 'prisoners' had meant 'prisoners rescued from the goblins' only, and not captives of the eagles. As Bilbo listened to the talk of Gandalf he realized that at last they were going to escape really and truly from the dreadful mountains. He was discussing plans with the Great Eagle for carrying the dwarves and himself and Bilbo far away and setting them down well on their journey across the plains below. The Lord of the Eagles would not take them anywhere near where men lived. "They would shoot at us with their great bows of yew," he said, "for they would think we were after their sheep. And at other times they would be right. No! we are glad to cheat the goblins of their sport, and glad to repay our thanks to you, but we will not risk ourselves for dwarves in the southward plains." "Very well," said Gandalf. "Take us where and as far as you will! We are already deeply obliged to you. But in the meantime we are famished with hunger." "I am nearly dead of it," said Bilbo in a weak little voice that nobody heard. "That can perhaps be mended," said the Lord of the Eagles. Later on you might have seen a bright fire on the shelf of rock and the figures of the dwarves round it cooking and making a fine roasting smell. The eagles had brought up dry boughs for fuel, and they had brought rabbits, hares, and a small sheep. The dwarves managed all the preparations. Bilbo was too weak to help, and anyway he was not much good at skinning rabbits or cutting up meat, being used to having it delivered by the butcher all ready to cook. Gandalf, too, was lying down after doing his part in setting the fire going, since Oin and Gloin had lost their tinder-boxes. (Dwarves have never taken to matches even yet.) So ended the adventures of the Misty Mountains. Soon Bilbo's stomach was feeling full and comfortable again, and he felt he could sleep contentedly, though really he would have liked a loaf and butter better than bits of meat toasted on sticks. He slept curled up on the hard rock more soundly than ever he had done on his feather-bed in his own little hole at home. But all night he dreamed of his own ####-house and wandered in his sleep into all his different rooms looking for something that he could not find nor remember what it looked like. ####-

Queer Lodgings The next morning Bilbo woke up with the early sun in his eyes. He jumped up to look at the time and to go and put his kettle on-and found he was not home at all. So he sat down and wished in vain for a wash and a brush. He did not get either, nor tea nor toast nor bacon for his breakfast, only cold mutton and rabbit. And after that he had to get ready for a fresh start. This time he was allowed to climb on to an eagle's back and cling between his wings. The air rushed over him and he shut his eyes. The dwarves were crying farewells and promising to repay the lord of the eagles if ever they could, as off rose fifteen great birds from the mountain's side. The sun was still close to the eastern edge of things. The morning was cool, and mists were in the valleys and hollows and twined here and there about the peaks and pinnacles of the hills. Bilbo opened an eye to peep and saw that the birds were already high up and the world was far away, and the mountains were falling back behind them into the distance. He shut his eyes again and held on tighter. "Don't pinch!" said his eagle. "You need not be frightened like a rabbit, even if you look rather like one. It is a fair morning with little wind. What is finer than flying?" Bilbo would have liked to say: "A warm bath and late breakfast on the lawn afterwards;" but he thought it better to say nothing at all, and to let go his clutch just a tiny bit. After a good while the eagles must have seen the point they were making for, 'even from their great height, for they began to go down circling round in great spirals. They did this for a long while, and at last the hobbit opened his eyes again. The earth was much nearer, and below them were trees that looked like oaks and elms, and wide grass lands, and a river running through it all. But cropping out of the ground, right in the path of the stream which looped itself about it, was a great rock, almost a hill of stone, like a last outpost of the distant mountains, or a huge piece cast miles into the plain by some giant among giants. Quickly now to the top of this rock the eagles swooped one by one and set down their passengers. "Farewell!" they cried, "wherever you fare, till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That is the polite thing to say among eagles.####-"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply. And so they parted. And though the lord of the eagles became in after days the King of All Birds and wore a golden crown, and his fifteen chieftains golden collars (made of the gold that the dwarves gave them), Bilbo never saw them again-except high and far off in the battle of Five Armies. But as that comes in at the end of this tale we will say no more about it just now. There was a flat space on the top of the hill of stone and a well worn path with many steps leading down it to the river, across which a ford of huge flat stones led to the grass-land beyond the stream. There was a little cave (a wholesome one with a pebbly floor) at the foot of the steps and near the end of the stony ford. Here the party gathered and discussed what was to be done. "I always meant to see you all safe (if possible) over the mountains," said the wizard, "and now by good management and good luck I have done it. Indeed we are now a good deal further east than I ever meant to come with you, for after all this is not my adventure. I may look in on it again before it is all over, but in the meanwhile I have some other pressing business to attend to." The dwarves groaned and looked most distressed, and Bilbo wept. They had begun to think Gandalf was going in come all the way and would always be there to help them out of difficulties. "I am not going to disappear this very instant," said he. "I can give you a day or two more. Probably I can help you out of your present plight, and I need a little help myself. We have no food, and no baggage, and no ponies to ride; and you don't know where you are. Now I can tell you that. You are still some miles north of the path which we should have been following, if we had not left the mountain pass in a hurry. Very few people live in these parts, unless they have come here since I was last down this way, which is some years ago. But there is somebody that I know of, who lives not far away. That Somebody made the steps on the great rock-the Carrock I believe he calls it. He does not come here often, certainly not in the daytime, and it is no good waiting for him. In fact it would be very dangerous. We must go and find him; and if all goes well at our meeting, I think I shall be off and wish you like the eagles 'farewell wherever you fare!' " They begged him not to leave them. They offered him dragon-gold and silver and jewels, but he would not change his mind. "We shall see, we shall see!" he said, "and I think I have earned already some of your dragon-gold - when you have got it."####- After that they stopped pleading. Then they took off their clothes and bathed in the river, which was shallow and clear and stony at the ford. When they had dried in the sun, which was now strong and warm, they were refreshed, if still sore and a little hungry. Soon they crossed the ford (carrying the hobbit), and then began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the wide-armed oaks and the tall elms. "And why is it called the Carrock?" asked Bilbo as he went along at the wizard's side. "He called it the Carrock, because carrock is his word for it. He calls things like that carrocks, and this one is the Carrock because it is the only one near his home and he knows it well." "Who calls it? Who knows it?" "The Somebody I spoke of-a very great person. You must all be very polite when I introduce you. I shall introduce you slowly, two by two, I think; and you must be careful not to annoy him, or heaven knows what will happen. He can be appalling when he is angry, though he is kind enough if humoured. Still I warn you he gets angry easily." The dwarves all gathered round when they heard the wizard talking like this to Bilbo. "Is that the person you are taking us to now?" they asked. "Couldn't you find someone more easy-tempered? Hadn't you better explain it all a bit clearer?"- and so on. "Yes it certainly is! No I could not! And I was explaining very carefully," answered the wizard crossly. "If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer." "What! a furrier, a man that calls rabbits conies, when he doesn't turn their skins into squirrels?" asked Bilbo. "Good gracious heavens, no, no, NO, NO!" said Gandalf. "Don't be a fool Mr. Baggins if you can help it; and in the name of all wonder don't mention the word furrier again as long as you are within a hundred miles of his house, nor, rug, cape, tippet, muff, nor any other such unfortunate word! He is a skin-changer. He changes his skin; sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. I cannot tell you much more, though that ought to be enough. Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the ####-goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale. He is not the sort of person to ask questions of. "At any rate he is under no enchantment but his own. He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses which are nearly is marvellous as himself. They work for him and talk to him. He does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey. As a bear he ranges far and wide. I once saw him sitting all alone on the top of the Carrock at night watching the moon sinking towards the Misty Mountains, and I heard him growl in the tongue of bears; 'The day will come when they will perish and I shall go back!' That is why I believe he once came from the mountains himself." Bilbo and the dwarves had now plenty to think about, and they asked no more questions. They still had a long way to walk before them. Up slope and down dale they plodded. It grew very hot. Sometimes they rested under the trees, and then Bilbo felt so hungry that he would have eaten acorns, if any had been ripe enough yet to have fallen to the ground. It was the middle of the afternoon before they noticed that great patches of flowers had begun to spring up, all the same kinds growing together as if they had been planted. Especially there was clover, waving patches of cockscomb clover, and purple clover, and wide stretches of short white sweet honey-smelling clover. There was a buzzing and a whirring and a droning in the air. Bees were busy everywhere. And such bees! Bilbo had never seen anything like them. "If one was to sting me," he thought, "I should swell up as big again as I am!" They were bigger than hornets. The drones were bigger than your thumb, a good deal, and the bands of yellow on their deep black bodies shone like fiery gold. "We are getting near," said Gandalf. "We are on the edge of his bee-pastures." After a while they came to a belt of tall and very ancient oaks, and beyond these to a high thorn-hedge through which you could neither see nor scramble. "You had better wait here," said the wizard to the dwarves; "and when I call or whistle begin to come after me — you will see the way I go-but only in pairs, mind, about five minutes between each pair of you. Bombur is fattest and will do for two, he had better come alone and last. Come on Mr. Baggins! There is a gate somewhere round this way." And with that he went off along the hedge taking the frightened hobbit with him.####-They soon came to a wooden gate, high and broad, beyond which they could see gardens and a cluster of low wooden buildings, some thatched and made of unshaped logs; barns, stables, sheds, and a long low wooden house. Inside on the southward side of the great hedge were rows and rows of hives with bell-shaped tops made of straw. The noise of the giant bees flying to and fro and crawling in and out filled all the air. The wizard and the hobbit pushed open the heavy creaking gate and went down a wide track towards the house. Some horses, very sleek and well-groomed, trotted up across the grass and looked at them intently with very intelligent faces; then off they galloped to the buildings. "They have gone to tell him of the arrival of strangers," said Gandalf. Soon they reached a courtyard, three walls of which were formed by the wooden house and its two long wings. In the middle there was lying a great oak- trunk with many lopped branches beside it. Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and' hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe. The horses were standing by him with their noses at his shoulder. "Ugh! here they are!" he said to the horses. "They don't look dangerous. You can be off!" He laughed a great rolling laugh, put down his axe and came forward. "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked gruffly, standing in front of them and towering tall above Gandalf. As for Bilbo he could easily have trotted through his legs without ducking his head to miss the fringe of the man's brown tunic. "I am Gandalf," said the wizard. "Never heard of him," growled the man, "And what's this little fellow?" he said, stooping down to frown at the hobbit with his bushy eyebrows. "That is Mr. Baggins, a hobbit of good family and unimpeachable reputation," said Gandalf. Bilbo bowed. He had no hat to take off, and was painfully conscious of his many missing buttons. "I am a wizard," continued Gandalf. "I have heard of you, if you have not heard of me; but perhaps you have heard of my good cousin Radagast who lives near the Southern borders of Mirkwood?" "Yes; not a bad fellow as wizards go, I believe. I used to see him now and again," said Beorn. "Well, now I know who you are, or who you say you are. What do you want?" "To tell you the truth, we have lost our luggage and nearly lost our way, and are rather in need of help, or at least advice. I may say we have had rather a bad time with goblins in the mountains."####-"Goblins?" said the big man less gruffly. "O ho, so you've been having trouble with them have you? What did you go near them for?" "We did not mean to. They surprised us at night in a pass which we had to cross, we were coming out of the Lands over West into these countries-it is a long tale." "Then you had better come inside and tell me some of it, if it won't take all day," said the man leading the way through a dark door that opened out of the courtyard into the house. Following him they found themselves in a wide hall with a fire-place in the middle. Though it was summer there was a wood-fire burning and the smoke was rising to the blackened rafters in search of the way out through an opening in the roof. They passed through this dim hall, lit only by the fire and the hole above it, and came through another smaller door into a sort of veranda propped on wooden posts made of single tree-trunks. It faced south and was still warm and filled with the light of the westering sun which slanted into it, and fell golden on the garden full of flowers that came right up to the steps. Here they sat on wooden benches while Gandalf began his tale, and Bilbo swung his dangling legs and looked at the flowers in the garden, wondering what their names could be, as he had never seen half of them before. "I was coming over the mountains with a friend or two…" said the wizard. "Or two? I can only see one, and a little one at that," said Beorn. "Well to tell you the truth, I did not like to bother you with a lot of us, until I found out if you were busy. I will give a call, if I may." "Go on, call away!" So Gandalf gave a long shrill whistle, and presently Thorin and Dori came round the house by the garden path and stood bowing low before them. "One or three you meant, I see!" said Beorn. "But these aren't hobbits, they are dwarves!" "Thorin Oakenshield, at your service! Dori at your service!" said the two dwarves bowing again. "I don't need your service, thank you," said Beorn, "but I expect you need mine. I am not over fond of dwarves; but if it is true you are Thorin (son of Thrain, son of Thror, I believe), and that your companion is respectable, and that you are enemies of goblins and are not up to any mischief in my lands-what are you up to, by the way?" "They are on their way to visit the land of their fathers, away east beyond Mirkwood," put in Gandalf, "and it is entirely an accident that we are in your ####-lands at all. We were crossing by the High Pass that should have brought us to the road that lies to the south of your country, when we were attacked by the evil goblins-as I was about to tell you." "Go on telling, then!" said Beorn, who was never very polite. "There was a terrible storm; the stone-giants were out hurling rocks, and at the head of the pass we took refuge in a cave, the hob bit and I and several of our companions…" "Do you call two several?" "Well, no. As a matter of fact there were more than two." "Where are they? Killed, eaten, gone home?" "Well, no. They don't seem all to have come when I whistled. Shy, I expect. You see, we are very much afraid that we are rather a lot for you to entertain." "Go on, whistle again! I am in for a party, it seems, and one or two more won't make much difference," growled Beorn. Gandalf whistled again; but Nori and Ori were there almost before he had stopped, for, if you remember, Gandalf had told them to come in pairs every five minutes. "Hullo!" said Beorn. "You came pretty quick-where were you hiding? Come on my jack-in-the-boxes!" "Nori at your service, Ori at . . ." they began; but Beorn interrupted them. "Thank you! When I want your help I will ask for it. Sit down, and let's get on with this tale, or it will be supper-time before it is ended." "As soon as we were asleep," went on Gandalf, "a crack at the back of the cave opened; goblins came out and grabbed the hobbit and the dwarves and our troop of ponies—" "Troop of ponies? What were you-a travelling circus? Or were you carrying lots of goods? Or do you always call six a troop?" "O no! As a matter of fact there were more than six ponies, for there were more than six of us-and well, here are two more!" Just at that moment Balin and Dwalin appeared and bowed so low that their beards swept the stone floor. The big man was frowning at first, but they did their very best to be frightfully polite, and kept on nodding and bending and bowing and waving their hoods before their knees (in proper dwarf-fashion), till he stopped frowning and burst into a chuckling laugh; they looked so comical. "Troop, was right," he said. "A fine comic one. Come in my merry men, and what are your names? I don't want your service just now, only your names; and then sit down and stop wagging!"####-"Balin and Dwalin," they said not daring to be offended, and sat flop on the floor looking rather surprised. "Now go on again!" said Beorn to the wizard. "Where was 1? O yes— I was not grabbed. I killed a goblin or two with a flash—" "Good!" growled Beorn. "It is some good being a wizard, then." "—and slipped inside the crack before it closed. I followed down into the main hall, which was crowded with goblins. The Great Goblin was there with thirty or forty armed guards. I thought to myself 'even if they were not all chained together, what can a dozen do against so many?' " "A dozen! That's the first time I've heard eight called a dozen. Or have you still got some more jacks that haven't yet come out of their boxes?" "Well, yes, there seem to be a couple more here now – Fili and Kili, I believe," said Gandalf, as these two now appeared and stood smiling and bowing. "That's enough!" said Beorn. "Sit down and be quiet! Now go on, Gandalf!" So Gandalf went on with the tale, until he came to the fight in the dark, the discovery of the lower gate, and their horror when they found that Mr. Baggins had been mislaid. "We counted ourselves and found that there was no hobbit. There were only fourteen of us left!" "Fourteen! That's the first time I've heard one from ten leave fourteen. You mean nine, or else you haven't told me yet all the names of your party." "Well, of course you haven't seen Oin and Gloin yet. And, bless me! here they are. I hope you will forgive them for bothering you." "O let 'em all come! Hurry up! Come along, you two, and sit down! But look here, Gandalf, even now we have only got yourself and ten dwarves and the hobbit that was lost. That only makes eleven (plus one mislaid) and not fourteen, unless wizards count differently to other people. But now please get on with the tale." Beorn did not show it more than he could help, but really he had begun to get very interested. You see, in the old days he had known the very part of the mountains that Gandalf was describing. He nodded and he growled, when he heard of the hobbit's reappearance and of their scramble down the stone-slide and of the wolf- ring m the woods. When Gandalf came to their climbing into trees with the wolves all underneath, he got up and strode about and muttered: "I wish I had been there! I would have given them more than fireworks!" "Well," said Gandalf very glad to see that his tale was making a good impression, "I did the best I could. There we were with the wolves going mad ####-underneath us and the forest beginning to blaze in places, when the goblins came down from the hills and discovered us. They yelled with delight and sang songs making fun of us. Fifteen birds in five fir-trees…" "Good heavens!" growled Beorn. "Don't pretend that goblins can't count. They can. Twelve isn't fifteen and they know it." "And so do 1. There were Bifur and Bofur as well. I haven't ventured to introduce them before, but here they are." In came Bifur and Bofur. "And me!" gasped Bombur pulling up behind. He was fat, and also angry at being left till last. He refused to wait five minutes, and followed immediately after the other two. "Well, now there are fifteen of you; and since goblins can count, I suppose that is all that there were up the trees. Now perhaps we can finish this story without any more interruptions." Mr. Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been. The interruptions had really made Beorn more interested in the story, and the story had kept him from sending the dwarves off at once like suspicious beggars. He never invited people into his house, if he could help it. He had very few friends and they lived a good way away; and he never invited more than a couple of these to his house at a time. Now he had got fifteen strangers sitting in his porch! By the time the wizard had finished his tale and had told of the eagles' rescue and of how they had all been brought to the Carrock, the sun had fallen behind the peaks of the Misty Mountains and the shadows were long in Beorn's garden. "A very good tale!" said he. "The best I have heard for a long while. If all beggars could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder. You may be making it all up, of course, but you deserve a supper for the story all the same. Let's have something to eat!" "Yes, please!" they all said together. "Thank you very much!" Inside the hall it was now quite dark. Beorn clapped his hands, and in trotted four beautiful white ponies and several large long-bodied grey dogs. Beorn said something to them in a queer language like animal noises turned into talk. They went out again and soon came back carrying torches in their mouths, which they lit at the fire and stuck in low brackets on the pillars of the hall about the central hearth. The dogs could stand on their hind-legs when they wished, and carry things with their fore-feet. Quickly they got out boards and trestles from the side walls and set them up near the fire. Then baa-baa-baa! was heard, and in came some snow-white sheep led by a large coal-black ram. One bore a white cloth embroidered at the edges with ####-figures of animals; others bore on their broad backs trays with bowls and platters and knives and wooden spoons, which the dogs took and quickly laid on the trestle tables. These were very low, low enough even for Bilbo to sit at comfortably. Beside them a pony pushed two low-seated benches with wide rush-bottoms and little short thick legs for Gandalf and Thorin, while at the far end he put Beorn's big black chair of the same sort (in which he sat with his great legs stuck far out under the table). These were all the chairs he had in his hall, and he probably had them low like the tables for the convenience of the wonderful animals that waited on him. What did the rest sit on? They were not forgotten. The other ponies came in rolling round drum-shaped sections of logs, smoothed and polished, and low enough even for Bilbo; so soon they were all seated at Beorn's table, and the hall had not seen such a gathering for many a year. There they had a supper, or a dinner, such as they had not had since they left the Last Homely House in the West and said good-bye to Elrond. The light of the torches and the fire flickered about them, and on the table were two tall red beeswax candles. All the time they ate, Beorn in his deep rolling voice told tales of the wild lands on this side of the mountains, and especially of the dark and dangerous wood, that lay outstretched far to North and South a day's ride before them, barring their way to the East, the terrible forest of Mirkwood. The dwarves listened and shook their beards, for they knew that they must soon venture into that forest and that after the mountains it was the worst of the perils they had to pass before they came to the dragon's stronghold. When dinner was over they began to tell tales of their own, but Beorn seemed to be growing drowsy and paid little heed to them. They spoke most of gold and silver and jewels and the making of things by smith-craft, and Beorn did not appear to care for such things: there were no things of gold or silver in his hall, and few save the knives were made of metal at all. They sat long at the table with their wooden drinking-bowls filled with mead. The dark night came on outside. The fires in the middle of the hall were built with fresh logs and the torches were put out, and still they sat in the light of the dancing flames with the pillars of the house standing tall behind them, arid dark at the top like trees of the forest. Whether it was magic or not, it seemed to Bilbo that he heard a sound like wind in the branches stirring in the rafters, and the hoot of owls. Soon he began to nod with sleep and the voices seemed to grow far away, until he woke with a start. The great door had creaked and slammed. Beorn was gone. The dwarves were sitting cross-legged on the floor round the fire, and presently they began to sing.####-Some of the verses were like this, but there were many more, and their singing went on for a long while: ####-The wind was on the withered heath, but in the forest stirred no leaf: there shadows lay by night and day, and dark things silent crept beneath. The wind came down from mountains cold, and like a tide it roared and rolled; the branches groaned, the forest moaned, and leaves were laid upon the mould. The wind went on from West to East ; all movement in the forest ceased, but shrill and harsh across the marsh its whistling voices were released. The grasses hissed, their tassels bent, the reeds were rattling-on it went o' er shaken pool under heavens cool where racing clouds were torn and rent. It passed the lonely Mountain bare and swept above the dragon's lair : there black and dark lay boulders stark and flying smoke was in the air. It left the world and took its flight over the wide seas of the night. The moon set sail upon the gale, and stars were fanned to leaping light. Bilbo began to nod again. Suddenly up stood Gandalf. "It is time for us to sleep," be said, "—for us, but not I think for Beorn. In this hall we can rest sound and safe, but I warn you all not to forget what Beorn said before he left us: you must not stray outside until the sun is up, on your peril." Bilbo found that beds had already been laid at the side of the hall, on a sort of raised platform between the pillars and the outer wall. For him there was a little mattress of straw and woollen blankets. He snuggled into them very gladly, summertime though it was. The fire burned low and he fell asleep. Yet in the night he woke: the fire had now sunk to a few embers; the dwarves and Gandalf were all asleep, to judge by their breathing; a splash of white on the floor came from the high moon, which was peering down through the smoke-hole in the roof.####-There was a growling sound outside, and a noise as of some great animal scuffling at the door. Bilbo .wondered what it was, and whether it could be Beorn in enchanted shape, and if he would come in as a bear and kill them. He dived under the blankets and hid his head, and fell asleep again at last in spite of his fears. It was full morning when he awoke. One of the dwarves had fallen over him in the shadows where he lay, and had rolled down with a bump from the platform on to the floor. It was Bofur, and he was grumbling about it, when Bilbo opened his eyes. "Get up lazybones," he said, "or there will be no breakfast left for you." Up jumped Bilbo. "Breakfast!" he cried. "Where is breakfast?" "Mostly inside us," answered the other dwarves who were moving around the hall; "but what is left is out on the veranda. We have been about looking for Beorn ever since the sun got up; but there is no sign of him anywhere, though we found breakfast laid as soon as we went out." "Where is Gandalf?" asked Bilbo, moving off to find something to eat as quick as he could. "O! out and about somewhere," they told him. But he saw no sign of the wizard all that day until the evening. Just before sunset he walked into the hall, where the hobbit and the dwarves were having supper, waited on by Beorn's wonderful animals, as they had been all day. Of Beorn they had seen and heard nothing since the night before, and they were getting puzzled. "Where is our host, and where have you been all day yourself?" they all cried. "One question at a time-and none till after supper! I haven't had a bite since breakfast." At last Gandalf pushed away his plate and jug — he had eaten two whole loaves (with masses of butter and honey and clotted cream) and drunk at least a quart of mead and he took out his pipe. "I will answer the second question first," he said, "-but bless me! this is a splendid place for smoke rings!" Indeed for a long time they could get nothing more out of him, he was so busy sending smoke-rings dodging round the pillars of the hall, changing them into all sorts of different shapes and colours, and setting them at last chasing one another out of the hole in the roof. They must have looked very queer from outside, popping out into the air one after another, green, blue, red, silver-grey, yellow, white; big ones, little ones; little ones dodging through big ones and joining into figure-eights, and going off like a flock of birds into the distance.####-"I have been picking out bear-tracks," he said at last. "There must have been a regular bears' meeting outside here last night. I soon saw that Beorn could not have made them all: there were far too many of them, and they were of various sizes too. I should say there were little bears, large bears, ordinary bears, and gigantic big bears, all dancing outside from dark to nearly dawn. They came from almost every direction, except from the west over the river, from the Mountains. In that direction only one set of footprints led-none coming, only ones going away from here. I followed these as far as the Carrock. There they disappeared into the river, but the water was too deep and strong beyond the rock for me to cross. It is easy enough, as you remember, to get from this bank to the Carrock by the ford, but on the other side is a cliff standing up from a swirling channel. I had to walk miles before I found a place where the river was wide and shallow enough for me to wade and swim, and then miles back again to pick up the tracks again. By that time it was too late for me to follow them far. They went straight off in the direction of the pine-woods on the east side of the Misty Mountains, where we had our pleasant little party with the Wargs the night before last. And now I think I have answered your first question, too," ended Gandalf, and he sat a long while silent. Bilbo thought he knew what the wizard meant. "What shall we do," he cried, "if he leads all the Wargs and the goblins down here? We shall all be caught and killed! I thought you said he was not 9 friend of theirs." "So I did. And don't be silly! You had better go to bed, your wits are sleepy." The hobbit felt quite crushed, and as there seemed nothing else to do he did go to bed; and while the dwarves were still singing songs he dropped asleep, still puzzling his little head about Beorn, till he dreamed a dream of hundreds of black bears dancing slow heavy dances round and round in the moonlight in the courtyard. Then he woke up when everyone else was asleep, and he heard the same scraping, scuffling, snuffling, and growling as before. Next morning they were all wakened by Beorn himself. "So here you all are still!" he said. He picked up the hobbit and laughed: "Not eaten up by Wargs or goblins or wicked bears yet I see"; and he poked Mr. Baggins' waistcoat most disrespectfully. "Little bunny is getting nice and fat again on bread and honey," he chuckled. "Come and have some more!" So they all went to breakfast with him. Beorn was most jolly for a change; indeed he seemed to be in a splendidly good humour and set them all laughing ####-with his funny stories; nor did they have to wonder long where he had been or why he was so nice to them, for he told them himself. He had been over the river and right back up into the mountains-from which you can guess that he could travel quickly, in bear's shape at any rate. From the burnt wolf-glade he had soon found out that part of their story was true; but he had found more than that: he had caught a Warg and a goblin wandering in the woods. From these he had got news: the goblin patrols were still hunting with Wargs for the dwarves, and they were fiercely angry because of the death of the Great Goblin, and also because of the burning of the chief wolf's nose and the death from the wizard's fire of many of his chief servants. So much they told him when he forced them, but he guessed there was more wickedness than this afoot, and that a great raid of the whole goblin army with their wolf-allies into the lands shadowed by the mountains might soon be made to find the dwarves, or to take vengeance on the men and creatures that lived there, and who they thought must be sheltering them. "It was a good story, that of yours," said Beorn, "but I like it still better now I am sure it is true. You must forgive my not taking your word. If you lived near the edge of Mirkwood, you would take the word of no one that you did not know as well as your brother or better. As it is, I can only say that I have hurried home as fast as I could to see that you were safe, and to offer you any help that I can. I shall think more kindly of dwarves after this. Killed the Great Goblin, killed the Great Goblin!" he chuckled fiercely to himself. "What did you do with the goblin and the Warg?" asked Bilbo suddenly. "Come and see!" said Beorn, and they followed round the house. A goblin's head was stuck outside the gate and a warg-skin was nailed to a tree just beyond. Beorn was a fierce enemy. But now he was their friend, and Gandalf thought it wise to tell him their whole story and the reason of their journey, so that they could get the most help he could offer. This is what he promised to do for them. He would provide ponies for each of them, and a horse for Gandalf, for their journey to the forest, and he would lade them with food to last them for weeks with care, and packed so as to be as easy as possible to carry-nuts, flour, sealed jars of dried fruits, and red earthenware pots of honey, and twice-baked cakes that would keep good a long time, and on a little of which they could march far. The making of these was one of his secrets; but honey was in them, as in most of his foods, and they were good to eat, though they made one thirsty. Water, he said, they would not need to carry this side of the forest, for there were streams and springs along the road. "But your way through Mirkwood is dark, dangerous and difficult," he said. "Water is not easy to find there, nor ####-food. The time is not yet come for nuts (though it may be past and gone indeed before you get to the other side), and nuts are about all that grows there fit for food; in there the wild things are dark, queer, and savage. I will provide you with skins for carrying water, and I will give you some bows and arrows. But I doubt very much whether anything you find in Mirkwood will be wholesome to eat or to drink. There is one stream there, I know, black and strong which crosses the path. That you should neither drink of, nor bathe in; for I have heard that it carries enchantment and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness. And in the dim shadows of that place I don't think you will shoot anything, wholesome or unwholesome, without straying from the path. That you MUST NOT do, for any reason. "That is all the advice I can give you. Beyond the edge of the forest I cannot help you much; you must depend on your luck and your courage and the food I send with you. At the gate of the forest I must ask you to send back my horse and my ponies. But I wish you all speed, and my house is open to you, if ever you come back this way again." They thanked him, of course, with many bows and sweepings of their hoods and with many an "at your service, O master of the wide wooden halls!" But their spirits sank at his grave words, and they all felt that the adventure was far more dangerous than they had thought, while all the time, even if they passed all the perils of the road, the dragon was waiting at the end. All that morning they were busy with preparations. Soon after midday they ate with Beorn for the last time, and after the meal they mounted the steeds he was lending them, and bidding him many farewells they rode off through his gate at a good pace. As soon as they left his high hedges at the east of his fenced lands they turned north and then bore to the north-west. By his advice they were no longer making for the main forest-road to the south of his land. Had they followed the pass, their path would have led them down the stream from the mountains that joined the great river miles south of the Carrock. At that point there was a deep ford which they might have passed, if they had still had their ponies, and beyond that a track led to the skirts of the wood and to the entrance of the old forest road. But Beorn had warned them that that way was now often used by the goblins, while the forest-road itself, he bad heard, was overgrown and disused at the eastern end and led to impassable marshes where the paths had long been lost. Its eastern opening had also always been far to the south of the Lonely Mountain, and would have left them still with a long and difficult northward march when they got to the other side.####-North of the Carrock the edge of Mirkwood drew closer to the borders of the Great River, and though here the Mountains too drew down nearer, Beorn advised them to take this way; for at a place a few days' ride due north of the Carrock was the gate of a little-known pathway through Mirkwood that led almost straight towards the Lonely Mountain. "The goblins," Beorn had said, "will not dare to cross the Great River for a hundred miles north of the Carrock nor to come near my house – it is well protected at night!– but I should ride fast; for if they make their raid soon they will cross the river to the south and scour all the edge of the forest so as to cut you off, and Wargs run swifter than ponies. Still you are safer going north, even though you seem to be going back nearer to their strongholds; for that is what they will least expect, and they will have the longer ride to catch you. Be off now as quick as you may!" That is why they were now riding in silence, galloping wherever the ground was grassy and smooth, with the mountains dark on their left, and in the distance the line of the river with its trees drawing ever closer. The sun had only just turned west when they started, and till evening it lay golden on the land about them. It was difficult to think of pursuing goblins behind, and when they had put many miles between them and Beorn's house they began to talk and to sing again and to forget the dark forest-path that lay in front. But in the evening when the dusk came on and the peaks of the mountains glowered against the sunset they made a camp and set a guard, and most of them slept uneasily with dreams in which there came the howl of hunting wolves and the cries of goblins. Still the next morning dawned bright and fair again. There was an autumn-like mist white upon the ground and the air was chill, but soon the sun rose red in the East and the mists vanished, and while the shadows were still long they were off again. So they rode now for two more days, and all the while they saw nothing save grass and flowers and birds and scattered trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer browsing or sitting at noon in the shade. Sometimes Bilbo saw the horns of the harts sticking up out of the long grass, and at first he thought they were the dead branches of trees. That third evening they were so eager to press on, for Beorn had said that they should reach the forest-gate early on the fourth day, that they rode still forward after dusk and into the night beneath the moon. As the light faded Bilbo thought he saw away to the right, or to the left, the shadowy form of a great bear prowling along in the same direction. But if he dared to mention it to Gandalf, the wizard only said: "Hush! Take no notice!"####-Next day they started before dawn, though their night had been short. As soon as it was light they could see the forest coming as it were to meet them, or waiting for them like a black and frowning wall before them. The land began to slope up and up, and it seemed to the hobbit that a silence began to draw in upon them. Birds began to sing less. There were no more deer; not even rabbits were to be seen. By the afternoon they had reached the eaves of Mirkwood, and were resting almost beneath the great overhanging boughs of its outer trees. Their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, their leaves were dark and long. Ivy grew on them and trailed along the ground. "Well, here is Mirkwood!" said Gandalf. "The greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it. Now you must send back these excellent ponies you have borrowed." The dwarves were inclined to grumble at this, but the wizard told them they were fools. "Beorn is not as far off as you seem to think, and you had better keep your promises anyway, for he is a bad enemy. Mr. Baggins' eyes are sharper than yours, if you have not seen each night after dark a great bear going along with us or sitting far of in the moon watching our camps. Not only to guard you and guide you, but to keep an eye on the ponies too. Beorn may be your friend, but he loves his animals as his children. You do not guess what kindness he has shown you in letting dwarves ride them so far and so fast, nor what would happen to you, if you tried to take them into the forest." "What about the horse, then?" said Thorin. "You don't mention sending that back." "I don't, because I am not sending it." "What about your promise then?" "I will look after that. I am not sending the horse back, I am riding it!" Then they knew that Gandalf was going to leave them at the very edge of Mirkwood, and they were in despair. But nothing they could say would change his mind. "Now we had this all out before, when we landed on the Carrock," he said. "It is no use arguing. I have, as I told you, some pressing business away south; and I am already late through bothering with you people. We may meet again before all is over, and then again of course we may not. That depends on your luck and on your courage and sense; and I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess, and you will find that out before long. So cheer up Bilbo and don't look so glum. Cheer up Thorin and ####-Company! This is your expedition after all. Think of the treasure at the end, and forget the forest and the dragon, at any rate until tomorrow morning!" When tomorrow morning came he still said the same. So now there was nothing left to do but to fill their water-skins at a clear spring they found close to the forest-gate, and unpack the ponies. They distributed the packages as fairly as they could, though Bilbo thought his lot was wearisomely heavy, and did not at all like the idea of trudging for miles and miles with all that on his back. "Don't you worry!" said Thorin. "It will get lighter all too soon. Before long I expect we shall all wish our packs heavier, when the food begins to run short." Then at last they said good-bye to their ponies and turned their heads for home. Off they trotted gaily, seeming very glad to put their tails towards the shadow of Mirkwood. As they went away Bilbo could have sworn that a thing like a bear left the shadow of the trees and shambled off quickly after them. Now Gandalf too said farewell. Bilbo sat on the ground feeling very unhappy and wishing he was beside the wizard on his tall horse. He had gone just inside the forest after breakfast (a very poor one), and it had seemed as dark in there in the morning as at night, and very secret: "a sort of watching and waiting feeling," he said to himself. "Good-bye!" said Gandalf to Thorin. "And good-bye to you all, good-bye! Straight through the forest is your way now. Don't stray off the track!-if you do, it is a thousand to one you will never find it again and never get out of Mirkwood; and then I don't suppose I, or any one else, will ever see you again." "Do we really have to go through?" groaned the hobbit. "Yes, you do!" said the wizard, "if you want to get to the other side. You must either go through or give up your quest. And I am not going to allow you to back out now, Mr. Baggins. I am ashamed of you for thinking of it. You have got to look after all these dwarves for me," he laughed. "No! no!" said Bilbo. "I didn't mean that. I meant, is there no way round?" "There is, if you care to go two hundred miles or so out of your way north, and twice that south. But you wouldn't get a safe path even then. There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go. Before you could get round Mirkwood in the North you would be right among the slopes of the Grey Mountains, and they are simply stiff with goblins, hobgoblins, and rest of the worst description. Before you could get round it in the South, you would get into the land of the Necromancer; and even you. Bilbo, won't need me to tell you tales of that black ####-sorcerer. I don't advise you to go anywhere near the places overlooked by his dark tower! Stick to the forest-track, keep your spirits up, hope for the best, and with a tremendous slice of luck you may come out one day and see the Long Marshes lying below you, and beyond them, high in the East, the Lonely Mountain where dear old Smaug lives, though I hope he is not expecting you." "Very comforting you are to be sure," growled Thorin. "Good-bye! If you won't come with us, you had better get off without any more talk!" "Good-bye then, and really good-bye!" said Gandalf, and he turned his horse and rode down into the West. But he could not resist the temptation to have the last word. Before he had passed quite out of hearing he turned and put his hands to his mouth and called to them. They heard his voice come faintly: "Good-bye! Be good, take care of yourselves-and DON'T LEAVE THE PATH!" Then he galloped away and was soon lost to sight. "O good-bye and go away!" grunted the dwarves, all the more angry because they were really filled with dismay at losing him. Now began the most dangerous part of all the journey. They each shouldered the heavy pack and the water-skin which was their share, and turned from the light that lay on the lands outside and plunged into the forest. ####-

Flies and Spiders They walked in single file. The entrance to the path was like a sort of arch leading into a gloomy tunnel made by two great trees that leant together, too old and strangled with ivy and hung with lichen to bear more than a few blackened leaves. The path itself was narrow and wound in and out among the trunks. Soon the light at the gate was like a little bright hole far behind, and the quiet was so deep that their feet seemed to thump along while all the trees leaned over them and listened. As theft eyes became used to the dimness they could see a little way to either side in a sort of darkened green glimmer. Occasionally a slender beam of sun that had the luck to slip in through some opening in the leaves far above, and still more luck in not being caught in the tangled boughs and matted twigs beneath, stabbed down thin and bright before them. But this was seldom, and it soon ceased altogether. There were black squirrels in the wood. As Bilbo's sharp inquisitive eyes got used to seeing things he could catch glimpses of them whisking off the path and scuttling behind tree-trunks. There were queer noises too, grunts, scufflings, and hurryings in the undergrowth, and among the leaves that lay piled endlessly thick in places on the forest-floor; but what made the noises he could not see. The nastiest things they saw were the cobwebs: dark dense cobwebs with threads extraordinarily thick, often stretched from tree to tree, or tangled in the lower branches on either side of them. There were none stretched across the path, but whether because some magic kept it clear, or for what other reason they could not guess. It was not long before they grew to hate the forest as heartily as they had hated the tunnels of the goblins, and it seemed to offer even less hope of any ending. But they had to go on and on, long after they were sick for a sight of the sun and of the sky, and longed for the feel of wind on their faces. There was no movement of air down under the forest-roof, and it was everlastingly still and dark and stuffy. Even the dwarves felt it, who were used to tunnelling, and lived at times for long whiles without the light of the sun; but the hobbit, who liked holes to make a house in but not to spend summer days in, felt he was being slowly suffocated. The nights were the worst. It then became pitch-dark – not what you call pitch- dark, but really pitch; so black that you really could see nothing. Bilbo tried flapping his hand in front of his nose, but he could not see it at all. Well, perhaps it ####-is not true to say that they could see nothing: they could see eyes. They slept all closely huddled together, and took it in turns to watch; and when it was Bilbo's turn he would see gleams in the darkness round them, and sometimes pairs of yellow or red or green eyes would stare at him from a little distance, and then slowly fade and disappear and slowly shine out again in another place. And sometimes they would gleam down from the branches just above him; and that was most terrifying. But the eyes that he liked the least were horrible pale bulbous sort of eyes. "Insect eyes" he thought, "not animal eyes, only they are much too big." Although it was not yet very cold, they tried lighting watch-fires at night, but they soon gave that up. It seemed to bring hundreds and hundreds of eyes all round them, though the creatures, whatever they were, were careful never to let their bodies show in the little flicker of the flames. Worse still it brought thousands of dark-grey and black moths, some nearly as big as your hand, flapping and whirring round their ears. They could not stand that, nor the huge bats, black as a top-hat, either; so they gave up fires and sat at night and dozed in the enormous uncanny darkness. All this went on for what seemed to the hobbit ages upon ages; and he was always hungry, for they were extremely careful with their provisions. Even so, as days followed days, and still the forest seemed just the same, they began to get anxious. The food would not last for ever: it was in fact already beginning to get low. They tried shooting at the squirrels, and they wasted many arrows before they managed to bring one down on the path. But when they roasted it, it proved horrible to taste, and they shot no more squirrels. They were thirsty too, for they had none too much water, and in all the time they had seen neither spring nor stream. This was their state when one day they found their path blocked by a running water. It flowed fast and strong but not very wide right across the way, and it was black, or looked it in the gloom. It was well that Beorn had warned them against it, or they would have drunk from it, whatever its colour, and filled some of their emptied skins at its bank. As it was they only thought of how to cross it without wetting themselves in its water. There had been a bridge of wood across, but it had rotted and fallen leaving only the broken posts near the bank. Bilbo kneeling on the brink and peering forward cried: "There is a boat against the far bank! Now why couldn't it have been this side!" "How far away do you think it is?" asked Thorin, for by now they knew Bilbo had the sharpest eyes among them.####-"Not at all far. I shouldn't think above twelve yards." "Twelve yards! I should have thought it was thirty at least, but my eyes don't see as well as they used a hundred years ago. Still twelve yards is as good as a mile. We can't jump it, and we daren't try to wade or swim." "Can any of you throw a rope?" "What's the good of that? The boat is sure to be tied up, even if we could hook it, which I doubt." "I don't believe it is tied," said Bilbo, "though of course I can't be sure in this light; but it looks to me as if it was just drawn up on the bank, which is low just there where the path goes down into the water." "Dori is the strongest, but Fili is the youngest and still has the best sight," said Thorin. "Come here Fili, and see if you can see the boat Mr. Baggins is talking about." Fili thought he could; so when he had stared a long while to get an idea of the direction, the others brought him a rope. They had several with them, and on the end of the longest they fastened one of the large iron hooks they had used for catching their packs to the straps about their shoulders. Fili took this in his hand, balanced it for a moment, and then flung it across the stream. Splash it fell in the water! "Not far enough!" said Bilbo who was peering forward. "A couple of feet and you would have dropped it on to the boat. Try again. I don't suppose the magic is strong enough to hurt you, if you just touch a bit of wet rope." Fili picked up the hook when he had drawn it back, rather doubtfully all the same. This time he threw it with greater strength. "Steady!" said Bilbo, "you have thrown it right into the wood on the other side now. Draw it back gently." Fili hauled the rope back slowly, and after a while Bilbo said: "Carefully! It is lying on the boat; let's hope the hook will catch." It did. The rope went taut, and Fili pulled in vain. Kili came to his help, and then Oin and Gloin. They tugged and tugged, and suddenly they all fell over on their backs. Bilbo was on the lockout, however, caught the rope, and with a piece of stick fended off the little black boat as it came rushing across the stream. "Help!" he shouted, and Balin was just in time to seize the boat before it floated off down the current. "It was tied after all," said he, looking at the snapped painter that was still dangling from it. "That was a good pull, my lads; and a good job that our rope was the stronger."####-"Who'll cross first?" asked Bilbo. "I shall," said Thorin, "and you will come with me, and Fili and Balin. That's as many as the boat will hold at a time. After that Kili and Oin and Gloin and Don; next On and Nori, Bifur and Bofur; and last Dwalin and Bombur." "I'm always last and I don't like it," said Bombur. "It's somebody else's turn today." "You should not be so fat. As you are, you must be with the last and lightest boatload. Don't start grumbling against orders, or something bad will happen to you." "There aren't any oars. How are you going to push the boat back to the far bank?" asked the hobbit. "Give me another length of rope and another hook," said Fili, and when they had got it ready, he cast into the darkness ahead and as high as he could throw it. Since it did not fall down again, they saw that it must have stuck in the branches. "Get in now," said Fili, "and one of you haul on the rope that is stuck in a tree on the other side. One of the others must keep hold of the hook we used at first, and when we are safe on the other side he can hook it on, and you can draw the boat back." In this way they were all soon on the far bank safe across the enchanted stream. Dwalin had just scrambled out with the coiled rope on his arm, and Bombur (still grumbling) was getting ready to follow, when something bad did happen. There was a flying sound of hooves on the path ahead. Out of the gloom came suddenly the shape of a flying deer. It charged into the dwarves and bowled them over, then gathered itself for a leap. High it sprang and cleared the water with a mighty jump. But it did not reach the other side in safety. Thorin was the only one who had kept his feet and his wits. As soon as they had landed he had bent his bow and fitted an arrow in case any hidden guardian of the boat appeared. Now he sent a swift and sure shot into the leaping beast. As it reached the further bank it stumbled. The shadows swallowed it up, but they heard the sound of hooves quickly falter and then go still. Before they could shout in praise of the shot, however, a dreadful wail from Bilbo put all thoughts of venison out of their minds. "Bombur has fallen in! Bombur is drowning!" he cried. It was only too true. Bombur had only one foot on the land when the hart bore down on him, and sprang over him. He had stumbled, thrusting the boat away from the bank, and then toppled back into the dark water, his hands slipping off the slimy roots at the edge, while the boat span slowly off and disappeared.####-They could still see his hood above the water when they ran to the bank. Quickly they flung a rope with a hook towards him. His hand caught it, and they pulled him to the shore. He was drenched from hair to boots, of course, but that was not the worst. When they laid him on the bank he was already fast asleep, with one hand clutching the rope so tight that they could not get it from his grasp; and fast asleep he remained in spite of all they could do. They were still standing over him, cursing their ill luck, and Bombur's clumsiness, and lamenting the loss of the boat which made it impossible for them to go back and look for the hart, when they became aware of the dim blowing of horns in the wood and the sound as of dogs baying far off. Then they all fell silent; and as they sat it seemed they could hear the noise of a great hunt going by to the north of the path, though they saw no sign of it. There they sat for a long while and did not dare to make a move. Bombur slept on with a smile on his fat face, as if he no longer cared for all the troubles that vexed them. Suddenly on the path ahead appeared some white deer, a hind and fawns as snowy white as the hart had been dark. They glimmered in the shadows. Before Thorin could cry out three of the dwarves had leaped to their feet and loosed off arrows from their bows. None seemed to find their mark. The deer turned and vanished in the trees as silently as they had come, and in vain the dwarves shot their arrows after them. "Stop! stop!" shouted Thorin; but it was too late, the excited dwarves had wasted their last arrows, and now the bows that Beorn had given them were useless. They were a gloomy party that night, and the gloom gathered still deeper on them in the following days. They had crossed the enchanted stream; but beyond it the path seemed to straggle on just as before, and in the forest they could see no change. Yet if they had known more about it and considered the meaning of the hunt and the white deer that had appeared upon their path, they would have known that they were at last drawing towards the eastern edge, and would soon have come, if they could have kept up their courage and their hope, to thinner trees and places where the sunlight came again. But they did not know this, and they were burdened with the heavy body of Bombur, which they had to carry along with them as best they could, taking the wearisome task in turns of four each while the others shared their packs. If these had not become all too light in the last few days, they would never have managed it; but a slumbering and smiling Bombur was a poor exchange for packs filled with food however heavy. In a few days a time came when there was practically ####-nothing left to eat or to drink. Nothing wholesome could they see growing in the woods, only funguses and herbs with pale leaves and unpleasant smell. About four days from the enchanted stream they came to a part where most of the trees were beeches. They were at first inclined to be cheered by the change, for here there was no undergrowth and the shadow was not so deep. There was a greenish light about them, and in places they could see some distance to either side of the path. Yet the light only showed them endless lines of straight grey trunks like the pillars of some huge twilight hall. There was a breath of air and a noise of wind, but it had a sad sound. A few leaves came rustling down to remind them that outside autumn was coming on. Their feet ruffled among the dead leaves of countless other autumns that drifted over the banks of the path from the deep red carpets of the forest. Still Bombur slept and they grew very weary. At times they heard disquieting laughter. Sometimes there was singing in the distance too. The laughter was the laughter of fair voices not of goblins, and the singing was beautiful, but it sounded eerie and strange, and they were not comforted, rather they hurried on from those parts with what strength they had left. Two days later they found their path going downwards and before long they were in a valley filled almost entirely with a mighty growth of oaks. "Is there no end to this accursed forest?" said Thorin. "Somebody must climb a tree and see if he can get his head above the roof and have a look round. The only way is to choose the tallest tree that overhangs the path." Of course "somebody" meant Bilbo. They chose him because to be of any use the climber must get his head above the topmost leaves, and so he must be light enough for the highest and slenderest branches to bear him. Poor Mr. Baggins had never had much practice in climbing trees, but they hoisted him up into the lowest branches of an enormous oak that grew right out into the path, and up he had to go as best he could. He pushed his way through the tangled twigs with many a slap in the eye; he was greened and grimed from the old bark of the greater boughs; more than once he slipped and caught himself just in time; and at last, after a dreadful struggle in a difficult place where there seemed to be no convenient branches at all, he got near the top. All the time he was wondering whether there were spiders in the tree, and how he was going to get down again (except by falling). In the end he poked his head above the roof of leaves, and then he found spiders all right. But they were only small ones of ordinary size, and they were after the butterflies. Bilbo's eyes were nearly blinded by the light. He could hear ####-the dwarves shouting up at him from far below, but he could not answer, only hold on and blink. The sun was shining brilliantly, and it was a long while before he could bear it. When he could, he saw all round him a sea of dark green, ruffled here and there by the breeze; and there were everywhere hundreds of butterflies. I expect they were a kind of 'purple emperor,' a butterfly that loves the tops of oak- woods, but these were not purple at all, they were a dark dark velvety black without any markings to be seen. He looked at the 'black emperors' for a long time, and enjoyed the feel of the breeze in his hair and on his face; but at length the cries of the dwarves, who were now simply stamping with impatience down below, reminded him of his real business. It was no good. Gaze as much as he might, he could see no end to the trees and the leaves in any direction. His heart, that had been lightened by the sight of the sun and the feel of the wind, sank back into his toes: there was no food to go back to down below. Actually, as I have told you, they were not far off the edge of the forest; and if Bilbo had had the sense to see it, the tree that he had climbed, though it was tall in itself, was standing near the bottom of a wide valley, so that from its top the trees seemed to swell up all round like the edges of a great bowl, and he could not expect to see how far the forest lasted. Still he did not see this, and he climbed down full of despair. He got to the bottom again at last scratched, hot, and miserable, and he could not see anything in the gloom below when he got there. His report soon made the others as miserable as he was. "The forest goes on for ever and ever and ever in all directions! Whatever shall we do? And what is the use of sending a hobbit!" they cried, as if it was his fault. They did not care tuppence about the butterflies, and were only made more angry when he told them of the beautiful breeze, which they were too heavy to climb up and feel. That night they ate their very last scraps and crumbs of food; and next morning when they woke the first thing they noticed was that they were still gnawingly hungry, and the next thing was that it was raining and that here and there the drip of it was dropping heavily on the forest floor. That only reminded them that they were also parchingly thirsty, without doing anything to relieve them: you cannot quench a terrible thirst by standing under giant oaks and waiting for a chance drip to fall on your tongue. The only scrap of comfort there was, came unexpectedly from Bombur.####-He woke up suddenly and sat up scratching his head. He could not make out where he was at all, nor why he felt so hungry; for he had forgotten everything that had happened since they started their journey that May morning long ago. The last thing that he remembered was the party at the hobbit's house, and they had great difficulty in making him believe their tale of all the many adventures they had had since. When he heard that there was nothing to eat, he sat down and wept, for he felt very weak and wobbly in the legs. "Why ever did I wake up!" he cried. "I was having such beautiful dreams. I dreamed I was walking in a forest rather like this one, only lit with torches on the trees and lamps swinging from the branches and fires burning on the ground; and there was a great feast going on, going on for ever. A woodland king was there with a crown of leaves, and there was a merry singing, and I could not count or describe the things there were to eat and drink." "You need not try," said Thorin. "In fact if you can't talk about something else, you had better be silent. We are quite annoyed enough with you as it is. If you hadn't waked up, we should have left you to your idiotic dreams in the forest; you are no joke to carry even after weeks of short commons." There was nothing now to be done but to tighten the belts round their empty stomachs, and hoist their empty sacks and packs, and trudge along the track without any great hope of ever getting to the end before they lay down and died of starvation. This they did all that day, going very slowly and wearily, while Bombur kept on wailing that his legs would not carry him and that he wanted to lie down and sleep. "No you don't!" they said. "Let your legs take their share, we have carried you far enough." All the same he suddenly refused to go a step further and flung himself on the ground. "Go on, if you must," he said. "I'm just going to lie here and sleep and dream of food, if I can't get it any other way. I hope I never wake up again." At that very moment Balin, who was a little way ahead, called out: "What was that? I thought I saw a twinkle of light in the forest." They all looked, and a longish way off, it seemed, they saw a red twinkle in the dark; then another and another sprang out beside it. Even Bombur got up, and they hurried along then, not caring if it was trolls or goblins. The light was in front of them and to the left of the path, and when at last they had drawn level with it, it seemed plain that torches and fires were burning under the trees, but a good way off their track.####-"It looks as if my dreams were coming true," gasped Bombur puffing up behind. He wanted to rush straight off into the wood after the lights. But the others remembered only too well the warnings of the wizard and of Beorn. "A feast would be no good, if we never got back alive from it," said Thorin. "But without a feast we shan't remain alive much longer anyway," said Bombur, and Bilbo heartily agreed with him. They argued about it backwards and forwards for a long while, until they agreed at length to send out a couple of spies, to creep near the lights and find out more about them. But then they could not agree on who was to be sent: no one seemed anxious to run the chance of being lost and never finding his friends again. In the end, in spite of warnings, hunger decided them, because Bombur kept on describing all the good things that were being eaten, according to his dream, in the woodland feast; so they all left the path and plunged into the forest together. After a good deal of creeping and crawling they peered round the trunks and looked into a clearing where some trees had been felled and the ground levelled. There were many people there, elvish-looking folk, all dressed in green and brown and sitting on sawn rings of the felled trees in a great circle. There was a fire in their midst and there were torches fastened to some of the trees round about; but most splendid sight of all: they were eating and drinking and laughing merrily. The smell of the roast meats was so enchanting that, without waiting to consult one another, every one of them got up and scrambled forwards into the ring with the one idea of begging for some food. No sooner had the first stepped into the clearing than all the lights went out as if by magic. Somebody kicked the fire and it went up in rockets of glittering sparks and vanished. They were lost in a completely lightless dark and they could not even find one another, not for a long time at any rate. After blundering frantically in the gloom, falling over logs, bumping crash into trees, and shouting and calling till they must have waked everything in the forest for miles, at last they managed to gather themselves in a bundle and count themselves by touch. By that time they had, of course, quite forgotten in what direction the path lay, and they were all hopelessly lost, at least till morning. There was nothing for it but to settle down for the night where they were; they did not even dare to search on the ground for scraps of food for fear of becoming separated again. But they had not been lying long, and Bilbo was only just getting drowsy, when Dori, whose turn it was to watch first, said in a loud whisper: "The lights are coming out again over there, and there are more than ever of them."####-Up they all jumped. There, sure enough, not far away were scores of twinkling lights, and they heard the voices and the laughter quite plainly. They crept slowly towards them, in a single line, each touching the back of the one in front. When they got near Thorin said: "No rushing forward this time! No one is to stir from hiding till I say. I shall send Mr. Baggins alone first to talk to them. They won't be frightened of him-('What about me of them?' thought Bilbo)-and any way I hope they won't do anything nasty to him." When they got to the edge of the circle of lights they pushed Bilbo suddenly from behind. Before he had time to slip on his ring, he stumbled forward into the full blaze of the fire and torches. It was no good. Out went all the lights again and complete darkness fell. If it had been difficult collecting themselves before, it was far worse this time. And they simply could not find the hobbit. Every time they counted themselves it only made thirteen. They shouted and called: "Bilbo Baggins! Hobbit! You dratted hobbit! Hi! hobbit, confusticate you, where are you?" and other things of that sort, but there was no answer. They were just giving up hope, when Dori stumbled across him by sheer luck. In the dark he fell over what he thought was a log, and he found it was the hobbit curled up fast asleep. It took a deal of shaking to wake him, and when he was awake he was not pleased at all. "I was having such a lovely dream," he grumbled, "all about having a most gorgeous dinner." "Good heavens! he has gone like Bombur," they said. "Don't tell us about dreams. Dream-dinners aren't any good, and we can't share them." "They are the best I am likely to get in this beastly place," he muttered, as he lay down beside the dwarves and tried to go back to sleep and find his dream again. But that was not the last of the lights in the forest. Later when the night must have been getting old, Kili who was watching then, came and roused them all again, saying: "There's a regular blaze of light begun not far away – hundreds of torches and many fires must have been lit suddenly and by magic. And hark to the singing and the harps!" After lying and listening for a while, they found they could not resist the desire to go nearer and try once more to get help. Up they got again; and this time the result was disastrous. The feast that they now saw was greater and more magnificent than before; and at the head of a long line of feasters sat a woodland king with a crown of leaves upon his golden hair, very much as Bombur had described the figure in his dream. The elvish folk were passing bowls from hand to ####-hand and across the fires, and some were harping and many were singing. Their gloaming hair was twined with flowers; green and white gems glinted on their collars and their belts; and their faces and their songs were filled with mirth. Loud and clear and fair were those songs, and out stepped Thorin into their midst. Dead silence fell in the middle of a word. Out went all light. The fires leaped up in black smokes. Ashes and cinders were in the eyes of the dwarves, and the wood was filled again with their clamour and their cries. Bilbo found himself running round and round (as he thought) and calling and calling: "Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Thorin Oakenshield," while people he could not see or feel were doing the same all round him (with an occasional "Bilbo!" thrown in). But the cries of the others got steadily further and fainter, and though after a while it seemed to him they changed to yells and cries for help in the far distance, all noise at last died right away, and he was left alone in complete silence and darkness. That was one of his most miserable moments. But he soon made up his mind that it was no good trying to do anything till day came with some little light, and quite useless to go blundering about tiring himself out with no hope of any breakfast to revive him. So he sat himself down with his back to a tree, and not for the last time fell to thinking of his far-distant hobbit-hole with its beautiful pantries. He was deep in thoughts of bacon and eggs and toast and butter when he felt something touch him. Something like a strong sticky string was against his left hand, and when he tried to move he found that his legs were already wrapped in the same stuff, so that when he got up he fell over. Then the great spider, who had been busy tying him up while he dozed, came from behind him and came at him. He could only see the things's eyes, but he could feel its hairy legs as it struggled to wind its abominable threads round and round him. It was lucky that he had come to his senses in time. Soon he would not have been able to move at all. As it was, he had a desperate fight before he got free. He beat the creature off with his hands-it was trying to poison him to keep him quiet, as small spiders do to flies-until he remembered his sword and drew it out. Then the spider jumped back, and he had time to cut his legs loose. After that it was his turn to attack. The spider evidently was not used to things that carried such stings at their sides, or it would have hurried away quicker. Bilbo came at it before it could disappear and struck it with his sword right in the eyes. Then it went mad and leaped and danced and flung out its legs in horrible jerks, until he ####-killed it with another stroke; and then he fell down and remembered nothing more for a long while. There was the usual dim grey light of the forest-day about him when he came to his senses. The spider lay dead beside him, and his sword-blade was stained black. Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath. "I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call you Sting." After that he set out to explore. The forest was grim and silent, but obviously he had first of all to look for his friends, who were not likely to be very far off, unless they had been made prisoners by the elves (or worse things). Bilbo felt that it was unsafe to shout, and he stood a long while wondering in what direction the path lay, and in what direction he should go first to look for the dwarves. "O! why did we not remember Beorn's advice, and Gandalf's!" he lamented. "What a mess we are in now! We! I only wish it was we: it is horrible being all alone." In the end he made as good a guess as he could at the direction from which the cries for help had come in the night – and by luck (he was born with a good share of it) be guessed more or less right, as you will see. Having made up his mind he crept along as cleverly as he could. Hobbits are clever at quietness, especially in woods, as 1. have already told you; also Bilbo had slipped on his ring before he started. That is why the spiders neither saw nor heard him coming. He had picked his way stealthily 'for some distance, when he noticed a place of dense black shadow ahead of him black even for that forest, like a patch of midnight that had never been cleared away. As he drew nearer, he saw that it was made by spider-webs one behind and over and tangled with another. Suddenly he saw, too, that there were spiders huge and horrible sitting in the branches above him, and ring or no ring he trembled with fear lest they should discover him. Standing behind a tree he watched a group of them for some time, and then in the silence and stillness of the wood he realised that these loathsome creatures were speaking one to another. Their voices were a sort of thin creaking and hissing, but he could make out many of the words that they said. They were talking about the dwarves! "It was a sharp struggle, but worth it," said one. "What nasty thick skins they have to be sure, but I'll wager there is good juice inside."####-"Aye, they'll make fine eating, when they've hung a bit," said another. "Don't hang 'em too long," said a third. "They're not as fat as they might be. Been feeding none too well of late, I should guess." "Kill'em, I say," hissed a fourth; "kill 'em now and hang 'em dead for a while." "They're dead now, I'll warrant," said the first. "That they are not. I saw one a-struggling just now. Just coming round again, I should say, after a bee-autiful sleep. I'll show you." With that one of the fat spiders ran along a rope, till it came to a dozen bundles hanging in a row from a high branch. Bilbo was horrified, now that he noticed them for the first time dangling in the shadows, to see a dwarvish foot sticking out of the bottoms of some of the bundles, or here and there the tip of a nose, or a bit of beard or of a hood. To the fattest of these bundles the spider went--"It is poor old Bombur, I'll bet," thought Bilbo – and nipped hard at the nose that stuck out. There was a muffled yelp inside, and a toe shot up and kicked the spider straight and hard. There was life in Bombur still. There was a noise like the kicking of a flabby football, and the enraged spider fell off the branch, only catching itself with its own thread just in time. The others laughed. "You were quite right," they said, "the meat's alive and kicking!" " "I'll soon put an end to that," hissed the angry spider climbing back onto the branch. Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something. He could not get up at the brutes and he had nothing to shoot with; but looking about he saw that in this place there were many stones lying in what appeared to be a now dry little watercourse. Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one that fitted his hand cosily. As a boy he used to practise throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop; and even grownup he had still spent a deal of his time at quoits, dart- throwing, shooting at the wand, bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort-indeed he could do lots of things, besides blowing smoke-rings, asking riddles and cooking, that I haven't had time to tell you about. There is no time now. While he was picking up stones, the spider had reached Bombur, and soon he would have been dead. At that moment Bilbo threw. The stone struck the spider plunk on the head, and it dropped senseless off the tree, flop to the ground, with all its legs curled up.####-The next stone went whizzing through a big web, snapping its cords, and taking off the spider sitting in the middle of it, whack, dead. After that there was a deal of commotion in the spider-colony, and they forgot the dwarves for a bit, I can tell you. They could not see Bilbo, but they could make a good guess at the direction from which the stones were coming. As quick as lightning they came running and swinging towards the hobbit, flinging out their long threads in all directions, till the air seemed full of waving snares. Bilbo, however, soon slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the furious spiders further and further away from the dwarves, if he could; to make them curious, excited and angry all at once. When about fifty had gone off to the place where he had stood before, he threw some more stones at these, and at others that had stopped behind; then dancing among the trees he began to sing a song to infuriate them and bring them all after him, and also to let the dwarves hear his voice. This is what he sang: Old fat spider spinning in a tree! Old fat spider can't see me! Attercop! Attercop! Won't you stop, Stop your spinning and look for me! Old Tomnoddy, all big body, Old Tomnoddy can't spy me! Attercop! Attercop! Down you drop! You'll never catch me up your tree! Not very good perhaps, but then you must remember that he had to make it up himself, on the spur of a very awkward moment. It did what he wanted any way. As he sang he threw some more stones and stamped. Practically all the spiders in the place came after him: some dropped to the ground, others raced along the branches, swung from tree to tree, or cast new ropes across the dark spaces. They made for his noise far quicker than he had expected. They were frightfully angry. Quite apart from the stones no spider has ever liked being called Attercop, and Tomnoddy of course is insulting to anybody. Off Bilbo scuttled to a fresh place, but several of the spiders had run now to different points in the glade where they lived, and were busy spinning webs across all the spaces between the tree-stems. Very soon the hobbit would be caught in a ####-thick fence of them all round him-that at least was the spiders' idea. Standing now in the middle of the hunting and spinning insects Bilbo plucked up his courage and began a new song: ####-Lazy Lob and crazy Cob are weaving webs to wind me. I am far more sweet than other meat, but still they cannot find me! Here am I, naughty little fly; you are fat and lazy. You cannot trap me, though you try, in your cobwebs crazy. With that he turned and found that the last space between two tall trees had been closed with a web-but luckily not a proper web, only great strands of double- thick spider-rope run hastily backwards and forwards from trunk to trunk. Out came his little' sword. He slashed the threads to pieces and went off singing. The spiders saw the sword, though I don't suppose they knew what it was, and at once the whole lot of them came hurrying after the hobbit along the ground and the branches, hairy legs waving, nippers and spinners snapping, eyes popping, full of froth and rage. They followed him into the forest until Bilbo had gone as far as he dared. Then quieter than a mouse he stole back. He had precious little time, he knew, before the spiders were disgusted and came back to their trees where the dwarves were hung. In the meanwhile he had to rescue them. The worst part of the job was getting up on to the long branch where the bundles were dangling. I don't suppose he would have managed it, if a spider had not luckily left a rope hanging down; with its help, though it stuck to his hand and hurt him, he scrambled up-only to meet an old slow wicked fat-bodied spider who had remained behind to guard the prisoners, and had been busy pinching them to see which was the juiciest to eat. It had thought of starting the feast while the others were away, but Mr. Baggins was in a hurry, and before the spider knew what was happening it felt his sting and rolled off the branch dead. Bilbo's next job was to loose a dwarf. What was he to do? If he cut the string which hung him up, the wretched dwarf would tumble thump to the ground a good way below. Wriggling along the branch (which made all the poor dwarves dance and dangle like ripe fruit) he reached the first bundle. "Fili or Kili," he thought by the tip of a blue hood sticking out at the top. "Most likely Fili," he thought by the tip of a long nose poking out of the winding threads. He managed by leaning over to cut most of the strong sticky threads that bound him round, and then, sure enough, with a kick and a struggle most of Fili emerged. I am afraid Bilbo actually laughed at the sight of him jerking his stiff ####-arms and legs as he danced on the spider-string under his armpits, just like one of those funny toys bobbing on a wire. Somehow or other Fili was got on to the branch, and then he did his best to help the hobbit, although he was feeling very sick and ill from spider-poison, and from hanging most of the night and the next day wound round and round with only his nose to breathe through. It took him ages to get the beastly stuff out of his eyes and eyebrows, and as for his beard, he had to cut most of it off. Well, between them they started to haul up first one dwarf and then another and slash them free. None of them were better off than Fili, and some of them were worse. Some had hardly been able to breathe at all (long noses are sometimes useful you see), and some had been more poisoned. In this way they rescued Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Don and Nori. Poor old Bombur was so exhausted-he was the fattest and had been constantly pinched and poked- that he just rolled off the branch and fell plop on to the ground, fortunately on to leaves, and lay there. But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch when the spiders began to come back, more full of rage than ever. Bilbo immediately went to the end of the branch nearest the tree-trunk and kept back those that crawled up. He had taken off his ring when he rescued Fili and forgotten to put it on again, so now they all began to splutter and hiss: "Now we see you, you nasty little creature! We will eat you and leave your bones and skin hanging on a tree. Ugh! he's got a sting has he? Well, we'll get him all the same, and then we'll hang him head downwards for a day or two." While this was going on, the other dwarves were working at the rest of the captives, and cutting at the threads with their knives. Soon all would be free, though it was not clear what would happen after that. The spiders had caught them pretty easily the night before, but that had been unawares and in the dark. This time there looked like being a horrible battle. Suddenly Bilbo noticed that some of the spiders had gathered round old Bombur on the floor, and had tied him up again and were dragging him away. He gave a shout and slashed at the spiders in front of him. They quickly gave way, and he scrambled and fell down the tree right into the middle of those on the ground. His little sword was something new in the way of stings for them. How it darted to and fro! It shone with delight as he stabbed at them. Half a dozen were killed before the rest drew off and left Bombur to Bilbo. "Come down! Come down!" he shouted to the dwarves on the branch. "Don't stay up there and be netted!" For he saw spiders swarming up all the neighboring trees, and crawling along the boughs above the heads of the dwarves.####-Down the dwarves scrambled or jumped or dropped, eleven all in a heap, most of them very shaky and little use on their legs. There they were at last, twelve of them counting poor old Bombur, who was being propped up on either side by his cousin Bifur, and his brother Bofur; and Bilbo was dancing about and waving his Sting; and hundreds of angry spiders were goggling at them all round and about and above. It looked pretty hopeless. Then the battle began. Some of the dwarves had knives, and some had sticks, and all of them could get at stones; and Bilbo had his elvish dagger. Again and again the spiders were beaten off, and many of them were killed. But it could not go on for long. Bilbo was nearly tired out; only four of the dwarves were able to stand firmly, and soon they would all be overpowered like weary flies. Already the spiders were beginning to weave their webs all round them again from tree to tree. In the end Bilbo could think of no plan except to let the dwarves into the secret of his ring. He was rather sorry about it, but it could not be helped. "I am going to disappear," he said. "I shall draw the spiders off, if I can; and you must keep together and make in the opposite direction. To the left there, that is more or less the way towards the place where we last saw the elf-fires." It was difficult to get them to understand, what with their dizzy heads, and the shouts, and the whacking of sticks and the throwing of stones; but at last Bilbo felt he could delay no longer-the spiders were drawing their circle ever closer. He suddenly slipped on his ring, and to the great astonishment of the dwarves he vanished. Soon there came the sound of "Lazy Lob" and "Attercop" from among the trees away on the right. That upset the spiders greatly. They stopped advancing, and some, went off in the direction of the voice. "Attercop" made them so angry that they lost their wits. Then Balin, who had grasped Bilbo's plan better than the rest, led an attack. The dwarves huddled together in a knot, and sending a shower of stones they drove at the spiders on the left, and burst through the ring. Away behind them now the shouting and singing suddenly stopped. Hoping desperately that Bilbo had not been caught the dwarves went on. Not fast enough, though. They were sick and weary, and they could not go much better than a hobble and a wobble, though many of the spiders were close behind. Every now and then they had to turn and fight the creatures that were overtaking them and already some spiders were in the trees above them and throwing down their long clinging threads. Things were looking pretty bad again, when suddenly Bilbo appeared and charged into the astonished spiders unexpectedly from the side.####-"Go on! Go on!" he shouted. "I will do the stinging!" And he did. He darted backwards and forwards, slashing at spider-threads, hacking at their legs, and stabbing at their fat bodies if they came too near. The spiders swelled with rage, and spluttered and frothed, and hissed out horrible curses; but they had become mortally afraid of Sting, and dared not come very near, now that it had come back. So curse as they would, their prey moved slowly but steadily away. It was a most terrible business, and seemed to take hours. But at last, just when Bilbo felt that he could not lift his hand for a single stroke more, the spiders suddenly gave it up, and followed them no more, but went back disappointed to their dark colony. The dwarves then noticed that they had come to the edge of a ring where elf- fires had been. Whether it was one of those they had seen the night before, they could not tell. But it seemed that some good magic lingered in such spots, which the spiders did not like. At any rate here the light was greener, and the boughs less thick and threatening, and they had a chance to rest and draw breath. There they lay for some time, puffing and panting. put very soon they began to ask questions. They had to have the whole vanishing business carefully explained, and the finding of the ring interested them so much that for a while they forgot their own troubles. Balin in particular insisted on having the Gollum story, riddles and all, told all over again, with the ring in its proper place. But after a time the light began to fail, and then other questions were asked. Where were they, and where was their path, and where was there any food, and what were they going to do next? These questions they asked over and over again, and it was from little Bilbo that they seemed to expect to get the answers. From which you can see that they had changed their opinion of Mr. Baggins very much, and had begun to have a great respect for him (as Gandalf had said they would). Indeed they really expected him to think of some wonderful plan for helping them, and were not merely grumbling. They knew only too well that they would soon all have been dead, if it had not been for the hobbit; and they thanked him many times. Some of them even got up and bowed right to the ground before him, though they fell over with the effort, and could not get on their legs again for some time. Knowing the truth about the vanishing did not lessen their opinion of Bilbo at all; for they saw that he had some wits, as well as luck and a magic ring-and all three are very useful possessions. In fact they praised him so much that Bilbo began to feel there really was something of a bold adventurer about himself after all, though he I would have felt a lot bolder still, if there had been anything to eat. But there was nothing, nothing at all; and none of them Were fit to go and look for anything, or to search for the lost path. The lost path! No other idea would ####-come into Bilbo's tired head. He just sat staring in front of him at the endless trees; and after a while they all fell silent again. All except Balin. Long after the others had stopped talking and shut their eyes, he kept on muttering and chuckling to himself. "Gollum! Well I'm blest! So that's how he sneaked past me is it? Now I know! Just crept quietly along did you, Mr. Baggins? Buttons all over the doorstep? Good old Bilbo-Bilbo-Bilbo-bo-bo-bo–" And then he fell asleep, and there was complete silence for a long time. All of a sudden Dwalin opened an eye, and looked round at them. "Where is Thorin?" he asked. It was a terrible shock. Of course there were only thirteen of them, twelve dwarves and the hobbit. Where indeed was Thorin? They wondered what evil fate had befallen him, magic or dark monsters; and shuddered as they lay lost in the forest. There they dropped off one by one into uncomfortable sleep full of horrible dreams, as evening wore to black night; and there we must leave them for the present, too sick and weary to set guards or take turns watching. Thorin had been caught much faster than they had. You remember Bilbo falling like a log into sleep, as he stepped into a circle of light? The next time it had been Thorin who stepped forward, and as the lights went out he fell like a stone enchanted. All the noise of the dwarves lost in the night, their cries as the spiders caught them and bound them, and all the sounds of the battle next day, had passed over him unheard. Then the Wood-elves had come to him, and bound him, and carried him away. The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk. If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West. There the Light-elves and the Deep-elves and the Sea-elves went and lived for ages, and grew fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their magic and their cunning craft, in the making of beautiful and marvellous things, before some came back into the Wide World. In the Wide World the Wood-elves lingered in the twilight of our Sun and Moon but loved best the stars; and they wandered in the great forests that grew tall in lands that are now lost. They dwelt most often by the edges of the woods, from which they could escape at times to hunt, or to ride and run over the open lands by moonlight or starlight; and after the coming of Men they took ever more and more to the gloaming and the dusk. Still elves they were and remain, and that is Good People.####-In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood on its eastern side there lived at this time their greatest king. Before his huge doors of stone a river ran out of the heights of the forest and flowed on and out into the marshes at the feet of the high wooded lands. This great cave, from which countless smaller ones opened out on every side, wound far underground and had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter and more wholesome than any goblin-dwelling, and neither so deep nor so dangerous. In fact the subjects of the king mostly lived and hunted in the open woods, and had houses or huts on the ground and in the branches. The beeches were their favourite trees. The king's cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies. It was also the dungeon of his prisoners. So to the cave they dragged Thorin- not too gently, for they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy. In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bar- gained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. If the elf-king had a weakness it was for treasure, especially for silver and white gems; and though his hoard was rich, he was ever eager for more, since he had not yet as great a treasure as other elf-lords of old. His people neither mined nor worked metals or jewels, nor did they bother much with trade or with tilling the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf, though Thorin's family had had nothing to do with the old quarrel I have spoken of. Consequently Thorin was angry at their treatment of him, when they took their spell off him and he came to his senses; and also he was determined that no word of gold or jewels should be dragged out of him. The king looked sternly on Thorin, when he was brought before him, and asked him many questions. But Thorin would only say that he was starving. "Why did you and your folk three times try to attack my people at their merrymaking?" asked the king. "We did not attack them," answered Thorin; "we came to beg, because we were starving." "Where are your friends now, and what are they doing?" "I don't know, but I expect starving in the forest." "What were you doing in the forest?" "Looking for food and drink, because we were starving." "But what brought you into the forest at all?" asked the king angrily.####-At that Thorin shut his mouth and would not say another word. "Very well!" said the king. "Take him away and keep him safe, until he feels inclined to tell the truth, even if he waits a hundred years.'" Then the elves put thongs on him, and shut him in one of the inmost caves with strong wooden doors, and left him. They gave him food and drink, plenty of both, if not very fine; for Wood-elves were not goblins, and were reasonably well- behaved even to their worst enemies, when they captured them. The giant spiders were the only living things that they had no mercy upon. There in the king's dungeon poor Thorin lay; and after he had got over his thankfulness for bread and meat and water, he began to wonder what had become of his unfortunate friends. It was not very long before he discovered; but that belongs to the next chapter and the beginning of another adventure in which the hobbit again showed his usefulness. ####-

Barrels Out of Bond The day after the battle with the spiders Bilbo and the dwarves made one last despairing effort to find a way out before they died of hunger and thirst. They got up and staggered on in the direction which eight out of the thirteen of them guessed to be the one in which the path lay; but they never found out if they were right. Such day as there ever was in the forest was fading once more into the blackness of night, when suddenly out sprang the light of many torches all round them, like hundreds of red stars. Out leaped Wood-elves with their bows and spears and called the dwarves to halt. There was no thought of a fight. Even if the dwarves had not been in such a state that they were actually glad to be captured, their small knives, the only weapons they had, would have been of no use against the arrows of the elves that could hit a bird's eye in the dark. So they simply stopped dead and sat down and waited-all except Bilbo, who popped on his ring and slipped quickly to one side. That is why, when the elves bound the dwarves in a long line, one behind the other, and counted them, they never found or counted the hobbit. Nor did they hear or feel him trotting along well behind their torch-light as they led off their prisoners into the forest. Each dwarf was blindfold, but that did not make much difference, for even Bilbo with the use of his eyes could not see where they were going, and neither he nor the others knew where they had started from anyway. Bilbo had all he could do to keep up with the torches, for the elves were making the dwarves go as fast as ever they could, sick and weary as they were. The king had ordered them to make haste. Suddenly the torches stopped, and the hobbit had just time to catch them up before they began to cross the bridge. This was the bridge that led across the river to the king's doors. The water flowed dark and swift and strong beneath; and at the far end were gates before the mouth of a huge cave that ran into the side of a steep slope covered with trees. There the great beeches came right down to the bank, till their feet were in the stream. Across this bridge the elves thrust their prisoners, but Bilbo hesitated in the rear. He did not at all like the look of the cavern-mouth and he only made up his mind not to desert his friends just in time to scuttle over at the heels of the fast elves, before the great gates of the king closed behind them with a clang. Inside the passages were lit with red torch-light, and the elf-guards sang as they marched along the twisting, crossing, and echoing paths. These were not like ####-those of the goblin-cities: they were smaller, less deep underground, and filled with a cleaner air. In a great hall with pillars hewn out of the living stone sat the Elvenking on a chair of carven wood. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for the autumn was come again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a carven staff of oak. The prisoners were brought before him; and though he looked grimly at them, he told his men to unbind them, for they were ragged and weary. "Besides they need no ropes in here," said he. "There is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside." Long and searchingly he questioned the dwarves about their doings, and where they were going to, and where they were coming from; but he got little more news out of them than out of Thorin. They were surly and angry and did not even pretend to be polite. "What have we done, O king?" said Balin, who was the eldest left. "Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders? Are the spiders your tame beasts or your pets, if killing them makes you angry?" Such a question of course made the king angrier than ever, and he answered: "It is a crime to wander in my realm without leave. Do you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not three times pursue and trouble my people in the forest and ' rouse the spiders with your riot and clamour? After all the disturbance you have made I have a right to know what brings you here, and if you will not tell me now, I will keep you all in prison until you have learned sense and manners!" Then he ordered the dwarves each to be put in a separate cell and to be given food and drink, but not to be allowed to pass the doors of their little prisons, until one at least of them was willing to tell him all he wanted to know. But be did not tell them that Thorin was also a prisoner with him. It was Bilbo who found that out. Poor Mr. Baggins – it was a weary long time that he lived in that place all alone, and always in hiding, never daring to take off his ring, hardly daring to sleep, even tucked away in the darkest and remotest comers he could find. For something to do he took to wandering about the Elven-king's palace. Magic shut the gates, but be could sometimes get out, if he was quick. Companies of the Wood-elves, sometimes with the king at their head, would from time to time ride out to hunt, or to other business in the woods and in the lands to the East. Then if Bilbo was very nimble, he could slip out just behind them; though it was a ####-dangerous thing to do. More than once he was nearly caught in the doors, as they clashed together when the last elf passed; yet he did not dare to march among them because of his shadow (altogether thin and wobbly as it was in torch-light), or for fear of being bumped into and discovered. And when he did go out, which was not very often, he did no good. He did not wish to desert the dwarves, and indeed he did not know where in the world to go without them. He could not keep up with the hunting elves all the time they were out, so he never discovered the ways out of the wood, and was left to wander miserably in the forest, terrified of losing himself, until a chance came of returning. He was hungry too outside, for he was no hunter; but inside the caves he could pick up a living of some sort by stealing food from store or table when no one was at hand. "I am like a burglar that can't get away, but must go on miserably burgling the same house day after day," he thought. "This is the dreariest and dullest part of all this wretched, tiresome, uncomfortable adventure! I wish I was back in my hobbit-hole by my own warm fireside with the lamp shining!" He often wished, too, that he could get a message for help sent to the wizard, but that of course was quite impossible; and he soon realized that if anything was to be done, it would have to be done by Mr. Baggins, alone and unaided. Eventually, after a week or two of this sneaking sort of life, by watching and following the guards and taking what chances he could, he managed to find out where each dwarf was kept. He found all their twelve cells in different parts of the palace, and after a time he got to know his way about very well. What was his surprise one day to overhear some of the guards talking and to learn that there was another dwarf in prison too, in a specially deep dark place. He guessed at once, of course, that that was Thorin; and after a while he found that his guess was right. At last after many difficulties he managed to find the place when no one was about, and to have a word with the chief of the dwarves. Thorin was too wretched to be angry any longer at his misfortunes, and was even beginning to think of telling the king all about his treasure and his quest (which shows how low-spirited he had become), when he heard Bilbo's little voice at his keyhole. He could hardly believe his ears. Soon however he made up his mind that he could not be mistaken, and he came to the door and had a long whispered talk with the hobbit on the other side. So it was that Bilbo was able to take secretly Thorin's message to each of the other imprisoned dwarves, telling them that Thorin their chief was also in prison close at hand, and that no one was to reveal their errand to the long, not yet, not before Thorin gave the word. For Thorin had taken heart again hearing how the ####-hobbit had rescued his companions from the spiders, and was determined once more not to ransom himself with promises to the king of a share in the treasure, until all hope of escaping in any other way had disappeared; until in fact the remarkable Mr. Invisible Baggins (of whom he began to have a very high opinion indeed) had altogether failed to think of something clever. The other dwarves quite agreed when they got the message. They all thought their own shares in the treasure (which they quite regarded as theirs, in spite of their plight and the still unconquered dragon) would suffer seriously if the Wood- elves claimed part of it, and they all trusted Bilbo. Just what Gandalf had said would happen, you see. Perhaps that war part of his reason for going off and leaving them. Bilbo, however, did not feel nearly so hopeful as they did. He did not like being depended on by everyone, and he wished he had the wizard at hand. But that was no use: probably all the dark distance of Mirkwood lay between them. He sat and thought and thought, until his head nearly burst, but no bright idea would come. One invisible ring was a very fine thing, but it was not much good among fourteen. But of course, as you have guessed, he did rescue his friends in the end, and this is how it happened. One day, nosing and wandering about. Bilbo discovered a very interesting thing: the great gates were not the only entrance to the caves. A stream flowed under part of the lowest regions of the palace, and joined the Forest River some way further to the east, beyond the steep slope out of which the main mouth opened. Where this underground watercourse came forth from the hillside there was a water-gate. There the rocky roof came down close to the surface of the stream, and from it a portcullis could be dropped right to the bed of the river to prevent anyone coming in or out that way. But the portcullis was often open, for a good deal of traffic went out and in by the water-gate. If anyone had come in that way, he would have found himself in a dark rough tunnel leading deep into the heart of the hill; but at one point where it passed under the caves the roof had been cut away and covered with great oaken trapdoors. These opened upwards into the king's cellars. There stood barrels, and barrels, and barrels; for the Wood-elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine, though no vines grew in those parts. The wine, and other goods, were brought from far away, from their kinsfolk in the South, or from the vineyards of Men in distant lands. Hiding behind one of the largest barrels Bilbo discovered the trapdoors and their use, and lurking there, listening to the talk of the king's servants, he learned how the wine and other goods came up the rivers, or over land, to the Long Lake. It seemed a town of Men still throve there, built out on bridges far into the water ####-as a protection against enemies of all sorts, and especially against the dragon of the Mountain. From Lake-town the barrels were brought up the Forest River. Often they were just tied together like big rafts and poled or rowed up the stream; sometimes they were loaded on to flat boats. When the barrels were empty the elves cast them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and out the barrels floated on the stream, bobbing along, until they were carried by the current to a place far down the river where the bank jutted out, near to the very eastern edge of Mirkwood. There they were collected and tied together and floated back to Lake-town, which stood close to the point where the Forest River flowed into the Long Lake. For some time Bilbo sat and thought about this water-gate, and wondered if it could be used for the escape of his friends, and at last he had the desperate beginnings of a plan. The evening meal had been taken to the prisoners. The guards were tramping away down the passages taking the torch-light with them and leaving everything in darkness. Then Bilbo heard the king's butler bidding the chief of the guards good-night. "Now come with me," he said, "and taste the new wine that has just come in. I shall be hard at work tonight clearing the cellars of the empty wood, so let us have a drink first to help the labour." "Very good," laughed the chief of the guards. "I'll taste with you, and see if it is fit for the king's table. There is a feast tonight and it would not do to send up poor stuff!" When he heard this Bilbo was all in a flutter, for he saw that luck was with him and he had a chance at once to try his desperate plan. He followed the two elves, until they entered a small cellar and sat down at a table on which two large flagons were set. Soon they began to drink and laugh merrily. Luck of an unusual kind was with Bilbo then. It must be potent wine to make a wood-elf drowsy; but this wine, it would seem, was the heady vintage of the great gardens of Dorwinion, not meant for his soldiers or his servants, but for the king's feasts only, and for smaller bowls, not for the butler's great flagons. Very soon the chief guard nodded his head, then he laid it on the table and fell fast asleep. The butler went on talking and laughing to himself for a while without seeming to notice, but soon his head too nodded to the table, and he fell asleep and snored beside his friend. Then in crept the hobbit. Very soon the chief guard had ####-no keys, but Bilbo was trotting as fast as he could along the passage towards the cells. The great bunch seemed very heavy to his arms, and his heart was often in his mouth, in spite of his ring, for he could not prevent the keys from making every now and then a loud clink and clank, which put him all in a tremble. First he unlocked Balin's door, and locked it again carefully as soon as the dwarf was outside. Balin was most surprised, as you can imagine; but glad as he was to get out of his wearisome little stone room, he wanted to stop and ask questions, and know what Bilbo was going to do, and all about it. "No time now!" said the hobbit. "You must follow me! We must all keep together and not risk getting separated. All of us must escape or none, and this is our last chance. If this is found out, goodness knows where the king will put you next, with chains on your hands and feet too, I expect. Don't argue, there's a good fellow!" Then off he went from door to door, until his following had grown to twelve- none of them any too nimble, what with the dark, and what with their long imprisonment. Bilbo's heart thumped every time one of them bumped into another, or grunted or whispered in the dark. "Drat this dwarvish racket!" he said to himself. But all went well, and they met no guards. As a matter of fact there was a great autumn feast in the woods that night, and in the halls above. Nearly all the king's folks were merrymaking. At last after much blundering they came to Thorin's dungeon, far down in a deep place and fortunately not far from the cellars. "Upon my word!" said Thorin, when Bilbo whispered to him to come out and join his friends, "Gandalf spoke true, as usual. A pretty fine burglar you make, it seems, when the time comes. I am sure we are all for ever at your service, whatever happens after this. But what comes next?" Bilbo saw that the time had come to explain his idea, as far as he could; but he did not feel at all sure bow the dwarves would take it. His fears were quite justified, for they did not like it a bit, and started grumbling loudly in spite of their danger. "We shall be bruised and battered to pieces, and drowned too, for certain!" they muttered. "We thought you had got some sensible notion, when you managed to get hold of the keys. This is a mad idea!" "Very well!" said Bilbo very downcast, and also rather annoyed. "Come along back to your nice cells, and I will lock you all in again, and you can sit there comfortably and think of a better plan-but I don't suppose I shall ever get hold of the keys again, even if I feel inclined to try."####-"That was too much for them, and they calmed down. In the end, of course, they had to do just what Bilbo suggested, because it was obviously impossible for them to try and find their way into the upper halls, or to fight their way out of gates that closed by magic; and it was no good grumbling in the passages until they were caught again. So following the hobbit, down into the lowest cellars they crept. They passed a door through which the chief guard and the butler could be seen still happily snoring with smiles upon their faces. The wine of Dorwinion brings deep and pleasant dreams. There would be a different expression on the face of the chief guard next day, even though Bilbo, before they went on, stole in and kindheartedly put the keys back on his belt. "That will save him some of the trouble he is in for," said Mr. Baggins to himself. "He wasn't a bad fellow, and quite decent to the prisoners. It will puzzle them all too. They will think we had a very strong magic to pass through all those locked doors and disappear. Disappear! We have got to get busy very quick, if that is to happen!" Balin was told off to watch the guard and the butler and give warning if they stirred. The rest went into the adjoining cellar with the trapdoors. There was little time to lose. Before long, as Bilbo knew, some elves were under orders to come down and help the butler get the empty barrels through the doors into the stream. These were in fact already standing in rows in the middle of the floor waiting to be pushed off. Some of them were wine-barrels, and these were not much use, as they could not easily be opened at the end without a deal of noise, nor could they easily be secured again. But among them were several others which had been used for bringing other stuffs, butter, apples, and all sorts of things, to the king's palace. They soon found thirteen with room enough for a dwarf in each. In fact some were too roomy, and as they climbed in the dwarves thought anxiously of the shaking and the bumping they would get inside, though Bilbo did his best to find straw and other stuff to pack them in as cosily as could be managed in a short time. At last twelve dwarves were stowed. Thorin had given a lot of trouble, and turned and twisted in his tub and grumbled like a large dog in a small kennel; while Balin, who came last, made a great fuss about his air-holes and said he was stifling, even before his lid was on. Bilbo had done what he could to close holes in the sides of the barrels, and to fix on all the lids as safely as could be managed, and now he was left alone again, running round putting the finishing touches-to the packing, and hoping against hope that his plan would come off.####-It had not been a-bit too soon. Only a minute or two after Balin's lid had been fitted on there came the sound of voices and the flicker of lights. A number of elves came laughing and talking into the cellars and singing snatches of song. They had left a merry feast in one of the halls and were bent on returning as soon as they could. "Where's old Galion, the butler?" said one. "I haven't seen him at the tables tonight. He ought to be here now to show us what is to be done." "I shall be angry if the old slowcoach is late," said another. "I have no wish to waste time down here while the song is up!" "Ha, ha!" came a cry. "Here's the old villain with his head on a jug! He's been having a little feast all to himself and his friend the captain." "Shake him! Wake him!" shouted the others impatiently. Gallon was not at all pleased at being shaken or wakened, and still less at being laughed at. "You're all late," he grumbled. "Here am I waiting and waiting down here, while you fellows drink and make merry and forget your tasks. Small wonder if I fall asleep from weariness!" "Small wonder," said they, "when the explanation stands close at hand in a jug! Come give us a taste of your sleeping-draught before we fall to! No need to wake the turnkey yonder. He has had his share by the looks of it." Then they drank once round and became mighty merry all of a sudden. But they did not quite lose their wits. "Save us, Galion!" cried some, "you began your feasting early and muddled your wits! You have stacked some full casks here instead of the empty ones, if there is anything in weight." "Get on with the work!" growled the butler. "There is nothing in the feeling of weight in an idle toss-pot's arms. These are the ones to go and no others. Do as I say!" "Very well, very well," they answered rolling the barrels to the opening. "On your head be it, if the king's full buttertubs and his best wine is pushed into the river for the Lake-men to feast on for nothing!" Roll-roll-roll-roll, roll-roll-rolling down the hole I Heave ho! Splash plump ! Down they go, down they bump! So they sang as first one barrel and then another rumbled to the dark opening and was pushed over into the cold water some feet below. Some were barrels really empty, some were tubs neatly packed with a dwarf each; but down they all went, one after another, with many a clash and a bump, thudding on top of ones ####-below, smacking into the water, jostling against the walls of the tunnel, knocking into one another, and bobbing away down the current. It was just at this moment that Bilbo suddenly discovered the weak point in his plan. Most likely you saw it some time ago and have been laughing at him; but I don't suppose you would have done half as well yourselves in his place. Of course he was not in a barrel himself, nor was there anyone to pack him in, even if there had been a chance! It looked as if he would certainly lose his friends this time (nearly all of them had already disappeared through the dark trap-door), and get utterly left behind and have to stay lurking as a permanent burglar in the elf-caves for ever. For even if he could have escaped through the upper gates at once, he had precious small chance of ever finding the dwarves again. He did not know the way by land to the place where the barrels were collected. He wondered what on earth would happen to them without him; for he had not had time to tell the dwarves all that he had learned, or what he had meant to do, once they were out of the wood. While all these thoughts were passing through his mind, the elves being very merry began to sing a song round the river-door. Some had already gone to haul on the ropes which pulled up the portcullis at the water-gate so as to let out the barrels as soon as they were all afloat below. Down the swift dark stream you go Back to lands you once did know! Leave the halls and caverns deep, Leave the northern mountains steep, Where the forest wide and dim Stoops in shadow grey and grim! Float beyond the world of trees Out into the whispering breeze, Past the rushes, past the reeds, Past the marsh's waving weeds, Through the mist that riseth white Up from mere and pool at night! Follow, follow stars that leap Up the heavens cold and steep; Turn when dawn comes over land, Over rapid, over sand, South away! and South away! Seek the sunlight and the day, Back to pasture, back to mead, Where the kine and oxen feed!####-Back to gardens on the hills Where the berry swells and fills Under sunlight, under day! South away! and South away! Down the swift dark stream you go Back to lands you once did know! Now the very last barrel was being rolled to the doors! In despair and not knowing what else to do, poor little Bilbo caught hold of it and was pushed over the edge with it. Down into the water he fell, splash! into the cold dark water with the barrel on top of him. He came up again spluttering and clinging to the wood like a rat, but for all his efforts he could not scramble on top. Every time he tried, the barrel rolled round and ducked him under again. It was really empty, and floated light as a cork. Though his ears were full of water, he could hear the elves still singing in the cellar above. Then suddenly the trapdoors fell to with a boom and their voices faded away. He was in the dark tunnel, floating in icy water, all alone-for you cannot count friends that are all packed up in barrels. Very soon a grey patch came up in the darkness ahead. He heard the creak of the water-gate being hauled up, and he found that he was in the midst of a bobbing and bumping mass of casks and tubs all pressing together to pass under the arch and get out into the open stream. He had as much as he could do to prevent himself from being hustled and battered to bits; but at last the jostling crowd began to break up and swing off, one by one, under the stone arch and away. Then he saw that it would have been no good even if he had managed to get astride his barrel, for there was no room to spare, not even for a hobbit, between its top and the suddenly stooping roof where the gate was. Out they went under the overhanging branches of the trees on either bank. Bilbo wondered what the dwarves were feeling and whether a lot of water was getting into their tubs. Some of those that bobbed along by him in the gloom seemed pretty low in the water, and he guessed that these had dwarves inside. "I do hope I put the lids on tight enough!" he thought, but before long he was worrying too much about himself to remember the dwarves. He managed to keep his head above the water, but he was shivering with the cold, and he wondered if he would die of it before the luck turned, and how much longer he would be able to hang on, and whether he should risk the chance of letting go and trying to swim to the bank.####-The luck turned all right before long: the eddying current carried several barrels close ashore at one point and there for a while they stuck against some hidden root. Then Bilbo took the opportunity of scrambling up the side of his barrel while it was held steady against another. Up he crawled like a drowned rat, and lay on the top spread out to keep the balance as best he could. The breeze was cold but better than the water, and he hoped he would not suddenly roll off again when they started off once more. Before long the barrels broke free again and turned and twisted off down the stream, and out into the main current Then he found it quite as difficult to stick on as he had feared; but he managed it somehow, though it was miserably uncomfortable. Luckily he was very light, and the barrel was a good big one and being rather leaky had now shipped a small amount of water. All the same it was like trying to ride, without bridle or stirrups, a round- bellied pony that was always thinking of rolling on the grass. In this way at last Mr. Baggins came to a place where the trees on either hand grew thinner. He could see the paler sky between them. The dark river opened suddenly wide, and there it was joined to the main water of the Forest River flowing down in haste from the king's great doors. There was a dim sheet of water no longer overshadowed, and on its sliding surface there were dancing and broken reflections of clouds and of stars. Then the hurrying water of the Forest River swept all the company of casks and tubs away to the north bank, in which it had eaten out a wide bay. This had a shingly shore under hanging banks and was walled at the eastern end by a little jutting cape of hard rock. On the shallow shore most of the barrels ran aground, though a few went on to bump against the stony pier. There were people on the look-out on the banks. They quickly poled and pushed all the barrels together into the shallows, and when they had counted them they roped them together and left them till the morning. Poor dwarves! Bilbo was not so badly off now. He slipped from his barrel and waded ashore, and then sneaked along to some huts that he could see near the water's edge. He no longer thought twice about picking up a supper uninvited if he got the chance, he had been obliged to do it for so long, and he knew only too well what it was to be really hungry, not merely politely interested in the dainties of a well-filled larder. Also he had caught a glimpse of a fire through the trees, and that appealed to him with his dripping and ragged clothes clinging to him cold and clammy. There is no need to tell you much of his adventures that night, for now we are drawing near the end of the eastward journey and coming to the last and greatest adventure, so we must hurry on. Of course helped by his magic ring he got on ####-very well at first, but he was given away in the end by his wet footsteps and the trail of drippings that he left wherever he went or sat; and also he began to snivel, and wherever he tried to hide he was found out by the terrific explosions of his suppressed sneezes. Very soon there was a fine commotion in the village by the riverside; but Bilbo escaped into the woods carrying a loaf and a leather bottle of wine and a pie that did not belong to him. The rest of the night he had to pass wet as he was and far from a fire, but the bottle helped him to do that, and he actually dozed a little on some dry leaves, even though the year was getting late and the air was chilly. He woke again with a specially loud sneeze. It was already grey morning, and there was a merry racket down by the river. They were making up a raft of barrels, and the raft-elves would soon be steering it off down the stream to Lake-town. Bilbo sneezed again. He was no longer dripping but he felt cold all over. He scrambled down as fast as his stiff legs would take him and managed just in time to get on to the mass of casks without being noticed in the general bustle. Luckily there was no sun at the time to cast an awkward shadow, and for a mercy he did not sneeze again for a good while. There was a mighty pushing of poles. The elves that were standing in the shallow .water heaved and shoved. The barrels now all lashed together creaked and fretted. . "This is a heavy load!" some grumbled. "They float too deep-some of these are never empty. If they had come ashore in the daylight, we might have had a look inside," they said. "No time now!" cried the raftman. "Shove off!" And off they went at last, slowly at first, until they had passed the point of rock where other elves stood to fend them off with poles, and then quicker and quicker as they caught the main stream and went sailing away down, down towards the Lake. They had escaped the dungeons of the king and were through the wood, but whether alive or dead still remains to be seen. ####-

A Warm Welcome The day grew lighter and warmer as they floated along. After a while the river rounded a steep shoulder of land that came down upon their left. Under its rocky feet like an inland cliff the deepest stream had flowed lapping and bubbling. Suddenly the cliff fell away. The shores sank. The trees ended. Then Bilbo saw a sight: The lands opened wide about him, filled with the waters of the river which broke up and wandered in a hundred winding courses, or halted in marshes and pools dotted with isles on every side: but still a strong water flowed on steadily through the midst. And far away, its dark head in a torn cloud, there loomed the Mountain! Its nearest neighbours to the North-East and the tumbled land that joined it to them could not be seen. All alone it rose and looked across the marshes to the forest. The Lonely Mountain! Bilbo had come far and through many adventures to see it, and now he did not like the look of it in the least. As he listened to the talk of the raftmen and pieced together the scraps of information they let fall, he soon realized that he was very fortunate ever to have seen it at all, even from this distance. Dreary as had been his imprisonment and unpleasant as was his position (to say nothing of the poor dwarves underneath him) still, he had been more lucky than he had guessed. The talk was all of the trade that came and went on the waterways and the growth of the traffic on the river, as the roads out of the East towards Mirkwood vanished or fell into disuse; and of the bickerings of the Lake-men and the Wood-elves about the upkeep of the Forest River and the care of the banks. Those lands had changed much since the days when dwarves dwelt in the Mountain, days which most people now remembered only as a very shadowy tradition. They had changed even in recent years, and since the last news that Gandalf had had of them. Great floods and rains had swollen the waters that flowed east; and there had been an earthquake or two (which some were inclined to attribute to the dragon-alluding to him chiefly with a curse and an ominous nod in the direction of the Mountain). The marshes and bogs had spread wider and wider on either side. Paths had vanished, and many a rider and wanderer too, if they had tried to find the lost ways across. The elf-road through the wood which the dwarves had followed on the advice of Beorn now came to a doubtful and little used end at the eastern edge of the forest; only the river offered any longer a safe ####-way from the skirts of Mirkwood in the North to the mountain-shadowed plains beyond, and the river was guarded by the Wood-elves' king. So you see Bilbo had come in the end by the only road that was any good. It might have been some comfort to Mr. Baggins shivering on the barrels, if he had known that news of this had reached Gandalf far away and given him great anxiety, and that he was in fact finishing his other business (which does not come into this tale) and getting ready to come in search of Thorin's company. But Bilbo did not know it. All he knew was that the river seemed to go on and on and on for ever, and he was hungry, and had a nasty cold in the nose, and did not like the way the Mountain seemed to frown at him and threaten him as it drew ever nearer. After a while, however, the river took a more southerly course and the Mountain receded again, and at last, late in the day the shores grew rocky, the river gathered all its wandering waters together into a deep and rapid flood, and they swept along at great speed. The sun had set when turning with another sweep towards the East the forest- river rushed into the Long Lake. There it had a wide mouth with stony clifflike gates at either side whose feet were piled with shingles. The Long Lake! Bilbo had never imagined that any water that was not the sea could look so big. It was so wide that the opposite shores looked small and far, but it was so long that its northerly end, which pointed towards the Mountain, could not be seen at all. Only from the map did Bilbo know that away up there, where the stars of the Wain were already twinkling, the Running River came down into the lake from Dale and with the Forest River filled with deep waters what must once have been a great deep rocky valley. At the southern end the doubled waters poured out again over high waterfalls and ran away hurriedly to unknown lands. In the still evening air the noise of the falls could be heard like a distant roar. Not far from the mouth of the Forest River was the strange town he heard the elves speak of in the king's cellars. It was not built on the shore, though there were a few huts and buildings there, but right out on the surface of the lake, protected from the swirl of the entering river by a promontory of rock which formed a calm bay. A great . bridge made of wood ran out to where on huge piles made of forest trees was built a busy wooden town, not a town of elves but of Men, who still dared to dwell here under the shadow of the distant dragon-mountain. They still throve on the trade that came up the great river from the South and was carted past the falls to their town; but in the great days of old, when Dale in the North was rich and prosperous, they had been wealthy and powerful, and there had been ####-fleets of boats on the waters, and some were filled with gold and some with warriors in armour, and there had been wars and deeds which were now only a legend. The rotting piles of a greater town could still be seen along the shores when the waters sank in a drought. But men remembered little of all that, though some still sang old songs of the dwarf-kings of the Mountain, Thror and Thrain of the race of Durin, and of the coming of the Dragon, and the fall of the lords of Dale. Some sang too that Thror and Thrain would come back one day and gold would flow in rivers through the mountain-gates, and all that land would be filled with new song and new laughter. But this pleasant legend did not much affect their daily business. As soon as the raft of barrels came in sight boats rowed out from the piles of the town, and voices hailed the raft-steerers. Then ropes were cast and oars were pulled, and soon the raft was drawn out of the current of the Forest River and towed away round the high shoulder of rock into the little bay of Lake-town. There it was moored not far from the shoreward head of the great bridge. Soon men would come up from the South and take some of the casks away, and others they would fill with goods they had brought to be taken back up the stream to the Wood-elves' home. In the meanwhile the barrels were left afloat while the elves of the raft and the boatmen went to feast in Lake-town. They would have been surprised, if they could have seen what happened down by the shore, after they had gone and the shades of night had fallen. First of all a barrel was cut loose by Bilbo and pushed to the shore and opened. Groans came from inside, and out crept a most unhappy dwarf. Wet straw was in his draggled beard; he was so sore and stiff, so bruised and buffeted he could hardly stand or stumble through the shallow water to lie groaning on the shore. He had a famished and a savage look like a dog that has been chained and forgotten in a kennel for a week. It was Thorin, but you could only have told it by his golden chain, and by the colour of his now dirty and tattered sky-blue hood with its tarnished silver tassel. It was some time before he would be even polite to the hobbit. "Well, are you alive or are you dead?" asked Bilbo quite crossly. Perhaps he had forgotten that he had had at least one good meal more than the dwarves, and also the use of his arms and legs, not to speak of a greater allowance of air. "Are you still in prison, or are you free? If you want food, and if you want to go on with this silly adventure- it's yours after all and not mine-you had better slap your arms and rub your legs and try and help me get the others out while there is a chance!"####-Thorin of course saw the sense of this, so after a few more groans he got up and helped the hobbit as well as he could. In the darkness floundering in the cold water they had a difficult and very nasty job finding which were the right barrels. Knocking outside and calling only discovered about six dwarves that could answer. They were unpacked and helped ashore where they sat or lay muttering and moaning; they were so soaked and bruised and cramped that they could hardly yet realize their release or be properly thankful for it. Dwalin and Balin were two of the most unhappy, and it was no good asking them to help. Bifur and Bofur were less knocked about and drier, but they lay down and would do nothing. Fili and Kili, however, who were young (for dwarves) and had also been packed more neatly with plenty of straw into smaller casks, came out more or less smiling, with only a bruise or two and a stiffness that soon wore off. "I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!" said Fili. "My tub was full of it. To smell apples everlastingly when you can scarcely move and are cold and sick with hunger is maddening. I could eat anything in the wide world now, for hours on end-but not an apple!" With the willing help of Fili and Kili, Thorin and Bilbo at last discovered the remainder of the company and got them out. Poor fat Bombur was asleep or senseless; Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin and Gloin were waterlogged and seemed only half alive; they all had to be carried one by one and laid helpless on the shore. "Well! Here we are!" said Thorin. "And I suppose we ought to thank our stars and Mr. Baggins. I am sure he has a right to expect it, though I wish he could have arranged a more comfortable journey. Still-all very much at your service once more, Mr. Baggins. No doubt we shall feel properly grateful, when we are fed and recovered. In the meanwhile what next?" "I suggest Lake-town," said Bilbo, "What else is there?" Nothing else could, of course, be suggested; so leaving the others Thorin and Fili and Kili and the hobbit went along the shore to the great bridge. There were guards at the head of it, but they were not keeping very careful watch, for it was so long since there had been any real need. Except for occasional squabbles about river-tolls they were friends with the Wood-elves. Other folk were far away; and some of the younger people in the town openly doubted the existence of any dragon in the mountain, and laughed at the greybeards and gammers who said that they had seen him flying in the sky in their young days. That being so it is not surprising that the guards were drinking and laughing by a fire in their hut, and did not hear the noise of the ####-unpacking of the dwarves or the footsteps of the four scouts. Their astonishment was enormous when Thorin Oakenshield stepped in through the door. "Who are you and what do you want?" they shouted leaping to their feet and gipping for weapons. "Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain!" said the dwarf in a loud voice, and he looked it, in spite of his torn clothes and draggled hood. The gold gleamed on his neck and waist: his eyes were dark and deep. "I have come back. I wish to see the Master of your town!" Then there was tremendous excitement. Some of the more foolish ran out of the hut as if they expected the Mountain to go golden in the night and all the waters of the lake to turn yellow right away. The captain of the guard came forward. "And who are these?" he asked, pointing to Fili and: Kili and Bilbo. "The sons of my father's daughter," answered Thorin, "Fili and Kili of the race of Durin, and Mr. Baggins who has travelled with us out of the West." "If you come in peace lay down your arms!" said the captain. "We have none," said Thorin, and it was true enough: their knives had been taken from them by the wood-elves, and the great sword Orcrist too. Bilbo had his short sword, hidden as usual, but he said nothing about that. "We have no need of weapons, who return at last to our own as spoken of old. Nor could we fight against so many. Take us to your master!" "He is at feast," said the captain. "Then all the more reason for taking us to him," burst in Fili, who was getting impatient at these solemnities. "We are worn and famished after our long road and we have sick comrades. Now make haste and let us have no more words, or your master may have something to say to you." "Follow me then," said the captain, and with six men about them he led them over the bridge through the gates and into the market-place of the town. This was a wide circle of quiet water surrounded by the tall piles on which were built the greater houses, and by long wooden quays with many steps and ladders going down to the surface of the lake. From one great hall shone many lights and there came the sound of many voices. They passed its doors and stood blinking in the light looking at long tables filled with folk. "I am Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain! I return!" cried Thorin in a loud voice from the door, before the captain could say anything. All leaped to their feet. The Master of the town sprang from his great chair. But ####-none rose in greater surprise than the raft-men of the elves who were sitting at the lower end of the hall. Pressing forward before the Master's table they cried: "These are prisoners of our king that have escaped, wandering vagabond dwarves that could not give any good account of themselves, sneaking through the woods and molesting our people!" "Is this true?" asked the Master. As a matter of fact he thought it far more likely than the return of the King under the Mountain, if any such person had ever existed. "It is true that we were wrongfully waylaid by the Elven-king and imprisoned without cause as we journeyed back to our own land," answered Thorin. "But lock nor bar may hinder the homecoming spoken of old. Nor is this town in the Wood-elves' realm. I speak to the Master of the town of the Men of the lake, not to the raft-men of the king." Then the Master hesitated and looked from one to the other. The Elvenking was very powerful in those parts and the Master wished for no enmity with him, nor did he think much of old songs, giving his mind to .trade and tolls, to cargoes and gold, to which habit he owed his position. Others were of different mind, however, and quickly the matter was settled without him. The news had spread from the doors of the hall like fire through all the town. People were shouting inside the hall and outside it. The quays were thronged with hurrying feet. Some began to sing snatches of old songs concerning the return of the King under the Mountain; that it was Thror's grandson not Thror himself that had come back did not bother them at all. Others took up the song and it rolled loud and high over the lake. The King beneath the mountains, The King of carven stone, The lord of silver fountains Shall come into his own! His crown shall be upholden, His harp shall be restrung, His halls shall echo golden To songs of yore re-sung. The woods shall wave on mountains And grass beneath the sun; His wealth shall flow in fountains And the rivers golden run.####- The streams shall run in gladness, The lakes shall shine and burn, And sorrow fail and sadness At the Mountain -king's return! So they sang, or very like that, only there was a great deal more of it, and there was much shouting as well as the music of harps and of fiddles mixed up with it. Indeed such excitement had not been known in the town in the memory of the oldest grandfather. The Wood-elves themselves began to wonder greatly and even to be afraid. They did not know of course how Thorin had escaped, and they began to think their king might have made a serious mistake. As for the Master he saw there was nothing else for it but to obey the general clamour, for the moment at any rate, and to pretend to believe that Thorin was what he said. So he gave up to him his own great chair and set Fili and Kili beside him in places of honour. Even Bilbo was given a seat at the high table, and no explanation of where he came in-no songs had alluded to him even in the obscurest way-was asked for in the general bustle. Soon afterwards the other dwarves were brought into the town amid scenes of astonishing enthusiasm. They were all doctored and fed and housed and pampered in the most delightful and satisfactory fashion. A large house was given up to Thorin and his company; boats and rowers were put at their service; and crowds sat outside and sang songs all day, or cheered if any dwarf showed so much as his nose. Some of the songs were old ones; but some of them were quite new and spoke confidently of the sudden death of the dragon and of cargoes of rich presents coming down the river to Lake-town. These were inspired largely by the Master and they did not particularly please the dwarves, but in the meantime they were well contented and they quickly grew fat and strong again. Indeed within a week they were quite recovered, fitted out in fine cloth of their proper colours, with beards combed and trimmed, and proud steps. Thorin looked and walked as if his kingdom was already regained and Smaug chopped up into little pieces. Then, as he had said, the dwarves' good feeling towards the little hobbit grew stronger every day. There were no more groans or grumbles. They drank his health, and they patted him on the back, and they made a great fuss of him; which was just as well, for he was not feeling particularly cheerful. He had not forgotten the look of the Mountain, nor the thought of the dragon, and he had besides a ####-shocking cold. For three days he sneezed and coughed, and he could not go out, and even after that his speeches at banquets were limited to "Thag you very buch." In the meanwhile the Wood-elves had gone back up the Forest River with their cargoes, and there was great excitement in the king's palace. I have never heard what happened to the chief of the guards and the butler. Nothing of course was ever said about keys or barrels while the dwarves stayed in Lake-town, and Bilbo was careful never to become invisible. Still, I daresay, more was guessed than was known, though doubtless Mr. Baggins remained a bit of a mystery. In any case the king knew now the dwarves' errand, or thought he did, and he said to himself: "Very well! We'll see! No treasure will come back through Mirkwood without my having something to say in the matter. But I expect they will all come to a bad end, and serve them right!" He at any rate did not believe in dwarves fighting and killing dragons like Smaug, and he strongly suspected attempted burglary or something like it which shows he was a wise elf and wiser than the men of the town, though not quite right, as we shall see in the end. He sent out his spies about the shores of the lake and as far northward towards the Mountains as they would go, and waited. At the end of a fortnight Thorin began to think of departure. While the enthusiasm still lasted in the town was the time to get help. It would not do to let everything cool down with delay. So he spoke to the Master and his councillors and said that soon he and his company must go on towards the Mountain. Then for the first time the Master was surprised and a little frightened; and he wondered if Thorin was after all really a descendant of the old kings. He had never thought that the dwarves would actually dare to approach Smaug, but believed they were frauds who would sooner or later be discovered and be turned out. He was wrong. Thorin, of course, was really the grandson of the King under the Mountain, and there is no knowing what a dwarf will not dare and do for revenge or the recovery of his own. But the Master was not sorry at all to let them go. They were expensive to keep, and their arrival had turned things into a long holiday in which business was at a standstill. "Let them go and bother Smaug, and see how he welcomes them!" he thought. "Certainly, O Thorin Thrain's son Thror's son!" was what he said. "You must claim your own. The hour is at hand, spoken of old. What help we can offer shall be yours, and we trust to your gratitude when your kingdom is regained." So one day, although autumn was now getting far on, and winds were cold, and leaves were falling fast, three large boats left Lake-town, laden with rowers,####-dwarves, Mr. Baggins, and many provisions. Horses and ponies had been sent round by circuitous paths to meet them at their appointed landing-place. The Master and his councillors bade them farewell from the great steps of the town- hall that went down to the lake. People sang on the quays and out of windows. The white oars dipped and splashed, and off they went north up the lake on the last stage of their long journey. The only person thoroughly unhappy was Bilbo. ####-

On the Doorstep In two days going they rowed right up the Long Lake and passed out into the River Running, and now they could all see the Lonely Mountain towering grim and tall before them. The stream was strong and their going slow. At the; end of the third day, some miles up the river, they drew in to the left or western bank and disembarked. Here they were joined by the horses with other provisions and necessaries and the ponies for their own use that had been sent to meet them. They packed what they could on the ponies and the rest was made into a store under a tent, but none of the men of the town would stay with them even for the night so near the shadow of the Mountain. "Not at any rate until the songs have come true!" said they. It was easier to believe in the Dragon and less easy to believe in Thorin in these wild parts. Indeed their stores had no need of any guard, for all the land was desolate and empty. So their escort left them, making off swiftly down the river and the shoreward paths, although the night was already drawing on. They spent a cold and lonely night and their spirits fell. The next day they set out again. Balin and Bilbo rode behind, each leading another pony heavily laden beside him; the others were some way ahead picking out a slow road, for there were no paths. They made north-west, slanting away from the River Running, and drawing ever nearer and nearer to a great spur of the Mountain that was flung out southwards towards them. It was a weary journey, and a quiet and stealthy one. There was no laughter or song or sound of harps, and the pride and hopes which had stirred in their hearts at the singing of old songs by the lake died away to a plodding gloom. They knew that they were drawing near to the end of their journey, and that it might be a very horrible end. The land about them grew bleak and barren, though once, as Thorin told them, it had been green and fair. There was little grass, and before long there was neither bush nor tree, and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of ones long vanished. They were come to the Desolation of the Dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year. They reached the skirts of the Mountain all the same without meeting any danger or any sign of the Dragon other than the wilderness he had made about his lair. The Mountain lay dark and silent before them and ever higher above them.####-They made their first camp on the western side of the great southern spur, which ended in a height called Ravenhill. On this there had been an old watch-post; but they dared not climb it yet, it was too exposed. Before setting out to search the western spurs of the Mountain for the hidden door, on which all their hopes rested, Thorin sent out a scouting expedition to spy out the land to the South where the Front Gate stood. For this purpose he chose Balin and Fili and Kili, and with them went Bilbo. They marched under the grey and silent cliffs to the feet of Ravenhill. There the river, after winding a wide loop over the valley of Dale, turned from the Mountain on its road to the Lake, flowing swift and noisily. Its bank was bare and rocky, tall and steep above the stream; and gazing out from it over the narrow water, foaming and splashing among many boulders, they could see in the wide valley shadowed by the Mountain's arms the grey ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls. "There lies all that is left of Dale," said Balin. "The mountain's sides were green with woods and all the sheltered valley rich and pleasant in the days when the bells rang in that town." He looked both sad and grim as he said this: he had been one of Thorin's companions on the day the Dragon came. They did not dare to follow the river much further to. wards the Gate; but they went on beyond the end of the southern spur, until lying hidden behind a rock they could look out and see the dark cavernous opening in a great cliff-wall between the arms of the Mountain. Out of it the waters of the Running River sprang; and out of it too there came a steam and a dark smoke. Nothing moved in the waste, save the vapour and the water, and every now and again a black and ominous crow. The only sound was the sound of the stony water, and every now and again the harsh croak of a bird. Balin shuddered. "Let us return!" he said. "We can do no good here!– And I don't like these dark birds, they look like spies of evil." "The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain then-or I imagine so from the smoke," said the hobbit. "That does not prove it," said Balin, "though I don't doubt you are right. But he might be gone away some time, or he might be lying out on the mountain-side keeping watch, and still I expect smokes and steams would come out of the gates: all the halls within must be filled with his foul reek." With such gloomy thoughts, followed ever by croaking crows above them, they made their weary way back to the camp. Only in June they had been guests in the fair house of Elrond, and though autumn was now crawling towards winter ####-that pleasant time now seemed years ago. They were alone in the perilous waste without hope of further help. They were at the end of their journey, but as far as ever, it seemed, from the end of their quest. None of them had much spirit left. Now strange to say Mr. Baggins had more than the others. He would often borrow Thorin's map and gaze at it, pondering over the runes and the message of the moon-letters Elrond had read. It was he that made the dwarves begin the dangerous search on the western slopes for the secret door. They moved their camp then to a long valley, narrower than the great dale in the South where the Gates of the river stood, and walled with lower spurs of the Mountain. Two of these here thrust forward west from the main mass in long steep-sided ridges that fell ever downwards towards the plain. On this western side there were fewer signs of the dragon's marauding feet, and there was some grass for their ponies. From this western camp, shadowed all day by cliff and wall until the sun began to sink towards the forest, day by day they toiled in parties searching for paths up the mountain-side. If the map was true, somewhere high above the cliff at the valley's head must stand the secret door. Day by day they came back to their camp without success. But at last unexpectedly they found what they were seeking. Fili and Kili and the hobbit went back one day down the valley and scrambled among the tumbled rocks at its southern corner. About midday, creeping behind a great stone that stood alone like a pillar, Bilbo came on what looked like rough steps going upwards. Following these excitedly he and the dwarves found traces of a narrow track, often lost, often rediscovered, that wandered on to the top of the southern ridge and brought them at last to a still narrower ledge, which turned north across the face of the Mountain. Looking down they saw that they were at the top of the cliff at the valley's head and were gazing down on to their own camp below. Silently, clinging to the rocky wall on their right, they went in single file along the ledge, till the wall opened and they turned into a little steep-walled bay, grassy- floored, still and quiet. Its entrance which they had found could not be seen from below because of the overhang of the cliff, nor from further off because it was so small that it looked like a dark crack and no more. It was not a cave and was open to the sky above; but at its inner end a flat wall rose up that in the lower I part, close to the ground, was as smooth and upright as mason's work, but without a joint or crevice to be seen. "No sign was there of post or lintel or threshold, nor any sign of bar or bolt or key-hole; yet they did not doubt that they had found the door at last.####-They beat on it, they thrust and pushed at it, they implored it to move, they spoke fragments of broken spells of opening, and nothing stirred. At last tired out they. rested on the grass at its feet, and then at evening began, their long climb down. There was excitement in the camp that night. In the morning they prepared to move once more. Only Bofur and Bombur were left behind to guard the ponies and such stores as they had brought with them from the river. The others went down the valley and up the newly found path, and so to the narrow ledge. Along this they could carry no bundles or packs, so narrow and breathless was it, with a fall of a hundred and fifty feet beside them on to sharp rocks below; but each of them took a good coil of rope wound tight about his waist, and so at last without mishap they reached the little grassy bay. There they made their third camp, hauling up what they needed from below with their ropes. Down the same way they were able occasionally to lower one of the more active dwarves, such as Kili, to exchange such news as there was, or to take a share in the guard below, while Bofur was hauled up to the higher camp. Bombur would not come up either the rope or the path. "I am too fat for such fly-walks," he said. "I should turn dizzy and tread on my beard, and then you would be thirteen again. And the knotted ropes are too slender for my weight." Luckily for him that was not true, as you will see. In the meanwhile some of them explored the ledge beyond the opening and found a path that led higher and higher on to the mountain; but they did not dare to venture very far that way, nor was there much use in it. Out up there a silence reigned, broken by no bird or sound except that of the wind in the crannies of stone. They spoke low and never called or sang, for danger brooded in every rock. The others who were busy with the secret of the door had no more success. They were too eager to trouble about the runes or the moon-letters, but tried without resting to discover where exactly in the smooth face of the rock the door was hidden. They had brought picks and tools of many sorts from Lake-town, and at first they tried to use these. But when they struck the stone the handles splintered and jarred their arms cruelly, and the steel heads broke or bent like lead. Mining work, they saw clearly was no good against the magic that had shut this door; and they grew terrified, too, of the echoing noise. Bilbo found sitting on the doorstep lonesome and wearisome-there was not a doorstep, of course, really, but they used to call the little grassy space between the wall and the opening the "doorstep" in fun, remembering Bilbo's words long ago ####-at the unexpected party in his hobbit-hole, when he said they could sit on the doorstep till they thought of something. And sit and think they did, or wandered aimlessly about, and glummer and glummer they became. Their spirits had risen a little at the discovery of the path, but now they sank into their boots; and yet they would not give it up and go away. The hobbit was no longer much brighter than the dwarves. He would do nothing but sit with his back to the rock-face and stare away west through the opening, over the cliff, over the wide lands to the black wall of Mirkwood, and to the distances beyond, in which he sometimes thought he could catch glimpses of the Misty Mountains small and far. If the dwarves asked him what he was doing he answered: "You said sitting on the doorstep and thinking would be my job, not to mention getting inside, so I am sitting and thinking." But I am afraid he was not thinking much of the job, but of what lay beyond the blue distance, the quiet Western Land and the Hill and his hobbit-hole under it. A large grey stone lay in the centre of the grass and he stared moodily at it or watched the great snails. They seemed to love the little shut-in bay with its walls of cool rock, and there were many of them of huge size crawling slowly and stickily along its sides. "Tomorrow begins the last week of Autumn," said Thorin one day. "And winter comes after autumn," said Bifur. "And next year after that," said Dwalin, "and our beards will grow till they hang down the cliff to the valley before anything happens here. What is our burglar doing for us? Since he has got an invisible ring, and ought to be a specially excellent performer now, I am beginning to think he might go through the Front Gate and spy things out a bit!" Bilbo heard this-the dwarves were on the rocks just : above the enclosure where he was sitting-and "Good Gracious!" he thought, "so that is what they are beginning to think, is it? It is always poor me that has to get them out : of their difficulties, at least since the wizard left. Whatever am I going to do? I might have known that something dreadful would happen to me in the end. I don't think I could bear to see the unhappy valley of Dale again, and as for that steaming gate! ! !" That night he was very miserable and hardly slept. Next day the dwarves all went wandering off in various directions; some were exercising the ponies down below, some were roving about the mountain-side. All day Bilbo sat gloomily in the grassy bay gazing at the stone, or out west through the narrow opening. He ####-had a queer feeling that he was waiting for something. "Perhaps the wizard will suddenly come back today," he thought. If he lifted his head he could see a glimpse of the distant forest. As the sun turned west there was a gleam of yellow upon its far roof, as if the light caught the last pale leaves. Soon he saw the orange ball of the sun sinking towards the level of his eyes. He went to the opening and there pale and faint was a thin new moon above the rim of Earth. At that very moment he heard a sharp crack behind him. There on the grey stone in the grass was an enormous thrush, nearly coal black, its pale yellow breast freckled dark spots. Crack! It had caught a snail and was knocking it on the stone. Crack! Crack! Suddenly Bilbo understood. Forgetting all danger he stood on the ledge and hailed the dwarves, shouting and paying. Those that were nearest came tumbling over the rocks and as fast as they could along the ledge to him, wondering what on earth was the matter; the others shouted to be hauled up the ropes (except Bombur, of course: he was asleep). Quickly Bilbo explained. They all fell silent: the hobbit standing by the grey stone, and the dwarves with wagging beards watching impatiently. The sun sank lower and lower, and their hopes fell. It sank into a belt of reddened cloud and disappeared. The dwarves groaned, but still Bilbo stood almost without moving. The little moon was dipping to the horizon. Evening was coming on. Then suddenly when their hope was lowest a red ray of the sun escaped like a finger through a rent in the cloud. A gleam of light came straight through the opening into the bay and fell on the smooth rock-face. The old thrush, who had been watching from a high perch with beady eyes and head cocked on one side, gave a sudden trill. There was a loud attack. A flake of rock split from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about three feet from the ground. Quickly, trembling lest the chance should fade, the dwarves rushed to the rock and pushed-in vain. "The key! The key!" cried Bilbo. "Where is Thorin?" Thorin hurried up. "The key!" shouted Bilbo. "The key that went with the map! Try it now while there is still time!" Then Thorin stepped up and drew the key on its chain from round his neck. He put it to the hole. It fitted and it turned! Snap! The gleam went out, the sun sank, the moon was gone, and evening sprang into the sky. Now they all pushed together, and slowly a part of the rock-wall gave way. Long straight cracks appeared and widened. A door five feet high and three broad was out- lined, and slowly without a sound swung inwards. It seemed as if ####-darkness flowed out like a vapour from the hole in the mountain-side, and deep darkness in which nothing could be seen lay before their eyes mouth leading in and down. ####-

Inside Information For a long time the dwarves stood in the dark before the door and debated, until at last Thorin spoke: "Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself a good companion on our long road, and a hobbit full of courage and resource far exceeding his size, and if I may say so possessed of good luck far exceeding the usual allowance-now is the time for him to perform the service for which he was included in our Company; now is the time for him to earn his Reward." You are familiar with Thorin's style on important occasions, so I will not give you any more of it, though he went on a good deal longer than this. It certainly was an important occasion, but Bilbo felt impatient. By now he was quite familiar with Thorin too, and he knew what be was driving at. "If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer," he said crossly, "say so at once and have done! I might refuse. I have got you out of two messes already, which were hardly in the original bargain, so that I am, I think, already owed some reward. But ‘third time pays for all' as my father used to say, and somehow I don't think I shall refuse. Perhaps I have begun to trust my luck more than I used to in the old days" – he meant last spring before he left his own house, but it seemed centuries ago – "but anyway I think I will go and have a peep at once and get it over. Now who is coming with me?" He did not expect a chorus of volunteers, so he was not disappointed. Fili and Kili looked uncomfortable and stood on One leg, but the others made no pretence of offering – except old Balin. the look-out man, who was rather fond the hobbit. He said he would come inside at least and perhaps a bit of the way too, really to call for help if necessary. The most that can be said for the dwarves is this: they intended to pay Bilbo really handsomely for his services; they had brought him to do a nasty job for them, and they did not mind the poor little fellow doing it if he would; but they would all have done their best to get him out of trouble, if he got into it, as they did in the case of the trolls at the beginning of their adventures before they had any particular reasons for being grateful to him. There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of money; some are tricky and ####-treacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don't expect too much. The stars were coming out behind him in a pale sky barred with black when the hobbit crept through the enchanted door and stole into the Mountain. It was far easier going than he expected. This was no goblin entrance, or rough wood-elves' cave. It was a passage made by dwarves, at the height of their wealth and skill: straight as a ruler, smooth-floored and smooth-sided, going with a gentle never- varying slope direct-to some distant end in the blackness below. After a while Balin bade Bilbo "Good luck!" and stopped where he could still see the faint outline of the door, and by a trick of, the echoes of the tunnel hear the rustle of the whispering voices of the others just outside. Then the hobbit slipped on his ring, and warned by the echoes to take more than hobbit's care to make no sound, he crept noiselessly down, down, down into the dark. He was trembling with fear, but his little face was set and grim. Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago. He had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages. He loosened his dagger in its sheath, tightened his belt, and went on."Now you are in for it at last, Bilbo Baggins," he said to himself. "You went and put your foot right in it that night of the party, and now you have got to pull it out and pay for it! Dear me, what a fool I was and am!" said the least Tookish part of him. "I have absolutely no use for dragon-guarded treasures, and the whole lot could stay here for ever, if only I could wake up and find this beastly tunnel was my own front-hall at home!" He did not wake up of course, but went still on and on, till all sign of the door behind had faded away. He was altogether alone. Soon he thought it was beginning to feel warm. "Is that a kind of a glow I seem to see coming right ahead down there?" he thought. It was. As he went forward it grew and grew, till there was no doubt about it. It was a red light steadily getting redder and redder. Also it was now undoubtedly hot in the tunnel. Wisps of vapour floated up and past him and he began to sweat. A sound, too, began to throb in his ears, a sort of bubbling like the noise of a large pot galloping on the fire, mixed with a rumble as of a gigantic tom-cat purring. This grew to the unmistakable gurgling noise of some vast animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him. It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing ####-compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait. At any rate after a short halt go on he did; and you can picture him coming to the end of the tunnel, an opening of much the same size and shape as the door above. Through it peeps the hobbit's little head. Before him lies the great bottommost cellar or dungeon-hall of the ancient dwarves right at the Mountain's root. It is almost dark so that its vastaess can only be dimly guessed, but rising from the near side of the rocky floor there is a great glow. The glow of Smaug! There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light. Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed. Behind him where the walls were nearest could dimly be seen coats of mail, helms and axes, swords and spears hanging; and there in rows stood great jars and vessels filled with a wealth that could not be guessed. To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful. Bilbo had heard tell and sing of dragon-hoards before, but the splendour, the lust, the glory of such treasure had never yet come home to him. His heart was filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves; and he gazed motionless, almost forgetting the frightful guardian, at the gold beyond price and count. He gazed for what seemed an age, before drawn almost against his will, he stole from the shadow of the doorway, across the floor to the nearest edge of the mounds of treasure. Above him the sleeping dragon lay, a dire menace even in his sleep. He grasped a great two-handled cup, as heavy as he could carry, and cast one fearful eye upwards. Smaug stirred a wing, opened a claw, the rumble of his snoring changed its note. Then Bilbo fled. But the dragon did not wake-not yet but shifted into other dreams of greed and violence, lying there in his stolen hall while the little hobbit ####-toiled back up the long tunnel. His heart was beating and a more fevered shaking was in his legs than when he was going down, but still he clutched the cup, and his chief thought was: "I've done it! This will show them. 'More like a grocer than a burglar' indeed! Well, we'll hear no more of that." Nor did he. Balin was overjoyed to see the hobbit again, and as delighted as he was surprised. He picked Bilbo up and carried him out into the open air. It was midnight and clouds had covered the stars, but Bilbo lay with his eyes shut, gasping and taking pleasure in the feel of the fresh air again, and hardly noticing the excitement of the dwarves, or how they praised him and patted him on the back and put themselves and all their families for generations to come at his service. The dwarves were still passing the cup from hand to hand and talking delightedly of the recovery of their treasure, when suddenly a vast rumbling woke in the mountain underneath as if it was an old volcano that had made up its mind to start eruptions once again. The door behind them was pulled nearly to, and blocked from closing with a stone, but up the long tunnel came the dreadful echoes, from far down in the depths, of a bellowing and a trampling that made the ground beneath them tremble. Then the dwarves forgot their joy and their confident boasts of a moment before and cowered down in fright. Smaug was still to be reckoned with. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug was no exception. He had passed from an uneasy dream (in which a warrior, altogether insignificant in size but provided with a bitter sword and great courage, figured most unpleasantly) to a doze, and from a doze to wide waking. There was a breath of strange air in his cave. Could there be a draught from that little hole? He had never felt quite happy about it, though was so small, and now he glared at it in suspicion an wondered why he had never blocked it up. Of late he had half fancied he had caught the dim echoes of a knocking sound from far above that came down through it to his lair. He stirred and stretched forth his neck to sniff. Then he missed the cup! Thieves! Fire! Murder! Such a thing had not happened since first he came to the Mountain! His rage passes description – the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted. His fire belched forth, the ####-hall smoked, he shook the mountain-roots. He thrust his head in vain at the little hole, and then coiling his length together, roaring like thunder underground, he sped from his deep lair through its great door, out into the huge passages of the mountain-palace and up towards the Front Gate. To hunt the whole mountain till he had caught the thief and had torn and trampled him was his one thought. He issued from the Gate, the waters rose in fierce whistling steam, and up he soared blazing into the air and settled on the mountain-top in a spout of green and scarlet flame. The dwarves heard the awful rumour of his flight, and they crouched against the walls of the grassy terrace cringing under boulders, hoping somehow to escape the frightful eyes of the hunting dragon. There they would have all been killed, if it had not been for Bilbo once again. "Quick! Quick!" he gasped. "The door! The tunnel! It's no good here." Roused by these words they were just about to creep inside the tunnel when Bifur gave a cry: "My cousins! Bombur and Bofur – we have forgotten them, they are down in the valley!" "They will be slain, and all our ponies too, and all out stores lost," moaned the others. "We can do nothing." "Nonsense!" said Thorin, recovering his dignity. "We cannot leave them. Get inside Mr. Baggins and Balin, and you two Fili and Kili-the dragon shan't have all of us. Now you others, where are the ropes? Be quick!" Those were perhaps the worst moments they had been through yet. The horrible sounds of Smaug's anger were echoing in the stony hollows far above; at any moment he might come blazing down or fly whirling round and find them there, near the perilous cliff's edge hauling madly on the ropes. Up came Bofur, and still all was safe. Up came Bombur, puffing and blowing while the ropes creaked, and still all was safe. Up came some tools and bundles of stores, and then danger was upon them. A whirring noise was heard. A red light touched the points of standing rocks. The dragon came. They had barely time to fly back to the tunnel, pulling and dragging in their bundles, when Smaug came hurtling from the North, licking the mountain-sides with flame, beating his great wings with a noise like a roaring wind. His hot breath shrivelled the grass before the door, and drove in through the crack they had left and scorched them as they lay hid. Flickering fires leaped up and black rock-shadows danced. Then darkness fell as he passed again. The ponies screamed with terror, burst their ropes and galloped wildly off. The dragon swooped and turned to pursue them, and was gone.####-"That'll be the end of our poor beasts!" said Thorin. "Nothing can escape Smaug once he sees it. Here we are and here we shall have to stay, unless any one fancies tramping the long open miles back to the river with Smaug on the watch!" It was not a pleasant thought! They crept further down the tunnel, and there they lay and shivered though it was warm and stuffy, until dawn came pale through the crack of the door. Every now and again through the night they could hear the roar of the flying dragon grow and then pass and fade, as he hunted round and round the mountain-sides. He guessed from the ponies, and from the traces of the camps he had discovered, that men had come up from the river and the lake and had scaled the mountain-side from the valley where the ponies had been standing; but the door withstood his searching eye, and the little high-walled bay had kept out his fiercest flames. Long he had hunted in vain till the dawn chilled his wrath and he went back to his golden couch to sleep – and to gather new strength. He would not forget or forgive the theft, not if a thousand years turned him to smouldering stone, but he could afford to wait. Slow and silent he crept back to his lair and half closed his eyes. When morning came the terror of the dwarves grew less. They realized that dangers of this kind were inevitable in dealing with such a guardian, and that it was no good giving up their quest yet. Nor could they get away just now, as Thorin had pointed out. Their ponies were lost or killed, and they would have to wait some time before Smaug relaxed his watch sufficiently for them to dare the long way on foot. Luckily they had saved enough of their stores to last them still for some time. They debated long on what was to be done, but they could think of no way of getting rid of Smaug – which had always been a weak point in their plans, as Bilbo felt inclined to point out. Then as is the nature of folk that are thoroughly perplexed, they began to grumble at the hobbit, blaming him for what had at first so pleased them: for bringing away a cup and stirring up Smaug's wrath so soon. "What else do you suppose a burglar is to do?" asked Bilbo angrily. "I was not engaged to kill dragons, that is warrior's work, but to steal treasure. I made the best beginning I could. Did you expect me to trot back with the whole hoard of Thror on my back? If there is any grumbling to be done, I think I might have a say. You ought to have brought five hundred burglars not one. I am sure it reflects great credit on your grandfather, but you cannot pretend that you ever made the ####-vast extent of his wealth clear to me. I should want hundreds of years to bring it all up, if I was fifty times as big, and Smaug as tame as a rabbit." After that of course the dwarves begged his pardon. "What then do you propose we should do, Mr. Baggins?" asked Thorin politely. "I have no idea at the moment – if you mean about removing the treasure. That obviously depends entirely on some new turn of luck and the getting rid of Smaug. Getting rid of dragons is not at all in my line, but I will do my best to think about it. Personally I have no hopes at all, and wish I was safe back at home." "Never mind that for the moment! What are we to do now, to-day?" "Well, if you really want my advice, I should say we can do nothing but stay where we are. By day we can no doubt creep out safely enough to take the air. Perhaps before long one or two could be chosen to go back to the store by the river and replenish our supplies. But in the meanwhile everyone ought to be well inside the tunnel by night. "Now I will make you an offer. I have got my ring and will creep down this very noon-then if ever Smaug ought to be napping-and see what he is up to. Perhaps something will turn up. 'Every worm has his weak spot,' as my father used to say, though I am sure it was not from personal experience." Naturally the dwarves accepted the offer eagerly. Already they had come to respect little Bilbo. Now he had become the real leader in their adventure. He had begun to have ideas and plans of his own. When midday came he got ready for another journey down into the Mountain. He did not like it of course, but it was not so bad now he knew, more or less, what was in front of him. Had he known more about dragons and their wily ways, he might have teen more frightened and less hopeful of catching this one napping. The sun was shining when he started, but it was as dark as night in the tunnel. The light from the door, almost closed, soon faded as he went down. So silent was his going that smoke on a gentle wind could hardly have surpasses it, and he was inclined to feel a bit proud of himself as he drew near the lower door. There was only the very fainter glow to be seen. "Old Smaug is weary and asleep," he thought. "He can't, see me and he won't hear me. Cheer up Bilbo!" He had forgotten or had never heard about dragons' sense of smell. It is also an awkward fact that they keep half an eye open watching while they sleep, if they are suspicious. Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, almost dead and ####-dark, with scarcely a snore more than a whiff of unseen steam, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out on to the floor when he caught a sudden thin and piercing ray of red from under the drooping lid. of Smaug's left eye. He was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance! Hurriedly Bilbo stepped back and blessed the luck of his ring. Then Smaug spoke."Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there is plenty and to spare!" But Bilbo was not quite so unlearned in dragon-lore as all that, and if Smaug hoped to get him to come nearer so easily he was disappointed. "No thank you, O Smaug the. Tremendous!" he replied. "I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were truly as great as tales say. I did not believe them." "Do you now?" said the dragon somewhat flattered, even though he did not believe a word of it. j "Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities," replied Bilbo. I You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon. "You seem familiar with my name, but I don't seem to remember smelling you before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?" "You may indeed! I come from under the hill, and under hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen." "So I can well believe," said Smaug, "but that is hardly our usual name." "I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I as chosen for the lucky number." "Lovely titles!" sneered the dragon. "But lucky numbers don't always come off." "I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me." "These don't sound so creditable," scoffed Smaug. "I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider," went on Bilbo beginning to be pleased with his riddling. "That's better!" said Smaug. "But don't let your imagination run away with you!" ####-This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don't want to reveal your proper name (which is wise), and don't want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise). No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it. There was a lot here which Smaug did not understand at all (though I expect you do, since you know all about Bilbo's adventures to which he was referring), but he thought he understood enough, and he chuckled in his wicked inside. "I thought so last night," he smiled to himself. "Lake-men, some nasty scheme of those miserable tub-trading Lake-men, or I'm a lizard. I haven't been down that way for an age and an age; but I will soon alter that!" "Very well, O Barrel-rider!" he said aloud. "Maybe Barrel was your pony's name; and maybe not, though it was fat enough. You may walk unseen, but you did not walk all the way. Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night and I shall catch and eat all the others before long. In return for the excellent meal I will give you one piece of advice for your good: don't have more to do with dwarves than you can help!" "Dwarves!" said Bilbo in pretended surprise. "Don't talk to me!" said Smaug. "I know the smell (and taste) of dwarf-no one better. Don't tell me that I can eat a dwarf-ridden pony and not know it! You'll come to a bad end, if you go with such friends. Thief Barrel-rider. I don't mind if you go back and tell them so from me." But he did not tell Bilbo that there was one smell he could not make out at all, hobbit-smell; it was quite outside his experience and puzzled him mightily. "I suppose you got a fair price for that cup last night?" he went on. "Come now, did you? Nothing at all! Well, that's just like them. And I suppose they are skulking outside, and your job is to do all the dangerous work and get what you can when I'm not looking-for them? And you will get a fair share? Don't you believe it! If you get off alive, you will be lucky." Bilbo was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable. Whenever Smaug's roving eye, seeking for him in the shadows, flashed across him, he trembled, and an unaccountable desire seized hold of him to rush out and reveal himself and tell all the truth to Smaug. In fact he was in grievous danger of coming under the dragon-spell. But plucking up courage he spoke again. "You don't know everything, O Smaug the Mighty," said he. "Not gold alone brought us hither."####-"Ha! Ha! You admit the 'us'," laughed Smaug. "Why not say 'us fourteen' and be done with it. Mr. Lucky Number? I am pleased to hear that you had other business in these parts besides my gold. In that case you may, perhaps, not altogether waste your time. "I don't know if it has occurred to you that, even if you could steal the gold bit by bit-a matter of a hundred years or so – you could not get it very far? Not much use on the mountain-side? Not much use in the forest? Bless me! Had you never thought of the catch? A fourteenth share, I suppose, Or something like it, those were the terms, eh? But what about delivery? What about cartage? What about armed guards and tolls?" And Smaug laughed aloud. He had a wicked and a wily heart, and he knew his guesses were not far out, though he suspected that the Lake-men were at the back of the plans, and that most of the plunder was meant to stop there in the town by the shore that in his young days had been called Esgaroth. You will hardly believe it, but poor Bilbo was really very taken aback. So far all his. thoughts and energies had been concentrated on getting to the Mountain and finding the entrance. He had never bothered to wonder how the treasure was to be removed, certainly never how any part of it that might fall to his share was to be brought back all the way to Bag-End Under-Hill. Now a nasty suspicion began to grow in his mind-had the dwarves forgotten this important point too, or were they laughing in their sleeves at him all the time? That is the effect that dragon-talk has on the inexperienced. Bilbo of course ought to have been on his guard; but Smaug had rather an overwhelming personality. "I tell you," he said, in an effort to remain loyal to his friends and to keep his end up, "that gold was only an afterthought with us. We came over hill and under hill, by wave and win, for Revenge. Surely, O Smaug the unassessably wealthy, you must realize that your success has made you some bitter enemies?" Then Smaug really did laugh-a devastating sound which shook Bilbo to the floor, while far up in the tunnel the dwarves huddled together and imagined that the hobbit had come to a sudden and a nasty end. "Revenge!" he snorted, and the light of his eyes lit the the hall from floor to ceiling like scarlet lightning. "Revenge! The King under the Mountain is dead and where are hi kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and I have eaten his people like a wolf among sheep, and where are his sons' sons that dare approach me? I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong strong. Thief in the Shadows!" he gloated. "My ####-armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" "I have always understood," said Bilbo in a frightened squeak, "that dragons were softer underneath, especially in the region of the–er–chest; but doubtless one so fortified has thought of that." The dragon stopped short in his boasting. "Your information is antiquated," he snapped. "I am armoured above and below with iron scales and hard gems. No blade can pierce me." "I might have guessed it," said Bilbo. "Truly there can; nowhere be found the equal of Lord Smaug the Impenetrable. What magnificence to possess a waistcoat of fine diamonds!" "Yes, it is rare and wonderful, indeed," said Smaug absurdly pleased. He did not know that the hobbit had already caught a glimpse of his peculiar under- covering on his previous visit, and was itching for a closer view for reasons of his own. The dragon rolled over. "Look!" he said. "What do you say to that?" "Dazzlingly marvellous! Perfect! Flawless! Staggering!" exclaimed Bilbo aloud, but what he thought inside was: "Old fool! Why there is a large patch in the hollow of his left breast as bare as a snail out of its shell!" After he had seen that Mr. Baggins' one idea was to get away. "Well, I really must not detain Your Magnificence any longer," he said, "or keep you from much needed rest. Ponies take some catching, I believe, after a long start. And so do burglars," he added as a parting shot, as he darted back and fled up the tunnel. It was an unfortunate remark, for the dragon spouted terrific flames after him, and fast though he sped up the slope, he had not gone nearly far enough to be comfortable before the ghastly head of Smaug was thrust against the opening behind. Luckily the whole head and jaws could not squeeze in, but the nostrils sent forth fire and vapour to pursue him, and he was nearly overcome, and stumbled blindly on in great pain and fear. He had been feeling rather pleased with the cleverness of his conversation with Smaug, but his mistake at the end shook him into better sense. "Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!" he said to himself, and it became a favourite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb. "You aren't nearly through this adventure yet," he added, and that was pretty true as well. The afternoon was turning into evening when he came out again and stumbled and fell in a faint on the 'door-step.' The dwarves revived him, and doctored his scorches as well as they could; but it was a long time before the hair on the back ####-of his head and his heels grew properly again: it had all been singed and frizzled right down to the skin. In the meanwhile his friends did their best to cheer him up; and they were eager for his story, especially wanting to know why the dragon had made such an awful noise, and how Bilbo had escaped. But the hobbit was worried and uncomfortable, and they had difficulty in getting anything out of him. On thinking things over he was now regretting some of the things he had said to the dragon, and was not eager to repeat them. The old thrush was sitting on a rock near by with his head cocked on one side, listening to all that was said. It shows what an ill temper Bilbo was in: he picked up a stone and threw it at the thrush, which merely fluttered aside and came back. "Drat the bird!" said Bilbo crossly. "I believe he is listening, and I don't like the look of him." "Leave him alone!" said Thorin. "The thrushes are good and friendly-this is a very old bird indeed, and is maybe the last left of the ancient breed that used to live about here, tame to the hands of my father and grandfather. They were a long- lived and magical race, and this might even be one of those that were alive then, a couple of hundreds years or more ago. The Men of Dale used to have the trick of understanding their language, and used them for messengers to fly to the Men of the Lake and elsewhere." "Well, he'll have news to take to Lake-town all right, if that is what he is after," said Bilbo; "though I don't suppose there are any people left there that trouble with thrush-language." "Why what has happened?" cried the dwarves. "Do get on with your tale!" So Bilbo told them all he could remember, and he confessed that he had a nasty feeling that the dragon guessed too much from his riddles added to the camps and the ponies. "I am sure he knows we came from Lake-town and had help from there; and I have a horrible feeling that his next move may be in that direction. I wish to goodness I had never said that about Barrel-rider; it would make even a blind rabbit in these parts think of the Lake-men." "Well, well! It cannot be helped, and it is difficult not to slip in talking to a dragon, or so I have always heard," said Balin anxious to comfort him. "I think you did very well, if you ask me-you found out one very useful thing at any rate, and got home alive, and that is more than most can say who have had words with the likes of Smaug. It may be a mercy and a blessing yet to know of the bare patch in the old Worm's diamond waistcoat." That turned the conversation, and they all began discussing dragon-slayings historical, dubious, and mythical, and the various sorts of stabs and jabs and ####-undercuts, and the different arts, devices and stratagems by which they had been accomplished. The general opinion was that catching a dragon napping was not as easy as it sounded, and the attempt to stick one or prod one asleep was more likely to end in disaster than a bold frontal attack. All the while they talked the thrush listened, till at last when the stars began to peep forth, it silently spread its wings and flew away. And all the while they talked and the shadows lengthened Bilbo became more and more unhappy and his foreboding At last he interrupted them. "I am sure we are very unsafe here," he said, "and I don't see the point of sitting here. The dragon has withered all the pleasant green, and anyway the night has come and it is cold. But I feel it in my bones that this place will be attacked again. Smaug knows now how I came down to his hall, and you can trust him to guess where the other end of the tunnel is. He will break all this side of the Mountain to bits, if necessary, to stop up our entrance, and if we are smashed with it the better he will like it." "You are very gloomy, Mr. Baggins!" said Thorin. "Why has not Smaug blocked the lower end, then, if he is so eager to keep us out? He has not, or we should have heard him." "I don't know, I don't know-because at first he wanted to try and lure me in again, I suppose, and now perhaps because he is waiting till after tonight's hunt, or because he does not want to damage his bedroom if he can help it – but I wish you would not argue. Smaug will be coming out at any minute now, and our only hope is to get well in the tunnel and shut the door." He seemed so much in earnest that the dwarves at last did as he said, though they delayed shutting the door-it seemed a desperate plan, for no one knew whether or how they could get it open again from the inside, and the thought of being shut in a place from which the only way out led through the dragon's lair was not one they liked. Also everything seemed quite quiet, both outside and down the tunnel. So for a longish while they sat inside not far down from the half- open door and went on talking. The talk turned to the dragon's wicked words about the dwarves. Bilbo wished he had never heard them, or at least that he could feel quite certain that the dwarves now were absolutely honest when they declared that they had never thought at all about what would happen after the treasure had been won. "We knew it would be a desperate venture," said Thorin, "and we know that still; and I still think that when we have won it will be time enough to think what to do about it. As for your share, Mr. Baggins, I assure you we are more than grateful and you shall choose you own fourteenth, as soon as we have anything to ####-divide, am sorry if you are worried about transport, and I admit the difficulties are great-the lands have not become less wild with the passing of time, rather the reverse-but we will do whatever we can for you, and take our share of the cost when the time comes. Believe me or not as you like!" From that the talk turned to the great hoard itself and to the things that Thorin and Balin remembered. They wondered if they were still lying there .unharmed in the hall below: the spears that were made for the armies of the great King Bladorthin (long since dead), each had a thrice-forged head and their shafts were inlaid with cunning gold, but they were never delivered or paid for; shields made for warriors long dead; the great golden cup of Thror, two-handed, hammered and carven with birds and flowers whose eyes and petals were of jewels; coats of mail gilded and silvered and impenetrable; the necklace of Girion, Lord of Dale, made of five hundred emeralds green as grass, which he gave for the arming of his eldest son in a coat of dwarf-linked rings the like of which had never been made before, for it was wrought of pure silver to the power and strength of triple steel. But fairest of all was the great white gem, which the dwarves had found beneath the roots of the Mountain, the Heart of the Mountain, the Arkenstone of Thrain. "The Arkenstone! The Arkenstone!" murmured Thorin in the dark, half dreaming with his chin upon his knees. "It was like a globe with a thousand facets; it shone like silver in the firelight, like water in the sun, like snow under the stars, like rain upon the Moon!" But the enchanted desire of the hoard had fallen from Bilbo. All through their talk he was only half listening to them. He sat nearest to the door with one ear cocked for any beginnings of a sound without, his other was alert or echoes beyond the murmurs of the dwarves, for any whisper of a movement from far below. Darkness grew deeper and he grew ever more uneasy. "Shut the door!" he begged them. "I fear that dragon in my marrow. I like this silence far less than the uproar of last night. Shut the door before it is too late!" Something in his voice gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling. Slowly Thorin shook off his dreams and getting up he kicked away the stone that wedged the door. Then they thrust upon it, and it closed with a snap and a clang. No trace of a keyhole was there left on the inside. They were shut in the Mountain! And not a moment too soon. They had hardly gone any distance down the tunnel when a blow smote the side of the Mountain like the crash of battering- rams made of forest oaks and swung by giants. The rock boomed, the walls cracked and stones fell from the roof on their heads. What would have happened if ####-the door had still been open I don't like to think. They fled further down the tunnel glad to be still alive, while behind them outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug's fury. He was breaking rocks to pieces, smashing wall and cliff with the lashings of his huge tail, till their little lofty camping ground, the scorched grass, the thrush's stone, the snail-covered walls, the narrow ledge, and all disappeared in a jumble of smithereens, and an avalanche of splintered stones fell over the cliff into the valley below. Smaug had left his lair in silent stealth, quietly soared into the air, and then floated heavy and slow in the dark like a monstrous crow, down the wind towards the west of the Mountain, in the hopes of catching unawares something or somebody there, and of spying the outlet to the passage which the thief had used. This was the outburst of his wrath when he could find nobody and see nothing, even where he guessed the outlet must actually be. After he had let off his rage in this way he felt better and he thought in his heart that he would not be troubled again from that direction. In-the meanwhile he had further vengeance to take. "Barrel-rider!" he snorted. "Your fee came from the waterside and up the water you came with out a doubt. I don't know your smell, but if you are not one of those men of the Lake, you had their help. They shall see me and remember who is the real King under the Mountain!" He rose in fire and went away south towards the Running River. ####-

Not at Home In the meanwhile, the dwarves sat in darkness, and utter silence fell about them. Little they ate and little they spoke. They could not count the passing of time; and they scarcely dared to move, for the whisper of their voices echoed and rustled in the tunnel. If they dozed, they woke still to darkness and to silence going on unbroken. At last after days and days of waiting, as it seemed, when they were becoming choked and dazed for want of air, they could bear it no longer. They would almost have welcomed sounds from below of the dragon's return. In the silence they feared some cunning devilry of his, but they could not sit there for ever. Thorin spoke: "Let us try the door!" he said. "I must feel the wind on my face soon or die. I think I would rather be smashed by Smaug in the open than suffocate in here!" So several of the dwarves got up and groped back to where the door had been. But they found that the upper end of the tunnel had been shattered and blocked with broken rock. Neither key nor the magic it had once obeyed would ever open that door again. "We are trapped!" they groaned. "This is the end. We shall die here." But somehow, just when the dwarves were most despairing, Bilbo felt a strange lightening of the heart, as if a heavy weight had gone from under his waistcoat. "Come, come!" he said. "While there's life there's hope!" as my father used to say, and 'Third time pays for all.' I am going down the tunnel once again. I have been that way twice, when I knew there was a dragon at the other end, so I will risk a third visit when I am no longer sure. Anyway the only way out is down. And I think time you had better all come with me." In desperation they agreed, and Thorin was the first go forward by Bilbo's side. "Now do be careful!" whispered the hobbit, "and quiet as you can be! There may be no Smaug at the bottom but then again there may be. Don't let us take any unnecessary risks!" Down, down they went. The dwarves could not, course, compare with the hobbit in real stealth, and the made a deal of puffing and shuffling which echoes magnified alarmingly; but though every now and again Bilbo in fear stopped and listened, not a sound stirred below Near the bottom, as well as he could judge,####-Bilbo slipped on his ring and went ahead. But he did not need it: the darkness was complete, and they were all invisible, ring or no ring. In fact so black was it that the hobbit came to the opening unexpectedly, put his hand on air, stumbled for ward, and rolled headlong into the hall! There he lay face downwards on the floor and did no dare to get up, or hardly even to breathe. But nothing moved. There was not a gleam of light-unless, as seemed to him, when at last he slowly raised his head, there was a pale white glint, above him and far off in the gloom. But certainly it was not a spark of dragon-fire, though the wormstench was heavy in the place, and the taste of vapour was on his tongue. At length Mr. Baggins could bear it no longer. "Come found you, Smaug, you worm!" he squeaked aloud. "Stop playing hide-and-seek! Give me a light, and then eat me if you can catch me!" Faint echoes ran round the unseen hall, but there was no answer. Bilbo got up, and found that he did not know in what direction to turn. "Now I wonder what on earth Smaug is playing at," he said. "He is not at home today (or tonight, or whatever it is), I do believe. If Oin and Gloin have not lost their time tinder-boxes, perhaps we can make a little light, and have a look round before the luck turns." "Light!" he cried. "Can anybody make a light?" The dwarves, of course, were very alarmed when Bilbo fell forward down the step with a bump into the hall, and they sat huddled just where he had left them at the end the tunnel. "Sh! sh!" they hissed, when they heard his voice: and though that helped the hobbit to find out where they were, was some time before he could get anything else out of them. But in the end, when Bilbo actually began to stamp in the floor, and screamed out light!' at the top of his thrill voice, Thorin gave way, and Oin and Gloin were sent back to their bundles at the top of the tunnel. After a while a twinkling gleam showed them returning, in with a small pine-torch alight in his hand, and Gloin with a bundle of others under his arm. Quickly Bilbo trotted to the door and took the torch; but he could not persuade the dwarves to light the others or to come and join him yet. As Thorin carefully explained, Mr. Baggins was still officially their expert burglar and investigator. If he liked to risk a light, that was his affair. They would wait in the tunnel for his report. So they sat near the door and watched. They saw the little dark shape of the hobbit start across the floor holding his tiny light aloft. Every now and again, while he was still near enough, they caught ####-a glint and a tinkle as he stumbled on some golden thing. The light grew smaller as he wandered away into the vast hall; then it began to rise dancing into the air. Bilbo was climbing the great mound of treasure. Soon he stood upon the top, and still went on. Then they saw him halt and stoop for a moment; but they did not know the reason. It was the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain. So Bilbo guessed from Thorin's description; but indeed there could not be two such gems, even in so marvellous a hoard, even in all the world. Ever as he climbed, the same white gleam had shone before him and drawn his feet towards Slowly it grew to a little globe of pallid light. Now as came near, it was tinged with a flickering sparkle of man colours at the surface, reflected and splintered from the wavering light of his torch. At last he looked down upon it and he caught his breath. The great jewel shone before he feet of its own inner light, and yet, cut and fashioned by the dwarves, who had dug it from the heart of the mountain long ago, it took all light that fell upon it and-changes it into ten thousand sparks of white radiance shot with glints of the rainbow. Suddenly Bilbo's arm went towards it drawn by it enchantment. His small hand would not close about it for it was a large and heavy gem; but he lifted it, shut his eyes, and put it in his deepest pocket. "Now I am a burglar indeed!" thought he. "But I suppose I must tell the dwarves about it-some time. The did say I could pick and choose my own share; and I think I would choose this, if they took all the rest!" All the same he had an uncomfortable feeling that the picking and choosing had not really been meant to include this marvellous gem, and that trouble would yet come of it. Now he went on again. Down the other side of the great mound he climbed, and the spark of his torch vanished from the sight of the watching dwarves. But soon they saw it far away in the distance again. Bilbo was crossing the floor of the hall. He went on, until he came to the great doors at the further side, and there a draught of air refreshed him, but it almost puffed out his light. He peeped timidly through and caught a glimpse of great passages and of the dim beginnings of wide stairs going up into the gloom. And still there was no sight nor sound of Smaug. He was just going to turn and go back, when a black shape swooped at him and brushed his face. He squeaked and started, stumbled backwards and fell. His torch dropped head downwards and went out! "Only a bat, I suppose and hope!" he said miserably. But now what am I to do? Which is East, South, North West?"####-"Thorin! Balin! Oin! Gloin! Fill! Kili!" he cried as loud he could-it seemed a thin little noise in the wide blackness. "The light's gone out! Someone come and find and help me!" For the moment his courage had failed together. Faintly the dwarves heard his small cries, though the only word they could catch was 'help!' "Now what on earth or under it has happened?" said Thorin. "Certainly not the dragon, or he would not go on squeaking." They waited a moment or two, and still there were no dragon-noises, no sound at all in fact but Bilbo's distant voice. "Come, one of you, get another light or two!" Thorin ordered. "It seems we have got to go and help our burglar." "It is about our turn to help," said Balin, "and I am quite willing to go. Anyway I expect it is safe for the moment." Gloin lit several more torches, and then they all crept out, one by one, and went along the wall as hurriedly as they could. It was not long before they met Bilbo himself coming back towards them. His wits had quickly returned soon as he saw the twinkle of their lights. "Only a bat and a dropped torch, nothing worse!" he said in answer to their questions. Though they were much relieved, they were inclined to be grumpy at being frightened for nothing; but what they would have said, if he had told them at that moment about the Arkenstone, I don't know. The mere fleeting glimpses of treasure which they had caught as they went along had rekindled all the fire of their dwarvish hearts; and when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is wakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce. The dwarves indeed no longer needed any urging. All were now eager to explore the hall while they had the chance, and willing to believe that, for the present, Smaug was away from home. Each now gripped a lighted torch; and as they gazed, first on one side and then on another, they forgot fear and even caution. They spoke aloud, and cried out to one another, as they lifted old treasures from the mound or from the wall and held them in the light caressing and fingering them. Fili and Kili were almost in merry mood, and finding still hanging there many golden harps strung with silver they took them and struck them; and being magical (and also untouched by the dragon, who had small interests in music) they were still in tune. The dark hall was filled with a melody that had long been silent. But most of the dwarves were more practical; they gathered gems and stuffed their pockets, and let what they could not carry far back through their fingers with a sigh. Thorin was not least among these; but always he searched ####-from side to side for something which he could not find. It was the Arkenstone but he spoke of it yet to no one. Now the dwarves took down mail and weapons from the walls, and armed themselves. Royal indeed did Thorin look, clad in a coat of gold-plated rings, with a silver hafted axe in a belt crusted with scarlet stones. "Mr. Baggins!" he cried. "Here is the first payment of your reward! Cast off your old coat and put on this!" With that he put on Bilbo a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf- prince long ago. It was of silver-steel which the elves call mithril, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals. A light helm of figured leather, strengthened beneath with hoops of steel, and studded about the bring with white gems, was set upon the hobbit's head. "I feel magnificent," he thought; "but I expect I look rather absurd. How they would laugh on the Hill at home Still I wish there was a looking-glass handy!" All the same Mr. Baggins kept his head more clear of the bewitchment of the hoard than the dwarves did. Long before the dwarves were tired of examining the treasures he became wary of it and sat down on the floor; and he began to wonder nervously what the end of it all would be "I would give a good many of these precious goblets, thought, "for a drink of something cheering out of one Beorn's wooden bowls!" "Thorin!" he cried aloud. "What next? We are armed, but what good has any armour ever been before against Smaug the Dreadful? This treasure is not yet won back. We are not looking for gold yet, but for a way of escape; and we have tempted luck too long!" '"You speak the truth!" answered Thorin, recovering his wits. "Let us go! I will guide you. Not in a thousand years should I forget the ways of this palace." Then he hailed the others, and they gathered together, and holding their torches above their heads they passed through the gaping doors, not without many a backward glance of longing. Their glittering mail they had covered again with their old cloaks and their bright helms with their tattered hoods, and one by one they walked behind Thorin, a line of little lights in the darkness that halted often, listening in fear once more for any rumour of the dragon's coming. Though all the old adornments were long mouldered or destroyed, and though all was befouled and blasted with the comings and goings of the monster, Thorin knew every passage and every turn. They climbed long stairs, and turned and went down wide echoing ways, and turned again and climbed yet more stairs, and yet more' stairs again.####-These were smooth, cut out of the living rock broad and lair; and up, up, the dwarves went, and they met no sign of any living thing, only furtive shadows that fled from the approach of their torches fluttering in the draughts. The steps were not made, all the same, for hobbit-legs, and Bilbo was just feeling that he could go on no longer, when suddenly the roof sprang high and far beyond the reach of their torch-light. A white glimmer could be seen coming through some opening far above, and the air smelt sweeter. Before them light came dimly through great doors, that hung twisted on their hinges and half burnt. "This is the great chamber of Thror," said Thorin; "the hall of feasting and of council. Not far off now is the Front Gate." They passed through the ruined chamber. Tables were rotting there; chairs and benches were lying there overturned, charred and decaying. Skulls and bones were upon the floor among flagons and bowls and broken drinking-horns and dust. As they came through yet more doors at the further end, a sound of water fell upon their ears, and the grey light grew suddenly more full. "There is the birth of the Running River," said Thorin. "From here it hastens to the Gate. Let us follow it!" Out of a dark opening in a wall of rock there issued a boiling water, and it flowed swirling in a narrow channel, carved and made straight and deep by the cunning of ancient hands. Beside it ran a stone-paved road, wide enough for many men abreast. Swiftly along this they ran, and round a wide-sweeping turn-and behold! before them stood the broad light of day. In front there rose a tall arch, still showing the fragments of old carven work within, worn and splintered and blackened though it was. A misty sun sent its pale light between the arms of the Mountain, and beams of gold fell on the pavement at the threshold. A whirl of bats frightened from slumber by their smoking torches flurried over them; as they sprang forward their feet slithered on stones rubbed smooth and slimed by the passing of the dragon. Now before them the water fell noisily outward and foamed down towards the valley. They flung their pale torches to the ground, and stood gazing out with dazzled eyes. They were come to the Front Gate, and were looking out upon Dale. "Well!" said Bilbo, "I never expected to be looking out of this door. And I never expected to be so pleased to see the sun again, and to feel the wind on my face. But, ow! this wind is cold!" It was. A bitter easterly breeze blew with a threat of oncoming winter. It swirled over and round the arms of the Mountain into the valley, and sighed among the rocks. After their long time in the stewing depths of the dragon-haunted ####-caverns, they shivered in the sun. Suddenly Bilbo realized that he was not only tired but also very hungry indeed. "It seems to be late morning," he said, "and so I suppose it is more or less breakfast-time – if there is any breakfast to have. But I don't feel that Smaug's front doorstep is the safest place for a meal. Do let's go somewhere where we can sit quiet for a bit!" "Quite right!" said Balin. "And I think I know which way we should go: we ought to make for the old look-out post at the Southwest corner of the Mountain." "How far is that?" asked the hobbit. "Five hours march, I should think. It will be rough going. The road from the Gate along the left edge of the stream seems all broken up. But look down there! The river loops suddenly east across Dale in front of the ruined town. At that point there was once a bridge, leading to steep stairs that climbed up the right bank, and so to a road running towards Ravenhill. There is (or was) a path that left the road and climbed up to the post. A hard climb, too, even if the old steps are still there." "Dear me!" grumbled the hobbit. "More walking and more climbing without breakfast! I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals, we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?" As a matter of fact two nights and the day between had gone by (and not altogether without food) since the dragon smashed the magic door, but Bilbo had quite lost count, and it might have been one night or a week of nights for all he could tell. "Come, come!" said Thorin laughing – his spirits had begun to rise again, and he rattled the precious stones in his pockets. "Don't call my place a nasty hole! You wait till it has been cleaned and redecorated!" "That won't be till Smaug's dead," said Bilbo glumly. "In the meanwhile where is he? I would give a good breakfast to know. I hope he is not up on the Mountain looking down at us!" That idea disturbed the dwarves mightily, and they quickly decided that Bilbo and Balin were right. "We must move away from here," said Don. "I feel as if his eyes were on the back of my head." "It's a cold lonesome place," said Bombur. "There may be drink, but I see no sign of food. A dragon would always be hungry in such parts." "Come on! Come on!" cried the others. "Let us follow Balm's path!" Under the rocky wall to the right there was no path, so on they trudged among the stones on the left side of the river, and the emptiness and desolation soon ####-sobered even Thorin again. The bridge that Balin had spoken of they found long fallen, and most of its stones were now only boulders in the shallow noisy stream; but they forded the water without much difficulty, and found the ancient steps, and climbed the high bank. After going a short way they struck the old road, and before long came to a deep dell sheltered among the rocks; there they rested for a while and had such a breakfast as they could, chiefly cram and water. (If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys). After that they went on again; and now the road struck westwards and left the river, and the great shoulder of the south-pointing mountain-spur drew ever nearer. At length they reached the hill path. It scrambled steeply up, and they plodded slowly one behind the other, till at last in the late afternoon they came to the top of the ridge and saw the wintry sun going downwards to the West. Here they found a flat place without a wall on three sides, but backed to the North by a rocky face in which there was an opening like a door. From that door there was a wide view East and South and West. "Here," said Balin, "in the old days we used always to keep watchmen, and that door behind leads into a rock-hewn chamber that was made here as a guardroom. There were several places like it round the Mountain. But there seemed small need for watching in the days of our prosperity, and the guards were made over comfortable, perhaps – otherwise we might have had longer warnings of the coming of the dragon, and things might have been different. Still, "here we can now lie hid and sheltered for a while, and can see much without being seen." "Not much use, if we have been seen coming here," said Dori, who was always looking up towards the Mountain's peak, as if he expected to see Smaug perched there like a bird on a steeple. "We must take our chance of that," said Thorin. "We can go no further to-day." "Hear, hear!" cried Bilbo, and flung himself on the ground. In the rock-chamber there would have been room for a hundred, and there was a small chamber further in, more removed from the cold outside. It was quite deserted; not even wild animals seemed to have used it in all the days of Smaug's dominion. There they laid their burdens; and some threw themselves down at once and slept, but the others sat near the outer door and discussed their plans. In all their talk they came perpetually back to one thing: where was Smaug? They looked West and there was nothing, and East there was nothing, and in the ####-South there was no sign of the dragon, but there was a gathering of very many birds. At that they gazed and wondered; but they were no nearer understanding it, when the first cold stars came out.####-

Fire and Water Now if you wish, like the dwarves, to hear news of Smaug, you must go back again to the evening when he smashed the door and flew off in rage, two days before. The men of the lake-town Esgaroth were mostly indoors, for the breeze was from the black East and chill, but a few were walking on the quays, and watching, as they were fond of doing, the stars shine out from the smooth patches of the lake as they opened in the sky. From their town the Lonely Mountain was mostly screened by the low hills at the far end of the lake, through a gap in which the Running River came down from the North. Only its high peak could they see in clear weather, and they looked seldom at it, for it was ominous and dreary even in the light of morning. Now it was lost and gone, blotted in the dark. Suddenly it flickered back to view; a brief glow touched it and faded. "Look!" said one. "The lights again! Last night the watchmen saw them start and fade from midnight until dawn. Something is happening up there." "Perhaps the King under the Mountain is forging gold," said another. "It is long since he went north. It is time the songs began to prove themselves again." "Which king?" said another with a grim voice. "As like as not it is the marauding fire of the Dragon, the only king under the Mountain we have ever known." "You are always foreboding gloomy things!" said the others. "Anything from floods to poisoned fish. Think of something cheerful!" Then suddenly a great light appeared in the low place in the hills and the northern end of the lake turned golden. "The King beneath the Mountain!" they shouted. "His wealth is like the Sun, his silver like a fountain, his rivers golden run! The river is running gold from the Mountain!" they cried, and everywhere windows were opening and feet were hurrying. There was once more a tremendous excitement and enthusiasm. But the grim- voiced fellow ran hotfoot to the Master. "The dragon is coming or I am a fool!" he cried. "Cut the bridges! To arms! To arms!" Then warning trumpets were suddenly sounded, and echoed along the rocky shores. The cheering stopped and the joy was turned to dread. So it was that the dragon did not find them quite unprepared. Before long, so great was his speed,####-they could see him as a spark of fire rushing towards them and growing ever huger and more bright, and not the most foolish doubted that the prophecies had gone rather wrong. Still they had a little time. Every vessel in the town was filled with water, every warrior was armed, every arrow and dart was ready, and the bridge to the land was thrown down and destroyed, before the roar of Smaug's terrible approach grew loud, and the lake rippled red as fire beneath the awful beating of his wings. Amid shrieks and wailing and the shouts of men he came over them, swept towards the bridges and was foiled! The bridge was gone, and his enemies were on an island in deep water-too deep and dark and cool for his liking. If he plunged into it, a vapour and a steam would arise enough to cover all the land with a mist for days; but the lake was mightier than he, it would quench him before he could pass through. Roaring he swept back over the town. A hail of dark arrows leaped up and snapped and rattled on his scales and jewels, and their shafts fell back kindled by his breath burning and hissing into the lake. No fireworks you ever imagined equalled the sights that night. At the twanging of the bows and the shrilling of the trumpets the dragon's wrath blazed to its height, till he was blind and mad with it. No one had dared to give battle to him for many an age; nor would they have dared now, if it had not been for the grim-voiced man (Bard was his name), who ran to and fro cheering on the archers and urging the Master to order them to fight to the last arrow. Fire leaped from the dragon's jaws. He circled for a while high in the air above them lighting all the lake; the trees by the shores shone like copper and like blood with leaping shadows of dense black at their feet. Then down he swooped straight through the arrow-storm, reckless in his rage, taking no heed to turn his scaly sides towards his foes, seeking only to set their town ablaze. Fire leaped from thatched roofs and wooden beam-ends as he hurtled down and past and round again, though all had been drenched with water before he came. Once more water was flung by a hundred hands wherever a spark appeared. Back swirled the dragon. A sweep of his tail and the roof of the Great House crumbled and smashed down. Flames unquenchable sprang high into the night. Another swoop and another, and another house and then another sprang afire and fell; and still no arrow hindered Smaug or hurt him more than a fly from the marshes. Already men were jumping into the water on every side. Women and children were being huddled into laden boats in the market-pool. Weapons were flung down. There was mourning and weeping, where but a little time ago the old ####-songs of mirth to come had been sung about the dwarves. Now men cursed their names. The Master himself was turning to his great gilded boat, hoping to row away in the confusion and save himself. Soon all the town would be deserted and burned down to the surface of the lake. That was the dragon's hope. They could all get into boats for all he cared. There he could have fine sport hunting them, or they could stop till they starved. Let them try to get to land and he would be ready. Soon he would set all the shoreland woods ablaze and wither every field and pasture. Just now he was enjoying the sport of town-baiting more than he had enjoyed anything for years. But there was still a company of archers that held their ground among the burning houses. Their captain was Bard, grim-voiced and grim- faced, whose friends had accused him of prophesying floods and poisoned fish, though they knew his worth and courage. He was a descendant in long line of Girion, Lord of Dale, whose wife and child had escaped down the Running River from the ruin long ago. Now he shot with a great yew bow, till all his arrows but one were spent. The flames were near him. His companions were leaving him. He bent his bow for the last time. Suddenly out of the dark something fluttered to his shoulder. He started-but it was only an old thrush. Unafraid it perched by his ear and it brought him news. Marvelling he found he could understand its tongue, for he was of the race of Dale. "Wait! Wait!" it said to him. "The moon is rising. Look for the hollow of the left breast as he flies and turns above you!" And while Bard paused in wonder it told him of tidings up in the Mountain and of all that it had heard. Then Bard drew his bow-string to his ear. The dragon was circling back, flying low, and as he came the moon rose above the eastern shore and silvered his great wings. "Arrow!" said the bowman. "Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me and always I have recovered you. I had you from my father and he from of old. If ever you came from the forges of the true king under the Mountain, go now and speed well!" The dragon swooped once more lower than ever, and as he turned and dived down his belly glittered white with sparkling fires of gems in the moon-but not in one place. The great bow twanged. The black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the hollow by the left breast where the foreleg was flung wide. In it smote and vanished, barb, shaft and feather, so fierce was its flight. With a shriek that deafened men, felled trees and split stone, Smaug shot spouting into the air, turned over and crashed down from on high in ruin. Full on the town he fell. His last throes splintered it to sparks and gledes. The lake roared in. A vast steam leaped up, white in the sudden dark under the moon.####-There was a hiss, a gushing whirl, and then silence. And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, but not of Bard. The waxing moon rose higher and higher and the wind grew loud and cold. It twisted the white fog into bending pillars and hurrying clouds and drove it off to the West to scatter in tattered shreds over the marshes before Mirkwood. Then the many boats could be seen dotted dark on the surface of the lake, and down the wind came the voices of the people of Esgaroth lamenting their lost town and goods and ruined houses. But they had really much to be thankful for, had they thought of it, though it could hardly be expected that they should just then: three quarters of the people of the town had at least escaped alive; their woods and fields and pastures and cattle and most of their boats remained undamaged; and the dragon was dead. What that meant they had not yet realized. They gathered in mournful crowds upon the western shores, shivering in the cold wind, and their first complaints and anger were against the Master, who had left the town so soon, while some were still willing to defend it. "He may have a good head for business-especially his own business," some murmured, "but he is no good when anything serious happens!" And they praised the courage of Bard and his last mighty shot. "If only he had not been killed," they all said, "we would make him a king. Bard the Dragon-shooter of the line of Girion! Alas that he is lost!" And in the very midst of their talk, a tall figure stepped from the shadows. He was drenched with water, his black hair hung wet over his face and shoulders, and a fierce light was in his eyes. "Bard is not lost!" he cried. "He dived from Esgaroth, when the enemy was slain. I am Bard, of the line of Girion; I am the slayer of the dragon!" "King Bard! King Bard!" they shouted; but the Master ground his chattering teeth. "Girion was lord of Dale, not king of Esgaroth," he said. "In the Lake-town we have always elected masters from among the old and wise, and have not endured the rule of mere fighting men. Let 'King Bard' go back to his own kingdom-Dale is now freed by his valour, and nothing binders his return. And any that wish can go with him, if they prefer the cold shores under the shadow of the Mountain to the green shores of the lake. The wise will stay here and hope to rebuild our town, and enjoy again in time its peace and riches." "We will have King Bard!" the people near at hand shouted in reply. "We have had enough of the old men and the money-counters!" And people further off took ####-up the cry: "Up the Bowman, and down with Moneybags," till the clamour echoed along the shore. "I am the last man to undervalue Bard the Bowman," said the Master warily (for Bard now stood close beside him). "He has tonight earned an eminent place in the roll of the benefactors of our town; and he is worthy of many imperishable songs. But, why O People?"-and here the Master rose to his feet and spoke very loud and clear – "why do I get all your blame? For what fault am I to be deposed? Who aroused the dragon from his slumber, I might ask? Who obtained of us rich gifts and ample help, and led us to believe that old songs could come true? Who played on our soft hearts and our pleasant fancies? What sort of gold have they sent down the river to reward us? Dragon-fire and ruin! From whom should we claim the recompense of our damage, and aid for our widows and orphans?" As you see, the Master had not got his position for nothing. The result of his words was that for the moment the people quite forgot their idea of a new king, and turned their angry thoughts towards Thorin and his company. Wild and bitter words were shouted from many sides; and some of those who had before sung the old songs loudest, were now heard as loudly crying that the dwarves had stirred the dragon up against them deliberately! "Fools!" said Bard. "Why waste words and wrath on those unhappy creatures? Doubtless they perished first in fire, before Smaug came to us." Then even as he was speaking, the thought came into his heart of the fabled treasure of the Mountain lying without guard or owner, and he fell suddenly silent. He thought of the Master's words, and of Dale rebuilt, and filled with golden bells, if he could but find the men. At length he spoke again: "This is no time for angry words. Master, or for considering weighty plans of change. There is work to do. I serve you still-though after a while I may think again of your words and go North with any that will follow me." Then he strode off to help in the ordering of the camps and in the care of the sick and the wounded. But the Master scowled at his back as he went, and remained sitting on the ground. He thought much but said little, unless it was to call loudly for men to bring him fire and food. Now everywhere Bard went he found talk running like fire among the people concerning the vast treasure that was now unguarded. Men spoke of the recompense for all their harm that they would soon get from it, and wealth over and to spare with which to buy rich things from the South; and it cheered them greatly in their plight. That was as well, for the night was bitter and miserable. Shelters could be contrived for few (the Master ####-had one) and there was little food (even the Master went short). Many took ill of wet and cold and sorrow that night, and afterwards died, who had escaped uninjured from the ruin of the town; and in the days that followed there was much sickness and great hunger. Meanwhile Bard took the lead, and ordered things as he wished, though always in the Master's name, and he had a hard task to govern the people and direct the preparations for their protection and housing. Probably most of them would have perished in the winter that now hurried after autumn, if help had not been to hand. But help came swiftly; for Bard at once had speedy messengers sent up the river to the Forest to ask the aid of the King of the Elves of the Wood, and these messengers had found a host already on the move, although it was then only the third day after the fall of Smaug. The Elvenking had received news from his own messengers and from the birds that loved his folk, and already knew much of what had happened. Very great indeed was the commotion among all things with wings that dwelt on the borders of the Desolation of the Dragon. The air was filled with circling flocks, and their swift-flying messengers flew here and there across the sky. Above the borders of the Forest there was whistling, crying and piping. Far over Mirkwood tidings spread: "Smaug is dead!" Leaves rustled and startled ears were lifted. Even before the Elvenking rode forth the news had passed west right to the pinewoods of the Misty Mountains; Beorn had heard it in his wooden house, and the goblins were at council in their caves. "That will be the last we shall hear of Thorin Oakenshield, I fear," said the king. "He would have done better to have remained my guest. It is an ill wind, all the same," he added, "that blows no one any good." For he too had not forgotten the legend of the wealth of Thror. So it was that Bard's messengers found him now marching with many spearmen and bowmen; and crows were gathered thick, above him, for they thought that war was awakening again, such as had not been in those parts for a long age. But the king, when he received the prayers of Bard, had pity, for he was the lord of a good and kindly people; so turning his march, which had at first been direct towards the Mountain, he hastened now down the river to the Long Lake. He had not boats or rafts enough for his host, and they were forced to go the slower way by foot; but great store of goods he sent ahead by water. Still elves are light–footed, and though they were not in these days much used to the marches and the treacherous lands between the Forest and the Lake, their going was swift. Only five days after the death of the dragon they came upon the shores and looked on the ruins of the town. Their welcome was good, as may ####-be expected, and the men and their Master were ready to make any bargain for the future in return for the Elvenking's aid. Their plans were soon made. With the women and the children, the old and the unfit, the Master remained behind; and with him were some men of crafts and many skilled elves; and they busied themselves felling trees, and collecting the timber sent down from the Forest. Then they set about raising many huts by the shore against the oncoming winter; and also under the Master's direction they began the planning of a new town, designed more fair and large even than before, but not in the same place. They removed northward higher up the shore; for ever after they had a dread of the water where the dragon lay. He would never again return to his golden bed, but was stretched cold as stone, twisted upon the floor of the shallows. There for ages his huge bones could be seen in calm weather amid the ruined piles of the old town. But few dared to cross the cursed spot, and none dared to dive into the shivering water or recover the precious stones that fell from his rotting carcass. But all the men of arms who were still able, and the most of the Elvenking's array, got ready to march north to the Mountain. It was thus that in eleven days from the ruin of the town the head of their host passed the rock-gates at the end of the lake and came into the desolate lands.####-

The Gathering of the Clouds Now we will return to Bilbo and the dwarves. All night one of them had watched, but when morning came they had not heard or seen any sign of danger. But ever more thickly the birds were gathering. Their companies came flying from the South; and the crows that still lived about the Mountain were wheeling and crying unceasingly above. "Something strange is happening," said Thorin. "The time has gone for the autumn wanderings; and these are birds that dwell always in the land; there are starlings and flocks of finches; and far off there are many carrion birds as if a battle were afoot!" Suddenly Bilbo pointed: "There is that old thrush again!" he cried. "He seems to have escaped, when Smaug smashed the mountain-side, but I don't suppose the snails have!" Sure enough the old thrush was there, and as Bilbo pointed, he flew towards them and perched on a stone near by. Then he fluttered his wings and sang; then he cocked his head on one side, as if to listen; and again he sang, and again he listened. "I believe he is trying to tell us something," said Balin; "but I cannot follow the speech of such birds, it is very quick and difficult. Can you make it out Baggins?" "Not very well," said Bilbo (as a matter of fact, he could make nothing of it at all); "but the old fellow seems .very excited." "I only wish he was a raven!" said Balin. "I thought you did not like them! You seemed very shy of them, when we came this way before." "Those were crows! And nasty suspicious-looking creatures at that, and rude as well. You must have heard the ugly names they were calling after us. But the ravens are different. There used to be great friendship between them and the people of Thror; and they often brought us secret news, and were rewarded with such bright things as they coveted to hide in their dwellings. "They live many a year, and their memories are long, and they hand on their wisdom to their children. I knew many among the ravens of the rocks when I was a dwarf- lad. This very height was once named Ravenhill, because there was a ####-wise and famous pair, old Care and his wife, that lived here above the guard- chamber. But I don't suppose that any of that ancient breed linger here now." No sooner had he finished speaking than the old thrush gave a loud call, and immediately flew away. "We may not understand him, but that old bird understands us, I am sure," said Balin. "Keep watch now, and see what happens!" Before long there was a fluttering of wings, and back came the thrush; and with him came a most decrepit old bird. He was getting blind, he could hardly fly, and the top of his head was bald. He was an aged raven of great size. He alighted stiffly on the ground before them, slowly flapped his wings, and bobbed towards Thorin. "O Thorin son of Thrain, and Balin son of Fundin," he croaked (and Bilbo could understand what he said, for he used ordinary language and not bird- speech). "I am Róac son of Carc. Carc is dead, but he was well known to you once. It is a hundred years and three and fifty since I came out of the egg, but I do not forget what my father told me. Now I am the chief of the great ravens of the Mountain. We are few, but we remember still the king that was of old. Most of my people are abroad, for there are great tidings in the South – some are tidings of joy to you, and some you will not think so good. "Behold! the birds are gathering back again to the Mountain and to Dale from South and East and West, for word has gone out that Smaug is dead!" "Dead! Dead?" shouted the dwarves. "Dead! Then we have been in needless fear-and the treasure is ours!" They all sprang up and began to caper about for joy. "Yes, dead," said Róac. "The thrush, may his feathers never fall, saw him die, and we may trust his words. He saw him fall in battle with the men of Esgaroth the third night back from now at the rising of the moon." It was some time before Thorin could bring the dwarves to be silent and listen to the raven's news. At length when he had told all the tale of the battle he went on: "So much for joy, Thorin Oakenshield. You may go back to your halls in safety; all the treasure is yours-for the moment. But many are gathering hither beside the birds. The news of the death of the guardian has already gone far and wide, and the legend of the wealth of Thror has not lost in the telling during many years; many are eager for a share of the spoil. Already a host of the elves is on the way, and carrion birds are with them hoping for battle and slaughter. By the lake men murmur that their sorrows are due to the dwarves; for they are homeless and ####-many have died, and Smaug has destroyed their town. They too think to find amends from your treasure, whether you are alive or dead. "Your own wisdom must decide your course, but thirteen is small remnant of the great folk of Durin that once dwelt here, and now are scattered far. If you will listen to my counsel, you will not trust the Master of the Lake-men, but rather him that shot the dragon with his bow. Bard is he, of the race of Dale, of the line of Girion; he is a grim man but true. We would see peace once more among dwarves and men and elves after the long desolation; but it may cost you dear in gold. I have spoken." Then Thorin burst forth in anger: "Our thanks, Róac Carc's son. You and your people shall not be forgotten. But none of our gold shall thieves take or the violent carry off while we are alive. If you would earn our thanks still more, bring us news of any that draw near. Also I would beg of you, if any of you are still young and strong of wing, that you would send messengers to our kin in the mountains of the North, both west from here and east, and tell them of our plight. But go specially to my cousin Dain in the Iron Hills, for he has many people well-armed, and dwells nearest to this place. Bid him hasten!" "I will not say if this counsel be good or bad," croaked Róac; "but I will do what can be done." Then off he slowly flew. "Back now to the Mountain!" cried Thorin. "We have little time to lose." "And little food to use!" cried Bilbo, always practical on such points. In any case he felt that the adventure was, properly speaking, over .with the death of the dragon-in which he was much mistaken-and he would have given most of his share of the profits for the peaceful winding up of these affairs. "Back to the Mountain!" cried the dwarves as if they had not heard him; so back he had to go with them. As you have heard some of the events already, you will see that the dwarves still had some days before them. They explored the caverns once more, and found, as they expected, that only the Front Gate remained open; all the other gates (except, of course, the small secret door) had long ago been broken and blocked by Smaug, and no sign of them remained. So now they began to labour hard in fortifying the main entrance, and in remaking the road that led from it. Tools were to be found in plenty that the miners and quarriers and builders of old had used; and at such work the dwarves were still very skilled. As they worked the ravens brought them constant tidings. In this way they learned that the Elvenking had turned aside to the Lake, and they still had a breathing space. Better still, they heard that three of their ponies had escaped and ####-were wandering wild far down the banks of the Running River, not far from where the rest of their stores had been left. So while the others went on with their work, Fili and Kili were sent, guided by a raven, to find the ponies and bring back all they could. They were four days gone, and by that time they knew that the joined armies of the Lake-men and the Elves were hurrying towards the Mountain. But now their hopes were higher; for they had food for some weeks with care-chiefly cram, of course, and they were very tired of it; but cram is much better than nothing-and already the gate was blocked with a wall of squared stones laid dry, but very thick and high across the opening. There were holes in the wall through which they could see (or shoot) but no entrance. They climbed in or out with ladders, and hauled stuff up with ropes. For the issuing of the stream they had contrived a small low arch under the new wall; but near the entrance they had so altered the narrow bed that a wide pool stretched from the mountain-wall to the head of the fall over which the stream went towards Dale. Approach to the Gate was now only possible, without swimming, along a narrow ledge of the cliff, to the right as one looked outwards from the wall. The ponies they had brought only to the head of the steps above the old bridge, and unloading them there had bidden them return to their masters and sent them back riderless to the South. There came a night when suddenly there were many lights as of fires and torches away south in Dale before them. "They have come!" called Balin. "And their camp is very great. They must have come into the valley under the cover of dusk along both banks of the river." That night the dwarves slept little. The morning was still pale when they saw a company approaching. From behind their wall they watched them come up to the valley's head and climb slowly up. Before long they could see that both men of the lake armed as if for war and elvish bowmen were among them. At length the foremost of these climbed the tumbled rocks and appeared at the top of the falls; and very great was their surprise to see the pool before them and the Gate blocked with a wall of new-hewn stone. As they stood pointing and speaking to one another Thorin hailed them: "Who are you," he called in a very loud voice, "that come as if in war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain, and what do you desire?" But they answered nothing. Some turned swiftly back, and the others after gazing for a while at the Gate and its defences soon followed them. That day the camp was moved and was brought right between the arms of the Mountain. The rocks echoed then with voices and with song, as they had not done for many a day.####-There was the sound, too, of elven-harps and of sweet music; and as it echoed up towards them it seemed that the chill of the air was warmed, and they caught faintly the fragrance of woodland flowers blossoming in spring. Then Bilbo longed to escape from the dark fortress and to go down and join in the mirth and feasting by the fires. Some of the younger dwarves were moved in their hearts, too, and they muttered that they wished things had fallen out otherwise and that they might welcome such folk as friends; but Thorin scowled. Then the dwarves themselves brought forth harps and instruments regained from the hoard, and made music to soften his mood; but their song was not as elvish song, and was much like the song they had sung long before in Bilbo's little hobbit-hole. Under the Mountain dark and tall The King has come unto his hall! His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread, And ever so his foes shall fall. The sword is sharp, the spear is long, The arrow swift, the Gate is strong; The heart is bold that looks on gold; The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong. The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, While hammers fell like ringing bells In places deep, where dark things sleep, In hollow halls beneath the fells. On silver necklaces they strung The light of stars, on crowns they hung The dragon-fire, from twisted wire The melody of harps they wrung. The mountain throne once more is freed! O! wandering folk, the summons heed! Come haste! Come haste! across the waste! The king of friend and kin has need. Now call we over mountains cold, 'Come hack unto the caverns old'! Here at the Gates the king awaits,####-His hands are rich with gems and gold. The king is come unto his hall Under the Mountain dark and tall. The Worm of Dread is slain and dead, And ever so our foes shall fall! This song appeared to please Thorin, and he smiled again and grew merry; and he began reckoning the distance to the Iron Hills and how long it would be before Dain could reach the Lonely Mountain, if he had set out as soon as the message reached him. But Bilbo's heart fell, both at the song and the talk: they sounded much too warlike. The next morning early a company of spearmen was seen crossing the river, and marching up the valley. They bore with them the green banner of the Elvenking and the blue banner of the Lake, and they advanced until they stood right before the wall at the Gate. Again Thorin hailed them in a loud voice: "Who are you that come armed for war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain?" This time he was answered. A tall man stood forward, dark of hair and grim of face, and he cried: "Hail Thorin! Why do you fence yourself like a robber in his hold? We are not yet foes, and we rejoice that you are alive beyond our hope. We came expecting to find none living here; yet now that we are met there is matter for a parley and a council." "Who are you, and of what would you parley?" "I am Bard, and by my hand was the dragon slain and your treasure delivered. Is that not a matter that concerns you? Moreover I am by right descent the heir of Girion of Dale, and in your hoard is mingled much of the wealth of his halls and town, which of old Smaug stole. Is not that a matter of which we may speak? Further in his last battle Smaug destroyed the dwellings of the men of Esgaroth, and I am yet the servant of their Master. I would speak for him and ask whether you have no thought for the sorrow and misery of his people. They aided you in your distress, and in recompense you have thus far brought ruin only, though doubtless undesigned." Now these were fair words and true, if proudly and grimly spoken; and Bilbo thought that Thorin would at once admit what justice was in them. He did not, of course, expect that any one would remember that it was he who discovered all by himself the dragon's weak spot; and that was just as well, for no one ever did. But also he did not reckon with the power that gold has upon which a dragon has long ####-brooded, nor with dwarvish hearts. Long hours in the past days Thorin had spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him. Though he had hunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, yet he had an eye for many another wonderful thing that was lying there, about which were wound old memories of the labours and the sorrows of his race. "You put your worst cause last and in the chief place," Thorin answered. "To the treasure of my people no man has a claim, because Smaug who stole it from us also robbed him of life or home. The treasure was not his that his evil deeds should be amended with a share of it. The price of the goods and the assistance that we received of the Lake-men we will fairly pay-in due time. But nothing will we give, not even a loaf's worth, under threat of force. While an armed host lies before our doors, we look on you as foes and thieves. "It is in my mind to ask what share of their inheritance you would have paid to our kindred, had you found the hoard unguarded and us slain." "A just question," replied Bard. "But you are not dead, and we are not robbers. Moreover the wealthy may have pity beyond right on the needy that befriended them when they were in want. And still my other claims remain unanswered." "I will not parley, as I have said, with armed men at my gate. Nor at all with the people of the Elvenking, whom I remember with small kindness. In this debate they have no place. Begone now ere our arrows fly! And if you would speak with me again, first dismiss the elvish host to the woods where it belongs, and then return, laying down your arms before you approach the threshold." "The Elvenking is my friend, and he has succoured the people of the Lake in their need, though they had no claim but friendship on him," answered Bard. "We will give you time to repent your words. Gather your wisdom ere we return!" Then he departed and went back to the camp. Ere many hours were past, the banner-bearers returned, and trumpeters stood forth and blew a blast: "In the name of Esgaroth and the Forest," one cried, "we speak unto Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, calling himself the King under the Mountain, and we bid him consider well the claims that have been urged, or be declared our foe. At the least he shall deliver one twelfth portion of the treasure unto Bard, as the dragon-slayer, and as the heir of Girion. From that portion Bard will himself contribute to the aid of Esgaroth; but if Thorin would have the friendship and honour of the lands about, as his sires had of old, then he will give also somewhat of his own for the comfort of the men of the Lake." Then Thorin seized a bow of ####-horn and shot an arrow at the speaker. It smote into his shield and stuck there quivering. '"Since such is your answer," he called in return, "I declare the Mountain besieged. You shall not depart from it, until you call on your side for a truce and a parley. We will bear no weapons against you, but we leave you to your gold. You may eat that, if you will!" With that the messengers departed swiftly, and the dwarves were left to consider their case. So grim had Thorin become, that even if they had wished, the others would not have dared to find fault with him; but indeed most of them seemed to share his mind-except perhaps old fat Bombur and Fili and Kili. Bilbo, of course, disapproved of the whole turn of affairs. He had by now had more than enough of the Mountain, and being besieged inside it was not at all to his taste. "The whole place still stinks of dragon," he grumbled to himself, "and it makes me sick. And cram is beginning simply to stick in my throat."####-

A Thief in the Night Now the days passed slowly and wearily. Many of the dwarves spent their time piling and ordering the treasure; and now Thorin spoke of the Arkenstone of Thrain, and bade them eagerly to look for it in every comer. "For the Arkenstone of my father," he said, "is worth more than a river of gold in itself, and to me it is beyond price. That stone of all the treasure I name unto myself, and I will be avenged on anyone who finds it and withholds it." Bilbo heard these words and he grew afraid, wondering what would happen, if the stone was found-wrapped in an old bundle of tattered oddments that he used as a pillow. All the same he did not speak of it, for as the weariness of the days grew heavier, the beginnings of a plan had come into his little head. Things had gone on like this for some time, when the ravens brought news that Dain and more than five hundred dwarves, hurrying from the Iron Hills, were now within about two days' march of Dale, coming from the North-East. "But they cannot reach the Mountain unmarked," said Róac, "and I fear lest there be battle in the valley. I do not call this counsel good. Though they are a grim folk, they are not likely to overcome the host that besets you; and even if they did so, what will you gain? Winter and snow is hastening behind them. How shall you be fed without the friendship and goodwill of the lands about you? The treasure is likely to be your death, though the dragon is no more!"' But Thorin was not moved. "Winter and snow will bite both men and elves," he said, "and they may find their dwelling in the Waste grievous to bear. With my friends behind them and winter upon them, they will perhaps be in softer mood to parley with." That night Bilbo made up his mind. The sky was black and moonless. As soon as it was full dark, he went to a corner of an inner chamber just within the gate and drew from his bundle a rope, and also the Arkenstone wrapped in a rag. Then he climbed to the top of the wall. Only Bombur was there, for it was his turn to watch, and the dwarves kept only one watchman at a time. "It is mighty cold!" said Bombur. "I wish we could have a fire up here as they have in the camp!" "It is warm enough inside," said Bilbo.####-"I daresay; but I am bound here till midnight," grumbled the fat dwarf. "A sorry business altogether. Not that I venture to disagree with Thorin, may his beard grow ever longer; yet he was ever a dwarf with a stiff neck." "Not as stiff as my legs," said Bilbo. "I am tired of stairs and stone passages. I would give a good deal for the feel of grass at my toes." "I would give a good deal for the feel of a strong drink in my throat, and for a soft bed after a good supper!" "I can't give you those, while the siege is going on. But it is long since I watched, and I will take your turn for you, if you like. There is no sleep in me tonight." "You are a good fellow, Mr. Baggins, and I will take your offer kindly. If there should be anything to note, rouse me first, mind you! I will lie in the inner chamber to the left, not far away." "Off you go!" said Bilbo. "I will wake you at midnight, and you can wake the next watchman." As soon as Bombur had gone, Bilbo put on his ring, fastened his rope, slipped down over the wall, and was gone. He had about five hours before him. Bombur would sleep (he could sleep at any time, and ever since the adventure in the forest he was always trying to recapture the beautiful dreams he had then); and all the others were busy with Thorin. It was unlikely that any, even Fili or Kili, would come out on the wall until it was their turn. It was very dark, and the road after a while, when he left the newly made path and climbed down towards the lower course of the stream, was strange to him. At last he came to the bend where he had to cross the water, if he was to make for the camp, as he wished. The bed of the stream was there shallow but already broad, and fording it in the dark was not easy for the little hobbit. He was nearly across when he missed his footing on a round stone and fell into the cold water with a splash. He had barely scrambled out on the far bank, shivering and spluttering, when up came elves in the gloom with bright lanterns and searched for the cause of the noise. "That was no fish!" one said. "There is a spy about. Hide your lights! They will help him more than us, if it is that queer little creature that is said to be their servant." "Servant, indeed!" snorted Bilbo; and in the middle of his snort he sneezed loudly, and the elves immediately gathered towards the sound. "Let's have a light!" he said. "I am here, if you want me!" and he slipped off his ring, and popped from behind a rock.####-They seized him quickly, in spite of their surprise. "Who are you? Are you the dwarves' hobbit? What are you doing? How did you get so far past our sentinels?" they asked one after another. "I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins," he answered, "companion of Thorin, if you want to know. I know your king well by sight, though perhaps he doesn't know me to look at. But Bard will remember me, and it is Bard I particularly want to see." "Indeed!" said they, "and what may be your business?" "Whatever it is, it's my own, my good elves. But if you wish ever to get back to your own woods from this cold cheerless place," he answered shivering, "you will take me along quiet to a fire, where I can dry-and then you will let me speak to your chiefs as quick as may be. I have only an hour or two to spare." That is how it came about that some two hours after his escape from the Gate, Bilbo was sitting beside a warm fire in front of a large tent, and there sat too, gazing curiously at him, both the Elvenking and Bard. A hobbit in elvish armour, partly wrapped in an old blanket, was something new to them. "Really you know," Bilbo was saying in his best business manner, "things are impossible. Personally I am tired of the whole affair. I wish I was back in the West in my own home, where folk are more reasonable. But I have an interest in this matter-one fourteenth share, to be precise, according to a letter, which fortunately I believe I have kept." He drew from a pocket in his old jacket (which he still wore over his mail), crumpled and much folded, Thorin's letter that had been put under the clock on his mantelpiece in May! "A share in the profits, mind you," he went on. "I am aware of that. Personally I am only too ready to consider all your claims carefully, and deduct what is right from the total before putting in my own claim. However you don't know Thorin Oakenshield as well as I do now. I assure you, he is quite ready to sit on a heap of gold and starve, as long as you sit here." "Well, let him!" said Bard. "Such a fool deserves to starve." "Quite so," said Bilbo. "I see your point of view. At the same time winter is coming on fast. Before long you will be having snow and what not, and supplies will be difficult – even for elves I imagine. Also there will be other difficulties. You have not heard of Dain and the dwarves of the Iron Hills?" "We have, a long time ago; but what has he got to do with us?" asked the king. "I thought as much. I see I have some information you have not got. Dain, I may tell you, is now less than two days' march off, and has at least five hundred grim dwarves with him – a good many of them have had experience in the ####-dreadful dwarf and goblin wars, of which you have no doubt heard. When they arrive there may be serious trouble." "Why do you tell us this? Are you betraying your friends, or are you threatening us?" asked Bard grimly. "My dear Bard!" squeaked Bilbo. "Don't be so hasty! I never met such suspicious folk! I am merely trying to avoid trouble for all concerned. Now I will make you an offer!!" "Let us hear it!" they said. "You may see it!" said he. "It is this!" and he drew forth the Arkenstone, and threw away the wrapping. The Elvenking himself, whose eyes were used to things of wonder and beauty, stood up in amazement. Even Bard gazed marvelling at it in silence. It was as if a globe had been filled with moonlight and hung before them in a net woven of the glint of frosty stars. "This is the Arkenstone of Thrain," said Bilbo, "the Heart of the Mountain; and it is also the heart of Thorin. He values it above a river of gold. I give it to you. It will aid you in your bargaining." Then Bilbo, not without a shudder, not without a glance of longing, handed the marvellous stone to Bard, and he held it in his hand, as though dazed. "But how is it yours to give?" he asked at last with an effort. "O well!" said the hobbit uncomfortably. "It isn't exactly; but, well, I am willing to let it stand against all my claim, don't you know. I may be a burglar-or so they say: personally I never really felt like one-but I am an honest one, I hope, more or less. Anyway I am going back now, and the dwarves can do what they like to me. I hope you will find it useful." The Elvenking looked at Bilbo with a new wonder. "Bilbo Baggins!" he said. "You are more worthy to wear the armour of elf- princes than many that have looked more comely in it. But I wonder if Thorin Oakenshield will see it so. I have more knowledge of dwarves in general than you have perhaps. I advise you to remain with us, and here you shall be honoured and thrice welcome." "Thank you very much I am sure," said Bilbo with a bow. "But I don't think I ought to leave my friends like this, after all we have gone through together. And I promised to wake old Bombur at midnight, too! Really I must be going, and quickly." Nothing they could say would stop him; so an escort was provided for him, and as he went both the king and Bard saluted him with honour. As they passed ####-through the camp an old man wrapped in a dark cloak, rose from a tent door where he was sitting and came towards them. "Well done! Mr. Baggins!" he said, clapping Bilbo on the back. "There is always more about you than anyone expects!" It was Gandalf. For the first time for many a day Bilbo was really delighted. But there was no time for all the questions that he immediately wished to ask. "All in good time!" said Gandalf. "Things are drawing towards the end now, unless I am mistaken. There is an unpleasant time just in front of you; but keep your heart up! You may come through all right. There is news brewing that even the ravens have not heard. Good night!" Puzzled but cheered. Bilbo hurried on. He was guided to a safe ford and set across dry, and then he said farewell to the elves and climbed carefully back towards the Gate. Great weariness began to come over him; but it was well before midnight when he clambered up the rope again – it was still where he had left it. He untied it and hid it, and then he sat down on the wall and wondered anxiously what would happen next. At midnight he woke up Bombur; and then in turn rolled himself up in his corner, without listening to old dwarfs thanks (which he felt he had hardly earned). He was soon fast asleep forgetting all his worries till the morning. As matter of fact he was dreaming of eggs and bacon.####-

The Clouds Burst Next day the trumpets rang early in the camp. Soon a single runner was seen hurrying along the narrow path. At a distance he stood and hailed them, asking whether Thorin would now listen to another embassy, since new tidings had come to hand, and matters were changed. "That will be Dain!" said Thorin when he heard. "They will have got wind of his coming. I thought that would alter their mood! Bid them come few in number and weaponless, and I will hear," he called to the messenger. About midday the banners of the Forest and the Lake were seen to be borne forth again. A company of twenty was approaching. At the beginning of the narrow way they laid aside sword and spear, and came on towards the Gate. Wondering, the dwarves saw that among them were both Bard and the Elvenking, before whom an old man wrapped in cloak and hood bore a strong casket of iron- bound wood. "Hail Thorin!" said Bard. "Are you still of the same mind?" "My mind does not change with the rising and setting of a few suns," answered Thorin. "Did you come to ask me idle questions? Still the elf-host has not departed as I bade! Till then you come in vain to bargain with me." "Is there then nothing for which you would yield any of your gold?" "Nothing that you or your friends have to offer." "What of the Arkenstone of Thrain?" said he, and at the same moment the old man opened the casket and held aloft the jewel. The light leapt from his hand, bright and white in the morning. Then Thorin was stricken dumb with amazement and confusion. No one spoke for a long while. Thorin at length broke the silence, and his voice was thick with wrath. "That stone was my father's, and is mine," he said. "Why should I purchase my own?" But wonder overcame him and he added: "But how came you by the heirloom of my house-if there is need to ask such a question of thieves?" "We are not thieves," Bard answered. "Your own we will give back in return for our own." 'How came you by it?" shouted Thorin in gathering rage. "I gave it them!" squeaked Bilbo, who was peeping over the wall, by now, in a dreadful fright.####-"You! You!" cried Thorin, turning upon him and grasping him with both hands. "You miserable hobbit! You undersized-burglar!" he shouted at a loss for words, and he shook poor Bilbo like a rabbit. "By the beard of Durin! I wish I had Gandalf here! Curse him for his choice of you! May his beard wither! As for you I will throw you to the rocks!" he cried and lifted Bilbo in his arms. "Stay! Your wish is granted!" said a voice. The old man with the casket threw aside his hood and cloak. "Here is Gandalf! And none too soon it seems. If you don't like my Burglar, please don't damage him. Put him down, and listen first to what he has to say!" "You all seem in league!" said Thorin dropping Bilbo on the top of the wall. "Never again will I have dealings with any wizard or his friends. What have you to say, you descendant of rats?" "Dear me! Dear me!" said Bilbo. "I am sure this is all very uncomfortable. You may remember saying that I might choose my own fourteenth share? Perhaps I took it too literally –1 have been told that dwarves are sometimes politer in word than in deed. The time was, all the same, when you seemed to think that I had been of some service. Descendant of rats, indeed! Is this ail the service of you and your family that I was promised. Thorin? Take it that I have disposed of my share as I wished, and let it go at that!" "I will," said Thorin grimly. "And I will let you go at that-and may we never meet again!" Then he turned and spoke over the wall. "I am betrayed," he said. "It was rightly guessed that I could not forbear to redeem the Arkenstone, the treasure of my house. For it I will give one fourteenth share of the hoard in silver and gold, setting aside the gems; but that shall be accounted the promised share of this traitor, and with that reward he shall depart, and you can divide it as you will. He will get little enough, I doubt not. Take him, if you wish him to live; and no friendship of mine goes with him. "Get down now to your friends!" he said to Bilbo, "or I will throw you down." "What about the gold and silver?" asked Bilbo. "That shall follow after, as can be arranged," said he. "Get down!" "Until then we keep the stone," cried Bard. "You are not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain," said Gandalf. "But things may change yet."####-"They may indeed," said Thorin. And already, so strong was the bewilderment of the treasure upon him, he was pondering whether by the help of Dain he might not recapture the Arkenstone and withhold the share of the reward. And so Bilbo was swung down from the wall, and departed with nothing for all his trouble, except the armour which Thorin had given him already. More than one of the dwarves 'in their hearts felt shame and pity at his going. "Farewell!" he cried to them. "We may meet again as friends." "Be off!" called Thorin. "You have mail upon you, which was made by my folk, and is too good for you. It cannot be pierced .by arrows; but if you do not hasten, I will sting your miserable feet. So be swift!" "Not so hasty!" said Bard. "We will give you until tomorrow. At noon we will return, and see if you have brought from the hoard the portion that is to be set against the stone. If that is done without deceit, then we will depart, and the elf- host will go back to the Forest. In the meanwhile farewell!" With that they went back to the camp; but Thorin sent messengers by Róac telling Dain of what had passed, and bidding him come with wary speed. That day passed and the night. The next day the wind shifted west, and the air was dark and gloomy. The morning was still early when a cry was heard in the camp. Runners came in to report that a host of dwarves had appeared round the eastern spur of the Mountain and was now hastening to Dale. Dain had come. He had hurried on through the night, and so had come upon them sooner than they had expected. Each one of his folk was clad in a hauberk of steel mail that hung to his knees, and his legs were covered with hose of a fine and flexible metal mesh, the secret of whose making was possessed by Dain's people. The dwarves are exceedingly strong for their height, but most of these were strong even for dwarves. In battle they wielded heavy two-handed mattocks; but each of them had also a short broad sword at his side and a round shield slung at his back. Their beards were forked and plaited and thrust into their belts. Their caps were of iron and they were shod with iron, and their faces were grim. Trumpets called men and elves to arms. Before long the dwarves could be seen coming up the valley at a great pace. They halted between the river and the eastern spur; but a few held on their way, and crossing the river drew near the camp; and there they laid down their weapons and held up their hands in sign of peace. Bard went out to meet them, and with him went Bilbo. "We are sent from Dain son of Nain," they said when questioned. "We are hastening to our kinsmen in the Mountain, since we learn that the kingdom of old is renewed. But who are you that sit in the plain as foes before defended walls?"####-This, of. course, in the polite and rather old-fashioned language of such occasions, meant simply: "You have no business here. We are going on, so make way or we shall fight you!" They meant to push on between the Mountain and the loop of the river, for the narrow land there did not seem to be strongly guarded. Bard, of course, refused to allow the dwarves to go straight on to the Mountain. He was determined to wait until the gold and silver had been brought out in exchange for the Arkenstone: for he did not believe that this would be done, if once the fortress was manned with so large and warlike a company. They had brought with them a great store of supplies; for the dwarves can carry very heavy burdens, and nearly all of Dain's folks, in spite of their rapid march, bore huge packs on their backs in addition to their weapons. They would stand a siege for weeks, and by that time yet more dwarves might come, and yet more, for Thorin had many relatives. Also they would be able to reopen and guard some other gate, so that the besiegers would have to encircle the whole mountain; and for that they had not sufficient numbers. These were, in fact, precisely their plans (for the raven-messengers had been busy between Thorin and Dain); but for the moment the way was barred, so after angry words the dwarf-messengers retired muttering in their beards. Bard then sent messengers at once to the Gate; but they found no gold or payment. Arrows came forth as soon as they were within shot, and they hastened back in dismay. In the camp all was now astir, as if for battle; for the dwarves of Dain were advancing along the eastern bank. "Fools!" laughed Bard, "to come thus beneath the Mountain's arm! They do not understand war above ground, whatever they may know of battle in the mines. There are many of our archers and spearmen now hidden in the rocks upon their right flank. Dwarf-mail may be good, but they will soon be hard put to it. Let us set on them now from both sides, before they are fully rested!" But the Elvenking said: "Long will I tarry, ere I begin this war for gold. The dwarves cannot press us, unless we will, or do anything that we cannot mark. Let us hope still for something that will bring reconciliation. Our advantage in numbers will be enough, if in the end it must come to unhappy blows." But he reckoned without the dwarves. The knowledge that the Arkenstone was in the hands of the besiegers burned in their thoughts; also they guessed the hesitation of Bard and his friends, and resolved to strike while they debated. Suddenly without a signal they sprang silently forward to attack. Bows twanged and arrows whistled; battle was about to be joined.####-Still more suddenly a darkness came on with dreadful swiftness! A black cloud hurried over the sky. Winter thunder on a wild wind rolled roaring up and rumbled in the Mountain, and lightning lit its peak. And beneath the thunder another blackness could be seen whirling forward; but it did not come with the wind, it came from the North, like a vast cloud of birds, so dense that no light could be seen between their wings. "Halt!" cried Gandalf, who appeared suddenly, and stood alone, with arms uplifted, between the advancing dwarves and the ranks awaiting them. "Halt!" he called in a voice like thunder, and his staff blazed forth with a flash like the lightning. "Dread has come upon you all! Alas! it has come more swiftly than I guessed. The Goblins are upon you! Bolg* of the North is coming. O Dain! whose father you slew in Moria. Behold! the bats are above his army like a sea of locusts. They ride upon wolves and Wargs are in their train!" Amazement and confusion fell upon them all. Even as Gandalf had been speaking the darkness grew. The dwarves halted and gazed at the sky. The elves cried out with many voices. "Come!" called Gandalf. "There is yet time for council. Let Dain son of Nain come swiftly to us!" So began a battle that none had expected; and it was called the Battle of Five Armies, and it was very terrible. Upon one side were the Goblins and the wild Wolves, and upon the other were Elves and Men and Dwarves. This is how it fell out. Ever since the fall of the Great Goblin of the Misty Mountains the hatred of their race for the dwarves had been rekindled to fury. Messengers had passed to and fro between all their cities, colonies and strongholds; for they resolved now to win the dominion of the North. Tidings they had gathered in secret ways; and in all the mountains there was a forging and an arming. Then they marched and gathered by hill and valley, going ever by tunnel or under dark, until around and beneath the great mountain Gundabad of the North, where was their capital, a vast host was assembled ready to sweep down in time of storm unawares upon the South. Then they learned of the death of Smaug, and joy was in their hearts: and they hastened night after night through the mountains, and came thus at last on a sudden from the North hard on the heels of Dain. Not even the ravens knew of their coming until they came out in the broken lands which divided the Lonely Mountain from the hills behind. How much Gandalf knew cannot be said, but it is plain that he had not expected this sudden assault. * Son of Azog ####-This is the plan that he made in council with the Elvenking and with Bard; and with Dain, for the dwarf-lord now joined them: the Goblins were the foes of all, and at their coming all other quarrels were forgotten. Their only hope was to lure the goblins into the valley between the arms of the Mountain; and themselves to man the great spurs that struck south and east. Yet this would be perilous, if the goblins were in sufficient numbers to overrun the Mountain itself, and so attack them also from behind and above; but there was no time for make any other plan, or to summon any help. Soon the thunder passed, rolling away to the South-East; but the bat-cloud came, flying lower, over the shoulder of the Mountain, and whirled above them shutting out the light and filling them with dread. "To the Mountain!" called Bard. "To the Mountain! Let us take our places while there is yet time!" On the Southern spur, in its lower slopes and in the rocks at its feet, the Elves were set; on the Eastern spur were men and dwarves. But Bard and some of the nimblest of men and elves climbed to the height of the Eastern shoulder to gain a view to the North. Soon they could see the lands before the Mountain's feet black with a hurrying multitude. Ere long the vanguard swirled round the spur's end and came rushing into Dale. These were the swiftest wolf-riders, and already their cries and howls rent the air afar. A few brave men were strung before them to make a feint of resistance, and many there fell before the rest drew back and fled to either side. As Gandalf had hoped, the goblin army had gathered behind the resisted vanguard, and poured now in rage into the valley, driving wildly up between the arms of the Mountain, seeking for the foe. Their banners were countless, black and red, and they came on like a tide in fury and disorder. It was a terrible battle. The most dreadful of all Bilbo's experiences, and the one which at the time he hated most – which is to say it was the one he was most proud of, and most fond of recalling long afterwards, although he was quite unimportant in it. Actually I must say he put on his ring early in the business, and vanished from sight, if not from all danger. A magic ring of that sort is not a complete protection in a goblin charge, nor does it stop flying arrows and wild spears; but it does help in getting out of the way, and it prevents your head from being specially chosen for a sweeping stroke by a goblin swordsman. The elves were the first to charge. Their hatred for the goblins is cold and bitter. Their spears and swords shone in the gloom with a gleam of chill flame, so deadly was the wrath of the hands that held them. As soon as the host of their enemies was dense in the valley, they sent against it a shower of arrows, and each ####-flickered as it fled as if with stinging fire. Behind the arrows a thousand of their spearmen leapt down and charged. The yells were deafening. The rocks were stained black with goblin blood. Just as the goblins were recovering from the onslaught and the elf-charge was halted, there rose from across the valley a deep- throated roar. With cries of "Moria!" and "Dain, Dain!" the dwarves of the Iron Hills plunged in, wielding their mattocks, upon the other side; and beside them came the men of the Lake with long swords. Panic came upon the Goblins; and even as they turned to meet this new attack, the elves charged again with renewed numbers. Already many of the goblins were flying back down the river to escape from the trap: and many of their own wolves were turning upon them and rending the dead and the wounded. Victory seemed at hand, when a cry rang out on the heights above. Goblins had scaled the Mountain from the other side and already many were on the slopes above the Gate, and others were streaming down recklessly, heedless of those that fell screaming from cliff and precipice, to attack the spurs from above. Each of these could be reached by paths that ran down from the main mass of the Mountain in the centre; and the defenders had too few to bar the way for long. Vi ctory now vanished from hope. They had only stemmed the first onslaught of the black tide. Day drew on. The goblins gathered again in the valley. There a host of Wargs came ravening and with them came the bodyguard of Bolg, goblins of huge size with scimitars of steel. Soon actual darkness was coming into a stormy sky; while still the great bats swirled about the heads and ears of elves and men, or fastened vampire-like on the stricken. Now Bard was fighting to defend the Eastern spur, and yet giving slowly back; and the elf-lords were at bay about their king upon the southern arm, near to the watch-post on Ravenhill. Suddenly there was a great shout, and from the Gate came a trumpet call. They had forgotten Thorin! Part of the wall, moved by levers, fell outward with a crash into the pool. Out leapt the King under the Mountain, and his companions followed him. Hood and cloak were gone; they were in shining armour, and red light leapt from their eyes. In the gloom the great dwarf gleamed like gold in a dying fire. Rocks were buried down from on high by the goblins above; but they held on. leapt down to the falls' foot, and rushed forward to battle. Wolf and rider fell or fled before them. Thorin wielded his axe with mighty strokes, and nothing seemed to harm him.####-"To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! O my kinsfolk!" he cried, and his voice shook like a horn in the valley. Down, heedless of order, rushed all the dwarves of Dain to his help. Down too came many of the Lake-men, for Bard could not restrain them; and out upon the other side came many of the spearmen of the elves. Once again the goblins were stricken in the valley; and they were piled in heaps till Dale was dark and hideous with their corpses. The Wargs were scattered and Thorin drove right against the bodyguards of Bolg. But he could not pierce their ranks. Already behind him among the goblin dead lay many men and many dwarves, and many a fair elf that should have lived yet long ages merrily in the wood. And as the valley widened his onset grew ever slower. His numbers were too few. His flanks were unguarded. Soon the attackers were attacked, and they were forced into a great ring, facing every way, hemmed all about with goblins and wolves returning to the assault. The bodyguard of Bolg came howling against them, and drove in upon their ranks like waves upon cliffs of sand. Their friends could not help them, for the assault from the Mountain was renewed with redoubled force, and upon either side men and elves were being slowly beaten down. On all this Bilbo looked with misery. He had taken his stand on Ravenhill among the Elves-partly because there was more chance of escape from that point, and partly (with the more Tookish part of his mind) because if he was going to be in a last desperate stand, he preferred on the whole to defend the Elvenking. Gandalf, too, I may say, was there, sitting on the ground as if in deep thought, preparing, I suppose, some last blast of magic before the end. That did not seem far off. "It will not be long now," thought Bilbo, "before the goblins win the Gate, and we are all slaughtered or driven down and captured. Really it is enough to make one weep, after all one has gone through. I would rather old Smaug had been left with all the wretched treasure, than that these vile creatures should get it, and poor old Bombur, and Balin and Fili and Kili and all the rest come to a bad end; and Bard too, and the Lake-men and the merry elves. Misery me! I have heard songs of many battles, and I have always understood that defeat may be glorious. It seems very uncomfortable, not to say distressing. I wish I was well out of it." The clouds were torn by the wind, and a red sunset slashed the West. Seeing the sudden gleam in the gloom Bilbo looked round. He gave a great cry: he had seen a sight that made his heart leap, dark shapes small yet majestic against the distant glow. "The Eagles! The Eagles!" he shouted. "The Eagles are coming!"####-Bilbo's eyes were seldom wrong. The eagles were coming down the wind, line after line, in such a host as must have gathered from all the eyries of the North. "The Eagles! the Eagles!" Bilbo cried, dancing and waving his arms. If the elves could not see him they could hear him. Soon they too took up the cry, and it echoed across the valley. Many wondering eyes looked up, though as yet nothing could be seen except from the southern shoulders of the Mountain. "The Eagles!" cried Bilbo once more, but at that moment a stone hurtling from above smote heavily on his helm, and he fell with a crash and knew no more.####-

The Return Journey When Bilbo came to himself, he was literally by himself. He was lying on the flat stones of Ravenhill, and no one was near. A cloudless day, but cold, was broad above him. He was shaking, and as chilled as stone, but his head burned with fire. "Now I wonder what has happened?" he said to himself. "At any rate I am not yet one of the fallen heroes; but I suppose there is still time enough for that!" He sat up painfully. Looking into the valley he could see no living goblins. After a while as his head cleared a little, he thought he could see elves moving in the rocks below. He rubbed his eyes. Surely there was a camp still in the plain some distance off; and there was a coming and going about the Gate? Dwarves seemed to be busy removing the wall. But all was deadly still. There was no call and no echo of a song. Sorrow seemed to be in the air. "Victory after all, I suppose!" he said, feeling his aching head. "Well, it seems a very gloomy business." Suddenly he was aware of a man climbing up and coming towards him. "Hullo there!" he called with a shaky voice. "Hullo there! What news?" "What voice is it that speaks among the stones?" said the man halting and peering about him not far from where Bilbo sat. Then Bilbo remembered his ring! "Well I'm blessed!" said he. "This invisibility has its drawbacks after all. Otherwise I suppose I might have spent a warm and comfortable night in bed!" "It's me, Bilbo Baggins, companion of Thorin!" he cried, hurriedly taking off the ring. "It is well that I have found you!" said the man striding forward. "You are needed and we have looked for you long. You would have been numbered among the dead, who are many, if Gandalf the wizard had not said that your voice was last heard in this place. I have been sent to look here for the last time. Are you much hurt?" "A nasty knock on the head, I think," said Bilbo. "But I have a helm and a hard skull. All the same I feel sick and my legs are like straws." "I will carry you down to the camp in the valley," said the man, and picked him lightly up. The man was swift and sure-footed. It was not long before Bilbo was set down before a tent in Dale; and there stood Gandalf, with his arm in a sling. Even the ####-wizard had not escaped without a wound; and there were few unharmed in all the host. When Gandalf saw Bilbo, he was delighted. "Baggins!" he exclaimed. "Well I never! Alive after all – 1 am glad! I began to wonder if even your luck would see you through! A terrible business, and it nearly was disastrous. But other news can wait. Come!" he said more gravely. "You are called for;" and leading the hobbit he took him within the tent. "Hail! Thorin," he said as he entered. "I have brought him." There indeed lay Thorin Oakenshield, wounded with many wounds, and his rent armour and notched axe were cast upon the floor. He looked up as Bilbo came beside him. "Farewell, good thief," he said. "I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate." Bilbo knelt on one knee filled with sorrow. "Farewell, King under the Mountain!" he said. "This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils – that has been more than any Baggins deserves." "No!" said Thorin. "There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!" Then Bilbo turned away, and he went by himself, and sat alone wrapped in a blanket, and, whether you believe it or not, he wept until his eyes were red and his voice was hoarse. He was a kindly little soul. Indeed it was long before he had the heart to make a joke again. "A mercy it is," he said at last to himself, "that I woke up when I did. I wish Thorin were living, but I am glad that we parted in kindness. You are a fool, Bilbo Baggins, and you made a great mess of that business with the stone; and there was a battle, in spite of all your efforts to buy peace and quiet, but I suppose you can hardly be blamed for that." All that had happened after he was stunned, Bilbo learned later; but it gave him more sorrow than joy, and he was now weary of his adventure. He was aching in his bones for the homeward journey. That, however, was a little delayed, so in the meantime I will tell something of events. The Eagles had long had suspicion of the goblins' mustering; from their watchfulness the movements in the mountains could not be altogether hid. So they too had gathered in great numbers, under the ####-great Eagle of the Misty Mountains; and at length smelling battle from afar they had come speeding down the gale in the nick of time. They it was who dislodged the goblins from the mountain-slopes, casting them over precipices, or driving them down shrieking and bewildered among their foes. It was not long before they had freed the Lonely Mountain, and elves and men on either side of the valley could come at last to the help of the battle below. But even with the Eagles they were still outnumbered. In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared – no one knew how or from where. He came alone, and in bear's shape; and he seemed to have grown almost to giant-size in his wrath. The roar of his voice was like drums and guns; and he tossed wolves and goblins from his path like straws and feathers. He fell upon their rear, and broke like a clap of thunder through the ring. The dwarves were making a stand still about their lords upon a low rounded hill. Then Beorn stooped and lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and bore him out of the fray. Swiftly he returned and his wrath was redoubled, so that nothing could withstand him, and no weapon seemed to bite upon him. He scattered the bodyguard, and pulled down Bolg himself and crushed him. Then dismay fell on the Goblins and they fled in all directions. But weariness left their enemies with the coming of new hope, and they pursued them closely, and prevented most of them from escaping where they could. They drove many of them into the Running River, and such as fled south or west they hunted into the marshes about the Forest River; and there the greater part of the last fugitives perished, while those that came hardly to the Wood-elves' realm were there slain, or drawn in to die in the trackless dark of Mirkwood. Songs have said that three parts of the goblin warriors of the North perished on that day, and the mountains had peace for many a year. Victory had been assured before the fall of night, but the pursuit was still on foot, when Bilbo returned to the camp; and not many were in the valley save the more grievously wounded. "Where are the Eagles?" he asked Gandalf that evening, as he lay wrapped in many warm blankets. "Some are in the hunt," said the wizard, "but most have gone back to their eyries. They would not stay here, and departed with the first light of morning. Dain has crowned their chief with gold, and sworn friendship with them for ever." "I am sorry. I mean, I should have liked to see them again," said Bilbo sleepily; "perhaps I shall see them on the way home. I suppose I shall be going home soon?"####-"As soon as you like," said the wizard. Actually it was some days before Bilbo really set out. They buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain, and Bard laid the Arkenstone upon his breast. "There let it lie till the Mountain falls!" he said. "May it bring good fortune to all his folk that dwell here after!" Upon his tomb the Elvenking then laid Orcrist, the elvish sword that had been taken from Thorin in captivity. It is said in songs that it gleamed ever in the dark if foes approached, and the fortress of the dwarves could not be taken by surprise. There now Dain son of Nain took up his abode, and he became King under the Mountain, and in time many other dwarves gathered to his throne in the ancient halls. Of the twelve companions of Thorin, ten remained. Fili and Kili had fallen defending him with shield and body, for he was their mother's elder brother. The others remained with Dain; for Dain dealt his treasure well. There was, of course, no longer any question of dividing the hoard in such shares as had been planned, to Balin and Dwalin, and Dori and Nori and Ori, and Oin and Gloin, and Bifur and Bofur and Bombur-or to Bilbo. Yet a fourteenth share of all the silver and gold, wrought and unwrought, was given up to Bard; for Dain said: "We will honour the agreement of the dead, and he has now the Arkenstone in his keeping." Even a fourteenth share was wealth exceedingly great, greater than that of many mortal kings. From that treasure Bard sent much gold to the Master of Lake-town; and he rewarded his followers and friends freely. To the Elvenking he gave the emeralds of Girion, such jewels as he most loved, which Dain had restored to him. To Bilbo he said: "This treasure is as much yours as it is mine; though old agreements cannot stand, since so many have a claim in its winning and defence. Yet even though you were willing to lay aside all your claim, I should wish that the words of Thorin, of which he repented, should not prove true: that we should give you little. I would reward you most richly of all." "Very kind of you," said Bilbo. "But really it is a relief to me. How on earth should I have got all that treasure home without war and murder all along the way, I don't know. And I don't know what I should have done with it when I got home. I am sure it is better in your hands." In the end he would only take two small chests, one filled with silver, and the other with gold, such as one strong pony could carry. "That will be quite as much as I can manage," said he. At last the time came for him to say good-bye to his friends. "Farewell, Balin!" he said; "and farewell, Dwalin; and farewell Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur,####-Bofur, and Bombur! May your beards never grow thin!" And turning towards the Mountain he added: "Farewell Thorin Oakenshield! And Fili and Kili! May your memory never fade!" Then the dwarves bowed low before their Gate, but words stuck in their throats. "Good-bye and good luck, wherever you fare!" said Balin at last. "If ever you visit us again, when our halls are made fair once more, then the feast shall indeed be splendid!" "If ever you are passing my way," said Bilbo, "don't wait to knock! Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome at any time!" Then he turned away. The elf-host was on the march;. and if it was sadly lessened, yet many were glad, for now the northern world would be merrier for many a long day. The dragon was dead, and the goblins overthrown, and their hearts looked forward after winter to a spring of joy. Gandalf and Bilbo rode behind the Elvenking, and beside them strode Beorn, once again in man's shape, and he laughed and sang in a loud voice upon the road. So they went on until they drew near to the borders of Mirkwood, to the north of the place where the Forest River ran out. Then they halted, for the wizard and Bilbo would not enter the wood, even though the king bade them stay a while in his halls. They intended to go along the edge of the forest, and round its northern end in the waste that lay between it and the beginning of the Grey Mountains. It was a long and cheerless road, but now that the goblins were crushed, it seemed safer to them than the dreadful pathways under the trees. Moreover Beorn was going that way too. "Farewell! O Elvenking!" said Gandalf. "Merry be the greenwood, while the world is yet young! And merry be all your folk!" "Farewell! O Gandalf!" said the king. "May you ever appear where you are most needed and least expected! The oftener you appear in my halls the better shall I be pleased!" "I beg of you," said Bilbo stammering and standing on one foot, "to accept this gift!" and he brought out a necklace of silver and pearls that Dain had given him at their parting. "In what way have I earned such a gift, O hobbit?" said the king. "Well, er, I thought, don't you know," said Bilbo rather confused, "that, er, some little return should be made for your, er, hospitality. I mean even a burglar has his feelings. I have drunk much of your wine and eaten much of your bread."####-"I will take your gift, O Bilbo the Magnificent!" said the king gravely. "And I name you elf-friend and blessed. May your shadow never grow less (or stealing would be too easy)! Farewell!" Then the elves turned towards the Forest, and Bilbo started on his long road home. He had many hardships and adventures before he got back. The Wild was still the Wild, and there were many other things in it in those days besides goblins; but he was well guided and well guarded-the wizard was with him, and Beorn for much of the way-and he was never in great danger again. Anyway by mid-winter Gandalf and Bilbo had come all the way back, along both edges of the Forest, to the doors of Beorn's house; and there for a while they both stayed. Yule-tide was warm and merry there; and men came from far and wide to feast at Beorn's bidding. The goblins of the Misty Mountains were now few and terrified, and hidden in the deepest holes they could find; and the Wargs had vanished from the woods, so that men went abroad without fear. Beorn indeed became a great chief afterwards in those regions and ruled a wide land between the mountains and the wood; and it is said that for many generations the men of his line had the power of taking bear's shape, and some were grim men and bad, but most were in heart like Beorn, if less in size and strength. In their day the last goblins were hunted from the Misty Mountains and a new peace came over the edge of the Wild. It was spring, and a fair one with mild weathers and a bright sun, before Bilbo and Gandalf took their leave at last of Beorn, and though he longed for home. Bilbo left with regret, for the flowers of the gardens of Beorn were m springtime no less marvellous than in high summer. At last they came up the long road, and reached the very pass where the goblins had captured them before. But they came to that high point at morning, and looking backward they saw a white sun shining over the out-stretched lands. There behind lay Mirkwood, blue in the distance, and darkly green at the nearer edge even in the spring. There far away was the Lonely Mountain on the edge of eyesight. On its highest peak snow yet unmelted was gleaming pale. "So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!" said Bilbo, and he turned his back on his adventure. The Tookish part was getting very tired, and the Baggins was daily getting stronger. "I wish now only to be in my own arm-chair!" he said.####-

The Last Stage It was on May the First that the two came back at last to the brink of the valley of Rivendell, where stood the Last (or the First) Homely House. Again it was evening, their ponies were tired, especially the one that carried the baggage; and they all felt in need of rest. As they rode down the steep path, Bilbo heard the elves still singing in the trees, as if they had not stopped since he left; and as soon as their riders came down into the lower glades of the wood they burst into a song of much the same kind as before. This is something like it: The dragon is withered, His bones are now crumbled; His armour is shivered, His splendour is humbled! Though sword shall be rusted, And throne and crown perish With strength that men trusted And wealth that they cherish, Here grass is still growing, And leaves are yet swinging, The white water flowing, And elves are yet singing Come! Tra-la-la-lally! Come back to the valley! The stars are far brighter Than gems without measure, The moon is far whiter Than silver in treasure: The fire is more shining On hearth in the gloaming Than gold won by mining, So why go a -roaming? O! Tra-la-la-lally Come back to the Valley. O! Where are you going,####-So late in returning? The river is flowing, The stars are all burning! O! Whither so laden, So sad and so dreary? Here elf and elf-maiden Now welcome the weary With Tra-la-la-lally Come back to the Va lley, Tra-la-la-lally Fa-la-la-lally Fa-la! Then the elves of the valley came out and greeted them and led them across the water to the house of Elrond. There a warm welcome was made them, and there were many eager ears that evening to hear the tale of their adventures. Gandalf it was who spoke, for Bilbo was fallen quiet and drowsy. Most of the tale he knew, for he had been in it, and had himself told much of it to the wizard on their homeward way or in the house of Beorn; but every now and again he would open one eye, and listen, when a part of the story which he did not yet know came in. It was in this way that he learned where Gandalf had been to; for he overheard the words of the wizard to Elrond. It appeared that Gandalf had been to a great council of the white wizards, masters of lore and good magic; and that they had at last driven the Necromancer from his dark hold in the south of Mirkwood. "Ere long now," Gandalf was saying, "The Forest will grow somewhat more wholesome. The North will be freed from that horror for many long years, I hope. Yet I wish he were banished from the world!" "It would be well indeed," said Elrond; "but I fear that will not come about in this age of the world, or for many after." When the tale of their joumeyings was told, there were other tales, and yet more tales, tales of long ago, and tales . of new things, and tales of no time at all, till Bilbo's head fell forward on his chest, and he snored comfortably in a corner. He woke to find himself in a white bed, and the moon shining through an open window. Below it many elves were singing loud and clear on the banks of the stream. Sing all ye joyful, now sing all together? The wind's in the free-top, the wind's in the heather; The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,####-And bright are the windows of Night in her tower. Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together! Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather! The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting; Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting. Sing we now softly, and dreams let us weave him! Wind him in slumber and there let us leave him! The wanderer sleepeth. Now soft be his pillow! Lullaby! Lullaby! Alder and Willow! Sigh no more Pine, till the wind of the morn! Fall Moon! Dark be the land! Hush! Hush! Oak, Ash, and Thorn! Hushed be all water, till dawn is at hand! "Well, Merry People!" said Bilbo looking out. "What time by the moon is this? Your lullaby would waken a drunken goblin! Yet I thank you." "And your snores would waken a stone dragon – yet we thank you," they answered with laughter. "It is drawing towards dawn, and you have slept now since the night's beginning. Tomorrow, perhaps, you will be cured of weariness." "A little sleep does a great cure in the house of Elrond," said he; "but I will take all the cure I can get. A second good night, fair friends!" And with that he went back to bed and slept till late morning. Weariness fell from him soon in that house, and he had many a merry jest and dance, early and late, with the elves of the valley. Yet even that place could not long delay him now, and he thought always of his own home. After a week, therefore, he said farewell to Elrond, and giving him such small gifts as he would accept, he rode away with Gandalf. Even as they left the valley the sky darkened in the West before them, and wind and rain came up to meet them. "Merry is May-time!" said Bilbo, as the rain beat into his face. "But our back is to legends and we are coming home. I suppose this is a first taste of it." "There is a long road yet," said Gandalf. "But it is the last road," said Bilbo. They came to the river that marked the very edge of the borderland of the Wild, and to the ford beneath the steep bank, which you may remember. The water was swollen both with the melting of the snows at the approach of summer, and with the daylong rain; but they crossed with some difficulty, and pressed forward, as evening fell, on the last stage of their ####-journey. This was much as it had been before, except that the company was smaller, and more silent; also this time there were no trolls. At each point on the road Bilbo recalled the happenings and the words of a year ago-it seemed to him more like ten-so that, of course, he quickly noted the place where the pony had fallen in the river, and they had turned aside for their nasty adventure with Tom and Bert and Bill. Not far from the road they found the gold of the trolls, which they had buried, still hidden and untouched. "I have enough to last me my time," said Bilbo, when they had dug it up. "You had better take this, Gandalf. I daresay you can find a use for it." "Indeed I can!" said the wizard. "But share and share alike! You may find you have more needs than you expect." So they put the gold in bags and slung them on the ponies, who were not at all pleased about it. After that their going was slower, for most of the time they walked. But the land was green and there was much grass through which the hobbit strolled along contentedly. He mopped his face with a red silk handkerchief-no! not a single one of his own had survived, he had borrowed this one from Elrond –for now June had brought summer, and the weather was bright and hot again. As all things come to an end, even this story, a day came at last when they were in sight of the country where Bilbo had been born and bred, where the shapes of the land and of the trees were as well known to him as his hands and toes. Coming to a rise he could see his own Hill in the distance, and he stopped suddenly and said: Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June, Over grass and over stone, And under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever ever on Under cloud and under star, Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. ####-Eyes that fire and sword have seen And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green And trees and hills they long have known. Gandalf looked at him. "My dear Bilbo!" he said. "Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were." And so they crossed the bridge and passed the mill by the river and came right back to Bilbo's own door. "Bless me! What's going on?" he cried. There was a great commotion, and people of all sorts, respectable and unrespectable, were thick round the door, and many were going in and out-not even wiping their feet on the mat, as Bilbo noticed with annoyance. If he was surprised, they were more surprised still. He had arrived back in the middle of an auction! There was a large notice in black and red hung on the gate, stating that on June the Twenty-second Messrs. Grubb, Grubb, and Bun-owes would sell by auction the effects of the late Bilbo Baggins Esquire, of Bag-End, Underhill, Hobbiton. Sale to commence at ten o'clock sharp. It was now nearly lunch-time, and most of the things had already been sold, for various prices from next to nothing to old songs (as is not unusual at auctions). Bilbo's cousins the Sackville-Bagginses were, in fact, busy measuring his rooms to see if their own furniture would fit. In short Bilbo was "Presumed Dead," and not everybody that said so was sorry to find the presumption wrong. The return of Mr. Bilbo Baggins created quite a disturbance, both under the Hill and over the Hill, and across the Water; it was a great deal more than a nine days' wonder. The legal bother, indeed, lasted for years. It was quite a long time before Mr. Baggins was in fact admitted to be alive again. The people who had got specially good bargains at the Sale took a deal of convincing; and in the end to sav6 time Bilbo had to buy back quite a lot of his own furniture. Many of his silver spoons mysteriously disappeared and were never accounted for. Personally he suspected the Sackville-Bagginses. On their side they never admitted that the returned Baggins was genuine, and they were not on friendly terms with Bilbo ever after. They really had wanted to live in his nice hobbit-hole so very much. Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons – he had lost his reputation. It is true that for ever after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of dwarves, wizards, and all such folk as ever passed that way; but he was no longer quite respectable. He was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighbourhood to be 'queer'-except by his nephews and nieces on the Took side, but even they were not encouraged in their friendship by their elders. I am sorry to say he did not ####-mind. He was quite content; and the sound of the kettle on his hearth was ever after more musical than it had been even in the quiet days before the Unexpected Party. His sword he hung over the mantelpiece. His coat of mail was arranged on a stand in the hall (until he lent it to a Museum). His gold and silver was largely spent in presents, both useful and extravagant – which to a certain extent accounts for the affection of his nephews and his nieces. His magic ring he kept a great secret, for he chiefly used it when unpleasant callers came. He took to writing poetry and visiting the elves; and though many shook their heads and touched their foreheads and said "Poor old Baggins!" and though few believed any of his tales, he remained very happy to the end of his days, and those were extraordinarily long. One autumn evening some years afterwards Bilbo was sitting in his study writing his memoirs – he thought of calling them "There and Back Again, a Hobbit's Holiday" – when there was a ring at the door. It was Gandalf and a dwarf; and the dwarf was actually Balin. "Come in! Come in!" said Bilbo, and soon they were settled in chairs by the fire. If Balin noticed that Mr. Baggins' waistcoat was more extensive (and had real gold buttons), Bilbo also noticed that Balm's beard was several inches longer, and his jewelled belt was of great magnificence. They fell to talking of their times together, of course, and Bilbo asked how things were going in the lands of the Mountain. It seemed they were going very well. Bard had rebuilt the town in Dale and men had gathered to him from the Lake and from South and West, and all the valley had become tilled again and rich, and the desolation was now filled with birds and blossoms in spring and fruit and feasting in autumn. And Lake-town was refounded and was more prosperous than ever, and much wealth went up and down the Running River; and there was friendship in those parts between elves and dwarves and men. The old Master had come to a bad end. Bard had given him much gold for the help of the Lake-people, but being of the kind that easily catches such disease he fell under the dragon-sickness, and took most of the gold and fled with it, and died of starvation in the Waste, deserted by his companions. "The new Master is of wiser kind," said Balin, "and very popular, for, of course, he gets most of the credit for the present prosperity. They are making songs which say that in his day the rivers run with gold." "Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!" said Bilbo.####-"Of course!" said Gandalf. "And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!" "Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar. ####-####- Complete Table of Contents Foreword Prologue Concerning Hobbits 1. Concerning Pipe-weed 2. Of the Ordering of the Shire 3. Of the Finding of the Ring 4. note on the shire records ####-Book I Book II ####-Book III Book IV ####-Book V Book VI ####-Foreword This tale grew in the telling, until it became a history of the Great War of the Ring and included many glimpses of the yet more ancient history that preceded it. It was begun soon after The Hobbit was written and before its publication in 1937; but I did not go on with this sequel, for I wished first to complete and set in order the mythology and legends of the Elder Days, which had then been taking shape for some years. I desired to do this for my own satisfaction, and I had little hope that other people would be interested in this work, especially since it was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the necessary background of 'history' for Elvish tongues. When those whose advice and opinion I sought corrected little hope to no hope, I went back to the sequel, encouraged by requests from readers for more information concerning hobbits and their adventures. But the story was drawn irresistibly towards the older world, and became an account, as it were, of its end and passing away before its beginning and middle had been told. The process had begun in the writing of The Hobbit, in which there were already some references to the older matter: Elrond, Gondolin, the High-elves, and the orcs, as well as glimpses that had arisen unbidden of things higher or deeper or darker than its surface: Durin, Moria, Gandalf, the Necromancer, the Ring. The discovery of the significance of these glimpses and of their relation to the ancient histories revealed the Third Age and its culmination in the War of the Ring. Those who had asked for more information about hobbits eventually got it, but they had to wait a long time; for the composition of The Lord of the Rings went on at intervals during the years 1936 to 1949, a period in which I had many duties that I did not neglect, and many other interests as a learner and teacher that often absorbed me. The delay was, of course, also increased by the outbreak of war in 1939, by the end of which year the tale had not yet reached the end of Book One. In spite of the darkness of the next five years I found that the story could not now be wholly abandoned, and I plodded on, mostly by night, till I stood by Balin's tomb in Moria. There I halted for a long while. It was almost a year later when I went on and so came to Lothlurien and the Great River late in 1941. In the next year ####-I wrote the first drafts of the matter that now stands as Book Three, and the beginnings of chapters I and III of Book Five; and there as the beacons flared in Anurien and Thjoden came to Harrowdale I stopped. Foresight had failed and there was no time for thought. It was during 1944 that, leaving the loose ends and perplexities of a war which it was my task to conduct, or at least to report, 1 forced myself to tackle the journey of Frodo to Mordor. These chapters, eventually to become Book Four, were written and sent out as a serial to my son, Christopher, then in South Africa with the RAF. Nonetheless it took another five years before the tale was brought to its present end; in that time I changed my house, my chair, and my college, and the days though less dark were no less laborious. Then when the 'end' had at last been reached the whole story had to be revised, and indeed largely re-written backwards. And it had to be typed, and re-typed: by me; the cost of professional typing by the ten-fingered was beyond my means. The Lord of the Rings has been read by many people since it finally appeared in print; and I should like to say something here with reference to the many opinions or guesses that I have received or have read concerning the motives and meaning of the tale. The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them. As a guide I had only my own feelings for what is appealing or moving, and for many the guide was inevitably often at fault. Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer. But even from the points of view of many who have enjoyed my story there is much that fails to please. It is perhaps not possible in a long tale to please everybody at all points, nor to displease everybody at the same points; for I find from the letters that I have received that the passages or chapters that are to some a blemish are all by others specially approved. The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others: the book is too short. As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical. As the story grew it put ####-down roots (into the past) and threw out unexpected branches: but its main theme was settled from the outset by the inevitable choice of the Ring as the link between it and The Hobbit. The crucial chapter, "The Shadow of the Past', is one of the oldest parts of the tale. It was written long before the foreshadow of 1939 had yet become a threat of inevitable disaster, and from that point the story would have developed along essentially the same lines, if that disaster had been averted. Its sources are things long before in mind, or in some cases already written, and little or nothing in it was modified by the war that began in 1939 or its sequels. The real war does not resemble the legendary war in its process or its conclusion. If it had inspired or directed the development of the legend, then certainly the Ring would have been seized and used against Sauron; he would not have been annihilated but enslaved, and Barad-dyr would not have been destroyed but occupied. Saruman, failing to get possession of the Ring, would m the confusion and treacheries of the time have found in Mordor the missing links in his own researches into Ring-lore, and before long he would have made a Great Ring of his own with which to challenge the self-styled Ruler of Middle-earth. In that conflict both sides would have held hobbits in hatred and contempt: they would not long have survived even as slaves. Other arrangements could be devised according to the tastes or views of those who like allegory or topical reference. But I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author. An author cannot of course remain wholly unaffected by his experience, but the ways in which a story-germ uses the soil of experience are extremely complex, and attempts to define the process are at best guesses from evidence that is inadequate and ambiguous. It is also false, though naturally attractive, when the lives of an author and critic have overlapped, to suppose that the movements of thought or the events of times common to both were necessarily the most powerful influences. One has indeed personally to come under the shadow of war to feel fully its oppression; but as the years go by it seems now often forgotten that to be caught in youth ####-by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than to be involved in 1939 and the following years. By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead. Or to take a less grievous matter: it has been supposed by some that 'The Scouring of the Shire' reflects the situation in England at the time when I was finishing my tale. It does not. It is an essential part of the plot, foreseen from the outset, though in the event modified by the character of Saruman as developed in the story without, need I say, any allegorical significance or contemporary political reference whatsoever. It has indeed some basis in experience, though slender (for the economic situation was entirely different), and much further back. The country in which I lived in childhood was being shabbily destroyed before I was ten, in days when motor -cars were rare objects (I had never seen one) and men wer e still building suburban railways. Recently I saw in a paper a picture of the last decrepitude of the once thriving corn-mill beside its pool that long ago seemed to me so important. I never liked the looks of the Young miller, but his father, the Old miller, had a black beard, and he was not named Sandyman. The Lord of the Rings is now issued in a new edition, and the opportunity has been taken of revising it. A number of errors and inconsistencies that still rema ined in the text have been corrected, and an attempt has been made to provide information on a few points which attentive readers have raised. I have considered all their comments and enquiries, and if some seem to have been passed over that may be because I have failed to keep my notes in order; but many enquiries could only be answered by additional appendices, or indeed by the production of an accessory volume containing much of the material that I did not include in the original edition, in particular more detailed linguistic information. In the meantime this edition offers this Foreword, an addition to the Prologue, some notes, and an index of the names of persons and places. This index is in intention complete in items but not in references, since for the present purpose it has been necessary to reduce its bulk. A complete index, making full use of the material prepared for me by Mrs. N. Smith, belongs rather to the accessory volume. ####-* PROLOGUE *. Concerning Hobbits This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history. Further information will also be found in the selection from the Red Book of Westmarch that has already been published, under the title of The Hobbit. That story was derived from the earlier chapters of the Red Book, composed by Bilbo himself, the first Hobbit to become famous in the world at large, and called by him There and Back Again, since they told of his journey into the East and his return: an adventure which later involved all the Hobbits in the great events of that Age that are here related. Many, however, may wish to know more about this remarkable people from the outset, whi le some may not possess the earlier book. For such readers a few notes on the more important points are here collected from Hobbit-lore, and the first adventure is briefly recalled. Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water -mill, or a hand-loom, though they were skilful with tools. Even in ancient days they were, as a rule, shy of 'the Big Folk', as they call us, and now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find. They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements. They possessed from the first the art of disappearing swiftly and silently, when large folk whom they do not wish to meet come blundering by; and this an they have developed until to Men it may seem magical. But Hobbits have never, in fact, studied magic of any kind, and their elusiveness is due solely to a professional skill that heredity and practice, and a close friendship with the earth, have rendered ####-inimitable by bigger and clumsier races. For they are a little people, smaller than Dwarves: less tout and stocky, that is, even when they are not actually much shorter. Their height is variable, ranging between two and four feet of our measure. They seldom now reach three feet; but they hive dwindled, they say, and in ancient days they were taller. According to the Red Book, Bandobras Took (Bullroarer), son of Isengrim the Second, was four foot five and able to ride a horse. He was surpassed in all Hobbit records only by two famous characters of old; but that curious matter is dealt with in this book. As for the Hobbits of the Shire, with whom these tales are concerned, in the days of their peace and prosperity they were a merry folk. They dressed in bright colours, being notably fond of yellow and green; but they seldom wore shoes, since their feet had tough leathery soles and were clad in a thick curling hair, much like the hair of their heads, which was commonly brown. Thus, the only craft little practised among them was shoe-making; but they had long and skilful fingers and could make many other useful and comely things. Their faces were as a rule good-natured rather than beautiful, broad, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, with mouths apt to laughter, and to eating and drinking. And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted. It is plain indeed that in spite of later estrangement Hobbits are relatives of ours: far nearer to us than Elves, or even than Dwarves. Of old they spoke the languages of Men, after their own fashion, and liked and disliked much the same things as Men did. But what exactly our relationship is can no longer be discovered. The beginning of Hobbits lies far back in the Elder Days that are now lost and forgotten. Only the Elves still preserve any records of that vanished time, and their traditions are concerned almost entirely with their own history, in which Men appear seldom and Hobbits are not mentioned at all. Yet it is clear that Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk became even aware of them. And the world being after all full of strange creatures beyond count, these little people seemed of very little importance. But in the days of Bilbo, and of Frodo his heir, they suddenly became, by no wish of their own, both important and renowned, and troubled ####-the counsels of the Wise and the Great. Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed; but the regions in which Hobbits then lived were doubtless the same as those in which they still linger: the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea. Of their original home the Hobbits in Bilbo's time preserved no knowledge. A love of learning (other than genealogical lore) was far from general among them, but there remained still a few in the older families who studied their own books, and even gathered reports of old times and distant lands from Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Their own records began only after the settlement of the Shire, and their most ancient legends hardly looked further back than their Wandering Days. It is clear, nonetheless, from these legends, and from the evidence of their peculiar words and customs, that like many other folk Hobbits had in the distant past moved westward. Their earliest tales seem to glimpse a time when they dwelt in the upper vales of Anduin, between the eaves of Greenwood the Great and the Misty Mountains. Why they later undertook the hard and perilous crossing of the mountains into Eriador is no longer certain. Their own accounts speak of the multiplying of Men in the land, and of a shadow that fell on the forest, so that it became darkened and its new name was Mirkwood. Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. The Stoors were broader, heavier in build; their feet and hands were larger, and they preferred flat lands and riversides. The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands. The Harfoots had much to do with Dwarves in ancient times, and long lived in the foothills of the mountains. They moved westward early, and roamed over Eriador as far as Weathertop while the others were still in the Wilderland. They were the most normal and representative variety of Hobbit, and far the most numerous. They were the most inclined to settle in one place, and longest preserved their ancestral habit of living in tunnels and holes.####- The Stoors lingered long by the banks of the Great River Anduin, and were less shy of Men. They came west after the Harfoots and followed the course of the Loudwater southwards; and there many of them long dwelt between Tharbad and the borders of Dunland before they moved north again. The Fallohides, the least numerous, were a northerly branch. They were more friendly with Elves than the other Hobbits were, and had more skill in language and song than in handicrafts; and of old they preferred hunting to tilling. They crossed the mountains north of Rivendell and came down the River Hoarwell. In Eriador they soon mingled with the other kinds that had preceded them, but being somewhat bolder and more adventurous, they were often found as leaders or chieftains among clans of Harfoots or Stoors. Even in Bilbo's time the strong Fallohidish strain could still be noted among the greater families, such as the Tooks and the Masters of Buckland. In the westlands of Eriador, between the Misty Mountains and the Mountains of Lune, the Hobbits found both Men and Elves. Indeed, a remnant still dwelt there of the D®nedain, the kings of Men that came over the Sea out of Westernesse; but they were dwindling fast and the lands of their North Kingdom were falling far and wide into waste. There was room and to spare for incomers, and ere long the Hobbits began to settle in ordered communities. Most of their earlier settlements had long disappeared and been forgotten in Bilbo's time; but one of the first to become important still endured, though reduced in size; this was at Bree and in the Chetwood that lay round about, some forty miles east of the Shire. It was in these early days, doubtless, that the Hobbits learned their letters and began to write after the manner of the D®nedain, who had in their turn long before learned the art from the Elves. And in those days also they forgot whatever languages they had used before, and spoke ever after the Common Speech, the Westron as it was named, that was current through all the lands of the kings from Arnor to Gondor, and about all the coasts of the Sea from Belfalas to Lune. Yet they kept a few words of their own, as well as their own names of months and days, and a great store of personal names out of the past. About this time legend among the Hobbits first becomes history with a reckoning of years. For it was in the one thousand six hundred and first year of the Third Age that the Fallohide brothers, Marcho and Blanco, set out from Bree; and having obtained permission from the high king at Fornost1, they crossed the brown river Baranduin with a great following of ####-Hobbits. They passed over the Bridge of Stonebows, that had been built in the days of the power of the North Kingdom, and they took ail the land beyond to dwell in, between the river and the Far Downs. All that was demanded of them was that they should keep the Great Bridge in repair, and all other bridges and roads, speed the king's messengers, and acknowledge his lordship. Thus began the Shire-reckoning, for the year of the crossing of the Brandywine (as the Hobbits turned the name) became Year One of the Shire, and all later dates were reckoned from it.2 At once the western Hobbits fell in love with their new land, and they remained there, and soon passed once more out of the history of Men and of Elves. While there was still a king they were in name his subjects, but they were, in fact, ruled by their own chieftains and meddled not at all with events in the world outside. To the last battle at Fornost with the Witch -lord of Angmar they sent some bowmen to the aid of the king, or so they maintained, though no tales of Men record it. But in that war the North Kingdom ended; and then the Hobbits took the land for their own, and they chose from their own chiefs a Thain to hold the authority of the king that was gone. There for a thousand years they were little troubled by wars, and they prospered and multiplied after the Dark Plague (S.R. 37) until the disaster of the Long Winter and the famine that followed it. Many thousands then perished, but the Days of Dearth (1158-60) were at the time of this tale long past and the Hobbits had again become accustomed to plenty. The land was rich and kindly, and though it had long been deserted when they entered it, it had before been well tilled, and there the king had once had many farms, cornlands, vineyards, and woods. Forty leagues it stretched from the Far Downs to the Brandywine Bridge, and fifty from the northern moors to the marshes in the south. The Hobbits named it the Shire, as the region of the authority of their Thain, and a district of well-ordered business; and there in that pleasant comer of the world they plied their well-ordered business of living, and they heeded less and less the world outside where dark things moved, until they came to think that peace and plenty were the rule in Middle-earth and the right of all sensible folk. They forgot or ignored what little they had ever known of the Guardians, and of the labours of those that made possible the long peace of the Shire. They were, in fact, sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it. At no time had Hobbits of any kind been warlike, and they had never ####-fought among themselves. In olden days they had, of course, been often obliged to fight to maintain themselves in a hard world; but in Bilbo's time that was very ancient history. The last battle, before this story opens, and indeed the only one that had ever been fought within the borders of the Shire, was beyond living memory: the Battle of Greenfields, S.R. 1147, in which Bandobras Took routed an invasion of Orcs. Even the weathers had grown milder, and the wolves that had once come ravening out of the North in bitter white winters were now only a grandfather's tale. So, though there was still some store of weapons in the Shire, these were used mostly as trophies, hanging above hearths or on walls, or gathered into the museum at Michel Delving. The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to become rather crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand to hand were of that son. Nonetheless, ease and peace had left this people still curiously tough. They were, if it came to it, difficult to daunt or to kill; and they were, perhaps, so unwearyingly fond of good things not least because they could, when put to it, do without them, and could survive rough handling by grief, foe, or weather in a way that astonished those who did not know them well and looked no further than their bellies and their well-fed faces. Though slow to quarrel, and for sport killing nothing that lived, they were doughty at bay, and at need could still handle arms. They shot well with the bow, for they were keen-eyed and sure at the mark. Not only with bows and arrows. If any Hobbit stooped for a stone, it was well to get quickly under cover, as all trespassing beasts knew very well. All Hobbits had originally lived in holes in the ground, or so they believed, and in such dwellings they still felt most at home; but in the course of time they had been obliged to adopt other forms of abode. Actually in the Shire in Bilbo's days it was, as a rule, only the richest and the poorest Hobbits that maintained the old custom. The poorest went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind, mere holes indeed, with only one window or none; while the well-to-do still constructed more luxurious versions of the simple diggings of old. But suitable sites for these large and ramifying tunnels (or smials as they called them) were not everywhere to be found; and in the flats and the low-lying districts the Hobbits, as they ####-multiplied, began to build above ground. Indeed, even in the hilly regions and the older villages, such as Hobbiton or Tuckborough, or in the chief township of the Shire, Michel Delving on the White Downs, there were now many houses of wood, brick, or stone. These were specially favoured by millers, smiths, ropers, and cartwrights, and others of that sort; for even when they had holes to live in. Hobbits had long been accustomed to build sheds and workshops. The habit of building farmhouses and barns was said to have begun among the inhabitants of the Marish down by the Brandywine. The Hobbits of that quarter, the Eastfarthing, were rather large and heavy-legged, and they wore dwarf-boots in muddy weather. But they were well known to be Stoors in a large part of their blood, as indeed was shown by the down that many grew on their chins. No Har foot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard. Indeed, the folk of the Marish, and of Buckland, east of the River, which they afterwards occupied, came for the most part later into the Shire up from south-away; and they still had many peculiar names and strange words not found elsewhere in the Shire. It is probable that the craft of building, as many other crafts beside, was derived from the D®nedain. But the Hobbits may have learned it direct from the Elves, the teachers of Men in their youth. For the Elves of the High Kindred had not yet forsaken Middle-earth, and they dwelt still at that time at the Grey Havens away to the west, and in other places within reach of the Shire. Three Elf-towers of immemorial age were still to be seen on the Tower Hills beyond the western marches. They shone far off in the moonlight. The tallest was furthest away, standing alone upon a green mound. The Hobbits of the Westfarthing said that one could see the Sea from the lop of that tower; but no Hobbit had ever been known to climb it. Indeed, few Hobbits had ever seen or sailed upon the Sea, and fewer still had ever returned to report it. Most Hobbits regarded even rivers and small boats with deep misgivings, and not many of them could swim. And as the days of the Shire lengthened they spoke less and less with the Elves, and grew afraid of them, and distrustful of those that had dealings with them; and the Sea became a word of fear among them, and a token of death, and they turned their faces away from the hills in the west. The craft of building may have come from Elves or Men, but the Hobbits used it in their own fashion. They did not go in for towers. Their houses were usually long, low, and comfortable. The oldest kind were, indeed, no ####-more than built imitations of smials, thatched with dry grass or straw, or roofed with turves, and having walls somewhat bulged. That stage, however, belonged to the early days of the Shire, and hobbit-building had long since been altered, improved by devices, learned from Dwarves, or discovered by themselves. A preference for round windows, and even round doors, was the chief remaining peculiarity of hobbit -architecture. The houses and the holes of Shire-hobbits were often large, and inhabited by large families. (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were as bachelors very exceptional, as they were also in many other ways, such as their friendship with the Elves.) Sometimes, as in the case of the Tooks of Great Smials, or the Brandybucks of Brandy Hall, many generations of relatives lived in (comparative) peace together in one ancestral and many -tunnelled mansion. All Hobbits were, in any case, clannish and reckoned up their relationships with great care. They drew long and elaborate family -trees with innumerable branches. In dealing with Hobbits it is important to remember who is related to whom, and in what degree. It would be impossible in this book to set out a family-tree that included even the more important members of the more important families at the time which these tales tell of. The genealogical trees at the end of the Red Book of Westmarch are a small book in themselves, and all but Hobbits would find them exceedingly dull. Hobbits delighted in such things, if they were accurate: they liked to have books filled with things that they already knew, set out fair and square with no contradictions.####- . Concerning Pipe-weed There is another astonishing thing about Hobbits of old that must be mentioned, an astonishing habit: they imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana. A great deal of mystery surrounds the origin of this peculiar custom, or 'art' as the Hobbits preferred to call it. All that could be discovered about it in antiquity was put together by Meriadoc Brandybuck (later Master of Buckland), and since he and the tobacco of the Southfarthing play a part in the history that follows, his remarks in the introduction to his Herblore of the Shire may be quoted. 'This,' he says, 'is the one art that we can certainly claim to be our own invention. When Hobbi ts first began to smoke is not known, all the legends and family histories take it for granted; for ages folk in the Shire smoked various herbs, some fouler, some sweeter. But all accounts agree that Tobold Hornblower of Longbottom in the Southfarthing first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens in the days of Isengrim the Second, about the year 1070 of Shire-reckoning. The best home-grown still comes from that district, especially the varieties now known as Longbottom Leaf, Old Toby, and Southern Star. 'How Old Toby came by the plant is not recorded, for to his dying day he would not tell. He knew much about herbs, but he was no traveller. It is said that in his youth he went often to Bree, though he certainly never went further fr om the Shire than that. It is thus quite possible that he learned of this plant in Bree, where now, at any rate, it grows well on the south slopes of the hill. The Bree-hobbits claim to have been the first actual smokers of the pipe-weed. They cla im, of course, to have done everything before the people of the Shire, whom they refer to as "colonists"; but in this case their claim is, I think, likely to be true. And certainly it was from Bree that the art of smoking the genuine weed sprea d in the recent centuries among Dwarves and such other folk, Rangers, Wizards, or wanderers, as still passed to and fro through that ancient road-meeting. The home and centre of the an is thus to be found in the old inn of Bree, The Prancing ####-Pony, that has been kept by the family of Butterbur from time beyond record. 'All the same, observations that I have made on my own many journeys south have convinced me that the weed itself is not native to our parts of the world, but came northward from the lower Anduin, whither it was, I suspect, originally brought over Sea by the Men of Westernesse. It grows abundantly in Gondor, and there is richer and larger than in the North, where it is never found wild, and flourishes only in warm sheltered places like Longbottom. The Men of Gondor call it sweet galenas, and esteem it only for the fragrance of its flowers. From that land it must have been carried up the Greenway during the long centuries between the coming of Elendil and our own day. But even the D®nedain of Gondor allow us this credit: Hobbits first put it into pipes. Not even the Wizards first thought of that before we did. Though one Wizard that I knew took up the art long ago, and became as skilful in it as in all other things that he put his mind to.'####- . Of the Ordering of the Shire The Shire was divided into four quarters, the Farthings already referred to. North, South, East, and West; and these again each into a number of folklands, which still bore the names of some of the old leading families, although by the time of this history these names were no longer found only in their proper folklands. Nearly all Tooks still lived in the Tookland, but that was not true of many other families, such as the Bagginses or the Boffins. Outside the Farthings were the East and West Marches: the Buckland (see beginning of Westmarch added to the Shire in S.R. 1462. The Shire at this time had hardly any 'government'. Families for the most part managed their own affairs. Growing food and eating it occupied most of their time. In other matters they were, as a rule, generous and not greedy, but contented and moderate, so that estates, farms, workshops, and small trades tended to remain unchanged for generations. There remained, of course, the ancient tradition concerning the high king at Fornost, or Norbury as they called it, away north of the Shire. But there had been no king for nearly a thousand years, and even the ruins of Kings' Norbury were covered with grass. Yet the Hobbits still said of wild folk and wicked things (such as trolls) that they had not heard of the king. For they attributed to the king of old all their essential laws; and usually they kept the laws of free will, because they were The Rules (as they said), both ancient and just. It is true that the Took family had long been pre-eminent; for the office of Thain had passed to them (from the Oldbucks) some centuries before, and the chief Took had borne that title ever since. The Thain was the master of the Shire-moot, and captain of the Shire-muster and the Hobbitry-in-arms, but as muster and moot were only held in times of emergency, which no longer occurred, the Thainship had ceased to be more than a nominal dignity. The Took family was still, indeed, accorded a special respect, for it remained both numerous and exceedingly wealthy, and was liable to produce in ever y generation strong characters of peculiar habits and even adventurous temperament. The latter qualities, however, were ####-now rather tolerated (in the rich) than generally approved. The custom endured, nonetheless, of referring to the head of the family as The Took, and of adding to his name, if required, a number: such as Isengrim the Second, for instance. The only real official in the Shire at this date was the Mayor of Michel Delving (or of the Shire), who was elected every seven years at the Free Fair on the White Downs at the Lithe, that is at Midsummer. As mayor almost his only duty was to preside at banquets, given on the Shire-holidays, which occurred at frequent intervals. But the offices of Postmaster and First Shirriff were attached to the mayoralty, so that he managed both the Messenger Service and the Watch. These were the only Shire-services, and the Messengers were the most numerous, and much the busier of the two. By no means a ll Hobbits were lettered, but those who were wrote constantly to all their friends (and a selection of their relations) who lived further off than an afternoon's walk. The Shirriffs was the name that the Hobbits gave to their police, or the nearest equivalent that they possessed. They had, of course, no uniforms (such things being quite unknown), only a feather in their caps; and they were in practice rather haywards than policemen, more concerned with the strayings of beasts than of people. There were in all the Shire only twelve of them, three in each Farthing, for Inside Work. A rather larger body, varying at need, was employed to 'beat the bounds', and to see that Outsiders of any kind, great or small, did not make themselves a nuisance. At the time when this story begins the Bounders, as they were called, had been greatly increased. There were many reports and complaints of strange persons and creatures prowling about the borders, or over them: the first sign that all was not quite as it should be, and always had been except in tales and legends of long ago. Few heeded the sign, and not even Bilbo yet had any notion of what it portended. Sixty years had passed since he set out on his memorable journey, and he was old even for Hobbits, who reached a hundred as often as not; but much evidently still remained of the considerable wealth that he had brought back. How much or how little he revealed to no one, not even to Frodo his favourite 'nephew'. And he still kept secret the ring that he bad found.####- . Of the Finding of the Ring As is told in The Hobbit, there came one day to Bilbo's door the great Wizard, Gandalf the Grey, and thirteen dwarves with him: none other, indeed, than Thorin Oakenshield, descendant of kings, and his twelve companions in exile. With them he set out, to his own lasting astonishment, on a morning of April, it being then the year 1341 Shire-reckoning, on a quest of great treasure, the dwarf-hoards of the Kings under the Mountain, beneath Erebor in Dale, far off in the East. The quest was successful, and the Dragon that guarded the hoard was destroyed. Yet, though before all was won the Battle of Five Armies was fought, and Thorin was slain, and many deeds of renown were done, the matter would scarcely have concerned later history, or earned more than a note in the long annals of the Third Age, but for an 'accident' by the way. The party was assailed by Orcs in a high pass of the Misty Mountains as they went towards Wilderland; and so it happened that Bilbo was lost for a while in the black orc-mines deep under the mountains, and there, as he groped in vain in the dark, he put his hand on a ring, lying on the floor of a tunnel. He put it in h is pocket. It seemed then like mere luck. Trying to find his way out. Bilbo went on down to the roots of the mountains, until he could go no further. At the bottom of the tunnel lay a cold lake far from the light, and on an island of rock in the water lived Gollum. He was a loathsome little creature: he paddled a small boat with his large flat feet, peering with pale luminous eyes and catching blind fish with his long fingers, and eating them raw. He ate any living thing, even orc, if he could catch it and strangle it without a struggle. He possessed a secret treasure that had come to him long ages ago, when he still lived in the light: a ring of gold that made its wearer invisible. It was the one thing he loved, his 'precious', and he talked to it, even when it was not with him. For he kept it hidden safe in a hole on his island, except when he was hunting or spying on the ores of the mines. Maybe he would have attacked Bilbo at once, if the ring had been on him when they met; but it was not, and the hobbit held in his hand an Elvish knife, which served him as a sword. So to gain time Gollum challenged Bilbo to the Riddle-game, saying that if he asked a riddle which Bilbo could not ####-guess, then he would kill him and eat him; but if Bilbo defeated him, then he would do as Bilbo wished: he would lead him to a way out of the tunnels. Since he was lost in the dark without hope, and could neither go on nor back. Bilbo accepted the challenge; and they asked one another many riddles. In the end Bilbo won the game, more by luck (as it seemed) than by wits; for he was stumped at last for a riddle to ask, and cried out, as his hand came upon the ring he lad picked up and forgotten: What haw I got in my pocket? This Gollum failed to answer, though he demanded three guesses. The Authorities, it is true, differ whether this last question was a mere 'question' and not a 'riddle' according to the strict rules of the Game; but all agree that, after accepting it and trying to guess the answer, Gollum was bound by his promise. And Bilbo pressed him to keep his word; for the thought came to him that this slimy creature might prove false, even though such promises were held sacred, and of old all but the wickedest things feared to break them. But after ages alone in the dark Gollum's heart was black, and treachery was in it. He slipped away, and returned to the island, of which Bilbo knew nothing, not far off in the dark water. There, he thought, lay his ring. He was hungry now, and angry, and once his 'precious' was with him he would not fear any weapon at all. But the ring was not on the island; he had lost it, it was gone. His screech sent a shiver down Bilbo's back, though he did not yet understand what had happened. But Gollum had at last leaped to a guess, too late. What has it got in its pocketses? he cried. The light in his eyes was like a green flame as he sped back to murder the hobbit and recover his 'precious'. Just in time Bilbo saw his peril, and he fled blindly up the passage away from the water; and once more he was saved by his luck. For just as he ran he put his hand in his pocket, and the ring slipped quietly on to his finger. So it was that Gollum passed him without seeing him, and went to guard the way out, lest the 'thief' should escape. Warily Bilbo followed him, as he went along, cursing, and talking to himself about his 'precious'; from which talk at last even Bilbo guessed the truth, and hope came to him in the darkness: he himself had found the marvellous ring and a chance of escape from the orcs and from Gollum. At length they came to a halt before an unseen opening that led to the lower gates of the mines, on the eastward side of the mountains. There Gollum crouched at bay, smelling and listening; and Bilbo was tempted to ####-slay him with his sword. But pity stayed him, and though he kept the ring, in which his only hope lay, he would not use it to help him kill the wretched creature at a disadvantage. In the end, gathering his courage, he leaped over Gollum in the dark, and fled away down the passage, pursued by his enemy's cries of hate and despair: Thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it for ever! Now it is a curious fact that this is not the story as Bilbo first told it to his companions. To them his account was that Gollum had promised to give him a present, if he won the game; but when Gollum went to fetch it from his island he found the treasure was gone: a magic ring, which had been given to him long ago on his birthday. Bilbo guessed that this was the very ring that he had found, and as he had won the game, it was already his by right. But being in a tight place, he said nothing about it, and made Gollum show him the way out, as a reward instead of a present. This account Bilbo set down in his memoirs, and he seems never to have altered it himself, not even after the Council of Elrond. Evidently it still appeared in the origina l Red Book, as it did in several of the copies and abstracts. But many copies contain the true account (as an alternative), derived no doubt from notes by Frodo or Samwise, both of whom learned the truth, though they seem to have been unwilling to delete anything actually written by the old hobbit himself. Gandalf, however, disbelieved Bilbo's first story, as soon as he heard it, and he continued to be very curious about the ring. Eventually he got the true tale out of Bilbo after much questioning, which for a while strained their friendship; but the wizard seemed to think the truth important. Though he did not say so to Bilbo, he also thought it important, and disturbing, to find that the good hobbit had not told the truth from the first: quite contrary to his habit. The idea of a 'present' was not mere hobbitlike invention, all the same. It was suggested to Bilbo, as he confessed, by Gollum's talk that he overheard; for Gollum did, in fact, call the ring his 'birthday present', many times. That also Gandalf thought strange and suspicious; but he did not discover the truth in this point for many more years, as will be seen in this book. Of Bilbo's later adventures little more need be said here. Wi th the help of the ring he escaped from the orc-guards at the gate and rejoined his companions. He used the ring many times on his quest, chiefly for the help of his friends; but he kept it secret from them as long as he could. After ####-his return to his home he never spoke of it again to anyone, save Gandalf and Frodo; and no one else in the Shire knew of its existence, or so he believed. Only to Frodo did he show the account of his Journey that he was writing. His sword, Sting, Bilbo hu ng over his fireplace, and his coat of marvellous mail, the gift of the Dwarves from the Dragon-hoard, he lent to a museum, to the Michel Delving Mathom-house in fact. But he kept in a drawer at Bag End the old cloak and hood that he had worn on his travels; and the ring, secured by a fine chain, remained in his pocket. He returned to his home at Bag End on June the 22nd in his fifty-second year (S.R. 1342), and nothing very notable occurred in the Shire until Mr. Baggins began the pr eparations for the celebration of his hundred-and-eleventh birthday (S.R. 1401). At this point this History begins.####- NOTE ON THE SHIRE RECORDS At the end of the Third Age the part played by the Hobbits in the great events that led to the inclusion of the Shire in the Reunited Kingdom awakened among them a more widespread interest in their own history; and many of their traditions, up to that time still mainly oral, were collected and Written down. The greater families were also concerned with events in the Kingdom at large, and many of their members studied its ancient histories and legends. By the end of the first century of the Fourth Age there were already to be found in the Shire several libraries tha t contained many historical books and records. The largest of these collections were probably at Undertowers, at Great Smials, and at Brandy Hall. This account of the end of the Third Age is drawn mainly from the Red Book of Westmarch. That most important source for the history of the War of the Ring was so called because it was long preserved at Undertowers, the home of the Fairbairns, Wardens of the Westmarch.1 It was in origin Bilbo's private diary, which he took with him to Rivendell. Frodo brought it back to the Shire, together with many loose leaves of notes, and during S.R. 1420-1 he nearly filled its pages with his account of the War. But annexed to it and preserved with it, probably m a single red case, were the three large volumes, bound in red leather, that Bilbo gave to him as a parting gift. To these four volumes there was added in Westmarch a fifth containing commentaries, genealogies, and various other matter concerning the hobbit members of the Fellowship. The original Red Book has not been preserved, but many copies were made, especially of the first volume, for the use of the descendants of the children of Master Samwise. The most important copy, however, has a different history. It was kept at Great Smials, but it was written in Condor, probably at the request of the great-grandson of Peregrin, and completed in S.R. 1592 (F.A. 172). Its southern scribe appended this note: Findegil, King's Writer, finished this work in IV 172. It is an exact copy in all details of the Thain's Book m Minas Tirith. That book was a copy, made at the request of King Elessar, of the Red Book of the Periannath, and ####-was brought to him by the Thain Peregrin when he retired to Gondor in IV 64 . The Thain's Book was thus the first copy made of the Red Book and contained much that was later omitted or lost. In Minas Tirith it received much annotation, and many corrections, especially of names, words, and quotations in the Elvish languages; and there was added to it an abbreviated version of those parts of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen which lie outside the account of the War. The full tale is stated to have been written by Barahir, grandson of the Steward Faramir, some time after the passing of the King. But the chief importance of Findegil's copy is that it alone contains the whole of Bilbo's 'Translations from the Elvish'. These three volumes were found to be a work of great skill and learning in which, between 1403 and 1418, he had used all the sources available to him in Rivendell, both living and written. But since they were little used by Frodo, being almost entirely concerned with the Elder Days, no more is said of them here. Since Meriadoc and Peregrin became the heads of their great families, and at the same time kept up their connexions with Rohan and Gondor, the libraries at Bucklebury and Tuckborough contained much that did not appear in the Red Book. In Brandy Hall there were many works dealing with Eriador and the history of Rohan. Some of these were composed or begun by Meriadoc himself, though in the Shire he was chiefly remembered for his Herblore of the Shire, and for his Reckoning of Years m which he discussed the relation of the calendars of the Shire and Bree to those of Rivendell, Gondor, and Rohan. He also wrote a short treatise on Old Words and Names in the Shire, having special interest in discovering the kinship with the language of the Rohirrim of such 'shire-words' as mathom and old elements in place names. At Great Smials the books were of less interest to Shire-folk, though more important for larger history. None of them was written by Peregrin, but he and his successors collected many manuscripts written by scribes of Gondor: mainly copies or summaries of histories or legends relating to Elendil and his heirs. Only here in the Shire were to be found extensive materials for the history of N®menor and the arising of Sauron. It was probably at Great Smials that The Tale of Years1 was put together, with the assistance of material collected by Meriadoc. Though the dates given are often conjectural, especially for the Second Age, they deserve attention. It is probable that Mer iadoc obtained assistance and information from Rivendell, which he visited more than once. There, though Elrond had ####-departed, his sons long remained, together with some of the High-elven folk. It is said that Celeborn went to dwell there after the departure of Galadriel; but there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens, and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth.####-* BOOK I * When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back from his travels had now become a local legend, and it was popularly believed, whatever the old folk might say, that the Hill at Bag End was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that was not enough for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he was much the same as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him well-preserved, but unchanged would have been nearer the mark. There were some that shook their heads and thought this was too much of a good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently) perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth. 'It will have to be paid for,' they said. 'It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it!' But so far trouble had not come; and as Mr. Baggins was generous with his money, most people were willing to forgive him his oddities and his good fortune. He remained on visiting terms with his relatives (except, of course, the Sackville-Bagginses), and he had many devoted admirers among the hobbits of poor and unimportant families. But he had no close friends, until some of his younger cousins began to grow up. The eldest of these, and Bilbo's favourite, was young Frodo Baggins. When Bilbo was ninety-nine, he adopted Frodo as his heir, and brought him to live at Bag End; and the hopes of the Sackville-Bagginses were finally dashed. Bilbo and Frodo happened to have the same birthday, September 22nd. 'You had better come and live here, Frodo my lad,' said Bilbo one day; 'and then we can celebrate our birthday-parties comfortably together.' At that ####-time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three. Twelve more years passed. Each year the Bagginses had given very lively combined birthday-parties at Bag End; but now it was understood that something quite exceptional was being planned for that autumn. Bilbo was going to be eleventy -one, 111, a rather curious number and a very respectable age for a hobbit (the Old Took himself had only reached 130); and Frodo was going to be thirty- three, 33) an important number: the date of his 'coming of age'. Tongues began to wag in Hobbiton and Bywater; and rumour of the coming event travelled all over the Shire. The history and character of Mr. Bilbo Baggins became once again the chief topic of conversation; and the older folk suddenly found their reminiscences in welcome demand. No one had a more attentive audience than old Ham Gamgee, commonly known as the Gaffer. He held forth at The Ivy Bush, a small inn on the Bywater road; and he spoke with some authority, for he had tended the garden at Bag End for forty years, and had helped old Holman in the same job befor e that. Now that he was himself growing old and stiff in the joints, the job was mainly carried on by his youngest son, Sam Gamgee. Both father and son were on very friendly terms with Bilbo and Frodo. They lived on the Hill itself, in Number 3 Bagshot Row just below Bag End. 'A very nice well-spoken gentlehobbit is Mr. Bilbo, as I've always said,' the Gaffer declared. With perfect truth: for Bilbo was very polite to him, calling him 'Master Hamfast', and consulting him constantly upon the growing of vegetables - in the matter of 'roots', especially potatoes, the Gaffer was recognized as the leading authority by all in the neighbourhood (including himself). 'But what about this Frodo that lives with him?' asked Old Noakes of Bywater. 'Baggins is his name, but he's more than half a Brandybuck, they say. It beats me why any Baggins of Hobbiton should go looking for a wife away there in Buckland, where folks are so queer.' 'And no wonder they're queer,' put in Daddy Twofoot (the Gaffer's next-door neighbour), 'if they live on the wrong side of the Brandywine River, and right agin the Old Forest. That's a dark bad place, if half the tales be true.' 'You're right, Dad!' said the Gaffer. 'Not that the Brandybucks of Buck-land live in the Old Forest; but they're a queer breed, seemingly. They ####-fool about with boats on that big river - and that isn't natural. Small wonder that trouble came of it, I say. But be that as it may, Mr. Frodo is as nice a young hobbit as you could wish to meet. Very much like Mr. Bilbo, and in more than looks. After all his father was a Baggins. A decent respectable hobbit was Mr. Drogo Baggins; there was never much to tell of him, till he was drownded.' 'Drownded?' said several voices. They had heard this and other darker rumours before, of course; but hobbits have a passion for family history, and they were ready to hear it again. 'Well, so they say,' said the Gaffer. 'You see: Mr. Drogo, he married poor Miss Primula Brandybuck. She was our Mr. Bilbo's first cousin on the mother's side (her mother being the youngest of the Old Took's daughters); and Mr. Drogo was his second cousin. So Mr. Frodo is his first and second cousin, once removed either way, as the saying is, if you follow me. And Mr. Drogo was staying at Brandy Hall with his father -in-law, old Master Gorbadoc, as he often did after his marriage (him being partial to his vittles, and old Gorbadoc keeping a mighty generous table); and he went out boating on the Brandywine River; and he and his wife were drownded, and poor Mr. Frodo only a child and all. ' 'I've heard they went on the water after dinner in the moonlight,' said Old Noakes; 'and it was Drogo's weight as sunk the boat.' 'And I heard she pushed him in, and he pulled her in after him,' said Sandyman, the Hobbiton miller. 'You shouldn't listen to all you hear, Sandyman,' said the Gaffer, who did not much like the miller. 'There isn't no call to go ta lking of pushing and pulling. Boats are quite tricky enough for those that sit still without looking further for the cause of trouble. Anyway: there was this Mr. Frodo left an orphan and stranded, as you might say, among those queer Bucklanders, being brought up anyhow in Brandy Hall. A regular warren, by all accounts. Old Master Gorbadoc never had fewer than a couple of hundred relations in the place. Mr. Bilbo never did a kinder deed than when he brought the lad back to live among decent folk. 'But I reckon it was a nasty shock for those Sackville-Bagginses. They thought they were going to get Bag End, that time when he went off and was thought to be dead. And then he comes back and orders them off; and he goes on living and living, and never looking a day older, bless him! And suddenly he produces an heir, and has all the papers made out proper. The ####-Sackville-Bagginses won't never see the inside of Bag End now, or it is to be hoped not.' 'There's a tidy bit of money tucked away up there, I hear tell,' said a stranger, a visitor on business from Michel Delving in the Westfarthing. 'All the top of your hill is full of tunnels packed with chests of gold and silver, and jools, by what I've heard. ' 'Then you've heard more than I can speak to,' answered the Gaffer. I know nothing about jools. Mr. Bilbo is free with his money, and there seems no lack of it; but I know of no tunnel -making. I saw Mr. Bilbo when he came back, a matter of sixty years ago, when I was a lad. I'd not long come prentice to old Holman (him being my dad's cousin), but he had me up at Bag End helping him to keep folks from trampling and trapessing all over the garden while the sale was on. And in the middle of it all Mr. Bilbo comes up the Hill with a pony and some mighty big bags and a couple of chests. I don't doubt they were mostly full of treasure he had picked up in foreign parts, where there be mountains of gold, they say; but there wasn't enough to fill tunnels. But my lad Sam will know more about that. He's in and out of Bag End. Crazy about stories of the old days he is, and he listens to all Mr. Bilbo's tales. Mr. Bilbo has learned him his letters - meaning no harm, mark you, and I hope no harm will come of it. 'Elves and Dragons' I says to him. 'Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you. Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you'll land in trouble too big for you,' I says to him. And I might say it to others,' he added with a look at the stranger and the miller. But the Gaffer did not convince his audience. The legend of Bilbo's wealth was now too firmly fixed in the minds of the younger generation of hobbits. 'Ah, but he has likely enough been adding to what he brought at first,' argued the miller, voicing common opinion. 'He's often away from home. And look at the outlandish folk that visit him: dwarves coming at night, and that old wandering conjuror, Gandalf, and all. You can say what you like, Gaffer, but Bag End's a queer place, and its folk are queerer.' 'And you can say what you like, about what you know no more of than you do of boating, Mr. Sandyman,' retorted the Gaffer, disliking the miller even more than usual. If that's being queer, then we could do with a bit more queerness in these parts. There's some not far away that wouldn't offer a pint of beer to a friend, if they lived in a hole with golden walls. But ####-they do things proper at Bag End. Our Sam says that everyone's going to be invited to the party, and there's going to be presents, mark you, presents for all - this very month as is.' That very month was September, and as fine as you could ask. A day or two later a rumour (probably started by the knowledgeable Sam) was spread about that there were going to be fireworks - fireworks, what is more, such as had not been seen in the Shire for nigh on a century, not indeed since the Old Took died. Days passed and The Day drew nearer. An odd-looking waggon laden with odd-looking packages rolled into Hobbiton one evening and toiled up the Hill to Bag End. The startled hobbits peered out of lamplit doors to gape at it. It was driven by outlandish folk, singing strange songs: dwarves with long beards and deep hoods. A few of them remained at Bag End. At the end of the second week in September a cart came in through Bywater from the direction of the Brandywine Bridge in broad daylight. An old man was driving it all alone. He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf. He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat. Small hobbit-children ran after the cart all through Hobbiton and right up the hill. It ha d a cargo of fireworks, as they rightly guessed. At Bilbo's front door the old man began to unload: there were great bundles of fireworks of all sorts and shapes, each labelled with a large red G and the elf-rune, . That was Gandalf's mark, of course, and the old man was Gandalf the Wizard, whose fame in the Shire was due mainly to his skill with fires, smokes, and lights. His real business was far more difficult and dangerous, but the Shire-folk knew nothing about it. To them he was just one of the 'attractions' at the Party. Hence the excitement of the hobbit-children. 'G for Grand!' they shouted, and the old man smiled. They knew him by sight, though he only appeared in Hobbiton occasionally and never stopped long; but neither they nor any but the oldest of their elders had seen one of his firework displays - they now belonged to the legendary past. When the old man, helped by Bilbo and some dwarves, had finished unloading. Bilbo gave a few pennies away; but not a single squib or cracker was forthcoming, to the disappointment of the onlookers. 'Run away now!' said Gandalf. 'You will get plenty when the time comes.' Then he disappeared inside with Bilbo, and the door was shut. The young hobbits stared at the door in vain for a while, and then made off,####-feeling that the day of the party would never come. Inside Bag End, Bilbo and Gandalf were sitting at the open window of a small room looking out west on to the garden. The late afternoon was br ight and peaceful. The flowers glowed red and golden: snap-dragons and sun-flowers, and nasturtiums trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows. 'How bright your garden looks!' said Gandalf. 'Yes,' said Bilbo. I am very fond indeed of it, and of all the dear old Shire; but I think I need a holiday.' 'You mean to go on with your plan then?' 'I do. I made up my mind months ago, and I haven't changed it.' 'Very well. It is no good saying any more. Stick to your plan - your whole plan, mind - and I hope it will turn out for the best, for you, and for all of us.' 'I hope so. Anyway I mean to enjoy myself on Thursday, and have my little joke.' 'Who will laugh, I wonder?' said Gandalf, shaking his head. 'We shall see,' said Bilbo. The next day more carts rolled up the Hill, and still more carts. There might have been some grumbling about 'dealing locally', but that very week orders began to pour out of Bag End for every kind of provision, commodity, or luxury that could be obtained in Hobbiton or Bywater or anywhere in the neighbourhood. People became enthusiastic; and they began to tick off the days on the calendar; and they watched eagerly for the postman, hoping for invitations. Before long the invitations began pouring out, and the Hobbiton post-office was blocked, and the Bywater post -office was snowed under, and voluntary assistant postmen were called for. There was a constant stream of them going up the Hill, carrying hundreds of polite variations on Thank you, I shall certainly come. A notice appeared on the gate at Bag End: NO ADMITTANCE EXCEPT ON PARTY BUSINESS. Even those who had, or pretended to have Party Business were seldom allowed inside. Bilbo was busy: writing invitations, ticking off answers, packing up presents, and making some private preparations of his own. From the time of Gandalf's arrival he remained hidden from view. One morning the hobbits woke to find the large field, south of Bilbo's ####-front door, covered with ropes and poles for tents and pavilions. A special entrance was cut into the bank leading to the road, and wide steps and a large white gate were built there. The three hobbit-families of Bagshot Row, adjoining the field, were intensely interested and generally envied. Old Gaffer Gamgee stopped even pretending to work in his garden. The tents began to go up. There was a specially large pavilion, so big that the tree that grew in the field was right inside it, and stood proudly near one end, at the head of the chief table. Lanterns were hung on all its branches. More promising still (to the hobbits' mind): an enormous open-air kitchen was erected in the north corner of the field. A draught of cooks, from every inn and eating-house for miles around, arrived to supplement the dwarves and other odd folk that were quartered at Bag End. Excitement rose to its height. Then the weather clouded over. That was on Wednesday the eve of the Party. Anxiety was intense. Then Thursday, September the 22nd, actually dawned. The sun got up, the clouds vanished, flags were unfurled and the fun began. Bilbo Baggins called it a party, but it was really a variety of entertainments rolled into one. Practically everybody living near was invited. A very few were overlooked by accident, but as they turned up all the same, that did not matter. Many people from other parts of the Shire were also asked; and there were even a few from outside the borders. Bilbo met the guests (and additions) at the new white gate in person. He gave away presents to all and sundry - the latter were those who went out again by a back way and came in again by the gate. Hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays. Not very expensive ones, as a rule, and not so lavishly as on this occasion; but it was not a bad system. Actually in Hobbiton and Bywater every day in the year it was somebody's birthday, so that every hobbit in those parts had a fair chance of at least one present at least once a week. But they never got tired of them. On this occasion the presents were unusually good. The hobbit-children were so excited that for a while they almost forgot about eating. There were toys the like of which they had never seen before, all beautiful and some obviously magical. Many of them had indeed been ordered a year before, and had come all the way from the Mountain and from Dale, and were of real dwarf-make. When every guest had been welcomed and was finally inside the gate,####-there were songs, dances, music, games, and, of course, food and drink. There were three official meals: lunch, tea, and dinner (or supper). But lunch and tea were marked chiefly by the fact that at those times all the guests were sitting down and eating together. At other times there were merely lots of people eating and drinking - continuously from elevenses until six-thirty, when the fireworks started. The fireworks were by Gandalf: they were not only brought by him, but designed and made by him; and the special effects, set pieces, and flights of rockets were let off by him. But there was also a generous distribution of squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, dwarf-candles, elf-fountains, goblin-barkers and thunder -claps. They were all superb. The art of Gandalf improved with age. There were rockets like a flight of scintillating birds singing with sweet voices. There were green trees with trunks of dark smoke: their leaves opened like a whole spring unfolding in a moment, and their shining branches dropped glowing flowers down upon the astonished hobbits, disappearing with a sweet scent just before they touched their upturned faces. There were fountains of butterflies that flew glittering into the trees; there were pillars of coloured fires that rose and turned into eagles, or sailing ships, or a phalanx of flying swans; there was a red thunderstorm and a shower of yellow rain; there was a forest of silver spears that sprang suddenly into the air with a yell like an embattled army, and came down again into the Water with a hiss like a hundred hot snakes. And there was also one last surprise, in honour of Bilbo, and it startled the hobbits exceedingly, as Gandalf intended. The lights went out. A great smoke went up. It shaped itself like a mountain seen in the distance, and began to glow at the summit. It spouted green and scarlet flames. Out flew a red-golden dragon - not life-size, but terribly life-like: fire came from his jaws, his eyes glared down; there was a roar, and he whizzed three times over the heads of the crowd. They all ducked, and many fell fla t on their faces. The dragon passed like an express train, turned a somersault, and burst over Bywater with a deafening explosion. 'That is the signal for supper!' said Bilbo. The pain and alarm vanished at once, and the prostrate hobbits leaped to their feet. There was a splendid supper for everyone; for everyone, that is, except those invited to the special family dinner -party. This was held in the great pavilion with the tree. The invitations were limited to twelve dozen (a number also called ####-by the hobbits one Gross, though the word was not considered proper to use of people); and the guests were selected from all the families to which Bilbo and Frodo were related, with the addition of a few special unrelated friends (such as Gandalf). Many young hobbits were included, and present by parental permission; for hobbits were easy-going with their children in the matter of sitting up late, especially when there was a chance of getting them a free meal. Bringing up young hobbits took a lot of provender. There were many Bagginses and Boffins, and also many Tooks and Brandybucks; there were various Grubbs (relations of Bilbo Baggins' grandmother), and various Chubbs (connexions of his Took grandfather); and a selection of Burrowses, Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Brockhouses, Goodbodies, Hornblowers and Proudfoots. Some of these were only very distantly connected with Bilbo, and some of them had hardly ever been in Hobbiton before, as they lived in remote corners of the Shire. The Sackville-Bagginses were not forgotten. Otho and his wife Lobelia were present. They disliked Bilbo and detested Frodo, but so magnificent was the invitation card, written in golden ink, that they had felt it was impossible to refuse. Besides, their cousin, Bilbo, had been specializing in food for many years and his table had a high reputation. All the one hundred and forty-four guests expected a pleasant feast; though they rather dreaded the after -dinner speech of their host (an inevitable item). He was liable to drag in bits of what he called poetry; and sometimes, after a glass or two, would allude to the absurd adventures of his mysterious journey. The guests were not disappointed: they had a very pleasant feast, in fact an engrossing entertainment: rich, abundant, varied, and prolonged. The purchase of provisions fell almost to nothing throughout the district in the ensuing weeks; but as Bilbo's catering had depleted the stocks of most stores, cellars and warehouses for miles around, that did not matter much. After the feast (more or less) came the Speech. Most of the company were, however, now in a tolerant mood, at that delightful stage which they called 'filling up the corners'. They were sipping their favourite drinks, and nibbling at their favourite dainties, and their fears were forgotten. They were prepared to listen to anything, and to cheer at every full stop. My dear People, began Bilbo, rising in his place. 'Hear! Hear! Hear!' they shouted, and kept on repeating it in chorus, seeming reluctant to ####-follow their own advice. Bilbo left his place and went and stood on a chair under the illuminated tree. The light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the golden buttons shone on his embroidered silk waistcoat. They could all see him standing, waving one hand in the air, the other was in his trouser-pocket. My dear Bagginses and Boffins, he began again; and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Hornblowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, Brockhouses and Proudfoots. 'ProudFEET!' shouted an elderly hobbit from the back of the pavilion. His name, of course, was Proudfoot, and well merited; his feet were large, exceptionally furry, and both were on the table. Proudfoots, repeated Bilbo. Also my good Sackville -Bagginses that I welcome back at last to Bag End. Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy -one today! 'Hurray! Hurray! Many Happy Returns!' they shouted, and they hammered joyously on the tables. Bilbo was doing splendidly. This was the sort of stuff they liked: short and obvious. / hope you are all enjoying yourselves as much as I am. Deafening cheers. Cries of Yes (and No). Noises of trumpets and horns, pipes and flutes, and other musical instruments. There were, as has been said, many young hobbits present. Hundreds of musical crackers had been pulled. Most of them bore the mark DALE on them; which did not convey much to most of the hobbits, but they all agreed they were marvellous crackers. They contained instruments, small, but of perfect make and enchanting tones. Indeed, in one corner some of the young Tooks and Brandybucks, supposing Uncle Bilbo to have finished (since he had plainly said all that was necessary), now got up an impromptu orchestra, and began a merry dance-tune. Master Everard Took and Miss Melilot Brandybuck got on a table and with bells in their hands began to dance the Springle-ring: a pretty dance, but rather vigorous. But Bilbo had not finished. Seizing a horn from a youngster near by, he blew three loud hoots. The noise subsided. / shall not keep you long, he cried. Cheers from all the assembly. / have called you all together for a Purpose. Something in the way that he said this made an impression. There was almost silence, and one or two of the Tooks pricked up their ears. Indeed, for Three Purposes! First of all, to tell you that I am ####-immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy -one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. Tremendous outburst of approval. / don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. This was unexpected and rather difficult. There was some scattered clapping, but most of them were trying to work it out and see if it came to a compliment. Secondly, to celebrate my birthday. Cheers again. / should say: OUR birthday. For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today. Some perfunctory clapping by the elders; and some loud shouts of 'Frodo! Frodo! Jolly old Frodo,' from the juniors. The Sackville-Bagginses scowled, and wondered what was meant by 'coming into his inheritance'. Together we score one hundred and forty -four. Your numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable total: One Gross, if I may use the expression. No cheers. This was ridiculous. Many of his guests, and especially the Sackville-Bagginses, were insulted, feeling sure they had only been asked to fill up the required number, like goods in a package. 'One Gross, indeed! Vulgar expression.' It is also, if I may be allowed to refer to ancient history, the anniversary of my arrival by barrel at Esgaroth on the Long Lake; though the fact that it was my birthday slipped my memory on that occasion. I was only fifty-one then, and birthdays did not seem so important. The banquet was very splendid, however, though I had a bad cold at the time, I remember, and could only say 'thag you very buch'. I now repeat it more correctly: Thank you very much for coming to my little party. Obstinate silence. They all feared that a song or some poetry was now imminent; and they were getting bored. Why couldn't he stop talking and let them drink his health? But Bilbo did not sing or recite. He paused for a moment. Thirdly and finally, he said, I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT. He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. I regret to announce that - though, as I said, eleventy -one years is far too short a time to spend among you - this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE! He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four flabbergasted hobbits sat back speechless.####-Old Odo Proudfoot removed his feet from the table and stamped. Then there was a dead silence, until suddenly, after several deep breaths, every Baggins, Boffin, Took, Brandybuck, Grubb, Chubb, Burrows, Bolger, Bracegirdle, Brockhouse, Goodbody, Hornblower, and Proudfoot began to talk at once. It was generally agreed that the joke was in very bad taste, and more food and drink were needed to cure the guests of shock and annoyance. 'He's mad. I always said so,' was probably the most popular comment. Even the Tooks (with a few exceptions) thought Bilbo's behaviour was absurd. For the moment most of them took it for granted that his disappearance was nothing more than a ridiculous prank. But old Rory Brandybuck was not so sure. Neither age nor an enormous dinner had clouded his wits, and he said to his daughter -in-law, Esmeralda: 'There's something fishy in this, my dear! I believe that mad Baggins is off again. Silly old fool. But why worry? He hasn't taken the vittles with him.' He called loudly to Frodo to send the wine round again. Frodo was the only one present who had said nothing. For some time he had sat silent beside Bilbo's empty chair, and ignored all remarks and questions. He had enjoyed the joke, of course, even though he had been in the know. He had difficulty in keeping from laughter at the indignant surprise of the guests. But at the same time he felt deeply troubled: he realized suddenly that he loved the old hobbit dearly. Most of the guests went on eating and drinking and discussing Bilbo Baggins' oddities, past and present; but the Sackville-Bagginses had already departed in wrath. Frodo did not want to have any more to do with the party. He gave orders for more wine to be served; then he got up and drained his own glass silently to the health of Bilbo, and slipped out of the pavilion. As for Bilbo Baggins, even while he was making his speech, he had been fingering the golden ring in his pocket: his magic ring that he had kept secret for so many years. As he stepped down he slipped it on his finger, and he was never seen by any hobbit in Hobbiton again. He walked briskly back to his hole, and stood for a moment listening with a smile to the din in the pavilion and to the sounds of merrymaking in other parts of the field. Then he went in. He took off his party clothes, folded up and wrapped in tissue-paper his embroidered silk waistcoat, and put it away. Then he put on quickly some old untidy garments, and fastened ####-round his waist a worn leather belt. On it he hung a short sword in a battered black-leather scabbard. From a locked drawer, smelling of moth-balls, he took out an old cloak and hood . They had been locked up as if they were very precious, but they were so patched and weatherstained that their original colour could hardly be guessed: it might have been dark green. They were rather too large for him. He then went into his study, and from a large strong-box took out a bundle wrapped in old cloths, and a leather -bound manuscript; and also a large bulky envelope. The book and bundle he stuffed into the top of a heavy bag that was standing there, already nearly full. Into the envelope he slipped his golden ring, and its fine chain, and then sealed it, and addressed it to Frodo. At first he put it on the mantelpiece, but suddenly he removed it and stuck it in his pocket. At that moment the door opened and Gandalf came quickly in. 'Hullo!' said Bilbo. 'I wondered if you would turn up.' 'I am glad to find you visible,' replied the wizard, sitting down in a chair, 'I wanted to catch you and have a few final words. I suppose you feel that everything has gone off splendidly and according to plan?' 'Yes, I do,' said Bilbo. "Though that flash was surprising: it quite startled me, let alone the others. A little addition of your own, I suppose?' It was. You have wisely kept that ring secret all these years, and it seemed to me necessary to give your guests something else that would seem to explain your sudden vanishment.' 'And would spoil my joke. You are an interfering old busybody,' laughed Bilbo, 'but I expect you know best, as usual.' 'I do - when I know anything. But I don't feel too sure about this whole affair. It has now come to the final point. You have had your joke, and alarmed or offended most of your relations, and given the whole Shire something to talk about for nine days, or ninety-nine more likely. Are you going any further?' 'Yes, I am. I feel I need a holiday, a very long holiday, as I have told you before. Probably a permanent holiday: I don't expect I shall return. In fact, I don't mean to, and I have made all arrangements. 'I am old, Gandalf. I don't look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed!' he snorted. 'Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can't be right. I need a change, or ####-something.' Gandalf looked curiously and closely at him. 'No, it does not seem right,' he said thoughtfully. 'No, after all I believe your plan is probably the best.' 'Well, I've made up my mind, anyway. I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains, and then find somewhere where I can rest. In peace and quiet, without a lot of relatives prying around, and a string of confounded visitors hanging on the bell. I might find somewhere where I can finish my book. I have thought of a nice ending for it: and he lived happily ever after to the end of his days. ' Gandalf laughed. I hope he will. But nobody will read the book, however it ends.' 'Oh, they may, in years to come. Frodo has read some already, as far as it has gone. You'll keep an eye on Frodo, won't you?' 'Yes, I will - two eyes, as often as I can spare them.' 'He would come with me, of course, if I asked him. In fact he offered to once, just before the party. But he does not really want to, yet. I want to see the wild country again before I die, and the Mountains; but he is still in love with the Shire, with woods and fields and little rivers. He ought to be comfortable here. I am leaving everything to him, of course, except a few oddments. I hope he will be happy, when he gets used to being on his own. It's time he was his own master now.' 'Everything?' said Gandalf. 'The ring as well? You agreed to that, you remember.' 'Well, er, yes, I suppose so,' stammered Bilbo. 'Where is it?' 'In an envelope, if you must know,' said Bilbo impatiently. 'There on the mantelpiece. Well, no! Here it is in my pocket!' He hesitated. 'Isn't that odd now?' he said softly to himself. 'Yet after all, why not? Why shouldn't it stay there?' Gandalf looked again very hard at Bilbo, and there was a gleam in his eyes. 'I think, Bilbo,' he said quietly, 'I should leave it behind. Don't you want to?' 'Well yes - and no. Now it comes to it, I don't like parting with it at all, I may say. And I don't really see why I should. Why do you want me to?' he asked, and a curious change came over his voice. It was sharp with ####-suspicion and annoyance. 'You are always badgering me about my ring; but you have never bothered me about the other things that I got on my journey.' 'No, but I had to badger you,' said Gandalf. 'I wanted the truth. It was important. Magic rings are - well, magical; and they are rare and curious. I was professionally interested in your ring, you may say; and I still am. I should like to know where it is, if you go wandering again. Also I think you have had it quite long enough. You won't need it any more. Bilbo, unless I am quite mistaken.' Bilbo flushed, and there was an angry light in his eyes. His kindly face grew hard. 'Why not?' he cried. 'And what business is it of yours, anyway, to know what I do with my own things? It is my own. I found it. It came to me.' 'Yes, yes,' said Gandalf. 'But there is no need to get angry.' 'If I am it is your fault,' said Bilbo. 'It is mine, I tell you. My own. My precious. Yes, my precious.' The wizard's face remained grave and attentive, and only a flicker in his deep eyes showed that he was startled and indeed alarmed. 'It has been called that before,' he said, 'but not by you.' 'But I say it now. And why not? Even if Gollum said the same once. It's not his now, but mine. And I shall keep it, I say.' Gandalf stood up. He spoke sternly. 'You will be a fool if you do. Bilbo,' he said. 'You make that clearer with every word you say. It has got far too much hold on you. Let it go! And then you can go yourself, and be free.' 'I'll do as I choose and go as I please,' said Bilbo obstinately. 'Now, now, my dear hobbit! ' said Gandalf. 'All your long life we have been friends, and you owe me something. Come! Do as you promised: give it up! ' 'Well, if you want my ring yourself, say so!' cried Bilbo. 'But you won't get it. I won't give my precious away, I tell you.' His hand strayed to the hilt of his small sword. Gandalf's eyes flashed. It will be my turn to get angry soon,' he said. If you say that again, I shall. Then you will see Gandalf the Grey uncloaked.' He took a step towards the hobbit, and he seemed to grow tall and menacing; his shadow filled the little room. Bilbo backed away to the wall, brea thing hard, his hand clutching at ####-his pocket. They stood for a while facing one another, and the air of the room tingled. Gandalf's eyes remained bent on the hobbit. Slowly his hands relaxed, and he began to tremble. 'I don't know what has come over you, Gandalf,' he said. 'You have never been like this before. What is it all about? It is mine isn't it? I found it, and Gollum would have killed me, if I hadn't kept it. I'm not a thief, whatever he said.' 'I have never called you one,' Gandalf answered. 'And I am not one either. I am not trying to rob you, but to help you. I wish you would trust me, as you used.' He turned away, and the shadow passed. He seemed to dwindle again to an old grey man, bent and troubled. Bilbo drew his hand over his eyes. I am sorry,' he said. 'But I felt so queer. And yet it would be a relief in a way not to be bothered with it any more. It has been so growing on my mind lately. Sometimes I have felt it was like an eye looking at me. And I am always wanting to put it on and disappear, don't you know; or wondering if it is safe, and pulling it out to make sure. I tried locking it up, but I found I couldn't rest without it in my pocket. I don't know why. And I don't seem able to make up my mind.' 'Then trust mine,' said Gandalf. 'It is quite made up. Go away and leave it behind. Stop possessing it. Give it to Frodo, and I will look after him.' Bilbo stood for a moment tense and undecided. Presently he sighed. 'All right,' he said with an effort. I will.' Then he shrugged his shoulders, and smiled rather ruefully. 'After all that's what this party business was all about, really: to give away lots of birthday presents, and somehow make it easier to give it away at the same time. It hasn't made it any easier in the end, but it would be a pity to waste all my preparations. It would quite spoil the joke.' 'Indeed it would take away the only point I ever saw in the affair,' said Gandalf. 'Very well,' said Bilbo, 'it goes to Frodo with all the rest.' He drew a deep breath. 'And now I really must be starting, or somebody else will catch me. I have said good-bye, and I couldn't bear to do it all over again.' He picked up his bag and moved to the door. 'You have still got the ring in your pocket,' said the wizard. 'Well, so I have!' cried Bilbo. 'And my will and all the other documents too. You had better take it and deliver it for me. That will be safest.'####- 'No, don't give the ring to me,' said Gandalf. 'Put it on the mantelpiece. It will be safe enough there, till Frodo comes. I shall wait for him.' Bilbo took out the envelope, but just as he was about to set it by the clock, his hand jerked back, and the packet fell on the floor. Before he could pick it up, the wizard stooped and seized it and set it in its place. A spasm of anger passed swiftly over the hobbit's face again. Suddenly it gave way to a look of relief and a laugh. 'Well, that's that,' he said. 'Now I'm off!' They went out into the hall. Bilbo chose his favourite stick from the stand; then he whistled. Three dwarves came out of different rooms where they had been busy. 'Is everything ready?' asked Bilbo. 'Everything packed and la belled?' 'Everything,' they answered. 'Well, let's start then!' He stepped out of the front-door. It was a fine night, and the black sky was dotted with stars. He looked up, sniffing the air. 'What fun! What fun to be off again, off on the Road with dwarves! This is what I have really been longing for, for years! Good-bye! ' he said, looking at his old home and bowing to the door. 'Good-bye, Gandalf!' 'Good-bye, for the present, Bilbo. Take care of yourself! You are old enough, and perhaps wise enough.' 'Take care! I don't care. Don't you worry about me! I am as happy now as I have ever been, and that is saying a great deal. But the time has come. I am being swept off my feet at last,' he added, and then in a low voice, as if to himself, he sang softly in the dark: The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. He paused, silent for a moment. Then without another word he turned away from the lights and voices in the fields and tents, and followed by his three companions went round into his garden, and trotted down the long ####-sloping path. He jumped over a low place in the hedge at the bottom, and took to the meadows, passing into the night like a rustle of wind in the grass. Gandalf remained for a while staring after him into the darkness. 'Goodbye, my dear Bilbo - until our next meeting!' he said softly and went back indoors. Frodo came in soon afterwards, and found him sitting in the dark, deep in thought. 'Has he gone?' he asked. 'Yes,' answered Gandalf, 'he has gone at last.' ' I wish - I mean, I hoped until this evening that it was only a joke,' said Frodo. 'But I knew in my heart that he really meant to go. He always used to joke about serious things. I wish I had come back sooner, just to see him off.' I think really he preferred slipping off quietly in the end,' said Gandalf. 'Don't be too troubled. He'll be all right - now. He left a packet for you. There it is!' Frodo took the envelope from the mantelpiece, and glanced at it, but did not open it. 'You'll find his will and all the other documents in there, I think,' said the wizard. 'You are the master of Bag End now. And also, I fancy, you'll find a golden ring.' 'The ring!' exclaimed Frodo. 'Has he left me that? I wonder why. Still, it may be useful.' 'It may, and it may not,' said Gandalf. 'I should not make use of it, if I were you. But keep it secret, and keep it safe! Now I am going to bed.' As master of Bag End Frodo felt it his painful duty to say good-bye to the guests. Rumours of strange events had by now spread all over the field, but Frodo would only say no doubt everything will be cleared up in the morning. About midnight carriages came for the important folk. One by one they rolled away, filled with full but very unsatisfied hobbits. Gardeners came by arrangement, and removed in wheel-barrows those that had inadvertently remained behind. Night slowly passed. The sun rose. The hobbits rose rather later. Morning went on. People came and began (by orders) to clear away the pavilions and the tables and the chairs, and the spoons and knives and bottles and plates, and the lanterns, and the flowering shrubs in boxes, and the crumbs and cracker -paper, the forgotten bags and gloves and ####-handkerchiefs, and the uneaten food (a very small item). Then a number of other people came (without orders): Bagginses, and Boffins, and Bolgers, and Tooks, and other guests that lived or were staying near. By mid-day, when even the best -fed were out and about again, there was a large crowd at Bag End, uninvited but not unexpected. Frodo was waiting on the step, smiling, but looking rather tired and worried. He welcomed all the callers, but he had not much more to say than before. His reply to all inquiries was simply this: 'Mr. Bilbo Baggins has gone away; as far as I know, for good.' Some of the visitors he invited to come inside, as Bilbo had left 'messages' for them. Inside in the hall there was piled a large assortment of packages and parcels and small articles of furniture. On every item there was a label tied. There were several labels of this sort: For ADELARD TOOK, for his VERY OWN, from Bilbo, on an umbrella. Adelard had carried off many unlabelled ones. For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo, on a large waste-paper basket. Dora was Drogo's sister and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century. For MILO BURROWS, hoping it will be useful, from B.B., on a gold pen and ink -bottle. Milo never answered letters. For ANGELICA'S use, from Uncle Bilbo, on a round convex mirror. She was a young Baggins, and too obviously considered her face shapely. For the collection of HUGO BRACEGIRDLE, from a contributor, on an (empty) book -case. Hugo was a great borrower of books, and worse than usual at returning them. For LOBELIA SACKVILLE-BAGGINS, as a PRESENT, on a case of silver spoons. Bilbo believed that she had acquired a good many of his spoons, while he was away on his former journey. Lobelia knew that quite well. When she arrived later in the day, she took the point at once, but she also took the spoons. This is only a small selection of the assembled presents. Bilbo's residence had got rather cluttered up with things in the course of his long ####-life. It was a tendency of hobbit-holes to get cluttered up: for which the custom of giving so many birthday-presents was largely responsible. Not, of course, that the birthday-presents were always new, there were one or two old mathoms of forgotten uses that had circulated all around the district; but Bilbo had usually given new presents, and kept those that he received. The old hole was now being cleared a little. Every one of the various parting gifts had labels, written out personally by Bilbo, and several had some point, or some joke. But, of course, most of the things were given where they would be wanted and welcome. The poorer hobbits, and especially those of Bagshot Row, did very well. Old Gaffer Gamgee got two sacks of potatoes, a new spade, a woollen waistcoat, and a bottle of ointment for creaking joints. Old Rory Brandybuck, in return for much hospitality, got a dozen bottles of Old Winyards: a strong red wine from the Southfarthing, and now quite mature, as it had been laid down by Bilbo's father. Rory quite forgave Bilbo, and voted him a capital fellow after the first bottle. There was plenty of everything left for Frodo. And, of course, all the chief treasures, as well as the books, pictures, and more than enough furniture, were left in his possession. There was, however, no sign nor mention of money or jewellery: not a penny-piece or a glass bead was given away. Frodo had a very trying time that afternoon. A fa lse rumour that the whole household was being distributed free spread like wildfire; and before long the place was packed with people who had no business there, but could not be kept out. Labels got torn off and mixed, and quarrels broke out. Some people tried to do swaps and deals in the hall; and others tried to make off with minor items not addressed to them, or with anything that seemed unwanted or unwatched. The road to the gate was blocked with barrows and handcarts. In the middle of the commotion the Sackville-Bagginses arrived. Frodo had retired for a while and left his friend Merry Brandybuck to keep an eye on things. When Otho loudly demanded to see Frodo, Merry bowed politely. 'He is indisposed,' he said. 'He is resting.' 'Hiding, you mean,' said Lobelia. 'Anyway we want to see him and we mean to see him. Just go and tell him so!' Merry left them a long while in the hall, and they had time to discover their parting gift of spoons. It did not improve their tempers. Eventually ####-they were shown into the study. Frodo was sitting at a table with a lot of papers in front of him. He looked indisposed - to see Sackville-Bagginses at any rate; and he stood up, fidgeting with something in his pocket. But he spoke quite politely. The Sackville-Bagginses were rather offensive. They began by offering him bad bargain-prices (as between friends) for various valuable and unlabelled things. When Frodo replied that only the things specially directed by Bilbo were being given away, they said the whole affair was very fishy. 'Only one thing is clear to me,' said Otho, 'and that is that you are doing exceedingly well out of it. I insist on seeing the will.' Otho would have been Bilbo's heir, but for the adoption of Frodo. He read the will carefully and snorted. It was, unfortunately, very clear and correct (according to the legal customs of hobbits, which demand among other things seven signatures of witnesses in red ink). 'Foiled again!' he said to his wife. 'And after waiting sixty years. Spoons? Fiddlesticks!' He snapped his fingers under Frodo's nose and slumped off. But Lobelia was not so easily got rid of. A little later Frodo came out of the study to see how things were going on and found her still about the place, investigating nooks and comers and tapping the floors. He escorted her firmly off the premises, after he had relieved her of several small (but rather valuable) articles that had somehow fallen inside her umbrella. Her face looked as if she was in the throes of thinking out a really crushing parting remark; but all she found to say, turning round on the step, was: 'You'll live to regret it, young fellow! Why didn't you go too? You don't belong here; you're no Baggins - you - you're a Brandybuck!' 'Did you hear that, Merry? That was an insult, if you like,' said Frodo as he shut the door on her. 'It was a compliment,' said Merry Brandybuck, 'and so, of course, not true.' Then they went round the hole, and evicted three young hobbits (two Boffins and a Bolger) who were knocking holes in the walls of one of the cellars. Frodo also had a tussle with young Sancho Proudfoot (old Odo Proudfoot's grandson), who had begun an excavation in the larger pantry, where he thought there was an echo. The legend of Bilbo's gold excited both curiosity and hope; for legendary gold (mysteriously obtained, if not positively ill-gotten), is, as every one knows, any one's for the finding ####--unless the search is interrupted. When he had overcome Sancho and pushed him out, Frodo collapsed on a chair in the hall. It's time to close the shop, Merry,' he said. 'Lock the door, and don't open it to anyone today, not even if they bring a battering ram.' Then he went to revive himself with a belated cup of tea. He had hardly sat down, when there came a soft knock at the front-door. 'Lobelia again most likely,' he thought. 'She must have thought of something really nasty, and have come back again to say it. It can wait.' He went on with his tea. The knock was repeated, much louder, but he took no notice. Suddenly the wizard's head appeared at the window. 'If you don't let me in, Frodo, I shall blow your door right down your hole and out through the hill,' he said. 'My dear Gandalf! Half a minute!' cried Frodo, running out of the room to the door. 'Come in! Come in! I thought it was Lobelia.' 'Then I forgive you. But I saw her some time ago, driving a pony-trap towards Bywater with a face that would have curdled new milk.' 'She had already nearly curdled me. Honestly, I nearly tried on Bilbo's ring. I longed to disappear.' 'Don't do that!' said Gandalf, sitting down. 'Do be careful of that ring, Frodo! In fact, it is partly about that that I have come to say a last word.' 'Well, what about it?' 'What do you know already?' 'Only what Bilbo told me. I have heard his story: how he found it, and how he used it: on his journey, I mean.' 'Which story, I wonder,' said Gandalf. 'Oh, not what he told the dwarves and put in his book,' said Frodo. 'He told me the true story soon after I came to live here. He said you had pestered him till he told you, so I had better know too. "No secrets between us, Frodo," he said; "but they are not to go any further. It's mine anyway."' 'That's interesting,' said Gandalf. 'Well, what did you think of it all?' 'If you mean, inventing all that about a "present", well, I thought the true story much more likely, and I couldn't see the point of altering it at all. It was very unlike Bilbo to do so, anyway; and I thought it rather odd.'####- 'So did I. But odd things may happen to people that have such treasures - if they use them. Let it be a warning to you to be very careful with it. It may have other powers than just making you vanish when you wish to.' 'I don't understand,' said Frodo. 'Neither do I,' answered the wizard. 'I have merely begun to wonder about the ring, especially since last night. No need to worry. But if you take my advice you will use it very seldom, or not at all. At least I beg you not to use it in any way that will cause talk or rouse suspicion. I say again: keep it safe, and keep it secret!' 'You are very mysterious! What are you afraid of?' 'I am not certain, so I will say no more. I may be able to tell you something when I come back. I am going off at once: so this is good-bye for the present.' He got up. 'At once!' cried Frodo. 'Why, I thought you were staying on for at least a week. I was looking forward to your help.' 'I did mean to - but I have had to change my mind. I may be away for a good while; but I'll come and see you again, as soon as I can. Expect me when you see me! I shall slip in quietly. I shan't often be visiting the Shire openly again. I find that I have become rather unpopular. They say I am a nuisance and a disturber of the peace. Some people are actually accusing me of spiriting Bilbo away, or worse. If you want to know, there is supposed to be a plot between you and me to get hold of his wealth.' 'Some people!' exclaimed Frodo. 'You mean Otho and Lobelia. How abominable! I would give them Bag End and everything else, if I could get Bilbo back and go off tramping in the country with him. I love the Shire. But I begin to wish, somehow, that I had gone too. I wonder if I shall ever see him again.' 'So do I,' said Gandalf. 'And I wonder many other things. Good-bye now! Take care of yourself! Look out for me, especially at unlikely times! Good-bye!' Frodo saw him to the door. He gave a final wave of his hand, and walked off at a surprising pace; but Frodo thought the old wizard looked unusually bent, almost as if he was carrying a great weight. The evening was closing in, and his cloaked figure quickly vanished into the twilight. Frodo did not see him again for a long time.####-

The talk did not die down in nine or even ninety-nine days. The second disappearance of Mr. Bilbo Baggins was discussed in Hobbiton, and indeed all over the Shire, for a year and a day, and was remembered much longer than that. It became a fireside -story for young hobbits; and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten. But in the meantime, the general opinion in the neighbourhood was that Bilbo, who had always been rather cracked, had at last gone quite mad, and had run off into the Blue. There he had undoubtedly fallen into a pool or a river and come to a tragic, but hardly an untimely, end. The blame was mostly laid on Gandalf. 'If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he'll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,' they said. And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to carry on Bilbo's reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo's hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called Hundred-weight Feast. But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say. Some people were rather shocked; but Frodo kept up the custom of giving Bilbo's Birthday Party year after year until they got used to it. He said that he did not think Bilbo was dead. When they asked: 'Where is he then?' he shrugged his shoulders. He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End. Folco Boffin and Fredegar Bolger were two of these; but his closest friends were Peregrin Took (usually called Pippin), and Merry Brandybuck (his real name was Meriadoc, but that was seldom remembered). Frodo went tramping all over the Shire with them; but more often he wandered by himself, and to the amazement of sensible folk he was sometimes seen far from home walking in ####-the hills and woods under the starlight. Merry and Pippin suspected that he visited the Elves at times, as Bilbo had done. As time went on, people began to notice that Frodo also showed signs of good 'preservation': outwardly he retained the appearance of a robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens. 'Some folk have all the luck,' they said; but it was not until Frodo approached the usually more sober age of fifty that they began to think it queer. Frodo himself, after the first shock, found that being his own master and the Mr. Baggins of Bag End was rather pleasant. For some years he was quite happy and did not worry much about the future. But half unknown to himself the regret that he had not gone with Bilbo was steadily growing. He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams. He began to sa y to himself: 'Perhaps I shall cross the River myself one day.' To which the other half of his mind always replied: 'Not yet.' So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near: fifty was a number that he felt was somehow significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo. Frodo began to feel restless, and the old paths seemed too well-trodden. He looked at maps, and wondered what lay beyond their edges: maps made in the Shire showed mostly white spaces beyond its borders. He took to wandering further afield and more often by himself; and Merry and his other friends watched him anxiously. Often he was seen walking and talking with the strange wayfarers that began at this time to appear in the Shire. There were rumours of strange things happening in the world outside; and as Gandalf had not at that time appeared or sent any message for several years, Frodo gathered all the news he could. Elves, who seldom walked in the Shire, could now be seen passing westward through the woods in the evening, passing and not returning; but they were leaving Middle-earth and were no longer concerned with its troubles. There were, however, dwarves on the road in unusual numbers. The ancient East -West Road ran through the Shire to its end at the Grey Havens, and dwarves had always used it on their way to their mines in the Blue Mountains. They were the hobbits' chief source of news from distant parts - if they wanted any: as a rule dwarves said little and hobbits asked no more. But now Frodo often met strange dwarves of far countries, seeking refuge in the West. They were troubled, and some spoke in ####-whispers of the Enemy and of the Land of Mordor. That name the hobbits only knew in legends of the dark past, like a shadow in the background of their memories; but it was ominous and disquieting. It seemed that the evil power in Mirkwood had been driven out by the White Council only to reappear in greater strength in the old strongholds of Mordor. The Dark Tower had been rebuilt, it was said. From there the power was spreading far and wide, and away far east and south there were wars and growing fear. Orcs were multiplying again in the mountains. Trolls were abroad, no longer dull-witted, but cunning and armed with dreadful weapons. And there were murmured hints of creatures more terrible than all these, but they had no name. Little of all this, of course, reached the ears of ordinary hobbits. But even the deafest and most stay-at-home began to hear queer tales; and those whose business took them to the borders saw strange things. The conversation in The Green Dragon at Bywater, one evening in the spring of Frodo's fiftieth year, showed that even in the comfortable heart of the Shire rumours had been heard, though most hobbits still laughed at them. Sam Gamgee was sitting in one corner near the fire, and opposite him was Ted Sandyman, the miller's son; and there were various other rustic hobbits listening to their talk. 'Queer things you do hear these days, to be sure,' said Sam. 'Ah,' said Ted, 'you do, if you listen. But I can hear fireside-tales and children's stories at home, if I want to.' 'No doubt you can,' retorted Sam, 'and I daresay there's more truth in some of them than you reckon. Who invented the stories anyway? Take dragons now.' 'No thank 'ee,' said Ted, 'I won't. I heard tell of them when I was a youngster, but there's no call to believe in them now. There's only one Dragon in Bywater, and that's Green,' he said, getting a general laugh. 'All right,' said Sam, laughing with the rest. 'But what about these Tree-men, these giants, as you might call them? They do say that one bigger than a tree was seen up away beyond the North Moors not long back.' 'Who's they?' 'My cousin Hal for one. He works for Mr. Boffin at Overhill and goes up to the Northfarthing for the hunting. He saw one.' 'Says he did, perhaps. Your Hal's always saying he's seen things; and ####-maybe he sees things that ain't there.' 'But this one was as big as an elm tree, and walking - walking seven yards to a stride, if it was an inch.' 'Then I bet it wasn't an inch. What he saw was an elm tree, as like as not.' 'But this one was walking, I tell you; and there ain't no elm tree on the North Moors.' 'Then Hal can't have seen one,' said Ted. There was some laughing and clapping: the audience seemed to think that Ted had scored a point. 'All the same,' said Sam, 'you can't deny that others besides our Halfast have seen queer folk crossing the Shire - crossing it, mind you: there are more that are turned back at the borders. The Bounders have never been so busy before. 'And I've heard tell that Elves are moving west. They do say they are going to the harbours, out away beyond the White Towers.' Sam waved his arm vaguely: neither he nor any of them knew how far it was to the Sea, past the old towers beyond the western borders of the Shire. But it was an old tradition that away over there stood the Grey Havens, from which at times elven-ships set sail, never to return. 'They are sailing, sailing, sailing over the Sea, they are going into the West and leaving us,' said Sam, half chanting the words, shaking his head sadly and solemnly. But Ted laughed. 'Well, that isn't anything new, if you believe the old tales. And I don't see what it matters to me or you. Let them sail! But I warrant you haven't seen them doing it; nor any one else in the Shire.' 'Well I don't know,' said Sam thoughtfully. He believed he had once seen an Elf in the woods, and still hoped to see more one day. Of all the legends that he had heard in his early years such fragments of tales and half-remembered stories about the Elves as the hobbits knew, had always moved him most deeply. 'There are some, even in these parts, as know the Fair Folk and get news of them,' he said. 'There's Mr. Baggins now, that I work for. He told me that they were sailing and he knows a bit about Elves. And old Mr. Bilbo knew more: many's the talk I had with him when I was a little lad.' 'Oh, they're both cracked,' said Ted. 'Leastways old Bilbo was cracked, and Frodo's cracking. If that's where you get your news from, you'll never ####-want for moonshine. Well, friends, I'm off home. Your good health!' He drained his mug and went out noisily. Sam sat silent and said no more. He had a good deal to think about. For one thing, there was a lot to do up in the Bag End garden, and he would have a busy day tomorrow, if the weather cleared. The grass was growing fast. But Sam ha d more on his mind than gardening. After a while he sighed, and got up and went out. It was early April and the sky was now clearing after heavy rain. The sun was down, and a cool pale evening was quietly fading into night. He walked home under the early stars through Hobbiton and up the Hill, whistling softly and thoughtfully. It was just at this time that Gandalf reappeared after his long absence. For three years after the Party he had been away. Then he paid Frodo a brief visit, and after taking a good look at him he went off again. During the next year or two he had turned up fairly often, coming unexpectedly after dusk, and going off without warning before sunrise. He would not discuss his own business and journeys, and seemed chiefly interested in small news about Frodo's health and doings. Then suddenly his visits had ceased. It was over nine years since Frodo had seen or heard of him, and he had begun to think that the wizard would never return and had given up all interest in hobbits. But that evening, as Sam was walking home and twilight was fading, there came the once familiar tap on the study window. Frodo welcomed his old friend with surprise and great delight. They looked hard at one another. 'Ah well eh?' said Gandalf. 'You look the same as ever, Frodo!' 'So do you,' Frodo replied; but secretly he thought that Gandalf looked older and more careworn. He pressed him for news of himself and of the wide world, and soon they were deep in talk, and they stayed up far into the night. Next morning after a late breakfast, the wizard was sitting with Frodo by the open window of the study. A bright fire was on the hearth, but the sun was warm, and the wind was in the South. Everything looked fresh, and the new green of Spring was shimmering in the fields and on the tips of the trees' fingers. Gandalf was thinking of a spring, nearly eighty years before, when Bilbo had run out of Bag End without a handkerchief. His hair was perhaps ####-whiter than it had been then, and his beard and eyebrows were perhaps longer, and his face more lined with care and wisdom; but his eyes were as bright as ever, and he smoked and blew smoke-rings with the same vigour and delight. He was smoking now in silence, for Frodo was sitting still, deep in thought. Even in the light of morning he felt the dark shadow of the tidings that Gandalf had brought. At last he broke the silence. 'Last night you began to tell me strange things about my ring, Gandalf,' he said. 'And then you stopped, because you said that such matters were best left until daylight. Don't you think you had better finish now? You say the ring is dangerous, far mor e dangerous than I guess. In what way?' 'In many ways,' answered the wizard. It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end it would utterly overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him. 'In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds: some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only essays in the craft before it was full-grown, and to the Elven-smiths they were but trifles - yet still to my mind dangerous for mortals. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they were perilous. 'A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the dark power that rules the Rings. Yes, sooner or later - later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last - sooner or later the dark power will devour him.' 'How terrifying!' said Frodo. There was another long silence. The sound of Sam Gamgee cutting the lawn came in from the garden. 'How long have you known this?' asked Frodo at length. 'And how much did Bilbo know?' 'Bilbo knew no more than he told you, I am sure,' said Gandalf. 'He would certainly never have passed on to you anything that he thought would be a danger, even though I promised to look after you. He thought the ring was very beautiful, and very useful at need; and if anything was wrong or ####-queer, it was himself. He said that it was "growing on his mind", and he was always worrying about it; but he did not suspect that the ring itself was to blame. Though he had found out that the thing needed looking after; it did not seem always of the same size or weight; it shrank or expanded in an odd way, and might suddenly slip off a finger where it had been tight.' 'Yes, he warned me of that in his last letter,' said Frodo, 'so I have always kept it on its chain.' 'Very wise,' said Gandalf. 'But as for his long life, Bilbo never connected it with the ring at all. He took all the credit for that to himself, and he was very proud of it. Though he was getting restless and uneasy. Thin and stretched he said. A sign that the ring was getting control.' 'How long have you known all this?' asked Frodo again. 'Known?' said Gandalf. 'I have known much that only the Wise know, Frodo. But if you mean "known about this ring", well, I still do not know, one might say. There is a last test to make. But I no longer doubt my guess. 'When did I first begin to guess?' he mused, searching back in memory. 'Let me see - it was in the year that the White Council drove the dark power from Mirkwood, just before the Battle of Five Armies, that Bilbo found his ring. A shadow fell on my heart then, though I did not know yet what I feared. I wondered often how Gollum came by a Great Ring, as plainly it was - that at least was clear from the first. Then I heard Bilbo's strange story of how he had "won" it, and I could not believe it. When I at last got the truth out of him, I saw at once that he had been trying to put his claim to the ring beyond doubt. Much like Gollum with his "birthday present". The lies were too much alike for my comfort. Clearly the ring had an unwholesome power that set to work on its keeper at once. That was the first real warning I had that all was not well. I told Bilbo often that such rings were better left unused; but he resented it, and soon got angry. There was little else that I could do. I could not take it from him without doing greater harm; and I had no right to do so anyway. I could only watch and wait. I might perhaps have consulted Saruman the White, but something always held me back.' 'Who is he?' asked Frodo. I have never heard of him before.' 'Maybe not,' answered Gandalf. 'Hobbits are, or were, no concern of his. Yet he is great among the Wise. He is the chief of my order and the ####-head of the Council. His knowledge is deep, but his pride has grown with it, and he takes ill any meddling. The lore of the Elven-rings, great and small, is his province. He has long studied it, seeking the lost secrets of their making; but when the Rings were debated in the Council, all that he would reveal to us of his ring-lore told against my fears. So my doubt slept - but uneasily. Still I watched and I waited. 'And all seemed well with Bilbo. And the years passed. Yes, they passed, and they seemed not to touch him. He showed no signs of age. The shadow fell on me again. But I said to myself: "After all he comes of a long-lived family on his mother's side. There is time yet. Wait!" 'And I waited. Until that night when he left this house. He said and did things then that filled me with a fear that no words of Saruman could allay. I knew at last that something dark and deadly was at work. And I have spent most of the years since then in finding out the truth of it.' 'There wasn't any permanent harm done, was there?' asked Frodo anxiously. 'He would get all right in time, wouldn't he? Be able to rest in peace, I mean?' 'He felt better at once,' said Gandalf. 'But there is only one Power in this world that knows all about the Rings and their effects; and as far as I know there is no Power in the world that knows all about hobbits. Among the Wise I am the only one that goes in for hobbit-lore: an obscure branch of knowledge, but full of surprises. Soft as butter they can be, and yet sometimes as tough as old tree-roots. I think it likely that some would resist the Rings far longer than most of the Wise would believe. I don't think you need worry about Bilbo. 'Of course, he possessed the ring for many years, and used it, so it might take a long while for the influence to wear off - before it was safe for him to see it again, for instance. Otherwise, he might live on for years, quite happily: just stop as he was when he parted with it. For he gave it up in the end of his own accord: an important point. No, I was not troubled about dear Bilbo any more, once he had let the thing go. It is for you that I feel responsible. 'Ever since Bilbo left I have been deeply concerned about you, and about all these charming, absurd, helpless hobbits. It would be a grievous blow to the world, if the Dark Power overcame the Shire; if all your kind, jolly, stupid Bolgers, Hornblowers, Boffins, Bracegirdles, and the rest, not to mention the ridiculous Bagginses, became enslaved.'####- Frodo shuddered. 'But why should we be?' he asked. 'And why should he want such slaves?' 'To tell you the truth,' replied Gandalf, 'I believe that hitherto - hitherto, mark you - he has entirely overlooked the existence of hobbits. You should be thankful. But your safety has passed. He does not need you - he has many more useful servants - but he won't forget you again. And hobbits as miserable slaves would please him far more than hobbits happy and free. There is such a thing as malice and revenge.' 'Revenge?' said Frodo. 'Revenge for what? I still don't understand what all this has to do with Bilbo and myself, and our ring.' 'It has everything to do with it,' said Gandalf. 'You do not know the real peril yet; but you shall. I was not sure of it myself when I was last here; but the time has come to speak. Give me the ring for a moment.' Frodo took it from his breeches-pocket, where it was clasped to a chain that hung from his belt. He unfastened it and handed it slowly to the wizard. It felt suddenly very heavy, as if either it or Frodo himself was in some way reluctant for Gandalf to touch it. Gandalf held it up. It looked to be made of pure and solid gold. 'Can you see any markings on it?' he asked. 'No,' said Frodo. 'There are none. It is quite plain, and it never shows a scratch or sign of wear.' 'Well then, look!' To Frodo's astonishment and distress the wizard threw it suddenly into the middle of a glowing corner of the fire. Frodo gave a cry and groped for the tongs; but Gandalf held him back. 'Wait!' he said in a commanding voice, giving Frodo a quick look from under his bristling brows. No apparent change came over the ring. After a while Gandalf got up, closed the shutters outside the window, and drew the curtains. The room became dark and silent, though the clack of Sam's shears, now nearer to the windows, could still be heard faintly from the garden. For a moment the wizard st ood looking at the fire; then he stooped and removed the ring to the hearth with the tongs, and at once picked it up. Frodo gasped. It is quite cool,' said Gandalf. 'Take it!' Frodo received it on his shrinking palm: it seemed to have become thicker and heavier than ever. 'Hold it up!' said Gandalf. 'And look closely!' As Frodo did so, he now saw fine lines, finer than the finest pen-strokes, running along the ring, outside and inside: lines of fire that ####-seemed to form the letters of a flowing script. They shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth. I cannot read the fiery letters,' said Frodo in a quavering voice. 'No,' said Gandalf, 'but I can. The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. But this in the Common Tongue is what is said, close enough: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. It is only two lines of a verse long known in Elven-lore: Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf- lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.' He paused, and then said slowly in a deep voice: 'This is the Master-ring, the One Ring to rule them all. This is the One Ring that he lost many ages ago, to the great weakening of his power. He greatly desires it - but he must not get it.' Frodo sat silent and motionless. Fear seemed to stretch out a vast hand, like a dark cloud rising in the East and looming up to engulf him. 'This ring!' he stammered. 'How, how on earth did it come to me?' 'Ah!' said Gandalf. 'That is a very long story. The beginnings lie back in the Black Years, which only the lore-masters now remember. If I were to tell you all that tale, we should still be sitting here when Spring had passed into Winter. 'But last night I told you of Sauron the Great, the Dark Lord. The rumours that you have heard are true: he has indeed arisen again and left his hold in Mirkwood and returned to his ancient fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor. That name even you hobbits have heard of, like a shadow on the borders of old stories. Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.' 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But ####-that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given, us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black. The Enemy is fast becoming very strong. His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. We shall be hard put to it. We should be very hard put to it, even if it were not for this dreadful chance. 'The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring. 'The Three, fairest of all, the Elf-lords hid from him, and his hand never touched them or sullied them. Seven the Dwarf-kings possessed, but three he has recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed. Nine he gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago they fell under the dominion of the One, and they became Ringwraiths, shadows under his great Shadow, his most terrible servants. Long ago. It is many a year since the Nine walked abroad. Yet who knows? As the Shadow grows once more, they too may walk again. But come! We will not speak of such things even in the morning of the Shire. 'So it is now: the Nine he has gathered to himself; the Seven also, or else they are destroyed. The Three are hidden still. But that no longer troubles him. He only needs the One; for he made that Ring himself, it is his, and he let a great part of his own former power pass into it, so that he could rule all the other s. If he recovers it, then he will command them all again, wherever they be, even the Three, and all that has been wrought with them will be laid bare, and he will be stronger than ever. 'And this is the dreadful chance, Frodo. He believed that the One had perished; that the Elves had destroyed it, as should have been done. But he knows now that it has not perished, that it has been found. So he is seeking it, seeking it, and all his thought is bent on it. It is his great hope and our great fear. ' 'Why, why wasn't it destroyed?' cried Frodo. 'And how did the Enemy ever come to lose it, if he was so strong, and it was so precious to him?' He clutched the Ring in his hand, as if he saw already dark fingers stretching out to seize it. 'It was taken from him,' said Gandalf. 'The strength of the Elves to resist him was greater long ago; and not all Men were estranged from them. The Men of Westernesse came to their aid. That is a chapter of ancient ####-history which it might be good to recall; for there was sorrow then too, and gathering dark, but great valour, and great deeds that were not wholly vain. One day, perhaps, I will tell you all the tale, or you shall hear it told in full by one who knows it best. 'But for the moment, since most of all you need to know how this thing came to you, and that will be tale enough, this is all that I will say. It was Gil-galad, Elven-king and Elendil of Westernesse who overthrew Sauron, though they themselves perished in the deed; and Isildur Elendil's son cut the Ring from Sauron's hand and took it for his own. Then Sauron was vanquished and his spirit fled and was hidden for long years, until his shadow took shape again in Mirkwood. 'But the Ring was lost. It fell into the Great River, Anduin, and vanished. For Isildur was marching north along the east banks of the River, and near the Gladden Fields he was waylaid by the Orcs of the Mountains, and almost all his folk were slain. He leaped into the waters, but the Ring slipped from his finger as he swam, and then the Orcs saw him and killed him with arrows.' Gandalf paused. 'And there in the dark pools amid the Gladden Fields,' he said, 'the Ring passed out of knowledge and legend; and even so much of its history is known now only to a few, and the Council of the Wise could discover no more. But at last I can carry on the story, I think. 'Long after, but still very long ago, there lived by the banks of the Great River on the edge of Wilderland a clever -handed and quiet-footed little people. I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors, for they loved the River, and often swam in it, or made little boats of reeds. There was among them a family of high repute, for it was large and wealthier than most, and it was ruled by a grandmother of the folk, stern and wise in old lore, such as they had. The most inquisitive and curious-minded of that family was called Smjagol. He was interested in roots and beginnings; he dived into deep pools; he burrowed under trees and growing plants; he tunnelled into green mounds; and he ceased to look up at the hill -tops, or the leaves on trees, or the flowers opening in the air: his head and his eyes were downward. 'He had a friend called Djagol, of similar sort, sharper -eyed but not so quick and strong. On a time they took a boat and went down to the Gladden Fields, where there were great beds of iris and flowering reeds. There Smjagol got out and went nosing about the banks but Deal sat in the boat and ####-fished. Suddenly a great fish took his hook, and before he knew where he was, he was dragged out and down into the water, to the bottom. Then he let go of his line, for he thought he saw something shining in the river -bed; and holding his breath he grabbed at it. 'Then up he came spluttering, with weeds in his hair and a handful of mud; and he swam to the bank. And behold! when he washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun, so that his heart was glad. But Smjagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Deal gloated over the ring, Smjagol came softly up behind. '"Give us that, Deal, my love," said Smjagol, over his friend's shoulder. '"Why?" said Deal. ' "Because it's my birthday, my love, and I wants it," said Smjagol. '"I don't care," said Deal. "I have given you a present already, more than I could afford. I found this, and I'm going to keep it." ' "Oh, are you indeed, my love," said Smjagol; and he caught Deal by the throat and strangled him, because the gold looked so bright and beautiful. Then he put the ring on his finger. 'No one ever found out what had become of Deal; he was murdered far from home, and his body was cunningly hidden. But Smjagol returned alone; and he found that none of his family could see him, when he was wearing the ring. He was very pleased with his discovery and he concealed it; and he used it to find out secrets, and he put his knowledge to crooked and malicious uses. He became sharp-eyed and keen-eared for all that was hurtful. The ring had given him power according to his stature. It is not to be wondered at that he became very unpopular and was shunned (when visible) by all his relations. They kicked him, and he bit their feet. He took to thieving, and going about muttering to himself, and gurgling in his throat. So they called him Gollum, and cursed him, and told him to go far away; and his grandmother, desiring peace, expelled him from the family and turned him out of her hole. 'He wandered in loneliness, weeping a little for the hardness of the world, and he journeyed up the River, till he came to a stream that flowed down from the mountains, and he went that way. He caught fish in deep pools ####-with invisible fingers and ate them raw. One day it was very hot, and as he was bending over a pool, he felt a burning on the back of his head) and a dazzling light from the water pained his wet eyes. He wondered at it, for he had almost forgotten about the Sun. Then for the last time he looked up and shook his fist at her. 'But as he lowered his eyes, he saw far above the tops of the Misty Mountains, out of which the stream came. And he thought suddenly: "It would be cool and shady under those mountains. The Sun could not watch me there. The roots of those mountains must be roots indeed; there must be great secrets buried there which have not been discovered since the beginning." 'So he journeyed by night up into the highlands, and he found a little cave out of which the dark stream ran; and he wormed his way like a maggot into the heart of the hills, and vanished out of all knowledge. The Ring went into the shadows with him, and even the maker, when his power had begun to grow again, could learn nothing of it.' 'Gollum!' cried Frodo. 'Gollum? Do you mean that this is the very Gollum-creature that Bilbo met? How loathsome!' 'I think it is a sad story,' said the wizard, 'and it might have happened to others, even to some hobbits that I have known.' 'I can't believe that Gollum was connected with hobbits, however distantly,' said Frodo with some heat. 'What an abominable notion!' 'It is true all the same,' replied Gandalf. 'About their origins, at any rate, I know more than hobbits do themselves. And even Bilbo's story suggests the kinship. There was a great deal in the background of their minds and memories that was very similar. They understood one another remarkably well, very much better than a hobbit would understand, say, a Dwarf, or an Orc, or even an Elf. Think of the riddles they both knew, for one thing.' 'Yes,' said Frodo. 'Though other folks besides hobbits ask riddles, and of much the same sort. And hobbits don't cheat. Gollum meant to cheat all the time. He was just trying to put poor Bilbo off his guard. And I daresay it amused his wickedness to start a game which might end in providing him with an easy victim, but if he lost would not hurt him.' 'Only too true, I fear,' said Gandalf. 'But there was something else in it, I think, which you don't see yet. Even Gollum was not wholly ruined. He had proved tougher than even one of the Wise would have guessed -as a hobbit ####-might. There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as through a chink in the dark: light out of the past. It was actually pleasant, I think, to hear a kindly voice again, bringing up memories of wind, and trees, and sun on the grass, and such forgotten things. 'But that, of course, would only make the evil part of him angrier in the end - unless it could be conquered. Unless it could be cured.' Gandalf sighed. 'Alas! there is little hope of that for him. Yet not no hope. No, not though he possessed the Ring so long, almost as far back as he can remember. For it was long since he had worn it much: in the black darkness it was seldom needed. Certainly he had never "faded". He is thin and tough still. But the thing was eating up his mind, of course, and the torment had become almost unbearable. 'All the "great secrets" under the mountains had turned out to be just empty night: there was nothing more to find out, nothing worth doing, only nasty furtive eating and resentful remembering. He was altogether wretched. He hated the dark, and he hated light more: he hated everything, and the Ring most of all.' 'What do you mean?' said Frodo. 'Surely the Ring was his precious and the only thing he cared for? But if he hated it, why didn't he get rid of it, or go away and leave it?' 'You ought to begin to understand, Frodo, after all you have heard,' said Gandalf. 'He hated it and loved it, as he hated and loved himself. He could not get rid of it. He had no will left in the matter. 'A Ring of Power looks after itself, Frodo. It may slip off treacherously, but its keeper never abandons it. At most he plays with the idea of handing it on to someone else's care - and that only at an early stage, when it first begins to grip. But as far as I know Bilbo alone in history has ever gone beyond playing, and really done it. He needed all my help, too. And even so he would never have just forsaken it, or cast it aside. It was not Gollum, Frodo, but the Ring itself that decided things. The Ring left him.' 'What, just in time to meet Bilbo?' said Frodo. 'Wouldn't an Orc have suited it better?' 'It is no laughing matter,' said Gandalf. 'Not for you. It was the strangest event in the whole history of the Ring so far: Bilbo's arrival just at that time, and putting his hand on it, blindly, in the dark.####- 'There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master. It had slipped from Isildur's hand and betrayed him; then when a chance came it caught poor Deal, and he was murdered; and after that Gollum, and it had devoured him. It could make no further use of him: he was too small and mean; and as long as it stayed with him he would never leave his deep pool again. So now, when its master was awake once more and sending out his dark thought from Mirkwood, it abandoned Gollum. Only to be picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: Bilbo from the Shire! 'Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that maybe an encouraging thought.' It is not,' said Frodo. "Though I am not sure that I understand you. But how have you learned all this about the Ring, and about Gollum? Do you really know it all, or are you just guessing still?' Gandalf looked at Frodo, and his eyes glinted. I knew much and I have learned much,' he answered. 'But I am not going to give an account of all my doings to you. The history of Elendil and Isildur and the One Ring is known to all the Wise. Your ring is shown to be that One Ring by the fire-writing alone, apart from any other evidence.' 'And when did you discover that?' asked Frodo, interrupting. 'Just now in this room, of course,' answered the wizard sharply. 'But I expected to find it. I have come back from dark journeys and long search to make that final test. It is the last proof, and all is now only too clear. Making out Gollum's part, and fitting it into the gap in the history, required some thought. I may have started with guesses about Gollum, but I am not guessing now. I know. I have seen him.' 'You have seen Gollum?' exclaimed Frodo in amazement. 'Yes. The obvious thing to do, of course, if one could. I tried long ago; but I have managed it at last.' 'Then what happened after Bilbo escaped from him? Do you know that?' 'Not so clearly. What I have told you is what Gollum was willing to tell - though not, of course, in the way I have reported it. Gollum is a liar, and you have to sift his words. For instance, he called the Ring his "birthday present", and he stuck to that. He said it came from his grandmother, who had lots of beautiful things of that kind. A ridiculous story. I have no doubt that Smjagol's grandmother was a matriarch, a great ####-person in her way, but to talk of her possessing many Elven-rings was absurd, and as for giving them away, it was a lie. But a lie with a grain of truth. 'The murder of Deal haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defence, repeating it to his "precious" over and over again, as he gnawed bones in the dark, until he almost believed it. It was his birthday. Deal ought to have given the ring to him. It had previously turned up just so as to be a present. It was his birthday present, and so on, and on. I endured him as long as I could, but the truth was desperately important, and in the end I had to be harsh. I put the fear of fire on him, and wrung the true story out of him, bit by bit, together with much snivelling and snarling. He thought he was misunderstood and ill-used. But when he had at last told me his history, as far as the end of the Riddle-game and Bilbo's escape, he would not say any more, except in dark hints. Some other fear was on him greater than mine. He muttered that he was going to gel his own back. People would see if he would stand being kicked, and driven into a hole and then robbed. Gollum had good friends now, good friends and very strong. They would help him. Baggins would pay for it. That was his chief thought. He hated Bilbo and cursed his name. What is more, he knew where he came from.' 'But how did he find that out?' asked Frodo. 'Well, as for the name, Bilbo very foolishly told Gollum himself; and after that it would not be difficult to discover his country, once Gollum came out. Oh yes, he came out. His longing for the Ring proved stronger than his fear of the Orcs, or even of the light. After a year or two he left the mountains. You see, though still bound by desire of it, the Ring was no longer devouring him; he began to revive a little. He felt old , terribly old, yet less timid, and he was mortally hungry. 'Light, light of Sun and Moon, he still feared and hated, and he always will, I think; but he was cunning. He found he could hide from daylight and moonshine, and make his way swiftly and softly by dead of night with his pale cold eyes, and catch small frightened or unwary things. He grew stronger and bolder with new food and new air. He found his way into Mirkwood, as one would expect.' 'Is that where you found him?' asked Frodo. 'I saw him there,' answered Gandalf, 'but before that he had wandered far, following Bilbo's trail. It was difficult to learn anything from him ####-for certain, for his talk was constantly interrupted by curses and threats. "What had it got in its pocketses?" he said. "It wouldn't say, no precious. Little cheat. Not a fair question. It cheated first, it did. It broke the rules. We ought to have squeezed it, yes precious. And we will, precious!" 'That is a sample of his talk. I don't suppose you want any more. I had weary days of it. But from hints dropped among the snarls I even gathered that his padding feet had taken him at last to Esgaroth, and even to the streets of Dale, listening secretly and peering. Well, the news of the great events went far and wide in Wilderland, and many had heard Bilbo's name and knew where he came from. We had made no secret of our return journey to his home in the West. Gollum's sharp ears would soon learn what he wanted.' 'Then why didn't he track Bilbo further?' asked Frodo. 'Why didn't he come to the Shire?' 'Ah,' said Gandalf, 'now we come to it. I think Gollum tried to. He set out and came back westward, as far as the Great River. But then he turned aside. He was not daunted by the distance, I am sure. No, something else drew him away. So my friends think, those that hunted him for me. 'The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then. Through Mirkwood and back again it led them, though they never caught him. The wood was full of the rumour of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. The Woodmen said that there was some new terror abroad, a ghost that drank blood. It climbed trees to find nests; it crept into holes to find the young; it slipped through windows to find cradles. 'But at the western edge of Mirkwood the trail turned away. It wandered off southwards and passed out of the Wood-elves' ken, and was lost. And then I made a great mistake. Yes, Frodo, and not the first; though I fear it may prove the worst. I let the matter be. I let him go; for I had much else to think of at that time, and I still trusted the lore of Saruman. 'Well, that was years ago. I have paid for it since with many dark and dangerous days. The trail was long cold when I took it up again, after Bilbo left here. And my search would have been in vain, but for the help that I had from a friend: Aragorn, the greatest traveller and huntsman of this age of the world. Together we sought for Gollum down the whole length of Wilderland, without hope, and without success. But at last, when I had given up the chase and turned to other parts, Gollum was found. My friend returned ####-out of the great perils bringing the miserable creature with him. 'What he had been doing he would not say. He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat; and when we pressed him he whined and cringed, and rubbed his long hands, licking his fingers as if they pained him, as if he remembered some old torture. But I am afraid there is no possible doubt: he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the Land of Mordor.' A heavy silence fell in the room. Frodo could hear his heart beating. Even outside everything seemed still. No sound of Sam's shears could now be heard. 'Yes, to Mordor,' said Gandalf. 'Alas! Mordor draws all wicked things, and the Dark Power was bending all its will to gather them there. The Ring of the Enemy would leave its mark, too, leave him open to the summons. And all folk were whispering then of the new Shadow in the South, and its hatred of the West. There were his fine new friends, who would help him in his revenge! 'Wretched fool! In that land he would learn much, too much for his comfort. And sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken - for examination. That was the way of it, I fear. When he was found he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief. But that does not matter much now. His worst mischief was done. 'Yes, alas! through him the Enemy has learned that the One has been found again. He knows where Isildur fell. He knows where Gollum found his ring. He knows that it is a Great Ring, for it gave long life. He knows that it is not one of the Three, for they have never been lost, and they endure no evil. He knows that it is not one of the Seven, or the Nine, for they are accounted for. He knows that it is the One. And he has at last heard, I think, of hobbits and the Shire. 'The Shire - he may be seeking for it now, if he has not already found out where it lies. Indeed, Frodo, I fear that he may even think that the long-unnoticed name of Baggins has become important.' 'But this is terrible!' cried Frodo. 'Far worse than the worst that I imagined from your hints and warnings. O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!' 'Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike ####-without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.' 'I am sorry,' said Frodo. 'But I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.' 'You have not seen him,' Gandalf broke in. 'No, and I don't want to,' said Frodo. I can't understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.' 'Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not least. In any case we did not kill him: he is very old and very wretched. The Wood-elves have him in prison, but they treat him with such kindness as they can find in their wise hearts.' 'All the same,' said Frodo, 'even if Bilbo could not kill Gollum, I wish he had not kept the Ring. I wish he had never found it, and that I had not got it! Why did you let me keep it? Why didn't you make me throw it away, or, or destroy it?' 'Let you? Make you?' sa id the wizard. 'Haven't you been listening to all that I have said? You are not thinking of what you are saying. But as for throwing it away, that was obviously wrong. These Rings have a way of being found. In evil hands it might have done great evil. Worst of all, it might have fallen into the hands of the Enemy. Indeed it certainly would; for this is the One, and he is exerting all his power to find it or draw it to himself. 'Of course, my dear Frodo, it was dangerous for you; and that has troubled me deeply. But there was so much at stake that I had to take some risk - though even when I was far away there has never been a day when the Shire has not been guarded by watchful eyes. As long as you never used it, I did not think that the Ring would have any lasting effect on you, not for evil, not at any rate for a very long time. And you must remember that nine ####-years ago, when I last saw you, I still knew little for certain.' 'But why not destroy it, as you say should have been done long ago?' cried Frodo again. If you had warned me, or even sent me a message, I would have done away with it.' 'Would you? How would you do that? Have you ever tried?' 'No. But I suppose one could hammer it or melt it.' 'Try!' said Gandalf. Try now!' Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether precious. When he took it out he had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now that he could not do so, not without a great struggle. He weighed the Ring in his hand, hesitating, and forcing himself to remember all that Gandalf had told him; and then with an effort of will he made a movement, as if to cast it away - but he found that he had put it back in his pocket. Gandalf laughed grimly. 'You see? Already you too, Frodo, cannot easily let it go, nor will to damage it. And I could not "make" you - except by force, which would break your mind. But as for breaking the Ring, force is useless. Even if you took it and struck it with a heavy sledge -hammer, it would make no dint in it. It cannot be unmade by your hands, or by mine. 'Your small fire, of course, would not melt even ordinary gold. This Ring has already passed through it unscathed, and even unheated. But there is no smith's forge in this Shire that could change it at all. Not even the anvils and furnaces of the Dwarves could do that. It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough; nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron himself. There is only one way: to find the Cracks of Doom in the depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain, and cast the Ring in there, if you really wish to destroy it, to put it beyond the grasp of the Enemy for ever.' 'I do really wish to destroy it!' cried Frodo. 'Or, well, to have it destroyed. I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?'####- 'Such questions cannot be answered,' said Gandalf. 'You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.' 'But I have so little of any of these things! You are wise and powerful. Will you not take the Ring?' 'No!' cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. 'With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.' His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. 'Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great, for my strength. I shall have such need of it. Great perils lie before me.' He went to the window and drew aside the curtains and the shutters. Sunlight streamed back again into the room. Sam passed along the path outside whistling. 'And now,' said the wizard, turning back to Frodo, 'the decision lies with you. But I will always help you.' He laid his hand on Frodo's shoulder. 'I will help you bear this burden, as long as It is yours to bear. But we must do something, soon. The Enemy is moving.' There was a long silence. Gandalf sat down again and puffed at his pipe, as if lost in thought. His eyes seemed closed, but under the lids he was watching Frodo intently. Frodo gazed fixedly at the red embers on the hearth, until they filled all his vision, and he seemed to be looking down into profound wells of fire. He was thinking of the fabled Cracks of Doom and the terror of the Fiery Mountain. 'Well!' said Gandalf at last. 'What are you thinking about? Have you decided what to do?' 'No!' answered Frodo, coming back to himself out of darkness, and finding to his surprise that it was not dark, and that out of the window he could see the sunlit garden. 'Or perhaps, yes. As far as I understand what you have said, I suppose I must keep the Ring and guard it, at least for the present, whatever it may do to me.' 'Whatever it may do, it will be slow, slow to evil, if you keep it with that purpose,' said Gandalf. 'I hope so,' said Frodo. 'But I hope that you may find some other ####-better keeper soon. But in the meanwhile it seems that I am a danger, a danger to all that live near me. I cannot keep the Ring and stay here. I ought to leave Bag End, leave the Shire, leave everything and go away.' He sighed. 'I should like to save the Shire, if I could - though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don't feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again. 'Of course, I have sometimes thought of going away, but I imagined that as a kind of holiday, a series of adventures like Bilbo's or better, ending in peace. But this would mean exile, a flight from danger into danger, drawing it after me. And I suppose I must go alone, if I am to do that and save the Shire. But I feel very small, and very uprooted, and well - desperate. The Enemy is so strong and terrible.' He did not tell Gandalf, but as he was speaking a great desire to follow Bilbo flamed up in his heart - to follow Bilbo, and even perhaps to find him again. It was so strong that it overcame his fear: he could almost have run out there and then down the road without his hat, as Bilbo ha d done on a similar morning long ago. 'My dear Frodo!' exclaimed Gandalf. 'Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch. I hardly expected to get such an answer, not even from you. But Bilbo made no mistake in choosing his heir, though he little thought how important it would prove. I am afraid you are right. The Ring will not be able to stay hidden in the Shire much longer; and for your own sake, as well as for others, you will have to go, and leave the name of Baggins behind you. That name will not be safe to have, outside the Shire or in the Wild. I will give you a travelling name now. When you go, go as Mr. Underhill. 'But I don't think you need go alone. Not if you know of anyone you can trust, and who would be willing to go by your side - and that you would be willing to take into unknown perils. But if you look for a companion, be careful in choosing! And be careful of what you say, even to your closest ####-friends! The enemy has many spies and many ways of hearing.' Suddenly he stopped as if listening. Frodo became aware that all was very quiet, inside and outside. Gandalf crept to one side of the window. Then with a dart he sprang to the sill, and thrust a long arm out and downwards. There was a squawk, and up came Sam Gamgee's curly head hauled by one ear. 'Well, well, bless my beard!' said Gandalf. 'Sam Gamgee is it? Now what may you be doing?' 'Lor bless you, Mr. Gandalf, sir!' said Sam. 'Nothing! Leastways I was just trimming the grass-border under the window, if you follow me.' He picked up his shears and exhibited them as evidence. 'I don't,' said Gandalf grimly. It is some time since I last heard the sound of your shears. How long have you been eavesdropping?' 'Eavesdropping, sir? I don't follow you, begging your pardon. There ain't no eaves at Bag End, and that's a fact.' 'Don't be a fool! What have you heard, and why did you listen?' Gandalf's eyes flashed and his brows stuck out like bristles. 'Mr. Frodo, sir!' cried Sam quaking. 'Don't let him hurt me, sir! Don't let him turn me into anything unnatural! My old dad would take on so. I meant no harm, on my honour, sir!' 'He won't hurt you,' said Frodo, hardly able to keep from laughing, although he was himself startled and rather puzzled. 'He knows, as well as I do, that you mean no harm. But just you up and answer his questions straight away!' 'Well, sir,' said Sam dithering a little. 'I heard a deal that I didn't rightly understand, about an enemy, and rings, and Mr. Bilbo, sir, and dragons, and a fiery mountain, and - and Elves, sir. I listened because I couldn't help myself, if you know what I mean. Lor bless me, sir, but I do love tales of that sort. And I believe them too, whatever Ted may say. Elves, sir! I would dearly love to see them. Cou ldn't you take me to see Elves, sir, when you go?' Suddenly Gandalf laughed. 'Come inside!' he shouted, and putting out both his arms he lifted the astonished Sam, shears, grass-clippings and all, right through the window and stood him on the floor. 'Take you to see Elves, eh?' he said, eyeing Sam closely, but with a smile flickering on his face. 'So you heard that Mr. Frodo is going away?'####- 'I did, sir. And that's why I choked: which you heard seemingly. I tried not to, sir, but it burst out of me: I was so upset.' 'It can't be helped, Sam,' said Frodo sadly. He had suddenly realized that flying from the Shire would mean more painful partings than merely saying farewell to the familiar comforts of Bag End. 'I shall have to go. But' - and here he looked hard at Sam - 'if you really care about me, you will keep that dead secret. See? If you don't, if you even breathe a word of what you've heard here, then I hope Gandalf will turn you into a spotted toad and fill the garden full of grass-snakes.' Sam fell on his knees, trembling. 'Get up, Sam!' said Gandalf. I have thought of something better than that. Something to shut your mouth, and punish you properly for listening. You shall go away with Mr. Frodo!' 'Me, sir!' cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. 'Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!' he shouted, and then burst into tears. ####-'You ought to go quietly, and you ought to go soon,' said Gandalf. Two or three weeks had passed, and still Frodo made no sign of getting ready to go. 'I know. But it is difficult to do both,' he objected. If I just vanish like Bilbo, the tale will be all over the Shire in no time.' 'Of course you mustn't vanish!' said Gandalf. 'That wouldn't do at all! I said soon, not instantly. If you can think of any way of slipping out of the Shire without its being generally known, it will be worth a little delay. But you must not delay too long.' 'What about the autumn, on or after Our Birthday?' asked Frodo. 'I think I could probably make some arrangements by then.' To tell the truth, he was very reluctant to start, now that it had come to the point. Bag End seemed a more desirable residence than i t had for years, and he wanted to savour as much as he could of his last summer in the Shire. When autumn came, he knew that part at least of his heart would think more kindly of journeying, as it always did at that season. He had indeed privately made up his mind to leave on his fiftieth birthday: Bilbo's one hundred and twenty-eighth. It seemed somehow the proper day on which to set out and follow him. Following Bilbo was uppermost in his mind, and the one thing that made the thought of leaving bearable. He thought as little as possible about the Ring, and where it might lead him in the end. But he did not tell all his thoughts to Gandalf. What the wizard guessed was always difficult to tell. He looked at Frodo and smiled. 'Very well,' he said. 'I think that will do - but it must not be any later. I am getting very anxious. In the mean-while, do take care, and don't let out any hint of where you are going! And see that Sam Gamgee does not talk. If he does, I really shall turn him into a toad.' 'As for where I am going,' said Frodo, 'it would be difficult to give that away, for I have no clear idea myself, yet.' 'Don't be absurd!' said Gandalf. 'I am not warning you against leaving an address at the post -office! But you are leaving the Shire - and that should not be known, until you are far away. And you must go, or at least ####-set out, either North, South, West or East - and the direction should certainly not be known.' 'I have been so taken up with the thoughts of leaving Bag End, and of saying farewell, that I have never even considered the direction,' said Frodo. 'For where am I to go? And by what shall I steer? What is to be my quest? Bilbo went to find a treasure, there and back aga in; but I go to lose one, and not return, as far as I can see.' 'But you cannot see very far,' said Gandalf. 'Neither can I. It may be your task to find the Cracks of Doom; but that quest may be for others: I do not know. At any rate you are not ready for that long road yet.' 'No indeed!' said Frodo. 'But in the meantime what course am I to lake?' 'Towards danger; but not too rashly, nor too straight,' answered the wizard. 'If you want my advice, make for Rivendell. That journey should not prove too perilous, though the Road is less easy than it was, and it will grow worse as the year fails.' 'Rivendell!' said Frodo. 'Very good: I will go east, and I will make for Rivendell. I will take Sam to visit the Elves; he will be delighted.' He spoke lightly; but his heart was moved suddenly with a desire to see the house of Elrond Halfelven, and breathe the air of that deep valley where many of the Fair Folk still dwelt in peace. One summer's evening an astonishing piece of news reached the Ivy Bush and Green Dragon. Giants and other portents on the borders of the Shire were forgotten for more important matters: Mr. Frodo was selling Bag End, indeed he had already sold it - to the Sackville-Bagginses! 'For a nice bit, loo,' said some. 'At a bargain price,' said others, 'and that's more likely when Mistress Lobelia's the buyer.' (Otho had died some years before, at the ripe but disappointed age of 102.) Just why Mr. Frodo was selling his beautiful hole was even more debatable than the price. A few held the theory - supported by the nods and hints of Mr. Baggins himself - that Frodo's money was running out: he was going to leave Hobbiton and live in a quiet way on the proceeds of the sale down in Buckland among his Brandybuck relations. 'As far from the Sackville-Bagginses as may be,' some added. But so firmly fixed had the notion of the immeasurable wealth of the Bagginses of Bag End become that most found this hard to believe, harder than any other reason or unreason that their fancy could suggest: to most it suggested a dark and yet ####-unrevealed plot by Gandalf. Though he kept himself very quiet and did not go about by day, it was well known that he was 'hiding up in the Bag End'. But however a removal might fit in with the designs of his wizardry, there was no doubt about the fact: Frodo Baggins was going back to Buckland. 'Yes, I shall be moving this autumn,' he said. 'Merry Brandybuck is looking out for a nice little hole for me, or perhaps a small house.' As a matter of fact with Merry's help he had already chosen and bought a little house at Crickhollow in the country beyond Bucklebury. To all but Sam he pretended he was going to settle down there permanently. The decision to set out eastwards had suggested the idea to him; for Buckland was on the eastern borders of the Shire, and as he had lived there in childhood his going back would at least seem credible. Gandalf stayed in the Shire for over two months. Then one evening, at the end of June, soon after Frodo's plan had been finally arranged, he suddenly announced that he was going off again next morning. 'Only for a short while, I hope,' he said. 'But I am going down beyond the southern borders to get some news, if I can. I have been idle longer than I should.' He spoke lightly, but it seemed to Frodo that he looked rather worried. 'Has anything happened?' he asked. 'Well no; but I have heard something that has made me anxious and needs looking into. If I think it necessary after all for you to get off at once, I shall come back immediately, or at least send word. In the meanwhile stick to your plan; but be more careful than ever, especially of the Ring. Let me impress on you once more: don't use it!' He went off at dawn. 'I may be back any day,' he said. 'At the very latest I shall come back for the farewell party. I think after all you may need my company on the Road.' At first Frodo was a good deal disturbed, and wondered often what Gandalf could have heard; but his uneasiness wore off, and in the fine weather he forgot his troubles for a while. The Shire had seldom seen so fair a summer, or so rich an autumn: the trees were laden with apples, honey was dripping in the combs, and the corn was tall and full. Autumn was well under way before Frodo began to worry about Gandalf again. September was passing and there was still no news of him. The Birthday, and the removal, drew nearer, and still he did not come, or send word. Bag End began to be busy. Some of Frodo's friends came to stay and help him with the packing: there was Fredegar Bolger and Folco Boffin, and ####-of course his special friends Pippin Took and Merry Brandybuck. Between them they turned the whole place upside-down. On September 20th two covered carts went off laden to Buckland, conveying the furniture and goods that Frodo had not sold to his new home, by way of the Brandywine Bridge. The next day Frodo became really anxious, and kept a constant look -out for Gandalf. Thursday, his birthday morning, dawned as fair and clear as it had long ago for Bilbo's great party. Still Gandalf did not appear. In the evening Frodo gave his farewell feast: it was quite small, just a dinner for himself and his four helpers; but he was troubled and fell in no mood for it. The thought that he would so soon have to part with his young friends weighed on his heart. He wondered how he would break it to them. The four younger hobbits were, however, in high spirits, and the party soon became very cheerful in spite of Gandalf's absence. The dining-room was bare except for a table and chairs, but the food was good, and there was good wine: Frodo's wine had not been included in the sale to the Sackville-Bagginses. 'Whatever happens to the rest of my stuff, when the S.-B.s get their claws on it, at any rate I have found a good home for this!' said Frodo, as he drained his glass. It was the last drop of Old Winyards. When they had sung many songs, and talked of many things they had done together, they toasted Bilbo's birthday, and they drank his health and Frodo's together according to Frodo's custom. Then they went out for a sniff of air, and glimpse of the stars, and then they went to bed. Frodo's party was over, and Gandalf had not come. The next morning they were busy packing another cart with the remainder of the luggage. Merry took charge of this, and drove off with Fatty (that is Fredegar Bolger). 'Someone must get there and warm the house before you arrive,' said Merry. 'Well, see you later - the day after tomorrow, if you don't go to sleep on the way!' Folco went home aft er lunch, but Pippin remained behind. Frodo was restless and anxious, listening in vain for a sound of Gandalf. He decided to wait until nightfall. After that, if Gandalf wanted him urgently, he would go to Crickhollow, and might even get there first. For Frodo was going on foot. His plan - for pleasure and a last look at the Shire as much as any other reason - was to walk from Hobbiton to Bucklebury Ferry, taking it ####-fairly easy. 'I shall get myself a bit into training, too,' he said, looking at himself in a dusty mirror in the half-empty hall. He had not done any strenuous walking for a long time, and the reflection looked rather flabby, he thought. After lunch, the Sackville-Bagginses, Lobelia and her sandy-haired son, Lotho, turned up, much to Frodo's annoyance. 'Ours at last!' said Lobelia, as she stepped inside. It was not polite; nor strictly true, for the sale of Bag End did not take effect until midnight. But Lobelia can perhaps be forgiven: she had been obliged to wait about seventy-seven years longer for Bag End than she once hoped, and she was now a hundred years old. Anyway, she had come to see that nothing she had paid for had been carried off; and she wanted the keys. It took a long while to satisfy her, as she had brought a complete inventory with her and went right through it. In the end she departed with Lotho and the spare key and the promise that the other key would be left at the Gamgees' in Bagshot Row. She snorted, and showed plainly that she thought the Gamgees capable of plundering the hole during the night. Frodo did not offer her any tea. He took his own tea with Pippin and Sam Gamgee in the kitchen. It had been officially announced that Sam was coming to Buckland 'to do for Mr. Frodo and look after his bit of garden'; an arrangement that was approved by the Gaffer, though it did not console him for the prospect of having Lobelia as a neighbour. 'Our last meal at Bag End!' said Frodo, pushing back his chair. They left the washing up for Lobelia. Pippin and Sam strapped up their three packs and piled them in the porch. Pippin went out for a last stroll in the garden. Sam disappeared. The sun went down. Bag End seemed sad and gloomy and dishevelled. Frodo wandered round the familiar rooms, and saw the light of the sunset fade on the walls, and shadows creep out of the corners. It grew slowly dark indoors. He went out and walked down to the gate at the bottom of the path, and then on a short way down the Hill Road. He half expected to see Gandalf come striding up through the dusk. The sky was clear and the stars were growing bright. 'It's going to be a fine night,' he said aloud. 'That's good for a beginning. I feel like ####-walking. I can't bear any more hanging about. I am going to start, and Gandalf must follow me.' He turned to go back, and then slopped, for he heard voices, just round the corner by the end of Bagshot Row. One voice was certainly the old Gaffer's; the other was strange, and somehow unpleasant. He could not make out what it said, but he heard the Gaffer's answers, which were rather shrill. The old man seemed put out. 'No, Mr. Baggins has gone away. Went this morning, and my Sam went with him: anyway all his stuff went. Yes, sold out and gone, I tell'ee. Why? Why's none of my business, or yours. Where to? That ain't no secret. He's moved to Bucklebury or some such place, away down yonder. Yes it is - a tidy way. I've never been so far myself; they're queer folks in Buckland. No, I can't give no message. Good night to you!' Footsteps went away down the Hill. Frodo wondered vaguely why the fact that they did not come on up the Hill seemed a great relief. 'I am sick of questions a nd curiosity about my doings, I suppose,' he thought. 'What an inquisitive lot they all are!' He had half a mind to go and ask the Gaffer who the inquirer was; but he thought better (or worse) of it, and turned and walked quickly back to Bag End. Pippin was sitting on his pack in the porch. Sam was not there. Frodo stepped inside the dark door. 'Sam!' he called. 'Sam! Time!' 'Coming, sir!' came the answer from far within, followed soon by Sam himself, wiping his mouth. He had been saying farewell to the beer -barrel in the cellar. 'All aboard, Sam?' said Frodo. 'Yes, sir. I'll last for a bit now, sir.' Frodo shut and locked the round door, and gave the key to Sam. 'Run down with this to your home, Sam!' he said. 'Then cu t along the Row and meet us as quick as you can at the gate in the lane beyond the meadows. We are not going through the village tonight. Too many ears pricking and eyes prying.' Sam ran off at full speed. 'Well, now we're off at last!' said Frodo. They shouldered their packs and took up their sticks, and walked round the corner to the west side of Bag End. 'Good-bye!' said Frodo, looking at the dark blank windows. He waved his hand, and then turned and (following Bilbo, if he had known it) hurried after Peregrin down the garden-path. They jumped over the low place in the ####-hedge at the bottom and took to the fields, passing into the darkness like a rustle in the grasses. At the bottom of the Hill on its western side they came to the gate opening on to a narrow lane. There they halted and adjusted the straps of their packs. Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless fell bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf. 'I am sure you have given me all the heaviest stuff,' said Frodo. 'I pity snails, and all that carry their homes on their backs.' 'I could take a lot more yet, sir. My packet is quite light,' said Sam stoutly and untruthfully. 'No, you don't, Sam!' said Pippin. 'It is good for him. He's got nothing except what he ordered us to pack. He's been slack lately, and he'll feel the weight less when he's walked off some of his own.' 'Be kind to a poor old hobbit!' laughed Frodo. 'I shall be as thin as a willow-wand, I'm sure, before I get to Buckland. But I was talking nonsense. I suspect you have taken more than your share, Sam, and I shall look into it at our next packing.' He picked up his stick again. 'Well, we all like walking in the dark,' he said, 'so let's put some miles behind us before bed.' For a short way they followed the lane westwards. Then leaving it they turned left and took quietly to the fields again. They went in single file along hedgerows and the borders of coppices, and night fell dark about them. In their dark cloaks they were as invisible as if they all had magic rings. Since they were all hobbits, and were trying to be silent, they made no noise that even hobbits would hear. Even the wild things in the fields and woods hardly noticed their passing. After some time they crossed the Water, west of Hobbiton, by a narrow plank -bridge. The stream was there no more than a winding black ribbon, bordered with leaning alder -trees. A mile or two further south they hastily crossed the great road from the Brandywine Bridge; they were now in the Tookland and bending south-eastwards they made for the Green Hill Country. As they began to climb its first slopes they looked back and saw the lamps in Hobbiton far off twinkling in the gentle valley of the Water. Soon it disappeared in the folds of the darkened land, and was followed by Bywater beside its grey pool. When the light of the last farm was far behind,####-peeping among the trees, Frodo turned and waved a hand in farewell. 'I wonder if I shall ever look down into that valley again,' he said quietly. When they had walked for about three hours they rested. The night was clear, cool, and starry, but smoke-like wisps of mist were creeping up the hill-sides from the streams and deep meadows. Thin-clad birches, swaying in a light wind above their heads, made a black net aga inst the pale sky. They ate a very frugal supper (for hobbits), and then went on again. Soon they struck a narrow road, that went rolling up and down, fading grey into the darkness ahead: the road to Woodhall, and Stock, and the Bucklebury Ferry. It climbed away from the main road in the Water-valley, and wound over the skirts of the Green Hills towards Woody-End, a wild corner of the Eastfarthing. After a while they plunged into a deeply cloven track between tall trees that rustled their dry leaves in the night. It was very dark. At first they talked, or hummed a tune softly together, being now far away from inquisitive ears. Then they marched on in silence, and Pippin began to lag behind. At last, as they began to climb a steep slope, he stopped and yawned. 'I am so sleepy,' he said, 'that soon I shall fall down on the road. Are you going to sleep on your legs? It is nearly midnight.' 'I thought you liked walking in the dark,' said Frodo. 'But there is no great hurry. Merry expects us some time the day after tomorrow; but that leaves us nearly two days more. We'll halt at the first likely spot.' 'The wind's in the West,' said Sam. 'If we get to the other side of this hill, we shall find a spot that is sheltered and snug enough, sir. There is a dry fir-wood just ahead, if I remember rightly.' Sam knew the land well within twenty miles of Hobbiton, but that was the limit of his geography. Just over the top of the hill they came on the patch of fir-wood. Leaving the road they went into the deep resin -scented darkness of the trees, and gathered dead sticks and cones to make a fire. Soon they had a merry crackle of flame at the foot of a large fir-tree and they sat round it for a while, until they began to nod. Then, each in an angle of the great tree's roots, they curled up in their cloaks and blankets, and were soon fast asleep. They set no watch; even Frodo feared no danger yet, for they were still in the heart of the Shire. A few creatures came and looked at ####-them when the fire had died away. A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffed. 'Hobbits!' he thought. 'Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a hobbit sleeping out of doors under a tree. Three of them! There's something mighty queer behind this.' He was quite right, but he never found out any more about it. The morning came, pale and clammy. Frodo woke up first, and found that a tree-root had made a hole in his back, and that his neck was stiff. 'Walking for pleasure! Why didn't I drive?' he thought, as he usually did at the beginning of an expedition. 'And all my beautiful feather beds are sold to the Sackville-Bagginses! These tree -roots would do them good.' He stretched. 'Wake up, hobbits!' he cried. It's a beautiful morning.' 'What's beautiful about it?' said Pippin, peering over the edge of his blanket with one eye. 'Sam! Gel breakfast ready for half-past nine! Have you got the bath-water hot?' Sam jumped up, looking rather bleary. 'No, sir, I haven't, sir!' he said. Frodo stripped the blankets from Pippin and rolled him over, and then walked off to the edge of the wood. Away eastward the sun was rising red out of the mists that lay thick on the world. Touched with gold and red the autumn trees seemed to be sailing rootless in a shadowy sea. A little below him to the left the road ran down steeply into a hollow and disappeared. When he returned Sam and Pippin had got a good fire going. 'Water!' shouted Pippin. 'Where's the water?' 'I don't keep water in my pockets,' said Frodo. 'We thought you had gone to find some,' said Pippin, busy setting out the food, and cups. 'You had better go now.' 'You can come too,' said Frodo, 'and bring all the water -bottles.' There was a stream at the foot of the hill. They filled their bottles and the small camping kettle at a little fall where the water fell a few feet over an outcrop of grey stone. It was icy cold; and they spluttered and puffed as they bathed their faces and hands. When their breakfast was over, and their packs all trussed up again, it was after ten o'clock, and the day was beginning to turn fine and hot. They went down the slope, and across the stream where it dived under the road, and up the next slope, and up and down another shoulder of the hills; and by that time their cloaks, blankets, water , food, and other gear already seemed ####-a heavy burden. The day's march promised to be warm and tiring work. After some miles, however, the road ceased to roll up and down: it climbed to the top of a steep bank in a weary zig-zagging sort of way, and then prepared to go down for the last time. In front of them they saw the lower lands dotted with small clumps of trees that melted away in the distance to a brown woodland haze. They were looking across the Woody End towards the Brandywine River. The road wound away before them like a piece of string. 'The road goes on for ever,' said Pippin; 'but I can't without a rest. It is high time for lunch.' He sat down on the bank at the side of the road and looked away east into the haze, beyond which lay the River, and the end of the Shire in which he had spent all his life. Sam stood by him. His round eyes were wide open - for he was looking across lands he had never seen to a new horizon. 'Do Elves live in those woods?' he asked. 'Not that I ever heard,' said Pippin. Frodo was silent. He too was gazing eastward along the road, as if he had never seen it before. Suddenly he spoke, aloud but as if to himself, saying slowly: The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. 'That sounds like a bit of old Bilbo's rhyming,' said Pippin. 'Or is it one of your imitations? It does not sound altogether encouraging.' 'I don't know,' said Frodo. It came to me then, as if I was making it up; but I may have heard it long ago. Certainly it reminds me very much of Bilbo in the last years, before he went away. He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through ####-Mirkwood, and that if you let it, it might take you to the Lonely Mountain or even further and to worse places?" He used to say that on the path outside the front door at Bag End, especially after he had been out for a long walk.' 'Well, the Road won't sweep me a nywhere for an hour at least,' said Pippin, unslinging his pack. The others followed his example, putting their packs against the bank and their legs out into the road. After a rest they had a good lunch, and then more rest. The sun was beginning to get low and the light of afternoon was on the land as they went down the hill. So far they had not met a soul on the road. This way was not much used, being hardly fit for carts, and there was little traffic to the Woody End. They had been jogging along again for an hour or more when Sam stopped a moment as if listening. They were now on level ground, and the road after much winding lay straight ahead through grass-land sprinkled with tall trees, outliers of the approaching woods. 'I can hear a pony or a horse coming along the road behind,' said Sam. They looked back, but the turn of the road prevented them from seeing far. 'I wonder if that is Gandalf coming after us,' said Frodo; but even as he said it, he had a feeling that it was not so, and a sudden desire to hide from the view of the rider came over him. 'It may not matter much,' he said apologetically, 'but I would rather not be seen on the road - by anyone. I am sick of my doings being noticed and discussed. And if it is Gandalf,' he added as an afterthought, 'we can give him a little surprise, to pay him out for being so late. Let's get out of sight!' The other two ran quickly to the left and down into a little hollow not far from the road. There they lay flat. Frodo hesitated for a second: curiosity or some other feeling was struggling with his desire to hide. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. Just in time he threw himself down in a patch of long grass behind a tree that overshadowed the road. Then he lifted his head and peered cautiously above one of the great roots. Round the corner came a black horse, no hobbit-pony but a full-sized horse; and on it sat a large man, who seemed to crouch in the saddle, wrapped in a great black cloak and hood, so that only his boots in the high stirrups showed below; his face was shadowed and invisible. When it reached the tree and was level with Frodo the horse stopped. The riding figure sat quite still with its head bowed, as if listening. From ####-inside the hood came a noise as of someone sniffing to catch an elusive scent; the head turned from side to side of the road. A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold of Frodo, and he thought of his Ring. He hardly dared to breathe, and yet the desire to get it out of his pocket became so strong that he began slowly to move his hand. He felt that he had only to slip it on, and then he would be safe. The advice of Gandalf seemed absurd. Bilbo had used the Ring. 'And I am still in the Shire,' he thought, as his hand touched the chain on which it hung. At that moment the rider sat up, and shook the reins. The horse stepped forward, walking slowly at first, and then breaking into a quick trot. Frodo crawled to the edge of the road and watched the rider, until he dwindled into the distance. He could not be quite sure, but it seemed to him that suddenly, before it passed out of sight, the horse turned aside and went into the trees on the right. 'Well, I call that very queer, and indeed disturbing,' said Frodo to himself, as he walked towards his companions. Pippin and Sam had remained flat in the grass, and had seen nothing; so Frodo described the rider and his strange behaviour. 'I can't say why, but I felt certain he was looking or smelling for me; and also I felt certain that I did not want him to discover me. I've never seen or fell anything like it in the Shire before.' 'But what has one of the Big People got to do with us?' said Pippin. 'And what is he doing in this part of the world?' 'There are some Men about,' said Frodo. 'Down in the Southfarthing they have had trouble with Big People, I believe. But I have never heard of anything like this rider. I wonder where he comes from.' 'Begging your pardon,' put in Sam suddenly, 'I know where he comes from. It's from Hobbiton that this here black rider comes, unless there's more than one. And I know where he's going to.' 'What do you mean?' said Frodo sharply, looking at him in astonishment. 'Why didn't you speak up before?' 'I have only just remembered, sir. It was like this: when I got back to our hole yesterday evening with the key, my dad, he says to me: Hello, Sam! he says. I thought you were away with Mr. Frodo this morning. There's been a strange customer asking for Mr. Baggins of Bag End, and he's only just gone. I've sent him on to Bucklebury. Not that I liked the sound of him. He seemed mighty put out, when I told him Mr. Baggins had left his old home for good.####-Hissed at me, he did. It gave me quite a shudder. What sort of a fellow was he? says I to the Gaffer. / don't know, says he; but he wasn't a hobbit. He was tall and black-like, and he stooped aver me. I reckon it was one of the Big Folk from foreign parts. He spoke funny. 'I couldn't stay to hear more, sir, since you were waiting; and I didn't give much heed to it myself. The Gaffer is getting old, and more than a bit blind, and it must have been near dark when this fellow come up the Hill and found him taking the air at the end of our Row. I hope he hasn't done no harm, sir, nor me.' 'The Gaffer can't be blamed anyway,' said Frodo. 'As a matter of fact I heard him talking to a stranger, who seemed to be inquiring for me, and I nearly went and asked him who it was. I wish I had, or you had told me about it before. I might have been more careful on the road.' 'Still, there may be no connexion between this rider and the Gaffer's stranger,' said Pippin. 'We left Hobbiton secretly enough, and I don't see how he could have followed us.' 'What about the smelling, sir?' said Sam. 'And the Gaffer said he was a black chap.' 'I wish I had waited for Gandalf,' Frodo muttered. 'But perhaps it would only have made matters worse.' 'Then you know or guess something about this rider?' said Pippin, who had caught the muttered words. 'I don't know, and I would rather not guess,' said Frodo. 'All right, cousin Frodo! You can keep your secret for the present, if you want to be mysterious. In the meanwhile what are we to do? I should like a bite and a sup, but somehow I think we had better move on from here. Your talk of sniffing riders with invisible noses has unsettled me.' 'Yes, I think we will move on now,' said Frodo; 'but not on the road -in case that rider comes back, or another follows him. We ought to do a good step more today. Buckland is still miles away.' The shadows of the trees were long and thin on the grass, as they started off again. They now kept a stone's throw to the left of the road, and kept out of sight of it as much as they could. But this hindered them; for the grass was thick and tussocky, and the ground uneven, and the trees began to draw together into thickets. The sun had gone down red behind the hills at their backs, and evening was coming on before they came back to the road at the end of the long level ####-over which it had run straight for some miles. At that point it bent left and went down into the lowlands of the Yale making for Stock; but a lane branched right, winding through a wood of ancient oak-trees on its way to Woodhall. 'That is the way for us,' said Frodo. Not far from the road-meeting they came on the huge hulk of a tree: it was still alive and had leaves on the small branches that it had put out round the broken stumps of its long-fallen limbs; but it was hollow, and could be entered by a great crack on the side away from the road. The hobbits crept inside, and sat there upon a floor of old leaves and decayed wood. They rested and had a light meal, talking quietly and listening from time to time. Twilight was about them as they crept back to the lane. The West wind was sighing in the branches. Leaves were whispering. Soon the road began to fall gently but steadily into the dusk. A star came out above the trees in the darkening East before them. They went abreast and in step, to keep up their spirits. After a time, as the stars grew thicker and brighter, the feeling of disquiet left them, and they no longer listened for the sound of hoofs. They began to hum softly, as hobbits have a way of doing as they walk along, especially when they are drawing near to home at night. With most hobbits it is a supper -song or a bed-song; but these hobbits hummed a walking-song (though not, of course, without any mention of supper and bed). Bilbo Baggins had made the words, to a tune that was as old as the hills, and taught it to Frodo as they walked in the lanes of the Water -valley and talked about Adventure. Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still round the corner we may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That none have seen but we alone. Tree and flower and leaf and grass, Let them pass! Let them pass! Hill and water under sky, Pass them by! Pass them by! Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate,####- And though we pass them by today, Tomorrow we may come this way And take the hidden paths that run Towards the Moon or to the Sun. Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe, Let them go! Let them go! Sand and stone and pool and dell, Fare you well! Fare you well! Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight. Then world behind and home ahead, We'll wander back to home and bed. Mist and twilight, cloud and shade, Away shall fade! Away shall fade! Fire and lamp, and meat and bread, And then to bed! And then to bed! The song ended. 'And now to bed! And now to bed!' sang Pippin in a high voice. 'Hush!' said Frodo. 'I think I hear hoofs again.' They slopped suddenly and stood as silent as tree-shadows, listening. There was a sound of hoofs in the lane, some way behind, but coming slow and clear down the wind. Quickly and quietly they slipped off the path, and ran into the deeper shade under the oak-trees. 'Don't let us go too far!' said Frodo. 'I don't want to be seen, but I want to see if it is another Black Rider.' 'Very well!' said Pippin. 'But don't forget the sniffing!' The hoofs drew nearer. They had no time to find any hiding-place better than the general darkness under the trees; Sam and Pippin crouched behind a large tree-bole, while Frodo crept back a few yards towards the lane. It showed grey and pale, a line of fading light through the wood. Above it the stars were thick in the dim sky, but there was no moon. The sound of hoofs stopped. As Frodo watched he saw something dark pass across the lighter space between two trees, and then halt. It looked like the black shade of a horse led by a smaller black shadow. The black shadow ####-stood close to the point where they had left the path, and it swayed from side to side. Frodo thought he heard the sound of snuffling. The shadow bent to the ground, and then began to crawl towards him. Once more the desire to slip on the Ring came over Frodo; but this time it was stronger than before. So strong that, almost before he realized what he was doing, his hand was groping in his pocket. But at that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laughter. Clear voices rose and fell in the starlit air. The black shadow straightened up and retreated. It climbed on to the shadowy horse and seemed to vanish across the lane into the darkness on the other side. Frodo breathed again. 'Elves!' exclaimed Sam in a hoarse whisper. 'Elves, sir!' He would have burst out of the trees and dashed off towards the voices, if they had not pulled him back. 'Yes, it is Elves,' said Frodo. 'One can meet them sometimes in the Woody End. They don't live in the Shire, but they wander into it in Spring and Autumn, out of their own lands away beyond the Tower Hills. I am thankful that they do! You did not see, but that Black Rider stopped just here and was actually crawling towards us when the song began. As soon as he heard the voices he slipped away.' 'What about the Elves?' said Sam, too excited to trouble about the rider. 'Can't we go and see them?' 'Listen! They are coming this way,' said Frodo. 'We have only to wait.' The singing drew nearer. One clear voice rose now above the others. It was singing in the fair elven-tongue, of which Frodo knew only a little, and the others knew nothing. Yet the sound blending with the melody seemed to shape itself in their thought into words which they only partly understood. This was the song as Frodo heard it: Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear! O Queen beyond the Western Seas! O Light to us that wander here Amid the world of woven trees! Gilthoniel! O Elbereth! Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath! Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee In a far land beyond the Sea. ####- O stars that in the Sunless Year With shining hand by her were sawn, In windy fields now bright and clear We see your silver blossom blown! O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees, Thy starlight on the Western Seas. The song ended. 'These are High Elves! They spoke the name of Elbereth!' said Frodo in amazement, 'Few of that fairest folk are ever seen in the Shire. Not many now remain in Middle-earth, east of the Great Sea. This is indeed a strange chance!' The hobbits sat in shadow by the wayside. Before long the Elves came down the lane towards the valley. They passed slowly, and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes. They bore no lights, yet as they walked a shimmer, like the light of the moon above the rim of the hills before it rises, seemed to fall about their feet. They were now silent, and as the last Elf passed he turned and looked towards the hobbits and laughed. 'Hail, Frodo!' he cried. 'You are abroad late. Or are you perhaps lost?' Then he called aloud to the others, and all the company stopped and gathered round. 'This is indeed wonderful!' they said. 'Three hobbits in a wood at night! We have not seen such a thing since Bilbo went away. What is the meaning of it?' 'The meaning of it, fair people,' said Frodo, 'is simply that we seem to be going the same way as you are. I like walking under the stars. But I would welcome your company.' 'But we have no need of other company, and hobbits are so dull,' they laughed. 'And how do you know that we go the same way as you, for you do not know whither we are going?' 'And how do you know my name?' asked Frodo in return. 'We know many things,' they said. 'We have seen you often before with Bilbo, though you may not have seen us.' 'Who are you, and who is your lord?' asked Frodo.####- 'I am Gildor,' answered their leader, the Elf who had first hailed him. 'Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod. We are Exiles, and most of our kindred have long ago departed and we too are now only tarrying here a while, ere we return over the Great Sea. But some of our kinsfolk dwell still in peace in Rivendell. Come now, Frodo, tell us what you are doing? For we see that there is some shadow of fear upon you.' 'O Wise People!' interrupted Pippin eagerly. 'Tell us about the Black Riders!' 'Black Riders?' they said in low voices. 'Why do you ask a bout Black Riders?' 'Because two Black Riders have overtaken us today, or one has done so twice,' said Pippin; 'only a little while ago he slipped away as you drew near.' The Elves did not answer at once, but spoke together softly in their own tongue. At length Gildor turned to the hobbits. 'We will not speak of this here,' he said. 'We think you had best come now with us. It is not our custom, but for this time we will lake you on our road, and you shall lodge with us tonight, if you will.' 'O Fair Folk! This is good fortune beyond my hope,' said Pippin. Sam was speechless. 'I thank you indeed, Gildor Inglorion,' said Frodo bowing. 'Elen snla l®menn' omentielvo, a star shines on the hour of our meeting,' he added in the high-elven speech. 'Be careful, friends!' cried Gildor laughing. 'Speak no secrets! Here is a scholar in the Ancient Tongue. Bilbo was a good master. Hail, Elf-friend!' he said, bowing to Frodo. 'Come now with your friends and join our company! You had best walk in the middle so that you may not stray. You may be weary before we halt.' 'Why? Where are you going?' asked Frodo. 'For tonight we go to the woods on the hills above Woodhall. It is some miles, but you shall have rest at the end of it, and it will shorten your journey tomorrow.' They now marched on again in silence, and passed like shadows and faint lights: for Elves (even more than hobbits) could walk when they wished without sound or footfall. Pippin soon began to feel sleepy, and staggered once or twice; but each time a tall Elf at his side put out his arm and saved him from a fall. Sam walked along at Frodo's side, as if in a dream, with an expression on his face half of fear and half of astonished joy.####- The woods on either side became denser; the trees were now younger and thicker; and as the lane went lower, running down into a fold of the hills, there were many deep brakes of hazel on the rising slopes at either hand. At last the Elves turned aside from the path. A green ride lay almost unseen through the thickets on the right; and this they followed as it wound away back up the wooded slopes on to the top of a shoulder of the hills that stood out into the lower land of the river -valley. Suddenly they came out of the shadow of the trees, and before them lay a wide space of grass, grey under the night. On three sides the woods pressed upon it; but eastward the ground fell steeply and the tops of the dark trees, growing at the bottom of the slope, were below their feet. Beyond, the low lands lay dim and flat under the stars. Nearer at hand a few lights twinkled in the village of Woodhall. The Elves sat on the grass and spoke together in soft voices; they seemed to take no further notice of the hobbits. Frodo and his companions wrapped themselves in cloaks and blankets, and drowsiness stole over them. The night grew on, and the lights in the valley went out. Pippin fell asleep, pillowed on a green hillock. Away high in the East swung Remmirath, the Netted Stars, and slowly above the mists red Borgil rose, glowing like a jewel of fire. Then by some shift of airs all the mist was drawn away like a veil, and there leaned up, as he climbed over the rim of the world, the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt. The Elves all burst into song. Suddenly under the trees a fire sprang up with a red light. 'Come!' the Elves called to the hobbits. 'Come! Now is the time for speech and merriment!' Pippin sat up and rubbed his eyes. He shivered. 'There is a fire in the hall, and food for hungry guests,' said an Elf standing before him. At the south end of the greensward there was an opening. There the green floor ran on into the wood, and formed a wide space like a hall, roofed by the boughs of trees. Their great trunks ran like pillars down each side. In the middle there was a wood-fire blazing, and upon the tree-pillars torches with lights of gold and silver were burning steadily. The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn rings of old trunks. Some went to and fro bearing cups and pouring drink; others brought food on heaped plates and dishes. 'This is poor fare,' they said to the hobbits; 'for we are lodging in ####-the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are our guests at home, we will treat you better.' 'It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party,' said Frodo. Pippin afterwards recalled little o f either food or drink, for his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a waking dream. But he remembered that there was bread, surpassing the savour of a fair white loaf to one who is starving; and fruits sweet as wildberries and richer than the tended fruits of gardens; he drained a cup that was filled with a fragrant draught, cool as a clear fountain, golden as a summer afternoon. Sam could never describe in words, nor picture clearly to himself, what he felt or thought that night, though it remained in his memory as one of the chief events of his life. The nearest he ever got was to say: 'Well, sir, if I could grow apples like that, I would call myself a gardener. But it was the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean.' Frodo sat, eating, drinking, and talking with delight; but his mind was chiefly on the words spoken. He knew a little of the elf-speech and listened eagerly. Now and again he spoke to those that served him and thanked them in their own language. They smiled at him and said laughing: 'Here is a jewel among hobbits!' After a while Pippin fell fast asleep, and was lifted up and borne away to a bower under the trees; there he was laid upon a soft bed and slept the rest of the night away. Sam refused to leave his master. When Pippin had gone, he came and sat curled up at Frodo's feet, where at last he nodded and closed his eyes. Frodo remained long awake, talking with Gildor. They spoke of many things, old and new, and Frodo questioned Gildor much about happenings in the wide world outside the Shire. The tidings were mostly sad and ominous: of gathering darkness, the wars of Men, and the flight of the Elves. At last Frodo asked the question that was nearest to his heart: 'Tell me, Gildor, have you ever seen Bilbo since he left us?' Gildor smiled. 'Yes,' he answered. 'Twice. He said farewell to us on this very spot. But I saw him once again, far from here.' He would say no more about Bilbo, and Frodo fell silent. 'You do not ask me or tell me much that concerns yourself, Frodo,' said Gildor. 'But I already know a little, and I can read more in your face and in the thought behind your questions. You are leaving the Shire, and yet you ####-doubt that you will find what you seek, or accomplish what you intend, or that you will ever return. Is not that so?' 'It is,' said Frodo; 'but I thought my going was a secret known only to Gandalf and my faithful Sam.' He looked down at Sam, who was snoring gently. 'The secret will not reach the Enemy from us,' said Gildor. 'The Enemy?' said Frodo. 'Then you know why I am leaving the Shire?' 'I do not know for what reason the Enemy is pursuing you,' answered Gildor; 'but I perceive that he is - strange indeed though that seems to me. And I warn you that peril is now both before you and behind you, and upon either side.' 'You mean the Riders? I feared that they were servants of the Enemy. What are the Black Riders?' 'Has Gandalf told you nothing?' 'Nothing about such creatures.' 'Then I think it is not for me to say more - lest terror should keep you from your journey. For it seems to me that you have set out only just in time, if indeed you are in time. You must now make haste, and neither stay nor turn back; for the Shire is no longer any protection to you.' 'I cannot imagine what information could be more terrifying than your hints and warnings,' exclaimed Frodo. 'I knew that danger lay ahead, of course; but I did not expect to meet it in our own Shire. Can't a hobbit walk from the Water to the River in peace?' 'But it is not your own Shire,' said Gildor. 'Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.' 'I know - and yet it has always seemed so safe and familiar. What can I do now? My plan was to leave the Shire secretly, and make my way to Rivendell; but now my footsteps are dogged, before ever I get to Buckland.' 'I think you should still follow that plan,' said Gildor. 'I do not think the Road will prove too hard for your courage. But if you desire clearer counsel, you should ask Gandalf. I do not know the reason for your flight, and therefore I do not know by what means your pursuers will assail you. These things Gandalf must know. I suppose that you will see him before you leave the Shire?' 'I hope so. But that is another thing that makes me anxious. I have ####-been expecting Gandalf for many days. He was to have come to Hobbiton at the latest two nights ago; but he has never appeared. Now I am wondering what can have happened. Should I wait for him?' Gildor was silent for a moment. 'I do not like this news,' he said at last. 'That Gandalf should be late, does not bode well. But it is said: Do not meddle in the affairs o f Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. The choice is yours: to go or wait.' 'And it is also said,' answered Frodo: 'Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.' 'Is it indeed?' laughed Gildor. 'Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. But what would you? You have not told me all concerning yourself; and how then shall I choose better than you? But if you demand advice, I will for friendship's sake give it. I think you should now go at once, without delay; and if Gandalf does not come before you set out, then I also advise this: do not go alone. Take such friends as are trusty and willing. Now you should be grateful, for I do not give this counsel gladly. The Elves have their own labours and their own sorrows, and they are little concerned with the ways of hobbits, or of any other creatures upon earth. Our paths cross theirs seldom, by chance or purpose. In this meeting there may be more than chance; but the purpose is not clear to me, and I fear to say too much.' 'I am deeply grateful,' said Frodo; 'but I wish you would tell me plainly what the Black Riders are. If I take your advice I may not see Gandalf for a long while, and I ought to know what is the danger that pursues me.' 'Is it not enough to know that they are servants of the Enemy?' answered Gildor. 'Flee them! Speak no words to them! They are deadly. Ask no more of me! But my heart forbodes that, ere all is ended, you, Frodo son of Drogo, will know more of these fell things than Gildor Inglorion. May Elbereth protect you!' 'But where shall I find courage?' asked Frodo. 'That is what I chiefly need.' 'Courage is found in unlikely places,' said Gildor. 'Be of good hope! Sleep now! In the morning we shall have gone; but we will send our messages ####-through the lands. The Wandering Companies shall know of your journey, and those that have power for good shall be on the watch. I name you Elf-friend; and may the stars shine upon the end of your road! Seldom have we had such delight in strangers, and it is fair to hear words of the Ancient Speech from the lips of other wanderers in the world.' Frodo felt sleep coming upon him, even as Gildor finished speaking. 'I will sleep now,' he said; and the Elf led him to a bower beside Pippin, and he threw himself upon a bed and fell at once into a dreamless slumber. ####- In the morning Frodo woke refreshed. He was lying in a bower made by a living tree with branches laced and drooping to the ground; his bed was of fern and grass, deep and soft and strangely fragrant. The sun was shining through the fluttering leaves, which were still green upon the tree. He jumped up and went out. Sam was sitting on the grass near the edge of the wood. Pippin was standing studying the sky and weather. There was no sign of the Elves. 'They have left us fruit and drink, and bread,' said Pippin. 'Come and have your breakfast. The bread tastes almost as good as it did last night. I did not want to leave you any, but Sam insisted.' Frodo sat down beside Sam and began to eat. 'Wha t is the plan for today?' asked Pippin. 'To walk to Bucklebury as quickly as possible,' answered Frodo, and gave his attention to the food. 'Do you think we shall see anything of those Riders?' asked Pippin cheerfully. Under the morning sun the prospect of seeing a whole troop of them did not seem very alarming to him. 'Yes, probably,' said Frodo, not liking the reminder. 'But I hope to get across the river without their seeing us.' 'Did you find out anything about them from Gildor?' 'Not much - only hints and riddles,' said Frodo evasively. 'Did you ask about the sniffing?' 'We didn't discuss it,' said Frodo with his mouth full. 'You should have. I am sure it is very important.' 'In that case I am sure Gildor would have refused to explain it,' said Frodo sharply. 'And now leave me in peace for a bit! I don't want to answer a string of questions while I am eating. I want to think!' 'Good heavens!' said Pippin. 'At breakfast?' He walked away towards the edge of the green. From Frodo's mind the bright morning - treacherously bright, he thought - had not banished the fear of pursuit; and he pondered the words of Gildor. The merry voice of Pippin came to him. He was running on the green turf and singing.####- 'No! I could not!' he said to himself. 'It is one thing to take my young friends walking over the Shire with me, until we are hungry and weary, and food and bed are sweet. To take them into exile, where hunger and weariness may ha ve no cure, is quite another - even if they are willing to come. The inheritance is mine alone. I don't think I ought even to take Sam.' He looked at Sam Gamgee, and discovered that Sam was watching him. 'Well, Sam!' he said. 'What about it? I am leaving the Shire as soon as ever I can - in fact I have made up my mind now not even to wait a day at Crickhollow, if it can be helped.' 'Very good, sir!' 'You still mean to come with me?' 'I do.' 'It is going to be very dangerous, Sam. 'It is already dangerous. Most likely neither of us will come back.' 'If you don't come back, sir, then I shan't, that's certain,' said Sam. 'Don't you leave him! they said to me. Leave him! I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon, and if any of those Black Rulers try to stop him, they'll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with, I said. They laughed.' 'Who are they, and what are you talking about?' 'The Elves, sir. We had some talk last night; and they seemed to know you were going away, so I didn't see the use of denying it. Wonderful folk, Elves, sir! Wonderful!' 'They are,' said Frodo. 'Do you like them still, now you have had a closer view?' 'They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak,' answered Sam slowly. 'It don't seem to matter what I think about them. They are quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were.' Frodo looked at Sam rather startled, half expecting to see some outward sign of the odd change that seemed to have come over him. It did not sound like the voice of the old Sam Gamgee that he thought he knew. But it looked like the old Sam Gamgee sitting there, except that his face was unusually thoughtful. 'Do you feel any need to leave the Shire now - now that your wish to see them has come true already?' he asked. 'Yes, sir. I don't know how to say it, but after last night I feel ####-different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back. It isn't to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want - I don't rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.' 'I don't altogether. But I understand that Gandalf chose me a good companion. I am content. We will go together.' Frodo finished his breakfast in silence. Then standing up he looked over the land ahead, and called to Pippin. 'All ready to start?' he said as Pippin ran up. 'We must be getting off at once. We slept late; and there are a good many miles to go.' 'You slept late, you mean,' said Pippin. 'I was up long before; and we are only waiting for you to finish eating and thinking.' 'I have finished both now. And I am going to make for Bucklebury Ferry as quickly as possible. I am not going out of the way, back to the road we left last night: I am going to cut straight across country from here.' 'Then you are going to fly,' said Pippin. 'You won't cut straight on foot anywhere in this country.' 'We can cut straighter than the road anyway,' answered Frodo. 'The Ferry is east from Woodhall; but the hard road curves away to the left -you can see a bend of it away north over there. It goes round the north end of the Marish so as to strike the causeway from the Bridge above Stock. But that is miles out of the way. We could save a quarter of the distance if we made a line for the Ferry from where we stand.' 'Short cuts make long delays,' argued Pippin. 'The country is rough round here, and there are bogs and all kinds of difficulties down in the Marish -I know the land in these parts. And if you are worrying about Black Riders, I can't see that it is any worse meeting them on a road than in a wood or a field.' 'It is less easy to find people in the woods and fields,' answered Frodo. 'And if you are supposed to be on the road, there is some chance that you will be looked for on the road and not off it.' 'All right!' said Pippin. 'I will follow you into every bog and ditch. But it is hard! I had counted on passing the Golden Perch at Stock before sundown. The best beer in the Eastfarthing, or used to be: it is a long time since I tasted it.' 'That settles it!' said Frodo. 'Short cuts make delays, but inns make ####-longer ones. At all costs we must keep you away from the Golden Perch. We want to get to Bucklebury before dark. What do you say, Sam?' 'I will go along with you, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam (in spite of private misgiving and a deep regret for the best beer in the Eastfarthing). 'Then if we are going to toil through bog and briar, let's go now!' said Pippin. It was already nearly as hot as it had been the day before; but clouds were beginning to come up from the West. It looked likely to turn to rain. The hobbits scrambled down a steep green bank and plunged into the thick trees below. Their course had been chosen to leave Woodhall to their left, and to cut slanting through the woods that clustered along the eastern side of the hills, until they reached the flats beyond. Then they could make straight for the Ferry over country that was open, except for a few ditches and fences. Frodo reckoned they had eighteen miles to go in a straight line. He soon found that the thicket was closer and more tangled than it had appeared. There were no paths in the undergrowth, and they did not get on very fast. When they had struggled to the bottom of the bank, they found a stream running down from the hills behind in a deeply dug bed with steep slippery sides overhung with brambles. Most inconveniently it cut across the line they had chosen. They could not jump over it, nor indeed get across it at all without getting wet, scratched, and muddy. They halted, wondering what to do. 'First check!' said Pippin, smiling grimly. Sam Gamgee looked back. Through an opening in the trees he caught a glimpse of the top of the green bank from which they had climbed down. 'Look!' he said, clutching Frodo by the arm. They all looked, and on the edge high above them they saw against the sky a horse standing. Beside it stooped a black figure. They at once gave up any idea of going back. Frodo led the way, and plunged quickly into the thick bushes beside the stream. 'Whew!' he said to Pippin. 'We were both right! The short cut has gone crooked already; but we got under cover only just in time. You've got sharp ears, Sam: can you hear anything coming?' They stood still, almost holding their breath as they listened; but there was no sound of pursuit. 'I don't fancy he would try bringing his hor se down that bank,' said Sam. 'But I guess he knows we came down it. We had better be going on.' Going on was not altogether easy. They had packs to carry, and the ####-bushes and brambles were reluctant to let them through. They were cut off from the wind by the ridge behind, and the air was still and stuffy. When they forced their way at last into more open ground, they were hot and tired and very scratched, and they were also no longer certain of the direction in which they were going. The banks of the stream sank, as it reached the levels and became broader and shallower, wandering off towards the Marish and the River. 'Why, this is the Stock-brook!' said Pippin. 'If we are going to try and get back on to our course, we must cross at once and bear right.' They waded the stream, and hurried over a wide open space, rush-grown and treeless, on the further side. Beyond that they came again to a belt of trees: tall oaks, for the most part, with here and there an elm tree or an ash. The ground was fairly level, and there was little undergrowth; but the trees were loo close for them to see far ahead. The leaves blew upwards in sudden gusts of wind, and spots of rain began to fall from the overcast sky. Then the wind died away and the rain came streaming down. They trudged along as fast as they could, over patches of grass, and through thick drifts of old leaves; and all about them the rain pattered and trickled. They did not talk, but kept glancing back, and from side to side. After half an hour Pippin said: 'I hope we have not turned too much towards the south, and are not walking longwise through this wood! It is not a very broad belt --I should have said no more than a mile at the widest - and we ought to have been through it by now.' 'It is no good our starting to go in zig-zags,' said Frodo. 'That won't mend matters. Let us keep on as we are going! I am not sure that I want to come out into the open yet.' They went on for perhaps another couple of miles. Then the sun gleamed out of ragged clouds again and the rain lessened. It was now past mid-day, and they felt it was high time for lunch. They halted under an elm tree: its leaves though fast turning yellow were still thick, and the ground at its feel was fairly dry and sheltered. When they came to make their meal, they found that the Elves had filled their bottles with a clear drink, pale golden in colour: it had the scent of a honey made of many flowers, and was wonderfully refreshing. Very soon they were laughing, and snapping their fingers at rain, and at Black Riders. The last few miles, they felt, would soon be behind them.####- Frodo propped his back against the tree-trunk, and closed his eyes. Sam and Pippin sat near, and they began to hum, and then to sing softly: Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go To heal my heart and drown my woe. Rain may fall and wind may blow, And many miles be still to go, But under a tall tree I will lie, And let the clouds go sailing by. Ho! Ho! Ho! they began again louder. They stopped short suddenly. Frodo sprang to his feet. A long-drawn wail came down the wind, like the cry of some evil and lonely creature. It rose and fell, and ended on a high piercing note. Even as they sat and stood, as if suddenly frozen, it was answered by another cry, fainter and further off, but no less chilling to the blood. There was then a silence, broken only by the sound of the wind in the leaves. 'And what do you think that was?' Pippin asked at last, trying to speak lightly, but quavering a little. 'If it was a bird, it was one that I never heard in the Shire before.' 'It was not bird or beast,' said Frodo. 'It was a call, or a signal -- there were words in that cry, though I could not catch them. But no hobbit has such a voice.' No more was said about it. They were all thinking of the Riders, but no one spoke of them. They were now reluctant either to stay or go on; but sooner or later they had got to get across the open country to the Ferry, and it was best to go sooner and in daylight. In a few moments they had shouldered their packs again and were off. Before long the wood came to a sudden end. Wide grass-lands stretched before them. They now saw that they had, in fact, turned too much to the south. Away over the flats they could glimpse the low hill of Bucklebury across the River, but it was now to their left. Creeping cautiously out from the edge of the trees, they set off across the open as quickly as they could. At first they felt afraid, away from the shelter of the wood. Far back behind them stood the high place where they had breakfasted. Frodo half expected to see the small distant figure of a horseman on the ridge dark against the sky; but there was no sign of one. The sun escaping from the breaking clouds, as it sank towards the hills they had left, was now shining ####-brightly again. Their fear left them, though they still felt uneasy. But the land became steadily more tame and well-ordered. Soon they came into well-tended fields and meadows: there were hedges and gates and dikes for drainage. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful, just an ordinary corner of the Shire. Their spirits rose with every step. The line of the River grew nearer; and the Black Riders began to seem like phantoms of the woods now left far behind. They passed along the edge of a huge turnip-field, and came to a stout gate. Beyond it a rutted lane ran between low well-laid hedges towards a distant clump of trees. Pippin stopped. 'I know these fields and this gate!' he said. 'This is Bamfurlong, old Farmer Maggot's land. That's his farm away there in the trees.' 'One trouble after another!' said Frodo, looking nearly as much alarmed as if Pippin had declared the lane was the slot leading to a dragon's den. The others looked at him in surprise. 'What's wrong with old Maggot?' asked Pippin. 'He's a good friend to all the Brandy bucks. Of course he's a terror to trespassers, and keeps ferocious dogs - but after all, folk down here are near the border and have to be more on their guard.' 'I know,' said Frodo. 'But all the same,' he added with a shamefaced laugh, 'I am terrified of him and his dogs. I have avoided his farm for years and years. He caught me several times trespassing after mushrooms, when I was a youngster at Brandy Hall. On the last occasion he beat me, and then took me and showed me to his dogs. "See, lads," he said, "next time this young varmint sets foot on my land, you can eat him. Now see him off!" They chased me all the way to the Ferry. I have never got over the fright - though I daresay the beasts knew their business and would not really have touched me.' Pippin laughed. 'Well, it's time you made it up. Especially if you are coming back to live in Buckland. Old Maggot is really a stout fellow - if you leave his mushrooms alone. Let's get into the lane and then we shan't be trespassing. If we meet him, I'll do the talking. He is a friend of Merry's, and I used to come here with him a good deal at one time.' They went along the lane, until they saw the thatched roofs of a large house and farm-buildings peeping ou t among the trees ahead. The Maggots, and the Puddifoots of Stock, and most of the inhabitants of the Marish, were ####-house-dwellers; and this farm was stoutly built of brick and had a high wall all round it. There was a wide wooden gate opening out of the wall into the lane. Suddenly as they drew nearer a terrific baying and barking broke out, and a loud voice was heard shouting: 'Grip! Fang! Wolf! Come on, lads!' Frodo and Sam stopped dead, but Pippin walked on a few paces. The gate opened and three huge dogs came pelting out into the lane, and dashed towards the travellers, barking fiercely. They took no notice of Pippin; but Sam shrank against the wall, while two wolvish-looking dogs sniffed at him suspiciously, and snarled if he moved. The largest and most ferocious of the three halted in front of Frodo, bristling and growling. Through the gate there now appeared a broad thick -set hobbit with a round red face. 'Hallo! Hallo! And who may you be, and what may you be wanting?' he asked. 'Good afternoon, Mr. Maggot!' said Pippin. The farmer looked at him closely. 'Well, if it isn't Master Pippin - Mr. Peregrin Took, I should say!' he cried, changing from a scowl to a grin. 'It's a long time since I saw you round here. It's lucky for you that I know you. I was just going out to set my dogs on any strangers. There are some funny things going on today. Of course, we do get queer folk wandering in these parts at times. Too near the River,' he said, shaking his head. 'But this fellow was the most outlandish I have ever set eyes on. He won't cross my land without leave a second time, not if I can stop it.' 'What fellow do you mean?' asked Pippin. 'Then you haven't seen him?' said the farmer. 'H e went up the lane towards the causeway not a long while back. He was a funny customer and asking funny questions. But perhaps you'll come along inside, and we'll pass the news more comfortable. I've a drop of good ale on tap, if you and your friends are willing, Mr. Took.' It seemed plain that the farmer would tell them more, if allowed to do it in his own time and fashion, so they all accepted the invitation. 'What about the dogs?' asked Frodo anxiously. The farmer laughed. 'They won't harm you - not unless I tell 'em to. Here, Grip! Fang! Heel!' he cried. 'Heel, Wolf!' To the relief of Frodo and Sam, the dogs walked away and let them go free. Pippin introduced the other two to the farmer. 'Mr. Frodo Baggins,' he said. 'You may not remember him, but he used to live at Brandy Hall.' At the ####-name Baggins the farmer started, and gave Frodo a sharp glance. For a moment Frodo thought that the memory of stolen mushrooms had been aroused, and that the dogs would be told to see him off. But Farmer Maggot took him by the arm. 'Well, if that isn't queerer than ever?' he exclaimed. 'Mr. Baggins is it? Come inside! We must have a talk.' They went into the farmer's kitchen, and sat by the wide fire-place. Mrs. Maggot brought out beer in a huge jug, and filled four large mugs. It was a good brew, and Pippin found himself more than compensated for missing the Golden Perch. Sam sipped his beer suspiciously. He had a natural mistrust of the inhabitants of other parts of the Shire; and also he was not disposed to be quick friends with anyone who had beaten his master, however long ago. After a few remarks about the weather and the agricultural prospects (which were no worse than usual), Farmer Maggot put down his mug and looked at them all in turn. 'Now, Mr. Peregrin,' he said, 'where might you be coming from, and where might you be going to? Were you coming to visit' me? For, if so, you had gone past my gate without my seeing you.' 'Well, no, ' answered Pippin. 'To tell you the truth, since you have guessed it, we got into the lane from the other end: we had come over your fields. But that was quite by accident. We lost our way in the woods, back near Woodhall, trying to take a short cu t to the Ferry.' 'If you were in a hurry, the road would have served you better,' said the farmer. 'But I wasn't worrying about that. You have leave to walk over my land, if you have a mind, Mr. Peregrin. And you, Mr. Baggins - though I daresay you still like mushrooms.' He laughed. 'Ah yes, I recognized the name. I recollect the time when young Frodo Baggins was one of the worst young rascals of Buckland. But it wasn't mushrooms I was thinking of. I had just heard the name Baggins before you turned up. What do you think that funny customer asked me?' They waited anxiously for him to go on. 'Well,' the farmer continued, approaching his point with slow relish, 'he came riding on a big black horse in at the gate, which happened to be open, and right up to my door. All ####-black he was himself, too, and cloaked and hooded up, as if he did not want to be known. "Now what in the Shire can he want?" I thought to myself. We don't see many of the Big Folk over the border; and anywa y I had never heard of any like this black fellow. ' "Good-day to you!" I says, going out to him. "This lane don't lead anywhere, and wherever you may be going, your quickest way will be back to the road." I didn't like the looks of him; and when Grip came out, he took one sniff and let out a yelp as if he had been slung: he put down his tail and bolted off howling. The black fellow sat quite still. ' "I come from yonder," he said, slow and stiff-like, pointing back west, over my fields, if you please. "Have you seen Baggins?" he asked in a queer voice, and bent down towards me. I could not see any face, for his hood fell down so low; and I felt a sort of shiver down my back. But I did not see why he should come riding over my land so bold. ' "Be off!" I said. "There are no Bagginses here. You're in the wrong part of the Shire. You had better go back west to Hobbiton - but you can go by road this time." ' "Baggins has left," he answered in a whisper. "He is coming. He is not far away. I wish to find him. If he passes will you tell me? I will come back with gold." ' "No you won't," I said. "You'll go back where you belong, double quick. I give you one minute before I call all my dogs." 'He gave a sort of hiss. It might have been laughing, and it might not. Then he spurred his great horse right at me, and I jumped out of the way only just in time. I called the dogs, but he swung off, and rode through the gate and up the lane towards the causeway like a bolt of thunder. What do you think of that?' Frodo sat for a moment looking at the fire, but his only thought was how on earth would they reach the Ferry. 'I don't know what to think,' he said at last. 'Then I'll tell you what to think,' said Maggot. 'You should never have gone mixing yourself up with Hobbiton folk, Mr. Frodo. Folk are queer up there.' Sam stirred in his chair, and looked at the farmer with an unfriendly eye. 'But you were always a reckless lad. When I heard you had left the Brandybucks and gone off to that old Mr. Bilbo, I said that you were going to find trouble. Mark my words, this all comes of those strange doings of Mr. Bilbo's. His money was got in some strange fashion in foreign ####-parts, they say. Maybe there is some that want to know what has become of the gold and jewels that he buried in the hill of Hobbiton, as I hear?' Frodo said nothing: the shrewd guesses of the farmer were rather disconcerting. 'Well, Mr. Frodo,' Maggot went on, 'I'm glad that you've had the sense to come back to Buckland. My advice is: stay there! And don't get mixed up with these outlandish folk. You'll have friends in these parts. If any of these black fellows come after you again, I'll deal with them. I'll say you're dead, or have left the Shire, or anything you like. And that might be true enough; for as like as not it is old Mr. Bilbo they want news of.' 'Maybe you're right,' said Frodo, avoiding the farmer's eye and staring at the fire. Maggot looked at him thoughtfully. 'Well, I see you have ideas of your own,' he said. 'It is as plain as my nose that no accident brought you and that rider here on the same afternoon; and maybe my news was no great news to you, after all. I am not asking you to tell me anything you have a mind to keep to yourself; but I see you are in some kind of trouble. Perhaps you are thinking it won't be too easy to get to the Ferry without being caught?' 'I was thinking so,' said Frodo. 'But we have got to try and get there; and it won't be done by sitting and thinking. So I am afraid we must be going. Thank you very much indeed for your kindness! I've been in terror of you and your dogs for over thirty years, Farmer Maggot, though you may laugh to hear it. It's a pity: for I've missed a good friend. And now I'm sorry to leave so soon. But I'll come back, perhaps, one day - if I get a chance.' 'You'll be welcome when you come,' said Maggot. 'But now I've a notion. It's near sundown already, and we are going to have our supper; for we mostly go to bed soon after the Sun. If you and Mr. Peregrin and all could stay and have a bite with us, we would be pleased!' 'And so should we!' said Frodo. 'But we must be going at once, I'm afraid. Even now it will be dark before we can reach the Ferry.' 'Ah! but wait a minute! I was going to say: after a bit of supper, I'll gel out a small waggon, and I'll drive you all to the Ferry. That will save you a good step, and it might also save you trouble of another sort.' Frodo now accepted the invitation gratefully, to the relief of Pippin and Sam. The sun was already behind the western hills, and the light was failing. Two of Maggot's sons and his three daughters came in, and a generous supper was laid on the large table. The kitchen was lit with ####-candles and the fire was mended. Mrs. Maggot hustled in and out. One or two other hobbits belonging to the farm-household came in. In a short while fourteen sat down to eat. There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, besides much other solid farmhouse fare. The dogs lay by the fire and gnawed rinds and cracked bones. When they had finished, the farmer and his sons went out with a lantern and got the waggon ready. It was dark in the yard, when the guests came out. They threw their packs on board and climbed in. The farmer sat in the driving-seat, and whipped up his two stout ponies. His wife stood in the light of the open door. 'You be careful of yourself. Maggot!' she called. 'Don't go arguing with any foreigners, and come straight back!' 'I will!' said he, and drove out of the gate. There was now no breath of wind stirring; the night was still and quiet, and a chill was in the air. They went without lights and took it slowly. After a mile or two the lane came to an end, crossing a deep dike, and climbing a short slope up on to the high-banked causeway. Maggot got down and took a good look either way, north and south, but nothing could be seen in the darkness, and there was not a sound in the still air. Thin strands of river -mist were hanging above the dikes, and crawling over the fields. 'It's going to be thick,' said Maggot; 'but I'll not light my lantern till I turn for home. We'll hear anything on the road long before we meet it tonight.' It was five miles or more from Maggot's lane to the Ferry. The hobbits wrapped themselves up, but their ears were strained for any sound above the creak of the wheels and the slow clop of the ponies' hoofs. The waggon seemed slower than a snail to Frodo. Beside him Pippin was nodding towards sleep; but Sam was staring forwards into the rising fog. They reached the entrance to the Ferry lane at last. It was marked by two tall white posts that suddenly loomed up on their right. Farmer Maggot drew in his ponies and the waggon creaked to a halt. They were just beginning lo scramble out, when suddenly they heard what they had all been dreading: hoofs on the road ahead. The sound was coming towards them. Maggot jumped down and stood holding the ponies' heads, and peering forward into the gloom. Clip-clop, clip-clop came the approaching rider. The fall of the hoofs sounded loud in the still, foggy air.####- 'You'd better be hidden, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam anxiously. 'You get down in the waggon and cover up with blankets, and we'll send this rider to the rightabouts!' He climbed out and went to the farmer's side. Black Riders would have to ride over him to get near the waggon. Clop-clop, clop-clop. The rider was nearly on them. 'Hallo there!' called Farmer Maggot. The advancing hoofs stopped short. They thought they could dimly guess a dark cloaked shape in the mist, a yard or two ahead. 'Now then!' said the farmer, throwing the reins to Sam and striding forward. 'Don't you come a step nearer! What do you want, and where are you going?' 'I want Mr. Baggins. Have you seen him?' sa id a muffled voice - but the voice was the voice of Merry Brandybuck. A dark lantern was uncovered, and its light fell on the astonished face of the farmer. 'Mr. Merry!' he cried. 'Yes, of course! Who did you think it was?' said Merry coming forward. As he came out of the mist and their fears subsided, he seemed suddenly to diminish to ordinary hobbit-size. He was riding a pony, and a scarf was swathed round his neck and over his chin to keep out the fog. Frodo sprang out of the waggon to greet him. 'So there you are at last!' said Merry. 'I was beginning to wonder if you would turn up at all today, and I was just going back to supper. When it grew foggy I came across and rode up towards Stock to see if you had fallen in any ditches. But I'm blest if I know which way you have come. Where did you find them, Mr. Maggot? In your duck-pond?' 'No, I caught 'em trespassing,' said the farmer, 'and nearly set my dogs on 'em; but they'll tell you all the story, I 've no doubt. Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr. Merry and Mr. Frodo and all, I'd best be turning for home. Mrs. Maggot will be worriting with the night getting thick.' He backed the waggon into the lane and turned it. 'Well, good night to you all,' he said. 'It's been a queer day, and no mistake. But all's well as ends well; though perhaps we should not say that until we reach our own doors. I'll not deny that I'll be glad now when I do.' He lit his lanterns, and got up. Suddenly he produced a large basket from under the seat. 'I was nearly forgetting,' he said. 'Mrs. Maggot put this up for Mr. Baggins, with her compliments.' He handed it down and moved off, followed by a chorus of thanks and good-nights. They watched the pale rings of light round his lanterns as they ####-dwindled into the foggy night. Suddenly Frodo laughed: from the covered basket he held, the scent of mushrooms was rising. ####-'Now we had better get home ourselves,' said Merry. There's something funny about all this, I see; but it must wait till we get in.' They turned down the Ferry lane, which was straight and well-kept and edged with large white-washed stones. In a hundred yards or so it brought them to the river -bank, where there was a broad wooden landing-stage. A large flat ferry-boat was moored beside it. The white bollards near the water's edge glimmered in the light of two lamps on high posts. Behind them the mists in the flat fields were now above the hedges; but the water before them was dark, with only a few curling wisps like steam among the reeds by the bank. There seemed to be less fog on the further side. Merry led the pony over a gangway on to the ferry, and the others followed. Merry then pushed slowly off with a long pole. The Brandywine flowed slow and broad before them. On the other side the bank was steep, and up it a winding path climbed from the further landing. Lamps were twinkling there. Behind loomed up the Buck Hill; and out of it, through stray shrouds of mist, shone many round windows, yellow and red. They were the windows of Brandy Hall, the ancient home of the Brandybucks. Long ago Gorhendad Oldbuck, head of the Oldbuck family, one of the oldest in the Marish or indeed in the Shire, had crossed the river, which was the original boundary of the land eastwards. He built (and excavated) Brandy Hall, changed his name to Brandybuck, and settled down to become master of what was virtually a small independent country. His family grew and grew, and after his days continued to grow, until Brandy Hall occupied the whole of the low hill, and had three large front-doors, many side-doors, and about a hundred windows. The Brandybucks and their numerous dependants then began to burrow, and later to build, all round about. That was the origin of Buckland, a thickly inhabited strip between the river and the Old Forest, a sort of colony from the Shire. Its chief village was Bucklebury, clustering in the banks and slopes behind Brandy Hall. The people in the Marish were friendly with the Bucklanders, and the authority of the Master of the Hall (as the head of the Brandybuck family ####-was called) was still acknowledged by the farmers between Stock and Rushey. But most of the folk of the old Shire regarded the Bucklanders as peculiar, half foreigners as it were. Though, as a matter of fact, they were not very different from the other hobbits of the Four Farthings. Except in one point: they were fond of boats, and some of them could swim. Their land was originally unprotected from the East; but on that side they had built a hedge: the High Hay. It had been planted many generations ago, and was now thick and tail, for it was constantly tended. It ran all the way from Brandywine Bridge, in a big loop curving away from the river, to Haysend (where the Withywindle flowed out of the Forest into the Brandywine): well over twenty miles from end to end. But, of course, it was not a complete protection. The Forest drew close to the hedge in many places. The Bucklanders kept their doors locked after dark, and that also was not usual in the Shire. The ferry-boat moved slowly across the water. The Buckland shore drew nearer. Sam was the only member of the party who had not been over the river before. He had a strange feeling as the slow gurgling stream slipped by: his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front. He scratched his head, and for a moment had a passing wish that Mr. Frodo could have gone on living quietly at Bag End. The four hobbits stepped off the ferry. Merry was tying it up, and Pippin was already leading the pony up the path, when Sam (who had been looking ba ck, as if to take farewell of the Shire) said in a hoarse whisper: 'Look back, Mr. Frodo! Do you see anything?' On the far stage, under the distant lamps, they could just make out a figure: it looked like a dark black bundle left behind. But a s they looked it seemed to move and sway this way and that, as if searching the ground. It then crawled, or went crouching, back into the gloom beyond the lamps. 'What in the Shire is that?' exclaimed Merry. 'Something that is following us,' said Frodo. 'But don't ask any more now! Let's get away at once!' They hurried up the path to the top of the bank, but when they looked back the far shore was shrouded in mist, and nothing could be seen. 'Thank goodness you don't keep any boats on the west -bank!' said Frodo. 'Can horses cross the river?' 'They can go twenty miles north to Brandywine Bridge - or they might swim,' answered Merry. 'Though I never heard of any horse swimming the ####-Brandywine. But what have horses to do with it?' I'll tell you later. Let's get indoors and then we can talk.' 'All right! You and Pippin know your way; so I'll just ride on and tell Fatty Bolger that you are coming. We'll see about supper and things.' 'We had our supper early with Farmer Maggot,' said Frodo; 'but we could do with another.' 'You shall have it! Give me that basket!' said Merry, and rode ahead into the darkness. It was some distance from the Brandywine to Frodo's new house at Crickhollow. They passed Buck Hill and Brandy Hall on their left, and on the outskirts of Bucklebury struck the main road of Buckland that ran south from the Bridge. Half a mile northward along this they came to a lane opening on their right. This they followed for a couple of miles as it climbed up and down into the country. At last they came to a narrow gate in a thick hedge. Nothing could be seen of the house in the dark: it stood back from the lane in the middle of a wide circle of lawn surrounded by a belt of low trees inside the outer hedge. Frodo had chosen it, because it stood in an out-of-the-way corner of the country, and there were no other dwellings close by. You could get in and out without being noticed. It had been built a long while before by the Brandybucks, for the use of guests, or members of the family that wished to escape from the crowded life of Brandy Hall for a time. It was an old-fashioned countrified house, as much like a hobbit -hole as possible: it was long and low, with no upper storey; and it had a roof of turf, round windows, and a large round door. As they walked lip the green path from the gate no light was visible; the windows were dark and shuttered. Frodo knocked on the door, and Fatty Bolger opened it . A friendly light streamed out. They slipped in quickly and shut themselves and the light inside. They were in a wide hall with doors on either side; in front of them a passage ran back down the middle of the house. 'Well, what do you think of it?' asked Merry coming up the passage. 'We have done our best in a short time to make it look like home. After all Fatty and I only got here with the last cart-load yesterday.' Frodo looked round. It did look like home. Many of his own favourite things - or Bilbo's things (they reminded him sharply of him in their new selling) - were arranged as nearly as possible as they had been at Bag End.####-It was a pleasant, comfortable, welcoming place; and he found himself wishing that he was really coming here to settle down in quiet retirement. It seemed unfair to have put his friends to all this trouble; and he wondered again how he was going to break the news to them that he must leave them so soon, indeed at once. Yet that would have to be done that very night, before they all went to bed. 'It's delightful!' he said with an effort. 'I hardly feel that I have moved at all.' The travellers hung up their cloaks, and piled their packs on the floor. Merry led them down the passage and threw open a door at the far end. Firelight came out, and a puff of steam. 'A bath!' cried Pippin. 'O blessed Meriadoc!' 'Which order shall we go in?' said Frodo. 'Eldest first, or quickest first? You'll be last either way, Master Peregrin.' 'Trust me to arrange things better than that!' said Merry. 'We can't begin life at Crickhollow with a quarrel over baths. In that room there are three tubs, and a copper full of boiling water. There are also towels, mats and soap. Get inside, and be quick!' Merry and Fatty went into the kitchen on the other side of the passage, and busied themselves with the final preparations for a late supper. Snatches of competing songs came from the bathroom mixed with the sound of splashing and wallowing. The voice of Pippin was suddenly lifted up above the others in one of Bilbo's favourite bath-songs. Sing hey! for the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water Hot is a noble thing! O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain, and the brook that leaps from hill to plain; but better than rain or rippling streams is Water Hot that smokes and steams. O! Water cold we may pour at need down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed; but better is Beer, if drink we lack,####- and Water Hot poured down the back. O! Water is fair that leaps on high in a fountain white beneath the sky; but never did fountain sound so sweet as splashing Hot Water with my feet! There was a terrific splash, and a shout of Whoa! from Frodo. It appeared that a lot of Pippin's bath had imitated a fountain and leaped on high. Merry went to the door: 'What about supper a nd beer in the throat?' he called. Frodo came out drying his hair. 'There's so much water in the air that I'm coming into the kitchen to finish,' he said. 'Lawks!' said Merry, looking in. The stone floor was swimming. 'You ought to mop all that up before you get anything to eat. Peregrin,' he said. 'Hurry up, or we shan't wait for you.' They had supper in the kitchen on a table near the fire. 'I suppose you three won't want mushrooms again?' said Fredegar without much hope. 'Yes we shall!' cried Pippin. 'They're mine!' said Frodo. 'Given to me by Mrs. Maggot, a queen among farmers' wives. Take your greedy hands away, and I'll serve them.' Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of Big People. A fact which partly explains young Frodo's long expeditions to the renowned fields of the Marish, and the wrath of the injured Maggot. On this occasion there was plenty for all, even according to hobbit standards. There were also many other things to follow, and when they had finished even Fatty Bolger heaved a sigh of content. They pushed back the table, and drew chairs round the fire. 'We'll clear up later,' said Merry. 'Now tell me all about it! I guess that you have been having adventures, which was not quite fair without me. I want a full account; and most of all I want to know what was the matter with old Maggot, and why he spoke to me like that. He sounded almost as if he was scared, if that is possible.' 'We have all been scared,' said Pippin after a pause, in which Frodo stared at the fire and did not speak. 'You would have been, too, if you had been chased for two days by Black Riders.' 'And what are they?'####- 'Black figures riding on black horses,' answered Pippin. 'If Frodo won't talk, I will tell you the whole tale from the beginning.' He then gave a full account of their journey from the time when they left Hobbiton. Sam gave various supporting nods and exclamations. Frodo remained silent. 'I should think you were making it all up,' said Merry, 'if I had not seen that black shape on the landing-stage - and heard the queer sound in Maggot's voice. What do you make of it all, Frodo?' 'Cousin Frodo has been very close,' said Pippin. 'But the time has come for him to open out. So far we have been given nothing more to go on than Farmer Maggot's guess that it has something to do with old Bilbo's treasure.' 'That was only a guess,' said Frodo hastily. 'Maggot does not know anything.' 'Old Maggot is a shrewd fellow,' said Merry. 'A lot goes on behind his round face that does not come out in his talk. I've heard that he used to go into the Old Forest at one time, and he has the reputation of knowing a good many strange things. But you can at least tell us, Frodo, whether you think his guess good or bad.' 'I think,' answered Frodo slowly, 'that it was a good guess, as far as it goes. There is a connexion with Bilbo's old adventures, and the Riders are looking, or perhaps one ought to say searching, for him or for me. I also fear, if you want to know, that it is no joke at all; and that I am not safe here or anywhere else.' He looked round at the windows and walls, as if he was afraid they would su ddenly give way. The others looked at him in silence, and exchanged meaning glances among themselves. 'It's coming out in a minute,' whispered Pippin to Merry. Merry nodded. 'Well!' said Frodo at last, sitting up and straightening his back, as if he had made a decision. 'I can't keep it dark any longer. I have got something to tell you all. But I don't know quite how to begin.' 'I think I could help you,' said Merry quietly, 'by telling you some of it myself.' 'What do you mean?' said Frodo, looking at him anxiously. 'Just this, my dear old Frodo: you are miserable, because you don't know how to say good-bye. You meant to leave the Shire, of course. But danger has come on you sooner than you expected, and now you are making up your mind to go at once. And you don't want to. We are very sorry for you.' Frodo opened his mouth and shut it again. His look of surprise was so ####-comical that they laughed. 'Dear old Frodo!' said Pippin. 'Did you really think you had thrown dust in all our eyes? You have not been nearly careful or clever enough for that! You have obviously been planning to go and saying farewell to all your haunts all this year since April. We have constantly heard you muttering: "Shall I ever look down into that valley again, I wonder", and things like that. And pretending that you had come to the end of your money, and actually selling your beloved Bag End to those Sackville-Bagginses! And all those close talks with Gandalf.' 'Good heavens!' said Frodo. 'I thought I had been both careful and clever. I don't know what Gandalf would say. Is all the Shire discussing my departure then?' 'Oh no!' said Merry. 'Don't worry about that! The secret won't keep for long, of course; but at present it is, I think, only known to us conspirators. After all, you must remember that we know you well, and are often with you. We can usually guess what you are thinking. I knew Bilbo, too. To tell you the truth, I had been watching you rather closely ever since he left. I thought you would go after him sooner or later; indeed I expected you to go sooner, and lately we have been very anxious. We have been terrified that you might give us the slip, and go off suddenly, all on your own like he did. Ever since this spring we have kept our eyes open, and done a good deal of planning on our own account. You are not going to escape so easily!' 'But I must go,' said Frodo. 'It cannot be helped, dear friends. It is wretched for us all, but it is no use your trying to keep me. Since you have guessed so much, please help me and do not hinder me!' 'You do not understand!' said Pippin. 'You must go - and therefore we must, too. Merry and I are coming with you. Sam is an excellent fellow, and would jump down a dragon's throat to save you, if he did not trip over his own feet; but you will need more than one companion in your dangerous adventure.' 'My dear and most beloved hobbits!' said Frodo deeply moved. 'But I could not allow it. I decided that long ago, too. You speak of danger, but you do not understand. This is no treasure-hunt, no there-and -back journey. I am flying from deadly peril into deadly peril.' 'Of course we understand,' said Merry firmly. 'That is why we have decided to come. We know the Ring is no laughing-matter; but we are going to do our best to help you against the Enemy.'####- 'The Ring!' said Frodo, now completely amazed. 'Yes, the Ring,' said Merry. 'My dear old hobbit, you don't allow for the inquisitiveness of friends. I have known about the existence of the Ring for years - before Bilbo went away, in fact; but since he obviously regarded it as secret, I kept the knowledge in my head, until we formed our conspiracy. I did not know Bilbo, of course, as well as I know you; I was too young, and he was also more careful - but he was not careful enough. If you want to know how I first found out, I will tell you.' 'Go on!' said Frodo faintly. 'It was the Sackville-Bagginses that were his downfall, as you might expect. One day, a year before the Party, I happened to be walking along the road, when I saw Bilbo ahead. Suddenly in the distance the S.-B.s appeared, coming towards us. Bilbo slowed down, and then hey presto! he vanished. I was so startled that I hardly had the wits to hide myself in a more ordinary fashion; but I got through the hedge and walked along the field inside. I was peeping through into the road, after the S.-B.s had passed, and was looking straight at Bilbo when he suddenly reappeared. I caught a glint of gold as he put something back in his trouser -pocket. 'After that I kept my eyes open. In fact, I confess that I spied. But you must admit that it was very intriguing, and I was only in my teens. I must be the only one in the Shire, besides you Frodo, that has ever seen the old fellow's secret book.' 'You have read his book!' cried Frodo. 'Good heavens above! Is nothing safe?' 'Not too safe, I should say,' said Merry. 'But I have only had one rapid glance, and that was difficult to get. He never left the book about. I wonder what became of it. I should like another look. Have you got it, Frodo?' 'No. It was not at Bag End. He must have taken it away.' 'Well, as I was saying,' Merry proceeded, 'I kept my knowledge to myself, till this Spring when things got serious. Then we formed our conspiracy; and as we were serious, too, and meant business, we have not been too scrupulous. You are not a very easy nut to crack, and Gandalf is worse. But if you want to be introduced to our chief investigator, I can produce him.' 'Where is he?' said Frodo, looking round, as if he expected a masked and sinister figure to come out of a cupboard.####- 'Step forward, Sam!' said Merry; and Sam stood up with a face scarlet up to the ears. 'Here's our collector of information! And he collected a lot, I can tell you, before he was finally caught. After which, I may say, he seemed to regard himself as on parole, and dried up.' 'Sam!' cried Frodo, feeling that amazement could go no further, and quite unable to decide whether he felt angry, amused, relieved, or merely foolish. 'Yes, sir!' said Sam. 'Begging your pardon, sir! But I meant no wrong to you, Mr. Frodo, nor to Mr. Gandalf for that matter. He has some sense, mind you; and when you said go alone, he said no! lake someone as you can trust.' 'But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,' said Frodo. Sam looked at him unhappily. 'It all depends on what you want,' put in Merry. 'You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin - to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours - closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo. Anyway: there it is. We know most of what Gandalf has told you. We know a good deal about the Ring. We are horribly afraid - but we are coming with you; or following you like hounds.' 'And after all, sir,' added Sam, 'you did ought to take the Elves' advice. Gildor said you should take them as was willing, and you can't deny it.' 'I don't deny it,' said Frodo, looking at Sam, who was now grinning. 'I don't deny it, but I'll never believe you are sleeping again, whether you snore or not. I shall kick you hard to make sure. 'You are a set of deceitful scoundrels!' he said, turning to the others. 'But bless you!' he laughed, getting up and waving his arms, 'I give in. I will take Gildor's advice. If the danger were not so dark, I should dance for joy. Even so, I cannot help feeling happy; happier than I have felt for a long time. I had dreaded this evening.' 'Good! That's settled. Three cheers for Captain Frodo and company!' they shouted; and they danced round him. Merry and Pippin began a song, which they had apparently got ready for the occasion. It was made on the model of the dwarf-song that started Bilbo on his adventure long ago, and went to the same tune: Farewell we call to hearth and hall! Though wind may blow and rain may fall,####- We must away ere break of day Far over wood and mountain tall. To Rivendell, where Elves yet dwell In glades beneath the misty fell, Through moor and waste we ride in haste, And whither then we cannot tell. With foes ahead, behind us dread, Beneath the sky shall be our bed, Until at last our toil be passed, Our journey done, our errand sped. We must away! We must away! We ride before the break of day! 'Very good!' said Frodo. 'But in that case there are a lot of things to do before we go to bed - under a roof, for tonight at any rate.' 'Oh! That was poetry!' said Pippin. 'Do you really mean to start before the break of day?' 'I don't know,' answered Frodo. 'I fear those Black Riders, and I am sure it is unsafe to stay in one place long, especially in a place to which it is known I was going. Also Gildor advised me not to wait. But I should very much like to see Gandalf. I could see that even Gildor was disturbed when he heard that Gandalf had never appeared. It really depends on two things. How soon could the Riders get to Bucklebury? And how soon could we get off? It will take a good deal of preparation.' 'The answer to the second question,' said Merry, 'is that we could get off in an hour. I have prepared practically everything. There are six ponies in a stable across the fields; stores and tackle are all packed, except for a few extra clothes, and the perishable food.' 'It seems to have been a very efficient conspiracy,' said Frodo. 'But what about the Black Riders? Would it be safe to wait one day for Gandalf?' 'That all depends on what you think the Riders would do, if they found you here,' answered Merry. 'They could have reached here by now, of course, if they were not stopped at the North-gate, where the Hedge runs down to the river -bank, just this side of the Bridge. The gate-guards would not let them ####-through by night, though they might break through. Even in the daylight they would try to keep them out, I think, at any rate until they got a message through to the Master of the Hall - for they would not like the look of the Riders, and would certainly be frightened by them. But, of course, Buckland cannot resist a determined attack for long. And it is possible that in the morning even a Black Rider that rode up and asked for Mr. Baggins would be let through. It is pretty generally known that you are coming back to live at Crickhollow.' Frodo sat for a while in thought. 'I have made up my mind,' he said finally. 'I am starting tomorrow, as soon as it is light. But I am not going by road: it would be safer to wait here than that. If I go through the North-gate my departure from Buckland will be known at once, instead of being secret for several days at least, as it might be. And what is more, the Bridge and the East Road near the borders will certainly be watched, whether any Rider gets into Buckland or not. We don't know how many there are; but there are at least two, and possibly more. The only thing to do is to go off in a qu ite unexpected direction.' 'But that can only mean going into the Old Forest!' said Fredegar horrified. 'You can't be thinking of doing that. It is quite as dangerous as Black Riders.' 'Not quite,' said Merry. It sounds very desperate, but I believe Frodo is right. It is the only way of getting off without being followed at once. With luck we might gel a considerable start.' 'But you won't have any luck in the Old Forest,' objected Fredegar. 'No one ever has luck in there. You'll gel lost. People don't go in there.' 'Oh yes they do!' said Merry. 'The Brandybucks go in - occasionally when the fit takes them. We have a private entrance. Frodo went in once, long ago. I have been in several times: usually in daylight, of course, when the trees are sleepy and fairly quiet.' 'Well, do as you think best!' said Fredegar. 'I am more afraid of the Old Forest than of anything I know about: the stories about it are a nightmare; but my vote hardly counts, as I am not going on the journey. Still, I am very glad someone is stopping behind, who can tell Gandalf what you have done, when he turns up, as I am sure he will before long.' Fond as he was of Frodo, Fatty Bolger had no desire to leave the Shire, nor to see what lay outside it. His family came from the Eastfarthing, from Budgeford in Bridgefields in fact, but he had never been over the Brandywine ####-Bridge. His task, according to the original plans of the conspirators, was to stay behind and deal with inquisitive folk, and to keep up as long as possible the pretence that Mr. Baggins was still living at Crickhollow. He had even brought along some old clothes of Frodo's to help him in playing the part. They little thought how dangerous that part might prove. 'Excellent!' said Frodo, when he understood the plan. 'We could not have left any message behind for Gandalf otherwise. I don't know whether these Riders can read or not, of course, but I should not have dared to risk a written message, in case they got in and searched the house. But if Fatty is willing to hold the fort, and I can be sure of Gandalf knowing the way we have gone, that decides me. I am going into the Old Forest first thing tomorrow.' 'Well, that's that,' said Pippin. 'On the whole I would rather have our job than Fatty's - waiting here till Black Riders come.' 'You wait till you are well inside the Forest,' said Fredegar. 'You'll wish you were back here with me before this time tomorrow.' 'It's no good arguing about it any more,' said Merry. 'We have still got to tidy up and put the finishing touches to the packing, before we get to bed. I shall call you all before the break of day.' When at last he had got to bed, Frodo could not sleep for some time. His legs ached. He. was glad that he was riding in the morning. Eventually he fell into a vague dream, in which he seemed to be looking out of a high window over a dark sea of tangled trees. Down below among the roots there was the sound of creatures crawling and snuffling. He felt sure they would smell him out sooner or later. Then he heard a noise in the distance. At first he thought it was a great wind coming over the leaves of the forest. Then he knew that it was not leaves, but the sound of the Sea far-off; a sound he had never heard in waking life, though it had often troubled his dreams. Suddenly he found he was out in the open. There were no trees after all. He was on a dark heath, and there was a strange salt smell in the air. Looking up he saw before him a tall white tower, standing alone on a high ridge. A great desire came over him to climb the tower and see the Sea. He started to struggle up the ridge towards the tower: but suddenly a light came in the sky, and there was a noise of thunder.####-

Frodo woke suddenly. It was still dark in the room. Merry was standing there with a candle in one hand, and banging on the door with the other. 'All right! What is it?' said Frodo, still shaken and bewildered. 'What is it!' cried Merry. 'It is time to get up. It is half past four and very foggy. Come on! Sam is already getting breakfast ready. Even Pippin is up. I am just going to saddle the ponies, and fetch the one that is to be the baggage-carrier. Wake that sluggard Fatty! At least he must get up and see us off.' Soon after six o'clock the five hobbits were ready to start. Fatty Bolger was still yawning. They stole quietly out of the house. Merry went in front leading a laden pony, and took his way along a path that went through a spinney behind the house, and then cut across several fields. The leaves of trees were glistening, and every twig was dripping; the grass was grey with cold dew. Everything was still, and far-away noises seemed near and clear: fowls chattering in a yard, someone closing a door of a distant house. In their shed they found the ponies; sturdy little beasts of the kind loved by hobbits, not speedy, but good for a long day's work. They mounted, and soon they were riding off into the mist, which seemed to open reluctantly before them and close forbiddingly behind them. After riding for about an hour, slowly and without talking, they saw the Hedge looming suddenly ahead. It was tall and netted over with silver cobwebs. 'How are you going to get through this?' asked Fredegar. 'Follow me!' said Merry, 'and you will see.' He turned to the left along the Hedge, and soon they came to a point wher e it bent inwards, running along the lip of a hollow. A cutting had been made, at some distance from the Hedge, and went sloping gently down into the ground. It had walls of brick at the sides, which rose steadily, until suddenly they arched over a nd formed a tunnel that dived deep under the Hedge and came out in the hollow on the other side. Here Fatty Bolger halted. 'Good-bye, Frodo!' he said. 'I wish you were not going into the Forest. I only hope you will not need rescuing before the day is out. But good luck to you - today and every day!' 'If there are no worse things ahead than the Old Forest, I shall be lucky,' said Frodo. 'Tell Gandalf to hurry along the East Road: we shall ####-soon be back on it and going as fast as we can.' 'Good-bye!' they cried, and rode down the slope and disappeared from Fredegar's sight into the tunnel. It was dark and damp. At the far end it was closed by a gate of thick -set iron bars. Merry got down and unlocked the gate, and when they had all passed through he pushed it to again. It shut with a clang, and the lock clicked. The sound was ominous. 'There!' said Merry. 'You have left the Shire, and are now outside, and on the edge of the Old Forest.' 'Are the stories about it true?' asked Pippin. 'I don't know what stories you mean,' Merry answered. 'If you mean the old bogey-stories Fatty's nurses used to tell him, about goblins and wolves and things of that sort, I should say no. At any rate I don't believe them. But the Forest is queer. Everything in it is very much more alive, more aware of what is going on, so to speak, than things are in the Shire. And the trees do not like strangers. They watch you. They are usually content merely to watch you, as long a s daylight lasts, and don't do much. Occasionally the most unfriendly ones may drop a branch, or stick a root out, or grasp at you with a long trailer. But at night things can be most alarming, or so I am told. I have only once or twice been in here after dark, and then only near the hedge. I thought all the trees were whispering to each other, passing news and plots along in an unintelligible language; and the branches swayed and groped without any wind. They do say the trees do actually move, and can surround strangers and hem them in. In fact long ago they attacked the Hedge: they came and planted themselves right by it, and leaned over it. But the hobbits came and cut down hundreds of trees, and made a great bonfire in the Forest, and burned all the ground in a long strip east of the Hedge. After that the trees gave up the attack, but they became very unfriendly. There is still a wide bare space not far inside where the bonfire was made.' 'Is it only the trees that are dangerous?' asked Pippin. 'There are various queer things living deep in the Forest, and on the far side,' said Merry, 'or at least I have heard so; but I have never seen any of them. But something makes paths. Whenever one comes inside one finds open tracks; but they seem to shift and change from time to time in a queer fashion. Not far from this tunnel there is, or was for a long time, the beginning of quite a broad path leading to the Bonfire Glade, and then on ####-more or less in our direction, east and a little north. That is the path I am going to try and find.' The hobbits now left the tunnel -gate and rode across the wide hollow. On the far side was a faint path leading up on to the floor of the Forest, a hundred yards a nd more beyond the Hedge; but it vanished as soon as it brought them under the trees. Looking back they could see the dark line of the Hedge through the stems of trees that were already thick about them. Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes: straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and all the stems were green or grey with moss and slimy, shaggy growths. Merry alone seemed fairly cheerful. 'You had better lead on and find that path,' Frodo said to him. 'Don't let us lose one another, or forget which way the Hedge lies!' They picked a way among the trees, and their ponies plodded along, carefully avoiding the many writhing and interlacing roots. There was no undergrowth. The ground was rising steadily, and as they went forward it seemed that the trees became taller, darker, and thicker. There was no sound, except an occasional drip of moisture falling through the still leaves. For the moment there was no whispering or movement among the branches; but they all got an uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched with disapproval, deepening to dislike and even enmity. The feeling steadily grew, until they found themselves looking up quickly, or glancing back over their shoulders, as if they expected a sudden blow. There was not as yet any sign of a path, and the trees seemed constantly to bar their way. Pippin suddenly felt that he could not bear it any longer, and without warning let out a shout. 'Oi! Oi!' he cried. 'I am not going to do anything. Just let me pass through, will you!' The others halted startled; but the cry fell as if muffled by a heavy curtain. There was no echo or answer though the wood seemed to become more crowded and more watchful than before. 'I should not shout, if I were you,' said Merry. It does more harm than good.' Frodo began to wonder if it were possible to find a way through, a nd if he had been right to make the others come into this abominable wood. Merry was looking from side to side, and seemed already uncertain which way to go.####-Pippin noticed it. 'It has not taken you long to lose us,' he said. But at that moment Merry gave a whistle of relief and pointed ahead. 'Well, well!' he said. 'These trees do shift. There is the Bonfire Glade in front of us (or I hope so), but the path to it seems to have moved away!' The light grew clearer as they went forward. Suddenly they came out of the trees and found themselves in a wide circular space. There was sky above them, blue and clear to their surprise, for down under the Forest -roof they had not been able to see the rising morning and the lifting of the mist. The sun was not, however, high enough yet to shine down into the clearing, though its light was on the tree-tops. The leaves were all thicker and greener about the edges of the glade, enclosing it with an almost solid wall. No tree grew there, only rough grass and many tall plants: stalky and faded hemlocks and wood-parsley, fire-weed seeding into fluffy ashes, and rampant nettles and thistles. A dreary place: but it seemed a charming and cheerful garden after the close Forest. The hobbits felt encouraged, and looked up hopefully at the broadening daylight in the sky. At the far side of the glade there was a break in the wall of trees, and a clear path beyond it. They could see it running on into the wood, wide in places and open above, though every now and again the trees drew in and overshadowed it with their dark boughs. Up this path they rode. They were still climbing gently, but they now went much quicker, and with better heart; for it seemed to them that the Forest had relented, and was going to let them pass unhindered after all. But after a while the air began to get hot and stuffy. The trees drew close again on either side, and they could no longer see far ahead. Now stronger than ever they felt again the ill will of the wood pressing on them. So silent was it that the fall of their ponies' hoofs, rustling on dead leaves and occasionally stumbling on hidden roots, seemed to thud in their ears. Frodo tried to sing a song to encourage them, but his voice sank to a murmur. O! Wanderers in the shadowed land despair not! For though dark they stand, all woods there be must end at last, and see the open sun go past: the setting sun, the rising sun, the day's end, or the day begun.####- For east or west all woods must fail... Fail - even as he said the word his voice faded into silence. The air seemed heavy and the making of words wearisome. Just behind them a large branch fell from an old overhanging tree with a crash into the path. The trees seemed to close in before them. 'They do not like all that about ending and failing,' said Merry. 'I should not sing any more at present. Wait till we do get to the edge, and then we'll turn and give them a rousing chorus!' He spoke cheerfully, and if he felt any great anxiety, he did not show it. The others did not answer. They were depressed. A heavy weight was settling steadily on Frodo's heart, and he regretted now with every step forward that he had ever thought of challenging the menace of the trees. He was, indeed, just about to stop and propose going back (if that was still possible), when things took a new turn. The path stopped climbing, and became for a while nearly level. The dark trees drew aside, and ahead they could see the path going almost straight forward. Before them, but some distance off, there stood a green hill-top, treeless, rising like a bald head out of the encircling wood. The path seemed to be making directly for it. They now hurried forward again, delighted with the thought of climbing out for a while above the roof of the Forest. The path dipped, and then again began to climb upwards, leading them at last to the foot of the steep hillside. There it left the trees and faded into the turf. The wood stood all round the hill like thick hair that ended sharply in a circle round a shaven crown. The hobbits led their ponies up, winding round and round until they reached the top. There they stood and gazed about them. The air was gleaming and sunlit, but hazy; and they could not see to any great distance. Near at hand the mist was now almost gone; though here and there it lay in hollows of the wood, and to the south of them, out of a deep fold cutting right across the Forest, the fog still rose like steam or wisps of white smoke. 'That,' said Merry, pointing with his hand, 'that is the line of the Withywindle. It comes down out of the Downs and flows south-west through the midst of the Forest to join the Brandywine below Haysend. We don't want to go that way! The Withywindle valley is said to be the queerest part of the whole wood - the centre from which all the queerness comes, as it were.'####- The others looked in the direction that Merry pointed out, but they could see little but mists over the damp and deep-cut valley; and beyond it the southern half of the Forest faded from view. The sun on the hill-lop was now getting hot. It must have been a bout eleven o'clock; but the autumn haze still prevented them from seeing much in other directions. In the west they could not make out either the line of the Hedge or the valley of the Brandywine beyond it. Northward, where they looked most hopefully, they could see nothing that might be the line of the great East Road, for which they were making. They were on an island in a sea of trees, and the horizon was veiled. On the south-eastern side the ground fell very steeply, as if the slopes of the hill were continued far down under the trees, like island-shores that really are the sides of a mountain rising out of deep waters. They sat on the green edge and looked out over the woods below them, while they ate their mid-day meal. As the sun rose and passed noon they glimpsed far off in the east the grey-green lines of the Downs that lay beyond the Old Forest on that side. That cheered them greatly; for it was good to see a sight of anything beyond the wood's border s, though they did not mean to go that way, if they could help it: the Barrow-downs had as sinister a reputation in hobbit -legend as the Forest itself. At length they made up their minds to go on again. The path that had brought them to the hill reappeared on the northward side; but they had not followed it far before they became aware that it was bending steadily to the right. Soon it began to descend rapidly and they guessed that it must actually be heading towards the Withywindle va lley: not at all the direction they wished lo take. After some discussion they decided to leave this misleading path and strike northward; for although they had not been able to see it from the hill-top, the Road must lie that way, and it could not be many miles off. Also northward, and to the left of the path, the land seemed lo be drier and more open, climbing up to slopes where the trees were thinner, and pines and firs replaced the oaks and ashes and other strange and nameless trees of the denser wood. At first their choice seemed to be good: they got along at a fair speed, though whenever they got a glimpse of the sun in an open glade they seemed unaccountably to have veered eastwards. But after a time the trees began to close in again, just where they had appeared from a distance to be thinner and less tangled. Then deep folds in the ground were discovered ####-unexpectedly, like the ruts of great giant-wheels or wide moats and sunken roads long disused and choked with brambles. These lay usually right across their line of march, and could only be crossed by scrambling down and out again, which was troublesome and difficult with their ponies. Each time they climbed down they found the hollow filled with thick bushes and matted undergrowth, which somehow would not yield to the left, but only gave way when they turned to the right; and they had to go some distance along the bottom before they could find a way up the further bank. Each time they clambered out, the trees seemed deeper and darker; and always to the left and upwards it was most difficult to find a way, and they were forced to the right and downwards. After an hour or two they had lost all clear sense of direction, though they knew well enough that they had long ceased to go northward at all. They were being headed off, and were simply following a course chosen for them - eastwards and southwards, into the heart of the Forest and not out of it. The afternoon was wearing away when they scrambled and stumbled into a fold that was wider and deeper than any they had yet met. It was so sleep and overhung that it proved impossible to climb out of it again, either forwards or backwards, without leaving their ponies and their baggage behind. All they could do was to follow the fold - downwards. The ground grew soft, and in places boggy; springs appeared in the banks, and soon they found themselves following a brook that trickled and babbled through a weedy bed. Then the ground began to fall rapidly, and the brook growing strong and noisy, flowed and leaped swiftly downhill. They were in a deep dim-lit gully over -arched by trees high above them. After stumbling along for some way along the stream, they came quite suddenly out of the gloom. As if through a gate they saw the sunlight before them. Coming to the opening they found that they had made their way down through a cleft in a high sleep bank, almost a cliff. At its feet was a wide space of grass and reeds; and in the distance could be glimpsed another bank almost as steep. A golden afternoon of late sunshine lay warm and drowsy upon the hidden land between. In the midst of it there wound lazily a dark river of brown water, bordered with ancient willows, arched over with willows, blocked with fallen willows, and flecked with thousands of faded willow-leaves. The air was thick with them, fluttering yellow from the branches; for there was a warm and gentle breeze blowing softly in the valley, and the reeds were rustling, and the willow-boughs were creaking.####- 'Well, now I have at least some notion of where we are!' said Merry. 'We have come almost in the opposite direction to which we intended. This is the River Withywindle! I will go on and explore.' He passed out into the sunshine and disappeared into the long grasses. After a while he reappeared, and reported that there was fairly solid ground between the cliff-foot and the river; in some places firm turf went down to the water's edge. 'What's more,' he said, 'there seems to be something like a footpath winding along on this side of the river. If we turn left and follow it, we shall be bound to come out on the east side of the Forest eventually.' 'I dare say!' said Pippin. 'That is, if the track goes on so far, and does not simply lead us into a bog and leave us there. Who made the track, do you suppose, and why? I am sure it was not for our benefit. I am getting very suspicious of this Forest and everything in it, and I begin to believe all the stories about it. And have you any idea how far eastward we should have to go?' 'No,' said Merry, 'I haven't. I don't know in the least how far down the Withywindle we are, or who could possibly come here often enough to make a path along it. But there is no other way out that I can see or think of.' There being nothing else for it, they filed out, and Merry led them to the path that he had discovered. Everywhere the reeds and grasses were lush and tall, in places far above their heads; but once found, the path was easy to follow, as it turned and twisted, picking out the sounder ground among the bogs and pools. Here and there it passed over other rills, running down gullies into the Wi thywindle out of the higher forest -lands, and at these points there were tree-trunks or bundles of brushwood laid carefully across. The hobbits began to feel very hot. There were armies of flies of all kinds buzzing round their ears, and the afternoon sun was burning on their backs. At last they came suddenly into a thin shade; great grey branches reached across the path. Each step forward became more reluctant than the last. Sleepiness seemed to be creeping out of the ground and up their legs, and falling softly out of the air upon their heads and eyes. Frodo felt his chin go down and his head nod. Just in front of him Pippin fell forward on to his knees. Frodo halted. 'It's no good,' he heard Merry saying. 'Can't go another step without rest. Must have nap. It's cool under the willows. Less flies!'####- Frodo did not like the sound of this. 'Come on!' he cried. 'We can't have a nap yet. We must get clear of the Forest first.' But the others were too far gone to care. Besi de them Sam stood yawning and blinking stupidly. Suddenly Frodo himself felt sleep overwhelming him. His head swam. There now seemed hardly a sound in the air. The flies had stopped buzzing. Only a gentle noise on the edge of hearing, a soft fluttering as of a song half whispered, seemed to stir in the boughs above. He lifted his heavy eyes and saw leaning over him a huge willow-tree, old and hoary. Enormous it looked, its sprawling branches going up like reaching arms with many long-fingered hands, its knotted and twisted trunk gaping in wide fissures that creaked faintly as the boughs moved. The leaves fluttering against the bright sky dazzled him, and he toppled over, lying where he fell upon the grass. Merry and Pippin dragged themselves forward and lay down with their backs to the willow-trunk. Behind them the great cracks gaped wide to receive them as the tree swayed and creaked. They looked up at the grey and yellow leaves, moving softly against the light, and singing. They shut their eyes, and then it seemed that they could almost hear words, cool words, saying something about water and sleep. They gave themselves up to the spell and fell fast asleep at the foot of the great grey willow. Frodo lay for a while fighting with the sleep that was overpowering him; then with an effort he struggled to his feel again. He felt a compelling desire for cool water. 'Wait for me, Sam,' he stammered. 'Must bathe feet a minute.' Half in a dream he wandered forward to the riverward side of the tree, where great winding roots grew out into the stream, like gnarled dragonets straining down to drink. He straddled one of these, and paddled his hot feel in the cool brown water; and there he too suddenly fell asleep with his back against the tree. Sam sat down and scratched his head, and yawned like a cavern. He was worried. The afternoon was getting late, and he thought this sudden sleepiness uncanny. 'There's more behind this than sun and warm air,' he muttered to himself. 'I don't like this great big tree. I don't trust it. Hark at it singing about sleep now! This won't do at all!' He pulled himself to his feet, and staggered off to see what had become of the ponies. He found that two had wandered on a good way along the path; and he had just caught them and brought them back towards the others, when ####-he heard two noises; one loud, and the other soft but very clear. One was the splash of something heavy falling into the water; the other was a noise like the snick of a lock when a door quietly closes fast. He rushed back to the bank. Frodo was in the water close to the edge, and a great tree-root seemed to be over him and holding him down, but he was not struggling. Sam gripped him by the jacket, and dragged him from under the root; and then with difficulty hauled him on to the bank. Almost at once he woke, and coughed and spluttered. 'Do you know, Sam,' he said at length, 'the beastly tree threw me in! I felt it. The big root just twisted round and tipped me in!' 'You were dreaming I expect, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'You shouldn't sit in such a place, if you feel sleepy.' 'What about the others?' Frodo asked. 'I wonder what sort of dr eams they are having.' They went round to the other side of the tree, and then Sam understood the click that he had heard. Pippin had vanished. The crack by which he had laid himself had closed together, so that not a chink could be seen. Merry was trapped: another crack had closed about his waist; his legs lay outside, but the rest of him was inside a dark opening, the edges of which gripped like a pair of pincers. Frodo and Sam beat first upon the tree-trunk where Pippin had lain. They then struggled frantically to pull open the jaws of the crack that held poor Merry. It was quite useless. 'What a foul thing to happen!' cried Frodo wildly. 'Why did we ever come into this dreadful Forest? I wish we were all back at Crickhollow! ' He kicked the tree with all his strength, heedless of his own feet. A hardly perceptible shiver ran through the stem and up into the branches; the leaves rustled and whispered, but with a sound now of faint and far-off laughter. 'I suppose we haven't got an axe among our luggage, Mr. Frodo?' asked Sam. 'I brought a little hatchet for chopping firewood,' said Frodo. 'That wouldn't be much use.' 'Wait a minute!' cried Sam, struck by an idea suggested by firewood. 'We might do something with fire!' 'We might,' said Frodo doubtfully. 'We might succeed in roasting Pippin alive inside.' ####- 'We might try to hurt or frighten this tree to begin with,' said Sam fiercely. 'If it don't let them go, I'll have it down, if I have to gnaw it.' He ran to the ponies and before long came back with two tinder -boxes and a hatchet. Quickly they gathered dry grass and leaves, and bits of bark; and made a pile of broken twigs and chopped sticks. These they heaped against the trunk on the far side of the tree from the prisoners. As soon as Sam had struck a spark into the tinder, it kindled the dry grass and a flurry of flame and smoke went up. The twigs crackled. Little fingers of fire licked against the dry scored rind of the ancient tree and scorched it. A tremor ran through the whole willow. The leaves seemed to hiss above their heads with a sound of pain and anger. A loud scream came from Merry, and from far inside the tree they heard Pippin give a muffled yell. 'Put it out! Put it out!' cried Merry. 'He'll squeeze me in two, if you don't. He says so!' 'Who? What?' shouted Frodo, rushing round to the other side of the tree. 'Put it out! Put it out!' begged Merry. The branches of the wi llow began to sway violently. There was a sound as of a wind rising and spreading outwards to the branches of all the other trees round about, as though they had dropped a stone into the quiet slumber of the river -valley and set up ripples of anger that ran out over the whole Forest. Sam kicked at the little fire and stamped out the sparks. But Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help! It seemed to him that he could hardly hear the sound of his own shrill voice: it was blown away from him by the willow-wind and drowned in a clamour of leaves, as soon as the words left his mouth. He felt desperate: lost and witless. Suddenly he slopped. There was an answer, or so he thought; but it seemed to come from behind him, away down the path further back in the Forest. He turned round and listened, and soon there could be no doubt: someone was singing a song; a deep glad voice was singing carelessly and happily, but it was singing nonsense: Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!####- Half hopeful and half afraid of some new danger, Frodo and Sam now both stood still. Suddenly out of a long string of nonsense-words (or so they seemed) the voice rose up loud and clear and burst into this song: Hey! Come merry dot! derry dol! My darling! Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling. Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight, Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight, There my pretty lady is. River-woman's daughter, Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water. Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing? Hey! Come merry dol! deny dol! and merry-o, Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o! Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away! Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day. Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing. Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing? Frodo and Sam stood as if enchanted. The wind puffed out. The leaves hung silently again on stiff branches. There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he wa s too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, slumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, and charging through grass and rushes like a cow going down to drink. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water -lilies. 'Help!' cried Frodo and Sam running towards him with their hands stretched out. 'Whoa! Whoa! steady there!' cried the old man, holding up one hand, and they stopped short, as if they had been struck stiff. 'Now, my little fellows, where be you a -going to, puffing like a bellows? What's the matter here then? Do you know who I am? I'm Tom Bombadil. Tell me what's your ####-trouble! Tom's in a hurry now. Don't you crush my lilies!' 'My friends are caught in the willow-tree,' cried Frodo breathlessly. 'Master Merry's being squeezed in a crack!' cried Sam. 'What?' shouted Tom Bombadil, leaping up in the air. 'Old Man Willow? Naught worse than that, eh? That can soon be mended. I know the tune for him. Old grey Willow-man! I'll freeze his marrow cold, if he don't behave himself. I'll sing his roots off. I'll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. Old Man Willow!' Setting down his lilies carefully on the grass, he ran to the tree. There he saw Merry's feet still sticking out - the rest had already been drawn further inside. Tom put his mouth to the crack and began singing into it in a low voice. They could not catch the words, but evidently Merry was aroused. His legs began to kick. Tom sprang away, and breaking off a hanging branch smote the side of the willow with it. 'You let them out again, Old Man Willow!' he said. 'What be you a-thinking of? You should not be waking. Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go to sleep! Bombadil is talking!' He then seized Merry's feet and drew him out of the suddenly widening crack. There was a tearing creak and the other crack split open, and out of it Pippin sprang, as if he had been kicked. Then with a loud snap both cracks closed fast again. A shudder ran through the tree from root to tip, and complete silence fell. 'Thank you!' said the hobbits, one after the other. Tom Bombadil burst out laughing. 'Well, my little fellows!' said he, stooping so that he peered into their faces. 'You shall come home with me! The table is all laden with yellow cream, honeycomb, and white bread and butter. Goldberry is waiting. Time enough for questions around the supper table. You follow after me as quick as you are able!' With that he picked up his lilies, and then with a beckoning wave of his hand went hopping and dancing along the path eastward, still singing loudly and nonsensically. Too surprised and too relieved to talk, the hobbits followed a fter him as fast as they could. But that was not fast enough. Tom soon disappeared in front of them, and the noise of his singing got fainter and further away. Suddenly his voice came floating back to them in a loud halloo! Hop along, my little friends, up the Withywindle! Tom's going on ahead candles for to kindle. Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping. When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open,####- Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow. Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow! Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you. Hey now! merry dot! We'll be waiting for you! After that the hobbits heard no more. Almost at once the sun seemed to sink into the trees behind them. They thought of the slanting light of evening glittering on the Brandywine River, and the windows of Bucklebury beginning to gleam with hundreds of lights. Great shadows fell across them; trunks and branches of trees hung dark and threatening over the path. White mists began to rise and curl on the surface of the river and stray about the roots of the trees upon its borders. Out of the very ground at their feet a shadowy steam arose and mingled with the swiftly falling dusk. It became difficult to follow the path, and they were very tired. Their legs seemed leaden. Strange furtive noises ran among the bushes and reeds on either side of them; and if they looked up to the pale sky, they caught sight of queer gnarled and knobbly faces that gloomed dark against the twilight, and leered down at them from the high bank and the edges of the wood. They began to feel that all this country was unreal, and that they were stumbling through an ominous dream that led to no awakening. Just as they felt their feet slowing down to a standstill, they noticed that the ground was gently rising. The water began to murmur. In the darkness they caught the white glimmer of foam, where the river flowed over a short fall. Then suddenly the trees came to an end and the mists were left behind. They stepped out from the Forest, and found a wide sweep of grass welling up before them. The river, now small and swift, was leaping merrily down to meet them, glinting here and there in the light of the stars, which were already shining in the sky. The grass under their feet was smooth and short, as if it had been mown or shaven. The eaves of the Forest behind were clipped, and trim as a hedge. The path was now plain before them, well-tended and bordered with stone. It wound up on to the top of a grassy knoll, now grey under the pale starry night; and there, still high above them on a further slope, they saw the twinkling lights of a house. Down again the path went, and then up aga in, up a long smooth hillside of turf, towards the light. Suddenly a wide yellow beam flowed out brightly from a door that was opened. There was Tom Bombadil's house before them, up, down, under hill. Behind it a steep shoulder of the land lay grey and bare, and beyond that the dark shapes of ####-the Barrow-downs stalked away into the eastern night. They all hurried forward, hobbits and ponies. Already half their weariness and all their fears had fallen from them. Hey! Come merry dol! rolled out the song to greet them. Hey! Come derry dol! Hop along, my hearties! Hobbits! Ponies all! We are fond of parties. Now let the fun begin! Let us sing together! Then another clear voice, as young and as ancient as Spring, like the song of a glad water flowing down into the night from a bright morning in the hills, came falling like silver to meet them: Now let the song begin! Let us sing together Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather, Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather, Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather, Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water: Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter! And with that song the hobbits stood upon the threshold, and a golden light was all about them. ####- The four hobbits stepped over the wide stone threshold, and stood still, blinking. They were in a long low room, filled with the light of lamps swinging from the beams of the roof; and on the table of dark polished wood stood many candles, tall and yellow, burning brightly. In a chair, at the far side of the room facing the outer door, sat a woman. Her long yellow hair rippled down her shoulders; her gown was green, green as young reeds, shot with silver like beads of dew; and her belt was of gold, shaped like a chain of flag-lilies set with the pale-blue eyes of forget-me-nots. About her feel in wide vessels of green and brown earthenware, white water -lilies were floating, so that she seemed to be enthroned in the midst of a pool. 'Enter, good guests!' she said, and as she spoke they knew that it was her clear voice they had heard singing. They came a few timid steps further into the room, and began to bow low, feeling strangely surprised and awkward, like folk that, knocking at a cottage door to beg for a drink of water, have been answered by a fair young elf-queen clad in living flowers. But before they could say anything, she sprang lightly up and over the lily-bowls, and ran laughing towards them; and as she ran her gown rustled softly like the wind in the flowering borders of a river. 'Come dear folk!' she said, taking Frodo by the hand. 'Laugh and be merry! I am Goldberry, daughter of the River.' Then lightly she passed them and closing the door she turned her back to it, with her white arms spread out across it. 'Let us shut out the night!' she said. 'For you are still afraid, per haps, of mist and tree-shadows and deep water, and untame things. Fear nothing! For tonight you are under the roof of Tom Bombadil.' The hobbits looked at her in wonder; and she looked at each of them and smiled. 'Fair lady Goldberry!' said Frodo at last, feeling his heart moved with a joy that he did not understand. He stood as he had at times stood enchanted by fair elven-voices; but the spell that was now laid upon him was different: less keen and lofty was the delight, but deeper and nearer to mortal heart; marvellous and yet not strange. 'Fair lady Goldberry!' he said again. 'Now the joy that was hidden in the songs we heard is made plain to ####-me. O slender as a willow-wand! O clearer than clear water! O reed by the living pool! Fair River-daughter! O spring-time and summer-time, and spring again after! O wind on the waterfall, and the leaves' laughter!' Suddenly he stopped and stammered, overcome with surprise to hear himself saying such things. But Goldberry laughed. 'Welcome!' she said. 'I had not heard that folk of the Shire were so sweet-tongued. But I see you are an elf-friend; the light in your eyes and the ring in your voice tells it. This is a merry meeting! Sit now, and wait for the Master of the house! He will not be long. He is tending your tired beasts.' The hobbits sat down gladly in low rush-seated chairs, while Goldberry busied herself about the table; and their eyes followed her, for the slender grace of her movement filled them with quiet delight. From somewhere behind the house came the sound of singing. Every now and again they caught, among many a derry dol and a merry dol and a ring a ding dillo the repeated words: Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. 'Fair lady!' said Frodo again after a while. 'Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?' 'He is,' said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling. Frodo looked a t her questioningly. 'He is, as you have seen him,' she said in answer to his look. 'He is the Master of wood, water, and hill.' 'Then all this strange land belongs to him?' 'No indeed!' she answered, and her smile faded. 'That would indeed be a burden,' she added in a low voice, as if to herself. 'The trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves. Tom Bombadil is the Master. No one has ever caught old Tom walking in the forest, wading in the water, leaping on the hill-tops under light and shadow. He has no fear. Tom Bombadil is master.' A door opened and in came Tom Bombadil. He had now no hat and his thick brown hair was crowned with autumn leaves. He laughed, and going to Goldberry, took her hand. 'Here's my pretty lady!' he said, bowing to the hobbits. 'Here's my Goldberry clothed all in silver -green with flowers in her girdle! Is the ####-table laden? I see yellow cream and honeycomb, and white bread, and butter; milk, cheese, and green herbs and ripe berries gathered. Is that enough for us? Is the supper ready?' 'It is,' said Goldberry; 'but the guests perhaps are not?' Tom clapped his hands and cried: 'Tom, Tom! your guests are tired, and you had near forgotten! Come now, my merry friends, and Tom will refresh you! You shall clean grimy hands, and wash your weary faces; cast off your muddy cloaks and comb out your tangles!' He opened the door, and they followed him down a short passage and round a sharp turn. They came to a low room with a sloping roof (a penthouse, it seemed, built on to the north end of the house). Its walls were of clean stone, but they were mostly covered with green hanging mats and yellow curtains. The floor was flagged, and strewn with fresh green rushes. There were four deep mattresses, each piled with white blankets, laid on the floor along one side. Against the opposite wall was a long bench laden with wide earthenware basins, and beside it stood brown ewers filled with water, some cold, some steaming hot. There were soft green slippers set ready beside each bed. Before long, washed and refreshed, the hobbits were seated at the table, two on each side, while at e ither end sat Goldberry and the Master. It was a long and merry meal. Though the hobbits ate, as only famished hobbits can eat, there was no lack. The drink in their drinking-bowls seemed to be clear cold water, yet it went to their hearts like wi ne and set free their voices. The guests became suddenly aware that they were singing merrily, as if it was easier and more natural than talking. At last Tom and Goldberry rose and cleared the table swiftly. The guests were commanded to sit quiet, and were set in chairs, each with a footstool to his tired feet. There was a fire in the wide hearth before them, and it was burning with a sweet smell, as if it were built of apple-wood. When everything was set in order, a ll the lights in the room were put out, except one lamp and a pair of candles at each end of the chimney-shelf. Then Goldberry came and stood before them, holding a candle; and she wished them each a good night and deep sleep. 'Have peace now,' she said, 'until the morning! Heed no nightly noises! For nothing passes door and window here save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top. Good night!' She passed out of the room with a glimmer and a rustle. The sound of her footsteps was like a stream falling ####-gently away downhill over cool stones in the quiet of night. Tom sat on a while beside them in silence, while each of them tried to muster the courage to ask one of the many questions he had meant to ask at supper. Sleep gathered on their eyelids. At last Frodo spoke: 'Did you hear me calling, Master, or was it just chance that brought you at that moment?' Tom stirred like a man shaken out of a pleasant dream. 'Eh, what?' said he. 'Did I hear you calling? Nay, I did not hear: I was busy singing. Just chance brought me then, if chance you call it. It was no plan of mine, though I was waiting for you. We heard news of you, and learned that you were wandering. We guessed you'd come ere long down to the water: all paths lead that way, down to Withywindle. Old grey Willow-man, he's a mighty singer; and it's hard for little folk to escape his cunning mazes. But Tom had an errand there, that he dared not hinder.' Tom nodded as if sleep was taking him again; but he went on in a soft singing voice: I had an errand there: gathering water-lilies, green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady, the last ere the year's end to keep them from the winter, to flower by her pretty feet tilt the snows are melted. Each year at summer's end I go to find them for her, in a wide pool, deep and clear, far down Withywindle; there they open first in spring and there they linger latest. By that pool long ago I found the River-daughter, fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes. Sweet was her singing then, and her heart was beating! He opened his eyes and looked at them with a sudden glint of blue: And that proved well for you -- for now I shall no longer go down deep again along the forest-water, not while the year is old. Nor shall I be passing Old Man Willow's house this side of spring-time, not till the merry spring, when the River-daughter dances down the withy-path to bathe in the water. He fell silent again; but Frodo could not help asking one more question: the one he most desired to have answered. 'Tell us, Master,' he said, 'about the Willow-man. What is he? I have never heard of him before.' 'No, don't!' said Merry and Pippin together, sitting suddenly upright. 'Not now! Not until the morning!'####- 'That is right!' said the old man. 'Now is the time for resting. Some things are ill to hear when the world's in shadow. Sleep till the morning-light, rest on the pillow! Heed no nightly noise! Fear no grey willow!' And with that he took down the lamp and blew it out, and grasping a candle in either hand he led them out of the room. Their mattresses and pillows were soft as down, and the blankets were of white wool. They had hardly laid themselves on the deep beds and drawn the light covers over them before they were asleep. In the dead night, Frodo lay in a dream without light. Then he saw the young moon rising; under its thin light there loomed before him a black wall of rock, pierced by a dark arch like a great gate. It seemed to Frodo that he was lifted up, and passing over he saw that the rock -wall was a circle of hills, and that within it was a plain, and in the midst of the plain stood a pinnacle of stone, like a vast tower but not made by hands. On its top stood the figure of a man. The moon as it rose seemed to hang for a moment above his head and glistened in his white hair as the wind stirred it. Up from the dark plain below came the crying of fell voices, and the howling of many wolves. Suddenly a shadow, like the shape of great wings, passed across the moon. The figure lifted his arms and a light flashed from the staff that he wielded. A mighty ea gle swept down and bore him away. The voices wailed and the wolves yammered. There was a noise like a strong wind blowing, and on it was borne the sound of hoofs, galloping, galloping, galloping from the East. 'Black Riders!' thought Frodo as he wakened, with the sound of the hoofs still echoing in his mind. He wondered if he would ever again have the courage to leave the safety of these stone walls. He lay motionless, still listening; but all was now silent, and at last he turned and fell asleep again or wandered into some other unremembered dream. At his side Pippin lay dreaming pleasantly; but a change came over his dreams and he turned and groaned. Suddenly he woke, or thought he had waked, and yet still heard in the darkness the sound that had disturbed his dream: tip-tap, squeak: the noise was like branches fretting in the wind, twig-fingers scraping wall and window: creak, creak, creak. He wondered if there were willow-trees close to the house; and then suddenly he had a dreadful feeling that he was not in an ordinary house at all, but inside the willow and listening to that horrible dry creaking voice laughing at him ####-again. He sat up, and felt the soft pillows yield to his hands, and he lay down again relieved. He seemed to hear the echo of words in his ears: 'Fear nothing! Have peace until the morning! Heed no nightly noises!' Then he went to sleep again. It was the sound of water that Merry heard falling into his quiet sleep: water streaming down gently, and then spreading, spreading irresistibly all round the house into a dark shoreless pool. It gurgled under the walls, and was rising slowly but surely. 'I shall be drowned!' he thought. It will find its way in, and then I shall drown.' He felt that he was lying in a soft slimy bog, and springing up he set his fool on the corner of a cold hard flagstone. Then he remembered where he was and lay down again. He seemed to hear or remember hearing: 'Nothing passes doors or windows save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top.' A little breath of sweet air moved the curtain. He breathed deep and fell asleep again. As far as he could remember, Sam slept through the night in deep content, if logs are contented. They woke up, all four at once, in the morning light. Tom was moving about the room whistling like a starling. When he heard them stir he clapped his hands, and cried: 'Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My hearties!' He drew back the yellow curtains, and the hobbits saw that these had covered the windows, at either end of the room, one looking east and the other looking west. They leapt up refreshed. Frodo ran to the eastern window, and found himself looking into a kitchen-garden grey with dew. He had half expected to see turf right up to the walls, turf all pocked with hoof-prints. Actually his view was screened by a tall line of beans on poles; but above and far beyond them the grey top of the hill loomed up against the sunrise. It was a pale morning: in the East, behind long clouds like lines of soiled wool stained red at the edges, lay glimmering deeps of yellow. The sky spoke of rain to come; but the light was broadening quickly, and the red flowers on the beans began to glow against the wet green leaves. Pippin looked out of the western window, down into a pool of mist. The Forest was hidden under a fog. It was like looking down on to a sloping cloud-roof from above. There was a fold or channel where the mist was broken into many plumes and billows; the valley of the Withywindle. The stream ran down the hill on the left and vanished into the white shadows. Near at hand ####-was a flower -garden and a clipped hedge silver -netted, and beyond that grey shaven grass pale with dew-drops. There was no willow-tree to be seen. 'Good morning, merry friends!' cried Tom, opening the eastern window wide. A cool air flowed in; it had a rainy smell. 'Sun won't show her face much today. I'm thinking. I have been walking wide, leaping on the hilltops, since the grey dawn began, nosing wind and weather, wet grass underfoot, wet sky above me. I wakened Goldberry singing under window; but nought wakes hobbit-folk in the early morning. In the night little folk wake up in the darkness, and sleep after light has come! Ring a ding dillo! Wake now, my merry friends! Forget the nightly noises! Ring a ding dillo del! derry del, my hearties! If you come soon you'll find breakfast on the table. If you come late you'll get grass and rain-water!' Needless to say - not that Tom's threat sounded very serious - the hobbits came soon, and left the table late and only when it was beginning lo look rather empty. Neither Tom nor Goldberry were there. Tom could be heard about the house, clattering in the kitchen, and up and down the stairs, and singing here and there outside. The room looked westward over the mist -clouded valley, and the window was open. Water dripped down from the thatched eaves above. Before they had finished breakfast the clouds had joined into an unbroken roof, and a straight grey rain came softly and steadily down. Behind its deep curtain the Forest was completely veiled. As they looked out of the window there came falling gently as if it was flowing down the rain out of the sky, the clear voice of Goldberry singing up above them. They could hear few words, but it seemed plain to them that the song was a rain-song, as sweet as showers on dry hills, that told the tale of a river from the spring in the highlands to the Sea far below. The hobbits listened with delight; and Frodo was glad in his heart, and blessed the kindly weather, because it delayed them from departing. The thought of going had been heavy upon him from the moment he awoke; but he guessed now that they would not go further that day. The upper wind settled in the West and deeper and wetter clouds rolled up to spill their laden rain on the bare heads of the Downs. Nothing could be seen all round the house but falling water. Frodo stood near the open door and watched the white chalky path turn into a little river of milk and ####-go bubbling away down into the valley. Tom Bombadil came trotting round the corner of the house, waving his arms as if he was warding off the rain - and indeed when he sprang over the threshold he seemed quite dry, except for his boots. These he took off and put in the chimney-corner. Then he sat in the largest chair and called the hobbits to gather round him. 'This is Goldberry's washing day,' he said, 'and her autumn-cleaning. Too wet for hobbit-folk - let them rest while they are able! It's a good day for long tales, for questions and for answers, so Tom will start the talking.' He then told them many remarkable stories, sometimes half as if speaking to himself, sometimes looking at them suddenly with a bright blue eye under his deep brows. Often his voice would turn to song, and he would get out of his chair and dance about. He told them tales of bees and flowers, the ways of trees, and the strange creatures of the Forest, about the evil things and good things, things friendly and things unfriendly, cruel things and kind things, and secrets hidden under brambles. As they listened, they began to understand the lives of the Forest, apart from themselves, indeed to feel themselves as the strangers where all other things were at home. Moving constantly in and out of his talk was Old Man Willow, and Frodo learned now enough to content him, indeed more than enough, for it was not comfortable lore. Tom's words laid bare the hearts of trees and their thoughts, which were often dark and strange, and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning: destroyers and usurpers. It was not called the Old Forest without reason, for it was indeed ancient, a survivor of vast forgotten woods; and in it there lived yet, ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords. The countless years had filled them with pride and rooted wisdom, and with malice. But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning, and a master of winds, and his song and thought ran through the woods on both sides of the river. His grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground, and invisible twig-fingers in the air, till it had under its dominion nearly all the trees of the Forest from the Hedge to the Downs.####- Suddenly Tom's talk left the woods and went leaping up the young stream, over bubbling waterfalls, over pebbles and worn rocks, and among small flowers in close grass and wet crannies, wandering at last up on to the Downs. They heard of the Great Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal of their new and greedy swords. There was victory and defeat; and towers fell, fortresses were burned, and flames went up into the sky. Gold was piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all. Sheep walked for a while biting the grass, but soon the hills were empty again. A shadow came out of dark places far away, and the bones were stirred in the mounds. Barrow-wights walked in the hollow places with a clink of rings on cold fingers, and gold chains in the wind.' Stone rings grinned out of the ground like broken teeth in the moonlight. The hobbits shuddered. Even in the Shire the rumour of the Barrow-wights of the Barrow-downs beyond the Forest had been heard. But it was not a tale that any hobbit liked to listen to, even by a comfortable fireside far away. These four now suddenly remembered what the joy of this house had driven from their minds: the house of Tom Bombadil nestled under the very shoulder of those dreaded hills. They lost the thread of his tale and shifted uneasily, looking aside at one another. When they caught his words again they found that he had now wandered into strange regions beyond their memory and beyond their waking thought, into limes when the world was wider, and the seas flowed straight to the western Shore; and still on and back Tom went singing out into ancient starlight, when only the Elf-sires were awake. Then suddenly he slopped, and they saw that he nodded as if he was falling asleep. The hobbits sat still before him, enchanted; and it seemed as if, under the spell of his words, the wind had gone, and the clouds had dried up, and the day had been withdrawn, and darkness had come from East and West, and all the sky was filled with the light of white stars. Whether the morning and evening of one day or of many days had passed Frodo could not tell. He did not feel either hungry or tired, only filled with wonder. The stars shone through the window and the silence of the heavens seemed to be round him. He spoke at last out of his wonder and a ####-sudden fear of that silence: 'Who are you, Master?' he asked. 'Eh, what?' said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom. 'Don't you know my name yet? That's the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless? But you are young and I am old. Eldest, that's what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.' A shadow seemed to pass by the window, and the hobbits glanced hastily through the panes. When they turned again, Goldberry stood in the door behind, framed in light. She held a candle, shielding its flame from the draught with her hand; and the light flowed through it, like sunlight through a white shell. 'The rain has ended,' she said; 'and new waters are running downhill, under the stars. Let us now laugh and be glad!' 'And let us have food and drink!' cried Tom. 'Long tales are thirsty. And long listening's hungry work, morning, noon, and evening!' With that he jumped out of his chair, and with a bound took a candle from the chimney-shelf and lit it in the flame that Goldberry held; then he danced about the table. Suddenly he hopped through the door and disappeared. Quickly he returned, bearing a large and laden tray. Then Tom and Goldberry set the table; and the hobbits sat half in wonder and half in laughter: so fair was the grace of Goldberry and so merry and odd the caperings of Tom. Yet in some fashion they seemed to weave a single dance, neither hindering the other, in and out of the room, and round about the table; and with great speed food and vessels and lights were set in order. The boards blazed with candles, white and yellow. Tom bowed to his guests. 'Supper is ready,' said Goldberry; and now the hobbits saw that she was clothed all in silver with a white girdle, and her shoes were like fishes' mail. But Tom was all in clean blue, blue as rain -washed forget-me-nots, and he had green stockings. It was a supper even better than before. The hobbits under the spell of ####-Tom's words may have missed one meal or many, but when the food was before them it seemed at least a week since they had eaten. They did not sing or even speak much for a while, and paid close attention to business. But after a time their hearts and spirit rose high again, and their voices rang out in mirth and laughter. After they had eaten, Goldberry sang many songs for them, songs that began merrily in the hills and fell softly down into silence; and in the silences they saw in their minds pools and waters wider than any they had known, and looking into them they saw the sky below them and the stars like jewels in the depths. Then once more she wished them each good night and left them by the fireside. But Tom now seemed wide awake and plied them with questions. He appeared already to know much about them and all their families, and indeed to know much of all the history and doings of the Shire down from days hardly remembered among the hobbits themselves. It no longer surprised them; but he made no secret that he owed his recent knowledge largely to Farmer Maggot, whom he seemed to regard as a person of more importance than they had imagined. 'There's earth under his old feet, and clay on his fingers; wisdom in his bones, and both his eyes are open,' said Tom. It was also clear that Tom had dealings with the Elves, and it seemed that in some fashion, news had reached him from Gildor concerning the flight of Frodo. Indeed so much did Tom know, and so cunning was his questioning, that Frodo found himself telling him more about Bilbo and his own hopes and fears than he had told before even to Gandalf. Tom wagged his head up and down, and there was a glint in his eyes when he heard of the Riders. 'Show me the precious Ring!' he said suddenly in the midst of the story: and Frodo, to his own astonishment, drew out the chain from his pocket, and unfastening the Ring handed it at once to Tom. It seemed to grow larger as it lay for a moment on his big brown-skinned hand. Then suddenly he put it to his eye and laughed. For a second the hobbits had a vision, both comical and alarming, of his bright blue eye gleaming through a circle of gold. Then Tom put the Ring round the end of his little finger and held it up to the candlelight. For a moment the hobbits noticed nothing strange about this. Then they gasped. There was no ####-sign of Tom disappearing! Tom laughed again, and then he spun the Ring in the air - and it vanished with a flash. Frodo gave a cry - and Tom leaned forward and handed it back to him with a smile. Frodo looked at it closely, and rather suspiciously (like one who has lent a trinket to a juggler). It was the same Ring, or looked the same and weighed the same: for that Ring had always seemed to Frodo to weigh strangely heavy in the hand. But something prompted him to make sure. He was perhaps a trifle annoyed with Tom for seeming to make so light of what even Gandalf thought so perilously important. He waited for an opportunity, when the talk was going again, and Tom was telling an absurd story about badgers and their queer ways - then he slipped the Ring on. Merry turned towards him to say something and gave a start, and checked an exclamation. Frodo was delighted (in a way): it was his own ring all right, for Merry was staring blankly at his chair, and obviously could not see him. He got up and crept quietly away from the fireside towards the outer door. 'Hey there!' cried Tom, glancing towards him with a most seeing look in his shining eyes. 'Hey! Come Frodo, there! Where be you a -going? Old Tom Bombadil's not as blind as that yet. Take off your golden ring! Your hand's more fair without it. Come back! Leave your game and sit down beside me! We must talk a while more, and think about the morning. Tom must teach the right road, and keep your feet from wandering.' Frodo laughed (trying to feel pleased), and taking off the Ring he came and sat down again. Tom now told them that he reckoned the Sun would shine tomorrow, and it would be a glad morning, and setting out would be hopeful. But they would do well to start early; for weather in that country was a thing that even Tom could not be sure of for long, and it would change sometimes quicker than he could change his jacket. 'I am no weather -master,' he said; 'nor is aught that goes on two legs.' By his advice they decided to make nearly due North from his house, over the western and lower slopes of the Downs: they might hope in that way to strike the East Road in a day's journey, and avoid the Barrows. He told them not to be afraid - but to mind their own business. 'Keep to the green grass. Don't you go a -meddling with old stone or ####-cold Wights or prying in their houses, unless you be strong folk with hearts that never falter!' He said this more than once; and he advised them to pass barrows by on the west-side, if they chanced to stray near one. Then he taught them a rhyme to sing, if they should by ill -luck fall into any danger or difficulty the next day. Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us! When they had sung this altogether after him, he clapped them each on the shoulder with a laugh, and taking candles led them back to their bedroom.####- That night they heard no noises. But either in his dreams or out of them, he could not tell which, Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind; a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise. The vision melted into waking; and there was Tom whistling like a tree-full of birds; and the sun was already slanting down the hill and through the open window. Outside everything was green and pale gold. After breakfast, which they again ate alone, they made ready to say farewell, as nearly heavy of heart as was possible on such a morning: cool, bright, and clean under a washed autumn sky of thin blue. The air came fresh from the North-west. Their quiet ponies were almost frisky, sniffing and moving restlessly. Tom came out of the house and waved his hat and danced upon the doorstep, bidding the hobbits to get up and be off and go with good speed. They rode off along a path that wound away from behind the house, and went slanting up towards the north end of the hill-brow under which it sheltered. They had just dismounted to lead their ponies up the last steep slope, when suddenly Frodo stopped. 'Goldberry!' he cried. 'My fair lady, clad all in silver green! We have never said farewell to her, nor seen her since the evening!' He was so distressed tha t he turned back; but at that moment a clear call came rippling down. There on the hill-brow she stood beckoning to them: her hair was flying loose, and as it caught the sun it shone and shimmered. A light like the glint of water on dewy grass flashed from under her feet as she danced. They hastened up the last slope, and stood breathless beside her. They bowed, but with a wave of her arm she bade them look round; and they looked out from the hill-top over lands under the morning. It was now as clear and far-seen as it had been veiled and misty when they stood upon the knoll in the Forest, which could now be seen rising pale and green out of the dark trees in the West. In that direction the land rose in wooded ridges, green,####-yellow, russet under the sun, beyond which lay hidden the valley of the Brandywine. To the South, over the line of the Withywindle, there was a distant glint like pale glass where the Brandywine River made a great loop in the lowlands and flowed away out of the knowledge of the hobbits. Northward beyond the dwindling downs the land ran away in flats and swellings of grey and green and pale earth -colours, until it faded into a featureless and shadowy distance. Eastward the Barrow-downs rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into a guess: it was no more than a guess of blue and a remote white glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains. They took a deep draught of the air, and felt that a skip and a few stout strides would bear them wherever they wished. It seemed fainthearted to go jogging aside over the crumpled skirts of the downs towards the Road, when they should be leaping, as lusty as Tom, over the stepping stones of the hills straight towards the Mountains. Goldberry spoke to them and recalled their eyes and thoughts. 'Speed now, fair guests!' she said. 'And hold to your purpose! North with the wind in the left eye and a blessing on your footsteps! Make haste while the Sun shines!' And to Frodo she said: 'Farewell, Elf-friend, it was a merry meeting!' But Frodo found no words to answer. He bowed low, and mounted his pony, and followed by his friends jogged slowly down the gentle slope behind the hill. Tom Bombadil's house and the valley, and the Forest were lost to view. The air grew warmer between the green walls of hillside and hillside, and the scent of turf rose strong and sweet as they breathed. Turning back, when they reached the bottom of the green hollow, they saw Goldberry, now small and slender like a sunlit flower against the sky: she was standing still watching them, and her hands were stretched out towards them. As they looked she gave a clear call, and lifting up her hand she turned and vanished behind the hill. Their way wound along the floor of the hollow, and round the green feet of a steep hill into another deeper and broader valley, and then over the shoulder of further hills, and down their long limbs, and up their smooth sides again, up on to new hill -tops and down into new valleys. There was no tree nor any visible water: it was a country of grass and short springy turf, silent except for the whisper of the air over the edges of the land,####-and high lonely cries of strange birds. As they journeyed the sun mounted, and grew hot. Each time they climbed a ridge the breeze seemed to have grown less. When they caught a glimpse of the country westward the distant Forest seemed to be smoking, as if the fallen rain was steaming up again from leaf and root and mould. A shadow now lay round the edge of sight, a dark haze above which the upper sky was like a blue cap, hot and heavy. About mid-day they came to a hill whose top was wide and flattened, like a shallow saucer with a green mounded rim. Inside there was no air stirring, and the sky seemed near their heads. They rode across and looked northwards. Then their hearts rose, for it seemed plain that they had come further already than they had expected. Certainly the distances had now all become hazy and deceptive, but there could be no doubt that the Downs were coming to an end. A long valley la y below them winding away northwards, until it came to an opening between two steep shoulders. Beyond, there seemed to be no more hills. Due north they faintly glimpsed a long dark line. That is a line of trees,' said Merry, 'and that must mark the Road. All along it for many leagues east of the Bridge there are trees growing. Some say they were planted in the old days.' 'Splendid!' said Frodo. 'If we make as good going this afternoon as we have done this morning, we shall have left the Downs before the Sun sets and be jogging on in search of a camping place.' But even as he spoke he turned his glance eastwards, and he saw that on that side the hills were higher and looked down upon them; and all those hills were crowned with green mounds, and on some were standing stones, pointing upwards like jagged teeth out of green gums. That view was somehow disquieting; so they turned from the sight and went down into the hollow circle. In the midst of it there stood a single stone, standing tall under the sun above, and at this hour casting no shadow. It was shapeless and yet significant: like a landmark, or a guarding finger, or more like a warning. But they were now hungry, and the sun was still at the fearless noon; so they set their backs against the east side of the stone. It was cool, as if the sun had had no power to warm it; but at that time this seemed pleasant. There they took food and drink, and made as good a noon-meal under the open sky as anyone could wish; for the food came from 'down under Hill'. Tom had provided them with plenty for the comfort of the day. Their ponies unburdened strayed upon the grass. Riding over the hills, and eating their fill, the warm sun and the ####-scent of turf, lying a little too long, stretching out their legs and looking at the sky above their noses: these things are, perhaps, enough to explain what happened. However, that may be: they woke suddenly and uncomfortably from a sleep they had never meant to take. The standing stone was cold, and it cast a long pale shadow that stretched eastward over them. The sun, a pale and watery yellow, was gleaming through the mist just above the west wall of the hollow in which they lay; north, south, and east, beyond the wall the fog was thick, cold and white. The air was silent, heavy and chill. Their ponies were standing crowded together with their heads down. The hobbits sprang to their feet in alarm, and ran to the western rim. They found that they were upon an island in the fog. Even as they looked out in dismay towards the setting sun, it sank before their eyes into a white sea, and a cold grey shadow sprang up in the East behind. The fog rolled up to the walls and rose above them, and as it mounted it bent over their heads until it became a roof: they were shut in a hall of mist whose central pillar was the standing stone. They felt as if a trap was closing about them; but they did not quite lose heart. They still remembered the hopeful view they had had of the line of the Road ahead, and they still knew in which direction it lay. In any case, they now had so great a dislike for that hollow place about the stone that no thought of remaining there was in their minds. They packed up as quickly as their chilled fingers would work. Soon they were leading their ponies in single file over the rim and down the long northward slope of the hill, down into a foggy sea. As they went down the mist became colder and damper, and their hair hung lank and dripping on their foreheads. When they reached the bottom it was so cold that they halted and got out cloaks and hoods, which soon became bedewed with grey drops. Then, mounting their ponies, they went sl owly on again, feeling their way by the rise and fall of the ground. They were steering, as well as they could guess, for the gate-like opening at the far northward end of the long valley which they had seen in the morning. Once they were through the gap, they had only lo keep on in anything like a straight line and they were bound in the end to strike the Road. Their thoughts did not go beyond that, except for a vague hope that perhaps away beyond the Downs there might be no fog. Their going was very slow. To prevent their getting separated and ####-wandering in different directions they went in file, with Frodo leading. Sam was behind him, and after him came Pippin, and then Merry. The valley seemed to stretch on endlessly. Suddenly Frodo saw a hopeful sign. On either side ahead a darkness began to loom through the mist; and he guessed that they were at last approaching the gap in the hills, the north-gate of the Barrow-downs. If they could pass that, they would be free. 'Come on! Follow me!' he called back over his shoulder, and he hurried forward. But his hope soon changed to bewilderment and alarm. The dark patches grew darker, but they shrank; and suddenly he saw, towering ominous before him and leaning slightly towards one another like the pillars of a headless door, two huge standing stones. He could not remember having seen any sign of these in the valley, when he looked out from the hill in the morning. He had passed between them almost before he was aware: and even as he did so darkness seemed to fall round him. His pony reared and snorted, and he fell off. When he looked back he found that he was alone: the others had not followed him. 'Sam!' he called. 'Pippin! Merry! Come along! Why don't you keep up?' There was no answer. Fear took him, and he ran back past the stones shouting wildly: 'Sam! Sam! Merry! Pippin!' The pony bolted into the mist and vanished. From some way off, or so it seemed, he thought he heard a cry: 'Hoy! Frodo! Hoy!' It was away eastward, on his left as he stood under the great stones, staring and straining into the gloom. He plunged off in the direction of the call, and found himself going steeply uphill. As he struggled on he called again, and kept on calling more and more frantically; but he heard no answer for some time, and then it seemed faint and far ahead and high above him. 'Frodo! Hoy!' came the thin voices out of the mist: and then a cry that sounded like help, help! often repeated, ending with a last help! that trailed off into a long wail suddenly cut short. He stumbled forward with all the speed he could towards the cries; but the light was now gone, and clinging night had closed about him, so that it was impossible to be sure of any direction. He seemed all the time to be climbing up and up. Only the change in the level of the ground at his feet told him when he at last came to the top of a ridge or hill. He was weary, sweating and yet chilled. It was wholly dark.####- 'Where are you?' he cried out miserably. There was no reply. He stood listening. He was suddenly aware that it was getting very cold, and that up here a wind was beginning to blow, an icy wind. A change was coming in the weather. The mist was flowing past him now in shreds and tatters. His breath was smoking, and the darkness was less near and thick. He looked up and saw with surprise that faint stars were appearing overhead amid the strands of hurrying cloud and fog. The wind began to hiss over the grass. He imagined suddenly that he caught a muffled cry, and he made towards it; and even as he went forward the mist was rolled up and thrust aside, and the starry sky was unveiled. A glance showed him that he was now facing southwards and was on a round hill-top, which he must have climbed from the north. Out of the east the biting wind was blowing. To his right there loomed against the westward stars a dark black shape. A great barrow stood there. 'Where are you?' he cried again, both angry and afraid. 'Here!' said a voice, deep and cold, that seemed to come out of the ground. 'I am waiting for you!' 'No!' said Frodo; but he did not run away. His knees gave, and he fell on the ground. Nothing happened, and there was no sound. Trembling he looked up, in time to see a tall dark figure like a shadow against the stars. It leaned over him. He thought there were two eyes, very cold though lit with a pale light that seemed to come from some remote distance. Then a grip stronger and colder than iron seized him. The icy touch froze his bones, and he remembered no more. When he came to himself again, for a moment he could recall nothing except a sense of dread. Then suddenly he knew that he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow. A Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered tales spoke. He dared not move, but lay as he found himself: flat on his back upon a cold stone with his hands on his breast. But though his fear was so great that it seemed to be part of the very darkness that was round him, he found himself as he lay thinking about Bilbo Baggins and his stories, of their jogging along together in the lanes of the Shire and talking about roads and adventures. There is a seed of courage ####-hidden (often deeply, it is true) in the heart of the fattest and most timid hobbit, wailing for some final and desperate danger to make it grow. Frodo was neither very fat nor very timid; indeed, though he did not know it, Bilbo (and Gandalf) had thought him the best hobbit in the Shire. He thought he had come to the end of his adventure, and a terrible end, but the thought hardened him. He found himself stiffening, as if for a final spring; he no longer felt limp like a helpless prey. As he lay there, thinking and getting a hold of himself, he noticed all at once that the darkness was slowly giving way: a pale greenish light was growing round him. It did not at first show him what kind of a place he was in, for the light seemed to be coming out of himself, and from the floor beside him, and had not yet reached the roof or wall. He turned, and there in the cold glow he saw lying beside him Sam, Pippin, and Merry. They were on their backs, and their faces looked deathly pale; and they were clad in white. About them lay many treasures, of gold maybe, though in that light they looked cold and unlovely. On their heads were circlets, gold chains were about their waists, and on their fingers were many rings. Swords lay by their sides, and shields were at their feet. But across their three necks lay one long naked sword. Suddenly a song began: a cold murmur, rising and falling. The voice seemed far away and immeasurably dreary, sometimes high in the air and thin, sometimes like a low moan from the ground. Out of the formless stream of sad but horrible sounds, strings of words would now and again shape themselves: grim, hard, cold words, heartless and miserable. The night was railing against the morning of which it was bereaved, and the cold was cursing the warmth for which it hungered. Frodo was chilled to the marrow. After a while the song became clearer, and with dread in his heart he perceived that it had changed into an incantation: Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone: never mare to wake on stony bed, never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead. In the black wind the stars shall die, and still on gold here let them lie, till the dark lord lifts his hand over dead sea and withered land. He heard behind his head a creaking and scraping sound. Raising himself ####-on one arm he looked, and saw now in the pale light that they were in a kind of passage which behind them turned a corner. Round the corner a long arm was groping, walking on its fingers towards Sam, who was lying nearest, and towards the hilt of the sword that lay upon him. At first Frodo felt as if he had indeed been turned into stone by the incantation. Then a wild thought of escape came to him. He wondered if he put on the Ring, whether the Barrow-wight would miss him, and he might find some way ou t. He thought of himself running free over the grass, grieving for Merry, and Sam, and Pippin, but free and alive himself. Gandalf would admit that there had been nothing else he could do. But the courage that had been awakened in him was now too strong: he could not leave his friends so easily. He wavered, groping in his pocket, and then fought with himself again; and as he did so the arm crept nearer. Suddenly resolve hardened in him, and he seized a short sword that lay beside him, and kneeling he stooped low over the bodies of his companions. With what strength he had he hewed at the crawling arm near the wrist, and the hand broke off; but at the same moment the sword splintered up to the hilt. There was a shriek and the light vanished. In the dark there was a snarling noise. Frodo fell forward over Merry, and Merry's face felt cold. All at once back into his mind, from which it had disappeared with the first coming of the fog, came the memory of the house down under the Hill, and of Tom singing. He remembered the rhyme that Tom had taught them. In a small desperate voice he began: Ho! Tom Bombadil! and with that name his voice seemed to grow strong: it had a full and lively sound, and the dark chamber echoed as if to drum and trumpet. Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us! There was a sudden deep silence, in which Frodo could hear his heart beating. After a long slow moment he heard plain, but far away, as if it was coming down through the ground or through thick walls, an answering voice singing: Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master:####- His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster. There was a loud rumbling sound, as of stones rolling and falling, and suddenly light streamed in, real light, the plain light of day. A low door -like opening appeared at the end of the chamber beyond Frodo's feet; and there was Tom's head (hat, feather, and all) framed against the light of the sun rising red behind him. The light fell upon the floor, and upon the faces of the three hobbits lying beside Frodo. They did not stir, but the sickly hue had left them. They looked now as if they were only very deeply asleep. Tom stooped, removed his hat, and came into the dark chamber, singing: Get out, you old Wight! Vanish in the sunlight! Shrivel like the cold mist, like the winds go wailing, Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains! Come never here again! Leave your barrow empty! Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness, Where gates stand for ever shut, till the world is mended. At these words there was a cry and part of the inner end of the chamber fell in with a crash. Then there was a long trailing shriek, fading away into an unguessable distance; and after that silence. 'Come, friend Frodo!' said Tom. 'Let us get out on to clean grass! You must help me bear them.' Together they carried out Merry, Pippin, and Sam. As Frodo left the barrow for the last time he thought he saw a severed hand wriggling still, like a wounded spider, in a heap of fallen earth. Tom went back in again, and there was a sound of much thumping and stamping. When he came out he was bearing in his arms a great load of treasure: things of gold, silver, copper, and bronze; many beads and chains and jewelled ornaments. He climbed the green barrow and laid them all on top in the sunshine. There he stood, with his hat in his hand and the wind in his hair, and looked down upon the three hobbits, that had been laid on their backs upon the grass at the west side of the mound. Raising his right hand he said in a clear and commanding voice: Wake now my merry tads! Wake and hear me calling! Warm now be heart and limb! The cold stone is fallen; Dark door is standing wide; dead hand is broken.####- Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open! To Frodo's great joy the hobbits stirred, stretched their arms, rubbed their eyes, and then suddenly sprang up. They looked about in amazement, first at Frodo, and then at Tom standing large as life on the barrow-top above them; and then at themselves in their thin white rags, crowned and belted with pale gold, and jingling with trinkets. 'What in the name of wonder?' began Merry, feeling the golden circlet that had slipped over one eye. Then he stopped, and a shadow came over his face, and he closed his eyes. 'Of course, I remember!' he said. 'The men of Carn Dym came on us at night, and we were worsted. Ah! the spear in my heart!' He clutched at his breast. 'No! No!' he said, opening his eyes. 'What am I saying? I have been dreaming. Where did you get to, Frodo?' 'I thought that I was lost,' said Frodo; 'but I don't want to speak of it. Let us think of what we are to do now! Let us go on!' 'Dressed up like this, sir?' said Sam. 'Where are my clothes?' He flung his circlet, belt, and rings on the grass, and looked round helplessly, as if he expected to find his cloak, jacket, and breeches, and other hobbit-garments lying somewhere to hand. 'You won't find your clothes again,' said Tom, bounding down from the mound, and laughing as he danced round them in the sunlight. One would have thought that nothing dangerous or dreadful had happened; and indeed the horror faded out of their hearts as they looked at him, and saw the merry glint in his eyes. 'What do you mean?' asked Pippin, looking at him, half puzzled and half amused. 'Why not?' But Tom shook his head, saying: 'You've found yourselves again, out of the deep water. Clothes are but little loss, if you escape from drowning. Be glad, my merry friends, and let the warm sunlight heal now heart and limb! Cast off these cold rags! Run naked on the grass, while Tom goes a -hunting!' He sprang away down hill, whistling and calling. Looking down after him Frodo saw him running away southwards along the green hollow between their hill and the next, still whistling and crying: Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander? Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder? Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin, White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!####- So he sang, running fast, tossi ng up his hat and catching it, until he was hidden by a fold of the ground: but for some time his hey now! hoy now! came floating back down the wind, which had shifted round towards the south. The air was growing very warm again. The hobbits ran about for a while on the grass, as he told them. Then they lay basking in the sun with the delight of those that have been wafted suddenly from bitter winter to a friendly clime, or of people that, after being long ill and bedridden, wake one day to find that they are unexpectedly well and the day is again full of promise. By the time that Tom returned they were feeling strong (and hungry). He reappeared, hat first, over the brow of the hill, and behind him came in an obedient line six ponies: their own five and one more. The last was plainly old Fatty Lumpkin: he was larger, stronger, fatter (and older) than their own ponies. Merry, to whom the others belonged, had not, in fact, given them any such names, but they answered to the new names that Tom had given them for the rest of their lives. Tom called them one by one and they climbed over the brow and stood in a line. Then Tom bowed to the hobbits. 'Here are your ponies, now!' he said. 'They've more sense (in some ways) than you wandering hobbits have - more sense in their noses. For they sniff danger ahead which you walk right into; and if they run to save themselves, then they run the right way. You must forgive them all; for though their hearts are faithful, to face fear of Barrow-wights is not what they were made for. See, here they come again, bringing all their burdens!' Merry, Sam, and Pippin now clothed themselves in spare garments from their packs; and they soon felt too hot, for they were obliged to put on some of the thicker and warmer things that they had brought against the oncoming of winter. 'Where does that other old animal, that Fatty Lumpkin, come from?' asked Frodo. 'He's mine,' said Tom. 'My four-legged friend; though I seldom ride him, and he wanders often far, free upon the hillsides. When your ponies stayed with me, they got to know my Lumpkin; and they smelt him in the night, and quickly ran to meet him. I thought he'd look for them and with his words of wisdom take all their fear away. But now, my jolly Lumpkin, old Tom's going to ride. Hey! he's coming with you, just to set you on the road; so he needs a pony. For you cannot easily talk to hobbits that are riding,####-when you're on your own legs trying to trot beside them.' The hobbits were delighted to hear this, and thanked Tom many times; but he laughed, and said that they were so good at losing themselves that he would not feel happy till he had seen them safe over the borders of his land. 'I've got things to do,' he said: 'my making and my singing, my talking and my walking, and my watching of the country. Tom can't be always near to open doors and willow-cracks. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is wait ing.' It was still fairly early by the sun, something between nine and ten, and the hobbits turned their minds to food. Their last meal had been lunch beside the standing stone the day before. They breakfasted now off the remainder of Tom's provisions, meant for their supper, with additions that Tom had brought with him. It was not a large meal (considering hobbits and the circumstances), but they felt much better for it. While they were eating Tom went up to the mound, and looked through the treasures. Most of these he made into a pile that glistened and sparkled on the grass. He bade them lie there 'free to all finders, birds, beasts. Elves or Men, and all kindly creatures'; for so the spell of the mound should be broken and scattered and no Wight ever come back to it. He chose for himself from the pile a brooch set with blue stones, many-shaded like flax-flowers or the wings of blue butterflies. He looked long at it, as if stirred by some memory, shaking his head, and saying at last: 'Here is a pretty toy for Tom and for his lady! Fair was she who long ago wore this on her shoulder. Goldberry shall wear it now, and we will not forget her!' For each of the hobbits he chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvellous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold. They gleamed as he drew them from their black sheaths, wrought of some strange metal, light and strong, and set with many fiery stones. Whether by some virtue in these sheaths or because of the spell that lay on the mound, the blades seemed untouched by time, unrusted, sharp, glittering in the sun. 'Old knives are long enough as swords for hobbit-people,' he said. 'Sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking , east, south, or far away into dark and danger.' Then he told them that these blades were forged many long years ago by Men of Westernesse: they were foes of the Dark ####-Lord, but they were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dym in the Land of Angmar . 'Few now remember them,' Tom murmured, 'yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless.' The hobbits did not understand his words, but as he spoke they had a vision as it were of a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which there strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last came one with a star on his brow. Then the vision faded, and they were back in the sunlit world. It was time to start again. They made ready, packing their bags and lading their ponies. Their new weapons they hung on their leather belts under their jackets, feeling them very awkward, and wondering if they would be of any use. Fighting had not before occurred to any of them as one of the adventures in which their flight would land them. At last they set off. They led their ponies down the hill; and then mounting they trotted quickly along the valley. They looked back and saw the top of the old mound on the hill, and from it the sunlight on the gold went up like a yellow flame. Then they turned a shoulder of the Downs and it was hidden from view. Though Frodo looked about him on every side he saw no sign of the great stones standing like a gate, and before long they came to the northern gap and rode swiftly through, and the land fell away before them. It was a merry journey with Tom Bombadil trotting gaily beside them, or before them, on Fatty Lumpkin, who could move much faster than his girth promised. Tom sang most of the time, but it was chiefly nonsense, or else perhaps a strange language unknown to the hobbits, an ancient language whose words were mainly those of wonder and delight. They went forward steadily, but they soon saw that the Road was further away than they had imagined. Even without a fog, their sleep at mid-day would have prevented them from reaching it until after nightfall on the day before. The dark line they had seen was not a line of trees but a line of bushes growing on the edge of a deep dike with a steep wall on the further side. Tom said that it had once been the boundary of a kingdom, but a very long lime ago. He seemed to remember something sad about it, and would not ####-say much. They climbed down and out of the dike and through a gap in the wall, and then Tom turned due north, for they had been bearing somewhat to the west. The land was now open and fairly level, and they quickened their pace, but the sun was already sinking low when at last they saw a line of tall trees ahead, and they knew that they had come back to the Road after many unexpected adventures. They galloped their ponies over the last furlongs, and halted u nder the long shadows of the trees. They were on the top of a sloping bank, and the Road, now dim as evening drew on, wound away below them. At this point it ran nearly from South-west to North-east, and on their right it fell quickly down into a wide hollow. It was rutted and bore many signs of the recent heavy rain; there were pools and pot-holes full of water. They rode down the bank and looked up and down. There was nothing to be seen. 'Well, here we are again at last!' said Frodo. 'I suppose we haven't lost more than two days by my short cut through the Forest! But perhaps the delay will prove useful - it may have put them off our trail.' The others looked at him. The shadow of the fear of the Black Riders came suddenly over them again. Ever since they had entered the Forest they had thought chiefly of getting back to the Road; only now when it lay beneath their feet did they remember the danger which pursued them, and was more than likely to be lying in wait for them upon the Road itself. They looked anxiously back towards the setting sun, but the Road was brown and empty. 'Do you think,' asked Pippin hesitatingly, 'do you think we may be pursued, tonight?' 'No, I hope not tonight,' answered Tom Bombadil; 'nor perhaps the next day. But do not trust my guess; for I cannot tell for certain. Out east my knowledge fails. Tom is not master of Riders from the Black Land far beyond his country.' All the same the hobbits wished he was coming with them. They felt that he would know how to deal with Black Riders, if anyone did. They would soon now be going forward into lands wholly strange to them, and beyond all but the most vague and distant legends of the Shire, and in the gathering twilight they longed for home. A deep loneliness and sense of loss was on ####-them. They stood silent, reluctant to make the final parting, and only slowly became aware that Tom was wishing them farewell, and telling them to have good heart and to ride on till dark without halting. 'Tom will give you good advice, till this day is over (after that your own luck must go with you and guide you): four miles along the Road you'll come upon a village, Bree under Bree -hill, with doors looking westward. There you'll find an old inn that is called The Prancing Pony. Barliman Butterbur is the worthy keeper. There you can stay the night, and afterwards the morning will speed you upon your way. Be bold, but wary! Keep up your merry hearts, and ride to meet your fortune!' They begged him to come at least as far as the inn and drink once more with them; but he laughed and refused, saying: Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting! Then he turned, tossed up his hat, leaped on Lumpkin's back, and rode up over the bank and away singing into the dusk. The hobbits climbed up and watched him until he was out of sight. 'I am sorry to take leave of Master Bombadil,' said Sam. 'He's a caution and no mistake. I reckon we may go a good deal further and see naught better, nor queerer. But I won't deny I'll be glad to see this Prancing Pony he spoke of. I hope it'll be like The Green Dragon away back home! What sort of folk are they in Bree?' 'There are hobbits in Bree,' said Merry, 'as well as Big Folk. I daresay it will be homelike enough. The Pony is a good inn by all accounts. My people ride out there now and again.' 'It may be all we could wish,' said Frodo; 'but it is outside the Shire all the same. Don't make yourselves too much at home! Please remember -all of you - that the name of Baggins must NOT be mentioned. I am Mr. Underhill, if any name must be given.' They now mounted their ponies and rode off silently into the evening. Darkness came down quickly, as they plodded slowly downhill and up again, until at last they saw lights twinkling some distance ahead. Before them rose Bree-hill barring the way, a dark mass against misty stars; and under its western flank nestled a large village. Towards it they now hurried desiring only to find a fire, and a door between them and the night. ####- The Prancing Pony Bree was the chief village of the Bree-land, a small inhabited region, like an island in the empty lands round about. Besides Bree itself, there was Staddle on the other side of the hill, Combe in a deep valley a little further eastward, and Archet on the edge of the Chetwood. Lying round Bree-hill and the villages was a small country of fields and tamed woodland only a few miles broad. The Men of Bree were brown-haired, broad, and rather short, cheerful and independent: they belonged to nobody but themselves; but they were more friendly and familiar with Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, and other inhabitants of the world about them than was (or is) usual with Big People. According to their own tales they were the original inhabitants and wer e the descendants of the first Men that ever wandered into the West of the middle-world. Few had survived the turmoils of the Elder Days; but when the Kings returned again over the Great Sea they had found the Bree-men still there, and they were st ill there now, when the memory of the old Kings had faded into the grass. In those days no other Men had settled dwellings so far west, or within a hundred leagues of the Shire. But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin. They were taller and darker than the Men of Bree and were believed to have strange powers of sight and hearing, and to understand the languages of beasts and birds. They roamed at will southwards, and eastwards even as far as the Misty Mountains; but they were now few and rarely seen. When they appeared they brought news from afar, and told strange forgotten tales which were eagerly listened to; but the Bree-folk did not make friends of them. There were also many families of hobbits in the Bree-land and they claimed to be the oldest settlement of Hobbits in the world, one that was founded long before even the Brandywine was crossed and the Shire colonized. They lived mostly in Staddle though there were some in Bree itself, especially on the higher slopes of the hill, above the houses of the Men.####-The Big Folk and the Little Folk (as they called one another) were on friendly terms, minding their own affairs in their own ways, but both rightly regarding themselves as necessary parts of the Bree-folk. Nowhere else in the world was this peculiar (but excellent) arrangement to be found. The Bree-folk, Big and Little, did not themselves travel much; and the affairs of the four villages were their chief concern. Occasionally the Hobbits of Bree went as far as Buckland, or the Eastfarthing; but though their link land was not much further than a day's riding east of the Brandywine Bridge, the Hobbits of the Shire now seldom visited it. An occasional Bucklander or adventurous Took would come out to the Inn for a night or two, but even that was becoming less and less usual. The Shire-hobbits referred to those of Bree, and to any others that lived beyond the borders, as Outsiders, and took very little interest in them, considering them dull and uncouth. There were probably many more Outsiders scattered about in the West of the World in those days than the people of the Shire imagined. Some, doubtless, were no better than tramps, ready to dig a hole in any bank and stay only as long as it suited them. But in the Bree-land, at any rate, the hobbits were decent and prosperous, and no more rustic tha n most of their distant relatives Inside. It was not yet forgotten that there had been a time when there was much coming and going between the Shire and Bree. There was Bree-blood in the Brandybucks by all accounts. The village of Bree had some hundred stone houses of the Big Folk, mostly above the Road, nestling on the hillside with windows looking west. On that side, running in more than half a circle from the hill and back to it, there was a deep dike with a thick hedge on the inner side. Over this the Road crossed by a causeway; but where it pierced the hedge it was barred by a great gate. There was another gate in the southern comer where the Road ran out of the village. The gates were closed at nightfall; but just inside them were small lodges for the gatekeepers. Down on the Road, where it swept to the right to go round the foot of the hill, there was a large inn. It had been built long ago when the traffic on the roads had been far greater. For Bree stood at an old meeting of ways; another ancient road crossed the East Road just outside (he dike at the western end of the village, and in former days Men and other folk of various sorts had travelled much on it. Strange as News from Bree was still a saying ####-in the Eastfarthing, descending from those days, when news from North, South, and East could be heard in the inn, and when the Shire-hobbits used to go more often to hear it. But the Northern Lands had long been desolate, and the North Road was now seldom used: it was grass-grown, and the Bree-folk called it the Greenway. The Inn of Bree was still there, however, and the innkeeper was an important person. His house was a meeting place for the idle, talkative, and inquisitive among the inhabitants, large and small, of the four villages; and a resort of Rangers and other wanderers, and for such travellers (mostly dwarves) as still journeyed on the East Road, to and from the Mountains. It was dark, and white stars were shining, when Frodo and his companions came at last to the Greenway-crossing and drew near the village. They came to the West -gate and found it shut, but at the door of the lodge beyond it, there was a man sitting. He jumped up and fetched a lantern and looked over the gate at them in surprise. 'What do you want, and where do you come from?' he asked gruffly. 'We are making for the inn here,' answered Frodo. 'We are journeying east and cannot go further tonight.' 'Hobbits! Four hobbits! And what's more, out of the Shire by their talk,' said the gatekeeper, softly as if speaking to himself. He stared at them darkly for a moment, and then slowly opened the gate and let them ride through. 'We don't often see Shire-folk riding on the Road at night,' he went on, as they halted a moment by his door. 'You'll pardon my wondering what business takes you away east of Bree! What may your names be, might I ask?' 'Our names and our business are our own, and this does not seem a good place to discuss them,' said Frodo, not liking the look of the man or the tone of his voice. 'Your business is your own, no doubt,' said the man; 'but it's my business to ask questions after nightfall.' 'We are hobbits from Buckland, and we have a fancy to travel and to stay at the inn here,' put in Merry. 'I am Mr. Brandybuck. Is that enough for you? The Bree-folk used to be fair-spoken to travellers, or so I had heard.' 'All right, all right!' said the man. 'I meant no offence. But you'll find maybe that more folk than old Harry at the gate will be asking you questions. There's queer folk about. If you go on to The Pony, you'll find ####-you're oat the only guests.' He wished them good night, and they said no more; but Frodo could see in the lantern-light that the man was still eyeing them curiously. He was glad to hear the gate clang to behind them, as they rode forward. He wondered why the man was so suspicious, and whether any one had been asking for news of a party of hobbits. Could it have been Gandalf? He might have arrived, while they were delayed in the Forest and the Downs. But there was something in the look and the voice of the gatekeeper that made him uneasy. The man stared after the hobbits for a moment, and then he went back to his house. As soon as his back was turned, a dark figure climbed quickly in over the gate and melted into the shadows of the village street. The hobbits rode on up a gentle slope, passing a few detached houses, and drew up outside the inn. The houses looked large and strange to them. Sam stared up at the inn with its three storeys and many windows, and felt his heart sink. He had imagined himself meeting giants taller than trees, and other creatures even more terrifying, some time or other in the course of his journey; but at the moment he was finding his first sight of Men and their tall houses quite enough, indeed too much for the dark end of a tiring day. He pictured black horses standing all saddled in the shadows of the inn-yard, and Black Riders peering out of dark upper windows. 'We surely aren't going to stay here for the night, are we, sir?' he exclaimed. 'If there are hobbit-folk in these pans, why don't we look for some that would be willing to take us in? It would be more homelike.' 'What's wrong with the inn?' said Frodo. 'Tom Bombadil recommended it. I expect it's homelike enough inside.' Even from the outside the inn looked a pleasant house to familiar eyes. It had a front on the Road, and two wings running back on land partly cut out of the lower slopes of the hill, so that at the rear the second-floor windows were level with the ground. There was a wide arch leading to a courtyard between the two wings, and on the left under the arch there was a large doorway reached by a few broad steps. The door was open and light streamed out of it. Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: THE PRANCING PONY by BARLIMAN BUTTERBUR. Many of the lower windows showed lights behind thick curtains.####- As they hesitated outside in the gloom, someone began singing a merry song inside, and many cheerful voices joined loudly in the chorus. They listened to this encouraging sound for a moment and then got off their ponies. The song ended and there was a burst of laughter and clapping. They led their ponies under the arch, and leaving them standing in the yard they climbed up the steps. Frodo went forward and nearly bumped into a short fat man with a bald head and a red face. He had a white apron on, and was bustling out of one door and in through another, carrying a tray laden with full mugs. 'Can we--' began Frodo. 'Half a minute, if you please!' shouted the man over his shoulder, and vanished into a babel of voices and a cloud of smoke. In a moment he was out again, wiping his hands on his apron. 'Good evening, little master!' he said, bending down. 'What may you be wanting?' 'Beds for four, and stabling for five ponies, if that can be managed. Are you Mr. Butterbur?' 'That's right! Barliman is my name. Barliman Butterbur at your service! You 're from the Shire, eh?' he said, and then suddenly he clapped his hand to his forehead, as if trying to remember something. 'Hobbits!' he cried. 'Now what does that remind me of? Might I ask your names, sir?' 'Mr. Took and Mr. Brandybuck,' said Frodo; 'and this is Sam Gamgee. My name is Underhill.' 'There now!' said Mr. Butterbur, snapping his fingers. 'It's gone again! But it'll come back, when I have time to think. I'm run off my feet; but I'll see what I can do for you. We don't often get a party out of the Shire nowadays, and I should be sorry not to make you welcome. But there is such a crowd already in the house tonight as there hasn't been for long enough. It never rains but it pours, we say in Bree. 'Hi! Nob!' he shouted. 'Where are you, you woolly-footed slow-coach? Nob!' 'Coming, sir! Coming!' A cheery-looking hobbit bobbed out of a door, and seeing the travellers, stopped short and stared at them with great interest. 'Where's Bob?' asked the landlord. 'You don't know? Well find him! Double sharp! I haven't got six legs, nor six eyes neither! Tell Bob there's five ponies that have to be stabled. He must find room somehow.' Nob trotted ####-off with a grin and a wink. 'Well, now, what wa s I going to say?' said Mr. Butterbur, tapping his forehead. 'One thing drives out another, so to speak. I'm that busy tonight, my head is going round. There's a party that came up the Greenway from down South last night - and that was strange enough to begin with. Then there's a travelling company of dwarves going West come in this evening. And now there's you. If you weren't hobbits, I doubt if we could house you. But we've got a room or two in the north wing that were made special for hobbits, when this place was built. On the ground floor as they usually prefer; round windows and all as they like it. I hope you'll be comfortable. You'll be wanting supper, I don't doubt. As soon as may be. This way now!' He led them a short way down a passage, and opened a door. 'Here is a nice little parlour!' he said. 'I hope it will suit. Excuse me now. I'm that busy. No time for talking. I must be trotting. It's hard work for two legs, but I don't get thinner. I'll look in again la ter. If you want anything, ring the hand-bell, and Nob will come. If he don't come, ring and shout!' Off he went at last, and left them feeling rather breathless. He seemed capable of an endless stream of talk, however busy he might be. They found themselves in a small and cosy room. There was a bit of bright fire burning on the hearth, and in front of it were some low and comfortable chairs. There was a round table, already spread with a white cloth, and on it was a large hand-bell. But Nob, the hobbit servant, came bustling in long before they thought of ringing. He brought candles and a tray full of plates. 'Will you be wanting anything to drink, masters?' he asked. 'And shall I show you the bedrooms, while your supper is got ready? ' They were washed and in the middle of good deep mugs of beer when Mr. Butterbur and Nob came in again. In a twinkling the table was laid. There was hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese: good plain food, as good as the Shire could show, and homelike enough to dispel the last of Sam's misgivings (already much relieved by the excellence of the beer). The landlord hovered round for a link, and then prepared to leave them. 'I don't know whether you would care to join the company, when you have supped,' he said, standing at the door. 'Perhaps you would rather go to your beds. Still the company would be very pleased to welcome you , if you had a mind. We don't get Outsiders - travellers from the Shire, I should say,####-begging your pardon - often; and we like to hear a bit of news, or any story or song you may have in mind. But as you please! Ring the bell, if you lack anything!' So refreshed and encouraged did they feel at the end of their supper (about three quarters of an hour's steady going, not hindered by unnecessary talk) that Frodo, Pippin, and Sam decided to join the company. Merry said it would be too stuffy. 'I shall sit here quietly by the fire for a bit, and perhaps go out later for a sniff of the air. Mind your Ps and Qs, and don't forget that you are supposed to be escaping in secret, and are still on the high-road and not very far from the Shire!' 'All right!' said Pippin. 'Mind yourself! Don't get lost, and don't forget that it is safer indoors!' The company was in the big common-room of the inn. The gathering was large and mixed, as Frodo discovered, when his eyes got used to the light. This came chiefly from a blazing log-fire, for the three lamps hanging from the beams were dim, and half veiled in smoke. Barliman Butterbur was standing near the fire, talking to a couple of dwarves and one or two strange-looking men. On the benches were various folk: men of Bree, a collection of local hobbits (sitting chattering together), a few more dwarves, and other vague figures difficult to make out away in the shadows and comers. As soon as the Shire-hobbits entered, there was a chorus of welcome from the Bree-landers. The strangers, especially those that had come up the Greenway, stared at them curiously. The landlord introduced the newcomers to the Bree-folk, so quickly that, though they caught many names, they were seldom sure who the names belonged to. The Men of Bree seemed all to have rather botanical (and to the Shire-folk rather odd) names, like Rushlight, Goatleaf, Heathertoes, Appledore, Thistlewool and Ferny (not to mention Butterbur). Some of the hobbits had similar names. The Mugworts, for instance, seemed numerous. But most of them had natural names, such as Banks, Brockhouse, Longholes, Sandheaver, and Tunnelly, many of which were used in the Shire. There were several Underhills from Saddle, and as they could not imagine sharing a name without being related, they took Frodo to their hearts as a long-lost cousin. The Bree-hobbits were, in fact, friendly and inquisitive, and Frodo soon found that some explanation of what he was doing would have to be ####-given. He gave out that he was interested in history and geography (at which there was much wagging of heads, although neither of these words were much used in the Bree-dialect). He said he was thinking of writing a book (at which there was silent astonishment), and that he and his friends wanted to collect information about hobbits living outside the Shire, especially in the eastern lands. At this a chorus of voices broke out. If Frodo had really wanted to write a book, and had had many ears, he would have learned enough for several chapters in a few minutes. And if that was not enough, he was given a whole list of names, beginning with 'Old Barliman here', to whom he could go for further information. But after a time, a s Frodo did not show any sign of writing a book on the spot, the hobbits returned to their questions about doings in the Shire. Frodo did not prove very communicative, and he soon found himself sitting alone in a comer, listening and looking around. The Men and Dwarves were mostly talking of distant events and telling flews of a kind that was becoming only too familiar. There was trouble away in the South, and it seemed that the Men who had come up the Greenway were on the move, looking for lands where they could find some peace. The Bree-folk were sympathetic, but plainly not very ready to take a large number of strangers into their little land. One of the travellers, a squint-eyed ill-favoured fellow, was foretelling that more and more people would be coming north in the near future. 'If room isn't found for them, they'll find it for themselves. They've a right to live, same as other folk,' he said loudly. The local inhabitants did not look pleased at the prospect. The hobbits did not pay much attention to all this, and it did not at the moment seem to concern hobbits. Big Folk could hardly beg for lodgings in hobbit-holes. They were more interested in Sam and Pippin, who were now feeling quite at home, and were chatting gaily about events in the Shire. Pippin roused a good deal of laughter with an account of the collapse of the roof of the Town Hole in Michel Delving: Will Whitfoot, the Mayor, and the fattest hobbit in the Westfarthing, had been buried in chalk, and came out like a floured dumpling. But there were several questions asked that made Frodo a little uneasy. One of the Bree-landers, who seemed to have been in the Shire several times, wanted to know where the Underhills lived and who they were related to.####- Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather -beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark- green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits. 'Who is that?' Frodo asked, when he got a chance to whisper to Mr. Butterbur. 'I don't think you introduced him?' 'Him?' said the landlord in an answering whisper, cocking an eye without turning his head. 'I don't rightly know. He is one of the wandering folk -Rangers we call them. He seldom talks: not but what he can tell a rare tale when he has the mind. He disappears for a month, or a year, and then he pops up again. He was in and out pretty often last spring; but I haven't seen him about lately. What his right name is I've never heard: but he's known round here as Strider. Goes about at a great pace on his long shanks; though he don't tell nobody what cause he has to hurry. But there's no accounting for East and West, as we say in Bree, meaning the Rangers and the Shire-folk, begging your pardon. Funny you should ask about him.' But at that moment Mr. Butterbur was called away by a demand for more ale and his last remark remained unexplained. Frodo found that Strider was now looking at him, as if he had heard or guessed all that had been said. Presently, with a wave of his hand and a nod, he invited Frodo to come over and sit by him. As Frodo drew near be threw back his hood, showing a shaggy head of dark hair necked with grey, and in a pale stem face a pair of keen grey eyes. 'I am called Strider,' he said in a low voice. 'I am very pleased to meet you. Master - Underhill, if old Butterbur got your name right.' 'He did,' said Frodo stiffly. He felt far from comfortable under the stare of those keen eyes. 'Well, Master Underhill,' said Strider, 'if I were you, I should stop your young friends from talking too much. Drink , fire, and chance-meeting are pleasant enough, but, well - this isn't the Shire. There are queer folk about. Though I say it as shouldn't, you may think,' he added with a wry ####-smile, seeing Frodo's glance. 'And there have been even stranger travellers through Bree lately,' he went on, watching Frodo's face. Frodo returned his gaze but said nothing; and Strider made no further sign. His attention seemed suddenly to be fixed on Pippin. To his alarm Frodo became aware that the ridiculous young Took, encouraged by his success with the fat Mayor of Michel Delving, was now actually giving a comic account of Bilbo's farewell party. He was already giving an imitation of the Speech, and was drawing near to the astonishing Disappearance. Frodo was annoyed. It was a harmless enough tale for most of the local hobbits, no doubt: just a funny story about those funny people away beyond the River; but some (old Butterbur, for instance) knew a thing or two, and had probably heard rumours long ago about Bilbo's vanishing. It would bring the name of Baggins to their minds, especially if there had been inquiries in Bree after that name. Frodo fidgeted, wondering what to do. Pippin was evidently much enjoying the attention he was getting, and had become quite forgetful of their danger. Frodo had a sudden fear that in his present mood he might even mention the Ring; and that might well be disastrous. 'You had better do something quick!' whispered Strider in his ear. Frodo jumped up and stood on a table, and began to talk. The attention of Pippin's audience was disturbed. Some of the hobbits looked at Frodo and laughed and clapped, thinking that Mr. Underhill had taken as much ale as was good for him. Frodo suddenly felt very foolish, and found himself (as was his habit when making a speech) fingering the things in his pocket. He felt the Ring on its chain, and quite unaccountably the desire came over him to slip it on and vanish out of the silly situation. It seemed to him, somehow, as if me suggestion came to him from outside, from someone or something a the room. He resisted the temptation firmly, and clasped the Ring in his hand, as if to keep a hold on it and prevent it from escaping or doing any mischief. At any rate it gave him no inspiration. He spoke 'a few suitable words', as they would have said in the Shire: We are all very much gratified by the kindness of your reception, and I venture to hope that my brief visit will help to renew the old ties of friendship between the Shire and Bree; and then he hesitated and coughed. Everyone in the room was now looking at him. 'A song!' shouted one of the hobbits. 'A song! A song!' shouted all the others. 'Come on now, master,####-sing us something that we haven't heard before!' For a moment Frodo stood gaping. Then in desperation he began a ridiculous song tha t Bilbo had been rather fond of (and indeed rather proud of, for he had made up the words himself). It was about an inn; and that is probably why it came into Frodo's mind just then. Here it is in full. Only a few words of it are now, as a rule, remember ed. There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill. The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; And up and down he runs his bow, Now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle. The landlord keeps a little dog that is mighty fond of jokes; When there's good cheer among the guests, He cocks an ear at all the jests and laughs until he chokes. They also keep a horned cow as proud as any queen; But music turns her head like ale, And makes her wave her tufted tail and dance upon the green. And O! the rows of silver dishes and the store of silver spoons! For Sunday* there's a special pair, And these they polish up with care on Saturday afternoons. The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,####- and the cat began to wail; A dish and a spoon on the table danced, The cow in the garden madly pranced, and the little dog chased his tail. The Man in the Moon took another mug, and then rolled beneath his chair; And there he dozed and dreamed of ale, Till in the sky the stars were pale, and dawn was in the air. Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat: 'The white horses of the Moon, They neigh and champ their silver bits; But their master's been and drowned his wits, and the Sun'll be rising soon!' So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle, a jig that would wake the dead: He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune, While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon: 'It's after three!' he said. They rolled the Man slowly up the hill and bundled him into the Moon, While his horses galloped up in rear, And the cow came capering like a deer, and a dish ran up with the spoon. Now quicker the fiddle went deedle -dum-diddle; the dog began to roar, The cow and the horses stood on their heads; The guests all bounded from their beds and danced upon the floor. With a ping and a pong the fiddle -strings broke! the cow jumped over the Moon,####- And the little dog laughed to see such fun, And the Saturday dish went off at a run with the silver Sunday spoon. The round Moon rolled behind the hill as the Sun raised up her head. She* hardly believed her fiery eyes; For though it was day, to her surprise they all went back to bed! There was loud and long applause. Frodo had a good voice, and the song tickled their fancy. 'Where's old Barley?' they cried. 'He ought to hear this. Bob ought to learn his cat the fiddle, and then we'd have a dance.' They called for more ale, and began to shout: 'Let's have it again, master! Come on now! Once more!' They made Frodo have another drink, and then begin his song again, while many of them joined in; for the tune was well known, and they were quick at picking up words. It was now Frodo's turn to feel pleased with himself. He capered about on the table; and when he came a second time to the cow jumped over the Moon, he leaped in the air. Much too vigorously; for he came down, bang, into a tray full of mugs, and slipped, and rolled off the table with a crash, clatter, and bump! The audience all opened their mouths wide for laughter, and stopped short a gaping silence; for the singer disappeared. He simply vanished, as if he had gone slap through the floor without leaving a hole! The local hobbits stared in amazement, and then sprang to their feet and shouted for Barliman. All the company drew away from Pippin and Sam, who found themselves left alone in a comer, and eyed darkly and doubtfully from a distance. It was plain that many people regarded them now as the companions of a travelling magician of unknown powers and purpose. But there was one swarthy Bree-lander, who stood looking at them with a knowing and half-mocking expression that made them feel very uncomfortable. Presently he slipped out of the door, followed by the squint-eyed southerner: the two had been whispering together a good deal during the evening. Harry the gatekeeper also went out just behind them.. Frodo felt a fool. Not knowing what else to do, he crawled away under ####-the tables to the dark comer by Strider, who sat unmoved, giving no sign of his thoughts. Frodo leaned back against the wall and took off the Ring. How it came to be on his finger he could not tell. He could only suppose that he had been handling it in his pocket while he sang, and that somehow it had slipped on when he stuck out his hand with a jerk to save his fall. For a moment he wondered if the Ring itself had not played him a trick; perhaps it had tried to reveal itself in response to some wish or command that was felt in the room. He did not like the looks of the men that had gone out. 'Well?' said Strider, when he rea ppeared. 'Why did you do that? Worse than anything your friends could have said! You have put your foot in it! Or should I say your finger?' 'I don't know what you mean,' said Frodo, annoyed and alarmed. 'Oh yes, you do,' answered Strider; 'but we had better wait until the uproar has died down. Then, if you please, Mr. Baggins, I should like a quiet word with you.' 'What about?' asked Frodo, ignoring the sudden use of his proper name. 'A matter of some importance - to us both,' answered Strider, looking Frodo in the eye. 'You may hear something to your advantage.' 'Very well,' said Frodo, trying to appear unconcerned. 'I'll talk to you later.' Meanwhile an argument was going on by the fireplace. Mr. Butterbur had come trotting in, and he was now trying to listen to several conflicting accounts of the event at the same time. 'I saw him, Mr. Butterbur,' said a hobbit; 'or leastways I didn't see him, if you take my meaning. He just vanished into thin air, in a manner of speaking.' 'You don't say, Mr. Mugwort!' said the landlord, looking puzzled. 'Yes I do!' replied Mugwort. 'And I mean what I say, what's more.' 'There's some mistake somewhere,' said Butterbur, shaking his head. There was too much of that Mr. Underhill to go vanishing into thin air; or into thick air, as is more likely in this room.' 'Well, where is he now?' cried several voices. 'How should I know? He's welcome to go where he will, so long as he pays in the morning. There's Mr. Took, now: he's not vanished.' 'Well, I saw what I saw, and I saw what I didn't,' said Mugwort obstinately. 'And I say there's some mistake,' repeated Butterbur, picking up the ####-tray and gathering up the broken crockery. 'Of course there's a mistake!' said Frodo. 'I haven't vanished. Here I am! I've just been having a few words with Strider in the comer.' He came forward into the firelight; but most of the company backed away,, even more perturbed than before. They were not in the least satisfied by his explanation that he had crawled away quickly under the tables after he had fallen. Most of the Hobbits and the Men of Bree went off then and there in a huff, having no fancy for further entertainment that evening. One or two gave Frodo a black look and departed muttering among themselves. The Dwarves and the two or three strange Men that still remained got up and said good night to the landlord, but not to Frodo and his friends. Before long no one was left but Strider, who sat on, unnoticed, by the wall. Mr. Butterbur did not seem much put out. He reckoned, very probably, that his house would be full again on many future nights, until the present mystery had been thoroughly discussed. 'N ow what have you been doing, Mr. Underhill?' he asked. 'Frightening my customers and breaking up my crocks with your acrobatics!' 'I am very sorry to have caused any trouble,' said Frodo. 'It was quite unintentional, I assure you. A most unfortunate accident.' 'All right, Mr. Underhill! But if you're going to do any more tumbling, or conjuring, or whatever it was, you'd best warn folk beforehand - and warn me. We're a bit suspicious round here of anything out of the way -uncanny, if you understand me; and we don't take to it all of a sudden.' 'I shan't be doing anything of the sort again, Mr. Butterbur, I promise you. And now I think I'll be getting to bed. We shall be making an early start. Will you see that our ponies are ready by eight o'clock?' 'Very good! But before you go, I should like a word with you in private, Mr. Underhill. Something has just come back to my mind that I ought to tell you. I hope that you'll not take it amiss. When I've seen to a thing or two, I'll come along to your room, if you're willing.' 'Certainly!' said Frodo; but his heart sank. He wondered how many private talks he would have before he got to bed, and what they would reveal. Were these people all in league against him? He began to suspect even old Butterbur's fat face of concealing dark designs.####-

Frodo, Pippin, and Sam made their way back to the parlour. There was no light. Merry was not there, and the fire had burned low. It was not until they had puffed up the embers into a blaze and thrown on a couple of faggots that they discovered Strider had come with them. There he was calmly sitting in a chair by the door! 'Hallo!' said Pippin. 'Who are you, and what do you want?' 'I am called Strider,' he answered: 'and though he may have forgotten it, your friend promised to have a quiet talk with me.' 'You said I might hear something to my advantage, I believe,' said Frodo. 'What have you to say?' 'Several things,' a nswered Strider. 'But, of course, I have my price.' 'What do you mean?' asked Frodo sharply. 'Don't be alarmed! I mean just this: I will tell you what I know, and give you some good advice - but I shall want a reward.' 'And what will that be, pray?' said Frodo. He suspected now that he had fallen in with a rascal, and he thought uncomfortably that he had brought only a little money with him. All of it would hardly satisfy a rogue, and he could not spare any of it. 'No more than you can afford,' answered Strider with a slow smile, as if he guessed Frodo's thoughts. 'Just this: you must take me along with you, until I wish to leave you.' 'Oh, indeed!' replied Frodo, surprised, but not much relieved. 'Even if I wanted another companion, I should not agree to any such thing, until I knew a good deal more about you, and your business.' 'Excellent!' exclaimed Strider, crossing his legs and sitting back comfortably. 'You seem to be coming to your senses again, and that is all to the good. You have been much too careless so far. Very well! I will tell you what I know, and leave the reward to you. You may be glad to grant it, when you have heard me.' 'Go on then!' said Frodo. 'What do you know?' 'Too much; too many dark things,' said Strider grimly. 'But as for your business --' He got up and went to the door, opened it quickly and looked out. Then he shut it quietly and sat down again. 'I have quick ears,' he went on, lowering his voice, 'and though I cannot disappear, I have hunted ####-many wild and wary things and I can usually avoid being seen, if I wish. Now, I was behind the hedge this evening on the Road west of Bree, when four hobbits came out of the Downlands. I need not repeat all that they said to old Bombadil or to one another, but one thing interested me. Please remember, said one of them, that the name Baggins must not be mentioned. I am Mr. Underhill, if any name must be given. That interested me so much that I followed them here. I slipped over the gate just behind them. Maybe Mr. Baggins has an honest reason for leaving his name behind; but if so, I should advise him and his friends to be more careful.' 'I don't see what interest my name has for any one in Bree,' sa id Frodo angrily, 'and I have still to learn why it interests you. Mr. Strider may have an honest reason for spying and eavesdropping; but if so, I should advise him to explain it.' 'Well answered!' said Strider laughing. 'But the explanation is simple: I was looking for a Hobbit called Frodo Baggins. I wanted to find him quickly. I had learned that he was carrying out of the Shire, well, a secret that concerned me and my friends. 'Now, don't mistake me!' he cried, as Frodo rose from his seat, and Sam jumped up with a scowl. 'I shall take more care of the secret than you do. And care is needed!' He leaned forward and looked at them. 'Watch every shadow!' he said in a low voice. 'Black horsemen have passed through Bree. On Monday one came down the Greenway, they say; and another appeared later, coming up the Greenway from the south.' There was a silence. At last Frodo spoke to Pippin and Sam: 'I ought to have guessed it from the way the gatekeeper greeted us,' he said. 'And the landlord seems to have heard something. Why did he press us to join the company? And why on earth did we behave so foolishly: we ought to have stayed quiet in here.' 'It would have been better,' said Strider. 'I would have stopped your going into the common-room, if I could; but the innkeeper would not let me in to see you, or take a message.' 'Do you think he------' began Frodo. 'No, I don't think any harm of old Butterbur. Only he does not altogether like mysterious vagabonds of my sort.' Frodo gave him a puzzled look. 'Well, I have rather a rascally look, have I not?' said Strider with a curl of his lip and a queer gleam in his eye. 'But I hope we shall get to ####-know one another better. When we do, I hope you will explain what happened at the end of your song. For that little prank ------' 'It was sheer accident!' interrupted Frodo. 'I wonder,' said Strider. 'Accident, then. That accident has made your position dangerous.' 'Hardly more than it was already,' said Frodo. 'I knew these horsemen were pursuing me; but now at any rate they seem to have missed me and to have gone away.' 'You must not count on that!' said Strider sharply. 'They will return. And more are coming. There are others. I know their number. I know these Riders.' He paused, and his eyes were cold and hard. 'And there are some folk in Bree who are not to be trusted,' he went on. 'Bill Ferny, for instance. He has an evil name in the Bree-land, and queer folk call at his house. You must have noticed him among the company: a swarthy sneering fellow. He was very close with one of the Southern strangers, and they slipped out together just after your "accident". Not all of those Southerners mean well; and as for Ferny, he would sell anything to anybody; or make mischief for amusement.' 'What will Ferny sell, and what has my accident got to do with him?' said Frodo, still determined not to understand Strider's hints. 'News of you, of course,' answered Strider. 'An account of your performance would be very interesting to certain people. After that they would hardly need to be told your real name. It seems to me only too likely that they will hear of it befor e this night is over. Is that enough? You can do as you like about my reward: take me as a guide or not. But I may say that I know all the lands between the Shire and the Misty Mountains, for I have wandered over them for many years. I am older than I look. I might prove useful. You will have to leave the open road after tonight; for the horsemen will watch it night and day. You may escape from Bree, and be allowed to go forward while the Sun is up; but you won't go far. They will come on you in the wild, in some dark place where there is no help. Do you wish them to find you? They are terrible!' The hobbits looked at him, and saw with surprise that his face was drawn as if with pain, and his hands clenched the arms of his chair. The room was very quiet and still, and the light seemed to have grown dim. For a while he sat with unseeing eyes as if walking in distant memory or listening to sounds in the Night far away.####- 'There!' he cried after a moment, drawing his hand across his brow. 'Perhaps I know more about these pursuers than you do. You fear them, but you do not fear them enough, yet. Tomorrow you will have to escape, if you can. Strider can take you by paths that are seldom trodden. Will you have him? ' There was a heavy silence. Frodo made no answer, his mind was confused with doubt and fear. Sam frowned, and looked at his master; and at last he broke out: 'With your leave, Mr. Frodo, I'd say no! This Strider here, he warns and he says take care; and I say yes to that, and let's begin with him. He comes out of the Wild, and I never heard no good of such folk. He knows something, that's plain, and more than I like; but it's no reason why we should let him go leading us out into some dark place far from help, as he puts it.' Pippin fidgeted and looked uncomfortable. Strider did not reply to Sam, but turned his keen eyes on Frodo. Frodo caught his glance and looked away. 'No,' he said slowly. 'I don't agree. I think, I think you are not really as you choose to look. You began to talk to me like the Bree-folk, but your voice has changed. Still Sam seems right in this: I don't see why you should warn us to take care, and yet ask us to take you on trust. Why the disguise? Who are you? What do you really know about - about my business; and how do you know it?' 'The lesson in caution has been well learned,' said Strider with a grim smile. 'But caution is one thing and wavering is another. You will never get to Rivende ll now on your own, and to trust me is your only chance. You must make up your mind. I will answer some of your questions, if that will help you to do so. But why should you believe my story, if you do not trust me already? Still here it is------' At that moment there came a knock at the door. Mr. Butterbur had arrived with candles, and behind him was Nob with cans of hot water. Strider withdrew into a dark corner. 'I've come to bid you good night,' said the landlord, putting the candles on the table. 'Nob! Take the water to the rooms!' He came in and shut the door. 'It's like this,' he began, hesitating and looking troubled. 'If I've done any harm, I'm sorry indeed. But one thing drives out another, as you'll ####-admit; and I'm a busy man. But first one thing and then another this week have jogged my memory, as the saying goes; and not too late I hope. You see, I was asked to look out for hobbits of the Shire, and for one by the name of Baggins in particular.' 'And what has that got to do with me?' asked Frodo. 'Ah! you know best,' said the landlord, knowingly. 'I won't give you away; but I was told that this Baggins would be going by the name of Underhill, and I was given a description that fits you well enough, if I may say so.' 'Indeed! Let's have it then!' said Frodo, unwisely interrupting. 'A stout little fellow with red cheeks,' said Mr. Butterbur solemnly. Pippin chuckled, but Sam looked indignant. 'That won't help you much; it goes for most hobbits. Barley, he says to me,' continued Mr. Butterbur with a glance at Pippin. 'But this one is taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye. Begging your pardon, but he said it, not me.' 'He said it? And who was he?' asked Frodo eagerly. 'Ah! That was Gandalf, if you know who I mean. A wizard they say he is, but he's a good friend of mine, whether or no. But now I don't know what he'll have to say to me, if I see him again: turn all my ale sour or me into a block of wood, I shouldn't wonder. He's a bit hasty. Still what's done can't be undone. ' 'Well, what have you done?' said Frodo, getting impatient with the slow unravelling of Butterbur's thoughts. 'Where was I?' said the landlord, pausing and snapping his fingers. 'Ah, yes! Old Gandalf. Three months back he walked right into my room without a knock. Barley, he says, I'm off in the morning. Will you do something for me? You've only to name it, I said. I'm in a hurry, said he, and I've no time myself, but I want a message took to the Shire. Have you anyone you can send, and trust to go? I can find someone, I said, tomorrow, maybe, or the day after. Make it tomorrow, he says, and then he gave me a letter. 'It's addressed plain enough,' said Mr. Butterbur, producing a letter from his pocket, and reading out the address slowly and proudly (he valued his reputation as a lettered man): Mr FRODO BAGGINS, BAG END, HOBBITON in the SHIRE. 'A letter for me from Gandalf!' cried Frodo.####- 'Ah!' said Mr. Butterbur. 'Then your right name is Baggins?' 'It is,' said Frodo, 'and you had better give me that letter at once, and explain why you never sent it. That's what you came to tell me, I suppose, though you've taken a long time to come to the point.' Poor Mr. Butterbur looked troubled. 'You're right, master,' he said, 'and I beg your pardon. And I'm mortal afraid of what Gandalf will say, if harm comes of it. But I didn't keep it back a -purpose. I put it by safe. Then I couldn't find nobody willing to go to the Shire next day, nor the day after, and none of my own folk were to spare; and then one thing after another drove it out of my mind. I'm a busy man. I'll do what I can to set matters right, and if there's any help I can give, you've only to name it. 'Leaving the letter aside, I promised Gandalf no less. Barley, he says to me, this friend of mine from the Shire, he may be coming out this way before long, him and another. He'll be calling himself Underhill. Mind that! But you need ask no questions. And if I'm not with him, he may be in trouble, and he may need help. Do whatever you can for him, and I'll be grateful, he says. And here you are, and trouble is not far off, seemingly.' 'What do you mean?' asked Frodo. 'These black men,' said the landlord lowering his voice. 'They're looking for Baggins, and if they mean well, then I'm a hobbit. It was on Monday, and all the dogs were yammering and the geese screaming. Uncanny, I called it. Nob, he came and told me that two black men were at the door asking for a hobbit called Baggins. Nob's hair was all stood on end. I bid the black fellows be off, and slammed the door on them; but they've been asking the same question all the way to Archet, I hear. And that Ranger, Strider, he's been asking questions, too. Tried to get in here to see you, before you'd had bite or sup, he did.' 'He did!' said Strider suddenly, coming forward into the light. 'And much trouble would have been saved, if you had let him in, Barliman.' The landlord jumped with surprise. 'You!' he cried. 'You're always popping up. What do you want now?' 'He's here with my leave,' said Frodo. 'He came to offer me his help.' 'Well, you know your own business, maybe,' said Mr. Butterbur, looking suspiciously at Strider. 'But if I was in your plight, I wouldn't take up with a Ranger.' 'Then who would you take up with?' asked Strider. 'A fat innkeeper who ####-only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day? They cannot stay in The Pony for ever, and they cannot go home. They have a long road before them. Will you go with them and keep the black men off?' 'Me? Leave Bree! I wouldn't do that for any money,' said Mr. Butterbur, looking really scared. 'But why can't you stay here quiet for a bit, Mr. Underhill? What are all these queer goings on? What are these black men after, and where do they come from, I'd like to know?' 'I'm sorry I can't explain it all,' answered Frodo. 'I am tired and very worried, and it's a long tale. But if you mean to help me, I ought to warn you that you will be in danger as long as I am in your house. These Black Riders: I am not sure, but I think, I fear they come from------' 'They come from Mordor,' said Strider in a low voice. 'From Mordor, Barliman, if that means anything to you.' 'Save us!' cried Mr. Bu tterbur turning pale; the name evidently was known to him. 'That is the worst news that has come to Bree in my time.' 'It is,' said Frodo. 'Are you still willing to help me?' 'I am,' said Mr. Butterbur. 'More than ever. Though I don't know what the likes of me can do against, against ------' he faltered. 'Against the Shadow in the East,' said Strider quietly. 'Not much, Barliman, but every little helps. You can let Mr. Underhill stay here tonight, as Mr. Underhill, and you can forget the name of Baggins, till he is far away.' 'I'll do that,' said Butterbur. 'But they'll find out he's here without help from me, I'm afraid. It's a pity Mr. Baggins drew attention to himself this evening, to say no more. The story of that Mr. Bilbo's going off has been heard before tonight in Bree. Even our Nob has been doing some guessing in his slow pate: and there are others in Bree quicker in the uptake than he is.' 'Well, we can only hope the Riders won't come back yet,' said Frodo. 'I hope not, indeed,' said Butterbur. 'But spooks or no spooks, they won't get in The Pony so easy. Don't you worry till the morning. Nob'll say no word. No black man shall pass my doors, while I can stand on my legs. Me and my folk'll keep watch tonight; but you had best get some sleep, if you can.' 'In any case we must be called at dawn,' said Frodo. 'We must get off as early as possible. Breakfast at six-thirty, please.' 'Right! I'll see to the orders,' said the landlord. 'Good night, Mr.####-Baggins - Underhill, I should say! Good night - now, bless me! Where's your Mr. Brandybuck?' 'I don't know,' said Frodo with sudden anxiety. They had forgotten all about Merry, and it was getting late. 'I am afraid he is out. He said something about going for a breath of air.' 'Well, you do want looking after and no mistake: your party might be on a holiday!' said Butterbur. 'I must go and bar the doors quick, but I'll see your friend is let in when he comes. I'd better send Nob to look for him. Good night to you all!' At last Mr. Butterbur went out, with another doubtful look at Strider and a shake of his head. His footsteps retreated down the passage. 'Well?' said Strider. 'When are you going to open that letter?' Frodo looked carefully at the seal before he broke it. It seemed certainly to be Gandalf's. Inside, written in the wizard's strong but graceful script, was the following message: THE PRANCING PONY, BREE. Midyear's Day, Shire Year, 1418. Dear Frodo, Bad news has reached me here. I must go off at once. You had better leave Bag End soon, and get out of the Shire before the end of July at latest. I will return as soon as I can; and I will follow you, if I find that you are gone. Leave a message for me here, if you pass through Bree. You can trust the landlord (Butterbur). You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a Man, lean, dark, tall, by some called Strider. He knows our business and will help you. Make for Rivendell. There I hope we may meet again. If I do not come, Elrond will advise you. Yours in haste GANDALF. PS. Do NOT use It again, not far any reason whatever! Do not travel by night! PPS. Make sure that it is the real Strider. There are many strange men on the roads. His true name is Aragorn. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring;####- Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. PPPS. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-roam: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him. Fare Well! Frodo read the letter to himself, and then passed it to Pippin and Sam. 'Really old Butterbur has made a mess of things!' he said. 'He deserves roasting. If I had got this at once, we might all have been safe in Rivendell by now. But what can have happened to Gandalf? He writes as if he was going into great danger.' 'He has been doing that for many years,' said Strider. Frodo turned and looked at him thoughtfully, wondering about Gandalf's second postscript. 'Why didn't you tell me that you were Gandalf's friend at once?' he asked. 'It would have saved time.' 'Would it? Would any of you have believed me till now?' said Strider. 'I knew nothing of this letter. For all I knew I had to persuade you to trust me without proofs, if I was to help you. In any case, I did not intend to tell you all about myself at once. I had to study you first, and make sure of you. The Enemy has set traps for me before now. As soon as I had made up my mind, I was ready to tell you whatever you asked. But I must admit,' he added with a queer laugh, 'that I hoped you would take to me for my own sake. A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust a nd longs for friendship. But there, I believe my looks are against me.' 'They are - at first sight at any rate,' laughed Pippin with sudden relief after reading Gandalf's letter. 'But handsome is as handsome does, as we say in the Shire; and I daresay we shall all look much the same after lying for days in hedges and ditches.' 'It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years, of wandering in the Wild to make you look like Strider,' he answered. 'And you would die first, unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be.' Pippin subsided; but Sam was not daunted, and he still eyed Strider dubiously. 'How do we know you are the Strider that Gandalf speaks about?' he demanded. 'You never mentioned Gandalf, till this letter came out. You might be a play-acting spy, for all I can see, trying to get us to go with ####-you. You might have done in the real Strider and took his clothes. What have you to say to that?' 'That you are a stout fellow,' answered Strider; 'but I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam Gamgee, is this. If I had killed the real Strider, I could kill you. And I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I was after the Ring, I could have it - NOW!' He stood up, and seemed suddenly to grow taller. In his eyes gleamed a light, keen and commanding. Throwing back his cloak, he laid his hand on the hilt of a sword that had hung concealed by his side. They did not dare to move. Sam sat wide-mouthed staring at him dumbly. 'But I am the real Strider, fortunately,' he said, looking down at them with his face softened by a sudden smile. 'I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.' There was a long silence. At last Frodo spoke with hesitation. 'I believed that you were a friend before the letter came,' he said, 'or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would - well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.' 'I see,' laughed Strider. 'I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.' 'Did the verses apply to you then?' asked Frodo. 'I could not make out what they were about. But how did you know that they were in Gandalf's letter, if you have never seen it?' 'I did not know,' he answered. 'But I am Aragorn, and those verses go with that name.' He drew out his swor d, and they saw that the blade was indeed broken a foot below the hilt. 'Not much use is it, Sam?' said Strider. 'But the time is near when it shall be forged anew.' Sam said nothing. 'Well,' said Strider, 'with Sam's permission we will call that settled. Strider shall be your guide. We shall have a rough road tomorrow. Even if we are allowed to leave Bree unhindered, we can hardly hope now to leave it unnoticed. But I shall try to get lost as soon as possible. I know one or two ways out of Bree-land other than the main road. If once we shake off the pursuit, I shall make for Weathertop.' 'Weathertop?' said Sam. 'What's that?' 'It is a hill, just to the north of the Road, about half way from here to Rivendell. It commands a wide view all round; and there we shall have a ####-chance to look about us. Gandalf will make for that point, if he follows us. After Weathertop our journey will become more difficult, and we shall have to choose between various dangers.' 'When did you last see Gandalf?' asked Frodo. 'Do you know where he is, or what he is doing?' Strider looked grave. 'I do not know,' he said. 'I came west with him in the spring. I have often kept watch on the borders of the Shire in the last few years, when he was busy elsewhere. He seldom left it unguarded. We last met on the first of May: at Sam Ford down the Brandywine. He told me that his business with you had gone well, and that you would be starting for Rivendell in the last week of September. As I knew he was at your side, I went away on a journey of my own. And that has proved ill; for plainly some news reached him, and I was not at hand to help. 'I am troubled, for the first time since I have known him. We should have had messages, even if he could not come himself. When I returned, many days ago, I heard the ill news. The tidings had gone far and wide that Gandalf was missing and the horsemen had been seen. It was the Elven-folk of Gildor that told me this; and later they told me that you had left your home; but there was no news of your leaving Buckland. I have been watching the East Road anxiously.' 'Do you think the Black Riders have anything to do with it - with Gandalf's absence, I mean?' asked Frodo. 'I do not know of anything else that could have hindered him, except the Enemy himself,' said Strider. 'But do not give up hope! Gandalf is greater than you Shire-folk know - as a rule you can only see his jokes and toys. But this business of ours will be his greatest task.' Pippin yawned. 'I am sorry,' he said, 'but I am dead tired. In spite of all the danger and worry I must go to bed, or sleep where I sit. Where is that silly fellow, Merry? It would be the last straw, if we had to go out in the dark to look for him.' At that moment they heard a door slam; then feet came running along the passage. Merry came in with a rush followed by Nob. He shut the door hastily, and leaned against it. He was out of breath. They stared at him in alarm for a moment before he gasped: 'I have seen them, Frodo! I have seen them! Black Riders!' 'Black Riders!' cried Frodo. 'Where?' 'Here. In the village. I stayed indoors for an hour. Then as you did ####-not come back, I went out for a stroll. I had come back again and was standing just outside the light of the lamp looking at the stars. Suddenly I shivered and felt that something horrible was creeping near: there was a son of deeper shade among the shadows across the road, just beyond the edge of the lamplight. It slid away at once into the dark without a sound. There was no horse.' 'Which way did it go?' asked Strider, suddenly and sharply. Merry started, noticing the stranger for the first time. 'Go on!' said Frodo. 'This is a friend of Gandalf's. I will explain later.' 'It seemed to make off up the Road, eastward,' continued Merry. 'I tried to follow. Of course, it vanished almost at once; but I went round the corner and on as far as the last house on the Road.' Strider looked at Merry with wonder. 'You have a stout heart,' he said; 'but it was foolish.' 'I don't know,' said Merry. 'Neither brave nor silly, I think. I could hardly help myself. I seemed to be drawn somehow. Anyway, I went, and suddenly I heard voices by the hedge. One was muttering; and the other was whispering, or hissing. I couldn't hear a word that was said. I did not creep any closer, because I began to tremble all over. Then I felt terrified, and I turned back, and was just going to bolt home, when something came behind me and I... I fell over.' 'I found him, sir,' put in Nob. 'Mr. Butterbur sent me out with a lantern. I went down to West -gate, and then back up towards South-gate. Just nigh Bill Ferny's house I thought I could see something in the Road. I couldn't swear to it, but it looked to me as if two men was stooping over something, lilting it. I gave a shout, but where I got up to the spot there was no signs of them, and only Mr. Brandybuck lying by the roadside. He seemed to be asleep. "I thought I had fallen into deep water," he says to me, when I shook him. Very queer he was, and as soon as I had roused him, he got up and ran back here like a hare. ' 'I am afraid that's true,' said Merry, 'though I don't know what I said. I had an ugly dream, which I can't remember. I went to pieces. I don't know what came over me.' 'I do,' said Strider. 'The Black Breath. The Riders must have left their horses outside, and passed back through the South-gate in secret. They will know all the news now, for they have visited Bill Ferny; and probably that Southerner was a spy as well. Something may happen in the night, before ####-we leave Bree.' 'What will happen?' said Merry. 'Will they attack the inn?' 'No, I think not,' said Strider. 'They are not all here yet. And in any case that is not their way. In dark and loneliness they are strongest; they will not openly attack a house where ther e are lights and many people -not until they are desperate, not while all the long leagues of Eriador still lie before us. But their power is in terror, and already some in Bree are in their clutch. They will drive these wretches to some evil work: Ferny, and some of the strangers, and, maybe, the gatekeeper too. They had words with Harry at West-gate on Monday. I was watching them. He was white and shaking when they left him.' 'We seem to have enemies all round,' said Frodo. 'What are we to do? ' 'Stay here, and do not go to your rooms! They are sure to have found out which those are. The hobbit-rooms have windows looking north and close to the ground. We will all remain together and bar this window and the door. But first Nob and I will fetch your luggage.' While Strider was gone, Frodo gave Merry a rapid account of all that had happened since supper. Merry was still reading and pondering Gandalf's letter when Strider and Nob returned. 'Well Masters,' said Nob, 'I've ruffled up the clothes and put in a bolster down the middle of each bed. And I made a nice imitation of your head with a brown woollen mat, Mr. Bag - Underhill, sir,' he added with a grin. Pippin laughed. 'Very life-like!' he said. 'But wha t will happen when they have penetrated the disguise?' 'We shall see,' said Strider. 'Let us hope to hold the fort till morning.' 'Good night to you,' said Nob, and went off to take his part in the watch on the doors. Their bags and gear they piled on the parlour -floor. They pushed a low chair against the door and shut the window. Peering out, Frodo saw that the night was still clear. The Sickle was swinging bright above the shoulders of Bree-hill. He then closed and barred the heavy inside shutters and drew the curtains together. Strider built up the fire and blew out all the candles. The hobbits lay down on their blankets with their feet towards the hearth; but Strider settled himself in the chair against the door . They ####-talked for a little, for Merry still had several questions to ask. 'Jumped over the Moon!' chuckled Merry as he rolled himself in his blanket. 'Very ridiculous of you, Frodo! But I wish I had been there to see. The worthies of Bree will be discussing it a hundred years hence.' 'I hope so,' said Strider. Then they all fell silent, and one by one the hobbits dropped off to sleep. ####- As they prepared for sleep in the inn at Bree, darkness lay on Buckland; a mist strayed in the dells and along the river -bank. The house at Crickhollow stood silent. Fatty Bolger opened the door cautiously and peered out. A feeling of fear had been growing on him all day, and he was unable to rest or go to bed: there was a brooding threat in the breathless night-air. As he stared out into the gloom, a black shadow moved under the trees; the gate seemed to open of its own accord and close again without a sound. Terror seized him. He shrank back, and for a moment he stood trembling in the hall. Then he shut and locked the door. The night deepened. There came the soft sound of horses led with stealth along the lane. Outside the gate they stopped, and three black figures entered, like shades of night creeping across the ground. One went to the door, one to the corner of the house on either side; and there they stood, as still as the shadows of stones, while night went slowly on. The house and the quiet trees seemed to be waiting breathlessly. There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a cock crowed far away. The cold hour before dawn was passing. The figure by the door moved. In the dark without moon or stars a drawn blade gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered. 'Open, in the name of Mordor!' said a voice thin and menacing. At a second blow the door yielded and fell back, with timbers burst and lock broken. The black figures passed swiftly in. At that moment, among the trees nearby, a horn rang out. It rent the night like fire on a hill-top. AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE! Fatty Bolger had not been idle. As soon as he saw the dark shapes creep from the garden, he knew that he must run for it, or perish. And run he did, out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reached the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapsed on the doorstep. 'No, no, no!' he was crying. 'No, not me! I haven't got it!' It was some time before anyone could make out what he was babbling about. At last they got the idea that enemies were in Buckland, some strange invasion ####-from the Old Forest. And then they lost no more time. FEAR! FIRE! FOES! The Brandybucks were blowing the Horn-call of Buckland, that had not been sounded for a hundred years, not since the white wolves came in the Fell Winter, when the Brandywine was frozen over. AWAKE! AWAKE! Far-away answering horns were heard. The alarm was spreading. The black figures fled from the house. One of them let fall a hobbit-cloak on the step, as he ran. In the lane the noise of hoofs broke out, and gathering to a gallop, went hammering away into the darkness. All about Crickhollow there was the sound of horns blowing, and voices crying and feet running. But the Black Riders rode like a gale to the North-gate. Let the little people blow! Sauron would deal with them later. Meanwhile they had another errand: they knew now that the house was empty and the Ring had gone. They rode down the guards at the gate and vanished from the Shire. In the early night Frodo woke from deep sleep, suddenly, as if some sound or presence had disturbed him. He saw that Strider was sitting alert in his chair: his eyes gleamed in the light of the fire, which had been tended and was burning brightly; but he made no sign or movement. Frodo soon went to sleep again; but his dreams were again troubled with the noise of wind and of ga lloping hoofs. The wind seemed to be curling round the house and shaking it; and far off he heard a horn blowing wildly. He opened his eyes, and heard a cock crowing lustily in the inn-yard. Strider had drawn the curtains and pushed back the shutters with a clang. The first grey light of day was in the room, and a cold air was coming through the open window. As soon as Strider had roused them all, he led the way to their bedrooms. When they saw them they were glad that they had taken his advice: the windows had been forced open and were swinging, and the curtains were flapping; the beds were tossed about, and the bolsters slashed and flung upon the floor; the brown mat was torn to pieces. Strider immediately went to fetch the landlord. Poor Mr. Butterbur looked sleepy and frightened. He had hardly closed his eyes all night (so he said), but he had never heard a sound. 'Never has such a thing happened in my time!' he cried, raising his hands in horror. 'Guests unable to sleep in their beds, and good bolsters ####-ruined and all! What are we coming to?' 'Dark times,' said Strider. 'But for the present you may be left in peace, when you have got rid of us. We will leave at once. Never mind about breakfast: a drink and a bite standing will have to do. We shall be packed in a few minutes.' Mr. Butterbur hurried off to see that their ponies were got ready, and to fetch them a 'bite'. But very soon he came back in dismay. The ponies had vanished! The stable-doors had all been opened in the night, and they were gone: not only Merry's ponies, but every other horse and beast in the place. Frodo was crushed by the news. How could they hope to reach Rivendell on foot, pursued by mounted enemies? They might as well set out for the Moon. Strider sat silent for a while, looking at the hobbits, as if he was weighing up their strength and courage. 'Ponies would not help us to escape horsemen,' he said at last, thoughtfully, as if he guessed what Frodo had in mind. 'We should not go much slower on foot, not on the roads that I mean to take. I was going to walk in any case. It is the food and stores that trouble me. We cannot count on getting anything to eat between here and Rivendell, except what we take with us; and we ought to take plenty to spare; for we may be delayed, or forced to go round-about, far out of the direct way. How much are you prepared to carry on your backs?' 'As much as we must,' said Pippin with a sinking heart, but trying to show that he was tougher than he looked (or felt). 'I can carry enough for two,' said Sam defiantly. 'Can't anything be done, Mr. Butterbur?' asked Frodo. 'Can't we get a couple of ponies in the vi llage, or even one just for the baggage? I don't suppose we could hire them, but we might be able to buy them,' he added, doubtfully, wondering if he could afford it. 'I doubt it,' said the landlord unhappily. 'The two or three riding-ponies that there were in Bree were stabled in my yard, and they're gone. As for other animals, horses or ponies for draught or what not, there are very few of them in Bree, and they won't be for sale. But I'll do what I can. I'll rout out Bob and send him round as soon as may be.' 'Yes,' said Strider reluctantly, 'you had better do that. I am afraid we shall have to try to get one pony at least. But so ends all hope of starting early, and slipping away quietly! We might as well have blown a horn to announce our departure. That was part of their plan, no doubt.'####- 'There is one crumb of comfort,' said Merry, 'and more than a crumb, I hope: we can have breakfast while we wait - and sit down to it. Let's get hold of Nob!' In the end there was more than three hours' delay. Bob came back with the report that no horse or pony was to be got for love or money in the neighbourhood - except one: Bill Ferny had one that he might possibly sell. 'A poor old half-starved creature it is,' said Bob; 'but he won't part with it for less than thrice its worth, seeing how you're placed, not if I knows Bill Ferny.' 'Bill Ferny?' said Frodo. 'Isn't there some trick? Wouldn't the beast bolt back to him with all our stuff, or help in tracking us, or something?' 'I wonder,' said Strider. 'But I cannot imagine any animal running home to him, once it got away. I fancy this is only an afterthought of kind Master Ferny's: just a way of increasing his profits from the affair. The chief danger is that the poor beast is probably at death's door. But there does not seem any choice. What does he want for it?' Bill Ferny's price was twelve silver pennies; and that was indeed at least three times the pony's value in those pans. It proved to be a bony, underfed, and dispirited animal; but it did not look like dying just yet. Mr. Butterbur paid for it himself, and offered Merry another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man, and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him, and being cheated by Bill Ferny made it harder to bear. As a matter of fact he came out on the right side in the end. It turned out later that only one horse had been actually stolen. The others had been driven off, or had bolted in terror, and were found wandering in different corners of the Bree-land. Merry's ponies had escaped altogether, and eventually (having a good deal of sense) they made their way to the Downs in search of Fatty Lumpkin. So they came under the care of Tom Bombadil for a while, and were well-off. But when news of the events at Bree came to Tom's ears, he sent them to Mr. Butterbur, who thus got five good beasts at a very fair price. They had to work harder in Bree, but Bob treated them well; so on the whole they were lucky: they missed a dark and dangerous journey. But they never came to Rivendell. However, in the meanwhile for all Mr. Butterbur knew his money was gone for good, or for bad. And he had other troubles. For there was a great commotion as soon as the remaining guests were astir and heard news of the ####-raid on the inn. The southern travellers had lost several horses and blamed the innkeeper loudly, until it became known that one of their own number had also disappeared in the night, none other than Bill Ferny's squint-eyed companion. Suspicion fell on him at once. 'If you pick up with a horse-thief, and bring him to my house,' said Butterbur angrily, 'you ought to pay for all the damage yourselves and not come shouting at me. Go and ask Ferny where your handsome friend is!' But it appeared that he was nobody's friend, and nobody could recollect when he had joined their party. After their breakfast the hobbits had to re-pack, and get together further supplies for the longer journey they were now expecting. It was close on ten o'clock before they at last got off. By that time the whole of Bree was buzzing with excitement. Frodo's vanishing trick; the appearance of the black horsemen; the robbing of the stables; and not least the news that Strider the Ranger had joined the mysterious hobbits, made such a tale as would last for many uneventful years. Most of the inhabitants of Bree and Staddle, and many even from Combe and Archet, were crowded in the road to see the travellers start. The other guests in the inn were at the doors or hanging out of the windows. Strider had changed his mind, and he decided to leave Bree by the main road. Any attempt to set off across country at once would only make matters worse: half the inhabitants would follow them, to see what they were up to, and to prevent them from trespassing. They said farewell to Nob and Bob, and took leave of Mr. Butterbur with many thanks. 'I hope we shall meet again some day, when things are merry once more,' said Frodo. 'I should like nothing better than to stay in your house in peace for a while.' They tramped off, anxious and downhearted, under the eyes of the crowd. Not all the faces were friendly, nor all the words that were shouted. But Strider seemed to be held in awe by most of the Bree-landers, and those that he stared at shut their mouths and drew away. He walked in front with Frodo; next came Merry and Pippin; and last came Sam leading the pony, which was laden with as much of their baggage as they had the heart to give it; but already it looked less dejected, as if it approved of the change in its fortunes. Sam was chewing an apple thoughtfully. He had a pocket full of them: a parting present from Nob and Bob. 'Apples for walking, and a pipe ####-for sitting,' he said. 'But I reckon I'll miss them both before long.' The hobbits took no notice of the inquisitive heads that peeped out of doors, or popped over walls and fences, as they passed. But as they drew near to the further gate, Frodo saw a dark ill-kept house behind a thick hedge: the last house in the village. In one of the windows he caught a glimpse of a sallow face with sly, slanting eyes; but it vanished at once. 'So that's where that southerner is hiding!' he thought. 'He looks more than half like a goblin.' Over the hedge another man was staring boldly. He had heavy black brows, and dark scornful eyes; his large mouth curled in a sneer. He was smoking a short black pipe. As they approached he took it out of his mouth and spat. 'Morning, Longshanks!' he said. 'Off early? Found some friends at last?' Strider nodded, but did not answer. 'Morning, my little friends!' he said to the others. 'I suppose you know who you've taken up with? That's Stick -at-naught Strider, that is! Though I've heard other names not so pretty. Watch out tonight! And you, Sammie, don't go ill-treating my poor old pony! Pah!' He spat again. Sam turned quickly. 'And you. Ferny,' he said, 'put your ugly face out of sight, or it will get hurt.' With a sudden flick, quick as lightning, an apple left his hand and hit Bill square on the nose. He ducked too late, and curses came from behind the hedge. 'Waste of a good apple,' said Sam regretfully, and strode on. At last they left the village behind. The escort of children and stragglers that had followed them got tired and turned back at the South-gate. Passing through, they kept on along the Road for some miles. It bent to the left, curving back into its eastward line as it rounded the feet of Bree-hill, and then it began to run swiftly downwards into wooded country. To their left they could see some of the houses and hobbit-holes of Staddle on the gentler south-eastern slopes of the hill; down in a deep hollow away north of the Road there were wisps of rising smoke that showed where Combe lay; Archet was hidden in the trees beyond. After the Road had run down some way, and had left Bree-hill standing tall and brown behind, they came on a narrow track that led off towards the North. 'This is where we leave the open and take to cover,' said Strider. 'Not a "short cut", I hope,' said Pippin. 'Our last short cut through ####-woods nearly ended in disaster.' 'Ah, but you had not got me with you then,' laughed Strider. 'My cuts, short or long, don't go wrong.' He took a look up and down the Road. No one was in sight; and he led the way quickly down towards the wooded valley. His plan, as far as they could understand it without knowing the country, was to go towards Archet at first, but to bear right and pass it on the east, and then to steer as straight as he could over the wild lands to Weathertop Hill. In that way they would, if all went well, cut off a great loop of the Road, which further on bent southwards to avoid the Midgewater Marshes. But, of course, they would have to pass through the marshes themselves, and Strider's description of them was not encouraging. However, in the meanwhile, walking was not unpleasant. Indeed, if it had not been for the disturbing events of the night before, they would have enjoyed this pan of the journey better than any up to that time. The sun was shining, clear but not too hot. The woods in the valley were still leafy and full of colour, and seemed peaceful and wholesome. Strider guided them confidently among the many crossing paths, although left to themselves they would soon have been at a loss. He was taking a wandering course with many turns and doublings, to put off any pursuit. 'Bill Ferny will have watched where we left the Road, for certain,' he said; 'though I don't think he will follow us himself. He knows the land round here well enough, but he knows he is not a match for me in a wood. It is what he may tell others that I am afraid of. I don't suppose they are far away. If they think we have made for Archet, so much the better.' Whether because of Strider's skill or for some other reason, they saw no sign and heard no sound of any other living thing all that day: neither two-footed, except birds; nor four-footed, except one fox and a few squirrels. The next day they began to steer a steady course eastwards; and still all was quiet and peaceful. On the third day out from Bree they came out of the Chetwood. The land had been falling steadily, ever since they turned aside from the Road, and they now entered a wide flat expanse of country, much more difficult to manage. They were far beyond the borders of the Bree-land, out in the pathless wilderness, and drawing near to the Midge-water Marshes. The ground now became damp, and in places boggy and here and there they came upon pools, and wide stretches of reeds and rushes filled with the warbling of little hidden birds. They had to pick their way carefully to ####-keep both dry-footed and on their proper course. At first they made fan-progress, but as they went on, their passage became slower and more dangerous. The marshes were bewildering and treacherous, and there was no permanent trail even for Rangers to find through their shifting quagmires. The flies began to torment them, and the air was full of clouds of tiny midges that crept up their sleeves and breeches and into their hair. 'I am being eaten alive!' cried Pippin. 'Midgewater! There are more midges than water!' 'What do they live on when they can't get hobbit?' asked Sam, scratching his neck. They spent a miserable day in this lonely and unpleasant country. Their camping-place was damp, cold, and uncomfortable; and the biting insects would not let them sleep. There were also abominable creatures haunting the reeds and tussocks that from the sound of them were evil relatives of the cricket. There were thousands of them, and they squeaked all round, neek-breek, breek-neek, unceasingly all the night, until the hobbits were nearly frantic. The next day, the fourth, was little better, and the night almost as comfortless. Though the Neekerbreekers (as Sam called them) had been left behind, the midges still pursued them. As Frodo lay, tired but unable to close his eyes, it seemed to him that far away there came a light in the eastern sky: it flashed and faded many times. It was not the dawn, for that was still some hours off. 'What is the light?' he said to Strider, who had risen, and was standing, gazing ahead into the night. 'I do not know,' Strider answered. 'It is too distant to make out. It is like lightning that leaps up from the hill -tops.' Frodo lay down again, but for a long while he could still see the white flashes, and against them the tall dark figure of Strider, standing silent and watchful. At last he passed into uneasy sleep. They had not gone far on the fifth day when they left the last straggling pools and reed-beds of the marshes behind them. The land before them began steadily to rise again. Away in the distance eastward they could now see a line of hills. The highest of them was at the right of the line and a little separated from the others. It had a conical top, slightly flattened at the summit. 'That is Weathertop,' said Strider. 'The Old Road, which we have left ####-far away on our right, runs to the south of it and passes not far from its foot. We might reach it by noon tomorrow, if we go straight towards it. I suppose we had better do so.' 'What do you mean?' asked Frodo. 'I mean: when we do get there, it is not certain what we shall find. It is close to the Road.' 'But surely we wer e hoping to find Gandalf there?' 'Yes; but the hope is faint. If he comes this way at all, he may not pass through Bree, and so he may not know what we are doing. And anyway, unless by luck we arrive almost together, we shall miss one another; it will not be safe for him or for us to wait there long. If the Riders fail to find us in the wilderness, they are likely to make for Weathertop themselves. It commands a wide view all round. Indeed, there are many birds and beasts in this country that could see us, as we stand here, from that hill-top. Not all the birds are to be trusted, and there are other spies more evil than they are.' The hobbits looked anxiously at the distant hills. Sam looked up into the pale sky, fearing to see hawks or eagles hovering over them with bright unfriendly eyes. 'You do make me feel uncomfortable and lonesome, Strider!' he said. 'What do you advise us to do?' asked Frodo. 'I think,' answered Strider slowly, as if he was not quite sure, 'I think the best thing is to go as straight eastward from here as we can, to make for the line of hills, not for Weathertop. There we can strike a path I know that runs at their feet; it will bring us to Weathertop from the north and less openly. Then we shall see what we shall see.' All that day they plodded along, until the cold and early evening came down. The land became drier and more barren; but mists and vapours lay behind them on the marshes. A few melancholy birds were piping and wa iling, until the round red sun sank slowly into the western shadows; then an empty silence fell. The hobbits thought of the soft light of sunset glancing through the cheerful windows of Bag End far away. At the day's end they came to a stream that wandered down from the hills to lose itself in the stagnant marshland, and they went up along its banks while the light lasted. It was already night when at last they halted and made their camp under some stunted alder -trees by the shores of the stream. Ahead there loomed now against the dusky sky the bleak and treeless ####-backs of the hills. That night they set a watch, and Strider, it seemed, did not sleep at all. The moon was waxing, and in the early night-hours a cold grey light lay on the land. Next morning they set out again soon after sunrise. There was a frost in the air, and the sky was a pale clear blue. The hobbits felt refreshed, as if they had had a night of unbroken sleep. Already they were getting used to much walking on short commons - shorter at any rate than what in the Shire they would have thought barely enough to keep them on their legs. Pippin declared that Frodo was looking twice the hobbit that he had been. 'Very odd,' said Frodo, tightening his belt, 'considering that there is actually a good deal less of me. I hope the thinning process will not go on indefinitely, or I shall become a wraith.' 'Do not speak of such things!' said Strider quickly, and with surprising earnestness. The hills drew nearer. They made an undulating ridge, often rising almost to a thousand feet, and here and there falling again to low clefts or passes leading into the eastern land beyond. Along the crest of the ridge the hobbits could see what looked to be the remains of green-grown walls and dikes, and in the clefts there still stood the ruins of old works of stone. By night they had reached the feet of the westward slopes, and there they camped. It was the night of the fifth of October, a nd they were six days out from Bree. In the morning they found, for the first time since they had left the Chetwood, a track plain to see. They turned right and followed it southwards. It ran cunningly, taking a line that seemed chosen so as to keep as much hidden as possible from the view, both of the hill -tops above and of the flats to the west. It dived into dells, and hugged steep banks; and where it passed over flatter and more open ground on either side of it there were lines of large boulders and hewn stones that screened the travellers almost like a hedge. 'I wonder who made this path, and what for,' said Merry, as they walked along one of these avenues, where the stones were unusually large and closely set. 'I am not sure that I like it: it has a - well, rather a barrow-wightish look. Is there any barrow on Weathertop?' 'No. There is no barrow on Weathertop, nor on any of these hills,' answered Strider. 'The Men of the West did not live here; though in their latter days they defended the hills for a while against the evil that came ####-out of Angmar. This path was made to serve the forts along the walls. But long before, in the first days of the North Kingdom, they built a great watch-tower on Weathertop, Amon Syl they called it. It was burned and broken, and nothing remains of it now but a tumbled ring, like a rough crown on the old hill's head. Yet once it was tall and fair. It is told that Elendil stood there watching for the coming of Gil-galad out of the West, in the days of the Last Alliance.' The hobbits gazed at Strider. It seemed that he was learned in old lore, as well as in the ways of the wild. 'Who was Gil-galad?' asked Merry; but Strider did not answer, and seemed to be lost in thought. Suddenly a low voice murmured: Gil-galad was an Elven-king. Of him the harpers sadly sing: the last whose realm was fair and free between the Mountains and the Sea. His sword was long, his lance was keen, his shining helm afar was seen; the countless stars of heaven's field were mirrored in his silver shield. But long ago he rode away, and where he dwelleth none can say; for into darkness fell his star in Mordor where the shadows are. The others turned in amazement, for the voice was Sam's. 'Don't stop!' said Merry. 'That's all I know,' stammered Sam, blushing. 'I learned it from Mr. Bilbo when I was a lad. He used to tell me tales like that, knowing how I was always one for hearing about Elves. It was Mr. Bilbo as taught me my letters. He was mighty book -learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo. And he wrote poetry. He wrote what I have just said.' 'He did not make it up,' said Strider. 'It is pan of the lay that is called The Fall of Gil-galad, which is in an ancient tongue. Bilbo must have translated it. I never knew that.' 'There was a lot more,' said Sam, 'all about Mordor. I didn't learn that part, it gave me the shivers I never thought I should be going that way ####-myself!' 'Going to Mordor!' cried Pippin. 'I hope it won't come to that!' 'Do not speak that name so loudly!' said Strider. It was already mid-day when they drew near the southern end of the path, and saw before them, in the pale clear light of the October sun, a grey-green bank, leading up like a bridge on to the northward slope of the hill They decided to make for the top at once, while the daylight was broad Concealment was no longer possible, and they could only hope that no enemy or spy was observing them. Nothing was to be seen moving on the hill. If Gandalf was anywhere about, there was no sign of him. On the western flank of Weathertop they found a sheltered hollow, at the bottom of which there was a bowl -shaped dell with grassy sides. There they left Sam and Pippin with the pony and their packs and luggage. The other three went on. After half an hour's plodding climb Strider reached the crown of the hill; Frodo and Merry followed, tired and breathless. The last slope had been steep and rocky. On the top they found, as Strider had said, a wide ring of ancient stonework, now crumbling or covered with age-long grass. But in the centre a cairn of broken st ones had been piled. They were blackened as if with fire. About them the turf was burned to the roots and all within the ring the grass was scorched and shrivelled, as if flames had swept the hill-top; but there was no sign of any living thing. Standing upon the rim of the ruined circle, they saw all round below them a wide prospect, for the most pan of lands empty and featureless, except for patches of woodland away to the south, beyond which they caught here and there the glint of distant water. Beneath them on this southern side there ran like a ribbon the Old Road, coming out of the West and winding up and down, until it faded behind a ridge of dark land to the east. Nothing was moving on it. Following its line eastward with their eyes they saw the Mountains: the nearer foothills were brown and sombre; behind them stood taller shapes of grey, and behind those again were high white peaks glimmering among the clouds. 'Well, here we are!' said Merry. 'And very cheerless and uninviting it looks! There is no water and no shelter. And no sign of Gandalf. But I don't blame him for not waiting - if he ever came here.' 'I wonder,' said Strider, looking round thoughtfully. 'Even if he was a day or two behind us at Bree, he could have arrived here first. He can ride ####-very swiftly when need presses.' Suddenly he stooped and looked at the stone on the top of the cairn; it was flatter than the others, and whiter, as if it had escaped the fire. He picked it up and examined it, turning it in his fingers. "This has been handled recently,' he said. 'What do you think of these marks?' On the flat under -side Frodo saw some scratches: 'There seems to he a stroke, a dot, and three more strokes,' he said. 'The stroke on the left might be a G-rune with thin branches,' said Strider. 'It might be a sign left by Gandalf, though one cannot be sure. The scratches are fine, and they certainly look fresh. But the marks might mean something quite different, and have nothing to do with us. Rangers use runes, and they come here sometimes.' 'What could they mean, even if Gandalf made them?' asked Merry 'I should say,' answered Strider, 'that they stood for G3, and were a sign that Gandalf was here on October the third: that is three days ago now. It would also show that he was in a hurry and danger was at hand, so that he had no time or did not dare to write anything longer or plainer. If that is so, we must be wary.' 'I wish we could feel sure that he made the marks, whatever they may mean,' said Frodo 'It would be a great comfort to know that he was on the way, in front of us or behind us.' 'Perhaps,' said Strider. 'For myself, I believe that he was here, and was in danger. There have been scorching flames here; and now the light that we saw three nights ago in the eastern sky comes back to my mind. I guess that he was attacked on this hill-top, but with what result I cannot tell. He is here no longer, and we must now look aft er ourselves and make our own way to Rivendell, as best we can ' 'How far is Rivendell?' asked Merry, gazing round wearily. The world looked wild and wide from Weathertop. 'I don't know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn, a day's journey east of Bree,' answered Strider. 'Some say it is so far, and some say otherwise. It is a strange road, and folk are glad to reach their journey's end, whether the time is long or short. But I know how long it would take me on my own feet, with fair weather and no ill fortune twelve days from here to the Ford of Bruinen, where the Road crosses the Loudwater that runs out of Rivendell. We have at least a fortnight's journey before us, for I do not think we shall be able to use the Road.'####- 'A fortnight!' said Frodo. 'A lot may happen in that time.' 'It may,' said Strider. They stood for a while silent on the hill-top, near its southward edge. In that lonely place Frodo for the first time fully realized his homelessness and danger. He wished bitterly that his fortune had left him in the quiet and beloved Shire. He stared down at the hateful Road, leading back westward - to his home. Suddenly he was aware that two black specks were moving slowly along it, going westward; and looking again he saw that three others were creeping eastward to meet them. He gave a cry and clutched Strider's arm. 'Look,' he said, pointing downwards. At once Strider flung himself on the ground behind the ruined circle, pulling Frodo down beside him. Merry threw himself alongside. 'What is it?' he whispered. 'I do not know, but I fear the worst,' answered Strider. Slowly they crawled up to the edge of the ring again, and peered through a cleft between two jagged stones. The light was no longer bright, for the clear morning had faded, and clouds creeping out of the East had now overtaken the sun, as it began to go down. They could all see the black specks, but neither Frodo nor Merry could make out their shapes for certain; yet something told them that there, far below, were Black Riders assembling on the Road beyond the foot of the hill. 'Yes,' said Strider, whose keener sight left him in no doubt. 'The enemy is here!' Hastily they crept away and slipped down the north side of the hill to find their companions. Sam and Peregrin had not been idle. They had explored the small dell and the surrounding slopes. Not far away they found a spring of clear water in the hillside, and near it footprints not more than a day or two old. In the dell itself they found recent traces of a fire, and other signs of a hasty camp. There were some fallen rocks on the edge of the dell nearest to the hill. Behind them Sam came upon a small store of firewood neatly stacked. 'I wonder if old Gandalf has been here,' he said to Pippin. 'Whoever it was put this stuff here meant to come back it seems.' Strider was greatly interested in these discoveries. 'I wish I had waited and explored the ground down here myself,' he said, hurrying off to ####-the spring to examine the footprints. 'It is just as I feared,' he said, when he came back. 'Sam and Pippin have trampled the soft ground, and the marks are spoilt or confused. Rangers have been here lately. It is they who left the firewood behind. But there are also several newer tracks that were not made by Rangers. At least one set was made, only a day or two ago, by heavy boots. At least one. I cannot now be certain, but I think there were many booted feet.' He paused and stood in anxious thought. Each of the hobbits saw in his mind a vision of the cloaked and booted Riders. If the horsemen had already found the dell, the sooner Strider led them somewhere else the better. Sam viewed the hollow with great dislike, now that he had heard news of their enemies on the Road, only a few miles away. 'Hadn't we better clear out quick, Mr. Strider?' he asked impatiently. 'It is get ting late, and I don't like this hole: it makes my heart sink somehow.' 'Yes, we certainly must decide what to do at once,' answered Strider, looking up and considering the time and the weather. 'Well, Sam,' he said at last, 'I do not like th is place either; but I cannot think of anywhere better that we could reach before nightfall. At least we are out of sight for the moment, and if we moved we should be much more likely to be seen by spies. All we could do would be to go right out of our way back north on this side of the line of hills, where the land is all much the same as it is here. The Road is watched, but we should have to cross it, if we tried to take cover in the thickets away to the south. On the north side of the Road beyond the hills the country is bare and flat for miles.' 'Can the Riders see?' asked Merry. 'I mean, they seem usually to have used their noses rather than their eyes, smelling for us, if smelling is the right word, at least in the daylight. But you made us lie down flat when you saw them down below; and now you talk of being seen, if we move.' 'I was too careless on the hill-top,' answered Strider. 'I was very anxious to find some sign of Gandalf; but it was a mistake for three of us to go up and stand there so long. For the black horses can see, and the Riders can use men and other creatures as spies, as we found at Bree. They themselves do not see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, which only the noon sun destroys; and in the dark they perceive many signs and forms that are hidden from us: then they are ####-most to be feared. And at all times they smell the blood of living things, desiring and hating it. Senses, too, there are other than sight or smell. We can feel their presence - it troubled our hearts, as soon as we came here, and before we saw them; they feel ours more keenly. Also,' he added, and his voice sank to a whisper, 'the Ring draws them.' 'Is there no escape then?' said Frodo, looking round wildly. 'If I move I shall be seen and hunted! If I stay, I shall draw them to me!' Strider laid his hand on his shoulder. 'There is still hope,' he said. 'You are not alone. Let us take this wood that is set ready for the fire as a sign. There is little shelter or defence here, but fire shall serve for both. Sauron can put fire to his evil uses, as he can all things, but these Riders do not love it, and fear those who wield it. Fire is our friend in the wilderness. ' 'Maybe,' muttered Sam. 'It is also as good a way of saying "here we are" as I can think of, bar shouting.' Down in the lowest and most sheltered corner of the dell they lit a fire, and prepared a meal. The shades of evening began to fall, and it grew cold. They were suddenly aware of great hunger, for they had not eaten anything since breakfast; but they dared not make more than a frugal supper. The lands ahead were empty of all save birds and beasts, unfriendly places deserted by all the races of the world. Rangers passed at times beyond the hills, but they were few and did not stay. Other wanderers were rare, and of evil sort: trolls might stray down at times out of the northern valleys of the Misty Mountains. Only on the Road would travellers be found, most often dwarves, hurrying along on business of their own, and with no help and few words to spare for strangers. 'I don't see how our food can be made to last,' said Frodo. 'We have been careful enough in the last few days, and this supper is no feast; but we have used more than we ought, if we have two weeks still to go, and perhaps more.' 'There is food in the wild,' said Strider; 'berry, root, and herb; and I have some skill as a hunter at need. You need not be afraid of starving before winter comes. But gathering and catching food is long and weary work, and we need haste. So tighten your belts, and think with hope of the tables of Elrond's house!' The cold increased as darkness came on. Peering out from the edge of the dell they could see nothing but a grey land now vanishing quickly into ####-shadow. The sky above had cleared again and was slowly filled with twinkling stars. Frodo and his companions huddled round the fire, wrapped in every garment and blanket they possessed; but Strider was content with a single cloak, and sat a little apart, drawing thoughtfully at his pipe. As night fell and the light of the fire began to shine out brightly he began to tell them tales to keep their minds from fear. He knew many histories and legends of long ago, of Elves and Men and the good and evil deeds of the Elder Days. They wondered how old he was, and where he had learned all this lore. 'Tell us of Gil-galad,' said Merry suddenly, when he paused at the end of a story of the Elf-Kingdoms. 'Do you know any more of that old lay that you spoke of?' 'I do indeed,' answered Strider. 'So also does Frodo, for it concerns us closely.' Merry and Pippin looked at Frodo, who was staring into the fire. 'I know only the little that Gandalf has told me,' said Frodo slowly. 'Gil-galad was the last of the great Elf-kings of Middle-earth. Gil-galad is Starlight in their tongue. With Elendil, the Elf-friend, he went to the land of------' 'No!' said Strider interrupting, 'I do not think that tale should be told now with the servants of the Enemy at hand. If we win through to the house of Elrond, you may hear it there, told in full.' 'Then tell u s some other tale of the old days,' begged Sam; 'a tale about the Elves before the fading time. I would dearly like to hear more about Elves; the dark seems to press round so close.' 'I will tell you the tale of Tin®viel,' said Strider, 'in br ief - for it is a long tale of which the end is not known; and there are none now, except Elrond, that remember it aright as it was told of old. It is a fair tale, though it is sad, as are all the tales of Middle-earth, and yet it may lift up your hearts.' He was silent for some time, and then he began not to speak but to chant softly: The leaves were long, the grass was green, The hemlock-umbels tall and fair, And in the glade a light was seen Of stars in shadow shimmering. Tin®viel was dancing there To music of a pipe unseen,####- And light of stars was in her hair, And in her raiment glimmering. There Beren came from mountains cold, And lost he wandered under leaves, And where the Elven-river rolled He walked alone and sorrowing. He peered between the hemlock-leaves And saw in wander flowers of gold Upon her mantle and her sleeves, And her hair like shadow following. Enchantment healed his weary feet That over hills were doomed to roam; And forth he hastened, strong and fleet, And grasped at moonbeams glistening. Through woven woods in Elvenhome She tightly fled on dancing feet, And left him lonely still to roam In the silent forest listening. He heard there oft the flying sound Of feet as light as linden-leaves, Or music welling underground, In hidden hollows quavering. Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves, And one by one with sighing sound Whispering fell the beechen leaves In the wintry woodland wavering. He sought her ever, wandering far Where leaves of years were thickly strewn, By light of moon and ray of star In frosty heavens shivering. Her mantle glinted in the moon, As on a hill-top high and far She danced, and at her feet was strewn ####- A mist of silver quivering. When winter passed, she came again, And her song released the sudden spring, Like rising lark, and falling rain, And melting water bubbling. He saw the elven-flowers spring About her feet, and healed again He longed by her to dance and sing Upon the grass untroubling. Again she fled, but swift he came. Tin®viel! Tin®viel! He called her by her elvish name; And there she halted listening. One moment stood she, and a spell His voice laid on her: Beren came, And doom fell on Tin®viel That in his arms lay glistening. As Beren looked into her eyes Within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies He saw there mirrored shimmering. Tin®viel the elven-fair, Immortal maiden elven-wise, About him cast her shadowy hair And arms like silver glimmering. Long was the way that fate them bore, O'er stony mountains cold and grey, Through halls of iron and darkling door, And woods of nightshade morrowless. The Sundering Seas between them lay, And yet at last they met once more, And long ago they passed away In the forest singing sorrowless.####- Strider sighed and paused before he spoke again. 'That is a song,' he said, 'in the mode that is called ann-thennath among the Elves, but is hard to render in our Common Speech, and this is but a rough echo of it. It tells of the meeting of Beren son of Barahir and L®thien Tin®viel. Beren was a mortal man, but L®thien was the daughter of Thingol, a King of Elves upon Middle-earth when the world was young; and she was the fairest maiden that has ever been among all the children of this world. As the stars above the mists of the Northern lands was her loveliness, and in her face was a shining light. In those days the Great Enemy, of whom Sauron of Mordor was but a servant, dwelt in Angband in the North, and the Elves of the West coming back to Middle-earth made war upon him to regain the Silmarils which he had stolen; and the fathers of Men aided the Elves. But the Enemy was victorious and Barahir was slain, and Beren escaping through great peril came over the Mountains of Terror into the hidden Kingdom of Thingol in the forest of Neldoreth. There he beheld L®thien singing and dancing in a glade beside the enchanted river Esgalduin; and he named her Tin®viel, that is Nightingale in the language of old. Many sorrows befell them afterwards, and they were parted long. Tin®viel rescued Beren from the dungeons of Sauron, and together they passed through great dangers, and cast down even the Great Enemy from his throne, and took from his iron crown one of the three Silmarils, brightest of all jewels, to be the bride-price of L®thien to Thingol her father. Yet at the last Beren was slain by the Wolf that came from the gates of Angband, and he died in the arms of Tin®viel. But she chose mortality, and to die from the world, so that she might follow him; and it is sung that they met again beyond the Sundering Seas, and after a brief time walking alive once more in the green woods, together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world. So it is that L®thien Tin®viel alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved. But from her the lineage of the Elf-lords of old descended among Men. There live still those of whom L®thien was the foremother, and it is said that her line shall never fail. Elrond of Rivendell is of that Kin. For of Beren and L®thien was born Dior Thingol's heir; and of him Elwing the White whom Edrendil wedded, he that sailed his ship out of the mists of the world into the seas of heaven with the Silmaril upon his brow. And of Edrendil came the Kings of N®menor, that is Westernesse.' As Strider was speaking they watched his strange eager face, dimly lit ####-in the red glow of the wood-fire. His eyes shone, and his voice was rich and deep. Above him was a black starry sky. Suddenly a pale light appeared over the crown of Weathertop behind him. The waxing moon was climbing slowly above the hill that overshadowed them, and the stars above the hill-top faded. The story ended. The hobbits moved and stretched. 'Look!' said Merry. 'The Moon is rising: it must be getting late.' The others looked up. Even as they did so, they saw on the top of the hill something small and dark against the glimmer of the moonrise. It was perhaps only a large stone or jutting rock shown up by the pale light. Sam and Merry got up and walked away from the fire. Frodo and Pippin remained seated in silence. Strider was watching the moonlight on the hill intently. All seemed quiet and still, but Frodo felt a cold dread creeping over his heart, now that Strider was no longer speaking. He huddled closer to the fire. At that moment Sam came running back from the edge of the dell. 'I don't know what it is,' he said, 'but I suddenly felt afraid. I durstn't go outside this dell for any money; I felt that something was creeping up the slope.' 'Did you see anything?' asked Frodo, springing to his feet. 'No, sir. I saw nothing, but I didn't stop to look.' 'I saw something,' said Merry; 'or I thought I did - away westwards where the moonlight was falling on the flats beyond the shadow of the hill-tops, I thought there were two or three black shapes. They seemed to be moving this way.' 'Keep close to the fire, with your faces outward!' cried Strider. 'Get some of the longer sticks ready in your hands!' For a breathless time they sat there, silent and alert, with their backs turned to the wood-fire, each gazing into the shadows that encircled them. Nothing happened. There was no sound or movement in the night. Frodo stirred, feeling that he must break the silence: he longed to shout out aloud. 'Hush!' whispered Strider. 'What's that?' gasped Pippin at the same moment. Over the lip of the little dell, on the side away from the hill, they felt, rather than saw, a shadow rise, one shadow or more than one. They ####-strained their eyes, and the shadows seemed to grow. Soon there could be no doubt: three or four tall black figures were standing there on the slope, looking down on them. So black were they that they seemed like black holes in the deep shade behind them. Frodo thought that he heard a faint hiss as of venomous breath and felt a thin piercing chill. Then the shapes slowly advanced. Terror overcame Pippin and Merry, and they threw themselves flat on the ground. Sam shrank to Frodo's side. Frodo was hardly less terrified than his companions; he was quaking as if he was bitter cold, but his terror was swallowed up in a sudden temptation to put on the Ring. The desire to do this laid hold of him, and he could think of nothing else. He did not forget the Barrow, nor the message of Gandalf; but something seemed to be compelling him to disregard all warnings, and he longed to yield. Not with the hope of escape, or of doing anything, either good or bad: he simply felt that he must take the Ring and put it on his finger. He could not speak. He felt Sam looking at him, as if he knew that his master was in some great trouble, but he could not turn towards him. He shut his eyes and struggled for a while; but resistance became unbearable, and at last he slowly drew out the chain, and slipped the Ring on the forefinger of his left hand. Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword, and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third was taller than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his helm was a crown. In one hand he held a long sword, and in the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down on Frodo. At that moment Frodo threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! At the same time he struck at the feet of his enemy. A shrill cry rang out in the night; and he felt a pain like a dart of poisoned ice pierce his left shoulder. Even as he swooned he caught, as through a swirling mist, a glimpse of Strider leaping ####-out of the darkness with a flaming brand of wood in either hand. With a last effort Frodo, dropping his sword, slipped the Ring from his finger and closed his right hand tight upon it. ####- When Frodo came to himself he was still clutching the Ring desperately. He was lying by the fire, which was now piled high and burning br ightly. His three companions were bending over him. 'What has happened? Where is the pale king?' he asked wildly. They were too overjoyed to hear him speak to answer for a while; nor did they understand his question. At length he gathered from Sam that they had seen nothing but the vague shadowy shapes coming towards them. Suddenly to his horror Sam found that his master had vanished; and at that moment a black shadow rushed past him, and he fell. He heard Frodo's voice, but it seemed to come from a great distance, or from under the earth, crying out strange words. They saw nothing more, until they stumbled over the body of Frodo, lying as if dead, face downwards on the grass with his sword beneath him. Strider ordered them to pick him up and lay him near the fire, and then he disappeared. That was now a good while ago. Sam plainly was beginning to have doubts again about Strider; but while they were talking he returned, appearing suddenly out of the shadows. They started, and Sam drew his sword and stood over Frodo; but Strider knelt down swiftly at his side. 'I am not a Black Rider, Sam,' he said gently, 'nor in league with them. I have been trying to discover something of their movements; but I have found nothing. I cannot think why they have gone and do not attack again. But there is no feeling of their presence anywhere at hand.' When he heard what Frodo had to tell, he became full of concern, and shook his head and sighed. Then he ordered Pippin and Merry to heat as much water as they could in their small kettles, and to bathe the wound with it. 'Keep the fire going well, and keep Frodo warm!' he said. Then he got up and walked away, and called Sam to him. 'I think I understand things better now,' he said in a low voice. 'There seem only to have been five of the enemy. Why they were not all here, I don't know; but I don't think they expected to be resisted. They have drawn off for the time being. But not far, I fear. They will come again another night, if we cannot escape. They are only waiting, because they think that their purpose is almost accomplished, and that the Ring cannot fly much further. I fear, Sam, that ####-they believe your master has a deadly wound that will subdue him to their will. We shall see!' Sam choked with tears. 'Don't despair!' said Strider. 'You must trust me now. Your Frodo is made of sterner stuff than I had guessed, though Gandalf hinted that it might prove so. He is not slain, and I think he will resist the evil power of the wound longer than his enemies expect. I will do all I can to help and heal him. Guard him well, while I am away!' He hurried off and disappeared again into the darkness. Frodo dozed, though the pain of his wound was slowly growing, and a deadly chill was spreading from his shoulder to his arm and side. His friends watched over him, warming him, and bathing his wound. The night passed slowly and wearily. Dawn was growing in the sky, and the dell was filling with grey light, when Strider at last returned. 'Look!' he cried; and stooping he lifted from the ground a black cloak that had lain there hidden by the darkness. A foot above the lower hem there was a slash. 'This was the stroke of Frodo's sword,' he said. 'The only hurt that it did to his enemy, I fear; for it is unharmed, but all blades perish that pierce that dreadful King. More deadly to him was the name of Elbereth.' 'And more deadly to Frodo was this!' He stooped again and lifted up a long thin knife. There was a cold gleam in it. As Strider raised it they saw that near the end its edge was notched and the point was broken off. But even as he held it up in the growing light, they gazed in astonishment, for the blade seemed to melt, and vanished like a smoke in the air, leaving only the hilt in Strider's hand. 'Alas!' he cried. 'It was this accursed knife that gave the wound. Few now have the skill in healing to match such evil weapons. But I will do what I can.' He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger -hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant. 'These leaves,' he said, 'I have walked far to find; for this plant does not grow in the bare hills; but in the thickets away south of the Road I found it in the dark by the scent of its leaves.' He crushed a leaf in his fingers, and it gave out a sweet and pungent fragrance. 'It is fortunate that I could find it, for it is a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle-earth. Athelas they named it, and it grows now sparsely ####-and only near places where they dwelt or camped of old; and it is not known in the North, except to some of those who wander in the Wild. It has great virtues, but over such a wound as this its healing powers may be small.' He threw the leaves into boiling water and bathed Frodo's shoulder. The fragrance of the steam was refreshing, and those that were unhurt felt their minds calmed and cleared. The herb had also some power over the wound, for Frodo felt the pain and also the sense of frozen cold lessen in his side; but the life did not return to his arm, and he could not raise or use his hand. He bitterly regretted his foolishness, and reproached himself for weakness of will; for he now perceived that in putting on the Ring he obeyed not his own desire but the commanding wish of his enemies. He wondered if he would remain maimed for life, and how they would now manage to continue their journey. He fell too weak to stand. The others were discussing this very question. They quickly decided to leave Weathertop as soon as possible. 'I think now,' said Strider, 'that the enemy has been watching this place for some days. If Gandalf ever came here, then he must have been forced to ride away, and he will not return. In any case we are in great peril here after dark, since the attack of last night, and we can hardly meet greater danger wherever we go.' As soon as the daylight was full, they had some hurried food and packed. It was impossible for Frodo to walk, so they divided the greater part of their baggage among the four of them, and put Frodo on the pony. In the last few days the poor beast had improved wonderfully; it already seemed fatter and stronger, and had begun to show an a ffection for its new masters, especially for Sam. Bill Ferny's treatment must have been very hard for the journey in the wild to seem so much better than its former life. They started off in a southerly direction. This would mean crossing the Road, but. it was the quickest way to more wooded country. And they needed fuel; for Strider said that Frodo must be kept warm, especially at night, while fire would be some protection for them all. It was also his plan to shorten their journey by cutting across another great loop of the Road: east beyond Weathertop it changed its course and took a wide bend northwards. They made their way slowly and cautiously round the south-western slopes of the hill, and came in a little while to the edge of the Road. There was no sign of the Riders. But even as they were hurrying across they heard far away two cries: a cold voice calling and a cold voice answering. Trembling they sprang forward, and made for the thickets that lay ahead. The ####-land before them sloped away southwards, but it was wild and pathless; bushes and stunted trees grew in dense patches with wide barren spaces in between. The grass was scanty, coarse, and grey; and the leaves in the thickets were faded and falling. It was a cheerless land, and their journey was slow and gloomy. They spoke little as they trudged along. Frodo's heart was grieved as he watched them walking beside him with their heads down, and their backs bowed under their burdens. Even Strider seemed tired and heavy-hearted. Before the first day's march was over Frodo's pain began to grow again, but he did not speak of it for a long time. Four days passed, without the ground or the scene changing much, except that behind them Weathertop slowly sank, and before them the distant mountains loomed a little nearer. Yet since that far cry they had seen and heard no sign that the enemy had marked their flight or followed them. They dreaded the dark hours, and kept watch in pairs by night, expecting at any time to see black shapes stalking in the grey night, dimly lit by the cloud-veiled moon; but they saw nothing, and heard no sound but the sigh of withered leaves and grass. Not once did they feel the sense of present evil that had assailed them before the attack in the dell. It seemed too much to hope that the Riders had already lost their trail again. Perhaps they were waiting to make some ambush in a narrow place? At the end of the fifth day the ground began once more to rise slowly out of the wide shallow valley into which they had descended. Strider now turned their course again north-eastwards, and on the sixth day they reached the top of a long slow-climbing slope, and saw far ahead a huddle of wooded hills. Away below them they could see the Road sweeping round the feet of the hills; and to their right a grey river gleamed pale in the thin sunshine. In the distance they glimpsed yet another river in a stony valley half-veiled in mist. "I am afraid we must go back to the Road here for a while,' said Strider. 'We have now come to the River Hoarwell, that the Elves call Mitheithel. It flows down out of the Ettenmoors, the troll-fells north of Rivendell, and joins the Loudwater away in the South. Some call it the Greyflood after that. It is a great water before it finds the Sea. There is no way over it below its sources in the Ettenmoors, except by the Last ####-Bridge on which the Road crosses.' 'What is that other river we can see far away there?' asked Merry. 'That is Loudwater, the Bruinen of Rivendell,' answered Strider. 'The Road runs along the edge of the hills for many miles from the Bridge to the Ford of Bruinen. But I have not yet thought how we shall cross that water. One river at a time! We shall be fortunate indeed if we do not find the Last Bridge held against us.' Next day, early in the morning, they came down again to the borders of the Road. Sam and Strider went forward, but they found no sign of any travellers or riders. Here under the shadow of the hills there had been some rain. Strider judged that it had fallen two days before, and had washed away all footprints. No horseman had passed since then, as far as he could see. They hurried along with all the speed they could make, and after a mile or two they saw the Last Bridge ahead, at the bottom of a short steep slope. They dreaded to see black figures waiting there, but they saw none. Strider made them take cover in a thicket at the side of the Road, while he went forward to explore. Before long he came hurrying back. 'I can see no sign of the enemy,' he said, 'and I wonder very much what that means. But I have found something very strange.' He held out his hand, and showed a single pale-green jewel. 'I found it in the mud in the middle of the Bridge,' he said. 'It is a beryl, an elf-stone. Whether it was set there, or let fall by chance, I cannot say; but it brings hope to me. I will take it as a sign that we may pass the Bridge; but beyond that I dare not keep to the Road, without some clearer token.' At once they went on again. They crossed the Bridge in safety, hearing no sound but the water swirling against its three great arches. A mile further on they came to a narrow ravine that led away northwards through the steep lands on the left of the Road. Here Strider turned aside, and soon they were lost in a sombre country of dark trees winding among the feet of sullen hills. The hobbits were glad to leave the cheerless lands and the perilous Road behind them; but this new country seemed threatening and unfriendly. As they went forward the hills about them steadily rose. Here and there upon heights and ridges they caught glimpses of ancient walls of stone, and the ruins of towers: they had an ominous look. Frodo, who was not walking, had ####-time to gaze ahead and to think. He recalled Bilbo's account of his journey and the threatening towers on the hills north of the Road, in the country near the Troll's wood where his first serious adventure had happened. Frodo guessed that they were now in the same region, and wondered if by chance they would pass near the spot. 'Who lives in this land?' he asked. 'And who built these towers? Is this troll-country?' 'No!' said Strider. 'Trolls do not build. No one lives in this land. Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.' 'Where did you learn such tales, if all the land is empty and forgetful?' asked Peregrin. 'The birds and beasts do not tell tales of that son.' 'The heirs of Elendil do not forget all things past,' said Strider; 'and many more things than I can tell are remembered in Rivendell.' 'Have you often been to Rivendell?' said Frodo. 'I have,' said Strider. 'I dwelt there once, and still I return when I may. There my heart is; but it is not my fate to sit in peace, even in the fair house of Elrond.' The hills now began to shut them in. The Road behind held on its way to the River Bruinen, but both were now hidden from view. The travellers came into a long valley; narrow, deeply cloven, dark and silent. Trees with old and twisted roots hung over cliffs, and piled up behind into mounting slopes of pine-wood. The hobbits grew very weary. They advanced slowly, for they had to pick their way through a pathless country, encumbered by fallen trees and tumbled rocks. As long as they could they avoided climbing for Frodo's sake, and because it was in fact difficult to find any way up out of the narrow dales. They had been two days in this country when the weather turned wet. The wind began to blow steadily out of the West and pour the water of the distant seas on the dark heads of the hills in fine drenching rain. By nightfall they were all soaked, and their camp was cheerless, for they could not get any fire to burn. The next day the hills rose still higher and steeper before them, and they were forced to turn away northwards out of their ####-course. Strider seemed to be getting anxious: they were nearly ten days out from Weathertop, and their stock of provisions was beginning to run low. It went on raining. That night they camped on a stony shelf with a rock -wall behind them, in which there was a shallow cave, a mere scoop in the cliff. Frodo was restless. The cold and wet had made his wound more painful than ever, and the ache and sense of deadly chill took away all sleep. He lay tossing and turning and listening fearfully to the stealthy night-noises: wind in chinks of rock, water dripping, a crack, the sudden rattling fall of a loosened stone. He felt that black shapes were advancing to smother him; but when he sat up he saw nothing but the back of Strider sitting hunched up, smoking his pipe, and watching. He lay down again and passed into an uneasy dream, in which he walked on the grass in his garden in the Shire, but it seemed faint and dim, less clear than the tall black shadows that stood looking over the hedge. In the morning he woke to find that the rain had stopped. The clouds were still thick, but they were breaking, and pale strips of blue appeared between them. The wind was shifting again. They did not start early. Immediately after their cold and comfortless breakfast Strider went off alone, telling the others to remain under the shelter of the cliff, until he came back. He was going to climb up, if he could, and get a look at the lie of the land. When he returned he was not reassuring. 'We have come too far to the north,' he said, 'and we must find some way to turn back southwards again. If we keep on as we are going we shall get up into the Ettendales far north of Rivendell. That is troll -country, and little known to me. We could perhaps find our way through and come round to Rivendell from the north; but it would take too long, for I do not know the way, and our food would not last. So somehow or other we must find the Ford of Bruinen.' The rest of that day they spent scrambling over rocky ground. They found a passage between two hills that led them into a valley running south-east, the direction that they wished to take; but towards the end of the day they found their road again barred by a ridge of high land; its dark edge against the sky was broken into many bare points like teeth of a blunted saw. They had a choice between going back or climbing over it. They decided to attempt the climb, but it proved very difficult. Before long Frodo was obliged to dismount and struggle along on foot. Even so they ####-often despaired of getting their pony up, or indeed of finding a path for themselves, burdened as they were. The light was nearly gone, and they were all exhausted, when at last they reached the top. They had climbed on to a narrow saddle between two higher points, and the land fell steeply away again, only a short distance ahead. Frodo threw himself down, and lay on the ground shivering. His left arm was lifeless, and his side and shoulder felt as if icy claws were laid upon them. The trees and rocks about him seemed shadowy and dim. 'We cannot go any further,' said Merry to Strider. 'I am afraid this has been too much for Frodo. I am dreadfully anxious about him. What are we to do? Do you think they will be able to cure him in Rivendell, if we ever get there?' 'We shall see,' answered Strider. 'There is nothing more that I can do in the wilderness; and it is chiefly because of his wound that I am so anxious to press on. But I agree that we can go no further tonight.' 'What is the matter with my master?' asked Sam in a low voice, looking appealingly at Strider. 'His wound was small, and it is already closed. There's nothing to be seen but a cold white mark on his shoulder.' 'Frodo has been touched by the weapons of the Enemy,' said Strider, 'and there is some poison or evil at work that is beyond my skill to drive out. But do not give up hope, Sam!' Night was cold up on the high ridge. They lit a small fire down under the gnarled roots of an old pine, that hung over a shallow pit: it looked as if stone had once been quarried there. They sat huddled together. The wind blew chill through the pass, and they heard the tree-tops lower down moaning and sighing. Frodo lay half in a dream, imagining that endless dark wings were sweeping by above him, and that on the wings rode pursuers that sought him in all the hollows of the hills. The morning dawned bright and fair; the air was clean, and the light pale and clear in a rain-washed sky. Their hearts were encouraged, but (hey longed for the sun to warm their cold stiff limbs. As soon as it was light, Strider took Merry with him and went to survey the country from the height to the east of the pass. The sun had risen and was shining brightly when he returned with more comforting news. They were now going more or less in the right direction. If they went on, down the further side of the ridge, they would have the Mountains on their left. Some way ahead Strider had caught a glimpse of the Loudwater again, and he knew that, though it was hidden from ####-view, the Road to the Ford was not far from the River and lay on the side nearest to them. 'We must make for the Road again,' he said. 'We cannot hope to find a path through these hills. Whatever danger may beset it, the Road is our only way to the Ford.' As soon as they had eaten they set out again. They climbed slowly down the southern side of the ridge; but the way was much easier than they had expected, for the slope was far less steep on this side, and before long Frodo was able to ride again. Bill Ferny's poor old pony was developing an unexpected talent for picking out a path, and for sparing its rider as many jolts as possible. The spirits of the party rose again. Even Frodo felt better in the morning light, but every now and again a mist seemed to obscure his sight, and he pa ssed his hands over his eyes. Pippin was a little ahead of the others. Suddenly he turned round and called to them. 'There is a path here!' he cried. When they came up with him, they saw that he had made no mistake: there were clearly the beginnings of a path, that climbed with many windings out of the woods below and faded away on the hill-top behind. In places it was now faint and overgrown, or choked with fallen stones and trees; but at one time it seemed to have been much used. It was a path made by strong arms and heavy feet. Here and there old trees had been cut or broken down, and large rocks cloven or heaved aside to make a way. They followed the track for some while, for it offered much the easiest way down, but they went cautiously, and their anxiety increased as they came into the dark woods, and the path grew plainer and broader. Suddenly coming out of a belt of fir-trees it ran steeply down a slope, and turned sharply to the left round the comer of a rocky shoulder of the hill. When they came to the comer they looked round and saw that the path ran on over a level strip under the face of a low cliff overhung with trees. In the stony wall there was a door hanging crookedly ajar upon one great hinge. Outside the door they all halted. There was a cave or rock -chamber behind, but in the gloom inside nothing could be seen. Strider, Sam, and Merry pushing with all their strength managed to open the door a little wider, and then Strider and Merry went in. They did not go far, for on the floor lay many old bones, and nothing else was to be seen near the entrance except some great empty jars and broken pots. 'Surely this is a troll-hole, if ever there was one!' said Pippin.####-'Come out, you two, and let us get away. Now we know who made the path - and we had better get off it quick.' 'There is no need, I think,' said Strider, coining out. 'It is certainly a troll-hole, but it seems to have been long forsaken. I don't think we need be afraid. But let us go on down warily, and we shall see.' The path went on again from the door, and turning to the right again across the level space plunged down a thick wooded slope. Pippin, not liking to show Strider that he was still afraid, went on ahead with Merry. Sam and Strider came behind, one on each side of Frodo's pony, for the path was now broad enough for four or five hobbits to walk abreast. But they had not gone very far before Pippin came running back, fol lowed by Merry. They both looked terrified. 'There are trolls!' Pippin panted. 'Down in a clearing in the woods not far below. We got a sight of them through the tree-trunks. They are very large!' 'We will come and look at them,' said Strider, picking up a stick. Frodo said nothing, but Sam looked scared. The sun was now high, and it shone down through the half-stripped branches of the trees, and lit the clearing with bright patches of light. They halted suddenly on the edge, and peered through the tree-trunks, holding their breath. There stood the trolls: three large trolls. One was stooping, and the other two stood staring at him. Strider walked forward unconcernedly. 'Get up, old stone!' he said, and brok e his stick upon the stooping troll. Nothing happened. There was a gasp of astonishment from the hobbits, and then even Frodo laughed. 'Well!' he said. 'We are forgetting our family history! These must be the very three that were caught by Gandalf, quarrelling over the right way to cook thirteen dwarves and one hobbit.' 'I had no idea we were anywhere near the place!' said Pippin. He knew the story well. Bilbo and Frodo had told it often; but as a matter of fact he had never mor e than half believed it. Even now he looked at the stone trolls with suspicion, wondering if some magic might not suddenly bring them to life again. 'You are forgetting not only your family history, but all you ever knew about trolls,' said Strider. 'It is broad daylight with a bright sun, and yet you come back trying to scare me with a tale of live trolls waiting for ####-us in this glade! In any case you might have noticed that one of them has an old bird's nest behind his ear. That would be a most unusual ornament for a live troll!' They all laughed. Frodo felt his spirits reviving: the reminder of Bilbo's first successful adventure was heartening. The sun, too, was warm and comforting, and the mist before his eyes seemed to be lifting a little. They rested for some time in the glade, and took their mid-day meal right under the shadow of the trolls' large legs. 'Won't somebody give us a bit of a song, while the sun is high?' said Merry, when they had finished. 'We haven't ha d a song or a tale for days.' 'Not since Weathertop,' said Frodo. The others looked at him. 'Don't worry about me!' he added. 'I feel much better, but I don't think I could sing. Perhaps Sam could dig something out of his memory.' 'Come on, Sam!' said Merry. 'There's more stored in your head than you let on about.' 'I don't know about that,' said Sam. 'But how would this suit? It ain't what I call proper poetry, if you understand me: just a bit of nonsense. But these old images here brought it to my mind.' Standing up, with his hands behind his back, as if he was at school, he began to sing to an old tune. Troll sat alone on his seat of stone, And munched and mumbled a bare old bone; For many a year he had gnawed it near, For meat was hard to come by. Done by! Gum by! In a case in the hills he dwelt alone, And meat was hard to come by. Up came Tom with his big boots on. Said he to Troll: 'Pray, what is yon? For it looks like the shin o' my nuncle Tim, As should be a -lyin' in graveyard. Caveyard! Paveyard! This many a year has Tim been gone, And I thought he were lyin' in graveyard.''My lad,' said Troll, 'this bone I stole. But what be bones that lie in a hole?####- Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o' lead, Afore I found his shinbone. Tinbone! Thinbone! He can spare a share for a poor old troll, For he don't need his shinbone.' Said Tom: 'I don't see why the likes o' thee Without axin' leave should go makin' free With the shank or the shin o' my father's kin; So hand the old bone over! Rover! Trover! Though dead he be, it belongs to he; So hand the old bone over!''For a couple o' pins,' says Troll, and grins, 'I'll eat thee too, and gnaw thy shins. A bit o' fresh meal will go down sweet! I'll try my teeth on thee now. Hee now! See now! I'm tired o' gnawing old bones and skins; I've a mind to dine on thee now.' But just as he thought his dinner was caught, He found his hands had hold of naught. Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind And gave him the boot to larn him. Warn him! Darn him! A bump o' the boot on the seat, Tom thought, Would be the way to larn him. But harder than stone is the flesh and bone Of a troll that sits in the hills alone. As well set your boot to the mountain's root, For the seat of a troll don't feel it. Peel it! Heal it! Old Troll laughed, when he heard Tom groan, And he knew his toes could feel it.####- Tom's leg is game, since home he came, And his bootless foot is lasting lame; But Troll don't care, and he's still there With the bone he boned from its owner. Doner! Boner! Troll's old seat is still the same, And the bone he boned from its owner! 'Well, that's a warning to us all!' laughed Merry. 'It is as well you used a stick, and not your hand, Strider!' 'Where did you come by tha t, Sam?' asked Pippin. 'I've never heard those words before.' Sam muttered something inaudible. 'It's out of his own head, of course,' said Frodo. 'I am learning a lot about Sam Gamgee on this journey. First he was a conspirator, now he's a jester. He'll end up by becoming a wizard - or a warrior!' 'I hope not,' said Sam. 'I don't want to be neither!' In the afternoon they went on down the woods. They were probably following the very track that Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves had used many years before. After a few miles they came out on the top of a high bank above the Road. At this point the Road had left the Hoarwell far behind in its narrow valley, and now clung close to the feet of the hills, rolling and winding eastward among woods and heather -covered slopes towards the Ford and the Mountains. Not far down the bank Strider pointed out a stone in the grass. On it roughly cut and now much weathered could still be seen dwarf-runes and secret marks. 'There!' said Merry. 'That must be the stone that marked the place where the trolls' gold was hidden. How much is left of Bilbo's share, I wonder, Frodo?' Frodo looked at the stone, and wished that Bilbo had brought home no treasure more perilous, nor less easy to pan with. 'None at all,' he said. 'Bilbo gave it all away. He told me he did not feel it was really his, as it came from robbers.' The Road lay quiet under the long shadows of early evening. There was no sign of any other travellers to be seen. As there was now no other possible course for them to take, they climbed down the bank, and turning ####-left went off as fast as they could. Soon a shoulder of the hills cut off the light of the fast westering sun. A cold wind flowed down to meet them from the mountains ahead. They were beginning to look out for a place off the Road, where they could camp for the night, when they heard a sound that brought sudden fear back into their hearts: the noise of hoofs behind them. They looked back, but they could not see far because of the many windings and rollings of the Road. As quickly as they could they scrambled off the beaten way and up into the deep heather and bilberry brushwood on the slopes above, u ntil they came to a small patch of thick-growing hazels. As they peered out from among the bushes, they could see the Road, faint and grey in the failing light, some thirty feel below them. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. They were going fast, with a light clippety-clippely-clip. Then faintly, as if it was blown away from them by the breeze, they seemed to catch a dim ringing, as of small bells tinkling. 'That does not sound like a Black Rider's horse!' said Frodo, listening intently. The other hobbits agreed hopefully that it did not, but they all remained full of suspicion. They had been in fear of pursuit for so long that any sound from behind seemed ominous and unfriendly. But Strider was now leaning forward, stooped to the ground, with a hand to his ear, and a look of joy on his face. The light faded, and the leaves on the bushes rustled softly. Clearer and nearer now the bells jingled, and clippety -clip came the quick trotting feet. Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. The rider's cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil. Strider sprang from hiding and dashed down towards the Road, leaping with a cry through the heather; but even before he had moved or called, the rider had reined in his horse and halted, looking up towards the thicket where they stood. When he saw Strider, he dismounted and ran to meet him calling out: Ai na vedui D®nadan! Mae govannen! His speech and clear ringing voice left no doubt in their hearts: the rider was of the Elven-folk. No others that dwelt in the wide world had voices so fair to hear. But there ####-seemed to be a note of haste or fear in his call, and they saw tha t he was now speaking quickly and urgently to Strider. Soon Strider beckoned to them, and the hobbits left the bushes and hurried down to the Road. 'This is Glorfindel, who dwells in the house of Elrond,' said Strider. 'Hail, and well met at last!' said the Elf-lord to Frodo. 'I was sent from Rivendell to look for you. We feared that you were in danger upon the road.' 'Then Gandalf has reached Rivendell?' cried Frodo joyfully. 'No. He had not when I departed; but that was nine days ago,' answered Glorfindel. 'Elrond received news that troubled him. Some of my kindred, journeying in your land beyond the Baranduin,* learned that things were amiss, and sent messages as swiftly as they could. They said that the Nine were abroad, and that you were astray bearing a great burden without guidance, for Gandalf had not returned. There are few even in Rivendell that can ride openly against the Nine; but such as there were, Elrond sent out north, west, and south. It was thought that you might turn far aside to avoid pursuit, and become lost in the Wilderness. 'It was my lot to take the Road, and I came to the Bridge of Mitheithel, and left a token there, nigh on seven days ago. Three of the servants of Sauron were upon the Bridge, but they withdrew and I pursued them westward. I came also upon two others, but they turned away southward. Since then I have searched for your trail. Two days ago I found it, and followed it over the Bridge; and today I marked where you descended from the hills again. But come! There is no time for further news. Since you are here we must risk the peril of the Road and go. There are five behind us, and when they find your trail upon the Road they will ride after us like the wind. And they are not all. Where the other four may be, I do not know. I fear that we may find the Ford is already held against us.' While Glorfindel was speaking the shades of evening deepened. Frodo felt a great weariness come over him. Ever since the sun began to sink the mist before his eyes had darkened, and he felt that a shadow was coming between him and the faces of his friends. Now pain assailed him, and he felt cold. He swayed, clutching at Sam's arm. 'My master is sick and wounded,' said Sam angrily. 'He can't go on riding after nightfall. He needs rest.' Glorfindel caught Frodo as he sank to the ground, and taking him gently ####-in his arms he looked in his face with grave anxiety. Briefly Strider told of the attack on their camp under Weathertop, and of the deadly knife. He drew out the hilt, which he had kept, and handed it to the Elf. Glorfindel shuddered as he took it, but he looked intently at it. 'There are evil things written on this hilt,' he said; 'though maybe your eyes cannot see them. Keep it, Aragorn, till we reach the house of Elrond! But be wary, and handle it as little as you may! Alas! the wounds of this weapon are beyond my skill to heal. I will do what I can - but all the more do I urge you now to go on without rest.' He searched the wound on Frodo's shoulder with his fingers, and his face grew graver, as if what he learned disquieted him. But Frodo felt the chill lessen in his side and arm; a little warmth crept down from his shoulder to his hand, and the pain grew easier. The dusk of evening seemed to grow lighter about him, as if a cloud had been withdrawn. He saw his friends' faces more clearly again, and a measure of new hope and strength returned. 'You shall ride my horse,' said Glorfindel. 'I will shorten the stirrups up to the saddle-skins, and you must sit as tight as you can. But you need not fear: my horse will not let any rider fall that I command him to bear. His pace is light and smooth; and if danger presses too near, he will bear you away with a speed that even the black steeds of the enemy cannot rival.' 'No, he will not!' said Frodo. 'I shall not ride him, if I am to be carried off to Rivendell or anywhere else, leaving my friends behind in danger.' Glorfindel smiled. 'I doubt very much,' he said, 'if your friends would be in danger if you were not with them! The pursuit would follow you and leave us in peace, I think. It is you, Frodo, and that which you bear that brings us all in peril.' To that Frodo had no answer, and he was persuaded to mount Glorfindel's white horse. The pony was laden instead with a great part of the others' burdens, so that they now marched lighter, and for a time made good speed; but the hobbits began to find it hard to keep up with the swift tireless feet of the Elf. On he led them, into the mouth of darkness, and still on under the deep clouded night. There was neither star nor moon. Not until the grey of dawn did he allow them to halt. Pippin, Merry, and Sam were by that ####-time nearly asleep on their stumbling legs; and even Strider seemed by the sag of his shoulders to be weary. Frodo sat upon the horse in a dark dream. They cast themselves down in the heather a few yards from the road-side, and fell asleep immediately. They seemed hardly to have closed their eyes when Glorfindel, who had set himself to watch while they slept, awoke them again. The sun had now climbed far into the morning, and the clouds and mists of the night were gone. 'Drink this!' said Glorfindel to them, pouring for each in turn a little liquor from his silver -studded flask of leather. It was clear as spring water and had no taste, and it did not feel either cool or warm in the mouth; but strength and vigour seemed to flow into all their limbs as they drank it. Eaten after that draught the stale bread and dried fruit (which was now all that they had left) seemed to satisfy their hunger better than many a good breakfast in the Shire had done. They had rested rather less than five hours when they took to the Road again. Glorfindel still urged them on, and only allowed two brief halts during the day's march. In this way they covered almost twenty miles before nightfall, and came to a point where the Road bent right and ran down towards the bottom of the valley, now making straight for the Bruinen. So far there had been no sign or sound of pursuit that the hobbits could see or hear; but often Glorfindel would halt and listen for a moment, if they lagged behind, and a look of anxiety clouded his face. Once or twice he spoke to Strider in the elf-tongue. But however anxious their guides might be, it was plain that the hobbits could go no further that night. They were stumbling along dizzy with weariness, and unable to think of anything but their feet and legs. Frodo's pain had redoubled, and during the day things about him faded to shadows of ghostly grey. He almost welcomed the coming of night, for then the world seemed less pale and empty. The hobbits were still weary, when they set out again early next morning. There were many miles yet to go between them and the Ford, and they hobbled forward at the best pace they could manage. 'Our peril will be greatest just ere we reach the river,' said Glorfindel; 'for my heart warns me that the pursuit is now swift behind us, and other danger may be waiting by the Ford.' The Road was still running steadily downhill, and there was now in ####-places much grass at either side, in which the hobbits walked when they could, to ease their tired feet. In the late afternoon they came to a place where the Road went suddenly under the dark shadow of tall pine-trees, and then plunged into a deep cutting with steep moist walls of red stone. Echoes ran along as they hurried forward; and there seemed to be a sound of many footfalls following their own. All at once, as if through a gate of light, the Road ran out again from the end of the tunnel into the open. There at the bottom of a sharp incline they saw before them a long flat mile, and beyond that the Ford of Rivendell. On the further side was a steep brown bank, threaded by a winding path; and behind that the tall mountains climbed, shoulder above shoulder, and peak beyond peak, into the fading sky. There was still an echo as of following feet in the cutting behind them; a rushing noise as if a wind were rising and pouring through the branches of the pines. One moment Glorfindel turned and listened, then he sprang forward with a loud cry. 'Fly!' he called. 'Fly! The enemy is upon us!' The white horse leaped forward. The hobbits ran down the slope. Glorfindel and Strider followed as rear -guard. They were only half way across the flat, when suddenly there was a noise of horses galloping. Out of the gate in the trees that they had just left rode a Black Rider. He reined his horse in, and halted, swaying in his saddle. Another followed him, and then another; then again two more. 'Ride forward! Ride!' cried Glorfindel to Frodo. He did not obey at once, for a strange reluctance seized him. Checking the horse to a walk, he turned and looked back. The Riders seemed to sit upon their great steeds like threatening statues upon a hill, dark and solid, while all the woods and land about them receded as if into a mist. Suddenly he knew in his heart that they were silently commanding him to wait. Then at once fear and hatred awoke in him. His hand left the bridle and gripped the hilt of his sword, and with a red flash he drew it. 'Ride on! Ride on!' cried Glorfindel, and then loud and clear he called to the horse in the elf-tongue: noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth! At once the white horse sprang away and sped like the wind along the last lap of the Road. At the same moment the black horses leaped down the hill in pursuit, and from the Riders came a terrible cry, such as Frodo had heard filling the woods with horror in the Eastfarthing far away. It was answered; and to the dismay of Frodo and his friends out from the trees and ####-rocks away on the left four other Riders came flying. Two rode towards Frodo: two galloped madly towards the Ford to cut off his escape. They seemed to him to run like the wind and to grow swiftly larger and darker, as their courses converged with his. Frodo looked back for a moment over his shoulder. He could no longer see his friends. The Riders behind were falling back: even their great steeds were no match in speed for the white elf-horse of Glorfindel. He looked forward again, and hope fa ded. There seemed no chance of reaching the Ford before he was cut off by the others that had lain in ambush. He could see them clearly now: they appeared to have cast aside their hoods and black cloaks, and they were robed in white and grey. Swords were naked in their pale hands; helms were on their heads. Their cold eyes glittered, and they called to him with fell voices. Fear now filled all Frodo's mind. He thought no longer of his sword. No cry came from him. He shut his eyes and clung to the horse's mane. The wind whistled in his ears, and the bells upon the harness rang wild and shrill. A breath of deadly cold pierced him like a spear, as with a last spurt, like a flash of white fire, the elf-horse speeding as if on wings, passed right before the face of the foremost Rider. Frodo heard the splash of water. It foamed about his feet. He felt the quick heave and surge as the horse left the river and struggled up the stony path. He was climbing the steep bank. He was across the Ford. But the pursuers were close behind. At the top of the bank the horse halted and turned about neighing fiercely. There were Nine Riders at the water's edge below, and Frodo's spirit quailed before the threat of their uplifted faces. He knew of nothing that would prevent them from crossing as easily as he had done; and he felt that it was useless to try to escape over the long uncertain path from the Ford to the edge of Rivendell, if once the Riders crossed. In any case he felt that he was commanded urgently to halt. Hatred again stirred in him, but he had no longer the strength to refuse. Suddenly the foremost Rider spurred his horse forward. It checked at the water and reared up. With a great effort Frodo sat upright and brandished his sword. 'Go back!' he cried. 'Go back to the Land of Mordor, and follow me no more! ' His voice sounded thin and shrill in his own ears. The Riders halted, but Frodo had not the power of Bombadil. His enemies laughed at him with a harsh and chilling laughter. 'Come back! Come back!' they called. 'To ####-Mordor we will take you!' 'Go back!' he whispered. 'The Ring! The Ring!' they cried with deadly voices; and immediately their leader urged his horse forward into the water, followed closely by two others. 'By Elbereth and L®thien the Fair,' said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, 'you shall have neither the Ring nor me!' Then the leader, who was now half across the Ford, stood up menacing in his stirrups, and raised up his hand. Frodo was stricken dumb. He felt his tongue cleave to his mouth, and his heart labouring. His sword broke and fell out of his shaking hand. The elf-horse reared and snorted. The foremost of the black horses had almost set foot upon the shore. At that moment there came a roaring and a rushing: a noise of loud waters rolling many stones. Dimly Frodo saw the river below him rise, and down along its course there came a plumed cavalry of waves. White flames seemed to Frodo to flicker on their crests and he half fancied that he saw amid the water white riders upon white horses with frothing manes. The three Riders that were still in the midst of the Ford were overwhelmed: they disappeared, buried su ddenly under angry foam. Those that were behind drew back in dismay. With his last failing senses Frodo heard cries, and it seemed to him that he saw, beyond the Riders that hesitated on the shore, a shining figure of white light; and behind it ran small shadowy forms waving flames, that flared red in the grey mist that was falling over the world. The black horses were filled with madness, and leaping forward in terror they bore their riders into the rushing flood. Their piercing cries were drowned in the roaring of the river as it carried them away. Then Frodo felt himself falling, and the roaring and confusion seemed to rise and engulf him together with his enemies. He heard and saw no more. ####-* BOOK II * Frodo woke and found himself lying in bed. At first he thought that he had slept late, after a long unpleasant dream that still hovered on the edge of memory. Or perhaps he had been ill? But the ceiling looked strange; it was flat, and it had dark beams richly carved. He lay a little while longer looking at patches of sunlight on the wall, and listening to the sound of a waterfall. `Where am I, and what is the time?' he said aloud to the ceiling. 'In the House of Elrond, and it is ten o'clock in the morning.' said a voice. `It is the morning of October the twenty -fourth, if you want to know.' `Gandalf!' cried Frodo, sitting up. There was the old wizard, sitting in a chair by the open window. `Yes,' he said, `I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.' Frodo lay down again. He felt too comfortable and peaceful to argue, and in any case he did not think he would get the better of an argument. He was fully awake now, and the memory of his journey was returning: the disastrous `short cut' through the Old Forest the `accident' at The Prancing Pony; and his madness in putting on the Ring in the dell under Weathertop. While he was thinking of all these things and trying in vain to bring his memory down to his arriving in Rivendell, there was a long silence, broken only by the soft puffs of Gandalf's pipe, as he blew white smoke-rings out of the window. 'Where's Sam?' Frodo asked at length. 'And are the others all right?' 'Yes, they are all safe and sound,' answered Gandalf. `Sam was here until I sent him off to get some rest, about half an hour ago.' `What happened at the Ford?' said Frodo. `It all seemed so dim somehow; and it still does.' 'Yes, it would. You were beginning to fade,' answered Gandalf. 'The wound was overcoming you at last. A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid. But you have some strength in you, my dear hobbit! As you showed in the Barrow. That was touch and go: perhaps the most dangerous ####-moment of all. I wish you could have held out at Weathertop.' 'You seem to know a great deal already,' said Frodo. `I have not spoken to the others about the Barrow. At first it was too horrible; and afterwards there were other things to think about. How do you know about it?' 'You have talked long in your sleep, Frodo,' said Gandalf gently, 'and it has not been hard for me to read your mind and memory. Do not worry! Though I said "absurd" just now, I did not mean it. I think well of you-and of the others. It is no small feat to have come so far, and through such dangers, still bearing the Ring.' 'We should never have done it without Strider,' said Frodo. `But we needed you. I did not know what to do without you.' 'I was delayed,' said Gandalf, `and that nearly proved our ruin. And yet I am not sure; it may have been better so.' 'I wish you would tell me what happened!' 'All in good time! You are not supposed to talk or worry about anything today, by Elrond's orders.' `But talking would stop me thinking and wondering, which are quite as tiring,' said Frodo. 'I am wide awake now, and I remember so many things that want explaining. Why were you delayed? You ought to tell me that at least.' 'You will soon hear all you wish to know,' said Gandalf. 'We shall have a Council, as soon as you are well enough. At the moment I will only say that I was held captive.' 'You?' cried Frodo. 'Yes, I, Gandalf the Grey,' said the wizard solemnly. 'There are many powers in the world, for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am. Against some I have not yet been measured. But my time is coming. The Morgul-lord and his Black Riders have come forth. War is preparing!' `Then you knew of the Riders already -before I met them?' 'Yes, I knew of them. Indeed I spoke of them once to you; for the Black Riders are the Ringwraiths, the Nine Servants of the Lord of the Rings. But I did not know that they had arisen again or I should have fled with you at once. I heard news of them only after I left you in June; but that story must wait. For the moment we have been saved from disaster, by Aragorn.' 'Yes,' said Frodo, `it was Strider that saved us. Yet I was afraid of him at first. Sam never quite trusted him. I think, not at any rate until we met Glorfindel.'####- Gandalf smiled. `I have heard all about Sam,' he said. 'He has no more doubts now.' 'I am glad,' said Frodo. 'For I have become very fond of Strider. Well, fond is not the right word. I mean he is dear to me; though he is strange, and grim at times. In fact, he reminds me often of you. I didn't know that any of the Big People were like that. I thought, well, that they were just big, and rather stupid: kind and stupid like Butterbur; or stupid and wicked like Bill Ferny. But then we don't know much about Men in the Shire, except perhaps the Breelanders.' `You don't know much even about them, if you think old Barliman is stupid,' said Gandalf. 'He is wise enough on his own ground. He thinks less than he talks, and slower; yet he can see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree). But there are few left in Middle-earth like Aragorn son of Arathorn. The race of the Kings from over the Sea is nearly at an end. It may be that this War of the Ring will be their last adventure.' 'Do you really mean that Strider is one of the people of the old Kings?' said Frodo in wonder. `I thought they had all vanished long ago. I thought he was only a Ranger.' 'Only a Ranger!' cried Gandalf. `My dear Frodo, that is just what the Rangers are: the last remnant in the North of the great people, the Men of the West. They have helped me before; and I shall need their help in the days to come; for we have reached Rivendell, but the Ring is not yet at rest.' 'I suppose not,' said Frodo. 'But so far my only thought has been to get here; and I hope I shan't have to go any further. It is very pleasant just to rest. I have had a month of exile and adventure, and I find that has been as much as I want.' He fell silent and shut his eyes. After a while he spoke again. 'I have been reckoning,' he said, `and I can't bring the total up to October the twenty-fourth. It ought to be the twenty-first. We must have reached the Ford by the twentieth.' 'You have talked and reckoned more than is good for you,' said Gandalf. `How do the side and shou lder feel now?' 'I don't know.' Frodo answered. 'They don't feel at all: which is an improvement, but'--he made an effort--'I can move my arm again a little. Yes, it is coming back to life. It is not cold,' he added, touching his left hand with his right.####- `Good!' said Gandalf. `It is mending fast. You will soon be sound again. Elrond has cured you: he has tended you for days, ever since you were brought in.' 'Days?' said Frodo. `Well, four nights and three days, to be exact. The Elves brought you from this where you lost count. We have been terribly anxious, and Sam has hardly left your side, day or night, except to run messages. Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still in the closed wound. But it could not be found until last night. Then Elrond removed a splinter. It was deeply buried. and it was working inwards.' Frodo shuddered, remembering the cruel knife with notched blade that had vanished in Strider's hands. `Don't be alarmed!' said Gandalf. `It is gone now. It has been melted. And it seems that Hobbits fade very reluctantly. I have known strong warriors of the Big People who would quickly have been overcome by that splinter, which you bore for seventeen days.' `What would they have done to me?' asked Frodo. `What were the Riders trying to do?' 'They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-knife which remains in the wound. If they had succeeded, you would have become like they are, only weaker and under their command. You would have became a wraith under the dominion of the Dark Lord; and he would have tormented you for trying to keep his Ring, if any greater torment were possible than being robbed of it and seeing it on his hand.' 'Thank goodness I did not realize the horrible danger!' said Frodo faintly. I was mortally afraid, of course; but if I had k nown more, I should not have dared even to move. It is a marvel that I escaped!' 'Yes, fortune or fate have helped you,' said Gandalf, `not to mention courage. For your heart was not touched, and only your shoulder was pierced; and that was because you resisted to the last. But it was a terribly narrow shave, so to speak. You were in gravest peril while you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith-world yourself, and they might have seized you. You could see them, and they could see you. ' `I know,' said Frodo. `They were terrible to behold! But why could we ####-all see their horses?' `Because they are real horses; just as the black robes are real robes that they wear to give shape to their nothingness when they have dealings with the living.' `Then why do these black horses endure such riders? All other animals are terrified when they draw near, even the elf-horse of Glorfindel. The dogs howl and the geese scream at them.' `Because these horses are born and bred to the service of the Dark Lord in Mordor. Not all his servants and chattels are wraiths! There are orcs and trolls, there are wargs and werewolves; and there have been and still are many Men, warriors and kings, that walk alive under the Sun, and yet are under his sway. And their number is growing daily.' `What about Rivendell and the Elves? Is Rivendell safe?' `Yes, at present, until all else is conquered. The Elves may fear the Dark Lord, and they may fly before him, but never aga in will they listen to him or serve him. And here in Rivendell there live still some of his chief foes: the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas. They do not fear the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power.' 'I thought that I saw a white figure that shone and did not grow dim like the others. Was that Glorfindel then?' 'Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the mighty of the Firstborn. He is an Elf-lord of a house of princes. Indeed there is a power in Rivendell to withstand the might of Mordor, for a while: and elsewhere other powers still dwell. There is power, too, of another kind in the Shire. But all such places will soon become islands under siege, if things go on as they are going. The Dark Lord is putting forth all his strength. `Still,' he said, standing suddenly up and sticking out his chin. while his beard went stiff and straight like bristling wire, `we must keep up our courage. You will soon be well, if I do not talk you to death. You are in Rivendell, and you need not worry about anything for the present.' 'I haven't any courage to keep up,' said Frodo, `but I am not worried at the moment. Just give me news of my friends, and tell me the end of the affair at the Ford, as I keep on asking, and I shall be content for the present. After that I shall have another sleep, I think; but I shan't be ####-able to close my eyes until you have finished the story for me.' Gandalf moved his chair to the bedside, and took a good look at Frodo. The colour had come back to his face, and his eyes were clear, and fully awake and aware. He was smiling, and there seemed to be little wrong with him. But to the wizard's eye there was a faint change just a hint as it were of transparency, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet. `Still that must be expected,' said Gandalf to himself. `He is not half through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can.' `You look splendid,' he said aloud. `I will risk a brief tale without consulting Elrond. But quite brief, mind you, and then you must sleep again. This is what happened, as far as I can gather. The Riders made straight for you, as soon as you fled. They did not need the guidance of their horses any longer: you had become visible to them, being already on the threshold of their world. And also the Ring drew them. Your friends sprang aside, off the road, or they would have been ridden down. They knew that nothing could save you, if the white horse could not. The Riders were too swift to overtake, and too many to oppose. On foot even Glorfindel and Aragorn together could not with stand all the Nine at once. `When the Ringwraiths swept by, your friends ran up behind. Close to the Ford there is a small hollow beside the road masked by a few stunted trees. There they hastily kindled fire; for Glorfindel knew that a flood would come down, if the Riders tried to cross, and then he would have to deal with any that were left on his side of the river. The moment the flood appeared, he rushed out, followed by Aragorn and the. others with flaming brands. Caught between fire and water, and seeing an Elf-lord revealed in his wrath, they were dismayed, and their horses were stricken with madness. Three were carried away by the first assault of the flood; the others were now hurled into the water by their horses and overwhelmed.' 'And is that the end of the Black Riders?' asked Frodo. 'No,' said Gandalf. 'Their horses must have perished, and without them they are crippled. But the Ringwraiths themselves cannot be so easily destroyed. However, there is nothing more to fear from them at present. Your friends crossed after the flood had passed; and they found you lying on your face at the top of the bank, with a broken sword under you. The horse was ####-standing guard beside you. You were pale and cold, and they feared that you were dead, or worse. Elrond's folk met them, carrying you slowly towards Rivendell.' `Who made the flood?' asked Frodo. 'Elrond commanded it,' answered Gandalf. `The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford. As soon as the captain of the Ringwraiths rode into the water the flood was released. If I may say so, I added a few touches of my own: you may not have noticed, but some of the waves took the form of great white horses with shining white riders; and there wer e many rolling and grinding boulders. For a moment I was afraid that we had let loose too fierce a wrath, and the flood would get out of hand and wash you all away. There is great vigour in the waters that come down from the snows of the Misty Mountains.' `Yes, it all comes back to me now,' said Frodo: 'the tremendous roaring. I thought I was drowning, with my friends and enemies and all. But now we are safe!' Gandalf looked quickly at Frodo, but he had shut his eyes. 'Yes, you are all safe for the present. Soon there will be feasting and merrymaking to celebrate the victory at the Ford of Bruinen, and you will all be there in places of honour.' 'Splendid!' said Frodo. `It is wonderful that Elrond, and Glorfindel and such great lords, not to mention Strider, should take so much trouble and show me so much kindness.' `Well, there are many reasons why they should,' said Gandalf, smiling. `I am one good reason. The Ring is another: you are the Ring-bearer. And you are the heir of Bilbo, the Ring-finder.' `Dear Bilbo!' said Frodo sleepily. `I wonder where he is. I wish he was here and could hear all about it. It would have made him laugh, The cow jumped over the Moon! And the poor old troll!' With that he fell fast asleep. Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, `a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness. As the evening drew on, Frodo woke up again, and he found that he no ####-longer felt in need of rest or sleep, but had a mind for food and drink, and probably for singing and story-telling afterwards. He got out of bed and discovered that his arm was already nearly as useful again as it ever had been. He found laid ready clean garments of green cloth that fitted him excellently. Looking in a mirror he was startled to see a much thinner reflection of himself than he remembered: it looked remarkably like the young nephew of Bilbo who used to go tramping with his uncle in the Shire; but the eyes looked out at him thoughtfully. `Yes, you have seen a thing or two since you last peeped out of a looking-glass,' he said to his reflection. 'But now for a merry meeting!' He stretched out his arms and whistled a tune. At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Sam came in. He ran to Frodo and took his left hand, awkwardly and shyly. He stroked it gently and then he blushed and turned hastily away. `Hullo, Sam!' said Frodo. `It's warm!' said Sam. `Meaning your hand, Mr. Frodo. It has felt so cold through the long nights. But glory and trumpets!' he cried, turning round again with shining eyes and dancing on the floor. 'It's fine to see you up and yourself again, sir! Gandalf asked me to come and see if you were ready to come down, and I thought he was joking.' 'I am ready,' said Frodo. 'Let's go and look for the rest of the party!' `I can take you to them, sir,' said Sam. `It's a big house this, and very peculiar. Always a bit more to discover, and no knowing what you'll find round a corner. And Elves, sir! Elves here, and Elves there! Some like kings, terrible and splendid; and some as merry as children. And the music and the singing-not that I have had the time or the heart for much listening since we got here. But I'm getting to know some of the ways of the place.' 'I know what you have been doing, Sam,' said Frodo, taking his arm. 'But you shall be merry tonight, and listen to your heart's content. Come on, guide me round the corners!' Sam led him along several passages and down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river. He found his friends sitting in a porch on the side of the house looking east. Shadows had fallen in the valley below, but there was still a light on the faces of the mountains far above. The air was warm. The sound of running and falling water was loud, and the evening was filled with a faint scent of trees and flowers, as if ####-summer still lingered in Elrond's gardens. `Hurray!' cried Pippin, springing up. `Here is our noble cousin! Make way for Frodo, Lord of the Ring!' 'Hush!' said Gandalf from the shadows at the back of the porch. `Evil things do not come into this valley; but all the same we should not name them. The Lord of the Ring is not Frodo, but the master of the Dark Tower of Mordor, whose power is again stretching out over the world! We are sitting in a fortress. Outside it is getting dark.' `Gandalf has been saying many cheerful things like that,' said Pippin. `He thinks I need keeping in order. But it seems impossible, somehow, to feel gloomy or depressed in this place. I feel I could sing, if I knew the right song for the occasion.' `I feel like singing myself,' laughed Frodo. `Thou gh at the moment I feel more like eating and drinking!' `That will soon be cured,' said Pippin. `You have shown your usual cunning in getting up just in time for a meal.' `More than meal! A feast!' said Merry. `As soon as Gandalf reported that you were recovered, the preparations began.' He had hardly finished speaking when they were summoned to the hall by the ringing of many bells. The hall of Elrond's house was filled with folk: Elves for the most part, though there wer e a few guests of other sorts. Elrond, as was his custom, sat in a great chair at the end of the long table upon the dais; and next to him on the one side sat Glorfindel, on the other side sat Gandalf. Frodo looked at them in wonder, for he had never before seen Elrond, of whom so many tales spoke; and as they sat upon his right hand and his left, Glorfindel, and even Gandalf, whom he thought he knew so well, were revealed as lords of dignity and power. Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping silver beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face under great snowy brows his dark eyes were set like coals that could leap suddenly into fire. Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength. The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was ####-written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful. His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior in the fulness of his strength. He was the Lord of Rivendell and mighty among both Elves and Men. In the middle of the table, against the woven cloths upon the wall, there was a chair under a canopy, and there sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like was she in form of womanhood to Elrond that Frodo guessed that she was one of his close kindred. Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost, her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring. Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver. So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of L®thien had come on earth again; and she was called Undumiel, for she was the Evenstar of her people. Long she had been in the land of her mother's kin, in Lurien beyond the mountains, and was but lately returned to Rivendell to her father's house. But her brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were out upon errantry: for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North, forgetting never their mother's torment in the dens of the orcs. Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his mind; and he was both surprised and abashed to find that he had a seat at Elrond's table among all these folk so high and fair. Though he had a suitable chair, and was raised upon several cushions, he felt very small, and rather out of place; but that feeling quickly passed. The feast was merry and the food all that his hunger could desire. It was some time before he looked about him again or even turned to his neighbours. He looked first for his friends. Sam had begged to be allowed to wait on his master, but had been told that for this time he was a guest of honour. Frodo could see him now, sitting with Pippin and Merry at the upper end of one of the side-tables close to the dais. He could see no sign of Strider.####- Next to Frodo on his right sat a dwarf of important appearance, richly dressed. His beard, very long and forked, was white, nearly as white as the snow-white cloth of his garments. He wore a silver belt, and round his neck hung a chain of silver and diamonds. Frodo stopped eating to look at him. 'Welcome and well met!' said the dwarf, turning towards him. Then he actually rose from his seat and bowed. `Gluin at your service,' he said, and bowed still lower. 'Frodo Baggins at your service and your family's,' said Frodo correctly, rising in surprise and scattering his cushions. 'Am I right in guessing that you are the Gluin, one of the twelve companions of the great Thorin Oakenshield?' `Quite right,' answered the dwarf, gathering up the cushions and courteously assist ing Frodo back into his seat. 'And I do not ask, for I have already been told that you are the kinsman and adopted heir of our friend Bilbo the renowned. Allow me to congratulate you on your recovery.' `Thank you very much,' said Frodo. 'You have had some very strange adventures, I hear,' said Gluin. 'I wonder greatly what brings four hobbits on so long a journey. Nothing like it has happened since Bilbo came with us. But perhaps I should not inquire too closely, since Elrond and Gandalf do not seem disposed to talk of this?' 'I think we will not speak of it, at least not yet,' said Frodo politely. He guessed that even in Elrond's house the matter of the Ring was not one for casual talk; and in any case he wished to forget his troubles for a time. 'But I am equally curious,' he added, `to learn what brings so important a dwarf so far from the Lonely Mountain.' Gluin looked at him. 'If you have not heard, I think we will not speak yet of that either. Master Elrond will summon us all ere long, I believe, and then we shall all hear many things. But there is much else that may be told.' Throughout the rest of the meal they talked together, but Frodo listened more than he spoke; for the news of the Shire, apart from the Ring, seemed small and far-away and unimportant. while Gluin had much to tell of events in the northern regions of Wilderland. Frodo learned that Grimbeorn the Old, son of Beorn, was now the lord of many sturdy men , and to their land between the Mountains and Mirkwood neither orc nor wolf dared to go. 'lndeed,' said Gluin, `if it were not for the Beornings, the passage ####-from Dale to Rivendell would long ago have become impossible. They are valiant men and keep open the High Pass and the Ford of Carrock. But their tolls are high,' he added with a shake of his head; `and like Beorn of old they are not over fond of dwarves. Still, they are trusty, and that is much in these days. Nowhere are there any men so friendly to us as the Men of Dale. They are good folk, the Bardings. The grandson of Bard the Bowman rules them, Brand son of Bain son of Bard. He is a strong king. and his realm now reaches far south and east of Esgaroth.' 'And what of your own people?' asked Frodo. `There is much to tell, good and bad,' said Gluin; 'yet it is mostly good: we have so far been fortunate, though we do not escape the shadow of these times. If you really wish to hear of us, I will tell you tidings gladly. But stop me when you are weary! Dwarves' tongues run on when speaking of their handiwork, they say.' And with that Gluin embarked on a long account of the doings of the Dwarf-kingdom. He was delighted to have found so polite a listener; for Frodo showed no sign of weariness and made no attempt to change the subject, though actually he soon got rather lost among the strange names of people and places that he had never heard of before. He was interested, however, to hear that Dbin was still King under the Mountain, and was now old (having passed his two hundred and fiftieth year), venerable, and fabulously rich. Of the ten companions who had survived the Battle of Five Armies seven were still with him: Dwalin, Gluin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Bombur was now so fat that he could not move himself from his couch to his chair at table, and it took six young dwarves to lift him. 'And what has become of Balin and Ori and Uin?' asked Frodo. A shadow passed over Gluin's face. `We do not know,' he answered. 'It is largely on account of Balin that I have come to ask the advice of those that dwell in Rivendell. But tonight let us speak of merrier things!' Gluin began then to talk of the works of his people, telling Frodo about their great labours in Dale and under the Mountain. 'We have done well,' he said. `But in metalwork we cannot rival our fathers, many of whose. secrets are lost. We make good armour and keen swords, but we cannot again make mail or blade to match those that were made before the dragon came. Only in mining and building have we surpassed the old days. You should see the waterways of Dale, Frodo, and the fountains, and the pools! You should see the stone-paved roads of many colours! And the halls and ####-cavernous streets under the earth with arches carved like trees; and the terraces and towers upon the Mountain's sides! Then you would see that we have not been idle.' 'I will come and see them, if ever I can,' said Frodo. 'How surprised Bilbo would have been to see all the changes in the Desolation of Smaug!' Gluin looked at Frodo and smiled. 'You were very fond of Bilbo were you not?' he asked. `Yes,' answered Frodo. 'I would rather see him than all the towers and palaces in the world.' At length the feast came to an end. Elrond and Arwen rose and went down the hall, and the company followed them in due order. The doors were thrown open, and they went across a wide passage and through other doors, and came into a further hall. In it were no tables, but a bright fire was burning in a great hearth between the carven pillars upon either side. Frodo found himself walking with Gandalf. `This is the Hall of Fire' said the wizard. `Here you will hear many songs and tales-if you can keep awake. But except on high days it usually stands empty and quiet, and people come here who wish for peace, and thought. There is always a fire here, all the year round, but there is little other light.' As Elrond entered and went towards the seat prepared for him, elvish minstrels began to make sweet music. Slowly the hall filled, and Frodo looked with delight upon the many fair faces that were gathered together; the golden firelight played upon them and shimmered in their hair. Suddenly he noticed, not far from the further end of the fire, a small dark figure seated on a stool with his back propped against a pillar. Beside him on the ground was a drinking-cup and some bread. Frodo wondered whether he was ill (if people were ever ill in Rivendell), and had been unable to come to the feast. His head seemed sunk in sleep on his breast, and a fold of his dark cloak was drawn over his face. Elrond wen t forward and stood beside the silent figure. 'Awake little master. he said, with a smile. Then, turning to Frodo, he beckoned to him. 'Now at last the hour has come that you have wished for, Frodo,' he said. `Here is a friend that you have long missed.' The dark figure raised its head and uncovered its face. `Bilbo!' cried Frodo with sudden recognition, and he sprang forward. `Hullo, Frodo my lad!' said Bilbo. `So you have got here at last. I ####-hoped you would manage it. Well, well! So all this feasting is in your honour, I hear. I hope you enjoyed yourself?' 'Why weren't you there?' cried Frodo. `And why haven't I been allowed to see you before?' `Because you were asleep. I have seen a good deal of you. I have sat by your side with Sam each day. But as for the feast` I don't go in for such things much now. And I had something else to do.' `What were you doing?' `Why, sitting and thinking. I do a lot of that nowadays, and this is the best place to do it in, as a rule. Wake up, indeed!' he said, cocking an eye at Elrond. There was a bright twinkle in it and no sign of sleepiness that Frodo could see. `Wake up! I was not asleep. Master Elrond. If you want to know, you have all come out from your feast too soon, and you have disturbed me-in the middle of making up a song. I was stuck over a line or two, and was thinking about them; but now I don't suppose I shall ever get them right. There will be such a deal of singing that the ideas wi ll be driven clean out of my head. I shall have to get my friend the D®nadan to help me. Where is he?' Elrond laughed. `He shall be found,' he said. `Then you two shall go into a corner and finish your task, and we will hear it and judge it before we end our merrymaking.' Messengers were sent to find Bilbo's friend, though none knew where he was, or why he had not been present at the feast. In the meanwhile Frodo and Bilbo sat side by side, and Sam came quickly and placed himself near them. They talked together in soft voices, oblivious of the mirth and music in the hall about them. Bilbo had not much to say of himself. When he had left Hobbiton he had wandered off aimlessly, along the Road or in the country on either side; but somehow he had steered all the time towards Rivendell. `I got here without much adventure,' he said, `and after a rest I went on with the dwarves to Dale: my last journey. I shan't travel again. Old Balin had gone away. Then I came back here, and here I have been. I have done this and that. I have written some more of my book. And, of course, I make up a few songs. They sing them occasionally: just to please me, I think; for, of course, they aren't really good enough for Rivendell. And I listen and I think. Time doesn't seem to pass here: it just is. A remarkable place altogether. `I hear all kinds of news, from over the Mountains, and out of the South, but hardly anything from the Shire. I heard about the Ring, of ####-course. Gandalf has been here often. Not that he has told me a great deal, he has become closer than ever these last few years. The D®nadan has told me more. Fancy that ring of mine causing such a disturbance! It is a pity that Gandalf did not find out more sooner. I could have brought the thing here myself long ago without so much trouble. I have thought several times of going back to Hobbiton for it; but I am getting old, and they would not let me: Gandalf and Elrond, I mean. They seemed to think that the Enemy was looking high and low for me, and would make mincemeat of me, if he caught me tottering about in the Wild. 'And Gandalf said: "The Ring has passed on, Bilbo. It would do no good to you or to others, if you tried to meddle with it again." Odd sort of remark, just like Gandalf. But he said he was looking after you, so I let things be. I am frightfully glad to see you safe and sound.' He paused and looked at Frodo doubtfully. `Have you got it here?' he asked in a whisper. `I ca n't help feeling curious, you know, after all I've heard. I should very much like just to peep at it again.' `Yes, I've got it,' answered Frodo, feeling a strange reluctance. `It looks just the same as ever it did.' `Well, I should just lik e to see it for a moment,' said Bilbo. When he had dressed, Frodo found that while he slept the Ring had been hung about his neck on a new chain, light but strong. Slowly he drew it out. Bilbo put out his hand. But Frodo quickly drew back the Ring. To his distress and amazement he found that he was no longer looking at Bilbo; a shadow seemed to have fallen between them, and through it he found himself eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands. He felt a desire to strike him. The music and singing round them seemed to falter and a silence fell. Bilbo looked quickly at Frodo's face and passed his hand across his eyes. `I understand now,' he said. `Put it away! I am sorry: sorry you have come in for this burden: sorry about everything. Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. Well, it can't be helped. I wonder if it's any good trying to finish my book? But don't let's worry about it now-let 's have some real News! Tell me all about the Shire!' Frodo hid the Ring away, and the shadow passed leaving hardly a shred ####-of memory. The light and music of Rivendell was about him again. Bilbo smiled and laughed happily. Every item of news from the Shire that Frodo could tell-aided and corrected now and again by Sam-was of the greatest interest to him, from the felling of the least tree to the pranks of the smallest child in Hobbiton. They were so deep in the doings of the Four Farthings that they did not notice the arrival of a man clad in dark green cloth. For many minutes he stood looking down at them with a smile. Suddenly Bilbo looked up. 'Ah, there you are at last, D®nadan!' he cried. `Strider!' said Frodo. `You seem to have a lot of names.' `Well, Strider is one that I haven't heard before, anyway,' said Bilbo. `What do you call him that for?' `They call me that in Bree,' said Strider laughing, 'and that is how I was introduced to him.' `And why do you call him D®nadan?' asked Frodo. `The D®nadan,' said Bilbo. `He is often called that here. But I thought you knew enough Elvish at least to know d®n-udan: Man of the West, N®menorean. But this is not the time for lessons!' He turned to Strider. `Where have you been, my friend? Why weren't you at the feast? The Lady Arwen was there.' Strider looked down at Bilbo gravely. `I know,' he said. 'But often I must put mirth aside. Elladan and Elrohir have returned out of the Wild unlooked-for, and they had tidings that I wished to hear at once.' `Well, my dear fellow,' said Bilbo, `now you've heard the news, can't you spare me a moment? I want your help in something urgent. Elrond says this song of mine is to be finished before the end of the evening, and I am stuck. Let's go off into a corner and polish it up!' Strider smiled. `Come then!' he said. `Let me hear it!' Frodo was left to himself for a while. for Sam had fallen asleep. He was alone and felt rather forlorn` although all about him the folk of Rivendell were gathered. But those near him were silent, intent upon the music of the voices and the instruments. and they gave no heed to anything else. Frodo began to listen. At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in elven-tongues, even though he understood them little` held him in a spell, as soon as he began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far la nds and bright things that he had never yet ####-imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world. Then the enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until he felt that an endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too multitudinous for its pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air about him, and it drenched and drowned him. Swiftly he sank under its shining weight into a deep realm of sleep. There he wandered long in a dream of music that turned into running water, and then suddenly into a voice. It seemed to be the voice of Bilbo chanting verses. Faint at first and then clearer ran the words. Edrendil was a mariner that tarried in Arvernien; he built a boat of timber felled in Nimbrethil to journey in; her sails he wove of silver fair, of silver were her lanterns made, her prow was fashioned like a swan, and light upon her banners laid. In panoply of ancient kings, in chain‚d rings he armoured him; his shining shield was scored with runes to ward all wounds and harm from him; his bow was made of dragon-horn, his arrows shorn of ebony, of silver was his habergeon, his scabbard of chalcedony; his sword of steel was valiant, of adamant his helmet tall, an eagle -plume upon his crest, upon his breast an emerald. Beneath the Moon and under star he wandered far from northern strands, bewildered on enchanted ways beyond the days of mortal lands. From gnashing of the Narrow Ice ####- where shadow lies on frozen hills, from nether heats and burning waste he turned in haste, and roving still on starless waters far astray at last he came to Night of Naught, and passed, and never sight he saw of shining shore nor light he sought. The winds of wrath came driving him, and blindly in the foam he fled from west to east and errandless, unheralded he homeward sped. There flying Elwing came to him, and flame was in the darkness lit; more bright than light of diamond the fire upon her carcanet. The Silmaril she bound on him and crowned him with the living light and dauntless then with burning brow he turned his prow; and in the night from Otherworld beyond the Sea there strong and free a storm arose, a wind of power in Tarmenel; by paths that seldom mortal goes his boat it bore with biting breath as might of death across the grey and long-forsaken seas distressed: from east to west he passed away. Through Evernight he back was borne on black and roaring wa ves that ran o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores that drowned before the Days began, until he heard on strands of pearl when ends the world the music long, where ever foaming billows roll ####- the yellow gold and jewels wan. He saw the Mountain silent rise where twilight lies upon the knees of Valinor, and Eldamar beheld afar beyond the seas. A wanderer escaped from night to haven white he came at last, to Elvenhome the green and fair where keen the air, where pale as glass beneath the Hill of Ilmarin a-glimmer in a valley sheer the lamplit towers of Tirion are mirrored on the Shadowmere. He tarried there from errantry, and melodies they taught to him, and sages old him marvels told, and harps of gold they brought to him. They clothed him then in elven-white, and seven lights before him sent, as through the Calacirian to hidden land forlorn he went. He came unto the timeless halls where shining fall the countless years, and endless reigns the Elder King in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer; and words unheard were spoken then of folk of Men and Elven-kin, beyond the world were visions showed forbid to those that dwell therein. A ship then new they built for him of mithril and of elven-glass with shining prow; no shaven oar nor sail she bore on silver mast: the Silmaril as lantern light and banner bright with living flame ####- to gleam thereon by Elbereth herself was set, who thither came and wings immortal made for him, and laid on him undying doom, to sail the shoreless skies and come behind the Sun and light of Moon. From Evereven's lofty hills where softly silver fountains fall his wings him bore, a wandering light, beyond the mighty Mountain Wall. From World's End then he turned away and yearned again to find afar his home through shadows journeying, and burning as an island star on high above the mists he came, a distant flame before the Sun, a wonder ere the waking dawn where grey the Norland waters run. And over Middle -earth he passed and heard at last the weeping sore of women and of elven-maids in Elder Days, in years of yore. gut on him mighty doom was laid, till Moon should fade, an orb‚d star to pass, and tarry never more on Hither Shores where mortals are; for ever still a herald on an errand that should never rest to bear his shining lamp afar, the Flammifer of Westernesse. The chanting ceased. Frodo opened his eyes and saw that Bilbo was seated on his stool in a circle of listeners, who were smiling and applauding. `Now we had better have it again,' said an Elf. Bilbo got up and bowed. `I am flattered, Lindir,' he said. 'But it ####-would be too tiring to repeat it all.' 'Not too tiring for you,' the Elves answered laughing. 'You k now you are never tired of reciting your own verses. But really we cannot answer your question at one hearing!' `What!' cried Bilbo. 'You can't tell which parts were mine, and which were the D®nadan's?' 'It is not easy for us to tell the difference between two mortals' said the Elf. 'Nonsense, Lindir,' snorted Bilbo. 'If you can't distinguish between a Man and a Hobbit, your judgement is poorer than I imagined. They're as different as peas and apples.' 'Maybe. To sheep other sheep no doubt appear different,' laughed Lindir. `Or to shepherds. But Mortals have not been our study. We have other business.' 'I won't argue with you,' said Bilbo. 'I am sleepy after so much music and singing. I'll leave you to guess, if you want to.' He got up and came towards Frodo. 'Well, that's over,' he said in a low voice. `It went off better than I expected. I don't often get asked for a second hearing. What did you think of it?' `I am not going to try and guess,' said Frodo smiling. `You needn't,' said Bilbo. `As a matter of fact it was all mine. Except that Aragorn insisted on my putting in a green stone. He seemed to think it important. I don't know why. Otherwise he obviously thought the whole thing rather above my head, and he said that if I had the cheek to make verses about Edrendil in the house of Elrond, it was my affair. I suppose he was right.' 'I don't know,' said Frodo. `It seemed to me to fit somehow, though I can't explain. I was half asleep when you began, and it seemed to follow on from something that I was dreaming about. I didn't understand that it was really you speaking until near the end.' `It is difficult to keep awake here, until you get used to it;' said Bilbo. 'Not that hobbits would ever acquire quite the elvish appetite for music and poetry and tales. They seem to like them as much as food, or more. They will be going on for a long time yet. What do you say to slipping off for some more quiet talk?' `Can we?' said Frodo. `Of course. This is merrymaking not business. Come and go as you like,####-as long as you don't make a noise.' They got up and withdrew quietly into the shadows, and made for the doors. Sam they left behind, fast asleep still with a smile on his face. In spite of his delight in Bilbo's company Frodo felt a tug of regret as they passed out of the Hall of Fire. Even as they stepped over the threshold a single clear voice rose in song. A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren penna mnriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chaered palan -dnriel o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos, le linnathon nef aear, sn nef aearon! Frodo halted for a moment, looking back. Elrond was in his chair and the fire was on his face like summer -light upon the trees. Near him sat the Lady Arwen. To his surprise Frodo saw that Aragorn stood beside her; his dark cloak was thrown back, and he seemed to be clad in elven-mail, and a star shone on his breast. They spoke together, and then suddenly it seemed to Frodo that Arwen turned towards him, and the light of her eyes fell on him from afar and pierced his heart. He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. `It is a song to Elbereth,' said Bilbo. `They will sing that, and other songs of the Blessed Realm, many times tonight. Come on!' He led Frodo back to his own little room. It opened on to the gar dens and looked south across the ravine of the Bruinen. There they sat for some while, looking through the window at the bright stars above the steep-climbing woods, and talking softly. They spoke no more of the small news of the Shire far away, nor of the dark shadows and perils that encompassed them, but of the fair things they had seen in the world together, of the Elves, of the stars, of trees, and the gentle fall of the bright year in the woods. At last there came a knock on the door. `Begging your pardon,' said Sam, putting in his head, `but I was just wondering if you would be wanting anything.' `And begging yours, Sam Gamgee,' replied Bilbo. `I guess you mean that it is time your master went to bed.'####- `Well, sir, there is a Council early tomorrow, I hear and he only got up today for the first time.' `Quite right, Sam,' laughed Bilbo. `You can trot off and tell Gandalf that he has gone to bed. Good night, Frodo! Bless me, but it has been good to see you again! There are no folk like hobbits after all for a real good talk. I am getting very old, and I began to wonder if I should ever live to see your chapters of our story. Good night! I'll take a walk, I think, and look at the stars of Elbereth in the garden. Sleep well!' ####- Next day Frodo woke early, feeling refreshed and well. He walked along the terraces above the loud-flowing Bruinen and watched the pale, cool sun rise above the far mountains, and shine down. Slanting through the thin silver mist; the dew upon the yellow leaves was glimmering, and the woven nets of gossamer twinkled on every bush. Sam walked beside him, saying nothing. but sniffing the air, and looking every now and again with wonder in his eyes at the great heights in the East. The snow was white upon their peaks. On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path they came upon Gandalf and Bilbo deep in talk. `Hullo! Good morning!' said Bilbo. `Feel ready for the great council?' `I feel ready for anything,' answered Frodo. `But most of all I should like to go walking today and explore the valley. I should like to get into those pine-woods up there.' He pointed away far up the side of Rivendell to the north. 'You may have a chance later,' said Gandalf. `But we cannot make any plans yet. There is much to hear and decide today.' Suddenly as they were talking a single clear bell rang out. `That is the warning bell for the Council of Elrond,' cr ied Gandalf. `Come along now! Both you and Bilbo are wanted.' Frodo and Bilbo followed the wizard quickly along the winding path back to the house; behind them, uninvited and for the moment forgotten, trotted Sam. Gandalf led them to the porch where Frodo had found his friends the evening before. The light of the clear autumn morning was now glowing in the valley. The noise of bubbling waters came up from the foaming river -bed. Birds were singing, and a wholesome peace lay on the land. To Frodo his dangerous flight, and the rumours of the darkness growing in the world outside, already seemed only the memories of a troubled dream; but the faces that were turned to meet them as they entered were grave. Elrond was there, and several others were seated in silence about him. Frodo saw Glorfindel and Gluin; and in a corner alone Strider was sitting, clad in his old travel -worn clothes again. Elrond drew Frodo to a seat by ####-his side, and presented him to the company, saying: 'Here, my friends is the hobbit, Frodo son of Drogo. Few have ever come hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent.' He then pointed out and named those whom Frodo had not met before. There was a younger dwarf at Gluin's side: his son Gimli. Beside Glorfindel there were several other counsellors of Elrond's household, of whom Erestor was the chief; and with him was Galdor, an Elf from the Grey Havens who had come on an errand from Cnrdan the Shipwright. There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood. And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance. He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees. He gazed at Frodo and Bilbo with sudden wonder. `Here,' said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, `is Boromir, a man from the South. He arrived in the grey morning, and seeks for counsel. I have bidden him to be present, for here his questions will be answered.' Not all that was spoken and debated in the Council need now be told. Much was said of events in the world outside, especially in the South, and in the wide lands east of the Mountains. Of these things Frodo had already heard many rumours; but the tale of Gluin was new to him, and when the dwarf spoke he listened attentively. It appeared that amid the splendour of their works of hand the hearts of the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain were troubled. `It is now many years ago,' said Gluin, `that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. Words began to be whispered in secret-: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place, and that greater wealth and splendour would be found in a wider world. Some spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own tongue Khazad-dym; and they declared that now at last we had the power and numbers to return.' Gluin sighed. `Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain ####-empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf has dared to pass the doors of Khazad-dym for many lives of kings, save Thrur only, and he perished. At last, however, Balin listened to the whispers, and resolved to go; and though Dbin did not give leave willingly, he took with him Ori and Uin and many of our folk, and they went away south. "That was nigh on thirty years ago. For a while we had news and it seemed good: messages reported that Moria ha d been entered and a great work begun there. Then there was silence, and no word has ever come from Moria since. "Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dbin, but not from Moria -from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dbin to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. "For Sauron knows," said he, "that one of these was known to you on a time." 'At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. "As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you should find this thief," such was his word, "and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well. Do you refuse?" 'At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by shuddered, but Dbin said: "I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this message and what it means under its fair cloak." ' "Consider well, but not too long," said he. ` "The time of my thought is my own to spend," answered Dbin. ' "For the present," said he, and rode into the darkness. 'Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that night. We needed not the fell voice of the messenger to warn us that his words held both menace and deceit; for we knew already that the power that has re-entered Mordor has not changed, and ever it betrayed us of old. Twice the ####-messenger has returned, and has gone unanswered. The third and last time, so he says, is soon to come, before the ending of the year. 'And so I have been sent at last by Dbin to warn Bilbo that he is sought by the Enemy, and to learn, if may be, why he desires this ring, this least of rings. Also we crave the advice of Elrond. For the Shadow grows and draws nearer. We discover that messengers have come also to King Brand in Dale, and that he is afraid. We fear that he may yield. Already war is gathering on his eastern borders. If we make no answer, the Enemy may move Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dbin also.' `You have done well to come,' said Elrond. `You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem. `That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say. though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world. `Now, therefore, things shall be openly spoken that have been hidden from all but a few until this day. And first, so that all may understand what is the peril, the Tale of the Ring shall be told from the beginning even to this present. And I will begin that tale, though others shall end it.' Then all listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Sauron and the Rings of Power, and their forging in the Second Age of the world long ago. A part of his tale was known to some there, but the full tale to none, and many eyes were turned t= Elrond in fear and wonder as he told of the Elven-smiths of Eregion and their friendship with Moria, and their eagerness for knowledge, by which Sauron ensnared them. For in that time he was not yet evil to behold, and they received his aid and grew mighty in craft, whereas he learned all their secrets, and betrayed them, and forged secretly in the Mountain of Fire the One Ring to be their master. But Celebrimbor was aware of him, and hid the Three which he had made; and there was war, and the land was laid waste, and the gate of Moria was shut.####- Then through all the years that followed he traced the Ring; but since that history is elsewhere recounted, even as Elrond himself set it down in his books of lore, it is not here recalled. For it is a long tale, full of deeds great and terrible, and briefly though Elrond spoke, the sun rode up the sky, and the morning was passing ere he ceased. Of N®menor he spoke, its glory and its fall, and the return of the Kings of Men to Middle-earth out of the deeps of the Sea, borne upon the wings of storm. Then Elendil the Tall and his mighty sons, Isildur and Anbrion, became great lords; and the North-realm they made in Arnor, and the South-realm in Gondor above the mouths of Anduin. But Sauron of Mordor assailed them, and they made the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and the hosts of Gil-galad and Elendil were mustered in Arnor. Thereupon Elrond paused a while and sighed. `I remember well the splendour of their banners,' he said. `It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so.' `You remember?' said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his astonishment. `But I thought,' he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, 'I thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago.' 'So it was indeed,' answered Elrond gravely. `But my memory reaches back even to the Elder Days. Edrendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of L®thien of Doriath . I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories. `I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own.' At this the stranger, Boromir, broke in. `So that is what became of the Ring!' he cried. `If ever such a tale was told in the South, it has long been forgotten. I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do not name; but we believed that it perished from the world in the ruin of his first ####-realm. Isildur took it! That is tidings indeed.' `Alas! yes,' said Elrond. `Isildur took it, as should not have been. It should have been cast then into Orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Cnrdan stood, and I. But Isildur would not listen to our counsel. ' "This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother," he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it. But soon he was betrayed by it to his death; and so it is named in the North Isildur's Bane. Yet death maybe was better than what else might have befallen him. 'Only to the North did these tidings come, and only to a few. Small wonder it is that you have not heard them, Boromir. From the ruin of the Gladden Fields, where Isildur perished, three men only came ever back over the mountains after long wandering. One of these was Ohtar, the esquire of Isildur, who bore the shards of the sword of Elendil; and he brought them to Valandil, the heir of Isildur, who being but a child had remained here in Rivendell. But Narsil was broken and its light extinguished, and it has not yet been forged again. `Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so, yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed. His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they wi ll endure. Many Elves and many mighty Men, and many of their friends. had perished in the war. Anbrion was slain, and Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of N®menor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened. 'In the North after the war and the slaughter of the Gladden Fields the Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Ann®minas beside Lake Evendim fell into ruin; and the heirs of Valandil removed and dwelt at Fornost on the high North Downs, and that now too is desolate. Men call it Deadmen's Dike, and they fear to tread there. For the folk of Arnor ####-dwindled, and their foes devoured them, and their lordship passed, leaving only green mounds in the grassy hills. 'In the South the realm of Gondor long endured; and for a while its splendour grew, recalling somewhat of the might of N®menor, ere it fell. High towers that people built, and strong places. and havens of many ships; and the winged crown of the Kings of Men was held in awe by folk of many tongues. Their chief city wa s Osgiliath, Citadel of the Stars. through the midst of which the River flowed. And Minas Ithil they built, Tower of the Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow; and westward at the feet of the White Mountains Minas Anor they made, Tower of the Setting Sun. There in the courts of the King grew a white tree, from the seed of that tree which Isildur brought over the deep waters, and the seed of that tree before came from Eressla, and before that out of the Uttermost West in the Day before days when the world was young. `But in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth the line of Meneldil son of Anbrion failed, and the Tree withered, and the blood of the N®menoreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon the walls of Mordor slept, and dark things crept back to Gorgoroth. And on a time evil things came forth, and they took Minas Ithil and abode in it, and they made it into a place of dread; and it is called Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery. Then Minas Anor was named anew Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard; and these two cities were ever at war, but Osgiliath which lay between was deserted and in its ruins shadows walked. 'So it has been for many lives of men. But the Lords of Minas Tirith still fight on, defying our enemies, keeping the passage of the River from Argonath to the Sea. And now that part of the tale that I shall tell is drawn to its close. For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion. But now in this latter day they are in peril once more, for to our sorrow the One has been found. Others shall speak of its finding, for in that I played small part.' He ceased, but at once Boromir stood up, tall and proud, before them. Give me leave, Master Elrond, said he, first to say more of Gondor; for verily from the land of Gondor I am come. And it would be well for all to know what passes there. For few, I deem, know of our deeds, and therefore ####-guess little of their peril, if we should fail at last. `Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of N®menor is spent, nor all its pride and dignity forgotten. By our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of the West. But if the passages of the River should be won, what then? `Yet that hour, maybe, is not now far away. The Nameless Enemy has arisen again. Smoke rises once more from Orodruin that we call Mount Doom. The power of the Black Land grows and we are hard beset. When the Enemy returned our folk were driven from Ithilien, our fair domain east of the River, though we kept a foothold there and strength of arms. But this very year, in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we were swept away. We were outnumbered, for Mordor has allied itself with the Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim; but it was not by numbers that we were defeated. A power was there that we have not felt before. `Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark shadow under the moon. Wherever he came a madness filled our foes, but fear fell on our boldest, so that horse and man gave way and fled. Only a remnant of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood amid the ruins of Osgiliath. 'I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down behind us. Four only were saved by swimming: my brother and myself and two others. But still we fight on, holding all the west shores of Anduin; and those who shelter behind us give us praise, if ever they hear our name: much praise but little help. Only from Rohan now will any men ride to us when we call. `In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond: a hundred and ten days I have journeyed all alone. But I do not seek allies in war. The might of Elrond is in wisdom not in weapons, it is said. I come to ask for counsel and the unravelling of hard words. For on the eve of the sudden assault a dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me. 'In that dream I thought the eastern sky grew dark and there was a growing thunder, but in the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I ####-heard a voice, remote but clear, crying: Seek for the Sword that was broken: In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur's Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand. Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, g reatest of lore-masters. Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.' 'And here in the house of Elrond more shall be made clear to you' said Aragorn, standing up. He cast his sword upon the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces. `Here is the Sword that was Broken!' he said. `And who are you, and what have you to do with Minas Tirith?' asked Boromir, looking in wonder at the lean face of the Ranger and his weather-stained cloak. `He is Aragorn son of Arathorn,' said Elrond; `and he is descended through many fathers from Isildur Elendil's son of Minas Ithil. He is the Chief of the D®nedain in the North, and few are now left of that folk.' `Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!' cried Frodo in amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded at once. 'It does not belong to either of us,' said Aragorn; `but it has been ordained that you should hold it for a while.' 'Bring out the Ring, Frodo!' said Gandalf solemnly. `The time has come. Hold it up, and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.' There was a hush, and all turned their eyes on Frodo. He was shaken by a sudden shame and fear; and he felt a great reluctance to reveal the Ring,####-and a loathing of its touch. He wished he was far away. The Ring gleamed and flickered as he held it up before them in his trembling hand. 'Behold Isildur's Bane!' said Elrond. Boromir's eyes glinted as he gazed at the golden thing. `The Halfling!' he muttered. `Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last? But why then should we seek a broken sword?' 'The words were not the doom of Minas Tir ith,' said Aragorn. `But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand. For the Sword that was Broken is the Sword of Elendil that broke beneath him when he fell. It has been treasured by his heirs when all other heirlooms were lost; for it was spoken of old among us that it should be made again when the Ring, Isildur's Bane, was found. Now you have seen the sword that you have sought, what would you ask? Do you wish for the House of Elendil to return to the Land of Gondor?' `I was not sent to beg any boon, but to seek only the meaning of a riddle,' answered Boromir proudly. `Yet we are hard pressed, and the Sword of Elendil would be a help beyond our hope-if such a thing could indeed return out of the shadows of the past.' He look ed again at Aragorn, and doubt was in his eyes. Frodo felt Bilbo stir impatiently at his side. Evidently he was annoyed on his friend's behalf. Standing suddenly up he burst out: All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken: The crownless again shall be king. `Not very good perhaps, but to the point -- if you need more beyond the word of Elrond. If that was worth a journey of a hundred and ten days to hear, you had best listen to it.' He sat down with a snort. `I made that up myself,' he whispered to Frodo, `for the D®nadan, a long time ago when he first told me about himself. I almost wish that my adventures were not over, and that I could go with him when his day comes.' Aragorn smiled at him; then he turned to Boromir again. `For my part I ####-forgive your doubt,' he said. 'Little do I resemble the figures of Elendil and Isildur as they stand carven in their majesty in the halls of Denethor. I am but the heir of Isildur, not Isildur himself. I have had a hard life and a long; and the leagues that lie between here and Gondor are a small part in the count of my journeys. I have crossed many mountains and many rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhyn and Harad where the stars are strange. 'But my home, such as I have, is in the North. For here the heirs of Valandil have ever dwelt in long line unbroken from father unto son for many generations. Our days have darkened, and we have dwindled; but ever the Sword has passed to a new keeper. And this I will say to you, Boromir, ere I end. Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters--but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only. `If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the D®nedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave? `And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. "Strider" I am to one fat man who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown. `But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes. Isildur's Bane is found. Battle is at hand. The Sword shall be reforged. I will come to Minas Tirith.' `Isildur's Bane is found, you say,' said Boromir. `I have seen a bright ring in the Halfling's hand; but Isildur perished ere this age of the world began, they say. How do the Wise know that this ring is his? And how has it passed down the years, until it is brought hither by so strange a ####-messenger?' `That shall be told,' said Elrond. `But not yet, I beg, Master!' said Bilbo. `Already the Sun is climbing to noon, and I feel the need of something to strengthen me.' `I had not named you,' said Elrond smiling. `But I do so now. Come! Tell us your tale. And if you have not yet cast your story into verse, you may tell it in plain words. The briefer, the sooner shall you be refreshed.' `Very well,' said Bilbo. `I will do as you bid. But I will now tell the true story, and if some here have heard me tell it otherwise' -- he looked sidelong at Gluin -- `I ask them to forget it and forgive me. I only wished to claim the treasure as my very own in those days, and to be rid of the name of thief that was put on me. But perhaps I understand things a little better now. Anyway, this is what happened.' To some there Bilbo's tale was wholly new, and they listened with amazement while the old hobbit, actually not at all displeased, recounted his adventure with Gollum, at full length. He did not omit a single riddle. He would have given also an account of his party and disappearance from the Shire, if he had been allowed; but Elrond raised his hand. 'Well told, my friend,' he said, `but that is enough at this time. For the moment it suffices to know that the Ring passed to Frodo, your heir. Let him now speak!' Then, less willingly than Bilbo, Frodo told of all his dealings with the Ring from the day that it passed into his keeping. Every step of his journey from Hobbiton to the Ford of Bruinen was questioned and considered, and everything that he could recall concerning the Black Riders was examined. At last he sat down again. `Not bad,' Bilbo said to him. `You would have made a good story of it, if they hadn't kept on interrupting. I tried to make a few notes, but we shall have to go over it all again together some time, if I am to write it up. There are whole chapters of stuff before you ever got here!' `Yes, it made quite a long tale,' answered Frodo. 'But the story still does not seem complete to me. I still want to know a good deal, especially about Gandalf.' Galdor of the Havens, who sat near by, overheard him. `You speak for me also,' he cried, and turning to Elrond he said: `The Wise may have good reason to believe that the halfling's trove is indeed the Great Ring of long debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not ####-hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel-if he knows the things that we have heard?' `The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,' said Elrond. `I had not overlooked them, and they shall be answered. But these things it is the part of Gandalf to make clear; and I call upon him last, for it is the place of honour, and in all this matter he has been the chief.' `Some, Galdor,' said Gandalf, `would think the tidings of Gluin, and the pursuit of Frodo, proof enough that the halfling's trove is a thing of great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine the Nazgyl keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed.' At this Gluin stirred, but did not speak. `The Three we know of. What then is this one that he desires so much? 'There is indeed a wide waste of time between the River and the Mountain, between the loss and the finding. But the gap in the knowledge of the Wise has been filled at last. Yet too slowly. For the Enemy has been close behind, closer even than I feared. And well is it that not until this year, this very summer, as it seems, did he learn the full truth. 'Some here will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the doors of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, and secretly explored his ways, and found thus that our fears were true: he was none other than Sauron, our Enemy of old, at length taking shape and power again. Some, too, will remember also that Saruman dissuaded us from open deeds against him, and for long we watched him only. Yet at last, as his shadow grew, Saruman yielded, and the Council put forth its strength and drove the evil out of Mirkwood and that was in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance, if chance it was. `But we were too late, as Elrond foresaw. Sauron also had watched us, and had long prepared against our stroke, governing Mordor from afar through Minas Morgu l, where his Nine servants dwelt, until all was ready. Then he gave way before us, but only feigned to flee, and soon after came to the Dark Tower and openly declared himself. Then for the last time the Council met; for now we learned that he was seeking ever more eagerly for the One. We feared then that he had some news of it that we knew nothing of. But Saruman said nay, and repeated what he had said to us before: that the One would never again be found in Middle-earth. ` "At the worst," said he, "our Enemy knows that we have it not and ####-that it still is lost. But what was lost may yet be found, he thinks. Fear not! His hope will cheat him. Have I not earnestly studied this matter? Into Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled down the River to the Sea. There let it lie until the End."' Gandalf fell silent, gazing eastward from the porch to the far peaks of the Misty Mountains, at whose great roots the peril of the world had so long lain hidden. He sighed. `There I was at fault,' he said. `I was lulled by the words of Saruman the Wise; but I should have sought for the truth sooner, and our peril would now be less.' `We were all at fault,' said Elrond, `and but for your vigilance the Darkness, maybe, would already be upon us. But say on!' `From the first my heart misgave me, against all reason that I knew,' said Gandalf, `and I desired to know how this thing came to Gollum, and how long he had possessed it. So I set a wa tch for him, guessing that he would ere long come forth from his darkness to seek for his treasure. He came, but he escaped and was not found. And then alas! I let the matter rest, watching and waiting only, as we have too often done. `Time passed with many cares, until my doubts were awakened again to sudden fear. Whence came the hobbit's ring? What, if my fear was true, should be done with it? Those things I must decide. But I spoke yet of my dread to none, knowing the peril of an untimely whisper, if it went astray. In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe. 'That was seventeen years ago. Soon I became aware that spies of many sorts, even beasts and birds, were gathered round the Shire, and my fear grew. I called for the help of the D®nedain, and their watch was doubled; and I opened my heart to Aragorn, the heir of Isildur.' `And I,' said Aragorn, `counselled that we should hunt for Gollum. too late though it may seem. And since it seemed fit that Isildur's heir should labour to repair Isildur's fault, I went with Gandalf on the long and hopeless search.' Then Gandalf told how they had explored the whole length of Wilderland, down even to the Mountains of Shadow and the fences of Mordor. `There we had rumour of him, and we guess that he dwelt there long in the dark hills; but we never found him, and at last I despaired. And then in my despair I ####-thought again of a test that might make the finding of Gollum unneeded. The ring itself might tell if it were the One. The memory of words at the Council came back to me: words of Saruman, half-heeded at the time. I heard them now clearly in my heart. ` "The Nine, the Seven, and the Three," he said, "had each their proper gem. Not so the One. It was round and unadorned, as it were one of the lesser rings; but its maker set marks upon it that the skilled, maybe, could still see and read." `What those marks were he had not said. Who now would know? The maker. And Saruman? But great though his lore may be, it must have a source. What hand save Sauron's ever held this thing, ere it was lost? The hand of Isildur alone. `With that thought, I forsook the chase, and passed swiftly to Gondor . In former days the members of my order had been well received there, but Saruman most of all. Often he had been for long the guest of the Lords of the City. Less welcome did the Lord Denethor show me then than of old, and grudgingly he permitted me to search among his hoarded scrolls and books. ' "If indeed you look only, as you say, for records of ancient days, and the beginnings of the City, read on! " he said. "For to me what was is less dark than what is to come, and that is my care. But unless you have more skill even than Saruman, who has studied here long, you will find naught that is not well known to me, who am master of the lore of this City." `So said Denethor. And yet there lie in his hoards many records that few now can read, even of the lore-masters, for their scripts and tongues have become dark to later men. And Boromir, there lies in Minas Tirith still, unread, I guess, by any save Saruman and myself since the kings failed, a scroll that Isildur made himself. For Isildur did not march away straight from the war in Mordor, as some have told the tale.' 'Some in the North, maybe,' Boromir broke in. 'All know in Gondor that he went first to Minas Anor and dwelt a while with his nephew Meneldil, instructing him, before he committed to him the rule of the South Kingdom. In that time he planted there the last sapling of the White Tree in memory of his brother.' `But in that time also he made this scroll,' said Gandalf; `and that is not remembered in Gondor, it would seem. For this scroll concerns the Ring,####-and thus wrote Isildur therein: The Great Ring shall go now to be an heirloom of the North Kingdom; but records of it shall be left in Gondor, where also dwell the heirs of Elendil, lest a time come when the memory of these great matters shall grow dim. `And after these words Isildur described the Ring, such as he found it. It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it. Yet even as I write it is cooled, and it seemeth to shrink, though it loseth neither its beauty nor its shape. Already the writing upon it, which at first was as clear as red flame, fadeth and is now only barely to be read. It is fashioned in an elven-script of Eregion, for they have no letters in Mordor for such subtle work; but the language is unknown to me. I deem it to be a tongue of the Black Land, since it is foul and uncouth. What evil it saith I do not know; but I trace here a copy of it, lest it fade beyond recall. The Ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron's hand, which was black and yet burned like fire, and so Gil-galad was destroyed; and maybe were the gold made hot again, the writing would be refreshed. gut for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain. 'When I read these words, my quest was ended. For the traced writing was indeed as Isildur guessed, in the tongue of Mordor and the servants of the Tower. And what was said therein was already known. For in the day that Sauron first put on the One, Celebrimbor, maker of the Three, was aware of him, and from afar he heard him speak these words, and so his evil purposes were revealed. `At once I took my leave of Denethor, but even as I went northwards, messages came to me out of Lurien that Aragorn had passed that way, and that he had found the creature called Gollum. Therefore I went first to meet him and hear his tale. Into what deadly perils he had gone alone I dared not guess.' `There is little need to tell of them,' said Aragorn. `If a man must needs walk in sight of the Black Gate, or tread the deadly flowers of Morgul Vale, then perils he will have. I, too, despaired at last, and I began my homeward journey. And then, by fortune, I came suddenly on what I sought: the marks of soft feet beside a muddy pool. But now the trail was fresh and swift, and it led not to Mordor but away. Along the skirts of the Dead ####-Marshes I followed it, and then I had him. Lurking by a stagnant mere, peering in the water as the dark eve fell, I caught him, Gollum. He was covered with green slime. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back, watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his company, for he stank. For my part I hope never to look upon him again; but Gandalf came and endured long speech with him.' `Yes, long and weary,' said Gandalf, `but not without profit. For one thing, the tale he told of his loss agreed with that which Bilbo has now told openly for the first time; but that mattered little, since I had already guessed it. But I learned then first that Gollum's ring came out of the Great River nigh to the Gladden Fields. And I learned also that he had possessed it long. Many lives of his small kind. The power of the ring had lengthened his years far beyond their span; but that power only the Great Rings wield. `And if that is not proof enough, Galdor, there is the other test that I spoke of. Upon this very ring which you have here seen held aloft, round and unadorned, the letters that Isildur reported may still be read, if one has the strength of will to set the golden thing in the fire a while. That I have done, and this I have read: Ash nazg durbatulyk, ush nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulyk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.' The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears. `Never before has any voice dared to utter the words of that tongue in Imladris, Gandalf the Grey,' said Elrond, as the shadow passed and the company breathed once more. `And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again,' answered Gandalf. `Nonetheless I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond. For if that tongue is not soon to be heard in every corner of the West , then let all put doubt aside that this thing is indeed what the Wise have declared: the ####-treasure of the Enemy, fraught with all his malice; and in it lies a great part of his strength of old. Out of the Black Years come the words that the Smiths of Eregion heard, and knew that they had been betrayed: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them. `Know also, my friends, that I learned more yet from Gollum. He was loth to speak and his tale was unclear, but it is beyond all doubt that he went to Mordor, and there all that he knew was forced from him. Thus the Enemy knows now that the One is found, that it was long in the Shire; and since his servants have pursued it almost to our door, he soon will know, already he may know, even as I speak, that we have it here.' All sat silent for a while, until at length Boromir spoke. `He is a small thing, you say, this Gollum? Small, but great in mischief. What became of him? To what doom did you put him?' 'He is in prison, but no worse,' said Aragorn. `He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered. He could work much mischief still, if he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some evil errand.' `Alas! alas!' cried Legolas, and in his fair elvish face there was great distress. `The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told. They are not good, but only here have I learned how evil they may seem to this company. Smjagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.' 'Escaped?' cried Aragorn. 'That is ill news indeed. We shall all rue it bitterly, I fear. How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?' `Not through lack of watchfulness,' said Legolas; `but perhaps through over -kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of our doings than we could wish. We guarded this creature day and night, at Gandalf's bidding, much though we wearied of the task. But Gandalf bade us hope still for his cure, and we had not the heart to keep him ever in dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his old black thoughts.' 'You were less tender to me,' said Gluin with a flash of his eyes as old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of the Elven-king's halls.####- 'Now come!' said Gandalf. `Pray do not interrupt, my good Gluin. That was a regrettable misunderstanding, long set right. If all the grievances that stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may as well abandon this Council.' Gluin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. 'In the days of fair weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at the tree's foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with his feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night. 'It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many and fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to the woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his guards were slain or taken. It then seemed plain to us that the attack had been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy are many. The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon's fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained. `We have failed to recapture Gollum. We came on his trail among those of many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south. But ere long it escaped our skill, and we dared not continue the hunt; for we were drawing nigh to Dol Guldur, and that is still a very evil place; we do not go that way.' `Well, well, he is gone,' said Gandalf. 'We have no time to seek for him again. He must do what he will. But he may play a part yet that neither he nor Sauron have foreseen. 'And now I will answer Galdor's other questions. What of Saruman? What are his counsels to us in this need? This tale I must tell in full, for only Elrond has heard it yet, and that in brief, but it will bear on all that we must resolve. It is the last chapter in the Tale of the Ring, so far as it has yet gone. 'At the end of June I was in the Shire, but a cloud of anxiety was on my mind, and I rode to the southern borders of the little land; for I had a foreboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near. There ####-messages reached me telling me of war and defeat in Gondor, and when I heard of the Black Shadow a chill smote my heart. But I found nothing save a few fugitives from the South; yet it seemed to me that on them sat a fear of which they would not speak. I turned then east and north and journeyed along the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on a bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. It was Radagast the Brown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood. He is one of my order, but I had not seen him for many a year. ` "Gandalf! " he cried. "I was seeking you. But I am a stranger in these parts. All I knew was that you might be found in a wild region with the uncouth name of Shire." ' "Your information was correct," I said. "But do not put it that way, if you meet any of the inhabitants. You are near the borders of the Shire now. And what do you want with me? It must be pressing. You were never a traveller, unless driven by great need." ' "I have an urgent errand," he said. "My news is evil." Then he looked about him, as if the hedges might have ears. "Nazgyl," he whispered. "The Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black." 'I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it. ` "The enemy must have some great need or purpose," said Radagast; "but what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot guess." ` "What do you mean? " said I. ` "I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire." ' "The Shire," I said; but my heart sank. For even the Wise might fear to withstand the Nine, when they are gathered together under their fell chieftain. A great king and sorcerer he was of old, and now he wields a deadly fear. "Who told you, and who sent you? " I asked. ' "Saruman the White," answered Radagast. "And he told me to say that if you feel the need, he will help; but you must seek his aid at once, or it will be too late." 'And that message brought me hope. For Saruman the White is the greatest of my order. Radagast is, of course, a worthy Wizard, a master of shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and ####-birds are especially his friends. But Saruman has long studied the arts of the Enemy himself, and thus we have often been able to forestall him. It was by the devices of Saruman that we drove him from Dol Guldur. It might be that he had found some weapons that would drive back the Nine. ' "I will go to Saruman," I sa id. ' "Then you must go now," said Radagast; "for I have wasted time in looking for you, and the days are running short. I was told to find you before Midsummer, and that is now here. Even if you set out from this spot, you will hardly reach him before the Nine discover the land that they seek. I myself shall turn back at once." And with that he mounted and would have ridden straight off. ` "Stay a moment! " I said. "We shall need your help, and the help of all things that will give it. Send out messages to all the beasts and birds that are your friends. Tell them to bring news of anything that bears on this matter to Saruman and Gandalf. Let messages be sent to Orthanc." ` "I will do that," he said, and rode off as if the Nine were after him. `I could not follow him then and there. I had ridden very far already that day, and I was as weary as my horse; and I needed to consider matters. I stayed the night in Bree, and decided that I had no time to return to the Shire. Never did I make a greater mistake! `However, I wrote a message to Frodo, and trusted to my friend the innkeeper to send it to him. I rode away at dawn; and I came at long last to the dwelling of Saruman. That is far south in Isengard, in the end of the Misty Mountains, not far from the Gap of Rohan. And Boromir will tell you that that is a great open vale that lies between the Misty Mountains and the northmost foothills of Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains of his home. But Isengard is a circle of sheer rocks that enclose a valley as with a wall, and in the midst of that valley is a tower of stone called Orthanc. It was not made by Saruman, but by the Men of N®menor long ago; and it is very tall and has many secrets; yet it looks not to be a work of craft. It cannot be reached save by passing the circle of Isengard; and in that circle there is only one gate. 'Late one evening I came to the gate, like a great arch in the wall of rock; and it was strongly guarded. But the keepers of the gate were on the watch for me and told me that Saruman awaited me. I rode under the arch, and the gate closed silently behind me, and suddenly I was afraid, though I knew ####-no reason for it. 'But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber. He wore a ring on his finger. ` "So you have come, Gandalf," he said to me gravely; but in his eyes there seemed to be a white light, as if a cold laughter was in his heart. ` "Yes, I have come," I said. "I have come for your aid, Saruman the White." And that title seemed to anger him. ' "Have you indeed, Gandalf the Grey! " he scoffed. "For aid? It has seldom been heard of that Gandalf the Grey sought for aid, one so cunning and so wise, wandering about the lands, and concerning himself in every business, whether it belongs to him or not." 'I looked at him and wondered. "But if I am not deceived," said I, "things are now moving which will require the union of all our strength." ' "That may be so," he said, "but the thought is late in coming to you. How long. I wonder, have you concealed from me, the head of the Council, a matter of greatest import? What brings you now from your lurking-place in the Shire? " ' "The Nine have come forth again," I answered. "They have crossed the River. So Radagast said to me." ` "Radagast the Brown! " laughed Saruman, and he no longer concealed his scorn. "Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool! Yet he had just the wit to play the part that I set him. For you have come, and that was all the purpose of my message. And here you will stay, Gandalf the Grey, and rest from journeys. For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours! " 'I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours. and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered. ' "I liked white better," I said. ' "White! " he sneered. "It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken." ' "In which case it is no longer white," said I. "And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." ' "You need not speak to me as to one of the fools that you take for friends," said he. "I have not brought you hither to be instructed by you, but to give you a choice."####- 'He drew himself up then and began to declaim, as if he were making a speech long rehearsed. "The Elder Days are gone. The Middle Days are passing. The Younger Days are beginning. The time of the Elves is over, but our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule. But we must have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see. ' "And listen, Gandalf, my old friend and helper! " he said, coming near and speaking now in a softer voice. "I said we, for we it may be, if you will join with me. A new Power is rising. Against it the old allies and policies will not avail us at all. There is no hope left in Elves or dying N®menor. This then is one choice before you. before us. We may jo in with that Power. It would be wise, Gandalf. There is hope that way. Its victory is at hand; and there will be rich reward for those that aided it. As the Power grows, its proved friends will also grow; and the Wise, such as you and I, may with patience come at last to direct its courses, to control it. We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends. There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means." ' "Saruman," I said, "I have heard speeches of this kind before, but only in the mouths of emissaries sent from Mordor to deceive the ignorant. I cannot think that you brought me so far only to weary my ears." 'He looked at me sidelong, and paused a while considering. "Well, I see that this wi se course does not commend itself to you," he said. "Not yet? Not if some better way can be contrived? " `He came and laid his long hand on my arm. "And why not, Gandalf? " he whispered. "Why not? The Ruling Ring? If we could command that, then the Power would pass to us. That is in truth why I brought you here. For I have many eyes in my service, and I believe that you know where this precious thing now lies. Is it not so? Or why do the Nine ask for the Shire, and what is your business there? " As he said this a lust which he could not conceal shone suddenly in his eyes. ' "Saruman," I said, standing away from him, "only one hand at a time can wield the One, and you know that well, so do not trouble to say we! But I would not give it, nay, I would not give even news of it to you, now that ####-I learn your mind. You were head of the Council, but you have unmasked yourself at last. Well, the choices are, it seems, to submit to Sauron, or to yourself. I will take neither. Have you others to offer? " 'He was cold now and perilous. "Yes," he said. "I did not expect you to show wisdom, even in your own behalf; but I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly. and so saving yourself much trouble and pain. The third choice is to stay here, until the end." ' "Until what end? " ' "Until you reveal to me where the One may be found. I may find means to persuade you. Or until it is found in your despite, and the Ruler has time to turn to lighter matters: to devise, say, a fitting reward for the hindrance and insolence of Gandalf the Grey." ' "That may not prove to be one of the lighter matters," said I. He laughed at me, for my words were empty, and he knew it. `They took me and they set me alone on the p innacle of Orthanc, in the place where Saruman was accustomed to watch the stars. There is no descent save by a narrow stair of many thousand steps, and the valley below seems far away. I looked on it and saw that, whereas it had once been green and fair, it was now filled with pits and forges. Wolves and orcs were housed in Isengard, for Saruman was mustering a great force on his own account, in rivalry of Sauron and not in his service yet. Over all his works a dark smoke hung and wrapped itself about the sides of Orthanc. I stood alone on an island in the clouds; and I had no chance of escape, and my days were bitter. I was pierced with cold, and I had but little room in which to pace to and fro, brooding on the coming of the Riders to the North. `That the Nine had indeed arisen I felt assured, apart from the words of Saruman which might be lies. Long ere I came to Isengard I had heard tidings by the way that could not be mistaken. Fear was ever in my heart for my friends in the Shire; but still I had some hope. I hoped that Frodo had set forth at once, as my letter had urged, and that he had reached Rivendell before the deadly pursuit began. And both my fear and my hope proved ill-founded. For my hope was founded on a fat man in Bree; and my fear was founded on the cunning of Sauron. But fat men who sell ale have many calls to answer; and the power of Sauron is still less than fear makes it. But in the circle of Isengard, trapped and alone, it was not easy to think that the hunters before whom all have fled or fallen would falter in the Shire far away.'####- `I saw you!' cried Frodo. `You were walking backwards and forwards. The moon shone in your hair.' Gandalf paused astonished and looked at him. 'I t was only a dream' said Frodo, `but it suddenly came back to me. I had quite forgotten it. It came some time ago; after I left the Shire, I think.' `Then it was late in coming,' said Gandalf, 'as you will see. I was in an evil plight. And those who know me will agree that I have seldom been in such need, and do not bear such misfortune well. Gandalf the Grey caught like a fly in a spider's treacherous web! Yet even the most subtle spiders may leave a weak thread. `At first I feared, as Saruman no doubt intended, that Radagast had also fallen. Yet I had caught no hint of anything wrong in his voice or in his eye at our meeting. If I had, I should never have gone to Isengard, or I should have gone more warily. So Saruman guessed, and he had concealed his mind and deceived his messenger. It would have been useless in any case to try and win over the honest Radagast to treachery. He sought me in good faith, and so persuaded me. `That was the undoing of Saruman's plot. For Radagast knew no reason why he should not do as I asked; and he rode away towards Mirkwood where he had many friends of old. And the Eagles of the Mountains went far and wide, and they saw many things: the gathering of wolves and the mustering of Orcs; and the Nine Riders going hither and thither in the lands; and they heard news of the escape of Gollum. And they sent a messenger to bring these tidings to me. `So it was that when summer waned, there came a night of moon, and Gwaihir the Windlord, swiftest of the Great Eagles, came unlooked-for to Orthanc; and he found me standing on the pinnacle. Then I spoke to him and he bore me away, before Saruman was aware. I was far from Isengard, ere the wolves and orcs issued from the gate to pursue me. ` "How far can you bear me? " I said to Gwaihir. ` "Many leagues," said he, "but not to the ends of the earth. I was sent to bear tidings not burdens." ` "Then I must have a steed on land," I said, "and a steed surpassi ngly swift, for I have never had such need of haste before." ` "Then I will bear you to Edoras, where the Lord of Rohan sits in his halls," he said; "for that is not very far off." And I was glad, for in the ####-Riddermark of Rohan the Rohirrim, the Horse-lords, dwell, and there are no horses like those that are bred in that great vale between the Misty Mountains and the White. ` "Are the Men of Rohan still to be trusted, do you think? " I said to Gwaihir, for the treason of Saruman had shaken my faith. ` "They pay a tribute of horses," he answered, "and send many yearly to Mordor, or so it is said; but they are not yet under the yoke. But if Saruman has become evil, as you say, then their doom cannot be long delayed." `He set me down in the land of Rohan ere dawn; and now I have lengthened my tale over long. The rest must be more brief. In Rohan I found evil already at work: the lies of Saruman; and the king of the land would not listen to my warnings. He bade me take a horse and be gone; and I chose one much to my liking. but little to his. I took the best horse in his land, and I have never seen the like of him.' 'Then he must be a noble beast indeed,' said Aragorn; 'and it grieves me more than many tidings that might seem worse to learn that Sauron levies such tribute. It was not so when last I was in that land.' `Nor is it now, I will swear,' said Boromir. `It is a lie that comes from the Enemy. I know the Men of Rohan; true a nd valiant, our allies, dwelling still in the lands that we gave them long ago.' `The shadow of Mordor lies on distant lands,' answered Aragorn. 'Saruman has fallen under it. Rohan is beset. Who knows what you will find there, if ever you return?' `Not this at least.' said Boromir, 'that they will buy their lives with horses. They love their horses next to their kin. And not without reason, for the horses of the Riddermark come from the fields of the North, far from the Shadow. and their race, as that of their masters, is descended from the free days of old.' 'True indeed!' said Gandalf. `And there is one among them that might have been foaled in the morning of the world. The horses of the Nine cannot vie with him; tireless, swift as the flowing wind. Shadowfax they called him. By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade, and he passes unseen. Light is his footfall! Never before had any man mounted him, but I took him and I tamed him, and so speedily he bore me that I reached the Shire when Frodo was on the Barrow-downs, though I set out from Rohan only when he set out from Hobbiton.####- 'But fear grew in me as I rode. Ever as I came north I heard tidings of the Riders, and though I gained on them day by day, they were ever before me. They had divided their forces, I learned: some remained on the eastern borders, not far from the Greenway. and some invaded the Shire from the south. I came to Hobbiton and Frodo had gone; but I had words with old Gamgee. Many words and few to the point. He had much to say about the shortcomings of the new owners of Bag End. ` "I can't abide changes," said he, "not at my time of life, and least of all changes for the worst." "Changes for the worst," he repeated many times. ' "Worst is a bad word," I said to him, "and I hope you do not live to see it." But amidst his talk I gathered at last that Frodo had left Hobbiton less than a week before, and that a black horseman had come to the Hill the same evening. Then I rode on in fear. I came to Buckland and found it in uproar, as busy as a hive of ants that has been stirred with a stick. I came to the house at Crickhollow, and it was broken open and empty; but on the threshold there lay a cloak that had been Frodo's. Then for a while hope left me, and I did not wait to gather news, or I might have been comforted; but I rode on the trail of the Riders. It was hard to follow, for it went many ways, and I was at a loss. But it seemed to me that one or two had ridden towards Bree; and that way I went, for I thought of words that might be said to the innkeeper. ' "Butterbur they call him," thought I. "If this delay was his fault, I will melt all the butter in him. I will roast the old fool over a slow fire." He expected no less, and when he saw my face he fell down flat and began to melt on the spot.' `What did you do to him?' cried Frodo in alarm. 'He was really very kind to us and did a ll that he could.' Gandalf laughed. 'Don't be afraid!' he said. `I did not bite, and I barked very little. So overjoyed was I by the news that I got out of him, when he stopped quaking, that I embraced the old fellow. How it happened I could not then guess, but I learned that you had been in Bree the night before, and had gone off that morning with Strider. ` "Strider! " I cried, shouting for joy. ` "Yes, sir, I am afraid so, sir," said Butterbur, mistaking me. "He got at them, in spite of all that I could do, and they took up with him. They behaved very queer all the time they were here: wilful, you might say."####- ` "Ass! Fool! Thrice worthy and beloved Barliman! " said I. "It's the best news I have had since midsummer: it's worth a gold piece at the least. May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years! " said I. "Now I can take a night's rest, the first since I have forgotten when." `So I stayed there that night, wondering much what had become of the Riders; for only of two had there yet been any news in Bree, it seemed. But in the night we heard more. Five at least came from the west, and they threw down the gates and passed through Bree like a howling wi nd; and the Bree-folk are still shivering and expecting the end of the world. I got up before dawn and went after them. 'I do not know, but it seems clear to me that this is what happened. Their Captain remained in secret away south of Bree, while two rode ahead through the village, and four more invaded the Shire. But when these were foiled in Bree and at Crickhollow, they returned to their Captain with tidings, and so left the Road unguarded for a while, except by their spies. The Captain then sent some eastward straight across country, and he himself with the rest rode along the Road in great wrath. 'I galloped to Weathertop like a gale, and I reached it before sundown on my second day from Bree-and they were there befor e me. They drew away from me, for they felt the coming of my anger and they dared not face it while the Sun was in the sky. But they closed round at night, and I was besieged on the hill-top, in the old ring of Amon Syl. I was hard put to it indeed: such light and flame cannot have been seen on Weathertop since the war-beacons of old. `At sunrise I escaped and fled towards the north. I could not hope to do more. It was impossible to find you, Frodo, in the wilderness, and it would ha ve been folly to try with all the Nine at my heels. So I had to trust to Aragorn. But I hoped to draw some of them off, and yet reach Rivendell ahead of you and send out help. Four Riders did indeed follow me, but they turned back after a wh ile and made for the Ford, it seems. That helped a little, for there were only five, not nine, when your camp was attacked. 'I reached here at last by a long hard road, up the Hoarwell and through the Ettenmoors, and down from the north . It took me nearly fourteen days from Weathertop, for I could not ride among the rocks of the ####-troll-fells, and Shadowfax departed. I sent him back to his master; but a great friendship has grown between us, and if I have need he will come at my call. But so it was that I came to Rivendell only three days before the Ring, and news of its peril had already been brought here-which proved well indeed. `And that, Frodo, is the end of my account. May Elrond and the others forgive the length of it. But such a thing has not happened before, that Gandalf broke tryst and did not come when he promised. An account to the Ring-bearer of so strange an event was required, I think. 'Well, the Tale is now told, from first to last. Here we all are, and here is the Ring. But we have not yet come any nearer to our purpose. What shall we do with it?' There was silence. At last Elrond spoke again. `This is grievous news concerning Saruman,' he said; `for we trusted him and he is deep in all our counsels. It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. But such falls and betrayals, alas, have happened before. Of the tales that we have heard this day the tale of Frodo was most strange to me. I have known few hobbits, save Bilbo here; and it seems to me that he is perhaps not so alone and singular as I had thought him. The world has changed much since I last was on the westward roads. `The Barrow-wights we know by many names; and of the Old Forest many tales have been told: all that now remains is but an outlier of its northern march. Time was when a squirrel could go from tree to tree from what is now the Shire to Dunland west of Isengard. In those lands I journeyed once, and many things wild and strange I knew. But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed this is still the same that walked the woods and hills long ago, and even then was older than the old. That was not then his name. Iarwain Ben -adar we called him, oldest and fatherless. But many another name he has since been given by other folk: Forn by the Dwarves, Orald by Northern Men, and other names beside. He is a strange creature, but maybe I should have summoned him to our Council.' `He would not have come,' said Gandalf. `Could we not still send messages to him and obtain his help?' asked ####-Erestor. `It seems that he has a power even over the Ring.' `No, I should not put it so,' said Gandalf. `Say rather that the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them.' `But within those bounds nothing seems to dismay him,' said Erestor. `Would he not take the Ring and keep it there, for ever harmless?' `No,' said Gandalf, `not willingly. He might do so, if all the free folk of the world begged him, but he would not understand the need. And if he were given the Ring, he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away. Such things have no hold on his mind. He would be a most unsafe guardian; and that alone is answer enough. ' `But in any case,' said Glorfindel, `to send the Ring to him would only postpone the day of evil. He is far away. We could not now take it back to him, unguessed, unmarked by any spy. And even if we could, soon or late the Lord of the Rings wou ld learn of its hiding place and would bend all his power towards it. Could that power be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come.' `I know little of Iarwain save the name,' said Galdor; `but Glorfindel, I think, is right. Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power is in the earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills. What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lurien. But have they the strength, have we here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last, when all else is overthrown?' `I have not the strength,' said Elrond; `neither have they.' `Then if the Ring cannot be kept from him for ever by strength' said Glorfindel, `two things only remain for us to attempt: to send it over the Sea, or to destroy it.' `But Gandalf has revealed to u s that we cannot destroy it by any craft that we here possess,' said Elrond. `And they who dwell beyond the Sea would not receive it: for good or ill it belongs to Middle-earth; it is for us who still dwell here to deal with it.' 'Then, said Glorfindel, 'let us cast it into the deeps, and so make the lies of Saruman come true. For it is clear now that even at the Council his ####-feet were already on a crooked path. He knew that the Ring was not lost for ever, but wished us to think so; for he began to lust for it for himself. Yet oft in lies truth is hidden: in the Sea it would be safe.' `Not safe for ever,' said Gandalf. `There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one.' 'And that we shall not find on the roads to the Sea,' said Galdor. 'If the return to Iarwain be thought too dangerous, then flight to the S‚a is now fraught with gravest peril. My heart tells me that Sauron will expect us to take the western way, when he learns what has befallen. He soon will. The Nine have been unhorsed indeed but that is but a respite, ere they find new steeds and swifter. Only the waning might of Gondor stands now between him and a march in power along the coasts into the North; and if he comes, assailing the White Towers and the Havens, hereafter the Elves may have no escape from the lengthening shadows of Middle-earth.' 'Long yet will that march be delayed,' said Boromir. 'Gondor wanes, you say. But Gondor stands, and even the end of its strength is still very strong.' 'And yet its vigilance can no longer keep back the Nine,' said Galdor. 'And other roads he may find that Gondor does not guard.' 'Then,' said Erestor, `there are but two courses, as Glorfindel already has declared: to hide the Ring for ever; or to unmake it. But both are beyond our power. Who will read this riddle for us?' 'None here can do so,' said Elrond gravely. `At least none can foretell what will come to pass, if we take this road or that. But it seems to me now clear which is the road that we must take. The westward road seems easiest. Therefore it must be shunned. It will be watched. Too often the Elves have fled that way. Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril-to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire.' Silence fell again. Frodo, even in that fair house, looking out upon a sunlit valley filled with the noise of clear waters, felt a dead darkness in his heart. Boromir stirred, and Frodo looked at him. He was finger ing his great horn and frowning. At length he spoke. 'I do not understand all this,' he said. `Saruman is a traitor, but did ####-he not have a glimpse of wisdom? Why do you speak ever of hiding and destroying? Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely defeat the Enemy. That is what he most fears, I deem. 'The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!' 'Alas, no,' said Elrond. 'We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we now know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart. Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron's throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear. And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it.' `Nor I,' said Gandalf. Boromir looked at them doubtfully, but he bowed his head. `So be it,' he said. `Then in Gondor we must trust to such weapons as we have. And at the least, while the Wise ones guard this Ring, we will fight on. Mayhap the Sword-that-was-Broken may still stem the tide -- if the hand that wields it has inherited not an heirloom only, but the sinews of the Kings of Men.' `Who can tell?' said Aragorn. `But we will put it to the test one day.' `May the day not be too long delayed,' said Boromir. 'For though I do not ask for aid, we need it. It would comfort us to know that others fought also with all the means that they have.' `Then be comforted,' said Elrond. `For there are other powers and realms that you know not, and they are hidden from you. Anduin the Great flows past many shores, ere it comes to Argonath and the Gates of Gondor.' 'Still it might be well for all,' said Gluin the Dwarf, 'if all these strengths were joined, and the powers of each were used in league. Other rings there may be, less treacherous, that might be used in our need. The Seven are lost to us -- if Balin has not found the ring of Thrur which was ####-the last; naught has been heard of it since Thrur perished in Moria. Indeed I may now reveal that it was partly in hope to find that ring that Balin went away.' `Balin will find no ring in Moria,' said Gandalf. `Thrur gave it to Thrbin his son, but not Thrbin to Thorin. It was taken with torment from Thrbin in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. I came too late.' 'Ah, alas!' cried Gluin. 'When will the day come of our revenge? But still there are the Three. What of the Three Rings of the Elves? Very mighty Rings, it is said. Do not the Elf-lords keep them? Yet they too were made by the Dark Lord long ago. Are they idle? I see Elf-lords here. Will they not say?' The Elves returned no answer. `Did you not hear me, Gluin?' said Elrond. `The Three were not made by Sauron, nor did he ever touch them. But of them it is not permitted to speak. So much only in this' hour of doubt I may now say. They are not idle. But they were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the One. It would be better if the Three had never been. That is his purpose.' `But what then would happen, if the Ruling Ring were destroyed as you counsel?' asked Gluin. 'We know not for certain,' answered Elrond sadly. `Some hope that the Three Rings, which Sauron has never touched, would then become free, and their rulers might heal the hurts of the world that he has wrought. But maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will fade and be forgotten. That is my belief.' `Yet all the Elves are willing to endure this chance,' said Glorfindel 'if by it the power of Sauron may be broken, and the fear of his dominion be taken away for ever.' 'Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring,' said Erestor, `and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the Fire in which it was made? That is the path of despair. Of folly I would say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.' 'Despair, or folly?' said Gandalf. `It is not despair, for despair is ####-only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning.' 'At least for a while,' said Elrond. `The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.' 'Very well, very well, Master Elrond!' said Bilbo suddenly. 'Say no more! It is plain enough what you are pointing at. Bilbo the silly hobbit started this affair, and Bilbo had better finish it, or himself. I was very comfortable here, and getting on with my book. If you want to know, I am just writing an ending for it. I had thought of putting: and he lived happily ever afterwards to the end of his days. It is a good ending, and none the worse for having been used before. Now I shall have to alter that: it does not look like coming true; and anyway there will evidently have to be several more chapters, if I live to write them. It is a frightful nuisance. When ought I to start? ' Boromir looked in surprise at Bilbo, but the laughter died on his lips when he saw that all the others regarded the old hobbit with grave respect. Only Gluin smiled, but his smile came from old memories. `Of course, my dear Bilbo,' said Gandalf. `If you had really started this affair, you might be expected to finish it. But you know well enough now that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part is played in great deeds by any hero. You need not bow! Though the word was meant, and we do not doubt that under jest you are making a valiant offer. But one beyond your strength, Bilbo. You cannot take this thing back. It has passed on. If you need my advice any longer, I should say that your part is ended, unless as a recorder. Finish your book, and leave the ending unaltered! There is still hope for it. But get ready to write a sequel, when they come back.'####- Bilbo laughed. `I have never known you give me pleasant advice before.' he said. `As all your unpleasant advice has been good, I wonder if this advice is not bad. Still, I don't suppose I have the strength or luck left to deal with the Ring. It has grown, and I have not. But tell me: what do you mean by they?' `The messengers who are sent with the Ring.' `Exactly! And who are they to be? That seems to me what this Council has to decide, and all that it has to decide. Elves may thrive on speech alone, and Dwarves endure great weariness; but I am only an old hobbit, and I miss my meal at noon. Can't you think of some names now? Or put it off till after dinner?' No one answered. The noon-bell rang. Still no one spoke. Frodo glanced at all the faces, but they were not turned to him. All the Council sat with downcast eyes, as if in deep thought. A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo's side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice. `I will take the Ring,' he said, `though I do not know the way.' Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo felt his heart pierced by the sudden keenness of the glance. `If I understand aright all that I have heard,' he said, `I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will. This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? `But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right; and though all the mighty elf-friends of old, Hador, and H®rin, and T®rin, and Beren himself were assembled together your seat should be among them.' `But you won't send him off alone surely, Mast er?' cried Sam, unable to contain himself any longer, and jumping up from the corner where he had been quietly sitting on the floor.####- `No indeed!' said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile. `You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possi ble to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.' Sam sat down, blushing and muttering. `A nice pickle we have landed ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!' he said, shaking his head. ####- Later that day the hobbits held a meeting of their own in Bilbo's room. Merry and Pippin were indignant when they heard that Sam had crept into the Council, and had been chosen as Frodo's companion. `It's most unfair,' said Pippin. `Instea d of throwing him out, and clapping him in chains, Elrond goes and rewards him for his cheek!' `Rewards!' said Frodo. 'I can't imagine a more severe punishment. You are not thinking what you are saying: condemned to go on this hopeless journey, a reward? Yesterday I dreamed that my task was done, and I could rest here, a long while, perhaps for good.' 'I don't wonder,' said Merry, 'and I wish you could. But we are envying Sam, not you. If you have to go, then it will be a punishment for any of us to be left behind, even in Rivendell. We have come a long way with you and been through some stiff times. We want to go on.' `That's what I meant,' said Pippin. `We hobbits ought to stick together, and we will. I shall go, unless they chain me up. There must be someone with intelligence in the party.' 'Then you certainly will not be chosen, Peregrin Took!' said Gandalf, looking in through the window, which was near the ground. `But you are all worrying yourselves unnecessarily. Nothing is decided yet.' `Nothing decided!' cried Pippin. 'Then what were you all doing? You were shut up for hours.' "Talking,' said Bilbo. `There was a deal of talk, and everyone had an eye-opener. Even old Gandalf. I think Legolas's bit of news about Gollum caught even him on the hop, though he passed it off.' `You were wrong,' said Gandalf. 'You were inattentive. I had already heard of it from Gwaihir. If you want to know, the only real eye-openers, as you put it, were you and Frodo; and I was the only one that was not surprised.' `Well, anyway,' said Bilbo, 'nothing was decided beyond choosing poor Frodo and Sam. I was afraid all the time that it might come to that, if I was let off. But if you ask me, Elrond will send out a fair number, when the reports come in. Have they started yet, Gandalf?' 'Yes,' said the wizard. `Some of the scouts have been sent out already.####-More will go tomorrow. Elrond is sending Elves, and they will get in touch with the Rangers, and maybe with Thranduil's folk in Mirkwood. And Aragorn has gone with Elrond's sons. We shall have to scour the lands all round for many long leagues before any move is made. So cheer up, Frodo! You will probably make quite a long stay here.' 'Ah!' said Sam gloomily. 'We'll just wait long enough for winter to come.' 'That can't be helped,' said Bilbo. 'It's your fault partly, Frodo my lad: insisting on waiting for my birthday. A funny way of honouring it, I can't help thinking. Not the day I should have chosen for letting the S.-B .s into Bag End. But there it is: you can't wait now fill spring; and you can't go till the reports come back. When winter first begins to bite and stones crack in the frosty night, when pools are black and trees are bare, 'tis evil in the Wild to fare. But that I am afraid will be just your luck.' 'I am afraid it will,' said Gandalf. 'We can't start until we have found out about the Riders.' `I thought they were all destroyed in the flood,' said Merry. 'You cannot destroy Ringwraiths like that,' said Gandalf. `The power of their master is in them, and they stand or fall by him. We hope that they were all unhorsed and unmasked, and so made for a while less dangerous; but we must find out for certain. In the meantime you should try and forget your troubles, Frodo. I do not know if I can do anything to help you; but I will whisper this in your ears. Someone said that intelligence would be needed in the party. He was right. I think I shall come with you.' So great was Frodo's delight at this announcement that Gandalf left the window-sill, where he had been sitting, and took off his hat and bowed. 'I only said I think I shall come. Do not count on anything yet. In this matter Elrond will have much to say, and your friend the Strider. Which reminds me, I want to see Elrond. I must be off.' `How long do you think I shall have here?' said Frodo to Bilbo when Gandalf had gone. `Oh, I don't know. I can't count days in Rivendell,' said Bilbo. 'But quite long, I should think. We can have many a good talk. What about helping ####-me with my book, and making a start on the next? Have you thought of an ending?' 'Yes, several, a nd all are dark and unpleasant,' said Frodo. 'Oh, that won't do!' said Bilbo. `Books ought to have good endings. How would this do: and they all settled down and lived together happily ever after?' `It will do well, if it ever comes to that,' said Frodo. 'Ah!' said Sam. 'And where will they live? That's what I often wonder.' For a while the hobbits continued to talk and think of the past journey and of the perils that lay ahead; but such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking plea sure in every meal, and in every word and song. So the days slipped away, as each morning dawned bright and fair, and each evening followed cool and clear. But autumn was waning fast; slowly the golden light faded to pale silver, and the lingering leaves fell from the naked trees. A wind began to blow chill from the Misty Mountains to the east. The Hunter's Moon waxed round in the night sky, and put to flight all the lesser stars. But low in the South one star shone red. Every night, as the Moon waned again, it shone brighter and brighter. Frodo could see it from his window, deep in the heavens burning like a watchful eye that glared above the trees on the brink of the valley. The hobbits had been nearly two months in the House of Elrond, and November had gone by with the last shreds of autumn, and December was passing, when the scouts began to return. Some had gone north beyond the springs of the Hoarwell into the Ettenmoors; and others had gone west, and with the help of Aragorn and the Rangers had searched the lands far down the Greyflood, as far as Tharbad, where the old North Road crossed the river by a ruined town. Many had gone east and south; and some of these had crossed the Mountains and entered Mirkwood, while others had climbed the pass at the source of the Gladden River, and had come down into Wilderland and over the Gladden Fields and so at length had reached the old home of Radagast at Rhosgobel. Radagast was not there; and they had returned over the high pass that was called the Dimrill Stair. The sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir, were the last to return; they had made a great journey, passing down the ####-Silverlode into a strange country, but of their errand they would not speak to any save to Elrond. In no region had the messengers discovered any signs or tidings of the Riders or other servants of the Enemy. Even from the Eagles of the Misty Mountains they had learned no fresh news. Nothing had been seen or heard of Gollum; but the wild wolves were still gathering, and were hunting again far up the Great River. Three of the black horses had been found at once drowned in the flooded Ford. On the rocks of the rapids below it searchers discovered the bodies of five more, and also a long black cloak, slashed and tattered. Of the Black Riders no other trace was to be seen, and nowhere was their presence to be felt. It seemed that they had vanished from the North. 'Eight out of the Nine are accounted for at least, ' said Gandalf. 'It is rash to be too sure, yet I think that we may hope now that the Ringwraiths were scattered, and have been obliged to return as best they could to their Master in Mordor, empty and shapeless. `If that is so, it wi ll be some time before they can begin the hunt again. Of course the Enemy has other servants, but they will have to journey all the way to the borders of Rivendell before they can pick up our trail. And if we are careful that will be hard to find. But we must delay no longer.' Elrond summoned the hobbits to him. He looked gravely at Frodo. 'The time has come,' he said. `If the Ring is to set out, it must go soon. But those who go with it must not count on their errand being aided by war or force. They must pass into the domain of the Enemy far from aid. Do you still hold to your word, Frodo, that you will be the Ring-bearer?' 'I do,' said Frodo. `I will go with Sam.' `Then I cannot help you much, not even with counsel,' said Elrond. `I can foresee very little of your road; and how your task is to be achieved I do not know. The Shadow has crept now to the feet of the Mountains, and draws nigh even to the borders of Greyflood; and under the Shadow all is dark to me. You will meet many foes, some open, and some disguised; and you may find friends upon your way when you least look for it. I will send out messages, such as I can contrive, to those whom I know in the wide world; but so perilous are the lands now become that some may well miscarry, or come no quicker than you yourself. `And I will choose you companions to go with you, as far as they will ####-or fortune allows. The number must be few, since your hope is in speed and secrecy. Had I a host of Elves in armour of the Elder Days, it would avail little, save to arouse the power of Mordor. `The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil. With you and your faithful servant, Gandalf will go; for this shall be his great task, and maybe the end of his labours. `For the rest, they shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Legolas shall be for the Elves; and Gimli son of Gluin for the Dwarves. They are willing to go at least to the passes of the Mountains, and maybe beyond. For men you shall have Aragorn son of Arathorn, for the Ring of Isildur concerns him closely.' `Strider!' said Frodo. 'Yes,' he said with a smile. `I ask leave once again to be your companion, Frodo.' `I would have begged you to come,' said Frodo, 'only I thought you were going to Minas Tirith with Boromir.' `I am,' said Aragorn. `And the Sword-that-was-Broken shall be reforged ere I set out to war. But your road and our road lie together for many hundreds of miles. Therefore Boromir will also be in the Company. He is a valiant man.' 'There remain two more to be found,' said Elrond. "These I will consider. Of my household I may find some that it seems good to me to send.' `But that will leave no place for us!' cried Pippin in dismay. `We don't want to be left behind. We want to go with Frodo.' `That is because you do not understand a nd cannot imagine what lies ahead,' said Elrond. `Neither does Frodo,' said Gandalf, unexpectedly supporting Pippin. 'Nor do any of us see clearly. It is true that if these hobbits understood the danger, they would not dare to go. But they wou ld still wish to go, or wish that they dared, and be shamed and unhappy. I think, Elrond, that in this matter it would be well to trust rather to their friendship than to great wisdom. Even if you chose for us an elf-lord, such as Glorfindel, he could not storm the Dark Tower, nor open the road to the Fire by the power that is in him.' `You speak gravely,' said Elrond, `but I am in doubt. The Shire, I forebode, is not free now from peril; and these two I had thought to send ####-back there as messengers, to do what they could, according to the fashion of their country, to warn the people of their danger. In any case, I judge that the younger of these two, Peregrin Took, should remain. My heart is against his going.' `Then, Master Elrond, you will have to lock me in prison, or send me home tied in a sack,' said Pippin. `For otherwise I shall follow the Company.' `Let it be so then. You shall go,' said Elrond, and he sighed. 'Now the tale of Nine is filled. In seven days the Company must depart.' The Sword of Elendil was forged anew by Elvish smiths, and on its blade was traced a device of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and the rayed Sun, and about them was written many runes; for Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, and its edge was hard and keen. And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it And®ril, Flame of the West. Aragorn and Gandalf walked together or sat speaking of their road and the perils they would meet; and they pondered the storied and figured maps and books of lore that were in the house of Elrond. Sometimes Frodo was with them; but he was content to lean on their guidance, and he spent as much time as he could with Bilbo. In those last days the hobbits sat together in the evening in the Hall of Fire, and there among many tales they heard told in full the lay of Beren and L®thien and the winning of the Great Jewel; but in the day, while Merry and Pippin were out and about, Frodo and Sam were to be found with Bilbo in his own small room. Then Bilbo would read passages from his book (which still seemed very incomplete). or scraps of his verses, or would take notes of Frodo's adventures. On the morning of the last day Frodo was alone with Bilbo, and the old hobbit pulled out from under his bed a wooden box. He lifted the lid and fumbled inside. 'Here is your sword,' he said. 'But it was broken, you know. I took it to keep it safe but I've forgotten to ask if the smiths could mend it. No time now.. So I thought, perhaps, you would care to have this, don't you know?' He took from the box a small sword in an old shabby leathern scabbard. Then he drew it, and its polished and well -tended blade glittered suddenly,####-cold and bright. 'This is Sting,' he said, and thrust it with little effort deep into a wooden beam. `Take it, if you like. I shan't want it again, I expect.' Frodo accepted it gratefully. 'Also there is this!' said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and crystal. 'It's a pretty thing, isn't it?' said Bilbo, moving it in the light. `And useful. It is my dwarf-mail that Thorin gave me. I got it back from Michel Delving before I started, and packed it with my luggage: I brought all the mementoes of my Journey away with me, except the Ring. But I did not expect to use this, and I don't need it now, except to look at sometimes. You hardly feel any weight when you put it on.' `I should look -- well, I don't think I should look right in it,' said Frodo. `Just what I sa id myself,' said Bilbo. 'But never mind about looks. You can wear it under your outer clothes. Come on! You must share this secret with me. Don't tell anybody else! But I should feel happier if I knew you were wearing it. I have a fancy it would turn even the knives of the Black Riders,' he ended in a low voice. `Very well, I will take it,' said Frodo. Bilbo put it on him, and fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his old weather -stained breeches, tunic, and jacket. 'Just a plain hobbit you look,' said Bilbo. 'But there is more about you now than appears on the surface. Good luck to you!' He turned away and looked out of the window, trying to hum a tune. 'I cannot thank you as I should, Bilbo, for this, and for all our past kindnesses,' said Frodo. 'Don't try!' said the old hobbit, turning round and slapping him on the back. `Ow!' he cried. `You are too hard now to slap! But there you are: Hobbits must stick together, and especially Bagginses. All I ask in return is: take as much care of yourself as you can. and bring back all the news you can, and any old songs and tales you can come by. I'll do my best to finish my book before you return. I should like to write the second book, if ####-I am spared.' He broke off and turned to the window again, singing softly. I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been; Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were, with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair. I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see. For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green. I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago, and people who will see a world that I shall never know. But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for returning feet and voices at the door. It was a cold grey day near the end of December. The East Wind was streaming through the bare branches of the trees, and seething in the dark pines on the hills. Ragged clouds were hurrying overhead, dark and low. As the cheerless shadows of the early evening began to fall the Company made ready to set out. They were to start at dusk, for Elrond counselled them to ####-journey under cover of night as often as they could, until they were far from Rivendell. `You should fear the many eyes of the servants of Sauron,' he said. 'I do not doubt that news of the discomfiture of the Riders has already reached him, and he will be filled with wrath. Soon now his spies on foot and wing will be abroad in the northern lands. Even of the sky above you must beware as you go on your way.' The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not in battle. Aragorn had And®ril but no other weapon, and he went forth clad only in rusty green and brown. as a Ranger of the wilderness. Boromir had a long sword, in fashion like And®ril but of less lineage and he bore also a shield and his war-horn. 'Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills,' he said, `and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!' Putting it to his lips he blew a blast, and the echoes leapt from rock to rock, and all that heard that voice in Rivendell sprang to their feet. Slow should you be to wind that horn again, Boromir, said Elrond. 'until you stand once more on the borders of your land, and dire need is on you.' `Maybe,' said Boromir. 'But always I have let my horn cry at setting forth, and though thereafter we may walk in the shadows, I will not go forth as a thief in the night.' Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel-rings, for dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a broad-bladed axe. Legolas had a bow and a quiver, and at his belt a long white knife. The younger hobbits wore the swords that they had taken from the barrow; but Frodo took only Sting; and his mail-coat, as Bilbo wished, remained hidden. Gandalf bore his staff, but girt at his side was the elven-sword Glamdring, the mate of Orcrist that lay now upon the breast of Thorin under the Lonely Mountain. All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had jackets and cloaks lined with fur. Spare food and clothes and blankets and other needs were laden on a pony, none other than the poor beast that they had brought from Bree. ?he stay in Rivendell had worked a great wonder of change on him: he was glossy and seemed to have the vigour of youth. It was Sam who had insisted on choosing him, declaring that Bill (as he called him) would pine,####-if he did not come. `That animal can nearly talk,' he said, `and would talk, if he stayed here much longer. He gave me a look as plain as Mr. Pippin could speak it: if you don't let me go with you, Sam, I'll follow on my own.' So Bill was going as the beast of burden, yet he was the only member of the Company that did not seem depressed. Their farewells had been said in the great hall by the fire, and they were only waiting now for Gandalf, who had not yet come out of the house. A gleam of firelight came from the open doors, and soft lights were glowing in many windows. Bilbo huddled in a cloak stood silent on the doorstep beside Frodo. Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully what this hour meant to him. The others could be seen as grey shapes in the darkness. Sam was standing by the pony, sucking his teeth, and staring moodily into the gloom where the river roared stonily below; his desire for adventure was at its lowest ebb. `Bill, my lad,' he said, `you oughtn't to have took up with us. You could have stayed here and et the best hay till the new grass comes.' Bill swished his tail and said nothing. Sam eased the pack on his shoulders, and went over anxiously in his mind all the things that he had stowed in it, wondering if he had forgotten anything: his chief treasure, his cooking gear; and the little box of salt that he always carried and refilled when he could; a good supply of pipe-weed (but not near enough, I'll warrant); flint and tinder; woollen hose: linen; various small belongings of his master's that Frodo had forgotten and Sam had stowed to bring them out in triumph when they were called for. He went through them all. 'Rope!' he muttered. `No rope! And only last night you said to yourself: "Sam, what about a bit of rope? You'll want it, if you haven't got it:" Well, I'll wa nt it. I can't get it now.' At that moment Elrond came out with Gandalf, and he called the Company to him. 'This is my last word,' he said in a low voice. 'The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him alone is any charge laid: neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save members of the Company and the Council, and only then in gravest need. The others go with him as free companions, to help him on his way. You may tarry, or come back, or turn ####-aside into other paths, as chance allows. The further you go, the less easy will it be to withdraw; yet no oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.' `Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,' said Gimli. 'Maybe,' said Elrond, `but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall. ' 'Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart,' said Gimli. `Or break it,' said Elrond. `Look not too far ahead! But go now with good hearts! Farewell, and may the blessing of Elves and Men and all Free Folk go with you. May the stars shine upon your faces!' 'Good . . . good luck!' cried Bilbo, stuttering with the cold. 'I don't suppose you will be able to keep a diary, Frodo my lad, but I shall expect a full account when you get back. And don't be too long! Farewell!' Many other s of Elrond's household stood in the shadows and watched them go, bidding them farewell with soft voices. There was no laughter, and no song or music. At last they turned away and faded silently into the dusk. They crossed the bridge and wound slowly up the long steep paths that led out of the cloven vale of Rivendell; and they came at length to the high moor where the wind hissed through the heather. Then with one glance at the Last Homely House twinkling below them they strode away far into the night. At the Ford of Bruinen they left the Road and turning southwards went on by narrow paths among the folded lands. Their purpose was to hold this course west of the Mountains for many miles and days. The country was much rougher and mor e barren than in the green vale of the Great River in Wilderland on the other side of the range, and their going would be slow; but they hoped in this way to escape the notice of unfriendly eyes. The spies of Sauron had hitherto seldom been seen in this empty country, and the paths were little known except to the people of Rivendell. Gandalf walked in front, and with him went Aragorn, who knew this land even in the dark. The others were in file behind, and Legolas whose eyes were keen was the rearguard. The first part of their journey was hard and dreary, and Frodo remembered little of it, save the wind. For many sunless days an icy blast came from the Mountains in the east, and no garment seemed able to keep out its searching fingers. Though the Company was well clad, they seldom felt warm, either moving or at rest. They slept uneasily during ####-the middle of the day, in some hollow of the land, or hidden under the tangled thorn-bushes that grew in thickets in many places. In the late afternoon they were roused by the watch, and took their chief meal: cold and cheerless as a rule, for they could seldom risk the lighting of a fire. In the evening they went on again, always as nearly southward as they could find a way. At first it seemed to the hobbits that although they walked and stumbled until they were weary, they were creeping forward like snails, and getting nowhere. Each day the land looked much the same as it had the day before. Yet steadily the mountains were drawing nearer. South of Rivendell they rose ever higher, and bent westwards; and about the feet of the main range there was tumbled an ever wider land of bleak hills, and deep valleys filled with turbulent waters. Paths were few and winding, and led them often only to the edge of some sheer fall, or down into treacherous swamps. They had been a fortnight on the way when the weather changed. The wind suddenly fell and then veered round to the south. The swift -flowing clouds lifted and melted away, and the sun came out, pale and bright. There came a cold clear dawn at the end of a long stumbling night-march. The travellers reached a low ridge crowned with ancient holly -trees whose grey-green trunks seemed to have been bu ilt out of the very stone of the hills. Their dark leaves shone and their berries glowed red in the light of the rising sun. Away in the south Frodo could see the dim shapes of lofty mountains that seemed now to stand across the path that the Company was taking. At the left of this high range rose three peaks; the tallest and nearest stood up like a tooth tipped with snow; its great, bare, northern precipice was still largely in the shadow, but where the sunlight slanted upon it, it glowed red. Gandalf stood at Frodo's side and looked out under his hand. `We have done well,' he said. `We have reached the borders of the country that Men call Hollin; many Elves lived here in happier days, when Eregion was its name. Five-and-forty leagues as the crow flies we have come, though many long miles further our feet have walked. The land and the weather will be milder now, but perhaps all the more dangerous.' `Dangerous or not, a real sunrise is mighty welcome,' said Frodo, throwing back his hood and letting the morning light fall on his face. 'But the mountains are ahead of us,' said Pippin. `We must have turned eastwards in the night.'####- 'No,' said Gandalf. 'But you see further ahead in the clear light. Beyond those peaks the range bends round south-west. There are many maps in Elrond's house, but I suppose you never thought to look at them?' `Yes I did, sometimes,' said Pippin, `but I don't remember them. Frodo has a better head for that sort of thing.' `I need no map,' said Gimli, who had come up with Legolas, and was gazing out before him with a strange light in his deep eyes. `There is the land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of those mountains into many works of metal and of stone, and into many songs and tales. They stand tall in our dreams: Baraz, Zirak, Shathyr. `Only once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dym, the Dwarrowdelf, that is now called the Black Pit, Moria in the Elvish tongue. Yonder stands Barazinbar, the Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead: Celebdil the White, and Fanuidhol the Grey, that we call Zirak-zigil and Bundushathyr. `There the Misty Mountains divide, and between their arms lies the deep-shadowed valley which we cannot forget: Azanulbizar, the Dimrill Dale, which the Elves call Nanduhirion.' `It is for the Dimrill Dale that we are making,' said Gandalf. `If we climb the pass that is called the Redhorn Gate, under the far side of Caradhras, we shall come down by the Dimrill Stair into the deep vale of the Dwarves. There lies the Mirrormere, and there the River Silverlode rises in its icy springs.' `Dark is the water of Kheled-zvram,' said Gimli, `and cold are the springs of Kibil-nvla. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon.' `May you have joy of the sight, my good dwarf l' said Gandalf. 'But whatever you may do, we at least cannot stay in that valley. We must go down the Silverlode into the secret woods, and so to the Great River, and then --' He paused. 'Yes, and where then?' asked Merry. 'To the end of the journey -- in the end,' said Gandalf. 'We cannot look too far ahead. Let us be glad that the first stage is safely over. I think we will rest here, not only today but tonight as well. There is a ####-wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.' 'That is true,' said Legolas. `But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them: Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.' That morning they lit a fire in a deep hollow shrouded by great bushes of holly, and their supper -breakfast was merrier than it had been since they set out. They did not hurry to bed afterwards, for they expected to have all the night to sleep in, and they did not mean to go on again until the evening of the next day. Only Aragorn was silent and restless. After a while he left the Company and wandered on to the ridge; there he stood in the shadow of a tree, looking out southwards and westwards, with his head posed as if he was listening. Then he returned to the brink of the dell and look ed down at the others laughing and talking. `What is the matter, Strider?' Merry called up. 'What are you looking for? Do you miss the East Wind?' 'No indeed,' he answered. `But I miss something. I have been in the country of Hollin in many seasons. No folk dwell here now, but many other creatures live here at all times, especially birds. Yet now all things but you are silent. I can feel it. There is no sound for miles about us, and your voices seem to make the ground echo. I do not understand it.' Gandalf looked up with sudden interest. `But what do you guess is the reason?' he asked. `Is there more in it than surprise at seeing four hobbits, not to mention the rest of us, where people are so seldom seen or heard?' `I hope that is it,' answered Aragorn. `But I have a sense of watchfulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before.' "Then we must be more careful,' said Gandalf. 'If you bring a Ranger with you, it is well to pay attention to him, especially if the Ranger is Aragorn. We must stop talking aloud, rest quietly, and set the watch.' It was Sam's turn that day to take the first watch, but Aragorn joined him. The others fell asleep. Then the silence grew until even Sam felt it. The breathing of the sleepers could be plainly heard. The swish of the pony's tail and the occasional movements of his feet became loud noises. Sam could hear his own joints creaking, if he stirred. Dead silence was around ####-him, and over all hung a clear blue sky, as the Sun rode up from the East. Away in the South a dark patch appeared, and grew, and drove north like flying smoke in the wind. `What's that, Strider? It don't look like a cloud,' said Sam in a whisper to Aragorn. He made no answer, he was gazing intently at the sky; but before long Sam could see for himself what was approaching. Flocks of birds, flying at great speed, were wheeling and circling, and traversing all the land as if they were searching for something; and they were steadily drawing nearer. `Lie flat and still!' hissed Aragorn, pulling Sam down into the shade of a holly-bush; for a whole regiment of birds had broken away suddenly from the main host, and came, flying low, straight towards the ridge. Sam thought they were a kind of crow of large size. As they passed overhead, in so dense a throng that their shadow followed them darkly over the ground below, one harsh croak was heard. Not until they had dwindled into the distance, north and west, and the sky was again clear would Aragorn rise. Then he sprang up and went and wakened Gandalf. `Regiments of black crows are flying over all the land between the Mountains and the Greyflood,' he said, `and they have passed over Hollin. They are not natives here; they are crebain out of Fangorn and Dunland. I do not know what they are about: possibly there is some trouble away south from which they are fleeing; but I think they are spying out the land. I have also glimpsed many hawks flying high up in the sky. I think we ought to move again this evening. Hollin is no longer wholesome for us: it is being watched.' `And in that case so is the Redhorn Gate,' said Gandalf; `and how we can get over that withou t being seen, I cannot imagine. But we will think of that when we must. As for moving as soon as it is dark, I am afraid that you are right.' `Luckily our fire made little smoke, and had burned low before the crebain came,' said Aragorn. `It must be put out and not lit again.' `Well if that isn't a plague and a nuisance!' said Pippin. The news: no fire, and a move again by night, had been broken to him, as soon as he woke in the late afternoon. 'All because of a pack of crows! I had looked forward to a real good meal tonight: something hot.' `Well, you can go on looking forward,' said Gandalf. `There may be many ####-unexpected feasts ahead for you. For myself I should like a pipe to smoke in comfort, and warmer feet. However, we are certain of one thing at any rate: it will get warmer as we get south.' 'Too warm, I shouldn't wonder,' muttered Sam to Frodo. 'But I'm beginning to think it's time we got a sight of that Fiery Mountain and saw the end of the Road, so to speak. I thought at first that this here Redhorn, or whatever its name is, might be it, till Gimli spoke his piece. A fair jaw-cracker dwarf-language must be!' Maps conveyed nothing to Sam's mind, and all distances in these strange lands seemed so vast that he was quite out of his reckoning. All that day the Company remained in hiding. The dark birds passed over now and again; but as the westering Sun grew red they disappeared southwards. At dusk the Company set out, and turning now half east they steered their course towards Caradhras, which far away still glowed faintly red in the last light of the vanished Sun. One by one white stars sprang forth as the sky faded. Guided by Aragorn they struck a good path. It looked to Frodo like the remains of an ancient road, that had once been broad and well planned, from Hollin to the mountain -pass. The Moon, now at the full, rose over the mountains, and cast a pale light in which the shadows of stones were black. Many of them looked to have been worked by hands, though now they lay tumbled and ruinous in a bleak, barren land. It was the cold chill hour before the first stir of dawn, and the moon was low. Frodo looked up at the sky. Suddenly he saw or felt a shadow pass over the high stars, as if for a moment they faded and then flashed out again. He shivered. `Did you see anything pass over?' he whispered to Gandalf, who was just ahead. `No, but I felt it, whatever it was,' he answered. `It may be nothing, only a wisp of thin cloud.' `It was moving fast then,' muttered Aragorn, `and not with the wind.' Nothing further happened that night. The next morning dawned even brighter than before. But the air was chill again; already the wind was turning back towards the east. For two more nights they marched on, climbing steadily but ever more slowly as their road wound up into the hills, and the mountains towered up, nearer and nearer. On the third morning Caradhras rose before them, a mighty peak, tipped with snow like silver, but with sheer ####-naked sides, dull red as if stained with blood. There was a black look in the sky, and the sun was wan. The wind had gone now round to the north-east. Gandalf snuffed the air and looked ba ck. `Winter deepens behind us,' he said quietly to Aragorn. 'The heights away north are whiter than they were; snow is lying far down their shoulders. Tonight we shall be on our way high up towards the Redhorn Gate. We may well be seen by watchers on that narrow path, and waylaid by some evil; but the weather may prove a more deadly enemy than any. What do you think of your course now, Aragorn?' Frodo overheard these words, and understood that Gandalf and Aragorn were continuing some debate that had begun long before. He listened anxiously. 'I think no good of our course from beginning to end, as you know well, Gandalf,' answered Aragorn. `And perils known and unknown will grow as we go on. But we must go on; and it is no good our delaying the passage of the mountains. Further south there are no passes, till one comes to the Gap of Rohan. I do not trust that way since your news of Saruman. Who knows which side now the marshals of the Horse-lords serve?' 'Who knows indeed!' said Gandalf. `But there is another way, and not by the pass of Caradhras: the dark and secret way that we have spoken of.' 'But let us not speak of it again! Not yet. Say nothing to the others I beg, not until it is plain tha t there is no other way.' 'We must decide before we go further,' answered Gandalf. 'Then let us weigh the matter in our minds, while the others rest and sleep,' said Aragorn. In the late afternoon, while the others were finishing their breakfast, Gandalf and Aragorn went aside together and stood looking at Caradhras. Its sides were now dark and sullen, and its head was in grey cloud. Frodo watched them, wondering which way the debate would go. When they returned to the Company Ganda lf spoke, and then he knew that it had been decided to face the weather and the high pass. He was relieved. He could not guess what was the other dark and secret way, but the very mention of it had seemed to fill Aragorn with dismay, and Frodo was glad that it had been abandoned. `From signs that we have seen lately,' said Gandalf, 'I fear that the ####-Redhorn Gate may be watched; and also I have doubts of the weather that is coming up behind. Snow may come. We must go with all the speed that we can. Even so it will take us more than two marches before we reach the top of the pass. Dark will come early this evening. We must leave as soon as you can get ready.' 'I will add a word of advice, if I may,' said Boromir. 'I was born under the shadow of the White Mountains and know something of journeys in the high places. We shall meet bitter cold, if no worse, before we come down on the other side. It will not help us to keep so secret that we are frozen to death. When we leave here, where there are still a few trees and bushes, each of us should carry a faggot of wood, as large as he can bear.' 'And Bill could take a bit more, couldn't you lad?' said Sam. The pony looked at him mournfully. 'Very well,' said Gandalf. `But we must not use the wood -- not unless it is a choice between fire and death.' The Company set out again with good speed at first; but soon their way became steep and difficult. The twisting and climbing road had in many places almost disappeared, and was blocked with many fallen stones. The night grew deadly dark under great clouds. A bitter wind swirled among the rocks. By midnight they had climbed to the knees of the great mountains. The narrow path now wound under a sheer wall of cliffs to the left, above which the grim flanks of Caradhras towered up invisible in the gloom; on the right was a gulf of darkness where the land fell suddenly into a deep ravine. Laboriously they climbed a sharp slope and halted for a moment at the top. Frodo felt a soft touch on his face. He put out his arm and saw the dim white flakes of snow settling on his sleeve. They went on. But before long the snow was falling fast, filling all the air, and swirling into Frodo's eyes. The dark bent shapes of Gandalf and Aragorn only a pace or two ahead could hardly be seen. 'I don't like this at all,' panted Sam just behind. 'Snow's all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed while it's falling. I wish this lot would go off to Hobbiton! Folk might welcome it there.' Except on the high moors of the Northfarthing a heavy fall was rare in the Shire, and was regarded as a pleasant event and a chance for fun. No living hobbit (save ####-Bilbo) could remember the Fell Winter of 1311, when the white wolves invaded the Shire over the frozen Brandywine. Gandalf halted. Snow was thick on his hood and shoulders; it was already ankle-deep about his boots. "This is what I feared,' he said. `What do you say now, Aragorn?' 'That I feared it too,' Aragorn answered, `but less than other things. I knew the risk of snow, though it seldom falls heavily so far south, save high up in the mountains. But we are not high yet; we are still far down, where the paths are usually open all the winter.' 'I wonder if this is a contrivance of the Enemy,' said Boromir. "They say in my land that he can govern the storms in the Mountains of Shadow that stand upon the borders of Mordor. He has strange powers and many allies.' 'His arm has grown long indeed,' said Gimli, `if he can draw snow down from the North to trouble us here three hundred leagues away.' 'His arm has grown long,' said Gandalf. While they were halted, the wind died down, and the snow slackened until it almost ceased. They tramped on again. But they had not gone more than a furlong when the storm returned with fresh fury. The wind whistled and the snow became a blinding blizzard. Soon even Boromir found it hard to keep going. The hobbits, bent nearly double, toiled along behind the taller folk, but it was plain that they could not go much further, if the snow continued. Frodo's feet felt like lead. Pippin was dragging behind. Even Gimli, as stout as any dwarf could be, was grumbling as he trudged. The Company halted suddenly, as if they had come to an agreement without any words being spoken. They heard eerie noises in the darkness round them. It may have been only a trick of the wind in the cracks and gullies of the rocky wall, but the sounds were those of shrill cries, and wild howls of laughter. Stones began to fall from the mountain-side, whistling over their heads, or crashing on the path beside them. Every now and again they heard a dull rumble, as a gr eat boulder rolled down from hidden heights above. `We cannot go further tonight,' said Boromir. `Let those call it the wind who will; there are fell voices on the air; and these stones are aimed at us.' `I do call it the wind,' said Aragor n. `But that does not make what you say untrue. There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have ####-little love for those that go on two legs, and yet are not in league with Sauron, but have purposes of their own. Some have been in this world longer than he.' 'Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name, said Gimli, `long years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.' `It matters little who is the enemy, if we cannot beat off his attack; said Gandalf. 'But what can we do?' cried Pippin miserably. He was leaning on Merry and Frodo, and he was shivering. `Either stop where we are, or go back,' said Gandalf. 'It is no good going on. Only a little higher, if I remember rightly, this path leaves the cliff and runs into a wide shallow trough at the bottom of a long hard slope. We should have no shelter there from snow, or stones -- or anything else.' `And it is no good going back while the storm holds,' said Aragorn. `We have pa ssed no place on the way up that offered more shelter than this cliff-wall we are under now.' `Shelter!' muttered Sam. `If this is shelter, then one wall and no roof make a house.' The Company now gathered together as close to the cliff as they could. It faced southwards, and near the bottom it leaned out a little, so that they hoped it would give them some protection from the northerly wind and from the falling stones. But eddying blasts swirled round them from every side, and the snow flowed down in ever denser clouds. They huddled together with their backs to the wall. Bill the pony stood patiently but dejectedly in front of the hobbits, and screened them a little; but before long the drifting snow was above his hocks, and it went on mounting. If they had had no larger companions the hobbits would soon have been entirely buried. A great sleepiness came over Frodo; he felt himself sinking fast into a warm and hazy dream. He thought a fire was heating his toes, and out of the shadows on the other side of the hearth he heard Bilbo's voice speaking. I don't think much of your diary , he said. Snowstorms on January the twelfth: there was no need to come back to report that! But I wanted rest and sleep, Bilbo, Frodo answered with an effort, when he felt himself shaken, and he came back painfully to wakefulness. Boromir had lifted him off the ground out of a nest of snow.####- `This will be the death of the halflings, Gandalf,' said Boromir. `It is useless to sit here until the snow goes over our heads. We must do something to save ourselves.' `Give them this,' said Gandalf, searching in his pack and drawing out a leathern flask. `Just a mouthful each -- for all of us. It is very precious. It is miruvor, the cordial of Imladris. Elrond gave it to me at our parting. Pass it round!' As soon as Frodo had swallowed a little of the warm and fragrant liquor he felt a new strength of heart, and the heavy drowsiness left his limbs. The others a lso revived and found fresh hope and vigour. But the snow did not relent. It whirled about them thicker than ever, and the wind blew louder. 'What do you say to fire?' asked Boromir suddenly. 'The choice seems near now between fire and death, Gandalf. Doubtless we shall be hidden from all unfriendly eyes when the snow has covered us, but that will not help us.' 'You may make a fire, if you can,' answered Gandalf. 'If there are any watchers that can endure this storm, then they can see us, fire or no.' But though they had brought wood and kindlings by the advice of Boromir, it passed the skill of Elf or even Dwarf to strike a flame that would hold amid the swirling wind or catch in the wet fuel. At last reluctantly Gandalf himself took a hand. Picking up a faggot he held it aloft for a moment, and then with a word of command, naur an edraith ammen! he thrust the end of his staff into the midst of it. At once a great spout of green and blue flame sprang out, and the wood flared and sputtered. `If there are any to see, then I at least am revealed to them,' he said. 'I have written Gandalf is here in signs that all can read from Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin.' But the Company cared no longer for watchers or unfriendly eyes. Their hearts were rejoiced to see the light of the fire. The wood burned merrily; and though all round it the snow hissed, and pools of slush crept under their feet, they warmed their hands gladly at the blaze. There they stood, stooping in a circle round the little dancing and blowing flames. A red light was on their tired and anxious faces; behind them the night was like a black wall. But the wood was burning fast, and the snow still fell. The fire burned low. and the last faggot was thrown on.####- The night is getting old,' said Aragorn. "The dawn is not far off.' `If any dawn can pierce these clouds,' said Gimli. Boromir stepped out of the circle and stared up into the blackness. 'The snow is growing less,' he said, `and the wind is quieter.' Frodo gazed wearily at the flakes still falling out of the dark to be revealed white for a moment in the light of the dying fire; but for a long time he could see no sign of their slackening. Then suddenly, as sleep was beginning to creep over him again, he was aware that the wind had indeed fallen, and the flakes were becoming larger and fewer. Very slowly a dim light began to grow. At last the snow stopped altogether. As the light grew stronger it showed a silent shrouded world. Below their refuge were white humps and domes and shapeless deeps beneath which the path that they had trodden was altogether lost; but the heights above were hidden in great clouds still heavy with the threat of snow. Gimli looked up and shook his head. `Caradhras has not forgiven us.' he said. `He has more snow yet to fling at us, if we go on. The sooner we go back and down the better.' To this all agreed, but their retreat was now difficult. It might well prove impossible. Only a few paces from the ashes of their fire the snow lay many feet deep, higher than the heads of the hobbits; in places it had been scooped and piled by the wind into great drifts against the cliff. `If Gandalf would go before us with a bright flame, he might melt a path for you,' said Legolas. The storm had troubled him little, and he alone of the Company remained still light of heart. `If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save us,' answered Gandalf. `But I must have something to work on. I cannot burn snow.' `Well,' said Boromir, `when heads are at a loss bodies must serve, as we say in my country. The strongest of us must seek a way. See! Though all is now snow-clad, our path, as we came up, turned about that shoulder of rock down yonder. It was there that the snow first began to burden us. If we could reach that point, maybe it would prove easier beyond. It is no more than a furlong off, I guess. ' `Then let us force a path thither, you and I!' said Aragorn. Aragorn was the tallest of the Company, but Boromir, little less in height, was broader and heavier in build. He led the way, and Aragorn followed him. Slowly they moved off, and were soon toiling heavily. In ####-places the snow was breast -high, and often Boromir seemed to bc swimming or burrowing with his great arms rather than walking. Legolas watched them for a while with a smile upon his lips, and then he turned to the others. `The strongest must seek a way, say you? But I say: let a ploughman plough, but choose an otter for swimming, and for running light over grass and leaf or over snow-an Elf.' With that he sprang forth nimbly, and then Frodo noticed as if for the first time, though he had long known it, that the Elf had no boots, but wore only light shoes, as he always did, and his feet made little imprint in the snow. 'Farewell!' he said to Gandalf. `I go to find the Sun!' Then swift as a runner over firm sand he shot away, and quickly overtaking the toiling men, with a wave of his hand he passed them, and sped into the distance, and vanished round the rocky turn. The others waited huddled together, watching until Boromir and Aragor n dwindled into black specks in the whiteness. At length they too passed from sight. The time dragged on. The clouds lowered, and now a few flakes of snow came curling down again. An hour, maybe, went by, though it seemed far longer, and then at last they saw Legolas coming back. At the same time Boromir and Aragorn reappeared round the bend far behind him and came labouring up the slope. `Well,' cried Legolas as he ran up, `I have not brought the Sun. She is walking in the blue fields of the South, and a little wreath of snow on this Redhorn hillock troubles her not at all. But I have brought back a gleam of good hope for those who are doomed to go on feet. There is the greatest wind-drift of all just beyond the turn, and there our Strong Men were almost buried. They despaired, until I returned and told them that the drift was little wider than a wall. And on the other side the snow suddenly grows less, while further down it is no more than a white coverlet to cool a hobbit's toes.' `Ah, it is as I said,' growled Gimli. 'It was no ordinary storm. It is the ill will of Caradhras. He does not love Elves and Dwarves, and that drift was laid to cut off our escape.' 'But happily your Caradhras has forgotten that you have Men with you,' said Boromir, who came up at that moment. `And doughty Men too, if I may say ####-it; though lesser men with spades might have served you better. Still, we have thrust a lane through the drift; and for that all here may be grateful who cannot run as light as Elves.' `But how are we to get down there, even if you have cut through the drift?' said Pippin, voicing the thought of all the hobbits. 'Have hope!' said Boromir. 'I am weary, but I still have some strength left, and Aragorn too. We will bear the little folk. The others no doubt will make shift to tread the path behind us. Come, Master Peregrin! I will begin with you.' He lifted up the hobbit. 'Cling to my back! I shall need my arms' he said and strode forward. Aragorn with Merry came behind. Pippin marvelled at his strength, seeing the passage that he had already forced with no other tool than his great limbs. Even now, burdened as he was, he was widening the track for those who followed, thrusting the snow aside as he went. They came at length to the great drift. It was flung across the mountain-path like a sheer and sudden wall, and its crest, sharp as if shaped with knives, reared up more than twice the height of Boromir; but through the middle a passage had been beaten, rising and falling like a bridge. On the far side Merry and Pippin were set down, and there they waited with Legolas for the rest of the Company to arrive. After a while Boromir returned carrying Sam. Behind in the narrow but now well-trodden track came Gandalf, leading Bill with Gimli perched among the baggage. Last came Aragorn carrying Frodo. They passed through the lane; but hardly had Frodo touched the ground when with a deep rumble there rolled down a fall of stones and slithering snow. The spray of it half blinded the Company as they crouched against the cliff, and when the air cleared again they saw that the path was blocked behind them. `Enough, enough!' cried Gimli. 'We are departing as quickly as we may!' And indeed with that last stroke the malice of the mountain seemed to be expended, as if Caradhras was satisfied that the invaders had been beaten off and would not dare to return. The threat of snow lift ed; the clouds began to break and the light grew broader. As Legolas had reported, they found that the snow became steadily more shallow as they went down, so that even the hobbits could trudge along. Soon they all stood once more on the flat shelf at the head of the steep slope where they had felt the first flakes of snow the night before. The morning was now far advanced. From the high place they looked back ####-westwards over the lower lands. Far away in the tumble of country that lay at the foot of the mountain was the dell from which they had started to climb the pass. Frodo's legs ached. He was chilled to the bone and hungry; and his head was dizzy as he thought of the long and painful march downhill. Black specks swam before his eyes. He rubbed them, but the black specks remained. In the distance below him, but still high above the lower foothills, dark dots were circling in the air. `The birds again!' said Aragorn, pointing down. 'That cannot be helped now,' said Gandalf. `Whether they are good or evil, or have nothing to do with us at all, we must go down at once. Not even on the knees of Caradhras will we wait for another night-fall!' A cold wind flowed down behind them, as they turned their backs on the Redhorn Gate, and stumbled wearily down the slope. Caradhras had defeated them.####- It was evening, and the grey light was again waning fast, when they halted for the night. They were very weary. The mountains were veiled in deepening dusk, and the wind was cold. Gandalf spared them one more mouthful each of the miruvor of Rivendell. When they had eaten some food he called a council. 'We cannot, of course, go on again tonight,' he said. `The attack on the Redhorn Gate has tired us out, and we must rest here for a while.' `And then where are we to go? ' asked Frodo. 'We still have our journey and our errand before us,' answered Gandalf. `We have no choice but to go on, or to return to Rivendell.' Pippin's face brightened visibly at the mere mention of return to Rivendell; Merry and Sam looked up hopefully. But Aragorn and Boromir made no sign. Frodo looked troubled. `I wish I was back there,' he said. `But how can I return without shame -- unless there is indeed no other way, and we are already defeated? ' `You are right, Frodo,' said Gandalf: `to go back is to admit defeat and face worse defeat to come. If we go back now, then the Ring must remain there: we shall not be able to set out again. Then sooner or later Rivendell will be besieged, and after a brief and bitter time it will be destroyed. The Ringwraiths are deadly enemies, but they are only shadows yet of the power and terror they would possess if the Ruling Ring was on their master's hand again.' 'Then we must go on, if there is a way,' said Frodo with a sigh. Sam sank back into gloom. `There is a way that we may attempt,' said Gandalf. `I thought from the beginning, when first I considered this journey, that we should try it. But it is not a pleasant way, and I have not spoken of it to the Company before. Aragorn was against it, until the pass over the mountains had at least been tried.' `If it is a worse road than the Redhorn Gate, then it must be evil ####-indeed,' said Merry. `But you had better tell us about it, and let us know the worst at once.' 'The road that I speak of leads to the Mines of Moria,' said Gandalf. Only Gimli lifted up his head; a smouldering fire was in his eyes. On all the others a dread fell at the mention of that name. Even to the hobbits it was a legend of vague fear: `The road may lead to Moria, but how can we hope that it will lead through Moria? ' said Aragorn darkly. `It is a name of ill omen,' said Boromir. `Nor do I see the need to go there. If we cannot cross the mountains, let us journey southwards, until we come to the Gap of Rohan, where men are friendly to my people, taking the road that I followed on my way hither. Or we might pass by and cross the Isen into Langstrand and Lebennin, and so come to Gondor from the regions nigh to the sea.' 'Things have changed since you came north, Boromir,' answered Gandalf. 'Did you not hear what I told you of Saruman? With him I may have business of my own ere all is over. But the Ring must not come near Isengard, if that can by any means be prevented. The Gap of Rohan is closed to us while we go with the Bearer. 'As for the longer road: we cannot afford the time. We might spend a year in such a journey, and we should pass through many lands that are empty and harbourless. Yet they would not be safe. The watchful eyes both of Saruman and of the Enemy are on them. When you came north, Boromir, you were in the Enemy's eyes only one stray wanderer from the South and a matter of small concern to him: his mind was busy with the pursuit of the Ring. But you return now as a member of the Ring's Company, and you are in peril as long as you remain with us. The danger will increase with every league that we go south under the naked sky. `Since our open attempt on the mountain-pass our plight has become more desperate, I fear. I see now little hope, if we do not soon vanish from sight for a while, and cover our trail. Therefore I advise that we should go neither over the mountains, nor round them, but under them. That is a road at any rate that the Enemy will least expect us to take.' `We do not know what he expects,' said Boromir. `He may watch all roads, likely and unlikely. In that case to enter Moria would be to walk into a trap, hardly better than knocking at the gates of the Dark Tower ####-itself. The name of Moria is black.' `You speak of what you do not know, when you liken Moria to the stronghold of Sauron,' answered Gandalf. `I alone of you have ever been in the dungeons of the Dark Lord, and only in his older and lesser dwelling in Dol Guldur. Those who pass the gates of Barad-dyr do not return. But I wou ld not lead you into Moria if there were no hope of coming out again. If there are Orcs there, it may prove ill for us, that is true. But most of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were scattered or destroyed in the Battle of Five Armies. The Eagles report that Orcs are gathering again from afar; but there is a hope that Moria is still free. `There is even a chance that Dwarves are there, and that in some deep hall of his fathers, Balin son of Fundin may be found. However it may prove, one must tread the path that need chooses!' 'I will tread the path with you, Gandalf! ' said Gimli. 'I will go and look on the halls of Durin, whatever may wait there-if you can find the doors that are shut.' 'Good, Gimli! ' said Gandalf. `You encourage me. We will seek the hidden doors together. And we will come through. In the ruins of the Dwarves, a dwarf's head will be less easy to bewilder than Elves or Men or Hobbits. Yet it will not be the first time that I have been to Moria. I sought there long for Thrbin son of Thrur after he was lost. I passed through, and I came out again alive! ' `I too once passed the Dimrill Gate,' said Aragorn quietly; 'but though I also came out again, the memory is very evil. I do not wish to enter Moria a second time.' 'And I don't wish to enter it even once,' said Pippin. 'Nor me,' muttered Sam. `Of course not! ' said Gandalf. 'Who would? But the question is: who will follow me, if I lead you there? ' 'I will,' said Gimli eagerly. 'I will,' said Aragorn heavily. `You followed my lead almost to disaster in the snow, and have said no word of blame. I will follow your lead now -- if this last warning does not move you. It is not of the Ring, nor of us others that I am thinking now, but of you, Gandalf. And I say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware! ' `I will not go,' said Boromir; 'not unless the vote of the whole company is against me. What do Legolas and the little folk say? The ####-Ring-bearer's voice surely should be heard? ' 'I do not wish to go to Moria,' said Legolas. The hobbits said nothing. Sam looked at Frodo. At last Frodo spoke. `I do not wish to go,' he said; `but neither do I wish to refuse the advice of Gandalf. I beg that there should be no vote, until we have slept on it. Gandalf will get votes easier in the light of the morning than in this cold gloom. How the wind howls! ' At these words all fell into silent thought. They heard the wind hissing among the rocks and trees, and there was a howling and wailing round them in the empty spaces of the night. Suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet. 'How the wind howls! ' he cried. 'It is howling with wolf-voices. The Wargs have come west of the Mountains! ' 'Need we wait until morning then? ' said Gandalf. `It is as I said. The hunt is up! Even if we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves on his trail? ' 'How far is Moria? ' asked Boromir. `There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs,' answered Gandalf grimly. 'Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can,' said Boromir. 'The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears.' `True!' said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath. `But where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls.' `I wish I had taken Elrond's advice,' muttered Pippin to Sam. `I am no good after all. There is not enough of the breed of Bandobras the Bullroarer in me: these howls freeze my blood. I don't ever remember feeling so wretched.' 'My heart's right down in my toes, Mr. Pippin,' said Sam. 'But we aren't etten yet, and there are some stout folk here with us. Whatever may be in store for old Gandalf, I'll wager it isn't a wolf's belly.' For their defence in the night the Company climbed to the top of the small hill under which they had been sheltering. it was crowned with a knot of old and twisted trees, about which lay a broken circle of boulder stones. In the midst of this they lit a fire, for there was no hope that darkness and silence would keep their trail from discovery by the hunting packs. Round the fire they sat, and those that were not on guard dozed uneasily. Poor Bill the pony trembled and sweated where he stood. The ####-howling of the wolves was now all round them, sometimes nearer and sometimes further off. In the dead of the night many shining eyes were seen peering over the brow of the hill. Some advanced almost to the ring of stones. At a gap in the circle a great dark wolf-shape could be seen halted, gazing at them. A shuddering howl broke from him, as if he were a captain summoning his pack to the assault. Gandalf stood up and strode forward, holding his staff aloft. 'Listen, Hound of Sauron! ' he cried. `Gandalf is here. Fly, if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring.' The wolf snarled and sprang towards them with a great leap. At that moment there was a sharp twang. Legolas had loosed his bow. There was a hideous yell, and the leaping shape thudded to the ground; the elvish arrow had pierced its throat. The watching eyes were suddenly extinguished. Gandalf and Aragorn strode forward, but the hill was deserted; the hunting packs had fled. All about them the darkness grew silent, and no cry came on the sighing wind. The night was old, and westward the waning moon was setting. gleaming fitfully through the breaking clouds. Suddenly Frodo started from sleep. Without warning a storm of howls broke out fierce and wild all about the camp. A great host of Wargs ha d gathered silently and was now attacking them from every side at once. `Fling fuel on the fire!' cried Gandalf to the hobbits. `Draw your blades, and stand back to back!' In the leaping light, as the fresh wood blazed up, Frodo saw many gr ey shapes spring over the ring of stones. More and more followed. Through the throat of one huge leader Aragorn passed his sword with a thrust; with a great sweep Boromir hewed the head off another. Beside them Gimli stood with his stout legs apart, wielding his dwarf-axe. The bow of Legolas was singing. In the wavering firelight Gandalf seemed suddenly to grow: he rose up, a great menacing shape like the monument of some ancient king of stone set upon a hill. Stooping like a cloud, he lifted a burning branch and strode to meet the wolves. They gave back before him. High in the air he tossed the blazing brand. It flared with a sudden white radiance like lightning; and his voice rolled like thunder.####- `Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!' he cried. There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light. The swords and knives of the defenders shone and flickered. The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew, and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain. All the others fled. Slowly the fire died till nothing was left but falling ash and sparks; a bitter smoke curled above the burned tree-stumps, and blew darkly from the hill, as the first light of dawn came dimly in the sky. Their enemies were routed and did not return. `What did I tell you, Mr. Pippin? ' said Sam, she/thing his sword. `Wolves won't get him. That was an eye-opener, and no mistake! Nearly singed the hair off my head!' When the full light of the morning came no signs of the wolves were to be found, and they looked in vain for the bodies of the dead. No trace of the fight remained but the charred trees and the arrows of Legolas lying on the hill-top. All were undamaged save one of which only the point was left. `It is as I feared,' said Gandalf. `These were no ordinary wolves hunting for food in the wilderness. Let us eat quickly and go!' That day the weather changed again, almost as if it was at the command of some power that had no longer any use for snow, since they had retreated from the pass, a power that wished now to have a clear light in which things that moved in the wild could be seen from far away. The wind had been turning through north to north-west during the night, and now it failed. The clouds vanished southwards and the sky was opened, high and blue. As they stood upon the hill-side, ready to depart, a pale sunlight gleamed over the mountain-tops. `We must reach the doors before sunset,' said Gandalf, 'or I fear we shall not reach them at all. It is not far, but our path may be winding, for here Aragorn cannot guide us; he has seldom walked in this country, and only once have I been under the west wall of Moria, and that was long ago. `There it lies,' he said, pointing away south-eastwards to where the mountains' sides fell sheer into the shadows at their feet. In the distance could be dimly seen a line of bare cliffs, and in their midst, taller than the rest, one great grey wall. `When we left the pass I led you southwards, and not back to our starting point, as some of you may have noticed. It is ####-well that I did so, for now we have several miles less to cross, and haste is needed. Let us go! ' `I do not know which to hope,' said Boromir grimly: `that Gandalf will find what he seeks, or that coming to the cliff we shall find the gates lost for ever. All choices seem ill, and to be caught between wolves and the wall the likeliest chance. Lead on!' Gimli now walked ahead by the wizard's side, so eager was he to come to Moria. Together they led the Company back towards the mountains. The only road of old to Moria from the west had lain along the course of a stream, the Sirannon, that ran out from the feet of the cliffs near where the doors had stood. But either Gandalf was astray, or else the land had changed in recent years; for he did not strike the stream where he looked to find it, only a few miles southwards from their start. The morning was passing towards noon, and still the Company wandered and scrambled in a barren country of red stones. Nowhere could they see any gleam of water or hear any sound of it. All was bleak and dry. Their hearts sank. They saw no living thing, and not a bird was in the sky; but what the night would bring, if it caught them in that lost land, none of them cared to think. Suddenly Gimli, who had pressed on ahead, called back to them. He was standing on a knoll and pointing to the right. Hurrying up they saw below them a deep and narrow channel. It was empty and silent, and hardly a trickle of water flowed among the brown and red-stained stones of its bed; but on the near side there was a path, much broken and decayed, that wound its way among the ruined walls and paving -stones of an ancient highroad. 'Ah! Here it is at last! ' said Gandalf. `This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy. Come! We must hurry on. We are late.' The Company were footsore and tired; but they trudged doggedly along the rough and winding track for many miles. The sun turned from the noon and began to go west. After a brief halt and a hasty meal they went on again. Before them the mountains frowned, but their path lay in a deep trough of land and they could see only the higher shoulders and the far eastward peaks. At length they came to a sharp bend. There the road, which had been veering southwards between the brink of the channel and a steep fall of the ####-land to the left, turned and went due east again. Rounding the corner they saw before them a low cliff, some five fathoms high, with a broken and jagged top. Over it a trickling water dripped, through a wide cleft that seemed to have been carved out by a fall that had once been strong and full. `Indeed things have changed! ' said Gandalf. `But there is no mistaking the place. There is all that remains of the Stair Falls. If I remember right, there was a flight of steps cut in the rock at their side, but the main road wound away left and climbed with several loops up to the level ground at the top. There used to be a shallow valley beyond the falls right up to the Walls of Moria, and the Sirannon flowed through it with the road beside it. Let us go and see what things are like now! ' They found the stone steps without difficulty, and Gimli sprang swiftly up them, followed by Gandalf and Frodo. When they reached the top they saw that they could go no further that way, and the reason for the drying up of the Gate-stream was revealed. Behind them the sinking Sun filled the cool western sky with glimmering gold. Before them stretched a dark still lake. Neither sky nor sunset was reflected on its sullen surface. The Sirannon had been dammed and had filled all the valley. Beyond the ominous water were reared vast cliffs, their stern faces pallid in the fading light: final and impassable. No sign of gate or entrance, not a fissure or crack could Frodo see in the frowning stone. `There are the Walls of Moria,' said Gandalf, pointing across the water. `And there the Gate stood once upon a time, the Elven Door at the end of the road from Hollin by which we have come. But this way is blocked. None of the Company, I guess, will wish to swim this gloomy water at the end of the day. It has an unwholesome look.' `We must find a way round the northern edge,' said Gimli. `The first thing for the Company to do is to climb up by the main path and see where that will lead us. Even if there were no lake, we could not get our baggage-pony up this stair.' `But in any case we cannot take the poor beast into the Mines,' said Gandalf. `The road under the mountains is a dark road, and there are places narrow and steep which he cannot tread, even if we can.' `Poor old Bill! ' said Frodo. `I had not thought of that. And poor Sam! I wonder what he will say? ' `I am sorry,' said Gandalf. `Poor Bill has been a useful companion and it goes to my heart to turn him adrift now. I would have travelled lighter ####-and brought no animal, least of all this one that Sam is fond of, if I had had my way. I feared all along that we should be obliged to take this road.' The day was drawing to its end, and cold stars were glinting in the sky high above the sunset, when the Company, with all the speed they could, climbed up the slopes and reached the side of the lake. In breadth it looked to be no more than two or three furlongs at the widest point. How far it stretched away southward they could not see in the failing light; but its northern end was no more than half a mile from where they stood, and between the stony ridges that enclosed the valley and the water's edge there was a rim of open ground. They hurried forward, for they had still a mile or two to go before they could reach the point on the far shore that Gandalf was making for; and then he had still to find the doors. When they came to the northernmost corner of the lake they found a narrow creek that barred their way. It was green and stagnant, thrust out like a slimy arm towards the enclosing hills. Gimli strode forward undeterred, and found that the water was shallow, no more than ankle-deep at the edge. Behind him they walked in file, threading their way with care, for under the weedy pools were sliding and greasy stones, and footing was treacherous. Frodo shuddered with disgust at the touch of the dark unclean water on his feet. As Sam, the last of the Company, led Bill up on to the dry ground on the far side, there came a soft sound: a swish, followed by a plop, as if a fish had disturbed the still surface of the water. Turning quickly they saw ripples, black -edged with shadow in the waning light: great rings were widening outwards from a point far out in the lake. There was a bubbling noise, and then silence. The dusk deepened, and the last gleams of the sunset were veiled in cloud. Gandalf now pressed on at a great pace, and the others followed as quickly as they could. They reached the strip of dry land between the lake and the cliffs: it was narrow, often hardly a dozen yards across, and encumbered with fallen rock and stones; but they found a way, hugging the cliff, and keeping as far from the dark water as they might. A mile southwards along the shore they came upon holly trees. Stumps and dead boughs were rotting in the shallows, the remains it seemed of old thickets, or of a hedge that had once lined the road across the drowned valley. But close under the cliff there stood, still strong and living, . two tall trees, larger than any trees of holly that Frodo had ever seen or imagined.####-Their great roots spread from the wall to the water. Under the looming cliffs they had looked like mere bushes, when seen far off from the top of the Stair; but now they towered overhead, stiff, dark, and silent, throwing deep night-shadows about their feet, standing like sentinel pillars at the end of the road. `Well, here we are at last! ' said Gandalf. 'Here the Elven-way from Hollin ended. Holly was the token of the people of that land, and they planted it here to mark the end of their domain; for the West -door was made chiefly for their use in their traffic with the Lords of Moria. Those were happier days, when there was still close friendship at times between folk of different race, even between Dwarves and Elves.' 'It was not the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship waned,' said Gimli. 'I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves,' said Legolas. 'I have heard both,' said Gandalf; 'and I will not give judgement now. But I beg you two, Legolas and Gimli, at least to be friends, and to help me. I need you both. The doors are shut and hidden, and the sooner we find them the better. Night is at hand! ' Turning to the others he said: 'While I am searching, will you each make ready to enter the Mines? For here I fear we must say farewell to our good bea st of burden. You must lay aside much of the stuff that we brought against bitter weather: you will not need it inside, nor, I hope, when we come through and journey on down into the South. Instead each of us must take a share of what the pony carried, especially the food and the water -skins.' 'But you can't leave poor old Bill behind in this forsaken place, Mr. Gandalf! ' cried Sam, angry and distressed. `I won't have it, and that's flat. After he has come so far and all! ' 'I am sorry, Sam,' said the wizard. `But when the Door opens I do not think you will be able to drag your Bill inside, into the long dark of Moria. You will have to choose between Bill and your master.' 'He'd follow Mr. Frodo into a dragon's den, if I led him,' protested Sam. `It'd be nothing short of murder to turn him loose with all these wolves about.' 'It will be short of murder, I hope,' said Gandalf. He laid his hand on the pony's head, and spoke in a low voice. `Go with words of guard and guiding on you,' he said. `You are a wise beast, and have learned much in ####-Rivendell. Make your ways to places where you can find grass, and so come in time to Elrond's house, or wherever you wish to go. `There, Sam! He will have quite as much chance of escaping wolves and getting home as we have.' Sam stood sullenly by the pony and returned no answer. Bill, seeming to understand well what was going on, nuzzled up to him, putting his nose to Sam's ear. Sam burst into tears, and fumbled with the straps, unlading all the pony's packs and throwing them on the ground. The others sorted out the goods, making a pile of all that could be left behind, and dividing up the rest. When this was done they turned to watch Gandalf. He appeared to have done nothing. He was standing between the two trees gazing at the blank wall of the cliff, as if he would bore a hole into it with his eyes. Gimli was wandering about, tapping the stone here and there with his axe. Legolas was pressed against the rock, as if listening. 'Well, here we are and all ready,' said Merry; `but where are the Doors? I can't see any sign of them.' 'Dwarf-doors are not made to be seen when shut,' said Gimli. `They are invisible, and their own masters cannot find them or open them, if their secret is forgotten.' 'But this Door was not made to be a secret known only to Dwarves,' said Gandalf, coming suddenly to life and turning round. `Unless things are altogether changed, eyes that know what to look for may discover the signs.' He walked forward to the wall. Right between the shadow of the trees there was a smooth space, and over this he passed his hands to and fro, muttering words under his breath. Then he stepped back. 'Look!' he said. `Can you see anything now?' The Moon now shone upon the grey face of the rock; but they could see nothing else for a while. Then slowly on the surface, where the wizard's hands had passed, faint lines appeared, like slender veins of silver running in the stone. At first they were no more than pale gossamer -threads, so fine that they only twinkled fitfully where the Moon caught them, but steadily they grew broader and clearer, until their design could be guessed. At the top, as high as Gandalf could reach, was an arch of interlacing letters in an Elvish character. Below, though the threads were in places blurred or broken, the outline could be seen of an anvil and a hammer ####-surmounted by a crown with seven stars. Beneath these again were two trees, each bearing crescent moons. More clearly than all else there shone forth in the middle of the door a single star with many rays. `There are the emblems of Durin!' cried Gimli. `And there is the Tree of the High Elves!' said Legolas. `And the Star of the House of Flanor,' said Gandalf. `They are wrought of ithildin that mirrors only starlight and moonlight, and sleeps until it is touched by one who speaks words now long forgotten in Middle-earth. It is long since I heard them, and I thought deeply before I could recall them to my mind.' 'What does the writing say?' asked Frodo, who was trying to decipher the inscription on the arch. 'I thought I knew the elf-letters but I cannot read these.' `The words are in the elven-tongue of the West of Middle-earth in the Elder Days,' answered Gandalf. 'But they do not say anything of importance to us. They say only: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter. And underneath small and faint is written: I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs.' `What does it mean by speak, friend, and enter?' asked Merry. 'That is plain enough,' said Gimli. `If you are a friend, speak the password, and the doors will open, and you can enter.' 'Yes,' said Gandalf, 'these doors are probably governed by words. Some dwarf-gates will open only at special times, or for particular persons; and some have locks and keys that are still needed when all necessary times and words are known. These doors have no key. In the days of Durin they were not secret. They usually stood open and doorwards sat here. But if they were shut, any who knew the opening word could speak it and pass in. At lea st so it is recorded, is it not, Gimli? ' 'It is,' said the dwarf. `But what the word was is not remembered. Narvi and his craft and all his kindred have vanished from the earth.' 'But do not you know the word, Gandalf? ' asked Boromir in surprise. `No! ' said the wizard. The others looked dismayed; only Aragorn, who knew Gandalf well, remained silent and unmoved. 'Then what was the use of bringing us to this accursed spot?' cried Boromir, glancing back with a shudder at the dark water. `You told us that you had once passed through the Mines. How could that be, if you did not ####-know how to enter? ' `The answer to your first question, Boromir,' said the wizard, `is that I do not know the word-yet. But we shall soon see. And,' he added, with a glint in his eyes under their bristling brows, 'you may ask what is the use of my deeds when they are proved useless. As for your other question: do you doubt my tale? Or have you no wits left? I did not enter this way. I came from the East. `If you wish to know, I will tell you that these doors open outwards. From the inside you may thrust them open with your hands. From the outside nothing will move them save the spell of command. They cannot be forced inwards.' `What are you going to do then? ' asked Pippin, undaunted by the wizard's bristling brows. `Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took,' said Gandalf. `But if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will seek for the opening words. `I once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves or Men or Orcs that was ever used for such a purpose. I can still remember ten score of them without searching in my mind. But on ly a few trials, I think, will be needed; and I shall not have to call on Gimli for words of the secret dwarf-tongue that they teach to none. The opening words were Elvish, like the writing on the arch: that seems certain.' He stepped up to the rock again, and lightly touched with his staff the silver star in the middle beneath the sign of the anvil. Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen! he said in a commanding voice. The silver lines faded, but the blank grey stone did not stir. Many times he repeated these words in different order, or varied them. Then he tried other spells. one after another, speaking now faster and louder, now soft and slow. Then he spoke many single words of Elvish speech. Nothing happened. The cliff towered into the night, the countless stars were kindled, the wind blew cold, and the doors stood fast. Again Gandalf approached the wall, and lifting up his arms he spoke in tones of command and rising wrath. Edro, edro! he cried, and struck the rock with his staff. Open, open! he shouted, and followed it with the same command in every language that had ever been spoken in the West of ####-Middle-earth. Then he threw his staff on the ground, and sat down in silence. At that moment from far off the wind bore to their listening ears the howling of wolves. Bill the pony started in fear, and Sam sprang to his side and whispered softly to him. 'Do not let him run away! ' said Boromir. 'It seems that we shall need him still, if the wolves do not find us. How I hate this foul pool! ' He stooped and picking up a large stone he cast it far into the dark water. The stone vanished with a soft slap; but at the same instant there was a swish and a bubble. Great rippling rings formed on the surface out beyond where the stone had fallen, and they moved slowly towards the foot of the cliff. 'Why did you do that, Boromir? ' said Frodo. `I hate this place, too, and I am afraid. I don't know of what: not of wolves, or the dark behind the doors, but of something else. I am afraid of the pool. Don't disturb it! ' 'l wish we could get away! ' said Merry. 'Why doesn't Gandalf do something quick? ' said Pippin. Gandalf took no notice of them. He sat with his head bowed, either in despair or in anxious thought. The mournful howling of the wolves was heard again. The ripples on the water grew and came closer; some were already lapping on the shore. With a suddenness that startled them all the wizard sprang to his feet. He was laughing! `I have it! ' he cried. 'Of course, of course! Absurdly simple, like most riddles when you see the answer.' Picking up his staff he stood before the rock and said in a clear voice: Mellon! The star shone out briefly and faded again. Then silently a great doorway was outlined, though not a crack or joint had been visible before. Slowly it divided in the middle and swung outwards inch by inch, until both doors lay back against the wall. Through the opening a shadowy stair could be seen climbing steeply up; but beyond the lower steps the darkness was deeper than the night. The Company stared in wonder. `I was wrong after all,' said Gandalf, 'and Gimli too. Merry, of all people, was on the right track. The opening word was inscribed on the archway all the time! The translation should have been: Say "Friend" and enter. I had only to speak the Elvish word for friend and the doors opened. Quite simple. Too simple for a learned lore-master in these suspicious days.####-Those were happier times. Now let us go!' He strode forward and set his foot on the lowest step. But at that moment several things happened. Frodo felt something seize him by the ankle, and he fell with a cry. Bill the pony gave a wild neigh of fear, and turned tail and dashed away along the lakeside into the darkness. Sam leaped after him, and then hearing Frodo's cry he ran back again, weeping and cursing. The others swung round and saw the waters of the lake seething, as if a host of snakes were swimming up from the southern end. Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it was pale-green and luminous and wet. Its fingered end had ho ld of Frodo's foot and was dragging him into the water. Sam on his knees was now slashing at it with a knife. The arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out for help. Twenty others arms came rippling out. The dark water boiled, and there was a hideous stench. `Into the gateway! Up the stairs! Quick! ' shouted Gandalf leaping back. Rousing them from the horror that seemed to have rooted all but Sam to the ground where they stood, he drove them forward. They were just in time. Sam and Frodo were only a few steps up, and Gandalf had just begun to climb, when the groping tentacles writhed across the narrow shore and fingered the cliff-wall and the doors. One came wriggling over the threshold, glistening in the starlight. Gandalf turned and paused. If he was considering what word would close the gate again from within, there was no need. Many coiling arms seized the doors on either side, and with horrible strength, swung them round. With a shattering echo they slammed, and all light was lost. A noise of rending and crashing came dully through the ponderous stone. Sam, clinging to Frodo's arm, collapsed on a step in the black darkness. `Poor old Bill! ' he said in a choking voice. `Poor old Bill! Wolves and snakes! But the snakes were too much for him. I had to choose, Mr. Frodo. I had to come with you.' They heard Gandalf go back down the steps and thrust his staff against the doors. There was a quiver in the stone and the stairs trembled, .but the doors did not open. `Well, well! ' said the wizard. `The passage is blocked behind us now and there is only one way out--on the other side of the mountains. I fear from the sounds that boulders have been piled up, and the trees uprooted and thrown across the gate. I am sorry; for the trees were ####-beautiful, and had stood so long.' `I felt that something horrible was near from the moment that my foot first touched the water,' said Frodo. 'What was the thing, or were there many of them? ' 'I do not know,' answered Gandalf, 'but the arms were all guided by one purpose. Something has crept, or has been driven out of dark waters under the mountains. There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' He did not speak aloud his thought that whatever it was that dwelt in the lake, it had seized on Frodo first among all the Company. Boromir muttered under his breath, but the echoing stone magnified the sound to a hoarse whisper that all could hear: `In the deep places of the world! And thither we are going against my wish. Who will lead us now in this deadly dark? ' 'I will,' said Gandalf, 'and Gimli shall walk with me. Follow my staff! ' As the wizard passed on ahead up the great steps, he held his staff aloft, and from its tip there came a faint radiance. The wide stairway was sound and undamaged. Two hundred steps they counted, broad and shallow; and at the top they found an arched passage with a level floor leading on into the dark. `Let us sit and rest and have something to eat, here on the landing, since we can't find a dining-room! ' said Frodo. He had begun to shake off the terror of the clutching arm, and suddenly he felt extremely hungry. The proposal was welcomed by all; and they sat down on the upper steps, dim figures in the gloom. After they had eaten, Gandalf gave them each a third sip of the miruvor of Rivendell. `It will not last much longer, I am afraid,' he said; 'but I think we need it after that horror at the gate. And unless we have great luck, we shall need all that is left before we see the other side! Go carefully with the water, too! There are many streams and wells in the Mines, but they should not be touched. We may not have a chance of filling our skins and bottles till we come down into Dimrill Dale.' 'How long is that going to take us? ' asked Frodo. 'I cannot say,' answered Gandalf. 'It depends on many chances. But going straight, without mishap or losing our way, we shall take three or ####-four marches, I expect. It cannot be less than forty miles from West -door to East -gate in a direct line, and the road may wind much.' After only a brief rest they started on their way again. All were eager to get the journey over as quickly as possible, and were willing, tired as they were, to go on marching still for several hours. Gandalf walked in front as before. In his left hand he held up his glimmering staff, the light of which just showed the ground before his feet; in his right he held his sword Glamdring. Behind him came Gimli, his eyes glinting in the dim light as he turned his head from side to side. Behind the dwarf walked Frodo, and he had drawn the short sword, Sting. No gleam came from the blades of Sting or of Glamdring; and that was some comfort, for being the work of Elvish smiths in the Elder Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs were near at hand. Behind Frodo went Sam, and after him Legolas, and the young hobbits, and Boromir. In the dark at the rear, grim and silent, walked Aragorn. The passage twisted round a few turns, and then began to descend. It went steadily down for a long while before it became level once again. The air grew hot and stifling, but it was not foul, and at times they felt currents of cooler air upon their faces, issuing from half-guessed openings in the walls. There were many of these. In the pale ray of the wizard's staff, Frodo caught glimpses of stairs and arches and of other passages and tunnels, sloping up, or running steeply down, or opening blankly dark on either side. It was bewildering beyond hope of remembering. Gimli aided Gandalf very little, except by h is stout courage. At least he was not, as were most of the others, troubled by the mere darkness in itself. Often the wizard consulted him at points where the choice of way was doubtful; but it was always Gandalf who had the final word. The Mines of Moria were vast and intricate beyond the imagination of Gimli, Gluin's son, dwarf of the mountain-race though he was. To Gandalf the far -off memories of a journey long before were now of little help, but even in the gloom and despite all windings of the road he knew whither he wished to go, and he did not falter, as long as there was a path that led towards his goal. `Do not be afraid! ' said Aragorn. There was a pause longer than usual, and Gandalf and Gimli were whispering together; the others were crowded behind, waiting anxiously. `Do not be afraid! I have been with him on many a journey, if never on one so dark; and there are tales of Rivendell of greater deeds of his than any that I have seen. He will not go astray-if ####-there is any path to find. He has led us in here against our fears, but he will lead us out again, at whatever cost to himself. He is surer of finding the way home in a blind night than the cats of Queen Ber®thiel.' It was well for the Company that they had such a guide. They had no fuel nor any means of making torches; in the desperate scramble at the doors many things had been left behind. But without any light they would soon have come to grief. There were not only many roads to choose from, there were also in many places holes and pitfalls, and dark wells beside the path in which their passing feet echoed. There were fissures and chasms in the walls and floor, and every now and then a crack would open right before their feet. The widest was more than seven feet across, and it was long before Pippin could summon enough courage to leap over the dreadful gap. The noise of churning water came up from far below, as if some great mill-wheel was turning in the depths. `Rope! ' muttered Sam. `I knew I'd want it, if I hadn't got it! ' As these dangers became more frequent their march became slower. Already they seemed to have been tramping on, on, endlessly to the mountains' roots. They were more than weary, and yet there seemed no comfort in the thought of halting anywhere. Frodo's spirits had risen for a while after his escape, and after food and a draught of the cordial; but now a deep uneasiness, growing to dread, crept over him again. Though he had been healed in Rivendell of the knife-stroke, that grim wound had not been without effect. His senses were sharper and more aware of things that could not be seen. One sign of change that he soon had noticed was that he could see more in the dark than any of his companions, save perhaps Gandalf. And he was in any case the bearer of the Ring: it hung upon its chain against his breast, and at whiles it seemed a heavy weight. He felt the certainty of evil ahead and of evil following; but he said nothing. He gripped tighter on the hilt of his sword and went on doggedly. The Company behind him spoke seldom, and then only in hurried whispers. There was no sound but the sound of their own feet; the dull stump of Gimli's dwarf-boots; the heavy tread of Boromir; the light step of Legolas; the soft, scarce-heard patter of hobbit-feet; and in the rear the slow firm footfalls of Aragorn with his long stride. When they halted for a moment they heard nothing at all, unless it were occasionally a faint trickle and drip of unseen water. Yet Frodo began to hear, or to imagine that he heard, something else: like the faint fall of soft bare feet. It was never loud ####-enough, or near enough, for him to feel certain that he heard it; but once it had started it never stopped, while the Company was moving. But it was not an echo, for when they halted it pattered on for a little all by itself, and then grew still. It was after nightfall when they had entered the Mines. They had been going for several hours with only brief halts, when Gandalf came to his first serious check. Before him stood a wide dark arch opening into three passages: all led in the same general direction, eastwards; but the left -hand passage plunged down, while the right-hand climbed up, and the middle way seemed to run on, smooth and level but very narrow. 'I have no memory of this place at all! ' said Gandalf, standing uncertainly under the arch. He held up his staff in the hope of finding some marks or inscription that might help his choice; but nothing of the kind was to be seen. `I am too weary to decide,' he said, shaking his head. `And I expect that you are all as weary as I am, or wearier. We had better halt here for what is left of the night. You know what I mean! In here it is ever dark; but outside the late Moon is riding westward and the middle-night has passed.' `Poor old Bill! ' said Sam. 'I wonder where he is. I hope those wolves haven't got him yet.' To the left of the great arch they found a stone door: it was half closed, but swung back easily to a gentle thrust. Beyond there seemed to lie a wide chamber cut in the rock. `Steady! Steady! ' cried Gandalf as Merry and Pippin pushed forward, glad to find a place where they could rest with at least more feeling of shelter than in the open passage. `Steady! You do not know what is inside yet. I will go first.' He went in cautiously, and the others filed behind. `There! ' he said, pointing with his staff to the middle of the floor. Before his feet they saw a large round hole like the mouth of a well. Broken and rusty chains lay at the edge and trailed down into the black pit. Fragments of stone lay near. 'One of you might have fallen in and still be wondering when you were going to strike the bottom,' said Aragorn to Merry. 'Let the guide go first while you have one.' 'This seems to have been a guardroom, made for the watching of the three passages,' said Gimli. `That hole was plainly a well for the guards' use, covered with a stone lid. But the lid is broken, and we must all take ####-care in the dark.' Pippin felt curiously attracted by the well. While the others were unrolling blankets and making beds against the walls of the chamber, as far as possible from the hole in the floor, he crept to the edge and peered over. A chill air seemed to strike his face, rising from invisible depths. Moved by a sudden impulse he groped for a loose stone, and let it drop. He felt his heart beat many times before there was any sound. Then far below, as if the stone had fallen into deep water in some cavernous place, there came a plunk, very distant, but magnified and repeated in the hollow shaft. `What's that? ' cried Gandalf. He was relieved when Pippin confessed what he had done; but he was angry, and Pippin could see his eye glinting. 'Fool of a Took! ' he growled. 'This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance. Now be quiet! ' Nothing more was heard for several minutes; but then there came out of the depths faint knocks: tom-tap, tap-tom. They stopped, and when the echoes had died away, they were repeated: tap-tom, tom-tap, tap-tap, tom. They sounded disquietingly like signals of some sort; but after a while the knocking died away and was not heard again. 'That was the sound of a hammer, or I have never heard one,' said Gimli. `Yes,' said Gandalf, 'and I do not like it. It may have nothing to do with Peregrin's foolish stone; but probably something has been disturbed that would have been better left quiet. Pray, do nothing of the kind again! Let us hope we shall get some rest without further trouble. You, Pippin, can go on the first watch, as a reward,' he growled, as he rolled himself in a blanket. Pippin sat miserably by the door in the pitch dark; but he kept on turning round, fearing that some unknown thing would crawl up out of the well. He wished he could cover the hole, if only with a blanket, but he dared not move or go near it, even though Gandalf seemed to be asleep. Actually Gandalf was awake, though lying still and silent. He was deep in thought, trying to recall every memory of his former journey in the Mines, and considering anxiously the next course that he should take; a false turn now might be disastrous. After an hour he rose up and came over to Pippin. `Get into a corner and have a sleep, my lad,' he said in a kindly tone.####-'You want to sleep, I expect. I cannot get a wink, so I may as well do the watching.' 'I know what is the matter with me,' he muttered, as he sat down by the door. 'I need smoke! I have not tasted it since the morning before the snowstorm.' The last thing that Pippin saw, as sleep took him, was a dark glimpse of the old wizard huddled on the floor, shielding a glowing chip in his gnarled hands between his knees. The flicker for a moment showed his sharp nose. and the puff of smoke. It was Gandalf who roused them all from sleep. He had sat and watched all alone for about six hours, and had let the others rest. `And in the watches I have made up my mind,' he said. `I do not like the feel of the middle way; and I do not like the smell of the left-hand way: there is foul air down there, or I am no guide. I shall take the right -hand passage. It is time we began to climb up again.' For eight dark hours, not counting two brief halts, they marched on; and they met no danger, and heard nothing, and saw nothing but the faint gleam of the wizard's light, bobbing like a will-o'-the-wisp in front of them. The passage they had chosen wound steadily upwards. As far as they could judge it went in great mounting curves, and as it rose it grew loftier and wider. There were now no openings to other galleries or tunnels on either side, and the floor was level and sound, without pits or cracks. Evidently they had struck what once had been an important road; and they went forward quicker than they had done on their first march. In this way they advanced some fifteen miles, measured in a direct line east, though they must have actually walked twenty miles or more. As the road climbed upwards` Frodo's spirits rose a little; but he still felt oppressed, and still at times he heard, or thought he heard, away behind the Company and beyond the fall and patter of their feet, a following footstep that was not an echo. They had marched as far as the hobbits could endure without a rest, and all were thinking of a place where they could sleep, when suddenly the walls to right and left vanished. They seemed to have passed through some arched doorway into a black and empty space. There was a great draught of warmer air behind them, and before them the darkness was cold on their faces. They halted and crowded anxiously together. Gandalf seemed pleased. `I chose the right way,' he said. `At last we ####-are coming to the habitable parts, and I guess that we are not far now from the eastern side. But we are high up, a good deal higher than the Dimrill Gate, unless I am mistaken. From the feeling of the air we must be in a wide hall. I will now risk a little real light.' He raised his staff, and for a brief instant there was blaze like a flash of lightning. Great shadows sprang up and fled, and for a second they saw a vast roof far above their heads upheld by many mighty pillars hewn of stone. Before them and on either side stretched a huge empty hall; its black walls, polished and smooth as glass, flashed and glittered. Three other entrances they saw, dark black arches: one straight before them eastwards, and one on either side. Then the light went out. `That is all that I shall venture on for the present,' said Gandalf. 'There used to be great windows on the mountain-side, and shafts leading out to the light in the upper reaches of the Mines. I think we have reached them now, but it is night outside again, and we cannot tell until morning. If I am right, tomorrow we may actually see the morning peeping in. But in the meanwhile we had better go no further. Let us rest, if we can. Things have gone well so far, and the greater part of the dark road is over. But we are not through yet, and it is a long way down to the Gates that open on the world.' The Company spent that night in the great cavernous hall, huddled close together in a corner to escape the draught: there seemed to be a steady inflow of chill air through the eastern archway. All about them as they lay hung the darkness, hollow and immense, and they were oppressed by the loneliness and vastness of the dolven halls and endlessly branching stairs and passages. The wildest imaginings that dark rumour had ever suggested to the hobbits fell altogether short of the actual dread and wonder of Moria. `There must have been a mighty crowd of dwarves here at one time ' said Sam; `and every one of them busier than badgers for five hundred years to make all this, and most in hard rock too! What did they do it all for? They didn't live in these darksome holes surely? ' `These are not holes,' said Gimli. `This is the great realm and city of the Dwarrowdelf. And of old it was not darksome, but full of light and splendour, as is still remembered in our songs.' He rose and standing in the dark he began to chant in a deep voice, while the echoes ran away into the roof. The world was young, the mountains green,####- No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone When Durin woke and walked alone. He named the nameless hills and dells; He drank from yet untasted wells; He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear, As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadow of his head. The world was fair, the mountains tall, In Elder Days before the fall Of mighty kings in Nargothrond And Gondolin, who now beyond The Western Seas have passed away: The world was fair in Durin's Day. A king he was on carven throne In many-pillared halls of stone With golden roof and silver floor, And runes of power upon the door. The light of sun and star and moon In shining lamps of crystal hewn Undimmed by cloud or shade of night There shone for ever fair and bright. There hammer on the anvil smote, There chisel clove, and graver wrote; There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built. There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes' mail, Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard. Unwearied then were Durin's folk Beneath the mountains music woke:####- The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang. The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge's fire is ashen-cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin's halls The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dym. But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere; There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep. `I like that! ' said Sam. `I should like to learn it. In Moria, in Khazad-dym! But it makes the darkness seem heavier, thinking of all those lamps. Are there piles of jewels and gold lying about here st ill? ' Gimli was silent. Having sung his song he would say no more. `Piles of jewels? ' said Gandalf. `No. The Orcs have often plundered Moria; there is nothing left in the upper halls. And since the dwarves fled, no one dares to seek the shafts and treasuries down in the deep places: they are drowned in water --or in a shadow of fear.' `Then what do the dwarves want to come back for? ' asked Sam. 'For mithril,' answered Gandalf. `The wealth of Moria was not in gold and jewels, the toys of the Dwarves; nor in iron, their servant. Such things they found here, it is true, especially iron; but they did not need to delve for them: all things that they desired they could obtain in traffic. For here alone in the world was found Moria -silver, or true-silver as some have called it: mithril is the Elvish name. The Dwarves have a name which they do not tell. Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price; for little is left above ground, and even the Orcs dare not delve here for it. The lodes lead away north towards Caradhras, and down to darkness. The Dwarves tell no tale; but even as mithril was the foundation of their wealth, so also it was their destruction: they delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled, Durin's Bane. Of what they brought to light the Orcs have gathered nearly all, and given it in tribute to Sauron, who covets it. `Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and ####-polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim. The Elves dearly loved it, and among many uses they made of it ithildin , starmoon, which you saw upon the doors. Bilbo had a corslet of mithril-rings that Thorin gave him. I wonder what has become of it? Gathering dust still in Michel Delving Mathom-house, I suppose.' `What? ' cried Gimli, startled out of his silence. `A corslet of Moria -silver? That was a kingly gift! ' 'Yes,' said Gandalf. `I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the whole Shire and everything in it.' Frodo said nothing, but he put his hand under his tunic and touched the rings of his mail-shirt. He felt staggered to think that he had been walking about with the price of the Shire under his jacket. Had Bilbo known? He felt no doubt that Bilbo knew quite well. It was indeed a kingly gift. But now his thoughts had been carried away from the dark Mines, to Rivendell, to Bilbo, and to Bag End in the days while Bilbo was still there. He wished with all his heart that he was back there, and in those days, mowing the lawn, or pottering among the flowers, and that he had never heard of Moria, or mithril -- or the Ring. A deep silence fell. One by one the others fell asleep. Frodo was on guard. As if it were a breath that came in through unseen doors out of deep places, dread came over him. His hands were cold and his brow damp. He listened. All his mind was given to listening and nothing else for two slow hours; but he heard no sound, not even the imagined echo of a footfall. His watch was nearly over, when, far off where he guessed that the western archway stood, he fancied that he could see two pale points of light, almost like luminous eyes. He started. His head had nodded. `I must have nearly fallen asleep on guard,' he thought. `I was on the edge of a dream.' He stood up and rubbed his eyes, and remained standing, peering into the dark, until he was relieved by Legolas. When he lay down he quickly went to sleep, but it seemed to him that the dream went on: he heard whispers, and saw the two pale points of light approaching, slowly. He woke and found that the others were speaking softly near him, and that a dim light was falling on his face. High up above the eastern archway through a shaft near the roof came a long pale gleam; and across the hall through the northern arch light also glimmered faint and ####-distantly. Frodo sat up. `Good morning! ' said Gandalf: `For morning it is again at last. I was right, you see. We are high up on the east side of Moria. Before today is over we ought to find the Great Gates and see the waters of Mirrormere lying in the Dimrill Dale before us.' 'I shall be glad,' said Gimli. `I have looked on Moria, and it is very great, but it has become dark and dreadful; and we have found no sign of my kindred. I doubt now that Balin ever came here.' After they had breakfasted Gandalf decided to go on again at once. `We are tired, but we shall rest better when we are outside,' he said. `I think that none of us will wish to spend another night in Moria.' `No indeed! ' said Boromir. `Which way shall we take? Yonder eastward arch? ' 'Maybe,' said Gandalf. `But I du not know yet exactly where we are. Unless I am quite astray, I guess that we are above and to the north of the Great Gates; and it may not be easy to find the right road down to them. The eastern arch will probably prove to be the way that we must take; but before we make up our minds we ought to look about us. Let us go towards that light in the north door. If we cou ld find a window it would help, but I fear that the light comes only down deep shafts.' Following his lead the Company passed under the northern arch. They found themselves in a wide corridor. As they went along it the glimmer grew stronger, and they saw that it came through a doorway on their right. It was high and flat-topped, and the stone door was still upon its hinges, standing half open. Beyond it was a large square chamber. It was dimly lit, but to their eyes, after so long a time in the dark, it seemed dazzlingly bright, and they blinked as they entered. Their feet disturbed a deep dust upon the floor, and stumbled among things lying in the doorway whose shapes they could not at first make out. The chamber was lit by a wi de shaft high in the further eastern wall; it slanted upwards and, far above, a small square patch of blue sky could be seen. The light of the shaft fell directly on a table in the middle of the room: a single oblong block, about two feet high, upon which was laid a great slab of white stone. `It looks like a tomb,' muttered Frodo, and bent forwards with a curious sense of foreboding, to look more closely at it. Gandalf came quickly to his side. On the slab runes were deeply graven:####- 'These are Daeron's Runes, such as were used of old in Moria,' said Gandalf. 'Here is written in the tongues of Men and Dwarves: balin son of fundin lord of moria.' 'He is dead then,' said Frodo. `I feared it was so.' Gimli cast his hood over his face. ####- The Company of the Ring stood silent beside the tomb of Balin. Frodo thought of Bilbo and his long friendship with the dwarf, and of Balin's visit to the Shire long ago. In that dusty chamber in the mountains it seemed a thousand years ago and on the other side of the world. At length they stirred and looked up, and began to search for anything that would give them tidings of Balin's fate, or show what had become of his folk. There was another smaller door on the other side of the chamber, under the shaft. By both the doors they could now see that many bones were lying, and among them were broken swords and axe-heads, and cloven shields and helms. Some of the swords were crooked: orc-scimitars with blackened blades. There were many recesses cut in the rock of the walls, and in them were large iron-bound chests of wood. All had been broken and plundered; but beside the shattered lid of one there lay the remains of a book. It had been slashed and stabbed and partly burned, and it was so stained with black and other dark marks like old blood that little of it could be read. Gandalf lifted it carefully, but the leaves crackled and broke as he laid it on the slab. He pored over it for some time without speaking. Frodo and Gimli standing at his side could see, as he gingerly turned the leaves, that they were written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale, and here and there in Elvish script. At last Gandalf looked up. 'It seems to be a record of the fortunes of Balin's folk,' he said. `I guess that it began with their coming to Dimrill Dale nigh on thirty years ago: the pages seem to have numbers referring to the years after their arrival. The top page is marked one -- three, so at least two are missing from the beginning. Listen to this! 'We drove out orcs from the great gate and guard -- I think; the next word is blurred and burned; probably room -- we slew many in the bright -- I think -- sun in the dale. Flui was killed by an arrow. He slew the great. Then there is a blur followed by Flui under grass near Mirror mere. The next line or two I cannot read. Then comes We have taken the twentyfirst hall of North end to dwell in. There is I cannot read what. A shaft is mentioned. Then Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul. ' 'The Chamber of Records,' said Gimli. `I guess that is where we now ####-stand.' `Well, I can read no more for a long way,' said Gandalf, 'except the word gold , and Durin's Axe and something helm. Then Balin is now lord of Moria . That seems to end a chapter. After some stars another hand begins, and I can see we found truesilver, and later the word wellforged and then something, I have it! mithril; and the last two lines Uin to seek for the upper armouries of Third Deep, something go westwards, a blur, to Hollin gate .' Gandalf paused and set a few leaves aside. 'There are several pages of the same sort, rather hastily written and much damaged, he said; `but I can make little of them in this light. Now there must be a number of leaves missing, because they begin to be numbered five, the fifth year of the colony, I suppose. Let me see! No, they are too cut and stained; I cannot read them. We might do better in the sunlight. Wait! Here is something: a large bold hand using an Elvish script.' 'That would be Ori's hand,' said Gimli, looking over the wizard's arm. `He could write well and speedily, and often used the Elvish characters.' `I fear he had ill tidings to record in a fair hand,' said Gandalf. 'The first clear word is sorrow, but the rest of the line is lost, unless it ends in estre. Yes, it must be yestre followed by day being the tenth of novembre Balin lord of Moria fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in Mirror mere. an orc shot him from behind a stone. we slew the orc, hut many more ... up from east up the Silverlode. The remainder of the page is so blurred that I can hardly make anything out, but I think I can read we have barred the gates, and then can hold them long if , and then perhaps horrible and suffer. Poor Balin! He seems to have kept the title that he took for less than five years. I wonder what happened afterwards; but there is no time to puzzle out the last few pages. Here is the last page of all.' He paused and sighed. `It is grim reading,' he said. 'I fear their end was cruel. Listen! We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge and second hall. Frbr and Luni and Nbli fell there. Then there are four lines smeared so that I can only read went 5 days ago. The last lines run the pool is up to the wall at Westgate. The Wa tcher in the Water took Uin. We cannot get out. The end comes, and then drums, drums in the deep. I wonder what that means. The last thing written is in a trailing scrawl of elf-letters: they are coming. There is nothing more.' Gandalf paused and stood in silent ####-thought. A sudden dread and a horror of the chamber fell on the Company. `We cannot get out,' muttered Gimli. 'It was well for us that the pool had sunk a little, and that the Watcher was sleeping down at the southern end.' Gandalf raised his head and looked round. `They seem to have made a last stand by both doors,' he said; 'but there were not many left by that time. So ended the attempt to retake Moria! It was valiant but foolish. The time is not come yet. Now, I fear, we must say farewell to Balin son of Fundin. Here he must lie in the halls of his fathers. We will take this book, the Book of Mazarbul, and look at it more closely later. You had better keep it, Gimli, and take it back to Dbin, if you get a chance. It will interest him, though it will grieve him deeply. Come, let us go! The morning is passing.' 'Which way shall we go? ' asked Boromir. 'Back to the hall,' answered Gandalf. 'But our visit to this room has not been in vain. I now know where we are. This must be, as Gimli says, the Chamber of Mazarbul; and the hall must be the twenty-first of the North-end. Therefore we should leave by the eastern arch of the hall, and bear right and south, and go downwards. The Twenty-first Hall should be on the Seventh Level, that is six above the level of the Gates. Come now! Back to the hall! ' Gandalf had hardly spoken these words, when there came a great noise: a rolling Boom that seemed to come from depths far below, and to tremble in the stone at their feet. They sprang towards the door in alarm. Doom, doom it rolled again, as if huge hands were turning the very caverns of Moria into a vast drum. Then there came an echoing blast: a great horn was blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off. There was a hurrying sound of many feet. `They are coming! ' cried Legolas. 'We cannot get out,' said Gimli. `Trapped! ' cried Gandalf. `Why did I delay? Here we are, caught, just as they were before. But I was not here then. We will see what ----' Doom, doom came the drum-beat and the walls shook. 'Slam the doors and wedge them! ' shouted Aragorn. 'And keep your packs on as long as you can: we may get a chance to cut our way out yet.' `No! ' said Gandalf. 'We must not get shut in. Keep the east door ajar! We will go that way, if we get a chance.'####- Another harsh horn-call and shrill cries rang out. Feet were coming down the corridor. There was a ring and clatter as the Company drew their swords. Glamdring shone with a pale light, and Sting glinted at the edges. Boromir set his shoulder against the western door. `Wait a moment! Do not close it yet! ' said Gandalf. He sprang forward to Boromir 's side and drew himself up to his full height. 'Who comes hither to disturb the rest of Balin Lord of Moria? ' he cried in a loud voice. There was a rush of hoarse laughter, like the fall of sliding stones into a pit; amid the clamour a deep voice was raised in command. Doom, boom, doom went the drums in the deep. With a quick movement Gandalf stepped before the narrow opening of the door and thrust forward his staff: There was a dazzling flash that lit the chamber and the passage outside. For an instant the wizard looked out. Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back. 'There are Orcs, very many of them,' he said. `And some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor. For the moment they are hanging back, but there is something else there. A great cave-troll, I think, or more than one. There is no hope of escape that way.' 'And no hope at all, if they come at the other door as well,' said Boromir. 'There is no sound outside here yet,' said Aragorn, who was standing by the eastern door listening. `The passage on this side plunges straight down a stair: it plainly does not lead back towards the hall. But it is no good flying blindly this way with the pursuit just behind. We cannot block the door. Its key is gone and the lock is broken, and it opens inwards. We must do something to delay the enemy first. We will make them fear the Chamber of Mazarbul!' he said grimly feeling the edge of his sword, And®ril. Heavy feet were heard in the corridor. Boromir flung himself against the door and heaved it to; then he wedged it with broken sword-blades and splinters of wood. The Company retreated to the other side of the chamber. But they had no chance to fly yet. There was a b low on the door that made it quiver; and then it began to grind slowly open, driving back the wedges. A huge arm and shoulder, with a dark skin of greenish scales, was thrust through the widening gap. Then a great, flat, toeless foot was for ced through below. There was a dead silence outside.####- Boromir leaped forward and hewed at the arm with all his might; but his sword rang, glanced aside, and fell from his shaken hand. The blade was notched. Suddenly, and to his own surprise, Frodo felt a hot wrath blaze up in his heart. `The Shire! ' he cried, and springing beside Boromir, he stooped, and stabbed with Sting at the hideous foot. There was a bellow, and the foot jerked back, nearly wrenching Sting from Frodo's arm. Black dr ops dripped from the blade and smoked on the floor. Boromir hurled himself against the door and slammed it again. `One for the Shire! ' cried Aragorn. `The hobbit's bite is deep! You have a good blade, Frodo son of Drogo! ' There was a crash on the door, followed by crash after crash. Rams and hammers were beating against it. It cracked and staggered back, and the opening grew suddenly wide. Arrows came whistling in, but struck the northern wall, and fell harmlessly to the floor . There was a horn-blast and a rush of feet, and orcs one after another leaped into the chamber. How many there were the Company could not count. The affray was sharp, but the orcs were dismayed by the fierceness of the defence. Legolas shot two through the throat. Gimli hewed the legs from under another that had sprung up on Balin's tomb. Boromir and Aragorn slew many. When thirteen had fallen the rest fled shrieking. leaving the defenders unharmed, except for Sam who had a scratch along the scalp. A quick duck had saved him; and he had felled his orc: a sturdy thrust with his Barrow-blade. A fire was smouldering in his brown eyes that would have made Ted Sandyman step backwards, if he had seen it. `Now is the time! ' cried Gandalf. `Let us go, before the troll returns!' But even as they retreated, and before Pippin and Merry had reached the stair outside, a huge orc-chieftain, almost man-high, clad in black mail from head to foot, leaped into the chamber; behind him his followers clustered in the doorway. His broad flat face was swart, his eyes were like coals, and his tongue was red; he wielded a great spear. With a thrust of his huge hide shield he turned Boromir's sword and bore him backwards, throwing him to the ground. Diving under Aragorn's blow with the speed of a striking snake he charged into the Company and thrust with his spear straight at Frodo. The blow caught him on the right side, and Frodo was ####-hurled against the wall and pinned. Sam, with a cry, hacked at the spear-shaft, and it broke. But even as the orc flung down the truncheon and swept out his scimitar, And®ril came down upon his helm. There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head. His followers fled howling, as Boromir and Aragorn sprang at them. Doom, doom went the drums in the deep. The great voice rolled out again. 'Now! ' shouted Gandalf. 'Now is the last chance. Run for it! ' Aragorn picked up Frodo where he lay by the wall and made for the stair, pushing Merry and Pippin in front of him. The others followed; but Gimli had to be dragged away by Legolas: in spite of the peril he lingered by Balin's tomb with his head bowed. Boromir hauled the eastern door to, grinding upon its hinges: it had great iron rings on either side, but could not be fastened. 'I am all right,' gasped Frodo. `I can walk. Put me down! ' Aragorn nearly dropped him in his amazement. 'I thought you were dead! ' he cried. 'Not yet! ' said Gandalf. 'But there is time for wonder. Off you go, all of you, down the stairs! Wait a few minutes for me at the bottom, but if I do not come soon, go on! Go quickly and choose paths leading right and downwards.' 'We cannot leave you to hold the door alone! ' said Aragorn. `Do as I say! ' said Gandalf fiercely. `Swords are no more use here. Go!' The passage was lit by no shaft and was utterly dark. They groped their way down a long flight of steps, and then looked back; but they could see nothing, except high above them the faint glimmer of the wizard's staff. He seemed to be still standing on guard by the closed door. Frodo breathed heavily and leaned aga inst Sam, who put his arms about him. They stood peering up the stairs into the darkness. Frodo thought he could hear the voice of Gandalf above, muttering words that ran down the sloping roof with a sighing echo. He could not catch what was said . The walls seemed to be trembling. Every now and again the drum-beats throbbed and rolled: doom, doom. Suddenly at the top of the stair there was a stab of white light. Then there was a dull rumble and a heavy thud. The drum-beats broke out wildly:####-doom-boom, doom-boom, and then stopped. Gandalf came flying down the steps and fell to the ground in the midst of the Company. `Well, well! That's over! ' said the wizard struggling to his feet. `I have done all that I could. But I have met my match, and have nearly been destroyed. But don't stand here! Go on! You will have to do without light for a while: I am rather shaken. Go on! Go on! Where are you, Gimli? Come ahead with me! Keep close behind, all of you!' They stumbled a fter him wondering what had happened. Doom, doom went the drum-beats again: they now sounded muffled and far away, but they were following. There was no other sound of pursuit, neither tramp of feet, nor any voice. Gandalf took no turns, right or left, for the passage seemed to be going in the direction that he desired. Every now and again it descended a flight of steps, fifty or more, to a lower level. At the moment that was their chief danger; for in the dark they could not see a descent, until they came on it, and put their feet out into emptiness. Gandalf felt the ground with his staff like a blind man. At the end of an hour they had gone a mile, or maybe a little more, and had descended many flights of stairs. There was still no sound of pursuit. Almost they began to hope that they would escape. At the bottom of the seventh flight Gandalf halted. `It is getting hot! ' he gasped. `We ought to be down at least to the level of the Gates now. Soon I think we should look for a left -hand turn to take us east. I hope it is not far. I am very weary. I must rest here a moment, even if all the orcs ever spawned are after us.' Gimli took his arm and helped him down to a seat on the step. `What happened away up there a t the door? ' he asked. `Did you meet the beater of the drums? ' 'I do not know,' answered Gandalf. `But I found myself suddenly faced by something that I have not met before. I could think of nothing to do but to try and put a shutting-spell on the door. I know many; but to do things of that kind rightly requires time, and even then the door can be broken by strength. `As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said; they seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was ####-ghvsh; that is "fire". Then something came into the chamber -- I felt it through the door, and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent. It laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell. 'What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge. The counter -spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command. That proved too great a strain. The door burst in pieces. Something dark as a cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down the stairs. All the wall gave way, and the roof of the chamber as well, I think. `I am afraid Balin is buried deep, and maybe something else is buried there too. I cannot say. But at least the passage behind us was completely blocked. Ah! I have never felt so spent, but it is passing. And now what about you, Frodo? There was not time to say so, but I have never been more delighted in my life than when you spoke. I feared that it was a brave but dead hobbit that Aragorn was carrying.' `What about me? ' said Frodo. 'I am alive, and whole I think. I am bruised and in pain, but it is not too bad.' `Well,' said Aragorn, `I can only say that hobbits are made of a stuff so tough that I have never met the like of it. Had I known, I would have spoken softer in the Inn at Bree! That spear-thrust would have skewered a wild boar! ' 'Well, it did not skewer me, I am glad to say,' said Frodo; `though I feel as if I had been caught between a hammer and an anvil.' He said no more. He found breathing painful. 'You take after Bilbo,' said Gandalf. `There is more about you than meets the eye, as I said of him long ago.' Frodo wondered if the remark meant more than it said. They now went on again. Before long Gimli spoke. He had keen eyes in the dark. `I think,' he said, `that there is a light ahead. But it is not daylight. It is red. What can it be? ' `Ghvsh!' muttered Gandalf. `I wonder if that is what they meant: that the lower levels are on fire? Still, we can only go on.' Soon the light became unmistakable, and could be seen by all. It was flickering and glowing on the walls away down the passage before them. They could now see their way: in front the road sloped down swiftly, and some way ahead there stood a low archway; through it the glowing light came. The air ####-became very hot. When they came to the arch Gandalf went through, signing to them to wait. As he stood just beyond the opening they saw his face lit by a red glow. Quickly he stepped back. `There is some new devi lry here,' he said, 'devised for our welcome no doubt. But I know now where we are: we have reached the First Deep, the level immediately below the Gates. This is the Second Hall of Old Moria; and the Gates are near: away beyond the eastern end, on the left, not more than a quarter of a mile. Across the Bridge, up a broad stair, along a wide road through the First Hall, and out! But come and look! ' They peered out. Before them was another cavernous hall. It was loftier and far longer than the one in which they had slept. They were near its eastern end; westward it ran away into darkness. Down the centre stalked a double line of towering pillars. They were carved like boles of mighty trees whose boughs upheld the roof with a branching tracery of stone. Their stems were smooth and black, but a red glow was darkly mirrored in their sides. Right across the floor, close to the feet of two huge pillars a great fissure had opened. Out of it a fierce red light came, and now and aga in flames licked at the brink and curled about the bases of the columns. Wisps of dark smoke wavered in the hot air. 'If we had come by the main road down from the upper halls, we should have been trapped here,' said Gandalf. `Let us hope that the fire now lies between us and pursuit. Come! There is no time to lose.' Even as he spoke they heard again the pursuing drum-beat: Doom, doom, doom. Away beyond the shadows at the western end of the hall there came cries and horn-calls. Doom, doom: the pillars seemed to tremble and the flames to quiver. `Now for the last race! ' said Gandalf. 'If the sun is shining outside we may still escape. After me! ' He turned left and sped across the smooth floor of the hall. The distance was greater than it had looked. As they ran they heard the beat and echo of many hurrying feet behind. A shrill yell went up: they had been seen. There was a ring and clash of steel. An arrow whistled over Frodo's head. Boromir laughed. `They did not expect this,' he said. `The fire has cut them off. We are on the wrong side! ' `Look ahead! ' called Gandalf. `The Bridge is near. It is dangerous and ####-narrow.' Suddenly Frodo saw before him a black chasm. At the end of the hall the floor vanished and fell to an unknown depth. The outer door could only be reached by a slender bridge of stone, without kerb or rail, that spanned the chasm with one curving spring of fifty feet. It was an ancient defence of the Dwarves against any enemy that might capture the First Hall and the outer passages. They could only pass across it in single file. At the brink Gandalf halted and the others came up in a pack behind. 'Lead the way, Gimli! ' he said. 'Pippin and Merry next. Straight on and up the stair beyond the door! ' Arrows fell among them. One struck Frodo and sprang back. Another pierced Gandalf's hat and stuck there like a black feather. Frodo looked behind. Beyond the fire he saw swarming black figures: there seemed to be hundreds of orcs. They brandished spears and scimitars which shone red as blood in the firelight. Doom, doom rolled the drum-beats, growing louder and louder, doom, doom. Legolas turned and set an arrow to the string, though it was a long shot for his small bow. He drew, but his hand fell, and the arrow slipped to the ground. He gave a cry of dismay and fear. Two great trolls appeared; they bore great slabs of stone, and flung them down to serve as gangways over the fire. But it was not the trolls that had filled the Elf with terror. The ranks of the orcs had opened, and they crowded away, as if they themselves were afraid. Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it was like a grea t shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it and to go before it. It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped across the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs. 'Ai! ai! ' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come! ' Gimli stared with wide eyes. `Durin's Bane! ' he cried, and letting his axe fall he covered his face. 'A Balrog,' muttered Gandalf. `Now I understand.' He faltered and leaned heavily on his staff. `What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.'####- The dark figure streaming with fire raced towards them. The orcs yelled and poured over the stone gangways. Then Boromir raised his horn and blew. Loud the challenge rang and bellowed, like the shout of many throats under the cavernous roof. For a moment the orcs quailed and the fiery shadow halted. Then the echoes died as suddenly as a flame blown out by a dark wind, and the enemy advanced again. 'Over the bridge!' cried Gandalf, recalling his strength. `Fly! This is a foe beyond any of you. I must hold the narrow way. Fly! ' Aragorn and Boromir did not heed the command, but still held their ground, side by side, behind Gandalf a t the far end of the bridge. The others halted just within the doorway at the hall's end, and turned, unable to leave their leader to face the enemy alone. The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the sta ff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm. `You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. `I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udyn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.' The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm. From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming. Glamdring glittered white in answer. There was a ringing clash and a stab of white fire. The Balrog fell back and its sword flew up in molten fragments. The wizard swayed on the bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still. 'You cannot pass! ' he said. With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled and hissed. 'He cannot stand alone! ' cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along the bridge. 'Elendil!' he shouted. 'I am with you, Gandalf! '####- `Gondor! ' cried Boromir and leaped after him. At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness. With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plu nged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. 'Fly, you fools! ' he cried, and was gone. The fires went out, and blank darkness fell. The Company stood rooted with horror staring into the pit. Even as Aragorn and Boromir came flying back, the rest of the bridge cracked and fell. With a cry Aragorn roused them. 'Come! I will lead you now! ' he called. 'We must obey his last command. Follow me! ' They stumbled wildly up the great stairs beyond the door. Aragorn leading, Boromir at the rear. At the top was a wide echoing passage. Along this they fled. Frodo heard Sam at his side weeping, and then he found that he himself was weeping as he ran. Doom, doom, doom the drum-beats rolled behind, mournful now and slow; doom! They ran on. The light grew before them; great shafts pierced the roof. They ran swifter. They passed into a hall, bright with daylight from its high windows in the east. They fled across it. Through its huge broken doors they passed, and suddenly before them the Great Gates opened, an arch of blazing ligh t. There was a guard of orcs crouching in the shadows behind the great door posts towering on either side, but the gates were shattered and cast down. Aragorn smote to the ground the captain that stood in his path, and the rest fled in terror of his wrath. The Company swept past them and took no heed of them. Out of the Gates they ran and sprang down the huge and age-worn steps, the threshold of Moria. Thus, at last, they came beyond hope under the sky and felt the wind on their faces. They did not halt until they were out of bowshot from the walls.####-Dimrill Dale lay about them. The shadow of the Misty Mountains lay upon it, but eastwards there was a golden light on the land. It was but one hour after noon. The sun was shining; the clouds were white and high. They looked back. Dark yawned the archway of the Gates under the mountain-shadow. Faint and far beneath the earth rolled the slow drum-beats: doom. A thin black smoke trailed out. Nothing else was to be seen; the dale all around was empty. Doom. Grief at last wholly overcame them, and they wept long: some standing and silent, some cast upon the ground. Doom, doom. The drum-beats faded. ####-'Alas! I Fear we cannot stay here longer,' said Aragorn. He looked towards the mountains and held up his sword. `Farewell, Gandalf! ' he cried. 'Did I not say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware? Alas that I spoke true! What hope have we without you? ' He turned to the Company. `We must do without hope,' he said. `At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We have a long road, and much to do.' They rose and looked about them. Northward the dale ran up into a glen of shadows between two great arms of the mountains, above which three white peaks were shining: Celebdil, Fanuidhol, Caradhras. the Mountains of Moria. At the head of the glen a torrent flowed like a white lace over an endless ladder of short falls, and a mist of foam hung in the air about the mountains' feet. `Yonder is the Dimrill Stair,' said Aragorn, pointing to the falls. 'Down the deep-cloven way that climbs beside the torrent we should have come, if fortune had been kinder.' `Or Caradhras less cruel,' said Gimli. `There he stands smiling in the sun! ' He shook his fist at the furthest of the snow-capped peaks and turned away. To the east the outflung arm of the mountains marched to a sudden end, and far lands could be descried beyond them, wide and vague. To the south the Misty Mountains receded endlessly as far as sight could reach. Less than a mile away, and a little below them, for they still stood high up on the west side of the dale, there lay a mere. It was long and oval, shaped like a great spear-head thrust deep into the northern glen; but its southern end was beyond the shadows under the sunlit sky. Yet its waters were dark: a deep blue like clear evening sky seen from a lamp-lit room. Its face was still and unruffled. About it lay a smooth sward, shelving down on all sides to its bare unbroken rim. `There lies the Mirrormere, deep Kheled -zvram! ' said Gimli sadly. `I remember that he said: "May you have joy of the sight! But we cannot linger there." Now long shall I journey ere I have joy again. It is I that must ####-hasten away, and he that must remain.' The Company now went down the road from the Gates. It was rough and broken, fading to a winding track between heather and whin that thrust amid the cracking stones. But still it could be seen that once long ago a great paved way had wound upwards from the lowlands of the Dwarf-kingdom. In places there were ruined works of stone beside the path, and mounds of green topped with slender birches, or fir-trees sighing in the wind. An eastward bend led them hard by the sward of Mirrormere, and there not far from the roadside stood a single column broken at the top. 'That is Durin's Stone! ' cried Gimli. `I cannot pass without turning aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale! ' `Be swift then! ' said Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates. `The Sun sinks early. The Orcs will not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will be dark tonight.' 'Come with me, Frodo! ' cried the dwarf, springing from the road. `I would not have you go without seeing Kheled-zvram.' He ran down the long green slope. Frodo followed slowly, drawn by the still blue water in spite of hurt and weariness; Sam came up behind. Beside the standing stone Gimli halted and looked up. It was cracked and weather -worn, and the faint runes upon its side could not be read. `This pillar marks the spot where Durin first looked in the Mirrormere,' said the dwarf. 'Let us look ourselves once, ere we go!' They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profou nd blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there was a space of sky. There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow could be seen. 'O Kheled-zvram fair and wonderful! ' said Gimli. `There lies the Crown of Durin till he wakes. Farewell! ' He bowed, and turned away, and hastened back up the green-sward to the road again. `What did you see? ' said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in thought to answer. The road now turned south and went quickly downwards, running out from between the arms of the dale. Some way below the mere they came on a deep ####-well of water, clear as crystal, from which a freshet fell over a stone lip and ran glistening and gurgling down a steep rocky channel. 'Here is the spring from which the Silverlode rises.' said Gimli. `Do not drink of it! It is icy cold.' 'Soon it becomes a swift river, and it gathers water from many other mountain-streams,' said Aragorn. `Our road leads beside it for many miles. For I shall take you by the road that Gandalf chose, and first I hope to come to the woods where the Silverlode flows into the Great River -out yonder.' They looked as he pointed, and before them they could see the stream leaping down to the trough of the valley, and then running on and away into the lower lands, until it was lost in a golden haze. `There lie the woods of Lothlurien! ' said Legolas. `That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime! ' `My heart will be glad, even in the winter,' said Aragorn. 'But it lies many miles away. Let us hasten! ' For some time Frodo and Sam managed to keep up with the others; but Aragorn was leading them at a great pace, and after a while they lagged behind. They had eaten nothing since the early morning. Sam's cut was burning like fire, and his head felt light. In spite of the shining sun the wind seemed chill after the warm darkness of Moria. He shivered. Frodo felt every step more painful and he gasped for breath. At last Legolas turned, and seeing them now far behind, he spoke to Aragorn. The others halted, and Aragorn ran back, calling to Boromir to come with him. 'I am sorry, Frodo! ' he cried, full of concern. `So much has happened this day and we have such need of haste, that I have forgotten that you were hurt; and Sam too. You should have spoken. We have done nothing to ease you, as we ought, though all the orcs of Moria were after us. Come now! A little further on there is a place where we can rest for a little. There I will do what I can for you. Come, Boromir! We will carry them.'####- Soon afterwards they came upon another stream that ran down from the west, and joined its bubbling water with the hurrying Silverlode. Together they plunged over a fall of green-hued stone, and foamed down into a dell. About it stood fir-trees, short and bent, and its sides were steep and clothed with harts-tongue and shrubs of whortle-berry. At the bottom there was a level space through which the stream flowed noisily over shining pebbles. Here they rested. It was now nearly three hours after noon, and they had come only a few miles from the Gates. Already the sun was westering. While Gimli and the two younger hobbits kindled a fire of brush- and fir-wood, and drew water, Aragorn tended Sam and Frodo. Sam's wound was not deep, but it looked ugly, and Aragorn's face was grave as he examined it. After a moment he looked up with relief. 'Good luck, Sam! ' he said. 'Many have received worse than this in payment for the slaying of their first orc. The cut is not poisoned, as the wounds of orc-blades too often are. It should heal well when I have tended it. Bathe it when Gimli has heated water.' He opened his pouch and drew out some withered leaves. `They are dry and some of their virtue has one, he said, but here I have still some of the leaves of athelas that I gathered near Weather top. Crush one in the water, and wash the wound clean, and I will bind it. Now it is your turn. Frodo! ' 'I am all right,' said Frodo, reluctant to have his garments touched. `AII I needed was some food and a little rest.' `No! ' said Aragorn. `We must have a look and see what the hammer and the anvil have done to you. I still marvel that you are alive at all.' Gently he stripped off Frodo's old jacket and worn tunic, and gave a gasp of wonder. Then he laughed. The silver corslet shimmered before his eyes like the light upon a rippling sea. Carefully he took it off and held it up, and the gems on it glittered like stars. and the sound of the shaken rings was like the tinkle of rain in a pool. `Look, my friends!' he called. `H ere's a pretty hobbit -skin to wrap an elven-princeling in! If it were known that hobbits had such hides, all the hunters of Middle-earth would be riding to the Shire.' `And all the arrows of all the hunters in the world would be in vain,' said Gimli, gazing at the mail in wonder. `It is a mithril-coat. Mithril! I have never seen or heard tell of one so fair. Is this the coat that Gandalf ####-spoke of? Then he undervalued it. But it was well given! ' `I have often wondered what you and Bilbo wer e doing, so close in his little room,' said Merry. 'Bless the old hobbit! I love him more than ever. I hope we get a chance of telling him about it! ' There was a dark and blackened bruise on Frodo's right side and breast. Under the mail there was a shirt of soft leather, but at one point the rings had been driven through it into the flesh. Frodo's left side also was scored and bruised where he had been hurled against the wall. While the others set the food ready. Aragorn bathed the hurts with wa ter in which athelas was steeped. The pungent fragrance filled the dell, and all those who stooped over the steaming water felt refreshed and strengthened. Soon Frodo felt the pain leave him, and his breath grew easy: though he was stiff and sore to the touch for many days. Aragorn bound some soft pads of cloth at his side. `The mail is marvellously light,' he said. `Put it on again, if you can bear it. My heart is glad to know that you have such a coat. Do not lay it aside, even in sleep, unless fortune brings you where you are safe for a while; and that will seldom chance while your quest lasts.' When they had eaten, the Company got ready to go on. They put out the fire and hid all traces of it. Then climbing out of the dell they took to the road again. They had not gone far before the sun sank behind the westward heights and great shadows crept down the mountain-sides. Dusk veiled their feet, and mist rose in the hollows. Away in the east the evening light lay pale upon the dim lands of distant plain and wood. Sam and Frodo now feeling eased and greatly refreshed were able to go at a fair pace, and with only one brief halt Aragorn led the Company on for nearly three more hours. It was dark. Deep night had fallen. There were many clear stars, hut the fast -waning moon would not be seen till late. Gimli and Frodo were at the rear, walking softly and not speaking, listening for any sound upon the road behind. At length Gimli broke the silence. 'Not a sound but the wind,' he said. `There are no goblins near, or my ears are made of wood. It is to be hoped that the Orcs will be content with driving us from Moria. And maybe that was all their purpose, and they had nothing else to do with u s-with the Ring. Though Orcs will often pursue foes for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge.' Frodo did not answer. He looked at Sting, and the blade was dull. Yet he had heard something, or thought he had. As soon a s the shadows had fallen ####-about them and the road behind was dim, he had heard again the quick patter of feet. Even now he heard it. He turned swiftly. There were two tiny gleams of light behind, or for a moment he thought he saw them, but at once they slipped aside and vanished. `What is it? ' said the dwarf. `I don't know.' answered Frodo. 'I thought I heard feet, and I thought I saw a light -like eyes. I have thought so often, since we first entered Moria.' Gimli halted and stooped to the ground. 'I hear nothing but the night-speech of plant and stone,' he said. 'Come! Let us hurry! The others are out of sight.' The night-wind blew chill up the valley to meet them. Before them a wide grey shadow loomed, and they heard an endless rustle of leaves like poplars in the breeze. `Lothlurien! ' cried Legolas. 'Lothlurien! We have come to the eaves of the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter! ' Under the night the trees stood tall before them, arched over the road and stream that ran suddenly beneath their spreading boughs. In the dim light of the stars their stems were grey, and their quivering leaves a hint of fallow gold. 'Lothlurien! ' said Aragorn. 'Glad I am to hear again the wind in the trees! We are still little more than five leagues from the Gates, but we can go no further. Here let us hope that the virtue of the Elves will keep us tonight from the peril that comes behind.' `If Elves indeed still dwell here in the darkening world,' said Gimli. 'It is long since any of my own folk journeyed hither back to the land whence we wandered in ages long ago,' said Legolas, 'but we hear that Lurien is not yet deserted, for there is a secret power here that holds evil from the land. Nevertheless its folk are seldom seen, and maybe they dwell now deep in the woods and far from the northern border.' 'Indeed deep in the wood they dwell,' said Aragorn, and sighed as if some memory stirred in him. `We must fend for ourselves tonight. We will go forward a short way, until the trees are all about us, and then we will turn aside from the path and seek a place to rest in.' He stepped forward; but Boromir stood irresolute and did not follow. 'Is there no other way? ' he said. `What other fairer way would you desire? ' said Aragorn.####- `A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords,' said Boromir. `By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune. Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few none have escaped unscathed.' `Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth said Aragorn. But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlurien. Believe what you will, there is no other way for us -- unless you would go back to Moria -gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all alone.' `Then lead on! ' said Boromir. `But it is perilous.' `Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me! ' They had gone little more than a mile into the forest when they came upon another stream flowing down swiftly from the tree-clad slopes that climbed back westward towards the mountains. They heard it splashing over a fall away among the shadows on their right. Its dark hurrying waters ran across the path before them, and joined the Silverlode in a swirl of dim pools among the roots of trees. `Here is Nimrodel! ' said Legolas. 'Of this stream the Silvan Elves made many songs long ago, and still we sing them in the North, remembering the rainbow on its falls, and the golden flowers that floated in its foam. All is dark now and the Bridge of Nimrodel is broken down. I will bathe my feet, for it is said that the water is healing to the weary.' He went forward and climbed down the deep-cloven bank and stepped into the stream. `Follow me!' he cried. 'The water is not deep. Let us wade across! On the further bank we can rest. and the sound of the falling water may bring us sleep and forgetfulness of grief.' One by one they climbed down and followed Legolas. For a moment Frodo stood near the brink and let the water flow over his tired feet. It was cold but its touch was clean, and as he went on and it mounted to his knees, he felt that the stain of travel and all weariness was washed from his limbs. When all the Company had crossed, they sat and rested and ate a little food; and Legolas told them tales of Lothlurien that the Elves of Mirkwood still kept in their hearts, of sunlight and starlight upon the meadows by ####-the Great River before the world was grey. At length a silence fell, and they heard the music of the waterfall running sweetly in the shadows. Almost Frodo fancied that he could hear a voice singing, mingled with the sound of the water. `Do you hear the voice of Nimrodel? ' asked Legolas. 'I will sing you a song of the maiden Nimrodel, who bore the same name as the stream besi de which she lived lung ago. It is a fair song in our woodland tongue; but this is how it runs in the Westron Speech, as some in Rivendell now sing it.' In a soft voice hardly to be heard amid the rustle of the leaves above them he began: An Elven-maid there was of old, A shining star by day: Her mantle white was hemmed with gold, Her shoes of silver-grey. A star was bound upon her brows, A light was on her hair As sun upon the golden boughs In Lurien the fair. Her hair was long, her limbs were white, And fair she was and free; And in the wind she went as light As leaf of linden-tree. Beside the falls of Nimrodel, By water clear and cool, Her voice as falling silver fell Into the shining pool. Where now she wanders none can tell, In sunlight or in shade; For lost of yore was Nimrodel And in the mountains strayed. The elven-ship in haven grey Beneath the mountain -lee ####- Awaited her for many a day Beside the roaring sea. A wind by night in Northern lands Arose, and loud it cried, And drove the ship from elven-strands Across the streaming tide. When dawn came dim the land was lost, The mountains sinking grey Beyond the heaving waves that tossed Their plumes of blinding spray. Amroth beheld the fading shore Now low beyond the swell, And cursed the faithless ship that bore Him far from Nimrodel. Of old he was an Elven-king, A lord of tree and glen, When golden were the boughs in spring In fair Lothlurien. From helm to sea they saw him leap, As arrow from the string, And dive into the water deep, As mew upon the wing. The wind was in his flowing hair, The foam about him shone; Afar they saw him strong and fair Go riding like a swan. But from the West has come no word, And on the Hither Shore No tidings Elven-folk have heard Of Amroth evermore.####- The voice of Legolas faltered, and the song ceased. 'I cannot sing any more,' he said. 'That is but a part, for I have forgotten much. It is long and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlurien, Lurien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.' `But the Dwarves did not make the evil,' said Gimli. `I said not so; yet evil came,' answered Legolas sadly. `Then many of the Elves of Nimrodel's kindred left their dwellings and departed and she was lost far in the South, in the passes of the White Mountains; and she came not to the ship where Amroth her lover waited for her. But in the spring when the wind is in the new leaves the echo of her voice may still be heard by the falls that bear her name. And when the wind is in the South the voice of Amroth comes up from the sea; for Nimrodel flows into Silverlode, that Elves call Celebrant, and Celebrant into Anduin the Great. and Anduin flows into the Bay of Belfalas whence the Elves of Lurien set sa il. But neither Nimrodel nor Amroth ever came back. 'It is told that she had a house built in the branches of a tree that grew near the falls; for that was the custom of the Elves of Lurien, to dwell in the trees, and maybe it is so still. Ther efore they were called the Galadhrim, the Tree-people. Deep in their forest the trees are very great. The people of the woods did not delve in the ground like Dwarves, nor build strong places of stone before the Shadow came.' `And even in these la tter days dwelling in the trees might be thought safer than sitting on the ground,' said Gimli. He looked across the stream to the road that led back to Dimrill Dale, and then up into the roof of dark boughs above. `Your words bring good counsel, Gimli,' said Aragorn. `We cannot build a house, but tonight we will do as the Galadhrim and seek refuge in the tree-tops, if we can. We have sat here beside the road already longer than was wise.' The Company now turned aside from the path, and went into the shadow of the deeper woods, westward along the mountain-stream away from Silverlode. Not far from the falls of Nimrodel they found a cluster of trees, some of which overhung the stream. Their great grey trunks were of mighty girth, but their height could not be guessed. `I will climb up,' said Legolas. `I am at home among trees, by root or bough, though these trees are of a kind strange to me, save as a name in ####-song. Mellyrn they are called, and are those that bear the yellow blossom, but I have never climbed in one. I will see now what is their shape and way of growth.' `Whatever it may be,' said Pippin, `they will be marvellous trees indeed if they can offer any rest at night, except to birds. I cannot sleep on a perch! ' 'Then dig a hole in the ground,' said Legolas, `if that is more after the fashion of your kind. But you must dig swift and deep, if you wish to hide from Orcs.' He sprang lightly up from the ground and caught a branch that grew from the trunk high above his head. But even as he swung there for a moment, a voice spoke suddenly from the tree-shadows above him. `Daro!' it said in commanding tone, and Legolas dropped back to earth in surprise and fear. He shrank against the bole of the tree. 'Stand still! ' he whispered to the others. `Do not move or speak! ' There was a sound of soft laughter over their heads, and then another clear voice spoke in an elven-tongue. Frodo could understand little of what was said, for the speech that the Silvan folk east of the mountains used among themselves was unlike that of the West. Legolas looked up and answered in the same language.* `Who are they, and what do they say? ' asked Merry. `They're Elves,' said Sam. `Can't you hear their voices? ' `Yes, they are Elves,' said Legolas; `and they say that you breathe so loud that they could shoot you in the dark.' Sam hastily put his hand over his mouth. 'But they say also that you need have no fear. They have been aware of us for a long while. They heard my voice across the Nimrodel, and knew that I was one of their Northern kindred, and therefore they did not hinder our crossing; and afterwards they heard my song. Now they bid me climb up with Frodo; for they seem to have had some tidings of him and of our journey. The others they ask to wait a little and to keep watch at the foot of the tree, until they have decided what is to be done.' Out of the shadows a ladder was let down: it was made of rope, silver -grey and glimmering in the dark, and though it looked slender it proved strong enough to bear many men. Legolas ran lightly up, and Frodo followed slowly; behind came Sam trying not to breathe loudly. The branches of the mallorn-tree grew out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept upward; but near the top the main stem divided into a crown of many boughs,####-and among these they found that there had been built a wooden platform, or flet as such things were called in those days: the Elves called it a talan. It was reached by a round hole in the centre through which the ladder passed. When Frodo came at last up on to the flet he found Legolas seated with three other Elves. They were clad in shadowy-grey, and could not be seen among the tree-stems, unless they moved suddenly. They stood up, and one of them uncovered a small lamp that gave out a slender silver beam. He held it up, looking at Frodo's face, and Sam's. Then he shut off the light again, and spoke words of welcome in his elven-tongue. Frodo spoke haltingly in return. `Welcome!' the Elf then said again in the Common Language, speaking slowly. 'We seldom use any tongue but our own; for we dwell now in the heart of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings with any other folk. Even our own kindred in the North are sundered from us. But there are some of us still who go abroad for the gathering of news and the watching of our enemies, and they speak the languages of other lands. I am one. Haldir is my name. My brothers, R®mil and Orophin, speak little of your tongue. `But we have heard rumours of your coming, for the messengers of Elrond passed by Lurien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair. We had not heard of hobbits, or halflings, for many a long year, and did not know that any yet dwelt in Middle-earth. You do not look evil! And since you come with an Elf of our kindred, we are willing to befriend you, as Elrond asked; though it is not our custom to lead strangers through our land. But you must stay here tonight. How many are you? ' `Eight,' said Legolas. `Myself, four hobbits; and two men, one of whom, Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse.' `The name of Aragorn son of Arathorn is known in Lurien,' said Haldir, `and he has the favour of the Lady. All then is well. But you have yet spoken only of seven.' `The eighth is a dwarf,' said Legolas. `A dwarf! ' said Haldir. `That is not well. We have not had dealings wi th the Dwarves since the Dark Days. They are not permitted in our land. I cannot allow him to pass.' `But he is from the Lonely Mountain, one of Dbin's trusty people, and friendly to Elrond,' said Frodo. `Elrond himself chose him to be one of our companions, and he has been brave and faithful.'####- The Elves spoke together in soft voices, and questioned Legolas in their own tongue. 'Very good,' said Haldir at last. `We will do this, though it is against our liking. If Aragorn and Legolas will guard him, and answer for him, he shall pass; but he must go blindfold through Lothlurien. `But now we must debate no longer. Your folk must not remain on the ground. We have been keeping watch on the rivers, ever since we saw a great troop of Orcs going north toward Moria, along the skirts of the mountains, many days ago. Wolves are howling on the wood's borders. If you have indeed come from Moria, the peril cannot be far behind. Tomorrow early you must go on. 'The four hobbits shall c limb up here and stay with us-we do not fear them! There is another talan in the next tree. There the others must take refuge. You, Legolas, must answer to us for them. Call us, if anything is amiss! And have an eye on that dwarf!' Legolas at once went down the ladder to take Haldir's message; and soon afterwards Merry and Pippin clambered up on to the high flet. They were out of breath and seemed rather scared. `There!' said Merry panting. `We have lugged up your blankets as well as our own. Strider has hidden all the rest of the baggage in a deep drift of leaves.' `You had no need of your burdens,' said Haldir. `It is cold in the tree-tops in winter, though the wind tonight is in the South; but we have food and drink to give you that will drive away the night -chill, and we have skins and cloaks to spare.' The hobbits accepted this second (and far better) supper very gladly. Then they wrapped themselves warmly, not only in the fur-cloaks of the Elves, but in their own blankets as well, and tried to go to sleep. But weary as they were only Sam found that easy to do. Hobbits do not like heights, and do not sleep upstairs, even when they have any stairs. The flet was not at all to their liking as a bedroom. It had no walls. not even a rail; only on one side was there a light plaited screen, which could be moved and fixed in different places according to the wind. Pippin went on talking for a while. `I hope, if I do go to sleep in this bed-loft, that I shan't roll off,' he said. `Once I do get to sleep,' said Sam, 'i shall go on sleeping, whether I roll off or no. And the less said, the sooner I'll drop off, if you take my meaning.'####- Frodo lay for some time awake, and looked up at the stars glinting through the pale roof of quivering leaves. Sam was snoring at his side long before he himself closed his eyes. He could dimly see the grey forms of two elves sitting motionless with their arms about their knees, speaking in whispers. The other had gone down to take up his watch on one of the lower branches. At last lulled by the wind in the boughs above, and the sweet murmur of the falls of Nimrodel below, Frodo fell asleep with the song of Legolas running in his mind. Late in the night he awoke. The other hobbits were asleep. The Elves were gone. The sickle Moon was gleaming dimly among the leaves. The wind was still. A little way off he heard a harsh laugh and the tread of many feet on the ground below. There was a ring of metal. The sounds died slowly away, and seemed to go southward, on into the wood. A head appeared suddenly through the hole in the flet. Frodo sat up in alarm and saw that it was a grey-hooded Elf. He looked towards the hobbits. `What is it? ' said Frodo. `Yrch!' said the Elf in a hissing whisper, and cast on to the flet the rope-ladder rolled up. 'Orcs! ' said Frodo. `What are they doing? ' But the Elf had gone. There were no more sounds. Even the leaves were silent, and the very falls seemed to be hushed. Frodo sat and shivered in his wraps. He was thankful that they had not been caught on the ground; but he felt that the trees offered little protection, except concealment. Orcs were as keen as hounds on a scent, it was said, but they could also climb. He drew out Sting: it flashed and glittered like a blue flame and then slowly faded again and grew dull. In spite of the fading of his sword the feeling of immediate danger did no t leave Frodo, rather it grew stronger. He got up and crawled to the opening and peered down. He was almost certain that he could hear stealthy movements at the tree's foot far below. Not Elves; for the woodland folk were altogether noiseless in their movements. Then he heard faintly a sound like sniffing: and something seemed to be scrabbling on the bark of the tree-trunk. He stared down into the dark, holding his breath. Something was now climbing slowly, and its breath came like a soft hissing through closed teeth. Then coming up, close to the stem, Frodo saw ####-two pale eyes. They stopped and gazed upward unwinking. Suddenly they turned away, and a shadowy figure slipped round the trunk of the tree and vanished. Immediately afterwards Haldir came climbing swiftly up through the branches. `There was something in this tree that I have never seen before,' he said. `It was not an orc. It fled as soon as I touched the tree-stem. It seemed to be wary, and to have some skill in trees, or I might have thought that it was one of you hobbits. 'I did not shoot, for I dared not arouse any cries: we cannot risk battle. A strong company of Orcs has passed. They crossed the Nimrodel-curse their foul feet in its clean water!-and went on down the old road beside the river. They seemed to pick up some scent, and they searched the ground for a while near the place where you halted. The three of us could not challenge a hundred, so we went ahead and spoke with feigned voices, leading them on into the wood. `Orophin has now gone in haste back to our dwellings to warn our people. None of the Orcs will ever return out of Lurien. And there will be many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls. Bu t you must take the road south as soon as it is fully light.' Day came pale from the East. As the light grew it filtered through the yellow leaves of the mallorn, and it seemed to the hobbits that the early sun of a cool summer's morning was shining. Pale-blue sky peeped among the moving branches. Looking through an opening on the south side of the flet Frodo saw all the valley of the Silverlode lying like a sea of fallow gold tossing gently in the breeze. The morning was still young and cold when the Company set out again, guided now by Haldir and his brother R®mil. `Farewell, sweet Nimrodel! ' cried Legolas. Frodo looked back and caught a gleam of white foam among the grey tree-stems. `Farewell,' he said. It seemed to him tha t he would never hear again a running water so beautiful, for ever blending its innumerable notes in an endless changeful music. They went back to the path that still went on along the west side of the Silverlode, and for some way they followed it southward. There were the prints of orc-feet in the earth. But soon Haldir turned aside into the trees and halted on the bank of the river under their shadows. `There is one of my people yonder across the stream,' he said `though ####-you may not see him.' He gave a call like the low whistle of a bird, and out of a thicket of young trees an Elf stepped, clad in grey, but with his hood thrown back; his hair glinted like gold in the morning sun. Haldir skilfully cast over the stream a coil of grey rope, and he caught it and bound the end about a tree near the bank. `Celebrant is already a strong stream here, as you see,' said Haldir 'and it runs both swift and deep, and is very cold. We do not set foot in it so far north, unless we must. But in these days of watchfulness we do not make bridges. This is how we cross! Follow me!' He made his end of the rope fast about another tree, and then ran lightly along it, over the river and back again, as if he were on a road. `I can walk this path,' said Legolas; `but the others have not this skill. Must they swim?' `No!' said Haldir. `We have two more ropes. We will fasten them above the other, one shoulder-high, and another half-high, and holding these the strangers should be able to cross with care.' When this slender bridge had been made, the Company passed over, some cautiously and slowly, others more easily. Of the hobbits Pippin proved the best for he was sure-footed, and he walked over quickly, holding only with one hand; but he kept his eyes on the bank ahead and did not look down. Sam shuffled along, clutching hard, and looking down into the pale eddying water as if it was a chasm in the mountains. He breathed with relief when he was safely across. `Live and learn! as my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening, not of roosting like a bird, nor of trying to walk like a spider. Not even my uncle Andy ever did a trick like that! ' When at length all the Company was gathered on the east bank of the Silverlode, the Elves untied the ropes and coiled two of them. R®mil, who had remained on the other side, drew back the last one, slung it on his shoulder, and with a wave of his hand went away, back to Nimrodel to keep watch. `Now, friends,' said Haldir, `you have entered the Naith of Lurien or the Gore, as you would say, for it is the land that lies like a spear -head between the arms of Silverlode and Anduin the Great. We allow no strangers to spy out the secrets of the Naith. Few indeed are permitted even to set foot there. `As was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf. The ####-other may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters. ' This was not at all to the liking of Gimli. `The agreement was made without my consent,' he said. `I will not walk blindfold, like a beggar or a prisoner. And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the servants of the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions.' 'I do not doubt you,' said Haldir. 'Yet this is our law. I am not the master of the law, and cannot set it aside. I have done much in letting you set foot over Celebrant.' Gimli was obstinate. He planted his feet firmly apart, and laid his hand upon the haft of his axe. 'I will go forward free,' he said, 'or I will go back and seek my own land, where I am known to be true of word, though I perish alone in the wilderness.' `You cannot go back,' said Haldir sternly. 'Now you have come thus far, you must be brought before the Lord and the Lady. They shall judge you, to hold you or to give you leave, as they will. You cannot cross the rivers again, and behind you there are now secret sentinels that you cannot pass. You would be slain before you saw them.' Gimli drew his axe from his belt. Haldir and his companion bent their bows. 'A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks! ' said Legolas. 'Come!' said Aragorn. `If I am still to lead this Company, you must do as I bid. It is hard upon the Dwarf to be thus singled out. We will all be blindfold, even Legolas. That will be best, though it will make the journey slow and dull.' Gimli laughed suddenly. `A merry troop of fools we shall look! Will Haldir lead us all on a string, like many blind beggars with one dog? But I will be content, if only Legolas here shares my blindness.' `I am an Elf and a kinsman here,' said Legolas, becoming angry in his turn. `Now let us cry: "a plague on the stiff necks of Elves!"' said Aragorn. `But the Company shall all fare alike. Come, bind our eyes Haldir! ' `I shall claim full amends for every fall and stubbed toe, if you do not lead us well,' said Gimli as they bound a cloth about his eyes. 'You will have no claim,' said Haldir. `I shall lead you well, and the paths are smooth and straight.' `Alas for the folly of these days! ' said Legolas. 'Here all are ####-enemies of the one Enemy, and yet I must walk blind, while the sun is merry in the woodland under leaves of gold! ' `Folly it may seem,' said Haldir. 'Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him. Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in the world beyond Lothlurien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by our own trust endanger our land. We live now upon an island amid many perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp. `The rivers long defended us, but they are a sure guard no more for the Shadow has crept northward all about us. Some speak of departing, yet for that it already seems too late. The mountains to the west are growing evil; to the east the lands are waste, and full of Sauron's creatures; and it is rumoured that we cannot now safely pass southward through Rohan, and the mouths of the Great River are watched by the Enemy. Even if we could come to the shores of the Sea, we should find no longer any shelter there. It is said that there are still havens of. the High Elves, but they are far north and west, beyond the land of the Halflings. But where that may be, though the Lord and Lady may know, I do not.' `You ought at least to guess, since you have seen us,' said Merry. `There are Elf-havens west of my land, the Shire where Hobbits live.' `Happy folk are Hobbits to dwell near the shores of the sea! ' said Haldir. 'It is long indeed since any of my folk have looked on it, yet still we remember it in song. Tell me of these havens as we walk.' `I cannot,' said Merry. `I have never seen them. I have never been out of my own la nd before. And if I had known what the world outside was like. I don't think I should have had the heart to leave it.' `Not even to see fair Lothlurien? ' said Haldir. 'The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. `Some there are among us who sing that the Shadow will draw back and peace shall come again. Yet I do not believe that the world about us will ever again be as it was of old, or the light of the Sun as it was aforetime. For the Elves, I fear, it will prove at best a truce, in which they may pass to the Sea unhindered and leave the Middle-earth for ever. Alas for Lothlurien that I love! It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn ####-grew. But if there are mallorn-trees beyond the Great Sea, none have reported it.' As they spoke thus, the Company filed slowly along the paths in the wood, led by Hald ir, while the other Elf walked behind. They felt the ground beneath their feet smooth and soft, and after a while they walked more freely, without fear of hurt or fall. Being deprived of sight, Frodo found his hearing and other senses sharpened. He could smell the trees and the trodden grass. He could hear many different notes in the rustle of the leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on his right, and the thin clear voices of birds in the sky. He felt the sun upon his face and hands when they passed through an open glade. As soon as he set foot upon the far bank of Silverlode a strange feeling had come upon him, and it deepened as he walked on into the Naith: it seemed to him that he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of the Elder Days, and was -now walking in a world that was no more. In Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lurien the ancient things still lived on in the waking world. Evil had been seen and heard there, sorrow had been known; the Elves feared and distrusted the world outside: wolves were howling on the wood's borders: but on the land of Lurien no shadow lay. All that day the Company marched on, until they felt the cool evening come and heard the early night-wind whispering among many leaves. Then they rested and slept without fear upon the ground; for their guides would not permit them to unbind their eyes, and they could not climb. In the morning they went on again, walking without hast e. At noon they halted, and Frodo was aware that they had passed out under the shining Sun. Suddenly he heard the sound of many voices all around him. A marching host of Elves had come up silently: they were hastening toward the northern borders to guard against any attack from Moria; and they brought news, some of which Haldir reported. The marauding orcs had been waylaid and almost all destroyed; the remnant had fled westward towards the mountains, and were being pursued. A strange creature also had been seen, running with bent back and with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet not of beast-shape. It had eluded capture, and they had not shot it, not knowing whether it was good or ill, and it had vanished down the Silverlode southward.####- `Also,' said Haldir, `they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim. You are all to walk free, even the dwarf Gimli. It seems that the Lady knows who and what is each member of your Company. New messages have come from Rivendell perhaps.' He removed the bandage first from Gimli's eyes. 'Your pardon! ' he said, bowing low. `Look on us now with friendly eyes! Look and be glad, for you are the first dwarf to behold the trees of the Naith of Lurien since Durin's Day! ' When his eyes were in turn uncovered, Frodo looked up and caught his breath. They were standing in an open space. To the left stood a great mound, covered with a sward of grass as green as Spring-time in the Elder Days. Upon it , as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the outer had bark of snowy white, and were leafless but beautiful in their shapely nakedness; the inner were mallorn-trees of great height, still arrayed in pale gold. High amid the branches of a towering tree that stood in the centre of all there gleamed a white flet. At the feet of the trees, and all about the green hillsides the grass was studded with small golden flowers shaped like stars. Among them, nodding on slender stalks, were other flowers, white and palest green: they glimmered as a mist amid the rich hue of the grass. Over all the sky was blue, and the sun of afternoon glowed upon the hill and cast long green shadows beneath the trees. 'Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,' said Haldir. `For this is the heart of the ancient realm as it was long ago, and here is the mound of Amroth, where in happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the winter flowers in the unfading grass: the yellow elanor, and the pale niphredil. Here we will stay awhile, and come to the city of the Galadhrim at dusk.' The others cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first ####-perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lurien there was no stain. He turned and saw that Sam was now standing beside him, looking round with a puzzled expression, and rubbing his eyes as if he was not sure that he was awake. `It's sunlight and bright day, right enough,' he said. `I thought that Elves were all for moon and stars: but this is more elvish than anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was inside a song. if you take my meaning.' Haldir looked at them, and he seemed indeed to take the meaning of both thought and word. He smiled. `You feel the power of the Lady of the Galadhrim,' he said. `Would it please you to climb with me up Cerin Amroth? ' They followed him as he stepped lightly up the grass-clad slopes. Though he walked and breathed, and about him living leaves and flowers were stirred by the same cool wind as fanned his face, Frodo felt that he was in a timeless land that did not fade or change or fall into forgetfulness. When he had gone and passed again into the outer world, still Frodo the wanderer from the Shire would walk there, upon the grass among elanor and niphredil in fair Lothlurien. They entered the circle of white trees. As they did so the South Wind blew upon Cerin Amroth and sighed among the branches. Frodo stood still, hearing far off_ great seas upon beaches that had long ago been washed away, and sea -birds crying whose race had perished from the earth. Haldir had gone on and was now climbing to the high flet. As Frodo prepared to follow him, he laid his hand upon the tree beside the ladder: never before had he been so suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and texture of a tree's skin and of the life within it. He felt a delight in wood and the touch of it, neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was the delight of the living tree itself. As he stepped out at last upon the lofty platform, Haldir took his hand and turned him toward the South. `Look this way first! ' he said. Frodo looked and saw, still at some distance, a hill of many mighty trees, or a city of green towers: which it was he could not tell. Out of it, it seemed to him that the power and light came that held all the land in ####-sway. He longed suddenly to fly like a bird to rest in the green city. Then he looked eastward and saw all the land of Lurien running down to the pale gleam of Anduin, the Great River. He lifted his eyes across the river and all the light went out, and he was back again in the world he knew. Beyond the river the land appeared flat and empty, formless and vague, until far away it rose again like a wall, dark and drear. The sun that lay on Lothlurien had no power to enlighten the shadow of that distant height. `There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,' said Haldir. `It is clad in a forest of dark fir, where the trees strive one against another and their branches rot and wither. In the midst upon a stony height stands Dol Guldur, where long the hidden Enemy had his dwelling. We fear that now it is inhabited again, and with power sevenfold. A black cloud lies often over it of late. In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed one to another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light perceives the very heart of the darkness, its own secret has not been discovered. Not yet.' He turned and climbed swiftly down, and they followed him. At the hill's foot Frodo found Aragorn, standing still and silent as a tree; but in his hand was a small golden bloom of elanor, and a light was in his eyes. He was wrapped in some fair memory: and as Frodo looked at him he knew that he beheld things as they once had been in this same place. For the grim years were removed from the face of Aragorn, and he seemed clothed in white, a young lord tall and fair; and he spoke words in the Elvish tongue to one whom Frodo could not see . Arwen vanimelda, nambril! he said, and then he drew a breath, and returning out of his thought he looked at Frodo and smiled. `Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,' he said, `and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still must tread, you and I. Come with me! ' And taking Frodo's hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man. ####- The sun was sinking behind the mountains, and the shadows were deepening in the woods, when they went on again. Their paths now went into thickets where the dusk had already gathered. Night came beneath the trees as they walked, and the Elves uncovered their silver lamps. Suddenly they came out into the open again and found themselves under a pale evening sky pricked by a few early stars. There was a wide treeless space before them, running in a great circle and bending away on either hand. Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its brink was green, as if it glowed still in memory of the sun that had gone. Upon the further side there rose to a great height a green wall encircling a green hill thronged with mallorn-trees taller than any they had yet seen in all the land. Their height could not be guessed, but they stood up in the twilight like living towers. In their, many-tiered branches and amid their ever -moving leaves countless lights were gleaming, green and gold and silver. Haldir turned towards the Company. `Welcome to Caras Galadhon! ' he said. 'Here is the city of the Galadhrim where dwell the Lord Celeborn and Galadriel the Lady of Lurien. But we cannot enter here, for the gates do not look northward. We must go round to the southern side, and the way is not short, for the city is great.' There was a road paved with white stone running on the outer brink of the fosse. Along this they wen t westward, with the city ever climbing up like a green cloud upon their left; and as the night deepened more lights sprang forth, until all the hill seemed afire with stars. They came at last to a white bridge, and crossing found the great gates of the city: they faced south-west, set between the ends of the encircling wall that here overlapped, and they were tall and strong, and hung with many lamps. Haldir knocked and spoke, and the gates opened soundlessly; but of guards Frodo could see no sign. The travellers passed within, and the gates shut behind them. They were in a deep lane between the ends of the wall, and passing quickly through it they entered the City of the Trees. No folk could they see, nor hear any feet upon the paths; but there were many voices, about them, and in the air above. Far away up on the hill they could hear ####-the sound of singing falling from on high like soft rain upon leaves. They went along many paths and climbed many stairs, until they came to the high places and saw before them amid a wide lawn a fountain shimmering. It was lit by silver lamps that swung from the boughs of trees, and it fell into a basin of silver, from which a white stream spilled. Upon the south side of the lawn there stood the mightiest of all the trees; its great smooth bole gleamed like grey silk, and up it towered, until its first branches, far above, opened their huge limbs under shadowy clouds of leaves. Beside it a broad white ladder stood, and at its foot three Elves were seated. They sprang up as the travellers approached, and Frodo saw that they were tall and clad in grey mail, and from their shoulders hung long white cloaks. 'Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel,' said Haldir. `It is their wish that you should ascend and speak with them.' One of the Elf-wardens then blew a clear note on a small horn, and it was answered three times from far above. `I will go first,' said Haldir. 'Let Frodo come next and with him Legolas. The others may follow as they wish. It is a long climb for those that are not accustomed to such stairs, but you may rest upon the way.' As he climbed slowly up Frodo passed many flets: some on one side, some on another, and some set about the bole of the tree, so that the ladder passed through them. At a great height above the ground he came to a wide talan, like the deck of a great ship. On it was built a house, so large that almost it would have served for a hall of Men upon the earth. He entered behind Haldir, and found that he was in a chamber of oval shape, in the midst of which grew the trunk of the great mallorn, now tapering towards its crown, and yet making still a pillar of wide girth. The chamber was filled with a soft light; its walls were green and silver and its roof of gold. Many Elves were seated there. On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. They stood up to greet their guests, after the manner of Elves, even those who were accounted mighty kings. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the ####-wells of deep memory. Haldir led Frodo before them, and the Lord welcomed him in his own tongue. The Lady Galadriel said no word but looked long upon his face. `Sit now beside my chair, Frodo of the Shire! ' said Celeborn. `When all have come we will speak together.' Each of the companions he greeted courteously by name as they entered. `Welcome Aragorn son of Arathorn! ' he said. `It is eight and thirty years of the world outside since you came to this land; and those years lie heavy on you. But the end is near, for good or ill. Here lay aside your burden for a while! ' 'Welcome son of Thranduil! Too seldom do my kindred journey hither from the North.' `Welcome Gimli son of Gluin! It is long indeed since we saw one of Durin's folk in Caras Galadhon. But today we have broken our long law. May it be a sign that though the world is now dark better days are at hand, and that friendship shall be renewed between our peoples.' Gimli bowed low. When all the guests were seated before his chair the Lord looked at them again. 'Here there are eight,' he said. `Nine were to set out: so said the messages. But maybe there has been some change of counsel that we have not heard. Elrond is far away, and darkness gathers between us, and all this year the shadows have grown longer.' `Nay, there was no change of counsel,' said the Lady Galadriel speaking for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than woman's wont. `Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. Now tell us where he is; for I much desired to speak with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the fences of Lothlurien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and of his mind are hidden from me.' 'Alas! ' said Aragorn. `Gandalf the Grey fell into shadow. He remained in Moria and did not escape.' At these words all the Elves in the hall cried aloud in grief and amazement. `These are evil tidings,' said Celeborn, `the most evil that have been spoken here in long years full of grievous deeds.' He turned to Haldir. `Why has nothing of this been told to me before? ' he asked in the Elven-tongue. 'We have not spoken to Haldir of our deeds or our purpose,' said Legolas. `At first we were weary and danger was too close behind and ####-afterwards we almost forgot our grief for a time, as we walked in gladness on the fair paths of Lurien.' `Yet our grief is great and our loss cannot be mended ,' said Frodo. 'Gandalf was our guide, and he led us through Moria; and when our escape seemed beyond hope he saved us, and he fell.' 'Tell us now the full tale! ' said Celeborn: Then Aragorn recounted all that had happened upon the pass of Caradhras, and in the days that followed; and he spoke of Balin and his book, and the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbul, and the fire, and the narrow bridge, and the coming of the Terror. 'An evil of the Ancient World it seemed, such as I have never seen before,' said Aragorn. `It was both a shadow and a flame, strong and terrible.' 'It was a Balrog of Morgoth,' said Legolas; `of all elf-banes the most deadly, save the One who sits in the Dark Tower.' `Indeed I saw upon the bridge that which haunts our darkest dreams l saw Durin's Bane,' said Gimli in a low voice, and dread was in his eyes. 'Alas! ' said Celeborn. `We long have feared that under Caradhras a terror slept. But had I known that the Dwarves had st irred up this evil in Moria again, l would have forbidden you to pass the northern borders, you and all that went with you. And if it were possible, one would say that at the last Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net of Moria.' `He would be rash indeed that said that thing,' said Galadriel gravely. `Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. Those that followed him knew not his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be with the guide, the followers are blameless. Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlurien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, though it had become an abode of dragons? 'Dark is the water of Kheled-zvram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nvla, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dym in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.' She looked upon Gimli, who sat glowering and sad, and she smiled. And the Dwarf, hearing the names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes; and it seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then he smiled ####-in answer. He rose clumsily and bowed in dwarf-fashion, saying: `Yet more fair is the living land of Lurien, and the Lady Galadriel is above all the jewels that lie beneath the earth! ' There was a silence. At length Celeborn spoke again. `I did not know that your plight was so evil,' he said. `Let Gimli forget my harsh words: I spoke in the trouble of my heart. I will do what I can to aid you, each according to his wish and need, but especially that one of the little folk who bears the burden.' 'Your quest is known to us,' said Galadriel, looking at Frodo. `But we will not here speak of it more openly. Yet not in vain will it prove, maybe, that you came to this land seeking aid, as Gandalf himself plainly purposed. For the Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings. He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat. 'I it was who first summoned the White Council. And if my designs had not gone amiss, it would have been governed by Gandalf the Grey, and then mayhap things would have gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I will not give you counsel, saying do this, or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be. But this I will say to you: your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true.' And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance. Sam quickly blushed and hung his head. At length the Lady Galadriel released them from her eyes, and she smiled. `Do not let your hearts be troubled,' she said. 'Tonight you shall sleep in peace.' Then they sighed and felt suddenly weary, as those who have been questioned long and deeply, though no words had been spoken openly. `Go now! ' said Celeborn. `You are worn with sorrow and much toil. Even if your Quest did not concern us closely, you should have refuge in this City, until you were healed and refreshed. Now you shall rest, and we will ####-not speak of your further road for a while.' That night the Company slept upon the ground, much to the satisfaction of the hobbits. The Elves spread for them a pavilion among the trees near the fountain, and in it they laid soft couches; then speaking words of peace with fair elvish voices they left them. For a little while the travellers talked of their night before in the tree-tops, and of their day's journey, and of the Lord and Lady; for they had not yet the heart to look further back. `What did you blush for, Sam? ' said Pippin. `You soon broke down. Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets.' `I never thought no such thing,' answered Sam, in no mood for jest. 'If you want to know, I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like it. She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the chance of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole with-with a bit of garden of my own.' `That's funny,' said Merry. 'Almost exactly what I felt myself; only, only well, I don't think I'II say any more,' he ended lamely. All of them, it seemed, had fared alike: each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others. `And it seemed to me, too,' said Gimli, `that my choice would remain secret and known only to myself.' 'To me it seemed exceedingly strange,' said Boromir. `Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to give. It need not be said that I refused to listen. The Men of Minas Tirith are true to their word.' But what he thought that the Lady had offered him Boromir did not tell. And as for Frodo, he would not speak, though Boromir pressed him with questions. `She held you long in her gaze, Ring-bearer,' he said. `Yes,' said Frodo; `but whatever came into my mind then I will keep there.' `Well, have a care! ' said Boromir. `I do not feel too sure of this Elvish Lady and her purposes.'####- `Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel! ' said Aragorn sternly. 'You know not what you say. There is in her and in this land no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware! But tonight I shall sleep without fear for the first time since I left Rivendell. And may I sleep deep, and forget for a while my grief! I am weary in body and in heart.' He cast himself down upon his couch and fell at once into a long sleep. The others soon did the same, and no sound or dream disturbed their slumber. When they woke they found that the light of day was broad upon the lawn before the pavilion. and the fountain rose and fell glittering in the sun. They remained some days in Lothlurien, so far as they could tell or remember. All the while that they dwelt there the sun shone clear, save for a gentle rain that fell at times, and passed away leaving all things fresh and clean. The air was cool and soft, as if it were early spring, yet they felt about them the deep and thoughtful quiet of winter. It seemed to them that they did little but eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees; and it was enough. They had not seen the Lord and Lady again, and they had little speech with the Elven-folk; for few of these knew or would use the Westron tongue. Haldir had bidden them farewell and gone back again to the fences of the North, where great watch was now kept since the tidings of Moria that the Company had brought. Legolas was away much among the Galadhrim, and after the first night he did not sleep with the other companions, though he returned to eat and talk with them. Often he took Gimli with him when he went abroad in the land, and the others wondered at this change. Now as the companions sat or walked together they spoke of Gandalf, and all that each had known and seen of him came clear before their minds. As they were healed of hurt and weariness of body the grief of their loss grew more keen. Often they heard nearby Elvish voices singing, and knew that they were making songs of lamentation for his fall, for they caught his name among the sweet sad words that they could not understand. Mithrandir, Mithrandir sang the Elves, O Pilgrim Grey! For so they loved to call him. But if Legolas was with the Company, he would not interpret the songs for them, saying that he had not the skill, and that for him the grief was still too near, a matter for tears and not yet for song. It was Frodo who first put something of his sorrow into halting words.####-He was seldom moved to make song or rhyme; even in Rivendell he had listened and had not sung himself, though his memory was stored with many things that others had made before him. But now as he sat beside the fountain in Lurien and heard about him the voices of the Elves, his thought took shape in a song that seemed fair to him; yet when he tried to repeat it to Sam only snatches remained, faded as a handful of withered leaves. When evening in the Shire was grey his footsteps on the Hill were heard; before the dawn he went away on journey long without a word. From Wilderland to Western shore, from northern waste to southern hill, through dragon-lair and hidden door and darkling woods he walked at will. With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men, with mortal and immortal folk, with bird on bough and beast in den, in their own secret tongues he spoke. A deadly sword, a healing hand, a back that bent beneath its load; a trumpet-voice, a burning brand, a weary pilgrim on the road. A lord of wisdom throned he sat, swift in anger, quick to laugh; an old man in a battered hat who leaned upon a thorny staff. He stood upon the bridge alone and Fire and Shadow both defied; his staff was broken on the stone, in Khazad-dym his wisdom died. `Why, you'll be beating Mr. Bilbo next! ' said Sam.####- 'No, I am afraid not,' said Frodo. 'But that is the best I can do yet.' 'Well, Mr. Frodo, if you do have another go, I hope you'll say a word about his fireworks,' said Sam. `Something like this: The finest rockets ever seen: they burst in stars of blue and green, or after thunder golden showers came falling like a rain of flowers. Though that doesn't do them justice by a long road.' `No, I'll leave that to you, Sam. Or perhaps to Bilbo. But-well. I can't talk of it any more. I can't bear to think of bringing the news to him.' One evening Frodo and Sam were walking together in the cool twilight. Both of them felt restless again. On Frodo suddenly the shadow of parting had fallen: he knew somehow that the time was very near when he must leave Lothlurien. `What do you think of Elves now, Sam? ' he said. `I asked you the same question once before-it seems a very long while ago; but you have seen more of them since then.' 'I have indeed! ' said Sam. 'And I reckon there's Elves and Elves. They're all elvish enough, but they're not all the same. Now these folk aren't wanderers or homeless, and seem a bit nearer to the likes of us: they seem to belong here, more even than Hobbits do in the Shire. Whether they've made the land, or the land's made them, it's hard to say, if you take my meaning. It's wonderfully quiet here. Nothing seems to be going on, and nobody seems to want it to. If there's any magic about, it's right down deep, where I can't lay my hands on it, in a manner of speaking.' 'You can see and feel it everywhere,' said Frodo. 'Well,' said Sam, 'you can't see nobody working it. No fireworks like poor Gandalf used to show. I wonder we don't see nothing of the Lord and Lady in all these days. I fancy now that she could do some wonderful things, if she had a mind. I'd dearly love to see some Elf-magic, Mr. Frodo! ' 'I wouldn't,' said Frodo. `I am content. And I don't miss Gandalf's fireworks, but his bushy eyebrows, and his quick temper, and his voice.' `You're right,' said Sam. `And don't think I'm finding fault. I've often wanted to see a bit of magic like what it tells of in old tales, but I've never heard of a better land than this. It's like being at home and on a holiday at the same time, if you understand me. I don't want to leave. All ####-the same, I'm beginning to feel that if we've got to go on, then we'd best get it over. 'It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish, as my old gaffer used to say. And I don't reckon that these folk can do much more to help us, magic or no. It's when we leave this land that we shall miss Gandalf worse, I'm thinking.' 'I am afraid that's only too true, Sam,' said Frodo. `Yet I hope very much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.' Even as he spoke, they saw, as if she came in answer to their words, the Lady Galadriel approaching. Tall and white and fair she walked beneath the trees. She spoke no word, but beckoned to them. Turning aside, she led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of Caras Galadhon, and passing through a high green hedge they came into an enclosed garden. No trees grew there, and it lay open to the sky. The evening star had risen and was shining with white fire above the western woods. Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into a deep green hollow, through which ran murmuring the silver stream that issued from the fountain on the hill. At the bottom, upon a low pedestal carved like a branching tree, stood a basin of silver. wide and shallow, and beside it stood a si lver ewer. With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. `Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,' she said. 'I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you will.' The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady beside him was tall and pale. 'What shall we look for, and what shall we see? ' asked Frodo, filled with awe. `Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal,' she a nswered, `and to some I can show what they desire to see. But the Mirror will also show things unbidden, and those are often stranger and more profitable than things which we wish to behold. What you will see, if you leave the Mirror free to work, I cannot tell. For it shows things that were, and things that are, things that yet may be. But which it is that he sees, even the wisest cannot always tell. Do you wish to look? ' Frodo did not answer. `And you? ' she said, turning to Sam. 'For this is what your folk would call magic. I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean;####-and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy. But this, if you will, is the magic of Galadriel. Did you not say that you wished to see Elf-magic? ' 'I did,' said Sam, trembling a little between fear and curiosity. `I'll have a peep, Lady, if you're willing.' `And I'd not mind a glimpse of what's going on at home,' he said in an aside to Frodo. 'It seems a terrible long time that I've been away. But there, like as not I'll only see the stars, or something that I won't understand.' 'Like as not,' said the Lady with a gentle laugh. `But come, you shall look and see what you may. Do not touch the water! ' Sam climbed up on the foot of the pedestal and leaned over the basin. The water looked hard and dark. Stars were reflected in it. `There's only stars, as I thought,' he said. Then he gave a low gasp, for the stars went out. As if a dark veil had been withdrawn, the Mirror grew grey, and then clear. There was sun shining, and the branches of trees were waving and tossing in the wind. But before Sam could make up his mind what it was that he saw, the light faded; and now he thought he saw Frodo with a pale face lying fast asleep under a great dark cliff. Then he seemed to see himself going along a dim passage, and climbing an endless winding stair. It came to him suddenly that he was looking urgently for something, but what it was he did not know. Like a dream the vision shifted and went back, and he saw the trees again. But this time they were not so close, and he could see what was going on: they were not waving in the wind, they were falling, crashing to the ground. `Hi!' cried Sam in an outraged voice. 'There's that Ted Sandyman a-cutting down trees as he shouldn't. They didn't ought to be felled: it's that avenue beyond the Mill that shades the road to Bywater. I wish I could get at Ted, and I'd fell him ! ' But now Sam noticed that the Old Mill had vanished, and a large red-brick building was being put up where it had stood. Lots of folk were busily at work. There was a tall red chimney nearby. Black smoke seemed to cloud the surface of the Mirror. 'There's some devilry at work in the Shire,' he said. 'Elrond knew what he was about when he wanted to send Mr. Merry back.' Then suddenly Sam gave a cry and sprang away. 'I can't stay here,' he said wildly. `I must go home.####-They've dug up Bagshot Row, and there's the poor old gaffer going down the Hill with his bits of things on a barrow. I must go home! ' 'You cannot go home alone,' said the Lady. 'You did not wish to go home without your master before you looked in the Mirror, and yet you knew that evil things might well be happening in the Shire. Remember that the Mirror shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.' Sam sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. `I wish I had never come here, and I don't want to see no more magic,' he said and fell silent. After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. `No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,' he said. `But I hope I do get back some day. If what I've seen turns out true, somebody's going to catch it hot! ' `Do you now wish to look , Frodo? ' said the Lady Galadriel. `You did not wish to see Elf-magic and were content.' `Do you advise me to look? ' asked Frodo. 'No,' she said. `I do not counsel you one way or the other. I am not a counsellor. You may learn something, a nd whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous. Yet I think, Frodo, that you have courage and wisdom enough for the venture, or I would not have brought you here. Do as you will! ' `I will look,' said Frodo, and he climbed on the pedestal and bent over the dark water. At once the Mirror cleared and he saw a twilit land. Mountains loomed dark in the distance against a pale sky. A long grey road wound back out of sight. Far away a figure came slowly down the road, faint and small at first, but growing larger and clearer as it approached. Suddenly Frodo realized that it reminded him of Gandalf. He almost called aloud the wizard's name, and then he saw that the figure was clothed not in grey but in white, in a white that shone faintly in the dusk; and in its hand there was a white staff. The head was so bowed that he could see no face, and presently the figure turned aside round a bend in the road and went out of the Mirror's view. Doubt came into Frodo's mind: was this a vision of Gandalf on one of his many lonely journeys long ago, or was it Saruman? The vision now changed. Brief and small but very vivid he caught a glimpse of Bilbo walking restlessly about his room. The table was littered ####-with disordered papers; rain was beating on the windows. Then there was a pause, and after it many swift scenes followed that Frodo in some way knew to be parts of a great history in which he had become involved. The mist cleared and he saw a sight which he had never seen before but knew at once: the Sea. Darkness fell. The sea rose and raged in a great storm. Then he saw against the Sun, sinking blood-red into a wrack of clouds, the black outline of a tall ship with torn sails riding up out of the West. Then a wide river flowing through a populous city. Then a white fortress with seven towers. And then again a ship with black sails, but now it was morning again, and the water rippled with light, and a banner bearing the emblem of a white tree shone in the sun. A smoke as of fire and battle arose, and again the sun went down in a burning red that faded into a grey mist; and into the mist a small ship passed away, twinkling with lights. It vanished, and Frodo sighed and prepared to draw away. But suddenly the Mirror went altogether dark, as dark as if a hole had opened in the world of sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness. In the black abyss there appeared a single Eye that slowly grew. until it filled nearly all the Mirror. So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to cry out or to withdraw his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing. Then the Eye began to rove, searching this way and that; and Frodo knew with certainty and horror that among the many things that it sought he himself was one. But he also knew that it could not see him-not yet, not unless he willed it. The Ring that hung upon its chain about his neck grew heavy, heavier than a great stone, and his head was dragged downwards. The Mirror seemed to be growing hot and curls of steam were rising from the water. He was slipping forward. `Do not touch the water!' said the Lady Galadriel softly. The vision faded, and Frodo found that he was looking at the cool stars twinkling in the silver basin. He stepped back shaking all over and looked at the Lady. `I know what it was that you last saw,' she said; `for that is also in my mind. Do not be afraid! But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of Lothlurien maintained and defended against its Enemy. I say to you, Frodo, that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my ####-thought. But still the door is closed! ' She lifted up her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East in a gesture of rejection and denial. Edrendil, the Evening Star, most beloved of the Elves, shone clear above. So bright was it that the figure of the Elven-lady cast a dim shadow on the ground. Its rays glanced upon a ring about her finger; it glittered like polished gold overlaid with silver light, and a white stone in it twinkled as if the Even -star had come down to rest upon her hand. Frodo gazed at the ring with awe; for suddenly it seemed to him that he understood. `Yes,' she said, divining his thought, `it is not permitted to speak of it, and Elrond could not do so. But it cannot be hidden from the Ring-bearer, and one who has seen the Eye. Verily it is in the land of Lurien upon the finger of Galadriel that one of the Three remains. This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper. `He suspects, but he does not know -- not yet. Do you not see now wherefore your coming is to us as the footstep of Doom? For if you fail, then we are laid bare to the Enemy. Yet if you succeed, then our power is diminished, and Lothlurien will fade, and the tides of Time will sweep it away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten.' Frodo bent his head. `And what do you wish? ' he said at last. `That what should be shall be,' she answered. `The love of the Elves for their land a nd their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea, and their regret is undying and cannot ever wholly be assuaged. Yet they will cast all away rather than submit to Sauron: for they know him now. For the fate of Lothlurien you are not answerable but only for the doing of your own task. Yet I could wish, were it of any avail, that the One Ring had never been wrought, or had remained for ever lost.' 'You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,' said Frodo. `I will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.' Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. `Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,' she said, `yet here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer. For many long years I had pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my ####-grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works on in many ways, whether Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set to the credit of his Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest? `And now a t last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Drea dful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! ' She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 'I pass the test,' she said. `I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.' They stood for a long while in silence. At length the Lady spoke again. `Let us return! ' she said. `In the morning you must depart for now we have chosen, and the tides of fate are flowing.' `I would ask one thing before we go,' said Frodo, `a thing which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them? ' `You have not tried,' she said. `Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy you. Did not Ganda lf tell you that the rings give power according to the measure of each possessor? Before you could use that power you would need to become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others. Yet even so, as Ring-bearer and as one that has borne it on finger and seen that which is hidden, your sight is grown keener. You have perceived my thought more clearly than many that are accounted wise. You saw the Eye of him that holds the Seven and the Nine. And did you not see and recognize the ring upon my finger? Did you see my ring? ' she asked turning again to Sam. 'No, Lady,' he answered. `To tell you the truth, I wondered what you were talking about. I saw a star through your finger. But if you'll pardon ####-my speaking out, I think my master was right. I wish you'd take his Ring. You'd put things to rights. You'd stop them digging up the gaffer and turning him adrift. You'd make some folk pay for their dirty work.' `I would,' she said. `That is how it would begin. Bu t it would not stop with that, alas! We will not speak more of it. Let us go!'####- That night the Company was again summoned to the chamber of Celeborn, and there the Lord and Lady greeted them with fair words. At length Celeborn spoke of their departure. `Now is the time,' he said, `when those who wish to continue the Quest must harden their hearts to leave this land. Those who no longer wish to go forward may remain here, for a while. But whether they stay or go, none can be sure of peace. For we are come now to the edge of doom. Here those who wish may await the oncoming of the hour till either the ways of the world lie open again. or we summon them to the last need of Lurien. Then they may return to their own lands, or else go to the long home of those that fall in battle.' There was a silence. `They all resolved to go forward,' said Galadriel looking in their eyes. `As for me,' said Boromir, `my way home lies onward and not back.' `That is true,' said Celeborn, `but is all this Company going with you to Minas Tirith? ' `We have not decided our course,' said Aragorn. 'Beyond Lothlurien I do not know what Gandalf intended to do. Indeed I do not think that even he had any clear purpose. ' `Maybe not,' said Celeborn, `yet when you leave this land, you can no longer forget the Great River. As some of you know well, it cannot be crossed by travellers with baggage between Lurien and Gondor, save by boat. And are not the bridges of Osgiliath broken down and all the landings held now by the Enemy? `On which side will you journey? The way to Minas Tirith lies upon this side, upon the west; but the straight road of the Quest lies east of the River, upon the darker shore. Which shore will you now take? ' `If my advice is heeded, it will be the western shore, and the way to Minas Tirith,' answered Boromir. `But I am not the leader of the Company.' The others said nothing, and Aragorn looked doubtful and troubled. `I see that you do not yet know what to do,' said Celeborn. `It is not my part to choose for you; but I will help you as I may. There are some ####-among you who can handle boats: Legolas, whose folk know the swift Forest River; and Boromir of Gondor; and Aragorn the traveller.' `And one Hobbit! ' cried Merry. `Not all of us look on boats as wild horses. My people live by the banks of the Brandywine.' `That is well,' said Celeborn. `Then I will furnish your Company with boats. They must be small and light, for if you go far by water, there are places where you will be forced to carry them. You will come to the rapids of Sarn Gebir, and maybe at last to the great falls of Rauros where the River thunders down from Nen Hithoel; and there are other perils. Boats may make your journey less toilsome for a while. Yet they will not give you counsel: in the end you must leave them and the River, and turn west -or east.' Aragorn thanked Celeborn many times. The gift of boats comforted him much, not least because there would now be no need to decide his course for some days. The others, too, looked more hopeful. Whatever perils lay ahead, it seemed better to float down the broad tide of Anduin to meet them than to plod forward with bent backs. Only Sam was doubtful: he at any rate still thought boats as bad as wild horses, or worse, and not all the dangers that he had survived made him think better of them. `All shall be prepared for you and await you at the haven before noon tomorrow,' said Celeborn. 'I will send my people to you in the morning to help you make ready for the journey. Now we will wish you all a fair night and untroubled sleep.' 'Good night, my friends! ' said Galadriel. 'Sleep in peace! Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them. Good night! ' The Company now took their leave and returned to their pavilion. Legolas went with them, for this was to be their last night in Lothlurien, and in spite of the words of Galadriel they wished to take counsel together. For a long time they debated what they should do, and how it would be best to attempt the fulfilling of their purpose with the Ring: but they came to no decision. It was plain that most of them desired to go first to Minas Tirith, and to escape at least for a while from the terror of the Enemy. They would have been willing to follow a leader over the River and into the shadow of Mordor; but Frodo spoke no word, and Aragorn was still divided in his mind.####- His own plan, while Gandalf remained with them, had been to go with Boromir, and with his sword help to deliver Gondor. For he believed that the message of the dreams was a summons, and that the hour had come at last when the heir of Elendil should come forth and strive with Sauron for the mastery. But in Moria the burden of Gandalf had been laid on him; and he knew that he could not now forsake the Ring, if Frodo refused in the end to go with Boromir. And yet what help could he or any of the Company give to Frodo, save to walk blindly with him into the darkness? `I shall go to Minas Tirith, alone if need be, for it is my duty,' said Boromir; and after that he was silent for a while, sitting with his eyes fixed on Frodo, as if he was trying to read the Halfling's thoughts. At length he spoke again, softly, as if he was debating with himself. `If you wish only to destroy the Ring,' he said, `then there is little use in war and weapons; and the Men of Minas Tirith cannot help. But if you wish to destroy the armed might of the Dark Lord, then it is folly to go without force into his domain; and folly to throw away.' He paused suddenly, as if he had become aware that he was speaking his thoughts aloud. `It would be folly to throw lives away, I mean,' he ended. `It is a choice between defending a strong place and walking openly into the arms of death. At least, that is how I see it.' Frodo caught something new and strange in Boromir's glance, and he looked hard at him. Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final words. It would be folly to throw away: what? The Ring of Power? He had said something like this at the Council, but then he had accepted the correction of Elrond. Frodo looked at Aragorn, but he seemed deep in his own thought and made no sign that he had heeded Boromir's wor ds. And so their debate ended. Merry and Pippin were already asleep, and Sam was nodding. The night was growing old. In the morning, as they were beginning to pack their slender goods, Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and brought them many gifts of food and clothing for the journey. The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes, made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside, and inside was the colour of cream. Gimli took up one of the cakes and looked at it with a doubtful eye. `Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp corner and ####-nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed, and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish. `No more, no more!' cried the Elves laughing. `You have eaten enough already for a long day's march.' `I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dale-men make for journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf. `So it is,' they answered. `But we call it lembas or waybread, and it is mor e strengthening than any food made by Men, and it is more pleasant than cram, by all accounts.' `Indeed it is,' said Gimli. 'Why it is better than the honey-cakes of the Beornings, and that is great praise, for the Beornings are the best bakers that I know of; but they are none too willing to deal out their cakes to travellers in these days. You are kindly hosts! ' 'All the same, we bid you spare the food,' they said. 'Eat little at a time, and only at need. For these things are given to serve you when all else fails. The cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are unbroken and left in their leaf-wrappings, as we have brought them. One will keep a traveller on his feet for a day of long labour, even if he be one of the tall Men of Minas Tirith.' The Elves next unwrapped and gave to each of the Company the clothes they had brought. For each they had provided a hood and cloak, made according to his size, of the light but warm silken stuff that the Galadhrim wove. It was hard to say of what colour they were: grey with the hue of twilight under the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow fields by night, dusk -silver as water under the stars. Each cloak was fastened about the neck with a brooch like a green leaf veined with silver. `Are these magic cloaks? ' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. `I do not know what you mean by that,' answered the leader of the Elves. `They are fair garments, and the web is good, for it was made in this land. They are elvish robes certainly, if that is what you mean. Leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lurien that we love; for we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make. Yet they are garments, not armour, and they will not turn shaft or blade. But they should serve you well: they are light to wear, and warm enough or cool enough at need. And you will find them a great aid in keeping out of the sight of unfriendly eyes, whether you ####-walk among the stones or the trees. You are indeed high in the favour of the Lady! For she herself and her maidens wove this stuff; and never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our own people.' After their morning meal the Company said farewell to the lawn by the fountain. Their hearts were heavy; for it was a fair place, and it had become like home to them, though they could not count the days and nights that they had passed there. As they stood for a moment looking at the white water in the sunlight, Haldir came walking towards them over the green grass of the glade. Frodo greeted him with delight. 'I have returned from the Northern Fences,' said the Elf, `and I am sent now to be your guide again. The Dimrill Dale is full of vapour and clouds of smoke, and the mountains are troubled. There are noises in the deeps of the earth. If any of you had thought of returning northwards to your homes, you would not have been able to pass that way. But come! Your path now goes south.' As they walked through Caras Galadhon the green ways were empty; but in the trees above them many voices were murmuring and singing. They themselves went silently. At last Haldir led them down the southward slopes of the hill, and they came again to the great gate hung with lamps, and to the white bridge; and so they passed out and left the city of the Elves. Then they turned away from the paved road and took a path that went off into a deep thicket of mallorn-trees, and passed on, winding through rolling woodlands of silver shadow, leading them ever down, southwards and eastwards, towards the shores of the River. They had gone some ten miles and noon was at hand when they came on a high green wall. Passing through an opening they came suddenly out of the trees. Before them lay a long lawn of shining grass, studded with golden elanor that glinted in the sun. The lawn ran out into a narrow tongue between bright margins: on the right and west the Silverlode flowed glittering; on the left and east the Great River rolled its broad waters, deep and dark. On the further shores the woodlands still marched on southwards as far as the eye could see, but all the banks were bleak and bare. No mallorn lifted its gold-hung boughs beyond the Land of Lurien. On the bank of the Silverlode, at some distance up from the meeting of the streams, there was a hythe of white stones and white wood. By it were moored many boats and barges. Some were brightly painted, and shone with ####-silver and gold and green, but most were either white or grey. Three small grey boats had been made ready for the travellers, and in these the Elves stowed their goods. And they added also coils of rope, three to each boat. Slender they looked, but strong, silken to the touch, grey of hue like the elven-cloaks. `What are these? ' asked Sam, handling one that lay upon the greensward. `Ropes indeed! ' answered an Elf from the boats. 'Never travel far without a rope! And one that is long and strong and light. Such are these. They may be a help in many needs.' 'You don't need to tell me that! ' said Sam. `I came without any and I've been worried ever since. But I was wondering what these were made of, knowing a bit about rope -making: it's in the family as you might say.' `They are made of hithlain ,' said the Elf, `but there is no time now to instruct you in the art of their making. Had we known that this craft delighted you, we could have taught you much. But now alas! unless you should at some time return hither, you must be content with our gift. May it serve you well! ' `Come! ' said Haldir. `All is now ready for you. Enter the boats! But take care at first! ' 'Heed the words! ' said the other Elves. 'These boats are light-built, and they are crafty and unlike the boats of other folk. They will not sink, lade them as you will; but they are wayward if mishandled. It would be wise if you accustomed yourselves to stepping in and out, here where there is a landing-place, before you set off downstream.' The Company was arranged in this way: Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were in one boat; Boromir, Merry, and Pippin in another; and in the third were Legolas and Gimli, who had now become fast friends. In this last boat most of the goods and packs were stowed. The boats were moved and steered with short-handled paddles that had broad leaf-shaped blades. When all was ready Aragorn led them on a trial up the Silverlode. The current was swift and they went forward slowly. Sam sat in the bows, clutching the sides, and looking back wistfully to the shore. The sunlight glittering on the water dazzled his eyes. As they passed beyond the green field of the Tongue, the trees drew down to the river's brink. Here and there golden lea ves tossed and floated on the rippling stream. The air was very bright and still, and there was a silence, except for the high distant song of larks.####- They turned a sharp bend in the river, and there, sailing proudly down the stream toward them, they saw a swan of great size. The water rippled on either side of the white breast beneath its curving neck. Its beak shone like burnished gold, and its eyes glinted like jet set in yellow stones; its huge white wings were half lifted. A music came down the river as it drew nearer; and suddenly they perceived that it was a ship, wrought and carved with elven-skill in the likeness of a bird. Two elves clad in white steered it with black paddles. In the midst of the vessel sat Celeborn, and behind him stood Galadriel, tall and white; a circlet of golden flowers was in her hair, and in her hand she held a harp, and she sang. Sad and sweet was the sound of her voice in the cool clear air: I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew: Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew. Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea, And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree. Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone, In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion. There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years, While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears. O Lurien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day; The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away. O Lurien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor. But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me, What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea? Aragorn stayed his boat as the Swan-ship drew alongside. The Lady ended her song and greeted them. `We have come to bid you our last farewell,' she said, `and to speed you with blessings from our land . ' `Though you have been our guests,' said Celeborn, `you have not yet eaten with us, and we bid you, therefore, to a parting feast, here between the flowing waters that will bear you far from Lurien.' The Swan passed on slowly to the hythe, and they turned their boats and followed it. There in the last end of Egladil upon the green grass the parting feast was held; but Frodo ate and drank little, heeding only the beauty of the Lady and her voice. She seemed no longer perilous or terrible, nor filled with hidden power. Already she seemed to him, as by men of later days Elves still at times are seen: present and yet remote, a living vision ####-of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time. After they had eaten and drunk, sitting upon the grass, Celeborn spoke to them again of their journey, and lifting his hand he pointed south to the woods beyond the Tongue. `As you go down the water,' he said, `you will find that the trees will fail, and you will come to a barren country. There the River flows in stony vale amid high moors, until at last after many leagues it comes to the tall island of the Tindrock, that we call Tol Brandir. There it casts its arms about the steep shores of the isle, and falls then with a great noise and smoke over the cataracts of Rauros down into the Nindalf, the Wetwang as it is called in your tongue. That is a wide region of sluggish fen where the stream becomes tortuous and much divided. There the Entwash flows in by many mouths from the Forest of Fangorn in the west. About that stream, on this side of the Great River, lies Rohan. On the further side are the bleak hills of the Emyn Muil. The wind blows from the East there, for they look out over the Dead Marshes and the Noman-lands to Cirith Gorgor and the black gates of Mordor. 'Boromir, and any that go with him seeking Minas Tirith, will do well to leave the Great River above Rauros and cross the Entwash before it finds the marshes. Yet they should not go too far up that stream, nor risk becoming entangled in the Forest of Fangorn. That is a strange land, and is now little known. But Boromir and Aragorn doubtless do not need this warning.' 'Indeed we have heard of Fangorn in Minas Tirith,' said Boromir. `But what I have heard seems to me for the most part old wives' tales, such as we tell to our children. All that lies north of Rohan is now to us so far away that fancy can wander freely there. Of old Fangorn lay upon the borders of our realm; but it is now many lives of men since any of us visited it, to prove or disprove the legends that have come down from distant years. `I have myself been at whiles in Rohan, but I have never crossed it northwards. When I was sent out as a messenger, I passed through the Gap by the skirts of the White Mountains, and crossed the Isen and the Greyflood into Northerland. A long and wearisome journey. Four hundred leagues I reckoned it, and it took me many months; for I lost my horse at Tharbad, at the fording of the Greyflood. After that journey, and the road I have ####-trodden with this Company, I do not much doubt that I shall find a way through Rohan, and Fangorn too, if need be.' `Then I need say no more,' said Celeborn. 'But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.' Now Galadriel rose from the grass, and taking a cup from one of her maidens she filled it with white mead and gave it to Celeborn. 'Now it is time to drink the cup of farewell,' she said. `Drink, Lord of the Galadhrim! And let not your heart be sad though night must follow noon, and already our evening draweth nigh.' Then she brought the cup to each of the Company, and bade them drink and farewell. But when they had drunk she commanded them to sit again on the grass, and chairs were set for her and for Celeborn. Her maidens stood silent about her, and a while she looked upon her guests. At last she spoke again. 'We have drunk the cup of parting,' she said, `and the shadows fall between us. But before you go, I have brought in my ship gifts which the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim now offer you in memory of Lothlurien.' Then she called to each in turn. `Here is the gift of Celeborn and Galadriel to the leader of your Company,' she said to Aragorn, and she gave him a sheath that had been made to fit his sword. It was overlaid with a tracery of flowers and leaves wrought of silver and gold, and on it were set in elven runes formed of many gems the name And®ril and the lineage of the sword. `The blade that is drawn from this sheath shall not be stained or broken even in defeat,' she said. `But is there aught else that you desire of me at our parting? For darkness will flow between us, and it may be that we shall not meet again, unless it be far hence upon a road that has no returning.' And Aragorn answered: 'Lady, you know all my desire, and long held in keeping the only treasure that I seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.' `Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; `for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.' Then she lifted from her lap a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings;####-and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. `This stone I gave to Celebrnan my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil! ' Then Aragorn took the stone and pinned the brooch upon his breast, and those who saw him wondered; for they had not marked before how tall and kingly he stood, and it seemed to them that many years of toil had fallen from his shoulders. `For the gifts that you have given me I thank you,' he said, 'O Lady of Lurien of whom were sprung Celebrnan and Arwen Evenstar. What praise could I say more? ' The Lady bowed her hea d, and she turned then to Boromir, and to him she gave a belt of gold; and to Merry and Pippin she gave small silver belts, each with a clasp wrought like a golden flower. To Legolas she gave a bow such as the Galadhrim used, longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, and strung with a string of elf-hair. With it went a quiver of arrows. `For you little gardener and lover of trees,' she said to Sam, `I have only a small gift.' She put into his hand a little box of plain grey wood, unadorned save for a single silver rune upon the lid. `Here is set G for Galadriel,' she said; `but also it may stand for garden in your tongue. In this box there is earth from my orchard, and such blessing as Galadriel has still to bestow is upon it. It will not keep you on your road, nor defend you against any peril; but if you keep it and see your home again at last, then perhaps it may reward you. Though you should find all barren and laid waste, there will be few gardens in Middle-earth that will bloom like your garden, if you sprinkle this earth there. Then you may remember Galadriel, and catch a glimpse far off of Lurien, that you have seen only in our winter. For our spring and our summer are gone by, and they will never be seen on earth again save in memory.' Sam went red to the ears and muttered something inaudible, as he clutched the box and bowed as well as he could. `And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves? ' said Galadriel turning to Gimli. `None, Lady,' answered Gimli. `It is enough for me to have seen the Lady of the Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words.' `Hear all ye Elves! ' she cried to those about her. `Let none say again that Dwarves are grasping and ungracious! Yet surely, Gimli son of Gluin,####-you desire something that I could give? Name it, I bid you! You shall not be the only guest without a gift.' `There is nothing, Lady Galadriel,' said Gimli, bowing low and stammering. `Nothing, unless it might be-unless it is permitted to ask. nay, to name a single strand of your hair, which surpasses the gold of the earth as the stars surpass the gems of the mine. I do not ask for such a gift. But you commanded me to name my desire.' The Elves stirred and murmured with astonishment, and Celeborn gazed at the Dwarf in wonder, but the Lady smiled. 'It is said that the skill of the Dwarves is in their hands rather than in their tongues ' she said; `yet that is not true of Gimli. For none have ever made to me a request so bold and yet so courteous. And how shall I refuse, since I commanded him to speak? But tell me, what would you do with such a gift? ' `Treasure it, Lady,' he answered, `in memory of your words to me at our first meeting. And if ever I return to the smithies of my home, it shall be set in imperishable crystal to be an heirloom of my house, and a pledge of good will between the Mountain and the Wood until the end of days.' Then the Lady unbraided one of her long tresses, and cut o ff three golden hairs, and laid them in Gimli's hand. `These words shall go with the gift,' she said. `I do not foretell, for all foretelling is now vain: on the one hand lies darkness, and on the other only hope. But if hope should not fail, then I sa y to you, Gimli son of Gluin, that your hands shall flow with gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion. `And you, Ring-bearer,' she said, turning to Frodo. `I come to you last who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this.' She held up a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of white light sprang from her hand. 'In this phial,' she said, `is caught the light of Edrendil's star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out. Remember Galadriel and her Mirror! ' Frodo took the phial, and for a moment as it shone between them, he saw her again standing like a queen, great and beautiful, but no longer terrible. He bowed, but found no words to say. Now the Lady arose, and Celeborn led them back to the hythe. A yellow noon lay on the green land of the Tongue, and the water glittered with silver. All at last was made ready. The Company took their places in the boats as before. Crying farewell, the Elves of Lurien with long grey poles ####-thrust them out into the flowing stream, and the rippling waters bore them slowly away. The travellers sat still without moving or speaking. On the green bank near to the very point of the Tongue the Lady Galadriel stood alone and silent. As they passed her they turned and their eyes watched her slowly floating away from them. For so it seemed to them: Lurien was slipping backward, like a bright ship masted with enchanted trees, sailing on to forgotten shores, while they sat helpless upon the margin of the grey and leafless world. Even as they gazed, the Silverlode passed out into the currents of the Great River, and their boats turned and began to speed southwards. Soon the white form of the Lady was small and distant. She shone like a window of glass upon a far hill in the westering sun, or as a remote lake seen from a mountain: a crystal fallen in the lap of the land. Then it seemed to Frodo that she lifted her arms in a final farewell, and far but piercing-clear on the following wind came the sound of her voice singing. But now she sang in the ancient tongue of the Elves beyond the Sea, and he did not understand the words: fair was the music, but it did not comfort him. Yet as is the way of Elvish words, they remained graven in his memory, and long afterwards he interpreted them, as well as he could: the language was that of Elven -song and spoke of things little known on Middle-earth. Ai! lauril lantar lassi s®rinen, Yjni ®nutiml ve rbmar aldaron! Yjni ve lintl yuldar avbnier mi oromardi lisse-miruvureva And®nl pella, Vardo tellumar nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni umaryo airetbri-lnrinen. Sn man i yulma nin enquantuva? An sn Tintalll Varda Oiolosslo ve fanyar mbryat Elentbri ortanl ar ilyl tier undulbvl lumbull; ar sindanuriello caita mornil i falmalinnar imbl met, ar hnsil unt®pa Calaciryo mnri oiall. Si vanwa nb, Rumello vanwa, Valimar!####- Nambril! Nai hiruvalyl Valimar. Nai elyl hiruva. Nambril! `Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, long years numberless as the wings of trees! The long years have passed like swift draughts of the sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda wherein the stars tremble in the song of her voice, holy and queenly. Who now shall refill the cup for me? For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars, from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds, and all paths are drowned deep in shadow; and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming waves between us, and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever. Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar! Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar. Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell! ' Varda is the name of that Lady whom the Elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth. Suddenly the River swept round a bend, and the banks rose upon either side, and the light of Lurien was hidden. To that fair land Frodo never came again. The travellers now turned their faces to the journey; the sun was before them, and their eyes were dazzled, for all were filled with tears. Gimli wept openly. `I have looked the last upon that which was fairest,' he said to Legolas his companion. `Henceforward I will call nothing fair, unless it be her gift.' He put his hand to his breast. `Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Gluin! ' `Nay! ' said Legolas. `Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after -days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed, Gimli son of Gluin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlurien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor ####-grow stale.' `Maybe,' said Gimli; `and I thank you for your words. True words doubtless; yet all such comfort is cold. Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zvram. Or so says the heart of Gimli the Dwarf. Elves may see things otherwise. Indeed I have heard that for them memory is more like to the waking world than to a dream. Not so for Dwarves. 'But let us talk no more of it. Look to the boat! She is too low in the water with all this baggage, and the Great River is swift. I do not wish to drown my grief in cold water.' He took up a paddle, and steered towards the western bank, following Aragorn's boat ahead, which had already moved out of the middle stream. So the Company went on their long way, down the wide hurrying waters, borne ever southwards. Bare woods stalked along either bank, and they could not see any glimpse of the lands behind. The breeze died away and the River flowed without a sound. No voice of bird broke the silence. The sun grew misty as the day grew old, until it gleamed in a pale sky like a high white pearl. Then it faded into the West, and dusk came early, followed by a grey and starless night. Far into the dark quiet hours they floated on, guiding their boats under the overhanging shadows of the western woods. Great trees passed by like ghosts, thrusting their twisted thirsty roots through the mist down into the water. It was dreary and cold. Frodo sat and listened to the faint lap and gurgle of the River fretting among the tree-roots and driftwood near the shore, until his head nodded and he fell into an uneasy sleep. ####- Frodo was roused by Sam. He found that he was lying, well wrapped, under tall grey-skinned trees in a quiet corner of the woodlands on the west bank of the Great River, Anduin. He had slept the night away, and the grey of morning was dim among the bare branches. Gimli was busy with a small fire near at hand. They started again before the day was broad. Not that most of the Company were eager to hurry southwards: they were content that the decision, which they must make at latest when they came to Rauros and the Tindrock Isle, still lay some days ahead; and they let the River bear them on at its own pace, having no desire to hasten towards the perils that lay beyond, whichever course they took in the end. Aragorn let them drift with the stream as they wished, husbanding their strength against weariness to come. But he insisted that at least they should start early each day and journey on far into the evening; for he felt in his heart that time was pressing, and he feared that the Dark Lord had not been idle while they lingered in Lurien. Nonetheless they saw no sign of an enemy that day, nor the next. The dull grey hours passed without event. As the third day of their voyage wore on the lands changed slowly: the trees thinned and then failed altogether. On the eastern bank to their left they saw long formless slopes stretching up and away toward the sky; brown and withered they looked, as if fire had passed over them, leaving no living blade of green: an unfriendly waste without even a broken tree or a bold stone to relieve the emptiness. They had come to the Brown Lands that lay, vast and desolate, between Southern Mirkwood and the hills of the Emyn Muil. What pestilence or war or evil deed of the Enemy had so blasted all that region even Aragorn could not tell. Upon the west to their right the land was treeless also, but it was flat, and in many places green with wide plains of grass. On this side of the River they passed forests of great reeds, so tall that they shut out all view to the west, as the little boats went rustling by along their fluttering borders. Their dark withered plumes bent and tossed in the light cold airs, hissing softly and sadly. Here and there through openings Frodo could catch sudden glimpses of rolling meads, and far beyond them hills in ####-the sunset, and away on the edge of sight a dark line, where marched the southernmost ranks of the Misty Mountains. There was no sign of living moving things, save birds. Of these there were many: small fowl whistling and piping in the reeds, but they were seldom seen. Once or twice the travellers heard the rush and whine of swan-wings, and looking up they saw a great phalanx streaming along the sky. `Swans! ' said Sam. `And mighty big ones too! ' `Yes,' said Aragorn, 'and they are black swans.' `How wide and empty and mournful all this country looks! ' said Frodo. `I always imagined that as one journeyed south it got warmer and merrier, until winter was left behind for ever.' 'But we have not journeyed far south yet,' answered Aragorn. `It is still winter, and we are far from the sea. Here the world is cold until the sudden spring, and we may yet have snow again. Far away down in the Bay of Belfalas, to which Anduin runs, it is warm and merry, maybe, or would be but for the Enemy. But here we are not above sixty leagues, I guess, south of the Southfarthing away in your Shire, hundreds of long miles yonder. You are looking now south-west across the north plains of the Riddermark, Rohan the land of the Horse-lords. Ere long we shall come to the mouth of the Limlight that runs down from Fangorn to join the Great River. That is the north boundary of Rohan; and of old all that lay between Limlight and the White Mountains belonged to the Rohirrim. It is a rich and pleasant land, and its grass has no rival; but in these evil days folk do not dwell by the River or ride often to its shores. Anduin is wide, yet the orcs can shoot their arrows far across the stream; and of late, it is said, they have dared to cross the water and raid the herds and studs of Rohan.' Sam looked from bank to bank uneasily. The trees had seemed hostile before, as if they harboured secret eyes and lurking dangers; now he wished that the trees were still there. He felt that the Company was too naked, afloat in little open boats in the midst of shelterless lands, and on a river that was the frontier of war. In the next day or two, as they went on, borne steadily southwards, this feeling of insecurity grew on all the Company. For a whole day they took to their paddles and hastened forward. The banks slid by. Soon the River broadened and grew more shallow; long stony beaches lay upon the east, and there were gravel-shoals in the water, so that careful steering was needed. The Brown Lands rose into bleak wolds, over which flowed a chill air ####-from the East. On the other side the meads had become rolling downs of withered grass amidst a land of fen and tussock. Frodo shivered, thinking of the lawns and fountains, the clear sun and gentle rains of Lothlurien. There was little speech and no laughter in any of the boats. Each member of the Company was busy with his own thoughts. The heart of Legolas was running under the stars of a summer night in some northern glade amid the beech-woods; Gimli was fingering gold in his mind, and wondering if it were fit to be wrought into the housing of the Lady's gift. Merry and Pippin in the middle boat were ill at ease, for Boromir sat muttering to himself, sometimes biting his nails, as if some restlessness or doubt consumed him, sometimes seizing a paddle and driving the boat close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin, who sat in the bow looking back, caught a queer gleam in his eye, as he peered forward gazing at Frodo. Sam had long ago made up his mind that, though boats were maybe not as dangerous as he had been brought up to believe, they were far more uncomfortable than even he had imagined. He was cramped and miserable, having nothing to do but stare at the winter -lands crawling by and the grey water on either side of him. Even when the paddles were in use they did not trust Sam with one. As dusk drew down on the fourth day, he was looking back over the bowed heads of Frodo and Aragorn and the following boats; he was drowsy and longed for camp and the feel of earth under his toes. Suddenly something caught his sight: at first he stared at it listlessly, then he sat up and rubbed his eyes; but when he looked again he could not see it any more. That night they camped on a small eyot close to the western bank. Sam lay rolled in blankets beside Frodo. `I had a funny dream an hour or two before we stopped, Mr. Frodo,' he said. `Or maybe it wasn't a dream. Funny it was anyway.' `Well, what was it? ' said Frodo, knowing that Sam would not settle down until he had told his tale, whatever it was. 'I haven't seen or thought of anything to make me smile since we left Lothlurien.' `It wasn't funny that way, Mr. Frodo. It was queer. All wrong, if it wasn't a dream. And you had best hear it. It was like this: I saw a log with eyes! ' `The log's all right,' said Frodo. `There are many in the River. But leave out the eyes! '####- `That I won't,' said Sam. ` 'Twas the eyes as made me sit up, so to speak. I saw what I took to be a log floating along in the half-light behind Gimli's boat; but I didn't give much heed to it. Then it seemed as if the log was slowly catching us up. And that was peculiar, as you might say, seeing as we were all floating on the stream together. Just then I saw the eyes: two pale sort of points, shiny-like, on a hump at the near end of the log. What's more, it wasn't a log, for it had paddle-feet, like a swan's almost, only they seemed bigger, and kept dipping in and out of the water. 'That's when I sat right up and rubbed my eyes, meaning to give a shout, if it was still there when I had rubbed the drowse out of my head. For the whatever -it-was was coming along fast now and getting close behind Gimli. But whether those two lamps spotted me moving and staring, or whether I came to my senses, I don't know. When I looked again, it wasn't there. Yet I think I caught a glimpse with the tail of-my eye, as the saying is, of something dark shooting under the shadow of the bank. I couldn't see no more eyes though. `I said to myself: "dreaming again, Sam Gamgee," I said: and I said no more just then. But I've been thinking since. and now I'm not so sure. What do you make of it, Mr. Frodo? ' 'I should make nothing of it but a log and the dusk and sleep in your eyes Sam, said Frodo, if this was the first time that those eyes had been seen. But it isn't. I saw them away back north before we reached Lurien. And I saw a strange creature with eyes climbing to the flet that night. Haldir saw it too. And do you remember the report of the Elves that went after the orc-band? ' `Ah,' said Sam. `I do; and I remember more too. I don't like my thoughts; but thinking of one thing and another, and Mr. Bilbo's stories and all, I fancy I could put a name on the creature, at a guess. A nasty name. Gollum, maybe? ' `Yes, that is what I have feared for some time,' said Frodo. `Ever since the night on the flet. I suppose he was lurking in Moria, and picked up our trail then; but I hoped that our stay in Lurien would throw him off the scent again. The miserable creature must have been hiding in the woods by the Silverlode, watching us start off! ' `That's about it,' said Sam. `And we'd better be a bit more watchful ourselves, or we'll feel some nasty fingers round our necks one of these nights, if we ever wake up to feel anything. And that's what I was leading ####-up to. No need to trouble Strider or the others tonight. I'll keep watch. I can sleep tomorrow, being no more than luggage in a boat, as you might say.' `I might,' said Frodo, `and I might say "luggage with eyes". You shall watch; but only if you promise to wake me halfway towards morning, if nothing happens before then.' In the dead hours Frodo came out of a deep dark sleep to find Sam shaking him. `It's a shame to wake you,' whispered Sam, `but that's what you said. There's nothing to tell, or not much. I thought I heard some soft plashing and a sniffing noise, a while back; but you hear a lot of such queer sounds by a river at night.' He lay down, and Frodo sat up, huddled in his blankets, and fought off his sleep. Minutes or hours passed slowly, and nothing happened. Frodo was just yielding to the temptation to lie down again when a dark shape, hardly visible, floated close to one of the moored boats. A long whitish hand could be dimly seen as it shot out and grabbed the gunwale; two pale lamplike eyes shone coldly as they peered inside, and then they lifted and gazed up at Frodo on the eyot. They were not more than a yard or two away, and Frodo heard the soft hiss of intaken breath. He stood up, drawing Sting from its sheath, and faced the eyes. Immediately their light was shut off. There was another hiss and a splash, and the dark log-shape shot away downstream into the night. Aragorn stirred in his sleep, turned over, and sat up` 'What is it? ' he whispered, springing up and coming to Frodo. `I felt something in my sleep. Why have you drawn your sword? ' `Gollum,' answered Frodo. 'Or at least, so I guess.' `Ah! ' said Aragorn. `So you know about our little footpad, do you? He padded after us all through Moria and right down to Nimrodel. Since we took to boats, he has been lying on a log and paddling with hands and feet. I have tried to catch him once or twice at night; but he is slier than a fox, and a s slippery as a fish. I hoped the river -voyage would beat him, but he is too clever a waterman. `We shall have to try going faster tomorrow. You lie down now, and I will keep watch for what is left of the night. I wish I could lay my hands on the wretch. We might make him useful. But if I cannot, we shall have to try and lose him. He is very dangerous. Quite apart from murder by night on his own account, he may put any enemy that is about on our track.' The night passed without Gollum showing so much as a shadow again. After that the Company kept a sharp look -out, but they saw no more of Gollum ####-while the voyage lasted. If he was still following, he was very wary and cunning. At Aragorn's bidding they paddled now for long spells, and the banks went swiftly by. But they saw little of the country, for they journeyed mostly by night and twilight, resting by day, and lying as hidden as the land allowed. In this way the time passed without event until the seventh day. The weather was still grey and overcast, with wind from the East, but as evening drew into night the sky away westward cleared, and pools of faint light, yellow and pale green, opened under the grey shores of cloud. There the white rind of the new Moon could be seen glimmering in the remote lakes. Sam looked at it and puckered his brows. The next day the country on either side began to change rapidly. The banks began to rise and grow stony. Soon they were passing through a hilly rocky land, and on both shores there were steep slopes buried in deep brakes of thorn and sloe, tangled with brambles and creepers. Behind them stood low crumbling cliffs, and chimneys of grey weathered stone dark with ivy; and beyond these again there rose high ridges crowned with wind-writhen firs. They were drawing near to the grey hill-country of the Emyn Muil, the southern march of Wilderland. There were many birds about the cliffs and the rock -chimneys, and all day high in the air flocks of birds had been circling, black against the pale sky. As they lay in their camp that day Aragorn watched the flights doubtfully, wondering if Gollum had been doing some mischief and the news of their voyage was now moving in the wilderness. Later as the sun was setting, and the Company was stirring and getting ready to start again, he descried a dark spot against the fading light: a great bird high and far off, now wheeling, now flying on slowly southwards. 'What is that, Legolas? ' he asked, pointing to the northern sky. 'Is it, as I think. an eagle? ' 'Yes.' said Legolas. `It is an eagle, a hunting eagle. I wonder what that forebodes. It is far from the mountains.' `We will not start until it is fully dark,' said Aragorn. The eighth night of their journey came. It was silent and windless; the grey east wind had passed away. The thin crescent of the Moon had fallen early into the pale sunset, but the sky was clear above, and though far away in the South there were great ranges of cloud that still shone faintly, in ####-the West stars glinted bright. `Come! ' said Aragorn. `We will venture one more journey by night. We are coming to reaches of the River that I do not know well: for I have never journeyed by water in these parts before, not between here and the rapids of Sarn Gebir. But if I am right in my reckoning, those are still many miles ahead. Still there are dangerous places even before we come there: rocks and stony eyots in the stream. We must keep a sharp watch and not try to paddle swiftly.' To Sam in the leading boat was given the task of watchman. He lay forward peering into the gloom. The night grew dark, but the stars above were strangely bright, and there was a glimmer On the face of the River. It was close on midnight, and they had been drifting for some while. hardly using the paddles, when suddenly Sam cried out. Only a few yards ahead dark shapes loomed up in the stream and he heard the swirl of racing water. There was a swift current which swung left, towards the eastern shore where the channel was clear. As they were swept aside the travellers could see, now very close, the pale foam of the River lashing against sharp rocks that were thrust out far into the stream like a ridge of teeth. The boats were all huddled together. `Hoy there, Aragorn! ' shouted Boromir, as his boat bumped into the leader. `This is madness! We cannot dare the Rapids by night! But no boat can live in Sarn Gebir, be it night or day.' `Back, back! ' cried Aragorn. 'Turn! Turn if you can! ' He drove his paddle into the water, trying to hold the boat and bring it round. 'I am out of my reckoning,' he said to Frodo. 'I did not know that we had come so far: Anduin fl ows faster than I thought. Sarn Gebir must be close at hand already.' With great efforts they checked the boats and slowly brought them about; but at first they could make only small headway against the current, and all the time they were carried nearer and nearer to the eastern bank. Now dark and ominous it loomed up in the night. 'All together, paddle! ' shouted Boromir. 'Paddle! Or we shall be driven on the shoals.' Even as he spoke Frodo felt the keel beneath him grate upon stone. At that moment there was a twang of bowstrings: several arrows whistled over them, and some fell among them. One smote Frodo between the shoulders ####-and he lurched forward with a cry, letting go his paddle: but the arrow fell back. foiled by his hidden coat of mail. Another passed through Aragorn's hood; and a third stood fast in the gunwale of the second boat, close by Merry's hand. Sam thought he could glimpse black figures running to and fro upon the long shingle-banks that lay under the eastern shore. They seemed very near. `Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue. `Orcs! ' cried Gimli. `Gollum's doing, I'll be bound.' said Sam to Frodo. `And a nice place to choose, too. The River seems set on taking us right into their arms! ' They all leaned forward straining at the paddles: even Sam took a hand. Every moment they expected to feel the bite of black -feathered arrows. Many whined overhead or struck the water nearby; but there were no more hits. It was dark, but not too dark for the night-eyes of Orcs, and in the star-glimmer they must have offered their cunning foes some mark, unless it was that the grey cloaks Of Lurien and the grey timber of the elf-wrought boats defeated the malice of the archers of Mordor. Stroke by stroke they laboured on. In the darkness it was hard to be sure that they were indeed moving at all; but slowly the swirl of the water grew less, and the shadow of the eastern bank faded back into the night . At last, as far as they could judge, they had reached the middle of the stream again and had driven their boats back some distance above the jutting rocks. Then half turning they thrust them with all their strength towards the western shore. Under the shadow Of bushes leaning out over the water they halted and drew breath. Legolas laid down his paddle and took up the bow that he had brought from Lurien. Then he sprang ashore and climbed a few paces up the bank. Stringing the bow and fitting an arrow he turned, peering back over the River into the darkness. Across the water there were shrill cries, but nothing could be seen. Frodo looked up at the Elf standing tall above him, as he gazed into the night, seeking a mark to shoot at. His head was dark, crowned with sharp white stars that glittered in the black pools of the sky behind. But now rising and sailing up from the South the great clouds advanced, sending out dark outriders into the starry fields. A sudden dread fell on the Company. `Elbereth Gilthoniel!' sighed Legolas as he looked up. Even as he did so, a dark shape, like a cloud and yet not a cloud, for it moved far more ####-swiftly, came out of the blackness in the South, and sped towards the Company, blotting out all light as it approached. Soon it appeared as a great winged creature, blacker than the pits in the night. Fierce voices rose up to greet it from across the water. Frodo felt a sudden chill running through him and clutching at his heart; there was a deadly cold, like the memory of an old wound, in his shoulder. He crouched down, as if to hide. Suddenly the great bow of Lurien sang. Shrill went the arrow from the elven-string. Frodo looked up. Almost above him the winged shape swerved. There was a harsh croaking scream, as it fell out of the air, vanishing down into the gloom of the eastern shore. The sky was clean again. There was a tumult of many voices far away, cursing and wailing in the darkness, and then silence. Neither shaft nor cry came again from the east that night. After a while Aragorn led the boats back upstream. They felt their way along the water's edge for some distance, until they found a small shallow bay. A few low trees grew there close to the water, and behind them rose a steep rocky bank. Here the Company decided to stay and await the dawn: it was useless to attempt to move further by night. They made no camp and lit no fire, but lay huddled in the boats, moored close together. 'Praised be the bow of Galadriel, and the hand and eye of Legolas! ' said Gimli, as he munched a wafer of lembas. 'That was a mighty shot in the dark, my friend!' 'But who can say what it hit?' said Legolas. 'I cannot,' said Gimli. `But I am glad that the shadow came no nearer. I liked it not at all. Too much it reminded me of the shadow in Moria -- the shadow of the Balrog,' he ended in a whisper. 'It was not a Balrog,' said Frodo, still shivering with the chill that had come upon him. 'It was something colder. I think it was --' Then he paused and fell silent. 'What do you think? ' asked Boromir eagerly, leaning from his boat, as if he was trying to catch a glimpse of Frodo's face. `I think -- No, I will not say,' answered Frodo. `Whatever it was, its fall has dismayed our enemies.' `So it seems,' said Aragorn. `Yet where they are, and how many, and what they will do next, we do not know. This night we must all be sleepless! Dark hides us now. Bu t what the day will show who can tell? Have your weapons close to hand! ' Sam sat tapping the hilt of his sword as if he were counting on his ####-fingers, and looking up at the sky. `It's very strange,' he murmured. `The Moon's the same in the Shire and in Wilderland, or it ought to be. But either it's out of its running, or I'm all wrong in my reckoning. You'll remember, Mr. Frodo, the Moon was waning as we lay on the flet up in that tree: a week from the full, I reckon. And we'd been a week on the way last night, when up pops a New Moon as thin as a nail -paring, as if we had never stayed no time in the Elvish country. `Well, I can remember three nights there for certain, and I seem to remember several more, but I would take my oath it was never a whole month. Anyone would think that time did not count in there! ' `And perhaps that was the way of it,' said Frodo. `In that land, maybe, we were in a time that has elsewhere long gone by. It was not, I think, until Silverlode bore us back to Anduin that we returned to the time that flows through mortal lands to the Great Sea. And I don't remember any moon, either new or old, in Caras Galadhon: only stars by night and sun by day.' Legolas stirred in his boa t. `Nay, time does not tarry ever,' he said; `but change and growth is not in all things and places alike. For the Elves the world moves, and it moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because they themselves change little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to them. Slow, because they do not count the running years, not for themselves. The passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream. Yet beneath the Sun all things must wear to an end at last.' `But the wearing is slow in Lurien,' said Frodo. `The power of the Lady is on it. Rich are the hours, though short they seem, in Caras Galadhon, where Galadriel wields the Elven -ring.' 'That should not have been said outside Lurien, not even to me,' said Aragorn. `Speak no more of it! But so it is, Sam: in that land you lost your count. There time flowed swiftly by us, as for the Elves. The old moon passed, and a new moon waxed and waned in the world outside, while we tarried there. And yestereve a new moon came again. Winter is nearly gone. Time flows on to a spring of little hope.' The night passed silently. No voice or call was heard again across the water. The travellers huddled in their boats felt the changing of the weather. The air grew warm and very still under the great moist clouds that had floated up from the South and the distant seas. The rushing of the River over the rocks of the rapids seemed to grow louder and closer. The twigs of the trees above them began to drip.####- When the day came the mood of the world about them had become soft and sad. Slowly the dawn grew to a pale light, diffused and shadowless. There was mist on the River, and white fog swathed the shore; the far bank could not be seen. `I can't abide fog,' said Sam; `but this seems to be a lucky one. Now perhaps we can get away without those cursed goblins seeing us.' `Perhaps so,' said Aragorn. `But it will be hard to find the path unless the fog lifts a little later on. And we must find the path, if we are to pass Sarn Gebir and come to the Emyn Muil.' 'I do not see why we should pass the Rapids or follow the River any further,' said Boromir. `If the Emyn Muil lie before us, then we can abandon these cockle-boats, and strike westward and southward, until we come to the Entwash and cross into my own land.' `We can, if we are making for Minas Tirith,' said Aragorn, `but that is not yet agreed. And such a course may be more perilous than it sounds. The vale of Entwash is flat and fenny, and fog is a deadly peril there for those on foot and laden. I would not abandon our boats until we must. The River is at least a path that cannot be missed.' `But the Enemy holds the eastern bank,' objected Boromir. `And even if you pass the Gates of Argonath and come unmolested to the Tindrock, what will you do then? Leap down the Falls and land in the marshes? ' `No! ' answered Aragorn. `Say rather that we will bear our boats by the ancient way to Rauros-foot, and there take to the water again. Do you not know, Boromir, or do you choose to forget the North Stair, and the high seat upon Amon Hen, that were made in the days of the great kings? I at least have a mind to stand in that high place again, before I decide my further course. There, maybe, we shall see some sign that will guide us.' Boromir held out long against this choice; but when it became plain that Frodo would follow Aragorn, wherever he went, he gave in. 'It is not the way of the Men of Minas Tirith to desert their friends at need,' he said, `and you will need my strength, if ever you are to reach the Tindrock. To the tall isle I will go, but no further. There I shall turn to my home, alone if my help has not earned the reward of any companionship.' The day was now growing, and the fog had lifted a little. It was decided that Aragorn and Legolas should at once go forward along the shore, while the others remained by the boats. Aragorn hoped to find some way by which they could carry both their boats and their baggage to the smoother ####-water beyond the Rapids. `Boats of the Elves would not sink, maybe,' he said, `but that does not say that we should come through Sarn Gebir alive. None have ever done so yet. No road was made by the Men of Gondor in this region, for even in their great days their realm did not reach up Anduin beyond the Emyn Muil; but there is a portage-way somewhere on the western shore, if I can find it. It cannot yet have perished; for light boats used to journey out of Wilderland down to Osgiliath, and still did so until a few years ago, when the Orcs of Mordor began to multiply.' 'Seldom in my life has any boat come out of the North, and the Orcs prowl on the east-shore,' said Boromir. `If you go forward, peril will grow with every mile, even if you find a path.' `Peril lies ahead on every southward road,' answered Aragorn. `Wait for us one day. If we do not return in that time, you will know that evil has indeed befa llen us. Then you must take a new leader and follow him as best you can.' It was with a heavy heart that Frodo saw Aragorn and Legolas climb the steep bank and vanish into the mists; but his fears proved groundless. Only two or three hours had passed, and it was barely mid-day, when the shadowy shapes of the explorers appeared again. `All is well,' said Aragorn, as he clambered down the bank. 'There is a track, and it leads to a good landing that is still serviceable. The distance is not great: the head of the Rapids is but half a mile below us, and they are little more than a mile long. Not far beyond them the stream becomes clear and smooth again, though it runs swiftly. Our hardest task will be to get our boats and baggage to the old portage-way. We have found it, but it lies well back from the water -side here, and runs under the lee of a rock -wall, a furlong or more from the shore. We did not find where the northward landing lies. If it still remains, we must have passed it yesterday night. We might labour far upstream and yet miss it in the fog. I fear we must leave the River now, and make for the portage-way as best we can from here.' `That would not be easy, even if we were all Men,' said Boromir. `Yet such as we are we will try it,' said Aragorn. 'Aye, we will,' said Gimli. `The legs of Men will lag on a rough road, while a Dwarf goes on, be the burden twice his own weight, Master Boromir! ' The task proved hard indeed, yet in the end it was done. The goods were ####-taken out of the boats and brought to the top of the bank, where there was a level space. Then the boats were drawn out of the water and carried up. They were far less heavy than any had expected. Of what tree growing in the elvish country they were made not even Legolas knew; but the wood was tough and yet strangely light. Merry and Pippin alone could carry their boat with ease along the flat. Nonetheless it needed the strength of the two Men to lift and haul them over the ground that the Company now had to cross. It sloped up away from the River, a tumbled waste of grey limestone-boulders, with many hidden holes shrouded with weeds and bushes; there were thickets of brambles, and sheer dells; and here and there boggy pools fed by waters trickling from the terraces further inland. One by one Boromir and Aragorn carried the boats, while the others toiled and scrambled after them with the baggage. At last all was removed and laid on the portage-way. Then with little further hindrance, save from sprawling briars and many fallen stones, they moved forward all together. Fog still hung in veils upon the crumbling rock -wall, and to their left mist shrouded the River: they could hear it rushing and foaming over the sharp shelves and stony teeth of Sarn Gebir, but they could not see it. Twice they made the journey, before all was brought safe to the southern landing. There the portage-way, turning back to the water -side, ran gently down to the shallow edge of a little pool. It seemed to have been scooped in the river -side, not by hand, but by the water swirling down from Sarn Gebir against a low pier of rock that jutted out some way into the stream. Beyond it the shore rose sheer into a grey cliff, and there was no further passage for those on foot. Already the short afternoon was past, and a dim cloudy dusk was closing in. They sat beside the water listening to the confused rush and roar of the Rapids hidden in the mist; they wer e tired and sleepy, and their hearts were as gloomy as the dying day. 'Well, here we are, and here we must pass another night,' said Boromir. `We need sleep, and even if Aragorn had a mind to pass the Gates of Argonath by night, we are all too tired-except, no doubt, our sturdy dwarf.' Gimli made no reply: he was nodding as he sat. `Let us rest as much as we can now,' said Aragorn. `Tomorrow we must journey by day again. Unless the weather changes once more and cheats us, we shall have a good chance of slipping through, unseen by any eyes on the ####-eastern shore. But tonight two must watch together in turns: three hours off and one on guard.' Nothing happened that night worse than a brief drizzle of rain an hour before dawn. As soon as it was fully light they started. Already the fog was thinning. They kept as close as they could to the western side, and they could see the dim shapes of the low cliffs rising ever higher, shadowy walls with their feet in the hurrying river. In the mid-morning the clouds drew down lower, and it began to rain heavily. They drew the skin-covers over their boats to prevent them from being flooded, and drifted on: little could be seen before them or about them through the grey falling curtains. The rain, however, did not last long. Slowly the sky above grew lighter, and then suddenly the clouds broke, and their draggled fringes trailed away northward up the River. The fogs and mists were gone. Before the travellers lay a wide ravine, with great rocky sides to which clung, upon shelves and in narrow crevices, a few thrawn trees. The channel grew narrower and the River swifter. Now they were speeding along with little hope of stopping or turning, whatever they might meet ahead. Over them was a lane of pale-blue sky, around them the dark overshadowed River, and before them black, shutting out the sun, the hills of Emyn Muil, in which no opening could be seen. Frodo peering forward saw in the distance two great rocks approaching: like great pinnacles or pillars of stone they seemed. Tall and sheer and ominous they stood upon either side of the stream. A narrow gap appeared between them, and the River swept the boats towards it. `Behold the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings! ' cried Aragorn. `We shall pass them soon. Keep the boats in line, and as far apart as you can! Hold the middle of the stream! ' As Frodo was borne towards them the great pillars rose like towers to meet him. Giants they seemed to him, vast grey figures silent but threatening. Then he saw that they were indeed shaped and fashioned: the craft and power of old had wrought upon them, and still they preserved through the suns and rains of forgotten years the mighty likenesses in which they had been hewn. Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still ####-wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom. Awe and fear fell upon Frodo, and he cowered down, shutting his eyes and not daring to look up as the boat drew near. Even Boromir bowed his head as the boats whirled by. frail and fleeting as little leaves, under the enduring shadow of the sentinels of N®menor. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates. Sheer rose the dreadful cliffs to unguessed heights on either side. Far off was the dim sky. The black waters roared and echoed, and a wind screamed over them. Frodo crouching over his knees heard Sam in front muttering and groaning: `What a place! What a horrible place! Just let me get out of this boat, and I'll never wet my toes in a puddle again, let alone a river! ' `Fear not! ' said a strange voice behind him. Frodo turned and saw Strider, and yet not Strider; for the weatherworn Ranger was no longer there. In the stern sat Aragorn son of Arathorn, proud and erect, guiding the boat with skilful strokes; his hood was cast back, and his dark hair was blowing in the wind, a light was in his eyes: a king returning from exile to his own land. 'Fear not! ' he said. `Long have I desired to look upon the likenesses of Isildur and Anbrion, my sires of old. Under their shadow Elessar, the Elfstone son of Arathorn of the House of Valandil Isildur's son heir of Elendil, has nought to dread! ' Then the light of his eyes faded, and he spoke to himself: `Would that Gandalf were here! How my heart yearns for Minas Anor and the walls of my own city! But whither now shall I go? ' The chasm was long and dark, and filled with the noise of wind and rushing water and echoing stone. It bent somewhat towards the west so that at first all was dark ahead; but soon Frodo saw a tall gap of light before him, ever growing. Swiftly it drew near, and suddenly the boats shot through, out into a wide clear light. The sun, already long fallen from the noon, was shining in a windy sky. The pent waters spread out into a long oval lake, pale Nen Hithoel, fenced by steep grey hills whose sides were clad with trees, but their heads were bare, cold-gleaming in the sunlight. At the far southern end rose three peaks. The midmost stood somewhat forward from the others and sundered from them, an island in the waters, about which the flowing River flung pale shimmering arms. Distant but deep there came up on the wind a roaring sound like the roll of thunder heard far away.####- `Behold Tol Brandir! ' said Aragorn, pointing south to the tall peak. 'Upon the left stands Amon Lhaw, and upon the right is Amon Hen the Hills of Hearing and of Sight. In the days of the great kings there were high seats upon them, and watch was kept there. But it is said that no foot of man or beast has ever been set upon Tol Brandir. Ere the shade of night falls we shall come to them. I hear the endless voice of Rauros calling.' The Company rested now for a while, drifting south on the current that flowed through the middle of the lake. They ate some food, and then they took to their paddles and hastened on their way. The sides of the westward hills fell into shadow, and the Sun grew round and red. Here and there a misty star peered out. The three peaks loomed before them, darkling in the twilight. Rauros was roaring with a grea t voice. Already night was laid on the flowing waters when the travellers came at last under the shadow of the hills. The tenth day of their journey was over. Wilderland was behind them. They could go no further without choice between the east -way and the west. The last stage of the Quest was before them. ####- Aragorn led them to the right arm of the River. Here upon its western side under the shadow of Tol Brandir a green lawn ran down to the water from the feet of Amon Hen. Behind it rose the first gentle slopes of the hill clad with trees, and trees marched away westward along the curving shores of the lake. A little spring fell tumbling down and fed the grass. 'Here we will rest tonight,' said Aragorn. `This is the lawn of Parth Galen: a fair place in the summer days of old. Let us hope that no evil has yet come here.' They drew up their boats on the green banks, and beside them they made their camp. They set a watch, but had no sight nor sound of their enemies. If Gollum had contrived to follow them, he remained unseen and unheard. Nonetheless as the night wore on Aragorn grew uneasy, tossing often in his sleep and waking. In the small hours he got up and came to Frodo, whose turn it was to watch. `Why are you waking? ' asked Frodo. `It is not your watch.' `I do not know,' answered Aragorn; `but a shadow and a threat has been growing in my sleep. It would be well to draw your sword.' `Why? ' said Frodo. `Are enemies at hand? ' `Let us see what Sting may show,' answered Aragorn. Frodo then drew the elf-blade from its sheath. To his dismay the edges gleamed dimly in the night. `Orcs! ' he said. `Not very near, and yet too near, it seems.' `I feared as much,' said Aragorn. `But maybe they are not on this side of the River. The light of Sting is faint, and it may point to no more than spies of Mordor roaming on the slopes of Amon Lhaw. I have never heard before of Orcs upon Amon Hen. Yet who knows what may happen in these evil days, now that Minas Tirith no longer holds secure the passages of Anduin. We must go warily tomorrow.' The day came like fire and smoke. Low in the East there were black bars of cloud like the fumes of a great burning. The rising sun lit them from beneath with flames of murky red; but soon it climbed above them into a clear sky. The summit of Tol Brandir was tipped with gold. Frodo looked out ####-eastward and gazed at the tall island. Its si des sprang sheer out of the running water. High up above the tall cliffs were steep slopes upon which trees climbed, mounting one head above another; and above them again were grey faces of inaccessible rock, crowned by a great spire of stone. Many birds were circling about it, but no sign of other living things could be seen. When they had eaten, Aragorn called the Company together. `The day has come at last,' he said: 'the day of choice which we have long delayed. What shall now become of our Company that has travelled so far in fellowship? Shall we turn west with Boromir and go to the wars of Gondor; or turn east to the Fear and Shadow; or shall we break our fellowship and go this way and that as each may choose? Whatever we do must be done soon. We cannot long halt here. The enemy is on the eastern shore, we know; but I fear that the Orcs may already be on this side of the water.' There was a long silence in which no one spoke or moved. 'Well, Frodo,' said Aragorn at last. `I fear that the burden is laid upon you. You are the Bearer appointed by the Council. Your own way you alone can choose. In this matter I cannot advise you. I am not Gandalf, and though I have tried to bear his part, I do not know what design or hope he had for this hour, if indeed he had any. Most likely it seems that if he were here now the choice would still wait on you. Such is your fate.' Frodo did not answer at once. Then he spoke slowly. `I know that haste is needed, yet I cannot choose. The burden is heavy. Give me an hour longer, and I will speak. Let me be alone! ' Aragorn looked at him with kindly pity. `Very well, Frodo son of Drogo,' he said. `You shall have an hour, and you shall be alone. We will stay here for a while. But do not stray far or out of call.' Frodo sat for a moment with his head bowed. Sam, who had been watching his master with great concern, shook his head and muttered: 'Plain as a pikestaff it is, but it's no good Sam Gamgee putting in his spoke just now.' , Presently Frodo got up and walked away; and Sam saw that while the others restrained themselves and did not stare at him, the eyes of Boromir followed Frodo intently, until he passed out of sight in the trees at the foot of Amon Hen. Wandering aimlessly at first in the wood, Frodo found that his feet ####-were leading him up towards the slopes of the hill. He came to a path, the dwindling ruins of a road of long ago. In steep places stairs of stone had been hewn, but now they were cracked and worn, and split by the roots of trees. For some while he climbed, not caring which way he went, until he came to a grassy place. Rowan-trees grew about it, and in the midst was a wide flat stone. The little upland lawn was open upon the East and was filled now with the early sunlight. Frodo halted and looked out over the River, far below him, to Tol Brandir and the birds wheeling in the great gulf of air between him and the untrodden isle. The voice of Rauros was a mighty roaring mingled with a deep throbbing boom. He sat down upon the stone and cupped his chin in his hands, staring eastwards but seeing little with his eyes. All that had happened since Bilbo left the Shire was passing through his mind, and he recalled and pondered everything that he could remember of Gandalf's words. Time went on, and still he was no nearer to a choice. Suddenly he awoke from his thoughts: a strange feeling came to him that something was behind him, that unfriendly eyes were upon him. He sprang up and turned; but all that he saw to his surprise was Boromir, and his face was smiling and kind. `I was afraid for you, Frodo,' he said, coming forward. `If Aragorn is right and Orcs are near, then none of us should wander alone, and you least of all: so much depends on you. And my heart too is heavy. May I stay now and talk for a while, since I have found you? It would comfort me. Where there are so many, all speech becomes a debate without end. But two together may perhaps find wisdom.' `You are kind,' answered Frodo. 'But I do not think that any speech will help me. For I know what I should do, but I am afraid of doing it, Boromir: afraid.' Boromir stood silent. Rauros roared endlessly on. The wind murmured in the branches of the trees. Frodo shivered. Suddenly Boromir came and sat beside him. `Are you sure that you do not suffer needlessly? ' he said. `I wish to help you. You need counsel in your hard choice. Will you not take mine? ' 'I think I know already what counsel you would give, Boromir,' said Frodo. 'And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning of my heart.' `Warning? Warning against what? ' said Boromir sharply. 'Against delay. Against the way that seems easier. Against refusal of ####-the burden that is laid on me. Against -well, if it must be said, against trust in the strength and truth of Men.' `Yet that strength has long protected you far away in your little country, though you knew it not.' 'I do not doubt the valour of your people. But the world is changing. The walls of Minas Tirith may be strong, but they are not strong enough. If they fail, what then? ' 'We shall fall in battle valiantly. Yet there is still hope that they will not fail.' 'No hope while the Ring lasts,' said Frodo. 'Ah! The Ring! ' said Boromir, his eyes lighting. 'The Ring! Is it not a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a thing? So small a thing! And I have seen it only for an instant in the House of Elrond. Could I not have a sight of it again? ' Frodo looked up. His heart went suddenly cold. He caught the strange gleam in Boromir's eyes, yet his face was still kind and friendly. 'It is best that it should lie hidden,' he answered. 'As you wish. I care not,' said Boromir. 'Yet may I not even speak of it? For you seem ever to think only of its power in the hands of the Enemy: of its evil uses not of its good. The world is changing, you say. Minas Tirith will fall, if the Ring lasts. But why? Certainly, if the Ring were with the Enemy. But why, if it were with us? ' 'Were you not at the Council? ' answered Frodo. `Because we cannot use it, and what is done with it turns to evil.' Boromir got up and walked about impatiently. 'So you go on,' he cried. 'Gandalf, Elrond -- all these folk have taught you to say so. For themselves they may be right. These elves and half-elves and wizards, they would come to grief perhaps. Yet often I doubt if they are wise and not merely timid. But each to his own kind. True-hearted Men, they will not be corrupted. We of Minas Tirith have been staunch through long years of trial. We do not desire the power of wizard-lords, only strength to defend ourselves, strength in a just cause. And behold! in our need chance brings to light the -Ring of Power. It is a gift, I say; a gift to the foes of Mordor. It is mad not to use it, to use the power of the Enemy against him. The fearless, the ruthless, these alone will achieve victory. What could not a warrior do in this hour, a great leader? What could not Aragorn do? Or if he refuses, why ####-not Boromir? The Ring would give me power of Command. How I would drive the hosts of Mordor, and all men would flock to my banner!' Boromir strode up and down, speaking ever more loudly: Almost he seemed to have forgotten Frodo, while his talk dwelt on walls and weapons, and the mustering of men; and he drew plans for great alliances and glorious victories to be; and he cast down Mordor, and became himself a mighty king, benevolent and wise. Suddenly he stopped and waved his arms. 'And they tell us to throw it away!' he cried. `I do not sa y destroy it. That might be well, if reason could show any hope of doing so. It does not. The only plan that is proposed to us is that a halfling should walk blindly into Mordor and offer the Enemy every chance of recapturing it for himself. Folly! 'Surely you see it, my friend?' he said, turning now suddenly to Frodo again. `You say that you are afraid. If it is so, the boldest should pardon you. But is it not really your good sense that revolts?' 'No, I am afraid,' said Frodo. 'Simply afraid. But I am glad to have heard you speak so fully. My mind is clearer now.' `Then you will come to Minas Tirith? ' cried Boromir. His eyes were shining and his face eager. `You misunderstand me,' said Frodo. 'But you will come, at least for a while? ' Boromir persisted. 'My city is not far now; and it is little further from there to Mordor than from here. We have been long in the wilderness, and you need news of what the Enemy is doing before you make a move. Come with me, Frodo,' he said. `You need rest before your venture. if go you must.' He laid his hand on the hobbit's shoulder in friendly fashion; but Frodo felt the hand trembling with suppressed excitement. He stepped quickly away, and eyed with alarm the tall Man, nearly twice his height and many times his match in strength. `Why are you so unfriendly? ' said Boromir. `I am a true man, neither thief nor tracker. I need your Ring: that you know now; but I give you my word that I do not desire to keep it. Will you not at least let me make trial of my plan? Lend me the Ring! ' `No! no! ' cried Frodo. 'The Council laid it upon me to bear it.' `It is by our own folly that the Enemy will defeat us,' cried Boromir. `How it angers me! Fool! Obstinate fool! Running wilfully to death and ####-ruining our cause. If any mortals have claim to the Ring, it is the men of N®menor, and not Halflings. It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me! ' Frodo did not answer, but moved away till the great flat stone stood between them. `Come, come, my friend! ' said Boromir in a softer voice. 'Why not get rid of it? Why not be free of your doubt and fear? You can lay the blame on me, if you will. You can say that I was too strong and took it by force. For I am too strong for you, halfling,' he cried; and suddenly he sprang over the stone and leaped at Frodo. His fair and pleasant face was hideously changed; a raging fire was in his eyes. Frodo dodged aside and again put the stone between them. There was only one thing he could do: trembling he pulled out the Ring upon its chain and quickly slipped it on his finger, even as Boromir sprang at him again. The Man gasped, stared for a moment amazed, and then ran wildly about, seeking here and there among the rocks and trees. 'Miserable trickster!' he shouted. `Let me get my hands on you! Now I see your mind. You will take the Ring to Sauron and sell us all. You have only waited your chance to leave us in the lurch. Curse you and all halflings to death and darkness! ' Then, catching his foot on a stone, he fell sprawling and lay upon his face. For a while he was as still as if his own curse had struck him down; then suddenly he wept. He rose and passed his hand over his eyes, dashing away the tears. 'What have I said? ' he cried. `What have I done? Frodo, Frodo! ' he called. 'Come back! A madness took me, but it has passed. Come back! ' There was no answer. Frodo did not even hear his cries. He was already far away, leaping blindly up the path to the hill -top. Terror and grief shook him, seeing in his thought the mad fierce face of Boromir, and his burning eyes. Soon he came out alone on the summit of Amon Hen, and halted, gasping for breath. He saw as through a mist a wide flat circle, paved with mighty flags, and surrounded with a crumbling battlement; and in the middle, set upon four carven pillars, was a high seat, reached by a stair of many steps. Up he went and sat upon the ancient chair, feeling like a lost child that had clambered upon the throne of mountain-kings. At first he could see little. He seemed to be in a world of mist in which there were only shadows: the Ring was upon him. Then here and there the mist gave way and he saw many visions: small and clear as if they were ####-under his eyes upon a table, and yet remote. There was no sound, only bright living images. The world seemed to have shrunk and fallen silent. He was sitting upon the Seat of Seeing, on Amon Hen, the Hill of the Eye of the Men of N®menor. Eastward he looked into wide uncharted lands, nameless plains, and forests unexplored. Northward he looked, and the Great River lay like a ribbon beneath him, and the Misty Mountains stood small and hard as broken teeth. Westward he looked and saw the broad pastures of Rohan; and Orthanc, the pinnacle of Isengard, like a black spike. Southward he looked, and below his very feet the Great River curled like a toppling wave and plunged over the falls of Rauros into a foaming pit; a glimmering rainbow played upon the fume. And Ethir Anduin he saw, the mighty delta of the River, and myriads of sea -birds whirling like a white dust in the sun, and beneath them a green and silver sea, rippling in endless lines. But everywhere he looked he saw the signs of war. The Misty Mountains were crawling like anthills: orcs were issuing out of a thousand holes. Under the boughs of Mirkwood there was deadly strife of Elves and Men and fell beasts. The land of the Beornings was aflame; a cloud was over Moria; smoke rose on the borders of Lurien. Horsemen were galloping on the grass of Rohan; wolves poured from Isengard. From the havens of Harad ships of war put out to sea; and out of the East Men were moving endlessly: swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon horses, chariots of chieftains and laden wains. All the power of the Dark Lord was in motion. Then turning south again he beheld Minas Tirith. Far away it seemed. and beautiful: white-walled, many-towered, proud and fair upon its mountain-seat; its battlements glittered with steel, and its turrets were bright with many banners. Hope leaped in his heart. But against Minas Tirith was set another fortress, greater and more strong. Thither, eastward, unwilling his eye was drawn. It passed the ruined bridges of Osgiliath, the grinning gates of Minas Morgul. and the haunted Mountains, and it looked upon Gorgoroth, the valley of terror in the Land of Mordor. Darkness lay there under the Sun. Fire glowed amid the smoke. Mount Doom was burning, and a great reek rising. Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dyr, Fortress of Sauron. All hope left him.####- And suddenly he felt the Eye. There was an eye in the Dark Tower that did not sleep. He knew that it had become aware of his gaze. A fierce eager will was there. It leaped towards him; almost like a finger he felt it, searching for him. Very soon it would nail him down, know just exactly where he was. Amon Lhaw it touched. It glanced upon Tol Brandir he threw himself from the seat, crouching, covering his head with his grey hood. He heard himself crying out: Never, never! Or was it: Verily I come, I come to you? He could not tell. Then as a flash from some other point of power there came to his mind another thought: Take it off! Take it off! Fool, take it off! Take off the Ring! The two powers strove in him. For a moment, perfectly balanced between their piercing points, he writhed, tormented. Suddenly he was aware of himself again. Frodo, neither the Voice nor the Eye: free to choose, and with one remaining instant in which to do so. He took the Ring off his finger. He was kneeling in clear sunlight before the high seat. A black shadow seemed to pass like an arm above him; it missed Amon Hen and groped out west, and faded. Then all the sky was clean and blue and birds sang in every tree. Frodo rose to his feet. A great weariness was on him, but his will was firm and his heart lighter. He spoke aloud to himself. `I will do now what I must,' he said. 'This at least is plain: the evil of the Ring is already at work even in the Company, and the Ring must leave them before it does more harm. I will go alone. Some I cannot trust, and those I can trust are too dear to me: poor old Sam, and Merry and Pippin. Strider, too: his heart yearns for Minas Tirith, and he will be needed there, now Boromir has fallen into evil. I will go alone. At once.' He went quickly down the path and came back to the lawn where Boromir had found him. Then he halted, listening. He thought he could hear cries and calls from the woods near the shore below. 'They'll be hunting for me,' he said. `I wonder how long I have been away. Hours, I should think.' He hesitated. 'What can I do? ' he muttered. 'I must go now or I shall never go. I shan't get a chance again. I hate leaving them, and like this without any explanation. But surely they will understand. Sam will. And what else can I do?' Slowly he drew out the Ring and put it on once more. He vanished and passed down the hill, less than a rustle of the wind.####- The others remained long by the river -side. For some time they had been silent, moving restlessly about; but now they were sitting in a circle, and they were talking. Every now and again they made efforts to speak of other things, of their long road and many adventures; they questioned Aragorn concerning the realm of Gondor and its ancient history, and the remnants of its great works that could still be seen in this strange border -land of the Emyn Muil: the stone kings and the seats of Lhaw and Hen, and the great Stair beside the falls of Rauros. But always their thoughts and words strayed back to Frodo and the Ring. What would Frodo choose to do? Why was he hesitating? `He is debating which course is the most desperate, I think,' said Aragorn. 'And well he may. It is now more hopeless than ever for the Company to go east, since we have been tracked by Gollum, and must fear that the secret of our journey is already betrayed. But Minas Tirith is no nearer to the Fire and the destruction of the Burden. `We may remain there for a while and make a brave stand; but the Lord Denethor and all his men cannot hope to do what even Elrond said was beyond his power: either to keep the Burden secret. or to hold off the full might of the Enemy when he comes to take it. Which way would any of us choose in Frodo's place? I do not know. Now indeed we miss Gandalf most.' 'Grievous is our loss,' said Legolas. 'Yet we must needs make up our minds without his aid. Why cannot we decide, and so help Frodo? Let us call him back and then vote! I should vote for Minas Tirith.' `And so should I,' said Gimli. 'We, of course, were only sent to help the Bearer along the road, to go no further than we wished; and none of us is under any oath or command to seek Mount Doom. Hard was my parting from Lothlurien. Yet I have come so far, and I say this: now we have reached the last choice, it is clear to me that I cannot leave Frodo. I would choose Minas Tirith, but if he does not, then I follow him.' `And I too will go with him,' said Legolas. `It would be faithless now to say farewell.' 'It would indeed be a betrayal, if we all left him,' said Aragorn. 'But if he goes east, then all need not go with him; nor do I think that all should. That venture is desperate: as much so for eight as for three or two, or one alone. If you would let me choose, then I should appoint three ####-companions: Sam, who could not bear it otherwise; and Gimli; and myself. Boromir will return to his own city, where his father and his people need him; and with him the others should go, or at least Meriadoc and Peregrin , if Legolas is not willing to leave us.' `That won't do at all! ' cried Merry. 'We can't leave Frodo! Pippin and I always intended to go wherever he went, and we still do. But we did not realize what that would mean. It seemed different so far away, in the Shire or in Rivendell. It would be mad and cruel to let Frodo go to Mordor. Why can't we stop him?' 'We must stop him,' said Pippin. `And that is what he is worrying about, I am sure. He knows we shan't agree to his going east. And he doesn't like to ask anyone to go with him, poor old fellow. Imagine it: going off to Mordor alone! ' Pippin shuddered. 'But the dear silly old hobbit, he ought to know that he hasn't got to ask. He ought to know that if we can't stop him, we shan't leave him.' 'Begging your pardon,' said Sam. 'I don't think you understand my master at all. He isn't hesitating about which way to go. Of course not! What's the good of Minas Tirith anyway? To him, I mean, begging your pardon, Master Boromir,' he added, and turned. It was then that they discovered that Boromir, who at first had been sitting silent on the outside of the circle, was no longer there. `Now where's he got to? ' cried Sam, looking worried. 'He's been a bit queer lately, to my mind. But anyway he's not in this business. He's off to his home, as he always said; and no blame to him. But Mr. Frodo, he knows he's got to find the Cracks of Doom, if he can. But he's afraid . Now it's come to the point, he's just plain terrified. That's what his trouble is. Of course he's had a bit of schooling, so to speak-we all have-since we left home, or he'd be so terrified he'd just fling the Ring in the River and bolt. But he's still too frightened to start. And he isn't worrying about us either: whether we'll go along with him or no. He knows we mean to. That's another thing that's bothering him. If he screws himself up to go, he'll want to go alone. Mark my words! We're going to have trouble when he comes back. For he'll screw himself up all right, as sure as his name's Baggins.' 'I believe you speak more wisely than any of us, Sam,' said Aragorn. `And what shall we do, if you prove right? '####- 'Stop him! Don't let him go! ' cried Pippin. 'I wonder? ' said Aragorn. `He is the Bearer, and the fate of the Burden is on him. I do not think that it is our part to drive him one way or the other. Nor do I think that we should succeed, if we tried. There are other powers at work far stronger.' `Well, I wish Frodo would "screw himself up" and come back. and let us get it over,' said Pippin. `This waiting is horrible! Surely the time is up? ' `Yes,' said Aragorn. 'The hour is long passed. The morning is wearing away. We must call for him.' At that moment Boromir reappeared. He came out from the trees and walked towards them without speaking. His face looked grim and sad. He paused as if counting those that were present, and then sat down aloof, with his eyes on the ground. `Where have you been, Boromir? ' asked Aragorn. `Have you seen Frodo? ' Boromir hesitated for a second. `Yes, and no,' he answered slowly. `Yes: I found him some way up the hill, and I spoke to him. I urged him to come to Minas Tirith and not to go east. I grew angry and he left me. He vanished. I have never seen such a thing happen before. though I have heard of it in tales. He must have put the Ring on. I could not find him again. I thought he would return to you.' 'Is that all that you have to say? ' said Aragorn, looking hard and not too kindly at Boromir. `Yes,' he answered. `I will say no more yet.' `This is bad!' cried Sam, jumping up. `I don't know what this Man has been up to. Why should Mr. Frodo put the thing on? He didn't ought to have; and if he has, goodness knows what may have happened!' 'But he wouldn't keep it on`' said Merry. `Not when he had escaped the unwelcome visitor, like Bilbo used to.' `But where did he go? Where is he? ' cried Pippin. 'He's been away ages now.' `How long is it since you saw Frodo last, Boromir? ' asked Aragorn. `Half an hour, maybe,' he answered. `Or it might be an hour. I have wandered for some time since. I do not know! I do not know! ' He put his head in his hands, and sat as if bowed with grief. `An hour since he vanished! ' shouted Sam. `We must try and find him at once. Come on! '####- `Wait a moment! ' cried Aragorn. `We must divide up into pairs, and arrange-here, hold on! Wait! ' It was no good. They took no notice of him. Sam had dashed off first. Merry and Pippin had followed, and were already disappearing westward into the trees by the shore, shouting: Frodo! Frodo! in their clear, high hobbit-voices. Legolas and Gimli were running. A sudden panic or madness seemed to have fallen on the Company. `We shall all be scattered and lost,' groaned Aragorn. `Boromir! I do not know what part you have played in this mischief, but help now! Go after those two young hobbits, and guard them at the least, even if you cannot find Frodo. Come back to this spot, if you find him, or any traces of him. I shall return soon.' Aragorn sprang swiftly away and went in pursuit of Sam. Just as he reached the little lawn among the rowans he overtook him, toiling uphill, panting and calling, Frodo! `Come with me, Sam! ' he said. `None of us should be alone. There is mischief about. I feel it. I am going to the top, to the Seat of Amon Hen, to see what may be seen. And look! It is as my heart guessed, Frodo went this way. Follow me, and keep your eyes open! ' He sped up the path. Sam did his best, but he could not keep up with Strider the Ranger, and soon fell behind. He had not gone far before Aragorn was out of sight ahead. Sam stopped and puffed. Suddenly he clapped his hand to his head. `Whoa, Sam Gamgee! ' he said aloud. `Your legs are too short, so use your head! Let me see now! Boromir isn't lying, that's not his way; but he hasn't told us everything. Something scared Mr. Frodo badly. He screwed himself up to the point, sudden. He made up his mind at last to go. Where to? Off East. Not without Sam? Yes, without even his Sam. That's hard, cruel hard.' Sam passed his hand over his eyes, brushing away the tears. 'Steady, Gamgee! ' he said. `Think, if you can! He can't fly across rivers, and he can't jump waterfalls. He's got no gear. So he's got to get back to the boats. Back to the boats! Back to the boats, Sam, like lightning! ' Sam turned and bolted back down the path. He fell and cut his knees. Up he got and ran on. He came to the edge of the lawn of Parth Galen by the shore, where the boats were drawn up out of the water. No one was there. There seemed to be cries in the woods behind, but he did not heed them. He stood gazing for a moment. stock -still, gaping. A boat was sliding down the ####-bank all by itself. With a shout Sam raced across the grass. The boat slipped into the wat 128d er. `Coming, Mr. Frodo! Coming! ' called Sam, and flung himself from the bank, clutching at the departing boat. He missed it by a yard. With a cry and a splash he fell face downward into deep swift water. Gurgling he went under, and the River closed over his curly head. An exclamation of dismay came from the empty boat. A paddle swirled and the boat put about. Frodo was just in time to grasp Sam by the hair as he came up, bubbling and struggling. Fear was staring in his round brown eyes. `Up you come, Sam my lad! ' said Frodo. `Now take my hand! ' `Save me, Mr. Frodo! ' gasped Sam. `I'm drownded. I can't see your hand.' `Here it is. Don't pinch, lad! I won't let you go. Tread water and don't flounder, or you'll upset the boat. There now, get hold of the side, and let me use the paddle! ' With a few strokes Frodo brought the boat back to the bank. and Sam was able to scramble out, wet as a water -rat. Frodo took off the Ring and stepped ashore again. `Of all the confounded nuisances you are the worst, Sam! ' he said. 'Oh, Mr. Frodo, that's hard! ' said Sam shivering. `That's hard, trying to go without me and all. If I hadn't a guessed right, where would you be now? ' `Safely on my way.' `Safely! ' said Sam. `All alone and without me to help you? I couldn't have a borne it, it'd have been the death of me.' 'It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam,' said Frodo and I could not have borne that.' `Not as certain as being left behind,' said Sam. `But I am going to Mordor.' `I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I'm coming with you.' `Now, Sam,' said Frodo, `don't hinder me! The others will be coming back at any minute. If they ca tch me here. I shall have to argue and ####-explain, and I shall never have the heart or the chance to get off. But I must go at once. It's the only way.' `Of course it is,' answered Sam. 'But not alone. I'm coming too, or neither of us isn't going. I'll knock holes in all the boats first.' Frodo actually laughed. A sudden warmth and gladness touched his heart. `Leave one! 'he said. `We'll need it. But you can't come like this without your gear or food or anything.' 'Just hold on a moment, and I'll get my stuff!' cried Sam eagerly. 'It's all ready. I thought we should be off today.' He rushed to the camping place, fished out his pack from the pile where Frodo had laid it when he emptied the boat of his companions' goods grabbed a spare blanket, and some extra packages of food, and ran back. `So all my plan is spoilt! ' said Frodo. `It is no good trying to escape you. But I'm glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road! Strider will look after them. I don't suppose we shall see them again.' `Yet we may, Mr Frodo. We may,' said Sam. So Frodo and Sam set off on the last stage of the Quest together. Frodo paddled away from the shore, and the River bore them swiftly away. down the western arm, and past the frowning cliffs of Tol Brandir. The roar of the great falls drew nearer. Even with such help as Sam could give, it was hard work to pass across the current at the southward end of the island and drive the boat eastward towards the far shore. At length they came to land again upon the southern slopes of Amon Lhaw. There they found a shelving shore, and they drew the boat out, high above the water , and hid it as well as they could behind a great boulder. Then shouldering their burdens, they set off, seeking a path that would bring them over the grey hills of the Emyn Muil, and down into the Land of Shadow. ####- Here ends the first part of the history of the War of the Ring. The second part is called THE TWO TOWERS, since the events recounted in it are dominated by ORTHANC, the citadel of Saruman, and the fortress of MINAS MORGUL that guards the secret entrance to Mordor; it tells of the deeds and perils of all the members of the now sundered fellowship, until the coming of the Great Darkness. The third part tells of the last defence against the Shadow, and the end of the mission of the Ring-bearer in THE RETURN OF THE KING. ####-####- * BOOK III * Aragorn sped on up the hill. Every now and again he bent to the ground. Hobbits go light, and their footprints are not easy even for a Ranger to read, but not far from the top a spring crossed the path, and in the wet earth he saw what he was seeking. 'I read the signs aright,' he said to himself. 'Frodo ran to the hill-top. I wonder what he saw there? But he returned by the same way, and went down the hill again.' Aragorn hesitated. He desired to go to the high seat himself, hoping to see there something that would guide him in his perplexities; but time was pressing. Suddenly he leaped forward, and ran to the summit, across the great flag-stones, and up the steps. Then sitting in the high seat he looked out. But the sun seemed darkened, and the world dim and remote. He turned from the North back again to North, and saw nothing save the distant hills, unless it were that far away he could see again a great bird like an eagle high in the air, descending slowly in wide circles down towards the earth. Even as he gazed his quick ears caught sounds in the woodlands below, on the west side of the River. He stiffened. There were cries, and among them, to his horror, he could distinguish the harsh voices of Orcs. Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls. 'The horn of Boromir!' he cried. 'He is in need!' He sprang down the steps and away, leaping down the path. 'Alas! An ill fate is on me this day, and all that I do goes amiss. Where is Sam?' As he ran the cries came louder, but fainter now and desperately the horn was blowing. Fierce and shrill rose the yells of the Orcs, and suddenly the horn-calls ceased. Aragorn raced down the last slope, but before he could reach the hill's foot, the sounds died away; and as he turned to the left and ran towards them they retreated, until at last he could hear them no more. Drawing his bright sword and crying Elendil! Elendil! he crashed through the trees.####- A mile, maybe, from Parth Galen in a little glade not far from the lake he found Boromir. He was sitting with his back to a great tree, as if he was resting. But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black -feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilt; his horn cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet. Aragorn knelt beside him. Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak. At last slow words came. 'I tried to take the Ring from Frodo ' he said. 'I am sorry. I have paid.' His glance strayed to his fallen enemies; twenty at least lay there. 'They have gone: the Halflings: the Orcs have taken them. I think they are not dead. Orcs bound them.' He paused and his eyes closed wearily. After a moment he spoke again. 'Farewell, Aragorn! Go to M inas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.' 'No!' said Aragorn, taking his hand and kissing his brow. 'You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!' Boromir smiled. 'Which way did they go? Was Frodo there?' said Aragorn. But Boromir did not speak again. 'Alas!' said Aragorn. 'Thus passes the heir of Denethor, Lord of the Tower of Guard! This is a bitter end. Now the Company is all in ruin. It is I that have failed. Vain was Gandalf's trust in me. What shall I do now? Boromir has laid it on me to go to Minas Tirith, and my heart desires it; but where are the Ring and the Bearer? How shall I find them and save the Quest from disaster?' He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir's hand. So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him. They came from the western slopes of the hill, silently, creeping through the trees as if they were hunting. Gimli had his axe in hand, and Legola s his long knife: all his arrows were spent. When they came into the glade they halted in amazement; and then they stood a moment with heads bowed in grief, for it seemed to them plain what had happened. 'Alas!' said Legolas, coming to Aragorn's side. 'We have hunted and slain many Orcs in the woods, but we should have been of more use here. We came when we heard the horn-but too late, it seems. I fear you have taken deadly hurt.'####- 'Boromir is dead,' said Aragorn. 'I am unscathed, for I was not here with him. He fell defending the hobbits, while I was away upon the hill.' 'The hobbits!' cried Gimli 'Where are they then? Where is Frodo?' 'I do not know,' answered Aragorn wearily. 'Before he died Boromir told me that the Orcs had bound them; he did not think that they were dead. I sent him to follow Merry and Pippin; but I did not ask him if Frodo or Sam were with him: not until it was too late. All that I have done today has gone amiss. What is to be done now?' 'First we must tend the fallen,' said Legolas. 'We cannot leave him lying like carrion among these foul Orcs.' 'But we must be swift,' said Gimli. 'He would not wish us to linger. We must follow the Orcs, if there is hope that any of our Company are living prisoners.' 'But we do not know whether the Ring-bearer is with them or not ' said Aragorn. 'Are we to abandon him? Must we not seek him first? An evil choice is now before us!' 'Then let us do first what we must do,' said Legolas. 'We have not the time or the tools to bury our comrade fitly, or to raise a mound over him. A cairn we might build.' 'The labour would be hard and long: there are no stones that we could use nearer than the water -side,' said Gimli. 'Then let us lay him in a boat with his weapons, and the weapons of his vanquished foes,' said Aragorn. 'We will send him to the Falls of Rauros and give him to Anduin. The River of Gondor will take care at least that no evil creature dishonours his bones.' Quickly they searched the bodies of the Orcs, gathering their swords and cloven helms and shields into a heap. 'See!' cried Aragorn. 'Here we find tokens!' He picked out from the pile of grim weapons two knives, leaf-bladed, damasked in go ld and red; and searching further he found also the sheaths, black, set with small red gems. 'No orc-tools these!' he said. 'They were borne by the hobbits. Doubtless the Orcs despoiled them, but feared to keep the knives, knowing them for wha t they are: work of Westernesse, wound about with spells for the bane of Mordor. Well, now, if they still live, our friends are weaponless. I will take these things, hoping against hope, to give them back.' 'And I,' said Legolas, 'will take all the arrows that I can find, for my quiver is empty.' He searched in the pile and on the ground about and ####-found not a few that were undamaged and longer in the shaft than such arrows as the Orcs were accustomed to use. He looked at them closely. And Aragorn looked on the slain, and he said: 'Here lie many that are not folk of Mordor. Some are from the North, from the Misty Mountains, if I know anything of Orcs and their kinds. And here are others strange to me. Their gear is not after the manner of Orcs at all!' There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands. They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs: and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men. Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal. 'I have not seen these tokens before,' said Aragorn. 'What do they mean?' 'S is for Sauron,' said Gimli. 'That is easy to read.' 'Nay!' said Legolas. 'Sauron does not use the Elf-runes.' 'Neither does he use his right name, nor permit it to be spelt or spoken,' said Aragorn. 'And he does not use white. The Orcs in the service of Barad-dyr use the sign of the Red Eye.' He stood for a moment in thought. 'S is for Saruman, I guess,' he said at length. 'There is evil afoot in Isengard, and the West is no longer safe. It is as Gandalf feared: by some means the traitor Saruman has had news of our journey. It is likely too that he knows of Gandalf's fall. Pursuers from Moria may have escaped the vigilance of Lurien, or they may have avoided that land and come to Isengard by other paths. Orcs travel fast. But Saruman has many ways of learning news. Do you remember the birds?' 'Well, we have no time to ponder riddles,' said Gimli. 'Let us bear Boromir away!' 'But after that we must guess the riddles, if we are to choose our course rightly,' answered Aragorn. 'Maybe there is no right choice,' said Gimli. Taking his axe the Dwarf now cut several branches. These they lashed together with bowstrings, and spread their cloaks upon the frame. Upon this rough bier they carried the body of their companion to the shore, together with such trophies of his last battle as they chose to send forth with him. It was only a short way, yet they found it no easy task, for Boromir was a man both tall and strong.####- At the water -side Aragorn remained, watching the bier. while Legolas and Gimli hastened back on foot to Parth Galen. It was a mile or more, and it was some time before they came back, paddling two boats swiftly along the shore. 'There is a strange tale to tell!' said Legolas. 'There are only two boats upon the bank. We could find no trace of the other.' 'Have Orcs been there?' asked Aragorn. 'We saw no signs of them,' answered Gimli. 'And Orcs would have taken or destroyed all the boats, and the baggage as well.' 'I will look at the ground when we come there,' said Aragorn. Now they laid Boromir in the middle of the boat that was to bear him away. The grey hood and elven-cloak they folded and placed beneath his head. They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders. The golden belt of Lurien gleamed about his waist. His helm they set beside him, and across his lap they laid the cloven horn and the hilts and shards of his sword; beneath his feet they put the swords of his enemies. Then fastening the prow to the stern of the other boat, they drew him out into the water. They rowed sadly along the shore, and turning into the swift -running channel they passed the green sward of Parth Galen. The steep sides of Tol Brandir were glowing: it was now mid-afternoon. As they went south the fume of Rauros rose and shimmered before them, a haze of gold. The rush and thunder of the falls shook the windless air . Sorrowfully they cast loose the funeral boat: there Boromir lay, restful, peaceful, gliding upon the bosom of the flowing water. The stream took him while they held their own boat back with their paddles. He floated by them, and slowly his boat departed, waning to a dark spot against the golden light; and then suddenly it vanished. Rauros roared on unchanging. The River had taken Boromir son of Denethor, and he was not seen again in Minas Tirith, standing as he used to stand upon the White Tower in the morning. But in Gondor in after -days it long was said that the elven-boat rode the falls and the foaming pool, and bore him down through Osgiliath, and past the many mouths of Anduin, out into the Great Sea at night under the stars. For a while the three companions remained silent, gazing after him. Then Aragorn spoke. 'They will look for him from the White Tower,' he said, 'but he will not return from mountain or from sea.' Then slowly he began to sing:####- Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows The West Wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes. 'What news from the West, O wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight? Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?' 'I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey; I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more. The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.' 'O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar, But you came not from the empty lands where no men are.' Then Legolas sang: From the mouths of the Sea the South Wind flies, from the sandhills and the stones; The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans. 'What news from the South, O sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve? Where now is Boromir the Fair? He tarries and I grieve.' 'Ask not of me where he doth dwell-so many bones there lie On the white shores and the dark shores under the stormy sky; So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing Sea. Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!' 'O Boromir! Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south, But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea's mouth.' Then Aragorn sang again: From the Gate of Kings the North Wind rides, and past the roaring falls; And clear and cold about the tower its loud horn calls. 'What news from the North, O mighty wind, do you bring to me today? What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.' 'Beneath Amon Hen I heard his cry. There many foes he fought. His cloven shield, his broken sword, they to the water brought. His head so proud, his face so fair, his limbs they laid to rest; And Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, bore him upon its breast.' 'O Boromir! The Tower of Guard shall ever northward gaze To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end o f days.' So they ended. Then they turned their boat and drove it with all the speed they could against the stream back to Parth Galen. 'You left the East Wind to me,' said Gimli, 'but I will say naught of it.' 'That is as it should be,' said Aragorn. 'In Minas Tirith they endure the East Wind, but they do not ask it for tidings. But now Boromir has taken ####-his road. and we must make haste to choose our own.' He surveyed the green lawn, quickly but thoroughly, stooping often to the earth. 'The Orcs have been on this ground,' he said. 'Otherwise nothing can be made out for certain. All our footprints are here, crossing and re-crossing. I cannot tell whether any of the hobbits have come back since the search for Frodo began.' He returned to the bank, close to where the rill from the spring trickled out into the River. 'There are some clear prints here,' he said. 'A hobbit waded out into the water and back; but I cannot say how long ago.' 'How then do you read this riddle?' asked Gimli. Aragorn did not answer at once, but went back to the camping-place and looked at the baggage. 'Two packs are missing.' he said, 'and one is certainly Sam's: it was rather large and heavy. This then is the answe r: Frodo has gone by boat, and his servant has gone with him. Frodo must have returned while we were all away. I met Sam going up the hill and told him to follow me; but plainly he did not do so. He guessed his master s mind and came back here before Frodo had gone. He did not find it easy to leave Sam behind!' 'But why should he leave us behind, and without a word?' said Gimli. 'That was a strange deed!' 'And a brave deed,' said Aragorn. 'Sam was right, I think. Frodo did not wish to lead any friend to death with him in Mordor. But he knew that he must go himself. Something happened after he left us that overcame his fear and doubt.' 'Maybe hunting Orcs came on him and he fled,' said Legolas. 'He fled, certainly,' said Aragorn, 'but not, I think, from Orcs.' What he thought was the cause of Frodo's sudden resolve and flight Aragorn did not say. The last words of Boromir he long kept secret. 'Well, so much at least is now clear,' said Legolas: 'Frodo is no longer on this side of the River: only he can have taken the boat. And Sam is with him; only he would have taken his pack.' 'Our choice then,' said Gimli, 'is either to take the remaining boat and follow Frodo, or else to follow the Orcs on foot. There is little hope either way. We have already lost precious hours.' 'Let me think!' said Aragorn. 'And now may I make a right choice and change the evil fate of this unhappy day!' He stood silent for a moment. 'I will follow the Orcs,' he said at last. 'I would have guided Frodo to Mordor ####-and gone with him to the end; but if I seek him now in the wilderness, I must abandon the captives to torment and death. My heart speaks clearly at last: the fate of the Bearer is in my hands no longer . The Company has played its part. Yet we that remain cannot forsake our companions while we have strength left. Come! We will go now. Leave all that can be spared behind! We will press on by day and dark!' They drew up the last boat and carried it to the trees. They laid beneath it such of their goods as they did not need and could not carry away. Then they left Parth Galen. The afternoon was fading as they came back to the glade where Boromir had fallen. There they picked up the trail of the Orcs. It needed little skill to find. 'No other folk make such a trampling,' said Legolas. 'It seems their delight to slash and beat down growing things that are not even in their way.' 'But they go with a great speed for all that,' said Aragorn, 'and they do not tire. And later we may have to search for our path in hard bare lands.' 'Well, after them!' said Gimli. 'Dwarves too can go swiftly, and they do not tire sooner than Orcs. But it will be a long chase: they have a long start.' 'Yes,' said Aragorn, 'we shall all need the endurance of Dwarves. But come! With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter! We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds µ Elves. Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!' Like a deer he sprang away. Through the trees he sped. On and on he led them, tireless and swift, now that his mind was at last made up. The woods about the lake they left behind. Long slopes they climbed, dark, hard-edged against the sky already red with sunset. Dusk came. They passed away, grey shadows in a stony land. ####- Dusk deepened. Mist lay behind them among the trees below, and brooded on the pale margins of the Anduin, but the sky was clear. Stars came out. The waxing moon was riding in the West, and the shadows of the rocks were black. They had come to the feet of stony hills, and their pace was slower, for the trail was no longer easy to follow. Here the highlands of the Emyn Muil ran from North to South in two long tumbled ridges. The western side of each ridge was steep and difficult, but the eastward slopes were gentler, furrowed with many gullies and narrow ravines. All night the three companions scrambled in this bony land, climbing to the crest of the first and tallest ridge, and down again into the darkness of a deep winding valley on the other side. There in the still cool hour before dawn they rested for a brief space. The moon had long gone down before them, the stars glittered above them; the first light of day had not yet come over the dark hills behind. For the moment Aragorn was at a loss: the orc-trail had descended into the valley, but there it had vanished. 'Which way would they turn, do you think?' said Legolas. 'Northward to take a straighter road to Isengard, or Fangorn, if that is their aim as you guess? Or southward to strike the Entwash?' 'They will not make for the river, whatever mark they aim at'' said Aragorn. 'And unless there is much amiss in Rohan and the power of Saruman is greatly increased; they will take the shortest way that they can find over the fields of the Rohirrim. Let us search northwards!' The dale ran like a stony trough between the ridged hills, and a trickling stream flowed among the boulders at the bottom. A cliff frowned upon their right; to their left rose grey slopes, dim and shadowy in the late night. They went on for a mile or more northwards. Aragorn was searching. bent towards the ground, among the folds and gullies leading up into the western ridge. Legolas was some way ahead. Suddenly the Elf gave a cry and the others came running towards him. 'We have already overtaken some of those that we are hunting,' he said. 'Look!' He pointed, and they saw that what they had at first taken to be boulders lying at the foot of the slope were huddled bodies. Five dead Orcs ####-lay there. They had been hewn with many cruel strokes, and two had been beheaded. The ground was wet with their dark blood. 'Here is another riddle!' said Gimli. 'But it needs the light of day and for that we cannot wait.' 'Yet however you read it, it seems not unhopeful,' said Legolas. 'Enemies of the Orcs are likely to be our friends. Do any folk dwell in these hills?' 'No,' said Aragorn. 'The Rohirrim seldom come here, and it is far from Minas Tirith. It might be that some company of Men were hunting here for reasons that we do not know. Yet I think not.' 'What do you think?' said Gimli. 'I think that the enemy brought his own enemy with him,' answered Aragorn. 'These are Northern Orcs from far away. Among the slain are none of the great Orcs with the strange badges. There was a quarrel, I guess: it is no uncommon thing with these foul folk. Maybe there was some dispute about the road.' 'Or about the captives,' said Gimli. 'Let us hope that they, too, did not meet their end here.' Aragorn searched the ground in a wide circle, but no other traces of the fight could be found. They went on. Already the eastward sky was turning pale; the stars were fading, and a grey light was slowly growing. A little further north they came to a fold in which a tiny stream, falling and winding, had cut a stony path down into the valley. In it some bushes grew, and there were patches of grass upon its sides. 'At last!' said Aragorn. 'Here are the tracks that we seek! Up this water -channel: this is the way that the Orcs went after their debate.' Swiftly now the pursuers turned and followed the new path. As if fresh from a night's rest they sprang from stone to stone. At last they reached the crest of the grey hill, and a sudden breeze blew in their hair and stirred their cloaks: the chill wind of dawn. Turning back they saw across the River the far hills kindled. Day leaped into the sky. The red rim of the sun rose over the shoulders of the dark land. Before them in the West the world lay still, formless and grey; but even as they looked, the shadows of night melted, the colours of the waking earth returned: green flowed over the wide meads of Rohan; the white mists shimmered in the watervales; and far off to the left, thirty leagues or more, blue and purple stood the White Mountains, rising into peaks of ####-jet, tipped with glimmering snows, flushed with the rose of morning. 'Gondor! Gondor!' cried Aragorn. 'Would that I looked on you again in happier hour! Not yet does my road lie southward to your bright streams. Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea! West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old. O proud walls! White towers! O winged crown and throne of gold! O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree, Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea? Now let us go!' he said , drawing his eyes away from the South, and looking out west and north to the way that he must tread. The ridge upon which the companions stood went down steeply before their feet. Below it twenty fathoms or more, there was a wide and rugged shelf which ended suddenly in the brink of a sheer cliff: the East Wall of Rohan. So ended the Emyn Muil, and the green plains of the Rohirrim stretched away before them to the edge of sight. 'Look!' cried Legolas, pointing up into the pale sky above them. 'There is the eagle again! He is very high. He seems to be flying now away, from this land back to the North. He is going with great speed. Look!' 'No, not even my eyes can see him, my good Legolas,' said Aragorn. 'He must be far aloft indeed. I wonder what is his errand, if he is the same bird that I have seen before. But look! I can see something nearer at hand and more urgent; there is something moving over the plain!' 'Many things,' said Legolas. 'It is a great company on foot; but I cannot say more, nor see what kind of folk they may be. They are many leagues away: twelve, I guess; but the flatness of the plain is hard to measure.' 'I think, nonetheless, that we no longer need any trail to tell us which way to go,' said Gimli. 'Let us find a path down to the fields as quick as may be.' 'I doubt if you will find a path quicker than the one that the Orcs chose,' said Aragorn. They followed their enemies now by the clear light of day. It seemed that the Orcs had pressed on with all possible speed. Every now and again the pursuers found things that had been dropped or cast away: food-bags, the rinds and crusts of hard grey bread. a torn black cloak, a heavy iron-nailed shoe broken on the stones. The trail led them north along the top of the ####-escarpment, and at length they came to a deep cleft carved in the rock by a stream that splashed noisily down. In the narrow ravine a rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain. At the bottom they came with a strange suddenness on the grass of Rohan. It swelled like a green sea up to the very foot of the Emyn Muil. The falling stream vanished into a deep growth of cresses and water -plants, and they could hear it tinkling away in green tunnels, down long gentle slopes towards the fens of Entwash Vale far away. They seemed to have left winter clinging to the hills behind. Here the air was softer and warmer, and faintly scented, as if spring was already stirring and the sap was flowing again in herb and leaf. Legolas took a deep breath, like one that drinks a great draught after long thirst in barren places. 'Ah! the green smell!' he said. 'It is better than much sleep. Let us run! ' 'Light feet may run swiftly here,' said Aragorn. 'More swiftly, maybe, than iron-shod Orcs. Now we have a chance to lessen their lead!' They went in single file, running like hounds on a strong scent, and an eager light was in their eyes. Nearly due west the broad swath of the marching Orcs tramped its ugly slot; the sweet grass of Rohan had been bruised and blackened as they passed. Presently Aragorn gave a cry and turned aside. 'Stay!' he shouted. 'Do not follow me yet!' He ran quickly to the right, away from the main trail; for he had seen footprints that went that way, branching off from the others, the marks of small unshod feet. These, however, did not go far before they were crossed by orc-prints, also coming out from the main trail behind and in front, and then they curved sharply back again and were lost in the trampling. At the furthest point Aragorn stooped and picked up something from the grass; then he ran back. 'Yes,' he said, 'they are quite plain: a hobbit's footprints. Pippin's I think. He is smaller than the other. And look at this! He held up a thing that glittered in the sunlight. It looked like the new-opened leaf of a beech-tree, fair and strange in that treeless plain. 'The brooch of an elven-cloak!' cried Legolas and Gimli together. 'Not idly do the leaves of Lurien fall,' said Aragorn. 'This did not drop by chance: it was cast away as a token to any that might follow. I think Pippin ran away from the trail for that purpose.' 'Then he at least was alive,' said Gimli. 'And he had the use of his wits, and of his legs too. That is heartening. We do not pursue in vain.'####- 'Let us hope that he did not pay too dearly for his boldness,' said Legolas. 'C ome! Let us go on! The thought of those merry young folk driven like cattle burns my heart.' The sun climbed to the noon and then rode slowly down the sky. Light clouds came up out of the sea in the distant South and were blown away upon the breeze. The sun sank. Shadows rose behind and reached out long arms from the East. Still the hunters held on. One day now had passed since Boromir fell, and the Orcs were yet far ahead. No longer could any sight of them be seen in the level plains. As nightshade was closing about them Aragorn halted. Only twice in the day's march had they rested for a brief while, and twelve leagues now lay between them and the eastern wall where they had stood at dawn. 'We have come at last to a hard choice,' he said. 'Shall we rest by night, or shall we go on while our will and strength hold?' 'Unless our enemies rest also, they will leave us far behind, if we stay to sleep.' said Legolas. 'Surely even Orcs must pause on the march?' said Gimli. 'Seldom will Orcs journey in the open under the sun. yet these have done so,' said Legolas. 'Certainly they will not rest by night.' 'But if we walk by night, we cannot follow their trail,' said Gimli. 'The trail is straight, and turns neither right nor left, as far as my eyes can see,' said Legolas. 'Maybe, I could lead you at guess in the darkness and hold to the line,' said Aragorn; 'but if we strayed, or they turned aside, then when light came there might be long delay before the trail was found again.' 'And there is this also,' said Gimli: 'only by day can we see if any tracks lead away. If a prisoner should escape, or if one should be carried off, eastward, say, to the Great River, towards Mordor, we might pass the signs and never know it.' 'That is true,' said Aragorn. 'But if I read the signs back yonder rightly, the Orcs of the White Hand prevailed, and the whole company is now bound for Isengard. Their present course bears me out.' 'Yet it would be rash to be sure of their counsels,' said Gimli. 'And what of escape? In the dark we should have passed the signs that led you to the brooch.' 'The Orcs will be doubly on their guard since then, and the prisoners even wearier,' said Legolas. 'There will be no escape again, if we do not contrive it. How that is to be done cannot be guessed, but first we must ####-overtake them.' 'And yet even I, Dwarf of many journeys, and not the least hardy of my folk, cannot run all the way to Isengard without any pause ' said Gimli. 'My heart burns me too, and I would have started sooner but now I must rest a little to run the better. And if we rest, then the blind night is the time to do so.' 'I said that it was a hard choice,' said Aragorn. 'How shall we end this debate?' 'You are our guide,' said Gimli, 'and you are skilled in the chase. You shall choose.' 'My heart bids me go on,' said Legolas. 'But we must hold together. I will follow your counsel.' 'You give the choice to an ill chooser,' said Aragorn. 'Since we passed through the Argonath my choices have gone amiss.' He fell silent gazing north and west into the gathering night for a long while. 'We will not walk in the dark,' he said at length. 'The peril of missing the trail or signs of other coming and going seems to me the greater. If the Moon gave enough light, we would use it, but alas! he sets early and is yet young and pale.' 'And tonight he is shrouded anyway,' Gimli murmured. 'Would that the Lady had given us a light, such a gift as she gave to Frodo!' 'It will be more needed where it is bestowed,' said Aragorn. 'With him lies the true Quest. Ours is but a small matter in the great deeds of this time. A vain pursuit from its beginning, maybe, which no choice of mine can mar or mend. Well, I have chosen. So let us use the time as best we may!' He cast himself on the ground and fell at once into sleep, for he had not slept since their night under the shadow of Tol Brandir. Before dawn was in the sky he woke and rose. Gimli was still deep in slumber, but Legolas was standing, gazing northwards into the darkness, thoughtful and silent as a young tree in a windless night. 'They are far far away,' he said sadly, turning to Aragorn. 'I know in my heart that they have not rested this night. Only an eagle could overtake them now.' 'Nonetheless we will still follow as we may,' said Aragorn. Stooping he roused the Dwarf. 'Come! We must go,' he said. 'The scent is growing cold.' 'But it is still dark,' said Gimli. 'Even Legolas on a hill-top could not see them till the Sun is up.'####- 'I fear they have passed beyond my sight from hill or plain, under moon or sun,' said Legolas. 'Where sight fails the earth may bring us rumour,' said Aragorn. 'The land must groan under their hated feet.' He stretched himself upon the ground with his ear pressed against the turf. He lay there motionless, for so long a time that Gimli wondered if he had swooned or fallen asleep again. Dawn came glimmering, and slowly a grey light grew about them. At last he rose, and now his friends could see his face: it was pale and drawn, and his look was troubled. 'The rumour of the earth is dim and confused,' he said. 'Nothing walks upon it for many miles about us. Faint and far are the feet of our enemies. But loud are the hoofs of the horses. It comes to my mind that I heard them, even as I lay on the ground in sleep, and they troubled my dreams: hor ses galloping, passing in the West. But now they are drawing ever further from us, riding northward. I wonder what is happening in this land!' 'Let us go!' said Legolas. So the third day of their pursuit began. During all its long hours of cloud and fitful sun they hardly paused, now striding, now running, as if no weariness could quench the fire that burned them. They seldom spoke. Over the wide solitude they passed and their elven-cloaks faded against the background of the grey-green fields; even in the cool sunlight of mid-day few but elvish eyes would have marked them, until they were close at hand. Often in their hearts they thanked the Lady of Lurien for the gift of lembas, for they could eat of it and find new strength even as they ran. All day the track of their enemies led straight on, going north-west without a break or turn. As once again the day wore to its end they came to long treeless slopes, where the land rose, swelling up towards a line of low humpbacked downs ahead. The orc-trail grew fainter as it bent north towards them, for the ground became harder and the grass shorter. Far away to the left the river Entwash wound, a silver thread in a green floor. No moving thing could be seen. Often Aragorn wondered that they saw no sign of beast or man. The dwellings of the Rohirrim were for the most part many leagues away to the South, under the wooded eaves of the White Mountains, now hidden in mist and cloud; yet the Horse-lords had formerly kept many herds and studs in the Eastemnet, this easterly region of their realm, and there the herdsmen had wandered much, living in camp and tent, even in winter -time.####-But now all the land was empty, and there was silence that did not seem to be the quiet of peace. At dusk they halted again. Now twice twelve leagues they had passed over the plains of Rohan and the wall of the Emyn Muil was lost in the shadows of the East. The young moon was glimmering in a misty sky, but it gave small light, and the stars were veiled. 'Now do I most grudge a time of rest or any halt in our chase ' said Legolas. 'The Orcs have run before us, as if the very whips of Sauron were behind them. I fear they have already reached the forest and the dark hills, and even now are passing into the shadows of the trees.' Gimli ground his teeth. 'This is a bitter end to our hope and to all our toil!' he said. 'To hope, maybe, but not to toil,' said Aragorn. 'We shall not turn back here. Yet I am weary.' He gazed back along the way that they had come towards the night gathering in the East. 'There is something strange at work in this land. I distrust the silence. I distrust even the pale Moon. The stars are faint; and I am weary a s I have seldom been before, weary as no Ranger should be with a clear trail to follow. There is some will that lends speed to our foes and sets an unseen barrier before us: a weariness that is in the heart more than in the limb.' 'Truly!' said Legolas. 'That I have known since first we came down from the Emyn Muil. For the will is not behind us but before us.' He pointed away over the land of Rohan into the darkling West under the sickle moon. 'Saruman!' muttered Aragorn. 'But he shall not turn us back! Halt we must once more; for, see! even the Moon is falling into gathering cloud. But north lies our road between down and fen when day returns.' As before Legolas was first afoot, if indeed he had ever slept. 'Awake! Awake!' he cried. 'It is a red dawn. Strange things await us by the eaves of the forest. Good or evil, I do not know; but we are called. Awake!' The others sprang up, and almost at once they set off again. Slowly the downs drew near. It was still an hour before noon when they reached them: green slopes rising to bare ridges that ran in a line straight towards the North. At their feet the ground was dry and the turf short, but a long strip of sunken land, some ten miles wide, lay between them and the river wandering deep in dim thickets of reed and rush. Just to the West of the southernmost slope there was a great ring, where the turf had been torn and beaten by many trampling feet. From it the orc-trail ran out again, turning ####-north along the dr y skirts of the hills. Aragorn halted and examined the tracks closely. 'They rested here a while,' he said, 'but even the outward trail is already old. I fear that your heart spoke truly, Legolas: it is thrice twelve hours, I guess, since the Orcs stood where we now stand. If they held to their pace, then at sundown yesterday they would reach the borders of Fangorn.' 'I can see nothing away north or west but grass dwindling into mist,' said Gimli. 'Could we see the forest, if we climbed the hills?' 'It is still far away,' said Aragorn. 'If I remember rightly, these downs run eight leagues or more to the north, and then north-west to the issuing of the Entwash there lies still a wide land. another fifteen leagues it may be.' 'Well, let us go on,' said Gimli. 'My legs must forget the miles. They would be more willing, if my heart were less heavy.' The sun was sinking when at last they drew near to the end of the line of downs. For many hours they had marched without rest. They were going slowly now, and Gimli's back was bent. Stone-hard are the Dwarves in labour or journey, but this endless chase began to tell on him, as all hope failed in his heart. Aragorn walked behind him, grim and silent, stooping now and again to scan some print or mark upon the ground. Only Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, his feet hardly seeming to press the grass. leaving no footprints as he passed; but in the waybread of the Elves he found all the sustenance tha t he needed, and he could sleep, if sleep it could be called by Men, resting his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world. 'Let us go up on to this green hill!' he said. Wearily they fol lowed him, climbing the long slope, until they came out upon the top. It was a round hill smooth and bare, standing by itself, the most northerly of the downs. The sun sank and the shadows of evening fell like a curtain. They were alone in a gr ey formless world without mark or measure. Only far away north-west there was a deeper darkness against the dying light: the Mountains of Mist and the forest at their feet. 'Nothing can we see to guide us here,' said Gimli. 'Well, now we must halt again and wear the night away. It is growing cold!' 'The wind is north from the snows,' said Aragorn. 'And ere morning it will be in the East,' said Legolas. 'But rest if ####-you must. Yet do not cast all hope away. Tomorrow is unknown. Rede oft is found at the rising of the Sun.' 'Three suns already have risen on our chase and brought no counsel ' said Gimli. The night grew ever colder. Aragorn and Gimli slept fitfully, and whenever they awoke they saw Legolas standing beside them, or walking to and fro, singing softly to himself in his own tongue, and as he sang the white stars opened in the hard black vault above. So the night passed. Together they watched the dawn grow slowly in the sky, now bare and cloudless, until at last the sunrise came. It was pale and clear. The wind was in the East and all the mists had rolled away; wide lands lay bleak about them in the bitter light. Ahead and eastward they saw the windy uplands of the Wold of Rohan that they had already glimpsed many days ago from the Great River. North- westward stalked the dark forest of Fangorn; still ten leagues away stood its shadowy eaves, and its further slopes faded into the distant blue. Beyond there glimmered far away, as if floating on a grey cloud, the white head of tall Methedras, the last peak of the Misty Mountains. Out of the forest the Entwash flowed to meet them, its stream now swift and narrow, and its banks deep-cloven. The orc-trail turned from the downs towards it. Following with his keen eyes the trail to the river, and then the river back towards the forest, Aragorn saw a shadow on the distant green, a dark swift-moving blur. He cast himself upon the ground and listened again intently. But Legolas stood beside him, shading his bright elven-eyes with his long slender hand, and he saw not a shadow, nor a blur, but the small figures of horsemen, many horsemen, and the glint of morning on the tips of their spears was like the twinkle of minute stars beyond the edge of mortal sight. Far behind them a dark smoke rose in thin curling threads. There was a silence in the empty fields, arid Gimli could hear the air moving in the grass. 'Riders!' cried Aragorn, springing to his feet. 'Many riders on swift steeds are coming towards us!' 'Yes,' said Legolas, 'there are one hundred and five. Yellow is their hair, and bright are their spears. Their leader is very tall.' Aragorn smiled. 'Keen are the eyes of the Elves,' he said.####- 'Nay! The riders are little more than five leagues distant,' said Legolas. 'Five leagues or one,' said Gimli; 'we cannot escape them in this bare land. Shall we wait for them here or go on our way?' 'We will wait,' said Aragorn. 'I am weary, and our hunt has failed. Or at least others were before us; for these horsemen are riding back down the orc-trail. We may get new s from them.' 'Or spears,' said Gimli. 'There are three empty saddles, but I see no hobbits,' said Legolas. 'I did not say that we should hear good news,' said Aragorn. 'But evil or good we will await it here.' The three companions now left the hill-top, where they might be an easy mark against the pale sky, and they walked slowly down the northward slope. A little above the hill's foot they halted, and wrapping their cloaks about them, they sat huddled together upon the faded grass. The time passed slowly and heavily. The wind was thin and searching. Gimli was uneasy. 'What do you know of these horsemen, Aragorn?' he said. 'Do we sit here waiting for sudden death?' 'I have been among them,' answered Aragorn. 'They are proud and wilful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years. But I do not know what has happened here of late, nor in what mind the Rohirrim may now be between the traitor Saruman and the threat of Sauron. They have long been the friends of the people of Gondor, though they are not akin to them. It was in forgotten years long ago that Eorl the Young brought them out of the North, and their kinship is rather with the Bardings of Dale, and with the Beornings of the Wood, among whom may still be seen many men tall and fair, as are the Riders of Rohan. At least they will not love the Orcs.' 'But Gandalf spoke of a rumour that they pay tribute to Mordor ' said Gimli. 'I believe it no more than did Boromir,' answered Aragorn. 'You will soon learn the truth,' said Legolas. 'Already they approach.' At length even Gimli could hear the distant beat of galloping hoofs. The horsemen, following the trail, had turned from the river, and were drawing near the downs. They were riding like the wind.####- Now the cries of clear strong voices came ringing over the fields. Suddenly they swept up with a noise like thunder, and the foremost horseman swerved, passing by the foot of the hill, and leading the host back southward along the western skirts of the downs. After him they rode: a long line of mail-clad men. swift, shining, fell and fair to look upon. Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men that rode them matched them well: tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen -pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished skirts of mail hung down upon their knees. In pairs they galloped by, and though every now and then one rose in his stirrups and gazed ahead and to either side, they appeared not to perceive the three strangers sitting silently and watching them. The host had almost passed when suddenly Aragorn st ood up, and called in a loud voice: 'What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?' With astonishing speed and skill they checked their steeds, wheeled, and came charging round. Soon the three companions found themselves in a ring of horsemen moving in a running circle, up the hill -slope behind them and down, round and round them, and drawing ever inwards. Aragorn stood silent, and the other two sat without moving, wondering what way things would turn. Without a word or cry, suddenly, the Riders halted. A thicket of spears were pointed towards the strangers; and some of the horsemen had bows in hand, and their arrows were already fitted to the string. Then one rode forward, a tall man, taller than all the rest; from his helm as a crest a white horsetail flowed. He advanced until the point of his spear was within a foot of Aragorn's breast. Aragorn did not stir. 'Who are you, and what are you doing in this land?' said the Rider, using the Common Speech of the West, in manner and tone like to the speech of Boromir, Man of Gondor. 'I am called Strider,' answered Aragorn. 'I came out of the North. I am hunting Orcs.' The Rider leaped from his horse. Giving his spear to another who rode ####-up and dismounted at his side, he drew his sword and stood face to face with Aragorn, surveying him keenly, and not without wonder. At length he spoke again. 'At first I thought that you yourselves were Orcs,' he said; 'but now I see that it is not so. Indeed you know little of Orcs, if you go hunting them in this fashion. They were swift and well-armed, and they were many. You would have changed from hunters to prey, if ever you had overtaken them. But there is something strange about you, Strider.' He bent his clear bright eyes again upon the Ranger. 'That is no name for a Man that you give. And strange too is your raiment. Have you sprung out of the grass? How did you escape our sight? Are you elvish folk?' 'No,' said Aragorn. 'One only of us is an Elf, Legolas from the Woodland Realm in distant Mirkwood. But we have passed through Lothlurien, and the gifts and favour of the Lady go with us.' The Rider looked at them with renewed wonder, but his eyes hardened. 'Then there is a Lady in the Golden Wood, as old tales tell!' he said. 'Few escape her nets, they say. These are strange days! But if you have her favour, then you also are net -weavers and sorcerers, maybe.' He turned a cold glance suddenly upon Legolas and Gimli. 'Why do you not speak, silent ones?' he demanded. Gimli rose and planted his feet firmly apart: his hand gripped the handle of his axe, and his dark eyes flashed. 'Give me your name, horse-master, and I will give you mine, and more besides,' he said. 'As for that,' said the Rider, staring down at the Dwarf, 'the stranger should declare himself first. Yet I am named Jomer son of Jomund, and am called the Third Marshal of Riddermark.' 'Then Jomer son of Jomund, Third Marshal of Riddermark, let Gimli the Dwarf Gluin's son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair beyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you.' Jomer's eyes blazed, and the Men of Rohan murmured angrily, and closed in, advancing their spears. 'I would cut off your head, beard and all, Master Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground ' said Jomer. 'He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. 'You would die before your stroke fell.'####- Jomer raised his sword, and things might have gone ill, but Aragorn sprang between them, and raised his hand. 'Your pardon, Jomer!' he cried. 'When you know more you will understand why you have angered my companions. We intend no evil to Rohan, nor to any of its folk, neither to man nor to horse. Will you not hear our tale before you strike?' 'I will,' said Jomer lowering his blade. 'Bu t wanderers in the Riddermark would be wise to be less haughty in these days of doubt. First tell me your right name.' 'First tell me whom you serve,' said Aragorn. 'Are you friend or foe of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor?' 'I serve only the Lord of the Mark, Thjoden King son of Thengel,' answered Jomer. 'We do not serve the Power of the Black Land far away, but neither are we yet at open war with him; and if you are fleeing from him, then you had best leave this land. There is trouble now on all our borders, and we are threatened; but we desire only to be free, and to live as we have lived, keeping our own, and serving no foreign lord, good or evil. We welcomed guests kindly in the better days, but in these times the unbidden stranger finds us swift and hard. Come! Who are you? Whom do you serve? At whose command do you hunt Orcs in our land?' 'I serve no man,' said Aragorn; 'but the servants of Sauron I pursue into whatever land they may go. There are few among mortal Men who know more of Orcs; and I do not hunt them in this fashion out of choice. The Orcs whom we pursued took captive two of my friends. In such need a man that has no horse will go on foot, and he will not ask for leave to follow the trail. Nor will he count the heads of the enemy save with a sword. I am not weaponless.' Aragorn threw back his cloak. The elven-sheath glittered as he grasped it, and the bright blade of And®ril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out. 'Elendil!' he cried. 'I am Aragorn son of Arathorn and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, D®nadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil's son of Gondor. Here is the Sword that was Broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!' Gimli and Legolas looked at their companion in amazement, for they had not seen him in this mood before. He seemed to have grown in stature while ####-Jomer had shrunk; and in his living face they caught a brief vision of the power and majesty of the kings of stone. For a moment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like a shining crown. Jomer stepped back and a look of awe was in his face. He cast down his proud eyes. 'These are indeed strange days,' he muttered. 'Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass. 'Tell me, lord,' he said, 'what brings you here? And what was the meaning of the dark words? Long has Boromir son of Denethor been gone seeking an answer, and the horse that we lent him came back riderless. What doom do you bring out of the North?' 'The doom of choice,' said Aragorn. 'You may say this to Thjoden son of Thengel: open war lies before him, with Sauron or against him. None may live now as they ha ve lived, and few shall keep what they call their own. But of these great matters we will speak later. If chance allows, I will come myself to the king. Now I am in great need, and I ask for help, or at least for tidings. You heard that we are pursuing an orc-host that carried off our friends. What can you tell us?' 'That you need not pursue them further,' said Jomer. 'The Orcs are destroyed.' 'And our friends?' 'We found none but Orcs.' 'But that is strange indeed,' said Aragorn. 'Did you search the slain? Were there no bodies other than those of orc-kind? They would be small. Only children to your eyes, unshod but clad in grey.' 'There were no dwarves nor children,' said Jomer. 'We counted all the slain and despoiled them, and then we piled the carcases and burned them, as is our custom. The ashes are smoking still.' 'We do not speak of dwarves or children,' said Gimli. 'Our friends were hobbits.' 'Hobbits?' said Jomer. 'And what may they be? It is a strange name.' 'A strange name for a strange folk,' said Gimli. 'But these were very dear to us. It seems that you have heard in Rohan of the words that troubled Minas Tirith. They spoke of the Halfling. These hobbits are Halflings.' 'Halflings!' laughed the Rider that stood beside Jomer. 'Halflings! But they are only a little people in old songs and children's tales out of the North. Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?'####- 'A man may do both,' said Aragorn. 'For not we bu t those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!' 'Time is pressing,' said the Rider, not heeding Aragorn. 'We must hasten south, lord. Let us leave these wild folk to their fancies. Or let us bind them and take them to the king.' 'Peace, Jothain!' said Jomer in his own tongue. 'Leave me a while. Tell the jored to assemble on the path' and make ready to ride to the Entwade. ' Muttering Jothain retired, and spoke to the others. Soon they drew off and left Jomer alone with the three companions. 'All that you say is strange, Aragorn.' he said. 'Yet you speak the truth, that is plain: the Men of the Mark do not lie, and therefore they are not easily deceived. But you have not told all. Will you not now speak more fully of your errand, so that I may judge what to do?' 'I set out from Imladris, as it is named in the rhyme, many weeks ago,' answered Aragorn. 'With me went Boromir of Minas Tirith. My errand was to go to that city with the son of Denethor, to aid his folk in their war against Sauron. But the Company that I journeyed with had other business. Of that I cannot speak now. Gandalf the Grey was our leader.' 'Gandalf!' Jomer exclaimed. 'Gandalf Greyhame is known in the Mark: but his name, I warn you, is no longer a password to the king's favour. He has been a guest in the land many times in the memory of men, coming as he will, after a season, or after many years. He is ever the herald of strange events: a bringer of evil, some now say. 'Indeed since his last coming in the summer all things have gone amiss. At that time our trouble with Saruman began. Until then we counted Saruman our friend, hut Gandalf came then and warned us that sudden war was preparing in Isengard. He said that he himself had been a prisoner in Orthanc and had hardly escaped, and he begged for help. But Thjoden would not listen to him, and he went away. Speak not the name of Gandalf loudly in Thjoden's ears! He is wroth. For Gandalf took the horse that is called Shadowfax, the most precious of all the king's steeds, chief of the Mearas, which only the Lord of the Mark may ride. For the sire of their race was the great horse of Eorl that knew the speech of Men. Seven nights ago Shadowfax returned; but the king's anger is not less, for now the horse is wild and will let no man handle him.'####- 'Then Shadowfax has found his way alone from the far North,' said Aragorn; 'for it was there that he and Gandalf parted. But alas! Gandalf will ride no longer. He fell into darkness in the Mines of Moria and comes not again.' 'That is heavy tidings,' said Jomer. 'At least to me, and to many; though not to all, as you may find, if you come to the king.' 'It is tidings more grievous than any in this land can understand, though it may touch them sorely ere the year is much older,' said Aragorn. 'But when the great fall, the less must lead. My part it has been to guide our Company on the long road from Moria. Through Lurien we came -- of which it were well that you should learn the truth ere you speak of it again -- and thence down the leagues of the Great River to the falls of Rauros. There Boromir was slain by the same Orcs whom you destroyed.' 'Your news is all of woe!' cried Jomer in dismay. 'Great harm is this death to Minas Tirith, and to us all. That was a worthy man! All spoke his praise. He came seldom to the Mark, for he was ever in the wars on the East -borders; but I have seen him. More like to the swift sons of Eorl than to the grave Men of Gondor he seemed to me, and likely to prove a great captain of his people when his time came. But we have had no word of this grief out of Gondor. When did he fall?' 'It is now the fourth day since he was slain,' answered Aragorn, 'and since the evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of Tol Brandir.' 'On foot?' cried Jomer. 'Yes, even as you see us.' Wide wonder came into Jomer's eyes. 'Strider is too poor a name, son of Arathorn,' he said. 'Wingfoot I name you. This deed of the three friends should be sung in many a hall. Forty leagues and five you have measured ere the fourth day is ended! Hardy is the race of Elendil! 'But now, lord, what would you have me do! I must return in haste to Thjoden. I spoke warily before my men. It is true that we are not yet at open war with the Black Land, and there are some, close to the king's ear, that speak craven counsels; but war is coming. We shall not forsake our old alliance with Gondor, and while they fight we shall aid them: so say I and all who hold with me. The East-mark is my charge. the ward of the Third Marshal, and I have removed all our herds and herdfolk, withdrawing them ####-beyond Entwash, and leaving none here but guards and swift scouts.' 'Then you do not pay tribute to Sauron?' said Gimli. 'We do not and we never have.' said Jomer with a flash of his eyes; 'though it comes to my ears that that lie has been told. Some years ago the Lord of the Black Land wished to purchase horses of us at great price, but we refused him. for he puts beasts to evil use. Then he sent plundering Orcs, and they carry off what they can, choosing always the black horses: few of these are now left. For that reason our feud with the Orcs is bitter. 'But at this time our chief concern is with Saruman. He has claimed lordship over all this land, and there has been war between us for many months. He has taken Orcs into his service, and Wolf-riders, and evil Men, and he has closed the Gap against us, so that we are likely to be beset both east and west. 'It is ill dealing with such a foe: he is a wizard both cunning and dwimmer -crafty, having many guises. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked, very like to Gandalf, as many now recall. His spies slip through every net, and his birds of ill omen are abroad in the sky. I do not know how it will all end, and my heart misgives me; for it seems to me that his friends do not all dwell in Isengard. But if you come to the king's house, you shall see for yourself. Will you not come? Do I hope in vain that you have been sent to me for a help in doubt and need?' 'I will come when I may,' said Aragorn. 'Come now!' said Jomer. 'The Heir of Elendil would be a strength indeed to the Sons of Eorl in this evil tide. There is battle even now upon the Westemnet, and I fear that it may go ill for us. 'Indeed in this riding north I went without the king's leave, for in my absence his house is left with little guard. But scouts warned me of the orc-host coming down out of the East Wall three nights ago, and among them they reported that some bore the white badges of Saruman. So suspecting what I most fear, a league between Orthanc and the Dark Tower, I led forth my jored, men of my own household; and we overtook the Orcs at nightfall two days ago, near to the borders of the Entwood. There we surrounded them, and gave battle yesterday at dawn. Fifteen of my men I lost, and twelve horses alas! For the Orcs were greater in number than we counted on. Others joined them. coming out of the East across the Great River: their trail is plain to see a little north of this spot. And others, too, came out of the forest. Great Orcs, who also bore the White Hand of Isengard: that kind is stronger ####-and more fell than all others. 'Nonetheless we put an end to them. But we have been too long away. We are needed south and west. Will you not come? There are spare horses as you see. There is work for the Sword to do. Yes, and we could find a use for Gimli's axe and the bow of Legolas, if they will pardon my rash words concerning the Lady of the Wood. I spoke only as do all men in my land, and I would gladly learn better.' 'I thank you for your fair words,' said Aragorn, 'and my heart desires to come with you; but I cannot desert my friends while hope remains.' 'Hope does not remain,' said Jomer. 'You will not find your friends on the North-borders.' 'Yet my friends are not behind. We found a clear token not far from the East Wall that one at least of them was still alive there. But between the wall and the downs we have found no other trace of them, and no trail has turned aside, this way or that, unless my skill has wholly left me.' 'Then what do you think has become of them?' 'I do not know. They may have been slain and burned among the Orcs; but that you will say cannot be, and I do not fear it. I can only think that they were carried off into the forest before the battle, even before you encircled your foes, maybe. Can you swear that none escaped your net in such a way?' 'I would swear that no Orc escaped after we sighted them,' said Jomer. 'We reached the forest -eaves before them, and if after that any living thing broke through our ring, then it was no Orc and had some elvish power.' 'Our friends were attired even as we are,' said Aragorn; 'and you passed us by under the full light of day.' 'I had forgotten that,' said Jomer. 'It is hard to be sure of anything among so many marvels. The world is all grown strange. Elf and Dwarf in company walk in our daily fields; and folk speak with the Lady of the Wood and yet live; and the Sword comes back to war that was broken in the long ages ere the fathers of our fathers rode into the Mark! How shall a man judge what to do in such times?' 'As he ever has judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves µ and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.' 'True indeed,' said Jomer. 'But I do not doubt you, nor the deed which ####-my heart would do. Yet I am not free to do all as I would. It is against our law to let strangers wander at will in our land, until the king himself shall give them leave, and more strict is the command in these days of peril. I have begged you to come back willingly with me, and you will not. Loth am I to begin a battle of one hundred against three.' 'I do not think your law was made for such a chance,' said Aragorn. 'Nor indeed am I a stranger; for I have been in this land before, more than once, and ridden with the host of the Rohirrim, though under other name and in other guise. You I have not seen before, for you are young, but I have spoken with Jomund your father, and with Thjoden son of Thengel. Never in former days would any high lord of this land have constrained a man to abandon such a quest as mine. My duty at least is clear, to go on. Come now, son of Jomund, the choice must be made at last. Aid us, or at the worst let us go free. Or seek to carry out your law. If you do so there will be fewer to return to your war or to your king.' Jomer was silent for a moment, then he spoke. 'We both have need of haste,' he said. 'My company chafes to be away, and every hour lessens your hope. This is my choice. You may go; and what is more, I will lend you horses. This only I ask: when your quest is achieved, or is proved vain, return with the horses over the Entwade to Meduseld, the high house in Edoras where Thjoden now sits. Thus you shall prove to him that I have not misjudged. In this I place myself, and maybe my very life, in the keeping of your good faith. Do not fail.' 'I will not,' said Aragorn. There was great wonder, and many dark and doubtful glances, among his men, when Jomer gave orders that the spare horses were to be lent to the strangers; but only Jothain dared to speak openly. 'It may be well enough for this lord of the race of Gondor, as he claims,' he said, 'but who has heard of a horse of the Mark being given to a Dwarf?' 'No one,' said Gimli. 'And do not trouble: no one will ever hear of it. I would sooner walk than si t on the back of any beast so great, free or begrudged.' 'But you must ride now, or you will hinder us,' said Aragorn. 'Come, you shall sit behind me, friend Gimli, said Legolas. Then all will be well, and you need neither borrow a horse nor be troubled by one.' A great dark-grey horse was brought to Aragorn, and he mounted it.####-'Hasufel is his name,' said Jomer. 'May he bear you well and to better fortune than Gbrulf, his late master!' A smaller and lighter horse, but restive and fiery, was brought to Legolas. Arod was his name. But Legolas asked them to take off saddle and rein. 'I need them not,' he said, and leaped lightly up, and to their wonder Arod was tame and willing beneath him, moving here and there with but a spoken word: such was the elvish way with all good beasts. Gimli was lifted up behind his friend. and he clung to him, not much more at ease than Sam Gamgee in a boat. 'Farewell, and may you find what you seek!' cried Jomer. 'Return with what speed you may, and let our swords hereafter shine together!' 'I will come,' said Aragorn. 'And I will come, too,' said Gimli. 'The matter of the Lady Galadriel lies still between us. I have yet to teach you gentle speech. ' 'We shall see,' said Jomer. 'So many strange things have chanced that to learn the praise of a fair lady under the loving strokes of a Dwarf's axe will seem no great wonder. Farewell!' With that they parted. Very swift were the horses of Rohan. When aft er a little Gimli looked back, the company of Jomer were already small and far away. Aragorn did not look back: he was watching the trail as they sped on their way, bending low with his head beside the neck of Hasufel. Before long they came to the borders of the Entwash, and there they met the other trail of which Jomer had spoken, coming down from the East out of the Wold. Aragorn dismounted and surveyed the ground, then leaping back into the saddle, he rode away for some distance eastward, keeping to one side and taking care not to override the footprints. Then he again dismounted and examined the ground, going backwards and forwards on foot. 'There is little to discover,' he said when he returned. 'The main trail is all confused with the passage of the horsemen as they came back; their outward course must have lain nearer the river. But this eastward trail is fresh and clear. There is no sign there of any feet going the other way, back towards Anduin. Now we must ride slower, and make sure that no trace or footstep branches off on either side. The Orcs must have been aware from this point that they were pursued; they may have made some attempt to get their captives away before they were overtaken.' As they rode forward the day was overcast. Low grey clouds came over the Wold. A mist shrouded the sun. Ever nearer the tree-clad slopes of ####-Fangorn loomed, slowly darkling as the sun went west. They saw no sign of any trail to right or left, but here a nd there they passed single Orcs, fallen in their tracks as they ran, with grey-feathered arrows sticking in back or throat. At last as the afternoon was waning they came to the eaves of the forest, and in an open glade among the first trees they found the place of the great burning: the ashes were still hot and smoking. Beside it was a great pile of helms and mail, cloven shields, and broken swords, bows and darts and other gear of war. Upon a stake in the middle was set a great goblin head; upon its shattered helm the white badge could still be seen. Further away, not far from the river, where it came streaming out from the edge of the wood, there was a mound. It was newly raised: the raw earth was covered with fresh-cut turves: about it were planted fifteen spears. Aragorn and his companions searched far and wide about the field of battle, but the light faded, and evening soon drew down, dim and misty. By nightfall they had discovered no trace of Merry and Pippin. 'We can do no more,' said Gimli sadly. 'We have been set many riddles since we came to Tol Brandir, but this is the hardest to unravel. I would guess that the burned bones of the hobbits are now mingled with the Orcs'. It will be hard news for Frodo, if he lives to hear it; and hard too for the old hobbit who waits in Rivendell. Elrond was against their coming.' 'But Gandalf was not,' said Legolas. 'But Gandalf chose to come himself, and he was the first to be lost ' answered Gimli. 'His foresight failed him.' 'The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,' said Aragorn. 'There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark. But I shall not depart from this place yet. In any case we must here await the morning-light.' A little way beyond the battle-field they made their camp under a spreading tree: it looked like a chestnut, and yet it still bore many broad brown leaves of a former year, like dry hands with long splayed fingers; they rattled mournfully in the night-breeze. Gimli shivered. They had brought only one blanket apiece. 'Let us light a fire,' he said. 'I care no longer for the danger. Let the Orcs come as thick as summer-moths round a candle!' 'If those unhappy hobbits are astray in the woods, it might draw them ####-hither,' said Legolas. 'And it might draw other things, neither Orc nor Hobbit,' said Aragorn. 'We are near to the mountain-marches of the traitor Saruman. Also we are on the very edge of Fangorn, and it is perilous to touch the trees of that wood, it is said.' 'But the Rohirrim made a great burning here yesterday,' said Gimli, 'and they felled trees for the fire, as can be seen. Yet they passed the night after safely here, when their labour was ended.' 'They were many,' said Aragorn, 'and they do not heed the wrath of Fangorn, for they come here seldom, and they do not go under the trees. But our paths are likely to lead us into the very forest itself. So have a care! Cut no living wood!' 'There is no need,' said Gimli. 'The Riders have left chip and bough enough, and there is dead wood lying in plenty.' He went off to gather fuel, and busied himself with building and kindling a fire; but Aragorn sat silent with his back to the great tree, deep in thought; and Legolas stood alone in the open, looking towards the profound shadow of the wood, leaning forward, as one who listens to voices calling from a distance. When the Dwarf had a small bright blaze going, the three companions drew close to it and sat together, shrouding the light with their hooded forms. Legolas looked up at the boughs of the tree reaching out above them. 'Look!' he said. 'The tree is glad of the fire!' It may have been that the dancing shadows tricked their eyes, but certainly to each of the companions the boughs appeared to be bending this way and that so as to come above the flames, wh ile the upper branches were stooping down; the brown leaves now stood out stiff, and rubbed together like many cold cracked hands taking comfort in the warmth. There was a silence, for suddenly the dark and unknown forest, so near at hand, made itself felt as a great brooding presence, full of secret purpose. After a while Legolas spoke again. 'Celeborn warned us not to go far into Fangorn,' he said. 'Do you know why, Aragorn? What are the fables of the forest that Boromir had heard?' 'I have heard many tales in Gondor and elsewhere,' said Aragorn, 'but if it were not for the words of Celeborn I should deem them only fables that Men have made as true knowledge fades. I had thought of asking you what was the truth of the matter . And if an Elf of the Wood does not know, how shall ####-a Man answer?' 'You have journeyed further than I,' said Legolas. 'I have heard nothing of this in my own land, save only songs that tell how the Onodrim, that Men call Ents, dwelt there long ago; for Fangorn is old, old even as the Elves would reckon it.' 'Yes, it is old,' said Aragorn, 'as old as the forest by the Barrow-downs, and it is far greater. Elrond says that the two are akin, the last strongholds of the mighty woods of the Elder Days, in which the Firstborn roamed while Men still slept. Yet Fangorn holds some secret of its own. What it is I do not know.' 'And I do not wish to know,' said Gimli. 'Let nothing that dwells in Fangorn be troubled on my account!' They now drew lots for the watches, and the lot for the first watch fell to Gimli. The others lay down. Almost at once sleep laid hold on them. 'Gimli!' said Aragorn drowsily. 'Remember, it is perilous to cut bough or twig from a living tree in Fangorn. But do not stray far in search of dead wood. Let the fire die rather! Call me at need!' With that he fell asleep. Legolas already lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves. Gimli sat hunched by the fire, running his thumb thoughtfully along the edge of his axe. The tree rustled. There was no other sound. Suddenly Gimli looked up, and there just on the edge of the fire-light stood an old bent man, leaning on a staff, and wrapped in a great cloak; his wide-brimmed hat was pulled down over his eyes. Gimli sprang up, too amazed for the moment to cry out, though at once the thought flashed into his mind that Saruman had caught them. Both Aragorn and Legolas, roused by his sudden movement, sat up and stared. The old man did not speak or make, sign. 'Well, father, what can we do for you?' said Aragorn, leaping to his feet. 'Come and be warm, if you are cold!' He strode forward, but the old man was gone. There was no trace of him to be found near at hand, and they did not dare to wander far. The moon had set and the night was very dark. Suddenly Legolas gave a cry. 'The horses! The horses!' The horses wer e gone. They had dragged their pickets and disappeared. For me time the three companions stood still and silent, troubled by this ####-new stroke of ill fortune. They were under the eaves of Fangorn, and endless leagues lay between them and the Men of Rohan, their only friends in this wide and dangerous land. As they stood, it seemed to them that they heard, far off in the night. the sound of horses whinnying and neighing. Then all was quiet again, except for the cold rustle of the wind. 'Well, they are gone,' said Aragorn at last. 'We cannot find them or catch them; so that if they do not return of their own will, we must do without. We started on our feet, and we have those still.' 'Feet!' said Gimli. 'But we cannot eat them as well as walk on them ' He threw some fuel on the fire and slumped down beside it. 'Only a few hours ago you were unwilling to sit on a horse of Rohan,' laughed Legolas. 'You will make a rider yet.' 'It seems unlikely that I shall have the chance,' said Gimli. 'If you wish to know what I think,' he began again after a while 'I think it was Saruman. Who else? Remember the words of Jomer: he walks about like an old man hooded and cloaked. Those were the words. He has gone off with our horses, or scared them away, and here we are. There is more trouble coming to us, mark my words!' 'I mark them,' said Aragorn. 'But I marked also that this old man had a hat not a hood. Still I do not doubt that you guess right, and that we are in peril here, by night or day. Yet in the meantime there is nothing that we can do but rest, while we may. I will watch for a while now, Gimli. I have more need of thought than of sleep.' The night passed slowly. Legolas followed Aragorn, and Gimli followed Legolas, and their watches wore away. But nothing happened. The old man did not appear again, and the horses did not return. ####- Pippin lay in a dark and troubled dream: it seemed that he could hear his own small vo ice echoing in black tunnels, calling Frodo, Frodo! But instead of Frodo hundreds of hideous orc-faces grinned at him out of the shadows, hundreds of hideous arms grasped at him from every side. Where was Merry? He woke. Cold air blew on his face. He was lying on his back. Evening was coming and the sky above was growing dim. He turned and found that the dream was little worse than the waking. His wrists, legs, and ankles were tied with cords. Beside him Merry lay, white-faced, with a dirty rag bound across his brows. All about them sat or stood a great company of Orcs. Slowly in Pippin's aching head memory pieced itself together and became separated from dream-shadows. Of course: he and Merry had run off into the woods. What had come over them? Why had they dashed off like that, taking no notice of old Strider? They had run a long way shouting--he could not remember how far or how long; and then suddenly they had crashed right into a group of Orcs: they were standing listening, and they did not appear to see Merry and Pippin until they were almost in their arms. Then they yelled and dozens of other goblins had sprung out of the trees. Merry and he had drawn their swords, but the Orcs did not wish to fight, and had tried only to lay hold of them, even when Merry had cut off several of their arms and hands. Good old Merry! Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again. by a hundred Orcs at least, some of them very large, and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. Boromir had blown his great horn till the woods rang, and at first the Orcs had been dismayed and had drawn back; but when no answer but the echoes came, they had attacked more fierce than ever. Pippin did not remember much more. His last memo was of Boromir leaning against a tree, plucking out an arrow; then darkness fell suddenly. 'I suppose I was knocked on the head,' he said to himself. 'I wonder if ####-poor Merry is much hurt. What has happened to Boromir? Why didn't the Orcs kill us? Where are we, and where are we going?' He could not answer the questions. He felt cold and sick. 'I wish Gandalf had never persuaded Elrond to let us come,' he thought. 'What good have I been? Just a nuisance: a passenger, a piece of luggage. And now I have been stolen and I am just a piece of luggage for the Orcs. I hope Strider or someone will come and claim us! But ought I to hope for it? Won't that throw out all the plans? I wish I could get free!' He struggled a little, quite uselessly. One of the Orcs sitting near laughed and said something to a companion in their abominable tongue. 'Rest while you can, little fool!' he said then to Pippin, in the Common Speech, which he made almost as hideous as his own language. 'Rest while you can! We'll find a use for your legs before long. You'll wish you had got none before we get home.' 'If I had my way, you'd wish you were dead now,' said the other. 'I'd make you squeak, you miserable rat.' He stooped over Pippin bringing his yellow fangs close to his face. He had a black knife with a long jagged blade in his hand. 'Lie quiet, or I'll tickle you with this,' he hissed. 'Don't draw attention to yourself, or I may forget my orders. Curse the Isengarders! Ugl®k u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman -glob b®bhosh skai': he passed into a long angry speech in his own tongue that slowly died away into muttering and snarling. Terrified Pippin lay still, though the pain at his wrists and ankles was growing, and the stones beneath him were boring into his back. To take his mind off himself he listened intently to all that he could hear. There were many voices round about, and though orc-speech sounded at all times full of hate and anger, it seemed plain that something like a quarrel had begun, and was getting hotter. To Pippin's surpr ise he found that much of the talk was intelligible many of the Orcs were using ordinary language. Apparently the members of two or three quite different tribes were present, and they could not understand one another's orc-speech. There was an angry debate concerning what they were to do now: which way they were to take and what should be done with the prisoners.####- 'There's no time to kill them properly,' said one. 'No time for play on this trip.' 'That can't be helped,' said another. 'But why not kill them quick, kill them now? They're a cursed nuisance, and we're in a hurry. Evening's coming on, and we ought to get a move on.' 'Orders.' said a third voice in a deep growl. 'Kill all but NOT the Halfings; they are to be brought back ALIVE as quickly as possible . That's my orders.' 'What are they wanted for?' asked several voices. 'Why alive? Do they give good sport?' 'No! I heard that one of them has got something, something that's wanted for the War, some elvish plot or other. Anyway they'll both be questioned.' 'Is that all you know? Why don't we search them and find out? We might find something that we could use ourselves.' 'That is a very interesting remark,' sneered a voice, softer than the others but more evil. 'I may have to report that. The prisoners are NOT to be searched or plundered: those are my orders.' 'And mine too,' said the deep voice. 'Alive and as captured; no spoiling. That's my orders.' 'Not our order s!' said one of the earlier voices. 'We have come all the way from the Mines to kill, and avenge our folk. I wish to kill, and then go back north.' 'Then you can wish again,' said the growling voice. 'I am Ugl®k. I command. I return to Isengard by the shortest road.' 'Is Saruman the master or the Great Eye?' said the evil voice. 'We should go back at once to Lugb®rz.' 'If we could cross the Great River, we might,' said another voice. 'But there are not enough of us to venture down to the bridges.' 'I came across,' said the evil voice. 'A winged Nazgyl awaits us northward on the east -bank.' 'Maybe, maybe! Then you'll fly off with our prisoners, and get all the pay and praise in Lugb®rz, and leave us to foot it as best we can through the Horse-country. No, we must stick together. These lands are dangerous: full of foul rebels and brigands.' 'Aye, we must stick together,' growled Ugl®k. 'I don't trust you little swine. You've no guts outside your own sties. But for us you'd all have run ####-away. We are the fighting Uruk-hai! We slew the great warrior. We took the prisoners. We are the servants of Saruman the Wise, the White Hand: the Hand that gives us man's-flesh to eat. We came out of Isengard, and led you here, and we shall lead you back by the way we choose. I am Ugl®k. I have spoken.' 'You have spoken more than enough, Ugl®k,' sneered the evil voice. 'I wonder how they would like it in Lugb®rz. They might think that Ugl®k's shoulders needed relieving of a swollen head. They might ask where his strange ideas came from. Did they come from Saruman, perhaps? Who does he think he is, setting up on his own with his filthy white badges? They might agree with me, with Grishnbkh their trusted messenger; and I Grishnbkh say this: Saruman is a fool. and a dirty treacherous fool. But the Great Eye is on him. 'Swine is it? How do you folk like being called swine by the muck -rakers of a dirty little wizard? It's orc-flesh they eat, I'll warrant.' Many loud yells in orc-speech answered him, and the ringing clash of weapons being drawn. Cautiously Pippin rolled over, hoping to see what would happen. His guards had gone to join in the fray. In the twilight he saw a large black Orc, probably Ugl®k, standing facing Grishnbkh, a short crook -legged creature, very broad and with long arms that hung almost to the ground. Round them were many smaller goblins. Pippin supposed that these were the ones from the North. They had drawn their knives and swords, but hesitated to attack Ugl®k. Ugl®k shouted, and a number of other Orcs of nearly his own size ran up. Then suddenly, without warning, Ugl®k sprang forwards, and with two swift strokes swept the heads off two of his opponents. Grishnbkh stepped aside and vanished into the shadows. The others gave way, and one stepped backwards and fell over Merry's prostrate form with a curse. Yet that probably saved his life, for Ugl®k's followers leaped over him and cut down another with their broad-bladed swords. It was the yellow-fanged guard. His body fell right on top of Pippin, still clutching its long saw-edged knife. 'Put up your weapons!' shouted Ugl®k. 'And let's have no more nonsense! We go straight west from here, and down the stair. From there straight to the downs, then along the river to the forest. And we march day and night. That clear?' 'Now,' thought Pippin, 'if only it takes that ugly fellow a little ####-while to get his troop under control, I've got a chance.' A gleam of hope had come to him. The edge of the black knife had snicked his arm, and then slid down to his wrist. He felt the blood trickling on to his hand, but he also felt the cold touch of steel against his skin. The Orcs were getting ready to march again, but some of the Northerners were still unwilling, and the Isengarders slew two more before the rest were cowed. There was much cursing and confusion. For the moment Pippin was unwatched. His legs were securely bound, but his arms were only tied about the wrists, and his hands were in front of him. He could move them both together, though the bonds were cruelly tight. He pushed the dead Orc to one side, then hardly daring to breathe, he drew the knot of the wrist -cord up and down against the blade of the knife. It was sharp and the dead hand held it fast. The cord was cut! Quickly Pippin took it in his fingers and knotted it again into a loose bracelet of two loops and slipped it over his hands. Then he lay very still. 'Pick up those prisoners!' shouted Ugl®k. 'Don't play any tricks with them! If they are not alive when we get back, someone else will die too.' An Orc seized Pippin like a sack. put its head between his tied hands, grabbed his arms and dragged them down, until Pippin's face was crushed against its neck; then it jolted off with him. Another treated Merry in the same way. The Orc's clawlike hand gripped Pippin's arms like iron; the nails bit into him. He shut his eyes and slipped back into evil dreams. Suddenly he was thrown on to the stony floor again. It was early night, but the slim moon was already falling westward. They were on the edge of a cliff that seemed to look out over a sea of pale mist. There was a sound of water falling nearby. 'The scouts have come back at last,' said an Orc close at hand. 'Well, what did you discover?' growled the voice of Ugl®k. 'Only a single horseman, and he made off westwards. All's clear now.' 'Now, I daresay. But how long? You fools! You should have shot him. He'll raise the alarm. The cursed horsebreeders will hear of us by morning. Now we'll have to leg it double quick.' A shadow bent over Pippin. It was Ugl®k. 'Sit up! ' said the Orc. 'My lads are tired of lugging you about. We have got to climb down and you must use your legs. Be helpful now. No crying out, no trying to escape. We have ways of paying for tricks that you won't like, though they won't spoil your usefulness for the Master.'####- He cut the thongs round Pippin's legs and ankles, picked him up by his hair and stood him on his feet. Pippin fell down, and Ugl®k dragged him up by his hair again. Several Orcs laughed. Ugl®k thrust a flask between his teeth and poured some burning liquid down his throat: he felt a hot fierce glow flow through him. The pain in his legs and ankles vanished. He could stand. 'Now for the other!' said Ugl®k. Pippin saw him go to Merry, who was lying close by, and kick him. Merry groaned. Seizing him roughly Ugl®k pulled him into a sitting position, and tore the bandage off his head. Then he smeared the wound with some dark stuff out of a small wooden box. Merry cried out and struggled wildly. The Orcs clapped and hooted. 'Can't take his medicine,' they jeered. 'Doesn't know what's good for him. Ai! We shall have some fun later.' But at the moment Ugl®k was not engaged in sport. He needed speed and had to humour unwilling followers. He was healing Merry in orc-fashion; and his treatment worked swiftly. When he had forced a drink from his flask down the hobbit's throat, cut his leg-bonds, and dragged him to his feet, Merry stood up, looking pale but grim and defiant, and very much alive. The gash in his forehead gave him no more trouble, but he bore a brown scar to the end of his days. 'Hullo, Pippin!' he said. 'So you've come on this little expedition, too? Where do we get bed and breakfast?' 'Now then!' said Ugl®k. 'None of that! Hold your tongues. No talk to one another. Any trouble will be reported at the other end, and He'll know how to pay you. You'll get bed and breakfast all right: more than you can stomach.' The orc-band began to descend a narrow ravine leading down into the misty plain below. Merry and Pippin, separated by a dozen Orcs or more, climbed down with them. At the bottom they stepped on to grass, and the hearts of the hobbits rose. 'Now straight on!' shouted Ugl®k. 'West and a little north. Follow Lugdush.' 'But what are we going to do at sunrise?' said some of the Northerners. 'Go on running,' said Ugl®k. 'What do you think? Sit on the grass and wait for the Whiteskins to join the picnic?' 'But we can't run in the sunlight.' 'You'll run with me behind you,' said Ugl®k. 'Run! Or you'll never see ####-your beloved holes again. By the White Hand! What's the use of sending out mountain-maggots on a trip, only half trained. Run, curse you! Run while night lasts!' Then the whole company began to run with the long loping strides of Orcs. They kept no order, thrusting, jostling, and cursing; yet their speed was very great. Each hobbit had a guard of three. Pippin was far back in the line. He wondered how long he would be able to go on at this pace: he had had no food since the morning. One of his guards had a whip. But at present the orc-liquor was still hot in him. His wits, too, were wide-awake. Every now and again there came into his mind unbidden a vision of the keen face of Strider bending over a dark trail, and running, running behind. But what could even a Ranger see except a confused trail of orc-feet? His own little prints and Merry's were overwhelmed by the trampling of the iron-shod shoes before them and behind them and about them. They had gone only a mile or so from the cliff when the land sloped down into a wide shallow depression, where the ground was soft and wet. Mist lay there, pale-glimmering in the last rays of the sickle moon. The dark shapes of the Orcs in front grew dim, and then were swallowed up. 'Ai! Steady now!' shouted Ugl®k from the rear. A sudden thought leaped into Pippin's mind, and he acted on it at once. He swerved aside to the right, and dived out of the reach of his clutching guard, headfirst into the mist; he landed sprawling on the grass. 'Halt!' yelled Ugl®k. There was for a moment turmoil and confusion. Pippin sprang up and ran. But the Orcs were after him. Some suddenly loomed up right in front of him. 'No hope of escape!' thought Pippin. 'But there is a hope that I have left some of my own marks unspoilt on the wet ground.' He groped with his two tied hands at his throat, and unclasped the brooch of his cloak. Just as long arms and hard claws seized him. he let it fall. 'There I suppose it will lie until the end of time,' he thought. 'I don't know why I did it. If the others have escaped, they've probably all gone with Frodo.' A whip-thong curled round his legs, and he stifled a cry. 'Enough!' shouted Ugl®k running up. 'He's still got to run a long way yet. Make 'em both run! Just use the whip as a reminder.' 'But that's not all,' he snarled, turning to Pippin. 'I shan't forget. Payment is only put off. Leg it!' Neither Pippin nor Merry remembered much of the later part of the ####-journey. Evil dreams and evil waking were blended into a long tunnel of misery, with hope growing ever fainter behind. They ran, and they ran, striving to keep up the pace set by the Orcs, licked every now and again with a cruel thong cunningly handled. If they halted or stumbled, they were seized and dragged for some distance. The warmth of the orc-draught had gone. Pippin felt cold and sick again. Suddenly he fell face downward on the turf. Hard hands with rending nails gripped and lifted him. He was carried like a sack once more, and darkness grew about him: whether the darkness of another night, or a blindness of his eyes, he could not tell. Dimly he became aware of voices clamouring: it seemed that many of the Orcs were demanding a halt. Ugl®k was shouting. He felt himself flung to the ground, and he lay as he fell, till black dreams took him. But he did not long escape from pain; soon the iron grip of merciless hands was on him again. For a long time he was tossed and shaken, and then slowly the darkness gave way, and he came back to the waking world and found that it was morning. Orders were shouted and he was thrown roughly on the grass. There he lay for a while, fighting with despair. His head swam, but from the heat in his body he guessed that he had been given another draught. An Orc stooped over him, and flung him some bread and a strip of raw dried flesh. He ate the stale grey bread hungrily, but not the meat. He was famished but not yet so famished as to eat flesh flung to him by an Orc, the flesh of he dared not guess what creature. He sat up and looked about. Merry was not far away. They were by the banks of a swift narrow river. Ahead mountains loomed: a tall peak was catching the first rays of the sun. A dark smudge of forest lay on the lower slopes before them. There was much shou ting and debating among the Orcs; a quarrel seemed on the point of breaking out again between the Northerners and the Isengarders. Some were pointing back away south, and some were pointing eastward. 'Very well,' said Ugl®k. 'Leave them to me then! No killing, as I've told you before; but if you want to throw away what we've come all the way to get, throw it away! I'll look after it. Let the fighting Uruk-hai do the work, as usual. If you're afraid of the Whiteskins, run! Run! There's the forest,' he shouted, pointing ahead. 'Get to it! It's your best hope. Off you go! And quick, before I knock a few more heads off, to put some sense ####-into the others.' There was some cursing and scuffling, and then most of the Northe rners broke away and dashed off, over a hundred of them, running wildly along the river towards the mountains. The hobbits were left with the Isengarders: a grim dark band, four score at least of large, swart, slant-eyed Orcs with great bows and shor t broad-bladed swords. A few of the larger and bolder Northerners remained with them. 'Now we'll deal with Grishnbkh,' said Ugl®k; but some even of his own followers were looking uneasily southwards. 'I know,' growled Ugl®k. 'The cursed horse-boys have got wind of us. But that's all your fault, Snaga. You and the other scouts ought to have your ears cut off. But we are the fighters. We'll feast on horseflesh yet, or something better.' At that moment Pippin saw why some of the troop had been pointing eastward. From that direction there now came hoarse cries, and there was Grishnbkh again, and at his back a couple of score of others like him: long-armed crook -legged Orcs. They had a red eye painted on their shields. Ugl®k stepped forward to meet them. 'So you've come back?' he said. 'Thought better of it, eh?' 'I've returned to see that Orders are carried out and the prisoners safe,' answered Grishnbkh. 'Indeed!' said Ugl®k. 'Waste of effort. I'll see that orders are carried out in my command. And what else did you come back for? You went in a hurry. Did you leave anything behind?' 'I left a fool,' snarled Grishnbkh. 'But there were some stout fellows with him that are too good to lose. I knew you'd lead them into a mess. I've come to help them.' 'Splendid!' laughed Ugl®k. 'But unless you've got some guts for fighting, you've taken the wrong way. Lugb®rz was your road. The Whiteskins are coming. What's happened to your precious Nazgyl? Has he had another mount shot under him? Now, if you'd brought him along, that might have been useful-if these Nazgyl are all they make out.' 'Nazgyl, Nazgyl,' said Grishnbkh, shivering and licking his lips, as if the word had a foul taste that he savoured painfully. 'You speak of what is deep beyond the reach of your muddy dreams, Ugl®k,' he said. 'Nazgyl! Ah!####-All that they make out! One day you'll wish that you had not said that. Ape!' he snarled fiercely. 'You ought to know that they're the apple of the Great Eye. But the winged Nazgyl: not yet, not yet. He won't let them show themselves across the Great River yet, not too soon. They're for the War -and other purposes.' 'You seem to know a lot,' said Ugl®k. 'More than is good for you, I guess. Perhaps those in Lugb®rz might wonder how, and why. But in the meantime the Uruk -hai of Isengard can do the dirty work, as usual. Don't stand slavering there! Get your rabble together! The other swine are legging it to the forest. You'd better follow. You wouldn't get back to the Great River alive. Right off the mark! Now! I'll be on your heels.' The Isengarders seized Merry and Pippin again and slung them on their backs. Then the troop started off. Hour after hour they ran, pausing now and again only to sling the hobbits to fresh carriers. Either because they were quicker and hardier, or because of some plan of Grishnbkh's, the Isengarders gradually passed through the Orcs of Mordor, and Grishnbkh's folk closed in behind. Soon they were gaining also on the Northerners ahead. The forest began to draw nearer. Pippin was bruised and torn, his aching head was grated by the filthy jowl and hairy ear of the Orc that held him. Immediately in front were bowed backs, and tough thick legs going up and down, up and down, unresting, as if they were made of wire and horn, beating out the nightmare seconds of an endless time. In the afternoon Ugl®k's troop overtook the Northerners. They were flagging in the rays of the bright sun, winter sun shining in a pale cool sky though it was; their heads were down and their tongues lolling out. 'Maggots!' jeered the Isengarders. 'You're cooked. The Whiteskins will catch you and eat you. They're coming!' A cry from Grishnbkh showed that this was not mere jest. Horsemen, riding very swiftly, had indeed been sighted: still far behind, but gaining on the Orcs, gaining on them like a tide over the flats on folk straying in a quicksand. The Isengarders began to run with a redoubled pace that astonished Pippin, a terrific spurt it seemed for the end of a race. Then he saw that the sun was sinking, falling behind the Misty Mountains; shadows reached over the land. The soldiers of Mordor lifted their heads and also began to put on speed. The forest was dark and close. Already they had passed a few ####-outlying trees. The land was beginning to slope upwards. ever more steeply; but the Orcs did not halt. Both Ugl®k and Grishnbkh shouted, spurring them on to a last effort. 'They will make it yet. They will escape,' thought Pippin. And then he managed to twist his neck. so as to glance back with one eye over his shoulder. He saw that riders away eastward were already level with the Orcs, galloping over the plain. The sunset gilded their spears and helmets, and glinted in their pale flowing hair. They were hemming the Orcs in, preventing them from scattering, and driving them along the line of the river. He wondered very much what kind of folk they were. He wished now that he had learned more in Rivendell, and looked more at maps and things; but in those days the plans for the journey seemed to be in more competent hands, and he had never reckoned with being cut off from Gandalf, or from Strider, and even from Frodo. All that he could remember about Rohan was that Gandalf's horse, Shadowfax, had come from that land. That sounded hopeful, as far as it went. 'But how will they know that we are not Orcs?' he thought. 'I don't suppose they've ever heard of hobbits down here. I suppose I ought to be glad that the beastly Orcs look like being destroyed, but I would rather be saved myself.' The chances were that he and Merry wou ld be killed together with their captors, before ever the Men of Rohan were aware of them. A few of the riders appeared to be bowmen, skilled at shooting from a running horse. Riding swiftly into range they shot arrows at the Orcs that straggled behind, and several of them fell; then the riders wheeled away out of the range of the answering bows of their enemies, who shot wildly, not daring to halt. This happened many times, and on one occasion arrows fell among the Isengarders. One of them, just in front of Pippin, stumbled and did not get up again. Night came down without the Riders closing in for battle. Many Orcs had fallen, but fully two hundred remained. In the early darkness the Orcs came to a hillock. The eaves of the forest were very near, probably no more than three furlongs away, but they could go no further. The horsemen had encircled them. A small band disobeyed Ugl®k's command, and ran on towards the forest: only three returned. 'Well, here we are,' sneered Grishnbkh. 'Fine leadership! I hope the ####-great Ugl®k will lead us out again.' 'Put those Halflings down!' ordered Ugl®k, taking no notice of Grishnbkh. 'You, Lugdush, get two others and stand guard over them! They're not to be killed, unless the filthy Whiteskins break through. Understand? As long as I'm alive, I want 'em. But they're not to cry out, and they're not to be rescued. Bind their legs!' The last part of the order was carried out mercilessly. But Pippin found that for the first time he was close to Merry. The Orcs were making a great deal of noise, shouting and clashing their weapons, and the hobbits managed to whisper together for a while. 'I don't think much of this,' said Merry. 'I feel nearly done in. Don't think I could crawl away far, even if I was free.' 'Lembas!' whispered Pippin. 'Lembas: I've got some. Have you? I don't think they've taken anything but our swords.' 'Yes, I had a packet in my pocket,' answered Merry, 'but it must be battered to crumbs. Anyway I can't put my mouth in my pocket!' 'You won't have to. I've--'; but just then a savage kick warned Pippin that the noise had died down, and the guards were watchful. The night was cold and still. All round the knoll on which the Orcs were gathered little watch-fires sprang up, golden-red in the darkness, a complete ring of them. They were within a long bowshot. but the riders did not show themselves against the light, and the Orcs wasted many arrows shooting at the fires, until Ugl®k stopped them. The riders made no sound. Later in the night when the moon came out of the mist, then occasionally they could be seen, shadowy shapes that glinted now and again in the white light, as they moved in ceaseless patrol. 'They'll wait for the Sun, curse them!' growled one of the guards. 'Why don't we get together and charge through? What's old Ugl®k think he's doing, I should like to know?' 'I daresay you would,' snarled Ugl®k stepping up from behind. 'Meaning I don't think at all, eh? Curse you! You're as bad as the other rabble: the maggots and the apes of Lugb®rz. No good trying to charge with them. They'd just squeal and bolt, and there are more than enough of these filthy horse-boys to mop up our lot on the flat. 'There's only one thing those maggots can do: they can see like gimlets in the dark. But these Whiteskins have better night-eyes than most Men, from all I've heard; and don't forget their horses! They can see the ####-night-breeze, or so it's said. Still there's one thing the fine fellows don't know: Mauh®r and his lads are in the forest, and they should turn up any time now.' Ugl®k's words were enough, apparently, to satisfy the Isengarders; but the other Orcs were both dispirited and rebellious. They posted a few watchers, but most of them lay on the ground, resting in the pleasant darkness. It did indeed become very dark again; for the moon passed westward into thick cloud, and Pippin could not see anything a few feet away. The fires brought no light to the hillock. The riders were not, however, content merely to wait for the dawn and let their enemies rest. A sudden outcry on the east side of the knoll showed that something was wrong. It seemed that some of the Men had ridden in close, slipped off their horses, crawled to the edge of the camp and killed several Orcs, and then had faded away again. Ugl®k dashed off to stop a stampede. Pippin and Merry sat up. Their guards, Isengarders, had gone with Ugl®k. But if the hobbits had any thought of escape, it was soon dashed. A long hairy arm took each of them by the neck and drew them close together. Dimly they were aware of Grishnbkh's great head and hideous face between them; his foul breath was on their cheeks. He began to paw them and feel them. Pippin shuddered as hard cold fingers groped down his back. 'Well, my little ones!' said Grishnbkh in a soft whisper. 'Enjoying your nice rest? Or not? A little awkwardly placed, perhaps: swords and whips on one side, and nasty spears on the other! Little people should not meddle _in affairs that are too big for them.' His fingers continued to grope. There was a light like a pale but hot fire behind his eyes. The thought came suddenly into Pippin's mind, as if caught direct from the urgent thought of his enemy: 'Grishnbkh knows about the Ring! He's looking for it, while Ugl®k is busy: he probably wants it for himself.' Cold fear was in Pippin's heart, yet at the same time he was wondering what use he could make of Grishnbkh's desire. 'I don't think you will find it that way,' he whispered. 'It isn't easy to find.' 'Find it? ' said Grishnbkh: his fingers stopped crawling and gripped Pippin's shoulder. 'Find what? What are you talking about, little one?'. For a moment Pippin was silent. Then suddenly in the darkness he made a noise in his throat: gollum, gollum. 'Nothing, my precious,' he added. The hobbits felt Grishnbkh's fingers twitch. 'O ho!' hissed the goblin ####-softly. 'That's what he means, is it? O ho! Very ve-ry dangerous, my little ones.' 'Perhaps,' said Merry, now alert and aware of Pippin's guess. 'Perhaps; and not only for us. Still you know your own business best. Do you want it, or not? And what would you give for it?' 'Do I want it? Do I want it?' said Grishnbkh, as if puzzled; but his arms were trembling. 'What would I give for it? What do you mean?' 'We mean,' said Pippin, choosing his wor ds carefully, 'that it's no good groping in the dark. We could save you time and trouble. But you must untie our legs first, or we'll do nothing, and say nothing.' 'My dear tender little fools,' hissed Grishnbkh, 'everything you have, and everything you know, will be got out of you in due time: everything! You'll wish there was more that you could tell to satisfy the Questioner, indeed you will: quite soon. We shan't hurry the enquiry. Oh dear no! What do you think you've been kept alive for? My dear little fellows, please believe me when I say that it was not out of kindness: that's not even one of Ugl®k's faults.' 'I find it quite easy to believe,' said Merry. 'But you haven't got your prey home yet. And it doesn't seem to be going your way, whatever happens. If we come to Isengard, it won't be the great Grishnbkh that benefits: Saruman will take all that he can find. If you want anything for yourself, now's the time to do a deal.' Grishnbkh began to lose his temper. The name of Saruman seemed specially to enrage him. Time was passing and the disturbance was dying down. Ugl®k or the Isengarders might return at any minute. 'Have you got it -- either of you?' he snarled. 'Gollum, gollum!' said Pippin. 'Untie our legs!' said Merry. They felt the Orc's arms trembling violently. 'Curse you, you filthy little vermin!' he hissed. 'Untie your legs? I'll untie every string in your bodies. Do you think I can't search you to the bones? Search you! I'll cut you both to quivering shreds. I don't need the help of your legs to get you away-and have you all to myself!' Suddenly he seized them. The strength in his long arms and shoulders was terrifying. He tucked them one under each armpit, and crushed them fiercely to his sides; a great stifling hand was clapped over each of their mouths. Then he sprang forward, stooping low. Quickly and silently he went,####-until he came to the edge of the knoll. There, choosing a gap between the watchers, he passed like an evil shadow out into the night, down the slope and away westward towards the river that flowed out of the forest. In that direction there was a wide open space with only one fire. After going a dozen yards he halted, peering and listening. Nothing could be seen or heard. He crept slowly on, bent almost double. Then he squatted and listened again. Then he stood up, as if to risk a sudden dash. At that very moment the dark form of a rider loomed up right in front of him. A horse snorted and reared. A man called out. Grishnbkh flung himself on the ground flat, dragging the hobbits under him; then he drew his sword. No doubt he meant to kill his captives, rather than allow them to escape or to be rescued; but it was his undoing. The sword rang faintly, and glinted a little in the light of the fire away to his left. An arrow came whistling out of the gloom: it was aimed with skill, or guided by fate, and it pierced his right hand. He dr opped the sword and shrieked. There was a quick beat of hoofs, and even as Grishnbkh leaped up and ran, he was ridden down and a spear passed through him. He gave a hideous shivering cry and lay still. The hobbits remained flat on the ground, as Grishnbkh had left them. Another horseman came riding swiftly to his comrade's aid. Whether because of some special keenness of sight, or because of some other sense, the horse lifted and sprang lightly over them; but its rider did not see them, lying covered in their elven-cloaks, too crushed for the moment, and too afraid to move. At last Merry stirred and whispered softly: 'So far so good: but how are we to avoid being spitted?' The answer came almost immediately. The cries of Grishnbkh had roused the Orcs. From the yells and screeches that came from the knoll the hobbits guessed that their disappearance had been discovered: Ugl®k was probably knocking off a few more heads. Then suddenly the answering cries of orc-voices came from the right, outside the circle of watch-fires, from the direction of the forest and the mountains. Mauh®r had apparently arrived and was attacking the besiegers. There was the sound of galloping horses. The Riders were drawing in their ring close round the knoll, risking the orc-arrows, so as to prevent any sortie, while a company rode off to deal with the newcomers. Suddenly Merry and Pippin realized that without moving they were now outside the circle: there was nothing between them and escape.####- 'Now,' said Merry, 'if only we had our legs and hands free, we might get away. But I can't touch the knots, and I can't bite them.' 'No need to try,' said Pippin. 'I was going to tell you: I've managed to free my hands. These loops are only left for show. You'd better have a bit of lembas first.' He slipped the cords off his wrists, and fished out a packet. The cakes were broken, but good, still in their leaf-wrappings. The hobbits each ate two or three pieces. The taste brought back to them the memory of fair faces, and laughter, and wholesome food in quiet days now far away. For a while they ate thoughtfully, sitting in the dark, heedless of the cries and sounds of battle nearby. Pippin was the first to come back to the present. 'We must be off,' he said. 'Half a moment!' Grishnbkh's sword was lying close at hand, but it was too heavy and clumsy for him to use; so he crawled forward, and finding the body of the goblin he drew from its sheath a long sharp knife. With this he quickly cut their bonds. 'Now for it!' he said. 'When we've warmed up a bit, perhaps we shall be able to stand again, and walk. But in any case we had better start by crawling.' They crawled. The turf was deep and yielding, and that helped them: but it seemed a long slow business. They gave the watch-fire a wide berth, and wormed their way forward bit by bit, until they came to the edge of the river, gurgling away in the black shadows under its deep banks. Then they looked back. The sounds had died away. Evidently Mauh®r and his 'lads' had been killed or driven off. The Riders had returned to their silent ominous vigil. It would not last very much longer. Already the night was old. In the East, which had remained unclouded, the sky was beginning to grow pale. 'We must get under cover,' said Pippin, 'or we shall be seen. It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.' He got up and stamped his feet. 'Those cords have cut me like wires; but my feet are getting warm again. I could stagger on now. What about you, Merry?' Merry got up. 'Yes,' he said, 'I can manage it. Lembas does put heart into you! A more wholesome sort of feeling, too, than the heat of that orc-draught. I wonder what it was made of. Better not to know, I expect. Let's get a drink of water to wash away the thought of it!' 'Not here, the banks are too steep,' said Pippin. 'Forward now!'####- They turned and walked side by side slowly along the line of the river. Behind them the light grew in the East. As they walked they compared notes, talking lightly in hobbit-fashion of the things that had happened since their capture. No listener would have guessed from their words that they had suffered cruelly, and been in dire peril, going without hope towards torment and death; or that even now, as they knew well, they had little chance of ever finding friend or safety again. 'You seem to have been doing well, Master Took,' said Merry. 'You will get almost a chapter in old Bilbo's book, if ever I get a chance to report to him. Good work: especially guessing that hairy villain's little game, and playing up to him. But I wonder if anyone will ever pick up your trail and find that brooch. I should hate to lose mine, but I am afraid yours is gone for good. 'I shall have to brush up my toes, if I am to get level with you. Indeed Cousin Brandybuck is going in front now. This is wher e he comes in. I don't suppose you have much notion where we are; but I spent my time at Rivendell rather better. We are walking west along the Entwash. The butt-end of the Misty Mountains is in front, and Fangorn Forest.' Even as he spoke the da rk edge of the forest loomed up straight before them. Night seemed to have taken refuge under its great trees, creeping away from the coming Dawn. 'Lead on, Master Brandybuck!' said Pippin. 'Or lead back! We have been warned against Fangorn. But one so knowing will not have forgotten that.' 'I have not,' answered Merry; 'but the forest seems better to me, all the same, than turning back into the middle of a battle.' He led the way in under the huge branches of the trees. Old beyond guessing, they seemed. Great trailing beards of lichen hung from them, blowing and swaying in the breeze. Out of the shadows the hobbits peeped, gazing back down the slope: little furtive figures that in the dim light looked like elf-children in the deeps of time peering out of the Wild Wood in wonder at their first Dawn. Far over the Great River, and the Brown Lands, leagues upon grey leagues away, the Dawn came, red as flame. Loud rang the hunting-horns to greet it. The Rider s of Rohan sprang suddenly to life. Horn answered horn again. Merry and Pippin heard, clear in the cold air, the neighing of war-horses, and the sudden singing of many men. The Sun's limb was lifted,####-an arc of fire, above the margin of the world. Then with a great cry the Riders charged from the East; the red light gleamed on mail and spear. The Orcs yelled and shot all the arrows that remained to them. The hobbits saw several horsemen fall; but their line held on up the hill and over it, and wheeled round and charged again. Most of the raiders that were left alive then broke and fled, this way and that, pursued one by one to the death. But one band, holding together in a black wedge, drove forward resolutely in the direction of the forest. Straight up the slope they charged towards the watchers. Now they were drawing near, and it seemed certain that they would escape: they had already hewn down three Riders that barred their way. 'We have watched too long,' said Merry. 'There's Ugl®k! I don't want to meet him again.' The hobbits turned and fled deep into the shadows of the wood. So it was that they did not sec the last stand, when Ugl®k was overtaken and brought to bay at the very edge of Fangorn. There he was slain at last by Jomer, the Third Marshal of the Mark, who dismounted and fought him sword to sword. And over the wide fields the keen-eyed Riders hunted down the few Orcs that had escaped and still had strength to fly. Then when they had laid their fallen comrades in a mound and had sung their praises, the Riders made a great fire and scattered the ashes of their enemies. So ended the raid, and no news of it came ever back either to Mordor or to Isengard; but the smoke of the burning rose high to heaven and was seen by many watchful eyes. ####-

Meanwhile the hobbits went with as much speed as the dark and tangled forest allowed, following the line of the running stream, westward and up towards the slopes of the mountains, deeper and deeper into Fangorn. Slowly their fear of the Orcs died away, and their pace slackened. A queer stifling feeling came over them, as if the air were too thin or too scanty for breathing. At last Merry halted. 'We can't go on like this,' he panted. 'I want some air.' 'Let's have a drink at any rate,' said Pippin. 'I'm parched.' He clambered on to a great tree-root that wound down into the stream, and stooping drew up some water in his cupped hands. It was clear and cold, and he took many draughts. Merry followed him. The water refreshed them and seemed to cheer their hearts; for a while they sat together on the brink of the stream, dabbling their sore feet and legs, and peering round at the trees that stood silently about them, rank upon rank, until they faded away into grey twilight in every direction. 'I suppose you haven't lost us already?' said Pippin, leaning back against a great tree-trunk. 'We can at least follow the course of this stream, the Entwash or whatever you call it, and get out again the way we came.' 'We could, if our legs would do it,' said Merry; 'and if we could breathe properly.' 'Yes, it is all very dim, and stuffy, in here,' said Pippin. 'It reminds me, somehow, of the old room in the Great Place of the Tooks away back in the Smials at Tuckborough: a huge place, where the furniture has never been moved or changed for generations. They say the Old Took lived in it year after year, while he and the room got older and shabbier together -and it has never changed since he died, a century ago. And Old Gerontius was my great-great-grandfather: that puts it back a bit. But that is nothing to the old feeling of this wood. Look at all those weeping, trailing, beards and whiskers of lichen! And most of the trees seem to be half covered with ragged dry leaves that have never fallen. Untidy. I can't imagine what spring would look like here, if i t ever comes; still less a spring-cleaning.'####- 'But the Sun at any rate must peep in sometimes.' said Merry. 'It does not look or feel at all like Bilbo's description of Mirkwood. That was all dark and black, and the home of dark black things. This is just dim, and frightfully tree-ish. You can't imagine animals living here at all, or staying for long.' 'No, nor hobbits,' said Pippin. 'And I don't like the thought of trying to get through it either. Nothing to cat for a hundred miles, I should guess. How are our supplies?' 'Low,' said Merry. 'We ran off with nothing but a couple of spare packets of lembas, and left everything else behind.' They looked at what remained of the elven-cakes: broken fragments for abou t five meagre days, that was all. 'And not a wrap or a blanket,' said Merry. 'We shall be cold tonight, whichever way we go.' 'Well, we'd better decide on the way now,' said Pippin. 'The morning must be getting on.' Just then they became aware of a yellow light that had appeared, some way further on into the wood: shafts of sunlight seemed suddenly to have pierced the forest -roof. 'Hullo!' said Merry. 'The Sun must have run into a cloud while we've been under these trees, and now she has run out again; or else she has climbed high enough to look down through some opening. It isn't far let's go and investigate!' They found it was further than they thought. The ground was rising steeply still, and it was becoming increasingly stony. The light grew broader as they went on, and soon they saw that there was a rock -wall before them: the side of a hill, or the abrupt end of some long root thrust out by the distant mountains. No trees grew on it, and the sun was falling full on its stony face. The twigs of the trees at its foot were stretched out stiff and still, as if reaching out to the warmth. Where all had looked so shabby and grey before, the wood now gleamed with rich browns, and with the smooth black-greys of bark like polished leather. The boles of the trees glowed with a soft green like young grass: early spring or a fleeting vision of it was about them. In the face of the stony wall there was something like a stair: natural perhaps, and made by the weathering and splitting of the rock, for it was rough and uneven. High up, almost level with the tops of forest -trees, there ####-was a shelf under a cliff. Nothing grew there but a few grasses and weeds at its edge, and one old stump of a tree with only two bent branches left: it looked almost like the figure of some gnarled old man, standing there, blinking in the morning-light. 'Up we go!' said Merry joyfully. 'Now for a breath of air, and a sight of the land!' They climbed and scrambled up the rock. If the stair had been made it was for bigger feet and longer legs than theirs. They were too eager to be surprised at the remarkable way in which the cuts and sores of their captivity had healed and their vigour had returned. They came at length to the edge of the shelf almost at the feet of the old stump; then they sprang up and turned round with their backs to the hill, breathing deep, and looking out eastward. They saw that they had only come some three or four miles into the forest: the heads of the trees marched down the slopes towards the plain. There, near the fringe of the forest, tall spires of curling black smoke went up, wavering and floating towards them. 'The wind's changing,' said Merry. 'It's turned east again. It feels cool up here.' 'Yes,' said Pippin; 'I'm afraid this is only a passing gleam, and it will all go grey again. What a pity! This shaggy old forest looked so different in the sunlight. I almost felt I liked the place.' 'Almost felt you liked the Forest! That's good! That's uncommonly kind of you,' said a strange voice. 'Turn round and let me have a look at your faces. I almost feel that I dislike you both, but do not let us be hasty. Turn round!' A large knob-knuckled hand was laid on each of their shoulders, and they were twisted round, gently but irresistibly; then two great arms lifted them up. They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to a large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating.####-They were brown, shot with a green light. Often afterwards Pippin tried to describe his first impression of them. 'One felt as if there was an enormous well behind them, filled up with ages of memory and long, slow, steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present: like sun shimmering on the outer leaves of a vast tree, or on the ripples of a very deep lake. I don't know but it felt as if something that grew in the ground-asleep, you might say, or just feeling itself as something between roof-tip and leaf-tip, between deep earth and sky had suddenly waked up, and was considering you with the same slow care that it had given to its own inside affairs for endless years.' 'Hrum, Hoom,' murmured the voice, a deep voice like a very deep woodwind instrument. 'Very odd indeed! Do not be hasty, that is my motto. But if I had seen you, before I heard your voices-I liked them: nice little voices: they reminded me of something I cannot remember ---if I had seen you before I heard you, I should have just trodden on you, taking you for little Orcs, and found out my mistake afterwards. Very odd you are, indeed. Root and twig, very odd!' Pippin, though still amazed, no longer felt afraid. Under those eyes he felt a curious suspense, but not fear. 'Please.' he said, 'who are you? And what are you?' A queer look came into the old eyes, a kind of wariness; the deep wells were covered over. 'Hrum, now,' answered the voice; 'well, I am an Ent, or that's what they call me. Yes, Ent is the word. The Ent, I am, you might say, in your manner of speaking. Fangorn is my name according to some, Treebeard others make it. Treebeard will do.' 'An Ent?' said Merry. 'What's that? But what do you call yourself? What's your real name?' 'Hoo now!' replied Treebeard. 'Hoo! Now that would be telling! Not so hasty. And I am doing the asking. You are in my country. What are you, I wonder? I cannot place you. You do not seem to come in the old lists that I learned when I was young. But that was a long, long time ago, and they may have made new lists. Let me see! Let me see! How did it go? Learn now the lore of Living Creatures! First name the four, the free peoples: Eldest of all, the elf-children; Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses; Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;####- Man the mortal, master of horses: Hm, hm, hm. Beaver the builder, buck the leaper, Bear bee-hunter, boar the fighter; Hound is hungry, hare is fearful... hm, hm. Eagle in eyrie, ox in pasture, Hart horn-crowned; hawk is swiftest Swan the whitest, serpent coldest... Hoom, hm; hoom. hm. how did it go? Room tum, room tum, roomty toom tum. It was a long list. But anyway you do not seem to fit in anywhere!' 'We always seem to have got left out of the old lists, and the old stories,' said Merry. 'Yet we've been about for quite a long time. We're hobbits.' 'Why not make a new line?' said Pippin. 'Half-grown hobbits, the hole -dwellers. Put us in amongst the four, next to Man (the Big People) and you've got it.' 'Hm! Not bad, not bad,' said Treebeard. 'That would do. So you live in holes, eh? It sounds very right and proper. Who calls you hobbits, though? That does not sound elvish to me. Elves made all the old words: they began it.' 'Nobody else calls us hobbits; we call ourselves that,' said Pippin. 'Hoom, hmm! Come now! Not so hasty! You call yourselves hobbits? But you should not go telling just anybody. You'll be letting out your own right names if you're not careful.' 'We aren't careful about that,' said Merry. 'As a matter of fact I'm a Brandybuck, Meriadoc Brandybuck, though most people call me just Merry.' 'And I'm a Took, Peregrin Took, but I'm generally called Pippin, or even Pip.' 'Hm, but you are hasty folk, I see,' said Treebeard. 'I am honoured by your confidence; but you should not be too free all at once. There are Ents and Ents, you know; or there are Ents and things that look like Ents but ain't, as you might say. I'll call you Merry and Pippin if you please-nice names. For I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate.' A queer half-knowing, half-humorous look came with a green flicker into his eyes.####-'For one thing it would take a long while: my name is growing all the time, and I've lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it. unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to. 'But now,' and the eyes became very bright and 'present', seeming to grow smaller and almost sharp, 'what is going on? What are you doing in it all? I can see and hear (and smell and feel) a great deal from this, from this, from this a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lind-or-bur®ml. Excuse me: that is a part of my name for it; I do not know what the word is in the outside languages: you know, the thing we are on, where I stand and look out on fine mornings, and think about the Sun, and the grass beyond the wood, and the horses, and the clouds, and the unfolding of the world. What is going on? What is Gandalf up to? And these -- burbrum,' he made a deep rumbling noise like a discord on a great organ -- 'these Orcs, and young Saruman down at Isengard? I like news. But not too quick now.' 'There is quite a lot going on,' said Merry: 'and even if we tried to be quick, it would take a long time to tell. But you told us not to be hasty. Ought we to tell you anything so soon? Would you think it rude, if we asked what you are going to do with us, and which side you are on? And did you know Gandalf?' 'Yes, I do know him: the only wizard that really cares about trees ' said Treebeard. 'Do you know him?' 'Yes,' said Pippin sadly, 'we did. He was a great friend, and he was our guide.' 'Then I can answer your other questions,' said Treebeard. 'I am not going to do anything with you: not if you mean by that 'do something to you ' without your leave. We might do some things together. I don't know about sides. I go my own way; but your way may go along with mine for a while. But you speak of Master Gandalf, as if he was in a story that had come to an end.' 'Yes, we do,' said Pippin sadly. 'The story seems to be going on, but I am afraid Gandalf has fallen out of it.' 'Hoo, come now!' said Treebeard. 'Hoom, hm, ah well.' He paused, looking long at the hobbits: 'Hoom, ah, well I do not know what to say. Come now!'####- 'If you would like to hear more. said Merry, 'we will tell you. But it will take some time. Wouldn't you like to put us down? Couldn't we sit here together in the sun, while it lasts? You must be getting tired of holding us up.' 'Hm, tired? No. I am not tired. I do not easily get tired. And I do not sit down. I am not very. hm, bendable. But there. the Sun is going in. Let us leave this -- did you say what you call it?' 'Hill?' suggested Pippin. 'Shelf? Step?' suggested Merry. Treebeard repeated the words thoughtfully. 'Hill. Yes, that was it. But it is a hasty word for a thing that has stood here ever since this part of the world was shaped. Never mind. Let us leave it, and go.' 'Where shall we go?' asked Merry. 'To my home, or one of my homes,' answered Treebeard. 'Is it far?' 'I do not know. You might call it far, perhaps. But what does tha t matter?' 'Well, you see, we have lost all our belongings,' said Merry. 'We have only a little food.' 'O! Hm! You need not trouble about that,' said Treebeard. 'I can give you a drink that will keep you green and growing for a long, long while. And if we decide to part company, I can set you down outside my country at any point you choose. Let us go!' Holding the hobbits gently but firmly, one in the crook of each arm, Treebeard lifted up first one large foot and then the other, and moved them to the edge of the shelf. The rootlike toes grasped the rocks. Then carefully and solemnly, he stalked down from step to step, and reached the floor of the Forest. At once he set off with long deliberate strides through the trees, deeper and deeper into the wood, never far from the stream, climbing steadily up towards the slopes of the mountains. Many of the trees seemed asleep, or as unaware of him as of any other creature that merely passed by; but some quivered, and some raised up their branches above his head as he approached. All the while, as he walked, he talked to himself in a long running stream of musical sounds. The hobbits were silent for some time. They felt, oddly enough, safe and comfortable, and they had a great deal to think and wonder about. At last Pippin ventured to speak again.####- 'Please, Treebeard,' he said, 'could I ask you something? Why did Celeborn warn us against your forest? He told us not to risk getting entangled in it.' 'Hmm, did he now?' rumbled Treebeard. 'And I might have said much the same, if you had been going the other way. Do not risk getting entangled in the woods of Laurelindurenan ! That is what the Elves used to call it, but now they make the name shorter: Lothlurien they call it. Perhaps they are right: maybe it is fading; not growing. Land of the Valley of Singing Gold, that was it, once upon a time. Now it is the Dreamflower. Ah well! But it is a queer place, and not for just any one to venture in. I am surprised that you ever got out, but much more surprised that you ever got in: that has not happened to strangers for many a year. It is a queer land. 'And so is this. Folk have come to grief here. Aye, they have , to grief. Laurelindurenan lindelorendor malinornjlion ornemalin ,' he hummed to himself. 'They are falling rather behind the world in there, I guess,' he said 'Neither this country, nor anything else outside the Golden Wood, is what it was when Celeborn was young. Still: Taurelilumla-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurla Lumlanor,1 that is what they used to say. Things have changed, but it is still true in places.' 'What do you mean?' said Pippin. 'What is true?' 'The trees and the Ents,' said Treebeard. 'I do not understand all that goes on myself, so I cannot explain it to you. Some of us are still true Ents, and lively enough in our fashion, but many are growing sleepy, going tree-ish, as you might say. Most of the trees are ju st trees, of course; but many are half awake. Some are quite wide awake, and a few are, well, ah, well getting Entish. That is going on all the time. 'When that happens to a tree, you find that some have bad hearts. Nothing to do with their wood: I do not mean that. Why, I knew some good old willows down the Entwash, gone long ago, alas! They were quite hollow, indeed they were falling all to pieces, but as quiet and sweet-spoken as a young leaf. And then there are some trees in the valleys under the mountains, sound as a bell, and bad right through. That sort of thing seems to spread. There used to be some very dangerous parts in this country. There are still some very black patches.' 'Like the Old Forest away to the north, do you mean?' asked Merry. 'Aye, aye. something like, but much worse. I do not doubt there is some ####-shadow of the Great Darkness lying there still away north; and bad memories are handed down. But there are hollow dales in this land where the Darkness has never been lifted, and the trees are older than I am. Still, we do what we can. We keep off strangers and the foolhardy; and we train and we teach, we walk and we weed. 'We are tree-herds, we old Ents. Few enough of us are left now. Sheep get like shepherd, and shepherds like sheep, it is said; but slowly, and neither have long in the world. It is quicker and closer with trees and Ents, and they walk down the ages together. For Ents are more like Elves: less interested in themselves than Men are, and better at getting inside other things. And yet again Ents are more like Men, more changeable than Elves are, and quicker at taking the colour of the outside, you might say. Or better than both: for they are steadier a nd keep their minds on things longer. 'Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them; and they speak only in whispers. But some of my trees are limb-lithe, and many can talk to me. Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves did. But then the Great Darkness came, and they passed away over the Sea, or fled into far valleys, and hid themselves, and made songs about days that would never come again. Never again. Aye, aye, there was all one wood once upon a time: from here to the Mountains of Lune, and this was just the East End. 'Those were the broad days! Time was when I could walk and sing a ll day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the hollow hills. The woods were like the woods of Lothlurien. only thicker stronger, younger. And the smell of the air! I used to spend a week just breathing.' Treebeard fell silent, striding along, and yet making hardly a sound with his great feet. Then he began to hum again, and passed into a murmuring chant. Gradually the hobbits became aware that he was chanting to them: In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring. Ah! the sight and the smell of the Spring in Nan-tasarion! And I said that was good. I wandered in Summer in the elm-woods of Ossiriand. Ah! the light and the music in the Summer by the Seven Rivers of Ossir! And I thought that was best. To the beeches of Neldoreth I came in the Autumn. Ah! the gold and the red and the sighing of leaves in the Autumn in ####-Taur-na-neldor! It was more than my desire. To the pine-trees upon the highland of Dorthonion I climbed in the Winter. Ah! the wind and the whiteness and the black branches of Winter upon Orod-na-Thfn! My voice went up and sang in the sky. And now all those lands lie under the wave. And I walk in Ambaruna, in Tauremorna, in Aldaluml. In my own land, in the country of Fangorn, Where the roots are long, And the years lie thicker than the leaves In Tauremornaluml. He ended, and strode on silently, and in all the wood, as far as ear could reach, there was not a sound. The day waned, and dusk was twined about the boles of the trees. At last the hobbits saw, rising dimly before them, a steep dark land: they had come to the feet of the mountains, and to the green roots of tall Methedras. Down the hillside the young Entwash, leaping from its springs high above, ran noisily from step to step to meet them. On the right of the stream there was a long slope, clad with grass, now grey in the twilight. No trees grew there and it was open to the sky; stars were shining already in lakes between shores of cloud. Treebeard strode up the slope, hardly slackening his pace. Suddenly before them the hobbits saw a wide opening. Two great trees stood there, one on either side, like living gate-posts; bu t there was no gate save their crossing and interwoven boughs. As the old Ent approached, the trees lifted up their branches, and all their leaves quivered and rustled. For they were evergreen trees, and their leaves were dark and polished, and gleamed in the twilight. Beyond them was a wide level space, as though the floor of a great hall had been cut in the side of the hill. On either hand the walls sloped upwards, until they were fifty feet high or more, and along each wall stood an aisle of trees that also increased in height as they marched inwards. At the far end the rock -wall was sheer, but at the bottom it had been hollowed back into a shallow bay with an arched roof: the only roof of the hall, save the branches of the trees, which at the inner end overshadowed all the ground leaving only a broad open path in the middle. A little stream ####-escaped from the springs above, and leaving the main water, fell tinkling down the sheer face of the wall, pouring in silver drops, like a fine curtain in front of the arched bay. The water was gathered again into a stone basin in the floor between the trees, and thence it spilled and flowed away beside the open path, out to rejoin the Entwash in its journey through the forest. 'Hm! Here we are!' said Treebeard, breaking his long silence. 'I have brought you about seventy thousand ent-strides, but what that comes to in the measurement of your land I do not know. Anyhow we are near the roots of the Last Mountain. Part of the name of this place might be Wellinghall, if it were turned into your language. I like it. We will stay here tonight.' He set them down on the grass between the aisles of the trees, and they followed him towards the great arch. The hobbits now noticed that as he walked his knees hardly bent, but his legs opened in a great stride. He planted his big toes (and they were indeed big, and very broad) on the ground first, before any other part of his feet. For a moment Treebeard stood under the rain of the falling spring, and took a deep breath; then he laughed, and passed inside. A great stone table stood there, but no chairs. At the back of the bay it was already quite dark. Treebeard lifted two great vessels and stood them on the table. They seemed to be filled with water; but he held his hands over them, and immediately they began to glow, one with a golden and the other with a rich green light; and the blending of the two lights lit the bay; as if the sun of summer was shining through a roof of young leaves. Looking back, the hobbits saw that the trees in the court had also begun to glow, faintly at first, but steadily quickening, until every leaf was edged with light: some green, some gold, some red as copper; while the tree-trunks looked like pillars moulded out of luminous stone. 'Well, well, now we can talk again,' said Treebeard. 'You are thirsty I expect. Perhaps you are also tired. Drink this!' He went to the back of the bay, and then they saw that several tall stone jars stood there, with heavy lids. He removed one of the lids, and dipped in a great ladle, and with it filled three bowls, one very large bowl, and two smaller ones. 'This is an ent-house,' he said, 'and there are no seats, I fear. But you may sit on the table.' Picking up the hobbits he set them on the great stone slab, six feet above the ground, and there they sat dangling their legs, and drinking in sips.####- The drink was like water, indeed very like the taste of the draughts they had drunk from the Entwash near, the borders of the forest, and yet there was some scent or savour in it which they could not describe: it was faint, but it reminded them of the smell of a distant wood borne from afar by a cool breeze at night. The effect of the draught began at the toes, and rose steadily through every limb, bringing refreshment and vigour as it coursed upwards, right to the tips of the hair. Indeed the hobbits felt that the hair on their heads was actually standing up, waving and curling and growing. As for Treebeard, he first laved his feet in the basin beyond the arch, and then he drained his bowl at one draught, one long, slow draught. The hobbits thought he would never stop. At last he set the bowl down again. 'Ah -- ah,' he sighed. 'Hm, hoom, now we can talk easier. You can sit on the floor, and I will lie down; that will prevent this drink from rising to my head and sending me to sleep.' On the right side of the bay there was a great bed on low legs; not more than a couple of feet high, covered deep in dried grass and bracken. Treebeard lowered himself slowly on to this (with only the slightest sign of bending at his middle), until he lay at full length, with his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. upon which lights were flickering, like the play of leaves in the sunshine. Merry and Pippin sat beside him on pillows of grass. 'Now tell me your tale, and do not hurry!' said Treebeard. The hobbits began to tell him the story of their adventures ever since they left Hobbiton. They followed no very clear order, for they interrupted one another continually, and Treebeard often stopped the speaker, and went back to some earlier point, or jumped forward asking questions about later events. They said nothing whatever about the Ring, and did not tell him why they set out or where they were going to; and he did not ask for any reasons. He was immensely interested in everything: in the Black Riders, in Elrond, and Rivendell, in the Old Forest, and Tom Bombadil, in the Mines of Moria, and in Lothlurien and Galadriel. He made them describe the Shire and its country over and over again. He said an odd thing at this point. 'You never see any, hm, any Ents round there do you?' he asked. 'Well, not Ents, Entwives I should really say.' 'Entwives?' said Pippin. 'Are they like you at all?' Yes, hm, well no: I do not really know now, said Treebeard ####-thoughtfully. 'But they would like your country, so I just wondered.' Treebeard was however especially interested in everything that concerned Gandalf; and most interested of all in Saruman's doings. The hobbits regretted very much that they knew so little about them: only a rather vague report by Sam of what Gandalf had told the Council. But they were clear at any rate that Ugl®k and his troop came from Isengard, and spoke of Saruman as their master. 'Hm, hoom!' said Treebeard, when at last their story had wound and wandered down to the battle of the Orcs and the Riders of Rohan. 'Well, well! That is a bundle of news and no mistake. You have not told me all, no indeed, not by a long way. But I do not doubt that you a re doing as Gandalf would wish. There is something very big going on, that I can see, and what it is maybe I shall learn in good time, or in bad time. By root and twig, but it is a strange business: up sprout a little folk that are not in the old lists, and behold the Nine forgotten Riders reappear to hunt them, and Gandalf takes them on a great journey, and Galadriel harbours them in Caras Galadhon, and Orcs pursue them down all the leagues of Wilderland: indeed they seem to be caught up in a great storm. I hope they weather it!' 'And what about yourself?' asked Merry. 'Hoom, hm, I have not troubled about the Great Wars,' said Treebeard; 'they mostly concern Elves and Men. That is the business of Wizards: Wizards are always troubled about the future. I do not like worrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them, not even Elves nowadays. Still, I take more kindly to Elves than to others: it was the Elves that cured us of dumbness long ago, and that was a great gift that cannot be forgotten, though our ways have parted since. And there are some things, of course, whose side I am altogether not on; I am against them altogether: these -- burbrum' (he again made a deep rumble of disgust)' -- these Orcs, and their masters. 'I used to be anxious when the shadow lay on Mirkwood, but when it removed to Mordor, I did not trouble for a while : Mordor is a long way away. But it seems that the wind is setting East, and the withering of all woods may be drawing near. There is naught that an old Ent can do to hold back that storm: he must weather it or crack. 'But Saruman now! Saruman is a neighbour: I cannot overlook him. I must do something. I suppose. I have often wondered lately what I should do about ####-Saruman.' 'Who is Saruman?' asked Pippin. 'Do you know anything about his history?' 'Saruman is a Wizard,' answered Treebeard. 'More than that I cannot say. I do not know the history of Wizards. They appeared first after the Great Ships came over the Sea; but if they came with the Ships I never can tell. Saruman was reckoned great among them. I believe. He gave up wandering about and minding the affairs of Men and Elves, some time ago -- you would call it a very long time ago: and he settled down at Angrenost, or Isengard as the Men of Rohan call it. He was very quiet to begin with, but his fame began to gr ow. He was chosen to be head of the White Council, they say; but that did not turn out too well. I wonder now if even then Saruman was not turning to evil ways. But at any rate he used to give no trouble to his neighbours. I used to talk to him. There was a time when he was always walking about my woods. He was polite in those days, always asking my leave (at least when he met me); and always eager to listen. I told him many things that he would never have found out by himself; but he never repaid me in like kind. I cannot remember that he ever told. me anything. And he got more and more like that; his face, as I remember it-I have not seen it for many a day-became like windows in a stone wall: windows with shutters inside. 'I think that I now understand what he is up to. He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment. And now it is clear that he is a black traitor. He has taken up with foul folk, with the Orcs. Brm, hoom! Worse than that: he has been doing something to them; something dangerous. For these Isengarders are more like wicked Men. It is a mark of evil things that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide the Sun; but Saruman's Orcs can endure it, even if they hate it. I wonder what he has done? Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men? That would be a black evil!' Treebeard rumbled for a moment, as if he were pronouncing some deep, subterranean Entish malediction. 'Some time ago I began to wonder how Orcs dared to pass through my woods so freely,' he went on. 'Only lately did I guess that Saruman was to blame, and that long ago he had been spying out all the ways, and discovering my secrets. He and his foul folk are making havoc now. Down on the borders they are felling trees-good trees. Some of the trees they just cut down and leave to rot -- orc-mischief that; but most ####-are hewn up and carried off to feed the fires of Orthanc. There is always a smoke rising from Isengard these days. 'Curse him, root and branch! Many of those trees were my friends creatures I had known from nut and acorn; many had voices of their own that are lost for ever now. And there are wastes of stump and bramble where once there were singing groves. I have been idle. I have let things slip. It must stop!' Treebeard raised himself from his bed with a jerk, stood up, and thumped his hand on the table. The vessels of light trembled and sent up two jets of flame. There was a flicker like green fire in his eyes, and his beard stood out stiff as a great besom. 'I will stop it!' he boomed. 'And you shall come with me. You may be able to help me. You will be helping your own friends that way, too; for if Saruman is not checked Rohan and Gondor will have an enemy behind as well as in front. Our roads go together -- to Isengard!' 'We will come with you,' said Merry. 'We will do wha t we can.' 'Yes!' said Pippin. 'I should like to see the White Hand overthrown. I should like to be there, even if I could not be of much use: I shall never forget Ugl®k and the crossing of Rohan.' 'Good! Good!' said Treebeard. 'But I spoke hastily. We must not be hasty. I have become too hot. I must cool myself and think; fur it is easier to shout stop! than to do it.' He strode to the archway and stood for some time under the falling rain of the spring. Then he laughed and shook himself, and wherever the drops of water fell glittering from him to the ground they glinted like red and green sparks. He came back and laid himself on the bed again and was silent. After some time the hobbits heard him murmuring again. He seemed to be counting on his fingers. 'Fangorn, Finglas, Fladrif, aye, aye,' he sighed. 'The trouble is that there are so few of us left,' he said turning towards the hobbits. 'Only three remain of the first Ents that walked in the woods before the Darkness: only myself, Fangorn, and Finglas and Fladrif -- to give them their Elvish names; you may call them Leaflock and Skinbark if you like that better. And of us three Leaflock and Skinbark are not much use for this business. Leaflock has grown sleepy. almost tree-ish, you might say: he has taken to standing by himself half-asleep all through the summer with the deep grass of the meadows round his knees. Covered with leafy hair he is. He ####-used to rouse up in winter; but of late he has been too drowsy to walk far even then. Skinbark lived on the mountain-slopes west of Isengard. That is where the worst trouble has been. He was wounded by the Orcs, and many of his folk and his tree-herds have been murdered and destroyed. He has gone up into the high places, among the birches that he loves best, and he will not come down. Still, I daresay I could get together a fair company of our younger folks-if I could make them understand the need: if I could rouse them: we are not a hasty folk. What a pity the re are so few of us!' 'Why are there so few when you have lived in this country so long?' asked Pippin. 'Have a great many died?' 'Oh, no!' said Treebeard. 'None have died from inside, as you might say. Some have fallen in the evil chances of the long years, of course: and more have grown tree-ish. But there were never many of us and we have not increased. There have been no Entings -- no children, you would say, not for a terrible long count of years. You see, we lost the Entwives.' 'How very sad!' said Pippin. 'How was it that they all died?' 'They did not die!' said Treebeard. 'I never said died. We lost them, I said. We lost them and we cannot find them.' He sighed. 'I thought most folk knew that. There were songs about the hunt of the Ents for the Entwives sung among Elves and Men from Mirkwood to Gondor. They cannot be quite forgotten.' 'Well, I am afraid the songs have not come west over the Mountains to the Shire,' said Merry. 'Won't you tell us some more, or sing us one of the songs?' 'Yes, I will indeed,' said Treebeard, seeming pleased with the request. 'But I cannot tell it properly, only in short; and then we must end our talk: tomorrow we have councils to call, and work to do, and maybe a journey to begin.' 'It is rather a strange and sad story,' he went on after a pause. 'When the world was young, and the woods were wide and wild, the Ents and the Entwives -- and there were Entmaidens then: ah! the loveliness of Fimbrethil, of Wandlimb the lightfooted, in the days of our youth! -- they walked together and they housed together. But our hearts did not go on growing in the same way: the Ents gave their love to things that they met in the world, and the Entwives gave their thought to other things, for the Ents loved the great trees; and the wild woods, and the slopes of the high hills; and they drank of the mountain-streams, and ate only such fruit as the trees ####-let fall in their path; and they learned of the Elves and spoke with the Trees. But the Entwives gave their minds to the lesser trees, and to the meads in the sunshine beyond the feet of the forests; and they saw the sloe in the thicket, and the wild apple and the cherry blossoming in spring, and the green herbs in the waterlands in summer, and the seeding grasses in the autumn fields. They did not desire to speak with these things; but they wished them to hear and obey what was said to them. The Entwives ordered them to grow according to their wishes, and bear leaf and fruit to their liking; for the Entwives desired order, and plenty, and peace (by which they meant that things should remain where they had set them). So the Entwives made gardens to live in. But we Ents went on wandering, and we only came to the gardens now and again. Then when the Darkness came in the North, the Entwives crossed the Great River, and made new gardens, and tilled new fields, and we saw them more seldom. After the Darkness was overthrown the land of the Entwives blossomed richly, and their fields were full of corn. Many men learned the crafts of the Entwives and honoured them greatly; but we were only a legend to them, a secret in the heart of the forest. Yet here we still are, while all the gardens of the Entwives are wasted: Men call them the Brown Lands now. 'I remember it was long ago -- in the time of the war between Sauron and the Men of the Sea -- desire came over me to see Fimbrethil again. Very fair she was still in my eyes, when I had last seen her, though little like the Entmaiden of old. For the Entwives were bent and browned by their labour; their hair parched by the sun to the hue of ripe corn and their cheeks like red apples. Yet their eyes were still the eyes of our own people. We crossed over Anduin and came to their land: but we found a desert: it was all burned and uprooted, for war had passed over it. But the Entwives were not there. Long we called, and long we searched; and we asked all folk that we met which way the Entwives had gone. Some said they had never seen them; and some said that they had seen them walking away west, and some said east, and others south. But nowhere that we went could we find them. Our sorrow was very great. Yet the wild wood called, and we returned to it. For many years we used to go out every now and again and look for the Entwives. walking far and wide and calling them by their beautiful names. But as time passed we went more seldom and wandered less far. And now the Entwives are only a memory for us, and our beards are long and grey. The Elves made many songs concerning the Search of the Ents, and some of the ####-songs passed into the tongues of Men. But we made no songs about it, being content to chant their beautiful names when we thought of the Entwives. We believe that we may meet again in a time to come, and perhaps we shall find somewhere a land where we can live together and both be content. But it is foreboded that tha t will only be when we have both lost all that we now have. And it may well be that that time is drawing near at last. For if Sauron of old destroyed the gardens, the Enemy today seems likely to wither all the woods. 'There was an Elvish song that spoke of this, or at least so I understand it. It used to be sung up and down the Great River. It was never an Entish song, mark you: it would have been a very long song in Entish! But we know it by heart, and hum it now and again. This is how it runs in your tongue: ENT. When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bough; When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the brow; When stride is long, and breath is deep, and keen the mountain -air, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is fair! entwife. When Spring is come to garth and field, and corn is in the blade; When blossom like a shining snow is on the orchard laid; When shower and Sun upon the Earth with fragrance fill the air, I'll linger here, and will not come, because my land is fair. ent. When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold; When woodland halls are green and cool, and wind is in the West, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best! entwife. When Summer warms the hanging fruit and burns the berry brown; When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town ; When honey spills, and apple swells, though wind be in the West, I'll linger here beneath the Sun, because my land is best! ####- ent. When Winter comes, the winter wild that hill and wood shall slay; When trees shall fall and starless night devour the sunless day; When wind is in the deadly East, then in the bitter rain I'll look for thee, and call to thee; I'll come to thee again! entwife. When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last; When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past; I'll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again: Together we will take the road beneath the bitter rain! both. Together we will take the road that leads into the West, And far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest.' Treebeard ended his song. 'That is how it goes,' he said. 'It is Elvish, of course: lighthearted, quickworded, and soon over. I daresay it is fair enough. But the Ents could say more on their side, if they had time! But now I am going to stand up and take a little sleep. Where will you stand?' 'We usually lie down to sleep,' said Merry. 'We shall be all right where we are.' 'Lie down to sleep!' said Treebeard. 'Why of course you do! Hm, hoom: I was forgetting: singing that song put me in mind of old times; almost thought that I was talking to young Entings, I did. Well, you can lie on the bed. I am going to stand in the rain. Good night!' Merry and Pippin climbed on to the bed and curled up in the soft grass and fern. It was fresh, and sweet-scented, and warm. The lights died down, and the glow of the trees faded; but outside under the arch they could see old Treebeard standing, motionless, with his arms raised above his head. The bright stars peered out of the sky, and lit the falling water as it spilled on to his fingers and head, and dripped, dripped, in hundreds of silver drops on to his feet. Listening to the tinkling of the drops the hobbits fell asleep. They woke to find a cool sun shining into the great court, and on to the floor of the bay. Shreds of high cloud were overhead, running on a stiff ####-easterly wind. Treebeard was not to be seen; but while Merry and Pippin were bathing in the basin by the arch, they heard him humming and singing, as he came up the path between the trees. 'Hoo, ho! Good morning, Merry and Pippin!' he boomed, when he saw them. 'You sleep long. I have been many a hundred strides already today. Now we will have a drink, and go to Entmoot.' He poured them out two full bowls from a stone jar; but from a different jar. The taste was not the same as it had been the night before: it was earthier and richer, more sustaining and food-like, so to speak. While the hobbits drank, sitting on the edge of the bed, and nibbling small pieces of elf-cake (more because they felt that eating was a necessary part of breakfast than because they felt hungry), Treebeard stood, humming in Entish or Elvish or some strange tongue, and looking up at the sky. 'Where is Entmoot?' Pippin ventured to ask. 'Hoo, eh? Entmoot?' said Treebeard, turning round. 'It is not a place, it is a gathering of Ents -- which does not often happen nowadays. But I have managed to make a fair number promise to come. We shall meet in the place where we have always met: Derndingle Men call it. It is away south from here. We must be there before noon.' Before long they set off. Treebeard carried the hobbits in his arms as on the previous day. At the entrance to the court he turned to the right, stepped over the stream, and strode away southwards along the feet of great tumbled slopes where trees were scanty. Above these the hobbits saw thickets of birch and rowan, and beyond them dark climbing pinewoods. Soon Treebeard turned a little away from the hills and plunged into deep groves, where the trees were larger, taller, and thicker than any that the hobbits had ever seen before. For a while they felt faintly the sense of stifling which they had noticed when they first ventured into Fangorn, but it soon passed. Treebeard did not talk to them. He hummed to himself deeply and thoughtfully, but Merry and Pippin caught no proper words: it sounded like boom, boom, rumboom, boorar, boom, boom, dahrar boom boom, dahrar boom, and so on with a constant change of note and rhythm. Now and again they thought they heard an answer, a hum or a quiver of sound, that seemed to come out of the earth, or from boughs above their heads, or perhaps from the boles of ####-the trees; but Treebeard did not stop or turn his head to either side. They had been going for a long while -- Pippin had tried to keep count of the 'ent-strides' but had failed, getting lost at about three thousand -- when Treebeard began to slacken his pace. Suddenly he stopped, put the hobbits down, and raised his curled hands to his mouth so that they made a hollow tube; then he blew or called through them. A great hoom, hom rang out like a deep-throated horn in the woods, and seemed to echo from the trees. Far off there came from several directions a similar hoom, hom, hoom that was not an echo but an answer. Treebeard now perched Merry and Pippin on his shoulders and strode on again, every now and then sending out another horn-call, and each time the answers came louder and nearer. In this way they came at last to what looked like an impenetrable wall of dark evergreen trees, trees of a kind that the hobbits had never seen before: they branched out right from the roots, and were densely clad in dark glossy leaves like thornless holly, and they bore many stiff upright flower -spikes with large shining olive-coloured buds. Turning to the left and skirting this huge hedge Treebeard came in a few strides to a narrow entrance. Through it a worn path passed and dived suddenly down a long steep slope. The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rim with the high dark evergreen hedge. It was smooth and grassclad inside, and there were no trees except three very tall and beautiful silver -birches that stood at the bottom of the bowl. Two other paths led down into the dingle: from the west and from the east. Several Ents had already arrived. More were coming in down the other paths, and some were now following Treebeard. As they drew near the hobbits gazed at them. They had expected to see a number of creatures as much like Treebeard as one hobbit is like another (at any rate to a stranger's eye); and they were very much surprised to see nothing of the kind. The Ents were as different from one another as trees from trees: some as different as one tree is from another of the same name but quite different growth and history; and some as different as one tree-kind from another, as birch from beech; oak from fir. There were a few older Ents, bearded and gnarled like hale but ancient trees (though none looked as ancient as Treebeard); and there were tall strong Ents, clean-limbed and smooth-skinned like forest -trees in their prime; but there were no young Ents, no saplings. Altogether there were about two dozen standing on the wide grassy floor of ####-the dingle, and as many more were marching in. At first Merry and Pippin were struck chiefly by the variety that they saw: the many shapes, and colours, the differences in girth; and height, and length of leg and arm; and in the number of toes and fingers (anything from three to nine). A few seemed more or less related to Treebeard, and reminded them of beech-trees or oaks. But there were other kinds. Some recalled the chestnut: brown-skinned Ents with large splayfingered hands, and short thick legs. Some recalled the ash: tall straight grey Ents with many-fingered hands and long legs; some the fir (the tallest Ents), and others the birch, the rowan, and the linden. But when the Ents all gather ed round Treebeard, bowing their heads slightly, murmuring in their slow musical voices, and looking long and intently at the strangers, then the hobbits saw that they were all of the same kindred, and all had the same eyes: not all so old or so deep as Treebeard's, but all with the same slow, steady, thoughtful expression, and the same green flicker. As soon as the whole company was assembled, standing in a wide circle round Treebeard, a curious and unintelligible conversation began. The Ents began to murmur slowly: first one joined and then another, until they were all chanting together in a long rising and falling rhythm, now louder on one side of the ring, now dying away there and rising to a great boom on the other side. Though he could not catch or understand any of the words -- he supposed the language was Entish -- Pippin found the sound very pleasant to listen to at first; but gradually his attention wavered. After a long time (and the chant showed no signs of sla ckening) he found himself wondering, since Entish was such an 'unhasty' language, whether they had yet got further than Good Morning; and if Treebeard was to call the roll, how many days it would take to sing all their names. 'I wonder what the Entish is for yes or no,' he thought. He yawned. Treebeard was immediately aware of him. 'Hm, ha, hey, my Pippin!' he said, and the other Ents all stopped their chant. 'You are a hasty folk, I was forgetting; and anyway it is wearisome listening to a speech you do not understand. You may get down now. I have told your names to the Entmoot, and they have seen you, and they have agreed that you are not Orcs, and that a new line shall be put in the old lists. We have got no further yet, but that is quick work for an Entmoot. You and Merry can stroll about in the dingle, if you like. There is a well of good water, if you need refreshing, away ####-yonder in the north bank. There are still some words to speak before the Moot really begins. I will come and see you again, and tell you how things are going.' He put the hobbits down. Before they walked away, they bowed low. This feat seemed to amuse the Ents very much, to judge by the tone of their murmurs, and the flicker of their eyes; but they soon turned back to their own business. Merry and Pippin climbed up the path that came in from the west, and looked through the opening in the great hedge. Long tree-clad slopes rose from the lip of the dingle, and away beyond them, above the fir-trees of the furthest ridge there rose, sharp and white, the peak of a high mountain. Southwards to their left they could see the forest falling away down into the grey distance. There far away there was a pale green glimmer that Merry guessed to be a glimpse of the plains of Rohan. 'I wonder where Isengard is?' said Pippin. 'I don't know quite where we are,' said Merry; 'but that peak is probably Methedras. and as far as I can remember the ring of Isengard lies in a fork or deep cleft at the end of the mountains. It is probably down behind this great ridge. There seems to be a smoke or haze over there, left of the peak, don't you think?' 'What is Isengard like?' said Pippin. 'I wonder what Ents can do a bout it anyway.' 'So do I,' said Merry. 'Isengard is a sort of ring of rocks or hills, I think, with a flat space inside and an island or pillar of rock in the middle, called Orthanc. Saruman has a tower on it. There is a gate, perhaps more than one, in the encircling wall, and I believe there is a stream running through it; it comes out of the mountains, and flows on across the Gap of Rohan. It does not seem the sort of place for Ents to tackle. But I have an odd feeling about these Ents: somehow I don't think they are quite as safe and, well funny as they seem. They seem slow, queer, and patient, almost sad; and yet I believe they could be roused. If that happened, I would rather not be on the other side.' 'Yes!' said Pippin. 'I know what you mean. There might be all the difference between an old cow sitting and thoughtfully chewing, and a bull charging; and the change might come suddenly. I wonder if Treebeard will rouse them. I am sure he means to try. Bu t they don't like being roused. Treebeard got roused himself last night, and then bottled it up again.' The hobbits turned back. The voices of the Ents were still rising and falling in their conclave. The sun had now risen high enough to look over ####-the high hedge: it gleamed on the tops of the birches and lit the northward side of the dingle with a cool yellow light. There they saw a little glittering fountain. They walked along the rim of the great bowl at the feet of the evergreens-it was pleasant to feel cool grass about their toes again, and not to be in a hurry-and then they climbed down to the gushing water. They drank a little, a clean, cold, sharp draught, and sat down on a mossy stone, watching the patches of sun on the grass and the shadows of the sailing clouds passing over the floor of the dingle. The murmur of the Ents went on. It seemed a very strange and remote place, outside their world, and far from everything that had ever happened to them. A great longing came over them for the faces and voices of their companions. especially for Frodo and Sam, and for Strider. At last there came a pause in the Ent-voices; and looking up they saw Treebeard coming towards them. with another Ent at his side. 'Hm, hoom, here I am again,' said Treebeard. 'Are you getting weary, or feeling impatient, hmm, eh? Well, I am afraid that you must not get impatient yet. We have finished the first stage now; but I have still got to explain things again to those that live a long way off, far from Isengard, and those that I could not get round to before the Moot, and after that we shall have to decide what to do. However, deciding what to do does not take Ents so long as going over all the facts and events that they have to make up their minds about. Still, it is no use denying, we shall be here a long time yet: a couple of days very likely. So I have brought you a companion. He has an ent-house nearby. Bregalad is his Elvish name. He says he has already made up his mind and does not need to remain at the Moot. Hm, hm, he is the nearest thing among us to a hasty Ent. You ought to get on together. Good-bye!' Treebeard turned and left them. Bregalad stood for some time surveying the hobbits solemnly; and they looked at him, wondering when he would show any signs of 'hastiness'. He was tall, and seemed to be one of the younger Ents; he had smooth shining skin on his arms and legs; his lips were ruddy, and his hair was grey-green. He could bend and sway like a slender tree in the wind. At last he spoke, and his voice though resonant was higher and clearer than Treebeard's. 'Ha, hmm, my friends, let us go for a walk!' he said. 'I am Bregalad, that is Quickbeam in your language. But it is on ly a nickname, of course. They have called me that ever since I said yes to an elder Ent before he had finished his question. Also I drink quickly, and go out while some are still ####-wetting their beards. Come with me!' He reached down two shapely arms and gave a long -fingered hand to each of the hobbits. All that day they walked about in the woods with him, singing, and laughing; for Quickbeam often laughed. He laughed if the sun came out from behind a cloud, he laughed if they came upon a stream or spring: then he stooped and splashed his feet and head with water; he laughed sometimes at some sound or whisper in the trees. Whenever he saw a rowan-tree he halted a while with his arms stretched out, and sang, and swayed as he sang. At nightfall he brought them to his ent-house: nothing more than a mossy stone set upon turves under a green bank. Rowan-trees grew in a circle about it, and there was water (as in all ent-houses), a spring bubbling out from the bank. They talked for a while as darkness fell on the forest. Not far away the voices of the Entmoot could be heard still going on; but now they seemed deeper and less leisurely, and every now and again one great voice would rise in a high and quickening music, while all the others died away. But beside them Bregalad spoke gently in their own tongue, almost whispering; and they learned that he belonged to Skinbark's people, and the country where they had lived had been ravaged. That seemed to the hobbits quite enough to explain his 'hastiness', at least in the matter of Orcs. 'There were rowan-trees in my home,' said Bregalad, softly and sadly, 'rowan-trees that took root when I was an Enting, many many years ago in the quiet of the world. The oldest were planted by the Ents to try and please the Entwives; but they looked at them and smiled and said that they knew where whiter blossom and richer fruit were growing. Yet there are no trees of all that race, the people of the Rose, that are so beautiful to me. And these trees grew and grew, till the shadow of each was like a green hall, and their red berries in the autumn were a burden, and a beauty and a wonder. Birds used to flock there. I like birds, even when they chatter; and the rowan has enough and to spare. But the birds became unfriendly and greedy and tore at the trees, and threw the fruit down and did not eat it. Then Orcs came with axes and cut down my trees. I came and called them by their long names, but they did not quiver, they did not hear or answer: they lay dead. O Orofarnl, Lassemista, Carnimnril! O rowan fair, upon your hair how white the blossom lay! O rowan mine, I saw you shine upon a summer's day,####- Your rind so bright, your leaves so light, your voice so cool and soft: Upon your head how golden-red the crown you bore aloft! O rowan dead, upon your head your hair is dry and grey; Your crown is spilled, your voice is stilled for ever and a day. O Orofarnl, Lassemista, Carnimnril! The hobbits fell asleep to the sound of the soft singing of Bregalad, that seemed to lament in many tongues the fall of trees that he had loved. The next day they spent also in his company, but they did not go far from his 'house'. Most of the time they sat silent under the shelter of the bank; for the wind was colder, and the clouds closer and greyer; there was little sunshine, and in the distance the voices of the Ents at the Moot still rose and fell, sometimes loud and strong, sometimes low and sad, sometimes quickening, sometimes slow and solemn as a dirge. A second night came and still the Ents held conclave under hurrying clouds and fitful stars. The third day broke, bleak and windy. At sunrise the Ents' voices rose to a great clamour and then died down again. As the morning wore on the wind fell and the air grew heavy with expectancy. The hobbits could see that Bregalad was now listening intently, although to them, down in the dell of his ent-house, the sound of the Moot was faint. The afternoon came, and the sun, going west towards the mountains. sent out long yellow beams between the cracks and fissures of the clouds. Suddenly they were aware that everything wa s very quiet; the whole forest stood in listening silence. Of course, the Ent -voices had stopped. What did that mean? Bregalad was standing up erect and tense, looking back northwards towards Derndingle. Then with a crash came a great ringing shou t: ra-hoom-rah! The trees quivered and bent as if a gust had struck them. There was another pause, and then a marching music began like solemn drums, and above the rolling beats and booms there welled voices singing high and strong. We come, we come with roll of drum: ta -runda runda runda rom! The Ents were coming: ever nearer and louder rose their song: We come, we come with horn and drum: ta -ryna ryna ryna rom! Bregalad picked up the hobbits and strode from his house. Before long they saw the marching line approaching: the Ents were swinging along with great strides down the slope towards them. Treebeard was at their head, and some fifty followers were behind him, two abreast,####-keeping step with their feet and beating time with their hands upon their flanks. As they drew near the flash and flicker of their eyes could be seen. 'Hoom, hom! Here we come with a boom, here we come at last!' called Treebeard when he caught sight of Bregalad and the hobbits. 'Come, join the Moot! We are off. We are off to Isengard!' 'To Isengard!' the Ents cried in many voices. 'To Isengard!' To Isengard! Though Isengard be ringed and barred with doors of stone; Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone, We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door; For bole and bough are burning now, the furnace roars -- we go to war! To land of gloom with tramp of doom, with roll of drum, we come, we come; To Isengard with doom we come! With doom we come, with doom we come! So they sang as they marched southwards. Bregalad, his eyes shining, swung into the line beside Treebeard. The old Ent now took the hobbits back, and set them on his shoulders again, and so they rode proudly at the head of the sin ng company with beating hearts and heads held high. Though they ad expected something to happen eventually, they were amazed at the change that had come over the Ents. It seemed now as sudden as the bursting of a flood that had long been held back by a dike. 'The Ents made up their minds rather quickly, after all, didn't they?' Pippin ventured to say after some time, when for a moment the singing paused, and only the beating of hands and feet was heard. 'Quickly?' said Treebeard. 'Hoom! Yes, indeed. Quicker than I expected. Indeed I have not seen them roused like this for many an age. We Ents do not like being roused; and we never are roused unless it is clear to us that our trees and our lives are in great danger. That has not happened in this Forest since the wars of Sauron and the Men of the Sea. It is the orc-work, the wanton hewing -- rbrum -- without even the bad excuse of feeding the fires, that has so angered us; and the treachery of a neighbour, who should have helped us. Wizards ought to know better: they do know better. There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such treachery. Down with Saruman!' 'Will you really break the doors of Isengard?' asked Merry. 'Ho, hm, well, we could, you know! You do not know, perhaps. how strong ####-we are. Maybe you have heard of Trolls? They are mighty strong. But Trolls are only counterfeits. made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves. We are stronger than Trolls. We are made of the bones of the earth. We can split stone like the roots of trees, only quicker, far quicker, if our minds are roused! If we are not hewn down, or destroyed by fire or blast of sorcery, we could split Isengard into splinters and crack its walls into rubble.' 'But Saruman will try to stop you. won't he?' 'Hm, ah, yes, that is so. I have not forgotten it. Indeed I have thought long about it. But. you see, many of the Ents are younger than I am. by many lives of trees. They are all roused now. and their mind is all on one thing: breaking Isengard. But they will start thinking again before long; they will cool down a little. when we take our evening drink. What a thirst we shall have! But let them march now and sing! We have a long way to go, and there is time ahead for thought. It is something to have started.' Treebeard marched on, singing with the others for a while. But after a time his voice died to a murmur and fell silent again. Pippin could see that his old brow was wrinkled and knotted. At last he looked up, and Pippin could see a sad look in his eyes, sad but not unhappy. There was a light in them, as if the green flame had sunk deeper into the dark wells of his thought. 'Of course, it is likely enough, my friends,' he said slowly, 'likely enough that we are going to our doom: the last march of the Ents. But if we stayed at home and did noth ing, doom would find us anyway, sooner or later. That thought has long been growing in our hearts; and that is why we are marching now. It was not a hasty resolve. Now at least the last march of the Ents may be worth a song. Aye,' he sighed, 'we may help the other peoples before we pass away. Still, I should have liked to see the songs come true about the Entwives. I should dearly have liked to see Fimbrethil again. But there, my friends, songs like trees bear fruit only in their own time and their own way: and sometimes they are withered untimely.' The Ents went striding on at a great pace. They had descended into a long fold of the land that fell away southward; now they began to climb up, and up, on to the high western ridge. The woods fell away and they came to scattered groups of birch, and then to bare slopes where only a few gaunt pine-trees grew. The sun sank behind the dark hill -back in front. Grey dusk fell.####- Pippin looked behind. The number of the Ents had grown -- or what was happening? Where the dim bare slopes that they had crossed should lie, he thought he saw groves of trees. But they were moving! Could it be that the trees of Fangorn were awake, and the forest was rising, marching over the hills to war? He rubbed his eyes wondering if sleep and shadow had deceived him; but the great grey shapes moved steadily onward. There was a noise like wind in many branches. The Ents were drawing near the crest of the ridge now, and all song had ceased. Night fell, and there was silence: nothing was to be heard save a faint quiver of the earth beneath the feet of the Ents, and a rustle, the shade of a whisper as of many drifting leaves. At last they stood upon the summit, and looked down into a dark pit: the great cleft at the end of the mountains: Nan Curunnr, the Valley of Saruman. 'Night lies over Isengard,' said Treebeard. ####-'My very bones are chilled,' said Gimli, flapping his arms and stamping his feet. Day had come at last. At dawn the companions had made such breakfast as they could; now in the growing light they were getting ready to search the ground again for signs of the hobbits. 'And do not forget that old man!' said Gimli. 'I should be happier if I could see the print of a boot.' 'Why would that make you happy?' said Legolas. 'Because an old man with feet that leave marks might be no more than he seemed,' answered the Dwarf. 'Maybe,' said the Elf; 'but a heavy boot might leave no print here: the grass is deep and springy.' 'That would not baffle a Ranger,' said Gimli. 'A bent blade is enough for Aragorn to read. But I do not expect him to find any traces. It was an evil phantom of Saruman that we saw last night. I am sure of it, even under the light of morning. His eyes are looking out on us from Fangorn even now, maybe.' 'It is likely enough,' said Aragorn; 'yet I am not sure. I am thinking of the horses. You said last night, Gimli, that they were scared away. Bu t I did not think so. Did you hear them, Legolas? Did they sound to you like beasts in terror?' 'No,' said Legolas. 'I heard them clearly. But for the darkness and our own fear I should have guessed that they were beasts wild with some sudden gladness. They spoke as horses will when they meet a friend that they have long missed.' 'So I thought,' said Aragorn; 'but I cannot read the riddle, unless they return. Come! The light is growing fast. Let us look first and guess later! We should begin here, near to our own camping-ground, searching carefully all about, and working up the slope towards the forest. To find the hobbits is our errand, whatever we may think of our visitor in the night. If they escaped by some chance, then they must have hidden in the trees, or they would have been seen. If we find nothing between here and the eaves of the wood, then we will make a last search upon the battle-field and among the ashes. But there is little hope there: the horsemen of Rohan did ####-their work too well.' For some time the companions crawled and groped upon the ground. The tree stood mournfully above them, its dry leaves now hanging limp, and rattling in the chill easterly wind. Aragorn moved slowly away. He came to the ashes of the watch-fire near the river -bank, and then began to retrace the ground back towards the knoll where the battle had been fought. Suddenly he stooped and bent low with his face almost in the grass. Then he called to the others. They came running up. 'Here at last we find news!' said Aragorn. He lifted up a broken leaf for them to see, a large pale leaf of golden hue, now fading and turning brown. 'Here is a mallorn-leaf of Lurien, and there are small crumbs on it, and a few more crumbs in the grass. And see! there are some pieces of cut cord lying nearby!' 'And here is the knife that cut them!' said Gimli. He stooped and drew out of a tussock, into which some heavy foot had trampled it, a short jagged blade. The haft from which it had been snapped was beside it. 'It was an orc-weapon,' he said, holding it gingerly, and looking with disgust at the carved handle: it had been shaped like a hideous head with squinting eyes and leering mouth. 'Well, here is the strangest riddle that we have yet found!' exclaimed Legolas. 'A bound prisoner escapes both from the Orcs and from the surrounding horsemen. He then stops, while still in the open, and cuts his bonds with an orc-knife. But how and why? For if his legs were tied, how did he walk? And if his arms were tied, how did he use the knife? And if neither were tied, why did he cut the cords at all? Being pleased with his skill, he then sat down and quietly ate some waybread! That at least is enough to show that he was a hobbit, without the mallorn-leaf. After that, I suppose, he turned his arms into wings and flew away singing into the trees. It should be easy to find him: we only need wings ourselves!' 'There was sorcery here right enough,' said Gimli. 'What was that old man doing? What have you to say, Aragorn, to the reading of Legolas. Can you better it?' 'Maybe, I could,' said Aragorn, smiling. 'There are some other signs near at hand that you have not considered. I agree that the prisoner was a hobbit and must have had either legs or hands free, before he came here. I guess that it was hands, because the riddle then becomes easier, and also because, as I read the marks, he was carried to this point by an Orc. Blood ####-was spilled there, a few paces away, orc-blood. There are deep prints of hoofs all about this spot, and signs that a heavy thing was dragged away. The Orc was slain by horsemen, and later his body was hauled to the fire. But the hobbit was not seen: he was not "in the open", for it was night and he still had his elven-cloak. He was exhausted and hungry, and it is not to be wondered at that, when he had cut his bonds with the knife of his fallen enemy, he rested and ate a little before he crept away. But it is a comfort to know that he had some lembas in his pocket, even though he ran away without gear or pack; that, perhaps, is like a hobbit. I say he, though I hope and guess that both Merry and Pippin were here together. There is, however, nothing to show that for certain.' 'And how do you suppose that either of our friends came to have a hand free?' asked Gimli. 'I do not know how it happened,' answered Aragorn. 'Nor do I know why an Orc was carrying them away. Not to help them to escape, we may be sure. Nay, rather I think that I now begin to understand a matter that has puzzled me from the beginning: why when Boromir had fallen were the Orcs content with the capture of Merry and Pippin? They did not seek out the rest of us, nor attack our camp; but instead they went with all speed towards Isengard. Did they suppose they had captured the Ring-bearer and his faithful comrade? I think not. Their masters would not dare to give such plain orders to Orcs, even if they knew so much themselves; they would not speak openly to them of the Ring: they are not trusty servants. But I think the Orcs had been commanded to capture hobbits, alive, at all costs. An attempt was made to slip out with the precious prisoners before the battle. Treachery perhaps, likely enough with such folk; some large and bold Orc may have been trying to escape with the prize alone, for his own ends. There, that is my tale. Others might be devised. But on this we may count in any case: one at least of our friends escaped. It is our task to find him and help him before we return to Rohan. We must not be daunted by Fangorn, since need drove him into that dark place.' 'I do not know which daunts me more: Fangorn, or the thought of the long road through Rohan on foot,' said Gimli. 'Then let us go to the forest,' said Aragorn. It was not long before Aragorn found fresh signs. At one point, near the bank of the Entwash, he came upon footprints: hobbit-prints, but too light for much to be made of them. Then again beneath the bole of a great ####-tree on the very edge of the wood more prints were discovered. The earth was bare and dry, and did not reveal much. 'One hobbit at least stood here for a while and looked back; and then he turned away into the forest,' said Aragorn. 'Then we must go in, too,' said Gimli. 'But I do not like the look of this Fangorn: and we were warned against it. I wish the chase had led anywhere else!' 'I do not think the wood feels evil, whatever tales may say,' said Legolas. He stood under the eaves of the forest, stooping forward, as if he were listening, and peering with wide eyes into the shadows. 'No, it is not evil; or what evil is in it is far away. I catch only the faintest echoes of dark places where the hearts of the trees are black. There is no malice near us; but there is watchfulness, and anger.' 'Well, it has no cause to be angry with me,' said Gimli. 'I have done it no harm. ' 'That is just as well,' said Legolas. 'But nonetheless it has suffered harm. There is something happening inside, or going to happen. Do you not feel the tenseness? It takes my breath.' 'I feel the air is stuffy,' said the Dwarf. 'This wood is lighter than Mirkwood, but it is musty and shabby.' 'It is old, very old,' said the Elf. 'So old that almost I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with you children. It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace.' 'I dare say you could,' snorted Gimli. 'You are a Wood-elf, anyway, though Elves of any kind are strange folk. Yet you comfort me. Where you go, I will go. But keep your bow ready to hand, and I will keep my axe loose in my belt. Not for use on trees,' he added hastily, looking up at the tree under which they stood. 'I do not wish to meet that old man at unawares without an argument ready to hand, that is all. Let us go!' With that the three hunters plunged into the forest of Fangorn. Legolas and Gimli left the tracking to Aragorn. There was little for him to see. The floor of the forest was dry and covered with a drift of leaves; but guessing that the fugitives would stay near the water, he returned oft en to the banks of the stream. So it was that he came upon the place where Merry and Pippin had drunk and bathed their feet. There plain for all to see were the footprints of two hobbits, one somewhat smaller than the other.####- 'This is good tidings,' said Aragorn. 'Yet the marks are two days old And it seems that at this point the hobbits left the water -side.' 'Then what shall we do now?' said Gimli. 'We cannot pursue them through the whole fastness of Fangorn. We have come ill supplied. If we do not find them soon, we shall be of no use to them, except to sit down beside them and show our friendship by starving together.' 'If that is indeed all we can do, then we must do that,' said Aragorn. 'Let us go on.' They came at length to the steep abrupt end of Treebeard's Hill and looked up at the rock -wall with its rough steps leading to the high shelf. Gleams of sun were striking through the hurrying clouds, and the forest now looked less grey and drear. 'Let us go up a nd look about us!' said Legolas. 'I will feel my breath short. I should like to taste a freer air for a while.' The companions climbed up. Aragorn came last, moving slowly: he was scanning the steps and ledges closely. 'I am almost sure that the hobbits have been up here,' he said. 'But there are other marks, very strange marks, which I do not understand. I wonder if we can see anything from this ledge which will help us to guess which way they went next?' He stood up and looked about, but he saw nothing that was of any use. The shelf faced southward and eastward; but only on the east was the view open. There he could see the heads of the trees descending in ranks towards the plain from which they had come. 'We have journeyed a long way round,' said Legolas. 'We could have all come here safe together, if we had left the Great River on the second or third day and struck west. Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end.' 'But we did not wish to come to Fangorn,' said Gimli. 'Yet here we are-and nicely caught in the net,' said Legolas. 'Look!' 'Look at what?' said Gimli. 'There in the trees.' 'Where? I have not elf-eyes.' 'Hush! Speak more softly! Look!' said Legolas pointing. 'Down in the wood, back in the Way that we have just come. It is he. Cannot you see him, passing from tree to tree?' 'I see, I see now!' hissed Gimli. 'Look, Aragorn! Did I not warn you?####-There is the old man. All in dirty grey rags: that is why I could not see him at first.' Aragorn looked and beheld a bent figure moving slowly. It was not far away. It looked like an old beggar-man, walking wearily, leaning on a rough staff. His head was bowed, and he did not look towards them. In other lands they would have greeted him with kind words; but now they stood silent, each feeling a strange expectancy: something was approaching that held a hidden power -or menace. Gimli gazed with wide eyes for a while, as step by step the figure drew nearer. Then suddenly, unable to contain himself longer, he burst out: 'Your bow, Legolas! Bend it! Get ready! It is Saruman. Do not let him speak, or put a spell upon us! Shoot first!' Legolas took his bow and bent it, slowly and as if some other will resisted him. He held an arrow loosely in his hand but did not fit it to the string. Aragorn stood silent, his face was watchful and intent. 'Why are you waiting? What is the matter with you?' said Gimli in a hissing whisper. 'Legolas is right,' said Aragorn quietly. 'We may not shoot an old man so, at unawares and unchallenged, whatever fear or doubt be on us. Watch and wait!' At that moment the old man quickened his pace and came with surprising speed to the foot of the rock -wall. Then suddenly he looked up, while they stood motionless looking down. There was no sound. They could not see his face: he was hooded, and above the hood he wore a wide-brimmed hat, so that all his features were over -shadowed, except for the end of his nose and his grey beard. Yet it seemed to Aragorn that he caught the gleam of eyes keen and bright from within the shadow of the hooded brows. At last the old man broke the silence. 'Well met indeed , my friends,' he said in a soft voice. 'I wish to speak to you. Will you come down or shall I come up?' Without waiting for an answer he began to climb. 'Now!' said Gimli. 'Stop him, Legolas!' 'Did I not say that I wished to speak to you?' said the old man. 'Put away that bow, Master Elf!' The bow and arrow fell from Legolas' hands, and his arms hung loose at his sides. 'And you, Master Dwarf, pray take your hand from your axe-haft, till I ####-am up! You will not need such arguments. ' Gimli started and then stood still as stone, staring, while the old man sprang up the rough steps as nimbly as a goat. All weariness seemed to have left him. As he stepped up on to the shelf there was a gleam, too brief for certainty, a quick glint of white, as if some garment shrouded by the grey rags had been for an instant revealed The intake of Gimli's breath could be heard as a loud hiss in the silence. 'Well met, I say again!' said the old man, coming towards them. When he was a few feet away, he stood, stooping over his staff, with his head thrust forward, peering at them from under his hood. 'And what may you be doing in these parts? An Elf, a Man, and a Dwarf. all clad in elvish fashion. No doubt there is a tale worth hearing behind it all. Such things are not often seen here.' 'You speak as one that knows Fangorn well,' said Aragorn. 'Is that so?' 'Not well,' said the old man: 'that would be the study of many lives. But I come here now and again.' 'Might we know your name, and then hear what it is that you have to say to us?' said Aragorn. 'The morning passes, and we have an errand that will not wait.' 'As for what I wished to say, I have said it: What may you be doing, and what tale can you tell of yourselves? As for my name!' He broke off, laughing long and softly. Aragorn felt a shudder run through him at the sound, a strange cold thrill; and yet it was not fear or terror that he felt: rather it was like the sudden bite of a keen air, or the slap of a cold rain that wakes an uneasy sleeper. 'My name!' said the old man again. 'Have you not guessed it already? You have heard it before, I think. Yes, you have heard it before. But come now, what of your tale?' The three companions stood silent and made no answer. 'There are some who would begin to doubt whether your errand is fit to tell,' said the old man. 'Happily I know something of it. You are tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits, I believe. Yes, hobbits. Don't stare, as if you had never heard the strange name before. You have, and so have I. Well, they climbed up here the day before yesterday; and they met someone that they did not expect. Does that comfort you? And now you would like to know where they were taken? Well, well, maybe I can give you some news about ####-that. But why are we standing? Your errand, you see, is no longer as urgent as you thought. Let us sit down and be more at ease.' The old man turned away and went towards a heap of fallen stones and rock at the foot of the cliff behind. Immediately, as if a spell had been removed, the others relaxed and stirred. Gimli's hand went at once to his axe-haft. Aragorn drew his sword. Legolas picked up his bow. The old man took no notice, but stooped and sat himself on a low flat stone. Then his grey cloak drew apart, and they saw, beyond doubt, that he was clothed beneath all in white. 'Saruman!' cried Gimli, springing towards him with axe in hand. 'speak! Tell us where you have hidden our friends! What have you done with them? Speak, or I will make a dint in your hat that even a wizard will find it hard to deal with!' The old man was too quick for him. He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone. He lifted up his staff, and Gimli's axe leaped from his grasp and fell ringing on the ground. The sword of Aragorn, stiff in his motionless hand, blazed with a sudden fire. Legolas gave a great shout and shot an arrow high into the air: it vanished in a flash of flame. 'Mithrandir!' he cried. 'Mithrandir!' 'Well met, I say to you again. Legolas!' said the old man. They all gazed at him. His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say. At last Aragorn stirred. 'Gandalf!' he said. 'Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!' Gimli said nothing, hut sank to his knees, shading his eyes. 'Gandalf,' the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. 'Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.' He stepped down from the rock, and picking up his grey cloak wrapped it about him: it seemed as if the sun had been shining, but now was hid in cloud again. 'Yes, you may still call me Gandalf,' he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide. 'Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me. Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the ####-tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.' He laid his hand on Gimli's head, and the Dwarf looked up and laughed suddenly. 'Gandalf!' he said. 'But you are all in white!' 'Yes, I am white now,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been. But come now, tell me of yourselves! I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Tell me of yourselves!' 'What do you wish to know?' said Aragorn. 'All that has happened since we parted on the bridge would be a long tale. Will you not first give us news of the hobbits? Did you find them, and are they safe?' 'No, I did not find them,' said Gandalf. 'There was a darkness over the valleys of the Emyn Muil, and I did not know of their captivity, until the eagle told me.' 'The eagle!' said Legolas. 'I have seen an eagle high and far off: the last time was three days ago, above the Emyn Muil.' 'Yes,' said Gandalf, 'that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings. His sight is keen, but he cannot see all that passes under hill and tree. Some things he has seen, and others I have seen myself. The Ring now has passed beyond my help, or the help of any of the Company that set out from Rivendell. Very nearly it was revealed to the Enemy, but it escaped. I had some part in that: for I sat in a high place, and I strove with the Dark Tower; and the Shadow passed. Then I was weary, very weary; and I walked long in dark thought.' 'Then you know about Frodo!' said Gimli. 'How do things go with him?' 'I cannot say. He was saved from a great peril, but many lie before him still. He resolved to go alone to Mordor, and he set out: that is all that I can say.' 'Not alone,' said Legolas. 'We think that Sam went with him.' 'Did he!' said Gandalf, and there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face. 'Did he indeed? It is news to me, yet it does not surprise me. Good! Very good! You lighten my heart. You must tell me more. Now sit by me and tell me the tale of your journey.' The companions sat on the ground at his feet, and Aragorn took up the ####-tale. For a long while Gandalf said nothing, and he asked no quest ions. His hands were spread upon his knees, and his eyes were closed. At last when Aragorn spoke of the death of Boromir and of his last journey upon the Great River, the old man sighed. 'You have not said all that you know or guess, Aragorn my friend,' he said quietly. 'Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men. Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even a s we talk here, I hear the first rumblings. Saruman had best not be caught away from home when the dam bursts!' 'In one thing you have not changed, dear friend,' said Aragorn: 'you still speak in riddles.' 'What? In riddles?' sa id Gandalf. 'No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.' He laughed, but the sound now seemed warm and kindly as a gleam of sunshine. 'I am no longer young even in the reckoning of Men of the Ancient Houses,' said Aragorn. 'Will you not open your mind more clearly to me?' 'What then shall I say?' said Gandalf, and paused for a while in thought. 'This in brief is how I see things at the moment, if you wish to have a piece of my mind as plain as possible. The Enemy, of course, has long known that the Ring is abroad, and that it is borne by a hobbit. He knows now the number of our Company that set out fr om Rivendell, and the kind of each of us. But he does not yet perceive our purpose clearly. He supposes that we were all going to Minas Tirith; for that is what he would himself have done in our place. And according to his wisdom it would have been a heavy stroke against his power. Indeed he is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place. That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream. In which no doubt you will see our good fortune and our hope. For imagining war he has let loose war, believing that he has no ####-time to waste; for he that strikes the first blow, if he strikes it hard enough, may need to strike no more. So the forces that he has long been preparing he is now setting in motion, sooner than he intended. Wise fool. For if he had used all his power to guard Mordor, so that none could enter, and bent all his guild to the hunting of the Ring, then indeed hope would have faded: neither Ring nor Bearer could long have eluded him. But now his eye gazes abroad rather than near at home; and mostly he looks towards Minas Tirith. Very soon now his strength will fall upon it like a storm. 'For already he knows that the messengers that he sent to waylay the Company have failed again. They have not found the Ring. Neither have they brought away any hobbits as hostages. Had they done even so much as that, it would have been a heavy blow to us, and it might have been fatal. But let us not darken our hearts by imagining the trial of their gentle loyalty in the Dark Tower. For the Enemy has failed-so far. Thanks to Saruman:' 'Then is not Saruman a traitor?' said Gimli. 'Indeed yes,' said Gandalf. 'Doubly. And is not that strange? Nothing that we have endured of late has seemed so grievous as the treason of Isengard. Even reckoned as a lord and captain Saruman has grown very strong. He threatens the Men of Rohan and draws off their help from Minas Tirith, even as the main blow is approaching from the East. Yet a treacherous weapon is ever a danger to the hand. Saruman also had a mind to capture the Ring, for himself, or at least to snare some hobbits for his evil purposes. So between them our enemies have contrived only to bring Merry and Pippin with marvellous speed, and in the nick of time, to Fangorn, where otherwise they would never have come at all! 'Also they have filled themselves with new doubts that disturb their plans. No tidings of the battle will come to Mordor, thanks to the horsemen of Rohan; but the Dark Lord knows that two hobbits were taken in the Emyn Muil and borne away towards Isengard against the will of his own servants. He now has Isengard to fear as well as Minas Tirith. If Minas Tirith falls, it will go ill with Saruman.' 'It is a pity that our friends lie in between,' said Gimli. 'If no land divided Isengard and Mordor, then they could fight while we watched and waited.' 'The victor would emerge stronger than either, and free from doubt,' said Gandalf. 'But Isengard cannot figh t Mordor, unless Saruman first obtains the Ring. That he will never do now. He does not yet know his peril.####-There is much that he does not know. He was so eager to lay his hands on his prey that he could not wait at home, and he came forth to meet and to spy on his messengers. But he came too late, for once, and the battle was over and beyond his help before he reached these parts. He did not remain here long. I look into his mind and I see his doubt. He has no woodcraft. He believes that the horsemen slew and burned all upon the field of battle; but he does not know whether the Orcs were bringing any prisoners or not. And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger.' 'The Winged Messenger!' cried Legolas. 'I shot at him with the bow of Galadriel above Sarn Gebir, and I felled him from the sky. He filled us all with fear. What new terror is this?' 'One that you cannot slay with arrows,' said Gandalf. 'You on ly slew his steed. It was a good deed; but the Rider was soon horsed again. For he was a Nazgyl, one of the Nine, who ride now upon winged steeds. Soon their terror will overshadow the last armies of our friends, cutting off the sun. But they have not yet been allowed to cross the River, and Saruman does not know of this new shape in which the Ringwraiths have been clad. His thought is ever on the Ring. Was it present in the battle? Was it found? What if Thjoden, Lord of the Mark, should come by it and learn of its power? That is the danger that he sees, and he has fled back to Isengard to double and treble his assault on Rohan. And all the time there is another danger, close at hand, which he does not see, busy with his fiery thoughts. He has forgotten Treebeard.' 'Now you speak to yourself again,' said Aragorn with a smile. 'Treebeard is not known to me. And I have guessed part of Saruman's double treachery; yet I do not see in what way the coming of two hobbits to Fangorn has served, save to give us a long and fruitless chase.' 'Wait a minute!' cried Gimli. 'There is another thing that I should like to know first. Was it you, Gandalf, or Saruman that we saw last night?' 'You certainly did not see me, ' answered Gandalf, 'therefore I must guess that you saw Saruman. Evidently we look so much alike that your desire to make an incurable dent in my hat must be excused.' 'Good, good!' said Gimli. 'I am glad that it was not you.' Gandalf laughed again. 'Yes, my good Dwarf,' he said, 'it is a comfort not to be mistaken at all points. Do I not know it only too well! But, of course, I never blamed you for your welcome of me. How could I do so, who ####-have so often counselled my friends to suspect even their own hands when dealing with the Enemy. Bless you, Gimli, son of Gluin! Maybe you will see us both together one day and judge between us!' 'But the hobbits!' Legolas broke in. 'We have come far to seek them, and you seem to know where they are. Where are they now?' 'With Treebeard and the Ents,' said Gandalf. 'The Ents!' exclaimed Aragorn. 'Then there is truth in the old legends about the dwellers in the deep forests and the giant shepherds of the trees? Are there still Ents in the world? I thought they were only a memory of ancient days, if indeed they were ever more than a legend of Rohan.' 'A legend of Rohan!' cried Legolas. 'Nay, every Elf in Wilderland has sung songs of the old Onodrim and their long sorrow. Yet even among us they are only a memory. If I were to meet one still walking in this world, then indeed I should feel young again! But Treebeard: that is only a rendering of Fangorn into the Common Speech; yet you seem to speak of a person. Who is this Treebeard?' 'Ah! now you are asking much,' said Gandalf. 'The little that I know of his long slow story would make a tale for which we have no time now. Treebeard is Fangorn, the guardian of the forest; he is the oldest of the Ents, the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth. I hope indeed, Legolas, that you may yet meet him. Merry and Pippin have been fortunate: they met him here, even where we sit. For he came here two days ago and bore them away to his dwelling far off by the roots of the mountains. He often comes here, especially when his mind is uneasy, and rumours of the world outside trouble him. I saw him four days ago striding among the trees, and I think he saw me, for he paused; but I did not speak, for I was heavy with thought, and weary after my struggle with the Eye of Mordor; and he did not speak either, nor call my name.' 'Perhaps he also thought that you were Saruman,' said Gimli. 'But you speak of him as if he was a friend. I thought Fangorn was dangerous.' 'Dangerous!' cried Gandalf. 'And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is dangerous. You are beset with dangers, Gimli son of Gluin; for you are dangerous yourself, in your own fashion. Certainly the forest of Fangorn is perilous-not least to those that are too ready with their axes; and Fangorn himself, he is perilous too; yet he is wise and kindly nonetheless. But now ####-his long slow wrath is brimming over, and all the forest is filled with it. The coming of the hobbits and the tidings that they brought have spilled it: it will soon be running like a flood; but its tide is turned against Saruman and the axes of Isengard. A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong.' 'What will they do?' asked Legolas in astonishment. 'I do not know,' said Gandalf. 'I do not think they know themselves. I wonder.' He fell silent, his head bowed in thought. The others looked at him. A gleam of sun through fleeting clouds fell on his hands, which lay now upturned on his lap: they seemed to be filled with light as a cup is with water. At last he looked up and gazed straight at the sun. 'The morning is wearing away,' he said. 'Soon we must go.' 'Do we go to find our friends and to see Treebeard?' asked Aragorn. 'No,' said Gandalf. 'That is not the road that you must take. I have spoken words of hope. But only of hope. Hope is not victory. War is upon us and all our friends, a war in which only the use of the Ring could give us surety of victory. It fills me with great sorrow and great fear: for much shall be destroyed and all may be lost. I am Gandalf, Gandalf the White, but Black is mightier still.' He rose and gazed out eastward, shading his eyes, as if he saw things far away that none of them could see. Then he shook his head. 'No,' he said in a soft voice, 'it has gone beyond our reach. Of that at least let us be glad. We can no longer be tempted to use the Ring. We must go down to face a peril near despair, yet that deadly peril is removed.' He turned. 'Come, Aragorn son of Arathorn!' he said. 'Do not regret your choice in the valley of the Emyn Muil, nor call it a vain pursuit. You chose amid doubts the path that seemed right: the choice was just, and it has been rewarded. For so we have met in time, who otherwise might have met too late. But the quest of your companions is over. Your next journey is marked by your given word. You must go to Edoras and seek out Thjoden in his hall. For you are needed. The light of And®ril must now be uncovered in the battle for which it has so long waited. There is war in Rohan, and worse evil: it goes ill with Thjoden.' 'Then are we not to see the merry young hobbits again?' said Legolas.####- 'I did not say so,' said Gandalf. 'Who knows? Have patience. Go where you must go, and hope! To Edoras! I go thither also.' 'It is a long way for a man to walk, young or old,' said Aragorn. 'I fear the battle will be over long ere I come there. ' 'We shall see, we shall see,' said Gandalf. 'Will you come now with me?' 'Yes, we will set out together,' said Aragorn. 'But I do not doubt that you will come there before me, if you wish.' He rose and looked long at Gandalf. The others gazed at them in silence as they stood there facing one another. The grey figure of the Man, Aragorn son of Arathorn, was tall, and stern as stone, his hand upon the hilt of his sword; he looked as if some king out of the mists of the sea had stepped upon the shores of lesser men. Before him stooped the old figure, white; shining now as if with some light kindled within, bent, laden with years, but holding a power beyond the strength of kings. 'Do I not say truly, Gandalf,' said Aragorn at last, 'that you could go whithersoever you wished quicker than I? And this I also say: you are our captain and our banner. The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mightier than they: the White Rider. He has passed through the fire and the abyss, and they shall fear him. We will go where he leads.' 'Yes, together we will follow you,' said Legolas. 'But first, it would ease my heart, Gandalf, to hear what befell you in Moria. Will you not tell us? Can you not stay even to tell your friends how you were delivered?' 'I have stayed already too long,' answered Gandalf. 'Time is short. But if there were a year to spend, I would not tell you all.' 'Then tell us what you will, and time allows!' said Gimli. 'Come, Gandalf, tell us how you fared with the Balrog!' 'Name him not!' said Gandalf, and for a moment it seemed that a cloud of pain passed over his face, and he sat silent, looking old as death. 'Long time I fell,' he said at last, slowly, as if thinking back with diffi culty. 'Long I fell, and he fell with me. His fire was about me. I was burned. Then we plunged into the deep water and all was dark. Cold it was as the tide of death: almost it froze my heart.' 'Deep is the abyss that is spanned by Durin's Bridge, and none has measured it,' said Gimli. 'Yet it has a bottom, beyond light and knowledge,' said Gandalf. 'Thither I came at last, to the uttermost foundations of stone. He was with ####-me still. His fire was quenched, but now he was a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake. 'We fought far under the living earth, where time is not counted. Ever he clutched me, and ever I hewed him, till at last he fled into dark tunnels. They were not made by Durin's folk, Gimli son of Gluin. Far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, but I will bring no report to darken the light of day. In that despair my enemy was my only hope, and I pursued him, clutching at his heel. Thus he brought me back at last to the secret ways of Khazad-dym: too well he knew them all. Ever up now we went, until we came to the Endless Stair.' 'Long has that been lost,' said Gimli. 'Many have said that it was never made save in legend, but others say that it was destroyed.' 'It was made, and it had not been destroyed,' said Gandalf. 'From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak it climbed. ascending in unbroken spiral in many thousand steps, until it issued at last in Durin's Tower carved in the living rock of Zirak-zigil, the pinnacle of the Silvertine. 'There upon Celebdil was a lonely window in the snow, and before it lay a narrow space, a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world. The sun shone fiercely there, but all below was wrapped in cloud. Out he sprang, and even as I came behind, he burst into new flame. There was none to see, or perhaps in after ages songs would still be sung of the Battle of the Peak.' Suddenly Gandalf laughed. 'But what would they say in song? Those that looked up from afar thought that the mountain was crowned with storm. Thunder they heard, and lightning, they said, smote upon Celebdil, and leaped back broken into tongues of fire. Is not that enough? A great smoke rose about us, vapour and steam. Ice fell like rain. I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me; and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. 'Naked I was sent back -- for a brief time, until my task is done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. The tower behind was crumbled into dust, the window gone; the ruined stair was choked with burned and broken stone. I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow ####-everlasting groan of overburdened stone. And so at the last Gwaihir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away. ' 'Ever am I fated to be your burden, friend at need,' I said. ' 'A burden you have been,' he answered, 'but not so now. Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are. The Sun shines through you. Indeed I do not think you need me any more: were I to let you fall you would float upon the wind.' ' 'Do not let me fall!' I gasped, for I felt life in me again. 'Bear me to Lothlurien!' ' 'That indeed is the command of the Lady Galadriel who sent me to look for you,' he answered. 'Thus it was that I came to Caras Galadhon and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white. Counsel I gave and counsel took. Thence by strange roads I came, and messages I bring to some of you. To Aragorn I was bidden to say this: Where now are the D®nedain, Elessar, Elessar? Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar? Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth, And the Grey Company ride from the North. But dark is the path appointed for thee: The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea. To Legolas she sent this word: Legolas Greenleaf long under tree In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.' Gandalf fell silent and shut his eyes. 'Then she sent me no message?' said Gimli and bent his head. 'Dark are her words,' said Legolas, 'and little do they mean to those that receive them.' 'That is no comfort,' said Gimli. 'What then?' said Legolas. 'Would you have her speak openly to you of your death?' 'Yes. if she had nought else to say.' 'What is that?' said Gandalf, opening his eyes. 'Yes, I think I can guess what her words may mean. Your pardon, Gimli! I was pondering the ####-messages once again. But indeed she sent words to you, and neither dark nor sad. ' "To Gimli son of Gluin," she said, "give his Lady's greeting. Lock -bearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee. But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!" ' 'In happy hour you have returned to us, Gandalf,' cried the Dwarf, capering as he sang loudly in the strange dwarf-tongue. 'Come, come!' he shouted, swinging his axe. 'Since Gandalf's head is now sacred, let us find one that it is right to cleave!' 'That will not be far to seek,' said Gandalf, rising from his seat. 'Come! We have spent all the time that is allowed to a meeting of parted friends. Now there is need of haste.' He wrapped himself again in his old tattered cloak, and led the way. Following him they descended quickly from the high shelf and made their way back through the forest, down the bank of the Entwash. They spoke no more words, until they stood again upon the grass beyond the eaves of Fangorn. There was no sign of their horses to be seen. 'They have not returned,' said Legolas. 'It will be a weary walk!' 'I shall not walk. Time presses,' said Gandalf. Then lifting up his head he gave a long whistle. So clear and piercing was the note that the others stood amazed to hear such a sound come from those old bearded lips. Three times he whistled; and then faint and far off it seemed to them that they heard the whinny of a horse borne up from the plains upon the eastern wind. They waited wondering. Before long there came the sound of hoofs, at first hardly more than a tremor of the ground perceptible only to Aragorn as he lay upon the grass, then growing steadily louder and clearer to a quick beat. 'There is more than one horse coming,' said Aragorn. 'Certainly,' said Gandalf. 'We are too great a burden for one.' 'There are three,' sa id Legolas, gazing out over the plain. 'See how they run! There is Hasufel, and there is my friend Arod beside him! But there is another that strides ahead: a very great horse. I have not seen his like before.' 'Nor will you again,' said Gandalf. 'That is Shadowfax. He is the chief of the Mearas, lords of horses, and not even Thjoden, King of Rohan, has ever looked on a better. Does he not shine like silver, and run as smoothly as a swift stream? He has come for me: the horse of the White Rider. We are ####-going to battle together.' Even as the old wizard spoke, the great horse came striding up the slope towards them; his coat was glistening and his mane flowing in the wind of his speed. The two others followed, now far behind. As soon as Shadowfax saw Gandalf, he checked his pace and whinnied loudly; then trotting gently forward he stooped his proud head and nuzzled his great nostrils against the old man's neck. Gandalf caressed him. 'It is a long way from Rivendell, my friend,' he said; 'but you are wise and swift and come at need. Far let us ride now together, and part not in this world again!' Soon the other horses came up and stood quietly by, as if awaiting orders. 'We go at once to Meduseld, the hall of your master, Thjoden,' said Gandalf, addressing them gravely. They bowed their heads. 'Time presses, so with your leave, my friends, we will ride. We beg you to use all the speed that you can. Hasufel shall bear Aragorn and Arod Legolas. I will set Gimli before me, and by his leave Shadowfax shall bear us both. We will wait now only to drink a little.' 'Now I understand a part of last night's riddle,' said Legolas as he sprang lightly upon Arod's back. 'Whether they fled at first in fear, or not, our horses met Shadowfax, their chieftain, and greeted him with joy. Did you know that he was at hand, Gandalf?' 'Yes, I knew,' said the wizard. 'I bent my thought upon him, bidding him to make haste; for yesterday he was far away in the south of this land. Swiftly may he bear me back again!' Gandalf spoke now to Shadowfax, and the horse set off at a good pace, yet not beyond the measure of the others. After a little while he turned suddenly, and choosing a place where the ba nks were lower, he waded the river, and then led them away due south into a flat land, treeless and wide. The wind went like grey waves through the endless miles of grass. There was no sign of road or track, but Shadowfax did not stay or falter. 'He is steering a straight course now for the halls of Thjoden under the slopes of the White Mountains,' said Gandalf. 'It will be quicker so. The ground is firmer in the Eastemnet, where the chief northward track lies, across the river, but Shadowfax knows the way through every fen and hollow.' For many hours they rode on through the meads and riverlands. Often the grass was so high that it reached above the knees of the riders, and their ####-steeds seemed to be swimming in a grey-green sea. They came upon many hidden pools, and broad acres of sedge waving above wet and treacherous bogs; but Shadowfax found the way, and the other horses followed in his swath. Slowly the sun fell from the sky down into the West. Looking out over the great plain, far away the riders saw it for a moment like a red fire sinking into the grass. Low upon the edge of sight shoulders of the mountains glinted red upon either side. A smoke seemed to rise up and darken the sun's disc to the hue of blood, as if it had kindled the grass as it passed down under the rim of earth. 'There lies the Gap of Rohan,' said Gandalf. 'It is now almost due west of us. That way lies Isengard.' 'I see a great smoke,' said Legolas. 'What may that be?' 'Battle and war!' said Gandalf. 'Ride on!' ####- They rode on through sunset, and slow dusk, and gathering night. When at last they halted and dismounted, even Aragorn was stiff and weary. Gandalf only allowed them a few hou rs' rest. Legolas and Gimli slept and Aragorn lay flat, stretched upon his back; but Gandalf stood, leaning on his staff, gazing into the darkness, east and west. All was silent, and there was no sign or sound of living thing. The night was barred with long clouds, fleeting on a chill wind, when they arose again. Under the cold moon they went on once more, as swift as by the light of day. Hours passed and still they rode on. Gimli nodded and would have fallen from his seat, if Gandalf had not clutched and shaken him. Hasufel and Arod, weary but proud, followed their tireless leader, a grey shadow before them hardly to he seen. The miles went by. The waxing moon sank into the cloudy West. A bitter chill came into the air. Slowly in the East the dark faded to a cold grey. Red shafts of light leapt above the black walls of the Emyn Muil far away upon their left. Dawn came clear and bright; a wind swept across their path, rushing through the bent grasses. Suddenly Shadowfax stood still and neighed. Gandalf pointed ahead. 'Look!' he cried, and they lifted their tired eyes. Before them stood the mountains of the South: white-tipped and streaked with black. The grass-lands rolled against the hills that clustered at their feet, and flowed up into many valleys still dim and dark, untouched by the light of dawn, winding their way into the heart of the great mountains. Immediately before the travellers the widest of these glens opened like a long gulf among the hills. Far inward they glimpsed a tumbled mountain -mass with one tall peak; at the mouth of the vale there stood like sentinel a lonely height. About its feet there flowed, as a thread of silver, the stream that issued from the dale; upon its brow they caught, still far away, a glint in the rising sun, a glimmer of gold. 'Speak, Legolas!' said Gandalf. 'Tell us what you see there before us!' Legolas gazed ahead, shading his eyes from the level shafts of the new-risen sun. 'I see a white stream that comes down from the snows,' he said. 'Where it issues from the shadow of the vale a green hill rises upon ####-the east. A dike and mighty wall and thorny fence encircle it. Within there rise the roofs of houses; and in the midst, set upon a green terrace, there stands aloft a great hall of Men. And it seems to my eyes that it is thatched with gold. The light of it shines far over the land. Golden, too, are the posts of its doors. There men in bright mail stand; but all else within the courts are yet asleep.' 'Edoras those courts are called,' said Gandalf, 'and Meduseld is that golden hall. There dwells Thjoden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan. We are come with the rising of the day. Now the road lies plain to see before us. But we must ride more warily; for war is abroad, and the Rohirrim, the Horse-lords, do not sleep, even if it seem so from afar. Draw no weapon, speak no haughty word, I counsel you all, until we are come before Thjoden's seat.' The morning was bright and clear about them, and birds were singing, when the travellers came to the stream. It ran down swiftly into the plain, and beyond the feet of the hills turned across their path in a wide bend, flowing away east to feed the Entwash far off in its reed-choked beds. The land was green: in the wet meads and along the grassy borders of the stream grew many willow-trees. Already in this southern land they were blushing red at their fingertips. Feeling the approach of spring. Over the stream there was a ford between low banks much trampled by the passage of horses. The travellers passed over and came upon a wide rutted track leading towards the uplands. At the foot of the walled hill the way ran under the shadow of many mounds, high and green. Upon their western sides the grass was white as with a drifted snow: small flowers sprang there like countless stars amid the turf. 'Look!' said Gandalf. 'How fair are the bright eyes in the grass! Evermind they are called, simbelmynl in this land of Men, for they blossom in all the seasons of the year, and grow where dead men rest. Behold! we are come to the great barrows where the sires of Thjoden sleep.' 'Seven mounds upon the left, and nine upon the right,' said Aragorn. 'Many long lives of men it is since the golden hall was built.' 'Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood in my home since then,' said Legolas, 'and but a little while does that seem to us.' 'But to the Riders of the Mark it seems so long ago,' said Aragorn, 'that the raising of this house is but a memory of song, and the years ####-before are lost in the mist of time. Now they call this land their home, their own, and their speech is sundered from their northern kin.' Then he began to chant softly in a slow tongue unknown to the Elf and Dwarf; yet they listened, for there was a strong music in it. 'That, I guess, is the language of the Rohirrim,' said Legolas; 'for it is like to this land itself; rich and rolling in part, and else hard and stern as the mountains. But I cannot guess what it means, save that it is laden with the sadness of Mortal Men.' 'It runs thus in the Common Speech,' said Aragorn, 'as near as I can make it. Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing? Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow; The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning? Thus spoke a forgotten poet long ago in Rohan, recalling how tall and fair was Eorl the Young, who rode down out of the North; and there were wings upon the feet of his steed, Felaruf, father of horses. So men still sing in the evening.' With these words the travellers passed the silent mounds. Following the winding way up the green shoulders of the hills, they came at last to the wide wind-swept walls and the gates of Edoras. There sat many men in bright mail, who sprang at once to their feet and barred the way with spears. 'Stay, strangers here unknown!' they cried in the tongue of the Riddermark, demanding the names and errand of the strangers. Wonder was in their eyes but little friendliness; and they looked darkly upon Gandalf. 'Well do I understand your speech,' he answered in the same language; 'yet few strangers do so. Why then do you not speak in the Common Tongue, as is the custom in the West, if you wi sh to be answered?' 'It is the will of Thjoden King that none should enter his gates, save those who know our tongue and are our friends,' replied one of the guards. 'None are welcome here in days of war but our own folk, and those that come ####-from Mundburg in the land of Gondor. Who are you that come heedless over the plain thus strangely clad, riding horses like to our own horses? Long have we kept guard here, and we have watched you from afar. Never have we seen other riders so strange, nor any horse more proud than is one of these that bear you. He is One of the Mearas, unless our eyes are cheated by some spell. Say, are you not a wizard, some spy from Saruman, or phantoms of his craft? Speak now and be swift!' 'We are no phantoms,' said Aragorn, 'nor do your eyes cheat you. For indeed these are your own horses that we ride, as you knew well are you asked, I guess. But seldom does thief ride home to the stable. Here are Hasufel and Arod, that Jomer, the Third Marsha l of the Mark, lent to us, only two days ago. We bring them back now, even as we promised him. Has not Jomer then returned and given warning of our coming?' A troubled look came into the guard's eyes. 'Of Jomer I have naught to say,' he answered. 'If what you tell me is truth, then doubtless Thjoden will have heard of it. Maybe your coming was not wholly unlooked-for. It is but two nights ago that Wormtongue came to us and said that by the will of Thjoden no stranger should pass these gates. ' 'Wormtongue?' said Gandalf, looking sharply at the guard. 'Say no more! My errand is not to Wormtongue, but to the Lord of the Mark himself. I am in haste. Will you not go or send to say that we are come?' His eyes glinted under his deep brows as he bent his gaze upon the man. 'Yes, I will go,' he answered slowly. 'But what names shall I report? And what shall I say of you? Old and weary you seem now, and yet you are fell and grim beneath, I deem' 'Well do you see and speak,' said the wizard. 'For I am Gandalf. I have returned. And behold! I too bring back a horse. Here is Shadowfax the Great, whom no other hand can tame. And here beside me is Aragorn son of Arathorn, the heir of Kings, and it is to Mundburg that he goes. Here also are Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf, our comrades. Go now and say to your master that we are at his gates and would have speech with him, if he will permit us to come into his hall.' 'Strange names you give indeed! But I will report them as you bid and learn my master's will,' said the guard. 'Wait here a little while, and f will bring you such answer as seems good to him. Do not ####-hope too much! These are dark days.' He went swiftly away, leaving the strangers in the watchful keeping of his comrades. After some time he returned. 'Follow me!' he said. 'Thjoden gives you leave to enter; but any weapon that you bear; be it only a staff, you must leave on the threshold. The doorwardens will keep them.' The dark gates were swung open. The travellers entered, walking in file behind their guide. They found a broad path, paved with hewn stones, now winding upward, now climbing in short flights of well-laid steps. Many houses built of wood and many dark doors they passed. Beside the way in a stone channel a stream of clear water flowed, sparkling and chattering. At length they came to the crown of the hill. There stood a high platform above a green terrace, at the foot of which a bright spring gushed from a stone carved in the likeness of a horse's head; beneath was a wide basin from which the water. spilled and fed the falling stream. Up the green terrace went a stair of stone, high and broad, and on either side of the topmost step were stone-hewn sea, There sat other guards, with drawn swords laid upon their knees. Their golden hair was braided on their shoulders the sun was blazoned upon their green shields, their long corslets were burnished bright, and when they rose taller they seemed than mortal men. 'There are the doors before you,' said the guide. 'I must return now to my duty at the gate. Farewell! And may the Lord of the Mark be gracious to you!' He turned and went swiftly back down the road. The others climbed the long stair under the eyes of the tall watchmen. Silent they stood now above and spoke no word, until Gandalf stepped out upon the paved terrace at the stairs head. Then suddenly with clear voices they spoke a courteous greeting in their own tongue. Hail, corners from afar!' they said, and they turned the hilts of their swords towards the travellers in token of peace. Green gems flashed in the sunlight. Then one of the guards stepped forward and spoke in the Common Speech. 'I am the Doorward of Thjoden,' he said. 'Hbma is my name. Here I must bid you lay aside your weapons before you enter.' Then Legolas gave into his hand his silver -hafted knife, his quiver and his bow. 'Keep these well,' he said, 'for they come from the Golden Wood and the Lady of Lothlurien gave them to me.' Wonder came into the man's eyes, and he laid the weapons hastily by the ####-wall, as if he feared to handle them. 'No man will touch them I promise you,' he said. Aragorn stood a while hesitating. 'It is not my will,' he said, 'to put aside my sword or to deliver And®ril to the hand of any other man.' 'It is the will of Thjoden,' said Hbma. 'It is not clear to me that the will of Thjoden son of Thengel even though he be lord of the Mark, should prevail over the will of Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elendil's heir of Gondor.' 'This is the house of Thjoden, not of Aragorn, even were he King of Gondor in the seat of Denethor,' said Hbma, stepping swiftly before the doors and barring the way. His sword was now in his hand and the point towards the strangers. 'This is idle talk,' said Gandalf. 'Needless is Thjoden's demand, but it is useless to refuse. A king will have his way in his own hall, be it folly or wisdom.' 'Truly,' said Aragorn. 'And I would do as the master of the house bade me, were this only a woodman's cot, if I bore now any sword but And®ril.' 'Whatever its name may be,' said Hbma, 'here you shall lay it, if you would not fight alone against all the men in Edoras.' 'Not alone!' said Gimli, fingering the blade of his axe, and looking darkly up at the guard, as if he were a young tree that Gimli had a mind to fell. 'Not alone!' 'Come, come!' said Gandalf. 'We are all friends here. Or should be; for the laughter of Mordor will be our only reward, if we quarrel. My errand is pressing. Here at least is my sword, goodman Hbma. Keep it well. Glamdring it is called, for the Elves made it long ago. Now let me pass. Come, Aragorn!' Slowly Aragorn unbuckled his belt and himself set his sword upright against the wall. 'Here I set it,' he said; 'but I command you not to touch it, nor to permit any other to lay hand on it. In this elvish heath dwells the Blade that was Broken and has been made again. Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time. Death shall come to any man that draws Elendil's sword save Elendil's heir.' The guard stepped back and looked with amazement on Aragorn. 'It seems that you are come on the wings of song out of the forgotten days he said. It shall be, lord, as you command. 'Well,' said Gimli, 'if it has And®ril to keep it company, my axe may ####-stay here, too, without shame'; and he laid it on the floor. 'Now then, if all is as you wish, let us go and speak with your master.' The guard still hesitated. 'Your staff,' he said to Gandalf. 'Forgive me, but that too must be left at the doors.' 'Foolishness!' said Gandalf. 'Prudence is one thing, but discourtesy is another. I am old. If I may not lean on my stick as I go, then I will sit out here, until it pleases Thjoden to hobble out himself to speak with me.' Aragorn laughed. 'Every man has something too dear to trust to another. But would you part an old man from his suppor t? Come, will you not let us enter?' 'The staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than a prop for age' said Hbma. He looked hard at the ash -staff on which Gandalf leaned. 'Yet in doubt a man of worth will trust to his own wisdom. I believe you are friends and folk worthy of honour, who have no evil purpose. You may go in.' The guards now lifted the heavy bars of the doors and swung them slowly inwards grumbling on their great hinges. The travellers entered. Inside it seemed dark and warm after the clear air upon the hill. The hall was long and wide and filled with shadows and half lights; mighty pillars upheld its lofty roof. But here and there bright sunbeams fell in glimmering shafts from the eastern windows, high under the deep eaves. Through the louver in the roof, above the thin wisps of issuing smoke, the sky showed pale and blue. As their eyes changed, the travellers perceived that the floor was paved with stones of many hues; branching runes and strange devices intertwined beneath their feet. They saw now that the pillars were richly carved, gleaming dully with gold and half-seen colours. Many woven cloths were hung upon the walls, and over their wide spaces marched figures of ancient legend, some dim with years, some darkling in the shade. But upon one form the sunlight fell: a young man upon a white horse. He was blowing a great horn, and his yellow hair was flying in the wind. The horse's head was lifted, and its nostrils were wide and red as it neighed, smelling battle afar. Foaming water, green and white, rushed and curled about its knees. 'Behold Eorl the Young!' said Aragorn. 'Thus he rode out of the North to the Battle of the Field of Celebrant.' Now the four companions went forward, past the clear wood-fire burning upon the long hearth in the midst of the hall. Then they halted. At the far end of the house, beyond the hearth and facing north towards the doors, was a dais with three steps; and in the middle of the dais was a great gilded ####-chair. Upon it sat a man so bent with age that he seemed almost a dwarf; but his white hair was long and thick and fell in great braids from beneath a thin golden circle set upon his brow. In the centre upon his forehead shone a single white diamond. His beard was laid like snow upon his knees; but his eyes still burned with a bright light, glinting as he gazed at the strangers. Behind his chair stood a woman clad in white. At his feet upon the steps sat a wizened figure of a man, with a pale wise face and heavy-lidded eyes. There was a silence. The old man did not move in his chair. At length Gandalf spoke. 'Hail, Thjoden son of Thengel! I have returned. For behold! the storm comes, and now all friends should gather together, lest each singly be destroyed.' Slowly the old man rose to his feet, leaning heavily upon a short black staff with a handle of white bone; and now the strangers saw that, bent though he was, he was still tall and must in youth have been high and proud indeed. 'I greet you,' he said, 'and maybe you look for welcome. But truth to tell your welcome is doubtful here, Master Gandalf. You have ever been a herald of woe. Troubles follow you like crows, and ever the oftener the worse. I will not deceive you: when I heard that Shadowfax had come back riderless, I rejoiced at the return of the horse, but still more at the lack of the rider; and when Jomer brought the tidings that you had gone at last to your long home, I did not mourn. But news from afar is seldom sooth. Here you come again! And with you come evils worse than before, as might be expected. Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow? Tell me that.' Slowly he sat down again in his cha ir. 'You speak justly, lord,' said the pale man sitting upon the steps of the dais. 'It is not yet five days since the bitter tidings came that Thjodred your son was slain upon the West Marches: your right hand, Second Marshal Of the Mark. In Jomer there is little trust. Few men would be left to guard your walls, if he had been allowed to rule. And even now we learn from Gondor that the Dark Lord is stirring in the East. Such is the hour in which this wanderer chooses to return. Why indeed should we welcome you, Master Stormcrow? Lbthspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say.' He laughed grimly, as he lifted his heavy lids for a moment and gazed on the strangers with dark eyes.####- 'You are held wise, my friend Wormtongue, and are doubtless a great support to your master,' answered Gandalf in a soft voice. 'Yet in two ways may a man come with evil tidings. lie may be a worker of evil; or he may be such as leaves well alone, and comes only to bring aid in time of need.' 'That is so,' said Wormtongue; 'but there is a third kind: pickers of bones, meddlers in other men's sorrows, carrion-fowl that grow fat on war. What aid have you ever brought, Stormcrow? And what aid do you bring now? It was aid from us that you sought last time that you were here. Then my lord bade you Choose any horse that you would and be gone; and to the wonder of all you took Shadowfax in your insolence. My lord was sorely grieved; yet to some it seemed that to speed you from the land the price was not too great. I guess that it is likely to turn out the same once more: you will seek aid rather than render it. Do you bring men? Do you bring horses, swords, spears? That I would call aid; that is our present need. But who are these that follow at your tail? Three ragged wanderers in grey, and you yourself the most beggar-like of the four!' 'The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Thjoden son of Thengel,' said Gandalf. 'Has not the messenger from your gate reported the names of my companions? Seldom has any lord of Rohan received three such guests. Weapons they have laid at your doors that are worth many a mortal man, even the mightiest. Grey is their raiment, for the Elves clad them, and thus they have passed through the shadow of great perils to your hall.' 'Then it is true, as Jomer reported, that you are in league with the Sorceress of the Golden Wood?' said Wormtongue. 'It is not to be wondered at: webs of deceit were ever woven in Dwimordene.' Gimli strode a pace forward, but felt suddenly the hand of Gandalf clutch him by the shoulder, and he halted, standing stiff as stone. In Dwimordene, in Lurien Seldom have walked the feet of Men, Few mortal eyes have seen the light That lies there ever, long and bright. Galadriel! Galadriel! Clear is the water of your well; White is the star in your white hand; Unmarred, unstained is leaf and land ####- In Dwimordene, in Lurien More fair than thoughts of Mortal Men. Thus Gandalf softly sang, and then suddenly he changed. Casting his tattered cloak aside, he stood up and leaned no longer on his staff; and he spoke in a clear cold voice. 'The wise speak only of what they know, Grnma son of Gblmud. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.' He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth. In the gloom they heard the hiss of Wormtongue's voice: 'Did I not counsel you, lord, to forbid his staff? That fool, Hbma, has betrayed us!' There was a flash as if lightning had cloven the roof. Then all was silent. Wormtongue sprawled on his face. 'Now Thjoden son of Thengel, will you hearken to me?' said Gandalf. 'Do you ask for help?' He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the darkness seemed to clear, and through the opening could be seen, high and far, a patch of shining sky. 'Not all is dark. Take courage, Lord of the Mark; for better help you will not find. No counsel have I to give to those that despair. Yet counsel I could give, and words I could speak to you. Will you hear them? They are not for all ears. I bid you come out before your doors and look abroad. Too long have you sat in shadows and trusted to twisted tales and crooked promptings.' Slowly Thjoden left his chair. A faint light grew in the hall again. The woman hastened to the king's side, taking his arm, and with faltering steps the old man came down from the dais and paced softly through the hall. Wormtongue remained lying on the floor. They came to the doors and Gandalf knocked. 'Open!' he cried. 'The Lord of the Mark comes forth!' The doors rolled back and a keen air came whistling in. A wind was blowing on the hill. 'Send your guards down to the stairs foot,' said Gandalf. 'And you, lady, leave him a while with me. I will care for him.' 'Go, Jowyn sister -daughter!' said the old king. 'The time for fear is ####-past.' The woman turned and went slowly into the house. As she passed the doors she turned and looked back. Grave and thoughtful was her glance, as she looked on the king with cool pity in her eyes. Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold. Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings. Thus Aragorn for the first time in the full light of day beheld Jowyn, Lady of Rohan, and thought her fair, fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to womanhood. And she now was suddenly aware of him: tall heir of kings, wise with many winters, greycloaked. Hiding a power that yet she felt. For a moment still as stone she stood, then turning swiftly she was gone. 'Now, lord,' said Gandalf, 'look out upon your land! Breathe the free air again!' From the porch upon the top of the high terrace they could see beyond the stream the green fields of Rohan fading into distant grey. Curtains of wind-blown rain were slanting down. The sky above and to the west was still dark with thunder, and lightning far away flickered among the tops of hidden hills. But the wind had shifted to the north, and already the storm that had come out of the East was receding, rolling away southward to the sea. Suddenly through a rent in the clouds behind them a shaft of sun stabbed down. The falling showers gleamed like silver, and far away the river glittered like a shimmering glass. 'It is not so dark here,' said Thjoden. 'No,' said Gandalf. 'Nor does age lie so heavily on your shoulders as some would have you think. Cast aside your prop!' From the king's hand the black staff fell clattering on the stones. He drew himself up, slowly, as a man that is stiff from long bending over some dull toil. Now tall and straight he stood, and his eyes were blue as he looked into the opening sky. 'Dark have been my dreams of late,' he said, 'but I feel as one new-awakened. I would now that you had come before, Gandalf. For I fear that already you have come too late, only to see the last days of my house. Not long now shall stand the high hall which Brego son of Eorl built. Fire shall devour the high seat. What is to be done?' 'Much,' said Gandalf. 'But first send for Jomer. Do I not guess rightly that you hold him prisoner, by the counsel of Grnma, of him that all save ####-you name the Wormtongue?' 'It is true,' said Thjoden. 'He had rebelled against my commands, and threatened death to Grnma in my hall.' 'A man may love you and yet not love Wormtongue or his counsels' said Gandalf. 'That may be. I will do as you ask. Call Hbma to me. Since he proved untrusty as a doorward, let him become an errand -runner. The guilty shall bring the guilty to judgement,' said Thjoden, and his voice was grim, yet he looked at Gandalf and smiled and as he did so many lines of care were smoothed away and did not return. When Hbma had been summoned and had gone, Gandalf led Thjoden to a stone seat, and then sat himself before the king upon the topmost stair. Aragorn and his companions stood nearby. 'There is no time to tell all that you should hear,' said Gandalf. 'Yet if my hope is not cheated, a time will come ere long when I can speak more fully. Behold! you are come into a peril greater even than the wit of Wormtongue could weave into your dreams. But see! you dream no longer. You live. Gondor and Rohan do not stand alone. The enemy is strong beyond our reckoning, yet we have a hope at which he has not guessed.' Quickly now Gandalf spoke. His voice was low and secret, and none save the king heard what he said. But ever as he spoke the light shone brighter in Thjoden's eye, and at the last he rose from his seat to his full height, and Gandalf beside him, and together they looked out from the high place towards the East. 'Verily,' said Gandalf, now in a loud voice, keen and clear, 'that way lies our hope, where sits our greatest fear. Doom hangs still on a thread. Yet hope there is still, if we can but stand unconquered for a little while.' The others too now turned their eyes eastward. Over the sundering leagues of land, far away they gazed to the edge of sight, and hope and fear bore their thoughts still on, beyond dark mountains to the Land of Shadow. Where now was the Ring-bearer? How thin indeed was the thread upon which doom still hung! It seemed to Legolas, as he strained his farseeing eyes, that he caught a glint of white: far away perchance the sun twinkled on a ####-pinnacle of the Tower of Guard. And further still, endlessly remote and yet a present threat, there was a tiny tongue of flame. Slowly Thjoden sat down again, as if weariness still struggled to master him against the will of Gandalf. He turned and looked at his great house. 'Alas!' he said, 'that these evil days should be mine, and should come in my old age instead of that peace which I have earned. Alas for Boromir the brave! The young perish and the old linger, withering.' He clutched his knees with his wrinkled hands. 'Your fi ngers would remember their old strength better, if they grasped a sword-hilt,' said Gandalf. Thjoden rose and put his hand to his side; but no sword hung at his belt. 'Where has Grnma stowed it?' he muttered under his breath. 'Take this, dear lord!' said a clear voice. 'It was ever at your service.' Two men had come softly up the stair and stood now a few steps from the top. Jomer was there. No helm was on his head, no mail was on his breast, but in his hand he held a drawn sword; and as he knelt he offered the hilt to his master. 'How comes this?' said Thjoden sternly. He turned towards Jomer and the men looked in wonder at him, standing now proud and erect. Where was the old man whom they had left crouching in his chair or leaning on his stick? 'It is my doing, lord,' said Hbma, trembling. I understood that Jomer was to be set free. Such joy was in my heart that maybe I have erred. Yet, since he was free again, and he a Marshal of the Mark,! brought him his sword as he bade me.' 'To lay at your feet, my lord,' said Jomer. For a moment of silence Thjoden stood looking down at Jomer as he knelt still before him. Neither moved. 'Will you not take the sword?' said Gandalf. Slowly Thjoden stretched forth his hand. As his fingers took the hilt, it seemed to the watchers that firmness and strength returned to his thin arm. Suddenly he lifted the blade and swung it shimmering and whistling in the air. Then he gave a great cry. His voice rang clear as he chanted in the tongue of Rohan a call to arms. Arise now, arise, Riders of Thjoden! Dire deeds awake, dark is it eastward. Let horse be bridled, horn be sounded!####- Forth Eorlingas! The guards, thinking that they were summoned, sprang up the stair. They looked at their lord in amazement, and then as one man they drew their swords and laid them at his feet. 'Command us!' they said. 'Westu Thjoden hbl!' cried Jomer. 'It is a joy to us to see you return into your own. Never again shall it be said, Gandalf, that you come only with grief!' 'Take back your sword, Jomer, sister -son!' said the king. 'Go, Hbma, and seek my own sword! Grnma has it in his keeping. Bring him to me also. Now, Gandalf, you said that you had counsel to give, if I would hear it. What is your counsel?' 'You have yourself already taken it,' answered Gandalf. 'To put your trust in Jomer, rather than in a man of crooked mind. To cast aside regret and fear. To do the deed at hand. Every man that can ride should be sent west at once, as Jomer counselled you: we must first destroy the threat of Saruman, while we have time. If we fail, we fall. If we succeed -- then we will face the next task. Meanwhile your people tha t are left, the women and the children and the old, should stay to the refuges that you have in the mountains. Were they not prepared against just such an evil day as this? Let them take provision, but delay not, nor burden themselves with treasures, great or small. It is their lives that are at stake.' 'This counsel seems good to me now,' said Thjoden. 'Let all my folk get ready! But you my guests-truly you said, Gandalf, that the courtesy of my hall is lessened. You have ridden through the night, and the morning wears away. You have had neither sleep nor food. A guest -house shall be made ready: there you shall sleep, when you have eaten.' 'Nay, lord,' said Aragorn. 'There is no rest yet for the weary. The men of Rohan must ride forth today, and we will ride with them, axe, sword, and bow. We did not bring them to rest against your wall, Lord of the Mark. And I promised Jomer that my sword and his should be drawn together.' 'Now indeed there is hope of victory!' said Jomer. 'Hope, yes,' said Gandalf. 'But Isengard is strong. And other perils draw ever nearer. Do not delay, Thjoden, when we are gone. Lead your people swiftly to the Hold of Dunharrow in the hills!' 'Nay, Gandalf!' said the king. 'You do not know your own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall in the front of the battle, if it must be. Thus shall I sleep better.'####- 'Then even the defeat of Rohan will be glorious in song,' said Aragorn. The armed men that st ood near clashed their weapons, crying: 'The Lord of the Mark will ride! Forth Eorlingas!' 'But your people must not be both unarmed and shepherdless' said Gandalf. 'Who shall guide them and govern them in your place?' 'I will take thought for that ere I go,' answered Thjoden. 'Here comes my counsellor.' At that moment Hbma came again from the hall. Behind him cringing between two other men, came Grnma the Wormtongue. His face was very white. His eyes blinked in the sunlight. Hbma knelt and presented to Thjoden a long sword in a scabbard clasped with gold and set with green gems. 'Here, lord, is Herugrim, your ancient blade,' he said. 'It was found in his chest. Loth was he to render up the keys. Many other things are there which men have missed.' 'You lie,' said Wormtongue. 'And this sword your master himself gave into my keeping.' 'And he now requires it of you again,' said Thjoden. 'Does that displease you?' 'Assuredly not. lord,' said Wormtongue. 'I care for you and yours as best I may. But do not weary yourself, or tax too heavily your strength. Let others deal with these irksome guests. Your meat is about to be set on the board. Will you not go to it?' 'I will,' said Thjoden. 'And let food for my guests be set on the board beside me. The host rides today. Send the heralds forth! Let them summon all who dwell nigh! Every man and strong lad able to bear arms, all who have horses, let them be ready in the saddle at the gate ere the second hour from noon!' 'Dear lord!' cried Wormtongue. 'It is as I feared. This wizard has bewitched you. Are none to be left to defend the Golden Hall of your fathers, and all your treasure? None to guard the Lord of the Mark?' 'If this is bewitchment,' said Thjoden, 'it seems to me more wholesome than your whisperings. Your leechcraft ere long would have had me walking on all fours like a beast. No, not one shall be left, not even Grnma. Grnma shall ride too. Go! You have ye t time to clean the rust from your sword.' 'Mercy, lord!' whined Wormtongue, grovelling on the ground. 'Have pity on one worn out in your service. Send me not from your side! I at least will ####-stand by you when all others have gone. Do not send your faithful Grnma away!' 'You have my pity,' said Thjoden. 'And I do not send you from my side. I go myself to war with my men. I bid you come with me and prove your faith.' Wormtongue looked from face to face. In his eyes was the hunted look of a beast seeking some gap in the ring of his enemies. He licked his lips with a long pale tongue. 'Such a resolve might be expected from a lord of the House of Eorl, old though he be,' he said. 'But those who truly love him would spare his failing years. Yet I see that I come too late. Others, whom the death of my lord would perhaps grieve less, have already persuaded him. If I cannot undo their work, hear me at least in this, lord! One who knows your mind and honours your commands shou ld be left in Edoras. Appoint a faithful steward. Let your counsellor Grnma keep all things till your return-and I pray that we may see it, though no wise man will deem it hopeful.' Jomer laughed. 'And if that plea does not excuse you from war, most noble Wormtongue,' he said, what office of less honour would you accept? To carry a sack of meal up into the mountains-if any man would trust you with it?' 'Nay, Jomer, you do not fully understand the mind of Master Wormtongue,' said Gandalf, turning his piercing glance upon him. 'He is bold and cunning. Even now he plays a game with peril and wins a throw. Hours of my precious time he has wasted already. 'Down snake!' he said suddenly in a terrible voice. 'Down on your belly! How long is it since Saruman bought you? What was the promised price? When all the men were dead, you were to pick your share of the treasure, and take the woman you desire? Too long have you watched her under your eyelids and haunted her steps.' Jomer grasped his sword. 'That I knew already,' he muttered. 'For that reason I would have slain him before, forgetting the law of the hall. But there are other reasons.' He stepped forward, but Gandalf stayed him with his hand. 'Jowyn is safe now,' he said. 'But you, Wormtongue, you have done what you could for your true master. Some reward you have earned at least. Yet Saruman is apt to overlook his bargains. I should advise you to go quickly and remind him, lest he forget your faithful service.' 'You lie,' said Wormtongue.####- 'That word comes too oft and easy from your lips,' said Gandalf. 'I do not lie. See, Thjoden, here is a snake! With safety you cannot take it with you, nor can you leave it behind. To slay it would be just. But it was not always as it now is. Once it was a man, and did you service in its fashion. Give him a horse and let him go at once, wherever he chooses. By his choice you shall judge him.' 'Do you hear this, Wormtongue?' said Thjoden. 'This is your choice: to ride with me to war, and let us see in battle whether you are true; or to go now, whither you will. But then, if ever we meet again, I shall not be merciful.' Slowly Wormtongue rose. He looked at them with half-closed eyes. Last of all he scanned Thjoden's face and opened his mouth as if to speak. Then suddenly he drew himself up. His hands worked. His eyes glittered. Such malice was in them that men stepped back from him. He bared his teeth; and then with a hissing breath he spat before the king's feet, and darting to one side, he fled down the stair. 'After him!' said Thjoden. 'See that he does no harm to any, but do not hurt him or hinder him. Give him a horse, if he wishes it.' 'And if any will bear him,' said Jomer. One of the guards ran down the stair. Another went to the well at the foot of the terrace and in his helm drew water. With it he washed clean the stones that Wormtongue had defiled. 'Now my guests, come!' said Thjoden. 'Come and take such refreshment as haste allows.' They passed back into the great house. Already they heard below them in the town the heralds crying and the war -horns blowing. For the king was to ride forth as soon as the men of the town and those dwelling near could be armed and assembled. At the king's board sat Jomer and the four guests, and there also waiting upon the king was the lady Jowyn. They ate and drank swiftly. The others were silent while Thjoden questioned Gandalf concerning Saruman. 'How far back his treachery goes, who can guess?' said Gandalf. 'He was not always evil. Once I do not doubt that he was the friend of Rohan; and even when his heart grew colder, he found you useful still. But for long now he has plotted your ruin, wearing the mask of Friendship, until he was ready. In those years Wormtongue's task was easy, and all that you did was swiftly known in Isengard; for your land was open, and strangers came and ####-went. And ever Wormtongue's whispering was in your ears, poisoning your thought, chilling your heart, weakening your limbs, while others watched and could do nothing, for your will was in his keeping. 'But when I escaped and warned you, then the mask was torn, for those who would see. After that Wormtongue played dangerously, always seeking to delay you, to prevent your full strength being gathered. He was crafty: dulling men's wariness, or working on their fears, as served the occasion. Do you not remember how eagerly he urged that no man should be spared on a wildgoose chase northward, when the immediate peril was westward? He persuaded you to forbid Jomer to pursue the raiding Orcs. If Jomer had not defied Wormtongue's voice speaking with your mouth, those Orcs would have reached Isengard by now, bearing a great prize. Not indeed that prize which Saruman desires above all else, but at the least two members of my Company, sharers of a secret hope, of which even to you, lord, I cannot yet speak openly. Dare you think of what they might now be suffering, or what Saruman might now have learned to our destruction?' 'I owe much to Jomer,' said Thjoden. 'Faithful heart may have forward tongue.' 'Say also,' said Gandalf, 'that to crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face.' 'Indeed my eyes were almost blind,' said Thjoden. 'Most of all I owe to you, my guest. Once again you have come in time. I would give you a gift ere we go, at your own choosing. You have only to name aught that is mine. I reserve now only my sword!' 'Whether I came in time or not is yet to be seen,' said Gandalf. 'But as for your gift, lord, I will choose one that will fit my need: swift and sure. Give me Shadowfax! He was only lent before, if loan we may call it. But now shall ride him into great hazard, setting silver against black: I would not risk anything that is not my own. And already there is a bond of love between us.' 'You choose well,' said Thjoden; 'and I give him now gladly. Yet it is a great gift. There is none like to Shadowfax. In him one of the mighty steeds of old has returned. None such shall return again. And to you my other guests I will offer such things as may be found in my armoury. Swords you do not need, but there are helms and coats of mail of cunning work,####-gifts to my fathers out of Gondor. Choose from these ere we go, and may they serve you well!' Now men came bearing raiment of war from the king's hoard and they arrayed Aragorn and Legolas in shining mail. Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white. Gandalf took no armour; and Gimli needed no coat of rings, even if one had been found to match his stature, for there was no hauberk in the hoards of Edoras of better make than his short corslet forged beneath the Mountain in the North. But he chose a cap of iron and leather that fitted well upon his round head; and a small shield he also took. It bore the running horse, white upon green, that was the emblem of the House of Eorl. 'May it keep you well!' said Thjoden. 'It was made for me in Thengel's day, while still I was a boy.' Gimli bowed. 'I am proud, Lord of the Mark, to bear your device,' he said. 'Indeed sooner would I bear a horse than be borne by one. I love my feet better. But, maybe, I shall come yet where I can stand and fight.' 'It may well be so,' said Thjoden. The king now rose, and at once Jowyn came forward bearing wine. 'Ferthu Thjoden hbl!' she said. 'Receive now this cup and drink in happy hour. Health be with thee at thy going and coming!' Thjoden drank from the cup, and she then proffered it to the guests. As she stood before Aragorn she paused suddenly and looked upon him, and her eyes were shining. And he looked down upon her fair face and smiled; but as he took the cup, his hand met hers, and he knew that she trembled at the touch. 'Hail Aragorn son of Arathorn!' she said. 'Hail Lady of Rohan!' he answered, but his face now was troubled and he did not smile. When they had all drunk, the king went down the hall to the doors. There the guards awaited him, and heralds stood, and all the lords and chiefs were gathered together that remained in Edoras or dwelt nearby. 'Behold! I go forth, and it seems like to be my last riding,' said Thjoden. 'I have no child. Thjodred my son is slain. I name Jomer my sister -son to be my heir. If neither of us return, then choose a new lord as you will. But to some one I must now entrust my people that I leave behind, to rule them in my place. Which of you will stay?' No man spoke. 'Is there none whom you would name? In whom do my people trust?'####- 'In the House of Eorl,' answered Hbma. 'But Jomer I cannot spare, nor would he stay,' said the king; 'and he is the last of that House.' 'I said not Jomer,' answered Hbma. 'And he is not the last. There is Jowyn, daughter of Jomund, his sister. She is fearless and high-hearted. All love her. Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas, while we are gone.' 'It shall be so,' said Thjoden. 'Let the heralds announce to the folk that the Lady Jowyn will lead them!' Then the king sat upon a seat before his doors, and Jowyn knelt before him and received from him a sword and a fair corslet. 'Farewell sister -daughter!' he said. 'Dark is the hour, yet maybe we shall return to the Golden Hall. But in Dunharrow the people may long defend themselves, and if the battle go ill, thither will come all who escape.' 'Speak not so!' she answered. 'A year shall I endure for every day that passes until your return.' But as she spoke her eyes went to Aragorn who stood nearby. 'The king shall come again,' he said. 'Fear not! Not West but East does our doom await us.' The king now went down the stair with Gandalf beside him. The others followed. Aragorn looked back as they passed towards the gate. Alone Jowyn stood before the doors of the house at the stair's head; the sword was set upright before her, and her hands were laid upon the hilt. She was clad now in mail and shone like silver in the sun. Gimli walked with Legolas. his axe on his shoulder. 'Well, at last we set off!' he said. 'Men need many words before deeds. My axe is restless in my hands. Though I doubt not that these Rohirrim are fell -handed when they come to it. Nonetheless this is not the warfare that suits me. How shall I come to the battle? I wish I could walk and not bump like a sack at Gandalf's saddlebow.' 'A safer seat than many, I guess,' said Legolas. 'Yet doubtless Gandalf will gladly put you down on your feet when blows begin; or Shadowfax himself. An axe is no weapon for a rider.' 'And a Dwarf is no horseman. It is orc-necks I would hew, not shave the scalps of Men,' said Gimli, patting the haft of his axe. At the gate they found a great host of men, old and young, all ready in the saddle. More than a thousand were there mustered. Their spears were like a springing wood. Loudly and joyously they shouted as Thjoden came forth.####-Some held in readiness the king's horse, Snowmane, and others held the horses of Aragorn and Legolas. Gimli stood ill at ease, frowning, bu t Jomer came up to him, leading his horse. 'Hail, Gimli Gluin's son!' he cried. 'I have not had time to learn gentle speech under your rod, as you promised. But shall we not put aside our quarrel? At least I will speak no evil again of the Lady of the Wood.' 'I will forget my wrath for a while, Jomer son of Jomund,' said Gimli; 'but if ever you chance to see the Lady Galadriel with your eyes, then you shall acknowledge her the fairest of ladies, or our friendship will end.' 'So be it!' said Jomer. 'But until that time pardon me, and in token of pardon ride with me, I beg. Gandalf will be at the head with the Lord of the Mark; but Firefoot, my horse, will bear us both, if you will.' 'I thank you indeed,' said Gimli greatly pleased. 'I will gladly go with you, if Legolas, my comrade, may ride beside us.' 'It shall he so,' said Jomer. 'Legolas upon my left, and Aragorn upon my right, and none will dare to stand before us!' 'Where is Shadowfax?' said Gandalf. 'Running wild over the grass,' they answered. 'He will let no man handle him. There he goes, away down by the ford, like a shadow among the willows.' Gandalf whistled and called aloud the horse's name, and far away he tossed his head and neighed, and turning sped towards the host like an arrow. 'Were the breath of the West Wind to take a body visible, even so would it appear,' said Jomer, as the great horse ran up, until he stood before the wizard. 'The gift seems already to be given,' said Thjoden. 'But hearken all! Here now I name my guest, Gandalf Greyhame, wisest of counsellors; most welcome of wanderers, a lord of the Mark, a chieftain of the Eorlingas while our kin shall last; and I give to him Shadowfax, prince of horses.' 'I thank you, Thjoden King,' said Gandalf. Then suddenly he threw back his grey cloak, and cast aside his hat, and leaped to horseback. He wore no helm nor mail. His snowy hair flew free in the wind, his white robes shone dazzling in the sun. 'Behold the White Rider!' cried Aragorn, and all took up the words. 'Our King and the White Rider!' they shouted. 'Forth Eorlingas!' The trumpets sounded. The horses reared and neighed. Spear clashed on ####-shield. Then the king raised his hand, and with a rush like the sudden onset of a great wind the last host of Rohan rode thundering into the West. Far over the plain Jowyn saw the glitter of their spears, as she stood still, alone before the doors of the silent house. ####- The sun was already westering as they rode from Edoras, and the light of it was in their eyes, turning all the rolling fields of Rohan to a golden haze. There was a beaten way, north-westward along the foot-hills of the White Mountains, and this they followed, up and down in a green country, crossing small swift streams by many fords. Far ahead and to their right the Misty Mountains loomed; ever darker and taller they grew as the miles went by. The sun went slowly down before them. Evening came behind. The host rode on. Need drove them. Fearing to come too late, they rode with all the speed they could, pausing seldom. Swift and enduring were the steeds of Rohan, but there were many leagues to go. Forty leagues and more it was, as a bird flies, from Edoras to the fords of the Isen, where they hoped to find the king's men that held back the hosts of Saruman. Night closed about them. At last they halted to make their camp. They had ridden for some five hours and were far out upon the western plain, yet more than half their journey lay still before them. In a great circle, under the starry sky and the waxing moon, they now made their bivouac. They lit no fires, for they were uncertain of events; but they set a ring of mounted guards about them, and scouts rode out far ahead, passing like shadows in the folds of the land. The slow night passed without tidings or alarm. At dawn the horns sounded, and within an hour they took the road again. There were no clouds overhead yet, but a heaviness was in the air; it was hot for the season of the year. The rising sun was hazy, and behind it, following it slowly up the sky, there was a growing darkness, as of a great storm moving out of the East. And away in the North-west there seemed to be another darkness brooding about the feet of the Misty Mountains, a shadow that crept down slowly from the Wizard's Vale. Gandalf dropped back to where Legolas rode beside Jomer. 'You have the keen eyes of your fair kindred, Legolas,' he said; 'and they can tell a sparrow from a finch a league off. Tell me, can you sec anything away yonder towards Isengard?' 'Many miles lie between,' said Legolas, gazing thither and shading his eyes with his long hand. 'I can see a darkness. There are shapes moving in it, great shapes far away upon the bank of the river; but what they are I ####-cannot tell. It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream. It is as if the twilight under endless trees were flowing downwards from the hills.' 'And behind us comes a very storm of Mordor,' said Gandalf. 'It will be a black night.' As the second day of their riding drew on, the heaviness in the air increased. In the afternoon the dark clouds began to overtake them: a sombre canopy with great billowing edges flecked with dazzling light. The sun went down, blood-red in a smoking haze. The spears of the Riders were tipped with fire as the last shafts of light kindled the steep faces of the peaks of Thrihyrne: now very near they stood on the northernmost arm of the White Mountains, three jagged horns staring at the sunset. In the last red glow men in the vanguard saw a black speck, a horseman riding back towards them. They halted awaiting him. He came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield. Slowly he climbed from his horse and stood there a while gasping. At length he spoke. 'Is Jomer here?' he asked. 'You come at last, but too late, and with too little strength. Things have gone evilly since Thjodred fell. We were driven back yesterday over the Isen with great loss; many perished at the crossing. Then at night fresh forces came over the river against our camp. All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers, and these also he loosed upon us. We were overmastered. The shield-wall was broken. Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness in Helm's Deep. The rest are scattered. 'Where is Jomer? Tell him there is no hope ahead. He should return to Edoras before the wolves of Isengard come there.' Thjoden had sat silent, hidden from the man's sight behind his guards; now he urged his horse forward. 'Come, stand before me, Ceorl!' he said. 'I am here. The last host of the Eorlingas has ridden forth. It will not return without battle.' The man's face lightened with joy and wonder. He drew himself up. Then he knelt, offering his notched sword to the king. 'Command me, lord!' he cried. 'And pardon me! I thought--' 'You thought I remained in Meduseld bent like an old tree under winter snow. So it was when you rode to war. But a west wind has shaken the boughs,' said Thjoden. 'Give this man a fresh horse! Let us ride to the help ####-of Erkenbrand!' While Thjoden was speaking, Gandalf rode a short way ahead, and he sat there alone, gazing north to Isengard and west to the setting sun. Now he came back. 'Ride, Thjoden!' he said. 'Ride to Helm's Deep! Go not to the Fords of Isen, and do not tarry in the plain! I must leave you for a while. Shadowfax must bear me now on a swift errand.' Turning to Aragorn and Jomer and the men of the king's household, he cried: 'Keep well the Lord of the Mark, till I return. Await me at Helm's Gate! Farewell!' He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the gr eat horse sprang away. Even as they looked he was gone: a flash of silver in the sunset, a wind over the grass, a shadow that fled and passed from sight. Snowmane snorted and reared, eager to follow; but only a swift bird on the wing could have overtaken him. 'What does that mean?' said one of the guard to Hbma. 'That Gandalf Greyhame has need of haste,' answered Hbma. 'Ever he goes and comes unlooked-for:' 'Wormtongue, were he here, would not find it hard to explain 'Said the other. 'True enough,' said Hbma; 'but for myself, I will wait until I see Gandalf again.' 'Maybe you will wait long,' said the other. The host turned away now from the road to the Fords of Isen and bent their course southward. Night fell, a nd still they rode on. The hills drew near, but the tall peaks of Thrihyrne were already dim against the darkening sky. Still some miles away, on the far side of the Westfold Vale, lay a green coomb, a great bay in the mountains, out of which a gorge opened in the hills. Men of that land called it Helm's Deep, after a hero of old wars who had made his refuge there. Ever steeper and narrower it wound inward from the north under the shadow of the Thrihyrne, till the crow-haunted cliffs rose like mighty towers on either side, shutting out the light. At Helm's Gate, before the mouth of the Deep, there was a heel of rock thrust outward by the northern cliff. There upon its spur stood high walls of ancient stone, and within them was a lofty tower. Men said that in the far-off days of the glory of Gondor the sea -kings had built here this fastness with the hands of giants. The Hornburg it was called, for a trumpet sounded upon the tower echoed in the Deep behind, as i f armies ####-long-forgotten were issuing to war from caves beneath the hills. A wall, too, the men of old had made from the Hornburg to the southern cliff, barring the entrance to the gorge. Beneath it by a wide culvert the Deeping-stream passed out. About the feet of the Hornrock it wound, and flowed then in a gully through the midst of a wide green gore, sloping gently down from Helm's Gate to Helm's Dike. Thence it fell into the Deeping-coomb and out into the Westfold Vale. There in the Hornburg at Helm's Gate Erkenbrand, master of Westfold on the borders of the Mark, now dwelt. As the days darkened with threat of war, being wise, he had repaired the wall and made the fastness strong. The Riders were still in the low valley before the mouth of the Coomb, when cries and hornblasts were heard from their scouts that went in front. Out of the darkness arrows whistled. Swiftly a scout rode back and reported that wolf-riders were abroad in the valley, and tha t a host of Orcs and wild men were hurrying southward from the Fords of Isen and seemed to be making for Helm's Deep. 'We have found many of our folk lying slain as they fled thither,' said the scout. 'And we have met scattered companies, going this way and that, leaderless. What has become of Erkenbrand none seem to know. It is likely that he will be overtaken ere he can reach Helm's Gate, if he has not already perished.' 'Has aught been seen of Gandalf?' asked Thjoden. 'Yes, lord. Many have seen an old man in white upon a horse, passing hither and thither over the plains like wind in the grass. Some thought he was Saruman. It is said that he went away ere nightfall towards Isengard. Some say also that Wormtongue was seen earlier, going northward with a company of Orcs.' 'It will go ill with Wormtongue, if Gandalf comes upon him said Thjoden. 'Nonetheless I miss now both my counsellors, the old and the new. But in this need we have no better choice than to go on, as Gandalf said, to Helm's Gate, whether Erkenbrand be there or no. Is it known how great is the host that comes from the North?' 'It is very great,' said the scout. 'He that flies counts every foeman twice, yet I have spoken to stouthearted men, and I do not doubt that the main strength of the enemy is many times as great as all that we have here.' 'Then let us be swift,' said Jomer. 'Let us drive through such foes as ####-are already between us and the fastness. There are caves in Helm's Deep where hundreds may lie hid; and secret ways lead thence up on to the hills. 'Trust not to secret ways,' said the king. 'Saruman has long spied out this land. Still in that place our defence may last long. Let us go!' Aragorn and Legolas went now with Jomer in the van. On through the dark night they rode, ever slower as the darkness deepened and their way climbed southward, higher and higher into the dim folds about the mountains' feet. They found few of the enemy before them. Here and there they came upon roving bands of Orcs; but they fled ere the Riders could take or slay them. 'It will not be long I fear,' said Jomer, 'ere the coming of the king's host will be known to the leader of our enemies, Saruman or whatever captain he has sent forth.' The rumour of war grew behind them. Now they could hear, borne over the dark, the sound of harsh singing. They had climbed far up into the Deeping-coomb when they looked back. Then they saw torches countless points of fiery light upon the black fields behind, scattered like red flowers, or winding up from the lowlands in long flickering lines. Here and there a larger blaze leapt up. 'It is a great host and follows us hard,' said Aragorn. 'They br ing fire,' said Thjoden, 'and they are burning as they come, rick, cot, and tree. This was a rich vale and had many homesteads. Alas for my folk!' 'Would that day was here and we might ride down upon them like a storm out of the mountains!' said Aragorn. 'It grieves me to fly before them.' 'We need not fly much further,' said Jomer. 'Not far ahead now lies Helm's Dike, an ancient trench and rampart scored across the coomb, two furlongs below Helm's Gate. There we can turn and give ba ttle.' 'Nay, we are too few to defend the Dike,' said Thjoden. 'It is a mile long or more, and the breach in it is wide.' 'At the breach our rearguard must stand, if we are pressed,' said Jomer. There was neither star nor moon when the Riders came to the breach in the Dike, where the stream from above passed out, and the road beside it ran down from the Hornburg. The rampart loomed suddenly before them, a high shadow beyond a dark pit. As they rode up a sentinel challenged them. 'The Lord of the Mark rides to Helm's Gate,' Jomer answered. 'I, Jomer ####-son of Jomund, speak.' 'This is good tidings beyond hope,' said the sentinel. 'Hasten! The enemy is on your heels.' The host passed through the breach and halted on the sloping sward above. They now learned to their joy that Erkenbrand had left many men to hold Helm's Gate, and more had since escaped thither. 'Maybe, we have a thousand fit to fight on foot,' said Gamling, an old man, the leader of those that watched the Dike. 'But most of them have seen too many winters, as I have, or too few, as my son's son here. What news of Erkenbrand? Word came yesterday that he was retreating hither with all that is left of the best Riders of Westfold. But he has not come.' 'I fear that he will not come now,' said Jomer. 'Our scouts have gained no news of him, and the enemy fills all the valley behind us.' 'I would that he had escaped,' said Thjoden. 'He was a mighty man. In him lived again the valour of Helm the Hammerhand. But we cannot await him here. We must draw all our forces now behind the walls. Are you well stored? We bring little provision, for we rode forth to open battle, not to a siege.' 'Behind us in the caves of the Deep are three parts of the folk of Westfold, old and young, children and women,' said Gamling. 'But great store of food, and many beasts and their fodder, have also been gathered there.' 'That is well,' said Jomer. 'They are burning or despoiling all that is left in the vale.' 'If they come to bargain for our goods at Helm's Gate, they will pay a high price,' said Gamling. The king and his Riders passed on. Before the causeway that crossed the stream they dismounted. In a long file they led their horses up the ramp and passed within the gates of the Hornburg. There they were welcomed again with joy and renewed hope; for now there were men enough to man both the burg and the barrier wall. Quickly Jomer set his men in readiness. The king and the men of his household were in the Hornburg, and there also were many of the Westfold-men. But on the Deeping Wall and its tower, and behind it, Jomer arrayed most of the strength that he had, for here the defence seemed more doubtful, if the assault were determined and in great force. The horses were ####-led far up the Deep under such guard as could be spared. The Deeping Wall was twenty feet high, and so thick that four men could walk abreast along the top, sheltered by a parapet over which only a tall man could look. Here and there were clefts in the stone through which men could shoot. This battlement could be reached by a stair running down from a door in the outer court of the Hornburg; three flights of steps led also up on to the wall from the Deep behind; but in front it was smooth, and the great stones of it were set with such skill that no foothold could be found at their joints, and at the top they hung over like a sea -delved cliff. Gimli stood leaning against the breastwork upon the wall. Legolas sat above on the parapet, fingering his bow, and peering out into the gloom. 'This is more to my liking,' said the dwarf, stamping on the stones. 'Ever my heart rises as we draw near the mountains. There is good rock here. This country has tough bones. I felt them in my feet as we came up from the dike. Give me a year and a hundred of my kin and I would make this a place that armies would break upon like water.' 'I do not doubt it,' said Legolas. 'But you are a dwarf, and dwarves are strange folk. I do not like this place, and I shall like it no more by the light of day. But you comfort me, Gimli, and I am glad to have you standing nigh with your stout legs and your hard axe. I wish there were more of your kin among us. But even more would I give for a hundred good archers of Mirkwood. We shall need them. The Rohirrim have good bowmen after their fashion, but there are too few here, too few.' 'It is dark for archery,' said Gimli. 'Indeed it is time for sleep. Sleep! I feel the need of it, as never I thought any dwarf could. Riding is tiring work. Yet my axe is restless in my hand. Give me a row of orc-necks and room to swing and all weariness will fall from me!' A slow time passed. Far down in the valley scattered fires still burned. The hosts of Isengard were advancing in silence now. Their torches could be seen winding up the coomb in many lines. Suddenly from the Dike yells and screams, and the fierce battle-cries of men broke out. Flaming brands appeared over the brink and clustered thickly at the breach. Then they scattered and vanished. Men came galloping back over the field and up the ramp to the gate of the Hornburg. The rearguard of the Westfolders had been driven in. 'The enemy is at hand!' they said. 'We loosed every arrow that we had,####-and filled the Dike with Orcs. But it will not halt them long. Already they are scaling the bank at many points, thick as marching ants. But we have taught them not to carry torches.' It was now past midnight. The sky was utterly dark, and the stillness of the heavy air foreboded storm. Suddenly the clouds were seared by a blinding flash. Branched lightning smote down upon the eastward hills. For a staring moment the watchers on the walls saw all the space between them and the Dike lit with white light: it was boiling and crawling with black shapes. some squat and broad, some tall and grim, with high helms and sable shields. Hundreds and hundreds more were pouring over the Dike and through the breach. The dark tide flowed up to the walls from cliff to cliff. Thunder rolled in the valley. Rain came lashing down. Arrows thick as the rain came whistling over the battlements, and fell clinking and glancing on the stones. Some found a mark. The assault on Helm's Deep had begun, but no sound or challenge was heard within; no answering arrows came. The assailing hosts halted, foiled by the silent menace of rock and wall. Ever and again the lightning tore aside the darkness. Then the Orcs screamed, waving spear and sword, and shooting a cloud of arrows at any that stood revealed upon the battlements; and the men of the Mark amazed looked out, as it seemed to them, upon a great field of dark corn, tossed by a tempest of war, and every ear glinted with barbed light. Brazen trumpets sounded. The enemy surged forward, some against the Deeping Wall, other towards the causeway a nd the ramp that led up to the Hornburg-gates. There the hugest Orcs were mustered, and the wild men of the Dunland fells. A moment they hesitated and then on they came. The lightning flashed, and blazoned upon every helm and shield the ghastly hand of Isengard was seen: They reached the summit of the rock; they drove towards the gates. Then at last an answer came: a storm of arrows met them, and a hail of stones. They wavered, broke, and fled back; and then charged again, broke and charged again; and each time, like the incoming sea, they halted at a higher point. Again trumpets rang, and a press of roaring men leaped forth. They held their great shields above them like a roof, while in their midst they bore two trunks of mighty trees. Behind them orc-archers crowded, sending a hail of darts against the bowmen on the walls. They gained the gates. The trees, swung by strong arms, smote the timbers with a rending ####-boom. If any man fell, crushed by a stone hurtling from above, two others sprang to take his place. Again and again the great rams swung and crashed. Jomer and Aragorn stood together on the Deeping Wall. They heard the roar of voices and the thudding of the rams; and then in a sudden flash of light they beheld the peril of the gates. 'Come!' said Aragorn. 'This is the hour when we draw swords together!' Running like fire, they sped along the wall, and up the steps, and passed into the outer court upon the Rock. As they ran they gathered a handful of stout swordsmen. There was a small postern-door that opened in an angle of the burg-wall on the west, where the cliff stretched out to meet it. On that side a narrow path ran round towards the great gate, between the wall and the sheer brink of the Rock. Together Jomer and Aragorn sprang through the door, their men close behind. The swords flashed from the sheath as one. 'G®thwinl!' cried Jomer. 'G®thwinl for the Mark!' 'And®ril!' cried Aragorn. 'And®ril for the D®nedain!' Charging from the side, they hurled themselves upon the wild men. And®ril rose and fell, gleaming with white fire. A shout went up from wall and tower: 'And®ril! And®ril goes to war. The Blade that was Broken shines again!' Dismayed the rammers let fall the trees and turned to fight; but the wall of their shields was broken as by a lightning-stroke, and they were swept away, hewn down, or cast over the Rock into the stony stream below. The orc-archers shot wildly and then fled. For a moment Jomer and Aragorn halted before the gates. The thunder was rumbling in the distance now. The lightning flickered still, far off among the mountains in the South. A keen wind was blowing from the North again. The clouds were torn and drifting, and stars peeped out; and above the hills of the Coomb-side the westering moon rode, glimmering yellow in the storm-wrack. 'We did not come too soon,' said Aragorn, looking at the gates. Their great hinges and iron bars were wrenched and bent; many of their timbers were cracked. 'Yet we cannot stay here beyond the walls to defend them,' said Jomer. 'Look!' He pointed to the causeway. Already a great press of Orcs and Men were gathering again beyond the stream. Arrows whined, and skipped on the stones about them. 'Come! We must get back and see what we can do to pile ####-stone and beam across the gates within. Come now!' They turned and ran. At that moment some dozen Orcs that had lain motionless among the slain leaped to their feet, and came silently and swiftly behind. Two flung themselves to the ground at Jomer's heels, tripped him, and in a moment they were on top of him. But a small dark figure that none had observed sprang out of the shadows and gave a hoarse shout: Baruk Khazvd! Khazvd ai-mknu! An axe swung and swept back. Two Orcs fell headless. The rest fled. Jomer struggled to his feet, even as Aragorn ran back to his aid. The postern was closed again, the iron door was barred and piled inside with stones. When all were safe within, Jomer turned: 'I thank you, Gimli son of Gluin!' he said. 'I did not know that you were with us in the sortie. But oft the unbidden guest proves the best company. How came you there?' 'I followed you to shake off sleep,' said Gimli; 'but I looked on the hillmen and they seemed over large for me, so I sat beside a stone to see your sword-play.' 'I shall not find it easy to repay you,' said Jomer. 'There may be many a chance ere the night is over,' laughed the Dwarf. 'But I am content. Till now I have hewn naught but wood since I left Moria.' 'Two!' said Gimli, patting his axe. He had returned to his place on the wall. 'Two?' said Legolas. 'I have done better, though now I must grope for spent arrows; all mine are gone. Yet I make my tale twenty at the least. But that is only a few leaves in a forest.' The sky now was quickly clearing and the sinking moon was shining brightly. But the light brought little hope to the Riders of the Mark. The enemy before them seemed to have grown rather than diminished, still more were pressing up from the valley through the breach. The sortie upon the Rock gained only a brief respite. The assault on the gates was redoubled. Against the Deeping Wall the hosts of Isengard roared like a sea. Orcs and hillmen swarmed about its feet from end to end. Ropes with grappling hooks were hurled over the parapet faster than men could cut them or fling them back. Hundreds of long ladders were lifted up. Many were cast down in ruin, but many more replaced them, and Orcs sprang up them like apes in the dark forests of the South. Before the wall's foot the dead and broken were piled like shingle in a storm; ever higher rose the hideous mounds, and still the ####-enemy came on. The men of Rohan grew weary. All their arrows were spent, and every shaft was shot; their swords were notched, and their shields were riven. Three times Aragorn and Jomer rallied them, and three times And®ril flamed in a desperate charge that drove the enemy from the wall. Then a clamour arose in the Deep behind. Orcs had crept like rats through the culvert through which the stream flowed out. There they had gathered in the shadow of the cliffs, until the assault above was hottest and nearly all the men of the defence had rushed to the wall's top. Then they sprang out. Already some had passed into the jaws of the Deep and were among the horses, fighting with the guards. Down from the wall leapt Gimli with a fierce cry that echoed in the cliffs. 'Khazvd! Khazvd!' He soon had work enough. 'Ai -oi!' he shouted. 'The Orcs are behind the wall. Ai -oi! Come, Legolas! There are enough for us both. Khazvd ai-mknu!' Gamling the Old looked down from the Hornburg, hearing the great voice of the dwarf above all the tumult. 'The Orcs are in the Deep!' he cried. 'Helm! Helm! Forth Helmingas. he shouted as he leaped down the stair from the Rock with many men of Westfold at his back. Their onset was fierce and sudden, and the Orcs gave way before them. Ere long they were hemmed in in the narrows of the gorge, and all were slain or driven shrieking into the chasm of the Deep to fall before the guardians of the hidden caves. 'Twenty-one!' cried Gimli. He hewed a two -handed stroke and laid the last Orc before his feet. 'Now my count passes Master Legolas again.' 'We must stop this rat-hole,' said Gamling. 'Dwarves are said to be cunning folk with stone. Lend us your aid, master!' 'We do not shape stone with battle-axes, nor with our finger -nails,' said Gimli. 'But I will help as I may.' They gathered such small boulders and broken stones as they could find to hand, and under Gimli's direction the Westfold-men blocked up the inner end of the culvert, until only a narrow outlet remained. Then the Deeping-stream, swollen by the rain, churned and fretted in its choked path, and spread slowly in cold pools from cliff to cliff. 'It will be drier above,' said Gimli. 'Come, Gamling, let us see how things go on the wall!' He climbed up and found Legolas beside Aragorn and Jomer. The elf was ####-whetting his long knife. There was for a while a lull in the assault, since the attempt to break in through the culvert had been foiled. 'Twenty-one!' said Gimli. 'Good!' said Legolas. 'But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.' Jomer and Aragorn leant wearily on their swo rds. Away on the left the crash and clamour of the battle on the Rock rose loud again. But the Hornburg still held fast, like an island in the sea. Its gates lay in ruin; but over the barricade of beams and stones within no enemy as yet had passed. Aragorn looked at the pale stars, and at the moon, now sloping behind the western hills that enclosed the valley. 'This is a night as long as years,' he said. 'How long will the day tarry?' 'Dawn is not far off,' said Gamling, who had now climbed up beside him. 'But dawn will not help us, I fear.' 'Yet dawn is ever the hope of men,' said Aragorn. 'But these creatures of Isengard, these half-orcs and goblin-men that the foul craft of Saruman has bred, they will not quail at the sun,' said Gamling. 'And neither will the wild men of the hills. Do you not hear their voices?' 'I hear them,' said Jomer; 'but they are only the scream of birds and the bellowing of beasts to my ears.' 'Yet there are many that cry in the Dunland tongue,' said Gamling. 'I know that tongue. It is an ancient speech of men, and once was spoken in many western valleys of the Mark. Hark! They hate us, and they are glad; for our doom seems certain to them. 'The king the king!' they cry. 'We will take their king. Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!' Such names they have for us. Not in half a thousand years have they forgotten their grievance that the lords of Gondor gave the Mark to Eorl the Young and made alliance with him. That old hatred Saruman has inflamed. They are fierce folk when roused. They will not give way now for dusk or dawn, until Thjoden is taken, or they themselves are slain.' 'Nonetheless day will bring hope to me,' said Aragorn. 'Is it not said that no foe has ever taken the Hornburg, if men defended it?' 'So the minstrels say,' said Jomer. 'Then let us defend it, and hope!' said Aragorn. Even as they spoke there came a blare of trumpets. Then there was a ####-crash and a flash of flame and smoke. The waters of the Deeping-stream poured out hissing and foaming: they were choked no longer, a gaping hole was blasted in the wall. A host of dark shapes poured in. 'Devilry of Saruman! ' cried Aragorn. 'They have crept in the culvert again, while we talked, and they have lit the fire of Orthanc beneath our feet. Elendil, Elendil!' he shouted, as he leaped down into the breach; but even as he did so a hundred ladders were raised against the battlements. Over the wall and under the wall the last assault came sweeping like a dark wave upon a hill of sand. The defence was swept away. Some of the Riders were driven back, further and further into the Deep, falling and fighting a s they gave way, step by step, towards the caves. Others cut their way back towards the citadel. A broad stairway, climbed from the Deep up to the Rock and the rear-gate of the Hornburg. Near the bottom stood Aragorn. In his hand still And®ril gleamed, and the terror of the sword for a while held back the enemy, as one by one all who could gain the stair passed up towards the gate. Behind on the upper steps knelt Legolas. His bow was bent, but one gleaned arrow was all that he had left, and he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair. 'All who can have now got safe within, Aragorn,' he called. 'Come back!' Aragorn turned and sped up the stair; but as he ran he stumbled in his weariness. At once his enemies leapt forward. Up came the Orcs, yelling, with their long arms stretched out to seize him. The foremost fell with Legolas' last arrow in his throat. but the rest sprang over him. Then a great boulder, cast from the outer wall above, crashed down upon the stair, and hurled them back into the Deep. Aragorn gained the door, and swiftly it clanged to behind him. 'Things go ill, my friends,' he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with his arm. 'Ill enough,' said Legolas, 'but not yet hopeless, while we have you with us. Where is Gimli?' 'I do not know.' said Aragorn. 'I last saw him fighting on the ground behind the wall, but the enemy swept us apart.' 'Alas! That is evil news,' said Legolas. 'He is stout and strong,' said Aragorn. 'Let us hope that he will escape back to the caves. There he would be safe for a while. Safer than we.####-Such a refuge would be to the liking of a dwarf.' 'That must be my hope'' said Legolas. 'But I wish that he had come this way. I desired to tell Master Gimli that my tale is now thirty-nine.' 'If he wins back to the caves, he will pass your count again,' laughed Aragorn. 'Never did I see an axe so wielded.' 'I must go a nd seek some arrows,' said Legolas. 'Would that this night would end, and I could have better light for shooting.' Aragorn now passed into the citadel. There to his dismay he learned that Jomer had not reached the Hornburg. 'Nay, he did not come to the Rock,' said one of the Westfold-men, 'I last saw him gathering men about him and fighting in the mouth of the Deep. Gamling was with him, and the dwarf; but I could not come to them.' Aragorn strode on through the inner court, and mounted to a high chamber in the tower. There stood the king, dark against a narrow window, looking out upon the vale. 'What is the news, Aragorn?' he said. 'The Deeping Wall is taken, lord, and all the defence swept away; but many have escaped hither to the Rock.' 'Is Jomer here?' 'No, lord. But many of your men retreated into the Deep; and some say that Jomer was amongst them. In the narrows they may hold back the enemy and come within the caves. What hope they may have then I do not know.' 'More than we. Good provision, it is said. And the air is wholesome there because of the outlets through fissures in the rock far above. None can force an entrance against determined men. They may hold out long.' 'But the Orcs have brought a devilry from Orthanc,' said Aragorn. 'They have a blasting fire, and with it they took the Wall. If they cannot come in the caves, they may seal up those that are inside. But now we must turn all our thoughts to our own defence.' 'I fret in this prison,' said Thjoden. 'If I could have set a spear in rest, riding before my men upon the field, maybe I could have felt again the joy of battle, and so ended. But I serve little purpose here.' 'Here at least you are guarded in the strongest fastness of the Mark,' said Aragorn. 'More hope we have to defend you in the Hornburg than in Edoras, or even at Dunharrow in the mountains.' 'It is said that the Hornburg has never fallen to assault,' said ####-Thjoden; 'but now my heart is doubtful. The world changes, and all that once was strong now proves unsure. How shall any tower withstand such numbers and such reckless hate? Had I known that the strength of Isengard was grown so great, maybe l should not so rashly have ridden forth to meet it, for all the arts of Gandalf. His counsel seems not now so good as it did under the morning sun.' 'Do not judge the counsel of Gandalf, until all is over, lord,' said Aragorn. 'The end will not be long,' said the king. 'But I will not end here, taken like an old badger in a trap. Snowmane and Hasufel and the horses of my guard are in the inner court. When dawn comes, I will bid men sound Helm's horn, and I will ride forth. Will you ride with me then, son of Arathorn? Maybe we shall cleave a road, or make such an end as will be worth a song-if any be left to sing of us hereafter.' 'I will ride with you,' said Aragorn. Taking his leave, he returned to the walls, and passed round all their circuit, enheartening the men, and lending aid wherever the assault was hot. Legolas went with him. Blasts of fire leaped up from below shaking the stones. Grappling-hooks were hurled, and ladders raised. Again and again the Orcs gained the summit of the outer wall, and again the defenders cast them down. At last Aragorn stood above the great gates, heedless of the darts of the enemy. As he looked forth he saw the eastern sky grow pale. Then he raised his empty hand, palm outward in token of parley. The Orcs yelled and jeered. 'Come down! Come down!' they cried. 'If you wish to speak to us, come down! Bring out your king! We are the fighting Uruk-hai. We will fetch him from his hole, if he does not come. Bring out your skulking king!' 'The king stays or comes at his own will,' said Aragorn. 'Then what are you doing here?' they answered. 'Why do you look out? Do you wish to see the greatness of our army? We are the fighting Uruk-hai.' 'I looked out to see the dawn,' said Aragorn. 'What of the dawn?' they jeered. 'We are the Uruk-hai: we do not stop the fight for night or day, for fair weather or for storm. We come to kill, by sun or moon. What of the dawn?' 'None knows what the new day shall bring him,' said Aragorn. 'Get you ####-gone, ere it turn to your evil.' 'Get down or we will shoot you from the wall,' they cried. 'This is no parley. You have nothing to say.' 'I have still this to say,' answered Aragorn. 'No enemy has yet taken the Hornburg. Depart, or not one of you will be spared. Not one will be left alive to take back tidings to the North. You do not know your peril.' So great a power and royalty was revealed in Aragorn, as he stood there alone above the ruined gates before the host of his enemies, that many of the wild men paused, and looked back over their shoulders to the valley, and some looked up doubtfully at the sky. But the Orcs laughed with loud voices; and a hail of darts and arrows whistled over the wall, as Aragorn leaped down. There was a roar and a blast of fire. The archway of the gate above which he had stood a moment before crumbled and crashed in smoke and dust. The barricade was scattered as if by a thunderbolt. Aragorn ran to the king's tower. But even as the gate fell, and the Orcs about it yelled, preparing to charge, a murmur arose behind them. like a wind in the distance, and it grew to a clamour of many voices crying strange news in the dawn. The Orcs upon the Rock, hearing the rumour of dismay, wavered and looked back. And then, sudden and terrible, from the tower above, the sound of the great horn of Helm rang out. All that heard that sound trembled. Many of the Orcs cast themselves on their faces and covered their ears with their claws. Back from the Deep the echoes came, blast upon blast, as if on every cliff and hill a mighty herald stood. But on the walls men looked up, listening with wonder; for the echoes did not die. Ever the horn-blasts wound on among the hills; nearer now and louder they answered one to another, blowing fierce and free. 'Helm! Helm!' the Riders shouted. 'Helm is arisen and comes back to war. Helm for Thjoden King!' And with that shout the king came. His horse was white as snow, golden was his shield, and his spear was long. At his right hand was Aragorn, Elendil's heir, behind him rode the lords of the House of Eorl the Young. Light sprang in the sky. Night departed. 'Forth Eorlingas!' With a cry and a great noise they charged. Down from the gates they roared, over the causeway they swept, and they drove through ####-the hosts of Isengard as a wind among grass. Behind them from the Deep came the stern cries of' men issuing from the caves, driving forth the enemy. Out poured all the men that were left upon the Rock. And ever the sound of blowing horns echoed in the hills. On they rode, the king and his companions. Captains and champions fell or fled before them. Neither orc nor man withstood them. Their backs were to the swords and spears of the Riders and their faces to the valley. They cried and wailed, for fear and great wonder had come upon them with the rising of the day. So King Thjoden rode from Helm's Gate and clove his path to the great Dike. There the company halted. Light grew bright about them. Shafts of the sun flared above the eastern hills and glimmered on their spears. But they sat silent on their horses, and they gazed down upon the Deeping-coomb. The land had changed. Where before the green dale had lain, its grassy slopes lapping the ever -mounting hills, there now a forest loomed. Great trees, bare and silent, stood, rank on rank, with tangled bough and hoary head; their twisted roots were buried in the long green grass. Darkness was under them. Between the Dike and the eaves of that nameless wood only two open furlongs lay. There now cowered the proud hosts of Saruman, in terror of the king and in terror of the trees. They streamed down from Helm's Gate until all above the Dike was empty of them, but below it they were packed like swarming flies. Vainly they crawled and clambered about the walls of the coomb. seeking to escape. Upon the east too sheer and stony was the valley's side; upon the left, from the west, their final doom approached. There suddenly upon a ridge appeared a rider, clad in white, shining in the rising sun. Over the low hills the horns were sounding. Behind him, hastening down the long slopes, were a thousand men on foot; their swords were in their hands. Amid them strode a man tall and strong. His shield was red. As he came to the valley's brink, he set to his lips a great black horn and blew a ringing blast. 'Erkenbrand!' the Riders shouted. 'Erkenbrand!' 'Behold the White Rider!' cried Aragorn. 'Gandalf is come again!' 'Mithrandir, Mithrandir!' said Legolas. 'This is wizardry indeed! Come! I would look on this forest, ere the spell changes.' The hosts of Isengard roared, swaying this way and that, turning from fear to fear. Again the horn sounded from the tower. Down through the breach of the Dike charged the king's company. Down from the hills leaped ####-Erkenbrand, lord of Westfold. Down leaped Shadowfax, like a deer that runs surefooted in the mountains. The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled. Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again. ####- So it was that in the light of a fair morning King Thjoden and Gandalf the White Rider met again upon the green grass beside the Deeping -stream. There was also Aragorn son of Arathorn, and Legolas the Elf, and Erkenbrand of Westfold, and the lords of the Golden House. About them were gathered the Rohirrim, the Riders of the Mark: wonder overcame their joy in victory, and their eyes were turned towards the wood. Suddenly there was a great shout, and down from the Dike came those who had been driven back into the Deep. There came Gamling the Old, and Jomer son of Jomund, and beside them walked Gimli the dwarf. He had no helm, and about his head was a linen band stained with blood; but his voice was loud and strong. 'Forty-two, Master Legolas!' he cried. 'Alas! My axe is notched: the forty-second had an iron collar on his neck. How is it with you?' 'You have passed my score by one,' answered Legolas. 'But I do not grudge you the game, so glad am I to see you on your legs!' 'Welcome, Jomer, sister -son!' said Thjoden. 'Now that I see you safe, I am glad indeed.' 'Hail, Lord of the Mark!' said Jomer. 'The dark night has passed and day has come again. But the day has brought strange tidings.' He turned and gazed in wonder, first at the wood and then at Gandalf. 'Once more you come in the hour of need, unlooked-for,' he said. 'Unlooked-for?' said Gandalf. 'I said that I would return and meet you here.' 'But you did not name the hour, nor foretell the manner of your coming. Strange help you bring. You are mighty in wizardry, Gandalf the White!' 'That may be. But if so, I have not shown it yet. I have but given good counsel in peril, and made use of the speed of Shadowfax. Your own valour has done more, and the stout legs of the Westfold-men marching through the night.' Then they all gazed at Gandalf with still greater wonder. Some glanced darkly at the wood, and passed their hands over their brows, as if they thought their eyes saw otherwise than his.####- Gandalf laughed long and merrily. 'The trees?' he said. 'Nay, I see the wood as plainly as do you. But that is no deed of mine. It is a thing beyond the counsel of the wise. Better than my design, and better even than my hope the event has proved.' 'Then if not yours, whose is the wizardry?' said Thjoden. 'Not Saruman's, that is plain. Is there some mightier sage, of whom we have yet to learn?' 'It is not wizardry, but a power far older,' said Gandalf: 'a power that walked the earth, ere elf sang or hammer rang. Ere iron was found or tree was hewn, When young was mountain under moon; Ere ring was made, or wrought was woe, It walked the forests long ago.' 'And what may be the answer to your riddle?' said Thjoden. 'If you would learn that, you should come with me to Isengard ' answered Gandalf. 'To Isengard?' they cried. 'Yes,' said Gandalf. 'I shall return to Isengard, and those who will may come with me. There we may see strange things.' 'But there are not men enough in the Mark, not if they were all gathered together and healed of wounds and weariness, to assault the stronghold of Saruman,' said Thjoden. 'Nevertheless to Isengard I go,' said Gandalf. 'I shall not stay there long. My way lies now eastward. Look for me in Edoras, ere the waning of the moon!' 'Nay!' said Thjoden. 'In the dark hour before dawn I doubted, but we will not part now. I will come with you, if that is your counsel.' 'I wish to speak with Saruman, as soon as may be now,' said Gandalf, 'and since he has done you great injury, it would be fitting if you were there. But how soon and how swiftly will you ride?' 'My men are weary with battle,' said the King; 'and I am weary also. For I have ridden far and slept little. Alas! My old age is not feigned nor due only to the whisperings of Wormtongue. It is an ill that no leech can wholly cure, not even Gandalf.' 'Then let all who are to ride with me rest now,' said Gandalf. 'We will journey under the shadow of evening. It is as well; for it is my counsel that all our comings and goings should be as secret as may be, henceforth.####-But do not command many men to go with you, Thjoden. We go to a parley not to a fight.' The King then chose men that were unhurt and had swift horses, and he sent them forth with tidings of the victory into every vale of the Mark; and they bore his summons also, bidding all men, young and old, to come in haste to Edoras. There the Lord of the Mark would hold an assembly of all that could bear arms, on the second day after the full moon. To ride with him to Isengard the King chose Jomer and twenty men of his household. With Gandalf would go Aragorn, and Legolas, and Gimli. In spite of his hurt the dwarf would not stay behind. 'It was only a feeble blow and the cap turned it;' he said. 'It would take more than such an orc-scratch to keep me back.' 'I will tend it, while you rest,' said Aragorn. The king now returned to the Hornburg, and slept, such a sleep of quie t as he had not known for many years, and the remainder of his chosen company rested also. But the others, all that were not hurt or wounded, began a great labour; for many had fallen in the battle and lay dead upon the field or in the Deep. No Orcs remained alive; their bodies were uncounted. But a great many of the hillmen had given themselves up; and they were afraid, and cried for mercy. The Men of the Mark took their weapons from them, and set them to work. 'Help now to repa ir the evil in which you have joined,' said Erkenbrand; 'and afterwards you shall take an oath never again to pass the Fords of Isen in arms, nor to march with the enemies of Men; and then you shall go free back to your land. For you have been deluded by Saruman. Many of you have got death as the reward of your trust in him; but had you conquered, little better would your wages have been.' The men of Dunland were amazed, for Saruman had told them that the men of Rohan were cruel and burned their captives alive. In the midst of the field before the Hornburg two mounds were raised, and beneath them were laid all the Riders of the Mark who fell in the defence, those of the East Dales upon one side, and those of Westfold upon the other. In a_ grave alone under the shadow of the Hornburg lay Hbma, captain of the King's guard. He fell before the Gate.####- The Orcs were piled in great heaps, away from the mounds of Men, not far from the eaves of the forest. And the people were troubled in their minds; for the heaps of carrion were too great for burial or for burning. They had little wood for firing, and none would have dared to take an axe to the strange trees, even if Gandalf had not warned them to hurt neither bark nor bough at their great peril. 'Let the Orcs lie,' said Gandalf. 'The morning may bring new counsel.' In the afternoon the King's company prepared to depart. The work of burial was then but beginning; and Thjoden mourned for the loss of Hbma, his captain, and cast the first earth upon his grave. 'Great injury indeed has Saruman done to me and all this land,' he said; 'and I will remember it, when we meet.' The sun was already drawing near the hills upon the west of the Coomb, when at last Thjoden and Gandalf and their companions rode down from the Dike. Behind them were gathered a great host, both of the Riders and of the people of Westfold, old and young, women and children, who had come out from the caves. A song of victory they sang with clear voices; and then they fell silent, wondering what would chance, for their eyes were on the trees and they feared them. The Riders came to the wood, and they halted; horse and man, they were unwilling to pass in. T he trees were grey and menacing, and a shadow or a mist was about them. The ends of their long sweeping boughs hung down like searching fingers, their roots stood up from the ground like the limbs of strange monsters, and dark caverns opened benea th them. But Gandalf went forward, leading the company, and where the road from the Hornburg met the trees they saw now an opening like an arched gate under mighty boughs; and through it Gandalf passed, and they followed him. Then to their amazement they found that the road ran on, and the Deeping-stream beside it; and the sky was open above and full of golden light. But on either side the great aisles of the wood were already wrapped in dusk, stretching away into impenetrable shadows; and there they heard the creaking and groaning of boughs, and far cries, and a rumour of wordless voices, murmuring angrily. No Orc or other living creature could be seen. Legolas and Gimli were now riding together upon one horse; and they kept close beside Gandalf, for Gimli was afraid of the wood. 'It is hot in here,' said Legolas to Gandalf. 'I feel a great wrath ####-about me. Do you not feel the air throb in your ears?' 'Yes,' said Gandalf. 'What has become of the miserable Orcs?' said Legolas. 'That, I think, no one will ever know,' said Gandalf. They rode in silence for a while; but Legolas was ever glancing from side to side, and would often have halted to listen to the sounds of the wood, if Gimli had allowed it. 'These are the strangest trees that ever I saw,' he said; 'and I have seen many an oak grow from acorn to ruinous age. I wish that there were leisure now to walk among them: they have voices, and in time I might come to understand their thought.' 'No, no!' said Gimli. 'Let us leave them! I guess their thought already: hatred of all that go on two legs; and their speech is of crushing and strangling.' 'Not of all that go on two legs,' said Legolas. 'There I think you are wrong. It is Orcs that they hate. For they do not belong here and know little of Elves and Men. Far away are the valleys where they sprang. From the deep dales of Fangorn, Gimli, that is whence they come, I guess.' 'Then that is the most perilous wood in Middle-earth,' said Gimli. 'I should be grateful for the part they have played, but I do not love them. You may think them wonderful, but I have seen a greater wonder in this land, more beautiful than any grove or glade that ever grew: my heart is still full of ft. 'Strange are the ways of Men, Legolas! Here they have one of the marvels of the Northern World, and what do they say of it? Caves, they say! Caves! Holes to fly to in time of war, to store fodder in! My good Legolas, do you know that the caverns of Helm's Deep are vast and beautiful? There would be an endless pilgrimage of Dwarves, merely to gaze at them, if such things were known to be. Aye indeed, they would pay pure gold for a brief glance!' 'And I would give gold to be excused,' said Legolas; 'and double to be let out, if I strayed in!' 'You have not seen, so I forgive your jest,' said Gimli. 'But you speak like a fool. Do you think those halls are fair, where your King dwells under the hill in Mirkwood, and Dwarves helped in their making long ago? They are but hovels compared with the caverns I have seen here: immeasurable halls, filled with an everlasting music of water that tinkles into pools, as fair as Kheled-zvram in the starlight.####- 'And, Legolas, when the torches are kindled and men walk on the sandy floors under the echoing domes, ah! then, Legolas, gems and crystals and veins of precious ore glint in the polished walls; and the light glows through folded marbles, shell-like, translucent as the living hands of Queen Galadriel. There are columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose, Legolas, fluted and twisted into dreamlike forms; they spring up from many-coloured floors to meet the glistening pendants of the roof: wings, ropes, curtains fine as frozen clouds; spears, banners, pinnacles of suspended palaces! Still lakes mirror them: a glimmering world looks up from dark pools covered with clear glass; cities. such as the mind of Durin could scarce have imagined in his sleep, stretch on through avenues and pillared courts, on into the dark recesses where no light can come. And plink! a silver drop falls, and the round wrinkles in the glass make all the towers bend and waver like weeds and corals in a grotto of the sea. Then evening comes: they fade and twinkle out; the torches pass on into another chamber and another dream. There is chamber after chamber, Legolas; hall opening out of hall, dome after dome, stair beyond stair; and still the winding paths lead on into the mountains' heart. Caves! The Caverns of Helm's Deep! Happy was the chance that drove me there! It makes me weep to leave them.' 'Then I will wish you this fortune for your comfort, Gimli,' said the Elf, 'that you may come safe from war and return to see them again. But do not tell all your kindred! There seems little left for them to do, from your account. Maybe the men of this land are wise to say little: one family of busy dwarves with hammer and chisel might mar more than they made.' 'No, you do not understand,' said Gimli. 'No dwarf could be unmoved by such loveliness. None of Durin's race would mine those caves for stones or ore, not if diamonds and gold could be got there. Do you cut down groves of blossoming trees in the spring-time for firewood? We would tend these glades of flowering stone, not quarry them. With cautious skill, tap by tap -- a small chip of rock and no more, perhaps, in a whole anxious day -- so we could work, and as the years went by, we should open up new ways, and display far chambers that are still dark, glimpsed only as a void beyond fissures in the rock. And lights, Legolas! We should make lights, such lamps as once shone in Khazad-dym; and when we wished we would drive away the night that has lain there since the hills were made; and when we desired rest, we would let the night return.'####- 'You move me, Gimli,' said Legolas. 'I have never heard you speak like this before. Almost you make me regret that I have not seen these caves. Come! Let us make this bargain-if we both return safe out of the perils that await us, we will journey for a while together. You shall visit Fangorn with me, and then I will come with you to see Helm's Deep.' 'That would not be the way of return that I should choose,' said Gimli. 'But I will endure Fangorn, if I have your promise to come back to the caves and share their wonder with me.' 'You have my promise,' said Legolas. 'But alas! Now we must leave behind both cave and wood for a while: See! We are coming to the end of the trees. How far is it to Isengard, Gandalf?' 'About fifteen leagues, as the crows of Saruman make it.' said Gandalf: 'five from the mouth of Deeping-coomb to the Fords: and ten more from there to the gates of Isengard. But we shall not ride all the way this night.' 'And when we come there, what shall we see?' asked Gimli. 'You may know, but I cannot guess.' 'I do not know myself for certain,' answered the wizard. 'I was there at nightfall yesterday, but much may have happened since. Yet I think that you will not say that the journey was in vain -- not though the Glittering Caves of Aglarond be left behind.' At last the company passed through the trees, and found that they had come to the bottom of the Coomb, where the road from Helm's Deep branched, going one way east to Edoras, and the other north to the Fords of Isen. As they rode from under the eaves of the wood, Legolas halted and looked back with regret. Then he gave a sudden cry. 'There are eyes!' he said. 'Eyes looking out from the shadows of the boughs! I never saw such eyes before.' The others, surprised by his cry, halted and turned; but Legolas started to ride back. 'No, no!' cried Gimli. 'Do as you please in your madness, but let me first get down from this horse! I wish to see no eyes!' 'Stay, Legolas Greenleaf!' said Gandalf. 'Do not go back into the wood, not yet! Now is not your time.' Even as he spoke, there came forward out of the trees three strange shapes. As tall as trolls they were, twelve feet or more in height; their strong bodies, stout as young trees, seemed to be clad with raiment or with ####-hide of close-fitting grey and br own. Their limbs were long, and their hands had many fingers; their hair was stiff, and their beards grey-green as moss. They gazed out with solemn eyes, but they were not looking at the riders: their eyes were bent northwards. Suddenly they lifted their long hands to their mouths, and sent forth ringing calls, clear as notes of a horn, but more musical and various. The calls were answered; and turning again, the riders saw other creatures of the same kind approaching, striding through the grass. They came swiftly from the North, walking like wading herons in their gait, but not in their speed; for their legs in their long paces beat quicker than the heron's wings. The riders cried aloud in wonder, and some set their hands upon their swor d-hilts. 'You need no weapons,' said Gandalf. 'These are but herdsmen. They are not enemies, indeed they are not concerned with us at all.' So it seemed to be; for as he spoke the tall creatures, without a glance at the riders, strode into the wood and vanished. 'Herdsmen!' said Thjoden. 'Where are their flocks? What are they, Gandalf? For it is plain that to you, at any rate, they are not strange.' 'They are the shepherds of the trees,' answered Gandalf. 'Is it so long since you listened to tales by the fireside? There are children in your land who, out of the twisted threads of story, could pick the answer to your question. You have seen Ents, O King, Ents out of Fangorn Forest, which in your tongue you call the Entwood. Did you think that the name was given only in idle fancy? Nay, Thjoden, it is otherwise: to them you are but the passing tale; all the years from Eorl the Young to Thjoden the Old are of little count to them; and all the deeds of your house but a small matter.' The king was silent. 'Ents!' he said at length. 'Out of the shadows of legend I begin a little to understand the marvel of the trees, I think. I have lived to see strange days. Long we have tended our beasts and our fields, built our houses, wrought our tools, or ridden away to help in the wars of Minas Tirith. And that we called the life of Men, the way of the world. We cared little for what lay beyond the borders of our land. Songs we have that tell of these things, but we are forgetting them, teaching them only to children, as a careless custom. And now the songs have come down among us out of strange places, and walk visible under the Sun.' 'You should be glad, Thjoden King,' said Gandalf. 'For not only the little life of Men is now endangered, but the life also of those things which you have deemed the matter of legend. You are not without allies, even ####-if you know them not.' 'Yet also I should be sad,' said Thjoden. 'For however the fortune of war shall go, may it not so end that much that was fair and wonderful shall pass for ever out of Middle-earth?' 'It may,' said Gandalf. 'The evil of Sauron cannot be wholly cured, nor made as if it had not been. But to such days we are doomed. Let us now go on with the journey we have begun!' The company turned then away from the Coomb and from the wood and took the road towards the Fords. Legolas followed reluctantly. The sun had set, already it had sunk behind the rim of the world; but as they rode out from the shadow of the hills and looked west to the Gap of Rohan the sky was still red, and a burning light was under the floating clouds. Dark against it there wheeled and flew many black -winged birds. Some passed overhead wi th mournful cries, returning to their homes among the rocks. 'The carrion-fowl have been busy about the battle-field,' said Jomer. They rode now at an easy pace and dark came down upon the plains about them. The slow moon mounted, now waxing towards the full, and in its cold silver light the swelling grass-lands rose and fell like a wide grey sea. They had ridden for some four hours from the branching of the roads when they drew near to the Fords. Long slopes ran swiftly down to where the river spread in stony shoals between high grassy terraces. Borne upon the wind they heard the howling of wolves. Their hearts were heavy, remembering the many men that had fallen in battle in this place. The road dipped between rising turf-banks, carving its way through the terraces to the river's edge, and up again upon the further side. There were three lines of flat stepping-stones across the stream, and between them fords for horses, that went from either brink to a bare eyot in the midst. The riders looked down upon the crossings, and it seemed strange to them; for the Fords had ever been a place full of the rush and chatter of water upon stones; but now they were silent. The beds of the stream were almost dry, a bare wast e of shingles and grey sand. 'This is become a dreary place,' said Jomer. 'What sickness has befallen the river? Many fair things Saruman has destroyed: has he devoured the springs of Isen too?' 'So it would seem,' said Gandalf. 'Alas!' said Thjoden. 'Must we pass this way, where the carrion-beasts ####-devour so many good Riders of the Mark?' 'This is our way,' said Gandalf. 'Grievous is the fall of your men; but you shall see that at least the wolves of the mountains do not devour them. It is with their friends, the Orcs, that they hold their feast: such indeed is the friendship of their kind. Come!' They rode down to the river, and as they came the wolves ceased their howling and slunk away. Fear fell on them seeing Gandalf in the moon, and Shadowfax his horse shining like silver. The riders passed over to the islet, and glittering eyes watched them wanly from the shadows of the banks. 'Look!' said Gandalf. 'Friends have laboured here.' And they saw that in the midst of the eyot a mound was piled, ringed with stones, and set about with many spears. 'Here lie all the Men of the Mark that fell near this place,' said Gandalf. 'Here let them rest!' said Jomer. 'And when their spears have rotted and rusted, long still may their mound stand and guard the Fords of Isen!' 'Is this your work also, Gandalf, my friend?' said Thjoden. 'You accomplished much in an evening and a night!' 'With the help of Shadowfax -- and others,' said Gandalf. 'I rode fast and far. But here beside the mound I will say this for your comfort: many fell in the battles of the Fords, but fewer than rumour made them. More were scattered than were slain; I gathered together all that I could find. Some men I sent with Grimbold of Westfold to join Erkenbrand. Some I set to make this burial. They have now followed your marshal, Elfhelm. I sent him with many Riders to Edoras. Saruman I knew had despatched his full strength against you, and his servants had turned aside from all other errands and gone to Helm's Deep: the lands seemed empty of enemies; yet I feared that wolf-riders and plunderers might ride nonetheless to Meduseld, while it was undefended. But now I think you need not fear: you will find your house to welcome your return.' 'And glad shall I be to see it again,' said Thjoden, 'though brief now, I doubt not, shall be my abiding there.' With that the company said farewell to the island and the mound, and passed over the river, and climbed the further bank. Then they rode on, glad to have left the mournful Fords. As they went the howling of the wolves broke out anew. There was an ancient highway that ran down from Isengard to the ####-crossings. For some way i t took its course beside the river, bending with it east and then north; but at the last it turned away and went straight towards the gates of Isengard; and these were under the mountain-side in the west of the valley, sixteen miles or more from its mouth. This road they followed but they did not ride upon it; for the ground beside it was firm and level, covered for many miles about with short springing turf. They rode now more swiftly, and by midnight the Fords were nearly five leagues behind. Then they halted, ending their night's journey, for the King was weary. They were come to the feet of the Misty Mountains, and the long arms of Nan Curunnr stretched down to meet them. Dark lay the vale before them, for the moon had passed into the West, and its light was hidden by the hills. But out of the deep shadow of the dale rose a vast spire of smoke and vapour; as it mounted, it caught the rays of the sinking moon, and spread in shimmering billows, black and silver, over the starry sky. 'What do you think of that, Gandalf?' asked Aragorn. 'One would say that all the Wizard's Vale was burning.' 'There is ever a fume above that valley in these days,' said Jomer: 'but I have never seen aught like this before. These are steams rather than smokes. Saruman is brewing some devilry to greet us. Maybe he is boiling all the waters of Isen, and that is why the river runs dry.' 'Maybe he is,' said Gandalf. 'Tomorrow we shall learn what he is doing. Now let us rest for a while, if we can.' They camped beside the bed of the Isen river; it was still silent and empty. Some of them slept a little. But late in the night the watchmen cried out, and all awoke. The moon was gone. Stars were shining above; but over the ground there crept a darkness blacker than the night. On both sides of the river it rolled towards them, going northward. 'Stay where you are!' said Gandalf. 'Draw no weapons! Wait! and it will pass you by!' A mist gathered about them. Above them a few stars still glimmered faintly; but on either side there arose walls of impenetrable gloom; they were in a narrow lane between moving towers of shadow. Voices they heard, whisperings and groanings and an endless rustling sigh; the earth shook under them. Long it seemed to them that they sat and were afraid; but at last the darkness and the rumour passed, and vanished between the mountain's arms. Away south upon the Hornburg, in the middle night men heard a great ####-noise, as a wind in the valley, and the ground trembled; and all were afraid and no one ventured to go forth. But in the morning they went out and were amazed; for the slain Orcs were gone, and the trees also. Far down into the valley of the Deep the grass was crushed and trampled brown, as if giant herdsmen had pastured great droves of cattle there; but a mile below the Dike a huge pit had been delved in the earth, and over it stones were piled into a hill. Men believed that the Orcs whom they had slain were buried there; but whether those who had fled into the wood were with them, none could say, for no man ever set foot upon that hill. The Death Down it was afterwards called, and no grass would grow there. But the strange trees were never seen in Deeping-coomb again; they had returned at night, and had gone far away to the dark dales of Fangorn. Thus they were revenged upon the Orcs. The king and his company slept no more that night; but they saw and heard no other strange thing, sa ve one: the voice of the river beside them suddenly awoke. There was a rush of water hurrying down among the stones; and when it had passed, the Isen flowed and bubbled in its bed again, as it had ever done. At dawn they made ready to go on. The light came grey and pale, and they did not see the rising of the sun. The air above was heavy with fog, and a reek lay on the land about them. They went slowly, riding now upon the highway. It was broad and hard, and well -tended. Dimly through the mists they could descry the long arm of the mountains rising on their left. They had passed into Nan Curunnr, the Wizard's Vale. That was a sheltered valley, open only to the South. Once it had been fair and green, and through it the Isen flowed, already deep and strong before it found the plains; for it was fed by many springs and lesser streams among the rain-washed hills. and all about it there had lain a pleasant, fertile land. It was not so now. Beneath the walls of Isengard there still were acres tilled by the slaves of Saruman; but most of the valley had become a wilderness of weeds and thorns. Brambles trailed upon the ground, or clambering over bush and bank, made shaggy caves where small beasts housed. No trees grew there; but among the rank grasses could still be seen the burned and axe-hewn stumps of ancient groves. It was a sad country, silent now but for the stony noise of quick waters. Smokes and steams drifted in sullen clouds and lurked in the hollows. The riders did not speak. Many ####-doubted in their hearts, wondering to what dismal end their journey led. After they had ridden for some miles, the highway became a wide street, paved with great flat stones, squared and laid with skill; no blade of grass was seen in any joint. Deep gutters, filled with trickling water. ran down on either side. Suddenly a tall pillar loomed up before them. It was black; and set upon it was a great stone, carved and painted in the likeness of a long White Hand. Its finger pointed north. Not far now they knew that the gates of Isengard must stand, and their hearts were heavy; but their eyes could not pierce the mists ahead. Beneath the mountain's arm within the Wizard's Vale through years uncounted had stood that ancient place that Men called Isengard. Partly it was shaped in the making of the mountains, but mighty works the Men of Westernesse had wrought there of old; and Saruman had dwelt there long and had not been idle. This was its fashion, while Saruman was at his height, accounted by many the chief of Wizards. A great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, stood out from the shelter of the mountain-side, from which it ran and then returned again. One entrance only was there made in it, a great arch delved in the southern wall. Here through the black rock a long tunnel had been hewn, closed at either end with mighty doors of iron. They were so wrought and poised upon their huge hinges, posts of steel driven into the living stone, that when unbarred they could be moved with a light thrust of the arms, noiselessly. One who passed in and came at length out of the echoing tunnel, beheld a plain, a great circle, somewhat hollowed like a vast shallow bowl: a mile it measured from rim to rim. Once it had been green and filled with avenues, and groves of fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the mountains to a lake. But no green thing grew there in the latter days of Saruman. The roads wer e paved with stone-flags, dark and hard; and beside their borders instead of trees there marched long lines of pillars, some of marble, some of copper and of iron. joined by heavy chains. Many houses there were, chambers, halls, and passages, cut and tunnelled back into the walls upon their inner side, so that all the open circle was overlooked by countless windows and dark doors. Thousands could dwell there, workers, servants, slaves, and warriors with great store of arms; wolves were fed and stabled in deep dens beneath. The plain, too, was bored and delved. Shafts were driven deep into the ground; their upper ends were covered by low mounds and domes of stone, so that in the moonlight the ####-Ring of Isengard looked like a graveyard of unquiet dead. For the ground trembled. The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store-houses, armouries, smithies, and great furnaces. Iron wheels revolved there endlessly, and hammers thudded. At night plumes of vapour steamed from the vents, lit from beneath with red light, or blue, or venomous green. To the centre all the roads ran between their chains. There stood a tower of marvellous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isengard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of Men, but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills. A peak and isle of rock it was. black and gleaming hard: four mighty piers of many-sided stone were welded into one, but near the summit they opened into gaping horns. their pinnacles sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as knives. Between them was a narrow space, and there upon a floor of polished stone, written with strange signs, a man might stand five hundred feet above the plain. This was Orthanc, the citadel of Saruman, the name of which had (by design or chance) a twofold meaning; for in the Elvish speech orthanc signifies Mount Fang, but in the language of the Mark of old the Cunning Mind. A strong place and wonderful was Isengard, and long it had been beautiful; and there great lords had dwelt, the wardens of Gondor upon the West, and wise men that watched the stars. But Saruman had slowly shaped it to his shifting purposes, and made it better. as he thought, being deceived-for all those arts and subtle devices, for which he forsook his former wisdom, and which fondly he imagined were his own. came but from Mordor; so that what he made was naught, only a little copy, a child's model or a slave's flattery, of that vast fortress. armoury, prison, furnace of great power, Barad-dyr, the Dark Tower, which suffered no rival, and laughed at flattery, biding its time, secure in its pride and its immeasurable strength. This was the stronghold of Saruman, as fame reported it; for within living memory the men of Rohan had not passed its gates, save perhaps a few, such as Wormtongue, who came in secret and told no man what they saw. Now Gandalf rode to the great pillar of the Hand, and passed it: and as he did so the Riders saw to their wonder that the Hand appeared no longer white. It was stained as with dried blood; and looking closer they perceived ####-that its nails were red. Unheeding Gandalf rode on into the mist, and reluctantly they followed him. All about them now, as if there had been a sudden flood. wide pools of water lay beside the road, filling the hollows. and rills went trickling down among the stones. At last Gandalf halted and beckoned to them; and they came, and saw that beyond him the mists had cleared, and a pale sunlight shone. The hour of noon had passed. They were come to the doors of Isengard. But the doors lay hurled and twisted on the ground. And all about, stone, cracked and splintered into countless jagged shards, was scattered far and wide, or piled in ruinous heaps. The great arch still stood, but it opened now upon a roofless chasm: the tunnel was laid bare. and through the cliff-like walls on either side great rents and breaches had been torn; their towers were beaten into dust. If the Great Sea had risen in wrath and fallen on the hills with storm. it could ha ve worked no greater ruin. The ring beyond was filled with steaming water: a bubbling cauldron, in which there heaved and floated a wreckage of beams and spars, chests and casks and broken gear. Twisted and leaning pillars reared their splintered stems above the flood. but all the roads were drowned. Far off, it seemed, half veiled in winding cloud, there loomed the island rock. Still dark and tall, unbroken by the storm, the tower of Orthanc stood. Pale waters lapped about its feet. The king and all his company sat silent on their horses, marvelling, perceiving that the power of Saruman was overthrown; but how they could not guess. And now they turned their eyes towards the archway and the ruined gates. There they saw close beside them a great rubble-heap; and suddenly they were aware of two small figures lying on it at their ease, grey-clad, hardly to be seen among the stones. There were bottles and bowls and platters laid beside them, as if they had just eaten well, and now rested from their labour. One seemed asleep; the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke. For a moment Thjoden and Jomer and all his men stared at them in wonder. Amid all the wreck of Isengard this seemed to them the strangest sight. But before the king could speak, the small smoke-breathing figure became suddenly aware of them, as they sat there silent on the edge of the mist. He sprang to his feet. A young man he looked, or like one, though not much more than half a man in height; his head of brown curling hair was ####-uncovered, but he was clad in a travel-stained cloak of the same hue and shape a s the companions of Gandalf had worn when they rode to Edoras. He bowed very low. putting his hand upon his breast. Then, seeming not to observe the wizard and his friends, he turned to Jomer and the king. 'Welcome, my lords, to Isengard!' he said. 'We are the doorwardens. Meriadoc, son of Saradoc is my name; and my companion, who, alas! is overcome with weariness' -- here he gave the other a dig with his foot -- 'is Peregrin, son of Paladin, of the house of Took. Far in the North is our home. The Lord Saruman is within; but at the moment he is closeted with one Wormtongue, or doubtless he would be here to welcome such honourable guests.' 'Doubtless he would!' laughed Gandalf. 'And was it Saruman that ordered you to guard his damaged doors, and watch for the arrival of guests, when your attention could be spared from plate and bottle?' 'No, good sir, the matter escaped him,' answered Merry gravely 'He has been much occupied. Our orders came from Treebeard, who has taken over the management of Isengard. He commanded me to welcome the Lord of Rohan with fitting words. I have done my best.' 'And what about your companions? What about Legolas and me?' cried Gimli, unable to contain himself longer . 'You rascals, you woolly-footed and wool-pated truants! A fine hunt you have led us! Two hundred leagues, through fen and forest, battle and death, to rescue you! And here we find you feasting and idling-and smoking! Smoking! Where did you come by the weed, you villains? Hammer and tongs! I am so torn between rage and joy, that if I do not burst. it will be a marvel!' 'You speak for me, Gimli,' laughed Legolas. 'Though I would sooner learn how they came by the wine.' 'One thing you have not found in your hunting, and that's brighter wits,' said Pippin, opening an eye. 'Here you find us sitting on a field of victory, amid the plunder of armies, and you wonder how we came by a few well-earned comforts!' 'Well-earned?' said Gimli. 'I cannot believe that!' The Riders laughed. 'It cannot be doubted that we witness the meeting of dear friends,' said Thjoden. 'So these are the lost ones of your company, Gandalf? The days are fated to be filled with marvels. Already I have seen ####-many since I left my house; and now here before my eyes stand yet another of the folk of legend. Are not these the Halflings, that some among us call the Holbytlan?' 'Hobbits, if you please, lord,' said Pippin. 'Hobbits?' said Thjoden. 'Your tongue is strangely changed; but the name sounds not unfitting so. Hobbits! No report that I have heard does justice to the truth.' Merry bowed; and Pippin got up and bowed low. 'You are gracious, lord; or I hope that I may so take your words,' he said. 'And here is another marvel! I have wandered in many lands, since I left my home, and never till now have I found people that knew any story concerning hobbits.' 'My people came out of the North long ago,' said Thjoden. 'But I will not deceive you: we know no tales about hobbits. All that is said among us is that far away, over many hills and rivers, live the halfling folk that dwell in holes in sand-dunes. But there are no legends of their deeds. for it is said that they do little, and avoid the sight of men, being able to vanish in a twinkling: and they can change their voices to resemble the piping of birds. But it seems that more could be said.' 'It could indeed, lord,' said Merry. 'For one thing,' said Thjoden, 'I had not heard that they spouted smoke from their mouths.' 'That is not surprising,' answered Merry; 'for it is an art which we have not practised for more than a few generations. It was Tobold Hornblower, of Longbottom in the Southfarthing, who first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens, about the year 1070 according to our reckoning. How old Toby came by the plant...' 'You do not know your danger, Thjoden,' interrupted Gandalf. 'These hobbits will sit on the edge of ruin and discuss the pleasures of the table, or the small doings of their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, and remoter cousins to the ninth degree, if you encourage them with undue patience. Some other time wou ld be more fitting for the history of smoking. Where is Treebeard, Merry?' 'Away on the north side, I believe. He went to get a drink-of clean water. Most of the other Ents are with him, still busy at their work -- over there.' Merry waved his hand towards the steaming lake; and as they looked, they heard a distant rumbling and rattling, as if an avalanche was falling from the mountain-side. Far away came a hoom-hom, as of horns blowing ####-triumphantly. 'And is Orthanc then left unguarded?' asked Gandalf. 'There is the water,' said Merry. 'But Quickbeam and some others are watching it. Not all those posts and pillars in the plain are of Saruman's planting. Quickbeam, I think, is by the rock, near the foot of the stair.' 'Yes, a tall grey Ent is there,' said Legolas, 'but his arms are at his sides, and he stands as still as a door -tree.' 'It is past noon,' said Gandalf, 'and we at any rate have not eaten since early morning. Yet I wish to see Treebeard as soon as may be. Did he leave me no message, or has plate and bottle driven it from your mind?' 'He left a message,' said Merry, 'and I was coming to it, but I have been hindered by many other questions. I was to say that, if the Lord of the Mark and Gandalf will ride to the northern wall they will find Treebeard there, and he will welcome them. I may add that they will also find food of the best there, it was discovered and selected by your humble servants.' He bowed. Gandalf laughed. 'That is better!' he said. 'Well, Thjoden. will you ride with me to find Treebeard? We must go round about, but it is not far. When you see Treebeard, you will learn much. For Treebeard is Fangorn, and the eldest and chief of the Ents, and when you speak with him you will hear the speech of the oldest of all living things.' 'I will come with you,' said Thjoden. 'Farewell, my hobbits! May we meet again in my house! There you shall sit beside me and tell me all that your hearts desire: the deeds of your grandsires, as far as you can reckon them; and we will speak also of Tobold the Old and his herb-lore. Farewell!' The hobbits bowed low. 'So that is the King of Rohan!' said Pippin in an undertone. 'A fine old fellow. Very polite.'####- Gandalf and the King's company rode away, turning eastward to make the circuit of the ruined walls of Isengard. But Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas remained behind. Leaving Arod and Hasufel to stray in search of grass, they came and sat beside the hobbits. 'Well, well! The hunt is over, and we meet again at last, where none of us ever thought to come,' said Aragorn. 'And now that the great ones have gone to discuss high matters,' said Legolas, 'the hunters can per haps learn the answers to their own small riddles. We tracked you as far as the forest, but there are still many things that I should like to know the truth of.' 'And there is a great deal, too, that we want to know about you ' said Merry. 'We have learnt a few things through Treebeard, the Old Ent, but that is not nearly enough.' 'All in good time,' said Legolas. 'We were the hunters, and you should give an account of yourselves to us first.' 'Or second,' said Gimli. 'It would go better after a meal. t have a sore head; and it is past mid-day. You truants might make amends by finding us some of the plunder that you spoke of. Food and drink would pay off some of my score against you.' 'Then you shall have it,' said Pippin. 'Will you have it here, or in more comfort in what's left of Saruman's guard-house--over there under the arch? We had to picnic out here, so as to keep an eye on the road.' 'Less than an eye!' said Gimli. 'But I will not go into any orc-house nor touch Orcs' meat or anything that they have mauled.' 'We wouldn't ask you to,' said Merry. 'We have had enough of Orcs ourselves to last a life-time. But there were many other folk in Isengard. Saruman kept enough wisdom not to trust his Orcs. He had Men to guard his gates: some of his most faithful servants, I suppose. Anyway they were favoured and got good provisions.' 'And pipe-weed?' asked Gimli. 'No, I don't think so,' Merry laughed. 'But that is another story, which can wait until after lunch.' 'Well let us go and have lunch then!' said the Dwarf.####- The hobbits led the way; and they passed under the arch and came to a wide door upon the left, at the top of a stair. It opened direct into a large chamber, with other smaller doors at the far end, and a hearth and chimney at one side. The chamber was hewn out of the stone; and it must once have been dark, for its windows looked out only into the tunnel. But light came in now through the broken roof. On the hearth wood was burning. 'I lit a bit of fire,' said Pippin. 'It cheered us up in the fogs. There were few faggots about, and most of the wood we could find was wet. But there is a great draught in the chimney: it seems to wind away up through the rock, and fortunately it has not been blocked. A fire is handy. I will make you some toast. The bread is three or four days old, I am afraid.' Aragorn and his companions sat themselves down at one end of a long table, and the hobbits disappeared through one of the inner doors. 'Store-room in there, and above the woods, luckily,' said Pippin, as they came back laden with dishes, bowls, cups, knives, and food of various sorts. 'And you need not turn up your nose at the provender, Master Gimli,' said Merry. 'This is not orc-stuff, but man-food, as Treebeard calls it. Will you have wine or beer? There's a barrel inside there -- very passable. And this is first-rate salted pork. Or I can cut you some rashers of bacon and broil them, if you like. I am sorry there is no green stuff: the deliveries have been rather interrupted in the last few days! I cannot offer you anything to follow but butter and honey for your bread. Are you content?' 'Indeed yes,' said Gimli. 'The score is much reduced.' The three were soon busy with their meal; and the two hobbits, unabashed, set to a second time. 'We must keep our guests company,' they said. 'You are full of courtesy this morning,' laughed Legolas. 'But maybe. if we had not arrived, you would already have been keeping one another company again.' 'Maybe; and why not?' said Pippin. 'We had foul fare with the Orcs, and little enough for days before that. It seems a long while since we could eat to heart's content.' 'It does not seem to have done you any harm,' said Aragorn. 'Indeed you look in the bloom of health.' 'Aye, you do indeed,' said Gimli, looking them up and down over the top ####-of his cup. 'Why, your hair is twice as thick and curly as when we parted; and I would swear that you have both grown somewhat, if that is possible for hobbits of your age. This Treebeard at any rate has not starved you.' 'He has not,' said Merry. 'But Ents on ly drink, and drink is not enough for content. Treebeard's draughts may be nourishing, but one feels the need of something solid. And even lembas is none the worse for a change.' 'You have drunk of the waters of the Ents, have you?' said Legolas. 'Ah, then I think it is likely that Gimli's eyes do not deceive him. Strange songs have been sung of the draughts of Fangorn.' 'Many strange tales have been told about that land,' said Aragorn. 'I have never entered it. Come, tell me more about it, and about the Ents!' 'Ents,' said Pippin, 'Ents are -- well Ents are all different for on thing. But their eyes now, their eyes are very odd.' He tried a few fumbling words that trailed off into silence. 'Oh, well,' he went on, 'you have seen some at a distance, already -they saw you at any rate, and reported that you were on the way-and you will see many others, I expect, before you leave here. You must form your own ideas.' 'Now, now!' said Gimli. 'We are beginning the story in the middle. I should like a tale in the right order, starting with that strange day when our fellowship was broken.' 'You shall have it, if there is time,' said Merry. 'But first -if you have finished eating-you shall fill your pipes and light up. And then for a little while we can pretend that we are all back safe at Bree again, or in Rivendell.' He produced a small leather bag full of tobacco. 'We have heaps of it,' he said; 'and you can all pack as much as you wish, when we go. We did some salvage-work this morning, Pippin and I. There are lots of things floating about. It was Pippin who found two small barrels, washed up out of some cellar or store-house, I suppose. When we opened them, we found they were filled with this: as fine a pipe-weed as you could wish for, and quite unspoilt.' Gimli took some and rubbed it in his palms and sniffed it. 'It feels good, and it smells good,' he said. 'It is good!' said Merry. 'My dear Gimli, it is Longbottom Leaf! There were the Hornblower brandmarks on the barrels, as plain as plain. How it came here, I can't imagine. For Saruman's private use. I fancy. I never knew that it went so far abroad. But it comes in handy now?'####- 'It would,' said Gimli, 'if I had a pipe to go with it. Alas, I lost mine in Moria, or before. Is there no pipe in all your plunder?' 'No, I am afraid not,' said Merry. 'We have not found any, not even here in the guardrooms. Saruman kept this dainty to himself. it seems. And I don't think it would be any use knocking on the doors of Orthanc to beg a pipe of him! We shall have to share pipes. as good friends must at a pinch.' 'Half a moment!' said Pippin. Putting his hand inside the breast of his jacket he pulled out a little soft wallet on a string. 'I keep a treasure or two near my skin, as precious as Rings to me. Here's one: my old wooden pipe. And here's another: an unused one. I have carried it a long way,, though I don't know why. I never really expected to find any pipe-weed on the journey, when my own ran out. But now it comes in useful after all.' He held up a small pipe with a wide flattened bowl, and handed it to Gimli. 'Does that settle the score between us?' he said. 'Settle it!' cried Gimli. 'Most noble hobbit, it leaves me deep in your debt.' 'Well, I am going back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing!' said Legolas. 'We will come with you,' said Aragorn. They went out and seated themselves upon the piled stones before the gateway. They could see far down into the valley now; the mists were lifting and floating away upon the breeze. 'Now let us take our ease here for a little!' said Aragorn. 'We will sit on the edge of ruin and talk, as Gandalf says, while he is busy elsewhere. I feel a weariness such as I have seldom felt before.' He wrapped his grey cloak about him, hiding his mail-shirt, and stretched out his long legs. Then he lay back and sent from his lips a thin stream of smoke. 'Look!' said Pippin. 'Strider the Ranger has come back!' 'He has never been away,' said Aragorn. 'I am Strider and D®nadan too, and I belong both to Gondor and the North.' They smoked in silence for a while, and the sun shone on them; slanting into the valley from among white clouds high in the West. Legolas lay still, looking up at the sun and sky with steady eyes, and singing softly to himself. At last he sat up. 'Come now!' he said. 'Time wears on, and the mists are blowing away, or would if you strange folk did not wreathe yourselves in smoke. What of the tale?' 'Well, my tale begins with waking up in the dark and finding myself all strung-up in an orc-camp,' said Pippin. 'Let me see, what is today?'####- 'The fifth of March in the Shire-reckoning,' said Aragorn. Pippin made some calculations on his fingers. 'Only nine days ago!' he said.1 'It seems a year since we were caught. Well, though half of it was like a bad dream, I reckon that three very horrible days followed. Merry will correct me, if I forget anything important: I am not going into details: the whips and the filth and stench and all that; it does not bear remembering.' With that he plunged into an account of Boromir's last fight and the orc-march from Emyn Muil to the Forest. The others nodded as the various points were fitted in with their guesses. 'Here are some treasures that you let fall,' said Aragorn. 'You will be glad to have them back.' He loosened his belt from under his cloak and took from it the two sheathed knives. 'Well!' said Merry. 'I never expected to see those again! I marked a few orcs with mine; but Ugl®k took them from us. How he glared! At first I thought he was going to stab me, but he threw the things away as if they burned him.' 'And here also is your brooch, Pippin,' said Aragorn. 'I have kept it safe, for it is a very precious thing.' 'I know,' said Pippin. 'It was a wrench to let it go; but what else could I do?' 'Nothing else,' answered Aragorn. 'One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters. You did rightly.' 'The cutting of the bands on your wrists, that was smart work!' said Gimli. 'Luck served you there; but you seized your chance with both hands, one might say. ' 'And set us a pretty riddle,' said Legolas. 'I wondered if you had grown wings!' 'Unfortunately not,' said Pippin. 'But you did not know about Grishnbkh.' He shuddered and said no more, leaving Merry to tell of those last horrible moments: the pawing hands, the hot breath, and the dreadful strength of Grishnbkh's hairy arms. 'All this about the Orcs of Barad-dyr, Lugb®rz as they call it, makes me uneasy,' said Aragorn. 'The Dark Lord already knew too much and his servants also; and Grishnbkh evidently sent some message across the River after the quarrel. The Red Eye will be looking towards Isengard. But Saruman at any rate is in a cleft stick of his own cutting.' 'Yes, whichever side wins, his outlook is poor,' said Merry. 'Things ####-began to go all wrong for him from the moment his Orcs set foot in Rohan.' 'We caught a glimpse of the old villain, or so Gandalf hints,' said Gimli. 'On the edge of the Forest.' 'When was that?' asked Pippin. 'Five nights ago,' said Aragorn. 'Let me see,' said Merry: 'five nights ago-now we come to a part of the story you know nothing about. We met Treebeard that morning after the battle; and that night we were at Wellinghall, one of his ent-houses. The next morning we went to Entmoot, a gathering of Ents, that is, and the queerest thing I have ever seen in my life. It lasted all that day and the next; and we spent the nights with an Ent called Quickbeam. And then late in the afternoon in the third day of their moot, the Ents suddenly blew up. It was amazing. The Forest had felt as tense as if a thunderstorm was brewing inside it: then all at once it exploded. I wish you could have heard their song as they marched.' 'If Saruma n had heard it, he would be a hundred miles away by now, even if he had had to run on his own legs,' said Pippin. 'Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone, We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door! There was very much more. A great deal of the song had no words, and was like a music of horns and drums. It was very exciting. But I thought it was only marching music and no more, just a song -- until I got here. I know better now.' 'We came down over the last ridge into Nan Curunnr, after night had fallen,' Merry continued. 'It was then that I first had the feeling that the Forest itself was moving behind us. I thought I was dreaming an entish dream, but Pippin had noticed it too. We were both frightened; but we did not find out more about it until later. 'It was the Huorns, or so the Ents call them in "short language". Treebeard won't say much about them, but I think they are Ents that have become almost like trees, at least to look at. They stand here and there in the wood or under its eaves, silent, watching endlessly over the trees; but deep in the darkest dales there are hundreds and hundreds of them, I believe. 'There is a great power in them, and they seem able to wrap themselves in shadow: it is difficult to see them moving. But they do. They can move very quickly, if they are angry. You stand still looking at the weather,####-maybe, or listening to the rustling of the wind, and then suddenly you find that you are in the middle of a wood with great groping trees all around you. They still have voices, and can speak with the Ents -- that is why they are called Huorns, Treebeard says -- but they have become queer and wild. Danger ous. I should be terrified of meeting them, if there were no true Ents about to look after them. 'Well, in the early night we crept down a long ravine into the upper end of the Wizard's Vale, the Ents with all their rustling Huorns behind. We could not see them, of course, but the whole air was full of creaking. It was very dark, a cloudy night. They moved at a great speed as soon as they had left the hills, and made a noise like a rushing wind. The Moon did not appear through the clouds, and not long after midnight there was a tall wood all round the north side of Isengard. There was no sign of enemies nor of any challenge. There was a light gleaming from a high window in the tower, that was all. 'Treebeard and a few more Ents crept on, right round to within sight of the great gates. Pippin and I were with him. We were sitting on Treebeard's shoulders, and I could feel the quivering tenseness in him. But even when they are roused, Ents can be very cautious and patient. They stood still as carved stones, breathing and listening. 'Then all at once there was a tremendous stir. Trumpets blared and the walls of Isengard echoed. We thought that we had been discovered, and that battle was going to begin. But nothing of the sort. All Saruman's people were marching away. I don't know much about this war, or about the Horsemen of Rohan, but Saruman seems to have meant to finish off the king and all his men with one final blow. He emptied Isengard. I saw the enemy go: endless lines of marching Orcs; and troops of them mounted on great wolves. And there were battalions of Men, too. Many of them carried torches, and in the flare I could see their faces. Most of them were ordinary men, rather tall and dark-haired, and grim but not particularly evil -looking. But there were some others that were horrible: man-high, but with goblin-faces, sallow, leering, squint-eyed. Do you know, they reminded me at once of that Southerner at Bree: only he was not so obviously orc-like as most of these were.' 'I thought of him too,' said Aragorn. 'We had many of these half-orcs to deal with at Helm's Deep. It seems plain now that that Southerner was a ####-spy of Saruman's; but whether he was working with the Black Riders, or for Saruman alone, I do not know. It is difficult with these evil folk to know when they are in league, and when they are cheating one another.' 'Well, of all sorts together, there must have been ten thousand at the very least,' said Merry. 'They took an hour to pass out of the gates. Some went off down the highway to the Fords, and some turned away µ and went eastward. A bridge has been built down there, about a mile away, where the river runs in a very deep channel. You could see i t now, if you stood up. They were all singing with harsh voices, and laughing, making a hideous din. I thought things looked very black for Rohan. But Treebeard did not move. He said: 'My business is with Isengard tonight, with rock and stone.' 'But, though I could not see what was happening in the dark, I believe that Huorns began to move south, as soon as the gates were shut again. Their business was with Orcs I think. They were far down the valley in the morning; or any rate there was a shadow there that one couldn't see through. 'As soon as Saruman had sent off all his army, our turn came. Treebeard put us down, and went up to the gates, and began hammering on the doors, and calling for Saruman. There was no answer, except arrows and stones from the walls. But arrows are no use against Ents. They hurt them, of course, and infuriate them: like stinging flies. But an Ent can be stuck as full of orc-arrows as a pin -cushion, and take no serious harm. They cannot be poisoned, for one thing; and their skin seems to be very thick, and tougher than bark. It takes a very heavy axe-stroke to wound them seriously. They don't like axes. But there would have to be a great many axe -men to one Ent: a man that hacks once at an Ent never gets a chance of a second blow. A punch from an Ent-fist crumples up iron like thin tin. 'When Treebeard had got a few arrows in him, he began to warm up, to get positively "hasty", as he would say. He let out a great hoom-hom, and a dozen more Ents came striding up. An angry Ent is terrifying. Their fingers, and their toes, just freeze on to rock; and they tear it up like bread-crust. It was like watching the work of great tree-roots in a hundred years, all packed into a few moments. 'They pushed, pulled, tore, shook, and hammered; and clang-bang, crash-crack, in five minutes they had these huge gates just lying in ruin; and some were already beginning to eat into the walls, like rabbits in a sand-pit. I don't know what Saruman thought was happening; but anyway he did ####-not know how to deal with it. His wizardry may have been falling off lately, of course; but anyway I think he has not much grit, not much plain courage alone in a tight place without a lot of slaves and machines and things, if you know what I mean. Very different from old Gandalf. I wonder if his fame was not all along mainly due to his cleverness in settling at Isengard.' 'No,' said Aragorn. 'Once he was as great as his fame made h im. His knowledge was deep, his thought was subtle, and his hands marvellously skilled; and he had a power over the minds of others. The wise he could persuade, and the smaller folk he could daunt. That power he certainly still keeps. There are not many in Middle-earth that I should say were safe, if they were left alone to talk with him, even now when he has suffered a defeat. Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel, perhaps, now that his wickedness has been laid bare, but very few others.' 'The Ents are safe,' said Pippin. 'He seems at one time to have got round them, but never again. And anyway he did not understand them; and he made the great mistake of leaving them out of his calculations. He had no plan for them, and there was no time to make any, once they had set to work. As soon as our attack began, the few remaining rats in Isengard started bolting through every hole that the Ents made. The Ents let the Men go, after they had questioned them, two or three dozen only down at this end. I don't think many orc-folk, of any size, escaped. Not from the Huorns: there was a wood full of them all round Isengard by that time, as well as those that had gone down the valley. 'When the Ents had reduced a large part of the southern walls to rubbish, and what was left of his people had bolted and deserted him, Saruman fled in a panic. He seems to have been at the gates when we arrived: I expect he came to watch his splendid army march out. When the Ents broke their way in, he left in a hurry. They did not spot him at first. But the night had opened out, and there was a great light of stars, quite enough for Ents to see by, and suddenly Quickbeam gave a cry "The tree-killer, the tree-killer!" Quickbeam is a gentle creature, but he hates Saruman all the more fiercely for that: his people suffered cruelly from orc-axes. He leapt down the path from the inner gate, and he can move like a wind when he is roused. There was a pale figure hurrying away in and out of the shadows of the pillars, and it had nearly reached the stairs to the tower -door. But it was a near thing. Quickbeam was so hot after him, that he was within a step or two of being caught and strangled when he slipped in through the door.####- 'When Saruman was safe back in Orthanc, it was not long before he set some of his precious machinery to work. By that time there were many Ents inside Isengard: some had followed Quickbeam, and others had burst in from the north and east ; they were roaming about and doing a great deal of damage. Suddenly up came fires and foul fumes: the vents and shafts all over the plain began to spout and belch. Several of the Ents got scorched and blistered. One of them, Beechbone I think he was called, a very tall handsome Ent, got caught in a spray of some liquid fire and burned like a torch: a horrible sight. 'That sent them mad. I thought that they had been really roused before; but I was wrong. I saw what it was like at last. It was staggering. They roared and boomed and trumpeted, until stones began to crack and fall at the mere noise of them. Merry and I lay on the ground and stuffed our cloaks into our ears. Round and round the rock of Orthanc the Ents went striding and storming like a howling gale, breaking pillars, hurling avalanches of boulders down the shafts, tossing up huge slabs of stone into the air like leaves. The tower was in the middle of a spinning whirlwind. I saw iron posts and blocks of masonry go rocketing up hundreds of feet, and smash against the windows of Orthanc. But Treebeard kept his head. He had not had any burns, luckily. He did not want his folk to hurt themselves in their fury, and he did not want Saruman to escape out of some hole in the confusion. Many of the Ents were hurling themselves against the Orthanc-rock; but that defeated them. It is very smooth and hard. Some wizardry is in it, perhaps, older and stronger than Saruman's. Anyway they could not get a grip on it, or make a crack in it; and they were bruising and wounding themselves against it. 'So Treebeard went out into the ring and shouted. His enormous voice rose above all the din. There was a dead silence, suddenly. In it we heard a shrill laugh from a high window in the tower. That had a queer effect on the Ents. They had been boiling over; now they became cold, grim as ice, and quiet. They left the plain and gathered round Treebeard, standing quite still. He spoke to them for a little in their own language; I think he was telling them of a plan he had made in his old head long before. Then they just faded silently away in the grey light. Day was dawning by that time. 'They set a watch on the tower, I believe, but the watchers were so well hidden in shadows and kept so still, that I could not see them. The others went away north. All that day they were busy, out of sight. Most of ####-the time we were left alone. It was a dreary day; and we wandered about a bit, though we kept out of the view of the windows of Orthanc, as much as we could: they stared at us so threateningly. A good deal of the time we spent looking for something to eat. And also we sat and talked, wondering what was happening away south in Rohan, and what had become of all the rest of our Company. Every now and then we could hear in the distance the rattle and fall of stone, and thudding noises echoing in the hills. 'In the afternoon we walked round the circle, and went to have a look at what was going on. There was a great shadowy wood of Huorns at the head of the valley, and another round the northern wall. We did not dare to go in. But there was a rending, tearing noise of work going on inside. Ents and Huorns were digging great pits and trenches, and making great pools and dams, gathering all the waters of the Isen and every other spring and stream that they could find. We left them to it. 'At dusk Treebeard came back to the gate. He was humming a nd booming to himself, and seemed pleased. He stood and stretched his great arms and legs and breathed deep. I asked him if he was tired. ' "Tired?" he said, "tired? Well no, not tired, but stiff. I need a good draught of Entwash. We have worked hard; we have done more stone-cracking and earth-gnawing today than we have done in many a long year before. But it is nearly finished. When night falls do not linger near this gate or in the old tunnel! Water may come through-and it will be foul water for a while, until all the filth of Saruman is washed away. Then Isen can run clean again." He began to pull down a bit more of the walls, in a leisurely sort of way, just to amuse himself. 'We were just wondering where it wou ld be safe to lie and get some sleep, when the most amazing thing of all happened. There was the sound of a rider coming swiftly up the road. Merry and I lay quiet, and Treebeard hid himself in the shadows under the arch. Suddenly a great horse came striding up, like a flash of silver. It was already dark. but I could see the rider's face clearly: it seemed to shine, and all his clothes were white. I just sat up, staring, with my mouth open. I tried to call out, and couldn't. 'There was no need. He halted just by us and looked down at us. 'Gandalf!' I said at last. but my voice was only a whisper. Did he say: "Hullo, Pippin! This is a pleasant surprise!"? No, indeed! He said: "Get up, you tom-fool of a Took! Where, in the name of wonder, in all this ruin is ####-Treebeard? I want him. Quick!" 'Treebeard heard his voice and came out of the shadows at once; and there was a strange meeting. I was surprised, because neither of them seemed surprised at all. Gandalf obviously expected to find Treebeard here; and Treebeard might almost have been loitering about near the gates on purpose to meet him. Yet we had told the old Ent all about Moria. But then I remembered a queer look he gave us at the time. I can only suppose that he had seen Gandalf or had some news of him, but would not say anything in a hurry. "Don't be hasty" is his motto; but nobody, not even Elves, will say much about Gandalf's movements when he is not there. '"Hoom! Gandalf!" said Treebeard. "I am glad you have come. Wood and water, stock and stone, I can master; but there is a Wizard to manage here." '"Treebeard," said Gandalf. "I need your help. You have done much, but I need more. I have about ten thousand Orcs to manage." 'Then those two went off and had a council together in some corner. It must have seemed very hasty to Treebeard, for Gandalf was in a tremendous hurry, and was already talking at a great pace, before they passed out of hearing. They were only away a matter of minutes, perhaps a quarter of an hour. Then Gandalf came back to us, and he seemed relieved, almost merry. He did say he was glad to see us, then. '"But Gandalf," I cried, "where have you been? And have you seen the others?" '"Wherever I have been, I am back," he answered in the genuine Gandalf manner. "Yes, I have seen some of the others. But news must wait. This is a perilous night, and I must ride fast. But the dawn may be brighter; and if so, we shall meet again. Take care of yourselves, and keep away from Orthanc! Good-bye!" 'Treebeard was very thoughtful after Gandalf had gone. He had evidently learnt a lot in a short time and was digesting it. He looked at us and said: "Hm, well, I find you are not such hasty folk as I thought. You said much less than you might, and not more than you should. Hm, this is a bundle of news and no mistake! Well, now Treebeard must get busy again." 'Before he went, we got a little news out of him; and it did not cheer us up at all. But for the moment we thought more about you three than about Frodo and Sam, or about poor Boromir. For we gathered that there was a great battle going on, or soon would be, and that you were in it, and might never come out of it.####- '"Huorns will help," said Treebeard. Then he went away and we did not see him again until this morning. 'It was deep night. We lay on top of a pile of stone, and could see nothing beyond it. Mist or shadows blotted out everything like a great blanket all round us. The air seemed hot and heavy; and it was full of rustlings, creakings, and a murmur like voices passing. I think that hundreds more of the Huorns must have been passing by to help in the battle. Later there was a great rumble of thunder away south, and flashes of lightning far away across Rohan. Every now and then we could see mountain-peaks, miles and miles away, stab out suddenly, black and white, and then vanish. And behind us there were noises like thunder in hills, but different. At times the whole valley echoed. 'It must have been about midnight when the Ents broke the dams and poured all the gathered waters through a gap in the northern wall, down into Isengard. The Huorn-dark had passed, and the thunder had rolled away. The Moon was sinking behind the western mountains. 'Isengard began to fill up with black creeping streams and pools. They glittered in the last light of the Moon, as they spread over the plain. Every now and then the waters found their way down into some shaft or spouthole. Great white steams hissed up. Smoke rose in billows. There were explosions and gusts of fire. One great coil of vapour went whirling up, twisting round and round Orthanc, until it looked like a tall peak of cloud, fiery underneath and moonlit above. And still more water poured in, until at last Isengard looked like a huge flat saucepan, all steaming and bubbling.' 'We saw a cloud of smoke and steam from the south last night when we came to the mouth of Nan Curunnr,' said Aragorn. 'We feared that Saruman was brewing some new devilry for us.' 'Not he!' said Pippin. 'He was probably choking and not laughing any more. By the morning, yesterday morning, the water had sunk down into all the holes, and there was a dense fog. We took refuge in that guardroom over there; and we had rather a fright. The lake began to overflow and pour out through the old tunnel, and the water was rapidly rising up the steps. We thought we were going to get caught like Orcs in a hole; but we found a winding stair at the back of the store-room that brought us out on top of the arch. It was a squeeze to get out, as the passages had been cracked and half blocked with fallen stone near the top. There we sat high up above the ####-floods and watched the drowning of Isengard. The Ents kept on pouring in more water, till all the fires were quenched and every cave filled. The fogs slowly gathered together and steamed up into a huge umbrella of cloud: it must have been a mile high. In the evening there was a great rainbow over the eastern hills; and then the sunset was blotted out by a thick drizzle on the mountain-sides. It all went very quiet. A few wolves howled mournfully, far away. The Ents stopped the inflow in the night, and sent the Isen back into its old course. And that was the end of it all. 'Since then the water has been sinking again. There must be outlets somewhere from the caves underneath, I think. If Saruman peeps out of any of his windows, it must look an untidy, dreary mess. We felt very lonely. Not even a visible Ent to talk to in all the ruin; and no news. We spent the night up on top there above the arch, and it was cold and damp and we did not sleep. We had a feeling that anything might happen at any minute. Saruman is still in his tower. There was a noise in the night like a wind coming up the valley. I think the Ents and Huorns that had been away came back then; but where they have all gone to now, I don't know. It was a misty, moisty morning when we climbed down and looked round again, and nobody was about. And that is about all there is to tell. It seems almost peaceful now after all the turmoil. And safer too, somehow, since Gandalf came back. I could sleep!' They all fell silent for a while. Gimli re-filled his pipe. 'There is one thing I wonder about,' he said as he lit it with his flint and tinder: 'Wormtongue. You told Thjoden he was with Saruman. How did he get there?' 'Oh yes, I forgot about him,' said Pippin. 'He did not get here till this morning. We had just lit the fire and had some breakfast when Treebeard appeared again. We heard him hooming and calling our names outside. '"I have just come round to see how you are faring, my lads,' he said; 'and to give you some news. Huorns have come back. All's well; aye very well indeed!" he laughed, and slapped his thighs. "No more Orcs in Isengard, no more axes! And there will be folk coming up from the South before the day is old; some that you may be glad to see." 'He had hardly said that, when we heard the sound of hoofs on the road. We rushed out before the gates, and I stood and stared, half expecting to see Strider and Gandalf come riding up at the head of an army. But out of the mist there rode a man on an old tired horse; and he looked a queer ####-twisted sort of creature himself. There was no one else. When he came. out of the mist and suddenly saw all the ruin and wreckage in front of him, he sat and gaped, and his face went almost green. He was so bewildered that he did not seem to notice us at first. When he did, he gave a cry, and tried to turn his horse round and ride off. But Treebeard took three strides, put out a long arm, and lifted him out of the saddle. His horse bolted in terror, and he grovelled on the ground. He said he was Grnma, friend and counsellor of the king, and had been sent with important messages from Thjoden to Saruman. '"No one else would dare to ride through the open land, so full of foul Orcs," he said, "so I was sent. And I have had a perilous journey, and I am hungry and weary. I fled far north out of my way, pursued by wolves." 'I caught the sidelong looks he gave to Treebeard, and I said to myself "liar". Treebeard looked at him in his long slow way for several minutes, till the wretched man was squirming on the floor. Then at last he said: "Ha, hm, I was expecting you, Master Wormtongue." The man started a t that name. "Gandalf got here first. So I know as much about you as I need, and I know what to do with you. Put all the rats in one trap, said Gandalf; and I will. I am the master of Isengard now, but Saruman is locked in his tower; and you can go there and give him all the messages that you can think of." '"Let me go, let me go!" said Wormtongue. "I know the way." '"You knew the way, I don't doubt," said Treebeard. "But things have changed here a little. Go and see!" 'He let Wormtongue go, and he limped off through the arch with us close behind, until he came inside the ring and could see all the floods that lay between him and Orthanc. Then he turned to us. '"Let me go away!" he whined. "Let me go away! My messages are useless now." '"They are indeed," said Treebeard. "But you have only two choices: to stay with me until Gandalf and your master arrive; or to cross the water. Which will you have?" 'The man shivered at the mention of his master, and put a foot into the water; but he drew back. "I cannot swim," he said. '"The water is not deep," said Treebeard. "It is dirty, but that will not harm you, Master Wormtongue. In you go now!" 'With that the wretch floundered off into the flood. It rose up nearly to his neck before he got too far away for me to see him. The last I saw of ####-him was clinging to some old barrel or piece of wood. But Treebeard waded after him, and watched his progress. '"Well, he has gone in," he said when he returned. "I saw him crawling up the steps like a draggled rat. There is someone in the tower still: a hand came out and pulled him in. So there he is, and I hope the welcome is to his liking. Now I must go and wash myself clean of the slime. I'll be away up on the north side, if anyone wants to see me. There is no clean water down here fit for an Ent to drink. or to bathe in. So I will ask you two lads to keep a watch at the gate for the folk that are coming. There'll be the Lord of the Fields of Rohan, mark you! You must welcome him as well as you know how: his men have fought a great fight with the Orcs. Maybe, you know the right fashion of Men's words for such a lord, better than Ents. There have been many lords in the green fields in my time, and I have never learned their speech or their names. They will be wanting man-food, and you know all about that, I guess. So find what you think is fit for a king to eat, if you can." And that is the end of the story. Though I should like to know who this Wormtongue is. Was he really the king's counsellor?' 'He was,' said Aragorn; 'and also Saruman's spy and servant in Rohan. Fate has not been kinder to him than he deserves. The sight of the ruin of all that he thought so strong and magnificent must have been almost punishment enough. But I fear that worse awaits him.' 'Yes, I don't suppose Treebeard sent him to Orthanc out of kindness,' said Merry. 'He seemed rather grimly delighted with the business and was laughing to himself when he went to get his bathe and drink. We spent a busy time after that, searching the flotsam, and rummaging about. We found two or three store-rooms in different places nearby, above the flood-level. But Treebeard sent some Ents down, and they carried off a great deal of the stuff. '"We want man-food for twenty-five," the Ents said, so you can see that somebody had counted your company carefully before you arrived. You three were evidently meant to go with the great people. But you would not have fared any better. We kept as good as we sent, I promise you. Better, because we sent no drink. '"What about drink?" I said to the Ents. '"There is water of Isen," they said, "and that is good enough for Ents and Men." But I hope that the Ents may have found time to brew some of their draughts from the mountain-springs, and we shall see Gandalf's beard curling ####-when he returns. After the Ents had gone, we felt tired, and hungry. But we did not grumble -- our labours had been well rewarded. It was through our search for man-food that Pippin discovered the prize of all the flotsam, those Hornblower barrels. "Pipe-weed is better after food," said Pippin; that is how the situation arose.' 'We understand it all perfectly now,' said Gimli. 'All except one thing,' said Aragorn: 'leaf from the Southfarthing in Isengard. The more I consider it, the more curious I find it. I have never been in Isengard, but I have journeyed in this land, and I know well the empty countries that lie between Rohan and the Shire. Neither goods nor folk have passed that way for many a long year, not openly. Saruman had secret dealings with someone in the Shire, I guess. Wormtongues may be found in other houses than King Thjoden's. Was there a date on the barrels?' 'Yes,' said Pippin. 'It was the 1417 crop, that is last year's; no, the year before, of course, now: a good year.' 'Ah well, whatever evil was afoot is over now, I hope; or else it is beyond our reach at pr esent,' said Aragorn. 'Yet I think I shall mention it to Gandalf, small matter though it may seem among his great affairs.' 'I wonder what he is doing,' said Merry. 'The afternoon is getting on. Let us go and look round! You can enter Isengard now at any rate, Strider, if you want to. But it is not a very cheerful sight.'####- They passed through the ruined tunnel and stood upon a heap of stones, gazing at the dark rock of Orthanc, and its many windows, a menace still in the desolation that lay all about it. The waters had now nearly all subsided. Here and there gloomy pools remained, covered with scum and wreckage; but most of the wide circle was bare again, a wilderness of slime and tumbled rock, pitted with blackened holes, and dotted with posts and pillars leaning drunkenly this way and that. At the rim of the shattered bowl there lay vast mounds and slopes, like the shingles cast up by a great storm; and beyond them the green and tangled valley ran up into the long ravine between the dark arms of the mountains. Across the waste they saw riders picking their way; they were coming from the north side, and already they were drawing near to Orthanc. 'There is Gandalf, and Thjoden and his men!' said Legolas. 'Let us go and meet them!' 'Walk warily!' said Merry. 'There are loose slabs that may tilt up and throw you down into a pit, if you don't take care.' They followed what was left of the road from the gates to Orthanc, going slowly, for the flag-stones were cracked and slimed. The riders, seeing them approach, halted under the shadow of the rock and waited for them. Gandalf rode forward to meet them. 'Well, Treebeard and I have had some interesting discussions, and made a few plans,' he said; 'and we have all had some much-needed rest. Now we must be going on again. I hope you companions have all rested, too, and refreshed yourselves?' 'We have,' said Merry. 'But our discussions began and ended in smoke. Still we feel less ill-disposed towards Saruman than we did.' 'Do you indeed?' said Gandalf. 'Well, I do not. I have now a last task to do before I go: I must pay Saruman a farewell visit. Dangerous, and probably u seless; but it must be done. Those of you who wish may come with me -- but beware! And do not jest! This is not the time for it.' 'I will come,' said Gimli. 'I wish to see him and learn if he really looks like you.' 'And how will you learn that, Master Dwarf?' said Gandalf. 'Saruman ####-could look like me in your eyes, if it suited his purpose with you. And are you yet wise enough to detect all his counterfeits? Well, we shall see, perhaps. He may be shy of showing himself before many different eyes together. But I have ordered all the Ents to remove themselves from sight, so perhaps we shall persuade him to come out.' 'What's the danger?' asked Pippin. 'Will he shoot at us, and pour fire out of the windows; or can he put a spell on us from a distance?' 'The last is most likely, if you ride to his door with a light heart,' said Gandalf. 'But there is no knowing what he can do, or may choose to try. A wild beast cornered is not safe to approach. And Saruman has powers you do not guess. Beware of his voice!' They came now to the foot of Orthanc. It was black, and the rock gleamed as if it were wet. The many faces of the stone had sharp edges as though they had been newly chiselled. A few scorings. and small flake-like splinters near the base, were all the marks that it bore of the fury of the Ents. On the eastern side, in the angle of two piers, there was a great door, high above the ground; and over it was a shuttered window, opening upon a balcony hedged with iron bars. Up to the threshold of the door there mounted a flight of twenty-seven broad stairs, hewn by some unknown art of the same black stone. This was the only entrance to the tower; but many tall windows were cut with deep embrasures in the climbing walls: far up they peered like little eyes in the sheer faces of the horns. At the foot of the stairs Gandalf and the king dismounted. 'I will go up,' said Gandalf. 'I have been in Orthanc and I know my peril.' 'And I too will go up,' said the king. 'I am old, and fear no peril any more. I wish to speak with the enemy who has done me so much wrong. Jomer shall come with me, and see that my aged feet do not falter.' 'As you will,' said Gandalf. 'Aragorn shall come with me. Let the others await us at the foot of the stairs. They will hear and see enough, if there is anything to hear or see.' 'Nay!' said Gimli. 'Legolas and I wish for a closer view. We alone here represent our kindred. We also will come behind.' 'Come then!' said Gandalf, and with that he climbed the steps, and Thjoden went beside him. The Riders of Rohan sat uneasily upon their horses, on either side of ####-the stair, and looked up darkly at the great tower, fearing what might befall their lord. Merry and Pippin sat on the bottom step, feeling both unimportant and unsafe. 'Half a sticky mile from here to the gate!' muttered Pippin. 'I wish I could slip off back to the guardroom unnoticed! What did we come for? We are not wanted.' Gandalf stood before the door of Orthanc and beat on it with his staff. It rang with a hollow sound. 'Saruman, Saruman!' he cried in a loud commanding voice. 'Saruman come forth!' For some time there was no answer. At last the window above the door was unbarred, hut no figure could be seen at its dark opening. 'Who is it?' said a voice. 'What do you wish?' Thjoden started. 'I know that voice,' he said, 'and I curse the day when I first listened to it.' 'Go and fetch Saruman, since you have become his footman, Grnma Wormtongue!' said Gandalf. 'And do not waste our time!' The window closed. They waited. Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. Fur some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spake to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler's trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away. and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them. But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it. 'Well?' it said now with gentle question. 'Why must you disturb my rest? Will you give me no peace at all by night or day?' Its tone was that of a kindly heart aggrieved by injuries undeserved. They looked up, astonished, for they had heard no sound of his coming;####-and they saw a figure standing at the rail, looking down upon them: an old man, swathed in a great cloak, the colour of which was not easy to tell, for it changed if they moved their eyes or if he stirred. His face was long, with a high forehead, he had deep darkling eyes, hard to fathom, though the look that they now bore was grave and benevolent, and a little weary. His hair and beard were white, but strands of black still showed about his lips and ears. 'Like, and yet unlike,' muttered Gimli. 'But come now,' said the soft voice. 'Two at least of you I know by name. Gandalf I know too well to have much hope that he seeks help or counsel here. But you, Thjoden Lord of the Mark of Rohan are declared by your noble devices, and still more by the fair countenance of the House of Eorl. O worthy son of Thengel the Thrice-renowned! Why have you not come before, and as a friend? Much have I desired to see you, mightiest king of western lands, and especially in these latter years, to save you from the unwise and evil counsels that beset you! Is it yet too late? Despite the injuries that have been done to me, in which the men of Rohan, alas! have had some part, still I would save you, and deliver you from the ruin that draws nigh inevitably, if you ride upon this road which you have taken. Indeed I alone can aid you now.' Thjoden opened his mouth as if to speak, but he said nothing. He looked up at the face of Saruman with its dark solemn eyes bent down upon him, and then to Gandalf at his side; and he seemed to hesitate. Gandalf made no sign; but stood silent as stone, as one waiting patiently for some call that has not yet come. The Riders stirred at first, murmuring with approval of the words of Saruman; and then they too were silent, as men spell-bound. It seemed to them that Gandalf had never spoken so fair and fittingly to their lord. Rough and proud now seemed all his dealings with Thjoden. And over their hearts crept a shadow, the fear of a great danger: the end of the Mark in a darkness to which Gandalf was driving them, while Saruman stood beside a door of escape, holding it half open so that a ray of light came through. There was a heavy silence. It was Gimli the dwarf who broke in suddenly. 'The words of this wizard stand on their heads,' he growled, gripping the handle of his axe. 'In the language of Orthanc help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain. But we do not come here to beg.'####- 'Peace!' said Saruman, and for a fleeting moment his voice was less suave, and a light flickered in his eyes and was gone. 'I do not speak to you yet, Gimli Gluin's son,' he said. 'Far away is your home and small concern of yours are the troubles of this land. But it was not by design of your own that you became embroiled in them, and so I will not blame such part as you have played-a valiant one, I doubt not. But I pray you, allow me first to speak with the King of Rohan, my neighbour, and once my friend. 'What have you to say, Thjoden King? Will you have peace with me, and all the aid that my knowledge, founded in long years, can bring? Shall we make our counsels together against evil days, and repair our injuries with such good will that our estates shall both come to fairer flower than ever before?' Still Thjoden did not answer. Whether he strove with anger or doubt none could say. Jomer spoke. 'Lord, hear me!' he said. 'Now we feel the peril that we were warned of. Have we ridden forth to victory, only to stand at last amazed by an old liar with honey on his forked tongue? So would the trapped wolf speak to the hounds, if he could. What aid can he give to you, forsooth? All he desires is to escape from his plight. But will you parley with this dealer in treachery and murder? Remember Thjodred at the Fords, and the grave of Hbma in Helm's Deep!' 'If we speak of poisoned tongues what shall we say of yours, young serpent?' said Saruman, and the flash of his anger was now plain to see. 'But come, Jomer, Jomund's son!' he went on in his soft voice again. To every man h part. Valour in arms is yours, and you win high honour thereby. Slay whom your lord names as enemies, and be content. Meddle not in policies which you do not understand. But maybe. if you become a king, you Will find that he must choose his friends with care. The friendship of Saruman and the power of Orthanc cannot be lightly thrown aside, whatever grievances, real or fancied, may lie behind. You have won a battle but not a war and that with help on which you cannot count again. You may find the Shadow of the Wood at your own door next: it is wayward, and senseless, and has no love for Men. 'But my lord of Rohan, am I to be called a murderer, because valiant men have fallen in battle? If you go to war, needlessly, for I did not desire it, then men will be slain. But if I am a murderer on that account,####-then all the House of Eorl is stained with murder; for they have fought many wars, and assailed many who defied them. Yet with some they have afterwards made peace, none the worse for being politic. I say, Thjoden King: shall we have peace and friendship, you and I? It is ours to command ' 'We will have peace,' said Thjoden at last thickly and with an effort. Several of the Riders cried out gladly. Thjoden held up his hand. 'Yes, we will have peace,' he said, now in a clear voice, 'we will have peace, when you and all your works have perished -- and the works of your dark master to whom you would deliver us. You are a liar. Saruman, and a corrupter of men's hearts. You hold out your hand to me, and I perceive only a finger of the claw of Mordor. Cruel and cold! Even if your war on me was just as it was not, for were you ten times as wise you would have no right to rule me and mine for your own profit as you desired -- even so, what will you say of your torches in Westfold and the children that lie dead there? And they hewed Hbma's body before the gates of the Hornburg, after he was dead. When you hang from a gibbet at your window for the sport of your own crows, I will have peace with you and Orthanc. So much for the House of Eorl. A lesser son of great sires am I, but I do not need to lick your fingers. Turn elsewhither. But I fear your voice has lost its charm.' The Riders gazed up at Thjoden like men startled out of a dream. Harsh as an old raven's their master's voice sounded in their ears after the music of Saruman. But Saruman for a while was beside himself with wrath. He leaned over the rail as if he would smite the King with his staff. To some suddenly it seemed that they saw a snake coiling itself to strike. 'Gibbets and crows!' he hissed, and they shuddered at the hideous change. 'Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among the dogs? Too long have they escaped the gibbet themselves. But the noose comes, slow in the drawing, tight and hard in the end. Hang if you will!' Now his voice changed, as he slowly mastered himself. 'I know not why I have had the patience to speak to you. For I need you not, nor your little band of gallopers, as swift to fly as to advance, Thjoden Horsemaster. Long ago I offered you a state beyond your merit and your wit. I have offered it again, so that those whom you mislead may clearly see the choice of roads. You give me brag and abuse. So be it. Go back to your huts! 'But you, Gandalf! For you at least I am grieved, feeling for your ####-shame. How comes it that you can endure such company? For you are proud, Gandalf-and not without reason, having a noble mind and eyes that look both deep and far. Even now will you not listen to my counsel?' Gandalf stirred, and looked up. 'What have you to say that you did not say at our last meeting?' he asked. 'Or, perhaps, you have things to unsay?' Saruman paused. 'Unsay?' he mused, as if puzzled. 'Unsay? I endeavoured to advise you for your own good, but you scarcely listened. You are proud and do not love advice, having indeed a store of your own wisdom. But on that occasion you erred, I think, misconstruing my intentions wilfully. I fear that in my eagerness to persuade you, I lost patience. And indeed I regret it. For I bore you no ill-will; and even now I bear none, though you return to me in the company of the violent and the ignorant. How should I? Are we not both members of a high and ancient order, most excellent in Middle-earth? Our friendship would profit us both alike. Much we could still accomplish together, to heal the disorders of the world. Let us understand one another, and dismiss from thought these lesser folk! Let them wait on our decisions! For the common good I am willing to redress the past, and to receive you. Will you not consult with me? Will you not come up?' So great was the power that Saruman exerted in this last effort that none that stood within hearing were unmoved. But now the spell was wholly different. They heard the gentle remonstrance of a kindly king with an erring but much-loved minister. But they were shut out, listening at a door to words not meant for them: ill-mannered children or stupid servants overhearing the elusive discourse of their elders, and wondering how it would affect their lot. Of loftier mould these two were made: reverend and wise. It was inevitable that they should make alliance. Gandalf would ascend into the tower, to discuss deep things beyond their comprehension in the high chambers of Orthanc. The door would be closed, and they would be left outside, dismissed to await allotted work or punishment. Even in the mind of Thjoden the thought took shape, like a shadow of doubt: 'He will betray us; he will go -- we shall be lost.' Then Gandalf laughed. The fantasy vanished like a puff of smoke. 'Saruman, Saruman!' said Gandalf still laughing. 'Saruman, you missed your path in life. You should have been the king's jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors. Ah me!' he paused, getting the better of his mirth. 'Understand one another? I fear I am beyond your comprehension. But you, Saruman, I understand now too well. I keep a ####-clearer memory of your arguments, and deeds, than you suppose. When last I visited you, you were the jailor of Mordor, and there I was to be sent. Nay, the guest who has escaped from the roof, will think twice before he comes back in by the door. Nay, I do not think I will come up. But listen, Saruman, for the last time! Will you not come down? Isengard has proved less strong than your hope and fancy made it. So may other things in which you still have trust. Would it not be well to leave it for a while? To turn to new things, perhaps? Think well, Saruman! Will you not come down?' A shadow passed over Saruman's face; then it went deathly white. Before he could conceal it, they saw through the mask the anguish of a mind in doubt, loathing to stay and dreading to leave its refuge. For a second he hesitated, and no one breathed. Then he spoke, and his voice was shrill and cold. Pride and hate were conquering him. 'Will I come down?' he mocked. 'Does an unarmed man come down to speak with robbers out of doors? I can hear you w ell enough here. I am no fool, and I do not trust you, Gandalf. They do not stand openly on my stairs, but I know where the wild wood-demons are lurking, at your command.' 'The treacherous are ever distrustful,' answered Gandalf wearily. 'But you need not fear for your skin. I do not wish to kill you, or hurt you, as you would know, if you really understood me. And I have the power to protect you. I am giving you a last chance. You can leave Orthanc, free -- if you choose.' 'That sounds well,' sneered Saruman. 'Very much in the manner of Gandalf the Grey: so condescending, and so very kind. I do not doubt that you would find Orthanc commodious, and my departure convenient. But why should I wish to leave? And what do you mean by 'free'? There are conditions, I presume?' 'Reasons for leaving you can see from your windows.' answered Gandalf. 'Others will occur to your thought. Your servants are destroyed and scattered; your neighbours you have made your enemies; and you have cheated your new master. or tried to do so. When his eye turns hither, it will be the red eye of wrath. But when I say 'free', I mean 'free': free from bond, of chain or command: to go where you will, even, even to Mordor, Saruman, if you desire. But you will first surrender to me the Key of Orthanc, and your staff. They shall be pledges of your conduct, to be returned later, if you ####-merit them.' Saruman's face grew livid, twisted with rage, and a red light was kindled in his eyes. He laughed wildly. 'Later!' he cried, and his voice rose to a scream. 'Later! Yes, when you also have the Keys of Barad-dyr itself, I suppose; and the crowns of seven kings. and the rods of the Five Wizards, and have purchased yourself a pair of boots many sizes larger than those that you wear now. A modest plan. Hardly one in which my help is needed! I have other things to do. Do not be a fool. If you wish to treat with me, while you have a chance, go away, and come back when you are sober! And leave behind these cut-throats and small rag-tag that dangle at your tail! Good day!' He turned and left the balcony. 'Come back, Saruman!' said Gandalf in a commanding voice. To the amazement of the others, Saruman turned again. and as if dragged against his will, he came slowly back to the iron rail, leaning on it, breathing hard. His face was lined and shrunken. His hand clutched his heavy black staff like a claw. 'I did not give you leave to go,' said Gandalf sternly. 'I have not finished. You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service. But you choose to stay and gnaw the ends of your old plots. Stay then! But I warn you. you will not easily come out again. Not unless the dark hands of the East stretch out to take you. Saruman!' he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority. 'Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.' He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. 'Saruman, your staff is broken.' There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman's hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf's feet. 'Go!' said Gandalf. With a cry Saruman fell back and crawled away. At that moment a heavy shining thing came hurtling down from above. It glanced off the iron rail, even as Saruman left it, and passing close to Gandalf's head, it smote the stair on which he stood. The rail rang and snapped . The stair cracked and splintered in glittering sparks. But the ball was unharmed: it rolled on down the steps, a globe of crystal, dark, but glowing with a heart of fire. As it bounded away towards a pool Pippin ran after it and picked it up.####- 'The murderous rogue!' cried Jomer. But Gandalf was unmoved. No, that was not thrown b Saruman, he said; nor even at his bidding, I think. It came from a window far above. A parting shot from Master Wormtongue, I fancy, but ill aimed.' 'The aim was poor, maybe, because he could not make up his mind which he hated more, you or Saruman,' said Aragorn. 'That may be so,' said Gandalf. 'Small comfort will those two have in their companionship: they will gnaw one another with words. But the punishment is just. If Wormtongue ever comes out of Orthanc alive, it will be more than he deserves. 'Here, my lad, I'll take that! I did not ask you to handle it,' he cried, turning sharply and seeing Pippin coming up the steps, slowly, as if he were bearing a great weight. He went down to meet him and hastily took the dark globe from the hobbit, wrapping it in the folds of his cloak. 'I will take care of this,' he said. 'It is not a thing, I guess, that Saruman would have chosen to cast away.' 'But he may have other things to cast,' said Gimli. 'If that is the end of the debate, let us go out of stone's throw, at least!' 'It is the end,' said Gandalf. 'Let us go.' They turned their backs on the doors of Orthanc, and went down. The riders hailed the king with joy, and saluted Gandalf. The spell of Saruman was broken: they had seen him come at call, and crawl away, dismissed. 'Well, that is done,' said Gandalf. 'Now I must find Treebeard and tell him how things have gone.' 'He will have guessed, surely?' said Merry. 'Were they likely to end any other way?' 'Not likely,' answered Gandalf, 'though they came to the balance of a hair. But I had reasons for trying; some merciful and some less so. First Saruman was shown that the power of his voice was waning. He cannot be both tyrant and counsellor. When the plot is ripe it remains no longer secret. Yet he fell into the trap, and tried to deal with his victims piece-meal, while others listened. Then I gave him a last choice and a fair one: to renounce both Mordor and his private schemes, and make amends by helping us in our need. He knows our need, none better. Great service he could have ####-rendered. But he has chosen to withhold it, and keep the power of Orthanc. He will not serve, only command. He lives now in terror of the shadow of Mordor, and yet he still dreams of riding the storm. Unhappy fool! He will be devoured, if the power of the East stretches out its arms to Isengard. We cannot destroy Orthanc from without, but Sauron -- who knows what he can do?' 'And what if Sauron does not conquer? What will you do to him?' asked Pippin. 'I? Nothing!' said Gandalf. 'I will do nothing to him. I do not wish for mastery. What w ill become of him? I cannot say. I grieve that so much that was good now festers in the tower. Still for us things have not gone badly. Strange are the turns of fortune! Often does hatred hurt itself! I guess that, even if we had entered in, we could have found few treasures in Orthanc more precious than the thing which Wormtongue threw down at us.' A shrill shriek; suddenly cut off, came from an open window high above. 'It seems that Saruman thinks so too,' said Gandalf. 'Let us leave them!' They returned now to the ruins of the gate. Hardly had they passed out under the arch, when, from among the shadows of the piled stones where they had stood, Treebeard and a dozen other Ents came striding up. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas gazed at them in wonder. 'Here are three of my companions, Treebeard,' said Gandalf. 'I have spoken of them, but you have not yet seen them.' He named them one by one. The Old Ent looked at them long and searchingly, and spoke to them in turn. Last he turned to Legolas. 'So you have come all the way from Mirkwood, my good Elf? A very great forest it used to be!' 'And still is,' said Legolas. 'But not so great that we who dwell there ever tire of seeing new trees. I should dearly love to journey in Fangorn's Wood. I scarcely passed beyond the eaves of it, and I did not wish to turn back.' Treebeard's eyes gleamed with pleasure. 'I hope you may have your wish, ere the hills be much older,' he said. 'I will come, if I have the fortune,' said Legolas. 'I have made a bargain with my friend that, if all goes well, we will visit Fangorn together -- by your leave.' 'Any Elf that comes with you will be welcome,' said Treebeard. 'The friend I speak of is not an Elf,' said Legolas; 'I mean Gimli,####-Gluin's son here.' Gimli bowed low, and the axe slipped from his belt and clattered on the ground. 'Hoom, hm! Ah now,' said Treebeard, looking dark-eyed at him. 'A dwarf and an axe-bearer! Hoom! I have good will to Elves; but you ask much. This is a strange friendship!' 'Strange it may seem,' said Legolas; 'but while Gimli lives I shall not come to Fangorn alone. His axe is not for trees, but for orc-necks, O Fangorn, Master of Fangorn's Wood. Forty-two he hewed in the battle.' 'Hoo! Come now!' said Treebeard. 'That is a better story! Well, well, things will go as they will; and there is no need to hurry to meet them. But now we must part for a while. Day is drawing to an end, yet Gandalf says you must go ere nightfall, and the Lord of the Mark is eager for his own house.' 'Yes, we must go, and go now,' said Gandalf. 'I fear that I must take your gatekeepers from you. But you will manage well enough without them.' 'Maybe I shall,' said Treebeard. 'But I shall miss them. We have become friends in so short a while that I think I must be getting hasty -- growing backwards towards youth, perhaps. But there, they are the first new thing under Sun or Moon that I have seen for many a long, long day. I shall not forget them. I have put their names into the Long List. Ents will remember it. Ents the earthborn, old as mountains, the wide-walkers, water drinking; and hungry as hunters, the Hobbit children, the laughing-folk, the little people, they shall remain friends as long as leaves are renewed. Fare you well! But if you hear news up in your pleasant land, in the Shire, send me word! You know what I mean: word or sight of the Entwives. Come yourselves if you can!' 'We will!' said Merry and Pippin together, and they turned away hastily. Treebeard looked at them, and was silent for a while, shaking his head thoughtfully. Then he turned to Gandalf. 'So Saruman would not leave?' he said. 'I did not think he would. His heart is as rotten as a black Huorn's. Still, if I were overcome and all my trees destroyed, I would not come while I had one dark hole left to hide in.' 'No,' said Gandalf. 'But you have not plotted to cover all the world ####-with your trees and choke all other living things. But there it is, Saruman remains to nurse his hatred and weave again such webs as he can. He has the Key of Orthanc. But he must not be allowed to escape.' 'Indeed no! Ents will see to that,' said Treebeard. 'Saruman shall not set foot beyond the rock, without my leave. Ents will watch over him.' 'Good!' said Gandalf. 'That is what I hoped. Now I can go and turn to other matters with one care the less. But you must be wary. The waters have gone down. It will not be enough to put sentinels round the tower, I fear. I do not doubt that there were deep ways delved under Orthanc, and that Saruman hopes to go and come unmarked, before long. If you will undertake the labour, I beg you to pour in the waters again; and do so, until Isengard remains a standing pool, or you discover the outlets. When all the underground places are drowned, and the outlets blocked, then Saruman must stay upstairs and look out of the windows.' 'Leave it to the Ents!' said Treebeard. 'We shall search the valley from head to foot and peer under every pebble. Trees are coming back to live here, old trees, wild trees. The Watchwood we will call it. Not a squirrel will go her e, but I shall know of it. Leave it to Ents! Until seven times the years in which he tormented us have passed, we shall not tire of watching him.'####- The sun was sinking behind the long western arm of the mounta ins when Gandalf and his companions, and the king with his Riders, set out again from Isengard. Gandalf took Merry behind him, and Aragorn took Pippin. Two of the king's men went on ahead, riding swiftly, and passed soon out of sight down into the valley. The others followed at an easy pace. Ents in a solemn row stood like statues at the gate, with their long arms uplifted, but they made no sound. Merry and Pippin looked back, when they had passed some way down the winding road. Sunlight was still shining in the sky, but long shadows reached over Isengard: grey ruins falling into darkness. Treebeard stood alone there now, like the distant stump of an old tree: the hobbits thought of their first meeting, upon the sunny ledge far away on the borders of Fangorn. They came to the pillar of the White Hand. The pillar was still standing, but the graven hand had been thrown down and broken into small pieces. Right in the middle of the road the long forefinger lay, white in the dusk, its red nail darkening to black. 'The Ents pay attention to every detail!' said Gandalf. They rode on, and evening deepened in the valley. 'Are we riding far tonight, Gandalf?' asked Merry after a while. 'I don't know how you feel with small rag-tag dangling behind you; but the rag-tag is tired and will be glad to stop dangling and lie down.' 'So you heard that?' said Gandalf. 'Don't let it rankle! Be thankful no longer words were aimed at you. He had his eyes on you. If it is any comfort to your pride, I should say that, at the moment, you and Pippin are more in his thoughts than all the rest of us. Who you are; how you came there, and why; what you know; whether you were captured, and if so, how you escaped when all the Orcs perished -- it is with those little riddles that the great mind ¢f Saruman is troubled. A sneer from him, Meriadoc, is a compliment, if you feel honoured by his concern.' 'Thank you!' said Merry. 'But it is a greater honour to dangle at your tail, Gandalf. For one thing, in that position one has a chance of putting a ####-question a second time. Are we riding far tonight?' Gandalf laughed. 'A most unquenchable hobbit! All Wizards should have a hobbit or two in their care -- to teach them the meaning of the word, and to correct them. I beg your pardon. But I have given thought even to these simple matters. We will ride for a few hours, gently, until we come to the end of the valley. Tomorrow we must ride faster. 'When we came, we meant to go straight from Isengard back to the king's house at Edoras over the plains, a ride of some days. But we have taken thought and changed the plan. Messengers have gone ahead to Helm's Deep, to warn them that the king is returning tomorrow. He will ride from there with many men to Dunharrow by paths among the hills. From now on no more than two or three together are to go openly over the land, by day or night, when it can be avoided.' 'Nothing or a double helping is your way!' said Merry. 'I am afraid I was not looking beyond tonight's bed. Where and what are Helm's Deep and all the rest of it? I don't know anything about this country.' 'Then you'd best learn something, if you wish to understand what is happening. But not just now, and not from me: I have too many pressing things to think about.' 'All right, I'll tackle Strider by the camp-fire: he's less testy. But why all this secrecy? I thought we'd won the battle!' Yes, we have won, but only the first victor and that in itself increases our danger. There was some link between Isengard and Mordor, which I have not yet fathomed. How they exchanged news I am not sure; but they did so. The Eye of Barad-dyr will be looking impatiently towards the Wizard's Vale, I think; and towards Rohan. The less it sees the better.' The road passed slowly, winding down the valley. Now further, and now nearer Isen flowed in its stony bed. Night came down from the mountains. All the mists were gone. A chill wind blew. The moon, now waxing round, filled the eastern sky with a pale cold sheen. The shoulders of the mountain to their right sloped down to bare hills. The wide plains opened grey before them. At last they halted. Then they turned aside, leaving the highway and taking to the sweet upland turf again. Going westward a mile or so they came to a dale. It opened southward, leaning back into the slope of round Dol ####-Baran, the last hill of the northern ranges, greenfooted, crowned with heather. The sides of the glen were shaggy with last year's bracken, among which the tight -curled fronds of spring were just thrusting through the sweet-scented earth. Thornbushes grew thick upon the low banks, and under them they made their camp, two hours or so before the middle of the night. They lit a fire in a hollow, down among the roots of a spreading hawthorn, tall as a tree, writhen with age; but hale in every limb. Buds were swelling at each twig's tip. Guards were set, two at a watch. The rest, after they had supped, wrapped themselves in a cloak and blanket and slept. The hobbits lay in a corner by themselves upon a pile of old bracken. Merry was sleepy, but Pippin now seemed curiously restless. The bracken cracked and rustled, as he twisted and turned. 'What's the matter?' asked Merry. 'Are you lying on an ant-hill?' 'No,' said Pippin, 'but I'm not comfortable. I wonder how long it is since I slept in a bed?' Merry yawned. 'Work it out on your fingers!' he said. 'But you must know how long it is since we left Lurien.' 'Oh, that!' said Pippin. 'I mean a real bed in a bedroom.' 'Well, Rivendell then,' said Merry. 'But I could sleep anywhere tonight.' 'You had the luck, Merry,' said Pippin softly, after a long pause. 'You were riding with Gandalf.' 'Well, what of it?' 'Did you get any news, any information out of him?' 'Yes, a good deal. More than usual. But you heard it all or most of it: you were close by, and we were talking no secrets. But you can go with him tomorrow, if you think you can get more out of him-and if he'll have you.' 'Can I? Good! But he's close, isn't he? Not changed at all.' 'Oh yes, he is!' said Merry, waking up a little, and beginning to wonder what was bothering his companion. 'He has grown, or something. He can be both kinder and more alarming, merrier and more solemn than before, I think. He has changed; but we have not had a chance to see how much, yet. But th ink of the last part of that business with Saruman! Remember Saruman was once Gandalf's superior: head of the Council, whatever that may be ####-exactly. He was Saruman the White. Gandalf is the White now. Saruman came when he was told, and his rod was taken; and then he was just told to go, and he went!' 'Well, if Gandalf has changed at all, then he's closer than ever that's all,' Pippin argued. 'That-glass ball, now. He seemed mighty pleased with it. He knows or guesses something about i t. But does he tell us what? No, not a word. Yet I picked it up, and I saved it from rolling into a pool. Here, I'll take that, my lad -- that's all. I wonder what it is? It felt so very heavy.' Pippin's voice fell very low as if he was talking to h imself. 'Hullo!' said Merry. 'So that's what is bothering you? Now, Pippin my lad, don't forget Gildor's saying -- the one Sam used to quote: Do not meddle in the at Fairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.' 'But our whole life for months has been one long meddling in the affairs of Wizards,' said Pippin. 'I should like a bit of information as well as danger. I should like a look at that ball.' 'Go to sleep!' said Merry. 'You'll get information enough, sooner or later. My dear Pippin, no Took ever beat a Brandybuck for inquisitiveness; but is this the time, I ask you?' 'All right! What's the harm in my telling you what I should like: a look at that stone? I know I can't have it, with old Ganda lf sitting on it, like a hen on an egg. But it doesn't help much to get no more from you than a you-can't-have-it so-go-to-sleep!' 'Well, what else could I say?' said Merry. 'I'm sorry, Pippin, but you really must wait till the morning. I'll be as curious as you like after breakfast, and I'll help in any way I can at wizard-wheedling. But I can't keep awake any longer. If I yawn any more, I shall split at the ears. Good night!' Pippin said no more. He lay still now, but sleep remained far away; and it was not encouraged by the sound of Merry breathing softly, asleep in a few minutes after saying good night. 'The thought of the dark globe seemed to grow stronger as all grew quiet. Pippin felt again its weight in his hands, and saw again the mysterious red depths into which he had looked for a moment. He tossed and turned and tried to think of something else. At last he could stand it no longer. He got up and looked round. It was chilly, and he wrapped his cloak about him. The moon was shining cold and white, down into the dell, and the shadows of the bushes were black. All ####-about lay sleeping shapes. The two guards were not in view: they were up on the hill, perhaps, or hidden in the bracken. Driven by some impulse that he did not understand, Pippin walked softly to where Gandalf lay. He looked down at him. The wizard seemed asleep, but with lids not fully closed: there was a glitter of eyes under his long lashes. Pippin stepped back hastily. But Gandalf made no sign; and drawn forward once more, half against his will, the hobbit crept up again from behind the wizard's head. He was rolled in a blanket, with his cloak spread over the top; and close beside him, between his right side and his bent arm, there was a hummock, something round wrapped in a dark cloth; his hand seemed only just to have slipped off it to the ground. Hardly breathing, Pippin crept nearer, foot by foot. At last he knelt down. Then he put his hands out stealthily, and slowly lifted the lump up: it did not seem quite so heavy as he had expected. 'Only some bundle of oddments, perhaps, after all,' he thought with a strange sense of relief; but he did not put the bundle down again. He stood for a moment clasping it . Then an idea came into his mind. He tiptoed away, found a large stone, and came back. Quickly now he drew off the cloth, wrapped the stone in it and kneeling down, laid it back by the wizard's hand. Then at last he looked at the thing that he had uncovered. There it was: a smooth globe of crystal, now dark and dead, lying bare before his knees. Pippin lifted it, covered it hurriedly in his own cloak, and half turned to go back to his bed. At that moment Gandalf moved in his sleep, and muttered some words: they seemed to be in a strange tongue; his hand groped out and clasped the wrapped stone, then he sighed and did not move again. 'You idiotic fool!' Pippin muttered to himself. 'You're going to get yourself into frightful trouble. Put it back quick!' But he found now that his knees quaked, and he did not dare to go near enough to the wizard to reach the bundle. 'I'll never get it back now without waking him,' he thought, 'not till I'm a bit calmer. S¢ I may as well have a look first. Not just here though!' He stole away, and sat down on a green hillock not far from his bed. The moon looked in over the edge of the dell. Pippin sat with his knees drawn up and the ball between them. He bent low over it, looking like a greedy child stooping over a bowl of food, in a corner away from others. He drew his cloak aside and gazed at it. The air seemed still and tense about him. At first the globe was dark, black as jet,####-with the moonlight gleaming on its surface. Then ther e came a faint glow and stir in the heart of it, and it held his eyes, so that now he could not look away. Soon all the inside seemed on fire; the ball was spinning, or the lights within were revolving. Suddenly the lights went out. He gave a gasp and struggled; but he remained bent, clasping the ball with both hands. Closer and closer he bent, and then became rigid; his lips moved soundlessly for a while. Then with a strangled cry he fell back and lay still. The cry was piercing. The guards leapt down from the banks. All the camp was soon astir. 'So this is the thief!' said Gandalf. Hastily he cast his cloak over the globe where it lay. 'But you, Pippin! This is a grievous turn to things!' He knelt by Pippin's body: the hobbit was lying on his back rigid, with unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. 'The devilry! What mischief has he done-to himself, and to all of us?' The wizard's face was drawn and haggard. He took Pippin's hand and bent over his face, listening for his breath; then he laid his hands on his brow. The hobbit shuddered. His eyes closed. He cried out; and sat up. staring in bewilderment at all the faces round him, pale in the moonlight. 'It is not for you, Saruman!' he cried in a shrill and toneless voice shrinking away from Gandalf. 'I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!' Then he struggled to get up and escape but Gandalf held him gently and firmly. 'Peregrin Took!' he said. 'Come back!' The hobbit relaxed and fell back, clinging to the wizard's hand. 'Gandalf!' he cried. 'Gandalf! Forgive me!' 'Forgive you?' said the wizard. 'Tell me first what you have done!' 'I, I took the ball and looked at it,' stammered Pippin; 'and I saw things that frightened me. And I wanted to go away, but I couldn't. And then he came and questioned me; and he looked at me, and, and that is all I remember.' 'That won't do,' said Gandalf sternly. 'What did you see, and what did you say?' Pippin shut his eyes and shivered, but said nothing. They all stared at him in silence, except Merry who turned away. But Gandalf's face was still hard. 'Speak!' he said. In a low hesitating voice Pippin began again, and slowly his words grew clearer and stronger. 'I saw a dark sky, and tall battlements,' he said.####-'And tiny stars. It seemed very far away and long ago, yet hard and clear. Then the stars went in and out-they were cut off by things with wings. Very big, I think, really; but in the glass they looked like bats wheeling round the tower. I thought there were nine of them. One began to fly straight towards me, getting bigger and bigger. It had a horrible -- no, no! I can't say. 'I tried to get away, because I thought it would fly out; but when it had covered all the globe, it disappeared. Then he came. He did not speak so that I could hear words. He just looked, and I understood. '"So you have come back? Why have you neglected to report for so long?" 'I did not answer. He said: "Who are you?" I still did not answer, but it hurt me horribly; and he pressed me, so I said: "A hobbit." 'Then suddenly he seemed to see me, and he laughed at me. It was cruel. It was like being stabbed with knives. I struggled. But he sa id: "Wait a moment! We shall meet again soon. Tell Saruman that this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!" 'Then he gloated over me. I felt I was falling to pieces. No, no! I can't say any more. I don't remember anything else.' 'Look at me!' said Gandalf. Pippin looked up straight into his eyes. The wizard held his gaze for a moment in silence. Then his face grew gentler, and the shadow of a smile appeared. He laid his hand softly on Pippin's head. 'All right!' he said. 'Say no more! You have taken no harm. There is no lie in your eyes, as I feared. But he did not speak long with you. A fool, but an honest fool, you remain, Peregrin Took. Wiser ones might have done worse in such a pass. But mark this! You have been saved, and all your friends too, mainly by good fortune, as it is called. You cannot count on it a second time. If he had questioned you, then and there, almost certainly you would have told all that you know, to the ruin of us all. But he was too eager. He did not want information only: he wanted you, quickly, so that he could deal with you in the Dark Tower, slowly. Don't shudder! If you will meddle in the affairs of Wizards, you must be prepared to think of such things. But come! I forgive you. Be comforted! Things have not turned out as evilly as they might.' He lifted Pippin gently and carried him back to his bed. Merry followed, and sat down beside him. Lie there and rest, if you can, Pippin!' said Gandalf. 'Trust me. If you feel an itch in your palms again, tell me of ####-it! Such things can be cured. But anyway, my dear hobbit, don't put a lump of rock under my elbow again! Now, I will leave you two together for a while.' With that Gandalf returned to the others, who were still standing by the Orthanc-stone in troubled thought. 'Peril comes in the night when least expected,' he said. 'We have had a narrow escape!' 'How is the hobbit, Pippin?' asked Aragorn. 'I think all will be well now,' answered Gandalf. 'He was not held long, and hobbits have an amazing power of recovery. The memory, or the horror of it, will probably fade quickly. Too quickly, perhaps. Will you, Aragorn, take the Orthanc-stone and guard it? It is a dangerous charge.' 'Dangerous indeed, but not to all,' said Aragorn. 'There is one who may claim it by right. For this assuredly is the palantnr of Orthanc from the treasury of Elendil, set here by the Kings of Gondor. Now my hour draws near. I will take it.' Gandalf looked at Aragorn, and then, to the surprise of the others, he lifted the covered Stone, and bowed as he presented it. 'Receive it, lord!' he said: 'in earnest of other things that shall be given back. But if I may counsel you in the use of your own, do not use it -- yet! Be wary!' 'When have I been hasty or unwary, who have waited and prepared for so many long years?' said Aragorn. 'Never yet. Do not then stumble at the end of the road,' answered Gandalf. 'But at the least keep this thing secret. You, and all others that stand here! The hobbit, Peregrin, above all should not know where it is bestowed. The evil fit may come on him again. For alas! he has handled it and looked in it, as should never have happened. He ought never to have touched it in Isengard, and there I should have been quicker. But my mind was bent on Saruman, and I did not at once guess the nature of the Stone. Then I was weary, and as I lay pondering it, sleep overcame me. Now I know!' 'Yes, there can be no doubt,' said Aragorn. 'At last we know the link' between Isengard and Mordor, and how it worked. Much is explained.' 'Strange powers have our enemies, and strange weaknesses!' said Thjoden. 'But it has long been said: oft evil will shall evil mar. ' 'That many times is seen,' said Gandalf. 'But at this time we have been strangely fortunate. Maybe, I have been saved by this hobbit from a grave blunder. I had considered whether or not to probe this Stone myself to find ####-its uses. Had I done so, I should have been revealed to him myself. I am not ready for such a trial, if indeed I shall ever be so: But even if I found the power to withdraw myself, it would be disastrous for him to see me, yet -- until the hour comes when secrecy will avail no longer.' 'That hour is now come, I think,' said Aragorn. 'Not yet,' said Gandalf. 'There remains a short while of doubt which we must use. The Enemy, it is clear, thought that the Stone was in Orthanc -- why should he not? And that therefore the hobbit was captive there, driven to look in the glass for his torment by Saruman. That dark mind will be filled now with the voice and face of the hobbit and with expectation: it may take some time before he learns his error. We must snatch that time. We have been too leisurely. We must move. The neighbourhood of Isengard is no place now to linger in. I will ride ahead at once with Peregrin Took. It will be better for him than lying in the dark while others sleep.' 'I will keep Jomer and ten Riders,' said the king. 'They shall ride with me at early day. The rest may go with Aragorn and ride as soon as they have a mind.' 'As you will,' said Gandalf. 'But make all the speed you may to the cover of the hills, to Helm's Deep!' At that moment a shadow fell over them. The bright moonlight seemed to be suddenly cut off. Several of the Riders cried out, and crouched, holding their arms above their hea ds, as if to ward off a blow from above: a blind fear and a deadly cold fell on them. Cowering they looked up. A vast winged shape passed over the moon like a black cloud. It wheeled and went north, flying at a speed greater than any wind of Middle-earth. The stars fainted before it. It was gone. They stood up, rigid as stones. Gandalf was gazing up, his arms out and downwards, stiff, his hands clenched. 'Nazgyl!' he cried. 'The messenger of Mordor. The storm is coming. The Nazgyl have crossed the River! Ride, ride! Wait not for the dawn! Let not the swift wait for the slow! Ride!' He sprang away, calling Shadowfax as he ran. Aragorn followed him. Going to Pippin, Gandalf picked him up in his arms. 'You shall come with me this time,' he said. 'Shadowfax shall show you his paces.' Then he ran to the place where he had slept. Shadowfax stood there already. Slinging the small bag which was all his luggage across his shoulders, the wizard leapt upon the horse's back. Aragor n lifted Pippin and set him in Gandalf's arms,####-,wrapped in cloak and blanket. 'Farewell! Follow fast!' cried Gandalf. 'Away, Shadowfax!' The great horse tossed his head. His flowing tail flicked in the moonlight. Then he leapt forward, spurning the earth, and was gone like the north wind from the mountains. 'A beautiful, restful night!' said Merry to Aragorn. 'Some folk have wonderful luck. He did not want to sleep, and he wanted to ride with Gandalf -- and there he goes! Instead of being turned into a stone himself to stand here for ever as a warning.' 'If you had been the first to lift the Orthanc-stone, and not he, how would it be now?' said Aragorn. 'You might have done worse. Who can say? But now it is your luck to come with me, I fear. At once. Go and get ready, and bring anything that Pippin left behind. Make haste!' Over the plains Shadowfax was flying, needing no urging and no guidance. Less than an hour had passed, and they had reached the Fords of Isen and crossed them. The Mound of the Riders and its cold spears lay grey behind them. Pippin was recovering. He was warm, but the wind in his face was keen and refreshing. He was with Gandalf. The horror of the stone and of the hideous shadow over the moon was fading, things left behind in the mists of the mountains or in a passing dream. He drew a deep breath. 'I did not know you rode bare-back, Gandalf,' he said. 'You haven't a saddle or a bridle!' 'I do not ride elf-fashion, except on Shadowfax,' said Gandalf. 'But Shadowfax will have no harness. You do not ride Shadowfax: he is willing to carry you -or not. If he is willing, that is enough. It is then his business to see that you remain on his back, unless you jump off into the air.' 'How fast is he going?' asked Pippin. 'Fast by the wind, but very smooth. And how light his footfalls are!' 'He is running now as fast as the swiftest horse could gallop,' answered Gandalf; 'but that is not fast for him. The land is rising a little here, and is more broken than it was beyond the river. But see how the White Mountains are drawing near under the stars! Yonder are the Thrihyrne peaks like black spears. It will not be long before we reach the branching roads and come to the Deeping-coomb, where the battle was fought two nights ago.' Pippin was silent again for a while. He heard Gandalf singing softly to ####-himself, murmuring brief snatches of rhyme in many tongues, as the miles ran under them. At last the wizard passed into a song of which the hobbit caught the words: a few lines came clear to his ears through the rushing of the wind: Tall ships and tall kings Three times three, What brought they from the foundered land Over the flowing sea? Seven stars and seven stones And one white tree. 'What are you saying, Gandalf?' asked Pippin. 'I was just running over some of the Rhymes of Lore in my mind ' answered the wizard. 'Hobbits, I suppose, have forgotten them, even those that they ever knew.' 'No, not all,' said Pippin. 'And we have many of our own, which wouldn't interest you, perhaps. But I have never heard this one. What is it about -- the seven stars and seven stones?' 'About the palantnri of the Kings of Old,' said Gandalf. 'And what are they?' 'The name meant that which looks far away. The Orthanc-stone was one.' 'Then it was not made, not made' -- Pippin hesitated -- 'by the Enemy?' 'No,' said Gandalf. 'Nor by Saruman. It is beyond his art, and beyond Sauron's too. The palantnri came from beyond Westernesse from Eldamar. The Noldor made them. Flanor himself, maybe, wrought them, in days so long ago that the time cannot be measured in years. But there is nothing that Sauron cannot turn to evil uses. Alas for Saruman! It was his downfall, as I now perceive. Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves. Yet he must bear the blame. Fool! to keep it secret, for his own profit. No word did he ever speak of it to any of the Council. We had not yet given thought to the fate of the palantnri of Gondor in its ruinous wars. By Men they were almost forgotten. Even in Gondor they were a secret known only to a few; in Arnor they were remembered only in a rhyme of lore among the D®nedain.' 'What did the Men of old use them for?' asked Pippin, delighted and astonished at getting answers to so many questions, and wondering how long it would last.####- 'To see far off, and to converse in thought with one another,' said Gandalf. 'In that way they long guarded and united the realm of Gondor. They set up Stones at Minas Anor, and at Minas Ithil, and at Orthanc in the ring of Isengard. The chief and master of these was under the Dome of Stars at Osgiliath before its ruin. The three others were far away in the North. In the house of Elrond it is told that they were at Ann®minas, and Amon Syl, and Elendil's Stone was on the Tower Hills that look towards M ithlond in the Gulf of Lune where the grey ships lie. 'Each palantnr replied to each, but all those in Gondor were ever open to the view of Osgiliath. Now it appears that, as the rock of Orthanc has withstood the storms of time, so there the palantnr of that tower has remained. But alone it could do nothing but see small images of things far off and days remote. Very useful, no doubt, that was to Saruman; yet it seems that he was not content. Further and further abroad he gazed, until he cast his gaze upon Barad-dyr. Then he was caught! 'Who knows where the lost Stones of Arnor and Gondor now lie buried, or drowned deep? But one. at least Sauron must have obtained and mastered to his purposes. I guess that it was the Ithil-stone, for he took Minas Ithil long ago and turned it into an evil place: Minas Morgul, it has become. 'Easy it is now to guess how quickly the roving eye of Saruman was trapped and held; and how ever since he has been persuaded from afar, and daunted when persuasion would not serve. The biter bit, the hawk under the eagle's foot, the spider in a steel web! How long, I wonder, has he been constrained to come often to his glass for inspection and instruction, and the Orthanc-stone so bent towards Barad-dyr that, if any save a will of adamant now looks into it, it will bear his mind and sight swiftly thither? And how it draws one to itself! Have I not felt it? Even now my heart desires to test my will upon it, to see if I could not wrench it from him and turn it where I would-to look across the wide seas of water and of time to Tirion the Fair, and perceive the unimaginable hand and mind of Flanor at their work, while both the White Tree and the Golden were in flower!' He sighed and fell silent. 'I wish I had known all this before,' said Pippin. 'I had no notion of what I was doing.' 'Oh yes, you had,' said Gandalf. 'You knew you were behaving wrongly and foolishly; and you told yourself so, though you did not listen. I did not tell you all this before, because it is only by musing on all that has ####-happened that I have at last understood, even as we ride together. But if I had spoken sooner, it would not have lessened your desire, or made it easier to resist. On the contrary! No, the burned hand teaches best. After that advice about fire goes to the heart.' 'It does,' said Pippin. 'If all the seven stones were laid out before me now, I should shut my eyes and put my hands in my pockets.' 'Good!' said Gandalf. 'That is what I hoped.' 'But I should like to know--' Pippin began. 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and Over -heaven and of the Sundering Seas ' laughed Pippin. 'Of course! What less? But I am not in a hurry tonight. At the moment I was just wondering about the black shadow. I heard you shout "messenger of Mordor". What was it? What could it do at Isengard?' 'It was a Black Rider on wings, a Nazgyl,' said Gandalf. 'It could have taken you away to the Dark Tower . ' 'But it was not coming for me, was it?' faltered Pippin. 'I mean, it didn't know that I had... ' 'Of course not,' said Gandalf. 'It is two hundred leagues or more in straight flight from Barad-dyr to Orthanc, and even a Nazgyl would take a few hours to fly between them. But Saruman certainly looked in the Stone since the orc-raid, and more of his secret thought, I do not doubt, has been read than he intended. A messenger has been sent to find out what he is doing. And after what has happened tonight another will come, I think, and swiftly. So Saruman will come to the last pinch of the vice that he has put his hand in. He has no captive to send. He has no Stone to see with, and cannot answer the summons. Sauron will only believe that he is withholding the captive and refusing to use the Stone. It will not help Saruman to tell the truth to the messenger. For Isengard may be ruined, yet he is still safe in Orthanc. So whether he will or no, he will appear a rebel. Yet he rejected us, so as to avoid that very thing! What he will do in such a plight, I cannot guess. He has power still, I think, while in Orthanc, to resist the Nine Riders. He may try to do so. He may try to trap the Nazgyl, or at least to slay the thing on which it now rides the air. In that case let Rohan look to its horses!####- 'But I cannot tell how it will fall out, well or ill for us. It may be that the counsels of the Enemy will be confused, or hindered by his wrath with Saruman. It may be that he will learn that I was there and stood upon the stairs of Orthanc-with hobbits at my tail. Or that an heir of Elendil lives and stood beside me. If Wormtongue was not deceived by the armour of Rohan, he would remember Aragorn and the title that he claimed. That is what I fear. And so we fly -- not from danger but into greater danger. Every stride of Shadowfax bears you nearer to the Land of Shadow, Peregrin Took.' Pippin made no answer, but clutched his cloak, as if a sudden chill had struck him. Grey land passed under them. 'See now!' said Gandalf. 'The Westfold dales are opening before us. Here we come back to the eastward road. The dark shadow yonder is the mouth of the Deeping-coomb. That way lies Aglarond a nd the Glittering Caves. Do not ask me about them. Ask Gimli, if you meet again, and for the first time you may get an answer longer than you wish. You will not see the caves yourself, not on this journey. Soon they will be far behind.' 'I thought you were going to stop at Helm's Deep!' said Pippin. 'Where are you going then?' 'To Minas Tirith, before the seas of war surround it.' 'Oh! And how far is that?' 'Leagues upon leagues,' answered Gandalf. 'Thrice as far as the dwellings of King Thjoden, and they are more than a hundred miles east from here, as the messengers of Mordor fly. Shadowfax must run a longer road. Which will prove the swifter? 'We shall ride now till daybreak, and that is some hours away. Then even Shadowfax must rest, in some hollow of the hills: at Edoras, I hope. Sleep, if you can! You may see the first glimmer of dawn upon the golden roof of the house of Eorl. And in two days thence you shall see the purple shadow of Mount Mindolluin and the walls of the tower of Denethor white in the morning. 'Away now, Shadowfax! Run, greatheart, run as you have never run before! Now we are come to the lands where you were foaled and every stone you know. Run now! Hope is in speed!' Shadowfax tossed his head and cried aloud, as if a trumpet had summoned him to battle. Then he sprang forward. Fire flew from his feet; night rushed over him.####- As he fell slowly into sleep, Pippin had a strange feeling: he and Gandalf were still as stone, seated upon the statue of a running horse, while the world rolled away beneath his feet with a great noise of wind.####- * BOOK IV *'Well, master, we're in a fix and no mistake,' sa id Sam Gamgee. He stood despondently with hunched shoulders beside Frodo, and peered out with puckered eyes into the gloom. It was the third evening since they had fled from the Company, as far as they could tell: they had almost lost count of the hours during which they had climbed and laboured among the barren slopes and stones of the Emyn Muil, sometimes retracing their steps because they could find no way forward, sometimes discovering that they had wandered in a circle back to where they had been hours before. Yet on the whole they had worked steadily eastward, keeping as near as they could find a way to the outer edge of this strange twisted knot of hills. But always they found its outward faces sheer, high and impassable, frowning over the plain below; beyond its tumbled skirts lay livid festering marshes where nothing moved and not even a bird was to be seen. The hobbits stood now on the brink of a tall cliff, bare and bleak, its feet wrapped in mist; and behind them rose the broken highlands crowned with drifting cloud. A chill wind` blew from the East. Night was gathering over the shapeless lands before them; the sickly green of them was fading to a sullen brown. Far away to the right the Anduin, that had gleamed fitfully in sun-breaks during the day, was now hidden in shadow. But their eyes did not look beyond the River, back to Gondor, to their friends, to the lands of Men. South and east they stared to where, at the edge of the oncoming night, a dark line hung, like distant mountains of motionless smoke. Every now and again a tiny red gleam far away flickered upwards on the rim of earth and sky. `What a fix! ' said Sam. `That's the one place in all the lands we've ever heard of that we don't want to see any closer; and that's the one place we're trying to get to! And that's just where we can't get, nohow. We've come the wrong way altogether, seemingly. We can't get down; and if we did ####-get down, we'd find all that green land a nasty bog, I'll warrant. Phew! Can you smell it?' He sniffed at the wind. 'Yes, I can smell it,' said Frodo, but he did not move, and his eyes remained fixed, staring out towards the dark line and the flickering flame. `Mordor! ' he muttered under his breath. 'If I must go there I wish I could come there quickly and make an end! ' He shuddered. The wind was chilly and yet heavy with an odour of cold decay. `Well,' he said, at last withdrawing his eyes, `we cannot stay here all night, fix or no fix. We must find a more sheltered spot, and camp once more; and perhaps another day will show us a path.' 'Or another and another and another,' muttered Sam. `Or maybe no day. We've come the wrong way.' 'I wonder,' said Frodo. 'It's my doom, I think, to go to that Shadow yonder, so that a way will be found. But will good or evil show it to me? What hope we had was in speed. Delay plays into the Enemy's hands-and here I am: delayed. Is it the will of the Dark Tower that steers us? All my choices have proved ill. I should have left the Company long before, and come down from the North, east of the River and of the Emyn Muil, and so over the hard of Battle Plain to the passes of Mordor. But now it isn't possible for you and me alone to find a way back, and the Orcs are prowling on the east bank. Every day that passes is a precious day lost. I am tired, Sam. I don't know what is to be done. What food have we got left?' 'Only those, what d'you call 'em, lembas, Mr. Frodo. A fair supply. But they are better than naught, by a long bite. I never thought, though, when I first set tooth in them, that I should ever come to wish for a change. But I do now: a bit of plain bread, and a mug -- aye, half a mug -- of beer would go down proper. I've lugged my cooking-gear all the way from the last camp, and what use has it been? Naught to make a fire with, for a start; and naught to cook, not even grass!' They turned away and went down into a stony hollow. The westering sun was caught into clouds, and night came swiftly. They slept as well as they could for the cold, turn and turn about, in a nook among great jagged pinnacles of weathered rock; at least they were sheltered from the easterly wind. `Did you see them again, Mr . Frodo?' asked Sam, as they sat, stiff and chilled, munching wafers of lembas, in the cold grey of early morning. 'No,' said Frodo. `I've heard nothing, and seen nothing, for two nights ####-now.' `Nor me,' said Sam. `Grrr! Those eyes did give me a turn! But perhaps we've shaken him off at last, the miserable slinker. Gollum! I'll give him gollum in his throat, if ever I get my hands on his neck.' 'I hope you'll never need to,' said Frodo. `I don't know how he followed us; but it may be that he's lost us again, as you say. In this dry bleak land we can't leave many footprints, nor much scent, even for his snuffling nose.' 'I hope that's the way of it,' said Sam. 'I wish we could be rid of him for good!' 'So do I,' said Frodo; 'but he's not my chief trouble. I wish we could get away from these hills! I hate them. I feel all naked on the east side, stuck up here with nothing but the dead flats between me and that Shadow yonder. There's an Eye in it. Come on! We've got to get down today somehow.' But that day wore on, and when afternoon faded towards evening they were still scrambling along the ridge and had found no way of escape. Sometimes in the silence of that barren country they fancied that they heard faint sounds behind them, a stone falling, or the imagined step of flapping feet on the rock. But if they halted and stood still listening, they heard no more, nothing but the wind sighing over the edges of the stones -- yet even that reminded them of breath softly hissing through sharp teeth. All that day the outer ridge of the Emyn Muil had been bending gradually northward, as they struggled on. Along its brink there now stretched a wide tumbled flat of scored and weathered rock, cut every now and again by trench-like gullies that sloped steeply down to deep notches in the cliff-face. To find a path in these clefts, which were becoming deeper and more frequent, Frodo and Sam were driven to their left, well away from the edge, and they did not notice that for several miles they had been going slowly but steadily downhill: the cliff-top was sinking towards the level of the lowlands. At last they were brought to a halt. The ridge took a sharper bend nor thward and was gashed by a deeper ravine. On the further side it reared up again, many fathoms at a single leap: a great grey cliff loomed before them, cut sheer down as if by a knife stroke. They could go no further forwards, and must turn now either west or east. But west would lead them only into more labour and delay, back towards the heart of the hills; east ####-would take them to the outer precipice. `There's nothing for it but to scramble down this gully, Sam,' said Frodo. `Let's see what it leads to!' 'A nasty drop, I'll bet,' said Sam. The cleft was longer and deeper than it seemed. Some way down they found a few gnarled and stunted trees, the first they had seen for days: twisted birch for the most part, with here and there a fir -tree. Many were dead and gaunt, bitten to the core by the eastern winds. Once in milder days there must have been a fair thicket in the ravine, but now, after some fifty yards, the trees came to an end, though old broken stumps straggled on almost to the cliff's brink. The bottom of the gully, which lay along the edge of a rock -fault, was rough with broken stone and slanted steeply down. When they came at last to the end of it, Frodo stooped and leaned out. `Look!' he said. `We must have come down a long way, or else the cliff has sunk. It's much lower here than it was, and it looks easier too.' Sam knelt beside him and peered reluctantly over the edge. Then he glanced up at the great cliff rising up, away on their left. `Easier! ' he grunted. `Well, I suppose it's always easier getting down than up. Those as can't fly can jump!' `It would be a big jump still,' said Frodo. `About, well' -- he stood for a moment measuring it with his eyes -- `about eighteen fathoms I should guess. Not more.' 'And that's enough! ' said Sam. `Ugh! How I do hate looking down from a height! But looking's better than climbing.' `All the same,' said Frodo, `I think we could climb here; and I think we shall have to try. See -- the rock is quite different from what it was a few miles back. It has slipped and cracked.' The outer fall was indeed no longer sheer, but sloped outwards a little. It looked like a great rampart or sea -wall whose foundations had shifted, so that its courses were all twisted and disordered, leaving great fissures and long slanting edges that were in places almost as wide as stairs. `And if we're going to try and get down, we had better try at once. It's getting dark early. I think there's a storm coming.' The smoky blur of the mountains in the East was lost in a deeper blackness that was already reaching out westwards with long arms. There was a distant mutter of thunder borne on the rising breeze. Frodo sniffed the ####-air and looked up doubtfully at the sky. He strapped his belt outside his cloak and tightened it, and settled his light pack on his back; then he stepped towards the edge. `I'm going to try it,' he said. `Very good! ' said Sam gloomily. `But I'm going first.' 'You? ' said Frodo. `What's made you change your mind about climbing?' 'I haven't changed my mind. But it's only sense: put the one lowest as is most likely to slip. I don't want to come down atop of you a nd knock you off no sense in killing two with one fall.' Before Frodo could stop him, he sat down, swung his legs over the brink, and twisted round, scrabbling with his toes for a foothold. It is doubtful if he ever did anything braver in cold blood, or more unwise. 'No, no! Sam, you old ass! ' said Frodo. `You'll kill yourself for certain going over like that without even a look to see what to make for. Come back! ' He took Sam under the armpits and hauled him up again. 'Now, wait a bit and be patient! ' he said. Then he lay on the ground, leaning out and looking down: but the light seemed to be fading quickly, although the sun had not yet set. 'I think we could manage this,' he said presently. `I could at any rate; and you could too. if you kept your head and followed me carefully.' `I don't know how you can be so sure,' said Sam. `Why! You can't see to the bottom in this light. What if you comes to a place where there's nowhere to put your feet or your hands?' 'Climb back, I suppose,' said Frodo. 'Easy said,' objected Sam. 'Better wait till morning and more light.' `No! Not if I can help it,' said Frodo with a sudden strange vehemence. `I grudge every hour, every minute. I'm going down to try it out. Don't you follow till I come back or call!' Gripping the stony lip of the fall with his fingers he let himself gently down, until when his arms were almost at full stretch, his toes found a ledge. 'On_ e step down! ' he said. 'And this ledge broadens out to the right. I could stand there without a hold. I'll--' his words were cut short. The hurrying darkness, now gathering great speed, rushed up from the East and swallowed the sky. There was a dry splitting crack of thunder right overhead. Searing lightning smote down into the hills. Then came a blast of savage wind, and with it, mingling with its roar, there came a high shrill shriek. The hobbits had heard just such a cry far away in the Marish as they fled from Hobbiton, and even there in the woods of the Shire it had frozen ####-their blood. Out here in the waste its terror was far greater: it pierced them with cold blades of horror and despair, stopping heart and breath. Sam fell flat on his face. Involuntarily Frodo loosed his hold and put his hands over his head and ears. He swayed, slipped, and slithered downwards with a wailing cry. Sam heard him and crawled with an effort to the edge. 'Master, master! ' he called. 'Master!'. He heard no answer. He found he was shaking all over, but he gathered his breath, and once again he shouted: 'Master!' The wind seemed to blow his voice back into his throat, but as it passed, roaring up the gully and away over the hills, a faint answering cry came to his ears: 'All right, all right! I'm here. But I can't see.' Frodo was calling with a weak voice. ,He was not actually very far away. He had slid and not fallen, and had come up with a jolt to his feet on a wider ledge not many yards lower down. Fortunately the rock -face at this point leaned well back and the wind had pressed him against the cliff, so that he had not toppled over. He steadied himself a little, laying his face against the cold stone, feeling his heart pounding. But either the darkness had grown complete, or else his eyes had lost their sight. All was black about him. He wondered if he had been struck blind. He took a deep breath. `Come back! Come back! ' he heard Sam's voice out of the blackness above. `I can't,' he said. `I can't see. I can't find any hold. I can't move yet.' `What can I do, Mr. Frodo? What can I do? ' shouted Sam, leaning out dangerously far. Why could not his master see? It was dim, certainly, but not as dark as all that. He could see Frodo below him, a grey forlorn figure splayed against the cliff. But he was far out of the reach of any helping hand. There was another crack of thunder; and then the rain came. In a blinding sheet, mingled with hail, it drove against the cliff, bitter cold. 'I'm coming down to you,' shouted Sam, though how he hoped to help in that way he could not have said. `No, no! wait! ' Frodo called back, more strongly now. `I shall be better soon. I feel better already. Wait! You can't do anything without a rope.' `Rope!' cried Sam, talking wildly to himself in his excitement and ####-relief. `Well, if I don't deserve to be hung on the end of one as a warning to numbskulls! You're nowt but a ninnyhammer, Sam Gamgee: that's what the Gaffer said to me often enough, it being a word of his. Rope!' `Stop chattering!' cried Frodo, now recovered enough to feel both amused and annoyed. 'Never mind your Gaffer! Are you trying to tell yourself you've got some rope in your pocket? If so, out with it! `Yes, Mr. Frodo, in my pack and all. Carried it hundreds of miles and I'd clean forgotten it!' `Then get busy and let an end down!' Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it. There indeed at the bottom was a coil of the silken-grey rope made by the folk of Lurien. He cast an end to his master. The darkness seemed to lift from Frodo's eyes, or else his sight was returning. He could see the grey line as it came dangling down, and he thought it had a faint silver sheen. Now that he had some point in the darkness to fix his eyes on, he felt less giddy. Leaning his weight forward, he made the end fast round his waist, and then he grasped the line with both hands. Sam stepped back and braced his feet against a stump a yard or two from the edge. Half hauled, half scrambling. Frodo came up and threw himself on the ground. Thunder growled and rumbled in the distance, and the rain was still falling heavily. The hobbits crawled away back into the gully; but they did not find much shelter there. Rills of water began to run down; soon they grew to a spate that splashed and fumed on the stones, and spouted out over the cliff like the gutters of a vast roof. `I should have been half drowned down there, or washed clean off,' said Frodo. 'What a piece of luck you had that rope!' `Better luck if I'd thought of it sooner,' said Sam. 'Maybe you remember them putting the ropes in the boats, as we started off: in the elvish country. I took a fancy to it, and I stowed a coil in my pack. Years ago, it seems. "It may be a help in many needs," he said: Haldir, or one of those folk. And he spoke right.' `A pity I didn't think of bringing another length,' said Frodo; `but I left the Company in such a hurry and confusion. If only we had enough we could use it to get down. How long is your rope, I wonder?' Sam paid it out slowly, measuring it with his arms: 'Five, ten, twenty,####-thirty ells, more or less,' he said. 'Who'd have thought it!' Frodo exclaimed. `Ah! Who would? ' said Sam. `Elves are wonderful folk. It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light. Wonderful folk to be sure!' `Thirty ells! ' said Frodo considering. 'I believe it would be enough. If the storm passes before nightfall, I'm going to try it.' `The rain's nearly given over already,' said Sam; 'but don't you go doing anything risky in the dim again, Mr. Frodo! And I haven't got over that shriek on the wind yet, if you have. Like a Black Rider it sounded-but one up in the air, if they can fly. I'm thinking we'd best lay up in this crack till night's over.' 'And I'm thinking that I won't spend a moment longer than I need stuck up on this edge with the eyes of the Dark Country looking over the marshes,' said Frodo. With that he stood up and went down to the bottom of the gully again. He looked out. Clear sky was growing in the East once more. The skirts of the storm were lifting, ragged and wet, and the main battle had passed to spread its great wings over the Emyn Muil; upon which the dark thought of Sauron brooded for a while. Thence it turned, smiting the Vale of Anduin with hail and lightning, and casting its shadow upon Minas Tirith with threat of war. Then, lowering in the mountains, and gathering its great spires, it rolled on slowly over Gondor and the skirts of Rohan, until far away the Riders on the plain saw its black towers mov ing behind the sun, as they rode into the West. But here, over the desert and the reeking marshes the deep blue sky of evening opened once more, and a few pallid stars appeared, like small white holes in the canopy above the crescent moon. `It's good to be able to see again,' said Frodo, breathing deep. `Do you know, I thought for a bit that I had lost my sight? From the lightning or something else worse. I could see nothing, nothing at all, until the grey rope came down. It seemed to shimmer somehow.' `It does look sort of silver in the dark,' said Sam. `Never noticed it before, though I can't remember as I've ever had it out since I first stowed it. But if you're so set on climbing, Mr. Frodo, how are you going to use it? Thirty ells, or say, about eighteen fathom: that's no more than your guess at the height of the cliff.' Frodo thought for a while. `Make it fast to that stump, Sam! ' he said.####-`Then I think you shall have your wish this time and go first. I'll lower you, and you need do no more than use your feet and hands to fend yourself off the rock. Though, if you put your weight on some of the ledges and give me a rest, it will help. When you're down, I'll follow. I feel quite myself again now.' 'Very well,' said Sam heavily. `If it must be, let's get it over! ' He took up the rope and made it fast over the stump nearest to the brink; then the other end he tied about his own waist. Reluctantly he turned and prepared to go over the edge a second time. It did not, however, turn out half as bad as he had expected. The rope seemed to give him confidence, though he shut his eyes more than once when he looked down between his feet. There was one awkward spot, where there was no ledge and the wa ll was sheer and even undercut for a short space; there he slipped and swung out on the silver line. But Frodo lowered him slowly and steadily, and it was over at last. His chief fear had been that the rope-length would give out while he was still high up, but there was still a good bight in Frodo's hands, when Sam came to the bottom and called up: `I'm down! ' His voice came up clearly from below, but Frodo could not see him; his grey elven-cloak had melted into the twilight. Frodo took rather more time to follow him. He had the rope about his waist and it was fast above, and he had shortened it so that it would pull him up before he reached the ground; still he did not want to risk a fall, and he had not quite Sam's faith in this slender grey line. He found two places, all the same, where he had to trust wholly to it: smooth surfaces where there was no hold even for his strong hobbit fingers and the ledges were far apart. But at last he too was down. `Well!' he cried. `We've done it! We've escaped from the Emyn Muil! And now what next, I wonder? Maybe we shall soon be sighing for good hard rock under foot again.' But Sam did not answer: he was staring back up the cliff. `Ninnyhammers! ' he said. `Noodles! My beautiful rope! There it is tied to a stump, and we're at the bottom. Just as nice a little stair for that slinking Gollum as we could leave. Better put up a signpost to say which way we've gone! I thought it seemed a bit too easy.' `If you can think of any way we could have both used the rope and yet brought it down with us, then you can pass on to me ninnyhammer, or any ####-other name your Gaffer gave you,' said Frodo. `Climb up and untie it and let yourself down, if you want to! ' Sam scratched his head. `No, I can't think how, begging your pardon,' he said. `But I don't like leaving it, and that's a fact.' He stroked the rope's end and shook it gently. `It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself, too, maybe. Galadriel,' he murmured nodding his head mournfully. He looked up and gave one last pull to the rope as if in farewell. To the complete surprise of both the hobbits it came loose. Sam fell over, and the long grey coils slithered silently down on top of him. Frodo laughed. `Who tied the rope? ' he said. `A good thing it held as long as it did! To think that I trusted all my weight to your knot!' Sam did not laugh. `I may not be much good at climbing, Mr. Frodo,' he said in injured tones, `but I do know something about rope and about knots. It's in the family, as you might say. Why, my grand-dad, and my uncle Andy after him, him that was the Gaffer's eldest brother he had a rope-walk over by Tighfield many a year. And I put as fast a hitch over the stump as any one could have done, in the Shire or out of it.' `Then the rope must have broken -- frayed on the rock -edge, I expect,' said Frodo. `I bet it didn't! ' said Sam in an even more injured voice. He stooped and examined the ends. `Nor it hasn't neither. Not a strand!' 'Then I'm afraid it must have been the knot,' said Frodo. Sam shook his head and did not answer. He was passing the rope through his fingers thoughtfully. `Have it your own way, Mr. Frodo,' he said at last, `but I think the rope came off itself -- when I called.' He coiled it up and stowed it lovingly in his pack. 'It certainly came,' said Frodo, `and that's the chief thing. But now we've got to think of our next move. Night will be on us soon. How beautiful the stars are, and the Moon!' 'They do cheer the heart, don't they? ' said Sam looking up. 'Elvish they are. somehow. And the Moon's growing. We haven't seen him for a night or two in this cloudy weather. He's beginning to give quite a light.' 'Yes,' said Frodo; `but he won't be full for some days. I don't think we'll try the marshes by the light of half a moon.' Under the first shadows of night they started out on the next stage of their journey. After a while Sam turned and looked back at the way they had ####-come. The mouth of the gully was a black notch in the dim cliff. `I'm glad we've got the rope,' he said. 'We've set a little puzzle for that footpad, anyhow. He can try his nasty flappy feet on those ledges!' They picked their steps away from the skirts of the cliff, among a wilderness of boulders and rough stones, wet and slippery with the heavy rain. The ground still fell away sharply. They had not gone very far when they came upon a great fissure that yawned suddenly black before their feet. It was not wide, but it was too wide to jump across in the dim light. They thought they could hear water gurgling in its depths. It curved away on their left northward, back towards the hills. and so barred their road in that direction, at any rate while darkness lasted. 'We had better try a way back southwards along the line of the cliff, I think,' said Sam. `We might find some nook there, or even a cave or something.' 'I suppose so,' said Frodo. 'I'm tired. and I don't think I can scramble among stones much longer tonight -- though I grudge the delay. I wish there was a clear path in front of us: then I'd go on till my legs gave way.' They did not find the going any easier at the broken feet of the Emyn Muil. Nor did Sam find any nook or hollow to shelter in: only bare stony slopes frowned over by the cliff, which now rose again, higher and more sheer as they went back. In the end, worn out, they just cast themselves on the ground under the lee of a boulder lying not far from the foot of the precipice. There for some time they sat huddled mournfully together in the cold stony night, while sleep crept upon them in spite of all they could do to hold it off. The moon now rode high and clear. Its thin white light lit up the faces of the rocks and drenched the cold frowning walls of the cliff, turning all the wide looming darkness into a chill pale grey scored with black shadows. 'Well! ' said Frodo, standing up and drawing his cloak more closely round him. `You sleep for a bit Sam and take my blanket. I'll walk up and down on sentry for a while.' Suddenly he stiffened, and stooping he gripped Sam by the arm. `What's that? ' he whispered. `Look over there on the cliff!' Sam looked and breathed in sharply through his teeth. `Ssss!' he said. 'That's what it is. It's that Gollum! Snakes and adders! And to think tha t I thought that we'd puzzle him with our bit of a climb! Look at him! Like a ####-nasty crawling spider on a wall.' Down the face of a precipice, sheer and almost smooth it seemed in the pale moonlight, a small black shape was moving with its thin limbs splayed out. Maybe its soft clinging hands and toes were finding crevices and holds that no hobbit could ever have seen or used, but it looked as if it was just creeping down on sticky pads, like some large prowling thing of insect-kind. And it was coming down head first, as if it was smelling its way. Now and again it lifted its head slowly, turning it right back on its long skinny neck, and the hobbits caught a glimpse of two small pale gleaming lights, its eyes that blinked at the moon for a moment and then were quickly lidded again. `Do you think he can see us? ' said Sam. `I don't know,' said Frodo quietly, `but I think not. It is hard even for friendly eyes to see these elven-cloaks: I cannot see you in the shadow even at a few paces. And I've heard that he doesn't like Sun or Moon.' `Then why is he coming down just here? ' asked Sam. 'Quietly, Sam! ' said Frodo. `He can smell us, perhaps. And he can hear as keen as Elves, I believe. I think he has heard something now: our voices probably. We did a lot of shouting away back there; and we were talking far too loudly until a minute ago.' `Well, I'm sick of him,' said Sam. `He's come once too often for me and I'm going to have a word with him, if I can. I don't suppose we could give him the slip now anyway.' Drawing his grey hood well over his face, Sam crept stealthily towards the cliff. `Careful!' whispered Frodo coming behind. `Don't alarm him! He's much more dangerous than he looks.' The black crawling shape was now three-quarters of the way down, and perhaps fifty feet or less above the cliff's foot. Crouching stone-still in the shadow of a large boulder the hobbits watched him. He seemed to have come to a difficult passage or to be troubled about something. They could hear him snuffling, and now and again there was a harsh hiss of breath that sounded like a curse. He lifted his head, and they thought they heard him spit. Then he moved on again. Now they could hear his voice creaking and whistling. `Ach, sss! Cautious, my precious! More haste less speed. We musstn't rissk our neck, musst we, precious? No, precious -- gollum!' He lifted his head again, blinked at the moon, and quickly shut his eyes. `We hate it,' he ####-hissed. `Nassty, nassty shivery light it is -- sss -- it spies on us, precious -- it hurts our eyes.' He was getting lower now and the hisses became sharper and clearer. 'Where iss it, where iss it: my Precious, my Precious? It's ours, it is, and we wants it. The thieves, the thieves, the filthy little thieves. Where are they with my Precious? Curse them! We hates them.' `It doesn't sound as if he knew we were here, does it? ' whispered Sam. `And what's his Precious? Does he mean the' `Hsh! ' breathed Frodo. 'He's getting near now, near enough to hear a whisper.' Indeed Gollum had suddenly paused again, and his large head on its scrawny neck was lolling from side to side as if he was listening. His pale eyes were half unlidded. Sam restrained himself, though his fingers were twitching. His eyes, filled with anger and disgust, were fixed on the wretched creature as he now began to move again, still whispering and hissing to himself. At last he wa s no more than a dozen feet from the ground, right above their heads. From that point there was a sheer drop, for the cliff was slightly undercut, and even Gollum could not find a hold of any kind. He seemed to be trying to twist round, so as to go legs first, when suddenly with a shrill whistling shriek he fell. As he did so, he curled his legs and arms up round him, like a spider whose descending thread is snapped. Sam was out of his hiding in a flash and crossed the space between him and the cliff foot in a couple of leaps. Before Gollum could get up, he was on top of him. But he found Gollum more than he bargained for, even taken like that, suddenly, off his guard after a fall. Before Sam could get a hold, long legs and arms were wound round him pinning his arms, and a clinging grip, soft but horribly strong, was squeezing him like slowly tightening cords; clammy fingers were feeling for his throat. Then sharp teeth bit into his shoulder. All he could do was to butt his hard round head sideways into the creature's face. Gollum hissed and spat, but he did not let go. Things would have gone ill with Sam, if he had been alone. But Frodo sprang up, and drew Sting from its sheath. With his left hand he drew back Gollum's head by his thin lank hair, stretching his long neck, and forcing his pale venomous eyes to stare up at the sky. `Let go! Gollum,' he said. `This is Sting. You have seen it before once ####-upon a time. Let go, or you'll feel it this time! I'll cut your throat.' Gollum collapsed and went as loose as wet string. Sam got up, fingering his shoulder. His eyes smouldered with anger, but he could not avenge himself: his miserable enemy lay grovelling on the stones whimpering. `Don't hurt us! Don't let them hurt us, precious! They won't hurt us will they, nice little hobbitses? We didn't mean no harm, but they jumps on us like cats on poor mices, they did, precious. And we're so lonely, gollum. We'll be nice to them, very nice, if they'll be nice to us, won't we, yes, yess.' `Well, what's to be done with it? ' said Sam. `Tie it up, so as it can't come sneaking after us no more, I say.' `But that would kill us, kill us,' whimpered Gollum. `Cruel little hobbitses. Tie us up in the cold hard lands and leave us, gollum, gollum. ' Sobs welled up in his gobbling throat. `No,' said Frodo. `If we kill him, we must kill him outright. But we can't do that, not as things are. Poor wretch! He has done us no harm.' `Oh hasn't he! ' said Sam rubbing his shoulder. `Anyway he meant to, and he means to, I'll warrant. Throttle us in our sleep, that's his plan.' 'I daresay,' said Frodo. `But what he means to do is another matter.' He paused for a while in thought. Gollum lay still, but stopped whimpering. Sam stood glowering over him. It seemed to Frodo then that he heard, quite plainly but far off, voices out of the past: What a pity Bilbo did not stub the vile creature, when he had a chance! Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. I do not feel any pity for Gollum. He deserves death. Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends. `Very well,' he answered aloud, lowering his sword. 'But still I am afraid. And yet, as you see, I will not touch the creature. For now that I see him, I do pity him.' Sam stared at his master, who seemed to be speaking to some one who was not there. Gollum lifted his head. 'Yess, wretched we are, precious,' he whined. 'Misery misery! Hobbits ####-won't kill us, nice hobbits.' 'No, we won't,' said Frodo. `But we won't let you go, either. You're full of wickedness and mischief, Gollum. You will have to come with us, that's all, while we keep an eye on you. But you must help us, if you can. One good turn deserves another.' 'Yess, yes indeed,' said Gollum sitting up. 'Nice hobbits! We will come with them. Find them safe paths in the dark, yes we will. And where are they going in these cold hard lands, we wonders, yes we wonders? ' He looked up at them, and a faint light of cunning and eagerness flickered for a second in his pale blinking eyes. Sam scowled at him, and sucked his teeth; but he seemed to sense that there was something odd about his master's mood and that the matter was beyond argument. All the same he was amazed at Frodo's reply. Frodo looked straight into Gollum's eyes which flinched and twisted away. `You know that, or you guess well enough, Smjagol,' he said. quietly and sternly. `We are going to Mordor, of course. And you know the way there, I believe.' `Ach! sss! ' said Gollum, covering his ears with his hands, as if such frankness, and the open speaking of the names, hurt him. `We guessed, yes we guessed,' he whispered; `and we didn't want them to go, did we? No, precious, not the nice hobbits. Ashes, ashes, and dust, and thirst there is; and pits, pits, pits, and Orcs, thousands of Orcses. Nice hobbits mustn't go to -- sss -- those places.' `So you have been there? ' Frodo insisted. `And you're being drawn back there, aren't you?' `Yess. Yess. No! ' shrieked Gollum. `Once, by accident it was, wasn't it, precious? Yes, by accident. But we won't go back, no, no!' Then suddenly his voice and language changed, and he sobbed in his throat, and spoke but not to them. `Leave me alone, gollum! You hurt me. O my poor hands, gollum! I, we, I don't want to come back. I can't find it. I am tired. I, we can't find it, gollum, gollum, no, nowhere. They 're always awake. Dwarves, Men, and Elves, terrible Elves with bright eyes. I can't find it. Ach! ' He got up and clenched his long hand into a bony fleshless knot, shaking it towards the East. 'We won't! ' he cried. 'Not for you.' Then he collapsed again. 'Gollum, gollum,' he whimpered with his face to the ground. 'Don't look at us! Go away! Go to sleep!' `He will not go away or go to sleep at your command, Smjagol,' said ####-Frodo. `But if you really wish to be free of him again. then you must help me. And that I fear means finding us a path towards him. But you need not go all the way, not beyond the gates of his land.' Gollum sat up again and looked at him under his eyelids. 'He's over there,' he cackled. `Always there. Orcs wi ll take you all the way. Easy to find Orcs east of the River. Don't ask Smjagol. Poor, poor Smjagol, he went away long ago. They took his Precious, and he's lost now.' `Perhaps we'll find him again, if you come with us,' said Frodo. 'No, no, never! He's lost his Precious,' said Gollum. 'Get up! ' said Frodo. Gollum stood up and backed away against the cliff. `Now! ' said Frodo. 'Can you find a path easier by day or by night? We're tired; but if you choose the night, we'll star t tonight.' `The big lights hurt our eyes, they do,' Gollum whined. `Not under the White Face, not yet. It will go behind the hills soon, yess. Rest a bit first, nice hobbits!' `Then sit down,' said Frodo, `and don't move!' The hobbits seated themselves beside him, one on either side. with their backs to the stony wall, resting their legs. There was no need for any arrangement by word: they knew that they must not sleep for a moment. Slowly the moon went by. Shadows fell down from the hills, and all grew dark before them. The stars grew thick and bright in the sky above. No one stirred. Gollum sat with his legs drawn up, knees under chin, flat hands and feet splayed on the ground, his eyes closed; but he seemed tense, as if thinking or listening. Frodo looked across at Sam. Their eyes met and they understood. They relaxed, leaning their heads back, and shutting their eyes or seeming to. Soon the sound of their soft breathing could be heard. Gollum's hands twitched a little. Hardly perceptibly his head moved to the left and the right, and first one eye and then the other opened a slit. The hobbits made no sign. Suddenly, with startling agility and speed, straight off the ground with a jump like a grasshopper or a frog. Gollum bounded forward into the darkness. But that was just what Frodo and Sam had expected. Sam was on him before he had gone two paces after his spring. Frodo coming behind grabbed his leg and threw him.####- 'Your rope might prove useful again, Sam.' he said. Sam got out the rope. 'And where were you off to in the cold hard lands, Mr. Gollum?' he growled. 'We wonders. aye, we wonders. To find some of your orc-friends, I warrant. You nasty treacherous creature. It's round your neck this rope ought to go, and a tight noose too.' Gollum lay quiet and tried no further tricks. He did not answer Sam, but gave him a swift venomous look. `All we need is something to keep a hold on him,' said Frodo. 'We want him to walk, so it's no good tying his legs-or his arms. he seems to use them nearly as much. Tie one end to his ankle, and keep a grip on the other end.' He stood over Gollum, while Sam tied the knot. The result surprised them both. Gollum began to scream, a thin, tearing sound, very horrible to hear. He writhed, and tried to get his mouth to his ankle and bite the rope. He kept on screaming. At last Frodo was convinced that he really was in pain; but it could not be from the knot. He examined it and found that it was not too tight, indeed hardly tight enough. Sam was gentler than his words. 'What's the matter with you? ' he said. `If you will try to run away. you must be tied; but we don't wish to hurt you.' 'It hurts us, it hurts us,' hissed Gollum. `It freezes, it bites! Elves twisted it, curse them! Nasty cruel hobbits! That's why we tries to escape, of course it is, precious. We guessed they were cruel hobbits. They visits Elves, fierce Elves with bright eyes. Take it off us! It hurts us.' `No, I will not take it off you,' said Frodo, `not unless' -- he paused a moment in thought -- `not unless there is any promise you can make that I can trust.' 'We will swear to do what he wants, yes, yess, said Gollum, still twisting and grabbling at his ankle. `It hurts us.' `Swear? ' said Frodo. 'Smjagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. 'Smjagol will swear on the Precious.' Frodo drew himself up, and again Sam was startled by his words and his stern voice. 'On the Precious? How dare you? ' he said. 'Think! One Ring to rule them all and in the Darkness bind them. Would you commit your promise to that, Smjagol? It will hold you. But ####-it is more treacherous than you are. It may twist your words. Beware!' Gollum cowered. 'On the Precious. on the Precious! ' he repeated. `And what would you swear? ' asked Frodo. `To be very very good,' said Gollum. Then crawling to Frodo's feet he grovelled before him, whispering hoarsely: a shudder ran over him, as if the words shook his very bones with fear. 'Smjagol will swear never, never, to let Him have it. Never! Smjagol will save it. But he must swear on the Precious.' 'No! not on it,' said Frodo, looking down at him with stern pity. 'All you wish is to see it and touch it, if you can, though you know it would drive you mad. Not on it. Swear by it, if you will. For you know where it is. Yes, you know, Smjagol. It is before you.' For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien: they could reach one another's minds. Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees. 'Down! down! ' said Frodo. `Now speak your promise!' `We promises, yes I promise!' said Gollum. 'I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Smjagol, gollum, gollum!' Suddenly he began to weep and bite at his ankle again. 'Take the rope off, Sam!' said Frodo. Reluctantly Sam obeyed. At once Gollum got up and began prancing about, like a whipped cur whose master has patted it. From that moment a change, which lasted for some time, came over him. He spoke with less hissing and whining, and he spoke to his companions direct, not to his precious self. He would cringe and flinch, if they stepped near him or made any sudden movement, and he avoided the touch of their elven-cloaks; but he was friendly, and indeed pitifully anxious to please. He would cackle with laughter and caper, if any jest was made, or even if Frodo spoke kindly to him, and weep if Frodo rebuked him. Sam said little to him of any sort. He suspected him more deeply than ever, and if possible liked the new Gollum, the Smjagol, less than the old. 'Well, Gollum, or whatever it is we're to call you,' he said. 'now for it! The Moon's gone. and the night's going. We'd better start.' 'Yes, yes,' agreed Gollum, skipping about. 'Off we go! There's only one way across between the North-end and the South-end. I found it, I did. Orcs ####-don't use it, Orcs don't know it. Orcs don't cross the Marshes, they go round for miles and miles. Very lucky you came this way. Very lucky you found Smjagol, yes. Follow Smjagol!' He took a few steps away and looked back inquiringly, like a dog inviting them for a walk. 'Wait a bit, Gollum!' cried Sam. `Not too far ahead now! I'm going to be at your tail, and I've got the rope handy.' 'No, no! ' said Gollum. 'Smjagol promised.' In the deep of night under hard clear stars they set off. Gollum led them back northward for a while along the way they had come; then he slanted to the right away from the steep edge of the Emyn Muil, down the broken stony slopes towards the vast fens below. They faded swiftly and softly into the darkness. Over all the leagues of waste before the gates of Mordor there was a black silence. ####- Gollum moved quickly, with his head and neck thrust forward, often using his hands as well as his feet. Frodo and Sam were hard put to it to keep up with him; but he seemed no longer to have any thought of escaping, and if they fell behind, he would turn and wait for them. After a time he brought them to the brink of the narrow gully that they had struck before; but they were now further from the hills. `Here it is!' he cried. 'There is a way down inside, yes. Now we follows it -- out, out away over there.' He pointed south and east towards the marshes. The reek of them came to their nostrils, heavy and foul even in the cool night air. . Gollum cast up and down along the brink, and at length he called to them. `Here! We can get down here. Smjagol went this way once: I went this way, hiding from Orcs.' He led the way, and following him the hobbits climbed down into the gloom. It was not difficult, for the rift was at this point only some fifteen feet deep and about a dozen across. There was running water at the bottom: it was in fact the bed of one of the many small rivers that trickled down from the hills to feed the stagnant pools and mires beyond. Gollum turned to the right, southward more or less, and splashed along with his feet in the shallow stony stream. He seemed greatly delighted to feel the water, and chuckled to himself, sometimes even croaking in a sort of song. The cold hard lands, they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet. The rocks and stones are like old bones all bare of meat. But stream and pool is wet and cool: so nice for feet! And now we wish -- 'Ha! ha! What does we wish?' he said, looking sidelong at the hobbits. 'We'll tell you.' he croaked. `He guessed it long ago, Baggins guessed it.' A glint came into his eyes, and Sam catching the gleam in the darkness ####-thought it far from pleasant. Alive without breath; as cold as death; never thirsting, ever drinking; clad in mail, never clinking. Drowns on dry land, thinks an island is a mountain; thinks a fountain is a puff of air. So sleek, so fair! What a joy to meet! We only wish to catch a fish, so juicy-sweet! These words only made more pressing to Sam's mind a problem that had been troubl ing him from the moment when he understood that hir master was going to adopt Gollum as a guide: the problem of food. It did not occur to him that his master might also have thought of it. hut he supposed Gollum had. Indeed how had Gollum kept himself in all his lonely wandering? 'Not too well,' thought Sam. 'He looks fair famished. Not too dainty to try what hobbit tastes like if there ain't no fish, I'll wager -- supposing as he could catch us napping. Well, he won't: not Sam Gamgee for one. ' They stumbled along in the dark winding gully for a long time, or so it seemed to the tired feet of Frodo and Sam. The gully turned eastward, and as they went on it broadened and got gradually shallower. At last the sky above grew faint with the first grey of morning. Gollum had shown no signs of tiring, but now he looked up and halted. `Day is near,' he whispered, as if Day was something that might overhear him and spring on him. `Smjagol will stay here: I will stay here, and the Yellow Face won't see me.' `We should be glad to see the Sun;' said Frodo, `but we will stay here: we are too tired to go any further at present.' `You are not wise to be glad of the Yellow Face,' said Gollum. `It shows you up. Nice sensible hobbits stay with Smjagol. Orcs and nasty things are about. They can see a long way. Stay and hide with me! ' The three of them settled down to rest at the foot of the rocky wall of ####-the gully. It was not much more than a tall man's height now, and at its base there were wide flat shelves of dry stone; the water ran in a channel on the other side. Frodo and Sam sat on one of the flats, resting their backs. Gollum paddled and scrabbled in the stream. `We must take a little food,' said Frodo. `Are you hungry, Smjagol? We have very little to share, but we will spare you what we can.' At the word hungry a greenish light was kindled in Gollum's pale eyes, and they seemed to protrude further than ever from his thin sickly face. For a moment he relapsed into his old Gollum-manner. 'We are famisshed, yes famisshed we are. precious,' he said. `What is it they eats? Have they nice fisshes? ' His tongue lolled out between his sharp yellow teeth. licking his colourless lips. `No, we have got no fish,' said Frodo. `We have only got this' -- he held up a wafer of lembas -- 'and water, if the water here is fit to drink.' `Yess, yess, nice water,' said Gollum. `Drink it, drink it, while we can! But what is it they've got, pr ecious? Is it crunchable? Is it tasty? ' Frodo broke off a portion of a wafer and handed it to him on its leaf-wrapping. Gollum sniffed at the leaf and his face changed: a spasm of disgust came over it, and a hint of his old malice. `Smjagol smells it! ' he said. `Leaves out of the elf-country, gah! They stinks. He climbed in those trees, and he couldn't wash the smell off his hands, my nice hands.' Dropping the leaf, he took a corner of the lembas and nibbled it. He spat, and a fit of coughing shook him. `Ach! No! ' he spluttered. `You try to choke poor Smjagol. Dust and ashes, he can't eat that. He must starve. But Smjagol doesn't mind. Nice hobbits! Smjagol has promised. He will starve. He can't eat hobbits' food. He will starve. Poor thin Smjagol! ' `I'm sorry,' said Frodo; `but I can't help you, I'm afraid. I think this food would do you good, if you would try. But perhaps you can't even try, not yet anyway.' The hobbits munched their lembas in silence. Sam thought that it tasted far better, somehow, than it had for a good while: Gollum's behaviour had made him attend to its flavour again. But he did not feel comfortable. Gollum watched every morsel from hand to mouth, like an expectant dog by a diner's chair. Only when they had finished and were preparing to rest, was he apparently convinced that they had no hidden dainties that he could share in. Then he went and sat by himself a few paces away and whimpered a little.####- 'Look here! ' Sam whispered to Frodo, not too softly: he did not really care whether Gollum heard him or not. `We've got to get some sleep; but not both together with that hungry villain nigh, promise or no promise. Smjagol or Gollum, he won't change his habits in a hurry, I'll warrant. You go to sleep, Mr. Frodo, and I'll call you when I can't keep my eyelids propped up. Turn and about, same as before, while he's loose.' 'Perhaps you're right, Sam,' said Frodo speaking openly. 'There is a change in him, but just what kind of a change and how deep, I'm not sure yet. Seriously though, I don't think there is any need for fear -- at present. Still watch if you wish. Give me about two hours, not more, and then call me.' So tired was Frodo that his head fell forward on his breast and he slept. almost as soon as he had spoken the words. Gollum seemed no longer to have any fears. He curled up and went quickly to sleep, quite unconcerned. Presently his breath was hissing softly through his clenched teeth, hut he lay still as stone. After a while, fearing that he would drop off himself, if he sat listening to his two companions breathing, Sam got up and gently prodded Gollum. His hands uncurled and twitched, but he made no other movement. Sam bent down and said fissh close to his ear, but there was no response, not even a catch in Gollum's breathing. Sam scratched his head. `Must really be asleep,' he muttered. `And if I was like Gollum, he wouldn't wake up never aga in.' He restrained the thoughts of his sword and the rope that sprang to his mind, and went and sat down by his master. When he woke up the sky above was dim, not lighter but darker than when they had breakfasted. Sam leapt to his feet. Not least from his own feeling of vigour and hunger, he suddenly understood that he had slept the daylight away, nine hours at least. Frodo was still fast asleep, lying now stretched on his side. Gollum was not to be seen. Various reproachful names for himself came to Sam's mind, drawn from the Gaffer's large paternal word-hoard; then it also occurred to him that his master had been right: there had for the present been nothing to guard against. They were at any rate both alive and unthrottled. 'Poor wretch! ' he said half remorsefully. 'Now I wonder where he's got to? ' 'Not far, not far! ' said a voice above him. He looked up and saw the shape of Gollum's large head and ears against the evening sky.####- 'Here, what are you doing? ' cried Sam, his suspicions coming back as soon as he saw that shape. `Smjagol is hungry,' said Gollum. `Be back soon.' 'Come back now!' shouted Sam. 'Hi! Come back!' But Gollum had vanished. Frodo woke at the sound of Sam's shout and sat up, rubbing his eyes. 'Hullo!' he said. 'Anything wrong? What's the time?' 'I dunno,' said Sam. 'After sundown, I reckon. And he's gone off. Says he's hungry.' `Don't worry!' said Frodo. `There's no help for it. But he'll come back, you'll see. The promise will hold yet a while. And he won't leave his Precious, anyway.' Frodo made light of it when he learned that they had slept soundly for hours with Gollum, and a very hungry Gollum too, loose beside them. `Don't think of any of your Gaffer's hard names,' he said. 'You were worn out, and it has turned out well: we are now both rested. And we have a hard road ahead, the worst road of all.' `About the food,' said Sam. 'How long's it going to take us to do this job? And when it's done, what are we going to do then? This waybread keeps you on your legs in a wonderful way, though it doesn't satisfy the innards proper, as you might say: not to my feeling anyhow, meaning no disrespect to them as made it. But you have to eat some of it every day, and it doesn't grow. I reckon we've got enough to last, say, three weeks or so, and that with a tight belt and a light tooth, mind you. We've been a bit free with it so far.' `I don't know how long we shall take to -- to finish,' said Frodo. `We were miserably delayed in the hills. But Samwise Gamgee, my dear hobbit -- indeed, Sam my dearest hobbit, friend of friends -- I do not think we need give thought to what comes after that. To do the job as you put it -- what hope is there that we ever shall? And if we do, who knows what will come of that? If the One goes into the Fire, and we are at hand? I ask you, Sam, are we ever likely to need bread again? I think not. If we can nurse our limbs to bring us to Mount Doom, that is all we can do. More than I can, I begin to feel.' Sam nodded silently. He took his master's hand and bent over it. He did not kiss it, though his tears fell on it. Then he turned away, drew his sleeve over his nose, and got up, a nd stamped about, trying to whistle, and saying between the efforts: 'Where's that dratted creature?'####- It was actually not long before Gollum returned; but he came so quietly that they did not hear him till he stood before them. His fingers and face were soiled with black mud. He was still chewing and slavering. What he was chewing, they did not ask or like to think. 'Worms or beetles or something slimy out of holes,' thought Sam. 'Brr! The nasty creature; the poor wretch! ' Gollum said nothing to them, until he had drunk deeply and washed himself in the stream. Then he came up to them, licking his lips. 'Better now,' he said. `Are we rested? Ready to go on? Nice hobbits, they sleep beautifully. Trust Smjagol now? Very, very good.' The next stage of their journey was much the same as the last. As they went on the gully became ever shallower and the slope of its floor more gradual. Its bottom was less stony and more earthy, and slowly its sides dwindled to mere ba nks. It began to wind and wander. That night drew to its end, but clouds were now over moon and star, and they knew of the coming of day only by the slow spreading of the thin grey light. In a chill hour they came to the end of the water-course. The banks became moss-grown mounds. Over the last shelf of rotting stone the stream gurgled and fell down into a brown bog and was lost. Dry reeds hissed and rattled though they could feel no wind. On either side and in front wide fens and m ires now lay, stretching away southward and eastward into the dim half-light. Mists curled and smoked from dark and noisome pools. The reek of them hung stifling in the still air. Far away, now almost due south, the mountain-walls of Mordor loomed, like a black bar of rugged clouds floating above a dangerous fog-bound sea. The hobbits were now wholly in the hands of Gollum. They did now know, and could not guess in that misty light. that they were in fact only just within the northern borders of the marshes. the main expanse of which lay south of them. They could, if they had known the lands, with some delay have retraced their steps a little, and then turning east have come round over hard roads to the bare plain of Dagorlad: the field of the ancient battle before the gates of Mordor. Not that there was great hope in such a course. On that stony plain there was no cover, and across it ran the highways of the Orcs and the soldiers of the Enemy. Not even the cloaks of Lurien would have concealed them there. 'How do we shape our course now, Smjagol? ' asked Frodo. 'Must we cross these evil-smelling fens? '####- `No need, no need at all,' said Gollum. 'Not if hobbits want to reach the dark mountains and go to see Him very quick. Back a little, and round a little' -- his skinny arm waved north and east -- `and you can come on hard cold roads to the very gates of His country. Lots of His people will be there looking out for guests, very pleased to take them straight to Him, O yes. His Eye watches that way all the time. It caught Smjagol there, long ago.' Gollum shuddered. 'But Smjagol has used his eyes since then, yes, yes: I've used eyes and feet and nose since then. l know other ways. More difficult, not so quick; but better, if we don't want Him to see. Follow Smjagol! He can take you through the marshes, through the mists. nice thick mists. Follow Smjagol very carefully, and you may go a long way. quite a long way, before He catches you, yes perhaps. ' It was already day, a windless and sullen morning, and the marsh-reeks lay in heavy banks. No sun pierced the low clouded sky, and Gollum seemed anxious to continue the journey at once. So after a brief rest they set out again and were soon lost in a shadowy silent world, cut off from all view of the lands about, either the hills that they had left or the mountains that they sought. They went slowly in single file: Gollum, Sam, Frodo. Frodo seemed the most weary of the three, and slow though they went. he often lagged. The hobbits soon found that what had looked like one vast fen was really an endless network of pools, and soft mires. and winding half-strangled water-courses. Among these a cunning eye and foot could thread a wandering path. Gollum certainly had that cunning, and needed all of it. His head on its long neck was ever turning this way and that, while he sniffed and muttered all the time to himself. Sometimes he would hold up his hand and halt them, while he went forward a little, crouching, testing the ground with fingers or toes. or merely listening with one ear pressed to the earth. It was dreary and wearisome. Cold clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long-forgotten summers. As the day wore on the light increased a little, and the mists lifted, growing thinner and more transparent. Far above the rot and vapours of the world the Sun was riding high and golden now in a serene country with floors of dazzling foam, but only a passing ghost of her could they see below, bleared, pale, giving no colour and no warmth. But even at this faint ####-reminder of her presence Gollum scowled and flinched. He halted their journey, and they rested, squatting like little hunted animals, in the borders of a great brown reed-thicket. There was a deep silence, only scraped on its surfaces by the faint quiver of empty seed-plumes, and broken grass-blades trembling in small air -movements that they could not feel. 'Not a bird! ' said Sam mournfully. `No, no birds,' said Gollum. `Nice birds! ' He licked his teeth. 'No birds here. There are snakeses, wormses, things in the pools. Lots of things, lots of nasty things. No birds,' he ended sadly. Sam looked at him with distaste. So passed the third day of their journey with Gollum. Before the shadows of evening were long in happier lands, they went on again, always on and on with only brief halts. These they made not so much for rest as to help Gollum; for now even he had to go forward with great care, and he was sometimes at a loss for a while. They had come to the very midst of the Dead Marshes, and it was dark. They walked slowly, stooping, keeping close in line, following attentively every move that Gollum made. The fens grew more wet, opening into wide stagnant meres, among which it grew more and more difficult to find the firmer places where feet could tread without sinking into gurgling mud. The travellers were light, or maybe none of them would ever have found a way through. Presently it grew altogether dark: the air itself seemed black and heavy to breathe. When lights appeared Sam rubbed his eyes: he thought his head was going queer. He first saw one with the corner of his left eye, a wisp of pale sheen that faded away; but others appeared soon after: some like dimly shining smoke, some like misty flames flickering slowly above unseen candles; here and there they twisted like ghostly sheets unfurled by hidden hands. But neither of his companions spoke a word. At last Sam could bear it no longer. `What's all this, Gollum? ' he said in a whisper. `These lights? They're all round us now. Are we trapped? Who are they? ' Gollum looked up. A dark water was before him, and he was crawling on the ground, this way and that, doubtful of the way. 'Yes, they are all round us,' he whispered. 'The tricksy lights. Candles of corpses, yes, yes. Don't you heed them! Don't look! Don't follow them! Where's the master? ' Sam looked back and found that Frodo had lagged again. He could not see ####-him. He went some paces back into the darkness, not daring to move far, or to call in more than a hoarse whisper. Suddenly he stumbled against Frodo, who was standing lost in thought, looking at the pale lights. His hands hung stiff at his sides; water and slime were dripping from them. `Come, Mr. Frodo! ' said Sam. 'Don't look at them! Gollum says we mustn't. Let's keep up with him and get out of this cursed place as quick as we can -- if we can! ' `All right,' said Frodo, as if returning out of a dream. 'I'm coming. Go on! ' Hurrying forward again, Sam tripped, catching his foot in some old root or tussock. He fell and came heavily on his hands, which sank deep into sticky ooze, so that his fa ce was brought close to the surface of the dark mere. There was a faint hiss, a noisome smell went up, the lights flickered and danced and swirled. For a moment the water below him looked like some window, glazed with grimy glass, through which he was peering. Wrenching his hands out of the bog, he sprang back with a cry. 'There are dead things, dead faces in the water,' he said with horror. 'Dead faces! ' Gollum laughed. 'The Dead Marshes, yes, yes: that is their names,' he cackled. `You should not look in when the candles are lit.' `Who are they? What are they? ' asked Sam shuddering, turning to Frodo, who was now behind him. 'I don't know,' said Frodo in a dreamlike voice. 'But I have seen them too. In the pools when the candles were lit. They lie in all the pools, pale faces, deep deep under the dark water. I saw them: grim faces and evil, and noble faces and sad. Many faces proud and fair, and weeds in their silver hair. But all foul, all rotting, all dead. A fell light is in them.' Frodo hid his eyes in his hands. 'I know not who they are; but I thought I saw there Men and Elves, and Orcs beside them.' `Yes, yes,' said Gollum. `All dead, all rotten. Elves and Men and Orcs. The Dead Marshes. There was a great battle long ago, yes, so they told him when Smjagol was young, when I was young before the Precious came. It was a great battle. Tall Men with long swords, and terrible Elves, and Orcses shrieking. They fought on the plain for days and months at the Black Gates. But the Marshes have grown since then, swallowed up the graves; always creeping, creeping.'####- 'But that is an age and more ago,' said Sam. 'The Dead can't be really there! Is it some devilry hatched in the Dark Land? ' `Who knows? Smjagol doesn't know,' answered Gollum. 'You cannot reach them, you cannot touch them. We tried once, .yes, precious. I tried once; but you cannot reach them. Only shapes to see, perhaps, not to touch. No precious! All dead.' Sam looked darkly at him and shuddered again, thinking that he guessed why Smjagol had tried to touch them. `Well, I don't want to see them,' he said. 'Never again! Can't we get on and get away? ' `Yes, yes,' said Gollum. `But slowly, very slowly. Very carefully! Or hobbits go down to join the Dead ones and light little candles. Follow Smjagol! Don't look at lights! ' He crawled away to the right, seeking for a path round the mere. They came close behind, stooping, often using their hands even as he did. 'Three precious little Gollums in a row we shall be, if this goes on much longer,' thought Sam. At last they came to the end of the black mere, and they crossed it, perilously, crawling or hopping from one treacherous island tussock to another. Often they floundered, stepping or falling hands-first into waters as noisome as a cesspool, till they were slimed and fouled almost up to their necks and stank in one another's nostrils. It was late in the night when at length they reached firmer ground again. Gollum hissed and whispered to himself, but it appeared that he was pleased: in some mysterious way, by some blended sense of feel, and smell, and uncanny memory for shapes in the dark, he seemed to know just where he was again, and to be sure of his road ahead. `Now on we go! ' he said. 'Nice hobbits! Brave hobbits! Very very weary, of course; so we are, my precious, all of us. But we must take master away from the wicked lights, yes, yes, we must.' With these words he started off again, almost at a trot, down what appeared to be a long lane between high reeds, and they stumbled after him as quickly as they could. But in a little while he stopped suddenly and sniffed the air doubtfully, hissing as if he was troubled or displeased again. 'What is it? ' growled Sam, misinterpreting the signs. `What's the need to sniff? The stink nearly knocks me down with my nose held. You stink, and master stinks; the whole place stinks.' 'Yes, yes, and Sam stinks! ' answered Gollum. `Poor Smjagol smells it,####-but good Smjagol bears it. Helps nice master. But that's no matter. The air's moving, change is coming. Smjagol wonders; he's not happy.' He went on again, but his uneasiness grew, and every now and again he stood up to his full height, craning his neck eastward and southward. For some time the hobbits could not hear or feel what was troubling him. Then suddenly all three halted, stiffening and listening. To Frodo and Sam it seemed that they heard, far away, a long wailing cry, high and thin and cruel. They shivered. At the same moment the stirring of the air became perceptible to them; and it grew very cold. As they stood straining their ears, they heard a noise like a wind coming in the distance. The misty lights wavered, dimmed, and went out. Gollum would not move. He stood shaking and gibbering to himself, until with a rush the wind came upon them, hissing and snarling over the marshes. The night became less dark, light enough for them to see, or half see, shapeless drifts of fog, curling and twisting as it rolled over them and passed them. Looking up they saw the clouds breaking and shredding; and then high in the south the moon glimmered out, riding in the flying wrack. For a moment the sight of it gladdened the hearts of the hobbits; but Gollum cowered down, muttering curses on the White Face. Then Frodo and Sam staring at the sky, breathing deeply of the fresher air, saw it come: a small cloud flying from the accursed hills; a black shadow loosed from Mordor; a vast shape winged and ominous. It scudded across the moon, and with a deadly cry went away westward, outrunning the wind in its fell speed. They fell forward, grovelling heedlessly on the cold earth. But the shadow of horror wheeled and returned, passing lower now, right above them, sweeping the fen-reek with its ghastly wings. And then it was gone, flying back to Mordor with the speed of the wrath of Sauron; and behind it the wind roared away, leaving the Dead Marshes bare and bleak. The naked waste, as far as the eye could pierce, even to the distant menace of the mountains, was dappled with the fitful moonlight. Frodo and Sam got up, rubbing their eyes, like children wakened from an evil dream to find the familiar night still over the world. But Gollum lay on the ground as if he had been stunned. They roused him with difficulty, and for some time he would not lift his face, but knelt forward on his elbows, covering the back of his head with his large flat hands. `Wraiths!' he wailed. `Wraiths on wings! The Precious is their master.####-They see everything, everything. Nothing can hide from them. Curse the White Face! And they tell H im everything. He sees, He knows. Ach, gollum, gollum, gollum! ' It was not until the moon had sunk, westering far beyond Tol Brandir, that he would get up or make a move. From that time on Sam thought that he sensed a change in Gollum again. He was more fawning and would-be friendly; but Sam surprised some strange looks in his eyes at times, especially towards Frodo; and he went back more and more into his old manner of speaking. And Sam had another growing anxiety. Frodo seemed to be weary, weary to the point of exhaustion. He said nothing. indeed he hardly spoke at all; and he did not complain, but he walked like one who carries a load, the weight of which is ever increasing; and he dragged along, slower and slower, so that Sam had often to beg Gollum to wait and not to leave their master behind. In fact with every step towards the gates of Mordor Frodo felt the Ring on its chain about his neck grow more burdensome. He was now beginning to feel it as an actual weight dragging him earthwards. But far more he was troubled by the Eye: so he called it to himself. It was that more than the drag of the Ring that made him cower and stoop as he walked. The Eye: that horrible growing sense of a hostile will that strove with great power to pierce all shadows of cloud, and earth, and flesh, and to see you: to pin you under its deadly gaze, naked, immovable. So thin, so frail and thin, the veils were become that still warded it off. Frodo knew just where the present habitation and heart of that will now was: as certainly as a man can tell the direction of the sun with his eyes shut. He was facing it, and its potency beat upon his brow. Gollum probably felt something of the same sort. But what went on in his wretched heart between the pressure of the Eye, and the lust of the Ring that was so near, and his grovelling promise made half in the fear of cold iron, the hobbits did not guess: Frodo gave no thought to it. Sam's mind was occupied mostly with his master hardly noticing the dark cloud that had fallen on his own heart. He put Frodo in front of him now, and kept a watchful eye on every movement of his, supporting him if he stumbled, and trying to encourage him with clumsy words. When day came at last the hobbits were surprised to see how much closer the ominous mountains had already drawn. The air was now clearer and colder, and though still far off, the walls of Mordor were no longer a cloudy menace on the edge of sight, but as gr im black towers they frowned across a dismal ####-waste. The marshes were at an end, dying away into dead peats and wide flats of dry cracked mud. The land ahead rose in long shallow slopes, barren and pitiless, towards the desert that lay at Sauron's gate. While the grey light lasted, they cowered under a black stone like worms, shrinking, lest the winged terror should pass and spy them with its cruel eyes. The remainder of that journey was a shadow of growing fear in which memory could find nothing to rest upon. For two more nights they struggled on through the weary pathless land. The air, as it seemed to them, grew harsh, and filled with a bitter reek that caught their breath and parched their mouths. At last, on the fifth morning since they took the road with Gollum, they halted once more. Before them dark in the dawn the great mountains reached up to roofs of smoke and cloud. Out from their feet were flung huge buttresses and broken hills that were now at the nearest scarce a dozen miles away. Frodo looked round in horror. Dreadful as the Dead Marshes had been, and the arid moors of the Noman-lands, more loathsome far was the country that the crawling day now slowly unveiled to his shrinking eyes. Even to the Mere of Dead Faces some haggard phantom of green spring would come; but here neither spring nor summer would ever come again. Here nothing lived, not even the leprous growths that feed on rottenness. The gasping pools were choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and grey, as if the mountains had vomited the filth of their entrails upon the lands about. High mounds of crushed and powdered rock, great cones of earth fire-blasted and poison-stained, stood like an obscene graveyard in endless rows, slowly revealed in the reluctant light. They had come to the desolation that lay before Mordor: the lasting monument to the dark labour of its slaves that should endure when all their purposes were made void; a land defiled, diseased beyond all healing -- unless the Great Sea should enter in and wash it with oblivion. `I feel sick,' said Sam. Frodo did not speak. For a while they stood there, like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks, holding it off, though they know that they can only come to morning through the shadows. The light broadened and hardened. The gasping pits and poisonous mounds grew hideously clear. The sun was up, walking ####-among clouds and long flags of smoke, but even the sunlight was defiled. The hobbits had no welcome for that light; unfriendly it seemed, revealing them in their helplessness -- little squeaking ghosts that wandered among the ash-heaps of the Dark Lord. Too weary to go further they sought for some place where they could rest. For a while they sat without speaking under the shadow of a mound of slag; but foul fumes leaked out of it, catching their throats and choking them. Gollum was the first to get up. Spluttering and cursing he rose, and without a word or a glance at the hobbits he crawled away on all fours. Frodo and Sam crawled after him, until they came to a wide almost circular pit, high-banked upon the west. It was cold and dead, and a foul sump of oily many-coloured ooze lay at its bottom. In this evil hole they cowered, hoping in its shadow to escape the attention of the Eye. The day passed slowly. A great thirst troubled them, but they drank only a few drops from their bottles-last filled in the gully, which now as they looked back in thought seemed to them a place of peace and beauty. The hobbits took it in turn to watch. At first, tired as they were, neither of them could sleep at all; but as the sun far away was climbing down into slow moving cloud, Sam dozed. It was Frodo's turn to bc on guard. He lay back on the slope of the pit, but that did not ease the sense of burden that was on him. He looked up at the smoke-streaked sky and saw strange phantoms, dark riding shapes, and faces out of the past. He lost count of time, hovering between sleep and waking, until forgetfulness came over him. Suddenly Sam woke up thinking that he heard his master calling. It was evening. Frodo could not have called, for he had fallen asleep, and had slid down nearly to the bottom of the pit. Gollum was by him. For a moment Sam thought that he was trying to rouse Frodo; then he saw that it was not so. Gollum was talking to himself. Smjagol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeak and hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke. `Smjagol promised,' said the first thought. `Yes, yes, my precious,' came the answer, 'we promised: to save our Precious, not to let Him have it -- never. But it's going to Him yes, nearer every step. What's the hobbit going to do with it, we wonders, yes we wonders.' `I don't know. I can't help it. Master's got it. Smjagol promised to help the master.'####- `Yes, yes, to help the master: the master of the Precious. But if we was master, then we could help ourselfs, yes, and still keep promises.' `But Smjagol said he would be very very good. Nice hobbit! He took cruel rope off Smjagol's leg. He speaks nicely to me.' 'Very very good, eh, my precious? Let's be good, good as fish, sweet one, but to ourselfs. Not hurt the nice hobbit, of course, no, no.' `But the Precious holds the promise,' the voice of Smjagol objected. `Then take it,' said the other, `and let's hold it ourselfs! Then we shall be master, gollum! Make the other hobbit, the nasty suspicious hobbit, make him crawl, yes, gollum!' `But not the nice hobbit? ' `Oh no, not if it doesn't please us. Still he's a Baggins, my precious, yes, a Baggins. A Baggins stole it. He found it and he said nothing, nothing. We hates Bagginses.' 'No, not this Baggins.' 'Yes, every Baggins. All peoples that keep the Precious. We must have it! ' `But He'll see, He'll know. He'll take it from us! ' 'He sees. He knows. He heard us make silly promises -- against His orders, yes. Must take it. The Wraiths are searching. Must take it.' 'Not for Him! ' 'No, sweet one. See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smjagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day; fresh from the sea. Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it! ' 'But there's two of them. They'll wake too quick and kill us,' whined Smjagol in a last effort. `Not now. Not yet.' 'We wants it! But' -- and here there was a long pause, as if a new thought had wakened. `Not yet, eh? Perhaps not. She might help. She might, yes.' `No, no! Not that way! ' wailed Smjagol. `Yes! We wants it! We wants it! ' Each time that the second thought spoke, Gollum's long hand crept out slowly, pawing towards Frodo, and then was drawn back with a jerk as Smjagol spoke again. Finally both arms, with long fingers flexed and twitching,####-clawed towards his neck. Sam had lain still, fascinated by this debate, but watching every move that Gollum made from under his half-closed eye-lids. To his simple mind ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed the chief danger in Gollum. He realized now that it was not so: Gollum was feeling the terrible call of the Ring. The Dark Lord was He, of course; but Sam wondered who She was. One of the nasty friends the little wretch had made in his wanderings, he supposed. Then he forgot the point, for things had plainly gone far enough, and were getting dangerous. A great heaviness was in all his limbs, but he roused himself with an effort and sat up. Something warned him to be careful and not to reveal that he had overheard the debate. He let out a loud sigh and gave a huge yawn. `What's the time? ' he said sleepily. Gollum sent out a long hiss through his teeth. He stood up for a moment, tense and menacing; and then he collapsed, falling forward on to all fours and crawling up the bank of the pit. 'Nice hobbits! Nice Sam! ' he said. 'Sleepy heads, yes, sleepy heads! Leave good Smjagol to watch! But it's evening. Dusk is creeping. Time to go.' `High time! ' thought Sam. 'And time we parted, too.' Yet it crossed his mind to wonder if indeed Gollum was not now as dangerous turned loose as kept with them. 'Curse him! I wish he was choked!' he muttered. He stumbled down the bank and roused his master. Strangely enough, Frodo felt refreshed. He had been dreaming. The dark shadow had passed, and a fair vision had visited him in this land of disease. Nothing remained of it in his memory, yet because of it he felt glad and lighter of heart. His burden was less heavy on him. Gollum welcomed him with dog-like delight. He chuckled and chattered, cracking his long fingers, and pawing at Frodo's knees. Frodo smiled at him. 'Come! ' he said. `You have guided us well and faithfully. This is the last stage. Bring us to the Gate, and then I will not ask you to go further. Bring us to the Gate, and you may go where you wish -- only not to our enemies.' 'To the Gate, eh?' Gollum squeaked, seeming surprised and frightened. 'To the Gate, master says! Yes, he says so. And good Smjagol does what he asks, O yes. But when we gets closer, we'll see perhaps we'll see then. It won't look nice at all. O no! O no!'####- 'Go on with you! ' said Sam. `Let's get it over! ' In the falling dusk they scrambled out of the pit and slowly threaded their way through the dead land. They had not gone far before they felt once more the fear that had fallen on them when the winged shape swept over the marshes. They halted, cowering on the evil -smelling ground; but they saw nothing in the gloomy evening sky above, and soon the menace passed, high overhead, going maybe on some swift errand from Barad-dyr. After a while Gollum got up and crept forward again, muttering and shaking. About an hour after midnight the fear fell on them a third time, but it now seemed more remote, as if it were passing far above the clouds, rushing with terrible speed into the West. Gollum, however, was helpless with terror, and was convinced that they were being hunted, that their approach was known. `Three times! ' he whimpered. 'Three times is a threat. They feel us here, they feel the Precious. The Precious is their master. We cannot go any further this way, no. It's no use, no use! ' Pleading and kind words were no longer of any avail. It was not until Frodo commanded him angrily and laid a hand on his sword-hilt that Gollum would get up again. Then at last he rose with a snarl, and went before them like a beaten dog. So they stumbled on through the weary end of the night, and until the coming of another day of fear they walked in silence with bowed heads, seeing nothing, and hearing nothing but the wind hissing in their ears. ####- Before the next day dawned their journey to Mordor was over. The marshes and the desert were behind them. Before them, darkling against a pallid sky, the great mountains reared their threatening heads. Upon the west of Mordor marched the gloomy range of Ephel D®ath, the Mountains of Shadow, and upon the north the broken peaks and barren ridges of Ered Lithui, grey as ash. But as these ranges approached one another, being indeed but parts of one great wall about the mournful plains of Lithlad and of Gorgoroth, and the bitter inland sea of N®rnen amidmost, they swung out long arms northward; and between these arms there was a deep defile. This was Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass, the entrance to the land of the Enemy. High cliffs lowered upon either side, and thrust forward from its mouth were two sheer hills, black -boned and bare. Upon them stood the Teeth of Mordor, two towers strong and tall. In days long past they were built by the Men of Gondor in their pride and power, after the overthrow of Sauron and his flight, lest he should seek to return to his old realm. But the strength of Gondor failed, and men slept, and for long years the towers stood empty. Then Sauron returned. Now the watch-towers, which had fallen into decay, were repaired, and filled with arms, and garrisoned with ceaseless vigilance. Stony-faced they were, with dark window-holes staring north and east and west, and each window was full of sleepless eyes. Across the mouth of the pass, from cliff to cliff, the Dark Lord had built a rampart of stone. In it there was a single gate of iron, and upon its battlement sentinels paced unceasingly. Beneath the hills on either side the rock was bored into a hundred caves and maggot -holes: there a host of orcs lurked, ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war. None could pass the Teeth of Mordor and not feel their bite, unless they were summoned by Sauron, or knew the secret passwords that would open the Morannon, the black gate of his land. The two hobbits gazed at the towers and the wall in despair. Even from a distance they could see in the dim light the movement of the black guards upon the wall, and the patrols before the gate. They lay now peering over the edge of a rocky hollow beneath the out-stretched shadow of the northmost ####-buttress of Ephel D®ath. Winging the heavy air in a straight flight a crow, maybe, would have flown but a furlong from their hiding-place to the black summit of the nearer tower. A faint smoke curled above it, as if fire smouldered in the hill beneath. Day came, and the fallow sun blinked over the lifeless ridges of Ered Lithui. Then su ddenly the cry of brazen-throated trumpets was heard: from the watch-towers they blared, and far away from hidden holds and outposts in the hills came answering calls; and further still, remote but deep and ominous, there echoed in the hollow land beyond the mighty horns and drums of Barad-dyr. Another dreadful day of fear and toil had come to Mordor; and the night-guards were summoned to their dungeons and deep halls, and the day-guards, evil-eyed and fell, were marching to their posts. Steel gleamed dimly on the battlement. `Well, here we are! ' said Sam. `Here's the Gate, and it looks to me as if that's about as far as we are ever going to get. My word, but the Gaffer would have a thing or two to say, if he saw me now! Often said I'd come to a bad end, if I didn't watch my step, he did. But now I don't suppose I'll ever see the old fellow again. He'll miss his chance of I told'ee so, Sam: more's the pity. He could go on telling me as long as he'd got breath, if only I could see his old face again. But I'd have to get a wash first, or he wouldn't know me. `I suppose it's no good asking "what way do we go now?" We can't go no further -unless we want to ask the orcs for a lift.' `No, no! ' said Gollum. `No use. We can't go further. Smjagol said so. He said: we'll go to the Gate, and then we'll see. And we do see. O yes. my precious, we do see. Smjagol knew hobbits could not go this way. O yes. Smjagol knew ' 'Then what the plague did you bring us here for? ' said Sam, not feeling in the mood to be just or reasonable. `Master said so. Master says: Bring us to the Gate. So good Smjagol does so. Master said so, wise master.' 'I did,' said Frodo. His face was grim and set. but resolute. He was filthy, haggard, and pinched with weariness, but he cowered no longer, and his eyes were clear. `I said so, because I purpose to enter Mordor, and I know no other way. Therefore I shall go this way. I do not ask anyone to go with me.' `No, no, master! ' wailed Gollum; pawing at him, and seeming in great ####-distress. `No use that way! No use! Don't take the Precious to Him! He'll eat us all, if He gets it, eat all the world. Keep it, nice master, and be kind to Smjagol. Don't let Him have it. Or go away. go to nice places, and give it back to little Smjagol. Yes, yes, master: give it back, eh? Smjagol will keep it safe; he will do lots of good, especially to nice hobbits. Hobbits go home. Don't go to the Gate! ' 'I am commanded to go to the land of Mordor, and therefore I shall go,' said Frodo. 'If there is only one way, then I must take it. What comes after must come.' Sam said nothing. The look on Frodo's face was enough for him he knew that words of his were useless. And after all he never had any real hope in the affair from the beginning; but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed. Now they were come to the bitter end. But he had stuck to his master all the way; that was what he had chiefly come for, and he would still stick to him. His master would not go to Mordor alone. Sam would go with him-and at any rate they would get rid of Gollum. Gollum, however, did not intend to be got rid of, yet. He knelt a t Frodo's feet, wringing his hands and squeaking. 'Not this way, master! ' he pleaded, 'There is another way. O yes indeed there is. Another way. darker, more difficult to find, more secret. But Smjagol knows it. Let Smjagol show you! ' 'Another wa y! ' said Frodo doubtfully, looking down at Gollum with searching eyes. 'Yess! Yess indeed! There was another way. Smjagol found it. Let's go and see if it's still there! ' `You have not spoken of this before.' `No. Master did not ask. Master did not say what he meant to do. He does not tell poor Smjagol. He says: Smjagol, take me to the Gate -- and then good bye! Smjagol can run away and be good. But now he says: I purpose to enter Mordor this way. So Smjagol is very afraid. He does not want to lose nice master. And he promised, master made him promise, to save the Precious. But master is going to take it to Him, straight to the Black Hand, if master will go this way. So Smjagol must save them both, and he thinks of another way that there was, once upon a time. Nice master. Smjagol very good, always helps.' Sam frowned. If he could have bored holes in Gollum with his eyes, he ####-would have done. His mind was full of doubt. To all appearances Gollum was genuinely distressed and anxious to help Frodo. But Sam, remembering the overheard debate, found it hard to believe that the long submerged Smjagol had come out on top: that voice at any rate had not had the last word in the debate. Sam's guess was that the Smjagol and Gollum halves (or what in his own mind he called Slinker and Stinker) had made a truce and a temporary alliance: neither wanted the Enemy to get the Ring; both wished to keep Frodo from capture, and under their eye, as long as possible -- at any rate as long as Stinker still had a chance of laying hands on his 'Precious'. Whether there really was another way into Mordor Sam doubted. `And it's a good thing neither half of the old villain don't know what master means to do ,' he thought. `If he knew that Mr. Frodo is trying to put an end to his Precious for good and all, there'd be trouble pretty quick, I bet. Anyhow old Stinker is so frightened of the Enemy -- and he's under orders of some kind from him, or was -- that he'd give us away rather than be caught helping us; and rather than let his Precious be melted, maybe. At least that's my idea. And I hope the master will think it out carefully. He's as wise as any, but he's soft -hearted, that's what he is. It's beyond any Gamgee to guess what he'll do next.' Frodo did not answer Gollum at once. While these doubts were passing through Sam's slow but shrewd mind, he stood gazing out towards the dark cliff of Cirith Gorgor. The hollow in which they had taken refuge was delved in the side of a low hill, at some little height above a long trenchlike valley that lay between it and the outer buttresses of the mountains. In the midst of the valley stood the black foundations of the western watch-tower. By morning-light the roads that converged upon the Gate of Mordor could now be clearly seen, pale and dusty; one winding back northwards; another dwindling eastwards into the mists that clung about the feet of Ered Lithui; and a third that ran towards him. As it bent sharply round the tower, it entered a narrow defile and passed not far below the hollow where he stood. Westward, to his right, it turned, skirting the shoulders of the mountains, and went off southwards into the deep shadows that mantled all the western sides of Ephel D®ath; beyond his sight it journeyed on into the narrow land between the mountains and the Great River. As he gazed Frodo became aware that there was a great stir and movement on the plain. It seemed as if whole armies were on the march, though for the ####-most part they were hidden by the reeks and fumes drifting from the fens and wastes beyond. But here and there he caught the gleam of spears and helmets; and over the levels beside the roads horsemen could be seen riding in many companies. He remembered his vision from afar upon Amon Hen, so few days before, though now it seemed many years ago. Then he knew that the hope that had for one wild moment stirred in his heart was vain. The trumpets had not rung in challenge but in greeting. This was no assault upon the Dark Lord by the men of Gondor, risen like avenging ghosts from the graves of valour long passed away. These were Men of other race, out of the wide Eastlands, gathering to the summons of their Overlord; armies that had encamped before his Gate by night and now marched in to swell his mounting power. As if suddenly made fully aware of the peril of their position, alone, in the growing light of day, so near to this vast menace, Frodo quickly drew his frail grey hood close upon his head, and stepped down into the dell. Then he turned to Gollum. `Smjagol,' he said, `I will trust you once more. lndeed it seems that I must do so, and that it is my fate to receive help from you. where I least looked for it, and your fate to help me whom you long pursued with evil purpose. So far you have deserved well of me and have kept your promise truly. Truly, I say and mean,' he added with a glance at Sam, 'for twice now we have been in your power, and you have done no harm to us. Nor have you tried to take from me what you once sought. May the third time prove the best! But I warn you, Smjagol, you are in danger.' `Yes, yes, master! ' said Gollum. `Dreadful danger! Smjagol's bones shake to think of it. but he doesn't run away. He must help nice master.' 'I did not mean the danger that we all share,' said Frodo. 'I mean a danger to yourself alone. You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember tha t! It will hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing. Already you are being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Smjagol you said. Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end. You will never get it back. In the last need, Smjagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Smjagol!'####- Sam looked at his master with approval, but also with surprise: there was a look in his face and a tone in his voice that he had not known before. It had always been a notion of his that the kindness of dear Mr. Frodo was of such a high degree that it must imply a fair measure of blindness. Of course, he also firmly held the incompatible belief that Mr. Frodo was the wisest person in the world (with the possible exception of Old Mr. Bilbo and of Gandalf). Gollum in his own way, and with much more excuse as his acquaintance was much briefer, may have _made a similar mistake, confusing kindness and blindness. At any rate this speech abashed and terrified him. He grovelled on the ground and could speak no clear words but nice master. Frodo waited patiently for a while, then he spoke again less sternly. `Come now, Gollum or Smjagol if you wish, tell me of this other way, and show me, if you can, what hope there is in it, enough to justify me in turning aside from my plain path. I am in haste.' But Gollum was in a pitiable state, and Frodo's threat had quite unnerved him. It was not easy to get any clear account out of him, amid his mumblings and squeakings, and the frequent interruptions in which he crawled on the floor and begged them both to be kind to `poor little Smjagol'. After a while he grew a little calmer, and Frodo gathered bit by bit that, if a traveller followed the road that turned west of Ephel D®ath, he would come in time to a crossing in a circle of dark trees. On the right a road went down to Osgiliath and the bridges of the Anduin; in the middle the road went on southwards. `On, on, on,' said Gollum. `We never went that way, but they say it goes a hundred leagues, until you can see the Great Water that is never still. There are lots of fishes there, and big birds eat fishes: nice birds: but we never went there, alas no! we never had a chance. And further still there are more lands, they say, but the Yellow Face is very hot there, and there are seldom any clouds, and the men are fierce and have dark faces. We do not want to see that land.' `No! ' said Frodo. `But do not wander from your road. What of the third turning? ' `O yes, O yes, there is a third way,' said Gollum. `That is the road to the left. At once it begins to climb up, up, winding and climbing back towards the tall shadows. When it turns round the black rock, you'll see it. suddenly you'll see it above you, and you'll want to hide.' `See it, see it? What will you see? '####- `The old fortress, very old, very horrible now. We used to hear tales from the South, when Smjagol was young, long ago. O yes. we used to tell lots of tales in the evening, sitting by the banks of the Great River, in the willow-lands, when the River was younger too, gollum, gollum.' He began to weep and mutter. The hobbits waited patiently. `Tales out of the South,' Gollum went on again, `about the tall Men with the shining eyes, and their houses like hills of stone, and the silver crown of their King and his White Tree: wonderful tales. They built very tall towers, and one they raised was silver -white, and in it there was a stone like the Moon, and round it were great white walls. O yes, there were many tales about the Tower of the Moon.' `That would be Minas Ithil that Isildur the son of Elendil built ' said Frodo. `It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy.' `Yes, He has only four on the Black Hand, but they are enough,' said Gollum shuddering. 'And He hated Isildur's city.' 'What does he not hate? ' said Frodo. 'But what has the Tower of the Moon to do with us? ' 'Well, master, there it was and there it is: the tall tower and the white houses and the wall; but not nice now, not beautiful. He conquered it long ago. It is a very terrible place now. Travellers shiver when they see it, they creep out of sight, they avoid its shadow. But master will have to go that way. That is the only other way, For the mountains are lower there, and the old road goes up and up, until it reaches a dark pass at the top, and then it goes down, down, again -- to Gorgoroth.' His voice sank to a whisper and he shuddered. `But how will that help us? ' asked Sam. `Surely the Enemy knows all about his own mountains, and that road will be guarded as close as th is? The tower isn't empty, is it? ' `O no, not empty! ' whispered Gollum. `It seems empty, but it isn't, O no! Very dreadful things live there. Orcs. yes always Orcs; but worse things, worse things live there too. The road climbs right under the shadow of the walls and passes the gate. Nothing moves on the road that they don't know about. The things inside know: the Silent Watchers.' `So that's your advice is it,' said Sam, 'that we should go another long march south, to find ourselves in the same fix or a worse one, when we get there, if we ever do? ' `No, no indeed,' said Gollum. `Hobbits must see, must try to ####-understand. He does not expect attack that way. His Eye is all round, but it attends more to some places than to others. He can't see everything all at once, not yet. You see, He has conquered all the country west of the Shadowy Mountains down to the River, and He holds the bridges now. He thinks no one can come to the Moontower without fighting big battle at the bridges, or getting lots of boats which they cannot hide and He will know about.' 'You seem to know a lot about what He's doing and thinking,' said Sam. `Have you been talking to Him lately? Or just hobnobbing with Orcs? ' 'Not nice hobbit, not sensible,' said Gollum, giving Sam an angry glance and turning to Frodo. 'Smjagol has talked to Orcs, yes of course, before he met master, and to many peoples: he has walked very far. And what he says now many peoples are saying. It's here in the North that the big danger is for Him, and for us. He will come out of the Black Gate one day, one day soon. That is the only way big armies can come. But away down west He is not afraid, and there are the Silent Watchers.' `Just so! ' said Sam, not to be put off. `And so we are to walk up and knock at their gate and ask if we're on the right road for Mordor? Or are they too silent to answer? It's not. sense. We might as well do it here, and save ourselves a long tramp.' 'Don't make jokes about it,' hissed Gollum. `It isn't funny, O no! Not amusing. It's nut sense to try and get into Mordor at all. But if master says I must go or I will go, then he must try some way. But he must not go to the terrible city, O no, of course not. That is where Smjagol helps. nice Smjagol. though no one tells him what it is all about. Smjagol helps again. He found it. He knows it.' 'What did you find? ' asked Frodo. Gollum crouched down and his voice sank to a whisper again. 'A little path leading up into the mountains: and then a stair, a narrow stair, O yes, very long and narrow. And then more stairs. And then' -- his voice sank even lower -- `a tunnel, a dark tunnel; and at last a little cleft, and a path high above the main pass. It was that way that Smjagol got out of the darkness. But it was years ago. The path may have vanished now; but perhaps not, perhaps not.' `I don't like the sound of it at all,' said Sam. `Sounds too easy at any rate in the telling. If that path is still there, it'll be guarded too. Wasn't it guarded, Gollum? ' As he said this, he caught or fancied he caught a green gleam in Gollum's eye. Gollum muttered but did not reply.####- 'Is it not guarded? ' asked Frodo sternly. `And did you escape out of the darkness, Smjagol? Were you not rather permitted to depart upon an errand? That at least is w hat Aragorn thought, who found you by the Dead Marshes some years ago.' 'It's a lie! ' hissed Gollum, and an evil light came into his eyes at the naming of Aragorn. `He lied on me, yes he did. I did escape, all by my poor self. Indeed I was told to seek for the Precious; and I have searched and searched, of course I have. But not for the Black One. The Precious was ours, it was mine I tell you. I did escape.' Frodo felt a strange certainty that in this matter Gollum was for once not so far from the truth as might be suspected; that he had somehow found a way out of Mordor, and at least believed that it was by his own cunning. For one thing, he noted that Gollum used I, and that seemed usually to be a sign, on its rare appearances. that some remnants of old truth and sincerity were for the moment on top. But even if Gollum could be trusted on this point, Frodo did not forget the wiles of the Enemy. The 'escape' may have been allowed or arranged, and well known in the Dark Tower. And in any case Gollum was plainly keeping a good deal back. 'I ask you again,' he said: `is not this secret way guarded? ' But the name of Aragorn had put Gollum into a sullen mood. He had all the injured air of a liar suspected when for once he has told the truth. or part of it. He did not answer. 'Is it not guarded? ' Frodo repeated. `Yes, yes, perhaps. No safe places in this country,' said Gollum sulkily. 'No safe places. But master must try it or go home. . No other way.' They could not get him to say more. The name of the perilous place and the high pass he could not tell, or would not. Its name was Cirith Ungol, a name of dreadful rumour. Aragorn could perhaps have told them that name and its significance: Gandalf would have warned them. But they were alone, and Aragorn was far away, and Gandalf stood amid the ruin of Isengard and strove with Saruman, delayed by treason. Yet even as he spoke his last words to Saruman, and the palantnr crashed in fire upon the steps of Orthanc. his thought was ever upon Frodo and Samwise, over the long leagues his mind sought for them in hope and pity. Maybe Frodo felt it, not knowing it, as he had upon Amon Hen, even though he believed that Gandalf was gone, gone for ever into the shadow in Moria far away. He sat upon the ground for a long while, silent, his head ####-bowed, striving to recall all that Gandalf had said to him. But for this choice he could recall no counsel. Indeed Gandalf's guidance had been taken from them too soon, too soon, while the Dark Land was still very far away. How they should enter it at the last Gandalf had not said. Perhaps he could not say. Into the stronghold of the Enemy in the North, into Dol Guldur, he had once ventured. But into Mordor, to the Mountain of Fire and to Barad-dyr, since the Dark Lord rose in power again, had he ever journeyed there? Frodo did not think so. And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. It was an evil fate. But he had taken it on himself in his own sitting-room in the far-off spring of another year, so remote now that it was like a chapter in a story of the world's youth, when the Trees of Silver and Gold were still in bloom. This was an evil choice. Which way should he choose? And if both led to terror and death, what good lay in choice? The day drew on. A deep silence fell upon the little grey hollow where they lay, so near to the borders of the land of fear: a silence that could be felt, as if it were a thick veil that cut them off from all the world about them. Above them was a dome of pale sky barred with fleeting smoke, but it seemed high and far away. as if seen through great deeps of air heavy with brooding thought. Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, µ not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks. For a moment he might have paused to consider Gollum, a tiny figure sprawling on the ground: there perhaps lay the famished skeleton of some child of Men, its ragged garment still clinging to it, its long arms and legs almost bone -white and bone-thin: no flesh worth a peck. Frodo's head was bowed over his knees, but Sam leaned back, with hands behind his head, staring out of his hood at the empty sky. At least for a long while it was empty. Then presently Sam thought he saw a dark bird-like figure wheel into the circle of his sight, and hover, and then wheel away again. Two more followed, and then a fourth. They were very small to look at, yet he knew, somehow, that they were huge, with a vast stretch of pinion, flying at a great height. He covered his eyes and bent forward, cowering. The same warning fear was on him as he had felt in the presence of the Black Riders, the helpless horror that had come with the cry in the wind ####-and the shadow on the moon, though now it was not so crushing or compelling: the menace was more remote. But menace it was. Frodo felt it too. His thought was broken. He stirred and shivered, but he did not look up. Gollum huddled himself together like a cornered spider. The winged shapes wheeled, and stooped swiftly down, speeding back to Mordor. Sam took a deep breath. `The Riders are a bout again, up in the air,' he said in a hoarse whisper. 'I saw them. Do you think they could see us? They were very high up. And if they are Black Riders same as before, then they can't see much by daylight, can they? ' 'No, perhaps not,' said Frodo. `But their steeds could see. And these winged creatures that they ride on now, they can probably see more than any other creature. They are like great carrion birds. They are looking for something: the Enemy is on the watch, I fear.' The feeling of dread passed, but the enfolding silence was broken. For some time they had been cut off from the world, as if in an invisible island; now they were laid bare again, peril had returned. But still Frodo did not speak to Gollum or make h is choice. His eyes were closed, as if he were dreaming, or looking inward into his heart and memory. At last he stirred and stood up, and it seemed that he was about to speak and to decide. But `hark!' he said. `What is that?' A new fear was upon them. They heard singing and hoarse shouting. At first it seemed a long way off, but it drew nearer: it was coming towards them. It leaped into all their minds that the Black Wings had spied them and had sent armed soldiers to seize them: no speed seemed too great for these terrible servants of Sauron. They crouched, listening. The voices and the clink of weapons and harness were very close. Frodo and Sam loosened their small swords in their sheaths. Flight was impossible. Gollum rose slowly and crawled insect-like to the lip of the hollow. Very cautiously he raised himself inch by inch, until he could peer over it between two broken points of stone. He remained there without moving for some time, making no sound. Presen tly the voices began to recede again, and then they slowly faded away. Far off a horn blew on the ramparts of the Morannon. Then quietly Gollum drew back and slipped down into the hollow. 'More Men going to Mordor,' he said in a low voice. `Dark faces. We have not seen Men like these before, no, Smjagol has not. They are fierce. They have black eyes, and long black hair, and gold rings in their ears; yes, lots of beautiful gold. And some have red paint on their cheeks, and ####-red cloaks; and their flags are red, and the tips of their spears; and they have round shields, yellow and black with big spikes. Not nice; very cruel wicked Men they look. Almost as bad as Orcs, and much bigger. Smjagol thinks they have come out of the South beyond the Great River's end: they came up that road. They have passed on to the Black Gate; but more may follow. Always more people coming to Mordor. One day all the peoples will be inside.' `Were there any oliphaunts?' asked Sam, forgetting his fear in his eagerness for news of strange places. `No, no oliphaunts. What are oliphaunts? ' said Gollum. Sam stood up, putting his hands behind his back (as he always did when 'speaking poetry'), and began: Grey as a mouse, Big as a house. Nose like a snake, I make the earth shake, As I tramp through the grass; Trees crack as I pass. With horns in my mouth I walk in the South, Flapping big ears. Beyond count of years I stump round and round, Never lie on the ground, Not even to die. Oliphaunt am I, Biggest of all, Huge, old, and tall. If ever you'd met me You wouldn't forget me. If you never do, You won't think I'm true; But old O liphaunt am I, And I never lie. 'That,' said Sam, when he had finished reciting, `that's a rhyme we have in the Shire. Nonsense maybe, and maybe not. But we have our tales too,####-and news out of the South, you know. In the old days hobbits used to go on their travels now and again. Not that many ever came back, and not that all they said was believed: news from Bree, and not sure as Shiretalk , as the sayings go. But I've heard tales of the big folk down away in the Sunlands. Swertings we call 'em in our tales; and they ride on oliphaunts, 'tis said, when they fight. They put houses and towers on the oliphauntses backs and all, and the oliphaunts throw rocks and trees at one another. So when you said "Men out of the South, all in red and gold;" I said "were there any oliphaunts? " For if there was, I was going to take a look, risk or no. But now I don't suppose I'll ever see an oliphaunt. Maybe there ain't no such a beast.' He sighed. `No, no oliphaunts,' said Gollum again. 'Smjagol has not heard of them. He does not want to see them. He does not want them to be. Smjagol wants to go away from here and hide somewhere safer. Smjagol wants master to go. Nice master, won't he come with Smjagol? ' Frodo stood up. He had laughed in the midst of all his cares when Sam trotted out the old fireside rhyme of Oliphaunt, and the laugh had released him from hesitation. `I wish we had a thousand oliphaunts with Gandalf on a white one at their head,' he said. `Then we'd break a way into this evil land, perhaps. But we've not; just our own tired legs, that's all. Well, Smjagol, the third turn may turn the best. I will come with you.' 'Good master, wise master, nice master!' cried Gollum in delight, patting Frodo's knees. `Good master! Then rest now, nice hobbits, under the shadow of the stones, close under the stones! Rest and lie quiet, till the Yellow Face goes away. Then we can go quickly. Soft and quick as shadows we must be!'####-

For the few hours of daylight that were left they rested, shifting into the shade as the sun moved, until at last the shadow of the western rim of their dell grew long, and darkness filled all the hollow. Then they ate a little, and drank sparingly. Gollum ate nothing, but he accepted water gladly. `Soon get more now,' he said, licking his lips. `Good water runs down in streams to the Great River, nice water in the lands we are going to. Smjagol will get food there too, perhaps. He's very hungry, yes, gollum! ' He set his two large flat hands on his shrunken belly, and a pale green light came into his eyes. The dusk was deep when at length they set out, creeping over the westward rim of the dell, and fading like ghosts into the broken country on the borders of the road: The moon was now three nights from the full, but it did not climb over the mountains until nearly midnight, and the early night was very dark. A single red light burned high up in the Tower s of the Teeth, but otherwise no sign could be seen or heard of the sleepless watch on the Morannon. For many miles the red eye seemed to stare at them as they fled, stumbling through a barren stony country. They did not dare to take the road, but they kept it on their left, following its line as well as they could at a little distance. At last, when night was growing old and they were already weary, for they had taken only one short rest, the eye dwindled to a small fiery point a nd then vanished: they had turned the dark northern shoulder of the lower mountains and were heading southwards. With hearts strangely lightened they now rested again, but not for long. They were not going quick enough for Gollum. By his reckoning it was nearly thirty leagues from the Morannon to the cross-roads above Osgiliath, and he hoped to cover that distance in four journeys. So soon they struggled on once more, until the dawn began to spread slowly in the wide grey solitude. They had then walked almost eight leagues; and the hobbits could not have gone any further, even if they had dared. The growing light revealed to them a land already, less barren and ruinous. The mountains still loomed up ominously on their left, but near at hand they could see the southward road, now bearing away from the black ####-roots of the hills and slanting westwards. Beyond it were slopes covered with sombre trees like dark clouds. but all about them lay a tumbled heathland, grown with ling and broom and cornel, and other shrubs that they did not know. Here and there they saw knots of tall pine-trees. The hearts of the hobbits rose again a little in spite of weariness: the air was fresh and fragrant, and it reminded them of the uplands of the Northfarthing far away. It seemed good to be reprieved, to walk in a land that had only been for a few years under the dominion of the Dark Lord and was not yet fallen wholly into decay. But they did not forget their danger, nor the Black Gate that was still all too near, hidden though it was behind the gloomy heights. They looked about for a hiding-place where they could shelter from evil eyes while the light lasted. The day passed uneasily. They lay deep in the heather and counted out the slow hours, in which there seemed little change; for they were still under the shadows of the Ephel D®ath, and the sun was veiled. Frodo slept at times, deeply and peacefully, either trusting Gollum or too tired to trouble about him; but Sam found it difficult to do more than doze, even when Gollum was plainly fast asleep, whiffling and twitching in his secret dreams. Hunger, perhaps, more than mistrust kept him wakeful: he had begun to long for a good homely meal, `something hot out of the pot'. As soon as the land faded into a formless grey under coming night, they started out again. In a little while Gollum led them down on to the southward road; and after that they went on more quickly, though the danger was greater. Their ears were strained for the sound of hoof or foot on the road ahead, or following them from behind; but the night passed, and they heard no sound of walker or rider. The road had been made in a long lost time: and for perhaps thirty miles below the Morannon it had been newly repaired, but as it went south the wild encroached upon it. The handiwork of Men of old could still be seen in its straight sure flight and level course: now and again it cut its way through hillside slopes, or leaped over a stream upon a wide shapely arch of enduring masonry; but at last all signs of stonework faded, save for a broken pillar here and there, peering out of bushes at the side, or old paving-stones still lurking amid weeds and moss. Heather and trees and bracken scrambled down and overhung the banks, or sprawled out over the surface. It dwindled at last to a country cart -road little used; but it did not wind: it held on its own sure course and guided them by the swiftest ####-way. So they passed into the northern marches of that land that Men once called Ithilien, a fair country of climbing woods and swift -falling streams. The night became fine under star and round moon, and it seemed to the hobbits that the fragrance of the air grew as they went forward; and from the blowing and muttering of Gollum it seemed that he noticed it too, and did not relish it. At the first signs of day they halted again. They had come to the end of a long cutting, deep, and sheer -sided in the middle, by which the road clove its way through a stony ridge. Now they climbed up the westward bank and looked abroad. Day was opening in the sky, and they saw that the mountains were now much further off, receding ea stward in a long curve that was lost in the distance. Before them, as they turned west, gentle slopes ran down into dim hazes far below. All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress. and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet -smelling herbs and shrubs. The long journey from Rivendell had brought them far south of their own land, but not until now in this more sheltered region had the hobbits felt the change of clime. Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness. South and west it looked towards the warm lower vales of Anduin, shielded from the east by the Ephel D®ath and yet not under the mountain-shadow, protected from the north by the Emyn Muil, open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the Sea far away. Many great trees grew there, planted long ago, falling into untended age amid a riot of careless descendants; and groves and thickets there were of tamarisk and pungent terebinth, of olive and of bay; and there were junipers and myrtles; and thymes that grew in bushes, or with their woody creeping stems mantled in deep tapestries the hidden stones; sages of many kinds putting forth blue flowers, or red, or pale green; and marjorams and new-sprouting parsleys, and many herbs of forms and scents beyond the garden-lore of Sam. The grots and rocky walls were already starred with saxifrages and stonecrops. Primeroles and anemones were awake in the filbert -brakes; and asphodel and many lily-flowers nodded their half-opened heads in the grass: deep green grass beside the pools, where falling streams halted in cool hollows on ####-their journey down to Anduin. The travellers turned their backs on the road and went downhill. As they walked, brushing their way through bush and herb, sweet odours rose about them. Gollum coughed and retched; but the hobbits breathed deep, and suddenly Sam laughed, for heart's ease not for jest. They followed a stream that went quickly down before them. Presently it brought them to a small clear lake in a shallow dell: it lay in the broken ruins of an ancient stone basin, the carven rim of which was almost wholly covered with mosses and rose-brambles; iris-swords stood in ranks about it. and water -lily leaves floated on its dark gently-rippling surface; but it was deep and fresh, and spilled ever softly out over a stony lip at the far end. Here they washed themselves and drank their fill at the in-falling freshet. Then they sought for a resting-place, and a hiding-place: for this land, fair-seeming still, was nonetheless now territory of the Enemy. They had not come very far from the road, and yet even in so short a space they had seen scars of the old wars, and the newer wounds made by the Orcs and other foul servants of the Dark Lord: a pit of uncovered filth and refuse; trees hewn down wantonly and left to die, with evil runes or the fell sign of the Eye cut in rude strokes on their bark. Sam scrambling below the outfall of the lake. smelling and touching the unfamiliar plants and trees, forgetful for the moment of Mordor, was reminded suddenly of their ever -present peril. He stumbled on a ring still scorched by fire, and in the midst of it he found a pile of charred and broken bones and skulls. The swift growth of the wild with briar and eglantine and trailing clematis was already drawing a veil over this place of dreadful feast and slaughter; but it was not ancient. He hurried back to his companions, but he said nothing: the bones were best left in peace and not pawed and routed by Gollum. `Let's find a place to lie up in,' he said. 'Not lower down. Higher up for me.' A little way back above the lake they found a deep brown bed of last year's fern. Beyond it was a thicket of dark-leaved bay-trees climbing up a steep bank that was crowned with old cedars. Here they decided to rest and pass the day, which already promised to be bright and warm. A good day for strolling on their way along the groves and glades of Ithilien; but though Orcs may shun the sunlight. there were too many places here where they could lie hid and watch; and other evil eyes were abroad: Sauron had many ####-servants. Gollum, in any case, would not move under the Yellow. Face. Soon it would look over the dark ridges of the Ephel D®ath, and he would faint and cower in the light and heat. Sam had been giving earnest thought to food as they marched. Now that the despair of the impassable Gate was behind him, he did not feel so inclined as his master to take no thought for their livelihood beyond the end of their errand; and anyway it seemed wiser to him to save the waybread of the Elves for worse times ahead. Six days or more had passed since he reckoned that they had only a bare supply for three weeks. 'If we reach the Fire in that time, we'll be lucky at this rate! ' he thought. `And we might be wanting to get back. We might! ' Besides, at the end of a long night -march, and after bathing and drinking, he felt even more hungry than usual. A supper, or a breakfast, by the fire in the old kitchen at Bagshot Row was what he really wanted. An idea struck him and he turned to Gollum. Gollum had just begun to sneak off on his own, and he was crawling away on all fours through the fern. `Hi! Gollum! ' said Sam. `Where are you going? Hunting? Well see here, old noser, you don't like our food, and I'd not be sorry for a change myself. Your new motto's always ready to help . Could you find anything fit for a hungry hobbit? ' `Yes, perhaps, yes,' said Gollum. `Smjagol always helps, if they asks -- if they asks nicely.' `Right!' said Sam `I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough, I begs.' Gollum disappeared. He was away some time, and Frodo after a few mouthfuls of lembas settled deep into the brown fern and went to sleep. Sam looked at him. The early daylight was only just creeping down into the shadows u nder the trees, but he saw his master's face very clearly, and his hands, too, lying at rest on the ground beside him. He was reminded suddenly of Frodo as he had lain, asleep in the house of Elrond, after his deadly wound. Then as he had kept watch Sam had noticed that at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within; but now the light was even clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiselling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: `I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through,####-somehow. But I love him, whether or no.' Gollum returned quietly and peered over Sam's shoulder. Looking at Frodo, he shut his eyes and crawled away without a sound. Sam came to him a moment later and found him chewing something and muttering to himself. On the ground beside him lay two small rabbits, which he was beginning to eye greedily. 'Smjagol always helps,' he said. `He has brought rabbits, nice rabbits. But ma ster has gone to sleep, and perhaps Sam wants to sleep. Doesn't want rabbits now? Smjagol tries to help, but he can't catch things all in a minute.' Sam, however, had no objection to rabbit at all, and said so. At least not to cooked rabbit. All hobbits, of course, can cook, for they begin to learn the art before their letters (which many never reach): but Sam was a good cook, even by hobbit reckoning, and he had done a good deal of the camp-cooking on their travels, when there was a chance. He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder -box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed; and hidden at the bottom of the pack in a flat wooden box a dwindling treasure, some salt. But he needed a fire, and other things besides. He thought for a bit, while he took out his knife, cleaned and whetted it, and began to dress the rabbits. He was not going to leave Frodo alone asleep even for a few minutes. 'Now, Gollum,' he said, 'I've another job for you. Go and fill these pans with water, and bring 'em back! ' 'Smjagol will fetch water, yes,' said Gollum. 'But what does the hobbit want all that water for? He has drunk, he has washed.' 'Never you mind,' said Sam. `If you can't guess, you'll soon find out. And the sooner you fetch the water, the sooner you'll learn. Don't you damage one of my pans, or I'll carve you into mincemeat.' While Gollum was away Sam took another look at Frodo. He was still sleeping quietly, but Sam was now struck most by the leanness of his face and hands. 'Too thin and drawn he is,' he muttered. 'Not right for a hobbit. If I can get these coneys cooked, I'm going to wake him up.' Sam gathered a pile of the driest fern, and then scrambled up the bank collecting a bundle of twigs and broken wood; the fallen branch of a cedar at the top gave him a good supply. He cut out some turves at the foot of the ####-bank just outside the fern-brake, and made a shallow hole and laid his fuel in it. Being handy with flint and tinder he soon had a small blaze going. It made little or no smoke but gave off an aromatic scent. He was just stooping over his fire, shielding it and building it up with heavier wood, when Gollum returned, carrying the pans carefully and grumbling to himself. He set the pans down, and then suddenly saw what Sam was doing. He gave a thin hissing shriek, and seemed to be both frightened and angry. `Ach! Sss -- no!' he cried. `No! Silly hobbits, foolish, yes foolish! They mustn't do it!' `Mustn't do what?' asked Sam in surprise. `Not make the nassty red tongues,' hissed Gollum. `Fire, fire! It's dangerous, yes it is. It burns, it kills. And it will bring enemies, yes it will.' 'I don't think so,' said Sam. `Don't see why it should, if you don't put wet stuff on it and make a smother. But if it does, it does. I'm going to risk it, anyhow. I'm going to stew these coneys.' 'Stew the rabbits!' squealed Gollum in dismay. `Spoil beautiful meat Smjagol saved for you, poor hungry Smjagol! What for? What for, silly hobbit? They are young, they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!' He clawed a t the nearest rabbit, already skinned and lying by the fire. `Now, now! ' said Sam. `Each to his own fashion. Our bread chokes you, and raw coney chokes me. If you give me a coney, the coney's mine, see, to cook, if I have a mind. And I have. You needn't watch me. Go and catch another and eat it as you fancy -- somewhere private and out o' my sight. Then you won't see the fire, and I shan't see you, and we'll both be the happier. I'll see the fire don't smoke, if that's any comfort to you.' Gollum withdrew grumbling, and crawled into the fern. Sam busied himself with his pans. `What a hobbit needs with coney,' he said to himself, `is some herbs and roots, especially taters -- not to mention bread. Herbs we can manage, seemingly.' `Gollum!' he called softly. `Third time pays for all. I want some herbs.' Gollum's head peeped out of the fern, but his looks were neither helpful nor friendly. `A few bay-leaves, some thyme and sage, will do -- before the water boils,' said Sam. `No! ' said Gollum. `Smjagol is not pleased. And Smjagol doesn't like smelly leaves. He doesn't eat grasses or roots, no precious, not till he's starving or very sick, poor Smjagol. '####- `Smjagol'll get into real true hot water , when this water boils, if he don't do as he's asked,' growled Sam. `Sam'll put his head in it, yes precious. And I'd make him look for turnips and carrots, and taters too, if it was the time o' the year. I'll bet there's all sorts of good things running wild in this country. I'd give a lot for half a dozen taters.' `Smjagol won't go, O no precious, not this time,' hissed Gollum. `He's frightened, and he's very tired, and this hobbit's not nice, not nice at all. Smjagol won't grub for roots and carrotses and -- taters. What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters? `Po-ta -toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won't find any, so you needn't look. But be good Smjagol and fetch me the herbs, and I'll think better of you. What's more, if you turn over a new leaf, and keep it turned, I'll cook you some taters one of these days. I will: fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn't say no to that.' `Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips! ' `Oh you're hopeless,' said Sam. 'Go to sleep!' In the end he had to find what he wanted for himself; but he did not have to go far, not out of sight of the place where his master lay, still sleeping. For a while Sam sat musing, and tending the fire till the water boiled. The daylight grew and the air became warm; the dew faded off turf and leaf. Soon the rabbits cut up lay simmering in their pans with the bunched herbs. Almost Sam fell asleep as the time went by. He let them stew for close on an hour, testing them now and again with his fork, and tasting the broth. When he thought all was ready he lifted the pans off the fire, and crept along to Frodo. Frodo half opened his eyes as Sam stood over him, and then he wakened from his dreaming: another gentle, unrecoverable dream of peace. `Hullo, Sam! ' he said. `Not resting? Is anything wrong? What is the time? ' `About a couple of hours after daybreak,' said Sam, `and nigh on half past eight by Shire clocks, maybe. But nothing's wrong. Though it ain't quite what I'd call right: no stock, no onions, no taters. I've got a bit of a stew for you, and some broth, Mr. Frodo. Do you good. You'll have to sup it in your mug; or straight from the pan, when it's cooled a bit. I haven't ####-brought no bowls, nor nothing proper.' Frodo yawned and stretched. 'You should have been resting Sam,' he said. 'And lighting a fire was dangerous in these parts. But I do feel hungry. Hmm! Can I smell it from here? What have you stewed? ' 'A present from Smjagol,' said Sam: `a brace o' young coneys; though I fancy Gollum's regretting them now. But there's nought to go with them but a few herbs.' Sam and his master sat just within the fern-brake and ate their stew from the pans, sharing the old fork and spoon. They allowed themselves half a piece of the Elvish waybread each. It seemed a feast. 'Wheew! Gollum! ' Sam called and whistled softly. 'Come on! Still time to change your mind. There's some left, if you want to try stewed coney.' There was no answer. `Oh well, I suppose he's gone off to find something for himself. We'll finish it,' said Sam. `And then you must take some sleep,' said Frodo. `Don't you drop off, while I'm nodding, Mr. Frodo. I don't feel too sure of him. There's a good deal of Stinker -the bad Gollum, if you understand me-in him still, and it's getting stronger again. Not but what I think he'd try to throttle me first now. We don't see eye to eye, and he's not pleased with Sam, O no precious, not pleased at all.' They finished, and Sam went off to the stream to rinse his gear. As he stood up to return, he looked back up the slope. At that moment he saw the sun rise out of the reek, or haze, or dark shadow, or whatever it was, that lay ever to the east, and it sent its golden beams down upon the trees and glades about him. Then he noticed a thin spiral of blue-grey, smoke, plain to see as it caught the sunlight, rising from a thicket above him. With a shock he realized that this was the smoke from his little cooking-fire, which he had neglected to put out. `That won't do! Never thought it would show like that! ' he muttered, and he started to hurry back. Suddenly he halted and listened. Had he heard a whistle or not? Or was it the call of some strange bird? If it was a whistle, it did not come from Frodo's direction. There it went again from another place! Sam began to run as well as he could uphill. He found that a small brand, burning away to its outer end, had kindled some fern at the edge of the fire, and the fern blazing up had set the turves smouldering. Hastily he stamped out what was left of the fire,####-scattered the ashes, and laid the turves on the hole. Then he crept back to Frodo. 'Did you hear a whistle, and what sounded like an answer? ' he asked. `A few minutes back. I hope it was only a bird, but it didn't sound quite like that: more like somebody mimicking a bird-call, I thought. And I'm afraid my bit of fire's been smoking. Now if I've gone and brought trouble, I'll never forgive myself. Nor won't have a chance, maybe! ' `Hush! ' whispered Frodo. `I thought I heard voices.' The two hobbits trussed their small packs, put them on ready for flight, and then crawled deeper into the fern. There they crouched listening. There was no doubt of the voices. They were speaking low and furtively, but they were near, and coming nearer. Then quite suddenly one spoke clearly close at hand. `Here! Here is where the smoke came from! ' it said. `'Twill be nigh at hand. In the fern, no doubt. We shall have it like a coney in a trap. Then we shall learn what kind of thing it is.' `Aye, and what it knows! ' said a second voice. At once four men came striding through the fern from different directions. Since flight and hiding were no longer possible, Frodo and Sam sprang to their feet, putting back to back and whipping out their small swords. If they were astonished at what they saw, their captors were even more astonished. Four tall Men stood there. Two had spears in their hands with broad bright heads. Two had great bows, almost of their own height, and great quivers of long green-feathered arrows. All had swords at their sides, and were clad in green and brown of varied hues, as if the better to walk unseen in the glades of Ithilien. Green gauntlets covered their hands, and their faces were hooded and masked with green, except for their eyes, which were very keen and bright. At once Frodo thought of Boromir, for these Men were like him in stature and bearing, a nd in their manner of speech. `We have not found what we sought,' said one. `But what have we found? ' 'Not Orcs,' said another, releasing the hilt of his sword, which he had seized when he saw the glitter of Sting in Frodo's hand. `Elves? ' said a third, doubtfully. `Nay! Not Elves,' said the fourth, the tallest, and as it appeared the ####-chief among them. `Elves do not walk in Ithilien in these days. And Elves are wondrous fair to look upon, or so 'tis said.' 'Meaning we're not, I take you,' said Sam. `Thank you kindly. And when you've finished discussing us, perhaps you'll say who you are, and why you can't let two tired travellers rest.' The tall green man laughed grimly. `I am Faramir, Captain of Gondor,' he said. `But there are no travellers in this land: only the servants of the Dark Tower, or of the White.' `But we are neither,' said Frodo. `And travellers we are, whatever Captain Faramir may say.' 'Then make haste to declare yourselves and your errand,' said Faramir. 'We have a work to do, and this is no time or place for riddling or parleying. Come! Where is the third of your company? ' `The third? ' 'Yes, the skulking fellow that we saw with his nose in the pool down yonder. He had an ill-favoured look. Some spying breed of Orc, I guess, or a creature of theirs. But he gave us the slip by some fox-trick.' 'I do not know where he is,' said Frodo. 'He is only a chance companion met upon our road; and I am not answerable for him. If you come on him, spare him. Bring him or send him to us. He is only a wretched gangrel creature, but I have him under my care for a while. But as for us, we are Hobbits of the Shire, far to the North and West, beyond many rivers. Frodo son of Drogo is my name, and with me is Samwise son of Hamfast, a worthy hobbit in my service. We have come by long ways -- out of Rivendell, or Imladris as some call it.' Here Faramir started and grew intent. 'Seven companions we had: one we lost at Moria, the others we left at Parth Galen above Rauros: two of my kin; a Dwarf there was also, and an Elf, and two Men. They were Aragorn; and Boromir, who said that he came out of Minas Tirith, a city in the South.' 'Boromir! ' all the four men exclaimed. 'Boromir son of the Lord Denethor?' said Faramir, and a strange stern look came into his face. 'You came with him? That is news indeed, if it be true. Know, little strangers, that Boromir son of Denethor was High Warden of the White Tower, and our Captain-General: sorely do we miss him. Who are you then, and what had you to do with him? Be swift, for the Sun is climbing!' 'Are the riddling words known to you that Boromir brought to Rivendell?####-' Frodo replied. Seek for the Sword that was Broken. In Imladris it dwells. 'The words are known indeed,' said Faramir in astonishment. `It is some token of your truth that you also know them.' `Aragorn whom I named is the bearer of the Sword that was Broken,' said Frodo. 'And we are the Halflings that the rhyme spoke of.' `That I see,' said Faramir thoughtfully. `Or I see that it might be so. And what is Isildur's Bane? ' `That is hidden,' answered Frodo. `Doubtless it will be made clear in time.' `We must learn more of this,' said Faramir, `and know what brings you so far east under the shadow of yonder --,' he pointed and said no name. 'But not now. We have business in hand. You are in peril. and you would not have gone far by field or road this day. There will be hard handstrokes nigh at hand ere the day is full. Then death, or swift flight bark to Anduin. I will leave two to guard you, for your good and for mine. Wise man trusts not to chance-meeting on the road in this land. If I return, I will speak more with you.' 'Farewell!' said Frodo, bowing low. `Think what you will, I am a friend of all enemies of the One Enemy. We would go with you, if we halfling folk could hope to serve you, such doughty men and strong as you seem, and if my errand permitted it. May the light shine on your swords!' 'The Halflings are courteous folk, whatever else they be,' said Faramir. `Farewell!' The hobbits sat down again, but they said nothing to one another of their thoughts and doubts. Close by, just under the dappling shadow of the dark bay-trees, two men remained on guard. They took off their masks now and again to cool them, as the day-heat grew, and Frodo saw that they were goodly men, pale-skinned, dark of hair, with grey eyes and faces sad and proud. They spoke together in soft voices, at first using the Common Speech, but after the manner of older days, and then changing to another language of their own. To his amazement, as he listened Frodo became aware that it was the Elven-tongue that they spoke, or one but little different; and he looked at them with wonder, for he knew then that they must be D®nedain of the South, men of the line of the Lords of Westernesse. After a while he spoke to them; but they were slow and cautious in ####-answering. They named themselves Mablung and Damrod, soldiers of Gondor, and they were Rangers of Ithilien; for they were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun. From such men the Lord Denethor chose his forayers, who crossed the Anduin secretly (how or where, they would not say) to harry the Orcs and other enemies that roamed between the Ephel D®ath and the River. `It is close on ten leagues hence to the east -shore of Anduin,' said Mablung, 'and we seldom come so far afield. But we have a new errand on this journey: we come to ambush the Men of Harad. Curse them! ' 'Aye, curse the Southrons! ' said Damrod. ` 'Tis said that there were dealings of old between Gondor and the kingdoms of the Harad in the Far South; though there was never friendship. In those days our bounds were away south beyond the mouths of Anduin, and Umbar, the nearest of their realms, acknowledged our sway. But that is long since. 'Tis many lives of Men since any passed to or fro between us. Now of late we have learned that the Enemy has been among them, and they are gone over to Him, or back to Him-they were ever ready to His will -as have so many also in the East . I doubt not that the days of Gondor are numbered, and the walls of Minas Tirith are doomed, so great is His strength and malice.' `But still we will not sit idle and let Him do all as He would,' said Mablung. `These cursed Southrons come now marching up the ancient roads to swell the hosts of the Dark Tower. Yea, up the very roads that craft of Gondor made. And they go ever more heedlessly, we learn, thinking that the power of their new master is great enough, so that the mere shadow of His hills will protect them. We come to teach them another lesson. Great strength of them was reported to us some days ago, marching north. One of their regiments is due by our reckoning to pass by, some time ere noon-up on the road above, where it passes through the cloven way. The road may pass, but they shall not! Not while Faramir is Captain. He leads now in all perilous ventures. But his life is charmed, or fate spares him for some other end.' Their talk died down into a listening silence. All seemed still and watchful. Sam, crouched by the edge of the fern-brake, peered out. With his ####-keen hobbit-eyes he saw that many more Men were about. He could see them stealing up the slopes, singly or in long files, keeping always to the shade of grove or thicket, or crawling, hardly visible in their brown and green raiment, through grass and brake. All were hooded and masked, and had gauntlets on their hands, and were armed like Faramir and his companions. Before long they had all passed and vanished. The sun rose till it neared the South. The shadows shrank. `I wonder where that dratted Gollum is? ' thought Sam, as he crawled back into deeper shade. `He stands a fair chance of being spitted for an Orc, or of being roasted by the Yellow Face. But I fancy he'll look after himself.' He lay down beside Frodo and began to doze. He woke, thinking that he had heard horns blowing. He sat up. It was now high noon. The guards stood alert and tense in the shadow of the trees. Suddenly the horns rang out louder and beyond mistake from above, over the top of the slope. Sam thought that he heard cries and wild shouting also, but the sound was faint, as if it came out of some distant cave. Then presently the noise of fighting broke out near at hand, just above their hiding-place. He could hear plainly the ringing grate of steel on steel, the clang of sword on iron cap, the dull beat of blade on shield; men were yelling and screaming, and one clear loud voice was calling Gondor! Gondor! `It sounds like a hundred blacksmiths all smithying together,' said Sam to Frodo. 'They're as near as I want them now.' But the noise grew closer. `They are coming!' cried Damrod. `See! Some of the Southrons have broken from the trap and are flying from the road. There they go! Our men after them, and the Captain leading.' Sam, eager to see more, went now and joined the guards. He scrambled a little way up into one of the larger of the bay-trees. For a moment he caught a glimpse of swarthy men in red running down the slope some way off with green-clad warriors leaping after them, hewing them down as they fled. Arrows were thick in the air. Then suddenly straight over the rim of their sheltering bank, a man fell, crashing through the slender trees, nearly on top of them. He came to rest in the fern a few feet away, face downward, green arrow-feathers sticking from his neck below a golden collar. His scarlet robes were tattered, his corslet of overlapping brazen plates was rent and hewn, his black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood. His brown hand still clutched the hilt of a broken sword.####- It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace-all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind. For just as Mablung stepped towards the fallen body, there was a new noise. Great crying and shouting. Amidst it Sam heard a shrill bellowing or trumpeting. And then a great thudding and bumping. like huge rams dinning on the ground. 'Ware! Ware!' cried Damrod to his companion. 'May the Valar turn him aside! Mymak! Mymak!' To his astonishment and terror, and lasting delight, Sam saw a vast shape crash out of the trees and come careering down the slope. Big as a house, much bigger than a house, it looked to him, a grey-clad moving hill. Fear and wonder, maybe, enlarged him in the hobbit's eyes, but the Mymak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and the like of him does not walk now in Middle-earth; his kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty. On he came, straight towards the watchers, and then swerved aside in the nick of time, passing only a few yards away, rocking the ground beneath their feet: his great legs like trees, enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like a huge serpent about to strike. his small red eyes raging. His upturned hornlike tusks were bound with bands of gold and dripped with blood. His trappings of scarlet and gold flapped about him in wild tatters. The ruins of what seemed a very war -tower lay upon his heaving back, smashed in his furious passage thr ough the woods; and high upon his neck still desperately clung a tiny figure-the body of a mighty warrior, a giant among the Swertings. On the great beast thundered, blundering in blind wrath through pool and thicket. Arrows skipped and snapped harmlessly about the triple hide of his flanks. Men of both sides fled before him, but many he overtook and crushed to the ground. Soon he was lost to view, still trumpeting and stamping far away. What became of him Sam never heard: whether he escaped to roam the wild for a time, until he perished far from his home or was trapped in some deep pit; or whether he raged on until he plunged in the Great River and was swallowed up. Sam drew a deep breath. 'An Oliphaunt it was!' he said. `S o there are ####-Oliphaunts, and I have seen one. What a life! But no one at home will ever believe me. Well, if that's over, I'll have a bit of sleep.' 'Sleep while you may,' said Mablung. `But the Captain will return, if he is unhurt; and when he comes we shall depart swiftly. We shall be pursued as soon as news of our deed reaches the Enemy, and that will not be long.' `Go quietly when you must!' said Sam. `No need to disturb my sleep. I was walking all night.' Mablung laughed. `I do not think the Captain will leave you here, Master Samwise,' he said. 'But you shall see.' ####- It seemed to Sam that he had only dozed for a few minutes when he awoke to find that it was late afternoon and Faramir had come back. He had brought many men with him; indeed all the survivors of the foray were now gathered on the slope nearby, two or three hundred strong. They sat in a wide semicircle, between the arms of which Faramir was seated on the ground, while Frodo stood before him. It looked strangely like the trial of a prisoner. Sam crept out from the fern, but no one paid any attention to him, and he placed himself at the end of the rows of men, where he could see and hear all that wa s going on. He watched and listened intently, ready to dash to his master's aid if needed. He could see Faramir's face, which was now unmasked: it was stern and commanding, and a keen wit lay behind his searching glance. Doubt was in the grey eyes that gazed steadily at Frodo. Sam soon became aware that the Captain was not satisfied with Frodo's account of himself at several points: what part he had to play in the Company that set out from Rivendell; why he had left Boromir; and where he was now going. In particular he returned often to Isildur's Bane. Plainly he saw that Frodo was concealing from him some matter of great importance. 'But it was at the coming of the Halfling that Isildur's Bane should waken, or so one must read the words,' he insisted. `If then you are the Halfling that was named, doubtless you brought this thing, whatever it may be, to the Council of which you speak, and there Boromir saw it. Do you deny it? ' Frodo made no answer. 'So! ' said Faramir. `I wish then to learn from you more of it; for what concerns Boromir concerns me. An orc-arrow slew Isildur, so far as old tales tell. But orc-arrows are plenty, and the sight of one would not be taken as a sign of Doom by Boromir of Gondor. Had you this thing in keeping? It is hidden, you say; but is not that because you choose to hide it? ' 'No, not because I choose,' answered Frodo. `It does not belong to me. It does not belong to any mortal, great or small; though if any could claim it, it would be Aragorn son of Arathorn, whom I named, the leader of our Company from Moria to Rauros.'####- 'Why so, and not Boromir, prince of the City that the sons of Elendil founded? ' 'Because Aragorn is descended in direct lineage, father to father, from Isildur Elendil's son himself. And the sword that he bears was Elendil's sword.' A murmur of astonishment ran through all the ring of men. Some cried aloud: 'The sword of Elendil! The sword of Elendil comes to Minas Tirith! Great tidings! ' But Faramir's face was unmoved. `Maybe,' he said. `But so great a claim will need to be established and clear proofs will be required, should this Aragorn ever come to Minas Tirith. He had not come, nor any of your Company, when I set out six days ago.' 'Boromir was satisfied of that claim,' said Frodo. `Indeed, if Boromir were here, he would answer all your questions. And since he was already at Rauros many days back, and intended then to go straight to your city, if you return, you may soon learn the answers there. My part in the Company was known to him, as to all the others. for it was appointed to me by Elrond of Imladris himself before the whole Council. On that errand I came into this country, but it is not mine to reveal to any outside the Company. Yet those who claim to oppose the Enemy would do well not to hinder it.' Frodo's tone was proud, whatever he felt, and Sam approved of it; but it did not appease Faramir. `So!' he said. `You bid me mind my own affairs, and get me back home, and let you be. Boromir will tell all, when he comes. When he comes, say you! Were you a friend of Boromir?' Vividly before Frodo's mind came the memory of Boromir's assault upon him, and for a moment he hesitated. Faramir's eyes watching him grew harder. 'Boromir was a valiant member of our Company ' said Frodo at length. 'Yes, I was his friend, for my part.' Faramir smiled grimly. `Then you would grieve to learn that Boromir is dead? ' 'I would grieve indeed,' said Frodo. Then catching the look in Faramir's eyes, he faltered. 'Dead?' he said. `Do you mean that he is dead, and that you knew it? You have been trying to trap me in words, playing with me? Or are you now trying to snare me with a falsehood?' `I would not snare even an orc with a falsehood,' said Faramir. `How then did he die, and how do you know of it? Since you say that ####-none of the Company had reached the city when you left.' 'As to the manner of his death, I had hoped that his friend and companion would tell me how it was.' `But he was alive and strong when we parted. And he lives still for all that I know. Though surely there are many perils in the world.' `Many indeed,' said Faramir, `and treachery not the least.' Sam had been getting more and more impatient and angry at this conversation. These last words were more than he could bear, and bursting into the middle of the ring, he strode up to his master's side. 'Begging your pardon, Mr. Frodo,' he said, `but this has gone on long enough. He's no right to talk to you so. After all you've gone through, as much for his good and all these great Men as for anyone else. 'See here, Captain! ' He planted himself squarely in front of Faramir his hands on his hips, and a look on his face as if he was addressing a young hobbit who had offered him what he called `sauce' when questioned about visits to the orchard. There was some murmuring, but also some grins on the faces of the men looking on: the sight of their Captain sitting on the ground and eye to eye with a young hobbit, legs well apart, bristling with wrath, was one beyond their experience. `See here! ' he said. `What are you driving at? Let's come to the point before all the Orcs of Mordor come down on us! If you think my master murdered this Boromir and then ran away, you've got no sense; but say it, and have done! And then let us know what you mean to do about it. But it's a pity that folk as talk about fighting the Enemy can't let others do their bit in their own way without interfering. He'd be mighty pleased, if he could see you now. Think he'd got a new friend, he would.' `Patience!' said Faramir, but without anger. `Do not speak before your master, whose wit is greater than yours. And I do not need any to teach me of our peril. Even so, I spare a brief time, in order to judge justly in a hard matter. Were I as hasty as you, I might have slain you long ago. For I am commanded to slay all whom I find in this land without the leave of the Lord of Gondor. But I do not slay man or beast needlessly, and not gladly even when it is needed. Neither do I talk in vain. So be comforted. Sit by your master, and be silent! ' Sam sat down heavily with a red face. Faramir turned to Frodo again: 'You asked how do I know that the son of Denethor is dead. Tidings of death have many wings. Night oft brings news to near kindred, 'tis said. Boromir ####-was my brother.' A shadow of sorrow passed over his face. `Do you remember aught of special mark that the Lord Boromir bore with him among his gear?' Frodo thought for a moment, fearing some further trap, and wondering how this debate would turn in the end. He had hardly saved the Ring from the proud grasp of Boromir, and how he would fare now among so many men, warlike and strong, he did not know. Yet he felt in his heart that Faramir, though he was much like his brother in looks, was a man less self-regarding, both sterner and wiser. 'I remember that Boromir bore a horn,' he said at last. `You remember well, and as one who has in truth seen him,' said Faramir. `Then maybe you can see it in your mind's eye: a great horn of the wild ox of the East, bound with silver, and written with ancient characters. That horn the eldest son of our house has borne for many generations; and it is said that if it be blown at need anywhere within the bounds of Gondor, as the realm was of old, its voice will not pass unheeded. 'Five days ere I set out on this venture, eleven days ago at about this hour of the day, I heard the blowing of that horn: from the northward it seemed, but dim, as if it were but an echo in the mind. A boding of ill we thought it, my father and I, for no tidings had we heard of Boromir since he went away, and no watcher on our borders had seen him pass. And on the third night after another and a stranger thing befell me. 'I sat at night by the waters of Anduin, in the grey dark under the young pale moon, watching the ever -moving stream; and the sad reeds were rustling. So do we ever watch the shores nigh Osgiliath, which our enemies now partly hold, and issue from it to harry our lands. Bu t that night all the world slept at the midnight hour. Then I saw, or it seemed that I saw, a boat floating on the water, glimmering grey, a small boat of a strange fashion with a high prow. and there was none to row or steer it. `An awe fell on me, for a pale light was round it. But I rose and went to the bank, and began to walk out into the stream, for I was drawn towards it. Then the boat turned towards me, and stayed its pace, and floated slowly by within my hand's reach, yet I durst not handle it. It waded deep, as if it were heavily burdened, and it seemed to me as it passed under my gaze that it was almost filled with clear water, from which came the light; and lapped in the water a warrior lay asleep. `A broken sword was on his knee. I saw many wounds on him. It was ####-Boromir, my brother, dead. I knew his gear, his sword, his beloved face. One thing only I missed: his horn. One thing only I knew not: a fair belt, as it were of linked golden leaves, about his waist. Boromir! I cried. Where is thy horn? Whither goest thou? O Boromir! But he was gone. The boat turned into the stream and passed glimmering on into the night. Dreamlike it was. and yet no dream, for there was no waking. And I do not doubt that he is dead and has passed down the River to the Sea.' 'Alas!' said Frodo. 'That was indeed Boromir as I knew him. For the golden belt was given to him in Lothlurien by the Lady Galadriel. She it was that clothed us as you see us, in elven-grey. This brooch is of the same workmanship.' He touched the green and silver leaf that fastened his cloak beneath his throat. Faramir looked closely at it. `It is beautiful,' he said. 'Yes, 'tis work of the same craft. So then you passed through the Land of Lurien? Laurelindurenan it was named of old, but long now it has lain beyond the knowledge of Men,' he added softly, regarding Frodo with a new wonder in his eyes. `Much that was strange about you I begin now to understand. Will you not tell me more? For it is a bitter thought that Boromir died, within sight of the land of his home.' 'No more can I say than I have said,' answered Frodo. `Though your tale fills me with foreboding. A vision it was that you saw, I think, and no more, some shadow of evil fortune that has been or will be. Unless indeed it is some lying trick of the Enemy. I have seen the faces of fair warriors of old laid in sleep beneath the pools of the Dead Marshes, or seeming so by his foul arts.' 'Nay, it was not so,' said Faramir. 'For his works fill the heart with loathing; but my heart was filled with grief and pity.' `Yet how could such a thing have happened in truth? ' asked Frodo. 'For no boat could have been carried over the stony hills from Tol Brandir; and Boromir purposed to go home across the Entwash and the fields of Rohan. And yet how could any vessel ride the foam of the great falls and not founder in the boiling pools, though laden with water? ' 'I know not,' said Faramir. 'But whence came the boat? ' `From Lurien,' said Frodo. 'In three such boats we rowed down Anduin to the Falls. They also were of elven-work.' 'You passed through the Hidden Land,' said Faramir, `but it seems that ####-you little understood its power. If Men have dealings with the Mistress of Magic who dwells in the Golden Wood, then they may look for strange things to follow. For it is perilous for mortal man to walk out of the world of this Sun, and few of old came thence unchanged, 'tis said. `Boromir, O Boromir!' he cried. `What did she say to you, the Lady that dies not? What did she see? What woke in your heart then? Why went you ever to Laurelindurenan, and came not by your own road, upon the horses of Rohan riding home in the morning? ' Then turning again to Frodo, he spoke in a quiet voice once more. 'To those questions I guess that you could make some answer, Frodo son of Drogo. But not here or now. maybe. But lest you still should think my tale a vision, I will tell you this. The horn of Boromir at least returned in truth, and not in seeming. The horn came, but it was cloven in two, as it were by axe or sword. The shards came severally to shore: one was found among the reeds where watchers of Gondor lay, northwards below the infalls of the Entwash; the other was found spinning on the flood by one who had an errand in the water. Strange chances, but murder will out, 'tis said. 'And now the horn of the elder son lies in two pieces upon the lap of Denethor, sitting in his high chair, waiting for news. And you can tell me nothing of the cleaving of the horn? ' 'No, I did not know of it,' said Frodo. `But the day when you heard it blowing, if your reckoning is true, was the day when we parted, when I and my servant left the Company. And now your tale fills me with dread. For if Boromir was then in peril and was slain, I must fear that all my companions perished too. And they were my kindred and my friends. `Will you not put aside your dou bt of me and let me go? I am weary, and full of grief, and afraid. But I have a deed to do, or to attempt, before I too am slain. And the more need of haste, if we two halflings are all that remain of our fellowship. 'Go back, Faramir, valiant Captain of Gondor, and defend your city while you may, and let me go where my doom takes me.' `For me there is no comfort in our speech together,' said Faramir; `but you surely draw from it more dread than need be. Unless the people of Lurien themselves came to him, who arrayed Boromir as for a funeral? Not Orcs or servants of the Nameless. Some of your Company, I guess, live still. `But whatever befell on the North March, you, Frodo, I doubt no longer.####-If hard days have made me any judge of Men's words and faces, then I may make a guess at Halflings! Though,' and now he smiled, `there is something strange about you, Frodo, an elvish air, maybe. But more lies upon our words together than I thought at first. I should now take you back to Minas Tirith to answer there to Denethor, and my life will justly be forfeit, if I now choose a course that proves ill for my city. So I will not decide in haste what is to be done. Yet we must move hence without more delay.' He sprang to his feet and issued some orders. At once the men who were gathered round him broke up into small groups, and went off this way and that, vanishing quickly into the shadows of the rocks and trees. Soon only Mablung and Damrod remained. 'Now you, Frodo and Samwise, will come with me and my guards,' said Faramir. `You cannot go along the road southwards, if that was your purpose. It will be unsafe for some days, and always more closely watched after this affray than it has been yet. And you cannot, I think, go far today in any case, for you are weary. And so are we. We are going now to a secret place we have, somewhat less than ten miles from here. The Orcs and spies of the Enemy have not found it yet, and if they did, we could hold it long even against many. There we may lie up and rest for a while, and you with us. In the morning I will decide what is best for me to do, and for you.' There was nothing for Frodo to do but to fall in with this request, or order. It seemed in any case a wise course for the moment, since this foray of the men of Gondor had made a journey in Ithilien more dangerous than ever. They set out at once: Mablung and Damrod a little ahead, and Faramir with Frodo and Sam behind. Skirting the hither side of the pool where the hobbits had bathed, they crossed the stream, climbed a long bank, and passed into green-shadowed woodlands that marched ever downwards and westwards. While they walked, as swiftly as the hobbits could go, they talked in hushed voices. 'I broke off our speech together,' said Faramir, 'not only because time pressed, as Master Samwise had reminded me, but also because we were drawing near to matters that were better not debated openly before many men. It was for that reason that I turned rather to the matter of my brother and let be Isildur's Bane. You were not wholly frank with me, Frodo.'####- `I told no lies, and of the truth all I could,' said Frodo. `I do not blame you,' said Faramir. 'You spoke with skill in a hard place, and wisely, it seemed to me. But I learned or guessed more from you than your words said. You were not friendly with Boromir, or you did not part in friendship. You, and Master Samwise, too, I guess have some grievance. Now I loved him dearly, and would gladly avenge his death, yet I knew him well. Isildur's Bane -- I would hazard that Isildur's Bane lay between you and was a cause of contention in your Company. Clearly it is a mighty heirloom of some sort, and such things do not breed peace among confederates, not if aught may be learned from ancient tales. Do I not hit near the mark?' `Near,' said Frodo, 'but not in the gold. There was no contention in our Company, though there was doubt: doubt which way we should take from the Emyn Muil. But be that as it may, ancient tales teach us also the peril of rash words concerning such things as -- heirlooms.' 'Ah, then it is as I thought: your trouble was with Boromir alone. He wished this thing brou ght to Minas Tirith. Alas! it is a crooked fate that seals your lips who saw him last, and holds from me that which I long to know: what was in his heart and thought in his latest hours. Whether he erred or no, of this I am sure: he died well, achieving some good thing. His face was more beautiful even than in life. `But, Frodo, I pressed you hard at first about Isildur's Bane. Forgive me! It was unwise in such an hour and place. I had not had time for thought. We had had a hard fight, and there was more than enough to fill my mind. But even as I spoke with you, I drew nearer to the mark, and so deliberately shot wider. For you must know that much is still preserved of ancient lore among the Rulers of the city that is not spread abroad. We of my house are not of the line of Elendil. though the blood of N®menor is in us. For we reckon back our line to Mardil, the good steward, who ruled in the king's stead when he went away to war. And that was King Edrnur, last of the line of Anbrion, and childless, and he came never back. And the stewards have governed the city since that day, though it was many generations of Men ago. 'And this I remember of Boromir as a boy, when we together learned the tale of our sires and the history of our city, that always it displeased him that his father was not king. "How many hundreds of years needs it to make a steward a king, if the king returns not? " he asked. "Few years, maybe, in ####-other places of less royalty," my father answered. "In Gondor ten thousand years would not suffice." Alas! poor Boromir. Does that not tell you something of him? ' 'It does,' said Frodo. `Yet always he treated Aragorn with honour.' 'I doubt it not,' said Faramir. `If he were satisfied of Aragorn's claim as you say, he would greatly reverence him. But the pinch has not yet come. They had not yet reached Minas Tirith or become rivals in her wars. `But I stray. We in the house of Denethor know much ancient lore by long tradition, and there are moreover in our treasuries many things preserved: books and tablets writ on withered parchments, yea, and on stone, and on leaves of silver and of gold, in divers characters. Some none can now read; and for the rest, few ever unlock them. I can read a little in them, for I have had teaching. It was these records that brought the Grey Pilgrim to us. I first saw him when I was a child, and he has been twice or thrice since then.' 'The Grey Pilgrim? ' said Frodo. 'Had he a name?' 'Mithrandir we called him in elf-fashion,' said Faramir, 'and he was content. Many are my names in many countries, he said. Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkyn to the Dwarves; Olurin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incbnus, in the North Gandalf; to the East I go not.' 'Gandalf!' said Frodo. 'I thought it was he. Gandalf the Grey dearest of counsellors. Leader of our Company. He was lost in Moria.' 'Mithrandir was lost! ' said Faramir. 'An evil fate seems to have pursued your fellowship. It is hard indeed to believe that one of so great wisdom, and of power -- for many wonderful things he did among us -- could perish, and so much lore be taken from the world. Are you sure of this, and that he did not just leave you and depart where he would? ' 'Alas! yes,' said Frodo. `I saw him fall into the abyss.' 'I see that there is some great tale of dread in this.' said Faramir `which perhaps you may tell me in the evening-time. This Mithrandir was, I now guess, more than a lore-master: a great mover of the deeds that are done in our time. Had he been among us to consult concerning the hard words of our dream, he could have made them clear to us without need of messenger. Yet, maybe, he would not have done so, and the journey of Boromir was doomed. Mithrandir never spoke to us of what was to be, nor did he reveal his purposes. He got leave of Denethor, how I do not know, to look at the ####-secrets of our treasury, and I learned a little of him, when he would teach (and that was seldom). Ever he would search and would question us above all else concerning the Great Battle that was fought upon Dagorlad in the beginning of Gondor, when He whom we do not name was over thrown. And he was eager for stories of Isildur, though of him we had less to tell; for nothing certain was ever known among us of his end.' Now Faramir's voice sank to a whisper. 'But this much I learned or guessed, and I have kept it ever secr et in my heart since: that Isildur took somewhat from the hand of the Unnamed, ere he went away from Gondor, never to be seen among mortal men again. Here I thought was the answer to Mithrandir's questioning. But it seemed then a matter that concerned only the seekers after ancient learning. Nor when the riddling words of our dream were debated among us, did I think of Isildur's Bane as being this same thing. For Isildur was ambushed and slain by orc-arrows, according to the only legend that we knew, and Mithrandir had never told me more. `What in truth this Thing is I cannot yet guess; but some heirloom of power and peril it must be. A fell weapon, perchance, devised by the Dark Lord. If it were a thing that gave advantage in battle. I can well believe that Boromir, the proud and fearless, often rash, ever anxious for the victory of Minas Tirith (and his own glory therein), might desire such a thing and be allured by it. Alas that ever he went on that errand! I should have been chosen by my father and the elders but he put himself forward. as being the older and the hardier (both true), and he would not be stayed. 'But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No. I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.' 'Neither did the Council,' said Frodo. 'Nor do I. I would have nothing to do with such matters.' `For myself,' said Faramir, 'I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword ####-for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of N®menor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise. 'So fear me not! I do not ask you to tell me more. I do not even ask you to tell me whether I now speak nearer the mark. But if you will trust me, it may be that I can advise you in your present quest, whatever that be-yes, and even aid you.' Frodo made no answer. Almost he yielded to the desire for help and counsel, to tell this grave young man, whose words seemed so wise and fair, all that was in his mind. But something held him back. His heart was heavy with fear and sorrow: if he and Sam were indeed, as seemed likely, all that was now left of the Nine Walkers, then he was in sole command of the secret of their errand. Better mistrust undeserved than rash words. And the memory of Bor omir, of the dreadful change that the lure of the Ring had worked in him, was very present to his mind, when he looked at Faramir and listened to his voice: unlike they were, and yet also much akin. They walked on in silence for a while, passing like grey and green shadows under the old trees, their feet making no sound; above them many birds sang, and the sun glistened on the polished roof of dark leaves in the evergreen woods of Ithilien. Sam had taken no part in the conversation, though he had listened; and at the same time he had attended with his keen hobbit ears to all the soft woodland noises about them. One thing he had noted, that in all the talk the name of Gollum had not once come up. He was glad, though he felt that it was too much to hope that he would never hear it again. He soon became aware also that though they walked alone, there were many men close at hand: not only Damrod and Mablung flitting in and out of the shadows ahead, but others on either side, all making their swift secret way to some appointed place. Once, looking suddenly back, as if some prickle of the skin told him that he was watched from behind, he thought he caught a brief glimpse of a small dark shape slipping behind a tree-trunk. He opened his mouth to speak and shut it again. `I'm not sure of it,' he said to himself, 'and why should I remind them of the old villain, if they choose to forget him? I wish I could!' So they passed on, until the woodlands grew thinner and the land began ####-to fall more steeply. Then they turned aside again, to the right, and came quickly to a small river in a narrow gorge: it was the same stream that trickled far above out of the round pool, now grown to a swift torrent, leaping down over many stones in a deep-cloven bed, overhung with ilex and dark box-woods. Looking west they could see, below them in a haze of light, lowlands and broad meads, and glinting far off in the westering sun the wide waters of the Anduin. 'Here, alas! I must do you a discourtesy,' said Faramir. "I hope you will pardon it to one who has so far made his orders give way to courtesy as not to slay you or to bind you. But it is a command that no stranger, not even one of Rohan that fights with us, sha ll see the path we now go with open eyes. I must blindfold you.' `As you will,' said Frodo. 'Even the Elves do likewise at need, and blindfolded we crossed the borders of fair Lothlurien. Gimli the dwarf took it ill, but the hobbits endured it.' `It is to no place so fair that I shall lead you,' said Faramir. 'But I am glad that you will take this willingly and not by force.' He called softly and immediately Mablung and Damrod stepped out of the trees and came back to him. 'Blindfold these guests,' said Faramir. `Securely, but not so as to discomfort them. Do not tie their hands. They will give their word not to try and see. I could trust them to shut their eyes of their own accord, but eyes will blink, if the feet stumble. Lead them so that they do not falter.' With green scarves the two guards now bound up the hobbits' eyes and drew their hoods down almost to their mouths; then quickly they took each one by the hand and went on their way. All that Frodo and Sam knew of this last mile of the road they learned from guessing in the dark. After a little they found that they were on a path descending steeply; soon it grew so narrow that they went in single file, brushing a stony wall on either side; their guards steered them from behind with hands laid firmly on their shoulders. Now and again they came to rough places and were lifted from their feet for a while, and then set down again. Always the noise of the running water was on their right hand, and it grew nearer and louder. At length they were halted. Quickly Mablung and Damrod turned them about, several times, and they lost all sense of direction. They climbed upwards a little: it seemed cold and the noise of the stream had become faint. Then they were picked up and carried down, down many steps, and round a corner.####-Suddenly they heard the water again, loud now, rushing and splashing. All round them it seemed, and they felt a fine rain on their hands and cheeks. At last they were set on their feet once more. For a moment they stood so, half fearful, blindfold, not knowing where they were; and no one spoke. Then came the voice of Faramir close behind. `Let them see! ' he said. The scarves were removed and their hoods drawn back, and they blinked and gasped. They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the doorstep, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front a thin veil of water was hung, so near that Frodo cou ld have put an outstretched arm into it. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beat upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever -changing colour. It was as if they stood at the window of some elven-tower, curtained with threaded jewels of silver and gold, and ruby, sapphire and amethyst, all kindled with an unconsuming fire. 'At least by good chance we came at the right hour to reward you for your patience,' said Faramir. `This is the Window of the Sunset, Henneth Annyn, fairest of all the falls of Ithilien, land of many fountains. Few strangers have ever seen it. But there is no kingly hall behind to match it. Enter now and see! ' Even as he spoke the sun sank, and the fire faded in the flowing water. They turned and passed under the low forbidding arch. At once they found themselves in a rock -chamber, wide and rough, with an uneven stooping roof. A few torches were kindled and cast a dim light on the glisten ing walls. Many men were already there. Others were still coming in by twos and threes through a dark narrow door on one side. As their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom the hobbits saw that the cave was larger than they had guessed and was filled with gr eat store of arms and victuals. 'Well, here is our refuge,' said Faramir. `Not a place of great ease but here you may pass the night in peace. It is dry at least, and there is food, though no fire. At one time the water flowed down through this cave and out of the arch, but its course was changed further up the gorge, by workmen of old, and the stream sent down in a fall of doubled height over the rocks far above. All the ways into this grot were then sealed against the entry of water or aught else, all save one. There are now but two ways out: that passage yonder by which you entered blindfold, and through the Window-curtain into a deep bowl filled with knives of stone. Now rest a ####-while, until the evening meal is set.' The hobbits were taken to a corner and given a low bed to lie on, if they wished. Meanwhile men busied themselves about the cave, quietly and in orderly quickness. Light tables were taken from the walls and set up on trestles and laden with gear . This was plain and unadorned for the most part, but all well and fairly, made: round platters, bowls and dishes of glazed brown clay or turned box-wood, smooth and clean. Here and there was a cup or basin of polished bronze; and a goblet of plain silver was set by the Captain's seat in the middle of the inmost table. Faramir went about among the men, questioning each as he came in, in a soft voice. Some came back from the pursuit of the Southrons; others, left behind as scouts near the roa d, came in latest. All the Southrons had been accounted for, save only the great mymak: what happened to him none could say. Of the enemy no movement could be seen; not even an orc-spy was abroad. 'You saw and heard nothing, Anborn?' Faramir asked of the latest comer. `Well, no, lord,' said the man. `No Orc at least. But I saw, or thought I saw, something a little strange. It was getting deep dusk, when the eyes make things greater than they should be. So perhaps it may have been no more than a squirrel.' Sam pricked up his ears at this. 'Yet if so, it was a black squirrel, and I saw no tail. 'Twas like a shadow on the ground, and it whisked behind a tree-trunk when I drew nigh and went up aloft as swift as any squirrel could. You wi ll not have us slay wild beasts for no purpose, and it seemed no more, so I tried no arrow. It was too dark for sure shooting anyway, and the creature was gone into the gloom of the leaves in a twinkling. But I stayed for a while, for it seemed strange, and then I hastened back. I thought I heard the thing hiss at me from high above as I turned away. A large squirrel, maybe. Perhaps under the shadow of the Unnamed some of the beasts of Mirkwood are wandering hither to our woods. They have black squirrels there, 'tis said.' `Perhaps,' said Faramir. `But that would be an ill omen, if it were so. We do not want the escapes of Mirkwood in Ithilien.' Sam fancied that he gave a swift glance towards the hobbits as he spoke; but Sam said nothing. For a while he and Frodo lay back and watched the torchlight, and the men moving to and fro speaking in hushed voices. Then suddenly Frodo fell asleep.####- Sam struggled with himself, arguing this way and that. `He may be a ll right,' he thought, 'and then he may not. Fair speech may hide a foul heart.' He yawned. `I could sleep for a week, and I'd be better for it. And what can I do, if I do keep awake, me all alone, and all these great Men about? Nothing, Sam Gamgee; but you've got to keep awake all the same.' And somehow he managed it. The light faded from the cave door, and the grey veil of falling water grew dim and was lost in gathering shadow. Always the sound of the water went on, never changing its note, morning or evening or night. It murmured and whispered of sleep. Sam stuck his knuckles in his eyes. Now more torches were being lit. A cask of wine was broached. Storage barrels were being opened. Men were fetching water from the fall. Some were laving their hands in basins. A wide copper bowl and a white cloth were brought to Faramir and he washed. `Wake our guests,' he said, `and take them water. It is time to eat.' Frodo sat up and yawned and stretched. Sam, not used to being waited on, looked with some surprise at the tall man who bowed, holding a basin of water before him. 'Put it on the ground, master, if you please! ' he said. 'Easier for me and you.' Then to the astonishment and amusement of the Men he plunged his head into the cold water and splashed his neck and ears. 'Is it the custom in your land to wash the head before supper? ' said the man who waited on the hobbits. `No, before breakfast,' said Sam. `But if you're short of sleep cold water on the neck's like rain on a wilted lettuce. There! Now I can keep awake long enough to eat a bit.' They were led then to seats beside Faramir: barrels covered with pelts and high enough above the benches of the Men for their convenience. Before they ate, Faramir and all his men turned and faced west in a moment of silence. Faramir signed to Frodo and Sam that they should do likewise. 'So we always do.' he said, as they sat down: `we look towards N®menor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be. Have you no such custom at meat? ' `No,' said Frodo, feeling strangely rustic and untutored. `But if we are guests, we bow to our host, and after we have eaten we rise and thank him.' 'That we do also,' said Faramir. After so long journeying and camping, and days spent ¤n the lonely ####-wild, the evening meal seemed a feast to the hobbits: to drink pale yellow wine, cool and fragrant, and eat bread and butter, and salted meats, and dried fruits, and good red cheese, with clean hands and clean knives and plates. Neither Frodo nor Sam refused anything that was offered, nor a second, nor indeed a third helping. The wine coursed in their veins and tired limbs, and they felt glad and easy of heart as they had not done since they left the land of Lurien. When all was done Faramir led them to a recess at the back of the cave, partly screened by curtains; and a chair and two stools were brought there. A little earthenware lamp burned in a niche. `You may soon desire to sleep,' he said, 'and especially good Samwise, who would not close his eyes before he ate -- whether for fear of blunting the edge of a noble hunger, or for fear of me, I do not know. But it is not good to sleep too soon after meat, and that following a fast. Let us talk a while. On your journey from Rivendell there must have been many things to tell. And you, too, would perhaps wish to learn something of us and the lands where you now are. Tell me of Boromir my brother, and of old Mithrandir, and of the fair people of Lothlurien.' Frodo no longer felt sleepy and he was willing to talk. But though the food and wine had put him at his ease, he had not lost all his caution. Sam was beaming and humming to himself, but when Frodo spoke he was at first content to listen, only occasionally venturing to make an exclamation of agreement. Frodo told many tales, yet always he steered the matter away from the quest of the Company and from the Ring, enlarging rather on the valiant part Boromir had played in all their adventures. with the wolves of the wild, in the snows under Caradhras, and in the mines of Moria where Gandalf fell. Faramir was most moved by the story of the fight on the bridge. `It must have irked Boromir to run from Orcs,' he said, `or even from the fell thing you name, the Balrog -- even though he was the last to leave.' `He was the last,' said Frodo, 'but Aragorn was forced to lead us. He alone knew the way after Gandalf's fall. But had there not been us lesser folk to care for, I do not think that either he or Boromir would have fled.' `Maybe, it would have been better had Boromir fallen ther e with Mithrandir,' said Faramir, `and not gone on to the fate that waited above the falls of Rauros.'####- 'Maybe. But tell me now of your own fortunes,' said Frodo, turning the matter aside once again. `For I would learn more of Minas Ithil and Osgiliath, and Minas Tirith the long-enduring. What hope have you for that city in your long war? ' 'What hope have we? ' said Faramir. 'It is long since we had any hope. The sword of Elendil, if it returns indeed, may rekindle it, but I do not think that it will do more than put off the evil day, unless other help unlooked-for also comes, from Elves or Men. For the Enemy increases and we decrease. We are a failing people, a springless autumn. `The Men of N®menor were settled far and wide on the shores and seaward regions of the Great Lands, but for the most part they fell into evils and follies. Many became enamoured of the Darkness and the black arts; some were given over wholly to idleness and ease, and some fought among themselves, until they were conquered in their weakness by the wild men. `It is not said that evil arts were ever practised in Gondor, or that the Nameless One was ever named in honour there; and the old wisdom and beauty brought out of the West remained long in the realm of the sons of Elendil the Fair, and they linger there still. Yet even so it was Gondor that brought about its own decay, falling by degrees into dotage, and thinking that the Enemy was asleep, who was only banished not destroyed. 'Death was ever present, because the N®menoreans still, as they had in their old kingdom, and so lost it, hungered after endless life unchanging. Kings made tombs more splendid than houses of the living. and counted old names in the rolls of their descent dearer than the names of sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars. And the last king of the line of Anbrion had no heir. `But the stewards were wiser and more fortunate. Wiser, for they recruited the strength of our people from the sturdy folk of the sea -coast, and from the hardy mountaineers of Ered Nimrais. And they made a truce with the proud peoples of the North, who often had assailed us, men of fierce valour, but our kin from afar off, unlike the wild Easterlings or the cruel Haradrim. 'So it came to pass in the days of Cirion the Twelfth Steward (and my father is the sit and twentieth) that they rode to our aid and at the great Field of Celebrant they destroyed our enemies that had seized our northern ####-provinces. These are the Rohirrim, as we name them, masters of horses, and we ceded to them the fields of Calenardhon that are since called Rohan; for that province had long been sparsely peopled. And they became our allies, and have ever proved true to us, aiding us at need, and guarding our northern marches and the Gap of Rohan. `Of our lore and manners they have learned what they would, and their lords speak our speech at need; yet for the most part they hold by the ways of their own fathers and to their own memories, and they speak among themselves their own North tongue. And we love them: tall men and fair women, valiant both alike, golden-haired, bright-eyed, and strong; they remind us of the youth of Men, as they were in the Elder Days. Indeed it is said by our lore-masters that they have from of old this affinity with us that they are come from those same Three Houses of Men as were the N®menoreans in their beginning not from Hador the Goldenhaired, the Elf-friend, maybe, yet from such of his sons and people as went not over Sea into the West, refusing the call. 'For so we reckon Men in our lore, calling them the High, or Men of the West, which were N®menoreans; and the Middle Peoples, Men of the Twilight, such as are the Rohirrim and their kin that dwell still far in the North; and the Wild, the Men of Darkness. `Yet now, if the Rohirrim are grown in some ways more like to us, enhanced in arts and gentleness, we too have become more like to them, and can scarce claim any longer the title High. We are become Middle Men, of the Twilight, but with memory of other things. For as the Rohirrim do, we now love war and valour as things good in themselves, both a sport and an end; and though we still hold that a warrior should have more skills and knowledge than only the craft of weapons and slaying, we esteem a warrior, nonetheless, above men of other crafts. Such is the need of our days. So even was my brother, Boromir: a man of prowess, and for that he was accounted the best man in Gondor. And very valiant indeed he was: no heir of Minas Tirith has for long years been so hardy in toil, so onward into battle, or blown a mightier note on the Great Horn.' Faramir sighed and fell silent for a while. `You don't say much in all your tales about the Elves, sir,' said Sam, suddenly plucking up courage. He had noted that Faramir seemed to refer to Elves with reverence, and this even more than his courtesy, and his food and ####-wine, had won Sam's respect and quieted his suspicions. `No indeed, Master Samwise,' said Faramir, `for I am not learned in Elven-lore. But there you touch upon another point in which we have changed, declining from N®menor to Middle -earth. For as you may know, if Mithrandir was your companion and you have spoken with Elrond, the Edain, the Fathers of the N®menoreans, fought beside the Elves in the first wars, and were rewarded by the gift of the kingdom in the midst of the Sea, within sight of Elvenhome. But in Middle-earth Men and Elves became estranged in the days of darkness, by the arts of the Enemy, and by the slow changes of time in which each kind walked further down their sundered roads. Men now fear and misdoubt the Elves, and yet know little of them. And we of Gondor grow like other Men, like the men of Rohan; for even they, who are the foes of the Dark Lord, shun the Elves and speak of the Golden Wood with dread. `Yet there are among us still some who have dealings with the Elves when they may, and ever and anon one will go in secret to Lurien, seldom to return. Not I. For I deem it perilous now for mortal man wilfully to seek out the Elder People. Yet I envy you that have spoken with the White Lady.' `The Lady of Lurien! Galadriel!' cried Sam. `You should see her indeed you should, sir. I am only a hobbit, and gardening's my job at home, sir, if you understand me, and I'm not much good at poetry -- not at making it: a bit of a comic rhyme, perhaps. now and again, you know, but not real poetry -- so I can't tell you what I mean. It ought to be sung. You'd have to get Strider, Aragorn that is, or old Mr. Bilbo, for that. But I wish I could make a song about her. Beautiful she is, sir! Lovely! Sometimes like a great tree in flower, sometimes like a white daffadowndilly, small and slender like. Hard as di'monds, soft as moonlight. Warm as sunlight, cold as frost in the stars. Proud and far-off as a snow-mountain, and as merry as any lass I ever saw with daisies in her hair in springtime. But that's a lot o' nonsense, and all wide of my mark.' 'Then she must be lovely indeed,' said Faramir. `Perilously fair.' `I don't know about perilous,' said Sam. `It strikes me that folk takes their peril with them into Lurien, and finds it there because they've brought it. But perhaps you could call her perilous, because she's so strong in herself. You, you could dash yourself to pieces on her, like a ship on a rock; or drownd yourself, like a hobbit in a river. But neither rock nor ####-river would be to blame. Now Boro -- ' He stopped and went red in the face. `Yes? Now Boromir you would say? ' said Faramir. `What would you say? He took his peril with him? ' `Yes sir, begging your pardon, and a fine man as your brother was if I may say so. But you've been warm on the scent all along. Now I watched Boromir and listened to him, from Rivendell all down the road -- looking after my master, as you'll understand, and not meaning any harm to Boromir -- and it's my opinion that in Lurien he first saw clearly what I guessed sooner: what he wanted. From the moment he first saw it he wanted the Enemy's Ring! ' `Sam! ' cried Frodo aghast. He had fallen deep into his own thoughts for a while, and came out of them suddenly and too late. 'Save me! ' said Sam turning white, and then flushing scarlet. `There I go again! When ever you open your big mouth you put your foot in it the Gaffer used to say to me, and right enough. O dear, O dear! `Now look here, sir! ' He turned, facing up to Faramir with all the courage that he could muster. `Don't you go taking advantage of my master because his servant's no better than a fool. You've spoken very handsome all along, put me off my guard, talking of Elves and all. But handsome is as handsome does we say. Now's a chance to show your quality.' 'So it seems,' said Faramir, slowly and very softly, with a strange smile. `So that is the answer to all the riddles! The One Ring that was thought to have perished fr om the world. And Boromir tried to take it by force? And you escaped? And ran all the way -- to me! And here in the wild I have you: two halflings, and a host of men at my call, and the Ring of Rings. A pretty stroke of fortune! A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!' He stood up, very tall and stern, his grey eyes glinting. Frodo and Sam sprang from their stools and set themselves side by side with their backs to the wall, fumbling for their sword-hilts. There was a silence. All the men in the cave stopped talking and looked towards them in wonder. But Faramir sat down again in his chair and began to laugh quietly, and then suddenly became grave again. 'Alas for Boromir! It was too sore a trial! ' he said. `How you have increased my sorrow, you two strange wanderers from a far country, bearing the peril of Men! But you are less judges of Men than I of Halflings. We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast seldom, and then perform, or die ####-in the attempt. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them. 'But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee. Sit at peace! And be comforted, Samwise. If you seem to have stumbled, think that it was fated to be so. Your heart is shr ewd as well as faithful, and saw clearer than your eyes. For strange though it may seem, it was safe to declare this to me. It may even help the master that you love. It shall turn to his good, if it is in my power. So be comforted. But do not even name this thing again aloud. Once is enough.' The hobbits came back to their seats and sat very quiet. Men turned back to their drink and their talk, perceiving that their captain had had some jest or other with the little guests, and that it was over. 'Well, Frodo, now at last we understand one another,' said Faramir. 'If you took this thing on yourself, unwilling, at others' asking, then you have pity and honour from me. And I marvel at you: to keep it hid and not to use it. You are a new people and a new world to me. Are all your kin of like sort? Your land must be a realm of peace and content, and there must gardeners be in high honour.' `Not all is well there,' said Frodo, `but certainly gardeners are honoured.' `But folk must grow weary there, even in their gardens, as do all things under the Sun of this world. And you are far from home and wayworn. No more tonight. Sleep, both of you -- in peace, if you can. Fear not! I do not wish to see it, or touch it, or know more of it than I know (which is enough), lest peril perchance waylay me and I fall lower in the test than Frodo son of Drogo. Go now to rest -- but first tell me only, if you will, whither you wish to go, and what to do. For I must watch, and wait, and think. Time passes. In the morning we must each go swiftly on the ways appointed to us.' Frodo had felt himself trembling as the first shock of fear passed. Now a great weariness came down on him like a cloud. He could dissemble and resist no longer. 'I was going to find a way into Mordor,' he said faintly. `I was going to Gorgoroth. I must find the Mountain of Fire and cast the thing into the ####-gulf of Doom. Gandalf said so. I do not think I shall ever get there.' Faramir stared at him for a moment in grave astonishment. Then suddenly he caught him as he swayed, and lifting him gently, carried him to the bed and laid him there, and covered him warmly. At once he fell into a deep sleep. Another bed was set beside him for his servant. Sam hesitated for a moment, then bowing very low: `Good night, Captain, my lord,' he said. `You took the chance, sir.' `Did I so?' said Faramir. `Yes sir, and showed your quality: the very highest.' Faramir smiled. 'A pert servant, Master Samwise. But nay: the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards. Yet there was naught in this to praise. I had no lure or desire to do other than I have done.' `Ah well, sir,' said Sam, `you said my master had an elvish air and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, of -- well, Gandalf, of wizards. 'Maybe,' said Faramir. `Maybe you discern from far away the air of N®menor. Good n ight!' ####- Frodo woke to find Faramir bending over him. For a second old fears seized him and he sat up and shrank away. `There is nothing to fear,' said Faramir. 'Is it morning already? ' said Frodo yawning. `Not yet, but night is drawing to an end, and the full moon is setting. Will you come and see it? Also there is a matter on which I desire your counsel. I am sorry to rouse you from sleep, but will you come? ' `I will,' said Frodo, rising and shivering a little as he left the warm blanket and pelts. It seemed cold in the fireless cave. The noise of the water was loud in the stillness. He put on his cloak and followed Faramir. Sam, waking suddenly by some instinct of watchfulness, saw first his master's empty bed and leapt to his feet. Then he saw two dark figures, Frodo and a man, framed against the archway, which was now filled with a pale white light. He hurried after them, past rows of men sleeping on mattresses along the wall. As he went by the cave-mouth he saw that the Curtain was now become a dazzling veil of silk and pearls and silver thread: melting icicles of moonlight. But he did not pause to admire it, and turning aside he followed his master thr ough the narrow doorway in the wall of the cave. They went first along a black passage, then up many wet steps, and so came to a small flat landing cut in the stone and lit by the pale sky, gleaming high above through a long deep shaft. From here two flights of steps led: one going on, as it seemed, up on to the high bank of the stream; the other turning away to the left. This they followed. It wound its way up like a turret-stair. At last they came out of the stony darkness and looked about. They were on a wide flat rock without rail or parapet. At their right, eastwards, the torrent fell, splashing over many terraces, and then, pouring down a steep race, it filled a smooth-hewn channel with a dark force of water flecked with foam, and curling and rushing almost at their feet it plunged sheer over the edge that yawned upon their left. A man stood there, near the brink, silent, gazing down. Frodo turned to watch the sleek necks of the water as they curved and ####-dived. Then he lifted his eyes and gazed far away. The world was quiet and cold, as if dawn were near. Far off in the West the full moon was sinking, round and white. Pale mists shimmered in the great vale below: a wide gulf of silver fume, beneath which rolled the cool night-waters of the Anduin. A black darkness loomed beyond, and in it glinted, here and there, cold, sharp, remote, white as the teeth of ghosts, the peaks of Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains of the Realm of Gondor, tipped with everlasting snow. For a while Frodo stood there on the high stone, and a shiver ran through him, wondering if anywhere in the vastness of the night -lands his old companions walked or slept, or lay dead shrouded in mist. Why was he brough t here out of forgetful sleep? Sam was eager for an answer to the same question and could not refrain himself from muttering, for his master's ear alone as he thought: 'It's a fine view, no doubt, Mr. Frodo, but chilly to the heart, not to mention the bones! What's going on? ' Faramir heard and answered. `Moonset over Gondor. Fair Ithil as he goes from Middle-earth, glances upon the white locks of old Mindolluin. It is worth a few shivers. But that is not what I brought you to see-though as for you, Samwise, you were not brought, and do but pay the penalty of your watchfulness. A draught of wine shall amend it. Come, look now! ' He stepped up beside the silent sentinel on the dark edge. and Frodo followed. Sam hung back. He already felt insecure enough on this high wet platform. Faramir and Frodo looked down. Far below them they saw the white waters pour into a foaming bowl, and then swirl darkly about a deep oval basin in the rocks. until they found their way out again through a narrow gate, and flowed away, fuming and chattering, into calmer and more level reaches. The moonlight still slanted down to the fall's foot and gleamed on the ripples of the basin. Presently Frodo was aware of a small dark thing on the near bank, but even as he looked at it, it dived and vanished just beyond the boil and bubble of the fall, cleaving the black water as neatly as an arrow or an edgewise stone. Faramir turned to the man at his side. `Now what would you say that it is, Anborn? A squirrel, or a kingfisher? Are there black kingfishers in the night-pools of Mirkwood? ' `'Tis not a bird, whatever else it be,' answered Anborn. `It has four limbs and dives manwise; a pretty mastery of the craft it shows, too. What is it at? Seeking a way up behind the Curtain to our hidings? It seems we ####-are discovered at last. I have my bow here, and I have posted other archers, nigh as good marksmen as myself, on either bank. We wait only for your command to shoot , Captain.' `Shall we shoot? ' said Faramir, turning quickly to Frodo. Frodo did not answer for a moment. Then `No! ' he said. `No! I beg you not to.' If Sam had dared, he would have said `Yes,' quicker and louder. He could not see, but he guessed well enough from their words what they were looking at. 'You know, then, what this thing is? ' said Faramir. `Come, now you have seen, tell me why it should be spared. In all our words together you have not once spoken of your gangrel companion, and I let him be for the time. He could wait till he was caught and brought before me. I sent my keenest huntsmen to seek him, but he slipped them, and they had no sight of him till now, save Anborn here, once at dusk yesterevening. But now he has done worse trespass than only to go coney-snaring in the uplands: he has dared to come to Henneth Annyn, and his life is forfeit. I marvel at the creature: so secret and so sly as he is, to come sporting in the pool before our very window. Does he think that men sleep without watch all night? Why does he so?' 'There are two answers, I think,' said Frodo. `For one thing, he knows little of Men, and sly though he is, your refuge is so hidden that perhaps he does not know that Men are concealed here. For another, I think he is allured here by a mastering desire, stronger than his caution.' `He is lured here, you say? ' said Faramir in a low voice. `Can he, does he then know of your burden? ' `Indeed yes. He bore it himself for many years.' 'He bore it? ' said Faramir, breathing sharply in his wonder. `This matter winds itself ever in new riddles. Then he is pursuing it? ' 'Maybe. It is precious to him. But I did not speak of that.' `What then does the creature seek? ' `Fish,' said Frodo. `Look! ' They peered down at the dark pool. A little black head appeared at the far end of the basin, just out of the deep shadow of the rocks. There was a brief silver glint, and a swirl of tiny ripples. It swam to the side, and then with marvellous agility a froglike figure climbed out of the water and up the bank. At once it sat down and began to gnaw at the small silver thing that glittered as it turned: the last rays of the moon were now falling ####-behind the stony wall at the pool's end. Faramir laughed softly. `Fish! ' he said. `It is a less perilous hunger. Or maybe not: fish from the pool of Henneth Annyn may cost him all he has to give.' `Now I have him at the arrow-point,' said Anborn. `Shall I not shoot, Captain? For coming unbidden to this place death is our law.' `Wait, Anborn,' said Faramir. `This is a harder matter than it seems. What have you to say now, Frodo? Why should we spare? ' `The creature is wretched and hungry,' said Frodo, `and unaware of his danger. And Gandalf, your Mithrandir, he would have bidden you not to slay him for that reason, and for others. He forbade the Elves to do so. I do not know clearly why, and of what I guess I cannot speak openly out here. But this creature is in some way bound up with my errand. Until you found us and took us, he was my guide.' `Your guide! ' said Faramir. `The matter becomes ever stranger. I would do much for you, Frodo, but this I cannot grant: to let this sly wanderer go free at his own will from here, to join you later if it please him, or to be caught by Orcs and tell all he knows under threat of pain. He must be slain or taken. Slain, if he be not taken very swiftly. But how can this slippery thing of many guises be caught, save by a feathered shaft? ' `Let me go down quietly to him,' said Frodo. `You may keep your bows bent, and shoot me at least, if I fail. I shall not run away.' `Go then and be swift! ' said Faramir. `If he comes off alive, he should be your faithful servant for the rest of his unhappy days. Lead Frodo down to the bank, Anborn, and go softly. The thing has a nose and ears. Give me your bow.' Anborn grunted and led the way down the winding sta ir to the landing, and then up the other stair, until at last they came to a narrow opening shrouded with thick bushes. Passing silently through, Frodo found himself on the top of the southern bank above the pool. It was now dark and the falls were pale and grey, reflecting only the lingering moonlight of the western sky. He could not see Gollum. He went forward a short way and Anborn came softly behind him. `Go on! ' he breathed in Frodo's ear. `Have a care to your right. If you fall in the pool, then no one but your fishing friend can help you. And forget not that there are bowmen near at hand, though you may not see them.'####- Frodo crept forward, using his hands Gollum-like to feel his way and to steady himself. The rocks were for the most part flat and smooth but slippery. He halted listening. At first he could hear no sound but the unceasing rush of the fall behind him. Then presently he heard, not far ahead, a hissing murmur. 'Fissh, nice fissh. White Face has vanished, my precious, at last, yes. Now we can eat fish in peace. No, not in peace, precious. For Precious is lost; yes, lost. Dirty hobbits, nasty hobbits. Gone and left us, gollum; and Precious is gone. Only poor Smjagol all alone. No Preciou s. Nasty Men, they'll take it, steal my Precious. Thieves. We hates them. Fissh, nice fissh: Makes us strong. Makes eyes bright, fingers tight, yes. Throttle them, precious. Throttle them all, yes, if we gets chances. Nice fissh. Nice fissh! ' So it went on, almost as unceasing as the waterfall, only interrupted by a faint noise of slavering and gurgling. Frodo shivered, listening with pity and disgust. He wished it would stop, and that he never need hear that voice again. Anborn was not far behind. He could creep back and ask him to get the huntsmen to shoot. They would probably get close enough, while Gollum was gorging and off his guard. Only one true shot, and Frodo would be rid of the miserable voice for ever. But no, Gollum had a claim on him now. The servant has a claim on the master for service, even service in fear. They would have foundered in the Dead Marshes but for Gollum. Frodo knew, too, somehow, quite clearly that Gandalf would not have wished it. `Smjagol! ' he said softly. `Fissh, nice fissh,' said the voice. `Smjagol! ' he said, a little louder. The voice stopped. `Smjagol, Master has come to look for you. Master is here. Come, Smjagol! ' There was no answer but a soft hiss, as of intaken breath. 'Come, Smjagol! ' said Frodo. `We are in danger. Men will kill you, if they find you here. Come quickly, if you wish to escape death. Come to Master!' 'No!' said the voice. `Not nice Master. Leaves poor Smjagol and goes with new friends. Master can wait. Smjagol hasn't finished.' `There's no time,' said Frodo. `Bring fish with you. Come! ' `No! Must finish fish.' 'Smjagol! ' said Frodo desperately. 'Precious will be angry. I shall ####-take Precious, and I shall say: make him swallow the bones and choke. Never taste fish again. Come, Precious is waiting! ' There was a sharp hiss. Presently out of the darkness Gollum came crawling on all fours, like an erring dog called to heel. He had a half-eaten fish in his mouth and another in his hand. He came close to Frodo, almost nose to nose, and sniffed at him. His pale eyes were shining. Then he took the fish out of his mouth and stood up. `Nice Master! ' he whispered. `Nice hobb it, come back to poor Smjagol. Good Smjagol comes. Now let's go, go quickly, yes. Through the trees, while the Faces are dark. Yes, come let's go! ' `Yes, we'll go soon,' said Frodo. `But not at once. I will go with you as I promised. I promise aga in. But not now. You are not safe yet. I will save you, but you must trust me.' `We must trust Master? ' said Gollum doubtfully. 'Why? Why not go at once? Where is the other one, the cross rude hobbit? Where is he?' 'Away up there,' said Frodo, pointing to the waterfall. 'I am not going without him. We must go back to him.' His heart sank. This was too much like trickery. He did not really fear that Faramir would allow Gollum to be killed, but he would probably make him prisoner and bind him; and certainly what Frodo did would seem a treachery to the poor treacherous creature. It would probably be impossible ever to make him understand or believe that Frodo had saved his life in the only way he could. What else could he do? -- to keep faith, as near as might be, with both sides. `Come!' he said. `Or the Precious will be angry. We are going back now, up the stream. Go on, go on, you go in front! ' Gollum crawled along close to the brink for a little way, snuffling and suspicious. Presently he stopped and raised his head. `Something's there! ' he said. `Not a hobbit.' Suddenly he turned back. A green light was flickering in his bulging eyes. `Masster, masster!' he hissed. 'Wicked! Tricksy! False!' He spat and stretched out his long arms with white snapping fingers. At that moment the great black shape of Anborn loomed up behind him and came down on him. A large strong hand took him in the nape of the neck and pinned him. He twisted round like lightning, all wet and slimy as he was, wriggling like an eel, biting and scratching like a cat. But two more men came up out of the shadows. 'Hold still! ' said one. `Or we'll stick you as full of pins as a ####-hedgehog. Hold still!' Gollum went limp, and began to whine and weep. They tied him, none too gently. `Easy, easy! ' said Frodo. `He has no strength to match you. Don't hurt him, if you can help it. He'll be quieter, if you don't. Smjagol! They won't hurt you. I'll go with you, and you shall come to no harm. Not unless they kill me too. Trust Master! ' Gollum turned and spat at him. The men picked him up, put a hood over his eyes, and carried him off. Frodo followed them, feeling very wretched. They went through the opening behind the bushes. and back, down the stairs and passages, into the cave. Two or three torches had been lit. Men were stirring. Sam was there, and he gave a queer look at the limp bundle that the men carried. `Got him?' he said to Frodo. 'Yes. Well no, I didn't get him. He came to me, because he trusted me at first, I'm afraid. I did not want him tied up like this. I hope it will be all right; but I hate the whole business.' `So do I,' said Sam. `And nothing will ever be all right where that piece of misery is.' A man came and beckoned to the hobbits, and took them to the recess at the back of the cave. Faramir was sitting there in his chair, and the lamp had been rekindled in its niche above his head. He signed to them to sit down on the stools beside him. `Bring wine for the guests,' he said. `And bring the prisoner to me.' The wine was brought, and then Anborn came carrying Gollum. He removed the cover from Gollum's head and set him on his feet standing behind him to support him. Gollum blinked, hooding the malice of his eyes with their heavy pale lids. A very miserable creature he looked, dripping and dank, smelling of fish (he still clutched one in his hand); his sparse locks were hanging like rank weed over his bony brows, his nose was snivelling. `Loose us! Loose us! ' he said. `The cord hurts us, yes it does, it hurts us, and we've done nothing.' `Nothing? ' said Faramir, looking at the wretched creature with a keen glance, but without any expression in his face either of anger, or pity, or wonder. 'Nothing? Have you never done anything worthy of binding or of worse ####-punishment? However, that is not for me to judge, happily. But tonight you have come where it is death to come. The fish of this pool are dearly bought.' Gollum dropped the fish from his hand. `Don't want fish,' he said. 'The price is not set on the fish,' said Faramir. `Only to come here and look on the pool bears the penalty of death. I have spared you so far at the prayer of Frodo here, who says that of him at least you have deserved some thanks. But you must also satisfy me. What is your name? Whence do you come? And whither do you go? What is your business? ' `We are lost, lost,' said Gollum. 'No name, no business, no Precious, nothing. Only empty. Only hungry; yes, we are hungry. A few little fishes, nasty bony little fishes, for a poor creature, and they say death. So wise they are; so just, so very just.' 'Not very wise,' said Faramir. 'But just: yes perhaps, as just as our little wisdom allows. Unloose him Frodo! ' Faramir took a small nail-knife from his belt and handed it to Frodo. Gollum misunderstanding the gesture, squealed and fell down. 'Now, Smjagol! ' said Frodo. 'You must trust me. I will not desert you. Answer truthfully, if you can. It will do you good not harm.' He cut the cords on Gollum's wrists and ankles and raised him to his feet. 'Come hither! ' said Faramir. `Look at me! Do you know the name of this place? Have you been here before? ' Slowly Gollum raised his eyes and looked unwillingly into Faramir's. All light went out of them, and they stared bleak and pale for a moment into the clear unwavering eyes of the man of Gondor. There was a still silence. Then Gollum dropped his head and shrank down, until he was squatting on the floor, shivering. 'We doesn't know and we doesn't want to know,' he whimpered. `Never came here; never come again.' `There are locked doors and closed windows in your mind, and dark rooms behind them,' said Faramir. `But in this I judge that you speak the truth. It is well for you. What oath will you swear never to return; and never to lead any living creature hither by word or sign?' `Master knows,' said Gollum with a sidelong glance at Frodo. `Yes, he knows. We will promise Master, if he saves us. We'll promise to It, yes.' He crawled to Frodo's feet. 'Save us, nice Master! ' he whined. `Smjagol promises to Precious, promises faithfully. Never come again, never speak, no ####-never! No, precious, no!' `Are you satisfied? ' said Faramir. `Yes,' said Frodo. 'At least, you must either accept this promise or carry out your law. You will get no more. But I promised that if he came to me, he should not be harmed. And I would not be proved faithless.' Faramir sat for a moment in thought. `Very good,' he said at last. `I surrender you to your master, to Frodo son of Drogo. Let him declare what he will do with you! ' 'But, Lord Faramir,' said Frodo bowing, `you have not yet declared your will concerning the said Frodo, and until that is made known, he cannot shape his plans for himself or his companions. Your judgement was postponed until the morning; but that is now at hand.' `Then I will declare my doom,' said Faramir. `As for you, Frodo, in so far as lies in me under higher authority, I declare you free in the realm of, Gondor to the furthest of its ancient bounds; save only that neither you nor any that go with you have leave to come to this place unbidden. This doom shall stand for a year and a day, and then cease, unless you shall before that term come to Minas Tirith and present yourself to the Lord and Steward of the City. Then I will entreat him to confirm what I have done and to make it lifelong. In the meantime, whomsoever you take under your protection shall be under my protection and under the shield of Gondor. Are you answered? ' Frodo bowed low. 'I am answered,' he said, `and I place myself at your service, if that is of any worth to one so high and honourable.' `It is of great worth,' said Faramir. 'And now, do you take this creature, this Smjagol, under your protection? ' `I do take Smjagol under my protection,' said Frodo. Sam sighed audibly; and not at the courtesies, of which, as any hobbit would, he thoroughly approved. Indeed in the Shire such a matter would have required a great many more words and bows. 'Then I say to you,' said Faramir, turning to Gollum, 'you are under doom of death; but while you walk with Frodo you are safe for our part. Yet if ever you be found by any man of Gondor astray without him, the doom shall fall. And may death find you swiftly, within Gondor or without, if you do not well serve him. Now answer me: whither would you go? You were his guide, he says. Whither were you leading him? ' Gollum made no reply.####- `This I will not have secret,' said Faramir. `Answer me, or I will reverse my judgement! ' Still Gollum did not answer. `I will answer for him,' said Frodo. `He brought me to the Black Gate, as I asked; but it was impassable.' `There is no open gate into the Nameless Land,' said Faramir. `Seeing this, we turned aside and came by the Southward road ' Frodo continued; 'for he said that there is, or there may be, a path near to Minas Ithil.' `Minas Morgul,' said Faramir. `I do not know clearly,' said Frodo; `but the path climbs, I think, up into the mountains on the northern side of that vale where the old city stands. It goes up to a high cleft and so down to -- that which is beyond.' `Do you know the name of that high pass? ' said Faramir. 'No,' said Frodo. 'It is called Cirith Ungol.' Gollum hissed sharply and began muttering to himself. `Is not that its name? ' said Faramir turning to him. `No! ' said Gollum, and then he squealed, as if something had stabbed him. 'Yes, yes, we heard the name once. But what does the name matter to us? Master says he must get in. So we must try some way. There is no other way to try, no.' 'No other way? ' said Faramir. `How do you know that? And who has explored all the confines of that dark realm? ' He looked long and thoughtfully at Gollum. Presently he spoke again. `Take this creature away, Anborn. Treat him gently, but watch him. And do not you, Smjagol, try to dive into the falls. The rocks have such teeth there as would slay you before your time. Leave us now and take your fish! ' Anborn went out and Gollum went cringing before him. The curtain was drawn across the recess. `Frodo, I think you do very unwisely in this,' said Faramir. `I do not think you should go with this creature. It is wicked.' 'No, not altogether wicked,' said Frodo. 'Not wholly, perhaps,' said Faramir; 'but malice eats it like a canker, and the evil is growing. He will lead you to no good. If you will part with him, I will give him safe-conduct and guidance to any point on the borders of Gondor that he may name.' `He would not take it,' said Frodo. 'He would follow after me as he long has done. And I have promised many times to take him under my ####-protection and to go where he led. You would not ask me to break faith with him?' 'No,' said Faramir. `But my heart would. For it seems less evil to counsel another man to break troth than to do so oneself, especially if one sees a friend bound unwitting to his own harm. But no -- if he will go with you, you must now endure him. But I do not think you are holden to go to Cirith Ungol, of which he has told you less than he knows. That much I perceived clearly in his mind. Do not go to Cirith Ungol!' `Where then shall I go? ' said Frodo. `Back to the Black Gate and deliver myself up to the guard? What do you know against this place that makes its name so dreadful? ' `Nothing certain,' said Faramir. 'We of Gondor do not ever pass east of the Road in these days, and none of us younger men has ever done so, nor has any of us set foot upon the Mountains of Shadow. Of them we know only old report and the rumour of bygone days. But there is some dark terror that dwells in the passes above Minas Morgul. If Cirith Ungol is named, old men and masters of lore will blanch and fall silent. ,The valley of Minas Morgul passed into evil very long ago, and it was a menace and a dread while the banished Enemy dwelt yet far away, and Ithilien was still for the most par t in our keeping. As you know, that city was once a strong place, proud and fair, Minas Ithil, the twin sister of our own city. But it was taken by fell men whom the Enemy in his first strength had dominated, and who wandered homeless and masterless aft er his fall. It is said that their lords were men of N®menor who had fallen into dark wickedness; to them the Enemy had given rings of power, and he had devoured them: living ghosts they were become, terrible and evil. After his going they took Minas Ithil and dwelt there, and they filled it, and all the valley about, with decay: it seemed empty and was not so, for a shapeless fear lived within the ruined walls. Nine Lords there were, and after the return of their Master, which they aided and prepared in secret, they grew strong again. Then the Nine Riders issued forth from the gates of horror, and we could not withstand them. Do not approach their citadel. You will be espied. It is a place of sleepless malice, full of lidless eyes. Do not go that way! ' 'But where else will you direct me? ' said Frodo. 'You cannot yourself, you say, guide me to the mountains, nor over them. But over the mountains I ####-am bound, by solemn undertaking to the Council, to find a way or perish in the seeking. And if I turn back, refusing the road in its bitter end, where then shall I go among Elves or Men? Would you have me come to Gondor with this Thing, the Thing that drove your brother mad with desire? What spell would it work in Minas Tirith? Shall there be two cities of Minas Morgul, grinning at each other across a dead land filled with rottenness? ' `I would not have it so,' said Faramir. `Then what would you have me do? ' `I know not. Only I would not have you go to death or to torment. And I do not think that Mithrandir would have chosen this way.' 'Yet since he is gone, I must take such paths as I can find. And there is no time for long searching,' said Frodo. `It is a hard doom and a hopeless errand,' said Faramir. 'But at the least, remember my warning: beware of this guide, Smjagol. He has done murder before now. I read it in him.' He sighed. `Well, so we meet and part, Frodo son of Drogo. You have no need of soft words: I do not hope to see you again on any other day under this Sun. But you shall go now with my blessing upon you, and upon all your people. Rest a little while food is prepared for you. 'I would gladly learn how this creeping Smjagol became possessed of the Thing of which we speak, and how he lost it, but I will not trouble you now. If ever beyond hope you return to the lands of the living and we retell our tales, sitting by a wall in the sun, laughing at old grief, you shall tell me then. Until that time, or some other time beyond the vision of the Seeing-stones of N®menor, farewell! ' He rose and bowed low to Frodo, and drawing the curtain passed out into the cave. ####- Frodo and Sam returned to their beds and lay there in silence resting for a little, while men bestirred themselves and the business of the day began. After a while water was brought to them, and then they were led to a table where food was set for three. Faramir broke his fast with them. He had not slept since the battle on the day before, yet he did not look weary. When they had finished they stood up. `May no hunger trouble you on the road,' said Faramir. `You have little provision, but some small store of food fit for travellers I have ordered to be stowed in your packs. You will have no lack of water as you walk in Ithilien, but do not drink of any stream that flows from Imlad Morgul, the Valley of Living Death. This also I must tell you. My scouts and watchers have all returned, even some that have crept within sight of the Morannon. They all find a strange thing. The land is empty. Nothing is on the road, and no sound of foot, or horn, or bowstring is anywhere to be heard. A waiting silence broods above the Nameless Land. I do not know what this portends. But the time draws swiftly to some great conclusion. Storm is coming. Hasten while you may! If you are ready, let us go. The Sun will soon rise above the shadow.' The hobbits' packs were brought to them (a little heavier than they had been), and also two stout staves of polished wood, shod with iron, and with carven heads through which ran plaited leathern thongs. 'I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting,' said Faramir ; `but take these staves. They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild. The men of the White Mountains use them; though these have been cut down to your height and newly shod. They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!' The hobbits bowed low. `Most gracious host,' said Frodo, 'it was said to me by Elrond Halfelven that I should find friendship upon the way, secret and unlooked for. Certainly I looked for no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to great good.' Now they made ready to depart. Gollum was brought out of some corner or hiding-hole, and he seemed better pleased with himself than he had been,####-though he kept close to Frodo and avoided the glance of Faramir. 'Your guide must be blindfolded,' said Faramir, 'but you and your servant Samwise I release from this, if you wish.' Gollum squealed, and squirmed, and clutched at Frodo, when they came to bind his eyes; and Frodo said: 'Blindfold us all three, and cover up my eyes first, and then perhaps he will see that no harm is meant.' This was done, and they were led from the cave of Henneth Annyn. After they had passed the passages and stairs they felt the cool morning air, fresh and sweet, about them. Still blind they went on for some little time, up and then gently down. At last the voice of Faramir ordered them to be uncovered. They stood under the boughs of the woods again. No noise of the falls could be heard, for a long southward slope lay now between them and the ravine in which the stream flowed. To the west they could see light through the trees, as if the world came there to a sudden end, at a brink looking out only on to sky. 'Here is the last parting of our ways,' said Faramir. 'If you take my counsel, you will not turn eastward yet. Go straight on, for thus you will have the cover of the woodland for many miles. On your west is an edge where the land falls into the great vales, sometimes suddenly and sheer, sometimes in long hillsides. Keep near to this edge and the skirts of the forest. In the beginning of your journey you may walk under daylight, I think. The land dreams in a false peace, and for a while all evil is withdrawn. Fare you well, while you may!' He embraced the hobbits then, after the manner of his people, stooping, and placing his hands upon their shoulders, and kissing their foreheads. 'Go with the good will of all good men!' he said. They bowed to the ground. Then he turned and without looking back he left them and went to his two guards that stood at a little distance away. They marvelled to see with what speed these green-clad men now moved, vanishing almost in the twinkling of an eye. The forest where Faramir had stood seemed empty and drear, as if a dream had passed. Frodo sighed and turned back southward. As if to mark his disregard of all such courtesy, Gollum was scrabbling in the mould at the foot of a tree. `Hungry again already?' thought Sam. `Well, now for it again!' 'Have they gone at last? ' said Gollum. `Nassty wicked Men! Smjagol's neck still hurts him, yes it does. Let's go! ' `Yes, let us go,' said Frodo. `But if you can only speak ill of those ####-who showed you mercy, keep silent! ' `Nice Master! ' said Gollum. `Smjagol was only joking. Always forgives, he does, yes, yes, even nice Master's little trickses. Oh yes, nice Master, nice Smjagol! ' Frodo and Sam did not answer. Hoisting their packs and taking their staves in hand, they passed on into the woods of Ithilien. Twice that day they rested and took a little of the food provided by Faramir: dried fruits and salted meat, enough for many days; and bread enough to last while it was still fresh. Gollum ate nothing. The sun rose and passed overhead unseen, and began to sink, and the light through the trees to the west grew golden; and always they walked in cool green shadow, and all about them was silence. The birds seemed all to have flown away or to have fallen dumb. Darkness came early to the silent woods, and before the fall of night they halted, weary, for they had walked seven leagues or more from Henneth Annyn. Frodo lay and slept away the night on the deep mould beneath an ancient tree. Sam beside him was more uneasy: he woke many times, but there was never a sign of Gollum, who had slipped off as soon as the others had settled to rest. Whether he had slept by himself in some hole nearby, or had wandered restlessly prowling through the night, he did not say; but he returned with the first glimmer of light, and roused his companions. `Must get up, yes they must!' he said. 'Long ways to go still, south and east. Hobbits must make haste!' That day passed much as the day before had gone, except that the silence seemed deeper; the air grew heavy, and it began to be stifling under the trees. It felt as if thunder was brewing. Gollum often paused, sniffing the air, and then he would mutter to himself and urge them to greater speed. As the third stage of their day's march drew on and afternoon wa ned, the forest opened out, and the trees became larger and more scattered. Great ilexes of huge girth stood dark and solemn in wide glades with here and there among them hoary ash-trees. and giant oaks just putting out their brown-green buds. About them lay long launds of green grass dappled with celandine and anemones, white and blue, now folded for sleep; and there were acres populous with the leaves of woodland hyacinths: already their sleek bell-stems were thrusting through the mould . No living creature, beast or bird, was to be seen, but in these open places Gollum grew afraid, and they walked now with caution, flitting from one long shadow to another.####- Light was fading fast when they came to the forest -end. There they sat under an old gnarled oak that sent its roots twisting like snakes down a steep crumbling bank. A deep dim valley lay before them. On its further side the woods gathered again, blue and grey under the sullen evening, and marched on southwards. To the right the Mountains of Gondor glowed, remote in the West, under a fire-flecked sky. To the left lay darkness: the towering walls of Mordor; and out of that darkness the long valley came, falling steeply in an ever -widening trough towards the Anduin. At its bottom ran a hurrying stream: Frodo could hear its stony voice coming up through the silence; and beside it on the hither side a road went winding down like a pale ribbon, down into chill grey mists that no gleam of sunset touched. There it seemed to Frodo that he descried far off, floating as it were on a shadowy sea, the high dim tops and broken pinnacles of old towers forlorn and dark. He turned to Gollum. `Do you know where we are? ' he said. 'Yes, Master. Dangerous places. This is the road from the Tower of the Moon, Master, down to the ruined city by the shores of the River. The ruined city, yes, very nasty place, full of enemies. We shouldn't have taken Men's advice. Hobbits have come a long way out of the path. Must go east now, away up there.' He waved his skinny arm towards the darkling mountains. `And we can't use this road. Oh no! Cruel peoples come this way, down from the Tower.' Frodo looked down on to the road. At any rate nothing was moving on it now. It appeared lonely and forsaken, running down to empty ruins in the mist. But there was an evil feeling in the air, as if things might indeed be passing up and down that eyes could not see. Frodo shuddered as he looked again at the distant pinnacles now dwindling into night, and the sound of the water seemed cold and cruel: the voice of Morgulduin, the polluted stream that flowed from the Valley of the Wraiths. 'What shall we do? ' he said. 'We have walked long and far. Shall we look for some place in the woods behind where we can lie hidden? ' 'No good hiding in the dark,' said Gollum. 'It's in day that hobbits must hide now, yes in day.' `Oh come! ' said Sam. 'We must rest for a bit, even if we get up again in the middle of the night. There'll still be hours of dark then time enough for you to take us a long march, if you know the way.'####- Gollum reluctantly agreed to this, and he turned back towards the trees, working eastward for a while along the straggling edges of the wood. He would not rest on the ground so near the evil road, and after some debate they all climbed up into the crotch of a large holm-oak, whose thick branches springing together from the trunk made a good hiding-place and a fairly comfortable refuge. Night fell and it grew altogether dark under the canopy of the tree. Frodo and Sam drank a little water and ate some bread and dried fruit, but Gollum at once curled up and went to sleep. The hobbits did not shut their eyes. It must have been a little after midnight when Gollum woke up: suddenly they were aware of his pale eyes unlidded gleaming at them. He listened and sniffed, which seemed, as they had noticed before, his usual method of discovering the time of night. 'Are we rested? Have we had beautiful sleep?' he said. 'Let's go!' 'We aren't, and we haven't,' growled Sam. 'But we'll go if we must.' Gollum dropped at once from the branches of the tree on to all fours, and the hobbits followed more slowly. As soon as they were down they went on again with Gollum leading, eastwards, up the dark sloping land. They could see little, for the night was now so deep that they were hardly aware of the stems of trees before they stumbled against them. The ground became more broken and walking was more difficult, but Gollum seemed in no way troubled. He led them through thickets and wastes of brambles; sometimes round the lip of a deep cleft or dark pit, sometimes down into black bush-shrouded hollows and out again; but if ever they went a little downward, always the further slope was longer and steeper. They were climbing steadily. At their first halt they looked back, and they could dimly perceive the roofs of the forest they had left behind lying like a vast dense shadow, a darker night under the dark blank sky. There seemed to be a great blackness looming slowly out of the East, eating up the faint blurred stars. Later the sinking moon escaped from the pursuing cloud, but it was ringed all about with a sickly yellow glare. At last Gollum turned to the hobbits. 'Day soon,' he said. 'Hobbits must hurry. Not safe to stay in the open in these places. Make haste! ' He quickened his pace, and they followed him wearily. Soon they began to climb up on to a great hog-back of land. For the most part it was covered with a thick growth of gorse and whortleberry, and low tough thorns, though ####-here and there clearings opened, the scars of recent fires. The gorse-bushes became more frequent as they got nearer the top; very old and tall they were, gaunt and leggy below but thick above, and already putting out yellow flowers that glimmered in the gloom and gave a faint sweet scent. So tall were the spiny thickets that the hobbits could walk upright under them, passing through long dry aisles carpeted with a deep prickly mould. On the further edge of this broad hill-back they stayed their march and crawled for hiding underneath a tangled knot of thorns. Their twisted boughs, stooping to the ground, were overridden by a clambering maze of old briars. Deep inside there was a hollow hall, raftered with dead branch and bramble, and roofed with the first leaves and shoots of spring. There they lay for a while, too tired yet to eat; and peering out through the holes in the covert they watched for the slow growth of day. But no day came, only a dead brown twilight. In the East there was a dull red glare under the lowering cloud: it was not the red of dawn. Across the tumbled lands between, the mountains of the Ephel D®ath frowned at them, black and shapeless below where night lay thick and did not pass away, above with jagged tops and edges outlined hard and menacing against the fiery glow. Away to their right a great shoulder of the mountains stood out, dark and black amid the shadows, thrusting westward. `Which way do we go from here?' asked Frodo. `Is that the opening of-of the Morgul Valley, away over there beyond that black mass? ' `Need we think about it yet?' said Sam, `Surely we're not going to move any more today, if day it is?' `Perhaps not, perhaps not,' said Gollum. `But we must go soon, to the Cross-roads. Yes, to the Cross-roads. That's the way over ther e yes, Master.' The red glare over Mordor died away. The twilight deepened as great vapours rose in the East and crawled above them. Frodo and Sam took a little food and then lay down, but Gollum was restless. He would not eat any of their food, but he drank a little water and then crawled about under the bushes, sniffing and muttering. Then. suddenly he disappeared. `Off hunting, I suppose,' said Sam and yawned. It was his turn to sleep first, and he was soon deep in a dream. He thought he was back in the Bag End garden looking for something; but he had a heavy pack on his back, which made him stoop. It all seemed very weedy and rank somehow, and thorns and ####-bracken were invading the beds down near the bottom hedge. `A job of work for me, I can see; but I'm so tired,' he kept on saying. Presently he remembered what he was looking for. `My pipe!' he said, and with that he woke up. `Silly!' he said to himself, as he opened his eyes and wondered why he was lying down under the hedge. `It's in your pack all the time!' Then he realized, first that the pipe might be in his pack but he had no leaf, and next that he was hundreds of miles from Bag End. He sat up. It seemed to be almost dark. Why had his master let him sleep on out of turn, right on till evening? `Haven't you had no sleep, Mr. Frodo?' he said. 'What's the time? Seems to be getting late!' 'No it isn't,' said Frodo. `But the day is getting darker instead of lighter: darker and darker. As far as I can tell, it isn't midday yet, and you've only slept for about three hours.' 'I wonder what's up,' said Sam. 'Is there a storm coming? If so it's going to be the worst there ever was. We shall wish we were down a deep hole, not just stuck under a hedge.' He listened. `What's that? Thunder, or drums, or what is it? ' 'I don't know,' said Frodo. `It's been going on for a good while now. Sometimes the ground seems to tremble, sometimes it seems to be the heavy air throbbing in your ears.' Sam looked round. `Where's Gollum? ' he said. 'Hasn't he come back yet?' `No,' said Frodo. `There's not been a sign or sound of him.' `Well, I can't abide him,' said Sam. `In fact, I've never taken anything on a journey that I'd have been less sorry to lose on the way. But it would be just like him, after coming all these miles, to go and get lost now, just when we shall need him most -- that is, if he's ever going to be any use, which I doubt.' `You forget the Marshes,' said Frodo. `I hope nothing has happened to him.' `And I hope he's up to no tricks. And anyway I hope he doesn't fall into other hands, as you might say. Because if he does, we shall soon be in for trouble.' At that moment a rolling and rumbling noise was heard again, louder now and deeper. The ground seemed to quiver under their feet. 'I think we are in ####-for trouble anyhow,' said Frodo. `I'm afraid our journey is drawing to an end.' 'Maybe,' said Sam; `but where there's life there's hope, as my Gaffer used to say; and need of vittles, as he mostways used to add. You have a bite, Mr. Frodo, and then a bit of sleep.' The afternoon, as Sam supposed it must be called, wore on. Looking out from the covert he could see only a dun, shadowless world, fading slowly into a featureless, colourless gloom. It felt stifling but not warm. Frodo slept unquietly, turning and tossing, and sometimes murmuring. Twice Sam thought he heard him speaking Gandalf's name. The time seemed to drag interminably. Suddenly Sam heard a hiss behind him, and there was Gollum on all fours, peering at them with gleaming eyes. `Wake up, wake up! Wake up, sleepies!' he whispered. `Wake up! No time to lose. We must go, yes, we must go at once. No time to lose!' Sam stared at him suspiciously: he seemed frightened or excited. `Go now? What's your little game? It isn't time yet. It can't be tea -time even, leastways not in decent places where there is tea -time.' `Silly! ' hissed Gollum. `We're not in decent places. Time's running short, yes, running fast. No time to lose. We must go. Wake up. Master, wake u He clawed at Frodo; and Frodo, startled out of sleep, sat up suddenly and seized him by the arm. Gollum tore h imself loose and backed away. 'They mustn't be silly,' he hissed. `We must go. No time to lose!' And nothing more could they get out of him. Where he had been, and what he thought was brewing to make him in such a hurry, he would not say. Sam was filled with deep suspicion, and showed it; but Frodo gave no sign of what was passing in his mind. He sighed, hoisted his pack, and prepared to go out into the ever -gathering darkness. Very stealthily Gollum led them down the hillside, keeping under cover wherever it was possible, and running, almost bent to the ground, across any open space; but the light was now so dim that even a keen-eyed beast of the wild could scarcely have seen the hobbits, hooded, in their grey cloaks, nor heard them, walking as warily as the little people can. Without the crack of a twig or the rustle of a leaf they passed and vanished. For about an hour they went on, silently, in single file, oppressed by the gloom and by the absolute stillness of the land, broken only now and again by the faint rumbling as of thunder far away or drum-beats in some ####-hollow of the hills. Down from their hiding-place they went, and then turning south they steered as straight a course as Gollum could find across a long broken slope that leaned up towards the mountains. Presently, not far ahead, looming up like a black wall, they saw a belt of trees. As they drew nearer they became aware that these were of vast size, very ancient it seemed, and still towering high, though their tops were gaunt and broken, as if tempest and lightning-blast had swept across them, but had failed to kill them or to shake their fathomless roots. 'The Cross-roads, yes,' whispered Gollum, the first words that had been spoken since they left their hiding-place. 'We must go that way.' Turning eastward now, he led them up the slope; and then suddenly there it was before them: the Southward Road, winding its way about the outer feet of the mountains, until presently it plunged into the great ring of trees. 'This is the only way,' whispered Gollum. 'No paths beyond the road. No paths. We must go to the Cross-roads. But make haste! Be silent! ' As furtively as scouts within the campment of their enemies, they crept down on to the road, and stole along its westward edge under the stony bank, grey as the stones themselves, and soft -footed as hunting cats. At length they reached the trees, and found that they stood in a great roofless ring, open in the middle to the sombre sky; and the spaces between their immense boles were like the great dark arches of some ruined hall. In the very centre four ways met. Behind them lay the road to the Morannon; before them it ran out again upon its long journey south; to their right the road from old Osgiliath came climbing up, and crossing, passed out eastward into darkness: the fourth way, the road they were to take. Standing there for a moment filled with dread Frodo became aware that a light was shining; he saw it glowing on Sam's face beside him. Turning towards it, he saw, beyond an arch of boughs, the road to Osgiliath running almost as straight as a stretched ribbon down, down, into the West. There, far away, beyond sad Gondor now overwhelmed in shade, the Sun was sinking, finding at last the hem of the great slow-rolling pall of cloud, and falling in an ominous fire towards the yet unsullied Sea. The brief glow fell upon a huge sitting figure, still and solemn as the great stone kings of Argonath. The years had gnawed it, and violent hands had maimed it. Its head was gone, and in its place was set in mockery a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted by savage hands in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in ####-the midst of its forehead. Upon its knees and mighty chair, and all about the pedestal, were idle scrawls mixed with the foul symbols that the maggot-folk of Mordor used. Suddenly, caught by the level beams, Frodo saw the old king's head: it was lying rolled away by the roadside. `Look, Sam!' he cried, startled into speech. `Look! The king has got a crown again!' The eyes were hollow and the carven beard was broken, but about the high stern forehead there was a coronal of silver and gold. A trailing plant with flowers like small white stars had bound itself across the brows as if in reverence for the fallen king, and in the crevices of his stony hair yellow stonecrop gleamed. 'They cannot conquer for ever!' said Frodo. And then suddenly the brief glimpse was gone. The Sun dipped and vanished, and as if at the shuttering of a lamp, black night fell. ####- Gollum was tugging at Frodo's cloak and hissing with fear and impatience. `We must go,' he said. `We mustn't stand here. Make haste!' Reluctantly Frodo turned his back on the West and followed as his guide led him, out into the darkness of the East. They left the ring of trees and crept along the road towards the mountains. This road, too, ran straight for a while, but soon it began to bend away southwards, until it came right under the great shoulder of rock that they had seen from the distance. Black and forbidding it loomed above them, darker than the dark sky behind. Crawl ing under its shadow the road went on, and rounding it sprang east again and began to climb steeply. Frodo and Sam were plodding along with heavy hearts, no longer able to care greatly about their peril. Frodo's head was bowed; his burden was dragging him down again. As soon as the great Cross-roads had been passed, the weight of it, almost forgotten in Ithilien, had begun to grow once more. Now, feeling the way become steep before his feet, he looked wearily up; and then he saw it, even as Gollum had said that he would: the city of the Ringwraiths. He cowered against the stony bank. A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley's arms high on a rocky seat upon the black knees of the Ephel D®ath, stood the walls and tower of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Not the imprisoned moonlight welling through the marble walls of Minas Ithil long ago, Tower of the Moon, fair and radiant in the hollow of the hills. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night. For a moment the three companions stood there, shrinking, staring up with unwilling eyes. Gollum was the first to recover. Again he pulled at their cloaks urgently, but he spoke no word. Almost he dragged them forward. Every step was reluctant, and time seemed to slow its pace. so that between the raising of a foot and the ####-setting of it down minutes of loathing passed. So they came slowly to the white bridge. Here the road, gleaming faintly, passed over the stream in the midst of the valley, and went on, winding deviously up towards the city's gate: a black mouth opening in the outer circle of the northward walls. Wide flats lay on either bank, shadowy meads filled with pale white flowers. Luminous these were too, beautiful and yet horrible of shape, like the demented forms in an uneasy dream; and they gave forth a faint sickening charnel-smell; an odour of rottenness filled the air. From mead to mead the bridge sprang. Figures stood there at its head, carven with cunning in forms human and bestial, but all corrupt and loathsome. The water flowing beneath was silent, and it steamed, but the vapour that rose from it, curling and twisting about the bridge, was deadly cold. Frodo felt his senses reeling and his mind darkening. Then suddenly, as if some force were at work other than his own will, he began to hurry, tottering forward, his groping hands held out, his head lolling from side to side. Both Sam and Gollum ran after him. Sam caught his master in his arms, as he stumbled and almost fell, right on the threshold of the bridge. `Not that way! No, not that way! ' whispered Gollum, but the breath between his teeth seemed to tear the heavy stillness like a whistle, and he cowered to the ground in terror. `Hold up, Mr. Frodo! ' muttered Sam in Frodo's ear. 'Come back! Not that way. Gollum says not, and for once I agree with him.' Frodo passed his hand over his brow and wrenched his eyes away from the city on the hill. The luminous tower fascinated him, and he fought the desire that was on him to run up the gleaming road towards its gate. At last with an effort he turned back, and as he did so, he felt the Ring resisting him, dragging at the chain about his neck; and his eyes too, as he looked away, seemed for the moment to have been blinded. The darkness before him was impenetrable. Gollum, crawling on the ground like a frightened animal, was already vanishing into the gloom. Sam, supporting and guiding his stumbling master, followed after him as quickly as he could. Not far from the near bank of the stream there was a gap in the stone-wall beside the road. Through this they passed, and Sam saw that they were on a narrow path that gleamed faintly at first, as the main road did, until climb ing above the meads of deadly flowers it faded and went dark, winding its crooked way up into the northern sides of the valley.####- Along this path the hobbits trudged, side by side, unable to see Gollum in front of them, except when he turned back to beckon them on. Then his eyes shone with a green-white light, reflecting the noisome Morgul-sheen perhaps, or kindled by some answering mood within. Of that deadly gleam and of the dark eyeholes Frodo and Sam were always conscious, ever glancing fearfully over their shoulders, and ever dragging their eyes back to find the darkening path. Slowly they laboured on. As they rose above the stench and vapours of the poisonous stream their breath became easier and their heads clearer; but now their limbs were deadly tired, as if they had walked all night under a burden, or had been swimming long against a heavy tide of water. At last they could go no further without a halt. Frodo stopped and sat down on a stone. They had now climbed up to the top of a great hump of bare rock. Ahead of them there was a bay in the valley-side, and round the head of this the path went on, no more than a wide ledge with a chasm on the right; across the sheer southward face of the mountain it crawled upwards, until it disappeared into the blackness above. `I must rest a while, Sam,' whispered Frodo. `It's heavy on me, Sam lad, very heavy. I wonder how far I can carry it? Anyway I must rest before we venture on to that.' He pointed to the narrow way ahead. `Sssh! ssh! ' hissed Gollum hurrying back to them. `Sssh! ' His fingers were on his lips and he shook his head urgently. Tugging at Frodo's sleeve, he pointed towards the path; but Frodo would not move. `Not yet,' he said, 'not yet.' Weariness and more than weariness oppressed him; it seemed as if a heavy spell was laid on his mind and body. `I must rest,' he muttered. At this Gollum's fear and agitation became so great that he spoke again, hissing behind his hand, as if to keep the sound from unseen listeners in the air. `Not here, no. Not rest here. Fools! Eyes can see us. When they come to the bridge they will see us. Come away! Climb, climb! Come! ' `Come, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. `He's right, again. We can't stay here.' 'All right,' said Frodo in a remote voice, as of one speaking half asleep. `I will try.' Wearily he got to his feet. But it was too late. At that moment the rock quivered and trembled beneath them. The great rumbling noise, louder than ever before, rolled in the ground and echoed in the mountains. Then with searing suddenness there came a great red flash. Far beyond the eastern mountains it leapt into the ####-sky and splashed the lowering clouds with cr imson. In that valley of shadow and cold deathly light it seemed unbearably violent and fierce. Peaks of stone and ridges like notched knives sprang out in staring black against the uprushing flame in Gorgoroth. Then came a great crack of thunder. And Minas Morgul answered. There was a flare of livid lightnings: forks of blue flame springing up from the tower and from the encircling hills into the sullen clouds. The earth groaned; and out of the city there came a cry. Mingled with harsh high voices as of birds of prey, and the shrill neighing of horses wild with rage and fear, there came a rending screech, shivering, rising swiftly to a piercing pitch beyond the range of hearing. The hobbits wheeled round towards it, and cast themselves down, holding their hands upon their ears. As the terrible cry ended, falling back through a long sickening wail to silence, Frodo slowly raised his head. Across the narrow valley, now almost on a level with his eyes, the walls of the evil city stood , and its cavernous gate, shaped like an open mouth with gleaming teeth, was gaping wide. And out of the gate an army came. All that host was clad in sable, dark as the night. Against the wan walls and the luminous pavement of the road Frodo could see them, small black figures in rank upon rank, marching swiftly and silently, passing outwards in an endless stream. Before them went a great cavalry of horsemen moving like ordered shadows, and at their head was one greater than all the rest: a Rider, all black, save that on his hooded head he had a helm like a crown that flickered with a perilous light. Now he was drawing near the bridge below, and Frodo's staring eyes followed him, unable to wink or to withdraw. Surely there was the Lord of the Nine Riders returned to earth to lead his ghastly host to battle? Here, yes here indeed was the haggard king whose cold hand had smitten down the Ring-bearer with his deadly knife. The old wound throbbed with pain and a great chill spread towards Frodo's heart. Even as these thoughts pierced him with dread and held him bound as with a spell, the Rider halted suddenly, right before the entrance of the bridge, and behind him all the host stood still. There was a pause, a dead silence. Maybe it was the Ring that called to the Wraith-lord, and for a moment he was troubled, sensing some other power within his valley. This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes. Frodo waited, like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move. And as he waited, he felt, more urgent than ever ####-before, the command that he should put on the Ring. But great as the pressure was, he felt no inclination now to yield to it. He knew that the Ring would only betray him, and that he had not, even if he put it on, the power to face the Morgul-king-not yet. There was no longer any answer to that command in his own will, dismayed by terror though it was, and he felt only the beating upon him of a great power from outside. It took his hand, and as Frodo watched with his mind, not willing it but in suspense (as if he looked on some old story far away), it moved the hand inch by inch towards the chain upon his neck. Then his own will stirred; slowly it forced the hand back. and set it to find another thing, a thing lying hidden near his breast. Cold and hard it seemed as his grip closed on it: the phial of Galadriel, so long treasured, and almost forgotten till that hour. As he touched it, for a while all thought of the Ring was banished from his mind. He sighed and bent his head. At that moment the Wraith-king turned and spurred his horse and rode across the bridge, and all his dark host followed him. Maybe the elven-hoods defied his unseen eyes, and the mind of his small enemy; being strengthened, had turned aside his thought. But he was in haste. Already the hour had struck, and at his great Master's bidding he must march with war into the West. Soon he had passed, like a shadow into shadow, down the winding road, and behind him still the black ranks crossed the bridge. So great an army had never issued from that vale since the days of Isildur's might; no host so fell and strong in arms had yet assailed the fords of Anduin; and yet it was but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth. Frodo stirred. And suddenly his heart went out to Faramir. 'The storm has burst at last,' he thought. `This great array of spears and swords is going to Osgiliath. Will Faramir get across in time? He guessed it, but did he know the hour? And who can now hold the fords when the King of the Nine Riders comes? And other armies will come. I am too late. All is lost. I tarried on the way. All is lost. Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.' Overcome with weakness he wept. And still the host of Morgul crossed the bridge. Then at a great distance, as if it came out of memories of the Shire, some sunlit early morning, when the day called and doors were opening, he heard Sam's voice speaking. `Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up! ' Had the voice ####-added: `Your breakfast is ready,' he would hardly have been surprised. Certainly Sam was urgent. `Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They're gone,' he said. There was a dull clang. The gates of Minas Morgul had closed. The last rank of spears had vanished down the road. The tower still grinned across the valley, but the light was fading in it. The whole city was falling back into a dark brooding shade, and silence. Yet still it was filled with watchfulness. 'Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They're gone, and we'd better go too. There's something still alive in that place, something with eyes, or a seeing mind, if you take me; and the longer we stay in one spot, the sooner it will get on to us. Come on, Mr. Frodo! ' Frodo raised his head, and then stood up. Despair had not left him, but the weakness had passed. He even smiled grimly, feeling now as clearly as a moment before he had felt the opposite, that what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and that whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone e lse ever knew about it was beside the purpose. He took his staff in one hand and the phial in his other. When he saw that the clear light was already welling through his fingers, he thrust it into his bosom and held it against his heart. Then turning from the city of Morgul, now no more than a grey glimmer across a dark gulf, he prepared to take the upward road. Gollum, it seemed, had crawled off along the ledge into the darkness beyond, when the gates of Minas Morgul opened, leaving the hobbits where they lay. He now came creeping back, his teeth chattering and his fingers snapping. `Foolish! Silly! ' he hissed. `Make haste! They mustn't think danger has passed. It hasn't. Make haste! ' They did not answer, but they followed him on to the climbing ledge. It was little to the liking of either of them, not even after facing so many other perils; but it did not last long. Soon the path reached a rounded angle where the mountain-side swelled out again, and there it suddenly entered a narrow opening in the rock. They had come to the first stair that Gollum had spoken of. The darkness was almost complete, and they could see nothing much beyond their hands' stretch; but Gollum's eyes shone pale, several feet above, as he turned back towards them. `Careful! ' he whispered. `Steps. Lots of steps. Must be careful! ' Care was certainly needed. Frodo and Sam at first felt easier, having now a wall on either side, but the stairway was almost as steep as a ladder ,####-and as they climbed up and up, they became more and more aware of the long black fall behind them. And the steps were narrow, spaced unevenly, and often treacherous: they were worn and smooth at the edges, and some were broken, and some cracked as foot was set upon them. The hobbits struggled on, until at last they were clinging with desperate fingers to the steps ahead, and forcing their aching knees to bend and straighten; and ever as the stair cut its way deeper into the sheer mountain the rocky walls rose higher and higher above their heads. At length, just as they felt that they could endure no more, they saw Gollum's eyes peering down at them again. `We're up,' he whispered. 'First stair's past. Clever hobbits to climb so high, very clever hobbits. Just a few more little steps and that's all, yes.' Dizzy and very tired Sam, and Frodo following him, crawled up the last step, and sat down rubbing their legs and knees. They were in a deep dark passage that seemed still to go up before them, though at a gentler slope and without steps. Gollum did not let them rest long. 'There's another stair still,' he said. `Much longer stair. Rest when we get to the top of next stair. Not yet.' Sam groaned. 'Longer, did you say? ' he asked. 'Yes, yess, longer,' said Gollum. `But not so difficult. Hobbits have climbed the Straight Stair. Next comes the Winding Stair.' 'And what after that? ' said Sam. `We shall see,' said Gollum softly. `O yes, we shall see! ' 'I thought you said there was a tunnel,' said Sam. `Isn't there a tunnel or something to go through? ' 'O yes, there's a tunnel,' said Gollum. `But hobbits can rest before they try that. If they get through that, they'll be nearly at the top. Very nearly, if they get through. O yes! ' Frodo shivered. The climb had made him sweat, but now he felt cold and clammy, and there was a chill draught in the dark passage, blowing down from the invisible heights above. He got up and shook himself. `Well, let's go on! ' he said. `This is no place to sit in.' The passage seemed to go on for miles, and always the chill air flowed over them, rising as they went on to a bitter wind. The mountains seemed to be trying with their deadly breath to daunt them, to turn them back from the secrets of the high places, or to blow them away into the darkness behind. They only knew that they had come to the end, when suddenly they felt no ####-wall at their right hand. They could see very little. Great black shapeless masses and deep grey shadows loomed above them and about them, but now and again a dull red light flickered up under the lowering clouds, and for a moment they were aware of tall peaks, in front and on either side, like pillars holding up a vast sagging roof. They seemed to have climbed up many hundreds of feet, on to a wide shelf. A cliff was on their left and a chasm on their right. Gollum led the way close under the cliff. For the present they were no longer climbing, but the ground was now more broken and dangerous in the dark, and there were blocks and lumps of fallen stone in the way. Their going was slow and cautious. How many hours had passed since they had entered the Morgul Vale neither Sam nor Frodo could any longer guess. The night seemed endless. At length they were once more aware of a wall looming up, and once more a stairway opened before them. Again they halted, and again they began to climb. It was a long and weary ascent; but this stairway did not delve into the mountain-side. Here the huge cliff face sloped backwards, and the path like a snake wound to and fro across it. At one point it crawled sideways right to the edge of the dark chasm, and Frodo glancing down saw below him as a vast deep pit the great ravine at the head of the Morgul Valley. Down in its depths glimmered like a glow-worm thread the wraith-road from the dead city to the Nameless Pass. He turned hastily away. Still on and up the stairway bent and crawled, until at last with a final flight, short and straight, it climbed out again on to another level. The path had veered away from the main pass in the great ravine, and it now followed its own perilous course at the bottom of a lesser cleft among the higher regions of the Ephel D®ath. Dimly the hobbits could discern tall piers and jagged pinnacles of stone on either side, between which were great crevices and fissures blacker than the night, where forgotten winter s had gnawed and carved the sunless stone. And now the red light in the sky seemed stronger; though they could not tell whether a dreadful morning were indeed coming to this place of shadow, or whether they saw only the flame of some great violence of Sauron in the torment of Gorgoroth beyond. Still far ahead, and still high above, Frodo, looking up, saw, as he guessed, the very crown of this bitter road. Against the sullen redness of the eastern sky a cleft was outlined in the topmost ridge, narrow, deep-cloven between two ####-black shoulders; and on either shoulder was a horn of stone. He paused and looked more attentively. The horn upon the left was tall and slender; and in it burned a red light, or else the red light in the land beyond was shining through a hole. He saw now: it was a black tower poised above the outer pass. He touched Sam's arm and pointed. 'I don't like the look of that! ' said Sam. `So this secret way of yours is guarded after all,' he growled, turning to Gollum. 'As you knew all along, I suppose? ' 'All ways are watched, yes,' said Gollum. `Of course they are. But hobbits must try some way. This may be least watched. Perhaps they've all gone away to big battle, perhaps! ' 'Perhaps,' grunted Sam. 'Well, it still seems a long way off, and a long way up before we get there. And there's still the tunnel. I think you ought to rest now, Mr. Frodo. I don't know what time of day or night it is, but we've kept going for hours and hours.' `Yes, we must rest,' said Frodo. 'Let us find some corner out of the wind, and gather our strength-for the last lap.' For so he felt it to be. The terrors of the land beyond, and the deed to be done there, seemed remote, too far off yet to trouble him. All his mind was bent on getting through or over this impenetrable wall and guard. If once he could do that impossible thing, then somehow the errand would be accomplished, or so it seemed to him in that dark hour of weariness, still labouring in the stony shadows under Cirith Ungol. In a dark crevice between two great piers of rock they sat down: Frodo and Sam a little way within. and Gollum crouched upon the ground near the opening. There the hobbits took what they expected would be their last meal before they went down into the Nameless Land, maybe the last meal they would ever eat together. Some of the food of Gondor they ate, and wafers of the waybread of the Elves. and they drank a little. But of their water they were sparing and took only enough to moisten their dry mouths. `I wonder when we'll find water again? ' said Sam. 'But I suppose even over there they drink? Orcs drink, don't they? ' 'Yes, they drink,' said Frodo. 'But do not let us speak of that. Such drink is not for us.' `Then all the more need to fill our bottles,' said Sam. `But there isn't any water up here: not a sound or a trickle have I heard. And anyway ####-Faramir said we were not to drink any water in Morgul.' 'No water flowing out of Imlad Morgul, were his words,' said Frodo. `We are not in that valley now, and if we came on a spring it would be flowing into it and not out of it.' 'I wouldn't trust it,' said Sam, 'not till I was dying of thirst. There's a wicked feeling about this place.' He sniffed. 'And a smell, I fancy. Do you notice it? A queer kind of a smell, stuffy. I don't like it.' 'I don't like anything here at all.' said Frodo, `step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid.' 'Yes, that's so,' said Sam. `And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually -- their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on -- and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same -- like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into? ' `I wonder,' said Frodo. 'But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy -ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to.' 'No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that's a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it -- and the Silmaril went on and came to Edrendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We've got -- you've got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we're in the ####-same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end? ' 'No, they never end as tales,' said Frodo. `But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later -- or sooner.' 'And then we can have some rest and some sleep,' said Sam. He laughed grimly. 'And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning's work in the garden. I'm afraid that's all I'm hoping for all the time. All the big important plans are not for my sort. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, or course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring! " And they'll say: "Yes, that's one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave. wasn't he, dad?" "Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that's saying a lot."' `It's saying a lot too much,' said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listen ing and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. 'Why, Sam,' he said, 'to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad? " ' `Now, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'you shouldn't make fun. I was serious. ' `So was I,' said Frodo, 'and so I am. We're going on a bit too fast. You and I, Sam, are still stuck in the worst places of the story, and it is all too likely that some will say at this point: "Shut the book now, dad; we don't want to read any more." ' `Maybe,' said Sam, 'but I wouldn't be one to say that. Things done and over and made into part of the great tales are different. Why, even Gollum might be good in a tale, better than he is to have by you, anyway. And he used to like tales himself once, by his own account. I wonder if he thinks he's the hero or the villain? `Gollum!' he called. `Would you like to be the hero -- now where's he got to again?'####- There was no sign of him at the mouth of their shelter nor in the shadows near. He had refused their food, though he had, as usual, accepted a mouthful of water; and then he had seemed to curl up for a sleep: They had supposed that one at any rate of his objects in his long absence the day befor e had been to hunt for food to his own liking; and now he had evidently slipped off again while they talked. But what for this time? `I don't like his sneaking off without saying,' said Sam. 'And least of all now. He can't be looking for food up here, not unless there's some kind of rock he fancies. Why, there isn't even a bit of moss! ' `It's no good worrying about him now,' said Frodo. `We couldn't have got so far, not even within sight of the pass, without him, and so we'll have to put up with his ways. If he's false, he's false.' 'All the same, I'd rather have him under my eye,' said Sam. 'All the more so, if he's false. Do you remember he never would say if this pass was guarded or no? And now we see a tower there -- and it may be deserted, and it may not. Do you think he's gone to fetch them, Orcs or whatever they are?' `No, I don't think so,' answered Frodo. 'Even if he's up to some wickedness, and I suppose that's not unlikely, I don't think it's that: no t to fetch Orcs, or any servants of the Enemy. Why wait till now, and go through all the labour of the climb, and come so near the land he fears? He could probably have betrayed us to Orcs many times since we met him. No, if it's anything, it wil l be some little private trick of his own-that he thinks is quite secret.' `Well, I suppose you're right, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'Not that it comforts me mightily. I don't make no mistake: I don't doubt he'd hand me over to Orcs as gladly as kiss his hand. But I was forgetting -- his Precious. No, I suppose the whole time it's been The Precious for poor Smjagol. That's the one idea in all his little schemes, if he has any. But how bringing us up here will help him in that is more than I can guess.' 'Very likely he can't guess himself,' said Frodo. `And I don't think he's got just one plain scheme in his muddled head. I think he really is in part trying to save the Precious from the Enemy. as long as he can. For that would be the last disaster for himself too. if the Enemy got it. And in the other part, perhaps, he's just biding his time and waiting on chance.' 'Yes, Slinker and Stinker, as I've said before,' said Sam. 'But the nearer they get to the Enemy's land the more like Stinker Slinker will get.####-Mark my words: if ever we get to the pass, he won't let us really take the precious thing over the border without making some kind of trouble.' `We haven't got there yet,' said Frodo. 'No, but we'd better keep our eyes skinned till we do. If we're caught napping, Stinker will come out on top pretty quick. Not but what it would be safe for you to have a wink now, master. Safe, if you lay close to me. I'd be dearly glad to see you have a sleep. I'd keep watch over you; and anyway, if you lay near, with my arm round you, no one could come pawing you without your Sam knowing it.' `Sleep!' said Frodo and sighed, as if out of a desert he had seen a mirage of cool green. 'Yes, even here I could sleep.' `Sleep then, master! Lay your head in my lap.' And so Gollum found them hours later, when he returned, crawling and creeping down the path out of the gloom ahead. Sam sat propped against the stone, his head dropping sideways and his breathing heavy. In his lap lay Frodo's head, drowned deep in sleep; upon his white forehead lay one of Sam's brown hands, and the other lay softly upon his master's breast. Peace was in both their faces. Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo's knee -- but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing. But at that touch Frodo stirred and cried out softly in his sleep, and immediately Sam was wide awake. The first thing he saw was Gollum -- `pawing at master,' as he thought. `Hey you!' he said roughly. `What are you up to?' 'Nothing, nothing,' said Gollum softly. `Nice Master!' `I daresay,' said Sam. 'But where have you been to -- sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villain? '####- Gollum withdrew himself, and a green glint flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider -like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall. `Sneaking, sneaking!' he hissed. 'Hobbits always so polite, yes. O nice hobbits! Smjagol brings them up secret ways that nobody else could find. Tired he is, thirsty he is, yes thirsty; and he guides them and he searches for paths, and they say sneak, sneak. Very nice friends, O yes my precious, very nice.' Sam felt a bit remorseful, though not more trustful. 'Sorry.' he said. 'I'm sorry, but you startled me out of my sleep. And I shouldn't have been sleeping, and that made me a bit sharp. But Mr. Frodo. he's that tired, I asked him to have a wink; and well, that's how it is. Sorry. But where have you been to? ' `Sneaking,' said Gollum, and the green glint did not leave his eyes. 'O very well,' said Sam, `have it your own way! I don't suppose it's so far from the truth. And now we'd better all be sneaking along together. What's the time? Is it today or tomorrow? ' 'It's tomorrow,' said Gollum, 'or this was tomorrow when hobbits went to sleep. Very foolish, very dangerous-if poor Smjagol wasn't sneaking about to watch.' `I think we shall get tired of that word soon,' said Sam. 'But never mind. I'll wake master up.' Gently he smoothed the hair back fr om Frodo's brow, and bending down spoke softly to him. `Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up! ' Frodo stirred and opened his eyes, and smiled, seeing Sam's face bending over him. `Calling me early aren't you, Sam?' he said. `It's dark still! ' 'Yes it's always dark here,' said Sam. `But Gollum's come back Mr. Frodo, and he says it's tomorrow. So we must be walking on. The last lap.' Frodo drew a deep breath and sat up. `The last lap! ' he said. 'Hullo, Smjagol! Found any food? Have you had any rest? ' `No food, no rest, nothing for Smjagol,' said Gollum. `He's a sneak.' Sam clicked his tongue, but restrained himself. 'Don't take names to yourself, Smjagol,' said Frodo. 'It's unwise whether they are true or false.' `Smjagol has to take what's given him,' answered Gollum. 'He was given that name by kind Master Samwise, the hobbit that knows so much.'####- Frodo looked at Sam. 'Yes sir,' he said. `I did use the word, waking up out of my sleep sudden and all and finding him at hand. I said I was sorry, but I soon shan't be.' 'Come, let it pass then,' said Frodo. 'But now we seem to have come to the point, you and I, Smjagol. Tell me. Can we find the rest of the way by ourselves? We're in sight of the pass, of a way in, and if we can find it now, then I suppose our agreement can be said to be over. You have done what you promised, and you're free: free to go back to food and rest, wherever you wish to go, except to servants of the Enemy. And one day I may reward you, I or those that remember me.' `No, no, not yet,' Gollum whined. `O no! They can't find the way themselves, can they? O no indeed. There's the tunnel coming. Smjagol must go on. No rest. No food. Not yet.' ####- It may indeed have been daytime now, as Gollum said, but the hobbits could see little difference, unless, perhaps, the heavy sky above was less utterly black, more like a great roof of smoke; while instead of the darkness of deep night, which lingered still in cracks and holes, a grey blurring shadow shrouded the stony world about them. They passed on, Gollum in front and the hobbits now side by side, up the long ravine between the piers and columns of torn and wea thered rock, standing like huge unshapen statues on either hand. There was no sound. Some way ahead, a mile or so, perhaps, was a great grey wall, a last huge upthrusting mass of mountain-stone. Darker it loomed, and steadily it rose as they approached, until it towered up high above them, shutting out the view of all that lay beyond. Deep shadow lay before its feet. Sam sniffed the air. `Ugh! That smell!' he said. `It's getting stronger and stronger.' Presently they were under the shadow, and there in the midst of it they saw the opening of a cave. `This is the way in,' said Gollum softly. `This is the entrance to the tunnel.' He did not speak its name: Torech Ungol, Shelob's Lair. Out of it came a stench, not the sickly odour of decay in the meads of Morgul, but a foul reek, as if filth unnameable were piled and hoarded in the dark within. `Is this the only way, Smjagol? ' said Frodo. 'Yes, yes,' he answered. 'Yes, we must go this way now.' 'D'you mean to say you've been through this hole?' said Sam. `Phew! But perhaps you don't mind bad smells.' Gollum's eyes glinted. `He doesn't know what we minds, does he precious? No, he doesn't. But Smjagol can bear things. Yes. He's been through. O yes, right through. It's the only way.' `And what makes the smell, I wonder,' said Sam. `It's like -- well, I wouldn't like to say. Some beastly hole of the Orcs, I'll warrant, with a hundred years of their filth in it.' 'Well,' said Frodo, 'Orcs or no, if it's the only way, we must take it.' Drawing a deep breath they passed inside. In a few steps they were in ####-utter and impenetrable dark. Not since the lightless passages of Moria had Frodo or Sam known such darkness, and if possible here it was deeper and denser. There, there were airs moving, and echoes, and a sense of space. Here the air was still, stagnant, heavy, and sound fell dead. They walked as it were in a black vapour wrought of veritable darkness itsel f that, as it was breathed, brought blindness not only to the eyes but to the mind, so that even the memory of colours and of forms and of any light faded out of thought. Night always had been, and always would be, and night was all. But for a while they could still feel, and indeed the senses of their feet and fingers at first seemed sharpened almost painfully. The walls felt, to their surprise, smooth, and the floor, save for a step now and again, was straight and even, going ever up at the same stiff slope. The tunnel was high and wide, so wide that, though the hobbits walked abreast, only touching the side-walls with their outstretched hands, they were separated, cut off alone in the darkness. Gollum had gone in first and seemed to be only a few steps ahead. While they were still able to give heed to such things, they could hear his breath hissing and gasping just in front of them. But after a time their senses became duller, both touch and hearing seemed to grow numb, and they kept on, groping, walking, on and on, mainly by the force of the will with which they had entered, will to go through and desire to come at last to the high gate beyond. Before they had gone very far, perhaps, but time and distance soon passed out of his reckoning, Sam on the right, feeling the wall, was aware that there was an opening at the side: for a moment he caught a faint breath of some air less heavy, and then they passed it by. 'There's more than one passage here,' he whispered with an effort: it seemed hard to make his breath give any sound. `It's as orc-like a place as ever there could be! ' After that, first he on the right, and then Frodo on the left, passed three or four such openings, some wider, some smaller; but there was as yet no doubt of the main way, for it was straight, and did not turn, and still went steadily up. But how long was it, how much more of this would they have to endure, or could they endure? The breathlessness of the air was growing as they climbed; and now they seemed often in the blind dark to sense some resistance thicker than the foul air. As they thrust forward they felt things brush against their heads, or against their hands, long tentacles, or ####-hanging growths perhaps: they could not tell what they were. And still the stench grew. It grew, until almost it seemed to them that smell was the only clear sense left t¢ them. and that was for their torment. One hour, two hours, three hours: how many had they passed in this lightless hole? Hours-days, weeks rather. Sam left the tunnel -side and shrank towards Frodo, and their hands met and clasped. and so together they still went on. At length Frodo, groping along the left-hand wall, came suddenly to a void. Almost he fell sideways into the emptiness. Here was some opening in the rock far wider than any they had yet passed; and out of it came a reek so foul, and a sense of lurking malice so intense, that Frodo reeled. And at that moment Sam too lurched and fell forwards. Fighting off both the sickness and the fear, Frodo gripped Sam's hand. `Up! ' he said in a hoarse breath without voice. 'It all comes from here, the stench and the peril. Now for it! Quick! ' Calling up his remaining strength and resolution, he dragged Sam to his feet, and forced his own limbs to move. Sam stumbled beside him. One step, two steps, three steps-at last six steps. Maybe they had passed the dreadful unseen opening, but whether that was so or not, suddenly it was easier to move, as if some hostile will for the moment had released them. They struggled on, still hand in hand. But almost at once they came to a new difficulty. The tunnel forked, or so it seemed, and in the dark they could not tell wh ich was the wider way, or which kept nearer to the straight. Which should they take, the left, or the right? They knew of nothing to guide them, yet a false choice would almost certainly be fatal. `Which way has Gollum gone? ' panted Sam. 'And why didn't he wait? ' `Smjagol! ' said Frodo, trying to call. 'Smjagol! ' But his voice croaked, and the name fell dead almost as it left his lips. There was no answer, not an echo, not even a tremor of the air. `He's really gone this time, I fancy,' muttered Sam. `I guess this is just exactly where he meant to bring us. Gollum! If ever I lay hands on you again, you'll be sorry for it.' Presently, groping and fumbling in the dark, they found that the opening on the left wa s blocked: either it was a blind, or else some great stone had fallen in the passage. 'This can't be the way,' Frodo whispered. 'Right or wrong, we must take the other.' 'And quick! ' Sam panted. 'There's something worse than Gollum about. I ####-can feel something looking at us.' They had not gone more than a few yards when from behind them came a sound, startling and horrible in the heavy padded silence: a gurgling, bubbling noise, and a long venomous hiss. They wheeled round, but nothing could be seen. Still as stones they stood, staring, waiting for they did not know what. `It's a trap!' said Sam, and he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came. 'I wish old Tom was near us now!' he thought. Then as he stood, darkness about him and a blackness of despair and anger in his heart. it seemed to him that he saw a light: a light in his mind, almost unbearably bright at first, as a sun-ray to the eyes of one long hidden in a windowless pit. Then the light became colour: green, gold, silver, white. Far off, as in a little picture drawn by elven-fingers he saw the Lady Galadriel standing on the grass in Lurien, and gifts were in her hands. And you, Ring-bearer, he heard her say, remote but clear, for you I have prepared this. The bubbling hiss drew nearer, and there was a creaking as of some great jointed thing that moved with slow purpose in the dark. A reek came on before it. 'Master, master!' cried Sam, and the life and urgency came back into his voice. 'The Lady's gift! The star-glass! A light to you in dark places, she said it was to be. The star-glass! ' `The star-glass?' muttered Frodo, as one answering out of sleep, hardly comprehending. `Why yes! Why had I forgotten it? A light when all other lights go out! And now indeed light alone can help us.' Slowly his hand went to his bosom, and slowly he held aloft the Phial of Galadriel. For a moment it glimmered, faint as a rising star struggling in heavy earthward mists, and then as its power waxed, and hope grew in Frodo's mind, it began to burn, and kindled to a silver flame, a minute heart of dazzling light, as though Edrendil had himself come down from the high sunset paths with the last Silmaril upon his brow. The darkness receded from it until it seemed to shine in the centre of a globe of airy crystal, and the hand that held it sparkled with white fire. Frodo gazed in wonder at this marvellous gift that he had so long carried, not guessing its full worth and potency. Seldom had he remembered it on the road, until they came to Morgul Vale, and never had he used it for fear of its revealing light. Aiya Edrendil Elenion Ancalima! he cried, and ####-knew not what he had spoken; for it seemed that another voice spoke through his, clear, untroubled by the foul air of the pit. But other potencies there are in Middle-earth, powers of night, and they are old and strong. And She that walked in the darkness had heard the Elves cry that cry far back in the deeps of time, and she had not heeded it, and it did not daunt her now. Even as Frodo spoke he felt a great malice bent upon him, and a deadly regard considering him. Not far down the tunnel, between them and the opening where they had reeled and stumbled, he was aware of eyes growing visible, two great clusters of many-windowed eyes -- the coming menace was unmasked at last. The radiance of the star -gla ss was broken and thrown back from their thousand facets, but behind the glitter a pale deadly fire began steadily to glow within, a flame kindled in some deep pit of evil thought. Monstrous and abominable eyes they were, bestial and yet filled with purpose and with hideous delight, gloating over their prey trapped beyond all hope of escape. Frodo and Sam, horror -stricken, began slowly to back away, their own gaze held by the dreadful stare of those baleful eyes; but as they backed so the eyes advanced. Frodo's hand wavered, and slowly the Phial drooped. Then suddenly, released from the holding spell to run a little while in vain panic for the amusement of the eyes, they both turned and fled together; but even as they ran Frodo looked back and saw with terror that at once the eyes came leaping up behind. The stench of death was like a cloud about him. 'Stand! stand! ' he cried desperately. `Running is no use.' Slowly the eyes crept nearer. `Galadriel! ' he called, and gathering his courage he lifted up the Phial once more. The eyes halted. For a moment their regard relaxed, as if some hint of doubt troubled them. Then Frodo's heart flamed within him, and without thinking what he did, whether it was folly or despair or courage, he took the Phial in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his sword. Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked. Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes. They wavered. Doubt came into them as the light approached. One by one they dimmed, and slowly they drew back. No brightness so deadly had ever afflicted them before. From sun and moon and star they had been safe underground, but now a star had descended into the very earth. Still it ####-approached, and the eyes began to quail. One by one they all went dark; they turned away, and a great bulk, beyond the light's reach, heaved its huge shadow in between. They were gone. 'Master, master!' cried Sam. He was close behind, his own sword drawn and ready. 'Stars and glory! But the Elves would make a song of that, if ever they heard of it! And may I live to tell them and hear them sing. But don't go on, master. Don't go down to that den! Now's our only chance. Now let's get out of this foul hole!' And so back they turned once more, first walking and then running; for as they went the floor of the tunnel rose steeply, and with every stride they climbed higher above the stenches of the unseen lair, and strength returned to limb and heart. But still the hatred of the Watcher lurked behind them, blind for a while, perhaps, but undefeated, still bent on death. And now there came a flow of air to meet them, cold and thin. The opening, the tunnel's end, at last it was before them. Panting, yearning for a roofless place, they flung themselves forward, and then in amazement they staggered, tumbling back. The outlet was blocked with some barrier, but not of stone: soft and a little yielding it seemed, and yet strong and impervious; air filtered through, hut not a glimmer of any light. Once more they charged and were hurled back. Holding aloft the Phial Frodo looked and before him he saw a greyness which the radiance of the star-glass did not pierce and did not illuminate, as if it were a shadow that being cast by no light, no light could dissipate. Across the width and height of the tunnel a vast web was spun, orderly as the web of some huge spider, but denser -woven and far greater, and each thread was as thick as rope. Sam laughed grimly. `Cobwebs! ' he said. `Is that all? Cobwebs! But what a spider! Have at 'em, down with 'em! ' In a fury he hewed at them with his sword, but the thread that he struck did not break. It gave a little and then sprang back like a plucked bowstring, turning the blade and tossing up both sword and a rm. Three times Sam struck with all his force, and at last one single cord of all the countless cords snapped and twisted, curling and whipping through the air. One end of it lashed Sam's hand, and he cried out in pain, starting back and drawing h is hand across his mouth. `It will take days to clear the road like this,' he said. `What's to be done? Have those eyes come back? '####- `No, not to be seen,' said Frodo. `But I still feel that they are looking at me, or thinking about me: making some other plan, perhaps. If this light were lowered, or if it failed, they would quickly come again.' `Trapped in the end! ' said Sam bitterly, his anger rising again above weariness and despair. `Gnats in a net. May the curse of Faramir bite that Gollum and bite him quick! ' 'That would not help us now,' said Frodo. `Come! Let us see what Sting can do. It is an elven-blade. There were webs of horror in the dark ravines of Beleriand where it was forged. But you must be the guard and hold back the eyes. Here, take the star -glass. Do not be afraid. Hold it up and watch!' Then Frodo stepped up to the great grey net, and hewed it with a wide sweeping stroke, drawing the bitter edge swiftly across a ladder of close-strung cords, and at once springing away. The blue-gleaming blade shore through them like a scythe through grass, and they leaped and writhed and then hung loose. A great rent was made. Stroke after stroke he dealt, until at last all the web within his reach was shattered, and the upper portion blew and swayed like a loose veil in the incoming wind. The trap was broken. `Come! ' cried Frodo. `On! On! ' Wild joy at their escape from the very mouth of despair suddenly filled all his mind. His head whirled as with a draught of potent wine. He sprang out, shouting as he came. It seemed light in that dark land to his eyes that had passed through the den of night. The great smokes had risen and grown thinner, and the last hours of a sombre day were passing; the red glare of Mordor had died away in sullen gloom. Yet it seemed to Frodo that he looked upon a morning of sudden hope. Almost he had reached the summit of the wall. Only a little higher now. The Cleft, Cirith Ungol, was before him, a dim notch in the black ridge, and the horns of rock darkling in the sky on either side. A short race, a sprinter's course and he would be through! `The pass, Sam! ' he cried, not heeding the shrillness of his voice, that released from the choking airs of the tunnel rang out now high and wild. 'The pass! Run, run, and we'll be through-through before any one can stop us! ' Sam came up behind as fast as he could urge his legs; but glad as he was to be free, he was uneasy, and as he ran, he kept on glancing back at the dark arch of the tunnel, fearing to see eyes, or some shape beyond his ####-imagining, spring out in pursuit. Too little did he or his master know of the craft of Shelob. She had many exits from her lair. There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider -form, even such as once of old had lived in the Land of the Elves in the West that is now under the Sea, such as Beren fought in the Mountains of Terror in Doriath, and so came to L®thien upon the green sward amid the hemlocks in the moonlight long ago. How Shelob came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells, for out of the Dark Years few tales have come. But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dyr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness. Far and wide her lesser broods, bastards of the miserable mates, her own offspring, that she slew, spread from glen to glen, from the Ephel D®ath to the eastern hills, to Dol Guldur and the fastnesses of Mirkwood. But none could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world. Already, years before, Gollum had beheld her, Smjagol who pried into all dark holes, and in past days he had bowed and worshipped her, and the darkness of her evil will walked through all the ways of his weariness beside him, cutting him off from light and from regret. And he had promised to bring her food. But her lust was not his lust. Little she knew of or cared for towers, or rings, or anything devised by mind or hand, who only desired death for all others, mind and body, and for herself a glut of life. alone, swollen till the mountains could no longer hold her up and the darkness could not contain her. But that desire was yet far away, and long now had she been hungry, lurking in her den, while the power of Sauron grew, and light and living things forsook his borders; and the city in the valley was dead, and no Elf or Man came near, only the unhappy Orcs. Poor food and wary. But she must eat, and however busily they delved new winding passages from the pass and from their tower, ever she found some way to snare them. But she lusted for sweeter meat. And Gollum had brought it to her. `We'll see, we'll see,' he said often to himself, when the evil mood was on him, as he walked the dangerous road from Emyn Muil to Morgul Vale, 'we'll see. It may well be, O yes, it may well be that when She throws away ####-the bones and the empty garments, we shall find it, we shall get it, the Precious, a reward for poor Smjagol who brings nice food. And we'll save the Precious, as we promised. O yes. And when we've got it safe, then She'll know it, O yes, then we'll pay Her back, my precious. Then we'll pay everyone back! ' So he thought in an inner chamber of his cunning, which he still hoped to hide from her, even when he had come to her again and had bowed low before her while his companions slept. And as for Sauron: he knew where she lurked. It pleased him that she should dwell there hungry but unabated in malice, a more sure watch upon that ancient path into his land than any other that his skill could have devised. And Orcs, they were useful slaves, but he had them in plenty. If now and again Shelob caught them to stay her appetite, she was welcome: he could spare them. And sometimes as a man may cast a dainty to his cat (his cat he calls her, but she owns him not) Sauron would send her prisoners that he had no better uses for: he would have them driven to her hole, and report brought back to him of the play she made. So they both lived, delighting in their own devices, and feared no assault, nor wrath, nor any end of their wickedness. Never yet had any fly escaped from Shelob's webs, and the greater now was her rage and hunger. But nothing of this evil which they had stirred up against them did poor Sam know, except that a fear was growing on him, a menace which he could not see; and such a weight did it become that it was a burden to him to run, and his feet seemed leaden. Dread was round him, and enemies before him in the pass, and his master was in a fey mood running heedlessly to meet them. Turning his eyes away from the shadow behind and the deep gloom beneath the cliff upon his left, he looked ahead, and he saw two things that increased his dismay. He saw that the sword which Frodo still held unsheathed was glittering with blue flame; and he saw that though the sky behind was now dark. still the window in the tower was g lowing red. `Orcs! ' he muttered. `We'll never rush it like this. There's Orcs about, and worse than Orcs.' Then returning quickly to his long habit of secrecy, he closed his hand about the precious Phial which he still bore. Red with his own living blood his hand shone for a moment, and then he thrust the revealing light deep into a pocket near his breast and drew his elven-cloak about him. Now he tried to quicken his pace. His master was ####-gaining on him; already he was some twenty strides ahead, flitting on like a shadow; soon he would be lost to sight in that grey world. Hardly had Sam hidden the light of the star -glass when she came. A little way ahead and to his left he saw suddenly, issuing from a black hole of shadow under the cliff, the most loathly shape that he had ever beheld, horrible beyond the horror of an evil dream. Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts, and more terrible than they because of the evil purpose in her remorseless eyes. Those same eyes that he had thought daunted and defeated, there they were lit with a fell light again, clustering in her out-thrust head. Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk -like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg's end there was a claw. As soon as she had squeezed her soft squelching body and its folded limbs out of the upper exit from her lair, she moved with a horrible speed, now running on her creaking legs, now making a sudden bound. She was between Sam and his master. Either she did not see Sam, or she avoided him for the moment as the bearer of the light` and fixed all her intent upon one prey, upon Frodo, bereft of his Phial, running heedless up the path, unaware yet of his peril. Swiftly he ran, but Shelob was swifter; in a few leaps she would have him. Sam gasped and gathered all his remaining breath to shout. 'Look out behind! ' he yelled. 'Look out master! I'm' -- but suddenly his cry was stifled. A long clammy hand went over his mouth and another caught him by the neck, while something wrapped itself about his leg. Taken off his guard he toppled backwards into the arms of his attacker. `Got him! ' hissed Gollum in his ear. `At last, my precious, we've got him, yes, the nassty hobbit. We takes this one. She'll get the other. O yes, Shelob will get him, not Smjagol: he promised; he won't hurt Master at all. But he's got you, you nassty filthy little sneak!' He spat on Sam's neck. Fury at the treachery, and desperation at the delay when his master was in deadly peril, gave to Sam a sudden violence and strength that was far ####-beyond anything that Gollum had expected from this slow stupid hobbit, as he thought him. Not Gollum himself could have twisted more quickly or more fiercely. His hold on Sam's mouth slipped, and Sam ducked and lunged forward again, trying to tear away from the grip on his neck. His sword was still in his hand, and on his left arm, hanging by its thong, was Faramir's staff. Desperately he tried to turn and stab his enemy. But Gollum was too quick. His long right arm shot out, and he grabbed Sam's wrist: his fingers were like a vice; slowly and relentlessly he bent the hand down and forward, till with a cry of pain Sam released the sword and it fell to the ground; and all the while Gollum's other hand was tightening on Sam's throat. Then Sam played his last trick. With all his strength he pulled away and got his feet firmly planted; then suddenly he drove his legs against the ground and with his whole force hurled himself backwards. Not expecting even this simple trick from Sam, Gollum fell over with Sam on top, and he received the weight of the sturdy hobbit in his stomach. A sharp hiss came out of him, and for a second his hand upon Sam's throat loosened; but his fingers still gripped the sword-hand. Sam tore himself forward and away, and stood up, and then quickly he wheeled away to his right, pivoted on the wrist held by Gollum. Laying hold of the staff with his left hand, Sam swung it up, and down it came with a whistling crack on Gollum's outstretched arm, just below the elbow. With a squeal Gollum let go. Then Sam waded in; not waiting to change the staff from left to right he dealt another savage blow. Quick as a snake Gollum slithered aside. and the stroke aimed at his head fell across his back. The staff cracked and broke. That was enough for him. Grabbing from behind was an old game of his, and seldom had he failed in it. But this time, misled by spite, he had made the mistake of speaking and gloating before he had both hands on his victim's neck. Everything had gone wrong with his beautiful plan, since that horrible light had so unexpectedly appeared in the darkness. And now he was face to face with a furious enemy, little less than his own size. This fight was not for him. Sam swept up his sword from the ground and raised it. Gollum squealed , and springing aside on to all fours, he jumped away in one big bound like a frog. Before Sam could reach him, he was off, running with amazing speed back towards the tunnel. Sword in hand Sam went after him. For the moment he had forgotten everything else but the red fury in his brain and the desire to kill Gollum.####-But before he could overtake him, Gollum was gone. Then as the dark hole stood before him and the stench came out to meet him, like a clap of thunder the thought of Frodo and the monster smote upon Sam's mind. He spun round, and rushed wildly up the path, calling and calling his master's name. He was too late. So far Gollum's plot had succeeded. ####- Frodo was lying face upward on the ground and the monster was bending over him, so intent upon her victim that she took no heed of Sam and his cries, until he was close at hand. As he rushed up he saw that Frodo was already bound in cords, wound about him from ankle to shoulder, and the monster with her great forelegs was beginning half to lift, half to drag his body away. On the near side of him lay, gleaming on the ground, his elven-blade, where it had fallen useless from his grasp. Sam did not wait to wonder wha t was to be done, or whether he was brave, or loyal, or filled with rage. He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged. No onslaught more fierce was ever seen in the savage world of beasts; where some desperate small creature armed with little teeth alone, will spring upon a tower of horn and hide that stands above its fallen mate. Disturbed as if out of some gloating dream by his small yell she turned slowly the dreadful malice of her glance upon him. But almost before she was aware that a fury was upon her greater than any she had known in countless years, the shining sword bit upon her foot and shore away the claw. Sam sprang in, inside the arches of her legs, and with a quick upthrust of his other hand stabbed at the clustered eyes upon her lowered head. One great eye went dark. Now the miserable creature was right under her, for the moment out of the reach of her sting and of her claws. Her vast belly was above him with its putrid light, and the stench of it almost smote him down. Still his fury held for one more blow, and before she could sink upon him, smothering him and all his little impudence of courage, he slashed the bright elven-blade across her with desperate strength. But Shelob was not as dragons are, no softer spot had she save only her eyes. Knobbed and pitted with corruption was her age-old hide, but ever thickened from within with layer on layer of evil growth. The blade scored it with a dreadful gash, but those hideous folds could not be pierced by any strength of men, not though Elf or Dwarf should forge the steel or the hand of Beren or of T®rin wield it. She yielded to the stroke, and then heaved up ####-the great bag of her belly high above Sam's head. Poison frothed and bubbled from the wound. Now splaying her legs she drove her huge bulk down on him again. Too soon. For Sam still stood upon his feet, and dropping his own sword, with both hands he held the elven-blade point upwards, fending off that ghastly roof; and so Shelob, with the driving force of her own cruel will, with strength greater than any warrior's hand, thrust herself upon a bitter spike. Deep, deep it pricked, as Sam was crushed slowly to the ground. No such anguish had Shelob ever known, or dreamed of knowing, in all her long world of wickedness. Not the doughtiest soldier of old Gondor, nor the most savage Orc entrapped, had ever thus endured her, or set blade to her beloved flesh. A shudder went through her. Heaving up again, wrenching away from the pain, she bent her writhing limbs beneath her and sprang backwards in a convulsive leap. Sam had fallen to his knees by Frodo's head, his senses reeling in the foul stench, his two hands still gripping the hilt of the sword. Through the mist before his eyes he was aware dimly of Frodo's face and stubbornly he fought to master himself and to drag himself out of the swoon that was upon him. Slowly he raised his head and saw her, only a few paces away, eyeing him, her beak drabbling a spittle of venom, and a green ooze trickling from below her wounded eye. There she crouched, her shuddering belly splayed upon the ground, the great bows of her legs quivering, as she gather ed herself for another spring-this time to crush and sting to death: no little bite of poison to still the struggling of her meat; this time to slay and then to rend. Even as Sam himself crouched, looking at her, seeing his death in her eyes, a thought came to him, as if some remote voice had spoken. and he fumbled in his breast with his left hand, and found what he sought: cold and hard and solid it seemed to his touch in a phantom world of horror, the Phial of Galadriel. 'Galadr iel! ' he said faintly, and then he heard voices far off but clear: the crying of the Elves as they walked under the stars in the beloved shadows of the Shire, and the music of the Elves as it came through his sleep in the Hall of Fire in the house of Elrond. Gilthoniel A Elbereth!####- And then his tongue was loosed and his voice cried in a language which he did not know: A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon sn di'nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos! And with that he staggered to his feet and was Samwise the hobbit, Hamfast's son, again. `Now come, you filth!' he cried. `You've hurt my master, you brute, and you'll pay for it. We're going on; but we'll settle with you first. Come on, and taste it again!' As if his indomitable spirit had set its potency in motion, the glass blazed suddenly like a white torch in his hand. It flamed like a star that leaping from the firmament sears the dark air with intolerable light. No such terror out of heaven had ever burned in Shelob's face before. The beams of it entered into her wounded head and scored it with unbearable pain, and the dreadful infection of light spread from eye to eye. She fell back beating the air with her forelegs, her sight blasted by inner lightnings, her mind in agony. Then turning her maimed head away, she rolled aside and began to crawl, claw by claw, towards the opening in the dark cliff behind. Sam came on. He was reeling like a drunken man, but he came on. And Shelob cowed at last, shrunken in defeat, jerked and quivered as she tried to hasten from him. She reached the hole, and squeezing down, leaving a trail of green-yellow slime, she slipped in, even as Sam hewed a last stroke at her dragging legs. Then he fell to the ground. Shelob was gone; and whether she lay long in her lair, nursing her malice and her misery, and in slow years of darkness healed herself from within, rebuilding her clustered eyes, until with hunger like death she spun once more her dreadful snares in the glens of the Mountains of Shadow, this tale does not tell. Sam was left alone. Wearily, as the evening of the Nameless Land fell upon the place of battle, he crawled back to his master. 'Master, dear master,' he said, but Frodo did not speak. As he had run forward, eager, rejoicing to be free, Shelob with hideous speed had come behind and with one swift stroke had stung him in the neck. He lay now pale, and heard no voice. and did not move. `Master, dear master! ' said Sam, and through a long silence waited.####-listening in vain. Then as quickly as he could he cut away the binding cords and laid his head upon Frodo's breast and to his mouth, but no stir of life could he find, nor feel the faintest flutter of the heart. Often he chafed his master's hands and feet, and touched his brow, but all were cold. `Frodo, Mr. Frodo! ' he called. 'Don't leave me here alone! It's your Sam calling. Don't go where I can't follow! Wake up, Mr. Frodo! O wake up, Frodo, me dear, me dear. Wake up!' Then anger surged over hint, and he ran about his master's body in a rage, stabbing the air, and smiting the stones, and shouting challenges. Presently he came back, and bending looked at Frodo's face, pale beneath him in the dusk. And suddenly he saw that he was in the picture that was revealed to him in the mirror of Galadriel in Lurien: Frodo with a pale face lying fast asleep under a great dark cliff. Or fast asleep he had thought then. `He's dead! ' he said. 'Not asleep, dead! ' And as he said it, as if the words had set the venom to its work again. it seemed to him that the hue of the face grew livid green. And then black despair came down on him, and Sam bowed to the ground, and drew his grey hood over his head, and night came into his heart, and he knew no more. When at last the blackness passed, Sam looked up and shadows were about him; but for how many minutes or hours the world had gone dragging on he could not tell. He was still in the same place, and still his master lay beside him dead. The mountains had not crumbled nor the earth fallen into ruin. 'What shall I do, what shall I do? ' he said. `Did I come all this way with h im for nothing? ' And then he remembered his own voice speaking words that at the time he did not understand himself, at the beginning of their journey: I have something to do before the end. I must see it through, sir, if you understand . `But what can I do? Not leave Mr. Frodo dead, unburied on the top of the mountains, and go home? Or go on? Go on?' he repeated, and for a moment doubt and fear shook him. `Go on? Is that what I've got to do? And leave him?' Then at last he began to weep; and going to Frodo he composed his body,####-and folded his cold hands upon his breast, and wrapped his cloak about him; and he laid his own sword at one side, and the staff that Faramir had given at the other. 'If I'm to go on,' he said, `then I must take your sword, by your leave, Mr. Frodo, but I'll put this one to lie by you, as it lay by the old king in the barrow; and you've got your beautiful mithril coat from old Mr. Bilbo. And your star-glass, Mr. Frodo, you did lend it to me and I'll need it, for I'll be always in the dark now. It's too good for me, and the Lady gave it to you, but maybe she'd understand. Do you understand, Mr. Frodo? I've got to go on.' But he could not go, not yet. He knelt and held Frodo's hand and could not release it. And time went by and still he knelt, holding his master's hand, and in his heart keeping a debate. Now he tried to find strength to tear himself away and go on a lonely journey -- for vengeance. If once he could go, his anger would bear him down all the roads of the world, pursuing, until he had him at last: Gollum. Then Gollum would die in a corner. But that was not what he had set out to do. It would not be worth while to leave his master for that. It would not bring him back. Nothing would. They had better both be dead together. And that too would be a lonely journey. He looked on the bright point of the sword. He thought of the places behind where there was a black brink and an empty fall into nothingness. There was no escape that way. That was to do nothing, not even to grieve. That was not what he had set out to do. 'What am I to do then? ' he cried again, and now he seemed plainly to know the hard answer: see it through. Another lonely journey, and the worst. `What? Me, alone, go to the Crack of Doom and all? ' He quailed still, but the resolve grew. `What? Me take the Ring from him? The Council gave it to him.' But the answer came at once: `And the Council gave him companions, so that the errand should not fail. And you are the last of all the Company. The errand must not fail.' `I wish I wasn't the last,' he groaned. `I wish old Gandalf was hare or somebody. Why am I left all alone to make up my mind? I'm sure to go wrong. And it's not for me to go taking the Ring, putting myself forward.' 'But you haven't put yourself forward; you've been put forward. And as for not being the right and proper person, why, Mr. Frodo wasn't as you ####-might say, nor Mr. Bilbo. They didn't choose themselves.' `Ah well, I must make up my own mind. I will make it up. But I'll be sure to go wrong: that'd be Sam Gamgee all over. 'Let me see now: if we're found here, or Mr. Frodo's found, and that Thing's on him, well, the Enemy will get it. And that's the end of all of us, of Lorien, and Rivendell, and the Shire and all. And there s no time to lose, or it'll be the end anyway. The war's begun, and more than likely things are all going the Enemy's way already. No chance to go back with It and get advice or permission. No, it's sit here till they come and kill me over master's body, and gets It: or take It and go.' He drew a deep breath. 'Then take It, it is! ' He stooped. Very gently he undid the clasp at the neck and slipped his hand inside Frodo's tunic; then with his other hand raising the head, he kissed the cold forehead, and softly drew the chain over it. And then the head lay quietly back again in rest. No change came over the still face, and by that more than by all other tokens Sam was convinced at last that Frodo had died and laid aside the Quest. `Good-bye, master, my dear! ' he murmured. 'Forgive your Sam. He'll come back to this spot when the job's done -- if he manages it. And then he'll not leave you again. Rest you quiet till I come; and may no foul creature come anigh you! And if the Lady could hear me and give me one wish, I would wish to come back and find you again. Good-bye! ' And then he bent his own neck and put the chain upon it, and at once his head was bowed to the ground with the weight of the Ring, as if a great stone had been strung on him. But slowly, as if the weight became less, or new strength grew in him, he raised his head, and then with a great effort got to his feet and found that he could walk and bear his burden. And for a moment he lifted up the Phial and looked down at his master, and the light burned gently now with the soft radiance of the evening-star in summer, and in that light Frodo's face was fair of hue again, pale but beautiful with an elvish beauty, as of one who has long passed the shadows. And with the bitter comfort of that last sight Sam turned and hid the light and stumbled on into the growing dark. He had not far to go. The tunnel was some way behind; the Cleft a couple of hundred yards ahead, or less. The path was visible in the dusk` a deep rut worn in ages of passage, running now gently up in a long trough with cliffs on either side. The trough narrowed rapidly. Soon Sam came to a ####-long flight of broad shallow steps. Now the orc-tower was right above him, frowning black, and in it the red eye glowed. Now he was hidden in the dark shadow under it. He was coming to the top of the steps and was in the Cleft at last. 'I've made up my mind,' he kept saying to himself. But he had not. Though he had done his best to think it out, what he was doing was altogether against the grain of his nature. `Have I got it wrong? ' he muttered. `What ought I to have done? ' As the sheer sides of the Cleft closed about him, before he reached the actual summit, before he looked at last on the path descending into the Nameless Land. he turned. For a moment, motionless in intolerable doubt, he looked back. He could still see, like a small blot in the gathering gloom, the mouth of the tunnel; and he thought he could see or guess where Frodo lay. He fancied there was a glimmer on the ground down there, or perhaps it was some trick of his tears, as he peered out at that high stony place where all his life had fallen in ruin. 'If only I could have my wish, my one wish,' he sighed, `to go back and find him! ' Then at last he turned to the road in front and took a few steps: the heaviest and the most reluctant he had ever taken. Only a few steps; and now only a few more and he would be going down and would never see that high place again. And then suddenly he heard cries and voices. He stood still as stone. Orc-voices. They were behind him and before him. A noise of tramping feet and harsh shouts: Orcs were coming up to the Cleft from the far side, from some entry to the tower, perhaps. Tramping feet and shouts behind. He wheeled round. He saw small red lights, torches, winking away below there as they issued from the tunnel. At last the hunt was up. The red eye of the tower had not been blind. He was caught. Now the flicker of approaching torches and the clink of steel ahead was very near. In a minute they would reach the top and be on him. He had taken too long in making up his mind, and now it was no good. How could he escape, or save himself, or save the Ring? The Ring. He was not aware of any thought or decision. He simply found himself drawing out the chain and taking the Ring in his hand. The head of the orc-company appeared in the Cleft right before him. Then he put it on. The world changed, and a single moment of time was filled with an hour of thought. At once he was aware that hearing was sharpened while sight was dimmed, but otherwise than in Shelob's lair. All things about him now were ####-not dark but vague; while he himself was there in a grey hazy world, alone, like a small black solid rock and the Ring, weighing down his left hand, was like an orb of hot gold. He did not feel invisible at all, but horribly and uniquely visible; and he knew that somewhere an Eye was searching for him. He heard the crack of stone, and the murmur of water far off in Morgul Vale; and down away under the rock the bubbling misery of Shelob, groping, lost in some blind passage; and voices in the dungeons of the tower; and the cries of the Orcs as they came out of the tunnel; and deafening, roaring in his ears, the crash of the feet a nd the rending clamour of the Orcs before him. He shrank against the cliff. But they marched up like a phantom company, grey distorted figures in a mist, only dreams of fear with pale flames in their hands. And they passed him by. He cowered , trying to creep away into some cranny and to hide. He listened. The Orcs from the tunnel and the others marching down had sighted one another, and both parties were now hurrying and shouting. He heard them both clearly, and he understood what they said. Perhaps the Ring gave understanding of tongues, or simply understanding, especially of the servants of Sauron its maker, so that if he gave heed, he understood and translated the thought to himself. Certainly the Ring had grown greatly in power as it approached the places of its forging; but one thing it did not confer, and that was courage. At present Sam still thought only of hiding, of lying low till all was quiet again; and he listened anxiously. He could not tell how near the voices were, the words seemed almost in his ears. 'Hola! Gorbag! What are you doing up here? Had enough of war already? ' 'Orders, you lubber. And what are you doing, Shagrat? Tired of lurking up there? Thinking of coming down to fight? ' 'Orders to you. I'm in command of this pass. So speak civil. What's your report? ' 'Nothing.' `Hai! hai! yoi!' A yell broke into the exchanges of the leaders. The Orcs lower down had suddenly seen something. They began to run. So did the others. `Hai! Hola! Here's something! Lying right in the road. A spy, a spy! ' There was a hoot of snarling horns and a babel of baying voices. With a dreadful stroke Sam was wakened from his cowering mood. They had seen his master. What would they do? He had heard tales of the Orcs to make ####-the blood run cold. It could not be borne. He sprang up. He flung the Quest and all his decisions away, and fear and doubt with them. He knew now where his place was and had been: at his master's side, though what he could do there was not clear. Back he ran down the steps, down the path towards Frodo. `How many are there?' he thought. `Thirty or forty from the tower at least, and a lot more than that from down below, I guess. How many can I kill before they get me? They'll see the flame of the sword, as soon as I draw it, and they'll get me sooner or later. I wonder if any song will ever mention it: How Samwise fell in the High Pass and made a wall of bodies round his master. No, no song. Of course not, for the Ring'll be found, and there'll be no more songs. I can't help it. My place is by Mr. Frodo. They must understand that -- Elrond and the Council, and the great Lords and Ladies with all their wisdom. Their plans have gone wrong. I can't be their Ring-bearer. Not without Mr. Frodo.' But the Orcs were out of his dim sight now. He had had no time to consider himself, but now he realized that he was weary, weary almost to exhaustion: his legs would not carry him as he wished. He was too slow. The path seemed miles long. Where had they all got to in the mist? There they were again! A good way ahead still. A cluster of figures round something lying on the ground; a few seemed to be darting this way and that, bent like dogs on a trail. He tried to make a spurt. 'Come on, Sam! ' he said, `or you'll be too late again.' He loosened the sword in its sheath. In a minute he would draw it, and then-- There was a wild clamour, hooting and laughing, as something was lifted from the ground. 'Ya hoi! Ya harri hoi! Up! Up! ' Then a voice shouted: `Now off! The quick way. Back to the Undergate! She'll not trouble us tonight by all the signs.' The whole band of orc-figures began to move. Four in the middle were carrying a body high on their shoulders. `Ya hoi! ' They had taken Frodo's body. They were off. He could not catch them up. Still he laboured on. The Orcs reached the tunnel and were passing in. Those with the burden went first, and behind them there was a good deal of struggling and jostling. Sam came on. He drew the sword, a flicker of blue in his wavering hand, but they did not see it. Even as he came panting up, the last of them vanished into the black hole. For a moment he stood, gasping, clutching his breast. Then he drew his ####-sleeve across his face, wiping away the grime, and sweat, and tears. 'Curse the filth! ' he said, and sprang after them into the darkness. It no longer seemed very dark to him in the tunnel, rather it was as if he had stepped out of a thin mist into a heavier fog. His weariness was growing but his will hardened all the more. He thought he could see the light of torches a little way ahead, but try as he would, he could not catch them up. Orcs go fast in tunnels, and this tunnel they knew well.; for in spite of Shelob they were forced to use it often as the swiftest way from the Dead City over the mountains. In what far -off time the main tunnel and the great round pit had been made, where Shelob had taken up her abode in ages past. they did not know: but many byways they had themselves delved about in on either side, so as to escape the lair in their goings to and fro on the business of their masters. Tonight they did not intend to go far down. but were hastening to find a side-passage that led back to their watch-tower on the cliff. Must of them were gleeful, delighted with what they had found and seen, and as they ran they gabbled and yammered after the fashion of their kind. Sam heard the noise of their harsh voices, flat and hard in the dead air, and he could distinguish two voices from among all the rest: they were louder, and nearer to him. The captains of the two parties seemed to be bringing up the rear, debating as they went. 'Can't you stop your rabble making such a racket, Shagrat? ' grunted the one. `We don't want Shelob on us.' `Go on, Gorbag! Yours are making more than half the noise,' said the other. `But let the lads play! No need to worry about Shelob for a bit, I reckon. She's sat on a nail, it seems, and we shan't cry about that. Didn't you see: a nasty mess all the way back to that cursed crack of hers? If we've stopped it once, we've stopped it a hundred times. So let 'em laugh. And we've struck a bit of luck at last: got something that Lugb®rz wants.' 'Lugb®rz wants it, eh? What is it, d'you think? Elvish it looked to me, but undersized. What's the danger in a thing like that? ' 'Don't know till we've had a look.' 'Oho! So they haven't told you what to expect? They don't tell us all they know, do they? Not by half. But they can make mistakes, even the Top Ones can.' `Sh, Gorbag!' Shagrat's voice was lowered, so tha t even with his strangely sharpened hearing Sam could only just catch what was said. 'They may, but they've got eyes and ears everywhere; some among my lot, as like as ####-not. But there's no doubt about it, they're troubled about something. The Nazgyl down below are, by your account; and Lugb®rz is too. Something nearly slipped.' `Nearly, you say! ' said Gorbag. `All right,' said Shagrat, `but we'll talk of that later: Wait till we get to the Under -way. There's a place there where we can talk a bit, while the lads go on.' Shortly afterwards Sam saw the torches disappear. Then there was a rumbling noise, and just as he hurried up, a bump. As far as he could guess the Orcs had turned and gone into the very opening which Frodo and he had tried and found blocked. It was still blocked. There seemed to be a great stone in the way, but the Orcs had got through somehow, for he could hear their voices on the other side. They were still running along, deeper and deeper into the mountain, back towards the tower. Sam felt desperate. They were carrying off his master's body for some foul purpose and he could not follow. He thrust and pushed at the block, and he threw himself against it, but it did not yield. Then not far inside, or so he thought, he heard the two captains' voices talking again. He stood still listening for a little hoping perhaps to learn something useful. Perhaps Gorbag, who seemed to belong to Minas Morgul, would come out, and he could then slip in. `No, I don't know,' said Gorbag's voice. `The messages go through quicker than anything could fly, as a rule. But I don't enquire how it's done. Safest not to. Grr! Those Nazgyl give me the creeps. And they skin the body off you as soon as look at you, and leave you all cold in the dark on the other side. But He likes 'em; they're His favourites nowadays, so it's no use grumbling. I tell you, it's no game serving down in the city.' `You should try being up here with Shelob for company,' said Shagrat. 'I'd like to try somewhere where there's none of 'em. But the war's on now, and when that's over things may be easier.' `It's going well, they say.' 'They would.' grunted Gorbag. `We'll see. But anyway, if it does go well, there should be a lot more room. What d'you say? -- if we get a chance, you and me'll slip off and set up somewhere on our own with a few trusty lads, somewhere where there's good loot nice and handy, and no big ####-bosses.' 'Ah! ' said Shagrat. `Like old times.' `Yes,' said Gorbag. 'But don't count on it. I'm not easy in my mind. As I said, the Big Bosses, ay,' his voice sank almost to a whisper, `ay, even the Biggest, can make mistakes. Something nearly slipped you say. I say, something has slipped. And we've got to look out. Always the poor Uruks to put slips right, and small thanks. But don't forget: the enemies don't love us any more than they love Him, and if they get topsides on Him, we're done too. But see here: when were you ordered out? ' `About an hour ago, just before you saw us. A message came: Nazgyl uneasy. Spies feared on Stairs. Double vigilance. Patrol to head of Stairs. I came at once.' 'Bad business,' said Gorbag. `See here -- our Silent Watchers were uneasy more than two days ago. that I know. But my patrol wasn't ordered out for another day, nor any message sent to Lugb®rz either: owing to the Great Signal going up, and the High Nazgyl going off to the war, and all that. And then they couldn't get Lugb®rz to pay attention for a good while, I'm told.' `The Eye was busy elsewhere, I suppose,' said Shagrat. `Big things going on away west, they say.' 'I daresay,' growled Gorbag. `But in the meantime enemies have got up the Stairs. And what were you up to? You're supposed to keep watch, aren't you, special orders or no? What are you for?' `That's enough! Don't try and teach me my job. We were awake all right. We knew there were funny things going on.' `Very funny! ' `Yes, very funny: lights and shouting and all. But Shelob was on the go. My lads saw her and her Sneak.' `Her Sneak? What's that? ' `You must have seen him: little thin black fellow; like a spider himself, or perhaps more lik e a starved frog. He's been here before. Came out of Lugb®rz the first time, years ago, and we had word from High Up to let him pass. He's been up the Stairs once or twice since then, but we've left him alone: seems to have some understanding with Her Ladyship. I suppose he's no good to eat: she wouldn't worry about words from High Up. But a fine guard you keep in the valley: he was up here a day before all this racket. Early last night we saw him. Anyway my lads reported that Her Ladyship was having some fun, and that seemed good enough for me, until the ####-message came. I thought her Sneak had brought her a toy. or that you'd perhaps sent her a present, a prisoner of war or something. I don't interfere when she's pla ying. Nothing gets by Shelob when she's on the hunt.' 'Nothing, say you! Didn't you use your eyes back there? I tell you I'm not easy in my mind. Whatever came up the Stairs, did get by. It cut her web and got clean out of the hole. That's something to think about! ' `Ah well, but she got him in the end, didn't she? ' `Got him? Got who? This little fellow? But if he was the only one then she'd have had him off to her larder long before, and there he'd be now. And if Lugb®rz wanted him, you'd have to go and get him. Nice for you. But there was more than one.' At this point Sam began to listen more attentively and pressed his ear against the stone. 'Who cut the cords she'd put round him, Shagrat? Same one as cut the web. Didn't you see that? And who stuck a pin into Her Ladyship? Same one, I reckon. And where is he? Where is he, Shagrat? ' Shagrat made no reply. `You may well put your thinking cap on, if you've got one. It's no laughing matter. No one, no one has ever stuck a pin in Shelob before, as you should know well enough. There's no grief in that; but think -there's someone loose hereabouts as is more dangerous than any other damned rebel that ever walked since the bad old times, since the Great Siege. Something has slipped.' `And what is it then? ' growled Shagrat. `By all the signs, Captain Shagrat, I'd say there's a large warrior loose, Elf most likely, with an elf-sword anyway, and an axe as well maybe: and he's loose in your bounds, too, and you've never spotted him. Very funny indeed! ' Gorbag spat. Sam smiled grimly at this description of himself. 'Ah well, you always did take a gloomy view.' said Shagrat. 'You can read the signs how you like, but there may be other ways to explain them. Anyhow. I've got watchers at every point, and I'm going to deal with one thing at a time. When I've had a look at the fellow we have caught, then I'll begin to worry 1cb2 ####-about something else.' `It's my guess you won't find much in that little fellow,' said Gorbag. 'He may have had nothing to do with the real mischief. The big fellow with the sharp sword doesn't seem to have thought him worth much anyhow -- just left him lying: regular elvish trick.' `We'll see. Come on now! We've talked enough. Let's go and have a look at the prisoner! `What are you going to do with him? Don't forget I spotted him first. If there's any game, me and my lads must be in it.' 'Now, now,' growled Shagrat. 'I have my orders. And it's more than my belly's worth, or yours, to break 'em. Any trespasser found by the guard is to be held at the tower. Prisoner is to be stripped. Full description of every article, garment, weapon, letter, ring. or trinket is to be sent to Lugb®rz at once, and to Lugb®rz only . And the prisoner is to be kept safe and intact, under pain of death for every member of the guard, until He sends or comes Himself. That's plain enough, and that's what I'm going to do.' 'Stripped, eh? ' said Gorbag. 'What, teeth, nails, hair, and all? ' `No, none of that. He's for Lugb®rz, I tell you. He's wanted safe and whole.' 'You'll find that difficult,' laughed Gorbag. 'He's nothing but carrion now. What Lugb®rz will do with such stuff I can't guess. He might as well go in the pot.' 'You fool,' snarled Shagrat. 'You've been talking very clever, but there's a lot you don't know, though most other folk do. You'll be for the pot or for Shelob, if you don't take care. Carrion! Is that all you know of Her Ladyship? When she binds with cords, she's after meat. She doesn't eat dead meat, nor suck cold blood. This fellow isn't dead! ' Sam reeled, clutching at the stone. He felt as if the whole dark world was turning upside down. So great was the shock that he almost swooned, but even as he fought to keep a hold on his senses, deep inside him he was aware of the comment: 'You fool, he isn't dead, and your heart knew it. Don't trust your head, Samwise, it is not the best part of you. The trouble with you is that you never really had any hope. Now what is to be done? ' Fur the moment nothing, but to prop himself against the unmoving stone and listen, listen to the vile orc-voices. `Garn!' said Shagrat. 'She's got more than one poison. When she's ####-hunting, she just gives 'em a dab in the neck and they go as limp as boned fish, and then she has her way with them. D'you remember old Ufthak? We lost him for days. Then we found him in a corner; hanging up he was, but he was wide awake and glaring. How we laughed! She'd forgotten him, maybe, but we didn't touch him-no good interfering with Her. Nar -- this little filth, he'll wake up, in a few hours; and beyond feeling a bit sick for a hit, he'll be all right. Or would be, if Lugb®rz would let him alone. And of course, beyond wondering where he is and what's happened to him.' 'And what's going to happen to him,' laughed Gorbag. 'We can tell him a few stories at any rate, if we can't do a nything else. I don't suppose he's ever been in lovely Lugb®rz, so he may like to know what to expect. This is going to be more funny than I thought. Let's go!' `There's going to be no fun, I tell you,' said Shagrat. 'And he's got to be kept safe, or we're all as good as dead.' `AII right! But if I were you, I'd catch the big one that's loose, before you send in any report to Lugb®rz. It won't sound too pretty to say you've caught the kitten and let the cat escape.' The voices began to move away. Sam heard the sound of feet receding. He was recovering from his shock, and now a wild fury was on him. `I got it all wrong! ' he cried. `I knew I would. Now they've got him, the devils! the filth! Never leave your master, never, never: that was my right rule. And I knew it in my heart. May I be forgiven! Now I've got to get back to him. Somehow, somehow! ' He drew his sword again and beat on the stone with the hilt, but it only gave out a dull sound. The sword, however, bla zed so brightly now that he could see dimly in its light. To his surprise he noticed that the great block was shaped like a heavy door, and was less than twice his own height. Above it was a dark blank space between the top and the low arch of the opening. It was probably only meant to be a stop against the intrusion of Shelob, fastened on the inside with some latch or bolt beyond the reach of her cunning. With his remaining strength Sam leaped and caught the top, scrambled up, and dropped; and then he ran madly, sword blazing in hand, round a bend and up a winding tunnel. The news that his master was still alive roused him to a last effort beyond thought of weariness. He could not see anything ahead. for this new passage twisted and turned constantly; but he thought he was catching the ####-two Orcs up: their voices were growing nearer again. Now they seemed quite close. `That's what I'm going to do,' said Shagrat in angry tones. 'Put him right up in the top chamber.' `What for? ' growled Gorbag. `Haven't you any lock -ups down below? ' `He's going out of harm's way, I tell you,' answered Shagrat. 'See? He's precious. I don't trust all my lads, and none of yours; nor you neither, when you're mad for fun. He's going where I want him, and where you won't come, if you don't keep civil. Up to the top, I say. He'll be safe there.' `Will he?' said Sam. 'You're forgetting the great big elvish warrior that's loose!' And with that he raced round the last corner, only to find that by some trick of the tunnel, or of the hearing which the Ring gave him, he had misjudged the distance. The two orc-figures were still some way ahead. He could see them now, black and squat against a red glare. The passage ran straight at last, up an incline; and at the end, wide open, were great double doors, leading probably to deep chambers far below the high horn of the tower. Already the Orcs with their burden had passed inside. Gorbag and Shagrat were drawing near the gate. Sam heard a burst of hoarse singing, blaring of horns and banging of gongs, a hideous clamour. Gorbag and Shagrat were already on the threshold. Sam yelled and brandished Sting, but his little voice was drowned in the tumult. No one heeded him. The great doors slammed to. Boom. The bars of iron fell into place inside. Clang. The gate was shut. Sam hurled himself against the bolted brazen plates and fell senseless to the ground. He was out in the darkness. Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy. ####- Here ends the second part of the history of the War of the Ring. The third part tells of the last defence against the Shadow, and the end of the mission of the Ring-bearer in THE RETURN OF THE KING .####-####- * BOOK V * Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak. He wondered if he was awake or still sleeping, still in the swift-moving dream in which he had been wrapped so long since the great ride began. The dark world was rushing by and the wind sang loudly in his ears. He could see nothing but the wheeling stars, and away to his right vast shadows against the sky where the mountains of the South marched past. Sleepily he tried to reckon the times and stages of their journey, but his memory was drowsy and uncertain. There had been the first ride at terrible speed without a halt, and then in the dawn he had seen a pale gleam of gold, and they had come to the silent town and the great empty house on the hill. And hardly had they reached its shelter when the winged shadow had passed over once again, and men wilted with fear. But Gandalf had spoken soft words to him, and he had slept in a corner, tired but uneasy, dimly aware of comings and goings and of men talking and Gandalf giving orders. And then again riding, riding in the night. This was the second, no, the third night since he had looked in the Stone. And with that hideous memory he woke fully, and shivered, and the noise of the wind became filled with menacing voices. A light kindled in the sky, a blaze of yellow fire behind dark barriers Pippin cowered back, afraid for a moment, wondering into what dreadful country Gandalf was bearing him. He rubbed his eyes, and then he saw that it was the moon rising above the eastern shadows, now almost at the full. So the night was not yet old and for hours the dark journey would go on. He stirred and spoke. 'Where are we, Gandalf?' he asked. 'In the realm of Gondor,' the wizard answered. 'The land of Anurien is still passing by.' There was a silence again for a while. Then, 'What is that?' cried Pippin suddenly, clutching at Gandalf's cloak. 'Look! Fire, red fire! Are there dragons in this land? Look, there is another!' For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his horse. 'On, Shadowfax! We must ####-hasten. Time is short. See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Amon Don, and flame on Eilenach; and there they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan.' But Shadowfax paused in his stride, slowing to a walk, and then he lifted up his head and neighed. And out of the darkness the answering neigh of other horses came; and presently the thudding of hoofs was heard, and three riders swept up and passed like flying ghosts in the moon and vanished into the West. Then Shadowfax gathered himself together and sprang away, and the night flowed over him like a roaring wind. Pippin became drowsy again and paid little attention to Gandalf telling him of the customs of Gondor, and how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying hills along both border s of the great range, and maintained posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South. 'It is long since the beacons of the North were lit,' he said; 'and in the ancient days of Gondor they were not needed, for they had the Seven Stones.' Pippin stirred uneasily. 'Sleep again, and do not be afraid!' said Gandalf. 'For you are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days. If Gondor falls, or the Ring is taken, then the Shire will be no refuge.' 'You do not comfort me,' said Pippin, but nonetheless sleep crept over him. The last thing that he remembered before he fell into deep dream was a glimpse of high white peaks, glimmering like floating isles above the clouds as they caught the light of the westering moon. He wondered where Frodo was, and if he was already in Mordor, or if he was dead; and he did not know that Frodo from far away looked on that same moon as it set beyond Gondor ere the coming of the day. Pippin woke to the sound of voices. Another day of hiding and a night of journey had fleeted by. It was twilight: the cold dawn was at hand again, and chill grey mists were about them. Shadowfax stood steaming with sweat, but he held his neck proudly and showed no sign of weariness. Many tall men heavily cloaked stood beside him, and behind them in the mist loomed a wall of stone. Partly ruinous it seemed, but already before the night was passed the sound of hurried labour could be heard: beat of hammers, clink of ####-trowels, and the creak of wheels. Torches and flares glowed dully here and there in the fog. Gandalf was speaking to the men that barred his way, and as he listened Pippin became aware that he himself was being discussed. 'Yea truly, we know you, Mithrandir,' said the leader of the men, 'and you know the pass-words of the Seven Gates and are free to go forward. But we do not know your companion. What is he? A dwarf out of the mountains in the North? We wish for no strangers in the land at this time, unless they be mighty men of arms in whose faith and help we can trust.' 'I will vouch for him before the seat of Denethor,' said Gandalf. 'And as for valour, that cannot be computed by stature. He has passed through more battles and perils than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear tidings, and great weariness is on him, or I would wake him. His name is Peregrin, a very valiant man.' 'Man?' said Ingold dubiously; and the others laughed. 'Man!' cried Pippin, now thoroughly roused. 'Man! Indeed not! I am a hobbit and no more valiant than I am a man, save perhaps now and again by necessity. Do not let Gandalf deceive you!' 'Many a doer of great deeds might say no more,' said Ingold. 'But what is a hobbit?' 'A Halfling,' answered Gandalf. 'Nay, not the one that was spoken of,' he added seeing the wonder in the men's faces. 'Not he, yet one of his kindred.' 'Yes, and one who journeyed with him,' said Pippin. 'And Boromir of your City was with us, and he saved me in the snows of the North, and at the last he was slain defending me from many foes.' 'Peace!' said Gandalf. 'The news of that grief should have been told first to the father.' 'It has been guessed already,' said Ingold; 'for there have been strange portents here of late. But pass on now quickly! For the Lord of Minas Tirith will be eager to see any that bear the latest tidings of his son, be he man or --' 'Hobbit,' said Pippin. 'Little service can I offer to your lord, but what I can do, I would do, remembering Boromir the brave.' 'Fare you well!' said Ingold; and the men made way for Shadow fax, and he passed through a narrow gate in the wall. 'May you bring good counsel to ####-Denethor in his need, and to us all, Mithrandir!' Ingold cried. 'But you come with tidings of grief and danger, as is your wont, they say.' 'Because I come seldom but when my help is needed,' answered Gandalf. 'And as for counsel, to you I would say that you are over -late in repairing the wall of the Pelennor. Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand - that and such hope as I bring. For not all the tidings that I bring are evil. But leave your trowels and sharpen your swords!' 'The work will be finished ere evening, ' said Ingold. 'This is the last portion of the wall to be put in defence: the least open to attack, for it looks towards our friends of Rohan. Do you know aught of them? Will they answer the summons, think you?' 'Yes, they will come. But they have fought many battles at your back. This road and no road looks towards safety any longer. Be vigilant! But for Gandalf Stormcrow you would have seen a host of foes coming out of Anurien and no Riders of Rohan. And you may yet. Fare you well, and sl eep not!' Gandalf passed now into the wide land beyond the Rammas Echor. So the men of Gondor called the out wall that they had built with great labour, after Ithilien fell under the shadow of their Enemy. For ten leagues or more it ran from the mountains' feet and so back again, enclosing in its fence the fields of the Pelennor: fair and fertile townlands on the long slopes and terraces falling to the deep levels of the Anduin. At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City, north-eastward, the wall was four leagues distant, and there from a frowning bank it overlooked the long flats beside the river, and men had made it high and strong; for at that point, upon a walled causeway, the road came in from the fords and bridges of Osgiliath and passed through a guarded gate between embattled towers. At its nearest point the wall was little more than one league from the City, and that was south-eastward. There Anduin, going in a wide knee about the hills of Emyn Arnen in South Ithilien, bent sharply west, and the out-wall rose upon its very brink; and beneath it lay the quays and landings of the Harlond for craft that came upstream from the southern fiefs. The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards, and homesteads there were with oast and garner, fold and byre, and many rills rippling through the green from the highlands down to Anduin. Yet the ####-herdsmen and husbandmen that dwelt there were not many, and the most part of the people of Gondor lived in the seven circles of the City, or in the high vales of the mountain-borders, in Lossarnach, or further south in fair Lebennin with its five swift streams. There dwelt a hardy folk between the mountains and the sea. They were reckoned men of Gondor, yet their blood was mingled, and there were short and swarthy folk among them whose sires came more from the forgotten men who housed in the shadow of the hills in the Dark Years ere the coming of the kings. But beyond, in the great fief of Belfalas, dwelt Prince Imrahil in his castle of Dol Amroth by the sea, and he was of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea -grey eyes. Now after Gandalf had ridden for some time the light of day grew in the sky, and Pippin roused himself and looked up. To his left lay a sea of mist, rising to a bleak shadow in the East; but to his right great mountains reared their heads, ranging from the West to a steep and sudden end, as if in the making of the land the River had burst through a great barrier, carving out a mighty valley to be a land of battle and debate in times to come. And there where the White Mountains of Ered Nimrais came to their end he saw, as Gandalf had promised, the dark mass of Mount Mindolluin, the deep purple shadows of its high glens, and its tall face whitening in the rising day. And upon its out-thrust knee was the Guarded City, with its seven walls of stone so strong and old that it seemed to have been not builded but carven by giants out of the bones of the earth. Even as Pippin gazed in wonder the walls passed from looming grey to white, blushing faintly in the dawn; and suddenly the sun climbed over the eastern shadow and sent forth a shaft that smote the face of the City. Then Pippin cried aloud, for the Tower of Ecthelion, standing high within the topmost walls' shone out against the sky, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, tall and fair and shapely, and its pinnacle glittered as if it were wrought of crystals; and white banners broke and fluttered from the battlements in the morning breeze' and high and far he heard a clear ringing as of silver trumpets. So Gandalf and Peregrin rode to the Great Gate of the Men of Gondor at the rising of the sun, and its iron doors rolled back before them.####- 'Mithrandir! Mithrandir!' men cried. 'Now we know that the storm is indeed nigh!' 'It is upon you,' said Gandalf. 'I have ridden on its wings. Let me pass! I must come to your Lord Denethor, while his stewardship lasts. Whatever betide, you have come to the end of the Gondor that you have known. Let me pass!' Then men fell back before the command of his voice and questioned him no further, though they gazed in wonder at the hobbit that sat before him and at the horse that bore him. For the people of the City used horses very little and they were seldom seen in their streets, save only those ridden by the errand-riders of their lord. And they said: 'Surely that is one of the great steeds of the King of Rohan? Maybe the Rohirrim will come soon to strengthen us.' But Shadowfax walked proudly up the long winding road. For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven levels, each delved into the hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so that the paved way that climbed towards the Citadel turned first this way and then that across the face of the hill. And each time that it passed the line of the Great Gate it went through an arched tunnel, piercing a vast pier of rock whose huge out-thrust bulk divided in two all the circles of the City save the first. For partly in the primeval shaping of the hill, partly by the mighty craft and labour of old, there stood up from the rear of the wide court behind the Gate a towering bastion of stone, its edge sharp as a ship-keel facing east. Up it rose, even to the level of the topmost circle, and there was crowned by a battlement; so that those in the Citadel might, like mariners in a mountainous ship, look from its peak sheer down upon the Gate seven hundred feet below. The entrance to the Citadel also looked eastward, but was delved in the heart of the rock; thence a long lamp-lit slope ran up to the seventh gate. Thus men reached at last the High Court, and the Place of the Fountain before the feet of the White Tower: tall and shapely, fifty fathoms from its base to the pinnacle, where the banner of the Stewards floated a thousand feet above the plain. A strong citadel it was indeed, and not to be taken by a host of enemies, if there were any within that could hold weapons; unless some foe ####-could come behind and scale the lower skirts of Mindolluin, and so come upon the narrow shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard to the mountain mass. But that shoulder, which rose to the height of the fifth wall, was hedged with great ramparts right up to the precipice that overhung its western end; and in that space stood the houses and domed tombs of bygone kings and lords, for ever silent between the mountain and the tower. Pippin gazed in growing wonder at the great stone city, vaster and more splendid than anything that he had dreamed of; greater and stronger than Isengard, and far more beautiful. Yet it was in truth falling year by year into decay; and already it lacked half the men that could have dwelt at ease there. In every street they passed some great house or court over whose doors and arched gates were carved many fair letters of strange and ancient shapes: names Pippin guessed of great men and kindreds that had once dwelt there; and yet now they were silent, and no footsteps rang on their wide pavements, nor voice was heard in their halls, nor any face looked out from door or empty window. At last they came out of shadow to the seventh gate, and the warm sun that shone down beyond the river, as Frodo walked in the glades of Ithilien, glowed here on the smooth walls and rooted pillars, and the great arch with keystone carven in the likeness of a crowned and kingly head. Gandalf dismounted, for no horse was allowed in the Citadel, and Shadowfax suffered himself to be led away at the soft word of his master. The Guards of the gate were robed in black, and their helms were of strange shape, high-crowned, with long cheek -guards close-fitting to the face, and above the cheek -guards were set the white wings of sea -birds; but the helms gleamed with a flame of silver, for they were indeed wrought of mithril, heirlooms from the glory of old days. Upon the black surcoats were embroidered in white a tree blossoming like snow beneath a silver crown and many-pointed stars. This was the livery of the heirs of Elendil, and none wore it now in all Gondor, save the Guards of the Citadel before the Court of the Fountain where the White Tree once had grown. Already it seemed that word of their coming had gone before them: and at once they were admitted, silently, and without question. Quickly Gandalf strode across the white-paved court. A sweet fountain played there in the morning sun, and a sward of bright green lay about it; but in the midst. drooping over the pool, stood a dead tree, and the falling drops dripped sadly from its barren and broken branches back into the clear water.####- Pippin glanced at it as he hurried after Gandalf. It looked mournful, he thought, and he wondered why the dead tree was left in this place where everything else was well tended. Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree. The words that Gandalf had murmured came back into his mind. And then he found himself at the doors of the great hall beneath the gleaming tower; and behind the wizard he passed the tall silent door -wardens and entered the cool echoing shadows of the house of stone. They walked down a paved passage, long and empty, and as they went Gandalf spoke softly to Pippin. 'Be careful of your words, Master Peregrin! This is no time for hobbit pertness. Thjoden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and power, though he is not called a king. But he will speak most to you, and question you much, since you can tell him of his son Boromir. He loved him greatly: too much perhaps; and the more so because they were unlike. But under cover of this love he will think it easier to learn what he witches from you rather than from me. Do not tell him more than you need, and leave quiet the matter of Frodo's errand. I will deal with that in due time. And say nothing about Aragorn either, unless you must.' 'Why not? What is wrong with Strider?' Pippin whispered. 'He meant to come here, didn't he? And he'll be arriving soon himself anyway.' 'Maybe, maybe,' said Gandalf. 'Though if he comes, it is likely to be in some way that no one expects, not even Denethor. It will be better so. At least he should come unheralded by us.' Gandalf halted before a tall door of polished metal. 'See, Master Pippin, there is no t ime to instruct you now in the history of Gondor; though it might have been better, if you had learned something of it, when you were still birds-nesting and playing truant in the woods of the Shire. Do as I bid! It is scarcely wise when bringing the news of the death of his heir to a mighty lord to speak over much of the coming of one who will, if he comes, claim the kingship. Is that enough?' 'Kingship?' said Pippin amazed. 'Yes,' said Gandalf. 'If you have walked all these days with closed ears and mind asleep, wake up now!' He knocked on the door. The door opened, but no one could be seen to open it. Pippin looked into a great hall. It was lit by deep windows in the wide aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars that upheld the roof. Monoliths of ####-black marble, they rose to great capitals carved in many strange figures of beasts and leaves; and far above in shadow the wide vaulting gleamed with dull gold, inset with flowing traceries of many colours. No hangings nor storied webs, nor any things of woven stuff or of wood, were to be seen in that long solemn hall; but between the pillars there stood a silent company of tall images graven in cold stone. Suddenly Pippin was reminded of the hewn rocks of Argonath, and awe fell on him, as he looked down that avenue of kings long dead. At the far end upon a dais of many steps was set a high throne under a canopy of marble shaped like a crowned helm; behind it was carved upon the wall and set with gems an image of a tree in flower. But the throne was empty. At the foot of the dais, upon the lowest step which was broad and deep, there was a stone chair, black and unadorned, and on it sat an old man gazing at his lap. In his hand was a white rod with a golden knob. He did not look up. Solemnly they paced the long floor towards him, until they stood three paces from his footstool. Then Gandalf spoke. 'Hail, Lord and Steward of Minas Tirith, Denethor son of Ecthelion! I am come with counsel and tidings in this dark hour.' Then the old man looked up. Pippin saw his carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not so much of Boromir as of Aragor n. 'Dark indeed is the hour,' said the old man, 'and at such times you are wont to come, Mithrandir. But though all the signs forebode that the doom of Gondor is drawing nigh, less now to me is that darkness than my own darkness. It has been told to me that you bring with you one who saw my son die. Is this he?' 'It is,' said Gandalf. 'One of the twain. The other is with Thjoden of Rohan and may come hereafter. Halflings they are, as you see, yet this is not he of whom the omens spoke.' 'Yet a Halfling still,' said Denethor grimly, 'and little love do I bear the name, since those accursed words came to trouble our counsels and drew away my son on the wild errand to his death. My Boromir! Now we have need of you. Faramir should have gone in his stead.' 'He would have gone,' said Gandalf. 'Be not unjust in your grief! Boromir claimed the errand and would not suffer any other to have it. He was a masterful man, and one to take what he desired. I journeyed far with him ####-and learned much of his mood. But you speak of his death. You have had news of that ere we came?' 'I have received this,' said Denethor, and laying down his rod he lifted from his lap the thing that he had been gazing at. In each hand he held up one half of a great horn cloven through the middle: a wild-ox horn bound with silver. 'That is the horn that Boromir always wore!' cried Pippin. 'Verily,' said Denethor. 'And in my turn I bore it, and so did each eldest son of our house, far back into the vanished years before the failing of the kings, since Vorondil father of Mardil hunted the wild kine of Araw in the far fields of Rhyn. I heard it blowing dim upon the northern marches thirteen days ago, and the River brought it to me, broken: it will wind no more.' He paused and there was a heavy silence. Suddenly he turned his black glance upon Pippin. 'What say you to that, Halfling?' 'Thirteen, thirteen days,' faltered Pippin. 'Yes, I think that would be so. Yes, I stood beside him, as he blew the horn. But no help came. Only more orcs.' 'So,' said Denethor, looking keenly at Pippin's face. 'You were there? Tell me more! Why did no help come? And how did you escape, and yet he did not, so mighty a man as he wa s, and only orcs to withstand him?' Pippin flushed and forgot his fear. 'The mightiest man may be slain by one arrow,' he said; 'and Boromir was pierced by many. When last I saw him he sank beside a tree and plucked a black -feathered shaft from his side. Then I swooned and was made captive. I saw him no more, and know no more. But I honour his memory, for he was very valiant. He died to save us, my kinsman Meriadoc and myself, waylaid in the woods by the soldiery of the Dark Lord; and though he fell and failed, my gratitude is none the less.' Then Pippin looked the old man in the eye, for pride stirred strangely within him, still stung by the scorn and suspicion in that cold voice. 'Little service, no doubt, will so great a lord of Men think to find in a hobbit, a halfling from the northern Shire; yet such as it is, I will offer it, in payment of my debt.' Twitching aside his grey cloak, Pippin drew forth his small sword and laid it at Denethor's feet. A pale smile, like a gleam of cold sun on a winter's evening, passed over the old man's face; but he bent his head and held out his hand, laying ####-the shards of the horn aside. 'Give me the weapon!' he said. Pippin lifted it and presented the hilt to him. 'Whence came this?' said Denethor. 'Many, many years lie on it. Surely this is a blade wrought by our own kindred in the North in the deep past?' 'It came out of the mounds that lie on the borders of my country ' said Pippin. 'But only evil wights dwell there now, and I will not willingly tell more of them.' 'I see that strange tales are woven about you,' said Denethor, 'and once again it is shown that looks may belie the man - or the halfling. I accept your service. For you are not daunted by words; and you have courteous speech, strange though the sound of it may be to us in the South. And we shall have need of all folk of courtesy, be they great or small, in the days to come. Swear to me now!' 'Take the hilt,' said Gandalf, 'and speak after the Lord, if you are resolved on this.' 'I am,' said Pippin. The old man laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilt, and said slowly after Denethor: 'Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me , or the world end. So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings.' And this do I hear, Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord of Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oath - breaking with vengeance.' Then Pippin received back his sword and put it in its sheath. 'And now,' said Denethor, 'my first command to you: speak and be not silent! Tell me your full tale, and see that you recall all that you can of Boromir, my son. Sit now and begin!' As he spoke he struck a small silver gong that stood near his footstool, and at once servants came forward. Pippin saw then that they had been standing in alcoves on either side of the door, unseen as he and Gandalf entered. 'Bring wine and food and seats for the guests,' said Denethor, 'and see that none trouble us for one hour.' 'It is all that I have to spare, for there is much else to heed,' he said to Gandalf. 'Much of more import, it may seem, and yet to me less ####-pressing. But maybe we can speak again at the end of the day.' 'And earlier, it is to be hoped,' said Gandalf. 'For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. Is it naught to you that Thjoden has fought a great battle and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the staff of Saruman?' 'It is much to me. But I know already sufficient of these deeds for my own counsel against the menace of the East.' He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame. Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and older. Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and a majesty that was veiled. And he was older, far older. 'How much older?' he wondered, and then he thought how odd it was that he had never thought about it before. Treebeard had said something about wizards, but even then he had not thought of Gandalf as one of them. What was Gandalf? In what far time and place did he come into the world, and when would he leave it? And then his musings broke off, and he saw that Denethor and Gandalf still looked each other in the eye, as if reading the other's mind. But it was Denethor who first withdrew his gaze. 'Yea,' he said; 'for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and many messages come to them. But sit now!' Then men came bearing a chair and a low stool, and one brought a salver with a silver flagon and cups, and white cakes. Pippin sat down, but he could not take his eyes from the old lord. Was it so, or had he only imagined it, that as he spoke of the Stones a sudden gleam of his eye had glanced upon Pippin's face? 'Now tell me your tale, my liege,' said Denethor, half kindly; half mockingly. 'For the words of one whom my son so befriended will be welcome indeed.' Pippin never forgot that hour in the great hall under the piercing eye of the Lord of Gondor, stabbed ever and anon by his shrewd questions, and ####-all the while conscious of Gandalf at his side, watching and listening, and (so Pippin felt) holding in check a rising wrath and impatience. When the hour was over and Denethor again rang the gong, Pippin felt worn out. 'It cannot be more than nine o'clock,' he thought. 'I could now eat three breakfasts on end.' 'Lead the Lord Mithrandir to the housing prepared for him,' said Denethor, 'and his companion may lodge with him for the present, if he will. But be it known that I have now sworn him to my service, and he shall be known as Peregrin son of Paladin and taught the lesser pass-words. Send word to the Captains that they shall wait on me here, as soon as may be after the third hour has rung. 'And you, my Lord Mithrandir, shall come too, as and when you will. None shall hinder your coming to me at any time, save only in my brief hours of sleep. Let your wrath at an old man's folly run off and then return to my comfort!' 'Folly?' said Gandalf. 'Nay, my lord, when you are a dotard you will die. You can use even your grief as a cloak. Do you think that I do not understand your purpose in questioning for an hour one who knows the least, while I sit by?' 'If you understand it, then be content,' returned Denethor. 'Pride would be folly that disdained help and counsel at need; but you deal out such gifts according to your own designs. Yet the Lord of Gondor is not to be made the tool of other men's purposes, however worthy. And to him there is no purpose higher in the world as it now stands than the good of Gondor; and the rule of Gondor, my lord, is mine and no other man's, unless the king should come again.' 'Unless the king should come again?' said Gandalf. 'Well, my lord Steward, it is your task to keep some kingdom still against that event, which few now look to see. In that task you shall have all the aid that you are pleased to ask for. But I will say this: the rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I also am a steward. Did you not know?' And with that he turned and strode from the hall with Pippin running at his side. Gandalf did not look at Pippin or speak a word to him as they went.####-Their guide brought them from the doors of the hall, and then led them across the Court of the Fountain into a lane between tall buildings of stone. After several turns they came to a house close to the wall of the citadel upon the north side, not far from the shoulder that linked the hill with the mountain. Within, upon the first floor above the street, up a wide carven stair, he showed them to a fair room, light and airy, with goodly hangings of dull gold sheen unfigured. It was sparely furnished, having but a small table, two chairs and a bench; but at either side ther e were curtained alcoves and well -clad beds within with vessels and basins for washing. There were three high narrow windows that looked northward over the great curve of Anduin, still shrouded in mists, towards the Emyn Muil and Rauros far away. Pippin had to climb on the bench to look out over the deep stone sill. 'Are you angry with me, Gandalf?' he said, as their guide went out and closed the door. 'I did the best I could.' 'You did indeed!' said Gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he came and stood beside Pippin, putting his arm about the hobbit's shoulders and gazing out of the window. Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard's face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth. 'Indeed you did your best,' said the wizard; 'and I hope that it may be long before you find yourself in such a tight corner again between two such terrible old men. Still the Lord of Gondor learned more from you than you may have guessed, Pippin. You could not hide the fact that Bor omir did not lead the Company from Moria, and that there was one among you of high honour who was coming to Minas Tirith; and that he had a famous sword. Men think much about the stories of old days in Gondor; and Denethor has given long thought to the rhyme and to the words Isildur's Bane, since Boromir went away. 'He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of Westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved best. He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends ####-his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try. 'Remember that! For you are now sworn to his service. I do not know what put it into your head, or your heart, to do that. But it was well done. I did not hinder it, for generous deed should not be checked by cold counsel. It touched his heart, as well (may I say it) as pleasing his humour. And at least you are free now to move about as you will in Minas Tirith - when you are not on duty. For there is another side to it. You are at his command; and he will not forget. Be wary still!' He fell silent and sighed. 'Well, no need to brood on what tomorrow may bring. For one thing, tomorrow will be certain to bring worse than today, for many days to come. And there is nothing more that I can do to help it. The board is set, and the pieces are moving. One piece that I greatly desire to find is Faramir, now the heir of Denethor. I do not think that he is in the City; but I have had no time to gather news. I must go. Pippin. I must go to this lords' council and learn what I can. But the Enemy has the move, and he is about to open his full game. And pawns are likely to see as much of it as any, Peregrin son of Paladin, soldier of Gondor. Sharpen your blade!' Gandalf went to the door, and there he turned. 'I am in haste Pippin,' he said. 'Do me a favour when you go out. Even before you rest, if you are not too weary. Go and find Shadowfax and see how he is housed. These people are kindly to beasts, for they are a good and wise folk, but they have less skill with horses than some.' With that Gandalf went out; and as he did so, there came the note of a clear sweet bell ringing in a tower of the citadel. Three strokes it rang, like silver in the air, and ceased: the third hour from the rising of the sun. After a minute Pippin went to the door and down the stair and looked about the street. The sun was now shining warm and bright, and the towers and tall houses cast long clear-cut shadows westward. High in the blue air Mount Mindolluin lifted its white helm and snowy cloak. Armed men went to and fro in the ways of the City, as if going at the striking of the hour to changes of post and duty. 'Nine o'clock we'd call it in the Shire,' said Pippin aloud to himself. 'Just the time for a nice breakfast by the open window in spring sunshine.####-And how I should like breakfast! Do these people ever have it, or is it over? And when do they have dinner, and where?' Presently he noticed a man, clad in black and white, coming along the narrow street from the centre of the citadel towards him. Pippin felt lonely and made up his mind to speak as the man passed; but he had no need. The man came straight up to him. 'You are Peregrin the Halfling?' he said. 'I am told that you have been sworn to the service of the Lord and of the City. Welcome! He held out his hand and Pippin took it. 'I am named Beregond son of Baranor. I have no duty this morning, and I have been sent to you to teach you the pass-words, and to tell you some of the many things that no doubt you will wish to know. And for my part, I would learn of you also. For never before have we seen a halfling in this land and though we have heard rumour of them, little is said of them in any tale that we know. Moreover you are a friend of Mithrandir. Do you know him well?' 'Well,' said Pippin. 'I have known of him all my short life, as you might say; and lately I have travelled far with him. But there is much to read in that book, and I cannot claim to have seen more than a page or two. Yet perhaps I know him as well as any but a few. Aragorn was the only one of our Company, I think, who really knew him.' 'Aragorn?' said Beregond. 'Who is he?' 'Oh,' stammered Pippin, 'he was a man who went about with us. I think he is in Rohan now.' 'You have been in Rohan, I hear. There is much that I would ask you of that land also; for we put much of what little hope we have in its people. But I am forgetting my errand, which was first to answer what you would ask. What would you know, Master Peregrin?' 'Er well,' said Pippin, 'if I may venture to say so, rather a burning question in my mind at present is, well, what about breakfast and all that? I mean, what are the meal-times, if you understand me, and where is the dining-room, if there is one? And the inns? I looked, but never a one could I see as we rode up, though I had been borne up by the hope of a draught of ale as soon as we came to the homes of wise and courtly men.' Beregond looked at him gravely. 'An old campaigner, I see,' he said. 'They say that men who go warring afield look ever to the next hope of food and of drink; though I am not a travelled man myself. Then you have not yet ####-eaten today?' 'Well, yes, to speak in courtesy, yes,' said Pippin. 'But no more than a cup of wine and a white cake or two by the kindness of your lord; but he racked me for it with an hour of questions, and that is hungry work.' Beregond laughed. 'At the table small men may do the greater deeds, we say. But you have broken your fast as well as any man in the Citadel, and with greater honour. This is a fortress and a tower of guard and is now in posture of war. We rise ere the Sun, and take a morsel in the grey light, and go to our duties at the opening hour. But do not despair!' He laughed again, seeing the dismay in Pippin's face. 'Those who have had heavy duty take somewhat to refresh their strength in the mid-morning. Then there is the nuncheon, at noon or after as duties allow; and men gather for the daymeal, and such mirth as there still may be, about the hour of sunset. 'Come! We will walk a little and then go find us some refreshment, and eat and drink on the battlement, and survey the fair morning.' 'One moment!' said Pippin blushing. 'Greed, or hunger by your courtesy, put it out of my mind. But Gandalf, Mithrandir as you call him, asked me to see to his horse - Shadowfax, a great steed of Rohan, and the apple of the king's eye, I am told, though he has given him to Mithrandir for his services. I think his new master loves the beast better than he loves many men, and if his good will is of any value to this city, you will treat Shadowfax with all honour: with greater kindness than you have treated this hobbit, if it is possible.' 'Hobbit?' said Beregond. 'That is what we call ourselves,' said Pippin. 'I am glad to learn it,' said Beregond, 'for now I may say that strange accents do not mar fair speech, and hobbits are a fair-spoken folk. But come! You shall make me acquainted with this good horse. I love beasts, and we see them seldom in this stony city; for my people came from the mountain-vales, and before that from Ithilien. But fear not! The visit shall be short, a mere call of courtesy, and we will go thence to the butteries.' Pippin found that Shadowfax had been well housed and tended. For in the sixth circle, outside the walls of the citadel, there were some fair stables where a few swift horses were kept, hard by the lodgings of the errand-riders of the Lord: messengers always ready to go at the urgent command of Denethor or his chief captains. But now all the horses and the riders were out and away.####- Shadowfax whinnied as Pippin entered the stable and turned his head. 'Good morning!' said Pippin. 'Gandalf will come as soon as he may. He is busy, but he sends greetings, and I am to see that all is well with you; and you resting, I hope, after your long labours.' Shadowfax tossed his head and stamped. But he allowed Beregond to handle his head gently and stroke his great flanks. 'He looks as if he were spoiling for a race, and not newly come from a great journey,' said Beregond. 'How strong and proud he is! Where is his harness? It should be rich and fair.' 'None is rich and fair enough for him,' said Pippin. 'He will have none. If he will consent to bear you, bear you he does; and if not, well, no bit, bridle, whip, or thong will tame him. Farewell, Shadowfax! Have patience. Battle is coming.' Shadowfax lifted up his head and neighed, so that the stable shook, and they covered their ears. Then they took their leave, seeing that the manger was well filled. 'And now for our manger,' said Beregond, and he led Pippin back to the citadel, and so to a door in the north side of the great tower. There they went down a long cool stair into a wide alley lit with lamps. There were hatches in the walls at the side, and one of these was open. 'This is the storehouse and buttery of my company of the Guard.' said Beregond. 'Greetings, Targon!' he called through the hatch. 'It is early yet, but here is a newcomer that the Lord has taken into his service. He has ridden long and far with a tight belt, and has had sore labour this morning, and he is hungry. Give us what you have!' They got there bread, and butter, and cheese and apples: the last of the winter store, wrinkled but sound and sweet; and a leather flagon of new-drawn ale, and wooden platters and cups. They put all into a wicker basket and climbed back into the sun; and Beregond brought Pippin to a place at the east end of the great out-thrust battlement where there was an embrasure in the walls with a stone seat beneath the sill. From there they could look out on the morning over the world. They ate and drank; and they talked now of Gondor and its ways and customs, now of the Shire and the strange countries that Pippin had seen. And ever as they talked Beregond was more amazed, and looked with greater wonder at the hobbit, swinging his short legs as he sat on the seat, or standing tiptoe upon it to peer over the sill at the lands below.####- 'I will not hide from you, Master Peregrin,' said Beregond, 'that to us you look almost as one of our children, a lad of nine summers or so; and yet you have endured perils and seen marvels that few of our greybeards could boast of. I thought it was the whim of our Lord to take him a noble page, after the manner of the kings of old, they say. But I see that it is not so, and you must pardon my foolishness.' 'I do,' said Pippin. 'Though you are not far wrong. I am still little more than a boy in the reckoning of my own people, and it will be four years yet before I "come of age", as we say in the Shire: But do not bother about me. Come and look and tell me what I can see.' The sun was now climbing, and the mists in the vale below had been drawn up. The last of them were floating away, just overhead, as wisps of white cloud borne on the stiffening breeze from the East, that was now flapping and tugging the flags and white standards of the citadel. Away down in the valley-bottom, five leagues or so as the eye leaps, the Great River could now be seen grey and glittering, coming out of the north-west, and bending in a mighty sweep south and west again, till it was lost to view in a haze and shimmer, far beyond which lay the Sea fifty leagues away. Pippin could see all the Pelennor laid out before him, dotted into the distance with farmsteads and little walls, barns and byres, but nowhere could he see any kine or other beasts. Many roads and tracks crossed the green fields, and there was much coming and going: wains moving in lines towards the Great Gate, and others passing out. Now and again a horseman would ride up, and leap from the saddle and hasten into the City. But most of the traffic went out along the chief highway, and that turned south, and then bending swifter than the River skirted the hills and passed soon from sight. It was wide and well-paved, and along its eastern edge ran a broad green riding-track, and beyond that a wall . On the ride horsemen galloped to and fro, but all the street seemed to be choked with great covered wains going south. But soon Pippin saw that all was in fact well-ordered: the wains were moving in three lines, one swifter drawn by horses; another slower, great waggons with fair housings of many colours, drawn by oxen; and along the west rim of the road many smaller carts hauled by trudging men. 'That is the road to the vales of Tumladen and Lossarnach, and the mountain-villages, and then on to Lebennin,' said Beregond. 'There go the last of the wains that bear away to refuge the aged the children, and the women that must go with them. They must all be gone from the Gate and the ####-road clear for a league before noon: tha t was the order. It is a sad necessity.' He sighed. 'Few, maybe, of those now sundered will meet again. And there were always too few children in this city; but now there are none-save some young lads that will not depart, and may find some task to do: my own son is one of them.' They fell silent for a while. Pippin gazed anxiously eastward, as if at any moment he might see thousands of orcs pouring over the fields. 'What can I see there?' he asked, pointing down to the middle of the great curve of the Anduin. 'Is that another city, or what is it?' 'It was a city,' said Beregond, 'the chief city of Gondor, of which this was only a fortress. For that is the ruin of Osgiliath on either side of Anduin, which our enemies took and burned long ago. Yet we won it back in the days of the youth of Denethor: not to dwell in, but to hold as an outpost, and to rebuild the bridge for the passage of our arms. And then came the Fell Riders out of Minas Morgul.' 'The Black R iders?' said Pippin, opening his eyes, and they were wide and dark with an old fear re-awakened. 'Yes, they were black,' said Beregond, 'and I see that you know something of them, though you have not spoken of them in any of your tales.' 'I know of them,' said Pippin softly, 'but I will not speak of them now, so near, so near.' He broke off and lifted his eyes above the River, and it seemed to him that all he could see was a vast and threatening shadow. Perhaps it was mountains looming on the verge of sight, their jagged edges softened by wellnigh twenty leagues of misty air; perhaps it was but a cloud-wall, and beyond that again a yet deeper gloom. But even as he looked it seemed to his eyes that the gloom was growing and gathering, very slowly, slowly rising to smother the regions of the sun. 'So near to Mordor?' said Beregond quietly. 'Yes, there it lies. We seldom name it; but we have dwelt ever in sight of that shadow: sometimes it seems fainter and more distant; sometimes nearer and darker. It is growing and darkening now; and therefore our fear and disquiet grow too. And the Fell Riders, less than a year ago they won back the crossings, and many of our best men were slain. Boromir it was that drove the enemy at last back from this western shore, and we hold still the near half of Osgiliath. For a little while. But we await now a new onslaught there. Maybe the chief onslaught of the war that comes.' 'When?' said Pippin. 'Have you a guess? For I saw the beacons last ####-night and the errand-riders; and Gandalf said that it was a sign that war had begun. He seemed in a desperate hurry. But now everything seems to have slowed up again.' 'Only because everything is now ready,' said Beregond. 'It is but the deep breath before the plunge.' 'But why were the beacons lit last night?' 'It is over-late to send for aid when you are already besieged,' answered Beregond. 'But I do not know the counsel of the Lord and his captains. They have many ways of gathering news. And the Lord Denethor is unlike other men: he sees far. Some say that as he sits alone in his high chamber in the Tower at night, and bends his thought this way and that, he can read somewhat of the future; and that he will at times search even the mind of the Enemy, wrestling with him. And so it is that he is old, worn before his time. But however that may be, my lord Faramir is abroad, beyond the River on some perilous errand, and he may have sent tidings. 'But if you would know what I think set the beacons ablaze, it was the news that came yestereve out of Lebennin. There is a great fleet drawing near to the mouths of Anduin, manned by the corsairs of Umbar in the South. They have long ceased to fear the might of Gondor, and they have allied them with the Enemy, and now make a heavy stroke in his cause. For this attack will draw off much of the help that we looked to have from Lebennin and Belfalas, where folk are hardy a nd numerous. All the more do our thoughts go north to Rohan; and the more glad are we for these tidings of victory that you bring. 'And yet' - he paused and stood up, and looked round, north, east, and south - 'the doings at Isengard should warn us that we are caught now in a great net and strategy. This is no longer a bickering at the fords, raiding from Ithilien and from Anurien, ambushing and pillaging. This is a great war long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride may say. Things move in the far East beyond the Inland Sea, it is reported; and north in Mirkwood and beyond; and south in Harad. And now all realms shall be put to the test, to stand, or fall - under the Shadow. 'Yet, Master Peregrin, we have this honour: ever we bear the brunt of the chief hatred of the Dark Lord, for that hatred comes down out of the depths of time and over the deeps of the Sea. Here will the hammer -stroke fall hardest. And for that reason Mithrandir came hither in such haste. For if we fall, who shall stand? And, Master Peregrin, do you see any hope that ####-we shall stand?' Pippin did not answer. He looked at the great walls, and the towers and brave banners, and the sun in the high sky, and then at the gathering gloom in the East; and he thought of the long fingers of that Shadow: of the orcs in the woods and the mountains, the treason of Isengard, the birds of evil eye, and the Black Riders even in the lanes of the Shire - and of the winged terror, the Nazgyl. He shuddered, and hope seemed to wither. And even at that moment the sun for a second faltered and was obscured, as though a dark wing had passed across it. Almost beyond hearing he thought he caught, high and far up in the heavens, a cry: faint, but heart-quelling, cruel and cold. He blanched and cowered against the wall. 'What was that?' asked Beregond. 'You also felt something?' 'Yes,' muttered Pippin. 'It is the sign of our fall, and the shadow of doom, a Fell Rider of the air.' 'Yes, the shadow of doom,' said Beregond. 'I fear that Minas Tirith shall fall. Night comes. The very warmth of my blood seems stolen away.' For a time they sat together with bowed heads and did not speak. Then suddenly Pippin looked up and saw that the sun was still shining and the banners still streaming in the breeze. He shook himself. 'It is passed,' he said. 'No, my heart will not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.' 'Rightly said!' cried Beregond, rising and striding to and fro. 'Nay, though all things must come utterly to an end in time, Gondor shall not perish yet. Not though the walls be taken by a reckless foe that will build a hill of carrion before them. There are still other fastnesses, and secret ways of escape into the mountains. Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green.' 'All the same, I wish it was over for good or ill.' said Pippin. 'I am no warrior at all and dislike any thought of battle; but waiting on the edge of one that I can't escape is worst of all. What a long day it seems already! I should be happier, if we were not obliged to stand and watch, making no move, striking nowhere first. No stroke would have been struck in Rohan, I think, but for Gandalf.' 'Ah, there you lay your finger on the sore that many feel!' said Beregond. 'But things may change when Faramir returns. He is bold, more bold than many deem; for in these days men are slow to believe that a captain can ####-be wise and learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgement in the field. But such is Faramir. Less reckless and eager than Boromir, but not less resolute. Yet what indeed can he do? We cannot assault the mountains of - of yonder realm. Our reach is shortened, and we cannot strike till some foe comes within it. Then our hand must be heavy!' He smote the hilt of his sword. Pippin looked at him: tall and proud and noble, as all the men that he had yet seen in that land; and with a glitter in his eye as he thought of the battle. 'Alas! my own hand feels as light as a feather,' he thought, but he said nothing. 'A pawn did Gandalf say? Perhaps but on the wrong chessboard.' So they talked until the sun reached its height, and suddenly the noon-bells were rung, and there was a stir in the citadel; for all save the watchmen were going to their meal. 'Will you come with me?' said Beregond. 'You may join my mess for this day. I do not know to what company you will be assigned; or the Lord may hold you at his own command. But you will be welcome. And it will be well to meet as many men as you may, while there is yet time.' 'I shall be glad to come,' said Pippin. 'I am lonely, to tell you the truth. I left my best friend behind in Rohan, and I have had no one to talk to or jest with. Perhaps I could really join your company? Are you the captain? If so, you could take me on, or speak for me?' 'Nay, nay,' Beregond laughed, 'I am no captain. Neither office nor rank nor lordship have I, being but a plain man of arms of the Third Company of the Citadel. Yet, Master Peregrin, to be only a man of arms of the Guard of the Tower of Gondor is held worthy in the City, and such men have honour in the land.' 'Then it is far beyond me,' said Pippin. 'Take me back to our room, and if Gandalf is not there, I will go where you like - as your guest. ' Gandalf was not in the lodging and had sent no message; so Pippin went with Beregond and was made known to the men of the Third Company. And it seemed that Beregond got as much honour from it as his guest, for Pippin was very welcome. There had already been much talk in the citadel about Mithrandir's companion and his long closeting with the Lord; and rumour declared that a Prince of the Halflings had come out of the North to offer allegiance to Gondor and five thousand swords. And some said that when the ####-Riders came from Rohan each would bring behind him a halfling warrior, small maybe, but doughty. Though Pippin had regretfully to destroy this hopeful tale, he could not be rid of his new rank, only fitting, men thought, to one befriended by Boromir and honoured by the Lord Denethor; and they thanked him for coming among them, and hung on his words and stories of the outlands, and gave him as much food and ale as he could wish. Indeed his only trouble was to be 'wary' according to the counsel of Gandalf, and not to let his tongue wag freely after the manner of a hobbit among friends. At length Beregond rose. 'Farewell for this time!' he said. 'I have duty now till sundown, as have all the others here, I think. But if you are lonely, as you say, maybe you would like a merry guide about the City. My son would go with you gladly. A good lad, I may say. If that pleases you, go down to the lowest circle and ask for the Old Guesthouse in the Rath Celerdain, the Lampwrights' Street. You will find him there with other lads that are remaining in the City. There may be things worth seeing down at the Great Gate ere the closing.' He went out, and soon after all the others followed. The day was st ill fine, though it was growing hazy, and it was hot for March, even so far southwards. Pippin felt sleepy, but the lodging seemed cheerless, and he decided to go down and explore the City. He took a few morsels that he had saved to Shadowfax, and they were graciously accepted, though the horse seemed to have no lack. Then he walked on down many winding ways. People stared much as he passed. To his face men were gravely courteous, saluting him after the manner of Gondor with bowed head and hands upon the breast; but behind him he heard many calls, as those out of doors cried to others within to come and see the Prince of the Halflings, the companion of Mithrandir. Many used some other tongue than the Common Speech, but it was not long before he learned at least what was meant by Ernil i Pheriannath and knew that his title had gone down before him into the City. He came at last by arched streets and many fair alleys and pavements to the lowest and widest circle, a nd there he was directed to the Lampwrights' Street, a broad way running towards the Great Gate. In it he found the Old Guesthouse, a large building of grey weathered stone with two wings running ####-back from the street, and between them a narrow greensward, behind which was the many-windowed house, fronted along its whole width by a pillared porch and a flight of steps down on to the grass. Boys were playing among the pillars, the only children that Pippin had seen in Minas Tirith, and he stopped to look at them. Presently one of them caught sight of him, and with a shout he sprang across the grass and came into the street, followed by several others. There he stood in front of Pippin, looking him up and down. 'Greetings!' said the la d. 'Where do you come from? You are a stranger in the City.' 'I was,' said Pippin; 'but they say I have become a man of Gondor.' 'Oh come!' said the lad. 'Then we are all men here. But how old are you, and what is your name? I am ten years a lready, and shall soon be five feet. I am taller than you. But then my father is a Guard, one of the tallest. What is your father?' 'Which question shall I answer first?' said Pippin. 'My father farms the lands round Whitwell near Tuckborough in the Shire. I am nearly twenty-nine, so I pass you there; though I am but four feet, and not likely to grow any more, save sideways.' 'Twenty-nine!' said the lad and whistled. 'Why, you are quite old! As old as my uncle Iorlas. Still,' he added hopefully, 'I wager I could stand you on your head or lay you on your back.' 'Maybe you could, if I let you,' said Pippin with a laugh. 'And maybe I could do the same to you: we know some wrestling tricks in my little country. Where, let me tell you, I am considered uncommonly large and strong; and I have never allowed anyone to stand me on my head. So if it came to a trial and nothing else would serve, I might have to kill you. For when you are older, you will learn that folk are not always what they seem; and though you may have taken me for a soft stranger -lad and easy prey, let me warn you: I am not, I am a halfling, hard, bold, and wicked!' Pippin pulled such a grim face that the boy stepped back a pace, but at once he returned with clenched fists and the light of battle in his eye. 'No!' Pippin laughed. 'Don't believe what strangers say of themselves either! I am not a fighter. But it would be politer in any case for the challenger to say who he is.' The boy drew himself up proudly. 'I am Bergil son of Beregond of the Guards,' he said.####- 'So I thought,' said Pippin, 'for you look like your father. I know him and he sent me to find you.' 'Then why did you not say so at once?' said Bergil, and suddenly a look of dismay came over his face. 'Do not tell me that he has changed his mind, and will send me away with the maidens! But no, the last wains have gone.' 'His message is less bad than that, if not good.' said Pippin. 'He says that if you would prefer it to standing me on my head, you might show me round the City for a while and cheer my loneliness. I can tell you some tales of far countries in return.' Bergil clapped his hands, and laughed with relief. 'All is well,' he cried. 'Come then! We were soon going to the Gate to look on. We will go now.' 'What is happening there?' 'The Captains of the Outlands are expected up the South Road ere sundown. Come with us and you will see.' Bergil proved a good comrade, the best company Pippin had had since he parted from Merry, and soon they were laughing and talking gaily as they went about the streets, heedless of the many glances that men gave them. Before long they found themselves in a throng going towards the Great Gate. There Pippin went up much in the esteem of Bergil, for when he spoke his name and the pass-word the guard saluted him and let him pass through; and what was more, he allowed him to take his companion with him. 'That is good!' said Bergil. 'We boys are no longer allowed to pass the Gate without an elder. Now we shall see better.' Beyond the Gate there was a crowd of men along the verge of the road and of the great paved space into which all the wa ys to Minas Tirith ran. All eyes were turned southwards, and soon a murmur rose: 'There is dust away there! They are coming!' Pippin and Bergil edged their way forward to the front of the crowd, and waited. Horns sounded at some distance, and the noise of cheering rolled towards them like a gathering wind. Then there was a loud trumpet-blast, and all about them people were shouting. 'Forlong! Forlong!' Pippin heard men calling. 'What do they say?' he asked. 'Forlong has come,' Bergil answered; 'old Forlong the Fat, the Lord of Lossarnach. That is where my grandsire lives. Hurrah! Here he is. Good old Forlong!'####- Leading the line there came walking a big thick -limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor. 'Forlong!' men shouted. 'True heart, true friend! Forlong!' But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: 'So few! Two hundreds, what are they? We hoped for ten times the number. That will be the new tidings of the black fleet. They are sparing only a tithe of their strength. Still every little is a gain.' And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered and passed through the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked. The men of Ringlu Vale behind the son of their lord, Dervorin striding on foot: three hundreds. From the uplands of Morthond, the great Blackroot Vale, tall Duinhir with his sons, Duilin and Derufin, and five hundred bowmen. From the Anfalas, the Langstrand far away, a long line of men of many sorts, hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the hou sehold of Golasgil their lord. From Lamedon, a few grim hillmen without a captain. Fisher -folk of the Ethir, some hundred or more spared from the ships. Hirluin the Fair of the Green Hills from Pinnath Gelin with three hundreds of gallant green-clad men. And last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, kinsman of the Lord, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship and the Silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, singing as they came. And that was all, less than three thousands full told. No more would come. Their cries and the tramp of their feet passed into the City and died away. The onlookers stood silent for a while. Dust hung in the air, for the wind had died and the evening was heavy. Already the closing hour was drawing nigh, and the red sun had gone behind Mindolluin. Shadow came down on the City. Pippin looked up, and it seemed to him that the sky had grown ashen-grey, as if a vast dust and smoke hung above them, and light came ####-dully through it. But in the West the dying sun had set all the fume on fire, and now Mindolluin stood black against a burning smoulder flecked with embers. 'So ends a fair day in wrath!' he said forgetful of the lad at his side. 'So it will, if I have not returned before the sundown-bells,' said Bergil. 'Come! There goes the trumpet for the closing of the Gate.' Hand in hand they went back into the City, the last to pass the Gate before it was shut; and as they reached the Lampwrights' Street all the bells in the towers tolled solemnly. Lights sprang in many windows, and from the houses and wards of the men at arms along the walls there came the sound of song. 'Farewell for this time,' said Bergil. 'Take my greetings to my :father, and thank him for the company that he sent. Come again soon, I beg. Almost I wish now that there was no war, for we might have had some merry times. We might have journeyed to Lossarnach, to my grandsire's house; it is good to be there in Spring, the woods and fields are full of flowers. But maybe we will go thither together yet. They will never overcome our Lord, and my father is very valiant. Farewell and return!' They parted and Pippin hurried back towards the citadel. It seemed a long way, and he grew hot and very hungry; and night closed down swift and dark. Not a star pricked the sky. He was late for the daymeal in the mess, and Beregond greeted him gladly, and sat him at his side to hear news of his son. After the meal Pippin stayed a while, and then took his leave, for a strange gloom was on him, and now he desired very much to see Gandalf again. 'Can you find your way?' said Beregond at the door of the small hall, on the north side of the citadel, where they had sat. 'It is a black night, and all the blacker since orders came that lights are to be dimmed within the City, and none are to shine out from the walls. And I can give you news of another order: you will be summoned to the Lord Denethor early tomorrow. I fear you will not be for the Third Company. Still we may hope to meet again. Farewell and sleep in peace!' The lodging was dark, save for a little lantern set on the table. Gandalf was not there. Gloom settled still more heavily on Pippin. He climbed on the bench and tried to peer out of a window, but it was like looking into a pool of ink. He got down and closed the shutter and went to bed. For a while he lay and listened for sounds of Gandalf's return, and ####-then he fell into an uneasy sleep. In the night he was wakened by a light, and he saw that Gandalf had come and was pacing to and fro in the room beyond the curtain of the alcove. There were candles on the table and rolls of parchment. He heard the wizard sigh, and mutter: 'When will Faramir return?' 'Hullo!' said Pippin, poking his head round the curtain. 'I thought you had forgotten all about me. I am glad to see you back. It has been a long day.' 'But the night will be too short,' said Gandalf. 'I have come back here, for I must have a little peace, alone. You should sleep, in a bed while you still may. At the sunrise I shall take you to the Lord Denethor again. No, when the summons comes, not at sunrise. The Darkness has begun. There will be no dawn.' ####- Gandalf was gone, and the thudding hoofs of Shadowfax were lost in the night, when Merry came back to Aragorn. He had only a light bundle, for he had lost his pack at Parth Galen, and all he had was a few useful things he had picked up among the wreckage of Isengard. Hasufel was already saddled. Legolas and Gimli with their horse stood close by. 'So four of the Company still remain,' said Aragorn. 'We will ride on together. But we shall not go alone, as I thought. The king is now determined to set out at once. Since the coming of the winged shadow, he desires to return to the hills under cover of night.' 'And then whither?' said Legolas. 'I cannot say yet,' Aragorn answered. 'As for the king, he will go to the muster that he commanded at Edoras, four nights from now. And there, I think, he will hear tidings of war, and the Riders of Rohan will go down to Minas Tirith. But for myself, and any that will go with me . . .' 'I for one!' cried Legolas. 'And Gimli with him!' said the Dwarf. 'Well, for myself,' said Aragorn, 'it is dark before me. I must go down also to Minas Tirith, but I do not yet see the road. An hour long prepared approaches.' 'Don't leave me behind!' said Merry. 'I have not been of much use yet; but I don't want to be laid aside, like baggage to be called for when all is over. I don't think the Riders will want to be bothered with me now. Though, of course, the king did say that I was to sit by him when he came to his house and tell him all about the Shire.' 'Yes,' said Aragorn, 'and your road lies with him, I think, Merry. But do not look for mirth at the ending. It will be long, I fear, ere Thjoden sits at ease again in Meduseld. Many hopes will wither in this bitter Spring.' Soon all were ready to depart: twenty -four horses, with Gimli behind Legolas, and Merry in front of Aragorn. Presently they were riding swiftly through the night. They had not long passed the mounds at the Fords of Isen, when a Rider galloped up from the rear of their line. 'My lord,' he said to the king, 'there are horsemen behind us. As we crossed the fords I thought that I heard them. Now we are sure. They are ####-overtaking us, riding hard.' Thjoden at once called a halt. The Riders turned about and seized their spears. Aragorn dismounted and set Merry on the ground, and drawing his sword he stood by the king's stirrup. Jomer and his esquire rode back to the rear. Merry felt more like unneeded baggage than ever, and he wondered, if there was a fight, what he should do. Supposing the king's small escort was trapped and overcome, but he escaped into the darkness - alone in the wild fields of Rohan with no idea of where he was in all the endless miles? 'No good!' he thought. He drew his sword and tightened his belt. The sinking moon was obscured by a great sailing cloud, but suddenly it rode out clear again. Then they all heard the sound of hoofs, and at the same moment they saw dark shapes coming swiftly on the path from the fords. The moonlight glinted here and there on the points of spears. The number of the pursuers could not be told, but they seemed no fewer than the king's escort, at the least. When they were some fifty paces off, Jomer cried in a loud voice: 'Halt! Halt! Who rides in Rohan?' The pursuers brought their steeds to a sudden stand. A silence followed: and then in the moonlight, a horseman could be seen dismounting and walking slowly forward. His hand showed white as he held it up, palm outward, in token of pea ce; but the king's men gripped their weapons. At ten paces the man stopped. He was tall, a dark standing shadow. Then his clear voice rang out. 'Rohan? Rohan did you say? That is a glad word. We seek that land in haste from long afar.' 'You have found it,' said Jomer. 'When you crossed the fords yonder you entered it. But it is the realm of Thjoden the King. None ride here save by his leave. Who are you? And what is your haste?' 'Halbarad D®nadan, Ranger of the North I am,' cried the man. 'We seek one Aragorn son of Arathorn, and we heard that he was in Rohan.' 'And you have found him also!' cried Aragorn. Giving his reins to Merry, he ran forward and embraced the newcomer. 'Halbarad!' he said. 'Of all joys this is the least expected!' Merry breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that this was some last trick of Saruman's, to waylay the king while he had only a few men about him; but it seemed that there would be no need to die in Thjoden's defence, not yet at any rate. He sheathed his sword.####- 'All is well,' said Aragorn, turning back. 'Here are some of my own kin from the far land where I dwelt. But why they come, and how many they be, Halbarad shall tell us.' 'I have thirty with me,' said Halbarad. 'That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste; but the brethren Elladan and Elrohir have ridden with us, desiring to go to the war. We rode as swiftly as we might when your summons came.' 'But I did not summon you,' said Aragorn, 'save only in wish. My thoughts have often turned to you, and seldom more than tonight; yet I have sent no word. But come! All such matters must wait. You find us riding in haste and danger. Ride with us now, if the king will give his leave. ' Thjoden was indeed glad of the news. 'It is well!' he said. 'If these kinsmen be in any way like to yourself, my lord Aragorn, thirty such knights will be a strength that cannot be counted by heads.' Then the Riders set out again, and Aragor n for a while rode with the D®nedain; and when they had spoken of tidings in the North and in the South, Elrohir said to him: 'I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead. ' 'Always my days have seemed to me too short to achieve my desire,' answered Aragorn. 'But great indeed will be my haste ere I take that road.' 'That will soon be seen,' said Elrohir. 'But let us speak no more of these things upon the open road!' And Aragorn said to Halbarad: 'What is that that you bear, kinsman?' For he saw that instead of a spear he bore a tall staff, as it were a standard, but it was close-furled in a black cloth bound about with many thongs. 'It is a gift that I bring you from the Lady of Rivendell,' answered Halbarad. 'She wrought it in secret, and long was the making. But she also sends word to you: The days now are short. Either our hope cometh, or all hopes end. Therefore I send thee what I have made for thee. Fare well, Elfstone!' And Aragorn said: 'Now I know what you bear. Bear it still for me a while!' And he turned and looked away to the North under the great stars, and then he fell silent and spoke no more while the night's journey lasted. The night was old and the East grey when they rode up at last from Deeping-coomb and came back to the Hornburg. There they were to lie and rest ####-for a brief while and take counsel. Merry slept until he was roused by Legolas and Gimli. 'The Sun is high,' said Legolas. 'All others are up and doing. Come, Master Sluggard, and look at this place while you may!' 'There was a battle here three nights ago,' said Gimli, 'and here Legolas and I played a game that I won only by a single orc. Come and see how it was! And there are caves, Merry, caves of wonder! Shall we visit them, Legolas, do you think?' 'Nay! There is no time,' said the Elf. 'Do not spoil the wonder with haste! I have given you my wor d to return hither with you, if a day of peace and freedom comes again. But it is now near to noon, and at that hour we eat, and then set out again, I hear.' Merry got up and yawned. His few hours' sleep had not been nearly enough; he was t ired and rather dismal. He missed Pippin, and felt that he was only a burden, while everybody was making plans for speed in a business that he did not fully understand. 'Where is Aragorn?' he asked. 'In a high chamber of the Burg,' said Legolas. 'He has neither rested nor slept, I think. He went thither some hours ago, saying that he must take thought, and only his kinsman, Halbarad, went with him; but some dark doubt or care sits on him.' 'They are a strange company, these newcomers,' said Gimli. 'Stout men and lordly they are, and the Riders of Rohan look almost as boys beside them; for they are grim men of face, worn like weathered rocks for the most part, even as Aragorn himself; and they are silent.' 'But even as Aragorn they are courteous, if they break their silence.' said Legolas. 'And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the others', and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell.' 'Why have they come? Have you heard?' asked Merry. He had now dressed, and he flung his grey cloak about his shoulders; and the three passed out together towards the ruined gate of the Burg. 'They answered a summons, as you heard,' said Gimli. 'Word came to Rivendell, they say: Aragorn has need of his kindred. Let the D®nedain ride to him in Rohan! But whence this message came they are now in doubt. Gandalf sent it, I would guess.'####- 'Nay, Galadriel,' said Legolas. 'Did she not speak through Gandalf of the ride of the Grey Company from the North?' 'Yes, you have it,' said Gimli. 'The Lady of the Wood! She read many hearts and desires. Now why did not we wish for some of our own kinsfolk, Legolas?' Legolas stood before the gate and turned his bright eyes away north and east, and his fair face was troubled. 'I do not think that any would come,' he answered. 'They have no need to ride to war; war already marches on their own lands.' For a while the three companions walked together, speaking of this and that turn of the battle, and they went down from the broken gate, and passed the mounds of the fallen on the greensward beside the road, until they stood on Helm's Dike and looked into the Coomb. The Death Down already stood there, black and tall and stony, and the great trampling and scoring of the grass by the Huorns could be plainly seen. The Dunlendings and many men of the garrison of the Burg were at work on the Dike or in the fields and about the battered walls behind; yet all seemed strangely quiet: a weary valley resting after a great storm. Soon they turned back and went to the midday meal in the hall of the Burg. The king was already there, and as soon as they entered he called for Merry and had a seat set for him at his side. 'It is not as I would have it,' said Thjoden; 'for this is little like my fair house in Edoras. And your friend is gone, who should also be here. But it may be long ere we si t, you and I, at the high table in Meduseld; there will be no time for feasting when I return thither. But come now! Eat and drink, and let us speak together while we may. And then you shall ride with me.' 'May I?' said Merry, surprised and delighted. 'That would be splendid!' He had never felt more grateful for any kindness in words. 'I am afraid I am only in everybody's way,' he stammered; 'but I should like to do anything I could, you know.' 'I doubt it not,' said the king. 'I have had a good hill -pony made ready for you. He will bear you as swift as any horse by the roads that we shall take. For I will ride from the Burg by mountain paths, not by the plain, and so come to Edoras by way of Dunharrow where the Lady Jowyn awaits me. You shall be my esquire, if you will. Is there gear of war in this place, Jomer, that my sword-thain could use?'####- 'There are no great weapon -hoards here, lord.' answered Jomer. 'Maybe a light helm might be found to fit him; but we have no mail or sword for one of his stature.' 'I have a sword,' said Merry, climbing from his seat, and drawing from its black sheath his small bright blade. Filled suddenly with love for this old man, he knelt on one knee, and took his hand and kissed it. 'May I lay the sword of Meriadoc of the Shire on your lap Thjoden King?' he cried. 'Receive my service, if you will!' 'Gladly will I take it,' said the king; and laying his long old hands upon the brown hair of the hobbit; he blessed him. 'Rise now, Meriadoc, esquire of Rohan of the household of Meduseld!' he said. 'Take your sword and bear it unto good fortune!' 'As a father you shall be to me,' said Merry. 'For a little while,' said Thjoden. They talked then together as they ate, until presently Jomer spoke. 'It is near the hour that we set for our going, lord,' he said. 'Shall I bid men sound the horns? But where is Aragorn? His place is empty and he has not eaten.' 'We will make ready to ride,' said Thjoden; 'but let word be sent to the Lord Aragorn that the hour is nigh.' The king with his guard and Merry at his side passed down from the gate of the Burg to where the Riders were assembling on the green. Many were already mounted. It would be a great company; for the king was leaving only a small garrison in the Burg, and all who could be spared were riding to the weapontake at Edoras. A thousand spears had indeed already ridden away at night; but still there would be some five hundred more to go with the king, for the most part men from the fields and dales of Westfold. A little apart the Rangers sat, silent, in an ordered company, armed with spear and bow and sword. They were clad in cloaks of dark grey, and their hoods were ca st now over helm and head. Their horses were strong and of proud bearing, but rough-haired; and one stood there without a rider, Aragorn's own horse that they had brought from the North; Roheryn was his name. There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness: nor did their riders bear any badge or token, save only that each cloak was pinned upon the left shoulder by a brooch of silver shaped like a rayed star. The king mounted his horse, Snowmane, and Merry sat beside him on his ####-pony: Stybba was his name. Presently Jomer came out from the gate, and with him was Aragorn, and Halbarad bearing the great staff close-furled in black, and two tall men, neither young nor old So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair, clad alike in bright mail beneath cloaks of silver -grey. Behind them walked Legolas and Gimli. But Merry had eyes only for Aragorn, so startling wa s the change that he saw in him, as if in one night many years had fallen on his head. Grim was his face, grey-hued and weary. 'I am troubled in mind, lord,' he said, standing by the king's horse. 'I have heard strange words, and I see new per ils far off. I have laboured long in thought, and now I fear that I must change my purpose. Tell me, Thjoden, you ride now to Dunharrow, how long will it be ere you come there?' 'It is now a full hour past noon,' said Jomer. 'Before the night of the third day from now we should come to the Hold. The Moon will then be one night past his full, and the muster that the king commanded will be held the day after. More speed we cannot make, if the strength of Rohan is to be gathered.' Aragorn was silent for a moment. 'Three days,' he murmured, 'and the muster of Rohan will only be begun. But I see that it cannot now be hastened.' He looked up, and it seemed that he had made some decision; his face was less troubled. Then, by our leave, lord, I must take new counsel for myself and my kindred. We must ride our own road, and no longer in secret. For me the time of stealth has passed. I will ride east by the swiftest way, and I will take the Paths of the Dead.' 'The Paths of the Dead!' said Thjoden, and trembled. 'Why do you speak of them?' Jomer turned and gazed at Aragorn, and it seemed to Merry that the faces of the Riders that sat within hearing turned pale at the words. 'If there be in truth such paths, ' said Thjoden, 'their gate is in Dunharrow; but no living man may pass it.' 'Alas! Aragorn my friend!' said Jomer. 'I had hoped that we should ride to war together; but if you seek the Paths of the Dead, then our parting is come, and it is little likely that we shall ever meet again under the Sun.' 'That road I will take, nonetheless,' said Aragorn. 'But I say to you, Jomer, that in battle we may yet meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor should stand between.' 'You will do as you wi ll, my lord Aragorn,' said Thjoden. 'It is your ####-doom, maybe, to tread strange paths that others dare not. This parting grieves me, and my strength is lessened by it; but now I must take the mountain-roads and delay no longer. Farewell!' 'Farewell, lord!' said Aragorn. 'Ride unto great renown! Farewell, Merry! I leave you in good hands, better than we hoped when we hunted the orcs to Fangorn. Legolas and Gimli will still hunt with me, I hope; but we shall not forget you.' 'Good-bye!' said Merry. He could find no more to say. He felt very small, and he was puzzled and depressed by all these gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable cheerfulness of Pippin. The Riders were ready, and their horses were fidgeting; he wished they would start arid get it over. Now Thjoden spoke to Jomer, and he lifted up his hand and cried aloud, and with that word the Riders set forth. They rode over the Dike and down the Coomb, and then, turning swiftly eastwards, they took a path that skirted the foothills for a mile or so, until bending south it passed back among the hills and disappeared from view. Aragorn rode to the Dike and watched till the king's men were far down the Coomb. Then he turned to Halbarad. 'There go three that I love, and the smallest not the least,' he said. 'He knows not to what end he rides; yet if he knew, he still would go on.' 'A little people, but of great worth are the Shire-folk,' said Halbarad. 'Little do they know of our long labour for the safekeeping of their borders, and yet I grudge it not.' 'And now our fates are woven together,' said Aragorn. 'And yet, alas! here we must part. Well, I must eat a little, and then we also must hast en away. Come, Legolas and Gimli! I must speak with you as I eat.' Together they went back into the Burg; yet for some time Aragorn sat silent at the table in the hall, and the others waited for him to speak. 'Come!' said Legolas at last. 'Speak and be comforted, and shake off the shadow! What has happened since we came back to this grim place in the grey morning?' 'A struggle somewhat grimmer for my part than the battle of the Hornburg,' answered Aragorn. 'I have looked in the Stone of Orthanc, my friends.' 'You have looked in that accursed stone of wizardry!' exclaimed Gimli with fear and astonishment in his face. 'Did you say aught to - him? Even ####-Gandalf feared that encounter.' 'You forget to whom you speak,' said Aragorn sternly, and his eyes glinted. 'Did I not openly proclaim my title before the doors of Edoras? What do you fear that I should say to him? Nay, Gimli,' he said in a softer voice, and the grimness left his face, and he looked like one who has laboured in sleepless pain for many nights. 'Nay, my friends, I and the lawful master of the Stone, and I had both the right and the strength to use it, or so I judged. The right cannot be doubted. The strength was enough - barely . ' He drew a deep breath. 'It was a bitter struggle, and the weariness is slow to pass. I spoke no word to him, and in the end I wrenched the Stone to my own will. That alone he will find hard to endure. And he beheld me. Yes, Master Gimli, he saw me, but in other guise than you see me here. If that will aid him, then I have done ill. But I do not think so. To know that I lived and walked the earth was a blow to his heart, I deem; for he knew it not till now. The eyes in Orthanc did not see through the armour of Thjoden; but Sauron has not forgotten Isildur and the sword of Elendil. Now in the very hour of his great designs the heir of Isildur and the Sword are revealed; for l showed the blade re-forged to him. He is not so mighty yet that he is above fear; nay, doubt ever gnaws him.' 'But he wields great dominion, nonetheless,' said Gimli; 'and now he will strike more swiftly.' 'The hasty stroke goes oft astray,' said Aragorn. 'We must press our Enemy, and no longer wait upon him for the move. See my friends, when I had mastered the Stone, I learned many things. A grave peril I saw coming unlooked-for upon Gondor from the South that will draw off great strength from the defence of Minas Tirith. If it is not countered swiftly, I deem that the City will be lost ere ten days be gone.' 'Then lost it must be,' said Gimli. 'For what help is there to send thither, and how could it come there in time?' 'I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself,' said Aragorn. 'But there is only one way through the mountains that will bring me to the coastlands before all is lost. That is the Paths of the Dead.' 'The Paths of the Dead!' said Gimli. 'It is a fell name; and little to the liking to the Men of Rohan, as I saw. Can the living use such a road and not perish? And even if you pass that way, what will so few avail to counter the strokes of Mordor?'####- 'The living have never used that road since the coming of the Rohirrim,' said Aragorn, 'for it is closed to them. But in this dark hour the heir of Isildur may use it, if he dare. Listen! This is the word that the sons of Elrond bring to me from their father in Rivendell, wisest in lore: Bid Aragorn remember the words of the seer, and the Paths of the Dead.' 'And what may be the words of the seer?' said Legolas. "Thus spoke Malbeth the Seer, in the days of Arvedui, last king at Fornost,' said Aragorn: Over the land there lies a long shadow, westward reaching wings of darkness. The Tower trembles; to the tombs of kings doom approaches. The Dead awaken; for the hour is come for the oathbreakers; at the Stone of Erech they shall stand again and hear there a horn in the hills ringing. Whose shall the horn be? Who shall call them from the prey twilight, the forgotten people? The heir of him to whom the oath they swore. From the North shall he come, need shall drive him: he shall pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead. 'Dark ways doubtless, said Gimli, but no darker than these staves are to me.' 'If you would understand them better, then I bid you come with me,' said Aragorn; 'for that way I now shall take. But I do not go gladly; only need drives me. Therefore, only of your free will would I have you come, for you will find both toil and great fear, and maybe worse.' 'I will go with you even on the Paths of the Dead, and to whatever, end they may lead,' said Gimli. 'I also will come,' said Legolas, 'for I do not fear the Dead.' 'I hope that the forgotten people will not have forgotten how to fight,' said Gimli; 'for otherwise I see not why we should trouble them.' 'That we shall know if ever we come to Erech,' said Aragorn. 'But the oath that they broke was to fight against Sauron, and they must fight therefore, if they are to fulfil it. For at Erech there stands yet a black stone that was brought, it was said, from N®menor by Isildur; and it was set upon a hill, and upon it the King of the Mountains swore allegiance to him ####-in the beginning of the realm of Gondor. But when Sauron returned and grew in might again, Isildur summoned the Men of the Mountains to fulfil their oath, and they would not: for they had worshipped Sauron in the Dark Years. 'Then Isildur said to their king: "Thou shalt be the last king. And if the West prove mightier than thy Black Master, this curse I lay upon thee and thy folk: to rest never until your oath is fulfilled. For this war will last through years uncounted, and you shall be summoned once again ere the end." And they fled before the wrath of Isildur, and did not dare to go forth to war on Sauron's part; and they hid themselves in secret places in the mountains and had no dealings with other men, but slowly dwindled in the barren hills. And the terror of the Sleepless Dead lies about the Hill of Erech and all places where that people lingered. But that way I must go, since there are none living to help me.' He stood up. 'Come!' he cried, and drew his sword, and it flashed in the twilit hall of the Burg. 'To the Stone of Erech! I seek the Paths of the Dead. Come with me who will!' Legolas and Gimli made no answer, but they rose and followed Aragorn from the hall. On the green there waited, still and silent, the hooded Rangers. Legolas and Gimli mounted. Aragorn sprang upon Roheryn. Then Halbarad lifted a great horn, and the blast of it echoed in Helm's Deep; and with that they leapt away, riding down the Coomb like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze. And while Thjoden went by slow paths in the hills, the Grey Company passed swiftly over the plain, and on the next day in the afternoon they came to Edoras; and there they halted only briefly, ere they passed up the valley, and so came to Dunharrow as darkness fell. The Lady Jowyn greeted them and was glad of their coming; for no mightier men had she seen than the D®nedain and the fair sons of Elrond; but on Aragorn most of all her eyes rested. And when they sat at supper with her, they talked together, and she heard of all that had passed since Thjoden rode away, concerning which only hasty tidings had yet reached her; and when she heard of the battle in Helm's Deep and the great slaughter of their foes, and of the charge of Thjoden and his knights, then her eyes shone. But at last she said: 'Lords, you are weary and shall now go to your beds with such ease as can be contrived in haste. But tomorrow fairer ####-housing shall be found for you.' But Aragorn said: 'Nay, lady, be not troubled for us! If we may lie here tonight and break our fast tomorrow, it will be enough. For I ride on an errand most urgent, and with the first light of morning we must go.' She smiled on him and said: 'Then it was kindly done, lord, to ride so many miles out of your way to bring tidings to Jowyn, and to speak with her in her exile.' 'Indeed no man would count such a journey wasted,' said Aragorn; 'and yet, lady, I could not have come hither, if it were not that the road which I must take leads me to Dunharrow.' And she answered as one that likes not what is said: "Then, lord, you are astray; for out of Harrowdale no road runs east or south; and you had best return as you came.' 'Nay, lady,' said he, 'I am not astray; for I walked in this land ere you were born to grace it. There is a road out of this valley, and that road I shall take. Tomorrow I shall ride by the Paths of the Dead.' Then she stared at him as one that is stricken, and her face blanched, and for long she spoke no more, while all sat silent. 'But, Aragorn,' she said at last, 'is it then your errand to seek death? For that is all that you will find on that road. They do not suffer the living to pass.' 'They may suffer me to pass,' said Aragorn; 'but at the least I will adventure it. No other road will serve.' 'But this is madness,' she said. 'For here are men of renown and prowess, whom you should not take into the shadows, but should lead to war, where men are needed. I beg you to remain and ride with my brother; for then all our hearts will be gladdened, and our hope be the brighter.' 'It is not madness, lady,' he answered; 'for I go on a path appointed. But those who follow me do so of their free will; and if they wish now to remain and ride with the Rohirrim, they may do so. But I shall take the Paths of the Dead, alone, if needs be.' Then they said no more, and they ate in silence; but her eyes were ever upon Aragorn, and the others saw that she was in great torment of mind. At length they arose, and took their leave of the Lady, and thanked her for her care, and went to their rest. But as Aragorn came to the booth where he was to lodge with Legolas and Gimli, and his companions had gone in. there came the Lady Jowyn after him and called to him. He turned and saw her as a glimmer in the night, for she ####-was clad in white; but her eyes were on fire. 'Aragorn,' she said, 'why will you go on this deadly road?' 'Because I must,' he said. 'Only so can I see any hope of doing my part in the war against Sauron. I do not choose paths of peril, Jowyn. Were I to go where my heart dwells, far in the North I would now be wandering in the fair valley of Rivendell.' For a while she was silent, as if pondering what this might mean. Then suddenly she laid her hand on his arm. 'You are a stern lord and resolute,' she said; 'and thus do men win renown.' She paused. 'Lord.' she said, 'if you must go, then let me ride in your following. For I am weary of skulking in the hills, and wish to face peril and battle.' 'Your duty is wi th your people,' he answered. 'Too often have I heard of duty,' she cried. 'But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse? I have waited on faltering feet long enough. Since they falter no longer, it seems, may I not now spend my life as I will?' 'Few may do that with honour,' he answered. 'But as for you, lady: did you not accept the charge to govern the people until their lord's return? If you had not been chosen, then some marshal or captain would have been set in the same place, and he could not ride away from his charge, were he weary of it or no.' 'Shall I always be chosen?' she said bitterly. 'Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?' 'A time may come soon,' said he, 'when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.' And she answered: 'All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.' 'What do you fear, lady?' he asked. 'A cage,' she said. 'To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.' 'And yet you counselled me not to adventure on the road that I had ####-chosen, because it is perilous?' 'So may one counsel another,' she said. 'Yet I do not bid you flee from peril, but to ride to battle where your sword may win renown and victory. I would not see a thing that is high and excellent cast away needlessly.' 'Nor would I,' he said. 'Therefore I say to you, lady: Stay! For you have no errand to the South.' 'Neither have those others who go with thee. They go only because they would not be parted from thee - because they love thee.' Then she turned and vanished into the night. When the light of day was come into the sky but the sun was not yet risen above the high ridges in the East, Aragorn made ready to depart. His company was all mounted, and he was about to leap into the saddle, when the Lady Jowyn came to bid them farewell. She was clad as a Rider and girt with a sword. In her hand she bore a cup, and she set it to her lips and drank a little, wishing them good speed; and then she gave the cup to Aragorn, and he drank, and he said: 'Farewell, Lady of Rohan! I drink to the fortunes of your House, and of you, and of all your people. Say to your brother: beyond the shadows we may meet again!' Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby that she wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous. But she said: 'Aragorn, wilt thou go?' 'I will,' he said. 'Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I have asked?' 'I will not, lady,' he said. 'For that I could not grant without leave of the king and of your brother; and they will not return until tomorrow. But I count now every hour, indeed every minute. Farewell!' Then she fell on her knees, saying: 'I beg thee!' 'Nay, lady,' he said, and taking her by the hand he raised her. Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle, and rode away, and did not look back; and only those who knew him well and were near to him saw the pain that he bore. But Jowyn stood still as a figure carven in stone, her hands clenched at her sides, and she watched them until they passed into the shadows under the black Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, in which was the Gate of the Dead. When they were lost to view, she turned, stumbling as one that is blind, and went back to her lodging. But none of her folk saw this parting, for they hid themselves in fear and would not come forth until the day was ####-up, and the reckless strangers were gone. And some said: 'They are Elvish wights. Let them go where they belong, into the dark places, and never return. The times are evil enough.' The light was still grey as they rode, for the sun had not yet climbed over the black ridges of the Haunted Mountain before them. A dread fell on them, even as they passed between the lines of ancient stones and so came to the Dimholt. There under the gloom of black trees that not even Legolas could long endure they found a hollow place opening at the mountain's root, and right in their path stood a single mighty stone like a finger of doom. 'My blood runs chill,' said Gimli, but the others were silent, and his voice fell dead on the dank fir-needles at his feet. The horses would not pass the threatening stone, until the riders dismounted and led them about. And so they came at last deep into the glen; and there stood a sheer wall of rock, and in the wall the Dark Door gaped before them like the mouth of night. Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed from it like a grey vapour. The company halted, and there was not a heart among them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror. 'This is an evil door,' said Halbarad, 'and my death lies beyond it. I will dare to pass it nonetheless; but no horse will enter.' 'But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,' said Aragorn. 'For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!' Then Aragorn led the way, and such was the strength of his will in that hour that all the D®nedain and their horses followed him. And indeed the love that the horses of the Rangers bore for their riders was so great that they were willing to face even the terror of the Door, if their masters' hearts were steady as they walked beside them. But Arod, the horse of Rohan, refused the way, and he stood sweating and trembling in a fear that was grievous to see. Then Legolas laid his hands on his eyes and sang some words that went soft in the gloom, until he suffered himself to be led, and Legolas passed in. And there stood Gimli the Dwarf left all alone. His knees shook, and he was wroth with himself. 'Here is a thing unheard of!' he said. 'An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!' With that he plunged in. But it seemed to him that he dragged his feet like ####-lead over the threshold; and at once a blindness came upon him, even upon Gimli Gluin's son who had walked unafraid in many deep places of the world. Aragorn had brought torches from Dunharrow, and now he went ahead bearing one aloft; and Elladan with another went at the rear, and Gimli, stumbling behind, strove to overtake him. He could see nothing but the dim flame of the tor ches; but if the company halted, there seemed an endless whisper of voices all about him, a murmur of words in no tongue that he had ever heard before. Nothing assailed the company nor withstood their passage, and yet steadily fear grew on the Dwarf as he went on: most of all because he knew now that there could be no turning back; all the paths behind were thronged by an unseen host that followed in the dark. So time unreckoned passed, until Gimli saw a sight that he was ever afterwards loth to recall. The road was wide, as far as he could judge, but now the company came suddenly into a great empty space, and there were no longer any walls upon either side. The dread was so heavy on him that he could hardly walk. Away to the left something glittered in the gloom as Aragorn's torch drew near. Then Aragorn halted and went to look what it might be. 'Does he feel no fear?' muttered the Dwarf. 'In any other cave Gimli Gluin's son would have been the first to run to the gleam of gold. But not here! Let it lie!' Nonetheless he drew near, and saw Aragorn kneeling, while Elladan held aloft both torches. Before him were the bones of a mighty man. He had been clad in mail, and still his harness lay there whole; for the cavern's air was as dry as dust, and his hauberk was gilded. His belt was of gold and garnets, and rich with gold was the helm upon his bony head face downward on the floor. He had fallen near the far wall of the cave, as now could be seen, and before him stood a stony door closed fast: his finger -bones were still clawing at the cracks. A notched and broken sword lay by him, as if he had hewn at the rock in his last despair. Aragorn did not touch him, but after gazing silently for a while he rose and sighed. 'Hither shall the flowers of simbelmynl come never unto world's end,' he murmured. 'Nine mounds and seven there are now green with grass, and through all the long years he has lain at the door that he could not unlock. Whither does it lead? Why would he pass? None shall ever know! 'For that is not my errand!' he cried, turning back and speaking to the ####-whispering darkness behind. 'Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!' There was no answer, unless it were an utter silence more dreadful than the whispers before; and then a chill blast came in which the torches flickered and went out, and could not be rekindled. Of the time that followed, one hour or many, Gimli remembered little. The others pressed on, but he was ever hindmost, pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him lik e the shadow-sound of many feet. He stumbled on until he was crawling like a beast on the ground and felt that he could endure no more: he must either find an ending and escape or run back in madness to meet the following fear. Suddenly he heard the tinkle of water, a sound hard and clear as a stone falling into a dream of dark shadow. Light grew, and lo! the company passed through another gateway, high-arched and broad, and a rill ran out beside them; and beyond, going steeply down, was a road between sheer cliffs, knife-edged against the sky far above. So deep and narrow was that chasm that the sky was dark, and in it small stars glinted. Yet as Gimli after learned it was still two hours ere sunset of the day on which they had set out from Dunharrow; though for all that he could then tell it might have been twilight in some later year, or in some other world. The Company now mounted again, and Gimli returned to Legolas. They rode in file, and evening came on and a deep blue dusk; and still fear pursued them. Legolas turning to speak to Gimli looked back and the Dwarf saw before his face the glitter in the Elf's bright eyes. Behind them rode Elladan, last of the Company, but not the last of those that took the downward road. 'The Dead are following,' said Legolas. 'I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter -thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.' 'Yes, the Dead ride behind. They have been summoned,' said Elladan. The Company came at last out of the ravine, as suddenly as it they had issued from a crack in a wall; and there lay the uplands of a great vale before them, and the stream beside them went down with a cold voice over many falls. 'Where in Middle-earth are we?' said Gimli; and Elladan answered: 'We ####-have descended from the uprising of the Morthond, the long chill river that flows at last to the sea that washes the walls of Dol Amroth. You will not need to ask hereafter how comes its name: Blackroot men call it.' The Morthond Vale made a great bay that beat up against the sheer southern faces of the mountains. Its steep slopes were grass-grown; but all was grey in that hour, for the sun had gone, and far below lights twinkled in the homes of Men. The vale was rich and many folk dwelt there. Then without turning Aragorn cried aloud so that all could hear: 'Friends, forget your weariness! Ride now, ride! We must come to the Stone of Erech ere this day passes, and long still is the way.' So without looking back they rode the mountain-fields, until they came to a bridge over the growing torrent and found a road that went down into the land. Lights went out in house and hamlet as they came, and doors were shut, and folk that were afield cried in terror and ran wild like hunted deer. Ever there rose the same cry in the gathering night: 'The King of the Dead! The King of the Dead is come upon us!' Bells wer e ringing far below, and all men fled before the face of Aragorn; but the Grey Company in their haste rode like hunters, until their horses were stumbling with weariness. And thus, just ere midnight, and in a darkness as black as the caverns in the mountains, they came at last to the Hill of Erech. Long had the terror of the Dead lain upon that hill and upon the empty fields about it. For upon the top stood a black stone, round as a great globe, the height of a man, though its half was buried in the ground. Unearthly it looked, as though it had fallen from the sky, as some believed; but those who remembered still the lore of Westernesse told that it had been brought out of the ruin of N®menor and there set by Isildur at his landing . None of the people of the valley dared to approach it, nor would they dwell near; for they said that it was a trysting-place of the Shadow-men, and there they would gather in times of fear, thronging round the Stone and whispering. To tha t Stone the Company came and halted in the dead of night. Then Elrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns, as if it was an echo in deep caves far away. No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood; and a chill wind like the breath of ghosts came down from the mountains. But ####-Aragorn dismounted, and standing by the Stone he cried in a great voice: 'Oathbreakers, why have ye come?' And a voice was heard out of the night that answered him, as if from far away: 'To fulfil our oath and have peace.' Then Aragorn said: 'The hour is come at last. Now I go to Pelargir upon Anduin, and ye shall come after me. And when all this land is clean of the servants of Sauron, I will hold the oath fulfilled, and ye shall have peace and depart for ever. For I am Elessar, Isildur's heir of Gondor.' And with that he bade Halbarad unfurl the great standard which he had brought; and behold! it was black, and if there was any device upon it, it was hidden in the darkness. Then there was silence, and not a whisper nor a sigh was heard again all the long night. The Company camped beside the Stone, but they slept little, because of the dread of the Shadows that hedged them round. But when the dawn came, cold and pale, Aragorn rose at once, and he led the Company forth upon the journey of greatest haste and weariness that any among them had known, save he alone, and only his will held them to go on. No other mortal Men could have endured it, none but the D®nedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas of the Elves. They passed Tarlang's Neck and came into Lamedon; and the Shadow Host pressed behind and fear went on before them, until they came to Calembel upon Ciril, and the sun went down like blood behind Pinnath Gelin away in the West behind them. The township and the fords of Ciril they found deserted, for many men had gone away to war, and all that were left fled to the hills at the rumour of the coming of the King of the Dead. But the next day there came no dawn, and the Grey Company passed on into the darkness of the Storm of Mordor and were lost to mortal sight; but the Dead followed them. ####- Now all roads were running together to the East to meet the coming of war and the onset of the Shadow. And even as Pippin stood at the Great Gate of the City and saw the Prince of Dol Amroth ride in with his banners, the King of Rohan came down out of the hills. Day was waning. In the last rays of the sun the Riders cast long pointed shadows that went on before them. Darkness had already crept beneath the murmuring fir-woods that clothed the steep mountain-sides. The king rode now slowly at the end of the day. Presently the path turned round a huge bare shoulder of rock and plunged into the gloom of soft -sighing trees. Down, down they went in a long winding file. When at last they came to the bottom of the gorge they found that evening had fallen in the deep places. The sun was gone. Twilight lay upon the waterfalls. All day far below them a leaping stream had run down from the high pass behind, cleaving its narrow way between pine-clad walls; and now through a stony gate it flowed out and passed into a wider vale. The Riders followed it, and suddenly Harrowdale lay before them, loud with the noise of waters in the evening. There the white Snowbourn, joined by the lesser stream, went rushing, fuming on the stones, down to Edoras and the green hills and the plains. Away to the right at the head of the great dale the mighty Starkhorn loomed up above its vast buttresses swathed in cloud; but its jagged peak, clothed in everlasting snow, gleamed far above the world, blue-shadowed upon the East, red-stained by the sunset in the West. Merry looked out in wonder upon this strange country, of which he had heard many tales upon their long road. It was a skyless world, in which his eye; through dim gulfs of shadowy air, saw only ever-mounting slopes, great walls of stone behind great walls, and frowning precipices wreathed with mist. He sat for a moment half dreaming, listening to the noise of water, the whisper of dark trees, the crack of stone, and the vast waiting silence that brooded behind all sound. He loved mountains, or he had loved the thought of them marching on the edge of stories brought from far away; but now he was borne down by the insupportable weight of Middle-earth. He longed to shut out the immensity in a quiet room by a fire. He was very tired, for though they had ridden slowly, they had ridden ####-with very little rest. Hour after hour for nearly three weary days he had jogged up and down, over passes, and through long dales, and across many streams. Sometimes where the way was broader he had ridden at the king's side, not noticing that many of the Riders smiled to see the two together: the hobbit on his little shaggy grey pony, and the Lord of Rohan on his great white horse. Then he had talked to Thjoden, telling him about his home and the doings of the Shire-folk, or listening in turn to tales of the Mark and its mighty men of old. But most of the time, especially on this last day, Merry had ridden by himself just behind the king, saying nothing, and trying to understand the slow sonorous speech of Rohan that he heard the men behind him using. It was a language in which there seemed to be many words that he knew, though spoken more richly and strongly than in the Shire, yet he could not piece the words together. At times some Rider would lift up his clear voice in stirring song, and Merry felt his heart leap, though he did not know what it was about. All the same he had been lonely, and never more so than now at the day's end. He wondered where in all this strange world Pippin had got to; and what would become of Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli. Then suddenly like a cold touch on his heart he thought of Frodo and Sam. 'I am forgetting them!' he said to himself reproachfully. 'And yet they are more important than all the rest of us. And I came to help them; but now they must be hundreds of miles away, if they are still alive.' He shivered. 'Harrowdale at last!' said Jomer. 'Our journey is almost at an end.' They halted. The paths out of the narrow gorge fell steeply. Only a glimpse, as through a tall window, could be seen of the great valley in the gloaming below. A single small light could be seen twinkling by the river. 'This journey is over, maybe,' said Thjoden, 'but I have far yet to go. Last night the moon was full, and in the morning I shall ride to Edoras to the gathering of the Mark.' 'But if you would take my counsel,' said Jomer in a low voice, 'you would then return hither, until the war is over, lost or won.' Thjoden smiled. 'Nay, my son, for so I will call you, speak not the soft words of Wormtongue in my old ears!' He drew himself up and looked back at the long line of his men fading into the dusk behind. 'Long years in the space of days it seems since I rode west; but never will I lean on a staff ####-again. If the war is lost, what good will be my hiding in the hills? And if it is won, what grief will it be, even if I fall, spending my last strength? But we will leave this now. Tonight I will lie in the Hold of Dunharrow. One evening of peace at least is left us. Let us ride on! ' In the deepening dusk they came down into the valley. Here the Snowbourn flowed near to the western walls of the dale, and soon the path led them to a ford where the shallow waters murmured loudly on the stones. The ford was guarded. As the king approached many men sprang up out of the shadow of the rocks; and when they saw the king they cried with glad voices: 'Thjoden King! Thjoden King! The King of the Mark returns!' Then one blew a long call on a horn. It echoed in the valley. Other horns answered it, and lights shone out across the river. And suddenly there rose a great chorus of trumpets from high above, sounding from some hollow place, as it seemed, that gathered their notes into one voice and sent it rolling and beating on the walls of stone. So the King of the Mark came back victorious out of the West to Dunharrow beneath the feet of the White Mountains. There he found the remaining strength of his people already assembled; for as soon as his coming was known captains rode to meet him at the ford, bearing messages from Gandalf. D®nhere, chieftain of the folk of Harrowdale, was at their head. 'At dawn three days ago, lord,' he said. 'Shadowfax came like a wind out of the West to Edoras, and Gandalf brought tidings of your victory to gladden our hearts. But he brought also word from you to hasten the gathering of the Riders. And then came the winged Shadow.' 'The winged Shadow?' said Thjoden. 'We saw it also, but that was in the dead of night before Gandalf left us.' 'Maybe, lord,' said D®nhere. 'Yet the same, or another like to it, a flying darkness in the shape of a monstrous bird, passed over Edoras that morning, and all men were shaken with fear. For it stooped upon Meduseld, and as it came low, almost to the gable, there came a cry that stopped our hearts. Then it was that Gandalf counselled us not to assemble in the fields, but to meet you here in the valley under the mounta ins. And he bade us to kindle no more lights or fires than barest need asked. So it has been done. Gandalf spoke with great authority. We trust that it is as you would wish. Naught has been seen in Harrowdale of these evil things.' 'It is well,' said Thjoden. 'I will ride now to the Hold, and there ####-before I go to rest I will meet the marshals and captains. Let them come to me as soon as may be!' The road now led eastward straight across the valley, which was at that point little more than half a mile in width. Flats and meads of rough grass, grey now in the falling night, lay all about, but in front on the far side of the dale Merry saw a frowning wall, a last outlier of the great roots of the Starkhorn, cloven by the river in ages past . On all the level spaces there was great concourse of men. Some thronged to the roadside, hailing the king and the riders from the West with glad cries; but stretching away into the distance behind there were ordered rows of tents and booths, and lines of picketed horses, and great store of arms, and piled spears bristling like thickets of new-planted trees. Now all the great assembly was falling into shadow, and yet, though the night -chill blew cold from the heights no lanterns glowed, no fires were lit. Watchmen heavily cloaked paced to and fro. Merry wondered how many Riders there were. He could not guess their number in the gathering gloom, but it looked to him like a great army, many thousands strong. While he was peering from side to side the king's party came up under the looming cliff on the eastern side of the valley; and there suddenly the path began to climb, and Merry looked up in amazement. He was on a road the like of which he had never seen before, a great work of men's hands in years beyond the reach of song. Upwards it wound, coiling like a snake, boring its way across the sheer slope of rock. Steep as a stair, it looped backwards and forwards as it climbed. Up it horses could walk, and wains could be slowly hauled; but no enemy could come that way, except out of the air, if it was defended from above. At each turn of the road there were great standing stones that had been carved in the likeness of men, huge and clumsy-limbed, squatting cross-legged with their stumpy arms folded on fat bellies. Some in the wearing of the years had lost all features save the dark holes of their eyes that still stared sadly at the passers-by. The Riders hardly glanced at them. The P®kel-men they called them, and heeded them little: no power or terror was left in them; but Merry gazed at them with wonder and a feeling almost of pity, as they loomed up mournfully in the dusk. After a while he looked back and found that he had already climbed some hundreds of feet above the valley, but still far below he could dimly see a ####-winding line of Riders crossing the ford and filing along the road towards the camp prepared for them. Only the king and his guard were going up into the Hold. At last the king's company came to a sharp brink, and the climbing road passed into a cutting between walls of rock, and so went up a short slope and out on to a wide upland. The Firienfeld men called it, a green mountain-field of grass and heath, high above the deep -delved courses of the Snowbourn, laid upon the lap of the great mountains behind: the Starkhorn southwards, and northwards the saw-toothed mass of Irensaga, between which there faced the riders, the grim black wall of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain rising out of steep slopes of sombre pines. Dividing the upland into two there marched a double line of unshaped standing stones that dwindled into the dusk and vanished in the trees. Those who dared to follow that road came soon to the black Dimholt under Dwimorberg, and the menace of the pillar of stone, and the yawning shadow of the forbidden door. Such was the dark Dunharrow, the work of long -forgotten men. Their name was lost and no song or legend remembered it. For what purpose they had made this place, as a town or secret temple or a tomb of kings, none could say. Here they laboured in the Dark Years, before ever a ship came to the western shores, or Gondor of the D®nedain was built; and now they had vanished, and only the old P®kel -men were left, still sitting at the turnings of the road. Merry stared at the lines of marching stones: they were worn and black; some were leaning, some were fallen, some cracked or broken; they looked like rows of old and hungry teeth. He wondered what they could be, and he hoped that the king was not going to follow them into the darkness beyond. Then he saw that there were clusters of tents and booths on either side of the stony way; but these were not set near the trees, and seemed rather to huddle away from them towards the brink of the cliff. The greater number were on the right, where the Firienfeld was wider; and on the left there was a smaller camp, in the midst of which stood a tall pavilion. From this side a rider now came out to meet them, and they turned from the road. As they drew near Merry saw that the rider was a woman with long braided hair gleaming in the twilight, yet she wore a helm and was clad to the waist like a warrior and girded with a sword. 'Hail, Lord of the Mark!' she cried. 'My heart is glad at your ####-returning.' 'And you, Jowyn,' said Thjoden, 'is all well with you?' 'All is well,' she answered; yet it seemed to Merry that her voice belied her, and he would have thought that she had been weeping, if that could be believed of one so stern of face. 'All is well. It was a weary road for the people to take, torn suddenly from their homes. There were hard words, for it is long since war has driven us from the green fields; but there have been no evil deeds. All is now ordered, as you see. And your lodging is prepared for you; for I have had full tidings of you and knew the hour of your coming.' 'So Aragorn has come then,' said Jomer. 'Is he still here?' 'No, he is gone,' said Jowyn turning away and looking at the mountains dark against the East and South. 'Whither did he go?' asked Jomer. 'I do not know,' she answered. 'He came at night, and rode away yestermorn, ere the Sun had climbed over the mountain-tops. He is gone.' 'You are grieved, daughter,' said Thjoden. 'What has happened? Tell me, did he speak of that road?' He pointed away along the darkening lines of stones towards the Dwimorberg. 'Of the Paths of the Dead?' 'Yes, lord,' said Jowyn. 'And he has passed into the shadows from which none have returned. I could not dissuade him. He is gone.' 'Then our paths are sundered,' said Jomer. 'He is lost. We must ride without him, and our hope dwindles.' Slowly they passed through the short heath and upland grass, speaking no more, until they came to the king's pavilion. There Merry found that everything was made ready, and that he himself was not forgotten. A little tent had been pitched for him beside the king's lodging; and there he sat alone, while men passed to and fro, going in to the king and taking counsel with him. Night came on, and the half-seen heads of the mountains westward were crowned with stars, but the East was dark and blank. The marching stones faded slowly from sight, but still beyond them, blacker than the gloom, brooded the vast crouching shadow of the Dwimorberg. 'The Paths of the Dead,' he muttered to himself. 'The Paths of the Dead? What does all this mean? They have all left me now. They have all gone to some doom: Gandalf and Pippin to war in the East; and Sam and Frodo to Mordor; and Strider and Legolas and Gimli to the Paths of the Dead. But my turn will come soon enough, I suppose. I wonder what they are all talking ####-about, and what the king means to do. For I must go where he goes now.' In the midst of these gloomy thoughts he suddenly remembered that he was very hungry, and he got up to go and see if anyone else in this strange camp felt the same. But at that very moment a trumpet sounded, and a man came summoning him, the king's esquire, to wait at the king's board. In the inner part of the pavilion was a small space, curtained off with broidered hangings, and strewn with skins: and there at a small table sat Thjoden with Jomer and Jowyn, and D®nhere, lord of Harrowdale. Merry stood beside the king's stool and waited on him till presently the old man, coming out of deep thought, turned to him and smiled. 'Come, Master Meriadoc!' he said. 'You shall not stand. You shall sit beside me, as long as I remain in my own lands, and lighten my heart with tales.' Room was made for the hobbit at the king's left hand, but no one called for any tale. There was indeed little speech, and they ate and drank for the most part in silence, until at last, plucking up courage, Merry asked the question that was tormenting him. 'Twice now, lord, I have heard of the Paths of the Dead,' he said. 'What are they? And where has Strider, I mean the Lord Aragorn where has he gone?' The king sighed, but no one answered, until at last Jomer spoke. 'We do not know, and our hearts are heavy,' he said. 'But as for the Paths of the Dead, you have yourself walked on their first steps. Nay. I speak no words of ill omen! The road that we have climbed is the approach to the Door, yonder in the Dimholt. But what lies beyond no man knows.' 'No man knows,' said Thjoden: 'yet ancient legend, now seldom spoken, has somewhat to report. If these old tales speak true that have come down from father to son in the House of Eorl, then the Door under Dwimorberg leads to a secret way that goes beneath the mountain to some forgotten end. But none have ever ventured in to search its secrets, since Baldor, son of Brego, passed the Door and was never seen among men again. A rash vow he spoke, as he drained the horn at that feast which Brego made to hallow new-built Meduseld, and he came never to the high seat of which he was the heir. 'Folk say that Dead Men out of the Dark Years guard the way and will ####-suffer no living man to come to their hidden halls; but at whiles they may themselves be seen passing out of the door like shadows and down the stony road. Then the people of Harrowdale shut fast their doors and shroud their windows and are afraid. But the Dead come seldom forth and only at times of great unquiet and coming death.' 'Yet it is said in Harrowdale,' said Jowyn in a low voice. 'that in the moonless nights but little while ago a great host in strange array passed by. Whence they came none knew, but they went up the stony road and vanished into the hill, as if they went to keep a tryst.' 'Then why has Aragorn gone that way?' asked Merry. 'Don't you know anything that would explain it?' 'Unless he has spoken words to you as his friend that we have not heard,' said Jomer, 'none now in the land of the living can tell his purpose.' 'Greatly changed he seemed to me since I saw him first in the king's house,' said Jowyn: 'grimmer, older. Fey I thought him, and like one whom the Dead call.' 'Maybe he was called,' said Thjoden; 'and my heart tells me that I shall not see him again. Yet he is a kingly man of high destiny. And take comfort in this, daughter, since comfort you seem to need in your grief for this guest. It is said that when the Eorlingas came out of the North and passed at length up the Snowbourn, seeking strong places of refuge in time of need, Brego and his son Baldor climbed the Stair of the Hold and so came before the Door. On the threshold sat an old man, aged beyond guess of years; tall and kingly he had been, but now he was withered as an old stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: The way is shut. 'Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived still; but he did not look at them. The way is shut, his voice said again It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut. 'And when will that time be? said Baldor. But no answer did he ever get. For the old man died in that hour and fell upon his face; and no other tidings of the ancient dwellers in the mountains have our folk ever learned.####-Yet maybe at last the time foretold has come, and Aragorn may pass.' 'But how shall a man discover whether that time be come or no, save by daring the Door?' said Jomer. 'And that way I would not go though all the hosts of Mordor stood before me, and I were alone and had no other refuge. Alas that a fey mood should fall on a man so greathearted in this hour of need! Are there not evil things enough abroad without seeking them under the earth? War is at hand.' He paused, for at that moment there was a noise outside, a man's voice crying the name of Thjoden, and the challenge of the guard. Presently the captain of the Guard thrust aside the curtain. 'A man is here, lord,' he said, 'an errand-rider of Gondor. He wishes to come before you at once.' 'Let him come!' said Thjoden. A tall man entered, and Merry choked back a cry; for a moment it seemed to him that Boromir was alive again and had returned. Then he saw that it was not so; the man was a stranger, though as like to Boromir as if he were one of his kin, tall and grey-eyed and proud. He was clad as a rider with a cloak of dark green over a coat of fine mail; on the front of his helm was wrought a small silver star. In his hand he bore a single arrow, black-feathered and barbed with steel, but the point was painted red. He sank on one knee and presented the arrow to Thjoden. 'Hail Lord of the Rohirrim, friend of Gondor!' he said. 'Hirgon I am, errand-rider of Denethor, who bring you this token of war. Gondor is in great need. Often the Rohirrim have aided us, but now the Lord Denethor asks for all your strength and all your speed; lest Gondor fall at last.' 'The Red Arrow!' said Thjoden, holding it, as one who receives a summons long expected and yet dreadful when it comes. His hand trembled. 'The Red Arrow has not been seen in the Mark in all my years! Has it indeed come to that? And what does the Lord Denethor reckon that all my strength and all my speed may be?' 'That is best known to yourself, lord,' said Hirgon. 'But ere long it may well come to pass that Minas Tirith is surrounded, and unless you have the strength to break a siege of many powers, the Lord Denethor bids me say that he judges that the strong arms of the Rohirrim would be better within his walls than without.' 'But he knows that we are a people who fight rather upon horseback and in the open, and that we are also a scattered people and time is needed for ####-the gathering of our Riders. Is it not true, Hirgon, that the Lord of Minas Tirith knows more than he sets in his message? For we are already at war, as you may have seen, and you do not find us all unprepared. Gandalf the Grey has been among us, and even now we are mustering for battle in the Ea st.' 'What the Lord Denethor may know or guess of all these things I cannot say,' answered Hirgon. 'But indeed our case is desperate. My lord does not issue any command to you, he begs you only to remember old friendship and oaths long spoken, and for your own good to do all that you may. It is reported to us that many kings have ridden in from the East to the service of Mordor. From the North to the field of Dagorlad there is skirmish and rumour of war. In the South the Haradrim are moving, and fear has fallen on all our coastlands, so that little help will come to us thence. Make haste! For it is before the walls of Minas Tirith that the doom of our time will be decided, and if the tide be not stemmed there, then it will flow over all the fair fields of Rohan, and even in this Hold among the hills there shall be no refuge.' 'Dark tidings,' said Thjoden, 'yet not all unguessed. But say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no peril, still we would come to his aid. But we have suffered much loss in our battles with Saruman the traitor, and we must still think of our frontier to the north and east, as his own tidings make clear. So great a power as the Dark Lord seems now to wield might well contain us in battle before the City and yet strike with great force across the River away beyond the Gate of Kings. 'But we will speak no longer counsels of prudence. We will come. The weapontake was set for the morrow. When all is ordered we will set out. Ten thousand spears I might have sent riding over the plain to the dismay of your foes. It will be less now, I fear; for I will not leave my strongholds all unguarded. Yet six thousands at the least shall ride behind me. For say to Denethor that in this hour the King of the Mark himself will come down to the land of Gondor, though maybe he will not ride back. But it is a long road, and man and beast must reach the end with strength to fight. A week it may be from tomorrow's morn ere you hear the cry of the Sons of Eorl coming from the North. 'A week!' said Hirgon. 'If it must be so, it must. But you are like to find only ruined walls in seven days from now, unless other help unlooked-for comes. Still, you may at the least disturb the Orcs and Swarthy Men from their feasting in the White Tower.'####- 'At the least we will do that,' said Thjoden. 'But I myself am new-come from battle and long journey, and I will now go to rest. Tarry here this night. Then you shall look on the muster of Rohan and ride away the gladder for the sight, and the swifter for the rest. In the morning counsels are best, and night changes many thoughts. With that the king stood up, and they all rose. 'Go now each to your rest.' he said, 'and sleep well. And you, Master Meriadoc, I need no more tonight. But be ready to my call as soon as the Sun is risen.' 'I will be ready,' said Merry, 'even if you bid me ride with you on the Paths of the Dead.' 'Speak not words of omen!' said the k ing. 'For there may be more roads than one that could bear that name. But I did not say that I would bid you ride with me on any road. Good night!' 'I won't be left behind, to be called for on return!' said Merry. 'I won't be left, I won't.' And repeating this over and over again to himself he fell asleep at last in his tent. He was wakened by a man shaking him. 'Wake up, wake up. Master Holbytla!' he cried; and at length Merry came out of deep dreams and sat up with a start. It still seemed very dark, he thought. 'What is the matter?' he asked. 'The king calls for you.' 'But the Sun has not risen, yet,' said Merry. 'No, and will not rise today, Master Holbytla. Nor ever again, one would think under this cloud. But time does not stand still, though the Sun be lost. Make haste!' Flinging on some clothes, Merry looked outside. The world was darkling. The very air seemed brown, and all things about were black and grey and shadowless; there was a great stillness. No shape of cloud could be seen, unless it were far away westward, where the furthest groping fingers of the great gloom still crawled onwards and a little light leaked through them. Overhead there hung a heavy roof, sombre and featureless, and light seemed rather to be failing than growing. Merry saw many folk standing, looking up and muttering: all their faces were grey and sad, and some were afraid. With a sinking heart he made his way to the king. Hirgon the rider of Gondor was there before him, and beside him stood now another man, like him and dressed alike, but shorter and broader. As Merry entered he was speaking to the king.####- 'It comes from Mordor, lord,' he said. 'It began last night at sunset. From the hills in the Eastfold of your realm I saw it rise and creep across the sky, and all night as I rode it came behind eating up the stars. Now the great cloud hangs over all the land between here and the Mountains of Shadow; and it is deepening. War has a lready begun.' For a while the king sat silent. At last he spoke. 'So we come to it in the end,' he said: 'the great battle of our time, in which many things shall pass away. But at least there is no longer need for hiding. We will ride the straight way and the open road and with all our speed. The muster shall begin at once, and wait for none that tarry. Have you good store in Minas Tirith? For if we must ride now in all haste, then we must ride light, with but meal and water enough to last u s into battle.' 'We have very great store long prepared,' answered Hirgon. Ride now as light and as swift as you may!' 'Then call the heralds, Jomer,' said Thjoden. 'Let the Riders be marshalled!' Jomer went out, and presently the trumpets rang in the Hold and were answered by many others from below; but their voices no longer sounded clear and brave as they had seemed to Merry the night before. Dull they seemed and harsh in the heavy air, braying ominously. The king turned to Merry. 'I am going to war, Master Meriadoc,' he said. 'In a little while I shall take the road. I release you from my service, but not from my friendship. You shall abide here, and if you will, you shall serve the Lady Jowyn, who will govern the folk in my stead.' 'But, but, lord,' Merry stammered, 'I offered you my sword. I do not want to be parted from you like this, Thjoden King. And as all my friends have gone to the battle' I should be ashamed to stay behind.' 'But we ride on horses tall and swift,' said Thjoden; 'and great though your heart be, you cannot ride on such beasts.' 'Then tie me on to the back of one, or let me hang on a stirrup, or something,' said Merry. 'It is a long way to run; but run I shall, if I cannot ride, even if I wear my feet off and arrive weeks too late.' Thjoden smiled. 'Rather than that I would bear you with me on Snowmane,' he said. 'But at the least you shall ride with me to Edoras and look on Meduseld; for that way I shall go. So far Stybba can bear you: the great race will not begin till we reach the plains.' Then Jowyn rose up. 'Come now, Meriadoc!' she said. 'I will show you ####-the gear that I have prepared fur you.' They went out together. 'This request only did Aragorn make to me,' said Jowyn, as they passed among the tents, 'that you should be armed for battle. I have granted it, as I could. For my heart tells me that you will need such gear ere the end.' Now she led Merry to a booth among the lodges of the king's guard and there an armourer brought out to her a small helm, and a round shield, and other gear. 'No mail have we to fit you,' said Jowyn, 'nor any time for the forging of such a hauberk; but here is also a stout jerkin of leather, a belt, and a knife. A sword you have.' Merry bowed, and the lady showed him the shield, which was like the shield that had been given to Gimli, and it bore on it the device of the white horse. 'Take all these things,' she said, 'and bear them to good fortune! Farewell now, Master Meriadoc! Yet maybe we shall meet again, you and I.' So it was that amid a gathering gloom the King of the Mark made ready to lead all his Riders on the eastward road. Hearts were heavy and many quailed in the shadow. But they were a stern people, loyal to their lord, and little weeping or murmuring was heard, even in the camp in the Hold where the exiles from Edoras were housed, women and children and old men. Doom hung over them, but they faced it silently. Two swift hours passed, and now the king sat upon his white horse, glimmering in the half light. Proud and tall he seemed, though the hair that flowed beneath his high helm was like snow; and many marvelled a t him and took heart to see him unbent and unafraid. There on the wide flats beside the noisy river were marshalled in many companies well nigh five and fifty hundreds of Riders fully armed, and many hundreds of other men with spare horses lightly burdened. A single trumpet sounded. The king raised his hand, and then silently the host of the Mark began to move. Foremost went twelve of the king's household-men, Riders of renown. Then the king followed with Jomer on his right. He had said farewell to Jowyn above in the Hold, and the memory was grievous; but now he turned his mind to the road that lay ahead. Behind him Merry rode on Stybba with the errand riders of Gondor, and behind them again twelve more of the king's household. They passed down the long ranks of waiting men with stern and unmoved faces. But when they had come almost to the end of the line one looked up glancing keenly at the hobbit. A young man, Merry thought as he ####-returned the glance, less in height and girth than most. He caught the glint of clear grey eyes; and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face of one without hope who goes in search of death. On down the grey road they went beside the Snowbourn rushing on its stones; through the hamlets of Underharrow and Upbourn, where many sad faces of women looked out from dark doors; and so without horn or harp or music of men's voices the great ride into the East began with which the songs of Rohan were busy for many long lives of men thereafter. From dark Dunharrow in the dim morning with thane and captain rode Thengel's son: to Edoras he came, the ancient halls of the Mark-wardens mist-enshrouded; golden timbers were in gloom mantled. Farewell he bade to his free people, hearth and high-seat, and the hallowed places, where long he had feasted ere the light faded. Forth rode the king, fear behind him, fate before him. Fealty kept he; oaths he had taken, all fulfilled them. Forth rode Thjoden. Five nights and days east and onward rode the Eorlingas through Folde and Fenmarch and the Firienwood, six thousand spears to Sunlending, Mundburg the mighty under Mindolluin, Sea-kings' city in the South -kingdom foe-beleaguered, fire-encircled. Doom drove them on. Darkness took them, Horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar sank into silence: so the songs tell us. It was indeed in deepening gloom that the king came to Edoras, although it was then but noon by the hour. There he halted only a short while and strengthened his host by some three score of Riders that came late to the weapontake. Now having eaten he made ready to set out again, and he wished his esquire a kindly farewell. But Merry begged for the last time not to be parted from him. 'This is no journey for such steeds as Stybba, as I have told you '####-said Thjoden. 'And in such a battle as we think to make on the fields of Gondor what would you do, Master Meriadoc, sword-thain though you be, and greater of heart than of stature?' 'As for that, who can tell?' answered Merry. 'But why, lord, did you receive me as sword-thain, if not to stay by your side? And I would not have it said of me in song only that I was always left behind!' 'I received you for your safe-keeping,' answered Thjoden; 'and also to do as I might bid. None of my Riders can bear you as burden. If the battle were before my gates, maybe your deeds would be remembered by the minstrels; but it is a hundred leagues and two to Mundburg where Denethor is lord. I will say no more.' Merry bowed and went away unhappily, and stared at the lines of horsemen. Already the companies were preparing to start: men were tightening girths, looking to saddles, caressing their horses; some gazed uneasily at the lowering sky. Unnoticed a Rider came up and spoke softly in the hobbit's ear. 'Where will wants not, a way opens, so we say,' he whispered; 'and so I have found myself.' Merry looked up and saw that it was the young Rider whom he had noticed in the morning. 'You wish to go whither the Lord of the Mark goes: I see it in your face.' 'I do,' said Merry. 'Then you shall go with me,' said the Rider. 'I will bear you before me, under my cloak until we are far afield, and this darkness is yet darker. Such good will should not be denied. Say no more to any man, but come!' 'Thank you indeed!' said Merry. 'Thank you, sir, though I do not know your name.' 'Do you not?' said the Rider softly. 'Then call me Dernhelm.' Thus it came to pass that when the king set out, before Dernhelm sat Meriadoc the hobbit, and the great grey steed Windfola made little of the burden; for Dernhelm was less in weight than many men, though lithe and well-knit in frame. On into the shadow they rode. In the willow-thickets where Snowbourn flowed into Entwash, twelve leagues east of Edoras, they camped that night. And then on again through the Folde; and through the Fenmarch, where to ####-their right great oakwoods climbed on the skirts of the hills under the shades of dark Halifirien by the borders of Gondor; but away to their left the mists lay on the marshes fed by the mouths of Entwash. And as they rode rumour came of war in the North. Lone men, riding wild, brought word of foes assailing their east -borders, of orc-hosts marching in the Wold of Rohan. 'Ride on! Ride on!' cried Jomer. 'Too late now to turn aside. The fens of Entwash must guard our flank. Haste now we need. Ride on!' And so King Thjoden departed from his own realm, and mile by mile the long road wound away, and the beacon hills marched past: Calenhad, Min-Rimmon, Erelas, Nardol. But their fires were quenched. All the lands were grey and still; and ever the shadow deepened before them, and hope waned in every heart. ####- Pippin was roused by Gandalf. Candles were lit in their chamber, for only a dim twilight came through the windows; the air was heavy as with approaching thunder. 'What is the time?' said Pippin yawning. 'Past the second hour,' said Gandalf. 'Time to get up and make yourself presentable. You are summoned to the Lord of the City to learn your new duties.' 'And will he provide breakfast?' 'No! I have provided it: all that you will get till noon. Food is now doled out by order.' Pippin looked ruefully at the small loaf and (he thought) very inadequate pat of butter which was set out for him, beside a cup of thin milk. 'Why did you bring me here?' he said. 'You know quite well,' said Gandalf. 'To keep you out of mischief; and if you do not like being here, you can remember that you brought it on yourself.' Pippin said no more. Before long he was walking with Gandalf once more down the cold corridor to the door of the Tower Hall. There Denethor sat in a grey gloom, like an old patient spider, Pippin thought: he did not seem to have moved since the day before. He beckoned Gandalf to a seat, but Pippin was left for a while standing unheeded. Presently the old man turned to him: 'Well, Master Peregrin, I hope that you used yesterday to your profit, and to your liking? Though I fear that the board is barer in this city than you could wish.' Pippin had an uncomfortable feeling that most of what he had said or done was somehow known to the Lord of the City, and much was guessed of what he thought as well. He did not answer. 'What would you do in my service?' 'I thought, sir, that you would tell me my duties.' 'I will, when I learn what you are fit for,' said Denethor. 'But that I shall learn soonest, maybe, if I keep you beside me. The esquire of my chamber has begged leave to go to the out-garrison, so you shall take his ####-place for a while. You shall wait on me, bear errands, and talk to me, if war and council leave me any leisure. Can you sing?' 'Yes,' said Pippin. 'Well, yes, well enough for my own people. But we have no songs fit for great halls and evil times, lord. We seldom sing of anything more terrible than wind or rain. And most of my songs are about things that make us laugh; or about food and drink, of course.' 'And why should such songs be unfit for my halls, or for such hours as these? We who have lived long under the Shadow may surely listen to echoes from a land untroubled by it? Then we may feel that our vigil was not fruitless, though it may have been thank less.' Pippin's heart sank. He did not relish the idea of singing any song of the Shire to the Lord of Minas Tirith, certainly not the comic ones that he knew best; they were too, well, rustic for such an occasion. He was however spared the ordeal for the present. He was not commanded to sing. Denethor turned to Gandalf, asking questions about the Rohirrim and their policies, and the position of Jomer, the king's nephew. Pippin marvelled at the amount that the Lord seemed to know about a people that lived far away, though it must, he thought, be many years since Denethor himself had ridden abroad. Presently Denethor waved to Pippin and dismissed him again for a while. 'Go to the armouries of the Citadel,' he said, 'and get you there the livery and gear of the Tower. It will be ready. It was commanded yesterday. Return when you are clad!' It was as he said; and Pippin soon found himself arrayed in strange garments, all of black and silver. He had a small hauberk, its rings forged of steel, maybe, yet black as jet; and a high-crowned helm with small raven-wings on either side, set with a silver star in the centre of the circlet. Above the mail was a short surcoat of black, but broidered on the breast in silver with the token of the Tree. His old clothes were folded and put away, but he was permitted to keep the grey cloak of Lurien, though not to wear it when on duty. He looked now, had he known it, verily Ernil i Pheriannath , the Prince of the Halflings, that folk had called him; but he felt uncomfortable. And the gloom began to weigh on his spirits. It was dark and dim all day. From the sunless dawn until evening the heavy shadow had deepened, and all hearts in the City were oppressed. Far above a great cloud streamed slowly westward from the Black Land, devouring light, borne upon a wind of war; but below the air was still and breathless,####-as if all the Vale of Anduin waited for the onset of a ruinous storm. About the eleventh hour, released at last for a while from service. Pippin came out and went in search of food and drink to cheer his heavy heart and make his task of waiting more supportable. In the messes he met Beregond again, who had just come from an errand over the Pelennor out to the Guard-towers upon the Causeway. Together they strolled out to the walls; for Pippin felt imprisoned indoors, and stifled even in the lofty citadel. Now they sat side by side again in the embrasure looking eastward, where they had eaten and talked the day before. It was the sunset-hour, but the great pall had now stretched far into the West, and only as it sank at last into the Sea did the Sun escape to send out a brief farewell gleam before the night, even as Frodo saw it a t the Cross-roads touching the head of the fallen king. But to the fields of the Pelennor, under the shadow of Mindolluin, there came no gleam: they were brown and drear. Already it seemed years to Pippin since he had sat there before, in some half-forgotten time when he had still been a hobbit, a light-hearted wanderer touched little by the perils he had passed through. Now he was one small soldier in a city preparing for a great assault, clad in the proud but sombre manner of the Tower of Guard. In some other time and place Pippin might have been pleased with his new array, but he knew now that he was taking part in no play; he was in deadly earnest the servant of a grim master in the greatest peril. The hauberk was burdensome, and the helm weighed upon his head. His cloak he had cast aside upon the seat. He turned his tired gaze away from the darkling fields below and yawned, and then he sighed. 'You are weary of this day?' said Beregond. 'Yes,' said Pippin, 'very: tired out with idleness and waiting. I have kicked my heels at the door of my master's chamber for many slow hours, while he has debated with Gandalf and the Prince and other great persons. And I'm not used, Master Beregond, to waiting hungry on others while they eat. It is a sore trial for a hobbit, that. No doubt you will think I should feel the honour more deeply. But what is the good of such honour? Indeed what is the good even of food and drink under this creeping shadow? What does it mean? The very air seems thick and brown! Do you often have such glooms when the wind is in the East?'####- 'Nay,' said Beregond, 'this is no weather of the world. This is some device of his malice; some broil of fume from the Mountain of Fire that he sends to darken hearts and counsel. And so it doth indeed. I wish the Lord Faramir would return. He would not be dismayed. But now, who knows if he will ever come back across the River out of the Darkness?' 'Yes,' said Pippin, 'Gandalf, too, is anxious. He was disappointed. I think, not to find Faramir here. And where has he got to himself? He left the Lord's council before the noon -meal, and in no good mood either, I thought. Perhaps he has some foreboding of bad news.' Suddenly as they talked they were stricken dumb, frozen as it were to listening stones. Pippin cowered down with his hands pressed to his ears; but Beregond, who had been looking out from the battlement as he spoke of Faramir, remained there, stiffened, staring out with starting eyes. Pippin knew the shuddering cry that he had heard: it was the same that he had heard long ago in the Marish of the Shire, but now it was grown in power and hatred, piercing the heart with a poisonous despair . At last Beregond spoke with an effort. 'They have come!' he said. 'Take courage and look! There are fell things below.' Reluctantly Pippin climbed on to the seat and looked out over the wall. The Pelennor lay dim beneath him, fading away to the scarce guessed line of the Great River. But now wheeling swiftly across it, like shadows of untimely night, he saw in the middle airs below him five birdlike forms, horrible as carrion-fowl yet greater than eagles, cruel as death. Now they swooped near, venturing almost within bowshot of the walls, now they circled away. 'Black Riders!' muttered Pippin. 'Black Riders of the air! But see, Beregond!' he cried. 'They are looking for something, surely? See how they wheel and swoop, always down to that point over there! And can you see something moving on the ground? Dark little things. Yes, men on horses: four or five. Ah! I cannot stand it! Gandalf! Gandalf save us!' Another long screech rose and fell, and he threw himself back again from the wall, panting like a hunted animal. Faint and seemingly remote through that shuddering cry he heard winding up from below the sound of a trumpet ending on a long high note. 'Faramir! The Lord Faramir! It is his call!' cried Beregond. 'Brave heart! But how can he win to the Gate, if these foul hell-hawks have other weapons than fear? But look! They hold on. They will make the Gate. No! the ####-horses are running mad. Look! the men are thrown; they are running on foot. No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will be the Captain: he can master both beasts and men. Ah! there one of the foul things is stooping on him. Help! help! Will no one go out to him? Faramir!' With that Beregond sprang away and ran off into the gloom. Ashamed of his terror, while Beregond of the Guard thought first of the captain whom he loved, Pippin got up and peered out. At that moment he caught a flash of white and silver coming from the North, like a small star down on the dusky fields. It moved with the speed of an arrow and grew as it came, converging swiftly with the flight of the four men towards the Gate. It seemed to Pippin that a pale light was spread about it and the heavy shadows gave way before it; and then as it drew near he thought that he heard, like an echo in the walls, a great voice calling. 'Gandalf!' he cried. 'Gandalf! He always turns up when things are darkest. Go on! Go on, White Rider! Gandalf, Gandalf!' he shouted wildly, like an onlooker at a great race urging on a runner who is far beyond encouragement. But now the dark swooping shadows were aware of the newcomer. One wheeled towards him; but it seemed to Pippin that he raised his hand, and from it a shaft of white light stabbed upwards. The Nazgyl gave a long wailing cry and swerved away; and with that the four others wavered, and then rising in swift spirals they passed away eastward vanishing into the lowering cloud above; and down on the Pelennor it seemed for a while less dark. Pippin watched, and he saw the horseman and the White Rider meet and halt, waiting for those on foot. Men now hurried out to them from the City; and soon they all passed from sight under the outer walls, and he knew that they were entering the Gate. Guessing that they would come at once to the Tower and the Steward, he hurried to the entrance of the citadel. There he was joined by many others who had watched the race and the rescue from the high walls. It was not long before a clamour was heard in the streets leading up from the outer circles, and there was much cheering and crying of the names of Faramir and Mithrandir. Presently Pippin saw torches, and followed by a press of people two horsemen riding slowly: one was in white but shining no longer, pale in the twilight as if his fire was spent or veiled; the other was dark and his head was bowed. They dismounted, and as grooms took ####-Shadowfax and the other horse, they walked forward to the sentinel at the gate: Gandalf steadily, his grey cloak flung back, and a fire still smouldering in his eyes; the other, clad all in green, slowly, swaying a little as a weary or a wounded man. Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how closely he resembled his brother Boromir - whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man's lordly but kindly manner. Yet suddenly for Faramir his heart was strangely moved with a feeling that he had not known before. Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings. 'Faramir!' he cried aloud with the others. 'Faramir!' And Faramir catching his strange voice among the clamour of the men of the City, turned and looked down at him and was amazed. 'Whence come you?' he said. 'A halfling, and in the livery of the Tower! Whence...? ' But with that Gandalf stepped to his side and spoke. 'He came with me from the land of the Halflings,' he said. 'He came with me. But let us not tarry here. There is much to say and to do, and you are weary. He shall come with us. Indeed he must, for if he does not forget his new duties more easily than I do, he must attend on his lord again within this hour. Come, Pippin, follow us!' So at length they came to the private chamber of the Lord of the City. There deep seats were set about a brazier of charcoal; and wine was brought; and there Pippin, hardly noticed, stood behind the chair of Denethor and felt his weariness little, so eagerly did he listen to all that was said. When Faramir had taken white bread and drunk a draught of wine, he sat upon a low chair at his father's left hand. Removed a little upon the other side sat Gandalf in a chair of carven wood; and he seemed at first to be ####-asleep. For at the beginning Faramir spoke only of the errand upon which he had been sent out ten days before, and he brought tidings of Ithilien and of movements of the Enemy and his allies; and he told of the fight on the road when the men of Harad and their great beast were overthrown: a captain reporting to his master such matters as had often been heard before, small things of border -war that now seemed useless and petty, shorn of their renown. Then suddenly Faramir looked at Pippin. 'But now we come to strange matters,' he said. 'For this is not the first halfling that I have seen walking out of northern legends into the Southlands.' At that Gandalf sat up and gripped the arms of his chair; but he said nothing, and with a look stopped the exclamation on Pippin's lips. Denethor looked at their faces and nodded his head, as though in sign that he had read much there before it was spoken. Slowly, while the others sat silent and still, Faramir told his tale, with his eyes for the most part on Gandalf, though now and again his glance strayed to Pippin, as if to refresh his memory of others that he had seen. As his story was unfolded of his meeting with Frodo and his servant and of the events at Henneth Annyn, Pippin became aware that Gandalf's hands were trembling as they clutched the carven wood. White they seemed now and very old, and as he looked at them, suddenly with a thrill of fear Pippin knew that Gandalf, Gandalf himself, was troubled, even afraid. The air of the room was close and still. At last when Faramir spoke of his parting with the travellers, and of their resolve to go to Cirith Ungol, his voice fell, and he shook his head and sighed. Then Gandalf sprang up. 'Cirith Ungol? Morgul Vale?' he said. 'The time, Faramir, the time? When did you part with them? When would they reach that accursed valley?' 'I parted with them in the morning two days ago,' said Faramir. 'It is fifteen leagues thence to the vale of the Morgulduin, if they went straight south; and then they would be still five leagu es westward of the accursed Tower. At swiftest they could not come there before today, and maybe they have not come there yet. Indeed I see what you fear. But the darkness is not due to their venture. It began yestereve, and all Ithilien was under sha dow last night. It is clear to me that the Enemy has long planned an assault on us, and its hour had already been determined before ever the travellers left my keeping.'####- Gandalf paced the floor. 'The morning of two days ago, nigh on three days of journey! How far is the place where you parted?' 'Some twenty-five leagues as a bird flies,' answered Faramir. 'But I could not come more swiftly. Yestereve I lay at Cair Andros, the long isle in the River northward which we hold in defence; and horses are kept on the hither bank. As the dark drew on I knew that haste was needed, so I rode thence with three others that could also be horsed. The rest of my company I sent south to strengthen the garrison at the fords of Osgiliath. I hope that I have not done ill?' He looked at his father. 'Ill?' cried Denethor, and his eyes flashed suddenly. 'Why do you ask? The men were under your command. Or do you ask for my judgement on all your deeds? Your bearing is lowly in my presence, yet it is long now since you turned from your own way at my counsel. See, you have spoken skilfully, as ever; but I, have I not seen your eye fixed on Mithrandir, seeking whether you said well or too much? He has long had your heart in his keeping. 'My son, your father is old but not yet dotard. I can see and hear, as was my wont; and little of what you have half said or left unsaid is now hidden from me. I know the answer to many riddles. Alas, alas for Boromir!' 'If what I have done displeases you, my father,' said Faramir quietly, 'I wish I had known your counsel before the burden of so weighty a judgement was thrust on me.' 'Would that have availed to change your judgement?' said Denethor. 'You would still have done just so, I deem. I k now you well. Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous as a king of old, gracious, gentle. That may well befit one of high race, if he sits in power and peace. But in desperate hours gentleness may be repaid with death.' 'So be it,' said Faramir. 'So be it!' cried Denethor. 'But not with your death only, Lord Faramir: with the death also of your father, and of all your people, whom it is your part to protect now that Boromir is gone.' 'Do you wish then,' said Faramir, 'that our places had been exchanged?' 'Yes, I wish that indeed,' said Denethor. 'For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard's pupil. He would have remembered his father's need, and would not have squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift.' For a moment Faramir's restraint gave way. 'I would ask you, my father,####-to remember why it was that I, not he, was in Ithilien. On one occasion at least your counsel has prevailed, not long ago. It was the Lord of the City that gave the errand to him.' 'Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed for myself,' said Denethor. 'Have I not tasted it now many nights upon my tongue foreboding that worse yet lay in the dregs? As now indeed I find. Would it were not so! Would that this thing had come to me!' 'Comfort yourself!' said Gandalf. 'In no case would Boromir have brought it to you. He is dead, and died well; may he sleep in peace! Yet you deceive yourself. He would have stretched out his hand to this thing, and taking it he would have fallen. He would have kept it for his own, and when he returned you would not have known your son.' The face of Denethor set hard and cold. 'You found Boromir less apt to your hand, did you not?' he said softly. 'But I who was his father say that he would have brought it to me. You are wise, maybe, Mithrandir, yet with all your subtleties you have not all wisdom. Counsels may be found that are neither the webs of wizards nor the haste of fools. I have in this matter more lore and wisdom than you deem. ' 'What then is your wisdom?' said Gandalf. 'Enough to perceive that there are two follies to avoid. To use this thing is perilous. At this hour, to send it in the hands of a witless halfling into the land of the Enemy himself, as you have done, and this son of mine, that is madness.' 'And the Lord Denethor what would he have done?' 'Neither. But most surely not for any argument would he have set this thing at a hazard beyond all bu t a fool's hope, risking our utter ruin, if the Enemy should recover what he lost. Nay, it should have been kept, hidden, hidden dark and deep. Not used, I say, unless at the uttermost end of need, but set beyond his grasp, save by a victory so final that what then befell would not trouble us, being dead.' 'You think, as is your wont, my lord, of Gondor only,' said Gandalf. 'Yet there are other men and other lives, and time still to be. And for me, I pity even his slaves.' 'And wher e will other men look for help, if Gondor falls?' answered Denethor. 'If I had this thing now in the deep vaults of this citadel, we should not then shake with dread under this gloom, fearing the worst, and our counsels would be undisturbed. If you do not trust me to endure the ####-test, you do not know me yet.' 'Nonetheless I do not trust you,' said Gandalf. 'Had I done so, I could have sent this thing hither to your keeping and spared myself and others much anguish. And now hearing you speak I trust you less, no more than Boromir. Nay, stay your wrath! I do not trust myself in this, and I refused this thing, even as a freely given gift. You are strong and can still in some matters govern yourself, Denethor; yet if you had received this thing, it would have overthrown you. Were it buried beneath the roots of Mindolluin, still it would burn your mind away, as the darkness grows, and the yet worse things follow that soon shall come upon us.' For a moment the eyes of Denethor glowed again as he faced Gandalf, and Pippin felt once more the strain between their wills; but now almost it seemed as if their glances were like blades from eye to eye, flickering as they fenced. Pippin trembled fearing some dreadful stroke. But suddenly Denethor relaxed and grew cold again. He shrugged his shoulders. 'If I had! If you had!' he said. 'Such words and ifs are vain. It has gone into the Shadow, and only time will show what doom awaits it and us. The time will not be long. In what is left, let all who fight the Enemy in their fashion be at one, and keep hope while they may, and after hope still the hardihood to die free.' He turned to Faramir. 'What think you of the garrison at Osgiliath?' 'It is not strong,' said Faramir. 'I have sent the company of Ithilien to strengthen it, as I have said.' 'Not enough, I deem,' said Denethor. 'It is there that the first blow will fall. They will have need of some stout captain there.' 'There and elsewhere in many places,' said Faramir, and sighed. 'Alas for my brother, whom I too loved!' He rose. 'May I have your leave, father?' And then he swayed and leaned upon his father's chair. 'You are weary, I see,' said Denethor. 'You have ridden fast and far, and under shadows of evil in the air, I am told.' 'Let us not speak of that!' said Faramir. 'Then we will not,' said Denethor. 'Go now and rest as you may. Tomorrow's need will be sterner.' All now took leave of the Lor d of the City and went to rest while they still could. Outside there was a starless blackness as Gandalf with Pippin beside him bearing a small torch, made his way to their lodging. They did not speak until they were behind closed doors. Then at last Pippin took ####-Gandalf's hand. 'Tell me,' he said, 'is there any hope? For Frodo, I mean; or at least mostly for Frodo.' Gandalf put his hand on Pippin's head. 'There never was much hope,' he answered. 'Just a fool's hope, as I have been told. And when I heard of Cirith Ungol------' He broke off and strode to the window as if his eyes could pierce the night in the East. 'Cirith Ungol!' he muttered. 'Why that way, I wonder?' He turned. 'Just now, Pippin, my heart almost failed me, hearing that name. And yet in truth I believe that the news that Faramir brings has some hope in it. For it seems clear that our Enemy has opened his war at last and made the first move while Frodo was still free. So now for many days he will have his eye turned this way and that, away from his own land. And yet, Pippin, I feel from afar his haste and fear. He has begun sooner than he would. Something has happened to stir him.' Gandalf stood for a moment in thought. 'Maybe,' he muttered. 'Maybe even your foolishness helped, my lad. Let me see: some five days ago now he would discover that we had thrown down Saruman and had taken the Stone. Still what of that? We could not use it to much purpose, or without his knowing. Ah! I wonder. Aragorn? His time draws near. And he is strong and stern underneath, Pippin; bold, determined, able to take his own counsel and dare great risks at need. That may be it. He may have used the Stone and shown himself to the Enemy, challenging him, for this very purpose. I wonder. Well, we shall not know the answer till the Riders of Rohan come, if they do not come too late. There are evil days ahead. To sleep while we may!' 'But,' said Pippin. 'But what?' said Gandalf. 'Only one but will I allow tonight.' 'Gollum,' said Pippin. 'How on earth could they be going about with him, even following him? And I could see that Faramir did not like the place he was taking them to any more than you do. What is wrong?' 'I cannot answer that now,' said Gandalf. 'Yet my heart guessed that Frodo and Gollum would meet before the end. For good, or for evil. But of Cirith Ungol I will not speak tonight. Treachery, treachery I fear; treachery of that miserable creature. But so it must be. Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes. Good night! ' The next day came with a morning like a brown dusk, and the hearts of ####-men, lifted for a while by the return of Faramir, sank low again. The winged Shadows were not seen again that day, yet ever and anon, high above the city, a faint cry would come, and many who heard it would stand stricken with a passing dread, while the less stout-hearted quailed and wept. And now Faramir was gone again. 'They give him no rest,' some murmured. 'The Lord drives his son too hard, and now he must do the duty of two, for himself and for the one that will not return.' And ever men looked northward, asking: 'Where are the Riders of Rohan?' In truth Faramir did not go by his own choosing. But the Lord of the City was master of his Council, and he was in no mood that day to bow to others. Early in the morning the Council had been summoned. There all the captains judged that because of the threat in the South their force was too weak to make any stroke of war on their own part, unless perchance the Riders of Rohan yet should come. Meanwhile they must man the walls and wait. 'Yet,' said Denethor, 'we should not lightly abandon the outer defences, the Rammas made with so great a labour. And the Enemy must pay dearly for the crossing of the River. That he cannot do, in force to assail the City, either north of Cair Andros because of the marshes, or southwards towards Lebennin because of the breadth of the River, that needs many boats. It is at Osgiliath that he will put his weight, as before when Boromir denied him the passage.' 'That was but a trial,' said Faramir. 'Today we may make the Enemy pay ten times our loss at the passage and yet rue the exchange. For he can afford to lose a host better than we to lose a company. And the retreat of those that we put out far afield will be per ilous, if he wins across in force.' 'And what of Cair Andros?' said the Prince. 'That, too, must be held, if Osgiliath is defended. Let us not forget the danger on our left. The Rohirrim may come, and they may not. But Faramir has told us of great strength drawing ever to the Black Gate. More than one host may issue from it, and strike for more than one passage.' 'Much must be risked in war,' said Denethor. 'Cair Andros is manned and no more can be sent so far. But I will not yield the River and the Pelennor unfought - not if there is a captain here who has still the courage to do his lord's will.'####- Then all were silent, but at length Faramir said: 'I do not oppose your will, sire. Since you are robbed of Boromir, I will go and do what I can in his stead - if you command it.' 'I do so,' said Denethor. 'Then farewell!' said Faramir. 'But if I should return, think better of me!' 'That depends on the manner of your return,' said Denethor. Gandalf it was that last spoke to Faramir ere he rode east. 'Do not throw your live away rashly or in bitterness,' he said. 'You will be needed here, for other things than war. Your father loves you, Faramir, and will remember it ere the end. Farewell!' So now the Lord Faramir had gone forth again, and had taken with him such strength of men as were willing to go or could be spared. On the walls some gazed through the gloom towards the ruined city, and they wondered what chanced there, for nothing could be seen. And others, as ever, looked north and counted the leagues to Thjoden in Rohan. 'Will he come? Will he remember our old alliance?' they said. 'Yes, he will come,' said Gandalf, 'even if he comes too late. But think! At best the Red Arrow cannot have reached him more than two days ago, and the miles are long from Edoras.' It was night again ere news came. A man rode in haste from the fords, saying that a host had issued from Minas Morgul and was already drawing nigh to Osgiliath; and it had been joined by regiments from the South, Haradrim, cruel and tall. 'And we have learned ' said the messenger, 'that the Black Captain leads them once again, and the fear of him has passed before him over the River.' With those ill-boding words the third day closed since Pippin came to Minas Tirith. Few went to rest, for small hope had any now that even Faramir could hold the fords for long. The next day, though the darkness had reached its full and grew no deeper, it weighed heavier on men's hearts, and a great dread was on them. Ill news came soon again. The passage of Anduin was won by the Enemy. Faramir was retreating to the wall of the Pelennor, rallying his men to the Causeway Forts; but he was ten times outnumbered.####- 'If he wins back at all across the Pelennor, his enemies will be on his heels,' said the messenger. 'They have paid dear for the crossing but less dearly than we hoped. The plan has been well laid. It is now seen that in secret they have long been building floats and barges in great numbers in East Osgiliath. They swarmed across like beetles. But it is the Black Captain that defeats us. Few will stand and abide even the rumour of his coming. His own folk quail at him, and they would slay themselves at his bidding.' 'Then I am needed there more than here,' said Gandalf, and rode off at once, and the glimmer of him faded soon from sight. And all that night Pippin alone and sleepless stood upon the wall and gazed eastward. The bells of day had scarcely rung out again, a mockery in the unlightened dark, when far away he saw fires spring up, across in the dim spaces where the walls of the Pelennor stood. The watchmen cried aloud, and all men in the City stood to arms. Now ever and anon there was a red flash, and slowly through the heavy air dull rumbles could be heard. 'They have taken the wall!' men cried. 'They are blasting breaches in it. They are coming!' 'Where is Faramir?' cried Beregond in dismay. 'Say not that he has fallen!' It was Gandalf that brought the first tidings. With a handful of horsemen he came in the middle morning, riding as escort to a line of wains. They were filled with wounded men, all that could be sa ved from the wreck of the Causeway Forts. At once he went to Denethor. The Lord of the City sat now in a high chamber above the Hall of the White Tower with Pippin at his side; and through the dim windows, north and south and east, he bent his dark eyes, as if to pierce the shadows of doom that ringed him round. Most to the north he looked, and would pause at whiles to listen as if by some ancient art his ears might hear the thunder of hoofs on the plains far away. 'Is Faramir come?' he a sked. 'No,' said Gandalf. 'But he still lived when I left him. Yet he is resolved to stay with the rearguard, lest the retreat over the Pelennor become a rout. He may, perhaps, hold his men together long enough, but I doubt it. He is pitted against a foe too great. For one has come that I feared.' 'Not - the Dark Lord?' cried Pippin, forgetting his place in his terror.####- Denethor laughed bitterly. 'Nay, not yet, Master Peregrin! He will not come save only to triumph over me when all is won. He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my sons? For I can still wield a brand.' He stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold! he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. 'Thus have I walked, and thus now for many years have I slept,' he said, 'lest with age the body should grow soft and timid.' 'Yet now under the Lord of Barad-dyr the most fell of all his captains is already master of your outer walls,' said Gandalf. 'King of Angmar long ago, Sorcerer, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazgyl, a spear of terror in the hand of Sauron, shadow of despair.' 'Then, Mithrandir, you had a foe to match you,' said Denethor. 'For myself, I have long known who is the chief captain of the hosts of the Dark Tower. Is this all that you have returned to say? Or can it be that you have withdrawn because you are overmatched?' Pippin trembled, fearing that Gandalf would be stung to sudden wrath, but his fear was needless. 'It might be so,' Gandalf answered softly. 'But our trial of strength is not yet come. And if words spoken of old be true, not by the hand of man shall he fall, and hidden from the Wise is the doom that awaits him. However that may be, the Captain of Despair does not press forward, yet. He rules rather according to the wisdom that you have just spoken, from the rear, driving his slaves in madness on before. 'Nay, I came rather to guard the hurt men that can yet be healed; for the Rammas is breached far and wide, and soon the host of Morgul will enter in at many points. And I came chiefly to say this. Soon there will be battle on the fields. A sortie must be made ready. Let it be of mounted men. In them lies our brief hope, for in one thing only is the enemy still poorly provided: he has few horsemen.' 'And we also have few. Now would the coming of Rohan be in the nick of time,' said Denethor. 'We are likely to see other newcomers first,' said Gandalf. 'Fugitives from Cair Andros have already reached us. The isle has fallen. Another army is come from the Black Gate, crossing from the north-east.' 'Some have accused you, Mithrandir, of delighting to bear ill news,' said Denethor, 'but to me this is no longer news: it was known to mw ere ####-nightfall yesterday. As for the sortie, I had already given thought to it. Let us go down.' Time passed. At length watchers on the walls could see the retreat of the out-companies. Small bands of weary and often wounded men came first with little order; some were running wildly as if pursued. Away to the ea stward the distant fires flickered; and now it seemed that here and there they crept across the plain. Houses and barns were burning. Then from many points little rivers of red flame came hurrying on, winding through the gloom, converging towards the line of the broad road that led from the City-gate to Osgiliath. 'The enemy,' men murmured. 'The dike is down. Here they come pouring through the breaches! And they carry torches, it seems. Where are our own folk?' It drew now to evening by the hour, and the light was so dim that even far-sighted men upon the Citadel could discern little clearly out upon the fields, save only the burnings that ever multiplied, and the lines of fire that grew in length and speed. At last, less than a mile from the City, a more ordered mass of men came into view, marching not running, still holding together. The watchers held their breath. 'Faramir must be there,' they said. 'He can govern man and beast. He will make it yet.' Now the main retreat was scarcely two furlongs distant. Out of the gloom behind a small company of horsemen galloped, all that was left of the rearguard. Once again they turned at bay, facing the oncoming lines of fire. Then suddenly there was a tumult of fierce cries. Horsemen of the enemy swept up. The lines of fire became flowing torrents, file upon file of Orcs bearing flames, and wild Southron men with red banners, shouting with harsh tongues, surging up, overtaking the retreat. And with a piercing cry out of the dim sky fell the winged shadows, the Nazgyl stooping to the kill. The retreat became a rout. Already men were breaking away, flying wild and witless here and there, flinging away their weapons, crying out in fear, falling to the ground. And then a trumpet rang from the Citadel, and Denethor at last released the sortie. Drawn up within the shadow of the Gate and under the looming walls outside they had waited for his signal: all the mounted men that were left in the City. Now they sprang forward, formed, quickened to a gallop, and charged with a great shout. And from the walls an answering shout went ####-up; for foremost on the field rode the swan-knights of Dol Amroth with their Prince and his blue banner at their head. 'Amroth for Gondor!' they cried. 'Amroth to Faramir!' Like thunder they broke upon the enemy on either flank of the retreat; but one rider outran them all, swift as the wind in the grass: Shadowfax bore him, shining, unveiled once more, a light starting from his upraised hand. The Nazgyl screeched and swept away, for their Captain was not yet come to challenge the white fire of his foe. The hosts of Morgul intent on their prey, taken at unawares in wild career, broke, scattering like sparks in a gale. The out-companies with a great cheer turned and smote their pursuers. Hunters became the hunted. The retreat became an onslaught. The field was strewn with stricken orcs and men, and a reek arose of torches cast away, sputtering ou t in swirling smoke. The cavalry rode on. But Denethor did not permit them to go far. Though the enemy was checked, and for the moment driven back, great forces were flowing in from the East. Again the trumpet rang, sounding the retreat. The cavalry of Gondor halted. Behind their screen the out-companies re-formed. Now steadily they came marching back. They reached the Gate of the City and entered, stepping proudly: and proudly the people of the City looked on them and cried their praise, and yet they were troubled in heart. For the companies were grievously reduced. Faramir had lost a third of his men. And where was he? Last of all he came. His men passed in. The mounted knights returned, and at their rear the banner of Dol Amroth, and the Prince. And in his arms before him on his horse he bore the body of his kinsman, Faramir son of Denethor, found upon the stricken field. 'Faramir! Faramir!' men cried, weeping in the streets. But he did not answer, and they bore him away up the winding road to the Citadel and his father. Even as the Nazgyl had swerved aside from the onset of the White Rider, there came flying a deadly dart, and Faramir, as he held at bay a mounted champion of Harad, had fallen to the earth. Only the charge of Dol Amroth had saved him from the red southland swords that would have hewed him as he lay. The Prince Imrahil brought Faramir to the White Tower, and he said: Your son has returned, lord, after great deeds, and he told all that he had ####-seen. But Denethor rose and looked on the face of his son and was silent. Then he bade them make a bed in the chamber and lay Faramir upon it and depart. But he himself went up alone into the secret room under the summit of the Tower; and many who looked up thither at that time saw a pale light that gleamed and flickered from the narrow windows for a while, and then flashed and went out. And when Denethor descended again he went to Faramir and sat beside him withou t speaking, but the face of the Lord was grey, more deathlike than his son's. So now at last the City was besieged, enclosed in a ring of foes. The Rammas was broken, and all the Pelennor abandoned to the Enemy. The last word to come from outside the walls was brought by men flying down the northward road ere the Gate was shut. They were the remnant of the guard that was kept at that point where the way from Anurien and Rohan ran into the townlands: Ingold led them, the same who had admitted Gandalf and Pippin less than five days before, while the sun still rose and there was hope in the morning. 'There is no news of the Rohirrim,' he said. 'Rohan will not come now. Or if they come, it will not avail us. The new host that we had tidings of has come first, from over the River by way of Andros, it is said. They are strong: battalions of Orcs of the Eye, and countless companies of Men of a new sort that we have not met before. Not tall, but broad and grim, bearded like dwarves, wielding great axes. Out of some savage land in the wide East they come, we deem. They hold the northward road; and many have passed on into Anurien. The Rohirrim cannot come.' The Gate was shut. All night watchmen on the walls heard the rumour of the enemy that roamed outside, burning field and tree, and hewing any man that they found abroad, living or dead. The numbers that had already passed over the River could not be guessed in the darkness, but when morning, or its dim shadow, stole over the plain, it was seen that even fear by night had scarcely over -counted them. The plain was dark with their marching companies, and as far as eyes could strain in the mirk there sprouted, like a foul fungus-growth, all about the beleaguered city great camps of tents, black or sombre red. Busy as ants hurrying orcs were digging, digging lines of deep trenches in a huge ring, just out of bowshot from the walls; and as the trenches were ####-made each was filled with fire, though how it was kindled or fed, by art or devilry, none could see. All day the labour went forward, while the men of Minas Tirith looked on, unable to hinder it. And as each length of trench was completed, they could see great wains approaching; and soon yet more companies of the enemy were swiftly setting up, each behind the cover of a trench, great engines for the casting of missiles. There were none upon the City walls large enough to reach so far or to stay the work. At first men laughed and did not greatly fear such devices. For the main wall of the City was of great height and marvellous thickness, built ere the power and craft of N®menor waned in exile; and its outward face was like to the Tower of Orthanc, hard and dark and smooth, unconquerable by steel or fire, unbreakable except by some convulsion that would rend the very earth on which it stood. 'Nay,' they said, 'not if the Nameless One himself should come, not even he could enter here while we yet live.' But some answered: 'While we yet live? How long? He has a weapon that has brought low many strong places since the world began. Hunger. The roads are cut. Rohan will not come.' But the engines did not waste shot upon the indomitable wall. It was no brigand or orc-chieftain that ordered the assault upon the Lord of Mordor's greatest foe. A power and mind of malice guided it. As soon as the great catapults were set, with many yells and the creaking of rope and winch, they began to throw missiles marvellou sly high, so that they passed right above the battlement and fell thudding within the first circle of the City; and many of them by some secret art burst into flame as they came toppling down. Soon there was great peril of fire behind the wall, and all who could be spared were busy quelling the flames that sprang up in many places. Then among the greater casts there fell another hail, less ruinous but more horrible. All about the streets and lanes behind the Gate it tumbled down, small round shot that did not burn. But when men ran to learn what it might be, they cried aloud or wept. For the enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who had fallen fighting at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields. They were grim to look on; for though some were crushed and shapeless, and some had been cruelly hewn, yet many had features that could be told, and it seemed that they had died in pain; and all were branded with the foul token of the Lidless Eye. But marred and dishonoured as they were, it often chanced that thus a man would see again the face of someone that he had known, who had walked proudly once in arms, or tilled ####-the fields, or ridden in upon a holiday from the green vales in the hills. In vain men shook their fists at the pitiless foes that swarmed before the Gate. Curses they heeded not, nor understood the tongues of western men; crying with harsh voices like beasts and carrion-birds. But soon there were few left in Minas Tirith who had the heart to stand up and defy the hosts of Mordor. For yet another weapon, swifter than hunger, the Lord of the Dark Tower had: dread and despair. The Nazgyl came again, and as their Dark Lord now grew and put forth his strength, so their voices, which uttered only his will and his malice, were filled with evil and horror. Ever they circled above the City, like vultures that expect their fill of doomed men's flesh. Out of sight and shot they flew, and yet were ever present, and their deadly voices rent the air. More unbearable they became, not less, at each new cry. At length even the stout-hearted would fling themselves to the ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands while into their minds a blackness came, and they thought no more of war, but only of hiding and of crawling, and of death. During all this black day Faramir lay upon his bed in the chamber of the White Tower, wandering in a desperate fever; dying someone said, and soon 'dying' all men were saying upon the walls and in the streets. And by him his father sat, and said nothing, but watched, and gave no longer any heed to the defence. No hours so dark had Pippin known, not even in the clutches of the Uruk-hai. It was his duty to wait upon the Lord, and wait he did, forgotten it seemed, standing by the door of the unlit chamber, mastering his own fears as best he could. And as he watched, it seemed to him that Denethor grew old before his eyes, as if something had snapped in his proud will, and his stern mind was overthrown. Grief maybe had wrought it, and remorse. He saw tears on that once tearless face, more unbearable than wrath. 'Do not weep, lord,' he stammered. 'Perhaps he will get well. Have you asked Gandalf?' 'Comfort me not with wizards!' said Denethor. 'The fool's hope has failed. The Enemy has found it, and now his power waxes; he sees our very thoughts, and all we do is ruinous. 'I sent my son forth, unthanked, unblessed, out into needless peril, and here he lies with poison in his veins. Nay, nay, whatever may now betide in war, my line too is ending, even the House of the Stewards has failed.####-Mean folk shall rule the last remnant of the Kings of Men, lurking in the hills until all are hounded out.' Men came to the door crying for the Lord of the City. 'Nay, I will not come down,' he said. 'I must stay beside my son. He might still speak before the end. But that is near. Follow whom you will, even the Grey Fool, though his hope has failed. Here I stay.' So it was that Gandalf took command of the last defence of the City of Gondor. Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from Citadel to Gate, from north to south about the wall; and with him went the Prince of Dol Amroth in his shining mail. For he and his knights still held themselves like lords in whom the race of N®menor ran true. Men that saw them whispered saying: 'Belike the old tales speak well; there is Elvish blood in the veins of that folk, for the people of Nimrodel dwelt in that land once long ago.' And then one would sing amid the gloom some staves of the Lay of Nimrodel, or other songs of the Vale of Anduin out of vanished years. And yet - when they had gone, the shadows closed on men again, and their hearts went cold, and the valour of Gondor withered into ash. And so slowly they passed out of a dim day of fears into the darkness of a desperate night. Fires now raged unchecked in the first circle of the City, and the garrison upon the outer wall was already in many places cut off from retreat. But the faithful who remained there at their posts were few; most had fled beyond the second gate. Far behind the battle the River had been swiftly bridged, and all day more force and gear of war had poured across. Now at last in the middle night the assault was loosed. The vanguard passed through the trenches of fire by many devious paths that had been left between them. On they came, reckless of their loss as they approached, still bunched and herded, within the range of bowmen on the wall. But indeed there were too few now left there to do them great damage, though the light of the fires showed up many a mark for archers of such skill as Gondor once had boasted. Then perceiving that the valour of the City was already beaten down, the hidden Captain put forth his strength. Slowly the great siege-towers built in Osgiliath rolled forward through the dark. Messengers came again to the chamber in the White Tower, and Pippin let them enter, for they were urgent. Denethor turned his head slowly from Faramir's face, and looked at them silently.####- 'The first circle of the City is burning, lord,' they said. 'What are your commands? You are still the Lord and Steward. Not all will follow Mithrandir. Men are flying from the walls and leaving them unmanned.' 'Why? Why do the fools fly?' said Denethor. 'Better to burn sooner than late, for burn we must. Go back to your bonfire! And I? I will go now to my pyre. To my pyre! No tomb for Denethor and Faramir. No tomb! No long slow sleep of death embalmed. We wil l burn like heathen kings before ever a ship sailed hither from the West. The West has failed. Go back and burn!' The messengers without bow or answer turned and fled. Now Denethor stood up and released the fevered hand of Faramir that he had held. 'He is burning, already burning,' he said sadly. 'The house of his spirit crumbles.' Then stepping softly towards Pippin he looked down at him. 'Farewell!' he said. 'Farewell, Peregrin son of Paladin! Your service has been short, and now it is drawing to an end. I release you from the little that remains. Go now, and die in what way seems best to you. And with whom you will, even that friend whose folly brought you to this death. Send for my servants and then go. Farewell!' 'I will not say farewell, my lord,' said Pippin kneeling. And then suddenly hobbit-like once more, he stood up and looked the old man in the eyes. 'I will take your leave, sir,' he said; 'for I want to see Gandalf very much indeed. But he is no fool; and I will not think of dying until he despairs of life. But from my word and your service I do not wish to be released while you live. And if they come at last to the Citadel, I hope to be here and stand beside you and earn perhaps the arms that you have given me.' 'Do as you will, Master Halfling,' said Denethor. 'But my life is broken. Send for my servants!' He turned back to Faramir. Pippin left him and called for the servants, and they came: six men of the household, strong and fair; yet they trembled at the summons. But in a quiet voice Denethor bade them lay warm coverlets on Faramir's bed and take it up. And they did so, and lifting up the bed they bore it from the chamber. Slowly they paced to trouble the fevered man as little as might be, and Denethor, now bending on a staff, followed them; and last came Pippin. Out from the White Tower they walked, as if to a funeral, out into the darkness, where the overhanging cloud was lit beneath with flickers of dull red. Softly they paced the great courtyard, and at a word from Denethor ####-halted beside the Withered Tree. All was silent, save for the rumour of war in the City down below, and they heard the water dripping sadly from the dead branches into the dark pool. Then they went on through the Citadel gate, where the sentinel stared at them in wonder and dismay as they passed by. Turning westward they came at length to a door in the rearward wall of the sixth circle. Fen Hollen it was called, for it was kept ever shut save at times of funeral, and only the Lord of the City might use that way, or those who bore the token of the tombs and tended the houses of the dead. Beyond it went a winding road that descended in many curves down to the narrow land under the shadow of Mindolluin's precipice where stood the mansions of the dead Kings and of their Stewards. A porter sat in a little house beside the way, and with fear in his eyes he came forth bearing a lantern in his hand. At the Lord's command he unlocked the door, and silently it swung back; and they passed through, taking the lantern from his hand. It was dark on the climbing road between ancient walls and many -pillared balusters looming in the swaying lantern-beam. Their slow feet echoed as they walked down, down, until at last they came to the Silent Street, Rath Dnnen, between pale domes and empty halls and images of men long dead; and they entered into the House of the Stewards and set down their burden. There Pippin, staring uneasily about him, saw that he was in a wide vaulted chamber, draped as it were with the great shadows that the little lantern threw upon its shrouded walls. And dimly to be seen were many rows of tables, carved of marble; and upon each table lay a sleeping form, hands folded, head pillowed upon stone. But one table near at hand stood broad and bare. Upon it at a sign from Denethor they laid Faramir and his father side by side, and covered them with one covering, and stood then with bowed heads as mourners beside a bed of death. Then Denethor spoke in a low voice. 'Here we will wait,' he said. 'But send not for the embalmers. Bring us wood quick to burn, and lay it all about us, and beneath; and pour oil upon it. And when I bid you thrust in a torch. Do this and speak no more to me. Farewell!' 'By your leave, lord!' said Pippin and turned and fled in terror from the deathly house. 'Poor Faramir!' he thought. 'I must find Gandalf. Poor Faramir! Quite likely he needs medicine more than tears. Oh, where can I find Gandalf? In the thick of things, I suppose; and he will have no time to ####-spare for dying men or madmen.' At the door he turned to one of the servants who had remained on guard there. 'Your master is not himself,' he said. 'Go slow! Bring no fire to this place while Faramir lives! Do nothing until Gandalf comes!' 'Who is the master of Minas Tirith?' the man answered. 'The Lord Denethor or the Grey Wanderer?' 'The Grey Wanderer or no one, it would seem,' said Pippin, and he sped back and up the winding way as swiftly as his feet would carry him, past the astonished porter, out through the door, and on, till he came near the gate of the Citadel. The sentinel hailed him as he went by, and he recognized the voice of Beregond. 'Whither do you run, Master Peregrin?' he cried. 'To find Mithrandir,' Pippin answered. 'The Lord's errands are urgent and should not be hindered by me,' said Beregond; 'but tell me quickly, if you may: what goes forward? Whither has my Lord gone? I have just come on duty, but I heard that he passed towards the Closed Door, and men were bearing Faramir before him.' 'Yes,' said Pippin, 'to the Silent Street.' Beregond bowed his head to hide his tears. 'They said that he was dying,' he sighed, 'and now he is dead.' 'No,' said Pippin, 'not yet. And even now his death might be prevented, I think. But the Lord of the City, Beregond, has fallen before his city is taken. He is fey and dangerous.' Quickly he told of Denethor's strange words and deeds. 'I must find Gandalf at once.' 'Then you must go down to the battle.' 'I know. The Lord has given me leave. But, Beregond, if you can, do someth ing to stop any dreadful thing happening.' 'The Lord does not permit those who wear the black and silver to leave their post for any cause, save at his own command.' 'Well, you must choose between orders and the life of Faramir,' said Pippin. 'And as for orders, I think you have a madman to deal with, not a lord. I must run. I will return if I can.' He ran on, down, down towards the outer city. Men flying back from the burning passed him, and some seeing his livery turned and shouted, but he paid no heed. At last he was through the Second Gate, beyond which great fires leaped up between the walls. Yet it seemed strangely silent. No noise or shouts of battle or din of arms could be heard. Then suddenly there was a ####-dreadful cry a nd a great shock, and a deep echoing boom. Forcing himself on against a gust of fear and horror that shook him almost to his knees. Pippin turned a corner opening on the wide place behind the City Gate. He stopped dead. He had found Gandalf; but he shrank back, cowering into a shadow. Ever since the middle night the great assault had gone on. The drums rolled. To the north and to the south company upon company of the enemy pressed to the walls. There came great beasts, like moving houses in the red and fitful light, the mymakil of the Harad dragging through the lanes amid the fires huge towers and engines. Yet their Captain cared not greatly what they did or how many might be slain: their purpose was only to test the strength of the defence and to keep the men of Gondor busy in many places. It was against the Gate that he would throw his heaviest weight. Very strong it might be, wrought of steel and iron, and guarded with towers and bastions of indomitable stone, yet it was the key, the weakest point in all that high and impenetrable wall. The drums rolled louder. Fires leaped up. Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest -tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, Orcs surrounded it, and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it. But about the Gate resistance still was stout, and there the knights of Dol Amroth and the hardiest of the garrison stood at bay. Shot and dart fell thick; siege-towers crashed or blazed suddenly like torches. All before the walls on either side of the Gate the ground was choked with wreck and with bodies of the slain; yet still driven as by a madness more and more came up. Grond crawled on. Upon its housing no fire would catch; and though now and again some great beast that hauled it would go mad and spread stamping ruin among the orcs innumerable that guarded it, their bodies were cast aside from its path and others took their place. Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills of slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded, cloaked in black. Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth, heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides, and no ####-bow sang. For a moment all was still. The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel withstood the stroke. Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone. Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground. In rode the Lord of the Nazgyl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgyl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face. All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dnnen. 'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!' The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter. 'Old fool!' he said. 'Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!' And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade. Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of ####-the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.####- It was dark and Merry could see nothing as he lay on the ground rolled in a blanket; yet though the night was airless and windless, all about him hidden trees were sighing softly. He lifted his head. Then he heard it again: a sound like faint drums in the wooded hills and mountain-steps. The throb would cease suddenly and then be taken up again at some other point, now nearer, now further off. He wondered if the watchmen had heard it. He could not see them, but he knew that all round him were the companies of the Rohirrim. He could smell the horses in the dark, and could hear their shiftings and their soft stamping on the needle-covered ground. The host was bivouacked in the pine-woods that clustered about Eilenach Beacon, a tall hill standing up from the long ridges of the Dr®adan Forest that lay beside the great road in East Anurien. Tired as he was Merry could not sleep. He had ridden now for four days on end, and the ever -deepening gloom had slowly weighed down his heart. He began to wonder why he had been so eager to come, when he had been given every excuse, even his lord's command, to stay behind. He wondered, too, if the old King knew that he had been disobeyed and was angry. Perhaps not. There seemed to be some understanding between Dernhelm and Elfhelm, the Marshal who commanded the jored in which they were riding. He and all his men ignored Merry and pretended not to hear if he spoke. He might have been just another bag that Dernhelm was carrying. Dernhelm was no comfort: he never spoke to anyone. Merry felt small, unwanted, and lonely. Now the time was anxious, and the host was in peril. They were less than a day's ride from the out-walls of Minas Tirith that encircled the townlands. Scouts had been sent ahead. Some had not returned. Others hastening back had reported that the road was held in force against them. A host of the enemy was encamped upon it, three miles west of Amon Don, and some strength of men was already thrusting along the road and was no more than three leagues away. Orcs were roving in the hills and woods along the roadside. The king and Jomer held council in the watches of the night. Merry wanted somebody to talk to, and he thought of Pippin. But that ####-only increased his restlessness. Poor Pippin, shut up in the great city of stone, lonely and afraid. Merry wished he was a tall Rider like Jomer and could blow a horn or something and go galloping to his rescue. He sat up, listening to the drums that were beating again, now nearer at hand. Presently he heard voices speaking low, and he saw dim half-shrouded lanterns passing through the trees. Men nearby began to move uncertainly in the dark. A tall figure loomed up and stumbled over him, cu rsing the tree-roots. He recognized the voice of the Marshal, Elfhelm. 'I am not a tree-root, Sir,' he said, 'nor a bag, but a bruised hobbit. The least you can do in amends is to tell me what is afoot.' 'Anything that can keep so in this devi l's mirk,' answered Elfhelm. 'But my lord sends word that we must set ourselves in readiness: orders may come for a sudden move.' 'Is the enemy coming then?' asked Merry anxiously. 'Are those their drums? I began to think I was imagining them, as no one else seemed to take any notice of them.' 'Nay, nay,' said Elfhelm, 'the enemy is on the road not in the hills. You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods: thus they talk together from afar. They still haunt Dr®adan Forest, it is said. Remnants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts. They go not to war with Gondor or the Mark; but now they are troubled by the darkness and the coming of the orcs: they fear lest the Dark Years be returning, as seems likely enough. Let us be thankful that they are not hunting us: for they use poisoned arrows, it is said, and they are woodcrafty beyond compare. But they have offered their services to Thjoden. Even now one of their headmen is being taken to the king. Yonder go the lights. So much I have heard but no more. And now I must busy myself with my lord's commands. Pack yourself up, Master Bag!' He vanished into the shadows. Merry did not like this talk of wild men and poisoned darts, but quite apart from that a great weight of dread was on him. Waiting was unbearable. He longed to know what was going to happen. He got up and soon was walking warily in pursuit of the last lantern before it disappeared among the trees. Presently he came to an open space where a small tent had been set up for the king under a great tree. A large lantern, covered above, was hanging ####-from a bough and cast a pale circle of light below. There sat Thjoden and Jomer, and before them on the ground sat a strange squat shape of a man, gnarled as an old stone, and the hairs of his scanty beard straggled on his lumpy chin like dry moss. He was short-legged and fat-armed, thick and stumpy, and clad only with grass about his waist. Merry felt that he had seen him before somewhere, and suddenly he remembered the P®kel-men of Dunharrow. Here was one of those old images brought to life, or maybe a creature descended in true line through endless years from the models used by the forgotten craftsmen long ago. There was a silence as Merry crept nearer, and then the Wild Man began to speak, in answer to some question, it seemed. His voice was deep and guttural, yet to Merry's surprise he spoke the Common Speech, though in a halting fashion, and uncouth words were mingled with it. 'No, father of Horse-men,' he said, 'we fight not. Hunt only. Kill gorgyn in woods, hate orc-folk. You hate gorgyn too. We help as we can. Wild Men have long ears and long eyes; know all paths. Wild Men live here before Stone-houses; before Tall Men come up out of Water.' 'But our need is for aid in battle,' said Jomer. 'How will you and your folk help us?' 'Bring news,' said the Wild Man. 'We look out from hills. We climb big mountain and look down. Stone-city is shut. Fire burns there outside; now inside too. You wish to come there? Then you must be quick. But gorgyn and men out of far-away,' he waved a short gnarled arm eastward, 'sit on horse-road. Very many, mor e than Horse-men.' 'How do you know that?' said Jomer. The old man's flat face and dark eyes showed nothing, but his voice was sullen with displeasure. 'Wild men are wild, free, but not children,' he answered. 'I am great headman, Ghvn-buri-Ghvn. I count many things: stars in sky, leaves on trees, men in the dark. You have a score of scores counted ten times and five. They have more. Big fight, and who will win? And many more walk round walls of Stone-houses.' 'Alas! he speaks all too shrewdly,' said Thjoden. 'And our scouts say that they have cast trenches and stakes across the road. We cannot sweep them away in sudden onset.' 'And yet we need great haste,' said Jomer. 'Mundburg is on fire!' 'Let Ghvn-buri-Ghvn finish!' said the Wild Man. 'More than one road he ####-knows. He will lead you by road where no pits are, no gorgyn walk, only Wild Men and beasts. Many paths were made when Stonehouse-folk were stronger. They carved hills as hunters carve beast -flesh. Wild Men think they ate stone for food. They went through Dr®adan to Rimmon with great wains. They go no longer. Road is forgotten, but not by Wild Men. Over hill and behind hill it lies still under grass and tree, there behind Rimmon and down to Don, and back at the end to Horse -men's road. Wild Men will show you that road. Then you will kill gorgyn and drive away bad dark with bright iron, and Wild Men can go back to sleep in the wild woods.' Jomer and the king spoke together in their own tongue. At length Thjoden turned to the Wild Man. 'We will receive your offer,' he said. 'For though we leave a host of foes behind, what matter? If the Stone-city falls, then we shall have no returning. If it is saved, then the orc-host itself will be cut off. If you are faithful, Ghvn-buri-Ghvn, then we will give you rich reward, and you shall have the friendship of the Mark for ever.' 'Dead men are not friends to living men, and give them no gifts,' said the Wild Man. 'But if you live after the Darkness, then leave Wild Men alone in the woods and do not hunt them like beasts any more. Ghvn-buri-Ghvn will not lead you into trap. He will go himself with father of Horse-men, and if he leads you wrong, you will kill him.' 'So be it!' said Thjoden. 'How long will it take to pass by the enemy and come back to the road?' asked Jomer. 'We must go at foot-pace, if you guide us; and I doubt not the way is narrow.' 'Wild Men go quick on feet,' said Ghvn. 'Way is wide for four horses in Stonewain Valley yonder,' he waved his hand southwards; 'but narrow at beginning and at end. Wild Man could walk from here to Don between sunrise and noon.' 'Then we must allow at least seven hours for the leaders,' said Jomer; 'but we must reckon rather on some ten hours for all. Things unforeseen may hinder us, and if our host is all strung out, it will be long ere it can be set in order when we issue from the hills. What is the hour now?' 'Who knows?' said Thjoden. 'All is night now.' 'It is all dark, but it is not all night.' said Ghvn. 'When Sun comes we feel her, even when she is hidden. Already she climbs over ####-East -mountains. It is the opening of day in the sky-fields.' 'Then we must set out as soon as may be,' said Jomer. 'Even so we cannot hope to come to Gondor's aid today.' Merry waited to hear no more, but slipped away to get ready for the summons to the march. This was the last stage before the battle. It did not seem likely to him that many of them would survive it. But he thought of Pippin and the flames in Minas Tirith and thrust down his own dread. All went well that day, and no sight or sound had they of the enemy waiting to waylay them. The Wild Men had put out a screen of wary hunters, so that no orc or roving spy should learn of the movements in the hills. The light was more dim than ever as they drew nearer to the beleaguered city, and the Riders passed in long files like dark shadows of men and hor ses. Each company was guided by a wild woodman; but old Ghvn walked beside the king. The start had been slower than was hoped, for it had taken time for the Riders, walking and leading their horses, to find paths over the thickly wooded ridges behind their camp and down into the hidden Stonewain Valley. It was late in the afternoon when the leaders came to wide grey thickets stretching beyond the eastward side of Amon Don, and masking a great gap in the line of hills that from Nardol to Don ran east and west. Through the gap the forgotten wain-road long ago had run down, back into the main horse -way from the City through Anurien; but now for many lives of men trees had had their way with it, and it had vanished, broken and buried under the leaves of uncounted years. But the thickets offered to the Riders their last hope of cover before they went into open battle; for beyond them lay the road and the plains of Anduin, while east and southwards the slopes were bare and rocky, as the writhen hills gathered themselves together and climbed up, bastion upon bastion, into the great mass and shoulders of Mindolluin. The leading company was halted, and as those behind filed up out of the trough of the Stonewain Valley they spread out a nd passed to camping-places under the grey trees. The king summoned the captains to council. Jomer sent out scouts to spy upon the road; but old Ghvn shook his head. 'No good to send Horse-men,' he said. 'Wild Men have already seen all that can be seen in the bad air. They will come soon and speak to me here.' The captains came; and then out of the trees crept warily other p®kel-shapes so like old Ghvn that Merry could hardly tell them apart. They spoke to Ghvn in a strange throaty language.####- Presently Ghvn turned to the king. 'Wild Men say many things ' he said. 'First, be wary! Still many men in camp beyond Don, an hour's walk yonder,' he waved his arm west towards the black beacon. 'But none to see between here and Stone-folk's new walls. Many busy there. Walls stand up no longer: gorgyn knock them down with earth -thunder and with clubs of black iron. They are unwary and do not look about them. They think their friends watch all roads!' At that old Ghvn made a curious gurgling noise, and it seemed that he was laughing. 'Good tidings!' cried Jomer. 'Even in this gloom hope gleams again. Our Enemy's devices oft serve us in his despite. The accursed darkness itself has been a cloak to us. And now, lusting to destroy Gondor and throw it down stone from stone, his orcs have taken away my greatest fear. The out-wall could have been held long against us. Now we can sweep through - if once we win so far.' 'Once again I thank you, Ghvn-buri-Ghvn of the woods,' said Thjoden. 'Good fortune go with you for tidings and for guidance!' 'Kill gorgyn! Kill orc-folk! No other words please Wild Men ' answered Ghvn. 'Drive away bad air and darkness with bright iron!' 'To do these things we have ridden far,' said the king, 'and we shall attempt them. But what we shall achieve only tomorrow will show.' Ghvn-buri-Ghvn squatted down and touched the earth with his horny brow in token of farewell. Then he got up as if to depart. But suddenly he stood looking u p like some startled woodland animal snuffling a strange air. A light came in his eyes. 'Wind is changing!' he cried, and with that, in a twinkling as it seemed, he and his fellows had vanished into the glooms, never to be seen by any Rider of Rohan again. Not long after far away eastward the faint drums throbbed again. Yet to no heart in all the host came any fear that the Wild Men were unfaithful, strange and unlovely though they might appear. 'We need no further guidance,' said E lfhelm; 'for there are riders in the host who have ridden down to Mundburg in days of peace. I for one. When we come to the road it will veer south, and there will lie before us still seven leagues ere we reach the wall of the townlands. Along most of that way there is much grass on either side of the road. On that stretch the errand-riders of Gondor reckoned to make their greatest speed. We may ride it swiftly and without great rumour.' 'Then since we must look for fell deeds and the need of all our ####-strength,' said Jomer, 'I counsel that we rest now, and set out hence by night, and so time our going that we come upon the fields when tomorrow is as light as it will be, or when our lord gives the signal.' To this the king assented, and the captains departed. But soon Elfhelm returned. 'The scouts have found naught to report beyond the grey wood, lord,' he said, 'save two men only: two dead men and two dead horses.' 'Well?' said Jomer. 'What of it?' 'This, lord: they were errand-riders of Gondor; Hirgon was one maybe. At least his hand still clasped the Red Arrow, but his head was hewn off. And this also: it would seem by the signs that they were fleeing westward when they fell. As I read it, they found the enemy already on the out-wall, or assailing it, when they returned - and that would be two nights ago, if they used fresh horses from the posts, as is their wont. They could not reach the City and turned back.' 'Alas!' said Thjoden. 'T hen Denethor has heard no news of our riding and will despair of our coming.' 'Need brooks no delay, yet late is better than never,' said Jomer. 'And mayhap in this time shall the old saw be proved truer than ever before since men spoke with mouth.' It was night. On either side of the road the host of Rohan was moving silently. Now the road passing about the skirts of Mindolluin turned southward. Far away and almost straight ahead there was a red glow under the black sky and the sides of the great mountain loomed dark against it. They were drawing near the Rammas of the Pelennor; but the day was not yet come. The king rode in the midst of the leading company, his household-men about him. Elfhelm's jored came next; and now Merry noticed that Dernhelm had left his place and in the darkness was moving steadily forward, until at last he was riding just in rear of the king's guard. There came a check. Merry heard voices in front speaking softly. Out-riders had come back who had ventured forward almost to the wall. They came to the king. 'There are great fires, lord,' said one. 'The City is all set about with flame, and the field is full of foes. But all seem drawn off to the assault. As well as we could guess, there are few left upon the out-wall, and they are heedless, busy in destruction.' 'Do you remember the Wild Man's words, lord?' said another. 'I live upon the open Wold in days of peace; Wndfara is my name, and to me also the air brings messages. Already the wind is turning. There comes a breath out ####-of the South; there is a sea -tang in it, faint though it be. The morning will bring new things. Above the reek it will be dawn when you pass the wall.' 'If you speak truly, Wndfara, then may you live beyond this day in years of blessedness!' said Thjoden. He turned to the men of his household who were near, and he spoke now in a clear voice so that many also of the riders of the first jored heard him: 'Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!' Men clashed spear upon shield. 'Jomer, my son! You lead the first jored,' said Thjoden; 'and it shall go behind the king's banner in the centre. Elfhelm, lead your company to the right when we pass the wall. And Grimbold shall lead his towards the left. Let the other companies behind follow these three that lead, as they have chance. Strike wherever the enemy gathers. Other plans we cannot make, for we know not yet how things stand upon the field. Forth now, and fear no darkness!' The leading company rode off as swiftly as they could, for it was still deep dark, whatever change Wndfara might forebode. Merry was riding behind Dernhelm, clutching with the left hand while with the other he tried to loosen his sword in its sheath. He felt now bitterly the truth of the old king's words: in such a battle what would you do Meriadoc? Just this,' he thought: 'encumber a rider, and hope at best to stay in my seat and not be pounded to death by galloping hoofs!' It was no more than a league to where the out-walls had stood. They soon reached them; too soon for Merry. Wild cries broke out, and there was some clash of arms, but it was brief. The orcs busy about the walls were few and amazed, and they were quickly slain or driven off. Before the ruin of the north-gate in the Rammas the king halted again. The first jored drew up behind him and about him on either side. Dernhelm kept close to the king, though Elfhelm's company was away on the right. Grimbold's men turned aside and passed round to a great gap in the wall further eastward.####- Merry peered from behind Dernhelm's back. Far away, maybe ten miles or more, there was a great burning, but between it and the Riders lines of fire blazed in a vast crescent, at the nearest point less than a league distant. He could make out little more on the dark plain, and as yet he neither saw any hope of morning, nor felt any wind, changed or unchanged. Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure. But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning that his designs held any flaw. After a while the king led his men away somewhat eastward, to come between the fires of the siege and the outer fields. Still they were unchallenged, and still Thjoden gave no signal. At last he halted once again. The City was now nearer. A smell of burning was in the air and a very shadow of death. The horses were uneasy. But the king sat upon Snowmane, motionless, gazing upon the agony of Minas Tirith, as i f stricken suddenly by anguish, or by dread. He seemed to shrink down, cowed by age. Merry himself felt as if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him. His heart beat slowly. Time seemed poised in uncertainty. They were too late! Too late was worse than never! Perhaps Thjoden would quail, bow his old head, turn, slink away to hide in the hills. Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. Wind was in his face! Light was glimmering. Far, far away, in the South the clouds could be dimly seen as remote grey shapes, rolling up, drifting: morning lay beyond them. But at that same moment there was a flash, as if lightning had sprung from the earth beneath the City. For a searing second it stood dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering needle: and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the fields a great boom. At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: Arise, arise, Riders of Thjoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shie ld be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!####- Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! With that he seized a great horn from Guthlbf his banner -bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Jomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first jored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Thjoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new tire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane lik e a god of old, even as Oroml the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and the darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City. ####- Fields But it was no orc-chieftain or brigand that led the assault upon Gondor. The darkness was breaking too soon, before the date that his Master had set for it: fortune had betrayed him for the moment, and the world had turned against him; victory was slipping from his grasp even as he stretched out his hand to seize it. But his arm was long. He was still in command, wielding great powers. King, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazgyl, he had many weapons. He left the Gate and vanished. Thjoden King of the Mark had reached the road from the Gate to the River, and he turned towards the City that was now less than a mile distant. He slackened his speed a little, seeking new foes, and his knights came about him, and Dernhelm was with them. Ahead nearer the walls Elfhelm's men were among the siege-engines, hewing, slaying, driving their foes into the fire-pits. Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was overrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will. But they had not yet overthrown the siege, nor won the Gate. Many foes stood before it, and on the further half of the plain were other hosts still unfought. Southward beyond the road lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen were gathered about the standard of their chieftain. And he looked out, and in the growing light he saw the banner of the king, and that it was far ahead of the battle with few men about it. Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scarlet, he came against the white horse and the green with great press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the Southrons was like a glitter of stars. Then Thjoden was aware of him, and would not wait for his onset, but crying to Snowmane he charged headlong to greet him. Great was the clash of their meeting. But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest. Right through the press drove Thjoden Thengel's son, and his spear was ####-shivered as he threw down their chieftain. Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered. Then all that was left unslain of their cavalry turned and fled far away. But lo! suddenly in the midst of the glory of the king his golden shield was dimmed. The new morning was blotted from the sky. Dark fell about him. Horses reared and screamed. Men cast from the saddle lay grovelling on the ground. 'To me! To me!' cried Thjoden. 'Up Eorlingas! Fear no darkness!' But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high, fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell beneath him. The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. And behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, fingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of Snowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck. Upon it sat a shape, black -mantled , huge and threatening. A crown of steel he bore, but between rim and robe naught was there to see, save only a deadly gleam of eyes: the Lord of the Nazgyl. To the air he had returned, summoning his steed ere the darkness failed, and now he was come again, bringing ruin, turning hope to despair, and victory to death. A great black mace he wielded. But Thjoden was not utterly forsaken. The knights of his house lay slain about him, or else mastered by the madness of their steeds were borne far away. Yet one stood there still: Dernhelm the young, faithful beyond fear; and he wept, for he had loved his lord as a father. Right through the charge Merry had been borne unharmed behind him, until the Shadow came; and then Windfola had thrown them in his terror, and now ran wild upon the ####-plain. Merry crawled on all fours like a dazed beast, and such a horror was on him that he was blind and sick. 'King's man! King's man!' his heart cried within him. 'You must stay by him. As a father you shall be to me, you said.' But his will made no answer, and his body shook. He dared not open his eyes or look up. Then out of the blackness in his mind he thought that he heard Dernhelm speaking; yet now the voice seemed strange, recalling some other voice that he had known. 'Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!' A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgyl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.' A sword rang as it was drawn. 'Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.' 'Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!' Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. 'But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Jowyn I am, Jomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.' The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith made no answer, and was silent, as if in sudden doubt. Very amazement for a moment conquered Merry's fear. He opened his eyes and the blackness was lifted from them. There some paces from him sat the great beast, and all seemed dark about it, and above it loomed the Nazgyl Lord like a shadow of despa ir. A little to the left facing them stood she whom he had called Dernhelm. But the helm of her secrecy, had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy's eyes. Jowyn it was, and Dernhelm also. For into Merry's mind flashed the memory of the face that he saw at the riding from Dunharrow: the face of one that goes seeking death, having no hope. Pity filled his heart and great wonder, and suddenly the slow-kindled courage of his race awoke. He clenched his hand. She should not die, so fair, so desperate At least she should not ####-die alone, unaided. The face of their enemy was not turned towards him, but still he hardly dared to move, dreading lest the deadly eyes should fall on him. Slowly, slowly he began to crawl aside; but the Black Captain, in doubt and malice intent upon the woman before him, heeded him no more than a worm in the mud. Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Jowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw. Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel -blade, fair but terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise. Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill. But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground. Merry's sword had stabbed him from behind, shearing through the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee. 'Jowyn! Jowyn!' cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled away with a clang. Jowyn fell forward upon her fallen foe. But lo! the mantle and hauberk were empty. Shapeless they lay now on the ground, torn and tumbled; and a cry went up into the shuddering air, and faded to a shrill wailing, passing with the wind, a voice bodiless and thin that died, and was swallowed up, and was never heard again in that age of this world. And there stood Meriadoc the hobbit in the midst of the slain, blinking like an owl in the daylight, for tears blinded him; and through a mist he looked on Jowyn's fair head, as she lay and did not move; and he looked on the face of the king, fallen in the midst of his glory, For Snowmane in his ####-agony had rolled away from him again; yet he was the bane of his master. Then Merry stooped and lifted his hand to kiss it, and lo! Thjoden opened his eyes, and they were clear, and he spoke in a quiet voice though laboured. 'Farewell, Master Holbytla!' he said. 'My body is broken. I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed. I felled the black serpent. A grim morn, and a glad day, and a golden sunset!' Merry could not speak, bu t wept anew. 'Forgive me, lord,' he said at last, 'if I broke your command, and yet have done no more in your service than to weep at our parting.' The old king smiled. 'Grieve not! It is forgiven. Great heart will not be denied. Live now in blessedness; and when you sit in peace with your pipe, think of me! For never now shall I sit with you in Meduseld, as I promised, or listen to your herb-lore.' He closed his eyes, and Merry bowed beside him. Presently he spoke again. 'Where is Jomer? For my eyes darken, and I would see him ere I go. He must be king after me. And I would send word to Jowyn. She, she would not have me leave her, and now I shall not see her again, dearer than daughter.' 'Lord, lord,' began Merry brokenly, 'she is--'; but at that moment there was a great clamour, and all about them horns and trumpets were blowing. Merry looked round: he had forgotten the war, and all the world beside, and many hours it seemed since the king rode to his fall, though in truth it was only a little while. But now he saw that they were in danger of being caught in the very midst of the great battle that would soon be joined. New forces of the enemy were hastening up the road from the River; and from u nder the walls came the legions of Morgul; and from the southward fields came footmen of Harad with horsemen before them, and behind them rose the huge backs of the mymakil with war-towers upon them. But northward the white crest of Jomer led the great front of the Rohirrim which he had again gathered and marshalled; and out of the City came all the strength of men that was in it, and the silver swan of Dol Amroth was borne in the van, driving the enemy from the Gate. For a moment the thought flitted through Merry's mind: 'Where is Gandalf? Is he not here? Could he not have saved the king and Jowyn?' But thereupon Jomer rode up in haste, and with him came the knights of the ####-household that still lived and had now mastered their horses. They looked in wonder at the carcase of the fell beast that lay there: and their steeds would not go near. But Jomer leaped from the saddle, and grief and dismay fell upon him as he came to the king's side and stood there in silence. Then one of the knights took the king's banner from the hand of Guthlbf the banner -bearer who lay dead, and he lifted it up. Slowly Thjoden opened his eyes. Seeing the banner he made a sign that it should be given to Jomer. 'Hail, King of the Mark!' he said. 'Ride now to victory! Bid Jowyn farewell!' And so he died, and knew not that Jowyn lay near him. And those who stood by wept, crying: 'Thjoden King! Thjoden King!' But Jomer said to them: Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen, meet was his ending. When his mound is raised, women then shall weep. War now calls us! Yet he himself wept as he spoke. 'Let his knights remain here,' he said; 'and bear his body in honour from the field, lest the battle ride over it! Yea, and all these other of the king's men that lie here.' And he looked at the slain, recalling their names. Then suddenly he beheld his sister Jowyn as she lay, and he knew her. He stood a moment as a man who is pierced in the midst of a cry by an arrow through the heart; and then his face went deathly white; and a cold fury rose in him, so that all speech failed him for a while. A fey mood took him. 'Jowyn, Jowyn!' he cried at last: 'Jowyn, how come you here? What madness or devilry is this? Death, death, death! Death take us all!' Then without taking counsel or waiting for the approach of the men of the City, he spurred headlong back to the front of the great host, and blew a horn, and cried aloud for the onset. Over the field rang his clear voice calling: 'Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!' And with that the host began to move. But the Rohirrim sang no more. Death they cried with one voice loud and terrible, and gathering speed like a great tide their battle swept about their fallen king and passed, roaring away southwards. And still Meriadoc the hobbit stood there blinking through his tears and no one spoke to him, indeed none seemed to heed him. He brushed away the tears, and stooped to pick up the green shield that Jowyn had given him; and ####-he slung it at his back. Then he looked for his sword that he had let fall; for even as he struck his blow his arm was numbed, and now he could only use his left hand. And behold! there lay his weapon, but the blade was smoking like a dry branch that has been thrust in a fire; and as he watched it, it writhed and withered and was consumed. So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the D®nedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will. Men now raised the king, and laying cloaks upon spear -truncheons they made shift to bear him away towards the City; and others lifted Jowyn gently up and bore her after him. But the men of the king's household they could not yet bring from the field; for seven of the king's knights had fallen there, and Djorwine their chief was among them. So they laid them apart from their foes and the fell beast and set spears about them. And afterwards when all was over men returned and made a fire there and burned the carcase of the beast; but for Snowmane they dug a grave and set up a stone upon which was carved in the tongues of Gondor and the Mark: Faithful servant yet master's bane Lightfoot's foal, swift Snowmane. Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane's Howe, but ever black and bare was the ground where the beast was burned. Now slowly and sadly Merry walked beside the bearers, and he gave no more heed to the battle. He was weary and full of pain, and his limbs trembled as with a chill. A great rain came out of the Sea, and it seemed that all things wept for Thjoden and Jowyn, quenching the fires in the City with grey tears. It was through a mist that presently he saw the van of the men of Gondor approaching. Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, rode up and drew rein before them. 'What burden do you bear, Men of Rohan?' he cried. 'Thjoden King,' they answered. 'He is dead. But Jomer King now rides in the battle: he with the white crest in the wind.'####- Then the prince went from his horse, and knelt by the bier in honour of the king and his great onset; and he wept. And rising he looked then on Jowyn and was amazed. 'Surely, here is a woman?' he said. 'Have even the women of the Rohirrim come to war in our need?' 'Nay! One only,' they answered. 'The Lady Jowyn is she, sister of Jomer; and we knew naught of her riding until this hour, and greatly we rue it.' Then the prince seeing her beauty, though her face was pale and cold, touched her hand as he bent to look more closely on her. 'Men of Rohan!' he cried. 'Are there no leeches among you? She is hurt to the death maybe, but I deem that she yet lives.' And he held the bright-burnished vambrace that was upon his arm before her cold tips, and behold! a little mist was laid on it hardly to be seen. 'Haste now is needed,' he said, and he sent one riding back swiftly to the City to bring aid. But he bowing low to the fallen, bade them farewell, and mounting rode away into battle. And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the Pelennor; and the din of arms rose upon high, with the crying of men and the neighing of horses. Horns were blown and trumpets were braying, and the mymakil were bellowing as they were goaded to war. Under the south walls of the City the footmen of Gondor now drove against the legions of Morgul that were still gathered there in strength. But the horsemen rode eastward to the succour of Jomer: H®rin the Tall Warden of the Keys, and the Lord of Lossarnach, and Hirluin of the Green Hills, and Prince Imrahil the fair with his knights all about him. Not too soon came their aid to the Rohirrim; for fortune had turned against Jomer, and his fury had betrayed him. The great wrath of his onset had utterly overthrown the front of his enemies, and great wedges of his Riders had passed clear through the ranks of the Southrons, discomfiting their horsemen and riding their footmen to ruin. But wherever the mymakil came there the horses would not go, but blenched and swerved away; and the great monsters were unfought, and stood like towers of defence, and the Haradrim rallied about them. And if the Rohirrim at their onset were thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone, soon their case became worse; for new strength came now streaming to the field out of Osgiliath. There they had been mustered for the sack of the City and the rape of Gondor, waiting on the call of their Captain. He now was destroyed; but Gothmog the lieutenant ####-of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand. Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues. Some now hastened up behind the Rohirrim, others held westward to hold off the forces of Gondor and prevent their joining with Rohan. It was even as the day thus began to turn against Gondor and their hope wavered that a new cry went up in the City, it being then midmorning, and a great wind blowing, and the rain flying north, and the sun shining. In that clear air watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their last hope left them. For Anduin, from the bend at the Harlond, so flowed that from the City men could look down it lengthwise for some leagues, and the far-sighted could see any ships that approached. And looking thither they cried in dismay; for black against the glittering stream they beheld a fleet borne up on the wind: dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, and with black sails bellying in the breeze. 'The Corsairs of Umbar!' men shouted. 'The Corsairs of Umbar! Look! The Corsairs of Umbar are coming! So Belfalas is taken, and the Ethir, and Lebennin is gone. The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!' And some without order, for none could he found to command them in the City, ran to the bells and tolled the alarm; and some blew the trumpets sounding the retreat. 'Back to the walls!' they cried. 'Back to the walls! Come back to the City before all are overwhelmed!' But the wind that sped the ships blew all their clamour away. The Rohirrim indeed had no need of news or alarm. All too well they could see for themselves the black sails. For Jomer was now scarcely a mile from the Harlond, and a great press of his first foes was between him and the haven there, while new foes came swirling behind, cutting him off from the Prince. Now he looked to the River, and hope died in his heart, and the wind that he had blessed he now called accursed. But the hosts of Mordor were enheartened, and filled with a new lust and fury they came yelling to the onset. Stern now was Jomer's mood, and his mind clear again. He let blow the horns to rally all men to his banner that could come thither; for he thought to make a great shield-wall at the last, and stand, and fight there on foot till all fell, and do deeds of song on the fields of Pelennor, though no man should be left in the West to remember the last King of the Mark. So he rode ####-to a green hillock and there set his banner, and the White Horse ran rippling in the wind. Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing. To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall! These staves he spoke, yet he laughed as he said them. For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people. And lo! even as he laughed at despair he looked out again on the black ships, and he lifted up his sword to defy them. And then wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! upon the foremost ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the sunlight, for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond; and the crown was bright in the morning, for it was wrought of mithril and gold. Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur's heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a ringing of bells. But the hosts of Mordor wer e seized with bewilderment, and a great wizardry it seemed to them that their own ships should be filled with their foes; and a black dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned against them and their doom was at hand. East rode the knights of Dol Amroth driving the enemy before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the sunlight. South strode Jomer and men fled before his face, and they were caught between the hammer and the anvil. For now men leaped from the ships to the quays of the Harlond and swept north like a storm. There came Legolas, and Gimli wielding his axe, and Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-handed D®nedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South. But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, And®ril like a new fire ####-kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old: and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil. And so at length Jomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad. 'Thus we meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor lay between us,' said Aragorn. 'Did I not say so at the Hornburg?' 'So you spoke,' said Jomer, 'but hope oft deceives, and I knew not then that you were a man foresighted. Yet twice blessed is help unlooked for, and never was a meeting of friends more joyful.' And they clasped hand in hand. 'Nor indeed more timely,' said Jomer. 'You come none too soon, my friend. Much loss and sorrow has befallen us.' 'Then let us avenge it, ere we speak of it!' said Aragorn, and they rode back to battle together. Hard fighting and long labour they had still; for the Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair; and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked for no quarter. And so in this place and that, by burned homestead or barn, upon hillock or mound, under wa ll or on field, still they gathered and rallied and fought until the day wore away. Then the Sun went at last behind Mindolluin and filled all the sky with a great burning, so that the hills and the mountains were dyed as with blood; fire glowed in the River, and the grass of the Pelennor lay red in the nightfall. And in that hour the great Battle of the field of Gondor was over; and not one living foe was left within the circuit of the Rammas. All were slain save those who fled to die, or to drown in the red foam of the River. Few ever came eastward to Morgul or Mordor; and to the land of the Haradrim came only a tale from far off: a rumour of the wrath and terror of Gondor. Aragorn and Jomer and Imrahil rode back towards the Gate of the City, and they were now weary beyond joy or sorrow. These three were unscathed, for such was their fortune and the skill and might of their arms, and few indeed had dared to abide them or look on their faces in the hour of their wrath. But many others were hurt or maimed or dead upon the field. The axes hewed Forlong as he fought alone and unhorsed; and both Duilin of Morthond and his brother were trampled to death when they assailed the mymakil, leading their bowmen close to shoot at the eyes of the monsters. Neither Hirluin the fair would return to Pinnath Gelin, nor Grimbold to Grimslade, nor Halbarad to the Northlands, dour -handed Ranger. No few had fallen,####-renowned or nameless, captain or soldier; for it was a great battle and the full count of it no tale has told. So long afterward a maker in Rohan said in his song of the Mounds of Mundburg: We heard of the horns in the hills ringing, the swords shining in the South -kingdom. Steeds went striding to the Stoningland as wind in the morning. War was kindled. There Thjoden fell, Thengling mighty, to his golden halls and green pastures in the Northern fields never returning, high lord of the host. Harding and Guthlbf D®nhere and Djorwine, doughty Grimbold, Herefara and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred, fought and fell there in a far country: in the Mounds of Mundburg under mould they lie with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor. Neither Hirluin the Fair to the hills by the sea, nor Forlong the old to the flowering vales ever, to Arnach, to his own country returned in triumph; nor the tall bowmen, Derufin and Duilin, to their dark waters, meres of Morthond under mountain -shadows. Death in the morning and at day's ending lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep under grass in Gondor by the Great River. Grey now as tears, gleaming silver, red then it rolled, roaring water: foam dyed with blood flamed a t sunset; as beacons mountains burned at evening; red fell the dew in Rammas Echor. ####- When the dark shadow at the Gate withdrew Gandalf still sat motionless. But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes. But now suddenly his errand returned to his memory, and he ran forward. At that moment Gandalf stirred and spoke to Shadowfax, and was about to ride through the Gate. 'Gandalf, Gandalf! ' cried Pippin, and Shadowfax halted. 'What are you doing here?' said Gandalf. 'Is it not a law in the City that those who wear the black and silver must stay in the Citadel, unless their lord gives them leave?' 'He has,' said Pippin. 'He sent me away. But I am frightened. Something terrible may happen up there. The Lord is out of his mind, I think. I am afraid he will kill himself, and kill Faramir too. Can't you do something?' Gandalf looked through the gaping Gate, and already on the fields he heard the gathering sound of battle. He clenched his hand. 'I must go ' he said. 'The Black Rider is abroad, and he will yet bring ruin on us. I have no time.' 'But Faramir!' cried Pippin. 'He is not dead, and they will burn him alive, if someone does not stop them.' 'Burn him alive?' said Gandalf. 'What is this tale? Be quick!' 'Denethor has gone to the Tombs,' said Pippin, 'and he has taken Faramir, and he says we are all to burn, and he will not wait, and they are to make a pyre and burn him on it, and Faramir as well. And he has sent men to fetch wood and oil. And I have told Beregond, but I'm afraid he won't dare to leave his post: he is on guard. And what can he do anyway?' So Pippin poured out his tale, reaching up and touching Gandalf's knee with trembling hands. 'Can't you save Faramir?' 'Maybe I can,' said Gandalf; 'but if I do, then others will die, I fear. Well, I must come, since no other help can reach him. But evil and sorrow will come of this. Even in the heart of our stronghold the Enemy has power to strike us: for his will it is that is at work.'####- Then having made up his mind he acted swiftly; and catching up Pippin and setting him before him, he turned Shadowfax with a word. Up the climbing streets of Minas Tirith they clattered, while the noise of war rose behind them. Everywhere men were rising from their despair and dread, seizing their weapons, crying one to another: 'Rohan has come!' Captains were shouting, companies were mustering; many already were marching down to the Gate. They met the Prince Imrahil, and he called to them: 'Whither now, Mithrandir? The Rohirrim are fighting on the fields of Gondor! We must gather all the strength that we can find.' 'You will need every man and more,' said Gandalf. 'Make all haste. I will come when I can. But I have an errand to the Lord Denethor that will not wait. Take command in the Lord's absence!' They passed on; and as they climbed and drew near to the Citadel they felt the wind blowing in their faces, and they caught the glimmer of morning far away, a light growing in the southern sky. But it brought little hope to them, not knowing what evil lay before them, fearing to come too late. 'Darkness is passing,' said Gandalf, 'but it still lies heavy on this City.' At the gate of the Citadel they found no guard. 'Then Beregond has gone,' said Pippin more hopefully. They turned away and hastened along the road to the Closed Door. It stood wide open, and the porter lay before it. He was slain and his key had been taken. 'Work of the Enemy!' said Gandalf. 'Such deeds he loves: friend at war with friend; loyalty divided in confusion of hearts.' Now he dismounted and bade Shadowfax return to his stable. 'For, my friend,' he said, 'you and I should have ridden to the fields long ago, but other matters delay me. Yet come swiftly if I call!' They passed the Door and walked on down the steep winding road. Light was growing, and the tall columns and carven figures beside the way went slowly by like grey ghosts. Suddenly the silence was broken, and they heard below them cries and the ringing of swords: such sounds as had not been heard in the hallowed places since the building of the City. At last they came to Rath Dnnen and hastened towards the House of the Stewards, looming in the twilight under its great dome. 'Stay! Stay!' cried Gandalf, springing forward to the stone stair before the door. 'Stay this madness!'####- For there were the servants of Denethor with swords and torches in their hands; but alone in the porch upon the topmost step stood Beregond, clad in the black and silver of the Guard; and he held the door against them. Two of them had already fallen to his sword, staining the hallows with their blood; and the others cursed him, calling him outlaw and traitor to his master. Even as Gandalf and Pippin ran forward, they heard from within the house of the dead the voice of Denethor crying: 'Haste, haste! Do as I have bidden! Slay me this renegade! Or must I do so myself?' Thereupon the door which Beregond held shut with his left hand was wrenched open, and there behind him stood the Lord of the City, tall and fell; a light like flame was in his eyes, a nd he held a drawn sword. But Gandalf sprang up the steps, and the men fell back from him and covered their eyes; for his coming was like the incoming of a white light into a dark place, and he came with great anger. He lifted up his hand, and in the very stroke, the sword of Denethor flew up and left his grasp and fell behind him in the shadows of the house; and Denethor stepped backward before Gandalf as one amazed. 'What is this, my lord?' said the wizard. 'The houses of the dead are no places for the living. And why do men fight here in the Hallows when there is war enough before the Gate? Or has our Enemy come even to Rath Dnnen?' 'Since when has the Lord of Gondor been answerable to thee?' said Denethor. 'Or may I not command my own servants?' 'You may,' said Gandalf. 'But others may contest your will, when it is turned to madness and evil. Where is your son, Faramir?' 'He lies within,' said Denethor, 'burning, already burning. They have set a fire in his flesh. But soon all shall be burned. The West has failed. It shall all go up in a great fire, and all shall be ended. Ash! Ash and smoke blown away on the wind!' Then Gandalf seeing the madness that was on him feared that he had already done some evil deed, and he thrust forward, with Beregond and Pippin behind him, while Denethor gave back until he stood beside the table within. But there they found Faramir, still dreaming in his fever, lying upon the table. Wood was piled under it, and high all about it, and all was drenched with oil, even the garments of Faramir and the coverlets; but as yet no fire had been set to the fuel. Then Gandalf revealed the strength that lay hid in ####-him; even as the light of his power was hidden u nder his grey mantle. He leaped up on to the faggots, and raising the sick man lightly he sprang down again, and bore him towards the door. But as he did so Faramir moaned and called on his father in his dream. Denethor started as one waking from a trance, and the flame died in his eyes, and he wept; and he said: 'Do not take my son from me! He calls for me.' 'He calls,' said Gandalf, 'but you cannot come to him yet. For he must seek healing on the threshold of death, and maybe find it no t. Whereas your part is to go out to the battle of your City, where maybe death awaits you. This you know in your heart.' 'He will not wake again,' said Denethor. 'Battle is vain. Why should we wish to live longer? Why should we not go to death side by side?' 'Authority is not given to you, Steward of Gondor, to order the hour of your death,' answered Gandalf. 'And only the heathen kings, under the domination of the Dark Power, did thus, slaying themselves in pride and despair, murdering their kin to ease their own death.' Then passing through the door he took Faramir from the deadly house and laid him on the bier on which he had been brought, and which had now been set in the porch. Denethor followed him, and stood trembling, looking with longing on the face of his son. And for a moment, while all were silent and still, watching the Lord in his throes, he wavered. 'Come!' said Gandalf. 'We are needed. There is much that you can yet do.' Then suddenly Denethor laughed . He stood up tall and proud again, and stepping swiftly back to the table he lifted from it the pillow on which his head had lain. Then coming to the doorway he drew aside the covering, and lo! he had between his hands a palantnr. And as he held it up, it seemed to those that looked on that the globe began to glow with an inner flame, so that the lean face of the Lord was lit as with a red fire, and it seemed cut out of hard stone, sharp with black shadows, noble, proud, and terrible. His eyes glittered. 'Pride and despair!' he cried. 'Didst thou think that the eyes of the White Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou knowest, Grey Fool. For thy hope is but ignorance. Go then and labour in healing! Go forth and fight! Vanity. For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day.####-But against the Power that now arises there is no victory. To this City only the first finger of its hand has yet been stretched. All the East is moving. And even now the wind of thy hope cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleet with black sails. The West has failed. It is time for all to depart who would not be slaves.' 'Such counsels will make the Enemy's victory certain indeed,' said Gandalf. 'Hope on then!' laughed Denethor. 'Do I not know thee, Mithrandir? Thy hope is to rule in my stead, to stand behind every throne, north, south, or west. I have read thy mind and its policies. Do I not know that you commanded this halfling here to keep silence? That you brought him hither to be a spy within my very chamber? And yet in our speech together I have learned the names and purpose of all thy companions. So! With the left hand thou wouldst use me for a little while as a shield against Mordor, and with the right bring up this Ranger of the North to supplant me. 'But I say to thee, Gandalf Mithrandir, I will not be thy tool! I am Steward of the House of Anbrion. I will not step down to be the dotard chamberlain of an upstart. Even were his claim proved to me, still he comes but of the line of Isildur. I will not bow to such a one, last of a ragged house long bereft of lordship and dignity.' 'What then would you have,' said Gandalf, 'if your will could have its way?' 'I would have things as they were in all the days of my life,' answered Denethor, 'and in the days of my longfathers before me: to be the Lord of this City in peace, and leave my chair to a son after me, who would be his own master and no wizard's pupil. But if doom denies this to me, then I will have naught: neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honour abated.' 'To me it would not seem that a Steward who faithfully surrenders his charge is diminished in love or in honour,' said Gandalf. 'And at the least you shall not rob your son of his choice while his death is still in doubt.' At those words Denethor's eyes flamed again, and taking the Stone under his arm he drew a knife and strode towards the bier. But Beregond sprang forward and set himself before Faramir. 'So!' cried Denethor. 'Thou hadst already stolen half my son's love. Now thou stealest the hearts of my knights also, so that they rob me wholly of my son at the last. But in this at least thou shalt not defy my will: to rule my own end.'####- 'Come hither!' he cried to his servants. 'Come, if you are not all recreant!' Then two of them ran up the steps to him. Swiftly he snatched a torch from the hand of one and sprang back into the house. Before Gandalf could hinder him he thrust the brand amid the fuel, and at once it crackled and roared into flame. Then Denethor leaped upon the table, and standing there wreathed in fire and smoke he took up the staff of his stewardship that lay at his feet and broke it on his knee. Casting the pieces into the blaze he bowed and laid himself on the table, clasping the palantnr with both hands upon his breast. And it was said that ever after, if any man looked in that Stone, unless he had a great strength of will to turn it to other purpose, he saw only two aged hands withering in flame. Gandalf in grief and horror turned his face away and closed the door. For a while he stood in thought, silent upon the threshold, while those outside heard the greedy roaring of the fire within. And then Denethor gave a great cry, and afterwards spoke no more, nor was ever again seen by mortal men. 'So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion,' said Gandalf: Then he turned to Beregond and the Lord's servants that stood there aghast. 'And so pass also the days of Gondor that you have known; for good or evil they are ended. Ill deeds have been done here; but let now all enmity that lies between you be put away, for it was contrived by the Enemy and works his will. You have been caught in a net of warring duties that you did not weave. But think, you servants of the Lord, blind in your obedience, that but for the treason of Beregond Faramir, Captain of the White Tower, would now also be burned. 'Bear away from this unhappy place your comrades who have fallen. And we will bear Faramir, Steward of Gondor, to a place where he can sleep in peace, or die if that be his doom.' Then Gandalf and Beregond taking up the bier bore it away towards the Houses of Hea ling, while behind them walked Pippin with downcast head. But the servants of the Lord stood gazing as stricken men at the house of the dead; and even as Gandalf came to the end of Rath Dnnen there was a great noise. Looking back they saw the dome of the house crack and smokes issue forth; and then with a rush and rumble of stone it fell in a flurry of fire; but still unabated the flames danced and flickered among the ruins. Then in terror the servants fled and followed Gandalf.####- At length they came back to the Steward's Door, and Beregond looked with grief at the porter. 'This deed I shall ever rue,' he said; 'but a madness of haste was on me, and he would not listen, but drew sword against me.' Then taking the key that he had wr ested from the slain man he closed the door and locked it. 'This should now be given to the Lord Faramir,' he said. 'The Prince of Dol Amroth is in command in the absence of the Lord,' said Gandalf; 'but since he is not here, I must take this on myself. I bid you keep the key and guard it, until the City is set in order again.' Now at last they passed into the high circles of the City, and in the light of morning they went their way towards the Houses of Healing; and these were fair houses set apart, for the care of those who were grievously sick, but now they were prepared for the tending of men hurt in battle or dying. They stood not far from the Citadel-gate, in the sixth circle, nigh to its southward wall, and about them was a garden and a greensward with trees, the only such place in the City. There dwelt the few women that had been permitted to remain in Minas Tirith, since they were skilled in healing or in the service of the healers. But even as Gandalf and his companions came carrying the bier to the main door of the Houses, they heard a great cry that went up from the field before the Gate and rising shrill and piercing into the sky passed, and died away on the wind. So terrible was the cry that for a moment all stood still, and yet when it had passed, suddenly their hearts were lifted up in such a hope as they had not known since the darkness came out of the East; and it seemed to them that the light grew clear and the sun broke through the clouds. But Gandalf's face was grave and sad, and bidding Beregond and Pippin to take Faramir into the Houses of Healing, he went up on to the walls nearby; and there like a figure carven in white he stood in the new sun and looked out. And he beheld with the sight that was given to him all that had befallen; and when Jomer rode out from the forefront of his battle and stood beside those who lay upon the field, he sighed, and he cast his cloak about him again, and went from the walls. And Beregond and Pippin found him standing in thought before the door of the Houses when they came out. They looked at him, and for a while he was silent. At last he spoke. 'My friends,' he said, 'and all you people of this city and of the Western lands! Things of great sorrow and renown have come to pass. Shall we weep or ####-be glad? Beyond hope the Captain of our foes has been destroyed, and you have heard the echo of his last despair. But he has not gone without woe and bitter loss. And that I might have averted but for the madness of Denethor. So long has the reach of our Enemy become! Alas! but now I perceive how his will was able to enter into the very heart of the City. 'Though the Stewards deemed that it was a secret kept only by themselves, long ago I guessed that here in the White Tower, one at least of the Seven Seeing Stones was preserved. In the days of his wisdom Denethor did not presume to use it, nor to challenge Sauron, knowing the limits of his own strength. But his wisdom failed; and I fear that as the peril of his realm grew he looked in the Stone and was deceived: far too often, I guess, since Boromir departed. He was too great to be subdued to the will of the Dark Power, he saw nonetheless only those things which that Power permitted him to see. The knowledge which he obtained was, doubtless, often of service to him; yet the vision of the great might of Mordor that was shown to him fed the despair of his heart until it overthrew his mind.' 'Now I understand what seemed so strange to me!' said Pippin shuddering at his memories as he spoke. 'The Lord went away from the room where Faramir lay; and it was only when he returned that I first thought he was changed, old and broken.' 'It was in the very hour that Faramir was brought to the Tower that many of us saw a strange light in the topmost chamber,' said Beregond. 'But we have seen that light before, and it has long been rumoured in the City, that the Lord would at times wrestle in thought with his Enemy.' 'Alas! then I have guessed rightly,' said Gandalf. 'Thus the will of Sauron entered into Minas Tirith; and thus I have been delayed here. And here I shall still be forced to remain, for I shall soon have other charges, not Faramir only. 'Now I must go down to meet those who come. I have seen a sight upon the field that is very grievous to my heart, and greater sorrow may yet come to pass. Come with me, Pippin! But you, Beregond, should return to the Citadel and tell the chief of the Guard there what has befallen. It will be his duty, I fear, to withdraw you from the Guard; but say to him that, if I may give him counsel, you should be sent to the Houses of Healing, to be the guard and servant of your captain, and to be at his side when he awakes - if that shall ever be again. For by you he was saved from the fire. Go now! I ####-shall return soon.' With that he turned away and went with Pippin down towards the lower city. And even as they hastened on their way the wind brought a grey rain, and all the fires sank, and there arose a great smoke before them. ####- A mist was in Merry's eyes of tears and weariness when they drew near the ruined Gate of Minas Tirith. He gave little heed to the wreck and slaughter that lay about all. Fire and smoke and stench was in the air; for many engines had been burned or cast into the fire-pits, and many of the slain also, while here and there lay many carcases of the great Southron monsters, half-burned, or broken by stone-cast, or shot through the eyes by the valiant archers of Morthond. The flying rain had ceased for a time, and the sun gleamed up above; but all the lower city was still wrapped in a smouldering reek. Already men were labouring to clear a way through the jetsam of battle; and now out from the Gate came some bearing litters. Gently they laid Jowyn upon soft pillows; but the king's body they covered with a great cloth of gold, and they bore torches about him, and their flames, pale in the sunlight, were fluttered by the wind. So Thjoden and Jowyn came to the City of Gondor, and all who saw them bared their heads and bowed; and they passed through the ash and fume of the burned circle, and went on and up along the streets of stone. To Merry the ascent seemed agelong, a meaningless journey in a hateful dream, going on and on to some dim ending that memory cannot seize. Slowly the lights of the torches in front of him flickered and went out, and he was walking in a darkness; and he thought: 'This is a tunnel leading to a tomb; there we shall stay forever.' But suddenly into his dream there fell a living voice. 'Well, Merry! Thank goodness I have found you!' He looked up and the mist before his eyes cleared a little. There was Pippin! They were face to face in a narrow lane, and but for themselves it was empty. He rubbed his eyes. 'Where is the king?' he said. 'And Jowyn?' Then he stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep again. 'They have gone up into the Citadel,' said Pippin. 'I think you must have fallen asleep on your feet and taken the wrong turning. When we found that you were not with them, Gandalf sent me to look for you. Poor old Merry! How glad I am to see you again! But you are worn out, and I won't ####-bother you with any talk. But tell me, are you hurt, or wounded?' 'No,' said Merry. 'Well, no, I don't think so. But I can't use my right arm, Pippin, not since I stabbed him. And my sword burned all away like a piece of wood.' Pippin's face was anxious. 'Well, you had better come with me as quick as you can,' he said. 'I wish I could carry you. You aren't fit to walk any further. They shouldn't have let you walk at all; but you must forgive them. So many dreadful things have happened in the City, Merry, that one poor hobbit coming in from the battle is easily overlooked.' 'It's not always a misfortune being overlooked,' said Merry. 'I was overlooked just now by - no, no, I can't speak of it. Help me, Pippin! It's all going dark again, and my arm is so cold.' 'Lean on me, Merry lad!' said Pippin. 'Come now! Foot by foot. It's not far.' 'Are you going to bury me?' said Merry. 'No, indeed!' said Pippin, trying to sound cheerful, though his heart was wrung with fear and pity. 'No, we are going to the Houses of Healing.' They turned out of the lane that ran between tall houses and the outer wall of the fourth circle, and they regained the main street climbing up to the Citadel. Step by step they went, while Merry swayed and murmured as one in sleep. 'I'll never get him there,' thought Pippin. 'Is there no one to help me? I can't leave him here.' Just then to his surprise a boy came running up behind, and as he passed he recognized Bergil Beregond's son. 'Hullo, Bergil!' he called. 'Where are you going? Glad to see you again, and still alive!' 'I am running errands for the Healers,' said Bergil. 'I cannot stay.' 'Don't!' said Pippin. 'But tell them up there that I have a sick hobbit, a perian mind you, come from the battle-field. I don't think he can walk so far. If Mithrandir is there, he will be glad of the message.' Bergil ran on. 'I'd better wait here,' thought Pippin. So he let Merry sink gently down on to the pavement in a patch of sunlight, and then he sat down beside him, laying Merry's head in his lap. He felt his body and limbs gently, and took his friend's hands in his own. The right hand felt icy to the touch. It was not long before Gandalf himself came in search of them. He stooped over Merry and caressed his brow; then he lifted him carefully. 'He ####-should have been borne in honour into this city,' he said. 'He has well repaid my trust; for if Elrond had not yielded to me, neither of you would have set out; and then far more grievous would the evils of this day have been.' He sighed. 'And yet here is another charge on my hands, while all the time the battle hangs in the balance.' So at last Faramir and Jowyn and Meriadoc were laid in beds in the Houses of Healing; and there they were tended well. For though all lore was in these latter days fallen from its fullness of old, the leechcraft of Gondor was still wise, and skilled in the healing of wound and hurt, and all such sickness as east of the Sea mortal men were subject to. Save old age only. For that they had found no cure; and indeed the span of their lives had now waned to little more than that of other men, and those among them who passed the tale of five score years with vigour were grown few, save in some houses of purer blood. But now their art and knowledge were baffled; for there were many sick of a malady that would not be healed; and they called it the Black Shadow, for it came from the Nazgyl. And those who were stricken with it fell slowly into an ever deeper dream, and then passed to silence and a deadly cold, and so died. And it seemed to the tenders of the sick that on the Halfling and on the Lady of Rohan this malady lay heavily. Still at whiles as the morning wore away they would speak, murmuring in their dreams; and the watchers listened to all that they said, hoping perhaps to learn something that would help them to understand their hurts. But soon they began to fall down into the darkness, and as the sun turned west a grey shadow crept over their faces. But Faramir burned with a fever that would not abate. Gandalf went from one to the other full of care, and he was told all that the watchers could hear. And so the day passed, while the great battle outside went on with shifting hopes and strange tidings; and still Gandalf waited and watched and did not go forth; till at last the red sunset filled all the sky, and the light through the windows fell on the grey faces of the sick. Then it seemed to those who stood by that in the glow the faces flushed softly as with health returning, but it was only a mockery of hope. Then an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest of the women who served in that house, looking on the fair face of Faramir, wept, for all the people loved him. And she said: 'Alas! if he should die. Would that there were kings in Gondor , as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful ####-king could ever be known.' And Gandalf, who stood by, said: 'Men may long remember your words, Ioreth! For there is hope in them. Maybe a king has indeed returned to Gondor; or have you not heard the strange tidings that have come to the City?' 'I have been too busy with this and that to heed all the crying and shouting,' she answered. 'All I hope is that those murdering devils do not come to this House and trouble the sick.' Then Gandalf went out in haste, and already the fire in the sky was burning out, and the smouldering hills were fading, while ash-grey evening crept over the fields. Now as the sun went down Aragorn and Jomer and Imrahil drew near the City with their captains and knights; and when they came before the Gate Aragorn said: 'Behold the Sun setting in a great fire! It is a sign of the end and fall of many things, and a change in the tides of the world. But this City and realm has rested in the charge of the Stewards for many long years, and I fear that if I enter it unbidden, then doubt and debate may arise, which should not be while this war is fought. I will not enter in, nor make any claim, until it be seen whether we or Mordor shall prevail. Men shall pitch my tents upon the field, and here I will await the welcome of the Lord of the City.' But Jomer said: 'Already you have raised the banner of the Kings and displayed the tokens of Elendil's House. Will you suffer these to be challenged?' 'No,' said Aragorn. 'But I deem the time unripe; and I have no mind for strife except with our Enemy and his servants. ' And the Prince Imrahil said. Your words, lord, are wise, if one who is a kinsman of the Lord Denethor may counsel you in this matter. He is strong-willed and proud, but old; and his mood has been strange since his son was stricken down. Yet I would not have you remain like a beggar at the door.' 'Not a beggar,' said Aragorn. 'Say a captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone.' And he commanded that his banner should be furled; and he did off the Star of the North Kingdom and gave it to the keeping of the sons of Elrond. Then the Prince Imrahil and Jomer of Rohan left him and passed through ####-the City and the tumult of the people, and mounted to the Citadel; and they came to the Hall of the Tower, seeking the Steward. But they found his chair empty, and before the dais lay Thjoden King of the Mark upon a bed of state; and twelve torches stood about it, and twelve guards, knights both of Rohan and Gondor. And the hangings of the bed were of green and white, but upon the king was laid the great cloth of gold up to his breast, and upon that his unsheathed sword, and at his feet his shield, The light of the torches shimmered in his white hair like sun in the spray of a fountain, but his face was fair and young, save that a peace lay on it beyond the reach of youth; and it seemed that he slept. When they had stood silent for a time beside the king, Imrahil said: 'Where is the Steward? And where also is Mithrandir?' And one of the guards answered: 'The Steward of Gondor is in the Houses of Healing.' But Jomer said: 'Where is the Lady Jowyn, my sister; for surely she should be lying beside the king, and in no less honour? Where have they bestowed her?' And Imrahil said: 'But the Lady Jowyn was yet living when they bore her hither. Did you not know?' Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to Jomer's heart, and with it the bite of care and fear renewed, that he said no more, but turned and went swiftly from the hall; and the Prince followed him. And when they came forth evening had fallen and many stars were in the sky. And there came Gandalf on foot and with him one cloaked in grey; and they met before the doors of the Houses of Healing. And they greeted Gandalf and said: 'We seek the Steward, and men say that he is in this House. Has any hurt befallen him? And the Lady Jowyn, where is she?' And Gandalf answered: 'She lies within and is not dead, but is near death. But the Lord Faramir was wounded by an evil dart, as you have heard, and he is now the Steward; for Denethor has departed, and his house is in ashes.' And they were filled with grief and wonder at the tale that he told. But Imrahil said: 'So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. Jomer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?' And the cloaked man spoke and said: 'He is come.' And they saw as he stepped into the light of the lantern by the door that it was Aragorn,####-wrapped in the grey cloak of Lurien above his mail, and bearing no other token than the green stone of Galadriel. 'I have come because Gandalf begs me to do so,' he said. 'But for the present I am but the Captain of the D®nedain of Arnor; and the Lord of Dol Amroth shall rule the City until Faramir awakes. But it is my counsel that Gandalf should rule us all in the days that follow and in our dealings with the Enemy.' And they agreed upon that. Then Gandalf said: 'Let us not stay at the door, for the time is urgent. Let us enter! For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known .' Then Aragorn entered first and the others followed. And there at the door were two guards in the livery of the Cita del: one tall, but the other scarce the height of a boy; and when he saw them he cried aloud in surprise and joy. 'Strider! How splendid! Do you know, I guessed it was you in the black ships. But they were all shouting corsairs and wouldn't listen to me. How did you do it?' Aragorn laughed, and took the hobbit by the hand. 'Well met indeed!' he said. 'But there is not time yet for travellers' tales.' But Imrahil said to Jomer: 'Is it thus that we speak to our kings? Yet maybe he will wear his crown in some other name!' And Aragorn hearing him, turned and said: 'Verily, for in the high tongue of old I am Elessar, the Elfstone, and Envinyatar, the Renewer': and he lifted from his breast the green stone that lay there. 'But Strider shall be the name of my house, if that be ever established. In the high tongue it will not sound so ill, and Telcontar I will be and all the heirs of my body.' And with that they passed into the House; and as they went towards the rooms where the sick were tended Gandalf told of the deeds of Jowyn and Meriadoc. 'For,' he said, 'long have I stood by them and at first they spoke much in their dreaming, before they sank into the deadly darkness. Also it is given to me to see many things far off.' Aragorn went first to Faramir, and then to the Lady Jowyn, and last to Merry. When he had looked on the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. 'Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,'####-he said. 'Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power.' And Jomer seeing that he was sorrowful and weary said: 'First you must rest, surely, and at the least eat a little?' But Aragorn answered: 'Nay, for these three, and most soon for Faramir, time is running out. All speed is needed.' Then he called to Ioreth and he said: 'You have store in this House of the herbs of healing?' 'Yes, lord,' she answered; 'but not enough, I reckon, for all that will need them. But I am sure I do not know where we shall find more; for all things are amiss in these dreadful days, what with fires and burnings, and the lads that run errands so few, and all the roads blocked. Why, it is days out of count since ever a carrier came in from Lossarnach to the market! But we do our best in this House with what we have, as I am sure your lordship will know.' 'I will judge that when I see,' said Aragorn. 'One thing also is short time for speech. Have you athelas?' 'I do not know, I am sure, lord,' she answered, 'at least not by that name. I will go and ask of the herb-master; he knows all the old names.' 'It is also called kingsfoil,' said Aragorn; 'and maybe you know it by that name, for so the country-folk call it in these latter days.' 'Oh that!' said Ioreth. 'Well, if your lordship had named it at first I could have told you. No, we have none of it, I am sure. Why, I have never heard that it had any great virtue; and indeed I have often said to my sisters when we came upon it growing in the woods: "kingsfoil" I said, " 'tis a strange name, and I wonder why 'tis called so; for if I were a king, I would have plants more bright in my garden". Still it smells sweet when bruised, does it not? If sweet is the right word: wholesome, maybe, is nearer.' 'Wholesome verily,' said Aragorn. 'And now, dame, if you love the Lord Faramir, run as quick as your tongue and get me kingsfoil, if there is a leaf in the City.' 'And if not,' said Gandalf, 'I will ride to Lossarnach with Ioreth behind me, and she shall take me to the woods, but not to her sisters. And Shadowfax shall show her the meaning of haste.' When Ioreth was gone, Aragorn bade the other women to make water hot. Then he took Faramir's hand in his, and laid the other hand upon the sick man's brow. It was drenched with sweat; but Faramir did not move or make any ####-sign, and seemed hardly to breathe. 'He is nearly spent,' said Aragorn turning to Gandalf. 'But this comes not from the wound. See! that is healing. Had he been smitten by some dart of the Nazgyl, as you thought, he would have died that night. This hurt was given by some Southron arrow, I would guess. Who drew it forth? Was it kept?' 'I drew it forth,' said Imrahil, 'and staunched the wound. But I did not keep the arrow, for we had much to do. It was, as I remember, just such a dart as the Southrons use. Yet I believed that it came from the Shadows above, for else his fever and sickness were not to be understood; since the wound was not deep or vital. How then do you read the matter?' 'Weariness, grief for his father's mood, a wound, and over all the Black Breath,' said Aragorn. 'He is a man of staunch will, for already he had come close under the Shadow before ever he rode to battle on the out-walls. Slowly the dark must have crept on him, even as he fought and strove to hold his outpost. Would that I could have been here sooner!' Thereupon the herb-master enter ed. 'Your lordship asked for kingsfoil, as the rustics name it, he said; or athelas in the noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the Valinorean. . .' 'I do so,' said Aragorn, 'and I care not whether you say now asla aranion or kingsfoil, so long as you have some.' 'Your pardon lord!' said the man. 'I see you are a lore-master, not merely a captain of war. But alas! sir, we do not keep this thing in the Houses of Healing, where only the gravely hurt or sick are tended. For it has no virtue that we know of, save perhaps to sweeten a fouled air, or to drive away some passing heaviness. Unless, of course, you give heed to rhymes of old days which women such as our good Ioreth still repeat without understanding. When the black breath blows and death's shadow grows and all lights pass, come athelas! come athelas! Life to the dying In the king's hand lying! It is but a doggrel, I fear, garbled in the memory of old wives. Its meaning I leave to your judgement, if indeed it has any. But old folk still use an infusion of the herb for headaches.'####- 'Then in the name of the king, go and find some old man of less lore and more wisdom who keeps some in his house!' cried Gandalf. Now Aragorn knelt beside Faramir, and held a hand upon his brow. And those that watched felt that some great struggle was going on. For Aragorn's face grew grey with weariness; and ever and anon he called the name of Faramir, but each time more fa intly to their hearing, as if Aragorn himself was removed from them, and walked afar in some dark vale, calling for one that was lost. And at last Bergil came running in, and he bore six leaves in a cloth. 'It is kingsfoil, Sir,' he said; 'but not fresh, I fear. It must have been culled two weeks ago at the least. I hope it will serve, Sir?' Then looking at Faramir he burst into tears. But Aragorn smiled. 'It will serve,' he said. 'The worst is now over. Stay and be comforted!' Then taking two leaves, he laid them on his hands and breathed on them, and then he crushed them, and straightway a living freshness filled the room, as if the air itself awoke and tingled, sparkling with joy. And then he cast the leaves into the bowls of steaming water that were brought to him, and at once all hearts were lightened. For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in Spring is itself but a fleeting memory. But Aragorn stood up as one refreshed, and his eyes smiled as he held a bowl before Faramir's dreaming face. 'Well now! Who would have believed it?' said Ioreth to a woman that stood beside her. 'The weed is better than I thought. It reminds me of the roses of Imloth Melui when I was a lass, and no king could ask for better.' Suddenly Faramir stirred, and he opened his eyes, and he looked on Aragorn who bent over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke softly. 'My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?' 'Walk no more in the shadows, but awake!' said Aragorn. 'You are weary. Rest a while, and take food, and be ready when I return.' 'I will, lord,' said Faramir. 'For who would lie idle when the king has returned?' 'Farewell then for a while!' said Aragorn. 'I must go to others who need me.' And he left the chamber with Gandalf and Imrahil; but Beregond and his son remained behind, unable to contain their joy. As he followed Gandalf ####-and shut the door Pippin heard Ioreth exclaim: 'King! Did you hear that? What did I say? The hands of a healer, I said.' And soon the word had gone out from the House that the king was indeed come among them, and after war he brought healing; and the news ran through the City. But Aragorn came to Jowyn, and he said: 'Here there is a grievous hurt and a heavy blow. The arm that was broken has been tended with due skill, and it will mend in time, if she ha s the strength to live: It is the shield-arm that is maimed; but the chief evil comes through the sword-arm. In that there now seems no life, although it is unbroken. 'Alas! For she was pitted against a foe beyond the strength of her mind or body. And those who will take a weapon to such an enemy must be sterner than steel, if the very shock shall not destroy them. It was an evil doom that set her in his path. For she is a fair maiden, fairest lady of a house of queens. And yet I know not how I should speak of her. When I first looked on her and perceived her unhappiness, it seemed to me that I saw a white flower standing straight and proud, shapely as a lily, and yet knew that it was hard, as if wrought by elf-wrights out of steel. Or was it, maybe, a frost that had turned its sap to ice, and so it stood, bitter-sweet, still fair to see, but stricken, soon to fall and die? Her malady begins far back before this day, does it not, Jomer?' 'I marvel that you should ask me, lord,' he answered. 'For I hold you blameless in this matter, as in all else; yet I knew not that Jowyn, my sister, was touched by any frost, until she first looked on you. Care and dread she had, and shared with me, in the days of Wormtongue and the king's bewitchment; and she tended the king in growing fear. But that did not bring her to this pass!' 'My friend,' said Gandalf, 'you had horses, and deeds of arms, and the free fields; but she, born in the body of a maid, had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she was doomed to wait upon an old man, whom she loved as a father, and watch him falling into a mean dishonoured dotage; and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that of the staff he leaned on. 'Think you that Wormtongue had poison only for Thjoden's ears? Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among their dogs? Have you not heard ####-those words before? Saruman spoke them, the teacher of Wormtongue. Though I do not doubt that Wormtongue at home wrapped their meaning in terms more cunning. My lord, if your sister's love for you, and her will still bent to her duty, had not restrained her lips; you might have heard even such things as these escape them. But who knows what she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her bower closing in about her, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in? ' Then Jomer was silent, and looked on his sister, as if pondering anew all the days of their past life together. But Aragorn said: 'I saw also what you saw, Jomer. Few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned Sorrow and pity have followed me ever since I left her desperate in Dunharrow and rode to the Paths of the Dead; and no fear upon that way was so present as the fear for what might befall her. And yet, Jomer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than me; for you she loves and knows; but in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and lands far from the fields of Rohan. 'I have, maybe, the power to heal her body, and to recall her from the dark valley. But to what she will awake: hope, or forgetfulness, or despair, I do not know. And if to despair, then she will die, unless other healing comes which I cannot bring. Alas! for her deeds have set her among the queens of great renown.' Then Aragorn stooped and looked in her face, and it was indeed white as a lily, cold as frost, and hard as graven stone. But he bent and kissed her on the brow, and called her softly, saying: 'Jowyn Jomund's daughter, awake! For your enemy has passed away!' She did not stir, but now she began again to breathe deeply, so that her breast rose and fell beneath the white linen of the sheet. Once more Aragorn bruised two leaves of athelas and cast them into steaming water; and he laved her brow with it, and her right arm lying cold and nerveless on the coverlet. Then, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power of Westernesse, or whether it was but his words of the Lady Jowyn that wrought on them, as ####-the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam. 'Awake, Jowyn, Lady of Rohan!' said Aragor n again, and he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life returning. 'Awake! The shadow is gone and all darkness is washed clean!' Then he laid her hand in Jomer's and stepped away. 'Call her!' he said, and he passed silently from the chamber. 'Jowyn, Jowyn!' cried Jomer amid his tears. But she opened her eyes and said: 'Jomer! What joy is this? For they said that you were slain. Nay, but that was only the dark voices in my dream. How long have I been dreaming?' 'Not long, my sister,' said Jomer. 'But think no more on it!' ' I am strangely weary,' she said. 'I must rest a little. But tell me, what of the Lord of the Mark? Alas! Do not tell me that that was a dream for I know that it was not. He is dead as he foresaw.' 'He is dead,' said Jomer, 'but he bade me say farewell to Jowyn dearer than daughter. He lies now in great honour in the Citadel of Gondor.' 'That is grievous,' she said. 'And yet it is good beyond all that I dared hope in the dark days, when it seemed that the House of Eorl was sunk in honour less than any shepherd's cot. And what of the king's esquire, the Halfling? Jomer, you shall make him a knight of the Riddermark, for he is valiant!' 'He lies nearby in this House, and I will go to him,' said Gandalf. 'Jomer shall stay here for a while. But do not speak yet of war or woe, until you are made whole again. Great gladness it is to see you wake again to health and hope, so valiant a lady!' 'To health?' said Jowyn. 'It may be so. At least while there is an empty saddle of some fallen Rider that I can fill, and there are deeds to do. But to hope? I do not know.' Gandalf and Pippin came to Merry's room, and there they found Aragorn standing by the bed. 'Poor old Merry!' cried Pippin, and he ran to the bedside, for it seemed to him that his friend looked worse, and a greyness was in his face, as if a weight of years of sorrow lay on him; and suddenly ####-a fear seized Pippin that Merry would die. 'Do not be afraid,' said Aragorn. 'I came in time, and I have called him back. He is weary now, and grieved, and he has taken a hurt like the Lady Jowyn, daring to smite that deadly thing. But these evils can be amended, so strong and gay a sp irit is in him. His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.' Then Aragorn laid his hand on Merry's head, and passing his hand gently through the brown curls, he touched the eyelids, and called him by name. And when the fragrance of athelas stole through the room, like the scent of orchards, and of heather in the sunshine full of bees, suddenly Merry awoke, and he said: 'I am hungry. What is the time?' 'Past supper -time now,' said Pippin; 'though I daresay I could bring you something, if they will let me.' 'They will indeed,' said Gandalf. 'And anything else that this Rider of Rohan may desire, if it can be found in Minas Tirith, where his name is in honour.' 'Good!' said Merry. 'Then I would like supper first, and after that a pipe.' At that his face clouded. 'No, not a pipe. I don't think I'll smoke again.' 'Why not?' said Pippin. 'Well,' answered Merry slowly. 'He is dead. It has brought it all back to me. He said he was sorry he had never had a chance of talking herb-lore with me. Almost the last thing he ever said. I shan't ever be able to smoke again without thinking of him, and that day, Pippin, when he rode up to Isengard and was so polite.' 'Smoke then, and think of him!' said Aragorn. 'For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning. Though your service to him was brief, it should be a memory glad and honourable to the end of your days.' Merry smiled. 'Well then,' he said, 'if Strider will provide what is needed, I will smoke and think. I had some of Saruman's best in my pack, but what became of it in the battle, I am sure I don't know.' 'Master Meriadoc,' said Aragorn, 'if you think that I have passed through the mountains and the realm of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken. If your pack has not been found, then you must send for the herb-master of this ####-House. And he will tell you that he did not know that the herb you desire had any virtues, but that it is called westmansweed by the vulgar, and galenas by the noble, and other names in other tongues more learned, and after adding a few half-forgotten rhymes that he does not understand, he will regretfully inform you that there is none in the House, and he will leave you to reflect on the history of tongues. And so now must I. For I have not slept in such a bed as this, since I rode from Dunharrow, nor eaten since the dark before dawn.' Merry seized his hand and kissed it. 'I am frightfully sorry,' he said. 'Go at once! Ever since that night at Bree we have been a nuisance to you. But it is the way of my people to use light words at such times and say less than they mean. We fear to say too much. It robs us of the right words when a jest is out of place.' 'I know that well, or I would not deal with you in the same way ' said Aragorn. 'May the Shire live for ever unwithered!' And kissing Merry he went out, and Gandalf went with him. Pippin remained behind. 'Was there ever any one like him?' he said. 'Except Gandalf, of course. I think they must be related. My dear ass, your pack is lying by your bed, and you had it on your back when I met you. He saw it all the time, of course. And anyway I have some stuff of my own. Come on now! Longbottom Leaf it is. Fill up while I run and see about some food. And then let's be easy for a bit. Dear me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can't live long on the heights.' 'No,' said Merry. 'I can't. Not yet, at any rate. But at least, Pippin, we can now see them, and honour them. It is best to love first what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher; and not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but for them, whether he knows about them or not. I am glad that I know about them, a little. But I don't know why I am talking like this. Where is that leaf? And get my pipe out of my pack, if it isn't broken.' Aragorn and Gandalf went now to the Warden of the Houses of Healing, and they counselled him that Faramir and Jowyn should remain there and still be tended with care for many days. 'The Lady Jowyn,' said Aragorn, 'will wish soon to rise and depart; but she should not be permitted to do so, if you can in any way restrain her, until at least ten days be passed.'####- 'As for Faramir,' said Gandalf, 'he must soon learn that his father is dead. But the full tale of the madness of Denethor should not be told to him, until he is quite healed and has duties to do. See that Beregond and the perian who were present do not speak to him of these things yet!' And the other perian Meriadoc who is under my care, what of him?' said the Warden. 'It is likely that he will be fit to arise tomorrow, for a short while,' said Aragorn. 'Let him do so, if he wishes. He may walk a little in the care of his friends.' 'They are a remarkable race,' said the Warden, nodding his head. 'Very tough in the fibre, I deem.' At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night. And word went through the City: 'The King is come again indeed.' And they named him Elfstone, because of the green stone that he wore, and so the name which it was for etold at his birth that he should bear was chosen for him by his own people. And when he could labour no more, he cast his cloak about him, and slipped out of the City, and went to his tent just ere dawn and slept for a little. And in the morning the banner of Dol Amroth, a white ship like a swan upon blue water, floated from the Tower, and men looked up and wondered if the coming of the King had been but a dream. ####- The morning came after the day of battle, and it was fair with light clouds and the wind turning westward. Legolas and Gimli were early abroad, and they begged leave to go up into the City; for they were eager to see Merry and Pippin. 'It is good to learn that they are still alive,' said Gimli; 'for they cost us great pains in our march over Rohan, and I would not have such pains all wasted.' Together the Elf and the Dwarf entered Minas Tirith, and folk that saw them pass marvelled to see such companions; for Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men, and he sang an elven-song in a clear voice as he walked in the morning; but Gimli stalked beside him, stroking his beard and staring about him. 'There is some good stone-work here,' he said as he looked a t the walls; 'but also some that is less good, and the streets could be better contrived. When Aragorn comes into his own, I shall offer him the service of stonewrights of the Mountain, and we will make this a town to be proud of.' 'They need more gardens,' said Legolas. 'The houses are dead, and there is too little here that grows and is glad. If Aragorn comes into his own, the people of the Wood shall bring him birds that sing and trees that do not die.' At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins. 'Hail, lord!' he said. 'It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lurien, and yet still one may see that no t all sailed from Amroth's haven west over water.' 'So it is said in the lore of my land,' said the Prince; 'yet never has one of the fair folk been seen there for years beyond count. And I marvel to see one here now in the midst of sorrow and war. What do you seek?' 'I am one of the Nine Companions who set out with Mithrandir from Imladris, said Legolas and with this Dwarf, my friend, I came with the Lord Aragorn. But now we wish to see our friends. Meriadoc and Peregrin, who are in your keeping, we are told.' 'You will find them in the Houses of Healing, and I will lead you ####-thither,' said Imrahil. 'It will be enough if you send one to guide us, lord,' said Legolas. 'For Aragorn sends this message to you. He does not wish to enter the City again at this time. Yet there is need for the captains to hold council at once, and he prays that you and Jomer of Rohan will come down to his tents, as soon as may be. Mithrandir is already there.' 'We will come,' said Imrahil; and they parted with courteous words. 'That is a fair lord and a great captain of men,' said Legolas. 'If Gondor has such men still in these days of fading, great must have been its glory in the days of its rising.' 'And doubtless the good stone-work is the older and was wrought in the first building,' said Gimli. 'It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.' 'Yet seldom do they fail of their seed,' said Legolas. 'And that will lie in the dust and rot to spring up again in times and places unlooked-for. The deeds of Men will outlast us, Gimli.' 'And yet come to naught in the end but might-have-beens, I guess,' said the Dwarf. 'To that the Elves know not the answer,' said Legolas. With that the servant of the Prince came and led them to the Houses of Healing; and there they found their friends in the garden, and their meeting was a merry one. For a while they walked and talked, rejoicing for a brief space in peace and rest under the morning high up in the windy circles of the City. Then when Merry became weary, they went and sat upon the wall with the greensward of the Houses of Healing behind them; and away southward before them was the Anduin glittering in the sun, as it flowed away, out of the sight even of Legolas, into the wide flats and green haze of Lebennin and South Ithilien. And now Legolas fell silent, while the others talked, and he looked out against the sun, and as he gazed he saw white sea -birds beating up the River. 'Look!' he cried. 'Gulls! They are flying far inland. A wonder they are to me and a trouble to my heart. Never in all my life had I met them, until we came to Pelargir, and there I heard them crying in the air as we rode to the battle of the ships. Then I stood still, forgetting war in Middle-earth;####-for their wailing voices spoke to me of the Sea. The Sea! Alas! I have not yet beheld it. But deep in the hearts of a ll my kindred lies the sea -longing, which it is perilous to stir. Alas! for the gulls. No peace shall I have again under beech or under elm.' 'Say not so!' said Gimli. 'There are countless things still to see in Middle-earth, and great works to do. But if all the fair folk take to the Havens, it will be a duller world for those who are doomed to stay.' 'Dull and dreary indeed!' said Merry: 'You must not go to the Havens, Legolas. There will always be some folk, big or little, and even a few wise dwarves like Gimli, who need you. At least I hope so. Though I feel somehow that the worst of this war is still to come. How I wish it was all over, and well over!' 'Don't be so gloomy!' cried Pippin. 'The Sun is shining, and here we are together for a day or two at least. I want to hear more about you all. Come, Gimli! You and Legolas have mentioned your strange journey with Strider about a dozen times already this morning. But you haven't told me anything about it.' 'The Sun may shine here,' said Gimli, 'but there are memories of that road that I do not wish to recall out of the darkness. Had I known what was before me, I think that not for any friendship would I have taken the Paths of the Dead.' 'The Paths of the Dead?' said Pippin. 'I heard Aragorn say that and I wondered what he could mean. Won't you tell us some more?' 'Not willingly,' said Gimli. 'For upon that road I was put to shame: Gimli Gluin's son, who had deemed himself more tough than Men, and hardier under earth than any Elf. But neither did I prove; and I was held to the road only by the will of Aragorn.' 'And by the love of him also,' said Legolas. 'For all those who come to know him come to love him after his own fashion, even the cold maiden of the Rohirrim. It was at early morn of the day ere you came there, Merry, that we left Dunharrow, and such a fear was on all the folk that none would look on our going, save the Lady Jowyn, who lies now hurt in the House below. There was grief at that parting, and I was grieved to behold it.' 'Alas! I had heart only for myself,' said Gimli. 'Nay! I will not speak of that journey.' He fell silent; but Pippin and Merry were so eager for news that at ####-last Legolas said: 'I will tell you enough for your peace; for I felt not the horror, and I feared not the shadows of Men, powerless and frail as I deemed them.' Swiftly then he told of the haunted road under the mountains, and the dark tryst at Erech, and the gr eat ride thence, ninety leagues and three, to Pelargir on Anduin. 'Four days and nights, and on into a fifth, we rode from the Black Stone,' he said. 'And lo! in the darkness of Mordor my hope rose; for in that gloom the Shadow Host seemed to grow stronger and more terrible to look upon. Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them. 'At his command they fell back. "Even the shades of Men are obedient to his will," I thought. "They may serve his needs yet! " 'One day of light we rode, and then came the day without dawn, a nd still we rode on, and Ciril and Ringlu we crossed; and on the third day we came to Linhir above the mouth of Gilrain. And there men of Lamedon contested the fords with fell folk of Umbar and Harad who had sailed up the river. But defenders and foes alike gave up the battle and fled when we came, crying out that the King of the Dead was upon them. Only Angbor, Lord of Lamedon, had the heart to abide us; and Aragorn bade him gather his folk and come behind, if they dared, when the Grey Host had passed. ' "At Pelargir the Heir of Isildur will have need of you," he said. 'Thus we crossed over Gilrain, driving the allies of Mordor in rout before us; and then we rested a while. But soon Aragorn arose, saying: "Lo! already Mina s Tirith is assailed. I fear that it will fall ere we come to its aid." So we mounted again before night had passed and went on with all the speed that our horses could endure over the plains of Lebennin.' Legolas paused and sighed, and turning his eyes southward softly he sang: Silver flow the streams from Celos to Erui In the green fields of Lebennin! Tall grows the grass there. In the wind from the Sea The white lilies sway, And the golden bells are shaken of mallos and alfirin In the green fields of Lebennin, In the wind from the Sea!####- 'Green are those fields in the songs of my people; but they were dark then, grey wastes in the blackness before us. And over the wide land, trampling unheeded the grass and the flowers, we hunted our foes through a day and a night, until we came at the bitter end to the Great River at last. 'Then I thought in my heart that we drew near to the Sea; for wide was the water in the darkness, and sea -birds innumerable cried on its, shores. Alas for the wailing of the gulls! Did not the Lady tell me to beware of them? And now I cannot forget them.' 'For my part I heeded them not,' said Gimli; 'for we came then at last upon battle in earnest. There at Pelargir lay the main fleet of Umbar, fifty great ships and smaller vessels beyond count. Many of those that we pursued had reached the havens before us, and brought their fear with them; and some of the ships had put off, seeking to escape down the River or to reach the far shore; and many of the smaller craft were ablaze. But the Haradrim, being now driven to the brink, turned at bay, and they were fierce in despair; and they laughed when they looked on us, for they were a great army still. 'But Aragorn halted and cried with a great voice: "Now come! By the Black Stone I call you! " And suddenly the Shadow Host that had hung back at the last came up like a grey tide, sweeping all away before it. Faint cries I heard, and dim horns b lowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices: it was like the echo of some forgotten battle in the Dark Years long ago. Pale swords were drawn; but I know not whether their blades would still bite, for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them. 'To every ship they came that was drawn up, and then they passed over the water to those that were anchored; and all the mariners were filled with a madness of terror and leaped overboard, save the slaves chained to the oars. Reckless we rode among our fleeing foes, driving them like leaves, until we came to the shore. And then to each of the great ships that remained Aragorn sent one of the D®nedain, and they comforted the captives that were aboard, and bade them put aside fear and be free. 'Ere that dark day ended none of the enemy were left to resist us all were drowned, or were flying south in the hope to find their own lands upon foot. Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!' 'Strange indeed,' said Legolas. 'In that hour I looked on Aragorn and ####-thought how great and terrible a Lord he might have become in the strength of his will, had he taken the Ring to himself. Not for naught does Mordor fear him. But nobler is his spirit than the understanding of Sauron; for is he not of the children of L®thien? Never shall that line fail, though the years may lengthen beyond count.' 'Beyond the eyes of the Dwarves are such foretellings,' said Gimli. 'But mighty indeed was Aragorn that day. Lo! all the black fleet was in his hands; and he chose the greatest ship to be his own, and he went up into it. Then he let sound a great concourse of trumpets taken from the enemy; and the Shadow Host withdrew to the shore. There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning. And Aragorn spoke in a loud voice to the Dead Men, crying: ' "Hear now the words of the Heir of Isildur! Your oath is fulfilled. Go back and trouble not the valleys ever again! Depart and be at rest! " 'And thereupon the King of the Dead stood out before the host and broke his spear and cast it down. Then he bowed low and turned away; and swiftly the whole grey host drew off and vanished like a mist that is driven back by a sudden wind; and it seemed to me that I awoke from a dream. 'That night we rested while others laboured. For there were many captives set free, and many slaves released who had been folk of Gondor taken in raids; and soon also there was a great gathering of men out of Lebennin and the Ethir, and Angbor of Lamedon came u p with all the horsemen that he could muster. Now that the fear of the Dead was removed they came to aid us and to look on the Heir of Isildur; for the rumour of that name had run like fire in the dark. 'And that is near the end of our tale. For during that evening and night many ships were made ready and manned; and in the morning the fleet set forth. Long past it now seems, yet it was but the morn of the day ere yesterday, the sixth since we rode from Dunharrow. But still Aragorn was driven by fear that time was too short. ' "It is forty leagues and two from Pelargir to the landings at the Harlond," he said. "Yet to the Harlond we must come tomorrow or fail utterly." 'The oars were now wielded by free men, and manfully they laboured; yet slowly we passed up the Great River, for we strove against its stream, and ####-though that is not swift down in the South, we had no help of wind. Heavy would my heart have been, for all our victory at the havens, if Legolas had not laughed suddenly. ' "Up with your beard, Durin's son! " he said. "For thus is it spoken: Oft hope is born, when all is forlorn." But what hope he saw from afar he would not tell. When night came it did but deepen the darkness, and our hearts were hot, for away in the North we saw a red glow under the cloud, and Aragorn said: "Minas Tirith is burning." 'But at midnight hope was indeed born anew. Sea -crafty men of the Ethir gazing southward spoke of a change coming with a fresh wind from the Sea. Long ere day the masted ships hoisted sail; and our speed grew, until dawn whitened the foam at our prows. And so it was, as you know, that we came in the third hour of the morning with a fair wind and the Sun unveiled, and we unfurled the great standard in battle. It was a great day and a great hour, whatever may come after.' 'Follow what may, great deeds are not lessened in worth,' said Legolas. 'Great deed was the riding of the Paths of the Dead, and great it shall remain, though none be left in Gondor to sing of it in the days that are to come.' 'And that may well befall,' said Gimli. 'For the faces of Aragorn and Gandalf are grave. Much I wonder what counsels they are taking in the tents there below. For my part, like Merry, I wish that with our victory the war was now over. Yet whatever is still to do, I hope to have a part in it, for the honour of the folk of the Lonely Mountain.' 'And I for the folk of the Great Wood,' said Legolas, 'and for the love of the Lord of the White Tree.' Then the companions fell silent, but a while they sat there in the high place, each busy with his own thoughts, while the Captains debated. When the Prince Imrahil had parted from Legolas and Gimli, at once he sent for Jomer; and he went down with him from the City, and they came to the tents of Aragorn that were set up on the field not far from the place where King Thjoden had fallen. And there they took counsel together with Gandalf and Aragorn and the sons of Elrond. 'My lords,' said Gandalf, 'listen to the words of the Steward of Gondor before he died: You may triumph on the fields of the Pelennor for a day, but against the Power that has now arisen there is no victory. I do not bid you despair, as he did, but to ponder the truth in these words.####- 'The Stones of Seeing do not lie, and not even the Lord of Barad-dyr can make them do so. He can, maybe, by his will choose what things shall be seen by weaker minds, or cause them to mistake the meaning of what they see. Nonetheless it cannot be doubted that when Denethor saw great forces arrayed against him in Mordor, and more still being gathered, he saw that which truly is. 'Hardly has our strength sufficed to beat off the first grea t assault. The next will be greater. This war then is without final hope, as Denethor perceived. Victory cannot be achieved by arms, whether you sit here to endure siege after siege, or march out to be overwhelmed beyond the River. You have only a choice of evils; and prudence would counsel you to strengthen such strong places as you have, and there await the onset; for so shall the time before your end be made a little longer.' 'Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith, or Dol Amroth, or to Dunharrow, and there sit like children on sand-castles when the tide is flowing?' said Imrahil. 'That would be no new counsel,' said Gandalf. 'Have you not done this and little more in all the days of Denethor? But no! I sa id this would be prudent. I do not counsel prudence. I said victory could not be achieved by arms. I still hope for victory, but not by arms. For into the midst of all these policies comes the Ring of Power, the foundation of Barad-dyr, and the hope of Sauron. 'Concerning this thing, my lords, you now all know enough for the understanding of our plight, and of Sauron's. If he regains it, your valour is vain, and his victory will be swift and complete: so complete that none can foresee the end of it while this world lasts. If it is destroyed, then he will fall; and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed. 'Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours ####-to rule. 'Now Sauron knows all this, and he knows that this precious thing which he lost has been found again; but he does not yet know where it is, or so we hope. And therefore he is now in great doubt. For if we have found this thing, there are some among us with strength enough to wield it. That too he knows. For do I not guess rightly, Aragorn, that you have shown yourself to him in the Stone of Orthanc?' 'I did so ere I rode from the Hornburg,' answered Aragorn. 'I deemed that the time was ripe, and that the Stone had come to me for just such a purpose. It was then ten days since the Ring-bearer went east from Rauros, and the Eye of Sauron, I thought, should be drawn out from his own land. Too seldom has he been challenged since he returned to his Tower. Though if I had foreseen how swift would be his onset in answer, maybe I should not have dared to show myself. Bare time was given me to come to your aid.' 'But how is this?' asked Jomer. 'All is vain, you say, if he has the Ring. Why should he think it not vain to assail us, if we have it?' 'He is not yet sure,' said Gandalf, 'and he has not built up his power by waiting until his enemies are secure, as we have done. Also we could not learn how to wield the full power all in a day. Indeed it can be used only by one master alone, not by many; and he will look for a time of strife, ere one of the great among us makes himself master and puts down the others. In that time the Ring might aid him, if he were sudden. 'He is watching. He sees much and hears much. His Nazgyl are still abroad. They passed over this field ere the sunrise, though few of the weary and sleeping were aware of them. He studies the signs: the Sword that robbed him of his treasure re-made; the winds of fortune turning in our favour, and the defeat unlooked-for of his first assault the fall of his great Captain. 'His doubt will be growing, even as we speak here. His Eye is now straining towards us, blind almost to all else that is moving. So we must keep it. Therein lies all our hope. This, then, is my counsel. We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true peril. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be. 'As Aragorn has begun, so we must go on. We must push Sauron to his last throw. We must call out his hidden strength, so that he shall empty his ####-land. We must march out to meet him at once. We must make ourselves the bait, though his jaws should close on us. He will take that bait, in hope and in greed, for he will think that in such rashness he sees the pride of the new Ringlord: and he will say: "So! he pushes out his neck too soon and too far. Let him come on, and behold I will have him in a trap from which he cannot escape. There I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again for ever." 'We must walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but small hope for ourselves. For, my lords, it may well prove that we ourselves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from the living lands; so that even if Barad-dyr be thrown down, we shall not live to see a new age. But this, I deem, is our duty. And better so than to perish nonetheless - as we surely shall, if we sit here - and know as we die that no new age shall be.' They were silent for a while. At length Aragorn spoke. 'As I have begun, so I will go on. We come now to the very brink, where hope and despair are akin. To waver is to fall. Let none now reject the counsels of Gandalf, whose long labours against Sauron come at last to their test. But for him all would long ago have been lost. Nonetheless I do not yet claim to command any man. Let others choose as they will.' Then said Elrohir: 'From the North we came with this purpose, and from Elrond our father we brought this very counsel. We will not turn back.' 'As for myself,' said Jomer, 'I have little knowledge of these deep matters; but I need it not. This I know, and it is enough, that as my friend Aragorn succoured me and my people, so I will aid him when he calls. I will go.' 'As for me,' said Imrahil, 'the Lord Aragorn I hold to be my liege-lord, whether he claim it or no. His wish is to me a command. I will go also. Yet for a while I stand in the place of the Steward of Gondor, and it is mine to think first of its people. To prudence some heed must still be given. For we must prepare against all chances, good as well as evil. Now, it may be that we shall triumph, and while there is any hope of this, Gondor must be protected. I would not have us return with victory to a City in ruins and a land ravaged behind us. And yet we learn from the Rohirrim that there is an army still unfought upon our northern flank.' 'That is true,' said Gandalf. 'I do not counsel you to leave the City all unmanned. Indeed the force that we lead east need not be great enough for any assault in earnest upon Mordor, so long as it be great enough to ####-challenge battle. And it must move soon. Therefore I ask the Captains: what force could we muster and lead out in two days' time at the latest? And they must be hardy men that go willingly, knowing their peril.' 'All are weary, and very many have wounds light or grievous,' said Jomer, 'and we have suffered much loss of our horses, and that is ill to bear. If we must ride soon, then I cannot hope to lead even two thousands, and yet leave as ma ny for the defence of the City.' 'We have not only to reckon with those who fought on this field ' said Aragorn. 'New strength is on the way from the southern fiefs, now that the coasts have been rid. Four thousands I sent marching from Pelargir through Lossarnach two days ago; and Angbor the fearless rides before them. If we set out in two days more, they will draw nigh ere we depart. Moreover many were bidden to follow me up the River in any craft they could gather; and with this wind they will soon be at hand, indeed several ships have already come to the Harlond. I judge that we could lead out seven thousands of horse and foot, and yet leave the City in better defence than it was when the assault began.' 'The Gate is destroyed,' said Imrahil, 'and where now is the skill to rebuild it and set it up anew?' 'In Erebor in the Kingdom of Dbin there is such skill,' said Aragorn; 'and if all our hopes do not perish, then in time I will send Gimli Gluin's son to ask for wrights of the Mountain. But men are better than gates, and no gate will endure against our Enemy if men desert it.' This then was the end of the debate of the lords: that they should set forth on the second morning from that day with seven thousands, if these might be found; and the great part of this force should be on foot, because of the evil lands into which they would go. Aragorn should find some two thousands of those that he had gathered to him in the South; but Imrahil should find three and a half thousands; and Jomer five hundreds of the Rohirrim who were unhorsed but themselves warworthy, and he himself should lead five hundreds of his best Riders on horse; and another company of five hundred horse there should be, among which should ride the sons of Elrond with the D®nedain and the knights of Dol Amroth: all told six thousand foot and a thousand horse. But the main strength of the Rohirrim that remained horsed and able to fight, some three thousand under the command of Elfhelm, should waylay the West Road against the enemy that was in Anurien. And at ####-once swift riders were sent out to gather what news they could northwards; and eastwards from Osgiliath and the road to Minas Morgul. And when they had reck oned up all their strength and taken thought for the journeys they should make and the roads they should choose, Imrahil suddenly laughed aloud. 'Surely,' he cried, 'this is the greatest jest in all the history of Gondor: that we should ride with seven thousands, scarce as many as the vanguard of its army in the days of its power, to assail the mountains and the impenetrable gate of the Black Land! So might a child threaten a mail-clad knight with a bow of string and green willow! If the Dark Lord knows so much as you say, Mithrandir, will he not rather smile than fear, and with his little finger crush us like a fly that tries to sting him?' 'No, he will try to trap the fly and take the sting,' said Gandalf. 'And there are names among us that are worth more than a thousand mail -clad knights apiece. No, he will not smile.' 'Neither shall we,' said Aragorn. 'If this be jest, then it is too bitter for laughter. Nay, it is the last move in a great jeopardy, and for one side or the other it will bring the end of the game.' Then he drew And®ril and held it up glittering in the sun. 'You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought;' he said. ####- Two days later the army of the West was all assembled on the Pelennor. The host of Orcs and Easterlings had turned back out of Anurien, but harried and scattered by the Rohirrim they had broken and fled with little fighting towards Cair Andros; and with that threat destroyed and new strength arriving out of the South the City was as well manned as might be. Scouts reported that no enemies remained upon the roads east as far as the Cross-roads of the Fallen King. All now was ready for the last throw. Legolas and Gimli were to ride again together in the company of Aragorn and Gandalf, who went in the van with the D®nedain and the sons of Elrond. But Merry to his shame was not to go with them. 'You are not fit for such a journey,' said Aragorn. 'But do not be ashamed. If you do no more in this war, you have already earned great honour. Peregrin shall go and represent the Shirefolk; and do not grudge him his chance of peril, for though he has done as well as his fortune allowed him, he has yet to match your deed. But in truth all now are in like danger. Though it may be our part to find bitter end before the Gate of Mordor, if we do so, then you will come also to a last stand, either here or wherever the black tide overtakes you. Farewell!' And so despondently Merry now stood and watched the mustering of the army. Bergil was with him, and he also was downcast; for his father was to march leading a company of the Men of the City: he could not rejoin the Guard until his case was judged. In that same company Pippin was also to go, as a soldier of Gondor. Merry could see him not far off, a small but upright figure among the tall men of Minas Tirith. At last the trumpets rang and the army began to move. Troop by troop, and company by company, they wheeled and went off eastward. And long after they had passed away out of sight down the great road to the Causeway, Merry stood there. The last glint of the morning sun on spear and helm twinkled and was lost, and still he remained with bowed head and heavy heart, feeling friendless and alone. Everyone that he cared for had gone away into the gloom that hung over the distant eastern sky; and little hope at all was left in his heart that he wou ld ever see any of them again.####- As if recalled by his mood of despair, the pain in his arm returned, and he felt weak and old, and the sunlight seemed thin. He was roused by the touch of Bergil's hand. 'Come, Master Perian!' said the lad. 'You are still in pain, I see. I will help you back to the Healers. But do not fear! They will come back. The Men of Minas Tirith will never be overcome. And now they have the Lord Elfstone, and Beregond of the Guard too.' Ere noon the army came to Osgiliath. There all the workers and craftsmen that could be spared were busy. Some were strengthening the ferries and boat-bridges that the enemy had made and in part destroyed when they fled; some gathered stores and booty; and others on the eastern side across the River were throwing up hasty works of defence. The vanguard passed on through the ruins of Old Gondor, and over the wide River, and on up the long straight road that in the high days had been made to run from the fair Tower of the Sun to the tall Tower of the Moon, which now was Minas Morgul in its accursed vale. Five miles beyond Osgiliath they halted, ending their first day's march. But the horsemen pressed on and ere evening they came to the Cross-roads and the great ring of trees, and all was silent. No sign of any enemy had they seen, no cry or call had been heard, no shaft had sped from rock or thicket by the way, yet ever as they went forward they felt the watchfulness of the land increase. Tree and stone, blade and leaf were listening. The darkness had been dispelled, and far away westward sunset was on the Vale of Anduin, and the white peaks of the mountains blushed in the blue air; but a shadow and a gloom brooded upon the Ephel D®ath. Then Aragorn set trumpeters at each of the four roads that ran into the ring of trees, and they blew a great fanfare, and the heralds cried aloud: 'The Lords of Gondor have returned and all this land that is theirs they take back.' The hideous orc-head that was set upon the carven figure was cast down and broken in pieces, and the old king's head was raised and set in its place once more, still crowned with white and golden flowers: and men laboured to wash and pare away all the foul scrawls that orcs had put upon the stone. Now in their debate some had counselled that Minas Morgul should first be assailed, and if they might take it, it should be utterly destroyed. 'And, maybe,' said Imrahil, 'the road that leads thence to the pass above will prove an easier way of assault upon the Dark Lord than his northern ####-gate.' But against this Gandalf had spoken urgently, because of the evil that dwelt in the valley, where the minds of living men would turn to madness and horror, and because also of the news that Faramir had brought. For if the Ring-bearer had indeed attempted that way, then above all they should not draw the Eye of Mordor thither. So the next day when the main host came up, they set a strong guard upon the Cross-roads to make some defence, if Mordor should send a force over the Morgul Pass, or should bring more men up from the South. For that guard they chose mostly archers who knew the ways of Ithilien and would lie hid in the woods and slopes about the meeting of the ways. But Gandalf and Aragorn rode with the vanguard to the entrance of Morgul Vale and looked on the evil city. It was dark and lifeless; for the Orcs and lesser creatures of Mordor that had dwelt there had been destroyed in battle, and the Nazgyl were abroad. Yet the air of the valley was heavy with fear and enmity. Then they broke the evil bridge and set red flames in the noisome fields and departed. The day after, being the third day since they set out from Minas Tirith, the army began its northward march along the road. It was some hundred miles by that way from the Cross-roads to the Morannon, and what might befall them before they came so far none knew They went openly but heedfully, with mounted scouts before them on the road, and others on foot upon either side, especially on the eastward flank; for there lay dark thickets, and a tumbled land of rocky ghylls and crags, behind which the long grim slopes of the Ephel D®ath clambered up. The weather of the world remained fair and the wind held in the west, but nothing could waft away the glooms and the sad mists that clung about the Mountains of Shadow; and behind them at whiles great smokes would arise and hover in the upper winds. Ever and anon Gandalf let blow the trumpets, and the heralds would cry: "The Lords of Gondor are come! Let all leave this land or yield them up!' But Imrahil said: 'Say not The Lords of Gondor. Say The King Elessar. For that is true, even though he has not yet sat upon the throne; and it will give the Enemy more thought, if the heralds use that name.' And thereafter thrice a day the heralds proclaimed the coming of the King Elessar. But none answered the challenge. Nonetheless, though they marched in seeming peace, the hearts of all the army, from the highest to the lowest, were downcast, and with every mile that they went north foreboding of evil grew heavier on them. It was near ####-the end of the second day of their march from the Cross-roads that they first met any offer of battle. For a strong force of Orcs and Easterlings attempted to take their leading companies in an ambush; and that was in the very place where Faramir had waylaid the men of Harad, and the road went in a deep cutting through an out-thrust of the eastward hills. But the Captains of the West were well warned by their scouts, skilled men from Henneth Annyn led by Mablung; and so the ambush was itself trapped. For horsemen went wide about westward and came up on the flank of the enemy and from behind, and they were destroyed or driven east into the hills. But the victory did little to enhearten the captains. 'It is but a feint,' said Aragorn; 'and its chief purpose, I deem, was rather to draw us on by a false guess of our Enemy's weakness than to do us much hurt, yet.' And from that evening onward the Nazgyl came and followed every move of the army. They still flew high and out of sight of all save Legolas, and yet their presence could be felt, as a deepening of shadow and a dimming of the sun; and though the Ringwraiths did not yet stoop low upon their foes and were silent, uttering no cry, the dread of them could not be shaken off. So time and the hopeless journey wore away. Upon the fourth day from the Cross-roads and the sixth from Minas Tirith they came at last to the end of the living lands, and began to pass into the desolation that lay before the gates of the Pass of Cirith Gorgor; and they could descry the marshes and the desert that stretched north and west to the Emyn Muil. So desolate were those places and so deep the horror that lay on them that some of the host were unmanned, and they could neither walk nor ride further north. Aragorn looked at them, and there was pity in his eyes rather than wrath; for these were young men from Rohan, from Westfold far away, or husbandmen from Lossarnach, and to them Mordor had been from childhood a name of evil, and yet unreal, a legend that had no part in their simple life; and now they walked like men in a hideous dream made true, and they understood not this war nor why fate should lead them to such a pass. 'Go!' said Aragorn. 'But keep what honour you may, and do not run! And there is a task which you may attempt and so be not wholly shamed. Take your way south-west till you come to Cair Andros, and if that is still held by ####-enemies, as I think, then re-take it, if you can; and hold it to the last in defence of Gondor and Rohan!' Then some being shamed by his mercy overcame their fear and went on, and the others took new hope, hearing of a manful deed within their measure that they could turn to, and they departed. And so, since many men had already been left at the Cross-roads, it was with less than six thousands that the Captains of the West came at last to challenge the Black Gate and the might of Mordor. They advanced now slowly, expecting at every hour some answer to their challenge, and they drew together, since it was but waste of men to send out scouts or small parties from the main host. At nightfall of the fifth day of the march from Morgul Vale they made their last camp, and set fires about it of such dead wood and heath as they could find. They passed the hours of night in wakefulness and they were aware of many things half-seen that walked and prowled all about them, and they heard the howling of wolves. The wind had died and all the air seemed still. They could see little, for though it was cloudless and the waxing moon was four nights old, there were smokes and fumes that rose out of the earth and the white crescent was shrouded in the mists of Mordor. It grew cold. As morning came the wind bega n to stir again, but now it came from the North, and soon it freshened to a rising breeze. All the night-walkers were gone, and the land seemed empty. North amid their noisome pits lay the first of the great heaps and hills of slag and broken rock and blasted earth, the vomit of the maggot-folk of Mordor; but south and now near loomed the great rampart of Cirith Gorgor, and the Black Gate amidmost, and the two Towers of the Teeth tall and dark upon either side. For in their last march the Capta ins had turned away from the old road as it bent east, and avoided the peril of the lurking hills, and so now they were approaching the Morannon from the north-west, even as Frodo had done. The two vast iron doors of the Black Gate under its frowning arch were fast closed. Upon the battlement nothing could be seen. All was silent but watchful. They were come to the last end of their folly, and stood forlorn and chill in the grey light of early day before towers and walls which their army could not assault with hope, not even if it had brought thither engines of great power, and the Enemy had no more force than would suffice for the manning of the gate and wall alone. Yet they knew that all the hills and ####-rocks about the Morannon were filled with hidden foes, and the shadowy defile beyond was bored and tunnelled by teeming broods of evil things. And as they stood they saw all the Nazgyl gathered together, hovering above the Towers of the Teeth like vultures; and they knew that they were watched. But still the Enemy made no sign. No choice was left them but to play their part to its end. Therefore Aragorn now set the host in such array as could best be contrived; and they were drawn up on two great hills of blasted stone and earth that orcs had piled in years of labour. Before them towards Mordor lay like a moat a great mire of reeking mud and foul-smelling pools. When all was ordered, the Captains rode forth towards the Black Gate with a great guard of horsemen and the banner and heralds and trumpeters. There was Gandalf as chief herald, and Aragorn with the sons of Elrond, and Jomer of Rohan, and Imrahil; and Legolas and Gimli and Peregrin were bidden to go also, so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness. They came within cry of the Morannon, and unfurled the banner, and blew upon their trumpets; and the heralds stood out and sent their voices up over the battlement of Mordor. 'Come forth!' they cried. 'Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for his evils, and depart then for ever. Come forth!' There was a long silence, and from wall and gate no cry or sound was heard in answer. But Sauron had already laid his plans, and he had a mind first to play these mice cruelly before he struck to kill. So it was that, even as the Captains were about to turn away, the silence was broken suddenly. There came a long rolling of great drums like thunder in the mountains, and then a braying of horns that shook the very stones and stunned men's ears. And thereupon the middle door of the Black Gate was thrown open with a great clang, and out of it there came an embassy from the Dark Tower. At its head there rode a tall and evil shape, mounted upon a black horse, if horse it was; for it was huge and hideous, and its face was a frightful mask, more like a skull than a living head, and in the sockets of its eyes and in its nostrils there burned a flame. The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dyr he was, and his name is ####-remembered in no tale; for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: 'I am the Mouth of Sauron.' But it is told that he was a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black N®menureans; for they established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years of Sauron's domination, and they worshipped him, being enamoured of evil knowledge. And he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord's favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron; and he was more cruel than any orc. He it was that now rode out, and with him came only a small company of black-harnessed soldiery, a nd a single banner, black but bearing on it in red the Evil Eye. Now halting a few paces before the Captains of the West he looked them up and down and laughed. 'Is there anyone in this rout with authority to treat with me?' he asked. 'Or indeed with wit to understand me? Not thou at least!' he mocked, turning to Aragorn with scorn. 'It needs more to make a king than a piece of elvish glass, or a rabble such as this. Why, any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!' Aragorn said naught in answer, but he took the other's eye and held it, and for a moment they strove thus; but soon, though Aragorn did not stir nor move hand to weapon, the other quailed and gave back as if menaced with a blow. 'I am a herald and ambassador, a nd may not be assailed!' he cried. 'Where such laws hold,' said Gandalf, 'it is also the custom for ambassadors to use less insolence. But no one has threatened you. You have naught to fear from us, until your errand is done. But unless your master has come to new wisdom, then with all his servants you will be in great peril.' 'So!' said the Messenger. 'Then thou art the spokesman, old greybeard? Have we not heard of thee at whiles, and of thy wanderings, ever hatching plots a nd mischief at a safe distance? But this time thou hast stuck out thy nose too far, Master Gandalf; and thou shalt see what comes to him who sets his foolish webs before the feet of Sauron the Great. I have tokens that I was bidden to show to thee - to thee in especial, if thou shouldst dare to come.' He signed to one of his guards, and he came forward bearing a bundle swathed in black cloths. The Messenger put these aside, and there to the wonder and dismay of ####-all the Captains he held up first the short sword that Sam had carried, and next a grey cloak with an elven-brooch, and last the coat of mithril-mail that Frodo had worn wrapped in his tattered garments. A blackness came before their eyes, and it seemed to them in a moment of silence that the world stood still, but their hearts were dead and their last hope gone. Pippin who stood behind Prince Imrahil sprang forward with a cry of grief. 'Silence!' said Gandalf sternly, thrusting him back; but the Messenger laughed aloud. 'So you have yet another of these imps with you!' he cried. 'What use you find in them I cannot guess; but to send them as spies into Mordor is beyond even your accustomed folly. Still, I thank him, for it is plain that this brat at least has seen these tokens before, and it would be vain for you to deny them now.' 'I do not wish to deny them,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed, I know them all and all their history, and despite your scorn, foul Mouth of Sauron, you cannot say as much. But why do you bring them here?' 'Dwarf-coat, elf-cloak, blade of the downfallen West, and spy from the little rat-land of the Shire-nay; do not start! We know it well - here are the marks of a conspiracy. Now, maybe he that bore these things was a creature that you would not grieve to lose, and maybe otherwise: one dear to you, perhaps? If so, take swift counsel with what little wit is left to you. For Sauron does not love spies, and what his fate shall be depends now on your choice.' No one answered him; but he saw their faces grey with fear and the horror in their eyes, and he laughed again, for it seemed to him that his sport went well. 'Good, good!' he said. 'He was dear to you, I see. Or else his errand was one that you did not wish to fail? It has. And now he shall endure the slow torment of years, as long and slow as our arts in the Great Tower can contrive, and never be released, unless maybe when he is changed and broken, so that he may come to you, and you shall see what you have done. This shall surely be-unless you accept my Lord's terms.' 'Name the terms,' said Gandalf steadily, but those nearby saw the anguish in his face, and now he seemed an old and wizened man, crushed, defeated at la st. They did not doubt that he would accept. 'These are the terms,' said the Messenger, and smiled as he eyed them one by one. 'The rabble of Gondor and its deluded allies shall withdraw at once beyond the Anduin, first taking oaths never again to assail Sauron the ####-Great in arms, open or secret. All lands east of Anduin shall be Sauron's for ever, solely. West of the Anduin as far as the Misty Mountains and the Gap of Rohan shall be tributary to Mordor, and men there shall bear no weapons, but shall have leave to govern their own affairs. But they shall help to rebuild Isengard which they have wantonly destroyed, and that shall be Sauron's, and there his lieutenant shall dwell: not Saruman, but one more worthy of trust.' Looking in the Messenger's eyes they read his thought. He was to be that lieutenant, and gather all that remained of the West under his sway; he would be their tyrant and they his slaves. But Gandalf said: 'This is much to demand for the delivery of one servant: that your Master should receive in exchange what he must else fight many a war to gain! Or has the field of Gondor destroyed his hope in war, so that he falls to haggling? And if indeed we rated this prisoner so high, what surety have we that Sauron the Base Master of Treachery, will keep his part? Where is this prisoner? Let him be brought forth and yielded to us, and then we will consider these demands.' It seemed then to Gandalf, intent, watching him as a man engaged in fencing with a deadly foe, that for the taking of a breath the Messenger was at a loss; yet swiftly he laughed again. 'Do not bandy words in your insolence with the Mouth of Sauron!' he cried. 'Surety you crave! Sauron gives none. If you sue for his clemency you must first do his bidding. These are his terms. Take them or leave them!' 'These we will take!' said Gandalf suddenly. He cast aside his cloak and a white light shone forth like a sword in that black place. Before his upraised hand the foul Messenger recoiled, and Gandalf coming seized and took from him the tokens: coat, cloak, and sword. 'These we will take in memory of our friend,' he cried. 'But as for your terms, we reject them utterly. Get you gone, for your embassy is over and death is near to you. We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!' Then the Messenger of Mordor laughed no more. His face was twisted with amazement and anger to the likeness of some wild beast that, as it crouches on its prey, is smitten on the muzzle with a stinging rod. Rage filled him and his mouth slavered, and shapeless sounds of fury came strangling from his throat. But he looked at the fell faces of the Captains and their deadly eyes, and fear overcame his wrath. He gave a great cry, and turned, leaped ####-upon his steed, and with his company galloped madly back to Cirith Gorgor. But as they went his soldiers blew their horns in signal long arranged; and even before they came to the gate Sauron sprang his trap. Drums rolled and fires leaped up. The great doors of the Black Gate swung back wide. Out of it streamed a great host as swiftly as swirling waters when a sluice is lifted. The Captains mounted again and rode back, and from the host of Mordor there went up a jeering yell. Dust rose smothering the air, as from nearby there marched up an army of Easterlings that had waited for the signal in the shadows of Ered Lithui beyond the further Tower. Down from the hills on either side of the Morannon poured Orcs innumerable. The men of the West were trapped, and soon. all about the grey mounds where they stood, forces ten times and more than ten times their match would ring them in a sea of enemies. Sauron had taken the proffered bait in jaws of steel. Little time was left to Aragorn for the ordering of his battle. Upon the one hill he stood with Gandalf, and there fair and desperate was raised the ba nner of the Tree and Stars. Upon the other hill hard by stood the banners of Rohan and Dol Amroth, White Horse and Silver Swan. And about each hill a ring was made facing all ways, bristling with spear and sword. But in the front towards Mordor where the first bitter assault would come there stood the sons of Elrond on the left with the D®nedain about them, and on the right the Prince Imrahil with the men of Dol Amroth tall and fair, and picked men of the Tower of Guard. The wind blew, and the trumpets sang, and arrows whined; but the sun now climbing towards the South was veiled in the reeks of Mordor, and through a threatening haze it gleamed, remote, a sullen red, as if it were the ending of the day, or the end maybe of all the world of light. And out of the gathering mirk the Nazgyl came with. their cold voices crying words of death; and then all hope was quenched. Pippin had bowed crushed with horror when he heard Gandalf reject the terms and doom Frodo to the torment of the Tower; but he had mastered himself, and now he stood beside Beregond in the front rank of Gondor with Imrahil's men. For it seemed best to him to die soon and leave the bitter story of his life, since all was in ruin. 'I wish Merry was here,' he heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind, even as he watched the enemy come charging to the ####-assault. 'Well, well, now at any rate I understand poor Denethor a little better. We might die together, Merry and I, and since die we must, why not? Well, as he is not here, I hope he'll find an easier end. But now I must do my best.' He drew his sword and looked at it, and the intertwining shapes of red and gold; and the flowing characters of N®menor glinted like fire upon the blade. 'This was made for just such an hour,' he thought. 'If only I could smite that foul Messenger with it, then almost I should draw level with old Merry. Well, I'll smite some of this beastly brood before the end. I wish I could see cool sunlight and green grass again!' Then even as he thought these things the first assault crashed into them. The orcs hindered by the mires that lay before the hills halted and poured their arrows into the defending ranks. But through them there came striding up, roaring like beasts, a great company of hill-trolls out of Gorgoroth. Taller and broader than Men they were, and they were clad only in close-fitting mesh of horny scales, or maybe that was their hideous hide; but they bore round bucklers huge and black and wielded heavy hammers in their knotted hands. Reckless they sprang into the pools and waded across, bellowing as they came. Like a storm they broke upon the line of the men of Gondor, and beat upon helm and head, and arm and shield as smiths hewing the hot bending iron. At Pippin's side Beregond was stunned and overborne, and he fell; and the great troll-chief that smote him down bent over him, reaching out a clutching claw; for these fell creatures would bite the throats of those that they threw down. Then Pippin stabbed upwards, and the written blade of Westernesse pierced through the hide and went deep into the vitals of the troll, and his black blood came gushing out. He toppled forward and came crashing down like a falling rock, burying those beneath him. Blackness and stench and crushing pain came upon Pippin, and his mind fell away into a great darkness. 'So it ends as I guessed it would,' his thought said, even as it fluttered away; and it laughed a little within him ere it fled, almost gay it seemed to be casting off at last all doubt and care and fear. And then even as it winged away into forgetfulness it heard voices, and they seemed to be crying in some forgotten world far above: 'The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!' For one moment more Pippin's thought hovered. 'Bilbo!' it said. 'But ####-no! That came in his tale, long long ago. This is my tale, and it is ended now. Good-bye!' And his thought fled far away and his eyes saw no more.####- * BOOK VI * Sam roused himself painfully from the ground. For a moment he wondered where he was, and then all the misery and despair returned to him. He was in the deep dark outside the under -gate of the orcs' stronghold; its brazen doors were shut. He must have fallen stunned when he hurled himself against them; but how long he had lain there he did not know. Then he had been on fire, desperate and furious; now he was shivering and cold. He crept to the doors and pressed his ears against them. Far within he could hear faintly the voices of ores clamouring, but soon they stopped or passed out of hearing, and all was still. His head ached and his eyes saw phantom lights in the darkness, but he struggled to steady himself and think. It was clear at any rate that he had no hope of getting into the orc-hold by that gate; he might wait there for days before it was opened, and he could not wait: time was desperately precious. He no longer had any doubt about his duty: he must rescue his master or perish in the attempt. 'The perishing is more likely, and will be a lot easier anyway,' he said grimly to himself, as he sheathed Sting and turned from the brazen doors. Slowly he groped his way back in the dark along the tunnel, not daring to use the elven -light; and as he went he tried to fit together the events since Frodo and he had left the Cross-roads. He wondered what the time was. Somewhere between one day and the next, he supposed; but even of the days he had quite lost count. He was in a land of darkness where the days of the world seemed forgotten, and where all who entered were forgotten too. 'I wonder if they think of us at all,' he said, 'and what is happening to them all away there.' He waved his hand vaguely in the air before him; but he was in fact now facing southwards, as he came back to Shelob's tunnel, not west. Out westward in the world it was drawing to noon upon the fourteenth day of March in the Shire-reckoning. And even now Aragorn was leading the black fleet from Pelargir, and Merry was riding with the ####-Rohirrim down the Stonewain Valley, while in Minas Tirith flames were rising and Pippin watched the madness growing in the eyes of Denethor. Yet amid all their cares and fear the thoughts of their friends turned constantly to Frodo and Sam. They were not forgotten. But they were far beyond aid, and no thought could yet bring any help to Samwise Hamfast's son; he was utterly alone. He came back at last to the stone door of the orc-passage, and still unable to discover the catch or bolt that held it, he scrambled over as before and dropped softly to the ground. Then he made his way stealthily to the outlet of Shelob's tunnel, where the rags of her great web were still blowing and swaying in the cold airs. For cold they seemed to Sam after the noisome darkness behind; but the breath of them revived him. He crept cautiously out. All was ominously quiet. The light was no more than that of dusk at a dark day's end. The vast vapours that arose in Mordor and went streaming westward passed low overhead, a great welter of cloud and smoke now lit again beneath with a sullen glow of red. Sam looked up towards the orc-tower, and suddenly from its narrow windows lights stared out like small red eyes. He wondered if they were some signal. His fear of the orcs, forgot ten for a while in his wrath and desperation, now returned. As far as he could see, there was only one possible course for him to take: he must go on and try to find the main entrance to the dreadful tower; but his knees felt weak, and he found that he was trembling. Drawing his eyes down from the tower and the horns of the Cleft before him, he forced his unwilling feet to obey him, and slowly, listening with all his ears, peering into the dense shadows of the rocks beside the way, he retraced his steps, past the place where Frodo fell, and still the stench of Shelob lingered, and then on and up, until he stood again in the very cleft where he had put on the Ring and seen Shagrat's company go by. There he halted and sat down. For the moment he could drive himself no further. He felt that if once he went beyond the crown of the pass and took one step veritably down into the land of Mordor, that step would be irrevocable. He could never come back. Without a ny clear purpose he drew out the Ring and put it on again. Immediately he felt the great burden of its weight, and felt afresh, but now more strong and urgent than ever, the ####-malice of the Eye of Mordor, searching, trying to pierce the shadows that it had made for its own defence, but which now hindered it in its unquiet and doubt. As before, Sam found that his hearing was sharpened, but that to his sight the things of this world seemed thin and vague. The rocky walls of the path were pale , as if seen through a mist, but still at a distance he heard the bubbling of Shelob in her misery: and harsh and clear, and very close it seemed, he heard cries and the clash of metal. He sprang to his feet, and pressed himself against the wall beside the road. He was glad of the Ring, for here was yet another company of orcs on the march. Or so at first he thought. Then suddenly he realized that it was not so, his hearing had deceived him: the orc-cries came from the tower, whose topmost horn was now right above him, on the left hand of the Cleft. Sam shuddered and tried to force himself to move. There was plainly some devilry going on. Perhaps in spite of all orders the cruelty of the orcs had mastered them, and they were tormenting Frodo, or even savagely hacking him to pieces. He listened; and as he did a gleam of hope came to him. There could not be much doubt: there was fighting in the tower, the orcs must be at war among themselves, Shagrat and Gorbag had come to blows. Faint as was the hope that his guess brought him, it was enough to rouse him. There might be just a chance. His love for Frodo rose above all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud: 'I'm coming, Mr. Frodo!' He ran forward to the climbing path, and over it. At once the road turned left and plunged steeply down. Sam had crossed into Mordor. He took off the Ring, moved it may be by some deep premonition of danger, though to himself he thought only that he wished to see more clearly. `Better have a look at the worst,' he muttered. `No good blundering about in a fog!' Hard and cruel and bitter was the land that met his gaze. Before his feet the highest ridge of the Ephel D®ath fell steeply in great cliffs down into a dark trough, on the further side of which there rose another ridge, much lower, its edge notched and jagged with crags like fangs that stood out black against the red light behind them: it was the grim Morgai, the inner ring of the fences of the land. Far beyond it, but almost straight ahead,####-across a wide lake of darkness dotted with tiny fires, there was a great burning glow; and from it rose in huge columns a swirling smoke, dusty red at the roots, black above where it merged into the billowing canopy that roofed in all the accursed land. Sam was looking at Orodruin, the Mountain of Fire. Ever and anon the furnaces far below its ashen cone would grow hot and with a great surging and throbbing pour forth rivers of molten rock from chasms in its sides. Some would flow blazing towards Barad-dyr down great channels; some would wind their way into the stony plain, until they cooled and lay like twisted dragon-shapes vomited from the tormented earth . In such an hour of labour Sam beheld Mount Doom, and the light of it, cut off by the high screen of the Ephel D®ath from those who climbed up the path from the West, now glared against the stark rock faces, so that they seemed to be drenched with blood. In that dreadful light Sam stood aghast, for now, looking to his left, he could see the Tower of Cirith Ungol in all its strength. The horn that he had seen from the other side was only its topmost turret. Its eastern face stood up in three great tiers from a shelf in the mountain-wall far below; its back was to a great cliff behind, from which it jutted out in pointed bastions, one above the other, diminishing as they rose, with sheer sides of cunning masonry that looked north-east and south-east. About the lowest tier, two hundred feet below where Sam now stood, there was a battlemented wall enclosing a narrow court. Its gate, upon the near south-eastern side, opened on a broad road, the outer parapet of which ran upon the brink of a precipice, until it turned southward and went winding down into the darkness to join the road that came over the Morgul Pass. Then on it went through a jagged rift in the Morgai out into the valley of Gorgoroth and away to Barad-dyr. The narrow upper way on which Sam stood leapt swiftly down by stair and steep path to meet the main road under the frowning walls close to the Tower -gate. As he gazed at it suddenly Sam understood, almost with a shock, that this stronghold had been built not to keep enemies out of Mordor, but to keep them in. It was indeed one of the works of Gondor long ago, an eastern outpost of the defences of Ithilien, made when, after the Last Alliance, Men of Westernesse kept watch on the evil land of Sauron where his creatures ####-still lurked. But as with Narchost and Carchost, the Towers of the Teeth, so here too the vigilance had failed, and treachery had yielded up the Tower to the Lord of the Ringwraiths, and now for long years it had been held by evil things. Since his return to Mordor, Sauron had found it useful; for he had few servants but many slaves of fear, and still its chief purpose as of old was to prevent escape from Mordor. Though if an enemy were so rash as to try to enter that land secretly, then it was also a last unsleeping guard against any that might pass the vigilance of Morgul and of Shelob. Only too clearly Sam saw how hopeless it would be for him to creep down under those many-eyed walls and pass the watchful gate. And even if he did so, he could not go far on the guarded road beyond: not even the black shadows, lying deep where the red glow could not reach, would shield him long from the night-eyed orcs. But desperate as that road might be, his task was now far worse: not to avoid the gate and escape, but to enter it, alone. His thought turned to the Ring, but there was no comfort there, only dread and danger. No sooner had he come in sight of Mount Doom, burning far away, than he was aware of a cha nge in his burden. As it drew near the great furnaces where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged, the Ring's power grew, and it became more fell, untameable save by some mighty will. As Sam stood there, even though the Ring was not on him but hanging by its chain about his neck, he felt himself enlarged, as if he were robed in a huge distorted shadow of himself, a vast and ominous threat halted upon the walls of Mordor. He felt that he had from now on only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him; or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad-dyr. And then all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be. In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough ####-to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command. 'And anyway all these notions are only a trick,' he said to himself. 'He'd spot me and cow me, before I could so much as shou t out. He'd spot me, pretty quick, if I put the Ring on now, in Mordor. Well, all I can say is: things look as hopeless as a frost in spring. Just when being invisible would be really useful, I can't use the Ring! And if ever I get any further, it's going to be nothing but a drag and a burden every step. So what's to be done?' He was not really in any doubt. He knew that he must go down to the gate and not linger any more. With a shrug of his shoulders, as if to shake off the shadow and dismiss the phantoms, he began slowly to descend. With each step he seemed to diminish. He had not gone far before he had shrunk again to a very small and frightened hobbit. He was now passing under the very walls of the Tower, and the cries and sounds of fighting could be heard with his unaided ears. At the moment the noise seemed to be coming from the court behind the outer wall. Sam was about half way down the path when out of the dark gateway into the red glow there came two orcs running . They did not turn towards him. They were making for the main road; but even as they ran they stumbled and fell to the ground and lay still. Sam had seen no arrows, but he guessed that the orcs had been shot down by others on the battlements or hidden in the shadow of the gate. He went on, hugging the wall on his left. One look upward had shown him that there was no hope of climbing it. The stone-work rose thirty feet, without a crack or ledge, to overhanging courses like inverted steps. The gate was the only way. He crept on; and as he went he wondered how many orcs lived in the Tower with Shagrat, and how many Gorbag had, and what they were quarrelling about, if that was what was happening. Shagrat's company had seemed to be about forty, and Gorbag's more than twice as large; but of course Shagrat's patrol had only been a part of his garrison. Almost certainly they were quarrelling about Frodo, and the spoil. For a second Sam halted, for suddenly things seemed clear to him, almost as if he had seen them with his ####-eyes. The mithril coat! Of course, Frodo was wearing it, and they would find it. And from what Sam had heard Gorbag would covet it. But the orders of the Dark Tower were at present Frodo's only protection, and if they were set aside, Frodo might be killed out of hand at any moment. 'Come on, you miserable sluggard!' Sam cried to himself. `Now for it!' He drew Sting and ran towards the open gate. But just as he was about to pass under its great arch he felt a shock: as if he had run into some web like Shelob's, only invisible. He could see no obstacle, but something too strong for his will to overcome barred the way. He looked about, and then within the shadow of the gate he saw the Two Watchers. They were like great figures seated upon thrones. Each had three joined bodies, and three heads facing outward, and inward, and across the gateway. The heads had vulture-faces, and on their great knees were laid clawlike hands. They seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone, immovable, and yet they were aware: some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance abode in them. They knew an enemy. Visible or invisible none could pass unheeded. They would forbid his entry, or his escape. Hardening his will Sam thrust forward once again, and halted with a jerk, staggering as if from a blow upon his breast and head. Then greatly daring, because he could think of nothing else to do, answering a sudden thought that came to him, he drew slowly out the phial of Galadriel and held it up. Its white light quickened swiftly, and the shadows under the dark arch fled. The monstrous Watchers sat there cold and still, revealed in all their hideous shape. For a moment Sam caught a glitter in the black stones of their eyes, the very malice of which made him quail; but slowly he felt their will waver and crumble into fear. He sprang past them; but even as he did so, thrusting the phial back into his bosom, he was aware, as plainly as if a bar of steel had snapped to behind him, that their vigilance was renewed. And from those evil heads there came a high shrill cry that echoed in the towering walls before him. Far up above, like an answering signal, a harsh bell clanged a single stroke.'That's done it!' said Sam. `Now I've rung the front-door bell! Well, come on somebody!' he cried. `Tell Captain Shagrat that the great Elf-warrior has called, with his elf-sword too!' There was no answer. Sam strode forward. Sting glittered blue in his ####-hand. The courtyard lay in deep shadow, but he could see that the pavement was strewn with bodies. Right at his feet were two orc-archers with knives sticking in their backs. Beyond lay many more shapes; some singly as they had been hewn down or shot; others in pairs, still grappling one another, dead in the very throes of stabbing, throttling, biting. The stones were slippery with dark blood. Two liveries Sam noticed, one marked by the Red Eye, the other by a Moon disfigured with a ghastly face of death; but he did not stop to look more closely. Across the court a great door at the foot of the Tower stood half open, and a red light came through; a large orc lay dead upon the threshold. Sam sprang over the body and went in; and then he peered about at a loss. A wide and echoing passage led back from the door towards the mountain-side. It was dimly lit with torches flaring in brackets on the walls, but its distant end was lost in gloom. Many doors and openings could be seen on this side and that; but it was empty save for two or three more bodies sprawling on the floor. From what he had heard of the captains' talk Sam knew that, dead or alive, Frodo would most likely be found in a chamber high up in the turret far above; but he might search for a day before he found the way. 'It'll be near the back, I guess,' Sam muttered. `The whole Tower climbs backwards-like. And anyway I'd better follow these lights.' He advanced down the passage, but slowly now, each step more reluctant. Terror was beginning to grip him again. There was no sound save the rap of his feet, which seemed to grow to an echoing noise, like the slapping of great hands upon the stones. The dead bodies: the emptiness; the dank black walls that in the torchlight seemed to drip with blood; the fear of sudden death lurking in doorway or shadow; and behind all his mind the waiting watchful malice at the gate: it was almost more than he could screw himself to face. He would have welcomed a fight-with not too many enemies at a time - rather than this hideous brooding uncertainty. He forced himself to think of Frodo, lying bound or in pain or dead somewhere in this dreadful place. He went on. He had passed beyond the torchlight, almost to a great arched door at the end of the passage, the inner side of the under gate, as he rightly guessed, when there came from high above a dreadful choking shriek. He stopped short. Then he heard feet coming. Someone was running in great haste ####-down an echoing stairway overhead. His will was too weak and slow to restrain his hand. It dragged at the chain and clutched the Ring. But Sam did not put it on; for even as he clasped it to his breast, an orc came clattering down. Leaping out of a dark opening at the right, it ran towards him. It was no more than six paces from him when, lifting its head, it saw him; and Sam could hear its gasping breath and see the glare in its bloodshot eyes. It stopped short aghast. For what it saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power and doom. For a moment the orc crouched, and then with a hideous yelp of fear it turned and fled back as it had come. Never was any dog more heartened when its enemy turned tail than Sam at this unexpected flight. With a shout he gave chase. `Yes! The Elf-warrior is loose!' he cried. 'I'm coming. Just you show me the way up, or I'll skin you! ' But the orc was in its own haunts, nimble and well -fed. Sam was a stranger, hungry and weary. The stairs were high and steep and winding. Sam's breath began to come in gasps. The orc had soon passed out of sight, and now only faintly could be heard the slapping of its feet as it went on and up. Every now and again it gave a yell, and the echo ran along the walls. But slowly all sound of it died away. Sam plodded on. He felt that he was on the right road, and his spirits had risen a good deal. He thrust the Ring away and tightened his belt. `Well, well!' he said. `If only they all take such a dislike to me and my Sting, this may turn out better than I hoped. And anyway it looks as if Shagrat, Gorbag, and company have done nearly all my job for me. Except for that little frightened rat, I do believe there's nobody left alive in the place!' And with that he stopped, brought up hard, as if he had hit his head against the stone wall. The full meaning of what he had said struck him like a blow. Nobody left alive! Whose had been that horrible dying shriek? `Frodo, Frodo! Master!' he cried half sobbing. 'If they've killed you, what shall I do? Well, I'm coming at last, right to the top, to see what I must.' ####- Up, up he went. It was dark save for an occasional torch flaring at a turn, or beside some opening that led into the higher levels of the Tower. Sam tried to count the steps, but after two hundred he lost his reckoning. He was moving quietly now: for he thought that he could hear the sound of voices talking, still some way above. More than one rat remained alive, it seemed. All at once, when he felt that he could pump out no more breath, nor force his knees to bend again, the stair ended. He stood still. The voices were now loud and near. Sam peered about. He had climbed right to the flat roof of the third and highest tier of the Tower: an open space, about twenty yards across, with a low parapet. There the stair was covered by a small domed chamber in the midst of the roof, with low doors facing east and west. Eastward Sam could see the plain of Mordor vast and dark below, and the burning mountain far away. A fresh turmoil was surging in its deep wells, and the rivers of fire blazed so fiercely that even at this distance of many miles the light of them lit the tower -top with a red glare. Westward the view was blocked by the base of the great turret that stood at the back of this upper court and reared its horn high above the crest of the encircling hills. Light gleamed in a window-slit. Its door was not ten yards from where Sam stood. It was open but dark, and from just within its shadow the voices came. At first Sam did not listen; he took a pace out of the eastward door and looked about. At once he saw that up here the fighting had been fiercest. All the court was choked with dead orcs or their severed and scattered heads and limbs. The place stank of death. A snarl followed by a blow and a cry sent him darting back into hiding. An orc-voice rose in anger, and he knew it again at once, harsh, brutal, cold. It was Shagrat speaking, Captain of the Tower. `You won't go again, you say? Curse you, Snaga, you little maggot! If you think I'm so damaged that it's safe to flout me, you're mistaken Come here, and I'll squeeze your eyes out, like I did to Radbug just now. And when some new lads come, I'll deal with you: I'll send you to Shelob.' `They won't come, not before you're dead anyway,' answered Snaga surlily. 'I've told you twice that Gorbag's swine got to the gate first, and none of ours got out. Lagduf and Muzgash ran through, but they were shot. I saw it from a window, I tell you. And they wer e the last.' 'Then you must go. I must stay here anyway. But I'm hurt. The Black ####-Pits take that filthy rebel Gorbag!' Shagrat's voice trailed off into a string of foul names and curses. `I gave him better than I got, but he knifed me, the dung, before I throttled him. You must go, or I'll eat you. News must get through to Lugb®rz, or we'll both be for the Black Pits. Yes, you too. You won't escape by skulking here.' `I'm not going down those stairs again,' growled Snaga, `be you captain or no. Nar! Keep your hands off your knife, or I'll put an arrow in your guts. You won't be a captain long when They hear about all these goings-on. I've fought for the Tower against those stinking Morgul-rats, but a nice mess you two precious captains have made of things, fighting over the swag.' 'That's enough from you,' snarled Shagrat. `I had my orders. It was Gorbag started it, trying to pinch that pretty shirt.' `Well, you put his back up, being so high and mighty. And he had more sense than you anyway. He told you more than once that the most dangerous of these spies was still loose, and you wouldn't listen. And you won't listen now. Gorbag was right, I tell you. There's a great fighter about, one of those bloody-handed Elves, or one of the filthy tarks.1 He's coming here, I tell you. You heard the bell. He's got past the Watchers, and that's tark's work. He's on the stairs. And until he's off them, I'm not going down. Not if you were a Nazgyl, I wouldn't.' `So that's it, is it?' yelled Shagrat. 'You'll do this, and you'll not do that? And when he does come, you'll bolt and leave me? No, you won't! I'll put red maggot-holes in your belly first.' Out of the turret-door the smaller orc came flying. Behind him came Shagrat, a large orc with long arms that, as he ran crouching, reached to the ground. But one arm hung limp and seemed to be bleeding; the other hugged a large black bundle. In the red glare Sam, cowering behind the stair-door, caught a glimpse of his evil face as it passed: it was scored as if by rending claws and smeared with blood; slaver dripped from its protruding fangs; the mouth snarled like an animal. As far as Sam could see, Shagrat hunted Snaga round the roof, until ducking and eluding him the smaller orc with a yelp darted back into the turret and disappeared. Then Shagrat halted. Out of the eastward door Sam could see him now by the parapet, panting, his left claw clenching and unclenching feebly. He put the bundle on the floor and with his right claw drew out a long red knife and spat on it. Going to the parapet he leaned over, looking down into the outer court far below. Twice he shouted but no ####-answer came. Suddenly, as Shagrat was stooped over the battlement, his back to the roof-top, Sam to his amazement saw that one of the sprawling bodies was moving. It was crawling. It put out a claw and clutched the bundle. It staggered up. In its other hand it held a broad-headed spear with a short broken haft. It was poised for a stabbing thrust. But at that very moment a hiss escaped its teeth, a gasp of pain or hate. Quick as a snake Shagrat slipped aside, twisted round, and drove his knife into his enemy 's throat. `Got you, Gorbag!' he cried. 'Not quite dead, eh? Well, I'll finish my job now.' He sprang on to the fallen body, and stamped and trampled it in his fury, stooping now and again to stab and slash it with his knife. Satisfied at last, he threw back his head and let out a horrible gurgling yell of triumph. Then he licked his knife, and put it between his teeth, and catching up the bundle he came loping towards the near door of the stairs. Sam had no time to think. He might have slipped out of the other door, but hardly without being seen; and he could not have played hide-and-seek with this hideous orc for long. He did what was probably the best thing he could have done. He sprang out to meet Shagrat with a shout. He was no longer holding the Ring, but it was there, a hidden power, a cowing menace to the slaves of Mordor; and in his hand was Sting, and its light smote the eyes of the orc like the glitter of cruel stars in the terrible elf-countries, the dream of which was a cold fear to all his kind. And Shagrat could not both fight and keep hold of his treasure. He stopped, growling, baring his fangs. Then once more, orc-fashion, he leapt aside, and as Sam sprang at him, using the heavy bundle as both shield and weapon, he thrust it hard into his enemy's face. Sam staggered, and before he could recover, Shagrat darted past and down the stairs. Sam ran after him, cursing, but he did not go far. Soon the thought of Frodo returned to him, and he remembered that the other orc had gone back into the turret. Here was another dreadful choice, and he had no time to ponder it. If Shagrat got away, he would soon get help and come back. But if Sam pursued him, the other orc might do some horrible deed up there. And anyway Sam might miss Shagrat or be killed by him. He turned quickly and ran back up the stairs. `Wrong again, I expect,' he sighed. `But it's my job to go right up to the top first, whatever happens afterwards.' Away below Shagrat went leaping down the stairs and out over the court and through the gate, bearing his precious burden. If Sam could have seen ####-him and known the grief that his escape would bring, he might have quailed. But now his mind was set on the last stage of his search. He came cautiously to the turret-door and stepped inside. It opened into darkness. But soon his staring eyes were aware of a dim light at his right hand. It came from an opening that led to another stairway, dark and narrow: it appeared to go winding up the turret along the inside of its round outer wall. A torch was glimmering from somewhere up above. Softly Sam began to climb. He came to the guttering torch, fixed above a door on his left that faced a window-slit looking out westward: one of the red eyes that he and Frodo had seen from down below by the tunnel's mouth. Quickly Sam passed the door and hurried on to the second storey, dreading at any moment to he attacked and to feel throttling fingers seize his throat from behind. He came next to a window looking east and another torch above the door to a passage through the middle of the turret. The door was open, the passage dark save for the glimmer of the torch and the red glare from outside filtering through the window-slit. But here the stair stopped and climbed no further. Sam crept into the passage. On either side there was a low door; both were closed and locked. There was no sound at all. `A dead end,' muttered Sam; `and after all my climb! This can't be the top of the tower. But what can I do now?' He ran back to the lower storey and tried the door. It would not move. He ran up again, and sweat began to trickle down his face. He felt that even minutes were precious, but one by one they escaped; and he could do nothing. He cared no longer for Shagrat or Snaga or any other orc that was ever spawned. He longed only for his master, for one sight of his face or one touch of his hand. At last, weary and feeling finally defeated, he sat on a step below the level of the passage-floor and bowed his head into his hands. It was quiet, horribly quiet. The torch, that was already burning low when he arrived, sputtered and went out; and he felt the darkness cover him like a tide. And then softly, to his own surprise, there at the vain end of his long journey and his grief, moved by what thought in his heart he could not tell, Sam began to sing. His voice sounded thin and quavering in the cold dark tower: the voice of a forlorn and weary hobbit that no listening orc could possibly mistake for the clear song of an Elven-lord. He murmured old childish tunes out of the Shire, and snatches of Mr. Bilbo's rhymes that came into his mind like ####-fleeting glimpses of the country of his home. And then suddenly new strength rose in him, and his voice rang out, while words of his own came unbidden to fit the simple tune. In western lands beneath the Sun the flowers may rise in Spring, the trees may bud, the wa ters run, the merry finches sing. Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night and swaying beeches bear the Elven-stars as jewels white amid their branching hair. Though here at journey's end I lie in darkness buried deep, beyond all towers strong and high, beyond all mountains steep, above all shadows rides the Sun and Stars for ever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell. `Beyond all towers strong and high,' he began again, and then he stopped short. He thought that he had heard a faint voice answering him. But now he could hear nothing. Yes, he could hear something, but not a voice. Footsteps were approaching. Now a door was being opened quietly in the passage above; the hinges creaked. Sam crouched down listening. The door closed with a dull thud; and then a snarling orc-voice rang out. 'Ho la! You up there, you dunghill rat! Stop your squeaking, or I'll come and deal with you. D'you hear?' There was no answer. 'All right,' growled Snaga. `But I'll come and have a look at you all the same, and see what you're up to.' The hinges creaked again, and Sam, now peering over the corner of the passage-threshold, saw a flicker of light in an open doorway, and the dim shape of an orc coming out. He seemed to be carrying a ladder. Suddenly the answer dawned on Sam: the topmost chamber was reached by a trap-door in the roof of the passage. Snaga thrust the ladder upwards, steadied it, and then ####-clambered out of sight. Sam heard a bolt drawn back. Then he heard the hideous voice speaking again. `You lie quiet, or you'll pay for it! You've not got long to live in peace, I guess; but if you don't want the fun to begin right now, keep your trap shut, see? There's a reminder for you!' There was a sound like the crack of a whip. At that rage blazed in Sam's heart to a sudden fury. He sprang up, ran, and went up the ladder like a cat. His head came out in the middle of the floor of a large round chamber. A red lamp hung from its roof; the westward window-slit was high and dark. Something was lying on the floor by the wall under the window, but over it a black orc-shape was straddled. It raised a whip a second time, but the blow never fell. With a cry Sam leapt across the floor, Sting in hand. The orc wheeled round, but before it could make a move Sam slashed its whip-hand from its arm. Howling with pain and fear but desperate the orc charged head-down at him. Sam's next blow went wide, and thrown off his balance he fell backwards, clutching at the orc as it stumbled over him. Before he could scramble up he heard a cry and a thud. The orc in its wild haste had tripped on the ladder -head and fallen through the open trap-door. Sam gave no more thought to it. He ran to the figure huddled on the floor. It was Frodo. He was naked, lying as if in a swoon on a heap of filthy rags: his arm was flung up, shielding his head, and across his side there ran an ugly whip-weal. `Frodo! Mr. Frodo, my dear!' cried Sam, tears almost blinding him. `It's Sam, I've come!' He half lifted his master and hugged him to his breast. Frodo opened his eyes. `Am I still dreaming?' he muttered. `But the other dreams were horrible.' `You're not dreaming at all, Master,' said Sam. `It's real. It's me. I've come.' `I can hardly believe it,' said Frodo, clutching him. `There was an orc with a whip, and then it turns into Sam! Then I wasn't dreaming after all when I heard that singing down below, and I tried to answer? Was it you?' 'It was indeed, Mr. Frodo. I'd given up hope, almost. I couldn't find you. Well, you have now, Sam, dear Sam, said Frodo, and he la back in Sam's ####-gentle arms, closing his eyes, like a child at rest when night-fears are driven away by some loved voice or hand. Sam felt that he could sit like that in endless happiness; but it was not allowed. It was not enough for him to find his master, he had still to try and save him. He kissed Frodo's forehead. `Come! Wake up Mr. Frodo!' he said, trying to sound as cheerful as he had when he drew back the curtains at Bag End on a summer's morning. Frodo sighed and sat up. `Where are we? How did I get here?' he asked. 'There's no time for tales till we get somewhere else, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. `But you're in the top of that tower you and me saw from away down by the tunnel before the orcs got you. How long ago that wa s I don't know. More than a day, I guess.' `Only that?' said Frodo. `It seems weeks. You must tell me all about it, if we get a chance. Something hit me, didn't it? And I fell into darkness and foul dreams, and woke and found that waking was worse. Orcs were all round me. I think they had just been pouring some horrible burning drink down my throat. My head grew clear, but I was aching and weary. They stripped me of everything; and then two great brutes came and questioned me, questioned me until I thought I should go mad, standing over me, gloating, fingering their knives. I'll never forget their claws and eyes.' `You won't, if you talk about them, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'And if we don't want to see them again, the sooner we get going the better. Can you walk?' `Yes, I can walk,' said Frodo, getting up slowly. 'I am not hurt Sam. Only I feel very tired, and I've a pain here.' He put his hand to the back of his neck above his left shoulder. He stood up, and it looked to Sam as if he was clothed in flame: his naked skin was scarlet in the light of the lamp above. Twice he paced across the floor. `That's better!' he said, his spirits rising a little. `I didn't dare to move when I was left alone, or one of the guards came. Until the yelling and fighting began. The two big brutes: they quarrelled, I think. Over me and my things. I lay here terrified. And then all went deadly quiet, and that was worse.' `Yes, they quarrelled, seemingly,' said Sam. (There must have been a couple of hundred of the dirty creatures in this place. A bit of a tall order for Sam Gamgee, as you might say. But they've done all the killing of themselves. That's lucky, but it's too long to make a song about, till we're ####-out of here. Now what's to be done? You can't go walking in the Black Land in naught but your skin, Mr. Frodo.' `They've taken everything, Sam,' said Frodo. `Everything I had. Do you understand? Everything!' He cowered on the floor again with bowed head, as his own words brought home to him the fullness of the disaster, and despair overwhelmed him. 'The quest has failed Sam. Even if we get out of here, we can't escape. Only Elves can escape. Away, away out of Middle-earth, far away over the Sea. If even that is wide enough to keep the Shadow out.' `No, not everything, Mr. Frodo. And it hasn't failed, not yet. I took it, Mr. Frodo, begging your pardon. And I've kept it safe. It's round my neck now, and a terrible burden it is, too.' Sam fumbled for the Ring and its chain. `But I suppose you must take it back.' Now it had come to it, Sam felt reluctant to give up the Ring and burden his master with it again. `You've got it?' gasped Frodo. `You've got it here? Sam, you're a marvel!' Then quickly and strangely his tone changed. `Give it to me!' he cried, standing up, holding out a trembling hand. `Give it me at once! You can't have it!' 'All right, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, rather startled. 'Here it is!' Slowly he drew the Ring out and passed the chain over his head. `But you're in the land of Mordor now, sir; and when you get out, you'll see the Fiery Mountain and all. You'll find the Ring very dangerous now, and very hard to bear. If it's too hard a job, I could share it with you, maybe?' `No, no!' cried Frodo, snatching the Ring and chain from Sam's hands. `No you won't, you thief!' He panted, staring at Sam with eyes wide with fear and enmity. Then suddenly, clasping the Ring in one clenched fist, he stood aghast. A mist seemed to clear from his eyes, and he passed a hand over his aching brow. The hideous vision had seemed so real to him, half bemused as he was still with wound and fear. Sam had changed before his very eyes into an orc again, leering and pawing at his treasure, a foul little creature with greedy eyes and slobbering mouth. But now the vision had passed. There was Sam kneeling before him, his face wrung with pain, as if he had been stabbed in the heart; tears welled from his eyes. 'O Sam!' cried Frodo. `What have I said? What have I done? Forgive me! After all you have done. It is the horrible power of the Ring. I wish it had never, never, been found. But don't mind me, Sam. I must carry the burden to the end. It can't be altered. You can't come between me and this doom.' 'That's all right, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, rubbing his sleeve across his ####-eyes. `I understand. But I can still help, can't I? I've got to get you out of here. At once, see! But first you want some clothes and gear and then some food. The clothes will be the easiest part. As we're in Mordor, we'd, best dress up Mordor -fashion; and anyway there isn't no choice. It'll have to be orc-stuff for you, Mr. Frodo, I'm afraid. And for me too. If we go together, we'd best match. Now put this round you!' Sam unclasped his grey cloak and cast it about Frodo's shoulders. Then unslinging his pack he laid it on the floor. He drew Sting from its sheath. Hardly a flicker was to be seen upon its blade. `I was forgetting this, Mr. Frodo,' he said. `No, they didn't get everything! You lent me Sting, if you remember, and the Lady's glass. I've got them both still. But lend them to me a little longer, Mr. Frodo. I must go and see what I can find. You stay here. Walk about a bit and ease your legs. I shan't be long. I shan't have to go far.' `Take care, Sam!' said Frodo. `And be quick! There may be orcs still alive, lurking in wait.' 'I've got to chance it,' said Sam. He stepped to the trap-door and slipped down the ladder. In a minute his head reappeared. He threw a long knife on the floor. `There's something that might be useful,' he said. 'He's dead: the one that whipped you. Broke his neck, it seems, in his hurry. Now you draw up the ladder, if you can, Mr. Frodo; and don't you let it down till you hear me call the password. Elbereth I'll call. What the Elves say. No orc would say that.' Frodo sat for a while and shivered, dreadful fears chasing one another through his mind. Then he got up, drew the grey elven-cloak about him, and to keep his mind occupied, began to walk to and fro, prying and peering into every corner of his prison. It was not very long, though fear made it seem an hour at least, before he heard Sam's voice calling softly from below: Elbereth, Elbereth . Frodo let down the light ladder. Up came Sam, puffing, heaving a great bundle on his head. He let it fall with a thud. `Quick now. Mr. Frodo!' he said. `I've had a bit of a search to find anything small enough for the likes of us. We'll have to make do. But we must hurry. I've met nothing alive, and I've seen nothing but I'm not easy. I think this place is being watched. I can't explain it, but well: it feels ####-to me as if one of those foul flying Riders was about, up in the blackness where he can't be seen.' He opened the bundle. Frodo looked in disgust at the contents, but there was nothing for it: he had to put the things on, or go naked. There were long hairy breeches of some unclean beast -fell, and a tunic of dirty leather. He drew them on. Over the tunic went a coat of stout ring-mail, short for a full-sized orc, too long for Frodo and heavy. About it he clasped a belt, at which there hung a short sheath holding a broad-bladed stabbing-sword. Sam had brought several orc-helmets. One of them fitted Frodo well enough, a black cap with iron rim, and iron hoops covered with leather upon which the evil Eye was painted in red above the beaklike nose-guard. `The Morgul-stuff, Gorbag's gear, was a better fit and better made,' said Sam; `but it wouldn't do, I guess, to go carrying his tokens into Mordor, not after this business here. Well, there you are, Mr. Frodo. A perfect little orc, if I may make so bold-at least you would be, if we could cover your face with a mask, give you longer arms, and make you bow-legged. This will hide some of the tell-tales.' He put a large black cloak round Frodo's shoulders. `Now you're ready! You can pick up a shield as we go.' 'What about you, Sam?' said Frodo. `Aren't we going to match?' `Well, Mr. Frodo, I've been thinking,' said Sam. 'I'd best not leave any of my stuff behind, and we can't destroy it. And I can't wear orc-mail over all my clothes, can I? I'll just have to cover up.' He knelt down and carefully folded his elven-cloak. It went into a surprisingly small roll. This he put into his pack that lay on the floor. Standing up, he slung it behind his back, put an orc-helm on his head, and cast another black cloak about his shoulders. `There!' he said. `Now we match, near enough. And now we must be off!' 'I can't go all the way at a run, Sam,' said Frodo with a wry smile. 'I hope you've made inquiries about inns along the road? Or have you forgotten about food and drink?' `Save me, but so I had!' said Sam. He whistled in dismay. 'Bless me, Mr. Frodo, but you've gone and made me that hungry and thirsty! I don't know when drop or morsel last passed my lips. I'd forgotten it, trying to find you. But let me think! Last time I looked I'd got about enough of that waybread, and of what Captain Faramir gave us, to keep me on my legs for a couple of weeks at a pinch. But if there's a drop left in my bottle, there's ####-no more. That's not going to be enough for two, nohow. Don't ores eat, and don't they drink? Or do they just live on foul air and poison?' `No, they eat and drink, Sam. The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it gave life to the ores, it only ruined them and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to live like other living creatures. Foul waters and foul meats they'll take, if they can get no better, but not poison. They've fed me, and so I'm better off than you. There must be food and water somewhere in this place.' `But there's no time to look for them,' said Sam. `Well, things are a bit better than you think,' said Frodo. 'I have had a bit of luck while you were away. Indeed they did not take everything. I've found my food-bag among some rags on the floor. They've rummaged it, of course. But I guess they disliked the very look and smell of the lembas, worse than Gollum did. It's scattered about and some of it is trampled and broken, but I've gathered it together. It's not far short of what you've got. But they've taken Faramir's food, and they've slashed up my water -bottle.' `Well, there's no more to be said,' said Sam. `We've got enough to start on. But the water's going to be a bad business. But come Mr. Frodo! Off we go, or a whole lake of it won't do us any good!' 'Not till you've had a mouthful, Sam,' said Frodo. `I won't budge. Here, take this elven-cake, and drink that last drop in your bottle! The whole thing is quite hopeless, so it's no good worrying about tomorrow. It probably won't come.' At last they started. Down the ladder they climbed, and then Sam took it and laid it in the passage beside the huddled body of the fallen orc. The stair was dark, but on the roof-top the glare of the Mountain could still be seen, though it was dying down now to a sullen red. They picked up two shields to complete their disguise and then went on. Down the great stairway they plodded. The high chamber of the turret behind, where they had met again, seemed almost homely: they were out in the open again now, and terror ran along the walls. All might be dead in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, but it was steeped in fear and evil still. At length they came to the door upon the outer court, and they halted. Even from where they stood they felt the malice of the Watchers beating on them, black silent shapes on either side of the gate through which the glare ####-of Mordor dimly showed. As they threaded their way among the hideous bodies of the ores each step became more difficult. Before they even reached the archway they were brought to a stand. To move an inch further was a pain and weariness to will and limb. Frodo had no strength for such a battle. He sank to the ground. `I can't go on, Sam,' he murmured. `I'm going to faint. I don't know what's come over me.' `I do, Mr. Frodo. Hold up now! It's the gate. There's some devilry there. But I got through, and I'm going to get out. It can't be more dangerous than before. Now for it!' Sam drew out the elven-glass of Galadriel again. As if to do honour to his hardihood, and to grace with splendour his faithful brown hobbit-hand that had done such deeds, the phial blazed forth suddenly, so that all the shadowy court was lit with a dazzling radiance like lightning; but it remained steady and did not pass. 'Gilthoniel, A Elbereth!' Sam cried. For, why he did not know, his thought sprang back suddenly to the Elves in the Shire, and the song that drove away the Black Rider in the trees. 'Aiya elenion ancalima!' cried Frodo once again behind him. The will of the Watchers was broken with a suddenness like the snapping of a cord, and Frodo and Sam stumbled forward. Then they ran. Through the gate and past the great seated figures with their glittering eyes. There was a crack. The keystone of the arch crashed almost on their heels, and the wall above crumbled, and fell in ruin. Only by a hair did they escape. A bell clanged; and from the Watchers there went up a high and dreadful wail. Far up above in the darkness it was answered . Out of the black sky there came dropping like a bolt a winged shape, rending the clouds with a ghastly shriek. ####- Sam had just wits enough left to thrust the phial back into his breast. 'Run, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'No, not that way! There's a sheer drop over the wall. Follow me!' Down the road from the gate they fled. In fifty paces, with a swift bend round a jutting bastion of the cliff, it took them out of sight from the Tower. They had escaped for the moment. Cowering back against the rock they drew breath, and then they clutched at their hearts. Perching now on the wall beside the ruined gate the Nazgyl sent out its deadly cries. All the cliffs echoed. In terror they stumbled on. Soon the road bent sharply eastward again and exposed them for a dreadful moment to view from the Tower. As they flitted across they glanced back and saw the great black shape upon the battlement; then they plunged down between high rock -walls in a cu tting that fell steeply to join the Morgul-road. They came to the way-meeting. There was still no sign of orcs, nor of an answer to the cry of the Nazgyl; but they knew that the silence would not last long. At any moment now the hunt would begin. 'This won't do, Sam,' said Frodo. 'If we were real orcs, we ought to be dashing back to the Tower, not running away. The first enemy we meet will know us. We must get off this road somehow.' 'But we can't,' said Sam, 'not without wings.' The eastern faces of the Ephel D®ath were sheer, falling in cliff and precipice to the black trough that lay between them and the inner ridge. A short way beyond the way-meeting, after another steep incline, a flying bridge of stone leapt over the chasm and bore the road across into the tumbled slopes and glens of the Morgai. With a desperate spurt Frodo and Sam dashed along the bridge; but they had hardly reached its further end when they heard the hue and cry begin. Away behind them, now high above on the mountain-side, loomed the Tower of Cirith Ungol, its stones glowing dully. Suddenly its harsh bell clanged again, and then broke into a shattering peal. Horns sounded. And now from beyond the bridge-end came answering cries. Down in the dark trough, cut off from the dying glare of Orodruin,####-Frodo and Sam could not see ahead, but already they heard the tramp of iron-shod feet, and upon the road there rang the swift clatter of hoofs. 'Quick, Sam! Over we go!' cried Frodo. They scrambled on to the low parapet of the bridge. Fortunately there was no longer any dreadful drop into the gulf, for the slopes of the Morgai had already risen almost to the level of the road; but it was too dark for them to guess the depth of the fall. 'Well, here goes, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'Good-bye!' He let go. Frodo followed. And even as they fell they heard the rush of horsemen sweeping over the bridge and the rattle of orc-feet running up behind. But Sam would have laughed, if he had dared. Half fearing a breaking plunge down on to unseen rocks the hobbits landed, in a drop of no more than a dozen feet, with a thud and a crunch into the last thing that they had expected: a tangle of thorny bushes. There Sam lay still, softly sucking a scratched hand. When the sound of hoof and foot had passed he ventured a whisper. 'Bless me, Mr. Frodo, but I didn't know as anything grew in Mordor! But if I had a'known, this is just what I'd have looked for. These thorns must be a foot long by the feel of them; they've stuck through everything I've got on. Wish I'd a'put that mail -shirt on!' 'Orc-mail doesn't keep these thorns out,' said Frodo. 'Not even a leather jerkin is any good.' They had a struggle to get out of the thicket. The thorns and briars were as tough as wire and as clinging as claws. Their cloaks were rent and tattered before they broke free at last. 'Now down we go, Sam,' Frodo whispered. 'Down into the valley quick , and then turn northward, as soon as ever we can.' Day was coming again in the world outside, and far beyond the glooms of Mordor the Sun was climbing over the eastern rim of Middle-earth; but here all was still dark as night. The Mountain smoulder ed and its fires went out. The glare faded from the cliffs. The easterly wind that had been blowing ever since they left Ithilien now seemed dead. Slowly and painfully they clambered down, groping, stumbling, scrambling among rock and briar and dead wood in the blind shadows, down and down until they could go no further. At length they stopped, and sat side by side, their backs against a boulder. Both were sweating. 'If Shagrat himself was to offer me a glass of ####-water, I'd shake his hand,' said Sam. 'Don't say such things!' said Frodo. 'It only makes it worse.' Then he stretched himself out, dizzy and weary, and he spoke no more for a while. At last with a struggle he got up again. To his amazement he found that Sam was asleep. 'Wake up, Sam!' he said. 'Come on! It's time we made another effort.' Sam scrambled to his feet. 'Well I never!' he said. 'I must have dropped off. It's a long time, Mr. Frodo, since I had a proper sleep, and my eyes just closed down on their own.' Frodo now led the way, northward as near as he could guess, among the stones and boulders lying thick at the bottom of the great ravine. But presently he stopped again. 'It's no good, Sam,' he said. 'I can't manage it. This mail-shirt, I mean. Not in my present state. Even my mithril-coat seemed heavy when I was tired. This is far heavier. And what's the use of it? We shan't win through by fighting.' 'But we may have some to do,' said Sam. 'And there's knives and stray arrows. That Gollum isn't dead, for one thing. I don't like to think of you with naught but a bit of leather between you and a stab in the dark.' 'Look here, Sam dear lad,' said Frodo: 'I am tired, weary, I haven't a hope left. But I have to go on trying to get to the Mountain, as long as I can move. The Ring is enough. This extra weight is killing me. It must go. But don't think I'm ungrateful. I hate to think of the foul work you must have had among the bodies to find it for me.' 'Don't talk about it, Mr. Frodo. Bless you! I'd carry you on my back, if I could. Let it go then!' Frodo laid aside his cloak and took off the orc-mail and flung it away. He shivered a little. 'What I really need is something warm,' he said. 'It's gone cold, or else I've caught a chill.' 'You can have my cloak, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. He unslung his pack and took out the elven-cloak. 'How's this, Mr. Frodo?' he said. 'You wrap that orc-rag close round you, and put the belt outside it. Then this can go over all. It don't look quite orc-fashion, but it'll keep you warmer; and I daresay it'll keep you from harm better than any other gear. It was made by the Lady.' Frodo took the cloak and fastened the brooch. 'That's better!' he said. 'I feel much lighter. I can go on now. But this blind dark seems to be ####-getting into my heart. As I lay in prison, Sam. I tried to remember the Brandywine, and Woody End, and The Water running through the mill at Hobbiton. But I can't see them now.' 'There now, Mr. Frodo, it's you that's talking of water this time!' said Sam. 'If only the Lady could see us or hear us, I'd say to her: (Your Ladyship, all we want is light and water: just clean water and plain daylight, better than any jewels, begging your pardon.( But it's a long way to Lurien.' Sam sighed and waved his hand towards the heights of the Ephel D®ath, now only to be guessed as a deeper blackness against the black sky. They started off again. They had not gone far when Frodo paused. 'There's a Black Rider over us,' he said. 'I can feel it. We had better keep still for a while.' Crouched under a great boulder they sat facing back westward and did not speak for some time. Then Frodo breathed a sigh of relief. 'It's passed,' he said. They stood up, and then they both stared in wonder. Away to their left, southward, against a sky that was turning grey, the peaks and high ridges of the great range began to appear dark and black, visible shapes. Light was growing behind them. Slowly it crept towards the North. There was battle far above in the high spaces of the air. The billowing clouds of Mordor were being driven back, their edges tattering as a wind out of the living world came up and swept the fumes and smokes towards the dark land of their home. Under the lifting skirts of the dreary canopy dim light leaked into Mordor like pale morning through the grimed window of a prison. 'Look at it, Mr. Frodo!' said Sam. 'Look at it! The wind's changed. Something's happening. He's not having it all his own way. His darkness is breaking up out in the world there. I wish I could see what is going on!' It was the morning of the fifteenth of March, and over the Vale of Anduin the Sun was rising above the eastern shadow, and the south-west wind was blowing. Thjoden lay dying on the Pelennor Fields. As Frodo and Sam stood and gazed, the rim of light spread all along the line of the Ephel D®ath, and then they saw a shape, moving at a great speed out of the West, at first only a black speck against the glimmering strip above the mountain-tops, but growing, until it plunged like a bolt into the dark canopy and passed high above them. As it went it sent out a long shrill cry, the voice of a Nazgyl; but this cry no longer held any terror for them: it was a cry of woe and dismay, ill tidings for the Dark Tower. The Lord of ####-the Ring-wraiths had met his doom. 'What did I tell you? Something's happening!' cried Sam. ' (The war's going well,( said Shagrat; but Gorbag he wasn't so sure. And he was right there too. Things are looking up, Mr. Frodo. Haven't you got some hope now?' 'Well no, not much, Sam,' Frodo sighed. 'That's away beyond the mountains. We're going east not west. And I'm so tired. And the Ring is so heavy, Sam. And I begin to see it in my mind all the time, like a great wheel of fire.' Sam's quick spirits sank again at once. He looked at his master anxiously, and he took his hand. 'Come, Mr. Frodo!' he said. 'I've got one thing I wanted: a bit of light. Enough to help us, and yet I guess it's dangerous too. Try a bit further, and then we'll lie close and have a rest. But take a morsel to eat now, a bit of the E lves' food; it may hearten you.' Sharing a wafer of lembas, and munching it as best they could with their parched mouths. Frodo and Sam plodded on. The light, though no more than a grey dusk, was now enough for them to see that they were deep in the valley between the mountains. It sloped up gently northward, and at its bottom went the bed of a now dry and withered stream. Beyond its stony course they saw a beaten path that wound its way under the feet of the westward cliffs. Had they known, they could have reached it quicker, for it was a track that left the main Morgul-road at the western bridge-end and went down by a long stair cut in the rock to the valley's bottom. It was used by patrols or by messengers going swiftly to lesser posts and strongholds north-away, between Cirith Ungol and the narrows of Isenmouthe, the iron jaws of Carach Angren. It was perilous for the hobbits to use such a path, but they needed speed, and Frodo felt that he could not face the toil of scrambling among the boulders or in the trackless glens of the Morgai. And he judged that northward was, maybe, the way that their hunters would least expect them to take. The road east to the plain, or the pass back westward, those they would first search most thoroughly. Only when he was well north of the Tower did he mean to turn and seek for some way to take him east, east on the last desperate stage of his journey. So now they crossed the stony bed and took to the orc-path, and for some time they marched along it. The cliffs at their left were overhung, and they could not be seen from above; but the path made many bends, and at each bend they gripped their sword-hilts and went forward cautiously.####- The light grew no stronger, for Orodruin was still belching forth a great fume that, beaten upwards by the opposing airs, mounted higher and higher, until it reached a region above the wind and spread in an immeasurable roof, whose central pillar rose out of the shadows beyond their view. They had trudged for more than an hour when they heard a sound that brought them to a halt. Unbelievable, but unmistakable. Water trickling. Out of a gully on the left, so sharp and narrow that it look ed as if the black cliff had been cloven by some huge axe, water came dripping down: the last remains, maybe, of some sweet rain gathered from sunlit seas, but ill-fated to fall at last upon the walls of the Black Land and wander fruitless down into the dust. Here it came out of the rock in a little falling streamlet, and flowed across the path, and turning south ran away swiftly to be lost among the dead stones. Sam sprang towards it. 'If ever I see the Lady again, I will tell her!' he cried . 'Light and now water!' Then he stopped. 'Let me drink first Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'All right, but there's room enough for two.' 'I didn't mean that,' said Sam. 'I mean: if it's poisonous, or something that will show its badness quick, well, better me than you, master, if you understand me.' 'I do. But I think we'll trust our luck together, Sam; or our blessing. Still, be careful now, if it's very cold!' The water was cool but not icy, and it had an unpleasant taste, a t once bitter and oily, or so they would have said at home. Here it seemed beyond all praise, and beyond fear or prudence. They drank their fill, and Sam replenished his water -bottle. After that Frodo felt easier, and they went on for several miles, until the broadening of the road and the beginnings of a rough wall along its edge warned them that they were drawing near to another orc-hold. 'This is where we turn aside, Sam,' said Frodo. 'And we must turn east.' He sighed as he looked a t the gloomy ridges across the valley. 'I have just about enough strength left to find some hole away up there. And then I must rest a little.' The river -bed was now some way below the path. They scrambled down to it, and began to cross it. To their surprise they came upon dark pools fed by threads of water trickling down from some source higher up the valley.####-Upon its outer marges under the westward mountains Mordor was a dying land, but it was not yet dead. And here things still grew, harsh, twisted, bitter, struggling for life. In the glens of the Morgai on the other side of the valley low scrubby trees lurked and clung, coarse grey grass-tussocks fought with the stones, and withered mosses crawled on them; and everywhere great writhing, tangled brambles sprawled. Some had long stabbing thorns, some hooked barbs that rent like knives. The sullen shrivelled leaves of a past year hung on them, grating and rattling in the sad airs, but their maggot-ridden buds were only just opening. Flies, dun or grey, or black, marked like ores with a red eye-shaped blotch, buzzed and stung; and above the briar-thickets clouds of hungry midges danced and reeled. 'Orc-gear's no good,' said Sam, waving his arms. 'I wish I'd got an orc's hide!' At last Frodo could go no further. They had climbed up a narrow shelving ravine, but they still had a long way to go before they could even come in sight of the last craggy ridge. 'I must rest now, Sam, and sleep if I can.' said Frodo. He looked about, but there seemed nowhere even for an animal to crawl into in this dismal country. At length, tired out, they slunk under a curtain of brambles that hung down like a mat over a low rock-face. There they sat and made such a meal as they could. Keeping back the precious lembas for the evil days ahead, they ate the half of what remained in Sam's bag of Faramir's provision: some dried fruit, and a small slip of cured meat; and they sipped some water. They had drunk again from the pools in the valley, but they were very, thirsty again. There was a bitter tang in the air of Mordor that dried the mouth. When Sam thought of water even his hopeful spirit quailed. Beyond the Morgai there was the dreadful plain of Gorgoroth to cross. 'Now you go to sleep first, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'It's getting dark again. I reckon this day is nearly over.' Frodo sighed and was asleep almost before the words were spoken. Sam struggled with his own weariness, and he took Frodo's hand; and there he sat silent till deep night fell. Then at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel D®ath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale.####-There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his masters, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side , and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep. They woke together, hand in hand. Sam was almost fresh, ready for another day; but Frodo sighed. His sleep had been uneasy, full of dreams of fire, and waking brought him no comfort. Still his sleep had not been without all healing virtue: he was stronger, more able to bear his burden one stage further. They did not know the time, nor how long they had slept; but after a morsel of food and a sip of water they went on up the ravine, until it ended in a sharp slope of screes and sliding stones. There the last living things gave up their struggle; the tops of the Morgai were grassless, bare, jagged, barren as a slate. After much wandering and search they found a way that they could climb, and with a last hundred feet of clawing scramble they were up. They came to a cleft between two dark crags, and passing through found themselves on the very edge of the last fence of Mordor. Below them, at the bottom of a fall of some fifteen hundred feet, lay the inner plain stretching away into a formless gloom beyond their sight. The wind of the world blew now from the West, and the great clouds were lifted high, floating away eastward; but still only a grey light came to the dreary fields of Gorgoroth. There smokes trailed on the ground and lurked in hollows, and fumes leaked from fissures in the earth. Still far away, forty miles at least, they saw Mount Doom, its feet founded in ashen ruin, its huge cone rising to a great height, where its reeking head was swathed in cloud. Its fires were now dimmed, and it stood in smouldering slumber, as threatening and dangerous as a sleeping beast. Behind it there hung a vast shadow, ominous as a thunder-cloud, the veils of Barad-dyr that was reared far way upon a long spur of the Ashen Mountains thrust down from the North. The Dark Power was deep in thought, and the Eye turned inward, pondering tidings of doubt and danger: a bright sword, and a ####-stern and kingly face it saw, and for a while it gave little thought to other things; and all its great stronghold, gate on gate, and tower on tower, was wrapped in a brooding gloom. Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder on this hateful land. Between them and the smoking mountain, and about it north and south, all seemed ruinous and dead, a desert burned and choked. They wondered how the Lord of this realm maintained and fed his slaves and his armies. Yet armies he had. As far as their eyes could reach, along the skirts of the Morgai and away southward, there were camps, some of tents, some ordered like small towns. One of the largest of these was right below them. Barely a mile out into the plain it clustered like some huge nest of insects, with straight dreary streets of huts and long low drab buildings. About it the ground was busy with folk going to and fro; a wide road ran from it south-east to join the Morgul-way, and along it many lines of small black shapes were hurrying. 'I don't like the look of things at all,' said Sam. 'Pretty hopeless, I call it - saving that where there's such a lot of folk there must be wells or water, not to mention food. And these are Men not Orcs, or my eyes are all wrong.' Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave-worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake N®rnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon-trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves. Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of long-planned war; and here the Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on the board, was gathering them together. Its first moves, the first feelers of its strength, had been checked upon its western line, southward and northward. For the moment it withdrew them, and brought up new forces, massing them about Cirith Gorgor for an avenging stroke. And if it had also been its purpose to defend the Mountain against all approach, it could scarcely have done more. 'Well!' Sam went on. 'Whatever they have to eat and drink, we can't get it. There's no way down that I can see. And we couldn't cross all that open country crawling with enemies, even if we did get down.' 'Still we shall have to try,' said Frodo. 'It's no worse than I expected. I never hoped to get across. I can't see any hope of it now. But ####-I've still got to do the best I can. At present that is to avoid being captured as long as possible. So we must still go northwards, I think, and see what it is like where the open plain is narrower.' 'I guess what it'll be like,' said Sam. 'Where it's narrower the Orcs and Men will just be packed closer. You'll see, Mr. Frodo.' 'I dare say I shall, if we ever get so far,' said Frodo and turned away. They soon found that it was impossible to make their way along the crest of the Morgai, or anywhere along its higher levels, pathless as they were and scored with deep ghylls. In the end they were forced to go back down the ravine that they had climbed and seek for a way along the valley. It was rough going, for they dared not cross over to the path on the westward side. After a mile or more they saw, huddled in a hollow at the cliff's foot, the orc-hold that they had guessed was near at hand: a wall and a cluster of stone huts set about the dark mouth of a cave. There was no movement to be seen, but the hobbits crept by cautiously, keeping as much as they could to the thorn-brakes that grew thickly at this point along both sides of the old water -course. They went two or three miles further, and the orc-hold was hidden from sight behind them; but they had hardly begun to breathe more freely again when harsh and loud they heard orc-voices. Quickly they slunk out of sight behind a brown and stunted bush. The voices drew nearer. Presently two orcs came into view. One was clad in ragged brown and was armed with a bow of horn; it was of a small breed, black -skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind. The other was a big fighting-orc, like those of Shagrat's company, bearing the token of the Eye. He also had a bow at his back and carried a short broad-headed spear. As usual they were quarrelling, and being of different breeds they used the Common Speech a fter their fashion. Hardly twenty paces from where the hobbits lurked the small orc stopped. 'Nar!' it snarled. 'I'm going home.' It pointed across the valley to the orc-hold. 'No good wearing my nose out on stones any more. There's not a trace left, I say. I've lost the scent through giving way to you. It went up into the hills, not along the valley, I tell you.' 'Not much use are you, you little snufflers?' said the big orc. 'I reckon eyes are better than your snotty noses.' 'Then what have you seen with them?' snarled the other. 'Garn! You ####-don't even know what you're looking for.' 'Whose blame's that?' said the soldier. 'Not mine. That comes from Higher Up. First they say it's a great Elf in bright armour, then it's a sort of small dwarf-man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk -hai; or maybe it's all the lot together.' 'Ar!' said the tracker. 'They've lost their heads, that's what it is. And some of the bosses are going to lose their skins too, I guess, if what I hear is true: Tower raided and all, and hundreds of your lads done in, and prisoner got away. If that's the way you fighters go on, small wonder there's bad news from the battles.' 'Who says there's bad news?' shouted the soldier. 'Ar! Who says there isn't?' 'That's cursed rebel-talk, and I'll stick you, if you don't shut it down, see?' 'All right, all right!' said the tracker. 'I'll say no more and go on thinking. But what's the black sneak got to do with it all? That gobbler with the flapping hands?' 'I don't know. Nothing, maybe. But he's up to no good, nosing around, I'll wager. Curse him! No sooner had he slipped us and run off than word came he's wanted alive, wanted quick.' 'Well, I hope they get him and put him through it,' growled the tracker. 'He messed up the scent back there, pinching that cast -off mail-shirt that he found, and paddling all round the place before I could get there.' 'It saved his life anyhow,' said the soldier. 'Why, before I knew he was wanted I shot him, as neat as neat, at fifty paces right in the back; but he ran on.' 'Garn! You missed him,' said the tracker. 'First you shoot wild, then you run too slow, and then you send for the poor trackers. I've had enough of you.' He loped off. 'You come back,' shouted the soldier, 'or I'll report you!' 'Who to? Not to your precious Shagrat. He won't be captain any more.' 'I'll give your name and number to the Nazgyl,' said the soldier lowering his voice to a hiss. 'One of them's in charge at the Tower now.' The other halted, and his voice was full of fear and rage. 'You cursed peaching sneakthief!' he yelled. 'You can't do your job, and you can't even stick by your own folk. Go to your filthy Shriekers, and may they freeze the ####-flesh off you! If the enemy doesn't get them first. They've done in Number One, I've heard, and I hope it's true!' The big orc, spear in hand, leapt after him. But the tracker, springing behind a stone, put an arrow in his eye as he ran up, and he fell with a crash. The other ran off across the valley and disappeared. For a while the hobbits sat in silence. At length Sam stirred. 'Well I call that neat as neat,' he said. 'If this nice friendliness would spread about in Mordor, half our trouble would be over.' 'Quietly, Sam,' Frodo whispered. 'There may be others about. We have evidently had a very narrow escape, and the hunt was hotter on our tracks than we guessed. But that is the spirit of Mordor, Sam; and it has spread to every corner of it. Orcs have always behaved like that, or so all tales say, when they are on their own. But you can't get much hope out of it. They hate us far more, altogether and all the time. If those two had seen us, they would have dropped all their quarrel until we were dead.' There was another long silence. Sam broke it again, but with a whisper this time. 'Did you hear what they said about that gobbler, Mr. Frodo? I told you Gollum wasn't dead yet, didn't I?' 'Yes, I remember. And I wondered how you knew,' said Frodo. 'Well come now! I think we had better not move out from here again, until it has gone quite dark. So you shall tell me how you know, a nd all about what happened. If you can do it quietly.' 'I'll try,' said Sam, 'but when I think of that Stinker I get so hot l could shout.' There the hobbits sat under the cover of the thorny bush, while the drear light of Mordor faded slowly into a deep and starless night; and Sam spoke into Frodo's ear all that he could find words for of Gollum's treacherous attack, the horror of Shelob, and his own adventures with the orcs. When he had finished, Frodo said nothing but took Sam's hand and pressed it. At length he stirred. 'Well, I suppose we must be going on again,' he said. 'I wonder how long it will be before we really are caught and all the toiling and the slinking will be over, and in vain.' He stood up. 'It's dark, and we cannot use the Lady's glass. Keep it safe for me, Sam. I have nowhere to keep it now, except in my hand, and I shall need both hands in the blind night. But Sting I give to you. I have got an orc-blade, but I do not think it will be my part to strike any blow again.'####- It was difficult and dangerous moving in the night in the pathless land; but slowly and with much stumbling the two hobbits toiled on hour by hour northward along the eastern edge of the stony valley. When a grey light crept back over the western heights, long after day had opened in the lands beyond, they went into hiding again and slept a little, turn by turn. In his times of waking Sam was busy with thoughts of food. At last when Frodo roused himself and spoke of eating and making ready for yet another effort, he asked the question that was troubling him most. 'Begging your pardon, Mr. Frodo,' he said, 'but have you any notion how far there is still to go?' 'No, not any clear notion, Sam, ' Frodo answered. 'In Rivendell before I set out I was shown a map of Mordor that was made before the Enemy came back here; but I only remember it vaguely. I remember clearest that there was a place in the north where the western range and the northern range send out spurs that nearly meet. That must be twenty leagues at least from the bridge back by the Tower. It might be a good point at which to cross. But of course, if we get there, we shall be further than we were from the Mountain, sixty miles from it, I should think. I guess that we have gone about twelve leagues north from the bridge now. Even if all goes well, I could hardly reach the Mountain in a week. I am afraid, Sam, that the burden will get very heavy, and I shall go still slower as we get nearer.' Sam sighed. 'That's just as I feared,' he said. 'Well, to say nothing of water, we've got to eat less, Mr. Frodo, or else move a bit quicker, at any rate while we're still in this valley. One more bite and all the food's ended, save the Elves' waybread.' 'I'll try and be a bit quicker, Sam,' said Frodo, drawing a deep breath. 'Come on then! Let's start another march!' It was not yet quite dark again. They plodded along, on into the night. The hours passed in a weary stumbling trudge with a few brief halts. At the first hint of grey light under the skirts of the canopy of shadow they hid themselves again in a dark hollow under an overhanging stone. Slowly the light grew, until it was clearer than it yet had been. A strong wind from the West was now driving the fumes of Mordor from the upper airs. Before long the hobbits could make out the shape of the land for some miles about them. The trough between the mountains and the Morgai had ####-steadily dwindled as it climbed upwards, and the inner ridge was now no more than a shelf in the steep faces of the Ephel D®ath; but to the east it fell as sheerly as ever down into Gorgoroth. Ahead the water -course came to an end in broken steps of rock; for out from the main range there sprang a high barren spur, thrusting eastward like a wall. To meet it there stretched out from the grey and misty northern range of Ered Lithui a long jutting arm; and between the ends there was a narrow gap: Carach Angren, the Isenmouthe, beyond which lay the deep dale of Udyn. In that dale behind the Morannon were the tunnels and deep armouries that the servants of Mordor had made for the defence of the Black Gate of their land; and there now their Lord was gathering in haste great forces to meet the onslaught of the Captains of the West. Upon the out-thrust spurs forts and towers were built, and watch-fires burned; and all across the gap an earth-wall had been raised, and a deep trench delved that could be crossed only by a single bridge. A few miles north, high up in the angle where the western spur branched away from the main range, stood the old castle of Durthang, now one of the many orc-holds that clustered about the dale of Udyn. A road, already visible in the growing light, came winding down from it, until only a mile or two from where the hobbits lay it turned east and ran along a shelf cut in the side of the spur, and so went down into the plain, and on to the Isenmouthe. To the hobbits as they looked out it seemed that all their journey north had been useless. The plain to their right was dim and smoky, and they could see there neither camps nor troops moving; but all that region was under the vigilance of the for ts of Carach Angren. 'We have come to a dead end, Sam,' said Frodo. 'If we go on, we shall only come up to that orc-tower, but the only road to take is that road that comes down from it - unless we go back. We can't climb up westward, or climb down eastward.' 'Then we must take the road, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'We must take it and chance our luck, if there is any luck in Mordor. We might as well give ourselves up as wander about any more, or try to go back. Our food won't last. We've got to make a dash for it!' 'All right, Sam,' said Frodo. 'Lead me! As long as you've got any hope left. Mine is gone. But I can't dash, Sam. I'll just plod along after you.' 'Before you start any more plodding, you need sleep and food, Mr. Frodo. Come and take what you can get of them!'####- He gave Frodo water and an additional wafer of the waybread, and he made a pillow of his cloak for his master's head. Frodo was too weary to debate the matter, and Sam did not tell him that he had drunk the last drop of their water, and eaten Sam's share of the food as well as his own. When Frodo was asleep Sam bent over him and listened to his breathing and scanned his face. It was lined and thin, and yet in sleep it looked content and unafraid. 'Well, here goes, Master!' Sam muttered to himself. 'I'll have to leave you for a bit and trust to luck. Water we must have, or we'll get no further.' Sam crept out, and flitting from stone to stone with more than hobbit-care, he went down to the water -course, and then followed it for some way as it climbed north, until he came to the rock -steps where long ago, no doubt, its spring had come gushing down in a little waterfall. All now seemed dry and silent; but refusing to despair Sam stooped and listened, and to his delight he caught the sound of trickling. Clambering a few steps up he found a tiny stream of dark water that came out from the hill -side and filled a little bare pool, from which again it spilled, and vanished then under the barren stones. Sam tasted the water, and it seemed good enough. Then he drank deeply, refilled the bottle, and turned to go back. At that moment he caught a glimpse of a black form or shadow flitting among the rocks away near Frodo's hiding-place. Biting back a cry, he leapt down from the spring and ran, jumping from stone to stone. It was a wary creature, difficult to see, but Sam had little doubt about it: he longed to get his hands on its neck. But it heard him coming and slipped quickly away. Sam thought he saw a last fleeting glimpse of it, peering back over the edge of the eastward precipice, before it ducked and disappeared. 'Well, luck did not let me down,' muttered Sam, 'but that was a near thing! Isn't it enough to have orcs by the thousand without that stinking villain coming nosing round? I wish he had been shot!' He sat down by Frodo and did not rouse him; but he did not dare to go to sleep himself. At last when he felt his eyes closing and knew that his struggle to keep awake could not go on much longer, he wakened Frodo gently. 'That Gollum's about again, I'm afraid, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'Leastways, if it wasn't him, then there's two of him. I went away to find some water and spied him nosing round just as I turned back. I reckon it isn't safe for us both to sleep together, and begging your pardon, but I ####-can't hold up my lids much longer.' 'Bless you, Sam!' said Frodo. 'Lie down and take your pr oper turn! But I'd rather have Gollum than orcs. At any rate he won't give us away to them - not unless he's caught himself.' 'But he might do a bit of robbery and murder on his own,' growled Sam. 'Keep your eyes open, Mr. Frodo! There's a bottle full of water. Drink up. We can fill it again when we go on.' With that Sam plunged into sleep. Light was fading when he woke. Frodo sat propped against the rock behind, but he had fallen asleep. The water-bottle was empty. There was no sign of Gollum. Mordor -dark had returned, and the watch-fires on the heights burned fierce and red, when the hobbits set out again on the most dangerous stage of all their journey. They went first to the little spring, and then climbing warily up they came to the road at the point where it swung east towards the Isenmouthe twenty miles away. It was not a broad road, and it had no wall or parapet along the edge and as it ran on the sheer drop from its brink became deeper and deeper. The hobbits could hear no movements, and after listening for a while they set off eastward at a steady pace. After doing some twelve miles, they halted. A short way back the road had bent a little northward and the stretch that they had passed over was now screened from sight. This proved disastrous. They rested for some minutes and then went on; but they had not taken many steps when suddenly in the stillness of the night they heard the sound that all along they had secretly dreaded: the noise of marching feet. It was still some way behind them, but looking back they could see the twinkle of torches coming round the bend less than a mile away, and they were moving fast: too fast for Frodo to escape by flight along the road ahead. 'I feared it, Sam,' said Frodo. 'We've trusted to luck, and it has failed us. We're trapped.' He looked wildly up at the frowning wall, where the road-builders of old had cut the rock sheer for many fathoms above their heads. He ran to the other side and looked over the brink into a dark pit of gloom. 'We're trapped at last!' he said He sank to the ground beneath the wall of rock and bowed his head. 'Seems so,' said Sam. 'Well, we can but wait and see.' And with that he sat down beside Frodo under the shadow of the cliff. They did not have to wait long. The orcs were going at a great pace. Those in the foremost files bore torches. On they came, red flames in the ####-dark, swiftly growing. Now Sam too bowed his head, hoping that it would hide his face when the torches reached them; and he set their shields before their knees to hide their feet. 'If only they are in a hurry and will let a couple of tired soldiers alone and pass on!' he thought. And so it seemed that they would. The leading orcs came loping along, panting, holding their heads down. They were a gang of the smaller breeds being driven unwilling to their Dark Lord's wars; all they cared for was to get the march over and escape the whip. Beside them, running up and down the line, went two of the large fierce uruks, cracking lashes and shouting. File after file passed, and the tell-tale torchlight was already some way ahead. Sam held his breath. Now more than half the line had gone by. Then suddenly one of the slave-drivers spied the two figures by the road-side. He flicked a whip at them and yelled: 'Hi, you! Get up!' They did not answer, and with a shout he halted the whole company. 'Come on, you slugs!' he cried. 'This is no time for sl ouching.' He took a step towards them, and even in the gloom he recognized the devices on their shields. 'Deserting, eh?' he snarled. 'Or thinking of it? All your folk should have been inside Udyn before yesterday evening. You know that. Up you get and fall in, or I'll have your numbers and report you.' They struggled to their feet, and keeping bent, limping like footsore soldiers, they shuffled back towards the rear of the line. 'No, not at the rear!' the slave-driver shouted. 'Three files up. And stay there, or you'll know it, when I come down the line!' He sent his long whip-lash cracking over their heads; then with another crack and a yell he started the company off again at a brisk trot. It was hard enough for poor Sam, tired a s he was; but for Frodo it was a torment, and soon a nightmare. He set his teeth and tried to stop his mind from thinking, and he struggled on. The stench of the sweating orcs about him was stifling, and he began to gasp with thirst. On, on they went, and he bent all his will to draw his breath and to make his legs keep going; and yet to what evil end he toiled and endured he did not dare to think. There was no hope of falling out unseen: Now and again the orc-driver fell back and jeered at them. 'There now!' he laughed, flicking at their legs. 'Where there's a whip there's a will, my slugs. Hold up! I'd give you a nice freshener now, only you'll get as much lash as your skins will carry when you come in late to ####-your camp. Do you good. Don't you know we're at war?' They had gone some miles, and the road was at last running down a long slope into the plain, when Frodo's strength began to give out and his will wavered. He lurched and stumbled. Desperately Sam tried to help him and hold him up, though he felt that he could himself hardly stay the pace much longer. At any moment now he knew that the end would come: his master would faint or fall, and all would be discovered, and their bitter efforts be in vain. 'I'll have that big slave-driving devil anyway,' he thought. Then just as he was putting his hand to the hilt of his sword, there came an unexpected relief. They were out on the plain now and drawing near the entrance to Udyn. Some way in front of it, before the gate at the bridge-end, the road from the west converged with others coming from the south, and from Barad-dyr. Along all the roads troops were moving; for the Captains of the West were advancing and the Dark Lord was speeding his forces north. So it chanced that several companies came together at the road-meeting, in the dark beyond the light of the watch-fires on the wall. At once there was great jostling and cursing as each troop tried to get first to the gate and the ending of their march. Though the drivers yelled and plied their whips, scuffles broke out and some blades were drawn. A troop of heavy-armed uruks from Barad-dyr charged into the Durthang line and threw them into confusion. Dazed as he was with pain and weariness, Sam woke up, grasped quickly at his chance, and threw himself to the ground, dragging Frodo down with him. Orcs fell over them, snarling and cursing. Slowly on hand and knee the hobbits crawled away out of the turmoil, until at last unnoticed they dropped over the further edge of the road. It had a high kerb by which troop-leaders could guide themselves in black night or fog, and it was banked up some feet above the level of the open land. They lay still for a while. It was too dark to seek for cover, if indeed there was any to find; but Sam felt that they ought at least to get further away from the highways and out of the range of torch-light. 'Come on, Mr. Frodo!' he whispered. 'One more crawl, and then you can lie still.' With a last despairing effort Frodo raised himself on his hands, and struggled on for maybe twenty yards. Then he pitched down into a shallow pit that opened unexpectedly before them, and there he lay like a dead thing.####- Sam put his ragged orc-cloak under his master's head, and covered them both with the grey robe of Lurien; and as he did so his thoughts went out to that fair land, and to the Elves, and he hoped that the cloth woven by their hands might have some virtue to keep them hidden beyond all hope in this wilderness of fear. He heard the scuffling and cries die down as the troops passed on through the Isenmouthe. It seemed that in the confusion and the mingling of many companies of various kinds they had not been missed, not yet at any rate. Sam took a sip of water, but pressed Frodo to drink, and when his master had recovered a little he gave him a whole wafer of their precious waybread and made him ea t it. Then, too worn out even to feel much fear, they stretched themselves out. They slept a little in uneasy fits; for their sweat grew chill on them, and the hard stones bit them, and they shivered. Out of the north from the Black Gate through Cirith Gorgor there flowed whispering along the ground a thin cold air. In the morning a grey light came again, for in the high regions the West Wind still blew, but down on the stones behind the fences of the Black Land the air seemed almost dead, chill and yet stifling. Sam looked up out of the hollow. The land all about was dreary, flat and drab-hued. On the roads nearby nothing was moving now; but Sam feared the watchful eyes on the wall of the Isenmouthe, no more than a furlong away northward. South-eastward, far off like a dark standing shadow. loomed the Mountain. Smokes were pouring from it and while those that rose into the upper air trailed away eastward, great rolling clouds floated down its sides and spread over the land. A few miles to the north-east the foothills of the Ashen Mountains stood like sombre grey ghosts, behind which the misty northern heights rose like a line of distant cloud hardly darker than the lowering sky. Sam tried to guess the distances and to decide what way they ought to take. It looks every step of fifty miles,' he muttered gloomily staring at the threatening mountain, 'and that'll take a week, if it takes a day, with Mr. Frodo as he is.' He shook his head, and as he worked things out, slowly ####-a new dark thought grew in his mind. Never for long had hope died in his staunch heart, and always until now he had taken some thought for their return. But the bitter truth came home to him at last: at best their provision would take them to their goal; and when the task was done, there they would come to an end, alone, houseless, foodless in the midst of a terrible desert. There could be no return. 'So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,' thought Sam: 'to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then die with him? Well, if that is the job then I must do it. But I would dearly like to see Bywater again, and Rosie Cotton and her brothers, and the Gaffer and Marigold and all. I can't think somehow that Gandalf would have sent Mr. Frodo on this errand if there hadn't a' been any hope of his ever coming back at all. Things all went wrong when he went down in Moria. I wish he hadn't. He would have done something.' But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. Sam's plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him, and he felt through all his limbs a thrill, as if he was turning into some creature of stone and steel that neither despair nor weariness nor endless barren miles could subdue. With a new sense of responsibility he brought his eyes back to the ground near at hand, studying the next move. As the light grew a little he saw to his surprise that what from a distance had seemed wide and featureless flats were in fact all broken and tumbled. Indeed the whole surface of the plains of Gorgoroth was pocked with great holes, as if, while it was still a waste of soft mud, it had been smitten with a shower of bolts and huge slingstones. The largest of these holes were rimmed with ridges of broken rock, and broad fissures ran out from them in all directions. It was a land in which it would be possible to creep from hiding to hiding, unseen by all but the most watchful eyes: possible at least for one who was strong and had no need for speed. For the hungry and worn, who had far to go before life failed, it had an evil look. Thinking of all these things Sam went back to his master. He had no need to rouse him. Frodo was lying on his back with eyes open, staring at the cloudy sky. 'Well, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'I've been having a look round and thinking a bit. There's nothing on the roads, and we'd best be getting away while there's a chance. Can you manage it?' 'I can manage it,' said Frodo. 'I must.'####- Once more they started, crawling from hollow to hollow, flitting behind such cover as they could find, but moving always in a slant towards the foothills of the northern range. But as they went the most easterly of the roads followed them, until it ran off, hugging the skirts of the mountains, away into a wall of black shadow far ahead. Neither man nor orc now moved along its flat grey stretches; for the Dark Lord had almost completed the movement of his forces, and even in the fastness of his own realm he sought the secrecy of night, fearing the winds of the world that had turned against him, tearing aside his veils, and troubled with tidings of bold spies that had passed through his fences. The hobbits had gone a few weary miles when they halted. Frodo seemed nearly spent. Sam saw that he could not go much further in this fashion, crawling, stooping, now picking a doubtful way very slowly, now hurrying at a stumbling run. 'I'm going back on to the road while the light lasts, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'Trust to luck again! It nearly failed us last time, but it didn't quite. A steady pace for a few more miles, and then a rest.' He was taking a far greater risk than he knew; but Frodo was too much occupied with his burden and with the struggle in his mind to debate, and almost too hopeless to care. They climbed on to the causeway and trudged along, down the hard cruel road that led to the Dark Tower itself. But their luck held, and for the rest of that day they met no living or moving thing; and when night fell they vanished into the darkness of Mordor. All the land now brooded as at the coming of a great storm: for the Captains of the West had passed the Cross-roads and set flames in the deadly fields of Imlad Morgul. So the desperate journey went on, as the Ring went south and the banners of the kings rode north. For the hobbits each day, each mile. was more bitter than the one before, as their strength lessened and the land became more evil. They met no enemies by day. At times by night, as they cowered or drowsed uneasily in some hiding beside the road, they heard cries and the noise of many feet or the swift passing of some cruelly ridden steed. But far worse than all such perils was the ever -approaching threat that beat upon them as they went: the dreadful menace of the Power that waited, brooding in deep thought and sleepless malice behind the dark veil about its Throne. Nearer and nearer it drew, looming blacker, like the oncoming of a wall of night at the last end of the world.####- There came at last a dreadful nightfall; and even as the Captains of the West drew near to the end of the living lands, the two wanderers came to an hour of blank despair. Four days had passed since they had escaped from the orcs, but the time lay behind them like an ever -darkening dream. All this last day Frodo had not spoken, but had walked half-bowed, often stumbling, as if his eyes no longer saw the way before his feet. Sam guessed that among all their pains he bore the worst, the growing weight of the Ring, a burden on the body and a torment to his mind. Anxiously Sam had noted how his master's left hand would often be raised as if to ward on a blow, or to screen his shrinking eyes from a dreadful Eye that sought to look in them. And sometimes his right hand would creep to his breast, clutching, and then slowly, as the will recovered mastery, it would be withdrawn. Now as the blackness of night returned Frodo sat, his head between his knees, his arms hanging wearily to the ground where his hands lay feebly twitching. Sam watched him, till night covered them both and hid them from one another. He could no longer find any words to say; and he turned to his own dark thoughts. As for himself, though weary and under a shadow of fear, he still had some strength left. The lembas had a virtue without which they would long ago have lain down to die. It did not satisfy desire, and at times Sam's mind was filled with the memories of food, and the longing for simple bread and meats. And yet this waybread of the Elves had a potency that increased as travellers relied on it alone and did not mingle it with other foods. It fed the will, and it gave strength to endure, and to master sinew and limb beyond the measure of mortal kind. But now a new decision must be made. They could not follow this road any longer; for it went on eastward into the great Shadow, but the Mountain now loomed upon their right, almost due south, and they must turn towards it. Yet still before it there stretched a wide region of fuming, barren, ash-ridden land. 'Water, water!' muttered Sam. He had stinted himself, and in his parched mouth his tongue seemed thick and swollen; but for all his care they now had very little left, perhaps half his bottle, and maybe there were still days to go. All would long ago have been spent, if they had not dared to follow the orc-road. For at long intervals on that highway cisterns had been built for the use of troops sent in haste through the waterless regions. In one Sam had found some water left, stale, muddied by the orcs, but still sufficient for their desperate case. Yet that was now a day ago.####-There was no hope of any more. At last wearied with his cares Sam drowsed, leaving the morrow till it came; he could do no more. Dream and waking mingled uneasily. He saw lights like gloating yes, and dark creeping shapes, and he heard noises as of wild beasts or the dreadful cries of tortured things; and he would start up to find the world all dark and only empty b lackness all about him. Once only, as he stood and stared wildly round, did it seem that, though now awake, he could still see pale lights like eyes; but soon they flickered and vanished. The hateful night passed slowly and reluctantly. Such da ylight as followed was dim; for here as the Mountain drew near the air was ever mirky, while out from the Dark Tower there crept the veils of Shadow that Sauron wove about himself. Frodo was lying on his back not moving. Sam stood beside him, reluctant to speak, and yet knowing that the word now lay with him: he must set his master's will to work for another effort. At length, stooping and caressing Frodo's brow, he spoke in his ear. 'Wake up, Master!' he said. 'Time for another start.' As if roused by a sudden bell, Frodo rose quickly, and stood up and looked away southwards; but when his eyes beheld the Mountain and the desert he quailed again. 'I can't manage it, Sam,' he said. 'It is such a weight to carry, such a weight.' Sam knew before he spoke, that it was vain, and that such words might do more harm than good, but in his pity he could not keep silent. 'Then let me carry it a bit for you, Master,' he said. 'You know I would, and gladly, as long as I have any strength. ' A wild light came into Frodo's eyes. 'Stand away! Don't touch me!' he cried. 'It is mine, I say. Be off!' His hand strayed to his sword-hilt. But then quickly his voice changed. 'No, no, Sam,' he said sadly. 'But you must understand. It is my burden, and no one else can bear it. It is too late now, Sam dear. You can't help me in that way again. I am almost in its power now. I could not give it up, and if you tried to take it I should go mad.' Sam nodded. 'I understand,' he said. 'But I've been thinking, Mr. Frodo, there's other things we might do without. Why not lighten the load a bit? We're going that way now, as straight as we can make it.' He pointed to the Mountain. 'It's no good taking anything we're not sure to need.'####- Frodo looked again towards the Mountain. 'No,' he said, 'we shan't need much on that road. And at its end nothing.' Picking up his orc-shield he flung it away and threw his helmet after it. Then pulling off the grey cloak he undid the heavy belt and let it fall to the ground, and the sheathed sword with it. The shreds of the black cloak he tore off and scattered. 'There, I'll be an orc no more,' he cried, 'and I'll bear no weapon fair or foul. Let them take me, if they will!' Sam did likewise, and put aside his orc-gear; and he took out all the things in his pack. Somehow each of them had become dear to him, if only because he had borne them so far with so much toil. Hardest of all it was to part with his cooking-gear. Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of casting it away. 'Do you remember that bit of rabbit, Mr. Frodo?' he said. 'And our place under the warm bank in Captain Faramir's country, the day I saw an oliphaunt?' 'No, I am afraid not, Sam, ' said Frodo. 'At least, I know that such things happened, but I cannot see them. No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark. Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.' Sam went to him and kissed his hand. 'Then the sooner we're rid of it, the sooner to rest,' he said haltingly, finding no better words to say. 'Talking won't mend nothing,' he muttered to himself, as he gathered up all the things that they had chosen to cast away. He was not willing to leave them lying open in the wilderness for any eyes to see. 'Stinker picked up that orc-shirt, seemingly, and he isn't going to add a sword to it. His hands are bad enough when empty. And he isn't going to mess with my pans!' With that he carried all the gear away to one of the many gaping fissures that scored the land and thr ew them in. The clatter of his precious pans as they fell down into the dark was like a death-knell to his heart. He came back to Frodo, and then of his elven -rope he cut a short piece to serve his master as a girdle and bind the grey cloak close about his waist. The rest he carefully coiled and put back in his pack. Beside that he kept only the remnants of their waybread and the water -bottle, and Sting still hanging by his belt; and hidden away in a pocket of his tunic next his breast the ph ial of Galadriel and the little box that she gave him for his ####-own. Now at last they turned their faces to the Mountain and set out, thinking no more of concealment, bending their weariness and failing wills only to the one task of going on. In the dimness of its dreary day few things even in that land of vigilance could have espied them, save from close at hand. Of all the slaves of the Dark Lord, only the Nazgyl could have warned him of the peril that crept, small but indomitable, into the very heart of his guarded realm. But the Nazgyl and their black wings were abroad on another errand: they were gathered far away, shadowing the march of the Captains of the West, and thither the thought of the Dark Tower was turned . That day it seemed to Sam that his master had found some new strength, more than could be explained by the small lightening of the load that he had to carry. In the first marches they went further and faster than he had hoped. The land was rough and hostile, and yet they made much progress, and ever the Mountain drew nearer. But as the day wore on and all too soon the dim light began to fail, Frodo stooped again, and began to stagger, as if the renewed effort had squandered his remaining strength. At their last halt he sank down and said: 'I'm thirsty, Sam,' and did not speak again. Sam gave him a mouthful of water; only one more mouthful remained. He went without himself; and now as once more the night of Mordor closed over them, through all his thoughts there came the memory of water; and every brook or stream or fount that he had ever seen, under green willow-shades or twinkling in the sun, danced and rippled for his torment behind the blindness of his eyes. He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their sister Rosie. 'But that was years ago,' he sighed, 'and far away. The way back, if there is one, goes past the Mountain.' He could not sleep and he held a debate with himself. 'Well, come now, we've done better than you hoped,' he said sturdily. 'Began well anyway. I reckon we crossed half the distance before we stopped. One more day will do it.' And then he paused. 'Don't be a fool, Sam Gamgee,' came an answer in his own voice. 'He won't go another day like that, if he moves at all. And you can't go on much longer giving him all the water and most of the food.' 'I can go on a good way though, and I will.'####- 'Where to? ' 'To the Mountain, of course.' 'But what then, Sam Gamgee, what then? When you get there, what are you going to do? He won't be able to do anything for himself.' To his dismay Sam realized that he had not got an answer to this. He had no clear idea at all. Frodo had not spoken much to him of his errand, and Sam only knew vaguely that the Ring had somehow to be put into the fire. 'The Cracks of Doom,' he muttered, the old name rising to his mind. 'Well, if Master knows how to find them, I don't.' 'There you are!' came the answer. 'It's all quite useless. He said so himself. You are the fool, going on hoping and toiling. You could have lain down and gone to sleep together days ago, if you hadn't been so dogged. But you'll die just the same, or worse. You might just as well lie down now and give it up. You'll never get to the top anyway.' 'I'll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind,' said Sam. 'And I'll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart. So stop arguing!' At that moment Sam felt a tremor in the ground beneath him, and he heard or sensed a deep remote rumble as of thunder imprisoned under the earth. There was a brief red flame that flickered under the clouds and died away. The Mountain too slept uneasily. The last stage of their journey to Orodruin came, and it was a torment greater than Sam had ever thought that he could bear. He was in pain, and so parched that he could no longer swallow even a mouthful of food. It remained dark, not only because of the smokes of the Mountain: there seemed to be a storm coming up, and away to the south-east there was a shimmer of lightnings under the black skies. Worst of all, the air was full of fumes; breathing was painful and difficult, and a dizziness came on them, so that they staggered and often fell. And yet their wills did not yield, and they struggled on. The Mountain crept up ever nearer, until, if they lifted their heavy heads, it filled all their sight, looming vast before them: a huge mass of ash and slag and burned stone, out of which a sheer -sided cone was raised into the clouds. Before the daylong dusk ended and true night came again they had crawled and stumbled to its very feet. With a gasp Frodo cast himself on the ground. Sam sat by him. To his surprise he felt tired but lighter, and his head seemed clear again. No more ####-debates disturbed his mind. He knew all the arguments of despair and would not listen to them. His wi ll was set, and only death would break it. He felt no longer either desire or need of sleep, but rather of watchfulness. He knew that all the hazards and perils were now drawing together to a point: the next day would be a day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp. But when would it come? The night seemed endless and timeless, minute after minute falling dead and adding up to no passing hour, bringing no change. Sam began to wonder if a second darkness had begun and no day would ever reappear. At last he groped for Frodo's hand. It was cold and trembling. His master was shivering. 'I didn't ought to have left my blanket behind,' muttered Sam; and lying down he tried to comfort Frodo with his arms and body. Then sleep took him, and the dim light of the last day of their quest found them side by side. The wind had fallen the day before as it shifted from the West, and now it came from the North and began to rise; and slowly the light of the unseen Sun filtered down into the shadows where the hobbits lay. 'Now for it! Now for the last gasp!' said Sam as he struggled to his feet. He bent over Frodo, rousing him gently. Frodo groaned; but with a great effort of will he staggered up; and then he fell upon his knees again. He raised his eyes with difficulty to the dark slopes of Mount Doom towering above him, and then pitifully he began to crawl forward on his hands. Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. 'I said I'd carry him, if it broke my back,' he muttered, 'and I will!' 'Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr. Frodo dear! Sam will give you a ride. Just tell him where to go, and he'll go.' As Frodo clung upon his back, arms loosely about his neck, legs clasped firmly under his arms, Sam staggered to his feet; and then to his amazement he felt the burden light. He had feared that he would have barely strength to lift his master alone, and beyond that he had expected to share in the dreadful dragging weight of the accursed Ring. But it was not so. Whether because Frodo was so worn by his long pains, wound of knife, and venomous sting, and sorrow, fear, and homeless wandering, or because some gift of final strength was given to him, Sam lifted Frodo with no more difficulty ####-than if he were carrying a hobbit-child pig-a -back in some romp on the lawns or hayfields of the Shire. He took a deep breath and started off. They had reached the Mountain's foot on its northern side, and a little to the westward; there its long grey slopes, though broken, were not sheer. Frodo did not speak, and so Sam struggled on as best he could, having no guidance but the will to climb as high as might be before his strength gave out and his will broke. On he toiled, up and up, turning this way and that to lessen the slope, often stumbling forward, and at the last crawling like a snail with a heavy burden on its back. When his will could drive him no further, and his limbs gave way, he stopped and laid his master gently down. Frodo opened his eyes and drew a breath. It was easier to breathe up here above the reeks that coiled and drifted down below. 'Thank you, Sam,' he said in a cracked whisper. 'How far is there to go?' 'I don't know,' said Sam, 'because I don't know where we're going.' He looked back, and then he looked up; and he was amazed to see how far his last effort had brought him. The Mountain standing ominous and alone had looked taller than it was. Sam saw now that it was less lofty than the high passes of the Ephel D®ath which he and Frodo had scaled. The confused and tumbled shoulders of its great base rose for maybe three thousand feet above the plain, and above them was reared half as high again its tall central cone, like a vast oast or chimney capped with a jagged crater. But already Sam was more than half way up the base, and the pla in of Gorgoroth was dim below him, wrapped in fume and shadow. As he looked up he would have given a shout. if his parched throat had allowed him; for amid the rugged humps and shoulders above him he saw plainly a path or road. It climbed like a rising girdle from the west and wound snakelike about the Mountain, until before it went round out of view it reached the foot of the cone upon its eastern side. Sam could not see the course immediately above him, where it was lowest, for a steep slope went up from where he stood; but he guessed that if he could only struggle on just a little way further up, they would strike this path. A gleam of hope returned to him. They might conquer the Mountain yet. 'Why, it might have been put there a -purpose!' he said to himself. 'If it wasn't there, I'd have to say I was beaten in the end.' The path was not put there for the purposes of Sam. He did not know it, but he was looking at Sauron's Road from Barad-dyr to the Sammath Naur, the ####-Chambers of Fire. Out from the Dark Tower's huge western gate it came over a deep abyss by a vast bridge of iron, and then passing into the plain it ran for a league between two smoking chasms, and so reached a long sloping causeway that led up on to the Mountain's eastern side. Thence, turning and encircling all its wide girth from south to north, it climbed at last, high in the upper cone, but still far from the reeking summit, to a dark entrance that gazed back east straight to the Window of the Eye in Sauron's shadow-mantled fortress. Often blocked or destroyed by the tumults of the Mountain's furnaces, always that road was repaired and cleaned again by the labours of countless orcs. Sam drew a deep breath. There was a path, but how he was to get up the slope to it he did not know. First he must ease his aching back. He lay flat beside Frodo for a while. Neither spoke. Slowly the light grew. Suddenly a sense of urgency which he did not understand came to Sam. It was almost as if he had been called: 'Now, now, or it will be too late!' He braced himself and got up. Frodo also seemed to have felt the call. He struggled to his knees. 'I'll crawl, Sam,' he gasped. So foot by foot, like small grey insects, they crept up the sl ope. They came to the path and found that it was broad, paved with broken rubble and beaten ash. Frodo clambered on to it, and then moved as if by some compulsion he turned slowly to face the East. Far off the shadows of Sauron hung; but torn by some gust of wind out of the world, or else moved by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled, and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dyr. One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and then the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed. The Eye was not turned to them: it was gazing north to where the Captains of the West stood at bay, and thither all its malice was now bent, as the Power moved to strike its deadly blow; but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally. His hand sought the chain about his neck. Sam knelt by him. Faint, almost inaudibly, he heard Frodo whispering: 'Help me, Sam! Help me, Sam! Hold my hand! I can't stop it.' Sam took his master's hands a nd laid them together, palm to palm, and kissed them; and ####-then he held them gently between his own. The thought came suddenly to him: 'He's spotted us! It's all up, or it soon will be. Now, Sam Gamgee, this is the end of ends.' Again he lifted Frodo and drew his hands down to his own breast. letting his master's legs dangle. Then he bowed his head and struggled off along the climbing road. It was not as easy a way to take as it had looked at first. By fortune the fires that had poured forth in the great turmoils when Sam stood upon Cirith Ungol had flowed down mainly on the southern and western slopes, and the road on this side was not blocked. Yet in many places it had crumbled away or was crossed by gaping rents. After climbing eastward for some time it bent back upon itself at a sharp angle and went westward fox a space. There at the bend it was cut deep through a crag of old weathered stone once long ago vomited from the Mountain's furnaces. Panting under his load Sam turned the bend; and even as he did so, out of the corner of his eye, he had a glimpse of something falling from the crag, like a small piece of black stone that had toppled off as he passed. A sudden weight smote him and he crashed forward, tearing the backs of his hands that still clasped his master's. Then he knew what had happened, for above him as he lay he heard a hated voice. 'Wicked masster!' it hissed. 'Wicked masster cheats us; cheats Smjagol, gollum. He musstn't go that wa y. He musstn't hurt Preciouss. Give it to Smjagol, yess, give it to us! Give it to uss!' With a violent heave Sam rose up. At once he drew his sword; but he could do nothing. Gollum and Frodo were locked together. Gollum was tearing at his master, trying to get at the chain and the Ring. This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo's heart and will: an attack, an attempt to wrest his treasure from him by force. He fought back with a sudden fury that amazed Sam, and Gollum also. Even so things might have gone far otherwise, if Gollum himself had remained unchanged; but whatever dreadful paths, lonely and hungry and waterless, he had trodden, driven by a devouring desire and a terrible fear, they had left grievous marks on him. He was a lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A wild light flamed in his eyes, but his malice was no longer matched by his old griping strength. Frodo flung him off and rose up quivering. 'Down, down!' he gasped, clutching his hand to his breast, so that ####-beneath the cover of his leather shirt he clasped the Ring. 'Down you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your time is at an end. You cannot betray me or slay me now.' Then suddenly, as before under the eaves of the Emyn Muil, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice. 'Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.' The crouching shape backed away, terror in its blinking eyes, and yet at the same time insatiable desire. Then the vision passed and Sam saw Frodo standing, hand on breast, his breath coming in great gasps, and Gollum at his feet, resting on his knees with his wide-splayed hands upon the ground. 'Look out!' cried Sam. 'He'll spring!' He stepped forward, brandishing his sword. 'Quick, Master!' he gasped. 'Go on! Go on! No time to lose. I'll deal with him. Go on!' Frodo looked at him as if at one now far away. 'Yes, I must go on,' he said. 'Farewell, Sam! This is the end at last. On Mount Doom doom shall fall. Farewell!' He turned and went on, walking slowly but erect u p the climbing path. 'Now!' said Sam. 'At last I can deal with you!' He leaped forward with drawn blade ready for battle. But Gollum did not spring. He fell flat upon the ground and whimpered. 'Don't kill us,' he wept. 'Don't hurt us with na ssty cruel steel! Let us live, yes, live just a little longer. Lost lost! We're lost. And when Precious goes we'll die, yes, die into the dust.' He clawed up the ashes of the path with his long fleshless fingers. 'Dusst!' he hissed. Sam's hand wa vered. His mind was hot with wrath and the memory of evil. It would be just to slay this treacherous, murderous creature, just and many times deserved; and also it seemed the only safe thing to do. But deep in his heart there was something that restrained him: he could not strike this thing lying in the dust, forlorn, ruinous, utterly wretched. He himself, though only for a little while, had borne the Ring, and now dimly he guessed the agony of Gollum's shrivelled mind and body, enslaved to tha t Ring,####-unable to find peace or relief ever in life again. But Sam had no words to express what he felt. 'Oh, curse you, you stinking thing!' he said. 'Go away! Be off! I don't trust you, not as far as I could kick you; but be off. Or I shall hurt you, yes, with nasty cruel steel.' Gollum got up on all fours, and backed away for several paces, and then he turned, and as Sam aimed a kick at him he fled away down the path. Sam gave no more heed to him. He suddenly remembered his master. He looked up the path and could not see him. As fast as he could he trudged up the road. If he had looked back, he might have seen not far below Gollum turn again, and then with a wild light of madness glaring in his eyes come, swiftly but warily, creeping on behind, a slinking shadow among the stones. The path climbed on. Soon it bent again and. with a last eastward course passed in a cutting along the face of the cone and came to the dark door in the Mountain's side, the door of the Samma th Naur. Far away now rising towards the South the sun, piercing the smokes and haze, burned ominous, a dull bleared disc of red; but all Mordor lay about the Mountain like a dead land, silent, shadow-folded, waiting for some dreadful stroke. Sam came to the gaping mouth and peered in. It was dark and hot, and a deep rumbling shook the air. 'Frodo! Master!' he called. There was no answer. For a moment he stood, his heart beating with wild fears, and then he plunged in. A shadow followed him. At first he could see nothing. In his great need he drew out once more the phial of Galadriel, but it was pale and cold in his trembling hand and threw no light into that stifling dark. He was come to the heart of the realm of Sauron and the forges of his ancient might, greatest in Middle-earth; all other powers were here subdued. Fearfully he took a few uncertain steps in the dark, and then all at once there came a flash of red that leaped upward, and smote the high black roof. Then Sam saw that he was in a long cave or tunnel that bored into the Mountain's smoking cone. But only a short way ahead its floor and the walls on either side were cloven by a great fissure, out of which the red glare came, now leaping u p, now dying down into darkness; and all the while far below there was a rumour and a trouble as of great engines throbbing and labouring. The light sprang up again, and there on the brink of the chasm, at the very Crack of Doom, stood Frodo, black against the glare, tense, erect, but ####-still as if he had been turned to stone. 'Master!' cried Sam. Then Frodo stirred and spoke with a clear voice, indeed with a voice clearer and more powerful than Sam had ever heard him use, and it rose above the throb and turmoil of Mount Doom, ringing in the roof and walls. 'I have come,' he said. 'But I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!' And suddenly, as he set it on his finger, he vanished from Sam's sight. Sam gasped, but he had no chance to cry out, for at that moment many things happened. Something struck Sam violently in the back, his legs were knocked from under him and he was flung aside, striking his head against the stony floor, as a dark shape sprang over him. He lay still and for a moment all went black. And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-dyr was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung. From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his stratagems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a tremor ran, his slaves quailed, and his armies halted, and his captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired. For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain. At his summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate race there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazgyl the Ringwraiths, and with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom. Sam got up. He was dazed, and blood streaming from his head dripped in his eyes. He groped forward, and then he saw a strange and terrible thing. Gollum on the edge of the abyss was fighting like a mad thing with an unseen foe. To and fro he swayed, now so near the brink that almost he tumbled in, now dragging back, falling to the ground, rising, and falling again. And all ####-the while he hissed but spoke no words. The fires below awoke in anger, the red light blazed, and all the cavern was filled with a great glare and heat. Suddenly Sam saw Gollum's long hands draw upwards to his mouth; his white fangs gleamed, and then snapped as they bit. Frodo gave a cry, and there he was, fallen upon his knees at the chasm's edge. But Gollum, dancing like a mad thing, held aloft the ring, a finger still thrust within its circle. It shone now as if verily it was wrought of living fire. 'Precious, precious, precious!' Gollum cried. 'My Precious! O my Precious!' And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek he fell. Out of the depths came his last wail Precious, and he was gone. There was a roar and a great confusion of noise. Fires leaped up and licked the roof. The throbbing grew to a great tumult, and the Mountain shook. Sam ran to Frodo and picked him up and carried him. out to the door. And there upon the dark threshold of the Sammath Naur, high above the plains of Mordor, such wonder and terror came on him that he stood still forgetting all else, and gazed as one turned to st one. A brief vision he had of swirling cloud, and in the midst of it towers and battlements, tall as hills, founded upon a mighty mountain-throne above immeasurable pits; great courts and dungeons, eyeless prisons sheer as cliffs, and gaping gates of steel and adamant: and then all passed. Towers fell and mountains slid; walls crumbled and melted, crashing down; vast spires of smoke and spouting steams went billowing up, up, until they toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came foaming down upon the land. And then at last over the miles between there came a rumble, rising to a deafening crash and roar; the earth shook, the plain heaved and cracked, and Orodruin reeled. Fire belched from its riven summit. The skies burst into thunder seared with lightning. Down like lashing whips fell a torrent of black rain. And into the heart of the storm, with a cry that pierced all other sounds, tearing the clouds asunder, the Nazgyl came, shooting like flaming bolts, as caught in the fiery ruin of hill and sky they crackled, withered, and went out. 'Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee,' said a voice by his side. And there was Frodo, pale and worn, and yet himself again; and in his eyes there was peace now, neither strain of will, nor madness, nor any fear. His burden ####-was taken away. There was the dear master of the sweet days in the Shire. 'Master!' cried Sam. and fell upon his knees. In all that ruin of the world for the momen t he felt only joy, great joy. The burden was gone. His master had been saved; he was himself again, he was free. And then Sam caught sight of the maimed and bleeding hand. 'Your poor hand!' he said. 'And I have nothing to bind it with, or comfort it. I would have spared him a whole hand of mine rather. But he's gone now beyond recall, gone for ever.' 'Yes,' said Frodo. 'But do you remember Gandalf's words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.'####- All about the hills the hosts of Mordor raged. The Captains of the West were foundering in a gathering sea. The sun gleamed red, and under the wings of the Nazgyl the shadows of death fell dark upon the earth. Aragorn stood beneath his banner, silent and stern, as one lost in thought of things long past or far away; but his eyes gleamed like stars that shine the brighter as the night deepens. Upon the hill-top stood Gandalf, and he was white and cold and no shadow fell on him. The onslaught of Mordor broke like a wave on the beleaguered hills, voices roaring like a tide amid the wreck and crash of arms. As if to his eyes some sudden vision had been given, Gandalf stirred; and he turned, looking back north where the skies were pale and clear. Then he lifted up his hands and cried in a loud voice ringing above the din: The Eagles are coming! And many voices answered crying: The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming! The hosts of Mordor looked up and wondered what this sign might mean. There came Gwaihir the Windlord, and Landroval his brother, greatest of all the Eagles of the North, mightiest of the descendants of old Thorondor, who built his eyries in the inaccessible peaks of the Encircling Mountains when Middle-earth was young. Behind them in long swift lines came all their vassals from the northern mountains, speeding on a gathering wind. Straight down upon the Nazgyl they bore, stooping suddenly out of the high airs, and the rush of their wide wings as they passed over was like a gale. But the Nazgyl turned and fled, and vanished into Mordor's shadows, hearing a sudden terrible call out of the Dark Tower; and even at that moment all the hosts of Mordor trembled, doubt clutched their hearts, their laughter failed, their hands shook and their limbs were loosed. The Power that drove them on and filled them with hate and fury was wavering, its will was removed from them; and now looking in the eyes of their enemies they saw a deadly light and were afraid.####- Then all the Captains of the West cried aloud, for their hearts were filled with a new hope in the midst of darkness. Out from the beleaguered hills knights of Gondor, Riders of Rohan, D®nedain of the North, close-serried companies, drove against their wavering foes, piercing the press with the thrust of bitter spears. But Gandalf lifted up his arms and called once more in a clear voice: 'Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom.' And even as he spoke the earth rocked beneath their feet. Then rising swiftly up, far above the Towers of the Black Gate, high above the mountains, a vast soaring darkness sprang into the sky, flickering with fire. The earth groaned and quaked. The Towers of the Teeth swayed, tottered, and fell down; the mighty rampart crumbled; the Black Gate was hurled in ruin; and from far away, now dim, now growing, now mounting to the clouds, there came a drumming rumble, a roar, a long echoing roll of ruinous noise. 'The realm of Sauron is ended!' said Gandalf. 'The Ring-bearer has fulfilled his Quest.' And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell. The Captains bowed their heads; and when they looked up again, behold! their enemies were flying and the power of Mordor was scattering like dust in the wind. As when death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast themselves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far from hope. But the Men of Rhyn and of Harad, Easterling and Southron, saw the ruin of their war and the great majesty and glory of the Captains of the West. And those that were deepest and longest in evil servitude, hating the West, and yet were men proud and bold, in their turn now gathered themselves for a last stand of desperate battle. But the most part fled eastward as they could; and some cast their ####-weapons down and sued for mercy. Then Gandalf, leaving all such matters of battle and command to Aragorn and the other lords, stood upon the hill-top and called; and down to him came the great eagle, Gwaihir the Windlord, and stood before him. 'Twice you have borne me, Gwaihir my friend,' said Gandalf. 'Thrice shall pay for all, if you are willing. You will not find me a burden much greater than when you bore me from Zirak-zigil, where my old life burned away.' 'I would bear you,' answered Gwaihir, 'whither you will, even were you made of stone.' 'Then come, and let your brother go with us, and some other of your folk who is most swift! For we have need of speed greater than any wind, outmatching the wings of the Nazgyl.' 'The North Wind blows, but we shall outfly it,' said Gwaihir. And he lifted up Gandalf and sped away south, and with him went Landroval, and Meneldor young and swift. And they passed over Udyn and Gorgoroth and saw all the land in ruin and tumult beneath them, and before them Mount Doom blazing, pouring out its fire. 'I am glad that you are here with me,' said Frodo. 'Here at the end of all things, Sam.' 'Yes, I am with you, Master,' said Sam, laying Frodo's wounded hand gently to his breast. 'And you're with me. And the journey's finished. But after coming all that way I don't want to give up yet. It's not like me, somehow, if you understand.' 'Maybe not, Sam,' said Frodo; 'but it's like things are in the world. Hopes fail. An end comes. We have only a little time to wait now. We are lost in ruin and downfall, and there is no escape.' 'Well, Master, we could at least go further from this dangerous place here, from this Crack of Doom, if that's its name. Now couldn't we? Come, Mr. Frodo, let's go down the path at any rate!' 'Very well, Sam. If you wish to go, I'll come,' said Frodo; and they rose and went slowly down the winding road; and even as they passed towards the Mountain's quaking feet, a great smoke and steam belched from the Sammath Naur, and the side of the cone was riven open, and a huge fiery vomit rolled in slow thunderous cascade down the eastern mountain-side. Frodo and Sam could go no further. Their last strength of mind and body ####-was swiftly ebbing. They had reached a low ashen hill piled at the Mountain's foot; but from it there was no more escape. It was an island now, not long to endure, amid the torment of Orodruin. All about it the earth gaped, and from deep rifts and pits smoke and fumes leaped up. Behind them the Mountain was convulsed. Great rents opened in its side. Slow rivers of fire came down the long slopes towards them. Soon they would be engulfed. A rain of hot ash was falling. They stood now; and Sam still holding his master's hand caressed it. He sighed. 'What a tale we have been in, Mr. Frodo, haven't we?' he said. 'I wish I could hear it told! Do you think they'll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom? And then everyone will hush, like we did, when in Rivendell they told us the tale of Beren One-hand and the Great Jewel. I wish I could hear it! And I wonder how it will go on after our part.' But even while he spoke so, to keep fear away until the very last, his eyes still strayed north, north into the eye of the wind, to where the sky far off was clear, as the cold blast, rising to a gale, drove back the darkness and the ruin of the clouds. And so it was that Gwaihir saw them with his keen far-seeing eyes, as down the wild wind he came, and daring the great peril of the skies he circled in the air: two small dark figures, forlorn, hand in hand upon a little hill, while the world shook under them, and gasped, and rivers of fire drew near. And even as he espied them and came swooping down, he saw them fall, worn out, or choked with fumes and heat, or stricken down by despair at last, hiding the ir eyes from death. Side by side they lay; and down swept Gwaihir, and down came Landroval and Meneldor the swift; and in a dream, not knowing what fate had befallen them, the wanderers were lifted up and borne far away out of the darkness and the fire. When Sam awoke, he found that he was lying on some soft bed, but over him gently swayed wide beechen boughs, and through their young leaves sunlight glimmered, green and gold. All the air was full of a sweet mingled scent. He remembered that smell: the fragrance of Ithilien. 'Bless me!' he mused. 'How long have I been asleep?' For the scent had borne him back to ####-the day when he had lit his little fire under the sunny bank; and for a moment all else between was out of waking memory. He stretched and drew a deep breath. 'Why, what a dream I've had!' he muttered. 'I am glad to wake!' He sat up and then he saw that Frodo was lying beside him, and slept peacefully, one hand behind his head, and the other resting upon the coverlet. It was the right hand, and the third finger was missing. Full memory flooded back, and Sam cried aloud: 'It wasn't a dream! Then where are we?' And a voice spoke softly behind: 'In the land of Ithilien, and in the keeping of the King; and he awaits you.' With that Gandalf stood before him, robed in white, his beard now gleaming like pure snow in the twinkling of the leafy sunlight. 'Well, Master Samwise, how do you feel?' he said. But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: 'Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the world?' 'A great Shadow has departed,' said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed. 'How do I feel?' he cried. 'Well, I don't know how to say it. I feel, I feel' - he waved his arms in the air - 'I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!' He stopped and he turned towards his master. 'But how's Mr. Frodo?' he said. 'Isn't it a shame about his poor hand? But I hope he's all right otherwise. He's had a cruel time.' 'Yes, I am all right otherwise,' said Frodo, sitting up and laughing in his turn. I fell asleep again waiting for you, Sam, you sleepyhead. I was awake early this morning, and now it must be nearly noon.' 'Noon?' said Sam, trying to calculate. 'Noon of what day? ' 'The fourteenth of the New Year,' said Gandalf; 'or if you like, the eighth day of April in the Shire reckoning.( But in Gondor the New Year will ####-always now begin upon the twenty -fifth of March when Sauron fell, and when you were brought out of the fire to the King. He has tended you, and now he awaits you. You shall eat and drink with him. When you are ready I will lead you to him.' 'The King?' said Sam. 'What king, and who is he?' 'The King of Gondor and Lord of the Western Lands,' said Gandalf 'and he has taken back all his ancient realm. He will ride soon to his crowning, but he waits for you.' 'What shall we wear?' said Sam; for all he could see was the old and tattered clothes that they had journeyed in, lying folded on the ground beside their beds. 'The clothes that you wore on your way to Mordor,' said Gandalf. 'Even the orc-rags that you bore in the black land; Frodo, shall be preserved. No silks and linens, nor any armour or heraldry could be more honourable. But later I will find some other clothes, perhaps.' Then he held out his hands to them, and they saw that one shone with light. 'What have you got there?' Frodo cried. 'Can it be - ? ' 'Yes, I have brought your two treasures. They were found on Sam when you were rescued. The Lady Galadriel's gifts: your glass, Frodo, and your box, Sam. You will be glad to have these safe again.' When they were washed and clad, and had eaten a light meal, the Hobbits followed Gandalf. They stepped out of the beech-grove in which they had lain, and passed on to a long green lawn, glowing in sunshine, bordered by stately dark-leaved trees laden with scarlet blossom. Behind them they could hear the sound of falling water, and a stream ran down before them between flowering banks, until it came to a greenwood at the lawn's foot and passed then on under an archway of trees, through which they saw the shimmer of water far away. As they came to the opening in the wood, they were surprised to see knights in bright mail and tall guards in silver and black standing there, who greeted them with honour and bowed before them. And then one blew a long trumpet, and they went on through the aisle of trees beside the singing stream. So they came to a wide green land, and beyond it was a broad river in a silver haze, out of which rose a long wooded isle, and many ships lay by its shores. But on the field where they now stood a great host was drawn up, in ranks and companies glittering in the sun. And as the Hobbits ####-approached swords were unsheathed, and spears were shaken, and horns and trumpets sang, and men cried with many voices and in many tongues: 'Long live the Halflings! Praise them with great praise! Cuio i Pheriain anann! Aglar'ni Pheriannath! Praise them with great praise, Frodo and Samwise! Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annyn! Eglerio! Praise them! Eglerio! A laita te, laita te! Andave laituvalmet! Praise them! Cormacolindor, a laita tbrienna! Praise them! The Ring-bearers, praise them with great praise!' And so the red blood blushing in their faces and their eyes shining with wonder, Frodo and Sam went forward and saw that amidst the clamorous host were set three high-seats built of green turves. Behind the seat upon the right floated, white on green, a great horse running free; upon the left was a banner, silver upon blue, a ship swan-prowed faring on the sea; but behind the highest throne in the midst of all a great standard was spread in the breeze, and there a white tree flowered upon a sable field beneath a shining crown and seven glittering stars. On the throne sat a mail-clad man, a great sword was laid across his knees, but he wore no helm. As they drew near he rose. And then they knew him, changed as he was, so high and glad of face, kingly, lord of Men, dark-haired with eyes of grey. Frodo ran to meet him, and Sam followed close behind. 'Well, if that isn't the crown of all!' he said. 'Strider, or I'm still asleep!' 'Yes, Sam, Strider,' said Aragorn. 'It is a long way, is it not, from Bree, where you did not like the look of me? A long way for us all but yours has been the darkest road.' And then to Sam's surprise and utter confusion he bowed his knee before them; and taking them by the hand, Frodo upon his right and Sam upon his left, he led them to the throne, and setting them upon it, he turned to the men and captains who stood by and spoke, so that his voice rang over all the host, crying: 'Praise them with great praise!' And when the glad shout had swelled up and died away again, to Sam's final and complete satisfaction and pure joy, a minstrel of Gondor stood ####-forth, and knelt, and begged leave to sing. And behold! he said: 'Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and D®nedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.' And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: 'O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!' And then he wept. And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the ver y wine of blessedness. And at the last, as the Sun fell from the noon and the shadows of the trees lengthened, he ended. 'Praise them with great praise!' he said and knelt. And then Aragorn stood up, and all the host arose, and they passed to pavilions made ready, to eat and drink and make merry while the day lasted. Frodo and Sam were led apart and brought to a tent, and there their old raiment was taken off, but folded and set aside with honour; and clean linen was given to them. Then Gandalf came and in his arms, to the wonder of Frodo, he bore the sword and the elven-cloak and the mithril-coat that had been taken from him in Mordor. For Sam he brought a coat of gilded mail, and his elven-cloak all healed of the soils and hurts that it had suffered; and then he laid before them two swords. 'I do not wish for any sword,' said Frodo. 'Tonight at least you should wear one,' said Gandalf. Then Frodo took the small sword that had belonged to Sam, and had been laid at his side in Cirith Ungol. 'Sting I gave to you Sam,' he said. 'No, master! Mr. Bilbo gave it to you, and it goes with his silver coat; he would not wish anyone else to wear it now.' Frodo gave way; and Gandalf, as if he were their esquire, knelt and girt the sword-belts about them, and then rising he set circlets of silver upon their heads. And when they were arrayed they went to the great feast; and they sat at the King's table with Gandalf, and King Jomer of Rohan, and ####-the Prince Imrahil and all the chief captains; and there also were Gimli and Legolas. But when, after the Standing Silence, wine was brought there came in two esquires to serve the kings; or so they seemed to be: one was clad in the silver and sable of the Guards of Minas Tirith, and the other in white and green. But Sam wondered what such young boys were doing in an army of mighty men. Then suddenly as they drew near and he could see them plainly, he exclaimed: 'Why, look Mr. Frodo! Look here! Well, if it isn't Pippin. Mr. Peregrin Took I should say, and Mr. Merry! How they have grown! Bless me! But I can see there's more tales to tell than ours.' 'There are indeed,' said Pippin turning towards him. 'And we'll begin telling them, as soon as this feast is ended. In the meantime you can try Gandalf. He's not so close as he used to be, though he laughs now more than he talks. For the present Merry and I are busy. We are knights of the City and of the Mark, as I hope you observe.' At last the glad day ended; and when the Sun was gone and the round Moon rode slowly above the mists of Anduin and flickered through the fluttering leaves, Frodo and Sam sat under the whispering trees amid the fragrance of fair Ithilien; and they talked deep into the night with Merry and Pippin and Gandalf, and after a while Legolas and Gimli joined them. There Frodo and Sam learned much of all that had happened to the Company after their fellowship was broken on the evil day at Parth Galen by Rauros Falls; and still there was always more to ask and more to tell. Orcs, and talking trees, and leagues of grass, and galloping riders. and glittering caves, and white towers and golden halls, and battles, and tall ships sailing, all these passed before Sam's mind until he felt bewildered. But amidst all these wonders he returned always to his astonishment at the size of Merry and Pippin; and he made them stand back to back with Frodo and himself. He scratched his head. 'Can't understand it at your age!' he said. 'But there it is: you're three inches taller than you ought to he, or I'm a dwarf.' 'That you certainly are not,' said Gimli. 'But what did I say? Mortals cannot go drinking ent-draughts and expect no more to come of them than of a pot of beer.'####- 'Ent-draughts?' said Sam. 'There you go about Ents again; but what they are beats me. Why, it will take weeks before we get all these things sized up!' 'Weeks indeed,' said Pippin. 'And then Frodo will have to be locked up in a tower in Minas Tirith and write it all down. Otherwise he will forget half of it, and poor old Bilbo will be dreadfully disappointed.' At length Gandalf rose. 'The hands of the King are hands of healing, dear friends,' he said. 'But you went to the very brink of death ere he recalled you, putting forth all his power, and sent you into the sweet forgetfulness of sleep. And though you have indeed slept long and blessedly, still it is now time to sleep again.' And not only Sam and Frodo here, said Gimli, but you too, Pippin. I love you, if only because of the pains you have cost me, which I shall never forget. Nor shall I forget finding you on the hill of the last battle. But for Gimli the Dwarf you would have been lost then. But at least I know now the look of a hobbit's foot, though it be all that can be seen under a heap of bodies. And when I heaved that great carcase off you, I made sure you were dead. I could have. torn out my beard. And it is only a day yet since you were first up and abroad again. To bed now you go. And so shall I.' 'And I,' said Legolas, 'shall walk in the woods of this fair land, which is rest enough. In days to come, if my Elven-lord allows, some of our folk shall remove hither; and when we come it shall be blessed, for a while. For a while: a month, a life, a hundred years of Men. But Anduin is near, and Anduin leads down to the Sea. To the Sea! To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying, The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying. West, west away, the round sun is falling. Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling. The voices of my people that have gone before me? I will leave, I will leave the wo ods that bore me; For our days are ending and our years failing. I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing. Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling, Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling, In Eressla, in Elvenhome that no man can discover, Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!' And so singing Legolas went away down the hill.####- Then the others also departed, and Frodo and Sam went to their beds and slept. And in the morning they rose again in hope and peace; and they spent many days in Ithilien. For the Field of Cormallen, where the host was now encamped was near to Henneth Annyn, and the stream that flowed from its falls could be heard in the night as it rushed down through its rocky gate, and passed through the flowery meads into the tides of Anduin by the Isle of Cair Andros. The hobbits wandered here and there visiting again the places that they had passed before; and Sam hoped always in some shadow of the woods or secret glade to catch, maybe, a glimpse of the great Oliphaunt. And when he learned that at the siege of Gondor there had been a great number of these beasts but that they were all destroyed, he thought it a sad loss. 'Well, one can't be everywhere at once, I suppose,' he said. 'But I missed a lot, seemingly.' In the meanwhile the host made ready for the return to Minas Tirith. The weary rested and the hurt were healed. For some had laboured and fought much with the remnants of the Easterlings and Southrons, until all were subdued. And, latest of all, those returned who had passed into Mordor and destroyed the fortresses in the north of the land. But at the last when the month of May was drawing near the Captains of the West set out a gain; and they went aboard ship with all their men, and they sailed from Cair Andros down Anduin to Osgiliath; and there they remained for one day; and the day after they came to the green fields of the Pelennor and saw again the white towers under tall Mindolluin, the City of the Men of Gondor, last memory of Westernesse, that had passed through the darkness and fire to a new day. And there in the midst of the fields they set up their pavilions and awaited the morning; for it was the Eve of May, and the King would enter his gates with the rising of the Sun. ####- Over the city of Gondor doubt and great dread had hung. Fair weather and clear sun had seemed but a mockery to men whose days held little hope, and who looked each morning for news of doom. Their lord was dead and burned, dead lay the King of Rohan in their citadel, and the new king that had come to them in the night was gone again to a war with powers too dark and terrible for any might or valour to conquer. And no news came. After the host left Morgul Vale and took the northward road beneath the shadow of the mountains no messenger had returned nor any rumour of what was passing in the brooding East. When the Captains were but two days gone, the Lady Jowyn bade the women who tended her to bring her raiment, and she would not be gainsaid, but rose; and when they had clothed her and set her arm in a sling of linen, she went to the Warden of the Houses of Healing. 'Sir,' she said, 'I am in great unrest, and I cannot lie longer in sloth.' 'Lady,' he answered, 'you are not yet healed, and I was commanded to tend you with especial care. You should not have risen from your bed for seven days yet , or so I was bidden. I beg you to go back.' 'I am healed,' she said, 'healed at least in body, save my left arm only, and that is at ease. But I shall sicken anew, if there is naught that I can do. Are there no tidings of war? The women can tell me nothing.' 'There are no tidings,' said the Warden, 'save that the Lords have ridden to Morgul Vale; and men say that the new captain out of the North is their chief. A great lord is that, and a healer; and it is a thing passing strange to me that the healing hand should also wield the sword. It is not thus in Gondor now, though once it was so, if old tales be true. But for long years we healers have only sought to patch the rents made by the men of swords. Though we should still have enough to do without them: the world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.' It needs but one foe to breed a war, not two, Master Warden, answered Jowyn. 'And those who have not swords can still die upon them. Would you have the folk of Gondor gather you herbs only, when the Dark Lord gathers ####-armies? And it is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in this dark hour I would choose the latter.' The Warden looked at her. Tall she stood there, her eyes bright in her white face, her hand clenched as she turned and gazed out of his window that opened to the East. He sighed and shook his head. After a pause she turned to him again. 'Is there no deed to do?' she said. 'Who commands in this City?' 'I do not rightly know,' he answered. 'Such things are not my care. There is a marshal over the Riders of Rohan; and the Lord H®rin, I am told, commands the men of Gondor. But the Lord Faramir is by right the Steward of the City.' 'Where can I find him?' 'In this house, lady. He was sorely hurt, but is now set again on the way to health. But I do not know--' 'Will you not bring me to him? Then you will know. ' The Lord Faramir was walking alone in the garden of the Houses of Healing, and the sunlight warmed him, and he felt life run new in his veins; but his heart was heavy, and he looked out over the walls eastward. And coming, the Warden spoke his name, and he turned and saw the Lady Jowyn of Rohan; and he was moved with pity, for he saw that she was hurt, and his clear sight perceived her sorrow and unrest. 'My lord,' said the Warden, 'here is the Lady Jowyn of Rohan. She rode wi th the king and was sorely hurt, and dwells now in my keeping. But she is not content, and she wishes to speak to the Steward of the City.' 'Do not misunderstand him, lord,' said Jowyn. 'It is not lack of care that grieves me. No houses could be fairer, for those who desire to be healed. But I cannot lie in sloth, idle, caged. I looked for death in battle. But I have not died, and battle still goes on.' At a sign from Faramir, the Warden bowed and departed. 'What would you have me do, lady?' said Faramir. 'I also am a prisoner of the healers.' He looked at her, and being a man whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to him that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was one whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch ####-in battle. 'What do you wish?' he said again. 'If it lies in my power, I will do it.' 'I would have you command this Warden, and bid him let me go,' she said; but though her words were still proud, her heart faltered, and for the first time she doubted herself. She guessed that this tall man, both stern and gentle, might think her merely wayward, like a child that has not the firmness of mind to go on with a dull task to the end. 'I myself am in the Warden's keeping,' answered Faramir. 'Nor have I yet taken up my authority in the City. But had I done so, I should still listen to his counsel, and should not cross his will in matters of his craft, unless in some great need.' 'But I do not desire healing,' she said. 'I wish to ride to war like my brother Jomer, or better like Thjoden the king, for he died and has both honour and peace.' 'It is too late, lady, to follow the Captains, even if you had the strength,' said Faramir. 'But death in battle may come to us all yet, willing or unwilling. You will be better prepared to face it in your own manner, if while there is still time you do as the Healer commanded. You and I, we must endure with patience the hours of waiting.' She did not answer, but as he looked at her it seemed to him that something in her softened, as though a bitter frost were yielding at the first faint presage of Spring. A tear sprang in her eye and fell down her cheek, like a glistening rain-drop. Her proud head drooped a little. Then quietly, more as if speaking to herself than to him: 'But the healers would have me lie abed seven days yet,' she said. 'And my window does not look eastward.' Her voice was now that of a maiden young and sad. Faramir smiled, though his heart was filled with pity. 'Your window does not look eastward?' he said. 'That can be amended. In this I will command the Warden. If you will stay in this house in our care, lady, and take your rest, then you shall walk in this garden in the sun, as you will; and you shall look east, whither all our hopes have gone. And here you will find me, walking and waiting, and also looking east. It would ease my care, if you would speak to me, or walk at whiles with me.' Then she raised her head and looked him in the eyes again; and a colour came in her pale face. 'How should I ease your care, my lord?' she said. 'And I do not desire the speech of living men.'####- 'Would you have my plain answer?' he said. 'I would.' 'Then, Jowyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful. In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I seen till now in Gondor so lovely, and so sorrowful. It may be that only a few days are left ere darkness falls upon our world, and when it comes I hope to face it steadily; but it would ea se my heart, if while the Sun yet shines, I could see you still. For you and I have both passed under the wings of the Shadow, and the same hand drew us back.' 'Alas, not me, lord!' she said. 'Shadow lies on me still. Look not to me for healing! I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is ungentle. But I thank you for this at least, that I need not keep to my chamber. I will walk abroad by the grace of the Steward of the City.' And she did him a courtesy and walked back to the house. But Faramir for a long while walked alone in the garden, and his glance now strayed rather to the house than to the eastward walls. When he returned to his chamber he called for the Warden, and heard all that he could tell of the Lady of Rohan. 'But I doubt not, lor d,' said the Warden, 'that you would learn more from the Halfling that is with us; for he was in the riding of the king, and with the Lady at the end, they say.' And so Merry was sent to Faramir, and while that day lasted they talked long together, and Faramir learned much, more even than Merry put into words; and he thought that he understood now something of the grief and unrest of Jowyn of Rohan. And in the fair evening Faramir and Merry walked in the garden, but she did not come. But in the morning, as Faramir came from the Houses, he saw her, as she stood upon the walls; and she was clad all in white, and gleamed in the sun. And he called to her, and she came down, and they walked on the grass or sat under a green tree together , now in silence, now in speech. And each day after they did likewise. And the Warden looking from his window was glad in heart. for he was a healer. and his care was lightened; and certain it was that, heavy as was the dread and foreboding of those days upon the hearts of men, still these two of his charges prospered and grew daily in strength. And so the fifth day came since the Lady Jowyn went first to Faramir; and they stood now together once more upon the walls of the City and looked out. No tidings had yet come, and all hearts were darkened. The weather,####-too, was bright no longer. It was cold. A wind that had sprung up in the night was blowing now keenly from the North, and it was rising; but the lands about looked grey and dr ear. They were clad in warm raiment and heavy cloaks, and over all the Lady Jowyn wore a great blue mantle of the colour of deep summer -night, and it was set with silver stars about hem and throat. Faramir had sent for this robe and had wrapped it about her; and he thought that she looked fair and queenly indeed as she stood there at his side. The mantle was wrought for his mother, Finduilas of Amroth, who died untimely, and was to him but a memory of loveliness in far days and of his first grief; and her robe seemed to him raiment fitting for the beauty and sadness of Jowyn. But she now shivered beneath the starry mantle, and she looked northward, above the grey hither lands, into the eye of the cold wind where far away the sky was hard and clear. 'What do you look for, Jowyn?' said Faramir. 'Does not the Black Gate lie yonder?' said she. 'And must he not now be come thither? It is seven days since he rode away.' 'Seven days,' said Faramir. 'But think not il l of me, if I say to you: they have brought me both a joy and a pain that I never thought to know. Joy to see you; but pain, because now the fear and doubt of this evil time are grown dark indeed. Jowyn, I would not have this world end now, or lose so soon what I have found.' 'Lose what you have found, lord?' she answered; but she looked at him gravely and her eyes were kind. 'I know not what in these days you have found that you could lose. But come, my friend, let us not speak of it! Let us not speak at all! I stand upon some dreadful brink, and it is utterly dark in the abyss before my feet, but whether there is any light behind me I cannot tell. For I cannot turn yet. I wait for some stroke of doom.' 'Yes, we wait for the stroke of doom,' said Faramir. And they said no more; and it seemed to them as they stood upon the wall that the wind died, and the light failed, and the Sun was bleared, and all sounds in the City or in the lands about were hushed: neither wind, nor voice , nor bird-call, nor rustle of leaf, nor their own breath could be heard; the very beating of their hearts was stilled. Time halted. And as they stood so, their hands met and clasped, though they did not know it. And still they waited for they knew not what. Then presently it seemed to them that above the ridges of the distant mountains another vast ####-mountain of darkness rose, towering up like a wave that should engulf the world, and about it lightnings flickered; and then a tremor ran through the earth, and they felt the walls of the City quiver. A sound like a sigh went up from all the lands about them; and their hearts beat suddenly again. 'It reminds me of N®menor,' said Faramir, and wondered to hear himself speak. 'Of N®menor?' said Jowyn. 'Yes,' said Faramir, 'of the land of Westernesse that foundered and of the great dark wave climbing over the green lands and above the hills, and coming on, darkness unescapable. I often dream of it.' 'Then you think that the Darkness is coming?' said Jowyn. 'Darkness Unescapable?' And suddenly she drew close to him. 'No,' said Faramir, looking into her face. 'It was but a picture in the mind. I do not know what is happening. The reason of my waking mind tells me that great evil has befallen and we stand at the end of days. But my heart says nay; and all my limbs are light, and a hope and joy are come to me that no reason can deny. Jowyn, Jowyn, White Lady of Rohan, in this hour I do not believe that any darkness will endure!' And he stooped and kissed her brow. And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell. And before the Sun had fallen far from the noon out of the East there came a great Eagle flying, and he bore tidings beyond hope from the Lords of the West, crying: Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever, and the Dark Tower is thrown down. Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, for your watch hath not been in vain, and the Black Gate is broken, and your King hath passed through, and he is victorious.####- Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life. And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed, and he shall plant it in the high places, and the City shall be blessed. Sing all ye people! And the people sang in all the ways of the City. The days that followed were golden, and Spring and Summer joined and made revel together in the fields of Gondor. And tidings now came by swift riders from Cair Andros of all that was done, and the City made ready for the coming of the King. Merry was summoned and rode away with the wains that took store of goods to Osgiliath and thence by ship to Cair Andros; but Faramir did not go, for now being healed he took upon him his authority and the Stewardship, although it was only for a little while, and his duty was to prepare for one who should replace him. And Jowyn did not go, though her brother sent word begging her to come to the field of Cormallen. And Faramir wondered at this, but he saw her seldom, being busy with many matters; and she dwelt still in the Houses of Healing and walked alone in the garden, and her face grew pale again, and it seemed that in all the City she only was ailing and sorrowful. And the Warden of the Houses was troubled, and he spoke to Faramir. Then Faramir came and sought her, and once more they stood on the walls together; and he said to her: 'Jowyn, why do you tarry here, and do not go to the rejoicing in Cormallen beyond Cair Andros, where your brother awaits you?' And she said: 'Do you not know?' But he answered: 'Two reasons there may be, but which is true, l do not know.' And she said: 'I do not wish to play at riddles. Speak plainer!' 'Then if you will have it so, lady,' he said: 'you do not go, because only your brother called for you, and to look on the Lord Aragorn, Elendil's ####-heir, in his triumph would now bring you no joy. Or because I do not go, and you desire still to be near me. And maybe for both these reasons, and you yourself cannot choose between them. Jowyn, do you not love me, or will you not?' 'I wished to be loved by another,' she answered. 'But I desire no man's pity.' 'That I know,' he said. 'You desired to have the love of the Lord Aragorn. Because he was high and puissant, and you wished to have renown and glory and to be lifted far above the mean things that crawl on the earth. And as a great captain may to a young soldier he seemed to you admirable. For so he is, a lord among men, the greatest that now is. But when he gave you only understanding and pity, then you desired to have nothing, unless a brave death in battle. Look at me, Jowyn!' And Jowyn looked at Faramir long and steadily; and Faramir said: 'Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart, Jowyn! But I do not offer you my pity. For you are a lady high and valiant and have yourself won renown that shall not be forgotten; and you are a lady beautiful, I deem, beyond even the words of the Elven-tongue to tell. And I love you. Once I pitied your sorrow. But now, were you sorrowless, without fear or any lack, were you the blissful Queen of Gondor, still I would love you. Jowyn, do you not love me?' Then the heart of Jowyn changed, or else at last she understood it. And suddenly her winter passed, and the sun shone on her. I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun, she said; and behold the Shadow has departed! I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.' And again she looked at Faramir. 'No longer do I desire to be a queen,' she said. Then Faramir laughed merrily. 'That is well,' he said; 'for I am not a king. Yet I will wed with the White Lady of Rohan, if it be her will. And if she will, then let us cross the River and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden. All things will grow with joy there, if the White Lady comes.' 'Then must I leave my own people, man of Gondor?' she said. 'And would you have your proud folk say of you: (There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! Was there no woman of the race of N®menor to ####-choose?(' 'I would,' said Faramir. And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many. And many indeed saw them and the light that shone about them as they came down from the walls and went hand in hand to the Houses of Healing. And to the Warden of the Houses Faramir said: 'Here is the Lady Jowyn of Rohan, and now she is healed.' And the Warden said: 'Then I release her from my charge and bid her farewell, and may she suffer never hurt nor sickness again. I commend her to the care of the Steward of the City, until her brother returns.' But Jowyn said: 'Yet now that I have leave to depart, I would remain. For this House has become to me of all dwellings the most blessed.' And she remained there until King Jomer came. All things were now made ready in the City; and there was great concourse of people, for the tidings had gone out into all parts of Gondor, from Min-Rimmon even to Pinnath Gelin and the far coasts of the sea; and all that could come to the City made haste to come. And the City was filled again with women and fair children that returned to their homes laden with flowers; and from Dol Amroth came the harpers that harped most skilfully in all the land; and there were players upon viols and upon flutes and upon horns of silver, and clear-voiced singers from the vales of Lebennin. At last an evening came when from the walls the pavilions could be seen upon the field, and all night lights were burning as men watched for the dawn. And when the sun rose in the clear morning above the mountains in the East, upon which shadows lay no more, then all the bells rang, and all the banners broke and flowed in the wind; and upon the White Tower of the citadel the standard of the Stewards, bright argent like snow in the sun, bearing no charge nor device, was raised over Gondor for the last time. Now the Captains of the West led their host towards the City, and folk saw them advance in line upon line, flashing and glinting in the sunrise and rippling like silver. And so they came before the Gateway and halted a furlong from the walls. As yet no gates had been set up again, but a barrier was laid across the entrance to the City, and there stood men at arms in silver and black with long swords drawn. Before the barrier stood Faramir the Steward, and H®rin Warden of the Keys, and other captains of Gondor, and the Lady Jowyn of Rohan with Elfhelm the Marshal and many knights of the ####-Mark; and upon either side of the Gate was a great press of fair people in raiment of many colours and garlands of flowers. So now there was a wide space before the walls of Minas Tirith, and it was hemmed in upon all sides by the knights and the soldiers of Gondor and of Rohan, and by the people of the City and of all parts of the land. A hush fell upon all as out from the host stepped the D®nedain in silver and grey; and before them came walking slow the Lord Aragorn. He was clad in black mail girt with silver, and he wore a long mantle of pure white clasped at the throat with a great jewel of green that shone from afar; but his head was bare save for a star upon his forehead bound by a slender fillet of silver. With him were Jomer of Rohan, and the Prince Imrahil, and Gandalf robed all in white, and four small figures that many men marvelled to see. 'Nay, cousin! they are not boys,' said Ioreth to her kinswoman from Imloth Melui, who stood beside her. 'Those are Periain , out of the far country of the Halflings, where they are princes of great fame, it is said. I should know, for I had one to tend in the Houses. They are small, but they are valiant. Why, cousin, one of them went with only his esquire into the Black Country and fought with the Dark Lord all by himself, and set fire to his Tower, if you can believe it. At least that is the tale in the City. That will be the one that walks with our Elfstone. They are dear friends, I hear. Now he is a marvel, the Lord Elfstone: not too soft in his speech, mind you, but he has a golden heart, as the saying is; and he has the healing hands. (The hands of the king are the hands of a healer(, I said; and that was how it was all discovered. And Mithrandir, he said to me: (Ioreth, men will long remember your words(, and--' But Ioreth was not permitted to continue the instruction of her kinswoman from the country, for a single trumpet rang, and a dead silence followed. Then forth from the Gate went Faramir with H®rin of the Keys, and no others, save that behind them walked four men in the high helms and armour of the Citadel, and they bore a great casket of black lebethron bound with silver. Faramir met Aragorn in the midst of those there assembled, and he knelt, and said: 'The last Steward of Gondor begs leave to surrender his office.' And he held out a white rod; but Aragorn took the rod and gave it back, saying: 'That office is not ended, and it shall be thine and thy heirs' as long as my line shall last. Do now thy office!' Then Faramir stood up and spoke in a clear voice: 'Men of Gondor hear ####-now the Steward of this Realm! Behold! one has come to claim the kingship again at last. Here is Aragorn son of Arathorn, chieftain of the D®nedain of Arnor, Captain of the Host of the West, bearer of the Star of the North, wielder of the Sword Reforged, victorious in battle, whose hands bring healing, the Elfstone, Elessar of the line of Valandil, Isildur's son, Elendil's son of N®menor. Shall he be king and enter into the City and dwell there?' And all the host and all the people cried yea with one voice. And Ioreth said to her kinswoman: 'This is just a ceremony such as we have in the City, cousin; for he has already entered, as I was telling you; and he said to me--' And then again she was obliged to silence, for Faramir spoke again. 'Men of Gondor, the loremasters tell that it was the custom of old that the king should receive the crown from his father ere he died; or if that might not be, that he should go alone and take it from the hands of his father in the tomb where he was laid. But since things must now be done otherwise, using the authority of the Steward, I have today brought hither from Rath Dnnen the crown of Edrnur the last king, whose days passed in the time of our longfathers of old.' Then the guards stepped forward, and Faramir opened the casket, and he held up an ancient crown. It was shaped like the helms of the Guards of the Citadel, save that it was loftier, and it was all white, and the wings at either side were wrought of pearl and silver in the likeness of the wings of a sea -bird, for it was the emblem of kings who came over the Sea; and seven gems of adamant were set in the circlet, and upon its summit was set a single jewel the light of which went up like a flame. Then Aragorn took the crown and held it up and said: Et Edrello Endorenna ut®lien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta! And those were the words that Elendil spoke when he came up out of the Sea on the wings of the wind: 'Out of the Great Sea to M iddle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.' Then to the wonder of many Aragorn did not put the crown upon his head, but gave it back to Faramir, and said: 'By the labour and valour of many I have come into my inheritance. In token of this I would have the Ring-bearer bring the crown to me, and let Mithrandir set it upon my head, if he will;####-for he has been the mover of all that has been accomplished, and this is his victory.' Then Frodo came forward and took the crown from Faramir and bore it to Gandalf; and Aragorn knelt, and Gandalf set the White Crown upon his head, and said: 'Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!' But when Aragorn arose all that beheld him gazed in silence, for it seemed to them that he was revealed to them now for the first time. Tall as the sea -kings of old, he stood above all that were near; ancient of days he seemed and yet in the fl ower of manhood; and wisdom sat upon his brow, and strength and healing were in his hands, and a light was about him. And then Faramir cried: 'Behold the King!' And in that moment all the trumpets were blown, and the King Elessar went forth and came to the barrier, and H®rin of the Keys thrust it back; and amid the music of harp and of viol and of flute and the singing of clear voices the King passed through the flower -laden streets, and came to the Citadel, and entered in; and the banner of the Tree and the Stars was unfurled upon the topmost tower, and the reign of King Elessar began, of which many songs have told. In his time the City was made more fair than it had ever been, even in the days of its first glory; and it was filled with trees and with fountains, and its gates were wrought of mithril and steel, and its streets were paved with white marble; and the Folk of the Mountain laboured in it, and the Folk of the Wood rejoiced to come there; and all was healed and made good, and the houses were filled with men and women and the laughter of children, and no window was blind nor any courtyard empty; and after the ending of the Third Age of the world into the new age it preserved the memory and the glory of the years that were gone. In the days that followed his crowning the King sat on his throne in the Hall of the Kings and pronounced his judgements. And embassies came from many lands and peoples, from the East and the South, and from the borders of Mirkwood, and from Dunland in the west. And the King pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and sent them away free, and he made peace with the peoples of Harad; and the slaves of Mordor he released ####-and gave to them all the lands about Lake N®rnen to be their own. And there were brought before him many to receive his praise and reward for their valour; and last the captain of the Guard brought to him Beregond to be judged. And the King said to Beregond: 'Beregond, by your sword blood was spilled in the Hallows, where that is forbidden. Also you left your post without leave of Lord or of Captain. For these things, of old, death was the penalty. Now therefore I must pronounce your doom. 'All penalty is remitted for your valour in battle, and still more because all that you did was for the love of the Lord Faramir. Nonetheless you must leave the Guard of the Citadel, and you must go forth from the City of Minas Tirith.' Then the blood left Beregond's face, and he was stricken to the heart and bowed his head. But the King said.: 'So it must be, for you are appointed to the White Company, the Guard of Faramir, Prince of Ithilien, and you shall be its captain and dwell in Emyn Arnen in honour and peace, and in the service of him for whom you risked all, to save him from death.' And then Beregond, perceiving the mercy and justice of the King, was glad, and kneeling kissed his hand, and departed in joy and content. And Aragorn gave to Faramir Ithilien to be his princedom, and bade him dwell in the hills of Emyn Arnen within sight of the City. 'For,' said he, 'Minas Ithil in Morgul Vale shall be utterly destroyed, and though it may in time to come be made clean, no man may dwell there for many long years.' And last of all Aragorn greeted Jomer of Rohan, and they embraced, and Aragorn said: 'Between us there can be no word of giving or taking, nor of reward; for we are brethren. In happy hour did Eorl ride from the North, and never has any league of peoples been more blessed, so that neither has ever failed the other, nor shall fail. Now, as you know, we have laid Thjoden the Renowned in a tomb in the Hallows, and there he shall lie for ever among the Kings of Gondor, if you will. Or if you desire it, we will come to Rohan and bring him back to rest with his own people.' And Jomer answered: 'Since the day when you rose before me out of the green grass of the downs I have loved you , and that love shall not fail. But now I must depart for a while to my own realm, where there is much to heal and set in order. But as for the Fallen, when all is made ready we will ####-return for him; but here let him sleep a while.' And Jowyn said to Faramir: 'Now I must go back to my own land and look on it once again, and help my brother in his labour; but when one whom I long loved as father is laid at last to rest, I will return.' So the glad days passed; and on the eighth day o f May the Riders of Rohan made ready, and rode off by the North-way, and with them went the sons of Elrond. All the road was lined with people to do them honour and praise them, from the Gate of the City to the walls of the Pelennor. Then all others that dwelt afar went back to their homes rejoicing; but in the City there was labour of many willing hands to rebuild and renew and to remove all the scars of war and the memory of the darkness. The hobbits still remained in Minas Tirith, with Legolas and Gimli; for Aragorn was loth for the fellowship to be dissolved. 'At last all such things must end,' he said, 'but I would have you wait a little while longer: for the end of the deeds that you have shared in has not yet come. A day draws near that I have looked for in all the years of my manhood, and when it comes I would have my friends beside me.' But of that day he would say no more. In those days the Companions of the Ring dwelt together in a fair house with Gandalf, and they went to and fro as they wished. And Frodo said to Gandalf: 'Do you know what this day is that Aragorn speaks of? For we are happy here, and I don't wish to go; but the days are running away, and Bilbo is waiting; and the Shire is my home.' 'As for Bilbo,' said Gandalf, 'he is waiting for the same day, and he knows what keeps you. And as for the passing of the days, it is now only May and high summer is not yet in; and though all things may seem changed, as if an age of the world had gone by, yet to the trees and the grass it is less than a year since you set out.' 'Pippin,' said Frodo, 'didn't you say that Gandalf was less close than of old? He was weary of his labours then, I think. Now he is recovering.' And Gandalf said: 'Many folk like to know beforehand what is to be set on the table; but those who have laboured to prepare the feast like to keep their secret; for wonder makes the words of praise louder. And Aragorn himself waits for a sign.' There came a day when Gandalf could not be found, and the Companions ####-wondered what was going forward. But Gandalf took Aragorn out from the City by night, and he brought him to the southern feet of Mount Mindolluin; and there they found a path made in ages past that few now dared to tread. For it led up on to the mountain to a high hallow where only the kings had been wont to go. And they went up by steep ways, until they came to a high field below the snows that clad the lofty peaks, and it looked down over the precipice that stood behind the City. And standing there they surveyed the lands, for the morning was come; and they saw the towers of the City far below them like white pencils touched by the sunlight, and all the Vale of Anduin was like a garden, and the Mountains of Shadow were veiled in a golden mist. Upon the one side their sight reached to the grey Emyn Muil, and the glint of Rauros was like a star twinkling far off; and upon the other side they saw the River like a ribbon laid down to Pelargir, and beyond that was a light on the hem of the sky that spoke of the Sea. And Gandalf said: 'This is your realm, and the heart of the greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away; and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart.' 'I know it well, dear friend,' said Aragorn; 'but I would still have your counsel.' 'Not for long now,' said Gandalf. 'The Third Age was my age. I was the Enemy of Sauron; and my work is finished. I shall go soon. The burden must lie now upon you and your kindred.' 'But I shall die,' said Aragorn. 'For I am a mortal man, and though being what I am and of the race of the West unmingled, I shall have life far longer than other men, yet that is but a little while; and when those who are now in the wombs of women are born and have grown old, I too shall grow old. And who then shall govern Gondor and those who look to this City as to their queen, if my desire be not granted? The Tree in the Court of the Fountain is still withered and barren. When shall I see a sign that it will ever be otherwise?' 'Turn your face from the green world, and look where all seems barren ####-and cold!' said Gandalf. Then Aragorn turned. and there was a stony slope behind him running down from the skirts of the snow; and as he looked he was aware that alone there in the waste a growing thing stood. And he climbed to it, and saw that out of the very edge of the snow there sprang a sapling tree no more than three foot high. Already it had put forth young leaves long and shapely, dark above and silver beneath, and upon its slender crown it bore one small cluster of flowers whose white petals shone like the sunlit snow. Then Aragorn cried: 'Yj! ut®vienyes! I have found it! Lo! here is a scion of the Eldest of Trees! But how comes it here? For it is not itself yet seven years old.' And Gandalf coming looked at it, and said: 'Verily this is a sapling of the line of Nimloth the fair; and that was a seedling of Galathilion, and that a fruit of Telperion of many names, Eldest of Trees. Who shall say how it comes here in the appointed hour? But this is an ancient hallow, and ere the kings failed or the Tree withered in the court, a fruit must have been set here. For it is said that, though the fruit of the Tree comes seldom to ripeness, yet the life within may then lie sleeping through many long years, and none can foretell the time in which it will awake. Remember this. For if ever a fruit ripens, it should be planted, lest the line die out of the world. Here it has lain. hidden on the mountain, even as the race of Elendil lay hidden in the wastes of the North. Yet the line of Nimloth is older far than your line, King Elessar.' Then Aragorn laid his hand gently to the sapling, and lo! it seemed to hold only lightly to the earth, and it was removed without hurt; and Aragorn bore it back to the Citadel. Then the withered tree was uprooted, but with reverence; and they did not burn it, but laid it to rest in the silence of Rath Dnnen. And Aragorn planted the new tree in the court by the fountain, and swiftly and gladly it began to grow; and when the month of June entered in it was laden with blossom. 'The sign has been given,' said Aragorn, 'and the day is not far off.' And he set watchmen upon the walls. It was the day before Midsummer when messengers came from Amon D(n to the City, and they said that there was a riding of fair folk out of the North, and they drew near now to the walls of the Pelennor. And the King said: 'At last they have come. Let all the City be made ready!'####- Upon the very Eve of Midsummer, when the sky was blue as sapphire and white stars opened in the East, but the West was still golden and the air was cool and fragrant, the riders came down the North-way to the gates of Minas Tirith. First rode Elrohir and Elladan with a banner of silver, and then came Glorfindel and Erestor and all the household of Rivendell, and after them came the Lady Galadriel and Celeborn, Lord of Lothlurien, riding upon white steeds and with them many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with white gems in their hair; and last came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, bearing the sceptre of Ann®minas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people. And Frodo when he saw her come glimmering in the evening, with stars on her brow and a sweet fragrance about her, was moved with great wonder, and he said to Gandalf: 'At last I understand why we have waited! This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away!' Then the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted; and Elrond surrendered the sceptre, and laid the hand of his daughter in the hand of the King, and together they went up into the High City, and a ll the stars flowered in the sky. And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undumiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment. ####- When the days of rejoicing were over at last the Companions thought of returning to their own homes. And Frodo went to the King as he was sitting with the Queen Arwen by the fountain, and she sang a song of Valinor, while the Tree grew and blossomed. They welcomed Frodo and rose to greet him; and Aragorn said: 'I know what you have come to say, Frodo: you wish to return to your own home. Well, dearest friend, the tree grows best in the land of its sires; but for you in all the lands of the West there will ever be a welcome. And though your people have had little fame in the legends of the great, they will now have more renown than any wide realms that are no more.' 'It is true that I wish to go back to the Shire,' said Frodo. 'But first I must go to Rivendell. For if there could be anything wanting in a time so blessed, I missed Bilbo; and I was grieved when among all the household of Elrond I saw that he was not come.' 'Do you wonder at that, Ring-bearer?' said Arwen. 'For you know the power of that thing which is now destroyed; and all that was done by that power is now passing away. But your kinsman possessed this thing longer than you. He is ancient in years now, according to his kind; and he awaits you, for he will not again make any long journey save one.' 'Then I beg leave to depart soon,' said Frodo. 'In seven days we will go,' said Aragorn. 'For we shall ride with you far on the road, even as far as the country of Rohan. In three days now Jomer will return hither to bear Thjoden back to rest in the Mark, and we shall ride with him to honour the fallen. But now before you go I will confirm the words that Faramir spoke to you, and you are made free for ever of the realm of Gondor; and all your companions likewise. And if there were any gifts that I could give to match with your deeds you should have them; but whatever you desire you shall take with you, and you shall ride in honour and arrayed as princes of the land.' But the Queen Arwen said: 'A gift I will give you. For I am the daughter of Elrond. I shall not go with him now when he departs to the ####-Havens; for mine is the choice of L®thien, and as she so have I chosen, both the sweet and the bitter. But in my stead you shall go, Ring-bearer, when the time comes, and if you then desire it. If your hurts grieve you still and the memory of your burden is heavy, then you may pass into the West, until all your wounds and weariness are hea led. But wear this now in memory of Elfstone and Evenstar with whom your life has been woven!' And she took a white gem like a star that lay upon her breast hanging upon a silver chain, and she set the chain about Frodo's neck. 'When the memory of the fear and the darkness troubles you,' she said, 'this will bring you aid.' In three days, as the King had said, Jomer of Rohan came riding to the City, and with him came an jored of the fairest knights of the Mark. He was welcomed; and when they sat all at table in Merethrond, the Great Hall of Feasts, he beheld the beauty of the ladies that he saw and was filled with great wonder. And before he went to his rest he sent for Gimli the Dwarf, and he said to him: 'Gimli Gluin's son, have you your axe ready?' 'Nay, lord,' said Gimli, 'but I can speedily fetch it, if there be need.' 'You shall judge,' said Jomer. 'For there are certain rash words concerning the Lady in the Golden Wood that lie still between us. And now I have seen her with my eyes.' 'Well, lord,' said Gimli, 'and what say you now?' 'Alas!' said Jomer. 'I will not say that she is the fairest lady that lives.' 'Then I must go for my axe,' said Gimli. 'But first I will plead this excuse,' said Jomer. 'Had I seen her in other company, I would have said all that you could wish. But now I will put Queen Arwen Evenstar first, and I am ready to do battle on my own part with any who deny me. Shall I call for my sword?' Then Gimli bowed low. 'Nay, you are excused for my part, lord,' he said. 'You have chosen the Evening; but my love is given to the Morning. And my heart forebodes that soon it will past away for ever.' At last the day of departure came, and a great and fair company made ready to ride north from the City. Then the kings of Gondor and Rohan went to the Hallows and they came to the tombs in Rath Dnnen, and they bore away King Thjoden upon a golden bier, and passed through the City in silence. Then they laid the bier upon a great wain with Riders of Rohan all about it ####-and his banner borne before; and Merry being Thjoden's esquire rode upon the wain and kept the arms of the king. For the other Companions steeds were furnished according to their stature; and Frodo and Samwise rode at Aragorn's side, and Gandalf rode upon Shadowfax, and Pippin rode with the knights of Gondor; and Legolas and Gimli as ever rode together upon Arod. In that riding went also Queen Arwen, and Celeborn and Galadriel with their folk, and Elrond and his sons; and the princes of Dol Amroth and of Ithilien, and many captains and knights. Never had any king of the Mark such company upon the road as went with Thjoden Thengel's son to the land of his home. Without haste and at peace they passed into Anurien, and they came to the Grey Wood under Amon D(n; and there they heard a sound as of drums beating in the hills, though no living thing could be seen. Then Aragorn let the trumpets be blown; and heralds cried: 'Behold the King Elessar is come! The Forest of Dr®adan he gives to Ghvn-buri-ghvn and to his folk, to be their own for ever; and hereafter let no man enter it without their leave!' Then the drums rolled loudly, and were silent. At length after fifteen days of journey the wain of King Thjoden passed through the green fields of Rohan and came to Edoras; and there they all rested. The Golden Hall was arrayed with fair hangings and it was filled with light, and there was held the highest feast that it had known since the days of its building. For after three days the Men of the Mark prepared the funeral of Thjoden; and he was laid in a house of stone with his arms and many other fair things that he had possessed, and over him was raised a great mound, covered with green turves of grass and of white evermind. And now there were eight mounds on the east -side of the Barrowfield. Then the Riders of the King's House upon white horses rode round about the barrow and sang together a song of Thjoden Thengel's son that Gljowine his minstrel made, and he made no other song after. The slow voices of the Riders stirred the hearts even of those who did not know the speech of that people; but the words of the song brought a light to the eyes of the folk of the Mark as they heard again afar the thunder of the hooves of the North and the voice of Eorl crying above the battle upon the Field of Celebrant; and the tale of the kings rolled on, and the horn of Helm was loud in the ####-mountains, until the Darkness came and King Thjoden arose and rode through the Shadow to the fire, and died in splendour, even as the Sun, returning beyond hope, gleamed upon Mindolluin in the morning. Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day's rising he rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing. Hope he rekindled, and in hope ended; over death, over dread, over doom lifted out of loss, out of life, unto long glory. But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried: 'Thjoden King, Thjoden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me. for a little while. Farewell!' When the burial was over and the weeping of women was stilled, and Thjoden was left at last alone in his barrow, then folk gathered to the Golden Hall for the great feast and put away sorrow; for Thjoden had lived to full years and ended in honour no less than the greatest of his sires. And when the time came that in the custom of the Mark they should drink to the memory of the kings, Jowyn Lady of Rohan came forth, golden as the sun and white as snow, and she bore a filled cup to Jomer. Then a minstrel and loremaster stood up and named all the names of the Lords of the Mark in their order: Eorl the Young; and Brego builder of the Hall; and Aldor brother of Baldor the hapless; and Frja, and Frjawine, and Goldwine, and Djor, and Gram; and Helm who lay hid in Helm's Deep when the Mark was overrun; and so ended the nine mounds of the west-side, for in that time the line was broken, and after came the mounds of the east-side: Frjalaf, Helm s sister -son, and Ljofa, and Walda, and Folca, and Folcwine, and Fengel, and Thengel, and Thjoden the latest. And when Thjoden was named Jomer drained the cup. Then Jowyn bade those that served to fill the cups, and all there assembled rose and drank to the new king, crying: 'Hail, Jomer, King of the Mark!' At the last when the feast drew to an end Jomer arose and said: 'Now this is the funeral feast of Thjoden the King; but I will speak ere we go of tidings of joy, for he would not grudge that I should do so, since he was ever a father of Jowyn my sister. Hear then all my guests, fair folk of many realms, such as have never before been gathered in this hall! Faramir,####-Steward of Gondor, and Prince of Ithilien, asks that Jowyn Lady of Rohan should be his wife, and she grants it full willing. Therefore they shall be trothplighted before you all.' And Faramir and Jowyn stood forth and set hand in hand; and all there drank to them and were glad. 'Thus,' said Jomer, 'is the friendship of the Mark and of Gondor bound with a new bond, and the more do I rejoice.' 'No niggard are you, Jomer,' said Aragorn, 'to give thus to Gondor the fairest thing in your realm!' Then Jowyn looked in the eyes of Aragorn, and she said: 'Wish me joy, my liege-lord and healer!' And he answered: 'I have wished thee joy ever since first I saw thee. It heals my heart to see thee now in bliss.' When the feast was over, those who were to go took leave of King Jomer. Aragorn and his knights, and the people of Lurien and of Rivendell, made ready to ride; but Faramir and Imrahil remained at Edoras; and Arwen Evenstar remained also, and she said farewell to her brethren. None saw her last meeting with Elrond her father, for they went up into the hills and there spoke long together, and bitter was their parting that should endure beyond the ends of the world. At the last before the guests set oat Jomer and Jowyn came to Merry, and they said: 'Farewell now, Meriadoc of the Shire and Holdwine of the Mark! Ride to good fortune, and ride back soon to our welcome!' And Jomer said: 'Kings of old would have laden you with gifts that a wain could not bear for your deeds upon the fields of Mundburg; and yet you will take naught, you say, but the arms that were given to you. This I suffer, for indeed I have no gift that is worthy; but my sister begs you to receive this small thing, as a memorial of Dernhelm and of the horns of the Mark at the coming of the morning.' Then Jowyn gave to Merry an ancient horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green; and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there were set runes of great virtue. 'This is an heirloom of our house,' said Jowyn. 'It was made by the Dwarves, and came from the hoard of Scatha the Worm. Eorl the Young brought it from the North. He that blows it at need shall set fear in the hearts of his enemies and joy in the hearts of his friends, and they shall hear him ####-and come to him.' Then Merry took the horn, for it could not be refused, and he kissed Jowyn's hand; and they embraced him, and so they parted for that time. Now the guests were ready, and they drank the stirrup-cup, and with great praise and friendship they departed, and came at length to Helm's Deep, and there they rested two days. Then Legolas repaid his promise to Gimli and went with him to the Glittering Caves; and when they returned he was silent, and would say only that Gimli alone could find fit words to speak of them. 'And never before has a Dwarf claimed a victory over an Elf in a contest of words,' said he. 'Now therefore let us go to Fangorn and set the score right!' From Deeping-coomb they rode to Isengard, and saw how the Ents had busied themselves. All the stone-circle had been thrown down and removed, and the land within was made into a garden filled with orchards and trees, and a stream ran through it; but in the midst of all there was a lake of clear water, and out of it the Tower of Orthanc rose still, tall and impregnable, and its black rock was mirrored in the pool. For a while the travellers sat where once the old gates of Isengard had stood, and there were now two tall trees like sentinels a t the beginning of a green-bordered path that ran towards Orthanc; and they looked in wonder at the work that had been done, but no living thing could they see far or near. But presently they heard a voice calling hoom-hom, hoom-hom; and there came Treebeard striding down the path to greet them with Quickbeam at his side. 'Welcome to the Treegarth of Orthanc!' he said. 'I knew that you were coming, but I was at work up the valley; there is much still to be done. But you have not been idle either away in the south and the east, I hear; and all that I hear is good, very good.' Then Treebeard praised all their deeds, of which he seemed to have full knowledge; and at last he stopped and looked long at Gandalf. 'Well, come now!' he said. 'You have proved mightiest, and all your labours have gone well. Where now would you be going? And why do you come here?' 'To see how your work goes, my friend,' said Gandalf, 'and to thank you for your aid in all that has been achieved.' 'Hoom, well, that is fair enough,' said Treebeard; 'for to be sure Ents ####-have played their part. And not only in dealing with that, hoom, that accursed tree-slayer that dwelt here. For there was a great inrush of those, burbrum, those evileyed - blackhanded - bowlegged - flinthearted - clawfingered - foulbellied - bloodthirsty, morimaite - sincahonda, hoom, well, since you are hasty folk and their full name is as long as years of torment, those vermin of orcs; and they came over the River a nd down from the North and all round the wood of Laurelindurenan, which they could not get into, thanks to the Great ones who are here.' He bowed to the Lord and Lady of Lurien. 'And these same foul creatures were more than surprised to meet us out on the Wold, for they had not heard of us before; though that might be said also of better folk. And not many will remember us, for not many escaped us alive, and the River had most of those. But it was well for you, for if they had not met us, then the king of the grassland would not have ridden far, and if he had there would have been no home to return to.' 'We know it well,' said Aragorn, 'and never shall it be forgotten in Minas Tirith or in Edoras.' 'Never is too long a word even for me,' said Treebeard. 'Not while your kingdoms last, you mean; but they will have to last long indeed to seem long to Ents.' 'The New Age begins,' said Gandalf, 'and in this age it may well prove that the kingdoms of Men shall outlast you, Fangor n my friend. But now come tell me: what of the task that I set you? How is Saruman? Is he not weary of Orthanc yet? For I do not suppose that he will think you have improved the view from his windows.' Treebeard gave Gandalf a long look, a most cunning look, Merry thought. 'Ah!' he said. 'I thought you would come to that. Weary of Orthanc? Very weary at last; but not so weary of his tower as he was weary of my voice. Hoom! I gave him some long tales, or at least what might be thought long in your speech.' 'Then why did he stay to listen? Did you go into Orthanc?' asked Gandalf. 'Hoom, no, not into Orthanc!' said Treebeard. 'But he came to his window and listened, because he could not get news in any other way, and though he hated the news, he was greedy to have it; and I saw that he heard it all. But I added a great many things to the news that it was good for him to think of. He grew very weary. He always was hasty. That was his ruin.'####- 'l observe, my good Fangorn,' said Gandalf, 'that with great care you say dwelt, was, grew. What about is? Is he dead?' 'No, not dead, so far as I know,' said Treebeard. 'But he is gone. Yes, he is gone seven days. I let him go. There was little left of him when he crawl ed out, and as for that worm-creature of his, he was like a pale shadow. Now do not tell me, Gandalf, that I promised to keep him safe; for I know it. But things have changed since then. And I kept him until he was safe, safe from doing any mor e harm. You should know that above all I hate the caging of live things, and I will not keep even such creatures as these caged beyond great need. A snake without fangs may crawl where he will.' 'You may be right,' said Gandalf; 'but this snake had still one tooth left, I think. He had the poison of his voice, and I guess that he persuaded you, even you Treebeard, knowing the soft spot in your heart. Well, he is gone, and there is no more to be said. But the Tower of Orthanc now goes back to the King, to whom it belongs. Though maybe he will not need it.' 'That will be seen later,' said Aragorn. 'But I will give to Ents all this valley to do with as they will, so long as they keep a watch upon Orthanc and see that none enter it without my leave.' 'It is locked,' said Treebeard. 'I made Saruman lock it and give me the keys. Quickbeam has them.' Quickbeam bowed like a tree bending in the wind and handed to Aragorn two great black keys of intricate shape, joined by a ring of steel. 'Now I thank you once more,' said Aragorn, 'and I bid you farewell. May your forest grow again in peace. When this valley is filled there is room and to spare west of the mountains, where once you walked long ago.' Treebeard's face became sad. 'Forests may grow,' he said. 'Woods may spread. But not Ents. There are no Entings.' 'Yet maybe there is now more hope in your search,' said Aragorn. 'Lands will lie open to you eastward that have long been closed.' But Treebeard shook his head and said: 'It is far to go. And there are too many Men there in these days. But I am forgetting my manners! Will you stay here and rest a while? And maybe there are some that would be pleased to pass through Fangorn Forest and so shorten their road home?' He looked at Celeborn and Galadriel. But all save Legolas said that they must now take their leave and depart, either south or west. 'Come, Gimli!' said Legolas. 'Now by Fangorn's leave I will visit the deep places of the Entwood and see such trees as are ####-nowhere else to be found in Middle-earth. You shall come with me and keep your word; and thus we will journey on together to our own lands in Mirkwood and beyond.' To this Gimli agreed, though with no great delight, it seemed. 'Here then at last comes the ending of the Fellowship of the Ring,' said Aragorn. 'Yet I hope that ere long you will return to my land with the help that you promised.' 'We will come, if our own lords allow it,' said Gimli. 'Well, farewell. my hobbits! You should come safe to your own homes now, and I shall not be kept awake for fear of your peril. We will send word when we may, and some of us may yet meet at times; but I fear that we shall not all be gathered together ever again.' Then Treebeard said farewell to each of them in turn, and he bowed three times slowly and with great reverence to Celeborn and Galadriel. 'It is long, long since we met by stock or by stone, A vanimar, vanimblion nostari!' he said. 'It is sad that we should meet only thus at the ending. For the world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air. I do not think we shall meet again.' And Celeborn said: 'I do not know, Eldest.' But Galadriel sa id: 'Not in Middle-earth, nor until the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again. Then in the willow-meads of Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring. Farewell!' Last of all Merry and Pippin said good-bye to the old Ent, and he grew gayer as he looked at them. 'Well, my merry folk,' he said, 'will you drink another draught with me before you go?' 'Indeed we will,' they said, and he took them aside into the shade of one of the trees, and there they saw that a great stone jar had been set. And Treebeard filled three bowls, and they drank; and they saw his strange eyes looking at them over the rim of his bowl. 'Take care take care!' he said. 'For you have already grown since I saw you last.' And they laughed and drained their bowls. 'Well, good-bye!' he said. 'And don't forget that if you hear any news of the Entwives in your land, you will send word to me.' Then he waved his great hands to all the company and went off into the trees. The travellers now rode with more speed, and they made their way towards the Gap of Rohan; and Aragorn took leave of them at last close to that very place where Pippin had looked into the Stone of Orthanc. The ####-Hobbits were grieved at this parting; for Aragorn had never failed them and he had been their guide through many perils. 'I wish we could have a Stone that we could see all our friends in,' said Pippin, 'and that we could speak to them from far away!' 'Only one now remains that you could use ,' answered Aragorn for you would not wish to see what the Stone of Minas Tirith would show you. But the Palantnr of Orthanc the King will keep, to see what is passing in his realm, and what his servants are doing. For do not forget, Peregrin Took, that you are a knight of Gondor, and I do not release you from your service. You are going now on leave, but I may recall you. And remember, dear friends of the Shire, that my realm lies also in the North, and I shall come there one day.' Then Aragorn took leave of Celeborn and Galadriel; and the Lady said to him: 'Elfstone, through darkness you have come to your hope, and have now all your desire. Use well the days!' But Celeborn said: 'Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!' With that they parted, and it was then the time of sunset; and when after a while they turned and looked back, they saw the King of the West sitting upon his horse with his knights about him; and the falling Sun shone upon them and made all their harness to gleam like red gold, and the white mantle of Aragorn was turned to a flame. Then Aragorn took the green stone and held it up, and there came a green fire from his hand. Soon the dwindling company, following the Isen, turned west and rode through the Gap into the waste lands beyond, and then they turned northwards, and passed over the borders of Dunland. The Dunlendings fled and hid themselves, for they were afraid of Elv ish Folk, though few indeed ever came to their country; but the travellers did not heed them, for they were still a great company and were well provided with all that they needed; and they went on their way at their leisure, setting up their tents when they would. On the sixth day since their parting from the King they journeyed through a wood climbing down from the hills at the feet of the Misty Mountains that now marched on their right hand. As they came out again into the open country at sundown they overtook an old man leaning on a staff, and he was clothed in rags of grey or dirty white, and at his heels went another beggar, slouching and whining.####- 'Well Saruman!' said Gandalf. 'Where are you going?' 'What is that to you?' he answered. 'Will you still order my goings, and are you not content with my ruin?' 'You know the answers,' said Gandalf: 'no and no. But in any case the time of my labours now draws to an end. The King has taken on the burden. If you had waited at Orthanc, you would have seen him, and he would have shown you wisdom and mercy.' 'Then all the A more reason to have left sooner,' said Saruman; 'for I desire neither of him. Indeed if you wish for an answer to your first question, I am seeking a way out of his realm.' 'Then once more you are going the wrong way,' said Gandalf, 'and I see no hope in your journey. But will you scorn our help? For we offer it to you.' 'To me?' said Saruman. 'Nay, pray do not smile at me! I prefer your frowns. And as for the Lady here, I do not trust her: she always hated me, and schemed for your part. I do not doubt that she has brought you this way to have the pleasure of gloating over my poverty. Had I been warned of your pursuit, I would have denied you the pleasure.' 'Saruman,' said Galadriel, 'we have other errands and other cares that seem to us more urgent than hunting for you. Say rather that you are overtaken by good fortune; for now you have a last chance.' 'If it be truly the last, I am glad,' said Saruman; 'for I shall be spared the trouble of refusing it again. All my hopes are ruined, but I would not share yours. If you have any.' For a moment his eyes kindled. 'Go!' he said. 'I did not spend long study on these matters for naught. You have doomed yourselves, and you know it. And it will afford me some comfort as I wander to think that you pulled down your own house when you destroyed mine. And now, what ship will bear you back across so wide a sea?' he mocked. 'It will be a grey ship, and full of ghosts.' He laughed, but his voice was cracked and hideous. 'Get up, you idiot!' he shouted to the other beggar, who had sat down on the ground; and he struck him with his staff. 'Turn about! If these fine folk are going our way, then we will take another. Get on, or I'll give you no crust for your supper!'####- The beggar turned and slouched past whimpering: 'Poor old Grnma! Poor old Grnma! Always beaten and cursed. How I hate him! I wish I could leave him!' 'Then leave him!' said Gandalf. But Wormtongue only shot a glance of his bleared eyes full of terror at Gandalf, and then shuffled quickly past behind Saruman. As the wretched pair passed by the company they came to the hobbits, and Saruman stopped and stared at them; but they looked at him with pity. 'So you have come to gloat too, have you, my urchins?' he said. 'You don't care what a beggar lacks, do you? For you have all you want, food and fine clothes, and the best weed for your pipes. Oh yes, I know! I know where it comes from. You would not give a pipeful to a beggar, would you?' 'I would, if I had any,' said Frodo. 'You can have what I have got left,' said Merry, 'if you will wa it a moment.' He got down and searched in the bag at his saddle. Then he handed to Saruman a leather pouch. 'Take what there is,' he said. 'You are welcome to it; it came from the flotsam of Isengard.' 'Mine, mine, yes and dearly bought!' cried Saruman, clutching at the pouch. 'This is only a repayment in token; for you took more, I'll be bound. Still, a beggar must be grateful, if a thief returns him even a morsel of his own. Well, it will serve you right when you come home, if you find things less good in the Southfarthing than you would like. Long may your land be short of leaf!' 'Thank you!' said Merry. 'In that case I will have my pouch back, which is not yours and has journeyed far with me. Wrap the weed in a rag of your own.' 'One thief deserves another,' said Saruman, and turned his back on Merry, and kicked Wormtongue, and went away towards the wood. 'Well, I like that!' said Pippin. 'Thief indeed! What of our claim for waylaying, wounding, and orc-dragging us through Rohan?' 'Ah!' said Sam. 'And bought he said. How, I wonder? And I didn't like the sound of what he said about the Southfarthing. It's time we got back.' 'I'm sure it is,' said Frodo. 'But we can't go any quicker, if we are to see Bilbo. I am going to Rivendell first, whatever happens.' 'Yes, I think you had better do that,' said Gandalf. 'But alas for Saruman! I fear nothing more can be made of him. He has withered altogether. All the same, I am not sure that Treebea rd is right: I fancy he could do ####-some mischief still in a small mean way.' Next day they went on into northern Dunland, where no men now dwelt, though it was a green and pleasant country. September came in with golden days and silver nights, and they rode at ease until they reached the Swanfleet river, and found the old ford, east of the falls where it went down suddenly into the lowlands. Far to the west in a haze lay the meres and eyots through which it wound its way to the Greyflood: there countless swans housed in a land of reeds. So they passed into Eregion, and at last a fair morning dawned, shimmering above gleaming mists; and looking from their camp on a low hill the travellers saw away in the east the Sun catching three peaks that thrust up into the sky through floating clouds: Caradhras, Celebdil, and Fanuidhol. They were near to the Gates of Moria. Here now for seven days they tarried, for the time was at hand for another parting which they were loth to make. Soon Celeborn and Galadriel and their folk would turn eastward, and so pass by the Redhorn Gate and down the Dimrill Stair to the Silverlode and to their own country. They had journeyed thus far by the west -ways, for they had much to speak of with Elrond and with Gandalf, and here they lingered still in converse with their friends. Often long after the hobbits were wrapped in sleep they would sit together under the stars, recalling the ages that were gone and all their joys a nd labours in the world, or holding council, concerning the days to come. If any wanderer had chanced to pass, little would he have seen or heard, and it would have seemed to him only that he saw grey figures, carved in stone, memorials of forgotten things now lost in unpeopled lands. For they did not move or speak with mouth, looking from mind to mind; and only their shining eyes stirred and kindled as their thoughts went to and fro. But at length all was said, and they parted again for a while, until it was time for the Three Rings to pass away. Quickly fading into the stones and the shadows the grey-cloaked people of Lurien rode towards the mountains; and those who were going to Rivendell sat on the hill and watched, until there came out of the gathering mist a flash; and then they saw no more. Frodo knew that Galadriel had held aloft her ring in token of farewell. Sam turned away and sighed: 'I wish I was going back to Lurien!' At last one evening they came over the high moors, suddenly as to travellers it always seemed, to the brink of the deep valley of Rivendell ####-and saw far below the lamps shining in Elrond's house. And they went down and crossed the bridge and came to the doors, and all the house was filled with light and song for joy at Elrond's homecoming. First of all, before they had eaten or washed or even shed their cloaks, the hobbits went in search of Bilbo. They found him all alone in his little room. It was littered with papers and pens and pencils; but Bilbo was sitting in a chair before a small bright fire. He looked very old, but peaceful, and sleepy. He opened his eyes and looked up as they came in. 'Hullo, hullo!' he said. 'So you've come back? And tomorrow's my birthday, too. How clever of you! Do you know, I shall be one hundred and twenty-nine? And in one year more, if I am spared, I shall equal the Old Took. I should like to beat him; but we shall see.' After the celebration of Bilbo's birthday the four hobbits stayed in Rivendell for some days, and they sat much with their old friend, who spent most of his time now in his room, except at meals. For these he was still very punctual as a rule, and he seldom failed to wake up in t ime for them. Sitting round the fire they told him in turn all that they could remember of their journeys and adventures. At first he pretended to take some notes; but he often fell asleep; and when he woke he would say: 'How splendid! How wonderful! But where were we?' Then they went on with the story from the point where he had begun to nod. The only part that seemed really to rouse him and hold his attention was the account of the crowning and marriage of Aragorn. 'I was invited to the wedding of course,' he said. 'And I have waited for it long enough. But somehow, when it came to it, I found I had so much to do here; and packing is such a bother.' When nearly a fortnight had passed Frodo looked out of his window and saw that there had been a frost in the night, and the cobwebs were like white nets. Then suddenly he knew that he must go, and say good-bye to Bilbo. The weather was still calm and fair, after one of the most lovely summers that people could remember; but October had come, and it must break soon and begin to rain and blow again. And there was still a very long way to go. Yet it was not really the thought of the weather that stirred him. He had a feeling that it was time he went back to the Shire. Sam shared it. Only the night before he had said:####- 'Well, Mr. Frodo, we've been far and seen a deal, and yet I don't think we've found a better place than this. There's something of everything here, if you understand me: the Shire and the Golden Wood and Gondor and kings' houses and inns and meadows and mountains all mixed. And yet, somehow, I feel we ought to be going soon. I'm worried about my gaffer, to tell you the truth.' 'Yes, something of everything, Sam, except the Sea,' Frodo had answered; and he repeated it now to himself: 'Except the Sea.' That day Frodo spoke to Elrond, and it was agreed that they should leave the next morning. To their delight Gandalf said: 'I think I shall come too. At least as far as Bree. I want to see Butterbur.' In the evening they went to say good-bye to Bilbo. 'Well, if you must go, you must,' he said. 'I am sorry. I shall miss you. It is nice just to know that you are about the place. But I am getting very sleepy.' Then he gave Frodo his mithril-coat and Sting, forgetting that he had already done so; and he gave him also three books of lore that he had made at various times, written in his spidery hand, and labelled on their red backs: Translations from the Elvish, by B.B. To Sam he gave a little bag of gold. 'Almost the last drop of the Smaug vintage,' he said. 'May come in useful, if you think of getting married, Sam.' Sam blushed. 'I have nothing much to give to you young fellows,' he said to Merry and Pippin, 'except good advice.' And when he had given them a fair sample of this, he added a last item in Shire-fashion: 'Don't let your heads get too big for your hats! But if you don't finish growing up soon, you are going to find hats and clothes expensive.' 'But if you want to beat the Old Took,' said Pippin, 'I don't see why we shouldn't try and beat the Bullroarer.' Bilbo laughed, and he produced out of a pocket two beautiful pipes with pearl mouth-pieces and bound with fine-wrought silver. 'Think of me when you smoke them!' he said. 'The Elves made them for me, but I don't smoke now.' And then suddenly he nodded and went to sleep for a little; and when he woke up again he said: 'Now where were we? Yes, of course, g iving presents. Which reminds me: what's become of my ring, Frodo, that you took away?' 'I have lost it, Bilbo dear,' said Frodo. 'I got rid of it, you know.' 'What a pity!' said Bilbo. 'I should have liked to see it again. But ####-no, how silly of me! That's what you went for, wasn't it: to get rid of it? But it is all so confusing, for such a lot of other things seem to have got mixed up with it: Aragorn's affairs, and the White Council and Gondor, and the Horsemen, and Southrons, and oliphaunts - did you really see one, Sam? - and caves and towers and golden trees, and goodness knows what besides. 'I evidently came back by much too straight a road from my trip. I think Gandalf might have shown me round a bit. But then the auction would have been over before I got back, and I should have had even more trouble than I did. Anyway it's too late now; and really I think it's much more comfortable to sit here and hear about it all. The fire's very cosy here, and the food's very good, and there are Elves when you want them. What more could one want? The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feet Will turn towards the lighted inn, My evening-rest and sleep to meet.' And as Bilbo murmured the last words his head dropped on his chest and he slept soundly. The evening deepened in the room, and the firelight burned brighter; and they looked at Bilbo as he slept and saw that his face was smiling. For some time they sat in silence; and then Sam looking round at the room and the shadows flickering on the walls, said softly: 'I don't think, Mr. Frodo, that he's done much writing while we've been away. He won't ever write our story now.' At that Bilbo opened an eye, almost as if he had heard. Then he roused himself. 'You see, I am getting so sleepy,' he said. 'And when I have time to write, I only really like writing poetry. I wonder, Frodo my dear fellow, if you would very much mind tidying things up a bit before you go? Collect all my notes and papers, and my diary too, and take them with you, if you will. You see, I haven't much time for the selection and the arrangement and all that. Get Sam to help, and when you've knocked things into shape, come back, and I'll run over it. I won't be too critical.' 'Of course I'll do it!' said Frodo. 'And of course I'll come back soon:####-it won't be dangerous any more. There is a real king now and he will soon put the roads in order.' 'Thank you, my dear fellow!' said Bilbo. 'That really is a very great relief to my mind.' And with that he fell fast asleep again. The next day Gandalf and the hobbits took leave of Bilbo in his room, for it was cold out of doors; and then they said farewell to Elrond and all his household. As Frodo stood upon the threshold, Elrond wished him a fair journey, and blessed him, and he said: 'I think, Frodo, that maybe you will not need to come back, unless you come very soon. For about this time of the year, when the leaves are gold before they fall, look for Bilbo in the woods of the Shire. I shall be with him.' These wor ds no one else heard, and Frodo kept them to himself. ####- At last the hobbits had their faces turned towards home. They were eager now to see the Shire again; but at first they rode only slowly, for Frodo had been il l at ease. When they came to the Ford of Bruinen, he had halted, and seemed loth to ride into the stream; and they noted that for a while his eyes appeared not to see them or things about him. All that day he was silent. It was the sixth of October. 'Are you in pain, Frodo?' said Gandalf quietly as he rode by Frodo's side. 'Well, yes I am,' said Frodo. 'It is my shoulder. The wound aches, and the memory of darkness is heavy on me. It was a year ago today.' 'Alas! there are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured,' said Gandalf. 'I fear it may be so with mine,' said Frodo. 'There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?' Gandalf did not answer. By the end of the next day the pain and unease had passed, and Frodo was merry again, as merry as if he did not remember the blackness of the day before. After that the journey went well, and the days went quickly by; for they rode at leisure, and often they lingered in the fair woodlands where the leaves were red and yellow in the autumn sun. At length they came to Weathertop; and it was then drawing towards evening and the shadow of the hill lay dark on the road. Then Frodo begged them to hasten, and he would not look towards the hill, but rode through its shadow with head bowed and cloak drawn close about him. That night the weather changed, and a wind came from the West laden with rain, and it blew loud and chill, and the yellow leaves whirled like birds in the air. When they came to the Chetwood already the boughs were almost bare, and a great curtain of rain veiled Bree Hill from their sight. So it was that near the end of a wild and wet evening in the last days of October the five travellers rode up the climbing road and came to the South-gate of Bree. It was locked fast; and the rain blew in their faces,####-and in the darkening sky low clouds went hurrying by, and their hearts sank a little, for they had expected more welcome. When they had called many times, at last the Gate-keeper came out, and they saw that he carried a great cudgel. He looked at them with fear and suspicion; but when he saw that Gandalf was there, and that his companions were hobbits, in spite of their strange gear, then he brightened and wished them welcome. 'Come in!' he said, unlocking the gate. 'We won't stay for news out here in the cold and the wet, a ruffianly evening. But old Barley will no doubt give you a welcome at The Pony, and there you'll hear all there is to hear.' 'And there you'll hear later all that we say, and more,' laughed Gandalf. 'How is Harry? ' The Gate-keeper scowled. 'Gone,' he said. 'But you'd best ask Barliman. Good evening!' 'Good evening to you!' they said, and passed through; and then they noticed that behind the hedge at the road-side a long low hut had been built, and a number of men had come out and were staring at them over the fence. When they came to Bill Ferny's house they saw that the hedge there was tattered and unkempt, and the windows were all boarded up. 'Do you think you killed him with that apple, Sam?' said Pippin. 'I'm not so hopeful, Mr. Pippin,' said Sam. 'But I'd like to know what became of that poor pony. He's been on my mind many a time and the wolves howling and all.' At last they came to The Prancing Pony, and that at least looked outwardly unchanged; and there were lights behind the red curtains in the lower windows. They rang the bell, and Nob came to the door, and opened it a crack and peeped through; and when he saw them standing under the lamp he gave a cr y of surprise. 'Mr. Butterbur! Master!' he shouted. 'They've come back!' 'Oh have they? I'll learn them,' came Butterbur's voice, and out he came with a rush, and he had a club in his hand. But when he saw who they were he stopped short, a nd the black scowl on his face changed to wonder and delight. 'Nob, you woolly-pated ninny!' he cried. 'Can't you give old friends their names? You shouldn't go scaring me like that, with times as they are.####-Well, well! And where have you come from? I never expected to see any of you folk again, and that's a fact: going off into the Wild with that Strider, and all those Black Men about. But I'm right glad to see you, and none more than Gandalf. Come in! Come in! The same rooms as - before? They're free. Indeed most rooms are empty these days, as I'll not hide from you, for you'll find it out soon enough. And I'll see what can be done about supper, as soon as may be; but I'm short-handed at present. Hey, Nob you slowcoach! Tell Bob! Ah, but there I'm forgetting, Bob's gone: goes home to his folk at nightfall now. Well, take the guests' ponies to the stables, Nob! And you'll be taking your horse to his stable yourself Gandalf; I don't doubt. A fine beast, as I said when I first set eyes on him. Well, come in! Make yourselves at home!' Mr. Butterbur had at any rate not changed his manner of talking, and still seemed to live in his old breathless bustle. And yet there was hardly anybody about, and all was quiet; from the Common Room there came a low murmur of no more than two or three voices. And seen closer in the light of two candles that he lit and carried before them the landlord's face looked rather wrinkled and careworn. He led them down the passage to the parlour that they had used on that strange night more than a year ago; and they followed him, a little disquieted, for it seemed plain to them that old Barliman was putting a brave face on some trouble. Things were not what they had been. But they said nothing, and waited. As they expected Mr. Butterbur came to the parlour after supper to see if all had been to their liking. As indeed it had: no change for the worse had yet come upon the beer or the victuals at The Pony at any rate. 'Now I won't make so bold as to suggest you should come to the Common Room tonight,' said Butterbur. 'You'll be tired; and there isn't many folk there this evening, anyway. But if you could spare me half an hour before you go to your beds, I would dearly like to have some talk with you, quiet-like by ourselves.' 'That is just what we should like, too,' said Gandalf. 'We are not tired. We have been taking things easy. We were wet, cold and hungry, but all that you have cured. Come, sit down! And if you have any pipe-weed, we'll bless you.'####- 'Well, if you'd called for anything else, I'd have been happier,' said Butterbur. 'That's just a thing that we're short of, seeing how we've only got what we grow ourselves, and that's not enough. There's none to be had from the Shire these days. But I'll do what I can.' When he came back he brought them enough to last them for a day or two, a wad of uncut leaf. 'Southlinch,' he said, 'and the best we have; but not the match of Southfarthing, as I've always said though I'm all for Bree in most matters, begging your pardon.' They put him in a large chair by the wood-fire, and Gandalf sat on the other side of the hearth, and the hobbits in low chairs between them; and then they talked for many times half an hour, and exchanged all such news as Mr. Butterbur wished to hear or give. Most of the things which they had to tell were a mere wonder and bewilderment to their host, and far beyond his vision; and they brought forth few comments other than: 'You don't say; often repeated in defiance of the evidence of Mr. Butterbur's own ears. 'You don't say, Mr. Baggins, or is it Mr. Underhill? I'm getting so mixed up. You don't say, Master Gandalf! Well I never! Who'd have thought it in our times!' But he did say much on his own account. Things were far from well, he would say. Business was not even fair, it was downright bad. 'No one comes nigh Bree now from Outside,' he said. 'And the inside folks, they stay at home mostly and keep their doors barred. It all comes of those newcomers and gangrels that began coming up the Greenway last year, as you may remember; but more came later. Some were just poor bodies running away from trouble; but most were bad men, full o' thievery and mischief. And there was trouble right here in Bree, bad trouble. Why, we had a real set-to, and there were some folk killed, killed dead! If you'll believe me.' 'I will indeed,' said Gandalf. 'How many?' 'Three and two,' said Butterbur, referring to the big folk and the little. 'There was poor Mat Heathertoes, and Rowlie Appledore, and little Tom Pickthorn from over the Hill; and Willie Banks from up-away, and one of the Underhills from Staddle: all good fellows, and they're missed. And Harry Goatleaf that used to be on the West -gate, and that Bill Ferny, they came in on the strangers' side, and they've gone off with them; and it's my belief they let them in. On the night of the fight, I mean. And that was after we showed them the gates and pushed them out: before the year's end, that was; and the fight was early in the New Year, after the heavy snow we had.####- 'And now they're gone for robbers and live outside, hiding in the woods beyond Archet, and out in the wilds north-away. It's like a bit of the bad old times tales tell of, I say. It isn't safe on the road and nobody goes far, and folk lock up early. We have to keep watchers all round the fence and put a lot of men on the gates at nights.' 'Well, no one troubled us,' said Pippin, 'and we came along slowly, and kept no watch. We thought we'd left all trouble behind us.' 'Ah, that you haven't, Master, more's the pity,' said Butterbur. 'But it's no wonder they left you a lone. They wouldn't go for armed folk, with swords and helmets and shields and all. Make them think twice, that would. And I must say it put me aback a bit when I saw you.' Then the hobbits suddenly realized that people had looked at them with amazement not out of surprise at their return so much as in wonder at their gear. They themselves had become so used to warfare and to riding in well-arrayed companies that they had quite forgotten that the bright mail peeping from under their cloaks, and the helms of Gondor and the Mark, and the fair devices on their shields, would seem outlandish in their own country. And Gandalf, too, was now riding on his tall grey horse, all clad in white with a great mantle of blue and silver over all, and the long sword Glamdring at his side. Gandalf laughed. 'Well, well,' he said, 'if they are afraid of just five of us, then we have met worse enemies on our travels. But at any rate they will give you peace at night while we stay.' 'How long will that be?' said Butterbur. 'I'll not deny we should be glad to have you about for a bit. You see, we're not used to such troubles; and the Rangers have all gone away, folk tell me. I don't think we've rightly understood till now what they did for us. For there's been worse than robbers about. Wolves were howling round the fences last winter. And there's dark shapes in the woods, dreadful things that it makes the blood run cold to think of. It's been very disturbing, if you understand me.' 'I expect it has,' said Gandalf. 'Nearly all lands have been disturbed these days, very disturbed. But cheer up, Barliman! You have been on the edge of very great troubles, and I am only glad to hear that you have not been deeper in. But better times are coming. Maybe, better than any you remember. The Rangers have returned. We came back with them. And there is a king again, Barliman. He will soon be turning his mind this way.####- 'Then the Greenway will be opened again , and his messengers will come north, and there will be comings and goings, and the evil things will be driven out of the waste-lands. Indeed the waste in time will be waste no longer, and there will be people and fields where once ther e was wilderness.' Mr. Butterbur shook his head. 'If there's a few decent respectable folk on the roads, that won't do no harm,' he said. 'But we don't want no more rabble and ruffians. And we don't want no outsiders at Bree, nor near Bree at all. We want to be let alone. I don't want a whole crowd o' strangers camping here and settling there and tearing up the wild country.' 'You will be let alone, Barliman,' said Gandalf. 'There is room enough for realms between Isen and Greyflood, or along the shore lands south of the Brandywine, without any one living within many days' ride of Bree. And many folk used to dwell away north, a hundred miles or more from here, at the far end of the Greenway: on the North Downs or by Lake Evendim.' 'Up away by Deadmen's Dike?' said Butterbur, looking even more dubious. 'That's haunted land, they say. None but a robber would go there.' 'The Rangers go there,' said Gandalf. 'Deadmen's Dike, you say. So it has been called for long years; but its right name, Barliman, is Fornost Erain, Norbury of the Kings. And the King will come there again one day; and then you'll have some fair folk riding through.' 'Well, that sounds more hopeful, I'll allow,' said Butterbur. 'And it will be good for business, no doubt. So long as he lets Bree alone.' 'He will,' said Gandalf. 'He knows it and loves it.' 'Does he now?' said Butterbur looking puzzled. 'Though I'm sure I don't know why he should, sitting in his big chair up in his great castle, hundreds of miles away. And drinking wine out of a golden cup, I shouldn't wonder. What's The Pony to him, or mugs o' beer? Not but what my beer's good, Gandalf. It's been uncommon good, since you came in the autumn of last year and put a good word on it. And that's been a comfort in trouble, I will say.' 'Ah!' said Sam. 'But he says your beer is always good.' 'He says?' 'Of course he does. He's Strider. The chief of the Rangers. Haven't you got that into your head yet?' It went in at last, and Butterbur's face was a study in wonder. The eyes in his broad face grew round, and his mouth opened wide, and he gasped.####-'Strider!' he exclaimed when he got back his breath. 'Him with a crown and all and a golden cup! Well, what are we coming to?' 'Better times, for Bree at any rate,' said Gandalf. 'I hope so, I'm sure,' said Butterbur. 'Well, this has been the nicest chat I've had in a month of Mondays. And I'll not deny that I'll sleep easier tonight and with a lighter heart. You've given me a powerful lot to think over, but I'll put that off until tomorrow. I'm for bed, and I've no doubt you'll be glad of your beds too. Hey, Nob!' he called, going to the door. 'Nob, you slowcoach!' 'Now!' he said to himself, slapping his forehead. 'Now what does that remind me of?' 'Not another letter you've forgotten. I hope, Mr. Butterbur?' said Merry. 'Now, now, Mr. Brandybuck, don't go reminding me of that! But there, you've broken my thought. Now where was I? Nob, stables, ah! that was it. I've something that belongs to you. If you recollect Bill Ferny and the horsethieving: his pony as you bought, well, it's here. Come back all of itself, it did. But where it had been to you know better than me. It was as shaggy as an old dog and as lean as a clothes-rail, but it was alive. Nob's looked after it.' 'What! My Bill?' cried Sam. 'Well, I was born lucky, whatever my gaffer may say. There's another wish come true! Where is he?' Sam would not go to bed until he had visited Bill in his stable. The travellers stayed in Bree all the next day, and Mr. Butterbur could not complain of his business next evening at any rate. Curiosity overcame all fears, and his house was crowded. For a while out of politeness the hobbits visited the Common Room in the evening and answered a good many questions. Bree memories being retentive, Frodo was asked many times if he had written his book. 'Not yet,' he answered. 'I am going home now to put my notes in order.' He promised to deal with the amazing events at Bree, and so give a bit of interest to a book that appeared likely to treat mostly of the remote and less important affairs 'away south'. Then one of the younger folk called for a song. But at that a hush fell, and he was frowned down, and the call was not repeated. Evidently there was no wish for any uncanny events in the Common Room again.####- No trouble by day, nor any sound by night, disturbed the peace of Bree while the travellers remained there; but the next morning they got up early, for as the weather was still rainy they wished to reach the Shire before night, and it was a long ride. The Bree folk were all out to see them off, and were in merrier mood than they had been for a year; and those who had not seen the strangers in all their gear before gaped with wonder at them: at Gandalf with his white beard, and the light that seemed to gleam from him, as if his blue mantle was on ly a cloud over sunshine; and at the four hobbits like riders upon errantry out of almost forgotten tales. Even those who had laughed at all the talk about the King began to think there might be some truth in it. 'Well, good luck on your road, and good luck to your home-coming! said Mr. Butterbur. 'I should have warned you before that all's not well in the Shire neither, if what we hear is true. Funny goings on, they say. But one thing drives out another, and I was full of my own troubles. But i f I may be so bold, you've come back changed from your travels, and you look now like folk as can deal with troubles out of hand. I don't doubt you'll soon set all to rights. Good luck to you! And the oftener you come back the better I'll be pleased.' They wished him farewell and rode away, and passed through the West-gate and on towards the Shire. Bill the pony was with them, and as before he had a good deal of baggage, but he trotted along beside Sam and seemed well content. 'I wonder what old Barliman was hinting at,' said Frodo. 'I can guess some of it,' said Sam gloomily. 'What I saw in the Mirror: trees cut down and all, and my old gaffer turned out of the Row. I ought to have hurried back quicker.' 'And something's wrong with the Southfarthing evidently,' said Merry. 'There's a general shortage of pipe-weed.' 'Whatever it is,' said Pippin, 'Lotho will be at the bottom of it: you can be sure of that.' 'Deep in, but not at the bottom,' said Gandalf. 'You have forgotten Saruman. He began to take an interest in the Shire before Mordor did.' 'Well, we've got you with us,' said Merry, 'so things will soon be cleared up.' 'I am with you at present,' said Gandalf, 'but soon I shall not be. I am not coming to the Shire. You must settle its affairs yourselves; that is ####-what you have been trained for. Do you not yet understand? My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so. And as for you , my dear friends, you will need no help. You are grown up now. Grown indeed very high; among the great you are, and I have no longer any fear at all for any of you. 'But if you would know, I am turning aside soon. I am going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have not had in all my time. He is a moss-gatherer, and I have been a stone doomed to rolling. But my rolling days are ending, and now we shall have much to say to one another.' In a little while they came to the point on the East Road where they had taken leave of Bombadil; and they hoped and half expected to see him standing there to greet them as they went by. But there was no sign of him; and there was a grey mist on the Barrow-downs southwards, and a deep veil over the Old Forest far away. They halted and Frodo looked south wistfully. 'I should dearly like to see the old fellow again,' he said. 'I wonder how he is getting on?' 'As well as ever, you may be sure,' said Gandalf. 'Quite untroubled and I should guess, not much interested in anything that we have done or seen, unless perhaps in our visits to the Ents. There may be a time later for you to go and see him. But if I were you, I should press on now for home, or you will not come to the Brandywine Bridge before the gates are locked.' 'But there aren't any gates,' said Merry, 'not on the Road; you know that quite well. There's the Buckland Gate, of course; but they'll let me through that at any time.' 'There weren't any gates, you mean,' said Gandalf. 'I think you will find some now. And you might have more trouble even at the Buckland Gate than you think. But you'll! manage all right. Good -bye dear friends! Not for the last time, not yet. Good-bye!' He turned Shadowfax off the Road, and the great horse leaped the green dike that here ran beside it; and then at a cry from Gandalf he was gone, racing towards the Barrow-downs like a wind from the North. 'Well here we are, just the four of us that started out together,' said Merry. 'We have left all the rest behind, one after another. It seems almost like a dream that has slowly faded.' 'Not to me,' said Frodo. 'To me it feels more like falling asleep again.' ####- It was after nightfall when, wet and tired, the travellers came at last to the Brandywine, and they found the way barred. At either end of the Bridge there was a great spiked gate; and on the further side of the river they could see that some new houses had been built: two-storeyed with narrow straight-sided windows, bare and dimly lit, all very gloomy and un-Shirelike. They hammered on the outer gate and called, but there was at first no answer; and then to their surprise someone blew a horn, and the lights in the windows went out. A voice shouted in the dark: 'Who's that? Be off! You can't come in: Can't you read the notice: No admittance between sundown and sunrise?' 'Of course we can't read the notice in the dark.' Sam shouted back. 'And if hobbits of the Shire are to be kept out in the wet on a night like this, I'll tear down your notice when I find it.' At that a window slammed, and a crowd of hobbits with lanterns poured out of the house on the left. They opened the further gate, and some came over the bridge. When they saw the travellers they seemed frightened. 'Come along!' said Merry, recognizing one of the hobbits. 'If you don't know me, Hob Hayward, you ought to. I am Merry Brandybuck, and I should like to know what all this is about, and what a Bucklander like you is doing here. You used to be on the Hay Gate.' 'Bless me! It's Master Merry, to be sure, and all dressed up for fighting!' said old Hob. 'Why, they said you was dead! Lost in the Old Forest by all accounts. I'm pleased to see you alive after all!' 'Then stop gaping at me through the bars, and open the gate!' said Merry. 'I'm sorry, Master Merry, but we have orders.' 'Whose orders?' 'The Chief's up at Bag End.' 'Chief? Chief? Do you mean Mr. Lotho?' said Frodo. 'I suppose so, Mr. Baggins; but we have to say just "the Chief" nowadays.'####- 'Do you indeed!' said Frodo. 'Well, I am glad he has dropped the Baggins at any rate. But it is evidently high time that the family dealt with him and put him in his place.' A hush fell on the hobbits beyond the gate. 'It won't do no good talking that way,' said one. 'He'll get to hear of it. And if you make so much noise, you'll wake the Chief's Big Man.' 'We shall wake him up in a way that will surprise him,' said Merry. 'If you mean that your precious Chief has been hiring ruffians out of the wild, then we've not come back too soon.' He sprang from his pony, and seeing the notice in the light of the lanterns, he tore it down and threw it over the gate. The hobbits backed away and made no move to open it. 'Come on, Pippin!' said Merry. 'Two is enough.' Merry and Pippin c limbed the gate, and the hobbits fled. Another horn sounded. Out of the bigger house on the right a large heavy figure appeared against a light in the doorway. 'What's all this,' he snarled as he came forward. 'Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I'l l break your filthy little necks!' Then he stopped, for he had caught the gleam of swords. 'Bill Ferny,' said Merry, 'if you don't open that gate in ten seconds, you'll regret it. I shall set steel to you, if you don't obey. And when you have opened the gates you will go through them and never return. You are a ruffian and a highway-robber.' Bill Ferny flinched and shuffled to the gate and unlocked it. 'Give me the key!' said Merry. But the ruffian flung it at his head and then darted out into the darkness. As he passed the ponies one of them let fly with his heels and just caught him as he ran. He went off with a yelp into the night and was never heard of again. 'Neat work, Bill,' said Sam, meaning the pony. 'So much for your Big Man,' said Merry. 'We'll see the Chief later. In the meantime we want a lodging for the night, and as you seem to have pulled down the Bridge Inn and built this dismal place instead, you'll have to put us up.' 'I am sorry, Mr. Merry,' said Hob, 'but it isn't allowed.' 'What isn't allowed?' Taking in folk off-hand like and eating extra food, and all that, said Hob. 'What's the matter with the place?' said Merry. 'Has it been a bad ####-year, or what? I thought it had been a fine summer and harvest.' 'Well no, the year's been good enough,' said Hob. 'We grows a lot of food, but we don't rightly know what becomes of it. It's all these "gatherers" and "sharers", I reckon, going round counting and measuring and taking off to storage. They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again.' 'Oh come!' said Pippin yawning. 'This is all too tiresome for me tonight. We've got food in our bags. Just give us a room to lie down in. It'll be better than many places I have seen.' The hobbits at the gate still seemed ill at ease, evidently some rule or other was being broken; but there was no gainsaying four such masterful travellers, all armed, and two of them uncommonly large and strong-looking. Frodo ordered the gates to be locked again. There was some sense at any rate in keeping a guard, while ruffians were still about. Then the four companions went into the hobbit guard-house and made themselves as comfortable as they could. It was a bare and ugly place, with a mean little grate that would not allow a good fire. In the upper rooms were little rows of hard beds, and on every wall there was a notice and a list of Rules. Pippin tore them down. There was no beer and very little food, but with what the travellers brought and shared out they all made a fair meal; and Pippin broke Rule 4 by putting most of next day's allowance of wood on the fire. 'Well now, what about a smoke, while you tell us what has been happening in the Shire?' he said. 'There isn't no pipe-weed now,' said Hob; 'at least only for the Chief's men. All the stocks seem to have gone. We do hear that waggon-loads of it went away down the old road out of the Southfarthing, over Sarn Ford way. That would be the end o' last year, after you left. But it had been going away quietly before that, in a small way. That Lotho--' 'Now you shut up, Hob Hayward!' cried several of the others. 'You know talk o' that sor t isn't allowed. The Chief will hear of it, and we'll all be in trouble.' 'He wouldn't hear naught, if some of you here weren't sneaks,' rejoined Hob hotly. 'All right, all right!' said Sam. "That's quite enough. I don't want to hear no more. No welcome, no beer, no smoke, and a lot of rules and orc-talk instead. I hoped to have a rest, but I can see there's work and trouble ahead. Let's sleep and forget it till morning!'####- The new 'Chief' evidently had means of getting news. It was a good forty miles from the Bridge to Bag End, but someone made the journey in a hurry. So Frodo and his friends soon discovered. They had not made any definite plans, but had vaguely thought of going down to Crickhollow together first, and resting there a bit. But now, seeing what things were like, they decided to go straight to Hobbiton. So the next day they set out along the Road and jogged along steadily. The wind had dropped but the sky was grey. The land looked rather sad and forlorn; bu t it was after all the first of November and the fag-end of Autumn. Still there seemed an unusual amount of burning going on, and smoke rose from many points round about. A great cloud of it was going up far away in the direction of the Woody End. As evening fell they were drawing near to Frogmorton, a village right on the Road, about twenty -two miles from the Bridge. There they meant to stay the night; The Floating Log at Frogmorton was a good inn. But as they came to the east end of the village they met a barrier with a large board saying NO ROAD; and behind it stood a large band of Shirriffs with staves in their hands and feathers in their caps, looking both important and rather scared. 'What's all this?' said Frodo, feeling inclined to laugh. This is what it is, Mr. Baggins, said the leader of the Shirriffs, a two-feather hobbit: 'You're arrested for Gate-breaking, and Tearing up of Rules, and Assaulting Gate-keepers, and Trespassing, and Sleeping in Shire-buildings without Leave, and Bribing Guards with Food.' 'And what else?' said Frodo. 'That'll do to go on with,' said the Shirriff-leader. 'I can add some more, if you like it,' said Sam. 'Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools.' 'There now, Mister, that'll do. It's the Chief's orders that you're to come along quiet. We're going to take you to Bywater and hand you over to the Chief's Men; and when he deals with your case you can have your say. But if you don't want to stay in the Lockholes any longer than you need, I should cut the say short, if I was you.' To the discomfiture of the Shirriffs Frodo and his companions all roared with laughter. 'Don't be absurd!' said Frodo. 'I am going where I please, and in my own time. I happen to be going to Bag End on business, but ####-if you insist on going too, well that is your affair.' 'Very well, Mr. Baggins,' said the leader, pushing the barrier aside. 'But don't forget I've arrested you.' 'I won't,' said Frodo. 'Never. But I may forgive you. Now I am not going any further today, so if you'll kindly escort me to The Floating Log, I'll be obliged.' 'I can't do that, Mr. Baggins. The inn's closed. There's a Shirriff-house at the far end of the village. I'll take you there. ' 'All right,' said Frodo. 'Go on and we'll follow.' Sam had been looking the Shirriffs up and down and had spotted one that he knew. 'Hey, come here Robin Smallburrow!' he called. 'I want a word with you.' With a sheepish glance at his leader, who looked wrathful but did not dare to interfere, Shirriff Smallburrow fell back and walked beside Sam, who got down off his pony. 'Look here, Cock -robin!' said Sam. 'You're Hobbiton-bred and ought to have more sense, coming a -waylaying Mr. Frodo and all. And what's all this about the inn being closed?' 'They're all closed,' said Robin. 'The Chief doesn't hold with beer. Leastways that is how it started. But now I reckon it's his Men that has it all. And he doesn't hold with folk moving about; so if they will or they must, then they has to go to the Shirriff-house and explain their business.' 'You ought to be ashamed of yourself having anything to do with such nonsense,' said Sam. 'You used to like the inside of an inn better than the outside yourself. You were always popping in, on duty or off.' 'And so I would be still, Sam, if I could. But don't be hard on me. What can I do? You know how I went for a Shirriff seven years ago, before any of this began. Gave me a chance of walking round the country and seeing folk, and hearing the news, and knowing where the good beer was. But now it's different.' 'But you can give it up, stop Shirriffing, if it has stopped being a respectable job,' said Sam. 'We're not allowed to,' said Robin. 'If I hear not allowed much oftener,' said Sam, 'I'm going to get angry.' 'Can't say as I'd be sorry to see it,' said Robin lowering his voice. 'If we all got angry together something might be done. But it's these Men,####-Sam, the Chief's Men. He sends them round everywhere, and if any of us small folk stand up for our rights, they drag him off to the Lockholes. They took old Flourdumpling, old Will Whitfoot the Mayor, first, and they've taken a lot more. Lately it's been getting worse. Often they beat 'em now.' 'Then why do you do their work far them?' said Sam angrily. 'Who sent you to Frogmorton?' 'No one did. We stay here in the big Shirriff-house. We're the First Eastfarthing Troop now. There's hundreds of Shirriffs all told and they want more, with all these new rules. Most of them are in it against their will, but not all. Even in the Shire there are some as like minding other folk's business and talking big. And there's worse than that: there's a few as do spy-work for the Chief and his Men.' 'Ah! So that's how you had news of us, is it?' 'That's right. We aren't allowed to send by it now, but they use the old Quick Post service, and keep special runners at different points. One came in from Whitfurrows last night with a "secret message", and another took it on from here. And a message came back this afternoon saying you was to be arrested and taken to Bywater, not direct to the Lockholes. The Chief wants to see you at once, evidently.' 'He won't be so eager when Mr. Frodo has finished with him,' said Sam. The Shirriff-house at Frogmorton was as bad as the Bridge-house. It had only one storey, but it had the same narrow windows, and it was built of ugly pale bricks, badly laid. Inside it was damp and cheerless, and supper was served on a long bare table that had not been scrubbed for weeks. The food deserved no better setting. The travellers were glad to leave the place. It was about eighteen miles to Bywater, and they set off at ten o'clock in the morning. They would have started earlier, only the delay so plainly annoyed the Shirriff-leader. The west wind had shifted northward and it was turning colder, but the rain was gone. It was rather a comic cavalcade that left the village, though the few folk that came out to stare at the 'get-up' of the travellers did not seem quite sure whether laughing was allowed. A dozen Shirriffs had been told off as escort to the 'prisoners'; but Merry made them march in front, while Frodo and his friends rode behind. Merry, Pippin, and Sam sat at their ease laughing and talking and singing, while the Shirriffs stumped along trying to look stern and important. Frodo, however, was silent and looked rather sad and thoughtful.####- The last person they passed was a sturdy old gaffer clipping a hedge. 'Hullo, hu llo!' he jeered. 'Now who's arrested who?' Two of the Shirriffs immediately left the party and went towards him. 'Leader!' said Merry. 'Order your fellows back to their places at once, if you don't want me to deal with them!' The two hobbits at a sharp word from the leader came back sulkily. 'Now get on!' said Merry, and after that the travellers saw to it that their ponies' pace was quick enough to push the Shirriffs along as fast as they could go. The sun came out, and in spite of the chilly wind they were soon puffing and sweating. At the Three-Farthing Stone they gave it up. They had done nearly fourteen miles with only one rest at noon. It was now three o'clock. They were hungry and very footsore and they could not stand the pace. 'Well, come along in your own time!' said Merry. 'We are going on.' 'Good-bye, Cock -robin!' said Sam. 'I'll wait for you outside The Green Dragon, if you haven't forgotten where that is. Don't dawdle on the way!' 'You're br eaking arrest, that's what you're doing,' said the leader ruefully, 'and I can't be answerable.' 'We shall break a good many things yet, and not ask you to answer ' said Pippin. 'Good luck to you!' The travellers trotted on, and as the sun began to sink towards the White Downs far away on the western horizon they came to Bywater by its wide pool; and there they had their first really painful shock. This was Frodo and Sam's own country, and they found out now that they cared about it more than any other place in the world. Many of the houses that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in the bank on the north side of the Pool were deserted, and their little gardens that used to run down bright to the water's edge were rank with weeds. Worse, there was a whole line of the ugly new houses all along Pool Side, where the Hobbiton Road ran close to the bank. An avenue of trees had stood there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was pouring out black smoke into the evening air. Sam was beside himself. 'I'm going right on, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I'm going to see what's up. I want to find my gaffer.'####- 'We ought to find out first what we're in for, Sam,' said Merry. 'I guess that the "Chief" will have a gang of ruffians handy. We had better find someone who will tell us how things are round here.' But in the village of Bywater all the houses and holes were shut, and no one greeted them. They wondered at this, but they soon discovered the reason of it. When they reached The Green Dragon, the last house on the Hobbiton side, now lifeless and with broken windows, they were disturbed to see half a dozen large ill-favoured Men lounging against the inn-wall; they were squint-eyed and sallow-faced. 'Like that friend of Bill Ferny's at Bree,' said Sam. 'Like many that I saw at Isengard,' muttered Merry. The ruffians had clubs in their hands and horns by their belts, but they had no other weapons, as far as could be seen. As the travellers rode up they left the wall and walked into the road, blocking the way. 'Where d'you think you're going?' said one, the largest and most evil-looking of the crew. 'There's no road for you any further. And where are those precious Shirriffs?' 'Coming along nicely,' said Merry. 'A little footsore, perhaps. We promised to wait for them here.' 'Garn, what did I say?' said the ruffian to his mates. 'I told Sharkey it was no good trusting those little fools. Some of our chaps ought to have been sent.' 'And what difference would that have made, pray?' said Merry. 'We are not used to footpads in this country, but we know how to deal with them.' 'Footpads, eh?' said the man: 'So that's your tone, is it? Change it, or we'll change it for you. You little folk are getting too uppish. Don't you trust too much in the Boss's kind heart. Sharkey's come now and he'll do what Sharkey says.' 'And what may that be?' said Frodo quietly. 'This country wants waking up and setting to rights,' said the ruffian, 'and Sharkey's going to do it; and make it hard, if you drive him to it. You need a bigger Boss. And you'll get one before the year is out, if there's any more trouble. Then you'll learn a thing or two, you little rat-folk.' 'Indeed. I am glad to hear of your plans,' said Frodo. 'I am on my way to call on Mr. Lotho, and he may be interested to hear of them too.' The ruffian laughed. 'Lotho! He knows all right. Don't you worry. He'll do what Sharkey says. Because if a Boss gives trouble, we can change him.####-See? And if little folks try to push in where they're not wanted, we can put them out of mischief. See?' 'Yes, I see,' said Frodo. 'For one thing, I see that you're behind the times and the news here. Much has happened since you left the South. Your day is over, and all other ruffians'. The Dark Tower has fallen, and there is a King in Gondor. And Isengard has been destroyed, and your precious master is a beggar in the wilderness. I passed him on the road. The King's messengers will ride up the Greenway now not bullies from Isengard. ' The man stared at him and smiled. 'A beggar in the wilderness!' he mocked. 'Oh, is he indeed? Swagger it, swagger it, my little cock -a -whoop. But that won't stop us living in this fat little country where you have lazed long enough. And' - he snapped his fingers in Frodo's face - 'King's messengers! That for them! When I see one, I'll take notice, perhaps.' This was too much for Pippin. His thoughts went back to the Field of Cormallen, and here was a squint-eyed rascal calling the Ring-bearer 'little cock -a -whoop'. He cast back his cloak, flashed out his sword, and the silver and sable of Gondor gleamed on him as he rode forward. 'I am a messenger of the King,' he said. 'You are speaking to the King's friend, and one of the most renowned in all the lands of the West. You are a ruffian and a fool. Down on your knees in the road and ask pardon, or I will set this troll's bane in you!' The sword glinted in the westering sun. Merry and Sam drew their swords also a nd rode up to support Pippin; but Frodo did not move. The ruffians gave back. Scaring Breeland peasants, and bullying bewildered hobbits, had been their work. Fearless hobbits with bright swords and grim faces were a great surprise. And there was a note in the voices of these newcomers that they had not heard before. It chilled them with fear. 'Go!' said Merry. 'If you trouble this village again, you will regret it.' The three hobbits came on, and then the ruffians turned and fled running away up the Hobbiton Road; but they blew their horns as they ran. 'Well, we've come back none too soon,' said Merry. 'Not a day too soon. Perhaps too late, at any rate to save Lotho,' said Frodo. 'Miserable fool, but I am sorry for him.' 'Save Lotho? Whatever do you mean?' said Pippin. 'Destroy him I should say.' 'I don't think you quite understand things, Pippin,' said Frodo. 'Lotho never meant things to come to this pass. He has been a wicked fool, but he's ####-caught now. The ruffians are on top, gathering, robbing and bullying, and running or ruining things as they like, in his name. And not in his name even for much longer. He's a prisoner in Bag End now, I expect, and very frightened. We ought to try and rescue him.' 'Well I am staggered!' said Pippin. 'Of all the ends to our journey that is the very last I should have thought of: to have to fight half-orcs and ruffians in the Shire itself - to rescue Lotho Pimple!' 'Fight?' said Frodo. 'Well, I suppose it may come to that. But remember: there is to be no slaying of hobbits, not even if they have gone over to the other side. Really gone over, I mean; not just obeying ruffians' orders because they are frightened. No hobbit has ever killed another on purpose in the Shire, and it is not to begin now. And nobody is to be killed at all, if it can be helped. Keep your tempers and hold your hands to the last possible moment!' 'But if there are many of these ruffians,' said Merry, 'it will certainly mean fighting. You won't rescue Lotho, or the Shire, just by being shocked and sad, my dear Frodo.' 'No,' said Pippin. 'It won't be so easy scaring them a second time. They were taken by surprise. You heard that horn-blowing? Ev idently there are other ruffians near at hand. They'll be much bolder when there's more of them together. We ought to think of taking cover somewhere for the night. After all we're only four, even if we are armed.' 'I've an idea,' said Sam. 'Let's go to old Tom Cotton's down South Lane! He always was a stout fellow. And he has a lot of lads that were all friends of mine.' 'No!' said Merry. 'It's no good "getting under cover". That is just what people have been doing, and just what these ruffians like. They will simply come down on us in force, corner us, and then drive us out, or burn us in. No, we have got to do something at once.' 'Do what?' said Pippin. 'Raise the Shire!' said Merry. 'Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don't at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don't know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they'll go up in fire. The Chief's Men must know that. They'll try to stamp on us and put us out quick. We've only got a very short time.####- 'Sam, you can make a dash for Cotton's farm, if you like. He's the chief person round here, and the sturdiest. Come on! I am going to blow the horn of Rohan, and give them all some music they have never heard before.' They rode back to the middle of the village. There Sam turned aside and galloped off down the lane that led south to Cotton's. He had not gone far when he heard a sudden clear horn-call go up ringing into the sky. Far over hill and field it echoed; and so compelling was that call that Sam himself almost turned and dashed back. His pony reared and neighed. 'On, lad! On!' he cried. 'We'll be going back soon.' Then he heard Merry change the note, and up went the Horn-cry of Buckland, shaking the air. Awake! Awake! Fear, Fire, Foes! Awake! Fire, Foes! Awake! Behind him Sam heard a hubbub of voices and a great din and slamming of doors. In front of him lights sprang out in the gloaming; dogs barked; feet came running. Before he got to the lane's end there was Farmer Cotton with three of his lads, Young Tom, Jolly, and Nick, hurrying towards him. They had axes in their hands, and barred the way. 'Nay! It's not one of them ruffians,' Sam heard the farmer say. 'It's a hobbit by the size of it, but all dressed up queer. Hey!' he cried. 'Who are you, and what's all this to-do? ' 'It's Sam, Sam Gamgee. I've come back.' Farmer Cotton came up close and stared at him in the twilight. 'Well!' he exclaimed. 'The voice is right, and your face is no worse than it was, Sam. But I should a' passed you in the street in that gear. You've been in foreign parts, seemingly. We feared you were dead.' 'That I ain't!' said Sam. 'Nor Mr. Frodo. He's here and his friends. And that's the to-do. They're raising the Shire. We're going to clear out these ruffians, and their Chief too. We're starting now.' 'Good, good!' cried Farmer Cotton. 'So it's begun at last! I've been itching for trouble all this year, but folks wouldn't help. And I've had the wife and Rosie to think of. These ruffians don't stick at nothing. But come on now, lads! Bywater is up! We must be in it!' 'What about Mrs. Cotton and Rosie?' said Sam. 'It isn't safe yet for them to be left all alone.' 'My Nibs is with them. But you can go and help him, if you have a mind,' said Farmer Cotton with a grin. Then he and his sons ran off towards ####-the village. Sam hurried to the house. By the large round door at the top of the steps from the wide yard stood Mrs. Cotton and Rosie, and Nibs in front of them grasping a hay-fork. 'It's me!' shouted Sam as he trotted up. 'Sam Gamgee! So don't try prodding me, Nibs. Anyway, I've a mail -shirt on me.' He jumped down from his pony and went up the steps. They stared at him in silence. 'Good evening, Mrs. Cotton!' he said. 'Hullo Rosie!' 'Hullo, Sam!' said Rosie. 'Where've you been I They said you were dead; but I've been expecting you since the Spring. You haven't hurried have you?' 'Perhaps not,' said Sam abashed. 'But I'm hurrying now. We're setting about the ruffians, and I've got to get back to Mr. Frodo. But I thought I'd have a look and see how Mrs. Cotton was keeping, and you, Rosie.' 'We're keeping nicely, thank you,' said Mrs. Cotton. 'Or should be, if it weren't for these thieving ruffians.' 'Well, be off with you!' said Rosie. 'If you've been looking after Mr. Frodo all this while, what d'you want to leave him for, as soon as things look dangerous?' This was too much for Sam. It needed a week's answer, or none. He turned away and mounted his pony. But as he started off, Rosie ran down the steps. 'I think you look fine, Sam,' she said. 'Go on now! But take care of yourself, and come straight back as soon as you have settled the ruffians!' When Sam got back he found the whole village roused. Already, apart from many younger lads, more than a hundred sturdy hobbits were assembled with axes, and heavy hammers, and long knives, and stout staves: and a few had hunting-bows. More were still coming in from outlying farms. Some of the village-folk had lit a large fire, just to enliven things, and also because it was one of the things forbidden by the Chief. It burned bright as night came on. Others at Merry's orders were setting up barriers across the road at each end of the village. When the Shirriffs came up to the lower one they were dumbfounded; but as soon as they saw how things were, most of them took off their feathers and joined in the revolt. The others slunk away. Sam found Frodo and his friends by the fire talking to old Tom Cotton, while an admiring crowd of Bywater folk stood round and stared. 'Well, what's the next move?' said Farmer Cotton.####- 'I can't say,' said Frodo, 'until I know more. How many of these ruffians are there?' 'That's hard to tell,' said Cotton. 'They moves about and comes and goes. There's sometimes fifty of them in their sheds up Hobbiton way; but they go out from there roving round, thieving or "gathering" as they call it. Still there's seldom less than a score round the Boss, as they names him. He's at Bag End, or was; but he don't go outside the rounds now. No one s seen him at all, in fact, for a week or two; but the Men don't let no one go near.' 'Hobbiton's not their only place, is it?' said Pippin. 'No, more's the pity,' said Cotton. 'There's a good few down south in Longbottom and by Sarn Ford, I hear; and some more lurking in the Woody End; and they've sheds at Waymeet. And then there's the Lockholes, as they call 'em: the old storage-tunnels at Michel Delving that they've made into prisons for those as stand up to them. Still I reckon there's not above three hundred of them in the Shire all told, and maybe less. We can master them, if we stick together.' 'Have they got any weapons?' asked Merry. 'Whips, knives, and clubs, enough for their dirty work: that's all they've showed so far,' said Cotton. 'But I dare say they've got other gear, if it comes to fighting. Some have bows, anywa y. They've shot one or two of our folk.' 'There you are, Frodo!' said Merry. 'I knew we should have to fight. Well, they started the killing.' 'Not exactly,' said Cotton. 'Leastways not the shooting. Tooks started that. You see our dad Mr. Peregrin, he's never had no truck with this Lotho, not from the beginning: said that if anyone was going to play the chief at this time of day, it would be the right Thain of the Shire and no upstart. And when Lotho sent his Men they got no change out of him. Tooks are lucky, they've got those deep holes in the Green Hills, the Great Smials and all, and the ruffians can't come at 'em; and they won't let the ruffians come on their land. If they do, Tooks hunt 'em. Tooks shot three for prowling and robbing. After that the ruffians turned nastier. And they keep a pretty close watch on Tookland. No one gets in nor out of it now.' 'Good for the Tooks!' cried Pippin. 'But someone is going to get in again, now. I am off to the Smials. Anyone coming with me to Tuckborough?'####- Pippin rode off with half a dozen lads on ponies. 'See you soon!' he cried. 'It's only fourteen miles or so over the fields. I'll bring you back an army of Tooks in the morning.' Merry blew a horn-call after them as they rode off into the gathering night. The people cheered. 'All the same,' said Frodo to all those who stood near, 'I wish for no killing; not even of the ruffians, unless it must be done, to prevent them from hurting hobbits.' 'All right! ' said Merry. 'But we shall be having a visit from the Hobbiton gang any time now, I think. They won't come just to talk things over. We'll try to deal with them neatly, but we must be prepared for the worst. Now I've got a plan.' 'Very good,' said Frodo. 'You make the arrangements.' Just then some hobbits, who had been sent out towards Hobbiton, came running in. 'They're coming!' they said. 'A score or more. But two have gone off west across country.' 'To Waymeet, that'll be, ' said Cotton, 'to fetch more of the gang. Well, it's fifteen mile each way. We needn't trouble about them just yet.' Merry hurried off to give orders. Farmer Cotton cleared the street, sending everyone indoors, except the older hobbits who had weapons of some sort. They had not long to wait. Soon they could hear loud voices, and then the tramping of heavy feet. Presently a whole squad of the ruffians came down the road. They saw the barrier and laughed. They did not imagine that ther e was anything in this little land that would stand up to twenty of their kind together. The hobbits opened the barrier and stood aside. 'Thank you!' the Men jeered. 'Now run home to bed before you're whipped.' Then they marched along the street shouting: 'Put those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we'll take fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year. Get in! The Boss is losing his temper.' No one paid any heed to their orders; but as the ruffians passed, they closed in qu ietly behind and followed them. When the Men reached the fire there was Farmer Cotton standing all alone warming his hands. 'Who are you, and what d'you think you're doing?' said the ruffian-leader. Farmer Cotton looked at him slowly. 'I was just going to ask you that,' he said. 'This isn't your country, and you're not wanted.' 'Well, you're wanted anyhow,' said the leader. 'We want you. Take him ####-lads! Lockholes for him, and give him something to keep him quiet!' The Men took one step forward and stopped short. There rose a roar of voices all round them, and suddenly they were aware that Farmer Cotton was not all alone. They were surrounded. In the dark on the edge of the firelight stood a ring of hobbits that had crept up out of the shadows. There was nearly two hundred of them, all holding some weapon. Merry stepped forward. 'We have met before,' he said to the leader, 'and I warned you not to come back here. I warn you again: you are standing in the light and you are covered by archers. If you lay a finger on this farmer, or on anyone else, you will be shot at once. Lay down any weapons that you have!' The leader looked round. He was trapped. But he was not scared, not now with a score of his fellows to back him. He knew too little of hobbits to understand his peril. Foolishly he decided to fight. It would be easy to break out. 'At 'em lads!' he cried. 'Let 'em have it!' With a long knife in his left hand and a club in the other he made a rush at the ring, trying to burst out back towards Hobbiton. He aimed a savage blow at Merry who stood in his way. He fell dead with four arrows in him: That was enough for the others. They gave in. Their weapons were taken from them, and they were roped together, and marched off to an empty hut that they had built themselves, and there they were tied hand and foot, and locked up under guard. The dead leader was dragged off and buried. 'Seems almost too easy after all, don't it?' said Cotton. 'I said we could master them. But we needed a call. You came back in the nick o' time, Mr. Merry.' 'There's more to be done still,' said Merry. 'If you're right in your reckoning, we haven't dealt with a tithe of them yet. But it's dark now. I think the next stroke must wait until morning. Then we must call on the Chief.' 'Why not now?' said Sam. 'It's not much more than six o'clock. And I want to see my gaffer. D'you know what's come of him, Mr. Cotton?' 'He's not too well, and not too bad, Sam,' said the farmer. 'They dug up Bagshot Row, and that was a sad blow to him. He's in one of them new houses that the Chief's Men used to build while they still did any work other than burning and thieving: not above a mile from the end of Bywater.####-But he comes around to me, when he gets a chance, and I see he's better fed than some of the poor bodies. All against The Rules, of course. I'd have had him with me, but that wasn't allowed.' 'Thank'ee indeed, Mr. Cotton, and I'll never forget it,' said Sam. 'But I want to see him. That Boss and that Sharkey, as they spoke of, they might do a mischief up there before the morning.' 'All right, Sam,' said Cotton. 'Choose a lad or two, and go and fetch him to my house. You'll not have need to go near the old Hobbiton village over Water. My Jolly here will show you.' Sam went off. Merry arranged for look -outs round the village and guards at the barriers during the night. Then he and Frodo went off with Farmer Cotton. They sat with the family in the warm kitchen, and the Cottons asked a few polite questions about their travels, but hardly listened to the answers: they were far more concerned with events in the Shire. 'It all began with Pimple, as we call him,' said Farmer Cotton; 'and it began as soon as you'd gone off, Mr. Frodo. He'd funny ideas had Pimple. Seems he wanted to own everything himself, and then order other folk about. It soon came out that he already did own a sight more than was good for him; and he was always grabbing more, though where he got the money was a mystery: mills and malt-houses and inns, and farms, and leaf-plantations. He'd already bought Sandyman's mill before he came to Bag End, seemingly. 'Of course he started with a lot of property in the Southfarthing which he had from his dad; and it seems he'd been selling a lot o' the best leaf, and sending it away quietly for a year or two. But at the end o' last year he began sending away loads of stuff, not only leaf. Things began to get short, and winter coming on, too. Folk got angry, but he had his answer. A lot of Men, ruffians mostly, came with great waggons, some to carry off the goods south-away, and others to stay. And more came. And before we knew where we were they were planted here and there all over the Shire, and were felling trees and digging and building themselves sheds and houses just as they liked. At first goods and damage was paid for by Pimple; but soon they began lording it around and taking what they wanted. 'Then there was a bit of trouble, but not enough. Old Will the Mayor set off for Bag End to protest, but he never got there. Ruffians laid hands on him and took and locked him up in a hole in Michel Delving, and there he is now. And after that, it would bc soon after New Year, there wasn't no more Mayor, and Pimple called himself Chief Shirriff, or just Chief, and did ####-as he liked; and if anyone got "uppish" as they called it, they followed Will. So things went from bad to worse. There wasn't no smoke left, save for the Men; and the Chief didn't hold with beer, save for his Men, and closed all the inns; and everything except Rules got shorter and shorter, unless one could hide a bit of one's own when the ruffians went round gathering stuff up "for fair distribution": which meant they got it and we didn't, except for the leavings which you could have at the Shirriff-houses, if you could stomach them. All very bad. But since Sharkey came it's been plain ruination.' 'Who is this Sharkey?' said Merry. 'I heard one of the ruffians speak of him.' 'The biggest ruffian o' the lot, seemingly,' answered Cotton. 'It was about last harvest, end o' September maybe, that we first heard of him. We've never seen him, but he's up at Bag End; and he's the real Chief now, I guess. All the ruffians do what he says; and what he says is mostly hack, burn, and ruin; and now it s come to killing. There s no longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let 'em lie, they burn houses and build no more. 'Take Sandyman's mill now. Pimple knocked it down almost as soon as he came to Bag End. Then he brought in a lot o' dirty-looking Men to build a bigger one and fill it full o' wheels and outlandish contraptions. Only that fool Ted was pleased by that, and he works there cleaning wheels for the Men, where his dad was the Miller and his own master. Pimple's idea was to grind more and faster, or so he said. He's got other mills like it. But you've got to have grist before you can grind; and there was no more for the new mill to do than for the old. But since Sharkey came they don't grind no more corn at all. They're always a -hammering and a -letting out a smoke and a stench, and there isn't no peace even at night in Hobbiton. And they pour out filth a purpose; they've fouled all the lower Water and it's getting down into Brandywine. If they want to make the Shire into a desert, they're going the right way about it. I don't believe that fool of a Pimple's behind all this. It's Sharkey, I say.' 'That's right!' put in Young Tom. 'Why, they even took Pimple's old ma, that Lobelia, and he was fond of her, if no one else was. Some of the Hobbiton folk, they saw it. She comes down the lane with her old umbrella. Some of the ruffians were going up with a big cart. ' "Where be you a -going?" says she.####- ' "To Bag End," says they. ' "What for?" says she. ' "To put up some sheds for Sharkey," says they. ' "Who said you could?" says she. ' "Sharkey," says they. "So get out o' the road, old hagling!" ' "I'll give you Sharkey, you dirty thieving ruffians!" says she, and ups with her umbrella and goes for the leader. near twice her size. So they took her. Dragged her off to the Lockholes, at her age too. They've took others we miss more, but there's no denying she showed more spirit than most.' Into the middle of this talk came Sam, bursting in with his gaffer. Old Gamgee did not look much older, but he was a little deafer. 'Good evening. Mr. Baggins!' he said. 'Glad indeed I am to see you safe back. But I've a bone to pick with you, in a manner o' speaking, if I may make so bold. You didn't never ought to have a' sold Bag End, as I always said. That's what started all the mischief. And while you're been trapessing in foreign parts, chasing Black Men up mountains from what my Sam says, though what for he don't make clear, they've been and dug up Bagshot Row and ruined my taters!' 'I am very sorry, Mr. Gamgee,' said Frodo. 'But now I've come back, I'll do my best to make amends.' 'Well, you can't say fairer than that,' said the gaffer. 'Mr. Frodo Baggins is a real gentlehobbit, I always have said, whatever you may think of some others of the name, begging your pardon. And I hope my Sam's behaved hisself and given satisfaction?' 'Perfect satisfaction, Mr. Gamgee,' said Frodo. 'Indeed, if you will believe it, he's now one of the most famous people in all the lands, and they are making songs about his deeds from here to the Sea and beyond the Great River.' Sam blushed, but he looked gratefully at Frodo, for Rosie's eyes were shining and she was smiling at him. 'It takes a lot o' believing,' said the gaffer, 'though I can see he's been mixing in strange company. What's come of his weskit? I don't hold with wearing ironmongery, whether it wears well or no.' Farmer Cotton's household and all his guests were up early next morning. Nothing had been heard in the night, but more trouble would certainly come before the day was old. 'Seems as if none o' the ruffians ####-were left up at Bag End,' said Cotton; 'but the gang from Waymeet will be along any time now.' After breakfast a messenger from the Tookland rode in. He was in high spirits. 'The Thain has raised all our country,' he said, 'and the news is going like fire all ways. The ruffians that were watching our land have fled off south, those that escaped alive. The Thain has gone after them, to hold off the big gang down that way; but he's sent Mr Peregrin back with all the other folk he can spare.' The next news was less good. Merry, who had been out all night, came riding in about ten o'clock. 'There's a big band about four miles away,' he said. 'They're coming along the road from Waymeet, but a good many stray ruffians have joined up with them. There must be close on a hundred of them; and they're fire-raising as they come. Curse them!' 'Ah! This lot won't stay to talk, they'll kill, if they can,' said Farmer Cotton. 'If Tooks don't come sooner, we'd best get behind cover and shoot without arguing. There's got to be some fighting before this is settled, Mr. Frodo.' The Tooks did come sooner. Before long they marched in, a hundred strong, from Tuckborough and the Green Hills with Pippin at their head. Merry now had enough sturdy hobbitry to deal with the ruffians. Scouts reported that they were keeping close together. They knew that the countryside had risen against them, and plainly meant to deal with the rebellion ruthlessly, at its centre in Bywater. But however grim they, might be, they seemed to have no leader among them who understood warfare. They came on without any precautions. Merry laid his plans quickly. The ruffians came tramping along the East Road, and without halting turned up the Bywater Road, which ran for some way sloping up between high banks with low hedges on top. Round a bend, about a furlong from the main road, they met a stout barrier of old farm-carts upturned. That halted them. At the same moment they became aware that the hedges on both sides, just above their heads, were all lined with hobbits. Behind them other hobbits now pushed out some more waggons that had been hidden in a field, and so blocked the way back. A voice spoke to them from above. 'Well, you have walked into a trap, ' said Merry. 'Your fellows from Hobbiton did the same, and one is dead and the rest are prisoners. Lay down ####-your weapons! Then go back twenty paces and sit down. Any who try to break out will be shot.' But the ruffians could not now be cowed so easily. A few of them obeyed, but were immediately set on by their fellows. A score or more broke back and charged the waggons. Six were shot, but the remainder burst out, killing two hobbits, and then scattering across country in the direction of the Woody End. Two more fell as they ran. Merry blew a loud horn-call, and there were answering calls from a distance. 'They won't get far,' said Pippin. 'All that country is alive with our hunters now.' Behind, the trapped Men in the lane, still about four score, tried to climb the barrier and the banks, and the hobbits were obliged to shoot many of them or hew them with axes. But many of the strongest and most desperate got out on the west side, and attacked their enemies fiercely , being now more bent on killing than escaping. Several hobbits fell, and the rest were wavering, when Merry and Pippin, who were on the east side, came across and charged the ruffians. Merry himself slew the leader, a great squint -eyed brute like a huge orc. Then he drew his forces off, encircling the last remnant of the Men in a wide ring of archers. At last all was over. Nearly seventy of the ruffians lay dead on the field, and a dozen were prisoners. Nineteen hobbits were killed, a nd some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians were laden on waggons and hauled off to an old sand-pit nearby and there buried: in the Battle Pit, as it was afterwards called. The fallen hobbits were laid together in a grave on the hill-side, wher e later a great stone was set up with a garden about it. So ended the Battle of Bywater, 1419, the last battle fought in the Shire, and the only battle since the Greenfields, 1147, away up in the Northfarthing. In consequence, though it happily cost very few lives, it has a chapter to itself in the Red Book, and the names of all those who took part were made into a Roll, and learned by heart by Shire-historians. The very considerable rise in the fame and fortune of the Cottons dates from this time; but at the top of the Roll in all accounts stand the names of Captains Meriadoc and Peregrin. Frodo had been in the battle, but he had not drawn sword, and his chief part had been to prevent the hobbits in their wrath at their losses, from slaying those of their enemies who threw down their weapons. When the ####-fighting was over, and the later labours were ordered, Merry, Pippin, and Sam joined him, and they rode back with the Cottons. They ate a late midday meal, and then Frodo said with a sigh: 'Well, I suppose it is time now that we dealt with the "Chief".' 'Yes indeed; the sooner the better,' said Merry. 'And don't be too gentle! He's responsible for bringing in these ruffians, and for all the evil they have done.' Farmer Cotton collected an escort of some two dozen sturdy hobbits. 'For it's only a guess that there is no ruffians left at Bag End,' he said. 'We don't know.' Then they set out on foot. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin led the way. It was one of the saddest hours in their lives. The great chimney rose up before them; and as they drew near the old village across the Water, through rows of new mean houses along each side of the road, they saw the new mill in all its frowning and dirty ugliness: a great brick building straddling the stream, which it fouled with a steaming and stinking overflow. All along the Bywater Road every tree had been felled. As they crossed the bridge and looked up the Hill they gasped. Even Sam's vision in the Mirror had not prepared him for what they saw. The Old Grange on the west side had been knocked down, and its place taken by rows of tarred sheds. All the chestnuts were gone. The banks and hedgerows were broken. Great waggons wer e standing in disorder in a field beaten bare of grass. Bagshot Row was a yawning sand and gravel quarry. Bag End up. beyond could not be seen for a clutter of large huts. 'They've cut it down!' cried Sam. 'They've cut down the Party Tree!' He pointed to where the tree. had stood under which Bilbo had made his Farewell Speech. It was lying lopped and dead in the field. As if this was the last straw Sam burst into tears. A laugh put an end to them. There was a surly hobbit lounging over the low wall of the mill-yard. He was grimy -faced and black -handed. 'Don't 'ee like it, Sam?' he sneered. 'But you always was soft. I thought you'd gone off in one o' them ships you used to prattle about, sailing, sailing. What d'you want to come back for? We've work to do in the Shire now.' 'So I see,' said Sam. 'No time for washing, but time for wall-propping. But see here, Master Sandyman, I've a score to pay in this village, and don't you make it any longer with your jeering, or you'll foot a bill too ####-big for your purse.' Ted Sandyman spat over the wall: 'Garn!' he said. 'You can't touch me. I'm a friend o' the Boss's. But he'll touch you all right, if I have any more of your mouth.' 'Don't waste any more words on the fool, Sam!' said Frodo. 'I hope there are not many more hobbits that have become like this. It would be a worse trouble than all the damage the Men have done.' 'You are dirty and insolent, Sandyman,' said Merry. 'And also very much out of your reckoning. We are just going up the Hill to remove your precious Boss. We have dealt with his Men.' Ted gaped, for at that moment he first caught sight of the escort that at a sign from Merry now marched over the bridge. Dashing back into the mill he ran out with a horn and blew it loudly. 'Save your breath!' laughed Merry. 'I've a better.' Then lifting up his silver horn he winded it, and its clear call rang over the Hill; and out of the holes and sheds and shabby houses of Hobbiton the hobbits answered, and came pouring out, and with cheers and loud cries they followed the company up the road to Bag End. At the top of the lane the party halted, and Frodo and his friends went on; and they came at last to the once beloved place. The garden wa s full of huts and sheds, some so near the old westward windows that they cut off all their light. There were piles of refuse everywhere. The door was scarred; the bell-chain was dangling loose, and the bell would not ring. Knocking brought no answer. At length they pushed and the door yielded. They went in. The place stank and was full of filth and disorder: it did not appear to have been used for some time. 'Where is that miserable Lotho hiding?' said Merry. They had searched every room and found no living thing save rats and mice. 'Shall we turn on the others to search the sheds?' 'This is worse than Mordor!' said Sam. 'Much worse in a way. It comes home to you, as they say; because it is home, and you remember it before it was all ruined.' 'Yes, this is Mordor,' said Frodo. 'Just one of its works. Saruman was doing its work all the time, even when he thought he was working for himself. And the same with those that Saruman tricked, like Lotho.' Merry looked round in dismay and disgust. 'Let's get out!' he said. 'If I had known all the mischief he had caused, I should have stuffed my pouch ####-down Saruman's throat.' 'No doubt, no doubt! But you did not, and so I am able to welcome you home.' There standing at the door was Saruman himself, looking well -fed and well-pleased; his eyes gleamed with malice and amusement. A sudden light broke on Frodo. 'Sharkey!' he cried. Saruman laughed. 'So you have heard the name, have you? All my people used to call me that in Isengard, I believe. A sign of affection, possibly.( But evidently you did not expect to see me here.' 'I did not,' said Frodo. 'But I might have guessed. A little mischief in a mean way: Gandalf warned me that you were still capable of it. 'Quite capable,' said Saruman, 'and more than a little. You made me laugh, you hobbit-lordlings, riding along with all those great people so secure and so pleased with your little selves. You thought you had done very well out of it a ll, and could now just amble back and have a nice quiet time in the country. Saruman's home could be all wrecked, and he could be turned out, but no one could touch yours. Oh no! Gandalf would look after your affairs.' Saruman laughed again. 'Not he! When his tools have done their task he drops them. But you must go dangling after him, dawdling and talking, and riding round twice as far as you needed. "Well," thought I, "if they're such fools, I will get ahead of them and teach them a lesson. One ill turn deserves another." It would have been a sharper lesson, if only you had given me a little more time and more Men. Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be plea sant to think of that and set it against my injuries.' 'Well, if that is what you find pleasure in,' said Frodo, 'I pity you. It will be a pleasure of memory only, I fear. Go at once and never return!' The hobbits of the villages had seen Saruman come out of one of the huts, and at once they came crowding up to the door of Bag End. When they heard Frodo's command, they murmured angrily: 'Don't let him go! Kill him! He's a villain and a murderer. Kill him!' Saruman looked round at their hostile faces and smiled. 'Kill him!' he mocked. 'Kill him, if you think there are enough of you, my brave hobbits!' He drew himself up and stared at them darkly with his black eyes. 'But do not think that when I lost all my goods I lost all my power! Whoever strikes me shall be accursed. And if my blood stains the Shire, it shall wither and never again be healed.'####- The hobbits recoiled. But Frodo said: 'Do not believe him! He has lost all power, save his voice that can still daunt you and deceive you, if you let it. But I will not have him slain. It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing. Go, Saruman, by the speediest way!' 'Worm! Worm!' Saruman called; and out of a nearby hut came Wormtongue, crawling, almost like a dog. To the road again, Worm!' said Saruman. 'These fine fellows and lordlings are turning us adrift again. Come along!' Saruman turned to go, and Wormtongue shuffled after him. But even as Saruman passed close to Frodo a knife flashed in his hand, and he stabbed swiftly. The blade turned on the hidden mail-coat and snapped. A dozen hobbits, led by Sam, leaped forward with a cry and flung the villain to the ground. Sam drew his sword. 'No, Sam!' said Frodo. 'Do not kill him even now. For he has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it.' Saruman rose to his feet, and stared at Frodo. There was a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder and respect and hatred. 'You have grown, Halfling,' he said. 'Yes, you have grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. You have robbed my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go and I will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my doing. I merely foretell.' He walked away, and the hobbits made a lane for him to pass; but their knuckles whitened as they gripped on their weapons. Wormtongue hesitated, and then followed his master. 'Wormtongue!' called Frodo. 'You need not follow him. I know of no evil you have done to me. You can have rest and food here for a while, until you are stronger and can go your own ways.' Wormtongue halted and looked back at him, half prepared to stay. Saruman turned. 'No evil?' he cackled. 'Oh no! Even when he sneaks out at night it is only to look at the stars. But did I hear someone ask where poor Lotho is hiding? You know, don't you, Worm? Will you tell them?' Wormtongue cowered down and whimpered: 'No, no!' 'Then I will,' said Saruman. 'Worm killed your Chief, poor little ####-fellow, your nice little Boss. Didn't you, Worm? Stabbed him in his sleep, I believe. Buried him, I hope; though Worm has been very hungry lately. No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.' A look of wild hatred came into Wormtongue's red eyes. 'You told me to; you made me do it,' he hissed. Saruman laughed. 'You do what Sharkey says, always, don't you, Worm? Well, now he says: follow!' He kicked Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and made off. But at that something snapped: suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl like a dog he sprang on Saruman's back, jerked his head back, cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane. Before Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows twanged and Wormtongue fell dead. To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing. Frodo looked down at the body with pity and horror, for as he looked it seemed that long years of death were suddenly revealed in it, and it shrank, and the shrivelled face became rags of skin upon a hideous skull. Lifting up the skirt of the dirty cloak that sprawled beside it, he covered it over, and turned away. 'And that's the end of that,' said Sam. 'A nasty end, and I wish I needn't have seen it; but it's a good riddance.' 'And the very last end of the War, I hope,' said Merry. 'I hope so,' said Frodo and sighed. 'The very last stroke. But to think that it should fall here, at the very door of Bag End! Among all my hopes and fears at least I never expected that.' 'I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess,' said Sam gloomily. 'And that'll take a lot of time and work.' ####- The clearing up certainly needed a lot of work, but it took less time than Sam had feared. The day after the battle Frodo rode to Michel Delving and released the prisoners from the Lockholes. One of the first that they found was poor Fredegar Bolger, Fatty no longer. He had been taken when the ruffians smoked out a band of rebels that he led from their hidings up in the Brockenbores by the hills of Scary. 'You would have done better to come with us after all, poor old Fredegar!' said Pippin, as they carried him out too weak to walk. He opened an eye and tried gallantly to smile. 'Who's this young giant with the loud voice?' he whispered. 'Not little Pippin! What's your size in hats now?' Then there was Lobelia. Poor thing, she looked very old and thin when they rescued her from a dark and narrow cell. She insisted on hobbling out on her own feet; and she had such a welcome, and there was such clapping and cheering when she appeared, leaning on Frodo's arm but still clutching her umbrella, that she was quite touched, and drove away in tears. She had never in her life been popular before. But she was crushed by the news of Lotho's murder, and she would' not return to Bag End. She gave it back to Frodo, and went to her own people, the Bracegirdles of Hardbottle. When the poor creature died next Spring-she was after all more than a hundred years old - Frodo was surprised and much moved: she had left all that remained of her money and of Lotho's for him to use in helping hobbits made homeless by the troubles. So that feud was ended. Old Will Whitfoot had been in the Lockholes longer than any, and though he had perhaps been treated less harshly than some, he needed a lot of feeding up before he could look the part of Mayor; so Frodo agreed to act as his Deputy, until Mr. Whitfoot was in shape again. The only thing that he did as Deputy Mayor was to reduce the Shirriffs to their proper functions and numbers. The task of hunting out the last remnant of the ruffians was left to Merry and Pippin, and it was soon done. The southern gangs, after hearing the news of the Battle of Bywater, fled out of the land and offered little resistance to the Thain. Before the Year's End the few survivors were rounded up in the woods, and those that surrendered were shown to the ####-borders. Meanwhile the labour of repair went on apace, and Sam was kept very busy. Hobbits can work like bees when the mood and the need comes on them. Now there were thousands of willing hands of all ages, from the small but nimble ones of the hobbit lads and lasses to the well-worn and horny ones of the gaffers and gammers. Before Yule not a brick was left standing of the new Shirriff-houses or of anything that had been built by 'Sharkey's Men'; but the bricks were used to repair many an old hole, to make it snugger and drier. Great stores of goods a nd food, and beer, were found that had been hidden away by the ruffians in sheds and barns and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel Delving and in the old quarries at Scary; so that there was a great deal better cheer that Yule than anyone had hoped for. One of the first things done in Hobbiton, before even the removal of the new mill, was the clearing of the Hill and Bag End, and the restoration of Bagshot Row. The front of the new sand-pit was all levelled and made into a large sheltered garden, and new holes were dug in the southward face, back into the Hill, and they were lined with brick. The Gaffer was restored to Number Three; and he said often and did not care who heard it: 'It's an ill wind as blows nobody no good, as I always say. And All's well as ends Better!' There was some discussion of the name that the new row should be given. Battle Gardens was thought of, or Better Smials. But after a while in sensible hobbit-fashion it was just called New Row. It was a purely Bywater joke to refer to it as Sharkey's End. The trees were the worst loss and damage, for at Sharkey's bidding they had been cut down recklessly far and wide over the Shire; and Sam grieved over this more than anything else. For one thing, this hurt would take long to heal, and only his great-grandchildren, he thought, would see the Shire as it ought to be. Then suddenly one day, for he had been too busy for weeks to give a thought to his adventures, he remembered the gift of Galadriel. He brought the box out and showed it to the other Travellers (for so they were now called by everyone), and asked their advice. 'I wondered when you would think of it,' said Frodo. 'Open it!' Inside it was filled with a grey dust, soft and fine, in the middle of ####-which was a seed, like a small nut with a silver shale. 'What can I do with this?' said Sam. 'Throw it in the air on a breezy day and let it do its work!' said Pippin. 'On what?' said Sam. 'Choose one spot as a nursery, and see what happens to the plants there,' said Merry. 'But I'm sure the Lady would not like me to keep it all for my own garden, now so many folk have suffered,' said Sam. 'Use all the wi ts and knowledge you have of your own, Sam,' said Frodo, 'and then use the gift to help your work and better it. And use it sparingly. There is not much here, and I expect every grain has a value.' So Sam planted saplings in all the places where specially beautiful or beloved trees had been destroyed, and he put a grain of the precious dust in the soil at the root of each. He went up and down the Shire in this labour; but if he paid special attention to Hobbiton and Bywater no one blamed h im. And at the end he found that he still had a little of the dust left; so he went to the Three-Farthing Stone, which is as near the centre of the Shire as no matter, and cast it in the air with his blessing. The little silver nut he planted in the Party Field where the tree had once been; and he wondered what would come of it. All through the winter he remained as patient as he could, and tried to restrain himself from going round constantly to see if anything was happening. Spring surpassed his wildest hopes. His trees began to sprout and grow, as if time was in a hurry and wished to make one year do for twenty. In the Party Field a beautiful young sapling leaped up: it had silver bark and long leaves and burst into golden flowers in April. It was indeed a mallorn, and it was the wonder of the neighbourhood. In after years, as it grew in grace and beauty, it was known far and wide and people would come long journeys to see it: the only mallorn west of the Mountains and east of the Sea, and one of the finest in the world. Altogether 1420 in the Shire was a marvellous year. Not only was there wonderful sunshine and delicious rain, in due times and perfect measure, but there seemed something more: an air of richness and growth, and a gleam of a beauty beyond that of mortal summers that flicker and pass upon this Middle-earth. All the children born or begotten in that year, and there were ####-many, were fair to see and strong, and most of them had a rich golden hair that had before been rare among hobbits. The fruit was so plentiful that young hobbits very nearly bathed in strawberries and cream; and later they sat on the lawns under the plum-trees and ate, until they had made piles of stones like small pyramids or the heaped skulls of a conqueror, and then they moved on. And no one was ill, and everyone was pleased. except those who had to mow the grass. In the Southfarthing the vines were laden, and the yield of 'leaf' was astonishing; and everywhere there was so much corn that at Harvest every barn was stuffed. 'The Northfarthing barley was so fine that the beer of 1420 malt was long remembered and became a byword. Indeed a generation later one might hear an old gaffer in an inn, aft er a good pint of well-earned ale, put down his mug with a sigh: 'Ah! that was proper fourteen-twenty, that was!' Sam stayed at first at the Cottons' with Frodo; but when the New Row was ready he went with the Gaffer. In addition to all his other labours he was busy directing the cleaning up and restoring of Bag End; but he was often away in the Shire on his forestry work. So he was not at home in early March and did not know that Frodo had been ill. On the thirteenth of that month Farmer Cotton found Frodo lying on his bed; he was clutching a white gem that hung on a chain about his neck and he seemed half in a dream. 'It is gone for ever,' he said, 'and now all is dark and empty.' But the fit passed, and when Sam got back on the twenty-fifth, Frodo had recovered, and he said nothing about himself. In the meanwhile Bag End had been set in order, and Merry and Pippin came over from Crickhollow bringing back all the old furniture and gear, so that the old hole soon looked very much as it always had done. When all was at last ready Frodo said: 'When are you going to move in and join me, Sam?' Sam looked a bit awkward. 'There is no need to come yet, if you don't want to,' said Frodo. 'But you k now the Gaffer is close at hand, and he will be very well looked after by Widow Rumble.' It s not that, Mr. Frodo, said Sam, and he went ver red. 'Well, what is it?' 'It's Rosie, Rose Cotton,' said Sam. 'It seems she didn't like my going ####-abroad at all, poor lass; but as I hadn't spoken, she couldn't say so. And I didn't speak, because I had a job to do first. But now I have spoken, and she says: "Well, you've wasted a year, so why wait longer?" "Wasted?" I says. "I wouldn't call it that." Still I see what she means. I feel torn in two, as you might say.' 'I see,' said Frodo: 'you want to get married, and yet you want to live with me in Bag End too? But my dear Sam, how easy! Get married as soon as you can, and then move in with Rosie. There's room enough in Bag End for as big a family as you could wish for.' And so it was settled. Sam Gamgee married Rose Cotton in the Spring of 1420 (which was also famous for its weddings), and they came and lived at Bag End. And if Sam thought himself lucky, Frodo knew that he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care. When the labours of repair had all been planned and set going he took to a quiet life, writing a great dea l and going through all his notes. He resigned the office of Deputy Mayor at the Free Fair that mid-summer, and dear old Will Whitfoot had another seven years of presiding at Banquets. Merry and Pippin lived together for some time at Crickhollow, and there was much coming and going between Buckland and Bag End. The two young Travellers cut a great dash in the Shire with their songs and their tales and their finery, and their wonderful parties. 'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing bu t good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid, laughing and singing songs of far away; and if they were now large and magnificent, they were unchanged otherwise, unless they were indeed more fairspoken and more jovial and full of merriment than ever before. Frodo and Sam, however, went back to ordinary attire, except that when there was need they both wore long grey cloaks, finely woven and clasped at the throat with beautiful brooches; and Mr. Frodo wore always a white jewel on a chain that he often would finger. All things now went well, with hope always of becoming still better; and Sam was as busy and as full of delight as even a hobbit could wish. Nothing for him marred that whole year, except for some vague anxiety about his master. Frodo dropped quietly out of all the doings of the Shire, and ####-Sam was pained to notice how little honour he had in his own country. Few people knew or wanted to know about his deeds and adventures; their admiration and respect were given mostly to Mr. Meriadoc and Mr. Peregrin and (if Sam had known it) to himself. Also in the autumn there appeared a shadow of old troubles. One evening Sam came into the study and found his master looking very strange. He was very pale and his eyes seemed to see things far away. 'What's the matter, Mr. Frodo?' said Sam. 'I am wounded,' he answered, 'wounded; it will never really heal.' But then he got up, and the turn seemed to pass, and he was quite himself the next day. It was not until afterwards that Sam recalled that the date was October the sixth. Two years before on that day it was dark in the dell under Weathertop. Time went on, and 1421 came in. Frodo was ill again in March, but with a great effort he concealed it, for Sam had other things to think about. The first of Sam and Rosie's children was born on the twenty-fifth of March, a date that Sam noted. 'Well, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'I'm in a bit of a fix. Rose and me had settled to call him Frodo, with your leave; but it's not him , it's her. Though as pretty a maidchild as any one could hope for, taking after Rose more than me, luckily. So we don't know what to do.' 'Well, Sam,' said Frodo, 'what's wrong with the old customs? Choose a flower name like Rose. Half the maidchildren in the Shire are called by such names, and what could be better?' 'I suppose you're right, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'I've heard some beautiful names on my travels, but I suppose they're a bit too grand for daily wear and tear, as you might say. The Gaffer, he says: "Make it short, and then you won't have to cut it short before you can use it." But if it's to be a flower-name, then I don't trouble about the length: it must be a beautiful flower, because, you see, I think she is very beautiful, and is going to be beautifuller still.' Frodo thought for a moment. 'Well, Sam, what about elanor, the sun-star, you remember the little golden flower in the grass of Lothlurien?' 'You're right again, Mr. Frodo!' said Sam delighted. 'That's what I wanted.' Little Elanor was nearly six months old, and 1421 had passed to its autumn, when Frodo called Sam into the study.####- 'It will be Bilbo's Birthday on Thursday, Sam,' he said. 'And he will pass the Old Took. He will be a hundred and thirty-one!' 'So he will!' said Sam. 'He's a marvel!' 'Well, Sam,' said Frodo. 'I want you to see Rose and find out if she can spare you, so that you and I can go off together. You can't go far or for a long time now, of course,' he said a little wistfully. 'Well, not very well, Mr. Frodo.' 'Of course not. But never mind. You can see me on my way. Tell Rose that you won't be away very long, not more than a fortnight; and you'll come back quite safe.' 'I wish I could go all the way with you to Rivendell, Mr. Frodo, and see Mr. Bilbo,' said Sam. 'And yet the only place I really want to be in is here. I am that torn in two.' 'Poor Sam! It will feel like that, I am afraid,' said Frodo. 'But you will be healed. You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be.' In the next day or two Frodo went through his papers and his writings with Sam, and he handed over his keys. There was a big book with plain red leather covers; its tall pages were now almost filled. At the beginning there were many leaves covered with Bilbo's thin wandering hand; but most of it was written in Frodo's firm flowing script. It was divided into chapters but title page had many titles on it, crossed out one after another, so: My Diary. My Unexpected Journey. There and Back Again. And What Happened After. Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring. Here Bilbo's hand ended and Frodo had written: THE DOWNFALL OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND THE RETURN OF THE KING (as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of ####-the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise.) Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell. 'Why, you have nearly finished it, Mr. Frodo!' Sam exclaimed. 'Well, you have kept at it, I must say.' 'I have quite finished, Sam,' said Frodo. 'The last pages are for you.' On September the twenty-first they set out together, Frodo on the pony that had borne him all the way from Minas Tirith, and was now called Strider; and Sam on his beloved Bill. It was a fair golden morning, and Sam did not ask where they were going: he thought he could guess. They took the Stock Road over the hills and went towards the Woody End, and they let their ponies walk at their leisure. They camped in the Green Hills, and on September the twenty-second they rode gently down into the beginning of the trees as afternoon was wearing away. 'If that isn't the very tree you hid behind when the Black Rider first showed up, Mr. Frodo!' said Sam pointing to the left. 'It seems like a dream now.' It was evening, and the stars were glimmering in the eastern sky as they passed the ruined oak and turned and went on down the hill between the hazel-thickets. Sam was silent, deep in his memories. Presently he became aware that Frodo was singing softly to himself, singing the old walking-song, but the words were not quite the same. Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate; And though I oft have passed them by, A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun. And as if in answer, from down below, coming up the road out of the valley, voices sang: A! Elbereth Gilthoniel! silivren penna mnriel o menel aglar elenath, Gilthoniel, A! Elbereth! We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees ####- The starlight on the Western Seas. Frodo and Sam halted and sat silent in the soft shadows, until they saw a shimmer as the travellers came towards them. There was Gildor and many fair Elven folk; and there to Sam's wonder rode Elrond and Galadriel. Elrond wore a mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three. But Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey and was robed all in glimmering white, like clouds about the Moon; for she herself seemed to shine with a soft light. On her finger was Nenya, the ring wrought of mithril , that bore a single white stone flickering like a frosty star. Riding slowly behind on a small grey pony, and seeming to nod in his sleep, was Bilbo himself. Elrond greeted them gravely and graciously, and Galadriel smiled upon them. 'Well, Master Samwise,' she said. 'I hear and see that you have used my gift well. The Shire shall now be more than ever blessed and beloved.' Sam bowed, but found nothing to say. He had forgotten how beautiful the Lady was. Then Bilbo woke up and opened his eyes. 'Hullo, Frodo!' he said. 'Well, I have passed the Old Took today! So that's settled. And now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey. Are you coming?' 'Yes, I am coming,' said Frodo. 'The Ring-bearers should go together.' 'Where are you going, Master?' cried Sam, though at last he understood what was happening. 'To the Havens, Sam,' said Frodo. 'And I can't come.' 'No, Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the Havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.' 'But,' said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, 'I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too. for years and years, after all you have done.' 'So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Elanor; and Frodo -lad ####-will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see. Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You will be the Mayor, of course, as long a s you want to be, and the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone. so that people will remember the Great Danger and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as your part of the Story goes on. 'Come now, ride with me!' Then Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was over, and the Days of the Rings were passed, and an end was come of the story and song of those times. With them went many Elves of the High Kindred who would no longer stay in Middle-earth; and among them, filled with a sadness that was yet blessed and without bitterness, rode Sam, and Frodo, and Bilbo, and the Elves delighted to honour them. Though they rode through the midst of the Shire all the evening and all the night, none saw them pass, save the wild creatures; or here and there some wanderer in the dark who saw a swift shimmer under the trees, or a light and shadow flowing through the grass as the Moon went westward. And when they had passed from the Shire, going about the south skirts of the White Downs, they came to the Far Downs, and to the Towers, and looked on the distant Sea; and so they rode down at last to Mithlond, to the Grey Havens in the long firth of Lune. As they came to the gates Cnrdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars; and he looked at them and bowed, and said: 'All is now ready.' Then Cnrdan led them to the Havens, and there was a white ship lying, and upon the quay beside a great grey horse stood a figure robed all in white awaiting them. As he turned and came towards them Frodo saw that Gandalf now wore openly upon his hand the Third Ring, Narya the Great, and the stone upon it was red as fire. Then those who were to go were glad, for they knew that Gandalf also would take ship with them. But Sam was now sorrowful at heart, and it seemed to him that if the parting would be bitter, more grievous still would be the long road home alone. But even as they stood there, and the Elves were going aboard, and ####-all was being made ready to depart, up rode Merry and Pippin in great haste. And amid his tears Pippin laughed. 'You tried to give us the slip once before and failed, Frodo.' he said. 'This time you have nearly succeeded, but you have failed again. It was not Sam, though, that gave you away this time, but Gandalf himself!' 'Yes,' said Gandalf; 'for it will be better to ride back three together 'than one alone. Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.' Then Frodo kissed Merry and Pippin, and last of all Sam, and went aboard; and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth; and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost. And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven; and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West. There still he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the sound of them sank deep into his heart. Beside him stood Merry and Pippin, and they were silent. At last the three companions turned away, and never again looking back they rode slowly homewards; and they spoke no word to one another until they came back to the Shire. but each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road. At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland; and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said. ####-

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposite team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing side. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45 minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is considered the world's most popular sport. The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout.Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA. National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the men's FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. The final of the men's tournament has been, in recent years, the most-watched annual sporting event in the world.Women's association football has historically seen opposition, with national associations severely curbing its development and several outlawing it completely. Restrictions started to be reduced in the 1980s and the first women's World Cup was the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup in China with only 12 teams from the respective six confederations. By the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, this had increased to 24 national teams, and a record-breaking 1.12 billion viewers watched the competition. Name Football is one of a family of football codes, which emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called "football" in Great Britain and most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, whereas people usually call it "soccer" in regions and countries where other codes of football are prevalent, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, most of Ireland (excluding Ulster) and the United States. A notable exception is New Zealand, where in the first two decades of the 21st century, under the influence of international television, "football" has been gaining prevalence, despite the dominance of other codes of football, namely rugby union and rugby league. In Japan, the game is also primarily called sakkā (サッカー), derived from "soccer". The term soccer comes from Oxford "-er" slang, which was prevalent at the University of Oxford in England from about 1875, and is thought to have been borrowed from the slang of Rugby School. Initially spelled assoccer, it was later reduced to the modern spelling. This form of slang also gave rise to rugger for rugby football, fiver and tenner for five pound and ten pound notes, and the now-archaic footer that was also a name for association football. The word soccer arrived at its final form in 1895 and was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca. History Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures. Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a stele of c. 375–400 BCE in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship trophy. Athenaeus, writing in 228 CE, mentions the Roman ball game harpastumcode: lat promoted to code: la . Phaininda, episkyros and harpastumcode: lat promoted to code: la were played involving hands and violence. They all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all modern football codes, these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking it.The Chinese competitive game cuju (蹴鞠, literally "kick ball"; also known as tsu chu) resembles modern association football. Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was to kick a ball through an opening into a net. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), cuju games were standardised and rules were established.Other games included kemari in Japan and chuk-guk in Korea. In North America, pasuckuakohowog was a ball game played by the Algonquians; it was described as "almost identical to the kind of folk football being played in Europe at the same time, in which the ball was kicked through goals".Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world, FIFA has recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England. The history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century. The Cambridge rules, first drawn up at the University of Cambridge in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to the formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemasons' Tavern was the setting for five more meetings of The FA between October and December 1863; the English FA eventually issued the first comprehensive set of rules named Laws of the Game, forming modern football. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath F.C., withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game. These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s, with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by the footballer and cricketer Charles W. Alcock, and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match also took place in 1872, between Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of Alcock. England is also home to the world's first football league, which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor. The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and Northern England. The Laws of the Game are determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The board was formed in 1886 after a meeting in Manchester of the Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association. FIFA, the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to the Laws of the Game of the Football Association. The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the IFAB in 1913. The board consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the four British associations.Football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams, while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. Football has the highest global television audience in sport.In many parts of the world, football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations. Ryszard Kapuściński says that Europeans who are polite, modest, or humble fall easily into rage when playing or watching football games. The Ivory Coast national football team helped secure a truce to the nation's civil war in 2006 and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time. By contrast, football is widely considered to have been the final proximate cause for the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras. The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade degenerated into rioting in May 1990. Women's association football Early women's football Women may have been playing "football" for as long as the game has existed. Evidence shows that an ancient version of the game (cuju, or tsu chu) was played by women during the Han dynasty (25–220 CE), as female figures are depicted in frescoes of the period playing tsu chu. Association football, the modern game, also has documented early involvement of women. An annual competition in Mid-Lothian, Scotland during the 1790s is reported, too. In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardised rules to prohibit violence on the pitch, making it more socially acceptable for women to play. The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow. In England, the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895.The best-documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. It was named the British Ladies' Football Club. Nettie Honeyball is quoted as, "I founded the association late last year [1894], with the fixed resolve of proving to the world that women are not the 'ornamental and useless' creatures men have pictured. I must confess, my convictions on all matters where the sexes are so widely divided are all on the side of emancipation, and I look forward to the time when ladies may sit in Parliament and have a voice in the direction of affairs, especially those which concern them most." Honeyball and those like her paved the way for women's football. However, the women's game was frowned upon by the British football associations and continued without their support. It has been suggested that this was motivated by a perceived threat to the 'masculinity' of the game.Women's football became popular on a large scale at the time of the First World War, when employment in heavy industry spurred the growth of the game, much as it had done for men 50 years earlier. The most successful team of the era was Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. of Preston, England. The team played in the first women's international matches in 1920, against a team from Paris, France, in April, and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in 1920, winning 22–0.Despite being more popular than some men's football events (one match saw a 53,000 strong crowd), women's football in England suffered a blow in 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on association members' pitches, on the grounds that the game (as played by women) was distasteful. Some speculated that this may have also been due to envy of the large crowds that women's matches attracted. This led to the formation of the English Ladies Football Association and play moved to rugby grounds.Association football has been played by women since at least the time of the first recorded women's games in the late 19th century. It has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, women's association football was organised in the United Kingdom, eventually becoming the most prominent team sport for British women. 20th and 21st century The growth in women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both national and international level mirroring the male competitions. Women's football has faced many struggles. It had a "golden age" in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when crowds reached 50,000 at some matches; this was stopped on 5 December 1921 when England's Football Association voted to ban the game from grounds used by its member clubs. The FA's ban was rescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognise women's football in 1971.The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since, while women's football has been an Olympic event since 1996. Gameplay Association football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a spherical ball of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) circumference, known as the football (or soccer ball). Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by the Laws of the Game: to represent their team in the coin toss before kick-off or penalty kicks.The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they must use both their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their body (notably, "heading" with the forehead) other than their hands or arms. Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though players may not pass to teammates who are in an offside position.During gameplay, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a teammate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee for an infringement of the rules. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart. At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2005–06 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, to distinguish them from the goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which the player spends the most time. For example, there are central defenders and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team's players is known as a formation. Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager. Laws There are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game, each containing a collection of stipulation and guidelines. The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors, women and people with physical disabilities are permitted. The laws are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game. The Laws of the Game are published by FIFA, but are maintained by the IFAB. In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of association football. Within the United States, Major League Soccer used a distinct ruleset during the 1990s and the National Federation of State High School Associations and National Collegiate Athletic Association still use rulesets that are comparable to, but different from, the IFAB Laws. Players, equipment, and officials Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. Competition rules may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team, which is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws.The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards. An athletic supporter and protective cup is highly recommended for male players by medical experts and professionals. Headgear is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury. Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player, such as jewellery or watches. The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials.A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is five in ninety minutes with each team being allowed one more if the game should go into extra-time, though the permitted number may vary in other competitions or in friendly matches. Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or timewasting at the end of a finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not take further part in a match. IFAB recommends "that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven players in either team". Any decision regarding points awarded for abandoned games is left to the individual football associations. A game is officiated by a referee, who has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees. In many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise.Goal line technology is used to measure if the whole ball has crossed the goal-line thereby determining whether a goal has been scored or not; this was brought in to prevent controversy. Video assistant referees (VAR) have also been increasingly introduced in high-level matches to assist officials through video replays to correct clear and obvious mistakes. There are four types of calls that can be reviewed: mistaken identity in awarding a red or yellow card, goals and whether there was a violation during the buildup, direct red card decisions, and penalty decisions. Ball The ball is spherical with a circumference of between 68 and 70 cm (27 and 28 in), a weight in the range of 410 to 450 g (14 to 16 oz), and a pressure between 0.6 and 1.1 standard atmospheres (8.5 and 15.6 pounds per square inch) at sea level. In the past the ball was made up of leather panels sewn together, with a latex bladder for pressurisation, but modern balls at all levels of the game are now synthetic. Pitch As the Laws were formulated in England, and were initially administered solely by the four British football associations within IFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in imperial units. The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though use of imperial units remains popular in English-speaking countries with a relatively recent history of metrication (or only partial metrication), such as Britain.The length of the pitch, or field, for international adult matches is in the range of 100–110 m (110–120 yd) and the width is in the range of 64–75 m (70–80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 90–120 m (100–130 yd) in length and 45–90 m (50–100 yd) in width, provided that the pitch does not become square. In 2008, the IFAB initially approved a fixed size of 105 m (115 yd) long and 68 m (74 yd) wide as a standard pitch dimension for international matches; however, this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented.The longer boundary lines are touchlines, while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines. A rectangular goal is positioned on each goal line, midway between the two touchlines. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 7.32 m (24 ft) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2.44 m (8 ft) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws.In front of the goal is the penalty area. This area is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by a penalty kick. Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs, goal kicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks. Duration and tie-breaking methods 90-minute ordinary time A standard adult football match consists of two halves of 45 minutes each. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time. The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is called "additional time" in FIFA documents, but is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, while lost time can also be used as a synonym. The duration of stoppage time is at the sole discretion of the referee. Stoppage time does not fully compensate for the time in which the ball is out of play, and a 90-minute game typically involves about an hour of "effective playing time". The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, towards the end of the half, the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time they intend to add. The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa. Trailing 1–0 with two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty kick. Villa's goalkeeper deliberately kicked the ball out of play; by the time it was recovered, the clock had run out and the game was over, leaving Stoke unable to attempt the penalty. The same law also states that the duration of either half is extended until the penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed; thus, no game can end with an uncompleted penalty. Tie-breaking In league competitions, games may end in a draw. In knockout competitions where a winner is required, various methods may be employed to break such a deadlock; some competitions may invoke replays. A game tied at the end of regulation time may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shootouts (known officially in the Laws of the Game as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament or be the champion. Goals scored during extra time periods count towards the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament, with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score.In competitions using two-legged matches, each team competes at home once, with an aggregate score from the two matches deciding which team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the most goals in the leg they played away from home. If the result is still equal, extra time and potentially a penalty shootout are required. Ball in and out of play Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play: Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play. Throw-in: when the ball has crossed the touchline; awarded to the opposing team to that which last touched the ball. Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the attacking team; awarded to defending team. Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the defending team; awarded to attacking team. Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution or dismiss an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly (without the ball first touching another player) from an indirect free kick. Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls. A goal may be scored directly from a direct free kick. Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area. Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective. Misconduct On-field A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in the Laws of the Game while the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick.The referee may punish a player's or substitute's misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or dismissal (red card). A second yellow card in the same game leads to a red card, which results in a dismissal. A player given a yellow card is said to have been "booked", the referee writing the player's name in their official notebook. If a player has been dismissed, no substitute can be brought on in their place and the player may not participate in further play. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while the offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player, substitute, substituted player, and non-players such as managers and support staff.Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue if doing so will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within "a few seconds". Even if an offence is not penalised due to advantage being played, the offender may still be sanctioned for misconduct at the next stoppage of play.The referee's decision in all on-pitch matters is considered final. The score of a match cannot be altered after the game, even if later evidence shows that decisions (including awards/non-awards of goals) were incorrect. Off-field Along with the general administration of the sport, football associations and competition organisers also enforce good conduct in wider aspects of the game, dealing with issues such as comments to the press, clubs' financial management, doping, age fraud and match fixing. Most competitions enforce mandatory suspensions for players who are sent off in a game. Some on-field incidents, if considered very serious (such as allegations of racial abuse), may result in competitions deciding to impose heavier sanctions than those normally associated with a red card. Some associations allow for appeals against player suspensions incurred on-field if clubs feel a referee was incorrect or unduly harsh.Sanctions for such infractions may be levied on individuals or on clubs as a whole. Penalties may include fines, point deductions (in league competitions) or even expulsion from competitions. For example, the English Football League deduct 12 points from any team that enters financial administration. Among other administrative sanctions are penalties against game forfeiture. Teams that had forfeited a game or had been forfeited against would be awarded a technical loss or win. Governing bodies The recognised international governing body of football (and associated games, such as futsal and beach soccer) is FIFA. The FIFA headquarters are located in Zürich, Switzerland. Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA; these are: Asia: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Africa: Confederation of African Football (CAF) Europe: Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) North/Central America & Caribbean: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Oceania: Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) South America: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (South American Football Confederation; CONMEBOL)National associations oversee football within individual countries. These are generally synonymous with sovereign states (for example, the Cameroonian Football Federation in Cameroon), but also include a smaller number of associations responsible for sub-national entities or autonomous regions (for example, the Scottish Football Association in Scotland). 209 national associations are affiliated both with FIFA and with their respective continental confederations.While FIFA is responsible for arranging competitions and most rules related to international competition, the actual Laws of the Game are set by the IFAB, where each of the UK Associations has one vote, while FIFA collectively has four votes. International competitions International competitions in association football principally consist of two varieties: competitions involving representative national teams or those involving clubs based in multiple nations and national leagues. International football, without qualification, most often refers to the former. In the case of international club competition, it is the country of origin of the clubs involved, not the nationalities of their players, that renders the competition international in nature. The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised by FIFA. This competition has taken place every four years since 1930, with the exception of the 1942 and 1946 tournaments, which were cancelled because of World War II. Approximately 190–200 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period. The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; the cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet. The current champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. The FIFA Women's World Cup has been held every four years since 1991. Under the tournament's current format, national teams vie for 31 slots in a three-year qualification phase, with the host nation's team entering automatically as the 32nd slot. The current champions are the United States, after winning their fourth title in the 2019 tournament. There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) were the most prestigious international event. Originally, the tournament was for amateurs only. As professionalism spread around the world, the gap in quality between the World Cup and the Olympics widened. The countries that benefited most were the Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe, where top athletes were state-sponsored while retaining their status as amateurs. Between 1948 and 1980, 23 out of 27 Olympic medals were won by Eastern Europe, with only Sweden (gold in 1948 and bronze in 1952), Denmark (bronze in 1948 and silver in 1960) and Japan (bronze in 1968) breaking their dominance. For the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players. Since 1992, male competitors must be under 23 years old, although since 1996, three players over the age of 23 have been allowed per squad. A women's tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women's Olympic tournament.After the World Cup, the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), the African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). The FIFA Confederations Cup was contested by the winners of all six continental championships, the current FIFA World Cup champions and the country which was hosting the next World Cup. This was generally regarded as a warm-up tournament for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and did not carry the same prestige as the World Cup itself. The tournament was discontinued following the 2017 edition. The UEFA Nations League and the CONCACAF Nations League also exist. The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example, the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores in South America. The winners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup. Domestic competitions The governing bodies in each country operate league systems in a domestic season, normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results. Teams are placed into tables, placing them in order according to points accrued. Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament. At the end of a season, the top team is declared the champion. The top few teams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of the teams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division.The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may also be eligible to play in international club competitions in the following season. The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura (Spanish for Opening and Closing), awarding a champion for each. The majority of countries supplement the league system with one or more "cup" competitions organised on a knock-out basis. Some countries' top divisions feature highly paid star players; in smaller countries, lower divisions, and most of women's clubs, players may be part-timers with a second job, or amateurs. The five top European leagues – Bundesliga (Germany), Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France) – attract most of the world's best players and each of these leagues has a total wage cost in excess of £600 million/€763 million/US$1.185 billion. Notes References External links Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (in English, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish) Association football at CurlieGeneral elections were held in Brazil on 7 October 2018 to elect the president, National Congress and state governors. As no candidate in the presidential election received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a runoff round was held on 28 October. The election occurred during a tumultuous time in Brazilian politics. Narrowly re-elected in 2014, President Dilma Rousseff of the centre-left Workers’ Party (PT), which had dominated Brazilian politics since 2002, was impeached in 2016. Replacing her was her Vice President, Michel Temer of the centre-right Brazilian Democratic Movement Party. Temer, whose age of 75 at inauguration made him the oldest to ever take office, broke sharply with his predecessor's policies and amended the constitution to freeze public spending. He was extraordinarily unpopular, reaching an approval rating of 7% versus 76% in favor of his resignation. Despite mass demonstrations against his governance, including a 2017 general strike and a 2018 truck drivers’ strike, Temer refused to step down and served the duration of his term in office. Due to being convicted of breaking campaign finance laws, Temer was ineligible to run in 2018.The candidacy of Jair Bolsonaro, a controversial federal deputy from Rio de Janeiro known for his far-right politics and defense of the former Brazilian military dictatorship, overshadowed other conservative candidates. Noted for his vehement opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, Bolsonaro joined the small Social Liberal Party (PSL) to mount his bid for the presidency, shifting the party's ideology in favor of social conservatism and nationalism. Bolsonaro benefited from opposition to the former PT government and ran in favor of expanding gun ownership in response to high crime, legalizing the death penalty, and the privatization of state-owned companies. For the position of Vice President, Bolsonaro chose Hamilton Mourão, a conservative retired general in the Brazilian Army. During the campaign, Bolsonaro was the subject of widespread protests for his homophobic, racist, and misogynistic beliefs. Former Governor of São Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, who ran as a member of the previously dominant centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), received the worst result for a presidential nominee of his party in Brazilian history. Former President Lula da Silva, once considered one of the most popular politicians in the world, intended to run for president as the candidate of the PT with former Mayor of São Paulo Fernando Haddad as his running-mate. Polling taken during the campaign found Lula as the favorite in both the first and second rounds of the election. However, Lula's 2017 conviction on corruption charges barred him from running. Haddad, who was largely unknown to Brazilian voters at the time, was chosen to run in his place, with Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) deputy Manuela d’Avila of Rio Grande do Sul serving as his running mate. His major opponent on the left was Ciro Gomes, a mainstay of Brazilian politics who ran a centre-left campaign as a member of the Democratic Labour Party (PDT). Following Haddad's advancement to the second round, Ciro did not endorse his campaign, though he did signal opposition to Bolsonaro.The campaign was marked by political violence, with Bolsonaro being a victim of a stabbing attack at a campaign rally in Minas Gerais and supporters of both Haddad and Bolsonaro falling victim to politically-motivated attacks. Fake news spread on popular messaging app WhatsApp was a focal point of election coverage, with disinformation spread on the app being blamed for influencing voting intentions. In the first round of the election, Bolsonaro received approximately 46% of the vote to Haddad's 29%, with Ciro coming in third place with over 12% of the vote. In the second round, Bolsonaro defeated Haddad by approximately ten percentage points, with the deputy receiving over 55% of the vote to less than 45% for Haddad. Bolsonaro took office on 1 January 2019 as President of Brazil. Background The 2014 elections saw Workers' Party candidate Dilma Rousseff reelected as President in the second round with 51.6% of the vote, defeating Aécio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party who received 48.4% of the vote. Rousseff had first been elected in the 2010 elections, succeeding her political mentor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was in office from 2003 until 2011.However, on 3 December 2015, impeachment proceedings against Rousseff were officially accepted by the Chamber of Deputies. On 12 May 2016, the Federal Senate temporarily suspended Rousseff's powers and duties for up to six months or until the Senate reached a verdict: to remove her from office if found guilty or to acquit her from the crimes charged. Vice President Michel Temer, of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, assumed her powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil during the suspension. On 31 August 2016, the Senate voted 61–20 in favor of impeachment, finding Rousseff guilty of breaking budgetary laws and removing her from office. Critics of the impeachment saw it as a legislative coup d'état. Vice President Temer succeeded Rousseff as the 37th President of Brazil. His government implemented policies that contradicted the platform on which Rousseff's Workers Party had been elected, in one of the most controversial and heated political periods of modern Brazilian history.Temer was barred from running for a full term in 2018. He had been convicted of campaign law violations in 2016, and was banned from holding any political office for eight years. He was likely ineligible for a full term in any case due to the manner in which constitutional provisions on term limits are worded. The constitution stipulates that if the Vice President becomes Acting President for any reason, it counts toward the limit of two consecutive terms. This applies even when the Vice President becomes Acting President whenever the President is abroad. Electoral system Voting in Brazil is allowed for citizens over 16 years of age and mandatory for those between 18 and 70 years of age. Those who do not vote in an election and do not later present an acceptable justification (such as being away from their voting location at the time) must pay a fine of 3.51 BRL (equivalent to 0.90 USD in October 2018). Brazilian citizens residing abroad only vote for president. Presidential elections The President and the Vice President of Brazil are elected using the two-round system. Citizens may field their candidacies for the presidency, and participate in the general elections, which are held on the first Sunday in October (in this instance, 7 October 2018). Candidates reciving more than 50% of the overall vote are declared elected. If the 50% threshold is not met by any candidate, a second round of voting is held on the last Sunday in October (in this instance, 28 October 2018). In the second round, only the two most-voted candidates from the first round may participate. The winner of the second round is elected President of Brazil. Candidates for President run for office jointly with a candidate for Vice-President, and the Vice-President is elected as a consequence of the election of the President. Gubernatorial elections The Governors and Vice Governors of all states and of the Federal District are elected in the same way as the president, using two rounds of voting if necessary. Congressional elections Federal Senate elections In 2018, two-thirds of the 81 members of the Federal Senate were elected for a term of 8 years in office, the other third having been elected in 2014. Two candidates will be elected from each of the states and Federal District using majority block voting, with voters able to cast two votes each. Chamber of Deputies elections All 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies (federal deputies) are elected, with candidates elected from 27 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the states and Federal District, varying in size from eight to 70 seats. The Chamber elections are held using open list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the simple quotient. Legislative Assemblies elections All members of the State Legislative Assemblies (state deputies) and of the Federal District Legislative Chamber (district deputies), varying in size from 24 to 94 seats, will be elected. These elections are also held using open list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the simple quotient. Presidential candidates Candidates in runoff Candidates failing to make runoff Lost in primaries or conventions Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) Arthur Virgílio Neto, Mayor of Manaus (1989–1992, 2013–) Democrats (DEM) Ronaldo Caiado, Senator for Goiás (2015–) Antônio Carlos Magalhães Neto, Mayor of Salvador (2013–); President of the Democrats (2018–) Mendonça Filho, Minister of Education (2016–2018) Party of National Mobilization (PMN) Valéria Monteiro, journalist, model, actress, and television presenter Social Democratic Party (PSD) Guilherme Afif Domingos, former Vice Governor of São Paulo (2011–15) Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) Plínio de Arruda Sampaio Jr., economist and professor at University of Campinas; son of late 2010 nominee Plínio de Arruda Sampaio. Hamilton Assis, former leader of Central Única dos Trabalhadores of Bahia (1993–1996) Nildo Ouriques, economist and professor at UFSC Sônia Guajajara, indigenous activist and militant ecosocialist Campaign Rejection of Lula's candidacy On 1 September, the Superior Electoral Court voted 6–1 to reject Lula's candidacy based on the Lei da Ficha Limpa and his conviction on corruption charges, but approved the PT-PCdoB-PROS coalition "The People Happy Again" and the candidacy of Fernando Haddad. The Workers' Party replaced Lula with Haddad and announced former presidential candidate Manuela d'Ávila as his running mate. Stabbing of Jair Bolsonaro Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed on 6 September 2018 while campaigning in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais and interacting with supporters. Bolsonaro's son, Flávio, stated that his father's wounds were only superficial and he was recovering in hospital. Police arrested and identified the attacker as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, who claimed that he was "ordered by God to carry out the attack". Flávio Bolsonaro later stated that the wounds inflicted seemed worse than initially thought. He tweeted about his father's condition, explaining that the perforation reached part of the liver, the lung and part of the intestine. He also stated that Bolsonaro had lost a large amount of blood, arriving at the hospital with a pressure of 10/3, but had since stabilized. Most of the other candidates in the presidential race as well as and the then-Brazilian president, Michel Temer, condemned the attack. After being stabbed, Bolsonaro did not attend any further debates. Debates Two debates were held on 9 and 17 August, featuring eight presidential candidates: Bolsonaro, Alckmin, Silva, Gomes, Dias, Meirelles, Boulos, and Daciolo. Lula was unable to participate in the debates. The 9 August debate was moderated by Ricardo Boechat, and the 17 August debate was moderated by Amanda Klein, Boris Casoy and Mariana Godoy.A debate scheduled for 27 August was canceled after Jair Bolsonaro expressed his uncertainty about participating in the debates and the Workers' Party insisted on the participation of Lula, prohibited by the Electoral Justice. Bolsonaro did not participate in further debates after he was attacked on 6 September.After a debate on 9 September moderated by Maria Lydia Flândoli, Fernando Haddad participated in all remaining debates. These occurred on 20 September (moderated by Joyce Ribeiro), 26 September (moderated by Carlos Nascimento), 30 September (moderated by Adriana Araújo and Celso Freitas), and 4 October (moderated by William Bonner).A vice presidential debate was held on 5 September featuring four candidates; Fernando Haddad did not attend.While several debates were scheduled for the second round, none were held. Debates planned for 12 October, 14 October, and 15 October were cancelled due to Bolsonaro's health issues. A debate scheduled for 21 October was cancelled after the campaigns were unable to agree to terms. Opinion polls Results President By state First round Second round Voter demographics Chamber of Deputies Senate Aftermath and reactions Americas Argentina President Mauricio Macri congratulated Bolsonaro on his election victory, stating that, "I hope we will work together soon for the relationship between our countries and the welfare of Argentines and Brazilians." Bolivia President Evo Morales expressed his congratulations, "we greet the brother people of Brazil for their democratic participation in the second round of presidential elections in which Jair Bolsonaro was elected, to whom we extend our recognition. Bolivia and Brazil are brother peoples with deep integration ties." Chile President Sebastián Piñera expressed his congratulations on Twitter, "congratulations to the Brazilian people for a clean and democratic election. I congratulate Jair Bolsonaro for your great electoral triumph." Colombia President Iván Duque praised Bolsonaro on Twitter. "Congratulations to Jair Bolsonaro, the new democratically elected president of Brazil. Our wish for this new stage of the neighboring country to be one of well-being and unity. We look forward to continuing our fellowship relationship to strengthen political, commercial and cultural ties." Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado using his official Twitter account expressed: "Costa Rica ratifies its willingness to work with Brazil in favor of inclusion, economic growth and respect for the rights of all people, as well as to achieve the sustainable development of the region." Ecuador President Lenín Moreno expressed on Twitter, "More congratulations to the Brazilian people for this new democratic feat. Best wishes for new President Jair Bolsonaro." Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto praised Bolsonaro on Twitter. "On behalf of the people and the Government of Mexico, I congratulate Jair Bolsonaro for his election as President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, on an exemplary day that reflects the democratic strength of that country." Paraguay President Mario Abdo Benítez expressed on Twitter, "congratulations to the people of Brazil and their elected president Jair Bolsonaro for this election! We want to work together for stronger democracies in the region, with strengthened institutions and always looking for the prosperity of our peoples!" Peru President Martín Vizcarra congratulated Bolsonaro on his election, "I congratulate Jair Bolsonaro for his election as president of Brazil and I wish him the greatest success in his administration. I express my willingness to work together to deepen our fraternal bilateral relationship." United States President Donald Trump congratulated Bolsonaro on his election victory. Trump and Bolsonaro both agreed to work side-by-side to improve the lives of the people of the United States and Brazil, and as regional leaders, of the Americas. Asia China President Xi Jinping congratulated Bolsonaro on his election, and said that his country was willing to "respect the fundamental interests" of both nations. He also congratulated the statements made by Bolsonaro shortly after winning the elections, in which he assured that Brazil will maintain ties with China, its main trading partner, regardless of its ideological differences. Europe France President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Bolsonaro on his election victory, added that France would look to continue to cooperate with Brazil on areas including environmental issues. “France and Brazil have a strategic partnership based around common values of respect and the promotion of democratic principles,” added Macron in his statement. President of the National Rally Party Marine Le Pen praised Bolsonaro on his election victory, "Brazilians just punished the widespread corruption and terrifying crime that thrived during far left governments. Good luck to President Bolsonaro who will have to re-establish Brazil's very compromised economic, security and democratic situation." Germany According to an official publication, the Chancellor Angela Merkel said she "hopes that their cooperation will continue to be based on democratic values and the rule of law. Two countries have long been linked by friendly relations and common interests." Russia According to an official publication from the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin: "praised the significant experience of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in various spheres that Russia and Brazil have acquired as part of their strategic collaboration" and "expressed confidence in the further promotion of the entire complex of Russian-Brazilian ties as well as constructive cooperation in the framework of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS and other multilateral organisations in the interests of the Russian and Brazilian people." Italy Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini praised Bolsonaro on Twitter. "In Brazil citizens expelled the left! Good job for President Bolsonaro, the friendship between our peoples and government will be even stronger". Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed on Twitter, "The Brazilian people have decided their future for years to come. The challenges will be huge. Brazil will always count on Spain to achieve a more egalitarian and fairer Latin America, the hope that will illuminate the decisions of any ruler." Middle East Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Bolsonaro on his election victory, stating that, "I am confident that your election will bring great friendship between the two peoples and strengthen the ties between Brazil and Israel." See also Ele Não movement – protests against the candidacy of Bolsonaro 2018 in Brazil 2018 São Paulo gubernatorial election 2018 Rio de Janeiro gubernatorial election 2018 Espírito Santo gubernatorial election Notes References Further reading Amaral, Oswald E. “The Victory of Jair Bolsonaro According to the Brazilian Electoral Study of 2018.” Brazilian Political Science Review (2020). 14 (1): e0004 -1/13 online Bloch, Agata, and Marco Vallada Lemonte. "Introduction to the Meteoric Political Rise of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Under a Crisis of the 'Brazilianness'." Ameryka Łacińska. Kwartalnik Analityczno-Informacyjny 4.106 (2020):-22. online Boito, Armando. "Reform and Political Crisis in Brazil: Class Conflicts in Workers' Party Governments and the Rise of Bolsonaro Neo-fascism." in Reform and Political Crisis in Brazil (Brill, 2021). Chagas-Bastos, Fabrício H. "Political realignment in Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro and the right turn." Revista de Estudios Sociales 69 (2019): 92-100. online Da Silva, Antonio José Bacelar, and Erika Robb Larkins. "The Bolsonaro election, antiblackness, and changing race relations in Brazil." Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 24.4 (2019): 893-913. online Duque, Debora, and Amy Erica Smith. "The Establishment Upside Down: A Year of Change in Brazil." Revista de Ciencia Política 39.2 (2019). online Layton, Matthew L., et al. "Demographic polarization and the rise of the far right: Brazil's 2018 presidential election." Research & Politics 8.1 (2021): 2053168021990204. online Santana, Carlos Henrique Vieira, and Marcela Nogueira Ferrario. "Crafting Negative Partisanship in Brazil and the Rise of Bolsonaro in the 2018 Election." (2021) online. External links Official campaign websites Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB, DEM, PP, PR, PRB, SD, PTB, PSD, PPS) para Presidente João Amoêdo (NOVO) para Presidente Jair Bolsonaro (PSL, PRTB) para Presidente Guilhemere Boulos (PSOL, PCB) para Presidente Álvaro Dias (PODE, PSC, PTC, PRP) para Presidente José Maria Eymael (DC) para Presidente Ciro Gomes (PDT, AVANTE) para Presidente Fernando Haddad (PT, PROS, PCdoB) para Presidente Vera Lúcia (PSTU) para Presidente Henrique Meirelles (MDB, PHS) para Presidente Marina Silva (REDE, PV) para Presidente Infographics Map of first round results divided by electoral zonesGenetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms. It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in the 19th century in Brno, was the first to study genetics scientifically. Mendel studied "trait inheritance", patterns in the way traits are handed down from parents to offspring over time. He observed that organisms (pea plants) inherit traits by way of discrete "units of inheritance". This term, still used today, is a somewhat ambiguous definition of what is referred to as a gene. Trait inheritance and molecular inheritance mechanisms of genes are still primary principles of genetics in the 21st century, but modern genetics has expanded to study the function and behavior of genes. Gene structure and function, variation, and distribution are studied within the context of the cell, the organism (e.g. dominance), and within the context of a population. Genetics has given rise to a number of subfields, including molecular genetics, epigenetics and population genetics. Organisms studied within the broad field span the domains of life (archaea, bacteria, and eukarya). Genetic processes work in combination with an organism's environment and experiences to influence development and behavior, often referred to as nature versus nurture. The intracellular or extracellular environment of a living cell or organism may switch gene transcription on or off. A classic example is two seeds of genetically identical corn, one placed in a temperate climate and one in an arid climate (lacking sufficient waterfall or rain). While the average height of the two corn stalks may be genetically determined to be equal, the one in the arid climate only grows to half the height of the one in the temperate climate due to lack of water and nutrients in its environment. We need to know a lot more about the biology of viruses because of genetic analysis. The virus's genome, which is made up of 11 double-stranded RNA segments, serves as its defining characteristic. The primary characteristic of viral genetics is the genome's segmented structure's ability to reassign genome segments during mixed infections Etymology The word genetics stems from the ancient Greek γενετικός genetikos meaning "genitive"/"generative", which in turn derives from γένεσις genesis meaning "origin". History The observation that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding. The modern science of genetics, seeking to understand this process, began with the work of the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel in the mid-19th century.Prior to Mendel, Imre Festetics, a Hungarian noble, who lived in Kőszeg before Mendel, was the first who used the word "genetic" in hereditarian context. He described several rules of biological inheritance in his works The genetic laws of the Nature (Die genetischen Gesetze der Natur, 1819). His second law is the same as what Mendel published. In his third law, he developed the basic principles of mutation (he can be considered a forerunner of Hugo de Vries). Festetics argued that changes observed in the generation of farm animals, plants, and humans are the result of scientific laws. Festetics empirically deduced that organisms inherit their characteristics, not acquire them. He recognized recessive traits and inherent variation by postulating that traits of past generations could reappear later, and organisms could produce progeny with different attributes. These observations represent an important prelude to Mendel’s theory of particulate inheritance insofar as it features a transition of heredity from its status as myth to that of a scientific discipline, by providing a fundamental theoretical basis for genetics in the twentieth century. Other theories of inheritance preceded Mendel's work. A popular theory during the 19th century, and implied by Charles Darwin's 1859 On the Origin of Species, was blending inheritance: the idea that individuals inherit a smooth blend of traits from their parents. Mendel's work provided examples where traits were definitely not blended after hybridization, showing that traits are produced by combinations of distinct genes rather than a continuous blend. Blending of traits in the progeny is now explained by the action of multiple genes with quantitative effects. Another theory that had some support at that time was the inheritance of acquired characteristics: the belief that individuals inherit traits strengthened by their parents. This theory (commonly associated with Jean-Baptiste Lamarck) is now known to be wrong—the experiences of individuals do not affect the genes they pass to their children. Other theories included Darwin's pangenesis (which had both acquired and inherited aspects) and Francis Galton's reformulation of pangenesis as both particulate and inherited. Mendelian genetics Modern genetics started with Mendel's studies of the nature of inheritance in plants. In his paper "Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden" ("Experiments on Plant Hybridization"), presented in 1865 to the Naturforschender Verein (Society for Research in Nature) in Brünn, Mendel traced the inheritance patterns of certain traits in pea plants and described them mathematically. Although this pattern of inheritance could only be observed for a few traits, Mendel's work suggested that heredity was particulate, not acquired, and that the inheritance patterns of many traits could be explained through simple rules and ratios.The importance of Mendel's work did not gain wide understanding until 1900, after his death, when Hugo de Vries and other scientists rediscovered his research. William Bateson, a proponent of Mendel's work, coined the word genetics in 1905. (The adjective genetic, derived from the Greek word genesis—γένεσις, "origin", predates the noun and was first used in a biological sense in 1860.) Bateson both acted as a mentor and was aided significantly by the work of other scientists from Newnham College at Cambridge, specifically the work of Becky Saunders, Nora Darwin Barlow, and Muriel Wheldale Onslow. Bateson popularized the usage of the word genetics to describe the study of inheritance in his inaugural address to the Third International Conference on Plant Hybridization in London in 1906.After the rediscovery of Mendel's work, scientists tried to determine which molecules in the cell were responsible for inheritance. In 1900, Nettie Stevens began studying the mealworm. Over the next 11 years, she discovered that females only had the X chromosome and males had both X and Y chromosomes. She was able to conclude that sex is a chromosomal factor and is determined by the male. In 1911, Thomas Hunt Morgan argued that genes are on chromosomes, based on observations of a sex-linked white eye mutation in fruit flies. In 1913, his student Alfred Sturtevant used the phenomenon of genetic linkage to show that genes are arranged linearly on the chromosome. Molecular genetics Although genes were known to exist on chromosomes, chromosomes are composed of both protein and DNA, and scientists did not know which of the two is responsible for inheritance. In 1928, Frederick Griffith discovered the phenomenon of transformation: dead bacteria could transfer genetic material to "transform" other still-living bacteria. Sixteen years later, in 1944, the Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment identified DNA as the molecule responsible for transformation. The role of the nucleus as the repository of genetic information in eukaryotes had been established by Hämmerling in 1943 in his work on the single celled alga Acetabularia. The Hershey–Chase experiment in 1952 confirmed that DNA (rather than protein) is the genetic material of the viruses that infect bacteria, providing further evidence that DNA is the molecule responsible for inheritance.James Watson and Francis Crick determined the structure of DNA in 1953, using the X-ray crystallography work of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins that indicated DNA has a helical structure (i.e., shaped like a corkscrew). Their double-helix model had two strands of DNA with the nucleotides pointing inward, each matching a complementary nucleotide on the other strand to form what look like rungs on a twisted ladder. The a-helix is a secondary structure and the twisting in the a-helix is caused by hydrogen bonds between the carboxyl (C=O) and the amine H (N-H) constituents of the polypeptide backbone. This structure showed that genetic information exists in the sequence of nucleotides on each strand of DNA. The structure also suggested a simple method for replication: if the strands are separated, new partner strands can be reconstructed for each based on the sequence of the old strand. This property is what gives DNA its semi-conservative nature where one strand of new DNA is from an original parent strand.Although the structure of DNA showed how inheritance works, it was still not known how DNA influences the behavior of cells. In the following years, scientists tried to understand how DNA controls the process of protein production. It was discovered that the cell uses DNA as a template to create matching messenger RNA, molecules with nucleotides very similar to DNA. The nucleotide sequence of a messenger RNA is used to create an amino acid sequence in protein; this translation between nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences is known as the genetic code.With the newfound molecular understanding of inheritance came an explosion of research. A notable theory arose from Tomoko Ohta in 1973 with her amendment to the neutral theory of molecular evolution through publishing the nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution. In this theory, Ohta stressed the importance of natural selection and the environment to the rate at which genetic evolution occurs. One important development was chain-termination DNA sequencing in 1977 by Frederick Sanger. This technology allows scientists to read the nucleotide sequence of a DNA molecule. In 1983, Kary Banks Mullis developed the polymerase chain reaction, providing a quick way to isolate and amplify a specific section of DNA from a mixture. The efforts of the Human Genome Project, Department of Energy, NIH, and parallel private efforts by Celera Genomics led to the sequencing of the human genome in 2003. Features of inheritance Discrete inheritance and Mendel's laws At its most fundamental level, inheritance in organisms occurs by passing discrete heritable units, called genes, from parents to offspring. This property was first observed by Gregor Mendel, who studied the segregation of heritable traits in pea plants, showing for example that flowers on a single plant were either purple or white—but never an intermediate between the two colors. The discrete versions of the same gene controlling the inherited appearance (phenotypes) are called alleles.In the case of the pea, which is a diploid species, each individual plant has two copies of each gene, one copy inherited from each parent. Many species, including humans, have this pattern of inheritance. Diploid organisms with two copies of the same allele of a given gene are called homozygous at that gene locus, while organisms with two different alleles of a given gene are called heterozygous. The set of alleles for a given organism is called its genotype, while the observable traits of the organism are called its phenotype. When organisms are heterozygous at a gene, often one allele is called dominant as its qualities dominate the phenotype of the organism, while the other allele is called recessive as its qualities recede and are not observed. Some alleles do not have complete dominance and instead have incomplete dominance by expressing an intermediate phenotype, or codominance by expressing both alleles at once.When a pair of organisms reproduce sexually, their offspring randomly inherit one of the two alleles from each parent. These observations of discrete inheritance and the segregation of alleles are collectively known as Mendel's first law or the Law of Segregation. However, the probability of getting one gene over the other can change due to dominant, recessive, homozygous, or heterozygous genes. For example, Mendel found that if you cross homozygous dominate trait and homozygous recessive trait your odds of getting the dominant trait is 3:1. Real geneticist study and calculate probabilities by using theoretical probabilities, empirical probabilities, the product rule, the sum rule, and more. Notation and diagrams Geneticists use diagrams and symbols to describe inheritance. A gene is represented by one or a few letters. Often a "+" symbol is used to mark the usual, non-mutant allele for a gene.In fertilization and breeding experiments (and especially when discussing Mendel's laws) the parents are referred to as the "P" generation and the offspring as the "F1" (first filial) generation. When the F1 offspring mate with each other, the offspring are called the "F2" (second filial) generation. One of the common diagrams used to predict the result of cross-breeding is the Punnett square.When studying human genetic diseases, geneticists often use pedigree charts to represent the inheritance of traits. These charts map the inheritance of a trait in a family tree. Multiple gene interactions Organisms have thousands of genes, and in sexually reproducing organisms these genes generally assort independently of each other. This means that the inheritance of an allele for yellow or green pea color is unrelated to the inheritance of alleles for white or purple flowers. This phenomenon, known as "Mendel's second law" or the "law of independent assortment," means that the alleles of different genes get shuffled between parents to form offspring with many different combinations. Different genes often interact to influence the same trait. In the Blue-eyed Mary (Omphalodes verna), for example, there exists a gene with alleles that determine the color of flowers: blue or magenta. Another gene, however, controls whether the flowers have color at all or are white. When a plant has two copies of this white allele, its flowers are white—regardless of whether the first gene has blue or magenta alleles. This interaction between genes is called epistasis, with the second gene epistatic to the first.Many traits are not discrete features (e.g. purple or white flowers) but are instead continuous features (e.g. human height and skin color). These complex traits are products of many genes. The influence of these genes is mediated, to varying degrees, by the environment an organism has experienced. The degree to which an organism's genes contribute to a complex trait is called heritability. Measurement of the heritability of a trait is relative—in a more variable environment, the environment has a bigger influence on the total variation of the trait. For example, human height is a trait with complex causes. It has a heritability of 89% in the United States. In Nigeria, however, where people experience a more variable access to good nutrition and health care, height has a heritability of only 62%. Molecular basis for inheritance DNA and chromosomes The molecular basis for genes is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is composed of deoxyribose (sugar molecule), a phosphate group, and a base (amine group). There are four types of bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). The phosphates make hydrogen bonds with the sugars to make long phosphate-sugar backbones. Bases specifically pair together (T&A, C&G) between two backbones and make like rungs on a ladder. The bases, phosphates, and sugars together make a nucleotide that connects to make long chains of DNA. Genetic information exists in the sequence of these nucleotides, and genes exist as stretches of sequence along the DNA chain. These chains coil into a double a-helix structure and wrap around proteins called Histones which provide the structural support. DNA wrapped around these histones are called chromosomes. Viruses sometimes use the similar molecule RNA instead of DNA as their genetic material.DNA normally exists as a double-stranded molecule, coiled into the shape of a double helix. Each nucleotide in DNA preferentially pairs with its partner nucleotide on the opposite strand: A pairs with T, and C pairs with G. Thus, in its two-stranded form, each strand effectively contains all necessary information, redundant with its partner strand. This structure of DNA is the physical basis for inheritance: DNA replication duplicates the genetic information by splitting the strands and using each strand as a template for synthesis of a new partner strand. Genes are arranged linearly along long chains of DNA base-pair sequences. In bacteria, each cell usually contains a single circular genophore, while eukaryotic organisms (such as plants and animals) have their DNA arranged in multiple linear chromosomes. These DNA strands are often extremely long; the largest human chromosome, for example, is about 247 million base pairs in length. The DNA of a chromosome is associated with structural proteins that organize, compact, and control access to the DNA, forming a material called chromatin; in eukaryotes, chromatin is usually composed of nucleosomes, segments of DNA wound around cores of histone proteins. The full set of hereditary material in an organism (usually the combined DNA sequences of all chromosomes) is called the genome. DNA is most often found in the nucleus of cells, but Ruth Sager helped in the discovery of nonchromosomal genes found outside of the nucleus. In plants, these are often found in the chloroplasts and in other organisms, in the mitochondria. These nonchromosomal genes can still be passed on by either partner in sexual reproduction and they control a variety of hereditary characteristics that replicate and remain active throughout generations.While haploid organisms have only one copy of each chromosome, most animals and many plants are diploid, containing two of each chromosome and thus two copies of every gene. The two alleles for a gene are located on identical loci of the two homologous chromosomes, each allele inherited from a different parent. Many species have so-called sex chromosomes that determine the sex of each organism. In humans and many other animals, the Y chromosome contains the gene that triggers the development of the specifically male characteristics. In evolution, this chromosome has lost most of its content and also most of its genes, while the X chromosome is similar to the other chromosomes and contains many genes. This being said, Mary Frances Lyon discovered that there is X-chromosome inactivation during reproduction to avoid passing on twice as many genes to the offspring. Lyon's discovery led to the discovery of X-linked diseases. Reproduction When cells divide, their full genome is copied and each daughter cell inherits one copy. This process, called mitosis, is the simplest form of reproduction and is the basis for asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction can also occur in multicellular organisms, producing offspring that inherit their genome from a single parent. Offspring that are genetically identical to their parents are called clones.Eukaryotic organisms often use sexual reproduction to generate offspring that contain a mixture of genetic material inherited from two different parents. The process of sexual reproduction alternates between forms that contain single copies of the genome (haploid) and double copies (diploid). Haploid cells fuse and combine genetic material to create a diploid cell with paired chromosomes. Diploid organisms form haploids by dividing, without replicating their DNA, to create daughter cells that randomly inherit one of each pair of chromosomes. Most animals and many plants are diploid for most of their lifespan, with the haploid form reduced to single cell gametes such as sperm or eggs.Although they do not use the haploid/diploid method of sexual reproduction, bacteria have many methods of acquiring new genetic information. Some bacteria can undergo conjugation, transferring a small circular piece of DNA to another bacterium. Bacteria can also take up raw DNA fragments found in the environment and integrate them into their genomes, a phenomenon known as transformation. These processes result in horizontal gene transfer, transmitting fragments of genetic information between organisms that would be otherwise unrelated. Natural bacterial transformation occurs in many bacterial species, and can be regarded as a sexual process for transferring DNA from one cell to another cell (usually of the same species). Transformation requires the action of numerous bacterial gene products, and its primary adaptive function appears to be repair of DNA damages in the recipient cell. Recombination and genetic linkage The diploid nature of chromosomes allows for genes on different chromosomes to assort independently or be separated from their homologous pair during sexual reproduction wherein haploid gametes are formed. In this way new combinations of genes can occur in the offspring of a mating pair. Genes on the same chromosome would theoretically never recombine. However, they do, via the cellular process of chromosomal crossover. During crossover, chromosomes exchange stretches of DNA, effectively shuffling the gene alleles between the chromosomes. This process of chromosomal crossover generally occurs during meiosis, a series of cell divisions that creates haploid cells. Meiotic recombination, particularly in microbial eukaryotes, appears to serve the adaptive function of repair of DNA damages.The first cytological demonstration of crossing over was performed by Harriet Creighton and Barbara McClintock in 1931. Their research and experiments on corn provided cytological evidence for the genetic theory that linked genes on paired chromosomes do in fact exchange places from one homolog to the other.The probability of chromosomal crossover occurring between two given points on the chromosome is related to the distance between the points. For an arbitrarily long distance, the probability of crossover is high enough that the inheritance of the genes is effectively uncorrelated. For genes that are closer together, however, the lower probability of crossover means that the genes demonstrate genetic linkage; alleles for the two genes tend to be inherited together. The amounts of linkage between a series of genes can be combined to form a linear linkage map that roughly describes the arrangement of the genes along the chromosome. Gene expression Genetic code Genes generally express their functional effect through the production of proteins, molecules responsible for most functions in the cell. Proteins are made up of one or more polypeptide chains, each composed of a sequence of amino acids. The DNA sequence of a gene is used to produce a specific amino acid sequence. This process begins with the production of an RNA molecule with a sequence matching the gene's DNA sequence, a process called transcription. This messenger RNA molecule then serves to produce a corresponding amino acid sequence through a process called translation. Each group of three nucleotides in the sequence, called a codon, corresponds either to one of the twenty possible amino acids in a protein or an instruction to end the amino acid sequence; this correspondence is called the genetic code. The flow of information is unidirectional: information is transferred from nucleotide sequences into the amino acid sequence of proteins, but it never transfers from protein back into the sequence of DNA—a phenomenon Francis Crick called the central dogma of molecular biology.The specific sequence of amino acids results in a unique three-dimensional structure for that protein, and the three-dimensional structures of proteins are related to their functions. Some are simple structural molecules, like the fibers formed by the protein collagen. Proteins can bind to other proteins and simple molecules, sometimes acting as enzymes by facilitating chemical reactions within the bound molecules (without changing the structure of the protein itself). Protein structure is dynamic; the protein hemoglobin bends into slightly different forms as it facilitates the capture, transport, and release of oxygen molecules within mammalian blood.A single nucleotide difference within DNA can cause a change in the amino acid sequence of a protein. Because protein structures are the result of their amino acid sequences, some changes can dramatically change the properties of a protein by destabilizing the structure or changing the surface of the protein in a way that changes its interaction with other proteins and molecules. For example, sickle-cell anemia is a human genetic disease that results from a single base difference within the coding region for the β-globin section of hemoglobin, causing a single amino acid change that changes hemoglobin's physical properties. Sickle-cell versions of hemoglobin stick to themselves, stacking to form fibers that distort the shape of red blood cells carrying the protein. These sickle-shaped cells no longer flow smoothly through blood vessels, having a tendency to clog or degrade, causing the medical problems associated with this disease.Some DNA sequences are transcribed into RNA but are not translated into protein products—such RNA molecules are called non-coding RNA. In some cases, these products fold into structures which are involved in critical cell functions (e.g. ribosomal RNA and transfer RNA). RNA can also have regulatory effects through hybridization interactions with other RNA molecules (such as microRNA).The genetic code is a dictionary that matches together the amino acid and nucleotide sequences called add-ons. 64 genetic codons are there in which every codon has 3 bases. In 64 codons,20 amino acids are coded by 61 codons which are found in proteins and 3 codons don’t code for any amino acid. There are different types of codons. The codons that code for amino acids are called Sense codons and the codons that code for protein synthesis are called Signal codons. Signal codons are of two types which are Terminating codons and Initiating codons. UAA UAG UGA is termed as termination codons or also called nonsense codons. AUG is called an initiation codon used to code for the first amino acids in every protein. During the translation process the t-RNA base sequence pairs with the codon of m RNA which is known as an Anticodon. The difference between codon and anticodon is that codon is present not only in DNA but in RNA, whereas anticodon is present only in RNA but not in DNA. Codons will be directed from 5’ end to 3’ end in the same way anticodons are directed in the opposite way i.e., 3’ end to 5’ end. In some t RNA molecules, anticodons must pair with more than one codon. The arrangement of codons is sequence manner based while an arrangement of anticodons is discretely present in cells with amino acids. Nature and nurture Although genes contain all the information an organism uses to function, the environment plays an important role in determining the ultimate phenotypes an organism displays. The phrase "nature and nurture" refers to this complementary relationship. The phenotype of an organism depends on the interaction of genes and the environment. An interesting example is the coat coloration of the Siamese cat. In this case, the body temperature of the cat plays the role of the environment. The cat's genes code for dark hair, thus the hair-producing cells in the cat make cellular proteins resulting in dark hair. But these dark hair-producing proteins are sensitive to temperature (i.e. have a mutation causing temperature-sensitivity) and denature in higher-temperature environments, failing to produce dark-hair pigment in areas where the cat has a higher body temperature. In a low-temperature environment, however, the protein's structure is stable and produces dark-hair pigment normally. The protein remains functional in areas of skin that are colder—such as its legs, ears, tail, and face—so the cat has dark hair at its extremities.Environment plays a major role in effects of the human genetic disease phenylketonuria. The mutation that causes phenylketonuria disrupts the ability of the body to break down the amino acid phenylalanine, causing a toxic build-up of an intermediate molecule that, in turn, causes severe symptoms of progressive intellectual disability and seizures. However, if someone with the phenylketonuria mutation follows a strict diet that avoids this amino acid, they remain normal and healthy.A common method for determining how genes and environment ("nature and nurture") contribute to a phenotype involves studying identical and fraternal twins, or other siblings of multiple births. Identical siblings are genetically the same since they come from the same zygote. Meanwhile, fraternal twins are as genetically different from one another as normal siblings. By comparing how often a certain disorder occurs in a pair of identical twins to how often it occurs in a pair of fraternal twins, scientists can determine whether that disorder is caused by genetic or postnatal environmental factors. One famous example involved the study of the Genain quadruplets, who were identical quadruplets all diagnosed with schizophrenia. Gene regulation The genome of a given organism contains thousands of genes, but not all these genes need to be active at any given moment. A gene is expressed when it is being transcribed into mRNA and there exist many cellular methods of controlling the expression of genes such that proteins are produced only when needed by the cell. Transcription factors are regulatory proteins that bind to DNA, either promoting or inhibiting the transcription of a gene. Within the genome of Escherichia coli bacteria, for example, there exists a series of genes necessary for the synthesis of the amino acid tryptophan. However, when tryptophan is already available to the cell, these genes for tryptophan synthesis are no longer needed. The presence of tryptophan directly affects the activity of the genes—tryptophan molecules bind to the tryptophan repressor (a transcription factor), changing the repressor's structure such that the repressor binds to the genes. The tryptophan repressor blocks the transcription and expression of the genes, thereby creating negative feedback regulation of the tryptophan synthesis process. Differences in gene expression are especially clear within multicellular organisms, where cells all contain the same genome but have very different structures and behaviors due to the expression of different sets of genes. All the cells in a multicellular organism derive from a single cell, differentiating into variant cell types in response to external and intercellular signals and gradually establishing different patterns of gene expression to create different behaviors. As no single gene is responsible for the development of structures within multicellular organisms, these patterns arise from the complex interactions between many cells.Within eukaryotes, there exist structural features of chromatin that influence the transcription of genes, often in the form of modifications to DNA and chromatin that are stably inherited by daughter cells. These features are called "epigenetic" because they exist "on top" of the DNA sequence and retain inheritance from one cell generation to the next. Because of epigenetic features, different cell types grown within the same medium can retain very different properties. Although epigenetic features are generally dynamic over the course of development, some, like the phenomenon of paramutation, have multigenerational inheritance and exist as rare exceptions to the general rule of DNA as the basis for inheritance. Genetic change Mutations During the process of DNA replication, errors occasionally occur in the polymerization of the second strand. These errors, called mutations, can affect the phenotype of an organism, especially if they occur within the protein coding sequence of a gene. Error rates are usually very low—1 error in every 10–100 million bases—due to the "proofreading" ability of DNA polymerases. Processes that increase the rate of changes in DNA are called mutagenic: mutagenic chemicals promote errors in DNA replication, often by interfering with the structure of base-pairing, while UV radiation induces mutations by causing damage to the DNA structure. Chemical damage to DNA occurs naturally as well and cells use DNA repair mechanisms to repair mismatches and breaks. The repair does not, however, always restore the original sequence. A particularly important source of DNA damages appears to be reactive oxygen species produced by cellular aerobic respiration, and these can lead to mutations.In organisms that use chromosomal crossover to exchange DNA and recombine genes, errors in alignment during meiosis can also cause mutations. Errors in crossover are especially likely when similar sequences cause partner chromosomes to adopt a mistaken alignment; this makes some regions in genomes more prone to mutating in this way. These errors create large structural changes in DNA sequence—duplications, inversions, deletions of entire regions—or the accidental exchange of whole parts of sequences between different chromosomes, chromosomal translocation.GENETIC MUTATION A highly pathogenic, more or less permanent alteration to the genetic code (genome) of a virus or a cell in a living creature that can be handed down to the progeny of the original cell or virus. A somatic mutation is a change in a multicellular organism's DNA that can progress to progeny by DNA replication. Alterations can happen as a result of subjection to electromagnetic spectrum with high intensity (such as X-rays, ultraviolet light), mishaps that can place during the normal chemical transactions of DNA, most frequently during replication. The bulk of variations are expected to be harmful because they are random changes, however, certain mutations might be helpful in certain circumstances. Types of mutations Mutations and perhaps other gene changes can be inherited or acquired. An inherited gene mutation is one that, as its name suggests, is passed down from one parent to the next. As a result, it can be found in the very first cell that develops into a human after the egg cell and sperm cell have mated. Because it began in the first cell, which gave rise to all the other cells in the body, this modification is present in every cell in the body and can be passed on to the next generation. Because the cells that give rise to eggs and sperm are known as germ cells, also known as a hereditary alteration. A gene mutation that is acquired does not come from the parent. As opposed to that, it emerges at some point in a person's life. Acquired mutations start in one cell and spread to any subsequent cells that develop from that cell. Because this mutation does not affect sperm or egg cells, it cannot be passed down to a person's offspring. Somatic mutation or spontaneous mutation are other names for this kind of mutation. Natural selection and evolution Mutations alter an organism's genotype and occasionally this causes different phenotypes to appear. Most mutations have little effect on an organism's phenotype, health, or reproductive fitness. Mutations that do have an effect are usually detrimental, but occasionally some can be beneficial. Studies in the fly Drosophila melanogaster suggest that if a mutation changes a protein produced by a gene, about 70 percent of these mutations are harmful with the remainder being either neutral or weakly beneficial. Population genetics studies the distribution of genetic differences within populations and how these distributions change over time. Changes in the frequency of an allele in a population are mainly influenced by natural selection, where a given allele provides a selective or reproductive advantage to the organism, as well as other factors such as mutation, genetic drift, genetic hitchhiking, artificial selection and migration.Over many generations, the genomes of organisms can change significantly, resulting in evolution. In the process called adaptation, selection for beneficial mutations can cause a species to evolve into forms better able to survive in their environment. New species are formed through the process of speciation, often caused by geographical separations that prevent populations from exchanging genes with each other.By comparing the homology between different species' genomes, it is possible to calculate the evolutionary distance between them and when they may have diverged. Genetic comparisons are generally considered a more accurate method of characterizing the relatedness between species than the comparison of phenotypic characteristics. The evolutionary distances between species can be used to form evolutionary trees; these trees represent the common descent and divergence of species over time, although they do not show the transfer of genetic material between unrelated species (known as horizontal gene transfer and most common in bacteria). Model organisms Although geneticists originally studied inheritance in a wide variety of organisms, the range of species studied has narrowed. One reason is that when significant research already exists for a given organism, new researchers are more likely to choose it for further study, and so eventually a few model organisms became the basis for most genetics research. Common research topics in model organism genetics include the study of gene regulation and the involvement of genes in development and cancer. Organisms were chosen, in part, for convenience—short generation times and easy genetic manipulation made some organisms popular genetics research tools. Widely used model organisms include the gut bacterium Escherichia coli, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), the zebrafish (Danio rerio), and the common house mouse (Mus musculus). Medicine Medical genetics seeks to understand how genetic variation relates to human health and disease. When searching for an unknown gene that may be involved in a disease, researchers commonly use genetic linkage and genetic pedigree charts to find the location on the genome associated with the disease. At the population level, researchers take advantage of Mendelian randomization to look for locations in the genome that are associated with diseases, a method especially useful for multigenic traits not clearly defined by a single gene. Once a candidate gene is found, further research is often done on the corresponding (or homologous) genes of model organisms. In addition to studying genetic diseases, the increased availability of genotyping methods has led to the field of pharmacogenetics: the study of how genotype can affect drug responses.Individuals differ in their inherited tendency to develop cancer, and cancer is a genetic disease. The process of cancer development in the body is a combination of events. Mutations occasionally occur within cells in the body as they divide. Although these mutations will not be inherited by any offspring, they can affect the behavior of cells, sometimes causing them to grow and divide more frequently. There are biological mechanisms that attempt to stop this process; signals are given to inappropriately dividing cells that should trigger cell death, but sometimes additional mutations occur that cause cells to ignore these messages. An internal process of natural selection occurs within the body and eventually mutations accumulate within cells to promote their own growth, creating a cancerous tumor that grows and invades various tissues of the body. Normally, a cell divides only in response to signals called growth factors and stops growing once in contact with surrounding cells and in response to growth-inhibitory signals. It usually then divides a limited number of times and dies, staying within the epithelium where it is unable to migrate to other organs. To become a cancer cell, a cell has to accumulate mutations in a number of genes (three to seven). A cancer cell can divide without growth factor and ignores inhibitory signals. Also, it is immortal and can grow indefinitely, even after it makes contact with neighboring cells. It may escape from the epithelium and ultimately from the primary tumor. Then, the escaped cell can cross the endothelium of a blood vessel and get transported by the bloodstream to colonize a new organ, forming deadly metastasis. Although there are some genetic predispositions in a small fraction of cancers, the major fraction is due to a set of new genetic mutations that originally appear and accumulate in one or a small number of cells that will divide to form the tumor and are not transmitted to the progeny (somatic mutations). The most frequent mutations are a loss of function of p53 protein, a tumor suppressor, or in the p53 pathway, and gain of function mutations in the Ras proteins, or in other oncogenes. Research methods DNA can be manipulated in the laboratory. Restriction enzymes are commonly used enzymes that cut DNA at specific sequences, producing predictable fragments of DNA. DNA fragments can be visualized through use of gel electrophoresis, which separates fragments according to their length.The use of ligation enzymes allows DNA fragments to be connected. By binding ("ligating") fragments of DNA together from different sources, researchers can create recombinant DNA, the DNA often associated with genetically modified organisms. Recombinant DNA is commonly used in the context of plasmids: short circular DNA molecules with a few genes on them. In the process known as molecular cloning, researchers can amplify the DNA fragments by inserting plasmids into bacteria and then culturing them on plates of agar (to isolate clones of bacteria cells). "Cloning" can also refer to the various means of creating cloned ("clonal") organisms.DNA can also be amplified using a procedure called the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). By using specific short sequences of DNA, PCR can isolate and exponentially amplify a targeted region of DNA. Because it can amplify from extremely small amounts of DNA, PCR is also often used to detect the presence of specific DNA sequences. DNA sequencing and genomics DNA sequencing, one of the most fundamental technologies developed to study genetics, allows researchers to determine the sequence of nucleotides in DNA fragments. The technique of chain-termination sequencing, developed in 1977 by a team led by Frederick Sanger, is still routinely used to sequence DNA fragments. Using this technology, researchers have been able to study the molecular sequences associated with many human diseases.As sequencing has become less expensive, researchers have sequenced the genomes of many organisms using a process called genome assembly, which uses computational tools to stitch together sequences from many different fragments. These technologies were used to sequence the human genome in the Human Genome Project completed in 2003. New high-throughput sequencing technologies are dramatically lowering the cost of DNA sequencing, with many researchers hoping to bring the cost of resequencing a human genome down to a thousand dollars.Next-generation sequencing (or high-throughput sequencing) came about due to the ever-increasing demand for low-cost sequencing. These sequencing technologies allow the production of potentially millions of sequences concurrently. The large amount of sequence data available has created the subfield of genomics, research that uses computational tools to search for and analyze patterns in the full genomes of organisms. Genomics can also be considered a subfield of bioinformatics, which uses computational approaches to analyze large sets of biological data. A common problem to these fields of research is how to manage and share data that deals with human subject and personally identifiable information. Society and culture On 19 March 2015, a group of leading biologists urged a worldwide ban on clinical use of methods, particularly the use of CRISPR and zinc finger, to edit the human genome in a way that can be inherited. In April 2015, Chinese researchers reported results of basic research to edit the DNA of non-viable human embryos using CRISPR. See also References Further reading External links Quotations related to Genetics at Wikiquote Genetics at Wikibooks Library resources in your library and in other libraries about Genetics Genetics on In Our Time at the BBC Genetics at CurlieArtificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by non-human animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech recognition, computer vision, translation between (natural) languages, as well as other mappings of inputs. AI applications include advanced web search engines (e.g., Google Search), recommendation systems (used by YouTube, Amazon and Netflix), understanding human speech (such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (e.g., Waymo), automated decision-making and competing at the highest level in strategic game systems (such as chess and Go). As machines become increasingly capable, tasks considered to require "intelligence" are often removed from the definition of AI, a phenomenon known as the AI effect. For instance, optical character recognition is frequently excluded from things considered to be AI, having become a routine technology.Artificial intelligence was founded as an academic discipline in 1956, and in the years since has experienced several waves of optimism, followed by disappointment and the loss of funding (known as an "AI winter"), followed by new approaches, success and renewed funding. AI research has tried and discarded many different approaches since its founding, including simulating the brain, modeling human problem solving, formal logic, large databases of knowledge and imitating animal behavior. In the first decades of the 21st century, highly mathematical-statistical machine learning has dominated the field, and this technique has proved highly successful, helping to solve many challenging problems throughout industry and academia.The various sub-fields of AI research are centered around particular goals and the use of particular tools. The traditional goals of AI research include reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, learning, natural language processing, perception, and the ability to move and manipulate objects. General intelligence (the ability to solve an arbitrary problem) is among the field's long-term goals. To solve these problems, AI researchers have adapted and integrated a wide range of problem-solving techniques – including search and mathematical optimization, formal logic, artificial neural networks, and methods based on statistics, probability and economics. AI also draws upon computer science, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and many other fields. The field was founded on the assumption that human intelligence "can be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it". This raised philosophical arguments about the mind and the ethical consequences of creating artificial beings endowed with human-like intelligence; these issues have previously been explored by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity. Computer scientists and philosophers have since suggested that AI may become an existential risk to humanity if its rational capacities are not steered towards beneficial goals. History Artificial beings with intelligence appeared as storytelling devices in antiquity, and have been common in fiction, as in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Karel Čapek's R.U.R. These characters and their fates raised many of the same issues now discussed in the ethics of artificial intelligence.The study of mechanical or "formal" reasoning began with philosophers and mathematicians in antiquity. The study of mathematical logic led directly to Alan Turing's theory of computation, which suggested that a machine, by shuffling symbols as simple as "0" and "1", could simulate any conceivable act of mathematical deduction. This insight that digital computers can simulate any process of formal reasoning is known as the Church–Turing thesis. This, along with concurrent discoveries in neurobiology, information theory and cybernetics, led researchers to consider the possibility of building an electronic brain. The first work that is now generally recognized as AI was McCullouch and Pitts' 1943 formal design for Turing-complete "artificial neurons".By the 1950s, two visions for how to achieve machine intelligence emerged. One vision, known as Symbolic AI or GOFAI, was to use computers to create a symbolic representation of the world and systems that could reason about the world. Proponents included Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, and Marvin Minsky. Closely associated with this approach was the "heuristic search" approach, which likened intelligence to a problem of exploring a space of possibilities for answers. The second vision, known as the connectionist approach, sought to achieve intelligence through learning. Proponents of this approach, most prominently Frank Rosenblatt, sought to connect Perceptron in ways inspired by connections of neurons. James Manyika and others have compared the two approaches to the mind (Symbolic AI) and the brain (connectionist). Manyika argues that symbolic approaches dominated the push for artificial intelligence in this period, due in part to its connection to intellectual traditions of Descarte, Boole, Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, and others. Connectionist approaches based on cybernetics or artificial neural networks were pushed to the background but have gained new prominence in recent decades.The field of AI research was born at a workshop at Dartmouth College in 1956. The attendees became the founders and leaders of AI research. They and their students produced programs that the press described as "astonishing": computers were learning checkers strategies, solving word problems in algebra, proving logical theorems and speaking English. By the middle of the 1960s, research in the U.S. was heavily funded by the Department of Defense and laboratories had been established around the world.Researchers in the 1960s and the 1970s were convinced that symbolic approaches would eventually succeed in creating a machine with artificial general intelligence and considered this the goal of their field.Herbert Simon predicted, "machines will be capable, within twenty years, of doing any work a man can do".Marvin Minsky agreed, writing, "within a generation ... the problem of creating 'artificial intelligence' will substantially be solved". They had failed to recognize the difficulty of some of the remaining tasks. Progress slowed and in 1974, in response to the criticism of Sir James Lighthill and ongoing pressure from the US Congress to fund more productive projects, both the U.S. and British governments cut off exploratory research in AI. The next few years would later be called an "AI winter", a period when obtaining funding for AI projects was difficult.In the early 1980s, AI research was revived by the commercial success of expert systems, a form of AI program that simulated the knowledge and analytical skills of human experts. By 1985, the market for AI had reached over a billion dollars. At the same time, Japan's fifth generation computer project inspired the U.S. and British governments to restore funding for academic research. However, beginning with the collapse of the Lisp Machine market in 1987, AI once again fell into disrepute, and a second, longer-lasting winter began.Many researchers began to doubt that the symbolic approach would be able to imitate all the processes of human cognition, especially perception, robotics, learning and pattern recognition. A number of researchers began to look into "sub-symbolic" approaches to specific AI problems. Robotics researchers, such as Rodney Brooks, rejected symbolic AI and focused on the basic engineering problems that would allow robots to move, survive, and learn their environment. Interest in neural networks and "connectionism" was revived by Geoffrey Hinton, David Rumelhart and others in the middle of the 1980s.Soft computing tools were developed in the 1980s, such as neural networks, fuzzy systems, Grey system theory, evolutionary computation and many tools drawn from statistics or mathematical optimization. AI gradually restored its reputation in the late 1990s and early 21st century by finding specific solutions to specific problems. The narrow focus allowed researchers to produce verifiable results, exploit more mathematical methods, and collaborate with other fields (such as statistics, economics and mathematics). By 2000, solutions developed by AI researchers were being widely used, although in the 1990s they were rarely described as "artificial intelligence".Faster computers, algorithmic improvements, and access to large amounts of data enabled advances in machine learning and perception; data-hungry deep learning methods started to dominate accuracy benchmarks around 2012. According to Bloomberg's Jack Clark, 2015 was a landmark year for artificial intelligence, with the number of software projects that use AI within Google increased from a "sporadic usage" in 2012 to more than 2,700 projects. He attributes this to an increase in affordable neural networks, due to a rise in cloud computing infrastructure and to an increase in research tools and datasets. In a 2017 survey, one in five companies reported they had "incorporated AI in some offerings or processes". The amount of research into AI (measured by total publications) increased by 50% in the years 2015–2019.Numerous academic researchers became concerned that AI was no longer pursuing the original goal of creating versatile, fully intelligent machines. Much of current research involves statistical AI, which is overwhelmingly used to solve specific problems, even highly successful techniques such as deep learning. This concern has led to the subfield of artificial general intelligence (or "AGI"), which had several well-funded institutions by the 2010s. Goals The general problem of simulating (or creating) intelligence has been broken down into sub-problems. These consist of particular traits or capabilities that researchers expect an intelligent system to display. The traits described below have received the most attention. Reasoning, problem-solving Early researchers developed algorithms that imitated step-by-step reasoning that humans use when they solve puzzles or make logical deductions. By the late 1980s and 1990s, AI research had developed methods for dealing with uncertain or incomplete information, employing concepts from probability and economics.Many of these algorithms proved to be insufficient for solving large reasoning problems because they experienced a "combinatorial explosion": they became exponentially slower as the problems grew larger. Even humans rarely use the step-by-step deduction that early AI research could model. They solve most of their problems using fast, intuitive judgments. Knowledge representation Knowledge representation and knowledge engineering allow AI programs to answer questions intelligently and make deductions about real-world facts. A representation of "what exists" is an ontology: the set of objects, relations, concepts, and properties formally described so that software agents can interpret them. The most general ontologies are called upper ontologies, which attempt to provide a foundation for all other knowledge and act as mediators between domain ontologies that cover specific knowledge about a particular knowledge domain (field of interest or area of concern). A truly intelligent program would also need access to commonsense knowledge; the set of facts that an average person knows. The semantics of an ontology is typically represented in description logic, such as the Web Ontology Language.AI research has developed tools to represent specific domains, such as objects, properties, categories and relations between objects; situations, events, states and time; causes and effects; knowledge about knowledge (what we know about what other people know);.default reasoning (things that humans assume are true until they are told differently and will remain true even when other facts are changing); as well as other domains. Among the most difficult problems in AI are: the breadth of commonsense knowledge (the number of atomic facts that the average person knows is enormous); and the sub-symbolic form of most commonsense knowledge (much of what people know is not represented as "facts" or "statements" that they could express verbally).Formal knowledge representations are used in content-based indexing and retrieval, scene interpretation, clinical decision support, knowledge discovery (mining "interesting" and actionable inferences from large databases), and other areas. Learning Machine learning (ML), a fundamental concept of AI research since the field's inception, is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience.Unsupervised learning finds patterns in a stream of input. Supervised learning requires a human to label the input data first, and comes in two main varieties: classification and numerical regression. Classification is used to determine what category something belongs in – the program sees a number of examples of things from several categories and will learn to classify new inputs. Regression is the attempt to produce a function that describes the relationship between inputs and outputs and predicts how the outputs should change as the inputs change. Both classifiers and regression learners can be viewed as "function approximators" trying to learn an unknown (possibly implicit) function; for example, a spam classifier can be viewed as learning a function that maps from the text of an email to one of two categories, "spam" or "not spam". In reinforcement learning the agent is rewarded for good responses and punished for bad ones. The agent classifies its responses to form a strategy for operating in its problem space.Transfer learning is when the knowledge gained from one problem is applied to a new problem.Computational learning theory can assess learners by computational complexity, by sample complexity (how much data is required), or by other notions of optimization. Natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) allows machines to read and understand human language. A sufficiently powerful natural language processing system would enable natural-language user interfaces and the acquisition of knowledge directly from human-written sources, such as newswire texts. Some straightforward applications of NLP include information retrieval, question answering and machine translation. Symbolic AI used formal syntax to translate the deep structure of sentences into logic. This failed to produce useful applications, due to the intractability of logic and the breadth of commonsense knowledge. Modern statistical techniques include co-occurrence frequencies (how often one word appears near another), "Keyword spotting" (searching for a particular word to retrieve information), transformer-based deep learning (which finds patterns in text), and others. They have achieved acceptable accuracy at the page or paragraph level, and, by 2019, could generate coherent text. Perception Machine perception is the ability to use input from sensors (such as cameras, microphones, wireless signals, and active lidar, sonar, radar, and tactile sensors) to deduce aspects of the world. Applications include speech recognition,facial recognition, and object recognition. Computer vision is the ability to analyze visual input. Social intelligence Affective computing is an interdisciplinary umbrella that comprises systems that recognize, interpret, process or simulate human feeling, emotion and mood. For example, some virtual assistants are programmed to speak conversationally or even to banter humorously; it makes them appear more sensitive to the emotional dynamics of human interaction, or to otherwise facilitate human–computer interaction. However, this tends to give naïve users an unrealistic conception of how intelligent existing computer agents actually are. Moderate successes related to affective computing include textual sentiment analysis and, more recently, multimodal sentiment analysis), wherein AI classifies the affects displayed by a videotaped subject. General intelligence A machine with general intelligence can solve a wide variety of problems with breadth and versatility similar to human intelligence. There are several competing ideas about how to develop artificial general intelligence. Hans Moravec and Marvin Minsky argue that work in different individual domains can be incorporated into an advanced multi-agent system or cognitive architecture with general intelligence.Pedro Domingos hopes that there is a conceptually straightforward, but mathematically difficult, "master algorithm" that could lead to AGI. Others believe that anthropomorphic features like an artificial brain or simulated child development will someday reach a critical point where general intelligence emerges. Tools Search and optimization AI can solve many problems by intelligently searching through many possible solutions. Reasoning can be reduced to performing a search. For example, logical proof can be viewed as searching for a path that leads from premises to conclusions, where each step is the application of an inference rule. Planning algorithms search through trees of goals and subgoals, attempting to find a path to a target goal, a process called means-ends analysis. Robotics algorithms for moving limbs and grasping objects use local searches in configuration space.Simple exhaustive searches are rarely sufficient for most real-world problems: the search space (the number of places to search) quickly grows to astronomical numbers. The result is a search that is too slow or never completes. The solution, for many problems, is to use "heuristics" or "rules of thumb" that prioritize choices in favor of those more likely to reach a goal and to do so in a shorter number of steps. In some search methodologies, heuristics can also serve to eliminate some choices unlikely to lead to a goal (called "pruning the search tree"). Heuristics supply the program with a "best guess" for the path on which the solution lies. Heuristics limit the search for solutions into a smaller sample size. A very different kind of search came to prominence in the 1990s, based on the mathematical theory of optimization. For many problems, it is possible to begin the search with some form of a guess and then refine the guess incrementally until no more refinements can be made. These algorithms can be visualized as blind hill climbing: we begin the search at a random point on the landscape, and then, by jumps or steps, we keep moving our guess uphill, until we reach the top. Other related optimization algorithms include random optimization, beam search and metaheuristics like simulated annealing. Evolutionary computation uses a form of optimization search. For example, they may begin with a population of organisms (the guesses) and then allow them to mutate and recombine, selecting only the fittest to survive each generation (refining the guesses). Classic evolutionary algorithms include genetic algorithms, gene expression programming, and genetic programming. Alternatively, distributed search processes can coordinate via swarm intelligence algorithms. Two popular swarm algorithms used in search are particle swarm optimization (inspired by bird flocking) and ant colony optimization (inspired by ant trails). Logic Logic is used for knowledge representation and problem-solving, but it can be applied to other problems as well. For example, the satplan algorithm uses logic for planning and inductive logic programming is a method for learning.Several different forms of logic are used in AI research. Propositional logic involves truth functions such as "or" and "not". First-order logic adds quantifiers and predicates and can express facts about objects, their properties, and their relations with each other. Fuzzy logic assigns a "degree of truth" (between 0 and 1) to vague statements such as "Alice is old" (or rich, or tall, or hungry), that are too linguistically imprecise to be completely true or false.Default logics, non-monotonic logics and circumscription are forms of logic designed to help with default reasoning and the qualification problem. Several extensions of logic have been designed to handle specific domains of knowledge, such as description logics;situation calculus, event calculus and fluent calculus (for representing events and time);causal calculus;belief calculus (belief revision); and modal logics. Logics to model contradictory or inconsistent statements arising in multi-agent systems have also been designed, such as paraconsistent logics. Probabilistic methods for uncertain reasoning Many problems in AI (including in reasoning, planning, learning, perception, and robotics) require the agent to operate with incomplete or uncertain information. AI researchers have devised a number of tools to solve these problems using methods from probability theory and economics.Bayesian networks are a very general tool that can be used for various problems, including reasoning (using the Bayesian inference algorithm),learning (using the expectation-maximization algorithm),planning (using decision networks) and perception (using dynamic Bayesian networks). Probabilistic algorithms can also be used for filtering, prediction, smoothing and finding explanations for streams of data, helping perception systems to analyze processes that occur over time (e.g., hidden Markov models or Kalman filters).A key concept from the science of economics is "utility", a measure of how valuable something is to an intelligent agent. Precise mathematical tools have been developed that analyze how an agent can make choices and plan, using decision theory, decision analysis, and information value theory. These tools include models such as Markov decision processes, dynamic decision networks, game theory and mechanism design. Classifiers and statistical learning methods The simplest AI applications can be divided into two types: classifiers ("if shiny then diamond") and controllers ("if diamond then pick up"). Controllers do, however, also classify conditions before inferring actions, and therefore classification forms a central part of many AI systems. Classifiers are functions that use pattern matching to determine the closest match. They can be tuned according to examples, making them very attractive for use in AI. These examples are known as observations or patterns. In supervised learning, each pattern belongs to a certain predefined class. A class is a decision that has to be made. All the observations combined with their class labels are known as a data set. When a new observation is received, that observation is classified based on previous experience.A classifier can be trained in various ways; there are many statistical and machine learning approaches. The decision tree is the simplest and most widely used symbolic machine learning algorithm.K-nearest neighbor algorithm was the most widely used analogical AI until the mid-1990s.Kernel methods such as the support vector machine (SVM) displaced k-nearest neighbor in the 1990s. The naive Bayes classifier is reportedly the "most widely used learner" at Google, due in part to its scalability.Neural networks are also used for classification.Classifier performance depends greatly on the characteristics of the data to be classified, such as the dataset size, distribution of samples across classes, dimensionality, and the level of noise. Model-based classifiers perform well if the assumed model is an extremely good fit for the actual data. Otherwise, if no matching model is available, and if accuracy (rather than speed or scalability) is the sole concern, conventional wisdom is that discriminative classifiers (especially SVM) tend to be more accurate than model-based classifiers such as "naive Bayes" on most practical data sets. Artificial neural networks Neural networks were inspired by the architecture of neurons in the human brain. A simple "neuron" N accepts input from other neurons, each of which, when activated (or "fired"), casts a weighted "vote" for or against whether neuron N should itself activate. Learning requires an algorithm to adjust these weights based on the training data; one simple algorithm (dubbed "fire together, wire together") is to increase the weight between two connected neurons when the activation of one triggers the successful activation of another. Neurons have a continuous spectrum of activation; in addition, neurons can process inputs in a nonlinear way rather than weighing straightforward votes. Modern neural networks model complex relationships between inputs and outputs and find patterns in data. They can learn continuous functions and even digital logical operations. Neural networks can be viewed as a type of mathematical optimization – they perform gradient descent on a multi-dimensional topology that was created by training the network. The most common training technique is the backpropagation algorithm. Other learning techniques for neural networks are Hebbian learning ("fire together, wire together"), GMDH or competitive learning.The main categories of networks are acyclic or feedforward neural networks (where the signal passes in only one direction) and recurrent neural networks (which allow feedback and short-term memories of previous input events). Among the most popular feedforward networks are perceptrons, multi-layer perceptrons and radial basis networks. Deep learning Deep learning uses several layers of neurons between the network's inputs and outputs. The multiple layers can progressively extract higher-level features from the raw input. For example, in image processing, lower layers may identify edges, while higher layers may identify the concepts relevant to a human such as digits or letters or faces. Deep learning has drastically improved the performance of programs in many important subfields of artificial intelligence, including computer vision, speech recognition, image classification and others. Deep learning often uses convolutional neural networks for many or all of its layers. In a convolutional layer, each neuron receives input from only a restricted area of the previous layer called the neuron's receptive field. This can substantially reduce the number of weighted connections between neurons, and creates a hierarchy similar to the organization of the animal visual cortex.In a recurrent neural network (RNN) the signal will propagate through a layer more than once; thus, an RNN is an example of deep learning. RNNs can be trained by gradient descent, however long-term gradients which are back-propagated can "vanish" (that is, they can tend to zero) or "explode" (that is, they can tend to infinity), known as the vanishing gradient problem. The long short term memory (LSTM) technique can prevent this in most cases. Specialized languages and hardware Specialized languages for artificial intelligence have been developed, such as Lisp, Prolog, TensorFlow and many others. Hardware developed for AI includes AI accelerators and neuromorphic computing. Applications AI is relevant to any intellectual task. Modern artificial intelligence techniques are pervasive and are too numerous to list here. Frequently, when a technique reaches mainstream use, it is no longer considered artificial intelligence; this phenomenon is described as the AI effect.In the 2010s, AI applications were at the heart of the most commercially successful areas of computing, and have become a ubiquitous feature of daily life. AI is used in search engines (such as Google Search), targeting online advertisements, recommendation systems (offered by Netflix, YouTube or Amazon), driving internet traffic, targeted advertising (AdSense, Facebook), virtual assistants (such as Siri or Alexa), autonomous vehicles (including drones and self-driving cars), automatic language translation (Microsoft Translator, Google Translate), facial recognition (Apple's Face ID or Microsoft's DeepFace), image labeling (used by Facebook, Apple's iPhoto and TikTok) and spam filtering. There are also thousands of successful AI applications used to solve problems for specific industries or institutions. A few examples are energy storage, deepfakes, medical diagnosis, military logistics, or supply chain management. Game playing has been a test of AI's strength since the 1950s. Deep Blue became the first computer chess-playing system to beat a reigning world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, on 11 May 1997. In 2011, in a Jeopardy! quiz show exhibition match, IBM's question answering system, Watson, defeated the two greatest Jeopardy! champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, by a significant margin. In March 2016, AlphaGo won 4 out of 5 games of Go in a match with Go champion Lee Sedol, becoming the first computer Go-playing system to beat a professional Go player without handicaps. Other programs handle imperfect-information games; such as for poker at a superhuman level, Pluribus and Cepheus. DeepMind in the 2010s developed a "generalized artificial intelligence" that could learn many diverse Atari games on its own.By 2020, Natural Language Processing systems such as the enormous GPT-3 (then by far the largest artificial neural network) were matching human performance on pre-existing benchmarks, albeit without the system attaining a commonsense understanding of the contents of the benchmarks. DeepMind's AlphaFold 2 (2020) demonstrated the ability to approximate, in hours rather than months, the 3D structure of a protein. Other applications predict the result of judicial decisions, create art (such as poetry or painting) and prove mathematical theorems. Smart traffic lights Smart traffic lights have been developed at Carnegie Mellon since 2009. Professor Stephen Smith has started a company since then Surtrac that has installed smart traffic control systems in 22 cities. It costs about $20,000 per intersection to install. Drive time has been reduced by 25% and traffic jam waiting time has been reduced by 40% at the intersections it has been installed. Intellectual Property In 2019, WIPO reported that AI was the most prolific emerging technology in terms of the number of patent applications and granted patents, the Internet of things was estimated to be the largest in terms of market size. It was followed, again in market size, by big data technologies, robotics, AI, 3D printing and the fifth generation of mobile services (5G). Since AI emerged in the 1950s, 340,000 AI-related patent applications were filed by innovators and 1.6 million scientific papers have been published by researchers, with the majority of all AI-related patent filings published since 2013. Companies represent 26 out of the top 30 AI patent applicants, with universities or public research organizations accounting for the remaining four. The ratio of scientific papers to inventions has significantly decreased from 8:1 in 2010 to 3:1 in 2016, which is attributed to be indicative of a shift from theoretical research to the use of AI technologies in commercial products and services. Machine learning is the dominant AI technique disclosed in patents and is included in more than one-third of all identified inventions (134,777 machine learning patents filed for a total of 167,038 AI patents filed in 2016), with computer vision being the most popular functional application. AI-related patents not only disclose AI techniques and applications, they often also refer to an application field or industry. Twenty application fields were identified in 2016 and included, in order of magnitude: telecommunications (15 percent), transportation (15 percent), life and medical sciences (12 percent), and personal devices, computing and human–computer interaction (11 percent). Other sectors included banking, entertainment, security, industry and manufacturing, agriculture, and networks (including social networks, smart cities and the Internet of things). IBM has the largest portfolio of AI patents with 8,290 patent applications, followed by Microsoft with 5,930 patent applications. Philosophy Defining artificial intelligence Alan Turing wrote in 1950 "I propose to consider the question 'can machines think'?" He advised changing the question from whether a machine "thinks", to "whether or not it is possible for machinery to show intelligent behaviour". He devised the Turing test, which measures the ability of a machine to simulate human conversation. Since we can only observe the behavior of the machine, it does not matter if it is "actually" thinking or literally has a "mind". Turing notes that we can not determine these things about other people but "it is usual to have a polite convention that everyone thinks"Russell and Norvig agree with Turing that AI must be defined in terms of "acting" and not "thinking". However, they are critical that the test compares machines to people. "Aeronautical engineering texts," they wrote, "do not define the goal of their field as making 'machines that fly so exactly like pigeons that they can fool other pigeons.'" AI founder John McCarthy agreed, writing that "Artificial intelligence is not, by definition, simulation of human intelligence".McCarthy defines intelligence as "the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world." Another AI founder, Marvin Minsky similarly defines it as "the ability to solve hard problems". These definitions view intelligence in terms of well-defined problems with well-defined solutions, where both the difficulty of the problem and the performance of the program are direct measures of the "intelligence" of the machine -- and no other philosophical discussion is required, or may not even be possible. A definition that has also been adopted by Google - major practitionary in the field of AI. This definition stipulated the ability of systems to synthesize information as the manifestation of intelligence, similar to the way it is defined in biological intelligence. Evaluating approaches to AI No established unifying theory or paradigm has guided AI research for most of its history. The unprecedented success of statistical machine learning in the 2010s eclipsed all other approaches (so much so that some sources, especially in the business world, use the term "artificial intelligence" to mean "machine learning with neural networks"). This approach is mostly sub-symbolic, neat, soft and narrow (see below). Critics argue that these questions may have to be revisited by future generations of AI researchers. Symbolic AI and its limits Symbolic AI (or "GOFAI") simulated the high-level conscious reasoning that people use when they solve puzzles, express legal reasoning and do mathematics. They were highly successful at "intelligent" tasks such as algebra or IQ tests. In the 1960s, Newell and Simon proposed the physical symbol systems hypothesis: "A physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means of general intelligent action."However, the symbolic approach failed on many tasks that humans solve easily, such as learning, recognizing an object or commonsense reasoning. Moravec's paradox is the discovery that high-level "intelligent" tasks were easy for AI, but low level "instinctive" tasks were extremely difficult. Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus had argued since the 1960s that human expertise depends on unconscious instinct rather than conscious symbol manipulation, and on having a "feel" for the situation, rather than explicit symbolic knowledge. Although his arguments had been ridiculed and ignored when they were first presented, eventually, AI research came to agree.The issue is not resolved: sub-symbolic reasoning can make many of the same inscrutable mistakes that human intuition does, such as algorithmic bias. Critics such as Noam Chomsky argue continuing research into symbolic AI will still be necessary to attain general intelligence, in part because sub-symbolic AI is a move away from explainable AI: it can be difficult or impossible to understand why a modern statistical AI program made a particular decision. The emerging field of neurosymbolic artificial intelligence attempts to bridge the two approaches. Neat vs. scruffy "Neats" hope that intelligent behavior is described using simple, elegant principles (such as logic, optimization, or neural networks). "Scruffies" expect that it necessarily requires solving a large number of unrelated problems (especially in areas like common sense reasoning). This issue was actively discussed in the 70s and 80s, but in the 1990s mathematical methods and solid scientific standards became the norm, a transition that Russell and Norvig termed "the victory of the neats". Soft vs. hard computing Finding a provably correct or optimal solution is intractable for many important problems. Soft computing is a set of techniques, including genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and neural networks, that are tolerant of imprecision, uncertainty, partial truth and approximation. Soft computing was introduced in the late 80s and most successful AI programs in the 21st century are examples of soft computing with neural networks. Narrow vs. general AI AI researchers are divided as to whether to pursue the goals of artificial general intelligence and superintelligence (general AI) directly or to solve as many specific problems as possible (narrow AI) in hopes these solutions will lead indirectly to the field's long-term goals. General intelligence is difficult to define and difficult to measure, and modern AI has had more verifiable successes by focusing on specific problems with specific solutions. The experimental sub-field of artificial general intelligence studies this area exclusively. Machine consciousness, sentience and mind The philosophy of mind does not know whether a machine can have a mind, consciousness and mental states, in the same sense that human beings do. This issue considers the internal experiences of the machine, rather than its external behavior. Mainstream AI research considers this issue irrelevant because it does not affect the goals of the field. Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig observe that most AI researchers "don't care about the [philosophy of AI] – as long as the program works, they don't care whether you call it a simulation of intelligence or real intelligence." However, the question has become central to the philosophy of mind. It is also typically the central question at issue in artificial intelligence in fiction. Consciousness David Chalmers identified two problems in understanding the mind, which he named the "hard" and "easy" problems of consciousness. The easy problem is understanding how the brain processes signals, makes plans and controls behavior. The hard problem is explaining how this feels or why it should feel like anything at all. Human information processing is easy to explain, however, human subjective experience is difficult to explain. For example, it is easy to imagine a color-blind person who has learned to identify which objects in their field of view are red, but it is not clear what would be required for the person to know what red looks like. Computationalism and functionalism Computationalism is the position in the philosophy of mind that the human mind is an information processing system and that thinking is a form of computing. Computationalism argues that the relationship between mind and body is similar or identical to the relationship between software and hardware and thus may be a solution to the mind-body problem. This philosophical position was inspired by the work of AI researchers and cognitive scientists in the 1960s and was originally proposed by philosophers Jerry Fodor and Hilary Putnam.Philosopher John Searle characterized this position as "strong AI": "The appropriately programmed computer with the right inputs and outputs would thereby have a mind in exactly the same sense human beings have minds." Searle counters this assertion with his Chinese room argument, which attempts to show that, even if a machine perfectly simulates human behavior, there is still no reason to suppose it also has a mind. Robot rights If a machine has a mind and subjective experience, then it may also have sentience (the ability to feel), and if so, then it could also suffer, and thus it would be entitled to certain rights. Any hypothetical robot rights would lie on a spectrum with animal rights and human rights. This issue has been considered in fiction for centuries, and is now being considered by, for example, California's Institute for the Future; however, critics argue that the discussion is premature. Future Superintelligence A superintelligence, hyperintelligence, or superhuman intelligence, is a hypothetical agent that would possess intelligence far surpassing that of the brightest and most gifted human mind. Superintelligence may also refer to the form or degree of intelligence possessed by such an agent.If research into artificial general intelligence produced sufficiently intelligent software, it might be able to reprogram and improve itself. The improved software would be even better at improving itself, leading to recursive self-improvement. Its intelligence would increase exponentially in an intelligence explosion and could dramatically surpass humans. Science fiction writer Vernor Vinge named this scenario the "singularity". Because it is difficult or impossible to know the limits of intelligence or the capabilities of superintelligent machines, the technological singularity is an occurrence beyond which events are unpredictable or even unfathomable.Robot designer Hans Moravec, cyberneticist Kevin Warwick, and inventor Ray Kurzweil have predicted that humans and machines will merge in the future into cyborgs that are more capable and powerful than either. This idea, called transhumanism, has roots in Aldous Huxley and Robert Ettinger.Edward Fredkin argues that "artificial intelligence is the next stage in evolution", an idea first proposed by Samuel Butler's "Darwin among the Machines" as far back as 1863, and expanded upon by George Dyson in his book of the same name in 1998. Risks Technological unemployment In the past, technology has tended to increase rather than reduce total employment, but economists acknowledge that "we're in uncharted territory" with AI. A survey of economists showed disagreement about whether the increasing use of robots and AI will cause a substantial increase in long-term unemployment, but they generally agree that it could be a net benefit if productivity gains are redistributed. Subjective estimates of the risk vary widely; for example, Michael Osborne and Carl Benedikt Frey estimate 47% of U.S. jobs are at "high risk" of potential automation, while an OECD report classifies only 9% of U.S. jobs as "high risk".Unlike previous waves of automation, many middle-class jobs may be eliminated by artificial intelligence; The Economist states that "the worry that AI could do to white-collar jobs what steam power did to blue-collar ones during the Industrial Revolution" is "worth taking seriously". Jobs at extreme risk range from paralegals to fast food cooks, while job demand is likely to increase for care-related professions ranging from personal healthcare to the clergy. Bad actors and weaponized AI AI provides a number of tools that are particularly useful for authoritarian governments: smart spyware, face recognition and voice recognition allow widespread surveillance; such surveillance allows machine learning to classify potential enemies of the state and can prevent them from hiding; recommendation systems can precisely target propaganda and misinformation for maximum effect; deepfakes aid in producing misinformation; advanced AI can make centralized decision making more competitive with liberal and decentralized systems such as markets.Terrorists, criminals and rogue states may use other forms of weaponized AI such as advanced digital warfare and lethal autonomous weapons. By 2015, over fifty countries were reported to be researching battlefield robots.Machine-learning AI is also able to design tens of thousands of toxic molecules in a matter of hours. Algorithmic bias AI programs can become biased after learning from real-world data. It is not typically introduced by the system designers but is learned by the program, and thus the programmers are often unaware that the bias exists. Bias can be inadvertently introduced by the way training data is selected. It can also emerge from correlations: AI is used to classify individuals into groups and then make predictions assuming that the individual will resemble other members of the group. In some cases, this assumption may be unfair. An example of this is COMPAS, a commercial program widely used by U.S. courts to assess the likelihood of a defendant becoming a recidivist. ProPublica claims that the COMPAS-assigned recidivism risk level of black defendants is far more likely to be overestimated than that of white defendants, despite the fact that the program was not told the races of the defendants. Other examples where algorithmic bias can lead to unfair outcomes are when AI is used for credit rating or hiring. At its 2022 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT 2022) the Association for Computing Machinery, in Seoul, South Korea, presented and published findings recommending that until AI and robotics systems are demonstrated to be free of bias mistakes, they are unsafe and the use of self-learning neural networks trained on vast, unregulated sources of flawed internet data should be curtailed. Existential risk Superintelligent AI may be able to improve itself to the point that humans could not control it. This could, as physicist Stephen Hawking puts it, "spell the end of the human race". Philosopher Nick Bostrom argues that sufficiently intelligent AI, if it chooses actions based on achieving some goal, will exhibit convergent behavior such as acquiring resources or protecting itself from being shut down. If this AI's goals do not fully reflect humanity's, it might need to harm humanity to acquire more resources or prevent itself from being shut down, ultimately to better achieve its goal. He concludes that AI poses a risk to mankind, however humble or "friendly" its stated goals might be. Political scientist Charles T. Rubin argues that "any sufficiently advanced benevolence may be indistinguishable from malevolence." Humans should not assume machines or robots would treat us favorably because there is no a priori reason to believe that they would share our system of morality.The opinion of experts and industry insiders is mixed, with sizable fractions both concerned and unconcerned by risk from eventual superhumanly-capable AI.Stephen Hawking, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, history professor Yuval Noah Harari, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk have all expressed serious misgivings about the future of AI. Prominent tech titans including Peter Thiel (Amazon Web Services) and Musk have committed more than $1 billion to nonprofit companies that champion responsible AI development, such as OpenAI and the Future of Life Institute.Mark Zuckerberg (CEO, Facebook) has said that artificial intelligence is helpful in its current form and will continue to assist humans. Other experts argue is that the risks are far enough in the future to not be worth researching, or that humans will be valuable from the perspective of a superintelligent machine.Rodney Brooks, in particular, has said that "malevolent" AI is still centuries away. Copyright AI's decisions making abilities raises the questions of legal responsibility and copyright status of created works. This issues are being refined in various jurisdictions. Ethical machines Friendly AI are machines that have been designed from the beginning to minimize risks and to make choices that benefit humans. Eliezer Yudkowsky, who coined the term, argues that developing friendly AI should be a higher research priority: it may require a large investment and it must be completed before AI becomes an existential risk.Machines with intelligence have the potential to use their intelligence to make ethical decisions. The field of machine ethics provides machines with ethical principles and procedures for resolving ethical dilemmas. Machine ethics is also called machine morality, computational ethics or computational morality, and was founded at an AAAI symposium in 2005.Other approaches include Wendell Wallach's "artificial moral agents" and Stuart J. Russell's three principles for developing provably beneficial machines. Regulation The regulation of artificial intelligence is the development of public sector policies and laws for promoting and regulating artificial intelligence (AI); it is therefore related to the broader regulation of algorithms. The regulatory and policy landscape for AI is an emerging issue in jurisdictions globally. Between 2016 and 2020, more than 30 countries adopted dedicated strategies for AI. Most EU member states had released national AI strategies, as had Canada, China, India, Japan, Mauritius, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, US and Vietnam. Others were in the process of elaborating their own AI strategy, including Bangladesh, Malaysia and Tunisia. The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence was launched in June 2020, stating a need for AI to be developed in accordance with human rights and democratic values, to ensure public confidence and trust in the technology. Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocher published a joint statement in November 2021 calling for a government commission to regulate AI. In fiction Thought-capable artificial beings have appeared as storytelling devices since antiquity, and have been a persistent theme in science fiction.A common trope in these works began with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, where a human creation becomes a threat to its masters. This includes such works as Arthur C. Clarke's and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (both 1968), with HAL 9000, the murderous computer in charge of the Discovery One spaceship, as well as The Terminator (1984) and The Matrix (1999). In contrast, the rare loyal robots such as Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Bishop from Aliens (1986) are less prominent in popular culture.Isaac Asimov introduced the Three Laws of Robotics in many books and stories, most notably the "Multivac" series about a super-intelligent computer of the same name. Asimov's laws are often brought up during lay discussions of machine ethics; while almost all artificial intelligence researchers are familiar with Asimov's laws through popular culture, they generally consider the laws useless for many reasons, one of which is their ambiguity.Transhumanism (the merging of humans and machines) is explored in the manga Ghost in the Shell and the science-fiction series Dune. Several works use AI to force us to confront the fundamental question of what makes us human, showing us artificial beings that have the ability to feel, and thus to suffer. This appears in Karel Čapek's R.U.R., the films A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Ex Machina, as well as the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick. Dick considers the idea that our understanding of human subjectivity is altered by technology created with artificial intelligence. See also AI alignment – Issue of ensuring beneficial AI Artificial intelligence arms race – Arms race for the most advanced AI-related technologies Behavior selection algorithm – Algorithm that selects actions for intelligent agents Business process automation Case-based reasoning – Process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems Emergent algorithm Female gendering of AI technologies – Design of digital assistants as female Glossary of artificial intelligence – List of definitions of terms and concepts commonly used in the study of artificial intelligence Operations research – Discipline concerning the application of advanced analytical methods Robotic process automation – Form of business process automation technology Synthetic intelligence – Alternate term for or form of artificial intelligence Universal basic income – Welfare system of unconditional income Weak artificial intelligence – Form of artificial intelligence Explanatory notes References AI textbooks These were the four the most widely used AI textbooks in 2008: History of AI Other sources Further reading External links "Artificial Intelligence". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Thomason, Richmond. "Logic and Artificial Intelligence". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Artificial Intelligence. BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Agar, Alison Adam & Igor Aleksander (In Our Time, 8 December 2005).World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, massacres, and disease. In the wake of the Axis defeat, Germany and Japan were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders. The causes of World War II are debated, but contributing factors included the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Spanish Civil War, Second Sino-Japanese War, Soviet–Japanese border conflicts, rise of fascism in Europe and rising European tensions since World War I. World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland. The United Kingdom and France subsequently declared war on Germany on 3 September. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union had partitioned Poland and marked out their "spheres of influence" across Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan (with other countries later). Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, and the fall of France in mid-1940, the war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the British Empire, with war in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz of the United Kingdom, and the Battle of the Atlantic. On 22 June 1941, Germany led the European Axis powers in an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front, the largest land theatre of war in history. Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with the Republic of China by 1937. In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific, including an attack on the US fleet at Pearl Harbor which resulted in the United States declaring war against Japan. The European Axis powers declared war on the United States in solidarity. Japan soon captured much of the western Pacific, but its advances were halted in 1942 after losing the critical Battle of Midway; later, Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland, and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned towards Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key western Pacific islands. The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories and the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the Fall of Berlin to Soviet troops, Hitler's suicide, and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration (issued 26 July 1945), the United States dropped the first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on 6 August and Nagasaki on 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago, the possibility of additional atomic bombings, and the Soviet Union's declared entry into the war against Japan on the eve of invading Manchuria, Japan announced on 10 August its intention to surrender, signing a surrender document on 2 September 1945. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the globe. The United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—becoming the permanent members of its Security Council. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century-long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion. Political and economic integration, especially in Europe, began as an effort to forestall future hostilities, end pre-war enmities and forge a sense of common identity. Start and end dates It is generally considered that in Europe World War II started on 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France's declaration of war on Germany two days later. Other dates for the beginning of the war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria, on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and the two wars became World War II in 1941. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as the start or prelude to World War II.The exact date of the war's end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945 (V-J Day), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia. A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed the reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post-World War II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. Background Europe World War I had radically altered the political European map, with the defeat of the Central Powers—including Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire—and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia, which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I, such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was created during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military and naval disarmament, and settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration.Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War I, irredentist and revanchist nationalism emerged in several European states in the same period. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of the significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions, while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces.The German Empire was dissolved in the German Revolution of 1918–1919, and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic, was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into the war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian, and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, and promising the creation of a "New Roman Empire". Adolf Hitler, after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul Von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. He abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of the world order, and soon began a massive rearmament campaign. Meanwhile, France, to secure its alliance, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia, which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription.The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed the Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe, drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year.Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement. In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed the Rome–Berlin Axis. A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy joined the following year. Asia The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party allies and new regional warlords. In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan, which had long sought influence in China as the first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia, staged the Mukden Incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo.China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai, Rehe and Hebei, until the Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and Chahar and Suiyuan. After the 1936 Xi'an Incident, the Kuomintang and communist forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. Pre-war events Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with the invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea. The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of the League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant. The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria. Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to the Nationalist rebels, led by General Francisco Franco. Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis did: altogether Mussolini sent to Spain more than 70,000 ground troops and 6,000 aviation personnel, as well as about 720 aircraft. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic. More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades, also fought against the Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War II but generally favoured the Axis. His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front. Japanese invasion of China (1937) In July 1937, Japan captured the former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior co-operation with Germany. From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan, engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou, and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai, but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push the Chinese forces back, capturing the capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese.In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang, but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding the Yellow River; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan, but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. Soviet–Japanese border conflicts In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with the Soviet Union and Mongolia. The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron, which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. With the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets, this policy would prove difficult to maintain. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed a Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron, promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward, eventually leading to its war with the United States and the Western Allies. European occupations and agreements In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement, which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed Czechoslovakia's Zaolzie region.Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state, the Slovak Republic. Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region, formerly the German Memelland. Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig, the United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece. Shortly after the Franco-British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel. Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact.The situation reached a general crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August, when tripartite negotiations about a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom and Soviet Union stalled, the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany. This pact had a secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of a two-front war, as it had in World War I. Immediately after that, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it.In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which only served as a pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig, and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson, Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. Course of the war War breaks out in Europe (1939–40) On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as a pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defenses at Westerplatte. The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum to Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany, followed by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of a cautious French probe into the Saarland. The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany, which aimed to damage the country's economy and the war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic. On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw. The Polish counter offensive to the west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht. Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw. On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan, the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the pretext that the Polish state had ostensibly ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to the Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6 October. Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of the war.Germany annexed the western and occupied the central part of Poland, and the Soviet Union annexed its eastern part; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia. On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected, and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts that stipulated the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries. In October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign a similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory.In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region. In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to the Treaty of Craiova. The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu with a course set firmly towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, Nazi-Soviet political rapprochement and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. Western Europe (1940–41) In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden, which the Allies were attempting to cut off. Denmark capitulated after a few hours, and Norway was conquered within two months despite Allied support. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10 May 1940.On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France. To circumvent the strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics, the Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although abandoning almost all their equipment.On 10 June, Italy invaded France, declaring war on both France and the United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14 June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones, and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime, which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which the United Kingdom attacked on 3 July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours. The United Kingdom rejected Hitler's peace offer, and the German air superiority campaign started in August but failed to defeat RAF Fighter Command, forcing the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain. The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in the Blitz, but failed to significantly disrupt the British war effort and largely ended in May 1941.Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy, using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic. The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27 May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck.In November 1939, the United States was taking measures to assist China and the Western Allies and amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased. In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases. Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in the conflict well into 1941. In December 1940 Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an "arsenal of democracy" and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of aid to support the British war effort. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany.At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers. The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country, with the exception of the Soviet Union, which attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary, Slovakia and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to the Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union. Mediterranean (1940–41) In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta, a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt. In October, Italy attacked Greece, but the attack was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. Germany started preparation for an invasion of the Balkans to assist Italy, to prevent the British from gaining a foothold there, which would be a potential threat for Romanian oil fields, and to strike against the British dominance of the Mediterranean.In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa. The offensives were highly successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with the Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission by means of a carrier attack at Taranto, and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan. Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa and at the end of March 1941, Rommel's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back the Commonwealth forces. In under a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged the port of Tobruk.By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece, commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at the end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Although the Axis victory was swift, bitter and large-scale partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, which continued until the end of the war.In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria. Between June and July, they invaded and occupied the French possessions of Syria and Lebanon, with assistance of the Free French. Axis attack on the Soviet Union (1941) With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia, the two powers signed the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border.Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940 Hitler decided that the Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine, the Baltic states and Byelorussia. However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued the directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union. On 22 June 1941, Germany, supported by Italy and Romania, invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, with Germany accusing the Soviets of plotting against them. They were joined shortly by Finland and Hungary. The primary targets of this surprise offensive were the Baltic region, Moscow and Ukraine, with the ultimate goal of ending the 1941 campaign near the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line, from the Caspian to the White Seas. Hitler's objectives were to eliminate the Soviet Union as a military power, exterminate Communism, generate Lebensraum ("living space") by dispossessing the native population and guarantee access to the strategic resources needed to defeat Germany's remaining rivals.Although the Red Army was preparing for strategic counter-offensives before the war, Operation Barbarossa forced the Soviet supreme command to adopt a strategic defence. During the summer, the Axis made significant gains into Soviet territory, inflicting immense losses in both personnel and materiel. By mid-August, however, the German Army High Command decided to suspend the offensive of a considerably depleted Army Group Centre, and to divert the 2nd Panzer Group to reinforce troops advancing towards central Ukraine and Leningrad. The Kiev offensive was overwhelmingly successful, resulting in encirclement and elimination of four Soviet armies, and made possible further advance into Crimea and industrially developed Eastern Ukraine (the First Battle of Kharkov). The diversion of three quarters of the Axis troops and the majority of their air forces from France and the central Mediterranean to the Eastern Front prompted the United Kingdom to reconsider its grand strategy. In July, the UK and the Soviet Union formed a military alliance against Germany and in August, the United Kingdom and the United States jointly issued the Atlantic Charter, which outlined British and American goals for the post-war world. In late August the British and Soviets invaded neutral Iran to secure the Persian Corridor, Iran's oil fields, and preempt any Axis advances through Iran toward the Baku oil fields or India.By October, Axis operational objectives in Ukraine and the Baltic region were achieved, with only the sieges of Leningrad and Sevastopol continuing. A major offensive against Moscow was renewed; after two months of fierce battles in increasingly harsh weather, the German army almost reached the outer suburbs of Moscow, where the exhausted troops were forced to suspend their offensive. Large territorial gains were made by Axis forces, but their campaign had failed to achieve its main objectives: two key cities remained in Soviet hands, the Soviet capability to resist was not broken, and the Soviet Union retained a considerable part of its military potential. The blitzkrieg phase of the war in Europe had ended.By early December, freshly mobilised reserves allowed the Soviets to achieve numerical parity with Axis troops. This, as well as intelligence data which established that a minimal number of Soviet troops in the East would be sufficient to deter any attack by the Japanese Kwantung Army, allowed the Soviets to begin a massive counter-offensive that started on 5 December all along the front and pushed German troops 100–250 kilometres (62–155 mi) west. War breaks out in the Pacific (1941) Following the Japanese false flag Mukden Incident in 1931, the Japanese shelling of the American gunboat USS Panay in 1937, and the 1937–38 Nanjing Massacre, Japanese-American relations deteriorated. In 1939, the United States notified Japan that it would not be extending its trade treaty and American public opinion opposing Japanese expansionism led to a series of economic sanctions, the Export Control Acts, which banned U.S. exports of chemicals, minerals and military parts to Japan and increased economic pressure on the Japanese regime. During 1939 Japan launched its first attack against Changsha, a strategically important Chinese city, but was repulsed by late September. Despite several offensives by both sides, the war between China and Japan was stalemated by 1940. To increase pressure on China by blocking supply routes, and to better position Japanese forces in the event of a war with the Western powers, Japan invaded and occupied northern Indochina in September 1940. Chinese nationalist forces launched a large-scale counter-offensive in early 1940. In August, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China; in retaliation, Japan instituted harsh measures in occupied areas to reduce human and material resources for the communists. The continued antipathy between Chinese communist and nationalist forces culminated in armed clashes in January 1941, effectively ending their co-operation. In March, the Japanese 11th army attacked the headquarters of the Chinese 19th army but was repulsed during Battle of Shanggao. In September, Japan attempted to take the city of Changsha again and clashed with Chinese nationalist forces.German successes in Europe encouraged Japan to increase pressure on European governments in Southeast Asia. The Dutch government agreed to provide Japan with some oil supplies from the Dutch East Indies, but negotiations for additional access to their resources ended in failure in June 1941. In July 1941 Japan sent troops to southern Indochina, thus threatening British and Dutch possessions in the Far East. The United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western governments reacted to this move with a freeze on Japanese assets and a total oil embargo. At the same time, Japan was planning an invasion of the Soviet Far East, intending to capitalise off the German invasion in the west, but abandoned the operation after the sanctions.Since early 1941 the United States and Japan had been engaged in negotiations in an attempt to improve their strained relations and end the war in China. During these negotiations, Japan advanced a number of proposals which were dismissed by the Americans as inadequate. At the same time the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands engaged in secret discussions for the joint defence of their territories, in the event of a Japanese attack against any of them. Roosevelt reinforced the Philippines (an American protectorate scheduled for independence in 1946) and warned Japan that the United States would react to Japanese attacks against any "neighboring countries". Frustrated at the lack of progress and feeling the pinch of the American–British–Dutch sanctions, Japan prepared for war. Emperor Hirohito, after initial hesitation about Japan's chances of victory, began to favour Japan's entry into the war. As a result, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe resigned. Hirohito refused the recommendation to appoint Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni in his place, choosing War Minister Hideki Tojo instead. On 3 November, Nagano explained in detail the plan of the attack on Pearl Harbor to the Emperor. On 5 November, Hirohito approved in imperial conference the operations plan for the war. On 20 November, the new government presented an interim proposal as its final offer. It called for the end of American aid to China and for lifting the embargo on the supply of oil and other resources to Japan. In exchange, Japan promised not to launch any attacks in Southeast Asia and to withdraw its forces from southern Indochina. The American counter-proposal of 26 November required that Japan evacuate all of China without conditions and conclude non-aggression pacts with all Pacific powers. That meant Japan was essentially forced to choose between abandoning its ambitions in China, or seizing the natural resources it needed in the Dutch East Indies by force; the Japanese military did not consider the former an option, and many officers considered the oil embargo an unspoken declaration of war.Japan planned to seize European colonies in Asia to create a large defensive perimeter stretching into the Central Pacific. The Japanese would then be free to exploit the resources of Southeast Asia while exhausting the over-stretched Allies by fighting a defensive war. To prevent American intervention while securing the perimeter, it was further planned to neutralise the United States Pacific Fleet and the American military presence in the Philippines from the outset. On 7 December 1941 (8 December in Asian time zones), Japan attacked British and American holdings with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific. These included an attack on the American fleets at Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, landings in Malaya, Thailand and the Battle of Hong Kong.The Japanese invasion of Thailand led to Thailand's decision to ally itself with Japan and the other Japanese attacks led the United States, United Kingdom, China, Australia, and several other states to formally declare war on Japan, whereas the Soviet Union, being heavily involved in large-scale hostilities with European Axis countries, maintained its neutrality agreement with Japan. Germany, followed by the other Axis states, declared war on the United States in solidarity with Japan, citing as justification the American attacks on German war vessels that had been ordered by Roosevelt. Axis advance stalls (1942–43) On 1 January 1942, the Allied Big Four—the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom and the United States—and 22 smaller or exiled governments issued the Declaration by United Nations, thereby affirming the Atlantic Charter, and agreeing not to sign a separate peace with the Axis powers.During 1942, Allied officials debated on the appropriate grand strategy to pursue. All agreed that defeating Germany was the primary objective. The Americans favoured a straightforward, large-scale attack on Germany through France. The Soviets were also demanding a second front. The British, on the other hand, argued that military operations should target peripheral areas to wear out German strength, leading to increasing demoralisation, and bolster resistance forces. Germany itself would be subject to a heavy bombing campaign. An offensive against Germany would then be launched primarily by Allied armour without using large-scale armies. Eventually, the British persuaded the Americans that a landing in France was infeasible in 1942 and they should instead focus on driving the Axis out of North Africa.At the Casablanca Conference in early 1943, the Allies reiterated the statements issued in the 1942 Declaration and demanded the unconditional surrender of their enemies. The British and Americans agreed to continue to press the initiative in the Mediterranean by invading Sicily to fully secure the Mediterranean supply routes. Although the British argued for further operations in the Balkans to bring Turkey into the war, in May 1943, the Americans extracted a British commitment to limit Allied operations in the Mediterranean to an invasion of the Italian mainland and to invade France in 1944. Pacific (1942–43) By the end of April 1942, Japan and its ally Thailand had almost fully conquered Burma, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, and Rabaul, inflicting severe losses on Allied troops and taking a large number of prisoners. Despite stubborn resistance by Filipino and US forces, the Philippine Commonwealth was eventually captured in May 1942, forcing its government into exile. On 16 April, in Burma, 7,000 British soldiers were encircled by the Japanese 33rd Division during the Battle of Yenangyaung and rescued by the Chinese 38th Division. Japanese forces also achieved naval victories in the South China Sea, Java Sea and Indian Ocean, and bombed the Allied naval base at Darwin, Australia. In January 1942, the only Allied success against Japan was a Chinese victory at Changsha. These easy victories over the unprepared US and European opponents left Japan overconfident, as well as overextended.In early May 1942, Japan initiated operations to capture Port Moresby by amphibious assault and thus sever communications and supply lines between the United States and Australia. The planned invasion was thwarted when an Allied task force, centred on two American fleet carriers, fought Japanese naval forces to a draw in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Japan's next plan, motivated by the earlier Doolittle Raid, was to seize Midway Atoll and lure American carriers into battle to be eliminated; as a diversion, Japan would also send forces to occupy the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. In mid-May, Japan started the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign in China, with the goal of inflicting retribution on the Chinese who aided the surviving American airmen in the Doolittle Raid by destroying Chinese air bases and fighting against the Chinese 23rd and 32nd Army Groups. In early June, Japan put its operations into action, but the Americans, having broken Japanese naval codes in late May, were fully aware of the plans and order of battle, and used this knowledge to achieve a decisive victory at Midway over the Imperial Japanese Navy. With its capacity for aggressive action greatly diminished as a result of the Midway battle, Japan chose to focus on a belated attempt to capture Port Moresby by an overland campaign in the Territory of Papua. The Americans planned a counter-attack against Japanese positions in the southern Solomon Islands, primarily Guadalcanal, as a first step towards capturing Rabaul, the main Japanese base in Southeast Asia.Both plans started in July, but by mid-September, the Battle for Guadalcanal took priority for the Japanese, and troops in New Guinea were ordered to withdraw from the Port Moresby area to the northern part of the island, where they faced Australian and United States troops in the Battle of Buna–Gona. Guadalcanal soon became a focal point for both sides with heavy commitments of troops and ships in the battle for Guadalcanal. By the start of 1943, the Japanese were defeated on the island and withdrew their troops. In Burma, Commonwealth forces mounted two operations. The first, an offensive into the Arakan region in late 1942, went disastrously, forcing a retreat back to India by May 1943. The second was the insertion of irregular forces behind Japanese front-lines in February which, by the end of April, had achieved mixed results. Eastern Front (1942–43) Despite considerable losses, in early 1942 Germany and its allies stopped a major Soviet offensive in central and southern Russia, keeping most territorial gains they had achieved during the previous year. In May, the Germans defeated Soviet offensives in the Kerch Peninsula and at Kharkov, and then launched their main summer offensive against southern Russia in June 1942, to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus and occupy the Kuban steppe, while maintaining positions on the northern and central areas of the front. The Germans split Army Group South into two groups: Army Group A advanced to the lower Don River and struck south-east to the Caucasus, while Army Group B headed towards the Volga River. The Soviets decided to make their stand at Stalingrad on the Volga.By mid-November, the Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad in bitter street fighting. The Soviets began their second winter counter-offensive, starting with an encirclement of German forces at Stalingrad, and an assault on the Rzhev salient near Moscow, though the latter failed disastrously. By early February 1943, the German Army had taken tremendous losses; German troops at Stalingrad had been defeated, and the front-line had been pushed back beyond its position before the summer offensive. In mid-February, after the Soviet push had tapered off, the Germans launched another attack on Kharkov, creating a salient in their front line around the Soviet city of Kursk. Western Europe/Atlantic and Mediterranean (1942–43) Exploiting poor American naval command decisions, the German navy ravaged Allied shipping off the American Atlantic coast. By November 1941, Commonwealth forces had launched a counter-offensive, Operation Crusader, in North Africa, and reclaimed all the gains the Germans and Italians had made. In North Africa, the Germans launched an offensive in January, pushing the British back to positions at the Gazala line by early February, followed by a temporary lull in combat which Germany used to prepare for their upcoming offensives. Concerns the Japanese might use bases in Vichy-held Madagascar caused the British to invade the island in early May 1942. An Axis offensive in Libya forced an Allied retreat deep inside Egypt until Axis forces were stopped at El Alamein. On the Continent, raids of Allied commandos on strategic targets, culminating in the disastrous Dieppe Raid, demonstrated the Western Allies' inability to launch an invasion of continental Europe without much better preparation, equipment, and operational security.In August 1942, the Allies succeeded in repelling a second attack against El Alamein and, at a high cost, managed to deliver desperately needed supplies to the besieged Malta. A few months later, the Allies commenced an attack of their own in Egypt, dislodging the Axis forces and beginning a drive west across Libya. This attack was followed up shortly after by Anglo-American landings in French North Africa, which resulted in the region joining the Allies. Hitler responded to the French colony's defection by ordering the occupation of Vichy France; although Vichy forces did not resist this violation of the armistice, they managed to scuttle their fleet to prevent its capture by German forces. The Axis forces in Africa withdrew into Tunisia, which was conquered by the Allies in May 1943.In June 1943, the British and Americans began a strategic bombing campaign against Germany with a goal to disrupt the war economy, reduce morale, and "de-house" the civilian population. The firebombing of Hamburg was among the first attacks in this campaign, inflicting significant casualties and considerable losses on infrastructure of this important industrial centre. Allies gain momentum (1943–44) After the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Allies initiated several operations against Japan in the Pacific. In May 1943, Canadian and US forces were sent to eliminate Japanese forces from the Aleutians. Soon after, the United States, with support from Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islander forces, began major ground, sea and air operations to isolate Rabaul by capturing surrounding islands, and breach the Japanese Central Pacific perimeter at the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. By the end of March 1944, the Allies had completed both of these objectives and had also neutralised the major Japanese base at Truk in the Caroline Islands. In April, the Allies launched an operation to retake Western New Guinea.In the Soviet Union, both the Germans and the Soviets spent the spring and early summer of 1943 preparing for large offensives in central Russia. On 5 July 1943, Germany attacked Soviet forces around the Kursk Bulge. Within a week, German forces had exhausted themselves against the Soviets' deeply echeloned and well-constructed defences, and for the first time in the war, Hitler cancelled an operation before it had achieved tactical or operational success. This decision was partially affected by the Western Allies' invasion of Sicily launched on 9 July, which, combined with previous Italian failures, resulted in the ousting and arrest of Mussolini later that month. On 12 July 1943, the Soviets launched their own counter-offensives, thereby dispelling any chance of German victory or even stalemate in the east. The Soviet victory at Kursk marked the end of German superiority, giving the Soviet Union the initiative on the Eastern Front. The Germans tried to stabilise their eastern front along the hastily fortified Panther–Wotan line, but the Soviets broke through it at Smolensk and by the Lower Dnieper Offensive.On 3 September 1943, the Western Allies invaded the Italian mainland, following Italy's armistice with the Allies and the ensuing German occupation of Italy. Germany, with the help of fascists, responded to the Armistice by disarming Italian forces that were in many places without superior orders, seizing military control of Italian areas, and creating a series of defensive lines. German special forces then rescued Mussolini, who then soon established a new client state in German-occupied Italy named the Italian Social Republic, causing an Italian civil war. The Western Allies fought through several lines until reaching the main German defensive line in mid-November.German operations in the Atlantic also suffered. By May 1943, as Allied counter-measures became increasingly effective, the resulting sizeable German submarine losses forced a temporary halt of the German Atlantic naval campaign. In November 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met with Chiang Kai-shek in Cairo and then with Joseph Stalin in Tehran. The former conference determined the post-war return of Japanese territory and the military planning for the Burma campaign, while the latter included agreement that the Western Allies would invade Europe in 1944 and that the Soviet Union would declare war on Japan within three months of Germany's defeat. From November 1943, during the seven-week Battle of Changde, the Chinese forced Japan to fight a costly war of attrition, while awaiting Allied relief. In January 1944, the Allies launched a series of attacks in Italy against the line at Monte Cassino and tried to outflank it with landings at Anzio.On 27 January 1944, Soviet troops launched a major offensive that expelled German forces from the Leningrad region, thereby ending the most lethal siege in history. The following Soviet offensive was halted on the pre-war Estonian border by the German Army Group North aided by Estonians hoping to re-establish national independence. This delay slowed subsequent Soviet operations in the Baltic Sea region. By late May 1944, the Soviets had liberated Crimea, largely expelled Axis forces from Ukraine, and made incursions into Romania, which were repulsed by the Axis troops. The Allied offensives in Italy had succeeded and, at the expense of allowing several German divisions to retreat, on 4 June Rome was captured.The Allies had mixed success in mainland Asia. In March 1944, the Japanese launched the first of two invasions, an operation against Allied positions in Assam, India, and soon besieged Commonwealth positions at Imphal and Kohima. In May 1944, British and Indian forces mounted a counter-offensive that drove Japanese troops back to Burma by July, and Chinese forces that had invaded northern Burma in late 1943 besieged Japanese troops in Myitkyina. The second Japanese invasion of China aimed to destroy China's main fighting forces, secure railways between Japanese-held territory and capture Allied airfields. By June, the Japanese had conquered the province of Henan and begun a new attack on Changsha. Allies close in (1944) On 6 June 1944 (known as D-Day), after three years of Soviet pressure, the Western Allies invaded northern France. After reassigning several Allied divisions from Italy, they also attacked southern France. These landings were successful and led to the defeat of the German Army units in France. Paris was liberated on 25 August by the local resistance assisted by the Free French Forces, both led by General Charles de Gaulle, and the Western Allies continued to push back German forces in western Europe during the latter part of the year. An attempt to advance into northern Germany spearheaded by a major airborne operation in the Netherlands failed. After that, the Western Allies slowly pushed into Germany, but failed to cross the Rur river in a large offensive. In Italy, Allied advance also slowed due to the last major German defensive line. On 22 June, the Soviets launched a strategic offensive in Belarus ("Operation Bagration") that almost completely destroyed the German Army Group Centre. Soon after that, another Soviet strategic offensive forced German troops from Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland. The Soviets formed the Polish Committee of National Liberation to control territory in Poland and combat the Polish Armia Krajowa; the Soviet Red Army remained in the Praga district on the other side of the Vistula and watched passively as the Germans quelled the Warsaw Uprising initiated by the Armia Krajowa. The national uprising in Slovakia was also quelled by the Germans. The Soviet Red Army's strategic offensive in eastern Romania cut off and destroyed the considerable German troops there and triggered a successful coup d'état in Romania and in Bulgaria, followed by those countries' shift to the Allied side.In September 1944, Soviet troops advanced into Yugoslavia and forced the rapid withdrawal of German Army Groups E and F in Greece, Albania and Yugoslavia to rescue them from being cut off. By this point, the Communist-led Partisans under Marshal Josip Broz Tito, who had led an increasingly successful guerrilla campaign against the occupation since 1941, controlled much of the territory of Yugoslavia and engaged in delaying efforts against German forces further south. In northern Serbia, the Soviet Red Army, with limited support from Bulgarian forces, assisted the Partisans in a joint liberation of the capital city of Belgrade on 20 October. A few days later, the Soviets launched a massive assault against German-occupied Hungary that lasted until the fall of Budapest in February 1945. Unlike impressive Soviet victories in the Balkans, bitter Finnish resistance to the Soviet offensive in the Karelian Isthmus denied the Soviets occupation of Finland and led to a Soviet-Finnish armistice on relatively mild conditions, although Finland was forced to fight their former ally Germany. By the start of July 1944, Commonwealth forces in Southeast Asia had repelled the Japanese sieges in Assam, pushing the Japanese back to the Chindwin River while the Chinese captured Myitkyina. In September 1944, Chinese forces captured Mount Song and reopened the Burma Road. In China, the Japanese had more successes, having finally captured Changsha in mid-June and the city of Hengyang by early August. Soon after, they invaded the province of Guangxi, winning major engagements against Chinese forces at Guilin and Liuzhou by the end of November and successfully linking up their forces in China and Indochina by mid-December.In the Pacific, US forces continued to press back the Japanese perimeter. In mid-June 1944, they began their offensive against the Mariana and Palau islands and decisively defeated Japanese forces in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. These defeats led to the resignation of the Japanese Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo, and provided the United States with air bases to launch intensive heavy bomber attacks on the Japanese home islands. In late October, American forces invaded the Filipino island of Leyte; soon after, Allied naval forces scored another large victory in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history. Axis collapse and Allied victory (1944–45) On 16 December 1944, Germany made a last attempt on the Western Front by using most of its remaining reserves to launch a massive counter-offensive in the Ardennes and along the French-German border to split the Western Allies, encircle large portions of Western Allied troops and capture their primary supply port at Antwerp to prompt a political settlement. By 16 January 1945, the offensive had been repulsed with no strategic objectives fulfilled. In Italy, the Western Allies remained stalemated at the German defensive line. In mid-January 1945, the Red Army attacked in Poland, pushing from the Vistula to the Oder river in Germany, and overran East Prussia. On 4 February Soviet, British, and US leaders met for the Yalta Conference. They agreed on the occupation of post-war Germany, and on when the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan.In February, the Soviets entered Silesia and Pomerania, while Western Allies entered western Germany and closed to the Rhine river. By March, the Western Allies crossed the Rhine north and south of the Ruhr, encircling the German Army Group B. In early March, in an attempt to protect its last oil reserves in Hungary and to retake Budapest, Germany launched its last major offensive against Soviet troops near Lake Balaton. In two weeks, the offensive had been repulsed, the Soviets advanced to Vienna, and captured the city. In early April, Soviet troops captured Königsberg, while the Western Allies finally pushed forward in Italy and swept across western Germany capturing Hamburg and Nuremberg. American and Soviet forces met at the Elbe river on 25 April, leaving several unoccupied pockets in southern Germany and around Berlin. Soviet troops stormed and captured Berlin in late April. In Italy, German forces surrendered on 29 April. On 30 April, the Reichstag was captured, signalling the military defeat of Nazi Germany, and the Berlin garrison surrendered on 2 May. Major changes in leadership occurred on both sides during this period. On 12 April, President Roosevelt died and was succeeded by his vice president, Harry S. Truman. Benito Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on 28 April. On 30 April, Hitler committed suicide in his headquarters, and he was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and Joseph Goebbels. Total and unconditional surrender in Europe was signed on 7 and 8 May, to be effective by the end of 8 May. German Army Group Centre resisted in Prague until 11 May.In the Pacific theatre, American forces accompanied by the forces of the Philippine Commonwealth advanced in the Philippines, clearing Leyte by the end of April 1945. They landed on Luzon in January 1945 and recaptured Manila in March. Fighting continued on Luzon, Mindanao, and other islands of the Philippines until the end of the war. Meanwhile, the United States Army Air Forces launched a massive firebombing campaign of strategic cities in Japan in an effort to destroy Japanese war industry and civilian morale. A devastating bombing raid on Tokyo of 9–10 March was the deadliest conventional bombing raid in history. In May 1945, Australian troops landed in Borneo, overrunning the oilfields there. British, American, and Chinese forces defeated the Japanese in northern Burma in March, and the British pushed on to reach Rangoon by 3 May. Chinese forces started a counterattack in the Battle of West Hunan that occurred between 6 April and 7 June 1945. American naval and amphibious forces also moved towards Japan, taking Iwo Jima by March, and Okinawa by the end of June. At the same time, a naval blockade by submarines was strangling Japan's economy and drastically reducing its ability to supply overseas forces.On 11 July, Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany. They confirmed earlier agreements about Germany, and the American, British and Chinese governments reiterated the demand for unconditional surrender of Japan, specifically stating that "the alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction". During this conference, the United Kingdom held its general election, and Clement Attlee replaced Churchill as Prime Minister.The call for unconditional surrender was rejected by the Japanese government, which believed it would be capable of negotiating for more favourable surrender terms. In early August, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Between the two bombings, the Soviets, pursuant to the Yalta agreement, invaded Japanese-held Manchuria and quickly defeated the Kwantung Army, which was the largest Japanese fighting force. These two events persuaded previously adamant Imperial Army leaders to accept surrender terms. The Red Army also captured the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. On the night of 9–10 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his decision to accept the terms demanded by the Allies in the Potsdam Declaration. On 15 August, the Emperor communicated this decision to the Japanese people through a speech broadcast on the radio ("Gyokuon-hōsō", literally "broadcast in the Emperor's voice"). On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered, with the surrender documents finally signed at Tokyo Bay on the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri on 2 September 1945, ending the war. Aftermath The Allies established occupation administrations in Austria and Germany, both initially divided between western and eastern occupation zones controlled by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, respectively. However, their paths soon diverged. In Germany, the western and eastern occupation zones controlled by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union officially ended in 1949, with the respective zones becoming separate countries, West Germany and East Germany. However, in Austria occupation continued until 1955, when a joint settlement between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union permitted the reunification of Austria as a neutral democratic state, officially non-aligned with any political bloc (although in practice having better relations with the Western Allies). A denazification program in Germany led to the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in the Nuremberg trials and the removal of ex-Nazis from power, although this policy moved towards amnesty and re-integration of ex-Nazis into West German society.Germany lost a quarter of its pre-war (1937) territory. Among the eastern territories, Silesia, Neumark and most of Pomerania were taken over by Poland, and East Prussia was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union, followed by the expulsion to Germany of the nine million Germans from these provinces, as well as three million Germans from the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. By the 1950s, one-fifth of West Germans were refugees from the east. The Soviet Union also took over the Polish provinces east of the Curzon line, from which 2 million Poles were expelled; north-east Romania, parts of eastern Finland, and the three Baltic states were incorporated into the Soviet Union. In an effort to maintain world peace, the Allies formed the United Nations, which officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as a common standard for all member nations. The great powers that were the victors of the war—France, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States—became the permanent members of the UN's Security Council. The five permanent members remain so to the present, although there have been two seat changes, between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China in 1971, and between the Soviet Union and its successor state, the Russian Federation, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had begun to deteriorate even before the war was over. Germany had been de facto divided, and two independent states, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), were created within the borders of Allied and Soviet occupation zones. The rest of Europe was also divided into Western and Soviet spheres of influence. Most eastern and central European countries fell into the Soviet sphere, which led to establishment of Communist-led regimes, with full or partial support of the Soviet occupation authorities. As a result, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Albania became Soviet satellite states. Communist Yugoslavia conducted a fully independent policy, causing tension with the Soviet Union.Post-war division of the world was formalised by two international military alliances, the United States-led NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The long period of political tensions and military competition between them, the Cold War, would be accompanied by an unprecedented arms race and number of proxy wars throughout the world.In Asia, the United States led the occupation of Japan and administered Japan's former islands in the Western Pacific, while the Soviets annexed South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Korea, formerly under Japanese rule, was divided and occupied by the Soviet Union in the North and the United States in the South between 1945 and 1948. Separate republics emerged on both sides of the 38th parallel in 1948, each claiming to be the legitimate government for all of Korea, which led ultimately to the Korean War. In China, nationalist and communist forces resumed the civil war in June 1946. Communist forces were victorious and established the People's Republic of China on the mainland, while nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan in 1949. In the Middle East, the Arab rejection of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine and the creation of Israel marked the escalation of the Arab–Israeli conflict. While European powers attempted to retain some or all of their colonial empires, their losses of prestige and resources during the war rendered this unsuccessful, leading to decolonisation.The global economy suffered heavily from the war, although participating nations were affected differently. The United States emerged much richer than any other nation, leading to a baby boom, and by 1950 its gross domestic product per person was much higher than that of any of the other powers, and it dominated the world economy. The Allied occupational authorites pursued a policy of industrial disarmament in Western Germany from 1945 to 1948. Due to international trade interdependencies, this policy led to an economic stagnation in Europe and delayed European recovery from the war for several years.At the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944, the Allied nations drew up an economic framework for the post-war world. The agreement created the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The Bretton Woods system lasted until 1973. Recovery began with the mid-1948 currency reform in Western Germany, and was sped up by the liberalisation of European economic policy that the Marshall Plan (1948–1951) both directly and indirectly caused. The post-1948 West German recovery has been called the German economic miracle. Italy also experienced an economic boom and the French economy rebounded. By contrast, the United Kingdom was in a state of economic ruin, and although receiving a quarter of the total Marshall Plan assistance, more than any other European country, it continued in relative economic decline for decades. The Soviet Union, despite enormous human and material losses, also experienced rapid increase in production in the immediate post-war era. Japan recovered much later. China returned to its pre-war industrial production by 1952. Impact Casualties and war crimes Estimates for the total number of casualties in the war vary, because many deaths went unrecorded. Most suggest that some 60 million people died in the war, including about 20 million military personnel and 40 million civilians. Many of the civilians died because of deliberate genocide, massacres, mass bombings, disease, and starvation. The Soviet Union alone lost around 27 million people during the war, including 8.7 million military and 19 million civilian deaths. A quarter of the total people in the Soviet Union were wounded or killed. Germany sustained 5.3 million military losses, mostly on the Eastern Front and during the final battles in Germany.An estimated 11 to 17 million civilians died as a direct or as an indirect result of Hitler's racist policies, including mass killing of around 6 million Jews, along with Roma, homosexuals, at least 1.9 million ethnic Poles and millions of other Slavs (including Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians), and other ethnic and minority groups. Between 1941 and 1945, more than 200,000 ethnic Serbs, along with gypsies and Jews, were persecuted and murdered by the Axis-aligned Croatian Ustaše in Yugoslavia. Concurrently, Muslims and Croats were persecuted and killed by Serb nationalist Chetniks, with an estimated 50,000-68,000 victims (of which 41,000 were civilians). Also, more than 100,000 Poles were massacred by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the Volhynia massacres, between 1943 and 1945. At the same time, about 10,000–15,000 Ukrainians were killed by the Polish Home Army and other Polish units, in reprisal attacks. In Asia and the Pacific, the number of people killed by Japanese troops remains contested. According to R.J. Rummel, the Japanese killed between 3 million and more than 10 million people, with the most probable case of almost 6,000,000 people. According to the British historian M. R. D. Foot, civilian deaths are between 10 million and 20 million, whereas Chinese military casualties (killed and wounded) are estimated to be over five million. Other estimates say that up to 30 million people, most of them civilians, were killed. The most infamous Japanese atrocity was the Nanking Massacre, in which fifty to three hundred thousand Chinese civilians were raped and murdered. Mitsuyoshi Himeta reported that 2.7 million casualties occurred during the Sankō Sakusen. General Yasuji Okamura implemented the policy in Heipei and Shantung.Axis forces employed biological and chemical weapons. The Imperial Japanese Army used a variety of such weapons during its invasion and occupation of China (see Unit 731) and in early conflicts against the Soviets. Both the Germans and the Japanese tested such weapons against civilians, and sometimes on prisoners of war.The Soviet Union was responsible for the Katyn massacre of 22,000 Polish officers, and the imprisonment or execution of thousands of political prisoners by the NKVD, along with mass civilian deportations to Siberia, in the Baltic states and eastern Poland annexed by the Red Army.The mass bombing of cities in Europe and Asia has often been called a war crime, although no positive or specific customary international humanitarian law with respect to aerial warfare existed before or during World War II. The USAAF bombed a total of 67 Japanese cities, killing 393,000 civilians, including from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and destroying 65% of built-up areas. Genocide, concentration camps, and slave labour Nazi Germany, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, was responsible for the Holocaust (which killed approximately 6 million Jews) as well as for killing 2.7 million ethnic Poles and 4 million others who were deemed "unworthy of life" (including the disabled and mentally ill, Soviet prisoners of war, Romani, homosexuals, Freemasons, and Jehovah's Witnesses) as part of a program of deliberate extermination, in effect becoming a "genocidal state". Soviet POWs were kept in especially unbearable conditions, and 3.6 million Soviet POWs out of 5.7 million died in Nazi camps during the war. In addition to concentration camps, death camps were created in Nazi Germany to exterminate people on an industrial scale. Nazi Germany extensively used forced labourers; about 12 million Europeans from German-occupied countries were abducted and used as a slave work force in German industry, agriculture and war economy.The Soviet Gulag became a de facto system of deadly camps during 1942–43, when wartime privation and hunger caused numerous deaths of inmates, including foreign citizens of Poland and other countries occupied in 1939–40 by the Soviet Union, as well as Axis POWs. By the end of the war, most Soviet POWs liberated from Nazi camps and many repatriated civilians were detained in special filtration camps where they were subjected to NKVD evaluation, and 226,127 were sent to the Gulag as real or perceived Nazi collaborators. Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, many of which were used as labour camps, also had high death rates. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East found the death rate of Western prisoners was 27 per cent (for American POWs, 37 per cent), seven times that of POWs under the Germans and Italians. While 37,583 prisoners from the UK, 28,500 from the Netherlands, and 14,473 from the United States were released after the surrender of Japan, the number of Chinese released was only 56.At least five million Chinese civilians from northern China and Manchukuo were enslaved between 1935 and 1941 by the East Asia Development Board, or Kōain, for work in mines and war industries. After 1942, the number reached 10 million. In Java, between 4 and 10 million rōmusha (Japanese: "manual labourers"), were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese labourers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in Southeast Asia, and only 52,000 were repatriated to Java. Occupation In Europe, occupation came under two forms. In Western, Northern, and Central Europe (France, Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries, and the annexed portions of Czechoslovakia) Germany established economic policies through which it collected roughly 69.5 billion reichsmarks (27.8 billion US dollars) by the end of the war; this figure does not include the sizeable plunder of industrial products, military equipment, raw materials and other goods. Thus, the income from occupied nations was over 40 percent of the income Germany collected from taxation, a figure which increased to nearly 40 percent of total German income as the war went on. In the East, the intended gains of Lebensraum were never attained as fluctuating front-lines and Soviet scorched earth policies denied resources to the German invaders. Unlike in the West, the Nazi racial policy encouraged extreme brutality against what it considered to be the "inferior people" of Slavic descent; most German advances were thus followed by mass executions. Although resistance groups formed in most occupied territories, they did not significantly hamper German operations in either the East or the West until late 1943. In Asia, Japan termed nations under its occupation as being part of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, essentially a Japanese hegemony which it claimed was for purposes of liberating colonised peoples. Although Japanese forces were sometimes welcomed as liberators from European domination, Japanese war crimes frequently turned local public opinion against them. During Japan's initial conquest, it captured 4,000,000 barrels (640,000 m3) of oil (~550,000 tonnes) left behind by retreating Allied forces; and by 1943, was able to get production in the Dutch East Indies up to 50 million barrels (7,900,000 m3) of oil (~6.8 million tonnes), 76 per cent of its 1940 output rate. Home fronts and production In Europe, before the outbreak of the war, the Allies had significant advantages in both population and economics. In 1938, the Western Allies (United Kingdom, France, Poland and the British Dominions) had a 30 percent larger population and a 30 percent higher gross domestic product than the European Axis powers (Germany and Italy); if colonies are included, the Allies had more than a 5:1 advantage in population and a nearly 2:1 advantage in GDP. In Asia at the same time, China had roughly six times the population of Japan but only an 89 percent higher GDP; this is reduced to three times the population and only a 38 percent higher GDP if Japanese colonies are included.The United States produced about two-thirds of all the munitions used by the Allies in World War II, including warships, transports, warplanes, artillery, tanks, trucks, and ammunition. Though the Allies' economic and population advantages were largely mitigated during the initial rapid blitzkrieg attacks of Germany and Japan, they became the decisive factor by 1942, after the United States and Soviet Union joined the Allies, as the war largely settled into one of attrition. While the Allies' ability to out-produce the Axis is often attributed to the Allies having more access to natural resources, other factors, such as Germany and Japan's reluctance to employ women in the labour force, Allied strategic bombing, and Germany's late shift to a war economy contributed significantly. Additionally, neither Germany nor Japan planned to fight a protracted war, and had not equipped themselves to do so. To improve their production, Germany and Japan used millions of slave labourers; Germany used about 12 million people, mostly from Eastern Europe, while Japan used more than 18 million people in Far East Asia. Advances in technology and warfare Aircraft were used for reconnaissance, as fighters, bombers, and ground-support, and each role was advanced considerably. Innovation included airlift (the capability to quickly move limited high-priority supplies, equipment, and personnel); and of strategic bombing (the bombing of enemy industrial and population centres to destroy the enemy's ability to wage war). Anti-aircraft weaponry also advanced, including defences such as radar and surface-to-air artillery. The use of the jet aircraft was pioneered and, though late introduction meant it had little impact, it led to jets becoming standard in air forces worldwide. Although guided missiles were being developed, they were not advanced enough to reliably target aircraft until some years after the war. Advances were made in nearly every aspect of naval warfare, most notably with aircraft carriers and submarines. Although aeronautical warfare had relatively little success at the start of the war, actions at Taranto, Pearl Harbor, and the Coral Sea established the carrier as the dominant capital ship in place of the battleship. In the Atlantic, escort carriers proved to be a vital part of Allied convoys, increasing the effective protection radius and helping to close the Mid-Atlantic gap. Carriers were also more economical than battleships because of the relatively low cost of aircraft and their not requiring to be as heavily armoured. Submarines, which had proved to be an effective weapon during the First World War, were anticipated by all sides to be important in the second. The British focused development on anti-submarine weaponry and tactics, such as sonar and convoys, while Germany focused on improving its offensive capability, with designs such as the Type VII submarine and wolfpack tactics. Gradually, improving Allied technologies such as the Leigh light, hedgehog, squid, and homing torpedoes proved victorious over the German submarines. Land warfare changed from the static front lines of trench warfare of World War I, which had relied on improved artillery that outmatched the speed of both infantry and cavalry, to increased mobility and combined arms. The tank, which had been used predominantly for infantry support in the First World War, had evolved into the primary weapon. In the late 1930s, tank design was considerably more advanced than it had been during World War I, and advances continued throughout the war with increases in speed, armour and firepower. At the start of the war, most commanders thought enemy tanks should be met by tanks with superior specifications. This idea was challenged by the poor performance of the relatively light early tank guns against armour, and German doctrine of avoiding tank-versus-tank combat. This, along with Germany's use of combined arms, were among the key elements of their highly successful blitzkrieg tactics across Poland and France. Many means of destroying tanks, including indirect artillery, anti-tank guns (both towed and self-propelled), mines, short-ranged infantry antitank weapons, and other tanks were used. Even with large-scale mechanisation, infantry remained the backbone of all forces, and throughout the war, most infantry were equipped similarly to World War I. The portable machine gun spread, a notable example being the German MG 34, and various submachine guns which were suited to close combat in urban and jungle settings. The assault rifle, a late war development incorporating many features of the rifle and submachine gun, became the standard post-war infantry weapon for most armed forces. Most major belligerents attempted to solve the problems of complexity and security involved in using large codebooks for cryptography by designing ciphering machines, the most well known being the German Enigma machine. Development of SIGINT (signals intelligence) and cryptanalysis enabled the countering process of decryption. Notable examples were the Allied decryption of Japanese naval codes and British Ultra, a pioneering method for decoding Enigma benefiting from information given to the United Kingdom by the Polish Cipher Bureau, which had been decoding early versions of Enigma before the war. Another aspect of military intelligence was the use of deception, which the Allies used to great effect, such as in operations Mincemeat and Bodyguard.Other technological and engineering feats achieved during, or as a result of, the war include the world's first programmable computers (Z3, Colossus, and ENIAC), guided missiles and modern rockets, the Manhattan Project's development of nuclear weapons, operations research and the development of artificial harbours and oil pipelines under the English Channel. Penicillin was first mass-produced and used during the war (see Stabilization and mass production of penicillin). See also Lists of World War II topics Outline of World War II Lists of World War II military equipment Notes Citations References External links West Point Maps of the European War West Point Maps of the Asian-Pacific War Atlas of the World Battle Fronts (July 1943 to August 1945) Records of World War II propaganda posters are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Maps of World War II in Europe at OmniatlasVictorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era that the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society. Famous novelists from this period include Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, the three Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling. While the Romantic period was a time of abstract expression and inward focus, essayists, poets, and novelists during the Victorian era began to direct their attention toward social issues. Writers such as Thomas Carlyle called attention to the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution and what Carlyle called the "Mechanical Age". This awareness inspired the subject matter of other authors, like poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning and novelists Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. Barrett's works on child labor cemented her success in a male-dominated world where women writers often had to use masculine pseudonyms. Dickens employed humor and an approachable tone while addressing social problems such as wealth disparity. Hardy used his novels to question religion and social structures.Poetry and theatre were also present during the Victorian era. Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson were Victorian England's most famous poets. With regard to the theatre it was not until the last decades of the 19th century that any significant works were produced. Notable playwrights of the time include Gilbert and Sullivan, George Bernard Shaw, and Oscar Wilde. Prose fiction Charles Dickens is the most famous Victorian novelist. With a focus on strong characterization, Dickens became extraordinarily popular in his day and remains one of the most popular and read authors of the world. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836–37) written when he was twenty-five, was an overnight success, and all his subsequent works sold extremely well. The comedy of his first novel has a satirical edge and this pervades his writing. While at the beginning of the 19th century most novels were published in three volumes, monthly serialization was revived with the publication of Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers in twenty parts between April 1836 and November 1837. Demand was high for each episode to introduce some new element, whether it was a plot twist or a new character, so as to maintain the readers' interest. Dickens worked diligently and prolifically to produce the entertaining writing that the public wanted, but also to offer commentary on social problems and the plight of the poor and oppressed. His most important works include Oliver Twist (1837–39), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), A Christmas Carol (1843), Dombey and Son (1846–1848), David Copperfield (1849–50), Bleak House (1852–53), Little Dorrit (1855–1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1860–61). There is a gradual trend in his fiction towards darker themes which mirrors a tendency in much of the writing of the 19th century. William Thackeray was Dickens' great rival in the first half of Queen Victoria's reign. With a similar style but a slightly more detached, acerbic and barbed satirical view of his characters, he also tended to depict a more middle-class society than Dickens did. He is best known for his novel Vanity Fair (1848), subtitled A Novel without a Hero, which is an example of a popular form in Victorian literature: a historical novel in which recent history is depicted. Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë produced notable works of the period, although these were not immediately appreciated by Victorian critics. Wuthering Heights (1847), Emily's only work, is an example of Gothic Romanticism from a woman's point of view, which examines class, myth, and gender. Jane Eyre (1847), by her sister Charlotte, is another major 19th-century novel that has gothic themes. Anne's second novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), written in a realistic rather than romantic style, is mainly considered to be the first sustained feminist novel.Later in this period George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), published The Mill on the Floss in 1860, and in 1872 her most famous work Middlemarch. Like the Brontës she published under a masculine pseudonym. Novelist Thomas Hardy wrote in the later decades of the Victorian era. His most notable works include Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). Renowned for his cynical yet idyllic portrayal of pastoral life in the English countryside, Hardy's work pushed back against widespread urbanization that came to symbolize the Victorian age. Other significant novelists of this era were Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865), Anthony Trollope (1815–1882), George Meredith (1828–1909), and George Gissing (1857–1903). Poetry Robert Browning (1812–1889) and Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892) were notable poets in Victorian England. Thomas Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life, but did not publish a collection until 1898. The poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) was published posthumously in 1918. Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) is also considered an important literary figure of the period, especially his poems and critical writings. Early poetry of W. B. Yeats was also published in Victoria's reign. It was not until the last decades of the 19th century that any significant theatrical works were produced, beginning with Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas of the 1870s, George Bernard Shaw's (1856–1950) plays of the 1890s, and Oscar Wilde's (1854–1900) The Importance of Being Earnest. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning conducted their love affair through verse and produced many tender and passionate poems. Both Matthew Arnold and Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote poems that sit somewhere in between the exultation of nature of the romantic Poetry and the Georgian Poetry of the early 20th century. However, Hopkins's poetry was not published until 1918. Arnold's works anticipate some of the themes of these later poets, while Hopkins drew inspiration from verse forms of Old English poetry such as Beowulf. The reclaiming of the past was a major part of Victorian literature with an interest in both classical literature and also medieval literature of England. This movement can be traced back to Letitia Elizabeth Landon, especially her poetry collections, such as The Troubadour. and The Golden Violet with its Tales of Romance and Chivalry.. The Victorians loved the heroic, chivalrous stories of knights of old and they hoped to regain some of that noble, courtly behavior and impress it upon the people both at home and in the wider empire. The best example of this is Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King, which blended the stories of King Arthur, particularly those by Thomas Malory, with contemporary concerns and ideas. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood also drew on myth and folklore for their art, with Dante Gabriel Rossetti contemporaneously regarded as the chief poet amongst them, although his sister Christina is now held by scholars to be a stronger poet. Drama In drama, farces, musical burlesques, extravaganzas and comic operas competed with Shakespeare productions and serious drama by the likes of James Planché and Thomas William Robertson. In 1855, the German Reed Entertainments began a process of elevating the level of (formerly risqué) musical theatre in Britain that culminated in the famous series of comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan and were followed by the 1890s with the first Edwardian musical comedies. The first play to achieve 500 consecutive performances was the London comedy Our Boys by H. J. Byron, opening in 1875. Its astonishing new record of 1,362 performances was bested in 1892 by Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. After W. S. Gilbert, Oscar Wilde became the leading poet and dramatist of the late Victorian period. Wilde's plays, in particular, stand apart from the many now-forgotten plays of Victorian times and have a closer relationship to those of the Edwardian dramatists such as George Bernard Shaw, whose career began in the 1890s. Wilde's 1895 comic masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, was the greatest of the plays in which he held an ironic mirror to the aristocracy while displaying virtuosic mastery of wit and paradoxical wisdom. It has remained extremely popular. Children's literature The Victorians are credited with "inventing childhood", partly via their efforts to stop child labor and the introduction of compulsory education. As children began to be able to read, literature for young people became a growth industry, with not only established writers producing works for children (such as Dickens' A Child's History of England) but also a new group of dedicated children's authors. Writers like Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Anna Sewell (Black Beauty), and R. M. Ballantyne (The Coral Island) wrote mainly for children, although they had an adult following. Other authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island) and Anthony Hope (The Prisoner of Zenda) wrote mainly for adults, but their adventure novels are now generally classified as for children. Other genres include nonsense verse, poetry which required a childlike interest (e.g. Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"). School stories flourished: Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's Schooldays and Kipling's Stalky & Co. are classics. Rarely were these publications designed to capture a child’s pleasure; however, with the increase in the use of illustrations, children began to enjoy literature and were able to learn morals in a more entertaining way. With the newfound acceptance of reading for pleasure, fairy tales and folk tales became popular. Compiling folk tales by many authors with different topics made it possible for children to read literature about many topics which interested them. There were different types of books and magazines written for boys and girls. Girls' stories tended to be domestic and to focus on family life, whereas boys' stories were more about adventures. Nonfiction Science, philosophy, and discovery The Victorian era was an important time for the development of science and the Victorians had a mission to describe and classify the entire natural world. Much of this writing does not rise to the level of being regarded as literature but one book in particular, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, remains famous. The theory of evolution contained within the work challenged many of the ideas the Victorians had about themselves and their place in the world. Although it took a long time to be widely accepted, it would dramatically change subsequent thoughts and literature. Much of the work of popularizing Darwin's theories was done by his younger contemporary Thomas Henry Huxley, who wrote widely on the subject. A number of other non-fiction works of the era made their mark on the literature of the period. The philosophical writings of John Stuart Mill covered logic, economics, liberty and utilitarianism. The large and influential histories of Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History (1837), and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (1841) permeated political thought at the time. The writings of Thomas Babington Macaulay on English history helped codify the Whig narrative that dominated the historiography for many years. John Ruskin wrote a number of highly influential works on art and the history of art and championed such contemporary figures as J. M. W. Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites. The religious writer John Henry Newman's Oxford Movement aroused intense debate within the Church of England, exacerbated by Newman's own conversion to Catholicism, which he wrote about in his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua. A number of monumental references works were published in this era, most notably the Oxford English Dictionary which would eventually become the most important historical dictionary of the English language. Also published during the later Victorian era was the Dictionary of National Biography and the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Nature writing In the United States, Henry David Thoreau's works and Susan Fenimore Cooper's Rural Hours (1850) were canonical influences on Victorian nature writing. In the UK, Philip Gosse and Sarah Bowdich Lee were two of the most popular nature writers in the early part of the Victorian era. The Illustrated London News, founded in 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper and often published articles and illustrations dealing with nature; in the second half of the 19th century, books, articles, and illustrations on nature became widespread and popular among an increasingly urbanized reading public. Supernatural and fantastic literature The old Gothic tales that came out of the late 19th century are the first examples of the genre of fantasy fiction. These tales often centered on larger-than-life characters such as Sherlock Holmes, famous detective of the times, Sexton Blake, and other fictional characters of the era, such as Dracula, Edward Hyde, The Invisible Man, and many other fictional characters who often had exotic enemies to foil. Spanning the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a particular type of story-writing known as gothic. Gothic literature combines romance and horror in an attempt to thrill and terrify the reader. Possible features in a gothic novel are foreign monsters, ghosts, curses, hidden rooms, and witchcraft. Gothic tales usually take place in locations such as castles, monasteries, and cemeteries, although the gothic monsters sometimes cross over into the real world, making appearances in cities such as London. The influence of Victorian literature Writers from the United States and the British colonies of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada were influenced by the literature of Britain and are often classed as a part of Victorian literature, although they were gradually developing their own distinctive voices. Victorian writers of Canadian literature include Grant Allen, Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill. Australian literature has the poets Adam Lindsay Gordon and Banjo Paterson, who wrote Waltzing Matilda, and New Zealand literature includes Thomas Bracken and Frederick Edward Maning. From the sphere of literature of the United States during this time are some of the country's greats including: Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Henry James, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. The problem with the classification of "Victorian literature" is the great difference between the early works of the period and the later works which had more in common with the writers of the Edwardian period and many writers straddle this divide. People such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, Bram Stoker, H. Rider Haggard, Jerome K. Jerome and Joseph Conrad all wrote some of their important works during Victoria's reign but the sensibility of their writing is frequently regarded as Edwardian. Other Victorian writers See also British literature British regional literature Industrial novel English literature Victorian pessimism Notes Further reading Felluga, Dino Franco, et al. The Encyclopedia of Victorian Literature (2015). Flint, Kate, ed. The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature (2014). Horsman, Alan. The Victorian Novel (Oxford History of English Literature, 1991) Hroncek, Susan. Strange Compositions: Chemistry and its Occult History in Victorian Speculative Fiction (2016) O'Gorman, Francis, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Victorian culture (2010) Roberts, Adam Charles, ed. Victorian culture and society: the essential glossary (2003). Somervell, D. C. English thought in the nineteenth century (1929) online External links The Victorian Web Victorian Literature - Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians at the British Library Victorian Women Writers Project Victorian Studies Bibliography Victorian Links Victorian Short Fiction Project Mostly-Victorian.com – Victorian literature from magazines such as The Strand. Victorian Writers and Poets Victorian Realism, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Philip Davis, A.N. Wilson & Dinah Birch (In Our Time, Nov. 14, 2002) Victorian Pessimism, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Dinah Birch, Rosemary Ashton & Peter Mandler (In Our Time, May 10,)Hinduism () is an Indian religion or dharma, a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit. ''the Eternal Dharma''), a modern usage, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another endonym is Vaidika dharma, the dharma related to the Vedas.Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life; namely, dharma (ethics/duties), artha (prosperity/work), kama (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/freedom from the passions and the cycle of death and rebirth), as well as karma (action, intent and consequences) and saṃsāra (cycle of death and rebirth). Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (Ahiṃsā), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, virtue, and compassion, among others. Hindu practices include worship (puja), fire rituals (homa/havan), recitations (pravachan), devotion (bhakti), chanting (japa), meditation (dhyāna), sacrifice (yajña), charity (dāna), selfless service (sevā), homage to one's ancestors (śrāddha), family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages (yatra). Along with the practice of various yogas, some Hindus leave their social world and material possessions and engage in lifelong Sannyasa (monasticism) in order to achieve moksha.Hindu texts are classified into Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered"), the major scriptures of which are the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Purānas, the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana, and the Āgamas. There are six āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, who recognise the authority of the Vedas, namely Sānkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaisheshika, Mimāmsā and Vedānta. While the Puranic chronology presents a genealogy of thousands of years, starting with the Vedic rishis, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of Brahmanical orthopraxy with various Indian cultures, having diverse roots and no specific founder. This Hindu synthesis emerged after the Vedic period, between c. 500–200 BCE and c. 300 CE, in the period of the Second Urbanisation and the early classical period of Hinduism, when the Epics and the first Purānas were composed. It flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India.Currently, the four major denominations of Hinduism are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and the Smarta tradition. Sources of authority and eternal truths in the Hindu texts play an important role, but there is also a strong Hindu tradition of questioning authority in order to deepen the understanding of these truths and to further develop the tradition. Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in India, Nepal, Mauritius and in Bali, Indonesia. Significant numbers of Hindu communities are found in other countries of South Asia, in Southeast Asia, in the Caribbean, Gulf states, North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa, and other regions. Etymology The word Hindū is derived from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit root Sindhu, believed to be the name of the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.The Proto-Iranian sound change *s > h occurred between 850 and 600 BCE, according to Asko Parpola. According to Gavin Flood, "The actual term Hindu first occurs as a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu)", more specifically in the 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I (550–486 BCE). The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term and did not refer to a religion. Thapar states that the word Hindu is found as heptahindu in Avesta – equivalent to Rigvedic sapta sindhu, while hndstn (pronounced Hindustan) is found in a Sasanian inscription from the 3rd century CE, both of which refer to parts of northwestern South Asia. In Arabic texts, al-Hind referred to the land beyond the Indus and therefore, all the people in that land were Hindus. This Arabic term was itself taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus".Among the earliest known records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by Xuanzang, and 14th-century Persian text Futuhu's-salatin by 'Abd al-Malik Isami. Some 16-18th century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts mention Hindu and Hindu dharma to distinguish from Muslims without positively defining these terms. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The use of the English term "Hinduism" to describe a collection of practices and beliefs is a fairly recent construction. According to Singh, it was first used by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1816–17. According to other authors, the term "Hinduism" was coined in around 1830, and appropriated by those Indians who opposed British colonialism, and who wanted to distinguish themselves from Muslims and Christians. Before the British began to categorise communities strictly by religion, Indians generally did not define themselves exclusively through their religious beliefs; instead identities were largely segmented on the basis of locality, language, varṇa, jāti, occupation, and sect. This the British colonisers did roughly in the 19th century to evolve a common law to facilitate governance. Definitions Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet(s) nor any binding holy book; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. According to Doniger, "ideas about all the major issues of faith and lifestyle – vegetarianism, nonviolence, belief in rebirth, even caste – are subjects of debate, not dogma."Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and "a way of life". From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion. In India, the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the Western term religion.The study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of "Hinduism", has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, and have also been taken over by critics of the Western view on India. Typology Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents. Of the historical division into six darsanas (philosophies), two schools, Vedanta and Yoga, are currently the most prominent. Classified by primary deity or deities, four major Hinduism modern currents are Shaivism (Shiva), Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaktism (Devi) and Smartism (five deities treated as equals). Hinduism also accepts numerous divine beings, with many Hindus considering the deities to be aspects or manifestations of a single impersonal absolute or ultimate reality or God, while some Hindus maintain that a specific deity represents the supreme and various deities are lower manifestations of this supreme. Other notable characteristics include a belief in the existence of ātman (Self), reincarnation of one's ātman, and karma as well as a belief in dharma (duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and right way of living), although variation exists, with some not following these beliefs. McDaniel (2007) classifies Hinduism into six major kinds and numerous minor kinds, in order to understand the expression of emotions among the Hindus. The major kinds, according to McDaniel are Folk Hinduism, based on local traditions and cults of local deities and is the oldest, non-literate system; Vedic Hinduism based on the earliest layers of the Vedas traceable to 2nd millennium BCE; Vedantic Hinduism based on the philosophy of the Upanishads, including Advaita Vedanta, emphasizing knowledge and wisdom; Yogic Hinduism, following the text of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali emphasizing introspective awareness; Dharmic Hinduism or "daily morality", which McDaniel states is stereotyped in some books as the "only form of Hindu religion with a belief in karma, cows and caste"; and bhakti or devotional Hinduism, where intense emotions are elaborately incorporated in the pursuit of the spiritual.Michaels distinguishes three Hindu religions and four forms of Hindu religiosity. The three Hindu religions are "Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism", "folk religions and tribal religions", and "founded religions". The four forms of Hindu religiosity are the classical "karma-marga", jnana-marga, bhakti-marga, and "heroism", which is rooted in militaristic traditions. These militaristic traditions include Ramaism (the worship of a hero of epic literature, Rama, believing him to be an incarnation of Vishnu) and parts of political Hinduism. "Heroism" is also called virya-marga. According to Michaels, one out of nine Hindu belongs by birth to one or both of the Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism and Folk religion typology, whether practicing or non-practicing. He classifies most Hindus as belonging by choice to one of the "founded religions" such as Vaishnavism and Shaivism that are moksha-focussed and often de-emphasize Brahman priestly authority yet incorporate ritual grammar of Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism. He includes among "founded religions" Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism that are now distinct religions, syncretic movements such as Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society, as well as various "Guru-isms" and new religious movements such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and ISKCON.Inden states that the attempt to classify Hinduism by typology started in the imperial times, when proselytizing missionaries and colonial officials sought to understand and portray Hinduism from their interests. Hinduism was construed as emanating not from a reason of spirit but fantasy and creative imagination, not conceptual but symbolical, not ethical but emotive, not rational or spiritual but of cognitive mysticism. This stereotype followed and fit, states Inden, with the imperial imperatives of the era, providing the moral justification for the colonial project. From tribal Animism to Buddhism, everything was subsumed as part of Hinduism. The early reports set the tradition and scholarly premises for the typology of Hinduism, as well as the major assumptions and flawed presuppositions that have been at the foundation of Indology. Hinduism, according to Inden, has been neither what imperial religionists stereotyped it to be, nor is it appropriate to equate Hinduism to be merely the monist pantheism and philosophical idealism of Advaita Vedanta. Hindu views Sanātana Dharma To its adherents, Hinduism is a traditional way of life. Many practitioners refer to the "orthodox" form of Hinduism as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way". Hindus regard Hinduism to be thousands of years old. The Puranic chronology, the timeline of events in ancient Indian history as narrated in the Mahabaratha, the Ramayana, and the Puranas, envisions a chronology of events related to Hinduism starting well before 3000 BCE. The Sanskrit word dharma has a much broader meaning than religion and is not its equivalent. All aspects of a Hindu life, namely acquiring wealth (artha), fulfillment of desires (kama), and attaining liberation (moksha), are part of dharma, which encapsulates the "right way of living" and eternal harmonious principles in their fulfillment.According to the editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Sanātana Dharma historically referred to the "eternal" duties religiously ordained in Hinduism, duties such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (ahiṃsā), purity, goodwill, mercy, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism. These duties applied regardless of a Hindu's class, caste, or sect, and they contrasted with svadharma, one's "own duty", in accordance with one's class or caste (varṇa) and stage in life (puruṣārtha). In recent years, the term has been used by Hindu leaders, reformers, and nationalists to refer to Hinduism. Sanatana dharma has become a synonym for the "eternal" truth and teachings of Hinduism, that transcend history and are "unchanging, indivisible and ultimately nonsectarian".According to other scholars such as Kim Knott and Brian Hatcher, Sanātana Dharma refers to "timeless, eternal set of truths" and this is how Hindus view the origins of their religion. It is viewed as those eternal truths and tradition with origins beyond human history, truths divinely revealed (Shruti) in the Vedas – the most ancient of the world's scriptures. To many Hindus, the Western term "religion" to the extent it means "dogma and an institution traceable to a single founder" is inappropriate for their tradition, states Hatcher. Hinduism, to them, is a tradition that can be traced at least to the ancient Vedic era. Vaidika dharma Some have referred to Hinduism as the Vaidika dharma. The word 'Vaidika' in Sanskrit means 'derived from or conformable to the Veda' or 'relating to the Veda'. Traditional scholars employed the terms Vaidika and Avaidika, those who accept the Vedas as a source of authoritative knowledge and those who do not, to differentiate various Indian schools from Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaka. According to Klaus Klostermaier, the term Vaidika dharma is the earliest self-designation of Hinduism. According to Arvind Sharma, the historical evidence suggests that "the Hindus were referring to their religion by the term vaidika dharma or a variant thereof" by the 4th-century CE. According to Brian K. Smith, "[i]t is 'debatable at the very least' as to whether the term Vaidika Dharma cannot, with the proper concessions to historical, cultural, and ideological specificity, be comparable to and translated as 'Hinduism' or 'Hindu religion'."Whatever the case, many Hindu religious sources see persons or groups which they consider as non-Vedic (and which reject Vedic varṇāśrama - 'caste and life stage' orthodoxy) as being heretics (pāṣaṇḍa/pākhaṇḍa). For example, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, an extremely influential Hindu Puranic source, considers Buddhists, Jains as well as some Shaiva groups like the Paśupatas and Kāpālins to be pāṣaṇḍas (heretics).According to Alexis Sanderson, the early Sanskrit texts differentiate between Vaidika, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Saura, Buddhist and Jaina traditions. However, the late 1st-millennium CE Indic consensus had "indeed come to conceptualize a complex entity corresponding to Hinduism as opposed to Buddhism and Jainism excluding only certain forms of antinomian Shakta-Shaiva" from its fold. Some in the Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy considered the Agamas such as the Pancaratrika to be invalid because it did not conform to the Vedas. Some Kashmiri scholars rejected the esoteric tantric traditions to be a part of Vaidika dharma. The Atimarga Shaivism ascetic tradition, datable to about 500 CE, challenged the Vaidika frame and insisted that their Agamas and practices were not only valid, they were superior than those of the Vaidikas. However, adds Sanderson, this Shaiva ascetic tradition viewed themselves as being genuinely true to the Vedic tradition and "held unanimously that the Śruti and Smṛti of Brahmanism are universally and uniquely valid in their own sphere, [...] and that as such they [Vedas] are man's sole means of valid knowledge [...]".The term Vaidika dharma means a code of practice that is "based on the Vedas", but it is unclear what "based on the Vedas" really implies, states Julius Lipner. The Vaidika dharma or "Vedic way of life", states Lipner, does not mean "Hinduism is necessarily religious" or that Hindus have a universally accepted "conventional or institutional meaning" for that term. To many, it is as much a cultural term. Many Hindus do not have a copy of the Vedas nor have they ever seen or personally read parts of a Veda, like a Christian, might relate to the Bible or a Muslim might to the Quran. Yet, states Lipner, "this does not mean that their [Hindus] whole life's orientation cannot be traced to the Vedas or that it does not in some way derive from it".Though many religious Hindus implicitly acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, this acknowledgment is often "no more than a declaration that someone considers himself [or herself] a Hindu," and "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text." Some Hindus challenge the authority of the Vedas, thereby implicitly acknowledging its importance to the history of Hinduism, states Lipner. Hindu modernism Beginning in the 19th century, Indian modernists re-asserted Hinduism as a major asset of Indian civilisation, meanwhile "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements and elevating the Vedic elements. Western stereotypes were reversed, emphasizing the universal aspects, and introducing modern approaches of social problems. This approach had a great appeal, not only in India, but also in the west. Major representatives of "Hindu modernism" are Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Mahatma Gandhi. Raja Rammohan Roy is known as the father of the Hindu Renaissance. He was a major influence on Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), who, according to Flood, was "a figure of great importance in the development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the West's view of Hinduism". Central to his philosophy is the idea that the divine exists in all beings, that all human beings can achieve union with this "innate divinity", and that seeing this divine as the essence of others will further love and social harmony. According to Vivekananda, there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which underlies the diversity of its many forms. According to Flood, Vivekananda's vision of Hinduism "is one generally accepted by most English-speaking middle-class Hindus today". Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan sought to reconcile western rationalism with Hinduism, "presenting Hinduism as an essentially rationalistic and humanistic religious experience".This "Global Hinduism" has a worldwide appeal, transcending national boundaries and, according to Flood, "becoming a world religion alongside Christianity, Islam and Buddhism", both for the Hindu diaspora communities and for westerners who are attracted to non-western cultures and religions. It emphasizes universal spiritual values such as social justice, peace and "the spiritual transformation of humanity". It has developed partly due to "re-enculturation", or the Pizza effect, in which elements of Hindu culture have been exported to the West, gaining popularity there, and as a consequence also gained greater popularity in India. This globalization of Hindu culture brought "to the West teachings which have become an important cultural force in western societies, and which in turn have become an important cultural force in India, their place of origin". Legal definitions The definition of Hinduism in Indian Law is: "Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence; recognition of the fact that the means or ways to Moksha are diverse; and realization of the truth that the number of gods to be worshipped is large". Scholarly views The term Hinduism was coined in Western ethnography in the 18th century, and refers to the fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis emerged after the Vedic period, between c. 500–200 BCE and c. 300 CE, in the period of the Second Urbanisation and the early classical period of Hinduism, when the Epics and the first Puranas were composed. It flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India. Hinduism's tolerance to variations in belief and its broad range of traditions make it difficult to define as a religion according to traditional Western conceptions.Some academics suggest that Hinduism can be seen as a category with "fuzzy edges" rather than as a well-defined and rigid entity. Some forms of religious expression are central to Hinduism and others, while not as central, still remain within the category. Based on this idea Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi has developed a 'Prototype Theory approach' to the definition of Hinduism. Diversity and unity Diversity Hindu beliefs are vast and diverse, and thus Hinduism is often referred to as a family of religions rather than a single religion. Within each religion in this family of religions, there are different theologies, practices, and sacred texts. Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief encoded in a declaration of faith or a creed", but is rather an umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena of India. According to the Supreme Court of India, Unlike other religions in the World, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does not worship any one God, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not satisfy the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more". Part of the problem with a single definition of the term Hinduism is the fact that Hinduism does not have a founder. It is a synthesis of various traditions, the "Brahmanical orthopraxy, the renouncer traditions and popular or local traditions".Theism is also difficult to use as a unifying doctrine for Hinduism, because while some Hindu philosophies postulate a theistic ontology of creation, other Hindus are or have been atheists. Sense of unity Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity. Most Hindu traditions revere a body of religious or sacred literature, the Vedas, although there are exceptions. These texts are a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus, though Louis Renou stated that "even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat".Halbfass states that, although Shaivism and Vaishnavism may be regarded as "self-contained religious constellations", there is a degree of interaction and reference between the "theoreticians and literary representatives" of each tradition that indicates the presence of "a wider sense of identity, a sense of coherence in a shared context and of inclusion in a common framework and horizon". Classical Hinduism Brahmins played an essential role in the development of the post-Vedic Hindu synthesis, disseminating Vedic culture to local communities, and integrating local religiosity into the trans-regional Brahmanic culture. In the post-Gupta period Vedanta developed in southern India, where orthodox Brahmanic culture and the Hindu culture were preserved, building on ancient Vedic traditions while "accommoda[ting] the multiple demands of Hinduism." Medieval developments The notion of common denominators for several religions and traditions of India further developed from the 12th century CE. Lorenzen traces the emergence of a "family resemblance", and what he calls as "beginnings of medieval and modern Hinduism" taking shape, at c. 300–600 CE, with the development of the early Puranas, and continuities with the earlier Vedic religion. Lorenzen states that the establishment of a Hindu self-identity took place "through a process of mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim Other". According to Lorenzen, this "presence of the Other" is necessary to recognise the "loose family resemblance" among the various traditions and schools.According to the Indologist Alexis Sanderson, before Islam arrived in India, the "Sanskrit sources differentiated Vaidika, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Śākta, Saura, Buddhist, and Jaina traditions, but they had no name that denotes the first five of these as a collective entity over and against Buddhism and Jainism". This absence of a formal name, states Sanderson, does not mean that the corresponding concept of Hinduism did not exist. By late 1st-millennium CE, the concept of a belief and tradition distinct from Buddhism and Jainism had emerged. This complex tradition accepted in its identity almost all of what is currently Hinduism, except certain antinomian tantric movements. Some conservative thinkers of those times questioned whether certain Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta texts or practices were consistent with the Vedas, or were invalid in their entirety. Moderates then, and most orthoprax scholars later, agreed that though there are some variations, the foundation of their beliefs, the ritual grammar, the spiritual premises, and the soteriologies were the same. "This sense of greater unity", states Sanderson, "came to be called Hinduism".According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th centuries "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems' (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy." The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Mikel Burley. Hacker called this "inclusivism" and Michaels speaks of "the identificatory habit". Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus, and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other", which started well before 1800. Michaels notes: As a counteraction to Islamic supremacy and as part of the continuing process of regionalization, two religious innovations developed in the Hindu religions: the formation of sects and a historicization which preceded later nationalism ... [S]aints and sometimes militant sect leaders, such as the Marathi poet Tukaram (1609–1649) and Ramdas (1608–1681), articulated ideas in which they glorified Hinduism and the past. The Brahmins also produced increasingly historical texts, especially eulogies and chronicles of sacred sites (Mahatmyas), or developed a reflexive passion for collecting and compiling extensive collections of quotations on various subjects. Colonial period and neo-Vedanta This inclusivism was further developed in the 19th and 20th centuries by Hindu reform movements and Neo-Vedanta, and has become characteristic of modern Hinduism.The notion and reports on "Hinduism" as a "single world religious tradition" was also popularised by 19th-century proselytizing missionaries and European Indologists, roles sometimes served by the same person, who relied on texts preserved by Brahmins (priests) for their information of Indian religions, and animist observations that the missionary Orientalists presumed was Hinduism. These reports influenced perceptions about Hinduism. Scholars such as Pennington state that the colonial polemical reports led to fabricated stereotypes where Hinduism was mere mystic paganism devoted to the service of devils, while other scholars state that the colonial constructions influenced the belief that the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Manusmriti and such texts were the essence of Hindu religiosity, and in the modern association of 'Hindu doctrine' with the schools of Vedanta (in particular Advaita Vedanta) as a paradigmatic example of Hinduism's mystical nature". Pennington, while concurring that the study of Hinduism as a world religion began in the colonial era, disagrees that Hinduism is a colonial European era invention. He states that the shared theology, common ritual grammar and way of life of those who identify themselves as Hindus is traceable to ancient times. Modern India and the world The Hindutva movement has extensively argued for the unity of Hinduism, dismissing the differences and regarding India as a Hindu-country since ancient times. And there are assumptions of political dominance of Hindu nationalism in India, also known as 'Neo-Hindutva'. There have also been increase in pre-dominance of Hindutva in Nepal, similar to that of India. The scope of Hinduism is also increasing in the other parts of the world, due to the cultural influences such as Yoga and Hare Krishna movement by many missionaries organisations, especially by Iskcon and this is also due to the migration of Indian Hindus to the other nations of the world. Hinduism is growing fast in many western nations and in some African nations. Beliefs Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to) Dharma (ethics/duties), saṃsāra (the continuing cycle of entanglement in passions and the resulting birth, life, death, and rebirth), Karma (action, intent, and consequences), moksha (liberation from attachment and saṃsāra), and the various yogas (paths or practices). However, not all of these themes are found among the various different systems of Hindu beliefs. Beliefs in moksha or saṃsāra are absent in certain Hindu beliefs, and were also absent among early forms of Hinduism, which was characterized by a belief in an Afterlife, with traces of this still being found among various Hindu beliefs, such as Śrāddha. Ancestor worship once formed an integral part of Hindu beliefs and is today still found as important element in various Folk Hindu streams. Purusharthas Purusharthas refers to the objectives of human life. Classical Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life, known as Puruṣārthas: Dharma Artha Kama Moksha Dharma (righteousness, ethics) Dharma is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism. The concept of dharma includes behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and universe possible, and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living". Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous. Dharma, according to Van Buitenen, is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the world. It is, states Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one's nature and true calling, thus playing one's role in cosmic concert. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states it as: Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over a king. Truly that Dharma is the Truth (Satya); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are one. In the Mahabharata, Krishna defines dharma as upholding both this-worldly and other-worldly affairs. (Mbh 12.110.11). The word Sanātana means eternal, perennial, or forever; thus, Sanātana Dharma signifies that it is the dharma that has neither beginning nor end. Artha (livelihood, wealth) Artha is objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations, and economic prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy, and material well-being. The artha concept includes all "means of life", activities and resources that enables one to be in a state one wants to be in, wealth, career and financial security. The proper pursuit of artha is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism. Kāma (sensual pleasure) Kāma (Sanskrit, Pali: काम) means desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations. In Hinduism, kama is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing dharma, artha and moksha. Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from saṃsāra) Moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष, romanized: mokṣa) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति) is the ultimate, most important goal in Hinduism. In one sense, moksha is a concept associated with liberation from sorrow, suffering and saṃsāra (birth-rebirth cycle). A release from this eschatological cycle, in after life, particularly in theistic schools of Hinduism is called moksha. Due to belief in the indestructibility of Atman c.q. purusha, death is deemed insignificant with respect to the cosmic Self.The meaning of moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For example, Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha a person knows their essence, Self as pure consciousness or the witness-consciousness and identifies it as identical to Brahman. The followers of Dvaita (dualistic) schools, in moksha state, identify individual essence as distinct from Brahman but infinitesimally close, and after attaining moksha expect to spend eternity in a loka (heaven). To theistic schools of Hinduism, moksha is liberation from saṃsāra, while for other schools such as the monistic school, moksha is possible in current life and is a psychological concept. According to Deutsch, moksha is transcendental consciousness to the latter, the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self". Moksha in these schools of Hinduism, suggests Klaus Klostermaier, implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation from life-rebirth cycle of suffering (saṃsāra); Vedantic school separates this into two:Jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and Videhamukti (liberation after death). Karma and saṃsāra Karma translates literally as action, work, or deed, and also refers to a Vedic theory of "moral law of cause and effect". The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, that is good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth. Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in the past. These actions and their consequences may be in a person's current life, or, according to some schools of Hinduism, in past lives. This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called saṃsāra. Liberation from saṃsāra through moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace. Hindu scriptures teach that the future is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances. The idea of reincarnation, or saṃsāra, is not mentioned in the early layers of historical Hindu texts such as the Rigveda. The later layers of the Rigveda do mention ideas that suggest an approach towards the idea of rebirth, according to Ranade. According to Sayers, these earliest layers of Hindu literature show ancestor worship and rites such as sraddha (offering food to the ancestors). The later Vedic texts such as the Aranyakas and the Upanisads show a different soteriology based on reincarnation, they show little concern with ancestor rites, and they begin to philosophically interpret the earlier rituals. The idea of reincarnation and karma have roots in the Upanishads of the late Vedic period, predating the Buddha and the Mahavira. Concept of God Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with a wide variety of beliefs; its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. It is sometimes referred to as henotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization. Who really knows?Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.Who then knows whence it has arisen? The Nasadiya Sukta (Creation Hymn) of the Rig Veda is one of the earliest texts which "demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created the universe, the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the universe came into being. The Rig Veda praises various deities, none superior nor inferior, in a henotheistic manner. The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and One Ultimate Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind the great happenings and processes of nature. Hindus believe that all living creatures have a Self. This true "Self" of every person, is called the ātman. The Self is believed to be eternal. According to the monistic/pantheistic (non-dualist) theologies of Hinduism (such as Advaita Vedanta school), this Atman is indistinct from Brahman, the supreme spirit or the Ultimate Reality. The goal of life, according to the Advaita school, is to realise that one's Self is identical to supreme Self, that the supreme Self is present in everything and everyone, all life is interconnected and there is oneness in all life. Dualistic schools (Dvaita and Bhakti) understand Brahman as a Supreme Being separate from individual Selfs. They worship the Supreme Being variously as Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, or Shakti, depending upon the sect. God is called Ishvara, Bhagavan, Parameshwara, Deva or Devi, and these terms have different meanings in different schools of Hinduism.Hindu texts accept a polytheistic framework, but this is generally conceptualized as the divine essence or luminosity that gives vitality and animation to the inanimate natural substances. There is a divine in everything, human beings, animals, trees and rivers. It is observable in offerings to rivers, trees, tools of one's work, animals and birds, rising sun, friends and guests, teachers and parents. It is the divine in these that makes each sacred and worthy of reverence, rather than them being sacred in and of themselves. This perception of divinity manifested in all things, as Buttimer and Wallin view it, makes the Vedic foundations of Hinduism quite distinct from animism, in which all things are themselves divine. The animistic premise sees multiplicity, and therefore an equality of ability to compete for power when it comes to man and man, man and animal, man and nature, etc. The Vedic view does not perceive this competition, equality of man to nature, or multiplicity so much as an overwhelming and interconnecting single divinity that unifies everyone and everything.The Hindu scriptures name celestial entities called Devas (or Devi in feminine form), which may be translated into English as gods or heavenly beings. The devas are an integral part of Hindu culture and are depicted in art, architecture and through icons, and stories about them are related in the scriptures, particularly in Indian epic poetry and the Puranas. They are, however, often distinguished from Ishvara, a personal god, with many Hindus worshipping Ishvara in one of its particular manifestations as their iṣṭa devatā, or chosen ideal. The choice is a matter of individual preference, and of regional and family traditions. The multitude of Devas are considered manifestations of Brahman. The word avatar does not appear in the Vedic literature, but appears in verb forms in post-Vedic literature, and as a noun particularly in the Puranic literature after the 6th century CE. Theologically, the reincarnation idea is most often associated with the avatars of Hindu god Vishnu, though the idea has been applied to other deities. Varying lists of avatars of Vishnu appear in Hindu scriptures, including the ten Dashavatara of the Garuda Purana and the twenty-two avatars in the Bhagavata Purana, though the latter adds that the incarnations of Vishnu are innumerable. The avatars of Vishnu are important in Vaishnavism theology. In the goddess-based Shaktism tradition, avatars of the Devi are found and all goddesses are considered to be different aspects of the same metaphysical Brahman and Shakti (energy). While avatars of other deities such as Ganesha and Shiva are also mentioned in medieval Hindu texts, this is minor and occasional.Both theistic and atheistic ideas, for epistemological and metaphysical reasons, are profuse in different schools of Hinduism. The early Nyaya school of Hinduism, for example, was non-theist/atheist, but later Nyaya school scholars argued that God exists and offered proofs using its theory of logic. Other schools disagreed with Nyaya scholars. Samkhya, Mimamsa and Carvaka schools of Hinduism, were non-theist/atheist, arguing that "God was an unnecessary metaphysical assumption". Its Vaisheshika school started as another non-theistic tradition relying on naturalism and that all matter is eternal, but it later introduced the concept of a non-creator God. The Yoga school of Hinduism accepted the concept of a "personal god" and left it to the Hindu to define his or her god. Advaita Vedanta taught a monistic, abstract Self and Oneness in everything, with no room for gods or deity, a perspective that Mohanty calls, "spiritual, not religious". Bhakti sub-schools of Vedanta taught a creator God that is distinct from each human being. God in Hinduism is often represented, having both the feminine and masculine aspects. The notion of the feminine in deity is much more pronounced and is evident in the pairings of Shiva with Parvati (Ardhanarishvara), Vishnu accompanied by Lakshmi, Radha with Krishna and Sita with Rama.According to Graham Schweig, Hinduism has the strongest presence of the divine feminine in world religion from ancient times to the present. The goddess is viewed as the heart of the most esoteric Saiva traditions. Authority Authority and eternal truths play an important role in Hinduism. Religious traditions and truths are believed to be contained in its sacred texts, which are accessed and taught by sages, gurus, saints or avatars. But there is also a strong tradition of the questioning of authority, internal debate and challenging of religious texts in Hinduism. The Hindus believe that this deepens the understanding of the eternal truths and further develops the tradition. Authority "was mediated through [...] an intellectual culture that tended to develop ideas collaboratively, and according to the shared logic of natural reason." Narratives in the Upanishads present characters questioning persons of authority. The Kena Upanishad repeatedly asks kena, 'by what' power something is the case. The Katha Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita present narratives where the student criticizes the teacher's inferior answers. In the Shiva Purana, Shiva questions Vishnu and Brahma. Doubt plays a repeated role in the Mahabharata. Jayadeva's Gita Govinda presents criticism via the character of Radha. Main traditions Denominations Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many practising Hindus do not claim to belong to any particular denomination or tradition. Four major denominations are, however, used in scholarly studies: Shaivism, Shaktism, Smartism and Vaishnavism. Vaishnavites are by far the large majority of Hindus, with the second large community being the Shaivites. These denominations differ primarily in the central deity worshipped, the traditions and the soteriological outlook. The denominations of Hinduism, states Lipner, are unlike those found in major religions of the world, because Hindu denominations are fuzzy with individuals practicing more than one, and he suggests the term "Hindu polycentrism".Vaishnavism is the devotional religious tradition that worships Vishnu and his avatars, particularly Krishna and Rama. The adherents of this sect are generally non-ascetic, monastic, oriented towards community events and devotionalism practices inspired by "intimate loving, joyous, playful" Krishna and other Vishnu avatars. These practices sometimes include community dancing, singing of Kirtans and Bhajans, with sound and music believed by some to have meditative and spiritual powers. Temple worship and festivals are typically elaborate in Vaishnavism. The Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana, along with Vishnu-oriented Puranas provide its theistic foundations. Philosophically, their beliefs are rooted in the dualism sub-schools of Vedantic Hinduism.Shaivism is the tradition that focuses on Shiva. Shaivas are more attracted to ascetic individualism, and it has several sub-schools. Their practices include bhakti-style devotionalism, yet their beliefs lean towards nondual, monistic schools of Hinduism such as Advaita and Raja Yoga. Some Shaivas worship in temples, while others emphasize yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within. Avatars are uncommon, and some Shaivas visualize god as half male, half female, as a fusion of the male and female principles (Ardhanarishvara). Shaivism is related to Shaktism, wherein Shakti is seen as spouse of Shiva. Community celebrations include festivals, and participation, with Vaishnavas, in pilgrimages such as the Kumbh Mela. Shaivism has been more commonly practiced in the Himalayan north from Kashmir to Nepal, and in south India.Shaktism focuses on goddess worship of Shakti or Devi as cosmic mother, and it is particularly common in northeastern and eastern states of India such as Assam and Bengal. Devi is depicted as in gentler forms like Parvati, the consort of Shiva; or, as fierce warrior goddesses like Kali and Durga. Followers of Shaktism recognize Shakti as the power that underlies the male principle. Shaktism is also associated with Tantra practices. Community celebrations include festivals, some of which include processions and idol immersion into sea or other water bodies.Smartism centers its worship simultaneously on all the major Hindu deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Surya and Skanda. The Smarta tradition developed during the (early) Classical Period of Hinduism around the beginning of the Common Era, when Hinduism emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions. The Smarta tradition is aligned with Advaita Vedanta, and regards Adi Shankara as its founder or reformer, who considered worship of God-with-attributes (Saguna Brahman) as a journey towards ultimately realizing God-without-attributes (nirguna Brahman, Atman, Self-knowledge). The term Smartism is derived from Smriti texts of Hinduism, meaning those who remember the traditions in the texts. This Hindu sect practices a philosophical Jnana yoga, scriptural studies, reflection, meditative path seeking an understanding of Self's oneness with God.There are no census data available on demographic history or trends for the traditions within Hinduism. Estimates vary on the relative number of adherents in the different traditions of Hinduism. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, the Vaishnavism tradition is the largest group with about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus, followed by Shaivism with 252 million or 26.6%, Shaktism with 30 million or 3.2% and other traditions including Neo-Hinduism and Reform Hinduism with 25 million or 2.6%. In contrast, according to Jones and Ryan, Shaivism is the largest tradition of Hinduism. Ethnicities Hinduism is traditionally a multi- or polyethnic religion. On the Indian subcontinent, it is widespread among many Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and other South Asian ethnic groups, for example, the Meitei people (Tibeto-Burman ethnicity in the northeastern Indian state Manipur). In addition, in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Hinduism was the state religion in many Indianized kingdoms of Asia, the Greater India – from Afghanistan (Kabul) in the West and including almost all of Southeast Asia in the East (Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, partly Philippines) – and only by 15th century was nearly everywhere supplanted by Buddhism and Islam, except several still Hindu minor Austronesian ethnic groups, such as the Balinese and Tenggerese people in Indonesia, and the Chams in Vietnam. Also, a small community of the Afghan Pashtuns who migrated to India after partition remain committed to Hinduism.There are many new ethnic Ghanaian Hindus in Ghana, who have converted to Hinduism due to the works of Swami Ghananand Saraswati and Hindu Monastery of Africa From the beginning of the 20th century, by the forces of Baba Premananda Bharati (1858–1914), Swami Vivekananda, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and other missionaries, Hinduism gained a certain distribution among the Western peoples. Scriptures The ancient scriptures of Hinduism are in Sanskrit. These texts are classified into two: Shruti and Smriti. Shruti is apauruṣeyā, "not made of a man" but revealed to the rishis (seers), and regarded as having the highest authority, while the smriti are manmade and have secondary authority. They are the two highest sources of dharma, the other two being Śiṣṭa Āchāra/Sadāchara (conduct of noble people) and finally Ātma tuṣṭi ("what is pleasing to oneself")Hindu scriptures were composed, memorized and transmitted verbally, across generations, for many centuries before they were written down. Over many centuries, sages refined the teachings and expanded the Shruti and Smriti, as well as developed Shastras with epistemological and metaphysical theories of six classical schools of Hinduism. Shruti (lit. that which is heard) primarily refers to the Vedas, which form the earliest record of the Hindu scriptures, and are regarded as eternal truths revealed to the ancient sages (rishis). There are four Vedas – Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge). The first two parts of the Vedas were subsequently called the Karmakāṇḍa (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the Jñānakāṇḍa (knowledge portion, discussing spiritual insight and philosophical teachings).The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought, and have profoundly influenced diverse traditions. Of the Shrutis (Vedic corpus), they alone are widely influential among Hindus, considered scriptures par excellence of Hinduism, and their central ideas have continued to influence its thoughts and traditions. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan states that the Upanishads have played a dominating role ever since their appearance. There are 108 Muktikā Upanishads in Hinduism, of which between 10 and 13 are variously counted by scholars as Principal Upanishads. The most notable of the Smritis ("remembered") are the Hindu epics and the Puranas. The epics consist of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Bhagavad Gita is an integral part of the Mahabharata and one of the most popular sacred texts of Hinduism. It is sometimes called Gitopanishad, then placed in the Shruti ("heard") category, being Upanishadic in content. The Puranas, which started to be composed from c. 300 CE onward, contain extensive mythologies, and are central in the distribution of common themes of Hinduism through vivid narratives. The Yoga Sutras is a classical text for the Hindu Yoga tradition, which gained a renewed popularity in the 20th century. Since the 19th-century Indian modernists have re-asserted the 'Aryan origins' of Hinduism, "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements and elevating the Vedic elements. Hindu modernists like Vivekananda see the Vedas as the laws of the spiritual world, which would still exist even if they were not revealed to the sages. In Tantric tradition, the Agamas refer to authoritative scriptures or the teachings of Shiva to Shakti, while Nigamas refers to the Vedas and the teachings of Shakti to Shiva. In Agamic schools of Hinduism, the Vedic literature and the Agamas are equally authoritative. Practices Rituals Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home. The rituals vary greatly among regions, villages, and individuals. They are not mandatory in Hinduism. The nature and place of rituals is an individual's choice. Some devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as worshiping at dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine, and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities), recitation from religious scripts, singing bhajans (devotional hymns), yoga, meditation, chanting mantras and others.Vedic rituals of fire-oblation (yajna) and chanting of Vedic hymns are observed on special occasions, such as a Hindu wedding. Other major life-stage events, such as rituals after death, include the yajña and chanting of Vedic mantras.The words of the mantras are "themselves sacred," and "do not constitute linguistic utterances." Instead, as Klostermaier notes, in their application in Vedic rituals they become magical sounds, "means to an end." In the Brahmanical perspective, the sounds have their own meaning, mantras are considered "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer. By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base. As long as the purity of the sounds is preserved, the recitation of the mantras will be efficacious, irrespective of whether their discursive meaning is understood by human beings." Sādhanā Sādhanā is derived from the root "sādh-", meaning "to accomplish," and denotes a means for the realization of spiritual goals. Although different denominations of Hinduism have their own particular notions of sādhana, they share the feature of liberation from bondage. They differ on what causes bondage, how one can become free of that bondage, and who or what can lead one on that path. Life-cycle rites of passage Major life stage milestones are celebrated as sanskara (saṃskāra, rites of passage) in Hinduism. The rites of passage are not mandatory, and vary in details by gender, community and regionally. Gautama Dharmasutras composed in about the middle of 1st millennium BCE lists 48 sanskaras, while Gryhasutra and other texts composed centuries later list between 12 and 16 sanskaras. The list of sanskaras in Hinduism include both external rituals such as those marking a baby's birth and a baby's name giving ceremony, as well as inner rites of resolutions and ethics such as compassion towards all living beings and positive attitude. The major traditional rites of passage in Hinduism include Garbhadhana (pregnancy), Pumsavana (rite before the fetus begins moving and kicking in womb), Simantonnayana (parting of pregnant woman's hair, baby shower), Jatakarman (rite celebrating the new born baby), Namakarana (naming the child), Nishkramana (baby's first outing from home into the world), Annaprashana (baby's first feeding of solid food), Chudakarana (baby's first haircut, tonsure), Karnavedha (ear piercing), Vidyarambha (baby's start with knowledge), Upanayana (entry into a school rite), Keshanta and Ritusuddhi (first shave for boys, menarche for girls), Samavartana (graduation ceremony), Vivaha (wedding), Vratas (fasting, spiritual studies) and Antyeshti (cremation for an adult, burial for a child). In contemporary times, there is regional variation among Hindus as to which of these sanskaras are observed; in some cases, additional regional rites of passage such as Śrāddha (ritual of feeding people after cremation) are practiced. Bhakti (worship) Bhakti refers to devotion, participation in and the love of a personal god or a representational god by a devotee. Bhakti-marga is considered in Hinduism to be one of many possible paths of spirituality and alternative means to moksha. The other paths, left to the choice of a Hindu, are Jnana-marga (path of knowledge), Karma-marga (path of works), Rāja-marga (path of contemplation and meditation).Bhakti is practiced in a number of ways, ranging from reciting mantras, japas (incantations), to individual private prayers in one's home shrine, or in a temple before a murti or sacred image of a deity. Hindu temples and domestic altars, are important elements of worship in contemporary theistic Hinduism. While many visit a temple on special occasions, most offer daily prayers at a domestic altar, typically a dedicated part of the home that includes sacred images of deities or gurus.One form of daily worship is aarti, or "supplication," a ritual in which a flame is offered and "accompanied by a song of praise". Notable aartis include Om Jai Jagdish Hare, a Hindi prayer to Vishnu, and Sukhakarta Dukhaharta, a Marathi prayer to Ganesha. Aarti can be used to make offerings to entities ranging from deities to "human exemplar[s]". For instance, Aarti is offered to Hanuman, a devotee of God, in many temples, including Balaji temples, where the primary deity is an incarnation of Vishnu. In Swaminarayan temples and home shrines, aarti is offered to Swaminarayan, considered by followers to be supreme God.Other personal and community practices include puja as well as aarti, kirtan, or bhajan, where devotional verses and hymns are read or poems are sung by a group of devotees. While the choice of the deity is at the discretion of the Hindu, the most observed traditions of Hindu devotion include Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism. A Hindu may worship multiple deities, all as henotheistic manifestations of the same ultimate reality, cosmic spirit and absolute spiritual concept called Brahman. Bhakti-marga, states Pechelis, is more than ritual devotionalism, it includes practices and spiritual activities aimed at refining one's state of mind, knowing god, participating in god, and internalizing god. While bhakti practices are popular and easily observable aspect of Hinduism, not all Hindus practice bhakti, or believe in god-with-attributes (saguna Brahman). Concurrent Hindu practices include a belief in god-without-attributes (nirguna Brahman), and god within oneself. Festivals Hindu festivals (Sanskrit: Utsava; literally: "to lift higher") are ceremonies that weave individual and social life to dharma. Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year, where the dates are set by the lunisolar Hindu calendar, many coinciding with either the full moon (Holi) or the new moon (Diwali), often with seasonal changes. Some festivals are found only regionally and they celebrate local traditions, while a few such as Holi and Diwali are pan-Hindu. The festivals typically celebrate events from Hinduism, connoting spiritual themes and celebrating aspects of human relationships such as the sister-brother bond over the Raksha Bandhan (or Bhai Dooj) festival. The same festival sometimes marks different stories depending on the Hindu denomination, and the celebrations incorporate regional themes, traditional agriculture, local arts, family get togethers, Puja rituals and feasts.Some major regional or pan-Hindu festivals include: Pilgrimage Many adherents undertake pilgrimages, which have historically been an important part of Hinduism and remain so today. Pilgrimage sites are called Tirtha, Kshetra, Gopitha or Mahalaya. The process or journey associated with Tirtha is called Tirtha-yatra. According to the Hindu text Skanda Purana, Tirtha are of three kinds: Jangam Tirtha is to a place movable of a sadhu, a rishi, a guru; Sthawar Tirtha is to a place immovable, like Benaras, Haridwar, Mount Kailash, holy rivers; while Manas Tirtha is to a place of mind of truth, charity, patience, compassion, soft speech, Self. Tīrtha-yatra is, states Knut A. Jacobsen, anything that has a salvific value to a Hindu, and includes pilgrimage sites such as mountains or forests or seashore or rivers or ponds, as well as virtues, actions, studies or state of mind.Pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the Puranas. Most Puranas include large sections on Tirtha Mahatmya along with tourist guides, which describe sacred sites and places to visit. In these texts, Varanasi (Benares, Kashi), Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, Dwarka, Puri, Haridwar, Sri Rangam, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Mayapur, Nathdwara, twelve Jyotirlinga and Shakti Peetha have been mentioned as particularly holy sites, along with geographies where major rivers meet (sangam) or join the sea. Kumbhamela is another major pilgrimage on the eve of the solar festival Makar Sankranti. This pilgrimage rotates at a gap of three years among four sites: Prayag Raj at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, Haridwar near source of the Ganges, Ujjain on the Shipra river and Nasik on the bank of the Godavari river. This is one of world's largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 40 to 100 million people attending the event. At this event, they say a prayer to the sun and bathe in the river, a tradition attributed to Adi Shankara. Some pilgrimages are part of a Vrata (vow), which a Hindu may make for a number of reasons. It may mark a special occasion, such as the birth of a baby, or as part of a rite of passage such as a baby's first haircut, or after healing from a sickness. It may, states Eck, also be the result of prayers answered. An alternative reason for Tirtha, for some Hindus, is to respect wishes or in memory of a beloved person after his or her death. This may include dispersing their cremation ashes in a Tirtha region in a stream, river or sea to honor the wishes of the dead. The journey to a Tirtha, assert some Hindu texts, helps one overcome the sorrow of the loss.Other reasons for a Tirtha in Hinduism is to rejuvenate or gain spiritual merit by traveling to famed temples or bathe in rivers such as the Ganges. Tirtha has been one of the recommended means of addressing remorse and to perform penance, for unintentional errors and intentional sins, in the Hindu tradition. The proper procedure for a pilgrimage is widely discussed in Hindu texts. The most accepted view is that the greatest austerity comes from traveling on foot, or part of the journey is on foot, and that the use of a conveyance is only acceptable if the pilgrimage is otherwise impossible. Culture The term "Hindu culture" refers to mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion, such as festivals and dress codes followed by the Hindus which is mainly can be inspired from the culture of India and Southeast Asia. Though there has been a mixture of different culture in Hinduism and has also influenced the cultures of many nations, mainly of the part of Greater India. Architecture Art Calendar Person and society Varnas Hindu society has been categorised into four classes, called varṇas. They are the Brahmins: Vedic teachers and priests; the Kshatriyas: warriors and kings; the Vaishyas: farmers and merchants; and the Shudras: servants and labourers. The Bhagavad Gītā links the varṇa to an individual's duty (svadharma), inborn nature (svabhāva), and natural tendencies (guṇa). The Manusmriti categorises the different castes. Some mobility and flexibility within the varṇas challenge allegations of social discrimination in the caste system, as has been pointed out by several sociologists, although some other scholars disagree. Scholars debate whether the so-called caste system is part of Hinduism sanctioned by the scriptures or social custom. And various contemporary scholars have argued that the caste system was constructed by the British colonial regime.A renunciant man of knowledge is usually called Varṇatita or "beyond all varṇas" in Vedantic works. The bhiksu is advised to not bother about the caste of the family from which he begs his food. Scholars like Adi Sankara affirm that not only is Brahman beyond all varṇas, the man who is identified with Him also transcends the distinctions and limitations of caste. Yoga In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods (yogas) that sages have taught for reaching that goal. Yoga is a Hindu discipline which trains the body, mind, and consciousness for health, tranquility, and spiritual insight. Texts dedicated to yoga include the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Bhagavad Gita and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads. Yoga is means, and the four major marga (paths) of Hinduism are: Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and devotion), Karma Yoga (the path of right action), Rāja Yoga (the path of meditation), and Jñāna Yoga (the path of wisdom) An individual may prefer one or some yogas over others, according to his or her inclination and understanding. Practice of one yoga does not exclude others. The modern practice of yoga as exercise (traditionally Hatha yoga) has a contested relationship with Hinduism. Symbolism Hinduism has a developed system of symbolism and iconography to represent the sacred in art, architecture, literature and worship. These symbols gain their meaning from the scriptures or cultural traditions. The syllable Om (which represents the Brahman and Atman) has grown to represent Hinduism itself, while other markings such as the Swastika sign represent auspiciousness, and Tilaka (literally, seed) on forehead – considered to be the location of spiritual third eye, marks ceremonious welcome, blessing or one's participation in a ritual or rite of passage. Elaborate Tilaka with lines may also identify a devotee of a particular denomination. Flowers, birds, animals, instruments, symmetric mandala drawings, objects, idols are all part of symbolic iconography in Hinduism. Ahiṃsā and food customs Hindus advocate the practice of ahiṃsā (nonviolence) and respect for all life because divinity is believed to permeate all beings, including plants and non-human animals. The term ahiṃsā appears in the Upanishads, the epic Mahabharata and ahiṃsā is the first of the five Yamas (vows of self-restraint) in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.In accordance with ahiṃsā, many Hindus embrace vegetarianism to respect higher forms of life. Estimates of strict lacto vegetarians in India (includes adherents of all religions) who never eat any meat, fish or eggs vary between 20% and 42%, while others are either less strict vegetarians or non-vegetarians. Those who eat meat seek Jhatka (quick death) method of meat production, and dislike Halal (slow bled death) method, believing that quick death method reduces suffering to the animal. The food habits vary with region, with Bengali Hindus and Hindus living in Himalayan regions, or river delta regions, regularly eating meat and fish. Some avoid meat on specific festivals or occasions. Observant Hindus who do eat meat almost always abstain from beef. Hinduism specifically considers Bos indicus to be sacred. The cow in Hindu society is traditionally identified as a caretaker and a maternal figure, and Hindu society honours the cow as a symbol of unselfish giving, selfless sacrifice, gentleness and tolerance. There are many Hindu groups that have continued to abide by a strict vegetarian diet in modern times. Some adhere to a diet that is devoid of meat, eggs, and seafood. Food affects body, mind and spirit in Hindu beliefs. Hindu texts such as Śāṇḍilya Upanishad and Svātmārāma recommend Mitahara (eating in moderation) as one of the Yamas (virtuous Self restraints). The Bhagavad Gita links body and mind to food one consumes in verses 17.8 through 17.10.Some Hindus such as those belonging to the Shaktism tradition, and Hindus in regions such as Bali and Nepal practise animal sacrifice. The sacrificed animal is eaten as ritual food. In contrast, the Vaishnava Hindus abhor and vigorously oppose animal sacrifice. The principle of non-violence to animals has been so thoroughly adopted in Hinduism that animal sacrifice is uncommon and historically reduced to a vestigial marginal practice. Institutions Temple A Hindu temple is a house of god(s). It is a space and structure designed to bring human beings and gods together, infused with symbolism to express the ideas and beliefs of Hinduism. A temple incorporates all elements of Hindu cosmology, the highest spire or dome representing Mount Meru – reminder of the abode of Brahma and the center of spiritual universe, the carvings and iconography symbolically presenting dharma, kama, artha, moksha and karma. The layout, the motifs, the plan and the building process recite ancient rituals, geometric symbolisms, and reflect beliefs and values innate within various schools of Hinduism. Hindu temples are spiritual destinations for many Hindus (not all), as well as landmarks for arts, annual festivals, rite of passage rituals, and community celebrations.Hindu temples come in many styles, diverse locations, deploy different construction methods and are adapted to different deities and regional beliefs. Two major styles of Hindu temples include the Gopuram style found in south India, and Nagara style found in north India. Other styles include cave, forest and mountain temples. Yet, despite their differences, almost all Hindu temples share certain common architectural principles, core ideas, symbolism and themes. Many temples feature one or more idols (murtis). The idol and Grabhgriya in the Brahma-pada (the center of the temple), under the main spire, serves as a focal point (darsana, a sight) in a Hindu temple. In larger temples, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the devotee to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa (Brahman), the universal essence. Asrama Traditionally the life of a Hindu is divided into four Āśramas (phases or life stages; another meaning includes monastery). The four ashramas are: Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vānaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (renunciation). Brahmacharya represents the bachelor student stage of life. Grihastha refers to the individual's married life, with the duties of maintaining a household, raising a family, educating one's children, and leading a family-centred and a dharmic social life. Grihastha stage starts with Hindu wedding, and has been considered the most important of all stages in sociological context, as Hindus in this stage not only pursued a virtuous life, they produced food and wealth that sustained people in other stages of life, as well as the offsprings that continued mankind. Vanaprastha is the retirement stage, where a person hands over household responsibilities to the next generation, took an advisory role, and gradually withdrew from the world. The Sannyasa stage marks renunciation and a state of disinterest and detachment from material life, generally without any meaningful property or home (ascetic state), and focused on Moksha, peace and simple spiritual life. The Ashramas system has been one facet of the dharma concept in Hinduism. Combined with four proper goals of human life (Purusartha), the Ashramas system traditionally aimed at providing a Hindu with fulfilling life and spiritual liberation. While these stages are typically sequential, any person can enter Sannyasa (ascetic) stage and become an Ascetic at any time after the Brahmacharya stage. Sannyasa is not religiously mandatory in Hinduism, and elderly people are free to live with their families. Monasticism Some Hindus choose to live a monastic life (Sannyāsa) in pursuit of liberation (moksha) or another form of spiritual perfection. Monastics commit themselves to a simple and celibate life, detached from material pursuits, of meditation and spiritual contemplation. A Hindu monk is called a Sanyāsī, Sādhu, or Swāmi. A female renunciate is called a Sanyāsini. Renunciates receive high respect in Hindu society because of their simple ahiṃsā-driven lifestyle and dedication to spiritual liberation (moksha) – believed to be the ultimate goal of life in Hinduism. Some monastics live in monasteries, while others wander from place to place, depending on donated food and charity for their needs. History Hinduism's varied history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilisation. It has thus been called the "oldest religion" in the world. Scholars regard Hinduism as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder.The history of Hinduism is often divided into periods of development. The first period is the pre-Vedic period, which includes the Indus Valley Civilization and local pre-historic religions, ending at about 1750 BCE. This period was followed in northern India by the Vedic period, which saw the introduction of the historical Vedic religion with the Indo-Aryan migrations, starting somewhere between 1900 BCE to 1400 BCE. The subsequent period, between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions", and a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Epic and Early Puranic period, from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE, saw the classical "Golden Age" of Hinduism (c. 320-650 CE), which coincides with the Gupta Empire. In this period the six branches of Hindu philosophy evolved, namely Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedanta. Monotheistic sects like Shaivism and Vaishnavism developed during this same period through the Bhakti movement. The period from roughly 650 to 1100 CE forms the late Classical period or early Middle Ages, in which classical Puranic Hinduism is established, and Adi Shankara's influential consolidation of Advaita Vedanta. Hinduism under both Hindu and Islamic rulers from c. 1250–1750 CE, saw the increasing prominence of the Bhakti movement, which remains influential today. The colonial period saw the emergence of various Hindu reform movements partly inspired by western movements, such as Unitarianism and Theosophy. In the Kingdom of Nepal, the Unification of Nepal by Shah dynasty was accompanied by the Hinduization of the state and continued till the c. 1950s. Indians were hired as plantation labourers in British colonies such as Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago. The Partition of India in 1947 was along religious lines, with the Republic of India emerging with a Hindu majority. During the 20th century, due to the Indian diaspora, Hindu minorities have formed in all continents, with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the United States, and the United Kingdom.In the 20th–21st century, many missionary organizations such as ISKCON, Sathya Sai Organization, Vedanta Society and so on. have been influential in spreading the core culture of Hinduism outside India. There have also been an increase of Hindu identity in politics, mostly in India, Nepal and Bangladesh in the form of Hindutva. The revivalist movement was mainly started and encouraged by many organisations like RSS, BJP and other organisations of Sangh Parivar in India, while there are also many Hindu nationalist parties and organisations such as Shivsena Nepal and RPP in Nepal, HINDRAF in Malaysia, etc. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. Demographics Hinduism is a major religion in India. Hinduism was followed by around 79.8% of the country's population of 1.21 billion (2011 census) (966 million adherents). Other significant populations are found in Nepal (23 million), Bangladesh (15 million) and the Indonesian island of Bali (3.9 million). There is also a significant population of Hindus are also present in Pakistan (4 million). The majority of the Vietnamese Cham people also follow Hinduism, with the largest proportion in Ninh Thuận Province. Hinduism is the third fastest-growing religion in the world after Islam and Christianity, with a predicted growth rate of 34% between 2010 and 2050. Countries with the greatest proportion of Hindus: Nepal – 81.3%. India – 79.8%. Mauritius – 48.5%. Guyana – 28.4%. Fiji – 27.9%. Bhutan – 22.6%. Suriname – 22.3%. Trinidad and Tobago – 18.2%. Qatar – 13.8%. Sri Lanka – 12.6%. Bahrain – 9.8%. Bangladesh – 8.5%. Réunion – 6.8%. United Arab Emirates – 6.6%. Malaysia – 6.3%. Kuwait – 6%. Oman – 5.5%. Singapore – 5%. Indonesia – 3.86%. New Zealand – 2.62%. Seychelles – 2.4%. Pakistan – 2.14%.Demographically, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. Persecution and debates Persecution Hindus have experienced both historical religious persecution, ongoing religious persecution and systematic violence. These occur in the form of forced conversions, documented massacres, demolition and desecration of temples. Historic persecutions of Hindus happened under Muslim rulers and also by Christian Missionaries. In the Mughal Period, Hindus were forced to pay the Jizya. In Goa, the 1560 inquisition by Portuguese colonists is also considered one of the most brutal persecutions of Hindus. Between 200,000 and one million people, including both Muslims and Hindus, were killed during the Partition of India. In modern times, Hindus face discrimination in many parts of the world and also face persecution and forced conversion in many countries, especially in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Fiji and others. Conversion debate In the modern era, religious conversion from and to Hinduism has been a controversial subject. Some state the concept of missionary conversion, either way, is anathema to the precepts of Hinduism.It is known that, unlike ethnic religions, which exist almost exclusively among, for instance, the Japanese (Shinto), the Chinese (Taoism), or the Jews (Judaism), Hinduism in India and Nepal is widespread among many, both Indo-Aryan and non-Aryan ethnic groups. In addition, religious conversion to Hinduism has a long history outside India. Merchants and traders of India, particularly from the Indian peninsula, carried their religious ideas, which led to religious conversions to Hinduism outside India. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, Hinduism was the state religion in many kingdoms of Asia, the so-called Greater India: from Afghanistan (Kabul) in the West and including almost all of Southeast Asia in the East (Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines), and only by 15th century was nearly everywhere supplanted by Buddhism and Islam. Therefore, it looks quite natural for the modern Hindu preaching in the world. Within India, archeological and textual evidence such as the 2nd-century BCE Heliodorus pillar suggest that Greeks and other foreigners converted to Hinduism. The debate on proselytization and religious conversion between Christianity, Islam and Hinduism is more recent, and started in the 19th century.Religious leaders of some Hindu reform movements such as the Arya Samaj launched Shuddhi movement to proselytize and reconvert Muslims and Christians back to Hinduism, while those such as the Brahmo Samaj suggested Hinduism to be a non-missionary religion. All these sects of Hinduism have welcomed new members to their group, while other leaders of Hinduism's diverse schools have stated that given the intensive proselytization activities from missionary Islam and Christianity, this "there is no such thing as proselytism in Hinduism" view must be re-examined.The appropriateness of conversion from major religions to Hinduism, and vice versa, has been and remains an actively debated topic in India, Nepal, and in Indonesia. See also Hinduism Related systems and religions Notes References Sources Printed sources Web sources Further reading == External links ==Queer theory is a field of post-structuralism that emerged in the early 1990s out of queer studies (often, formerly, gay and lesbian studies) and women's studies. The term can have various meanings depending upon its usage, but has broadly been associated with the study and theorisation of gender and sexual practices that exist outside of heterosexuality, and which challenge the notion that heterosexual desire is ‘normal’. Following social constructivist developments in sociology, queer theorists are often critical of what they consider essentialist views of sexuality and gender. Instead, they study those concepts as social and cultural phenomena, often through an analysis of the categories, binaries, and language in which they are said to be portrayed. History Informal use of the term "queer theory" began with Gloria Anzaldúa and other scholars in the 1990s, themselves influenced by the work of French post-structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault, who viewed sexuality as socially constructed and rejected identity politics. Teresa de Lauretis organized the first queer theory conference in 1990. David Halperin, an early queer theorist, writes in his article "The Normalization of Queer Theory" that de Lauretis' usage was somewhat controversial at first, as she chose to combine the word "queer" which was just starting to be used in a "gay-affirmative sense by activists, street kids, and members of the art world," and the word "theory" which was seen as very academically weighty. In the early 1990s, the term started to become legitimized in academia.Although it is an academic discipline that gained traction within academia, queer theory's roots can also be traced back to activism, with the reclaiming of the derogatory term "queer" as an umbrella term for those who do not identify with heteronormativity in the 1980s. This would continue on in the 1990s, with Queer Nation's use of "queer" in their protest chants, such as "We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!"Other early queer theorists include Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michael Warner, Lauren Berlant, Judith Butler, and Adrienne Rich. Definition According to Jay Stewart, "Queer theory and politics necessarily celebrate transgression in the form of visible difference from norms. These 'Norms' are then exposed to be norms, not natures or inevitabilities. Gender and sexual identities are seen, in much of this work, to be demonstrably defiant definitions and configurations."In an influential essay, Michael Warner argued that queerness is defined by what he called ‘heteronormativity'; those ideas, narratives and discourses which suggest that heterosexuality is the default, preferred, or normal mode of sexual orientation. Warner stated that while many thinkers had been theorising sexuality from a non-heterosexual perspective for perhaps a century, queerness represented a distinctive contribution to social theory for precisely this reason. Lauren Berlant and Warner further developed these ideas in their seminal essay, "Sex in Public". Critics such as Edward Carpenter, Guy Hocquenghem and Jeffrey Weeks had emphasised what they called the ‘necessity of thinking about sexuality as a field of power, as a historical mode of personality, and as the site of an often critical utopian aim’. Whereas the terms 'homosexual', ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ which they used signified particular identities with stable referents (i.e to a certain cultural form, historical context, or political agenda whose meanings can be analysed sociologically), the word ‘queer’ is instead defined in relation to a range of practices, behaviours and issues that have meaning only in their shared contrast to categories which are alleged to be 'normal'. Such a focus highlights the indebtedness of queer theory to the concept of normalisation found in the sociology of deviance, particularly through the work of Michel Foucault, who studied the normalisation of heterosexuality in his work The History of Sexuality.In The History of Sexuality, Foucault argues that repressive structures in society police the discourse concerning sex and sexuality and are thus relegated in the private sphere. As a result, heterosexuality is normalized while homosexuality (or queerness) is stigmatized. Foucault then points out that this imposed secrecy has led to sexuality as a phenomenon that needs to be frequently confessed and examined. Foucault's work is particularly important to queer theory in that he describes sexuality as a phenomenon that "must not be thought of as a kind of natural given which power tries to hold in check" but rather "a historical construct." Judith Butler extends this idea of sexuality as a social construct to gender identity in Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, where she theorizes that gender is not a biological reality but rather something that is performed through repeated actions.Because this definition of queerness does not have a fixed reference point, Judith Butler has described the subject of queer theory as a site of ‘collective contestation’. They suggest that ‘queer’ as a term should never be ‘fully owned, but always and only redeployed, twisted, queered from a prior usage and in the direction of urgent and expanding political purposes’. While proponents argue that this flexibility allows for the constant readjustment of queer theory to accommodate the experiences of people who face marginalisation and discrimination on account of their sexuality and gender, critics allege that such a 'subjectless critique', as it is often called, runs the risk of abstracting cultural forms from their social structure, political organization, and historical context, reducing social theory to a mere 'textual idealism'. Analysis of same-sex partnerships Queer theory deals with the micro level - the identity of the individual person, the meso level - the individual in their immediate groups such as family, friends, and work, and the macro level - the larger context of society, culture, politics, policies and law. Accordingly, queer theory not only examines the communities surrounding the queer people, but also the communities they form. Same-sex living communities have a significant priority in the formation of a queer theory. The standard work of Andreas Frank, "Committed Sensations", highlights comprehensively the life situation of coming-out, homosexuality and same-sex communities to the millennium. Queer theory and communication studies As an interdisciplinary concept, queer theory is applied to different disciplines, including communication studies and research. It was introduced to the field of communication through Jeffrey Ringer's Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality in 1994, which offered a queer perspective to communication research findings. Queer theory has also contributed to communication research by challenging the heteronormative society's notions of what's considered deviant and taboo—what is considered normative and non-normative. Queering family communication Queer theory's interdisciplinarity is evident in its application in and critique of family communication. One of the criticisms regarding family communication is its focus on "mainstream" families, often focusing on heterosexual parents and children.Although more studies on family communication have started to include nontraditional families, critical rhetorical scholar Roberta Chevrette argues that researchers continue to look at nontraditional families, including families with openly queer members, from a heteronormative lens. That is, when studying LGBTQ+ families, many scholars continue to compare these families to their cis-heterosexual counterparts' norms. As Chevrette writes, "Queering family communication requires challenging ideas frequently taken for granted and thinking about sexual identities as more than check marks."Chevrette describes four ways that scholars can "queer" family communication: (1) revealing the biases and heteronormative assumptions in family communication; (2) challenging the treatment of sexuality and queerness as a personal and sensitive topic reserved for the private sphere rather than the public; (3) interpreting identity as a socially constructed phenomenon and sexuality as being fluid in order to expose the ways gender roles and stereotypes are reinforced by notions of identity and sexuality as being fixed; and (4) emphasizing intersectionality and the importance of studying different identity markers in connection with each other. Lens for power Queer theory is the lens used to explore and challenge how scholars, activists, artistic texts, and the media perpetrate gender- and sex-based binaries, and its goal is to undo hierarchies and fight against social inequalities. Due to controversy about the definition of queer, including whether the word should even be defined at all or should be left deliberately open-ended, there are many disagreements and often contradictions within queer theory. In fact, some queer theorists, like Berlant and Warner and Butler, have warned that defining it or conceptualizing it as an academic field might only lead to its inevitable misinterpretation or destruction, since its entire purpose is to critique academia rather than become a formal academic domain itself.Fundamentally, queer theory does not construct or defend any particular identity, but instead, grounded in post-structuralism and deconstruction, it works to actively critique heteronormativity, exposing and breaking down traditional assumptions that sexual and gender identities are presumed to be heterosexual or cisgender. Queer theory in online discourse One of the ways queer theory has made its way into online discourse is through the popularity of Adrienne Rich's 1980 essay, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence." Rich's theory regarding compulsory heterosexuality (or comp-het)—the socio-cultural expectation that women must be attracted to men and desire a romantic heterosexual relationship—inspired the creation of the "Lesbian Masterdoc", a 30-page Google Document originally written in 2018 by Anjeli Luz, a Tumblr user who was in the midst of questioning her own sexuality as a teenager.Katelyn McKenna and John Bargh’s studies of online groups consisting of marginalized groups found an interesting phenomenon called “identity demarginalization” — how participation in a group consisting of people with shared marginalized identity can lead to a higher level of self-acceptance, which could lead to eventually coming out to their friends and family.Online groups and interactions also contribute to normalizing queerness and challenging heteronormativity by serving as a networked counterpublic. Sarah Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles’ discourse analysis of the hashtag #GirlsLikeUs shows how trans women have used the hashtag to build community in ways that normalize being trans and offering counter-narratives to the often stereotypical and caricatured portrayal of trans people’s lives in popular mainstream media. See also Queer archaeology Queer of color critique Queer theology References External links Media related to Queer theory at Wikimedia CommonsIn common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes, and is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices increase greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight. Larger amounts of these gases trap more heat in Earth's lower atmosphere, causing global warming. Due to climate change, deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Increased warming in the Arctic has contributed to melting permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss. Higher temperatures are also causing more intense storms, droughts, and other weather extremes. Rapid environmental change in mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic is forcing many species to relocate or become extinct. Even if efforts to minimise future warming are successful, some effects will continue for centuries. These include ocean heating, ocean acidification and sea level rise.Climate change threatens people with food and water scarcity, increased flooding, extreme heat, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. Communities may adapt to climate change through efforts like coastline protection or expanding access to air conditioning, but some impacts are unavoidable. Poorer countries are responsible for a small share of global emissions, yet they have the least ability to adapt and are most vulnerable to climate change. Many climate change impacts are already felt at the current 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) level of warming. Additional warming will increase these impacts and can trigger tipping points, such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations collectively agreed to keep warming "well under 2 °C". However, with pledges made under the Agreement, global warming would still reach about 2.7 °C (4.9 °F) by the end of the century. Limiting warming to 1.5 °C will require halving emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Reducing emissions requires generating electricity from low-carbon sources rather than burning fossil fuels. This change includes phasing out coal and natural gas fired power plants, vastly increasing use of wind, solar, and other types of renewable energy, and reducing energy use. Electricity generated from non-carbon-emitting sources will need to replace fossil fuels for powering transportation, heating buildings, and operating industrial facilities. Carbon can also be removed from the atmosphere, for instance by increasing forest cover and by farming with methods that capture carbon in soil. Terminology Before the 1980s, when it was unclear whether the warming effect of increased greenhouse gases were stronger than the cooling effect of airborne particulates in air pollution, scientists used the term inadvertent climate modification to refer to human impacts on the climate.In the 1980s, the terms global warming and climate change became more common. Though the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, scientifically, global warming refers only to increased surface warming, while climate change describes the totality of changes to Earth's climate system. Global warming—used as early as 1975—became the more popular term after NASA climate scientist James Hansen used it in his 1988 testimony in the U.S. Senate. Since the 2000s, climate change has increased in usage. Climate change can also refer more broadly to both human-caused changes or natural changes throughout Earth's history.Various scientists, politicians and media now use the terms climate crisis or climate emergency to talk about climate change, and global heating instead of global warming. Observed temperature rise Multiple independent instrumental datasets show that the climate system is warming. The 2011–2020 decade warmed to an average 1.09 °C [0.95–1.20 °C] compared to the pre-industrial baseline (1850–1900). Surface temperatures are rising by about 0.2 °C per decade, with 2020 reaching a temperature of 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial era. Since 1950, the number of cold days and nights has decreased, and the number of warm days and nights has increased.There was little net warming between the 18th century and the mid-19th century. Climate information for that period comes from climate proxies, such as trees and ice cores. Thermometer records began to provide global coverage around 1850. Historical patterns of warming and cooling, like the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age, did not occur at the same time across different regions. Temperatures may have reached as high as those of the late-20th century in a limited set of regions. There have been prehistorical episodes of global warming, such as the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. However, the modern observed rise in temperature and CO2 concentrations has been so rapid that even abrupt geophysical events in Earth's history do not approach current rates.Evidence of warming from air temperature measurements are reinforced with a wide range of other observations. For example, changes to the natural water cycle have been predicted and observed, such as an increase in the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation, melting of snow and land ice, and increased atmospheric humidity. Flora and fauna are also behaving in a manner consistent with warming; for instance, plants are flowering earlier in spring. Another key indicator is the cooling of the upper atmosphere, which demonstrates that greenhouse gases are trapping heat near the Earth's surface and preventing it from radiating into space.Regions of the world warm at differing rates. The pattern is independent of where greenhouse gases are emitted, because the gases persist long enough to diffuse across the planet. Since the pre-industrial period, the average surface temperature over land regions has increased almost twice as fast as the global-average surface temperature. This is because of the larger heat capacity of oceans, and because oceans lose more heat by evaporation. The thermal energy in the global climate system has grown with only brief pauses since at least 1970, and over 90% of this extra energy has been stored in the ocean. The rest has heated the atmosphere, melted ice, and warmed the continents.The Northern Hemisphere and the North Pole have warmed much faster than the South Pole and Southern Hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere not only has much more land, but also more seasonal snow cover and sea ice. As these surfaces flip from reflecting a lot of light to being dark after the ice has melted, they start absorbing more heat. Local black carbon deposits on snow and ice also contribute to Arctic warming. Arctic temperatures are increasing at over twice the rate of the rest of the world. Melting of glaciers and ice sheets in the Arctic disrupts ocean circulation, including a weakened Gulf Stream, further changing the climate. Attribution of recent temperature rise The climate system experiences various cycles on its own which can last for years (such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)), decades or even centuries. Other changes are caused by an imbalance of energy that is "external" to the climate system, but not always external to the Earth. Examples of external forcings include changes in the concentrations of greenhouse gases, solar luminosity, volcanic eruptions, and variations in the Earth's orbit around the Sun.To determine the human contribution to climate change, known internal climate variability and natural external forcings need to be ruled out. A key approach is to determine unique "fingerprints" for all potential causes, then compare these fingerprints with observed patterns of climate change. For example, solar forcing can be ruled out as a major cause. Its fingerprint would be warming in the entire atmosphere. Yet, only the lower atmosphere has warmed, consistent with greenhouse gas forcing. Attribution of recent climate change shows that the main driver is elevated greenhouse gases, with aerosols having a dampening effect. Greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases are transparent to sunlight, and thus allow it to pass through the atmosphere to heat the Earth's surface. The Earth radiates it as heat, and greenhouse gases absorb a portion of it. This absorption slows the rate at which heat escapes into space, trapping heat near the Earth's surface and warming it over time. Before the Industrial Revolution, naturally-occurring amounts of greenhouse gases caused the air near the surface to be about 33 °C warmer than it would have been in their absence. While water vapour (~50%) and clouds (~25%) are the biggest contributors to the greenhouse effect, they increase as a function of temperature and are therefore feedbacks. On the other hand, concentrations of gases such as CO2 (~20%), tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide are not temperature-dependent, and are therefore external forcings.Human activity since the Industrial Revolution, mainly extracting and burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, resulting in a radiative imbalance. In 2019, the concentrations of CO2 and methane had increased by about 48% and 160%, respectively, since 1750. These CO2 levels are higher than they have been at any time during the last 2 million years. Concentrations of methane are far higher than they were over the last 800,000 years. Global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were equivalent to 59 billion tonnes of CO2. Of these emissions,% was CO2, 18% was methane, 4% was nitrous oxide, and 2% was fluorinated gases. CO2 emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuels to provide energy for transport, manufacturing, heating, and electricity. Additional CO2 emissions come from deforestation and industrial processes, which include the CO2 released by the chemical reactions for making cement, steel, aluminum, and fertiliser. Methane emissions come from livestock, manure, rice cultivation, landfills, wastewater, and coal mining, as well as oil and gas extraction. Nitrous oxide emissions largely come from the microbial decomposition of fertiliser.Despite the contribution of deforestation to greenhouse gas emissions, the Earth's land surface, particularly its forests, remain a significant carbon sink for CO2. Land-surface sink processes, such as carbon fixation in the soil and photosynthesis, remove about 29% of annual global CO2 emissions. The ocean also serves as a significant carbon sink via a two-step process. First, CO2 dissolves in the surface water. Afterwards, the ocean's overturning circulation distributes it deep into the ocean's interior, where it accumulates over time as part of the carbon cycle. Over the last two decades, the world's oceans have absorbed 20 to 30% of emitted CO2. Aerosols and clouds Air pollution, in the form of aerosols, affects the climate on a large scale. Aerosols scatter and absorb solar radiation. From 1961 to 1990, a gradual reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface was observed. This phenomenon is popularly known as global dimming, and is attributed to aerosols produced by dust, pollution and combustion of biofuels and fossil fuels. Globally, aerosols have been declining since 1990 due to pollution controls, meaning that they no longer mask greenhouse gas warming as much.Aerosols also have indirect effects on the Earth's radiation budget. Sulfate aerosols act as cloud condensation nuclei and lead to clouds that have more and smaller cloud droplets. These clouds reflect solar radiation more efficiently than clouds with fewer and larger droplets. They also reduce the growth of raindrops, which makes clouds more reflective to incoming sunlight. Indirect effects of aerosols are the largest uncertainty in radiative forcing.While aerosols typically limit global warming by reflecting sunlight, black carbon in soot that falls on snow or ice can contribute to global warming. Not only does this increase the absorption of sunlight, it also increases melting and sea-level rise. Limiting new black carbon deposits in the Arctic could reduce global warming by 0.2 °C by 2050. Land surface changes Humans change the Earth's surface mainly to create more agricultural land. Today, agriculture takes up 34% of Earth's land area, while 26% is forests, and 30% is uninhabitable (glaciers, deserts, etc.). The amount of forested land continues to decrease, which is the main land use change that causes global warming. Deforestation releases CO2 contained in trees when they are destroyed, plus it prevents those trees from absorbing more CO2 in the future. The main causes of deforestation are: permanent land-use change from forest to agricultural land producing products such as beef and palm oil (27%), logging to produce forestry/forest products (26%), short term shifting cultivation (24%), and wildfires (23%).The type of vegetation in a region affects the local temperature. It impacts how much of the sunlight gets reflected back into space (albedo), and how much heat is lost by evaporation. For instance, the change from a dark forest to grassland makes the surface lighter, causing it to reflect more sunlight. Deforestation can also affect temperatures by modifying the release of chemical compounds that influence clouds, and by changing wind patterns. In tropic and temperate areas the net effect is to produce significant warming, while at latitudes closer to the poles a gain of albedo (as forest is replaced by snow cover) leads to a cooling effect. Globally, these effects are estimated to have led to a slight cooling, dominated by an increase in surface albedo. Solar and volcanic activity As the Sun is the Earth's primary energy source, changes in incoming sunlight directly affect the climate system. Solar irradiance has been measured directly by satellites, and indirect measurements are available from the early 1600s onwards. There has been no upward trend in the amount of the Sun's energy reaching the Earth.Explosive volcanic eruptions represent the largest natural forcing over the industrial era. When the eruption is sufficiently strong (with sulfur dioxide reaching the stratosphere), sunlight can be partially blocked for a couple of years. The temperature signal lasts about twice as long. In the industrial era, volcanic activity has had negligible impacts on global temperature trends. Present-day volcanic CO2 emissions are equivalent to less than 1% of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions.Physical climate models are unable to reproduce the rapid warming observed in recent decades when taking into account only variations in solar output and volcanic activity. Further evidence for greenhouse gases causing global warming comes from measurements that show a warming of the lower atmosphere (the troposphere), coupled with a cooling of the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere). If solar variations were responsible for the observed warming, the troposphere and stratosphere would both warm. Climate change feedback The response of the climate system to an initial forcing is modified by feedbacks: increased by "self-reinforcing" or "positive" feedbacks and reduced by "balancing" or "negative" feedbacks. The main reinforcing feedbacks are the water-vapour feedback, the ice–albedo feedback, and the net effect of clouds. The primary balancing mechanism is radiative cooling, as Earth's surface gives off more heat to space in response to rising temperature. In addition to temperature feedbacks, there are feedbacks in the carbon cycle, such as the fertilizing effect of CO2 on plant growth. Uncertainty over feedbacks is the major reason why different climate models project different magnitudes of warming for a given amount of emissions.As air warms, it can hold more moisture. Water vapour, as a potent greenhouse gas, holds heat in the atmosphere. If cloud cover increases, more sunlight will be reflected back into space, cooling the planet. If clouds become higher and thinner, they act as an insulator, reflecting heat from below back downwards and warming the planet. The effect of clouds is the largest source of feedback uncertainty.Another major feedback is the reduction of snow cover and sea ice in the Arctic, which reduces the reflectivity of the Earth's surface. More of the Sun's energy is now absorbed in these regions, contributing to amplification of Arctic temperature changes. Arctic amplification is also melting permafrost, which releases methane and CO2 into the atmosphere. Climate change can also cause methane releases from wetlands, marine systems, and freshwater systems. Overall, climate feedbacks are expected to become increasingly positive.Around half of human-caused CO2 emissions have been absorbed by land plants and by the oceans. On land, elevated CO2 and an extended growing season have stimulated plant growth. Climate change increases droughts and heat waves that inhibit plant growth, which makes it uncertain whether this carbon sink will continue to grow in the future. Soils contain large quantities of carbon and may release some when they heat up. As more CO2 and heat are absorbed by the ocean, it acidifies, its circulation changes and phytoplankton takes up less carbon, decreasing the rate at which the ocean absorbs atmospheric carbon. Overall, at higher CO2 concentrations the Earth will absorb a reduced fraction of our emissions. Modelling A climate model is a representation of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect the climate system. Models also include natural processes like changes in the Earth's orbit, historical changes in the Sun's activity, and volcanic forcing. Models are used to calculate the degree of warming future emissions will cause when accounting for the strength of climate feedbacks, or reproduce and predict the circulation of the oceans, the annual cycle of the seasons, and the flows of carbon between the land surface and the atmosphere.The physical realism of models is tested by examining their ability to simulate contemporary or past climates. Past models have underestimated the rate of Arctic shrinkage and underestimated the rate of precipitation increase. Sea level rise since 1990 was underestimated in older models, but more recent models agree well with observations. The 2017 United States-published National Climate Assessment notes that "climate models may still be underestimating or missing relevant feedback processes".A subset of climate models add societal factors to a simple physical climate model. These models simulate how population, economic growth, and energy use affect – and interact with – the physical climate. With this information, these models can produce scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions. This is then used as input for physical climate models and carbon cycle models to predict how atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases might change in the future. Depending on the socioeconomic scenario and the mitigation scenario, models produce atmospheric CO2 concentrations that range widely between 380 and 1400 ppm.The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report projects that global warming is very likely to reach 1.0 °C to 1.8 °C by the late 21st century under the very low GHG emissions scenario. In an intermediate scenario global warming would reach 2.1 °C to 3.5 °C, and 3.3 °C to 5.7 °C under the very high GHG emissions scenario. These projections are based on climate models in combination with observations.The remaining carbon budget is determined by modelling the carbon cycle and the climate sensitivity to greenhouse gases. According to the IPCC, global warming can be kept below 1.5 °C with a two-thirds chance if emissions after 2018 do not exceed 420 or 570 gigatonnes of CO2. This corresponds to 10 to 13 years of current emissions. There are high uncertainties about the budget. For instance, it may be 100 gigatonnes of CO2 smaller due to methane release from permafrost and wetlands. However, it is clear that fossil fuel resources are too abundant for shortages to be relied on to limit carbon emissions in the 21st century. Impacts Environmental effects The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching, affecting oceans, ice, and weather. Changes may occur gradually or rapidly. Evidence for these effects comes from studying climate change in the past, from modelling, and from modern observations. Since the 1950s, droughts and heat waves have appeared simultaneously with increasing frequency. Extremely wet or dry events within the monsoon period have increased in India and East Asia. The rainfall rate and intensity of hurricanes and typhoons is likely increasing, and the geographic range likely expanding poleward in response to climate warming. Frequency of tropical cyclones has not increased as a result of climate change. Global sea level is rising as a consequence of glacial melt, melt of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, and thermal expansion. Between 1993 and 2020, the rise increased over time, averaging 3.3 ± 0.3 mm per year. Over the 21st century, the IPCC projects that in a very high emissions scenario the sea level could rise by 61–110 cm. Increased ocean warmth is undermining and threatening to unplug Antarctic glacier outlets, risking a large melt of the ice sheet and the possibility of a 2-meter sea level rise by 2100 under high emissions.Climate change has led to decades of shrinking and thinning of the Arctic sea ice. While ice-free summers are expected to be rare at 1.5 °C degrees of warming, they are set to occur once every three to ten years at a warming level of 2 °C. Higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations have led to changes in ocean chemistry. An increase in dissolved CO2 is causing oceans to acidify. In addition, oxygen levels are decreasing as oxygen is less soluble in warmer water. Dead zones in the ocean, regions with very little oxygen, are expanding too. Tipping points and long-term impacts Greater degrees of global warming increase the risk of passing through ‘tipping points’—thresholds beyond which certain impacts can no longer be avoided even if temperatures are reduced. An example is the collapse of West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, where a temperature rise of 1.5 to 2 °C may commit the ice sheets to melt, although the time scale of melt is uncertain and depends on future warming. Some large-scale changes could occur over a short time period, such as a shutdown of certain ocean currents like the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Tipping points can also include irreversible damage to ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs.The long-term effects of climate change on oceans include further ice melt, ocean warming, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. On the timescale of centuries to millennia, the magnitude of climate change will be determined primarily by anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This is due to CO2's long atmospheric lifetime. Oceanic CO2 uptake is slow enough that ocean acidification will continue for hundreds to thousands of years. These emissions are estimated to have prolonged the current interglacial period by at least 100,000 years. Sea level rise will continue over many centuries, with an estimated rise of 2.3 metres per degree Celsius (4.2 ft/°F) after 2000 years. Nature and wildlife Recent warming has driven many terrestrial and freshwater species poleward and towards higher altitudes. Higher atmospheric CO2 levels and an extended growing season have resulted in global greening. However, heatwaves and drought have reduced ecosystem productivity in some regions. The future balance of these opposing effects is unclear. Climate change has contributed to the expansion of drier climate zones, such as the expansion of deserts in the subtropics. The size and speed of global warming is making abrupt changes in ecosystems more likely. Overall, it is expected that climate change will result in the extinction of many species.The oceans have heated more slowly than the land, but plants and animals in the ocean have migrated towards the colder poles faster than species on land. Just as on land, heat waves in the ocean occur more frequently due to climate change, harming a wide range of organisms such as corals, kelp, and seabirds. Ocean acidification makes it harder for marine calcifying organisms such as mussels, barnacles and corals to produce shells and skeletons; and heatwaves have bleached coral reefs. Harmful algal blooms enhanced by climate change and eutrophication lower oxygen levels, disrupt food webs and cause great loss of marine life. Coastal ecosystems are under particular stress. Almost half of global wetlands have disappeared due to climate change and other human impacts. Humans The effects of climate change are impacting humans everywhere in the world. Impacts can now be observed on all continents and ocean regions, with low-latitude, less developed areas facing the greatest risk. Continued warming has potentially “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” for people and ecosystems. The risks are unevenly distributed, but are generally greater for disadvantaged people in developing and developed countries. Food and health The WHO has classified climate change as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. Extreme weather leads to injury and loss of life, and crop failures to undernutrition. Various infectious diseases are more easily transmitted in a warmer climate, such as dengue fever and malaria. Young children are the most vulnerable to food shortages. Both children and older people are vulnerable to extreme heat. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that between 2030 and 2050, climate change would cause around 250,000 additional deaths per year. They assessed deaths from heat exposure in elderly people, increases in diarrhea, malaria, dengue, coastal flooding, and childhood undernutrition. Over 500,000 more adult deaths are projected yearly by 2050 due to reductions in food availability and quality. By 2100, 50% to 75% of the global population may face climate conditions that are life-threatening due to combined effects of extreme heat and humidity.Climate change is affecting food security. It has caused reduction in global yields of maize, wheat, and soybeans between 1981 and 2010. Future warming could further reduce global yields of major crops. Crop production will probably be negatively affected in low-latitude countries, while effects at northern latitudes may be positive or negative. Up to an additional 183 million people worldwide, particularly those with lower incomes, are at risk of hunger as a consequence of these impacts. Climate change also impacts fish populations. Globally, less will be available to be fished. Regions dependent on glacier water, regions that are already dry, and small islands have a higher risk of water stress due to climate change. Livelihoods Economic damages due to climate change may be severe and there is a chance of disastrous consequences. Climate change has likely already increased global economic inequality, and this trend is projected to continue. Most of the severe impacts are expected in sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the local inhabitants are dependent upon natural and agricultural resources, and South-East Asia. The World Bank estimates that climate change could drive over 120 million people into poverty by 2030.Current inequalities based on wealth and social status have worsened due to climate change. Major difficulties in mitigating, adapting, and recovering to climate shocks are faced by marginalized people who have less control over resources. Indigenous people, who are subsistent on their land and ecosystems, will face endangerment to their wellness and lifestyles due to climate change. An expert elicitation concluded that the role of climate change in armed conflict has been small compared to factors such as socio-economic inequality and state capabilities.Low-lying islands and coastal communities are threatened by sea level rise, which makes flooding more common. Sometimes, land is permanently lost to the sea. This could lead to statelessness for people in island nations, such as the Maldives and Tuvalu. In some regions, the rise in temperature and humidity may be too severe for humans to adapt to. With worst-case climate change, models project that almost one-third of humanity might live in extremely hot and uninhabitable climates, similar to the current climate found in the Sahara. These factors can drive environmental migration, both within and between countries. More people are expected to be displaced because of sea level rise, extreme weather and conflict from increased competition over natural resources. Climate change may also increase vulnerability, leading to "trapped populations" who are not able to move due to a lack of resources. Reducing and recapturing emissions Climate change can be mitigated by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing sinks that absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. In order to limit global warming to less than 1.5 °C global greenhouse gas emissions needs to be net-zero by 2050, or by 2070 with a 2 °C target. This requires far-reaching, systemic changes on an unprecedented scale in energy, land, cities, transport, buildings, and industry. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that countries need to triple their pledges under the Paris Agreement within the next decade to limit global warming to 2 °C. An even greater level of reduction is required to meet the 1.5 °C goal. With pledges made under the Agreement as of October 2021, global warming would still have a 66% chance of reaching about 2.7 °C (range: 2.2–3.2 °C) by the end of the century. Globally, limiting warming to 2 °C may result in higher benefits than costs.Although there is no single pathway to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 °C, most scenarios and strategies see a major increase in the use of renewable energy in combination with increased energy efficiency measures to generate the needed greenhouse gas reductions. To reduce pressures on ecosystems and enhance their carbon sequestration capabilities, changes would also be necessary in agriculture and forestry, such as preventing deforestation and restoring natural ecosystems by reforestation.Other approaches to mitigating climate change have a higher level of risk. Scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5 °C typically project the large-scale use of carbon dioxide removal methods over the 21st century. There are concerns, though, about over-reliance on these technologies, and environmental impacts. Solar radiation management (SRM) is also a possible supplement to deep reductions in emissions. However, SRM would raise significant ethical and legal issues, and the risks are poorly understood. Clean energy Renewable energy is key to limiting climate change. Fossil fuels accounted for 80% of the world's energy in 2018. The remaining share was split between nuclear power and renewables (including hydropower, bioenergy, wind and solar power and geothermal energy). That mix is projected to change significantly over the next 30 years. Solar panels and onshore wind are now among the cheapest forms of adding new power generation capacity in many locations. Renewables represented 75% of all new electricity generation installed in 2019, nearly all solar and wind. Other forms of clean energy, such as nuclear and hydropower, currently have a larger share of the energy supply. However, their future growth forecasts appear limited in comparison.To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, renewable energy would become the dominant form of electricity generation, rising to 85% or more by 2050 in some scenarios. Investment in coal would be eliminated and coal use nearly phased out by 2050.Electricity generated from renewable sources would also need to become the main energy source for heating and transport. Transport can switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles and towards electric vehicles, public transit, and active transport (cycling and walking). For shipping and flying, low-carbon fuels would reduce emissions. Heating could be increasingly decarbonised with technologies like heat pumps.There are obstacles to the continued rapid growth of clean energy, including renewables. For wind and solar, there are environmental and land use concerns for new projects. Wind and solar also produce energy intermittently and with seasonal variability. Traditionally, hydro dams with reservoirs and conventional power plants have been used when variable energy production is low. Going forward, battery storage can be expanded, energy demand and supply can be matched, and long-distance transmission can smooth variability of renewable outputs. Bioenergy is often not carbon-neutral and may have negative consequences for food security. The growth of nuclear power is constrained by controversy around nuclear waste, nuclear weapon proliferation, and accidents. Hydropower growth is limited by the fact that the best sites have been developed, and new projects are confronting increased social and environmental concerns.Low-carbon energy improves human health by minimising climate change. It also has the near-term benefit of reducing air pollution deaths, which were estimated at 7 million annually in 2016. Meeting the Paris Agreement goals that limit warming to a 2 °C increase could save about a million of those lives per year by 2050, whereas limiting global warming to 1.5 °C could save millions and simultaneously increase energy security and reduce poverty. Improving air quality also has economic benefits which may be larger than mitigation costs. Energy conservation Reducing energy demand is another major aspect of reducing emissions. If less energy is needed, there is more flexibility for clean energy development. It also makes it easier to manage the electricity grid, and minimises carbon-intensive infrastructure development. Major increases in energy efficiency investment will be required to achieve climate goals, comparable to the level of investment in renewable energy. Several COVID-19 related changes in energy use patterns, energy efficiency investments, and funding have made forecasts for this decade more difficult and uncertain.Strategies to reduce energy demand vary by sector. In transport, passengers and freight can switch to more efficient travel modes, such as buses and trains, or use electric vehicles. Industrial strategies to reduce energy demand include improving heating systems and motors, designing less energy-intensive products, and increasing product lifetimes. In the building sector the focus is on better design of new buildings, and higher levels of energy efficiency in retrofitting. The use of technologies like heat pumps can also increase building energy efficiency. Agriculture and industry Agriculture and forestry face a triple challenge of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, preventing the further conversion of forests to agricultural land, and meeting increases in world food demand. A set of actions could reduce agriculture and forestry-based emissions by two thirds from 2010 levels. These include reducing growth in demand for food and other agricultural products, increasing land productivity, protecting and restoring forests, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production.On the demand side, a key component of reducing emissions is shifting people towards plant-based diets. Eliminating the production of livestock for meat and dairy would eliminate about 3/4ths of all emissions from agriculture and other land use. Livestock also occupy 37% of ice-free land area on Earth and consume feed from the 12% of land area used for crops, driving deforestation and land degradation.Steel and cement production are responsible for about 13% of industrial CO2 emissions. In these industries, carbon-intensive materials such as coke and lime play an integral role in the production, so that reducing CO2 emissions requires research into alternative chemistries. Carbon sequestration Natural carbon sinks can be enhanced to sequester significantly larger amounts of CO2 beyond naturally occurring levels. Reforestation and tree planting on non-forest lands are among the most mature sequestration techniques, although the latter raises food security concerns. Farmers can promote sequestration of carbon in soils through practices such as use of winter cover crops, reducing the intensity and frequency of tillage, and using compost and manure as soil amendments. Restoration/recreation of coastal wetlands and seagrass meadows increases the uptake of carbon into organic matter (blue carbon). When carbon is sequestered in soils and in organic matter such as trees, there is a risk of the carbon being re-released into the atmosphere later through changes in land use, fire, or other changes in ecosystems.Where energy production or CO2-intensive heavy industries continue to produce waste CO2, the gas can be captured and stored instead of released to the atmosphere. Although its current use is limited in scale and expensive, carbon capture and storage (CCS) may be able to play a significant role in limiting CO2 emissions by mid-century. This technique, in combination with bio-energy (BECCS) can result in net negative emissions: CO2 is drawn from the atmosphere. It remains highly uncertain whether carbon dioxide removal techniques, such as BECCS, will be able to play a large role in limiting warming to 1.5 °C. Policy decisions that rely on carbon dioxide removal increase the risk of global warming rising beyond international goals. Adapting to a changing climate Adaptation is "the process of adjustment to current or expected changes in climate and its effects". Without additional mitigation, adaptation cannot avert the risk of "severe, widespread and irreversible" impacts. More severe climate change requires more transformative adaptation, which can be prohibitively expensive. The capacity and potential for humans to adapt is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations, and developing countries generally have less. The first two decades of the 21st century saw an increase in adaptive capacity in most low- and middle-income countries with improved access to basic sanitation and electricity, but progress is slow. Many countries have implemented adaptation policies. However, there is a considerable gap between necessary and available finance.Adaptation to sea level rise consists of avoiding at-risk areas, learning to live with increased flooding and protection. If that fails, managed retreat may be needed. There are economic barriers for tackling dangerous heat impact. Avoiding strenuous work or having air conditioning is not possible for everybody. In agriculture, adaptation options include a switch to more sustainable diets, diversification, erosion control and genetic improvements for increased tolerance to a changing climate. Insurance allows for risk-sharing, but is often difficult to get for people on lower incomes. Education, migration and early warning systems can reduce climate vulnerability. Planting mangroves or encouraging other coastal vegetation can buffer storms.Ecosystems adapt to climate change, a process that can be supported by human intervention. By increasing connectivity between ecosystems, species can migrate to more favourable climate conditions. Species can also be introduced to areas acquiring a favorable climate. Protection and restoration of natural and semi-natural areas helps build resilience, making it easier for ecosystems to adapt. Many of the actions that promote adaptation in ecosystems, also help humans adapt via ecosystem-based adaptation. For instance, restoration of natural fire regimes makes catastrophic fires less likely, and reduces human exposure. Giving rivers more space allows for more water storage in the natural system, reducing flood risk. Restored forest acts as a carbon sink, but planting trees in unsuitable regions can exacerbate climate impacts.There are synergies and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation often offer short-term benefits, whereas mitigation has longer-term benefits. Increased use of air conditioning allows people to better cope with heat, but increases energy demand. Compact urban development may lead to reduced emissions from transport and construction. At the same time, it may increase the urban heat island effect, leading to higher temperatures and increased exposure. Increased food productivity has large benefits for both adaptation and mitigation. Policies and politics Countries that are most vulnerable to climate change have typically been responsible for a small share of global emissions. This raises questions about justice and fairness. Climate change is strongly linked to sustainable development. Limiting global warming makes it easier to achieve sustainable development goals, such as eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities. The connection is recognised in Sustainable Development Goal 13 which is to "take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts". The goals on food, clean water and ecosystem protection have synergies with climate mitigation.The geopolitics of climate change is complex. It has often been framed as a free-rider problem, in which all countries benefit from mitigation done by other countries, but individual countries would lose from switching to a low-carbon economy themselves. This framing has been challenged. For instance, the benefits of a coal phase-out to public health and local environments exceed the costs in almost all regions. Furthermore, net importers of fossil fuels win economically from switching to clean energy, causing net exporters to face stranded assets: fossil fuels they cannot sell. Policy options A wide range of policies, regulations, and laws are being used to reduce emissions. As of 2019, carbon pricing covers about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon can be priced with carbon taxes and emissions trading systems. Direct global fossil fuel subsidies reached $319 billion in 2017, and $5.2 trillion when indirect costs such as air pollution are priced in. Ending these can cause a 28% reduction in global carbon emissions and a 46% reduction in air pollution deaths. Money saved on fossil subsidies could be used to support the transition to clean energy instead. More direct methods to reduce greenhouse gases include vehicle efficiency standards, renewable fuel standards, and air pollution regulations on heavy industry. Several countries require utilities to increase the share of renewables in power production.Policy designed through the lens of climate justice tries to address human rights issues and social inequality. For instance, wealthy nations responsible for the largest share of emissions would have to pay poorer countries to adapt. As the use of fossil fuels is reduced, jobs in the sector are being lost. To achieve a just transition, these people would need to be retrained for other jobs. Communities with many fossil fuel workers would need additional investments. International climate agreements Nearly all countries in the world are parties to the 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The goal of the UNFCCC is to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. As stated in the convention, this requires that greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilised in the atmosphere at a level where ecosystems can adapt naturally to climate change, food production is not threatened, and economic development can be sustained. The UNFCCC does not itself restrict emissions but rather provides a framework for protocols that do. Global emissions have risen since the UNFCCC was signed. Its yearly conferences are the stage of global negotiations.The 1997 Kyoto Protocol extended the UNFCCC and included legally binding commitments for most developed countries to limit their emissions. During the negotiations, the G77 (representing developing countries) pushed for a mandate requiring developed countries to "[take] the lead" in reducing their emissions, since developed countries contributed most to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Per-capita emissions were also still relatively low in developing countries and developing countries would need to emit more to meet their development needs.The 2009 Copenhagen Accord has been widely portrayed as disappointing because of its low goals, and was rejected by poorer nations including the G77. Associated parties aimed to limit the global temperature rise to below 2 °C. The Accord set the goal of sending $100 billion per year to developing countries for mitigation and adaptation by 2020, and proposed the founding of the Green Climate Fund. As of 2020, the fund has failed to reach its expected target, and risks a shrinkage in its funding.In 2015 all UN countries negotiated the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming well below 2.0 °C and contains an aspirational goal of keeping warming under 1.5 °C. The agreement replaced the Kyoto Protocol. Unlike Kyoto, no binding emission targets were set in the Paris Agreement. Instead, a set of procedures was made binding. Countries have to regularly set ever more ambitious goals and reevaluate these goals every five years. The Paris Agreement restated that developing countries must be financially supported. As of October 2021, 194 states and the European Union have signed the treaty and 191 states and the EU have ratified or acceded to the agreement.The 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to stop emitting ozone-depleting gases, may have been more effective at curbing greenhouse gas emissions than the Kyoto Protocol specifically designed to do so. The 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol aims to reduce the emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, a group of powerful greenhouse gases which served as a replacement for banned ozone-depleting gases. This made the Montreal Protocol a stronger agreement against climate change. National responses In 2019, the United Kingdom parliament became the first national government to declare a climate emergency. Other countries and jurisdictions followed suit. That same year, the European Parliament declared a "climate and environmental emergency". The European Commission presented its European Green Deal with the goal of making the EU carbon-neutral by 2050. Major countries in Asia have made similar pledges: South Korea and Japan have committed to become carbon-neutral by 2050, and China by 2060. In 2021, the European Commission released its “Fit for 55” legislation package, which contains guidelines for the car industry; all new cars on the European market must be zero-emission vehicles from 2035. While India has strong incentives for renewables, it also plans a significant expansion of coal in the country.As of 2021, based on information from 48 national climate plans, which represent 40% of the parties to the Paris Agreement, estimated total greenhouse gas emissions will be 0.5% lower compared to 2010 levels, below the 45% or 25% reduction goals to limit global warming to 1.5 °C or 2 °C, respectively. Society Denial and misinformation Public debate about climate change has been strongly affected by climate change denial and misinformation, which originated in the United States and has since spread to other countries, particularly Canada and Australia. The actors behind climate change denial form a well-funded and relatively coordinated coalition of fossil fuel companies, industry groups, conservative think tanks, and contrarian scientists. Like the tobacco industry, the main strategy of these groups has been to manufacture doubt about scientific data and results. Many who deny, dismiss, or hold unwarranted doubt about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change are labelled as "climate change skeptics", which several scientists have noted is a misnomer.There are different variants of climate denial: some deny that warming takes place at all, some acknowledge warming but attribute it to natural influences, and some minimise the negative impacts of climate change. Manufacturing uncertainty about the science later developed into a manufactured controversy: creating the belief that there is significant uncertainty about climate change within the scientific community in order to delay policy changes. Strategies to promote these ideas include criticism of scientific institutions, and questioning the motives of individual scientists. An echo chamber of climate-denying blogs and media has further fomented misunderstanding of climate change. Public awareness and opinion Climate change came to international public attention in the late 1980s. Due to media coverage in the early 1990s, people often confused climate change with other environmental issues like ozone depletion. In popular culture, the climate fiction movie The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006) focused on climate change.Significant regional, gender, age and political differences exist in both public concern for, and understanding of, climate change. More highly educated people, and in some countries, women and younger people, were more likely to see climate change as a serious threat. Partisan gaps also exist in many countries, and countries with high CO2 emissions tend to be less concerned. Views on causes of climate change vary widely between countries. Concern has increased over time, to the point where in 2021 a majority of citizens in many countries express a high level of worry about climate change, or view it as a global emergency. Higher levels of worry are associated with stronger public support for policies that address climate change. Climate movement Climate protests demand that political leaders take action to prevent climate change. They can take the form of public demonstrations, fossil fuel divestment, lawsuits and other activities. Prominent demonstrations include the School Strike for Climate. In this initiative, young people across the globe have been protesting since 2018 by skipping school on Fridays, inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. Mass civil disobedience actions by groups like Extinction Rebellion have protested by disrupting roads and public transport. Litigation is increasingly used as a tool to strengthen climate action from public institutions and companies. Activists also initiate lawsuits which target governments and demand that they take ambitious action or enforce existing laws on climate change. Lawsuits against fossil-fuel companies generally seek compensation for loss and damage. History Early discoveries In the 1820s, Joseph Fourier proposed the greenhouse effect to explain why Earth's temperature was higher than the sun's energy alone could explain. Earth's atmosphere is transparent to sunlight, so sunlight reaches the surface where it is converted to heat. However, the atmosphere is not transparent to heat radiating from the surface, and captures some of that heat, which in turn warms the planet.In 1856 Eunice Newton Foote demonstrated that the warming effect of the sun is greater for air with water vapour than for dry air, and that the effect is even greater with carbon dioxide (CO2). She concluded that "An atmosphere of that gas would give to our earth a high temperature..."Starting in 1859, John Tyndall established that nitrogen and oxygen—together totaling 99% of dry air—are transparent to radiated heat. However, water vapour and gases such as methane and carbon dioxide absorb radiated heat and re-radiate that heat into the atmosphere. Tyndall proposed that changes in the concentrations of these gases may have caused climatic changes in the past, including ice ages.Svante Arrhenius noted that water vapour in air continuously varied, but the CO2 concentration in air was influenced by long-term geological processes. Warming from increased CO2 levels would increase the amount of water vapour, amplifying warming in a positive feedback loop. In 1896, he published the first climate model of its kind, projecting that halving CO2 levels could have produced a drop in temperature initiating an ice age. Arrhenius calculated the temperature increase expected from doubling CO2 to be around 5–6 °C. Other scientists were initially skeptical and believed that the greenhouse effect was saturated so that adding more CO2 would make no difference, and that the climate would be self-regulating. Beginning in 1938, Guy Stewart Callendar published evidence that climate was warming and CO2 levels were rising, but his calculations met the same objections. Development of a scientific consensus In the 1950s, Gilbert Plass created a detailed computer model that included different atmospheric layers and the infrared spectrum. This model predicted that increasing CO2 levels would cause warming. Around the same time, Hans Suess found evidence that CO2 levels had been rising, and Roger Revelle showed that the oceans would not absorb the increase. The two scientists subsequently helped Charles Keeling to begin a record of continued increase, which has been termed the "Keeling Curve". Scientists alerted the public, and the dangers were highlighted at James Hansen's 1988 Congressional testimony. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), set up in 1988 to provide formal advice to the world's governments, spurred interdisciplinary research. As part of the IPCC reports, scientists assess the scientific discussion that takes place in peer-reviewed journal articles.There is a near-complete scientific consensus that the climate is warming and that this is caused by human activities. As of 2019, agreement in recent literature reached over 99%. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view. Consensus has further developed that some form of action should be taken to protect people against the impacts of climate change. National science academies have called on world leaders to cut global emissions. The 2021 IPCC Assessment Report stated that it is "unequivocal" that climate change is caused by humans. See also Anthropocene – proposed new geological time interval in which humans are having significant geological impact List of climate scientists References Sources IPCC reports Other peer-reviewed sources Books, reports and legal documents Non-technical sources External links Met Office: Climate Guide – UK National Weather Service Global Climate Change Indicators – NOAA Up-to-the-second assessment of human-induced global warming since the second half of the 19th century – Oxford University Global warming, britannica.com Global Warming, encyclopedia.comMonetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often as an attempt to reduce inflation or the interest rate, to ensure price stability and general trust of the value and stability of the nation's currency. Monetary policy is a modification of the supply of money, i.e. "printing" more money, or decreasing the money supply by changing interest rates or removing excess reserves. This is in contrast to fiscal policy, which relies on taxation, government spending, and government borrowing as methods for a government to manage business cycle phenomena such as recessions. Further purposes of a monetary policy are usually to contribute to the stability of gross domestic product, to achieve and maintain low unemployment, and to maintain predictable exchange rates with other currencies. Monetary economics can provide insight into crafting optimal monetary policy. In developed countries, monetary policy is generally formed separately from fiscal policy. Monetary policy is referred to as being either expansionary or contractionary. Expansionary policy occurs when a monetary authority uses its procedures to stimulate the economy. An expansionary policy maintains short-term interest rates at a lower than usual rate or increases the total supply of money in the economy more rapidly than usual. It is traditionally used to try to reduce unemployment during a recession by decreasing interest rates in the hope that less expensive credit will entice businesses into borrowing more money and thereby expanding. This would increase aggregate demand (the overall demand for all goods and services in an economy), which would increase short-term growth as measured by increase of gross domestic product (GDP). Expansionary monetary policy, by increasing the amount of currency in circulation, usually diminishes the value of the currency relative to other currencies (the exchange rate), in which case foreign purchasers will be able to purchase more with their currency in the country with the devalued currency.Contractionary policy maintains short-term interest rates greater than usual, slows the rate of growth of the money supply, or even decreases it to slow short-term economic growth and lessen inflation. Contractionary policy can result in increased unemployment and depressed borrowing and spending by consumers and businesses, which can eventually result in an economic recession if implemented too vigorously. History Monetary policy is associated with interest rates and availability of credit. Instruments of monetary policy have included short-term interest rates and bank reserves through the monetary base. For many centuries there were only two forms of monetary policy: altering coinage or the printing of paper money. Interest rates, while now thought of as part of monetary authority, were not generally coordinated with the other forms of monetary policy during this time. Monetary policy was considered as an executive decision, and was generally implemented by the authority with seigniorage (the power to coin). With the advent of larger trading networks came the ability to define the currency value in terms of gold or silver, and the price of the local currency in terms of foreign currencies. This official price could be enforced by law, even if it varied from the market price. Paper money originated from promissory notes termed "jiaozi" in 7th century China. Jiaozi did not replace metallic currency, and were used alongside the copper coins. The succeeding Yuan Dynasty was the first government to use paper currency as the predominant circulating medium. In the later course of the dynasty, facing massive shortages of specie to fund war and maintain their rule, they began printing paper money without restrictions, resulting in hyperinflation. With the creation of the Bank of England in 1694, which was granted the authority to print notes backed by gold, the idea of monetary policy as independent of executive action began to be established. The purpose of monetary policy was to maintain the value of the coinage, print notes which would trade at par to specie, and prevent coins from leaving circulation. The establishment of national banks by industrializing nations was associated then with the desire to maintain the currency's relationship to the gold standard, and to trade in a narrow currency band with other gold-backed currencies. To accomplish this end, national banks as part of the gold standard began setting the interest rates that they charged both their own borrowers and other banks which required money for liquidity. The maintenance of a gold standard required almost monthly adjustments of interest rates. The gold standard is a system by which the price of the national currency is fixed vis-a-vis the value of gold, and is kept constant by the government's promise to buy or sell gold at a fixed price in terms of the base currency. The gold standard might be regarded as a special case of "fixed exchange rate" policy, or as a special type of commodity price level targeting. Nowadays this type of monetary policy is no longer used by any country.During the period 1870–1920, the industrialized nations established central banking systems, with one of the last being the Federal Reserve in 1913. By this time the role of the central bank as the "lender of last resort" was established. It was also increasingly understood that interest rates had an effect on the entire economy, in no small part because of appreciation for the marginal revolution in economics, which demonstrated that people would change their decisions based on changes in their economic trade-offs. Monetarist economists long contended that the money-supply growth could affect the macroeconomy. These included Milton Friedman who early in his career advocated that government budget deficits during recessions be financed in equal amount by money creation to help to stimulate aggregate demand for production. Later he advocated simply increasing the monetary supply at a low, constant rate, as the best way of maintaining low inflation and stable production growth. However, when U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker tried this policy, starting in October 1979, it was found to be impractical, because of the unstable relationship between monetary aggregates and other macroeconomic variables. Even Milton Friedman later acknowledged that direct money supplying was less successful than he had hoped.Therefore, monetary decisions presently take into account a wider range of factors, such as: short-term interest rates; long-term interest rates; velocity of money through the economy; exchange rates; credit quality; bonds and equities (debt and corporate ownership); government versus private sector spending and savings; international capital flows of money on large scales; financial derivatives such as options, swaps, and futures contracts Monetary policy instruments The main monetary policy instruments available to central banks are open market operation, bank reserve requirement, interest rate policy, re-lending and re-discount (including using the term repurchase market), and credit policy (often coordinated with trade policy). While capital adequacy is important, it is defined and regulated by the Bank for International Settlements, and central banks in practice generally do not apply stricter rules. Conventional instrument The central bank influences interest rates by expanding or contracting the monetary base, which consists of currency in circulation and banks' reserves on deposit at the central bank. Central banks have three main methods of monetary policy: open market operations, the discount rate and the reserve requirements. Key Interest rates & refinancing operations By far the most visible and obvious power of many modern central banks is to influence market interest rates; contrary to popular belief, they rarely "set" rates to a fixed number. Although the mechanism differs from country to country, most use a similar mechanism based on a central bank's ability to create as much fiat money as required. The mechanism to move the market towards a 'target rate' (whichever specific rate is used) is generally to lend money or borrow money in theoretically unlimited quantities until the targeted market rate is sufficiently close to the target. Central banks may do so by lending money to and borrowing money from (taking deposits from) a limited number of qualified banks, or by purchasing and selling bonds. As an example of how this functions, the Bank of Canada sets a target overnight rate, and a band of plus or minus 0.25%. Qualified banks borrow from each other within this band, but never above or below, because the central bank will always lend to them at the top of the band, and take deposits at the bottom of the band; in principle, the capacity to borrow and lend at the extremes of the band are unlimited. Other central banks use similar mechanisms.The target rates are generally short-term rates. The actual rate that borrowers and lenders receive on the market will depend on (perceived) credit risk, maturity and other factors. For example, a central bank might set a target rate for overnight lending of 4.5%, but rates for (equivalent risk) five-year bonds might be 5%,.75%, or, in cases of inverted yield curves, even below the short-term rate. Many central banks have one primary "headline" rate that is quoted as the "central bank rate". In practice, they will have other tools and rates that are used, but only one that is rigorously targeted and enforced."The rate at which the central bank lends money can indeed be chosen at will by the central bank; this is the rate that makes the financial headlines." Henry C.K. Liu explains further that "the U.S. central-bank lending rate is known as the Fed funds rate. The Fed sets a target for the Fed funds rate, which its Open Market Committee tries to match by lending or borrowing in the money market ... a fiat money system set by command of the central bank. The Fed is the head of the central-bank because the U.S. dollar is the key reserve currency for international trade. The global money market is a USA dollar market. All other currencies markets revolve around the U.S. dollar market." Accordingly, the U.S. situation is not typical of central banks in general. Typically a central bank controls certain types of short-term interest rates. These influence the stock- and bond markets as well as mortgage and other interest rates. The European Central Bank, for example, announces its interest rate at the meeting of its Governing Council; in the case of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Both the Federal Reserve and the ECB are composed of one or more central bodies that are responsible for the main decisions about interest rates and the size and type of open market operations, and several branches to execute its policies. In the case of the Federal Reserve, they are the local Federal Reserve Banks; for the ECB they are the national central banks. A typical central bank has several interest rates or monetary policy tools it can set to influence markets. Marginal lending rate – a fixed rate for institutions to borrow money from the central bank. (In the USA this is called the discount rate). Main refinancing rate – the publicly visible interest rate the central bank announces. It is also known as minimum bid rate and serves as a bidding floor for refinancing loans. (In the USA this is called the federal funds rate). Deposit rate, generally consisting of interest on reserves and sometimes also interest on excess reserves – the rates parties receive for deposits at the central bank.These rates directly affect the rates in the money market, the market for short-term loans. Some central banks (e.g. in Denmark, Sweden and the Eurozone) are currently applying negative interest rates. Open market operations Through open market operations, a central bank influences the money supply in an economy. Each time it buys securities (such as a government bond or treasury bill), it in effect creates money. The central bank exchanges money for the security, increasing the money supply while lowering the supply of the specific security. Conversely, selling of securities by the central bank reduces the money supply.Open market operations usually take the form of: Buying or selling securities ("direct operations") to achieve an interest rate target in the interbank market . Temporary lending of money for collateral securities ("Reverse Operations" or "repurchase operations", otherwise known as the "repo" market). These operations are carried out on a regular basis, where fixed maturity loans (of one week and one month for the ECB) are auctioned off. Foreign exchange operations such as foreign exchange swaps.These interventions can also influence the foreign exchange market and thus the exchange rate. For example, the People's Bank of China and the Bank of Japan have on occasion bought several hundred billions of U.S. Treasuries, presumably in order to stop the decline of the U.S. dollar versus the renminbi and the yen. Reserve requirements Historically, bank reserves have formed only a small fraction of deposits, a system called fractional-reserve banking. Banks would hold only a small percentage of their assets in the form of cash reserves as insurance against bank runs. Over time this process has been regulated and insured by central banks. Such legal reserve requirements were introduced in the 19th century as an attempt to reduce the risk of banks overextending themselves and suffering from bank runs, as this could lead to knock-on effects on other overextended banks. See also money multiplier. As the early 20th century gold standard was undermined by inflation and the late 20th-century fiat dollar hegemony evolved, and as banks proliferated and engaged in more complex transactions and were able to profit from dealings globally on a moment's notice, these practices became mandatory, if only to ensure that there was some limit on the ballooning of money supply.A number of central banks have since abolished their reserve requirements over the last few decades, beginning with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 1985 and continuing with the Federal Reserve in 2020. For the respective banking systems, bank capital requirements provide a check on the growth of the money supply. The People's Bank of China retains (and uses) more powers over reserves because the yuan that it manages is a non-convertible currency.Loan activity by banks plays a fundamental role in determining the money supply. The central-bank money after aggregate settlement – "final money" – can take only one of two forms: physical cash, which is rarely used in wholesale financial markets, central-bank money which is rarely used by the peopleThe currency component of the money supply is far smaller than the deposit component. Currency, bank reserves and institutional loan agreements together make up the monetary base, called M1, M2 and M3. The Federal Reserve Bank stopped publishing M3 and counting it as part of the money supply in 2006. Credit guidance Central banks can directly or indirectly influence the allocation of bank lending in certain sectors of the economy by applying quotas, limits or differentiated interest rates. This allows the central bank to control both the quantity of lending and its allocation towards certain strategic sectors of the economy, for example to support the national industrial policy, or to environmental investment such as housing renovation. The Bank of Japan used to apply such policy ("window guidance") between 1962 and 1991. The Banque de France also widely used credit guidance during the post-war period of 1948 until 1973 .The European Central Bank's ongoing TLTROs operations can also be described as form of credit guidance insofar as the level of interest rate ultimately paid by banks is differentiated according to the volume of lending made by commercial banks at the end of the maintenance period. If commercial banks achieve a certain lending performance threshold, they get a discount interest rate, that is lower than the standard key interest rate. For this reason, some economists have described the TLTROs as a "dual interest rates" policy. China is also applying a form of dual rate policy. Exchange requirements To influence the money supply, some central banks may require that some or all foreign exchange receipts (generally from exports) be exchanged for the local currency. The rate that is used to purchase local currency may be market-based or arbitrarily set by the bank. This tool is generally used in countries with non-convertible currencies or partially convertible currencies. The recipient of the local currency may be allowed to freely dispose of the funds, required to hold the funds with the central bank for some period of time, or allowed to use the funds subject to certain restrictions. In other cases, the ability to hold or use the foreign exchange may be otherwise limited. In this method, money supply is increased by the central bank when it purchases the foreign currency by issuing (selling) the local currency. The central bank may subsequently reduce the money supply by various means, including selling bonds or foreign exchange interventions. Collateral policy In some countries, central banks may have other tools that work indirectly to limit lending practices and otherwise restrict or regulate capital markets. For example, a central bank may regulate margin lending, whereby individuals or companies may borrow against pledged securities. The margin requirement establishes a minimum ratio of the value of the securities to the amount borrowed. Central banks often have requirements for the quality of assets that may be held by financial institutions; these requirements may act as a limit on the amount of risk and leverage created by the financial system. These requirements may be direct, such as requiring certain assets to bear certain minimum credit ratings, or indirect, by the central bank lending to counter-parties only when security of a certain quality is pledged as collateral. Forward guidance Forward guidance is a communication practice whereby the central bank announces its forecasts and future intentions to increase market expectations of future levels of interest rates. Unconventional monetary policy at the zero bound Other forms of monetary policy, particularly used when interest rates are at or near 0% and there are concerns about deflation or deflation is occurring, are referred to as unconventional monetary policy. These include credit easing, quantitative easing, forward guidance, and signalling. In credit easing, a central bank purchases private sector assets to improve liquidity and improve access to credit. Signaling can be used to lower market expectations for lower interest rates in the future. For example, during the credit crisis of 2008, the US Federal Reserve indicated rates would be low for an "extended period", and the Bank of Canada made a "conditional commitment" to keep rates at the lower bound of 25 basis points (0.25%) until the end of the second quarter of 2010. Helicopter money Further heterodox monetary policy proposals include the idea of helicopter money whereby central banks would create money without assets as counterpart in their balance sheet. The money created could be distributed directly to the population as a citizen's dividend. Virtues of such money shock include the decrease of household risk aversion and the increase in demand, boosting both inflation and the output gap. This option has been increasingly discussed since March 2016 after the ECB's president Mario Draghi said he found the concept "very interesting". The idea was also promoted by prominent former central bankers Stanley Fischer and Philipp Hildebrand in a paper published by BlackRock, and in France by economists Philippe Martin and Xavier Ragot from the French Council for Economic Analysis, a think tank attached to the Prime minister's office.Some have envisaged the use of what Milton Friedman once called "helicopter money" whereby the central bank would make direct transfers to citizens in order to lift inflation up to the central bank's intended target. Such policy option could be particularly effective at the zero lower bound. Nominal anchors A nominal anchor for monetary policy is a single variable or device which the central bank uses to pin down expectations of private agents about the nominal price level or its path or about what the central bank might do with respect to achieving that path. Monetary regimes combine long-run nominal anchoring with flexibility in the short run. Nominal variables used as anchors primarily include exchange rate targets, money supply targets, and inflation targets with interest rate policy. Types In practice, to implement any type of monetary policy the main tool used is modifying the amount of base money in circulation. The monetary authority does this by buying or selling financial assets (usually government obligations). These open market operations change either the amount of money or its liquidity (if less liquid forms of money are bought or sold). The multiplier effect of fractional reserve banking amplifies the effects of these actions on the money supply, which includes bank deposits as well as base money. Constant market transactions by the monetary authority modify the supply of currency and this impacts other market variables such as short-term interest rates and the exchange rate. The distinction between the various types of monetary policy lies primarily with the set of instruments and target variables that are used by the monetary authority to achieve their goals. The different types of policy are also called monetary regimes, in parallel to exchange-rate regimes. A fixed exchange rate is also an exchange-rate regime; The gold standard results in a relatively fixed regime towards the currency of other countries on the gold standard and a floating regime towards those that are not. Targeting inflation, the price level or other monetary aggregates implies floating the exchange rate unless the management of the relevant foreign currencies is tracking exactly the same variables (such as a harmonized consumer price index). Inflation targeting Under this policy approach, the target is to keep inflation, under a particular definition such as the Consumer Price Index, within a desired range. The inflation target is achieved through periodic adjustments to the central bank interest rate target. The interest rate used is generally the overnight rate at which banks lend to each other overnight for cash flow purposes. Depending on the country this particular interest rate might be called the cash rate or something similar. As the Fisher effect model explains, the equation linking inflation with interest rates is the following: π = i – rwhere π is the inflation rate, i is the home nominal interest rate set by the central bank, and r is the real interest rate. Using i as an anchor, central banks can influence π. Central banks can choose to maintain a fixed interest rate at all times, or just temporarily. The duration of this policy varies, because of the simplicity associated with changing the nominal interest rate. The interest rate target is maintained for a specific duration using open market operations. Typically the duration that the interest rate target is kept constant will vary between months and years. This interest rate target is usually reviewed on a monthly or quarterly basis by a policy committee.Changes to the interest rate target are made in response to various market indicators in an attempt to forecast economic trends and in so doing keep the market on track towards achieving the defined inflation target. For example, one simple method of inflation targeting called the Taylor rule adjusts the interest rate in response to changes in the inflation rate and the output gap. The rule was proposed by John B. Taylor of Stanford University.The inflation targeting approach to monetary policy approach was pioneered in New Zealand. It has been used in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, India, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Since 1990, an increasing number of countries have switched to inflation targeting as its monetary policy framework. Price level targeting Price level targeting is a monetary policy that is similar to inflation targeting except that CPI growth in one year over or under the long term price level target is offset in subsequent years such that a targeted price-level trend is reached over time, e.g. five years, giving more certainty about future price increases to consumers. Under inflation targeting what happened in the immediate past years is not taken into account or adjusted for in the current and future years. Uncertainty in price levels can create uncertainty around price and wage setting activity for firms and workers, and undermines any information that can be gained from relative prices, as it is more difficult for firms to determine if a change in the price of a good or service is because of inflation or other factors, such as an increase in the efficiency of factors of production, if inflation is high and volatile. An increase in inflation also leads to a decrease in the demand for money, as it reduces the incentive to hold money and increases transaction costs and shoe leather costs. Monetary aggregates/money supply targeting In the 1980s, several countries used an approach based on a constant growth in the money supply. This approach was refined to include different classes of money and credit (M0, M1 etc.). In the US this approach to monetary policy was discontinued with the selection of Alan Greenspan as Fed Chairman. This approach is also sometimes called monetarism. Central banks might choose to set a money supply growth target as a nominal anchor to keep prices stable in the long term. The quantity theory is a long run model, which links price levels to money supply and demand. Using this equation, we can rearrange to see the following: π = μ − g,where π is the inflation rate, μ is the money supply growth rate and g is the real output growth rate. This equation suggests that controlling the money supply's growth rate can ultimately lead to price stability in the long run. To use this nominal anchor, a central bank would need to set μ equal to a constant and commit to maintaining this target. However, targeting the money supply growth rate is considered a weak policy, because it is not stably related to the real output growth, As a result, a higher output growth rate will result in a too low level of inflation. A low output growth rate will result in inflation that would be higher than the desired level.While monetary policy typically focuses on a price signal of one form or another, this approach is focused on monetary quantities. As these quantities could have a role in the economy and business cycles depending on the households' risk aversion level, money is sometimes explicitly added in the central bank's reaction function. After the 1980s, however, central banks have shifted away from policies that focus on money supply targeting, because of the uncertainty that real output growth introduces. Some central banks, like the ECB, have chosen to combine a money supply anchor with other targets. Nominal income/NGDP targeting Related to money targeting, nominal income targeting (also called Nominal GDP or NGDP targeting), originally proposed by James Meade (1978) and James Tobin (1980), was advocated by Scott Sumner and reinforced by the market monetarist school of thought.Central banks do not implement this monetary policy explicitly. However, numerous studies shown that such a monetary policy targeting better matches central bank losses and welfare optimizing monetary policy compared to more standard monetary policy targeting. Fixed exchange rate targeting This policy is based on maintaining a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency. There are varying degrees of fixed exchange rates, which can be ranked in relation to how rigid the fixed exchange rate is with the anchor nation. Under a system of fiat fixed rates, the local government or monetary authority declares a fixed exchange rate but does not actively buy or sell currency to maintain the rate. Instead, the rate is enforced by non-convertibility measures (e.g. capital controls, import/export licenses, etc.). In this case there is a black market exchange rate where the currency trades at its market/unofficial rate. Under a system of fixed-convertibility, currency is bought and sold by the central bank or monetary authority on a daily basis to achieve the target exchange rate. This target rate may be a fixed level or a fixed band within which the exchange rate may fluctuate until the monetary authority intervenes to buy or sell as necessary to maintain the exchange rate within the band. (In this case, the fixed exchange rate with a fixed level can be seen as a special case of the fixed exchange rate with bands where the bands are set to zero.) Under a system of fixed exchange rates maintained by a currency board every unit of local currency must be backed by a unit of foreign currency (correcting for the exchange rate). This ensures that the local monetary base does not inflate without being backed by hard currency and eliminates any worries about a run on the local currency by those wishing to convert the local currency to the hard (anchor) currency. Under dollarization, foreign currency (usually the US dollar, hence the term "dollarization") is used freely as the medium of exchange either exclusively or in parallel with local currency. This outcome can come about because the local population has lost all faith in the local currency, or it may also be a policy of the government (usually to rein in inflation and import credible monetary policy). Theoretically, using relative purchasing power parity (PPP), the rate of depreciation of the home country's currency must equal the inflation differential: rate of depreciation = home inflation rate – foreign inflation rate,which implies that home inflation rate = foreign inflation rate + rate of depreciation.The anchor variable is the rate of depreciation. Therefore, the rate of inflation at home must equal the rate of inflation in the foreign country plus the rate of depreciation of the exchange rate of the home country currency, relative to the other. With a strict fixed exchange rate or a peg, the rate of depreciation of the exchange rate is set equal to zero. In the case of a crawling peg, the rate of depreciation is set equal to a constant. With a limited flexible band, the rate of depreciation is allowed to fluctuate within a given range. By fixing the rate of depreciation, PPP theory concludes that the home country's inflation rate must depend on the foreign country's. Countries may decide to use a fixed exchange rate monetary regime in order to take advantage of price stability and control inflation. In practice, more than half of nations’ monetary regimes use fixed exchange rate anchoring.These policies often abdicate monetary policy to the foreign monetary authority or government as monetary policy in the pegging nation must align with monetary policy in the anchor nation to maintain the exchange rate. The degree to which local monetary policy becomes dependent on the anchor nation depends on factors such as capital mobility, openness, credit channels and other economic factors. In practice Nominal anchors are possible with various exchange rate regimes. Following the collapse of Bretton Woods, nominal anchoring has grown in importance for monetary policy makers and inflation reduction. Particularly, governments sought to use anchoring in order to curtail rapid and high inflation during the 1970s and 1980s. By the 1990s, countries began to explicitly set credible nominal anchors. In addition, many countries chose a mix of more than one target, as well as implicit targets. As a result, after the 1970s global inflation rates, on average, decreased gradually and central banks gained credibility and increasing independence. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 sparked controversy over the use and flexibility of inflation nominal anchoring. Many economists argued that inflation targets were set too low by many monetary regimes. During the crisis, many inflation-anchoring countries reached the lower bound of zero rates, resulting in inflation rates decreasing to almost zero or even deflation. Implications The anchors discussed in this article suggest that keeping inflation at the desired level is feasible by setting a target interest rate, money supply growth rate, price level, or rate of depreciation. However, these anchors are only valid if a central bank commits to maintaining them. This, in turn, requires that the central bank abandon their monetary policy autonomy in the long run. Should a central bank use one of these anchors to maintain a target inflation rate, they would have to forfeit using other policies. Using these anchors may prove more complicated for certain exchange rate regimes. Freely floating or managed floating regimes have more options to affect their inflation, because they enjoy more flexibility than a pegged currency or a country without a currency. The latter regimes would have to implement an exchange rate target to influence their inflation, as none of the other instruments are available to them. Credibility The short-term effects of monetary policy can be influenced by the degree to which announcements of new policy are deemed credible. In particular, when an anti-inflation policy is announced by a central bank, in the absence of credibility in the eyes of the public inflationary expectations will not drop, and the short-run effect of the announcement and a subsequent sustained anti-inflation policy is likely to be a combination of somewhat lower inflation and higher unemployment (see Phillips curve § NAIRU and rational expectations). But if the policy announcement is deemed credible, inflationary expectations will drop commensurately with the announced policy intent, and inflation is likely to come down more quickly and without so much of a cost in terms of unemployment. Thus there can be an advantage to having the central bank be independent of the political authority, to shield it from the prospect of political pressure to reverse the direction of the policy. But even with a seemingly independent central bank, a central bank whose hands are not tied to the anti-inflation policy might be deemed as not fully credible; in this case there is an advantage to be had by the central bank being in some way bound to follow through on its policy pronouncements, lending it credibility. There is very strong consensus among economists that an independent central bank can run a more credible monetary policy, making market expectations more responsive to signals from the central bank. Contexts In international economics Optimal monetary policy in international economics is concerned with the question of how monetary policy should be conducted in interdependent open economies. The classical view holds that international macroeconomic interdependence is only relevant if it affects domestic output gaps and inflation, and monetary policy prescriptions can abstract from openness without harm. This view rests on two implicit assumptions: a high responsiveness of import prices to the exchange rate, i.e. producer currency pricing (PCP), and frictionless international financial markets supporting the efficiency of flexible price allocation. The violation or distortion of these assumptions found in empirical research is the subject of a substantial part of the international optimal monetary policy literature. The policy trade-offs specific to this international perspective are threefold:First, research suggests only a weak reflection of exchange rate movements in import prices, lending credibility to the opposed theory of local currency pricing (LCP). The consequence is a departure from the classical view in the form of a trade-off between output gaps and misalignments in international relative prices, shifting monetary policy to CPI inflation control and real exchange rate stabilization. Second, another specificity of international optimal monetary policy is the issue of strategic interactions and competitive devaluations, which is due to cross-border spillovers in quantities and prices. Therein, the national authorities of different countries face incentives to manipulate the terms of trade to increase national welfare in the absence of international policy coordination. Even though the gains of international policy coordination might be small, such gains may become very relevant if balanced against incentives for international noncooperation.Third, open economies face policy trade-offs if asset market distortions prevent global efficient allocation. Even though the real exchange rate absorbs shocks in current and expected fundamentals, its adjustment does not necessarily result in a desirable allocation and may even exacerbate the misallocation of consumption and employment at both the domestic and global level. This is because, relative to the case of complete markets, both the Phillips curve and the loss function include a welfare-relevant measure of cross-country imbalances. Consequently, this results in domestic goals, e.g. output gaps or inflation, being traded-off against the stabilization of external variables such as the terms of trade or the demand gap. Hence, the optimal monetary policy in this case consists of redressing demand imbalances and/or correcting international relative prices at the cost of some inflation.Corsetti, Dedola and Leduc (2011) summarize the status quo of research on international monetary policy prescriptions: "Optimal monetary policy thus should target a combination of inward-looking variables such as output gap and inflation, with currency misalignment and cross-country demand misallocation, by leaning against the wind of misaligned exchange rates and international imbalances." This is main factor in country money status. In developing countries Developing countries may have problems establishing an effective operating monetary policy. The primary difficulty is that few developing countries have deep markets in government debt. The matter is further complicated by the difficulties in forecasting money demand and fiscal pressure to levy the inflation tax by expanding the base rapidly. In general, the central banks in many developing countries have poor records in managing monetary policy. This is often because the monetary authorities in developing countries are mostly not independent of the government, so good monetary policy takes a backseat to the political desires of the government or is used to pursue other non-monetary goals. For this and other reasons, developing countries that want to establish credible monetary policy may institute a currency board or adopt dollarization. This can avoid interference from the government and may lead to the adoption of monetary policy as carried out in the anchor nation. Recent attempts at liberalizing and reform of financial markets (particularly the recapitalization of banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria and elsewhere) are gradually providing the latitude required to implement monetary policy frameworks by the relevant central banks. Trends Transparency Beginning with New Zealand in 1990, central banks began adopting formal, public inflation targets with the goal of making the outcomes, if not the process, of monetary policy more transparent. In other words, a central bank may have an inflation target of 2% for a given year, and if inflation turns out to be 5%, then the central bank will typically have to submit an explanation. The Bank of England exemplifies both these trends. It became independent of government through the Bank of England Act 1998 and adopted an inflation target of 2.5% RPI, revised to 2% of CPI in 2003. The success of inflation targeting in the United Kingdom has been attributed to the Bank of England's focus on transparency. The Bank of England has been a leader in producing innovative ways of communicating information to the public, especially through its Inflation Report, which have been emulated by many other central banks.The European Central Bank adopted, in 1998, a definition of price stability within the Eurozone as inflation of under 2% HICP. In 2003, this was revised to inflation below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. Since then, the target of 2% has become common for other major central banks, including the Federal Reserve (since January 2012) and Bank of Japan (since January 2013). Effect on business cycles There continues to be some debate about whether monetary policy can (or should) smooth business cycles. A central conjecture of Keynesian economics is that the central bank can stimulate aggregate demand in the short run, because a significant number of prices in the economy are fixed in the short run and firms will produce as many goods and services as are demanded (in the long run, however, money is neutral, as in the neoclassical model). However, some economists from the new classical school contend that central banks cannot affect business cycles. Behavioral monetary policy Conventional macroeconomic models assume that all agents in an economy are fully rational. A rational agent has clear preferences, models uncertainty via expected values of variables or functions of variables, and always chooses to perform the action with the optimal expected outcome for itself among all feasible actions – they maximize their utility. Monetary policy analysis and decisions hence traditionally rely on this New Classical approach.However, as studied by the field of behavioral economics that takes into account the concept of bounded rationality, people often deviate from the way that these neoclassical theories assume. Humans are generally not able to react fully rational to the world around them – they do not make decisions in the rational way commonly envisioned in standard macroeconomic models. People have time limitations, cognitive biases, care about issues like fairness and equity and follow rules of thumb (heuristics).This has implications for the conduct of monetary policy. Monetary policy is the final outcome of a complex interaction between monetary institutions, central banker preferences and policy rules, and hence human decision-making plays an important role. It is more and more recognized that the standard rational approach does not provide an optimal foundation for monetary policy actions. These models fail to address important human anomalies and behavioral drivers that explain monetary policy decisions.An example of a behavioral bias that characterizes the behavior of central bankers is loss aversion: for every monetary policy choice, losses loom larger than gains, and both are evaluated with respect to the status quo. One result of loss aversion is that when gains and losses are symmetric or nearly so, risk aversion may set in. Loss aversion can be found in multiple contexts in monetary policy. The "hard fought" battle against the Great Inflation, for instance, might cause a bias against policies that risk greater inflation. Another common finding in behavioral studies is that individuals regularly offer estimates of their own ability, competence, or judgments that far exceed an objective assessment: they are overconfident. Central bank policymakers may fall victim to overconfidence in managing the macroeconomy in terms of timing, magnitude, and even the qualitative impact of interventions. Overconfidence can result in actions of the central bank that are either "too little" or "too much". When policymakers believe their actions will have larger effects than objective analysis would indicate, this results in too little intervention. Overconfidence can, for instance, cause problems when relying on interest rates to gauge the stance of monetary policy: low rates might mean that policy is easy, but they could also signal a weak economy.These are examples of how behavioral phenomena may have a substantial influence on monetary policy. Monetary policy analyses should thus account for the fact that policymakers (or central bankers) are individuals and prone to biases and temptations that can sensibly influence their ultimate choices in the setting of macroeconomic and/or interest rate targets. See also References External links Tobin, James (2008). "Monetary Policy". In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty. ISBN 978-0865976658. OCLC 237794267. Mankiw, N. Gregory, and Ricardo Reis. 2018. "Friedman's Presidential Address in the Evolution of Macroeconomic Thought." Journal of Economic Perspectives 32(1): 81–96. Bank for International SettlementsRenaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred in philosophy, literature, music, science, and technology. Renaissance art took as its foundation the art of Classical antiquity, perceived as the noblest of ancient traditions, but transformed that tradition by absorbing recent developments in the art of Northern Europe and by applying contemporary scientific knowledge. Along with Renaissance humanist philosophy, it spread throughout Europe, affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new techniques and new artistic sensibilities. For art historians, Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from the medieval period to the Early Modern age. The body of art, painting, sculpture, architecture, music and literature identified as "Renaissance art" was primarily produced during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Europe under the combined influences of an increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of man. Scholars no longer believe that the Renaissance marked an abrupt break with medieval values, as is suggested by the French word renaissance, literally meaning "rebirth". In many parts of Europe, Early Renaissance art was created in parallel with Late Medieval art. Origins Many influences on the development of Renaissance men and women in the early 15th century have been credited with the emergence of Renaissance art; they are the same as those that affected philosophy, literature, architecture, theology, science, government and other aspects of society. The following list presents a summary of changes to social and cultural conditions which have been identified as factors which contributed to the development of Renaissance art. Each is dealt with more fully in the main articles cited above. The scholars of Renaissance period focused on present life and ways improve human life. They did not pay much attention to medieval philosophy or religion. During this period, scholars and humanists like Erasmus, Dante and Petrarch criticized superstitious beliefs and also questioned them. The concept of education also widened its spectrum and focused more on creating 'an ideal man' who would have a fair understanding of arts, music, poetry and literature and would have the ability to appreciate these aspects of life. During this period, there emerged a scientific outlook which helped people question the needless rituals of the church. Classical texts, lost to European scholars for centuries, became available. These included documents of philosophy, prose, poetry, drama, science, a thesis on the arts, and early Christian theology. Europe gained access to advanced mathematics, which had its provenance in the works of Islamic scholars. The advent of movable type printing in the 15th century meant that ideas could be disseminated easily, and an increasing number of books were written for a broader public. The establishment of the Medici Bank and the subsequent trade it generated brought unprecedented wealth to a single Italian city, Florence. Cosimo de' Medici set a new standard for patronage of the arts, not associated with the church or monarchy. Humanist philosophy meant that man's relationship with humanity, the universe and God was no longer the exclusive province of the church. A revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by the architect Brunelleschi and sculptor Donatello. The revival of a style of architecture based on classical precedents inspired a corresponding classicism in painting and sculpture, which manifested itself as early as the 1420s in the paintings of Masaccio and Uccello. The improvement of oil paint and developments in oil-painting technique by Belgian artists such as Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes led to its adoption in Italy from about 1475 and had ultimately lasting effects on painting practices worldwide. The serendipitous presence within the region of Florence in the early 15th century of certain individuals of artistic genius, most notably Masaccio, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Piero della Francesca, Donatello and Michelozzo formed an ethos out of which sprang the great masters of the High Renaissance, as well as supporting and encouraging many lesser artists to achieve work of extraordinary quality. A similar heritage of artistic achievement occurred in Venice through the talented Bellini family, their influential in-law Mantegna, Giorgione, Titian and Tintoretto. The publication of two treatises by Leone Battista Alberti, De pictura ("On Painting") in 1435 and De re aedificatoria ("Ten Books on Architecture") in 1452. History Proto-Renaissance in Italy, 1280–1400 In Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the sculpture of Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni Pisano, working at Pisa, Siena and Pistoia shows markedly classicising tendencies, probably influenced by the familiarity of these artists with ancient Roman sarcophagi. Their masterpieces are the pulpits of the Baptistery and Cathedral of Pisa. Contemporary with Giovanni Pisano, the Florentine painter Giotto developed a manner of figurative painting that was unprecedentedly naturalistic, three-dimensional, lifelike and classicist, when compared with that of his contemporaries and teacher Cimabue. Giotto, whose greatest work is the cycle of the Life of Christ at the Arena Chapel in Padua, was seen by the 16th-century biographer Giorgio Vasari as "rescuing and restoring art" from the "crude, traditional, Byzantine style" prevalent in Italy in the 13th century. Early Renaissance in Italy, 1400–1495 Although both the Pisanos and Giotto had students and followers, the first truly Renaissance artists were not to emerge in Florence until 1401 with the competition to sculpt a set of bronze doors of the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral, which drew entries from seven young sculptors including Brunelleschi, Donatello and the winner, Lorenzo Ghiberti. Brunelleschi, most famous as the architect of the dome of Florence Cathedral and the Church of San Lorenzo, created a number of sculptural works, including a life-sized crucifix in Santa Maria Novella, renowned for its naturalism. His studies of perspective are thought to have influenced the painter Masaccio. Donatello became renowned as the greatest sculptor of the Early Renaissance, his masterpieces being his humanist and unusually erotic statue of David, one of the icons of the Florentine republic, and his great monument to Gattamelata, the first large equestrian bronze to be created since Roman times. The contemporary of Donatello, Masaccio, was the painterly descendant of Giotto and began the Early Renaissance in Italian painting in 1425, furthering the trend towards solidity of form and naturalism of face and gesture that Giotto had begun a century earlier. From 1425–1428, Masaccio completed several panel paintings but is best known for the fresco cycle that he began in the Brancacci Chapel with the older artist Masolino and which had profound influence on later painters, including Michelangelo. Masaccio's developments were carried forward in the paintings of Fra Angelico, particularly in his frescos at the Convent of San Marco in Florence. The treatment of the elements of perspective and light in painting was of particular concern to 15th-century Florentine painters. Uccello was so obsessed with trying to achieve an appearance of perspective that, according to Giorgio Vasari, it disturbed his sleep. His solutions can be seen in his masterpiece set of three paintings, the Battle of San Romano, which is believed to have been completed by 1460. Piero della Francesca made systematic and scientific studies of both light and linear perspective, the results of which can be seen in his fresco cycle of The History of the True Cross in San Francesco, Arezzo. In Naples, the painter Antonello da Messina began using oil paints for portraits and religious paintings at a date that preceded other Italian painters, possibly about 1450. He carried this technique north and influenced the painters of Venice. One of the most significant painters of Northern Italy was Andrea Mantegna, who decorated the interior of a room, the Camera degli Sposi for his patron Ludovico Gonzaga, setting portraits of the family and court into an illusionistic architectural space. The end period of the Early Renaissance in Italian art is marked, like its beginning, by a particular commission that drew artists together, this time in cooperation rather than competition. Pope Sixtus IV had rebuilt the Papal Chapel, named the Sistine Chapel in his honour, and commissioned a group of artists, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli to decorate its wall with fresco cycles depicting the Life of Christ and the Life of Moses. In the sixteen large paintings, the artists, although each working in his individual style, agreed on principles of format, and utilised the techniques of lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening and characterisation that had been carried to a high point in the large Florentine studios of Ghiberti, Verrocchio, Ghirlandaio and Perugino. Early Netherlandish art, 1425–1525 The painters of the Low Countries in this period included Jan van Eyck, his brother Hubert van Eyck, Robert Campin, Hans Memling, Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes. Their painting developed partly independently of Early Italian Renaissance painting, and without the influence of a deliberate and conscious striving to revive antiquity. The style of painting grew directly out of medieval painting in tempera, on panels and illuminated manuscripts, and other forms such as stained glass; the medium of fresco was less common in northern Europe. The medium used was oil paint, which had long been utilised for painting leather ceremonial shields and accoutrements because it was flexible and relatively durable. The earliest Netherlandish oil paintings are meticulous and detailed like tempera paintings. The material lent itself to the depiction of tonal variations and texture, so facilitating the observation of nature in great detail. The Netherlandish painters did not approach the creation of a picture through a framework of linear perspective and correct proportion. They maintained a medieval view of hierarchical proportion and religious symbolism, while delighting in a realistic treatment of material elements, both natural and man-made. Jan van Eyck, with his brother Hubert, painted The Altarpiece of the Mystical Lamb. It is probable that Antonello da Messina became familiar with Van Eyck's work, while in Naples or Sicily. In 1475, Hugo van der Goes' Portinari Altarpiece arrived in Florence, where it was to have a profound influence on many painters, most immediately Domenico Ghirlandaio, who painted an altarpiece imitating its elements. A very significant Netherlandish painter towards the end of the period was Hieronymus Bosch, who employed the type of fanciful forms that were often utilized to decorate borders and letters in illuminated manuscripts, combining plant and animal forms with architectonic ones. When taken from the context of the illumination and peopled with humans, these forms give Bosch's paintings a surreal quality which have no parallel in the work of any other Renaissance painter. His masterpiece is the triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. Early Renaissance in France, 1375–1528 The artists of France (including duchies such as Burgundy) were often associated with courts, providing illuminated manuscripts and portraits for the nobility as well as devotional paintings and altarpieces. Among the most famous were the Limbourg brothers, Flemish illuminators and creators of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry manuscript illumination. Jean Fouquet, painter of the royal court, visited Italy in 1437 and reflects the influence of Florentine painters such as Paolo Uccello. Although best known for his portraits such as that of Charles VII of France, Fouquet also created illuminations, and is thought to be the inventor of the portrait miniature. There were a number of artists at this date who painted famed altarpieces, that are stylistically quite distinct from both the Italian and the Flemish. These include two enigmatic figures, Enguerrand Quarton, to whom is ascribed the Pieta of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, and Jean Hey, otherwise known as "the Master of Moulins" after his most famous work, the Moulins Altarpiece. In these works, realism and close observation of the human figure, emotions and lighting are combined with a medieval formality, which includes gilt backgrounds. High Renaissance in Italy, 1495–1520 The "universal genius" Leonardo da Vinci was to further perfect the aspects of pictorial art (lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening and characterisation) that had preoccupied artists of the Early Renaissance, in a lifetime of studying and meticulously recording his observations of the natural world. His adoption of oil paint as his primary media meant that he could depict light and its effects on the landscape and objects more naturally and with greater dramatic effect than had ever been done before, as demonstrated in the Mona Lisa (1503–1506). His dissection of cadavers carried forward the understanding of skeletal and muscular anatomy, as seen in the unfinished Saint Jerome in the Wilderness (c. 1480). His depiction of human emotion in The Last Supper, completed 1495–1498, set the benchmark for religious painting. The art of Leonardo's younger contemporary Michelangelo took a very different direction. Michelangelo in neither his painting nor his sculpture demonstrates any interest in the observation of any natural object except the human body. He perfected his technique in depicting it, while in his early twenties, by the creation of the enormous marble statue of David and the group Pietà, in the St Peter's Basilica, Rome. He then set about an exploration of the expressive possibilities of the human anatomy. His commission by Pope Julius II to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling resulted in the supreme masterpiece of figurative composition, which was to have profound effect on every subsequent generation of European artists. His later work, The Last Judgement, painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel between 1534 and 1541, shows a Mannerist (also called Late Renaissance) style with generally elongated bodies which took over from the High Renaissance style between 1520 and 1530. Standing alongside Leonardo and Michelangelo as the third great painter of the High Renaissance was the younger Raphael, who in a short lifespan painted a great number of life-like and engaging portraits, including those of Pope Julius II and his successor Pope Leo X, and numerous portrayals of the Madonna and Christ Child, including the Sistine Madonna. His death in 1520 at age 37 is considered by many art historians to be the end of the High Renaissance period, although some individual artists continued working in the High Renaissance style for many years thereafter. In Northern Italy, the High Renaissance is represented primarily by members of the Venetian school, especially by the latter works of Giovanni Bellini, especially religious paintings, which include several large altarpieces of a type known as "Sacred Conversation", which show a group of saints around the enthroned Madonna. His contemporary Giorgione, who died at about the age of 32 in 1510, left a small number of enigmatic works, including The Tempest, the subject of which has remained a matter of speculation. The earliest works of Titian date from the era of the High Renaissance, including a massive altarpiece The Assumption of the Virgin which combines human action and drama with spectacular colour and atmosphere. Titian continued painting in a generally High Renaissance style until near the end of his career in the 1570s, although he increasingly used colour and light over line to define his figures. German Renaissance art German Renaissance art falls into the broader category of the Renaissance in Northern Europe, also known as the Northern Renaissance. Renaissance influences began to appear in German art in the 15th century, but this trend was not widespread. Gardner's Art Through the Ages identifies Michael Pacher, a painter and sculptor, as the first German artist whose work begins to show Italian Renaissance influences. According to that source, Pacher's painting, St. Wolfgang Forces the Devil to Hold His Prayerbook (c. 1481), is Late Gothic in style, but also shows the influence of the Italian artist Mantegna.In the 1500s, Renaissance art in Germany became more common as, according to Gardner, "The art of northern Europe during the sixteenth century is characterized by a sudden awareness of the advances made by the Italian Renaissance and by a desire to assimilate this new style as rapidly as possible." One of the best known practitioners of German Renaissance art was Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), whose fascination with classical ideas led him to Italy to study art. Both Gardner and Russell recognized the importance of Dürer's contribution to German art in bringing Italian Renaissance styles and ideas to Germany. Russell calls this "Opening the Gothic windows of German art," while Gardner calls it Dürer's "life mission." Importantly, as Gardner points out, Dürer "was the first northern artist who fully understood the basic aims of the southern Renaissance," although his style did not always reflect that. The same source says that Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) successfully assimilated Italian ideas while also keeping "northern traditions of close realism." This is contrasted with Dürer's tendency to work in "his own native German style" instead of combining German and Italian styles. Other important artists of the German Renaissance were Matthias Grünewald, Albrecht Altdorfer and Lucas Cranach the Elder.Artisans such as engravers became more concerned with aesthetics rather than just perfecting their crafts. Germany had master engravers, such as Martin Schongauer, who did metal engravings in the late 1400s. Gardner relates this mastery of the graphic arts to advances in printing which occurred in Germany, and says that metal engraving began to replace the woodcut during the Renaissance. However, some artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, continued to do woodcuts. Both Gardner and Russell describe the fine quality of Dürer's woodcuts, with Russell stating in The World of Dürer that Dürer "elevated them into high works of art." Britain Britain was very late to develop a distinct Renaissance style and most artists of the Tudor court were imported foreigners, usually from the Low Countries, including Hans Holbein the Younger, who died in England. One exception was the portrait miniature, which artists including Nicholas Hilliard developed into a distinct genre well before it became popular in the rest of Europe. Renaissance art in Scotland was similarly dependent on imported artists, and largely restricted to the court. Themes and symbolism Renaissance artists painted a wide variety of themes. Religious altarpieces, fresco cycles, and small works for private devotion were very popular. For inspiration, painters in both Italy and northern Europe frequently turned to Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (1260), a highly influential source book for the lives of saints that had already had a strong influence on Medieval artists. The rebirth of classical antiquity and Renaissance humanism also resulted in many mythological and history paintings. Ovidian stories, for example, were very popular. Decorative ornament, often used in painted architectural elements, was especially influenced by classical Roman motifs. Techniques The use of proportion – The first major treatment of the painting as a window into space appeared in the work of Giotto di Bondone, at the beginning of the 14th century. True linear perspective was formalized later, by Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti. In addition to giving a more realistic presentation of art, it moved Renaissance painters into composing more paintings. Foreshortening – The term foreshortening refers to the artistic effect of shortening lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth. Sfumato – The term sfumato was coined by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci and refers to a fine art painting technique of blurring or softening of sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another through the use of thin glazes to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality. This stems from the Italian word sfumare meaning to evaporate or to fade out. The Latin origin is fumare, to smoke. Chiaroscuro – The term chiaroscuro refers to the fine art painting modeling effect of using a strong contrast between light and dark to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality. This comes from the Italian words meaning light (chiaro) and dark (scuro), a technique which came into wide use in the Baroque period. List of Renaissance artists Italy Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337) Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) Masolino (c. 1383 – c. 1447) Donatello (c. 1386 – 1466) Pisanello (c. 1395 – c. 1455) Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – 1455) Paolo Uccello (1397–1475) Masaccio (1401–1428) Leone Battista Alberti (1404–1472) Filippo Lippi (c. 1406 – 1469) Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – 1461) Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 – 1492) Andrea del Castagno (c. 1421 – 1457) Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1421 – 1497) Alessio Baldovinetti (1425–1499) Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429–1498) Antonello da Messina (c. 1430 – 1479) Giovanni Bellini (c.1430–1516) Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 1506) Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435 – 1488) Giovanni Santi (1435–1494) Carlo Crivelli (c. 1435 – c. 1495) Donato Bramante (1444–1514) Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 – 1510) Luca Signorelli (c. 1445 – 1523) Biagio d'Antonio (1446–1516) Pietro Perugino (1446–1523) Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494) Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Pinturicchio (1454–1513) Filippino Lippi (1457–1504) Andrea Solari (1460–1524) Piero di Cosimo (1462–1522) Vittore Carpaccio (1465–1526) Bernardino de' Conti (1465–1525) Giorgione (c. 1473–1510) Michelangelo (1475–1564) Lorenzo Lotto (1480–1557) Raphael (1483–1520) Marco Cardisco (c. 1486 – c. 1542) Titian (c. 1488/1490 – 1576) Corregio (c. 1489 – 1534) Pietro Negroni (c. 1505 – c. 1565) Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532 – 1625) Low Countries Hubert van Eyck (1366?–1426) Robert Campin (c. 1380 – 1444) Limbourg brothers (fl. 1385–1416) Jan van Eyck (1385?–1440?) Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400–1464) Jacques Daret (c. 1404 – c. 1470) Petrus Christus (1410/1420–1472) Dirk Bouts (1415–1475) Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) Hans Memling (c. 1430 – 1494) Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 – 1516) Gerard David (c. 1455 – 1523) Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465 – c. 1495) Quentin Matsys (1466–1530) Jean Bellegambe (c. 1470 – 1535) Joachim Patinir (c. 1480 – 1524) Adriaen Isenbrant (c. 1490 – 1551) Germany Hans Holbein the Elder (c. 1460 – 1524) Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470 – 1528) Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531) Jerg Ratgeb (c. 1480 – 1526) Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480 – 1538) Leonhard Beck (c. 1480 – 1542) Hans Baldung (c. 1480 – 1545) Wilhelm Stetter (1487–1552) Barthel Bruyn the Elder (1493–1555) Ambrosius Holbein (1494–1519) Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497 – 1543) Conrad Faber von Kreuznach (c. 1500 – c. 1553) Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515–1586) France Enguerrand Quarton (c. 1410 – c. 1466) Barthélemy d'Eyck (c. 1420 – after 1470) Jean Fouquet (1420–1481) Simon Marmion (c. 1425 – 1489) Nicolas Froment (c. 1435 – c. 1486) Jean Hey (fl. c. 1475 – c. 1505) Jean Clouet (1480–1541) François Clouet (c. 1510 – 1572) Portugal Grão Vasco (1475–1542) Gregório Lopes (1490–1550) Francisco de Holanda (1517–1585) Cristóvão Lopes (1516–1594) Cristóvão de Figueiredo (?-c.1543) Jorge Afonso (1470–1540) António de Holanda (1480–1571) Cristóvão de Morais Nuno Gonçalves (c. 1425 – c. 1491) Francisco Henriques (?–1518) Frei Carlos (?–1540) Spain Jaume Huguet (1412–1492) Bartolomé Bermejo (c. 1440 – c. 1501) Paolo da San Leocadio (1447 – c. 1520) Pedro Berruguete (c. 1450 – 1504) Ayne Bru Juan de Flandes (c. 1460 – c. 1519) Luis de Morales (1512–1586) Alonso Sánchez Coello (1531–1588) El Greco (1541–1614) Venetian Dalmatia (modern Croatia) Giorgio da Sebenico (c. 1410 – 1475) Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino (1418–1506) Andrea Alessi (1425–1505) Francesco Laurana (c. 1430 – 1502) Giovanni Dalmata (c. 1440 – c. 1514) Nicholas of Ragusa (1460? – 1517) Andrea Schiavone (c. 1510/1515 – 1563) Works Ghent Altarpiece, by Hubert and Jan van Eyck The Arnolfini Portrait, by Jan van Eyck The Werl Triptych, by Robert Campin The Portinari Triptych, by Hugo van der Goes The Descent from the Cross, by Rogier van der Weyden Flagellation of Christ, by Piero della Francesca Spring, by Sandro Botticelli Lamentation of Christ, by Mantegna The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci The School of Athens, by Raphael Sistine Chapel ceiling, by Michelangelo Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, by Titian Isenheim Altarpiece, by Matthias Grünewald Melencolia I, by Albrecht Dürer The Ambassadors, by Hans Holbein the Younger Melun Diptych, by Jean Fouquet Saint Vincent Panels, by Nuno Gonçalves Major collections National Gallery, London, UK Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain Uffizi, Florence, Italy Louvre, Paris, France National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Belgium, Brussels Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium Old St. John's Hospital, Bruges, Belgium Bargello, Florence, Italy Château d'Écouen (National museum of the Renaissance), Écouen, France Vatican museums, Vatican city Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy See also References External links The Early Renaissance (video on YouTube) "Limited Freedom", Marica Hall, Berfrois, 2 March 2011.Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are considered unsustainable at current rates of exploitation. Renewable energy often provides energy for electricity generation to a grid, air and water heating/cooling, and stand-alone power systems. Renewable energy technology projects are typically large-scale, but they are also suited to rural and remote areas and developing countries, where energy is often crucial in human development. Renewable energy is often deployed together with further electrification, which has several benefits: electricity can move heat or objects efficiently, and is clean at the point of consumption. In addition, electrification with renewable energy is more efficient and therefore leads to significant reductions in primary energy requirements.From 2011 to 2021, renewable energy has grown from 20% to 28% of global electricity supply. Fossil energy shrunk from 68% to 62%, and nuclear from 12% to 10%. The share of hydropower decreased from 16% to 15% while power from sun and wind increased from 2% to 10%. Biomass and geothermal energy grew from 2% to 3%. There are 3,146 gigawatts installed in 135 countries, while 156 countries have laws regulating the renewable energy sector. In 2021, China accounted for almost half of the global increase in renewable electricity.Globally there are over 10 million jobs associated with the renewable energy industries, with solar photovoltaics being the largest renewable employer. Renewable energy systems are rapidly becoming more efficient and cheaper and their share of total energy consumption is increasing, with a large majority of worldwide newly installed electricity capacity being renewable. In most countries, photovoltaic solar or onshore wind are the cheapest new-build electricity.Many nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20% of their total energy supply, with some generating over half their electricity from renewables. A few countries generate all their electricity using renewable energy. National renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the 2020s and beyond. Studies have shown that a global transition to 100% renewable energy across all sectors – power, heat, transport and desalination – is feasible and economically viable. Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to fossil fuels, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies is resulting in significant energy security, climate change mitigation, and economic benefits. However renewables are being hindered by hundreds of billions of dollars of fossil fuel subsidies. In international public opinion surveys there is strong support for renewables such as solar power and wind power. But the International Energy Agency said in 2021 that to reach net zero carbon emissions more effort is needed to increase renewables, and called for generation to increase by about 12% a year to 2030. Overview Definition Renewable energy flows involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides, plant growth, and geothermal heat, as the International Energy Agency explains: Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources. Drivers and benefits Renewable energy stands in contrast to fossil fuels, which are being used far more quickly than they are being replenished. Renewable energy resources and significant opportunities for energy efficiency exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and technological diversification of energy sources, would result in significant energy security and economic benefits. Solar and wind power have got much cheaper. In some cases it will be cheaper to transition to these sources as opposed to continuing to use the current, inefficient, fossil fuels. It would also reduce environmental pollution such as air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and improve public health, reduce premature mortalities due to pollution and save associated health costs that could amount to trillions of dollars annually. Multiple analyses of decarbonization strategies have found that quantified health benefits can significantly offset the costs of implementing these strategies.Climate change concerns, coupled with the continuing fall in the costs of some renewable energy equipment, such as wind turbines and solar panels, are driving increased use of renewables. New government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry weather the global financial crisis better than many other sectors. As of 2019, however, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, renewables overall share in the energy mix (including power, heat and transport) needs to grow six times faster, in order to keep the rise in average global temperatures "well below" 2.0 °C (3.6 °F) during the present century, compared to pre-industrial levels. Scale A household's solar panels, and batteries if they have them, can often either be used for just that household or if connected to an electrical grid can be aggregated with millions of others. Over 44 million households use biogas made in household-scale digesters for lighting and/or cooking, and more than 166 million households rely on a new generation of more-efficient biomass cookstoves. According to the research, a nation must reach a certain point in its growth before it can take use of more renewable energy. In our words, its addition changed how crucial input factors (labor and capital) connect to one another, lowering their overall elasticity and increasing the apparent economies of scale. United Nations' eighth Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity. At the national level, at least 30 nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20% of energy supply. Although many countries have various policy targets for longer-term shares of renewable energy these tend to be only for the power sector, including a 40% target of all electricity generated for the European Union by 2030. Uses Renewable energy often displaces conventional fuels in four areas: electricity generation, hot water/space heating, transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services. Power generation More than a quarter of electricity is generated from renewables as of 2021. Heating and cooling Solar water heating makes an important contribution to renewable heat in many countries, most notably in China, which now has 70% of the global total (180 GWth). Most of these systems are installed on multi-family apartment buildings and meet a portion of the hot water needs of an estimated 50–60 million households in China. Worldwide, total installed solar water heating systems meet a portion of the water heating needs of over 70 million households. In Sweden, national use of biomass energy has surpassed that of oil. Heat pumps provide both heating and cooling, and also flatten the electric demand curve and are thus an increasing priority Renewable thermal energy is also growing rapidly. About 10% of heating and cooling energy is from renewables. Transportation One of the efforts to decarbonize transportation is the increased use of electric vehicles (EVs). Despite that and the use of biofuels, such as biojet, less than 4% of transport energy is from renewables. Occasionally hydrogen fuel cells are used for heavy transport. Mainstream technologies Solar energy Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, concentrated solar power (CSP), concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), solar architecture and artificial photosynthesis. Most new renewable energy is solar. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert, and distribute solar energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air. Active solar technologies encompass solar thermal energy, using solar collectors for heating, and solar power, converting sunlight into electricity either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). A photovoltaic system converts light into electrical direct current (DC) by taking advantage of the photoelectric effect. Solar PV has turned into a multi-billion, fast-growing industry, continues to improve its cost-effectiveness, and has the most potential of any renewable technologies together with CSP. Concentrated solar power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. CSP-Stirling has by far the highest efficiency among all solar energy technologies. In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries' energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared". Solar power accounts for 505 GW annually, which is about 2% of the world's electricity. Solar energy can be harnessed anywhere that receives sunlight; however, the amount of solar energy that can be harnessed for electricity generation is influenced by weather conditions, geographic location and time of day. According to chapter 6 of the IPCC 2022 climate mitigation report, the global potential of direct solar energy far exceeds that of any other renewable energy resource. It is well beyond the total amount of energy needed in order to support mitigation over the current century. Australia has the largest proportion of solar electricity in the world, supplying 9.9% of the country's electrical demand in 2020. More than 30 per cent of Australian households now have rooftop solar PV, with a combined capacity exceeding 11 GW. Wind power Air flow can be used to run wind turbines. Modern utility-scale wind turbines range from around 600 kW to 9 MW of rated power. The power available from the wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases up to the maximum output for the particular turbine. Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as offshore and high-altitude sites, are preferred locations for wind farms. Typically, full load hours of wind turbines vary between 16 and 57 percent annually but might be higher in particularly favorable offshore sites.Wind-generated electricity met nearly 4% of global electricity demand in 2015, with nearly 63 GW of new wind power capacity installed. Wind energy was the leading source of new capacity in Europe, the US and Canada, and the second largest in China. In Denmark, wind energy met more than 40% of its electricity demand while Ireland, Portugal and Spain each met nearly 20%.Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times current electricity demand, assuming all practical barriers needed were overcome. This would require wind turbines to be installed over large areas, particularly in areas of higher wind resources, such as offshore, and likely also industrial use of new types of VAWT turbines in addition to the horizontal axis units currently in use. As offshore wind speeds average ~90% greater than that of land, offshore resources can contribute substantially more energy than land-stationed turbines. Hydropower Since water is about 800 times denser than air, even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy. Water can generate electricity with a conversion efficiency of about 90%, which is the highest rate in renewable energy. There are many forms of water energy: Historically, hydroelectric power came from constructing large hydroelectric dams and reservoirs, which are still popular in developing countries. The largest of them are the Three Gorges Dam (2003) in China and the Itaipu Dam (1984) built by Brazil and Paraguay. Small hydro systems are hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 50 MW of power. They are often used on small rivers or as a low-impact development on larger rivers. China is the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world and has more than 45,000 small hydro installations. Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plants derive energy from rivers without the creation of a large reservoir. The water is typically conveyed along the side of the river valley (using channels, pipes and/or tunnels) until it is high above the valley floor, whereupon it can be allowed to fall through a penstock to drive a turbine. A run-of-river plant may still produce a large amount of electricity, such as the Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River in the United States. However many run-of-the-river hydro power plants are micro hydro or pico hydro plants.Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. Of the top 50 countries by percentage of electricity generated from renewables, 46 are primarily hydroelectric. There are now seven hydroelectricity stations larger than 10 GW (10,000 MW) worldwide, see table below. Much hydropower is flexible, thus complementing wind and solar. Wave power, which captures the energy of ocean surface waves, and tidal power, converting the energy of tides, are two forms of hydropower with future potential; however, they are not yet widely employed commercially. A demonstration project operated by the Ocean Renewable Power Company on the coast of Maine, and connected to the grid, harnesses tidal power from the Bay of Fundy, location of the world's highest tidal flow. Ocean thermal energy conversion, which uses the temperature difference between cooler deep and warmer surface waters, currently has no economic feasibility. Bioenergy Biomass is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms. It most often refers to plants or plant-derived materials which are specifically called lignocellulosic biomass. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly via combustion to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel. Conversion of biomass to biofuel can be achieved by different methods which are broadly classified into: thermal, chemical, and biochemical methods. Wood was the largest biomass energy source as of 2012; examples include forest residues – such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps, yard clippings, wood chips and even municipal solid waste. In the second sense, biomass includes plant or animal matter that can be converted into fibers or other industrial chemicals, including biofuels. Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, bamboo, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). Plant energy is produced by crops specifically grown for use as fuel that offer high biomass output per hectare with low input energy. The grain can be used for liquid transportation fuels while the straw can be burned to produce heat or electricity. Plant biomass can also be degraded from cellulose to glucose through a series of chemical treatments, and the resulting sugar can then be used as a first-generation biofuel. Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy such as methane gas or transportation fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Rotting garbage, and agricultural and human waste, all release methane gas – also called landfill gas or biogas. Crops, such as corn and sugarcane, can be fermented to produce the transportation fuel, ethanol. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, can be produced from left-over food products such as vegetable oils and animal fats. There is a great deal of research involving algal fuel or algae-derived biomass due to the fact that it is a non-food resource, grows around 20 times faster than other types of food crops, such as corn and soy, and can be grown almost anywhere. Once harvested, it can be fermented to produce biofuels such as ethanol, butanol, and methane, as well as biodiesel and hydrogen. The biomass used for electricity generation varies by region. Forest by-products, such as wood residues, are common in the United States. Agricultural waste is common in Mauritius (sugar cane residue) and Southeast Asia (rice husks). Biofuels include a wide range of fuels which are derived from biomass. The term covers solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. Liquid biofuels include bioalcohols, such as bioethanol, and oils, such as biodiesel. Gaseous biofuels include biogas, landfill gas and synthetic gas. Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. These include maize, sugarcane and, more recently, sweet sorghum. The latter crop is particularly suitable for growing in dryland conditions, and is being investigated by International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics for its potential to provide fuel, along with food and animal feed, in arid parts of Asia and Africa.With advanced technology being developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, are also used as feedstocks for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Bioethanol is widely used in the United States and in Brazil. The energy costs for producing bio-ethanol are almost equal to, the energy yields from bio-ethanol. However, according to the European Environment Agency, biofuels do not address global warming concerns. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases. It can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, or more commonly as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe. Biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's transport fuel in 2010.Biomass, biogas and biofuels are burned to produce heat/power and in doing so harm the environment. Pollutants such as sulphurous oxides (SOx), nitrous oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) are produced from the combustion of biomass. The World Health Organization estimates that 3.7 million prematurely died from outdoor air pollution in 2012 while indoor pollution from biomass burning effects over 3 billion people worldwide. Geothermal energy High temperature geothermal energy is from thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals (in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions). The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface. The adjective geothermal originates from the Greek roots geo, meaning earth, and thermos, meaning heat. The heat that is used for geothermal energy can be from deep within the Earth, all the way down to Earth's core – 6,400 kilometres (4,000 mi) down. At the core, temperatures may reach over 5,000 °C (9,030 °F). Heat conducts from the core to the surrounding rock. Extremely high temperature and pressure cause some rock to melt, which is commonly known as magma. Magma convects upward since it is lighter than the solid rock. This magma then heats rock and water in the crust, sometimes up to 371 °C (700 °F).Low temperature geothermal refers to the use of the outer crust of the Earth as a thermal battery to facilitate renewable thermal energy for heating and cooling buildings, and other refrigeration and industrial uses. In this form of geothermal, a geothermal heat pump and ground-coupled heat exchanger are used together to move heat energy into the Earth (for cooling) and out of the Earth (for heating) on a varying seasonal basis. Low-temperature geothermal (generally referred to as "GHP") is an increasingly important renewable technology because it both reduces total annual energy loads associated with heating and cooling, and it also flattens the electric demand curve eliminating the extreme summer and winter peak electric supply requirements. Thus low temperature geothermal/GHP is becoming an increasing national priority with multiple tax credit support and focus as part of the ongoing movement toward net zero energy. Emerging technologies There are also other renewable energy technologies that are still under development, including cellulosic ethanol, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and marine energy. These technologies are not yet widely demonstrated or have limited commercialization. Many are on the horizon and may have potential comparable to other renewable energy technologies, but still depend on attracting sufficient attention and research, development and demonstration (RD&D) funding.There are numerous organizations within the academic, federal, and commercial sectors conducting large-scale advanced research in the field of renewable energy. This research spans several areas of focus across the renewable energy spectrum. Most of the research is targeted at improving efficiency and increasing overall energy yields. Multiple government supported research organizations have focused on renewable energy in recent years. Two of the most prominent of these labs are Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), both of which are funded by the United States Department of Energy and supported by various corporate partners. Enhanced geothermal system Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) are a new type of geothermal power technology that does not require natural convective hydrothermal resources. The vast majority of geothermal energy within drilling reach is in dry and non-porous rock. EGS technologies "enhance" and/or create geothermal resources in this "hot dry rock (HDR)" through hydraulic fracturing. EGS and HDR technologies, such as hydrothermal geothermal, are expected to be baseload resources that produce power 24 hours a day like a fossil plant. Distinct from hydrothermal, HDR and EGS may be feasible anywhere in the world, depending on the economic limits of drill depth. Good locations are over deep granite covered by a thick (3–5 km or 1.9–3.1 mi) layer of insulating sediments which slow heat loss. There are HDR and EGS systems currently being developed and tested in France, Australia, Japan, Germany, the U.S., and Switzerland. The largest EGS project in the world is a 25 megawatt demonstration plant currently being developed in the Cooper Basin, Australia. The Cooper Basin has the potential to generate 5,000–10,000 MW. Marine energy Marine energy (also sometimes referred to as ocean energy) is the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world's oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy, or energy in motion. This energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries. The term marine energy encompasses wave power – power from surface waves, marine current power - power from marine hydrokinetic streams (e.g., the Gulf Stream), and tidal power – obtained from the kinetic energy of large bodies of moving water. Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a technology for generating electricity by mixing fresh river water and salty sea water in large power cells designed for this purpose; as of 2016, it is being tested at a small scale (50 kW). Offshore wind power is not a form of marine energy, as wind power is derived from the wind, even if the wind turbines are placed over water. The oceans have a tremendous amount of energy and are close to many if not most concentrated populations. Ocean energy has the potential of providing a substantial amount of new renewable energy around the world. Passive daytime radiative cooling Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) uses the coldness of outer space as a renewable energy source to achieve daytime cooling that can be used in many applications, such as indoor space cooling, outdoor urban heat island mitigation, and solar cell efficiency. PDRC surfaces are designed to be high in solar reflectance to minimize heat gain and strong in longwave infrared (LWIR) thermal radiation heat transfer. On a planetary scale, it has been proposed as a way to slow and reverse global warming. PDRC applications are deployed as sky-facing surfaces, similar to other renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems and solar thermal collectors. PDRC became possible with the ability to suppress solar heating using photonic metamaterials, first published in a study by Raman et al. to the scientific community in 2014. PDRC applications for indoor space cooling is growing with an estimated "market size of ∼$27 billion in 2025." Artificial photosynthesis Artificial photosynthesis uses techniques including nanotechnology to store solar electromagnetic energy in chemical bonds by splitting water to produce hydrogen and then using carbon dioxide to make methanol. Researchers in this field strived to design molecular mimics of photosynthesis that use a wider region of the solar spectrum, employ catalytic systems made from abundant, inexpensive materials that are robust, readily repaired, non-toxic, stable in a variety of environmental conditions and perform more efficiently allowing a greater proportion of photon energy to end up in the storage compounds, i.e., carbohydrates (rather than building and sustaining living cells). However, prominent research faces hurdles, Sun Catalytix a MIT spin-off stopped scaling up their prototype fuel-cell in 2012, because it offers few savings over other ways to make hydrogen from sunlight. Earth infrared thermal radiation Earth emits roughly 1017 W of infrared thermal radiation that flows toward the cold outer space. Solar energy hits the surface and atmosphere of the earth and produces heat. Using various theorized devices like emissive energy harvester (EEH) or thermoradiative diode, this energy flow can be converted into electricity. In theory, this technology can be used during nighttime. Others Algae fuels Producing liquid fuels from oil-rich (fat-rich) varieties of algae is an ongoing research topic. Various microalgae grown in open or closed systems are being tried including some systems that can be set up in brownfield and desert lands. Water vapor Collection of static electricity charges from water droplets on metal surfaces is an experimental technology that would be especially useful in low-income countries with relative air humidity over 60%. Crop wastes AuREUS devices (Aurora Renewable Energy & UV Sequestration), which are based on crop wastes can absorb ultraviolet light from the sun and turn it into renewable energy. Integration into the energy system and sector coupling Renewable energy production from some sources such as wind and solar is more variable and more geographically spread than technology based on fossil fuels and nuclear. While integrating it into the wider energy system is feasible, it does lead to some additional challenges such as increased production volatility and decreased system inertia. Implementation of energy storage, using a wide variety of renewable energy technologies, and implementing a smart grid in which energy is automatically used at the moment it is produced can reduce risks and costs of renewable energy implementation.Sector coupling of the power generation sector with other sectors may increase flexibility: for example the transport sector can be coupled by charging electric vehicles and sending electricity from vehicle to grid. Similarly the industry sector can be coupled by hydrogen produced by electrolysis, and the buildings sector by thermal energy storage for space heating and cooling. Electrical energy storage Electrical energy storage is a collection of methods used to store electrical energy. Electrical energy is stored during times when production (especially from intermittent sources such as wind power, tidal power, solar power) exceeds consumption, and returned to the grid when production falls below consumption. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity accounts for more than 85% of all grid power storage. Batteries are increasingly being deployed for this and for grid ancillary services and for domestic storage. Market and industry trends Most new renewables are solar, followed by wind then hydro then bioenergy.: 5  Investment in renewables, especially solar, tends to be more effective in creating jobs than coal, gas or oil. Worldwide, renewables employ about 12 million people as of 2020, with solar PV being the technology employing the most at almost 4 million. Cost comparison * = 2018. All other values for 2019. Growth of renewables The results of a recent review of the literature concluded that as greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters begin to be held liable for damages resulting from GHG emissions resulting in climate change, a high value for liability mitigation would provide powerful incentives for deployment of renewable energy technologies.In the decade of 2010–2019, worldwide investment in renewable energy capacity excluding large hydropower amounted to US$2.7 trillion, of which the top countries China contributed US$818 billion, the United States contributed US$392.3 billion, Japan contributed US$210.9 billion, Germany contributed US$183.4 billion, and the United Kingdom contributed US$126.5 billion. This was an increase of over three and possibly four times the equivalent amount invested in the decade of 2000–2009 (no data is available for 2000–2003). Future projections A December 2022 report by the IEA forecasts that over 2022-2027, renewables are seen growing by almost 2 400 GW in its main forecast, equal to the entire installed power capacity of China in 2021. This is an 85% acceleration from the previous five years, and almost 30% higher than what the IEA forecast in its 2021 report, making its largest ever upward revision. Renewables are set to account for over 90% of global electricity capacity expansion over the forecast period. In June 2022 IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said that countries should invest more in renewables to "ease the pressure on consumers from high fossil fuel prices, make our energy systems more secure, and get the world on track to reach our climate goals.”China's five year plan to 2025 includes increasing direct heating by renewables such as geothermal and solar thermal.REPowerEU, the EU plan to escape dependence on fossil Russian gas, is expected to call for much more green hydrogen. Demand In July 2014, WWF and the World Resources Institute convened a discussion among a number of major US companies who had declared their intention to increase their use of renewable energy. These discussions identified a number of "principles" which companies seeking greater access to renewable energy considered important market deliverables. These principles included choice (between suppliers and between products), cost competitiveness, longer term fixed price supplies, access to third-party financing vehicles, and collaboration.UK statistics released in September 2020 noted that "the proportion of demand met from renewables varies from a low of 3.4 per cent (for transport, mainly from biofuels) to highs of over 20 per cent for 'other final users', which is largely the service and commercial sectors that consume relatively large quantities of electricity, and industry".In some locations, individual households can opt to purchase renewable energy through a consumer green energy program. Trends for individual technologies Hydroelectricity In 2021, the world renewable hydropower capacity was 1 360 GW. Only a third of the world's estimated hydroelectric potential of 14,000 TWh/year has been developed. New hydropower projects face opposition from local communities due to their large impact, including relocation of communities and flooding of wildlife habitats and farming land. High cost and lead times from permission process, including environmental and risk assessments, with lack of environmental and social acceptance are therefore the primary challenges for new developments. It is popular to repower old dams thereby increasing their efficiency and capacity as well as quicker responsiveness on the grid. Where circumstances permit existing dams such as the Russell Dam built in 1985 may be updated with "pump back" facilities for pumped-storage which is useful for peak loads or to support intermittent wind and solar power. Because dispatchable power is more valuable than VRE countries with large hydroelectric developments such as Canada and Norway are spending billions to expand their grids to trade with neighboring countries having limited hydro. Wind power development Offshore wind is becoming more profitable Solar thermal Solar thermal energy capacity has increased from 1.3 GW in 2012 to 5.0 GW in 2017.Spain is the world leader in solar thermal power deployment with 2.3 GW deployed. The United States has 1.8 GW, most of it in California where 1.4 GW of solar thermal power projects are operational. Several power plants have been constructed in the Mojave Desert, Southwestern United States. As of 2017 only 4 other countries have deployments above 100 MW: South Africa (300 MW) India (229 MW) Morocco (180 MW) and United Arab Emirates (100 MW). The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power. The U.S. is among the top countries in the world in electricity generated by the Sun and several of the world's largest utility-scale installations are located in the desert Southwest. The oldest solar thermal power plant in the world is the 354 megawatt (MW) SEGS thermal power plant, in California. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a solar thermal power project in the California Mojave Desert, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Las Vegas, with a gross capacity of 377 MW. The 280 MW Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013. When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage.In developing countries, three World Bank projects for integrated solar thermal/combined-cycle gas-turbine power plants in Egypt, Mexico, and Morocco have been approved. Photovoltaic development Photovoltaics (PV) is rapidly-growing with global capacity increasing from 230 GW at the end of 2015 to 890 GW in 2021.PV uses solar cells assembled into solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. PV systems range from small, residential and commercial rooftop or building integrated installations, to large utility-scale photovoltaic power station. The predominant PV technology is crystalline silicon, while thin-film solar cell technology accounts for about 10 percent of global photovoltaic deployment. In recent years, PV technology has improved its electricity generating efficiency, reduced the installation cost per watt as well as its energy payback time, and reached grid parity in at least 30 different markets by 2014.Building-integrated photovoltaics or "onsite" PV systems use existing land and structures and generate power close to where it is consumed.Photovoltaics grew fastest in China between 2016 and 2021 adding 560 GW, more than all advanced economies combined. Solar PV’s installed power capacity is poised to surpass that of coal by 2027, becoming the largest in the world. This requires an increase of installed PV capacity to 4,600 GW, of which more than half is expected to be deployed in China and India. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. As the cost of solar electricity has fallen, the number of grid-connected solar PV systems has grown into the millions and utility-scale solar power stations with hundreds of megawatts are being built. Many solar photovoltaic power stations have been built, mainly in Europe, China and the United States. The 1.5 GW Tengger Desert Solar Park, in China is the world's largest PV power station. Many of these plants are integrated with agriculture and some use tracking systems that follow the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than fixed-mounted systems. Biofuel development Bioenergy global capacity in 2021 was 158 GW. Biofuels avoided 4.4% of global transport fuel demand in 2021.Policies in more than 80 countries support biofuels demand. Since the 1970s, Brazil has had an ethanol fuel program which has allowed the country to become the world's second largest producer of ethanol (after the United States) and the world's largest exporter. Brazil's ethanol fuel program uses modern equipment and cheap sugarcane as feedstock, and the residual cane-waste (bagasse) is used to produce heat and power. There are no longer light vehicles in Brazil running on pure gasoline.Biojet is expected to be important for short-term reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from long-haul flights. Geothermal development Global geothermal capacity in 2021 was 15 GW.Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries. Recent technological advances have expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating, opening a potential for widespread exploitation. Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth, but these emissions are usually much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuels. As a result, geothermal power has the potential to help mitigate global warming if widely deployed in place of fossil fuels. In 2017, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity production with 12.9 GW of installed capacity. The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal field in California. The Philippines follows the US as the second highest producer of geothermal power in the world, with 1.9 GW of capacity online. Developing countries Policy Policies to support renewable energy have been vital in their expansion. Where Europe dominated in establishing energy policy in the early 2000s, most countries around the world now have some form of energy policy. Policy trends The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization for promoting the adoption of renewable energy worldwide. It aims to provide concrete policy advice and facilitate capacity building and technology transfer. IRENA was formed in 2009, with 75 countries signing the charter of IRENA. As of April 2019, IRENA has 160 member states. The then United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that renewable energy can lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity, and in September 2011 he launched the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative to improve energy access, efficiency and the deployment of renewable energy.The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change motivated many countries to develop or improve renewable energy policies. In 2017, a total of 121 countries adopted some form of renewable energy policy. National targets that year existed in 176 countries. In addition, there is also a wide range of policies at the state/provincial, and local levels. Some public utilities help plan or install residential energy upgrades. Many national, state and local governments have created green banks. A green bank is a quasi-public financial institution that uses public capital to leverage private investment in clean energy technologies. Green banks use a variety of financial tools to bridge market gaps that hinder the deployment of clean energy. Climate neutrality by the year 2050 is the main goal of the European Green Deal. For the European Union to reach their target of climate neutrality, one goal is to decarbonise its energy system by aiming to achieve "net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050." Full renewable energy Debates Renewable electricity generation by wind and solar is variable. This results in reduced capacity factor and may require keeping some gas-fired power plants or other dispatchable generation on standby until there is enough energy storage, demand response, grid improvement, and/or base load power from non-intermittent sources like hydropower, nuclear power or bioenergy. The market for renewable energy technologies has continued to grow. Climate change concerns and increasing in green jobs, coupled with high oil prices, peak oil, oil wars, oil spills, promotion of electric vehicles and renewable electricity, nuclear disasters and increasing government support, are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. New government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.The International Energy Agency has stated that deployment of renewable technologies usually increases the diversity of electricity sources and, through local generation, contributes to the flexibility of the system and its resistance to central shocks. Public support Solar power plants may compete with arable land, while on-shore wind farms face opposition due to aesthetic concerns and noise, which is impacting both humans and wildlife. In the United States, the Massachusetts Cape Wind project was delayed for years partly because of aesthetic concerns. However, residents in other areas have been more positive. According to a town councilor, the overwhelming majority of locals believe that the Ardrossan Wind Farm in Scotland has enhanced the area. These concerns, when directed against renewable energy, are sometimes described as "not in my back yard" attitude (NIMBY). A 2011 UK Government document states that "projects are generally more likely to succeed if they have broad public support and the consent of local communities. This means giving communities both a say and a stake". In countries such as Germany and Denmark many renewable projects are owned by communities, particularly through cooperative structures, and contribute significantly to overall levels of renewable energy deployment. Nuclear power proposed as renewable energy Geopolitics From around 2010 onwards, the geopolitical impact of the growing use of renewable energy has been discussed. Some argue that former fossil fuels exporters will experience a weakening of their position in international affairs, while countries with abundant renewable energy resources will be strengthened. Also some countries rich in critical materials for renewable energy technologies are expected to rise in importance in international affairs.The GeGaLo index of geopolitical gains and losses assesses how the geopolitical position of 156 countries may change if the world fully transitions to renewable energy resources. Former fossil fuels exporters are expected to lose power, while the positions of former fossil fuel importers and countries rich in renewable energy resources is expected to strengthen. Sourcing of required materials, ownership of key infrastructure assets and the design of grids all require geopolitics consideration.Transitions to renewable energy have many geopolitical implications such as the potential of revenue losses leading to political instability in insufficiently prepared fossil-fuel-exporting economies, albeit it is unclear whether the transition will increase or reduce conflict overall. In particular, a study hypothesizes that a "configuration emerges in which fossil fuel importers are better off decarbonizing, competitive fossil fuel exporters are better off flooding markets and uncompetitive fossil fuel producers—rather than benefitting from 'free-riding'—suffer from their exposure to stranded assets and lack of investment in decarbonization technologies".A study found that transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy systems reduces risks from mining, trade and political dependence because renewable energy systems don't need fuel – they depend on trade only for the acquisition of materials and components during construction.Nations rich in solar and wind energy could become major energy exporters.Trade in hydrogen could fundamentally redraw the geography of the global energy trade, and international governance and investments that seek to scale up the hydrogen economy could reduce "the risk of market fragmentation, carbon lock-in, and intensified geo-economic rivalry". Electricity will overtake other energy carriers by 2050, accounting for almost 50% of total energy consumption (up from 22% in 2015). Given the limitations of using solely electricity, clean hydrogen has significant potential in a number of industries. Hydrogen has the potential to be long-term stored in the electricity and heating industries.In 2019, oil and gas companies were listed by Forbes with sales of US$4.8 trillion, about 5% of the global GDP. Net importers such as China and the EU would gain advantages from a transition to low-carbon technologies driven by technological development, energy efficiency or climate change policy, while Russia, the USA or Canada could see their fossil fuel industries nearly shut down. On the other hand, countries with large areas such as Australia, Russia, China, the US, Canada and Brazil and also Africa and the Middle East have a potential for huge installations of renewable energy. The production of renewable energy technologies requires rare-earth elements with new supply chains.In October 2021, European Commissioner for Climate Action Frans Timmermans suggested "the best answer" to the 2021 global energy crisis is "to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels." He said those blaming the European Green Deal were doing so "for perhaps ideological reasons or sometimes economic reasons in protecting their vested interests." Some critics blamed the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and closure of nuclear plants for contributing to the energy crisis. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Europe is "too reliant" on natural gas and too dependent on natural gas imports. According to Von der Leyen, "The answer has to do with diversifying our suppliers ... and, crucially, with speeding up the transition to clean energy." Health and environmental impact Moving to modern renewable energy has very large health benefits due to reducing air pollution from fossil fuels.Renewable sources other than biomass such as wind power, photovoltaics, and hydroelectricity have the advantage of being able to conserve water, lower pollution and reduce CO2 emissions. Solar panels change the albedo of the surface, so if used on a very large scale (such as covering 20% of the Sahara Desert), could change global weather patterns. Conservation areas, recycling and rare-earth elements Installations used to produce wind, solar and hydropower are an increasing threat to key conservation areas, with facilities built in areas set aside for nature conservation and other environmentally sensitive areas. They are often much larger than fossil fuel power plants, needing areas of land up to 10 times greater than coal or gas to produce equivalent energy amounts. More than 2000 renewable energy facilities are built, and more are under construction, in areas of environmental importance and threaten the habitats of plant and animal species across the globe. The authors' team emphasized that their work should not be interpreted as anti-renewables because renewable energy is crucial for reducing carbon emissions. The key is ensuring that renewable energy facilities are built in places where they do not damage biodiversity.The transition to renewable energy depends on non-renewable resources, such as mined metals. Manufacturing of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and batteries requires significant amounts of rare-earth elements which has significant social and environmental impact if mined in forests and protected areas. Due to co-occurrence of rare-earth and radioactive elements (thorium, uranium and radium), rare-earth mining results in production of low-level radioactive waste.In 2020 scientists published a world map of areas that contain renewable energy materials as well as estimations of their overlaps with "Key Biodiversity Areas", "Remaining Wilderness" and "Protected Areas". The authors assessed that careful strategic planning is needed. Solar panels are recycled to reduce electronic waste and create a source for materials that would otherwise need to be mined, but such business is still small and work is ongoing to improve and scale-up the process. History Prior to the development of coal in the mid 19th century, nearly all energy used was renewable. The oldest known use of renewable energy, in the form of traditional biomass to fuel fires, dates from more than a million years ago. The use of biomass for fire did not become commonplace until many hundreds of thousands of years later. Probably the second oldest usage of renewable energy is harnessing the wind in order to drive ships over water. This practice can be traced back some 7000 years, to ships in the Persian Gulf and on the Nile. From hot springs, geothermal energy has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times. Moving into the time of recorded history, the primary sources of traditional renewable energy were human labor, animal power, water power, wind, in grain crushing windmills, and firewood, a traditional biomass. In 1885, Werner von Siemens, commenting on the discovery of the photovoltaic effect in the solid state, wrote: In conclusion, I would say that however great the scientific importance of this discovery may be, its practical value will be no less obvious when we reflect that the supply of solar energy is both without limit and without cost, and that it will continue to pour down upon us for countless ages after all the coal deposits of the earth have been exhausted and forgotten. Max Weber mentioned the end of fossil fuel in the concluding paragraphs of his Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism), published in 1905. Development of solar engines continued until the outbreak of World War I. The importance of solar energy was recognized in a 1911 Scientific American article: "in the far distant future, natural fuels having been exhausted [solar power] will remain as the only means of existence of the human race".The theory of peak oil was published in 1956. In the 1970s environmentalists promoted the development of renewable energy both as a replacement for the eventual depletion of oil, as well as for an escape from dependence on oil, and the first electricity-generating wind turbines appeared. Solar had long been used for heating and cooling, but solar panels were too costly to build solar farms until 1980. Gallery See also References Sources IRENA By the International Renewable Energy Agency"Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019" (PDF). IRENA. 2020. "Renewable Capacity Statistics 2020". IRENA. 2020. "Renewable Energy Statistics 2020". IRENA. 2020. External links Overview of clean energy from the United States Department of Energy Energypedia – a wiki platform for collaborative knowledge exchange on renewable energy in developing countriesFrom the total of 3,904 stars known to have exoplanets (as of January 1, 2023), there are a total of 850 known multiplanetary systems, or stars with at least two confirmed planets, beyond the Solar System. This list includes systems with at least three confirmed planets or two confirmed planets where additional candidates have been proposed. The stars with the most confirmed planets are Sol (the Solar System's star, also referred to as the Sun) and Kepler-90 with 8 confirmed planets each, followed by TRAPPIST-1 with 7 planets. The 850 multiplanetary systems are listed below according to the star's distance from Earth. Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System, has three planets (b, c and d). The nearest system with four or more confirmed planets is Tau Ceti, with four known. The farthest confirmed multiplanetary system is OGLE-2012-BLG-0026L, at 13,300 ly away.The table below contains information about the coordinates, spectral and physical properties, and the number of confirmed (unconfirmed) planets for systems with at least 2 planets and 1 not confirmed. The two most important stellar properties are mass and metallicity because they determine how these planetary systems form. Systems with higher mass and metallicity tend to have more planets and more massive planets. However, although low metallicity stars tend to have fewer massive planets, particularly hot-Jupiters, they also tend to have a larger number of close-in planets, orbiting at less than 1 AU. Multiplanetary systems Need to be added: TOI 1130, EPIC 249893012 Stars orbited by both planets and brown dwarfs Stars orbited by objects on both sides of the 13 Jupiter mass dividing line. Piscium (HD 3651) HD 168443 Gliese 229 A Epsilon Indi HD 82943 Pi Mensae See also == References ==Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars, activists, and the public have participated in, studied, and critiqued flows of economic and natural resources, human and non-human bodies, patterns of development and infrastructure, political and institutional activities, governance, decay and renewal, and notions of socio-spatial inclusions, exclusions, and everyday life. Urban geography includes different other fields in geography such as the physical, social, and economic aspects of urban geography. The physical geography of urban environments is essential to understand why a town is placed in a specific area, and how the conditions in the environment play an important role with regards to whether or not the city successfully develops. Social geography examines societal and cultural values, diversity, and other conditions that relate to people in the cities. Economic geography is important to examine the economic and job flow within the urban population. These various aspects involved in studying urban geography are necessary to better understand the layout and planning involved in the development of urban environments worldwide. Patterns of Urban Development and Infrastructure The development pattern of a place such as city, neighborhood deals how the building and human activities are arranged and organized on the landscape. Urban environments are composed of hard infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, and soft infrastructure, such as health and social services. The construction of urban areas is facilitated through urban planning and architecture. To combat the negative environmental effects of urban development, green infrastructure such as community gardens and parks, sewage and waste systems, and the use of solar energy have been implemented in many cities. The use of green infrastructure has been effective in responding to climate change and reducing flood risks. Green infrastructure, such as home and urban gardens, have been found to not only improve air quality but also promote mental well-being. Flow of Economic and Natural Resources Within Urban Environments Over the years, the development of urban environments has continued to increase due to globalization and urbanization. According to the UN, the world's population in urban areas is estimated to increase from 55% to 68% by the year 2050. The increase in the development of urban environments leads to the increase in economic flow and utilization of natural resources. As the population in urban areas continue to grow, the use of direct energy and transport energy tends to increase and is estimated to increase in the future. According to the study conducted by Creutzig et al., the current energy usage is projected to increase from 240 EJ in 2005 to 730 EJ in the year 2050 if worldwide urbanization continues. As more people move to the cities in search of work, business tends to follow suit. Thus, cities will develop the need for new infrastructures such as schools, hospitals, and various public facilities. The development of these types of soft infrastructure can lead to a positive impact on the residents. For instance, soft infrastructure can promote economic growth through allowing its residents to specialize in different areas of expertise. The diversification of careers within the urban population can increase the economic flow within the urban area. Human Interactions Within Urban Environments The development of soft infrastructure within urban areas provide people with ways to connect with one another as a community as well as ways to seek support services. Community infrastructure includes areas and services that allow human beings to interact with one another. Such interactions can be facilitated through health services, educational institutions, outreach centers, and community groups. Human interactions with their urban environments can lead to both positive and negative effects. Humans depend on their environment in order to get essential resources, such as good air quality, food and shelter. This natural environmental dependence can lead to the over exploitation of natural resources as the need for such resources increase. Human can also modify their environment in order to meet their goals. For instance, humans can clear land or agriculture in order to develop urbanized buildings such as commercial skyscrapers and public housing. The clearing of land to pave the way for urbanization can lead to negative environmental impacts such as deforestation, decreased air quality, and wild life displacement. Social and Political Flow Within Urban Environments As populations within cities grew over the years, the need to create forms of local government emerged. To maintain order within developing cities, politicians are elected to address environmental and societal issues within the population. For instance, the influence of local and state political dynamics plays an important role in how actions are taken place to combat climate change and housing issues. Impact of Urban Geography Environmental Impact The environment of urban areas is developed through the concept of urbanization. Urbanization is the transition from rural town-structured communities to urban city-structured communities. This transition is because humans are pulled to cities because of jobs and even welfare. In cities, problems will arise such as environmental degradation. The increasing population can lead to poor air quality and quality and availability of water. The growth of urbanization can lead to more use of energy which leads to air pollution and can impact human health. Flash flooding is another environmental hazard that can occur due to urban development. The concept of urbanization plays an important role in the study of urban geography because it involves the formation of urban infrastructures such as sanitation, sewage systems, and the distribution of electricity and gas. Societal Impact The migration form rural to urbanized areas is fueled by their search for jobs, education, and social welfare. There are trends in urbanization that are influenced by push and pull factors. The push factors include the increasingly high growth of rural areas which leads many people to migrate to the cities in search of better livelihood opportunities, a good quality of life, and a higher standard of living. People are forced to leave their rural homes and move to various cities because of various factors such as low agricultural productivity, poverty, and food insecurity. In addition to the push factors, there are also the pull factors, which "pull" people to cities for better opportunities, better education, proper public health facilities, and also entertainment which offers employment opportunities. The gentrification of urban environments leads to an increase in income gaps, racial inequality, and displacement within metropolitan areas. The negative environmental impacts of urbanization disproportionately effects minority low income areas more than higher income communities. Climate Impact The increasing demand for new building infrastructure within densely populated cities resulted in an increase in air pollution due to the high energy usage within these urban areas. The increasing energy use leads to an increase in heat emissions, which results in global warming. Cities are a key contributor to climate change because urban activities are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. It was estimated that cities are responsible for about 75% of global carbon dioxide emissions, with the inclusion of transportation and buildings being the largest contributor. In order to combat the negative environmental impacts urbanization, many modern cities develop environmentally conscious infrastructure. For instance, the implementation of public transportation such as train and bus systems help to lessen the use of cars within cities. The use of solar energy can also be found in many commercial and residential buildings, which helps to lessen the reliance on non-renewable energy resources. Biodiversity Impact Urbanization has a great impact on biodiversity. As cities develop, vital habitats are destroyed or fragmented into patches which leads to them not being big enough to support complex ecological communities. In cities, species can become endangered or locally extinct. The human population is the main contributor to the expansion of urban areas. As urban areas grow from increasing human population and from migration, this can result in deforestation, habitat loss, and extraction of freshwater from the environment which can decrease biodiversity and alter the species ranges and interaction. Some additional cause-and-effect relationships between urban geography and ecosystems include habitat loss which decreases the species' populations, ranges, and interaction among organisms, the life cycles, and traits can help species survive and reproduce in disturbed ecosystems. The paving of land with concrete can increase water runoff, increase erosion, and soil quality can also decrease. Research interest Urban geographers are primarily concerned with the ways in which cities and towns are constructed, governed and experienced. Alongside neighboring disciplines such as urban anthropology, urban planning and urban sociology, urban geography mostly investigates the impact of urban processes on the earth's surface's social and physical structures. Urban geographical research can be part of both human geography and physical geography. The two fundamental aspects of cities and towns, from the geographic perspective are: Location ("systems of cities"): spatial distribution and the complex patterns of movement, flows and linkages that bind them in space; and Urban structure ("cities as systems"): study of patterns of distribution and interaction within cities, from quantitative, qualitative, structural, and behavioral perspectives. Research topics Cities as centers of manufacturing and services Cities differ in their economic makeup, their social and demographic characteristics, and the roles they play within the city system. One can trace these differences back to regional variations in the local resources on which growth was based during the early development of the urban pattern and in part to the subsequent shifts in the competitive advantage of regions brought about by changing locational forces affecting regional specialization within the framework of a market economy. The recognition of different city types is critical for the classification of cities in urban geography. For such classification, emphasis given in particular to functional town classification and the basic underlying dimensions of the city system.The purpose of classifying cities is twofold. On the one hand, it is undertaken to search reality for hypotheses. In this context, the recognition of different types of cities on the basis of, for example, their functional specialization may enable the identification of spatial regularities in the distribution and structure of urban functions and the formulation of hypotheses about the resulting patterns. On the other hand, classification is undertaken to structure reality in order to test specific hypotheses that have already been formulated. For example, to test the hypotheses that cities with a diversified economy grow at a faster rate then those with a more specialized economic base, cities must first be classified so that diversified and specialized cities can be differentiated. The simplest way to classify cities is to identify the distinctive role they play in the city system. There are three distinct roles: central places functioning primarily as service centers for local hinterlands transportation cities performing break-of-bulk and allied functions for larger regions specialized-function cities, dominated by one activity such as mining, manufacturing or recreation and serving national and international marketsThe composition of a city's labor force has traditionally been regarded as the best indicator of functional specialization, and different city types have been most frequently identified from the analysis of employment profiles. Specialization in a given activity is said to exist when employment in it exceeds some critical level.The relationship between the city system and the development of manufacturing has become very apparent. The rapid growth and spread of cities within the heartland-hinterland framework after 1870 was conditioned to a large extent by industrial developments, and the decentralization of population within the urban system in recent years is related in large part to the movement of employment in manufacturing away from traditional industrial centers. Manufacturing is found in nearly all cities, but its importance is measured by the proportion of total earnings received by the inhabitants of an urban area. When 25 percent or more of the total earnings in an urban region derive from manufacturing, that urban area is arbitrarily designated as a manufacturing center. The location of manufacturing is affected by myriad economic and non-economic factors, such as the nature of the material inputs, the factors of production, the market and transportation costs. Other important influences include agglomeration and external economies, public policy and personal preferences. Although it is difficult to evaluate precisely the effect of the market on the location of manufacturing activities, two considerations are involved: the nature of and demand for the product transportation costs Urbanization Urbanization, the transformation of population from rural to urban, is a major phenomenon of the modern era and a central topic of study. History of the discipline Urban geography arrived as a critical sub-discipline with the 1973 publication of David Harvey's Social Justice and the City, which was heavily influenced by previous work by Anne Buttimer. Prior to its emergence as its own discipline, urban geography served as the academic extension of what was otherwise a professional development and planning practice. At the turn of the 19th century, urban planning began as a profession charged with mitigating the negative consequences of industrialization as documented by Friedrich Engels in his geographic analysis of the condition of the working class in England, 1844.In a 1924 study of urban geography, Marcel Aurousseau observed that urban geography cannot be considered a subdivision of geography because it plays such an important part. However, urban geography did emerge as a specialized discipline after World War II, amidst increasing urban planning and a shift away from the primacy of physical terrain in the study of geography. Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman were among its earliest exponents.Urban geography arose by the 1930s in the Soviet Union as an academic complement to active urbanization and communist urban planning, focusing on cities' economic roles and potential.Spatial analysis, behavioral analysis, Marxism, humanism, social theory, feminism, and postmodernism have arisen (in approximately this order) as overlapping lenses used within the field of urban geography in the West.Geographic information science, using digital processing of large data sets, has become widely used since the 1980s, with major applications for urban geography. Notable urban geographers and urbanists See also References External links Imagining Urban Futures Social and Spatial Inequalities Urban Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers Urban Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British GeographersDistance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via mail. Distance education is a technology mediated modality and has evolved with the evolution of technologies such as video conferencing, TV, and internet. Today, it usually involves online education and the learning is usually mediated by some form of technology. A distance learning program can be completely distance learning, or a combination of distance learning and traditional classroom instruction (called hybrid or blended). Other modalities include distance learning with complementary virtual environment or teaching in virtual environment (e-learning).Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering large-scale interactive participation and open access through the World Wide Web or other network technologies, are recent educational modes in distance education. A number of other terms (distributed learning, e-learning, m-learning, online learning, virtual classroom etc.) are used roughly synonymously with distance education. E-learning has shown to be a useful educational tool. E-learning should be an interactive process with multiple learning modes for all learners at various levels of learning. The distance learning environment is an exciting place to learn new things, collaborate with others, and retain self-discipline. History One of the earliest attempts of distance education was advertised in 1728. This was in the Boston Gazette for "Caleb Philipps, Teacher of the new method of Short Hand", who sought students who wanted to learn the skills through weekly mailed lessons.The first distance education course in the modern sense was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman in the 1840s who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on postcards and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction. The element of student feedback was a crucial innovation in Pitman's system. This scheme was made possible by the introduction of uniform postage rates across England in 1840.This early beginning proved extremely successful and the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded three years later to establish these courses on a more formal basis. The society paved the way for the later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across the country.The first correspondence school in the United States was the Society to Encourage Studies at Home which was founded in 1873.Founded in 1894, Wolsey Hall, Oxford was the first distance learning college in the UK. University correspondence courses The University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees, establishing its External Programme in 1858. The background to this innovation lay in the fact that the institution (later known as University College London) was non-denominational and the intense religious rivalries at the time led to an outcry against the "godless" university. The issue soon boiled down to which institutions had degree-granting powers and which institutions did not. The compromise that emerged in 1836 was that the sole authority to conduct the examinations leading to degrees would be given to a new officially recognized entity, the "University of London", which would act as examining body for the University of London colleges, originally University College London and King's College London, and award their students University of London degrees. As Sheldon Rothblatt states: "Thus arose in nearly archetypal form the famous English distinction between teaching and examining, here embodied in separate institutions."With the state giving examining powers to a separate entity, the groundwork was laid for the creation of a programme within the new university which would both administer examinations and award qualifications to students taking instruction at another institution or pursuing a course of self-directed study. Referred to as "People's University" by Charles Dickens because it provided access to higher education to students from less affluent backgrounds, the External Programme was chartered by Queen Victoria in 1858, making the University of London the first university to offer distance learning degrees to students. Enrollment increased steadily during the late 19th century, and its example was widely copied elsewhere. This programme is now known as the University of London International Programme and includes Postgraduate, Undergraduate and Diploma degrees created by colleges such as the London School of Economics, Royal Holloway and Goldsmiths. In the United States, William Rainey Harper, founder and first president of the University of Chicago, celebrated the concept of extended education, where a research university had satellite colleges elsewhere in the region.In 1892, Harper encouraged correspondence courses to further promote education, an idea that was put into practice by Chicago, Wisconsin, Columbia, and several dozen other universities by the 1920s. Enrollment in the largest private for-profit school based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the International Correspondence Schools grew explosively in the 1890s. Founded in 1888 to provide training for immigrant coal miners aiming to become state mine inspectors or foremen, it enrolled 2500 new students in 1894 and matriculated 72,000 new students in 1895. By 1906 total enrollments reached 900,000. The growth was due to sending out complete textbooks instead of single lessons, and the use of 1200 aggressive in-person salesmen. There was a stark contrast in pedagogy: The regular technical school or college aims to educate a man broadly; our aim, on the contrary, is to educate him only along some particular line. The college demands that a student shall have certain educational qualifications to enter it and that all students study for approximately the same length of time; when they have finished their courses they are supposed to be qualified to enter any one of a number of branches in some particular profession. We, on the contrary, are aiming to make our courses fit the particular needs of the student who takes them. Education was a high priority in the Progressive Era, as American high schools and colleges expanded greatly. For men who were older or were too busy with family responsibilities, night schools were opened, such as the YMCA school in Boston that became Northeastern University. Outside the big cities, private correspondence schools offered a flexible, narrowly focused solution. Large corporations systematized their training programmes for new employees. The National Association of Corporation Schools grew from 37 in 1913 to 146 in 1920. Starting in the 1880s, private schools opened across the country which offered specialized technical training to anyone who enrolled, not just the employees of one company. Starting in Milwaukee in 1907, public schools began opening free vocational programmes.Only a third of the American population lived in cities of 100,000 or more population in 1920; to reach the rest, correspondence techniques had to be adopted. Australia, with its vast distances, was especially active; the University of Queensland established its Department of Correspondence Studies in 1911. In South Africa, the University of South Africa, formerly an examining and certification body, started to present distance education tuition in 1946. The International Conference for Correspondence Education held its first meeting in 1938. The goal was to provide individualised education for students, at low cost, by using a pedagogy of testing, recording, classification, and differentiation. The organization has since been renamed as the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), with headquarters in Oslo, Norway. Open universities The Open University (OU) the United Kingdom was founded by the-then Labour government led by Harold Wilson. Based on the vision of Michael Young, planning commenced in 1965 under the Minister of State for Education, Jennie Lee, who established a model for the Open University as one of widening access to the highest standards of scholarship in higher education and set up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists, and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time, James Redmond, had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programmes. The Open University revolutionised the scope of the correspondence programme and helped to create a respectable learning alternative to the traditional form of education. It has been at the forefront of developing new technologies to improve the distance learning service as well as undertaking research in other disciplines. Walter Perry was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its foundation secretary was Anastasios Christodoulou. The election of the new Conservative government under the leadership of Edward Heath, in 1970; led to budget cuts under Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense"). However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000.Athabasca University, Canada's open university, was created in 1970 and followed a similar, though independently developed, pattern. The Open University inspired the creation of Spain's National University of Distance Education (1972) and Germany's FernUniversität in Hagen (1974). There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name "Open University" (in English or in the local language).The University of the Philippines Open University was established in 1995 as the fifth constituent university of the University of the Philippines System and was the first distance education and online university in the Philippines. Its mandate is to provide education opportunities to individuals aspiring for higher education and improved qualifications but were unable to take advantage of traditional modes of education because of personal and professional obligations. Most open universities use distance education technologies as delivery methods, though some require attendance at local study centres or at regional "summer schools". Some open universities have grown to become mega-universities. COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of the vast majority of schools worldwide for in person learning. Many schools moved to online remote learning through platforms including—but not limited to—Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, D2L, and Edgenuity. Concerns arose over the impact of this transition on students without access to an internet-enabled device or a stable internet connection. Distanced education during the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted synchronous learning for many students and teachers; where educators were no longer able to teach in real time and could only switch to asynchronous instruction, this significantly and negatively affected their coping with the transition, and posed various legal issues, especially in terms of copyright. A recent study about the benefits and drawbacks of online learning found that students have had a harder time producing their own work. The study suggests teachers should cut back on the amount of information taught and incorporate more activities during the lesson, in order for students to create their own work.Though schools are slow to adapt to new technologies, Covid-19 required schools to adapt and learn how to use new digital and online learning tools. Web conferencing has become more popular since 2007. Researchers have found that people in online classes perform just as effectively as participants in conventional learning classes. The use of online learning is becoming a pathway for learners with sparse access to physical courses so they can complete their degrees. Furthermore, digital classroom technologies allow those living remotely to access learning and it enables the student to fit learning into their schedule more easily. Technologies Internet technology has enabled many forms of distance learning through open educational resources and facilities such as e-learning and MOOCs. Although the expansion of the Internet blurs the boundaries, distance education technologies are divided into two modes of delivery: synchronous learning and asynchronous learning. In synchronous learning, all participants are "present" at the same time in a virtual classroom, as in traditional classroom teaching. It requires a timetable. Web conferencing, videoconferencing, educational television, instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio, live streaming, telephone, and web-based VoIP.Web conferencing software helps to facilitate class meetings, and usually contains additional interaction tools such as text chat, polls, hand raising, emoticons etc. These tools also support asynchronous participation by students who can listen to recordings of synchronous sessions. Immersive environments (notably SecondLife) have also been used to enhance participant presence in distance education courses. Another form of synchronous learning using the classroom is the use of robot proxies including those that allow sick students to attend classes.Some universities have been starting to use robot proxies to enable more engaging synchronous hybrid classes where both remote and in-person students can be present and interact using telerobotics devices such as the Kubi Telepresence robot stand that looks around and the Double Robot that roams around. With these telepresence robots, the remote students have a seat at the table or desk instead of being on a screen on the wall.In asynchronous learning, participants access course materials flexibly on their own schedules. Students are not required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of distance education, is an asynchronous delivery technology, as are message board forums, e-mail, video and audio recordings, print materials, voicemail, and fax.The two methods can be combined. Many courses offered by both open universities and an increasing number of campus-based institutions use periodic sessions of residential or day teaching to supplement the sessions delivered at a distance. This type of mixed distance and campus-based education has recently come to be called "blended learning" or less often "hybrid learning". Many open universities use a blend of technologies and a blend of learning modalities (face-to-face, distance, and hybrid) all under the rubric of "distance learning". Distance learning can also use interactive radio instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction (IAI), online virtual worlds, digital games, webinars, and webcasts, all of which are referred to as e-Learning. Radio and television The rapid spread of film in the 1920s and radio in the 1930s led to proposals to use it for distance education. By 1938, at least 200 city school systems, 25 state boards of education, and many colleges and universities broadcast educational programmes for the public schools. One line of thought was to use radio as a master teacher. Experts in given fields broadcast lessons for pupils within the many schoolrooms of the public school system, asking questions, suggesting readings, making assignments, and conducting tests. This mechanizes education and leaves the local teacher only the tasks of preparing for the broadcast and keeping order in the classroom. The first large-scale implementation of radio for distance education took place in 1937 in Chicago. During a three-week school closure implemented in response to a polio outbreak that the city was experiencing, superintendent of Chicago Public Schools William Johnson and assistant superintendent Minnie Fallon implemented a programme of distance learning that provided the city's elementary school students with instruction through radio broadcasts.A typical setup came in Kentucky in 1948 when John Wilkinson Taylor, president of the University of Louisville, teamed up with NBC to use radio as a medium for distance education, The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission endorsed the project and predicted that the "college-by-radio" would put "American education 25 years ahead". The university was owned by the city, and local residents would pay the low tuition rates, receive their study materials in the mail, and listen by radio to live classroom discussions that were held on campus. Physicist Daniel Q. Posin also was a pioneer in the field of distance education when he hosted a televised course through DePaul University.Charles Wedemeyer of the University of Wisconsin–Madison also promoted new methods. From 1964 to 1968, the Carnegie Foundation funded Wedemeyer's Articulated Instructional Media Project (AIM) which brought in a variety of communications technologies aimed at providing learning to an off-campus population. The radio courses faded away in the 1950s. Many efforts to use television along the same lines proved unsuccessful, despite heavy funding by the Ford Foundation.From 1970 to 1972 the Coordinating Commission for Higher Education in California funded Project Outreach to study the potential of telecourses. The study included the University of California, California State University, and the community colleges. This study led to coordinated instructional systems legislation allowing the use of public funds for non-classroom instruction and paved the way for the emergence of telecourses as the precursor to the online courses and programmes of today. The Coastline Community Colleges, The Dallas County Community College District, and Miami Dade Community College led the way. The Adult Learning Service of the US Public Broadcasting Service came into being and the "wrapped" series, and individually produced telecourse for credit became a significant part of the history of distance education and online learning. Internet The widespread use of computers and the Internet has made distance learning easier and faster, and today virtual schools and virtual universities deliver full curricula online. The capacity of Internet to support voice, video, text and immersion teaching methods made earlier distinct forms of telephone, videoconferencing, radio, television, and text based education somewhat redundant. However, many of the techniques developed and lessons learned with earlier media are used in Internet delivery. The first totally online courses for graduate and undergraduate credit were offered in 1985 by Connected Education through The New School in New York City, with students earning the MA in Media Studies completely online via computer conferencing, with no in-person requirements. This was followed in 1986 by the University of Toronto through the Graduate School of Education (then called OISE: the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), offering a course in "Women and Computers in Education", dealing with gender issues and educational computing. The first new and fully online university was founded in 1994 as the Open University of Catalonia, headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. In 1999 Jones International University was launched as the first fully online university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the US.Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in distance education courses increased rapidly in almost every country in both developed and developing countries. Many private, public, non-profit and for-profit institutions worldwide now offer distance education courses from the most basic instruction through to the highest levels of degree and doctoral programmes. New York University and the International University Canada, for example, offers online degrees in engineering and management-related fields through NYU Tandon Online. Levels of accreditation vary: widely respected universities such as Stanford University and Harvard now deliver online courses—but other online schools receive little outside oversight, and some are actually fraudulent, i.e., diploma mills. In the US, the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) specializes in the accreditation of distance education institutions.In the United States in 2011, it was found that a third of all the students enrolled in postsecondary education had taken an accredited online course in a postsecondary institution. Growth continued. In 2013 the majority of public and private colleges offered full academic programmes online. Programmes included training in the mental health, occupational therapy, family therapy, art therapy, physical therapy, and rehabilitation counseling fields. By 2008, online learning programmes were available in the United States in 44 states at the K-12 level.Internet forums, online discussion group and online learning community can contribute to a distance education experience. Research shows that socialization plays an important role in some forms of distance education.ECourses are available from educational platforms such as Khan Academy and MasterClass on many topics and for students of all levels. Paced and self-paced models Most distance education uses a paced format similar to traditional campus-based models in which learners commence and complete a course at the same time. Some institutions offer self-paced programmes that allow for continuous enrollment, and the length of time to complete the course is set by the learner's time, skill, and commitment levels. Self-paced courses are almost always offered asynchronously. Each delivery method offers advantages and disadvantages for students, teachers, and institutions. Kaplan and Haenlein classify distance education into four groups according to "Time dependency" and "Number of participants": MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): Open-access online course (i.e., without specific participation restrictions) that allows for unlimited (massive) participation; SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses): Online course that only offers a limited number of places and therefore requires some form of formal enrollment; SMOCs (Synchronous Massive Online Courses): Open-access online course that allows for unlimited participation but requires students to be "present" at the same time (synchronously); SSOCs (Synchronous Private Online Courses): Online course that only offers a limited number of places and requires students to be "present" at the same time (synchronously).Paced models are a familiar mode since they are used almost exclusively in campus-based schools. Institutes that offer both distance and campus programmes usually use paced models so that teacher workload, student semester planning, tuition deadlines, exam schedules, and other administrative details can be synchronized with campus delivery. Student familiarity and the pressure of deadlines encourages students to readily adapt to and usually succeed in paced models. However, student freedom is sacrificed as a common pace is often too fast for some students and too slow for others. In additional life events, professional or family responsibilities can interfere with a student's capability to complete tasks to an external schedule. Finally, paced models allow students to readily form communities of inquiry and to engage in collaborative work. Self-paced courses maximize student freedom, as not only can students commence studies on any date, but they can complete a course in as little time as a few weeks or up to a year or longer. Students often enroll in self-paced study when they are under pressure to complete programmes, have not been able to complete a scheduled course, need additional courses, or have pressure which precludes regular study for any length of time. The self-paced nature of the programming, though, is an unfamiliar model for many students and can lead to excessive procrastination, resulting in course incompletion. Assessment of learning can also be challenging as exams can be written on any day, making it possible for students to share examination questions with resulting loss of academic integrity. Finally, it is extremely challenging to organize collaborative work activities, though some schools are developing cooperative models based upon networked and connectivist pedagogies for use in self-paced programmes. Benefits Distance learning can expand access to education and training for both general populace and businesses since its flexible scheduling structure lessens the effects of the many time-constraints imposed by personal responsibilities and commitments. Devolving some activities off-site alleviates institutional capacity constraints arising from the traditional demand on institutional buildings and infrastructure. As a result, more classes can be offered and enable students to enroll in more of their required classes on time and prevent delayed graduation. Furthermore, there is the potential for increased access to more experts in the field and to other students from diverse geographical, social, cultural, economic, and experiential backgrounds. As the population at large becomes more involved in lifelong learning beyond the normal schooling age, institutions can benefit financially, and adult learning business courses may be particularly lucrative. Distance education programmes can act as a catalyst for institutional innovation and are at least as effective as face-to-face learning programmes, especially if the instructor is knowledgeable and skilled.Distance education can also provide a broader method of communication within the realm of education. With the many tools and programmes that technological advancements have to offer, communication appears to increase in distance education amongst students and their professors, as well as students and their classmates. The distance educational increase in communication, particularly communication amongst students and their classmates, is an improvement that has been made to provide distance education students with as many of the opportunities as possible as they would receive in in-person education. The improvement being made in distance education is growing in tandem with the constant technological advancements. Present-day online communication allows students to associate with accredited schools and programmes throughout the world that are out of reach for in-person learning. By having the opportunity to be involved in global institutions via distance education, a diverse array of thought is presented to students through communication with their classmates. This is beneficial because students have the opportunity to "combine new opinions with their own, and develop a solid foundation for learning". It has been shown through research that "as learners become aware of the variations in interpretation and construction of meaning among a range of people [they] construct an individual meaning", which can help students become knowledgeable of a wide array of viewpoints in education. To increase the likelihood that students will build effective ties with one another during the course, instructors should use similar assignments for students across different locations to overcome the influence of co-location on relationship building.The high cost of education affects students in higher education, to which distance education may be an alternative in order to provide some relief. Distance education has been a more cost-effective form of learning, and can sometimes save students a significant amount of money as opposed to traditional education. Distance education may be able to help to save students a considerable amount financially by removing the cost of transportation. In addition, distance education may be able to save students from the economic burden of high-priced course textbooks. Many textbooks are now available as electronic textbooks, known as e-textbooks, which can offer digital textbooks for a reduced price in comparison to traditional textbooks. Also, the increasing improvements in technology have resulted in many school libraries having a partnership with digital publishers that offer course materials for free, which can help students significantly with educational costs.Within the class, students are able to learn in ways that traditional classrooms would not be able to provide. It is able to promote good learning experiences and therefore, allow students to obtain higher satisfaction with their online learning. For example, students can review their lessons more than once according to their needs. Students can then manipulate the coursework to fit their learning by focusing more on their weaker topics while breezing through concepts that they already have or can easily grasp. When course design and the learning environment are at their optimal conditions, distance education can lead students to higher satisfaction with their learning experiences. Studies have shown that high satisfaction correlates to increased learning. For those in a healthcare or mental health distance learning programme, online-based interactions have the potential to foster deeper reflections and discussions of client issues as well as a quicker response to client issues, since supervision happens on a regular basis and is not limited to a weekly supervision meeting. This also may contribute to the students feeling a greater sense of support, since they have ongoing and regular access to their instructors and other students.Distance learning may enable students who are unable to attend a traditional school setting, due to disability or illness such as decreased mobility and immune system suppression, to get a good education. Children who are sick or are unable to attend classes are able to attend them in "person" through the use of robot proxies. This helps the students have experiences of the classroom and social interaction that they are unable to receive at home or the hospital, while still keeping them in a safe learning environment. Over the last few years more students are entering safely back into the classroom thanks to the help of robots. An article from the New York Times, "A Swiveling Proxy Will Even Wear a Tutu", explains the positive impact of virtual learning in the classroom, and another that explains how even a simple, stationary telepresence robot can help. Distance education may provide equal access regardless of socioeconomic status or income, area of residence, gender, race, age, or cost per student. Applying universal design strategies to distance learning courses as they are being developed (rather than instituting accommodations for specific students on an as-needed basis) can increase the accessibility of such courses to students with a range of abilities, disabilities, learning styles, and native languages. Distance education graduates, who would never have been associated with the school under a traditional system, may donate money to the school.Distance learning may also offer a final opportunity for adolescents that are no longer permitted in the general education population due to behavior disorders. Instead of these students having no other academic opportunities, they may continue their education from their homes and earn their diplomas, offering them another chance to be an integral part of society. Distance learning offers individuals a unique opportunity to benefit from the expertise and resources of the best universities currently available. Moreover, the online environment facilitates pedagogical innovation such as new programme structures and formats. Students have the ability to collaborate, share, question, infer, and suggest new methods and techniques for continuous improvement of the content. The ability to complete a course at a pace that is appropriate for each individual is the most effective manner to learn given the personal demands on time and schedule. Self-paced distance learning on a mobile device, such as a smartphone, provides maximum flexibility and capability. Distance learning can also reduce the phenomenon of rural exodus by enabling students from remote regions to remain in their hometowns while pursuing higher education. Eliminating the distance barrier to higher education can also increase the number of alternatives open to students, and foster greater competition between institutions of higher learning regardless of geography. Criticism Barriers to effective distance education include obstacles such as domestic distractions and unreliable technology, as well as students' programme costs, adequate contact with teachers and support services, and a need for more experience.Some students attempt to participate in distance education without proper training with the tools needed to be successful in the programme. Students must be provided with training opportunities (if needed) on each tool that is used throughout the programme. The lack of advanced technology skills can lead to an unsuccessful experience. Schools have a responsibility to adopt a proactive policy for managing technology barriers. Time management skills and self-discipline in distance education is just as important as complete knowledge of the software and tools being used for learning. The results of a study of Washington state community college students showed that distance learning students tended to drop out more often than their traditional counterparts due to difficulties in language, time management, and study skills.According to Dr. Pankaj Singhm, director of Nims University, "distance learning benefits may outweigh the disadvantages for students in such a technology-driven society, however before indulging into the use of educational technology a few more disadvantages should be considered." He describes that over multiple years, "all of the obstacles have been overcome and the world environment for distance education continues to improve." Dr. Pankaj Singhm also claims there is a debate to distance education stating, "due to a lack of direct face-to-face social interaction. However, as more people become used to personal and social interaction online (for example dating, chat rooms, shopping, or blogging), it is becoming easier for learners to both project themselves and socializes with others. This is an obstacle that has dissipated."Not all courses required to complete a degree may be offered online. Health care profession programmes in particular require some sort of patient interaction through fieldwork before a student may graduate. Studies have also shown that students pursuing a medical professional graduate degree who are participating in distance education courses, favor a face to face communication over professor-mediated chat rooms and/or independent studies. However, this is little correlation between student performance when comparing the previous different distance learning strategies.There is a theoretical problem about the application of traditional teaching methods to online courses because online courses may have no upper size limit. Daniel Barwick noted that there is no evidence that large class size is always worse or that small class size is always better, although a negative link has been established between certain types of instruction in large classes and learning outcomes; he argued that higher education has not made a sufficient effort to experiment with a variety of instructional methods to determine whether large class size is always negatively correlated with a reduction in learning outcomes. Early proponents of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) saw them as just the type of experiment that Barwick had pointed out was lacking in higher education, although Barwick himself has never advocated for MOOCs. There may also be institutional challenges. Distance learning is new enough that it may be a challenge to gain support for these programmes in a traditional brick-and-mortar academic learning environment. Furthermore, it may be more difficult for the instructor to organize and plan a distance learning programme, especially since many are new programmes and their organizational needs are different from a traditional learning programme. Additionally, though distance education offers industrial countries the opportunity to become globally informed, there are still negative sides to it. Hellman states that "These include its cost and capital intensiveness, time constraints and other pressures on instructors, the isolation of students from instructors and their peers, instructors' enormous difficulty in adequately evaluating students they never meet face-to-face, and drop-out rates far higher than in classroom-based courses."A more complex challenge of distance education relates to cultural differences between students and teachers and among students. Distance programmes tend to be more diverse as they could go beyond the geographical borders of regions, countries, and continents, and cross the cultural borders that may exist with respect to race, gender, and religion. That requires a proper understanding and awareness of the norms, differences, preconceptions, and potential conflicting issues. Educational technology The modern use of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) facilitates distance learning and independent learning by the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT), replacing traditional content delivery by postal correspondence. Instruction can be synchronous and asynchronous online communication in an interactive learning environment or virtual communities, in lieu of a physical classroom. "The focus is shifted to the education transaction in the form of a virtual community of learners sustainable across time."One of the most significant issues encountered in the mainstream correspondence model of distance education is the transactional distance, which results from the lack of appropriate communication between learner and teacher. This gap has been observed to become wider if there is no communication between the learner and teacher and has direct implications over the learning process and future endeavors in distance education. Distance education providers began to introduce various strategies, techniques, and procedures to increase the amount of interaction between learners and teachers. These measures e.g. more frequent face-to-face tutorials, increased use of information and communication technologies including teleconferencing and the Internet, were designed to close the gap in transactional distance. Credentials Online credentials for learning are digital credentials that are offered in place of traditional paper credentials for a skill or educational achievement. Directly linked to the accelerated development of internet communication technologies, the development of digital badges, electronic passports and massive open online courses (MOOCs) have a very direct bearing on our understanding of learning, recognition and levels as they pose a direct challenge to the status quo. It is useful to distinguish between three forms of online credentials: Test-based credentials, online badges, and online certificates. See also Degree completion program Digital divide Distance and on-line learning advocates Herbert Gross Linda Harasim Educational technology Homeschooling Learning environment Low-residency program Media psychology New media Online school Open supported learning Open-door academic policy Qualifications frameworks for online learning School of the Air, distance education in Australia Sunrise Semester Videotelephony Virtual education Sources This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Level-setting and recognition of learning outcomes: The use of level descriptors in the twenty-first century, 129-131, Keevey, James; Chakroun, Borhene, UNESCO. UNESCO. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use. References Further reading Anderson, T. (2008). Theory and Practice of Online Education (2nd ed) ISBN 9781897425084 Anderson, T., & Dron, J. (2010). Three generations of distance education pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(3), 80–97. Bates, T. (2005). Technology, e-learning and distance education: RoutledgeFalmer. Clark, J. J. (1906). "The Correspondence School--Its Relation to Technical Education and Some of Its Results". Science. (611): 327–34. Bibcode:1906Sci....24..327C. doi:10.1126/science.24.611.327. PMID 17772791. Hampel, Robert L (2010). "The Business of Education: Home Study at Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin in the 1920s and 1930s". Teachers College Record. 112 (9): 2496–2517. doi:10.1177/016146811011200905. S2CID 141830291. Holmberg, Börje. (1995). Theory and Practice of Distance Education (2nd ed) online Jacob, J.U., Ensign M. (2020). Transactional Radio Instruction: Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Conflict Zones, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32369-1. Kett, Joseph F. (1994). Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties: From Self-Improvement to Adult Education in America ISBN 978-0804726801 Moore, Michael Grahame and William Anderson (2012). Handbook of Distance Education (2nd ed.). Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-4106-0729-4. online edition Major, C. H. (2015). Teaching online: A guide to theory, research, and practice. (Johns Hopkins University Press). Moore, M. G. (1990). Contemporary issues in American distance education (Ed.) Peters, O. (1994). Distance education and industrial production: A comparative interpretation in outline(1973). Otto Peters on distance education: The industrialization of teaching and learning, 107–127. Saba, F. (2011). Distance Education in the United States: Past, Present, Future. Educational Technology, 51(6), 11. Stubblefield, Harold W., and Patrick Keane. (1994). Adult Education in the American Experience: From the Colonial Period to the Present ISBN 978-0787900250 Taylor, J. C. (2001). Fifth-generation distance education. e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology (e-JIST),(1), 1-14. Terry Evans, M. H., David Murphy (Ed.). (2008). International Handbook of Distance Education. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Walsh, T. (2011). Unlocking the Gates: How and Why Leading Universities Are Opening Up Access to Their Courses (Princeton University Press, 2011) online External links Distance learning at Curlie "Radio in education" full-text books and articles online; from 1930s and 1940s "Issues in Distance Education book series from Athabasca University Press" Archived 16 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. A series of over 10 books related to distance education research. Available in print for sale or online as open access. The Center on Accessible Distance Learning (AccessDL), DO-IT Center, University of WashingtonThe written history of Mexico spans more than three millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, central and southern Mexico (termed Mesoamerica) saw the rise and fall of complex indigenous civilizations. Mexico would later develop into a unique multicultural society. Mesoamerican civilizations developed glyphic writing systems, recording the political history of conquests and rulers. Mesoamerican history prior to European arrival is called the prehispanic era or the pre-Columbian era. Following Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, political turmoil wracked the nation. France, with the help of Mexican conservatives, seized control in the 1860s during the Second Mexican Empire, but was later defeated. Quiet prosperous growth was characteristic in the late 19th century but the Mexican Revolution in 1910 brought a bitter civil war. With calm restored in the 1920s, economic growth was steady while population growth was rapid. Before European arrival Large and complex civilizations developed in the center and southern regions of Mexico (with the southern region extending into what is now Central America) in what has come to be known as Mesoamerica. The civilizations that rose and declined over millennia were characterized by: significant urban settlements; monumental architecture such as temples, palaces, and other monumental architecture, such as the ball court; the division of society into religious, political, and political elites (such as warriors and merchants) and commoners who pursued subsistence agriculture; transfer of tribute and rending of labor from commoners to elites; reliance on agriculture often supplemented by hunting and fishing and the complete absence of a pastoral (herding) economy, since there were no domesticated herd animals prior to the arrival of the Europeans; trade networks and markets.These civilizations arose in a region with no major navigable rivers, no beasts of burden, and difficult terrain that impeded the movement of people and goods. Indigenous civilizations developed complex ritual and solar calendars, a significant understanding of astronomy, and forms of communication written in glyphs. The history of Mexico before the Spanish conquest is known through the work of archaeologists, epigraphers, and ethnohistorians (students of indigenous histories, usually from indigenous points of view), who analyze Mesoamerican indigenous manuscripts, particularly Aztec codices, Mayan codices, and Mixtec codices. Accounts are written by Spaniards at the time of the conquest (the conquistadores) and by Indigenous chroniclers of the postconquest period constitute the principal source of information regarding Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Few pictorial manuscripts (or codices) of the Maya, Mixtec and Mexica cultures of the Post-Classic period survive, but progress has been made particularly in the area of Maya archaeology and epigraphy. Beginnings The presence of people in Mesoamerica was once thought to date back 40,000 years, an estimate based on what were believed to be ancient footprints discovered in the Valley of Mexico; but after further investigation using radiocarbon dating, it appears this date may not be accurate. It is currently unclear whether 23,000-year-old campfire remains found in the Valley of Mexico are the earliest human remains uncovered so far in Mexico.The first people to settle in Mexico encountered a climate far milder than the current one. In particular, the Valley of Mexico contained several large paleo-lakes (known collectively as Lake Texcoco) surrounded by dense forest. Deer were found in this area, but most fauna were small land animals and fish and other lacustrine animals were found in the lake region. Such conditions encouraged the initial pursuit of a hunter-gatherer existence. Indigenous peoples in western Mexico began to selectively breed maize (Zea mays) plants from precursor grasses (e.g., teosinte) between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago.The diet of ancient central and southern Mexico was varied, including domesticated corn (or maize), squashes such as pumpkin and butternut squash, common beans (pinto, kidney, navy and other common beans consumed today), tomatoes, peppers, cassavas, pineapples, chocolate, and tobacco. The Three Sisters (corn, squash, and beans) constituted the principal diet.[1] Religion The Mesoamericans had the concept of deities and religion, but their concept was very different from Abrahamic concepts. The Mesoamericans had a belief where everything, every element of the cosmos, the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, which mankind inhabits, everything that forms part of nature such as animals, plants, water and mountains all represented a manifestation of the supernatural. In most cases, gods and goddesses are often depicted in stone reliefs, pottery decoration, wall paintings and in the various Maya, and pictorial manuscripts such as Maya codices, Aztec codices, and Mixtec codices. The spiritual pantheon was vast and extremely complex. However, many of the deities depicted are common to the various civilizations and their worship survived over long periods of time. They frequently took on different characteristics and even names in different areas, but in effect, they transcended cultures and time. Great masks with gaping jaws and monstrous features in stone or stucco were often located at the entrance to temples, symbolizing a cavern or cave on the flanks of the mountains that allowed access to the depths of Mother Earth and the shadowy roads that lead to the underworld.Cults connected with the jaguar and jade especially permeated religion throughout Mesoamerica. Jade, with its translucent green color was revered along with water as a symbol of life and fertility. The jaguar, agile, powerful and fast, was especially connected with warriors and as spirit guides of shamans. Despite differences of chronology or geography, the crucial aspects of this religious pantheon were shared amongst the people of ancient Mesoamerica.Thus, this quality of acceptance of new gods to the collection of existing gods may have been one of the shaping characteristics for success during the Christianization of Mesoamerica. New gods did not at once replace the old; they initially joined the ever-growing family of deities or were merged with existing ones that seemed to share similar characteristics or responsibilities. The Christianization of Europe also followed similar patterns of appropriation and transformation of existing deities. A great deal is known about the Aztec religion due to the work of the early mendicant friars in their work to convert the Indigenous peoples to Christianity. The writings of Franciscans Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia and Fray Bernardino de Sahagún and Dominican Fray Diego Durán recorded a great deal about Nahua religion since they viewed understanding the ancient practices as essential for successfully converting the Indigenous populations to Christianity. Writing Mesoamerica is the only place in the Americas where indigenous writing systems were invented and used before European colonization. While the types of writing systems in Mesoamerica range from minimalist "picture-writing" to complex logophonetic systems capable of recording speech and literature, they all share some core features that make them visually and functionally distinct from other writing systems of the world.Although many indigenous manuscripts have been lost or destroyed, texts are known Aztec codices, Mayan codices, and Mixtec codices still survive and are of intense interest to scholars of the prehispanic era. The fact that there was an existing prehispanic tradition of writing meant that when the Spanish friars taught Mexican Natives to write their own languages, particularly Nahuatl, an alphabetic tradition took hold. It was used in official documents for legal cases and other legal instruments. The formal use of native language documentation lasted until Mexican independence in 1821. Beginning in the late twentieth century, scholars have mined these native language documents for information about colonial-era economics, culture, and language. The New Philology is the current name for this particular branch of colonial-era Mesoamerican ethnohistory. Major civilizations During the pre-Columbian period, many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige. Ancient Mexico can be said to have produced five major civilizations: the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec. Unlike other indigenous Mexican societies, these civilizations (with the exception of the politically fragmented Maya) extended their political and cultural reach across Mexico and beyond. They consolidated power and exercised influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and religion. Over a span of 3,000 years, other regional powers made economic and political alliances with them; many made war on them. But almost all found themselves within their spheres of influence. Olmecs (1500–400 BCE) The Olmec first appeared along the Atlantic coast (in what is now the state of Tabasco) in the period 1500–900 BCE. The Olmecs were the first Mesoamerican culture to produce an identifiable artistic and cultural style, and may also have been the society that invented writing in Mesoamerica. By the Middle Preclassic Period (900–300 BCE), Olmec artistic styles had been adopted as far away as the Valley of Mexico and Costa Rica. Maya Maya cultural characteristics, such as the rise of the ahau, or king, can be traced from 300 BCE onward. During the centuries preceding the classical period, Maya kingdoms sprang up in an area stretching from the Pacific coasts of southern Mexico and Guatemala to the northern Yucatán Peninsula. The egalitarian Maya society of pre-royal centuries gradually gave way to a society controlled by a wealthy elite that began building large ceremonial temples and complexes. The earliest known long-count date, 199 AD, heralds the classic period, during which the Maya kingdoms supported a population numbering in the millions. Tikal, the largest of the kingdoms, alone had 500,000 inhabitants, though the average population of a kingdom was much smaller—somewhere under 50,000 people. The Maya speak a diverse family of languages known as Mayan. Teotihuacan Teotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica. The city is thought to have been established around 100 BCE and continued to be built until about 250 CE. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries CE. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. At this time it may have had more than 200,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population.The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano. Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The Aztecs may have been influenced by this city. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi or Totonac ethnic groups. Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multiethnic state. Toltec The Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca 800–1000 CE). The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tollan (Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization; indeed, in the Nahuatl language the word "Toltec" came to take on the meaning "artisan". The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec empire giving lists of rulers and their exploits. Among modern scholars it is a matter of debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events. While all scholars acknowledge that there is a large mythological part of the narrative some maintain that by using a critical comparative method some level of historicity can be salvaged from the sources, whereas others maintain that continued analysis of the narratives as sources of actual history is futile and hinders access to actual knowledge of the culture of Tula, Hidalgo. Other controversy relating to the Toltecs include how best to understand reasons behind the perceived similarities in architecture and iconography between the archaeological site of Tula and the Maya site of Chichén Itzá – no consensus has emerged yet about the degree or direction of influence between the two sites. Aztec Empire (1325–1521 AD) The Nahua peoples began to enter central Mexico in the 6th century AD. By the 12th century, they had established their center at Azcapotzalco, the city of the Tepanecs. The Mexica people arrived in the Valley of Mexico in 1248 AD. They had migrated from the deserts north of the Rio Grande over a period traditionally said to have been 100 years. They may have thought of themselves as the heirs to the prestigious civilizations that had preceded them. What the Aztec initially lacked in political power, they made up for with ambition and military skill. In 1325, they established the biggest city in the world at that time, Tenochtitlan. Aztec religion was based on the belief in the continual need for regular offering of human blood to keep their deities beneficent; to meet this need, the Aztec sacrificed thousands of people. This belief is thought to have been common throughout the Nahuatl people. To acquire captives in times of peace, the Aztec resorted to a form of ritual warfare called flower war. The Tlaxcalteca, among other Nahuatl nations, were forced into such wars. In 1428, the Aztec led a war against their rulers from the city of Azcapotzalco, which had subjugated most of the Valley of Mexico's peoples. The revolt was successful, and the Aztecs became the rulers of central Mexico as the leaders of the Triple Alliance. The alliance was composed of the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. At their peak, 350,000 Aztec presided over a wealthy tribute-empire comprising 10 million people, almost half of Mexico's estimated population of 24 million. Their empire stretched from ocean to ocean, and extended into Central America. The westward expansion of the empire was halted by a devastating military defeat at the hands of the Purepecha (who possessed weapons made of copper). The empire relied upon a system of taxation (of goods and services), which were collected through an elaborate bureaucracy of tax collectors, courts, civil servants, and local officials who were installed as loyalists to the Triple Alliance. By 1519, the Aztec capital, Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the site of modern-day Mexico City, was one of the largest cities in the world, with an estimated population between 200,000 and 300,000. Spanish conquest Mesoamerica on the eve of the Spanish conquest The first mainland explorations were followed by a phase of inland expeditions and conquest. The Spanish crown extended the Reconquista effort, completed in Spain in 1492, to non-Catholic people in new territories. In 1502 on the coast of present-day Colombia, near the Gulf of Urabá, Spanish explorers led by Vasco Núñez de Balboa explored and conquered the area near the Atrato River.The conquest was of the Chibcha-speaking nations, mainly the Muisca and Tairona indigenous people that lived here. The Spanish founded San Sebastian de Uraba in 1509—abandoned within the year, and in 1510 the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement in America, Santa María la Antigua del Darién. The first Europeans to arrive in what is modern day Mexico were the survivors of a Spanish shipwreck in 1511. Only two managed to survive Gerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero until further contact was made with Spanish explorers years later. On 8 February 1517 an expedition led by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba left the harbor of Santiago de Cuba to explore the shores of southern Mexico. During the course of this expedition many of Hernández' men were killed, most during a battle near the town of Champotón against a Maya army. Hernández himself was injured, and died a few days shortly after his return to Cuba. This was the Europeans' first encounter with a civilization in the Americas with buildings and complex social organizations which they recognized as being comparable to those of the Old World. Hernán Cortés led a new expedition to Mexico landing ashore at present day Veracruz on 22 April 1519, a date which marks the beginning of 300 years of Spanish hegemony over the region. In general the 'Spanish conquest of Mexico' denotes the conquest of the central region of Mesoamerica where the Aztec Empire was based. The fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521 was a decisive event, but the conquest of other regions of Mexico, such as Yucatán, extended long after Spaniards consolidated control of central Mexico. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán is the much longer campaign, from 1551 to 1697, against the Maya peoples of the Maya civilization in the Yucatán Peninsula of present-day Mexico and northern Central America. Analysis of defeat The Alliance ambushed indigenous ceremonies, such as during the Massacre in the Great Temple, which allowed the Spanish conquerors to avoid fighting the best Aztec warriors in direct armed battle, killing a large number of unarmed Aztec elites.Smallpox (Variola major and Variola minor) began to spread in Mesoamerica immediately after the arrival of Europeans. The indigenous peoples, who had no immunity to it, eventually died in the millions. A third of all the natives of the Valley of Mexico succumbed to it within six months of the Spaniards' arrival. Aftermath of the conquest Tenochtitlan was almost completely destroyed by fire and cannon fire. It was not a foregone idea that the site of Tenochtitlan would become the Spanish capital, but Cortés made it the capital. Cortés imprisoned the royal families of the valley. To prevent another revolt, he personally tortured and killed Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec Emperor; Coanacoch, the King of Texcoco, and Tetlepanquetzal, King of Tlacopan. The Spanish had no intention to turn over Tenochtitlan to the Tlaxcalteca. While Tlaxcalteca troops continued to help the Spaniards, and Tlaxcala received better treatment than other indigenous nations, the Spanish eventually disowned the treaty. Forty years after the conquest, the Tlaxcalteca had to pay the same tax as any other indigenous community. Political. The small contingent of Spaniards controlled central Mexico through existing indigenous rulers of individual political states (altepetl), who maintained their status as nobles in the post-conquest era if they cooperated with Spanish rule. Religious. Cortés immediately banned human sacrifice throughout the conquered empire. In 1524, he requested the Spanish king to send friars from the mendicant orders, particularly the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian, to convert the indigenous to Christianity. This has often been called the "spiritual conquest of Mexico". Christian evangelization began in the early 1520s and continued into the 1560s. Many of the mendicant friars, especially the Franciscans and Dominicans, learned the native languages and recorded aspects of native culture, providing a principal source for our knowledge about them. One of the first 12 Franciscans to come to Mexico, Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia recorded in Spanish observations of the indigenous. Important Franciscans engaged in collecting and preparing native language materials, especially in Nahuatl are fray Alonso de Molina and fray Bernardino de Sahagún. Economics. The Spanish colonizers introduced the encomienda system of forced labor, which in central Mexico built on indigenous traditions of rendering tribute and labor to rulers in their own communities and local rulers rendering tribute to higher authorities. Individual Spaniards were awarded the tribute and labor or particular indigenous communities, with that population paying tribute and performing labor locally. Indigenous communities were pressed for labor services and tribute, but were not enslaved. Their rulers remained indigenous elites, who retained their status under colonial rule and were useful intermediaries. The Spanish also used forced labor, often outright slavery, in mining. Spanish rule (1521–1821) The capture of Tenochtitlan marked the beginning of a 300-year colonial period, during which Mexico was known as "New Spain" ruled by a viceroy in the name of the Spanish monarch. Colonial Mexico had key elements to attract Spanish immigrants: (1) dense and politically complex indigenous populations (especially in the central part) that could be compelled to work, and (2) huge mineral wealth, especially major silver deposits in the northern regions Zacatecas and Guanajuato. The Viceroyalty of Peru also had those two important elements, so that New Spain and Peru were the seats of Spanish power and the source of its wealth, until other viceroyalties were created in Spanish South America in the late 18th century. This wealth made Spain the dominant power in Europe, rivalling England, France, and (after its independence from Spain) the Netherlands. Spain's silver mining and crown mints created high quality coins, the currency of Spanish America, the silver peso or Spanish dollar that became a global currency. Continued conquests (1521–1550) Spain did not bring all areas of Aztec Empire under its control. After the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, it took decades of sporadic warfare to subdue the rest of Mesoamerica, particularly the Mayan regions of southern New Spain and into what is now Central America. Spanish conquests in the Zapotec and Mixtec regions of southern Mesoamerica were relatively rapid. Outside the zone of settled Mesoamerican civilizations were nomadic northern indios bárbaros ("wild Indians") who fought fiercely against the Spaniards and their indigenous allies, such as the Tlaxcalans, in the Chichimeca War (1550–1590). The northern indigenous populations had gained mobility via the horses that Spaniards had imported to the New World. The region was important to the Spanish because of its rich silver deposits. The Spanish mining settlements and trunk lines to Mexico City needed to be made safe for supplies to move north and silver to move to south, to central Mexico. Economics of the early colonial period The most important source of wealth was indigenous tribute and compelled labor, mobilized in the first years after the conquest of central Mexico through the encomienda. The encomienda was a grant of the labor of a particular indigenous settlement to an individual Spanish and his heirs. Conquerors expected to receive these awards and premier conqueror Hernán Cortés in his letter to the Spanish king justified his own allocation of these grants. Spaniards were the recipients of traditional indigenous products that had been rendered in tribute to their local lords and to the Aztec empire. The first Spanish viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza has his name given to the title of an Aztec manuscript Codex Mendoza, that enumerates in glyphic form the types of tribute goods and amounts rendered from particular indigenous towns under Aztec rule. The earliest holders of encomiendas, the encomenderos were the conquerors involved in the campaign leading to the fall of Tenochtitlan, and later their heirs and people with influence but not conquerors. Forced labor could be directed toward developing land and industry in the area the Spanish encomenderos' Natives lived. Land was a secondary source of wealth during this immediate conquest period. Where indigenous labor was absent or needed supplementing, the Spanish brought slaves, often as skilled laborers or artisans. Evolution of race mixture Europeans, Africans, and indigenous intermixed, creating a mixed-race casta population in a process known as mestizaje. Mestizos, people of mixed European-indigenous ancestry, constitute the majority of Mexico's population. Contours of the colonial period (1521–1821) Colonial Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire and administered by the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Spanish crown claimed all of the Western Hemisphere west of the line established between Spain and Portugal by the Treaty of Tordesillas. This included all of North America and South America, except for Brazil. The viceroyalty of New Spain had jurisdiction over Spain's northern empire in the Americas. When Spain established a colony in the Philippines in the late sixteenth century, the Viceroyalty of New Spain had jurisdiction over it, since there was more direct contact between the two than the Philippines with Spain. Hernán Cortés had conquered the Aztec Empire and established New Spain as the largest and most important Spanish colony. During the 16th century, Spain focused on conquering areas with dense populations that had produced Pre-Columbian civilizations. These populations were a disciplined labor force and a population to convert to Christianity. Territories populated by nomadic peoples were harder to conquer, and although the Spanish explored much of North America, seeking the fabled "El Dorado", they made no concerted effort to settle the northern desert regions in what is now the United States until the end of the 16th century (Santa Fe, 1598). Colonial law with native origins but with Spanish historical precedents was introduced, creating a balance between local jurisdiction (the Cabildos) and the Crown's, whereby upper administrative offices were closed to natives, even those of pure Spanish blood. Administration was based on a racial separation of the population among the Republics of Spaniards, Natives and Mestizos, autonomous and directly dependent on the king. The population of New Spain was divided into four main groups, or classes. The group a person belonged to was determined by racial background and birthplace. The most powerful group was the Spaniards, people born in Spain and sent across the Atlantic to rule the colony. Only Spaniards could hold high-level jobs in the colonial government. The second group, called criollos, where people of Spanish background but born in Mexico. Many criollos were prosperous landowners and merchants. But even the wealthiest creoles had little say in government. The third group, the mestizos, were people who had some Spanish ancestors and some Native ancestors. The word mestizo means "mixed" in Spanish. Mestizos had a much lower position and were looked down upon by both the Spaniards and the creoles, who held the belief that people of full European background were superior to everyone else. The poorest, most marginalised group in New Spain was the Natives, descendants of pre-Columbian peoples. They had less power and endured harsher conditions than other groups. Natives were forced to work as laborers on the ranches and farms (called haciendas) of the Spaniards and creoles. In addition to the four main groups, there were also some Africans in colonial Mexico. These Africans were imported as laborers and shared the low status of the Natives. They made up about 4% to 5% of the population, and their mixed-race descendants, called mulattoes, eventually grew to represent about 9%. From an economic point of view, New Spain was administered principally for the benefit of the Empire and its military and defensive efforts. Mexico provided more than half of the Empire taxes and supported the administration of all North and Central America. Competition with the metropolis was discouraged; for example cultivation of grapes and olives, introduced by Cortés himself, was banned out of fear that these crops would compete with Spain's.To protect the country from the attacks by English, French and Dutch pirates, as well as the Crown's revenue, only two ports were open to foreign trade—Veracruz on the Atlantic and Acapulco on the Pacific. Pirates attacked, plundered and ravaged several cities like Campeche (1557), Veracruz (1568) and Alvarado (1667). Education was encouraged by the Crown from the very beginning, and Mexico boasts the first primary school (Texcoco,), first university, the University of Mexico (1551) and the first printing press (1524) of the Americas. Indigenous languages were studied mainly by the religious orders during the first centuries, and became official languages in the so-called Republic of Natives, only to be outlawed and ignored after independence by the prevailing Spanish-speaking creoles. Mexico produced important cultural achievements during the colonial period, such as the literature of seventeenth-century nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Ruiz de Alarcón, as well as cathedrals, civil monuments, forts and colonial cities such as Puebla, Mexico City, Querétaro, Zacatecas and others, today part of Unesco's World Heritage. The syncretism between indigenous and Spanish cultures gave rise to many of nowadays Mexican staple and world-famous cultural traits like tequila (since the 16th century), mariachi (18th), jarabe (17th), charros (17th) and the highly prized Mexican cuisine, fruit of the mixture of European and indigenous ingredients and techniques. American-born Spaniards (creoles), mixed-race castas, and Natives often disagreed, but all resented the small minority of Iberian-born Spaniards who monopolized political power. By the early 1800s, many American-born Spaniards believed that Mexico should become independent of Spain, following the example of the United States. The man who touched off the revolt against Spain was the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. He is remembered today as the Father of the Nation. Independence era (1808–1829) This period was marked by unanticipated events that upended the three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule. The colony went from rule by the legitimate Spanish monarch and his appointed viceroy to an illegitimate monarch and viceroy put in place by a coup. Later, Mexico would see the return of the legitimate Spanish monarchy and a later stalemate with insurgent guerrilla forces. Events in Spain upended the situation in New Spain once again, with the Spanish military officers overthrowing the absolutist monarch and returning to the Spanish liberal constitution of 1812. Conservatives in New Spain who had staunchly defended the Spanish monarchy now saw a reason to change course and pursue independence. Royalist army officer Agustín de Iturbide became an advocate of independence and persuaded insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero to join in a coalition, forming the Army of the Three Guarantees. Within six months of that joint venture, royal rule in New Spain collapsed and independence was achieved. The constitutional monarchy envisioned with a European royal on the throne did not come to pass; rather, creole military officer Iturbide became Emperor Agustín I. His increasingly autocratic rule dismayed many and a coup overthrew him in 1823. Mexico became a federated republic and promulgated a constitution in 1824. While General Guadalupe Victoria became the first president, serving his entire term, the presidential transition became a less of an electoral event and more of one by force of arms. Insurgent general and prominent Liberal politician Guerrero was briefly president in 1829, then deposed and judicially murdered by his Conservative opponents. In the twenty years since the French invasion of Spain, Mexico had experienced political instability and violence, with more to come until the late nineteenth century. The presidency changed hands 75 times in the next half century. The new republic's situation did not promote economic growth or development, with the silver mines damaged, trade disrupted, and lingering violence. Although British merchants established a network of merchant houses in the major cities the situation was bleak. "Trade was stagnant, imports did not pay, contraband drove prices down, debts private and public went unpaid, merchants suffered all manner of injustices and operated at the mercy of weak and corruptible governments, commercial houses skirted bankruptcy." Prelude to independence Inspired by the American and French Revolutions, Mexican insurgents saw an opportunity for independence in 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain and the Spanish king Charles IV was forced to abdicate. Napoleon placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. For Spain and the Spanish Empire, this turn of events created a crisis of legitimacy of rule. In Spain, resistance to the French resulted in the Peninsular War. In New Spain, viceroy José de Iturrigaray proposed to provisionally form an autonomous government, with the support of American-born Spaniards on the city council of Mexico City. Peninsular-born Spaniards in the colony saw this as undermining their own power, and Gabriel J. de Yermo led a coup against the viceroy, arresting him in September 1808. Spanish military officer Pedro de Garibay was named as viceroy by the Spanish conspirators. His tenure was brief, from September 1808 until July 1809, when he was replaced by Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont, whose tenure was also brief, until the arrival of viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas from Spain. Two days after his entry to Mexico City on 14 September 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo made his call to arms in the village of Hidalgo. Spain was invaded by France and the Spanish king deposed and a usurper French king imposed. Like others in colonial Spanish America, New Spain's viceroy José de Iturrigaray, who was sympathetic to creoles, sought to create a legitimate government during the situation. He was overthrown by powerful Peninsular Spaniards and hard-line Spaniards clamped down on any notion of Mexican autonomy. Creoles who had hoped that there was a path to Mexican autonomy, perhaps within the Spanish Empire, now saw that their only path was independence through rebellion against the colonial regime. There were a number of creole conspiracies. In northern Mexico, Father Miguel Hidalgo, creole militia officer Ignacio Allende, and Juan Aldama met to plot rebellion. When the plot was discovered in September 1810, Hidalgo called his parishioners to arms in the village of Dolores, touching off a massive rebellion in the region of the Bajío. It even had Filipino support in the Manila-born Ramon Fabié an Engineer and Miner who supported Miguel Hidalgo in his revolt. War of Independence, 1810-1821 In 1810, insurgent conspirators had plotted rebellion against royal government, which was again firmly in the hands of Peninsular Spaniards. When the plot was uncovered, Father Hidalgo summoned his parishioners of Dolores, exhorting them to action. This event of 16 September 1810 is now called the "Cry of Dolores", now celebrated as Independence Day. Shouting "Independence and death to the Spaniards!" From the small number of villagers some 80,000 poorly organized and armed formed a force that initially rampaged unstopped in Bajío. The viceroy was slow to respond, but once the royal army engaged the untrained, poorly armed and led mass, they routed the insurgents. Hidalgo was captured, defrocked as a priest, and executed, with his head left on a pike on the granary in Guanajuato as a warning to other insurrectionists.Another priest, José María Morelos took over and was more successful in his quest for republicanism and independence. Spain's monarchy was restored in 1814 after Napoleon's defeat, and it fought back and executed Morelos in 1815. The scattered insurgents formed guerrilla bands. In 1820, Spanish royal army brigadier, Agustín de Iturbide, changed sides and proposed independence, issuing the Plan of Iguala. Iturbide persuaded insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero to join in this new push for independence. He was persuaded by Guerrero's charisma and idealism as well as the tenacity of his soldiers which included the Mexican of Filipino descent, General Isidoro Montes de Oca who with few and poorly armed insurgents, inflicted a real defeat on the royalist Gabriel from Armijo and they also got enough equipment to properly arm 1,800 soldiers of freedom who in the future will deserve the respect of Iturbide. He stood out for his courage in the siege of the Port of Acapulco in 1813, under the orders of General José María Morelos y Pavón. Isidoro and his soldiers from Guerrero State which was settled by immigrants from the Philippines, inflicted defeat on the royalist army from Spain. Impressed, Itubide joined forces with Guerrero and demanded independence, a constitutional monarchy in Mexico, the continued religious monopoly for the Catholic Church, and equality for Spaniards and those born in Mexico. Royalists who now followed Iturbide's change of sides and insurgents formed the Army of the Three Guarantees. Within six months, the new army was in control of all but the ports of Veracruz and Acapulco. On September 27, 1821, Iturbide and the last viceroy, Juan O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba whereby Spain granted the demands. O'Donojú had been operating under instructions that had been issued months before the latest turn of events. Spain refused to formally recognize Mexico's independence and the situation became even more complicated by O'Donojú's death in October 1821. First Mexican Empire When Mexico achieved its independence, the southern portion of New Spain became independent as well, as a result of the Treaty of Córdoba, so Central America, present-day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and part of Chiapas were incorporated into the Mexican Empire. Although Mexico now had its own government, there was no revolutionary change either socially or economically. The formal, legal racial distinctions were abolished, but power remained in the hands of white elites. Monarchy was the form of government Mexicans knew and it is not surprising that it chose that form of government initially. The political power of the royal government was transferred to the military. The Roman Catholic Church was the other pillar of institutional rule. Both the army and the church lost personnel with the establishment of the new regime. An index of the fall in the economy was the decrease in revenues to the church via the tithe, a tax on agricultural output. Mining especially was hard hit. It had been the motor of the colonial economy, but there was considerable fighting during the war of independence in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, the two most important silver mining sites. In spite of Viceroy O'Donojú's having signed the Treaty of Córdoba giving Mexico its independence, the Spanish government did not recognize it as legitimate and claimed sovereignty over Mexico. Spain set in motion events that brought Iturbide, the son of a provincial merchant, as Emperor of Mexico. With Spain's rejection of the treaty and with no European royal taking up the offer of being Mexico's monarch, many creoles now decided that having a Mexican as its monarch was acceptable. A local army garrison proclaimed Iturbide emperor. Since the church refused to crown him, the president of the constituent congress did on 21 July 1822. His long-term rule was doomed. He did not have the respect of the Mexican nobility. Republicans sought that form of government rather than a monarchy. The emperor set up all the trappings of a monarchy with a court and fine robes of power. His actions as increasingly dictatorial and shutting down criticism led him to shut down congress. Worried that a brilliant young colonel, Antonio López de Santa Anna, would raise a rebellion, the emperor relieved him of his command. Rather than obeying the order, Santa Anna proclaimed a republic and hastily called for the reconvening of congress. Four days later he walked back his republicanism and simply called for the removal of the emperor, in the Plan of Casa Mata. Santa Anna secured the support of insurgent general Guadalupe Victoria. The army signed on to the plan and the emperor abdicated on 19 March 1823. First Mexican Republic Those who overthrew the emperor then nullified the Plan of Iguala, which had called for a constitutional monarchy, as well as the Treaty of Córdoba, leaving them free to choose whatever form of government they could agree on. It was to be a federal republic, and 4 October 1824, the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos) was established. The new constitution was partly modeled on the constitution of the United States. It guaranteed basic human rights and defined Mexico as a representative federal republic, in which responsibilities of government were divided between a central government and a number of smaller units called states. It also defined Catholicism as the official and only religion of the republic. Central America did not join the federated republic and took a separate political path from 1 July 1823. Mexico's establishment of a new, untried form of government did not bring stability. The army remained the political power, and the Roman Catholic Church the sole religious power. Both the army and the church retained special privileges in the new era. General Guadalupe Victoria was followed in office by General Vicente Guerrero, gaining the position through a coup after losing the 1828 elections, the Conservative Party saw an opportunity to seize control and led a counter-coup under General Anastasio Bustamante, who served as president from 1830 to 1832, and again from 1837 to 1841. The Age of Santa Anna (1829–1854) Political instability In much of Spanish America soon after its independence, military strongmen or caudillos dominated politics, and this period is often called "The Age of Caudillismo". In Mexico, from the late 1820s to the mid-1850s the period is often called the "Age of Santa Anna", named for the general and politician, Antonio López de Santa Anna. Liberals (federalists) asked Santa Anna to overthrow conservative President Anastasio Bustamante. After he did, he declared General Manuel Gómez Pedraza (who won the election of 1828) president. Elections were held thereafter, and Santa Anna took office in 1832. He served as president 11 times. Constantly changing his political beliefs, in 1834 Santa Anna abrogated the federal constitution, causing insurgencies in the southeastern state of Yucatán and the northernmost portion of the northern state of Coahuila y Tejas. Both areas sought independence from the central government. Negotiations and the presence of Santa Anna's army caused Yucatán to recognize Mexican sovereignty. Then Santa Anna's army turned to the northern rebellion. The inhabitants of Tejas declared the Republic of Texas independent from Mexico on 2 March 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. They called themselves Texans and were led mainly by recent Anglo-American settlers. At the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, Texan militiamen defeated the Mexican army and captured General Santa Anna. The Mexican government refused to recognize the independence of Texas. Comanche conflict The northern states grew increasingly isolated, economically and politically, due to prolonged Comanche raids and attacks. The indigenous peoples of the north had not recognized the Spanish Empire's claims to the region, nor did they when Mexico became an independent nation. Mexico attempted to convince their citizens to settle in the region, but with few takers. Mexico negotiated a contract with Anglo Americans to settle in the area, with the hope and expectation that they would do so in Comanche territory, the Comancheria. In the 1820s, when the United States began to exert influence over the region, New Mexico had already begun to question its loyalty to Mexico. By the time of the Mexican–American War, the Comanches had raided and pillaged large portions of northern Mexico, resulting in sustained impoverishment, political fragmentation, and general frustration at the inability—or unwillingness—of the Mexican government to discipline the Comanches.In addition to Comanche raids, the First Republic's northern border was plagued with attacks on its northern border from the Apache people, who were supplied with guns by American merchants. Goods including guns and shoes were sold to the Apache, the latter being discovered by Mexican forces when they found traditional Apache trails with American shoe prints instead of moccasin prints. Texas independence Soon after achieving independence from Spain, the Mexican government, in an effort to populate its northern territories, awarded extensive land grants in Coahuila y Tejas to thousands of families from the United States, on condition that the settlers convert to Catholicism and become Mexican citizens. The Mexican government also forbade the importation of slaves. These conditions were largely ignored.A key factor in the government decision to allow those settlers was the belief that they would (a) protect northern Mexico from Comanche attacks and (b) buffer the northern states against US westward expansion. The policy failed on both counts: the Americans tended to settle far from the Comanche raiding zones and used the Mexican government's failure to suppress the raids as a pretext for declaring independence. The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was a military conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836. However, a war at sea between Mexico and Texas continued into the 1840s. Animosity between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas, as well as many Texas residents of Mexican ancestry, began with the Siete Leyes of 1835, when Mexican President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna abolished the federal Constitution of 1824 and proclaimed the more centralizing 1835 constitution in its place. War began in Texas on October 2, 1835, with the Battle of Gonzales. Early Texian Army successes at La Bahia and San Antonio were soon met with crushing defeat at the same locations a few months later. The war ended at the Battle of San Jacinto where General Sam Houston led the Texian Army to victory over a portion of the Mexican Army under Santa Anna, who was captured soon after the battle. The end of the war resulted in the creation of the Republic of Texas in 1836. In 1845, the U.S. Congress ratified Texas's petition for statehood. Mexican-American War (1846–1848) In response to a Mexican massacre of a U.S. army detachment in disputed territory, the U.S. Congress declared war on May 13, 1846; Mexico followed suit on 23 May. The Mexican–American War took place in two theaters: the western (aimed at California) and Central Mexico (aimed at capturing Mexico City) campaigns. In March 1847, U.S. President James K. Polk sent an army of 12,000 volunteer and regular U.S. Army soldiers under General Winfield Scott to the port of Veracruz. The 70 ships of the invading forces arrived at the city on 7 March and began a naval bombardment. After landing his men, horses, and supplies, Scott began the Siege of Veracruz. The city, at that time still walled, was defended by Mexican General Juan Morales with 3,400 men. Veracruz replied as best it could with artillery to the bombardment from land and sea, but the city walls were reduced. After 12 days, the Mexicans surrendered. Scott marched west with 8,500 men, while Santa Anna entrenched with artillery and 12,000 troops on the main road halfway to Mexico City. At the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Santa Anna was outflanked and routed. Scott pushed on to Puebla, Mexico's second largest city, which capitulated without resistance on 1 May—the citizens were hostile to Santa Anna. After the Battle of Chapultepec (13 September 1847), Mexico City was occupied; Scott became its military governor. Many other parts of Mexico were also occupied. Some Mexican units fought with distinction. One of the justly commemorated units was a group of six young Military College cadets (now considered Mexican national heroes), who fought to the death defending their college during the Battle of Chapultepec. The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which stipulated that (1) Mexico must sell its northern territories to the US for US$15 million; (2) the US would give full citizenship and voting rights, and protect the property rights of Mexicans living in the ceded territories; and (3) the US would assume $3.25 million in debt owed by Mexico to Americans. The war was Mexico's first encounter with a modern, well-organized, and well-equipped army. Mexico's defeat has been attributed to its problematic internal situation, one of disunity and disorganization. End of Santa Anna's rule Despite Santa Anna's role in the catastrophe of the Mexican–American War, he returned to power again. When the U.S. ambitioned an easier railroad route to California south of the Gila River, Santa Anna sold the Gadsden Strip to the US for $10 million in the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. This loss of more territory provoked outrage among Mexicans, but Santa Anna claimed that he needed money to rebuild the army from the war. In the end, he kept or squandered most of it. Liberals finally coalesced and successfully rebelled against his regime, promulgating the Plan of Ayutla in 1854 and forcing Santa Anna into exile. Liberals came to power and began enacting reforms that they had long envisioned. Struggle between liberals and conservatives, 1855–1876 Liberals ousted conservative Santa Anna in the Plan of Ayutla and sought to implement liberal reforms in a series of separate laws, then in a new constitution, which incorporated them. Mexico experienced civil war and a foreign intervention that established a monarchy with the support of Mexican conservatives. The fall of the empire of Maximilian of Mexico and his execution in 1867 ushered in a period of relative peace, but economic stagnation during the Restored Republic. In general, the history writing on this era has characterized the liberals as forging a new, modern nation and conservatives as reactionary opponents of that vision. Starting in the late twentieth century, historians are writing more nuanced analyses of both liberals and conservatives.Notable liberal politicians in the 1850s and 1860s include Benito Juárez, Juan Álvarez, Ignacio Comonfort, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Melchor Ocampo, José María Iglesias, Santiago Vidaurri, Manuel Doblado, and Santos Degollado. Prominent conservatives of the era were generals Félix Zuloaga, Miguel Miramón, Leonardo Márquez, Tomás Mejía, José Mariano Salas, as well as Juan N. Almonte, son of independence leader José María Morelos. Plan of Ayutla La Reforma began with the final overthrow of Santa Anna in the Plan of Ayutla in 1855. Moderate Liberal Ignacio Comonfort became president. The Moderados tried to find a middle ground between the nation's liberals and conservatives. There is less consensus about the ending point of the Reforma.Common dates are 1861, after the liberal victory in the Reform War; 1867, after the republican victory over the French intervention in Mexico; and 1876 when Porfirio Díaz overthrew president Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. Liberalism dominated Mexico as an intellectual force into the 20th century. Liberals championed reform and supported republicanism, capitalism, and individualism; they fought to reduce the Church's roles in education, land ownership and politics. Also importantly, liberals sought to end the special status of indigenous communities by ending their corporate ownership of land. Constitution of 1857 Liberal Colonel Ignacio Comonfort became president in 1855 after a revolt based in Ayutla overthrew Santa Anna. Comonfort was a moderate who tried and failed to maintain an uncertain coalition of radical and moderate liberals. Radical liberals drafted the Constitution of 1857, which decreased the power of the executive, incorporated the laws of the Reform, and curtailed traditional powers of the Catholic Church. It granted religious freedom, stating only that the Catholic Church was the favored faith. The anti-clerical radicals scored a major victory with the ratification of the constitution, because it weakened the Church and enfranchised non property owning men. The constitution was oppossed by the army, the clergy and the other conservatives, as well as moderate liberals such as Comonfort. With the Plan of Tacubaya in December 1857, conservative General Félix Zuloaga led a coup in the capital in January 1858, creating a parallel government in Mexico City. Comonfort resigned the presidency and was succeeded by the President of the Supreme Court, Benito Juárez, who became President of the Republic, leading Mexican liberals. War of Reform (1857–1861) The revolt led to the War of Reform (December 1857 to January 1861), which grew increasingly bloody as it progressed and polarized the nation's politics. Many Moderates, convinced that the Church's political power had to be curbed, came over to the side of the Liberals. For some time, the Liberals and Conservatives simultaneously administered separate governments, the Conservatives from Mexico City and the Liberals from Veracruz. The war ended with a Liberal victory, and liberal President Benito Juárez moved his administration to Mexico City. French intervention and Second Mexican Empire (1861–1867) In 1862, the country was invaded by France which sought to collect debts that the Juárez government had defaulted on, but the larger purpose was to install a ruler under French control. They chose a member of the Habsburg dynasty, which had ruled Spain and its overseas possessions until 1700. Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria was installed as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, with support from the Catholic Church, conservative elements of the upper class, and some indigenous communities. Although the French suffered an initial defeat (the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, now commemorated as the Cinco de Mayo holiday), the French eventually defeated the Mexican army and set Maximilian on the throne. The Mexican-French monarchy set up administration in Mexico City, governing from the National Palace. Maximilian's consort was Empress Carlota of Mexico and they chose Chapultepec Castle as their home. Maximilian has been praised by some historians for his liberal reforms, his desire to help the people of Mexico, and his refusal to desert his loyal followers. Some accused him of exploiting the nation's resources for themselves and their allies, including favoring the plans of Napoleon III to exploit the mines in the northwest of the country and to grow cotton. Maximilian was a liberal, a fact that Mexican conservatives seemingly did not know when he was chosen to head the government. He favored the establishment of a limited monarchy that would share power with a democratically elected congress. This was too liberal for conservatives, while liberals refused to accept any monarch, considering the republican government of Benito Juárez as legitimate. This left Maximilian with few enthusiastic allies within Mexico. Meanwhile, Juárez remained head of the republican government. He continued to be recognized by the United States, which was engaged in its Civil War (1861–65) and at that juncture was in no position to aid Juárez directly against the French intervention until 1865. France never made a profit in Mexico and its Mexican expedition grew increasingly unpopular. Finally in the spring of 1865, after the US Civil War was over, the US demanded the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico. Napoleon III quietly complied. In mid-1867, despite repeated Imperial losses in battle to the Republican Army and ever decreasing support from Napoleon III, Maximilian chose to remain in Mexico rather than return to Europe. He was captured and executed along with two Mexican supporters, immortalized in a famous painting by Édouard Manet. Juárez remained in office until his death in 1872. Restored Republic (1867–1876) In 1867 with the defeat of the monarchy and execution of Emperor Maximilian, the republic was restored and Juárez reelected. He continued to implement his reforms. In 1871, he was elected a second time, much to the dismay of his opponents within the Liberal party, who considered reelection to be somewhat undemocratic. Juárez died the following year and was succeeded by Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. Part of Juárez's reforms included fully secularizing the country. The Catholic Church was barred from owning property aside from houses of worship and monasteries, and education and marriage were put in the hands of the state. Porfiriato (1876–1910) The rule of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911) was dedicated to the rule by law, suppression of violence, and modernization of the country. This period of relative prosperity is known as the Porfiriato. As traditional ways were under challenge, urban Mexicans debated national identity, the rejection of indigenous cultures, the new passion for French culture once the French were ousted from Mexico, and the challenge of creating a modern nation by means of industrialization and scientific modernization. Díaz remained in power by rigging elections and censoring the press. Possible rivals were destroyed, and popular generals were moved to new areas so they could not build a permanent base of support. Banditry on roads leading to major cities was largely suppressed by the "Rurales", a police force controlled by Díaz. Banditry remained a major threat in more remote areas, because the Rurales comprised fewer than 1000 men. Díaz was an astute military leader and liberal politician who built a national base of supporters. He maintained a stable relationship with the Catholic Church by avoiding the enforcement of constitutional anticlerical laws. The country's infrastructure was greatly improved through increased foreign investment from Britain and the US, and a strong, participatory central government. Increased tax revenue and better administration dramatically improved public safety, public health, railways, mining, industry, foreign trade, and national finances. Díaz modernized the army and suppressed some banditry. After a half-century of stagnation, where per capita income was merely a tenth of the developed nations such as Britain and the US, the Mexican economy took off and grew at an annual rate of 2.3% (1877 to 1910), which was high by world standards. Order, progress, and dictatorship Díaz reduced the Army from 30,000 to under 20,000 men, which resulted in a smaller percentage of the national budget being committed to the military. The army was modernized, well-trained, and equipped with some of the latest technology. The Army was top-heavy with 5,000 officers, many of them elderly, but politically well-connected veterans of the wars of the 1860s.The political skills that Díaz used so effectively before 1900 faded, as he and his closest advisers were less open to negotiations with younger leaders. His announcement in 1908 that he would retire in 1911 unleashed a widespread feeling that Díaz was on the way out, and that new coalitions had to be built. He nevertheless ran for reelection and in a show of U.S. support, Díaz and Taft planned a summit in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for October 16,, an historic first meeting between a Mexican and a U.S. president and also the first time an American president would cross the border into Mexico. Both sides agreed that the disputed Chamizal strip connecting El Paso to Ciudad Juárez would be considered neutral territory with no flags present during the summit, but the meeting focused attention on this territory and resulted in assassination threats and other serious security concerns. On the day of the summit, Frederick Russell Burnham, the celebrated scout, and Private C. R. Moore, a Texas Ranger, discovered a man holding a concealed palm pistol standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route. Burnham and Moore captured and disarmed the assassin within only a few feet of Díaz and Taft. Both presidents were unharmed and the summit was held. At the meeting, Díaz told John Hays Hammond, "Since I am responsible for bringing several billion dollars in foreign investments into my country, I think I should continue in my position until a competent successor is found." Díaz was re-elected after a highly controversial election, but he was overthrown in 1911 and forced into exile in France after Army units rebelled. Economy Fiscal stability was achieved by José Yves Limantour (1854–1935), Secretary of Finance of Mexico from 1893 until 1910. He was the leader of the well-educated technocrats known as Científicos, who were committed to modernity and sound finance. Limantour expanded foreign investment, supported free trade, and balanced the budget for the first time and generated a budget surplus by 1894. However, he was unable to halt the rising cost of food, which alienated the poor.The American Panic of 1907 was an economic downturn that caused a sudden drop in demand for Mexican copper, silver, gold, zinc, and other metals. Mexico in turn cut its imports of horses and mules, mining machinery, and railroad supplies. The result was an economic depression in Mexico in 1908–1909 that soured optimism and raised discontent with the Díaz regime.Mexico was vulnerable to external shocks because of its weak banking system. The banking system was controlled by a small oligarchy, which typically made long-term loans to their own directors. The banks were the financial arms of extended kinship-based business coalitions that used banks to raise additional capital to expand enterprises. Economic growth was largely based on trade with the United States.Mexico had few factories by 1880, but then industrialization took hold in the Northeast, especially in Monterrey. Factories produced machinery, textiles and beer, while smelters processed ores. Convenient rail links with the nearby US gave local entrepreneurs from seven wealthy merchant families a competitive advantage over more distant cities. New federal laws in 1884 and 1887 allowed corporations to be more flexible. By the 1920s, American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), an American firm controlled by the Guggenheim family, had invested over 20 million pesos and employed nearly 2,000 workers smelting copper and making wire to meet the demand for electrical wiring in the US and Mexico. Modernity The modernizers insisted that public schools and secular education lead the way, and that science replace religious schooling by the Catholic Church. They reformed elementary schools by mandating uniformity, secularization, and rationality. These reforms were consistent with international trends in teaching methods. In order to break the traditional peasant habits that were seen to hinder industrialization, reforms emphasized the children's punctuality, assiduity, and health. In 1910, the National University was opened as an elite school for the next generation of leaders. Cities were rebuilt with modernizing architects favoring the latest western European styles, especially the Beaux-Arts style, to symbolize the break with the past. A highly visible exemplar was the Federal Legislative Palace, built 1897–1910. Rural unrest Historian John Tutino examines the impact of the Porfiriato in the highland basins south of Mexico City, which became the Zapatista heartland during the Revolution. Population growth, railways and concentration of land in a few families generated a commercial expansion that undercut the traditional powers of the villagers. Young men felt insecure about the patriarchal roles they had expected to fill. Initially, this anxiety manifested as violence within families and communities. But, after the defeat of Díaz in 1910, villagers expressed their rage in revolutionary assaults on local elites who had profited most from the Porfiriato. The young men were radicalized, as they fought for their traditional roles regarding land, community, and patriarchy. Revolution of 1910–1920 The Mexican Revolution is a broad term to describe political and social changes in the early 20th century. Most scholars consider it to span the years 1910–1920, from the fraudulent election of Porfirio Díaz in 1910 until the December 1920 election of general Alvaro Obregón. Foreign powers had important economic and strategic interests in the outcome of power struggles in Mexico, with United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution playing an especially significant role.The Revolution grew increasingly broad-based, radical and violent. Revolutionaries sought far-reaching social and economic reforms by strengthening the state and weakening the conservative forces represented by the Church, rich landowners, and foreign capitalists. Some scholars consider the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as the revolution's end point. "Economic and social conditions improved in accordance with revolutionary policies, so that the new society took shape within a framework of official revolutionary institutions," with the constitution providing that framework. Organized labor gained significant power, as seen in Article 123 of the Constitution of 1917. Land reform in Mexico was enabled by Article 27. Economic nationalism was also enabled by Article 27, restricting ownership of enterprises by foreigners. The Constitution also further restricted the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico; implementing the restrictions in the late 1920s resulted in the Cristero War. A ban on re-election of the president was enshrined in the Constitution and in practice. Political succession was achieved in 1929 with the creation of the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR), the political party that dominated Mexico's politics for the remainder of the 20th century, now called the Institutional Revolutionary Party. One major effect of the revolution was the disappearance of the Federal Army in 1914, defeated by revolutionary forces of the various factions in the Mexican Revolution.The Mexican Revolution was based on popular participation. At first, it was based on the peasantry who demanded land, water, and a more representative national government. Wasserman finds that:"Popular participation in the revolution and its aftermath took three forms. First, everyday people, though often in conjunction with elite neighbors, generated local issues such as access to land, taxes, and village autonomy. Second, the popular classes provided soldiers to fight in the revolution. Third, local issues advocated by campesinos and workers framed national discourses on land reform, the role of religion, and many other questions." Election of 1910 and popular rebellion Porfirio Díaz announced in an interview to a US journalist James Creelman that he would not run for president in 1910, at which point he would be 80 years old. This set off a spate of political activity by potential candidates, including Francisco I. Madero, a member of one of Mexico's richest families. Madero was part of the Anti-Re-electionist Party, whose main platform was the end of the Díaz regime. But Díaz reversed his decision to retire and ran again. He created the office of vice president, which could have been a mechanism to ease transition in the presidency. But Díaz chose a politically unpalatable running mate, Ramón Corral, over a popular military man, Bernardo Reyes and popular civilian Francisco I. Madero. He sent Reyes on a "study mission" to Europe and jailed Madero. Official election results declared that Díaz had won almost unanimously and Madero received only a few hundred votes. This fraud was too blatant, and riots broke out. Uprisings against Díaz occurred in the fall of 1910, particularly in Mexico's north and the southern state of Morelos. Helping unite opposition forces was a political plan drafted by Madero, the Plan of San Luis Potosí, in which he called on the Mexican people to take up arms and fight against the Díaz government. The rising was set for November 20, 1910. Madero escaped from prison to San Antonio, Texas, where he began preparing to overthrow Díaz—an action today considered the start of the Mexican Revolution. Díaz tried to use the army to suppress the revolts, but most of the ranking generals were old men close to his own age and they did not act swiftly or with sufficient energy to stem the violence. Revolutionary force—led by, among others, Emiliano Zapata in the South, Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco in the North, and Venustiano Carranza—defeated the Federal Army. Díaz resigned in May 1911 for the "sake of the peace of the nation". The terms of his resignation were spelled out in the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, but it also called for an interim presidency and new elections were to be held. Francisco León de la Barra served as interim president. The Federal Army, although defeated by the northern revolutionaries, was kept intact. Francisco I. Madero, whose 1910 Plan of San Luis Potosí had helped mobilize forces opposed to Díaz, accepted the political settlement. He campaigned in the presidential elections of October 1911, won decisively, and was inaugurated in November 1911. Madero presidency and its opposition, 1911–1913 Following the resignation of Díaz and a brief interim presidency of a high-level government official from the Díaz era, Madero was elected president in 1911. The revolutionary leaders had many different objectives; revolutionary figures varied from liberals such as Madero to radicals such as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa. As a consequence, it proved impossible to agree about how to organize the government that emerged from the triumphant first phase of the revolution. This standoff over political principles led quickly to a struggle for control of the government, a violent conflict that lasted more than 20 years. Counter-revolution and civil war, 1913–1915 Madero was ousted and killed in February 1913 during the Ten Tragic Days. General Victoriano Huerta, one of Díaz's former generals, and a nephew of Díaz, Félix Díaz, plotted with the US ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson, to topple Madero and reassert the policies of Díaz. Within a month of the coup, rebellion started spreading in Mexico, most prominently by the governor of the state of Coahuila, Venustiano Carranza along with old revolutionaries demobilized by Madero, such as Pancho Villa. The northern revolutionaries fought under the name of the Constitutionalist Army, with Carranza as the "First Chief" (primer jefe). In the south, Emiliano Zapata continued his rebellion in Morelos under the Plan of Ayala, calling for the expropriation of land and redistribution to peasants. Huerta offered peace to Zapata, who rejected it. Huerta convinced Pascual Orozco, whom he fought while serving the Madero government, to join Huerta's forces. Supporting the Huerta regime were business interests in Mexico, both foreign and domestic; landed elites; the Roman Catholic Church; as well as the German and British governments. The Federal Army became an arm of the Huerta regime, swelling to some 200,000 men, many pressed into service and most ill-trained. The US did not recognize the Huerta government, but from February to August 1913 it imposed an arms embargo on exports to Mexico, exempting the Huerta government and thereby favoring the regime against emerging revolutionary forces. However, President Woodrow Wilson sent a special envoy to Mexico to assess the situation, and reports on the many rebellions in Mexico convinced Wilson that Huerta was unable to maintain order. Arms ceased to flow to Huerta's government, which benefited the revolutionary cause. The US Navy made an incursion on the Gulf Coast, occupying Veracruz in April 1914. Although Mexico was engaged in a civil war at the time, the US intervention united Mexican forces in their opposition to the US. Foreign powers helped broker US withdrawal in the Niagara Falls peace conference. The US timed its pullout to throw its support to the Constitutionalist faction under Carranza.Initially, the forces in northern Mexico were united under the Constitutionalist banner, with able revolutionary generals serving the civilian First Chief Carranza. Pancho Villa began to split from supporting Carranza as Huerta was on his way out. The break was not simply on personalist grounds, but primarily because Carranza was politically too conservative for Villa. Carranza was not only a political holdover from the Díaz era, but was also a rich hacienda owner whose interests were threatened by the more radical ideas of Villa, especially on land reform. Zapata in the south was also hostile to Carranza due to his stance on land reform. In July 1914, Huerta resigned under pressure and went into exile. His resignation marked the end of an era since the Federal Army, a spectacularly ineffective fighting force against the revolutionaries, ceased to exist. With the exit of Huerta, the revolutionary factions decided to meet and make "a last ditch effort to avert more intense warfare than that which unseated Huerta." Called to meet in Mexico City in October 1914, revolutionaries opposed to Carranza's influence successfully moved the venue to Aguascalientes. The Convention of Aguascalientes did not reconcile the various victorious factions in the Mexican Revolution, but was a brief pause in revolutionary violence. The break between Carranza and Villa became definitive during the convention. Rather than First Chief Carranza being named president of Mexico, General Eulalio Gutiérrez was chosen. Carranza and Obregón left Aguascalientes, with far smaller forces than Villa's. The convention declared Carranza in rebellion against it and civil war resumed, this time between revolutionary armies that had fought in a united cause to oust Huerta. Villa went into alliance with Zapata to form the Army of the convention. Their forces separately moved on the capital and captured Mexico City in 1914, which Carranza's forces had abandoned. The famous picture of Villa, sitting in the presidential chair in the National Palace, and Zapata is a classic image of the Revolution. Villa is reported to have said to Zapata that the presidential "chair is too big for us." The alliance between Villa and Zapata did not function in practice beyond this initial victory against the Constitutionalists. Zapata returned to his southern stronghold in Morelos, where he continued to engage in guerrilla warfare under the Plan of Ayala. Villa prepared to win a decisive victory against the Constitutionalist Army under Obregón. The two rival armies of Villa and Obregón met on April 6–15, 1915 in the Battle of Celaya. The frontal cavalry charges of Villa's forces were met by the shrewd, modern military tactics of Obregón. Constitutionalist victory was complete. Carranza emerged in 1915 as the political leader of Mexico with a victorious army to keep him in that position. Villa retreated north, seemingly into political oblivion. Carranza and the Constitutionalists consolidated their position as the winning faction, with Zapata remaining a threat until his assassination in 1919. Constitutionalists in power, 1915–1920 Venustiano Carranza promulgated a new constitution on February 5, 1917. The Mexican Constitution of 1917, with significant amendments in the 1990s, still governs Mexico. On 19 January 1917, a secret message (the Zimmermann Telegram) was sent from the German foreign minister to Mexico proposing joint military action against the United States if war broke out. The offer included material aid to Mexico to reclaim the territory lost during the Mexican–American War, specifically the American states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Carranza's generals told him that Mexico would lose to its much more powerful neighbor. Zimmermann's message was intercepted and published, causing outrage in the US and catalyzing an American declaration of war against Germany in early April. Carranza then formally rejected the offer, and the threat of war with the US eased.Carranza was assassinated in 1920 during an internal feud among his former supporters over who would replace him as president. Consolidation of revolution, 1920–1940 Northern revolutionary generals as presidents Three Sonoran generals of the Constitutionalist Army, Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, and Adolfo de la Huerta dominated Mexico in the 1920s. Their life experience in Mexico's northwest, described as a "savage pragmatism" was in a sparsely settled region, conflict with Natives, secular rather than religious culture, and independent, commercially oriented ranchers and farmers. This was different from subsistence agriculture of the dense population of the strongly Catholic indigenous and mestizo peasantry of central Mexico. Obregón was the dominant member of the triumvirate, as the leading general in the Constitutionalist Army, who had defeated Pancho Villa in battle. All three were also skilled politicians and administrators. In Sonora they had "formed their own professional army, patronized and allied themselves with labor unions, and expanded the government authority to promote economic development." Once in power, they scaled this up to the national level. Obregón presidency, 1920–1924 Obregón, Calles, and de la Huerta revolted against Carranza in the Plan of Agua Prieta in 1920. Following the interim presidency of Adolfo de la Huerta, elections were held and Obregón was elected for a four-year presidential term. As well as being the Constitutionalists' most brilliant general, Obregón was a clever politician and successful businessman, farming chickpeas. His government managed to accommodate many elements of Mexican society except the most conservative clergy and wealthy landowners. He was not an ideologue, but was a revolutionary nationalist, holding seemingly contradictory views as a socialist, a capitalist, a Jacobin, a spiritualist, and an Americanophile.He was able to successfully implement policies emerging from the revolutionary struggle; in particular, the successful policies were: the integration of urban, organized labor into political life via CROM, the improvement of education and Mexican cultural production under José Vasconcelos, the movement of land reform, and the steps taken toward instituting women's civil rights. He faced several main tasks in the presidency, mainly political in nature. First was consolidating state power in the central government and curbing regional strongmen (caudillos); second was obtaining diplomatic recognition from the United States; and third was managing the presidential succession in 1924 when his term of office ended. His administration began constructing what one scholar called "an enlightened despotism, a ruling conviction that the state knew what ought to be done and needed plenary powers to fulfill its mission." After the nearly decade-long violence of the Mexican Revolution, reconstruction in the hands of a strong central government offered stability and a path of renewed modernization. Obregón knew it was necessary for his regime to secure the recognition of the United States. With the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, the Mexican government was empowered to expropriate natural resources. The U.S. had considerable business interests in Mexico, especially oil, and the threat of Mexican economic nationalism to big oil companies meant that diplomatic recognition could hinge on Mexican compromise in implementing the constitution. In 1923 when the Mexican presidential elections were on the horizon, Obregón began negotiating with the U.S. government in earnest, with the two governments signing the Bucareli Treaty. The treaty resolved questions about foreign oil interests in Mexico, largely in favor of U.S. interests, but Obregón's government gained U.S. diplomatic recognition. With that arms and ammunition began flowing to revolutionary armies loyal to Obregón. Since Obregón had named his fellow Sonoran general, Plutarco Elías Calles, as his successor, Obregón was imposing a "little known nationally and unpopular with many generals," thereby foreclosing the ambitions of fellow revolutionaries, particularly his old comrade Adolfo de la Huerta. De la Huerta staged a serious rebellion against Obregón. But Obregón once again demonstrated his brilliance as a military tactician who now had arms and even air support from the United States to suppress it brutally. Fifty-four former Obregonistas were shot in the event. Vasconcelos resigned from Obregón's cabinet as minister of education. Although the Constitution of 1917 had stronger anticlerical articles than the previous constitution, Obregón largely sidestepped confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico. Since political opposition parties were essentially banned, the Catholic Church "filled the political void and play the part of a substitute opposition." Calles presidency, 1924–1928 The 1924 presidential election was not a demonstration of free and fair elections, but the incumbent Obregón could not stand for re-election, thereby acknowledging that revolutionary principle. He completed his presidential term still alive, the first since Porfirio Díaz. Candidate Plutarco Elías Calles embarked on one of the first populist presidential campaigns in the nation's history, calling for land reform and promised equal justice, more education, additional labor rights, and democratic governance. Calles tried to fulfill his promises during his populist phase (1924–26), and a repressive anti-clerical phase (1926–28). Obregón's stance toward the church appears pragmatic, since there were many other issues for him to deal with, but his successor Calles, a vehement anticlerical, took on the church as an institution and religious Catholics when he succeeded to the presidency, bringing about violent, bloody, and protracted conflict known as the Cristero War. Cristero War (1926–1929) The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was a counter-revolution against the Calles regime set off by his persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico and specifically the strict enforcement of the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the expansion of further anti-clerical laws. A number of articles of the Constitution were at issue: a) Article 5 (outlawing monastic religious orders); b) Article 24 (forbidding public worship outside of church buildings); c) Article 27 (restricting religious organizations' rights to own property); d) Article 130 (took away civil rights of the clergy: priests and religious leaders were prevented from wearing their habits, were denied the right to vote, and were not permitted to comment on public affairs in the press).The formal rebellions began early in 1927, with the rebels calling themselves Cristeros because they felt they were fighting for Jesus Christ himself. The laity stepped into the vacuum created by the removal of priests, and in the long run the Church was strengthened. The Cristero War was resolved diplomatically, largely with the help of the U.S. Ambassador, Dwight Morrow.The conflict claimed about 250,000 lives, including civilians and Cristeros killed during raids after the war's end. As promised in the diplomatic resolution, the anti-clerical laws remained on the books, but the federal government made no organized attempt to enforce them. Nonetheless, persecution of Catholic priests continued in several localities, fueled by local officials' interpretation of the resoutions. Maximato and the Formation of the ruling party After the presidential term of Calles, which ended in 1928, former president Alvaro Obregón won the presidency, but he was assassinated immediately after the July election leaving a power vacuum. Outgoing President Calles could not immediately stand for election, so there needed to be a solution to the crisis. Revolutionary generals and others in the power elite agreed that congress should appoint an interim president and new elections held in 1928. In his final address to congress on 1 September 1928, President Calles declared the end of strong man rule, a ban on Mexican presidents serving again in that office, and that Mexico was now entering an age of rule by institutions and laws. Congress chose Emilio Portes Gil to serve as interim president, but Calles remained the power behind the presidency until ousted by Lázaro Cárdenas in 1936. Calles created a more permanent solution to presidential succession with the founding of the National Revolutionary Party (PNR) in 1929. It was a national party that was a permanent rather than a local and ephemeral institution. Calles became the power behind the presidency in this period, known as the Maximato, named after his title of jefe máximo (maximum leader). The party brought together regional caudillos and integrated labor organizations and peasant leagues in a party that was better able to manage the political process. For the six-year term that Obregón was to serve, three presidents held office, Emilio Portes Gil, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, and Abelardo L. Rodríguez, with Calles the power behind the presidency. In 1934, the PNR chose Calles-supporter Lázaro Cárdenas, a revolutionary general, who had a political power base in Michoacan, as the candidate of the PNR for the Mexican presidency. After an initial period of acquiescence to Calles's role intervening in the presidency, Cárdenas out-maneuvered his former patron and eventually sent him into exile. Cárdenas reformed the PNR structure, resulting in the creation of the PRM (Partido Revolucionario Mexicano), the Mexican Revolutionary Party, which included the army as a party sector. He had convinced most of the remaining revolutionary generals to hand over their personal armies to the Mexican Army; the date of the PRM party's foundation is thus considered by some to be the end of the Revolution. The party was re-structured again in 1946 and renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and held power continuously until 2000. After its establishment as the ruling party, the PRI monopolized all the political branches: it did not lose a senate seat until 1988 or a gubernatorial race until 1989. It was not until July 2, 2000, that Vicente Fox of the opposition "Alliance for Change" coalition, headed by the National Action Party (PAN), was elected president. His victory ended the PRI's 71-year hold on the presidency. Fox was succeeded by the PAN candidate, Felipe Calderón. In the 2012 elections, the PRI regained the presidency with its candidate Enrique Peña Nieto. Revitalization of the revolution under Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas was hand-picked by Calles as the successor to the presidency in 1934. Cárdenas managed to unite the different forces in the PRI and set the rules that allowed his party to rule unchallenged for decades to come without internal fights. He nationalized the oil industry (on 18 March 1938), the electricity industry, created the National Polytechnic Institute, implemented extensive land reform and the distribution of free textbooks to children. In 1936 he exiled Calles, the last general with dictatorial ambitions, thereby removing the army from power. On the eve of World War II, the Cárdenas administration (1934–1940) was just stabilizing, and consolidating control over, a Mexican nation that, for decades, had been in revolutionary flux, and Mexicans were beginning to interpret the European battle between the communists and fascists, especially the Spanish Civil War, through their unique revolutionary lens. Whether Mexico would side with the United States was unclear during Lázaro Cárdenas' rule, as he remained neutral. "Capitalists, businessmen, Catholics, and middle-class Mexicans who opposed many of the reforms implemented by the revolutionary government sided with the Spanish Falange".Nazi propagandist Arthur Dietrich and his team of agents in Mexico successfully manipulated editorials and coverage of Europe by paying hefty subsidies to Mexican newspapers, including the widely read dailies Excélsior and El Universal. The situation became even more worrisome for the Allies when major oil companies boycotted Mexican oil following Lázaro Cárdenas' nationalization of the oil industry and expropriation of all corporate oil properties in 1938, which severed Mexico's access to its traditional markets and led Mexico to sell its oil to Germany and Italy."Revolution to evolution", 1940–1970 Most historians consider 1940 a major dividing line between the era of military violence and then political consolidation by military leaders of the Revolution and a post 1940 prolonged period of political stability and economic growth. Manuel Ávila Camacho presidency and World War II Manuel Ávila Camacho, Cárdenas's successor, presided over a "bridge" between the revolutionary era and the era of machine politics under PRI that lasted until 2000. Ávila Camacho, moving away from nationalistic autarchy, proposed to create a favorable climate for international investment, which had been a policy favored nearly two generations earlier by Madero. Ávila's regime froze wages, repressed strikes, and persecuted dissidents with a law prohibiting the "crime of social dissolution." During this period, the PRI shifted to the right and abandoned much of the radical nationalism of the Cárdenas era. Miguel Alemán Valdés, Ávila Camacho's successor, amended Article 27 to limit land reform, protecting large landowners. Mexico played a relatively minor military role in World War II, but there were other opportunities for Mexico to contribute significantly. Relations between Mexico and the U.S. had been warming in the 1930s, particularly after U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt implemented the Good Neighbor Policy toward Latin American countries. Even before the outbreak of hostilities between the Axis and Allied powers, Mexico aligned itself firmly with the United States, initially as a proponent of "belligerent neutrality" which the U.S. followed prior to the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Mexico sanctioned businesses and individuals identified by the U.S. government as being supporters of the Axis powers; in August 1941, Mexico broke off economic ties with Germany, then recalled its diplomats from Germany, and closed the German consulates in Mexico. The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) and the Confederation of Mexican Peasants (CNC) staged massive rallies in support of the government. Immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Mexico went on a war footing.Mexico's biggest contributions to the war effort were in vital war materiel and labor, particularly the Bracero Program, a guest-worker program in the U.S. freeing men there to fight in the European and Pacific theaters of War. There was heavy demand for its exports, which created a degree of prosperity. A Mexican atomic scientist, José Rafael Bejarano, worked on the secret Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. In Mexico and throughout Latin America, Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy" was necessary at such a delicate time. Much work had already been accomplished between the U.S. and Mexico to create more harmonious relations between the two countries, including the settlement of U.S. citizen claims against the Mexican government, initially and ineffectively negotiated by the binational American-Mexican Claims Commission, but then in direct bilateral negotiations between the two governments. The U.S. government did not intervene on behalf of U.S. oil companies during the Mexican oil expropriation, allowing Mexico to assert its economic sovereignty but also benefiting the U.S. by easing antagonism in Mexico. The Good Neighbor Policy led to the Douglas-Weichers Agreement in June 1941 that secured the sale of Mexican oil for the United States, and the Global Settlement in November 1941 that ended oil company demands on generous terms for the Mexicans, an example of the U.S. putting national security concerns over the interests of U.S. oil companies. When it became clear in other parts of Latin America that the U.S. and Mexico had substantially resolved their differences, the other Latin American countries were more amenable to support the U.S. and Allied effort against the Axis.Following losses of oil ships in the Gulf (the Potrero del Llano and Faja de Oro) to German submarines (U-564 and U-106 respectively) the Mexican government declared war on the Axis powers on May 30, 1942.Perhaps the most famous fighting unit in the Mexican Armed Forces was the Escuadrón 201, also known as the Aztec Eagles. The unit consisted of more than 300 volunteers, who had trained in the United States to fight against Japan in the Pacific War. The Escuadrón 201 was the first Mexican military unit trained for overseas combat, and fought during the liberation of the Philippines, working with the U.S. Fifth Air Force in the last year of the war.Although most Latin American countries eventually entered the war on the Allies' side, Mexico and Brazil were the only Latin American nations that sent troops to fight overseas during World War II. With so many draftees, the U.S. needed farm workers. The Bracero Program gave the opportunity for 290,000 Mexicans to work temporarily on American farms, especially in Texas. Economic "miracle" (1940–1970) During the next four decades, Mexico experienced impressive economic growth (albeit from a low baseline), an achievement historians call "El Milagro Mexicano", the Mexican Miracle. A key component of this phenomenon was the achievement of political stability, which since the founding of the dominant party, has insured stable presidential succession and control of potentially dissident labor and peasant sections through participation in the party structure. In 1938, Lázaro Cárdenas used Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917, which gave subsoil rights to the Mexican government, to expropriate foreign oil companies. It was a popular move, but it did not generate further major expropriations. With Cárdenas's hand-picked successor, Manuel Avila Camacho, Mexico moved closer to the U.S., as an ally in World War II. This alliance brought significant economic gains to Mexico. By supplying raw and finished war materials to the Allies, Mexico built up significant assets that in the post-war period could be translated into sustained growth and industrialization. After 1946, the government took a rightward turn under President Miguel Alemán, who repudiated policies of previous presidents. Mexico pursued industrial development, through import substitution industrialization and tariffs against foreign imports. Mexican industrialists, including a group in Monterrey, Nuevo León as well as wealthy businessmen in Mexico City joined Alemán's coalition. Alemán tamed the labor movement in favor of policies supporting industrialists. Financing industrialization came from private entrepreneurs, such as the Monterrey group, but the government funded a significant amount through its development bank, Nacional Financiera. Foreign capital through direct investment was another source of funding for industrialization, much of it from the United States. Government policies transferred economic benefits from the countryside to the city by keeping agricultural prices artificially low, which made food cheap for city-dwelling industrial workers and other urban consumers. Commercial agriculture expanded with the growth of exports to the U.S. of high value fruits and vegetables, with rural credit going to large producers, not peasant agriculture. In particular, the creation of high yield seeds during the Green Revolution aimed at expanding commercially oriented, highly mechanized agribusiness. Guatemala conflict The Mexico–Guatemala conflict was an armed conflict with Guatemala, in which civilian fishing boats were fired upon by the Guatemalan Air Force. Hostilities were set in motion by the installation of Miguel Ydígoras as President of Guatemala on March 2, 1958. 1970–1994 Economic crises of 1976 and 1982 Although PRI administrations achieved economic growth and relative prosperity for almost three decades after World War II, the party's management of the economy led to several crises. Political unrest grew in the late 1960s, culminating in the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968. Economic crises swept the country in 1976 and 1982, leading to the nationalization of Mexico's banks, which were blamed for economic problems (La Década Perdida).On both occasions, the Mexican peso was devalued, and, until 2000, it was normal to expect a big devaluation and recession at the end of each presidential term. The "December Mistake" crisis threw Mexico into economic turmoil—the worst recession in over half a century. earthquake On 19 September 1985, an earthquake (8.1 on the Richter scale) struck Michoacán, inflicting severe damage on Mexico City. Estimates of the number of dead range from 6,500 to 30,000. Public anger at the PRI's mishandling of relief efforts combined with the ongoing economic crisis led to a substantial weakening of the PRI. As a result, for the first time since the 1930s, the PRI began to face serious electoral challenges. Changing political landscape 1970–1990 A phenomenon of the 1980s was the growth of organized political opposition to de facto one-party rule by the PRI. The National Action Party (PAN), founded in 1939 and until the 1980s a marginal political party and not a serious contender for power, began to gain voters, particularly in Northern Mexico. They made gains in local elections initially, but in 1986 the PAN candidate for the governorship of Chihuahua had a good chance of winning. The Catholic Church was constitutionally forbidden from participating in electoral politics, but the archbishop urged voters not to abstain from the elections. The PRI intervened and upended what would likely have been a victory for the PRI. Although the PRI's candidate became governor, the widespread perception of electoral fraud, criticism by the archbishop of Chihuahua, and a more mobilized electorate made the victory costly to the PRI. Presidential election The 1988 Mexican general election was extremely important in Mexican history. The PRI's candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, an economist who was educated at Harvard, had never held an elected office, and who was a technocrat with no direct link to the legacy of the Mexican Revolution even through his family. Rather than toe the party line, Cuauhtemoc Cárdenas, the son of former President Lázaro Cárdenas, broke with the PRI and ran as a candidate of the Democratic Current, later forming into the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD). The PAN candidate Manuel Clouthier ran a clean campaign in long-standing pattern of the party. The election was marked by irregularities on a massive scale. The Ministry of the Interior (Gobernación) controlled the electoral process; in practice the PRI controlled it in its own favor. During the vote count, the government computers were said to have crashed, something the government called "a breakdown of the system". One observer said, "For the ordinary citizen, it was not the computer network but the Mexican political system that had crashed." When the computers were said to be running again after a considerable delay, the election results they recorded were an extremely narrow victory for Salinas (50.7%), Cárdenas (31.1%), and Clouthier (16.8%). Cárdenas was widely seen to have won the election, but Salinas was declared the winner. There might have been violence in the wake of such fraudulent results, but Cárdenas did not call for it, "sparing the country a possible civil war." Years later, former Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid (1982–88) was quoted in The New York Times stating that the results were indeed fraudulent. Contemporary Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000) In 1995, President Ernesto Zedillo faced the Mexican peso crisis. There were public demonstrations in Mexico City and a constant military presence after the 1994 rising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas.The United States intervened rapidly to stem the economic crisis, first by buying pesos in the open market, and then by granting assistance in the form of $50 billion in loan guarantees. The peso stabilized at 6 pesos per dollar. By 1996, the economy was growing, and in 1997, Mexico repaid, ahead of schedule, all U.S. Treasury loans. Zedillo oversaw political and electoral reforms that reduced the PRI's hold on power. After the 1988 election, which was strongly disputed and arguably lost by the government, the IFE (Instituto Federal Electoral – Federal Electoral Institute) was created in the early 1990s. The IFE oversees elections with the aim of ensuring that they are conducted legally and impartially. NAFTA and USMCA (1994–present) On 1 January 1994, Mexico became a full member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), joining the United States and Canada.Mexico has a free market economy that entered the Trillion dollar club in 2010. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-quarter that of the United States; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the United States and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA. Mexico has free-trade agreements with more than 40 countries, governing 90% of its foreign commerce. End of PRI rule in 2000 Accused many times of electoral fraud, the PRI held almost all public offices until the end of the 20th century. Not until the 1980s did the PRI lose its first state governorship, an event that marked the beginning of the party's loss of hegemony. President Vicente Fox Quesada (2000–2006) Emphasizing the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, integrate with the U.S. economy, and allow private investment in the energy sector, Vicente Fox Quesada, the candidate of the National Action Party (PAN), was elected the 69th president of Mexico on 2 July 2000, ending PRI's 71-year-long control of the office. Though Fox's victory was due in part to popular discontent with decades of unchallenged PRI hegemony, also, Fox's opponent, president Zedillo, conceded defeat on the night of the election—a first in Mexican history. A further sign of the quickening of Mexican democracy was the fact that PAN failed to win a majority in both chambers of Congress—a situation that prevented Fox from implementing his reform pledges. Nonetheless, the transfer of power in 2000 was quick and peaceful. Fox was a very strong candidate, but an ineffective president who was weakened by PAN's minority status in Congress. Historian Philip Russell summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of Fox as president: Marketed on television, Fox made a far better candidate than he did president. He failed to take charge and provide cabinet leadership, failed to set priorities, and turned a blind eye to alliance building....By 2006, as political scientist Soledad Loaeza noted, "the eager candidate became a reluctant president who avoided tough choices and appeared hesitant and unable to hide the weariness caused by the responsibilities and constraints of the office." ...He had little success in fighting crime. Even though he maintained the macroeconomic stability inherited from his predecessor, economic growth barely exceeded the rate of population increase. Similarly, the lack of fiscal reform left tax collection at a rate similar to that of Haiti....Finally, during Fox's administration, only 1.4 million formal-sector jobs were created, leading to massive immigration to the United States and an explosive increase in informal employment. President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006–2012) President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (PAN) took office after one of the most hotly contested elections in recent Mexican history; Calderón won by such a small margin (.56% or 233,831 votes.) that the runner-up, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) contested the results. Despite imposing a cap on salaries of high-ranking public servants, Calderón ordered a raise on the salaries of the Federal Police and the Mexican armed forces on his first day as president. Calderón's government ordered massive raids on drug cartels upon assuming office in December 2006 in response to an increasingly deadly spate of violence in his home state of Michoacán. The decision to intensify drug enforcement operations has led to an ongoing conflict between the federal government and the Mexican drug cartels. Drug war (2006-present) Under President Calderón (2006-2012), the government began waging a war on regional drug mafias. So far, this conflict has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Mexicans and the drug mafias continue to gain power. Mexico has been a major transit and drug-producing nation: an estimated 90% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States every year moves through Mexico. Fueled by the increasing demand for drugs in the United States, the country has become a major supplier of heroin, producer and distributor of MDMA, and the largest foreign supplier of cannabis and methamphetamine to the U.S.'s market. Major drug syndicates control the majority of drug trafficking in the country, and Mexico is a significant money-laundering center.After the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in the U.S. on September 13, 2004, Mexican drug cartels have begun acquiring assault weapons in the United States. The result is that drug cartels have now both more gun power, and more manpower due to the high unemployment in Mexico.After taking office in 2018, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pursued an alternative approach to dealing with drug mafias, calling for a policy of "hugs, not gunshots" (Abrazos, no balazos). This policy has been ineffective, and the death toll has not decreased. In October 2019, AMLO's government released drug lord Ovidio Guzmán López during the Battle of Culiacán as part of ceasefire negotiations.Former Secretary of Defense Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested by U.S. officials on 15 October 2020 at Los Angeles International Airport on drug and money-laundering charges. He was found to have used the alias "El Padrino" ("The Godfather") while working with the H-2 Cartel. The Mexican government warned of reviewing security agreements with the United States over not being given advance notice of the arrest.On 18 November 2020, American authorities agreed to drop charges against Cienfuegos. They also agreed to send him back to Mexico, where he is under investigation. Some American media outlets reported that the charges had been dropped under pressure from the Mexican federal government, which had threatened to expel DEA agents from the country. The President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador however has denied the acussation. President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) On July 1, 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto was elected president of Mexico with 38% of the vote. He is a former governor of the state of Mexico and a member of the PRI. His election returned the PRI to power after 12 years of PAN rule. He was officially sworn into office on December 1, 2012.The Pacto por México was a cross party alliance that called for the accomplishment of 95 goals. It was signed on 2 December 2012 by the leaders of the three main political parties in Chapultepec Castle. The Pact has been lauded by international pundits as an example for solving political gridlock and for effectively passing institutional reforms. Among other legislation, it called for education reform, banking reform, fiscal reform and telecommunications reform, all of which were eventually passed. However, this pact was ultimately jeopardized when the center-right PAN and PRI pushed for a revaluation of, and end to, the monopoly of the state owned petroleum company, Pemex. This ultimately resulted in the dissolution of the alliance in December 2013 when the center-left PRD refused to collaborate on legislation that would have allowed for foreign investment in Mexico's oil industry. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018–present) On July 1, 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador was elected president with 30,112,109 votes (53.19% of the total votes cast.) Lopez Obrador is the leader of the National Regeneration Movement and he headed the Juntos Haremos Historia coalition. The coalition also won 306/500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, 69/100 federal Senate seats, several governorships, and numerous local elections.The administration has had to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. The number of cases has continued to rise, but Mexico has attempted the gradual reopening of the economy. At least 500 Cuban health workers are helping tackle the new coronavirus in Mexico City, Mexican officials say, making it likely the largest contingent the island has deployed globally as part of its response to the pandemic.AMLO made his first trip outside the country to travel to Washington D.C. to sign the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump and AMLO met at White House, but Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau declined to attend, citing the coronavirus.In June 2021 midterm elections, López Obrador's left-leaning Morena’s coalition lost seats in the lower house of Congress. However, his ruling coalition maintained a simple majority, but López Obrador failed to secure the two-thirds congressional supermajority. The main opposition was a coalition of Mexico's three traditional parties: the center-right Revolutionary Institutional Party, right-wing National Action Party and leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution. See also References Further reading Works listed below are in English, some of which have been translated from the Spanish. There is a vast literature in Spanish. Surveys and reference works Primary sources and readers Prehistory and Pre-Columbian civilizations Conquest Hassig, Ross.Mexico and the Spanish Conquest (2nd ed. 2006) excerpt and text search Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico (1995) excerpt and text search Primary sources The Colonial era Mexican Independence and the 19th century (1807–1910) Primary sources Raat, W. Dirk, ed. Mexico: From Independence to Revolution, 1810–1910 (1982), 308pp; 26 scholarly articles & primary documents Revolutionary era Since 1940 Historiography and memory == External links ==Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, psychology, physics, computer science, chemistry, medicine, statistics, and mathematical modeling to understand the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons, glia and neural circuits. The understanding of the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness has been described by Eric Kandel as the "epic challenge" of the biological sciences.The scope of neuroscience has broadened over time to include different approaches used to study the nervous system at different scales. The techniques used by neuroscientists have expanded enormously, from molecular and cellular studies of individual neurons to imaging of sensory, motor and cognitive tasks in the brain. [[. ]] History The earliest study of the nervous system dates to ancient Egypt. Trepanation, the surgical practice of either drilling or scraping a hole into the skull for the purpose of curing head injuries or mental disorders, or relieving cranial pressure, was first recorded during the Neolithic period. Manuscripts dating to 1700 BC indicate that the Egyptians had some knowledge about symptoms of brain damage.Early views on the function of the brain regarded it to be a "cranial stuffing" of sorts. In Egypt, from the late Middle Kingdom onwards, the brain was regularly removed in preparation for mummification. It was believed at the time that the heart was the seat of intelligence. According to Herodotus, the first step of mummification was to "take a crooked piece of iron, and with it draw out the brain through the nostrils, thus getting rid of a portion, while the skull is cleared of the rest by rinsing with drugs."The view that the heart was the source of consciousness was not challenged until the time of the Greek physician Hippocrates. He believed that the brain was not only involved with sensation—since most specialized organs (e.g., eyes, ears, tongue) are located in the head near the brain—but was also the seat of intelligence. Plato also speculated that the brain was the seat of the rational part of the soul. Aristotle, however, believed the heart was the center of intelligence and that the brain regulated the amount of heat from the heart. This view was generally accepted until the Roman physician Galen, a follower of Hippocrates and physician to Roman gladiators, observed that his patients lost their mental faculties when they had sustained damage to their brains.Abulcasis, Averroes, Avicenna, Avenzoar, and Maimonides, active in the Medieval Muslim world, described a number of medical problems related to the brain. In Renaissance Europe, Vesalius (1514–1564), René Descartes (1596–1650), Thomas Willis (1621–1675) and Jan Swammerdam (1637–1680) also made several contributions to neuroscience. Luigi Galvani's pioneering work in the late 1700s set the stage for studying the electrical excitability of muscles and neurons. In the first half of the 19th century, Jean Pierre Flourens pioneered the experimental method of carrying out localized lesions of the brain in living animals describing their effects on motricity, sensibility and behavior. In 1843 Emil du Bois-Reymond demonstrated the electrical nature of the nerve signal, whose speed Hermann von Helmholtz proceeded to measure, and in 1875 Richard Caton found electrical phenomena in the cerebral hemispheres of rabbits and monkeys. Adolf Beck published in 1890 similar observations of spontaneous electrical activity of the brain of rabbits and dogs. Studies of the brain became more sophisticated after the invention of the microscope and the development of a staining procedure by Camillo Golgi during the late 1890s. The procedure used a silver chromate salt to reveal the intricate structures of individual neurons. His technique was used by Santiago Ramón y Cajal and led to the formation of the neuron doctrine, the hypothesis that the functional unit of the brain is the neuron. Golgi and Ramón y Cajal shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906 for their extensive observations, descriptions, and categorizations of neurons throughout the brain. In parallel with this research, work with brain-damaged patients by Paul Broca suggested that certain regions of the brain were responsible for certain functions. At the time, Broca's findings were seen as a confirmation of Franz Joseph Gall's theory that language was localized and that certain psychological functions were localized in specific areas of the cerebral cortex. The localization of function hypothesis was supported by observations of epileptic patients conducted by John Hughlings Jackson, who correctly inferred the organization of the motor cortex by watching the progression of seizures through the body. Carl Wernicke further developed the theory of the specialization of specific brain structures in language comprehension and production. Modern research through neuroimaging techniques, still uses the Brodmann cerebral cytoarchitectonic map (referring to study of cell structure) anatomical definitions from this era in continuing to show that distinct areas of the cortex are activated in the execution of specific tasks.During the 20th century, neuroscience began to be recognized as a distinct academic discipline in its own right, rather than as studies of the nervous system within other disciplines. Eric Kandel and collaborators have cited David Rioch, Francis O. Schmitt, and Stephen Kuffler as having played critical roles in establishing the field. Rioch originated the integration of basic anatomical and physiological research with clinical psychiatry at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, starting in the 1950s. During the same period, Schmitt established a neuroscience research program within the Biology Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, bringing together biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The first freestanding neuroscience department (then called Psychobiology) was founded in 1964 at the University of California, Irvine by James L. McGaugh. This was followed by the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, which was founded in 1966 by Stephen Kuffler.The understanding of neurons and of nervous system function became increasingly precise and molecular during the 20th century. For example, in 1952, Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley presented a mathematical model for transmission of electrical signals in neurons of the giant axon of a squid, which they called "action potentials", and how they are initiated and propagated, known as the Hodgkin–Huxley model. In 1961–1962, Richard FitzHugh and J. Nagumo simplified Hodgkin–Huxley, in what is called the FitzHugh–Nagumo model. In 1962, Bernard Katz modeled neurotransmission across the space between neurons known as synapses. Beginning in 1966, Eric Kandel and collaborators examined biochemical changes in neurons associated with learning and memory storage in Aplysia. In 1981 Catherine Morris and Harold Lecar combined these models in the Morris–Lecar model. Such increasingly quantitative work gave rise to numerous biological neuron models and models of neural computation. As a result of the increasing interest about the nervous system, several prominent neuroscience organizations have been formed to provide a forum to all neuroscientists during the 20th century. For example, the International Brain Research Organization was founded in 1961, the International Society for Neurochemistry in 1963, the European Brain and Behaviour Society in 1968, and the Society for Neuroscience in 1969. Recently, the application of neuroscience research results has also given rise to applied disciplines as neuroeconomics, neuroeducation, neuroethics, and neurolaw.Over time, brain research has gone through philosophical, experimental, and theoretical phases, with work on neural implants and brain simulation predicted to be important in the future. Modern neuroscience The scientific study of the nervous system increased significantly during the second half of the twentieth century, principally due to advances in molecular biology, electrophysiology, and computational neuroscience. This has allowed neuroscientists to study the nervous system in all its aspects: how it is structured, how it works, how it develops, how it malfunctions, and how it can be changed. For example, it has become possible to understand, in much detail, the complex processes occurring within a single neuron. Neurons are cells specialized for communication. They are able to communicate with neurons and other cell types through specialized junctions called synapses, at which electrical or electrochemical signals can be transmitted from one cell to another. Many neurons extrude a long thin filament of axoplasm called an axon, which may extend to distant parts of the body and are capable of rapidly carrying electrical signals, influencing the activity of other neurons, muscles, or glands at their termination points. A nervous system emerges from the assemblage of neurons that are connected to each other. The vertebrate nervous system can be split into two parts: the central nervous system (defined as the brain and spinal cord), and the peripheral nervous system. In many species — including all vertebrates — the nervous system is the most complex organ system in the body, with most of the complexity residing in the brain. The human brain alone contains around one hundred billion neurons and one hundred trillion synapses; it consists of thousands of distinguishable substructures, connected to each other in synaptic networks whose intricacies have only begun to be unraveled. At least one out of three of the approximately 20,000 genes belonging to the human genome is expressed mainly in the brain.Due to the high degree of plasticity of the human brain, the structure of its synapses and their resulting functions change throughout life.Making sense of the nervous system's dynamic complexity is a formidable research challenge. Ultimately, neuroscientists would like to understand every aspect of the nervous system, including how it works, how it develops, how it malfunctions, and how it can be altered or repaired. Analysis of the nervous system is therefore performed at multiple levels, ranging from the molecular and cellular levels to the systems and cognitive levels. The specific topics that form the main focus of research change over time, driven by an ever-expanding base of knowledge and the availability of increasingly sophisticated technical methods. Improvements in technology have been the primary drivers of progress. Developments in electron microscopy, computer science, electronics, functional neuroimaging, and genetics and genomics have all been major drivers of progress. Perhaps one of the main unsolved problems in modern neuroscience is the so-called "cell types" problem which refers to the categorization, definition, and identification of all neuronal/astrocytic cell types in an organism. Usually, this refers to the mouse brain since an understanding of the mouse brain is seen as a stepping stone to understand the human. Modern advances in the classification of neuronal cells have been enabled by electrophysiological recording, single-cell genetic sequencing, and high-quality microscopy, which have been recently combined into a single method pipeline called Patch-seq in which all 3 methods are simultaneously applied using miniature tools. The efficiency of this method and the large amounts of data that is generated allowed researchers to make some general conclusions about cell types; for example that the human and mouse brain have different versions of fundamentally the same cell types. Molecular and cellular neuroscience Basic questions addressed in molecular neuroscience include the mechanisms by which neurons express and respond to molecular signals and how axons form complex connectivity patterns. At this level, tools from molecular biology and genetics are used to understand how neurons develop and how genetic changes affect biological functions. The morphology, molecular identity, and physiological characteristics of neurons and how they relate to different types of behavior are also of considerable interest. Questions addressed in cellular neuroscience include the mechanisms of how neurons process signals physiologically and electrochemically. These questions include how signals are processed by neurites and somas and how neurotransmitters and electrical signals are used to process information in a neuron. Neurites are thin extensions from a neuronal cell body, consisting of dendrites (specialized to receive synaptic inputs from other neurons) and axons (specialized to conduct nerve impulses called action potentials). Somas are the cell bodies of the neurons and contain the nucleus. Another major area of cellular neuroscience is the investigation of the development of the nervous system. Questions include the patterning and regionalization of the nervous system, axonal and dendritic development, trophic interactions, synapse formation and the implication of fractones in neural stem cells, differentiation of neurons and glia (neurogenesis and gliogenesis), and neuronal migration.Computational neurogenetic modeling is concerned with the development of dynamic neuronal models for modeling brain functions with respect to genes and dynamic interactions between genes. Neural circuits and systems Questions in systems neuroscience include how neural circuits are formed and used anatomically and physiologically to produce functions such as reflexes, multisensory integration, motor coordination, circadian rhythms, emotional responses, learning, and memory. In other words, they address how these neural circuits function in large-scale brain networks, and the mechanisms through which behaviors are generated. For example, systems level analysis addresses questions concerning specific sensory and motor modalities: how does vision work? How do songbirds learn new songs and bats localize with ultrasound? How does the somatosensory system process tactile information? The related fields of neuroethology and neuropsychology address the question of how neural substrates underlie specific animal and human behaviors. Neuroendocrinology and psychoneuroimmunology examine interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine and immune systems, respectively. Despite many advancements, the way that networks of neurons perform complex cognitive processes and behaviors is still poorly understood. Cognitive and behavioral neuroscience Cognitive neuroscience addresses the questions of how psychological functions are produced by neural circuitry. The emergence of powerful new measurement techniques such as neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI, PET, SPECT), EEG, MEG, electrophysiology, optogenetics and human genetic analysis combined with sophisticated experimental techniques from cognitive psychology allows neuroscientists and psychologists to address abstract questions such as how cognition and emotion are mapped to specific neural substrates. Although many studies still hold a reductionist stance looking for the neurobiological basis of cognitive phenomena, recent research shows that there is an interesting interplay between neuroscientific findings and conceptual research, soliciting and integrating both perspectives. For example, neuroscience research on empathy solicited an interesting interdisciplinary debate involving philosophy, psychology and psychopathology. Moreover, the neuroscientific identification of multiple memory systems related to different brain areas has challenged the idea of memory as a literal reproduction of the past, supporting a view of memory as a generative, constructive and dynamic process.Neuroscience is also allied with the social and behavioral sciences, as well as with nascent interdisciplinary fields. Examples of such alliances include neuroeconomics, decision theory, social neuroscience, and neuromarketing to address complex questions about interactions of the brain with its environment. A study into consumer responses for example uses EEG to investigate neural correlates associated with narrative transportation into stories about energy efficiency. Computational neuroscience Questions in computational neuroscience can span a wide range of levels of traditional analysis, such as development, structure, and cognitive functions of the brain. Research in this field utilizes mathematical models, theoretical analysis, and computer simulation to describe and verify biologically plausible neurons and nervous systems. For example, biological neuron models are mathematical descriptions of spiking neurons which can be used to describe both the behavior of single neurons as well as the dynamics of neural networks. Computational neuroscience is often referred to as theoretical neuroscience. Nanoparticles in medicine are versatile in treating neurological disorders showing promising results in mediating drug transport across the blood brain barrier. Implementing nanoparticles in antiepileptic drugs enhances their medical efficacy by increasing bioavailability in the bloodstream, as well as offering a measure of control in release time concentration. Although nanoparticles can assist therapeutic drugs by adjusting physical properties to achieve desirable effects, inadvertent increases in toxicity often occur in preliminary drug trials. Furthermore, production of nanomedicine for drug trials is economically consuming, hindering progress in their implementation. Computational models in nanoneuroscience provide alternatives to study the efficacy of nanotechnology-based medicines in neurological disorders while mitigating potential side effects and development costs.Nanomaterials often operate at length scales between classical and quantum regimes. Due to the associated uncertainties at the length scales that nanomaterials operate, it is difficult to predict their behavior prior to in vivo studies. Classically, the physical processes which occur throughout neurons are analogous to electrical circuits. Designers focus on such analogies and model brain activity as a neural circuit. Success in computational modeling of neurons have led to the development of stereochemical models that accurately predict acetylcholine receptor-based synapses operating at microsecond time scales.Ultrafine nanoneedles for cellular manipulations are thinner than the smallest single walled carbon nanotubes. Computational quantum chemistry is used to design ultrafine nanomaterials with highly symmetrical structures to optimize geometry, reactivity and stability.Behavior of nanomaterials are dominated by long ranged non-bonding interactions. Electrochemical processes that occur throughout the brain generate an electric field which can inadvertently affect the behavior of some nanomaterials. Molecular dynamics simulations can mitigate the development phase of nanomaterials as well as prevent neural toxicity of nanomaterials following in vivo clinical trials. Testing nanomaterials using molecular dynamics optimizes nano characteristics for therapeutic purposes by testing different environment conditions, nanomaterial shape fabrications, nanomaterial surface properties, etc. without the need for in vivo experimentation. Flexibility in molecular dynamic simulations allows medical practitioners to personalize treatment. Nanoparticle related data from translational nanoinformatics links neurological patient specific data to predict treatment response. Neuroscience and medicine Clinical neuroscience Neurology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, psychosurgery, anesthesiology and pain medicine, neuropathology, neuroradiology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, clinical neurophysiology, addiction medicine, and sleep medicine are some medical specialties that specifically address the diseases of the nervous system. These terms also refer to clinical disciplines involving diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Neurology works with diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and stroke, and their medical treatment. Psychiatry focuses on affective, behavioral, cognitive, and perceptual disorders. Anesthesiology focuses on perception of pain, and pharmacologic alteration of consciousness. Neuropathology focuses upon the classification and underlying pathogenic mechanisms of central and peripheral nervous system and muscle diseases, with an emphasis on morphologic, microscopic, and chemically observable alterations. Neurosurgery and psychosurgery work primarily with surgical treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Translational research Recently, the boundaries between various specialties have blurred, as they are all influenced by basic research in neuroscience. For example, brain imaging enables objective biological insight into mental illnesses, which can lead to faster diagnosis, more accurate prognosis, and improved monitoring of patient progress over time.Integrative neuroscience describes the effort to combine models and information from multiple levels of research to develop a coherent model of the nervous system. For example, brain imaging coupled with physiological numerical models and theories of fundamental mechanisms may shed light on psychiatric disorders.Another important area of translational research is brain–computer interfaces, or machines that are able to communicate and influence the brain. Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are currently being researched for their potential to repair neural systems and restore certain cognitive functions. However, some ethical considerations have to be dealt with before they are accepted. Major branches Modern neuroscience education and research activities can be very roughly categorized into the following major branches, based on the subject and scale of the system in examination as well as distinct experimental or curricular approaches. Individual neuroscientists, however, often work on questions that span several distinct subfields. Neuroscience organizations The largest professional neuroscience organization is the Society for Neuroscience (SFN), which is based in the United States but includes many members from other countries. Since its founding in 1969 the SFN has grown steadily: as of 2010 it recorded 40,290 members from 83 countries. Annual meetings, held each year in a different American city, draw attendance from researchers, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduates, as well as educational institutions, funding agencies, publishers, and hundreds of businesses that supply products used in research. Other major organizations devoted to neuroscience include the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), which holds its meetings in a country from a different part of the world each year, and the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), which holds a meeting in a different European city every two years. FENS comprises a set of 32 national-level organizations, including the British Neuroscience Association, the German Neuroscience Society (Neurowissenschaftliche Gesellschaft), and the French Société des Neurosciences. The first National Honor Society in Neuroscience, Nu Rho Psi, was founded in 2006. Numerous youth neuroscience societies which support undergraduates, graduates and early career researchers also exist, such as Simply Neuroscience and Project Encephalon.In 2013, the BRAIN Initiative was announced in the US. The International Brain Initiative was created in 2017, currently integrated by more than seven national-level brain research initiatives (US, Europe, Allen Institute, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Korea, and Israel) spanning four continents. Public education and outreach In addition to conducting traditional research in laboratory settings, neuroscientists have also been involved in the promotion of awareness and knowledge about the nervous system among the general public and government officials. Such promotions have been done by both individual neuroscientists and large organizations. For example, individual neuroscientists have promoted neuroscience education among young students by organizing the International Brain Bee, which is an academic competition for high school or secondary school students worldwide. In the United States, large organizations such as the Society for Neuroscience have promoted neuroscience education by developing a primer called Brain Facts, collaborating with public school teachers to develop Neuroscience Core Concepts for K-12 teachers and students, and cosponsoring a campaign with the Dana Foundation called Brain Awareness Week to increase public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. In Canada, the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee is held annually at McMaster University.Neuroscience educators formed Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) in 1992 to share best practices and provide travel awards for undergraduates presenting at Society for Neuroscience meetings.Neuroscientists have also collaborated with other education experts to study and refine educational techniques to optimize learning among students, an emerging field called educational neuroscience. Federal agencies in the United States, such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), have also funded research that pertains to best practices in teaching and learning of neuroscience concepts. Engineering applications of neuroscience Neuromorphic computer chips Neuromorphic engineering is a branch of neuroscience that deals with creating functional physical models of neurons for the purposes of useful computation. The emergent computational properties of neuromorphic computers are fundamentally different from conventional computers in the sense that they are a complex system, and that the computational components are interrelated with no central processor.One example of such a computer is the SpiNNaker supercomputer.Sensors can also be made smart with neuromorphic technology. An example of this is the Event Camera's BrainScaleS (brain-inspired Multiscale Computation in Neuromorphic Hybrid Systems), a hybrid analog neuromorphic supercomputer located at Heidelberg University in Germany. It was developed as part of the Human Brain Project's neuromorphic computing platform and is the complement to the SpiNNaker supercomputer, which is based on digital technology. The architecture used in BrainScaleS mimics biological neurons and their connections on a physical level; additionally, since the components are made of silicon, these model neurons operate on average 864 times (24 hours of real time is 100 seconds in the machine simulation) that of their biological counterparts.Recent advances in neuromorphic microchip technology have led a group of scientists to create an artificial neuron that can replace real neurons in diseases. Nobel prizes related to neuroscience See also References Further reading External links Neuroscience on In Our Time at the BBC Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) Neurobiology at Curlie American Society for Neurochemistry British Neuroscience Association (BNA) Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Neuroscience Online (electronic neuroscience textbook) HHMI Neuroscience lecture series - Making Your Mind: Molecules, Motion, and Memory Archived 2013-06-24 at the Wayback Machine Société des Neurosciences Neuroscience For KidsThis article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorizing them. The systems listed are not mutually exclusive, and often have overlapping definitions.According to Yale professor Juan José Linz there are three main types of political systems today: democracies, totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes. Another modern classification system includes monarchies as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three. Scholars generally refer to a dictatorship as either a form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism.The ancient Greek philosopher Plato discusses in the Republic five types of regimes: aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. Basic form of governments Index of Forms of Government. Forms of government by regional control Forms of government by power source Types of democracy Types of oligarchy Oligarchies are societies controlled and organised by a small class of privileged people, with no intervention from the most part of society; this small elite is defined as sharing some common trait. De jure democratic governments with a de facto oligarchy are ruled by a small group of segregated, powerful or influential people who usually share similar interests or family relations. These people may spread power and elect candidates equally or not equally. An oligarchy is different from a true democracy because very few people are given the chance to change things. An oligarchy does not have to be hereditary or monarchic. An oligarchy does not have one clear ruler but several rulers. Some historical examples of oligarchy are the Roman Republic, in which only males of the nobility could run for office and only wealthy males could vote, and the Athenian democracy, which used sortition to elect candidates, almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding a minimum of land, wealth and status. Some critics of capitalism and/or representative democracy think of the United States and the United Kingdom as oligarchies. Note: These categories are not exclusive. Types of autocracy Autocracies are ruled by a single entity with absolute power, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regular mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for implicit threat). That entity may be an individual, as in a dictatorship or it may be a group, as in a one-party state. The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of despots" and is often used to describe autocracy. Historical examples of autocracy include the Roman Empire and Nazi Germany. Pejorative attributes Regardless of the form of government, the actual governance may be influenced by sectors with political power which are not part of the formal government. These are terms that highlight certain actions of the governors, such as corruption, demagoguery, or fear mongering that may disrupt the intended way of working of the government if they are widespread enough. Other attributes Forms of government by power ideology Types of monarchy Countries with monarchy attributes are those where a family or group of families (rarely another type of group), called the royalty, represents national identity, with power traditionally assigned to one of its individuals, called the monarch, who mostly rule kingdoms. The actual role of the monarch and other members of royalty varies from purely symbolical (crowned republic) to partial and restricted (constitutional monarchy) to completely despotic (absolute monarchy). Traditionally and in most cases, the post of the monarch is inherited, but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected. Types of republic Rule by a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Montesquieu included both democracies, where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies, where only some of the people rule, as republican forms of government.Note: These categories are not exclusive. Forms of government by socio-economic attributes By socio-economic attributes Many political systems can be described as socioeconomic ideologies. Experience with those movements in power and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves. Note: These categories are not exclusive. Types of government by geo-cultural attributes Governments can also be categorized based on their size and scope of influence: Forms of government by other attributes By significant constitutional attributes Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government. Civilian control of the military vs. stratocracy Majority rule or parliamentary sovereignty vs. constitution or bill of rights with separation of powers and supermajority rules to prevent tyranny of the majority and protect minority rights Rule according to higher law (unwritten ethical principles) vs. written constitutionalism Separation of church and state or free church vs. state religion Totalitarianism or authoritarianism vs. libertarianism By approach to regional autonomy This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty, and the autonomy of regions within the state. Sovereignty located exclusively at the centre of political jurisdiction Empire Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas Federal monarchy Hegemony Diverging degrees of sovereignty Alliance Asymmetrical federalism Chartered company Client state Associated state Dependent territory Protectorate Puppet state Satellite state Vassal state Colony Crown colony Commonwealth Corpus separatum Decentralisation and devolution (powers redistributed from central to regional or local governments) Federacy Mandate Military frontier Neutral zone Non-self-governing territories Occupied territory Provisional government Thalassocracy Unrecognized state Government in exile Micronation Separatist movement States with limited recognition Theoretical and speculative attributes These have no conclusive historical or current examples outside of speculation and scholarly debate. See also List of countries by system of government List of political ideologies List of political systems in France Project Cybersyn, a data fed group of secluded individuals in Chile in the 1970s that regulated aspects of public and private life using data feeds and technology having no interactivity with the citizens but using facts only to decide direction. List of territorial disputes Exclusive mandate References External links The Phrontistery Word List: Types of Government and Leadership Types of Governments from Historical Atlas of the 20th Century Other classifications examples from Historical Atlas of the 20th Century World Affairs: Types of Government CBBC Newsround: types of governmentSustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment.The idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our use of presently available resources does not end up having detrimental effects to our collective well-being or making it impossible to obtain resources for other applications in the long run. Background Shift from narrow to broader approach The term "sustainability" in relation to architecture has so far been mostly considered through the lens of building technology and its transformations. Going beyond the technical sphere of "green design", invention and expertise, some scholars are starting to position architecture within a much broader cultural framework of the human interrelationship with nature. Adopting this framework allows tracing a rich history of cultural debates about our relationship to nature and the environment, from the point of view of different historical and geographical contexts. Changing pedagogues Critics of the reductionism of modernism often noted the abandonment of the teaching of architectural history as a causal factor. The fact that a number of the major players in the shift away from modernism were trained at Princeton University's School of Architecture, where recourse to history continued to be a part of design training in the 1940s and 1950s, was significant. The increasing rise of interest in history had a profound impact on architectural education. History courses became more typical and regularized. With the demand for professors knowledgeable in the history of architecture, several PhD programs in schools of architecture arose in order to differentiate themselves from art history PhD programs, where architectural historians had previously trained. In the US, MIT and Cornell were the first, created in the mid-1970s, followed by Columbia, Berkeley, and Princeton. Among the founders of new architectural history programs were Bruno Zevi at the Institute for the History of Architecture in Venice, Stanford Anderson and Henry Millon at MIT, Alexander Tzonis at the Architectural Association, Anthony Vidler at Princeton, Manfredo Tafuri at the University of Venice, Kenneth Frampton at Columbia University, and Werner Oechslin and Kurt Forster at ETH Zürich. Sustainable energy use Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building is the most important goal of sustainable architecture. Architects use many different passive and active techniques to reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy. To minimize cost and complexity, sustainable architecture prioritizes passive systems to take advantage of building location with incorporated architectural elements, supplementing with renewable energy sources and then fossil fuel resources only as needed. Site analysis can be employed to optimize use of exploit local environmental resources such as daylight and ambient wind for heating and ventilation. Energy use very often depends on whether the building gets its energy on-grid, or off-grid. Off-grid buildings do not use energy provided by utility services and instead have their own independent energy production. They use on-site electricity storage while on-grid sites feed in excessive electricity back to the grid. Heating, ventilation and cooling system efficiency Numerous passive architectural strategies have been developed over time. Examples of such strategies include the arrangement of rooms or the sizing and orientation of windows in a building, and the orientation of facades and streets or the ratio between building heights and street widths for urban planning.An important and cost-effective element of an efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a well-insulated building. A more efficient building requires less heat generating or dissipating power, but may require more ventilation capacity to expel polluted indoor air. Significant amounts of energy are flushed out of buildings in the water, air and compost streams. Off the shelf, on-site energy recycling technologies can effectively recapture energy from waste hot water and stale air and transfer that energy into incoming fresh cold water or fresh air. Recapture of energy for uses other than gardening from compost leaving buildings requires centralized anaerobic digesters. HVAC systems are powered by motors. Copper, versus other metal conductors, helps to improve the electrical energy efficiencies of motors, thereby enhancing the sustainability of electrical building components. Site and building orientation have some major effects on a building's HVAC efficiency. Passive solar building design allows buildings to harness the energy of the sun efficiently without the use of any active solar mechanisms such as photovoltaic cells or solar hot water panels. Typically passive solar building designs incorporate materials with high thermal mass that retain heat effectively and strong insulation that works to prevent heat escape. Low energy designs also requires the use of solar shading, by means of awnings, blinds or shutters, to relieve the solar heat gain in summer and to reduce the need for artificial cooling. In addition, low energy buildings typically have a very low surface area to volume ratio to minimize heat loss. This means that sprawling multi-winged building designs (often thought to look more "organic") are often avoided in favor of more centralized structures. Traditional cold climate buildings such as American colonial saltbox designs provide a good historical model for centralized heat efficiency in a small-scale building. Windows are placed to maximize the input of heat-creating light while minimizing the loss of heat through glass, a poor insulator. In the northern hemisphere this usually involves installing a large number of south-facing windows to collect direct sun and severely restricting the number of north-facing windows. Certain window types, such as double or triple glazed insulated windows with gas filled spaces and low emissivity (low-E) coatings, provide much better insulation than single-pane glass windows. Preventing excess solar gain by means of solar shading devices in the summer months is important to reduce cooling needs. Deciduous trees are often planted in front of windows to block excessive sun in summer with their leaves but allow light through in winter when their leaves fall off. Louvers or light shelves are installed to allow the sunlight in during the winter (when the sun is lower in the sky) and keep it out in the summer (when the sun is high in the sky). Coniferous or evergreen plants are often planted to the north of buildings to shield against cold north winds. In colder climates, heating systems are a primary focus for sustainable architecture because they are typically one of the largest single energy drains in buildings. In warmer climates where cooling is a primary concern, passive solar designs can also be very effective. Masonry building materials with high thermal mass are very valuable for retaining the cool temperatures of night throughout the day. In addition builders often opt for sprawling single story structures in order to maximize surface area and heat loss. Buildings are often designed to capture and channel existing winds, particularly the especially cool winds coming from nearby bodies of water. Many of these valuable strategies are employed in some way by the traditional architecture of warm regions, such as south-western mission buildings. In climates with four seasons, an integrated energy system will increase in efficiency: when the building is well insulated, when it is sited to work with the forces of nature, when heat is recaptured (to be used immediately or stored), when the heat plant relying on fossil fuels or electricity is greater than 100% efficient, and when renewable energy is used. Renewable energy generation Solar panels Active solar devices such as photovoltaic solar panels help to provide sustainable electricity for any use. Electrical output of a solar panel is dependent on orientation, efficiency, latitude, and climate—solar gain varies even at the same latitude. Typical efficiencies for commercially available PV panels range from 4% to 28%. The low efficiency of certain photovoltaic panels can significantly affect the payback period of their installation. This low efficiency does not mean that solar panels are not a viable energy alternative. In Germany for example, Solar Panels are commonly installed in residential home construction. Roofs are often angled toward the sun to allow photovoltaic panels to collect at maximum efficiency. In the northern hemisphere, a true-south facing orientation maximizes yield for solar panels. If true-south is not possible, solar panels can produce adequate energy if aligned within 30° of south. However, at higher latitudes, winter energy yield will be significantly reduced for non-south orientation. To maximize efficiency in winter, the collector can be angled above horizontal Latitude +15°. To maximize efficiency in summer, the angle should be Latitude -15°. However, for an annual maximum production, the angle of the panel above horizontal should be equal to its latitude. Wind turbines The use of undersized wind turbines in energy production in sustainable structures requires the consideration of many factors. In considering costs, small wind systems are generally more expensive than larger wind turbines relative to the amount of energy they produce. For small wind turbines, maintenance costs can be a deciding factor at sites with marginal wind-harnessing capabilities. At low-wind sites, maintenance can consume much of a small wind turbine's revenue. Wind turbines begin operating when winds reach 8 mph, achieve energy production capacity at speeds of 32-37 mph, and shut off to avoid damage at speeds exceeding 55 mph. The energy potential of a wind turbine is proportional to the square of the length of its blades and to the cube of the speed at which its blades spin. Though wind turbines are available that can supplement power for a single building, because of these factors, the efficiency of the wind turbine depends much upon the wind conditions at the building site. For these reasons, for wind turbines to be at all efficient, they must be installed at locations that are known to receive a constant amount of wind (with average wind speeds of more than 15 mph), rather than locations that receive wind sporadically. A small wind turbine can be installed on a roof. Installation issues then include the strength of the roof, vibration, and the turbulence caused by the roof ledge. Small-scale rooftop wind turbines have been known to be able to generate power from 10% to up to 25% of the electricity required of a regular domestic household dwelling. Turbines for residential scale use are usually between 7 feet (2 m) to 25 feet (8 m) in diameter and produce electricity at a rate of 900 watts to 10,000 watts at their tested wind speed.The reliability of wind turbine systems is important to the success of a wind energy project. Unanticipated breakdowns can have a significant impact on a project's profitability due to the logistical and practical difficulties of replacing critical components in a wind turbine. Uncertainty with the long-term component reliability has a direct impact on the amount of confidence associated with cost of energy (COE) estimates. Solar water heating Solar water heaters, also called solar domestic hot water systems, can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for a home. They can be used in any climate, and the fuel they use—sunshine—is free.There are two types of solar water systems: active and passive. An active solar collector system can produce about 80 to 100 gallons of hot water per day. A passive system will have a lower capacity.There are also two types of circulation, direct circulation systems and indirect circulation systems. Direct circulation systems loop the domestic water through the panels. They should not be used in climates with temperatures below freezing. Indirect circulation loops glycol or some other fluid through the solar panels and uses a heat exchanger to heat up the domestic water. The two most common types of collector panels are flat-plate and evacuated-tube. The two work similarly except that evacuated tubes do not convectively lose heat, which greatly improves their efficiency (5%–25% more efficient). With these higher efficiencies, Evacuated-tube solar collectors can also produce higher-temperature space heating, and even higher temperatures for absorption cooling systems.Electric-resistance water heaters that are common in homes today have an electrical demand around 4500 kW·h/year. With the use of solar collectors, the energy use is cut in half. The up-front cost of installing solar collectors is high, but with the annual energy savings, payback periods are relatively short. Heat pumps Air source heat pumps (ASHP) can be thought of as reversible air conditioners. Like an air conditioner, an ASHP can take heat from a relatively cool space (e.g. a house at 70 °F) and dump it into a hot place (e.g. outside at 85 °F). However, unlike an air conditioner, the condenser and evaporator of an ASHP can switch roles and absorb heat from the cool outside air and dump it into a warm house. Air-source heat pumps are inexpensive relative to other heat pump systems. As the efficiency of air-source heat pumps decline when the outdoor temperature is very cold or very hot; therefore, they are most efficiently used in temperate climates. However, contrary to earlier expectations, they have proven to be also well suited for regions with cold outdoor temperatures, such as Scandinavia or Alaska. In Norway, Finland and Sweden, the use of heat pumps has grown strongly over the last two decades: in 2019, there were 15–25 heat pumps per 100 inhabitants in these countries, with ASHP the dominant heat pump technology. Similarly, earlier assumptions that ASHP would only work well in fully insulated buildings have proven wrong—even old, partially insulated buildings can be retrofitted with ASHPs and thereby strongly reduce their energy demand.Effects of EAHPs (exhaust air heat pumps) have also been studied within the aforementioned regions displaying promising results. An exhaust air heat pump uses electricity to extract heat from exhaust air leaving a building, redirecting it towards DHW (domestic hot water), space heating, and warming supply air. In colder countries, an EAHP may be able to recover around 2 - 3 times more energy than an air-to-air exchange system. A 2022 study surrounding projected emission decreases within Sweden’s Kymenlaakso region explored the aspect of retrofitting existing apartment buildings (of varying ages) with EAHP systems. Select buildings were chosen in the cities of Kotka and Kouvola, their projected carbon emissions decreasing by about 590 tCO2 and 944 tCO2 respectively with a 7 - 13 year payoff period. It is, however, important to note that EAHP systems may not produce favourable results if installed in a building exhibiting incompatible exhaust output rates or electricity consumption. In this case, EAHP systems may increase energy bills without providing reasonable cuts to carbon emissions (see EAHP). Ground-source (or geothermal) heat pumps provide an efficient alternative. The difference between the two heat pumps is that the ground-source has one of its heat exchangers placed underground—usually in a horizontal or vertical arrangement. Ground-source takes advantage of the relatively constant, mild temperatures underground, which means their efficiencies can be much greater than that of an air-source heat pump. The in-ground heat exchanger generally needs a considerable amount of area. Designers have placed them in an open area next to the building or underneath a parking lot. Energy Star ground-source heat pumps can be 40% to 60% more efficient than their air-source counterparts. They are also quieter and can also be applied to other functions like domestic hot water heating.In terms of initial cost, the ground-source heat pump system costs about twice as much as a standard air-source heat pump to be installed. However, the up-front costs can be more than offset by the decrease in energy costs. The reduction in energy costs is especially apparent in areas with typically hot summers and cold winters.Other types of heat pumps are water-source and air-earth. If the building is located near a body of water, the pond or lake could be used as a heat source or sink. Air-earth heat pumps circulate the building's air through underground ducts. With higher fan power requirements and inefficient heat transfer, Air-earth heat pumps are generally not practical for major construction. Passive daytime radiative cooling Passive daytime radiative cooling harvests the extreme coldness of outer space as a renewable energy source to achieve daytime cooling. Being high in solar reflectance to reduce solar heat gain and strong in longwave infrared (LWIR) thermal radiation heat transfer, daytime radiative cooling surfaces can achieve sub-ambient cooling for indoor and outdoor spaces when applied to roofs, which can significantly lower energy demand and costs devoted to cooling. These cooling surfaces can be applied as sky-facing panels, similar to other renewable energy sources like solar energy panels, making them for simple integration into architectural design.A passive daytime radiative cooling roof application can double the energy savings of a white roof, and when applied as a multilayer surface to 10% of a building's roof, it can replace 35% of air conditioning used during the hottest hours of daytime. Daytime radiative cooling applications for indoor space cooling is growing with an estimated "market size of ∼$27 billion in 2025." Sustainable building materials Some examples of sustainable building materials include recycled denim or blown-in fiber glass insulation, sustainably harvested wood, Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, hempcrete, roman concrete, panels made from paper flakes, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, seagrass, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fiber plates, calcium sandstone, locally obtained stone and rock, and bamboo, which is one of the strongest and fastest growing woody plants, and non-toxic low-VOC glues and paints. Bamboo flooring can be useful in ecological spaces since they help reduce pollution particles in the air. Vegetative cover or shield over building envelopes also helps in the same. Paper which is fabricated or manufactured out of forest wood is supposedly hundred percent recyclable, thus it regenerates and saves almost all the forest wood that it takes during its manufacturing process. There is an underutilized potential for systematically storing carbon in the built environment. Recycled materials Sustainable architecture often incorporates the use of recycled or second hand materials, such as reclaimed lumber and recycled copper. The reduction in use of new materials creates a corresponding reduction in embodied energy (energy used in the production of materials). Often sustainable architects attempt to retrofit old structures to serve new needs in order to avoid unnecessary development. Architectural salvage and reclaimed materials are used when appropriate. When older buildings are demolished, frequently any good wood is reclaimed, renewed, and sold as flooring. Any good dimension stone is similarly reclaimed. Many other parts are reused as well, such as doors, windows, mantels, and hardware, thus reducing the consumption of new goods. When new materials are employed, green designers look for materials that are rapidly replenished, such as bamboo, which can be harvested for commercial use after only six years of growth, sorghum or wheat straw, both of which are waste material that can be pressed into panels, or cork oak, in which only the outer bark is removed for use, thus preserving the tree. When possible, building materials may be gleaned from the site itself; for example, if a new structure is being constructed in a wooded area, wood from the trees which were cut to make room for the building would be re-used as part of the building itself. For insulation in building envelopes, more experimental materials such as “waste sheep’s wool” alongside other waste fibers originating from textile and agri-industrial operations are being researched for use as well, with recent studies suggesting the recycled insulation effective for architectural purposes. Lower volatile organic compounds Low-impact building materials are used wherever feasible: for example, insulation may be made from low VOC (volatile organic compound)-emitting materials such as recycled denim or cellulose insulation, rather than the building insulation materials that may contain carcinogenic or toxic materials such as formaldehyde. To discourage insect damage, these alternate insulation materials may be treated with boric acid. Organic or milk-based paints may be used. However, a common fallacy is that "green" materials are always better for the health of occupants or the environment. Many harmful substances (including formaldehyde, arsenic, and asbestos) are naturally occurring and are not without their histories of use with the best of intentions. A study of emissions from materials by the State of California has shown that there are some green materials that have substantial emissions whereas some more "traditional" materials actually were lower emitters. Thus, the subject of emissions must be carefully investigated before concluding that natural materials are always the healthiest alternatives for occupants and for the Earth.Volatile organic compounds (VOC) can be found in any indoor environment coming from a variety of different sources. VOCs have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility, and are suspected of causing sick building syndrome type symptoms. This is because many VOCs have been known to cause sensory irritation and central nervous system symptoms characteristic to sick building syndrome, indoor concentrations of VOCs are higher than in the outdoor atmosphere, and when there are many VOCs present, they can cause additive and multiplicative effects. Green products are usually considered to contain fewer VOCs and be better for human and environmental health. A case study conducted by the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Miami that compared three green products and their non-green counterparts found that even though both the green products and the non-green counterparts both emitted levels of VOCs, the amount and intensity of the VOCs emitted from the green products were much safer and comfortable for human exposure. Lab-grown organic materials Commonly used building materials such as wood require deforestation that is, without proper care, unsustainable. As of October 2022, researchers at MIT have made developments on lab-grown Zinnia elegans cells growing into specific characteristics under conditions within their control. These characteristics include the “shape, thickness, [and] stiffness,” as well as mechanical properties that can mimic wood. David N. Bengston from the USDA suggests that this alternative would be more efficient than traditional wood harvesting, with future developments potentially saving on transportation energy and conserve forests. However, Bengston notes that this breakthrough would change paradigms and raises new economic and environmental questions, such as timber-dependent communities′ jobs or how conservation would impact wildfires. Materials sustainability standards Despite the importance of materials to overall building sustainability, quantifying and evaluating the sustainability of building materials has proven difficult. There is little coherence in the measurement and assessment of materials sustainability attributes, resulting in a landscape today that is littered with hundreds of competing, inconsistent and often imprecise eco-labels, standards and certifications. This discord has led both to confusion among consumers and commercial purchasers and to the incorporation of inconsistent sustainability criteria in larger building certification programs such as LEED. Various proposals have been made regarding rationalization of the standardization landscape for sustainable building materials. Sustainable design and plan Building Building information modelling Building information modelling (BIM) is used to help enable sustainable design by allowing architects and engineers to integrate and analyze building performance.[5]. BIM services, including conceptual and topographic modelling, offer a new channel to green building with successive and immediate availability of internally coherent, and trustworthy project information. BIM enables designers to quantify the environmental impacts of systems and materials to support the decisions needed to design sustainable buildings. Consulting A sustainable building consultant may be engaged early in the design process, to forecast the sustainability implications of building materials, orientation, glazing and other physical factors, so as to identify a sustainable approach that meets the specific requirements of a project. Norms and standards have been formalized by performance-based rating systems e.g. LEED and Energy Star for homes. They define benchmarks to be met and provide metrics and testing to meet those benchmarks. It is up to the parties involved in the project to determine the best approach to meet those standards. As sustainable building consulting is often associated with cost premium, organisations such as Architects Assist aim for equity of access to sustainable and resident design. Building placement One central and often ignored aspect of sustainable architecture is building placement. Although the ideal environmental home or office structure is often envisioned as an isolated place, this kind of placement is usually detrimental to the environment. First, such structures often serve as the unknowing frontlines of suburban sprawl. Second, they usually increase the energy consumption required for transportation and lead to unnecessary auto emissions. Ideally, most building should avoid suburban sprawl in favor of the kind of light urban development articulated by the New Urbanist movement. Careful mixed use zoning can make commercial, residential, and light industrial areas more accessible for those traveling by foot, bicycle, or public transit, as proposed in the Principles of Intelligent Urbanism. The study of permaculture, in its holistic application, can also greatly help in proper building placement that minimizes energy consumption and works with the surroundings rather than against them, especially in rural and forested zones. Water Usage Sustainable buildings look for ways to conserve water. One strategic water saving design green buildings incorporate are green roofs. Green roofs have rooftop vegetation which captures storm drainage water. This function not only collects the water for further uses but also serves as a good insulator that can aid in the urban heat island effect. Another strategic water efficient design is treating wastewater so it can be reused again. Urban design Sustainable urbanism takes actions beyond sustainable architecture, and makes a broader view for sustainability. Typical solutions includes eco-industrial park (EIP), urban agriculture, etc. International program that are being supported includes Sustainable Urban Development Network, supported by UN-HABITAT, and Eco2 Cities, supported by the World Bank. Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism, New Classical architecture and complementary architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction, that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition and classical design. This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl. Both trends started in the 1980s. The Driehaus Architecture Prize is an award that recognizes efforts in New Urbanism and New Classical architecture, and is endowed with a prize money twice as high as that of the modernist Pritzker Prize. Waste management Waste takes the form of spent or useless materials generated from households and businesses, construction and demolition processes, and manufacturing and agricultural industries. These materials are loosely categorized as municipal solid waste, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, and industrial or agricultural by-products. Sustainable architecture focuses on the on-site use of waste management, incorporating things such as grey water systems for use on garden beds, and composting toilets to reduce sewage. These methods, when combined with on-site food waste composting and off-site recycling, can reduce a house's waste to a small amount of packaging waste. See also References == External links ==Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also applies to non-Western art music. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated notational system, as well as accompanying literature in analytical, critical, historiographical, musicological and philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western Culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or groups of composers, whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history. Rooted in the patronage of churches and royal courts in Western Europe, surviving early medieval music is chiefly religious, monophonic and vocal, with the music of ancient Greece and Rome influencing its thought and theory. The earliest extant music manuscripts date from the Carolingian Empire (800–888), around the time which Western plainchant gradually unified into what is termed Gregorian chant. Musical centers existed at the Abbey of Saint Gall, the Abbey of Saint Martial and Saint Emmeram's Abbey, while the 11th century saw the development of staff notation and increasing output from medieval music theorists. By the mid-12th century France became the major European musical center: the religious Notre-Dame school first fully explored organized rhythms and polyphony, while secular music flourished with the troubadour and trouvère traditions led by poet-musician nobles. This culminated in the court sponsored French ars nova and Italian Trecento, which evolved into ars subtilior, a stylistic movement of extreme rhythmic diversity. Beginning in the early 15th century, Renaissance composers of the influential Franco-Flemish School built off the harmonic principles in the English contenance angloise, bringing choral music to new standards, particularly the mass and motet. Northern Italy soon emerged as the central musical region, where the Roman School engaged in highly sophisticated methods of polyphony in genres such as the madrigal, which inspired the brief English Madrigal School. The Baroque period (1580–1750) saw the relative standardization of common-practice tonality, as well as the increasing importance of musical instruments, which grew into ensembles of considerable size. Italy remained dominant, being the birthplace of opera, the soloist centered concerto genre, the organized sonata form as well as the large scale vocal-centered genres of oratorio and cantata. The fugue technique championed by Johann Sebastian Bach exemplified the Baroque tendency for complexity, and as a reaction the simpler and song-like galant music and empfindsamkeit styles were developed. In the shorter but pivotal Classical period (1730–1820) composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven created widely admired representatives of absolute music, including symphonies, string quartets and concertos. The subsequent Romantic music (1800–1910) focused instead on programmatic music, for which the art song, symphonic poem and various piano genres were important vessels. During this time virtuosity was celebrated, immensity was encouraged, while philosophy and nationalism were embedded—all aspects that converged in the operas of Richard Wagner. By the 20th century, stylistic unification gradually dissipated while the prominence of popular music greatly increased. Many composers actively avoided past techniques and genres in the lens of modernism, with some abandoning tonality in place of serialism, while others found new inspiration in folk melodies or impressionist sentiments. After World War II, for the first time audience members valued older music over contemporary works, a preference which has been catered to by the emergence and widespread availability of commercial recordings. Trends of the mid-20th century to the present day include New Simplicity, New Complexity, Minimalism, Spectral music, and more recently Postmodern music and Postminimalism. Increasingly global, practitioners from the Americas, Africa and Asia have obtained crucial roles, while symphony orchestras and opera houses now appear across the world. Terminology and definition Ideological origins Both the English term "classical" and the German equivalent klassik developed from the French classique, itself derived from the Latin word classicus, which originally referred to the highest class of Ancient Roman citizens. In Roman usage, the term later became a means to distinguish revered literary figures; the Roman author Aulus Gellius commended writers such as Demosthenes and Virgil as classicus. By the Renaissance, the adjective had acquired a more general meaning: an entry in Randle Cotgrave's 1611 A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues is among the earliest extant definitions, translating classique as "classical, formall [sic], orderlie, in due or fit ranke; also, approved, authenticall, chiefe, principall". The musicologist Daniel Heartz summarizes this into two definitions: 1) a "formal discipline" and 2) a "model of excellence". Like Gellius, later Renaissance scholars who wrote in Latin used classicus in reference to writers of classical antiquity; however, this meaning only gradually developed, and was for a while subordinate to the broader classical ideals of formality and excellence. Literature and visual arts—for which substantial Ancient Greek and Roman examples existed—did eventually adopt the term "classical" as relating to classical antiquity, but virtually no music of that time was available to Renaissance musicians, limiting the connection between classical music and the Greco-Roman world.It was in 18th-century England that the term 'classical' "first came to stand for a particular canon of works in performance." London had developed a prominent public concert music scene, unprecedented and unmatched by other European cities. The royal court had gradually lost its monopoly on music, in large part from instability that the Commonwealth of England's dissolution and the Glorious Revolution enacted on court musicians. In 1672 the former court musician John Banister began giving popular public concerts at a London tavern; his popularity rapidly inaugurated the prominence of public concerts in the London. The conception of "classical"—or more often "ancient music"—emerged, which was still built on the principles of formality and excellence, and according to Heartz "civic ritual, religion and moral activism figured significantly in this novel construction of musical taste". The performance of such music was specialized by the Academy of Ancient Music and later at the Concerts of Antient Music series, where the work of select 16th and 17th composers was featured, especially George Frideric Handel. In France, the reign of Louis XIV (r. 1638–1715) saw a cultural renaissance, by the end of which writers such as Molière, Jean de La Fontaine and Jean Racine were considered to have surpassed the achievements of classical antiquity. They were thus characterized as "classical", as was the music of Jean-Baptiste Lully (and later Christoph Willibald Gluck), being designated as "l’opéra française classique". In the rest of continental Europe, the abandonment of defining "classical" as analogous to the Greco-Roman World was slower, primarily because the formation of canonical repertoires was either minimal or exclusive to the upper classes.Many European commentators of the early 19th century found new unification in their definition of classical music: to juxtapose the older composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and (excluding some of his later works) Ludwig van Beethoven as "classical" against the emerging style of Romantic music. These three composers in particular were grouped into the First Viennese School, sometimes called the "Viennese classics", a coupling that remains problematic by reason of none of the three being born in Vienna and the minimal time Haydn and Mozart spent in the city. While this was an often expressed characterization, it was not a strict one. In 1879 the composer Charles Kensington Salaman defined the following composers as classical: Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Spohr and Mendelssohn. More broadly, some writers used the term "classical" to generally praise well-regarded outputs from various composers, particularly those who produced many works in an established genre. Contemporary understanding The contemporary understanding of the term "classical music" remains vague and multifaceted. Other terms such as "art music", "canonic music", "cultivated music" and "serious music" are largely synonymous. The term "classical music" is often indicated or implied to concern solely the Western world, and conversely, in many academic histories the term "Western music" excludes non-classical Western music. Another complication lies in that "classical music" is sometimes used to describe non-Western art music exhibiting similar long-lasting and complex characteristics; examples include Indian classical music (Carnatic and Hindustani music), Gamelan music, and various styles of the court of Imperial China (see yayue for instance). Thus in the later 20th century terms such as "Western classical music" and "Western art music" came in use to address this. The musicologist Ralph P. Locke notes that neither term is ideal, as they create an "intriguing complication" when considering "certain practitioners of Western-art music genres who come from non-Western cultures".Complexity in musical form and harmonic organization are typical traits of classical music. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) offers three definitions for the word "classical" in relation to music: "of acknowledged excellence" "of, relating to, or characteristic of a formal musical tradition, as distinguished from popular or folk music" and more specifically, "of or relating to formal European music of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, characterized by harmony, balance, and adherence to established compositional forms".The last definition concerns what is now termed the Classical period, a specific stylistic era of European music from the second half of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. History Roots The Western classical tradition formally begins with music created by and for the early Christian Church. It is probable that the early Church wished to disassociate itself from the predominant music of ancient Greece and Rome, as it was a reminder of the pagan religion it had persecuted and been persecuted by. As such, it remains unclear as to what extent the music of the Christian Church, and thus Western classical music as a whole, was influenced by preceding ancient music. The general attitude towards music was adopted from the Ancient Greek and Roman music theorists and commentators. Just as in Greco-Roman society, music was considered central to education; along with arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, music was included in the quadrivium, the four subjects of the upper division of a standard liberal arts education in the Middle Ages. This high regard for music was first promoted by the scholars Cassiodorus, Isidore of Seville, and particularly Boethius, whose transmission and expansion on the perspectives of music from Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato were crucial in the development of medieval musical thought. However, scholars, medieval music theorists and composers regularly misinterpreted or misunderstood the writings of their Greek and Roman predecessors. This was due to the complete absence of surviving Greco-Roman musical works available to medieval musicians, to the extent that Isidore of Seville (c. 559 – 636) stated "unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they cannot be written down", unaware of the systematic notational practices of Ancient Greece centuries before. The musicologist Gustave Reese notes, however, that many Greco-Roman texts can still be credited as influential to Western classical music, since medieval musicians regularly read their works—regardless of whether they were doing so correctly.However, there are some indisputable musical continuations from the ancient world. Basic aspects such as monophony, improvisation and the dominance of text in musical settings are prominent in both early medieval and music of nearly all ancient civilizations. Greek influences in particular include the church modes (which were descendants of developments by Aristoxenus and Pythagoras), basic acoustical theory from pythagorean tuning, as well as the central function of tetrachords. Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos (a reed instrument) and the lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small harp) eventually led to several modern-day instruments of a symphonic orchestra. However, Donald Jay Grout notes that attempting to create a direct evolutionary connection from the ancient music to early medieval is baseless, as it was almost solely influenced by Greco-Roman music theory, not performance or practice. Early music Medieval Medieval music includes Western European music from after the fall of the Western Roman Empire by 476 to about 1400. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian chant, was the dominant form until about 1100. Christian monks developed the first forms of European musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the Church. Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, including the more complex voicings of motets. During the earlier medieval period, the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant, was monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line. Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the high medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th and early 14th century. Notable Medieval composers include Hildegard of Bingen, Léonin, Pérotin, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, Francesco Landini, and Johannes Ciconia. Many medieval musical instruments still exist, but in different forms. Medieval instruments included the flute, the recorder and plucked string instruments like the lute. As well, early versions of the organ and fiddle (or vielle) existed. Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut (loud, shrill, outdoor instruments) and bas (quieter, more intimate instruments). A number of instrument have roots in Eastern predecessors that were adopted from the medieval Islamic world. For example, the Arabic rebab is the ancestor of all European bowed string instruments, including the lira, rebec and violin. Renaissance The Renaissance era was from 1400 to 1600. It was characterized by greater use of instrumentation, multiple interweaving melodic lines, and the use of the first bass instruments. Social dancing became more widespread, so musical forms appropriate to accompanying dance began to standardize. It is in this time that the notation of music on a staff and other elements of musical notation began to take shape. This invention made possible the separation of the composition of a piece of music from its transmission; without written music, transmission was oral, and subject to change every time it was transmitted. With a musical score, a work of music could be performed without the composer's presence. The invention of the movable-type printing press in the 15th century had far-reaching consequences on the preservation and transmission of music. Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of, or improvements upon, instruments that had existed previously. Some have survived to the present day; others have disappeared, only to be re-created in order to perform music on period instruments. As in the modern day, instruments may be classified as brass, strings, percussion, and woodwind. Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals who were members of Guilds and they included the slide trumpet, the wooden cornet, the valveless trumpet and the sackbut. Stringed instruments included the viol, the rebec, the harp-like lyre, the hurdy-gurdy, the lute, the guitar, the cittern, the bandora, and the orpharion. Keyboard instruments with strings included the harpsichord and the clavichord. Percussion instruments include the triangle, the Jew's harp, the tambourine, the bells, the rumble-pot, and various kinds of drums. Woodwind instruments included the double-reed shawm (an early member of the oboe family), the reed pipe, the bagpipe, the transverse flute, the recorder, the dulcian, and the crumhorn. Simple pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to churches, although there were portable varieties. Printing enabled the standardization of descriptions and specifications of instruments, as well as instruction in their use.Vocal music in the Renaissance is noted for the flourishing of an increasingly elaborate polyphonic style. The principal liturgical forms which endured throughout the entire Renaissance period were masses and motets, with some other developments towards the end, especially as composers of sacred music began to adopt secular forms (such as the madrigal) for their own designs. Towards the end of the period, the early dramatic precursors of opera such as monody, the madrigal comedy, and the intermedio are seen. Around 1597, Italian composer Jacopo Peri wrote Dafne, the first work to be called an opera today. He also composed Euridice, the first opera to have survived to the present day. Notable Renaissance composers include Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John Dunstaple, Johannes Ockeghem, Orlande de Lassus, Guillaume Du Fay, Gilles Binchois, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Giovanni Gabrieli, Carlo Gesualdo, John Dowland, Jacob Obrecht, Adrian Willaert, Jacques Arcadelt, and Cipriano de Rore. Common-practice period The common practice period is typically defined as the era between the formation and the dissolution of common-practice tonality. The term usually spans roughly two-and-a-half centuries, encompassing the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. Baroque Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal counterpoint and the use of a basso continuo, a continuous bass line. Music became more complex in comparison with the simple songs of all previous periods. The beginnings of the sonata form took shape in the canzona, as did a more formalized notion of theme and variations. The tonalities of major and minor as means for managing dissonance and chromaticism in music took full shape.During the Baroque era, keyboard music played on the harpsichord and pipe organ became increasingly popular, and the violin family of stringed instruments took the form generally seen today. Opera as a staged musical drama began to differentiate itself from earlier musical and dramatic forms, and vocal forms like the cantata and oratorio became more common. Vocalists for the first time began adding extra notes to the music.The theories surrounding equal temperament began to be put in wider practice, especially as it enabled a wider range of chromatic possibilities in hard-to-tune keyboard instruments. Although J.S. Bach did not use equal temperament, as a modern piano is generally tuned, changes in the temperaments from the meantone system, common at the time, to various temperaments that made modulation between all keys musically acceptable, made possible his Well-Tempered Clavier.Baroque instruments included some instruments from the earlier periods (e.g., the hurdy-gurdy and recorder) and a number of new instruments (e.g., the oboe, bassoon, cello, contrabass and fortepiano). Some instruments from previous eras fell into disuse, such as the shawm, cittern, rackett, and the wooden cornet. The key Baroque instruments for strings included the violin, viol, viola, viola d'amore, cello, contrabass, lute, theorbo (which often played the basso continuo parts), mandolin, Baroque guitar, harp and hurdy-gurdy. Woodwinds included the Baroque flute, Baroque oboe, recorder and the bassoon. Brass instruments included the cornett, natural horn, natural trumpet, serpent and the trombone. Keyboard instruments included the clavichord, the tangent piano, the harpsichord, the pipe organ, and, later in the period, the fortepiano (an early version of the piano). Percussion instruments included the timpani, snare drum, tambourine and the castanets. One major difference between Baroque music and the classical era that followed it is that the types of instruments used in Baroque ensembles were much less standardized. A Baroque ensemble could include one of several different types of keyboard instruments (e.g., pipe organ or harpsichord), additional stringed chordal instruments (e.g., a lute), bowed strings, woodwinds, and brass instruments, and an unspecified number of bass instruments performing the basso continuo,(e.g., a cello, contrabass, viola, bassoon, serpent, etc.). Vocal developments in the Baroque era included the development of opera types such as opera seria and opéra comique, and related forms such as oratorios and cantatas.Important composers of this era include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Johann Pachelbel, Henry Purcell, Claudio Monteverdi, Barbara Strozzi, Domenico Scarlatti, Georg Philipp Telemann, Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Heinrich Schütz. Classical Though the term "classical music" includes all Western art music from the Medieval era to the 2000s, the Classical Era was the period of Western art music from the 1750s to the early 1820s—the era of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Classical era established many of the norms of composition, presentation, and style, and was also when the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument. The basic forces required for an orchestra became somewhat standardized (although they would grow as the potential of a wider array of instruments was developed in the following centuries). Chamber music grew to include ensembles with as many as 8 to 10 performers for serenades. Opera continued to develop, with regional styles in Italy, France, and German-speaking lands. The opera buffa, a form of comic opera, rose in popularity. The symphony came into its own as a musical form, and the concerto was developed as a vehicle for displays of virtuoso playing skill. Orchestras no longer required a harpsichord (which had been part of the traditional continuo in the Baroque style), and were often led by the lead violinist (now called the concertmaster).Classical era musicians continued to use many of instruments from the Baroque era, such as the cello, contrabass, recorder, trombone, timpani, fortepiano (the precursor to the modern piano) and organ. While some Baroque instruments fell into disuse (e.g., the theorbo and rackett), many Baroque instruments were changed into the versions that are still in use today, such as the Baroque violin (which became the violin), the Baroque oboe (which became the oboe) and the Baroque trumpet, which transitioned to the regular valved trumpet. During the Classical era, the stringed instruments used in orchestra and chamber music such as string quartets were standardized as the four instruments which form the string section of the orchestra: the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Baroque-era stringed instruments such as fretted, bowed viols were phased out. Woodwinds included the basset clarinet, basset horn, clarinette d'amour, the Classical clarinet, the chalumeau, the flute, oboe and bassoon. Keyboard instruments included the clavichord and the fortepiano. While the harpsichord was still used in basso continuo accompaniment in the 1750s and 1760s, it fell out of use at the end of the century. Brass instruments included the buccin, the ophicleide (a replacement for the bass serpent, which was the precursor of the tuba) and the natural horn. Wind instruments became more refined in the Classical era. While double-reed instruments like the oboe and bassoon became somewhat standardized in the Baroque, the clarinet family of single reeds was not widely used until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and concerto settings.Major composers of this period include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Johann Christian Bach, Luigi Boccherini, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Muzio Clementi, Antonio Salieri, and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Romantic The music of the Romantic era, from roughly the first decade of the 19th century to the early 20th century, was characterized by increased attention to an extended melodic line, as well as expressive and emotional elements, paralleling romanticism in other art forms. Musical forms began to break from the Classical era forms (even as those were being codified), with free-form pieces like nocturnes, fantasias, and preludes being written where accepted ideas about the exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized. The music became more chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the older forms) about key signatures increasing. The art song (or Lied) came to maturity in this era, as did the epic scales of grand opera, ultimately transcended by Richard Wagner's Ring cycle.In the 19th century, musical institutions emerged from the control of wealthy patrons, as composers and musicians could construct lives independent of the nobility. Increasing interest in music by the growing middle classes throughout western Europe spurred the creation of organizations for the teaching, performance, and preservation of music. The piano, which achieved its modern construction in this era (in part due to industrial advances in metallurgy) became widely popular with the middle class, whose demands for the instrument spurred many piano builders. Many symphony orchestras date their founding to this era. Some musicians and composers were the stars of the day; some, like Franz Liszt and Niccolò Paganini, fulfilled both roles.European cultural ideas and institutions began to follow colonial expansion into other parts of the world. There was also a rise, especially toward the end of the era, of nationalism in music (echoing, in some cases, political sentiments of the time), as composers such as Edvard Grieg, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Antonín Dvořák echoed traditional music of their homelands in their compositions.In the Romantic era, the modern piano, with a more powerful, sustained tone and a wider range took over from the more delicate-sounding fortepiano. In the orchestra, the existing Classical instruments and sections were retained (string section, woodwinds, brass, and percussion), but these sections were typically expanded to make a fuller, bigger sound. For example, while a Baroque orchestra may have had two double bass players, a Romantic orchestra could have as many as ten. "As music grew more expressive, the standard orchestral palette just wasn't rich enough for many Romantic composers."The families of instruments used, especially in orchestras, grew larger; a process that climaxed in the early 20th century with very large orchestras used by late romantic and modernist composers. A wider array of percussion instruments began to appear. Brass instruments took on larger roles, as the introduction of rotary valves made it possible for them to play a wider range of notes. The size of the orchestra (typically around 40 in the Classical era) grew to be over 100. Gustav Mahler's 1906 Symphony No. 8, for example, has been performed with over 150 instrumentalists and choirs of over 400. New woodwind instruments were added, such as the contrabassoon, bass clarinet and piccolo and new percussion instruments were added, including xylophones, snare drums, celestas (a bell-like keyboard instrument), bells, and triangles, large orchestral harps, and even wind machines for sound effects. Saxophones appear in some scores from the late 19th century onwards, usually featured as a solo instrument rather than as in integral part of the orchestra. The Wagner tuba, a modified member of the horn family, appears in Richard Wagner's cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. It also has a prominent role in Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E Major and is also used in several late romantic and modernist works by Richard Strauss, Béla Bartók, and others Cornets appear regularly in 19th century scores, alongside trumpets which were regarded as less agile, at least until the end of the century. Prominent composers of this era include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Frédéric Chopin, Hector Berlioz, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Alexander Scriabin, Nikolai Medtner, Edvard Grieg, and Johann Strauss II. Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss are commonly regarded as transitional composers whose music combines both late romantic and early modernist elements. 20th and 21st centuries Modernist Encompassing a wide variety of post-Romantic styles, modernist classical music includes late romantic, impressionist, expressionist, and neoclassical styles of composition. Modernism marked an era when many composers rejected certain values of the common practice period, such as traditional tonality, melody, instrumentation, and structure. Some music historians regard musical modernism as an era extending from about 1890 to 1930. Others consider that modernism ended with one or the other of the two world wars. Still other authorities claim that modernism is not associated with any historical era, but rather is "an attitude of the composer; a living construct that can evolve with the times". Despite its decline in the last third of the 20th century, there remained at the end of the century an active core of composers who continued to advance the ideas and forms of modernism, such as Pierre Boulez, Pauline Oliveros, Toru Takemitsu, George Benjamin, Jacob Druckman, Brian Ferneyhough, George Perle, Wolfgang Rihm, Richard Wernick, Richard Wilson, and Ralph Shapey.Two musical movements that were dominant during this time were the impressionist beginning around 1890 and the expressionist that started around 1908. It was a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older categories of music, innovations that lead to new ways of organizing and approaching harmonic, melodic, sonic, and rhythmic aspects of music, and changes in aesthetic worldviews in close relation to the larger identifiable period of modernism in the arts of the time. The operative word most associated with it is "innovation". Its leading feature is a "linguistic plurality", which is to say that no single music genre ever assumed a dominant position.The orchestra continued to grow in size during the early years modernist era, peaking in the first two decades of the 20th century. Saxophones that appeared only rarely during the 19th century became more commonly used as supplementary instruments, but never became core members of the orchestra. While appearing only as featured solo instruments in some works, for example Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, the saxophone is included in other works such as Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 2 and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. In some compositions such as Ravel's Boléro, two or more saxophones of different sizes are used to create an entire section like the other sections of the orchestra. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th century works, usually playing parts marked "tenor tuba", including Gustav Holst's The Planets, and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. Prominent composers of the early 20th century include Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev, Arnold Schoenberg, Nikos Skalkottas, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Anton Webern, Alban Berg, Cécile Chaminade, Paul Hindemith, Aram Khachaturian, George Gershwin, Amy Beach, Béla Bartók, and Dmitri Shostakovich, along with the aforementioned Mahler and Strauss as transitional figures who carried over from the 19th century. Post-modern/contemporary Postmodern music is a period of music that began as early as 1930 according to some authorities. It shares characteristics with postmodernist art – that is, art that comes after and reacts against modernism. Some other authorities have more or less equated postmodern music with the "contemporary music" composed well after 1930, from the late 20th century through to the early 21st century. Some of the diverse movements of the postmodern/contemporary era include the neoromantic, neomedieval, minimalist, and post minimalist. Contemporary classical music at the beginning of the 21st century was often considered to include all post-1945 musical forms. A generation later, this term now properly refers to the music of today written by composers who are still alive; music that came into prominence in the mid-1970s. It includes different variations of modernist, postmodern, neoromantic, and pluralist music. Performance Performers who have studied classical music extensively are said to be "classically trained". This training may come from private lessons from instrument or voice teachers or from completion of a formal program offered by a Conservatory, college or university, such as a Bachelor of Music or Master of Music degree (which includes individual lessons from professors). In classical music, "...extensive formal music education and training, often to postgraduate [Master's degree] level" is required.Performance of classical music repertoire requires a proficiency in sight-reading and ensemble playing, harmonic principles, strong ear training (to correct and adjust pitches by ear), knowledge of performance practice (e.g., Baroque ornamentation), and a familiarity with the style/musical idiom expected for a given composer or musical work (e.g., a Brahms symphony or a Mozart concerto).The key characteristic of European classical music that distinguishes it from popular music, folk music, and some other classical music traditions such as Indian classical music, is that the repertoire tends to be written down in musical notation, creating a musical part or score. This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, where two or more musicians (whether singers or instrumentalists) are involved, how the various parts are coordinated. The written quality of the music has enabled a high level of complexity within them: fugues, for instance, achieve a remarkable marriage of boldly distinctive melodic lines weaving in counterpoint yet creating a coherent harmonic logic. The use of written notation also preserves a record of the works and enables Classical musicians to perform music from many centuries ago. Although Classical music in the 2000s has lost most of its tradition for musical improvisation, from the Baroque era to the Romantic era, there are examples of performers who could improvise in the style of their era. In the Baroque era, organ performers would improvise preludes, keyboard performers playing harpsichord would improvise chords from the figured bass symbols beneath the bass notes of the basso continuo part and both vocal and instrumental performers would improvise musical ornaments. Johann Sebastian Bach was particularly noted for his complex improvisations. During the Classical era, the composer-performer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was noted for his ability to improvise melodies in different styles. During the Classical era, some virtuoso soloists would improvise the cadenza sections of a concerto. During the Romantic era, Ludwig van Beethoven would improvise at the piano. Women in classical music Almost all of the composers who are described in music textbooks on classical music and whose works are widely performed as part of the standard concert repertoire are male composers, even though there has been a large number of women composers throughout the classical music period. Musicologist Marcia Citron has asked "[w]hy is music composed by women so marginal to the standard 'classical' repertoire?" Citron "examines the practices and attitudes that have led to the exclusion of women composers from the received 'canon' of performed musical works". She argues that in the 1800s, women composers typically wrote art songs for performance in small recitals rather than symphonies intended for performance with an orchestra in a large hall, with the latter works being seen as the most important genre for composers; since women composers did not write many symphonies, they were deemed not to be notable as composers. In the "...Concise Oxford History of Music, Clara S[c]humann is one of the only [sic] female composers mentioned." Abbey Philips states that "[d]uring the 20th century the women who were composing/playing gained far less attention than their male counterparts."Historically, major professional orchestras have been mostly or entirely composed of musicians who are men. Some of the earliest cases of women being hired in professional orchestras was in the position of harpist. The Vienna Philharmonic, for example, did not accept women to permanent membership until 1997, far later than the other orchestras ranked among the world's top five by Gramophone in 2008. The last major orchestra to appoint a woman to a permanent position was the Berlin Philharmonic. As late as February 1996, the Vienna Philharmonic's principal flute, Dieter Flury, told Westdeutscher Rundfunk that accepting women would be "gambling with the emotional unity (emotionelle Geschlossenheit) that this organism currently has". In April 1996, the orchestra's press secretary wrote that "compensating for the expected leaves of absence" of maternity leave would be a problem.In 2013, an article in Mother Jones stated that while "[m]any prestigious orchestras have significant female membership—women outnumber men in the New York Philharmonic's violin section—and several renowned ensembles, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra, are led by women violinists," the double bass, brass, and percussion sections of major orchestras "...are still predominantly male". A 2014 BBC article stated that the "...introduction of 'blind' auditions, where a prospective instrumentalist performs behind a screen so that the judging panel can exercise no gender or racial prejudice, has seen the gender balance of traditionally male-dominated symphony orchestras gradually shift." Relationship to other music traditions Popular music Classical music has often incorporated elements or material from popular music of the composer's time. Examples include occasional music such as Brahms' use of student drinking songs in his Academic Festival Overture, genres exemplified by Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and the influence of jazz on early and mid-20th-century composers including Maurice Ravel, exemplified by the movement entitled "Blues" in his sonata for violin and piano. Some postmodern, minimalist and postminimalist classical composers acknowledge a debt to popular music.Numerous examples show influence in the opposite direction, including popular songs based on classical music, the use to which Pachelbel's Canon has been put since the 1970s, and the musical crossover phenomenon, where classical musicians have achieved success in the popular music arena. In heavy metal, a number of lead guitarists (playing electric guitar), including Ritchie Blackmore and Randy Rhoads, modeled their playing styles on Baroque or Classical-era instrumental music. Folk music Composers of classical music have often made use of folk music (music created by musicians who are commonly not classically trained, often from a purely oral tradition). Some composers, like Dvořák and Smetana, have used folk themes to impart a nationalist flavor to their work, while others like Bartók have used specific themes lifted whole from their folk-music origins. Khachaturian widely incorporated into his work the folk music of his native Armenia, but also other ethnic groups of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Commercialization Certain staples of classical music are often used commercially (either in advertising or in movie soundtracks). In television commercials, several passages have become clichéd, particularly the opening of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (made famous in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the opening section "O Fortuna" of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana; other examples include the "Dies irae" from the Verdi Requiem, Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt, the opening bars of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walküre, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", and excerpts of Aaron Copland's Rodeo. Several works from the Golden Age of Animation matched the action to classical music. Notable examples are Walt Disney's Fantasia, Tom and Jerry's Johann Mouse, and Warner Bros.' Rabbit of Seville and What's Opera, Doc? Similarly, movies and television often use standard, clichéd excerpts of classical music to convey refinement or opulence: some of the most-often heard pieces in this category include Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain (as orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov), and Rossini's "William Tell Overture". Shawn Vancour argues that the commercialization of classical music in the early 20th century may have harmed the music industry through inadequate representation. Education During the 1990s, several research papers and popular books wrote on what came to be called the "Mozart effect": an observed temporary, small elevation of scores on spatial reasoning tests as a result of listening to Mozart's music. The approach has been popularized in a book by Don Campbell, and is based on an experiment published in Nature suggesting that listening to Mozart temporarily boosted students' IQ by 8 to 9 points. This popularized version of the theory was expressed succinctly by the New York Times music columnist Alex Ross: "researchers... have determined that listening to Mozart actually makes you smarter." Promoters marketed CDs claimed to induce the effect. Florida passed a law requiring toddlers in state-run schools to listen to classical music every day, and in 1998 the governor of Georgia budgeted $105,000 per year to provide every child born in Georgia with a tape or CD of classical music. One of the co-authors of the original studies of the Mozart effect commented "I don't think it can hurt. I'm all for exposing children to wonderful cultural experiences. But I do think the money could be better spent on music education programs."

i = -1; function row(){ i++ a = document.createElement('p'); a.innerHTML = 'color: '; a.style = 'display:inline-block' a.id = i + 'p1'; document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a=document.createElement('input'); a.type = 'color'; a.id = i+'c'; a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('p'); a.innerHTML = 'image: '; a.style = 'display:inline-block' a.id = i + 'p2'; document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('input'); a.type = 'text'; a.id = i + 'i'; a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('p'); a.innerHTML = 'audio: '; a.style = 'display:inline-block' a.id = i + 'p3'; document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('input'); a.type = 'text'; a.id = i + 'a'; a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('button'); a.innerHTML = 'Delete'; a.id = i; a.onclick = function () { elms = ['c', 'i', 'a', 'p1', 'p2', 'p3']; for (x of elms) { document.getElementById(this.id + x).style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById(this.id + 'i').value = 'delete1324354657'} this.style.display = 'none'; } a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('br'); document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a)} j = null; function create(save = true){ c = []; p = []; a = []; for(let d=0; d<(i-0)+1; d++){ if(document.getElementById(d + 'i' ).value !='delete1324354657' ){ c.push(document.getElementById(d + 'c' ).value); p.push(document.getElementById(d + 'i' ).value); a.push(document.getElementById(d + 'a' ).value); } } j=JSON.stringify( { title: document.getElementById('title').value, startText: document.getElementById('start-text').value, startButton: document.getElementById('start-button').value, startBackgroundColor: document.getElementById('start-color').value, fullRandom: document.getElementById('full').checked, data: { colors: c, pictures: p, audio: a } } ) if(save){ je=encodeURIComponent(j) const ar=document.createElement('a'); ar.href=`data:text/plain;charset=utf-8,${je}`; ar.download='data.json' ; document.body.appendChild(ar); ar.click(); alert('Put the data.json file into the same folder as the index.html on the server.') }else{ return j } } function loadJson(){ i=0; document.getElementById("data").innerHTML="" ; files=document.getElementById('load').files; const reader=new FileReader(); reader.addEventListener("load", ()=> { jn = JSON.parse(reader.result); console.log(jn) document.getElementById('title').value = jn.title; document.getElementById('start-text').value = jn.startText; document.getElementById('start-button').value = jn.startButton; document.getElementById('start-color').value = jn.startBackgroundColor; document.getElementById('full').value = jn.fullRandom; c = jn.data.colors; p = jn.data.pictures; au = jn.data.audio; for(i in c){ a = document.createElement('p'); a.innerHTML = 'color: '; a.style = 'display:inline-block' a.id = i + 'p1'; document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('input'); a.type = 'color'; a.value = c[i] a.id = i + 'c'; a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('p'); a.innerHTML = 'image: '; a.style = 'display:inline-block' a.id = i + 'p2'; document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('input'); a.type = 'text'; a.id = i + 'i'; a.value = p[i] a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('p'); a.innerHTML = 'audio: '; a.style = 'display:inline-block' a.id = i + 'p3'; document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('input'); a.type = 'text'; a.id = i + 'a'; a.value = au[i]; a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('button'); a.innerHTML = 'Delete'; a.id = i; a.onclick = function(){ elms=['c','i','a', 'p1', 'p2', 'p3']; for(x of elms){ document.getElementById(this.id+x).style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById(this.id+'i').value = 'delete1324354657' } this.style.display = 'none'; } a.style = 'display:inline-block' document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) a = document.createElement('br'); document.getElementById('data').appendChild(a) } }); reader.readAsText(files[0]); } function sendData(){ document.getElementById('display').src = document.getElementById('display').src; //document.getElementById('dipslay').contentWindow.location.reload(); setTimeout(()=>{ document.getElementById('display').contentWindow.postMessage(create(false),'*'); },300) } window.onload = function(){ setInterval(()=>{ document.body.style.height = window.innerHeight+'px'; document.body.style.width = window.innerWidth+'px'; },20) } //ah yes, async! async function getData(callback, passthrough = null) { /* removed unneccesary pre-dispatch code */ if(passthrough == null){ const response = await fetch("data.json"); const jsonData = await response.json(); data = jsonData callback(jsonData) }else{ data = JSON.parse(passthrough) callback(JSON.parse(passthrough)) } document.documentElement.style.setProperty("--color", data.startBackgroundColor) $("start-message").innerHTML = "Loading"; $("start-button").style.display = "none"; anim = $("start-box").animate( [{ opacity: 1, opacity: 0 }], { duration: 300, iterations: 1, fill: "forwards" }) anim.addEventListener("finish", () => { $("start-box").style.display = "none"; setTimeout(() => { $("start-box").style.display = "block" $("start-button").style.display = "inline-block"; $("start-message").innerHTML = data.startText anim = $("start-box").animate( [{ opacity: 0, opacity: 1 }], { duration: 600, iterations: 1, fill: "forwards" }) anim.addEventListener("finish", () => { $("start-box").style.opacity = 1; }) }, 600) }) } // code for preview. Pretty easy, considering // how hard it seemed window.addEventListener('message',(e)=>{ getData(loadDone,e.data) if(e.data.slide != -1){ setTimeout(()=>{ loadFadeIn(e.data.slide) },200) } }) // yes, trying to fix stuff always works! Totally! passc = 0; window.onkeydown = function(e){ if(passc != -1){ if(e.key == '~'){ passc++; }else{ passc = 0; } if(e.key == 'ArrowRight' && document.activeElement == document.body){ if($('start-next').style.display == 'inline-block'){ $('start-next').click(); } } } if(passc == 5){ passc = -1; document.getElementById('alt-file').click(); document.getElementById('alt-file').onchange = function getDataFile(){ let reader = new FileReader(); reader.readAsText(document.getElementById('alt-file').files[0], "UTF-8") reader.onload = function(e){ // .target.result is probribally // going to be depracated, // but I'm still going to use it. getData(loadDone, e.target.result) } } } } // yes, imitating JQuery. Great job. function $(id){ return document.getElementById(id); } //function naming on-point function loadDone(d) { console.log(d) document.title = d.title; $("start-message").innerHTML = d.startText; $("start-button").style.display = "inline-block"; $("start-button").innerHTML = d.startButton; //document.body.style.backgroundColor = d.startBackgroundColor; document.documentElement.style.setProperty("--color", d.startBackgroundColor); data = d; } t = null; $('fixSeek').onkeydown = function(e){ if(e.key == "ArrowRight"){ if (t != null) { clearTimeout(t) } audio.pause(); if (audio.currentTime == audio.duration) { audio.currentTime = 0; } else { audio.currentTime = audio.currentTime + (audio.duration / 70) } t = setTimeout(()=>{ audio.play(); },250) } if(e.key == "ArrowLeft"){ if(t != null){ clearTimeout(t) } audio.pause(); if(audio.currentTime == audio.duration){ audio.currentTime = 0; }else{ audio.currentTime = audio.currentTime - (audio.duration / 70) } t = setTimeout(() => { audio.play(); }, 250) } if(e.key == " " && !e.repeat){ $('start-pp').click(); } } data = {}; getData(loadDone) // must love the null technique // it's bad but ok font-size // great autocorect... *fine audio = null; function fade(){ $("start-next").disabled = "true"; $("start-button").disabled = "true"; $('seek').value == 0; if(audio != null){ audio.pause(); } anim = $("start-box").animate( [{opacity:1,opacity:0}], {duration:300,iterations:1, fill: "forwards" }) anim.addEventListener("finish",()=>{ $("start-box").style.display = "none"; setTimeout(()=>{ loadFadeIn(); },600) }) } // pp. great name. MediaView is also simmilarly plagued. function pp(){ if($("start-pp").innerHTML != '...'){ if($("start-pp").innerHTML == '||'){ audio.pause(); $("start-pp").innerHTML = '▶' }else{ if(audio.currentTime == audio.duration){ audio.currentTime = 0; } audio.play(); $("start-pp").innerHTML = '||' } } } function sToMS(s){ return (Math.floor(s/60))+'m '+s%60+'s'; } //great job, 10-o'clock Michael randomN=-1; function loadFadeIn(slide = null){ $("start-next").disabled = ""; $("start-button").disabled = ""; $("start-box").style.display = "inline-block"; $("start-pp").style.display = "inline-block"; $("start-next").style.display = "inline-block"; $("start-button").style.display = "none"; $("start-message").style.display = "none"; $("start-image").style.display = "inline-block"; if(slide == null){ prev = randomN; if(data.fullRandom){ randomN = Math.floor(Math.random()*(data.data.colors.length)) }else{ randomN = Math.floor(Math.random() * (data.data.colors.length)) for(let i = 0; i < 30 && randomN==prev; i++){ randomN=Math.floor(Math.random() * (data.data.colors.length)) } } }else{ randomN=slide; } $("start-image").src=data.data.pictures[randomN] document.documentElement.style.setProperty("--color", data.data.colors[randomN]) audio=new Audio(); audio.src=data.data.audio[randomN] audio.play(); $("start-pp").innerHTML='...' ; // some errors randomly show. audio.addEventListener("canplay", ()=>{ $("start-pp").innerHTML = '||'; $("seek").style.display = "inline-block"; }) audio.addEventListener("waiting", ()=>{ $("start-pp").innerHTML = '...'; }) audio.addEventListener("error", ()=>{ $("start-pp").innerHTML = '!'; }) audio.addEventListener("stalled", () => { $("start-pp").innerHTML = '?'; }); audio.addEventListener("playing", () => { $("start-pp").innerHTML = '||'; }); $('full').style.display = "inline-block"; $('time').style.display = "inline-block"; $('seek').onmouseup = function(){ audio.play() } setInterval(() => { $('full').innerHTML = Array(7 - sToMS(Math.floor(audio.duration)).length).fill(' ').join('') + sToMS(Math.floor(audio.duration)); $('time').innerHTML = sToMS(Math.floor(audio.currentTime))+Array(7 - sToMS(Math.floor(audio.currentTime)).length).fill(' ').join(''); if(!($('seek').matches(":active"))){ $('seek').value = (audio.currentTime / audio.duration) * 100; }else{ $('time').innerHTML = sToMS(Math.floor(($('seek').value/100)*audio.duration))+ Array(7 - sToMS(Math.floor(($('seek').value / 100) * audio.duration)).length).fill(' ').join('') } if($('seek').matches(":hover") || document.activeElement.id == 'fixSeek'){ $('full').style.opacity = "1"; $('time').style.opacity = "1"; }else{ $('full').style.opacity = "0"; $('time').style.opacity = "0"; } }, 100) setInterval(() => { $("start-box").style.height = ($("start-image").clientHeight + 160) + 'px' }, 50) setInterval(() => { if ($("start-image").clientHeight > 500) { $("start-image").style.height = '300px' $("start-image").style.width = 'auto'; }/*else{ $("start-image").style.height = 'calc(100% - 80px)'; $("start-image").style.width = 'calc(auto - 80px)'; } //will cause SOOOO many errors. */ }, 35) audio.addEventListener('ended', ()=>{ $("start-pp").innerHTML = '▶'; if(!$("seek").matches(":active")){ $("seek").value = 100; } }) audio.addEventListener('durationchange', ()=>{ $('seek').value = (audio.currentTime / audio.duration) * 100; console.log((audio.currentTime / audio.duration) * 100) }) $('seek').addEventListener("change",()=>{ audio.currentTime = (($('seek').value / 100) * audio.duration); }) $("start-box").style.opacity = 0; anim = $("start-box").animate( [{opacity: 0, opacity: 1}], { duration: 600, iterations: 1, fill: "forwards" }) anim.addEventListener("finish", ()=>{ $("start-box").style.opacity = 1; }) } var art = ''; var title = ''; var passdata = ''; const target = document.getElementById('target'); const source = document.createElement('canvas'); source.height = 300; source.width = 600; const ctx = source.getContext('2d'); ctx.font = "26px monospace"; anim(); const stream = source.captureStream(); target.srcObject = stream; const btn = document.getElementById('btn'); if( target.requestPictureInPicture ) { btn.onclick = e => target.requestPictureInPicture(); } else { btn.disabled = true; } function anim() { ctx.fillStyle = "black"; ctx.fillRect( 0, 0, source.width, source.height ); const img = new Image(); img.src = art; ctx.drawImage(img,10,60,source.width/2-60,source.height-10); ctx.font = "22px monospace"; ctx.fillStyle = "white"; if(ctx.measureText(title).width>source.width){ ctx.fillText(title.slice(0,Math.floor(source.width/ctx.measureText('t').width)).split(' ').slice(0,-1).join(' '),10,30); ctx.fillText(title.split(' ').slice(title.slice(0,Math.floor(source.width/ctx.measureText('t').width)).split(' ').slice(0,-1).length,100).join(' '),10,50); }else{ ctx.fillText(title,10,30); } ctx.font = "36px monospace"; ctx.fillText(passdata,280,200); requestAnimationFrame(anim) ; } const inputElement = document.getElementById("input"); inputElement.addEventListener("change", handleFile, false); document.getElementById('inputDirectory').addEventListener("change", handleFolder, false); current = 0; mix = false; pinned = []; fileList = []; title = ''; setTitle = true; function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement( {pageLanguage: 'en'}, 'gTrans' ); } document.getElementById('pp').disabled = true; document.getElementById("pinAll").disabled = false; document.getElementById("unpinAll").disabled = false; document.getElementById('currentDiv').style.display = 'none'; navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('seekbackward', () => { document.getElementById('backskip').click(); }); navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('seekforward', () => { document.getElementById('nextskip').click(); }); navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('previoustrack', () => { choice(); }); navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('nexttrack', () => { document.getElementById('next').click(); }); navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('play', () => { document.getElementById('pp').click(); target.play();}); navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('pause', () => { document.getElementById('pp').click(); target.pause();}); for (let i of document.querySelectorAll('input[type="text"]')) { i.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) { fixInputs(e.key, this.id); }) } function fixInputs(key, id) { if ((' ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890`~!@#$%^&*()-_=+[]{};:\'",<.> /?\\|'.split('')).includes(key)) { document.getElementById(id).value += key; } else if (key == 'Backspace') { document.getElementById(id).value = document.getElementById(id).value.slice(0, document.getElementById(id).value.length - 1) } else if (key == 'Control') { document.getElementById(id).value = ''; } } searched = []; function pinSearch() { if(inList == false){ for(i of searched){ pinned.splice(pinned.indexOf(i), 1); } }else{ for(i of searched){ if(!pinned.includes(i)){ pinned.push(i) } } } pin(-1); searched = []; search(); } inList = false; function search() { document.getElementById("pinAll").disabled = false; document.getElementById("unpinAll").disabled = false; inList = false; searched = []; for (i = 0; i < fileList.length; i++) { document.getElementById('l' + i).style.display='none' ; document.getElementById('b' + i).style.display='none' ; document.getElementById('p' + i).style.display='none' ; document.getElementById('i' + i).style.display='none' ; for(j of document.getElementById('search').value.toLowerCase().split(',')){ if (document.getElementById('search').value=='' || document.getElementById('l' + i).innerHTML.toLowerCase().includes(j)) { if(document.getElementById('l' + i).parentElement.id=='list' ){ inList=true; }; document.getElementById('l' + i).style.display='inline-block' ; document.getElementById('b' + i).style.display='inline-block' ; document.getElementById('p' + i).style.display='inline-block' ; document.getElementById('i' + i).style.display='inline-block' ; searched.push(String(i)); } } } if(inList==false){ document.getElementById('pinS').innerHTML='Unpin All Searched' ; }else{ document.getElementById('pinS').innerHTML='Pin All Searched' ; } if(document.getElementById('search').value.split(',').includes('')){ document.getElementById('pinS').disabled=true; }else{ document.getElementById('pinS').disabled=false; } } function getClip(){ text=document.getElementById('search').value; if(text=='' ){ a='err' ; }else{ a=0; } text=text.split(','); for (i of text){ if(!isNaN(Number(i)) && Number(i)> -1 && i != ''){ a++; } } if(a == text.length){ pinned = text; pin(-1); document.getElementById('search').value = ''; search(); setTimeout(function(){document.getElementById('clip').innerHTML = 'Import Pinned'},500); }else{ document.getElementById('clip').innerHTML = 'Please Paste (Right-Click Select Paste) into Search Box and Try Again.' setTimeout(function(){document.getElementById('clip').innerHTML = 'Import Pinned'},3000); } } function handleFile() { document.getElementById('currentDiv').style.display = 'inline-block'; filled = fileList.length==0; for(i=0;idocument.getElementById('input').files.length;i++){ if(['wav','mp3','m4a','wmv','mov','mp4','ogg'].includes(document.getElementById('input').files[i].name.split('.').pop())){ fileList.push(document.getElementById('input').files[i]) } } if(!filled){ s=audio.currentTime; pinp=document.getElementById('audio').paused handleFiles(); audio.currentTime=s; if (pinp) { toggle(); }}else{ handleFiles(); } document.getElementById('pp').disabled=false; } function handleFolder() { document.getElementById('currentDiv').style.display='inline-block' ; filled=fileList.length==0; for(i=0;idocument.getElementById('inputDirectory').files.length;i++){ if(['wav','mp3','m4a','wmv','mov','mp4','ogg'].includes(document.getElementById('inputDirectory').files[i].name.split('.').pop())){ fileList.push(document.getElementById('inputDirectory').files[i]) } } fileList.sort((a,b)=> (a.name).localeCompare((b.name), undefined, {numeric: true, sensitivity: 'base'}) ) if(!filled){ s = audio.currentTime; pinp = document.getElementById('audio').paused handleFiles(); audio.currentTime = s; if (pinp) { toggle(); }}else{ handleFiles(); } document.getElementById('pp').disabled = false; } function clearFiles(){ fileList = []; pinned = []; document.getElementById('currentDiv').style.display = 'none'; current = 0; document.getElementById('audio').src = ''; document.getElementById('audio').currentTime = 0; document.getElementById('search').value = ''; setTimeout((() => handleFiles()),10) document.getElementById('pp').disabled = true; document.getElementById('pincheck').checked = false; } function nextup() { if (document.getElementById('loop').checked && (!document.getElementById('stop').checked)) { handleFiles(); } else { if ((!document.getElementById('stop').checked)) { next() } else { document.getElementById('audio').pause(); document.getElementById('pp').innerHTML = '►'; } } }; function toggle() { if (document.getElementById('audio').paused) { if (document.getElementById('audio').currentTime == document.getElementById('audio').duration && document.getElementById('stop').checked) { document.getElementById('audio').currentTime = 0; } document.getElementById('audio').play(); document.getElementById('pp').innerHTML = 'ǁ'; } else { document.getElementById('audio').pause(); document.getElementById('pp').innerHTML = '►'; } }; lastUpdate = 0 function change() { if(!document.getElementById('audio').paused&&target.paused){ target.play(); } if(document.getElementById('audio').paused&&(!target.paused)){ target.pause(); } if(setTitle){ navigator.mediaSession.metadata.title = document.title = (document.getElementById('timestop').checked ? ('Timer: '+document.getElementById('stoptime').value+'s | ') : '')+Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').currentTime) + '/' + Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').duration) + 's | ' + title; } if(document.getElementById('timestop').checked && Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').currentTime) != lastUpdate){ document.getElementById('stoptime').value = document.getElementById('stoptime').value - 1; if(document.getElementById('stoptime').value < 1){ document.getElementById('audio').pause() document.getElementById('stoptime').value=0; } } lastUpdate=Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').currentTime); const per=((100 * document.getElementById('audio').currentTime) / document.getElementById('audio').duration)==NaN ? 0 : ((100 * document.getElementById('audio').currentTime) / document.getElementById('audio').duration); passdata=Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').currentTime) + '/' + Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').duration) + 's | ' + Math.floor(per) + '%' ; document.getElementById('s').value=per; document.getElementById('time').innerHTML='| ' + Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').currentTime) + '/' + Math.floor(document.getElementById('audio').duration) + 'sec | ' + Math.floor(per) + '% | ' + Math.floor(Math.floor((document.getElementById('audio').duration) / 60)) + 'min, ' + Math.floor((document.getElementById('audio').duration ) % 60) + 'sec' ; document.getElementById('audio').volume=document.getElementById('v').value / 100; if(document.getElementById('audio').paused){ document.getElementById('pp').innerHTML='►' ; }else{ document.getElementById('pp').innerHTML='ǁ' ; } } document.getElementById('audio').ontimeupdate=change; function changeSeek() { const time=(document.getElementById('s').value * document.getElementById('audio').duration) / 100; document.getElementById('audio').currentTime=time; } function skip(a) { document.getElementById('audio').currentTime=document.getElementById('audio').currentTime + a; }; document.getElementById('s').addEventListener('change', changeSeek); function test(e) { current=e; handleFiles(); }; function time(f) { var _size=f.size; var fSExt=new Array('Bytes', 'KB' , 'MB' , 'GB' ), i=0; while (_size> 900) { _size /= 1024; i++; } return (Math.round(_size * 100) / 100) + ' ' + fSExt[i]; } function pin(id) { if(id != -1){ if (pinned.includes(id)) { pinned.splice(pinned.indexOf(id), 1); }else{ pinned.push(id); }} if (pinned.length == 0){ document.getElementById('pincheck').checked = false; }else{ document.getElementById('pincheck').checked = true; } pinned.sort(); s = audio.currentTime; pinp = document.getElementById('audio').paused handleFiles(); audio.currentTime = s; if (pinp) { toggle(); } document.getElementById("pinAll").disabled = document.getElementById("unpinAll").disabled = true; if(pinned.length == 0){ document.getElementById("pinAll").disabled = false; }else{ document.getElementById("unpinAll").disabled = false;} } function handleFiles() { const numFiles = fileList.length; document.getElementById('pin').innerHTML = ''; document.getElementById('list').innerHTML = ''; for (i = 0; i < numFiles; i++) { if (i==current) { br=document.createElement('br'); br.id='b' + i; document.getElementById('list').appendChild(br); button=document.createElement('button'); button.style='border:none;background-color:black;color:yellow;font-family:monospace' button.id='l' + i; button.onclick=function() { test(this.id.splice(1, this.id.length)) } button.innerHTML=(i + 1) + ': ' + fileList[i].name + ' | ' + time(fileList[i]); p=document.createElement('p'); p.innerHTML='#' p.id='p' + i; //p.style='font-size:14px!important' ipin=document.createElement('button'); ipin.id='i' + i; ipin.style='border:none;background-color:black;color:grey;font-family:monospace' ipin.innerHTML=pinned.includes(String(i)) ? ' | Unpin' : ' | Pin' ipin.onclick=function() { pin(this.id.slice(1, this.id.length)); } append=pinned.includes(String(i)) ? 'pin' : 'list' ; document.getElementById(append).appendChild(p); document.getElementById(append).appendChild(button); document.getElementById(append).appendChild(ipin); document.getElementById(append).appendChild(br); } else { br=document.createElement('br'); br.id='b' + i; document.getElementById('list').appendChild(br); button=document.createElement('button'); button.style='border:none;background-color:black;color:white;font-family:monospace' button.id='l' + i; button.onclick=function() { test(this.id.slice(1, this.id.length)) } button.innerHTML=(i + 1) + ': ' + fileList[i].name + ' | ' + time(fileList[i]); p=document.createElement('p'); p.innerHTML='#' p.id='p' + i; //p.style='font-size:14px!important' ipin=document.createElement('button'); ipin.id='i' + i; ipin.style='border:none;background-color:black;color:grey;font-family:monospace' ipin.innerHTML=pinned.includes(String(i)) ? ' | Unpin' : ' | Pin' ipin.onclick=function() { pin(this.id.slice(1, this.id.length)); } append=pinned.includes(String(i)) ? 'pin' : 'list' ; document.getElementById(append).appendChild(p); document.getElementById(append).appendChild(button); document.getElementById(append).appendChild(ipin); document.getElementById(append).appendChild(br); }; }; search(); if ((current + 1)==numFiles) { document.getElementById('next').disabled=true; } else { document.getElementById('next').disabled=false; }; if (current==0) { document.getElementById('prev').disabled=true; } else { document.getElementById('prev').disabled=false; }; if(document.getElementById('pincheck').checked==true){ document.getElementById('prev').disabled=false; document.getElementById('next').disabled=false; } document.getElementById('audio').src=window.URL.createObjectURL(fileList[current]); document.getElementById('current').innerHTML=(parseFloat(current) + 1) + '/' + numFiles + ': ' + fileList[current].name; title=(parseFloat(current) + 1) + '/' + numFiles + ': ' + fileList[current].name; document.getElementById('audio').play(); document.getElementById('pp').innerHTML='ǁ' ; document.getElementById('displayBox').display='none' document.getElementById('backgroundImg').src='' ; document.getElementById('img').src='' ; navigator.mediaSession.metadata=new MediaMetadata({}); document.getElementById('extraText').innerHTML='' ; document.getElementById('audio').style.display='none' ; if(fileList[current].type.includes('video')){ document.getElementById("extra").style.display='block' ; document.getElementById('audio').style.display='block' ; }else if(fileList[current].type.includes('audio')){ jsmediatags.read(fileList[current],{ onSuccess: function(tag) { const data=tag.tags.picture.data; const format=tag.tags.picture.format; let base64String="" ; for (let i=0; i < data.length; i++) { base64String +=String.fromCharCode(data[i]); } document.getElementById('displayBox').display='block' document.getElementById('img').src=`data:${format};base64,${window.btoa(base64String)}`; art=`data:${format};base64,${window.btoa(base64String)}` document.getElementById('extraText').innerHTML='Artist: ' + tag.tags.artist + '
Album: ' + tag.tags.album; document.getElementById('backgroundImg').src=`data:${format};base64,${window.btoa(base64String)}` navigator.mediaSession.metadata=new MediaMetadata({ title: document.title, artist: tag.tags.artist, album: tag.tags.album, artwork: [ {src: document.getElementById('img').src, sizes: '420x420' , type: 'image/png' } ] }); }}) } if (current> numFiles) { current = 0; handleFiles() } } function next() { document.getElementById('audio').src = ''; c = current; if (mix) { while (c == current) { if (pinned.length == 0 || document.getElementById('pincheck').checked == false) { current = Math.floor(Math.random() * (fileList.length + 1)); } else { current = pinned[Math.floor(Math.random() * (pinned.length))] } } } else { if(document.getElementById('pincheck').checked == true){ if(current == pinned[pinned.length - 1]){ current = pinned[0]; }else{ current = pinned[pinned.indexOf(current)+1] } }else{ current = parseFloat(current) + 1; } } handleFiles(); } function prev() { document.getElementById('audio').src = ''; if(document.getElementById('pincheck').checked == true){ if(current == pinned[0]){ current = pinned[pinned.length - 1]; }else{ current = pinned[pinned.indexOf(current)-1] } }else{ current -= 1; } handleFiles(); } function mixa() { if (!mix) { mix = true; document.getElementById('mix').style.color = 'yellow'; } else { mix = false; document.getElementById('mix').style.color = 'white'; } } function hideGap() { var x = document.getElementById("extra"); if (x.style.display === "none") { x.style.display = "block"; } else { x.style.display = "none"; } } window.onkeydown = function(e) { e.preventDefault(); e.stopPropagation(); if(!e.repeat || (e.key == 'PageUp' || e.key == 'PageDown' || e.key == 'ArrowUp' || e.key == 'ArrowDown')){ if(document.activeElement.id == 'search'){ search(); } if(altDis){ if(e.key=='s'){ document.getElementById('mix').click(); }else if(e.key==' '){ document.getElementById('stop').click(); }else if(e.key=='l'){ document.getElementById('loop').click(); }else if(e.key=='t'){ if(document.getElementById('timestop').checked == false){ timerSelected = true; document.getElementById('stoptime').focus(); }else{ document.getElementById('timestop').checked = false; document.getElementById('stoptime').value = ''; } }else if(e.key=='p'){ document.getElementById('pincheck').click(); }else if(e.key=='v'){ document.getElementById('visual').click(); }else if(e.key=='/'){ if(document.activeElement.id == 'search'){ document.getElementById('search').blur(); document.getElementById('search').value = document.getElementById('search').value.slice(0,-1); }else{ document.getElementById('search').focus(); } }else if(e.key=='a'){ document.getElementById('pinAll').click(); }else if(e.key=='u'){ document.getElementById('unpinAll').click(); }else if(e.key=='ArrowRight'){ document.getElementById('nextskip').click(); }else if(e.key=='ArrowLeft'){ document.getElementById('backskip').click(); }else if(e.key=='ArrowUp' || e.key=='PageUp'){ document.getElementById('v').value = document.getElementById('v').value-1+2; }else if(e.key=='ArrowDown' || e.key=='PageDown'){ document.getElementById('v').value = document.getElementById('v').value-2; }else if(e.key=='f'){ document.getElementById('input').click(); altDis = false; }else if(e.key=='d'){ document.getElementById('inputDirectory').click(); altDis = false; }else if(e.key=='Enter'&&document.activeElement.id == 'search'){ document.getElementById('pinS').click(); } }else{ if (document.activeElement != document.getElementById('search')){ if(e.key == ' ') { document.getElementById('pp').click(); }else if (e.key == 'ArrowRight') { document.getElementById('next').click(); } else if (e.key == 'ArrowLeft') { document.getElementById('prev').click(); } else if (e.key == 'ArrowDown') { window.scrollTo({top:document.getElementById('l' + current).getBoundingClientRect().top + window.pageYOffset + -250, behavior: 'smooth'}); } else if (e.key == 'ArrowUp'){ window.scrollTo({top: 0, behavior: 'smooth'}); } } if(e.key=='Alt'){ altDis = true; } if(e.key=='Enter'&&timerSelected==true){ timerSelected = false; document.getElementById('stoptime').blur(); document.getElementById('timestop').checked = true; }else if(e.key=='Enter'&&document.activeElement.id == 'search'){ document.getElementById('search').value = ''; document.getElementById('search').blur(); search(); } } } } altDis = false; timerSelected = false; window.onkeyup = function(e){ if(e.key == 'Alt'){ altDis = false; } } cOn = false; cChoice = 0; cInterval = null; function choice(){ if(cOn){ cOn = false; setTitle = true; }else{ setTitle = false; cOn = true; cInterval = setInterval(function(){ navigator.mediaSession.metadata.title = ['Back','Click to Shuffle','Click to Toggle Play Only Pin','Click to Loop',''][cChoice]; if(!cOn){ switch (cChoice - 1){ case 0: document.getElementById('prev').click(); break; case 1: document.getElementById('mix').click(); break; case 2: document.getElementById('pincheck').checked = !document.getElementById('pincheck').checked; break; case 3: document.getElementById('loop').checked = !document.getElementById('loop').checked; break; } navigator.mediaSession.metadata.title = 'Done'; clearInterval(cInterval); cChoice = 0; setTimeout(function(){ change(); },1000) } cChoice++; if(cChoice == 4){ cOn = false; setTitle = true; cChoice = 0; clearInterval(cInterval); } },2000) } } var